The President's Daily Brief - November 30th, 2023: Hostage Horrors, Saudi-Iranian Olive Branch, & Russia vs. Mother Nature

Episode Date: November 30, 2023

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief:   We delve into the harrowing experiences of hostages recently freed from 50 days of captivity, revealing the harsh conditions and brutal treatment they endured.   Saudi Arabia extends a diplomatic gesture to Iran, proposing a deal to curb Tehran's role in the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.   A closer examination of the situation at America's borders, as surprise inspections unveil severe overcrowding and extended detentions at CBP facilities.   In the Back of the Brief, an unexpected act of nature poses a significant setback to Russia's military capabilities in Crimea.   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

It's Thursday, November 30th. 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, as hostages return home from their 50 days of captivity, we're beginning to learn more about the conditions in which they were being held and the cruelties to which their captors subjected them. I'll share some of those stories. Later, Saudi Arabia offers Iran an olive branch in exchange for limiting its involvement in the Israel-Hamas war. Plus, an examination of the situation at America's borders as surprise inspections unveil severe overcrowding and extended detentions at CBP facilities. Finally, in the back of the brief, how Mother Nature may have just delivered a massive blow to the Russian war machine in Crimea.

But first up, the PDB spotlight. The fragile truce between Israel and Hamas is set to expire this morning after a six-day ceasefire. Yesterday, Hamas and Israel exchanged more captives as part of the terms of that ceasefire. Now, it does appear that the truce will hold for at least another day as Israel works to secure the release of additional hostages. There was also some heartbreaking news, with Hamas advising that their youngest hostage, a 10-month-old Kfir Bibbas, along with his brother and mother, are no longer alive. Now Hamas is blaming an Israeli airstrike, but right now, there is no way to confirm whether or not that's accurate, or whether that's just more disinformation and propaganda from Hamas.

Now, officially, Israeli authorities have urged the released hostages and their families to refrain from divulging details of their ordeal, concerned that it could jeopardize the safety of approximately 170 others still in captivity in Gaza. Despite this, some harrowing accounts are beginning to surface, shedding light on the brutal conditions endured by the hostages. For starters, medical professionals who've dealt with the returned captives, have reported significant weight loss among suggesting they were malnourished

during their 50 days of captivity. But beyond the physical toll, there are disturbing stories of the psychological torture inflicted upon the victims. Deborah Cohen, aunt of a recently free 12-year-old hostage, recounted a chilling episode to French TV.

According to Cohen, her nephew, along with several other children, were forced to watch graphic footage of terrorist atrocities committed on October 7th at gunpoint. The terrorists then threatened to shoot the children if they cried. Another story comes from Thomas Hand, father of nine-year-old Emily Hand, who holds dual Irish-Israeli citizenship.

He revealed that his daughter now speaks in whispers, a result of being instructed by their captors to constantly remain silent. He also explained that his daughter has a completely distorted sense of time due to the trauma. When he asked her how long she thought she'd been captive, she told him over a year. Now, in addition to the trauma, many of these young children faced from their captors, many of them faced another level of trauma when they returned home only to find that their loved ones had been murdered. Immediately upon their release, two teenage siblings, Alma and Nome Orr, were confronted with the tragic news of their mother Yonat's death at the hands of terrorists on the

7th of October. Their father is still held captive in Gaza. Now there's one more interesting story that I wanted to mention, and that involves 25-year-old Ron Kervoy, the Russian-Israeli, who was released by Hamas. He was captured at the Supernova Music Festival while working there as a sound technician, and his tale of survival is remarkable. At some point during his captivity, he narrowly escaped from a building collapse during an Israeli bombardment. He managed to evade capture for four days, before being recaptured by Gaza residents while trying to reach the border and he was returned to his captors. Interestingly, Kravoy was reportedly included in the release at the specific request of Vladimir Putin. Now, these are just a few accounts, and we're definitely likely to hear more

in the coming days. They provide a glimpse into the ordeal faced by hostages in Gaza and remind us of the cruel reality of what Hamas has done to these Israeli women, children, and men. All right. When we return, Saudi Arabia is trying to cut a deal with Iran, and a surprise inspection at the U.S. border finds some startling conditions at a migrant housing facility. I'll be right back. Welcome back. We're learning today that Saudi Arabia has been engaging Iran in diplomatic talks aimed at containing the Israel-Hamas conflict before it spirals into a wider regional war. A new report by Bloomberg reveals that Saudi Arabia is willing to boost their economic cooperation

with the Iranian regime and directly invest in their economy if Iran reigns in the attacks from their proxy groups on U.S. and coalition forces in the region. The financial assistance would definitely be a boon to the Iranian economy, which has been crippled by years of sanctions stemming from the regime's belligerent behavior on the global stage. Now, Saudi leaders have reportedly communicated this offer to Iran through multiple channels since the conflict broke out, including at the historic Arab Islamic Summit in Riyadh in early November. However, it remains unclear if Iran is taking these diplomatic overtures seriously. The renewed friendship between Iran and the Saudis is still frowned.

The two regional powers only resumed diplomatic relations in March of this year, following a seven-year rift. The Saudis are eager to de-escalate regional tensions with Iran and encourage the regime to stop weaponizing the Israel-Hamas conflict through their various terrorist proxies in the Middle East. These groups, which include Hezbollah and Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and militias in Iraq and Syria, have been launching attacks on U.S. and coalition for the United States. forces throughout the Middle East since the 7 October attacks. The provocative assaults, which

have injured more than 60 U.S. troops, threatened to escalate the Israel-Humas war into a wider regional conflict. The Biden administration has launched three military counterstrikes as a deterrence, but their response options will narrow if the attacks continue, and frankly, I say deterrence, I mean they have done nothing to actually deter attacks. Encouraging. the attacks appear to have diminished since the limited truce between Israel and Hamas went into effect. Pentagon officials recently confirmed that U.S. bases in the region have not been targeted since November 23rd. Now, once Israel begins their planned campaign in southern Gaza, however, officials fear that this situation could once again deteriorate. Okay, shifting our focus to the

border crisis in the U.S. officials are reporting an unprecedented. flow of migrants that is overwhelming their resources at several key crossings. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials have been forced to close at an international bridge near the Eagle Pass Border checkpoint in Texas and another crossing in Lukeville, Arizona, to deal with the surge. They have also redeployed all available personnel to assist at these hotspots. Officials with the CBP's Tucson sector in Arizona said they recently made, made more than 15,000 apprehensions along the border in just one week. This included several arrests that resulted in the seizure of more than 100 pounds of fentanyl, according to a report by the New York Post.

Now, roughly 52,000 migrants arrived at border checkpoints throughout the Southwest in the month of October, in addition to another 189,000 who tried to cross illegally. The surge is most apparent in California, where officials have been hastily erecting barriers in rivers along the border near San Diego. Interestingly, you'll recall that Democrats not that long ago severely criticized Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott for authorizing barriers in rivers in Texas. Apparently, the same move is justified if implemented in a Democrat state. Now, more than 40,000 migrants have passed through the San Diego sector alone since mid-September. They're experiencing a 20-year high in migrant crossings, which totaled more than 230,000 for the 2023 fiscal year, ending on September 30th.

The uninterrupted flow of migrants across the U.S. border has significantly strained the CPB's resources, according to a recent report from the Office of the Inspector General. Now, unannounced visits by the OIG earlier this year found that many Border Patrol facilities are overcrowded, well, there's a shock, resulting in policy violations, including the prolonged detention of migrants for more than 72 hours. Some facilities have struggled to provide migrants awaiting processing with basic supplies, such as clean betting. The overcrowding has also caused gaps in record-keeping at a majority of the facilities that the OIG inspected. CPB officials acknowledged the shortcomings at these facilities in a recent statement and said they are

leveraging all available resources to boost staffing and accelerate processing. All told, some 2.4 million migrant apprehensions occurred along the U.S. border during the 2023 fiscal year. It's an all-time high. 2.4 million. Now, just to remind, that's 2.4 million known in counters. Now, while Customs and Border Protection doesn't have specific numbers, the conservative estimate for Godaways or individuals that crossed without attention or identification, that number is roughly 1.5 million over the past two years. All right, coming up in the back of the brief, Mother Nature may have just dealt a significant blow to Russia's efforts in Ukraine. I'll be right back. Calvin Klein.

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Bloomberg 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. In today's back of the brief, the Black Sea region is reeling from what's been called the storm of the century. Just days ago, the storm unleashed hurricane strength winds and towering 30-foot waves. that left a path of destruction across southern Russia and Ukraine, particularly battering the Crimea coastline. This area is now grappling with the aftermath, at least 10 lives lost, and over half a million people plunged into darkness without power. Now, Crimea is critical to Russia's military

strategy in two important ways, both of which were impacted by the storm. First, it's the stronghold of Russia's Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol. Now, here defra, isn't just about ships and soldiers. Interestingly, it includes specially trained dolphins penned in by booms to protect the harbor. But analysis of satellite photos taken shortly after the storm revealed some bad news for Russia. These booms have vanished, presumably torn away by the storm. The implication? Well, Putin's crack team of dolphins may well have escaped, potentially, leaving the naval base more vulnerable to Ukrainian strikes. However, we do wish the dolphins well.

The second way in which Russia relies on Crimea is as a pivotal supply line for its forces entrenched in southern Ukraine. The peninsula is connected to Russia by a single bridge, which is a frequent target for attacks. Now, this bridge had been shielded by barriers against Ukrainian drone assaults from the sea. However, like in Sevastopol, satellite snapshots reveal these defenses are now missing, presumably swept away by the storm's wrath. So while the storm of the century has brought hardship to those along the Black Sea's shores, it may have inadvertently opened a window of strategic advantage for Ukraine in this almost two-year-long conflict. And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Thursday, 30 November. If you have any questions, you have any questions,

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.