Latest / The President's Daily Brief / October 9th, 2026: Syria Sending Troops To Fight The Houthis? & Iranian Plot Targets U.S. Bases

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October 9th, 2026: Syria Sending Troops To Fight The Houthis? & Iranian Plot Targets U.S. Bases · The President's Daily Brief

0:13
It's Friday,
0:14
the 9th of October.
0:15
Oh,
0:16
look at that,
0:16
the end of another work week.
0:18
Well done,
0:19
everyone.
0:19
Welcome to the President's Daily Brief.
0:21
I'm Mike Baker,
0:22
your eyes and ears on the world stage.
0:25
Alright,
0:26
let's get briefed.
0:27
First up,
0:28
yet another regional actor may be joining forces with Saudi Arabia
0:32
in its war against the Iran-backed Houthis.
0:35
Syria is now considering sending as many as 20,000 troops to Yemen.
0:40
Potentially providing the manpower for a much larger ground offensive.
0:44
Later in the show,
0:45
new reporting reveals an alleged Iranian plot
0:48
to use drones against US military bases in Germany.
0:51
Plus,
0:52
a drone strike has hit a major Russian data center operated by Yandex.
0:57
That's the country's leading technology and AI company.
1:01
And in today's back of the brief,
1:02
South Korea has successfully tested a domestically developed
1:06
hypersonic glide weapon.
1:08
As Seoul races to keep pace with North Korea's missile program.
1:13
But first,
1:13
in today's PDB spotlight,
1:15
Saudi Arabia may be getting ready to add another
1:18
country to its expanding campaign against the Houthis,
1:21
and this one could provide something the coalition needs badly,
1:24
and that would be manpower.
1:26
According to Axios,
1:27
Saudi Arabia and Syria are discussing the possibility
1:31
of deploying Syrian troops to Yemen
1:33
to fight alongside Saudi-backed government forces.
1:37
Syrian President Ahmed al-Shara has not made a final decision.
1:40
But American officials familiar with the talks
1:43
say he is seriously considering the request,
1:46
and this would not be some
1:48
token deployment.
1:49
One source familiar with the discussions says Syria
1:52
could potentially send between 10,000 and 20,000 troops.
1:56
The issue reportedly came up when al-Sharah met with Saudi
1:58
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh earlier this week.
2:02
Saudi officials are looking for additional ground forces.
2:05
Because the Yemeni units currently leading the offensive are generally
2:09
less experienced and less capable than the Iran-backed Houthis,
2:13
the US has also reportedly been consulted.
2:16
American officials tell Axios the Trump administration
2:19
does not oppose the idea in principle,
2:21
and CETCOM has reportedly been involved in discussions
2:24
about how Syrian troops could potentially be deployed.
2:28
From Washington's perspective,
2:30
the attraction to this concept is fairly obvious.
2:32
Saudi Arabia gets more forces for its campaign.
2:35
Without requiring the US to become deeply involved in another ground war,
2:40
and Syria could provide an important missing piece
2:42
in the coalition now forming around Saudi Arabia.
2:45
The Saudis bring the money,
2:46
command structure,
2:47
and air power.
2:48
Turkey and Pakistan
2:50
are already providing defensive capabilities,
2:52
air defenses,
2:53
equipment,
2:54
intelligence,
2:54
and other military support,
2:56
and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces are fighting on the ground.
3:01
Well,
3:01
Syria would be the one to provide more manpower.
3:04
But some of those soldiers would come with,
3:06
well,
3:06
let's call it considerable baggage.
3:08
Axios reports that
3:10
two Syrian formations are under consideration the 90th Division near Damascus
3:15
and the 84th Division in southern Syria.
3:18
The 84th division reportedly includes thousands of foreign Islamist fighters who
3:22
originally came to Syria during the civil war to fight Assad.
3:27
Many fought under the umbrella of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham,
3:30
the rebel movement that eventually toppled Assad and brought al-Shirat to power.
3:35
Now some of those same fighters could potentially be sent to Yemen
3:38
to fight the Houthis,
3:40
and that creates one of the bigger risks for Damascus.
3:43
The Houthis follow Zaidi Shiite Islam.
3:46
Now many of the Syrian fighters who could be deployed
3:49
are hardline Sunni Islamists.
3:52
American officials are reportedly concerned,
3:54
and,
3:54
well,
3:54
rightly so,
3:55
that putting those forces directly against one
3:58
another could inject an even stronger sectarian dimension
4:01
into an already dangerous regional conflict,
4:04
and we've all become fairly familiar
4:06
with what happens when the Shiite and the Sunni collide.
4:10
There are broader geopolitical risks as well.
4:13
Syria's new government has tried to avoid getting pulled into foreign wars
4:17
while it rebuilds after 14 years of civil conflict.
4:20
Its military is still being assembled from the assortment of rebel factions that
4:25
helped overthrow Assad.
4:27
Sending thousands of those troops abroad
4:29
would be a major commitment.
4:31
It could also put Damascus into direct
4:33
confrontation with Iran's remaining regional network.
4:36
Tehran backed Assad,
4:37
of course,
4:38
throughout the Syrian civil war.
4:40
Hezbollah and Iran-aligned militias in Iraq
4:42
spent years fighting many of the same Syrian rebels who now control Damascus.
4:48
A Syrian deployment against the Iran-backed Houthis would represent
4:51
another dramatic reversal in the Middle East's strategic landscape.
4:55
Still,
4:55
al-Shirah has reasons to consider it.
4:58
Saudi Arabia has become one of Syria's most important partners.
5:01
Mohammed bin Salman
5:03
helped al-Shara gain international legitimacy after Assad's fall,
5:06
including
5:07
helping arrange his meeting with President Trump last year.
5:10
Riyadh has also provided badly needed financial assistance
5:14
as Syria attempts to rebuild.
5:16
Helping defend Saudi Arabia and potentially helping defeat
5:19
the Houthis could deepen their relationship considerably,
5:22
and the pressure on Riyadh is growing.
5:25
Saudi-backed Yemeni forces launched a major ground offensive this week
5:28
and have already made gains along the Red Sea coast,
5:31
but the Houthis are responding by
5:33
taking the war directly into Saudi Arabia.
5:36
They claimed another ballistic missile attack today
5:38
on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh.
5:41
Saudi authorities say strikes against the airports in Riyadh
5:43
and Aba have killed 3 people this week,
5:47
and the attacks are now affecting civilian aviation in Saudi Arabia.
5:51
Lufthansa has suspended flights to Riyadh through October 16th.
5:55
Indigo has canceled service through October 9th while Air India
5:59
and Akasa Air have canceled flights through October 10th.
6:02
Dozens of additional international flights have reportedly been scrapped,
6:06
so Riyadh is confronting two problems at once defeating the Houthis inside Yemen
6:10
while protecting Saudi cities and infrastructure
6:13
from continuing missile and drone attacks.
6:16
And that helps explain why the Saudis
6:18
are assembling support from across the region.
6:21
But if this campaign is ultimately going
6:22
to push deep into Houthi territory and perhaps
6:26
towards Sana'a,
6:26
the capital,
6:28
it may require considerably more soldiers on the ground,
6:31
and Syria
6:32
may well fill that requirement.
6:35
All right.
6:35
Coming up next,
6:36
an alleged Iranian plot to target US bases in Germany with drones,
6:40
and a major Russian data center operated by tech giant Yandex
6:45
comes under attack.
6:46
I'll be right back.
6:48
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Welcome back to the PDB.
8:01
Israeli intelligence is reportedly warning that Iran
8:04
may be preparing to attack American military bases in Germany,
8:07
raising new concerns
8:09
that Tehran could expand its war with the US
8:11
far beyond the Middle East and onto European soil.
8:15
According to a report from a German news publication,
8:17
Israeli intelligence officials warned their American and German counterparts
8:22
roughly 3 weeks ago
8:24
about potential Iranian attacks against US
8:26
military installations supporting the war effort.
8:29
Among the facilities identified were Ramstein and Spangalum Air Bases,
8:34
two major installations
8:35
used by American and NATO troops.
8:38
Ramstein is particularly significant.
8:39
The base serves as the headquarters of US Air Forces in Europe and Africa,
8:43
as well as NATO's Allied Air Command,
8:45
making it a critical hub for American military operations across the region.
8:50
The intelligence reportedly raised concerns
8:52
about possible Iranian drone attacks.
8:54
Including the use of Shahd drones,
8:56
however,
8:57
the warnings did not identify a specific timeline for an attack,
9:01
and there's been no public confirmation that
9:03
Tehran has finalized any such operation.
9:06
Reuters reports that German authorities have
9:08
been monitoring increased Iranian activity for weeks
9:11
while Europe
9:12
remains on high alert for potential foreign threats.
9:15
US European Command
9:17
declined to discuss specific intelligence or security measures.
9:21
A spokesperson said American forces remain vigilant and are
9:24
continuously assessing the security environment across the continent.
9:28
And as we've been tracking on the PDB,
9:30
the warning comes amid a separate investigation into a suspected plot
9:34
targeting RAF Fairford in Britain,
9:37
another major installation
9:38
used by American forces in the war against Iran.
9:41
British authorities arrested several suspects following a
9:44
security incident near the base last month.
9:46
Investigators are examining possible Iranian involvement,
9:49
although Tehran.
9:51
Well,
9:51
as you might guess,
9:52
has denied any connection.
9:54
Nothing to see here.
9:55
The US subsequently withdrew all of its B-1 bombers,
9:58
that would be 12 of them,
10:00
stationed at Fairford last weekend.
10:01
Aircraft that had been used
10:03
to conduct strikes against Iranian targets.
10:06
President Trump acknowledged that the military had received threats,
10:09
while Vice President JD Vance
10:11
said the bombers were moved out of an abundance of caution.
10:13
The Fairford situation is still developing.
10:16
British authorities announced Thursday that a 7th
10:18
suspect had been released on bail.
10:20
They're all out on bail,
10:21
with all 7 individuals arrested in connection with the case
10:24
now out under restrictions,
10:26
apparently as the counterterrorism investigation continues.
10:30
American bases in Europe provide critical
10:32
support for operations around the world,
10:34
but any successful Iranian attack on one of those installations
10:38
could draw European governments more directly into a
10:41
war that they've largely sought to avoid.
10:44
For now these remain intelligence warnings and
10:46
suspected plots rather than confirmed Iranian operations,
10:50
but concerns about potential threats to American bases
10:53
in Europe are clearly being taken seriously.
10:56
All right.
10:57
Turning now to what may be a new front in the drone war between Russia and Ukraine.
11:02
Moscow's tech giant Yandex has now taken a direct hit
11:06
with Kiev's drones,
11:07
forcing one of its major data centers offline.
11:10
Yandex is essentially Russia's Google.
11:13
Its services range from a search engine in cloud computing
11:17
to one of the country's leading generative AI models called Yandex GPT.
11:22
The company confirmed Thursday that drones struck
11:24
its facility in Russia's Ryazan region that's about
11:28
120 miles southeast of Moscow,
11:31
triggering a fire.
11:32
It says it's working to restore affected services,
11:34
although its core consumer services were not reportedly disrupted.
11:38
However,
11:39
there were problems on the cloud computing side.
11:41
The index cloud
11:43
reported electricity supply issues in one data center zone
11:46
and advised customers to use other zones for the time being.
11:50
The strike follows weeks of Russian attacks on Ukrainian data centers.
11:54
Before this event,
11:55
there had been no confirmed major Ukrainian
11:58
drone attacks against Russian data centers,
12:01
as we've been tracking here on the PDB.
12:03
Those strikes on Ukraine's digital infrastructure are part of a
12:06
much broader Russian air campaign.
12:09
Moscow has been pounding Kiev with drones and hitting
12:11
warehouses and renewing its assault on Ukraine's power grid
12:15
all ahead of the oncoming winter.
12:17
And we're now getting a clearer picture of this week's human toll.
12:21
Ukrainian President Zelensky says
12:22
Russian strikes killed 78 people and wounded another 215 across Ukraine
12:28
in just two days.
12:29
That includes what happened on Thursday morning in eastern Ukraine.
12:33
Officials say a Russian strike
12:35
hit two buses,
12:36
killing at least 30 people
12:38
and wounding another 18,
12:39
making it one of Russia's deadliest single attacks of the year.
12:43
Images from the scene posted to social
12:45
media show bodies lying across a debris-covered street
12:48
alongside the charged shell of a bus.
12:51
The regional governor says those passengers were deliberately targeted.
12:54
Writing on telegram,
12:55
he said,
12:55
quote,
12:56
For them,
12:56
meaning the Russians,
12:58
a bus with passengers is an attractive target precisely because a single strike
13:02
can kill as many people as possible,
13:04
end quote.
13:05
Now,
13:06
as has been their consistent practice,
13:08
Moscow,
13:08
of course,
13:09
denies that they deliberately target civilians,
13:11
that despite their constant targeting of
13:14
Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure.
13:16
Zelensky says the deadly Russian strike will not go unanswered,
13:20
but Zelensky's frustration wasn't directed only at Moscow.
13:23
Hours after the attack,
13:24
he also accused Washington
13:26
of being unwilling to provide the help Ukraine needs,
13:30
and he had a specific request expand
13:32
Ukraine's access to the Starlink satellite service.
13:35
So it can better target Russian ballistic missile launchers,
13:39
he told reporters,
13:40
quote,
13:40
Open Starlink for Ukraine.
13:41
You did open it when you were responding to Iran.
13:44
Give it to us.
13:45
Help us defend our skies and dominate there,
13:48
and then Putin will sit down at the negotiating table,
13:51
end quote.
13:52
And his criticism went beyond military assistance.
13:56
Zelensky also challenged Washington's pursuit of economic ties with Russia,
14:00
while trying to mediate a war now more than 4 years old.
14:04
He said,
14:05
quote,
14:05
One cannot,
14:06
on the one hand,
14:07
negotiate with the Russians about future economic projects,
14:10
whilst on the other hand,
14:11
say that we find ourselves in some sort of diplomatic stalemate,
14:14
end quote.
14:15
That criticism
14:17
comes as Reuters reports that senior Russian and US officials,
14:20
including US Special Envoy Jared Kushner,
14:23
discussed bringing a US investor
14:26
into the Nord Stream pipelines.
14:28
Those pipelines
14:29
delivered Russian gas to Germany before Moscow invaded Ukraine.
14:34
Now,
14:34
Ukrainian negotiators are preparing to take their case directly
14:37
to Washington for talks on Friday and Saturday,
14:40
with Zelensky urging President Trump
14:42
to increase sanctions pressure on Russia.
14:45
All right,
14:46
coming up in the back of the brief,
14:47
South Korea has unveiled a new hypersonic strike capability
14:52
designed to fly low,
14:53
maneuver unpredictably,
14:54
and complicate enemy air defenses.
14:57
More on that
14:58
when we come back.
15:01
Hey,
15:01
Mike Baker here.
15:02
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In today's back of the brief,
16:32
a hypersonic missile test on the Korean Peninsula
16:35
might sound like another headline about North Korea,
16:38
but this time
16:39
it was South Korea putting its own homegrown weapon to the test just
16:43
5 days after Pyongyang's latest launch.
16:46
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung personally watched Thursday's launch,
16:51
the country's first test of a
16:52
hypersonic glide vehicle.
16:55
Seoul is already calling it a key strategic asset
16:57
capable of changing the course of the battlefield.
17:00
Now
17:00
that does not mean that the weapon is ready to enter service.
17:03
It remains under development,
17:05
but Thursday's test
17:06
gives us a look at what South Korea has been
17:08
working on and what it says the technology can do.
17:12
For those of you who are not rocket scientists,
17:14
a brief explanation.
17:16
A rocket booster or a ballistic missile carries
17:19
the glide vehicle into the upper atmosphere.
17:21
The vehicle then separates and glides towards its target,
17:24
moving at at least 5 times the speed of sound,
17:28
but speed is only half of it.
17:29
The missile can also change course along the way,
17:32
making it much more difficult to track and intercept.
17:35
South Korea's presidential office says that combination
17:37
of unpredictable flight trajectories and overwhelming speed
17:41
allows these weapons to strike key strategic targets.
17:44
And on Thursday,
17:45
Seoul says its vehicle did exactly that.
17:48
After separating,
17:49
it descended to a low altitude,
17:51
freely altered its trajectory both vertically and horizontally,
17:54
and accurately struck its designated target,
17:57
end quote.
17:58
But hitting the target wasn't the only thing that engineers were looking for.
18:01
They also needed to test whether the materials
18:04
protecting the vehicle could withstand the intense heat
18:07
of hypersonic flight.
18:08
The presidential office says the launch was designed to
18:11
verify the performance of ultra high temperature heat resistant materials
18:15
along with the vehicle's guidance and control systems
18:17
and its ability to fly an irregular path at low altitude
18:21
while traveling at hypersonic speeds.
18:24
Those are the capabilities that Seoul's working to develop as North
18:27
Korea pushes ahead with a hypersonic program of its own.
18:31
And of course the two countries do remain technically at war,
18:34
given that there was no peace treaty signed after the Korean War.
18:37
And on Saturday,
18:38
Pyongyang launched an intermediate range hypersonic missile that
18:42
it said used artificial intelligence.
18:45
North Korea claimed there was no way to avoid the weapon,
18:48
describing it as capable of changing its flight orbit at a low altitude.
18:52
It also claimed the missile's wave-like trajectory mode.
18:56
Left South Korea and Japan unable to track it effectively.
19:00
Now
19:01
Seoul and Washington,
19:02
well,
19:02
they have a different assessment.
19:04
Both governments say that that missile could be sufficiently detected
19:08
and intercepted
19:09
using the defensive assets possessed by the two allies.
19:13
Of course,
19:13
disputing Pyongyang's claims doesn't mean dismissing the threat.
19:17
Military analysts say North Korea has stepped up its hypersonic testing
19:21
with technological support from Russia,
19:23
which has used hypersonic missiles in combat in Ukraine.
19:26
South Korea has been working on its own capability in response,
19:29
but
19:30
the goal
19:31
goes beyond keeping pace with whatever Pyongyang launches next.
19:34
For Seoul,
19:35
this is about giving North Korea
19:37
another reason to think twice before attacking
19:40
by developing a weapon
19:41
that can reach key targets across the Korean peninsula.
19:45
The presidential office describes it as a new deterrence capability
19:48
capable of striking key targets within
19:50
the Korean Peninsula's operational environment,
19:53
end quote.
19:55
And that,
19:55
my friends,
19:56
is the President's Daily Brief for Friday,
19:58
the 9th of October.
19:59
Now,
19:59
if you have any questions or comments,
20:00
and I hope you do,
20:01
just reach out to me at PDB@hefirsttv.com.
20:05
And of course,
20:06
well,
20:06
look at that.
20:07
It's Friday,
20:08
and I know what you're asking.
20:09
You're asking Mike.
20:10
Is there a brand new episode of America's favorite weekend news show coming up?
20:14
The PDB Situation Report?
20:16
Well,
20:16
of course there is.
20:17
We would not let America down.
20:19
Tune in this evening at 10:00 p.m. on the first TV,
20:22
and as always,
20:23
it's available over the weekend on our YouTube channel.
20:26
I hope you'll check that out.
20:27
Just go on over to YouTube and search up at President's Daily Brief,
20:30
and of course you can find the show
20:32
wherever you get your podcast stuff.
20:34
I'm Mike Baker,
20:35
and I'll be back later today
20:36
with the PDB afternoon bulletin.
20:38
Until then.
20:39
Stay informed,
20:40
stay safe,
20:42
stay cool.