It took almost three weeks, but on Thursday, Iran finally managed to damage a U.S. aircraft, but the cast of CNN’s The Situation Room did not marvel that it took so long for Iran to achieve a fraction of success. Instead, they used the situation to suggest Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is not being truthful when he touts the campaign’s success.
Co-host Wolf Blitzer began by reporting, “We’re also following some major breaking news right now. Sources telling CNN, an American F-35 fighter jet had to make an emergency landing after coming under suspected Iranian fire.”
Fellow co-host Pamela Brown then introduced security reporter Haley Britzky and asked her, “What are you learning about this?”
It took over two weeks, but Iran has finally touched an American aircraft and CNN is now prepared to cast doubt on everything Pete Hegseth has said. Security Reporter Haley Britzky claims “He said today, the U.S. Is winning decisively against Iran, that the air defenses have been… pic.twitter.com/wrFYR7IrOr
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) March 19, 2026
Britzky began by noting that the F-35 was not shot down and the pilot was not killed, “Yeah. So, this is still under investigation but sources are telling us that it is suspected Iranian fire, which would be the first time that Iran has hit a U.S. aircraft so far in this war that we know of. And CENTCOM spokesperson Captain Tim Hawkins telling us the pilot is in stable condition, that the aircraft landed safely, but that this happened while it was flying a combat mission over Iran today.”
No war, whether past, current, or future, goes perfectly. Operation Desert Storm is hailed as one of the greatest military achievements in history, and even then coalition aircraft still took damage and even losses to enemy anti-aircraft fire up until the end. But Brown wanted to apply a new and impossible standard to this one, “And it’s notable because the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, was on earlier today, he held a joint press conference and said that the air defenses in Iran have been flattened.”
Blitzky agreed, “That’s right. I mean, Secretary Hegseth has come out repeatedly over the last several, couple of weeks at these press briefings claiming very decisive victory. He said today, the U.S. Is winning decisively against Iran, that the air defenses have been flattened, pointing to very high percentages dropping of these ballistic missile and drone attacks.”
Iran’s rate of fire has dramatically decreased. One estimate puts it down 92 percent since day one, but that is also a different conversation. Iran wouldn’t use a ballistic missile or one-way attack drone against an F-35.
Nevertheless, Britzky continued, “We, of course, still don’t know exactly what happened here and what hit this aircraft, but it does raise questions about the effectiveness of these strikes. If Iran is still able to do this and target a U.S. aircraft in this way.”
Hegseth is already mad at CNN for doom-mongering and segments like this won’t help their case as they give their audience an unreasonable definition of success.
Here is a transcript for the March 19 show:
CNN The Situation Room
3/19/2026
11:23 AM ET
WOLF BLITZER: We’re also following some major breaking news right now. Sources telling CNN, an American F-35 fighter jet had to make an emergency landing after coming under suspected Iranian fire.
PAMELA BROWN: CNN security reporter Haley Britzky joins us. What are you learning about this?
HALEY BRITZKY: Yeah. So, this is still under investigation but sources are telling us that it is suspected Iranian fire, which would be the first time that Iran has hit a U.S. aircraft so far in this war that we know of. And CENTCOM spokesperson Captain Tim Hawkins telling us the pilot is in stable condition, that the aircraft landed safely, but that this happened while it was flying a combat mission over Iran today.
BROWN: And it’s notable because the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, was on earlier today, he held a joint press conference and said that the air defenses in Iran have been flattened.
BRITZKY: That’s right. I mean, Secretary Hegseth has come out repeatedly over the last several, couple of weeks at these press briefings claiming very decisive victory. He said today, the U.S. Is winning decisively against Iran, that the air defenses have been flattened, pointing to very high percentages dropping of these ballistic missile and drone attacks.
We, of course, still don’t know exactly what happened here and what hit this aircraft, but it does raise questions about the effectiveness of these strikes. If Iran is still able to do this and target a U.S aircraft in this way.
