>> good morning. i am haidi stroud-watts. shery: i am shery ahn in new york. janet yellen meets resistance. she says it is time to act big, rules out a weak dollar policy, and warns china. >> we need to take on china's

abusive, unfair, and illegal practices. shery: mike pompeo says beijing's treatments of minorities amounts to genocide. joe biden's pick to replace him says that he agrees. plus, netflix soars. that says it no longer needs to borrow money. haidi: let's look at asian markets. sophie? sophie: kicking off with the open in sydney, higher after the biggest jump tuesday in two weeks. rising 0.5% this morning after forecast for iron ore output.

$53 a barrel, declining after janet yellen signaled her support for plans. u.s. stocks pushed higher on that stimulus. check out futures in asia. this follows wall street overnight. adding to the index here. we saw cash bonds falling on janet yellen indicating she's open to a 50-year bond. japan futures slightly higher, this as the rally for tokyo stocks looking exhausted. the offshore yuan above 6.48, on the back of janet yellen's comments weighing on the dollar. watch the pboc update on loan

rates for china. we also have malaysia's policy decision. haidi: right. joe biden's pick for one position, janet yellen prepared to take on china's abuses. let's get the full picture from our reporter. let's start with janet yellen stimulus push. one calling this a laundry list of liberal economic reforms. what is the outlook for this package? >> the bottom line is they will have difficulty pushing this package through congress, given republican objections to the $1.9 trillion price tag.

they went through the trump administration without raising that objection to spending, but now that a democrat is in the white house, they are raising objections, but it spells trouble forgetting that stimulus passed quickly. haidi: janet yellen said the u.s. is prepared to take on china's abusive practices. we have been watching for the direction the administration takes to beijing. let's bring in tom mackenzie in beijing. tom: echoes of the language we heard over the last four years when it comes to china, trade practices as abusive the fact china had stolen u.s. intellectual property, illegal subsidies, and she said rather

than a unilateral approach, she would seek to work with allies to tackle these trade abuses. that seems to be enough to tariffs put in place. previously, administration officials within the incoming administration have said they will not be in a rush. so the question is how far this will go on issues like tariffs, but also chinese corporations, will they remove some of the executive orders banning investment or keep them in place? haidi: perhaps further boxing in the biden administration, mike

pompeo labeling its crackdown genocide. tom: not a surprise. it is not normal to use a word like genocide lightly. mike pompeo said it is an ongoing and systemic attempt to destroy the people, citing sterilization, the internment camp, and forced labor. what we have heard from the incoming -- he concurs with this designation of genocide, tony blinken saying he would like to ban the import of goods from the region. the u.s. has such change in -- has sanctioned officials, putting a ban on products from the region, so there is a

bipartisan few the need of further action against china for what the u.s. describes as these abuses. the chinese say these camps are schools, and china said this is an attempt to tackle extremism and terrorism. the sensitivity of this issue is highlighted by the fact that our programming is blacked out in china. haidi: trump also gave a gesture of goodwill as he wished to joe biden success. >> this week, we inaugurate a new administration and pray for its success in keeping america safe and prosperous. we extend our best wishes, and we also want them to have luck. haidi: jordan, it was a measured, some would say gracious message from the president? jordan: it was a rare

acknowledgment that he is leaving office and a new president is taking over. he did not mention joe biden by name, nor did he accept responsibility for violence at the state capital two weeks ago. while breaking with transition tradition, he has acknowledged he will no longer be president as of noon tomorrow. haidi: jordan fabian in washington. tom mackenzie in beijing. don't miss out coverage of joe biden's inauguration. we will have extended coverage. you can catch that live on bloomberg tv, radio, and quicktake. later this hour, we are speaking to malcolm turnbull, as the

world awaits the joe biden administration. don't miss that conversation. let's get you the first word headlines. karina mitchell is in new york. >> pandemic levels worldwide and in the u.s., as the u.s. mark's 400,000 fatalities, the worst single nation total in the world. portugal and the u.k. report record deaths. hong kong will extend mandatory virus testing. china is ramping up defenses, a new quarantine center constructed with 1700 rooms, and expected to admit occupants wednesday. construction began last week after a jump in cases.

indonesia searching, after recovering wreckage and human remains in the java c. -- sea. the jet was a boeing 737 500, out of service for the last nine months because of the pandemic. italy's most active volcano has burst back to life with the spectacular lava show. it is the largest and most violent of volcanoes, and tracks to her speaker to watch the show. seismologists say there is little threat to people in the area. it is the power of mother nature.

global news 24 hours a day on air and on bloomberg quicktake powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. haidi: coming up, we speak about how portfolios may transform. this is bloomberg. ♪ so you're a small business, or a big one. you were thriving, but then... oh. ah. okay. plan, pivot. how do you bounce back? you don't, you bounce forward, with serious and reliable internet. powered by the largest gig speed network in america. but is it secure? and even if the power goes down, sure it's secure. your connection doesn't. so how do i do this? you don't do this. we do this, together. bounce forward, with comcast business.

haidi: emerging markets stocks rose, hitting a fresh record has janet yellen backed joe biden's $1.9 trillion release plan. joining us now is carol pepper. always great to have you. this is not the final package. where are you expecting to see the biggest impact when it comes to this package filtering through the economy and markets, emerging markets or u.s. domestic stocks?

carol: u.s. stocks will benefit. so there will be money for people to spend. people will not lose their jobs, there will not be a major disruption of the economy. that is very good for u.s. stocks. we will see the trend of people working from home this year, so with different programs it will take a while to get everybody vaccinated, but you will have a supported market, and that will benefit from emerging markets, anyone supplying commodities. in other words, the engine will really get going again. haidi: when it comes to emerging markets, you said asia tech

remained a good long-term play. we have seen this flow of capital into the hong kong market, as this chart shows. when you say asia tech, where are you investing? were talking about tencent, others in h-shares. carol: there is a massive change in online behavior and in engagement. the world is going to stay online, probably for at least another year, that is two years to ingrain new patterns. any company writing this trend will make money. -- riding this trend will make money. i think we will see that will

have the market continue to do well. i think big companies will keep getting bigger, the make a cash will get more mega -- the mega cash will get more mega. q2 giants will dominate in the next five years to 10 years -- huge giants will dominate in the next five years to 10 years. haidi: is there further upside for some of these pandemic darling stocks in tech? carol: absolutely. netflix is a hockey stick that was right. that definitely happened. they had $15 billion put in

and they are worth $200 billion. netflix, 60% of earnings are offshore, so there are still massive markets. there is a lot more room to grow, so the evaluation arguments, the idea other stocks will catch up, those are dreams. i do think the stocks will continue to dominate. haidi: if you are not fully invested at this point, which of your scenarios do you lean towards, play it conservative and save some cash in case the vaccine rollout takes longer, do you wait for another pullback, what do you do? carol: everybody's situation is different. i invest with family offices.

we always tried to make sure you have a couple of years of cash so you can ride through unexpected surprises. if you are safe, go for it. will there be a pullback? there could be. the biggest thing driving that would be another virus strain for the vaccine rollout takes an additional year to get the world started again. if that becomes clear, we could see a dip, so only keep money in there that you could keep in there for five years, because there is a chance for a pullback. things don't go as expected. we are in uncharted territory. whether we are out of lockdown by the end of this year or 2022, we have been in lockdown for a

long time in consumer patterns have changed, and that will stay the same, even after the lockdown is done. haidi: always great to have you with us. coming up, the u.s. continues to hit graham milestones -- grim milestones. we will discuss the global fight, next. this is bloomberg. ♪ mberg. ♪ so you're a small business, or a big one. you were thriving, but then... oh. ah. okay. plan, pivot. how do you bounce back? you don't, you bounce forward, with serious and reliable internet. powered by the largest gig speed network in america. but is it secure? sure it's secure. and even if the power goes down, your connection doesn't. so how do i do this? you don't do this. we do this, together. bounce forward, with comcast business.

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haidi: the u.s. has hit a sobering milestone, 400,000 covid-19 deaths, as the u.s. inaugurates a new president. the u.s. is the leader in cases and deaths. michelle cortez joins us now.

as we mark this terrible milestone, we have some encouraging developments. how significant is it, given the situation until now? michelle: it is important for two reasons. it is important because it will spread out the availability of vaccines to slow down the spread of the virus. there is no way to get the outbreak under control, if we don't get it under control where it may be in reservoir, because of trouble and spread. even if you protect everybody in the industrialized countries, if you have these pools of virus in the world, you will never get rid of the virus. the other thing has been

spreading the burden. china said they would participate. the u.s. is the economic engine of the world, and without the u.s., it will not go as far. haidi: we are seeing in germany, angela merkel extending the lockdown. the number of cases they are seeing is triple the government targets. michelle: there is nothing to be done while we are waiting for broad vaccination to get the virus under control. the effort to take charge of the outbreak in this way is hopeful to get it under control. the problem is that it takes time. it's not something that where you will see a drop-off in cases right away.

it is the only tool that germany has at this point to get the fire center control. haidi: our bloomberg health care reporter michelle cortez. bloomberg spoke with a senior scholar about the speed of the u.s. vaccine response compared to the world. >> it is starting to ramp up. it has to do with logistical issues, states not knowing the supply chains, the percentage of those with allergic reactions, and that served as an obstacle. we are seeing him get more comfortable and flexible, but we are not at the rate of israel or the uae. if we are going to stay ahead of this, we have to ramp up the

speed and have a lot of security about how many doses we have, so they don't have to start and stall. >> what can you tell us about the vaccination rollout and even if you are vaccinated, we could see infections. >> this is a controversy all topic. we know that vaccines are effective, but how much do they reduce spread? that is important for the guidance we give people. we don't change the guidance, but not those people are less likely to be infected, but we don't know how much. there is a need for research. many vaccines do protect against both, and as more people get vaccinated, it becomes less and

less important because the virus , it will not matter, because no one will land in the hospital with covid-19. this is something we have to figure out to give people the right health messaging. >> in the u.k., you are vaccinating as quick as possible for the first dose, but waiting up to 12 weeks. is this as reliable? >> we don't know. all the trials had this three-week interval and four-week interval. if you get the second dose, you will get the protection, but how long with the protection of the first dose last? that is a question we don't have data. i understand why the u.k. did it. you don't have to restart the

series if you take your second dose late, but they will probably be some time where you're not as protected as others. we can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good, and this is an issue trying to stay ahead of that variant. haidi: coming up, we will be joined by malcolm turnbull to discuss australia and relations with the incoming administration. this is bloomberg. ♪

haidi: breaking news, westpac consumer confidence numbers, 107. that is a pullback from 112 in the previous period. consumer confidence on a seasonally adjusted month on month basis at 4.5%, weak compared to last year, and a pullback from the 4.1% gain in

december. retail strength and consumer confidence in australia has been improving. that is one of the bull cases for an optimism about a comeback this year. joe biden's inauguration, he inherits major challenges, notably china. the nations have more at stake with australia. we are now joined by malcolm turnbull. it is world wonderful -- it is wonderful to have you. what do you think president trump's legacy will be? malcolm: it would be defined by the events of the last few

weeks. it is really the culminating point of a presidency that sought to exacerbate divisions within the country, the antithesis of the leader of a multicultural society trying to bring people together. he sought for his own political advantage to exacerbate the divisions in america, then running this extraordinary lie about how the election had been stolen, which i large number of republicans believed, and for that was backed to the hilt by

rupert murdoch and fox news. rupert murdoch in many ways create a trump is a political leader. it has done a lot of damage. i think people will sit through his presidency and look for positive achievements, but it will be overwhelmingly framed in the context of this extraordinary political chaos he has left behind him. the sacking of the capitol would have not have been imagined, but there we have it and we send the president on his way. haidi: i don't think many would have predicted the second impeachment either. as we head towards that trial, there are talks of reform and healing in the u.s.

you have spoken at length about the role of media and social media in this. what kind of private sector reforms do you think needs to happen? malcolm: i think what you will see in the u.s. with a democratic administration, they will seek to roll back the trump tax concessions for people with higher incomes. they will need to raise more tax revenue. america is very under invested in terms of infrastructure. the funding models are misaligned. if you look at the tax base of the cities, your founder mike bloomberg knows more about this than anyone, but so much of the revenue base of american cities is based on property taxes, which means the cities that need the most investment, the poor

cities have the lost revenues. if you look at education in the u.s., it is funded by property taxes. poor areas get the worst schools. much better to do what we do, fund education at a state and national level. i think there are a lot of reforms, and interestingly, a lot of things in america could learn from australia. obviously, look at the electoral system. compulsory voting is probably too much for the americans, the terry and instincts would resist that. -- their libertarian instincts would resist that. we regarded self-evident that the australian electoral commission's job is to make sure

everyone who is an australian citizen and adult is on the electoral roll. if you don't turn up on polling day, you will get a fine, unless you have an excuse. in america, voter suppression, you look at cases in georgia, where the polling booths in largely black areas, polling booths in predominantly white areas, it is minutes versus hours. voter suppression is terrible. i think the problem with that is america faces is that it naturally polarizes politics. our system is not perfect by any means, but by and large, our political debate is around the center. compulsory voting helps.

independent drawing of electoral boundaries helps. that is where you want to have the political debate, in the center, rather than people running to the extremes. you solve the ultimate example of that on january 6, creasy