The President's Daily Brief - March 8th, 2024: Chaos in Haiti, new U.S. military port in Gaza & environment friendly war

Episode Date: March 8, 2024

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: Tensions escalating in Haiti as gang leaders threaten civil war and genocide.  U.S. Military setting up a temporary port in Gaza to supply more aid John Kerry has a new mission to make Putin's invasion of Ukraine more environmentally friendly  And guess who declined President Joe Biden's invite to the State of The Union?  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  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Start your day off with a delicious cup of American-made Blackout coffee. Seriously, it is a great way to start your morning. Family-owned premium coffee, fresh-roasted, and it's shipped out within 48 hours of roasting. Go to blackout coffee.com, promo code PDB for 20% off your first purchase. It's Friday, 8 March. 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 the chaos on America's doorstep, and no, I'm not talking about the southern border. I'm talking Haiti. As the Prime Minister of Haiti remains stranded in Puerto Rico, the Caribbean nation's most notorious gang leader has issued an ultimatum, resign or face a bloody

civil war and genocide. Later in the show, President Biden has announced that the U.S. military will establish a temporary port on the Gaza coast to increase. the flow of humanitarian aid, even as some in the Palestinian enclave, are turning their noses up at incoming U.S. food aid. Plus, there was a notable absence during last night's state of the Union address, and that's Ukraine's First Lady Olena Zelenska. She reportedly turned down an invitation from the president. Finally, in today's back of the brief, or in today's case, let's call it the You Can't Fix Stupid segment. We'll take a look at recent statements from former Secretary of State and now former climate czar John Kerry, who apparently has some ideas

on making Russia's invasion of Ukraine more environmentally friendly. But first, today's spotlight. We're going to start off today in the Caribbean, where events in Haiti continue to go from awful to even more awful. On Thursday, the Haitian government officially extended their state of emergency and curfew as gun battles between armed gangs and law enforcement continue in the capital city of Port-au-Prince. As we've previously reported, the nation's prime minister, Ariel Henri, is currently in San Juan,

that's the capital of Puerto Rico, and if the armed gangs that are currently rampaging through his country have anything to say about it, he's going to become a permanent resident there. According to reports, gangs have been besieging Porta-Prince's international airport in an effort to prevent the prime minister from returning, and the nearby Dominican Republic

closed off its airspace to all flights to and from Haiti earlier this week. Now, many of these gangs in the nation's capital are under the control of one man, and that's self-styled revolutionary Jimmy Barbecue Cherisei. Now, yeah, I said barbecue. That's his nickname. He told reporters in Port-au-Prince this week, quote, if Ariel Henri doesn't resign, if the international community continues to support him, will be heading straight for a civil war that will lead to genocide, end quote. He added, quote, either Haiti becomes a paradise or a hell for all of us.

It's out of the question for a small group of rich people living in big hotels to decide the fate of people living in working class neighborhoods. Now, before you imagine that barbecue is some kind of social justice warrior working for the good of the people, let's drill down a little bit more on him today. First off, that alias, barbecue. There are a few versions of how he came to earn that nickname, but the most common explanation is that it came about as a child when his mother was a fried chicken vendor. Of course, there are less savory explanations which include his penchant for burning people alive.

Chorizier is a former police officer, and during his time in law enforcement, he allegedly played a role in multiple massacres, including one that led to the deaths of more than 70 people in 2018, after over 400 homes in the capital's La Céline neighborhood were set ablaze. During that incident, he and others reportedly dragged victims into the streets, burned and dismembered their bodies, and fed them to animals. In June 2020, the former police officer established a new gang alliance known as G9 family and allies, which has grown to include 12 gangs across Port of Prince.

According to the United Nations, the G9 is responsible for numerous massacres, rapes, and all manner of human rights violations. If you're wondering what kind of leader this guy would be, should he seize control of Haiti, he told the Associated Press back in 2022 that he models himself after the country's late dictator Francois Papadoc Duvalier. Now, Duvalier ruled Haiti through violence and political repression from 1957 up until his death in 1971. If you're scratching your head wondering how this is America's problem, why should we worry about it? it, well, one thing that's worth noting, with the influx of migrants in the United States,

we're also seeing an uptick in foreign gang activity. In New York City, for example, the NYPD has acknowledged that the Violet Venezuelan gang, Trend de L'Aragua, is now actively recruiting members amongst the recently arrived migrant community. If things in Haiti continue to descend into anarchy, well, the number of Haitians seeking refuge in the U.S. is going to swell. And when it does, some of these gangs which are involved in drug trafficking, prostitution, and other areas of organized crime are going to see it as an opportunity to gain a foothold here in the States. Before we go to break, just a reminder that if you want to listen to the PDB without interruption, we've just launched our premium subscription service.

Now, to listen to the ad-free version and get access to exclusive member content, you can sign up at pdb premium.com. coming up next, President Biden announces new steps to deliver aid to Gaza with plans to open a temporary U.S. military port aimed at boosting humanitarian assistance. Also ahead, a noticeable no-show at the State of the Union address. I'll have these stories 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. Skycoin way better than points. Never fly during a Scorpio full moon.

Just tell the manager you'll sue. Instant room upgrade. Stop taking bad travel advice. Start comparing hundreds of sites with kayak and get your trip right. Kayak, got that right. Welcome back. During last night's State of the Union address, President Joe Biden revealed plans to expand America's role in Gaza, and that's a surprising move that will add.

a fresh layer of complexity to the U.S.'s current dynamic with Israel. In the speech, Biden announced he's ordered the U.S. military to construct a temporary port facility off the Gaza coast to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to the devastated region. The emergency project will allow cargo ships to unload food, water, and other emergency supplies at a time when the U.S. and other Western allies are struggling to find ways to get aid into Gaza. there's no word on whether Hamas, which is still technically the governing organization in Gaza, will play a role in the collection or allocation of aid intended for the Gaza residents. Once the pier is constructed, a coalition led by the U.S. will begin moving supplies from Cyprus

into Gaza through the new maritime corridor. While the U.S. will seek to coordinate these aid shipments with Israel, the Biden administration plans to move forward on the operation with or without Israel's help. We should note, the Gaza port is only intended to be temporary until Western leaders can find a long-term fix for getting aid supplies into the region. Critically, the White House stressed that it is in no way an indication that the U.S. plans to put any boots on the ground in Gaza. The Biden administration has grown increasingly frustrated with Israel in recent weeks over their refusal to open more border crossings to allow aid to flow more freely to the roughly 2.2 million residents of Gaza. Just last week, the U.S. and other allies began airdrops of aid supplies

into the city. Now, sticking with the subject of U.S. aid, there are multiple videos floating around on social media right now, indicating that some residents in Gaza are less than impressed with U.S. MREs that are being delivered into the region, in some cases even throwing the food away. Now, for those that don't know what an MRE is, it stands for a meal ready to eat, and they're prepackaged instant meals used by the U.S. military in combat zones or in areas where food availability is limited. They're an efficient source of sustenance, not necessarily always tasty, but they're an efficient source of sustenance with each back delivering an average of 1,300 calories. Now, the social media videos show some residents complaining that the MREs are

of not halal or with others seemingly under the impression that the products are expired. To correct the record, MREs are stamped with a manufacturing date, not an expiration date. They can officially last up to five years, although they're generally considered safe for up to a decade, and I can vouch for that. The behavior seen on social media is obviously not representative of all Gossans, but the misinformation being spread regarding expiration dates could end up preventing already hungry people from eating, so we wanted to make mention of this. Staying with our coverage of the State of the Union, one of the big stories from the annual address was who didn't attend. Now, the White

House had confirmed ahead of the speech that the First Lady of Ukraine and the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexi Navalny were invited to Thursday's address, but ultimately declined the Biden administration's offer. The White House reportedly planned to seat Olena Zelenska, wife of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and Yulia Navalnya next to First Lady Jill Biden before they were forced to change their plans. While White House officials have not elaborated on why the pair turned down the invite, our report from the Washington Post said the Ukrainians were not comfortable with the idea of being near Navalny's widow. Despite Navalny's role as a leading critic of the repressive Putin regime in life, Ukrainian officials are apparently still uneasy about past statements that he made,

suggesting that Crimea, annexed by the Kremlin in 2014, rightfully belonged to Russia. Meanwhile, Yulia Nevel Naya also declined the infight, simply citing fatigue, which seems understandable. The diplomatic blunder regarding Olena Zelenska caused the Biden administration what could have been a powerful visual moment when he called on Congress to follow through on approving billions in fresh aid for Ukraine. The Zelenskies, however, are also facing some political issues of their own at the moment, and that's keeping them somewhat busy. Specifically, Zelensky continues to grapple with the fallout from his decision last month to fire Valerie Zilluzni, and that's the former commander-in-chief of Ukraine's military. As we've discussed on the PDB, the pair had long been at odds with each other,

as Zelensky had come to view Zilluzni as a potential political rival, given his widespread popularity throughout Ukraine. Those fears were confirmed by a recent survey by a Keev-based polling firm, that found in an election, if it were held today in Ukraine, Zaluzni would handily defeat Zelensky. The survey, which asked thousands of Ukrainians who they would vote for in a hypothetical election, found that Zaluzni would capture roughly 41% of the vote, while Zelensky would only have the support of roughly 24% of voters. It's still only hypothetical, as Ukraine is under an extended state of martial law due to Putin's invasion, which has forced leaders to put off elections until sometime in the future.

Still, it's worth wondering if these political fears sparked Zelensky's decision on Thursday to name Zilluzni as the next ambassador to the UK, which will effectively remove him from the country. All right, coming up in today's back of the brief. We'll bring you some inane remarks from Biden's outgoing climate czar, John Kerry, who suggested the West would feel better about the West. war in Ukraine if Russia would only cut their carbon footprint. I'll be right back. In today's back of the brief, John Kerry, the Biden administration's outgoing climate czar, is being roundly mocked for using the brutal war in Ukraine as a ham-fisted opportunity to push his radical climate agenda.

Spoiler alert, I'm also about to mock him. Carrie was giving a foreign press briefing in Washington, in D.C. on Tuesday, when he outrageously suggested that the world might, quote, feel better about Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine if leaders in Moscow would commit to cutting carbon emissions. Now, while I hesitate to subject our listeners to Carrie's moronic ramblings, the statement really must be heard in full to appreciate the stupidity of his comments. Carrie said, quote, if Russia wanted to show good faith, they could go out and announce what their reductions are going to be and make a greater effort to reduce emissions. Maybe that would open the door for people to feel better about what Russia is choosing to do at this point in time, end quote. Now, he continued, and I'm quoting him here,

I believe that Russia has the ability to be able to make enormous changes if they really wanted to. I mean, if Russia has the ability to wage a war illegally and invade another country, they ought to be able to find the effort to be responsible on the climate issue." End quote. Okay. Honestly, I sat for several minutes this afternoon trying to come up with a joke regarding Kerry's comments, but I honestly couldn't come up with anything even remotely as funny as his own dumb-ass remarks. Now, Kerry is no stranger to drawing wildly inappropriate parallels between bloody wars and climate change. Regarding the Ukraine war, he's publicly fretted about the impact that the conflict is having on global emissions. Now, frankly, I worry about the impact that the

hot air produced by climate warriors engaged in constant fretting is having on global emissions. And Kerry also fears that the war is distracting world leaders from focusing on the climate change agenda. Ironically, he said this as he tried it around the globe on a fuel-guzzling gold-string jet, which released more than 300 metric tons of carbon dioxide into the air during his first year in office. Now, there was also last year's anniversary of D-Day. Look, I don't mean to pick on John Kerry, but there's just such a list of bizarre and inane ramblings that we have to at least highlight a couple. There was last year's anniversary of D-Day. When Kerry compared the Allied forces fight against Nazi Germany with current efforts to combat climate change.

Kerry's latest remarks sparked widespread mockery on social media, with people calling him everything from a raving lunatic to a climate fanatic. Thankfully, Carrie officially stepped down from his post as the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate on Wednesday. Turns out that he's moving over to the Biden campaign team to advise them on campaign strategy with a focus on climate change, yeah, that should go well. And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Friday 8 March. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.