From the New York Times, it's the headlines.

I'm Tracy Mumford.

Today's Friday, May 29th.

Here's what we're covering.

President Trump said, no, we're taking the gloves off, and it's exactly what we're doing.

So we're stopping the drugs, we're striking the boats, we're defeating narco terrorists. For the last nine months, the U.S. has launched strike after strike on small boats in

the waters off South America. We're saving hundreds of thousands of lives with those pinpoint

attacks. Officials say the campaign is meant to cut off the flow of drugs into the U.S., and in recent weeks, it's been quietly ramping up the attacks.

There was a boat strike on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In all, there have now been almost 60 strikes, killing nearly 200 people.

From the start, many legal experts have called these attacks illegal extrajudicial killings,

stressing that the military is not allowed to intentionally target civilians who pose no threat of imminent violence.

Now, on top of that, experts tell the times that the boat strikes have also been ineffective

and have not curbed the flow of cocaine into the country. If the strikes were slowing

the supply, public health researchers say the price on the street for the drug would go up. They say

that hasn't happened. Similarly, if less cocaine was getting in, epidemiologists say dealers would be

trying to stretch their supply by

cutting it with other ingredients. But an analysis of cocaine samples doesn't reflect that.

And signs are also emerging that traffickers are simply using other methods for smuggling,

shifting to land routes or putting more cocaine on container ships.

One public health expert who tracks cocaine use in the U.S.

told the times that the boat strikes are basically the same as, quote,

...