Hi there, everyone. Happy Monday. It's 4 o'clock in New York. We cannot say that they didn't warn us.

We begin today with the words of those who, at critical moments in Donald Trump's first presidency,

push back against Donald Trump's wishes to use the military any way he wanted.

When he would tell me that he wanted to do something, 100% of the time I check with the White

House counsel because oftentimes he wouldn't have the authority to do what he wanted to do.

I had to explain to him, we can't do that. It would violate international law. It would be

terrible for our neighbors to the south. It would violate international law. It would be terrible.

Quote, he didn't have the authority to do the things he wanted to do. Those comments were jarring at the time, and now they serve as a canary in the coal mine for where we find ourselves today, right now, in the aftermath of extraordinary reporting that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the military to leave no survivors on a strike against boats in the Caribbean.

Donald Trump and the Trump administration begin the week on the defensive after the Washington

Post was the first to report that Pete Hegseth ordered everyone on the boat killed,

according to two people with direct knowledge of the operation.

A follow-up strike was conducted when it became clear that there were

two survivors from the initial strike. Both of them were reportedly killed in that second

strike. The Washington Post ads at CLE Team 6 led that attack based on what we know from their

reporting. It is by the accounts of lawyers and lawmakers from both parties and experts and everyone

who has weighed in publicly, likely illegal. A group of former military leaders and lawyers known

as the former JAGS working group, they write this in a statement, quote, not only does international

law prohibit targeting these survivors, but it also requires the

attacking force to protect, to rescue, and if applicable, to treat them as prisoners of war.

Violations of these obligations are war crimes, murder, or both. There are no other options,

end quote. The black and white nature of what legal experts say the law says about the strikes are unavoidable,

even for Republicans, even in the time of Trump.

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