# Market Volatility Amidst Fed Independence Crisis

**Podcast:** Bloomberg Daybreak: US Edition
**Published:** 2026-02-05

## Transcript

I'm Joe Matthew, inviting you to join me for the Balance of Power Podcast.
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Bloomberg Audio Studios.
Good morning.
I'm Nathan Hager.
And I'm Karen Moscow.
Here are the stories we're following today.
Karen, we begin in Washington, where President Donald Trump has carried out an annual tradition.
The president sat down for a wide-ranging interview ahead of the Super Bowl with NBC News.
The discussion covered an array of topics, including the situation in Minneapolis after the deaths of two Americans by federal agents.
President Trump says immigration enforcement in the city needs a softer touch.
Look, I'm not happy with the two incidents.
It's not, you know, it's uh both of them.
Not one or the other.
Uh he was not an angel, and she was not an angel.
You know, you look at some tapes from back, but still, I'm not happy with what happened there.
Nobody could be happy, and ICE wasn't happy either.
President Trump says he personally decided to pull 700 agents from Minnesota yesterday.
That still leaves about 2,000 federal agents in the Twin Cities area.
A Quinnipiac University poll shows 63% of voters disapprove of the way ICE is enforcing immigration laws, though 77% of Republicans approve.
Nathan, President Trump also discussed geopolitics in the MBC News interview.
As you know, they're negotiating with us.
Insure replaced Chair Jay Powell with former Fed Governor Kevin Walsh.
I mean, if he came in and said, I want to raise him, if he said that, he wouldn't have gotten a job.
He would not have gotten a job, no.
President Trump says he believes the Fed is an independent body in theory, but he also says he's a smart guy whose predictions on the economy should be considered.
Well, sticking with politics here, Nathan, today voters in Northern New Jersey will select nominees in a special Democratic congressional primary to replace Governor Mikey Sherrill in the Republican-led U.S.
House.
Bloomberg's Lisa Mateo has more on the lineup of contenders.
11 candidates to be exact.
In the spotlight is labor activist Anna Lilia Mejilla, who has called for abolishing ICE and taxing the rich and corporations.
She's landed endorsements from Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, and multiple unions, and uses the same social media firm that helped New York City Mayor Zorm Mamdani go viral on TikTok.
Among the higher profile contenders are former Congressman Tom Malinowski, Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill, endorsed by former governor Phil Murphy, and Tahisha Way, Murphy's former lieutenant governor.
The winner will face the only candidate in the Republican primary, Randolph Township Mayor Joe Hathaway on April 16th.
Lisa Mateo, Bloomberg Radio.
All right, Lisa, thank you.
Now the latest on the missing mother of NBC Today show host, Savannah Guthrie.
She sent a public message to her mother's alive.
We live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated.
We need to talk, but without a doubt that she's alive and that you have her.
Savannah Guthrie's 84-year old mother Nancy was last seen Saturday around 9 45 p.m.
when she was dropped off at her home in Arizona by family after dinner.
Nathan, we turn to the markets now, and there's been a momentary pause to the global tech sell-off.
NASDAQ futures are higher after the index erased its gains for the year over the past two sessions.
Traders are weighing whether the flight from tech has been excessive amid concerns over disruption from artificial intelligence, lofty valuations, and vast capital outlays.
This morning, shares of Alphabet are down more than two and a half percent.
The Google parent did top quarterly revenue estimates, but says capital spending on AI will be significantly higher than anticipated.
CEO Sundar Pashai says the money will deliver a return on investment.
Nathan, the big tech earnings continue today with Amazon reporting after the bell, and we get a preview with Bloomberg's Tom Busby.
Amazon.com is expected to show steady 21% revenue growth in its Amazon Web Services Cloud Computing Division amid heavy spending on artificial intelligence.
Bloomberg Consensus calls for revenue of 211.49 billion dollars on earnings per share of a dollar ninety-six.
Tom Busby, Bloomberg Radio.
All right, Tom, thank you.
All is not calm in markets this morning.
Outside of tech, precious metals are in focus once again.
Let's get the very latest from Bloomberg's John Tucker.
John, good morning.
And good morning, Nathan.
Yes, silver.
Let's start there.
That plummeted as much as 17% as the commodity is struggling to find a floor following this historic route.
It's nicknamed the Devil's Medal for a reason, Nathan.
Its price is volatile and it's led to financial ruin for more than one speculator.
After a record-breaking la rally that appeared to run too far too fast, the metal has retreated by more than a third from its all-time high January 29th.
Gold has fallen below $4, geopolitical upheaval, and concerns about the Fed's independence.
In New York, I'm John Tucker, Bloomberg Radio.
Time now for a look at some of the other stories making news in New York and around the world.
And for that, we're joined by Bloomberg's Michael Barr.
Michael, good morning.
Good morning, Karen.
Business leaders, labor groups, and transit advocates are calling on the Trump administration to restore funding to a sixteen billion dollar rail tunnel that links New Jersey and Manhattan.
The Gateway Development Commission has warned that it must stop work on the tunnel by tomorrow unless the U.S.
Department of Transportation immediately releases federal funding tied to the project under the Hudson River.
New York, New Jersey, and the Gateway Development Commission have sued the Trump administration to restore funding.
Alabama Republican Senator Kate Britt.
So we're putting the safety and security of the American people first.
What Republicans will not do is um change the law.
What Republicans are not going to do is not enforce the law.
Senator Britt says we got here because of rhetoric from the left.
Officials from the self-driving vehicle industry appeared before Congress, responding to reports of Waymo vehicles not stopping for school buses in Austin, Texas.
Safety Chief Mauricio Pena says they've already updated their safety software.
Safety is our top priority, especially safety of children and pedestrians.
It comes just a few weeks after a Waymo vehicle hit a child who'd suddenly entered the roadway in Santa Monica, which has prompted a federal investigation.
Officials from Tesla and the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association also testified.
Global News, 24 hours a day.
And whenever you want it with Bloomberg News Now, I'm Michael Barr, and this is Bloomberg, Karen.
Thanks, Michael.
Time now for our Bloomberg Sports Udate.
And for that, we bring in John Stash Hour.
Thanks, Karen.
More NBA trades ahead of today's deadline.
Christophs Porzingis goes from Atlanta to Golden State in exchange for Joseph Kaminga, who is unhappy with the Warriors, as well as Buddy Heel.
This means the Warriors are no longer interested in acquiring Giannis on Tacumpo from Milwaukee.
Anthony Davis goes from Dallas to Washington, part of an eighth-player trade in a hockey trade.
The Rangers dealt free agent to be Artemi Panarin to the LA Kings in a baseball free agent signing Framber Valdez with Detroit.
That's your Bloomberg Sports Update.
Stay with us.
More from Bloomberg Daybreak coming up after this.
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Good morning.
I'm Nathan Hager, Minnesota, Iran, the Fed.
All of that and more came up in President Donald Trump's wide-ranging interview with NBC News, uh, portions of which aired last night ahead of the Super Bowl and months before a midterm election.
Now, the president says when it comes to the deaths of two Americans in Minneapolis.
I'm not happy with what happened there.
Nobody could be happy, and ICE wasn't happy either.
But I'm going to always be with our great people of law enforcement.
That was President Trump in the interview with NBC's Tom Lamas.
We're joined this morning by Terry Haynes, the founder of Pangea Policy.
And Terry, I'm just be curious to get your thoughts on whether a Super Bowl interview returning to this tradition for a president is something that resonates with voters, particularly at this moment uh for the president.
Good morning.
Hi, good morning, Nathan.
Uh, I don't think it hurts him at route.
Uh, and it is a good thing that he's returning to this tradition, and it's a good thing that he gave NBC uh a good deal of time on this.
And uh, you know, uh people deserve to to hear his voice uh kind of cutting through the uh the the cacophony on all these subjects.
So yeah, I do think it's a good thing.
And in terms of the president's comments about the the situation in Minneapolis, he says he made the personal decision to pull the the 700 federal agents yesterday.
He says it needs a softer touch now.
Um what is he doing in terms of overcoming this political backlash that we are seeing playing out in the polls?
Well, I think it uh I think it's a good thing uh generally that the president understands that uh the the enforcement process up there uh sort was certainly overreached, and uh to put it mildly, and uh and that he made that decision.
You know, it's it's uh just just as the bad decisions ultimately uh uh come to roost uh uh to his detriment, uh the good decisions uh you know help him.
And you know, as I say fundamentally, it's uh the you know, I think that's a good thing that they kind of ramp up the the method of enforcement.
Uh going forward on the uh the the prospects for ICE DHS uh continued funding though I think Congress has got a uh and the White House have a huge lift because you've got uh the temptation on both sides to overreach and include other things uh other than the the matter at hand uh how ICE does its job uh and you've got a potential goals mismatch where uh if uh Republicans uh seem to be more united on uh figuring out exactly what kind of guardrails ICE should have uh you've got Democrats I think uh all over the place here some saying uh they're for guardrails others want to defund uh others want to keep away from other uh issues like sanctuary cities so uh I think this is gonna be a difficult uh lift and politically uh Democrats uh run the risk of uh turning uh uh something that they want to keep as an advantage uh into looking like their immigration enforcement uh opponents or uh homeland security enforcement opponents.
So uh it's a delicate mix, and I think uh people would be well uh on both sides would be well advised to kind of keep to the uh to the subject of how ICE does its job.
Just thirty seconds left, Terry.
We also heard the president say he wouldn't have picked Kevin Walsh as Fed chair if he wanted to raise interest rates.
What's the message to markets when it comes to Fed independence?
Uh the message of uh on on Fed independence, I think doesn't come from the president, which is kind of the usual stuff, comes from the Senate.
Uh you've got not only uh banking committee member Tillis saying he's not going to confirm until the PAL investigations drop, but I think there's a very big thing from uh Tim Scott, the banking committee chair yesterday, basically giving the Trump people a fig leaf uh uh uh to in order to get out of this, uh kind of get rid of the PAL investigation.
The signal there is not only is Walsh very likely to be confirmed, but Trump should back off trying to warp or destroy Fed independence because that's Congress's agency.
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