The President's Daily Brief - October 25th, 2023: Homeland Warnings, Hostage Horrors, & CIA Shadows in Ukraine

Episode Date: October 25, 2023

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: Federal officials raise concerns about potential attempts by terrorists from Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad to penetrate the southern U.S. border. An exclusive insight into the life of a Hamas hostage: Israelis abducted on October 7th narrate their harrowing experiences inside the intricate tunnels beneath Gaza. U.S. intelligence reports highlight Iranian-backed militias' strategies to increase attacks on American forces in response to the U.S.'s support for Israel. In our "Back of the Brief" segment, we delve into the covert operations and accusations surrounding Ukrainian operatives. These operatives, allegedly trained by American agents, are suspected of carrying out multiple assassinations against Russians and their associates, some of whom may have connections to the Kremlin.   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 Wednesday, October 25th. 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 kick off today's episode with a warning from the U.S. government. Federal officials are sounding the alarm that terrorists from Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad might be attempting to penetrate the southern U.S. border. It's a dire warning considering the current state of affairs in the Middle East. Luckily, the U.S. southern border is, of course, locked up tighter than a drum, I mean, except for the thousands of individuals crossing illegally into the country every day. Later in the show, the world is getting its first glimpse into the harrowing conditions of life

as a hostage of Hamas. Israelis, abducted on October 7th, are sharing harrowing tales of their time trapped in a complex spiderweb of tunnels beneath Gaza. Plus, as tensions escalate in the Middle East, U.S. intelligence sources unveil Iranian-backed militia's plans to escalate attacks on American forces, a move seen as retaliation for the U.S. backing of Israel. I suppose it would be obvious of me to point out that Iran is the reason Hamas launched their 7 October murderous attacks. So for the Iranian regime to be churlish about the U.S. backing Israel, well, nobody ever accused the mothers of being self-aware or introspective. Lastly, in today's back of the brief, we step into the shadowy world of CIA intrigue and assassinations.

Ukrainian operatives, purportedly mentored by the agency in recent years, reportedly carried out numerous assassinations targeting Russians and their collaborators since the onset of Moscow's invasion. with some hits allegedly reaching those with Kremlin ties. But first, our PDB spot. While recent events in the Middle East have dominated the headlines, it's essential for us to remember that the American homeland remains a primary target for terrorist activities.

With that in mind, an internal customs and border protection memo from October 20th, originally obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation, is raising alarms. Now, the San Diego Field Office's Intelligent Division of CBB, the Customs and Border Patrol, has pinpointed potential threats from groups including Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah that might be working to infiltrate the southern U.S. border. This warning indicates that, due to the Israel-Hamas conflict, the CBP and other law enforcement personnel could encounter individuals affiliated with these groups traveling from the Middle East, utilizing South and Central America

as transit routes. The memo further details that foreign fighters, driven by ideology or as mercenaries, might try to disguise their movements to or from the Middle East via Mexico. Frankly, the alert from CBP's San Diego field office shouldn't be surprising. The past 20 years in particular have been filled with examples of terror groups working to enter the U.S. via both the northern and southern borders, at times looking to liaise with various Mexican cartel groups that control the cross-border trafficking operations. However, this latest CBP memo doesn't come as an isolated piece of information. Its release becomes more alarming when we consider the increasing permeability of the U.S. border, as depicted by recent CBP data. In the 2023 fiscal year,

over 2.4 million apprehensions occurred, topping the 2.3 million from the year before. For context, the figure stood at 1.7 million in 2021, and those are just the known encounters. As we've mentioned before on the PDB, conservative estimates indicate that the number of godaways, individuals who successfully enter the U.S. illegally without encountering law enforcement, could number over 1.5 million during the past couple of years. Moreover, the past year witnessed a marked increase in the number of individuals on the FBI's terror watch list detained at the border. Eighteen such individuals were captured last month alone, culminating in a record-breaking

169 encounters at the southern border in 2023. This number clips is not just the 2022 record, but also the totals, from the six preceding fiscal years combined. Now, there's one more data point that might be of interest to us on this, and that's the recent demographic shift among those apprehended at the border. Venezuelans have become the most apprehended nationality, surpassing Mexicans for the first time ever. Here's why that's noteworthy. The Maduro regime in Venezuela has some deep-rooted connections with Iran. And Iranian proxy, Hezbollah, has been digging its heels into Venezuela for decades now, running various criminal rackets and maintaining active cells in the country. So,

not to state the obvious, but I guess I'm about to, border security is a critical component of national security and homeland security. If you don't know who is coming across your border, you cannot have an accurate threat assessment. Coming up after the break, An 85-year-old Israeli woman shares chilling details of her captivity as a Hamas hostage inside a sprawling network of Gaza tunnels. Plus, fresh intelligence indicates that Iranian-backed militias are preparing for intensified attacks on U.S. forces, motivated by America's support for Israel. I'll be right back. Welcome back to the President's Daily Brief. A total of four hostages have now been released from the grand total of more than 200 believed to be held in Gaza. The latest two are both

elderly Israeli women grabbed and dragged into Gaza during the brutal Hamas attacks. And what they've shared since being released gives us some insight into Hamas' methods. First, let's take a look at the latest data that we have on the hostages themselves. Israel is now saying that a total of 222 hostages were taken during the October 7th rampage. in southern Israel. The IDF said on Friday that more than 20 of the hostages taken to Gaza were under the age of 18, and between 10 and 20 of the hostages were over the age of 80. Now, if you've been following the news, you'll remember that Judith and Natalie Ronan, a mother-daughter duo from Evanston, Illinois, were the first two hostages to be released

by Hamas last week, both are U.S. Israeli citizens. This week, this week, week, Hamas let go two more hostages, Israeli civilians named Yolkved Lifshitz, who's 85, and Nordet Cooper, 79. What's somewhat ironic is that both Lifshitz and Cooper were actually peace activists. They often help transport sick folks from Gaza to various Israeli hospitals. Lifshitz shared some intense details about her capture. She described how Hamas terrorists ambushed her community near Gaza, tossed her onto a motorbike, and roughed her up. Again, she's 85 years old. From there, she was taken into Gaza, where she trekked for hours through what she described as a spider web of tunnels. Now, we've previously described the Hamas Underground

Tunnel Network, known as the Gaza Metro. Lifshitz was eventually grouped with about 25 other hostages, and then moved again to a small room, filled with mattresses. Through her eyes, her captivity, she said they were given medical care and had one meal a day, pita bread with cream cheese and cucumbers. Now Lifshitz was brave enough to describe her 16 days with Hamas as very unpleasant and difficult, and she says she's haunted by the memories. It's also worth noting that her 83-year-old husband remains a captive of Hamas. Looking at other aspects of this conflict. One of the things that we're keeping a close eye on here at the PDB are the growing number of drone and missile attacks on U.S. military and diplomatic personnel around the

Middle East. Over the past week alone, there have been about a half dozen publicly confirmed attacks on U.S. forces. Now, we've noted previously that these attacks are very likely being carried out by groups supported by Iran at Iran's encouragement. Now, top U.S. officials have shared that current intelligence reveals that Iranian-backed militia groups are planning to heighten attacks on U.S. troops in the Middle East. If you ask why, well, Iran wants to leverage the region's resentment towards U.S. support for Israel. When describing the potential for regional conflict with Iran, one U.S. official went so far as to say that there are, quote, red lights flashing everywhere. However, there's some nuance in the intelligence.

Officials haven't identified explicit directives from Tehran. Instead, it seems, the Iranian government might be indirectly encouraging these actions. Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder stated, quote, we haven't seen a direct order, for example, from the Supreme Leader directing such attacks. And John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, noted, We understand Iran seeks to maintain a level of deniability in this situation. Ah. Well, John Kirby and others in the current White House seem to have come around, finally, to the idea that they can no longer dance around the issue of whether Iran is neck deep in the current Middle East chaos, including culpability for the 7 October Hamas attacks. Now, whether that results in a tougher approach to Iran, including meaningful economic sanctions that dry up the regime's oil revenues, well, that remains to be seen.

The Biden White House spent the past three years softening the Iran policy. Reversing course now and essentially admitting a mistake, well, that may be a bridge too far. Coming up in the back of the brief, Ukraine's supposedly CIA-trained agents reportedly eliminate multiple Russian targets and collaborators. I'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, legacy. How many discounts will you stack up? Tap the banner or visit usaa.com slash auto discounts.

Restrictions apply. Welcome back. In today's back of the brief, let's dive into some interesting developments surrounding the CIA and its involvement with Ukrainian intelligence. The Washington Post has recently shed light on how Ukraine's CIA-trained intelligence agencies have reportedly assassinated a considerable number of Russians and Ukrainian collaborators ever since Moscow started its invasion. This information is attributed by the Washington Post to over two dozen anonymous intelligence and security officials from Ukraine, the U.S., and other

Western nations. Now, these assassinations have supposedly been carried out by the two main intelligence agencies in Ukraine, the SPU, which is the security service of Ukraine, kind of like our FBI, which handles domestic matters, and the GUR, which is the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine. Think of GUR as playing a role similar to the CIA, focused on international threats and national security. The Post highlighted some specific incidents led by these agencies. For instance, the SPU was reportedly responsible for targeting Darya Dugina, whose father is the pro-war ultra-nationalist Alexander Dugan. She met her end in a car bombing this past August.

On the GR-GUR's list, a high-ranking Russian draft officer who was unexpectedly ambushed during his routine morning run this past summer. The GUR also reportedly executed drone strikes on Russian territory. One of them, just a few months back in May, as the reporting goes, targeted the Kremlin and caused quite a spectacle by setting part of its roof ablaze. The report also revealed that Russian officials in occupied Ukrainian territories, as well as suspected Ukrainian collaborators, faced fatal consequences in SBU and GUR operations. Now, while there is liaison and training that takes place between the CIA and the Ukrainian

services, the agency has made it clear that they had no involvement in these reported assassination operations. In the event anyone wants to decry the Ukrainian actions, perhaps maybe, let's first recall the long history of Putin in targeting and assassinating foes, both in Russia and across the globe. The Putin regime has no moral ground from which to protest anything. And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Wednesday, 25 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. Hey, honey, it's mom. Did you know if we switched to Verizon we can get four phones for $0,

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