Lawrence on Hegseth strikes: Legal experts say nothing in U.S. law allows for use of deadly force

The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell

Lawrence O'Donnell, MS NOW

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4.4 • 5.9K Ratings

🗓️ 12 December 2025

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Tonight on The Last Word: Experts suggest that the boat strikes may be illegal under U.S. law. Also, a judge orders Trump to end the National Guard control in California. Plus, Trump hits an all-time low on economy approval according to an AP-NORC poll. Capt. Todd Huntley, Sen. Alex Padilla, Sherrod Brown, and Eric Gisler join Lawrence O'Donnell.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The last word with Lawrence O'Donnell starts right now. Hey Lawrence.
0:04.4	Hey, Jen. I remember Tuesday night when we were getting a report from Georgia about Eric Gisler,
0:09.9	who was pulling off an amazing win for Democrats in a very strongly Republican district,
0:15.3	a legislative district down there. He's going to join us tonight. And he's going to tell us how he's going to tell us how he did it.
0:21.7	I have a strong suspicion. We're going to hear the words affordability and Trump. I bet. But I'm going to let him tell the story. That's coming up. That's great. That was quite a flip. I look forward to watching that and hearing what I has to say. Yeah, I'm really eager to hear from him. Thanks, Jen. Thanks, Lawrence.
0:38.1	Thank you.
0:39.3	Well, it has been three weeks since the Washington Post... say. Yeah, I'm really eager to hear from him. Thanks, Jen. Thanks, Lawrence.
0:38.1	Thank you. Well, it has been three weeks since the Washington Post broke the story about the
0:43.3	two-strike attack on a small boat in the Caribbean, 1,500 miles from the United States. It was the first
0:50.3	Donald Trump ordered attack on small boats powered by outboard motors, open boats,
0:55.8	that Donald Trump's Secretary of Defense suspected to be carrying drugs bound for the United
1:00.7	States. The first missile to hit the boat destroyed the boat and killed nine of the 11 people
1:05.7	on the boat. Two men clinging to the wreckage were then killed by a second missile. It is the
1:10.4	second missile that is the focus of most attention. But NYU lost to the wreckage, were then killed by a second missile. It is the second missile that is the
1:12.1	focus of most attention. But NYU law professor and former Pentagon lawyer, Ryan Goodman,
1:17.7	says that none of the killing ordered by Donald Trump and Pete Higgseth in the attacks on those
1:22.5	small boats in the Caribbean is legal. Ryan Goodman says it is, quote, just murder. New reporting by the
1:32.0	Washington Post today indicates the boat was not headed for the United States. The post reports,
1:38.5	people familiar with Admiral Bradley's account to lawmakers said that the cargo in this case was heading next to Suriname, a small
1:47.3	country east of Venezuela, not the United States. As the Post and others have reported,
1:53.7	most of the narcotics that moved through the Caribbean are headed toward Europe and
1:58.5	Western Africa rather than the U.S. That further underscores that this boat
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