‘The Answer Is No’: CNN’s John Berman Answers Own Question After Senator Objects

A frustrated John Berman answered his own question about U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats during a contentious exchange with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR).

At issue was the Trump administration’s ongoing campaign of bombing what it says are drug-carrying boats in the Caribbean and Pacific. In particular, Berman asked Cotton about the double-tap strike that the U.S. conducted on a vessel near Trinidad in September. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth initially called it “fake news.” Still, the White House eventually confirmed the second strike in which it targeted two survivors who were clinging to the wreckage. Both were killed. Legal scholars have widely deemed the strike illegal under U.S. and international law, to say nothing of the overall maritime bombing campaign.

Berman guest-hosted Friday’s edition of The Lead on CNN and asked, “Would it be legal for police in Arkansas to kill suspected drug dealers on a boat in an overturned lake [sic]?”

Cotton dodged the question. Instead, he took issue with Democrats’ objections to the bombings in general.

“I think the problem that they have is not with the second strike,” Cotton said. “It’s with the first strike and every other strike on these boats. They think the entire operation is not well-founded. I just disagree with them. I think the analogy I would draw is not Arkansas police officers dealing with American citizens– if those boats were loaded with bombs or missiles headed for the United States, I don’t think anyone would dispute that. We had every right and indeed a duty to intercept them.”

Berman returned to his “lake” question:

BERMAN: Can I just take this in pieces? And will you first answer my question? Would it be legal for police in Arkansas to kill suspected drug dealers in an overturned boat in a lake in Arkansas? Just answer that, and then I will address your question on the other thing.

COTTON: John, John, the premise of your question is not well-founded. Criminals in Arkansas are not foreign nationals who are affiliates of a foreign terrorist designated organization–

BERMAN: The answer is no, it would not be legal.

COTTON: It’s like–

BERMAN: Hang on, Senator. The answer is no, it would not be legal to kill them in a lake. But let me ask you a follow-up question. If they are terrorists, when did Congress pass the authorized use of force to attack them?

COTTON: John, the reason why your question is not well-founded is like saying, “Would Barack Obama be ok droning an American citizen when he was president, like he did to Anwar al-Awlaki over in the Middle East? These are totally different categories–

[CROSSTALK]

BERMAN: That’s why I asked when Congress passed the authorized use of military force. There was an authorized use of military force against terrorists. I’m not saying what he did was legal or not, but that’s what they based it on. In this case, one was the authorized use of military force to attack suspected drug dealers off the coast of Venezuela.

COTTON: John, the president has inherent authority as the commander-in-chief under the Constitution to protect America using our armed forces against a foreign terrorist organization. Congress has passed laws that allows the president to designate foreign terrorist organizations. That’s what he’s

Watch above via CNN.

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