CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Hits Trump Boat Strikes With ‘Law of War’ Receipt: ‘It Is Forbidden—’
CNN anchor and senior White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins hit President Donald Trump and his Defense Department with a receipt from the Pentagon’s Law of War Manual in response to the deadly strikes on alleged drug boats.
Trump has waged a campaign of aerial bombardment against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean for months, killing dozens of people in at least 21 strikes that we know of. The campaign has been criticized over the legality of the strikes — and that was before the revelation that survivors of one strike were ordered to be killed.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was blamed for giving the order in initial reporting, but has since pointed the finger at Admiral Frank Bradley — while claiming to fully support him.
On Monday night’s edition of CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins, the anchor ran down the latest developments in a show open that concluded with a pointed recitation from the DoD’s own war manual:
KAITLAN COLLINS: Tonight, President Trump just finished convening his top national security officials at the White House. The main topic, we are told, is Venezuela. And although the U.S. is not officially at war with that nation, the President has been hinting at U.S. military strikes on Venezuelan soil, he says, in an effort to combat large-scale drug trafficking.
Now, that would be an escalation from the strikes that we’ve been seeing happening, offshore, in the Caribbean, which tonight are the source of major controversy, here in Washington. The mission in international waters has already killed more than 80 people, whom the Trump administration has declared Narco-terrorists.
But it’s one attack in particular that even some congressional Republicans are now questioning. The Pentagon released this footage of a strike on September 2nd. The White House says this was a boat that was smuggling drugs. Hence the strike.
It is the first strike in that incident, video of which the Pentagon has released. But as CNN and others have now reported, over the weekend, two people actually survived that first strike. A second strike was then ordered, killing both of those survivors. The administration has still not released the video of that second strike, and it notably was not included in the video of the first strike that they released months ago.
Today, though, after the Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, called the initial reporting, fake news, and the Pentagon declared a report out of The Washington Post, saying the entire narrative was false, the White House press secretary said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAROLINE LEAVITT: With respect to the strikes in question, on September 2, Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes. Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority.
REPORTER: Does the administration deny that, that second strike happened? Or did it happen, and the administration denies that Secretary Hegseth gave the order?
LEAVITT: The latter is true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Now, following that message that we heard out of the White House press briefing, where there were a ton of questions on who exactly it was, that authorized this strike, and whether or not when that second strike was authorized, it was clear to this administration that there were two survivors there. Hence the questions about whether or not a war crime was committed here.
Secretary Hegseth posted tonight, this, and there’s a line that stood out, where he says that he stood by the admiral who he says, made this call with Hegseth, writing quote, “I stand by him and the combat decisions he has made – on the September 2 mission and all others since.” Now, just yesterday, almost three months after the fact, President Trump was asked by reporters about this, and said that he did not actually know that the second strike had happened, and that he was taking the Secretary’s word for it when it came to what those orders sounded like.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP: We’ll look into it, but no, I wouldn’t have wanted that, not a second strike. The first strike was very lethal. It was fine, and if there were two people around, but Pete said that didn’t happen.
REPORTER: Does that make you–
TRUMP: I have great confidence.
REPORTER: Do you say there’s no second strike?
TRUMP: I don’t know. I’m going to find out about it, but Pete said he did not order the death of those two men.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Here’s another reason why this is notable tonight, and why the administration was also facing questions about whether their policies on this have changed. Because about a month after the strike that is in question tonight happened, that’s when another strike left survivors as well. But those men, those survivors, were actually rescued and then sent back to their home countries.
This is what Secretary Hegseth had to say, though, just a few weeks after that first strike occurred.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE HEGSETH: We fight to win. We unleash overwhelming and punishing violence on the enemy. We also don’t fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our war fighters, to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The administration tonight is facing questions about whether or not that second strike was legal.
This comes, after days the President saying those six Democratic lawmakers committed sedition, because they posted that video where they urged troops to disobey any potential illegal orders. As the White House is defending the legality of killing survivors, as they did in the case in question here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LEAVITT: The strike conducted on September 2nd was conducted in self- defense to protect Americans and vital United States interests.
The strike was conducted in international waters and in accordance with the Law of Armed Conflict.
Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority and the law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Repeatedly, during the briefing today, the White House, and since, as you noticed in that Pete Hegseth tweet, have pointed to the Admiral here, when it came to this second strike. Not the Defense Secretary himself. We’ll have more on that in a moment.
But I should point out, as was noted at the White House briefing today, the Pentagon’s Law of War Manual says that it is forbidden to declare that no quarter will be given. And it is also prohibited to conduct hostilities on the basis that there shall be no survivors.
Watch above via CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins.
