CNN’s Dale ‘Fact-Checks’ Sec. Hegseth’s Press Conference: He Effectively Confirmed Our Reporting

SIDNER: “I want to go to Daniel Dale, who is our fact-checker, as you well know. What did you hear in this press conference that rang true or that rang false?”
Dale: “Well, a few things here. The secretary referred to fake news CNN and then immediately proceeded to effectively confirm CNN’s reporting, again, emphasized that this intelligence assessment was preliminary, made with low confidence. That’s exactly, again, what CNN reported. He also tried to back up President Trump’s assertion that these nuclear facilities were completely and totally obliterated by forcefully reading out quotes from others who did not say the same thing. He read quotes asserting that the nuclear sites had been badly damaged, severely damaged. The strikes had done enormous damage. None of that is synonymous with complete obliteration. The secretary also asked rhetorically if the media had been reporting about the enormous challenge on pilots of conducting a bombing mission this long. Well, guess what? CNN did. A couple of days ago, Michael Williams wrote a story talking to pilots who’ve been involved in somewhat similar missions that began that this mission was, quote, ‘massive undertaking that required B-2 bomber pilots to test the limits of human endurance during a 37-hour mission.’ So yes, CNN reported this. And then fourth, just in passing, the secretary asserted that this was the most complex military operation in history. I guess that’s something I can’t definitively fact check, but I’m sure that some military historians would take issue with that, point to things like, say, D-Day, for example.”