Trump's 8pm Iran Ultimatum, Astronauts Moon Mission Return

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1:51And when losses do happen, the Hartford can pair that risk control work with insurance coverage grounded in underwriting, risk engineering, and claims experience developed over time. Learn more at thehartford.com slash risk mitigation. 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, President Trump is ramping up threats with his latest deadline for a deal to end the war with Iran now just hours away. The president says free flow of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz must be part of any agreement.

2:33And if there's no deal by eight o 'clock tonight, he says the U.S. will lay waste to the country. Every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o 'clock tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be used again. I mean, complete demolition. President Trump spoke yesterday at a White House news conference heard live on Bloomberg Radio. We get more from Bloomberg Middle East correspondent Jumana Bersechi in Dubai. A very tense 24 hours coming up over here in the region, and you don't need to go so far as to look back at the various comments that President Trump has made over the course of the weekend, including that very explosive true social post that he put up on Easter Sunday, essentially saying to Iran that unless they open up the straits and do so unconditionally, then the U.S.

3:26would have no option but to strike back and to go after their power plants. And he then subsequently gave that deadline 8 p.m. Eastern time, which translates to around 3, 4 in the morning over here in the region. Bloomberg's Jumana Berset, she reports Iran has threatened to ramp up its own attacks on energy infrastructure across the Persian Gulf. if President Trump goes after civilian targets. Iran's president, Masoud Pazeshkin, says 14 million Iranians have volunteered to sacrifice themselves in the war, including himself. Iranian state media are reporting at least 18 people were killed today in an airstrike targeting Alborz province bordering Tehran.

4:00Nathan, now a Bloomberg exclusive. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told Vladimir Putin during a phone call that he was willing to go to great lengths to assist the Russian president. Bloomberg News obtained a transcript of a phone call between the two leaders. Ben Sills is our managing editor for Economy and Government News in Europe and Russia. It pulls back the curtain on the relationship between Orban and Putin. We've known for a long time that Orban is an ally of Putin, that he has been working to further Russian interests and often frustrate what most other EU members would consider European interests for a number of years, particularly over the war in Ukraine.

4:43But what this morning's story kind of shows you is just how close Orban is with Putin. And Bloomberg's Ben Sills says the relationship between Orban's government and the Kremlin is coming under increasing scrutiny as Hungarians prepare to vote in an election this weekend. Karen, the four astronauts of Artemis II are preparing to head back to Earth after a history-making trip around the far side of the moon. One of the biggest highlights was coming back from the far side of the moon and having the first glimpses of planet Earth again after being out of communication for about 45 minutes. It really just reminds you what a special place we have.

5:21Mission specialist Christina Koch reflected after the Orion crew capsule emerged from the communications blackout last night, the spacecraft came within 4 ,067 miles of the lunar surface at its closest point. Minutes later, it reached a record-setting distance from Earth, more than 252 ,000 miles. President Trump phoned in to congratulate the astronauts on their achievement. Your mission paves the way for America's return to the lunar surface very soon. And we're going all out. We're doing everything we can. And it's headed up by Jared. We'll plant our flag once again. And this time we won't just leave footprints.

5:58We'll establish a permanent presence on the moon. And we'll push on to Mars. And the president invited the astronauts to the White House. But before that, they've got to splash down in the Pacific Ocean. That final phase of Artemis II is set for Friday. Well, Nathan, back here on Earth. Voters in Georgia's 14th congressional district will pick a replacement for Marjorie Taylor Greene in a special congressional runoff in Bloomberg's Amy Morris has the latest. The runoff is between Democrat Sean Harris and Republican Clay Fuller, the top two vote getters in the March 10th special election. Harris is a retired Army Brigadier General who lost Marjorie Taylor Greene in the 2024 general election.

6:38Fuller is a district attorney who has President Trump's endorsement. The outcome of this runoff will affect the balance of power in the U.S. House, where Republicans currently have a 217 to 214 majority. In Washington, Amy Morris, Bloomberg Radio. Thanks, Amy, from ballots to brackets. Now, for the first time in more than 35 years, the Michigan Wolverines are men's NCAA basketball champions. Let's get the details from Bloomberg sports reporter John Stashauer. John. Nathan, it was a tight game in Indianapolis. I had grinded out, low scoring affair. One team had the lead throughout the second half.

7:14Caravan tracks it down with two seconds. With one, he throws it to half court. And since 1989, there's been a blank space in the Michigan trophy case. We'll write their name. Michigan, the 2026 men's basketball national champions. On Westwood, one 69-63 over UConn. Wolverines shot only 38%, made only two three-pointers, but made all but three of their 28 free throws. Capped a 37-3 season, handing UConn its first-ever tournament final defeat, the Huskies had been 6-0. Reaction coming up in sports, John Stashauer, Bloomberg Radio. Karen, Nathan. All right, John, thank you. Well, every year, Bloomberg assembles a group of business and finance titans to pick out their March Madness brackets for a cause, and each of the participants picks a charity and pledges$20 ,000.

8:02This year's winner is Neuberger Berman CEO George Walker, who successfully picked Michigan to win it all. Mr. Walker's charity selection was Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Another billionaire, Karen, Bill Ackman, is thinking of a big deal in music. His Pershing Square Capital Management is offering to buy Universal Music Group in a deal that could be valued at more than$60 billion. UMG represents artists including Taylor Swift and Drake. Under a proposal, Ackman would merge Universal stock with an acquisition company, effectively moving the listing from Amsterdam to New York. Well, we have several major insurance stocks on the rise this morning.

8:42Nathan, the jump comes after the U.S. Medicare program finalized a 2.48 % rate hike for health insurers in 2027. Investors see the pay boost as a meaningful improvement over the initial rates the agency proposed in January. Shares of Alignment Health are surging 17%. Humana up more than 10%. And UnitedHealthcare and CVS are up more than 6 % in early trading. And Karen Broadcom says it plans to deliver chips to AI startup Anthropic. It'll use Google's Tensor Processing Units, or TPUs, offering an alternative to technology developed by NVIDIA. The three companies are also expanding a strategic collaboration that will let Anthropic access about 3.5 gigawatts worth of computing power.

9:24That will begin in 2027.

9:30Time 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. Vice President J.D. Vance visits Hungary today, where he will meet with Prime Minister Viktor Orban ahead of that country's election on April 12th. Vance spoke briefly to the press as he boarded a plane in Maryland. Looking forward to seeing my good friend Viktor. And, you know, we'll talk about any number of things related to the U.S.-Hungary relationship. Obviously, I'm sure Europe and Ukraine and all the other stuff will figure in pretty prominently.

10:03orban is trailing in the polls to anti-corruption opposition candidate peter magyar orban has led hungary for 16 years and according to a person familiar with the matter hungary will reach a deal to buy oil from the u.s during vance's visit the world health organization announced that it was suspending evacuations from gaza after a worker contracted to help them was killed on monday Israel and Hamas have accused each other of violating the ceasefire. In Indianapolis, a city council member who reportedly voted to approve a data center had gunshots fired at his home. Police say they're searching for a suspect.

10:44Councilman Ron Gibson says he and his eight-year-old son were home at the time of the shooting. Well, my fate caused me to forgive. I'm a Christian, so I must forgive. I would just ask him why. Councilman Gibson says 13 rounds were fired at his home. Some of those bullets landing just steps from their dining room table. Data centers are used to store, train, and operate AI models. They are considered controversial because they also gobble up power and water. New York Mayor Zoran Mamdani has reportedly named a former senior Biden administration official to be his new child welfare commissioner.

11:23Rebecca Jones-Gaston spent time in foster care as an infant. The mayor plans to officially announce Gaston's appointment later today. Global news 24 hours a day and whenever you want it with Bloomberg News Now. I'm Michael Barr and this is Bloomberg. Karen. All right, Michael Barr, thank you.

11:43Time now for the Bloomberg Sports Update. Here's John Stashauer. John, good morning. Good morning, Karen. Not the way Michigan usually wins in the first five of the NCAA tournament. and Wolverines scored 90 or more points. The scoring was down in the championship game in Indianapolis, but Michigan pulled it out over UConn 69-63, capping a 37-3 season filled with lopsided victories. The Michigan coach is Dusty May. We've talked about being in close games. Well, we haven't been in a close game like this all year where there was a lot of friction in our huddles. The emotion was pouring out late in the game because there were such extreme runs.

12:17There's always runs. These were extreme runs, and I was proud of our guys. They were able to regulate their emotions, get back together, and figure out a way to win. Michigan's second title ever. The other was 1989. They had lost to the title game four times since. UConn in its history in championship games was 6-0, including two recent ones. The Huskies' Alex Caravan was trying to win for him a third title. It hurts a lot right now, but I'm just reminding myself right now that, you know, when I came into UConn, how much I've grown. and I'm ultimately leaving UConn at a better place right now from where I started.

12:53So I gave it everything I got. I gave it my heart. Michigan's Elliott Kiddow named the tourney's most outstanding player. The Knicks in Atlanta facing a hot team. They could be meeting in the first round of the playoffs. It was a playoff atmosphere and the Hawks, C.J. McCollum, hit a shot from beyond half court that would have sent the game to overtime, but it left his hand a fraction of a second after the buzzer. The Knicks won 108-105. Michael Malone, who three years ago coached the Denver Nuggets to the NBA championship. The new coach at North Carolina, where the football coach is six-time Super Bowl winner Bill Belichick.

13:25Dexter Lawrence, the middle of the Giants' defensive line the past seven years, now demanding a trade, won't show up for the Giants' offseason workouts. Lawrence has two years left on his contract. Mets host the A's tonight. They have put Juan Soto on the injured list with a strained cast. Soto won't play the next two to three weeks. John Steschauer, Bloomberg Sports, Karen Neckham. Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Daybreak coming up after this.

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15:53Coast 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 up to the latest deadline for Iran to reach a deal to end the U.S. war, President Donald Trump is ramping up threats against key infrastructure if there's no agreement by 8 o 'clock tonight. The entire country could be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night. And that was President Trump at a White House news conference yesterday, heard live on Bloomberg Radio this morning, Joining us from Dubai is Bloomberg Middle East correspondent Jumana Bersechi, the anchor of Bloomberg Horizons.

16:33And among the many questions this morning, Jumana, is whether President Trump follows through with this latest deadline and what it could mean for the war if he does. Good morning. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, he's got a couple of options here. He could follow through if there is no deal. And all that means the signs are looking pretty slim now for a diplomatic breakthrough. So if he does follow through, then that would mean we would see a massive intensification of these military operations, possibly maybe even ground troop involvement. We've been reporting on the bulking up of military assets in the region.

17:06And of course, repercussions from Iran onto Gulf states as well. So there's a real sense of nervousness the next 24 hours. But then he could equally move the deadline. He could shift the ultimatum. He's done that before at the risk of undermining U.S. credibility, of course. Or he could also do nothing and declare victory, which is also within the range of outcomes. So we don't really have a lot of visibility about what is going to happen. Ultimately, this decision will lie and rest with the U.S. president. But what I can tell you from the region is there has been intensification of mediation efforts in the last 24 hours from the likes of Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt to try to bring the two sides together at least to secure a ceasefire.

17:55Have they gotten any closer to coming together? I mean, the last we heard from the Iranian side was not only did they reject the latest ceasefire proposal, but they came back with even more demands of their own. That's correct. And again, multiple media reports overnight, some suggesting that there is a window, a glimmer of hope for diplomacy. If you go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of each one of those countries that I mentioned, Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkey, all of them are pointing to many back channels that are taking place, including conversations with Steve Witkoff. And reportedly, J.D.

18:31Vance is going to be involved in those discussions as well, if there is a follow through. But to your point, the Iranians continue to be defiant. They have put forward their own counter proposals of what they would like to see. And Iranian state TV over the weekend has said very clearly that they don't want to see just a temporary ceasefire. What they would like is a permanent cessation of hostilities. They want to see assurances from the US that this would never happen again, war reparations. And then the new one, of course, this is their new leverage. their point of leverage is some form of a new protocol over control of the Strait of Hormuz.

19:08And they are insisting that they should somehow be able to effectively manage still and introduce perhaps even a toll structure around the vessels that are capable of passing through the straits, an outcome which, of course, is unacceptable for the rest of the world. Of course, the president's put the strait front and center in his latest ultimatum as well. In our last 30 seconds, what does that say about the pressure he's under right now? Yeah, well, it all comes back to energy. And the longer the Strait of Hormuz stays closed, the more you're going to see upward push on not just oil, on gas, on energy products, on helium, on gas.

19:43And you're beginning to see that. It's beginning to bite. The price of gasoline, retail gasoline prices in the U.S. has started to shoot higher. And as that happens, public opinion and support of this war begins to fade. So it becomes a matter of political pressure. And I think he's identified that it's not an acceptable outcome for the rest of the world or for global energy markets in which Iran maintains sovereignty over the strait.

20:28Bloomberg 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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