
House GOP's Trump defenders eye long game with McCarthy and avoid fight for now
CNN
Donald Trump's staunchest allies don't like what they heard House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy saying on tape about the ex-President and some of their GOP colleagues after the Capitol attack. But they and the former President are holding their fire -- at least for now.
Most members of the party's MAGA faction see little political upside to picking a distracting fight with McCarthy as Republicans remain favored to win the House in the fall, according to GOP sources familiar with their thinking, and would rather hold on to their potential leverage for an anticipated speaker's race later this year, when they're hoping to extract key concessions from McCarthy. Said one Republican source: "Of course" that's what they're planning to do.
And in a sign of just how essential their support may be down the road, Republican leaders have worked hard to court members of their right flank -- including some of the very same fringe members whom they once feared posed a danger to their colleagues after January 6, 2021.

Two top House lawmakers emerged divided along party lines after a private briefing with the military official who oversaw September’s attack on an alleged drug vessel that included a so-called double-tap strike that killed surviving crew members, with a top Democrat calling video of the incident that was shared as part of the briefing “one of the most troubling things” he has seen as a lawmaker.

Authorities in Colombia are dealing with increasingly sophisticated criminals, who use advanced tech to produce and conceal the drugs they hope to export around the world. But police and the military are fighting back, using AI to flag suspicious passengers, cargo and mail - alongside more conventional air and sea patrols. CNN’s Isa Soares gets an inside look at Bogotá’s war on drugs.

As lawmakers demand answers over reports that the US military carried out a follow-up strike that killed survivors during an attacked on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, a career Navy SEAL who has spent most of his 30 years of military experience in special operations will be responsible for providing them.










