Exclusive: Inside Hegseth’s push to showcase a dramatic Iran rescue on ‘60 Minutes’
CBS says the segment follows a months-long effort for exclusive access as one airman agreed to appear and the other declined.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and political appointees pressured two F-15 crew members shot down over Iran to participate in Sunday's '60 Minutes' report about their rescue operation.
- CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss personally lobbied Hegseth for exclusive access soon after the rescue, telling her newsroom the bookings were 'top priorities' as the network sought impactful reports.
- Military officials voiced concerns that the presentation risked disclosing classified rescue tactics, while uniformed service members suggested the Defense Department was using the mission for political purposes.
- After Hegseth met privately with the airmen, one pilot dubbed 'Bravo' agreed to the interview while the other, 'Alpha,' declined; Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell stated each pilot's decision was their own.
- Hegseth granted a rare interview for the broadcast airing Sunday, as the segment provides an inside story of the rescue amid pressure on the Secretary to craft a narrative around the unpopular Iran war.
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Hegseth pressed rescued F-15E crew for CBS interview
CNN: The F-15E crew rescued after being shot down over Iran initially resisted a '60 Minutes' interview as military officials feared classified details could be exposed; Hegseth met with the two after Pentagon officials pushed for the interview, but one still refused
US Defense Department officials pressured and forced the two crew members of the F-15 fighter jet shot down by Iran to appear on CBS's 60 Minutes television program.
CNN:. The U.S. Secretary of Defense’s office pushed to arrange an interview with the American pilots whose plane was shot down over Iran, in order to discuss the rescue operations
CNN:The U.S. Secretary of Defense’s office pushed to arrange an interview with the American pilots whose plane was shot down over Iran, in order to discuss the rescue operations. However, one of the two pilots refused to participate.Some...
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his department’s political officials pressed for the two F-15 crew members shot down over Iran in April to participate in this Sunday’s widely promoted “60 Minutes” report on Iran’s...
Secret push exposed: How Hegseth pressured rescued Iran’s F-15 airmen to appear on ’60 Minutes’
CNN reports that Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and his aides pushed hard for two rescued F-15 crew members to appear on '60 Minutes', even as military officers worried about secrecy and one airman had doubts.
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