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On the first day of historic public hearings in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump, Acting Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor provided a new revelation. He described a call made after Trump’s now-famous chat with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy (who Trump asked to investigate Democratic Party front-runner Joseph Biden). The second call, between Trump and donor-turned-ambassador Gordon Sondland, occurred in the presence of Taylor’s staff. A staffer heard Trump asking Sondland about “the investigations.” When asked what Trump thought of Ukraine, “Sondland responded that President Trump cares more about the investigations of Biden,” Taylor testified.  

Here are today’s top stories

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell stuck to his view that interest rates will remain static for now, while signaling that the central bank will be ready to resume cutting if the U.S. growth outlook falters.

Meanwhile, a key measure of consumer prices unexpectedly fell in October, a sign price gains may be slow to reach the Fed’s target.

A federal judge blocked as unconstitutional a Trump administration policy allowing customs employees to arbitrarily search smartphones and laptops of international travelers at airports and border crossings.

Who wins New York’s landmark climate change lawsuit against Exxon Mobil is now up to a judge, but a dozen more climate lawsuits are pending, with trillions of dollars potentially in the balance.

The economic effects of global warming may arrive sooner than we thought, and with a bigger impact.

Visa and Mastercard are under scrutiny by U.S. antitrust regulators over policies that can prohibit merchants from routing transactions over alternative debit networks.

What’s Joe Weisenthal thinking about? The Bloomberg news director says the big theme in the U.S. has been the shift from growth stocks to stocks. It may be the same in Europe, too. While they might not grab headlines the same way, those old European companies are suddenly what investors want, as cyclical recovery is back in style. 

What you’ll need to know tomorrow

• Ex-Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick is running for president.
• The Saudi Arabia-led blockade of Qatar may be coming to an end.
• Venice declares a state of emergency over massive flooding.
• There’s a $1 billion-a-day cryptocurrency trader craving attention.
• Global warming could be good for dam builders.
• Apple launches its new 16-inch MacBook Pro.
• Diamonds may be selling, but they’re still getting cheaper.

What you’ll want to read in Bloomberg Pursuits

Forget turkey: Make Thanksgiving pig this year. There’s another, easier option for Thanksgiving than turkey, one that avoids all of the risks that go along with cooking the famously difficult bird. Anyone who can roast a turkey can roast a pig, with just as good or better results—including the leftover sandwiches. 

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