Chris Murphy Presses Pete Hegseth In Explosive Senate Clash Over Iran — WORLD NEWS — US NEWS

[0:00] for being here today. Secretary Hegseth, the American people either didn't want this war from [0:05] the start or were deeply skeptical of this war because they have seen this country make the same [0:11] mistake over and over again in wars in the Middle East, and that is to create either unrealistic or [0:18] open-ended objectives. You said in March that the United States was, quote, on plan to defeat, [0:24] destroy, and disable all of Iran's meaningful military capabilities at a pace that the world [0:31] has never seen before. Obviously, as we've discussed here today, that objective has not been achieved and [0:39] is not going to be achieved. Iran is adept, more adept than even at the start of the war, at hiding [0:47] their capabilities or repairing after damage we have done. There's an open report that when it [0:55] comes to their missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz, 30 of 33 are still operational. I wouldn't [1:01] believe all the open reports, Senator. But I've also heard you say in this hearing that the objectives [1:07] now seem to be more limited than they were at the outset of the war, that this is about reopening [1:14] the Strait and this is about dismantling their nuclear capability. And the President, of course, [1:19] has said himself that he thinks Iran has a right to a missile program. So my question is pretty simple. [1:27] Is it correct that it is no longer a war objective to destroy all of their military capacities? This is [1:35] what the President has said. Have our goals been simplified to reopening the Strait and to getting [1:42] into a negotiation over a nuclear program. Now, I don't think you have a realistic plan to do either [1:47] of those things. But I think it's important for us to know what we're funding. Are the objectives [1:52] much more limited today than they were when you made that statement in March? [1:55] So I think the objectives have been consistent and clear from the beginning. And I would compare, [2:01] I would contrast it to North Korea, where a conventional buildup was used to hide a nuclear capability [2:06] that eventually evolved to a point where it couldn't be contested. [2:09] And what Iran continued to do, even after Midnight Hammer, was trying to build that conventional [2:13] capability to dare anyone to stop them from pursuing nuclear weapons. So getting after their [2:18] conventional capabilities, missile launchers, defense industrial base, their Navy, was all part [2:23] of ensuring they can't blackmail us into pursuing a nuclear capability. Laser focused on Iran will never [2:30] have a nuclear capability. That's the promise the President has made and that he will keep in every way. [2:34] I think it's important. It is still a war objective, either through military action or through a [2:40] diplomatic agreement, to destroy and disable all of Iran's meaningful military capacities, [2:48] including their missile program. [2:49] As far as all, when we talked about that from the podium at the outset of this, we were talking [2:54] about their defense industrial base. And if you look at the metrics of their ability to make [2:58] more, that it's been overwhelmingly destroyed. Not everything, but overwhelmingly. Now, do they have [3:05] missiles in underground bunkers because they're a terror state? Sure they do, and we've acknowledged [3:09] that from the beginning. But their capacity is less today than it's ever been as a nation. [3:14] Obviously, they obviously have significant capacity to effectively disrupt the entirety of the [3:19] Middle East and oil flows out of the Middle East, and that's not going to change. Let me ask you one more [3:24] question. This is a request for supplemental funding because you don't have the funding in your base [3:29] budget to do what you need to do, which makes questions about the base budget relevant. There's been a lot of [3:35] attention, Mr. Secretary, on the modernization of a luxury jet that was gifted to the President by the [3:40] government of Qatar. Reports suggest that maybe as much as $1 billion in your base funding, an [3:45] extraordinary amount of money has been used for an upgrade, and the plane is back in the shop for a [3:50] second upgrade. As far as I can tell, never before has an administration not made public the amount of [3:56] money for an upgrade or a construction contract on a presidential airplane. Obviously, we don't need or [4:02] want to disclose the details of that upgrade, but never before have you withheld from Congress and the [4:08] public the total amount of money. I think there are two really important questions here. One, will you [4:14] make public the amount of money that you are spending to upgrade this plane? And two, can you commit to [4:21] this Congress and this committee that the President isn't going to take this plane with him when he leaves [4:27] office? The only thing more insulting to the taxpayers of spending money on a jet they don't need would be for [4:33] the President to take it with him, to take it out of our military inventory when he leaves office. [4:39] Those things, but I think it's important for us to know what we're funding. Are the objectives much more limited today [4:45] than they were when you made that statement in March? [4:47] So, I think the objectives have been consistent and clear from the beginning. And I would contrast it to North Korea, [4:54] where a conventional buildup was used to hide a nuclear capability that eventually evolved to a point where it couldn't be contested. [5:00] And what Iran continued to do, even after Midnight Hammer, was trying to build that conventional capability to dare anyone to stop them from pursuing nuclear weapons. [5:08] So, getting after their conventional capabilities, missile launchers, defense industrial base, their Navy, was all part of ensuring they can't blackmail us into pursuing a nuclear capability. [5:19] Laser focused on Iran will never have a nuclear capability. That's the promise the President has made and that he will keep in every way. [5:25] I think it's important. It is still a war objective, either through military action or through a diplomatic agreement, to destroy and disable all of Iran's meaningful military capacities, including their missile program. [5:40] As far as all, when we talked about that from the podium at the outset of this, we were talking about their defense industrial base. [5:47] And if you look at the metrics of their ability to make more, that it's been overwhelmingly destroyed. [5:54] Not everything, but overwhelmingly. Now, do they have missiles in underground bunkers because they're a terror state? [6:00] Sure they do, and we've acknowledged that from the beginning. But their capacity is less today than it's ever been as a nation. [6:05] They obviously have significant capacity to effectively disrupt the entirety of the Middle East and oil flows out of the Middle East, and that's not going to change. [6:14] Let me ask you one more question. This is a request for supplemental funding because you don't have the funding in your base budget to do what you need to do, which makes questions about the base budget relevant. [6:25] There's been a lot of attention, Mr. Secretary, on the modernization of a luxury jet that was gifted to the president by the government of Qatar. [6:32] Reports suggest that maybe as much as $1 billion in your base funding, an extraordinary amount of money, has been used for an upgrade, and the plane is back in the shop for a second upgrade. [6:43] As far as I can tell, never before has an administration not made public the amount of money for an upgrade or a construction contract on a presidential airplane. [6:52] Obviously, we don't need or want to disclose the details of that upgrade, but never before have you withheld from Congress and the public the total amount of money. [7:02] I think there are two really important questions here. One, will you make public the amount of money that you are spending to upgrade this plane? [7:10] And two, can you commit to this Congress and this committee that the president isn't going to take this plane with him when he leaves office? [7:19] The only thing more insulting to the taxpayers of spending money on a jet they don't need would be for the president to take it with him, to take it out of our military inventory when he leaves office. [7:30] See, the Air Force has done an incredible job making that a capable jet that ultimately, but its capabilities and investment are classified and shouldn't be talked about. [7:42] That's not what I'm asking, will you make the amount of money, will you disclose the amount of money publicly? [7:47] I would imagine, as part of the regular budget process, that's something that we would look at. [7:53] And will you commit that the president will not take this jet? [7:55] But you have to look at the classification level of certain things that are not devolved for reasons of natural security. [8:00] Will you commit that the president will not take this jet with him out of federal inventory when he leaves office? [8:06] That's not a decision for necessarily me to make. [8:09] And ultimately, we're grateful to have it in the fleet with the Air Force to protect the president of the United States. [8:13] That's a deeply unsatisfactory answer to the American public. [8:16] Senator Peters.