The President's Daily Brief - June 14th, 2024: Anger Mounts Against Hamas In Gaza, Russia Indicts WSJ Journalist For Espionage, & Terror Threats Rise Ahead Of Paris Olympics

Episode Date: June 14, 2024

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief:     A flurry of updates out of the Middle East, where Israel is pushing further into Rafah and frustrated Gazans are beginning to turn on Hamas’s leadership, expressing anger at the group’s failure to agree to a recent ceasefire proposal. International anxieties are riding high as Iran moves to expand its uranium-enrichment capacity at two underground sites following a slap on the wrist last week from the UN’s nuclear watchdog. An update on our coverage of detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, as the Putin regime indicts him on false charges of espionage on behalf of the CIA. In our 'Back of the Brief' segment, we’ll take a look at France’s efforts to build the largest army camp on its mainland since World War II as it prepares for wide-ranging security threats ahead of the summer Olympics in Paris. 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

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It's Friday, 14 June. 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 things off with a smorgish board of updates, and almost the last time you heard someone say, smorgish board, that's how you have to say it, out of the Middle East,

where Israel is pushing further into Rafah, and frustrated Gazans are beginning to turn on Hamas' leadership, expressing anger at the group's failure to agree to a recent ceasefire proposal. Not to mention, their longtime tenets, see to hide behind the civilians, which tends to get the civilians killed. Later on, international anxieties are on the rise as Iran moves to expand its uranium enrichment capacity at two underground sites, following a slap on the wrist last week from the UN's nuclear watchdog. It's surprising that a slap on the wrist from the feckless UN doesn't alter Iran's bad behavior.

Plus, we'll have an update on our coverage of detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, as the Putin regime indicts him on false charges of espionage. And finally, in today's back of the brief, we'll take a look at France's efforts to build the largest army camp on its mainland since World War II as it prepares for wide-ranging security threats ahead of the Summer Olympics in Paris. I don't want to say that Paris will be a security nightmare, but I think I just did. But first, today's PDB spotlight. I want to begin with our coverage of the Israeli-Hamas conflict, as reports emerged that Hamas may be losing the support of Gazans as frustrations mount over their persistent failure or unwillingness to make progress in

ceasefire negotiations. Residents of the devastated enclave told the Wall Street Journal that the anger boiled to the surface after the latest route of negotiations went sideways on Tuesday. As we discussed yesterday, Hamas made a series of additional ceasefire demands regarding a U.S. and Israeli-backed proposal that reportedly went far beyond their past requests, dimming any hopes of a truce. With the death toll in Gaza mounting and the already dire humanitarian situation deteriorating, some residents in the enclave have begun speaking out. A 58-year-old Gaza resident told the journal, quote, Hamas drove the bus to the edge and lost control. They are not negotiated for us, they're negotiating to stay in power after all this devastation."

Well, that is about the most concise and honest assessment of this go-rope, as I've heard since 7 October. To that point, Yaya Sinwar, Hamas's chief in Gaza, has shown that he really could not care any less about the plight of Palestinians. In messages to mediators, Sinwar has callously brushed off the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza as, quote, necessary sacrifices, while, telling his political masters living the high life in Qatar that Hamas has the upper hand on Israel. Expressing as disgust at Hamas's leaders, a Palestinian father of five, currently living in a tent

camp, told the journal, quote, Our leaders, Hamas, the Arabs, they watch us on TV from their hotels. They do not know what it's like to run for your life, hungry and barefoot, end quote. Now, we should note, these are not just one-off sentiments. The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research released a poll on Wednesday, showing support for Hamas as the governing body for Gaza has fallen over the past three months from 52% to 46%. Looks like the only place where they've gained support is on U.S. college campuses. Meanwhile, the percentage of Gazans who think Hamas will win the war dropped eight percentage points over the same period, declining to 48%. Now, don't get me wrong. there's still widespread support for Hamas among Palestinians in Gaza, because frankly, they have no other

options. But this is the first glimpse we've seen that the population is beginning to lose their patients with a terrorist group's strategy. It's the inverse trend in the West Bank, however, where support for Hamas's control of Gaza has increased over the past three months from 64% to 71%. Well, of course, because they're not in the thick of the conflict. So why the disparity between the West Bank and Gaza? Well, I think I just mentioned. mentioned it, it's a tale of two regions, one that has been largely free from the conflict and one that is suffering the direct repercussions of Hamas' actions. Having said that, the poll also showed some contradictory sentiments at work. While some Gazans have decried Hamas' seeming

lack of interest in a ceasefire, the poll revealed roughly 54% of Palestinians still favor armed resistance against Israel, with just 16% saying peace should be perceived. sued through negotiations and non-violent resistance. The one thing most Palestinians appear to agree on is that they do not want the Fatah Party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to ever come back to power in Gaza. Now, that's bad news for the U.S. and European allies. We have been pushing Abbas and the Palestinian Authority as a potential replacement to Hamas when the conflict finally ends. Yeah, I mean, frankly to date, I haven't heard any realistic explanation from the U.S. State Department and Secretary Blinken as to how the Palestinian Authority will magically become the governing body of a Palestinian state.

It's almost like they're, I don't know, clutching its straws in an effort to get a ceasefire done before the November election in the U.S. Meanwhile, as Hamas continues to rebuke efforts to end the fighting, Israel is pushing further into Rafah. The military said their, quote, intelligence-based targeted operations are geared at rooting out the last remaining combat units that Hamas. has in the city. Unfortunately, while they work to destroy Hamas elements in Rafah, the IDF is finding itself playing whackamol, now having to battle reconstituted Hamas units fighting in areas of northern Gaza that had previously been cleared. Over the past day, the IDF said they struck some 45 Hamas targets across the Gaza Strip. As I mentioned earlier, hopes of an imminent ceasefire in Gaza were dashed on Tuesday after Hamas proposed several amendments to the ceasefire proposal,

many of which U.S. officials said were extreme and unworkable. They included demands that Russia, China, and Turkey serve as guarantors for any agreement it reaches with Israel. Senior officials in Israel said Hamas's response amounted to a rejection, and despite the optimism of some Western officials, there appears to be little reason to think the ceasefire will be salvaged. All right, coming up after the break, Iran has moved to expand its uranium enrichment capacity at two underground sites following a slap on the wrist last week from the UN's nuclear watchdog.

Plus, a major update out of Russia regarding the unlawful, wrongful, and shameful detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. I'll have those stories when we come back. You tell yourself, no one wants your college-era band teas, but on Deepop, people are searching for exactly what you've got. You once paid a small fortune for them at merch stands. Now, a teenager who calls them vintage will offer that same small fortune back. Sell them easily on Deepop.

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Well, I hope you like my little song. Book Direct at Choice Hill Tales. Welcome back. I want to return to our coverage of Iran's nuclear ambitions as international concern continues to mount over the Islamic regime's renewed pursuit of highly enriched uranium. As a reminder, last week, the United Nations nuclear watchdog passed a resolution demanding Iran step up its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and reverse its decision last fall to expel senior IAE. EA inspectors from the country. Ah, well, you would think that that would settle the matter. I mean, it is the UN. But as you might expect, Iran, well, they didn't take too kindly to the international rebuke, and they responded this week by expanding their uranium enrichment capacity at two underground sites. The Islamic regime allegedly intends to install additional centrifuges

at the site to accelerate efforts to enrich their uranium reserves to near weapons-grade level, sets, according to a report out of Reuters. As a reminder, Iran has large stores of 60% enriched uranium, putting them alarmingly close to the 90% threshold that is considered weapons grade, not to get lost in the thicket here, but it is much easier to move from 60 to 90% than it is from 0 to 60%. It's also worth remembering that back in September, less than a month before the 7 October attacks on Israel, Iran booted. several senior UN nuclear inspectors from their country in what the IAEA called an unprecedented move. While some UN monitoring is still being conducted in Iran, the IA surveillance cameras have reportedly

faced significant disruptions. Yeah, that UN monitoring is about as effective as the vetting that supposedly takes place at the U.S. southern border. Rafael Grossi, the head of the IAEA, recently said that Iran's cooperation remains, quote, completely unsatisfactory, and that they are now at an impasse regarding oversight of their nuclear facilities. While the U.S. ultimately backed the latest resolution, officials had expressed concern that Iran would simply respond with more nuclear escalation, and you might also recall that the current U.S. administration much prefers appeasement when it comes to dealing with the Iranian regime. But I digress. Following a resolution passed by the IAEA roughly 18 months ago, Iran responded by renewing their efforts to enrich their uranium stores to

60% purity. Despite the concerns, officials told Reuters on Wednesday that Iran's latest nuclear expansion was not as big as they had feared and speculated that the regime may be waiting until they can install a new president following last month's death of President Abraham. Racy. An unnamed Vienna-based diplomat told the publication, quote, it's not as much as I would expect. Why, I don't know. Maybe they're waiting for the new government. End quote. Well, thank you, unnamed Vienna-based diplomat for that insightful comment. Still, Iran's activity, particularly in light of the war in Gaza, through their proxy puppet Hamas, has left international observers alarmed. Discerbingly, over the past several months, Iran has pivoted away from their

usual nuclear rhetoric, which tends to be full of denials, to openly discussing the possibility of changing its nuclear doctrine from civilian to military. We should also note that a recently updated report by the IAEA concluded Iran has enough near-weapons-grade uranium to build at least three nuclear weapons. Okay, on that cheery note, let's shift gears. Russian prosecutors have formerly indicted an imprisoned American journalist on charges of espionage, a move not seen since the Cold War. As we've previously discussed on the PDB, Evan Gerskovich, a reporter from the Wall Street Journal, was falsely arrested in March 23 by Russia's Federal Security Service, the FSB, while on assignment in the country. The FSB accused the 32-year-old of collecting classified information about Russian military

activities, and he's been held at a Moscow prison ever since. The Putin regime never presented evidence to back up their claims. That's shocking. And Gerskovich, the Wall Street Journal, and the U.S. government have all denied the allegations as baseless Russian propaganda. No, wait, is there any other kind of Russian propaganda other than the baseless kind? Following more than a year in pretrial detention, the Russian prosecutor general's office announced that the FSB had finalized their investigation on Thursday, claiming Gerskovitz, quote, acted on instructions from the CIA, oh, end quote. He will stand trial at an unspecified date where he could face a series of closed-door hearings.

He faces up to 20 years in prison, if convicted. A fiery statement released Thursday from the Wall Street Journal condemned the decision, saying, quote, the Russian regime's smearing of Evan is repugnant, disgusting and based on calculated and transparent lies. Journalism is not a crime. Evans' case is an assault on free press, end quote. In a plea from the West on Wednesday, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg called on Moscow to immediately free Gershkovich. The U.S. has labeled Gershkovich as wrongfully detained with U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller stating, quote, there is absolutely zero credibility to those charges. He added that the U.S. remains engaged in ongoing diplomatic efforts to bring Gerskiewicz

home. The Biden administration has long been seeking to negotiate Gurchievich's release. However, Russia's foreign ministry indicated Thursday that Moscow will only consider a prisoner exchange after a verdict is reached in his trial. We should mention that in recent years, Russia has also detained several other Americans. Al-Su Kermasheva, a dual Russian-U.Southan, a dual-Urussian U.S. citizen and a journalist for Radio Free Europe, was detained in Kazan for allegedly failing to register as a foreign agent, a charge seen as a baseless smear, meant to discredit the journalist's work. Meanwhile, Paul Weillan, an American, held in Russia since 2018, that's 2018, is serving a 16-year sentence after a secretive trial convicted him

of espionage. Like with Gerskovich, Wieland and the U.S. government have aggressively and consistently denied the charges as Russian propaganda. All right, coming up in today. days back of the brief. We'll take a look at France's efforts to build the largest army cap on its mainland since World War II as it prepares for wide-ranging security threats ahead of the Summer Olympics in Paris. I'll be right back. USAA knows dynamic duos can save the day, like superheroes and sidekicks or auto and home insurance. With USAA, you can bundle your auto and home and save up to 10%. Tap the banner to learn more and get a quote at usa.com slash bundle. Restrictions apply. Starting a business can seem like a daunting task,

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Sign up for your $1 per month trial at Shopify.com slash special offer. In today's back of the brief, we flit over to Paris, I think that's what you do, you flit over to where construction crews are working at breakneck speed to build a massive military camp for troops tasked with keeping the Summer Olympic Games safe. French officials have said it will be the largest mainland army camp seen in the country since World War II, and it's a tall order, as they need to build row upon row of temporary barracks to house an estimated 4,500 troops. is breaking construction records for France and is expected to be completed after only 65 days. Now, even more impressive when you realize that, based on French employment laws,

the workers will be on holiday for half that time. Troops are anticipated to begin arriving in early July, and will have just two weeks to secure the highly anticipated opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics along the banks of the River Seine. The construction comes as warnings emerge concerning potential terror attacks, targeting the games. A report from cybersecurity firm recorded future indicates that although cyber attacks are highly probable, the primary risk to the Paris Games will stem from physical threats. They cautioned that the Islamic State has been disseminating propaganda, encouraging its followers to

replicate the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris, which included a suicide bombing at the Stade de France, the primary venue for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. officials have also warned that ISIS K, an offshoot of the Islamic State, has gained momentum following its lethal attacks in Iran in January and at a Moscow concert hall in March. To counter the threat, a total of 18,000 military personnel will be on hand from July 26th to August 11th. Now, if you think that's a colossal number, the personnel will also provide support to 45,000 individuals from internal security forces and local police. In addition to a daily continuing, engine of private security guards numbering roughly 22,000.

France 24 reports that, in an emergency, those forces must be ready to deploy within 30 minutes. French officials have said that so far, authorities have thwarted at least two terror schemes aimed at the forthcoming games. And that, my friends, is the president's daily brief for Friday, 14 June. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb at thefirsttv.com. And to listen to the show ad-free. Well, you know the drill. Become a premium member of the president's daily brief

by visiting pdb premium.com. And of course, as global leaders have been discussing during the G7 in Italy this week, a new episode of the PDB Situation Report drops tonight, well, and every Friday night, at 10 p.m. Eastern on the first TV. Also available on YouTube, and of course all the usual podcast platforms.

This week's Situation Report takes a hard look at the Ukraine conflict, imagines what a war between China and Taiwan could look like, and examines a rapidly spreading deadly criminal gang in the U.S. 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 from Mint Mobile, the message for everyone paying big wireless way too much. Please for the love of everything good in this world, stop.

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