Questions Mount Over Alleged U.S. Kill Order in Venezuela Strikes, Trump Pardons Ex–Honduran President, How 'Stranger Things' Became Netflix’s 'Star Wars,' $10 Billion One Beverly Hills Project Breaks Ground

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🗓️ 3 December 2025

⏱️ 7 minutes

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Summary

Lawmakers are demanding answers after reports that U.S. forces striking alleged Venezuelan drug boats were directed to kill survivors — an order Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth denies as conflicting statements from the administration fuel concern over legality and oversight. President Trump’s pardon of former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández sparks regional uncertainty and potential political repercussions amid Honduras’ Presidential election. generating billions in revenue and driving major economic impact as its final season rolls out. In business, Netflix’s Stranger Things cements itself as the company’s most powerful franchise. and construction begins on the $10-billion One Beverly Hills development.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is an LA Times Studios podcast.
0:02.0	Hi, I'm Faith Pino, and you're listening to headlines from LA Times Studios.
0:13.0	Here are some of today's top stories from the Los Angeles Times.
0:17.0	Lawmakers are sounding the alarm after new details emerged about U.S. military strikes
0:23.9	on alleged Venezuelan drug boats. According to L.A. Times reporters, U.S. forces have targeted
0:30.0	more than 20 vessels off the coast of Venezuela since September. A move the Trump administration
0:36.1	says is aimed at disrupting major cocaine
0:38.9	routes into the U.S. Senior officials say the actions were approved after intelligence
0:44.4	showed the boats were tied to drug groups backed by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government.
0:50.7	But a new report is shedding light on the legality of the military's tactics.
0:55.9	The Washington Post reports that on September 2nd, Defense Secretary Pete Hegeseth ordered
1:00.9	two back-to-back strikes, ordering forces to, quote, kill them all, referring to any survivors
1:07.5	in the water. Hegseth denied the allegations during a cabinet meeting Tuesday, saying he didn't see anyone
1:14.1	in the water because, quote, the thing was on fire and cited what he called the fog of war.
1:20.6	Trump too has long said that he had no knowledge of any kill order and that he wouldn't have
1:25.4	authorized such a move.
1:27.4	Here's what he told reporters Sunday.
1:29.0	I don't know that that happened.
1:31.7	And Pete said he did not want them.
1:34.5	He didn't even know what people were talking about.
1:37.3	So we'll look into it.
1:40.2	But no, I wouldn't have wanted that, not a second strike.
	...

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