Admiral says there was no 'kill them all' order in boat attack, but video alarms lawmakers

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Navy admiral commanding the U.S. military strikes on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean told lawmakers Thursday that there was no “kill them all” order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, but a stark video of the attack left grave questions as Congress scrutinizes the campaign that killed two survivors.

Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley appeared for a series of closed-door classified briefings at the Capitol as lawmakers conduct an investigation after a report that he ordered the follow-on attack that killed the survivors to comply with Hegesth’s demands. Legal experts have said such a strike could be a violation of the laws of military warfare.

“Bradley was very clear that he was given no such order, to give no quarter or to kill them all,” said Sen. Tom Cotton, who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee, as he exited a classified briefing.

While Cotton, R-Ark., defended the attack, Democrats who were also briefed and saw video of the survivors being killed questioned the Trump administration’s rationale and said the incident was deeply concerning.

“The order was basically: Destroy the drugs, kill the 11 people on the boat,” said Washington Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.

Smith, who is demanding further investigation, said the survivors were “basically two shirtless people clinging to the bow of a capsized and inoperable boat, drifting in the water — until the missiles come and kill them.”

The classified sessions with Bradley, alongside the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, provided fresh information at a crucial moment as Hegseth's leadership comes under scrutiny. But they did little to resolve growing questions about the legal basis for President Donald Trump's extraordinary campaign to use war powers against suspected drug smugglers. So far more than 80 people have been killed in some 20 strikes.

Late Thursday, U.S. Southern Command announced it had conducted another strike against a small boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean following a pause of almost three weeks. There were four casualties, according to the social media post.

Lawmakers have not yet specifically authorized the use of military force against the alleged drug boats, and the Republican-controlled Congress has turned back attempts to put a check on Trump’s power to engage in the missile campaign, which Hegseth has vowed will continue. Several Democrats have called for Hegseth to resign.

Lawmakers want a full accounting of the Sept. 2 strike, which was the first in what has become a monthslong series of U.S. military attacks on vessels near Venezuela believed to be ferrying drugs. The Washington Post had reported that Bradley ordered the follow-on attack on the survivors.

But lawmakers who lead the House and Senate's national security committees in Congress came away with different descriptions of what the two survivors were doing when they were killed.

Cotton said he saw them "trying to flip a boat loaded with drugs bound for United States back over so they could stay in the fight.”

He said there were “several minutes” between the first and second attacks, which consisted of four missile strikes. He said it was “gratifying” that the U.S. military was taking “the battle” to cartels.

But Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said, “what I saw in that room was one of the most troubling things I've seen in my time in public service.”

“You have two individuals in clear distress, without any means of locomotion, with a destroyed vessel," he said, and who "were killed by the United States."

The survivors did not issue any distress call or other communications, though lawmakers were told it appeared the people had a hand raised, “waving” at one point during the attacks, Smith said.

Smith acknowledged there was likely cocaine on the boat, but he objects to the Republican administration’s rationale for continued attacks on alleged drug runners who may or may not be heading to the United States. “That’s really the core of the problem with all of this,” he said. “That incredibly broad definition, I think, is what sets in motion all of these problems about using lethal force and using the military.”

At the time of the attack, Bradley was the commander of Joint Special Operations Command, overseeing coordinated operations between the military's elite special operations units out of Fort Bragg in North Carolina. About a month after the strike, he was promoted to commander of U.S. Special Operations Command.

His military career, spanning more than three decades, was mostly spent serving in the elite Navy SEALs and commanding joint operations. He was among the first special forces officers to deploy to Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks. His latest promotion to admiral was approved by unanimous voice vote in the Senate this year, and Democratic and Republican senators praised his record.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., has described Bradley as among those who are “rock solid” and “the most extraordinary people that have ever served in the military.”

But lawmakers like Tillis have also made it clear they expect a reckoning if it is found that survivors were targeted. “Anybody in the chain of command that was responsible for it, that had vision of it, needs to be held accountable,” he said.

Underpinning Trump’s campaign against suspected traffickers is his argument that drug cartels amount to armed combatants because their cargo poses a threat to American lives.

Democrats are demanding the release of the full video of the Sept. 2 attack, as well as written records of the orders and any directives about the mission from Hegseth. None of the written orders or audio of verbal commands was shared with the lawmakers.

A White House Office of Legal Counsel memo providing a rationale for the strikes was dated after the fact, on Sept. 5. That memo remains undisclosed, and Democrats want it released.

Obtaining further information, though, will largely depend on action from Republican lawmakers, who have majority control of the committees, a potentially painful prospect for them if it puts them at odds with the president.

Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said that he and the Senate Armed Services Committee chair, GOP Sen. Roger Wicker, have formally requested the executive orders authorizing the operations and the complete videos from the strikes, among other items. The Trump administration has repeatedly denied their requests for basic information about the operation, Reed said.

Republican lawmakers who are close to Trump have largely stood by Hegseth and the administration's decision to conduct the strikes.

Elsewhere, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and others see the U.S. military operation as part of an effort to prompt a government change in the South American country. Maduro on Wednesday acknowledged speaking last month by phone with Trump, who confirmed the call days earlier.

Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick and Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.

U.S. Navy Adm. Frank M. Bradley walks along a hallway after a meeting with senators on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

U.S. Navy Adm. Frank M. Bradley, right, accompanied by Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, left, walks to a meeting with senators on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., leaves after a meeting with U.S. Navy Adm. Frank M. Bradley on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., leaves after a meeting with U.S. Navy Adm. Frank M. Bradley on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

U.S. Navy Adm. Frank M. Bradley, accompanied by Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, right, walks to a meeting with senators on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

U.S. Navy Adm. Frank M. Bradley, accompanied by Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, right, walks to a meeting with senators on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

U.S. Navy Adm. Frank M. Bradley walks to a meeting with senators on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

U.S. Navy Adm. Frank M. Bradley, accompanied by Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, right, walks to a meeting with senators on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

The closed entrance to a secure room is seen where Navy Adm. Frank "Mitch" Bradley, commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command, is expected to brief top congressional lawmakers overseeing national security as they investigate how Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth handled a military strike on a suspected drug smuggling boat and its crew in the Caribbean near Venezuela Sept. 2, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

FILE - Admiral Frank M. Bradley testifies during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to examine his nomination to be admiral and Commander, United States Special Operation Command, July 22, 2025, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, file)

BEAVER CREEK, Colo. (AP) — The plan was for American ski racer Lauren Macuga to be in Switzerland this week getting ready for some speed races.

Instead, she was hobbling around on crutches Thursday in the finish area at Beaver Creek as she awaits surgery to fix her torn right ACL.

The ever-positive Macuga found a bright side, though. She got to watch her younger brother, Daniel, test out the demanding downhill course before the World Cup racers took the stage.

“It was so fun to watch him,” Macuga, wearing her trademark bucket hat, said with a smile.

Macuga was being billed as one of the athletes to watch at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in February. Her plans flipped in an instant. She was training in giant slalom at Copper Mountain, Colorado, last Friday when her ski, as she explained, "caught weird. It was just kind of unlucky how I fell, I guess.”

She felt pain in her knee but it only lasted a moment.

“I didn’t actually know where the ACL even was, so I thought I was OK,” said Macuga, who will have surgery next week.

She began walking, though, and the knee became unsteady.

“It was then I was like, ‘Oh, something’s wrong, but I don't know what,'" Macuga said. “I was able to ski down and so you hold on to hope. I got there and they’re like, ‘Yeah, it (ACL) is gone.' I was like, ‘Oh, awesome.’”

The 23-year-old Macuga was coming off a season in which she had four top-five World Cup finishes, including a super-G win last January in Austria. She also won a bonze medal in the super-G at the world championships.

She was so looking forward to Italy.

She may still go.

“It would be nice to go out there and support my team,” said Macuga, who will rehab after surgery in Park City, Utah. “Just be there for them.”

Macuga has been overwhelmed by the amount of support she's received since her injury. She just finished responding to all the well-wishers.

“It’s nice to know that people are excited for me to come back,” Macuga said. "I’m excited. I can’t wait."

Still, it's going to be difficult watching races this season.

“I was feeling very good coming into this, like the strongest I’ve ever been,” Macuga said. “Skiing great. So it's a bummer, but I mean in this sport it happens. It’s going to suck through the season watching everyone race and everything but what are you going to do?”

For starters, learn German.

That's her plan, anyway. She may even take a class. She's also going to watch her brother race. Cheer on her sisters, too — Alli, the moguls standout, and Sam, the ski jumper.

“Someone told me that statistically you’re more likely to win an Olympic medal after you (tear) your ACL,” Macuga said with a grin. “So I'm hanging on to that."

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

FILE - United States' Lauren Macuga skis during a women's giant slalom run at the World Cup Finals, March 25, 2025, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

FILE - United States' Lauren Macuga celebrates moments before being given a bronze medal for a women's Super-G race at the Alpine Ski World Championships in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti, File)