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Speaker 1: So let's be crystal clear. The Pentagon it's having a

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pretty shitty week. I mean, the double tap boat strike

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scandal has literally grown to epic proportions, and a new

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lawsuit just landed on Pete Hegseth's desk this morning. Welcome

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back to The Michael Cone Show on our continued journey

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to half a million subscribers. We're so close. We're under

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five forty nine hundred and change thanks to you, So

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do me a favor. Let's get there, hit subscribe, watch comment.

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Please keep sending me your comments and share with family

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and friends, because this level of stupidity, it's got to

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come to an end. So look, as we've spoken about

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all week long, the truth is coming out regarding the

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September second lethal boat attack where our military, our American military,

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attack the boat not once, but twice in order to

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kill everyone on board. And today Admiral Bradley spoke with

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lawmakers to explain his side of the story. As he

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is being thrown under the bus, let me show you

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what the AP reported in it. They turn around and

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they write. Admiral tells lawmakers that there was no kill

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them all order in the attack that killed drug boat's survivors.

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Here's what it says. A Navy admiral told lawmakers Thursday

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that there was no kill them all order from Defense

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Secretary Pete Hegseth as Congress scrutinizes an attack that killed

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two survivors of an initial strike on an alleged drug

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boat in international waters near Venezuela. Admiral Frank Mitch Bradley,

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and this is the quote, was very clear that he

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was given no such order to give no quarter or

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to kill them all. He was given an order that,

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of course was written down in great detail, said Senator

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Tom Cotton, who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee, as he

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exited the classified briefing. Further, it says Cotton defended the attack,

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but a Democrat who also was brief said that while

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there was no kill them all order from Hegseth, he

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was still deeply concerned by video of the second strike.

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It goes on to additionally say what I saw in

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that room was one of the most troubling things I've

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seen in my time in public service, and that came

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from Connecticut Representative Jim Hines, the top Democrat on the

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House Intelligence Committee, who told that to reporters you have

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two individuals in clear distress without any means of locomotion,

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where the destroyed vessel were killed by the United States. Additionally,

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Congress is seeking answers to questions such as what orders

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Hegseth gave regarding the operations and what reasoning was there

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for the second strike? And finally it says the investigation

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is going to be done by the numbers, and that

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was set by Senator You're Wicker of Mississippi, who leads

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the Senate Armed Services Committee. We'll find out the ground truth. Now,

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I want to be clear in my sub stack of today,

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which I called dead Fishermen ruin the narrative, I turn

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around and I kind of go on for I don't know,

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let's just say something slightly different here. As I write,

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there is a level of stupidity in this administration so

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audacious it almost demands applause. Almost. I mean, this is

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the kind of stupidity where the leadership believes that if

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they just tell you to ignore your lying eyes and

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your ears, you'll nod politely and move along. Trust us.

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I wasn't there. I left the room to take a leak.

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Whatever their lies, lies and more lies, and unlike cheap cologne.

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These lies don't just fade, They stink up the room

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for years, especially when those lies revolve around murder. And

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I'm talking about now. Look to make matters worse. This week,

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the family of Colombian fishermen filed the complaint after he

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was killed in a deadly US boat strike. Let me

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show you the reporting in it, it turns around and

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it says Colombian family files first known formal complaint over

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deadly US strike in Caribbean. Second, the family of a

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Colombian man believed to have been killed in a US

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strike in the Caribbean has filed what's believed to be

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the first complaint against such attacks with the Inter American

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Commission on Human Rights. The petition, filed Tuesday by US

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human rights attorney Dan kvalk alleges that Colombian fisherman Alejandro

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Caranza was killed when the US struck his boat off

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the coast of Colombia on September fifteenth. Further, it says

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it claims that the United States carried out an extra

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judici scual killing in violation of Caranza's human rights. Cavalik

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told CNN that they are seeking compensation for his family

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and an end to such killings, but did not elaborate

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on how those demands would be met. It then goes

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on to say, these killings are against international law, they

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are against US law. We want this to stop, and

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we think this is at least a first step to

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having that happen, he said. The complaint named US Secretary

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of Defense Pete Hegseth as the perpetrator, saying he was

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responsible for ordering the bombing of boats like those of

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Alejandro Carranza Medina and the murder of all those on

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such boats. It also claims that Hegset's conduct was ratified

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by US President Donald J. Trump. Now, finally, the Pentagon

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referred questions to White House, and CNN has reached out

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to the White House obviously for comment. Now, let me

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be very clear, as I say in my substack, take

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the case of Alejandro Caranza. It's exactly what I wrote

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about this morning. The Colombian fisherman September fifteenth of this year,

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September Carnza is going about his day fishing in the Caribbean.

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US military strike hits his boat. He dies, not in battle,

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not defending the United States, not in war, not in

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a declared war. He dies because the Secretary of Defense. Oh,

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I'm sorry, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth gave an order

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to bomb a boat without knowing who was even on it.

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So yeah, all right, as I write in my substack,

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you read that correctly. Hegcept admitted he issued these orders

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despite having zero knowledge of the people that he was targeting. Now,

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the Pentagon may be referring questions to the White House because,

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let's say they're currently being sued by the New York

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Times over First Amendment rights. Let me show you the

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reporting straight from the New York Times. In it, it

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turns on, says New York Times suits Pentagon over First

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Amendment rights. The lawsuit said the Defense Department's new set

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of rules for journalists violates the Constitution's guarantees of due process,

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freedom of speech, and freedom of the press. It goes

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on to say in the article, The New York Times

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accused the Pentagon in a lawsuit on Thursday, of infringing

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on the constitutional rights of journalists by imposing a set

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of new restrictions on reporting about the military. In the suit,

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filed in the U. S. District Court in Washington, the

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Times argued that the Defense Department's new policy violated the

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First Amendment and seeks to restrict journalists' ability to do

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what journalists have always done, ask questions of government employees

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and gather information to report stories that take the public

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beyond official pronouncements. Finally, it turns around, says the suit

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said that reporting any information not approved by Department officials

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could lead to punishment, regardless of whether such news gathering

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occurs on or off Pentagon grounds, and regardless of whether

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the information at issue is classified or unclassified. I mean,

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you want to talk about state sponsored media. We don't

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like what you're going to write. Therefore you're not permitted

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to and if you do, there's going to be a punishment.

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So look, how I finish in my sub stack applies

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not just to these boat stripes, to the killing of

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mister Carranza, to the filing of this human rights lawsuit.

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I want to tell you what the takeaway is here.

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The current administration's reliance on lies and in competence. It's

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not just embarrassing, you know what we know it is

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right now, it's murderous. Real people with real lives. They're

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paying the price while the men in charge posture for

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TV cameras, Alejandro Caranza, his family, and countless others. They

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are proof that in this Trump Hegseeth Department of War era,

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audacity and ignorance have true, legitimate, deadly consequences. And you know,

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until someone demands accountability, the line between political theater and

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murder will keep shrinking. You know what's crazy. As I

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was talking to a buddy of mine, it's kind of

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tempting to laugh at the absurdity of this. All right,

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you shake your head and you say, is this really happening?

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Could this really be happening here in the United States

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of America? This is absolutely absurd because this, my friends,

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is not a comedy. This isn't a Saturday Night Live skit.

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This is murder, first degree murder, and the worst part,

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it's happening right in plain sight, right under our eyes.

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It's why I constantly say, this Cabinet of buffumes. They

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are doing so much damage, not just to the presidency,

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but to America, to our reputation, to our standing in

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the world. How do we respond as Americans? How do

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we tell our allies or our adversaries that if you

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do things like this to our soldiers, to our navy members,

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to our military, there will be hell to pay. But

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how do we tell them that when we're doing it

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to others? Mister Carranza was nothing shy of a fisherman,

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going out to do what he does every day. Fish

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was the food for his family, Was it for market?

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We don't know. But here's the crazy thing. They also

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don't care. He is part of a story, which again

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is why I say that when you are not part

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of the narrative, like a dead fisherman, it's easier just

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to tell lies, to spin it, ignore you lying eyes,

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forget what you're hearing. But you know what, it's not

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gonna happen because not only is America watching right now,

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the whole world is watching, and sadly, we're embarrassing ourselves.

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And as always, thanks for listening. Hey everyone, First of all,

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thanks for watching. I mean, we're gonna be posting daily

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episodes with reactions and talking about politics. We'll be talking

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about everything in fact, so please like and subscribe join

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us on this journey.

