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Lawmakers Question Legality Of Strikes On Alleged Drug Boat; Noem: Natl. Guard D.C. Shooting Suspect "Radicalized In The U.S.; New Winter Storm Threatens More Snow, Travel Disruptions. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired December 01, 2025 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[11:00:00]

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR: Watch him make a key defensive stop late in the game, punching the ball away. Denver escaped 27-26 for its ninth straight win. But, Wolf, this was such a great story.

He was lucky to have a random NFL drug test earlier this season, actually caught his testicular cancer, and it may have very well saved his life. So, good to see him back on the field.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, all right. Let's hope. Carolyn Manno, thank you very, very much. And if there was any doubt before, there should be no doubt now why everyone should understand why, from my perspective, Josh Allen is the big, beautiful Bill, right?

MANNO: I can't be biased, but I would say he's an incredible player, and you can be biased. You can be biased.

BLITZER: Right. He's my big, beautiful Bill. All right, the next hour of The Situation Room starts right now.

And we begin with the breaking news this morning, intensifying the pressure campaign against Venezuela. New CNN reporting about an Oval Office meeting scheduled for later tonight as President Trump weighs his options.

And happening now, opening statements are underway in the murder case against Brian Walsh, what he's already admitted to in court about the involvement in his wife's death.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. Pamela Brown is off today. You're in The Situation Room.

And we begin this hour with a bipartisan backlash over the Trump administration's deadly strike on a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean. Sources now tell CNN that the president will hold an Oval Office meeting later today over the next steps. There are currently more than a dozen U.S. warships operating in the area, along with about 15,000 U.S. troops. And now there are new questions, as sources tell CNN, that a second strike was ordered against a boat that had already been attacked.

Sources tell CNN that the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, ordered the military to ensure that the strike kill everyone on board the vessel. It's unclear whether he knew there were survivors before the second strike. Hegseth defended the operation, saying the action is, "lawful under both U.S. and international law."

But now a bipartisan group of lawmakers, they are launching an investigation into whether those hits constitute what is now being described as a potential war crime. Let's go live right now to CNN's Arlette Saenz up on Capitol Hill. Arlette, what's motivating this bipartisan push, Republicans and Democrats, for a specific investigation?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, bipartisan leaders of the Senate and the House Armed Services Committee want more answers from the Trump administration following this report of a follow-up strike which killed survivors on an alleged drug trafficking vessel in the Caribbean back in September.

It's the issue of targeting those survivors that is prompting a lot of concern and outrage up here on Capitol Hill, with some questioning whether or not this constitutes a war crime. Now, Republican Congressman Mike Turner of Ohio said that the reports of this follow- up strike are outside anything that was discussed with Congress and could be an illegal act if this was true.

Well, we've heard from many Democrats who have explicitly said that the Trump administration committed a war crime with this follow-up strike. Here is Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine, speaking on CNN this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ANGUS KING (I-ME): The law is clear. If the facts are as -- have been alleged that there was a second strike specifically to kill the survivors in the water -- in the water, that's a stone-cold war crime. It's also murder.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, for months now, Democrats have expressed anger and criticism towards the Trump administration over their targeting of these alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific waters. But what's particularly notable about these investigations that are being launched by those two committees is the fact that Republicans are now openly saying that they want to greater scrutinize the Trump administration's actions.

That is not something that we've really seen during President Donald Trump's second term. We haven't seen much congressional oversight of his military posture and actions. So this is something that both committees say they want greater answers on.

As many have warned, Democrats especially, that these actions that were taken, if these reports are true of a follow-up strike targeting survivors, that that would constitute a war crime. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Arlette Saenz up on Capitol Hill, thank you very, very much. We'll follow these investigations. Bipartisan investigations, I should reiterate.

I want to discuss this and more with CNN's senior legal analyst, the former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Elie Honig. Elie, what are your thoughts? Are these killings legal? Were the orders legal or illegal?

[11:05:05]

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Wolf, in a word, they were illegal. It is a core principle of the rule of law and of the law of war that you cannot target and kill people who have been rendered incapacitated or defenseless. That conflicts with the Geneva Convention. There was a group of judge advocate general, former military attorneys, who came out with this statement over the weekend saying that these acts would be patently illegal.

Colonel Cedric Leighton just told you 15 minutes ago on air that it would be illegal. And, Wolf, if you look at the Department of Defense's own manual on the law of war, it uses as an example of something that would be illegal this exact scenario. It says if you have survivors of a shipwreck, they cannot be targeted because they are incapacitated.

So if somebody took this order or gave this order knowingly and with the intent to take out two survivors who had been rendered helpless in the water, then, yes, it would absolutely be illegal.

BLITZER: And not only the -- the commanding officers who gave the order, but those who actually committed the acts, they would be engaged in a war crime. Is that right?

HONIG: Yes, so it all will depend there on their level of knowledge. What did they know at that moment? If they were aware that there were people in the water who had been rendered defenseless, who were incapable of defending themselves and fighting back, and they took that order, then, yes, they would be acting on an illegal order, and that has been rejected as a defense in court cases.

BLITZER: The U.S. Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, Elie, last month argued in a classified legal opinion that the President of the United States is allowed to authorize deadly force against a broad range of cartels because they pose an imminent threat to Americans. Would this apply to what are being described as so-called double-tap strikes, a second strike going in and killing wounded -- wounded individuals?

HONIG: So, Wolf, I don't believe that that memo by the Office of Legal Counsel does provide legal cover here. Now, this, as you said, is a classified memo. We know it exists. We in the public have not seen it. However, a couple things. First of all, while that memo relates to the overall effort to target these Venezuelan drug boats, it apparently does not relate to this double-tap, to this effort to go back and attack people who had been rendered helpless in the water.

The second thing is that Office of Legal Counsel memo actually was issued on September 5th, which was three days after this attack. And so you can't provide retroactive cover for something that happened three days ago. So I do think that Office of Legal Counsel memo is very important. I think it could provide some cover for the overall actions against these drug boats, but I do not think it's going to help anybody who was involved in this effort to go back and go after the two survivors.

BLITZER: Interesting. A bipartisan group of lawmakers, not just Democrats, but Republicans as well, they now say they plan to conduct what they call vigorous oversight into these U.S. military strikes. Can you explain for our viewers what happens next?

HONIG: So, Wolf, it is notable, first of all, and really for the first time on a major issue, I think, during this administration, we are seeing a Republican-led bipartisan group in both the House and the Senate Armed Services Committee. Now, these committees are going to have extensive fact-finding powers.

First of all, they can issue subpoenas. That means one must testify. They can hold depositions behind closed doors. They can hold public hearings. They can issue reports and rulings. And perhaps most importantly, Wolf, they have the ability to make formal referrals of potential criminal matters over to either the military courts or to the Department of Justice.

And finally, of course, Congress always does have the power to consider impeachment of executive branch officials. Now, that's a very drastic step. We're not there. But I think as Congress, both houses, have properly recognized, the first thing is to get the details, get the facts, and act from there.

BLITZER: Well, while I have you, Elie, there's more breaking news, as you know, coming into the Situation Room this morning. A federal appeals court ruling that Alina Habba was serving unlawfully as the U.S. attorney for New Jersey. What does this mean for the Trump administration?

HONIG: Well, it's a setback yet again, Wolf, to the Trump administration's efforts to install temporary U.S. attorneys. Now, this is the first time a court of appeals that mid-level has ruled on this issue. We've actually seen rulings from four different district courts, including last week on the Jim Comey and Letitia James cases.

Now, this shifts us up to New Jersey. This relates to Alina Habba. Today's ruling was actually a unanimous three to zero ruling by appeals judges who, I should say, were put on the bench. One of them by Barack Obama, two of them by the Republican, George W. Bush.

And essentially what this appeals court has ruled is that when there is no fully Senate-confirmed U.S. attorney, when there's a vacancy, as there was in New Jersey, the President, through the attorney general, gets one temporary appointment of 120 days. Now, that happened with Alina Habba. The problem is, then they tried to re-up her for another temporary 120 days, and another one.

[11:10:11]

And they tried to use all sorts of backdoors, and this court of appeals says, no, it does not work that way. The law says the President gets one temporary 120-day appointment, and that's it.

So, as of now, Alina Habba is disqualified. As the U.S. attorney for New Jersey, a lot of uncertainty about what that means for the rest of the office's docket and caseload, but yet another legal setback for the administration, Wolf.

BLITZER: A major legal setback, indeed. Elie Honig, thank you very, very much.

Also new this morning, Israel's president now says he'll consider a pardon request from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Netanyahu submitted the request on Sunday. He faces charges of fraud, bribery, and breach of trust in three different corruption cases, but he has denied wrongdoing in each of them.

We'll stay on top of this story and see what the president of Israel decides to do. And as many of you remember, it was President Trump when he addressed the Knesset a few months ago in Jerusalem. He urged the president of Israel to pardon Prime Minister Netanyahu. We'll see what unfolds on that case.

Still ahead, the Trump administration is touting progress after Ukraine peace talks this weekend, but now the process faces its next major hurdle. We're talking about the Kremlin.

And new CNN reporting about the man accused of shooting two U.S. National Guardsmen in D.C. last week, killing one of them. Stay with us. You're in The Situation Room.

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[11:16:19]

BLITZER: And this just in. We're getting our first look today at Luigi Mangione, inside court for a hearing in his New York state murder case. He's the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year. Attorneys for Mangione are trying to get key evidence, like his diary entries, tossed from his state murder case. The hearing over the disputed evidence is expected to last several days. We'll be watching.

Also happening now, President Trump says he will honor the two National Guard members shot last week near the White House in Washington. When the time is right, those are his words, Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe is still in critical condition in a D.C. hospital, while Specialist Sarah Beckstrom was honored in her hometown after she died as a result of the ambush-style shooting.

The question now turns to the suspect's motivation. The U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says the suspect in the shooting was radicalized in the United States after arriving from Afghanistan back in 2021. CNN correspondent Brian Todd is here with us in The Situation Room right now. So what is the Homeland Security Secretary, what else is she saying?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what's interesting, Wolf, is that Kristi Noem has expressed a lot of confidence that he was radicalized in the U.S., but she did not give specifics about that. So first, let's get to what the Homeland Security Secretary, in fact, did say. She was on Meet the Press yesterday. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI NOEM, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We believe he was radicalized since he's been here in this country. We do believe it was through connections in his home community and state, and we're going to continue to talk to those who interacted with him, who were his family members, talk to them. So far, we've had some participation, but anyone who has information on this needs to know that we will be coming after you, and we will bring you to justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: Now, the question then becomes, what are the connections that he had in his hometown of Bellingham, Washington, his adopted hometown of Bellingham, Washington? Who are they interviewing? Those answers we don't have just yet, but we do know they've been interviewing people in Bellingham, Washington. Here are some other things that CNN and the Associated Press and investigators have been able to piece together about this suspect, Raqmanullah Lakanwal, 29 years old. He worked with the CIA for over a decade in Afghanistan, starting in the year 2011.

He came to the U.S. in 2021 through a Biden-era program to protect vulnerable Afghans. The Trump administration granted him asylum in April of this year. A senior U.S. official told CNN that the CIA would have vetted him through a variety of databases while he was in Afghanistan, databases including that of the National Counterterrorism Center. That U.S. official said at the time that he was evacuated, that, again, that was in 2021.

He was clean at that time as well, according to a senior U.S. official, who said, "in terms of vetting, nothing came up. He was clean on all checks." And, again, we -- we reiterated that Kristi Noem, and we saw her sound there, saying that he was radicalized in the U.S. But it's interesting. A community member in Bellingham, Washington, shared e-mails with the Associated Press that had been sent to the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants.

The e-mails described a man who was unable to hold a steady job. They say he alternated between periods of, "dark isolation and reckless travel." The e-mails also said he would experience manic episodes for one or two weeks at a time, where he will take off in a family car and drive nonstop.

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, did say last week that he drove from Bellingham, Washington, from that general area, which is 80 miles north of Seattle, to the nation's capital to commit these crimes. Wolf, we had reported, our John Miller and others have been reporting that, according to officials, law enforcement officials familiar with the case, that he, through interviews with his family, authorities are saying he may have suffered from PTSD.

[11:20:05]

We're piecing together all sorts of information now about this suspect, but through interviews with his family, authorities are saying he may have suffered from PTSD. We're piecing together all sorts of information now about this suspect, but a clear motive? It's unclear at the moment.

BLITZER: And what do we know about the condition of Andrew Wolfe, the National Guardsman, who was injured, wounded in this attack?

TODD: He remains in critical condition at a local hospital. Last week, his father was in touch with CNN with our colleague Gabe Cohen and said, pray for my son. He's a fighter. He's a really good person. We don't know a lot of specifics about his condition or which unit of the hospital he's being treated in. And we've been trying to get at that from the Joint Task Force overseeing the National Guard and from the hospital itself. They're reluctant to give us those answers.

BLITZER: We will pray for him and wish him a speedy recovery.

TODD: Yes.

BLITZER: Thank you very much, Brian Todd, for that update.

Up next, a winter storm is blasting much of the country right now with snow and ice, and the nasty weather is causing a slew of problems for the millions of Americans still trying to get home after Thanksgiving.

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[11:25:27]

BLITZER: Happening now, a major winter storm is sweeping across the country, impacting millions of Americans and creating enormous travel headaches as a lot of people are still trying to get home from the Thanksgiving holiday. Here's a live look at what's called the misery map from FlightAware. Let's go live right now to CNN's Pete Muntean.

He's over at Reagan National Airport just outside Washington, D.C. Pete, this storm could have a big impact on flight schedules today after a record-breaking weekend, right?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, if it's not great for airlines that are in recovery mode after a pretty rough weekend for air travel, I've been watching the cancellation numbers climb up after Saturday was nothing short of chaotic when it came to cancellations. The airlines ended the day with 1,979 cancellations nationwide, making it the fourth-worst day for cancellations in 2025.

Sunday, that number went down by about half, and today it's been hovering a little under 300, though the numbers are going up, even in spite of all of those problems. Air travel had the biggest day on record yesterday. The TSA says it screened about 3.13 million passengers at airports nationwide on Sunday. That makes eight of the top 10 days in TSA history all in 2025.

Just want to give you a visual representation of how big it has been at airports. The traffic here at Reagan National Airport last night stretched a mile from the terminal out onto Richmond Highway, Route 1, a really, really long line getting into the airport, and that scene's been playing out across the country. Dallas-Fort Worth, huge hub for American Airlines. The issues there were so big that the airport was warning of traffic that folks should add 60 to 90 minutes on top of the time that they typically get to the airport.

You know, we're not totally out of the woods yet, Wolf, and the Federal Aviation Administration is warning of possible ground stops today in places like Chicago-Midway, Chicago-O'Hare, both hard hit by this previous winter storm, now lined up to get hit again. Also Newark, because of high winds, and LaGuardia, and JFK, also San Francisco because of low cloud ceilings, so we are not totally out of the woods yet, Wolf, and the delays keep climbing up. Just checked FlightAware, about 2,900 delays nationwide in the U.S. today.

BLITZER: All right, Pete Muntean, over at Reagan National Airport, thank you very much.

I want to go to Texas right now, where a 12-year-old girl is lucky to be alive after a hole she was digging collapsed on her. New images show rescuers frantically trying to free her after she was almost completely buried in a sandbar. The fire department said the girl's father was able to clear sand from around her head, allowing her to breathe until they rescued her and arrived. Rescuers were eventually able to dig her out, and after a medical check she was released to her parents, thank God.

[11:28:17]

And just ahead, President Trump is signaling cautious optimism right now about a deal potentially to end the brutal war in Ukraine after nearly four years. The major sticking points that remain as Trump's top dealmaker prepares to meet with Russia's President Putin. We have details. Stay with us, you're in The Situation Room.

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