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Paranoia at Pentagon?; Iran Shoots Down U.S. Helicopter. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired June 09, 2026 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

ALEX SEITZ-WALD, MIDCOAST VILLAGER: So, Platner defenders will say, oh, she's just a disgruntled employee who didn't like the way she was being treated by the campaign and that she was going to get out before the Reddit allegations came out.

But, either way, she is a voice that I know a lot of people, especially women in Maine, are looking to. So if she is out there and making the case against him, I do think that matters. And the swing voters in Maine for Susan Collins have been not the white working- class voters that we often talk about, but older educated women on the coast.

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Yes. Yes.

SEITZ-WALD: And so I think somebody like McDonald really beating that drum could hurt him among them.

BASH: Alex, it's a very busy hour. Thank you for being here. Please come back after we get the election results.

SEITZ-WALD: Thanks.

BASH: Thank you.

And thank you for joining INSIDE POLITICS.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We do Have breaking news on the war with Iran.

Just moments ago, President Trump posting on social media that he's been informed by the U.S. military that -- quote -- "The Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache helicopters while patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz. There were two pilots involved. Both are safe and uninjured. Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack."

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Let's go straight to the White House and CNN's Kristen Holmes. Kristen, this news comes just hours after the president told reporters

that a deal with Iran would come in two or three days. So what changed since then? Was it confirmation that this was shot down by Iran and not some kind of accident?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, of course, it was always a possibility that this was Iranian action that led to the downing of this Apache.

I will remind you that what we had heard from all officials was very vague, that this went down, that this helicopter had gone down while they were patrolling regional waters, that both of the pilots were safe, and that there was an investigation ongoing.

It certainly sounds now from President Trump that they have confirmed the cause of this issue, of the fact that this helicopter went down, which was the first helicopter or the first Apache that went down after this war had started.

They say, President Trump saying now that this was something that was done by the Iranians, and now the U.S. must retaliate in some way. Now, it's unclear what exactly he means by that. Obviously, this is going to put any kind of potential deal into jeopardy. We are still trying to get more information as to what exactly happened, what led to the downing of this Apache helicopter.

Was it something that was intentional? Was it a mistake? Were they targeting this Apache helicopter? Or, again, was this just one of the casualties of war and it ended up happening while they were patrolling these regional waters, but was unintentional?

Now, President Trump seems to be indicating at least somewhat that there was intention behind it by saying that they're going to have to respond. The one thing we still aren't clear with is what exactly he means by respond.

President Trump has been eager to get away from any kind of military intervention, any kind of military action in Iran, focusing almost solely on this idea of diplomacy, trying to find an off-ramp here. But, again, this is going to complicate things, obviously coming off of what we saw yesterday, which was a break in that cease-fire between Iran and Israel.

Now this cease-fire, which just felt like it was holding by a thread, seems to be in serious jeopardy.

KEILAR: All right, Kristen, if you can stand by for us, because adding to the fragility of this cease-fire and the chances of striking a deal are a new round of Israeli strikes that we have been seeing in Lebanon today.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is live in Tel Aviv keeping his eye on this.

Jeremy, what can you tell us?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. In addition to what's happening in the Strait of Hormuz, we have seen

a continuation of Israeli military strikes in Southern Lebanon. And this comes after Iran had threatened yesterday that, should Israel continue its attacks against not only Iran, but also against Lebanon, then that would invite additional Iranian strikes against Israel.

That was from Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps yesterday. They have not yet made good on that threat, and we will see whether or not they will. But, certainly, Israel is not allowing those threats to deter it from continuing to carry out airstrikes in Lebanon.

We saw multiple Israeli airstrikes in Southern Lebanon today, killing at least nine people, according to Lebanon's national news agency. And this took place in the ancient city of Tyre, where the Israeli military had also issued evacuation orders to the Christian quarter of that city as well, which was quite a rare step.

We have also seen Hezbollah attacks on Israeli military positions in Southern Lebanon. And now adding to all of this -- these complications, this potential fragility for the cease-fire, you have this statement from President Trump, vowing that he will respond to what he says was Iran's downing of this Apache helicopter.

Now, it's important to note that that doesn't necessarily mean that this cease-fire is going to collapse. Iran and the United States have repeatedly traded fire over the course of the cease-fire over these types of incidents in the past.

[13:05:14]

When the United States has carried out strikes against the vessels that were trying to run the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, Iran has responded with strikes on U.S. bases and other targets in Gulf nations across from the Strait of Hormuz and vice versa.

So we will see what kinds of strikes we have here. But President Trump has made quite clear that he is committed to this diplomacy with Iran, that he does not want to see a return to all-out war, at least as recently as yesterday, so much so to the fact that he reined in Israel's retaliation against Iran to the barrage of ballistic missiles that Iran fired on Israel on Sunday night.

So I think you will see a similar kind of response from the United States, more limited, aiming to not derail that diplomacy altogether, as the president once again says for the 20th time or so now that he believes deal is just a matter of a few days away.

Iranian officials, we should note, have been far less optimistic about that prospect -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Jeremy, thank you so much, and to Kristen as well. Really appreciate it.

We do have more on our breaking news here, as we're learning that this Apache helicopter has been obviously shot down. But Trump is now vowing, Boris, that there has to be some kind of response here. SANCHEZ: Yes.

And, notably, this comes only hours after he suggested that the U.S. was somewhere within 48 to 72 hours from an agreement with Iran. So it is truly a stunning turnaround.

We have the latest on this and many more stories coming up on CNN. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:11:10]

SANCHEZ: Back to our breaking news, President Trump confirming that Iran downed an Apache helicopter off the coast of Oman, also saying that the U.S. must now respond.

KEILAR: That's right.

Let's go now to CNN's Zach Cohen.

Zach, tell us what you are hearing from sources and from the Pentagon.

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, guys, as we now know from two U.S. officials that it was an Iranian drone that took down this Apache helicopter that was operating around the Strait of Hormuz.

And, now, this is a -- we're told this is an Iranian Shahed drone. This is one of thousands of these types of one-way attack drones that Iran still has in its arsenal, despite the fact that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Pentagon have insisted that Iran's military capabilities have been heavily degraded.

And, again, this is a reminder too of the threat that Iran still poses, not just to U.S. vessels and aircraft operating in that key waterway, but also the commercial vessels that have not yet started to regularly transit, for fear of attacks from the Iranian regime.

And so this is a new detail we're learning today because, earlier this morning, the Pentagon said it was still investigating what happened, what led to this crash of the Apache helicopter around the Strait of Hormuz. We now know, thanks to President Trump's tweet and subsequent confirmation from U.S. officials, that it was an Iranian drone.

Now, what remains unclear at this stage, though, is what the intent was, if this was an intentional attack by the Iranians or if it was a collision of some kind.

But, obviously, if you read the president's statement, that TRUTH Social post right there, it doesn't really seem that he sees a difference between the two, and that he feels it's important that a U.S. aircraft was hit by an Iranian drone and that the U.S. now -- quote -- "must respond."

SANCHEZ: And, Zach, do we know what options are being weighed as a response?

COHEN: Yes, Boris, the military has been developing a series of options. We have seen them also respond to other Iranian attacks, aggressive actions in the -- around the Strait of Hormuz over the last few days even.

It will be interesting to see if the U.S. response is ultimately proportional or if Donald Trump does order the military to carry out something more significant. We know the military has been developing a target list of potential targets around the Strait of Hormuz, things like these drone launch sites, missile launch sites, things that are key to Iran's ability to pose a threat to vessels operating in and out of the Strait of Hormuz, which is effectively how they have shut down that key waterway since the early days of this conflict.

Sol, it ultimately will be up to President Trump, though, to decide how to move forward here. The key thing to watch for is, will this response be proportional or will this be something that escalates the conflict further?

KEILAR: Zach, last month you and our colleague Natasha Bertrand reported that Iran had restarted building drones. It had re-upped its drone production during the cease-fire. Is there any reflection on the part of administration officials that the cease-fire being dragged out now, weeks and weeks, is giving Iran these capabilities?

COHEN: Yes, Brianna, that's something that we hear from sources and U.S. officials in private, for sure, but we have not heard the president, in particular, or Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth voice a similar concern, really painting a more optimistic and a more confident view of the damage that the U.S. military has inflicted on the Iranians' capabilities.

But, like you mentioned, we reported that the Iranians have been using this time, the cease-fire, to reconstitute many of its military capabilities and has already restarted production on some of these attack drones, these attack drones that, as have seen today, were -- are capable of taking down an Apache helicopter, also a threat to U.S. Navy ships and commercial ships alike.

KEILAR: All right, Zach, thank you so much for the latest there, as we continue to follow this breaking news.

And markets now are reacting to news about the war in Iran.

SANCHEZ: CNN business senior reporter David Goldman is here.

[13:15:00]

David, stocks were sort of trending down today. What are you seeing? A lot of red on the screen after the president's announcement.

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, I actually -- I think, Boris, it's a little bit more interesting what we're not seeing. The Dow is only down 350 points right now, not even 1 percent. The broader market is down just a little bit more than 1 percent. And I think that this market is so optimistic, and it has been that way since April, that even this, a potential flare-up in tensions, can't bring stocks down significantly from their record highs.

And oil is also having the same kind of reaction. It remains lower today. It was significantly lower when the president again for the 38th time, literally, said that there's going to be a peace deal within the next couple days. It's now -- instead of down 6 percent, we're down 2-ish percent.

And so this is a market that really, really believes that this conflict is going to end soon. But I have news for you. We're approaching critical levels in the stockpiles of oil that we have. And in a matter of weeks, we could hit what they call operational stress levels in the United States.

When that happens, the only things that you can do or either an export ban, meaning the U.S. doesn't supply the world with oil anymore, which would be pretty extreme and has no political support, or the other thing that you do is, you raise prices to hurt demand.

And so these lower prices that we're seeing right now, they may have to reverse themselves, and it might have nothing to do with any helicopters that are down or any kind of kinetic war that we might be seeing in Iran.

SANCHEZ: Really important context.

David Goldman, thank you so much for that.

We have much more on the breaking news ahead, the president saying Iran has downed an Apache helicopter. We have more after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:21:34]

SANCHEZ: Back now to our breaking news.

President Trump says Iran has shot down a U.S. Apache helicopter as it was patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz. He says that both pilots are safe and uninjured, the president also vowing to respond to this attack.

Let's bring in CNN senior political commentator and former Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger. He also served in the U.S. Air Force and the Air National Guard.

Thanks so much for being with us, Adam.

How do you think the U.S. should respond to this shoot-down?

ADAM KINZINGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, I think we have to respond to it.

I mean, here's the interesting thing. Supposedly this was taken down either by collision or air-to-air by a Iranian drone. I think this needs to be a reminder to Americans, and especially the Pentagon, right now that warfare is very different now in the 21st century. It is very drone-centric.

There was an article recently that discussed how the Trump administration was dragging its feet on this drone defense deal with Ukraine, probably out of stubbornness regarding Ukraine. We're in a very different time.

And I think, clearly, if we don't respond, it'll be seen as weakness. I think we need to respond. But, ultimately, this administration has got to make a decision, I think, Boris, which is like, are we going to retreat or are we going to finish this?

Because this middle ground right now, the cease-fire that doesn't really exist, it's doing nothing, except strangling the world economy. And this is a situation we put ourselves in, unfortunately, against the recommendation of many people. And now we have got to do something about it.

SANCHEZ: Do you think the administration is ready, in this economic and political environment, to commit fully to I guess what would need to be done to resolve this positively for the United States, to secure a deal in which Iran concedes not only its nuclear weapon ambitions or nuclear ambitions, generally, I should say, and its support for proxies and all the other objectives that the administration has voiced?

KINZINGER: Well, I think, clearly, they don't have the determination to do it.

I mean, look, just two days before this whole war was launched, the president of the United States was speaking at the State of the Union with the biggest audience of Americans he ever had, and he barely mentioned Iran. So it's very clear that he didn't think this was going to take as long as it did. He thought there could be a magic unicorn strike that would finish everything.

But now we're in it. And as many military advisers say, what is it, battle plans don't survive after first contact with the enemy. So we are where we are now. And this president has got to make a determination. If he walks away with his tail tucked between his legs, it's going to be terrible for the United States.

I think my son, who is 4, could very likely be put in a position to have to deal with this later. But at the same time, you have got to prepare the American people then for the sacrifice it will take to finish the job. And they're not making a decision either way.

And I think, right now, we're seeing what's happening with oil prices. We have got it good here, Boris. Friends in the U.K. are saying it's around $10 a gallon right now, and it's only going to get worse. The president needs to level with the American people. He needs to take performers out of the Pentagon and put in people that can really think this stuff through and prepare the American people for whatever comes next.

SANCHEZ: I imagine, when you say performers, you're referring to the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth.

[13:25:03]

I wonder what you make of the assessments from the Pentagon that the U.S. military has free rein in the skies over Iran, when we have seen this kind of kinetic action before, the targeting of U.S. air assets in that region?

KINZINGER: Yes, I mean, look, I think we have air superiority. I don't know if we have what's called air supremacy, which is where we can fly over unchallenged. We did it at one point.

Keep in mind, though, for the last month or so, the Iranians have been able to unimpeded -- unimpededly, or however that word is, rebuild their defenses. And, again, you see with this drone warfare where you can just basically spam a target now with drones.

I think they have been so eager to declare victory from day one that they haven't leveled with people that this is actually a very serious thing. And the days of America being able to do military action without really having to accept any casualties, those days are probably over.

That's the nature of it. So we need to change how we're doing warfare. We need to be investing with countries like Ukraine on drone defense and drone capabilities. And I got to tell you, Pete Hegseth, I know him. He's more interested in playing the secretary of defense on TV than he is in being secretary of defense.

SANCHEZ: I also wonder if this gives you an indication. Say the U.S. were to somehow reach a deal with Tehran in the next 48 to 72 hours, as President Trump has put it. Does this give you an indication of the reach that Iran would maintain over the Strait of Hormuz?

Would -- does it make you question the idea that this would be free for traffic, for any shippers around the world to use?

KINZINGER: Clearly, because, look, all Iran has to do now, I mean, they don't even really need a nuclear weapon, because they now have shown that they have the ability to use this economic weapon. And they can just sit there with that threat.

So, if we get a deal, the deal ostensibly has to be enforceable in one way or another. Probably one of those mechanisms are, we will use kinetic action if you don't follow through on this deal. But now Iran has a chip to play. They have a card to play, to use the term, because they can simply say, OK, well, we will close the strait.

And there is not -- especially this president will not be willing to reengage in that. And keep in mind too we're also turning our back on Ukraine, who is fighting and defeating Russia, one of the biggest allies of Iran. China is involved with Iran and Russia.

We have an opportunity here to inflict real damage on Russia by empowering Ukraine to do it. But we instead have now found ourselves in a position where Iran controls the strait, the Russians are getting defeated, but not by our help, and it feels like America is really retreating from the world stage, while everybody here at home, some people here at home just cheer that somehow we're in charge of the Western Hemisphere.

OK, great. We have pretty much always been. So, yes, that's a celebration, I guess.

SANCHEZ: Adam Kinzinger, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate your perspective.

KINZINGER: You bet. See you.

SANCHEZ: So, as the president weighs how to respond to Iran, a CNN investigation is getting an inside look at operations at the Pentagon.

And sources say that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has set a tone of paranoia and distrust among the nation's top military officials.

KEILAR: CNN's Haley Britzky is here with her new reporting on this.

And, Haley, you have talked to sources inside of the Pentagon. What are they telling you?

HALEY BRITZKY, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Brianna, they're telling me that the secretary over the last year-and-a-half really has just sort of helped foster this environment of distrust, these questions of loyalty and suspicious, things that are obviously resulting in a lot of senior leaders getting removed.

We have seen more than two dozen senior officers under Secretary Hegseth be fired pretty abruptly with really little explanation as to why. Most recently, we saw the Navy secretary, John Phelan, and before that the Army chief of staff, General Randy George, things that lawmakers are still asking questions about to figure out what happened.

But, really, it all comes back, the sources are saying, to this idea that Hegseth doesn't really trust the civilian and military leadership around him, doesn't really feel he can depend on them, withholds a lot of information and keeps it in a very, very tight circle to avoid things getting leaked.

We have seen over the past several months, last year, really, using polygraphs, asking people to sign nondisclosure agreements in a way that has been pretty atypical for the military thus far.

SANCHEZ: What are you hearing from sources about Hegseth's management style?

BRITZKY: Yes, so, sources are saying that he really withholds information from people who may need to know it. We had sources saying that, in the lead-up to the war with Iran,

military planners, who typically would have been read in on things, were sort of kept at arm's length in the lead-up to this, which impacted their ability, obviously, to plan for things effectively.

And so it's sort of this idea of not wanting too many people to know information, but it ends up getting in the way of things being able to be done effectively. We have had sources who said that every little decision they were making for their boss, they were calculating, could this somehow be misconstrued?