The White House is standing by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after a Washington Post report raised concerns about the Pentagon's deadly military operations around Latin America.

Washington

President Trump held a meeting with key national security officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, to discuss potential U.S. actions in Venezuela after a recent deadly military strike. The White House confirmed Admiral Frank Bradley, head of U.S. Special Operations Command, led the operation and had the authority to do so, citing legal justifications related to Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.

The strike has drawn bipartisan concern in Congress, with both the Senate and House Armed Services Committees pledging thorough investigations. Lawmakers, including Senator Mark Kelly, have called for Admiral Bradley and Secretary Hegseth to testify, though it remains unclear when or if public hearings will take place.

Trump meets on Venezuela amid concerns over deadly strike

We begin with the White House defending Secretary Hegseth and the military's deadly actions around Latin America. CBS News senior White House and political correspondent Ed O'Keefe joins us now. So, Ed, what else did Secretary Leavitt say about this report and the reaction to it? Yeah, and Admiral, she mentioned there in the sound that you played is Admiral Frank Bradley, who's head of U.S. Special Operations Command. She says it was he who carried out that attack and, in the view of the White House, had the authority to do so. This decision by the White House to confirm more details about it and to deflect blame off of the secretary of defense comes, as you mentioned, after that Washington Post report, and also comes as the president was meeting this afternoon with top national security officials to go over the potential options for Venezuela, including with the National Security Advisor, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, who, as we understand now, has spent some of the last few days talking to lawmakers about all this. I mean, their concerns, the swift bipartisan concern and calls for congressional investigations were notable and is part of the reason why the White House felt the need to come out today and clarify a few things. And President Trump met today with his top deputies to discuss next steps on Venezuela. Do we know with whom exactly and why they met today? Yeah, it was Secretary Rubio, Secretary Hegseth, and a handful of others. And what exactly they're discussing, what is the end result of it, that remains unclear. We know that there has been ongoing public pressure on Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro to leave his country, and, of course, the CIA covert operations have continued as well. And so whether they're discussing continuing those or something more aggressive and involving that incredible military deployment that's occurred across the Caribbean remains to be seen. Remember, the president once again in recent days has suggested there could be land operations considered to remove Maduro, who the president and this administration believe is leading a narco-terrorist organization that has been classified as such, and is part of the legal reasoning now behind those strikes, according to the press secretary. Ed O'Keefe, thank you. Let's bring in CBS News congressional correspondent Nicole Killian on Capitol Hill. So, Nicole, it feels like we're hearing from Republicans questioning this, too. How are lawmakers reacting? Well, look, I think in both the Senate and the House, we have seen concern expressed by both Democrats and Republicans. As you point out, more specifically in terms of the committees of jurisdiction, both the Senate Armed Services Committee and the House Armed Services Committee have both pledged oversight of this. In fact, we were able to catch up with both the chairman and the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee today, who did acknowledge, both of them, that they have spoken with officials from the Pentagon, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Koehn. We also caught up with Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, who held a press conference earlier today, continuing to express concern about these strikes that took place back in September, even though the White House acknowledges that the admiral who oversaw this did have the proper legal authority. Kelly did reiterate that he still believes an investigation is merited. And I asked him if he would like to see that Admiral Bradley, as well as Secretary Hexeth, appear before the Armed Services Committee. Take a listen to his response, as well as what the chairman of the Armed Services Committee told us, as well. You know, I've talked to the chairman of Armed Services about it and the ranking member. They should absolutely appear. I'm not so confident they will. This is not an administration that tends to follow any norms, but we need to get to the bottom of this, of what happened. I have spoken to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I've spoken to the Secretary of Defense, and will be speaking to the admiral that was in charge of the operation. I understand he was in charge of the operation. And based on that, we'll begin our oversight and get to the facts. So again, Chairman Wicker there confirming that he also spoke with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as well earlier today. That being said, though, it's still unclear what the timeline or timetable might be for any potential hearings or this investigation, and whether or not these hearings, if they are held, would eventually be made public. So still a lot more that has to be done on this front. But again, both of these committees pledging a thorough investigation. Nicole Killian, thank you.

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