SCOTT MACFARLANE:
00:02:44
Some of the answers to some of the questions seemed incomplete or begged further follow up. Take a listen to what our colleague Charlie D'Agata asked of the secretary when he had his turn to ask a question. He's going to know things that you're not going to, that the press isn't going to know. And he's reflecting that the sources he's seeing are highly credible. They've given credible intelligence. They or those processes have given credible intelligence in the past. And that's what he's basing it on. Don't you think we need to see that? Do you have a top secret clearance, sir?
CHARLIE D'AGATA:
00:03:16
Eventually-- OK.
CHARLIE D'AGATA:
00:03:17
--the American public want to see it. Yes, sir? Charlie's asking about how they're measuring if this was a successful strike. So how is the Pentagon determining if this was a successful strike? Well, the top military officer in the US military, General Dan Caine, next to Secretary Hegseth today said that the execution of the mission, how it was designed, how the B-2 bomber pilots, the fighter jet pilots and the submarine crew conducted the mission was successful. But he said the military won't, quote, "grade its own homework on the final impact of the strikes." It will rely on the intelligence community to assess the final damage assessment. One of the 18 intelligence agencies, the Defense Intelligence Agency, was the one who put out that initial assessment, but that was only initial. The rest of the intelligence community will collect other streams of information to build out a final report for the Pentagon and the White House. But ultimately, it will be up to President Trump to determine whether or not the mission was accomplished.
SCOTT MACFARLANE:
00:04:17
All righty, Ellie Watson at the Pentagon, thank you.
