The President's Daily Brief - August 7th, 2024: Iran's Two Waves of Terror, Rocket Attack on Al Asad, & Maduro's Labor Camps

Episode Date: August 7, 2024

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: According to US intelligence, Iran and its proxy Hezbollah are planning two waves of attacks in the coming days. This warning coincides with multiple Arab nations advising Iran not to use their airspace for its impending strike. Multiple US troops were injured in a rocket attack on Al Asad Air Base in Iraq. We’ll have the details on that. The crackdown in Venezuela continues with Nicolas Maduro announcing plans to introduce reeducation labor camps for his political opponents. In today's Back of the Brief, we return to the story of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, where nine members have now been fired by the UN for possible involvement in the October 7th attack. 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

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. Bad advice?

You talking to me? Kayak, got that right. This episode is brought to you by Patriot Gold Group. Protect your retirement assets from turbulent economic times. Like now, in case you haven't noticed, we're currently in fairly turbulent times. Speak to the experts at Patriot Gold. They've been the top-rated gold IRA dealer for seven years in a row. Think about that, seven years in a row.

Go to Patriot Gold Group.com or call 1-888-621-3856 for a free investor guide. It's Wednesday, August 7th. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. First up, according to U.S. intelligence, Iran and its proxy, Hezbollah, are planning two waves of attacks in the coming days. This warning coincides with multiple Arab nations advising Iran not to use their airspace for their impending strike. Later in the show, a number of U.S. troops were injured in a rocket attack on Al-Assad Air Base in Iraq. We'll have the details on that.

Plus, the crackdown in Venezuela continues, with Nicholas Maduro going, called Pol Pot on his population. Maduro is announcing plans to introduce re-education labor camps for his political opponents. And meanwhile, the international community and the UN are busy drafts. another stern statement. And in today's back of the brief, we return to the story of the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees, or UNR, where nine members have now been fired by the UN for, quote, possible involvement in the October 7th attack. Possible involvement. They just can't bring themselves to say the obvious. Also, I'm not a math-wiz, and to be fair, I'm barely math-literate, But according to my rudimentary skills, it's been almost 10 months since Hamas launched their

medieval attacks on Israel that ignited the current conflict. Ten months. It's apparently taken that long for the UN to take any action, and the sum total of that action is firing nine UN remembers who they say might have been involved. And you wonder why I call the UN feckless and as useless as side pockets on a cow. Now, before we get to our PDB spotlight, an update on a story that we brought you yesterday about the arrest of an Iranian-linked Pakistani National who's been accused of plotting to assassinate former President Trump.

46-year-old Asif Merchant was arrested on July 12th, just one day before a gunman attempted to assassinate former President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. According to court documents, merchants' alleged planning began in April when he was flew to the U.S. to, quote, recruit individuals to carry out his plot to assassinate U.S. government officials. Investigators said he later met with an unnamed co-conspirator turned FBI informant in New York and began a month's long relationship during which Merchant revealed his plans to the unnamed individual. During meetings in June, Merchant allegedly, quote, made a finger gun. Well, there you go. That's all the evidence you need. With his hand,

indicating that the opportunity was related to a killing and asked the FBI informant to set up meetings with potential hitmen. Court papers revealed the plot included stealing documents or USB drives from an unnamed target's home, planning a protest as a distraction, and quote, killing a politician or government official. Merchant attempted to recruit multiple other hitmen and agreed to pay them $5,000 for their roles in the plot. Now, the guy was obviously working the low end of the hitman pay scale. Law enforcement officials ultimately arrested Merchant on July 12th, ahead of a plan trip outside of the U.S. During a search, they recovered a handwritten note inside his wallet

that contained the code words for the various aspects of the plot. According to reports, Merchant's foiled plot has no ties to the shooting of Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the timing of the arrest just one day before the failed assassination is a coincidence. All right. Now, to our PDB spotlight, we turn to the Middle East, where all eyes remain on Iran and their planned retaliation against Israel over the death of Hamas leader Ishmael Hanyi last week in Tehran. While Western intelligence agencies are still working to piece together a clear picture of how the Islamic regime may respond, we learned Tuesday

that President Biden has been warned by his national security advisors that the retaliation will involve two separate waves of attacks by Iran and their Lebanese proxy Hezbollah, which could last multiple days, that's according to our report from the Jerusalem Post. The update came during a briefing on Monday held by President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris with their national security teams.

Well, look, now that she's the anointed presidential candidate, she gets to sit in on the important stuff. A senior American official told the post that while they are confident in their overarching intelligence assessment, it remains unclear who will attack first and what the manner of attack will be, so we don't know who will kick off the attack and in what way, but hey, here's our intel assessment. They're going to attack. The question of when the attack may come is also proving elusive. Multiple reports since Hanya's death last Wednesday had suggested the attack was imminent. Now, many predicted the retaliation would arrive on Monday, but those reports, of course,

proved to be inaccurate. The American official said their assessment is complicated by the fact that Iran already moved much of their military needed to carry out an attack on Israel back in April when Iran launched a massive aerial bombardment of drones and missiles following an Israeli strike on an Iranian facility in Syria. This has made it much more difficult for intelligence agencies to determine what preparations the Islamic regime are currently undertaking. One U.S. official, familiar with the briefing, told Axios, that intelligence indicates Iran and Hezbollah's retaliation plans are still a, quote, work in progress, and they believe both parties remain undecided about exactly how they wish to proceed. We should note, however,

that officials are reportedly relying on multiple streams of intelligence that are often contradictory. Regardless, Israel is bracing for an imminent attack, while the U.S. works to put diplomatic pressure on Iran and Hezbollah to minimize the scale of their retaliation. On Monday, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken spoke with Qatar's Prime Minister and Egypt's Foreign Minister, who are helping mediate ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, and asked them to directly pressure Iran and Hezbollah to avoid escalation. As we reported on Tuesday, members of the G7 have also been reaching out to their counterparts in Iran in an effort to ensure their retaliation does not go too far and trigger a wider war. In a rare move, Jordan's foreign minister traveled to Tehran personally on Sunday to appeal to the Islamic regime.

He also reportedly told leaders in Tehran that Jordan will not allow any drones or missiles to enter its airspace if Iran proceeds with an attack. Echoing those sentiments, a senior member of Saudi Arabia's royal family said Monday evening that they have directly told Iran that their airspace is also off limits. Meanwhile, the U.S. has been closely coordinating with Israel on defensive efforts, with the Pentagon deploying two U.S. destroyers from the Gulf of Oman to the Red Sea in recent days. They've also mobilized additional combat aircraft to the region to help interstate. accept Iranian missiles. U.S. Sankham chief General Michael Corrilla visited Israel on Monday to meet

with senior Israeli leaders in order to finalize the details of their defensive preparations. All right. Coming up next, seven U.S. personnel were injured this week in a rocket attack likely carried out by Iranian proxies in Iraq. There they are again, the Iranian regime. And switching to the chaos in Venezuela, Nicholas Maduro announces the estate. establishment of re-education camps for the Venezuelan opposition. Maduro, doing his best Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot impersonations just when you thought re-education camps were so 20th century. We'll have those stories when we come back. The Krispy Chicken Sandwich from 7-Eleven, people always call me loud. And I'm like, yeah,

I know. I'm crispy. Did you expect me to whisper? If you want quiet, go eat some soup and reflect. Look, I know I'm a handful. I'm bold, I'm juicy. Throw some pickles and barbecue sauce on me, and baby, I'm a whole meal. And with seven rewards, I'm just $4. Quiet, no, crispy, saucy, and $4? Very. Only at 711. Valley 36-22326 participating stores only while supplies last the app for full terms. Padaday presents. In the Red Corner, the undisputed undefeated weed whacker guys. Champion of hurling grass and pollen everywhere. And in the blue corner, the challenger, extra strength, Hattery! Eye drops and work all day to prevent the release of histamines that cause itchy allergy eyes.

And the winner, by knockout, is Hatterday. Padity, bring it on. Welcome back to the PDB. Sticking with the volatile situation in the Middle East, seven U.S. personnel suffered serious injuries on Monday during a rocket attack on the Al-Assad air base in western Iraq. The injured include five U.S. service members and two U.S. contractors. While all seven are said to be in stable condition, two had severe enough injuries that they had to be evacuated from the base for further care, that's according to a report from the New York Times.

Monday's attack reportedly involved at least two rockets which struck inside the base's perimeter, that's according to an unnamed U.S. official and Iraqi witnesses that spoke to the Times. The Pentagon has not yet provided an official statement or details of the attack, with officials saying Tuesday that a post-strike assessment was still ongoing. President Biden and Vice President Harris, look, see? Now that she's the chosen one, she's being included in all the interesting briefings to show how presidential she is. Anyway, they were briefed on the developing situation on Monday by their national security teams.

While no group has claimed responsibility, intelligence officials said it was carried out by pro-Iranian militias. Regarding the briefing, a White House source told Axios, quote, They discussed the steps we're taking to defend our forces and respond to any attack against our personnel in a manner in place of our choosing. The attack resembled previous ones carried out on American troops in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed proxies operating in the region. While they've previously targeted American bases in both countries, the groups significantly escalated their attacks following the outbreak of the war and the war. Gaza last October. As a reminder, there are roughly 2,500 American troops stationed in Iraq and roughly 900 in Syria. American forces in Iraq and Syria were hit at least 165 times between October

23 and late January 24 in attacks that injured at least 80 service members, and that's according to a tally from military.com. Let me just repeat that. Our forces, in Iraq and Syria were attacked at least 165 times between October 2023 and late January 2024. The situation reached ahead in late January when a drone attack on a U.S. base in Jordan killed three members of the National Guard. The U.S. responded with a wave of more than 85 airstrikes on targets linked to Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria.

The attacks largely subsided following that U.S. U.S. response, but the latest tensions between Israel and Iran appear to be changing the equation. While the attack is not suspected to be an official part of Iran's retaliation against Israel over the death of Hamas leader Ismail Hanya, it appears to be related. An unnamed U.S. official told Axios that the Pentagon expects more attacks by pro-Iranian militias against U.S. forces in the coming days. The official noted that the regional tension has made the the militias feel less restrained by Iran in attacking U.S. forces. All right.

Moving on to the political unrest in Venezuela, where the country's top prosecutor announced a criminal investigation against opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez and opposition leader Maria Karina Machado. The charges stem from the opposition's calls urging the military to withdraw support from dictator Nicholas Maduro and cease repressing demonstrators. As we reported on the PDB, the contested presidential election in Venezuela on July 28th saw the National Electoral Council, that's controlled by the dictator, Maduro,

ratifying Maduro's victory, with 51% of the vote compared to Gonzalez's 43%. The Washington has reviewed over 23,000 tally sheets obtained by the opposition, representing 80% of voting machines across Venezuela, concluding that Gonzalez, the opposition, quote, likely received more than twice as many votes as President Maduro, end quote. Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado stated Gonzalez won 67% of the vote compared to Maduro's 30%. Now, this discrepancy has obviously triggered demonstrations nationwide, with demonstrators demanding that Maduro step down and Gonzalez's victory be recognized. The opposition leaders called on the military to side with the people in the wake of the demonstrations and ignore orders to repress anti-government

demonstrations. Maduro's Attorney General, Tarek William Saab, accused Gonzalez and Machado of falsely declaring an electoral winner and inciting military and police disobedience, leading to a criminal investigation. The charges include usurpation of functions, spreading false information and conspiracy. Since Saab's rhetoric, both Gonzales and Machado have gone into hiding, fearing arrest, or worse. Machado briefly emerged to address a rally in the capital city of Caracas, claiming that the government had lost all legitimacy. Supporters greeted her with chance of freedom, freedom. Despite the opposition presenting evidence of an electoral victory, the armed forces continue to support the dictator. The situation remains tense with the government,

arresting 2,000 opponents and at least 16 lives lost in the ensuing demonstrations. Last week, Maduro announced that two maximum security prisons will be hastily refurbished to house and re-educate his political opponents arrested during the recent demonstrations. Maduro revealed another 1,000 demonstrators are being pursued for arrest. These political prisoners are expected to face forced labor in prisons, which previously housed gang members. Now, Maduro's announcement is a clear indication of his intent to suppress dissent and maintain his grip on power through intimidation and incarceration, and meanwhile, the UN and international

community do what can best be described as nothing. All right, coming up in the back of the brief, nine staff members of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, have been fired for possible involvement in the October 7th Khamas attack on Israel. Good God, 10 months after the brutal attacks, and despite significant evidence of their involvement, the UN can only bring itself to say that the fired staffers might possibly have been involved. Hmm, I'll be right back. Exema is unpredictable, but you can flare less with ebbglis, a once-monthly treatment for moderate to severe eczema. After an initial four-month-month-longer dosing phase, about four and seven people

taking Epglis, achieved itch relief and clear or almost clear skin at 16 weeks. And most of those people maintain skin that's still more clear at one year with monthly dosing. Ebglis, Librikizumab, LBKZ. A 250 milligram per 2 milliliter injection is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older who weigh at least 88 pounds or 40 kilograms with moderate to severe eczema. Also called atopic dermatitis that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin or topicals or who cannot use topical therapies. Ebglis can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you're allergic to Epglus. I'll Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe.

Eye problems can occur. Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems. You should not receive a live vaccine when treated with Ebbglis. Before starting Ebbglis, tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. Ask your doctor about Ebbglis. And visit Ebbglis.com or call 1800 lilyrX or 1,800, 545-9709. It's only getting every customer's order right. It's only a point-of-sale system connected by Spectrum-Viber-powered business internet,

helping you track hundreds of secure transactions. And it's all backed by 24-7. U.S.-based customer support and local technicians. It's only everything. Get business internet advantage free forever when you get four mobile lines from Spectrum. Visit Spectrum.com slash free for life to find out how. Restrictions apply. Service is not available in all areas.

In today's back of the brief, nine employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, for Palestinian refugees in Gaza, were terminated following an investigation into their potential involvement in the deadly seven October, Hamas terror attacks on Israel. Now, the investigation ordered after Israel's January allegations of Hamas infiltration in the agency was led by the UN's Office of Internal Oversight Services using Israeli evidence and internal UNRWA data. It examined the contact of 19 UNRWA employees. Evidence suggested that nine employees were involved in the attacks, leading to their

termination. Specific roles in the evidence were not disclosed. Now, this decision was announced by Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesperson for the UN Secretary General who stated, quote, the employment of these individuals will be terminated in the interests of the agency. Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded by stating that the action was, quote, too little too late, citing ongoing concerns about the agency's alleged ties to Hamas. The investigation found no evidence against one employee and insufficient evidence against the remaining nine of the 19. UNRIS Commissioner General Philip Lazarene emphasized the agency's commitment to continuing its humanitarian efforts for Palestinian refugees. The U.S. State Department praised the UN's swift investigation, but confirmed that U.S. funding for UNRWA, which was suspended by the Biden administration in January, remains on hold.

Wait, wait, wait. The U.S. State Department praised the U.N.'s swift investigation. I'm sorry, but what is swift about an investigation with significant evidence? evidence that took at least half a year. A separate UN investigation in April underscored the need for UNRWA to ensure its employees' political neutrality and to prevent the teaching of biased material. This investigation found anti-Semitic content in some textbooks and biased social media posts by employees. Gee, imagine that. Now, to be fair, there is perhaps nothing quite as useless, ineffective, or biased as a UN investigation. So, the bar was set very high.

And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Wednesday, 7 August. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And as you must know by now, to listen to the show ad free, become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief by visiting PDB Premium.com. I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool.

Ryan Reynolds here for MintMobil. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same premium wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities, so do like I did and have one of your assistants assistants to switch you to MintMobile today. I'm told it's super easy to do at mintmobile.com slash switch. Up front payment of $45 for three-month plan equivalent to $15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. See full terms at mintmobile.com.