CNN anchor defends outlet's reporting after 'outrageous' Pete Hegseth comments

CNN Anchor Kate Bolduan not only defended her network but also railed against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s claim that the network's reporting was “inaccurate.”

Her remarks came at the end of Hegseth’s briefing on the bombing of an Iranian nuclear facility.

“First and foremost, there was some new detail offered on the mission, on the cruise that pulled off this mission,” Bolduan said. “It's great to get some more information on that, but at the same time, we do need to make clear that despite the emotional speech and outrage from the defense secretary, what he said about the DIA assessment is what CNN reported on."

She added, “His issue, that he took about it being preliminary, about it being low confidence. CNN reported on all of this. I was looking back just to make sure that we had it all throughout the reporting process."

The anchor continued to defend the outlet’s integrity. “CNN had reported that it is preliminary and, of course, can be updated, including these two parts. It is still early. We reported in our initial report for the U.S. to have a comprehensive picture of the impact of the strikes.”

“None of the sources described how the DIA assessment compares to the views of other agencies in the intelligence community,” Bolduan said. “The U.S. is continuing to pick up intelligence, including from within Iran, as they assess the damage.”

“Also,” She went on, “in CNN reporting, [the secretary] took real issue and seemed very upset about it not being stated that this was there was low confidence stated in this assessment. It's also in CNN reporting, including this, that the final U.S. military battle damage assessment by the DIA could take days or even weeks to complete, multiple sources familiar with the Pentagon's process told CNN.”

“And now a lot of the questions that still remain,” she said. “Honest, questions that everyone in that room should be asked, that he had been berating the honest questions about any U.S. military operation. Those do continue.”

Watch the full segment below or click the link.

- YouTube youtu.be