The Humanitarian Crisis Following Venezuelan Earthquakes

just about ever are two It's Friday, the third of July. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage All right, let's get brief First up, violence is surging in Iran's Kurdish Northwest along the Iran Iraq border. Which raises the question, are we witnessing the early stages of an insurgency against the regime Later in the show, a mystery is solved. After years of drones appearing in the skies over dozens of European countries A new report reveals Russia may have been quietly mapping NATO's air defense weaknesses. Yet another story of espionage and intrigue The Trump administration moves against an alleged Cuban influence operative who authorities say spent years working on behalf of Havana inside the US And in today's back of the brief, we head to Venezuela, where an extraordinary rescue has given the country a rare moment of hope and grace following last week's deadly earthquakes But first, today's PDB spotlight Fighting is escalating in Iran's Kurdish Northwest. Over the past several days, Kurdish militant groups have launched a series of attacks on Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, and other security forces, leaving multiple people dead on both sides. The clashes have spread across several cities near Iran's border with Iraq prompting Tehran to respond with heavy artillery, drones, and additional military forces On its own, that would not necessarily be remarkable. Iran has fought sporadic clashes with Kurdish militants for decades. But this week's violence, according to local sources feels different. Instead of a single border skirmish, we're seeing attacks across multiple provinces, multiple armed groups claiming responsibility, and a tempple of violence that raises a larger question Has an insurgency begun in Iran? While it's too early to make any definitive statement, the warning signs for the regime may have begun appearing Let's start with what we know Earlier this week, two members of the IRGC were reportedly killed in the border city of Pave in Kermmenshaw provroince after gunmen opened fire. Around the same time, attackers struck a police checkpoint in Bani, another Kurdish majority city closer to the Iraqi border, killing two police officers and injuring several others Then came additional reports of fighting in and around Muravan, Mahabad, Sadashh, and Perunchar areas that sit along Iran's mountainous Western frrontier Kurdish opposition groups have operated for years By Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, the fighting had intensified near Sardash and Perdishar, with Iranian outlets and Kurdish sources bothoth reporting multiple deaths Iran's revolutionary guards claimed they had ambushed and killed members of the Democratic Party of Iran and Kurdistan, the PDKI after the group allegedly entered Iranian territory from Iraq Kurdish linked outlets, meanwhile, reported that Iranian forces were using heavy weaponry near populated areas. Well, frankly, from the regime's perspective, after killing thousands of their own citizens during the protests earlier this year, Killing Kurds isn't exactly a stretch for the IRGC and besieged militia There were also reports of drone strikes targeting Kurdish opposition camps across the border in Iraq's Kurdistan region, another familiar feature of Tehran's playbook When Iran feels threatened by Kurdish militants inside its own territory, it often responds by striking the networks that it believes are supporting them from Iraq Now that's the top line news, but the deeper story is about pressure building inside Iran are one of the largest stateless ethnic groups in the Middle East, with communities spread across Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey In Iran, many Kurds live in the countryess west and northwest, where opposition groups have long accused the regime of repression, forced assimilation, executions, and military crackdowns Tehran, well, they see the issue very differently To the Islamic Republic, armed Kurdish factions are separatist threats Groups like the PJAAK and PDKI have clashed with the IRGC for decades, usually in remote border areas and usually in bursts of violence that flare up and then die down So the question now is whether this is another flare up. or something more durable There are several reasons to watch this situation closely first, the geography The violence is not confined to one village or one mountain passass. It's been reported across several Kurdish majority areas in western and northwestern Iran It doesn't prove coordination, but it does suggest a broader security problem for Tehran Second, the Tempo. These incidents have unfolded in rapid succession with IRGC personnel, police officers, and Kurdish fighters all reportedly killed within days of each other Insurgencies often begin not with one dramatic announcement, but with a rising rhythm of attacks that slowly becomes harder for the state to contain Third is the messaging A little known armed group, calling itself orva or a son of hope claimed responsibility for one attack, saying it was retaliation for the IRGC's role in suppressing the protests that follow the twenty twenty two death of Masa Amini Now that matters because I mean he was Kurdish her death in the custody of Iran's morality police Nationwide protests, of course. But in Iran's Kurdish regions, the anger was especially intense For many Kurds, the IRGC is not just a military force. It's the arm of the regime most closely associated with crackdowns, arrests, and intimidation And finally, there's the timing. Iran is trying to steady itself after its recent war with Israel and the U. S. conflict exposed vulnerabilities in Iran's security apparatus and damaged the prestige of the IRGC At the same time, the regime is engaged in their supposed negotiations with the U. S For Kurdish opposition figures, that's not necessarily good news Many believe any U. S. deal with the regime will strengthen Tehran ease outside pressure, and give the government more breathing room to crack down internally, especially in places like Kurdistan, Baluistan, and Azerbaijan, where anti regime activism has been strongest There's also a recent military backdrop here During the war, Kurdish armed groups were discussed as a potential pressure point against Iran There were reports that Israel had looked at ways to support Iranian and Kurdish militias. and President Trump said he would be open to Kurdish forces moving against Tehran if their objective was to win. broad a front never opened. Kurdish commanders were reportedly frustrated by mixed signals from Washington and Israel, while Iranian threats and strikes against Kurdish positions in Iraq helped keep them from making a major move. to be fair The U. S. relationship with the Kurds has been a series of mixed signals for decades Still those discussions revealed something important. The networks were there. The armed groups were there. the strategic interest was there Now, with diplomacy back on the table, some Kurdish factions may fear that that window is closing Now the latest violence doesn't prove that Iran is facing a full scale Kurdish insurgency. There's no clear evidence yet of a unified command, a sustained campaign, or a coordinated effort to seize and hold territory But these are exactly the indicators intelligence analysts watch for a rising tempo of attacks, widening geography, government casualties, militant claims of responsibility, cross border safe havens and a political grievance. powerful enough to sustain violence Iran is now seeing several of those indicators all at once. All right Coming up next, we'll explain how Russia may have spent years quietly mapping NATO's air defense weaknesses Plus, the Trump administration has moved against an alleged Cuban influence operative working in the US I'll be right back Hey, Mike Baker here with a word about personal health and weight loss. Now look, everybody's talking about weight loss injections, right? Because the results have been so dramatic. They work by lowering blood sugar and reducing appetite. But what if you're looking to lose weight and you're not interested in painful weekly injections? especially when you hear about some of those intense side effects? Well, that's why doctors created a weight loss supplement called Lan, that's L EAN. and the results have been remarkable. The studied ingredients in lean have been shown to lower your blood sugar, burn fat by converting it into energy, and curb your appetite and cravings so you're not as hungry But listen, lean is not for the casual dieter with only a few pounds to lose. The doctors at Brickhouse Nutrition created lean for frustrated dieters with ten or more pounds to lose. Let's get you started with twenty percent off and free rush shipping so you can add lean to your healthy diet and exercise plan. Visit takelean dot com and enter pDB for your discount. Once again, that's promo code pDB Take lean Com. Hey, Mike Baker here. Now you probably have noticed, but I thought I'd mentioned it. Summer has arrived. and of course, with it hot days and warm nights. And those warm nights that heat Well, it can make getting a good night's sleep nearly impossible. Luckily, there's Czy Earth Coosy Earth is the answer to a cool, comfortable night's rest Look, we've got cozy Earth sheets at the Baker compound and they are a game changer. They're ultra soft bamboo sheets. Let me tell you something. afterfter a hot humid day, they feel like pure resort level luxury. And unlike standard cotton sheets that trap body heat Cozy Earth's fabric stays cool and crisp all night long. Also looking for premium outdoor comfort? well, they've got you covered. Cozy Earth's beach towels always you got to get to the beach offer an unmatched softness and quality that completely outperforms regular towels. It's an elevated luxury that everyone deserves. so you gott to get yourself some Plus shopping is entirely risk free. Cozy Earth backs betting purchases with an industry leading ten year warranty. come ona, ten year warranty and a one hundred night hassle free return trial period Made using Viscous from bamboo. These sheets are breathable, they're soft and they're built for summer. Head on over to cozyearth. com and use my code PDB for an exclusive twenty percent off. That's code PDB for an exclusive twenty percent off. And if you see a post purchase survey, do me a favor Mentioned that you heard about Czy Earth rightight here on the PDB Welcome back to the PDB If you've been listening to the show for a while, you may remember the steady stream of stories that we've covered about mysterious drones appearing over military bases, ports, airports, and other sensitive sites across Europe. At the time, many of those incidents seemed isolated. Some governments blamed hobbyists. Others quietly suspected Russia, but couldn't prove it Each event was treated as its own security problem And now we may finally have an answer According to a new report from the International Institute for Strategic Studies, those drone sightings were likely part of a coordinated nineteen month intelligence campaign orchestrated by Russia. not simply to gather intelligence to systematically identify weaknesses in NATO's air defenses The London based Think tink documented nearly one hundred and fifty suspicious drone incursions across more than a dozen NATO countries, as well as Ireland, between August of twenty twenty four and February of this year The targets were hardly random Drones appeared over military air basases in Britain, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Others were spotted near France's Elong nuclear submarine base. while one swarm forced the temporary closure of Copenhagen airport Dutch fighter jets were scrambled to intercept drones flying over Vokal Airbase late last year Taken individually, those incidents were concerning but viewed together, they paint a different picture The Report concludes that Russia was likely conducting what military planners call, quote reconnaissance by battle. Rather than simply photographing military installations, Moscow was deliberately probing NATO's defenses, watching to see how quickly Allied forces responded, which systems detected the drones, where legal authorities prevented action, and where the alliance's defenses were weakest In other words, the drones weren't just collecting intelligence. They were collecting intelligence about how NATO collects intelligence and responds to perceived threats The report also raises another troubling possibility Investigators believe many of these drones may have been launched from Russian commercial vessels, including ships from Moscow's so called shadow fleet operating in the Baltic and North Seas. Those vessels could have served as launch platforms, recovery points, or communications relays, allowing the drones to operate far from Russian territory while making attribution far more difficult. The study identifies four likely objectives behind the campaign First, surveilling NATO's nuclear and other high value military facilities. Second, testing, Allied response times and procedures Third, mapping logistics networks and transportation routes that would become vital during a future conflict. And finally, imposing economic and psychological costs by forcing governments to repeatedly investigate unexplained drone incursions while keeping the public guessing about who was responsible Perhaps the most striking conclusion isn't about Russia's capabilities. It's about NATO's response. According to the report, there was no coordinated allied effort to connect these incidents across national borders Instead, governments largely treated them as isolated events, focusing on domestic investigations rather than recognizing what may have been a continent wide intelligence campaign The report also argues that Russia exploited more than just gaps in Europe's radar coverage. It took advantage of legal gray areas that often prevented militaries from shooting down drones during peacetime, particularly over populated areas where falling debris could endanger civilians. The bottom line is this, what looked like dozens of unrelated drone sightings may actually have been a single coordinated operation designed to expose weaknesses in NATO's defenses And it's a reminder that in modern warfare, intelligence gathering doesn't always happen in secret Sometimes it happens in plain sight, with the target never realizing the bigger picture until much later. Okay, I want to turn now to a major national security investigation that's unfolding in the US after federal agents took three Cuban nationals into custody, a move that the Trump administration says escalates its campaign against Havana's alleged political influence network that's operating on American soil According to the State Department, the three include Carlos Antonio Loga Dominguez, a man federal agen say, spent more than a decade serving as a quote foreign subversive Cuban Institute of Friendship with the People. That doesn't sound suspicious. It's better known as ICAP His wife and son are also in federal custody pending removal after Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked their legal status Now, if you've never heard of ICAP before, that's basically by design It doesn't attract nearly the same attention as Cuba's intelligence services But according to the State Department, it spent decades doing something arguably just as important for the communist regime. building political influence well beyond the island's borders In fact, the State Department describes ICAP as the Communist regime's quote premier influence and intelligence front group operating inside the US What exactly is ICAap? Well, by the State Department's account, the organization was founded by Fidel Castro, who remember him in nineteen sixty to spread Marxism around the world. Oh look They may have been working overtime in New York City lately Today, federal officials describe it as the central hub of a sprawling Cuban intelligence and influence operation spanning more than two thousand organizations across more than one hundred fifty countries They accuse ICAP of maintaining a quote outsized footprint across the U. S. trafficking anti American propaganda, cultivating pro Havana activists lobbying federal, state and local elected officials on behalf of the Cuban dictatorship, and coordinating influence operations designed to advance Savannah's interests The State Department further allges that the organization has worked alongside far left groups in the US to quote export Cuba's communist revolution to the US. ICAP, of course, has denied those allegations and insists it's simply a civil society organization. Buzz Communists Nothing to see here, folks or comrades Now, none of this is happening in a vacuum. The arrests come just weeks after Rubio sanctioned ICAP, freezing any US. based assets and generally prohibiting Americans from doing business with the organization. In other words, what began with financial pressure has expanded into criminal enforcement Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, left little doubt about how the Trump administration views the campaign. He posted on X quote, America will never become home for foreign communists who peddle propaganda, run subversive influence operations, or support radical anti American movements transact with ICAP and you'll be sanctioned, prosecuted, or deported from our country. end quote A Fox News investigation reported that over the last decade, ICAP closely coordinated with a network of American nonprofit organizations supporting the Communist Party of Cuba Altogether, roughly one hundred and forty five nonprofits, labor groups, advocacy organizations, and activist collectives. o, activist collectives. Across the US have mobilized and supported the Cuban regime and collectively report approximately one billion dollars in annual revenue It does make you wonder if the democratic socialists of America, the DSA is included in that overall effort. Someone should look into that but I digress. the network is what's drawing the attention of federal investigators. So while only three people have been taken into custody so far, the Trump administration is signaling that it views these arrests not as the end of the investigation, but as the opening move And what it expects will be a much broader effort to identify, sanction and dismantle Havana's alleged political influence network operating inside the US. All right Coming up in the back of the brief, the latest from Venezuela, where rescuers have accomplished what many thought was impossible. pulling a survivor from the rubble more than a week after the devastating earthquakes. M on that when we come back Hey, Mike Baker here Now, this fourth of July, which as you might have noticed is right around the corner. It's the nation's two hundred and fiftieth birthday. You gott to do it upright. So this is what I want you to do. Celebrate it with America's favorite foods from Goldbelly. Look, Gold Belly is the official food marketplace of America's two hundred fiftieth, bringing iconic local favorites straight to your door. Whether it's Terry Black's barbecue from Austin or maybe Lou Melnati's deep dish pizza from Chicago or perhaps Junior's cheheesecake from New York. you gott to check that out. They've got America's best I ordered Terry Black's barbecue for a recent summer get togetheret at the compound. and now while you might at first be skeptical about ordering barbecue online, let me tell you something. The quality was outstanding, shipping was easy, and everything arrived fresh and delicious. And it brought an authentic Texas experience right to my doorstep. And like everything that Goldbelly delivers, it arrived fast and perfectly packed So if you're looking for a great way to celebrate America's two hundred fiftieth, or you just want to host an epic party or barbecue this summer, go to goldbelly d. com and get free shipping and twenty percent off your first order with the promo code PDB. Once again, that's goldbelly d. com code PDB for free shipping and twenty percent off your first order. Hey, Mike Baker here. with an important message for homeowners. Now, think about the last time one of your home systems or appliances failed you, right? Think about a pipe burster or your AC quit during a heat wave, right? They always stop during a heat wave. Remember that sudden panic? you got to scramble to find a plumber or an electrician, knowing you'll pay anything to fix it, yeah. that not a good memory, right Now these home issues and breakdowns often cost more than car repairs and standard insurance, as you know, won't cover the wear and tear That's why Home Serve is a game changer. It's like a subscription for your home, starting at four dollars ninety nine cents a month. And trust me, if I had a breakdown, Home Serve is who I'd want. They have an A plus rating with the Better Business Bureau and a twenty for seven hotline, so they're always within reach, and that is incredibly important. Look, the truth is, your next costly home repair is coming. That's just how life works Act now and get protected with a plan through HomServe. For fifty percent off your first year, go to homeomerve d. com slash daily brief to find the plan that's right for you. That's homeomeserve d. com slash daily brief for fifty percent less. Savings are compared to renewal price void in Florida In today's back of the brief, a remarkable rescue in Venezuela is giving the country and the international rescue effort a moment of hope Against increasingly impossible odds, emergency crews on Thursday pulled a man alive from the rubble of a collapsed apartment building, triggering cheers, hugs, and tears from rescuers who spent days attempting to reach him. With the official death toll approaching two thousand three hundred and tens of thousands of people still unaccounted for. The rescue of a security guard has become a rare reminder that even eight days after the twin magnitude seven point two and seven point five earthquakes, survivors might still be found He was carried from the ruins on a stretcher after rescuers spent three days, painstakingly extracting him from the collapse seven story building where he worked in the hardest hit city of Laguirea, just north of Caracas Waiting anxiously as rescuers worked to free him, his wife told AFP, quote, This is truly a miracle The rescue quickly became a symbol of the international response unfolding across Venezuela As we've discussed here on the PDB, the operation brought together search and rescue teams from the U.S, Chile, Portugal, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Mexico working around the clock, carefully removing debris, while trying to avoid triggering additional collapses in surrounding buildings that are already weakened by the earthquakes A task force leader with the Los Angeles County Fire Department told CBS News that quote, it was a very complex rescue. I have multiple buildings leaning into that building where we were trying to rescue him from. Now, this rescue wasn't the only small miracle to emerge from the rubble. Earlier in the response, crews rescued an eighteen day old baby and the child's mother after they spent thirty two hours trapped beneath a collapsed high rise. In another rescue, Virginia Urban seearch and Rescue Task force one pulled a mother and her nine month old baby from the rubble with only minor injuries Th moments have become increasingly rare Preliminary satellite analysis released by NASA estimates that nearly fifty nine thousand buildings were either damaged or destroyed In L Guirea, many collapsed buildings now been marked with the letter D for deceased. indicating that rescue crews completed their searches without finding anyone alive Venezua's National Assembly President Jorge Rodriiguez said Wednesday that more than eleven thousand were injured and nearly thirteen thousand are now homeless Tens of thousands more remain unaccounted for. whileile the U. S. Geological Survey warns that the final death toll could ultimately climb into the tens of thousands Acting Venezuelan President Delsea Rodriguez has declared seven days of national mourning, saying the country's soul is torn apart by the human losses For the survivors, a new struggle is beginning. Food and clean water are becoming scarce. Aid lines are growing longer, and thousands remain with electricity, relying largely on volunteers and emergency assistance And that, my friends, is the presresident's daily brief for Friday, the third of July. Now if you have any questions or comments and I hope you do, please reach out to me at PDB at the firstTV d. comot And upon waking up this morning, you might have noticed that it's Friday. And that of course can only mean one thing. A brand new episode of our much Lo weekend show, the PDB situation report Hits the airwaves this evening at ten PM on the first TV. And as always, you can catch it and past episodes on our YouTube channel. just head on over to YouTube and search up at President's Daily Brief. And of course, you can find it on podcast platforms everywhere I'm Mike Baker and I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon Bulletin Until then, stay informed, stay safe Stay cool