Hi there, everyone. Happy Friday. It's 4 o'clock in New York. On the heels of yet another

boat strike launched by the United States military yesterday, one that killed four people.

There are growing calls from lawmakers in both political parties

to release the footage of the now highly controversial double-tap boat strike in September,

which has called into question the legality of the actions of the United States military.

A selected group of lawmakers yesterday received a briefing on that September 2nd boat strike, which killed 11 people in the Caribbean, and has been questioned as a possible war crime for what has been described as the military, firing a second strike on distressed and shipwreck sailors who survived the first strike.

Congressman Jim Himes, the ranking member on the

House Intelligence Committee, described the footage that he saw as some of the most troubling

things he has seen in his years of public service. Another House Democrat, Adam Smith, who was

also brief, described it like this. We saw the whole video from the moment that they identified the boat to when they did the

first strike. And by the time of the second strike, you have two survivors with their shirts

off on top of a capsized boat, that the bow of the boat is above water that is not much

above water. And they're on top of that

boat. And that was what the decision was was to strike those two people on that boat. So it's very

disturbing. Now, you know, the admiral offered an explanation for why they felt that those two people

on that boat were still, quote, in the fight at that point

and legitimate targets. But I have serious questions about that conclusion.

The New York Times is reporting that multiple people who have seen the video of the attacks

say the survivors climbed on the overturned hole and waved to something overhead, a gesture interpreted as an attempt to surrender, beckoning rescue or trying to signal other alleged drug traffickers.

But the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, and now some Republican lawmakers are trying to argue from that briefing, is that the two survivors, the two people shipwrecked in the water clinging to a boat that had just been incinerated,

were exhibiting behavior that led them to believe they were preparing to continue on whatever journey or mission they had been on before they were bombed,

that they were, quote, still in the fight.

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