Bloomberg News Now
August 21, 2025: CA Redistricting Plan Approved, DOJ Signals Probe of Fed's Cook, More
22 Aug 2025
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Bloomberg Daybreak is your best way to get informed first thing in the morning, right in your podcast feed. Hi, I'm Karen Moskow. And I'm Nathan Hager. Each morning, we're up early putting together the latest episode of Bloomberg Daybreak U.S. Edition. It's your daily 15-minute podcast on the latest in global news, politics, and international relations. Listen to the Bloomberg Daybreak U.S.
Edition podcast each morning for the stories that matter with the context you need. Find us on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen. News When You Want It with Bloomberg News Now. I'm Doug Krisner. State lawmakers in California have passed a legislative package to advance a partisan redistricting plan. It aims at winning Democrats up to five more seats in the U.S.
House during the 2026 elections. And the move marks the latest step in a tit-for-tat gerrymandering battle after Texas Republicans advanced their own redrawn map to pad their House majority by the same five seats at the urging of President Trump. Here is California Governor Gavin Newsom. They fired the first shot, Texas. We wouldn't be here had Texas not done what they just did.
Donald Trump didn't do what he just did. California Governor Gavin Newsom there. Now the statewide vote in California for this new congressional map will be held in November. We move to monetary policy next. The head of the Chicago Fed, Austin Goolsbee, says while some recent inflation readings have come in better than expected, he is hoping one dangerous data point is just a blip.
Goolsbee spoke to Bloomberg on the sidelines of the Fed's annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We've had mixed messages. We've had some inflation reports that came in milder than we expected. And I was feeling good because I thought if the tariffs kind of stay in their lane and imported goods are only 11% of the economy, there is a real sense in which maybe we never left the golden path
Austin Goolsbee there, the head of the Chicago Fed, speaking to Bloomberg on the sidelines of the Jackson Hole Symposium. Friday morning, we'll hear from Fed Chair Jay Powell. We are told his speech will focus on structural changes in the labor market. Markets, though, are hoping for clues on the Fed's next move when it comes to interest rates.
The director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Bill Pulte, is defending his call for an investigation into Fed Governor Lisa Cook. Earlier, Pulte said Cook may have committed mortgage fraud, and he said his decision to refer the case to the DOJ is part of his agency's wider efforts to root out mortgage fraud. Here is Pulte speaking earlier to Bloomberg. We refer people almost every day.
I refer people every week on a minimum to the Department of Justice for mortgage fraud. This is literally what I am required to do underneath the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, which is to ensure the safety and soundness of the mortgage market.
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Chapter 2: What recent legislation was passed regarding California's redistricting plan?
He is Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Now, the Department of Justice told Fed Chair Jay Powell this case requires further examination, although Powell does not have the legal authority to fire Cook. Only the president can remove a Fed governor, and only for cause.
NVIDIA has reportedly told some of its component suppliers in Asia to suspend production work related to the H20 chip. This chip is tailor-made for AI applications in the Chinese market. Now, the information reports the directive comes weeks after the Chinese government told local tech companies to stop buying the H20 due to alleged security concerns. Here is Bloomberg's Annabelle Droolers.
This morning, though, what we've got is a production halt. What is interesting, though, is that it's not coming from the US side. It's coming from the Chinese side instead, or it's a result of Chinese government policies. So it tells you very much that NVIDIA's hopes of maintaining that foothold in the Chinese market do remain in limbo right now. Bloomberg's Annabelle Droolers there.
Recently, both NVIDIA and its rival Advanced Micro Devices secured Washington's approval to resume sales of lower-end AI chips to China with the condition that they give the U.S. government a 15% cut of revenue from Chinese sales. Meta Platforms is hiring another key Apple artificial intelligence executive, even though Meta is slowing its recruitment.
We are told Frank Chu will be joining Meta Super Intelligence Labs, or MSL. Now, Chu has led Apple AI teams focused on cloud infrastructure, training, and search. Here is Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple has been bleeding talent to Meta. They've lost now upwards of six senior AI model related engineers and executives of the last two months to the social network.
For Meta, it's very clear because of this hire that they're working on AI infrastructure, which means they're wanting to optimize cloud compute. We reported as well, Meta and Google Cloud signed a $10 billion deal. So what you're probably going to see here with this Frank Chu hire is more optimization and That is Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
After decades in prison, the Menendez brothers got their parole hearings. And at a hearing on Thursday evening, Eric was not granted parole. He will continue to serve a life sentence alongside his brother Lyle for murdering their parents in 1989. And according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the legal team for Eric Menendez cannot appeal this decision.
Meantime, the parole hearing for Lyle Menendez is scheduled for Friday. President Trump's pick to be the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey was blocked by a district court judge from handling any cases. The judge called Alina Haba's appointment invalid. In response, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi vowed to immediately appeal the decision.
And in a post on X, Bondi said, Haba is, quote, doing incredible work in New Jersey and that we will protect her position from activist judicial attacks. And that is news when you want it. With Bloomberg News Now, I'm Doug Krisner, and this is Bloomberg. This message is brought to you by Apple Card. Apple Card members can earn unlimited daily cash back on everyday purchases wherever they shop.
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Chapter 3: What insights did the Chicago Fed's Austin Goolsbee share about inflation?
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