The President's Daily Brief - September 5th, 2023: New Details on America’s Withdrawal from Afghanistan

Episode Date: September 5, 2023

In this episode of "The President's Daily Brief," host Mike Baker brings you crucial updates on pivotal global issues unfolding right now including:   - The ASEAN summit in Jakarta, where Southeast Asian leaders convene to address escalating violence and regional tensions. Are we on the brink of diplomatic breakthroughs, or should we brace for further strife?   - The ouster of Ukraine’s Defense Minister. What does this change in leadership signify for a nation embroiled in conflict and battling corruption at its highest echelons?   - An emerging report suggests a worrisome military alliance among three of America's longstanding adversaries. Could this new axis shift the balance of global power?   - And a new book shedding light on the tumultuous final days of America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, offering fresh insights into the chaos that unraveled inside the White House. How did internal dynamics impact decisions on the ground? What might we have missed amidst the media flurry?   -----   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

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls and all the ships at sea, it's Tuesday, September 5th. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. Every morning throughout the week, we'll bring you a concise summary of key events, crises, and developments around the world. Just like with the briefing book that lands on the President's desk in the Oval Office every day, we'll keep it tight, just the facts and some brief analysis. 20 minutes a day, and off you go. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world's stage. Let's get briefed.

Today, we're going to start in Southeast Asia, as leaders tackle violence and regional tensions at a summit in Jakarta. Then, a little later in the brief, Ukraine's defense minister gets the boot amidst the war-torn nation's efforts to clean up corruption. And three of America's adversaries may be planning greater military cooperation. Finally, in today's back of the brief, we've got some new insight about the turmoil inside the White House during the chaotic final days. of America's withdrawal from Afghanistan.

But first, today's PDB spotlight. This morning, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a union of ten countries, better known as ASEAN, began their final summit of the year in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. Now, it's been an eventful year in the region, and the agenda for the group is packed with some very heavy topics. On their list of issues to contend with, for example, Myanmar is in a rough spot with ongoing internal violence and instability. Then there's that touchy subject of the disputed South China Sea, and of course, the ongoing tensions between the U.S. and China. Now, although the group itself

is made up of East and Southeast Asian nations, this event is usually attended by leaders from other nations with significant security or economic stakes in the region. Now, China sent its premier, Li Jiang, and Russia sent its foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, in place of of Vladimir Putin. President Joe Biden's decided to skip this one, instead sending Vice President Kamala Harris in his place. The summit will run until Thursday, just in time for the beginning of the G20 summit, which starts on 9 September in New Delhi. Speaking of which, China's top guy, Xi Jinping, has apparently decided not to attend the G20 this year. That's the first time he's ever made that decision. This comes amidst some tense vibes between China and the host nation India,

over a border dispute and also India's recent efforts to strengthen ties with the U.S. Now, rumors of Xi's no-show started swirling last week, and China's foreign ministry did confirm without really explaining why Xi staying home. President Biden told reporters he was, quote, disappointed that he wouldn't see his Chinese counterpart at the event, adding that he would be meeting with him soon, although no further details were provided. But Xi isn't the only big name missing out, Russia's president Vladimir Putin is also sending his regrets, largely because, well, he has a warrant out for his arrest from the international criminal court, and that does tend to put a damper on your travel plans.

Putin's absence from the G20 is not unexpected and is frankly likely welcomed by host India and the other participants. India works very hard at playing all sides, recently making efforts to strengthen the relationship with the U.S., which has irritated Moscow and China, but also attempting to placate Russia by not condemning Putin's invasion of Ukraine. It's a delicate dance that they're involved in. Xi's absence, despite sending Premier Li Jiang, is the most significant development ahead of the summit. He's attended every G20 since becoming China's leader in 2013. Some are interpreting his absence as a statement, a slap, perhaps, to both India, which is dealing with increasing

border tensions with China and to the U.S. President Biden attempted to play down the fact that he and Xi will now not be meeting face-to-face in India. But the fact is, tensions between the top two global economies have been on the rise, and the two leaders have only met one time during Biden's tenure. The U.S. has sent four cabinet secretaries to Beijing over the past several months, but direct dialogue between the top leaders has been conspicuously absent. The bottom line here with the G20. With China and Russia pushing for a realignment of the global order and with the host country India attempting to basically placate all sides, the hopes for any major agreements or

even a consensus on key issues are not high. And at the end of the day, if nothing of consequence is accomplished or agreed upon during the G20, The most visible loser here will be India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi. All right. When we come back, I've got two more developing stories for you. Ukraine's president has given the boot to his defense minister amidst corruption crackdowns, and three of America's most prolific antagonists may be planning greater military cooperation.

I'm Mike Baker, and you're listening to the president's daily brief. Kayak gets my flight, hotel, and rental car right, so I can tune to you. 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 President's Daily Brief. Let's move over to Ukraine, where the nation's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, just made a bold move by dismal. missing is defense minister Alexei Reznikov. You might wonder, why now? Especially with Reznikov being in the thick of things for the over 550 days of the full-blown war with Russia. Yes, I did say 550 days at this point. Well, Zelensky says it's time for, quote, new approaches, but that

doesn't tell the full story. Let's dig in a little bit. Ukraine has been receiving vast quantities of NATO military equipment since the beginning of this war and is now preparing to receive and deploy F-16s in the coming months. This leadership shake-up with the firing of Reznikov, well, it's happening right in the middle of all this action. While Reznikov himself appears to be outside of corruption concerns, there is a major cloud of corruption that's building and hanging over Ukraine's Ministry of Defense.

And that stink of scandal has hurt Reznikov's reputation. Now, corruption is a very big deal in Ukraine. A 2021 report pegged Ukraine as Europe's second most corrupt country right behind Russia. So with Zelensky's eyes set on getting Ukraine into NATO and the European Union, cleaning house isn't just good governance. It's his only ticket to the big leagues. While high-profile, Reznikov's departure is unlikely to have an impact on the battlefield, His focus was on liaison with allies, and in particular building the all-important supply chain

of military hardware and support from the Allies to the Ukraine military. Maintaining that supply chain is critical to Ukraine keeping up the fight and experiencing any level of success. The key here is that growing allegations and concerns of corruption within Ukraine's ministry of defense and elsewhere could threaten Allied support and create divisions that could affect that flow of weapons, munitions, and resources to Kiv. Zelenzky must be seen as being proactive and aggressive in fighting Ukraine's reputation for public and private sector corruption. Resnikov's departure is just one of many recent actions, sackings and charges, brought against

persons involved in the procurement of weapons and materials for the military. While Zelensky knows that his country needs to demonstrate serious regard and alignment with the rule of law transparency in order to join the European Union at some point. He also, more importantly, knows that in the short to midterm, he needs to fight corruption in order to keep the allies from wavering in their support. Up next, I've got another story that's worth keeping on your radar screen. South Korean spies believe that Russia is dangling a pretty intriguing offer to North Korea, joint naval exercises between Russia, North Korea, and China. Now, you may say, why should we care? Well, if this happens, we're talking about three countries that don't exactly have the

best interests of the U.S. and our allies at heart, all coming together for joint military exercises. Russian defense minister Sergei Shogu reportedly made this proposal when he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this past July. Shōyu, no doubt, is throwing this character to North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un in part because Russia needs all the munitions and military hardware that it can acquire. And North Korea is one of the very few places that Moscow can turn to to replenish its military stockpiles. Kim, meanwhile, is always looking for ways to be relevant on the global stage. He becomes a very petulant global despot when he feels ignored. Engaging in trilateral military exercises with China and Russia will no doubt keep him from throwing

his teddy out of the crib, at least for the time being. And selling munitions to Russia is one of the few ways that North Korea has of earning hard currency. All right, we're learning new details about the chaos in the White House during the disastrous Afghan withdrawal. I'll have more on that in the back of the brief. I'm Mike Baker, and this is the President's Daily Brief. Welcome back to the PDB. In today's back of the brief, we're learning new details about the final days of America's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. Imagine being on vacation and getting the news that the leader of an allied country has just fled, but not just any country. That's exactly what happened to President Biden. According to journalist Franklin IV's new book,

The Last Politician, Biden was unwinding at Camp David when he was, he was hit with the news. Afghanistan's president, Ashraf Ghani, had dashed off just before the Taliban stormed Kabul. Apparently, Ghani was worried about his own well-being. Biden's reaction? Reportedly, a fiery, give me a break. Now, I don't know about you, but when I'm fired up, give me a break isn't usually the first thing that comes out. But it wasn't just Biden sipping on vacation cocktails. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was, at the time, chilling in the Hamptons. I am a that's what you do in the Hamptons. One chills. And White House Press Secretary Jen Saki was beachside with her family. Speaking of Saki, after witnessing the heart-wrenching footage of

Afghanans desperately clinging to a U.S. plane that was trying to leave the tarmac there in Kabul, she made the executive decision, apparently, according to the book, to cut her beach time short and return to the White House. It's clear that the White House's sun-soaked August getaways got a lot more complicated than they had ever anticipated. Look, I've never been president, never played one on TV, but it would be nice to think that any administration, regardless of where they are in the political spectrum, left or right, Democrat, Republican, that any administration, preparing for the withdrawal of our military personnel and U.S. citizens from a war-ravaged country firmly in the grip of our foe the Taliban would think to themselves, you know, maybe, just maybe, we should cancel

staff leave plans and hang out at the White House just in the event that this whole thing turns into a goat rope. Go rope, by the way, is a diplomatic phrase. It's a way of describing the Afghan withdrawal. The book's author, Mr. Forr, was given incredible access to the Biden administration, and that was, frankly, because they viewed him as a friend and were probably anticipating a Vox or Vanity Fair like puff piece. The book, the last politician, is worth the read because it doesn't pull punches. And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Tuesday, 5 September. If you have any questions or comments, reach out to us at PDB at thefirsttv.com. I'm Mike Baker. Until tomorrow, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool.

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