The President's Daily Brief - November 9th, 2022. Pentagon Confirms, American Boots on the Ground in Ukraine

Episode Date: November 9, 2022

It’s November 9th. You’re listening to the President’s Daily Brief. Your morning intel starts now. ------ Well, the results are trickling in for America’s midterm elections. And we’ll talk more about those tomorrow and next week. But there’s still a lot of other stuff happening out there. So let’s do a Big Five Update. Five critical updates on stories we’ve covered previously that are shaping America — and the world. First, the Pentagon has admitted it has boots on the ground in Ukraine, with the goal of trying to understand what’s happening to all that weaponry we’re sending to Kiev.    Second, China’s looking to make a new friend in Central America, and the way that they’re doing it, is pretty sneaky. Third, a record number of Americans are moving to Mexico, of all places, but some Mexicans aren’t very happy about that. Fourth, there’s a pending rule by the US Government that could mean America’s farmers and ranchers have to track the greenhouse gas emissions on all of their operations. Finally, we’ve got another outbreak of bird flu in Iowa and that might mean higher chicken and turkey prices right before Thanksgiving. Plus, a listener question today this one about freedom of speech. ------ 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 November 9th. 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. Well, the results are trickling in for America's midterm elections, and we're going to talk more about those tomorrow and next week, but there's still a lot of other stuff happening out there. So tell you what, let's do a big five update. Five critical updates, of course, on stories that we have covered previously that are shaping America. and the world. First, the Pentagon has admitted that it has boots on the ground in Ukraine, all with the goal of trying to understand what's happening to all that weaponry that we are sending to Kiev. Second, China is looking to make some new friends in Central America, and the way that

they're doing it, it's pretty sneaky. Third, a record number of Americans are moving to Mexico, of all places, but some Mexicans not very happy about that. Fourth, there's a piece of pending rule by the U.S. government that could mean that America's farmers and ranchers have to start tracking the greenhouse gas emissions on all of their operations. Finally, we've got another outbreak of bird flu this time in Iowa, and that might mean higher chicken and turkey prices right before Thanksgiving. Plus, a listener question today, this one about freedom of speech. But first, let's get to our Big Five update. We're starting in Ukraine this morning, and boy, is this an important update about U.S. boots on the ground. But first, some context to explain what the big

news is. Since last spring, the United States has spent billions of dollars worth of military weaponry to Ukraine. That includes artillery systems called High Mars, as well as surface-to-air missiles called Stingers. And if you've listened to the PDB since, in fact, we've launched in April, I've been warning again and again that once that weaponry gets in the hands of the Ukrainians, it effectively disappears, we lose our ability to track most of it. And that's really bad because Ukraine has a really long history of being a hub for black market sales of weaponry. And some of what we've sent, especially those Stinger missiles, those things can take down commercial jet liners amongst other things. So this is stuff, folks, that we do not want in the wrong hands. So that's the context

for this update. And here is the story. Earlier this, This week, the Wall Street Journal reported that for the past two months, a small team from the Department of Defense has been on the ground inside Ukraine, conducting inspections on some of this weaponry, all to determine where it ended up and if it's being properly used. Now, if that sounds like good news, I appreciate why you might think that, but it's not, not really, and here's why. First, Pentagon officials refuse to provide any details about the inspections or what they found, only that they promise inspections have occurred now for the last two months. Second, and here it is, these same officials said that they've inspected only 10% of all the weapons that we have sent to Ukraine. That's not exactly a reassuring number. Although they did add this.

larger weapons like that Haimars artillery system, that actually has electronic surveillance tags sort of built into them that would allow for remote monitoring back in D.C. or Western Europe. But what they're not tracking and what they can't really find necessarily are the smaller, more portable weapons like the javelin anti-tank missiles

and those Stinger anti-aircraft missiles. And for my military buffs out there, you know that the last time that we handed out those Stinger missiles, it was back in Afghanistan, back in the 1980s, we gave those things out to the Musha Hadin who were fighting the Soviets. And then after we did that, we spent decades trying to find all those missiles to make sure that Islamic radicals wouldn't shoot down a commercial jet or a civilian aircraft. So all in all, folks, a 10% rate of review is, it's nice. But that means that 90% of the weaponry that we have sent to Ukraine is still out there, maybe being used

against the Russians, or maybe being sold to the Iranians or the highest bidder by a desperate soldier on whatever side of the conflict. So let's keep an eye on this one, folks, because I'll tell you, it's got me worried. All right, let's move on to our second radar brief, and let's go a little somewhere closer to home. Let's go to the Central American country of Al Salvador. It seems as though this morning they are considering a deal with the devil. And by that, I mean China. On Monday, El Salvador's vice president announced that his country had been approached by officials in Beijing, offering to buy all of El Salvador's external debt. And that's because El Salvador is about to go bust, going to go default on its debt,

and they're scrambling to restructure it with banks and large investors. And China apparently got wind of that and discreetly approached the government into El Salvador, saying, and I'm going to paraphrase here, hey El Salvador, we'll pay off the $670 million in bonds that you owe but you can't pay, and we promise we'll give you a really good deal in return. So El Salvador's vice president added some additional details saying that, quote, we should tread very carefully on this deal. We are not going to sell to the first bidder.

We need to see the conditions, end quote. And that's good, because to be very clear, folks, this is a very Chinese move. they use what's called debt-trap diplomacy. They use debt to trap countries like a spider uses a web to trap and feast on its victims. The debt gives China leverage, especially when a poor country eventually defaults on or they struggle to pay that debt off. And in fact, that's what's happened in the country of Sri Lanka. In fact, a while back. China now has a 99-year lease on a deep-water port after Sri Lanka couldn't make their debt payment.

to China. And now that port, I'm sure, will come in very handy, probably for the military at some point, no doubt. So in this case, imagine if that same thing were to happen in our backyard in El Salvador, with China getting, say, a 99-year lease on a port or a military base, because that is what this is all about. So as ever, I'm going to be tracking this one closely. I really want to see what the Biden administration does in response. Third and finally, before we take our first break, let's actually stay south of the border, but we're going to focus on Mexico. Now, when we talk about Mexico, it's usually about corruption or cartels or illegal migrants, but today it's a little bit of the reverse. A record number of Americans have crossed the southern border to live in Mexico.

That's according to a new report out this week from the Mexican government. So more than 8,000 U.S. citizens were issued temporary, resident visas to live in Mexico during the first nine months of 2022. That's actually an 85% increase over the same period from a couple years ago. So if you're scratching your head as I did, why are these Americans heading south? Because, well, you know, it's awful down there these days, particularly with crime and cartel violence. So good question. I don't get it, but here is what the data suggests. First, Mexico has a cheaper cost to living. All right, fair. But second, with remote work, Americans can live anywhere and of the various cheap cities to

choose from in Mexico. Well, Mexico City apparently has what people want. That's what the data suggests that most Americans are gravitating towards that particular town. Well, all of that migration, especially to Mexico City, is actually leaving a growing number of Mexicans a little bit cranky about all those gringoes in their backyard. So the L.A. Times actually ran an article back in July, and they interviewed Mexicans in Mexico City who were frankly outraged by all the Americans who had moved into town, mostly by the way from California. So one Mexican man that they interviewed, a professor named Fernando

Bustos Grospe, he was quoted as saying at a local restaurant, quote, were the only brown people in here? Were the only people speaking Spanish except for the way. and quote. Another man, a fellow named Omar Yurosa. He said that he was sick of feeling like an outsider in his own country and his own city. And that's because while he works at his local coffee shop, he's surrounded by 60 to 70% white people. And he said, quote, some people, they order in English and then they get mad when I don't understand them.

That's unfair. Oh dear. well it seems like some of our Mexican friends might want a stronger border after all keep some of that English speaking Californian riffraft out of Mexico all right with that we are going to take a quick break and when we come back I've got two more great updates for you we'll be right back own it all pay off your home travel for life drive a Ferrari in celebration of the world premiere of the monopoly big board buck slot machine by aristocrat gaming yama va resort and casino at sand mad

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hopes of reducing climate change. But odds are, you are going to be on the hook to figure out how to calculate all of that. So here are the details, as reported this week by the Wall Street Journal. So back in March, the SEC unveiled a proposed rule that would require publicly traded companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions. Now, some large companies, including agricultural companies, would also have to provide an estimate of the emissions from their suppliers. That would likely mean that they're going to have to collect greenhouse gas emission data

from small mom-and-pop outfits to include farmers and ranchers. So the question, of course, is what's the expectation for how farmers and ranchers would do this? how would folks out there measure each tractor's emission or their combines or cows and horses and whatnot? And who would pay for all of that? Would those large companies pay for the collection of this data? Or would they pass on the cost and the expectation of it to farmers and ranchers? So as you might expect, there's a ton of debate about this rule and actually trade groups like the American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Corn Growers Association

are really worried about it, and they're trying to notify their members about the rule and help them stop it. So for what it's worth, the SEC won't actually vote on this rule until next year. So if this is concerning to you as an agman or a woman, and depending on yesterday's election results, you might want to reach out to your congressman or senator and put this on their radar. You should let them know how you feel. So as always, go to house.gov or senate.gov to find your rep or your senator and let them know. Or contact an ag trade group that might advocate on your behalf because, folks, this is one of those rules that sneaks up on you if you're not paying attention and it's got some pretty serious consequences.

And finally this morning, back on September 26th, I warned listeners during the podcast about an outbreak of bird flu here in America. It was affecting flocks of chickens and turkeys, and I was trying to warn you that the outbreak would probably bump up prices right before Thanksgiving. Well, I'll tell you, if you needed a little bit more motivation to start looking for those turkeys or chickens and the various deals this holiday season, well, here it is. We've got more bird flu outbreaks to report. On Monday, the Iowa Department of Agriculture reported two more flocks of chickens that have been infected with bird flu, probably from wild birds flying overhead. going from Canada to southern locations for the winter. So that takes us up to 23 affected flocks this year with about 15.5 million birds infected, which means 15.5 million dead birds.

They all have to be cold to prevent the spread of the virus. That, by the way, is all according to the Iowa Capital Dispatch. So while it's true that the avian flu isn't deadly to humans, it's probably going to kill your pocketbook this year if you're not already looking for deals. and that's because Iowa is the country's largest egg producer. So these additional infections will probably put upward pressure on chicken and egg prices. Also, we could see a bump in turkey prices too. Iowa is a top producer of those critters.

So get that shopping done early. Might save yourself just a little bit of money if you do. And that, folks, is your big five update for this Wednesday morning. As always, I've got one more thing before I let you go. We'll be right back. Welcome back to the PDB, ladies and gentlemen. I've got one more thing before I let you go. Todd in California wrote in asking if I had seen a report that came out last week at some point from a media outlet called The Intercept. So for those who didn't see it, what the report showed, pretty shocking actually, was that the U.S. government was meeting with big tech companies like Twitter, Microsoft, Instagram, and Facebook.

And the purpose of these meetings was for the U.S. government, specifically the FBI and, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to basically tell these social media platforms what the truth is, what speech they could or couldn't allow you to share on their platforms. So let me just give you one of the quotes from some of the documents revealed by the Intercept Report. The documents, by the way, were secured by the Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmidt during a lawsuit. Anyway, so listen to FBI official Laura Demlo telling these big things. tech companies exactly what she wanted. Quote, we need a media infrastructure that is held accountable to the government, end quote. And that's exactly what she's getting. Facebook apparently has a portal

that can only be accessed by the U.S. government where officials can flag certain posts or information that you put out that the government doesn't want. So getting back to Todd in California and his question, and he said, quote, Brian, I'm wondering about your lack of coverage on this. It could be that you're on it and are waiting for more facts to shake out, or maybe you just don't want to poke the bear. Legacy media will sit in complicit silence on this story, but will the PD be? Well, Todd, I am watching this story, and I'm going to be following up on it when I know who will be in the Senate and the House,

specifically on those committees, who can conduct an investigation into this. and when I get confirmation on that, I'm going to be telling folks about this story again because you are absolutely right. It is a big story and people should be contacting their newly elected representatives to get on this because folks, our government is deciding truth, freedom of speeches at stake. And I'll tell you what, the PDB is going to talk about this so long as I host this podcast. 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. Good day. Ryan Reynolds here from Mintmobile, the message for everyone paying big wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world. stop. With Mint, you can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying, no judgments, but that's weird. Okay, one judgment. Anyway, give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Up front payment of $45 for three-month plan, equivalent to $15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. See full terms at mintmobile.com.