We got a brief a couple weeks ago on the first three or four strikes, and I got to say the

administration, the Department of Defense was just tying itself in knots, trying to explain what the

legal justification was for these kinetic strikes on these boats. I think it's important to recognize also that it's really serious that we, you know,

have operations that interdict fentanyl, especially coming into the United States,

but that's not this.

So I think the administration has really screwed this up.

Hi again, everyone. I'm Alicia Menendez, in for Nicole Wallace, and it is 5 o'clock here in New York.

Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona remarking on this administration's use of the military to strike

boats, they say, are carrying people smuggling drugs. A count that now is up to 10, eight in the Caribbean Sea, and two in the

Eastern Pacific. Those 10 strikes have killed 43 people so far, although there is no independent

confirmation of that data. And this afternoon, an escalation in the administration's plans.

Defense Secretary Pete Higseth has ordered the Navy's most

advanced aircraft carrier to the Caribbean, the USS Gerald R. Ford, which is currently deployed

in the Mediterranean. So the Wall Street Journal reports, the dispatch of a carrier is the strongest

sign yet that the Trump administration envisions expanding the airstrikes that so far have been limited to hitting small vessels to other targets on land.

And what officials have said is an effort to destroy drug smuggling operations and destabilize Venezuela president, Nicolas Maduro's government.

The Pentagon was already carrying out a large buildup of combat power in the region.

Carrier would enable commanders to carry out air strikes at a higher tempo

and shorten the distance U.S. planes would have to fly to reach targets on land.

This follows Donald Trump yesterday, saying his administration could soon plan land strikes in Venezuela.

Here are his comments, nope, how he does not commit to asking Congress for authorization

for using military force. The land is going to be next. And we may go to the Senate, we may go to

...