November 9th, 2026: U.S. Strikes Iranian-Linked Cargo Ship & Chinese Spy Targets Nvidia CEO

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