The President's Daily Brief - May 17th, 2022. Biden Threatens Americans By Removing Chinese Tariffs. Mexican Cartel Targeting American Children.

Episode Date: May 17, 2022

It’s May 17th. You’re listening to the President’s Daily Brief. I’m your host and former CIA Officer Bryan Dean Wright. Your morning intel starts now. First up, Joe Biden is thinking about dropping tariffs against China. But there’s a spy in prison this morning that helps us understand why he shouldn’t. I’ll explain.  Your second brief, If you’re looking for a good paying job, you might consider being a CEO for health insurance company. One executive made $142M dollars last year. Let's talk about that. And as always, I’m keeping an eye out for developing stories. Put this one on your radar. Mexican cartels are grooming American kids online and paying them cash to traffic illegals or run drugs across the border. I’ll share details. All up next on the President’s Daily Brief. ------ 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

It's May 17th. 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. The brief you're about to hear is in the same spirit of the actual President's Daily Brief, which is a top secret summary of the most critical events in the past 24 hours, all delivered to the President each day by the nation's spymasters. And so, ladies and gentlemen, I am your spy, and this is your brief. Here's what we're going to be talking about this morning. First up, Joe Biden is thinking about dropping tariffs against China. But there's a spy in prison this morning that helps us understand why he shouldn't. I'll explain. Your second brief, if you're looking for a good paying job, you might want to consider being a CEO for a health insurance company. One executive made $142 million last year.

We're going to talk about that. And as always, I'm keeping an eye out for developing stories. Put this one on your radar. Mexican cartels are grooming Americans. kids online and paying them cash to traffic illegals or run drugs across the border. I'm going to share details. All up next on the President's Daily Brief. Your first piece of intel this morning, the trade war between China and the United States might be coming to a close, as Joe Biden is saying this morning, that he's thinking about dropping some or all of the remaining

trade tariffs that were first imposed by Donald Trump. Now, Biden confirmed that he's, quote, discussing it with his team, but that he hasn't made a final decision. at least not yet. Now, this comes a couple months after Biden actually ended some of Trump's tariffs on some products, but he left others in place. And it's those remaining tariffs that he's thinking about waiving. So why is he considering this? The official response is that by removing these tariffs, the Chinese goods then become cheaper to American consumers. In other words, it helps lower inflation. Now, also, Biden's team is arguing that there are American companies who have to pay extra tariff prices when they buy Chinese parts for their production

lines. And so lower tariffs could mean lower production costs, and maybe those savings will be passed on to consumers. But those arguments missed the point for why Trump got into the trade war to begin with. The tariffs, if you remember, were largely a way of trying to force China to stop stealing billions of dollars of our trade secrets and our jobs. And so this morning, we're going to remind ourselves of that and what better way to do it than with a Chinese spy who ended up in prison just last week for stealing our intellectual property. So let me explain. A federal judge in Tennessee sentenced a Michigan woman named Zhong Rung Yu to 14 years in prison and ordered her to pay a $200,000 fine because she was and is a Chinese spy engaged in economic espionage. Miss Yu worked as a

chemist for Coca-Cola and Sherman Williams and a bunch of other companies over the years. And she worked at these places to collect trade secrets on behalf of the Chinese Communist government. No, she was looking in particular for proprietary information on a very specific chemical that was developed for the inside of bottles and cans. Her plan was to steal the trade secrets involved in making that chemical worth $120 million, and then send that information back to China, where she and others would start their own chemical company. And she was actually in the process of doing that when she was arrested. Now, during the course of the investigation, the FBI discovered that the government of China

had actually already given her millions of dollars in cash to set up her company. She was part of what's called the Thousand Talents Program. It's one of hundreds of programs that Beijing uses to accomplish two goals. The first is to lure scientists and experts to come to China and serve as conservative. consultants to help set up companies with their insider knowledge that they learned most often in America. In other words, these experts bring trade secrets. The second goal of these Chinese programs is to embed or recruit spies in America's companies, spies like that chemist, Jean-Rong-Yu. And then those people steal proprietary knowledge. What's more, we're talking about trade secrets.

To say all of that differently, the communist in China have a government program, multiple programs to steal foreign trade secrets. And then they start Chinese companies based on that stolen knowledge. And here's the kicker. Those Chinese companies then compete with American companies, the same companies that they just stole from. And usually it's at a lower price because they didn't have to spend a dime on research and development,

because they stole all of that. All right, so that is clearly outrageous. But how bad is this problem? Well, the end of this problem. The FBI says that every year the United States welcomes more than 100,000 Chinese students and researchers into our country. Meanwhile, other Chinese citizens come in on work visas. Now, you might not be surprised to learn that the FBI opens up a new China-related investigation about once every 10 hours. And one of those cases was against Ms. Zhang Rang Yu, the chemist from Michigan.

Now, all of those thieves end up costing American companies upwards of 600 billion. dollars annually, and they take with them millions of jobs, estimated to be 3.7 million jobs stolen since 2001. So those were all jobs, by the way, that could have supported American families like yours and mine. All right, so let's recap what we know. Joe Biden is thinking about removing some or all of the remaining tariffs against China. He's doing it, the argument goes, to lower the amount you pay for goods, to lower inflation. But if we do that, then China won't pay a penalty for all the trade secrets that they've stolen and continue to steal.

And so the question that I would ask of you, if I were briefing you in the White House this morning, is this. If we don't use tariffs, what penalty should we use to force China to pay for stealing all of our stuff? Because without tariffs, there's nothing. we have no other penalty. China just keeps stealing our trade secrets and our jobs. Now, we could demand that China buy a whole bunch of our goods to make up for what they've stolen, to effectively reimburse us.

And Trump tried to do that, actually, and the Chinese agreed to his demand. But Beijing lied. Data now showed that they only bought 57% of what they promised to purchase. So it turns out that China's government has led to. by not just thieves, but liars too. So here's the point, and it's what I'd encourage you to think about is China won't stop their thieving and they're refusing to compensate us. First, we have to understand that we are at war with China.

As a former CIA officer, I can tell you without reservation and with high confidence that China wants to destroy America. It's really that simple. And one of the ways they want to destroy us is to destroy our economy. And that includes stealing our trade secrets, our intellectual property, and then starting their own companies with that information. And then, as you now know, they sell those stolen products around the world, usually cheaper than what we can do. And that, my friends, is economic warfare. And they will not stop, despite all their promises, despite the tariffs, because they aren't

interested in stopping. They want to destroy us. In short, we are being attacked. So if we truly understand that, the question is, how do we fight back? Well, I have three recommendations for you, and I offer a warning in advance that my solutions are pretty tough. First, we need a temporary but complete stop to future Chinese students and researchers coming to America. And we should revoke the visas of these categories of people and give them 72 hours to head back to China. Because if the FBI is starting counterintelligence cases against these folks every 10 hours, then my goodness, let's put a tourniquet on that wound before we bleed out. Second, we need better deterrence for when we catch Chinese economic spies

or their collaborators, just like that chemist, Jean Rung Yu that I mentioned earlier. She got 14 years in prison and will likely get out much sooner. So what we need are much harsher penalties. What we need, embrace yourselves here, because I'm about to be very tough, we need the Department of Justice to pursue lifetime imprisonment, or, as appropriate, the death penalty. Now, I recognize that those punishments are severe, and I appreciate and respect folks who don't agree.

But I want to re-emphasize. China has declared war on this country. And they are trying to destroy this country by destroying our economy, by stealing our ingenuity, and it's working. So, folks, that leads me to my final recommendation, and boy, oh boy, is this important. We need a total economic separation. Now, that's a very big step, and I'm aware that it'll be scary to some and very painful to others. Because over the past 25 years, American companies have gotten very used to Chinese factories and their cheap labor.

They also want a slice of that Chinese consumer market that's growing so rapidly. And I also understand that American consumers have gotten pretty used to cheap products produced by all that cheap Chinese labor. But it's time that we face the devil on this one, because we've tried to dance with Beijing. for over 25 years, to get them to change, to do the right thing, to be a thoughtful member of the international community. And all the while, they have stabbed us in the back. They've stolen, they've spied. And fundamentally, they have waged war against us. Nothing we've done has stopped them or discouraged them. So the message to Joe Biden, or whoever might be in the White House in 2024, is very simple. Keep the sanctions. But more importantly, end our economic relationship.

with China for good. It's time to do it, my friends, no matter how painful that process might be. I wrote a little song to remind you, choice hotels, get you more of the experiences you value. The can be a hotel's got it all. A rooftop bar, have a ball. Bring a date, your squad, or even your mom. Book direct at choiceotails.com. Your second brief this morning, if you're looking for a better paying job, I've got one for you.

Last year, the CEOs of America's seven largest health insurance companies together made more than $283 million. That is by far the most of any year in the past decade. That list of wealthy CEOs includes the former CEO of United Health, who made $142 million last year. There's also the CEO of Cigna who made $91 million. And that brings his total compensation earned since 2012. to $366 million. The list goes on, but the bottom line here is that these executives are getting inconceivably rich. And this executive pay helps explain part of why the United States spends more than $4 trillion

on health care each year. Now, I want to be clear that there are a bunch of explanations for why we have a very expensive health care system in this country. But for today, I want us to focus just on CEO salaries, because it's prompts an important question. How much should a person financially profit when it comes to the sickness of others? Is 142 million in one year too much? How about 91 million? Now, what's important in this case is to break down where that money comes from, because last year, these millions in compensation were mostly stock options. And healthcare stocks, by the way, went up

tremendously last year. United Health, for instance, was up about 30%. But why is that? Well, a few reasons, but one was because people were afraid of COVID, and they stayed home instead of going to their doctor. And that meant insurance companies got a lot of money in premiums, but paid out a lot less and expenses. So in other words, revenue went up, costs went down, and profits, of course, rose, and along with that rise went stock prices. And then the CEOs, in some cases, it cashed out. But you didn't have that opportunity, did you? Because last year, for Americans on employer-based health insurance plans, you and your company paid just under $2,000 a month for your premiums. And if your company had less than 200 employees, your deductible was another $2,000

or more. That data, by the way, are from the Kaiser family. Family Foundation. The point here is that you and a lot of other Americans paid out a whole bunch of money last year on health insurance. And a lot of that money went to the CEOs of those health insurance companies. And so once again, the question that if you were in the White House this morning wrestling with how to lower health insurance costs, well, the question that you should be asking yourself is this. How much should people financially profit when it comes to the sickness of others? because however you answer that question, I think that most reasonable people would probably look at those $100 million annual salaries and think to themselves, something about that number tells me that something here just isn't right.

And that is exactly how you'd pitch your solutions to the American people. Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is California's number one entertainment destination for today's superstars. Catch the Jonas Brothers return to the Yamava Theater stage on April 30th. vocals of Demi Lovato on May 17th, and the signature Southern Country Rock of Eric Church on July 19th. Tickets on sale now at yamava Theater.com, only at Yamava Resort and Casino, celebrating its 40th anniversary.

You in? Must be 21 to enter. 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 them now. 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. As always, I'm watching a few other

stories this morning. Put this one on your radar. Mexican cartels are using social media to recruit America's children into smuggling illegal immigrants and running drugs across the border. That's the message from both the governor of Texas and the Attorney General of Arizona this morning. they're warning families that kids, especially in border states, are being approached by the cartels through modern technology, specifically using the apps of Snapchat, Instagram, and other social media platforms. The pattern here seems to be this. A cartel member will befriend a teenager via one of these apps

and keep it casual for a time, but then eventually make an offer. Up to $16,000 a day if they agree to ferry illegals across the border in their car or smuggle hidden packages of drugs. So if the teenager expresses interests, the cartels will actually teach the young drivers on how to evade capture or deal with law enforcement if they're caught.

So for instance, kids are told to drive very high, very dangerous speeds to avoid or to lose cops. And if they're ever caught, they should take comfort in knowing that incorrectly, they won't be prosecuted for their crimes because of their age. So this is happening in southern border communities,

and I can tell you that living in southern Arizona, I've seen it myself in Cochise County, which is right along the border. One chase that I saw ended with arrests of both the driver and the illegals. But chases like that are the ones that end well. Others don't. A number of months ago, a 16-year-old American boy, he was smuggling illegals in that same Cochise County, and he was racing through an intersection. Well, horrifically, he struck another vehicle. He was going over 100 miles an hour. The vehicle that he struck was driven by a local grandmother, Wanda Satoski. She was on her way to meet her son for her 65th birthday, and she didn't make it. That's because she died in that accident. By the way,

it's not just social media that the Mexican cartels are using to recruit our kids. They're using video games, too. There's a case in Texas where a cartel used the game Grand Thept Auto to recruit a young lady to their cause. She was playing the game, and a fellow player, named George befriended her. And then after months of talking, they met in person in Phoenix. Now, George asked her if she'd like to help ship some electronics from Mexico to Arizona, made it sound pretty benign, and he offered her $2,000 a trip to do it. And like most kids, she thought that that sounded like an amazing deal. But what she didn't know, as she drove her Jeep Cherokee into Arizona from Mexico, was that all those electronics were actually packaged

meth. About 130 pounds of the stuff. Customs and Border Patrol agents found it, thank God, and now she's in very, very big legal trouble. And George, as you might have guessed, is nowhere to be found. So folks, I will be following these stories very closely over the coming weeks and months. In the meantime, I advise you or those you know to closely monitor who your children are socializing with on their electronic devices, because as of this morning, they may be knee-deep with a Mexican cartel and not even knowing. 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 smart American. It's from John

chapter 8, verse 32, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Today. Some follow the noise. Follows the money. Whether it's the funds fueling AI or crypto's trillion dollar swings. There's a money side to every story. Get the money side of the story. Subscribe now at Bloomberg.com.