The President's Daily Brief - October 24th, 2023: Hamas' Chemical Threat, Hospital Blast Revisited, & Domestic Standoffs

Episode Date: October 24, 2023

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: The IDF intensifies its bombing campaign with over 320 military targets hit in Gaza within a day and the elimination of high-ranking Hamas officials. Plus, Israeli forces confirm a USB drive found on a Hamas member, carrying instructions to manufacture chemical weapons. A closer look at the Gaza hospital blast: The New York Times' admission of their mistake in their preliminary reporting, and global intelligence agencies backing Israel's analysis that a stray Hamas rocket was the cause. Shifting focus to the South China Sea, we’ll dissect the growing conflict between China and the Philippines following recent naval collisions. And in the 'Back of the Brief' segment, a few updates on domestic matters, from the race for the House Speaker's chair to the intensifying conflict between the United Auto Workers and America's major automakers. 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

Ladies and gentlemen, it's Tuesday, October 24th. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. We'll start today's show with the latest from the conflict in the Middle East. The Israeli Defense Force, the IDF, strikes over 320 military targets in Gaza in just 24 hours, taking out several top Hamas commanders. Plus, a disturbing discovery, as Israel confirms that a USB drive with instructions on how to make chemical weapons was found on a Hamas terrorist killed during the 7 October attacks. A little later in the program, a follow-up on the story of that blast at the Gaza Hospital. The New York Times admits it made mistakes in its reporting on the hospital explosion, as intelligence agencies from around the world support Israel's conclusion that the blast was caused by an errant Hamas rocket.

Plus, tensions rise in the South China Sea as China and the Philippines blame each other for recent ship collisions, and the U.S. reiterates its commitment to defend the Philippines sovereignty. Finally, in today's back of the brief, we turn our attention to some U.S. domestic issues that we've been reporting on, including the ongoing race for House Speaker and the continuing fight between the United Auto Workers and America's Big Three Auto Makers. But first, our PDB spotlight. Members of the international media today received a firsthand look at the harrowing atrocities committed by Hamas during its October 7th attacks. Many images and videos captured by Hamas

terrorists wearing body cams came to light after the IDF neutralized those responsible. We'll avoid the gruesome details, and gruesome is too light a word, but comparisons with ISIS at their worst are warranted. Now, the IDF took the unusual step of releasing 45 minutes of video, taken by the terrorist body cams, by victims of the attack, by CCTV footage, and by terrorists taking selfies as they engaged in the brutal attacks, to remind those who need reminding of the slaughter committed by Hamas. You wouldn't think that anyone would need to be reminded only 16 days after Hamas shocked the world with their brutal massacre of almost 1,400 elderly, women, men, children, and babies. But as we've discussed here on the PDB, between Hamas's effective disinformation

campaign and their well-oiled public relations machine, the useful idiots of the world who spout Hamas propaganda, including on many college campuses, and the not insignificant number of anti-Semites lurking in the shadows, it was necessary to provide a graphic reminder of who is responsible for this current chaos, death, and destruction. Now, on the military operations front, while the anticipated ground incursion into Gaza remains on hold, the IDF still had a very busy 48 hours. On Monday, the IDF stated that they struck over 320 military targets in the Gaza Strip in just one day. They identified these targets as imminent threats to troops gearing up for potential ground operations, focusing on mortar and anti-tank missile

launch sites. This activity may indicate that the ground incursion into Gaza may be coming sooner rather than later. The airstrikes are significantly impacting Hamas leadership. In the last nine days, the IDF claims to have neutralized five top officials from Hamas's military command. Reports suggest that one commander, Murad Abou Marad, masterminded the October 7th assault that sparked the Gaza war, directing paragliders in deadly attacks on civilians.

Recent updates also confirmed the deputy chief of Hamas's rocket division death in an airstrike this past Sunday, along with several Hamas terrorists. Also, newly uncovered classified Hamas documents shed light on the detailed planning behind the October 7th assault. These top secret documents reveal plans to assault Israeli villages and military bases near the Gaza border with explicit orders to inflict maximum casualties and abduct hostages. The papers detail Hamas's meticulous. surveillance of every kibbutz along the Gaza frontier, crafting specific plans for each village, especially targeting women and children. As bad as all that sounds, it may not be the most

disturbing thing recovered from the remains of a Hamas terrorist. The Israeli military unearthed a USB from a Hamas terrorist involved in the October 7th assault. This device held instructions for creating a cyanide dispersion tool. For context, is a deadly toxin that disrupts cellular processes, causing swift death. The evidence that Hamas has been at least considering or studying potential chemical weapons should come as no surprise. Past battlefield intel, picked up from encounters with other terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda and ISIS, have pointed efforts to develop and possibly deploy chemical and biological weapons. Finally, two additional hostages, both elderly

Israeli women in poor health were released yesterday, bringing the total to four of the known 199 hostages being held. As noted in yesterday's PDB, Hamas is looking to gain two things from this slow drip-drip of hostage releases, time and propaganda, time meaning the delay of the IDF's main push into Gaza, and propaganda, meaning, as odd as it sounds, goodwill and a more favorable narrative for releasing hostages. With the issue of time, Hamas is getting some unintended and likely unexpected assistance from the U.S. government, according to some sources. The White House is reportedly putting pressure on Israel to delay or possibly not move forward with the planned ground incursion into Gaza. President Biden, in remarks yesterday, went so far as to imply that the objective

is to get the hostages released and then discuss a ceasefire. The problem, is, no matter how you keep score, a ceasefire would be a win for Hamas and Iran. Okay, coming up after the break, with the benefit of hindsight, we're going to take a look back at the story of the blast at the Gaza Hospital that made so many headlines last week. How have things shaken out over the past several days, and what do we know now? Hint, you didn't need hindsight to know it was moronic to blithely accept the story spun by Hamas. Plus, tensions flare in the South China Sea, as China and the Philippines exchange blame for a series of dangerous ship collisions.

I'll be right back. Welcome back to the President's Daily Brief. It's been a week since the devastating explosion at the Ahila Arab Hospital in Gaza City. Early reports issued by Hamas blamed an Israeli air strike, suggesting it. a staggering death toll of around 500. Now, much of the international media, and politicians, governments, and Hamas apologists touted the Hamas narrative. But now, now that we have some distance from the original reporting, let's take a look at what's emerged since then. Let's start with the most obvious point. There's been zero evidence linking Israel to the incident.

Okay, well, actually, the most obvious point is, don't accept the word of a terrorist organization that just days before slaughtered men, women, children, and babies in a medieval display of bloodlust. But yeah, there's the evidence thing. As an example, a senior Hamas official in a statement to the New York Times, claimed that, quote, nothing is left of the munition causing the blast. A key point here, the munition fragment would conclusively identify the responsible party, and the idea that there would be nothing left strains credibility. All bomb sites leave significant forensic evidence. It's no surprise then that intelligence agencies are now confident that Israel's initial assertion was accurate. The explosion resulted from a misfired Hamas or Islamic Shiaad rocket.

For instance, French military intelligence noted that the explosion's size matched rockets used by Palestinians and that the impact crater was inconsistent with an Israeli missile. Similar conclusions were drawn by UK intelligence services and the Canadian Forces intelligence command. Remember, the initial Hamas reported death toll. It soared to over 800 shortly after the incident. But a credible European intelligence source now estimates a maximum of 50 casualties, while each loss is tragic, of course. Assuming that none of them were involved in the October 7th attacks or members of Hamas, these numbers are obviously significantly different from the early counts. Now, to their credit, some news outlets have started to revisit their initial narratives.

The New York Times admitted its oversight, stating it, quote, relied too heavily on claims from Hamas. Oh, the paper emphasized the need for careful verification, especially during such sensitive times. Really? Now, I don't want to put too fine a point on it, but whoever was responsible for crapping out the New York Times reporting on the hospital explosion should be fired and banned from ever again being given the title of journalist. And that goes for the host of other news reporters, and here I'm frantically using air quotes, who for whatever their agenda, swallowed the Hamas version of events and pooped out their own stories immediately blaming Israel. All right, shifting our focus now to the high seas. Yesterday, on the PDB, we mentioned that

China has deployed six warships to the Middle East, possibly in part as a response to the U.S. deployment of two carrier strike groups to the region. But this time, the action is in the turbulent South China Sea, where a string of maritime collisions is heating up between China and the Philippines. Early Sunday morning, a China Coast Guard ship collided with a resupply boat contracted by the Philippines. Within just two hours, Manila reported another clash. a Chinese maritime militia boat struck a Philippine Coast Guard vessel during the same resupply operation. In response to these incidents, the Philippine Defense Secretary called out China for its, quote, egregious violation of international law and an alarming step-up in their expansionist

and aggressive tactics. To provide some background, at the heart of this conflict lies an old Philippine ship, the Sierra Madre. Now, it's a World War II era landing. ship that the Philippine military intentionally beached on a reef in the contested Spratly Islands, just in the South China Sea back in 1999. Despite deteriorating over the years, the ship is a complete rusted out mess, a small group of Philippine Marines has persistently held their post on this decaying vessel. Symbolizing the Philippines territorial claim, the Sierra Madre's presence has not, to say the least, gone over well with China. As the Philippine military attempts to resupply this aging ship, China is becoming increasingly aggressive, leading to the recent collisions. Now, you might ask,

how does this relate to the U.S.? Well, the U.S. commitment to the Philippines is rooted in a 1951 mutual defense treaty, and that treaty remains intact. And just this Monday, the U.S. government sent a clear message to China, affirming the U.S. dedication to the terms of that agreement. So the temperature rises a few more degrees between the U.S. and China. Coming up in today's back of the brief, some updates on a pair of domestic issues that we're keeping an eye on. I'll be right back. Welcome back. In today's back of the brief, I wanted to revisit a couple of domestic stories that we're keeping an eye on, starting with the race.

for Speaker of the House. Now, have you put your name in for the job yet? Because apparently it's wide open, so there's still time. Nine Republicans have stepped into the ring, vying for the role of House Speaker. Each made their case at a party candidate forum last night. Today, GOP lawmakers are set to pick their choice for the position, and the selected nominee might be facing a House floor vote by today's end. Right now, It looks like Republican majority whip Tom Emmer holds an edge, notably with a nod from former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. But don't count out Florida Representative Byron Donald's just yet.

He's got the conservative wing buzzing, especially among the Freedom Caucus. Donald's had multiple nominations earlier this year during the 14 rounds of voting that ultimately led to McCarthy's ascension. So, who will emerge as the GOP's chosen one? Let's go with, who knows. Equally uncertain, can the nominee rally the Republican troops during a critical floor vote, or will they meet the same fate of preceding predecessors Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise? Never, never underestimate the ability of the GOP to shoot themselves in the foot.

They supposedly are in the majority, albeit a slim majority in the House. But frankly, right now, the way they're acting, they don't look capable of organizing. panic in a doomed submarine. They're giving the DNC a gift. The Democrat machine is likely busy cutting campaign ads right this minute highlighting the speaker chaos and asking the simple question, do you really want these people running the government? Finally, I wanted to give you a quick update on the standoff between the United Auto Workers and the Big Three automakers, which today is in its 40th day. In its boldest move to date, the UAW sent 6,000. 800 Stellantis employees to the picket lines, mostly from the company's pivotal ram truck facility in Sterling Heights, Michigan.

This is the UAW, calling out the heavy artillery. The Sterling Heights Assembly plant isn't just the company's largest facility, but also its top earner, producing the popular RAM-1500 pickup. So why Stellantis? Now, the union claims that among automakers, Stalantis presented, quote, the worst proposal on the table. This move brings a total number of UAW members striking against Detroit automakers to a staggering 40,000. And as we've discussed here before on the PDB, a lengthy and growing UAW strike impacts many sectors and people. It's not just an auto worker thing. Every vendor, every service provider, transportation to diners, to local retailers, and small businesses that are in the orbit of the auto industry are feeling the pain. The UAW leader, Sean Fain, while he came in hot on the negotiations,

with a list of demands that even Sean Fain admitted were aggressive. The question now is, did he overplay his hand? Is he able to walk back the initial demands to a point where the automakers can find common ground and the auto workers fired up by those initial demands can vote, Yes to a deal. And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Tuesday, 24 October. If you have any questions or comments, reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool.

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