Iran Barrage Sweeps Mideast; House Rejects War Powers Bid

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1:36Radio. News. Good morning. I'm Nathan Hager. And I'm Karen Moscow. Here are the stories we're following today. Karen, the war with Iran is now into a seventh day, and there is little sign of letup on either side. This morning, Iran's Mayor News Service reports Tehran has fired a massive barrage of missiles at Israel. That says Israel hits Tehran and Beirut with airstrikes. President Trump says the U.S. continues to totally demolish Iran's forces. So they have no air force. They have no air defense. All of their airplanes are gone. Their communications are gone. Missiles are gone. Launches are gone.

2:15About 60 percent and 64 percent respectively. Other than that, they're doing quite well. President Trump spoke at the White House. We get more from Bloomberg's Patrick Sykes in Istanbul. Yeah, reports of particularly heavy strikes in Tehran overnight and early this morning. We've also had more attacks touching Israel, Saudi, Qatar and Kuwait, as well as northern Iraq. That's one to watch in particular because of the Kurdish dynamic there, Iran, the regime in Tehran. Very concerned that they could see Kurdish militants trying to take control and attack positions in that part of the region. Bloomberg's Patrick Sykes reports Iran is warning it plans to use newer long-range missiles in the coming days.

2:58That's according to a report from the country's semi-official Fars News Agency. The war has left more than 1 ,300 people dead in Iran and dozens more in other parts of the Middle East. The Pentagon says six U.S. troops have been killed all in the first two days of fighting. Nathan, President Trump says he wants to have a hand in who the next leader of Iran will be. Bloomberg Middle East correspondent Jumana Bursette, she has more on the search to replace Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The main one that people are talking about is Khamenei's son, Mushtaba Khamenei, who is quite literally cut from the same cloth, a hardliner, very close to his father's ideology, very close to the clerics and to the Revolutionary Guard.

3:38The President Trump saying, Khamenei's son is unacceptable to me. We want someone that will bring in harmony and peace to Iran. Other names that are being put up, Ali Arafi, you may have heard his name because he's one of the three people on the Transitional Leadership Council. Another name that's being put up as well is the grandson of the original Supreme Leader Khomeini. All of these names are considered to be very close to the Revolutionary Guard, still adopting the very hardline theology and ideological positions of the former Supreme Leader. Bloomberg's Jumada Bersacek notes that Iran's Assembly of Experts is responsible for appointing, supervising, and discharging the Supreme Leader.

4:18This is the second Supreme Leader the Assembly will pick in the Islamic Republic's 47-year history. But with no end in sight to the fighting, Karen, we are seeing oil on the rise once again. And Bloomberg's John Tucker is watching the markets for us. John, good morning. And Nathan, good morning. The Joint Maritime Information Center announced early this morning the Strait of Hormuz shipping traffic near total halt. And now this headline, Qatar is now warning it will not resume production until fighting stops. Oil headed for the biggest weekly surge since 2022. A brand, the international benchmark currently trading above$87 a barrel.

4:55Now, for some context, last year, about 20 million barrels of oil and petroleum products flow through the Strait of Hormuz every day. Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin is telling Bloomberg it's the price at the pump matters a lot in terms of sentiment in the U.S. and crowding out other spending. And so I'm just watching prices at the pump. They've jumped up over the last week. You can see that when you drive around. But, of course, no one knows whether this is going to be short-term or long-term. And so we'll just see where it goes. U.S. gasoline pump prices have now advanced to the highest level since September 2024.

5:29According to AAA, the average retail price of regular$3.32 a gallon. In New York, I'm John Tucker, Bloomberg Radio. All right, John, thank you. The financial and logistical troubles the Iran war is causing for the global aviation industry are compounding by the day. The number of canceled flights to Middle East hubs has surpassed 27 ,000 since fighting began. Thousands of passengers have been stranded in the Gulf region. On Capitol Hill, Karen, the House has joined the Senate in rejecting a bill that would have forced President Trump to halt strikes on Iran. A handful of Democrats joined most Republicans in voting against the War Powers Resolution 219 to 212.

6:07House Speaker Mike Johnson says it was the right move. It would have been a very dangerous gambit to take the commander-in-chief's ability away to complete this mission. It would have been a very serious misstep by Congress, and I'm grateful that that resolution failed. Speaker Johnson spoke on Capitol Hill after the vote. Lawmakers will have another chance to weigh in on the war soon. The White House is preparing to ask Congress for billions of dollars to continue the fight against Iran. Well, Nathan, President Trump removed Kristi Noem as Homeland Security Secretary after months of controversy and announced he would replace her with Oklahoma Senator Mark Wayne Mullen.

6:45Bloomberg's Amy Morris has more from Washington. Sources tell Bloomberg President Trump was upset with Noem for telling lawmakers the president signed off on a roughly$200 million advertising campaign. Mullen talked to reporters on Capitol Hill about the change. I'm here to enforce the policies that Congress passed, and right now I'm part of it, but once I make that transition, my focus is to keep the homeland secure. Trump says he'll name Noam as a special envoy for the Shield of the Americas. It's a new security initiative he plans to announce on Saturday at a summit with Latin American leaders.

7:18Noam posted her thanks to the president on social media, saying that she's looking forward to her new role. In Washington, Amy Morris, Bloomberg Radio. Amy, thank you. And President Trump posted on social media that the move would take effect March 31st. Karen, Anthropic could be headed for a legal showdown on AI with the U.S. government. The company's vowing to legally contest a Pentagon decision to declare it a threat to the U.S. supply chain. The move puts the firm's contract at risk and provides the Pentagon with classified AI tools. This clash came to a head last week when the White House said Anthropic would be blacklisted for refusing to allow its technology to be used for mass surveillance in the U.S.

7:57or the development of autonomous weapons. Well, Nathan, the Trump administration is considering taking a formal role in the artificial intelligence industry. U.S. officials have written draft regulations that would restrict AI chip shipments to anywhere in the world without American approval. Bloomberg technology host Ed Ludlow says this would make the U.S. government the gatekeeper for who can buy large amounts of chips. If it's a small project or small shipment, that would face lighter review. If it's a bigger data center project at, say, gigawatt scale that would require the tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of GPUs that the data centers of that magnitude rely on, then it would not just be a thorough review by BIS and the U.S.

8:43government, but you're talking now about government-to-government talks. And Bloomberg's Ed Ludlow says chip giants NVIDIA and AMD did not respond to requests for comment to the story. Turning back to the markets now, Karen, futures are lower after yesterday's losses on Wall Street. The S &P 500 was down one and a half percent at one point, but it closed lower by a half percent. This morning, Wall Street awaits the latest monthly jobs report, and we get a preview from Bloomberg's Charlie Pellett. The government's employment report is expected to show that hiring moderated last month after an unexpectedly strong reading in January.

9:18Economists surveyed by Bloomberg see the U.S. economy adding 55 ,000 new jobs, with the unemployment rate holding at 4.3 percent. Kathy Bustjancic is chief economist at Nationwide Mutual. When you look at the trend, I think the labor market has been pretty resilient here. It's not buoyant, but resilient. Some economists have warned that severe winter weather could dent the headline payroll's number. In New York, Charlie Pellett, Bloomberg Radio. And another program note, Karen, as we've just seen this past week, and markets may close this afternoon, but the world will not. And that is why we are bringing you a new live radio and TV show, Bloomberg This Weekend.

9:59It looks beyond the headlines of the day to the bigger themes driving politics, business, and culture. We invite you to join David Gura, Christina Ruffini, and Lisa Matteo to get smart conversations and in-depth interviews that help make sense of the week that's been and what comes next. Get Bloomberg This Weekend Live, Saturdays and Sundays from 7 a.m. Eastern on Bloomberg Radio, Bloomberg Television, and the Bloomberg Business app.

10:26Time now for a look at some of the other stories making news in New York and around the world. And for that, we're joined by Bloomberg's Michael Barr. Michael, good morning. Good morning, Karen. New York Governor Kathy Hochul says although the state was not facing any credible threats because of the unrest in the Middle East, The state cybersecurity and counterterrorism expert are monitoring the situation. Hochul said the state remains on high alert as the conflict between the U.S.-Israel and Iran war stretches into a seventh day. And as a city that is home to, you know, over a million Muslims, a state that a million Muslims, but also a million Jews as well, we are exposed.

11:07We are exposed to this as we have been in the past. So we take it very seriously. We're working hand in hand with NYPD. Governor Hochul says she has been getting hourly updates on the situation. Groups representing U.S. airlines and the travel industry are calling on Congress to reopen the Department of Homeland Security so that airport screeners can get paid. At a pay-hour federal aviation workers' news conference in Washington, D.C., president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, Jeff Freeman, says it's reckless not to pay these critical workers. You can't run an industry with$3 trillion in economic impact on IOUs.

11:49The funding lap stems from disagreements over immigration enforcement after federal ICE agents killed two Americans in Minneapolis with the Democrats demanding reforms. Three former presidents will be among those attending the funeral service in Chicago today for the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Former presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden will say a final goodbye to Jackson at what's being called the People's Celebration at the House of Hope Baptist Church. A private service will be held Saturday at Rainbow Push Coalition headquarters for Jackson, who died at age 84. Global news 24 hours a day and whenever you want it with Bloomberg News Now.

12:28I'm Michael Barr. This is Bloomberg. Karen. Thanks, Michael. Time now for our Bloomberg Sports Update. And for that, we bring in Dan Schwarzman. Thanks, Karen. The NHL trade deadline is this afternoon at 3 p.m. Eastern time. Moves being made already this morning as the Capitals have shipped longtime defenseman John Carlson to the Ducks for a conditional first round pick and a third rounder. Houston Texans and five-time Pro Bowl defensive end Daniil Hunter agreeing to a one-year$40 million contract extension. Hunter was named a second-team All-Pro last season after registering 15 sacks. LeBron James making more history in the Lakers' loss to the Nuggets, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for most field goals made in NBA history with 15 ,838.

13:07Meanwhile, Celtics star Jason Tatum expected to play tonight as Boston hosts the Mavericks. Tatum's been out less than 10 months after tearing his right Achilles tendon in the playoffs last season against the Knicks. That's your Bloomberg Sports Update. Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Daybreak coming up after this. Support for the show comes from Public. Public is an investing platform that offers access to stocks, options, bonds, and crypto. And they've also integrated AI with tools that can assist investors in building customized portfolios. One of these tools is called Generated Assets. It allows you to turn your ideas into investable indexes.

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15:41Coast to coast on Bloomberg Radio. nationwide on Sirius XM and around the world on Bloomberg.com and the Bloomberg Business App. This is Bloomberg Daybreak. Good morning. I'm Nathan Hager coming to the end of the first week of the war with Iran, but there is little end in sight to the war itself. Joining us this morning from Istanbul is Bloomberg News Middle East breaking news editor Patrick Sykes. Patrick, what is the latest? Good morning. Hi there. No sign of let up, as you say. The Iranians overnight are saying they've got no intention to negotiate and they haven't asked for a ceasefire, denying some of the reports we've had over the past few days to that effect.

16:20And strikes are still happening today in Israel, in Saudi, Qatar, Kuwait, northern Iraq as well. The latter, I think, an important one to watch because of the reports over the past few days about potential U.S.-Kurdish coordination to weaken the regime in Iran. And the headline I saw from Qatar as well, that it might be shutting down oil production completely until the fighting stops. What's the latest on that? Yeah, oil and particularly gas and LNG will be important for Qatar. One of the biggest producers in the world. And currently, all of that is stuck on the wrong side of the Strait of Hormuz.

17:00I think that spooked the market, and we saw oil react to that because it just underlines the potential for this to continue for weeks. I think he said something to the effect of if it's four or five weeks kind of timeline, then we could see oil going to$150 a barrel. That's almost double where we are now. So, again, the market is super honed in on the duration of the conflict to gauge the risk. There is some question about the duration, given that President Trump has said that Iran's air defenses and navy are gone and the missile launchers as well have been depleted. What could that say about the extent of the damage and how much longer this could go on?

17:40I think our colleagues on the geoeconomic side have done some good analysis about this, and they give the nuance that that air dominance, air superiority is true, but it's in very specific areas, right? It's not the case that the U.S., Israel can fly unimpeded, without risk, over the whole of the territory of Iran. If you look at the map, they've really been focused on the western part, near the border, that enemy-facing side of Iran. But there's still, I think, in there a lot of targets to go for further inland. And that's why I think there's still plenty of scope for it to continue. Just 30 seconds left, Patrick, but what's the air travel situation like right now?

18:21We fundamentally are still extremely disrupted. We've seen some companies and an individual corporate companies as well arranging emergency flights out. But fundamentally, that disruption is still ongoing. Interestingly, with a story about people crossing the border from Dubai to get to Oman and hiring private jets to fly out. So there's been a big spike in private jet travel as well. This is Bloomberg Daybreak, your morning podcast on the stories making news from Wall Street to Washington and beyond. Look for us on your podcast feed by 6 a.m. Eastern each morning on Apple, Spotify or anywhere else you listen.

19:01You can also listen live each morning starting at 5 a.m. Wall Street time on Bloomberg 1130 in New York, Bloomberg 99.1 in Washington, Bloomberg 92.9 in Boston and nationwide on Sirius XM Channel 121. Plus, listen coast to coast on the Bloomberg Business app now with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto interfaces. And don't forget to subscribe to Bloomberg News Now. It's the latest news whenever you want it, in five minutes or less. Search Bloomberg News Now on your favorite podcast platform to stay informed all day long. I'm Karen Moscow. And I'm Nathan Hager. Join us again tomorrow morning for all the news you need to start your day right here on Bloomberg Daybreak.

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