Israel Poised to Storm Gaza City; Trump's Surprise Fed Pick

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1:32Bloomberg Daybreak Hosts:Policies provided by Hartford Fire Insurance Company and its property and casualty affiliates, Hartford, Connecticut. Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts. Radio. News. Good morning. I'm Nathan Hager. And I'm Karen Moscow. Here are the stories we're following today. Karen, we begin this morning with new developments in the Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has secured Security Cabinet approval for a military takeover of Gaza City. Netanyahu describes it as part of a final push to topple Hamas after 22 months of fighting and to recover the militant group's final remaining 50 hostages.

2:14We get more from Bloomberg Israel Bureau Chief Ethan Bronner in Tel Aviv. The prime minister has said repeatedly for many months that Israel must take over every square inch of Gaza in order to clear it of Hamas infrastructure and fighters and governing authority so that Hamas and Gaza will never be a threat again to Israel. So it's a very aggressive act and we'll have to see where it goes. There are almost a million people living in Gaza City. Israelis are going to forcibly evacuate them, to displace them, to go south. And at the same time with the U.S., they're talking about stepping up in a big way the amount of food and aid that goes in in order to take care of those people, at least in some minimal fashion.

2:57Bloomberg's Ethan Bronner says most polls show Israelis prefer to see the war called off with Hamas intact if that's the cost of recovering the hostages. Now, Nathan, the latest on the war in Ukraine. President Trump had given Russia until today to reach a truce or face economic penalties. Now the president says he's willing to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin with or without Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. It's going to be up to him. We're going to see what he has to say. It's going to be up to him. Very disappointing. President Trump's Oval Office comments overrode a White House official who'd said earlier that Putin would need to agree to meet with Zelensky first.

3:34We get more from Bloomberg's Tony Halpin. Well, in many ways, this is Russia's ideal scenario. They've long argued that the war in Ukraine isn't really against Ukraine, that it's against the U.S. and NATO and that it's being fought in Ukraine. And clearly, if they can demonstrate both to their people at home and in arguments abroad that they're sitting down with Trump to decide the war in Ukraine, that only strengthens their argument and strengthens their hand in claiming that they're really dealing with the West rather than having to confront the fact that they invaded Ukraine. And that's Bloomberg's Tony Halpin.

4:06The Kremlin says the U.S. and Russia have agreed on a venue and hope to hold the talks next week. Another major story we're following, Karen, involves the future of the Federal Reserve. President Trump has nominated Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Stephen Myron to serve as a Fed governor. Bloomberg's Amy Morris reports from Washington.

4:24Bloomberg Daybreak Hosts:President Trump says Myron, who will need to be confirmed by the Senate, would only serve the remaining term of Fed Governor Adriana Kugler, which expires in January. Myron has been critical of the Fed's track record and says tariffs are not likely to cause inflation pressure. We've now got several months of data, and again, there's just zero macroeconomically significant evidence of price pressures from tariffs. Steve and Myron in a conversation just hours before the president's announcement on Thursday with Balance of Power host Joe Matthew. That view puts him somewhat at odds with Powell. The Fed chair has said that while the base case is that tariffs' effects on inflation could be short-lived, Fed policymakers must guard against the alternative.

5:05Bloomberg Daybreak Hosts:In Washington, Amy Morris, Bloomberg Radio. Amy, thank you. Well, gold is trading near a record high this morning. Right now, COMEX Gold is at$34.87 an ounce. The spike comes after the Financial Times reported that bullion bars face U.S. tariffs. But again, more from Bloomberg Senior Editor Bill Ferries. It's one of these things that no one had on their bingo card, I think. FT reporting that gold bars at one kilogram, which are the most commonly traded form on the gold futures market, that those will also be subject to tariffs. And that was something I think traders markets had really bet would not happen.

5:41That hits Switzerland hard. It's another blow for them. They a lot of gold comes in and out of Switzerland. And Bloomberg's Bill Ferry says the levy will add to troubles for Swiss President Karin Keller-Sotter after President Trump handed Switzerland the highest country tariff among developed nations. Turning to some corporate news now, Karen, Intel CEO Lip Bouton says he has the full backing of his company's board. That's after President Trump called for his resignation, citing conflicts. In a letter to staff posted on the Intel website, Ton says he's reached out to the White House to clear up what he calls, quote, misinformation about his track record.

6:17Earlier this week, Republican Senator Tom Cotton asked the chairman of Intel's board to answer questions about Tom's ties to China, including investments in the country's semiconductor companies and others with connections to its military. Nathan, Japan's top trade negotiator says the U.S. has confirmed it would end the stacking of universal tariffs on Japan and cut car levies as promised. His comments followed talks in Washington on the details of last month's trade deal. No official comment yet on the latest meetings from the U.S. side. Let's get to the latest, Karen, on the fight over redistricting in the state of Texas.

6:54The latest is it's spreading. Republican lawmakers in Florida are talking now about redrawing their state's congressional map. Florida currently has 28 congressional districts. Twenty of them are held by Republicans. Meanwhile, Texas Senator John Cornyn says he's got the FBI involved in tracking down the Democrats who left his state to block a vote on their state's new map. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says it's a ridiculous move. The FBI should be spending its time chasing down violent criminals, terrorists, drug traffickers and child predators, not targeting political adversaries in a democracy here in America.

7:35House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is calling the Republican redistricting effort in Texas a clear power grab.

7:44Time 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 John Tucker. John, good morning. Good morning, Karen. Extreme heat will sear down across the U.S. Southwest, testing temperature records and putting about 7.5 million people under a sweltering, high-pressure dome. Bloomberg meteorologist Craig Allen. This is quite a heat dome, and while parked in the southwestern portion of the United States over the last several days, it is going to be migrating towards the east. A high-pressure system is centered over the region, blocking cloudier, rainier conditions and letting the temperatures build.

8:21The FBI, facing the most significant leadership shakeup since Kash Patel took over as director, The Trump administration is forcing out more senior officials, including a former acting director who resisted. Trump administration demands to turn over the names of agents who took part of the January 6th Capitol riot investigations. Two Pennsylvania state troopers in stable condition and a woman died after being shot in what officials say was a calculated ambush. State Police Commissioner Christopher Paris. Trooper Parashinsky was shot twice in the chest-slash-torso area. Trooper Jenkins was shot twice as well, once in each arm.

9:02The ambush apparently started off as a dispute between two neighbors. Police say the gunman was shot and killed. The New York Mets will be honoring the 60th anniversary of the Beatles' performance at Shea Stadium. More this morning from Bloomberg's Charlie Pellett. It happens August 15th. It's been a hard day tonight. The 1965 performance was a milestone because the Beatles became the first rock band to perform a major stadium concert. The first pitch will be thrown by members of the game day staff who were working the famous concert. But after the game, fans can stay put for a special themed fireworks show.

9:43In New York, Charlie Pellett, Bloomberg Radio. Global News 24 hours a day. Whenever you want it with Bloomberg News Now. I'm John Tucker. This is Bloomberg. It was like just yesterday, Karen. Oh, don't tell me you were at that too, John. I'm not taking that. All right, John, thank you.

10:02Time now for the Bloomberg Sports Update. Here's John Stashhour. John, good morning. Good morning, Karen. Speaking of the Mets, they've lost eight of their last nine games. They played tonight in Milwaukee. And the Brewers, since July 5th, are 21-4. They've won 70 games. Most of the majors just had a 6-0 road trip. While the Mets had a 1-5 homestand. Yankees had a 1-5 trip. They're back in the stadium to play Houston. A team that has had three recent ALCS wins over the Yanks. Red Sox winners of seven of the last eight are in San Diego. They'll face ex-Red Sox Nick Pavetta, who's 11-3 with the Padres in Toronto.

10:35Instead, that series sweep at Colorado by a combined score of 45-6. Blue Jays tonight at the Dodgers. battle of first place teams and it's Max Scherzer against Clayton Kershaw. Scherzer's got 218 career wins and Kershaw 217 together in nearly 6 ,500 strikeouts. The Jets preseason opener tomorrow night at Green Bay. Jets have a new coach and a new quarterback and here's Aaron Glenn on making sure Justin Fields remains confident. Listen, when you're at that position at the quarterback you can't hide from that. That's just part of it. I get it. I do. But that's the emotional maturity that we talk about.

11:10How, man, you can't let anything outside bother you, man. Just only focus on the guys that's in-house and only focus on getting better every day because you're going to always hear it and he understands the noises. It's just part of the business, part of being a quarterback. Fields has said they've had some tough moments in training camp. Giants play tomorrow afternoon in Buffalo. The Commanders and Patriots play tonight in Foxborough. Ashley Bucktia with an opening round 62 leads the St. Joe shoot golf in Memphis by one over Tommy Fleetwood. Scotty Scheffler trails by five. Ben Shelton won the tennis final in Toronto in a third set tiebreaker, the first American to win the event since Andy Roddick in 2003.

11:46The women's winner was 18-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko, ranked 85th coming in. She had an upset of Coco Gauff, and in the final, she beat Naomi Osaka. John Stash, Bloomberg Sports, Karen, Nathan. Bloomberg Daybreak U.S. Edition is brought to you by OTC Markets Group. Thinking about joining the exploding overnight market space, but unsure where to start? designed to meet the needs of a growing international investor base. OTC Markets' overnight platform for exchange-listed securities, Moon ATS, provides access to global securities in U.S. dollars from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. Eastern, Sunday through Thursday.

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12:46Bloomberg Daybreak Hosts:This is the Bloomberg Tech Minute brought to you by ChatGPT. Now with ChatGPT Work, I'm Carol Masser. DoorDash, the largest food delivery company in the U.S., is building its own delivery drones and has gained the necessary FAA approvals to operate them commercially. The latest in its effort to delegate more orders to robots as a way of cutting delivery times. Bloomberg's Natalie Lung reports the company says it has been conducting pilot programs with various restaurants, some of which have seen their order volume grow during the test period. The effort marks an expansion of DoorDash's in-house robotics efforts to reduce reliance on human couriers for some orders, as their wages constitute a key expense to the business.

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14:26Bloomberg Daybreak Hosts:Coast 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. Israel's Security Cabinet has approved a plan for a military takeover of Gaza City. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu describes it as a final push to defeat Hamas after nearly three years of fighting. The ultimate goal, he says, is full control of the Gaza Strip. We intend to, in order to assure our security, remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza and to pass it to civilian governance.

15:05That is not Hamas and not anyone advocating the destruction of Israel. That was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking to Fox News ahead of the security cabinet vote. And joining us this morning is Bloomberg News Israel Bureau Chief Ethan Bronner. Ethan, good morning. Could this represent a final phase in the war? What could the Israeli military encounter if it does indeed push into Gaza City on the ground? Good morning. Good morning, Nathan. Look, I mean, it's going to encounter, obviously, the kind of guerrilla warfare that, you know, we've seen in Vietnam and in Afghanistan and in Iraq.

15:41So, yes, it's going to certainly be bloody. What's going to happen now, in theory, is over the course of the coming weeks, Israel is going to forcibly displace the many hundreds of thousands of people who live in and around Gaza City to the south. In theory, they're going to also step up the provision of humanitarian aid to where those folks are headed. And then several, perhaps six divisions of Israeli soldiers are going to start moving into Gaza City and to try to dismantle whatever remaining infrastructure and Hamas command structure exists. That is the plan. Are the Israeli people behind this?

16:26There have been some reticence in the past about going into Gaza City because there was a thought that Hamas could be holding many of the remaining hostages there. Yes, you're right. I would say that public opinion at the moment is essentially negative to skeptical. It's not totally opposed because it does like the idea of trying to eliminate Hamas. But it's very worried about the remaining hostages, very worried about the soldiers going in. So I would say that it is an uphill battle in public opinion at the moment for this prime minister and this government. It has kind of felt that generally the world, the U.S., and even public opinion has been against a lot of its bolder moves in Iran, in Lebanon.

17:15and they feel that they have come out ahead in those endeavors and that they will do so here as well. And of course this is coming at a time that you've written about extensively that Israel is pressing on with this war despite the international outcry over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. A lot of Israelis have been starting to speak out about that more as well. How could a push into Gaza City exacerbate potentially what's happening in the rest of Gaza right now? Well, exactly. I mean, you're going to have hundreds of thousands of people moving into a very small area where there has not been enough medicine and food and what people need to live a decent life.

17:56And now you're going to have more people. They say with the help of the United States, they're going to at least triple, perhaps quadruple the amount of aid, the number of feeding stations and so on. But it has gone not well over these last couple of months. and it seems likely to continue to be a huge struggle. I mean, part of it is just this incredibly difficult situation for everybody on the ground who's been there for nearly two years of this, and the feeding stations aren't enough. And then there's, of course, the internal attempt by Hamas and those who oppose Israel and the United States to disrupt this whole procedure.

18:34So I think we can expect a lot of pain coming up for sure. In our last minute, Ethan, as we potentially prepare for this invasion into Gaza City, what about the thinking around what comes after Hamas? We heard Netanyahu saying there could be some kind of civilian administration, but is that feasible? Look, it's not my job to decide whether it's feasible or not, but it is unquestionably difficult. That has been this government's view, that once Hamas is actually removed from Gaza, then people there will no longer be afraid, will be willing to step forward as technocrats and as business people to create a more decent situation.

19:19A lot of people who think they know Gaza say that that is very unlikely. And the other question is whether if this government is not willing to let the Palestinian Authority in and it says it's not, so who's left? So look, I agree with you. It's very unclear whether it will work. They think they have the people to make it work. We will be watching.

20:14And 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.