The President's Daily Brief - August 10th, 2022. Big Five Update: Inflation. Boots on the Ground in Ukraine. Wheat Wars. Fentanyl from China. COVID Vaccines in Children.

Episode Date: August 10, 2022

It’s August 10th. You’re listening to the President’s Daily Brief. Your morning intel starts now. ------ We’ve got a Big Five Update this morning. Five critical updates on five stories that are shaping America — and the world. First up, the federal government is out with inflation numbers this morning. I’ve got an update on where the all-important natural gas prices fit in that picture. Second, the Canadian and US Governments don’t want you to hear about something in Ukraine. I’ll share it with you anyway. Third, the Wheat Wars are settling down, ships are getting to market. Except for one. I’ll explain that. Fourth, the White House is angry at China this morning and it has to do with fentanyl. Finally, parents are holding off getting their littlest kids vaccinated from COVID. I’ll explain that data. Plus, an email from Eric in Louisiana. He had a few cuss words he wanted to share about the FBI. I’ll give you a clean version of what he said and we’ll discuss. ------ Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of the President's Daily Brief. Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's August 10th. You're listening to the President's Daily Brief. I'm your host and former CIA officer Brian Dean Wright. Your morning intel starts now. We've got a big five update this morning, five critical updates on five stories that are shaping America and the world. First up, the federal government is out with inflation numbers this morning. I've got an update on where the all-important natural gas prices fit into that picture. Second, the Canadian and U.S. governments don't want you to hear about something in Ukraine. I'm going to share it with you anyway. Third, the wheat wars are settling down. Ships are getting out to market, except for one. I'll explain that.

Fourth, the White House is angry at China this morning, and it has to do with fentanyl. Finally, parents are holding off getting their littlest kids vaccinated from COVID. I'll explain that data. Plus, an email from Eric in Louisiana. He had a few cuss words that he wanted to share with me about the FBI. I'll give you a clean version of what he said and we'll discuss. But first, let's get started with today's Big Five update. The federal government will release June's Consumer Price Index numbers this morning,

giving us a fresh look at inflation. Now, economists think that we should see a drop very slight. We'll see if they're right. Meanwhile, some bad news on one of the drivers of inflation, the price of natural gas. So to recap why natural gas is so important, it fuels many of America's electricity plants, especially in states like Texas. Plus, it's critical in making fertilizer for our farmers and our ranchers, and it's very, very important to companies that make aluminum and glass.

Well, over the past week, prices for natural gas have shot up, or should I say, they've shot up here in the U.S., but in Europe they're actually falling a bit. Now, the reason is that America is set to export more of our natural gas to Europe. And that means less supply here as we fill up the natural gas tanks there. You may be wondering why exactly we are sending more liquefied natural gas all of a sudden. Maybe something that Joe Biden or political leaders had something to do with. But in fact, it wasn't a political decision at all. Instead, do you remember me telling you about the Freeport LNG facility in Texas?

It's the one that caught fire back in June. There was a big explosion. The FBI was apparently investigating that explosion as possible Russian sabotage. No update on that investigation yet, but the company managed to repair the destroyed pipelines much faster than they expected. So that facility will be ready for full-time export operations by early October. And that means more for Europe and less for you. And that means likely higher electricity bills,

for everybody throughout this coming winter. Speaking of the natural gas wars and the crisis in Europe, we've got an update on the war of attrition, which of course is the battle between Ukraine and Russia. And boy, is this a big one. First, news on Monday that the Biden administration is sending Ukraine a whole bunch of cash, $1 billion for new weapons, and another $4.5 billion for the entire Ukrainian government for salaries and humanitarian aid. Now, that $1 billion in military aid is the biggest trunch of dollars that we have ever sent them. So all in all, America spent $5.5 billion on Monday, all for a war in Europe that shows no signs of ending.

Meanwhile, some additional news out of Ukraine that you probably didn't hear because the governments of Canada and the United States would prefer that you not. So over the weekend, there were reports in Canada and the United States that quietly mentioned the Canadian-speople. forces were in Ukraine, on Ukrainian soil, embedded with and training local forces. Now, in response to those media leaks, Canada's chief of the defense staff, General Wayne Iyer, he made clear that he was not happy. So here's what he said. Quote, we are never going to talk about discrete or sensitive special operations or confirm or deny them. But if it were true, it would put our troops at risk. And why would anyone deliberately want to put Canadian troops at risk."

Well, folks, I'm going to translate that for you. Canadian boots are on the ground in Ukraine, not just in neighboring countries like Poland, they are inside Ukraine. And as I have shared with you before, U.S. Special Forces are on the ground there too, inside Ukraine. But that's not what the politicians in Ottawa or Washington, D.C., have told their citizens. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and especially Joe Biden, have said repeatedly, there will be no boots on the ground. Well, folks, that is a lie. It has absolutely happened.

Now add all of this news, the cash, the special forces, and consider the brief that I gave you last week about U.S. intelligence officials also in Ukraine. Now, to recap, a Ukrainian military official was giving an interview in British press last week, and he said that U.S. intel officers are also embedded with him and his forces looking at intelligence, probably. from drones and choosing which Russians to kill, all of which happens inside of Ukraine. So all in all, folks, what's clear is that we are seeing America and others cross over the line into a war directly with Russia, and that is a war that I promise none of you want to see. Now, as always, I'll be watching for more indications like this to suggest that something

grander is happening, and frankly whether Joe Biden comes clean with all of us on American troops in Ukraine. Your third update this morning and tied to the previous two, we've got an update on the Wheat Wars. Now, you'll recall that Ukraine, Russia, and the country of Turkey agreed to a deal where they will allow Ukrainian agriculture products to be shipped through the Black Sea and out to market. Now, it's been dicey from day one, this agreement. No one's been certain that Russia's President Vladimir Putin would honor his word, but so far, so good.

We now have 12 ships that have left Ukraine, mostly carrying corn and sunflower products. Now, some ships are headed to Turkey as their final destination. Other ships are headed off to various places in the Middle East or Asia. But one ship, well, it's not really sure where it's going. And interestingly enough, it's the very first ship that left. It's called the Rosoni. Now, she was supposed to sail to the country of Lebanon, a country in desperate need of corn and wheat and all sorts of agriculture. cultural products. Well, she got about halfway there, and the Lebanese buyer was a private dealer in

Lebanon, well, he canceled the order. He said that Ukraine was five months too late and he was no longer interested. Well, as you can imagine, there was a lot of shock about that decision. The Ukrainians were up in arms, the Lebanese government, the crew on the ship. Well, so far, there's been no resolution of what to do. The ship's just floating in the Mediterranean Sea until a new buyer can be arranged. Regardless, I will keep you posted on this bizarre development, but this issue aside, the rest of the shipments appear to be going smoothly. Coming up next, two more updates for you, one on China and the other about COVID vaccines and kids. Plus an email from Eric in Louisiana.

Lots of cuss words about the FBI raiding the home of Donald Trump. Oh dear. We'll be right back. Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is California's number one entertainment destination for today's superstars. Catch the Jonas Brothers return to the Yamava Theater stage on April 30th, the powerful vocals of Demi Lovato on May 17th, and the signature Southern Country Rock of Eric Church on July 19th. Tickets on sale now at Yamavat Theater.com, only at Yamava Resort and Casino,

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All right, welcome back to the PDB and today's Big Five update. I've got two more critical updates for you. First, the White House blasting China this morning because Beijing has announced that it will stop cooperation on shutting down the fentanyl pipeline that starts in China. So to quickly explain this update and recap the previous briefs on it, fentanyl is an incredibly dangerous drug. It killed just shy of 100,000 Americans last year and many, many thousands more before. It's a drug that starts its journey mostly in China, in the form of precursor chemicals. From there, it heads to Mexico, where the cartels with knowledge of the Mexican government, ship it onwards to the streets of America. Well, following Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, China announced a series of retaliatory measures.

One was that they would no longer help us with anything related to stopping drugs from their country coming to ours. Well, the White House said in response that it is disappointed. and that the decision is unacceptable. Let me give you a quote here. At the time when illicit fentanyl continues to claim an American life every five minutes, it is unacceptable that China is withholding cooperation. Well, the report concluded by saying that cooperation with the Chinese officials, quote, remains limited, unquote.

Well, that's because, in my estimation, China doesn't particularly care if Americans die of fentanyl overdoses. In fact, I can tell you that they are quite happy to see. it happened. They'll just have to trust me on that one. Finally this morning, most parents in this country are not vaccinating their toddlers against COVID. So here's what we know. More than a month after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended shots for America's 17.4 million children ages six months to four years, well only four to five percent of these tiny kiddos have received a shot. That is according to data and estimates from the American Academy

of pediatrics. Now there's a fascinating state-by-state breakdown here. In Massachusetts, it's about 11% of the state's young kids. They've all had one dose. In New Jersey, that number drops from 11% to 4.6. In South Carolina, 2%. And in Arkansas, 1.8. If you're wondering why the low numbers, surveys of parents showed a couple of things. First, most parents don't view COVID as a threat to their kids. And the data actually backs them up on that. About 75% of America's kids got COVID well before the vaccine was authorized, and they were fine. And that's because when kids get COVID, data show that they have mild or no symptoms at all. But that's not the only reason that parents gave for avoiding the jab for their kids.

Surveied parents also told the American Academy of Pediatrics that they have safety concerns because the vaccines are still new. Now, state health officials are apparently concerned about that answer, saying that they will work with pediatricians across the country to convey accurate information about the vaccine's safety and efficacy. All this according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Regardless, I will leave it to you all to decide whether that is sound medical advice or if there is a degree of politics. And with that, I've got one more thing before I let you go.

An email this morning from Eric in Monroe, Louisiana. He sent me a whole bunch of cuss words about the FBI. and a question buried amongst, well, all the cuss words. So I'll clean it up for you and we'll discuss. So hang tight. We will be right back. Kayak gets my flight, hotel, and rental car right. So I can tune out travel advice that's just plain wrong.

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I've got one more thing before I'd let you go. Eric from Monroe, Louisiana sent me an email with mostly cuss words about the FBI. Eric, it appears, is not a fan of the FBI's raid on President Trump's home in Florida. That's, of course, what we talked about yesterday. So here is what Eric said, although I'm going to tell you I did clean it up a little bit. Brian, we need to bleep and get rid of the bleep and bleep and bleep FBI. I don't bleep and trust them. So how in the bleep do we do it?

Well, Eric, I bleep and feel you, Brie. brother. I don't trust them either. And I agree. It is time for the Bureau to go. So how do we do it? And what comes in its place? Well, I think that there are two schools of thoughts on this. The first path, of course, is the traditional one. Congress would pass a bill to abolish the FBI and the president would sign it. So let's just assume that that would happen. What comes next? Because I'll be candid with you. I haven't seen any plans on that who would investigate, let's say, foreign spies under our soil or take down Mexican cartels and the like. Now, maybe there are plans out there, perhaps sending responsibility to the states, and then they would coordinate efforts.

But Eric, I think that we need to do something else, because I think that the problem is far greater than just the FBI. I think that the size of our federal law enforcement and intelligence community is way too big, and it is impossible to properly govern, to keep them all accountable. And that's why to move forward on this, we actually have to go back, back to the 1970s. So let me explain. Throughout the 70s, there were a series of scandals involving the U.S. government spying on Americans and otherwise breaking the law, for instance, conducting secret experiments in some cases against American people. For example, the U.S. military was involved in domestic spying.

The CIA had a domestic propaganda operation. and we were assassinating all kinds of foreign leaders. So to borrow a phrase, we had a deep state problem. Our government was out of control. So there were two committees on Capitol Hill. One was led by a Senator Church of Idaho, the other by Representative Pike of New York. And they basically just aired all the dirty laundry.

They told the American people a bunch of classified shenanigans. And from that, we got major reforms. And that included new oversight, special committees and their staffs, both on the House and in the Senate. And ever since then, those groups are supposed to carefully watch over the CIA and the FBI, and to a lesser extent, the military, all to keep them honest. But two things have happened since the 1970s and an era of accountability. First, the size of those agencies has exploded.

The CIA, for instance, used to have only one building in Langley, Virginia, as its headquarters. It now has, well, I can't tell you the number, but let's just say that it is far, far more than one. And inside each of those buildings are often thousands of employees. The same is true of the FBI. In fact, we now have a Department of Homeland Security, a brand new agency that was conceived after the 9-11 attacks, and once again, thousands of new employees. Meanwhile, even the most random of federal agencies now have law enforcement or intel duties. The U.S. Postal Service has what they call an internet covert operations program that monitors your social media posts. I bet you didn't know that. And why would you? Why would you think that the

postman would be watching over your social media posts? It's crazy. And so all of that, the massive explosion of the federal workforce with these profound law enforcement and intelligence powers, well, it makes it incredibly hard to keep any of them honest, to hold them to account. Well, not surprisingly, Congress is falling far short on their oversight job. They're just too many people, too many organizations, too many programs. Look, I've worked on Capitol Hill, and I can tell you that it's true. These folks are overwhelmed. Plus, consider this.

Many of the people hired for these oversight committees are actually former employees of those very same outfits that they're supposed to be. we're seeing. Again, these are former employees of the CIA and the FBI and such. That creates a potential conflict of interest. So Eric, to go back to your email, here's what we bleepin need to do. We need new committees, just like we did back in the 1970s. And they need to air all of this dirty laundry from James Comey to the Hunter Biden investigation. And then we need to cut, cut our way back to normal. But that's tough to do. And why? Well, because first, senators and representatives sit on committees that oversee all the agencies that need reformed. And sitting atop their

purchases on these committees, well, it makes them feel very fancy and very important. You know, to have that turf, the oversight of all that money. And maybe, cynically, some donors come out of that process too. Second, a lot of Washington, D.C. doesn't even admit that there's a problem right now at the FBI or the CIA. Now, why might that be? Well, again, a Cynic might point out that they have no incentive to reform an FBI if they think that it's on their side. In other words, the deep state gives them more power, more influence. So why would they want to disband them? So all that leaves you really with one choice. You've got an election in November America, throw the bums out. And in two years, if you want, throw out the press.

president. And as you do, you need to ask whoever you intend to vote for if they share your interest in either reforming or disbanding the FBI and the size of the government. So if they do, great. And if they don't, well, you now have a mission, either run for office yourself or find someone who will. And meanwhile, I'll do my part. I will grow the PDB herd. Because while Washington, D.C. can ignore one person. It's a lot harder to ignore us all. The bottom line, my friends, is that as Benjamin Franklin once famously said, we have a republic if we can keep it. So every generation has to pick up the torch of good governance and then keep up the good fight. And I do believe that that time for us is now. And that ladies and gentlemen

concludes your morning brief. As always, we close out the show. show reminding each other of why we are here, talking about our country and our world. It's the creed of every good spy and every smart American. It's from John chapter 8, verse 32. And you shall know the truth. And the truth shall make you free. Good day. Wireless can feel like a world of traps, but not with visible. It's one-line wireless with unlimited data and hotspot, powered by Verizon for $25 a month. Taxes and fees included. Plus, for a limited time, new members pay just $20 a month for one year on the Visible plan. Using the code fresh start. Refresh your wireless with Visible. Tap the banner to switch today. Terms apply limited time offer subject to change. See Visible.com for plan features and network management details. USAA knows dynamic duos can save the day like superheroes and sidekicks or auto and home insurance. With USAA, you can bundle your auto and home and save. up to 10%.

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