The President's Daily Brief - August 21st, 2024: Ukraine’s Invasion Goals Revealed, Netanyahu Under Fire, & a Warning to China

Episode Date: August 21, 2024

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief:   Three weeks into Ukraine’s push into Russian territory, President Volodymyr Zelensky unveils his objectives, declaring that the invasion aims to shatter the myth of Russia's 'red lines,' exposing them as mere illusions. Just hours after Israel confirmed the recovery of six hostage bodies in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces intense criticism. Families of the remaining captives accuse him of abandoning their loved ones. The US issues a stern warning to China following a recent collision between Chinese and Philippine coast guard vessels, reaffirming its unwavering commitment to defend its ally against any further escalations. And in today's Back of the Brief, a Department of Homeland Security watchdog report raises serious concerns over the handling of unaccompanied migrant children, revealing that many minors have gone missing after being released from government custody, sparking alarms about their safety and welfare. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. 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

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Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. Three weeks into Ukraine's push into Russian territory, President Zelensky is lifting the curtain on his objectives, declaring that the invasion aims to shatter the myth of Russia's red lines, revealing them as nothing more than an illusion. Later in the brief, just hours after Israel confirmed the recovery of six hostage bodies in Gaza,

Prime Minister Netanyahu faces a fierce criticism. Families of those still held captive are accusing him of abandoning their loved ones. Plus, the U.S. issues a warning to China following a recent collision between Chinese and Philippine Coast Guard vessels, reaffirming its unwavering commitment to defend its ally against any further escalations. And in today's back of the brief, a Department of Homeland Security Watchdog report. raises serious concerns over the handling of unaccompanied migrant children, revealing that many minors have gone missing.

I'll repeat that. Gone missing. After being released from government custody, sparking alarms about their safety and welfare. But first, today's PDB spotlight. As his forces continue to embarrass the Putin regime inside Russia's Kursk region, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy is opening up

about Kyiv's strategic aims, while issuing a scathing critique of Western allies. In a speech to Ukrainian ambassadors on Monday evening, Zelensky exorated the U.S. and NATO for the limitations imposed on Ukraine regarding attacks inside Russia, arguing their reticence has allowed Vladimir Putin to dictate the terms of the war. Zelensky said their incursion to the Kersk region

and Russia's flailing response is proof that Putin's arbitrary red lines are utterly meaningless and that the dictator's threats should no longer be taken seriously by the West, according to a report from the New York Times. In his remarks, Zelensky revealed some details of the operations planning, notably that they left the U.S. and other Western nations completely in the dark to avoid spooking key allies. As a result of their incursion launched on the 6th of August, Zelensky said, quote, the whole naive, illusory concept of so-called red lines regarding Russia, which dominated the assessment of the war by some partners, has crumbled, end quote.

The Ukrainian leader used the moment to reiterate his calls to Western allies to supply long-range weapons and to lift restrictions on current munitions. As a reminder, for the first two years of the war, the U.S. barred Ukraine from using Western-supplied weapons to strike inside Russia, fearing that such activity could escalate the conflict. While the U.S. and NATO allies loosened the restrictions in the spring, they still limited the use of these weapons to targets along the border region. The policy has caused significant frustration among Kiev's top brass, who feel that the West is giving them just enough support to keep Putin at bay,

but not enough to put them in a position to achieve anything resembling victory. Zelensky said they likely would have never entered the Kursk region, if the West had lifted all restrictions of their weapons. He added that the situation for Ukrainians remains dire, and they, quote, any further delay by our partners, in terms of long-range capabilities, is becoming de facto, perhaps,

the most effective support for Russia's offensive potential. While progress has slowed, Ukraine's surprise offensive has proved surprisingly successful. Keeves' forces have managed to capture some 480 square miles of Russian territory, including approximately, approximately 93 settlements. In recent days, the Ukrainian military has consolidated their gains and Delta serious blow to the Putin regime's supply lines, knocking out all three of the bridges

over the critical same river. The incursion appears to have a number of goals, from exposing Russia's weakness to boosting morale and putting Ukraine in a stronger negotiating position for future talks. Zelensky said their forces are working to establish a buffer zone, which they will leverage to up the diplomatic pressure on Moscow. We should note, however, Ukraine has also drawn on its own reserves for the operation in Kyrsk, and their forces are now struggling to repel Russian assaults in the Denedzka region of Ukraine. Ukraine hoped the incursion would draw significant levels of Russian troops away from the battlefields inside Ukraine, particularly in eastern and southern Ukraine, but so far, that critical goal has not panned out. A small number have been redeployed to the Kursk area,

but Russia's main fighting force inside Ukraine, that remains intact. Indeed, the Russian military is actually making gains of their own inside this region, advancing at least three miles since the beginning of August, and that's according to a report from the Guardian. Putin's forces are currently closing in on the hub of Pokrovsk in Densk, which is now under evacuation order. On Monday, Russia claimed to capture the eastern Ukrainian town of New York, an important logistics hub. Officials in Kiev said Tuesday their forces are still in control of roughly 20% of the town, but that fighting was intensifying as Russian forces relentlessly bombard the area with drones. The capture of the town would put Russian forces dangerously close to seizing a critical highway

that Kiev uses to resupply their forces. For some Ukrainians, including troops on the front lines, the gambit in Kursk is fraught with risks, and the results do remain uncertain. A Ukrainian infantry soldier told the Guardian, quote, we should defend what we have, attacking Kursk, takes good soldiers away, end quote. All right, coming up after the break, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu faces fresh backlash from the families of Gaza hostages, and tensions spike between Washington and Beijing. after a China-Philippines collision in the South China Sea. We'll have those stories when we come back. USAA knows dynamic duos can save the day, like superheroes and sidekicks or auto and home insurance.

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criss-crosses the Middle East this week, to show up support for a U.S. bridging proposal to address the last remaining gaps between Israel and Habas, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is warning relatives of the hostages that he has doubts that a final deal can be struck, prompting fresh backlash from the families, according to a report from the USA Today. As I touched on yesterday,

the continued breakdown in ceasefire talks over the past few months, has intensified anger towards Netanyahu among the families of the hostages. The Hostages Families Forum, which represents the relatives of captives in Gaza, accused the Prime Minister on Tuesday of undermining past and current ceasefire efforts by being too firm in its demands. In a statement on Tuesday, the Hostages Families Forum said, quote, there is no hope and no heroism in a firm stand that will result in the continued death of all the abductees. The Israeli government is now abandoning them for good, end quote. Now, not to point out

the obvious, although I think I'm about to, but Hamas isn't even participating in the current negotiation efforts. Of the roughly 250 hostages taken during the attacks, 109 are still believed to be held by Hamas, though a third of those or so are thought to be dead. Tragically, Israel recovered the bodies of six Israeli hostages from the Gaza Strip in an overnight raid in southern Gaza. on Monday night. Now, some of the family members of the victims have lashed out at Netanyahu, accusing him of prioritizing Israel's military objectives over the lives of their loved ones. The son of one of the deceased hostages told the times of Israel, quote, Netanyahu chose to sacrifice the hostages. Karma will judge him, and he will pay for it big time, end quote.

Regarding the latest ceasefire push, Netanyahu and Blinken met for three hours on Monday, after which Netanyahu said he would formally accept the proposal, leaving Hamas as the only holdout. As we've been reporting on the PDB, Hamas appears intent on torpedoing the effort, as they have with previous negotiations. The group formally rejected the updated proposal and a statement on Sunday evening, though they subsequently claimed Tuesday they remain committed to reaching a deal. Of course they do. The terror outfit refused to directly participate in the latest route of talks, demanding instead that the U.S. pressure Israel to implement a ceasefire proposal advocated by the militants in early July, which included a stipulation that Israel relinquished control of the Gaza-Egyptian border.

But Israeli leaders have insisted that the IDF must remain in control of the border region, particularly the Strategic Philadelphia Axis. Israel has also vowed to maintain control of the Nazareem corridor, separating northern and southern Gaza. Netanyahu and Blinken indicated on Monday that the bridging proposal covered these areas of concern, prompting Hamas to lash out and accuse the U.S. of, quote, buying time for Israel to continue its genocide. Given the distance between Israel and Hamas regarding the corridors in Gaza, Netanyahu told the families of the remaining hostages that he was, quote,

not sure that a deal would come through. All right, moving on to a collision between Chinese and Philippine Coast Guard vessels in the South China Sea. The incident prompted a firm response from the U.S. So that always gets the job done, a firm response. Maybe we're going to issue a harshly worded statement, reaffirming its commitment to the 1951 mutual defense treaty with the Philippines. The incident underscores the growing instability in the region where territorial disputes increasingly threatened to disrupt broader peace. In the early hours of Monday morning, a series of collisions between Chinese and Philippine Coast Guard ships occurred near Sabina Shole, that's the early.

It's an uninhabited reef near the Spratley Islands. It's about 75 nautical miles off the Philippines West Coast within the country's internationally recognized exclusive economic zone. Now, Manila's National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea reported two of its Coast Guard ships were damaged in collisions with Chinese vessels that were conducting, quote, unlawful and aggressive maneuvers. Conversely, a China Coast Guard spokesman said a Philippine vessel, had, quote, deliberately collided with the Chinese ship early Monday. China claims that the Sabina

Shoal, located 86 miles west of the Philippine Island of Palawan, and it's the closest major landmass, is theirs. Now, admittedly, it's over 600 miles from China's nearest major landmass Hainan Island. These incidents mark a considerable escalation in the ongoing tensions, which have been simmering for the past 18 months due to China's aggression in the region. Despite the damage, the Philippine ships continued their patrols. The U.S. State Department swiftly responded to the incident with a spokesman reaffirming that the Mutual Defense Treaty extends to armed attacks on Philippine forces, including those of its coast guard in the South China Sea. The spokesman reaffirmed to Beijing that an attack on the Philippines

would prompt action from its allies to, quote, meet the common dangers, calling for respect to international law and to cease destabilizing activities. The Chinese, government responded in defense of its actions, with a spokeswoman asserting the Sabina Shole has always been Chinese territory and blaming the Philippines for the incident. Beijing has continued to press its claims to almost the entire South China Sea, and that's all of ours, despite an international tribunal ruling that its assertion has no legal basis. Well, don't let those international tribunal rulings get in the way of Xi's desires. The recent clash in the South China Sea heightens the volatility and potential, of course, for further escalation, particularly regarding

the circumstances under which the Defense Treaty could be activated, underlining the gravity, of course, of the situation in a region where territorial disputes threaten broader stability. It's worth noting that the U.S. has recently redeployed resources from the South China Sea to bolster its military presence in the Middle East, as it braces for Iran's retaliation against Israel, following the assassination of Hamas political chief Ishmael Hanya on 31 July in Tehran. And for those of you keeping score at home, that strike that killed Hanyi, it was 21 days ago. And since then, the world has been waiting to see what Iran would do in terms of retaliation. Coming up in the back of the brief, a Homeland Security watchdog report reveals that many

unaccompanied migrant children have gone missing after release from government custody, raising serious concerns about their safety and welfare. I'll be right back. Kayak gets my flight, hotel, and rental car right, so I can tune out travel advice that's just plain wrong. Bro, Skycoin, way better than points. Never fly during a Scorpio full moon. Just tell the manager you'll sue.

Instant room upgrade. Stop taking bad travel advice. Start comparing hundreds of sites with kayak, and get your trip right. Kayak. Got that right. In today's back of the brief, a new report from the Department of Homeland Security's internal watchdog reveals that immigration and customs enforcement, that ICE, has lost track of unaccompanied migrant children after their release from government custody, raising, of course, serious concerns about their safety.

The interim report sent to Congress on Tuesday by Inspector General Joseph Koufari emphasized significant lapses in ICE's ability to track unaccompanied migrant children, noting that more than, okay, listen to this, 32,000 children failed to appear for the immigration court hearings over the past five years. I'll repeat that, 32,000 children. The report obtained by ABC News revealed that ICE was, quote, not able to account for the locations of all these children, raising concerns about their safety and vulnerability to trafficking or exploitation. under U.S. law, the Department of Health and Human Services, that's HHS, is tasked with the care

of unaccompanied migrant children once they're taken into custody by U.S. authorities. ICE ensures their safe transfer to HHS, typically placing these children in shelters or with qualified sponsors. However, ICE should also monitor the children's location and status, especially as they progress to the immigration court system. Kofari's damning report is part of a broader audit. focusing on ICE's effectiveness and tracking unaccompanied minors post-transfer. Despite transferring over 448,000 children from ICE to HHS between 2019 and 2023, over 100 ICE officials admitted to Kaffari that they are often struggling to monitor

these children, especially those who don't show up for scheduled court appearances. The report underscores that immigration court hearings are crucial opportunities for ICE to screen children for trafficking indicators or other safety concerns. The lack of automated systems to document court appearances and to maintain updated address information further complicates ICE's ability to fulfill its responsibilities. In response, Homeland Security officials acknowledge the need for an automated tracking mechanism, oh yeah, well, now it's a good idea, but argue that the report did not fully address the structural challenges that hinder ICE's trafficking efforts. Oh, it's hard work. All right, 32,000 children don't know necessarily where they are.

It goes without saying that this is an extremely disturbing report. How do we not do better? And that, my friends, is the president's Daily Brief for Wednesday, 21 August. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. Now, as I know you've probably heard from your favorite celebrities, to listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of the president's daily brief. by visiting PDB Premium.com. It could not be easier. I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.