Warren Says Americans Do Not Want War With Iran: Campaign Update

(Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday called for de-escalation of tensions in the Middle East after Iran launched missiles at two Iraqi military bases that house U.S. forces.

“We have to start on a very sober note,” Warren said at the beginning of a town hall in Brooklyn. “At this moment, my heart and my prayers are with our military and with their families in Iraq, and all around the world. But this is a reminder why we need to de-escalate tension in the Middle East.”

She added that “the American people do not want a war with Iran,” a comment that was received by a standing ovation.

Iran fired a series of missiles at two U.S.-Iraqi airbases early Wednesday morning Baghdad time, the Pentagon said, in the first Iranian response to the killing of General Qassem Soleimani by a U.S. drone strike last week.

Bloomberg, Trump to Air Dueling Super Bowl Ads (4:27 p.m.)

Two of the billionaires running for president will run dueling television ads during the Feb. 2 Super Bowl.

Michael Bloomberg’s campaign confirmed that it would air a 60-second Super Bowl ad, first reported by the New York Times, and said it was part of a national campaign focused on President Donald Trump.

The Trump campaign spent $10 million last week for 60 seconds of commercial time during the Super Bowl, according to a person familiar with the campaign, who asked not to be named discussing internal planning. Trump’s campaign plans for the ad to air early in the game when viewership is typically at its highest, the person said, though it wasn’t clear whether it would be a single 60-second ad or two 30-second spots. The Trump ad buy was first reported by Politico.

The Bloomberg campaign declined to provide the cost of its ad, but the prices for 30-second spots on Fox Sports were going for as much as a record $5.6 million. The Super Bowl is the most-watched television broadcast.

Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News. -- Mark Niquette and Mario Parker

Biden Attends Fundraiser at Skadden Arps (2:03 p.m.)

Former Vice President Joe Biden held a breakfast fundraiser at the law firm Skadden Arps in New York before his foreign policy speech on the situation in Iran.

The event was hosted by Mark Angelson, the former vice chair of the now-suspended Biden Foundation, a philanthropic organization. Co-hosts included Asher Edelman, an art dealer and former general partner of Edelman LP who endorsed Bernie Sanders for president in 2016, Mark Kaplan, counsel to Skadden Arps who served for seven years as president and chief executive officer of Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc., and Thomas Humphreys, a partner specializing in tax transactions at Mayer Brown.

Tickets for the event attended by 115 were $1,000 for guests and $2,800 for sponsors who received a photo with the candidate. In his remarks, Biden said he believed that “all politics is the logical extension of human nature, personal relationships,” adding that he expects to see more cooperation in the Senate were he to become president.

“I think you’re going to see even Mitch McConnell changing some ideas or being more — how can I say — mildly cooperative.” -- Emma Kinery

Bloomberg Says He Won’t Accept Donations (1:20 p.m.)

Michael Bloomberg said he’s unwilling to take even $1 donations because of the appearance he could be bought, even though that means he can’t qualify to participate in Democratic presidential debates.

“You shouldn’t go down that path if you’re in my situation,” Bloomberg, a billionaire who is self-funding his campaign, told reporters during a campaign stop Tuesday in Richmond, Virginia, with former Governor Terry McAuliffe. “I want to be, as you would say, squeaky clean, and this is a way to show that.”

The Democratic National Committee requires candidates to have at least 225,000 individual contributors to make the cut for the current round of debates. Bloomberg said he’d participate in future debates if the rules change and he’s eligible.

Bloomberg’s decision to self-finance has drawn criticism from rivals including Elizabeth Warren, who relies on multitudes of small donors. She said on MSNBC on Monday that Bloomberg is “skipping the democracy part” of the campaign by not competing in the early nominating contests and that it’s wrong for billionaires to try to “buy” elections. “If that’s the case, then our democracy becomes something that only works for a tiny number of people, and it’s going to shut everybody else out,” Warren said.

Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News. -- Mark Niquette

Democratic Convention CEO Rips Trump on Media (11:20 a.m.)

The chief executive officer of the Democratic National Convention criticized President Donald Trump’s treatment of the media Tuesday as he promised to work for reporters’ safety at the party’s July convention.

At a media walk-through of the convention space in Milwaukee, Convention CEO Joe Solmonese said his goal was to protect convention-goers’ safety and security.

“For three years now, we’ve seen the most powerful man in the world and the head of the Republican Party -- the president of the United States -- make an enemy of the press,” Solmonese said. “He taunts you at rallies, encourages his supporters to berate and mistrust you and he challenges your patriotism. This is dangerous. This is fundamentally un-American. And for Democrats, this is unacceptable.”

Solmonese said he’s confident that when the public gets “the facts -- just the facts -- straight from reliable media” they will see that the Democrats “are better suited to lead this country into the future than the current occupant of the White House.” -- Emma Kinery

Oil lobby takes on Democrats’ Climate Plans (5:30 a.m.)

The oil industry’s top lobbying group on Tuesday is launching a campaign to counter attacks from 2020 Democratic hopefuls vowing to phase out fossil fuels.

Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have called for banning fracking and curbing the use of fossil fuels as part of efforts to combat climate change. Other candidates have also outlined ambitious environmental plans.

The American Petroleum Institute will air advertisements that highlight the industry’s role in paring greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change while encouraging a truce in heated political debates over energy.

“We have different perspectives on the best way forward, but on issues that matter, like climate change, we’re more alike than we think,” one of the API advertisements intones over images of people hiking, jogging and commuting. “We want cleaner solutions, and that means working with each other.”

API representatives declined to detail the cost of the campaign, saying only it amounted to seven-figure spending. “No nation on earth has reduced annual carbon emissions more than we have,” API President Mike Sommers is set to say Tuesday in prepared remarks at the group’s “State of American Energy” event in Washington. “And we have the capacity, desire and grit to keep stepping up.”

COMING UP:

Five Democrats -- Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Sanders, Warren and Amy Klobuchar -- have qualified for the next debate, on Jan. 14 in Iowa.

President Donald Trump is scheduled to hold a campaign rally in Milwaukee on the same night as the debate, as well as a rally in Toledo on Jan. 9.

The first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses will be held Feb. 3.

(Michael Bloomberg is also seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)

--With assistance from Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Mark Niquette, Emma Kinery and Mario Parker.

To contact the reporter on this story: Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou in Washington at megkolfopoul@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Max Berley, John Harney

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