THE GREAT DEBATE: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton square off tonight at Hofstra University in Hempstead New York in the first of three presidential debates. NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt moderates the 90 minutes beginning at 9 p.m. EDT. The candidates will be asked to comment on three specific topics, subject to change, which include “America’s direction,” “achieving prosperity” and “securing America.” The Washington Examiner will have full coverage of the debate as it happens, and Daily on Defense will have a wrap-up all all the national security related exchanges in tomorrow morning’s edition.
The expectations game is in full swing, and Clinton’s campaign manager Robby Mook says he’s concerned that Trump, who says outrageous things or makes already debunked claims, would be “graded on a curve.” Trump reportedly did not do the full mock debate to prepare, but rather discussed possible questions and responses with key advisers, including CEO Steve Bannon, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
The debate will be aired on all major cable news channels and broadcast networks, including Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, CBS, and C-SPAN. Facebook will also stream the debate live online.
ANOTHER SHOW OF FORCE: While you slept, the United States and South Korea staged a demonstration on the waters east of the Korean Peninsula to show their capability to find and destroy North Korean submarines, which North Korea has been figuring out how to arm with submarine-launched ballistic missiles. A statement released by Rear Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Korea, said the “combined maritime operation” was “in response to recent North Korean provocations and is designed to send a strong message of unified resolve against continuing acts of North Korean aggression.”
When the U.S. flew supersonic B-1B conventional bombers over South Korea this month, the North dismissed the flexing of U.S. military muscle as an empty threat. But that’s not how North Korea’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho treated it at the United Nations General Assembly last week. He called the flights threatening, and warned, “the United States will have to face tremendous consequences beyond imagination.” Ri said with a state of war still in effect since 1953 between the North and South, and in the face of what he called “aggressive war exercises” by the U.S. and the South, he said the North had no choice but to go nuclear. “The DPRK will continue to take measures to strengthen its national nuclear armed forces in both quantity and quality in order to defend the dignity and and safeguard genuine peace.”
Good Monday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre), National Security Writer Jacqueline Klimas (@jacqklimas) and Senior Editor David Brown (@dave_brown24). Email us here for tips, suggestions, calendar items and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll be sure to add you to our list.
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NO MERCY, NO TRUCE: Russian and Syrian warplanes have bombed the rebel-held city Aleppo in northern Syria at a furious pace over the past few days, and it is increasingly clear the hope for a cease-fire that could lead to a political settlement is now nothing more than a pipe dream. Hundreds of people have died in the past few days and much of the city, including hospitals and medical facilities, have been reduced to rubble.
KERRY’S REBUKE: Secretary of State John Kerry, who brokered the doomed peace deal, was reduced to scolding the Russian government on Saturday for supporting a “siege in medieval terms” of Aleppo, which is under attack from Syrian President Bashar Assad, Joel Gehrke writes. “Russia needs to set an example, not a precedent — an unacceptable precedent, I might add, for the entire world,” Kerry said before a meeting with his counterparts from several European countries.
U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power made similar accusations on Sunday, Paige Winfield Cunningham reports. Power sharply criticized Russia in a speech to the United Nations Security Council, which met to discuss the escalation of fighting in Aleppo as the Syrian army tries to retake the city from opposition forces. “What Russia is sponsoring and doing is not counter-terrorism, it is barbarism,” Power said.
AFGHAN FIGHT AT AN EQUILIBRIUM: Gen. John Nicholson, the leader of the fight in Afghanistan, was in D.C. last week making the case to reporters at the Pentagon that the so-called “stalemate” in Afghanistan is actually a good thing, because it means the government controls most of the country. “This is a positive in the sense of the majority of the population’s under control of the government forces, and this is primarily the population centers and so on. And then the enemy is primarily in more rural areas that have less impact on the future of the country,” Nicholson said.
The general was also spotted on Capitol Hill last week, where he ran into and greeted Sen. John McCain in the Senate-side basement.
TWO GENERALS FIRED: Army National Guard Brig. Gen. Michael Bobeck on the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Maj. Gen. Wayne Grigsby, commander of the 1st Infantry Division in Fort Riley Kansas, have been fired. Bobeck was accused of having an extramarital affair, a violation of military law. Officials have not stated why Grigsby was relieved of his duties, saying only, “He is currently the subject of an official investigation and we cannot comment further at this time.”
OBAMA VETOES SAUDI BILL: President Obama followed through with his promise to veto a bill on Friday that would have allowed families of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia, Susan Crabtree reports. Obama’s move sets up a potential showdown with lawmakers, who may decide to try to override the veto of the popular bipartisan legislation but would need a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate in order to do so. None of his previous vetoes has been overridden. House Armed Services Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, sent a “dear colleague” letter on Friday to fellow lawmakers, asking them to “study the consequences” of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act.
AVOIDING A SHUTDOWN: Congress and the White House are headed for a week filled with sharp, partisan disagreements that will include more FBI testimony on Clinton’s emails, a vote to override Obama’s veto, and possibly even a partial government shutdown if the two sides can’t find a spending agreement. Lawmakers have been itching to get back to the campaign trail, but first have to find a spending agreement to fund the federal government past the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. So far, however, there’s been no easy way forward, which is once again raising the prospect of a shutdown. Susan Ferrechio goes over all the issues here.
NUCLEAR INSPECTION TOUR: Defense Secretary Ash Carter begins an inspection of U.S. nuclear bases today with a stop at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, where B-52s and land-based ICBMS are located. He talks to troops, and talks to reporters traveling with him late afternoon. This is a good time of year to visit Minot. When this reporter was there in January it was 17 below.
TRUMP CAMPAIGN CUTS EMBATTLED ADVISER: A businessman being investigated by federal officials for possibly engaging in private discussions with Russia is no longer working with Trump’s presidential campaign, his campaign manager said Sunday. Carter Page, a former Merrill Lynch investment banker in Moscow, hasn’t participated in Trump’s foreign policy briefings for some time, Kellyanne Conway said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“He’s not part of our national security or foreign policy briefings we do now at all,” Conway said. “He’s certainly not [been part] since I became campaign manager.” Yahoo News reported Friday that U.S. intelligence officials are investigating whether Page’s alleged discussions involved the U.S. lifting economic sanctions if Trump becomes president.
ISRAEL’S NETANYAHU MEETS THE CANDIDATES: Both Clinton and Trump met privately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York City yesterday. The Trump campaign released a readout of the meeting which said, “under a Trump administration, there will be extraordinary strategic, technological, military and intelligence cooperation” between the U.S. and Israel.
IN THE MAGAZINE: Flynn, the former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and current national security adviser to Trump, sat down with the Washington Examiner to discuss defeating the Islamic State, preventing homegrown terrorist attacks, thwarting North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, being dissed by Colin Powell and getting fired as DIA director. Read it in our Monday magazine.
SO LONG MIK: Last Friday afternoon the Pentagon Briefing Room was filled with friends and well-wishers as NBC Pentagon Correspondent Jim Miklaszewski, known to everyone as “Mik” was showered with accolades as he retires from NBC after a more than 30 year career. There were video messages from Obama, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and former CIA Director retired Gen. David Petraeus. Mik joined NBC in 1985, and was one of the original reporters who help launched CNN in 1980. Best wishes, Jim.
THE RUNDOWN
Wall Street Journal: Big Spending on Warplanes Spurs Aerial Arms Race
Defense News: Air Force Grounds Four JSTARS Over Maintenance Concerns
USNI News: III MEF Commander Orders Operational Pause For Harriers In Okinawa After Crash
Breaking Defense: ‘Optionally Piloted’ Aircraft Studied For Future Vertical Lift
Marine Corps Times: Corps to upgrade aging LAVs while searching for a replacement
Military Times: This war hero’s Gold Star parents want you to know why they’re backing Hillary Clinton
Defense One: Yemen Has Become the Graveyard of the Obama Doctrine
Breaking Defense: Why DoD’s Year-End Spending Needs to Change
Air Force Times: U.S. needs more resiliency in space, general says
USNI News: Geographer: China’s Claim to South China Sea Not Rooted in History
Military.com: U-2 Flights Resume after Pilot Killed in Crash
Calendar
MONDAY | SEPTEMBER 26
10 a.m. 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW. Stimson hosts a public symposium on the global security challenges for the U.S.-Japan alliance and partnership. stimson.org
TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 27
10 a.m. Dirksen 342. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson testifies about threats to the homeland 15 years after 9/11. hsgac.senate.gov
Noon. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. Think tank experts discuss NATO’s collective defense 100 days from the Warsaw Summit this year. heritage.org
2 p.m. Rayburn 2200. The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade marks up a bill requiring a report on whether the IRGC is a terrorist group. foreignaffairs.house.gov
3:30 p.m. Rayburn 2118. The House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee holds a hearing titled “National security space: 21st century challenges, 20th century organization.” armedservices.house.gov
WEDNESDAY | SEPTEMBER 28
10 a.m. Dirksen 419. State Department officials testify on the response to North Korea. foreign.senate.gov
2 p.m. Rayburn 2212. Officials from the military’s labs testify about innovation through science and engineering for military operations. armedservices.house.gov
2:30 p.m. 1030 15th St. NW. The Atlantic Council hosts an event on countering violent extremism in Bangladesh. atlanticcouncil.org
THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 29
9:30 a.m. 1030 15th St. NW. Former NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen speaks about America’s role in the world. atlanticcouncil.org
10 a.m. Dirksen 419. Antony Blinken, the deputy secretary of state, testifies on the regional impacts of the crisis in Syria. foreign.senate.gov
3:30 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Analysts will talk about redefining the U.S. agenda for nuclear disarmament. csis.org
FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 30
Noon. Suite 700, 1 Dupont Circle, NW. The Aspen Institute hosts a book talk with author Rosa Brooks regarding How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything: Tales from the Pentagon. aspeninstitute.org
MONDAY | OCTOBER 3
7:30 a.m. Walter E. Washington Convention Center. The first day of the Association of the United States Army includes remarks from the sergeant major of the Army and Army Secretary Eric Fanning. ausameetings.org
10 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Chief of Naval Operations Gen. John Richardson speaks about maintaining maritime superiority. csis.org
10:30 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Retired Gen. David Petraeus and former ambassadors talk about the future of Afghanistan. brookings.edu
Noon. 1000 Massachusetts Ave. NW. The Cato Institute hosts an event about if immigrants and refugees impact America’s national security. cato.org
