Latest / The President's Daily Brief / November 9th, 2026: U.S. Strikes Iranian-Linked Cargo Ship & Chinese Spy Targets Nvidia CEO

Transcript

November 9th, 2026: U.S. Strikes Iranian-Linked Cargo Ship & Chinese Spy Targets Nvidia CEO · The President's Daily Brief

• 0:13
  It's Monday,
• 0:13
  the 9th of November.
• 0:15
  Welcome to the President's Daily Brief.
• 0:17
  I'm Mike Baker,
• 0:18
  your eyes and ears
• 0:19
  on the world stage,
• 0:21
  and
• 0:22
  condolences to Ole Miss.
• 0:23
  They suffered a severe beatdown at the hands of Georgia on Saturday,
• 0:28
  but
• 0:29
  as they say,
• 0:30
  Ole Miss may lose a game,
• 0:32
  but they never lose a party.
• 0:33
  Grove was rocking as always,
• 0:35
  hotty toddy.
• 0:36
  All right,
• 0:36
  let's get briefed.
• 0:37
  First up,
• 0:38
  US forces continue tightening the noose around the Iranian regime,
• 0:42
  striking a commercial vessel at sea while moving
• 0:45
  to shut down the supply routes on land
• 0:48
  that are keeping Tehran's military afloat.
• 0:51
  Later in the show,
• 0:52
  a Chinese espionage scandal grows as Nvidia's CEO
• 0:57
  admits to an affair with a Chinese spy amid an
• 1:00
  investigation into Beijing's efforts to infiltrate America's AI industry.
• 1:04
  Ah,
• 1:05
  I wonder if the Chinese government will say it's
• 1:07
  all a fabricated lie to make them look bad and
• 1:10
  that they would never engage in theft of intellectual property.
• 1:13
  All right,
• 1:14
  I'm,
• 1:14
  I'm not wondering at all.
• 1:16
  Of course the Chinese government's going to feign innocence.
• 1:19
  Plus,
• 1:20
  Saudi air strikes reportedly killed at least 27 people near Sana'a,
• 1:24
  the capital of Yemen,
• 1:25
  this weekend,
• 1:25
  raising fears of yet another round of retaliation.
• 1:29
  And in today's back of the brief.
• 1:31
  Explosive drones strike a Colombian army base killing
• 1:34
  3 soldiers and injuring more than a dozen others
• 1:37
  as armed groups increasingly turn
• 1:40
  to drone warfare.
• 1:41
  But first,
• 1:42
  today's PDB spotlight.
• 1:44
  Over the past few weeks we've been following a critical
• 1:48
  decision facing the White House over the Iran conflict.
• 1:51
  Does the administration launch another round of airstrikes,
• 1:54
  pursue a diplomatic settlement of sorts,
• 1:57
  or continue squeezing Tehran through economic pressure?
• 2:01
  Well,
• 2:01
  this weekend we got a clearer indication
• 2:04
  of which direction Washington may be heading.
• 2:07
  Perhaps
• 2:08
  the Trump administration appears to be doubling down on its blockade of Iran.
• 2:11
  And American forces have delivered a very direct
• 2:14
  reminder that they intend to enforce it.
• 2:17
  A US military aircraft struck and disabled a commercial
• 2:20
  cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman on Saturday
• 2:22
  after it left an Iranian port
• 2:25
  that same day,
• 2:26
  the Pentagon unveiled a new initiative designed to
• 2:28
  cut off Iran's military supply routes on land.
• 2:32
  Now taken together,
• 2:33
  the two moves suggest Washington is widening its campaign to isolate Tehran
• 2:38
  even as President Trump weighs the possibility
• 2:41
  of another round of military strikes.
• 2:44
  First,
• 2:44
  we'll take a look at the confrontation at sea.
• 2:46
  According to US Central Command CENTCOM,
• 2:48
  the
• 2:49
  cargo ship identified as the Houda
• 2:51
  had visited an Iranian port and was trying to leave
• 2:54
  the region in violation of the American naval blockade.
• 2:57
  The vessel was registered in Saint Kitts and Nevis.
• 3:01
  CEO says its civilian crew ignored repeated warnings
• 3:04
  and made several attempts to breach the blockade.
• 3:07
  American forces then instructed the crew to move away from
• 3:10
  the section of the ship they intended to hit.
• 3:12
  Well,
• 3:12
  that is
• 3:13
  the very definition of politeness.
• 3:16
  A US military aircraft then fired into the stern,
• 3:18
  disabling the vessel.
• 3:20
  CEO released a video of the strike showing an explosion at the rear of the ship.
• 3:24
  The command has not disclose what cargo the Hoa was carrying,
• 3:28
  and there's no public word on any casualties.
• 3:32
  CEO says that since July American forces have turned back
• 3:34
  147 commercial vessels whose crews did comply with blockade orders.
• 3:40
  Five merchant ships,
• 3:41
  including the Houda,
• 3:42
  have been disabled after refusing to comply.
• 3:46
  Separately,
• 3:46
  the military says it previously destroyed 10 Iranian commercial oil tankers.
• 3:51
  Identified as part of a multi-billion dollar smuggling
• 3:55
  network operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,
• 3:58
  the IRGC,
• 4:00
  Admiral Brad Cooper,
• 4:01
  the commander of CENTCOM,
• 4:02
  says the blockade
• 4:03
  has prevented Iran from exporting more than $25 billion with
• 4:07
  a B worth of crude oil in recent months.
• 4:11
  Now that's an American military estimate,
• 4:13
  not an independently verified accounting,
• 4:15
  but it does illustrate the potential scale of the effort.
• 4:19
  Now there are limitations of course to this blockade at sea,
• 4:23
  as we've discussed before.
• 4:25
  Iran also has extensive land borders,
• 4:27
  and it has access to the Caspian Sea
• 4:29
  beyond the reach of American warships stationed in
• 4:32
  the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.
• 4:35
  Tehran has been using those routes
• 4:37
  to bring in materials needed to rebuild its military,
• 4:41
  and that brings us to the second development.
• 4:44
  On Saturday,
• 4:44
  CEO announced the creation of Task Force Iron Gate,
• 4:48
  a new team based at its headquarters in Tampa,
• 4:51
  Florida.
• 4:52
  The task force will consist of roughly 20 civilian and military personnel
• 4:56
  working with other government agencies
• 4:58
  to disrupt the movement of weapons,
• 5:00
  dual use technology,
• 5:01
  sanctioned goods,
• 5:02
  and illicit revenue across Iran's land borders
• 5:05
  and the Caspian Sea.
• 5:08
  Cooper says the objective is to further restrict Iran's ability
• 5:11
  to fund militant groups,
• 5:13
  rebuild weapons factories,
• 5:14
  and replenish its military.
• 5:16
  Now there's evidence
• 5:17
  that Tehran up to now has managed
• 5:20
  to keep those supply lines operating,
• 5:22
  as we reported last month.
• 5:24
  Reuters uncovered an extensive Iranian military procurement network
• 5:28
  involving thousands of agencies and at least
• 5:30
  $2 billion in imported equipment and materials
• 5:34
  just since January of 2025.
• 5:37
  The purchases included explosives,
• 5:39
  rocket fuel ingredients,
• 5:40
  aircraft components,
• 5:41
  heavy trucks,
• 5:42
  and other equipment
• 5:43
  with military applications.
• 5:46
  Some shipments arrived aboard cargo vessels crossing the Caspian from Russia.
• 5:50
  Others came by truck through Central Asia
• 5:53
  or aboard freight aircraft from China.
• 5:56
  Those findings
• 5:57
  illustrate the limits of a maritime blockade,
• 5:59
  and disrupting those networks
• 6:01
  raises difficult questions.
• 6:03
  CENTCOM hasn't explained exactly how Task Force Iron Gate will operate,
• 6:08
  and there's no announcement of American troops being deployed
• 6:10
  to physically close Iran's borders.
• 6:13
  There's also a diplomatic
• 6:15
  complication.
• 6:16
  Many of these routes pass through countries that
• 6:19
  maintain commercial relationships with Russia and China.
• 6:22
  Now,
• 6:22
  the origin of a shipment does not automatically mean,
• 6:24
  of course,
• 6:25
  that those governments
• 6:26
  knowingly approved sanctions violations.
• 6:29
  I mean,
• 6:30
  there is a chance
• 6:31
  that neither Russia nor China have any idea
• 6:33
  that military supplies and dual-use components are
• 6:36
  making their way through Russia and China.
• 6:38
  And by that I mean,
• 6:40
  of course,
• 6:40
  they know what's going on.
• 6:42
  So the direction of American policy is becoming somewhat clearer.
• 6:45
  The Trump administration is not easing off the blockade.
• 6:49
  It's busy trying to extend that pressure beyond
• 6:51
  the strait and the existing naval blockade,
• 6:54
  and this comes at a moment when the
• 6:56
  prospect of another American air campaign against Iran
• 6:59
  remains very much on the table.
• 7:02
  And of course that raises the larger strategic question.
• 7:06
  Is Washington using this expanded pressure campaign to
• 7:09
  weaken the Iranian regime ahead of additional strikes,
• 7:12
  or does the administration believe
• 7:15
  It can achieve its objectives through sustained isolation without
• 7:19
  launching another major bombing operation.
• 7:22
  Well,
• 7:22
  at this stage
• 7:23
  it's unclear if even the White House knows which way they're leaning.
• 7:28
  All right.
• 7:28
  Coming up next,
• 7:29
  new details emerge about Beijing's alleged
• 7:32
  espionage operation targeting Nvidia's CEO.
• 7:35
  And yes,
• 7:36
  it,
• 7:37
  it does go against the grain to have to use the word alleged.
• 7:40
  Also,
• 7:41
  deadly airstrikes in Yemen threaten further escalation.
• 7:45
  I'll be right back.
• 7:48
  Hey,
• 7:48
  Mike Baker here with a word about health
• 7:51
  for all the dudes out there.
• 7:53
  Now,
• 7:53
  you know,
• 7:53
  here's the story.
• 7:54
  A couple of years ago,
• 7:55
  some gym friends of mine and I
• 7:57
  started noticing that workouts were hitting differently.
• 7:59
  This may sound familiar to you.
• 8:01
  Recovery was taking twice as long,
• 8:03
  you know what I'm talking about.
• 8:04
  It just,
• 8:05
  it just didn't seem to be working the same as the old workouts.
• 8:08
  Energy was slumping by mid-afternoon.
• 8:10
  Focus was dropping.
• 8:12
  Now,
• 8:12
  most guys,
• 8:13
  I think,
• 8:14
  accept that it's just part of getting older,
• 8:16
  but that's wrong.
• 8:17
  Do a bit of research and you learn something wild.
• 8:20
  Testosterone levels
• 8:21
  in men have dropped 25% since 1980.
• 8:25
  That's right.
• 8:26
  We're constantly exposed
• 8:28
  to microplastics,
• 8:29
  forever chemicals,
• 8:30
  and
• 8:30
  endocrine disruptors.
• 8:32
  Guys aren't getting lazy,
• 8:34
  right?
• 8:34
  It's not just about age.
• 8:36
  Hormones are literally being attacked.
• 8:39
  If you're not interested in synthetic injections,
• 8:40
  well,
• 8:41
  here's what I wanna tell you about
• 8:42
  a natural solution from a great business called Mars Men.
• 8:46
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• 8:46
  what impressed me and others right away
• 8:47
  is their formula clinically dosed Tonkat Ali,
• 8:50
  boron,
• 8:51
  zinc
• 8:51
  designed to support your body's natural production,
• 8:54
  backed by a medical advisory board led by Oxford PhDs.
• 8:58
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• 9:00
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• 9:02
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• 9:10
  That's men go to Mars.com for 50% off
• 9:13
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  And after you purchase,
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• 9:17
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  If you don't mind,
• 9:18
  do me a favor,
• 9:20
  tell them the PDB sent you.
• 9:24
  Welcome back to the PDB.
• 9:26
  New developments in the alleged Chinese espionage
• 9:30
  operation targeting the CEO of Nvidia.
• 9:33
  Jensen Huang has now acknowledged that he was intimate with the alleged,
• 9:38
  there's that word again,
• 9:39
  Chinese spy engaged in a classic honey pot operation.
• 9:43
  The multi-billionaire,
• 9:45
  many times over CEO has acknowledged the relationship with the businesswoman
• 9:49
  that American intelligence believes was spying for Beijing.
• 9:53
  And now Nvidia has launched an independent investigation
• 9:56
  into whether China's intelligence services compromised the head
• 9:59
  of America's leading artificial intelligence chip maker.
• 10:03
  Here's a hint.
• 10:04
  Based on 40 years of working in government and corporate intelligence,
• 10:07
  yes,
• 10:08
  yes,
• 10:09
  he was compromised.
• 10:10
  Now that doesn't mean
• 10:11
  that he did in fact wittingly or unwittingly provide information,
• 10:15
  but the Chinese intel apparatus
• 10:18
  certainly considered him compromised once he began the relationship.
• 10:22
  This is not rocket science.
• 10:25
  We first reported on this case in late October when the New York Times revealed
• 10:29
  that American intelligence officials suspected a
• 10:31
  Chinese businesswoman named Alice Huang,
• 10:33
  no relation to Jensen Huang,
• 10:35
  of passing information to Beijing.
• 10:37
  Alice Huang is a former executive at a company called Megaspeed,
• 10:41
  that's a
• 10:42
  Singapore-based company that
• 10:43
  purchases Nvidia's advanced AI chips.
• 10:47
  At the time,
• 10:47
  Nvidia characterized Jetson Huang's interactions with her as
• 10:51
  ordinary business dealings,
• 10:53
  really.
• 10:54
  But subsequent reporting revealed that American intelligence believed she'd
• 10:57
  been recruited by China's Ministry of State Security MSS,
• 11:01
  Beijing's principal civilian intelligence agency.
• 11:04
  According to the Times,
• 11:05
  Secretary of State Marco Rubio oversaw
• 11:08
  the preparation of a highly classified memorandum
• 11:11
  warning senior administration officials
• 11:13
  about the relationship.
• 11:15
  The suspected operation reportedly
• 11:17
  had several objectives.
• 11:19
  Chinese intelligence wanted to gather information about Chetn Huang,
• 11:23
  learn more about American AI technology,
• 11:25
  and potentially influence Nvidia,
• 11:27
  to advocate allowing its most advanced chips to be sold to China.
• 11:32
  Now that last objective is particularly important
• 11:35
  because Huang
• 11:35
  has been an outspoken critic
• 11:37
  of American restrictions on chip exports to China.
• 11:41
  And according to previous reporting,
• 11:42
  President Trump was briefed about the suspected espionage operation last year
• 11:47
  but took no action.
• 11:49
  Now the personal nature of the relationship is raising additional questions.
• 11:52
  On Sunday,
• 11:53
  Jensen Huang sent a message to Nvidia employees
• 11:56
  acknowledging that he had been unfaithful to his wife.
• 12:00
  He wrote,
• 12:00
  quote,
• 12:01
  My actions hurt her and our children.
• 12:03
  There is no excuse for what I did.
• 12:05
  I am deeply sorry,
• 12:07
  end quote.
• 12:08
  He also apologized to Nvidia's employees,
• 12:11
  directors,
• 12:11
  partners,
• 12:12
  and shareholders.
• 12:13
  Acknowledging that he had fallen short of their trust,
• 12:16
  and for that,
• 12:17
  the PDB awards Mister Huang
• 12:19
  today's,
• 12:20
  possibly this month's PDB's statement of the obvious award.
• 12:24
  We'd send him a gift,
• 12:25
  but
• 12:25
  what do you give a multi-billionaire who has everything,
• 12:29
  including a Chinese spy girlfriend?
• 12:31
  It's a conundrum.
• 12:32
  The admission
• 12:33
  comes as Nvidia's board announced an independent
• 12:36
  investigation into the reported Chinese intelligence operation.
• 12:39
  The inquiry will be overseen by independent
• 12:42
  directors working with outside legal counsel.
• 12:46
  Huang has pledged his full cooperation.
• 12:48
  Mind you,
• 12:49
  there will be several other investigations that
• 12:51
  are being conducted at the same time.
• 12:54
  The company says it currently has no reason to believe
• 12:56
  American national security or invidious trade secrets are compromised,
• 13:00
  and its board continues to support Huang's leadership.
• 13:03
  Oh,
• 13:04
  well,
• 13:04
  that's nice.
• 13:06
  Still,
• 13:06
  the allegations raise a host of serious counterintelligence concerns.
• 13:09
  They do.
• 13:10
  An intimate relationship
• 13:12
  can provide a foreign intelligence service
• 13:14
  with opportunities to gather sensitive information,
• 13:17
  cultivate influence,
• 13:19
  or potentially exert personal leverage.
• 13:22
  Again,
• 13:22
  to date,
• 13:22
  there is no public evidence
• 13:24
  that Alice Huang blackmailed Nvidia's CEO or
• 13:27
  obtained company secrets or successfully influenced his position
• 13:31
  on American export restrictions.
• 13:33
  And meanwhile,
• 13:34
  as you might imagine,
• 13:36
  Congress wants answers,
• 13:37
  and by God,
• 13:38
  they're going to get them,
• 13:39
  aren't they?
• 13:40
  Uh,
• 13:40
  no,
• 13:40
  they probably won't,
• 13:41
  but there you go.
• 13:43
  Three Republican committee chairmen,
• 13:44
  Brian Mast,
• 13:45
  John Moliar,
• 13:46
  and Rick Crawford
• 13:48
  have requested that Huang appear for a closed-door briefing
• 13:51
  on November 18th.
• 13:52
  And as I always say,
• 13:54
  Washington DC is where investigations go to die.
• 13:57
  They want to examine his interactions with Alice Wong and determine
• 14:01
  whether Nvidia's security measures were sufficient
• 14:03
  to protect sensitive American technology.
• 14:06
  And here's another hint
• 14:07
  I suspect Nvidia's internal security protocols as they relate to CI concerns,
• 14:12
  counterintelligence concerns,
• 14:14
  may have been somewhat lacking.
• 14:15
  Any company
• 14:17
  engaged in a business,
• 14:17
  even remotely involved in sensitive or critical sectors.
• 14:21
  Needs to have a very proactive persistent counterintelligence
• 14:26
  program that operates with the full support and engagement
• 14:30
  of the C-suite,
• 14:31
  and that includes the CEO.
• 14:33
  The CI program within a company like
• 14:35
  Nvidia needs to be constantly educating the workforce
• 14:38
  and ensuring awareness of the existing and developing threats
• 14:42
  that would include an active program
• 14:43
  monitoring all foreign contacts and approaches,
• 14:47
  evaluating foreign business relationships,
• 14:49
  and vetting individuals,
• 14:51
  seeking contact and engagement with staff from the CEO on down.
• 14:56
  Look,
• 14:56
  that's not easy,
• 14:57
  but in the face of aggressive and constant targeting
• 14:59
  by the intelligence apparatus of China and other nations.
• 15:03
  It is a matter of national security.
• 15:06
  All right,
• 15:07
  I want to turn now to Yemen
• 15:08
  where Saudi-backed government forces say they're reclaiming territory
• 15:12
  from the Iran-backed Houthis even as the
• 15:14
  rebels press forward elsewhere in the country.
• 15:18
  As we've been tracking here on the PDB,
• 15:19
  Yemen's internationally recognized government is
• 15:22
  trying to take back territory through
• 15:24
  what they're calling Operation Dawn of Yemen
• 15:26
  because it's not really an operation
• 15:29
  unless you give it a super cool name,
• 15:31
  as we've discussed previously on the PDB,
• 15:33
  the Houthis still control Sana'a.
• 15:35
  And large parts of the north,
• 15:37
  the internationally recognized government forces
• 15:39
  are fighting them on several fronts,
• 15:42
  starting with Marib province east of the capital.
• 15:45
  Government forces say they fought for hours on Saturday
• 15:48
  using fighter jets and drones to help stop a Houthi advance.
• 15:51
  They reported destroying rebel fortifications during
• 15:54
  the course of that fighting.
• 15:56
  In neighboring Al Jalf
• 15:57
  northeast of Sana'a,
• 15:59
  troops reported moving farther into territory held by the Houthis.
• 16:03
  Fighting there
• 16:04
  has entered its 3rd consecutive day.
• 16:07
  The government also released figures on the scale of Saturday's operations.
• 16:11
  A military spokesman said the army carried out 875 attacks
• 16:15
  against Houthi positions,
• 16:17
  neutralizing about
• 16:18
  130 commanders and fighters
• 16:21
  and destroying or disabling 50 vehicles and missile launchers.
• 16:25
  The Saudi-led coalition is also conducting air strikes in Houthi-held territory.
• 16:29
  It acknowledges those operations and
• 16:31
  says it's targeting rebel military infrastructure
• 16:35
  near Sana'a.
• 16:35
  Though,
• 16:36
  Iran-backed Houthi officials say civilian homes were struck.
• 16:40
  Those reports came from
• 16:41
  a farming village about 10 miles northeast of the capital.
• 16:44
  A spokesman for the Houthi-run health ministry
• 16:47
  told the Associated Press that Saturday's strikes killed
• 16:49
  at least 27 people and wounded 36,
• 16:52
  most of them,
• 16:53
  according to the Houthis,
• 16:54
  women and children.
• 16:56
  Rescuers were still searching the rubble,
• 16:57
  and the Houthi spokesman warned that the death toll could rise.
• 17:01
  Footage broadcast by
• 17:03
  Houthi-run television
• 17:05
  showed destroyed houses and dust filling the air,
• 17:07
  with residents sheltering in nearby agricultural fields.
• 17:11
  At hospitals,
• 17:12
  medical workers carried the bodies of
• 17:14
  young children from ambulances.
• 17:16
  The ministry spokesman said civilians were
• 17:18
  still buried underneath collapsed homes.
• 17:21
  The Houthi spokesman blamed Saudi Arabia for the strikes and alleged that
• 17:25
  further attacks targeted emergency workers as they tried to reach survivors.
• 17:30
  Now none of the Iran-backed Houthi allegations
• 17:33
  have been independently verified,
• 17:35
  and this came just one day after a deadly strike on a market in southwestern Yemen.
• 17:40
  Houthi officials there said at least 30 people were killed
• 17:43
  on Friday during that market attack.
• 17:46
  Responsibility for that attack is disputed.
• 17:48
  The Houthis blamed Saudi-backed forces.
• 17:51
  Yemen's internationally recognized government and
• 17:53
  its military blamed the Houthis.
• 17:55
  Taken together,
• 17:56
  the Houthi reported death tolls from the market and the
• 17:59
  village amount to at least 57 people over 2 days.
• 18:03
  Now the Houthis say they've responded by attacking Saudi Arabia.
• 18:07
  A military spokesman for the group said Saturday that it had struck
• 18:10
  Saudi targets in response to the village strikes and Friday's market bombing.
• 18:15
  Separately,
• 18:16
  the rebels claimed 6 attacks using ballistic missiles,
• 18:18
  cruise missiles,
• 18:19
  and drones,
• 18:20
  and they did not say
• 18:21
  when those attacks took place.
• 18:23
  Their list of claimed targets included King Khalid
• 18:26
  International Airport and oil facilities in Riyadh,
• 18:29
  along with an oil installation and a National Guard camp.
• 18:33
  The Houthis also claimed attacks inside Yemen,
• 18:36
  saying they targeted what they described
• 18:38
  as Saudi troop concentrations in Al Jaf
• 18:41
  and Marib provinces.
• 18:43
  The Associated Press could not independently verify the Houthi claims.
• 18:48
  Meanwhile,
• 18:48
  farther south,
• 18:49
  government forces are facing Houthi pressure
• 18:51
  around two strategically important cities.
• 18:54
  The heaviest ground fighting is centered around Taiz,
• 18:56
  a government-held city
• 18:57
  that the Houthis have encircled,
• 18:59
  and that encirclement
• 19:00
  is worsening an already severe humanitarian crisis.
• 19:04
  And then there's Aden,
• 19:05
  the government's temporary capital,
• 19:07
  where we've been following another Houthi offensive.
• 19:10
  As we reported last week,
• 19:12
  the rebels have advanced to within 50 miles of the city,
• 19:15
  and that is their closest approach since 2015.
• 19:19
  OK,
• 19:20
  coming up in the back of the brief,
• 19:21
  a Colombian army base comes under attack from drones,
• 19:24
  killing 3 soldiers and raising concerns
• 19:27
  about the spread of drone warfare in the region.
• 19:30
  More on that
• 19:31
  when we come back.
• 19:35
  Hey,
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  Mike Baker here with an important message about planning for your future.
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  Now,
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  Hey Mike Baker here with both a fashion and a health tip.
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  If it says polyester,
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  And after you purchase,
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  tell them the PDB set you.
• 22:13
  In today's back of the brief,
• 22:14
  a drone attack on a military base in Colombia
• 22:17
  kills 3 soldiers and wounds at least 16 others,
• 22:21
  highlighting the growing use of unmanned weapons by armed groups in the country.
• 22:25
  Let's start with where this happened,
• 22:27
  the Santa Rosa del Sur,
• 22:28
  a small town in northern Colombia in the foothills of the San Lucas mountain range.
• 22:33
  The drones struck Saturday.
• 22:35
  Footage circulating on social media
• 22:37
  showed 3 explosions,
• 22:39
  followed by thick smoke rising above the base.
• 22:42
  Soldiers could be seen scrambling for cover.
• 22:44
  What authorities have not yet established is who launched the attack.
• 22:49
  Colombian President Espriella
• 22:50
  has made clear that he intends to pursue whoever was responsible.
• 22:54
  Writing online,
• 22:55
  he warned,
• 22:56
  quote,
• 22:56
  Those who were behind this attack will have nowhere to hide.
• 23:00
  Every attack against our soldiers
• 23:01
  strengthens our resolve to defend Colombia,
• 23:04
  end quote.
• 23:05
  Now the location helps explain the challenge facing his military.
• 23:09
  The area around Santa Rosa del Sur is rich in gold deposits.
• 23:14
  And several armed organizations have spent years fighting for control.
• 23:18
  Among them is the Gulf Clan,
• 23:20
  one of Colombia's major criminal organizations.
• 23:23
  There's also the National Liberation Army,
• 23:25
  along with smaller factions led by former members
• 23:28
  of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia,
• 23:31
  better known as FAARC.
• 23:33
  These various organizations are engaged in exploiting
• 23:35
  gold mines and drug trafficking routes and
• 23:38
  extortion of local businesses.
• 23:40
  Restoring government control,
• 23:42
  well,
• 23:42
  that threatens the income that helps keep these groups operating.
• 23:46
  And to understand the struggle for this territory,
• 23:48
  it does help to go back to Colombia's 2016 peace agreement
• 23:52
  under then President Santos.
• 23:54
  The government reached a deal with the FAARC,
• 23:56
  and more than 14,000 fighters demobilized.
• 24:00
  But as those fighters withdrew,
• 24:02
  smaller armed groups and dissident factions and criminal elements
• 24:06
  fought over the territory that they left behind.
• 24:09
  Negotiations remained central to Colombia's response
• 24:11
  under former Socialist president Gustavo Petro.
• 24:14
  His government
• 24:15
  pursued ceasefires and agreements with guerrillas and criminal organizations
• 24:19
  aiming to reduce the continuing violence.
• 24:22
  Colombia's current government under President Espriella argues that
• 24:26
  those ceasefires
• 24:27
  gave the groups time to grow and strengthen their control.
• 24:31
  He canceled peace talks with rebel organizations
• 24:34
  and expanded military operations.
• 24:36
  And that's meant more airstrikes and additional
• 24:38
  troops deployed in some of the cities.
• 24:41
  His administration has also established joint task forces
• 24:44
  to protect strategic infrastructure,
• 24:47
  including a pipeline
• 24:48
  running from Colombia's Caribbean coast
• 24:50
  toward the center of the country,
• 24:52
  but the armed groups have not backed down.
• 24:55
  Some have responded by stepping up attacks
• 24:57
  on Colombian security forces and in some cases
• 25:00
  civilians.
• 25:02
  Following Saturday's drone strike,
• 25:03
  Colombia's president ordered intensified military operations
• 25:07
  to track down the attackers
• 25:08
  and target their organizations.
• 25:11
  And that,
• 25:12
  my friends,
• 25:12
  is the president's Daily Brief
• 25:14
  for Monday,
• 25:15
  the 9th of November.
• 25:16
  Now,
• 25:16
  if you have any questions or comments,
• 25:17
  and I hope you do,
• 25:18
  just reach out to me
• 25:19
  at PDB@hefirsttv.com.
• 25:22
  And I hope you had a chance to catch the latest episode of
• 25:25
  our weekend show that of course would be the PDB Situation Report.
• 25:28
  Former CIA Caracas station chief Rick de la Torre
• 25:32
  and David Daud from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies
• 25:35
  were our guests,
• 25:36
  and they were excellent guests as always.
• 25:39
  You can catch it and past episodes on our YouTube channel at President's Daily Brief
• 25:43
  and of course on podcast platforms everywhere.
• 25:46
  I'm Mike Baker and I'll be back later today with the PDB
• 25:50
  afternoon bulletin.
• 25:51
  Until then,
• 25:53
  stay informed,
• 25:54
  stay safe,
• 25:55
  stay cool.