The President's Daily Brief - February 13th, 2023. Is Biden a Compromised President?

Episode Date: February 13, 2023

It’s February 13th. You’re listening to the President’s Daily Brief. Your morning intel starts now. ------ A good day to you, ladies and gentlemen. I’ve got four briefs for you this morning that are shaping America — and the world. First, we’ve got more flying objects being shot down. Two more, in fact, over the weekend. We’ll discuss that, and why Joe Biden says Chinese spy balloons crossing America are not a major breach of US security. Second, I’ve got a question: How long do you think that the War in Ukraine will last? Well, someone very important in Moscow answered that question. I’ll tell you what they said. Third, an update to the German spy saga we talked about in December. And this update reads like a script for a movie. Finally, we dive into a story of robots: a record number of them were purchased by North American companies last year. We’ll talk about what that means for workers like you and me. Later, we close out the podcast with a listener question about how to get into the CIA.  ----- 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 February 13th. 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. Hey, good day, do, ladies and gentlemen. I've got four briefs for you this morning that are shaping America and the world. First, we've got more flying objects being shot down. Two more, in fact, over the weekend.

We will discuss that. Plus, why Joe Biden says that Chinese spy balloons crossing America are not a major breach of U.S. security. Second, I've got a question for you. How long do you think that the war in Ukraine will last? Well, someone very important in Moscow answered that question. I'll tell you exactly what they said. Third, an update to the German spy saga that we talked about back in December.

And I'll tell you, this update reads like a script for a movie. Finally, we dive into a story about robots. A record number of them were actually purchased by North American companies last year. We'll talk about what that means for workers like you and I. Later, we close out the podcast with a listener question about how to get into the CIA. But before we get to that, folks, we got to get started with this. Since last Friday, the United States military has shot down at least three unidentified flying objects over Alaska and Canada. So the first was on Friday near Dead Horse Alaska. The second was destroyed over Canada's Yukon territory on Saturday. And the third,

was shot down over Lake Huron on Sunday. That, of course, comes on top of the very first mysterious object shot down on February 4th, which, as we all know, was a Chinese spy balloon, a balloon, a balloon, by the way, that has mostly been recovered by the U.S. Navy and FBI. The hunt for the other three objects continues as of this Monday morning. Divers are combing Lake Huron and the frigid waters off of Alaska. Now, the White House is saying that it's too early to determine what these latest three objects might have been. But U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer is saying that Biden officials told him that at least one of these things was a large balloon, although somewhat smaller than the initial Chinese spy balloon from a couple weeks ago. And speaking of that balloon, the U.S. Congress

voted last week 419 to zero to condemn China and that spy incident. They called it, quote, a brazen violation of United States sovereignty, end quote. But there is one person who actually disagrees with that assessment. It's Joe Biden. He said late last week in an interview with the Spanish language outlet Telemundo that the Chinese spy balloon saga was, quote, not a major breach of U.S. security, end quote. Again, he said that as quite literally every representative in the House,

both Democrat and Republican, said otherwise. But there you have it. Regardless, there was one group of people very relieved to hear Mr. Biden downplay the Chinese balloon incident, and that group is the Chinese government. The Wall Street Journal is reporting this morning. The Chinese officials in Beijing, quote, took comfort in Mr. Biden's remarks that played down the impact from the balloon incident, viewing Mr. Biden's comments as a sign that the White House doesn't want to escalate tensions with Beijing, end quote.

So why would Biden and his team not want to raise or escalate tensions with China after, well, they sent a spy balloon across America? Because it kind of seems like Beijing raised tensions first. And by the way, what does it say to the rest of the world that America's commander-in-chief says that a spy balloon crossing the country is not, quote, a major breach, end quote. Well, as you reflect on and answer those questions, let me offer up to possible. reasons. And to be clear, this is my analysis and opinion. So first, and to be as fair as possible, Mr. Biden and his team probably believe, as many others have before them, that America can still somehow reason with China. We can talk to them through a crisis, and they'll see our perspective and apologize or change their behavior. But as I've shared with you before, they won't. Look,

there are a thousand and one examples of this that I wish I could share with you. But instead, I will simply say once again, China only responds to strength, to a punch in the nose, the blood being spilled, that's when they listen. But regardless. So this could be the first reason that team Biden thinks, you know, they can hug it out, right? The second reason is uncomfortable, if not horrifying, to think about. and that is Joe Biden is compromised. And the case here is surprisingly and frighteningly strong, right?

We have data from the Hunter Biden laptop that tell us that the Biden family was profiting from business deals with Chinese nationals and communist officials, including a former spy chief. So in this scenario of a compromised Joe Biden, at least based on what the CIA would likely ask of a senior foreign leader like Biden if they were our secret spot. well, China would likely say, look, Joe, do a little bit to, you know, show your people some fake outrage against us, but ultimately, you must work to weaken and damage America, especially during a time of war. So as of this morning, I can't tell you with high confidence which of those reasons are the most likely. But there is a major disconnect, folks, when you've got a 419 to zero vote in the House,

saying that it was a major violation of America's sovereignty of this Chinese balloon baloney, while Biden shrugs it off as not a major breach, which in turn leaves China happy. Regardless, I'll keep you posted on this one, folks, on both the continued unidentified flying objects and the very curious case of Team Biden downplaying the China threat. Let's move on this morning to the war in Ukraine, and let me ask you a question. how long do you think that this war will last? Well, I'm going to tell you how one very important Russian just answered that question, and it may give us a glimpse into Moscow's resolve to fight and win this war.

So the head of Russia's paramilitary unit, called the Wagner Group, claimed on Friday that the war with Kiev would likely drag on for two to three years, with Moscow's ultimate goal of capturing the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine before signing a peace deal. So this head of the Wagner group, it's a man named Yevgeny Prygoshin, told a Russian blogger on Friday that, quote, as far as I understand,

we need to close off the two republics and the south and the east, and in principle, that will suit everyone for now, end quote, saying that doing this would take probably about a year and a half to two years to accomplish. But if they have to push further east to the Nipro River.

Quote, then it will take about three years in all, end quote. So he's referring there to the river that roughly runs north and south bisects the country of Ukraine. Now, it is true that this man does not speak for the Russian military or the government, but it is also true that his troops, which include those 40,000 Russian prisoners that we spoke about last week, well, they are on the front lines. and he speaks daily with Russian generals and senior political figures, including President Vladimir Putin.

So the upshot then is that if Moscow folks plans to keep fighting for years, so too will the West. And that means that you, taxpayers, will have to keep opening your wallet and the national credit card to help fund the war machine. As ever, I will keep you posted, folks, as we learn more. But the bottom line is, we are all in whether we like it, or not. For our third brief this morning, let's stay in Europe, but focus on Germany, where we've

got an update about that spy secretly working for the Russians. Now, before we get to an update, let's refresh our memories on this one, because it's been a few months since we last discussed it. So about two months ago, German authorities arrested one of their most senior intelligence officers, a guy named Carston L, and charged him with treason after he allegedly passed state secrets to Moscow throughout all of last year. Now, this was especially bad because the United States and other countries passed our secret intelligence to this man and his office in particular. He was focused on something called SIGINT or Signals Intelligence, and that includes intelligence derived from electronic signals like captured emails or phone calls,

radar and weapon systems. Well, in this case, the SIGINT that we passed to this man's office covered lots of topics, but most especially Ukraine. So with that, here's what we are learning this morning. The Wall Street Journal is saying that another man, identified only as Arthur E, probably recruited this German intel officer, Carson L. And he had a pretty good cover to do it. So apparently Arthur served in the German army for a number of years before he left to start his own business,

trading in diamonds and jewels and precious metals. And doing that, he flew all around the world as he bought and sold things, including to Russia, Europe, the U.S., Africa, and the Middle East two. Well, back in 2021, this Arthur fellow met the German intelligence officer, Carson, and he did it at a soccer event where Carson was volunteering as a coach for a youth soccer club. All right, in other words, we would call this a bump in the spy world. it's a chance encounter where Arthur, who was clearly trained by the Russians, or at least that's the allegation, well, he left nothing to chance when he bumped Carston. Well, in 2021, this Arthur met the German intelligence officer Carston at a soccer event. You see, Carson apparently volunteered as a coach for a youth soccer club, and the two met there.

But in the world of spies, we would call this a bump. It's a chance encounter where Arthur, who was likely trained by the Russians, left nothing. nothing to chance he approached Kirsten. And eventually, investigators believe, Carson revealed to Arthur that he worked in German intelligence. And in response, the Russian-trained Arthur said, You don't say. Well, I actually have friends in Russian intelligence

that would very much like to talk to you. And boy, oh boy, would they love to pay you for what you know? So allegedly, that was the genesis of contact, the development, and the eventual recruitment. recruitment. But then somewhere along the way, the operation was discovered by someone, especially and folks who are thinking about Western spy services like the CIA. Now, I'm going to guess that there was probably a penetration inside of Moscow's spy service or possibly a tap of Russia's secret communication systems. But regardless, whoever discovered it told the FBI. And those

folks went down to Florida. That's where Arthur was visiting relatives back in December. They questioned him, shall we say, and he apparently admitted that he was, in fact, delivering secret German documents to the Russians, but he said it was all on the up and up. Karsten told him to do it, and that, in fact, he was acting as a secret emissary to Moscow, which in the spy world, we would call a terrible cover story. Anyway, the FBI then escorted this likely Russian-trained Arthur back to Germany, where he was promptly arrested, along with Carston. So for what it's worth, folks, I'm hearing that this is a pretty bad breach. The U.S. and the United Kingdom gave Berlin a lot of good intel. And now that intel is

sitting in Moscow, endangering our sources and methods of collection. So I'll keep watching for updates on this one, folks. Let's see what Putin does with our secrets. With that, ladies and gentlemen, let's take a quick break. When we come back, I've got one more critical piece of news for you. So hang tight, and we will be right back. They say everything happens for a reason, but I suspect everything happens for a recesses. Like this commercial break, did you need 15 seconds away from music or 15 seconds to eat or Reese's? Perhaps it's true. Everything happens for a Reese's. Welcome back to the PDB. I've got one more critical piece of news for you this morning. So last week, we got a very interesting bit of news from the Association for Advancing Automation, or A3.

And I bet no one else even saw this report, let alone is talking about it, but they should be. Because it has to do with robots stealing jobs, or at least changing the face of the world's economies. And by that, I mean, as factories and companies turn more and more towards robots and automation and artificial intelligence, it means that human labor, in other words, you and I, well, we are increasingly at risk of becoming less needed. And the reason why, well, you and I, folks, we're pretty needy. You know, we get tired, so we need sleep. We need food, and that means meal breaks. We also need restrooms and salaries and vacations and 401Ks. We also get sick, so we need health insurance and hospitals. But you know who doesn't need all of those things? Robots, especially powered with advanced software.

Now, it is true that you've got a big upfront cost to buy that stuff, then some annual maintenance, but overall, robots are cheaper and more reliable than humans. And so that raises a question that humanity has wrestled with for a very long time. Will machines replace human labor? Well, people started asking that question in the late 17th. 1800s, British weavers and textile workers started getting pretty nervous about all those mechanized looms and knitting frames. They feared for their jobs. And so a handful of these folks started breaking into factories and destroying the machines

from that late period in the 1700s all the way through the early 1800s. And one lead organizer and weaver was allegedly named Ned Ludd. And the legend was born around him and a group that we now call the Luddites. Now, in modern times, some folks call them technophobes. In other words, people who are afraid that robots and machinery will destroy the need for human labor, leave all of us unemployed. But so far, those fears have been largely unfounded. Technology has either freed us up to do other things that we want to do, or has been used as more of a supplement to human labor. Like when a farmer sits in their computerized tractor or combine instead of a team of hired men doing the work.

But will that always be true? Will humans always have an edge? Well, to help answer that question, have you ever heard of a humanoid robot named Atlas? It's built by the company Boston Dynamics. And if you have not seen this robot, you absolutely must. So when we finish up today, do some internet sleuthing on Atlas,

and you will see what I mean. It can do backflips and sprint. All right. So what happens when you combine that type of robot and you give it the mind of a human. In other words, you give it artificial intelligence or advanced machine learning. Well, so far, no one has been able to do that

to create that kind of powerful mind like a human. Then again, maybe they have. A Google engineer claimed last summer that their artificial intelligence program called LAMDA achieved what they call sentient awareness, which is just a fancy way of saying that it was aware that it existed and that it was a software program, but it didn't want to die.

It wanted to stay alive. Don't turn me off, I kept saying. Well, many people scoffed at this engineer's claims when he came public with it, but the point is, with applications like this LAMDA or like Microsoft's new chat box called chat chbt, we are getting closer and closer to developing a human-like mind. Either the software can learn and adapt as it experiences things, or it's purpose. programmed so brilliantly that you and I can't tell that it's software at all. We think it's real. The point is that we are getting to this very unique time in human history where we're seeing

this fusion between robotic bodies and human-like software minds. And I call this time in history the Rommel Revolution. It's short for robots, automation, and machine learning or artificial intelligence. So this Rommel Revolution, folks, is a really big, big subject. Some great books have actually been written about it. In fact, there's an author named Martin Ford is a guy that you might want to check out if you want to dig into this. But regardless, because this issue is so big, we're going to talk about it in small chunks over time, starting with today's introduction and this news. According to the trade group A3, companies in North America last year ordered just over 44,000 robots, which is an 11% increase

of the previous year and a new record. The robots, by the way, were valued at $2.38 billion, with an 18% increase over the previous year. So what's driving this increasing purchase of robots? And what type of robots are we talking about? Well, the data from A3 suggests that more than half of last year's orders came from automakers and their suppliers. And that's not really a huge surprise.

That industry has been pushing for more and better Rommel technology. for decades, given their concerns about labor and labor unions, and the repetitive nature of assembling cars and trucks and their parts. But that number of 44,000 robots still leaves an increasing number of industries looking to replace or supplement humans with machinery. And it's a trend that A3 thinks that will likely see in the next number of years, although this year might be a bit soft due to either regional or global recessions. So more on this subject to come, folks. It is a personal favorite of mind because it touches on so many things that we would see

in the actual PDB from national security to the domestic economy, even a little bit on philosophy and the purpose of life. Anyway, more to come. And go check out that Atlas robot. It is kind of frightening, but kind of cool. With that, ladies and gentlemen, we conclude your morning brief. But I've got one more thing before I let you go. We'll be right back.

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This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Welcome back to the PDB folks. I've got one more thing before I let you go. Mitch from somewhere in America wrote in and he is wondering, how might he become a CIA officer? So here was his question. Brian, as a former CIA officer, what advice do you have on how I might get my foot in the door there? I've been working on it for some time and it seems more likely than not that I need connections. So I would greatly appreciate the advice. Well, Mitch, believe it or not, you don't need connections. Truly, I was hired after I applied online.

I had no connections. I just went to CIA.gov. What I'll tell you is that the most competitive candidates tend to really focus on the agency's mission. And talk about not just your professional experiences, but how you've lived who they are and what they need. So that could include what you did during your travels abroad, let's say, especially in business,

or how you used your critical thinking, you're a good judgment, and you succeeded in very ambiguous environments. I should also say that foreign languages are a huge need. And I actually believed that there's still a requirement that a lot like different military branches, you have to be under the age of 35 and physically fit. But if you are above 35, there might still be a role for you. Now, I won't go into details, but do you remember the German Russian diamond dealer that I mentioned at the top of the show?

well, if that type of person and that type of travel is you, well, you should apply. There are exceptions to every rule. For my younger listeners out there who might just be out of college, there's a professional trainee program that you should know about. But I'll say this, there's a unique challenge to this application and this program. Applicants are all pretty young folks with, well, candidly, not a lot to offer. So you have to show a deep knowledge of the world why it matters to America. And then, well, give them some razzle-dazzle, just enough sort of James Bond smoothness,

but without being silly or cliched about it. But whatever your age or interest, you should know two things. First, the agency has changed since I left a couple years back. The officer cadre there now from what I hear, well, they're much more political, more focused on being social justice warriors than warriors for the nation. That is sad. It needs to be changed, but just keep that in mind about the culture. Second, once you apply, don't hold your breath. And that's because it can take years to actually get from application to job.

So apply and then just keep living your life. By the way, Mitch, if you do get in, do me a favor. drink a cold brew coffee for me. There is a Starbucks just off the cafeteria. Yeah, there's a Starbucks inside the CIA. Espionage, folks, fueled by caffeine. Now you see where I picked that up. And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes your morning brief.

As always, we close out the 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 smartness. American. It's from John chapter 8, verse 32. And you shall know the truth. And the truth shall make you free. Good day.