It's Tuesday, the third of November. Look at that. We are smack dab in the middle of the U.S. midterm elections. Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Alright, let's get briefed. Next up, American fighter jets come under Iranian missile fire, triggering fresh U.S. strikes on Iranian targets. I'll have the details. Later in the show, a growing turf war, well that's never good inside America's intelligence community, reportedly disrupts critical intelligence sharing, raising concerns about what Washington knows as tensions with Iran are escalating. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. American forces obstruct Iran once again, hitting Iranian positions on Kesham Island. Now, according to U.S. officials, Monday's attack was not an isolated incident. It was the latest in a series of limited American strikes against Iranian targets over the past several weeks. Operations that the Pentagon is not publicly disclosed. The Wall Street Journal first reported the attack with American officials subsequently confirming details to several news organizations. They described the strikes as defensive. Oh, not the start of another full-scale bombing campaign. But the disclosure makes one thing clear. Even as Washington and Tukran posture about how to end the war, the two sides are still exchanging fire. Here's what reportedly happened. On Monday, an American fighter jet operating near the Strait of Kormuz came under attack from an Iranian surface to air missile. According to the journal, the missile was fired by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC. The American aircraft returned fire, striking the Iranian missile position. In a separate encounter, U.S. forces reportedly intercepted an Iranian missile launched from Kesham toward commercial shipping. Other American officials told NBC News that Iranian forces have repeatedly fired on U.S. aircraft in recent weeks, and that American troops have occasionally struck missile launchers in spots. Iranian state media reported five explosions on Kesham Island, but we do not yet have a verified account of the damage or any confirmed casualty figures. And U.S. Central Command, Centcom, has not released a detailed public account of Monday's operation. Now we've talked about Kesham Island before here on the PDB. It's a strategically important piece of Iranian territory. It sits near the entrance to the Strait of Kormuz, close to the Iranian Naval Hub at Bandar Abbas. The island hosts military facilities, including a naval base and an underground missile site. From positions in and around Kesham, Iranian forces can, and do, threaten American aircraft in commercial shipping. The Washington Post reports that a tanker near Al-Mans Musindam Peninsula was struck Friday by an unidentified projectile or mine and caught fire. 25 crew members were evacuated by the Al-Mani Navy. Now American officials say U.S. forces are still intercepting Iranian drones and missiles aimed at shipping. So, despite months of American military operations against Iran, the revolutionary guard retain the ability to threaten and attack U.S. forces and commercial vessels. Monday strikes belong to a broader series of American attacks that have gone unannounced. Earlier in the war, the Pentagon routinely publicized its strikes. In recent weeks, officials say that has changed. One official told the journal that the administration has deliberately avoided announcing these limited operations because it does not want to signal a return to major combat. Nothing to see here all as well. A limited response to an Iranian missile launch, of course, is not the same thing as ordering a sustained bombing campaign. But it does create a striking contrast with President Trump's public messaging. On Monday, President Trump told reporters, "We had a war with Iran. We won." He went further saying, "We haven't been doing any fighting for months." Yet that same day, American forces were striking Iranian missile positions, and officials now acknowledge, "Well, there have been other strikes in recent weeks." Trump was also asked whether he was considering renewed attacks after today's midterm elections. His answer was no. Later, in an interview with Axios, he said he was "in no rush." And, quote, "to decide whether to resume major fighting." His administration, however, continues to weigh several options. Axios reports, advice President J.D. Vance, and on-voice Steve Whitkoff, are pushing for a negotiated settlement. Defense Secretary Pete Agseth and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu reportedly favor renewed military action, according to the outlet. Other senior officials favor maintaining economic pressure, rather than launching another major bombing campaign, or rushing into a deal with the existing Islamic Republic leadership. Meanwhile, the Qatar mediators have drafted a three-day sequence of confidence building measures intended to restart direct U.S. Iran negotiations. There is no hope like the hope of a mediator, is there? Vance said Monday that he and Trump feel optimistic about reaching a settlement. Well, to be fair, they have felt optimistic on numerous occasions over the past eight months. Tehran, however, is offering a different assessment. On Tuesday, a senior Iranian official told Reuters the two sides remained far apart, and Iran will not accept what it calls "Washington's excessive demands." Iran says it could reopen the street and consider nuclear negotiations quickly, if the U.S. agrees to meet Iranian demands, including relief from the blockade and relief from sanctions. So, you ask, where does this leave us? I mean, besides in a state of confusion. The U.S. is trying to keep military and economic pressure on Tehran while giving diplomacy room to work. Iran is continuing to challenge American operations and threaten shipping. And both sides appear to be calculating that limited military confrontations can remain limited. Now, that may be the intention, but it's obviously not a guarantee. According to American officials, Monday strikes were not the beginning of a major new offensive, but they did expose just how much fighting has continued without public awareness. And while the White House has been trying to portray this conflict as already one, limited military engagements have been ongoing. All right. Later in the show, America's spy agencies are reportedly at odds with internal rivalries disrupting intelligence sharing and forcing the White House to intervene. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here with an important message for homeowners. Now, what are the most frustrating things I suppose about owning a home? Is it, "Mate your repairs never seemed to happen at a convenient time." You know what I'm talking about. Your water heater quits when you've got guests over or an electrical issue pops up or your AC goes down during the hottest week of the summer. Suddenly, you're scrambling to find help and hoping that the repair bill isn't a disaster. 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 just $4.99 a month. Trust me, if I had a breakdown, home serve is who I'd want. 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Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. A new investigation is revealing potential divisions inside America's intelligence community with disputes between some of the country's most critical spy agencies disrupting the flow of intelligence on Iran and other national security threats. According to Reuters, longstanding rivalries between the CIA and the office of the director national intelligence have escalated into a bureaucratic battle that's interfered
with intelligence assessments, and in some cases, temporarily cut off information to Congress. Reuters spoke with eight current and former officials and people familiar with the situation. It's not known what their intentions or motivations were for speaking with Reuters, so their comments don't have context in that regard. But they describe a breakdown in cooperation that began during Tulsi Gabbard's tenure as Director of National Intelligence, noting that the effects have continued even after her departure back in June of this year. At the center of the dispute is the National Intelligence Council that would be the NIC because of course there's an acronym, which operates under the Director of National Intelligence, which would be the DNI. The council is responsible for pulling together assessments from America's 18 Intelligence agencies, giving policymakers a comprehensive picture of threats facing the country. That's the idea. But according to Reuters, the CIA stopped co-authoring some of those assessments last year, choosing instead to focus on producing their own intelligence reports. The consequences have reportedly been significant. Officials say the council's production is declined, and five current and former officials told Reuters that it's produced in no assessments, specifically focused on the ongoing war with Iran. Well, that would seem to be a hot topic, wouldn't it? That's a particularly striking revelation, given the military confrontations that we just discussed, and the decisions that Washington continues to face over whether to escalate or attempt to negotiate. The problems extend beyond the CIA. Reuters also uncovered previously unreported interruptions in intelligence sharing with Congress, lawmakers and their staff, temporarily stopped receiving intelligence reports reportedly, following American operations against Iran and June of last year, and again following the capture of Nicholas Maduro in Venezuela just this past January. Stafford's office had accused lawmakers of leaking classified information to the press. Now, the tensions reportedly grew so severe that White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles had to intervene several times to calm the situation. Officials described the confrontation between the CIA and the director of National Intelligence's Office as one of the most significant turf wars between the agencies in many years. And there were problems elsewhere. Reuters reports that the FBI, temporarily withheld certain intelligence from the National Counterterrorism Center late last year, following a dispute over the Center's attempt to investigate the assassination of Charlie Kirk. FBI officials reportedly believed that the Center was exceeding its authority. Now, the intelligence agency's dispute aspects of this reporting. The CIA says it continues to participate fully in preparing intelligence assessments for the president and working with the NIC, the National Intelligence Council. The director of National Intelligence's office also disputes claims of a significant decline in assessments, saying production remains close to historical levels. Since replacing Gabbard in August, director of National Intelligence, DNI J Clayton, as restored congressional briefings on election threats, well, that's good, and officials say tensions between the agencies have eased. Still, some former intelligence officials are concerned about the longer-term consequences. They warned that analysts have become reluctant to challenge administration positions, and that institutional rivalries could prevent policymakers from receiving the complete intelligence picture. There's a historical concern here as well, and one of the major lessons of September 11th was the danger of intelligence agencies failing to share information. The office of the director of National Intelligence was created in parts to address that problem. Look, again, the overarching lesson from 9/11 was that these various agencies and organizations for the sake of national security need to play well together. That shouldn't be difficult for grown-ups to understand. Now, Reuters has non-established that the president is being denied essential intelligence, but the investigation raises questions about whether the mechanisms designed to coordinate America's intelligence agencies are functioning as intended. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Tuesday, the 3rd of November. Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at
[email protected]. And to listen to the show Add Free, it's very simple to do, just become a premium member of the president's daily brief by visiting pdbpremium.com. I'm Mike Baker and I'll be back tomorrow, until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool. Hey, Mike Baker here. Now, we've all heard those radio ads about the IRS, you know the ones I'm talking about, right? They try to frighten you into calling. Well tax relief advocates, TRA is different. If you owe money to the IRS, whether it's $5,000 or $50,000 or $500,000, hopefully it's not $500,000, TRA has a solution to your tax problem. Look, don't lose hope. TRA could reduce or even eliminate what you owe to the IRS. Their passion is taxes and helping individuals and businesses to fix their IRS problems. They've got over 1,000 five star Google reviews and then a plus with a better business bureau. Here's the thing, you do not need to be afraid of the IRS any longer, right? Generous tax relief programs are now available that can give you a fresh start. So don't wait. Simply visit tra.com. That's tra.com or call the number 800-583-6515. Once again, that's 800-583-6515. advocates, real solutions for real people.
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