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Voices are powerful things.
At Vanguard, investors are also owners,
and their voices are heard.
And now with investor choice,
they have an even greater voice when investing.
It's just another reason millions of investors
have turned to Vanguard for 50 years.
50 million investors, 50 million voices.
Vanguard.
Vanguard is owned by its funds,
but are owned by Vanguard's fund shareholder clients
to learn more, visit vanguard.com.
All investing is subject to risk.
Vanguard Market Incorporation Distributor
figure as of January 2025.
In the latest honor on Iran,
a top U.S. official resigns over the war,
while Israel continues its strategy
of taking out top enemy leadership
with the killing of Iranian security chief Ali Larjani.
While this is a strategic military achievement,
it's just not clear that it's gonna move the needle
in terms of regime change.
Plus, the Senate kicks off debate
on a contentious voter ID bill pushed by President Trump.
And finance bros say, hands off my Bloomberg terminal.
Even when AI claims to do the same thing for less.
It's Tuesday, March 17th.
I'm Alex O'Sullet for the Wall Street Journal.
This is the PM edition of What's News,
the top headlines and business stories
that move the world today.
The top U.S. counterterrorism officials said today
that he had resigned over his concerns
about the war with Iran.
Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism
Center, posted a screenshot of his resignation letter,
adding that he could not support the war.
And that quote, Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation.
He also said that the U.S. had started the war
because of pressure from Israel.
It's the first significant departure
from the Trump administration due to the conflict.
When asked about it by reporters in the Oval Office today,
President Trump said that Kent's assessment was wrong.
When I ran a statement, I realized that it's a good thing
that he's out because he said that Iran was not a threat.
Iran was a threat every country
realized what a threat Iran was.
The question is whether or not they wanted
to do something about it.
Meanwhile, in Iran, the country's rulers
have unleashed a new crackdown against domestic dissent.
In an effort to hold back the risk of an uprising,
security forces are using fear to keep a tight grip
on the streets.
Armed men ride around on motorcycles,
brandishing their weapons to intimidate people
and have set up checkpoints where they routinely stop
and search cars.
At least 500 people have been arrested
since the start of the war.
And on the topic of the country's leadership,
on this morning show, we mentioned that Israel announced today
that it has killed Iranian security chief Ali Larijani.
Israel also said that in a separate strike,
it killed Golem Reza Soleimani,
head of the country's repressive besiege militia.
Those two deaths are the biggest hit
to the country's leadership since Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei
at the beginning of the war.
It's also the latest example of Israel's strategy
of killing the leaders of enemy organizations
in an effort to weaken them.
WSJ reporter Anat Pellet joins me now from Tel Aviv.
Anat, who was Larijani?
What was his reputation as a leader?
Yeah, so Larijani was the secretary
of the Supreme National Security Council.
And he had a very prominent role in the regime.
He oversaw the violent crackdown
of anti-government protests in January that left thousands dead.
Interestingly, he also had a reputation diplomats
talked about this of being also a bit pragmatic,
more moderate compared to other people in the regime,
and someone that could talk to the West.
So just thinking about Israel's strategy here,
how does taking out the leadership
advance Israel's war goals?
Yeah, so Israel's gone about this strategy
in several other arenas.
We've seen this in Gaza with Hamas.
We've seen this in Lebanon with the Hisbalah militant group.
Those are both proxies or allies of Iran.
While this is a strategic military achievement,
in the long term, the problem is these groups
are still standing.
Hisbalah is shooting at Israel still.
It joined the war with Iran.
Iran's leadership planned for a war
in which many would be killed
and had prearranged replacements ready to step in.
Analysts do tell us that it could increase
the paranoia of leaders who know they are walking around
with a target on their back.
Because Israel has said they will continue
to go after leadership, political and military leadership.
It could also maybe complicate communications
as people become more nervous to communicate.
It could have results of degrading the regime
and making decision-making harder.
It's just not clear that it's going to move the needle
in terms of regime change.
And it actually has the risk of someone even more radical
or more hard-lying could step in.
And how does this align with the US's war goals
as we understand them?
Both Israel and the US, they opened the war
with speeches evoking regime change
and talking about the Iranian people taking to the streets
to topple the regime.
What we've seen since then is that both Israel
and the US have tempered expectations about that publicly
and have focused more on degrading Iran's military threat.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel
has still called on Iranians to rise up,
but the assessment is the conditions are not there yet.
And the exit strategy of this war is not clear.
That was WSJ Reporter, a not pellet.
Thanks a lot.
Thanks for having me.
And in other international news, Pakistan launched airstrikes
against Afghanistan overnight.
The Taliban government and an international aid group
said that the strikes hit a drug rehab center
and other locations, killing hundreds of civilians.
Pakistan has denied hitting the clinic,
saying that it carried out precision strikes
that destroyed militants, support, infrastructure,
and ammunition storage facilities.
There has long been a conflict between the two countries.
In late February, Pakistan said it was in a, quote,
open war with Afghanistan.
Coming up, today's market moves,
and why having President Trump's backing
may not be enough to make a voter ID bill into law.
That's after the break.
Voices are powerful things.
At Vanguard, investors are also owners
and their voices are powerful.
And they are powerful.
They are powerful.
They are powerful.
They are powerful.
Vanguards are also owners, and their voices are heard.
And now with investor choice, they have an even greater voice
when investing.
It's just another reason millions of investors
have turned to Vanguard for 50 years.
50 million investors, 50 million voices.
Vanguard.
Vanguard is owned by its funds,
but are owned by Vanguard's fund shareholder clients
to learn more, visit vanguard.com.
All investing is subject to risk,
Vanguard Market Incorporation Distributor,
figure as of January 2025.
To date, the Senate is kicking off debate
on new voter eligibility legislation
that President Trump has pushed hard for.
The Save America Act would require Americans
registering to vote to provide in person
to an election official documents
that give evidence of their citizenship,
such as a breast certificate or US passport.
The legislation has already passed the House,
but it's unlikely to pass in the Senate
because Democrats oppose it.
Journal reporter Anvi Bhutani joins me now
from the Senate Press Gallery.
Anvi, what's in the Save America Act?
Why has it been so contentious?
This bill's contentious primarily
because widespread voter fraud,
as alleged by President Trump,
has largely been disputed.
A lot of studies have found
non-citizen voting to be rare
and there are millions of Americans
that lack the necessary documentation
to approve their citizenship.
So, Democrats have estimated
that it's going to lead millions of Americans
not voting or finding it harder to vote.
The legislation also includes
creating criminal liability
for any election officials
that register voters that are non-citizens.
As I mentioned, this bill is unlikely
to pass because Democrats oppose it.
Republicans are bringing it to the floor anyway.
Why are they doing that?
Since before 2020, President Trump has
talked about voter fraud
and has wanted to crack down on that
and this legislation is his way to do that.
Republican lawmakers are definitely
in line with President Trump
and encouraging this legislation.
There are some Republicans
who are still wary of the Save America Act.
One good example is Senator Lisa Murkowski
of Alaska.
There are a lot of rural voters
who have to sometimes take a plane
to go into the county office to vote.
And those folks would definitely face barriers
if they had to first go away
and to prove their citizenship
and then go into vote.
So today's vote was procedural.
Now that has passed, what happens next?
That will kick off the debate
on the Save Act,
which could be a week or two weeks
or even longer.
And that's when individual senators
will have the opportunity
to also bring amendments
to this legislation.
And each amendment
we voted on individually
after which we'll see a vote
on the final Save Act.
Sounds like we'll be speaking to you again soon.
But for now,
thank you so much.
That was W.S.J. reporter
on V. Puthani.
Thanks for having me.
And in Illinois today,
there are primary elections
for the governor, House,
and Senate races.
J.B. Pritzker,
a Democrat, is running
for a third term as governor.
But he's also considered
a possible candidate
for the 2028 presidential election.
And his political brand
is at stake today.
That's because he spent millions
to boost Giuliana Stratton,
his lieutenant governor,
who is now running for Senate.
His involvement has
especially angered
the congressional black caucus,
which is backing representative
Robin Kelly in that Senate race.
Both Stratton and Kelly are black.
The Senate candidate
who's raised the most money,
meanwhile,
is current representative,
Raja Krishnamurthy.
Oil prices rose today
after more attacks
on energy infrastructure
in the Middle East.
Futures for Brent Crude,
the International Benchmark,
rose about 3% to more
than $103 a barrel.
But higher prices
haven't yet taken
a toll on people booking flights.
Today, Delta and American Airlines
raised their revenue outlooks,
while JetBlue and Frontier Airlines
lifted their unit revenue expectations.
Delta said that there was healthy demand
for corporate and leisure travel,
both internationally and domestically.
That demand's helping counter
the pain of higher fuel costs.
Delta shares closed up 6.6%.
Stocks overall ended the day higher.
The NASDAQ led gains
and finished up half a percent.
Energy shares
were among the strongest performers,
with Exxon mobile up 1%.
In other corporate news,
Arizona has sued
the parent companies
of prediction platform Kalshi,
for operating what the state said
was an illegal gambling business
without a license.
Kalshi called the charges,
flawed.
The National Association of Realtors
says that the number of homes
under contract in the US
rose 1.8% in February
from the month before.
The group's chief economist said
this was likely due
to greater affordability,
but could be reversed
if mortgage rates rise.
The war in Iran
has raised worries about inflation
that could keep rates higher for longer.
The US now has more
spots and gyms
than stores selling actual stuff.
That's according to data
on retail leasing
from the firm co-star.
Last year,
service-based tenants,
businesses like Salons,
Spas and Fitness Studios,
leased more space
than retailers did
for the first time ever.
That suggests
that Americans
are spending more on services
while retailers
need less physical space
to sell goods
because of e-commerce.
And speaking of e-commerce,
Amazon said today
that it's expanding
its one-hour
and three-hour delivery services
across the US.
An offer will be household essentials,
health and beauty items,
and over-the-counter medications.
The quick delivery comes
with extra fees.
And finally,
people on social media
over the past few days
have been duking it out
over a piece of business software.
A series of viral posts claim
that AI has created a
worthy alternative
to the Bloomberg terminal,
a computer system
ubiquitous among professional investors.
A new AI tool
from Startup Perplexity
promises to do
much of what the terminal does
for $2,400 a year,
instead of the annual
$30,000 that the terminal costs.
On X,
some users
breathlessly said
that perplexity's new tool
is the future,
and that quote,
Bloomberg is cooked.
But traders
and investment research teams
say,
you can pry my terminal
from my cold,
dead hands.
WSJ Tech reporter
Isabel Busquet says
Wall Street's obsession
goes beyond the financial
information the terminal offers.
Wall Street
traders are obsessed
with their terminals.
This is a fascinating
relationship.
Some people say
they spend more time
on their terminal
than they do with their spouse.
Some people
met their spouses
on the instant chat feature
on the terminal.
Everyone in the financial
services industry
is on it,
and you can message
them at any time.
I know of at least one
person who had a wedding cake
designed in the shape
of a Bloomberg terminal.
Another trader told me
that using his terminal
is like crack.
These terminals are
expensive,
so when you get the chance
to have one,
it's a
status symbol,
and it's a right
of passage,
and these people
spend hours and hours
on it,
every single
day.
It's also the real
time information.
They rely on that
for everything for their
jobs.
So it's an important
relationship,
and I think the idea
that AI could come in
and displace it was
sad and threatening
to them.
And that's what's
news for this Tuesday
afternoon.
Today's show is
produced by Pierre Biennay
with supervising producer
Tully Arbell.
I'm Alex O'Sullell
for The Wall Street
Journal.
We'll be back with
a new show tomorrow
morning.
Let's go.
Show.
Show.
Show.
Show.
Show.
Show.
Voices are powerful
things.
At Vanguard, investors
are also owners,
and their voices are heard.
And now, with investor choice,
they have an even
greater voice when investing.
It's just another reason
millions of investors
have turned to Vanguard
for 50 years.
50 million investors,
50 million voices.
Vanguard. Vanguard is owned by its funds, but are owned by Vanguard's fund shareholder
clients to learn more, visit Vanguard.com. All investing is subject to risk Vanguard
Marketing Corporation distributor, figure as of January 2025.
WSJ What’s News

