Trump Not Satisfied with Iran Proposal; Spirit Shuts Down - podcast episode cover

Trump Not Satisfied with Iran Proposal; Spirit Shuts Down

May 03, 202644 min
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Episode description

Efforts continued to broker an end to the Iran war, now into its third month, as President Trump suggested the Islamic Republic’s latest peace proposal might not be enough to satisfy him. Iran’s suggestions include setting a one-month deadline on talks for a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end both the US naval blockade and the fighting in Iran and Lebanon, Axios reported, citing two people familiar with the matter. 

Back in the US, Spirit Airlines is winding down operations after the troubled discount carrier buckled under the weight of surging fuel prices and a government bailout dangled by President Trump fell through. 

On today’s show, Bloomberg This Weekend hosts David Gura, Christina Ruffini, and Lisa Mateo speak with:

- Airlines for America President & CEO Chris Sununu, on Spirit’s closure. 

- Representative Kevin Kiley (I) of California, who says Iran cannot be allowed to get a nuclear weapon, and Representative Cleo Fields (D), on the Supreme Court limiting the use of the Voting Rights Act. 

- Maria Sharapova on her Pretty Tough podcast and life after tennis. 

Plus, Christina, David, and Lisa discuss the stories you might have missed this week on BTW. 

For more conversations like this, watch and listen to Bloomberg This Weekend live on Saturdays and Sundays from 7AM-10AM ET. Watch on Bloomberg Television, listen on Bloomberg Radio and stream the show live on the Bloomberg Business app and Bloomberg.com/video.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Speaker 1

Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. Welcome to the Bloomberg This Weekend Podcast with David Gura, Christina Raffini, and Elisa Matteo.

Speaker 2

Thanks for joining us for today's selection of conversations from the show.

Speaker 3

You can listen to our favorite discussions right here on the podcast, but also make sure to join us live every Saturday and Sunday morning, starting at seven am Easter.

Speaker 4

We're on Bloomberg Television, Radio and the Bloomberg Business App, bringing you unique takes and in depth interviews on news, politics, lifestyle and culture.

Speaker 3

All right, it's been a little over twenty four hours since Spirit Airlines ceased operations after thirty four years in business, sending passengers scrambling to book flights on other carriers.

Speaker 2

Ticket counters are now dark at nearly one hundred airport locations where Spirit once flew. In addition to travelers, some seventeen thousand employees, contractors and pilots are.

Speaker 5

Out of a job.

Speaker 2

Join us now, Chris and a new president and CEO of Airlines for America.

Speaker 6

Thank you so much for joining us.

Speaker 2

First of all, I guess the big question is how do Spirit going out of business impacts the airline industry overall. What's the biggest thing we're going to see coming out of this.

Speaker 7

Well, I think two things.

Speaker 8

In the short term, I think everyone's scrambling to say, Okay, how do we take care of those customers?

Speaker 4

Right?

Speaker 7

And how do customers get their money back?

Speaker 8

And they can go to the Spirit website to get their money back. And then you have folks like United Airlines, Southwest, Jet, Blue, Delta American. They're all providing capitated rates, so they want to get those customers taken care of that have plans over the next month.

Speaker 7

How do the employees get taken care of?

Speaker 8

They also get preferential treatment with all the existing airlines in terms of new jobs and new opportunities there. And then in the long term, it's really about making sure that the airspace as a whole, which America has the strongest airspace in the country. We're rebuilding our air traffic control system that again that is robust for the customer. And I mean not to go too far afield, but we've had two government shutdowns, right. We saw the TSA

lines because Congress could get their act together. We saw the air traffic controllers not getting paid for six seven, eight, weeks back in the fall. That system has to work as well to make sure that all these other pieces move.

Speaker 7

And unfortunately there's a lesson.

Speaker 8

Here, right So when the merger was going to happen between JetBlue and Spirit, that would have put almost four billion dollars into Spirit, and the Biden administration crushed it and they got political with it, and that was again, hopefully the lesson there is when a business comes calling, look at the financials, look at the business case, look at how it's going to affect the customers, and make your decision based on that, not on politics. So some

lessons learned. I think the industry is responding very well. We just want to make sure that folks feel comfortable preparing for their summer.

Speaker 3

Deby let me ask you about what might happen next. And there's been speculation to other ultra low cost airlines are going to be in a pinch as well. Obviously, the Spirit situation was unique in many ways. You had the Transportation Secretary yesterday batting down calls for their bailouts or the need for bailouts, and it's something that your

group has opposed as well. I'll read a bit from a statement that you all released government or invention on behalf of those airlines would punish other airlines that have engaged in self help in order to deal with increased costs, reward airlines who haven't made those tough decisions. That is not a level playing field. So we see your opposition there to these government bailouts. Are you worried about the industry broadly, especially at that lower range of affairs?

Speaker 8

No, I look at competition works, right, and so when we have a lot of different carriers there, it's Frontier, it's sun Country, it's our velow. Breeze is actually a new entrant there. Breeze is a very interesting airline with a lot of opportunities. They don't use kind of the primary airports, that use some of the secondary airports, providing a low cost option for those customers. So, look, if the Breezes of the world and some of these others weren't doing okay, you can make I think you could

make that case. But there has to be competition at that level, right, And those models can't be kind of an older fashion type type models.

Speaker 7

They have to compete in this new world.

Speaker 8

Now again, a lot of these problems financially were happening long before the fuel crisis and the jet fuel crisis of the last couple of months. I mean, Spirit was in trouble years and years ago, so it's not a function of that. But when you have the high fuel cost, these massive new labor costs. I mean, right now, the industry as a whole has about a four to five percent profit margin. That's it, four to five percent because they've kept their cost solow for the customer, so you'll see some.

Speaker 7

Of those move a little bit.

Speaker 8

They have a lot of options now that they didn't have before. So as a customer, you can get that basic economy seat super cheap, even on the Deltas and United and Americans, you can choose to whether you know you want to pay for baggage, you can choose for that upgrade of that extra legroom.

Speaker 7

So they're giving the customer.

Speaker 8

The new models give the customer a lot more flexibility in designing their product and their price point, and everyone has to kind of come along with that. So I think it's just a faction of getting those ultra low cost carriers to maybe update their models a little bit. But overall, the industry is very strong. There's a lot of opportunity for customers out there. So, yeah, you gonna have ebbs and flows here with different carriers, but at the end of the day, the customer is going to win out.

Speaker 2

But let me ask you, because I know that for a lot of airlines, a lot of the bigger airlines, a lot of those economy seats are they're flying at a loss. Where they're really making money is in the front of the plane, and that's why we're seeing additions of higher cost seats, business class, economy plus things like that.

So when you're getting the squeeze on these cheaper airlines, is it really fair to say that these other airlines are going to pick up the slack and add more of these cheaper seats because they're not making money off of them.

Speaker 8

Well, again, they have to look at at what their customers are looking for, what the typer product is, and so they have the ability to add higher end product. And again, their higher end product might look a little different than some of the other carriers products, but that product has to has to kind of fit the model of what they're doing. Now, Yes, the larger carriers basically

only make money going internationally, I mean even domestically. Some of the higher end seats make a little bit of money. All the economy seats effectively can lose a bit of money. So again, you have to look at your product that you're placing. You can't just provide the same products that you were doing back in twenty sixteen, twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen.

Speaker 7

You have to update those models.

Speaker 8

And for the carriers that didn't update that kind of stayed with the old fashioned way, Yeah, they're probably suffering a little more. Everybody's moving forward and kind of looking at that product spectrum.

Speaker 3

I'd like to ask you about the interface between airlines and the administration. Play a bit of sound here from Sean Duffy, the Transportation Secretary, who gave a news conference yesterday at Newark Liberty International Airport. Take a listen to what he had to say.

Speaker 9

Now, you've heard that other airlines have talked about requesting a two point five billion dollar bailout. I am in continual contact and my team is in contact with all the CEOs of the airlines. I would say that at this point, I don't think it's necessary. They do have access to cash. If they want to come to the US government, we would be a lender of last resort if they can find dollars in the private markets, I think that's better for them.

Speaker 3

Governor, I'd love your reaction to that. I think of you as a traditional Republican, New Hampshire Republican, New England Republican, and you hear him talk about the government being a lender of last resort to these airlines. Obviously, this conversation about bailouts, the continued conversations between the administration and executives

as well. How do you feel about that? Are you Are you comfortable with the government playing this role at a time and we have seen the administration taking a stake in many private companies.

Speaker 7

Yeah, well, I think a Secretary Duffy is spot on.

Speaker 8

He's saying, look, the government isn't here just to bail everybody out when a business needs money, right if there was a crisis situation. I mean, that's why he kind of used the term lender of last resort. But it isn't just we're going to be the government should be a lender there if they are extranuating circumstances or something

like that. What he's really referring to is, yes, spirit came for a bailout, which made no financial sense whatsoever, because they had no assets, they had massive amounts of debt, and then all the other carriers, just the low cost guys, just said, oh yeah, by the way, how about we get two and a half billion two even when some of them didn't need it. It really didn't make a lot of sense. It was more of an opportunity, as the secretary pointed out, than a real need into the industry.

So no, I'm not a big believer of these bailouts by any means.

Speaker 7

I think the government.

Speaker 8

I think President Trump deserves some credit for trying with spirit. I mean, he said, let's take a real look at it, let's see how we make sure the customers and the employees are taken care of. But it made no financial sense because its assets had been so gutted.

Speaker 7

They didn't even own their own planes, right.

Speaker 8

They had billions and billions of debt and they had virtually no assets to back it up. So again, I give the president credit for trying and the administration at least taking a look. But to Secretary Duffy's point, the government just isn't here to save your business when you have a bad business model, save something that doesn't have real value or isn't part of that national strategic need that might be out there. So no, it's whenever the government gets involved, you better be again.

Speaker 7

Really really really really really really cautious, and they're going to be.

Speaker 8

Okay, I'm being a little bit of the politician there, because yeah, these bailouts, I mean, it's a domino effect.

Speaker 7

When when does it stop? Right at that point?

Speaker 8

So, now businesses need to update and advance the models, and a lot of the low cost carriers have done that for their customers.

Speaker 7

I think it's great.

Speaker 8

They're looking at maybe trying a little more international, they're look at they're looking at trying to upgrade the front of their planes. Look what Southwest just did, right, Southwest now has the assigned seating. The upgrades they're doing phenomenal over there. United Airlines has made and Delta made some huge, huge advances American as well. So everyone's adapting, everyone's modifying that what they provide based on the needs of the business.

And and that's the way business should work, right, that's the way competition works. When when the Biden administration got involved and said, oh no, we're not gonna help, We're not gonna let a merger take place, a private merger take place for competition. They just didn't even try to look at the business case model and understand what the need was.

Speaker 9

Right.

Speaker 8

They weren't asking the government for money. They were just has some government for permission to let businesses do what they do best. And you know, a typical case of the government thinking they're smarter than everybody else. But they were dead wrong on this. And you know, you saw that Spirit customer there, she's nervous. You know, sure the airline she used to use is now gone because bad government got involved. So look, the good news is there's

a lot of other carriers out there. There's a lot of opportunities out there, low cost, higher and international. There's a lot of product there for folks to dive into. And I think what the other these airlines are doing right now today for those Spirit customers with their capped rates is a huge opportunity. I think United has. Just yesterday,

unitedd twenty seven thousand Spirit customers. Southwest did over twenty thousand move those customers seamlessly over in less than a day to their carriers to make sure that those folks were taken care of at a limited rate. So I think everyone's pitching in.

Speaker 6

All right, Governor.

Speaker 2

Before we let you go, you talked about these airlines needing to adapt their business models. One thing it is hard to adapt two or four is the current price of oil and fuel, and that's really was the nail in the coffin. It seems like force spirit and could cause trouble for a lot of these other airlines. How long can they sustain this current pricing and what do they do if it doesn't go down by the end of the year.

Speaker 8

Sure, So I got to be clear the fuel price was not the death nail of spirit.

Speaker 7

It had nothing that you did say it was in his statement.

Speaker 3

I did say it was a year was a part of it. He talked about the mergery. It would say in his statement the fuel prices were a compounding factor.

Speaker 8

I'm just telling you then they wouldn't have been filing for bankruptcy two years ago, right. I mean that it just we're in a death spile of losing their assets, the labor costs, the supply chain issues post COVID, I mean, there's a lot of other To your point, there's a lot of costs bearing down on this industry that for the most part the airlines just kind of eat it. They lose profit on it because trying to provide that

competitive aspect for the customer. Will we see prices move a little bit, yeah, maybe five or six or seven percent, but not like the doubling of prices that would probably justify the doubling and tripling of fuel costs of jet.

Speaker 7

Fuel that we're seeing out there.

Speaker 8

So what happens kind of in the short term, the airlines can withstand this, you know, at least for three or four months. As you know, as oil prices go up, they go down. When they finally start going down, they're going to go down slowly, right, It's not like if the straight of horn Moose open tomorrow everything comes back to normal. It is going to take some time, both in the trucking industry, the airline industry, pretty much anybody

that uses fuel in any way. It's going to take some time to get back to some normalcy on that. But again, the airlines are resilient, right, They're willing to eat a lot of that cost. They're willing to always provide a better product for their customer. And again, the customers have so many other choices out there between the airlines themselves that there is a lot of variability that allows the customer to make good financial decision.

Speaker 6

Okay, we're gonna have to leave it there.

Speaker 2

Former republic Governor of New Hampshire and president and CEO of Airlines for America, thank.

Speaker 6

You for taking time to dress.

Speaker 3

Thank you for your time. I'm going to just reference that statement that I mentioned here again, this was from Dave Davis. This.

Speaker 6

I appreciate the backup from my coaker remember here.

Speaker 3

Yes, he did cite the restructuring the issues bondholders said. However, the sun and sustained rise and fuel prices in recent weeks ultimately has left us with no alternative but to pursue an orderly wind down. Stay with us for more

on Bloomberg this weekend. Right after this, customers of Spirit Airlines across the country are in the process of rearranging their travel on this Sunday morning, and in some cases they're trying to get their money back after Spirit closed down over the weekend following the company and its creditors and the Trump administration failing to reach an agreement for a bailout on deadline.

Speaker 2

Now there's concern about other low cost carriers that are also grappling with fuel prices. Of course, those prices of spiked matically since the start of the war with Iran. Joining US now is a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Congressman Kevin Kylie, who represents California's third district. He was elected as a Republican but is running for re election as an independent. Charsman, thank you for joining us. I just want to start off, what is the government's

role here? What should the government be doing? Should the government be doing anything to help these airlines given the cost of fuel right now?

Speaker 10

Well, it's certainly true that the cost of fuel is a major input for airlines, and it's something that is perceived, as I believe in reality, going to be temporary. And you know, once we have a sustainable resolution to the Cono brand, you should see prices come down across the board.

And so if this is sort of the limiting factor right now and one which will be short term, then perhaps there's an argument to be made that, you know, you don't want enterprises to collapse systematically based upon what is a temporary condition. So if that's the situation, it's a very different one than if you have an enterprise that you know, just has a totally unsustainable balance sheet or isn't viable.

Speaker 3

You've had a number of these ultra low cost airlines going to the White House, going to the Transportation Department saying their situation is a bit precarious. Here you have had a front row seat to the effect that the pressures on low cost airlines have had. So Spirit flew out of Sacramento. I think until October of last year they ended those those routes out of Sacramento in National Airport.

How acute is that pressure? How worried are you about having that low end of the spectrum there when it comes to carriers?

Speaker 10

Yeah, I mean obviously, you know, people rely upon these flights, folks who are on a budget and need to go visit their relatives or need to travel for whatever business or personal reasons. And so if you have that, you know that part of the market that is going to be much more limited or you know, is not going to be an option for a lot of people. That is a big issue I've read. Actually, you're right, we did have a Spirit flight out of Sacramentos which I've taken.

So I think that you know, it is very concerning if you start to see more of some sort of domino effect here.

Speaker 2

I think it all just goes into affordability, and we're going to talk about some of this pulling later in the show. But Americans more and more just feeling like they're really getting the squeeze kind of everywhere. And I'm wondering going into November, what you're hearing from your constituents about the cost of living and who they think is responsible for those prices going up.

Speaker 10

Yeah, well, it's absolutely the number one issue for folks that I represent in folks throughout California. And I should mention that California has the highest cost of living in the country. We're just talking about fuel prices. California's fuel prices are about a dollar eighty the national average. They're a full forty some cents higher than the next closest state,

which is Hawaii. And it's not just fuel prices. Electricity rates in California are higher than anywhere in the country, Housing costs and water bills close to the top, groceries second or third highest in the country. So it's an acute problem for my constituents. Now, as to your second question, who's to blame? You know, I think that that question is not always you know, constructive when it comes to

actually trying to address the problem. If I really had to answer, I'd say there's plenty of blame to go around. In Sacramento, we've had a number of policies that have increased the cost of living across all of these dimensions, and they're live in Washington, DC, you know, in recent years that have done that as well. So i'm, you know,

the one independent member of the House of Representatives. I've said that that gives me a unique ability to hold folks accountable both in Washington and in Sacramento, as well as to work with people on all sides of the issues. So I've proposed a number of measures to lower the cost of living through some of the regulations that have gone way too far for California that have made our

state in the most expensive state in the country. But it is certainly a nationwide issue that people are feeling everywhere, and I think there's a lot more we could do in Congress as well.

Speaker 3

If you wouldn't mind t up our next conversation, your colleague from the House, Clearfield's Democratic Louisiana is going to join us and his district is the center of the Supreme Court decision that we got this week, which could hollowed out Section two the Voting Rights Act. You have been very outspoken about the way that jerrymandering is being used as a political weapon by both parties here going into the midterm elections and beyond. You mentioned you're an independent,

now you are Republican. California, of course, is being carved up in its congressional districts are changing as a result. What is your major takeaway from the decision that was handed down at the Court last week.

Speaker 10

Well, I think it has the potential to simply set this jerrymandering war, which has been terrible for the country, into yet another cycle and spin it out of control even further. So that's why I think there's an even greater imperative now for congressional action to get this issue mandering under control. I think that this whole redistricting war has been complete folly, frankly, neither side has really won in any means full sense. It's upended representation in state

after state after state. I think it's eroded trust in our politics. It's going to increase polarization and increase distrust even more so. I've been against it in Texas, in California, in Virginia, in Florida, anywhere that it's happened, And to the extent that now other states are seeing a further opportunity to do this, it's going to make things even worse. So I think it's about time that Congress took responsibility

for its own elections. We're talking about elections to Congress here, So I think think.

Speaker 6

There's to do.

Speaker 10

Number one is to prohibit mid decade redisteresting like we're seeing now. I've introduced a bill to do that, and then by the time we actually have the next census, when we're supposed to do regular redistricting, we should come up with a legislative solution to end jerrymandering in this country for good and guarantee all Americans' fair district lines.

Speaker 6

All right, we're gonna leave it there.

Speaker 2

Representative vin Kylie from California, thank you so much for joining us.

Speaker 3

We want to dig now more into the consequences of that Supreme Court decision I just mentioned that places new limits on the voting right. Sack the Court rejecting Louisiana's

congressional map in a six to three decision. In his opinion, Justice Samuel Alito calling that map, which includes a second majority black district, in unconstitutional racial gerrymander democratic carsman Cleo Field's district is at the center of this case, and he joins us now want to get into the ramifications of this in just a minute, but let me ask you on a more micro level what it means for

you as you look ahead to the midterms. Your district, the sixth district in Louisiana, very much at the center of this case.

Speaker 11

Well, you know, I tell people all the time the issue is not revenant Cleo Fields her another day at Congress, but revenant a person who looks like me have an opportunity to serve in Congress. I think the governor and the Attorney General put the cart before the horse. I mean, the Supreme Court decision is not really a final judgment until you know the twenty five day elapse for people to file the parties revert to follow some type of rehearing.

That time has not elapsed, and you know, people already started voting in Louisiana.

Speaker 12

Qualifying has been had.

Speaker 11

You know, one hundred thousand ballots has been sent to people, not only in Louisiana, but overseas. Thousands of them have already cast their ballots, and to hold an election up because there is a ruin from the Supreme Court to me is unconscionable.

Speaker 2

It is justin Kagan and heard Ascent warrened that Section two of the Voting Rights Act is now a quote dead letter. I'm wondering if you agree that this ruling effectively ends the era of creating these majority minority districts in the South.

Speaker 12

Oh, I agree.

Speaker 11

I mean, you couldn't have a more horrible decision. I mean, and really, people in the southern part of our country, the whole purpose of the Voting Rights Act was to protect them. There was a time, you know, in Louisiana and Mississippi and Alabama, in order to register to vote. Although you had the constitutional right to register to vote and be a voter in this country, there were states like Louisiana that had all types of prerequisites. You know,

you had to state the priameter to the constitution, literacy tests. Yeah, some of required poll taxes. You had to own property. Those were unconscionable measures that many Southern states took. And thus that's why Congress passed the voting rights back and President Vinda B. Johnson signed it for good reason. Now

there's a lot of debate as to revenant. Some of those same tactics take place today, and I would say in the southern part of our country, to ampsays absolutely yes, you know, you know, they're not literacy tests, but there are all types of obstacles that many African Americans have faced with in order to access the voting voting box.

The other thing to real proof in the putting is how many African Americans have been elected to Congress from Let's just take Louisiana for example, zero, not one, how many have run many? So at the end of the day, you know, and to move the tests from you know, is it has to show intent and not affect. You know, I just think that's wrong too, because you know, who's to determine what was the intent of the legislature? You know, what about what's the effect of what.

Speaker 12

The legislation did?

Speaker 11

And in this case, you know, I was in the legislature when the veal passed. You know that we we're from a state that has you know, Speaker of the House, the majority leader, and one you know one of the I mean only one female member of Congress. The members of the legislature wanted to protect those individuals, and that's perfectly clear, I mean, okay, and thus that's why the district ended up the way it ended up.

Speaker 12

I just think it's a horrible decision.

Speaker 11

And what's worse to postpone the elections that had already start. Thought it that disenfranchised and I hope the court ultimately rule that you just can't hold up the elections. You need to go for what because they had already started that they all had already want.

Speaker 3

I said I'd start micro and I'm going to go macro. I think a consequence of this is a level of confusion about the way that congressional districts are drawn in this country and when they're drawn. And perhaps that's the point that politicians are trying to sow confusion among the electric But I matched its incumbent upon you and other Democrats now at this moment to explain to voters why this as you see it as a bad judgment, it

needs to change. What's your prescription for doing that going forward? What did Democrats need to do here is they look at a voting rights Act that has been, as I said, hollowed out, not just by this decision that affected Section two, but other facets of it as well well.

Speaker 11

I would think that the next Congress, the new Congress, should pass a voting rights Act that really a half teeth, don't leave anything up a question.

Speaker 12

For the Supreme Court.

Speaker 11

Make it clear, clear and unambiguous, you know, and really deal with Section five. Section five was gut it what twenty thirteen through to hold the case. Five was so important to states like Louisiana. We could always depend on the federal government to defend us.

Speaker 12

When we were you know, when our vote, you.

Speaker 11

Know, when legislators were trampling on our rights to access to.

Speaker 12

Voting box, you know, and that is very very important.

Speaker 11

I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for Section five, and then when they took that away section two. And I tell people all the time, if you tell me I got to run a certain speed, I could perhaps do that. Tell me I got to jump with a certain height, you know, I could perhaps do that. But if you tell me I have to be white to be a member of Congress, I need help from the federal government. And thus that's the whole purpose of the voting rights side, and I think the Spring Court was

just out so we're wrong. I think Congress should move with all expedient feeds to pass the John Lewis voting rights back and just leave nothing for question but a Supreme Court and not to mint it. I really think at this day and age, we need to probably put term limits on the Supreme Court because these justices are now acting ask the lawmakers, and they ought not do that. They are there only to interpret the law, not to make it. And there are too many justices that are

making law in this country. And I do think that, you know, there should be some question asked the revenant. You know, Supreme Court justices of limited in terms of their terms.

Speaker 2

Kris, Before we let you go, I do want to ask you when you look at the wider map and these re districting efforts. Obviously, this latest round kicked off in Texas where they redistrict to get five GP votes. Then that was countered in California where they got five Democratic potential districts. Virginia has got five new potential Democratic district Florida will likely get four, and there's a couple handful of others in Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, and Utah.

I am a surprising, possibly democratic district in Utah. But I'm wondering if you have any concerns that you might be trying to win the battle and lose the war as you open the floodgates for more redistricting, more of this gerrymandering, and if that's partly responsible for the bipartisan nature of politics in twenty twenty six.

Speaker 12

Well, it's a race to the bottom.

Speaker 11

It's you know, when a president of the United States picks up the phone and call the governor of Texas to say, I need five more Republican seats, and then the governor of Texas just the right call the legislature intercession.

Speaker 12

To do just that.

Speaker 11

You know, what, do you think wherever there is an action, there's always a reaction, and then Democrats react to that. Look, we shouldn't have mid Dick Miami mid decade redistricting. We just really shouldn't have it. The whole purpose of redistricting is based on this census that every ten years, we have census in this country and we apportion, you know, seats based on population, and we shouldn't have mid decade redistricting in this country is too political and it's wrong

and it's not fair to voters. It just brings about more voter confusion. You know, people don't know who their representatives are, and I just think we need to stop it, and we need to stop it, like right now.

Speaker 3

A quick question unrelated to this. You sit on the House Financial Services Committee or on the sub Committee on Financialstitutions and Monetary Policy. You're here on Bloomberg. I want to ask you about the news of the week that is that Federal Reserve Church around Paler is going to stick around as governor going forward. What do you make of that decision? And now that that investigation by the dj has been punted over to the Inspector General at

the FEDERI are you satisfied? Like it seems like Senator Tom Tillis of North Carolina was that the institution and the soon to be former chair no longer is imperiled. They might have been a few weeks ago.

Speaker 11

Yeah, you know, look, we have to put in confidence in our financial institutions. And I'm happy that Chairman Pole is sticking around. There's no reason for him to leave. That was really no purpose in the investigation to begin with, and we got to stop weaponizing the Department of Justice.

Speaker 12

You know, I mean that that was just wrong.

Speaker 11

You know, if you don't like somebody, if the president doesn't like somebody in this country, he's seeks the.

Speaker 12

Justice Department on the person.

Speaker 11

You know, that was that was an unfair, you know, Unamerican attack to begin with.

Speaker 12

And chairman power.

Speaker 11

Should stay as long as the law gives them the right to stay.

Speaker 3

And O the Carson. Thank you very much. That's clear Field's Cars with the sixth District of Louisiana joining us on this Sunday, Appreciate your time.

Speaker 2

Stay with us for more on Bloomberg this weekend right after this.

Speaker 5

Maria Sharapova, she is a tennis legend, right.

Speaker 4

She made history in two thousand and four, she became the youngest tennis star to win a Grand Slam since Martina Higgins in nineteen ninety seven. Now two decades later, she's now a Hall of Famer, a mom, she's venturing into this new arena. She's serving up compelling interviews for her new podcast. Yeah, I spoke with her about her career then and now.

Speaker 13

I really had a steely mentality from the beginning because I knew I moved for a purpose. I wanted to build on a dream with a lot of hope, but also recognizing that it might not go our way and you might take a path that might not get you to the very top. But ultimately, with a few twists and turns and a little bit of good luck and hard work, we persevered and I was able to win a Grand Slam when I was seventeen years old and

really build from that. It took me a little bit of time to us to kind of fame and getting my confidence and performing week in week out, but yeah, it was a beautiful journey.

Speaker 4

Oh and speaking of the journey, the International Tennis Hall of Fame, that is quite the accomplishment there. And you were introduced by Serena Williams. You guys have had this interesting relationship back and forth. Talk a little bit more about it and how that relationship has evolved over the years as women.

Speaker 13

Well, I had some of the toughest matches against Serena and she was the ultimate competitor. I got to become a better player because of the level that she performed at every single day, and I had one of my biggest victories in my career. At Wimbledon, I also had some of my toughest losses against her. So we went through a lot, and I, you know, when the Hall of Fame called and said, you know, is there someone that you'd like to introduce you on stage, she was

the first person I thought of. Because of our rivalry, because of the respect we have and everything we've gone through.

Speaker 4

What I love about you two is your competitive edge. Everyone knows you for it. Even had this name tag along with you, the ice coin.

Speaker 10

Yes.

Speaker 5

Now, what was your first reaction when you heard that?

Speaker 13

Yeah, well, I pumped my fist. From a very young age, like, I had a very steely mentality. I was focused and I was on a different path. The truth is is even when I trained at you know, academies with many other children, I recognize that I was like the odd one out. I would train extra hours, I would get extra attention from coaches. I played every single tournament I could, like I was the first one in bed at night,

the first one awake in the morning. So I knew from an early age that I had I had a goal, like I was there to do something different and to be a champion. Whether that would happen or not who knows. There are no guarantees in life, and I like.

Speaker 6

The idea of being different.

Speaker 13

You know, I now have a mother of a three and a half year old, and you know, I see a little boy who wants to be part of the pack and part of with his friends, and sometimes I think, well, I want to encourage him to be unique and find things that makes him stand out and not be scourage, you know, to appreciate things that make you different.

Speaker 4

And it seems like it goes right into what you're doing now, into your podcast. Yeah, pretty tough, because women out there, if we strive for something, you know, it seems like we're kind of I wouldn't say put down, but just like we're told, you know.

Speaker 5

What, take it easy. Yes? Is that the reason behind how you started this?

Speaker 6

Yeah?

Speaker 13

So I've been working on the podcast Pretty Tough for many months with Vox Media, and the idea really resonated well. First of all, with so many of my mom friends, like coming off of careers, having children and always being identified.

Speaker 6

With one thing and one trait.

Speaker 13

And from a young age, I was identified with that fist pump like this steally mentality that I was cold and then I'd go into a boardroom and I'd have, you know, an opinion, or I'd have a joke and someone would say, oh, well you have a sense of humor, and so you're you know, I always found that you were identified with one or the other and you had to soften your filter for whichever identity wasn't appreciated as you know, part of your characteristic And so when I

spoke with my friends and I was building the concept, it really resonated with a lot of women. And this podcast is for women by women, and I now get to sit and ask questions, which.

Speaker 6

Is you know, is that I had to.

Speaker 13

Unlearn and learn and I you know, I love preparation. That's what I did for my entire career. And now I get to learn about incredible women and hopefully we can draw these wonderful lessons from these amazing females.

Speaker 4

Who are some of the women that that you plan to speak with and what are some of those stories that that really resonated with you.

Speaker 13

I want the stories to be honest, to be authentic. I want to hear I want to hear the story before the success because we all see, you know, we all see someone accepting the oscar and we think. You know, we just we launched Pretty Tough with Zoe's Aldana, and you know, she speaks about the oscar, But the moment until that point is that's the That's the part I

want to learn about. I want to know how her about you know, her ballet and dance informed the movements of all her move of all the movies that she's performed in aging. You know, what is it like to be a mom? What is it like to you know, to have guilt as we navigate careers and motherhood and all the things that you know, society throws at us. And yeah, I you know, honesty is the first thing that I want.

Speaker 6

I want the conversations to have.

Speaker 4

Podcasting it seems like it's it's a category that's that's dominated by men. I know, a lot of statistics point to that.

Speaker 5

Viare why do you think that is?

Speaker 13

I mean, I consume podcasts that are hosted by men, and I think there are phenomenal podcasts that are hosted by men. But I do think there's a lot of room for female hosted podcasts. And there I mean, when I think of kar Swisher and Mel Robbins, these are icons in the field. But I think there's more room in the sandbox.

Speaker 4

And you also have another name as entrepreneur. At the same time, you work with brands, you invest in companies. What's more nerve wracking for you? Is it walking to the tennis court or walking into a boardroom.

Speaker 13

Well, I've appreciated walking into a boardroom because it's a different kind it's a different energy, and you know, there's no match point feeling, you know, when everything's on the line in that meeting or or that tennis court or that arena. I love the teamwork that business. You know, I feel like so many of the lessons that I learned through my career I get to apply to the boardroom.

But coming in and speaking with co Fertility or Amulet or Tonal or their Body, all the brands that I've been, you know, fortunate to be a part of Balla Bangles and just feel like I can participate and incorporate some of the ideas and the education and knowledge that I've learned along the way.

Speaker 5

And what does a win look like for you today?

Speaker 13

Oh, a win is when my son is happy, when I'm with my family. You know, I spent twenty eight years on the tour training you know, day and day out, and it's been nice to have a zoomed out view of that. And now I'm invested into this the podcast space. I'm you know, I'm I'm competitive. I have a competitive spirit, and I want to do it right and I want to do it well, and so I'm pouring all my time into it to make sure that I have quality content to produce for the audience.

Speaker 4

Stay with us for more on Bloomberg This Weekend.

Speaker 3

Right after this, Welcome back to Bloomber This Weekend or BTW as I.

Speaker 2

Say, that's right, bt Doubs David with Cristida Raffini.

Speaker 3

Here are some stories you might have missed this week. Lisa Mateo has those bt W.

Speaker 4

Yes, let's get ready to do it, Okay, I want to start with this one from the New York Times. It's the headline is with the arrival of Goop Kitchen, is New York going full correct So it's like a healthy eating food chain. It started in Los Angeles, like twenty twenty one, but she's brought it to New York, so it's come to New York for the first time.

Speaker 3

So it's there.

Speaker 12

You have thounds and bowls.

Speaker 5

If I want to buy sixty dollars.

Speaker 12

I don't know.

Speaker 4

Nothing on the menu includes gluten, refined sugar.

Speaker 5

Seeds, corns, or peanuts. We're preservative yea. So it's very clean, very clean, okay.

Speaker 4

But the whole point of the story is that how New Yorkers are opening up their palette to this LA trend that seems to be coming because a lot of LA restaurants are now making their way to New York and they're saying, well, New York's only we are only like pizzas and hot dogs, that's what they're saying. And they say, oh, you know what, So they're opening it up their palette to to something better and something new.

Speaker 3

I ordered this online?

Speaker 5

What do I do?

Speaker 3

How do I get this food?

Speaker 5

You do?

Speaker 7

You go?

Speaker 5

It's it's only you could only get it on like online.

Speaker 4

You can't sit and eat in the place. You have to go and like order it. But sometimes there's a line. I don't you don't do lines.

Speaker 3

They don't know that about New York yet, although we have a lot of Californians to come here to wait in line.

Speaker 6

So I guess you have to order it like they're from lag. You have to use vocal frye to order it. I like my stylid.

Speaker 3

It's good.

Speaker 4

I have not tried it, but it does look appetizing. I have to tell you, I don't know the prices. I haven't seen their price.

Speaker 3

They went by very quickly, a.

Speaker 5

New York's expensive. It didn't look that egregious.

Speaker 4

But true, true, true, Okay. I want to go from food to like shows and cruise ships. Okay, because you've ever been on a cruise, you know the shows are the big things.

Speaker 5

So this is the headline from the Wall Street Journal.

Speaker 4

It says, the cutthroat competition to get a gig on a cruise ship.

Speaker 5

Okay.

Speaker 4

So there's apparently this annual convention. It's like America's got talent, and all the bookers go there, Yes, cruise bookers. So they go and they look at all the talent that's out there, and they pick them for the ships that are, you know, coming up.

Speaker 5

So these people, I mean, what they get if they land a gig. So you ever wonder like what they get?

Speaker 4

Okay, So they get to stay in the normal staterooms, they don't stay in the crew quarters.

Speaker 5

Okay. They get to enjoy maybe.

Speaker 4

There's dining, the swimming pools, they get to enjoy all the amenities, and a one week contract can pay like thousands of dollars for them.

Speaker 5

So it's not a gig if you can get it. And that's the thing.

Speaker 3

I have never been on a cruise.

Speaker 2

I've never go on a cruise, but I danced growing up, and I know this is a good gig because even like twenty years ago, like this was a good job to get because first of all, you're booked, like your book through six months.

Speaker 6

That's six months of work.

Speaker 2

And I think then they made him stay in the state rooms, but it was you got insurance, you got food, you had all that stuff, and you could pay your bills for.

Speaker 12

Like a year and a half norivirus.

Speaker 6

Looking on the positive side, David Fashion.

Speaker 4

Of here today, I wanted to't go to this next story.

Speaker 5

This is from Bloomberg. Okay, so the headline is you ready for this? Got o zempic breath.

Speaker 4

Sure, she sees GOLP one lift for mint and gum. Okay, so you heard of like ozempic face, like people lose theirs a little bit. Yeah yeah, yeah, So this one is ozempic breath because Hershey's CEO, he said that GLP ones. They're boosting sales for mint and gum. Like you know, they have the icebreakers gum, so that's a big thing for them. The reason why is because GLP one drugs,

they slowed down digestion. Okay, so you can spirit some side effects like maybe dry mouth, nausea, things like that, and so that's where the ozembic breath comes in.

Speaker 5

So you got to grab a mintor piece of gum. It's helping out her.

Speaker 3

Because there's been, as we've talked about, such widespread adoption of these, but you like learn of these side effects as it goes along. So I have heard complaints about nausea, and you know, it's it's not easy for everybody who's who's on these. But I had not heard of his zempic breath.

Speaker 2

I had heard a breath, but my friend said he had like a terrible taste in his mouth the whole time he took it. So he was taking months all the time just to get rid of you know, sometimes in your blood sugar drops. I don't know if that's related, but like you get a bitter taste in your mouth. He said he just tastes constantly, constantly, he felt like he tasted.

Speaker 5

Something terrible in his mouth. Interesting, So it's helping out hers, it's doing them a good deal.

Speaker 3

You know, run on gum.

Speaker 5

All right, this one, David, this one's for you.

Speaker 6

So this is from the Weekend.

Speaker 5

Okay, the Weekend. Yes, forget health span.

Speaker 4

Midlife men face pressure to extend hot spin, hot span, hot span.

Speaker 11

Yeah.

Speaker 4

So they're saying that millennial men they grew up thinking like, oh, we don't have to worry about a health looks, you know, retirement.

Speaker 6

Things like that.

Speaker 5

Instead you have to say hot for like several more decades. Statement. Okay, so you need to work on this.

Speaker 3

This is like this is really not so.

Speaker 12

Yes, it's a journey.

Speaker 6

Is a dangerous approach.

Speaker 5

No, but they spoke with plastic surgeons.

Speaker 4

You have to check out this article. Okay, they're saying midlife has shifted, writes. So patients in their fifties are training for triathlons. You know, they're starting companies, they're they're they're dating after divorce, they're raising young kids. Like, they're doing all these things at an older age, and they're obsessed with longevity, Like do you go to the gym to I'm not going.

Speaker 3

To answer these questions.

Speaker 5

For you.

Speaker 7

What are you?

Speaker 5

What are you eating?

Speaker 3

I guess I have to wait time in my fifties all of this stuff. Maybe that's the silver lining I can see in all of this. You have like Tom Cruise up there. So this is why these are celebs who are.

Speaker 5

Still still still looking good, still looking good, still looking good.

Speaker 2

Fifty now, still look and it's alligan pretty good.

Speaker 4

It is another like they're talking about this thing because you are women talk about menopause.

Speaker 5

They have menopause now. The men are usually.

Speaker 3

All of the new terms here on the show, hot spanning, manopause.

Speaker 5

Bringing it all to you.

Speaker 4

But people pay a lot of money for some of this, Okay, get this, six thousand dollars a year for a good doctor who can work on your biomarkers, okay. Or you can pay three hundred and twenty dollars a month to spend on peptides, so we.

Speaker 3

Can do that as peptides. I'm very skeptical. No, I don't think they're like approved by any.

Speaker 6

Rate schedule of the biomarkers too.

Speaker 2

I had some girlfriends do it and they're like, my physical age is seventeen.

Speaker 6

I was like, they just want you to pay them again. I don't believe that.

Speaker 3

For a second, and I did see that piece. Chris wrote that for pursuits it's worth.

Speaker 5

It's excellent, it really is.

Speaker 3

It's the weekend.

Speaker 5

Of course, you're not.

Speaker 6

Afraid of the manosphere and the man of wait, what is it called? What do we just call it?

Speaker 2

He's not spanning, manopase, man panning.

Speaker 6

All right, one of those things.

Speaker 2

Thanks for joining us on today's Bloomberg This Weekend podcast. Don't forget to tune in live for the show every Saturday and Sunday morning, starting at seven am Eastern.

Speaker 3

We're on Bloomberg Television Radio and the Bloomberg Business App, bringing you unique takes and in depth interviews on news, politics, lifestyle, and culture.

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