U.S. Ramps Up Deadly Boat Strikes, and What Trump’s Stock Trades Show

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The Headlines 15 min 6 speakers 3 chapters transcribed 3 months ago
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What recent actions has the U.S. taken against drug trafficking at sea?

Alexa Weibel 0:00
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Alexa Weibel 0:19
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Tracy Mumford 0:33
From The New York Times, it's The Headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Friday, May 29th. Here's what we're covering.
Donald Trump 0:43
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.
Tracy Mumford 0:51
For the last nine months, the U.S. has launched strike after strike on small boats in the waters off South America.
Unknown 0:58
We're saving hundreds of thousands of lives with those pinpoint attacks.
Tracy Mumford 1:04
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.
Tracy Mumford 1:50
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, bombing a handful of McDonald's in Dallas, Texas and claiming that you've made America healthy again. Recently in the Senate.
Donald Trump 2:30
General, what evidence do you have that this campaign is actually degrading cartel operations rather than simply destroying some low-level assets, boats?
Tracy Mumford 2:42
The general overseeing the campaign faced sharp questions from lawmakers about the strikes.
Unknown 2:48
I cannot stand before you and tell you that there's a percentage drop in American deaths inside the United States or a number of a certain percentage of drugs reached the United States.
Tracy Mumford 2:59
He acknowledged that targeting the boats is not a long-term solution. He said the U.S. needed to work more with its allies in South America and that, quote, boat strikes aren't the answer to the country's drug problem.
Tracy Mumford 3:20
A new disclosure form that reveals details of President Trump's stock portfolio is adding to concerns about potential conflicts of interest. The form shows that in the first few months of this year, Trump's investment portfolio made more than 3,600 trades, buying and selling shares in big banks, manufacturers, and tech giants. That has raised questions not just because the federal government regulates those industries, but also because of the timing of some of those trades, which have coincided with the president appearing to publicly endorse specific companies. For example, in February, Trump's financial advisors bought more than a million dollars in stock of the computer giant Dell.
Unknown 4:04
Nine days later... I also want to thank Michael and Susan Dell. Dell, go out and buy a Dell computer.
Tracy Mumford 4:12
Trump lavished praise on the company in a speech as he highlighted the founder's philanthropy.
Unknown 4:18
They make a great product. They're not looking for any publicity. I give them publicity.

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