The President's Daily Brief - October 13th, 2022. Russia Makes Arrests for Bridge Bombing. Will Elon Musk be Arrested for Violating the Logan Act?

Episode Date: October 13, 2022

It’s October 13th. You’re listening to the President’s Daily Brief. Your morning intel starts now. ------ Welcome to a Big Five Update this Thursday morning. Five critical updates on stories we���ve covered previously that are shaping America — and the world. First, Russia arrested nine people for bombing that very important bridge in Crimea. We’ll discuss details, Plus, bad news for Ukrainians trying to stay warm this winter.   Second, energy prices here in America are going back up. We’ll talk about why. Third, America’s roads might get a lot more dangerous, all because of how we ship electric vehicles. I’ll explain that odd connection. Fourth, Europe is thinking about using floating energy ships this winter to keep their lights on and people from freezing. But environmentalists are saying no way because those ships use oil. Finally, some good news about Dirty Green Energy. Plus, one more thing before I let you go. A listener question about Elon Musk. ------ 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 October 13th. 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. Welcome to a big five update for this Thursday morning. Five critical updates on stories we have covered previously that are shaping America and the world. First, Russia arrested nine people for bombing that very important bridge in Crimea. We'll discuss details. Plus, bad news for Ukrainians trying to stay warm. this winter. Second, energy prices here in America are going back up. We'll talk about why. Third, America's roads might get a lot more dangerous, all because of how we ship electric vehicles. I'll explain that, odd connection. Fourth, Europe is thinking about using floating

energy ships this winter to keep their lights on and their people from freezing, but environmentalists are saying no way because those ships use oil. Finally, some good news about dirty, green energy. Plus, one more thing before I let you go, a listener question about Elon Musk. But first, let's get to our Big Five update. On Tuesday, I briefed you about the major escalation in Ukraine over the weekend. So to refresh our memories, there was a really important bridge that was bombed in Crimea on Saturday. And that bridge is vital for Russian trade and Russian military operations. Well, President Vladimir Putin responded to that bombing with a barrage of over 80 missiles. destroying mostly civilian infrastructure all throughout Ukraine.

Well, we've got a couple of very important updates on who carried out that bombing of the bridge and exactly what was damaged by the resulting Russian missiles. First, Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB, says it has arrested five Russians, three Ukrainians, and an Armenian for their role in damaging the Crimean Bridge. So the Russians are claiming that the Ukrainian Defense Ministry did this job, with their main intelligence directorate responsible for pulling it off. Now, the bomb itself was allegedly concealed in roles what's called polyethylene construction film.

You can actually buy this pretty much everywhere, like at a home improvement store. Regardless, the Ukrainians still haven't officially claimed responsibility, though, as I shared with you on Tuesday, they all but confirmed it with their public statements on Twitter on Sunday. Now, one last update on the bridge. It's being repaired, actually taking list, car and rail traffic as of this morning. Larger vehicles are traveling by ferry for the time

being. So the impact on war operations, at least from the Russian perspective, should be modest. Which takes us to what exactly was damaged in Ukraine when Putin fired off those 80-plus missiles in response to the bridge being bombed. Well, the Ukrainian Minister of Energy confirmed yesterday that 30% of his country's energy infrastructure was hit. Ukraine is now facing. widespread blackouts. People are being told to avoid using energy-intensive appliances like ovens and washing machines and heating units. And it's that last bit, the heating units, that will likely place the biggest challenge on the average person in that country. Winter, of course, is setting in, and if these attacks continue on civilian infrastructure,

as I expect that they will, Putin will be making very clear his strategy. He is going to freeze out the opposition, quite literally, in both Ukraine and Ukraine. throughout Europe. And it's just awful stuff and war always is, folks. But regardless, I will keep you posted based on how important this is, not just for the people of Ukraine and Europe, but for us too. Second, and speaking of winter and energy, let's switch gears from Europe to what's happening here in America. Diesel prices are soaring once again. And so two is home heating oil. So let's start with diesel. Prices for a barrel of diesel are sitting at about $190. California and $170 in New York. Now, that's not as bad as things were last March and April right after the war started,

but it's higher than the lows that we saw back in July. For my farmers and ranchers and truckers, you all know what this means. Your fuel bill will be going up if it hasn't already. Now, the same thing is happening in the home heating oil sector too. Now, that product, which is a diesel-type fuel, is now at a record high or near record high price. And that's especially bad because wintertime is setting upon all of us. And that's when prices normally go even higher. So why is all this happening? Well, partly because there's a lack of refining capability in this country.

As we talked a lot about on the PDB, America has about half of the refineries that we once had back in the 1980s. And that's especially true on the East Coast. That means a lot less ability to produce more oil and gas domestically, limiting supply and pushing up prices. But the second big reason for higher prices is the war in Ukraine. America is sending record amounts of our diesel and natural gas to Europe to fill up their tanks before winter.

But that means that we're filling up fewer of our tanks. And that lack of inventory here at home is creating upward pressure on prices. Now, this is becoming not only a problem for you and I in our pocketbooks, but also for the prospects of Joe Biden and his party during the midterm elections. and they know it. Over the past couple of weeks, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, along with other administration officials,

have deeply criticized oil executives for having low diesel stockpiles, despite the fact that Joe Biden had previously told them to send more to Europe because of the war. Well, now, with elections coming up, the tune is changing. Granholm and others are floating the possibility of limiting oil exports

and requiring companies to hold minimum inventories inside the U.S. Now, we can debate whether that's smart policy, but that it's being driven by midterm politics, well, that's really disappointing, at least in my view. For our third radar story this morning, let's actually stick with our energy theme. And this time, it's about dirty green energy, our series, of course, about the renewable energy revolution and its related parts like solar, wind, and electric vehicles. Now, here's something that you might not know.

electric vehicles are really heavy. I mean really heavy, much heavier than conventional cars. And that's because those batteries weigh so darn much. Let me give you an example. A Ford F-150 pickup truck, the electric version runs 1,600 more pounds than the gas-fueled version, which raises a challenge. How do we ship these things? Because there are limits to how much you can ship by road.

heavier loads, of course, tear up the highways faster, and there are a lot more. dangerous should there be an accident. Well, according to Reuters News Service, the folks who haul cars in America, represented by the American Trucking Associations, plus the automobile industry, well, they're both pushing Congress and the Department of Transportation to change the laws, allowing them to haul 88,000 pounds, which is 8,000 more than what's currently permissible. But meanwhile, safety regulators and consumer groups are saying, no way, don't do it. They point to data that say that heavier loads kill more people on the road when accidents

inevitably happen. Finally, and for what it's worth, the railroad industry has an opinion on this too. They are lobbying to ship the electric vehicles mostly by rail because, well, obviously, they would benefit. At any rate, I flagged this because there are a thousand different effects that this dirty green revolution will have on your life. Over the next number of years, we'll be discovering strange and unexpected ways that this revolution will affect you. Sadly, could even kill you. And it appears that on this one, it's possible.

It's stuff like this that I'll continue to highlight for you and as always let you decide what we ought to do about it. With that, we are going to take a quick break. And when we come back, I've got two more updates for you on the natural gas wars and some good mining news out of Idaho. We'll be right back. 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.

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but then the Bose speaker kicks in. Music you can feel fills the room. And no more chat with Danny. from accounts. Your life deserves music. Your music deserves Bose. Find your perfect product at Bose.com. Welcome back to the PDB and our Big Five update. I've got two more critical pieces of news for you this morning. First, an update on the natural gas wars and how it's impacting all sorts of people from all around the world. To refresh our memories here, leaders from Paris and London and Berlin are all scrambling to find creative ways to keep warm this winter. all of course after having been cut off from Russian natural gas.

As you'll remember, those creative ways include turning down thermostats and cutting back on hot showers, even shutting off lights on the most famous landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower. Well, one creative solution to tell you about this morning is that, according to Bloomberg News, European governments are in talks to hire something called a power ship. These things are giant floating power plants about the size of your average cruise ship, and they burn fuel to create electricity, in fact enough to power millions of homes. They simply park offshore, hook up about a half a mile worth of cables to a local power station, and then start pumping out electricity.

And what's even better, they can do it for between 20 to 25 cents per kilowatt hour, which is about half of what current market rates are in Germany for next year's power. So you would think that this would make everybody happy. Warmer homes, actually getting hot showers, factories humming all. way. But, well, here come the butts. Environmentalists are saying, no, thank you. We don't want it. One in German group in particular called Bund or Friends of the Earth, they're saying that they don't want these ships all because the electricity that the ships make, well, it's all created by burning natural gas or biodiesel or low sulfur fuel oil. In other words, fossil fuels. And that say

environmentalists in Europe is bad. They only want power from solar and which. wind. Now, if your first reaction to this news is, wow, they would rather people freeze to death than have power from fossil fuels, these people are crazy. Well, you and I think a lot alike. And yet, there might be another reason for their opposition. And that's because European environmentalists have longstanding financial commitments to an unusual suspect, Vladimir Putin. So let me explain. It's widely known that the Russian government has long been funding environmental organizations around the world, especially in Europe, all to prevent domestic energy production. Because instead, Moscow wants countries like those throughout Europe to be forever dependent on Russian natural gas. In fact, Hillary Clinton herself even noted this back in 2016, saying that these environmental groups were actively involved in shutting down fracking efforts all throughout Europe.

and they were doing it with funding from Russia. She got that assessment from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, who has confirmed that there's, quote, clear evidence that the Kremlin is financing and choreographing anti-fraking propaganda globally for the purposes of keeping people dependent on Russian energy. So, ladies and gentlemen, when you hear about these environmental groups opposing fossil fuels, allegedly because they've embraced dirty green energy, well, just keep this in mind. because their outrage might not have anything to do with opposition to fossil fuels or an earnest embrace of dirty green energy.

Instead, it may have something to do with some secret backroom deals and a whole bunch of cash to accomplish a hidden agenda. Finally, this morning, let's wrap up with some good news, shall we? And let's keep with our theme of energy this morning and the emphasis on dirty green energy. As we talked a lot about on the PDB, there are a number of different checks. challenges to this energy revolution. And one of them is batteries. Specifically, the batteries being used in storing energy from solar and wind, and of course the vehicles to power them. You see, all of that requires lots of mining and refining of minerals like lithium and cobalt. But sadly,

America doesn't do much of either of those things, most especially for cobalt. Instead, most of the world's cobalt comes from the Congo, with around one-third of that mineral being removed from the ground by children. So folks out there unfortunately driving an electric vehicle in America, well, it's those kids that are helping to power your vehicle. But thankfully, I have some good news on this front, specifically that America is starting to mine our own cobalt for the first time in about 40 years. The first and only cobalt mine in America opened last Friday in Idaho. It's a $100 million operation, and it's actually been in the planning stages for years. It's situated on top of an old cobalt mine that shut down back in the early 1980s.

Now, unlike many open pit mines, this one will actually be mostly underground, which of course will thrill the locals who would rather enjoy the scenery of the nearby Salmon River. But there's always a bud. As great as this news is, the amount of cobalt that we're talking about removed from the ground, it's pretty modest. Once the mine is fully operational, it'll run for about seven years. and the cobalt will then have to be shipped to Brazil to refine it. And then once it gets back to America, it'll meet only about 10% of our current overall demand.

Now, the company says that that's enough cobalt for several hundred thousand electric vehicles. So all in all, it's a good start, but just imagine this. How many more cars could we get if we use this cobalt to make hybrid vehicles? As I mentioned yesterday, the CEO of Toyota said that the minerals in one battery pack from one electric vehicle could create eight hybrid vehicles. Now, that means that this mine could give us one million hybrids. Instead, we're going to get maybe 200,000 electric vehicles. Anyway, just a thought in case anyone out there is interested in reasonable solutions. And that, folks, is your big five update for this Thursday morning.

But I've got one more thing before I let you go. A listener question. We'll be right back. Get the most out of your vehicle with GM genuine parts and AC Delco original equipment. The only parts designed, engineered, tested, and backed by General Motors. You can find your perfect fit for most makes and models and choose from three tiers of parts, including GMOE or gold and silver aftermarket parts. Visit gmparts.com for more information.

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really important that we all need to know about this very old law because it keeps coming up. So let's touch on some very quick history. The Logan Act was signed into law in 1799 by then President John Adams. And it was meant to prevent private citizens from essentially stealing the power of the presidency and engaging in rogue foreign policy. The act says basically that if America isn't a dispute with a foreign government and any U.S. citizen speaks with an officer of that government with the intent to influence their thinking, well, that American can be prosecuted and imprisoned for up to three years. Now, here's the thing. That law has been on the books for over 200 years and not one person has ever been prosecuted for it.

Why is that? Because it's almost certainly unconstitutional, a violation of our freedom of speech. So did Elon Musk violate this law? Well, Musk is actually saying that he never spoke to Putin about the war in Ukraine or his peace deal. But even if he did, okay, that's his right, whether we like it or not. So Katie, I'll leave you with this. imagine Joe Biden and his team prosecuting a man who is thinking of trying to find a peaceful way to end war that Joe Biden himself has said could go nuclear. I'll let you decide as always if that scenario of prosecuting a man trying to find peace

is the America that we all want. 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. Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is California's number one entertainment destination

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