CNN Anchor Throws Down With Tom Cotton Over Legality of Trump's Boat Strikes: When Will You Vote?'

"Berman asked Cotton, Question: If they are terrorists, when did Congress pass the authorized use of force to attack them? Cotton replied, John, the reason why your question is not well-founded is like saying, Would Barack Obama be okay droning an American citizen when he was president?' Like he did to Anwar al-Awlaki over in the Middle East. These are totally different categories."

"Berman hit back, That's why I asked when Congress passed the authorized use of military force. There was an authorized use of military force against terrorists. I'm not saying what he did was legal or not, but that's what they based it on. In this case, when was the authorized use of military force to attack suspected drug dealers off the coast of Venezuela?"

"Cotton replied, John, the president has inherent authority as the commander-in-chief under the Constitution to protect America using our armed forces against a foreign terrorist organization. Congress has passed laws that allow the president to designate foreign terrorist organizations. That's what he's done with these cartels in Venezuela, Cotton added, who are deeply intertwined with the illegitimate Maduro regime. Berman pressed back, You know, the latest explanation from the administration is they are non-state actors in this case."

John Berman questioned Sen. Tom Cotton about whether Congress authorized the use of force to attack alleged drug-smuggling boats off Venezuela. The Trump administration has killed over 80 people on those boats and faced criticism for bombing survivors in a so-called double-tap strike, which critics call a war crime. Cotton argued the president has inherent commander-in-chief authority to protect the United States and that Congress has passed laws allowing designation of foreign terrorist organizations, which he said applies to Venezuelan cartels tied to the Maduro regime. Berman pressed that the administration characterizes the targets as non-state actors not connected to Maduro, questioning statutory authorization to attack them.

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