The President's Daily Brief - November 22nd, 2023: Hostage Breakthrough, NYC On Notice, & North Korea's Space Quest

Episode Date: November 22, 2023

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: A groundbreaking development as Israel and Hamas agree to a hostage exchange deal, freeing dozens of Israeli hostages.   Concerning intelligence report that suggests an uptick in the likelihood of a terror attack in New York City.   A significant advancement in North Korea's military capabilities, with the launch of a new rocket made possible by Russian assistance, aimed at deploying their first military reconnaissance satellite.   In our Back of the Brief segment, some uplifting news for thousands of American military personnel discharged over COVID-19 vaccine mandates.   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

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. Instant room upgrade. Stop taking bad travel advice. Start comparing hundreds of sites with kayak and get your trip right. Bad advice? You talking to me? Kayak. Got that right.

It's Wednesday, November 22nd. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. In today's PDB, dozens of hostages could be on their way home as Israel and Hamas finalize an exchange. Later, a new intelligence report shows increasing chatter, hinting at possible terror attacks in New York. And North Korea launches a new rocket aiming to place its first military reconnaissance satellite into orbit. Finally, in the back of the brief, some good news for thousands of American military personnel discharged for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. But first up, the PDB spotlight.

In a major development, 47 days after Hamas' attack on Israel, a significant deal appears to have been reached between Israel and Hamas. This agreement involves the release of a large number of hostages taken during the attack. Now, the deal, according to reports, will secure the freedom of 50 hostages. This group includes 30 children, eight mothers, and 12 women, all currently held by Hamas in Gaza. This release represents about one-fifth of the total 240 hostages, believed to be in Gaza following the brutal October 7th attacks. Hamas claims it has 210 of those abducted last month, including approximately 40 children. Islamic Jihad is reportedly holding many of the remaining hostages.

As part of this agreement, the Red Cross will be allowed to visit the hostages who are yet to be released. Moreover, there will be a provision of necessary medical supplies for those hostages in need. In return, Hamas will see a four-to-five-day pause in fighting and the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. One more interesting condition that Israel appears to have agreed to is the halt of unmanned aerial vehicles in the Gaza airspace for six hours on each day of the ceasefire. Now, this deal has garnered widespread support within the Israeli government. It also has the backing not just of Prime Minister Netanyahu's cabinet, but of the Israeli security forces. The deal marks the first substantial break in fighting since Israel began its military campaign to remove remove Hamas from Gaza, and it emerges amidst growing international calls for a ceasefire.

However, before we go popping champagne and declaring peace in our time, Prime Minister Netanyahu was already cautioning against such optimism. Netanyahu stated, quote, I would like to make it clear we are at war, and we will continue the war, until we achieve all our goals, eliminate Hamas, return all the hostages and missing, and guarantee that there will be no threat to Israel in Gaza. Now, this statement underlines that, despite the current agreement, the path to lasting peace, well, that remains over the horizon.

When we return, a new intelligence report indicates heightened threats of a potential terror attack in New York City, stemming directly from the Israel-Hamas conflict. Plus, North Korea has reportedly launched its first military reconnaissance satellite, apparently with assistance from Russia. I'll be right back. Welcome back. We turn our attention to domestic security concerns in the U.S. as a new threat assessment finds that rising violence in Gaza has led to increased threats of a possible terror attack in New York City.

I report by CBS News on Monday revealed that New York Governor Kathy Hokel is already taking actions to enhance security measures and increased staffing for the state's Joint Terrorism Task Force in response to the escalating threat. The assessment came from the New York State Intelligence Center, and it warned that the ongoing Israeli response in Gaza and resulting civilian casualties, quote, raises the likelihood that violent extremist threat actors will seek to conduct attacks against targets in the West, with New York State being a focus, end quote. The report adds that a recent review of messaging from terrorist groups placed focus on attacking soft targets such as protests, group gatherings, and other public events. Officials have already noted

a measurable increase of hate crimes against Jewish and Muslim members of the community, which they attribute to surging levels of anti-Semitic and anti-Palestinian rhetoric on social media. Now at a press conference on Tuesday, Governor Hokel further detailed her administration's plan to protect the state from foreign threats. It includes allocating $3 million. to provide a threat assessment to all colleges in New York State, as well as deploying an on-site management team to each college campus to actively identify threats. These teams will monitor social media and other online activity to pinpoint the source of hateful behavior and intervene early before harm is done. The state will also launch a targeted ad campaign aimed at

helping parents identify if their children are engaged in online hate speech. Additionally, they will provide public schools with media literacy tools to educate them on how to identify misinformation. Security precautions in New York come as federal officials have warned of an increased risk of terror attacks throughout the country. Speaking to Congress on October 31st, FBI director Chris Ray said that the 7 October attacks by Hamas could inspire sympathetic groups within the U.S. to act. Ray said the FBI has, quote, multiple ongoing investigations into individuals affiliated with Hamas. In his testimony, he said, quote, our most immediate concern is that violent extremists, individuals or small groups will draw inspiration from the events in the Middle East to carry out attacks against Americans going about their daily lives, end quote.

Moving our focus to North Korea, officials with the DPRK claim Tuesday that they have successfully launched a spy satellite into orbit, likely with assistance from their friends in the Putin regime. North Korea has long struggled to get a satellite into space despite their vast missile arsenal. Two previous attempts in May and August of this year failed due to technical issues. The governments of South Korea and Japan confirmed that a launch had taken place, though intelligence can't yet verify whether the satellite actually made it into a stable orbit. The action prompted swift rebukes from the U.S., South Korea and Japan, who condemned the launch for violating a number of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

North Korea employed a ballistic missile to reach orbit, something that the U.N. has long banned the country from using. U.S. National Security Council spokesperson, Adrian Watson, said the launch, quote, raises tensions and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region and beyond. In Japan, the rocket forced the government to issue a shelter-in-place warning to residents in Okinawa over their emergency broadcasting system. They lifted that emergency warning after the rocket headed out over the Pacific Ocean. In response, South Korean officials are preparing to suspend aspects of a 2018 inter-Korean agreement. Specifically, they plan to resume reconnaissance in surveillance operations along their border with North Korea.

So how, after several failed attempts, was the North Korean government able to succeed? Well, as we've previously discussed on the PDB, North Korea was able to secure technical assistance from the Russian government following a face-to-face meeting in September between Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin. In return for their technical expertise, North Korea is allegedly supplying Russia with military hardware to support their war efforts in Ukraine, including reported shipments of ammunition and shells that North Korea sent to resupply the beleaguered Russian military. North Korea, for its part, claimed that the launch was a response to the West's militarization of space, and they promised to continue launching more satellites in the future.

All right, coming up in the back of the brief, welcome news for over 1,900 members of the U.S. Army who were discharged for disobeying the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. I'll be right back. This is 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. In today's back of the brief, there's some positive news for over 1,900 members of the U.S. Army who were discharged during the COVID-19 pandemic for refusing the vaccine.

The Army has now reached out to these former service members with a significant update, informing them that they can request a correction to their discharge records through the Army Discharge Review Board or the Army Board for Correction of Military Records. An Army spokesperson explained, quote, As part of the overall COVID mandate recession process mandated by Congress, the Army mailed the letters following Veterans Day weekend to approximately 1,900 individuals who had previously been separated for refusal to obey the mandatory COVID vaccination order, end quote.

So, what's behind this change of heart? The notification seems to align with the Army's current recruitment struggles. Now, the Army hasn't met its recruitment targets since 2014. That's almost a decade. This year, it achieved only 75% of its goal, leaving a shortfall of some 15,000 new soldiers. The letter advises soldiers interested in returning to service to contact a recruiter. As of now, there's no indication whether other branches of the United States Armed Forces will take similar states. Across all branches, nearly 9,000 service members were separated due to the Department

of Defense's COVID-19 vaccination mandate, which was officially rescinded in January of this year. Now, recruitment and retention for the U.S. military has been and continues to be a serious problem. The dismissal of the 9,000 service members, as well as a very large number of National Guard, due to the vaccine mandate, definitely exasperated the situation. In the military, well, they've been ramping up efforts and incentives to sign up new recruits across all branches. And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Wednesday, 22 November. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com.

I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.