The President's Daily Brief - September 30th, 2022. Putin to Claim His Currently Occupied Territory in Ukraine as a Permanent Part of Russia.

Episode Date: September 30, 2022

It’s September 30th. You’re listening to the President’s Daily Brief. Your morning intel starts now. ------ It’s Friday and we’ve got a Big Five Update. Five critical updates on stories we��ve covered previously that are shaping America — and the world. First, some big developments in our War of Attrition. Vladimir Putin is annexing land in Ukraine, and that means hopes for peace are growing very dim.   Second, prescription drug makers in Europe are warning that they will likely end production because of electricity prices. Third, insurance rates for electric vehicles are going up, in part because those cars tend to start on fire more often than gas-fueled cars. Fourth, Joe Biden’s student debt forgiveness plan is in trouble, I’ll share why. And finally, some good news for both kids and adults who put down their phones and get outside to exercise. Plus, we’ve got a listener question about finding common ground with folks who believe in Climate Change. ------ Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of the President's Daily Brief. Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's September 30th. You're listening to the President's Daily Brief. I'm your host and former CIA Officer Brian Dean Wright. Your morning intel starts now. It's Friday and we've got a big five update, five critical updates on stories we've covered previously that are shaping America and the world. First, some big developments in our war of attrition. Vladimir Putin is annexing land in Ukraine, and that means that hopes for peace are growing very dim. Second, prescription drug makers in Europe warning that they will likely have to end production because of electricity prices. Third, insurance rates for electric vehicles are going up, in part because those cars tend to start on fire far more often than gas-fueled cars. Fourth, Joe Biden's student debt forgiveness plan

is in big trouble. I'll share why. And finally, some good news for both kids and adults who put down their phones and get outside to exercise. Plus, we've got a listener question about finding common ground with folks who believe in climate change. But first, let's get to our Big Five update. We're kicking off the podcast this morning with news about a big day in the war of attrition, which of course is the battle between Russia, Ukraine, and the West. Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that the areas of Ukraine that he and his troops have seized, those areas in the Far East that already share a border with Russia, while those are now formerly part of the Russian Federation.

Putin is set to give a big speech in Moscow about this news, which will peel off about 15% of Ukraine's territory and permanently make it part of Russia. Or should I say, that is what Putin would like for you to believe, because nobody else in the world will probably recognize his claims. Governments from Washington, D.C., capitals around Europe, none of them are recognizing Putin's declaration, and almost certainly no other nations will either. Although some people in these eastern areas of Ukraine will likely embrace Moscow. And that's because this area is actually pretty close to Russia in terms of its culture, its economy, and its language. Now, the significance of Putin's announcement is pretty big because it lowers the chances of peace. And why is that? Well, Moscow

will now claim that the land isn't just a foreign territory or some distant ally, but rather an integral part of the Russian homeland. And Russian nationalist, the Russian nationalist, aren't going to want to just give away any of Mother Russia and a peace deal, even though they just stole it. Now, Putin may even move some of his nuclear weapons to these areas as a show of force, because if he can't hold this new ground with troops, well, then those nukes might just do it for him. And that brings up another very important development. We continue to get very credible reporting that a notable number of Russian men continue to leave the country, all to avoid military service. I'm seeing border data from Turkey, Finland, Norway, Georgia, Kazakhstan, all showing a pretty

dramatic increase in the number of Russian men leaving that country. In fact, Putin himself is acknowledging that he's facing mobilization troubles. At a press conference yesterday, here's how the Russian president described the situation. Quote, in the course of this mobilization, many questions are coming up and all mistakes must be corrected. For example, I'm thinking of fathers who have many children, or people suffering from chronic diseases, or those who are already past conscription age. Now, interestingly, some of Russia's neighbors aren't exactly interested in welcoming these men or their families who are trying to flee. The country of Poland, for example, is sending these people back, telling them to create opposition

to Putin and take him out of power. In Finland, the government there has announced that they're building a border fence to keep Russians out, about 225 miles of fencing at a cost of a couple hundred million dollars. It should take two to three years to build, or so they think. That's according to a press release from the Finnish border guard. And by the way, Finland and Poland are not alone in building new fences and pushing people out. We are hearing the exact same thing in the Baltic nations of Lithuania and Latvia too. For those of you old enough to remember, all this sounds suspiciously similar to the beginnings of a new iron curtain. Moving on to a related story, our second update this morning is on the natural gas wars

and the cost to our European friends. Prescription drug manufacturers are warning that they will likely stop making some medicines because of surging electricity costs. On Tuesday, their industry trade group sent a letter to European leaders saying that they are in big trouble. Electricity prices are up tenfold for some drug factories, materials, they're up to between 50% and 160%. One manufacturer in Spain, a company called MediChem S.A, they're saying that they'll likely stop making three to five different drugs,

all generics, until the energy situation normalizes. This is an especially big deal in Europe because about 70% of the prescription drugs sold are generic medicines. So if these drug manufacturers stop producing these generics, that could raise serious challenges for folks who take those drugs. For instance, Reuters News Service listed just a few of the likely affected classes of drugs, and they include antibiotic drips, blood thinners, and schizophrenia medicines. So all in all, the citizens of Europe are facing not just a cold winter with probably a frozen economy, but some of them may well be running short of the very medicines that keep them functional and alive. For our final story before we take a quick break, let's keep with the theme of energy and focus for a moment on dirty green energy, specifically those electric vehicles.

As it turns out, owning one is going to be pretty expensive, at least to insure it. CNBC is reporting that both in the United States and in China, where electric vehicles make up about 25% of sales, the insurance premiums are running customers about 15 to 20% more than gas. fueled vehicles. And the reason is twofold. First, when electric vehicles get into accidents, they tend to start on fire or even blow up as compared to gas-fueled cars. That means insurance companies are going to have higher loss ratios. They can't just pop out that dent when the whole thing looks like a barbecue pit. Anyway, second, electric vehicles are much more expensive to repair once they are in an accident, even if they don't start on fire. The battery packs themselves.

run in the tens of thousands of dollars to repair or replace. Plus, the parts tend to be harder to come by. On a final note, I didn't see any data on the likelihood that drivers or passengers of electric vehicles are more or less likely to die or be injured given the increase of fires, but it's something that I'm going to keep looking for, because that seems kind of important,

maybe something that we should nail down before we all start buying these things. With that, we are going to take a quick break, When we come back, I've got two more updates for you on student debt forgiveness and some good news on getting outside and moving our bodies. We'll be right back. This is Euphoria Calvin Klein, the new elixir collection, featuring three perfume intense scents, inspired by a unique orchid accord paired with vanilla, each with its own distinct attitude,

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I've got two more critical pieces of news for you this morning. First, Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan is in trouble. As I've shared with you before, there's been a lot of legal debate about whether the Biden administration can move forward with its $400 billion plan. to forgive a student loan debt in this country. And as Joe Biden's team seems to recognize, they're probably on the losing side of those arguments. So to explain this a little bit.

Prior to yesterday morning, the Department of Education had told borrowers that if they had student loan debt that was privately held, usually through something called a Perkins loan, or something called the Federal Family Education Loan, or FFEL, well, those borrowers of those loans could refinance them directly with the government. And then, effective immediately, Biden would forgive those new refinanced loans. But the banks that currently hold those private loans, well, they had been warning Biden

that they would be losing a lot of money with his scheme because, well, they plan on getting years more of interest payments. And they're right, of course. And they told Biden, well, we're going to sue you because of it. So, as of yesterday morning, the Department of Education quietly announced on its website that they would be changing a few rules. If you have any of those Perkins or FFEL loans, sorry, but as of now, no debt forgiveness for you. The administration is saying that the change will affect 770,000 borrowers who could no longer benefit, all because Biden's team thinks that they're going to lose these lawsuits. Meanwhile, six states piled on the bad news yesterday by announcing that they are going to sue the Biden administration to stop their debt relief program.

They're offering up an assortment of legal justifications to do that. Some of them may or may not be successful, mostly centered around tax revenue issues. Now, whether they succeed, I will let you know, of course, because this issue is one that affects all of us, especially when you look at that price tag of $400 billion. $1. Finally this morning, let's talk about some good news. At least news that encourages us to get outside and get active. Let's start with the kids. What studies have long shown is that for America's teens and adolescents, physical activity plus less screen time in front of a TV or a phone, it's a really good thing. Very clear health benefits, clear emotional benefits, and clear

social benefits. But what hasn't been clear is whether this same idea of physical activity, and less screen time is good for toddlers. Well, this morning we have a very good study out on that group of our youngest citizens. And just like the rest of us, there are very clear benefits for physical activity and putting those screens away. So the study this week published in the Journal of Pediatrics showed the two-year-old children who spent less than 60 minutes looking at a screen per day, plus they engaged in physical activity, well, they all had better executive function than kids.

kids who didn't, which of course begs a question, what exactly is executive function? Well, it includes things like the ability to control thoughts, our emotions, and our behavior. It also includes our memory, how long we can hold information, along with our cognitive flexibility and dealing with competing demands. So for toddlers who have less screen time and were more physically active, they had improved executive function. But it's not just the kids that probably need to put down those phones and get moving, it's us adults too. And if we follow the advice that I'm about to share, we are all going to live a lot longer. A study out this week published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that people who exercised with weights lived substantially longer than those

that exercised without weights or didn't exercise at all. So this study looked at 99,713 people and asked whether they exercised, how much, and what type of exercise they did. So, for for folks who just did aerobic exercise, like jogging or hiking and such, they had around a 34% reduction in the risk of death. For folks who just lifted weights, no aerobic stuff, they had around a 22% reduction in the risk of death. But for study participants who did both aerobic and lifted weights, well, they enjoyed upwards of a 47% reduction in the risk of death. That's pretty substantial. So folks, not that you needed a study to convince you of this, but there's some encouragement to put down those phones, shut off the TVs, and grab the kids and get moving.

Well, actually, maybe the kids can be your weights, combine a few goals at once. And that, folks, is your Big Five update for this Friday morning. Ah, but we've got one more thing before I let you go. A listener question, as always, we'll be right back. Own it all. Pay off your home, travel for life, drive a Ferrari, in celebration of the world premiere of the Monopoly, Big Board Buckslot Machine by Aristocrat Gaming, Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel Manuel is giving one person a $1.6 million dream package. The biggest prize in Yamava's history.

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One more thing before I let you go. Andrew in New Orleans. Louisiana rode in, he was wondering about finding a middle ground option when it comes to electric vehicles and climate change. So here's what he said. I recently rented a hybrid vehicle, gas and electric, for a fairly long business trip in West Texas. It was quiet. It was fast and it got 61 miles per gallon. So my question is, why aren't the climate change folks pursuing hybrids? It's the logical and ideal vehicle. It burns fossil fuels, yes, but much less of it. And it doesn't require a new national grid or a network of charging stations. Oh, Andrew, look at you using logic and common sense.

I'll tell you, jokes aside, I think you're proposing something that is very sensible. Hybrids give us time to ramp up production of American lithium and cobalt, which are so critical for the batteries that we need, but we don't mine enough of that stuff in this country. Hybrids would also allow us to build up the capacity to refine those minerals. The refining capacity, of course, is mostly in China right now. Plus, hybrids would let us still have our oil and gas industry to create good jobs, and most importantly, have reliable energy for the grid. And, oh, by the way, we would also have less smog, too.

But the issue, Andrew, is that the fans of dirty green energy aren't interested in your logic and facts and data. They don't want common sense or reasonable solutions. Sadly, they don't want to meet you halfway. And that's because, as I've shared previously with you and others, progressive writers and activists make very clear that this dirty green revolution isn't really about the environment or climate change. It's about revolution, specifically a political revolution. These folks have themselves said that this moment is a chance for them to end capitalism

and embrace socialism. I shared that earlier, based on writings in magazines like The Atlantic. And that's a real shame. We could have found common ground, middle ground, but that's not what these folks want. They want a revolution. So you all can decide if you want to go along with that, or instead, find ways to fight back.

And with that, ladies and gentlemen, we can conclude your morning brief. As always, we close out the show, reminding each other of why we are here, talking about our country and our world. It's the creed of every good spy and every smart American. It's from John chapter 8, verse 32. And you shall know the truth. And the truth shall make you free.

Good day.