US struck alleged drug boat second time to kill survivors, sources say

We're learning new details about one of those deadly US strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean. Sources tell CNN the US military carried out a follow-up strike on September 2 after becoming aware of survivors in the water. The sources tell us that prior to the strike,

Secretary of Defense Pete Hagseth had ordered the military to ensure everyone on board was killed. People briefed on the quote, double tap strike say they're concerned that it could violate the law of armed conflict, which prohibits the execution of an enemy combatant who is

taken out of the fight due to injury or surrender. Now since September, as you're seeing on your screen here, the US military has carried out at least 21 known strikes on suspected drug trafficking boats killing at least 83 people. Officials have also acknowledged though not knowing the identities of everyone on board before they are struck. And this development comes as President Trump says the US military will soon begin land strikes on alleged drug trafficking networks in Venezuela. I want to bring in Beth Sander, a CNN

national security analyst and former deputy director of national intelligence. Thank you for taking the time. I just want to start with getting your reaction to the reporting we have here that double tap strikes were ordered to make sure everybody on board was killed.

Right. If this is true, it's really shocking. You know, I was thinking about this in the context of Ukraine. And right now, Russian soldiers are being accused of war crimes. And there are cases in the International Court of Justice

because they're killing prisoners, Ukrainian armed combatants who are prisoners. And they're killing them instead of keeping them as prisoners. So, I mean, here we have an example of an actual war and war crimes accusation. So here, what does this do in terms of US moral authority?

There's reporting this week of Israel of IDF soldiers killing Palestinian prisoners, Hamas prisoners. How can we go to Israel and say like you shouldn't have done that or

Russia? Yeah you know you know this this arena is I mean we've been talking a lot about Venezuela on a number of fronts. Obviously there are these efforts that the administration says they're going after drug trafficking boats. There is the not-so-subtle pushes against Nicolas Maduro that President Trump has been leading. But the president also says that land action would now be part of the administration's effort to deter Venezuelan drug traffickers. I just wonder what you

think about that threshold being crossed here. It's a big threshold, right?

I mean, right now we're in international waters. But when you're talking about strikes in a sovereign country against, you know, I mean, these are drug traffickers, bad people, you know, but it is still in another country. And so there usually has to be a justification. And there is a process for that.

You can get authorization for use of military force from Congress that helps on that, but there's an entire legal, international legal system, too. And that's what people are worried about, you know, kind of in this context of the video

that the Democratic senators put out recently about defying illegal orders and the question about whether people who are conducting them could be subject to, you know, being prosecuted. So I think that there's a lot involved here. I do wonder, though, whether...

whether President Trump actually will do it or whether we're just kind of in this game of chicken. I was thinking about this because he has this quote that he said in another context about, you know, waiting until the very last minute to make a decision about conducting such an activity,

because, you know, in war, things change. That's the quote. And so, you know, sometimes I-I... You know, we don't really know where we're at. They're up to that line... Yeah. ...of the last minute,

or whether we're still in this kind of-of pressure campaign trying to see if something will happen inside Venezuela, whether this kind of pressure will generate activity to oust Maduro.

Well, I was gonna say, a lot of people are looking at, OK, is this all part of an encroachment effort to oust Nicolas Maduro, who President Trump has said his days are numbered. Earlier this week, the president designated Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his government allies

as members of a foreign terrorist organization. I just wonder, we've got these individual sort of storylines popping up. What do you see as the bigger picture here?

Is the bigger picture to try and get Maduro out of office?

I mean, I think sure. I think, you know, Lindsey Graham has said as much, very close to the president. I think that that's where we are.

But I don't think that necessarily means that he's willing to use military force directly in terms of trying to do that, whether to snatch him or to kill him. So, you know, again, I think we're gonna be

in this ratcheting up, and maybe it will entail strikes inside of Venezuela against drug facilities, but that'll be part of a process, again, to see if something will move internally. I think that's the goal.

Yeah. Beth Saner, always appreciate your insight, especially on a story like this. Thanks for being here.

Thanks, Omar.

Of course. U.S. President Donald Trump appears to be preparing for a new phase of military action against Venezuela that includes taking action on land.

In recent weeks, you've been working to deter Venezuelan drug traffickers, of which there are many. Of course there aren't too many coming in by sea anymore. People aren't wanting to be delivering by sea and we'll be starting to stop them by land also. The land is easier, but that's going to start very soon.

Well, that announcement happened just hours after the US sent more military firepower to the region and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth paid a visit to the United States' largest aircraft carrier which was recently moved to Latin America.

Patrol, or whether it's in our nation's hemisphere, out at sea, interdicting cartels, defending the American people.

We are grateful for you.

Maduro's message at a military parade on Thursday.

For the last 17 weeks, foreign imperialist forces have been continuously threatening to alter the peace in the Caribbean, in South America

and in Venezuela under false pretenses and extravagant arguments that no one believes.

CNN's Stefano Pazzobon is joining me now live. So Stefano, this announcement from Trump appears that he's made a decision on his next plan of action. What's the reaction been like from Venezuela to this?

Well I think that Nicolas Maduro's words yesterday as he was commemorating a failed coup from his predecessor the late president Hugo Chavez but again it was just an occasion for him to portray himself in a position of strength. It's not a coincidence that he was speaking to armed forces, members of the armed military, and especially wearing a green uniform. Well, we've been here before. We've been here for the last 17 weeks. I think that there

is inside Venezuela a sense of fatigue around all of this military build-up from the United States that never arrives to the actual critical point. Donald Trump might say that conducting operations on the land, which we understand, we intend to believe that that would mean inside Venezuelan territory. Well, Donald Trump might say that that would be easier. It would be, frankly, much more difficult in terms of coming up with a response to how

Maduro would retaliate with that. And this is a game of carrots and sticks that we have been seeing here for the last four months, and I think that Maduro and many other people here in Venezuela are still on the edge and there is a sense of fatigue around that edge because of these geopolitical tensions. We shall see eventually if Donald Trump decides to move forward. A week ago he was saying that he was open to discussing in person with Nicolas Maduro. We've been hearing rumours that there may have already been a call. We don't understand that that

is the case, by the way, Cristina. We understand that the call between Nicolas Maduro and Donald Trump is yet to happen, if indeed it will eventually happen, but at the same time Donald Trump once again opening the door to a possible military action inside Venezuela doesn't certainly bode well for the government here. Yeah that call has been talked about for some time, we'll for the government here. Yeah that call has been talked about for some time, we'll

wait to see if it materialises. Stefano, appreciate it. Thanks.