The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | March 13th, 2024: Americans Abandoned In Haiti & The Trump-Biden Rematch

Episode Date: March 13, 2024

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:     We return to the spiraling situation in Haiti, where Americans remain stranded as the Biden administration works to support Haitian-led efforts to secure a peaceful transition of power following the prime minister’s resignation. Following another round of primaries Tuesday night, former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden both clinched their party’s nomination for the presidency, setting up a high stakes rematch between the pair this November. 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

Choice Hotels gets you more of what you value. Comfort in. It's calling your name. Save on the stay. Oh, and free waffles are yours to claim. Book direct at Soyshotels.com. It's Wednesday, 13 March. Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin.

Well, all right, it's actually the late afternoon bulletin, thanks to some delayed flights during the course of today. I'm Mike Baker. Your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. First, we return to the increasingly chaotic and dangerous situation in Haiti, where Americans remain stranded as the Biden administration works to support Haitian-led efforts to secure a peaceful transition of power following the prime minister's resignation. Also, following another round of primaries Tuesday night, former President Trump and President Biden,

both clinched their party's nomination for the presidency. Congratulations, fellas. That was quite the surprise. setting up a rematch between the pair this November, a rematch that the majority of voters, at least according to numerous surveys, say they don't even want. Well, you know, it may not be the contest you want, but it's the contest you're going to get. But first, our afternoon spotlight. I want to return to our ongoing coverage of the chaos in Haiti in the wake of the prime minister's resignation, as America seeks to reestablish order in the capital and U.S. citizens remain stranded on the ground. Since powerful gang leaders plunged the country into anarchy nearly two weeks ago, the situation in Haiti has continued to rapidly deteriorate. As we told you earlier this week on the

BDB, the U.S. evacuated non-essential personnel from the embassy in the Haitian capital of Port of Prince over the weekend while deploying a small military force to bolster security for the remaining embassy staff. Officials with the U.S. Southern Command announced on Wednesday that at the request of the State Department, it's now deployed a U.S. Marine Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team to further enhance U.S. security capabilities at the Embassy in Port-au-Prince and to provide some relief for the current Marine team in place. Officials said the embassy remains open despite the fact that gangs control upwards of 80 percent of the Haitian capital and is focused on supporting Haitian-led efforts to secure a peaceful transition of power.

As we covered Tuesday on the PDB, marooned Haitian-Prauded. Prime Minister Ariel Henri announced from Puerto Rico he will tender his resignation in favor of a transitional governing council that will attempt to bring some stability back to the very troubled nation. The announcement came as U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken held an emergency meeting with Caribbean leaders in Jamaica, where an agreement was reached to set up a transitional council to govern Haiti with the hope that it could eventually pave the way for the first elections in the country since 2016. Additionally, they agreed to plans for a Kenyan-led multinational U.N. security mission to Haiti to help the heavily outnumbered Haitian police force fight off the gangs that have taken

over the country. Now, the only rub there is that the Kenyans have said, fine, we will lead this multinational U.N. security mission, but not until there's a transitional council there in place to govern Haiti. The U.S. will contribute 300 million. to the mission, along with an additional $33 million in humanitarian assistance. Now, aside from the U.S. focus on the embassy, the Biden administration reportedly has no official plans to help rescue other U.S. citizens who were stranded in Haiti due to the unrest. Asked by reporters on Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller admitted that they do not have firm information about the number of U.S. citizens who remain in the country, and that there

are no immediate plans to stage any rescues. Among the stranded, there's a former Marine who served in Vietnam whose family is desperately trying to find a way to extract him from the carnage. The 75-year-old veteran has reportedly taken shelter in a small village on the southwest coast of Haiti, but can't leave the remote area due to gang activity. Republicans in Congress slammed President Joe Biden on Tuesday for failing to evacuate Americans, saying Haiti is just the latest in a long line of incidents where his administration has abandoned citizens living abroad, including in Israel and Afghanistan, of course. One congresswoman decided to take matters into her own hands to protect her constituents. Michigan Representative Lisa McLean reached out to Florida Congressman Corrin Mills to organize

a helicopter rescue operation into Haiti overnight on Tuesday, extracting ten U.S. citizens who were trapped following calls for help by Michigan constituents. McLean said she was motivated to reach out to Mills about the operation after she found out that the U.S. government had no plan to provide assistance. Congressman Mills lashed out at Biden following the rescue, saying his administration has shown a, quote, clear pattern of abandonment when it comes to Americans living in foreign countries. Mills added, quote, this mission reiterates a disturbing reality under President Biden's leadership. American lives are continually jeopardized, end quote. Now, it remains to be seen, the U.S.-backed security mission to Haiti will be able to break the grip that the gangs currently

hold on the country. As some 300 gangs, that's an approximation, tear through the country, burning police stations and releasing thousands of hardened criminals from prisons, daily life in Haiti has ground to a halt, and there are fears that millions could face the threat of famine. Coming up after the break, following another night of primary voting in the U.S., former President Trump and President Biden both clinched their parties not. nomination for the presidency, setting up a rematch between the pair this November. I'll be right back. Picture this. Me, Reese Witherspoon, in London. Ordering fish and chips so often, they might start wrapping me in paper. I'm traveling with my Wells Fargo autograph journey card, so I earn

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And I'm like, yeah, I know. I'm crispy. Did you expect me to whisper? If you want quiet, go eat some soup and reflect. Like, I know I'm a handful. I'm bold, I'm juicy. Throw some pickles and barbecue sauce on me, and baby I'm a whole meal.

And with seven rewards, I'm just $4. Quiet? No. Crispy, saucy, and $4? Very only at 7-11. Valley through 62326 participating stores only while supplies last the app for full terms. Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin.

It's official. Donald Trump and President Biden both clinched their party's nominations last night, meaning 2024 is going to be a sequel of our last election. And I'll leave it up to you as to whether you're a fan of sequels. In a video posted shortly after he won the nomination, former President Trump said,

quote, this was a great day of victory but now we have to get back to work because we have the worst president in the history of the country. Trump went on to say his name is Joe Biden, sometimes referred to as crooked Joe Biden, and he must be defeated, end quote. President Biden also issued a statement after he sealed the Democratic nomination, blasting Trump for writing what he called a, quote, campaign of resentment, revenge, and retribution that threatens the very idea of America, end quote. Now, that's the drum that Democrats constantly beat and will no doubt continue beating throughout the election season, that Trump represents the end of democracy and goodness and light as we know it. The Republicans, on the other hand, will no doubt make the border chaos of the past three years their key election rally call.

Now, here's a bit of U.S. presidential trivia. This isn't the first time. Two nominees have faced off against each other for a second time. America has actually had six presidential rematches throughout its history, and those would include John Adams versus Thomas Jefferson, now as back in 1800, we all remember that, and John Quincy Adams versus Andrew Jackson in 1828. But the last time America saw a rematch was nearly 70 years ago, when Republican President Dwight Eisenhower squared off with Adelaide Stevenson, the Democratic opponent that he had bested in 1952. Eisenhower went on to crush Stevenson by a greater margin than he had

previously in the four years prior, winning all but seven states. However, former President Trump is hoping 2024 is going to be like the election of 1892 when Grover Cleveland defeated Benjamin Harrison, returning Cleveland to the White House for a second non-consecutive term. And for all you Grover Cleveland fans, and I know there are a lot of you out there, as Grover left the White House in 1888, his wife, the lovely Francis, reportedly said, quote, take good care of all the furniture and ornaments in the house. I want to find everything just as it is now when we come back again four years from today, end quote. That Francis was quite the scamp.

And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Wednesday, 13 March. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And be sure to check out our new premium membership at PDB premium.com. Zero ads. Same great taste. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool. This podcast is brought to you by Carvana.

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