Welcome to the NewsHour. A new bipartisan divide has broken open after senior U.S. military officers

showed Congress video of multiple strikes on a boat in the Caribbean in early September.

Republicans backed the decision by a special operations forces commander to target survivors

of the first strike in the administration's campaign against

alleged drugboats.

But Democrats accused the commander of targeting a shipwreck, which would be a violation

of international law.

Both sides agreed that Secretary Hegsef did not provide what would have been an illegal

order to kill everyone on board.

Nick Schiffran begins our coverage.

Admiral, General, what's your message to the American people?

On Capitol Hill today, the U.S.'s most senior military officer and the Admiral at the

center of a contentious strike gave their version and revealed more video of the September

2nd attack that targeted what the administration says were 11 narco-terrorists.

A U.S. official tells PBS NewsHour that Admiral Frank Mitch Bradley and Chairman of the Joint

Chiefs, General Dan Cain, told lawmakers in classified briefings that the first strike killed

nine people and that after the first strike, the boat was still seaworthy.

The men on board still

had drugs and communications, which meant they were still combatants, and a rescue boat

was approaching. Bradley then ordered the second strike 30 to 60 minutes later to kill two more

people. A third and fourth strike sunk the boat. That narrative embraced by Republicans, including Senate Intelligence

Committee Chairman Tom Cotton.

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