September 8th, 2026: Navy SEALs’ Secret Hormuz Mission & Israel-Hezbollah Escalation

It's Tuesday, the 8th of September. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, while the U.S. and Iran traded missiles and drones above the Strait of Hormuz, another effort was unfolding beneath the surface of the waterway. We'll reveal the covert mission that Navy SEALs and others carried out for months. Later in the show, the fighting along Israel's northern border is escalating again. A deadly wave of strikes and southern Lebanon is raising new questions about whether the fragile ceasefire, moon such as it is, can hold. Plus, another look at the chaos and violence that has engulfed Haiti. Now, some of the country's armed self-defense groups are accused of becoming part of the problem. And in today's back of the brief, Russia closes Germany's consulate in St. Petersburg as a fallout grows from the suspected Russian drone plot in Leipzig. But first, today's PDB spotlight. For months, the U.S. and Iran have been fighting a battle for control of the Strait of Hormuz. But, according to new reporting from the Financial Times, another U.S. military operation was unfolding largely out of sight beneath the surface of the water. The report says the U.S. Special Forces spent roughly four months carrying out a covert mission to clear Iranian minds from the Strait, using Navy SEALs, divers, unmanned vessels, and underwater robots to make one of the world's most important shipping routes safer for commercial traffic. It was a dangerous job, but as a statement of the obvious, made even more difficult, by the fact that the U.S. and Iran were actively trading strikes in and around the same waterway. Iran has acknowledged laying minds in international and omini waters after the war began, and the international maritime organization estimated in June that roughly 80 minds had been deployed along important shipping routes. Now, the U.S. publicly announced back in April that it was beginning efforts to establish a safe passage through the Strait, and they said at the time that underwater drones would take part in that operation. But the details of how that mission unfolded, well, remained largely hidden. According to the Financial Times, now small teams of Navy divers operated from inflatable boats frequently working at night. They were supported by unmanned surface vessels and underwater vehicles equipped with advanced sonar, that could search for suspicious objects beneath the water. Once a suspected mine was located, unmanned technology, though, could only go so far. Retired Navy Captain Bill Hamlet told the Financial Times that in some cases, a diver still had to enter the water and approach the mine, place an explosive charge on it, and destroy it. In other words, active bomb disposal onto water while a war was taking place around them. As of now, no American casualties have been reported in connection with the mine clearing operation. And there was another unusual element to the mission. The three American ships, normally assigned to mine countermeasure operations in the Gulf, had reportedly been operating elsewhere since at least early June. That left maritime observers wondering exactly how the US was clearing the Strait. By late August of this year, President Trump announced that mines in the Strait's international waters had been removed or destroyed. And sent Com Commander Admiral Brad Cooper, followed with a more precise assessment, saying internationally recognized transit routes had been cleared of Iranian sea mines. On the tactical level, that's a significant achievement. But clearing the mines and returning the Strait of Hormuz to normal are proving to be two very different things. According to new shipping data reported by Reuters, traffic through the Strait has now fallen to its lowest level since May. Over the past 10 days, an average of just 10 commodity vessels per day have crossed Hormuz. On Saturday, only two pass through on Sunday, six. And most of those ships use the Iranian route through the Strait. A tanker carrying refined fuel from Saudi Arabia attempted to leave through the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, but turned back. And according to shipping data, no very large crude carrier had successfully exited the Strait since Wednesday. Now, those are the publicly observed crossings. It is possible that additional vessels are moving through the Strait without appearing in the available tracking data. Still, the point being, while the mines may have been cleared from the recognized shipping lanes, the fear and concern from the shipping and insurance industries remains. And mines are no longer the only danger. British maritime authorities have reported 27 incidents involving projectile strikes against vessels operating in or around Hormuz since early July. Over the weekend, the US struck three Iranian oil tankers after Tehran fired ballistic missiles at US naval warships. Iran then claimed attacks against additional vessels that it accused of using unauthorized routes through the Strait. So, for commercial shipping companies and their insurers, they're still dealing with a very difficult set of questions. Are the mines fully cleared? Will the Iranian regime resort to laying additional mines? The reality is, mine warfare creates an enormous imbalance. Finding a mine can require sophisticated sonar, munderwater, robots, highly trained divers, and hours of dangerous work. Putting another mine into the water, though, well, that's considerably easier. One tanker industry executive told the financial times that with the amount of small boat traffic moving across Hormuz every night, "it doesn't take much to put a mine back in the water," end quote. And Iran may not even actually need to do that because Tehran's strategic advantage comes partly from uncertainty. If shipping companies, cruising insurers believe there could be another mine waiting beneath the water or another Iranian missile flying toward them, the Strait can remain disrupted even after American forces clear a safe path through it. Other questions facing ship operators include, "Will the IRGC target their vessel with a missile or drone?" Will Tehran continue to threaten vessels traveling through what the regime considers an unauthorized route? Or could their tanker or vessel simply become caught in the next exchange between the U.S. and Iran? The U.S. appears to have accomplished an extraordinarily difficult mission beneath the waters of the Strait of Hormuz, removing the regime's mines. But removing the fear, the doubt, and concern that remains, that's proving to be equally difficult. Now, coming up next, the Israel-Lebanan ceasefire, such as it is, faces new strain after deadly strikes in southern Lebanon. And Hades' anti-gang vigilantes are increasingly becoming a security problem of their own. I'll be right back. It's 3am. Suddenly, there's a strange noise in the house. What do you do? Do you fumble for keys? Do you pray that the gun-safe batteries aren't dead? Of course, leaving a firearm unprotected and unsecured? Well, that's not the answer. That's where the stop-box pro changes everything, offering quick access without compromising safety. It's completely mechanical. It requires no keys and no batteries. It never fails. The five-button interface builds instant muscle memory for fast retrieval in the dark. It's even TSA compliant, and of course, proudly made in the USA. Need extra room? Well, the new stop-box you can uses that same mechanical technology with expanded capacity for ammo and gear, combining long-term storage with instant readiness. For a limited time, our listeners at the PDB get 10% off at stop-box when you use code PDB10 at checkout. Head on over to stopboxusa.com and use the code PDB10 for 10% off your entire order. After you purchase, well, they'll ask where you heard about them. If you don't mind, do me a favor. Tone the PDB sent you. What makes a vacation rental of the year stays guests love and hosts with the most? Discover top-quality homes like the vacation rentals of the year using the loved by guests filter. It highlights top-rated vacation rentals with near-perfect ratings for cleanliness, location, and all the good stuff, so no more walking into a surprise. We've done the heavy lifting so you can get straight to relaxation. Book your next day with Furbo now. Welcome back to the PDB. The situation in southern Lebanon is getting considerably more dangerous with Israel hitting Khazbala hard and ramping up its military campaign. And after several days of deadly strikes, fears are growing about just how far this latest escalation could go. Lebanon's health ministry says Israeli strikes killed at least 12 people in the south early Monday. The deadliest attack hit a residential building in the town of Kafar Ramon, killing 11 people, including two children and four women. A woman who said she was related to at least three of those killed, told Reuters the building was hit as children were getting ready for school. Reuters reporters later saw children's schoolbooks scattered through the rubble as rescue workers work to recover bodies. Eight in separate Israeli strike on a vehicle killed the paramedic and wounded two other medics. Now Israel says civilians were not the intended targets here. Israeli military says it was going after Khazbala infrastructure and what it described as several terrorists transferring weapons in the area. It says precautions were taken to reduce civilian casualties including aerial surveillance and precision guided weapons. The IDF says that it's now reviewing reports that say civilians were killed. But there's some important context here. Hasbela is once again also attacking Israeli troops operating in southern Lebanon. According to the Israeli military, the Iran-backed terrorist group launched two explosive drones overnight toward troops positioned near the Ali Al-Tahar Ridge in southeastern Lebanon. Ali Al-Tahar is a strategically important position where Hasbela is believed to have built an underground military complex with command facilities and weapons stores. Its elevation gives Hasbela commanding views of the surrounding territory and an advantageous position for launching short-range missiles as well as drones toward northern Israel. And that's why Israel has made taking this ridge away from Hasbela such a priority. Last week the IDF announced that it had established operational control over Ali Al-Tahar and declared Hasbela fighters from tunnels beneath the ridge. Now Hasbela hasn't commented on that claim and the battlefield situation has not been independently verified. But the terror group is not leaving Israeli forces there unchallenged. Its latest drone attack reveals Hasbela is still trying to contest an area that Israel considers critical to keeping the group's fighters, weapons, and infrastructure away from Israeli communities along the northern border. The Israeli military is trying to prevent Hasbela from rebuilding the military presence along its border that Israel has spent months working to dismantle. And as the fight around Ali Al-Tahar intensifies, the strikes on surrounding towns are becoming considerably deadlier. The strikes on Kafar-Raman came without an Israeli evacuation warning, so did the strikes that killed four people Friday. Lebanese security officials told Reuters they are already preparing for the possibility that the escalation will continue over the coming weeks. As some of you will remember, the June ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese government dramatically reduced the fighting between Israel and Hasbela, but it never completely ended it. Hasbela continues to refuse to disarm, which is a key requirement for Israel's agreement to withdraw from southern Lebanon. Israeli troops remain inside portions of southern Lebanon that Israel considers part of its security zone, while the IDF continues striking Hasbela targets both inside that area and farther north. The danger now is that Israel's effort to enforce that security zone and prevent Hasbela from rebuilding along its border is producing increasingly deadly strikes in populated Lebanese towns where civilians had begun returning after the ceasefire. But Ali Al-Tahar is quickly becoming an important test of what happens when Hasbela tries to challenge Israel's control along the security zone and just how far Jerusalem is prepared to go to keep the terrorist group away from its northern border. Okay, shifting now to Haiti, where the country's security crisis continues to worsen. Some of the armed groups that Haitians once looked to for protection from gangs are now accused of terrorizing their communities, complicating the US-backed effort on the ground to restore some semblance of order. Now for those of you who haven't been following Haiti's collapse into chaos, this latest problem starts with the security vacuum that these groups originally stepped into fill. Now I've talked before on the PDB about how heavily armed gangs now control an estimated 90% of the capital, port operands, and they've increasingly pushed into the countryside. They've shut down airports, blocked major roads, disrupted the movement of food and fuel. More than 14 out of people were killed in gang-related violence during April, May, and June alone, according to the UN. At least 320 people were subjected to sexual violence while more than 1.4 million Haitians have been forced from their homes. So as the gangs expanded, and Haiti's police proved unable to protect many communities, ordinary Haitians increasingly turned to armed civilian groups to fill the vacuum. And those groups became known as self-defense brigades. Other numbers grew as the gangs became more powerful, and some even received government support, including from the Justice Ministry and some port from the Haitian police. But as the brigades were all expanded, so did their power. The UN says self-defense groups and vigilante mobs have become significant contributors to violence and human rights abuses between the mid-April and mid-July. Nearly 90 people were killed by self-defense groups or local mobs in Artibonites, north of the capital, and west, the region that includes Puerto Prince. Brigade members have been accused of extortion, kidnapping, trafficking weapons and drugs, sexual assault and murder, while some reportedly collect protection money and exercise growing control over their communities. One case from Artibonites, Haiti's largest administrative region, shows just how far that transformation has gone. A 26-year-old woman who spoke anonymously to the Washington Post says she once viewed a powerful local self-defense group known as the Coalition as "protectors". Then in January, the group allegedly turned on her. She says four coalition members, two of them armed, arrived on motorcycles and abducted her. According to the woman, and human rights advocates familiar with her case, a coalition leader known as Woody then ordered the men to sexually assault her. She says she later identified her attackers to police, but they remained free, while videos of the assault have circulated online, and she has received threats. She told the post-quote "both do the same things. The brigades have become gangs themselves." Now Haiti has seen this before. Several of the armed gangs terrorized in the country today actually began as able itself to fence organizations, in some cases brigades and gangs are now working together. The UN says several gangs received support from brigades during clashes north of Puerto Prince. Meanwhile, Haiti's gangs and brigades are increasingly locked in an arms race, with both sides seeking more powerful military-style weapons. And all of this is, of course, complicating the U.S.-backed effort to restore order. Back in 2023, the Biden administration helped create the UN authorized multinational security support mission to assist Haitian police and improve security. The Trump administration later helped transform that mission into the gang suppression force, doubling its authorized strength, and giving it more aggressive rules of engagement. The U.S. has provided more than $970 million in planning, logistics, and funding. The State Department says the broader goal is to create conditions for safe elections, while helping Haiti rebuild security forces capable of eventually protecting the country. And even if the international force succeeds in pushing back the gangs, Haitian authorities still have to figure out what to do with the armed groups that filled the vacuum while the government was failing. No one expects the brigades to simply hand over their weapons and disappear. Haiti's disarmament commission says brigade members who haven't committed crimes could eventually join legitimate security forces, while those suspected of crimes are supposed to face prosecution. Now figuring out who belongs in which category will be difficult, especially in the absence of legal institutions. And of course, many Haitian communities still depend on these groups for protection against the criminal gangs. So yet another problem facing this troubled nation, Haiti and its international partners have to defeat the gangs while they need to also rebuild legitimate security institutions strong enough to replace the vigilantes who stepped into the vacuum. Alright, coming up in the back of the brief, the suspected Russian drone attack in Leapsick is now triggering a diplomatic showdown between Moscow and Berlin. More on that when we come back. Hey, Mike Baker here. The president's daily brief is brought to you by mod. Mod prescribes a once or twice daily medaphinal drink that can keep you energized, focused, and alert. That sounds very good. Here's the deal. Medaphine energy drinks block what's known as adenosine, that's a chemical that makes you tired. It builds up and when caffeine wears off, well, there you go, there's your crash. Modaphinal works differently. It engages pathways in your brain, dopamine, no repinifrin, histamine, and rexin, to achieve energy and alertness for 10 to 12 hours. Modaphinal was invented in the 1970s and since then, it's been used by soldiers, pilots, astronauts, anyone in high-stakes situations that need concentration and alertness. Visit mod dot com, that's mod mod dot com for a free consultation and get 10% off your first order plus free shipping with the promo code PDB, that's promo code PDB at mod dot com. See the website for important safety information and I want to thank mod for sponsoring the PDB. Now if you're a PDB regular and I hope you are, you know that I'm constantly traveling. Combining the podcast from countless airport lounges, hotels, and the occasional secret lair. And all that travel means I always need to keep the phones and laptop charged. That's why I'm a huge fan of the Ridge 5 and 1 travel power bank. Combining MagSafe wireless charging, an Apple Watch charger, lightning, and USB-C, the Ridge power bank handles every charging need in one device. Built in cables eliminate the need for extra cords or adapters. The 20 watts in a powerful battery, getting three full charges, well that's easy. Plus it magnetically attaches for convenience and ease of use. The Ridge power bank is built alas and backed by a lifetime warranty. One thing to pack, five ways to power. you can find. RIDGE's power bank at Best Buy, or our listeners can get 10% off at RIDGE.com by using code PDB checkout. Just head on over to RIDGE.com and use code PDB and you're all set. And after you purchase, I'll ask where you heard about them. If you don't mind, tell them the PDB sent you. In today's back of the brief, we've been tracking the suspected Russian drone attack at Leapzig Airport, where German authorities say an explosives-laden drone was found near Ukrainian transport aircraft. Now the diplomatic fallout is beginning. Russia's foreign ministry announced Monday that Germany's consulate in St. Petersburg will be forced to close by the September 18th deadline. Moscow is also ordering Germany's Gerta Institute and their cultural centers in Moscow and St. Petersburg to shut down, with staff told the leave of the country. The move is retaliation from measures announced by Berlin after German officials formally blamed Russia for the Leapzig incident. Germany has ordered the closure of Russia's consulate in Bonn and the Russia House Cultural Center in Berlin, while also signaling possible additional sanctions, and tighter restrictions on Russian nationals. Moscow denies any involvement in the Leapzig attack, who us, what, and is accused Germany of using the incident as a pretext to further damage relations. But German officials say the drone's explosives, detonator, and overall configuration resembled equipment linked to previous Russian hybrid operations. And Leapzig is not just another airport. It's one of Europe's busiest cargo hubs, and an important logistics center for support flowing toward Ukraine and NATO forces in Eastern Europe. The Leapzig incident also fits into a much broader pattern that European governments say they've been confronting since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Authorities across the continent have accused Moscow of involvement in sabotage plots, arson attacks, cyber operations, espionage, and other forms of so-called hybrid warfare. And now, what began as a suspected sabotage attempt that a major European logistics hub and responsible for moving resources and supplies to Ukraine is now triggering an escalating diplomatic dispute between Germany and Russia. And that, my friends, is the president's daily brief for Tuesday 8 September. Now, if you have any questions or comments, just reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. The entire PDB staff loves to hear from you, so keep those cards in letters coming or just hit me up on my beep. Finally, if you haven't already, now hope you'll take a few minutes to check out our "Boffo YouTube" channel, which makes me ask, do people still say "Boffo"? It's not as old as saying as "swell." I'm pretty sure the kids don't say "swell" anymore. Anyhow, wander on over to YouTube if you can and search up at president's daily brief. If you like what you see, and I hope you do, please do us a favor and hit that subscribe button. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool. [BLANK_AUDIO]