Mercedes Schlapp and Bill Connor join to discuss U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth bashing the media for its coverage of the U.S. strikes on Iran and more.

Washington

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth publicly criticized media organizations such as CNN and The New York Times for their coverage of recent U.S. strikes on Iran. Hegseth and panelists argued that these outlets amplified reports based on low-confidence intelligence and anonymous sources, which they claimed undermined the success of the operation and national security.

The panel also discussed the Trump administration's decision to limit the sharing of classified documents with Congress in response to concerns about leaks. They emphasized that such leaks could endanger military personnel and national interests. The conversation further touched on NATO relations and the administration's communication strategies, highlighting the use of pop culture references to engage broader audiences.

Hegseth bashes press for Iran strike coverage

Well, again, the White House press briefing set to take place at 1 o'clock. We'll take you there in our next hour. And let's bring in our panel now to weigh in on Hegseth's news conference today and also the breaking news with James Comer, Mercedes Schlapp, former White House strategic senior adviser and a senior fellow at the American Conservative Union, host of CPAC Now, America Uncanceled is with us today, and also retired U.S. Army Colonel Bill Conner, an attorney and senior strategic analyst. It's great to see you both. I want to begin first with the very serious concern about leaks, how they lead to these types of things. And now there's a new report, Mercedes and Axios, saying the Trump administration will limit sharing classified documents with Congress. They got to do now, you know, something because this cannot continue to happen. And there's word that if they find out who the leaker is, they could actually go forward with charges, even if it's a member of Congress. Your reaction? Right. And that's why you've seen the administration. They are actually looking to limit the amount of individuals who can have access to this classified information through this cap net system. And look, part of it is, is that you're really putting our military men and women at risk. You're putting our national security at risk when you have these types of leaks. And when you see how CNN just salivates and New York Times salivates on taking a piece of a report that was viewed as something that basically said that it was low confidence, that, you know, it was it wasn't necessarily the case, yet they made it into a lead story, shows the propaganda machine that the left is trying to push to basically say that Donald Trump and his team was not successful, which we know for a fact that they were successful. When you see time and time again, the intel chief, the U.N., former inspector, several other individuals, even the Iranian foreign minister coming out saying, yeah, we our nuclear facilities have been severely damaged. So this is the thing. And I really believe that CNN should retract the story. So should The New York Times, because they've had this faulty type of, quote, unquote, as we normally see anonymous sources. Yeah, well, doubtful they'll do that. They seem to be doubling down. And now, Colonel, we have the assessments, the reality, a little late, but the CIA even came out and said, yes, these were years or months. Are you hearing any intel on just the ability for Iran to even potentially try to restart any of this? Well, thanks, Bianca. I mean, some of the strikes me right away is the Israelis did agree to a ceasefire there. The entire reason they took such a risk and they paid for it, their civilians paid for an attack on Iran was to destroy the nuclear capability. We know now that they had not only Mossad, but commandos on the ground, including a Fordow, who were able to conduct assessments. They went with a ceasefire. Any common sense would tell you that they would have known. They had eyes on. They would have known if they had pulled trucks in to pull the stuff out, they're going to hit the trucks with air supremacy. They would not have agreed to the ceasefire unless they had assurance that it had been degraded significantly. We talk about obliteration. That's a term of art from Trump, but it's gone. Yeah, great point. Let's talk about NATO. A lot of memorable moments, 5 percent GDP. That was a commitment here. And also, you know, just President Trump back on the world stage, even this fun moment when the word daddy was used. They're not going to be fighting each other. They've had it. They've had a big fight, like two kids in a schoolyard. You know, they fight like hell. You can't stop them. Let them fight for about two, three minutes, then it's easier to stop them. And then daddy has to sometimes use strong language to get us off the ground. You have to use strong language. Every once in a while you have to use a certain language. Well, there's reports now that NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte denies calling President Trump daddy. It certainly hears what we heard sounds like it. The best part, Mercedes, is how this current administration uses this to show, yes, America is back. A little fun on the official White House account here. Let's play this. I just want to get your attention. I really want to be all up in your head. Yeah. Daddy's home. There's an F-bomb. Yeah. There's a ceasefire. This is just one week here, Mercedes. What's your reaction to Donald Trump and the way they are able to produce this? Yeah. Well, wildly entertaining. Obviously, the White House knows how effectively to reach those people who are not what I would say the everyday consumer of news and politics. It's about pop culture. It's about reaching the youth. It's about reaching those that might not know what's happening in the world stage. But they do know one thing. President Trump is dominating. He's dominating on the domestic stage and the international stage, and he's being very effective in the fact of keeping America safe and obviously pushing through his peace through strength foreign policy. Top line. That's great. Top line thoughts from you, Colonel, in our final moments here. I heard the word daddy, but either way, I'm just glad they're all paying their fair share and Spain's going to have some interesting negotiations. No, regardless of the daddy thing. You think about the treatment in the first term from some of the allies and now they're eye rolling, the talking, laughing behind his back to now where they are all frankly sucking up to him for national interest reasons. He's on top of things. This is a great mission. A real quick for you, Lee, too. I want to tell my Marines, happy birthday, Chesty Puller. Very important. The Marines understand that. So thank you. I'm young. Of course. Thank you, Colonel Connor. Mercedes. Great to see you both. Thank you. Thanks, guys.

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