In the wake of Iranian anti-air weaponry taking down two U.S. warplanes on Friday, CNN host Abby Phillip delivered a highlight reel of President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt touting U.S. dominance over Iran’s airspace only weeks before.
Iran missiles downed both an F-15 and an A-10 Warthog on Friday, with two of the three American pilots involved getting rescued and one officially remaining missing in action somewhere in the country. Two U.S. helicopters were reportedly hit by Iranian weaponry during rescue operations.
Phillip opened her “NewsNight” program with a slew of clips showing Trump and his top officials assuring Americans that the U.S. is in full control of Iranian airspace. The war has already cost at least 13 U.S. military service members and more than 1,900 Iranians their lives.
The montage included clips of Trump stating in early March, “They have no air detection,” “Their radar has been knocked out,” “Their anti-aircraft weapons are gone, so they have no Air Force, they have no air defense,” and “Their radar is 100% annihilated.”
It also showed Leavitt telling the press last month, “We expect to have complete and total dominance over Iranian airspace in the coming hours,” and Hegseth stating two weeks later, “We’re hunting and striking death and destruction from above. Iran’s air defense is flattened.”
Phillip tossed to Alex Plitsas after the awkward montage concluded, asking the CNN national security analyst if the downing of jets has made the U.S. reassess how capable Iran really is.
“So your missiles and your radar systems, those are the big systems that we all are kind of aware of, and the fighter jets,” he said. “And so if you take out the two of those, you largely end up with air superiority and air dominance — but you also have shoulder-fired missiles.”
Plitsas explained that these projectiles can hit targets up to 10,000 feet away. He noted that there is thus “always going to be a residual threat” from the ground, even if the radar and anti-aircraft systems have been destroyed, as the Trump administration has frequently stated.
Phillip noted that Friday marked an escalation of the war, as the missing U.S. pilot could be captured.
“It was the first American warplane taken down by Iranian air fire since the fighting began,” she said. “State media is telling Iranians that if they capture the enemy alive and hand them over to authorities, they’ll receive a valuable reward … that amounts to about $76,000.”
Phillip added that sources have told CNN that Iran still has half of their missile launchers and thousands of drones, “which is a much more nuanced picture of the Iranian missile launching capabilities than what the Trump administration has been saying for days and weeks.”
Trump said Tuesday during a highly anticipated address to the nation about his ongoing war on Iran, “They have no anti-aircraft equipment. Their radar is 100% annihilated. We are unstoppable as a military force.”
