Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Good morning. It's Wednesday, December 3rd. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show, while Trump goes more aggressively after alleged Venezuelan drug boats, a presidential pardon for the former Honduran leader convicted on drug trafficking charges. An escalation on the immigration crackdown as the U.S. pauses all applications from 19 countries.
And what happens when surprise relatives show up to claim inheritance? But first, the questions over U.S. strikes in the Caribbean won't go away. Last week, The Washington Post reported that following an initial attack on an alleged drug boat, U.S.
Chapter 2: What are the controversies surrounding the U.S. strikes in the Caribbean?
forces struck again at two survivors clinging to the wreckage. Critics have said, if true, it could constitute a war crime. Since that report, lawmakers have announced two congressional inquiries, and the administration's position and tone has shifted markedly. First, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described the report as fabricated fake news on Friday.
By Monday, Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt read a scripted statement which acknowledged the strike had in fact happened, but she denied that Hegseth gave the order for that second strike, instead naming a Navy admiral.
Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes. Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority and the law, directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated.
That statement from Levitt prompted some officials in the Defense Department to speak with Post reporters anonymously, saying they were angry that Hegseth hadn't taken more ownership. The Post's original report suggested military officials carried out a second strike to comply with an order from Hegseth to kill everybody on board.
At yesterday's televised cabinet meeting, reporters put the issue to Hegseth directly.
I watched that first strike lot. As you can imagine, at the Department of War, we got a lot of things to do. So I didn't stick around for the hour and two hours, whatever, where all the sensitive site exploitation digitally occurs. So I moved on to my next meeting. A couple of hours later, I learned that that commander had made the, which he had the complete authority to do.
And by the way, Admiral Bradley made the correct decision to ultimately sink the boat and eliminate the threat.
And Hexeth emphasized that he supported the move.
It was the right call. We have his back and the American people are safer because narco terrorists know you can't bring drugs through the water and eventually on land if necessary. We will eliminate that threat and we're proud to do it.
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Chapter 3: How did Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth respond to the allegations?
Apparently, he wants to go back to his home country where his family is based. He has no U.S. legal status, but going back could get complicated if his political allies fail to take power. Election results in Honduras are being counted right now, and they're on a knife edge. Trump has talked directly about the race, saying U.S.
aid for the country was contingent on Hernandez's conservative party winning. He has since suggested the count is being rigged against them without providing evidence. Rodolfo Pastor was an advisor to the outgoing, left-leaning president of Honduras. He told Democracy Now that Trump was threatening Honduras for making a sovereign decision.
For us, it's shocking. It's a blow to Honduran dignity and democracy that a foreign president would, first of all, state publicly what his preferences were and also to be so hostile and aggressive in his stance. He's almost threatening Honduras that if we don't do what he is demanding that we do, then that he will wreak vengeance against Honduras.
Pastor also noted that Trump's positioning toward Honduras was in stark contrast to his approach to Venezuela's ruling Socialist Party and its president, Nicolas Maduro, who the administration has characterized as heading up a drug cartel, a charge that Maduro denies.
Latin America analyst and editor-in-chief of America's Quarterly, Brian Winter, alluded to this difference in approach on CNN's Amanpour show earlier this week.
The dissonance, to use a very polite word, I think is very clear. I understand President Trump. He says that this was a case of a president being persecuted as he believes he was. That may explain at least part of the decision making here. But there is no doubt that many, both inside the United States as well as certainly within Latin America, have picked up on what they see as a double standard.
The elections in Honduras had high turnout and were carried out peacefully, but officials say they're encountering technical issues. Analysts warned Reuters that if the counting drags on and results in a virtual toss-up, more than one party could claim victory, increasing the risk of civil unrest. Now let's turn to a story that caught our eye about all those spit-in-a-tube home DNA tests.
As many as one in five Americans say they've taken one. And you've probably heard stories about surprising discoveries. Some welcome, some not. The Wall Street Journal's Ashley Ebeling told us about how some of these test results are leading to messy litigation involving inheritance.
When people find out that they're related to someone they didn't know they were related to, and then they find out there's a state involved, suddenly there are these inheritance claims. So it can completely wreak havoc with family members who are trying to settle in a state of a loved one when a surprise heir shows up.
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