The President's Daily Brief - February 13th, 2024: Biden’s Border Blowup, Evacuation Efforts, & SpaceX Satellites

Episode Date: February 13, 2024

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: A fiery report from Axios reveals a tense clash between President Joe Biden and his staff over border policy issues, highlighting internal strife. We delve into Israel's intricate evacuation plans for Palestinian civilians ahead of its impending military push into Rafah. Elon Musk faces new controversy as SpaceX's satellite internet terminals are reportedly in Russian possession in Ukraine. We bring you the latest health status of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin following his hospitalization at Walter Reed Medical Center. 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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Start your day off with a great cup of American-made Blackout Coffee. Family-owned, premium coffee, fresh-roasted, and shipped out within 48 hours of roasting. Go to blackout coffee.com, promo code PDB for 20% off your first purchase. It's Tuesday, 13 February. 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 start today's show with a new report from Axios that details a heated confrontation between President Biden and his aides during a meeting on the border crisis.

The report sheds light on the escalating turmoil behind the scenes as the administration grapples with the faltering White House border policy. Later, we'll discuss Israel's comprehensive evacuation strategy for Palestinian civilians in anticipation of its imminent advance. into Rafa, that's the densely populated city in southern Gaza that borders Egypt. Plus, Elon Musk is under scrutiny again, this time after satellite internet terminals from his SpaceX company have reportedly fallen into Russian hands in occupied Ukraine. And in today's back of the brief, we'll provide an update on the condition of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin following his admission to Walter Reed Medical Center. But first up, the BDB Spotlight.

A scintillating new report from Axios is giving us a behind-the-scenes look at just how chaotic at times White House efforts are to address the border crisis. And yes, I did use the word scintillating. But before we dive into the report, I think it'll help if we take a brief look at where things stand right now. Since President Biden's inauguration in 2021, attempts to cross the southern border into the U.S., have reached unparalleled levels. Data from Customs and Border Protection, the CBP.

For December, the most recent month available, show Border Patrol agents recorded 302,000 encounters at the southwest border. That's a record high. For some perspective, consider the fact that the monthly average from 2013 to 2019 was just 39,000. However, publicly, the White House has consistently attempted to shift responsibility for the crisis. And to be fair, at least they're now in the shifting blame phase, which is marginally better than their previous crisis what crisis phase. Just this weekend,

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas spoke to NBC News stating, quote, it certainly is a crisis and we don't bear responsibility for a broken system, and we're dealing a tremendous amount within that broken system. He added that, quote, fundamentally, Congress is the only one who can fix it. He also added, the buck stops anywhere but my desk. Okay, that last little quote was made up. Of course, Majorcas's protestations that it's not the administration's fault and only Congress can fix it, well, that's not accurate. We can point to any number of steps that the Biden administration has taken to contribute to this situation, including their halting of the previous administrations remain in Mexico policy, which required

asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while the U.S. court cases were processed. Now, according to this report, inside the White House, efforts to address the crisis at the southern border are chaotic, marred by, as Axios says, infighting, blame-shifting, and indecision. That's not a very good recipe. That chaos was reportedly on full display during a meeting on Air Force One between the president and his staff back in January of last year, when, according to multiple first-hand accounts, President Biden exploded at his team, which included then-deputy chief of staff Gen O'Malley Dylan, Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood Randall, and other immigration officials. The president reportedly demanded obscure immigration data points and screamed at his staff

when they didn't have them handy. Now, as an aside, I've been running a business for many years now, and typically, screaming at staff isn't an effective management tool, although it will earn you the nickname among staff of management tool. The report indicates that this frustration has hindered decision-making regarding the border, with one source stating, quote, if you're the person briefing the president, you get to piss him off every day, end quote. Well, that sounds like fun. The report also adds that much of the gridlock is being caused by warring ideologies

within the White House and among Democratic leaders. Some officials advocate for punitive measures against illegal border crossings. There's a thought, while others, including vocal immigration advocates, push for reforms in asylum policies and the expansion of legal pathways for migrants. This internal conflict has resulted essentially in what could be called an incoherent strategy that we've been seeing played out over the past three years. One more interesting element to Axios' reporting. A key figure in this turmoil was former domestic policy advisor Susan Rice,

who reportedly had frequent disagreements with Vice President Kamala Harris and other cabinet members. Most notably, Rice blasted Health and Human Services Secretary Javier Becerra for what was seen as his reluctance to find more space in child migrant shelters, referring to Becerra as a wait, now listen, if there are any kids listening to the PDB right now and were very popular among the younger demographic, earmuffs. Referring to Bacera as a bitch-ass and privately calling him an idiot. The report paints a portrait of an administration that looks more like members of a dysfunctional family than serious policy makers. Although, to be fair, I've never called any members of my family, even the dysfunctional ones, a, uh, okay, wait, earmuffs are getting.

kids, a bitch-ass. Although maybe in Washington, D.C., in political circles, that's a term of endearment. Coming up next, under fire from the U.S., Israel has proposed a comprehensive plan to protect Palestinian civilians ahead of its offensive into the densely populated city of Rafa. And the Ukrainian government is accusing Elon Musk's SpaceX of providing satellite-based internet to invading Russian forces. We'll have those stories after the break. Now, I'll be right back. Welcome back. I want to turn our attention to Israel's plans for the city of Rafa in southern Gaza, where roughly

1.2 million Palestinians have taken refuge. Despite vocal opposition from the international community, including the Biden administration, Israel has indicated that they do plan to conduct a ground operation in Rafa to root out Hamas fighters, calling the city Hamas's last stronghold. To quell international concerns about potential citizens, civilian casualties that will likely result from a ground offensive into the city, Israeli leaders have proposed an evacuation plan that includes building tent cities in Gaza to house those currently sheltering in Rafah, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

Israel reportedly presented their proposal to Egyptian officials in recent days. The evacuation plan, which would be funded by the U.S. and U.S. partners in the Arab Gulf, involves building 15 campsites of around 25,000 tents each in the southwestern part of the Gaza Strip. These camps would include field hospitals, sanitation facilities, and access to water, and the areas would be overseen by Egyptian authorities. While officials in Egypt have not yet publicly commented on Israel's proposal, officials in Cairo warned on Sunday that if an Israeli ground operation in Darafa causes Palestinians to cross the border and flee into Egypt, their government would suspend the

1979 Camp David Accords, a pivotal peace agreement with Israel. As we discussed yesterday on the PDB, any suspension of the historic peace accords would be a major blow to regional stability. In anticipation of an Israeli operation, Egypt has already strengthened its military presence along the Gaza border, deploying an estimated 40 tanks and armored vehicles. Now, that beef up military presence is there to keep Palestinian refugees from streaming into Egypt. Israeli officials have not publicly commented on the potential suspension of the Camp David Accords with their proposed evacuation plan for Rafah. Benny Gantz, a senior minister in Israel's war cabinet, however, told the Wall Street Journal

that there was no question that Israel would launch a major operation in Rafah. The situation is turning into a critical challenge for the Biden administration, which made it clear over the weekend that they would not support any Israeli ground invasion in Rafa. They are instead pressing Israel to engage in smaller targeted operations. As mentioned during yesterday's show, Israel has already begun limited operations in Rafa on Sunday night, an operation by Israeli forces freed two Israeli-Argentine hostages from Hamas amid the cover of air strikes. Officials with the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, whose numbers cannot be independently verified and who don't distinguish between civilian and militant casualties, said the airstrikes

killed more than 160 throughout Gaza, including more than 70 people in Rafah. Amid the ongoing conflict, there are concerns that a broader Israeli operation into Rafah could jeopardize a ceasefire agreement with Hamas that many hoped could lead to the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza. CIA director William Burns will reportedly be traveling to Cairo on Tuesday to continue negotiations with officials from Egypt, Qatar, and Israel. All right, shifting gears. Intelligence officials in Ukraine raised alarms over the weekend

when they said they had evidence that Russian forces were using Starlink terminals produced by Elon Musk's SpaceX in their war effort. officials with Kiev's main director of intelligence said Sunday that Russia's use of these terminals was becoming a, quote, systemic problem. Specifically, Ukraine said their intelligence showed Russian forces in the partially occupied eastern region of Dhenzsk were using the high-speed satellite internet terminals to coordinate their attacks in the region against the Ukrainian military, and that's according to a report by the Guardian. Andrei Yusov, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian intelligence service, said, quote, cases of the Russian occupiers, use of the given devices have been registered. It's beginning to take on a systemic nature, end quote. Now, notably, Starlink terminals are reported to be geo-fenced,

meaning they purportedly can't function in unauthorized locations. Ukrainian officials, however, contend that Russian forces have figured out how to thwart this control and make it appear that the terminal is in an authorized location. While officials did not initially elaborate on how the Russians may have accessed Starlink technology, Yusov told Reuters on Monday that they were being illicitly sourced as, quote, contraband from third countries, though he didn't elaborate further on that. Elon Musk addressed the allegations on Sunday, saying on X, quote, a number of false news reports claim that SpaceX is selling Starlink terminals to Russia.

This is categorically false. To the best of our knowledge, no Starlink's have been sold directly or indirectly to Russia, end quote. Starlink also posted a statement through their account on Sunday, which also addressed claims that Russia was sourcing the terminals through third parties in Dubai. Starlink said, quote, Starlink is not active in Russia, meaning service will not work in that country. SpaceX has never sold or marketed Starlink in Russia, nor has it shipped equipment to locations in Russia. Starlink also does not operate in Dubai. Starlink cannot be purchased in Dubai, nor does SpaceX ship there. Additionally, Starlink has not authorized any third-party intermediaries,

resellers, or distributors of any kind to sell Starlink in Dubai, end quote. That was quite the quote. They added that they investigate all claims of illicit use of Starlink terminals and can take action to the activated terminal if it's being used improperly. All right. in the back of the brief. For the second time in as many months, Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, was once again taken to Walter Reed Medical Center. I'll have the details when we come 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. 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, the Pentagon announced on Sunday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had been taken to a military hospital to be treated for, quote, symptoms suggesting an emergent bladder issue, end quote. According to Pentagon spokesman, Major General Patrick Ryder, Austin was transported by his security detail to the critical care unit at Walter Reed National Medical Center in Maryland,

where he underwent non-surgical procedures under general anesthesia to address his bladder issue. As we've reported, the 70-year-old Austin apologized earlier this month after coming under heavy political fire for keeping his previous hospital stays secret. This time around, the White House, as well as a deputy defense secretary, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were promptly notified, as were members of Congress. Secretary Austin transferred the functions and duties of the Office of the Secretary of Defense to the Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks. Doctors said that a prolonged hospital stay is not anticipated, and that it is anticipated that the Secretary will be able to resume his normal duties today.

However, Austin was forced to cancel a trip to Brussels set for this week, where he was supposed to attend meetings related to Ukraine's defense and NATO. The Ukraine meeting will instead now be held virtually. And that, my friends, is the president's daily brief for Tuesday, 13 February. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb at thefirsttv.com. I'm Mike Baker. Now, 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.

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