The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | March 25th, 2024: The Aftermath Of The Moscow Terror Attack & A Beleaguered Boeing Culls Leadership

Episode Date: March 25, 2024

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:     We’ll discuss the latest regarding the deadly ISIS terrorist attack in Moscow that claimed at least 137 lives, as four suspects appeared in court on Sunday showing clear signs of torture, and Russian officials criticized the U.S. for allegedly failing to pass on concrete intelligence before the attack. The beleaguered American aviation giant Boeing is undergoing a major leadership shakeup less than three months after a panel, known as a door plug, blew off a Boeing Max 9 during an Alaska Airlines flight. 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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It's Monday, 25 March. Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. First, we'll discuss the latest regarding the deadly ISIS terrorist attack in Moscow that claimed at least 137 lives, as four suspects appeared in court on Sunday showing clear signs of torture, and Russian officials criticized the U.S. for allegedly failing to pass on concrete intelligence before the attack. Also, the beleaguered American aviation giant Boeing is undergoing a major leadership shakeup less than three months after a panel known as a door plug blew off a Boeing Max 9 during an Alaska Airlines flight, bringing into sharp focus quality control issues at Boeing's facilities.

But first, our afternoon spotlight. We're beginning to learn more about the suspects involved in the Islamic State Massacre at a concert venue in suburban Moscow on Friday, as Russian officials continue their attempts to spin the narrative somehow suggesting Ukrainian involvement. As we discussed earlier on the PDB, four gunmen entered the Crocus City Hall complex in Moscow on Friday, shooting scores of concert goers before setting fire to the building. As of Monday, at least 137 people have been confirmed dead, including three children, while 182 suffered injuries. Within a few hours of the attack, the Islamic State, or ISIS, had claimed responsibility,

even releasing a video of the attack taken by the gunman. Despite the Islamic State's clear involvement, Russian officials have yet to acknowledge the claim. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said on Monday that it was too early to speculate on who was ultimately behind the attack. Who could it be? and that the Kremlin would wait until their investigation concludes. Pescalv added, it's going to take some time to fabricate evidence pointing to Ukrainian involvement.

All right, fair enough. I fabricated that last quote. Four suspects were subsequently detained near the Ukraine and Belarus border region on Saturday. The four men were charged Sunday in a Russian court with committing an act of terrorism. Russian state media identified the suspects as citizens of the former Soviet Republic of Tajikistan, which shares a border with Afghanistan. It's worth noting that U.S. and other Western intelligence agencies have tied Friday's deadly attack to the ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan, ISIS Khorasan, or known as ISIS K.

As you may recall, during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, that group orchestrated a bombing at Kabul's airport. They killed 13 U.S. military personnel and 170 Afghans. They've carried out a number of attacks in recent times, including against the Taliban, Russian targets, and Iran, and that would include the bombing of the memorial service for a deceased Quds Force commander Kassem Soleimani. U.S. officials had reportedly been warning Moscow for months that the militants were intent on carrying out an attack inside Russia. Now, the four gunmen had clear signs of torture as they arrived in court on Sunday,

severely beaten and covered in bandages. videos of the suspects undergoing brutal interrogation sessions were reportedly leaked online by members of Russia's security forces. In one video, an agent cuts off one of the suspect's ears before stuffing it in his mouth. Another suspect was reportedly tortured with repeated electric shocks. One of the suspects was brought into court in a wheelchair as he slipped in and out of consciousness. Reporters in the courtroom said that it appeared he was missing an eye. The suspects have been remanded into pre-trial detention through May 22nd and faced life in a Russian prison. And by life in prison, I mean they'll be dead as soon as the Russian authorities are finished with interrogations.

Leaders in Russia have continued to claim, without evidence, but that's never stopped them before, that the Islamic State terrorists were being aided by Ukraine and leaders in Kiev, who they claim were going to allow the attackers to cross the border into Ukraine following the massacre. Ukraine officials have called those claims absurd, accusing Putin of exploiting the tragedy for personal political gain. What? U.S. intelligence officials have agreed that the Islamic State bore the sole responsibility for this attack. Now, further complicating matters, the Russian ambassador to the U.S. claimed on Monday that the U.S. did not pass along critical intelligence ahead of the attack, failing to uphold our longstanding duty to war in policy. A U.S. State Department

official and said Saturday that the U.S. government had shared information about a possible attack through the Russian embassy in Washington, D.C. The Russian ambassador, though, said, quote, nothing was passed, no concrete information, nothing was transferred to us. He added, I mean, except for the warnings and information that were passed to us about a possible imminent attack in Moscow, which we admittedly dismissed, other than that, nothing was transferred to us. Okay, all right, the Russian ambassador didn't say that second part. but only because it wasn't in the script that he was given by Putin's office. Given the very public warning that the U.S. issued to American citizens in Moscow just two weeks ago,

there is no way, let me just repeat that, no way that the Russian authorities didn't have advance warning. As we discussed earlier on the PDB, the U.S. Embassy in Russia told American citizens in Moscow in no uncertain terms and very publicly to avoid large gatherings, including protests and concerts, citing a significantly heightened risk of an imminent terrorist attack. Available intel was provided to Putin under the duty to warn protocol, but they didn't act on it. And in fact, Putin dismissed it during a speech on 19 March. Moscow now needs to try and spin the narrative to save face with the Russian population. As we noted earlier, the warning of a potential attack was issued on the same day that the Russian security services thwarted a plan

attack on a Moscow synagogue orchestrated by the same group, Islamic States-Israel-K branch. So, there's no surprise here that Putin will do whatever is required to avoid taking the blame for this attack, that's a given, and also to use the event to both promote his agenda in Ukraine and create further tension with the West. Putin is nothing, if not predictable. Coming up after the break, aviation giant Boeing is moving out their top lead of less than three months after a panel blew off a Boeing Max 9 during an Alaska Airlines flight. It turns out when holes start appearing mid-flight in the sides of your airplanes, well, somebody needs to lose their job.

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That's word play. The company announced Monday, a major leadership shakeup, with the departure of three top executives, including its chief executive, the chairman of the board, and head of the commercial airplanes division, following a series of incidents that have severely damaged the company's reference.

reputation. The most notable departure is from CEO of David Calhoun, who's been the company's chief executive since 2020. He'll be stepping down at the end of 2024. In addition, Stan Deal, the head of the division that makes planes for commercial customers, well, he'll retire immediately, and the company's chairman, Larry Kellner, will not seek re-election at the upcoming shareholder meeting. And that's as close as you get nowadays to a total house cleaning in the C-suite. As we've been reporting here at the PDB, the management shakeup comes in the wake of the Alaska Airlines flight that suffered a blowout just minutes after takeoff from Portland, Oregon. It was later determined that the blowout was caused when a panel, known as a door plug,

became detached from the Max 9 jet. Apparently the jet left the factory without the door plug being bolted down. Yeah, as long as they got most of the bolts done. Earlier this month, the Federal Aviation Administration announced that every Boeing 7th 37 Max 9 jet with a door plug would remain grounded for the time being. The FAA reported that a six-week audit of Boeing found multiple instances where the company allegedly failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements. The agency gave Boeing 90 days to address its issues.

In a letter to employees, Calhoun called the Alaska Airlines flight accident a watershed moment for Boeing. He said that the company would continue to respond to the accident with humility. and complete transparency, and continue a, quote, total commitment to safety and quality at every level of the company. The Justice Department has also reportedly launched a criminal investigation into the Alaska Air incident and has contacted some passengers and crew, including pilots and flight attendants, who were on that January 5 flight. Most recently, roughly 50 people were injured after a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, operated by Chilean-based Latam Airlines,

lines experienced what the airline described as a, quote, technical incident during a flight from Sydney, Australia to Santiago, Chile. According to reports, some passengers and crew on board were thrown into the roof of the plane due to a sudden and violent drop in altitude. Yeah, that seems to qualify as a technical incident. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Monday, 25 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 PDBpremium.com. We deliver all the same news and analysis, along with exclusive content, and it's 100% ad-free. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.

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