The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | February 15th, 2024: Russia's Space-Based Nuclear Ambitions & US Considers Releasing Thousands Of Detained Migrants

Episode Date: February 15, 2024

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:     A senior Republican lawmaker caused quite a stir in Washington on Wednesday after he warned of a serious national security threat involving Russian ambitions for a space-based nuclear weapon. We’ll discuss a plan from U.S. immigration officials to release thousands of detained migrants in order to cover a severe budget shortfall. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin.     Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Start your day off right with a delicious cup of American-made Blackout Coffee, family-owned, premium coffee, fresh-roasted, and listen to this, shipped out within 48 hours of roasting. Go to blackout coffee.com, promo code PDB, for 20% off your first purchase. It's Thursday, 15 February. Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. First, a senior Republican lawmaker caused what technically is referred to as a kerfuffle in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, after he warned of a serious national security threat involving Russian ambitions for a space-based nuclear weapon. Also, we'll discuss a plan from U.S. immigration officials to release thousands of detained migrants in order to cover a severe budget shortfall. But first, our afternoon spotlight. Following closed-door briefings from intelligence officials on Capitol Hill last month,

Republican Representative Mike Turner of Ohio, he's the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, cryptically warned on Wednesday that his committee had received, quote, information concerning a serious national security threat, end quote. His remarks set off a firestorm of speculation, as you might imagine, in the nation's capital, particularly after Turner made the unusual move to publicly request that the Biden administration de-classify the information to allow for an open debate on how to address the situation. He invited members of Congress to his committee's secure space on Capitol Hill, saying the matter involved, quote, destabilizing foreign military capability that should be known

by all congressional policymakers, end quote. Later on Wednesday, media reports emerged that the threat in question centered around Russian plans to develop a nuclear weapon in space that would be used to target satellites. It's a laser beam. The weapons program is still under development and not yet in orbit, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. I'm going to call it the Alan Parsons Project. Anonymous officials stressed, so I'm sorry about that. Yeah, you know what, if you can't make a Dr. Evil reference now, when can you? Anonymous officials stressed that the weapon is not one aimed at attacking humans and that its development status did not constitute an imminent emergency

that should cause alarm among the public or U.S. allies. Come on, everybody, relax. It's just a Russian space-based nuclear weapon, nothing to fret about. Still, select lawmakers in both the House and Senate, who were reportedly briefed on the situation weeks ago, said they are taking the potential threat seriously. Both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill, along with members of the Biden administration,

appeared completely caught off guard by Representative Turner's public remarks on Wednesday, and scrambled to address the still-classified information as best they could and quell concerns from an anxious public. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday that he was aware of the intelligence but added, quote, We just want to assure everyone steady hands are at the wheel. Oh, whose are those? We're working on it and there's no need for alarm, end quote.

In a joint statement, Democrat Senator Mark Warner and Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who lead the Senate Intelligence Committee, said their committee, quote, has the intelligence in question and has been rigorously tracking this issue from the start. They stressed that they continue to take this matter seriously, that's nice, and are discussing an appropriate response with the administration. When it comes to declassification, however, the pair warned about the risk of, quote, potentially disclosing sources and methods that may be key to preserving a range of options for U.S. action, end quote. Now, White House National

Security Advisor Jake Sullivan expressed surprise that Turner had publicly remarked on the intelligence report, particularly since he was already set to brief members of Congress on the matter on Thursday. Sullivan told reporters on Wednesday, quote, we scheduled a briefing for the House members of the gang of eight tomorrow. That's been on the books. So, he said, I'm a bit surprised that Congressman Turner came out publicly today in advance of a meeting on the books for me to go sit with him alongside our intelligence and defense professionals tomorrow." There is speculation that Turner's warning was actually a calculated political move. You never see that in Washington regarding funding for the war in Ukraine.

A foreign aid package that includes $60 billion in assistance to Ukraine was sent to the House earlier this week, but Republican leadership said they will not bring the package to the floor for a vote. Turner, who publicly supports funding for Ukraine, may have been trying to pressure colleagues to continue to give the country the U.S.'s full support as they work to repel Putin's invasion. It also came as Congress was set to debate reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, also known as FISA, a highly controversial aspect of the U.S.'s surveillance program. Amid the confusion on Wednesday, House Speaker Johnson said he was delaying

any votes on FISA to give members more time to find common ground on the issue. Now, frankly, if politicians in D.C. can find common ground on anything at this point, well, that would be cause for declaring a national holiday. Coming up after the break, we'll discuss a plan from U.S. immigration officials to release thousands of detained migrants in order to cover a severe budget shortfall. I'll be right back. Kayak gets my flight, hotel, and rental car right, so I can tune out travel advice that's just plain wrong.

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It looks like Congress's failure to pass a border bill is going to start having some real-world effects in the short term that could intensify an already tough situation at the U.S. southern border. According to senior officials, with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, that's referred to as ICE, the agency is now looking for ways to deal with a looming $700 million budget shortfall. That's quite a hole in the books. The largest projected shortfall the agency has faced in recent memory. One of the ways the agency is considering saving money is by slashing detention capacity,

and that's a move that would lead to a mass release of immigrants. According to the Washington Post, which first reported the story, the bill's collapse prompted ICE officials to circulate an internal proposal to slash costs by cutting detentions from $38,000 to $22,000. Without sufficient funding, officials could be forced to release between 4,000 and 6,000 migrants from long-term immigration detention centers. While the proposal would see some of those migrants deported back to their home countries, many would simply be released into the U.S. The supplemental bill that was rejected this month would have covered the shortfall, which had $7.6 billion earmarked for ICE overall, including $2.6 billion for deportation flights, and $3.2 billion for detention capacity, money that would have boosted capacity by thousands of beds per day. Over in the U.S. House of Representatives, House Speaker Mike Johnson is still hoping to attach

border security to the foreign aid legislation that passed the Senate this week, insisting that he won't bring the $95 billion package to the floor without border considerations. In recent days, Speaker Johnson has been demanding a one-on-one meeting with President Biden to find a way forward to provide aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and also border security. However, those requests have thus far been denied, with White House press secretary, Karin Jean-Pierre asking reporters, what is there to negotiate? Then that, in political circles, is what we call grandstanding. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Thursday, 15 February.

If you have any questions or comments, please 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.