Latest / Bloomberg Intelligence / Bloomberg's Fieser on Coconuts, Niquette on China in US (Audio)

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Bloomberg's Fieser on Coconuts, Niquette on China in US (Audio) · Bloomberg Intelligence

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  Speaker 1: WT I I'm Charlie Pellett, and that's a Bloomberg Business flash.
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  Speaker 1: You're listening to taking stock with pin box and Kathleen
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  Speaker 1: Hayes on Bloomberg Radio, have you been drinking coconut water? Well,
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  Speaker 1: if you're like many of the consumers in the developed world,
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  Speaker 1: you've never been keener than you have now on coconut water. Starbucks,
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  Speaker 1: for example, wants the tropical fruit in order to use
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  Speaker 1: it for its milk to make lattees, and the celebrity
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  Speaker 1: Rihanna promotes its water as a trendy sports drink. But
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  Speaker 1: will there be any coconuts left to actually provide that
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  Speaker 1: all that customers want as a refuser? Is our Caribbean
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  Speaker 1: correspondent for Bloomberg News and joins us now from Santa Domingo,
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  Speaker 1: the Dominican Republic, EZRA. Thank you very much for being
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  Speaker 1: here and thank you for your story. Uh tell us
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  Speaker 1: the details of the coconut business. I'm glad to be here. Sure,
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  Speaker 1: in the last decade in the United States and Europe,
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  Speaker 1: we've seen an explosion in the demand for coconuts. As
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  Speaker 1: you mentioned, coconut water is that increasingly trendy drink. Um
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  Speaker 1: coconut milk, coconut creams are in demand. Even the husks
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  Speaker 1: from coconuts are being used for um car parts and
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  Speaker 1: the end seats and vehicles for the filling. So there's
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  Speaker 1: been a real explosion in the demand worldwide for UM
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  Speaker 1: coconut products. Meanwhile, in the Caribbean, UM they've never really
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  Speaker 1: rebounded from when the demand was lower. They've struggled with
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  Speaker 1: natural disasters and insect UM that spreads what's called lethal
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  Speaker 1: yellowing disease. That's that kills up the fruit and has
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  Speaker 1: killed entire plantations, and farmers just haven't replanted UM. So
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  Speaker 1: they're not able to keep up with the demand that
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  Speaker 1: we've seen increasing in the last decade. But they could UM.
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  Speaker 1: They could start planting more and I'm assuming as the
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  Speaker 1: prices rise the incentive is there. It's not like UM,
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  Speaker 1: you know, the base that are dying off or bananas
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  Speaker 1: that are some day never gonna be possible to grow again.
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  Speaker 1: It's just that they haven't really been on their a
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  Speaker 1: game lately. Right, Yeah, Well, there's two things that uh
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  Speaker 1: em play here. First is this legally yelling disease. Yellowing
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  Speaker 1: disease is pretty devastating across the Caribbean, and they really
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  Speaker 1: haven't figured out a way to replace. The current is
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  Speaker 1: what's called the tall Atlantic palm, with another ridle that
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  Speaker 1: that yields the same fruit um and even when they
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  Speaker 1: do replant a palm tree, it takes about seven years
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  Speaker 1: for to start producing coconuts, So there's a delay there
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  Speaker 1: between the time that they replant these plantations and they
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  Speaker 1: actually begin to yield fruit. And then the other thing
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  Speaker 1: is for some of these farmers that have these small
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  Speaker 1: farms and they're contributing their buying. We visited a distributor
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  Speaker 1: up in north coast of the Dominican Republic who who
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  Speaker 1: bought from local farmers, and he told us that, you know,
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  Speaker 1: the price has increased, so they're receiving more for and
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  Speaker 1: they've planted less, but their income is the same. So
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  Speaker 1: there's really no incentive for them to cut down their
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  Speaker 1: trees and replant or expand their plantations because their income
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  Speaker 1: is the same due to the increasing prices. As is
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  Speaker 1: it possible that other markets will fill the gap, because
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  Speaker 1: as you note, the coconut is not indigenous to the
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  Speaker 1: cur that's true, and it's not one of the largest
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  Speaker 1: producers in the world. In the Asian countries, Philippines, Um, India,
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  Speaker 1: Indonesia are the world's leaders, and across the globe, we
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  Speaker 1: have seen in the last twenty years. In the ten
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  Speaker 1: years um a increase in production and um the amount
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  Speaker 1: of an increase in the amount of land that's planted
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  Speaker 1: for coconuts. So the people, like the producers of Vita
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  Speaker 1: Cocoa in the US, which consumers are certainly recognized, said
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  Speaker 1: that they have no no issues with um, you know,
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  Speaker 1: sourcing their coconuts and they're not worried about a worldwide shortage.
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  Speaker 1: I believe that the Vita Coca they source a lot
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  Speaker 1: of their coconut water from Brazil. Correct, that's correct. Actually,
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  Speaker 1: the story there goes um that the two founders of
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  Speaker 1: Vita Coco met two Brazilian women in a bar in
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  Speaker 1: Manhattan and asked them what they missed most from their
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  Speaker 1: home country, and they said the coconut water. And that's
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  Speaker 1: where the idea for but Coco was born. So they sigh,
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  Speaker 1: all right, Azra, thanks very much. Awesome story and Santa
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  Speaker 1: Domingo must be a sweet place to be as well
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  Speaker 1: as refeaser as our Caribbean correspondent in Santa Amingo, Dominican
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  Speaker 1: Republic talking about the shorage and coconuts. This story has
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  Speaker 1: gotten a ton of hits on the website, so definitely
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  Speaker 1: check it out. When you have a chance on Bloomberg
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  Speaker 1: dot Com. Let's go now to my favorite place in
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  Speaker 1: the entire world, Columbus, Ohio, where Mark Nakatt, the government
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  Speaker 1: reporter for Bloomberg News, standing by to talk to us
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  Speaker 1: about what's going on in global politics and Mark, we're
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  Speaker 1: going to kick it off in China reviving the heartland.
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  Speaker 1: What what's going on with China really coming here to
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  Speaker 1: buy stuff? Yes, we have a story up on the
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  Speaker 1: website by my colleague Andrew Meeta talking about how despite
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  Speaker 1: the fact that China is sort of vilified on the
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  Speaker 1: campaign trail as sort of being an unfair trading partner
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  Speaker 1: and you know, manipulating currency and so forth, China has
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  Speaker 1: actually been uh doing a lot of investing in the
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  Speaker 1: United States and particularly here in Ohio where I'm based.
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  Speaker 1: The story talks about how we have, uh there's an
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  Speaker 1: old General Motors factory that used to make Chevy trailblazers
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  Speaker 1: that shut down a few years ago, and uh Chinese
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  Speaker 1: glass company Fulio Glass has essentially taken over this plans
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  Speaker 1: has brought inkers to make automotive glass and it's part
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  Speaker 1: of billions of dollars that China has invested in Ohio
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  Speaker 1: and Michigan alone and across the US in terms of UH,
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  Speaker 1: you know, having an imprint in in um um doing
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  Speaker 1: business here in the United States. I will tell you
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  Speaker 1: that my grandfather worked at that old General Motors factory
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  Speaker 1: in Columbus, Ohio for like thirty years. UM and we
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  Speaker 1: have a history in Ohio. I I obviously I'm a
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  Speaker 1: Buckeye as well. I'm from Granville. We have a history
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  Speaker 1: in Ohio of dealing quite well with foreign investment. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: I remember when Honda and the Japanese came into Marysville
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  Speaker 1: to put in a plant there and we, uh, we
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  Speaker 1: did all right with it. And now they're going to
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  Speaker 1: make the accurate NSX there, which is pretty sweet, right.
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  Speaker 1: That was a big deal at the time. Form Our
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  Speaker 1: Governor Jim Rhodes had a personal relationship with the Honda
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  Speaker 1: chairman at the time, convinced him to come to Ohio.
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  Speaker 1: It was their first sort of non Japanese plant and
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  Speaker 1: it's worked out great for uh, certainly Honda and for Ohio.
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  Speaker 1: It's a huge employer in central Ohio and for the state. Well, Mark,
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  Speaker 1: can you connect that with some of the political rhetoric
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  Speaker 1: that we've heard from both candidates because I imagine those
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  Speaker 1: voters also work at some of these plants, but sure do.
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  Speaker 1: And there's kind of a disconnect there because a lot
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  Speaker 1: of the rhetoric you here on the on the campaign trail,
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  Speaker 1: particularly as it relates to trade, is how um bad
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  Speaker 1: it's been for workers and manufacturing in the states like
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  Speaker 1: Ohio and Pennsylvania. Um. You know, trade deals like NAFTA
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  Speaker 1: and the proposed TPP and are blamed for jobs and
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  Speaker 1: companies leaving the state and country as opposed to you know,
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  Speaker 1: foreign investment coming here and and then really that's sort
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  Speaker 1: of the pushback against the you know, the criticism of
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  Speaker 1: trade deals that it facilitates the kind of um uh
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  Speaker 1: foreign investment and job creation that's made possible by these
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  Speaker 1: trade deals, and you know, it's it's partly the case
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  Speaker 1: that the candidates haven't reconciled that sort of this distinction
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  Speaker 1: on the on the trail. I mean, the voters in
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  Speaker 1: this cycle are very angry. You know, they're looking for
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  Speaker 1: somebody to blame because either they're unemployed or unemployed or
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  Speaker 1: their wages are stagnant. And it's easy to blame these
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  Speaker 1: trade deals and much harder to sort of push back
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  Speaker 1: and show what the value of these agreements are. Well.
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  Speaker 1: The concern, of course that Donald Trump, I guess and
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  Speaker 1: Bernie Sanders had for about the trade deals was really,
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  Speaker 1: um the balance, right, I mean, how many jobs have
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  Speaker 1: we gained compared to how many jobs have they gained?
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  Speaker 1: And I guess now Hillary clintons against TPP as well,
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  Speaker 1: since that helps her get a few votes. But what
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  Speaker 1: about let's shift and talk about, um more more concerns
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  Speaker 1: that are candidates have with international relations? What about Donald
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  Speaker 1: Trump's deal with Vladimir Putin? Right now? I mean, he
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  Speaker 1: is getting slammed by Hillary Clinton and a lot of
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  Speaker 1: people in the media, UM for saying that he thinks
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  Speaker 1: what uh, Putin is a better leader than Obama. Right,
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  Speaker 1: It's actually kind of a double whammy there. UM. In
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  Speaker 1: the forum that was held on Wednesday, UM, regarding issues
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  Speaker 1: pertaining to the Commander in chief UH and veterans UH,
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  Speaker 1: Donald Trump said both that he thinks, you know, Putin
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  Speaker 1: has been a great leader and as you said, better
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  Speaker 1: than than President Obama. But he also went on to
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  Speaker 1: UH complain about and in almost disparage, US general is
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  Speaker 1: saying that they've essentially been reduced to rubble under the
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  Speaker 1: Obama administration. So it's kind of this double whammy of
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  Speaker 1: you know, not not defending United States generals and pray
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  Speaker 1: sing a foreign adversary, Russia. And he's also given other
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  Speaker 1: interviews where he's sort of poo poo the idea that
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  Speaker 1: you know, Russia might be trying to hack into or
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  Speaker 1: interfere with US elections, you know, allegations that have been
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  Speaker 1: out there and concerns about foreign involvement. You know, Trump's
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  Speaker 1: tried to sort of, you know, suggest that might not
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  Speaker 1: be the case. And it's also a left you know,
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  Speaker 1: Hillary Clinton in a position to say, you know, especially
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  Speaker 1: to other Republicans, look, you know, is this what you
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  Speaker 1: really want in your nominee? That you know, if a candidate,
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  Speaker 1: you know, even for eight years ago, had sort of
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  Speaker 1: praised Putin and disparaged the president United States, you would
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  Speaker 1: not see a favorable reaction, for sure. Thanks very much.
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  Speaker 1: Mark Niquette is our government reporter for Bloomberg News coming
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  Speaker 1: to us from Columbus, Ohio, and you can follow Mark
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  Speaker 1: on Twitter at m Niquette. This is taking stock the
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: Columbus Ohio. Are you familiar with Columbus Ohio? H I? Oh,
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: what a Great State. Yeah, and they also produced you
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: Well Done. All Right, I'm PIM Fox my co host
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: Matt Miller. This is taking stock, and this is Bloombergh.