The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe: ‘It’s very, very difficult to justify’

This is the December 9 edition of “The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe” newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered straight to your inbox Monday through Friday.

Sometimes, a war crime is just a war crime. It doesn’t matter who is sitting in the White House, or which hothead is calling himself the secretary of war, or which respected admiral ultimately gave the kill-shot order.

Some of the members of Congress who viewed the video from the Sept. 2 Caribbean slaughter say there is no ambiguity: The killing of two stranded men adrift on the wreckage of their boat was what Fox News’ Andrew McCarthy has described as a war crime “at best.” McCarthy and other conservatives suggest the more precise legal term may be something else: murder. Jonathan Lemire’s latest piece for The Atlantic captures the moment just before the killing:  “The lone survivors of a U.S. airstrike were sprawled on a table-size piece of floating wreckage in the Caribbean for more than 40 minutes. They were unarmed, incommunicado, and adrift as they repeatedly attempted to right what remained of their boat. At one point, the men raised their arms and seemed to signal to the U.S. aircraft above, a gesture some who watched a video of the incident interpreted as a sign of surrender. Then a second explosion finished the men off, leaving only a bloody stain on the surface of the sea. Footage of the two men’s desperate final moments made some viewers nauseated, leading one to nearly vomit. “It was worse than we had been led to believe,” one person told us.” Supporters of the kill shot suggested the two men were in radio communication with narco-terrorists. That’s false.  The White House initially said the boat was headed toward the United States. That’s false.  Republicans who rushed to defend the attack argued that the two survivors posed an imminent threat to the United States — even as they clung to a slab of wreckage.  That’s false.  Sen. Tom Cotton, after watching the disturbing footage, twisted himself into knots to defend the strike. He then went on a Sunday talk show and argued the decision had been made in “combat,” repeating Pete Hegseth’s “fog of war” refrain.  A combat decision made in the fog of war looks something like this: Troops trapped on an Iraqi street, taking fire from a nearby building, a commander forced to choose between two bad options, with civilians tragically caught in the middle.  What happened on Sept. 2 was nothing like that. Two survivors were floating on a small piece of debris in the middle of the Caribbean for 40 minutes. They had no communication, no means of escape and almost no hope of rescue. Slaughtering helpless survivors under those circumstances constitutes a war crime, at best. The admiral, the self-styled secretary of war, and everyone in the chain of command responsible for those killings will now have to be held accountable.  End of story.

“They don’t want to release this video because they don’t want people to see it, because it’s very, very difficult to justify.”

— Ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee Adam Smith, on the Pentagon’s refusal to release footage of the second strike on survivors in the Caribbean boat incident 

Source: Gallup poll conducted Oct 1-16

THE KILLINGS PETE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO SEE

“Deeply disturbing.” 

“Unconstitutional.” 

“Murder.” 

That’s how several top Democrats recently described classified video of a second strike on two men who survived the initial U.S. attack on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in September. 

These officials are now calling for the footage to be released because, as Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told CBS News, “the American public needs to judge for itself.” 

Republicans argue the video shows survivors trying to right their capsized vessel and salvage drugs. But Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, says that account is “simply not accurate.” What he saw, he said on ABC’s “This Week,” was something “very, very difficult to justify” — and likely the real reason the administration doesn’t want the footage to come out. 

Democrats still trust the intel linking the boats to drug-trafficking networks. But Himes also said he doubts the administration even knows who the 11 people killed actually were. 

President Donald Trump has said he’d be “fine” declassifying the video. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is less enthusiastic, warning that release could compromise “sources and methods.”

But as David Ignatius wrote in The Washington Post this weekend, the moral stakes extend far beyond a single strike. West Point cadets have studied Michael Walzer’s “Just and Unjust Wars” for decades because American military tradition rests on honor, restraint and lawful conduct in battle. 

In the end, the footage isn’t just evidence. It’s a test of whether a nation that teaches the laws of war still intends to live by them.

EXTRA HOT TEA

Worried about an artificial intelligence bubble sinking the markets and taking the rest of the US economy with it?Maybe you should be.

• 80% of all stock trading is in the tech-heavy S&P 500. 
• Only seven companies account for almost all earnings that come out of the S&P.
• Nvidia has accounted for almost one-third of the S&P 500 companies’ year-to-date returns in 2025. The other 499 companies accounted for the other two-thirds. 

It used to be said that what was good for General Motors was good for America. Now it may be more fitting to say, “As goes Nvidia, so goes the stock market.”

THE “CON JOB” THAT’S CRUSHING AMERICANS

A series of recent reports points to a growing anxiety among Republicans about the issue that helped put Trump in the White House: affordability. 

On the campaign trail, Trump promised to lower costs for Americans. But as he approaches the one-year mark in office, a new POLITICO poll finds a majority of Trump’s own voters say the economy is either bad or the worst they can remember. 

Trump has taken to calling affordability a “con job,” a “hoax” and a “scam” cooked up by Democrats. But this morning, POLITICO reports a growing number of Republican lawmakers are sounding the alarm themselves — even as they struggle to figure out how to talk about the issue or what to do about it. 

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reports on a quiet campaign inside the White House to refocus Trump’s attention on rising prices — and reshape the way he talks about the economy. Aides have been showing him internal polling and social media posts capturing everyday Americans’ frustrations. Almost every senior official is involved, according to the Journal. 

The outcome of that effort could weigh heavily on Republicans defending their seats next year. 

“It’s a five-alarm fire for members of Congress,” longtime campaign strategist Mark McKinnon told “Morning Joe.” “They know the messaging is all wrong. And they know it’s very likely that there’s going to be a Democratic Congress.” 

FOR THE HILL OF IT

— Ali Vitali, senior Hill reporter and host of “Way Too Early”

This second-to-last week of Congress in 2025 brings a dual focus on national security and health care. But it’s perhaps more instructive to look at this as a week of what Congress can do something about — and what it refuses to touch. 

On national security, Congress can exert oversight of Pete Hegseth and military leaders on the “double tap” boat strike in the Caribbean. We probably won’t see hearings this calendar year, but there is a clamoring for them. In the meantime, lawmakers are also demanding the release of the footage of the strike. We’ll see if they get it. 

What they won’t do is pass an Affordable Care Act subsidy extension. We’ll see the Senate vote on a “clean” three-year extension of the subsidies — making good on a deal moderate Democrats made with Majority Leader John Thune when the shutdown ended — but after bipartisan talks barely got off the ground, it’s not likely to get the 60 votes it needs, leaving Americans with ballooning bills and politicians with this as a central issue in the 2026 midterms.

ONE MORE SHOT

Travis Kelce bobbles a pass that leads to another Chiefs loss. 

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SPILL IT!

This week, Jim Belushi and Craig Brewer join us to discuss their new movie, “Song Sung Blue.” Want to ask a question? Send it over, and we will pick our favorite to ask on the show!