The President's Daily Brief - January 19th, 2023. PM of Iraq Requests that American Troops Stay in the Country for Many Years to Come.

Episode Date: January 19, 2023

It’s January 19th. 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 six briefs for you this morning that are shaping America — and the world. First, a former Mexican government official is facing charges today, all because he helped the cartels to flood our border with drugs. Second, the Prime Minister of Iraq says he’d like for American troops to remain in his country for years to come. I’ll give you those details. Third, we make quick stops in New Zealand and Australia this morning, where in Australia sugar farmers are being overrun by rats. Next, Amazon’s CEO says you should lock down your wallet — the economy is / gonna get bad. Fifth, The Governor of Virginia just told Ford Motor Company to take a hike, all because of their partnership with a Chinese battery company. Finally, parents are increasingly pulling their kids out of public schools. I’ve some data about that. Later, we close out the podcast with a study that says we should all really go back to church. Might save our lives if we do. ------ 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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I'm your host and former CIA officer Brian Dean Wright. Your morning intel starts now. A good day to you, ladies and gentlemen. I've got six briefs for you this morning that are shaping America and the world. First, a former Mexican government official is facing charges today, all because he helped the cartels flood our border with drugs. Second, the Prime Minister of Iraq says that he would like for American troops to remain in his country for years to come. I'll give you those details. Third, we make quick stops in New Zealand and Australia this

morning, where in Australia, sugar farmers are being overrun by rats. Next, Amazon CEO says that you should lock down your wallet because the economy is going to get bad. Fifth, the governor of Virginia just told Ford Motor Company to take a hike, all because of their partnership with a Chinese battery company. Finally, parents are increasingly pulling their kids out of public schools. I've got some data about that. Later, we close out the podcast with a study that says that we should all really go back to church. Might save our lives if we do. But before we get to that, we got to get started with this. There's a big court case to talk about today, and it sheds a really important light on whether or not we can trust the Mexican government. On Tuesday, jury selection

started in the case of Henaro Garcia Luna. For over 10 years, this former Mexican government official led several of the country's law enforcement agencies to include the Mexican equivalent of the FBI. For that, he worked for Mexico's CIA, something called the National Intelligence Center. Well, it turns out that he was also on the payroll of a cartel, the Sinaloa cartel, the very group that he was supposed to be either arresting or killing. But starting in the year 2002 through at least the year 2017, Mr. Garcia Luna is allegedly. to have taken cash from the Sinaloa cartel to protect them and their operations or to direct law enforcement resources to other cartels. And that's why the U.S. government has charged him

with four counts of conspiracy to traffic cocaine. So just to emphasize something here, Mr. Garcia Luna was both a very senior law enforcement official and a cabinet member of the Mexican government. So imagine if our FBI director or secretary of Homeland Security was working for the cartels, because that's who this guy is and that's what he did. Now, importantly, because of these roles, he had a very close relationship with America's Drug Enforcement Agency, or DEA, and the FBI. So what is alleged here is that he took all of those relationships and all the knowledge that he learned, and he shared that with at least the Sinaloa cartel.

Although, there's a member of another cartel called the Beltran Leva Cartel. and he said that they too gave this guy a monthly bribe to protect the cartels operations in addition to the Sinaloa folks. All right. Well, regardless, Mr. Garcia-Luno's trial, it's going to be starting here in the next couple of weeks and will last probably two months. His attorney, by the way, is complaining that the evidence against his client is so overwhelming that he doesn't have enough time or resources to review it all.

At any rate, I would encourage you to keep this case in mind when we start talking about about getting to the root causes of things like the drug crisis or illegal migration for Mexico. So as PDB listeners know, that sort of root cause policy is central to the Biden administration's focus to stop or slow drug flow or illegal migration. And the idea is that we work with regional governments to address these root causes of the problems. But as this case shows, once again, sometimes these local partners aren't exactly who they appear to be. And unfortunately, there's a culture of corruption in many of these places that suggests, ultimately, we're not going to be able to trust them. To do much of anything other than enrich themselves or undermine our efforts to protect our southern border.

Next up, we head to the Middle East this morning, and we're going to talk about the country of Iraq. As most of us recall, the United States and our allies spent many years in that country to find, say, weapons of mass destruction, to topple the dictator Saddam Hussein. and ultimately to build a new modern democracy, one that was supposed to embrace Western values and interests. I think it's pretty fair to say that, well, none of those things really happened, except for getting rid of Saddam Hussein, of course. And yet the war's legacy lives on.

The United States still has around 2,000 troops in Iraq to train and advise Baghdad's troops. Well, the question is, should they be there? Well, Iraq's new prime minister said on Monday in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that, yes, they should. Quote, we think that we need the foreign forces. The elimination of ISIS needs more time, end quote. ISIS, of course, is a reference to the terror group Islamic State.

Regardless, I think that this statement from the prime minister, a man, by the way, who's named Mohamed Shia al-Sudani, it's pretty interesting. He's closely aligned with the country of Iran, and so too are the parties that back him in parliament. So to me, it's pretty interesting that the Iraqis would want us to stick around, even though they fought us for years, and now they back our enemies in Tehran. Regardless, it does prompt a bigger question, I think. Should the United States still be in Iraq with our troops? Seems like a good question to think about.

We've been there for about 20 years. Perhaps it's something we should debate. With that, let's head out of the Middle East this morning and fly ourselves to the countries of New Zealand and Australia. Let's start first in New Zealand, which is a very important national security partner of the United States. The country's prime minister yesterday issued really what was a shocking statement that she will step down from office, all because she said she has neither the energy nor the inspiration to seek re-election later this year. And so she said she's stepping down, actually, in the next couple of weeks. I'll tell you, nobody saw this one coming because her rationale for leaving is, well, I mean, it certainly could be true,

but oftentimes these things have other explanations rather than just wanting to spend more time with family. So I'm going to be keeping you posted on this breaking news because, A, it's very interesting and curious, but second, New Zealand is an important partner of ours, especially as we pivot to protecting our interests against the Chinese in the battle for the Pacific. All right, meanwhile, let's pivot to Australia, specifically the state of Queensland. So in the far northern part of that state, sugar farmer, this morning are shaking their heads at what was supposed to be a bumper sugar crop, but not anymore.

And that's because they are being invaded by rats, millions of rats, the largest infestation that most folks there have seen in decades. And those rats, well, they're pretty hungry. And unfortunately, they do like sugar. And boy, howdy, do they like it? Crops are being wiped out at a record clip, all by an animal that can have 460 babies in a single year that helps explain why the problem can get very bad very quickly. Now, they've considered control measures like poison, but unfortunately, those poison rat carcasses

then in turn get eaten by other more helpful animals who obviously get sick and die in the process. So they're a bit stuck, and it's just overall a pretty terrible situation for those poor farmers in Australia. By the way, most of their crop gets exported to countries like Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia, a touch to America too, although most of ours comes from states like Louisiana or countries like the Dominican Republic. Regardless, let's think of our friends down under this morning as we sprinkle a little sugar in our coffee or tea, maybe send up a prayer or send down a herd of cats. I've got one they can have.

With that, ladies and gentlemen, let's take a quick break. When we come back, I've got three more critical pieces of news for you, so hang tight, and we will be right back. 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, solar elixir, a radiant expression of joy, ultra-concentrated for amplified impact and lasting power. Find your euphoria. Discover the Euphoria Elixir collection

by Calvin Klein. Welcome back to the PDB. I've got three more critical pieces of news for you this morning. First, the CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, has issued a warning that America's economy is headed for some dark times and that you should hold off on buying non-essential products, which would mean that you shouldn't use Amazon, interestingly enough. So Mr. Bezos was giving an interview on CNN earlier this week, where he said that, quote, the economy doesn't look good right now.

things are slowing down. You're seeing layoffs in many sectors of the economy. So if you're an individual considering purchasing, say, a big screen TV, you might want to wait, hold onto your money and see what transpires. He added that, quote, the same advice is true for, say, a new automobile or refrigerator, or whatever else. Just remove some of that financial risk from the equation, end quote. And you know what, it seems like he's right. Amazon itself announced job cuts of 18,000, workers in the past number of months. Microsoft just yesterday said that they're going to be cutting 10,000 workers. Finally, Facebook's parent company announced that day two will shed at least 11,000 workers in the next couple of months. For what it's worth, we're also seeing some of these

same troubling signs and the broader economic data, too. The Federal Reserve announced yesterday that production from U.S. factories fell more than expected last month, down 1.3%. Retail sales, those were down to 1.1% last month, despite December being the Christmas holiday season. Now, if there is any good news to this, at least I guess you can call this good, it's that inflation is starting to come down. It was at 9% or more in months gone by, but now it's floating around 6.5%. The problem is that the Federal Reserve wants that inflation number to go from 6.5 to 2%. And to get there, they're going to keep raising interest rates to slow the economy, perhaps even pushing us into a full-blown, no arguments about it, recession. So all in all, I think Mr. Bezos is right on this one, perhaps freeze those

Amazon purchases for a while and tighten those belts. Seems like we've got a pretty ugly economic year ahead of us. All right. Next up, some good news, or at least good news if you think China is bad. The governor of Virginia announced last week that he would not allow Ford Motor Company to build a battery plant in his state. Ford had been considering Virginia to build out one of these facilities, but there was one big catch. It would actually be operated by the Chinese battery company, C-A-T-L. They may recall that last month we talked about the possibility

that Ford would partner with this Chinese company to build batteries for its electric Mustang and their Ford F-150. But Ford was being a little sneaky about it. The plan was to build the plant, and technically they would own it, but the Chinese, well, they would actually run it and own the underlying technology. And Ford was doing this, well, little cheat, so that they could take advantage of Joe Biden's battery incentives that were passed last summer.

And those said that you had to be an American-owned battery company to benefit. In other words, Ford wanted some of that dirty green money, but they needed a technology partner to help them get it. And China was the partner that they chose. Well, Virginia's Governor Glenn Yonkin found out about that scheme and announced last week that Ford would not be welcome in his state for this battery plant. Quote, the right thing to do, he said, was not to recruit Ford as a front company for China and America, end quote. He then directed his Virginia Economic Development Partnership Agency to remove the state from the running from Ford's project, which now leaves the state of Michigan, as Ford's likely choice should it choose to move forward. By the way, Ford was asked for comment based on these

remarks by the governor and, well, they declined. As an aside, Governor Yonkin seems pretty consistent in his beliefs about China. For instance, he said that, quote, I understand what the Chinese Communist Party is doing. They have one objective, global dominance at the expense of the United States, end quote. And you know what? That is correct, Governor. Nice to see some political leadership on this, especially to be so blunt. Bravo. Finally this morning, an update on America's public schools. We first talked about this issue back on September 23rd when I gave you a brief about how COVID policies have affected America's kids in public schools. The bottom line was that those policies were terribly damaging, especially for the poorest of America's students. Well, there was another impact from those policies.

Some parents have gotten so sick and tired of districts shutting schools down or forcing online learning that they pulled their kids out of public schools altogether. So according to fresh data out from the National Center for Education Statistics, enrollment in public schools fell from 50.8 million to 49.4 million over the last academic year. Meanwhile, the number of homeschooled kids doubled to five. million. Plus, we're seeing some similar increases in private and charter schools, too. Well, all of that is leading school districts around the country to consolidate or even shut public schools down. For instance, Jefferson County, Colorado, just outside of Denver, they're set to close 16 schools. St. Paul, Minnesota, closing five. Oakland, California,

closing seven. All that, by the way, according to Axios and the Wall Street Journal. although I should mention one caveat to all of this, some states are actually adding public schools and students. So the South and Midwest of America, they're doing pretty well, adding anywhere from 2% to 10% more students. Meanwhile, though, the New England states plus states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, California, and Oregon, all of those are losing students and schools. So more on this to come. And when I do brief you on it, I want to focus on the Supreme Court court ruling last summer called Carson v. Macon. The court said that parents can use taxpayer vouchers to send their kids to religious schools if they want. What I'm looking for is data on how

many parents are doing just that and how that impacts the lives and education of America's kids. And 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. 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.

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Now, there's been a lot of debate about what's driving these deaths, especially the increase amongst white Americans and most especially white working class men. Well, some researchers at the Ohio State University and University of Notre Dame looked at one culprit that hasn't gotten a lot of attention, and that is people have stopped going to church. They looked at the relationship between being religious and mortality from deaths of despair. And what they found was that states that experienced large declines in religious participation, well, those states saw the largest increases in deaths of despair.

Now, what's really fascinating is the impact of blue laws, which as some of you all probably know, are laws that restrict various activities on Sundays, days of worship, of course, and usually these blue laws included restrictions on whether or not you could purchase things like alcohol and tobacco. Well, what they found was that when a blue law was repealed, that led to a 5 to 10% decrease of weekly attendance at church, with an increase of deaths of despair. One last interesting finding from this study, it didn't actually matter whether a person held a certain set of religious beliefs. In other words, they were Catholic or Protestant.

Nor did it matter if they engaged in prayer. What helped reduce deaths was that they just went to church, the practice of just sitting in a pew next to friends and family or neighbors. Said the researchers, quote, These results underscored the importance of cultural institutions such as religious establishments, in promoting the connection and well-being of people. By the way, this study was circulated yesterday by the National Bureau of Economic Research. One final thing to offer you on this.

This research actually matches other data coming from a man named Bob Putnam in a book called Bowling Alone. So the idea is that we used to be pretty connected to each other at church, at volunteer organizations, and yeah, sports leagues like bowling. But starting in the 1980s, that connectedness, started to fray. And now, data show that our social cohesion has largely collapsed.

We are deeply disconnected from each other. Just something to think about. It might be a nice time to reconnect a church or fellowship of whatever kind that appeals to you. It might be a nice way to meet people or network for a job or maybe even save your life. 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 smart american it's from john chapter 8 verse 32 and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free good day some follow the noise Bloomberg follows the money whether it's the funds fueling AI or crypto's trillion dollar swing There's a money side to every story. Get the money side of the story.

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