The President's Daily Brief
PDB Afternoon Bulletin | January 19th, 2026: Iran TV Hijacked & Venezuela’s New Power Play
19 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
It's Monday, the 19th of January. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, a stunning breach of Iran's propaganda machine. Iranian state TV is hacked to broadcast the exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi, along with images that the regime has tried desperately to erase. I'll have those details.
Later in the show, CIA Director John Ratcliffe flies to Venezuela to meet newly named President Delcy Rodriguez in the highest-level US engagement since Maduro's capture. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. For years, the Iranian regime has relied on one tool above almost all others to maintain control – total dominance of information. State television is not just media in Iran, of course.
It's an integral part of the regime's ability to control the population, a carefully managed pipeline of propaganda meant to project strength and unity and inevitability. But that pipeline sprung a leak over the weekend.
Multiple Iranian state television channels were abruptly hijacked in a coordinated cyber attack, interrupting regular programming to broadcast footage of Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's last Shah, along with images of anti-government protests that the regime has been working relentlessly to suppress.
This breach came amid a near-total internet shutdown inside Iran, which remains in place after weeks of nationwide protests challenging the authority of the mullahs and the Revolutionary Guard Corps. With social media blocked, messaging apps crippled, and outside communication severely restricted, the regime believed it had sealed the information battlefield. The cyber attack proved otherwise.
According to reporting, hackers targeted the satellite transmission feeds used to distribute state television across the country. For viewers inside Iran and for the regime officials monitoring their own channels, the interruption was shocking.
State media, normally locked down tight, was suddenly broadcasting the face of the exiled monarchy and scenes of unrest that the regime was insisting either don't exist or are being orchestrated by foreign enemies. Messages aired urging Iranian security forces not to fire on civilians, an explicit attempt to drive a wedge between the regime and the men tasked with enforcing its rule.
Iran's government moved quickly to acknowledge the incident, confirming, quote, technical disruptions while insisting control had been restored.
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Chapter 2: What significant breach occurred in Iran's state television?
But the damage was already done for a regime obsessed with projecting control. Even a brief loss of the narrative is a serious blow. Say television is one of the Islamic Republic's most tightly guarded assets.
Unlike social media platforms that can be throttled or shut down, television remains the primary source of information for millions of Iranians, especially older audiences and rural communities. A successful intrusion there carries weight far beyond a viral clip online. Just as important is who appeared on screen. Reza Pahlavi, again the son of the former Shah, carries enormous symbolic weight.
To supporters, he represents an idealized version of pre-revolutionary Iran under his father, more secular, more open, and less isolated from the world. It remains a powerful contrast to life under the Islamic Republic. Now, obviously, there's a significant portion of the population in Iran that has no interest in revisiting the monarchy.
Their goal is not to restore the monarchy, it's to remove the current repressive regime and build a democracy through free and fair elections. But to the current regime, Pahlavi's image is radioactive. The fact that his face appeared on state television, however briefly, cuts directly against decades of carefully controlled official narrative.
Regardless of whether Iranians support him or not, his image represents an alternative to the mullahs in the IRGC. This incident also reveals a larger reality. Information warfare now sits at the center of modern unrest.
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Chapter 3: How did hackers exploit Iran's propaganda system?
Tehran may control its streets with force, but controlling the narrative is becoming increasingly difficult.
Internet shutdowns, arrests, and intimidation can slow dissent, but they can't extinguish it or fully cut a country off from the outside world. Whether this hack was carried out by an organized opposition group, a foreign actor, or sympathetic insider still remains unclear. Iranian authorities have not publicly assigned blame, but whoever was responsible demonstrated something critical.
The regime's information wall is not as solid as it once seemed. For dissidents inside Iran, the broadcast was a signal that they're not as isolated as the government wants them to believe. For the regime, well, it was a warning shot. When even state television can be turned against you, the grip on power may not be as firm as it appears.
Coming up next, CIA Chief John Ratcliffe meets with Venezuela's interim government in Caracas, highlighting Washington's apparent intention to work with Delce Rodriguez. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Let me take just a moment of time, if I could, to talk to you about personal finances and financial goals. That's all very important, particularly now as we're heading into a new year.
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Chapter 4: What impact does the cyber attack have on Iran's regime?
Obviously, no agreement was reached, but U.S. officials say she consistently sought common ground, even as negotiations failed to deliver a Maduro resignation. Those assessments ultimately shaped the Trump administration's conclusion that keeping Rodriguez in place for the time offers the best chance to avoid sustained instability.
As we've been tracking since Maduro's removal, Trump has focused more on expanding U.S. access to Venezuela's oil sector than on restoring democracy outright. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he supports a democratic transition and has even praised Machado while acknowledging a reality that the administration keeps returning to.
The opposition, at least currently, lacks a governing presence inside Venezuela. Now, Rubio has said he expects Machado to have an opportunity to compete when elections are eventually held.
But for now, the administration sees Rodriguez and the remaining members of the Maduro regime as capable of keeping control of security forces and maintaining infrastructure and, importantly, coordinating closely with Washington. And that, my friends, is the PDB Afternoon Bulletin for Monday, the 19th of January.
If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdbatthefirsttv.com. And to listen to the show ad-free, well, you know you can do that. It's very simple. Just become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief by visiting pdbpremium.com. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.
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