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Pentagon Gives Update on Iran War After Ceasefire Reached; Hegseth Calls Operation Epic Fury Overwhelming and Historic Victory; Joint Chiefs Chair: U.S. Has Devastated Iran's Ability to Harm Americans. Aired 8:00-8:30a ET

Aired April 08, 2026 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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BILL WEIR, CNN CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: And it could make 26, 27, the hottest year. The last El Nino year, record setting was a couple years ago. This could push it up yet again.

So again, overheating planet, the ocean's absorbing 90 percent of that excess energy already. And so to add an El Nino just pushes things up higher and higher. This is the European model, which is pretty dependable predicting this.

But who knows? It could shake out. It could be just an average run of the mill El Nino.

But either way, folks who live off the oceans on that side of the world, people who live in these regions that have seen these massive droughts come on El Nino years, it's just scary hearing those words.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: En garde later this summer and into the fall. Bill Weir, thank you very much for that.

WEIR: You bet.

BERMAN: Brand new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we're standing by right now for a Pentagon briefing that is set to start any moment now. And this seems one to watch today. This is the first update from there since President Trump announced that he is pulling back on attacks as part of a two-week ceasefire with Iran.

There are still a ton of questions about where things go from here and really where things are, how real the ceasefire is considering there have been strikes targeting Gulf nations from Iran still today. Moments ago, though, President Trump has been -- well, a couple times this morning already, has been sending out more comments, more messages on Truth Social, saying this in part.

You can see that the president says, "There will be no enrichment of uranium. The United States will, working with Iran, dig up and remove all of," he calls it, "nuclear dust. He also says, "we are and will be taking tariff and sanctions relief -- talking tariff and sanctions relief with Iran, and that many of the 15 points have already been agreed to." This is the U.S. proposal that they've put forward. Unclear if anything has been agreed to, though.

He also followed that up by posting also this. "A country supplying military weapons to Iran will be immediately tariffed on any and all goods sold to the United States, 50 percent effective immediately."

So he has a lot of, he's saying quite a bit this morning. We're also learning more details about the next diplomatic steps that could be taking place. U.S. officials say that Vice President J.D. Vance is expected to join possible in-person talks with Iran. Pakistan has invited both sides to Islamabad on Friday to have this all begin.

We have live team coverage of all of these new developments, getting to all of these big questions as we stand by for this Pentagon briefing to begin. Let's start with Natasha Bertrand in Washington. Natasha, what are you expecting to hear from the Pentagon right now?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think Secretary Hegseth is going to likely make the case that the U.S. military campaign against Iran led to this point, pressured them to the extent that they are willing now to come to the table and come to some kind of deal with the United States when it comes to nuclear enrichment, for example, when it comes to opening the Strait of Hormuz. However, there are a lot of questions about that, of course, because what appears to be happening now is that we're in the same place diplomatically as we were even before the war began in terms of the maximalist points and demands that the Iranians are asking as part of this deal and the position that the U.S. is in, which is weaker, arguably, than at the beginning of the war because Iran, of course, still holds the Strait of Hormuz at risk and is still capable of reclosing it if the negotiations don't go their way.

It's also worth noting that despite the massive military campaign that we saw in Iran, as me and my colleagues reported last week, Iran still retained roughly half of its missile-launching capabilities, thousands of one-way attack drones, and that was not likely to be solved within the next two to four weeks if that military campaign continued. So while I do expect that Hegseth is going to be taking somewhat of a victory lap here, saying that it was the military campaign that put the pressure on Iran that led to this point, I think there are still a lot of questions about the mechanisms moving forward and how the U.S. is going to make sure that the Iranians actually do keep the Strait open because --

BOLDUAN: I'm going to interrupt right now. We're going to go to the Pentagon briefing as they begin.

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Iran has been a threat to the United States and the free world for 47 years.

[08:05:00]

Chance of death to America, targeting our people, killing Americans, lying and blackmailing their way toward a nuclear weapon, so they thought. No longer. Not on our watch.

Other presidents marked time and kicked the can down the road. President Trump made history. From the strike that took out Qasem Soleimani, to tearing up the disastrous Obama-Iran deal, to the precision campaign that obliterated Iran's nuclear sites in Operation Midnight Hammer, to the decisive military victory we just achieved in Operation Epic Fury. No other president has shown the courage and resolve of this commander-in-chief.

President Trump forged this moment. Iran begged for this ceasefire, and we all know it. As a president truth this morning, a big day for world peace. Iran wants it to happen. They've had enough.

Operation Epic Fury was a historic and overwhelming victory on the battlefield. A capital V military victory. By any measure, Epic Fury decimated Iran's military and rendered it combat ineffective for years to come.

You see, in less than 40 days, one of our combatant commands, Central Command, CENTCOM, using less than 10 percent of America's total combat power, dismantled one of the world's largest militaries. The world's leading state sponsor of terrorism proved utterly incapable of defending itself, its people, or its territory. We untied just a fraction of our strength, and Iran suffered a devastating military defeat.

Together with our Israeli partners, America's military achieved every single objective, on plan, on schedule, exactly as laid out from day one.

Iran's Navy is at the bottom of the sea, whether it's the Soleimani class, their frigate class, their prized drone aircraft carriers, submarines, mine layers, sunk. Iran's Air Force has been wiped out. Iran no longer has an air defense, any sort of a comprehensive air defense system. We own their skies.

Their missile program is functionally destroyed. Launchers, production facilities, and existing stockpiles depleted and decimated, and almost completely ineffective.

Iran shot hundreds and hundreds of missiles and one-way attack drones at our aircraft carrier. They were obsessed with it, and they never got even close. Every single one of those shots easily shot down miles and miles away from the Abe Lincoln.

They were blowing ammo into fantasy land. Contrast that with most significantly, in last night's wave of more than 800 strikes, we finished completely destroying Iran's defense industrial base, a core pillar of our mission objective. What little they have left buried in bunkers is all they will have.

They can still shoot, we know that. Their command and control is so decimated they can't really talk and coordinate. So they still may shoot here and there, but that would be very, very unwise.

But they can no longer build missiles, build rockets, build launchers, or build UAVs. Their factories have been razed to the ground, set back in historic fashion. You see, had Iran refused our terms, the next targets would have been their power plants, their bridges, and oil and energy infrastructure, targets they could not defend and could not realistically rebuild.

It would have taken them decades, and we were locked and loaded. They couldn't defend against it. President Trump had the power to cripple Iran's entire economy in minutes, but he chose mercy.

He spared those targets because Iran accepted the ceasefire under overwhelming pressure. The new Iranian regime understood that a deal was far better than the fate that awaited them. This new regime just happened to look at what happened to their predecessors.

Their top leadership was systematically eliminated. The previous Iranian Supreme Leader, dead. The Supreme National Security Council Secretary, dead.

The Supreme Leader Office Advisor, dead. The Supreme Leader Military Office Chief, dead. The Defense Minister, no longer with us.

The IRGC Commander, dead. The Armed Forces General Staff Commander, dead. The Intelligence Minister, dead.

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The IRGC Navy Commander, no longer here. The IRGC Intel Chief, dead. I skipped over a bunch, and I could go on and on and on to include the new, so-called new Supreme Leader, wounded and disfigured.

This new regime was out of options and out of time, so they cut a deal. They know this agreement means that they will never, ever possess a nuclear weapon. Under the terms, any nuclear material they should have will be removed.

Any material, excuse me, they should not have, will be removed. Right now, their dust is deeply buried and watched 24-7 overhead. The President has been clear from the beginning. There will be no Iranian nuclear weapons.

Period, full stop. Other presidents said it. President Trump did it. Operation Epic Fury, less than six weeks, clear mission, decisive action, overwhelming firepower, America first, a historic battlefield victory.

For decades, Iran killed Americans with roadside bombs in Iraq, using cowardly proxies to do their dirty work while they hid safely in Tehran. They struck our embassies with car bombs and attacked from the shadows, never daring to face us toe-to-toe. They thought they could bleed America with impunity.

Well, they just learned the hard way what happens when you try to fight us directly. And even when they got lucky, one time in 40 days, and downed two of our pilots, they couldn't hold them. In a daring 14- hour rescue operation, seven hours in daylight and seven hours of night, both pilots were recovered safely. Not once, but twice. A daylight thunder run right up the middle of their country, boots on the ground. A midnight raid right up the middle of their country, boots on the ground.

Zero American casualties. The Iranians humiliated and demoralized, we control their fate, not the other way around. That's why they came to the table.

Iran's defeat is America's retribution for every American lost to Iranian terror, especially those brave troops killed by Iranian-made roadside bombs in Iraq that my generation knows so well. And for the suffering their regime has inflicted around the world. Now we have a chance at real peace and a real deal.

The War Department, for now, for now, has done its part. We stand ready in the background to ensure Iran upholds every reasonable term. And as everyone knows, nobody makes a better deal than President Trump.

To the warriors of epic fury, I say, well done. You're the backbone of our country, your skill, your bravery, and sheer guts and grit showed the world what America is all about. I'm proud of you.

We're proud of you. President is proud of you. Job well done.

But stay vigilant and stay ready. To the families of our fallen, your sacrifice was in service of a historic cause, and we will always remember your heroes, our heroes. We will continue to honor them.

And to our Israeli allies, thank you for being a brave, capable, and willing ally on this battlefield. The rest of the world and the rest of our so-called allies saw what real capabilities look like. They should take some notes.

Our troops, our American warriors, deserve the credit for this day. But God deserves all the glory. Tens of thousands of sorties, refuelings, and strikes carried out under the protection of divine providence, a massive effort with miraculous protection.

Dude 44 Bravo spoke for all of us. God is good. The chairman will now provide an even deeper military detail on the historic success of Operation Epic Fury.

Mr. Chairman.

GEN. DAN CAINE, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. And good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thanks for being here.

I want to start this morning by honoring the 13 members of our American Joint Force who were killed in action thus far during this operation. Their sacrifice and that of their families is deeply important to us, and we are grateful. We are grateful for each of them and will continue to mourn their loss.

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Their names and their bravery will never be forgotten.

On February 28th, the President of the United States ordered the Joint Force to execute Operation Epic Fury with the direction to accomplish three distinct military objectives. Destroy Iran's ballistic missile and drone capabilities, destroy the Iranian Navy, and destroy their defense industrial base to ensure that Iran cannot reconstitute the ability to project power outside their borders. Over the course of 38 days of major combat operation, the Joint Force achieved the military objectives as defined by the President.

We welcome the ongoing ceasefire, and as the Secretary said, we hope that Iran chooses a lasting peace. But as Secretary Hegseth said, let us be clear, a ceasefire is a pause, and the Joint Force remains ready, if ordered or called upon, to resume combat operations with the same speed and precision as we've demonstrated over the last 38 days, and we hope that that is not the case.

I want to congratulate and thank the leadership today at U.S. Central Command, including the Commander Admiral Brad Cooper, the Deputy Commander Lieutenant General Kevin Leahy, the Senior Enlisted Leader Fleet Master Chief Compton, and every one of the component commanders, senior enlisted leaders, and especially the staff down at U.S. Central Command who does not get called out for any of the credit, but grinds 24-7 to help offer the options that we bring to the Secretary and the President.

I also want to highlight the forces in the United States European Command under the command of Alexus Grynkewich, who protected the western flank in support of CENTCOM. And I want to thank our partners across the intelligence community.

Our ability to see and understand what an adversary is doing help us to be as decisive as we must be on the battlefield, and that includes DIA, NSA, NGA, the CIA, and the National Reconnaissance Office, and others. I want to thank the other combatant commands who have thus far contributed along the way to U.S. Central Command. This includes TRANSCOM, STRATCOM, SPACECOM, SOCOM, and CYBERCOM, all of whom poured all in in support of CENTCOM's efforts.

And I want to thank, as the Secretary did, our Gulf partners who fought alongside each and every one of us every day. From the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Jordan, all who joined us together to defend and protect our people and our assets, and who, if required, stand ready to do so again. And I want to thank my team at the Joint Staff who work literally around the clock in order to help me offer the options that I must with the associated risks to the Secretary and to the President.

They are the hardest working people that I know, and I am deeply grateful for their service.

Most importantly today, I want to thank America's members of the Joint Force who've poured everything that they can into Operation Epic Fury, and their families who've worked 24 hours a day for 38 days. The Secretary and I could not be more proud of each and every one of you. And we deeply appreciate the support of the American people who we know always have us in our thoughts and prayers, and we can feel this literally every single day.

As the Secretary said, the United States has devastated the regime's ability to harm Americans and our interests for years to come. Since the beginning of major combat operations, the United States Joint Force has struck more than 13,000 targets, including in that 13,000 more than 4,000 dynamic targets that popped up on the battlefield and were immediately addressed thanks to the exceptional command and control system and intelligence, acumen, and agility of our Joint Force.

CENTCOM forces destroyed approximately 80 percent of Iran's air defense systems, striking more than 1,500 air defense targets, more than 450 ballistic missile storage facilities, 800 one-way attack drones storage facilities. All of these systems are gone. We've devastated Iran's command and control and logistical networks, destroying more than 2,000 command and control nodes and degrading their ability to target U.S. and friendly forces. It is, and we know this, incredibly frustrating right now to be a lower-level Iranian commander trying to fight your fight.

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As the Secretary said, the Iranian Navy now lies mostly at the bottom of the Arabian Gulf, and we assess that we've sunk more than 90 percent of their regular fleet, including all of the major surface combatants, as the Secretary said. 150 ships are at the bottom of the ocean and half of the IRGC Navy's small attack boats. Joint fires projected from the land, sea, and air executed more than 700 strikes against naval mine targets, and we assess that we destroyed more than 95 percent of their naval mines.

And perhaps most importantly, we've destroyed Iran's defense industrial base, their ability to reconstitute those capabilities for years to come. We attacked, along with our partners, approximately 90 percent of their weapons factories. Every factory that produced Shaheed one-way attack drones was struck.

Every factory that produces the guidance systems that go into those drones was struck. Their missile defense industrial base is shattered with more than 80 percent of their missile facilities gone, as well as their solid rocket motor production capability. It will take years for Iran to rebuild any major surface combatants, as more than 20 naval production and fabrication facilities have been damaged or destroyed.

And nearly 80 percent of Iran's nuclear industrial base was hit, further degrading their attempts to attain a nuclear weapon. Throughout Operation Epic Fury, our joint force struck at the heart of Iran's ability to project power and threaten the United States and the region. And in order to do this, it required the service and sacrifice of more than 50,000 American war fighters deployed across CENTCOM, UCOM, and stateside.

The joint force flew more than 10,000 missions, including 62 bomber missions, 18 of which flew round-trip from the United States to deliver bombs on military targets. Each of these missions was more than 30 hours in duration, and we did that 18 times. No other military in the world can do that.

And it's a testament to the logistical force that quietly serves behind them. I cannot thank TRANSCOM and the Air Force Tanker and Mobility Force more. Combined with Army and Navy joint fires, we stuck more than 13,000 targets.

And along with our Gulf partners, we've thus far intercepted 1,700 ballistic missiles and one-way attack drones, defending our forces and our partners in the civilian population. And we remain ready to do so should the need arise. Along the way, we consumed more than six million meals, and by my estimate, more than 950,000 gallons of coffee, two million energy drinks, and a lot of nicotine, but I am not saying that we have a problem.

I've laid out the statistics, but it does not truly capture the nature of combat. This is gritty and unforgiving business. It's chaotic, it's hot, it's dark, it's unpredictable, and there's always unknowns.

And our people proudly walked into those unknowns and continued forward. And through it all, the joint force has demonstrated the unwavering resolve that the nation demands of us. We are a mission- focused force, and our objective always is to create the conditions for peace, and today we have, while be ready should that peace break, which we hope it is not. And we remain ready.

Before I turn it back to the Secretary, I also want to quickly revisit the rescue of the Air Force fighter crew over the weekend. To give you an update, we've had -- the Secretary and I have had the profound honor of speaking directly with many of the war fighters on that mission, from the downed crew that were picked up to those forces that went and got them.

Hearing these stories firsthand has only deepened our appreciation for their tenacity, creativity, courage, and grit of the American Joint Force. This is a story that gets to the very heart and soul of who we are as a Joint Force, who we are as Americans. Selfless sacrifice in service of others.

From the back-seater, Dude 44 Bravo, whose pure and unadulterated joy at seeing those helicopters come into the valley to get his front- seater in daylight because he knew the front-seater did not have a jacket and was so filled with heart-leaping joy at his front-seater getting picked up.

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To the nighttime folks that went in and then got him. To the tanker forces that did the things that they had to do to give their own gas away to the support packages. To those that went into the desert landing site not once, not twice, but three times as we fought through multiple contingencies.

This was and is a Joint Force that has the guts to try, that does not quit, and who each and every day does the things that we must to dare to win. No lives were lost. We succeeded because the Joint Force is always at the ready.

They trust each other. They trust their leaders, and they trust their training, and they remember first, foremost, and always that we do these things so that others may live, and we will never leave anyone behind. The success of Operation Fury thus far, and we hope it remains, culminates with this incredible rescue over the weekend, a direct example of the professionalism and courage of the United States military and our Joint Force.

It's the service members on the front lines, our partners in the region, our teammates in the intelligence community, our civilian leaders in the OSW side of the house, the American workers who build the tools and weapons that we use, and the American people who back us up that help us to go do these things. We stand here, I stand here humbled today, but frankly not surprised by what the Joint Force has been able to do. Their performance is fueled by a deep commitment to each other, their mission, and to our country.

It is an incredible, deep honor for me to be a part of this Joint Force, and I'm humbled by the service and sacrifice each and every day that I am lucky enough to see. And finally, as I always do, I ask that we never forget our fallen and their families, especially those 13 fallen from Operation Epic Fury. May we always be worthy of their sacrifice and honor their legacy.

And with that, sir, I'll turn it back over to you.

HEGSETH: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We'll take a few questions.

ALEXANDRA YERSOL, ONE AMERICA NEWS: Alexandra Yersol, One America News. First of all, thank you to our troops. What role is our military playing in escorting vessels through the Strait of Hormuz at this point, and the President said on True Social that the U.S. will be hanging around to make sure everything goes well. Obviously, Mr. Secretary, you just mentioned we know the scars from hanging around in Iraq for decades, but what does that entail in terms of our military presence at this juncture?

HEGSETH: Yes, we'll be hanging around. We're not going anywhere. We're going to make sure Iran complies with this ceasefire, and then ultimately comes to the table and makes a deal.

So we'll stay put, stay ready, stay vigilant. As the Chairman laid out, our troops are prepared to defend, prepared to go on offense, prepared to restart at a moment's notice with whatever target package would be needed in order to ensure that Iran complies. As far as the Strait, you saw the initial agreement that was struck, which is Iran's letting ships go through.

So that will be happening. They will be sailing. And ultimately, as the President -- we've done an incredible job militarily inside the Strait of Hormuz.

I failed to mention Admiral Cooper's name. He's done a phenomenal job, along with everybody at AFSCENT and NAVCENT and ARCENT, all the components down there, laying the groundwork for Iran. Iran doesn't have the same ability to defend it the way they did before.

And so, as the President has pointed out to the rest of the world, we barely get any of our energy out of the Strait, just a tiny fraction. It's time for the rest of the world to step up and ensure that that stays open after President Trump and the War Department brought Iran to the place where they are voluntarily opening it right now, as was announced last night.

Yes, Jerry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Mr. Secretary, and thank you both for the update. President Trump posted on True Social this morning that there has been a very productive regime change in Iran and that there will be no enrichment of uranium and the U.S. will work with Iran to dig up and remove the deeply buried nuclear dust. So, I just have two questions here.

So, both you, Mr. Secretary, and the President have referred to a new regime in Iran. So, is this not the regime that was at war with us for 47 years? And how do we -- what do we think of when we're saying that this is a new regime?

What are we thinking and what are we saying there? And then my second question is, with any future deal with Iran, is their handing over of all of their enriched uranium and their promising not to enrich any future uranium being non-negotiable for the U.S.?

HEGSETH: It's always been non-negotiable that they won't have nuclear capabilities. And so, right now, it's buried and we're watching it ...

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