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 with politics and a major move by President Biden. Less than two months before he leaves office. The President has reversed course and signed a sweeping pardon order for his son Hunter. We get more from Bloomberg News Senior editor Bill Ferries.
For Hunter Biden, it really wipes the slate clean for basically the entire past decade. So that includes these gun and tax charges that he had been convicted on in some cases and pled guilty on and others, and it also includes anything if there was anything out there that perhaps the legal system hadn't found at this point. It is really a complete and total pardon for all activities against the breaking US law since January twenty fourteen.
Bloomberg's Bill Ferries says the President reversed his previous stand that he would not use executive powers to aid his son. He justified the pardon by saying the case against Hunter was politically tinged, excessive, and designed to break him and his son Well Nathan.
Reaction is pouring into the Hunter Biden pardon. Former federal prosecutor LORII Levinson says it should not be a surprise.
I think everyone needs to recognize that with the broad power that presidents have to issue pardons, they will use them for family members and they will use them for close friends because the Constitution gives them this broad pardon power.
Former federal prosecutor Louri Levinson says Hunter Biden was found guilty of gun charges by a federal court in Delaware earlier this year. His sentencing in that case was set to take place next Thursday.
Mc karen President, like Donald Trump, is criticizing Biden's decision. In a post on his Truth social platform, Trump said, quote, does the pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the j six hostages who have now been imprisoned for years such an abuse and miscarriage justice?
End quote?
Well, Nathan and Debate is brewing in Washington over President elect Trump naming Cash Betel to take over the FBI. Patel has been outspoken against the FBI's investigation into possible Russian collusion with Trump's twenty sixteen campaign. Republican Senator Mike Grounds notes Trump and nominated the current FBI director Chris Ray, and he still has three years left on his term.
Once they've been nominated by the president, then the president gets the benefit of the doubt on the nomination. But we still go through a process, and that process includes advice and consent, which for the Senate means advice or consent.
Sometimes.
Republican Senator Mike Grounds is a guest on ABC's This Week Hear It's Sundays on Bloomberg Radio and Karen.
President elect Trump is bringing someone that he has pardoned into his administration, nominating Charles Kushner as US ambassador to France. The President elect praised Kushner as a tremendous business leader, philanthropist, and deal maker. Kushner is the father of of Jared Kushner, Trump's son in law and former senior advisor. He served two years in prison for filing false tax returns, witness retaliation,
and making false statements to the Federal Trade Commission. Trump pardoned Kushner near the end of his first term.
He can President elect Trump is issuing a tariff threat against the so called bricks and nations if they try to move away from the dollar. In a post on truth Social Trump repeated a threat of one hundred percent tariffs unless the Bricks promise not to create a new currency or back any other currency to replace the US dollar.
The Group of.
Emerging Market nations that include Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa discussed the dollarization at a summit last year. Despite the group's rhetoric, the infrastructure that backs the dollar, such as cross border payments, will likely give the green back the edge for decades to come.
Well Karen. Politics is also a major focus overseas. Marine Le Penn's National Rally party in France has threatened to support a no confidence motion against the French government unless Prime Minister Mishall Barnier makes changes to next year's budget, But Francis Finance Minister Antoine Armand tells Bloomberg News they will not accept artificial budget deadlines from the pen.
The French government doesn't take in tim atoms. It's looking at the French parliamentary debate. It's respecting each and every parliamentary debate that leads to an evolution. We will take into account what is changing, but we won't be blackmailed. We are committed to reduce the deficit.
French finance Minister and tuin Armand spoke with Bloomberg's Carolinkna and stocks in France right now are down seven tenths of one percent.
Let's turn to the markets now, Nathan, and stocks begin the last month of the year in record of fashion. The S and P five hundred rows five points seven percent in November, its best month this year, as investors plout one hundred and forty one billion dollars into US equities. So far this year, the S and P five hundred is up twenty six and a half percent.
Right now, shares of Stalantis are down eight and a half percent. The automaker's chief executive officer, Carlos Tavares, is stepping down. More on that story from Bloomberg's Denise Pellegrini.
Tavaris is quitting after prophet slumped and US sales weekened at the maker of gpsuvs and Fiat cars, and temporarily the automaker will be run by an interim committee headed by Chairman John elkenn Stillentis says a new CEO will be named in the first half of this coming year. Company also says tavares views on the carmaker's future differed from those of the board and some shareholders, and Stillentis
is confirming its financial guidance for the year. Bloomberg News reported in October Elkenn had begun a process to find a successor to Tavaris, but Tavaris later told reporters he would stay on until the end of his mandate in early twenty twenty six. Denise Pellogrene Bloomberg Radio.
And it's time 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 is increasing pressure on President elect Trump to work with President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahoo to free hostages in gazap In a new video, American Israeli hostage Iniden, Alexander asked Trump for help, and his father Addie Alexander spoke Sunday at a rally held in Central Park in New York City.
President Biden, President Trump, Prime Minister in Chinio.
I call on all of you to act.
This is not a moment for politics or hesitations.
Aldi Alexander says, no father should hear his child plead for his life like that. Meanwhile, a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hesbilan Lebanon remained in effect overnight. Overnight snowfall is buried western New York and Pennsylvania. One town in upstate New York already is seeing nearly fifty nine inches of snow. Frigid air that's passing over the relatively warm lake that triggered alerts and emergency declarations. In Erie, Pennsylvania.
The National Guard was called up to rescue stranded drivers, where even plow drivers got stuck. Crews including the US Coast Guard in Alaska, searching the cold waters southwest of Juneo for five people who are reporting that their fishing boat was overturning. High winds and heavy snow was reported in the search area. Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer John Highttower says they received an urgent distress caller from those aboard the fifty foot boat.
It was a media report from the members of this vessel that's currently being searched for. They reported that the vessel was overturning and that was all they got. Any further attempts to reach the vessel. We were not responded to the Coast Guards.
John high Tower says the boat's GPS emergency beacon led them to the area now being searched. New information about a security breach at one of New York's busiest airports during the Thanksgiving travel rush. Thirty say a stowaway discovering on board a Delta flight out of JFK to Paris is a Russian national who lives in the US and had not purchased a plane ticket. The woman remains in custody in France. Official say she somehow bypassed the document
check podium and the gate agent at JFK. Global News twenty four hours a day and whenever you want it with Bloomberg News Now. I'm Michael Baron.
This is Bloomberg Karent, Michael Barr.
Welcome back. It's good to have you.
Thank you.
Yeah, nice to do.
Time now for the Bloomberg Sports update brought to you. I try state Audie. Here's John stash Hour, John, good morning.
The morning hearing. Today is Aaron Rodgers's forty first birthday yesterday at midlife, and for much of this season he has looked rather old, though he did throw a pair of touchdown passes in the first quarter against Seattle. Rodgers also threw one in the second quarter that he'd liked to have Backritz is.
Coming through inside this kickoff.
Cleio Williams coming near sign. He's running like a race horse.
He's at big field.
Turnto philf Blockers, Holy should you kipping? Leo Williams.
He's gonna take it in for a touchdown.
Cheyhawks Hi rode the Coe Williams the ex Jet with a ninety two yard return, the longest NFL history by a defensive lineman. The Seahawks came from fourteen down took their first lead with five and a half minutes left. They beat the Jets twenty six twenty one in the snow. In Buffalo, the Bills beat forty nine ers thirty five to ten. The Bills have already clinched the AFC East.
Eighth straight win for Philadelphia twenty four to nineteen at Baltimore State, Huon Barkley again over one hundred yards at a twenty five yard TD run in the fourth quarter. Washington ended a three game losing the streak of forty two to nineteen round of Tennessee, Minnesota with its second five game win streak came from thirteen down, scored late,
beat Arizona by a point. The Patriots lost by a point a game with seven lead changes Indianapolis a game winning eighty yard nineteen play drive at a TV and two point conversion with twelve seconds left. Next back over the long road trip started a four game homestand on one to eighteen to eighty five blowout of New Orleans. Mckel bridges at his best game as a Nick, thirty one points. He made seven threes at Barkley's Orlando bet
the Nets one hundred and ninety two. The Mets have a deal to sign free agent piccher Frankie Montas two years, thirty four million. The Yankees acquired Montass from Oakland at the twenty twenty two trade deadlomit. He only won one game in eight starts. He was hurt for all but one start in twenty three. Split this past season with the Reds and Brewers from college football. West Virginia and Perdue fired their coaches. Purdue just went one and eleven.
John Stanshawer Bloomberg Sports Karena Nathan all.
Right, John, thank you, SMP futures down two tenths of a percent down thirteen points down, futures down a tenth of upper cent or fifty two points. Nasdaq futures down two tenths of up percent or forty eight points. Ten year Treasury yield four point two zero percent.
Coast to Coast on Bloomberg Radio nationwide on Sirius XM, and around the world on Bloomberg dot Com and the bloom We're Business app.
This is Bloomberg Daybreak.
Good Morning.
I'm Nathan Hager. It is a major reversal for a president who has said four months that he would not use his pardon powers to benefit family, even his own son.
I am satisfied that I'm not going to do anything. I said, I adviye by the jury decision.
I will do that and I will not partner.
That was President Biden at the G seven back in June talking about his son Hunter. But last night the President did indeed issue a sweeping pardon on taxing gun charges, saying in a statement, no reasonable person could conclude that his son Hunter was singled out for any other reason than that he is the President's son. For more, we are joined by Bloomberg's Kevin Whitelaw. Kevin I guess the overarching question this morning is why now good morning, Yeah.
Good morning, Nathan. You know, I think that you know, it became very clear that President Biden is increasingly worried about what would happen to his son and under a
true presidency. You know, we have already seen a situation where president uh uh elect Trump has you know, stated that he's he thinks that the Justice Department was sort of weaponized against him, uh, citing the various prosecutions and investigations into into several different aspects of Trump's first term and surrounding events.
Uh.
And he's with a set of loyalists that he's been appointed to these key positions and and and talking about installing I think, uh, the President Biden just decided that he couldn't take the risk that his son was going to be part of sort of some ongoing uh set
of uh probes, challenges, prosecutions, et cetera. It just creates an enormous challenge though for for Democrats who are who are already very worried about how they were going to make, you know, sort of apply the rule of law in in and hold a second Trump term administration into account.
That puts this into the context then of President elect Trump nominating a loyalist, Cash Patel to be his next FBI director, Does that go into that context?
Then?
Yeah, I think it does. I think when you start to look at the some of the remarks that whether it's Kash Patel, obviously the Matt Gates appointment for Attorney General didn't didn't work out, but Pam BONDI, these are extreme loyalists. And Trump has talked about wanting to, you know, have that Justice Department be more responsive to the kinds of things that he thinks it should be. And when you have a set of people who have made it very clear that they think that there's more wrongdoing to
be found. These are for a number of the people that he's appointed and surrounded himself with. I've talked for a very long time about the Hunter Biden case and with all kinds of allegations of deeper corruption, et cetera, none of which they've really ever been able to substantiate, but obviously that wouldn't necessarily stopped them from using it.
And that really is a big difference in how the Justice Department has been run for the past couple of decades, and you know, ever since the next administration had really been a sense that this needed to be a bit of a hens sort of a distance, of a distance between the White House and the Justice Department, of a little bit of an independence. After all, the Justice Department under Joe Biden is the one that investigated Hunter Biden, right, So there was a sense that that's what could happen.
But Trump has talked about it in ways that are extremely different, And now it's going to be a challenge even more so for Democrats who've kind of lost a little bit of the moral high ground they may have otherwise had on this issue.
YEA, for President Biden to say that no reasonable person could conclude but that the case against his son was politically motivated, does that add more fuel to the argument that the President delect has been making that the justice system has been tainted by politics. Got about a minute left.
Yeah, I mean, I do think that it at least gives him the to make that case more and it's one more argument that the Democrats and others would have to would have to try to push back at. But we have seen continued complaints from Trump and his aides about what they see as a politicized Justice Department. But obviously it now seems like they want to try to use it for their own purposes. You know. Of course,
it's not like Biden invented the pardon power. Trump used it quite intensively in his first term, including for several key loyalists and aids around him.
This is Bloomberg Daybreak, your morning podcast on the stories making news from Wall Street to Washington and beyond.
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