when her term ends in february. -- the national security adviser h.r. mcmaster mocked president trump's intelligence. sources tell buzzfeed that dismissed president with thea joke intelligence of the kindergartner. -- the party has agreed to begin the process begins tuesday. the country's military -- the commander of zimbabwe urged

people to remain calm. on our mind is an inclusion of this for operation. him underitary has house arrest for several days. -- the november 12 quake killed more than 500 people and injured thousands more.

>> live in new york, we are 30 minutes from the close in the united states. stocks kicking off in the green. youhe question is, what did miss? >> they are already concerned its future in the senate. paul krugman brakes on the winners and losers of tax reform. taking his day for time warner has hit a snag.

they have filed an antitrust suit over the proposed merger. can abreast are giving the -- nebraskaeline giving the keystone pipeline the green light. -- it is not breaking news. expected the spirit is a politics or business? >> it is business but also politics. it is an important development in terms of the justice department under the new administration. in a lot of antitrust experts have both sides of the aisle in terms of where they think this will end up. is a vertical

merger. much more difficult to bring a successful lawsuit against her it it is a sign of where we are at right now and way fascinating place to watch. >> this question of whether it is business or politics is not trump having a vendetta against cnn. if it is about someone in the white house not liking keenan, then it seems like an out rages -- outrageous thing. -- president trump has antipathystently had towards cnn. we could go back hundreds of tweets. the justice department has a new had in terms of what he's doing. a lot of career people in that just as -- justice department.

this is a deal that has nothing to do with cnn, but the amount have in that this would terms of content and distribution. to a lowerobjecting choice for consumers. it may drive up price or more harmful consolidation then constant and distribution. that is different in reducing the number of players or choices and a sector. that is what this is about. this will be -- there will be a tremendous amount of media time that this is all about trump-pence union, but we should be clear that this is -- his new head of antitrust -- behavioral

conditions. he does not think they work and he is willing to pursue a vertical merger, a huge blow for at&t in terms of being unable to sell this deal. theyember being told how would get this deal to sail through under a trump administration. >> before he was in this, he said he didn't have a problem with it. >> there are certainly some questions to be asked, but he is known to be proconsumer. at&t did notl that feel like they needed to sell. i think they regret that now. the over him and say he is the guy who helped at&t gets of the deal.

>> megan murphy, thank you for that. collects years the antitrust suit. huge honor to have you on again. >> great to hear. is -- uble great to be here. a lot of us are greatly concerned about market -- growth -- growing market power.

you have to have some judgment. he needs you don't even have -- and can you think of an administration that least deserves trust to maintain that kind of division. if you have a situation where administration only goes after deals that involves media or positions that you don't like, then you are weaponize inc.. though the left in this country has started to talk more about antitrust in the last couple of years in the need for more antitrust action than it has in a while. when you look at the economy, do you see clear evidence that this put on sleeper mode for a while? >> there's two kinds of evidence to there's a measure of confidence did -- those suggest we have been moving towards a more monopolized economy and

then there are macroeconomic puzzles. how can we have record profits and despite extremely low interest rates. >> what do you think this antitrust suit will leave -- will mean. we have news perhaps comcast or disney might be interested in some of the assets of 21st century fox. do you think it will be limited to media? a business person, i would bet the menstruation does not care about market power. be betting -- i think they may sit and wait a while. case of is a conflicted

i would say go ahead and feel free to build your monopoly. for many, the structure is shifting so fast. what does the landscape still like?like -- still look you either do it aggressively or you don't. >> i think there's a lot to be said and acknowledge she don't know how it will play out. it was the other day that we worried microsoft withdrew in hand, oneon the other thing you don't want to do is an emergency market setting is to

make it too easy. you can argue given what people bad in the 1990's was not a decision. sure.eresting for >> along those lines, does president trump if it was proven that this is politically heivated, at some point does look not sohimself well? >> that would be pretty impressive. >> that would be about number 13 or 14 on the list of reasons not to trust this guy.

-- which company do you look at an actually they are the microsoft that could offend. are would say at the moment facebook, google. those only see a couple of players really dominating -- amazon. other businesses don't want to get on their backside and at this point, it still seems like a good deal for consumers. >> fantastic observations. stick around, we will dive into the republican overhaul for taxes. this is bloomberg.

>> the centerpiece of the gop tax overhaul to lower the corporate tax rate rate republicans have argued will push companies to invest more in home. from the city of new york. taking cash -- >> if you believe there models, then these huge amounts can flood in. there is a floating pool of capital that will respond

enormously to any corporate tax rates. $6y are seeing claims that trillion would come in over the next decade which is not possible if that were true. it is crazy. we have a new tax policy center. -- what would that imply? talking pointthe and main argument for the advocates of the tax bill is we have not seen wage growth and we need tax reform to get that wage

growth. corporate tax reform that could do that? >> no. the importance of taxes in general is something people overstate. in 86, we had an ideal tax rate it was like -- ratesered corporate tax and you look at the growth numbers for the effects of that and you don't see it. you need a magnifying glass to have a hint. not going to produce big effects on growth, why would this? >> i want to get back to what you were saying about the capital inflows.

i understand the basic accounting equation stand on here. if we are talking about that is an enormous deficit that is being created. have day -- by? has been created >> the strong dollar. all this money comes flooding income of the dollar goes skyhigh. it goes to levels that make u.s. uncompetitive. >> that is the implication here. how many jobs are we talking suppose i believe that this is all --

it would be something like 2 million factory jobs lost. >> you get this rosy outlook for the economy. in boost the economy, we get capital inflows and that males us out with a surging dollar. >> to crazy things going on here. >> instead of making manufactured list, it is building office parks. that is what most business investment is. meanwhile, super strong dollar. >> is ok. au are selling something as job creator.

>> a good effect on the construction industry. most services are not traded. are in the business of doing contracting or selling , the international bank .t would be hurt by this will get back to what is coming up on the house and senate. we will talk about what the current set of does for the u.s. economy. stay with us.

>> we're back now with paul krugman. on so glad we have you here because this whole tax overhaul plan confuses me. depending to listen to, it is a tax cut for the wealthy, will certainly middle class. it is tough to tell who benefits. do.hat this is supposed to what they really want is to cut and theycorporations want to eliminate or reduce taxes in the state, but they have to find -- pay force for that. they can only pass it without a filibuster. after 10 years, it pays for

itself. here,and local taxes which means there's a lot of randomness. alsong for the bottom, and for the middle. within the categories, a living. -- align >> i want to get into jersey andew connecticut more. -- it is highly progressive so it will be much better with people for high incomes. -- there is a certain extent of

taxes going out. i don't think geography matters so much. this is not the plan for the middle class. there are some nuances that sound -- align >> there are a few for the middle class. plan things and the senate basically go away more slowly, but by the time, there is nothing. >> all of the good stuff is coming. for people who have incomes that $250,000 range and don't actually earn that. >> what proportion of the tax bill is paid by the top 10%?

the people who do these things are scrambling to keep up. 20% keep 18% of the tax bill? >> you are ultimately going to have to focus in some ways reduce taxes on the wealthy portion. >> first of all, are we cutting taxes. we have a budget deficit. there's no reason we should be cutting taxes at all. >> it is actually no hard. the obama administration had class taxne middle

cuts. >> great to have you on. thank you for joining us pretty from new york, this is bloomberg.

stocks in the green with the u.s. dollar. gold is taking a hit. i'm julia chatterley. >> on joe weisenthal. >> we begin with our market minutes. for the dow and s&p 500 and the nasdaq. two weeks ofnet -- decline, the first time we've seen that in august. at&t and time warner, time warner down 1%.

u.s. antitrust lawsuit over time, the u.s. justice department is poised to sue. a month ago is unheard of. that's how surprising it is. it is of course a vertical integration. there is no precedent for this area do have comcast and nbc universal as a precedent. we talk about is this business or politics? >> we are with a distinguished is that -- distinguished professor of economics. skeptics go we know your views, we know your politics, we know what your chances, you're bound to hate this tax overhaul plan. defy the critics who say we get what you are saying. says theis a case that

u.s. corporate tax has too high a tax rate. the collection of taxes is not too high. 35% is too high at the margin. -- paul ryan's original proposal was actually a decent proposal and a lot of bipartisan support. it died because of republican opposition, but that was ok. >> he didn't like this tax the democrats -- tax cuts for republicans. the most contentious part or one of the most contentious part of this whole debate are a lot of the tax breaks the upper-middle-class people, particularly blue states enjoy. of course the state and local tax the duction. is there an argument that these kinds of tax -- these kinds of tax deductions, in times to get

rid of them. >> the mortgage -- if we can -- state andratch local tax is different. why this didn't local government is there. they are taxed to pay for local services. what they do mostly is education. do we really want to discourage states from spending? not everything in here is a bad idea, but the point is it is very selective. it somehow only goes after blue states the good things people do. speak about the potential repeal about the individual mandate from obamacare that is said to be in the senate version of the bill. it seems as though it makes it

so complex. >> the reason they are doing it is because they want to save money. lot fewer people will sign up, even for subsidized health insurance. this screws up the functioning of obamacare, the mandate that is there for a reason. people sign up while they are still healthy. it's also very important, it turns out the mandate encourages people who might not have thought to sign up for medicaid, which is free. the very important thing is the markets. and they need that money. in order to pay for that perpetuity. >> there are a few things going on besides tax cuts. today janet yellen confirming she is going to leave the fomc. i think people guest when she

was not renominated. flip -- hitit the the fed's inflation target, how do you think she will be remembered? >> the inflation target says the monetary policy was probably too tight. it probably would have been tighter on anybody else. bernanke, who did very well. we were very fortunate in .tressful times we have absolutely no idea what this next one will be like. >> he obviously is a fed head right now and well telegraphed in terms of -- he's quiet but it sometimes you can say the person blesses -- it ist we have heard is important to be pulled and

imaginative when the unexpected strikes. maybe he will turn out to be that person, but we already had somebody like that before janet yellen. back toybe we are going the fed of the 80's, when it was relatively quiet. we didn't have all the telegraphing. >> i think we have learned the world is much more dangerous place. that's not in fact some thing you can count on. >> i want to talk to you about bitcoin. you in the break last time and we should have asked you -- i haven't put too much on it. >> there is no inherent value, really a piece of paper except that real money, the kind that the u.s. government issues, is tethered to reality with the fact you can pay taxes with it.

if there ever comes a moment when people say it's not worth anything -- you can pay taxes. >> just two seconds, but you can pay for itunes. >> cash money is in the end and people with guns and you must pay your taxes. and we will see the set pieces with green paper. >> boards seems bitcoin has to be excepted by certain vendors. it's just recently square is excepting. >> i still think bitcoin -- technically a sweet solution looking for a problem. >> i think it is going to be the next biggest bubble. if you look at the next trend by physics, what about the disagreement between goldman

sachs and jpmorgan? >> they are smart people, but i know a lot of smart people. europe, is it seem like the most talks strong coalition fall apart? the does it say about future of this project that in 2017 there are still these ongoing flareups of political instability. >> it tells you prosperity is not -- with all the pressure of economic anxiety, there's not a lot of anger -- not a lot of economic anxiety in germany, not a lot in poland. ofope for white -- a lot

rally saying europe for white people. i don't pretend to understand what is much deeper -- it is not something that a few years of economic growth is going to solve. belgium is famous for having done very well during the austerity years, but they didn't have austerity and didn't have a government. probably not on a sustained basis. >> a lot to talk about when you join us. professor of economics at the city of new york and nobel prize-winning economist. >> coming up transcanada gets the green light. nebraska approves the long-delayed keystone xl pipeline across that state. all the details up next and what is to come. this is bloomberg.

market: i mark crumpton the first word news. president trump says he will designate north korea a state sponsor of terrorism. subjecting the regime to additional sanctions. remarks at the start of the cabinet meeting, the president said it should have "happened a ong time ago." president trump: this will impose further sanctions on north korea and for the persons. and support our maximum pressure campaign to isolate the murderous regime. : the president -- including assassinations on foreign soil. it has taken nine years, two

presidential elections and multiple lawsuits and protests. --ay transcanada one thing transcanada won approval to build the keystone pipeline across the state. that is one of the last hurdles of construction. be decision is expected to challenged in court. the spill is on farmland near the north dakota border. we will have more on this story coming up in just a moment. thecond woman has accused aquatic senator al franken of touching her inappropriate a. the woman told cnn the incident took place at the minnesota state fair almost two years after franken was elected to the senate. he says he doesn't remember it but feels badly the woman feels this -- feels disrespected. violent crisis in kenya today, the supreme court decision to the reelection.

at least two protesters were killed in confrontations with police. nearly 1 -- nearly 100 people have died in political unrest. victory, those initially overturned in august. global news 24 hours per day powered by 2700 journalists and over 120 countries. i am mark crumpton, this is bloomberg. transcanada has cleared one of the last hurdles to build the keystone xl pipeline. shares of transcanada rising of the news that they were given permission to build across the state. public service commission approved an alternative route for the pipeline, which is starting a degree of uncertainty into the mix. premiere for the province of -- rta, great to have you on the show. thank you for joining us.

decision,ake of this which seems bittersweet at least from the outside. know, it isink you certainly a good first step or a good next step in our goal of getting more energy infrastructure to be about to ship our product more efficiently, less expensively and more safely. and all those things will come with more energy infrastructure. certainly it is a step forward with the keystone pipeline, and we are making more progress there as well as with other pipelines in canada as we try to get pipeline here in canada as well. --what was the completion what would the completion of this pipeline mean? >> what we know is it will our energy, reducing shipping cost and increasing the efficiency of their shipping and

of course increasing the safety of that shipping. those costs go down there are more benefits to the industry, and of course to the people of alberta and canada. we look forward to everybody being able to secure those benefits with the completion of this pipeline and hopefully others. >> you talk about this as a first step but this is a nine year ongoing issue. i will point you seeing that the think we see some finale and there will be appeals and other mechanisms of flexibly? >> is a good next step, certainly not a good step. we can't predict the strings, but at the same time we continue to work on getting them successfully completed, because apt forthat it is supporting our energy industry. this is an industry that is going to continue to have a demand for oil and gas, and

energy under our climate leadership plan is going to be, and is, some of the most sustainably and responsibly produced energy in the world. looking for more that oil and gas, it should be coming from a country which is signed on to the paris accord, focused on reducing its the missions and has a plan to do that. and our energy industry leaders here in alberta has signed on to that. and is seriously part of that. we need to make sure we can get that product to the markets, whether it be keystone or other pipelines. that is what is best for the people of alberta and canada and the industry itself. collect today there was a spill on transcanada's existing .eystone line in south dakota this has been sparking new attacks from environmentalists. it seems there is bit of a juxtaposition there.

>> the reality is the product is going to be moved regardless. the safest way is through pipeline, through new pipeline with better technology, higher standards, more oversight. and the absence of what you will see is older pipelines or rail. that creates more missions and us less safe. not only increasing efficiency but increasing safety and reducing emissions. >> you have reports of projects ongoing, one including the mountain expansion project. what is the plan in terms of coordinating with british columbia to get that going? government has supportive -- supported and approved the pipeline.

that decision has been challenged. already beens heard, so we are waiting on the decisions of the court. the court confirm what i believe to be the case, that the decision was made appropriately variousthe veriest -- interests were heard, then it is a matter of moving construction forward. makee meantime we have to sure that smaller jurisdictions and municipalities aren't allowed to interfere with a project, with this -- which is without question and the international interest of all canadians. -- in the interest of all canadians. .> thank you >> further headlines regarding the at&t announcement that they are going to face an antitrust suit over the time warner deal.

they are confident the court will regret -- will reject the government's claims here. they say it is a radical departure for precedent. we have been talking about this since the beginning of the show, talking about whether or not the vertical integration versus the horizontal integration, whether the legal basis is necessarily valid or not. and the interplay between the business reasons for stepping inherent sing we have antitrust concerns on this deal versus political concerns that we have. >> this is going to be a pretty interesting story. the politics, the arguments, the exploration of the facets of the antitrust taste -- trust case. >> sarah huckabee sanders was asked about this deal and said she was unaware of any white house action regarding the

department of justice and the at&t time warner deal. we will continue to bring you .eadlines from new york, this is bloomberg.

♪ german chancellor angela merkel says she would rather face new elections rather than government after -- government without majority. meanwhile the stoxx europe and index- stoxx europe bounced back from a seven-week low. let's bring in billionaire manager from the newberger international equity fund. want to get your take on germany here.

is it ok given the underlying fundamentals of germany continuing to focus on that, even if they are struggling to find a new government and even if they have to face special elections? >> it remains to be seen how important a functioning government is to underlying businesses. as we were talking it's not clear -- many of the best companies in germany are's -- not clear if many of the best of it is germany are significantly impacted by this. >> i get the argument that it probably doesn't matter in the end for the economy, for all these companies. marketss it say that fell off for 15 minutes and then shot right up? that it say anything about the mode of the market right now, that even no government first time in ages -- no one cares?

>> it is worrying, valuations are at highs. it remains sort of supportive for markets. the mentality of the market right now is you can demonstrate profitability and consistency in growth. the market doesn't want to read too much into your operations. if you don't demonstrate growth the market will punish you. until we see information to the contrary, markets are pretty comfortable to value shares at lofty levels. >> do you think that will prove true at the catalonia vote and next year with the italian vote? >> i think the markets in a mode where it expects political uncertainty to some extent has can -- has tuned out political

noise. china, in europe, obviously we don't know whether xi jingping is going to stay. the market has taken in the view. we don't know whether it's good, don't whether it's bad. for companies executing globally, we don't have a way to price that in. >> at some point that is going to shift. --and slew you see a cut until you see a financial impact , whether for good or better or , or whether you see fundamental change in consumer sentiment for regulation, i think the market is going to shut this off to you -- market is going to shrug it is off. >> angela merkel is nowhere around trying to negotiate a brexit deal. does this play worse or better?

>> i was in the u.k. last week and there was some pretty bold and confident commentary. i think this is going to be a long and drawn out process. we have reduced significantly all things in u.k. businesses that are very much here to the u.k. economy. economies like prudential insurance, life insurance and asia, for companies like relics, operating on a global basis. i don't think brexit is a big issue. a weaker sterling actually. and international fema matter what their domestic headquarters are. for the international equity fund, thank you for that.

this is bloomberg.

mark: secretary of state rex tillerson says president trump's decision to return north korea to the list of countries that to the list of state-sponsored terrorism -- >> we hope for diplomacy, and the timing of this is just one of us including the process. there is a very specific designation process we have to go through in the state department be able to meet the to ensurend we wanted we have fully met all those requirements. mark: north korea would join iran, sudan, and syria on the

list of state sponsors of terror. calling for an immediate investigation into the reported fail of african migrants in libya. refugee chief says he was horrified at video footage broadcast on cnn of migrant men failure for the migrant men seeking better lives. >> they amount to crimes against humanity. to complyry nation against international crime and trafficking of persons. the international community to unite in fighting this cause. >> he says migration should be addressed in a comprehensive and humane manner an inch it -- and should include a crackdown on smugglers and traffickers.

has targetedraft truck producing facilities in afghanistan for the first time. the general of the country says air raids involving an f-22 bomber are part of a new and is cutting off taliban funding. according to general john nicholson and surgeons generated an estimated $200 million per and from coffee cultivation opioid production. today marks the 75th wedding anniversary from queen elisabeth and prince philip. they married in 1947. ands rang out in the abbey several new portraits of the couple. the royal mail is also issued a series of commemorative stamps. global news 24 hours a day powered by more than 2700 in oversts and analysts 120 countries. this is bloomberg. recap of today's market action as we start out with major averages in the dow

and s&p 500. we do see this modest gains. in a possiblee shift of momentum. today really more neutral. let's take a look at the bonds slightly lower. 10 year yield is up area commodity down, really a standout. that could be due to dollar strength, the dollar index. it's all about bitcoin. up 7%. year,e than 1000% last that's what it was. >> intercom disclosed their purchase of the cbs radio portfolio to become the second-largest radio operator in the country. president and ceo joins us from the new york stock exchange where intercom rang the closing bell today. they provide programming for him

to come stations that bloomberg provides programming for intercom stations. thank you so much for joining us. the keyword was number two. will is the plan to get to number one and take the title? >> we are happy where we are right now. in thethe two largest country. we are leading entertainment company. some of the greatest brands and radio across the country. k rock in los angeles. player be the number one in sports radio by far with that credibly exciting engaged audience, the number one in newsradio. and we will have the most premium local content of any broadcaster in the united states. the muslim -- some most wide local original content. and the scaling growth initiatives in place and a really strong balance sheet, buttressed at all and gives us , i think we are in great shape for the future. >> talk to us about the place

the radio has in the involving -- in the evolving media landscape. we talk about other forms of media all the time, anxieties, the television networks are facing due to court cutting, the challenges media companies have faced as they square off against the likes of facebook and so on. where is radio right now? >> radio's position for a potential renaissance. you can start with the fact that radio has emerged as the number one reached medium in the states. more listeners reaching 93% of americans more than any other medium in the country. as the dominant player in audio. even as the look at the most connected cars, listeners listen to first team -- to 13 times as all in those vehicles that of the streamers combined, meeting pandora plus spot of pineapple plus more.

you add to the data showing radio can generate a to 10 more times return on investment across all sorts of test. and you have a powerful argument radio should get a larger share of high than the 7% we get right reassessvertisers concerns over what is happening in tv, digital newspapers, and other areas. >> and $18 billion advertising industry already i believe for radio, where's the disconnect here? wire advertisers giving you more money? radio is still the most popular source in the united states. 250 million people still listen to it. where's the disconnect? television and digital took all the oxygen out of the room. radio has demonstrated its resilience. with the integrated offerings we bring to the table, we are more than just radio. radio is great.

but our brands connect with their audiences over digital platform, live events, so we bring a lot to the table. we can bring integrated opportunities that are unique with this asset. that will give us the scale to put together programs so we think will drive share to intercom and radio. >> it's getting harder and harder to find a platform that becausea wide audience, it is fragmented for all kinds of reasons. last manone of the standing where you can put an out on the radio and reach a wide swath of the audience. >> i think advertisers are starting to rediscover radio. procter & gamble has shifted significant funds to go back into radio after a hiatus of many years. we think that is potentially a harbinger of what succumb if

advertisers rediscover this medium and shift some dollars to the new space. >> as the ceo of a media company, lots of other m&a talk, including the idea that the at&t deal could be blocked with time warner. have the speculation that comcast, maybe disney, maybe even time warner or verizon could be interested in some of the 21st century fox assets. could you give a comment on the broader picture at all? is something that is important to us. we have grown our top line with scale. now that scale will be going forward. knowis interesting to about our story, even at 3% topline growth, we will drive a 60% increase in cash flow per share to our investors us all

the synergies on the deal and the way that everything is coming together. greatnk it is a opportunity to take advantage of the same scale that others continue to hunt for. >> thank you for joining us. intercom president and ceo joining us from the new york stock exchange. at&t is gearing up to square off with the justice department. the company calling the antitrust suit radical. more on the future of proposed acquisitions coming up. this is bloomberg. ♪

>> at&t responding to calls of suittential antitrust

within the council released a statement of the last hour aying today's lawsuit is radical and inexplicable departure for decades -- from decades of antitrust president. they benefit consumers without removing any competitor from the market. reason foregitimate our merger to be treated differently. for more we are joined by andmberg deal supporter senior litigation analyst for bloomberg intelligence. jennifer, i'm going to come straight to you, at&t fights the response here. it is a vertical integration. are they going to be competitive issues and are they going to have powers to disturb you that content? have, overal mergers time, been found to have potential for harm. it is the discrimination on

either side. what is going to happen here? it's going to be about the data and economists. what they will ask is a long-term benefit to the companies by engaging in this discriminatory strategy better, do they come out better, do they outweigh the short-term hit by discriminating, not distribute in their content? >> could be the case that at&t is correct, the deals have been routinely approved, but the evidence is showing up that they perhaps shouldn't have been or they do harm and there is some legitimacy to blocking this one? they areof all routinely approved, vertical mergers are procompetitive. they are often really challenged. and the thing is this one they are challenged they are generally resolved to the extent that there is any harm, resolved by behavior conditions and not a structural condition. is tos being requested sell assets and that is what is deviating from what usually occurs with a vertical deal that has some potential for harm.

most. has seen the trump hates cnn and all of a sudden the department of justice is focused on cnn eating divested. vertical mergers do usually go through. what is interesting here is there is an argument that sort of the test for what is legitimate is no longer really relevant. you have these huge structural changes around the architecture of market power. need to look necessarily like concentrated power. >> this is a question for you. -- can they tell changing, the landscape is changing so dramatically. >> that is one of the biggest issue with these cases.

particularly in these rapidly changing technology markets, that they should not be applying any stored of -- any sort of antitrust norms. >> do you air on the side of caution on the side of letting it pass? >> they don't want to shield good procompetitive deals. >> even though the landscape is changing, we have the president of comcast and nbc and universal, can they make that case? >> there is some speculation the doj has decided it doesn't actually like that very much. that may pass through to easily without concessions being extracted. the at&t anding at time warner deal and saying we should actually be slightly tougher on this. if interesting question was they don't get this deal over the line, then a potential someone else could come in.

we know there are companies that want to do this. have seen a lot of news around fox. a lot of companies looking to do acquisitions there. it's entirely possible at&t is hung up on this someone could take it. and their statement, that really speaks to that. they came out hard against this, said they are willing to go to the mat. fromsaid they said that the very beginning, this is a ridiculous case without merit. >> could you envision a world where robert murdoch -- >> balance himself. thatere have been reports he had been making contact.

i'm sure he would love to see his buddy rupert murdoch on cnn. >> you talk about how this could open the door for other suitors. isn't it a cautionary tale? especially talking about 20% rate cut -- 21st century foxx and comcast. who wants to spend all of that money? >> you're going to see that start to emerge because so much ambition and so much pent-up ambition and the mn day market. especially these very big and very ambitious deals. the justice department showing the willingness to litigate against people they thought would be sale through, that would have a chilling effect on a monday. >> very quickly, yes or no, can you see a case, a viable case to prevent this deal? >> it's possible. >> senior litigation for bloomberg intelligence. i love this story. up, u.s. treasury

secretary jack lewis joining a private equity firm, but he's not the only one. more on that trend next. this is bloomberg.

>> former u.s. treasury secretary jack lewis joining private equity firm linzie goldberg, adding his name to a list of government officials settling in at bio shop. let's bring in bloomberg's max abelson. >> i love this story, jack lew going to a investment bank. this kind of a pattern here. >> kind of a pattern. just using my fingers this morning, i counted you've got six out of seven last treasury

secretaries who have gone on to private equity firms. or you have a hedge fund for larry summers. bob rubin essentially helped allow considering he was part of the clinton administration's deregulation of wall street. hand, where the treasury secretaries go after they are done with u.s. government? six out of seven goes to show how incredibly powerful and enormous the financial sector has become. i modified a panel on it -- on private equity. showing numbers that were perhaps at the peak of private equity, the you see this as a sign of that potential? >> once you've got a fourth treasury it's going to be like the sports illustrated cover curse. jacob lew hopes that is not true

because he's going to be a partner at this firm. i remember is listening to the lyndon johnson library, they have a website. and there is a goldman sachs executive, city weinberg. and you can listen to his phone call with lyndon johnson on the website. go.commend that viewers what they are talking about is the treasury secretary. johnson is like can you recommend a treasury secretary and weinberg bring some but he up and that guy ended up going to goldman sachs. this phenomenon isn't new. it is just the volume that is so extraordinary. >> wire we surprised? given the previous connection to the industry, the role they have, the fact they have such an intricate knowledge of washington, not all the same for jacob lew, to then go back and advising these guys or operationally involved?

if you look at them they are different in terms of whether ory are an advertising role taking some element of involvement in the dealmaking in terms of the operation of the business >> you say it's surprising the four treasury secretaries on the private equity firms. one way to think about that as you listen to cindy weinberg , oneng with lyndon johnson difference is now the financial services sector, investors and investment banking, was a relatively small part of the global economy, and one change we have seen over the decades since then his wall street is finance takes of a vast section of our economy. and the parallel, the thing happening at the same time is the political influence of wall street has grown. street's political platform alongside it. >> you are agreeing with me. to be would have

pre-naive to think that wall street's political power isn't immense right now. >> what is tim geithner duet his job? -- what does tim geithner do at his job? >> he's the president, so you have somebody who is a special advisor. he is just a special advisor at blackstone, but then you have john's no. john snow isn't the chairman of capital management. now you have jake -- you have jack lew, he's the partner. some ofthem immense -- them wield immense power. >> hank paulson. >> not as far as i can find and private equity. you.ank thinking about -- even when he's

in that. that's the kind of education we like. we have been talking about at&t. we have the formal announcement now they are being sued by the u.s., seeking to block the takeover of time warner here. there is going to be a joint press conference between at&t and time warner tonight. of worth watching that. i soon we will have that, i'm just announcing that. but i will reiterate that fact. it's time for the bloomberg business flash, a look at the biggest business stories in the news right now. claims in the $5 billion minnesota lawsuit. the state's adding punitive damages to the resource file in the 2010 case. higher levels of kansas, leukemia, and lower fertility developed in the st. paul suburbs where the complete some chemicals for 40 years. the filing also accuses hiding the health risks from regulators. millionbeing fined $8.9

for hiring employees with serious criminal or motor vehicle offenses. the commission says it launched an investigation last year after a driver was accused of assaulting a passenger. 60 driversion found with previous felony convictions that were about work within the state, including a former prison escape the. that's your business flash update. need to know for tomorrow's trading day. this is bloomberg. ♪

speaking tomorrow ahead of the fed minutes on wednesday after the fed officially announced she will step down once they howl is sworn in. >> than looking for u.s. out of 10 a.m. eastern tomorrow. >> and

>> i'm in washington and you are watching bloomberg technology. let's check your first word news. permission has won to build the long-delayed keystone pipeline across the state. the decision is expected

to be challenged in court. transcanada has sent additional crews and equipment to the site of an oil spill in south dakota, near the north dakota border. federal reserve chair janet yellen says she will step down from the board of governors once her successors sworn in. president trump's nominee jerome powell will replace yellen when her term ends in february. trump's move box the long-standing tradition of reappointing the predecessor's pick. the washington post is reporting eight women said charlie rose made unwanted sexual advances wer towards them. rose apologized for his inappropriate behavior. bloomberg has a production and distribution arrangement with charlie rose. global news 24 hours a day in more than 120 countries. this is bloomberg. ♪