Natalie Kitro-Eff

We'll be right back.

You said, Charlie, that the Trump administration's justification for these strikes hinges in part on the administration defining drug traffickers as terrorists.

Are they terrorists?

Like, what's the definition of a terrorist?

Right.

I remember I was in Mexico at the time as a foreign correspondent, and this was major news for the cartels in the region.

They were all trying to suss out what this meant, what it meant that they were now being compared to suicide bombers.

Right.

And their motivation is also not to change policy.

It's not to change a government.

It's not ideological.

But Trump, once he's declared them terrorists, whether that fits the traditional definition or not, can he order them to be killed by the military at that point?

Given that, what we're seeing here off the coast of Venezuela sounds pretty far away from being legal.

So does this then get challenged?

How does it get challenged?

Whose job is it to do something about the illegality of these strikes?

Yeah, you're painting a very complicated road to any potential accountability here.

But what about Congress?

I mean, they have the oversight role here.

Can they do anything?