Jake Tapper unloads on Trump for 'ugly' attack on CNN over Iran bombing report

Daily Mail​

4 hours ago

Jake Tapper defended CNN's reporting on Donald Trump 's strikes against Iran 's nuclear facilities, while ripping the president's 'ugly attack' on the press.
The administration has rubbished reports by both CNN and the New York Times that the damage to Iran's nuclear facilities from Saturday night's bombing was not as severe as they had hoped, while simultaneously demanding the person who leaked incomplete intel be jailed.
Tapper went off on Trump during his Wednesday show: 'Today, President Trump and his administration are going after shooting the messengers in an increasingly ugly way.'
He also defended Natasha Bertrand, the CNN reporter who broke the story and whom Trump said should be fired.
'They're calling journalists 'fake news' for true stories. They're calling for an excellent CNN reporter, Natasha Bertrand, to be fired, which is preposterous — and to which a CNN statement today reads, 'we stand 100 percent behind Natasha Bertarnd's journalism, as they should,' he continued.
The anchor added: 'The Trump administration is also accusing any news media who reports on this intel assessment as not being patriotic.'
Tapper went into a dissection of CNN's reporting on the matter, saying that the Defense Intelligence Agency's assessment of the bombing was 'low confidence... meaning that the DIA is far from sure about it.'
'It was described to CNN by seven people briefed on the DIA assessment, and our reporting stressed that the assessment's conclusion could evolve as new information comes to light,' he said.
Tapper claimed that CNN reached out to the White House before broadcasting the story and that the administration 'attacked the assessment but confirmed it exists.'
'Even President Trump himself today confirmed it,' he said.
Tapper said he was not criticizing the troops who executed the strikes, saying they 'honor and respect' them.
'The key questions for the American people in the world are simply about the degree of success of the operation, and the current state of Iran's nuclear weapons program and what the intelligence — not the politicians — what the intelligence reveals,' Tapper said.
'Our obligation as journalists is not to praise President Trump, or protect his feelings, or to disparage him, or to praise him — for that matter. Our obligation is to report facts. In this case, the fact is that an initial DIA intel assessment out of Secretary Pete Hegseth's own Pentagon exists. And that's not going to change, no matter how many insults Trump levels.'
As he ended the segment, he again pointed out that they 'don't know' whether their reporting or the administration's claims are accurate yet.
'That's the point of publishing what we know that the government learns, once we learn it. The news media needs to press for facts, even if it's uncomfortable. Even if, as Americans and as humans, there is a personal instinct to rally around the flag.'
He finished: 'Asking questions is literally our job, demanding facts and answers, instead of just taking a president's word for it. History has taught us that the most pro-service member action we can take is to ask questions of our leaders, especially in times of war. That, for journalists, is the height of patriotism.'
The leaked report from the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) reportedly states that the U.S. strikes only delayed Iran from getting a nuclear weapon by a couple of months.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the FBI has taken the lead on conducting the probe after CNN, the New York Times and other outlets disclosed the report's findings.
'We're doing a leak investigation with the FBI right now, because this information is for internal purposes, battle damage assessments, and CNN and others are trying to spin it to make the president look bad,' he said during a NATO meeting alongside Trump and other top officials on Wednesday.
The Pentagon chief defended the president like an attack dog, claiming the Fordow nuclear enrichment site was 'obliterated.'
Flanked by Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Hegseth also mentioned how the classified document was only a preliminary assessment.
'It was a top secret report, it was preliminary, it was low confidence,' the Pentagon secretary explained.
'Given the 30,000 pounds of explosives and capability of those munitions, it was devastation underneath Fordow, and the amount of munitions, six per location, any assessment that tells you something otherwise is speculating with other motives.'
He added that the preliminary DIA battle damage assessment indicated 'moderate to severe' damage was done to the facility.
The administration, Hegseth continued, believes it was 'far more likely severe and obliterated.'
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was sitting next to Hegseth, argued the leakers had an agenda.
'This is what a leaker is telling you the intelligence says,' he said of the report.
'That's the game these people play. They read it and then they go out and characterize it the way they want it characterized.'
He added it was 'against the law' to leak the information and told the media the leakers 'characterize it for you in a way that's absolutely false.'
Israeli military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin similarly said Wednesday that "it is still early to assess the results of the operation.'
Though he added, 'I believe we have delivered a significant hit to the nuclear program, and I can also say that we have delayed it by several years.'
In a Truth Social post on Wednesday afternoon, Trump revealed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth would address the public at 8am Thursday morning to provide 'both interesting and irrefutable' proof about the success of the mission.
Trump said the purpose of the conference is to 'fight for the Dignity of our Great American Pilots.
'These Patriots were very upset,' he said. 'After 36 hours of dangerously flying through Enemy Territory, they landed, they knew the Success was LEGENDARY, and then, two days later, they started reading Fake News by CNN and The Failing New York Times.
'They felt terribly!'
Trump reminded them that the doubts about the success of the mission were 'as usual, solely for the purpose of demeaning PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP.'
His comments come after the CIA confirmed Ira n's nuclear facilities suffered 'severe damage' after the devastating airstrikes Saturday night.
Trump had earlier suggested Hegseth's title should be changed to the 'Secretary of War' given the deteriorating situation in the Middle East, and kicked off meetings at the NATO summit on Wednesday by comparing Saturday's precision airstrikes to the two atomic bombings on Japan that ended World War II.
'I don't want to use an example of Hiroshima. I don't want to use an example of Nagasaki. But that was essentially the same thing. That ended that war,' he told reporters at The Hague.
Seven B-2 bombers flew from the U.S. to Iran on Saturday to carry out what Pentagon officials have said is the most sophisticated stealth airstrike in decades.
Each B-2 carried two 30,000 pound bunker buster bombs aimed at Fordow's nuclear labs hundreds of feet underground.
The 14 bunker busters dropped on Fordow weighed a total of nearly 420,000 pounds combined, Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell has said.
'Fake news, CNN and MSDNC, all of these terrible people, you know, they have no credibility,' Trump slammed the outlets reporting on the intel leak.
'The document said it could be very severe damage,' Trump said at Wednesday's NATO meeting. 'But they didn't take that.'