The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | August 2nd, 2024: Iran's Looming Retaliation & US Backs Maduro's Rival

Episode Date: August 2, 2024

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:    As the fallout from the death of Hamas’s political chief in Tehran intensifies, we are learning more about what a possible Iranian retaliation against Israel may look like, and that the U.S. is scrambling to send additional combat aircraft to the Middle East to guard against escalation. In an update on the political upheaval in Venezuela, the U.S. has officially recognized dictator Nicolas Maduro's opponent as the winner of the oil rich nation’s widely disputed election. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin.  Email: [e-mail].  Blackout Coffee: https://www.blackoutcoffee.com/PDB Code: PDB Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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That's simple. Family-owned premium coffee, fresh-roasted, and shipped out within 48 hours of roasting. go to blackout coffee.com, promo code PDB, for 20% off your first time purchase. It's Friday, 2 August, 24. Welcome back to the PDB afternoon bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. First, as the fallout from the death of Hamas's political chief in Tehran intensifies,

we're learning more about what a possible Iranian retaliation against Israel may look like, and learning that the U.S. is scrambling. to send additional combat aircraft to the Middle East to guard against escalation. Also, as Venezuelan dictator Nicholas Maduro expands his crackdown on the opposition, the U.S. has officially recognized Maduro's opponent as the winner of the oil-rich nation's widely disputed election. Well, that's a little awkward. But first, our afternoon spotlight. Returning to our coverage of the fallout from the death of Hamas leader Ishmael Hanyi, The Biden administration is reportedly making preparations to help counter a direct Iranian retaliation

against Israel, which they expect will be mounted in the coming days. Three unnamed U.S. officials exclusively told Axios that the U.S. expects Iran to respond using the same playbook that they employed for their April 13th drone and missile attack on Israel, with one caveat. They warned that it could potentially be much larger in scope and involve Iran's proxy Hezbollah, which has been intensifying attacks across Israel's northern border with Lebanon. There are also concerns that Iran could employ more sophisticated drone and missile technology with more aggressive flight patterns than what they used in April, potentially making the projectiles

harder for Israeli air defenses to shoot down. One official said, quote, we expect a few rough days. As you'll recall, following an Israeli strike on an Iranian facility in Syria in April, Iran responded with a massive aerial attack on Israel, though 99% of the missiles and drones were intercepted with the aid of the U.S. Air Force, which coordinated with French and Jordanian and British Air Force fighters to shoot down the missiles and drones. That strike, however, was telegraphed in advance by the Iranian regime, giving the U.S. ample time to coordinate defensive operations. Officials with the Pentagon and U.S. Central Command told Axios that current preparations involve U.S. military assets in the eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea. The Pentagon is also preparing

to send additional combat aircraft to the Middle East to help intercept Iranian missiles, though how many that the U.S. is attempting to mobilize is not yet clear. While it is, of course, next to impossible to know the thinking within the Islamic regime, reports also emerged on Friday regarding potential details of Iran's planned response. According to the U.K.-based war monitor, observatory. Iran is planning to launch drones at Israel from the desert in Syria, potentially to make it appear that they were launched by Iran-backed militia groups in Iraq. The report adds that Iran has instructed their proxies not to target American military bases if the U.S. opts to not participate in Israel's defense, though, as we just discussed, the U.S. has no plans

of abandoning Israel. Separately, sources told Sky News that the Iranian response will definitely involve Hezbollah, though they did not expand on what that might look like. Israel, meanwhile, has placed the IDF on high alert in anticipation of the retaliation. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said Thursday, quote, we are prepared for what may come, adding that Israel, quote, will exact a very high price for any act of aggression against us from any quarter whatsoever, end quote. Coming up after the break, in an update on the political upheaval in Venezuela, the U.S. has to be a very high price. has officially recognized dictator Nicholas Maduro's opponent as the winner of the oil rich nation's widely disputed election.

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expands his crackdown on the opposition in the wake of what is widely seen as a fraudulent election. Following several fruitless days of pressing Venezuela to release official voter tallies so that the world could verify the results, the Biden administration has apparently had enough. On Thursday, the U.S. officially recognized the opposition candidate, Edmondo Gonzalez, as the winner of Venezuela's disputed election, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. The announcement came from U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who called for an immediate and peaceful transition of power to reflect the overwhelming will of the Venezuelan people. Yeah, that will happen at about the same time that Iran turns over a new leaf and recognizes Israel's right to exist.

Blinken said, quote, given the overwhelming evidence, it's clear to the United States and most importantly to the Venezuelan people that Edmondo Gonzalez won the most votes in Venezuela's July 28th presidential election, end quote. Notably, Blinken stopped short of referring to Gonzalez as President-elect, something that the journal described as a, quote, diplomatic sleight of hand that leaves the door open for a further increase in pressure from the U.S. The move is a blow to Maduro, who is facing a growing course of international calls to recognize the vote, including from his neighbors in Argentina, Peru, and Chile. But Maduro has withstood past attempts by the U.S. to declare his opponents the legitimate

leaders of Venezuela. This is not the first time that it's happened. Back in 2019, former President Trump recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaedo as the president, but Maduro ultimately hung on to power, using his military and police forces to crush internal dissent, and thus far it does not seem as if there's any daylight now between the military and Maduro. This time could possibly prove different, however, as Venezuelan opposition leaders have presented concrete evidence of the corruption, and the population, increasingly frustrated by an ongoing economic crisis, do not appear to be backing down. Gonzalez and the opposition leader Maria Corrina Machado said Thursday that a review of more than 90% of the tally sheets from Sunday's election show Maduro only captured 3.2 million votes, while Gonzalez netted 7.1 million.

The opposition compiled the data into a publicly accessible database that Venezuelans can use to review a scanned tally sheet from the their voting station, showing how many votes went into each candidate. Despite this, the regime-controlled election council maintains that Maduro won with 51% of the vote. The Maduro regime met widespread protests this week with violent force, with at least 20 people killed so far in clashes with police and the military. Some opposition leaders have already been arrested, and some senior aides to Maduro have called for the arrest of Gonzalez and Machado. While they remain free for now, on Friday, said regime forces raided the opposition's headquarters in Caracas, seizing computers and equipment and vandalizing the office, according to Reuters.

The opposition released a statement decrying the, quote, attacks and insecurity, to which we are subjected for political reasons, end quote. On Friday, leaders from Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia, who have historically enjoyed friendlier relations with Maduro, called on the dictator to move quickly to publish the official voting tallies, saying that they were disappointed by the delay. But it doesn't look like Maduro has any plans to bend to international demands. There's a shock.

The regime, which appears to have the full backing of the military, continues to, as you would expect, frame the opposition protests as, of course, a U.S.-backed coup. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Friday to August. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And remember, to listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief by visiting PDB Premium.com. And not to tell you what you already know, but today is Friday, which means that a new episode of our extended weekend show, the PDB Situation Report, airs tonight at 10 p.m. on the first TV. And, of course, is also available on our YouTube channel at President's Daily Brief and all podcast platforms. I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back over the weekend with the PDB Situation Report. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.