The President's Daily Brief - October 24th, 2022. Russia & Ukraine Conflict Continues to Escalate to Potentially Very Dangerous Levels

Episode Date: October 24, 2022

It’s October 24th. You’re listening to the President’s Daily Brief. Your morning intel starts now. ------ We’re going to do things a little differently this morning. I’ve got three full briefs on three important topics that need your attention. First, we’ve got an alarming set of phone calls coming out of Russia, with their military warning nations around the world that we might see uncontrolled escalation in Ukraine.  Second, Beijing wrapped up its big gathering over the weekend with three big messages for the world. I’ll share what those are. Finally, record illegal migration numbers are out for last month, and the year as a whole. But there’s one angle to this story from San Francisco of all places that’s pretty important. The Mayor in that town is in trouble this morning for telling the truth about illegals. ------ 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 24th. 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. We are going to do things a little bit differently this morning. I've got three full briefs on three important topics that need your attention. First, we've got an alarming set of phone calls coming out of Russia with their military warning nations around the world that we might see uncontrolled escalation in Ukraine. Second, Beijing wrapped up its big gathering over the weekend with three big messages for the world. I'll share what those are. Finally, record illegal migration numbers are out for the last month and for the year as a whole.

But there's one angle to this awful story from San Francisco of all places that's pretty important. The mayor in that town is in trouble this morning for telling the truth about illegals. And with that, folks, let's get started with today's first and main brief. We are seeing some alarming developments out of Ukraine this morning, and it has to do with some phone calls. Russia's Minister of Defense, a man named Sergei Shogu, called his counterparts over the weekend in America, France, the UK, and the country of Turkey. And his message to everyone was that the world was entering into a dangerous period in Ukraine. He called it a time of, quote, uncontrolled escalation, end quote. Now, he added that the situation is rapidly deteriorating.

His words there, by the way, and specifically highlighted two threats that he said could cause this conflict to go global. First, the minister alleged that Ukraine intends to blow up a massive dam in southern Ukraine to flush out the Russians. Now, listen to this. The size of the lake behind that dam, well, that's the size of the Great Salt Lake here in the United States. So just imagine the damage if that dam were blown up.

Now, the Ukrainians have denied that they would blow up their own. dam saying that it's actually the Russians who would blow it up. But either way, we are talking about a massive breach and a tremendous loss of life. Which leads us to our second threat that Moscow pointed out over the weekend. Again, according to the Russians, Ukraine is planning to detonate a dirty bomb, which is an explosive device that has nuclear material wrapped in it, usually in the form of pellets or powder. Now, to be clear, this isn't a nuclear bomb, but rather a device intended to mostly sickened those immediately around the blast area. And more importantly, it causes panic and terror. And that's why this thing might sound familiar, because we talked a lot about it during America's

war on Islamic terror. Groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS pledged to use them in Europe and the United States, but never did. Regardless, the Ukrainians are denying this allegation too. And the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, is saying that the claim is absurd. In fact, Austin is saying that whatever comes next to include a dirty bomb, well, Russia will be the guilty party. Meanwhile, after the French Ministry of Defense hung up from that same phone call with the Russians, the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, said something, well, pretty interesting. He said that it was up to the Ukrainian government, not the Russians, to launch a peace deal, to offer up the terms of peace first.

So here's what he said. quote, there is the prospect for peace. It will come around at some moment. And when the Ukrainian people and its leaders have decided on the terms of this peace, a deal can be built up with the Russians, end quote. But regardless of who's supposed to go first, peace is not happening as of this morning. In fact, the Russian government is telling at least 60,000 people remaining in the town of Kersan, which is a city in the southern part of Ukraine, that these 60,000 people must have

evacuate immediately, saying, quote, it's vital to save your lives, end quote. And people are trying to get out. There have been 25,000 people so far who have in fact fled. But things for the rest of the folks are going pretty slowly because everyone has to cross the nearby Neapro River and ferries are swamped with too many passengers. So the reason that I mentioned this piece about the city of Keroson is that if the dam that I just mentioned is breached, it will create a horrific flood. It would likely wash out much of that town. And tens of thousands of people would be washed out too. And perhaps that's the point. Ukrainian officials are saying that they are on the verge of capturing that city. So that is perhaps why the Russians would breach that dam to kill everyone and

destroy everything as they retreated. So one final update here before we talk analysis and opinion. Reuters news service is reporting that Russian missile and drone strikes since October 10th have knocked out at least 50% of the country's thermal power generation and up to 40% of the entire grid. And as one could expect, that has led to increasing blackouts, a lack of potable water, and all around misery for the people of that country. So folks, let's now pivot to analysis and opinion. So what are we to make of this weekend's developments, most especially those phone calls?

because certainly we have reason to care. As PDB listeners know, we are investing tens of billions of our taxpayer dollars into this war. We are sending a massive number of weapon systems to Kiev or Kiev, and in turn that has degraded our own stockpiles. And finally, if this war escalates into a direct conflict with Russia, as in fact they warned us over the weekend, well, that may well lead to a world war. So here's what I would encourage you to think about as we think about these phone calls. I would tell you that it's very safe to say that the next couple of weeks, maybe even the next few days, will probably be very consequential.

These phone calls from Russia to other countries to include its enemies like us, well, they are a very clear indicator that something big is about to happen. And we know that's likely true for a couple of reasons. First, Russia actually called our Secretary of Defense twice over the past four days. And that's very unusual. that the first calls since last May. Second, there was also a development about a week ago that's really important to remember. China announced that it was evacuating all of its citizens from Ukraine.

Now, historically, that's meant that an invading country, like Russia in this case, has called its friends to give them a heads up, one final chance to escape a coming war. And in fact, America did exactly that in the days leading up to our invasions and bombings in Iraq and Libya and Afghanistan. We warned countries to evacuate their diplomats and their citizens before we ever fired a bullet. So it's fair to say that something probably uniquely awful is probably on the verge of

happening. Now, so what will the weapon be or what kind of escalation might we see? Well, only Vladimir Putin knows for sure, maybe a few of his advisors. It could be a dirty bomb, blowing up of a dam, or, God forbid, a nuclear weapon. And that's why it is so important to listen to not just France's president, who again is talking about a peace deal this morning, but also Ukraine's president, Vladimir Zelensky, when he said back in May that the only way that this war ends is at the negotiating table. Now, I confess, I don't see that happening, at least not right now. I think there are way too many people who have decided that this war has to continue. But the longer that it does, the harder that becomes for all sides to, you eat some crow, and accept peace.

So let's keep our eyes and ears peeled this week, most especially on Ukraine. And if you can't, that's all right, I will. And as always, I'll keep you posted. Let's take a quick break. And when we come back, I've got two more big briefs for you, one on China and one on immigration. We'll be right back. How many discounts does USA auto insurance offer? Too many to say here.

Multi-vehicle discount. Safe driver discount. New vehicle discount. Storage discount. How many discounts will you stack up? Tap the banner or visit usaa.com slash auto discounts. Restrictions apply. Welcome back to the PDB.

Let's dive into our second brief this morning with this one focused on China. Over the past week, communists in Beijing have gathered to elect a new president and set down its latest doctrine on how to lead its nation. Now, I spoke with you about that one week ago today. But if you're wondering why this topic is so important that we should talk about it again, let's refresh our memories. First, America's military, CIA, and FBI have all said that China is our greatest threat, ever greater than Islamic terrorism.

And for what it's worth, I agree with them. Second, over the past week, we have heard from the U.S. Secretary of State and a senior member of the U.S. Navy that war over Taiwan could happen much sooner than we expect, as early as this year. So all told, we need to closely follow what's happening in Beijing. and I've got some indicators of what we're up against and what might come next. And to help you remember each of these, I want you to think of them as the new zero policies. And here's why.

First, China confirmed over the past week that it will maintain its zero COVID policies. So if we recall this one, that means that China will shut down entire cities with tens of millions of people trapped inside if they have even one case of COVID. And that's really important for us. because China is the world's factory, about 30% of all manufacturing. So as factories get shut down over one single case of COVID, it affects our supply chain for products here in the United States. But perhaps some greater consequence, it also gives America the chance to claw back some of those industries and companies

that we've lost over the past 30 years because of free trade agreements. And if we could do that, well, it would be a huge development for towns and families like yours and mine. So that's why this zero COVID policy is so important. And the fact that Beijing has committed to keeping it means both potential economic risks and potential benefits for America. All right, let's move on to our second zero policy that we learned over the past week, and that is zero negotiations, specifically over Taiwan. So yesterday, the government of China reshuffled its military leadership, and they elevated one special man, General He Uyodong, who planned Beijing's response. when Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August.

He will now serve as the deputy or vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, which is basically responsible for the country's military operations. So here's the fascinating part. Chinese press, to include the South China Morning Post, said that President He's promotion means, quote, the People's Liberation Army is strengthening combat preparations for military struggles against Taiwan. In other words, folks,

China is preparing to reunify itself with Taiwan by force if necessary, and sooner rather than later, which means that America would rush to Taiwan's side and launch into a major war with another major nuclear power. All right, that is our second zero policy with zero COVID-first and zero negotiations second. So our third zero is zero dissent. So as expected, China's Communist Party reelected, President Xi Jinping, he will now run the country for an unprecedented third term, with more terms likely to come. To understand how shocking this is, I want you to think of America's history when President Franklin Roosevelt ran for his third and then fourth term. No one had done that

before him. Two terms was the standard set by President Washington. Now, people at the time in this country were shocked, and in fact in the world. Well, the same is true with what President Xi has just done. Meanwhile, the other thing that's shocking is that their communist doctrine has been altered to turn President Xi into a cult-like figure. He's a modern-day emperor. So I'm going to give you two examples of that. First, he and his fellow communists adopted something called two establishes, which defines President Xi as the core leader of the Communist Party and that his ideas are the guiding principles of China's future. Second, I got one more example of of zero dissent, and it's frankly one of the more remarkable and mysterious things to happen

over the past week. So I want you all to envision a great hall, like a great concert hall, with red drapes and long tables of officials sitting perfectly still on the stage. Everything choreographed, absolutely nothing left the chance. So in the center of that stage was President Xi. And to his left was the man who was the president of China before him, a man named Hu Jintao. And as the final ceremony was underway, something very strange happened. As former president who was sitting there, stoically listening, several officials came up from behind him. They whispered something into his ear. He looked pretty shocked, pale.

Then they tried to pull him up and out of his chair. They grabbed him from under the arms. He didn't want to go. But despite his protests, he was escorted out. Now, you may have heard about that development, because we're not. exactly sure of what transpired. For its part, Beijing is saying that the former president was not feeling well, and so they helped him out. But I'm not so sure that's true, and here's why. Just minutes before the former president was removed, foreign press was allowed inside the room.

In other words, they were allowed to watch and video the whole thing. And that folks is not an accident, not in my view. I think it was a message to his own people and the world of who's in charge and the links to which President Xi will go to establish dominance. So we've got three big zero policies this morning, folks, that we should all focus on and remember. We've got first, zero COVID, second, zero negotiations, specifically over Taiwan, and zero descent. Ah, one more thing, one more zero for you to consider. And that is zero women. For the first time, in 25 years, there will be zero women helping to try.

run China. Now there was one before this weekend, but she was removed or retired out, as they say. So now the country will be led by 24 men. Sorry about that, ladies, but at least now you know where you might stand if the communists ever run the world. All right, folks, that leaves us with one more brief this morning. So hang tight and 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 Yamava resort and casino at San Manuel is giving one person a $1.6 million dream package the biggest prize in Yamava's history club Serrano members can earn daily instant prizes and secure a spot in the finale May 29th don't pass go and own it all only at

yamava celebrating its 40th anniversary you win details at yamava dot com must be 21st winter please gamble responsibly monopoly is a trademark of hasbro hasbro is not a sponsor of this promotion welcome back to the PDB ladies and gentlemen i've got one more brief before that you go for our final brief We've got some very big illegal migration numbers out today that the Biden administration actually quietly released on Friday. So last month, there were 227,000 migrant encounters along the U.S.-Mexico border. That means 227,000 people were arrested and either deported or allowed to come into our country because they're seeking asylum. Either way, that's up 12% from September, which was already a record. Plus, this number of 227,000, that doesn't include the godaways or those illegals that

were seen on cameras or sensors, for example, but not captured. So if you add up the September illegal numbers with the other 11 months of illegals for the rest of the year, well, you've got a new record. 2.38 million encounters. That's up 37% from last year. Now, I'll tell you that this story gets frustrating to hear, doesn't it? Because we keep hearing it over and over for, years now and nothing changes, which makes you kind of wonder why politicians haven't done more to stop it. And actually, that's what I want to close out the podcast with this morning, because I think what I'm about to tell you, a story out of San Francisco, shows you how absolutely broken, not just our immigration policies might be, but how broken our politics

are surrounding the issue. So a little over two weeks ago, on October 5th, there was a radio station in San Francisco that was interviewing the town's mayor, a woman named London Breed, who, by the way, is a progressive Democrat. The radio hosts were criticizing her for allegations that San Francisco's police officers were racially targeting drug dealers who were selling a host of drugs in San Francisco, specifically the Tenderloin District. Mayor Breed denied that charge. She said that there was absolutely no racial profiling, but the arrest data did make clear one thing. People from Central America were largely responsible for the drug crisis in her city. So here's her exact quote.

There are unfortunately a lot of people who come from a particular country, come from Honduras. And a lot of the people who are dealing drugs happen to be of that ethnicity. There's no racial profiling about this. We all know it. It's the reality. It's what you see. It's what's out there. End quote.

Well, her fellow Democrats were very angry about that statement of, well, facts. One example of the outrage, Miss Lazaria Dugan Quadra, who's the executive director for the nonprofit Central American Resource Center for Northern California, she blasted Mayor Breed for having the audacity to speak the truth. Here's a quote from Ms. Dugan Quadra, and I offered it up because it's just, well, it's quite something. She blames American society, you and me, for illegal Honduran's choosing to deal drugs. I think any young person with unlawful migratory status whose only option to survive is existing in an underground economy, well, that's a reflection of our society, of us.

Young people should have more opportunities to fulfill their dreams and shouldn't be excluded or criminalized, end quote. She went on to say that Mayor Breed's comments were similar to those of former President Donald Trump, whose words were, in her view, xenophobic, and racist. So, folks, what do you think happened next? What do you think Mayor Breed said in response to being criticized for, well, telling the truth? Well, if your guess is that she apologized, you would be correct. In her written apology, Mayor Breed said that while trying to explain the situation in the

tenderloin district, she, quote, failed to accurately and comprehensively discuss what is an incredibly complex situation in our city and in Central America. as a proud sanctuary city, we have an obligation to provide a safe space for our immigrant families to live and thrive. The mayor also said that she looked forward to traveling to Central America to better appreciate the poverty driving people to our country, leaving them with no option but to sell drugs. As always, I leave it up to you on what to make of this story, but I simply offer it up as my parting opinion this morning. If you want to solve problems with good solutions, you have to be able to be. honest about the problems, obviously. And that's true of this issue. And that means that as we define the problem, we're going to have to say things like most drug dealers in San Francisco are from Honduras

and they're illegal migrants, because that's true. That's what the data show. And if we can't say that, if we're not honest, then we have absolutely no chance of finding the right solutions, because those solutions will be based on things other than facts. And I think we all know what that. means here. The solutions will be based on politics. And if that's true, if we don't really have justice anymore, but rather partisan decisions that determine who gets jailed or not, then I mean, okay, that's awful. And it may destroy the nation. But if that's where we're at, if that's what we are reduced to, well, then you have the chance to make your voices heard in a couple weeks in our midterm elections. It's a nightmare that it has to be that way. And let's hope that we can

reverse this sort of silly, ridiculous political trend. But in the meantime, so be it. Just make sure that you vote and understand how important that vote really is. 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 8, verse 32. And you shall know the truth. And the truth

shall make you free. Good day.