The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | July 16th, 2024: Security Failures Mount In Assassination Attempt Aftermath & Senior North Korean Diplomat Defects

Episode Date: July 16, 2024

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:    We'll dig into the timeline of events that proceeded the shocking assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, as we learn that authorities spotted the shooter nearly 30 minutes before he opened fire. The little dictator of North Korea has suffered a major diplomatic embarrassment, as reports emerge that a senior official of the hermit kingdom stationed in Cuba has defected to the South. 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] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. First up, we'll dig into the timeline of events that preceded the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, as we learned that authorities, in part, due to the alertness of event attendees, spotted the shooter nearly 30 minutes before he opened fire. Also, Kim Jong-un, the despotic dictator of North Korea, has suffered a major diplomatic embarrassment as reports emerged that a senior official of the Hermit Kingdom stationed in Cuba has defected to the south. But first, our afternoon spotlight.

As the dust settles from the assassination attempt on former President Trump, a clearer picture is coming into focus regarding the various security breakdowns that allowed Thomas Matthew Crooks to carry out his attack. Now, to remind ourselves of just how bad this appears to be, the shooter, Crooks, a 20-year-old with no military training, was able to scale a building located approximately 150 yards from the rally stage, and it's a building inside which were local Butler County police personnel, apparently using the building as a staging area at a major political rally crawling with local

law enforcement and, of course, surrounded by secret service personnel and counter-sniper teams. And then Crokes managed to get into a position to nearly kill a former president, despite being spotted multiple times, reportedly up to 30 minutes before the shooting began. Our friends at the New York Post have published, probably the most comprehensive timeline yet of the events of that fateful day, which wounded Trump, of course, and two other rallygoers, and tragically killed Corey Comparatore, a former fire chief in Butler County. As the post reports, three local police snipers were stationed inside the building and using it as a staging area to monitor the crowd. Earlier in the day, one of these snipers

reportedly spotted crooks scoping out the building and carrying a rangefinder, that's what we call a clue. Crooks briefly disappeared from the site before returning with a backpack. Now, the officer was able to snap a photograph of the shooter roughly 26 minutes before the shooting, and he sent it to his command, though it's unclear what steps were taken next, apparently none. What we do know, however, is that Crooks managed to use an air conditioning unit to scale the roof, despite his suspicious activity. Now, an officer on the ground had reportedly also spotted Crooks. Did anybody not see the sniper, sometime before the member of the sniper team took that picture, kicking off a brief but unsuccessful search of the area. It's not clear if the Secret Service was notified of the potential

threat, but the timeline suggests Crooks was on the roof for a considerable amount of time before shooting. This timeline shows that there were, obviously, major communications breakdowns between the Butler County Police and Secret Service, and the Secret Service at these events has primacy. and for that statement, I award myself today's PDB statement of the obvious award. Chilling video taken at the rally captures the last two minutes before crooks began firing, and as the post notes, the footage will likely go down as a low point for the Secret Service. In the video, rallygoers who spotted crooks on the roof can be seen and heard repeatedly trying to warn law enforcement of the imminent threat.

Roughly 120 seconds pass from when rallygoers first saw, spot Crooks and the shooting. Early in the footage, after rallygoers identify Crooks or at least spot him and alert the authorities, a police officer can be seen making his way to the building that Crooks was perched on top of. At this point in the footage, more onlookers start to shout about the suspicious man. Roughly 22 seconds into the video, as the scene increasingly drew the attention of the crowd, the climate on the ground became more urgent and tense. At the 34-second mark of the video, crooks can be seen adjusting his position to rest on his stomach, prompting a bystander to shout,

Officer. Another woman is heard shouting for law enforcement saying, quote, come over here, he's on the roof. He's flat, right here. Another clue. Another minute passes as the crowd continues to try to alert authorities, and Trump continues delivering his speech. At one minute 55 seconds into the video, a man has heard screaming, quote, he's got a gun. Just six seconds later, shots begin to ring out as crooks unleashes on Trump and the crowd. As we discussed this morning on the PDB, the Secret Service is now rightfully under intense scrutiny, with many questioning the glaring security failures here and whether Secret Service leadership

provided Trump's detail with the adequate resources necessary to secure an event like this. The rooftop was reportedly identified as a major security vulnerability days before the rally, but no personnel were posted on the rooftop. And Secret Service officials have said, well, it was under the jurisdiction of local law enforcement. This, of course, shows a command and control failure. The Secret Service may have tasked local law enforcement with covering that particular area, but the Secret Service has primacy and should have reviewed and adjusted local law enforcement resource deployment plans. That is basic procedure.

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheedell, who we discussed in depth on this morning's PDB, has rejected calls to resign over the ordeal, but said she will fully cooperate with any and all investigations. Oh, will you? As to why there were no Secret Service snipers on the roof in question, Cheathel has given a, diplomatically speaking, a rather bizarre explanation. In an interview with ABC News on Tuesday, Cheatel said, quote, that building in particular has a sloped roof at its highest point,

and so, you know, there's a safety factor that would be considered there that we wouldn't want to put somebody up on a sloped route. And so, you know, the decision was made to secure the building from inside, end quote. Now, I've been around a long time, and I've worked in operations, in security, in intelligence gathering, and risk and threat mitigation for over four decades. Cheetah's statement, her sloped roof explanation, is the single most dumb-ass thing I've ever heard come out of the mouth of a security professional in my entire career. Now, Chito has also said that the buck stops with her. That's not an original thought, to be sure, but I think she's confused over what it means. Because if the buck did actually stop with her,

well, she would have already submitted her resignation letter. Let's hope she's typing it up currently. Coming up after the break, in a major blow to Kim Jong-un, a senior North Korean diplomat stationed in Cuba has defected to the south. 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. Bro, Skycoin, way better than points. Never fly during a Scorpio full moon.

Just tell the manager you'll sue. Instant room upgrade. Stop taking bad travel advice. Start comparing hundreds of sites with kayak, and get your trip right. Kayak, got that right. Welcome back to the afternoon, bulletin. In a move that both embarrasses and potentially undermines Kim Jong-un's leadership,

a senior North Korean diplomat stationed in Cuba as defected to South Korea. This marks the highest ranking defection since 2016 signaling a significant loss for the North's elite. Rie Il-Que, a North Korean counselor of political affairs, defected to South Korea with his family, citing disillusionment with the regime, unfair treatment, and denied medical care. as reasons for his departure. His health concerns, worsened by Cuba's limited medical resources due to international sanctions, led him to seek treatment in Mexico. That was a request that was rejected by North Korean authorities. This denial solidified, apparently, his decision to defect, and he subsequently fled Cuba by plane with his family. Re's defection occurred in November

prior to the establishment of diplomatic ties between South Korea and Cuba in February of this year. His departure is seen as a political blow to North Korea, particularly since Rhee had been actively working to prevent Cuba from opening diplomatic relations with South Korea. Kim Jong-un previously commended Rhee for his role in negotiations with Panama regarding the release of a detained North Korean ship back in 2013. North Korea has not yet responded to this announcement, but has historically accused South Korea of coercing its citizens into defecting. High-profile defections have often been met with harsh rhetoric from Pyongyang branding defectors as traitors or criminals. Experts believe that high-profile defections like Rees could severely impact Kim's regime

by spreading discontent among North Korean diplomats and officials abroad. Although Kim maintains a firm grip on power, he faces persistent economic challenges, the influence of South Korean culture and growing U.S. South Korean military collaboration. In 2023, South Korea saw an increase in high-level defections from North Korea with about 10 elite members resettling. This rise is attributed to North Korea's economic difficulties and stricter state controls exasperated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The president of South Korea has promised better financial support and tax incentives for companies that hire defectors, emphasizing the government's commitment to aiding those who flee North Korea. Now, reiss defection not only exposes the vulnerabilities within North Korea's diplomatic corps,

but also reflects broader discontent with the regime's stringent policies and harsh international isolation. All while Kim Jong-un and his family and his closest advisors, well, they continue living the thug life. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Tuesday, 16 July. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And don't forget to listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of the president's daily brief by visiting PDB Premium.com. Couldn't be easier. I'm Mike Baker.

I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool.