Inside Hegseth’s push to showcase a dramatic Iran rescue on ‘60 Minutes’

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps/Anadolu/Getty Images

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and political appointees in his office pushed for the two crew members of an F-15 who were shot down over Iran in April to participate in Sunday’s highly-publicized “60 Minutes” report about the ensuing rescue operation, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

Both airmen initially expressed reservations about doing the interview, with one even raising concerns about the prospect of being potentially ordered to take part in the segment, while military officials were also wary of revealing classified details of the rescue effort, according to three of the sources.

Political appointees in Hegseth’s office were adamant that both crewmembers sit for interviews, two of the sources said.

But after the two survivors voiced concerns, Hegseth met privately with them and asked if they wanted to participate rather than forcing their cooperation, the sources said. As a result, one of the pilots, dubbed “Bravo,” agreed to sit for an on-camera interview and discuss his experience, while the other, “Alpha,” declined to take part in the “60 Minutes” report.

The two crew members have not been publicly identified by the Pentagon, and CNN could not independently identify them to seek comment.

The episode underscores how Hegseth’s office is working to craft the narrative around the Iran war, which has become increasingly unpopular and put pressure on Hegseth to claim victory.

It also shows how Hegseth has played an unusually hands-on role in that effort – engaging in the planning process for the “60 Minutes” interview far more than is typical for a Defense Secretary.

“This entire story is a complete lie,” Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said when asked about CNN’s reporting on plans for the segment.

“The decision to participate in the interview was each pilot’s alone – because it is their story,” he added. “As CNN notes, one pilot decided to participate and one did not. Additionally, the Department took great care to ensure operational security, sources, and methods were protected. To suggest otherwise is to denigrate every member of our military who participated in and supported the interview.”

Many major news outlets, including CNN, were eager to interview the pilots last spring, and the media competition was intense. At CBS, producer Keith Sharman, a 25-year veteran of “60 Minutes,” reached out to longtime US military contacts on the day of the rescue to start pursuing an interview.

The lobbying effort went all the way to the top. Soon after the rescue, CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss told journalists in her newsroom that the bookings of the crew members were “top priorities,” and she personally lobbied Hegseth to give CBS exclusive access, three sources at the network said. Weiss also reached out to other Trump administration officials.

Hegseth and members of his staff were very enthusiastic to broadcast a dramatic retelling of the incident with both crew members, three of the sources familiar with the production of the episode said.

But the process still took several months. Sharman and correspondent Norah O’Donnell, who ultimately secured the interview, originally pitched a story for the previous season of “60 Minutes,” which ended in May.

Then CBS was consumed by internal strife. Weiss forced out several “60 Minutes” correspondents and producers and installed a new executive producer, Nick Bilton, prompting weeks of critical news coverage.

With Weiss and Bilton under pressure to prove that the new iteration of “60 Minutes” would still deliver exclusive and impactful reports, the sit-down with the crew members was even more valuable to CBS.

A CBS spokesperson declined to comment for this story.

The Pentagon, regardless of political party in power, has historically worked to frame retelling of incidents of military heroism – there’s even an office set up specifically to work with Hollywood productions. But the push for detail during an ongoing campaign concerned military officials, according to three sources.

Sunday’s show has been previewed as the inside story of the US rescue operation that extracted the two F-15 crew members from Iran.

The pilot of the plane was found in the immediate hours after the plane was shot down by Iranian forces. But the second crew member, a weapons system officer, spent more than a day evading capture by encroaching Iranian forces. At one point, he scaled the rugged terrain to a ridgeline 7,000 feet above sea level, equipped with little more than a pistol, a communication device and a tracking beacon.

The airman was rescued by a team of American commandos, accompanied by US aircraft dropping bombs to clear the area.

That crew member decided to sit for an interview after Hegseth gave the two the choice of participating or not. The pilot declined.

Uniformed service members have voiced concern that the “60 Minutes” presentation is an effort by Hegseth’s office to use the heroism demonstrated by US troops as part of a successful rescue operation for political purposes, two of the sources said.

In addition to concerns that the aircrew was hesitant about taking part in the CBS report, members of the military were also wary about potentially revealing classified specifics of the rescue mission itself — particularly while US forces are still engaged in active combat operations against Iran, multiple sources added.

But political appointees within Hegseth’s office insisted that the interview go forward despite reservations voiced by the military the chain of command, the sources told CNN.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Dan Caine, shared some concerns about the possibility that the “60 Minutes” interview could, even inadvertently, disclose military tactics to the enemy but decided to participate in the segment nonetheless, according to one of the sources familiar with the production process.

A spokesman for Caine, Joseph Holstead, said that he would not “comment on agenda-driven sources, anonymous sources’ characterizations, other than to reiterate the story here remains that the Joint Force will do everything possible to ensure no one gets left behind.”

A key part of Weiss and the CBS team’s pitch to the Pentagon involved the huge platform of “60 Minutes,” the most-watched news program on US television.

After the shock of the summertime firings wore off, Bilton and the remaining staffers faced a deadline of September 13, the date of the first scheduled episode of the new “60 Minutes” season.

Weiss and Bilton hoped to have the Iran rescue story for the season premiere. But inside CBS, the interview with the pilot was not confirmed until mid-July, and even then, there was a chance it would fall through. The sit-down was taped in mid-August.

Early in the pursuit of the interview, Weiss leaned on a past connection she had with Hegseth, whom she personally booked for a CBS interview on the January day that the ex-Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife were seized by US forces.

One of the CBS sources said Weiss sought to build on her relationship with Hegseth last spring in pursuit of the airmen story. Bilton also spoke to Hegseth and Washington sources in an effort to land the interview. Previous graf says they already had a connection

She remained in touch with Hegseth as the episode came together, two sources said.

Inside the Pentagon, Tami Radabaugh, who worked as Hegseth’s TV producer at Fox News before moving with him to the Defense Department as a senior adviser, was primarily responsible for orchestrating the “60 Minutes” presentation, the sources said.

Hegseth, himself, granted a rare interview for the “60 Minutes” broadcast, according to a preview clip released by CBS.

The network’s first sneak peek of the segment showed “Bravo” sitting silently while O’Donnell asked him, “Did you ever have any doubt that the US military was coming for you?”

Then the narrator intoned, “Dude 44 Bravo. For the first time. 60 Minutes, new season, CBS Sunday.”

伊斯兰革命卫队/阿纳多卢通讯社/盖蒂图片社

据多位知情人士透露，国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯及其办公室的政治任命人员力促4月份在伊朗上空被击落的F-15战机的两名机组人员参与周日备受瞩目的“60分钟”节目对随后救援行动的报道。

据三位消息人士透露，两名空军人员最初都对接受采访表示保留意见，其中一人甚至担心可能会被命令参加该节目，而军方官员也对泄露救援行动的机密细节持谨慎态度。

两名消息人士称，赫格塞斯办公室的政治任命官员坚持要求两名船员接受面试。

但据消息人士透露，在两名幸存者表达了担忧之后，赫格塞斯私下与他们会面，询问他们是否愿意参与，而不是强迫他们合作。结果，其中一名代号为“布拉沃”的飞行员同意接受镜头采访，讲述他的经历，而另一名代号为“阿尔法”的飞行员则拒绝参与《60分钟》的报道。

五角大楼尚未公开这两名机组人员的身份，CNN也无法独立确认他们的身份以寻求置评。

这一事件凸显了赫格塞斯办公室如何努力塑造伊朗战争的叙事，这场战争越来越不得人心，给赫格塞斯带来了压力，迫使他宣布战争胜利。

这也表明，赫格塞斯在这项工作中发挥了不同寻常的亲力亲为的作用——他参与“60 分钟”采访的策划过程的程度远远超过了国防部长通常的做法。

当被问及 CNN 对该节目计划的报道时，五角大楼首席发言人肖恩·帕内尔表示：“整个故事完全是谎言。”

他补充道：“是否接受采访完全是每位飞行员自己的决定——因为这是他们的故事。正如CNN报道的那样，一位飞行员决定接受采访，另一位则没有。此外，国防部非常重视行动安全，确保消息来源和采访方法都得到保护。任何相反的说法都是在诋毁每一位参与和支持此次采访的军人。”

去年春天，包括CNN在内的许多主流媒体都渴望采访这些飞行员​​，媒体竞争异常激烈。在CBS，拥有25年《60分钟》节目制作经验的制片人基思·沙曼在救援行动当天就联系了美国军方的老朋友，开始着手安排采访事宜。

游说活动直达最高层。据三位消息人士透露，救援行动结束后不久，哥伦比亚广播公司新闻部总编辑巴里·韦斯就告诉新闻编辑室的记者，安排救援人员的行程是“头等大事”，她还亲自游说赫格塞斯，要求哥伦比亚广播公司独家报道此事。韦斯还联系了特朗普政府的其他官员。

三位熟悉该集制作情况的消息人士称，赫格塞斯和他的工作人员非常热衷于播出对这起事件的戏剧性重述，两名剧组成员都参与了讲述。

但整个过程仍然耗时数月。沙曼和最终获得采访机会的记者诺拉·奥唐纳最初是为上一季《60分钟》节目（已于五月结束）提交的报道选题。

随后，哥伦比亚广播公司陷入内部纷争。韦斯驱逐了几位《60分钟》节目的记者和制片人，并任命了新的执行制片人尼克·比尔顿，引发了数周的负面新闻报道。

由于韦斯和比尔顿面临着证明新版《60 分钟》仍将提供独家和有影响力的报道的压力，与摄制组成员的会面对于 CBS 来说就显得更加有价值了。

CBS发言人拒绝就此事置评。

无论哪个政党执政，五角大楼历来都致力于塑造军事英雄事迹的叙述框架——甚至还专门设立了一个办公室与好莱坞制片公司合作。但据三位消息人士透露，在一次正在进行的宣传活动中，对细节的过度追求令军方官员感到担忧。

周日播出的节目预告称，将讲述美国营救两名被困伊朗的 F-15 战机机组人员的内幕故事。

飞机被伊朗军队击落后，飞行员在数小时内就被找到。但另一名机组人员，一名武器系统操作员，却花了超过一天的时间躲避伊朗军队的追捕。他一度攀上海拔7000英尺（约2134米）的崎岖山路，身上仅有的装备也只有一把手枪、一台通讯设备和一个追踪信标。

这名空军士兵被一支美国突击队救出，美军飞机也投下炸弹，肃清了事发区域。

在赫格塞斯让两人自行选择是否接受采访后，那名机组人员决定接受采访。飞行员则拒绝了。

两名消息人士称，身穿制服的军人表示担忧，认为“60 分钟”节目的报道是赫格塞斯办公室试图利用美军在一次成功的救援行动中展现出的英勇行为来达到政治目的。

多位消息人士补充说，除了担心机组人员不愿参与哥伦比亚广播公司 (CBS) 的报道外，军方成员也担心泄露救援任务本身的机密细节——尤其是在美军仍在对伊朗进行积极作战行动的情况下。

据 CNN 报道，消息人士称，尽管军方指挥系统表达了保留意见，但赫格塞斯办公室的政治任命官员仍坚持进行此次采访。

据一位熟悉制作过程的消息人士透露，参谋长联席会议主席丹·凯恩将军对“60分钟”采访可能会无意中向敌人泄露军事战术表示担忧，但他还是决定参加该节目。

凯恩的发言人约瑟夫·霍尔斯特德表示，他不会“对带有目的性的消息来源、匿名消息来源的描述发表评论，只会重申联合部队将尽一切可能确保不让任何人掉队”。

韦斯和哥伦比亚广播公司团队向五角大楼推介的关键部分是利用“60 分钟”这个巨大的平台，这是美国电视上收视率最高的新闻节目。

在夏季裁员的冲击过后，比尔顿和剩下的员工面临着 9 月 13 日的最后期限，这是新一季《60 分钟》第一集预定播出的日期。

韦斯和比尔顿原本希望在季首播集中播出伊朗救援的故事。但在哥伦比亚广播公司内部，直到七月中旬才最终确认对试播集的采访，而且即便如此，采访也存在取消的风险。最终，采访是在八月中旬录制的。

在争取这次采访的初期，魏斯利用了她与赫格塞斯过去的联系。在委内瑞拉前总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗和他的妻子被美军逮捕的1月份那天，她亲自安排赫格塞斯接受哥伦比亚广播公司的采访。

一位哥伦比亚广播公司（CBS）的消息人士称，韦斯去年春天为了挖掘飞行员的故事，试图加强与赫格塞斯的关系。比尔顿也曾与赫格塞斯和华盛顿的消息人士交谈，以争取这次采访机会。前文提到他们之间已经存在联系。

两名消息人士称，在事件发生的过程中，她一直与赫格塞斯保持联系。

消息人士称，在五角大楼内部，曾担任赫格塞斯在福克斯新闻的电视制片人，之后随他调任国防部担任高级顾问的塔米·拉达博格，主要负责策划了“60分钟”节目的报道。

根据哥伦比亚广播公司发布的预告片显示，赫格塞斯本人罕见地接受了“60分钟”节目的采访。

该电视台首次放出该片段的预告片，画面中“布拉沃”静静地坐着，奥唐纳问他：“你是否曾怀疑过美国军方会来抓你？”

然后旁白响起：“老兄，44 Bravo。首次亮相。《60分钟》新一季，CBS周日播出。”