The President's Daily Brief - September 18th, 2024: Hezbollah’s Exploding Beepers, Secret Service Failures, & Russian Subs Near Alaska

Episode Date: September 18, 2024

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: Scores of Hezbollah terrorists were killed or wounded yesterday when their pagers suddenly exploded across Lebanon and Syria. We’ll break down what seems to be a highly sophisticated attack on the militant group. As the nation continues to reel from the latest attempt on President Trump's life, Senator Josh Hawley has released a report outlining whistleblower allegations regarding Secret Service failures during the Butler, Pennsylvania attack two months ago. Plus, the U.S. Coast Guard reports that Russian naval vessels, including two submarines, entered U.S. waters off Alaska—highlighting Russia's increased naval activity near U.S. territory. And in today's Back of the Brief, the final chapter in a story we've been following: The U.S. military has officially completed its withdrawal from Niger, marking the end of U.S. troop presence in the country. 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. Email: [e-mail] 🏅 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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It's Wednesday, 18 September. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. Scores of Hezbollah terrorists were killed and wounded yesterday when their pagers, remember a pager, suddenly exploded across Lebanon and Syria. We've got the details on what appears to be a highly sophisticated attack on the Iranian-backed organization.

Later in the show, as the nation continues to process the latest attempt on President Trump's life, Senator Josh Hawley has released a report outlining whistleblower allegations regarding Secret Service failures during the Butler, Pennsylvania attack two months ago. Plus, the U.S. Coast Guard reports that Russian naval vessels, including two submarines, entered U.S. waters off Alaska, highlighting Russia's growing naval activity near U.S. territory. And in today's back of the brief, the final chapter in a story we've been following here, here on the PDB, the U.S. military has officially completed its withdrawal from Niger, marking the end of the U.S. troop presence in the country. And yes, if you're wondering,

Russian troops have been arriving to fill the void left by the U.S. military's departure. But first, today's PDB spotlight. I want to begin in Lebanon, where thousands of pagers, carried by Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants simultaneously exploded across the country Tuesday afternoon in what appears to be an unprecedented covert attack on the terror group by Israel. The blasts from the detonated pagers killed at least nine people and wounded nearly 3,000 others,

including many of Hezbollah's fighters, as well as Iran's envoy to Beirut. Hezbollah confirmed that at least eight of the dead were operatives of the terror outfit, And then you ask yourself, why was the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon carrying a pager that was bought and supplied by Hezbollah? Huh. It was a chaotic scene, as some of the explosions occurred in local shops and unbustling streets in areas where Hezbollah has a heavy presence. Authorities said the country's hospitals have been overwhelmed and stressed that death and injury figures will likely rise,

according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. Officials said at least 200 of the injured. are in critical condition regarding the Iranian envoy, state media and Tehran said he only suffered superficial wounds. The affected pagers were apparently part of a new shipment that Hezbollah purchased several months ago and received in recent days that were then distributed to their fighters throughout the country. The explosions reportedly crippled much of Hezbollah's military command and control systems. Hezbollah, Iran and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for the attack. with Hezbollah vowing to retaliate.

The Israeli military declined to comment on the incident but said they have placed the IDF on high alert for a possible response from Hezbollah. A spokesman for the U.S. State Department said the Biden administration was not informed of the operation, though the officials stopped short of confirming Israel's involvement. While Israel is staying quiet, a source familiar with the situation told Axios

that the covert operation was approved earlier this week by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and senior members of his cabinet. It followed a decision by the Israeli Security Cabinet on Tuesday to update the goals of the war to include the safe return of tens of thousands of displaced Israelis to the northern border, a signal that leaders in Jerusalem are shifting their focus from Gaza to Lebanon. The source, said Tuesday's operation, is intended to degrade the terrorist. outfit, which has been attacking across Israel's northern border since the war in Gaza began, without triggering a wider regional escalation. The operation also reportedly seeks to undermine Hezbollah's confidence and create an environment, paranoia, and fear among their militant fighters. Hezbollah described

the pager attack as the most serious security breach of their organization yet. Ronda Slim, a director at the Middle East Institute think tank, told the Wall Street Journal, quote, it sends a significant message to Hezbollah leadership that we can get you anywhere. Ironically, reports indicate that the pages were apparently part of Hasbullah's new strategy to avoid detection by Israel, according to our report from CNN. The Terror Outfits Leadership had recently instructed their fighters to go, quote, low-tech and ditch their smartphones, or anything else connected to the Internet in an attempt to prevent further assassinations of their leadership by Israel.

They've already lost more than 400 Hezbollah militants in Israeli strikes since the fighting began last October. Speculation has been widespread as to how Israel allegedly pulled off this unprecedented covert strike. While there remains no official confirmation, the New York Times reported late Tuesday, citing unnamed sources briefed on the operation, that Israel hid explosive material inside a new batch of pagers ordered by Hezbollah from the Taiwanese company Gold Apollo. The pages were reportedly tampered with sometime before they arrived in Lebanon. Israel allegedly implanted the explosive material next to the pager's battery with a switch that could be detonated remotely. At roughly 3.30 p.m. in Lebanon on Tuesday,

a message was reportedly sent to the pagers that appeared to come from Herzbullah leadership. which activated the explosive material. It comes at a time of increasing tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. They've been exchanging near daily rocket fire ever since Hezbollah attacked Israel in the wake of 7 October, announcing their support for Hamas. Earlier on Tuesday, officials with Shimbet, Israel's internal security service, said that they had thwarted a Hezbollah assassination plot against a former senior defense official. Now, like the swallows returning to Capistrano, stand by for international condemnation of Israel in the wake of this pager attack.

Mind you, the operation, regardless of who was responsible, was predicated on the fact that the targeted shipment of pagers was obtained by Hezbollah for distribution to Hezbollah personnel. There will undoubtedly be folks who will point out that the operation wasn't targeted and enough that there was no way to control exactly where the pages would be and who would be near them. Now, that's true and worth consideration. I suppose you could argue the same thing regarding the thousands of unguided rockets that Hezbollah has launched towards Israeli civilian centers since the Khamas attacks on 7 October kicked off this conflict. There will be condemnation from those who say that Israel's actions are outside the norms of accepted warfare conduct.

Again, okay, that's a valid argument worth debating. The problem with arguing that Israel needs to adhere to international norms of warfare is that they aren't fighting a normal, traditional war. They're surrounded by Iranian-backed proxies that share Iran's goal of removing Israel from the map, and they don't engage in anything remotely resembling some international code of conduct for warfare. Point being, Israel faces an existential threat from a group of terrorist organizations. The West's opinion or view on what's fair, prim, and proper in warfare doesn't really apply, nor, frankly, does it matter. Conflict is horses for courses. You deal with the enemy you get in the manner that may best achieve your goals. Nevertheless, stand by for condemnation

from the media and the international community. All right, coming up next, as the nation processes the latest attempt on President Trump's life, Senator Josh Hawley releases a report on secret service failures. Plus, Russian submarines enter U.S. waters off Alaska. I'll have those stories when we come back. USAA knows dynamic duos can save the day, like superheroes and sidekicks or auto and home insurance. With USAA, you can bundle your auto and home and save up to 10%. Tap the banner to learn more and get a quote at usa.com slash bundle. Restrictions apply.

Welcome back to the PDB. Shifting our focus back stateside, as the fallout continues from the second assassination attempt on former President Trump on Sunday, we're learning more about the Secret Service failures that led to the first attempt on Trump's life in July. Republican Senator Josh Hawley released a comprehensive report on Monday, detailing the failures of the Secret Service in connection to the shooting at Butler, Pennsylvania, which includes testimony from whistleblowers that is, quote, highly damaging to the credibility of the agency, according to Fox News. Holly's report uncovered a, quote, compounding pattern of negligence,

sloppiness, and gross incompetence that goes back years. Okay, so it's not a glowing report. Shortly after the July 13th shooting, Hawley opened a tip line for Secret Service agents to facilitate disclosures about what went wrong inside the agency. Notably, whistleblowers reportedly shared that the Secret Services Counter Surveillance Division, which is charged with conducting threat assessments of event sites, not only failed to evaluate the site and butler,

but weren't even present on the day of the rally. Other Secret Service intelligence units, whom Whistleblowers said could have mitigated the communications breakdown between Secret Service and local police, were also reportedly absent from the event. event. But that's just apparently the tip of the iceberg. The report revealed that Secret Service personnel refused multiple offers from local law enforcement to deploy drones to surveil the event's site. As you may recall, the shooter flew his own drone to scope out the rally in the

hours before he opened fire, hitting Trump in the ear, of course, killing one rally attendee and critically injuring two others. Disturbingly, another whistleblower alleges that the the Secret Services Office of Protective Operations manpower expressly told agents in charge of Raleigh security to not bother asking for additional resources as they would be denied. Furthermore, the report claims that the Secret Service agent in charge of Trump's detail in Butler was widely known inside the agency to be incompetent, allegedly failing a key examination during their training at the agency. The report states, quote, incompetence led to the placement of items like flags around the Butler's stage and catwalk, of course, impairing

visibility. Additionally, whistleblowers said that supplemental department of Homeland Security personnel were used to fill in shortages of Secret Service personnel at the rally. The DHS agents, some of whom were pulled off child exploitation cases, received rushed training before the rally in the form of a two-hour webinar. Ooh, a webinar. Well, that'll make you an expert in no time. The laundry list of findings is too extensive to fully cover, but also includes claims that the hospital where Trump was taken following the shooting was, quote, poorly secured, and the hospital site agent could not answer basic questions about site security. Along with the Secret Service, the report is particularly damning for the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, who Polly accuses of

attempting to evade accountability by slow-walking congressional investigations and actively misleading the American people. He said he's written seven letters so far to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe demanding answers to basic questions, but to date has received, quote, virtually no answers. The report states, quote, sources with direct knowledge of Secret Service's own internal investigation have alleged to Senator Hawley that the Department of Homeland Security is leaning on Secret Service not to comply with documents. requests from Congress. All right, let's be fair. If even half of the reporting is accurate, and based on what we saw on 13 July and in the aftermath, half is probably low-balling it,

this represents a massive failure on numerous levels. And the important question is, what's being done right now to correct the situation? All right, moving on to the latest Russian aggression. about that. The U.S. Coast Guard recently tracked a group of Russian naval vessels, including two submarines, crossing into the U.S. waters off Alaska. Now, the Russian vessels, which moved into the U.S. exclusive economic zone, were reportedly navigating to avoid sea ice. Now, that's a maneuver, and that's important to note, it's a maneuver allowed under international maritime law. But the incident does add to a growing list of Russian military activities near U.S. and territories, raising concerns, of course, over Moscow's increasing military presence.

During the latest encounter on Monday, the U.S. Coast Guard, Qatar, Stratton, observed the Russian ships and submarines crossing the maritime boundary approximately 60 miles northwest to Point Hope, Alaska. Following the incident, Rear Admiral Megan Dean emphasized the Coast Guard's commitment to patrolling maritime borders, such as the Bering Sea, the Bering Strait, and the Chukchee Sea. Rear Admiral Dean stated, quote, Our mission is to ensure there are no disruptions to U.S. sovereign interests. The Straton's Patrol is part of Operation Frontier Sentinel, and that's an initiative to maintain a strong U.S. presence in waters where strategic competitors operate.

The pattern of Russian military activity extends beyond U.S. waters. In Europe, NATO allies are on high alert. Last Friday, the U.K. Ministry of Defense announced that the Royal Navy's HMS Iron Duke shadowed four Russian naval vessels, including the Kilo-class submarine Novoralizek, as they traversed the English Channel. This six-day operation involved close coordination with NATO partners, emphasizing the growing international concern over Russia's expanding military footprint. Once the Russian vessels left UK waters, the HMS Iron Duke handed off monitoring responsibilities to the French Navy. The HMS Iron Duke subsequently returned to the

turn to the North Sea to monitor another group of Russian ships. In a separate operation, the RAF deployed typhoon jets to intercept two Russian bombers operating near U.K. airspace on September 11th. Although the bombers didn't enter British sovereign airspace, the typhoons successfully escorted them out of what's called the UK's flight information region. Now, Russia's increased military activity coincides with rising tensions between Moscow, and Britain. Russia accused six British diplomats of espionage last week and revoked their diplomatic status referred to as being PNGed. This decision came as Western leaders debated whether to permit Ukraine to strike Russian military targets using long-range Western weapons, particularly British-made

storm shadow missiles. The espionage accusations follow former Russian president and Kremlin mouthpiece Dmitri Medvedevs making incendiary comments. threatening to, quote, sink Britain with Russia's hypersonic missiles, claiming that the island was likely to, quote, sink in the next few years. What is up with Medvedev? Look, he really needs to level out his medications. Medvedev has a habit of whipping out his nuclear saber and rattling it where it's not wanted. The rhetoric, primarily driven by the ongoing war in Ukraine,

underscores the escalating strain between Russia and NATO allies. All right, coming up in the back of the brief, the final chapter ends in the U.S. military presence in Niger, as U.S. troops complete their exit from the West African nation. I'll be right back. It's Mushrooms with me, Maddie Matheson. You know what's better than thinking about dinner too hard? Not. Stop that. And just choose mushrooms.

Five minutes. Done. Dinner's that easy and you feel like a genius. It's not magic. It's mushrooms. Stop stressing at mushroomcouncil.com. In today's back of the brief, the U.S. military has officially completed its withdrawal from Niger, following the ruling Hunta's demand in April for nearly 1,000 U.S. personnel to leave the country.

The development marks a significant setback for Washington, which relied on Niger as a partner in combating terrorism in the Sahel region of Africa. The U.S. presence in Niger, as we've been tracking on the PDB, had been a critical part of counterterrorism efforts against groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. U.S. troops trained Nigerian forces and maintained military bases in the region, but following a coup in Niger last year, the country's ruling Hunter and the agreement allowing U.S. troops to remain, forcing the U.S. obviously to begin its withdrawal.

Now, the U.S. withdrawal occurred in phases, with troops and assets departing from Air Base 101 in the capital city of Niamah in July and Air Base 201 in Agadez in August. By 15 September, the U.S. Africa Command coordination element, including a two-star general and staff, had left the country, just ahead of the ruling Hunt's mid-September deadline. According to the Pentagon, only a few personnel remain in the country to guard the U.S. Embassy in the Army.

This departure marks a significant shift for U.S. counterterrorism operations in the region, particularly as Niger has pivoted away from West. and sought security support from Russia. Huh, a military hunter turning to Russia, who would have thought? Russian military trainers have already arrived in Niger to bolster its air defenses, signaling a new chapter in the region's security dynamics. With the loss of the U.S. foothold in Niger, Washington is facing challenges to find alternative strategies for counterterrorism operations in West Africa. The process is slow, as you might imagine, and U.S. officials are concerned over the diminishing intelligence on growing shahadi insurgencies,

including those looking to expand into neighboring Benin and Togo. And that, my friends, is the president's daily brief for Wednesday, 18th September. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. The entire PDB team loves to get your emails and your faxes and your beeper messages and your Western Union telegram. Keep them coming. Of course, to listen to the show ad free, well, become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief

by visiting pdbpremium.com, but you probably already knew that. I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool.