The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | December 20th, 2024: US Eliminates ISIS Leader & Putin Taunts West With Proposed 'Missile Duel'

Episode Date: December 20, 2024

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:   First, an update from Syria, where the U.S. has managed to take out the top leader of ISIS in a precision strike, as U.S. diplomats travel to Damascus for their first in-person meeting with Syria’s rebel leaders. Then, Vladimir Putin has floated an insane plan to have an experimental "missile duel" with the west in Ukraine, prompting Volodymyr Zelensky to call the Russian leader a "dumbass." 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 President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Patriot Gold: Call 1-888-870-5457 for a free investor guide. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Speak with the experts over at Patriot Gold today. Now, they've been the top-rated gold IRA dealer for seven years in a row. That is quite a few years. a row, frankly. So go to Patriot Gold Group.com or call 1-88621-3856 for a free investor guide. It's Friday, 20 December. Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin. Okay, it's a little bit of a late afternoon bulletin. It's the travel schedule. I'm Mike Baker. Your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. Just some breaking news. A sad story out of Germany where a vehicle drove into a crowd at a Christmas market located approximately two hours west of Berlin.

Details are few at this stage, although there's at least one fatality, and upwards of a reported 60 to 80 injuries. According to German authorities, the driver of the vehicle is in custody, and some reports indicate that there were explosives in the vehicle. The German authorities have now described it as a terrorist attack, and this unfortunately is reminiscent of a similar terrorist. attack on a Berlin Christmas market back in December of 2016 that killed 12. We'll keep an eye on the investigation and report further as details emerge. First, though, coming up in today's afternoon bulletin, an update from Syria, where the U.S. has managed to take out the top leader of ISIS in a precision strike as U.S. diplomats traveled to Damascus for their first in-person meeting with Syria's rebel leaders. Then, Vladimir Putin apparently has a senior moment, or perhaps he's

just simply off his meds, as he suggests that Russia and the West engage in an experimental missile duel over Ukraine. But first, our afternoon spotlight. I want to begin with an update on U.S. activity inside Syria following the collapse of the Assad regime as the American military steps up assaults on ISIS strongholds, while top U.S. diplomats meet in person with Syria's new leaders for the first time. U.S. Central Command, or Sentcom, announced Friday that their forces had carried out an airstrike in eastern Syria that has killed ISIS leader Abu Yusuf. Officials added that another unnamed ISIS operative was also taken out in the precision strike. That's according to a report from the Jerusalem Post.

Sengom said the strike was carried out in an area of the war. formally controlled by the Assad regime and the Russians, where ISIS fighters are now working to reconstitute their battered terror army, ambitions, of course, that the U.S. is intent on thwarting. Since Assad's ousting on December 8th, the U.S. has unleashed a number of strikes across Syria targeting known ISIS camps and operatives in an effort to disrupt and degrade the terror group. In a statement on Friday, sentcom said, quote, the United States, working with allies and partners in the region, will not allow ISIS to take advantage of the current situation in Syria and reconstitute. We will aggressively target these

leaders and operatives, including those trying to conduct operations external to Syria, end quote. Now, General Michael Eric Carrilla, the commander of Sentcom, noted that the threat from ISIS is more pressing than ever since Assad's downfall. He warned that the group is attempting to free some 8,000 ISIS operatives from detention centers across Syria where they're currently imprisoned. While the death of their leader is, well, certainly a blow to the terror group, significant concerns do remain about what will become of their army of imprisoned fighters. As we discussed earlier this week on the PDB, the prisons are overseen by the Syrian Democratic forces, the SDF, and that's a U.S.-backed coalition, primarily led by Kurdish groups.

but Turkey, which is, as you might recall, a NATO ally, views the Kurdish-led SDF as a threat and has launched repeated attacks on them through Turkish-backed militias, diverting the attention of SDF troops who are guarding the facilities. While there are hopes that Turkey and the SDF can reach a long-term ceasefire, if they continue attacking, U.S. officials have warned that a major jailbreak could occur. That is not what anyone needs, 8,000 ISIS prisoners back out on the streets. As the U.S. works to contain the threat of an ISIS resurgence, the Biden administration has also begun holding discussions with Syria's new leaders. U.S. diplomats traveled to Damascus for the first time

since Assad's downfall on Friday to meet directly with Syria's de facto rulers, led by the militant group HTS, and their chief Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, a former al-Qaeda operative. A State Department spokesman said they discussed, quote, transition principles endorsed by the United States, particularly how the rebels plan to unite Syria's many minority religious and ethnic factions to avoid a future breakdown of sectarian violence. Sources familiar with the discussions also said that the U.S. delegation spoke with HTS officials about removing their long-standing terrorist designation. HTS, once an arm of al-Qaeda, has rebranded. It branded itself as a moderate liberation force in recent years. They're eager to be removed from the terror list, as the designation and the sanctions that come with it,

could significantly impede the rebels' plans to reform and rebuild Syria. While details of those discussions are not yet available, an unnamed U.S. official called the meeting productive. Despite skepticism about HTS's ability to deradicalize after their sweeping victory over Assad, Western leaders have sought to directly engage with serious transitional government. On Monday and Tuesday, officials from France, Germany, and the UK all traveled to Damascus for their own meetings with the country's new leaders. But reports suggest that Western powers are still reticent to lift sanctions with most advocating a wait-and-see approach with regards to HTS and the leadership.

Coming up, Vladimir Putin has proposed an experimental missile duel, with the West in Ukraine. Prompting Ukraine's President Zelensky to call the Russian leader a dumbass. Now, we'll examine whether Putin is in fact a dumbass when we return. I'll be right back.

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Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is back to taunting Ukraine and its Western allies, and his latest provocation could be his most bizarre statement yet. During his end-of-year speech on Thursday, which lasted for four and a half hours, but to be fair, it only felt like a couple of days, Putin proposed that Russia and the U.S. engage in an experimental missile duel in the skies above Ukraine, mocking Western skepticism about the capabilities of Russia's new hypersonic missile, which they fired for the first time on Ukraine in November, Putin suggested staging an exercise pitting his missile against Western-made air defenses.

That's according to a report from Reuters. It sounds like Putin is sensitive about the performance of his missile. Putin's remarks came after a reporter, asked him if their Russianic hypersonic missile was vulnerable to Western anti-missile defenses being supplied to Ukraine. Putin responded. Putin responded, quote, if the experts in the West think so, well, we propose they conduct some kind of technological experiment, a high-tech duel of the 21st century, end quote. Elaborating, he said both sides could select a designated target in Kiev, where Ukraine could concentrate all of their air defense and anti-missile defense to prove if they are up to the task of intercepting the Ereshnik missile. Now, it's worth remembering that that missile is capable of

carrying a nuclear payload. Putin continued, quote, we will hit it with Orrishnik and see what happens. We are ready for such an experiment. Is the other side ready? End quote. He even suggested such a duel would be beneficial to both Russia and the U.S., allowing both sides to glean insights on their respective military capabilities. Now, as a reminder, the Arrashnik is Russia's new intermediate range ballistic missile, or IRBM. It can reportedly travel as. add up to 10 times the speed of sound, which, of course, would make it very difficult to intercept and is capable of reaching any target in Europe. Putin fired it for the first time in November in response to Ukraine's use of U.S. made long-range ballistic missiles and British Storm Shadow

cruise missiles. Ukrainian President Zelensky reacted with shock, as you might imagine, to Putin's proposal, saying it would be crazy for two global superpowers to directly test their weapons against each other over another country. Well, he's not wrong. At a news conference on Thursday, Zelensky asked a group of reporters, quote, do you think he is a sane person? End quote. He later registered his disapproval in a statement on X, saying, quote, people are dying and Putin thinks it's interesting, dumbass, end quote. Okay. Ridiculous challenges to the West aside, Putin also reiterated threats against Ukraine and their leaders during his address. on Thursday, suggesting Keeves' decision-making centers were viable military targets. Then, on

Friday, his forces unleashed a barrage of ballistic missiles on Keeve during rush hour, killing at least one person, injuring more than a dozen and damaging six embassies in other buildings across the Ukrainian capital. In a statement, officials with the European Union condemned the assault, saying, quote, this is another barbaric attack by Russia on civilian targets that shows no willingness for peace, end quote. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Friday, 20 December. Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And now, as you may already be aware, well, it's Friday.

And of course, every Friday evening at 10 p.m. on the first TV, we launch a brand spanking new episode of our much-loved weekend show, the PDB situation, report. This week's guests include the most excellent Jonathan Shanzer, the executive director of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, and the always knowledgeable and entertaining Ryan Macbeth. We're talking Gaza ceasefire, Syria, a look back at the past year of conflict in Ukraine, and all things drone-related. It's, frankly, a barn burner of an episode. And as always, you can find this weekend's Situation Report, as well as our past episodes on our YouTube channel. that at President's Daily Brief, and of course, on all podcast platforms.

I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back over the weekend with the PDB Situation Report. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool. Ryan Reynolds here from MintMobil, the message for everyone paying big wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop. With Mint, you can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying, no judgments, but that's weird. Okay, one judgment. Anyway, give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch.

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