GOP rep scrambles on CNN to defend Trump’s Iran claims: 'Matter of semantics'

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) tried to deflect on CNN when confronted with newly revealed intelligence that President Donald Trump's strike on Iranian nuclear sites barely affected the viability of their nuclear program — a report the White House has vehemently denied, even while admitting this is the assessment of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

"I'm interested to know your reaction to this, considering that President Trump has repeatedly said that the program was, quote, 'completely obliterated,'" said anchor Kasie Hunt.

"Well, it's, it's unfortunate that intelligence gets leaked so quickly in this administration," said McCaul. "I understand the president's frustration. Having said that, it did cause significant damage. And I think that's important in terms of a time to negotiate a peaceful resolution. However, and I've been briefed on this plan in the past, it was never to completely destroy these three facilities, but rather cause significant damage. But it was always known to be a temporary setback, where they could then rebuild the centrifuges. I think right now the key is to keep applying the pressure, the leverage."

"Why do you think the president is saying what he's saying in public, if that's the case?" Hunt pressed him.

"Well, because it did cause significant damage," repeated McCaul. "It's all a matter of semantics. I think the president, you know, thinking it caught — it completely obliterated, look, it caused significant damage. It, it was a temporary setback, however, a temporary enough to now have negotiations."

"I think we've got to keep the pressure on Iran to come to the table and negotiate in good faith," said McCaul, noting that he urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "work with the United States" as he moved to a war stance against Iran. "He also said that the regime is going to be more worried about staying in power than retaliation. What I find significant, Kasie, is the retaliation, Iran said, was proportionate to the strikes against them, which tells me they want to save face with their people and now de-escalate the situation. I certainly hope that's true in this case."

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