CNN host Jake Tapper shares new details about the six American troops killed by Iran and pushes back on Trump administration claims that the news media only focuses on fallen heroes to make President Trump ‘look bad.’

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: The White House announced today that President Trump will attend the dignified transfer for the six service members killed so far by Iran in Operation Epic Fury. And we’re learning new details about four of the fallen. Twenty-year-old Declan Cody was an Eagle Scout who loved video games, anime, and working out. His sister says, quote, the only thing I can think is that I wish I had called him one more time and told him I loved him. Family members say that 35-year-old Cody Cork loved history and was always the life of the party. They say he was known for his, quote, infectious spirit, generous heart, and deep care for those who served alongside him. Thirty-nine-year-old Sergeant First Class Nicola Moore was just days away from returning home after her deployment. According to the Associated Press, she loved gardening and rollerblading and bicycling with her kids. She had two kids, a high school senior and a fourth grader. Sergeant First Class Noah Teejins and his family were prominent members of a martial arts studio back home in Nebraska. A fellow soldier credits his career to Teejins’ mentorship and says, quote, he was the kind of guy that was always around to help you. We thank them and their families for their service and sacrifice. May their memories be a blessing. During a press conference this morning at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made the rather shocking claim that the only reason members of the news media report prominently on the deaths of those six fallen American service members is because of some sort of political vendetta that we in the news media have against President Trump. SECRETARY OF WAR PETE HEGSETH: When a few drones get through or tragic things happen, it’s front page news. I get it. The press only wants to make the president look bad. But try for once to report the reality. TAPPER: Obviously, that’s just false. And it represents a truly warped way of looking at the world and how Americans view the sacrifices made by these brave American service members. It’s also, frankly, historically illiterate. The news media has always covered service members killed in action prominently because they paid the ultimate price for our nation, regardless of what anyone thinks about the policy decisions or the president. And that’s true whether it was the four Americans killed in Benghazi during the Obama administration, or the 13 service members killed during the Afghanistan withdrawal during the Biden administration, or the many other American troops who have fallen. It is a tribute to those Americans. It’s something that we continue to do, and we have always done under Democratic presidents and Republican presidents. In fact, I’ve never heard any veteran until Hegseth today say that the news media covers fallen service members too much and too prominently. It’s a wild thing to say. CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later today whether Secretary Hegseth’s comments represented the position of this administration. WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY KAROLINE LEAVITT: That’s not what the secretary said, Caitlin, and that’s not what the secretary meant. And you know it. You know you’re being disingenuous… There is not. We’ve never had a secretary of defense who cares more — KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN: When a few drones get through or tragic things happen, it’s front page news. I get it. The press only wants to make the president look bad. But try for once to report the reality. The press covers the deaths of U. S. service members under every president. LEAVITT: The press does only want to make the president look bad. That’s it. That’s a fact. TAPPER: Actually, that’s not a fact. It’s an opinion, and it’s not particularly relevant to the question of whether we only honor fallen veterans because we want to make Trump look bad. And by the way, Hegseth was crystal clear on what he was saying. Just in point of fact, and anybody can Google it. We have covered fallen veterans under Bush and Obama and Trump and Biden and now Trump again, and we will continue to honor troops by memorializing them and discussing their sacrifices. The only difference is that Bush and Obama and Biden didn’t have secretaries of defense who would petulantly complain about our coverage of fallen warriors.

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