This is Brian Lair's Daily Politics podcast from WNYC Studios. It's Wednesday, September 17th.

I'm Bridget Bergen sitting in for Brian today. Earlier this month, President Trump went public with dramatic video, a U.S.

strike blowing up a boat in the Caribbean. He said the people on board were Venezuelan

narco-terrorists and claimed the operation saved American lives. He did not provide the details,

like who those 11 people actually were, what evidence tied

them to drugs or crime, or what legal authority he was relying on.

This strike didn't take place in a declared war zone.

It wasn't cleared with Congress.

And it comes at a time when the administration has been casting violent criminals in Latin

America as the next front in what it calls a global war on terror.

On Monday, the U.S. military struck a second boat, killing three more people.

So what does international law say about sinking a vessel in international waters?

How much latitude does a U.S. president have to take this kind of action and what precedent

might it said if other countries follow suit? Joining us is Brian Funukin, senior advisor at the

International Crisis Group and a non-resident senior fellow at NYU Laws, Reese Center on Law and

Security. He's a national security lawyer who's been studying U.S. uses of

force overseas for years. Hey, Brian, welcome to WNYC. Good morning. Pleasure to join you. And listeners,

we'd like to hear from you. Should the U.S. military be targeting suspected drug traffickers

overseas? Or is that an overreach that risks drawing us into new

conflicts? The number 212-433-W-N-YC, that's 212-433-9-6-92, you can call or text.

Brian, for people who haven't been following this as closely, can you walk us through what the

administration says happened

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