- 6/26/2025
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine hold a Pentagon press briefing.
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00:00well good morning everybody just arrived last night back from nato two days apart from my
00:16battle buddy so it's good to see him this morning good to see you mr chairman where there was a
00:22historic outcome i want to start with that real quick i i think there's so much news so many
00:27things happening that oftentimes big momentous moments get missed what president trump
00:33accomplished in nato yesterday was game changing and historic a shift in burden sharing to the european
00:41responsibility in nato that most would have said was impossible uh at the beginning of his term but
00:47he said nato needs to pay up they started in the first term and here in the his second term we've
00:54accelerated that 32 nato countries committed to spending five percent of their gdp on defense
01:01on actually investing in the nato alliance so i hope with all the ink spilled all of your outlets find
01:08the time to properly recognize this historic change in continental security that other presidents tried
01:17to do other presidents talked about president trump accomplished it it's a huge deal you see we're here
01:24this morning because uh in hunting for scandals all the time in trying to find wedges and and spin
01:31stories this press corps and the press corps uh miss historic moments you miss historic moments like five
01:40percent at nato which when you hear i was in the closed door briefing i wish there could have been cameras
01:44in there when you heard the prime ministers and presidents of other countries to a man and to a woman
01:49looking at president trump and saying this never could have happened never would have happened
01:53seemed impossible five years ago two years ago eight years ago but here we are because of your
01:59leadership if you ask them the question i bet they'd say the same thing but searching for scandals
02:05you miss historic moments like recruiting at the pentagon historic levels in the army the air force
02:12and the navy yeah maybe there'll be a little mention here or there but because it was under president
02:17trump's leadership because it was because because americans are responding to him as commander-in-chief
02:23the press corps doesn't want to write about it or bring us to the to the topic of the moment
02:28and the highly successful strikes in iran let me read the the bottom line here president trump
02:36directed the most complex and secretive military operation in history and it was a resounding success
02:43resulting in a ceasefire agreement and the end of the 12-day war there's been a lot of discussion
02:50about what happened and what didn't happen step back for a second because of decisive military action
02:55president trump created the conditions to end the war decimating choose your word obliterating
03:03destroying iran's nuclear capabilities i want to read some of the assessments that have been provided
03:11because whether it's fake news cnn msnbc or the new york times there's been fawning coverage
03:20of a preliminary assessment i've had a chance to read it all every every outlet has breathlessly
03:25reported on a preliminary assessment from dia i'm looking at it right now again it was preliminary a day
03:33and a half after the actual strike when it admits itself in writing that it requires weeks to accumulate
03:39the necessary data to make such an assessment it's preliminary it points out that it's not been
03:44coordinated with the intelligence community at all uh there's low confidence in this particular report
03:50there's it says in the report there are gaps in the information it says in the report multiple lynchpin
03:56assumptions are what this assessment a lynchpin assumption you know what that is that means your
04:01entire premise is predicated on a lynchpin if you're wrong everything else is wrong and yet and still this
04:08report acknowledges it's likely severe damage again this is preliminary but leaked because someone had
04:14an agenda to try to muddy the waters and make it look like this historic strike wasn't successful i'm
04:19going to get to the chairman in a moment because he's going to lay out the particulars for you based
04:24on his professional military experience but here's what other folks are saying the dia that put that report
04:29out says this is a preliminary low confidence report and will continue to be refined as additional
04:35intelligence becomes available how about the israeli atomic energy commission the devastating u.s
04:43strikes on fordo destroyed the site's critical infrastructure and rendered the enrichment facility
04:49inoperable have any of these quotes made their way into the new york times or the washington post
04:54msnbc cnn any of these quotes how about this one this is a new one from the un the united nations
05:01no friend of the united states or certainly israel often here's the head of the un atomic energy
05:07agency this morning rafael grossi u.s and israeli strikes caused enormous damage to iran's nuclear
05:16sites don't take my word for it how about the idf's chief of staff i can say here that the assessment is
05:23that we significantly damaged the nuclear program setting it back by years i repeat years the iranian
05:30foreign minister the spokesman our nuclear institutions have been badly damaged that's for
05:35sure i'm sure that's an understatement john radcliffe the director of the cia putting out a statement
05:42just last night cia can confirm that a body of credible intelligence indicates iran's nuclear program
05:49has been severely damaged by recent targeted strikes this includes new intelligence from a historically
05:55reliable very different than preliminary assessment with low confidence he's saying historically reliable
06:02and accurate source of method that several key iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would
06:10have to be rebuilt over the course of years cia continues to collect additional reliably sourced information
06:18to keep appropriate decision makers fully informed how about dni talc gabbard yesterday she writes and i
06:27quote new intelligence confirms what potus has stated numerous times iran's nuclear facilities have been
06:35destroyed institute for science and international security president david albright overall israel and u.s
06:42attacks have effectively destroyed u.n iran's centrifuge enrichment program time and time again i can go down the list
06:53those that understand those that see those that do proper assessments recognize that what the united states
07:00military did was historic and again before i pass it to the chairman
07:04because you and i mean specifically you the press specifically you the press corps because you
07:16cheer against trump so hard it's like in your dna and in your blood to cheer against trump because you want
07:22him not to be successful so bad you have to cheer against the efficacy of these strikes you have to hope
07:30maybe they weren't effective maybe the way the trump administration's representative isn't true
07:35so let's take half truths spun information leaked information and then spin it spin it in every way we
07:44can to try to cause doubt and manipulate the mind the public mind over whether or not our brave pilots
07:53were successful how many stories have been written about how hard it is to i don't know fly a plane for 36
07:59hours has msnbc done that story as fox have we done the story how hard that is have we done it two or
08:06three times so that american people understand how about how difficult it is to shoot a drone from an f
08:1115 or 16 or f 22 or f 35 or what it's like to man a patriot battery or how hard it is to refuel midair
08:18giving the american people an understanding of how complex and sophisticated this mission really was
08:23uh there are so many aspects of what our brave men and women did that by because of the hatred of this
08:30press corps are undermined because your people are trying to leak and spin that it wasn't successful
08:37it's irresponsible and folks in this room are privy to that information because of the proximity here in
08:45the pentagon it's an important responsibility and time and time again classified information is leaked or
08:51peddled for political purposes to try to make the president look bad and what's really happening
08:56is you're undermining the success of incredible b2 pilots and incredible f35 pilots and incredible
09:02refuelers and incredible air defenders who accomplished their mission set back a nuclear program
09:08in ways that other presidents would have dreamed how about we celebrate that how about we talk about
09:14how special america is that we only we have these capabilities i think it's too much to ask unfortunately
09:20for the fake news so we're used to that but we also have an opportunity to stand at the podium and
09:25read the truth of what's really happening and the reality is you want to call it destroyed you want
09:30to call it defeated you want to call it obliterated choose your word this was an historically successful
09:37attack we should celebrate it as americans and it gives us a chance to have peace chance to have a deal
09:43and an opportunity to prevent a nuclear iran which is something president trump talked about for 20 years
09:48and no other presidents had the courage to actually do so with that i want to hand it over to the
09:54chairman of joint chiefs they've done technical analysis on this not just on the strike but also
10:00on our patriot defenders and all you need and mr chairman i'll hand it over to you good morning
10:04thank you mr secretary and and good morning and all of you thank you for thank you for being here
10:09as a follow-up to my comments on sunday's press conference i wanted to give you a few updates this
10:14morning on something i'm honored to do as a chairman and that's a chance to get to talk about some of
10:20our service members and the incredible things that they do on behalf of our nation and i apologize ahead
10:26of time for the length and the detail today i'm going to brief you on a couple things first i'm going
10:31to talk about our air defenders at al-udid in qatar and their actions on monday then i'm going to walk
10:37you through a little bit about the academics that went into the attack against fordo the massive
10:43ordinance penetrator weapon and we're going to show a video uh that uh that highlights the effects that
10:49that weapon has of course nobody was down inside the target so we don't have video from the target
10:55first on monday as the president has stated on monday morning we began to receive indications and
11:01warnings that iran intended to attack u.s bases in the region that morning building on the work
11:09that centcom commander eric carrilla had done and on the orders of the president al-udid at al-udid air
11:17base in qatar and around the region we assumed a minimum force posture most folks had moved off the
11:24base to extend the security perimeter out away from what we assessed might be a target zone except for a
11:32very few uh army soldiers at al-udid at that point only two patriot batteries remained on base roughly 44
11:42american soldiers responsible for defending the entire base to include centcom's forward headquarters
11:50in the middle east an entire air base and all the u.s forces there the oldest soldier was a 28 year
11:58old captain the youngest was a 21 year old private who'd been in the military for less than two years
12:07so let's put ourselves out there for a second imagine you're that young first lieutenant you're 25
12:13or 26 years old and you've been assigned as the tactical director inside the command and control element
12:21you at that age are the sole person responsible to defend this base listening next to you is your
12:30early warning operator whose job is to notify you of imminent attack there's five people inside a vehicle
12:37and five people outside of a vehicle around these a total of as i said 44. by the way you've sat in the
12:46middle east for years deployed over and over again extended multiple times always being prepared but
12:54unsure of when that particular day will come that you must execute your mission and not fail at doing
13:02it in this case these patriot crews were deployed from korea and japan as part of our u.s forces there
13:10to ensure that we had the most capable missiles in the centcom area of responsibility as the day
13:17continues you start to hear more and more chatter in the information space about an impending attack
13:24and as the sun starts to set in the west you get orders from your higher headquarters to make sure
13:31that your missile batteries are pointed to the north there are just a few other teammates it's hot
13:38you're getting nervous and you expect an attack outside of those patriot vehicles your hot crew
13:45which is one nco and four additional soldiers turns a key and relinquishes control of those missiles to
13:52that young lieutenant inside the vehicle and you wait you know that you're going to have approximately
14:00two minutes 120 seconds to either succeed or fail and then at approximately 12 30 pm on monday that's
14:117 30 pm in qatar as the sun sets in the west iran attacks as the targets were detected round after round
14:22of patriot missiles are ejected from their canisters by an initial launch charge then the main solid rocket
14:30motor ignites you can feel this in your body if you've ever been around a patriot taking a shot
14:36and round after round goes out and guides against those missiles coming inbound we believe that this
14:42is the largest single patriot engagement in u.s military history and we were enjoy we were joined in this
14:50engagement by the qatari patriot crews i'm not going to tell you how many rounds were shot but it was a
14:57bunch because of classified purposes and we're aware that something there's reports of something
15:03getting through what we do know is there was a lot of metal flying around between attacking missiles
15:10being hit by patriots boosters from attacking missiles being hit by patriots the patriots themselves
15:17flying around and the debris from those patriots hitting the ground there was a lot of metal flying
15:22around and yet our u.s air defenders had only seconds to make complex decisions with strategic impact
15:30these awesome humans along with their qatari brothers and sisters in arms stood between a salvo
15:37of iranian missiles and the safety of value deed they are the unsung heroes of the 21st century united
15:45states army and i know a lot of you have seen the videos online and the excitement as those patriots
15:51departed their launchers and went up and guided this really demonstrates the combat capability and
15:59capacity of our army air defenders simply stated they absolutely crushed it if you'd flip this over
16:08thanks let me let me next move to a walk through of the gbu 57 massive ordinance penetrator weapon
16:19and share a little bit about the planners who did this and their work on the weapon first let me set the
16:25stage for you there's an organization in the u.s called the defense threat reduction agency ditra
16:34ditra does a lot of things for our nation but ditra is the world's leading expert on deeply buried
16:42underground targets in 2009 a defense threat reduction agency officer was brought into a
16:50vault at an undisclosed location and briefed on something going on in iran for security purposes i'm
16:57not going to share his name he was shown some photos and some highly classified intelligence of
17:03what looked like a major construction project in the mountains of iran he was tasked to study this
17:09facility work with the intelligence community to understand it and he was soon joined by an
17:15additional teammate for more than 15 years this officer and his teammate lived and breathed this
17:23single target for dough a critical element of iran's covert nuclear weapons program he studied the
17:30geology he watched the iranians dig it out he watched the construction the weather the discard
17:36material the geology the construction materials where the materials came from he looked at the vent
17:42shaft the exhaust shaft the electrical systems the environmental control systems every nook every
17:48crater every piece of equipment going in and every piece of equipment going out they literally dreamed
17:56about this target at night when they slept they thought about it driving back and forth to work
18:02and they knew from the very first days what this was for you do not build a multi-layered underground
18:10bunker complex with centrifuges and other equipment in a mountain for any peaceful purpose they weren't
18:18able to discuss this with their family their wives their kids their friends but they just kept grinding
18:24it out and along the way they realized we did not have a weapon that could adequately strike
18:30and kill this target so they began a journey to work with industry and other tacticians to develop the gbu 57
18:39they tested it over and over again tried different options tried more after that they accomplished
18:46hundreds of test shots and dropped many full-scale weapons against extremely realistic targets for a single
18:55purpose kill this target at the time and place of our nation's choosing and then on a day in june of
19:042025 more than 15 years after they started their life's work the phone rang and the president united states ordered
19:11the b2 force that you've supported to go strike and kill this target yesterday i had the incredible honor and
19:19privilege of spending time with these two defense threat reduction agency officers who've given so
19:25much one of them said quote i can't even get my head around this my heart is so filled with the pride of
19:33being a part of this team i am so honored to be a part of this to you both thank you and thank you to your
19:41families operation midnight hammer was the culmination of those 15 years of incredible work the air crews the
19:48tanker crews the weapons crews that built the weapons the load crews that loaded it before i run through
19:54this video today i want to talk a little bit about weapon earing and what goes into into an attack
20:01weapon earing is the science of evaluating a target i mentioned all of those factors before that these
20:07two ditcher officers had thought about ultimately weapon earing is determining the right weapon and fuse
20:14combination to achieve the desired effects and maximum destruction against a target in the case of
20:21four doe the ditcher team understood with a high degree of confidence the elements of the target required
20:29to kill its functions and the weapons were designed planned and delivered to ensure that they achieve the
20:36the effects in the mission space by the way in the beginning of its development we had so many phds
20:45working on the mop program doing modeling and simulation that we were quietly and in a secret way the biggest
20:53users of supercomputer hours within the united states of america so let me talk about let me talk about the
21:02graphic uh a little bit in the gbu 57 which all of you i know know is a 30 30 000 pound weapon uh dropped only by the b2
21:12it's comprised of steel explosive and a fuse programmed uh bespokely each weapon to achieve a particular effect
21:23inside the target each weapon had a unique desired impact angle arrival final heading uh and a fuse setting
21:32the fuse is effectively what tells the bomb when to function a longer delay in a fuse the deeper the
21:40weapon will penetrate and drive into the target so on fordo um in june of 2008 you can see uh these three
21:51holes depicted here is the main exhaust shaft with two additional ventilation shafts on either side
21:58the united states decided to strike these two ventilation shafts seen here on the main graphic
22:04as the primary point of entry into the mission space in the days preceding the attack against fordo
22:12the iranians attempted to cover the shafts with concrete uh to try to prevent uh an attack
22:19i won't share the specific dimensions of the concrete cap but you should know that we know what the
22:26dimensions of those concrete caps were the planners had to account for this they accounted for everything
22:34the cap was forcibly removed by the first weapon and the main shaft was uncovered weapons two three
22:44four five were tasked to enter the main shaft move down into the complex at greater than 1 000 feet per
22:53second and explode in the mission space weapon number six was designed on each side so there were six on
23:02each side weapons number six was designed as a flex weapon to allow us to cover if one of the preceding jets
23:09or one of the preceding weapons uh did not work the video i'm about to show you is a culmination of
23:18over 15 years of development and testing as i said hundreds of test shots on various models um this is one
23:27weapon so if you take a view of this is uh five additionals you'll you'll get a sense of uh of what this
23:34of what this looks like um hopefully you can see it and there's not too too much reflection uh tom runs
23:41our videos out there we'll run it at at full speed so you can see it and then go back through it go ahead
23:46here we'll run it at the top
24:16Keep it going for a minute.
24:19You'll see inside the mission space.
24:31Unlike a normal surface bomb, you won't see an impact crater because they're designed to deeply bury and then function.
24:39I know there's been a lot of questions about that.
24:41All six weapons at each vent at Fordow went exactly where they were intended to go.
24:50A bomb has three effects that causes damage, blast, fragmentation, and overpressure.
24:57In this case, the primary kill mechanism in the mission space was a mix of overpressure and blast, ripping through the open tunnels and destroying critical hardware.
25:07The majority of the damage we assessed based on our extensive modeling was a blast layer combined with the impulse extending from the shock.
25:18Imagine what this looks like six times over.
25:21A point that I want to make here, the joint force does not do BDA.
25:27By design, we don't grade our own homework.
25:30The intelligence community does.
25:32But here's what we know following the attacks and the strikes on Fordow.
25:36First, that the weapons were built, tested, and loaded properly.
25:42Two, the weapons were released on speed and on parameters.
25:47Three, the weapons all guided to their intended targets and to their intended aim points.
25:53Four, the weapons functioned as designed, meaning they exploded.
25:57We know this through other means, intelligence means that we have, that we're visibly, we're visibly able to see them.
26:07And we know that the trailing jets saw the first weapons function and the pilots stated, quote,
26:13this was the brightest explosion that I've ever seen.
26:17It literally looked like daylight.
26:19Let me now turn to the bomber crews themselves, give you a few details about them.
26:24The crews that attacked Fordow were from the active duty Air Force and the Missouri Air National Guard.
26:30The crews ranked from captain to colonel, and most were graduates of the Air Force Weapons School headquartered at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.
26:40I will state for the record that there is no beach volleyball or football at the Air Force Weapons School.
26:48They were male and female aviators on this mission, and a crew member told me when I talked to them on video the other day that this felt like the Super Bowl,
26:58the thousands of scientists, airmen, and maintainers all coming together.
27:03One last story about people.
27:05When the crews went to work on Friday, they kissed their loved ones goodbye, not knowing when or if they'd be home.
27:13Late on Saturday night, their families became aware of what was happening.
27:19And on Sunday, when those jets returned from Whiteman, their families were there.
27:25Flags flying and tears flowing.
27:27I have chills literally talking about this.
27:30The jets rejoined into a formation of four airplanes followed by a formation of three and came up overhead Whiteman,
27:38proudly in the traffic pattern, pitching out to land right over the base,
27:43and landing to the incredible cheers of their families who sacrifice and serve right alongside their family members.
27:52Like I said, there were a lot of flags and a lot of tears.
27:55One commander told me this is a moment in the lives of our families that they will never forget.
28:02That, my friends, is what America's Joint Force does.
28:05As we think, we develop, we train, we rehearse, we test, we evaluate every single day.
28:12And when the call comes to deliver, we do so.
28:15I could not be more proud standing up here today of our Joint Force.
28:20I'm filled with gratitude that I get to tell their story.
28:23And as we stand here right now, our forces remain on a high state of readiness in the region, prepared to defend themselves.
28:31And one last thing, our adversaries around the world should know that there are other DITRA team members out there studying targets for the same amount of time and will continue to do so.
28:48Thank you very much.
28:48I apologize for the length.
28:50I look forward to your questions.
28:51Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
28:52I would just thank you, by the way, for that extensive work, the lay down.
28:57I mean, even, do you have that laser pointer?
28:59Yes, sir.
29:01Squaring me away as always.
29:03I mean, even in just the public reporting, if you see the post-strike shaft of the three holes, the vast majority, and fairly so,
29:11the vast majority of speculation has been those are the three strike points, when in actuality, what you realize is these are the vents, these are the caps.
29:19The first munition took the cap off, and the other five went down the center hole, which, if you're planning the target, you would want it to be the direct one going to the bottom.
29:29These are the types of things that go into the planning for a strike that we wouldn't – the Pentagon would not expect the press corps or the American people to initially understand.
29:40So laying this information out is helpful.
29:43But it's also why we ask for a beat, for a moment, for a day or two, the opportunity to tell that story, because, as the chairman said, these men and women that did this mission, they just want to do their job.
29:55They're not expecting their story to be told.
29:57They're not expecting the glory.
29:59They are grateful for the flags and the hugs of family.
30:01That's why they do the job.
30:04But they also know they were a part of something historic.
30:07We know how historic it was.
30:09The chairman does.
30:10I know.
30:10Our staffs know.
30:12And so that's why we are – and the president of the United States knows.
30:17And that's why it's almost personal when we see the way in which leaks are used to try to disparage the outcome or muddy the waters about the impact of what happened without being responsible with information and allowing the professionals to assess and provide that information just like the chairman did.
30:36So thank you, Mr. Chairman, for that information.
30:38Sure.
30:38And we welcome a few additional questions.
30:41Yes, sir.
30:41General, on Sunday you said final battle damage will take some time.
30:47And you also said, I think BDA is still pending.
30:50And it would be way too early for me to comment on what may or may not still be there, that nuclear facility.
30:57That was just over three days ago.
30:59So what has changed?
31:01Would you use the term obliterated as well?
31:04Sir, like I said, we don't do BDA.
31:05I'll refer that to the intelligence community.
31:08And –
31:09When you're talking with them, I mean, what changed in the past three days and make you – so, you know –
31:13Sir, I think I –
31:14I mean, I think I explained what changed.
31:17There was a great deal of irresponsible reporting based on leaks, preliminary information in low confidence.
31:24Again, when someone leaks something, they do it with an agenda.
31:28And when you leak a portion of an intelligence assessment, but just a little portion, just a little portion that makes it seem like maybe the strike wasn't effective, then you start a news cycle.
31:39Whether it's The Washington Post or Fox News or CNN or MSNBC, you start a news cycle that starts to call into question the ethics – that's why.
31:48So you bring the chairman here who's not involved in politics.
31:51He didn't do politics.
31:52That's my lane to understand and translate and talk about those types of things.
31:56So I can use the word obliterated.
31:57He could use defeat, destroy, assess, all of those things.
32:00But ultimately, we're here to clarify what these weapons are capable of, which anyone with, you know, two eyes, some ears and a brain can recognize that kind of firepower with that specificity at that location and others is going to have a devastating effect.
32:15So we all recognize there will be days and weeks ahead.
32:18That's why yesterday I said if you want to know what's going on at Fordow, you better go there and get a big shovel because no one's under there right now.
32:25No one's under there able to assess, and everyone's using reflections of what they see.
32:29And that's why the Israelis, the Iranians, the IAEA, the U.N., to a man and to a woman who recognize the capability of this weapon system are acknowledging how destructive it's been.
32:38So that's what's – that's what's changed.
32:40What's happened at just three or four days later?
32:43What changed?
32:43See, this is a point.
32:46This is how difficult it is to actually manage.
32:49You just watched a video of what this weapon is capable of.
32:53That's where we find our confidence is in the skill of men and women and the capability of the systems they employed and the recognition so far and the reflections that it was a highly successful mission.
33:02Sure, I think you could – I'd say go out – the IC should be able to help you answer that question.
33:08They look at a variety, as the Secretary has alluded to, we look at a variety of things.
33:12I don't do that.
33:13They do all different sources of intel, which I'd refer you to them to get clarity on the –
33:22So, again, I go back to the IC, whether it's Director Radcliffe or Odi and I, Gabbard, I read the statements at the beginning.
33:27They're the ones aggregating the intelligence, and they're saying nuclear facilities were destroyed and would have to be rebuilt over a number of years.
33:34Facilities were destroyed.
33:37What do we got right here?
33:39Sir, you cited a body of credible intelligence to suggest the damage at Fort O and other places.
33:47What is that referring to and when can we say it?
33:48I was reading from the CIA Director's statement, which came out last night.
33:52CIA – again, they do the BDA.
33:55They do the assessment.
33:57CIA can confirm that a body of credible intelligence indicates – it also goes on to say –
34:01new intelligence from historically reliable and accurate sources and methods.
34:05Now, you can imagine –
34:07What is that?
34:07You can imagine the CIA Director is going to be very careful about how he articulates things of that sensitivity.
34:13Classified, secret, top secret, compartmentalized.
34:16He's going to know things that you're not going to know, that the press isn't going to know.
34:20And he's reflecting that the sources he's seeing are highly credible.
34:25They've given credible intelligence.
34:28They or those processes have given credible intelligence in the past.
34:31And that's what he's basing it on.
34:32Don't you think we need to see that?
34:34Do you have a top secret clearance, sir?
34:36Eventually, the American public wants to see it.
34:39Yes, sir.
34:40Yes.
34:41Yeah, you.
34:42I wanted to ask briefly just –
34:44No, not you.
34:45Checkered shirt.
34:46Oh, so Mike Glenn with the Washington Times.
34:48Yes, sir.
34:48Thanks, sir.
34:49Anybody who's ever read a Battalion S-2 report after a fight knows that it's usually – the initial report is usually wrong, sometimes grossly so.
34:58So has this – has what happened in a sense caused you all to sort of rethink the intelligence process or the dissemination?
35:07Or do you think it's just – I mean, it's a process itself.
35:10It doesn't require any more adjustment.
35:12Well, I can tell you what the chairman told me in the Situation Room and reminded us all, which is alongside what you just said, sir, is that the first reports are almost always wrong.
35:23They're almost always incomplete, right?
35:25Anything, whether it's a squad-level operation or a strategic-level operation, the initial reflections you get are coming at you at a high rate of speed from a lot of different sources.
35:36So your job is to step back and assess them.
35:38And that's why we're urging caution about putting it – premising entire stories on biased leaks to biased publications trying to make something look – how about we take a beat, recognize first the success of our warriors, hold them up, tell their stories, celebrate that, wave an American flag, be proud of what we accomplished.
35:59And in the meantime, I can assure you, the chairman and his staff, the intelligence community, our staff, and others are doing all the assessments necessary to make sure that mission was indeed successful.
36:10Yes, right there.
36:12Sir, thank you, Mr. Secretary.
36:13Iran has recognized that their nuclear program was indeed severely damaged, but they also said that the U.S. strikes only strengthened their ability and their determination to complete their nuclear program.
36:26How do you respond to that, sir? Is that a provocation from Iran?
36:30Well, I would say Iran's going to have to say a lot of things right now in order to bolster their image, especially internally.
36:39You know, in the media, there's a lot of things they'll say for domestic consumption.
36:43But we're watching very closely what they do.
36:45Again, that's the intel community.
36:47Our job as the chairman – I mean, the chairman laid it out so beautifully.
36:50Our job is to be prepared.
36:51And how proud are you?
36:52How proud am I?
36:53I didn't know the full story of those men and women 15 years ago who've been pointing at that target.
36:59That makes me proud to be an American.
37:00That's an awesome story.
37:01I hope we can tell more aspects of that in an unclassified way in the future.
37:06That's a great thing to know.
37:07Our job is to be prepared when the commander-in-chief calls based on those assessments.
37:12So, of course, our IC, the Intelligence Committee, will keep watching what Iran does and pay attention to that.
37:18But the president has created the contours, the opportunity for a deal, for peace,
37:23in something that the world said was intractable, that wasn't possible.
37:26And we got that peace, that ceasefire, that option, because of strength,
37:32because of his willingness to use American military might that no one else on the planet can do
37:36with the kind of planners and operators that the chairman just laid out.
37:40Yes, sir.
37:41Right there.
37:42Yep.
37:42Yes, sir.
37:43Just a quick question.
37:45There's public imagery available saying that highly enriched uranium was moved out of Fordo before the strikes.
37:52Is that accurate?
37:52Have you seen that?
37:54And, Mr. Chairman, a question for you.
37:56Have you been pressured to change your assessment or give a more rosy intelligence assessment to us
38:03by any political factors, whether it's the president or the secretary?
38:06And if you were, would you do that?
38:09Yeah.
38:09Well, that one's easy.
38:10No.
38:11No, I have not, and no, I would not.
38:14My job as the chairman is to offer a range of options to the president and the national command authority to deliver the risks associated with each of those,
38:25and then take the orders of the national command authority and go execute them.
38:30This, I've never been pressured by the president or the secretary to do anything other than tell them exactly what I'm thinking.
38:38And that's exactly what I've done.
38:39And the highly enriched uranium?
38:41There's nothing that I've seen that suggests that we didn't hit exactly what we wanted to hit in those locations.
38:47That's not the question, though.
38:48It's about highly enriched uranium.
38:51Do you have certainty that all the highly enriched uranium was inside the Fordo mountain, or some of it, because there were satellite photos that showed more than a dozen trucks there two days in advance?
39:03Are you certain none of that highly enriched uranium was moved?
39:06Of course, we're watching every single aspect.
39:08But, Jennifer, you've been about the worst, the one who misrepresents the most intentionally.
39:14What the president says.
39:17I'm familiar.
39:18I was the first to report about the ventilations shafts on Saturday night.
39:22And, in fact, I was the first to describe the B-2 bombers, the refueling, the entire mission with great accuracy.
39:30So I take issue with that.
39:31I appreciate you acknowledging that this was the most successful mission based on operational security that this department has done since you've been here.
39:41And I appreciate that.
39:42So we're looking at all aspects of intelligence and making sure we have a sense of what was where.
39:46So why not acknowledge the female pilots that also participated in this mission?
39:51The early messages that you sent out only congratulated the boys.
39:55So when I say something like our boys and bombers, see, this is the kind of thing the press does, right?
39:59Of course, the chairman mentioned a female bomber pilot.
40:02That's fantastic.
40:03She's fantastic.
40:04She's a hero.
40:05I want more female bomber pilots.
40:06I hope the men and women of our country sign up to do such brave and audacious things.
40:10But when you spin it as because I say our boys and bombers is a common phrase, I'll keep saying things like that, whether they're men or women.
40:17Very proud of that female pilot, just like I'm very proud of those male pilots.
40:21And I don't care if it's a male or a female in that cockpit.
40:25And the American people don't care.
40:26But it's the obsession with race and gender in this department that's changed priorities.
40:33And we don't do that anymore.
40:34We don't play your little games.
40:35Yes, right there.
40:36Do you know for certain that the uranium was removed from the facility before the B-2 struck?
40:40So I'm not aware of any intelligence that I've reviewed that says things were not where they were supposed to be, moved or otherwise.
40:47Mr. Secretary, Kelly Meyer with News Nation.
40:49And just off the top, I want to say we're grateful for the service of these pilots and everybody that serves.
40:55I wanted to ask you, the CIA statement said, when possible, they will provide updates and information to the public for transparency.
41:01And I believe that's what we're looking for here.
41:04Do you commit to share the Defense Intelligence Agency report when it is ready so the American people can understand more about the intelligence assessment?
41:13Well, actually, the report that was discussed, this preliminary report, was what's called a re-strike report.
41:19So it comes to us to give us an assessment whether a target would need to be re-struck, right?
41:23That's the reason why.
41:23So it's based on internal feedback loop that we're supposed to have access to.
41:28Unfortunately, someone took advantage of that.
41:29But whatever is supposed to be made public will be.
41:32But whatever has to stay sensitive.
41:33Sir, can I just jump in?
41:35You know, one of the things that I'm trying to do through this journey that we're on together, of course, transparency,
41:40but also the requirement to really protect these capabilities.
41:45I guess the time's up.
41:48But so there's a balance in there, right?
41:51We do need to preserve options should the nation and the joint force be tasked to go do something again.
41:57So I'm confident we'll find the middle ground.
42:00But there are some things that if asked, I want to not release related to this.
42:06So we're going to leave it right there.
42:07I want to thank the heroism of our men and women in the military.
42:10What they accomplished is truly historic.
42:12Setting back the Iranian nuclear program untold number of years.
42:16It was a devastating attack.
42:17We appreciate you covering it.
42:18Thank you very much.