Israel Widens Gaza Offensive; Spotify Cuts Jobs; Bitcoin Hits $41,000

On today's podcast: 1) Israel’s military is expanding its operations across the Gaza Strip , with the expectation of a ground invasion of southern Gaza looming and warnings to many of the territory’s 2.2 million residents to evacuate again. 2) Spotify shares rise after the company said it will reduce headcount by about 17% . It's at least the third time this year the streaming service has cut jobs. 3) Bitcoin tops $41,000 as the largest digital asset extends a 2023 rebound on expectations of interest-rate cuts and the prospect of greater demand from the exchange-traded funds sector. FULL TRANSCRIPT: Good morning. I'm Nathan Hager and I'm Karen Moscow. Here are the stories we're following today. We bring you the latest developments out of the Middle East. A US Navy ship has responded to a flurry of drone and missile strikes against commercial ships in the Red Sea. At the same time, Israel's military is expanding its operations now across the Gaza Strip. We get the latest from Bloomberg News Israel Bureau chief Ethan Brauner in Tel Aviv. We're expecting a ground operation this week. I imagine in han yunis As, the main city in the south there, that they believe this is after all, where yaj Sinoar, the head of Hamas, where he's from, and they think that both he and Muhammad, they've the military chief of Hamas, are underground in tunnels there. So they have started asking people who have either or living there or who've moved there from the north to move yet again, causing a lot of displacement and concern and fear. And I think it is going to be a difficult week. Bloomberg's Ethan Broner says Israel has struck about two hundred targets, including weapons storage facilities and a school in northern Gaza, where it says Hamas was operating. Meanwhile, Nathan Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is sending a warning to Israel about using too much for sun civilian populations in Gaza. We get that part of the story from Bloomberg's Ed Baxter. The caution comes as Israeli soldiers move with great force to the south. Secretary Austin is urging extreme caution. If you drive them into the arms of the enemy, you replace a technical victory with a strategic defeat. So I have repeatedly made clear to Israel's leaders that protecting Palestin and civilians in Gaza is both a moral responsibility and a strategic imperative. Austin has drawn criticism from Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who calls him naive, saying strategic failure is letting Hamas stand. Ed Baxter Bloomberg Radio, Okay, and thank you. The administrations ramping up pressure on Congress over aid to Ukraine. White House Budget Director SHLANDA. Young says the US will run out of funds to assist Ukraine by the end of this year unless Congress acts Republican Senator James Lankford says he thinks the deal can get done by then with the funds tied to border security. We're going to do this all together. That's been the agreement that again from the White House originally and asked for all these things to be together. We have agreed to do all these things to be able together. We can get this done by the end of the year. Senator Lankford was on ABC's This Week, which you can hear every Sunday on Bloomberg Radio. The White House is seeking more than sixty one billion dollars in Ukraine eight as part of one hundred and five billion dollar emergency package that also includes funds for Israel, Pacific allies and border security. Well, we turned to Wall Street Now Nathan An optimism over FED rate cuts next year has several markets on the move. This morning we had the latest of the Bloomberg's John Tucker, John and Karen Traders are still digesting FED share Jerome Palell's comments on Friday. This is part of what he had to say. We are prepared to Titan policy further if it becomes appropriate to do so. Well. Powell also said monetary policies well into restrictive territory, and in the selective hearing of investors, that's the narrative. Wall Street latched onto the S and B five hundred continued It's March higher. Friday, treasure yields tumbled, and as we start the new trading week, gold earlier shot past a previous all time high, Bitcoin back above the forty one thousand level to the Hygha sins April of twenty twenty two. The everything rally will need some data to back it up. The latest reading on job openings or jolts. That's due tomorrow, and the jobs report is out on Friday. I'm John Tucker, Bloomberg Radio. All right, John, Thanks. You've also got deals to start the week, including one in the air. Alaska air Group has agreed to buy rival Hawaiian Airlines. More on that from Bloomberg's Doug Grisner. Alaska will pay roughly a billion dollars for shares in Hawaiian holdings and take on about nine hundred million dollars in Hawaiian debt. Hawaiian has been hurt by the slow return of tours in between Asia and Hawaii after the pandemic. The carrier has also struggled as Southwest Airlines ramped up in the Hawaii to US market. Alaska Air's proposal may be tested. The Biden administration stance on mergers has already thwarted one airline deal, Jet Blue Airways cash takeover of Spirit Airlines. That lawsuit is nearing a close in New York. I'm Doug Prisner, Bloomberg Radio. Okay, Doug, thanks, and shares of Alaska air Group are down more than nine percent in early trading, and we have a deal this morning. In the drug industry, Nathan Roach Holding has agreed to pay as much as three point one billion dollars for Karmath Therapeutics. The company is developing a new type of weight loss treatment that sparked a pharma industry gold rush. Karmot's drugs are still in early stages of development, but the deal could lead to a competitor to the likes of a Govi and Eli. Llloy's zepp Bound analysts estimate the weight loss market could reach one hundred billion dollars by the end of the decade. Shares of Roach You're up more than two percent overseas, and shares of Spotify are up more than two percent as well. In Earth Trading, Karen that company is cutting headcount by about seventeen percent. The job cuts will effect about fifteen hundred people. It is at least the third time this year Spotify has reduced headcount. Spotify is on pace to add more than one hundred million users this year, It's biggest year yet. The company also reported a rare profit last quarter. Now, Nathan, let's get an update from the COMP twenty eight climate summit in Dubai. Bill Gates was once the world's richest man, and now he's devoted a large chunk of his fortune to fighting climate change. We asked the Microsoft co founder if he thinks the world can meet the global warming targets from the twenty fifteen Paris Agreement. No, we won't hit hit the aspirational targets. Well, you can do the math on one point five and even two point zero. Isn't that likely? And still Bill Gay says he's still optimistic the world can avoid becoming three degrees celsius warmer than the pre industrial era. And you can hear more of our conversation with Bill Gates coming up shortly on the program Time Now for a look at some of the other stories making news around the world. For that, we're joined by Bloomberg's Amy Moore is seeing good morning, Good morning, Kiera. The US Supreme Court will your arguments today in the bankruptcy deal for oxyconton maker Purdue Pharma. ABC News spoke to attorney at Niger, an attorney for some of the plaintiffs who helped negotiate that settlement. In a way, this case is about deterrens. It's about holding corporate leaders and owners accountable for their business decisions. The six billion dollar deal gives Purdue Pharma's owners the Sackler Family immunity, protecting them from lawsuits. A leading national health expert says the US should experience a more typical flu and virus season this winter. We're probably looking at a more typical winter pathogen season what we've seen in past years. Speaking on CBS's Face the Nation, former FDA Commissioners doctor Scott Gottlieb says the level of RSV and flu cases is abating, but he is still encouraging everyone to get vaccinated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says about a third of Americans or not getting enough sleep nurse Susan Harris, a sleep expert, says sleep controls everything in our lives, and without it, we struggle. It's essentially another pandemic that we are experiencing. She says sleep is the most underestimated and underutilized health aight in modern society. US Air Forces divers have discovered wreckage and remains of crew members from a US Air Force Osprey aircraft that crashed last week off southwestern Japan. Sources say five bodies in the bulk of the wreckage were located underwater. The Osprey plunged into the sea off the island of Yakashima on Wednesday. Eight people were on board. The latest class of Kennedy Center Honorees were inducted last night, including comedian Billy Crystal, soprano Renee Fleming, singer, songwriter, producer and member of the Begs Berry Gibb rapper, singer and actress Queen Latifah, and singer Dion Warwick. President Biden says the performing arts reflect who we are as Americans and as human beings. That's especially true for more than two hundred Kennedy Center honorees over the past forty six years have helped shape how we see ourselves, how we see each other, and how we see our world. The gala event took place last night, hosted by previous honor Ey Gloria Stefan. The show will air on Wednesday, December twenty seventh on CBS Global News twenty four hours a day and whenever you want it with Bloomberg News Now. I'm Amy Morris and this is Bloomberg Karen. All right, Amy, thank you what we do bring you news throughout the day. As Amy said right here on Bloomberg Radio, but also, as she said, you can get the latest news on demand whenever you want it. So the question is how do you do it? While you subscribe to Bloomberg News Now, and then you can get the latest headlines right at the click of a button. Get informed on your schedule. You can listen and subscribe to Bloomberg News Now on the Bloomberg Business app, Bloomberg dot com, plus Apple, Spotify, and pretty much anywhere else you get your podcasts. So it's time now for the Bloomberg Sports Update. For that, we bring in John stash out gun Karen. Before the NFL kicked off controversy in college football the last year that the playoff is only four teams. Next year it's going to twelve, so the last time this is likely to happen, a team goes undefeated in a Power five conference and doesn't get invited. It happened to Florida State, who went thirteen to zero in the ACC also beat two SEC teams LSU and Florida. A week ago, the Seminoles were ranked in the top four. Alabama was only eighth, but the Crimson Tide had the upset of Georgia in the SEC championship game, and Bama is off to the Rose Bowl to play Michigan on New Year's Day. That's the first semi final. Washington will play Texas and the Sugar Bowl in the other two teams who've never been in the playoff before. It came down to Bama and Florida State, and the committee went with the Crimson Tide and the Seminoles will settle for the Orange Ball, which is not a playoff bowl. The big NFL game was in Philadelphia, a rematch of last year's NFC Championship. This time the forty nine ers wanted easily forty two to nineteen. They scored two touchdowns at each of the last three quarters. Deebo Samuel into the end zone three times. Brock forty through fourteen he passes. The Niners are nine and three, the Eagles are ten and two. The Patriots are two and ten. Shut out at home for the second time this year. They went to Bailey Zappi as their quarterback. That didn't work. Pat's loss of the Chargers six to nothing. Fourth strad loss for the Commander is beaten at home by Miami forty five to fifteen. The Bruin beat Columbus three to one. Scottie Scheffler won the World Hero Golf in the Bahamas at twenty under park John Stashaewa. Bloomberg Sports from coast to coast, from New York to San Francisco, Boston to Washington, DC, nationwide on Syrias exam the Bloomberg Business app in Bloomberg dot Com. This is Bloomberg Daybreak. Good morning. I'm Nathan Hager. Let's get to the latest from the Middle East. Now, where Israel is mourning residents of southern Gaza to evacuate. A new ground invasion of that part of the Palestinian held enclave is expected and soon at the same time, the US Navy is responding to drone and missile attacks against commercial ships operating in the Red Sea. For the very latest, we are joined now by Bloomberg's Oliver Crook, who has been following this war since the October seventh Hamas attack in southern Israel. Ali, good morning. What is the latest that we're hearing from the Gaza strip and beyond. That's right, Nathan, so we have you know, after this truce expired on Friday, you had seven day pause in the fighting. It has really taken a hold once again, and not in any sort of less significant phase. And now we have a new phase, as it's being described by the Israelis, which is really a focus on the southern part of Gaza. We remember that the first part of the operation was that ground defensive after pummeling of the northern part of Gaza. That appears to now be expanding to the south and that is seemingly going to focus around the city of Communists, where the Israelis say that the Hamas leadership has entrenched themselves. They're inside the tunnels, is what they're saying. They're asking people to evacuate to go to. Now what they've set up our safe zones, no target zones, they say, and again they have said that they are doing this with a caution to civilian life and that they have learned some lessons from the North on effectiveness and this sort of thing. But we also need to think about how densely populated now. Of course, the south of Gaza is after all of the evacuations in the north, and that was the whole effort for the last eight weeks, was getting people out of the north into the south, and now the operation will move down that way. And now the question is with this idea that Israel has set up some kind of safe zones and the word we got yesterday from a White House National Security spokesman John Kirby that the Israel has even posted maps online where people can go. Are those locations as safe as Israel is indicating? I mean, that's the big question right now. This is yeah, this is a permanent question throughout this What I think has changed now when we enter into this new phase of the war and yet another phase is the international scrutiny is even more intense. Perhaps it is not as headline grabbing the war as it was in the very beginning, but there's certainly a lot of pressure on Israel now, and particularly from its historic allies. We've heard comments over the weekend from Emmanuel Macon, who has taken a sort of slightly more measured approach on the Israel issue, saying that basically aiming the aim of eliminating Hamas will require a decade of war, and so that Israel's objectives need to be clarified. But we heard it from Kamala Harris. We're saying that too many Palestinians have died Blinken in his third trip to Israel. You know, the tone has shifted and shifted and shifted, saying that really, again, there needs to be fewer people dying as this operation goes on. So you are seeing a shift in that. So perhaps that pressure will have to make that a top priority for the Israelis now. I guess, I would imagine it would be a little too soon to say whether that shift in rhetoric is actually leading to a shift in tactics when it comes to how Israel carries out this war in the days and weeks to come, and tries more, I guess, plainly to show the international community that it is doing what it can to limit civilian casualties. Yeah, yeah, I mean I think you certainly will get that. You got it from just now from the IDEFA spokesman's coming out and again emphasizing the civilian side of it. But again we heard from the chief of staff from the Israeli Defense Forces over the weekend and we were asked. They were being asked basically, what does this thing in the south look like? What does this operation look like? And they would say it will be as thorough in the south at as it has been in the north. And again everyone is going to be paying attention to the casualty numbers, the figure of dead. We understand that that figure is now at fifteen thousand, five hundred people that have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of this war. Eighty percent of the two point two million people have been displaced. I mean, these are just huge figures. The Israeli say that five thousand are Hamas fighters that are now dead. And again, now the operation is going through the tunnels and dealing with all of these things. But again we are on day fifty nine of this day sixty is coming up tomorrow, and there's not really an end in sight, and in the meantime, we mentioned that the US has been responding to attempted attacks and in some cases I guess successful attacks as well. On commercial shipping in the Red Sea, I mean, there are two potential questions there. What is the risk that this escalates into a wider war and what's the risk to shipping to supply lines globally. It's something that really the market is also very intensely, you know, focused on with all of these sort of spillover effects. And as we know, the United States has been intercepting missiles over the Red Sea over the last few weeks, coming from Yemen all the way up the Red Seas is a huge distance across, and is it a top priority to mitigate all that the Saudis that are on the border with Yemen, you know, some we understand that they've been firing into their airspace and all of these are sort of the potential conflict points. However, again we see all of the same risks we've seen for the last few weeks and months, which is Hezbollah in the north of Israel. Again, there's still some attacks there, but nothing that really stands out as a dramatic escalation. But these are all the things that the market certainly will be playing close attention to. In the United States has its significant naval fleet out there to deter exactly this kind of behavior. Absolutely, And as you mentioned, this week will mark two months since the October verse seventh attack. This Thursday will be that two month mark. Raises the question about how much longer this conflict can go on and whether Israel needs to spell out more clearly what its objectives are, what dismantling and destroying Hamas will mean. This is exactly the point, what does that mean. We know that the aim is to dismantle Hamas. The question is again with an insidiousness of an ideology which is not just composed of a very sort of neat selection of human beings that once they're gone, it's gone. This is the problem and this is the problem that the Israelis have and this is where again the support of the international community will be tested as this war continues to rumble on. And the other issue you have is obviously you have the situation in Gaza, but when you look at the West Bank, they after the cease fire, where you had the hostages released and you have a many Palestinian prisoners released. You saw a lot of Hamas flags running in the West Bank because they're seeing this. Hamas to a degree is standing up for the Palestinian cause. It is bringing results, it is bringing people back home. And again this only complicates this matter, which again it's very hard to be very optimistic about this, but there needs to be some kind of political or diplomatic breakthrough for there to be a durable solution to this conflict that has plagued the reason for many, many, many decades. All right, Bloomberg's Oliver Crook joining us this morning, who's been part of our team covering this conflict between Israel and Hamas since the October seventh attack. And Oliver with us this morning. Thanks again for being with us. And now we want to bring you our conversation with Bill Gates, the co founder of Microsoft, who is one of the many dignitaries at the COP twenty eight climate summit in Dubai. Gates says the world probably will not meet the goal from the twenty fifteen Paris Agreement of limiting the rising global temperatures to one and a half degrees celsius, but that doesn't mean he isn't optimistic about the fight against climate change. Bill Gates praised the COP Summit for making progress on tackling global warming despite geopolitical tensions. Gates spoke with Bloomberg's Farancy Laquai from Dubai discussing COP twenty eight, the warming Planet, and how he measures success against climate change. Let's go to part of that discussion. Climate change. Overall, it's a challenge to the world. Hydrocarbons have been very cheap. Our economy is built around in coal, gas oil, and so we have to make this change. The progression of inventing new approaches, green approaches, and then implementing them and over time scaling them and getting them so cheap what I call zero green premium. You first have to have risk capital. Then you have to have bigger amounts capital, eventually, as they say, trillions of dollars to get every country to replace it's steel plants at cement plants and so depending on the emissions area. Some of these things like steel and cement were at the very early stage. Some like electric cars, at least at the high end the green premium you could says zero, not for for low cost cars where you park on the street. But you so all these things and the faster we go, the less temperature increase. We'll see. But do you think we're going fast enough to actually hit the targets that were set out in the Paris Agreement? No, we won't hit hit no to aspirational targets. Well, you can do the math on one point five and even two point zero. Isn't that likely? Now? Fortunately, if you stay below three, a lot of the ill effects that people have heard about don't happen unless you really are irresponsible and let it get up to the higher range. Where do you see the role of fossil fuels going forward, Well, we have to outcompete fossil fuels. Now. To do that properly, they you know, they shouldn't get subsidies, and in fact a carbon tax over time should be put on so that the new you know, say the electric car or the plane that use hydrogen, the fact it doesn't emit carbon, you're helping it get adoption. Those companies have skills, you know, if you want to sequester carbon or you know nuclear wayt or there's a lot of skills if you want to make biofuels. You know, some of those companies will take the capital and skills they have you know, so I wouldn't you know, say okay, I wish they weren't there. You know, people still, you know, there's no country that can say, okay, we have zero emissions. Uh. You know, people want to drive to work. You know. In fact, the excess supply when Russia cut off its supply in the world was sort of glad that was available. And so yes, oil and gas needs to be out competed, and those companies need to join the effort. I know you look at a lot of technologies and a lot of innovation, but is there one thing that you've been most excited about. If we can get either nuclear fission or fusion to be safe and broadly accepted and very economic because it's not whether dependent, it would be very complementary to the large amount of solar and wind that we're putting into our electric system. And so I'm biased. I'm a huge investor in both fission and fusion and hoping that it comes in time. This is Bloomberg Daybreak Today. Hey, your morning brief on the stories making news from Wall Street to Washington and beyond. Look for us on your podcast feed at six am Eastern each morning on Apple, Spotify, and anywhere else you get your podcasts. You can also listen live each morning starting at five am Wall Street Time on Bloomberg eleven three to zero in New York, Bloomberg ninety nine to one in Washington, Bloomberg one oh six to one in Boston, and Bloomberg ninety sixty in San Francisco. Our flagship New York station is also available on your Amazon Alexa devices. Just say Alexa Play Bloomberg eleven thirty plus. Listen coast to coast on the Bloomberg Business app, seriusxmb iHeartRadio app, and on Bloomberg dot Com. I'm Nathan Hager and I'm Karen Moscow. Join us again tomorrow morning for all the news you need to start your day right here on Bloomberg Daybreak See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.