key moments from Pete Hegseth's testimony about Pentagon funding, Iran

[0:00] We all just heard pretty powerful reporting, courtesy of Mr. Ryan, from many of our wounded [0:06] troops who were injured in the attack in Kuwait. [0:10] Mr. Secretary, you heard direct quotes from some of them via CBS's reporting. [0:15] They were willing to talk to the press. [0:17] Things like they were unprepared providing defense for themselves in the unit. [0:21] Things like we were moved closer to Iran to a deeply unsafe area that was a known target. [0:27] Your spokesperson, Sean Parnell, in response to that reporting, said it was not true. [0:35] Do you agree with that? [0:36] He's calling these guys liars? [0:39] I'm not calling our troops liars, and I don't know if what you're representing is correct [0:43] or not. [0:43] I'll take you at your word on that. [0:45] But all I know is that we took every effort possible at the commencement of this campaign [0:49] to ensure the defense of our troops, to include moving them off of known bases to places that [0:55] were not known, and we had intel were not known, and then those were fortified with [1:00] bunkers and other fortifications with theater air defenses. [1:03] Was our concern that something could be true? [1:04] I'm going to pause you there. [1:05] I'm going to give you a chance. [1:06] I'm going to give you a chance. [1:07] You're disparaging me that I don't care. [1:09] I'm asking you whether you think they're liars or not. [1:11] That's what I asked you. [1:11] You and you are disparaging me that I don't care about the passing of our troops. [1:14] Nope. [1:14] I asked if you thought they're liars, Terry. [1:16] That's disparaging and smearing in every way. [1:19] Nobody cares more about the fate of our troops. [1:21] Nobody cares about the health of our troops. [1:23] Mr. Secretary. [1:23] Nobody wants to bring them all hope more than I do. [1:25] I understand, but he controls the time. [1:28] He controls the time. [1:30] You get to control your answer. [1:32] And the gentleman's ready. [1:33] If we're allowed to answer. [1:34] Mr. Chairman, thank you. [1:35] Secretary, my question was clear whether you thought they were liars or not. [1:38] You don't seem to want to answer it. [1:40] We can move on. [1:41] The other part of what your spokesman said, and you just reiterated here, was that, and [1:45] I'm quoting your spokesman, every possible measure has been taken to safeguard our troops. [1:50] End quote. [1:51] You're mean to tell us, and I'll give you a chance to clarify, there is not a single [1:55] additional thing you could have done to protect those troops who are now wounded, six of whom [1:58] are dead. [1:59] I'm telling you that as a department, we did every conceivable thing at my level and every [2:05] echelon down to ensure the maximum force protection for our troops. [2:09] We live in a dangerous world and a dangerous place against a determined enemy that can't have [2:14] a nuclear weapon, and that requires sacrifice and risk. [2:17] And tragically, in this case, it meant six Americans lost their lives and others were [2:21] wounded. [2:22] And we all know that. [2:23] And that's part of the cost. [2:25] But it does not mean we didn't care. [2:27] It doesn't mean we didn't commit. [2:28] I didn't ask you that. [2:29] It doesn't mean we didn't do everything possible, which we did. [2:32] But let's be clear about what was done. [2:33] There were T-walls there, essentially. [2:35] There was no overhead protection. [2:36] The known threat in that environment, and I think we all here understand it, is overhead [2:40] drone strike. [2:41] There was no protection for overhead drone strike. [2:43] So I'm struggling to understand how your answer and your spokesman's answer is that [2:48] every possible measure was taken. [2:50] We can move on. [2:51] Mr. Chairman and Chairman Cain, I want to ask you something about a different topic. [2:55] Folks at home know you're the senior military officer in our armed services. [2:59] They may not have as much of an understanding of your role in the chain of command. [3:02] You're outside the operational chain of command. [3:03] But you are the president's and the secretary's senior military advisor. [3:08] So I want to ask a very basic thing, what you would expect our commanders in the field, [3:14] our troops to do, should the enemy lay down their weapons and try to surrender. [3:19] What would you expect commanders in the field to do? [3:23] Well, sir, I think I'll go back to something I said earlier with deep respect for your question. [3:29] But I think you're trying to take me to a partisan place here, and I can't let you do that. [3:36] General, as always, I respect your desire to avoid it. [3:39] I'm not trying to put you in a partisan place. [3:40] No, no, and I know that. [3:41] But, you know, our officers and enlisted service members always follow lawful orders. [3:47] There's a checklist for them to do that. [3:50] And I just – I'll stay in the middle. [3:54] Very good. [3:54] Understood, General. [3:55] Secretary, let me give you a chance. [3:56] And you've been asked about this earlier. [3:58] You said in, I think, your press conference, essentially, and I'll quote you here, [4:02] no quarter, no mercy for our enemies. [4:05] That's the end of the quote. [4:06] Is your guidance that you expect our troops in harm's way if there's a foreign enemy surrendering, [4:13] laying down their arms they're supposed to provide no quarter and kill them? [4:18] You denied it, but you were indeed trying to take the chairman to a partisan place. [4:23] That was General Milley. [4:24] That was the previous administration, which played politics. [4:26] We don't play that way. [4:27] It's a simple question. [4:28] I'm asking what you meant. [4:29] We fight to win, and we ensure the rules of engagements are such that our troops have every authority possible. [4:34] I'll give you another chance. [4:36] In saying that, are you trying to tell commanders that that's what you expect? [4:39] You're in the chain of command. [4:42] It's a simple question. [4:42] I understand that. [4:43] My commanders know exactly what the guidance is with each and every mission, and they know every tool – [4:47] Secretary, in refusing to answer it, I think you speak volumes. [4:50] I think that's a dangerous thing. [4:51] We all know the expectations. [4:53] We know the law of war. [4:54] We know what is lawful. [4:56] I'd expect our commanders to understand that as well. [4:58] I yield back, Mr. Chairman. [4:59] Goodman yields back. [5:00] You're not recognized. [5:02] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. [5:02] Head wounds, heavy bleeding, and then just shrapnel all over. [5:09] So folks are bleeding from their abdomen, bleeding from arms, bleeding from legs. [5:15] Secretary Hegseth, do you know who said that? [5:20] I'm not sure I do. [5:21] It was one of our soldiers describing the devastating Iranian drone strike at Port Shweba, March 1st, in Kuwait. [5:28] As you know, six of our soldiers killed, over 30 wounded. [5:34] Secretary, do you know the range of the Shahed 136 one-way attack drone? [5:38] Approximately? [5:39] It depends on the variant, but it's got serious distance. [5:42] Several hundred miles. [5:43] Do you know how far Port Shweba is from Iran? [5:47] There's a reason why we took extreme measures of force protection, because we understood the proximity challenges. [5:54] Mr. Chairman, I'm going to reclaim my time. [5:56] It's well under 100 miles. [5:57] Before the war started, there was clear intelligence that Shweba was high on Iran's target list. [6:04] Internal analysis had said the site was indefensible from aerial attack and should not be used. [6:09] Yet you sent our soldiers from the 103rd Sustainment Command there anyway. [6:15] Is that true or false? [6:17] True or false? [6:18] Straightforward question. [6:19] Are you going to give me a chance to answer or just play gotcha? [6:22] Did you send them there or not? [6:23] I always – we took proactive measures from the beginning to ensure force protection and defensive posture were maximized across the theater. [6:33] Let's talk about what defenses they had. [6:36] Prior to the attack, officers on the ground knew our troops were vulnerable. [6:39] In fact, they requested additional force protection. [6:42] Did they receive it? [6:43] Wherever humanly possible, force protection and counter-UAS was always made available. [6:49] They did not. [6:51] In fact, when asked to describe the base's defense, one survivor who's come forward from the unit said, quote, [6:59] I mean, I would put it in the none category. [7:02] From a drone defense capability, none. [7:07] So let's be clear. [7:08] No counter-drone capabilities. [7:09] No counter-rocket systems. [7:11] No counter-mortar or counter-artillery. [7:13] Not even the basic overhead protection that you and I had 20 years ago in Iraq. [7:19] And now, six of our soldiers are dead. [7:25] The next day, you downplayed the attack. [7:29] You said it was a squirter that squeaked through fortified defenses. [7:35] But since then, thankfully, brave survivors have come forward to set the record straight. [7:40] One of our surviving soldiers told CBS, quote, painting a picture that one squeaked through is a falsehood. [7:54] Another said the unit was, quote, unprepared to provide any defense for itself. [8:00] It was not a fortified position. [8:03] Another survivor said the building's protection was about as weak as one gets. [8:08] Secretary Hegseth, that is obviously in direct contradiction to what you said from the Pentagon podium the next day. [8:16] So are you saying that these soldiers, our soldiers, who survived this horrific attack are lying? [8:25] What I'm saying is before the commencement of the conflict, we put in maximum defensive posture. [8:31] We could. [8:32] That's a direct contradiction to what they said. [8:33] In this directing, can I speak or are you just going to monologue falsehoods all over the place? [8:39] It's not a falsehood. [8:39] We moved 7,500 troops off of the X based on the intel. [8:43] Stop. [8:43] Based on the intel. [8:44] Stop. [8:45] Reclaiming my time. [8:46] Because you yell doesn't make you right. [8:49] Just because you yell doesn't make you right. [8:50] I'm reclaiming my time on behalf of these survivors. [8:53] You just said what they said is a falsehood. [8:56] There's a much larger picture. [8:57] There's a much larger picture at play here that included integrated air defenses, bunkers, moving people off the X to ensure that they were not part of the target. [9:05] We moved those troops and all across the theater, thousands of troops off the X, off of their bases, [9:11] because we knew what Iran was going to try to strike. [9:13] We knew there was a tragic moment. [9:15] There could be a tragic moment where something could get through. [9:18] Of course, that's the consequence of conflict. [9:20] And we remember those six every single day. [9:22] But don't play games with raising your voice and pointing fingers. [9:24] I'm not playing games. [9:24] And I want to finish with one more quote from a survivor of the attack. [9:28] And I put this on the record. [9:30] Telling the truth is important. [9:33] And we're not going to learn from these mistakes if we pretend these mistakes didn't happen. [9:39] Secretary Huxoff, those soldiers told the truth. [9:43] Those soldiers are braver than you are. [9:45] I commend those soldiers. [9:46] They are asking for accountability. [9:48] They deserve accountability. [9:49] And I'm asking for the same, starting with you. [9:52] And as I said a year ago, you need to resign immediately. [9:55] I commend those soldiers. [9:56] And I yield back. [9:57] Thank you. [9:58] Mr. Hurst, I'll drag you into the conversation here. [10:00] We have not yet received from the Pentagon the costs of the war. [10:05] So just for the record, we'd like to get that as soon as possible. [10:09] Certainly, the munitions expended. [10:11] But also underreported is we've had a fair amount of equipment destroyed, [10:15] including two C-130s with the rescue of our downed airmen. [10:19] So do you have either A, a cost estimate coming to us anytime soon, [10:24] or B, a specific supplemental request? [10:28] Thank you for that question. [10:30] So approximately at this day, [10:32] we're spending about $25 billion on Operation Epic Fury. [10:36] Most of that is munitions. [10:37] There's part of that is obviously O&M and equipment replacement. [10:40] We will formulate a supplemental through the White House [10:42] that will come to Congress once we have a full assessment [10:45] of the cost of the conflict. [10:46] So you're saying the full cost at this point is $25 billion? [10:49] Yeah, that's our estimate for the cost. [10:51] Okay. [10:52] Interesting, because we – I'm glad you answered that question, [10:54] because we've been asking for a hell of a long time [10:56] and no one's giving us the number. [10:58] So if you could get those details over to us, [11:00] that would be great. [11:02] Thank you, Chairman. [11:02] Mr. Secretary, I want to go in a little bit different direction. [11:06] Timothy Parlatore served as your private attorney, correct? [11:13] Correct. [11:14] And Mr. Parlatore also served as private attorney [11:18] for President Trump's campaign, correct? [11:20] I'm not privy to every professional position that he's held. [11:25] Well, I'll help you out. [11:26] He did. [11:26] And you appointed Mr. Parlatore as your senior advisor, correct? [11:31] He does reserve duty on behalf of the Navy. [11:36] His title is senior advisor. [11:38] You gave him that title, correct? [11:39] And I would count him as very much an advisor of mine. [11:42] Yep. [11:42] He travels with you, correct? [11:45] Tim Parlatore has been a long-term friend. [11:48] He's a great patriot. [11:49] He travels with you. [11:50] That's not what I ask. [11:50] I reclaim my time. [11:51] He travels with you, doesn't he? [11:53] He travels with you, doesn't he? [11:56] Correct? [11:56] There's public Instagram that shows this. [11:58] Just say yes. [11:59] Yes, of course. [12:00] Okay. [12:01] He sits in meetings with you and advises you, doesn't he? [12:06] He sits in some meetings on occasion. [12:08] Yeah, well, he maintains a desk and an office in the Pentagon, does he not? [12:12] I'd have to check. [12:14] You don't know? [12:15] It's a big Pentagon. [12:19] You directly commissioned Mr. Parlatore in the Naval Reserve as a Navy commander in March [12:23] 2025, did you not? [12:25] I was very proud to do so. [12:27] And when you did, because he's a Navy Reserve officer, he didn't have to go through the PPO [12:32] process, the White House Presidential Personnel Office, right? [12:35] He wasn't vetted by a White House PPO. [12:38] Uniformed service members don't get vetted by the PPO. [12:40] The answer is yes. [12:41] He didn't have to be vetted by a White House PPO. [12:43] He didn't go through the Senate confirmation process either, did he? [12:48] The answer is no. [12:50] I don't know what you're getting to, but Tim is a fantastic man. [12:52] I'll tell you what I'm getting to. [12:53] The answer is no, right? [12:54] He does great work. [12:55] He didn't maintain a security clearance when you appointed him as special advisor. [13:04] Is that right? [13:06] I'd have to check. [13:07] You don't know? [13:10] I mean, anybody that has access to sensitive material is going to have the appropriate [13:13] clearance. [13:14] Okay. [13:14] So when you appointed him as special advisor, he had a security clearance? [13:19] I don't. [13:19] You're trying to piece together a timeline. [13:21] No, I'm asking a simple question. [13:22] One of your special, most sensitive advisors, did he have a security clearance? [13:25] No, you're playing a gotcha game like you do on TV and everywhere else. [13:28] You're trying to thread together details that are connected about something else. [13:32] Clearly, you're concerned about my line of questioning, aren't you, Mr. Secretary? [13:35] Because you know where it's going, don't you? [13:38] I think you do. [13:41] So does Mr. Parlatore represent foreign governments? [13:44] He has a private law practice, does he not? [13:46] From what I understand of his law practice, he does a lot of great work for service members [13:52] in the military and other. [13:53] He maintains a private law practice. [13:55] Does he represent foreign governments or foreign persons in that private law practice? [13:59] I don't know. [14:00] You don't know. [14:01] Somebody who's sitting in your meetings, a special advisor, you don't know. [14:05] Does he represent any senior officers who are currently under consideration for promotion [14:10] by you or your office? [14:13] The only person that makes determinations about senior officers is me. [14:18] Answer the question. [14:19] Does he represent senior officers who are under consideration for promotion by you? [14:23] No. [14:24] I'm the one that makes decisions about choosing. [14:26] Does he represent them, Mr. Secretary? [14:28] Does he represent them? [14:29] He doesn't represent anyone. [14:30] He's a legal advisor and always has been. [14:32] But he has clients, does he not? [14:33] He's a legal advisor to me on reserve duty and he always has been and he does a fantastic job. [14:38] Is it true that Mr. Parlatore was removed? [14:40] I reclaim my time. [14:41] Is it true that Mr. Parlatore was removed from an investigation by the White House last [14:44] year? [14:46] I don't know what you're referring to, but not that I'm aware of. [14:49] You're not aware of it. [14:51] Was it true that you were also removed from that same investigation? [14:55] The answer is yes. [14:56] No, not that I'm aware of. [14:57] You're not aware of it. [14:58] That's interesting. [15:00] Well, is it true that Mr. Parlatore disparaged President Trump? [15:07] I don't know what you're referring to, but no. [15:09] Is it true that Mr. Parlatore was accused by President Trump and his lawyers of lying? [15:15] What you're accused of is a cute line of questioning that's going nowhere. [15:20] Well, it's going somewhere, which is why you're not answering the question. [15:24] Was it true that he was accused of lying by the President's legal team? [15:30] I'm not familiar to you. [15:31] You'd have to give me the context of that article. [15:33] Well, it's right here. [15:34] You want to look at the statement from President Trump's legal team? [15:35] Anybody can blow up a quote and claim it says something and that's what you're doing [15:39] and a little stunt. [15:39] Secretary Hegseth, what I'm really concerned about is you purport to have unfaltering loyalty [15:44] to President Trump, and yet you are continuously going back. [15:46] Oh, you care a lot about President Trump, don't you? [15:49] This is a cute waste of your five minutes. [15:51] A huge, cute waste of your five minutes that led nowhere. [15:55] You are repeatedly going behind President Trump's back, appointing people who he has accused [16:06] of lying, who the White House has accused of lying. [16:07] The gentleman's time has expired. [16:09] And you are not being honest with President Trump. [16:10] A gentlelady from South Carolina, Ms. Mace. [16:12] Good evening. [16:14] Day 61 of the war with Iran. [16:16] And for the first time, we are hearing about the official cost of the fighting, $25 billion [16:21] and counting, the Pentagon says, and the major questions tonight from members of both parties. [16:26] What has all that money gotten us and are we winning? [16:29] Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth answering under oath today his first testimony since the war began. [16:36] And he said America's biggest adversaries are not overseas, but right there in front of him [16:40] on Capitol Hill. [16:41] Congressional correspondent Caitlin Huey Burns was there and joins us now. [16:45] Caitlin, big day. [16:46] Good evening. [16:47] Good evening to you, Tony. [16:48] Well, under six hours of questioning, Pentagon officials revealed the price tag for the war, [16:54] but no timeline to end it as Secretary Hegseth was grilled on the costs, the munition shortage [17:01] and the shifting justifications for the conflict. [17:04] So, greeted by protesters on Capitol Hill, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth set the tone [17:12] for today's fiery hearing in the opening minutes, calling war critics the enemy. [17:18] The biggest challenge, the biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless, feckless [17:26] and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans. [17:31] Pentagon officials revealed that the war, now in its ninth week, has cost $25 billion. [17:38] Democrats press them on what they have to show for it. [17:41] It's been an astounding military success. [17:43] But are we winning the war? [17:45] Absolutely. [17:46] Okay, so do you call Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz winning? [17:49] The president has got himself in America stuck in the quagmire of another war in the Middle East. [17:54] Don't say, I support the troops on one hand, and then a two-month mission is a quagmire. [17:58] That's a false equivalence. [18:00] Who are you cheering for here? [18:02] Who are you pulling for? [18:02] The secretary was also grilled on the administration's justification for the war. [18:07] Well, their nuclear facilities have been obliterated underground. [18:11] They're buried and we're watching them 24-7. [18:14] So we know where any nuclear material might be. [18:16] Reclaiming my time. [18:17] We had to start this war, you just said, 60 days ago, because the nuclear weapon was an imminent threat. [18:26] Now you're saying that it was completely obliterated? [18:29] They had not given up their nuclear ambitions. [18:31] Hexeth was also asked about the Iranian drone strike that killed six U.S. troops in Kuwait. [18:37] Two lawmakers cited a CBS News-exclusive investigation detailing security failures. [18:43] One of our surviving soldiers told CBS, quote, [18:48] painting a picture that one squeaked through is a falsehood. [18:54] So are you saying that these soldiers, our soldiers who survived this horrific attack are lying? [19:01] What I'm saying is before the commencement of the conflict, we put in maximum defensive posture. [19:07] We could. [19:07] That's a direct conversation. [19:08] We moved 70. [19:09] In this direction. [19:12] Now, if Republicans are concerned about the war, they showed no signs of it at today's hearing. [19:18] But there was bipartisan pushback on Hexeth's firing of top military officials, [19:23] which he defended as a need for new leadership. [19:27] Tony. [19:28] Caitlin, thank you very much.