The President's Daily Brief - May 31st, 2024: Iran Targets Europe, Putin Ally Proposes 'Demonstrative' Nuclear Detonation, & Lithium Goldmine Discovered In Fracking Wastewater

Episode Date: May 31, 2024

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief:     We’ll provide an update on the activities of the Iranian regime, who are doubling down on their targeting of Israeli interests in Europe and the funding of terrorist proxies throughout the Middle East, despite the recent death of their president in a helicopter crash.  A prominent Russian think tank that directly advises Vladimir Putin has called on the Kremlin to conduct a “demonstrative" nuclear explosion to send a message to NATO, as some European leaders give Kyiv the green light to use western-made weapons on targets inside Russia. ChatGPT maker OpenAI recently revealed they disrupted efforts by Russia, China, and Iran to leverage their technology for political influence operations throughout the world. In our 'Back of the Brief' segment, we’ll explore a surprising finding in our own backyard: a massive concentration of lithium in Pennsylvania that researchers say could supply the U.S. with up to 40 percent of the current national demand. 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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regime. They're doubling down on their targeting of Israeli interests in Europe and the funding of terrorist proxies throughout the Middle East, despite the recent death of their president in a helicopter crash. Later in the show, a prominent Russian think tank that directly advising the United States, President Putin, has called on the Kremlin to conduct a, quote, demonstrative nuclear explosion to send a message to NATO. What the hell kind of think-take is that? As some European leaders give Keeve the green light to use Western-made weapons on targets inside Russia. Plus, chat GPT maker OpenAI recently revealed they disrupted efforts by Russia, China, and Iran to leverage their technology for political influence operations throughout the world. And is there anyone surprised by the

notion that AI can be put to nefarious purposes? And finally, in today's back of the brief, we'll explore a surprising finding in our own backyard, a massive concentration of lithium in Pennsylvania that researchers say could supply the U.S. with up to 40 percent of the current national demand. that is, if U.S. regulatory policies allow industry to access and process it, and frankly, that's a big if. But first, today's PDB spotlight. Despite the recent death of their president, Iran is showing no signs of slowing down their efforts to target Israeli interests and destabilize the Middle East through their proxy network, which reportedly extends into Europe.

After all, the deceased RISI would want it that way. I mean, what better way to honor the memory of the butcher of Tehran than to continue efforts to destroy Israel? In a rare statement on Thursday, officials with Israel's Mossad intelligence agency revealed that Iran has been behind ongoing attacks on Israeli embassies in Europe since the war in Gaza broke out, intensifying those efforts in recent months. Officials warned that their diplomatic outposts in Sweden are at particular risk of Iranian-backed attacks. that's according to a report from the Times of Israel. They specifically pointed to a shooting on May 17th outside the Israeli embassy in Stockholm, Sweden,

along with an incident in January where police found a hand grenade in a package inside the grounds of the Stockholm Embassy. While neither incident yielded any arrests, officials have said their confident Iranian-backed proxies were involved. Agents of Iran have reportedly been recruiting from established networks in Sweden's criminal underworld, including an entity referred to as the fox trot organized crime ring. Officials pointed to a man named Rawa Majid, known as the Kurdish fox. Okay, all right, he totally gave himself that nickname, who's the leader of the Fox Trot organized crime ring. He had fled to Iran from Turkey in September of last year, where he was allegedly recruited to plan attacks across Europe against Jewish and Israeli targets.

Iran also reportedly works through the Rumba Crime Group in Sweden, the Rumba Crime Group in Sweden, who service the primary rivals of the Foxtrot Group. I'm sorry, do they gather for ballroom dance sessions when not engaging in dodgy criminal activities? Are they rivals of the infamous Lindy Hopgang? Who came up with the names? Anyway, I digress. According to the Mossad, Iran directly funds both organizations. Officials with Mossad, said in a series.

statement, quote, Iran operates many criminal organizations in Sweden and Europe in general, while taking advantage of the relative advantage of each and sometimes the rivalry between them, end quote. Sweden's security service subsequently confirmed the statement from Assad, saying on Thursday that Iran is actively using established criminal networks in Sweden as proxies to attack Israeli interests abroad. They accused the Islamic regime of operating within their borders for years. A statement from the Swedish security service on Thursday said, quote, in Sweden, the security police have in recent years dealt with several concrete cases where assassination plans linked to Iranian security services were averted, where among other things,

criminal networks were used as proxies. Sweden must not be a platform for the security-threatening activities of Iran or other states, end quote. Officials in Sweden said that they have bolsters security measures across the country to protect Israeli and Jewish sites, noting that intelligence indicates more attacks could be imminent. Israeli intelligence officials added that the threat from Iran applies to all of Europe. They said on Thursday that an attack last week on Israel's embassy in Belgium involving airsoft grenades, I'm sorry, airsoft grenades, was carried out by Iranian-backed criminals. Additionally, they noted that the risk of attacks in France are particularly high, given that they'll be hosting this summer's Olympic Games. Iran also continues to pour money and military resources

into their regional proxies in the Middle East as the war in Gaza rages on. Iranian state media announced on Wednesday that they had delivered sea-launched anti-ship ballistic missiles to the Houthi militants in Yemen who continue to wreck havoc on international shipping lanes in the Red Sea. Iran's acting foreign minister, well, since their previous foreign minister died in the chopper crash with Reisy also said this week that he would be making a visit to, quote, a couple of regional countries concerning the Zionist regime's crimes in occupied Palestine, end quote. Iranian state media did not give specifics on where he would be stopping on this upcoming tour. All right, coming up after the break, we'll discuss a proposal from a prominent Russian think tank

that directly advises Vladimir Putin. The tank of think is calling on the Kremlin to conduct a demonstrative nuclear explosion. explosion to send a message to NATO. Apparently, it's a low bar in Moscow to be a member of a think tank. Plus, chat GPT maker OpenAI recently revealed that they disrupted efforts by Russia, China, and Iran to leverage their technology for political influence operations throughout the world. We'll have those stories when we come back. How many discounts does USA auto insurance offer? Too many to say here. Multi-vehicle discount. Safe driver discount?

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A prominent yet apparently psychotic Russian think tank is encouraging Vladimir Putin to put on an unprecedented nuclear demonstration geared at scaring NATO out of expanding their role in the current war. As we've been covering recently on the PDB, the U.S. and NATO allies have been intensely debating whether Ukraine should be permitted to use Western weapons to strike targets inside.

Russia, something that the U.S. has previously opposed over the risk of escalation. Earlier this week, France, Germany, and Poland all gave Kiev the green light, while NATO Secretary General Jan Stoltenberg called on other NATO members to accelerate the delivery of weapons to Kiev and lift restrictions on their use. Leaders in Moscow are not taking the news particularly well. Putin had previously warned NATO leaders that they were, quote, playing with fire and that such actions could lead to a global conflict. Now, the Moscow-based Council for Foreign and Defense Policy, that sounds quite grand, has asked Putin to consider a demonstrative nuclear explosion in an attempt to intimidate NATO allies from loosening their weapons restrictions.

Now, it's not a proposal that we could simply write off as unhinged saber-rattling, given that Putin has a history of taking the group's recommendations seriously and enacting them into policy. Dmitri Susslov, the head of the think tank, a certified moron, and a close ally of Putin, said, quote, to confirm the seriousness of Russia's intentions and to convince our opponents of Moscow's readiness to escalate, it is worth considering a demonstrative, i.e. non-combat, oh, well, that makes it okay then, nuclear explosion. The political and psychological effect of a nuclear mushroom cloud, he went on to say, which will be shown live on all TV channels around the world, there's a reality show idea, will hopefully remind Western politicians that the one thing

that has prevented wars between the great powers since 1945 and that they have now largely lost fear of nuclear war, end quote. Now, we've heard nuclear threats come out of Russia somewhat frequently since Putin's invasion of Ukraine. However, they usually come through unofficial channels that employ fiery language as a form of propaganda. Although, to be fair, Putin's sock puppet, Dmitri Medvedev, loves nothing more than to rattle his nuclear saber. And just to be clear, that's not a euphemism for anything. Putin crony Dmitri Kislov, the head of a Russian state-controlled media group, warned NATO last month against backing Putin into a corner by deploying troops to Ukraine,

saying such actions could trigger nuclear Armageddon. His fanciful threats included grisly descriptions of the havoc the Russian nukes would wreck on the Western world. Unlike Kislov's rhetoric, however, recommendations from the Council for Foreign and Defense Policy often informed the decisions made by senior criminal leaders and Putin himself. Now, despite the threats from Russia, leaders in Kiev continue to argue that they need U.S. and NATO officials to grant them more latitude when it comes to how they use their weapons in the war, particularly given Russia's constant bombardments of Ukraine cities and villages. Meanwhile, Russian forces ran drills along their border last week with tactical nuclear weapons,

while Putin traveled to Belarus for talks with ally Alexander Lukashenko regarding nuclear weapons that Russia has moved into their country last year. All right, I want to shift gears to the ongoing threat posed by influence operations orchestrated by America's adversaries, who are increasingly employing artificial intelligence in their sophisticated sabotage schemes. Chat GPT maker OpenAI revealed on Thursday that they had recently discovered subversive cyber groups from Russia, China, and Iran, among others, using its AI technology in an effort to influence the political discourse in America and abroad, that's according to a report from the

Washington Post. It was the first report of its kind from Open AI, which outlined how state actors are increasingly employing generative AI tools to manipulate public opinion through covert propaganda campaigns. They noted such efforts will likely intensify as we headed to what promises to be a tumultuous election season. Open AI, which was founded in 2015, only publicly launched in November 2020. They quickly became the leading player in AI technology, amassing more than 100 million users in less than two years. Their generative AI technology, along with others, allows users to create content that appears highly realistic, and in the hands of bad actors, of course, the technology is being used to

generate lifelike images, video, text, and audio to spread disinformation. Representatives of the company said on Thursday that they've banned accounts linked to five covert influence operations over the past three months, while the use of the technology is troubling, OpenAI said the operations they disrupted appeared to struggle to gain any traction and had little to no real-world impact. A spokesman for OpenAI said, quote, these operations may be using new technology, but they're still struggling with the old problem of how to get people to fall for it, end quote. Still, it's early days for the technology, and state actors are likely only just beginning to figure out how to incorporate it into their influence operations. Open AIs report,

comes on the heels of a threat analysis released by Microsoft in April, which found that the Chinese government only recently began employing generative AI tools in their covert operations. Much like the activity found by OpenAI, Microsoft said the Chinese-linked campaigns used fake accounts to push false information on everything from the U.S. drug crisis to immigration policies, racial tensions, and the upcoming presidential election. U.S. Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haynes, warned earlier this month that the relatively new threat posed by generative AI technologies was rapidly changing the cyber threat landscape facing America. Haines said that the tools have helped to greatly expand the scope of Russian

and Chinese influence operations while allowing other state actors with more limited capabilities such as Iran to step up their own cyber operations targeting America. All right, finally, in today's back of the brief, we'll explore a surprising finding in America's backyard, a massive concentration of lithium in Pennsylvania that researchers say could supply the U.S. with up to 40% of the current national demand. We'll have details on that when we come back. Exema is unpredictable, but you can flare less with ebbglis, a once-monthly treatment for moderate-tissaphyr exoma. After an initial four-month or longer dosing phase, about four and seven people taking ebbglis achieved itch relief and clear or almost clear skin at 16 weeks. And most of those people maintain skin that's still more clear at one year with monthly dosing. Ebglis, Librikizumab, LBKZ.

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Before starting, Epglis, tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. Ask your doctor about ebbglis and visit ebglis.com or call 1800 lilyr.x or 1-800-545-9759. Fox News is now streaming live on Fox 1. When it matters most, turn to the voice. You trust. We go beyond the headlines, bringing you the stories you won't hear anywhere else. Live coverage, sharp analysis, real perspective. At home or on the go, stay connected when it counts. Stream Fox News on Fox One. Download today. In today's back of the brief, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, go-panthers,

have stumbled upon an absolute gold mine of lithium right here in our own backyard. and it could cover more than a third of America's demand for the vital mineral. Researchers revealed their findings on Wednesday, which were based on an analysis of the wastewaters of the Marcellus shale gas wells in Pennsylvania used in fracking operations. They discovered that the wastewater generated through the controversial practice of fracking contained surprisingly high concentrations of lithium, which could be isolated and extracted, according to an exclusive report from CBS News.

Lithium serves as an essential component of critical technologies such as rechargeable batteries, smartphones, and electric vehicles, and demand is expected to dramatically increase as the world shifts to clean energy technologies. Currently, however, we rely on imports from Argentina, Chile, and China to cover the U.S. demand for the mineral. The researchers said their findings could turn that equation on its head. Justin Mackey, the studies' leaders, author, told CBS News, quote, we found that there was sufficient lithium in the waters to supply somewhere between 30 and 40% of the current U.S. national demand, end quote. Mackey said the process would have the added benefit of reducing the overall energy costs associated with fracking, saying, quote,

if you can extract value out of materials and specifically lithium from this, then you reduce the cost of remediating and handling this waste, end quote. Researchers also know, noted that their lithium findings likely apply to fracking wastewater in neighboring states like Ohio and West Virginia, which have yet to be studied. Mackie said, quote, that number could be a lot larger, so there's an economic boon for the region as well. It's worth noting that the United States Geological Survey lists lithium as a critical mineral, and the U.S. government has said that they want all lithium to be produced domestically by 2030. If the U.S. holds to those goals, Pennsylvania could soon become the foundation of domestic lithium production.

And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Friday 31 May. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And, as your mother told you all those years ago, to listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief by visiting PDB Premium.com. Not to mention, but I think I'm about to, make sure to do you, in every weekend to the PDB Situation Report. It's our extended version of the PDB, featuring outstanding guests, news analysis, show tunes,

dueling pianos, and a cavalcade of stars. And some of that I just made up. Anyway, it's available on all podcast platforms and airing on Friday nights at 10 p.m. Eastern on the first TV and, of course, on our YouTube channel at President's Daily Brief. Check it out. Tell your friends. Tell your family.

I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool. Wireless can feel like a world of traps, but not with Visible. It's one-line wireless with unlimited data and hotspot, powered by Verizon for $25 a month, taxes and fees included. Plus, for a limited time, new members pay just $20 a month for one year on the Visible plan, using the code Fresh Start.

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