Tony Katz on Pete Hegseth's Break Down for Rescuing Pilots

0:00And today, as the CIA director mentioned, Iran's military and we know this is embarrassed and humiliated and they should be. Now these are not routine operations. They were high risk, high stakes missions conducted in the heart of enemy territory. This was not just barely into Iran. This was deep into Iran. Involving coordinated strikes to suppress threats, deception tactics to protect our teams and full synchronization across air ground and special operations. The Iranians are still asking themselves right now, how did the Americans do this? That's a Secretary of Defense, Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth. Me, I'm Tony Katz and the show is Tony Katz today. This is the press conference about the rescue of two American pilots in Iran. How that mission took place. We heard from John Rackliffe of the CIA now, Secretary Hegseth. The President of isolation and danger, his faith and fighting spirit shown through.

1:02You see, shot down on a Friday, good Friday, hidden in a cave, a crevice, all of Saturday, and rescued on Sunday. Flown out of Iran is the sun was rising on Easter Sunday, a pilot reborn all home and accounted for a nation rejoicing. God is good. Despite incoming fire and unforgiving conditions, our troops brought every American home. No American lives were lost. We leave no man behind, and that is not luck. It's the result of unmatched training, superior technology, an unbreakable warrior ethos, and sheer American grit. Our special operators pilots and support crews performed with near perfection under fire, and they were lethal. Just ask any Iranian soldier who dared attempt to get anywhere near that pilot before or

2:07during that mission, death from above. Our troops turned a potential tragedy into a resounding demonstration of American resolve and capability. That's what excellence in uniform looks like. But make no mistake about it. None of this would have been possible without the courageous leadership in an iron clad determination of President Donald J. Trump. From the moment our airmen went down, President Trump made it clear we will leave no one behind. The first mission, the first of two, was an audacious, daylight, thunder run right up the middle. It was authorized in less than two hours from those of that pilot going down when we knew where he was. And it was authorized in the middle of the night because anybody that's worked for this man knows he's up in the middle of the night, authorized immediately without hesitation audaciously. The second mission, as soon as we knew where that pilot was, and John was certainly

3:09helpful in that, also executed immediately. You know, I looked up at my screen when the final mission was complete inside our skiff, our secure facility, and we have a running VTC, a running coordination cell. And the top of it read 45 minutes and 45 hours and 56 minutes. For 45 hours and 56 minutes, we held that call open for coordination. From the moment our pilots went down, our mission was unblinking. The call never dropped, the meeting never stopped, the planning never ceased. The president demanded rapid, decisive action. He backed our military with the full weight of his resolve, refusing to let enemy propaganda or tactical setbacks deter us. His leadership ensured that every lethal and non-lethal resource was brought to bear that our forces had the authorities and the support they needed to succeed. When the president says he has the backs of our war fighters, he means it.

4:11And it means a great deal, and it's a big difference on the battlefield. President Trump understands that peace through strength is not a slogan. It is a doctrine that saves American lives. He's unwavering commitment to rebuilding our military and restoring the warrior spirit has paid dividends in missions just like this one. Under his command, America projects power with confidence and brings our people home with victory. And that continues today, by the way. Per the president's direction today will be the largest volume of strikes since day one of this operation. Tomorrow, even more than today, and then Iran has a choice. Choose wisely, because this president does not play around. Now this, of course, is the question. Everything that we're hearing right now, and don't get me wrong, the rest of you of this pilot is sensational. Both of them, the pilot and the weapons officer.

5:11But everything is a set up. Everything is to set up the conversation of what the world is meant by Tuesday at APM. What does that mean? Does it mean there's no more question about whether or not we're going to end this regime. We're going to break these people, even if we have to break everything, which is a different take than where I was a week ago. And maybe where you are, maybe you were always on this knowing that Trump is a guy who could decide that there's a victory anytime that there's a victory. It seemed that he wants to go down the road of behavior change as opposed to regime change. I oppose that you know that we could disagree about it and that's fine, we'll still have a bourbon together. I'll be good. I'm not going to get what I want. I've been saying this. I'm not going to get what I want. This talk is different. This talk is we are going to end these people. We're going to break the IRGC by breaking the infrastructure.

6:15Then we're going to get the people to go after these IRGC members. We're going to support them all we can. And if they defeat the IRGC, good. That seems to be the direction that everything is going. That seems to be where everything is at. I'm going to take the break now because I hope to get to some of the Q&A and get back to President Trump. Stay here. I'm going to carry some more of this for the next little while while I can. President Trump, Secretary Hague Seth and General Cain giving the update on the rescue of these two pilots, and of course, what may be coming next. Keep it here. This is Tony Katz today.