PDB Situation Report | March 21st, 2026: The Fight With Iran Takes A Dangerous Turn & Inside China’s Iran Problem

Summary

Podcast Summary
The President’s Daily Brief – PDB Situation Report: March 21, 2026
Episode Theme:
The Iran Conflict Escalates & China’s High-Stakes Quandary
Host: Mike Baker, The First TV
Guests: Jonathan Saye (Foundation for Defense of Democracies), Casey Fleming (Black Ops Partners)

---

Episode Overview

In this special PDB Situation Report, Mike Baker leads a detailed exploration of the rapidly escalating war involving Iran, Israel, and the U.S., with a particular focus on how the conflict has shifted into the critical terrain of energy infrastructure. The conversation unpacks Iran’s evolving tactics, the likelihood and implications of regime change, and how China, heavily reliant on Iranian oil, faces significant strategic dilemmas amid these developments. Intelligence, covert action, morale, and the broader implications for the world economy and global security underpin the entire discussion.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Conflict Enters a Critical New Phase (00:50)

• The Iran-Israel war, now on its third week, has moved from military targets to direct attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure, most notably after Israel hit Iran’s South Pars gas field (00:50–02:32).
• Iran’s retaliation includes strikes on regional LNG infrastructure and a threat of broader escalation if attacks on its assets persist.
• Blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has begun, threatening global energy markets and driving up prices.

Notable Quote

• “So what’s emerging is a new phase of the conflict, energy for energy. And with the Strait of Hormuz under pressure... the risk to global supply is growing and prices are rising.”
  — Mike Baker (01:30)

---

2. Deep Dive: Iran’s Strategy, Regime Change Prospects, & U.S./Israeli Objectives

Guest: Jonathan Saye (Foundation for Defense of Democracies)

Iran’s Tactics and the Escalation Ladder (02:51–06:53)

• Iran pivoted from direct military confrontation to asymmetric strikes on civilian and economic targets when its conventional capabilities fell short.
• Use of drones/UAVs has become a primary threat, bypassing destroyed missile launchers and making securing southern Iran difficult.
• The Iranian regime’s decentralized structure enables continued operations even if senior leaders are removed.

Leadership Dynamics and International Coordination (08:29–10:15)

• U.S. and Israeli goals broadly align but differ in the definition of “success." For the U.S., a military victory might suffice; for Israel, tangible regime change or at least crippling Iranian capabilities is the political requirement.
• Deaths of high-profile Iranian officials are framed differently in global media, sometimes obscuring their role in repression.

Regime Change: Is it Really on the Table? (11:08–14:40)

• Saye believes this is “the closest we’ve been” to regime change in Iran, due to both external pressure and unprecedented internal unrest.
• Historical cycles of disillusionment are being pierced by new levels of brutality and mass protest; Iranian public sentiment has shifted toward demanding complete systemic change.
• “You cannot get behavior change from an Islamic Republic that was built on Islamist ideologies, anti-Americanism, and gender apartheid. You just can’t do it.” — Jonathan Saye (12:15)
• Israeli operations are not just targeting military infrastructure but also repression apparatus, carrying both strategic and psychological impact.

---

3. Regime Change: The Hour is Getting Late (18:19–27:37)

• The next few days (from the episode’s date) are critical. The average Iranian is waiting for the “final battle,” but Western and Israeli actors risk losing popular support if the conflict persists without progress.
• Reports (unconfirmed due to wartime conditions) suggest possible desertions within the IRGC and growing morale issues.
• Israeli strikes on internal security forces and psychological messaging are raising the cost for regime enforcers as much as for protestors.

Notable Quote

• “You need to ensure that the average IRGC or Basij personnel on the ground fears their lives as much as the protesters do. And for the first time ever, they do because of the hyper-local attacks.”
  — Jonathan Saye (22:58)
• The situation is fluid and information is scarce, but intelligence signals indicate a unique volatility and opportunity for systemic change.

---

4. What Sets This Uprising Apart? (29:04–30:51)

• Israeli commitment to a strategy of regime change post-October 7 is explicit.
• Iran’s demographics (young population) and the trauma of state violence have radically changed the nation’s morale and risk appetite, making this cycle different from previous (failed) protests.
• Time is crucial because prolonged conflict risks demoralizing the movement.

Notable Quote

• “We can’t let the Iranian people lose their hope because that is ultimately the main leverage. And the more this drags out and the more there’s less information, that risks demoralizing them.”
  — Jonathan Saye (30:51)

---

5. China’s High-Stakes Dilemma & Strategic Response

Guest: Casey Fleming (Black Ops Partners)

China’s Stake in Iran—Energy & Global Positioning (33:51–35:31)

• China imports 90% of Iran’s oil exports, making it both Tehran’s lifeline and a major global stakeholder (33:51).
• China is described as the “grand puppeteer,” running a network (with Russia, Iran, North Korea, etc.) in an “unrestricted war” against the United States (35:31).

Support Without Direct Involvement (35:31–41:19)

• China avoids the appearance of overt involvement, instead providing technology, components for drones, satellite intelligence, and protection from sanctions.
• “Iran is their key pillar. They’ve been funding Iran, they’ve been ensuring Iran against all the sanctions... they say, ‘Don’t worry about it. Any sanctions US puts on you, we’ll cover you.’”
  — Casey Fleming (37:34)
• China’s model: Enable proxies, avoid boots on the ground, and maintain plausible deniability.

---

6. China’s Global Strategy: Reality vs. U.S. Perception (44:11–53:14)

• The U.S. has historically underestimated the CCP; China’s ambitions are long-term and existential, per Fleming.
• The CCP’s unrestricted warfare doctrine leverages economic, cyber, psychological, and drug warfare—fentanyl, social media manipulation, and intellectual property theft—as tools to weaken the West internally.
• PLA modernization is driven largely by stolen Western tech, but full integration remains incomplete.

Notable Quote

• “Their economy is being run into the ground... Guess what, wars have a tendency to reset all the banking figures and reset the economy. So I can’t think of another country that can use a war than China right now.”
  — Casey Fleming (49:11)

---

7. Taiwan: The Next Domino? (46:59–53:14)

• Despite recent U.S. intelligence suggesting otherwise, Fleming asserts that China remains fully intent on moving against Taiwan by 2027, especially now that precedent for regime change elsewhere appears “normalized.”
• China’s doctrine aims to tie the U.S. down in multiple conflicts, then move on Taiwan and the South China Sea.

---

8. Unrestricted Warfare: The War Already Happening (53:14–59:50)

• Conventional war is the last resort for Beijing; the “real” war is being waged inside the U.S. through drugs and information (e.g., 150,000 Americans dying of fentanyl annually).
• The episode warns that political and economic infiltration, campaign finance, and academic espionage all form part of China’s assault on the West.

Notable Quote

• “They want us to capitulate. They’re murdering 150,000 [Americans]... every year with fentanyl. My question to you is, why are you not seeing that on the front page of every paper and on every news program? Because your mainstream media is corrupted and compromised.”
  — Casey Fleming (55:42)

---

Key Timestamps

• 00:50–02:32 – Opening rundown: war’s new “energy for energy” phase
• 02:32–14:40 – Jonathan Saye on Iran’s tactics, regime outlook
• 18:19–27:37 – Regime change prospects, IRGC fractures, critical days ahead
• 33:51–41:19 – Casey Fleming on China’s Iran problem and global strategy
• 44:11–53:14 – Taiwan, CCP’s ambitions, PLA modernization
• 53:14–59:50 – Unrestricted warfare, U.S. vulnerabilities, CCP influence

---

Tone, Takeaways & Final Reflections

The episode is brisk, strategic, and often blunt. Mike Baker and his guests combine granular, “insider” analysis with a hard-nosed skepticism about both U.S. optimism and the narratives spun by adversarial regimes. Listeners are left with a sense of urgency: the potential for dramatic geopolitical change is high, especially in Iran; and China’s varied, non-kinetic campaigns should be seen as existential threats, not dismissed as theoretical or niche. Regime change may be closer than ever in Iran, but so too is the risk of broadening conflict and economic shock. Throughout, the call is to stay informed, vigilant, and aware that “the war” the U.S. faces is already being waged on unconventional fronts.

---

Best Quotes Overview

• “You cannot get behavior change from an Islamic Republic that was built on Islamist ideologies, anti-Americanism, and gender apartheid. You just can’t do it.” – J. Saye (12:15)
• “Don’t be distracted by the war of the month... The biggest enemy ... is the Chinese Communist Party.” – C. Fleming (36:29)
• “They want us to capitulate. They’re murdering 150,000... with fentanyl... Because your mainstream media is corrupted and compromised.” – C. Fleming (55:42)

---

For anyone who missed this episode, this summary outlines all pivotal events, perspectives, and strategic insights that drive the current pulse of Middle East tension—and the hidden hand of Beijing behind the curtain.

Transcript

[Ryan Reynolds]

Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to [e-mail]

[Mint Mobile Advertiser]

Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month Required intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full terms at Mintmobile. Do.

[Mike Baker]

Welcome to the PDP SITUATION report. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right.

[Mike Baker (advertisement segments)]

Let's get briefed.

[Mike Baker]

First up, the war with Iran you may have heard about it, enters a new phase as both sides begin targeting critical energy infrastructure, raising the risk, of course, to global supply and global economies. We'll be joined by research analyst at the foundation for Defensive Democracies, Jonathan Saye for more on that later in the show. China has a major stake in the war with Iran, relying on Tehran for the vast majority of its oil imports. Casey Fleming, CEO of Black Ops Partners and an expert in national security strategy and unrestricted warfare, we're going to ask him what that means, joins us to break it down and how China could respond. But first, today's SITUATION REPORT spotlight. We're now three weeks into the war against Iran and we're seeing a clear shift in the battlefield. This fight is no longer confined to military targets or civilian infrastructure. It's now moving into the global energy system. Oh. That shift became clear after Israel struck Iran's South Par's gas field. It's one of the largest in the world and a critical piece of infrastructure that they share with Qatar. Now, Iran responded, as you might suspect, by targeting energy facilities across the region, including major LNG infrastructure, and is now warning of broader attacks if strikes on their infrastructure continue. So what's emerging is a new phase of the conflict, energy for energy. Right. And with the Strait of Hormuz under pressure, of course, the risk to global supply is growing and prices are rising. For more insight, we're joined by research analyst at the foundation for Defensive Democracies, Jonathan Saye. Jonathan, thanks very much for joining us again here on THE SITUATION report.

[Jonathan Saye]

Hi, it's a pleasure to be back.

[Mike Baker]

Well, hopefully you'll feel that way after we finish our conversation. So let's start from the kind of the top. I guess it seems like we've kind of broken the Dam here in a sense, right, with the targeting of energy infrastructure. Talk to me about that.

[Jonathan Saye]

So this was really a retaliatory measure because, you know, you're right to point out there's an economic angle, but the war started with going after the military apparatus. And parallel to that was the repression sites that we'll get into in depth a little bit later. But afterwards, once Tehran realized they don't have the capabilities to meaningfully match or respond, striking back at Israeli American military, they pivoted towards the civilian infrastructure. And that was a lot of, of course, homes, residential areas across the Persian Gulf states and Israel. And after that, they quickly shifted towards economic targets. So they did strike Saudi oil facilities. They went after ports that are logistical hubs for some of these transports. And more importantly, I think it came down to how they blocked the street of Hormon moves. The economic implications of that are really like not even comparable to other scenarios. So I think it's because of that that we're seeing a retaliatory measure from the United States and with mostly Israel against Iranian oil facilities. But that said, the way that Iran went about this war of not only regionalizing it, but really going after the economic, I guess, chokehold of the Strait of Hormuz to this extent, I think is going to be the main reason that Washington really hasn't concluded the war. They could have declared a military victory probably by now, given that they've destroyed all the military sites, silos, launchers, and some of the nuclear assets as well. But because of the implications of how the Strait is closed right now, it unfortunately now, or really fortunately, depending on who you ask, the United States now has to finalize this before we move on to the next phase or before we even reach a ceasefire.

[Mike Baker]

But they must have known, I mean, and by that I mean the US Administration, they must have known that this was going to come down to essentially the straight of Hormuz. Right. And energy. Because as you pointed out, I mean, look, there was no chance the Iranian regime was going to go toe to toe with the US And Israel, you know, missile for missile. I mean, it just wasn't going to happen. So you have to assume maybe I'm being overly optimistic, but there must have been significant discussion and scenarios drawn up and then responses, you would have thought, although we're not seeing them, regarding what would happen if they blockade the strait.

[Jonathan Saye]

Correct, There certainly were, which is why the United States led the efforts against the irgc, Navy, Iranian naval assets as a whole, because that was seen as the primary way or tactic for Tehran to block that strait. But I think a parallel to that, that maybe perhaps many had not assessed or did not think about it that thoroughly was, was the drone component. So we talk about Iran's military capabilities. It was mostly missiles. We went after the launchers. So even they might still have thousands of hundreds left, but they can't launch them anymore as often as they used to. Numbers don't lie. But that's not the same case with drones. And they're actually using these UAVs to go after some of these vessels. The issue with that is, of course, they're smaller, they're cheaper, Iran has plenty more of them. But more importantly, they don't need a launch site or a launch pad. They could just be operated from practically anywhere. And it's because of that that we can't really pursue any options of boots on the ground to secure the south, the southern coast of Iran, because with these drones, our personnel would be really exposed to any attack, given the capabilities here. So maybe it comes to that kind of a tactical decision there. On the other hand, maybe the understanding was that by targeting the command structure of the Islamic Republic, these forces would not have the capabilities to attack or carry out operations. Now we realize, or maybe had already anticipated, but now it's very evident that the regime's main body, the core military apparatus, does not need a command structure or a supreme leader to tell them to close the strait, target civilian infrastructures, or open fire on Iranian dissidents, given that this is a contingency plan they had really structured for half a century. So I think comes down to those two pillars that maybe we're not seeing immediate results in the state of Hormuz.

[Mike Baker]

Yeah, you'd have to assume they've had a playbook on the shelf for quite some time. This is not the first time they've moved to blockade the street. It's not the first time they've made threats about doing that. So I guess I, along with, I suspect a lot of people are really curious to know what conversations took place ahead of time to kind of anticipate the way this was going to go, because there weren't that many options for the Iranian regime. And I do get the sense, to your point, talking about the command and control, the structure, the leadership, you know, you get the sense that perhaps there was an overconfidence, that, you know, decimating some of that leadership would result somehow in a sea change within the direction of the Iranian government. Right. Maybe, you know, IRGC commanders would rise up and say, okay, enough's enough. Whatever. There, There may have been some, some optimism there and some hope. I don't think that's ever a good way to, to, to base your, your strategy. But let me, let me ask you this if I could, Jonathan. The, the strikes that Israel has claimed they're responsible for on the South Pars gas field, right, which then resulted in the Iranian retaliatory strikes, including against Qatar's largest LNG facilities. Jerusalem, saying that was us. Trump's come out and said, I didn't know anything about it. You know, do you think that's true? Do you think there was no consultation between the two nations on something of that importance?

[Jonathan Saye]

It is tough to really assess. What we've picked up so far between Washington and Jerusalem is that the overall objectives are the same, but one might have a different bar as to why they would really label a success versus another. So, as we noted for Trump, declaring a military victory would have a lower bar given how overpowered the Islamic Republic's armed apparatus were. And you can just look at the numbers, how they don't have any missiles and launchers. But then again, that doesn't mean a military victory equates a moment comparable to the Berlin Wall collapse, for example. The political successes there are different from a military victory, but nonetheless, Trump can still sell that as something that he neutralized. It was a major threat from the Islamic Republic, and an attack was able to battle a lot of that. It is not the same thing for Netanyahu because his policy against Iran needs to stand out compared to Israeli war against Hezbollah or what happened in Syria with arming the Jews or what have you. I think for the average Israeli voter looking at Netanyahu, and of course, there's a lot of internal political unrest against him, they want to see how this war is different from the 12 day war. So if this were to conclude and the regime would still stay in power, they might lose some missiles, but they would still have the capabilities to rebuild them in, let's say, five, 10 years. That is not going to be seen as a victory by Israelis. So because of that, I think the bar is different, but the objectives are not between the two. And it really comes down to how we assess the next phase of the war. If it's going to be somehow leveraging someone from within the system to talk to, to see if we can get some sort of a deal, that looks unlikely. Or are we going to go about systemic regime change and really a transition of power across Iran.

[Mike Baker]

Yeah, I like how this possibly apropos of nothing. But I like how the, the New York Times in particular, when Ali Lahanjani was, was killed just the other day, I like how they, they tried to paint it almost as if he was a moderate, right? Like, oh, my God, he was, he was the one guy who could have these conversations and he was leading the nuclear talks. And of course, they didn't bother to mention that he was also the architect of murdering thousands of Iranians during their recent protests and the detention of tens of thousands of others. So it's always interesting how to see these things get framed. But let me ask you this. If I, if I could, do you think that regime change, let's call it that. But, you know, again, sort of a significant change in the government. Is that a possibility from your perspective, based on what you're seeing at this stage?

[Jonathan Saye]

It certainly is. But very quickly, I really want to address what you mentioned, because it's very significant for us as we're engaging, whether we can talk to the Islamic Republic or not. So growing up there, there was the 2009 green movement. That's when a lot of people, myself included, we had hopes of bringing somehow change from within the system. Like a camp called the reformists, those who put up a facade of negotiations and appeasement was in reality, as you noted out, they still have the worst crackdown resume. They still were about uranium enrichment, they were still about arming proxies. But now the word reformist has now shifted to pragmatist. All of a sudden we hear this new term that somehow some of these individuals are meant to be seen as rational thinkers or somehow different from the clergy, different sides of the same coin. If the Islamic Republic was a clock, these are different moving parts with the same agenda. The idea that somehow we're going to turn it into a Venezuela scenario where we can somehow use someone from within the system. One, it's not going to play well with the Iranian populace. They want this regime gone in its totality. That's one. And two, I don't know if Israelis are going to be receptive to that. And three, and the most important one, you cannot get behavior change from an Islamic republic that was built on Islamist ideologies anti Americanism and, you know, gender apartheid. You just can't do it. That point is no longer an Islamic republic. But to your immediate question about whether regime change is possible or not, this is the closest we've been. And I think there's a few factors that we need to really consider. Another war against the Islamic Republic was inevitable. After the 12 Day War, Israelis thought they were not done with the situation. The nuclear issue was still lingering. The missiles were a major issue. So it was about maybe they were anticipating sometime in later 2026 to go about this. But what happened in January changed everything. Once the regime one opened fire on 40,000 unarmed people within 48 hours, that was just unprecedented. But it really informed the intelligence calculus in the west and Israel that not only is this regime more unpopular than we thought, but more importantly, the anti regime momentum is real. If the Crown Prince called on protests to take place and we saw millions come out unprecedentedly, that in itself tells you that the opportunity was maybe closer than we thought. So I think that shaped how we went about this war. And you look at how Israelis are going after taking out the internal security infrastructure, the repression apparatus, going after different not only buildings, but individuals. Like now we see hyperlocal targets specifically going after unit and they publicize that. They talk to Iranians and they say, you know, your time is near. The message of solidarity is there. So Israel definitely has an incentive to push that through. The average Iranian on the ground sees this as no way but through because if we fail to get regime change out of this conflict or regime collapse more so in this scenario, Iran is going to turn to North Korea. And I think Trump was very accurate that when he said in February 28 that it is now or never. Meaning if you fail to leverage this chance, this is for generations to come, we're going to be stuck with this regime. So what I'm looking out for is defections, any sort of signs coming in from inside the country that these military officials no longer see a future with the regime and they rather have their lives spared, join the movement. And I think the next few days, if not week, is going to be critical. And it comes down to once the day comes that the Crown Prince is going to call on protests to take place, that's we can truly measure how much, like how much we're able to degrade the regime's internal repression and how much we cause fractures amongst their intelligence apparatus.

[Mike Baker]

Okay, I want you to hold that thought. We're going to pick up right where you just left off there for a second. So that raises a couple other questions. But Jonathan, if you could stay right there. We will be taking a quick break and then we'll be back with more from Jonathan from the foundation for Defensive Democracies right here on the PDB situation Report. So you know what I'm going to say next, right? Stick around.

[Mike Baker (advertisement segments)]

Hey, Mike Baker. Here. Let me ask a quick question about your personal finances. Have you looked at your credit card statements lately?

[Mike Baker]

Now you know what I mean, right?

[Mike Baker (advertisement segments)]

You're working 40, 50, maybe 60 hours a week just to buy groceries and gas and things you used to be able to afford. Meanwhile, the credit card companies are charging you over 20% interest rates for the privilege of using their cards. Well, look, if you're a homeowner, there is a real solution. American Financing wants to work with homeowners to help ease the high interest debt problem. American Financing has mortgage rates in the fives, right? They're showing homeowners how to use their equity to wipe out their high interest debt and the average savings for their customers is $800 a month. Talk to a salary based American Financing mortgage consultant. There are no upfront fees, no obligation, just to see how much you can save. And if you start today, you could delay two mortgage payments. Give American Financing a call. America's home for home loans is American Financing. 866-885-1881. That number again, 866-885-1881 or just visit american financing.net PDB Hey PDB listeners, Mike Baker here with a quick recommendation for your podcast playlist.

[Jonathan Saye]

Look.

[Mike Baker (advertisement segments)]

If you like deep, insightful conversations with

[Mike Baker]

world class thinkers and who doesn't come

[Mike Baker (advertisement segments)]

on, check out the Jordan Harbinger Show. It's available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen. Jordan sits down with people who've been in the room at the highest levels, from national security leaders to thinkers reshaping

[Mike Baker]

how we understand the world.

[Mike Baker (advertisement segments)]

You'll hear ideas and stories that go way beyond the usual sound bites. Two episodes I'd recommend an interview with our friend Ryan Macbeth on Venezuela's collapse. That's a clear look at how a once wealthy oil state unraveled and what that means, of course, for regional stability. And also his conversation with Douglas Murray where they explore the pressures facing Western democracies and what those trends mean for long term stability. Download the Jordan Harbinger Show. That's H A R B I N G E R Just like it sounds on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your shows or just go to jordanharbinger.com start to dive right in. It's one of those podcasts that makes you smarter, so give it a go.

[Cachava Advertiser]

Craving the coffee flavor you love, but without the caffeine? Cachava's got you covered with their newest coffee flavor. This all in one nutrition shake delivers bold, authentic flavor crafted from premium decaffeinated Brazilian beans. Quality nutrition shouldn't be complicated. Just two scoops of Cachava's all in One Nutrition Shake and you've got 25 grams of protein, 6 grams of fiber, greens and so much more. Whether you're craving that coffee taste to kickstart your morning ritual or as a nutrient packed reward to round out your afternoon, cachava keeps you fueled and satisfied wherever your day takes you. Plus, it actually tastes delicious. No fillers, no nonsense, just the good stuff your body craves. And for the times you feel like switching it up, you've got seven flavors to choose from, all with the highest quality ingredients. Treat yourself to the flavor and nutrition your body craves. Go to cachava.com and use code news. New customers get 15% off their first order. That's K A C-H-A-V-A.com code news.

[Mike Baker]

Welcome back to the PDB Situation Report. Joining us once again is Jonathan Saye, research analyst at the foundation for Defensive Democracies. Jonathan, thank you very much for sticking around. We were just talking about the potential at this stage for regime change, shift in the government in Iran. And you mentioned, you know, the idea that the next few days will be very important. First, I want to ask you what's, what's important about the next few days and also have you seen any indications or have heard of any indications that you give credible reference to for defections, anybody coming out of the IRGC or any other elements that could provide perhaps top cover for the people of Iran to come out on the streets?

[Jonathan Saye]

So on your first question, time is of excess for numerous reasons. Number one, the economic implications and the oil prices, the market as a whole, that poses significant challenges. I think Washington also has an incentive to conclude this as much as they can. On the other hand, we've seen how Trump is able to enforce a ceasefire like they did in the 12 Day War. Israelis had more of an appetite to keep the war going during June, but America put an end to it. So we know that the preference from this administration, of course, as they've always stated, is to not let wars drag out for too long. On the other hand, the Israeli population has been going really at this for years now. Since October 7th, they've been at constant war with different entities. They have also economic implications for Israelis as well. But more importantly, the average Iranian who's on standby right now hoping that this is going to be the last or final battle, as they call it, on the ground, we risk losing them. So the idea here, or at least how the war was perceived by the majority of Iranians was that this was the help that was promised to them. So once Iranians were massacred on the street, we saw them call for humanitarian intervention, and this is that this is what they were hoping for. But that doesn't mean they want regime change at any cost. They do not want to see heavy, heavy strikes against Tehran as it's been going on. There is a limit as to how much the average Iranian can tolerate before they get disillusioned. Parallel to that, they do not want to see their country fragmented. Any form of backing separatist groups, some of them that have tied to terror networks, is going to alienate the average Iranian also because of that, I think it's. It's in everyone's interest to really move swiftly with this. So that's why the next few days are going to be critical.

[Mike Baker]

I'm sorry for interrupting, but what does that mean to move swiftly on this? I mean, how does this, you know, it almost feels like, right, we're in a. In a way, I don't know, this is going to sound wrong, but in a stalemate, right, we're continuing the air campaign, hitting additional target packages. The Straight is effectively blockaded now. We've expanded to hitting energy infrastructure, which is going to have an increasing shock on the global economy. And yet we're not seeing any real significant fissures within the Iranian government, at least that, you know, we're aware of. So what does that mean? It needs to move swiftly? What is the actual practical way that anything breaks free here?

[Jonathan Saye]

That would really answer your second question. They originally proposed, but quickly, I would notice, I would mention that when there was a new wave of conflict in Syria, it took a week for Assad to fall within that, like, within, like a few days, Assad was gone. Or another way of looking at it. Before Israel carried out the pager attacks, none of us could have speculated what the Mossad was capable of until it happened. So I'm inclined to think there's a lot of covert operations that a lot of us are not familiar with until it happens. That might be too optimistic. But that has been the case in other Middle Eastern countries in the last six months. So that's critical.

[Mike Baker]

Well, I would push back on the Syria thing only because obviously that was an armed conflict. Right. You had, you had an armed, yeah, you know, what you want to call them, insurgency or an armed force, whatever, moving on the Syrian government. And of course, the Syrian military just collapsed and Russia did not come in to provide any support. Et Cetera, et cetera. Here you've got people who know if they go out on the streets, there's a high potential for them to get killed. And I'm just wondering how do you get past that? And I know what you're saying about the defections and the cracks in the government and will you get that? And, and again, I go back to that earlier comment that I think, you know, conversations were probably overly optimistic about what, how that might happen.

[Jonathan Saye]

They were, they may have been too ambitious. I guess it's too soon for us to tell. But the thing about fractures is that you're not going to hear about them until the day of the major clashes that are going to take place. Yeah, this officer, like for the IRGC personnel that would want to defect, you wouldn't hear about it now. So the Wall Street Journal put out something very interesting that I think answers your question to an extent. So the Mossad is specifically going after certain mid level commanders, informing them that now's not the time, but there will come a moment. Well, you have to decide whether you're going to be on the side of the people or you're going to be eliminated, just like your Supreme Leader was. So the idea is that you have to change the calculus. And how do you do that? You need to ensure that the average IRGC or Basij personnel on the ground fears their lives as much as the protesters do. And for the first time ever, they do because of the hyper local attacks. So everything is in motion for us to get there. And you have to, one, you would have to ensure that at least some of these guys, as we said, defect. And the first steps to that are desertions. And we're getting reports of that. We're getting reports of IRGC guys. Again, nothing is confirmed because it's a war zone. So it might not be true, but there are a lot of reports hinting at some of these guys refraining from showing up to the post because they know they're going to be killed. There's no real air defense system. Their commanders have abandoned them or they've been killed. And rationally it does make sense if your foot soldiers on the ground, even if you believe in martyrdom, you still are not going to sit there like, like a sitting duck to just be exploded. So there's an incentive there. Now if I were to be a bit more pessimistic, the question is do these armed personnel really think if they join the movement they're going to be spared given the blood that they have on their hands? So to your point, it's definitely not going to be that easy. It's probably not going to happen overnight, but once that moment comes. Also, we're talking about numbers here. So if you have millions that are taken to the streets that are backed by Israeli drones, as we've seen so far, there might be any incentives to arm there. There might be other areas where Israel might be supporting separatist movements. Again, that's going to have its own ramifications. So you have to look at it in a multiple stage level. But again, as to the very details, I think that is going to happen very swiftly. And when it does, there's going to be so many different developments that we have to, I guess, wait and see until then. But I think this roughly addresses Iran.

[Mike Baker]

I think you're right. I'm sorry for interrupting. I think you're right in the sense that there's, there's undoubtedly a lot of conversations going on, right. That we're just unaware of within maybe the mid level ranks, maybe even some senior level ranks of the Iranian military, again, the irgc, maybe other organizations looking at this and talking about, you know, what their future might look like. Right. And we've had some, some good reporting and we've covered some of that on the PDB recently, that the Israeli strikes on the internal security apparatus are having a significant impact on, on the besieged militia, militia and that and other elements that have been responsible for suppressing the people and maintaining internal control. And we're seeing, you know, some of that impact. And I, I think that's from a strategic point of view. But I think you could argue that they could have even done that sooner. Obviously they were, they were busy working the, the missile program as target packages. But you know, I think going after the internal security because if anything is going to give the people on the street hope, it's seeing those elements that have been directly responsible for keeping them, you know, under the boot, you know, being targeted. So I think that's, that's a really good point that you raise it.

[Jonathan Saye]

Certainly. And in the initial stages, they were going after this. They were. But here's the issue. They were going after the infrastructure. And it took the Iranian armed apparatus 48 hours, if not 24 hours to realize that they cannot stay in their bases. So they evacuated it. So when we hear numbers that they struck like 8,000 targets, I think the CENTCOM was claiming so that, and now pair that with how many have been killed, the numbers are generously 10,000, maybe 5,000. So that tells you a lot of These sites where maybe one man was guarding it, if anyone. And also when you talk about the total armed apparatus, it's about half a million if you combine Rogc Basij, the conventional military, the armed forces, different battalions. So that's still quite an extensive number. But I think what is the recent wave is the hyper local ones specifically recording a video of it. And that's the ideological as the psychological aspect of recording these and saying this is a besieged guy and that was his fate. Do you want to end up like him or do you want to take your chances and really maybe defect?

[Mike Baker]

Yeah, part of this is always going to be, or a situation like this is always going to come down to some level of, of propaganda, of COVID action campaigns, of trying to reach the people and get them so that in particularly in an information starved environment so that they understand the, you know, what's happening. And so, yeah, I guess part of the problem is, and you've certainly been, you know, closer in this is that over the years, if you've watched what's happened since the Revolution 79, you can develop a certain sense of cynicism. Right. And you know, every time you think maybe this is it, maybe this is the moment, then you know, they continue, the regime continues to display this level of resilience that he just didn't imagine that they would have or the, you know, that the opportunity for the people at a certain point it just, and then it just kind of, it goes away and it's, it's back to business as usual. And so there was just such an enormous amount of hope and continues to be at this point, I think within a lot of circles that maybe this is that, that time. But yeah, it's, it's very tough to read because again, part of the problem is, as you pointed out, it's a war zone and it's Iran. And it's always been difficult to get information out of there, intelligence out of there that you can count on.

[Mike Baker (advertisement segments)]

Very true.

[Jonathan Saye]

And you're right to point out that we've seen different episodes started in 1999, 2009, then again we saw it in 2016, 17, 20, 22, and now with the recent wave. But I do think there are a few factors that set this apart. One, I think post October 7th, Israel is set on something major in Iran. So I think that is one key element there that is really trying to advance some sort of a regime change policy. We haven't seen that level of appetite from Washington really post George Bush. Even the fact that Trump went this far, I think was unprecedented post that era. So that's one key factor. The other one is that Iran is a very young country. And you have these young people, the 60% about the age of 30, that have only lived under regime brutality. And that in itself has really, I don't want to say radicalized the population, but has cultivated a sentiment amongst the people that it is really now or never for us because it's either this or as Iranians, we cease to exist. And that was not the mindset. I remember being on the ground. We did not feel like as a country that there was an existential threat against us by our regime. Now that's the mindset. So that's very different. And like, Listen, you saw 40,000 people die, get massacred on the street. For them to risk their lives. That was also unprecedented. I would not have predicted, no one would, that this many Iranians would risk their lives and really take to the streets. The question is, does the same energy exist? Does the same morale exist? And that's why I say time is of essence for us to be leveraging that against the Islamic Republic. But that said, cynicism is there. But at the same time, we can't let the Iranian people to lose their hope because that is ultimately the main leverage. And the more this drags out and the more there's less information that risks demoralizing them.

[Mike Baker]

It's really interesting what you said, Jonathan, the idea that you couldn't imagine that that many people would turn out on the streets in protest. But I suspect those people who did couldn't imagine that even their repressive government would be that brutal right in, in that moment. Just shocking. Jonathan. Say, listen, always a fascinating discussion and really appreciate you taking the time to join us here on THE SITUATION report. And I hope you'll come back again.

[Jonathan Saye]

Thank you for having me. Great conversation.

[Mike Baker]

Jonathan say of the foundation for Defense and Democracies. Man, great, great guy. Terrific insight, firsthand insight into, you know, how this is playing out on the streets. All right. Well, coming up next, the war with Iran is creating a high stakes dilemma for China. That's right. One that could both impact its economy and its global strategy. National security. And unrestricted warfare expert Casey Fleming joins us to explain what Beijing's next move could be.

[Mike Baker (advertisement segments)]

Stay with us. Hey, Mike Baker here with an important message about improving your personal finances. Now, a lot of folks have had experiences with bad credit unfortunately at some

[Mike Baker]

point in their lives.

[Mike Baker (advertisement segments)]

And if you're in that boat now, I want to tell you about Ava. Ava. Ava is an incredible credit building app designed to work fast so your credit score can start climbing with almost zero effort. AVA reports all your on time payments, including rent and utilities up to 24 months back. So you build positive history. In fact, members improve their scores by an average of 30 points in 30 days. Take control of your credit today. Download the AVA app. That's a V A. And when you join using my promo code Baker, well you'll get 20 off your first year, monthly or annual. Your choice. Again, grab the AVA app and use my promo code Baker and you'll get 20 off any plan for up to a year. That's promo code Baker thanks to ava. Now go get yourself good credit.

[Timberland Advertiser]

It's not just something you made. It's the privilege that you get to work with your hands. It's building something that serves a purpose, proof that you have the grit to keep going. At Timberland, we understand you take your craft seriously, and we do, too, which is why our products are built to the highest quality. We put in the work so you can perfect yours with purpose, in every detail, and crafted with intention. Timberland built on craft. Visit timberland.com to shop.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Hey, Bill O'Reilly here. Please check out my new interview series. We'll do it live. Each Thursday, I sit down with the most influential people in America where a no spin chat, no script, anything could happen. You can find. We'll do it live on Bill O'Reilly.com YouTube or wherever you download your podcast.

[Mike Baker]

Welcome back to the PDB Situation Report. As the war with Iran enters its third week, time flies. China is watching closely, of course, and it has a lot at stake here. Beijing has built a deep strategic and economic relationship with Tehran, and nowhere is that more evident than in the energy sector. China currently imports roughly 90% of Iran's oil exports, making it a critical lifeline for the regime as it navigates international sanctions. That means any disruption to Iran's production or the flow of oil through the region has direct consequences for China's economy and its broader strategic ambitions. The question now is whether Beijing stays on the sidelines or becomes more directly involved. Joining me now is Casey Fleming, CEO of Black Ops Partners and a recognized expert in national security strategy and unrestricted warfare. He's also the author of a terrific book. If you haven't picked it up yet, I don't know what the hell you're doing with your time. The book's called the Red Tsunami, the Silent Storm Killing your Freedom. It's available on Amazon, and I highly recommend you go get it. Okay. All Right. Casey Fleming, thank you very much man, for, for joining us here today.

[Casey Fleming]

Thanks for having me, Mike.

[Mike Baker]

Well, let's, I guess let's approach this from 30,000ft to start with. Talk to me if you could and explain to the folks watching the significance why, why is China so concerned about what's happening with the Iran conflict? And I guess the second part of that question, do you see any scenario where they get more involved in the support of Iran?

[Casey Fleming]

So china is the 4200 pound gorilla in the room. They have been at it for well over 40 plus years to destroy America from within for complete and utter takeover. It's called unrestricted war against the people. In the past we've been trained that war is with military to military. Not in this case. They realized back in the Gulf War that they could not go head to head with us. So they said, how else can we get them? So it's weakening the United States from within by putting every man, woman and child on the front lines. Fentanyl, drug warfare, Covid all the rest of it. So they are the grand puppeteer. Underneath them is Russia, Iran, Pakistan, North Korea, drug cartels. And underneath Iran are the terrorist organizations. So that is really the big picture. Don't be distracted with the war of the month with Iran. However, Iran is one of their key components, their key partners, their key pillars. They are the strategic forward operating base for Russia and China in the Middle east, just like Venezuela was the forward operating base for China, Russia and Iran in, in the Western Hemisphere. So all of this is connected. If Venezuela, drug cartels, as I just mentioned, Iran, all roads lead back to the Chinese Communist Party and their complete and utter destruction of the United States. So Iran is their key pillar. They've been funding Iran, they've been ensuring Iran against all the sanctions that the US Put forth. They say, hey, don't worry about it. Any sanctions US puts on you, we'll take them off, we'll cover you. So just even after the attack started, we saw that there are two Iranian ships. Immediately after the attacks, our offensive started. Two Iranian ships were in port in China receiving solid rocket fuel and they made it back to Iran. Now will you see boots on the ground, Will you see ships? I doubt that. I think it's everything that they can do to support them in that war, whether it's components and they're building drones for Iran in China, supplying components for the drones, the electronics and engine mechanisms and so on. So it is a strategic partnership. Don't be distracted by the war of the month. The Biggest strategy, the biggest enemy, incidentally, the head of the FBI, Christopher Ray, for seven years said the, the largest single threat to the future of the United States is the Chinese Communist Party. Cash Patel has echoed that as well. And so this follows all along the same lines. And again, it's unrestricted war where every American is on the front lines and they sense it, but nobody would step forward and tell them the truth. Nobody would step up and connect the dots until now.

[Mike Baker]

We've talked about it a lot on the pdb and I've talked about it over the years in terms of China's influence, their efforts, their theft of economic intelligence, their economic espionage, their theft of research and development, that the cost of all that, it's not even quantifiable. It's so significant. And I think it's only been the past few years where there's been an effort, right, Mostly by, and again, look, love them or hate them, but mostly by the Trump administration, frankly, to focus on the threats coming from China. Now I want to talk about their, their involvement with Iran because there's, there's a school of thought that says, look, China never gets involved, right? They only do what's in their best interests. They always like talk about, you know, we, we just want peace. Everyone should, should work together for peace. They never get their hands dirty in things. Right, that, that seems to be because in part, maybe they, they, they don't like the chaos. But when you look at the potential damage that a change of government and alignment with Venezuela and a change, potential, I'm not sure it's going to happen. And a lot of people are skeptical about whether you get a change in government in Iran.

[Mike Baker (advertisement segments)]

But that's really significant.

[Mike Baker]

You would think from Xi Jinping's perspective, it is.

[Casey Fleming]

And don't forget, we took out the head around Mexico with our assistance insistence, took out the head of the worst cartel with strong operations in all 50 states in the US so all of those are basically putting Xi Jinping on check because he has been expanding for the past 30 years unchecked and in certain circumstances, other administrations have been accelerating their, their growth with Iran, with China and so on. So yes, love him or hate him, Trump has basically put him in check over the last few months. Took 30 years of complete ignorance towards China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela and their global aggression towards the free world and taking over the free world. So love him or hate him, he did this for America. He did the housekeeping nobody else would do over the past 47 years. And it doesn't matter where you Start. The longer you wait, the uglier the housekeeping is and we're actually there. So it's a nasty situation, but it had to be done.

[Mike Baker]

Yeah. What do you think about. There's been some fairly credible reporting. Of course the Kremlin denies it all, that Moscow has been providing Iran not just with intelligence but also now assistance in making their drone strikes more lethal, more, more effective. Right. And obviously sharing their experience over the past four years of Putin's invasion. Now have you seen anything that would indicate that China has been engaged in anything along those lines with Iran?

[Casey Fleming]

Yes, they've been providing satellite intelligence as well. They've got their own satellite system to compete heat and replace US gps, which is a baidu that they use of their own satellite system which is really excellent in targeting. Same thing with the Russian thing as you mentioned with the drones, their targeting has gotten a lot sharper even since the beginning of the war, which is not good for us and not good for our, our allies in the Gulf. So it really is stepping this thing up to be very serious, make no mistake. So make no mistake, Russia and China are completely behind Iran financially. Military equipment, military training. And by the way, even in Iran you had the Iranian IRGC using Chinese surveillance and AI and tracking to track the, the dissidents in, you know, the non believers and the non supporters for murder. So they helped execute 32,000 people by identifying them for the IRGC to go in and kill these people. So China's got blood on their hands on this thing. But again to your point, they always like plausible deniability. And don't forget, these guys still follow Sun Tzu to the letter. So everything is done on deception. If the CCP is moving their mouth, they're lying. And nothing that they've ever agreed to since day one with Nixon and Kissinger and Bill Clinton and the wto, they've never honored any agreement that they've ever agreed to do. So this is the true enemy. It is the most serious enemy the world honestly has ever faced. It's the number two economy that we built this monster. So again, China is the, you know, all roads lead back to China. And let me say there's only one China and it's completely controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. And if you remember high school history, Communism and freedom do not mix. They are oil and water. They cannot coexist. So that's what China is up to. They are trying to non coexist by taking us out of existence.

[Mike Baker]

Yeah, I want to pick that up after the, after the break because, you know, the past several decades, you know, it's all been about, well, you know, we're not really adversaries. We're, we're living in the same, you know, global economy and we want to find strategic partnerships and etc. Etc. That's always been the approach. And whether people believe it or not, nobody wanted to come right out and say, look, they've created, with our help, an unlevel playing field. And they also believe that their rightful position is at the top of the food chain. And Xi Jinping in particular has been very clear about that. Casey, if you could stay right where you are. We've got to take a quick break. We'll be back with more from Casey Fleming. And you should again check out his book. It's an excellent one. It's the red Tsunami, the silent storm killing your freedom. And again, it's available on Amazon. But we'll take a quick break and then we'll be back with more from Casey Fleming here on the PDB Situation report. So, as you know, stick around.

[Mike Baker (advertisement segments)]

Hey, Mike Baker here with some good news from our friends over at CB Distillery. The VIP sale is happening now at CB Distillery. For a limited time, you can save up to 50%. That's 5, 050 on everything when you use the code VIP. If you're looking for better sleep or managing daily stress or easing stubborn post workout discomfort, well, CB Distillery has plant based options to support sleep and mood and focus and. And yes, it's true. They even have c CBD products for your pets. My own favorite is their sleep gummies with a combination of melatonin and cbd. Look, I spend a lot of time traveling and constantly moving through different time zones can really mess with your sleep. Every CB Distillery product is made with premium clean ingredients with no artificial fillers. With over 2 million customers get that. CB Distillery has become one of the most trusted names in cbd. So if better sleep, better calmer days or natural relief.

[Mike Baker]

Sounds good.

[Mike Baker (advertisement segments)]

Well, now's the perfect time to check out CB Distillery. Take advantage of the VIP sale and save up to 50% sitewide with code VIP. But hurry, the sale won't last long. Visit CBDistillery.com and use code VIP to save. That's CBDistillery.com code VIP. Specific product availability depends on state regulations.

[Mint Mobile Advertiser]

The New York Post has been delivering impactful headlines for over two centuries. And every weekday morning, I'll bring them straight to you. I'm Caitlin Becker, host of the New York Post Cast from Washington to Wall street if it matters to you, you'll hear it here. And it wouldn't be the Post without the stories other outlets like to ignore. So ask your smart speaker to play the Nypost, listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Mike Baker]

Welcome back to THE Situation report. Joining me once again is the CEO of Black Ops Partners, Casey Fleming. Casey, thank you very much for sticking around. Let's just talk briefly for good about China and Taiwan. Now. It was interesting, the recent testimony up on the Hill, Capitol Hill, where the general consensus from the latest intel assessment, sort of their annual report about what to watch and what to be worried about indicated that they felt China wasn't interested in moving on Taiwan in 2027. Looking forward just a brief bit, what, what are your impressions of this? What's your perspective on China's intentions? You know, particularly from a timeline regarding Taiwan?

[Casey Fleming]

Our intelligence community and our federal government has underestimated China and the Chinese Communist Party since day one. So Xi Jinping just gutted all of his top generals. He has no operational experience, but that's not going to stop him. He's been very clear in 2027 he fully intends to take over Taiwan. And now, now with, if you look at it from his perspective from the, the global impression and the global branding that Trump went in and took out Venezuela, Mexican drug cartel head, and now Iran, that gives them in his mind, full license to go forward. There's also school of thought that says those top two generals that were left that were fairly loyal to him did not want to engage Taiwan. And so that's why he let him go. But that's really what's at the, at the crux of this thing. So, and by the way, their economy is, is being run into the ground for five years, their real estate economy is vapor. It's house of cards. Their banking economy is a house of cards. And now the rest of their economy is a house of cards as well. So what you have is don't say, well, how are they going to fight a war? Well, guess what, wars have a tendency to reset all the banking figures and reset the economy. So in other words, I can't think of another country that can use a war than, than China right now. So don't count them out. You know, if you, the other thing is, you know this, Mike. When you're at war, you have to become intimate with your enemy. You have to think like them. And that's what we've done. When we came aware of this, my team and, and my company came aware of this 16 years ago. We all roads led back to the CCP then and they do even more now. So we've become very intimate with that enemy. They believe that they ran the world for 2300 years. The last century, 1850 tonight, with which started with the Opium wars to 1950, World War II, where the Japanese came in and the Americans had to kick them out. That is the century of great humiliation. And then they feel like the rest of the world is theirs for 23 new the additional, the next 2300 years. And it's their rightful destiny to, to run the world. And if you're not Han Chinese, that's H A N Chinese, then you're inferior and you're either going to be a slave or you're going to be killed with additional viruses that are coming out now. I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I work off of data, facts and intelligence. And that's coming from the intelligence community.

[Mike Baker]

Yeah, look, I mean you go back to late 2019 and there were rumblings about, you know, problems and something happening and concerns over the Wuhan lab and, and then suddenly all that got again, it was a very strange time, but the, the speed with which the administration at the time wanted to not talk about China as the origin of this rather, you know, and from, from a lab perspective was, was very puzzling. It's interesting what you, what you mentioned in terms of how Xi Jinping interprets or processes what's happened recently in Venezuela and now in, in Iran, possibly in Cuba as okay, you know, now the gloves are off. I see that's how the world's going to operate at this point, regime change or removing leaders. And so I think, I think you're right that Xi Jinping looks at it possibly as the door is open now.

[Casey Fleming]

Absolutely. The other side of it is that it's always been their plan, and we know this from our own intelligence, to keep the United States spread between three wars and a terrorist organization. So that's Ukraine, that's Middle East, a future war with north and South Korea or you name it, and then terrorist organizations to keep the, the mainland of the United States on the back of your heels with this terrorist event, that terrorist event and so on. So at that point, they are weakened enough to where we can get what we want by taking over Taiwan and by the way, the rest of the South China Sea, which is rightfully, quote in their words, rightfully theirs.

[Mike Baker]

Yeah, it's interesting China looked at, I think they, well, they've been following along since the, you Know, certainly the, the efforts in Afghanistan, but they've, they've looked at our effectiveness in conflict zones, right. And from a US military perspective. And of course, you know, then they, they kind of got on the giddy up to improve their own military capabilities. How effective have they been? And you touched a little bit on the restructuring, the reshuffling, the removing of key leaders within the pla. But how effective do you think they've been in modernizing their military at this point?

[Casey Fleming]

They've been very effective in stealing. We taught them how to manufacture, we taught them how to manufacture efficiently. We gave them intellectual property and this, the intellectual property we didn't give them, they stole. And they've got a massive, they've, they've got a, an incredibly effective system for stealing intellectual property. So all that combined, the issue is they have trouble putting it all together at the end. So it all looks good, but, but there's final tweaking that needs to be done. So that is, that's not that far off. So you have to understand what unrestricted warfare is. Unrestricted warfare says we're going to, there are no rules and we are going to take out our enemy from the inside, have them destroy themselves from the inside with cognitive warfare, which is social media, TikTok schools, all that drug warfare, fentanyl, all that other stuff. Biological warfare, which is Covid 1, Covid 2, Covid 3. Incidentally, Covid now is known to be an absolute bioweapon, which was a lab leak that's on the White House's website calling it a lab lab leak. So it's out there now. So everybody knows this is going on. So that's really what's at stake. So unrestricted warfare, they never want, they follow Sun Tzu, win the war without fighting. So the last stage of unrestricted warfare, which they hope they never have to go to, is military conventional hot war. They want us to capitulate. They're killing 150. They're murdering 150,000. Yes. Double the number than the government reports. They're murdering 150,000American military age young men and women every year with fentanyl. My question to you is, why are you not seeing that on the front page of every paper and on every news program? Because your mainstream media is corrupted and compromised. So you're losing 150,000 murders every year. That's the same as two 737s going down every day. 350 family funerals every day and, and the same as World War II, never ending so why are we not holding the Chinese Communist Party accountable and why is our government not standing on that?

[Mike Baker]

Yeah, I think it goes all in line with. I'll bring up that intel assessment. The latest intel report that came out, that was discussed up on Capitol Hill, latest hearings, and John Radcliffe was there, Tulsi Gabbard was there, and they, and they talked about, about their assessment, the intel community's assessment of China is that, and I find this interesting, right. I find it, I don't want to say it's, it's, it's, it's because it's not naive. There are a lot of smart people, you know, that are involved in this. But it's the way that it gets phrased is, is that, you know, they, they don't want to take it by force. They don't want to, you know, they're not going out. And then the implication becomes, because you've said that, because, you know, the assessment is that China is not looking, you know, to engage, they don't want to engage in military takeover of Taiwan. The implication there is that, oh, okay, we don't necessarily have to worry about this, but there's, there's little talk beyond that of this, these other efforts that go on, right, to win the war without firing a shot. That, so it's very important what you're talking about. It's, it's, you know, look, the Soviets, you know, have, did the same thing in their day. You know, the Russian intel apparatus still believes the same thing. They can, they can corrupt America. It will fall on its own because it is corrupt. And, and they'll do everything they can to help support that move. Yeah. So, you know, we do tend to get kind of blind, blinders on where we just look at, well, how many naval ships do they have, you know, how many aircraft do they have, how many tankers do they have? And we forget about everything else that goes on. And I'm glad you raised again this, this point of the theft of information. They, they had a whole plan that said we're going to, we're going to bypass the research and development, all the heavy cost of, of that over the years and just hoover up everything from the US and allies in the West. Now, you could argue they bypassed a generation or two of engineers, you know, developing that, that ability. But they've been working very hard now to, to, you know, correct that problem

[Casey Fleming]

they have by putting their. US Allowing their students to go into U. S. Universities and to steal information. People don't understand that when a Chinese person, Chinese Communist citizen leaves the country, they have to check out with their local police station and they have to sign a loyalty pledge to the Chinese Communist Party. They about they must agree to espionage for national, the national security laws of the CCP of 2015, 16, 17, 18 that they have to be loyal to the CCP. So we're teaching these kids right next to our own kids. And then I've, I've had CEOs tell me, well, how the hell do these guys have all this information? How can they act us so bad? I mean, how can they be so good at this? I said, well, I can promise you this, it has nothing to do with their kids sitting right next to our kids in Internet security classes and master's degrees in Internet security. I promise you that's not the case. And so it's all those things. By the way, one of the things that you mentioned also is, you know, our government kind of downplays this. Don't forget our government is politicized and a lot of our lawmakers receive CCP money in their reelection PACs. So that's called foreign influence. And that absolutely has to stop. If you think there's any foreign influence inside the walls of China, there's not. And they have a Chinese firewall with technology, nothing gets in. The same thing needs to happen with us. Block everything from China and, and absolutely. Foreign influence will get you treason and your luck will give you a rope.

[Mike Baker]

But that would imply campaign finance reform, would imply maybe the. An end of stock trading. I'm not sure any of those are going to happen, but I'm glad you got your book up there because we've run out of time. But tell people about your book and how, how they can get it.

[Casey Fleming]

The book was written for you. It's written for every man, woman and child because you're on the front lines of this war. It's unrestricted war. It's the most important thing you'll ever read in your entire lifetime. I'm not a book guy. Never wanted to write a book. Still don't. But here it is. I connected the dots for you when nobody else would. It's backed by over 20 top intelligence, who's who in the world, as well as subject matter experts. And it cut. It connects the dots for you to understand what's going on and what's happening now and in the future. This is the most important thing that's going on in your life. Nobody's told you about it.

[Mike Baker]

Excellent. And available on Amazon.

[Casey Fleming]

Amazon, everywhere. Amazon. Barnes and Noble Ingram. You name It.

[Mike Baker]

Well, I recommend that the PDB global community go out and check out that book. It is an incredibly important topic. And Casey Fleming, I want to thank you very much for taking the time and to join us here on the Situation Report. And I hope you'll come back next time we pick up the phone and call you. Well, that is all the time we have before today's PDB Situation Report. Right. If you have any questions or comments, and I, I hope you do, just reach out to me at pdb@the first tv.com you know what we do with your cards and your postcards and your letters and your facts. Do anybody write letters anymore? Do people send postcards anymore? I don't know. I think it would be a better world if we did. Maybe you write one letter every week to somebody you know?

[Mike Baker (advertisement segments)]

Right.

[Mike Baker]

How, how much fun is it? You go to the mailbox, you actually

[Mike Baker (advertisement segments)]

have a letter instead of a bill.

[Mike Baker]

I'm going to start a campaign. I think we need to bring that back. Along with cardigans and fedoras. Yeah, I'm going that direction. All right. Once a month, anyway, we gather up your best questions and comments. We mash them all together into what we call an ask me anything episode. We got another one coming up here very shortly, so keep those cards and letters coming. And of course, to listen to the podcast and the show ad free. You can do that. It's very simple. Become a premium member of the President's Daily brief by visiting PDB premium.com I'm Mike Baker, and until next time, you know the drill.

[Mike Baker (advertisement segments)]

Stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.

[Josh Spiegel]

Hey, I'm Josh Spiegel, host of the podcast Lunatic in the Newsroom. If you enjoy journalism that drifts into mild panic, wild overthinking, and a guaranteed nervous breakdown, lunatic in the Newsroom is for you. It's news like you've never heard before. The only newsroom with a panic button. You'll laugh, you'll cry and gasp in horror as the show spirals completely out of control. It's not just news, it's emotionally unstable Lunatic in the Newsroom. Listen, today.