The President's Daily Brief - September 9th, 2024: CIA & MI6 Warn of Russian Sabotage, Venezuelan Opposition on the Run, & ISIS Attacks Thwarted

Episode Date: September 9, 2024

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: We’re kicking off with a significant warning from two of the West’s top intelligence agencies. In a rare joint op-ed, the heads of the CIA and MI6 are sounding the alarm about what they’re calling Russia's 'reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe.' We’ll have the details. Next, we turn to Venezuela, where dictator Nicolás Maduro is intensifying his crackdown on political dissent. Opposition leaders are now on the run, seeking refuge in foreign nations and embassies as the regime tightens its grip. Plus, an ISIS-linked terror attack targeting New York City has been foiled. A Pakistani national has been arrested for allegedly plotting to strike Jewish targets on the anniversary of October 7th. And staying on the topic of ISIS terror, in today's Back of the Brief, we’ll take a look at reports that Indonesian police have detained seven individuals following an attempted attack on Pope Francis during his visit to Jakarta. 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] ☕ Blackout Coffee: https://www.blackoutcoffee.com/PDB Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get your day off to a great start with the delicious taste of Blackout Coffee. It's a terrific American-owned company that's frankly all about premium coffee, fresh roasted and shipped out within 48 hours of roasting. Go to blackout coffee.com, promo code PDB, for 20% off your first time purchase. It's Monday, 9 September. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed.

We'll start off today with a, warning from two of the West's top intelligence agencies in a rare joint op-ed, really, an op-ed from leading intel organizations. The directors of the CIA and MI6 are sounding the alarm about what they're calling Russia's reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe. We'll have the details. Later in the brief, we turn to Venezuela, where dictator Nicholas Maduro is intensifying his crackdown on political dissent. Of course he is. Opposition leaders are now on the run, seeking refuge in foreign nations and safe harbor in embassies as the regime tightens its grip, with Maduro and his military minions showing no sign of abandoning their

fairy tale that he won the election in late July. Plus, an ISIS-linked terror attack targeting New York City has been foiled. A Pakistani national has been arrested for allegedly plotting to strike Jewish targets on the anniversary of October 7th. And staying on the topic, of ISIS terror. In today's back of the brief, we'll take a look at reports that Indonesian police have detained seven individuals following an attempted attack on Pope Francis during his visit to Jakarta. But first, today's PDB spotlight. I want to start today by drawing your attention to an op-ed published in the Financial Times this weekend. Now, we don't typically focus on opinion pieces here on the BDB, but when it's written by the heads of the CIA and MI6, of course, the premier intelligence

agencies of the U.S. and the U.K., well, it's something that we can't ignore. Now, I'm old enough to remember when heads of secret of intel services didn't write for public consumption, but, clearly, times have changed. In the first ever joint remarks from the heads of the two intelligence organizations, CIA director Bill Burns and MI6 chief, Sir Richard Moore, warned, among other things, that Russia is waging a campaign of sabotage against its enemies in the West. The op-ed reads, quote, beyond Ukraine, we continue to work together to disrupt the reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe being waged by Russian intelligence and its cynical use of technology to spread lies and disinformation designed to drive wedges between us, end quote.

Now, the two spymasters did not list any specific examples, but they were undoubtedly referring to the way of mysterious sabotage, arson attacks, and targeted assassination plots across Europe, what we've been calling Russia's shadow war. Allegedly, Russia has struck or planned attacks on targets in the UK, Germany, and the Baltics. The most recent example came back in July when we learned that U.S. intelligence discovered that the Russian government planned to assassinate the chief executive of a powerful German arms manufacturer that has been producing artillery shells and, military vehicles for Ukraine. The plot was one of a series of Russian plans to murder defense industry executives across Europe who were supporting Ukraine's war effort. Now, the assassination

plots are just the tip of the iceberg. Add to that a series of suspicious fires, a metal factory owned by a defense manufacturer deal in Berlin, an arson attack in East London, a fire that destroyed Poland's largest shopping mall, a sabotage attempt in Bavaria, and even a suspicious blaze an IKEA, what, in Lithuania? Now, hold on there. Attacking IKEA has got to be some sort of red line. I mean, frankly, who doesn't love those tiny Swedish meatballs? Anyway, all of these incidents may be part of a broader strategy to destabilize Western allies. Personally, I think the unfollowable instructions that come with IKEA flat-pack furniture are sufficient to destabilize the West. Returning to the

op-ed, Burns and Moore added about the conflict in Ukraine, quote, staying the course is more vital than ever. Putin will not succeed in extinguishing Ukraine's sovereignty and independence, end quote. It's worth noting that the CIA and MI6 were the only two major agencies that correctly predicted that Russia was preparing its full-scale invasion of Ukraine back in February of 2022. Now, the pair didn't limit their criticism to Russia. They also took aim at China, describing the nation as, quote, the principal intelligence and geopolitical challenge of the 21st century. They also drew attention to the resurgence of ISIS. Burns and Sir Moore concluded by stating that the threat posed by these three actors is the greatest

challenge to the global order that the West has faced in three decades. They write, quote, there is no question that the international world order, the balanced system that has led to relative peace and stability, and delivered rising living standards, opportunities and prosperity, is under threat in a way we haven't seen since the Cold War, end quote. All right, coming up after the break, Venezuela dictator Nicholas Maduro is intensifying his crackdown on political dissent, forcing opposition leaders to seek refuge abroad. And we'll cover the foiled ISIS-linked terror plot in New York,

where a Pakistani national was arrested for planning attacks on Jewish targets. I'll have those stories when we come back. Welcome back to the PDB. Turning now to the ongoing crisis in Venezuela, where opposition leaders are now on the run from authorities. Edmundo Gonzalez, the opposition candidate in the contested presidential election, arrived in Spain this weekend requesting political asylum from authorities there. Okay, now when I say contested election, I think what I mean is stolen election. Yeah, stolen, that's the word.

Gonzalez's departure from Venezuela marks a critical moment. in the country's political crisis. After weeks in hiding, following a warrant for conspiracy, forgery, and other serious crimes, Gonzalez sought refuge in the Spanish embassy in Caracas. Negotiations between Venezuela and Spain led to his safe passage with Gonzalez arriving in Spain on Sunday aboard a Spanish Air Force plane. Upon arrival at the Toroan Air Base near Madrid, he was granted asylum. Spain's foreign minister, Jose Manuel Abades, reaffirmed Spain's commitment to defending Venezuela's political rights, refusing to recognize Maduro's election without verified voting data. In response, Maria Corino Machado, the leader of the Venezuelan opposition,

publicly condemned Missouri's regime, accusing it of orchestrating a, quote, brutal wave of repression against Venezuela's true president. The international reaction to Gonzalez's asylum has been mixed. The European Union foreign policy chief Joseph Burrell called it, quote, a sad day for democracy in Venezuela, end quote, while others, including Russia and China, well, to no one's surprise, continue to support Maduro's authoritarian rule. Well, you can tell a lot about a dictator by the friends they keep. Meanwhile, tensions escalated in Caracas, as Venezuelan security forces surrounded the Argentine embassy on Friday, where opposition figures, including Pedro Urucurtu, Omar Gonzalez, and four others sought refuge. Uruchertu, post-S.,

on X, reporting hooded officials surrounding the embassy. Omar Gonzalez in a post described the power being cut off, blaming Venezuela's security forces, including the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service for the siege. Argentina has been working to secure their safe passage, formally requesting that Venezuela allow the opposition members to leave. The Argentine government has intensified its calls for the international criminal court, the ICC, to act against Maduro for a alleged crimes against humanity in the ongoing political unrest. Now, as an aside, the ICC, well, it strikes fear in absolutely no one's heart. It's about as feckless as the U.N. Argentine President Javier Mille, speaking at a forum in Buenos Aires, called Maduro a, quote,

criminal and doubled down on his government's efforts to bring the Venezuelan leader to justice. This follows Argentina's earlier condemnation of the Venezuelan election, which led to the expulsion of Argentine diplomats from Caracas. Further complicating the situation, Brazil, whose government assumed responsibility for protecting the Argentine embassy, was abruptly informed by Venezuela on Saturday that its authorization to represent Argentina's interests had been revoked. Well, how convenient. Venezuela claimed that the embassy was being used to plan an assassination attempt against Maduro

and his cronies, a claim for which, uh, not surprisingly, Maduro's regime provided zero evidence. Okay, shifting now to Canada, where a Pakistani national named Mohamed Shazib Khan has been arrested and charged with plotting a mass shooting at a Jewish center in Brooklyn, New York. According to federal prosecutors, Khan intended to carry out the attack in the name of ISIS, targeting Jewish people around significant dates in October. According to federal prosecutors on Friday, as alleged in the criminal complaint, the 20-year-old began expressing his support for ISIS on social media in November 23, distributing ISIS propaganda videos and discussing the possibility of launching attacks in the U.S.

Spanning months, Kahn's radicalization deepened, communicating with two undercover FBI agents posing as ISIS supporters. During these communications, Kahn described his desire to form an ISIS cell to launch a, quote, coordinated assault on Jewish centers across the U.S. Initially, Khan's target was another unspecified U.S. city, but in August, he shifted his focus to New York City. He specifically identified a Jewish center in Brooklyn as his target, recognizing New York as having the largest Jewish population outside of Israel. The complaint states that Khan identified 7 October and 11 October as dates for the attacks. 7 October marks the first anniversary of the 2003 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, while 11 October is the start of Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism, increasing the likelihood,

of course, of large gatherings. In conversations with undercover agents, Khan detailed his plan to acquire AR-style rifles, ammunition, and hunting knives to maximize the death toll. Con explicitly stated his intent to, quote, slaughter as many Jewish people as possible and expressed ambitions to make the attacked the deadliest since 9-11. According to prosecutors, Con had begun logistical preparations to travel to New York. Now on 4 September, as Khan attempted to approach the U.S.-Canada border, he was arrested by Canadian law enforcement in Quebec, roughly 12 miles from the border. He'd been traveling across Canada using multiple vehicles to evade detection. Attorney General Merrick Garland praised the collaboration between U.S. and Canadian law enforcement in preventing a potential

massacre. Garland further condemned the threat stating, quote, Jewish communities, like all communities in this country, should not have to fear that there will be targeted by a heat-fueled terrorist attack, end quote. FBI director Christopher Ray echoed Garland's sediment and commended the efforts of the FBI and its partners in disrupting Khan's plan. Con now faces charges of attempting to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization. If convicted, He could be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in federal prison. The FBI is coordinating with the Department of Justice's Office of International Affairs to seek Khan's extradition from Canada to the U.S. where he'll stand trial.

All right, staying with ISIS. In today's back of the brief, we'll look at reports that Indonesian police detain seven individuals after an attempted ISIS attack on Pope Francis during his visit to Jakarta. I'll be right back. Not loving your AT&T or T Mobile Bill? Yeah, we've been hearing that a lot. Good news. Bring your AT&T or T Mobile Bill to Verizon and we'll give you a better deal. So get away from that unfortunate phone bill and get to Verizon.

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legacy. How many discounts will you stack up? Tap the banner or visit usa.com slash auto discounts. Restrictions apply. In today's back of the brief, another thwarted terror plot. This time, as Indonesian police detained seven suspects targeting Pope Francis during his visit to Jakarta. The arrests occurred just days before the Pope concluded his visit. Now, Indonesia's anti-terrorism squad, Detachment 88, arrested the individuals on the 2nd and 3rd of September in Jakarta during the Pope's first leg of his 12-day Asia-Pacific tour. Authorities revealed that suspects had planned to attack Pope Francis

during his stop at Jakarta's Istiglal mosque. Now, that's Southeast Asia's largest mosque. The suspect's motivation reportedly stemmed from anger, anger over the Pope's visit and the government's decision to suspend the broadcasting of the Asan, the Islamic call to prayer, on television during the Pope's visit. During a search of one suspect's home authorities discovered bows and arrows, a drone and ISIS propaganda leaflets, according to the Straits Times, that's a Singaporean publication. Several of the detainees had pledged allegiance to ISIS, heightening concerns, of course, about their capacity for violence. One suspect

was linked to the same radical group responsible for the 2019 stabbing of Indonesia's chief security minister. A detachment 88 spokesman stated that investigations are ongoing and that it remains unclear whether the seven suspects were acting as part of a coordinated terror cell or operating independently. The spokesman added that public tip-offs were crucial in alerting authorities to the planned attack. Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country, has faced, a long struggle against extremism, while most of its Muslim population practices a moderate form of Islam, small radicalized groups, influenced by global terror organizations, including ISIS and al-Qaeda, have carried out violent attacks. And that, my friends, is the president's

daily brief for Monday, 9 September. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. Now, to listen to the show ad-free, well, it's simple, because a premium member of the President's Daily Brief by visiting PDB Premium.com. I told you it was simple. And I hope you had a chance to check out our latest PDB situation report over the weekend on the first TV, as well as on our YouTube channel at President's Daily Brief, and of course, all the podcast platforms. I'm Mike Baker.

I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool.