The President's Daily Brief - December 7th, 2023: Hamas Headhunt, Houthi Drone Dangers & China's Cash Crunch

Episode Date: December 7, 2023

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: We analyze the latest military maneuvers in Gaza as the IDF intensifies efforts to capture two leading figures of Hamas. The U.S. Navy intercepts yet a drone from Yemen aimed at an American warship as Saudi Arabia asks for restraint in dealing with Iran-Backed Houthi militants. We’ll examine the latest signs that point to a looming financial crisis in China. In the Back of the Brief, we delve into the controversy surrounding Ivy League presidents after a congressional hearing on anti-Semitism and university conduct. 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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It's Thursday, December 7th. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. We'll begin today's show with the latest from Gaza and efforts by the Israel Defense Forces, the IDF, to take down two of Hamas's top commanders. Later in the episode, more threats from Houthi militants as an American warship towards yet another drone attack launched from Yemen. Plus, there are growing indications. that China may be heading towards an economic crisis. And finally, in today's back of the brief,

Ivy League University presidents are facing calls for their resignation after a recent congressional hearing where they refuse to say that calling for the genocide of Jews constituted a violation of their codes of conduct. It seems, based on their testimony, that calling for the genocide of Jews isn't considered bullying or harassment. But first up, the PDB Spotlight. Israel is now pressing its attack in southern Gaza, focusing on Conunis, the enclave's second-largest city, and a strategic command center for Hamas in the south.

The IDF believe this area is key to finding Hamas's leadership with two men in particular on their hit list. First, there's Yaya Sinwar, the top leader of Hamas in Gaza. He's been labeled a, quote, dead man walking by Israeli authorities, implicating him in orchestrating recent attacks. Ironically, Sinwar was actually in Israeli custody at one point. In 1988, he was imprisoned on four life sentences, accused of playing a role in the murder of several Israeli soldiers. He served more than two decades of that sentence before being freed in 2011, in exchange

for IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been taken home. hostage by Hamas. The second man on Israel's radar is Mohamed Dief, commander of Hamas's military wing, the al-Kasamba gates. If Sinwar is theoretically the president of Hamas, you might think of Deif as the group's secretary of defense. This guy has been at the top of Israel's most wanted list for the past 20 years, having been accused of overseeing several suicide bombings and killing dozens of Israelis since 1995. According to rumors, he's been dissoned. He's been or partially paralyzed by numerous Israeli assassination attempts. A key objective of the IDF's operations in Conunis is the capture or elimination of these two leaders.

Now, according to reports on Wednesday, the IDF has encircled a property in Conunis owned by Sinwar, but the move is largely viewed as symbolic as there is no indication that Sinwar is actually in the building. Not only does the terror leader own multiple homes, but he's also likely hunkering down underground somewhere. While the Hamas two-top commanders might still be at large, the IDF has claimed substantial success targeting Hamas' command structure, asserting that it has neutralized half of the group's mid-level commanders and about 5,000 of the group's fighters.

Now, there's one more interesting development worth talking about, and that has to do with Israel's plan to deal with the Hamas tunnels running beneath Gaza. Reports indicate that Israel has built five powerful pumps capable of flooding the Gaza tunnels with seawater, potentially flushing out militants. The plan would involve drawing vast quantities of water from the Mediterranean, which could inundate the tunnel swiftly. However, there does seem to be some hesitancy, of course, over implementing the plan, especially considering the potential risk to hostages, including Americans who are currently held

by Hamas. All right, when we return, an American warship shoots down another hooty drone, and China's economy may be teetering on the edge of a major crisis. I'll be right back. This is Euphoria Calvin Klein, the new elixir collection, featuring three perfume intense scents, inspired by a unique orchid accord paired with vanilla, each with its own distinct attitude, each with its own universe, bold elixir, sensual, woody, addictive, magnetic elixir, Sweet and romantic like a lingering touch.

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The unmanned drone, approaching the guided missile destroyer, the USS Mason, was perceived as a direct threat, prompting defensive action. The ship remained unscathed and the crew reported no casualties. Now, as we reported earlier this week, this latest incident follows the downing of at least three Houthi drones by the USS Carney and this past Sunday amid confrontations with a number of commercial vessels in the Red Sea. This latest interception of a drone or missile launched by the Iranians, and backed Houthi militants comes shortly after the Houthis once again threatened ships in the Red Sea, releasing a statement saying that they will continue their attacks on ships linked to Israel as long as the attacks on Gaza continue. Now, with the Houthis stepping up attacks over the past

weeks, Yemen's neighbor Saudi Arabia is starting to speak up. You see, the missiles that the Houthis regularly lob at Israel are being fired over Saudi territory. However, the Saudis are reportedly asking the U.S. to show restraint in responding to these Iranian-backed Houthi attacks. While the Saudis are actively supporting the Houthis opponents in Yemen, they want to avoid any escalation. It's also worth noting that while the Iranian-backed Houthis continue these maritime attacks, Iranian proxy groups have also continued their attacks on U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria. Just yesterday, the Islamic resistance in Iraq, a pro-Iran militia, claimed responsibility. for a one-way drone attack on U.S. forces at the Al-Assad Air Base in western Iraq.

Now, there were no injuries reported from the attack, which was at least the 77th against U.S. and coalition forces since mid-October. Now, I want to turn our attention to the Far East, where it's looking more and more, like the nation of China could be on the brink of a significant financial crisis. Moody's, a leading credit rating agency, has received. revised its view of China's government debt shifting the outlook from stable to negative. Now, this is a clear signal to the markets of potential trouble ahead, suggesting China could struggle to meet its debt obligations.

This adverse change in outlook stems from a variety of factors that could undermine the financial stability of the world's second largest economy. So what's going on behind the curtains in China? Well, the Wall Street Journal has done some very good work on this, in the past few days, and they reveal that Chinese cities and provinces have racked up considerable amounts of undisclosed debt due to extensive borrowing and spending. Now, hidden debts are essentially debts that are basically off the books and not reflected in the official financial statements. They may include state-owned enterprise liabilities or underfunded commitments like pension

schemes. The magnitude of this concealed debt is staggering, with estimates by the international monetary Fund and leading financial institutions, placing it between $7 trillion to $11 trillion. The precise scale of this debt is unknown. Again, it's the Chinese regime and they are not known for transparency, but it's clear that China has recognized the unsustainable levels of local government debt. The fear is that a cascade of defaults could trigger widespread economic fallout across the nation, not unlike our own financial crisis in the U.S. back in 2007 and 2008. The international economic community is watching the Shi regime very closely

to gain insight into just how far the Chinese government will go to support the local governments. All right, coming up in the back of the brief, Ivy League University presidents are facing widespread condemnation and calls for their resignation after a recent hearing on anti-Semitism where they refused to say that calling for the genocide of Jews constituted a violation of their codes of conduct. I'll be right back.

In today's back of the brief, three university presidents representing the Ivy League left members of Congress speechless at a recent hearing after they refused to say that calling for the genocide of Jews constituted a violation of their codes of conduct. Now, the presidents of MIT, Harvard, and University of Pennsylvania, UPenn, were on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to respond to concerns regarding the shocking proliferation of anti-Semitism on their campuses in the wake of the brutal 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel. Now, those hoping that the academic leaders would provide some moral leadership at Tuesday's hearing were left severely disappointed. Responding to whether calls for the genocide of Jews

violates the university's code of conduct regarding bullying and harassment, MIT president, Sally Kornbluth said, quote, well, if targeting individuals, not making public statements, unquote. Huh? When pressed, Kornbluth claims she was not aware of any calls for the genocide of Jews on the MIT campus. And in an attempt to clarify, which frankly confuse the matter even more, she said, quote, we have heard chance, which can be anti-Semitic, depending on the context when calling for the elimination of the Jewish people."

End quote. Again. Huh? Apparently, when it comes to blatant anti-Semitism, context is key. Harvard President Claudine Gay and U.Pen President Elizabeth McGill were asked the same question and offered similar equivocations. While McGill eventually relented that calls for genocide, at the very least, quote, can be harassment, can be harassment, she and Gay argued it was, quote, context-dependent and would only violate their

codes of conduct if it were found to be, quote, directed, pervasive and severe. Huh? I know, I keep using that word. Their inability to condemn such actions sparked widespread outrage and calls for the university presidents to, quote, resign in disgrace. Now, Bill Ackman, the billionaire CEO of Pershing Square, said the leader's remarks were perhaps, quote, the most extraordinary testimony ever elicited in the Congress, end quote. All right. It's almost unfathomable that supposed learned individuals paid tremendous amounts by their massively endowed universities can't answer the question, does calling for the genocide of Jews violate your conduct codes on bullying and harassment with a simple yes.

Now, perhaps they're fearful that if they had answered yes, the result would be that hundreds of their students would then be subject to possible disciplinary actions or expulsion, which, of course, means a loss of fees to pay all the tenured professors who have contributed to this lack of moral clarity on campuses in the U.S. I would imagine that if they had been asked, would misgendering someone or using their wrong pronouns,

violate your codes of conduct on bullying and harassing? Well, these same university presidents would have bravely rushed to the microphone to proudly answer yes. Now, the question from the committee couldn't have been clearer. Let me repeat it. Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate your code of conduct on bullying or harassment? That is not something that you need to ponder or equivocate on. It's either yes or no. But apparently, for the leaders of Harvard, MIT, and Penn, the fear of a backlash from the woke mob, ruled the day, the fear of losing their powerful prestigious jobs has left their moral compass, broken, and useless. And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Thursday, 7 December.

If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at BDB at thefirsttv.com. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool. Some follow the noise. Bloomberg follows the money. Because behind every headline is a bottom line. Whether it's the funds fueling AI or crypto's trillion dollar swings, there's a money side to every story.

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