Details about the boat strikes near Venezuela

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing renewed criticisms over a private Signal chat that included a journalist earlier this year. A Pentagon watchdog report determined Hegseth violated department policies and may have put service members at risk when he shared details about military operations in that chat. And a source tells CBS News the two survivors of the strike on an alleged drug boat were trying to climb back onto the vessel before it was hit a second time. The White House is facing growing scrutiny over the attack. Today, Navy Admiral who allegedly ordered that attack will brief lawmakers. CBS News Senior National Security Correspondent Charlie D'Agata joins us from our DC Bureau with more on this. Charlie, good morning. So what New information are we learning about these strikes? And what might we learn today? Yeah, so this is Admiral Brady-- or excuse me, Frank Brady-- Bradley, who is on Capitol Hill. Got there in the end. He'll be on Capitol Hill today in a closed door meeting. But what we've been able to ascertain is that looking at the strikes, he would have been the commander in charge. He's a Special Operations commander. And this is who Secretary Hegseth and President Trump both said it was his call. What we've learned-- and you mentioned there-- is this is a second strike on that boat. And there were actually four missiles that were hit. So one missile was the initial strike. And then, it came around and hit it again with three other missiles. What we've since learned, as you reported, is that the people that were on board were trying to get back and get on to the drugs and hold on to the drugs. And they were also calling nearby boats for help. So it's not quite as clear as coming around and striking helpless shipwrecked passengers in this particular case, which is illegal by international standards and is illegal by American combat standards. It sort of frames it a little bit differently. But that's what we hope to hear a little bit more from today. Although, that is a closed door meeting. He will be meeting with lawmakers, not necessarily sharing that information with us. But as I said, our sources have seen some of that. And that's what adds to, I guess, the murky situation that we've been looking at. Sure to get information from our sources there when that happens. I want to ask you about the other big development from this Signal report. It's only adding to the controversy surrounding Hegseth. He says he's been cleared by this internal review. But is that accurate? It depends on who you are. I mean, there are certain lawmakers who say, look, if anything, it shows this inspector general's report-- which has been going for months, by the way, it was actually slowed down slightly because of the government shutdown. We expected to see about six weeks ago. However, it showed that the secretary used that Signal chat improperly. He was using it to send information that wasn't necessarily cleared. So when he got the information, it was labeled secret, NOFORN. So don't even share it with foreign allies. So that was very, very clear. He was also criticized for using his own personal device to share that information. Now, Secretary Hegseth and others have said, look, I'm the Defense Secretary. I decide what is classified and what is declassified. The report doesn't call into question that notion, just whether he did it appropriately. But he has received criticism from some Democratic lawmakers like this.

The report is super clear. It puts service members at risk. And it risks the mission. They shouldn't have done it. The recklessness and the lawlessness of Pete Hegseth and this administration continue. If there were any general, any admiral, any lieutenant, any sergeant, any private had done the same thing, they immediately would have lost their job. Now, we reached out to the Pentagon for comment. And we got this from Chief Pentagon spokesman, Sean Parnell. He said, "The inspector general review is a total exoneration of Secretary Hegseth and proves what we knew all along. No classified information was shared. This matter is resolved. And the case is closed."

All right, Charlie D'Agata with the latest from our DC Bureau. Charlie, thank you. Let's jump now to CBS News Chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes. You see her there on the North Lawn. She's got the latest on these boat strikes in the Caribbean. Nancy, good morning. We heard how the Pentagon is reacting to the IG report. How is the president reacting to what appears to be mounting criticism of his defense secretary?

Well, the president hasn't had any reaction to this new Signalgate IG report. But he has been showing support for his secretary of defense, who was seated just to his left the other day in that cabinet meeting, President Trump said there. And then again yesterday that he believes that Secretary Hegseth is doing the right thing as the head of the Pentagon and that he doesn't essentially have any complaints. In fact, the president is doubling down. And he is signaling that you think that there have been a lot of boat strikes already? Well, we're going to keep it up. And in fact, we're going to potentially attack on land soon as well. Take a listen to how he put it yesterday.

I don't know what they have. But whatever they have, we'd certainly release. No problem. I think you're going to find that there's a very receptive ear to doing exactly what they're doing, taking out those boats. And very soon, we're going to start doing it on land too. Because we know every route. We know every house. We know where they manufacture this crap. And those comments certainly perked the ears of congressional Democrats who say that if the president does plan to attack a foreign country on land, that he needs to get congressional approval first. Errol.

All right. Nancy Cordes at the White House. Thank you.