| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
|
unidentified
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We have never had that explanation. | |
| Other than I've heard when I was at the Reagan Library at the defense conference there, the Secretary of Defense say that it was his determination and he was going to make that determination whether or not everybody was going to see it. | ||
| I myself haven't seen it and I've been asking. | ||
| I don't know whether the chair of the committee of the Foreign Affairs Committee have seen it, but I have asked and will continue to ask to see that. | ||
| Why, as a member of Congress and the ranking member on the Foreign Affairs Committee, I'm not allowed to see it is a question that I have also. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| What did you make by this briefing? | ||
| Yeah, so we just received a briefing from the Secretary of War and the Secretary of State and our top military officials on the strikes against the narco-terrorists off the coast of Venezuela. | ||
| Questions are still being answered by members, but I think the information that was provided was very helpful. | ||
| It affirms what many of us have already known. | ||
| And I'm going to share some thoughts with you about what was shared in there, but ultimately the big question about what authority supports all this. | ||
| The President of the United States has directed these actions consistent with his responsibility. | ||
| And that responsibility is clear to protect Americans and United States interests abroad and in furtherance of the United States national security and foreign policy interests pursuant to his constitutional authority. | ||
| He has that authority as Commander-in-Chief and as the Chief Executive to conduct foreign relations. | ||
| As the Commander-in-Chief, President Trump has both the authority and the obligation to defend our homeland, and I think that's beyond dispute. | ||
| Pursuant to this constitutional authority and the law of armed conflict, the President determined that the United States is in non-international armed conflict. | ||
| That's NIAC, as the acronym is known. | ||
| And that is with designated terrorist organizations and their affiliates who have evolved into complex structures with financial means and parliamentary capabilities needed to operate with impunity, engage in violence and terrorism. | ||
| That presents a clear and present danger to the security of America and threaten other nations in our hemisphere. | ||
| I want to make this point very clear. | ||
| Over the last four years alone, America has lost more lives to drug overdoses and other drug-related deaths than we did to the enemy actions in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq combined. | ||
| This is a serious problem that a serious administration is addressing. | ||
| These are highly organized and sophisticated narco-terrorist organizations, and they operate, as we said, with impunity. | ||
| And the President has determined that these cartels constitute the legally defined groups that allow us to take these actions. | ||
| The Trump administration, by the way, has been much more forthcoming with the legal rationale behind these strikes than prior administrations. | ||
| And I want to point out this one example. | ||
| From 2009 to 2015, President Obama conducted over 500 drone strikes, killing over 3,700 persons, some of whom were United States citizens. | ||
| And he never offered any legal justification to Congress at all. | ||
| The Department of War has now briefed Congress more than 20 times in bipartisan classified settings on these strikes. | ||
| Secretary Rubio and Secretary Hekseth have briefed the Gang of Eight and the Gang of 16 as well. | ||
| I've been in those briefings myself. | ||
| The administration has also made available multiple documents to the Hill, including the Office of Legal Counsel opinion, which has been reviewed by over 150 members. | ||
| The Department of War has shown video of the September 2nd strike to the Gang of Eight and leadership of the Armed Services and Appropriations, Defense Appropriations Committees. | ||
| They'll be made available to all members of the Armed Services Committee this week. | ||
| This is exquisite intelligence that supports these actions. | ||
| It is certainly appropriate and it's necessary to protect the United States in our interests. | ||
| That's what was presented today. | ||
| Different members have different questions. | ||
| I hope and assume that all those are being answered. | ||
| Thank you all for being here. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife have arrived in New York for trial. | |
| Here's a look at the scene at Stewart Airport. | ||
| As we | ||
| hit the top of the hour here, you're looking at live video from Stewart International Airport in Orange County, New York. | ||
| Where about a half hour ago, this plane carrying captured, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife landed at the airport. | ||
| When the plane came to a stop here, numerous agents from various agencies entered the airplane. | ||
| And now we're just waiting for them to bring Maduro and his wife off of the airplane and from we understand to a helicopter that'll bring them down to New York City. | ||
| You see everybody getting ready to exit the airplane, it appears, over here by this door. | ||
| Bringing you | ||
| down a little bit. | ||
| Yeah, just a little bit. | ||
| Thanks. | ||
| You can see the large crowd outside of that 757 waiting for people to exit the airplane. | ||
| These are all helipads here with various aircraft. | ||
| I do not, to be honest. | ||
| Yeah, sorry, I don't know that frequency. | ||
| One, two, three. | ||
| One, two, three. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| It's one two three.0 two five. | ||
| And preparations continue to bring Nicolas Maduro and his wife off the plane here in New York. | ||
| We're going to move on with our schedule now, but we'll continue to monitor the situation in New York State. | ||
| And some reaction to the U.S. strikes in Venezuela from Capitol Hill. | ||
| House Speaker Mike Johnson released this statement that reads in part, Today's military action in Venezuela was a decisive and justified operation that will protect American lives. | ||
| Nicolas Maduro is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans after years of trafficking, illegal drugs, and violent cartel members into our country, crimes for which he's been properly indicted in U.S. courts and an arrest warrant duly issued. | ||
| And today, he learned what accountability looks like. | ||
| The Trump administration is working to schedule briefings for members as Congress returns to Washington next week. | ||
| Meanwhile, outgoing Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene felt differently and released a lengthy statement opposed to the military action. | ||
| Her post reads in part, Americans' disgust with our own government's never-ending military aggression and support of foreign wars is justified because we are forced to pay for it and both parties, Republicans and Democrats, always keep the Washington military machine funded and going. | ||
| Newly inaugurated Mayor Zorhan Mamdani briefed reporters after the news that the U.S. had attacked Venezuela and captured Nicolas Maduro and his wife. | ||
| He commented on reports that the couple will be transported to New York for trial. | ||
| Here's a look at his comments. | ||
| I know you said in a statement earlier today that you had been briefed on the situation with the Euro in Venezuelans through the state of New York. | ||
| Were you briefed by the president? | ||
| Have you spoken to the president about this matter? | ||
| I was briefed by my first deputy mayor, my chief of staff, my chief counsel, the police commissioner, as well as other members of my team. |