03/08/2026: Targeting Americans, Secretary Hegseth

Summary

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60 Minutes – March 8, 2026: "Targeting Americans" & Secretary Hegseth

Date: March 9, 2026
Podcast: 60 Minutes
Episode Theme: In-depth investigations into the mystery of unexplained brain injuries suffered by US officials (so-called "Havana Syndrome") and a revealing interview with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth about the ongoing US-Iran conflict.

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Overview

This episode features two major investigative stories:

1. Targeting Americans:
   60 Minutes uncovers new evidence in the mysterious case of US diplomats, spies, and military personnel afflicted by brain injuries, long suspected to be the result of foreign attacks. For the first time, details of a classified US operation involving the purchase and testing of a microwave weapon—potentially responsible for these attacks—are revealed.

2. Interview with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth:
   Secretary Hegseth discusses the US military strategy and objectives in the ongoing Iran conflict, addressing controversial aspects, military-civilian casualties, and the broader context of American interests in the region.

Advertisements, intros, and outros have been skipped.

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1. Targeting Americans: The Havana Syndrome Investigation

Main Points

• Victims Speak Out (03:27–07:50)

  • US government officials describe sudden, severe brain injuries at home and abroad:
    • Debilitating headaches, cognitive impairment, intense pain, ear damage, and convulsions.
    • Consistent stories from individuals who never met, spanning military, diplomatic, and intelligence communities.
  • Chris (victim): "The worst pain I have ever felt. It felt like a vise gripping my brain stem." (00:52, 05:54)
  • Heidi (victim): Woke up with "immense joint pain everywhere… No trauma." (06:05)

• The Government's Response and Doubt (07:50–11:45)

  • Victims initially dismissed—causes were attributed to environmental factors, viral infections, or "mass hysteria."
  • Official government assessment (2023) claimed attacks by a foreign adversary were "very unlikely."
  • Dr. David Relman (Stanford), led government panels:
    • Concluded a subset of cases were most plausibly caused by "radiofrequency or microwave energy." (08:44–09:22)
  • Most research on these effects traced to Soviet-era and contemporary Russian efforts.

• Internal Silencing and Organizational Resistance (11:57–15:38)

  • Former CIA officer (Anonymous): Recounts joining the AHI (Anomalous Health Incidents) unit, only to discover a push to "bring down the temperature," i.e., downplay the state actor theory.
  • Describes a toxic, dismissive culture towards victims within the CIA:
    • "We're going to have simulated AHIs and drink together"—staff mocking victims. (14:36)

• The Weapon and Classified Operation (15:38–23:53)

  • Homeland Security agents purchased a portable, concealable microwave weapon from a Russian criminal network in 2024.
    • Weapon is programmable, silent, and can penetrate drywall/windows from hundreds of feet away.
    • Key: software-generated, pulsed electromagnetic waves—consistent with Dr. Relman's scientific predictions.
  • US military tests on animals show injuries matching human cases.
  • Classified security footage shows likely attacks:
    • FBI agents and families suddenly grabbing their heads in pain in an Istanbul restaurant; US embassy stairs in Vienna, victims collapsing.

• Institutional Cover-Up and Political Calculations (23:53–29:55)

  • Senior officials (including Dr. Relman and Mark Polymeropoulos) accuse CIA of "massive cover up":
    • "This is a massive CIA cover up. And I'll say—I say this with great regret. It's an organization that I loved." (Polymeropoulos, 20:08)
    • "These folks in the Biden White House believed these people… The CIA was asserting these were not attacks—some explanations were just crazy." (Relman, 24:00)
  • Motivation to cover up: Acknowledging a foreign state attack would constitute an effective "declaration of war," compelling a response the US was not prepared for.

• Vindication and Unresolved Issues (29:55–31:22)

  • White House meetings with victims; unpublished statements supporting them.
  • Problematic reality: If a weapon was bought on the black market, control has been lost—anyone could use such a device.
  • Victims ask for recognition (Purple Heart); debate continues:
    • “Our adversaries are now able to reach out and touch us … at our homes.” (Chris, 30:08)
    • “The government owes us acknowledgment of our sacrifice.” (Chris, 30:26)
  • Final open question: Both the cause and appropriate response to these attacks remain entangled in secrecy and political inertia.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Former CIA Officer:
  • "If we acknowledge that this was a state actor that was doing this, it is essentially a declaration of war against the United States." (01:31, repeated at 28:53)
  • "The attitude of your bosses toward the victims… to me, that was deplorable. It was disgusting." (14:36)
• Dr. David Relman:
  • "Consistency was more important than objectivity." (25:31)
  • "What the Russians spoke about was the importance of the energy being pulsed … you can actually stimulate electrically active tissue like brain tissue… An ideal stealth weapon." (22:00)
• Mark Polymeropoulos:
  • "There's a part of this … that's the idea of betrayal … I can never forgive them for." (18:24)

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2. Secretary Hegseth on the U.S.-Iran War

Main Points

• US Military Campaign & Strategy (31:30–36:19)

  • Operation "Epic Fury": Over 50,000 US troops involved; 3,000 targets struck.
  • Secretary Hegseth:
    • Declares US/Israeli air superiority is overwhelming compared to Iran.
    • "This is not a fair fight, and that's on purpose." (32:23)
    • US seeks "unconditional surrender" from Iran—no misinterpretation.
  • Skepticism about historical comparisons (Iran-Iraq War): US campaign to continue until Iran is "combat ineffective."

• War Origins, Alliances, & Civilian Impact (36:19–41:59)

  • US denies being manipulated into war; insists it's advancing American interests.
  • Reports of Israeli intelligence leading to the campaign’s start.
  • Casualties acknowledged: US troop deaths from Iranian attacks; thousands of Iranians (including children) killed.
  • Secretary Hegseth insists:
    • Civilians not targeted ("We never target civilians," 40:24).
    • Ongoing investigation into school bombing.
    • "This is not a regime change war in the conventional sense"—not remaking Iranian society, but seeking military defeat of current Iranian leadership.

• Wider Regional Implications & US Commitments (42:26–44:22)

  • Iran’s missile/drone attacks against regional allies; US ready to supply interceptors.
  • Control of oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz: Iranian naval capabilities severely diminished by US actions, but campaign still "just beginning."

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Secretary Hegseth:
  • “This is war. This is conflict. This is bringing your enemy to their knees.” (34:02)
  • “President Trump knows, I know. You don't tell the enemy ... what your limits would be on an operation. We're willing to go as far as we need to in order to be successful.” (37:07)
  • On civilian deaths: “Unlike our adversaries … we never target civilians.” (40:24)
  • On regime change: “This is not a remaking of Iranian society from an American perspective. We tried that. … President Trump called those wars dumb and we're not fighting that way.” (41:13)

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3. Bonus Segment: Reflections on American Innovation (44:22–45:41)

• Bill Ford, Executive Chair of Ford Motor Company:
  • Stresses the importance of empowering workers as the foundation for American innovation.
  • “Companies shouldn't exist unless they make people's lives better.” (45:17)

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Timestamps Index

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:27 | Victims recount first-hand symptoms and incidents | | 08:44 | Dr. David Relman discusses investigations and scientific findings | | 11:57 | Anonymous CIA officer details internal resistance and dismissal | | 15:38 | Details of classified US operation to acquire microwave weapon | | 18:24 | Mark Polymeropoulos expresses sense of betrayal by CIA | | 20:08 | Allegations of CIA cover-up | | 22:00 | Scientific explanation of pulsed electromagnetic effects | | 23:53 | White House meeting and ongoing debate over cause/response | | 28:53 | Political reasoning behind reluctance to acknowledge state actor | | 30:08 | Chris: “The game has changed… reach out and touch us at our homes.” | | 31:30 | Secretary Hegseth on current US-Iran war | | 32:23 | Hegseth: "Not a fair fight, and that's on purpose." | | 40:24 | Secretary Hegseth: Confirming U.S. does not target civilians | | 41:13 | Hegseth: “Not a regime change war in a conventional sense.” | | 45:17 | Bill Ford on innovation |

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Summary Takeaway

This special episode of 60 Minutes exposes explosive details of a covert American investigation that acquired and tested a Russian-made microwave weapon, potentially solving the "Havana Syndrome" mystery. It highlights the pain, skepticism, and betrayal felt by victims—and accuses the US government, particularly the CIA, of a significant cover-up motivated by fear of direct conflict with Russia.

The second half provides a frontline update on US policy and actions in the Iran war, offering rare insights into military strategy and political messaging from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The episode closes with a brief, optimistic reflection on the roots of American innovation.

For listeners seeking the full scope behind the headlines, this episode offers both hard evidence and raw emotion—an essential account of covert warfare, government responsibility, and modern conflict.

Transcript

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[Chris (Military Victim)]

The worst pain I have ever felt. It felt like a vise gripping my brain stem was there.

[Scott Pelley]

He's one of many US Government officials who tell us they were hit out of nowhere by an overpowering force that inflicts lifelong disabilities.

[Lesley Stahl]

I immediately felt fullness in my head and just a piercing headache.

[Scott Pelley]

Tonight, the decade long mystery may be solved. 60 Minutes has details of a classified intelligence mission that discovered a new kind of weapon built by a foreign adversary.

[Anonymous Former CIA Officer]

I mean, if we acknowledge that this was a state actor that was doing this, it is essentially a declaration of war against the United States.

[Margaret Brennan]

With American and Israeli strikes in Iran entering their second week, you will hear tonight from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth about what the US Hopes to achieve. You said this is not a regime change war, but the regime has changed. That's obvious. Can you square the two? Sure. Go ahead.

[Lesley Stahl]

I'm Leslie Stahl.

[Scott Pelley]

I'm Scott Pelley.

[Anderson Cooper]

I'm Anderson Cooper.

[Lesley Stahl]

I'm Sharon Alfonsi.

[Chris (Military Victim)]

I'm John Wertheim.

[Anderson Cooper]

I'm Cecilia Vega. I'm Bill Whitaker. Those stories and in our last minute, a Ford reflects on what drives American innovation. Tonight on 60 Minutes.

[Lesley Stahl]

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[Scott Pelley]

Tonight, we have details of a classified U.S. intelligence mission that has obtained a previously unknown weapon that may finally unlock a mystery. Since at least 2016, US diplomats, spies, and military officers have suffered crippling brain injuries. They've told of being hit by an overwhelming force, damaging their vision, hearing, sense of balance, and cognition. But the government has doubted their stories. They've been called delusional. Well, now 60 Minutes has learned that a weapon that can inflict these injuries was obtained overseas and secretly tested on animals on a US Military base. We've investigated this mystery for nine years. This is our fourth story called Targeting Americans. Despite official government doubt, we never stopped reporting because of the haunting stories we heard.

[Chris (Military Victim)]

Like, this very first incident occurred in August of 2020. And what it felt like was that someone punched me in the throat and. And my left ear was clogged and I started to get sharp shooting pains going down my left arm.

[Scott Pelley]

Chris and Heidi asked us not to use their last name. They met in the Air Force Academy. Chris retired as a lieutenant colonel working on highly classified spy satellites. He told us near Washington, D.C. he was struck by an unseen force five times in five months.

[Chris (Military Victim)]

The second attack, I was standing in my kitchen looking out at the backwoods, and it felt like an immediate vice on my head. Immediately disoriented, confused, and dizzy. The third attack, towards the end of September, I was sitting in our living room and instantaneously, all of the muscles within my spine immediately cramped, much like a charley horse. And my spine felt like it was on fire. So very hot and sharp. The fifth one was by far the worst, and that was early December. And I woke up with a full body convulsion. The worst pain I have ever felt. It felt like a vise gripping my brain stem.

[Scott Pelley]

Was there all in your own home?

[Chris (Military Victim)]

All in my home in Northern Virginia. And Heidi was within my proximity for the last two attacks.

[Scott Pelley]

Heidi, what happened to you?

[Lesley Stahl]

Right at the beginning of January, I woke up with immense joint pain everywhere, with shoulder pain in my left shoulder. Out of the blue, no trauma.

[Scott Pelley]

Bones in her shoulder were dissolving, something called osteolysis. She had to have surgery. Has there been any lasting effect?

[Chris (Military Victim)]

Significant. So I'm on two neurological drugs every day. And without them, I have very severe symptoms. I had sustained significant damage to multiple organ systems.

[Scott Pelley]

You believe you were attacked?

[Chris (Military Victim)]

Yes.

[Scott Pelley]

By a foreign adversary?

[Chris (Military Victim)]

Yes.

[Scott Pelley]

In the line of duty?

[Chris (Military Victim)]

Yes.

[Scott Pelley]

It's a belief shared by officials and their families that we've met over the years. See if you notice what we heard. There was this FBI agent and bam. Inside my right ear.

[Anderson Cooper]

It was like a dentist drilling on steroids.

[Scott Pelley]

This Commerce Department official in China.

[Lesley Stahl]

I could feel the sound in my head. It was intense pressure on both of my temples.

[Scott Pelley]

This early victim was among cases from Cuba, which gave the mystery the name Havana Syndrome.

[Lesley Stahl]

Severe ear pain started. So I liken it to if you put a Q tip too far and you bounce it off your eardrum. Well, imagine taking a sharp pencil and just kind of poke in that.

[Scott Pelley]

And this wife of a Justice department official posted in Europe.

[Lesley Stahl]

And it just pierced my ears, came in my left side, felt like it came through the window into my left ear. I immediately felt fullness in my head and just a piercing headache.

[Scott Pelley]

Multiple surgeries have tried to repair bones in her inner ear and her skull. Many victims have lifelong disabilities. What struck us about their stories is this. People who never met tell it the same way. The government acknowledges the injuries and often pays for health care. But for years it has doubted the cause. Victims have been told it may be atmospheric or environmental, a virus, a pre existing condition, or as the FBI put it in an early investigation, mass hysteria. The official word, published in 2023 and still standing, says it is very unlikely these are attacks by a foreign adversary. Do you believe the victims?

[Anderson Cooper]

Absolutely. What we're hearing about now.

[Scott Pelley]

Dr. David Relman is a Stanford University professor of medicine. Asked by the government to lead two investigations, his panels included doctors, physicists, engineers and others. Their reports in 2020 and 2022 proposed a theory.

[Anderson Cooper]

The two panels, the investigations that I know well, both concluded much the same. Which was that the most plausible explanation for a subset of these cases was a form of radio frequency or microwave energy.

[Scott Pelley]

Microwaves are a range of frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum. Various microwave frequencies are generated by your oven, radar systems, TV transmitters, even your phone. Wi Fi and Bluetooth use microwaves. Dr. David Relman told us his investigations found that one country had done a great deal of research on creating something different, a unique pattern of microwaves that can damage the brain.

[Anderson Cooper]

In both of our investigations, we found the large majority of work to have been conducted in the former Soviet Union. And what they found was that effects could range from loss of consciousness to seizures to memory lapses, inability to concentrate, headaches, intense pressure, pain, disorientation, difficulty with balance. Many of the things that we heard about from victims of Havana Syndrome.

[Scott Pelley]

The Russians had been doing experiments in this area decades ago.

[Anderson Cooper]

Decades ago, yes, of a wide variety of sorts.

[Scott Pelley]

In a previous story on this mystery, we found a 2014 reference to a weapon. Compelled by a lawsuit, the National Security Agency confirmed intelligence of a high powered microwave system weapon associated with a hostile country. But the CIA believed such a weapon would need enormous power and be as big as a truck. So not likely. Years later, when Dr. Relman's expert panels suggested these could be microwave injuries, the idea was shelved by federal officials.

[Anderson Cooper]

And what really unnerves me is the confidence with which others have dismissed or ignored this work, only to say that's not possible, that's not plausible, I don't believe it. That's fine, but show me new evidence nobody has.

[Scott Pelley]

Do you believe that your studies were downplayed by the U.S. government?

[Anderson Cooper]

By parts of the U.S. government? Absolutely. And not only downplayed, but dismissed in some cases. Buried.

[Anonymous Former CIA Officer]

I started in March of 2015.

[Scott Pelley]

Why buried? This man may know. He's a former CIA officer who asked us not to use his name. He is speaking tonight for the first time in 2021. He volunteered to work on the CIA's investigation because of the suffering he'd seen among CIA officers and their families overseas.

[Anonymous Former CIA Officer]

I mean, these were my colleagues, these were my friends, these were people I had worked with. And I saw lives that were destroyed, careers were ruined, people's kids were affected, they have lifelong developmental issues. People now are even still having cognitive issues and having all types of secondary effects years and years later. It became an emotional topic for me because I saw this happening and I volunteered to work in the HI unit and I wanted to make a difference.

[Scott Pelley]

He joined the so called AHI investigation at CIA headquarters. AHI because the government calls the cases not attacks, but anomalous health incidents. He expected to dig into whether a foreign adversary, a so called state actor, was behind this. But it didn't go that way.

[Anonymous Former CIA Officer]

So one of the very first things that I heard when I arrived at the AHI unit was our job is to bring down the temperature on AHI at headquarters. And that was a surprise to me. So bringing down the temperature is not, hey, let's go after the issue and find out what's going on. It became very much a emotional and almost kind of like a propaganda type thing.

[Scott Pelley]

And by bring down the temperature, they

[Anonymous Former CIA Officer]

meant what it basically was saying. Hey, we're going to work towards this being an atmospheric and environmental issue versus it being a state actor. And so they did not want people talking about it being a state actor

[Scott Pelley]

because he says fear of the mysterious AHIS was creating havoc. That fear and paranoia you describe, how did that affect CIA officers and their families?

[Anonymous Former CIA Officer]

Yeah, so personally, my own family left early for my tour by multiple months because we were worried that, you know, my family would be affected by ahi. Whether we were at home while we were serving overseas or in the field, just walking around, I saw multiple other officers short their tours, their families leave early, pick different locations where AHIs were not happening. And this was US government wide. This was not just relegated to CIA.

[Scott Pelley]

What would you say was the attitude of your bosses toward the victims who. Who had reported in?

[Anonymous Former CIA Officer]

So this was one of the more disgusting things that I came across, to be honest, working in the AHI unit. I'll never forget in one instance, a senior member of the AHI unit came into my office, and that officer came in and said, yeah, we're going to have a happy hour. We're all going to have simulated ahis and drink together. And she basically emulated that she was having a stroke and making fun of the victims. And to me, that was deplorable. It was disgusting.

[Scott Pelley]

There was no sense of, we're going to get to the bottom of this.

[Anonymous Former CIA Officer]

No, the bottom of it was we're going to prove that this is psychosomatic, atmospheric, and environmental.

[Scott Pelley]

All of this, he says, led him to resign.

[Anonymous Former CIA Officer]

I left because I saw the personal impact of this issue. And for me, it became a moral issue because they kept saying our people are our highest priority. But when it came down to it, that wasn't the case from what I saw. And it was something that tore me up emotionally. I knew people who were affected by AHI, who were victims of ahi. I saw it destroy their families, their kids, their careers. It wasn't somewhere I could keep working after that.

[Scott Pelley]

The investigation at the CIA essentially ended in 2022. But about the same time, a different classified mission was underway. 60 Minutes has learned U.S. agents who investigate illicit arms dealers heard that a Russian criminal network was selling a microwave weapon. Our sources tell us undercover agents of the Department of Homeland Security bought the weapon in 2024. The mission cost about $15 million, funded by the Pentagon. When we come back, details of the weapon and the results of testing at a US Military base.

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[Scott Pelley]

details of a classified microwave weapon that may explain mysterious brain injuries suffered by US Officials. We've been investigating these injuries for nine years and now our sources tell us this microwave weapon is portable, concealable and uses relatively little power. Hundreds of possible attacks have been reported, including, we've learned, at CIA headquarters in Virginia and at least two incidents on the grounds of the White House. For years the government doubted the stories of the injured. But now the victims, including former CIA officer Mark Polymoropoulos, hope that word of a newly discovered weapon will finally vindicate them.

[Mark Polymeropoulos]

There's a part of this, Scott, that has to do with moral injury and that's the idea of betrayal. You know, I worked for 26 years for the CIA. I think I was involved in every covert action program in the Middle East. I did some very interesting things for the US Government, always with the idea that they would have my back if I got jammed up. I just needed to get medical care when I came back and they wouldn't even do that. So this moral injury, this sense of betrayal is so acute with me, that's something that I can never forgive them for.

[Scott Pelley]

Mark Polymeropoulos rose to an executive level at the CIA about the equivalent of a three star general. He was awarded a top decoration for service in 2017. He says he was overwhelmed in a hotel room in Moscow.

[Mark Polymeropoulos]

I woke up in the middle of the night. It was a no. I didn't hear any sound. But I woke up with incredible vertigo. The room was spinning. I had a blinding headache. I had tinnitus, ringing in my ears, and I felt like I was gonna be physically sick. It was a terrifying feeling where I'd lost control, you know, something that seriously happened to me. And I remember feeling, you know, that this is so unusual. I'd been shot at in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. I'd been in physical danger, but this was terrifying.

[Scott Pelley]

He was treated for vertigo, migraines, loss of vision and trouble with memory and concentration. Disabled, he retired later in 2023. His own agency was among those that concluded it is the very unlikely that he and the others were attacked by an adversary.

[Mark Polymeropoulos]

Which, of course, to me is a betrayal, because CIA is supposed to be about putting people first, and they did not.

[Scott Pelley]

Are you saying this is a cover up?

[Mark Polymeropoulos]

This is a massive CIA cover up. And I'll say I say this with great regret. It's an organization that I loved. I believe in the mission. I was really good at this job. To this day, I want to see the CIA operate in a strong and effective manner.

[Scott Pelley]

Polymeropoulos and other victims have been doubted for years. Some in the CIA believe that a microwave weapon must be the size of a truck and so not plausible. But that changed dramatically in 2024. Three independent sources from different agencies tell us that undercover Homeland Security agents purchased a miniaturized microwave weapon from a complex Russian criminal network. It's classified. We didn't see it, but it has been described to us. We are told it doesn't look anything like a gun. It's designed to be concealed and small enough to be carried by a person. It is silent and doesn't create heat like a microwave oven. Our sources say the device is programmable for different scenarios and can be operated by remote control. The range of the beam is several hundred feet. It can penetrate windows and drywall. The vital components were made in Russia. Our sources say the key is not the hardware, but the software. The programming shapes a unique electromagnetic wave that rises and falls abruptly and pulses rapidly.

[Anderson Cooper]

Pulsed microwave radiation.

[Scott Pelley]

Just what Dr. David Relman's investigations predicted. He wouldn't talk about classified information in our interview, but his research found that Russian scientists had been perfecting the concept for decades.

[Anderson Cooper]

And what the Russians spoke about was the importance of the energy being pulsed in order to have biological effects on humans. When you produce pulses like this, you can actually stimulate electrically active tissue like brain tissue and the heart, for that matter, mimicking what the brain normally does. But now you're driving it with your pulses from the Outside an ideal stealth weapon. Ideal. Ideal because literally the person feels as if this is in my head.

[Scott Pelley]

Our confidential sources tell us the still classified weapon has been tested in a US military lab for more than a year. Tests on rats and sheep show injuries consistent with those seen in humans. Also, as a separate part of the investigation, security camera videos have been collected that show Americans being hit. The videos are classified, but they were described to us in one. A camera in a restaurant in Istanbul captured two FBI agents on vacation sitting at a table with their families. A man with a backpack walks in and suddenly everyone at the table grabs their head as if in pain. Our sources say another video comes from a stairwell in the US Embassy in Vienna. The stairs lead to a secure facility. In the video, two people on the stairs suddenly collapse. Those videos and the weapon were among the reasons the Biden administration summoned about half a dozen victims to the White House with about two months left in the President's term.

[Anderson Cooper]

I remember the day well because I helped to organize the meeting.

[Scott Pelley]

By that time, Dr. Relman was a White House advisor.

[Anderson Cooper]

These folks in the Biden White House believed these people and believed that their injuries were not caused by known medical or environmental conditions the way the CIA was asserting, which again to me was just egregious. Some of the specific explanations the CIA had used were just crazy.

[Scott Pelley]

A high level CIA source has told us, and this is a direct quote, this is the biggest cover up I've seen in my adult life, end quote. Do you believe it was a cover up?

[Anderson Cooper]

Yes, I do. Through a variety of purposes and means. Not necessarily as a pre planned strategic operation, but in essence it arrives at the same result.

[Scott Pelley]

Help me understand what you think the motive could have been.

[Anderson Cooper]

We want this to go away so that we can resume normal operations. They had dug in opinions going back years about the plausibility of a non thermal microwave mechanism. In fact, when we began our work, we were briefed by their experts and told nothing in the scientific literature will support the idea that microwave energy can do things like this.

[Scott Pelley]

They had made up their minds.

[Anderson Cooper]

It seems they had. And it almost seems as though consistency was more important than objectivity.

[Scott Pelley]

One is that retired CIA officer Mark Polymeropoulos was in that White House meeting.

[Mark Polymeropoulos]

And so what the Biden administration was telling us is that something had changed. New intelligence had come in. Now I don't have a security clearance and this was an unclassified meeting. So they could not put forward that this was based on new intelligence. But it was clear to me that that's what they were insinuating Dr. Paul

[Scott Pelley]

Friedrichs brought a message to the meeting. He's a retired major general, formerly one of the Pentagon's top doctors.

[Mark Polymeropoulos]

He said very clearly, I'm sorry, I want to apologize to you. I've never seen in 30 plus years of practicing military medicine victims treated in such a terrible manner. And I just want to offer my apologies to you.

[Scott Pelley]

What did that mean to you?

[Mark Polymeropoulos]

I have chills now thinking about it. I had chills then. It was an indication that at least some people in the Biden administration and the Biden White House believed us.

[Anderson Cooper]

Any American would be embarrassed if you were to see how these people have been treated and then to be dismissed this way as malingerers or people who are manufacturing things for some other purpose, it's insulting.

[Scott Pelley]

Our sources tell us that the Biden White House wrote a public statement backing the victims, but never released it. So far, the Trump administration has not changed the words in the 2023 Election Intelligence Assessment that it is very unlikely the victims were attacked. But our sources also tell us the Trump administration has briefed top intelligence officials in Congress and shown them a classified picture of the weapon. We're told at the Pentagon, people who had investigated the attacks for the Department of Defense have been moved to a unit that develops new weapons.

[Anonymous Former CIA Officer]

It was apparent to me that they did not take this issue seriously.

[Scott Pelley]

Looking back, the CIA officer who quit the investigation in disgust told us, in his view, the CIA was careless against a ruthless adversary. If there was a foreign adversary, Russia in particular, would you think of this operation as a success?

[Anonymous Former CIA Officer]

Absolutely. From an intelligence perspective, this would be a resounding success. Let's say one of these cases was real and it created all this fear, paranoia, anxiety here in the United States and overseas, the impact of that is astronomical, and it's something you can't almost even calculate. And I don't think if it was a state actor, if it was the Russians, which I believe it is, I don't think that is something they would have put into their calculus, that it would have gotten this big. And I think they saw the fear, the paranoia that it created, and I think that's why it continued to happen for that period of time, over a span of a year.

[Scott Pelley]

Across the previous stories that we've done on this subject, I have had the same question. I think you are the first person who could plausibly answer the question, and that is, why? Why would the government want to bury this?

[Anonymous Former CIA Officer]

I think it comes down to a political question. I mean, if we acknowledge that this was a state actor that was doing this. It is essentially a declaration of war against the United States, which has to have a response from the United States government, in my opinion. I don't know that the appetite was there to respond to the Russians at that time.

[Scott Pelley]

In our 2024 story, a collaboration with Russian dissident magazine theinsider.ru we found evidence of Russian involvement when this wife of a Justice Department official was seriously wounded overseas. An agent of Russian intelligence was in her vicinity. For this report, the Department of Defense declined to comment. The Office of the Director of National intelligence, which oversees 18 agencies, including the CIA, told us that a new review of AHI will be comprehensive and complete, and we remain committed to delivering the

[Chris (Military Victim)]

truth, and I really hope that they do.

[Scott Pelley]

The victims are waiting, including Chris and Heidi, who told us at the beginning of our story of being attacked five times in their home.

[Chris (Military Victim)]

I think it's time we as a country come to grips with the fact that the game has changed. Our adversaries are now able to reach out and touch us here in the United States, specifically at our homes.

[Scott Pelley]

What do you believe the government owes you?

[Chris (Military Victim)]

I would say that for me and my military brothers and sisters who are hurt, being issued a Purple Heart is acknowledgement of our sacrifice to the country and the sacrifice we made that affects not only us but also our families.

[Scott Pelley]

The sources who informed our reporting told us the classified mission to obtain the microwave weapon points to a troubling reality. They say there are likely many of these devices, and if undercover agents could purchase one from gangsters, then the Russians have lost control of a stealth weapon that could be used by anyone, anywhere. Should military victims of Havana Syndrome receive the Purple Heart?

[Mark Polymeropoulos]

It's not something that should be all too controversial.

[Scott Pelley]

@60minutesovertime.com

[Anderson Cooper]

with us and Israeli strikes on Iran in their second week. Tonight, you will hear from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. According to the Pentagon, more than 50,000 members of the US military are involved in the execution of what it calls Operation Epic Fury. Our CBS News colleague, Major Garrett spoke with Hegseth about the war with Iran.

[Margaret Brennan]

The US military said it had already struck 3,000 targets inside Iran. When we met with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Friday, the speaker of the House said late this week the mission is, and I'm quoting him directly here, nearly accomplished by all estimates. Is that true?

[Lesley Stahl]

We're very much on track on plan. I was down at CENTCOM yesterday, so

[Margaret Brennan]

we might hear that and think it's almost over.

[Lesley Stahl]

Well, there's no, we're not flying a Mission Accomplished banner, like George W. Bush on an aircraft carrier. We're not doing that and we haven't done that. But we can be clear with the American people that this is not a fair fight, and that's on purpose. Our capabilities are overwhelming compared to what Iran's are. And frankly, when you combine our air force with the air force of the Israeli Defense Forces, it's the two most powerful air forces in the world. The ability for us to be up over the top and hunting with more conventional munitions, gravity bombs, 500 pound, 1000 pound, 2000 pound bombs on military targets. We haven't even really begun to start that effort of the campaign, which is going to showcase even more how we will execute on those objectives.

[Margaret Brennan]

The President said recently there will be no deal with Iran except unconditional surrender. What does that look like? Unconditional surrender? How will you know it's real?

[Lesley Stahl]

It means we're fighting to win. It means we set the terms. We'll know when they're not capable of fighting. There'll be a point where they'll have no choice but to do this. Whether they know it or not, they will be combat ineffective. They will surrender.

[Margaret Brennan]

Typically, the understanding of a surrender is person to person. Is that what would be required in a matter like this?

[Lesley Stahl]

Well, there's a lot of different ways. Whether they want to admit it or not, whether their pride lets them say it out loud or not, it's President Trump who will set the terms of that.

[Margaret Brennan]

The President of Iran said yesterday that the US Demand for unconditional surrender is, quote, a dream that they should take to their grave. There was a very long war between Iran and Iraq, almost eight years, and they never surrendered in that war. And I'm just wondering if that factors into your calculus or the President's calculus.

[Lesley Stahl]

I mean, there was a really long fight that I was a part of and my generation was a part of.

[Margaret Brennan]

Yes, I know that's true in Iraq

[Lesley Stahl]

and Afghanistan, where a lot of foolish approaches were used. This is war. This is conflict. This is bringing your enemy to their knees. Now, whether they will have a ceremony in Tehran Square and, and surrender, that's up to them.

[Margaret Brennan]

There are varying versions of how and why the war started when it did. Some normally enthusiastic supporters of the President have criticized him, suggesting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pulled the US Into a war that, to their minds, did not put American interests first. Do you want to address that criticism?

[Lesley Stahl]

All I know is I'm in the room every day and I see how President Trump operates and what he's putting first and it's America, Americans and American interests.

[Margaret Brennan]

It has been said that the Israelis, through Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, provided on February 23rd Key information about intelligence they had developed about the likely whereabouts of Ali Khamenei and many in his inner circle that the US Then checked it out through the CIA, confirmed that. And that was an opportunity that presented itself to the president and that was the precipitating factor for this war. That's the way it's been reported. Is that accurate, Mr. Secretary?

[Lesley Stahl]

President Trump's approach has been our interest in advancing those interests from the beginning. And so the fact that intelligence was gathered, whether from Israelis or ours, and always checked by our intel agencies to make sure it's accurate. A lot of times the best way to start operations is a trigger based or condition based moment, and you can work together on whether that makes sense. But we were always controlling the throttle about whether or not to go or not go and ultimately to advance American interests and protect American lives.

[Margaret Brennan]

Some might look at that sequence of events and say, well, then it was an opportunity more than an imminent threat.

[Lesley Stahl]

I mean, I think much of that discussion is silly and academic. They've been killing us for 48 years, 47 years. They have unabated nuclear ambitions. And when we obliterated their nuclear program at the end of the 12 Day War and Operation Midnight Hammer, they should have come to the table and said, okay, we get it, you mean business. We're not going to have nukes. And they haven't. And as a result, when the President looks at it generationally, he sees a threat that would continue to gather despite

[Margaret Brennan]

the administration's claim that it obliterated Iran's nuclear infrastructure. In June, international monitors estimate that Iran still has more than 970 pounds of nearly bomb grade uranium. Is it possible to achieve the objectives President Trump has set before you? If we don't locate and obtain and extract the highly enriched uranium, there's a

[Lesley Stahl]

lot of different ways we can get after that. They've used a conventional umbrella of missiles that was growing every single day their production capacity to try to cover over their nuclear blackmail ambitions. As far as how you get at that nuclear option, we'll make sure that their nuclear ambitions are never achieved.

[Margaret Brennan]

Will we take it out ourselves?

[Lesley Stahl]

Well, I would never tell you or anybody else what our options are. See, that's another thing people keep asking.

[Margaret Brennan]

It's a legitimate question.

[Lesley Stahl]

It's a very fair question. People ask. Boots on the ground. No boots on the ground. Four weeks, two weeks Six weeks. Go in. Go in. President Trump knows. I know. You don't tell the enemy, you don't tell the press, you don't tell anybody what your limits would be on. On an operation we're willing to go as far as we need to in order to be successful.

[Margaret Brennan]

Do we have any overt or covert forces inside Iran? Now,

[Lesley Stahl]

I wouldn't tell you that if we did.

[Margaret Brennan]

Only reason I ask is earlier this week you said no. Is that still the answer?

[Lesley Stahl]

Yeah, that's still the answer, but we reserve the right. We would be completely unwise if we did not reserve the right to take any particular option, whether it included boots on the ground or no boots on the ground.

[Margaret Brennan]

CBS News has three sources telling us that Russia is providing intelligence to Iran on US Positions and movements. The average American might hear that and think that's a big and dangerous deal. Is it?

[Lesley Stahl]

Well, we're tracking everything. Our commanders are aware of everything. We have the best intelligence in the world. We're aware of who's talking to who, why they're talking to him, how accurate they that information might be, how we factor that into our battle plans. Our CENTCOM commander, so we know what's going on. And the President has an incredible knack at knowing how to mitigate those risks. And so the American people can rest assured their commander in chief is well aware of who's talking to who. And anything that shouldn't be happening, whether it's in public or back channeled, is being confronted, and confronted strongly.

[Margaret Brennan]

The American people can therefore expect conversations with, with the Russians to stop this.

[Lesley Stahl]

Well, President Trump, as people have seen, has a unique relationship with a lot of world leaders, where he can get things done that other presidents, certainly Joe Biden, never could have. And through direct conversations or indirect through him one to one, or through his cabinet messages, definitely can be delivered.

[Margaret Brennan]

Does this put US Personnel in any more danger than they otherwise would be?

[Lesley Stahl]

Well, the Russian involvement, no one's putting us in danger. We're putting the other guys in danger. That's our job. So we're not concerned about that. We mitigate it as we need to. Our commanders factor all of this. But the only ones that need to be worried right now are Iranians that think they're going to live.

[Margaret Brennan]

Six U.S. army Reservists were killed in an Iranian drone attack in Kuwait last Sunday. President Trump and Secretary Hegseth attended the dignified transfer yesterday at Dover Air Force Base. One more service member's death was announced this afternoon.

[Lesley Stahl]

The President's been right to say there will Be casualties. Things like this don't happen without casualties. There will be more casualties, and no one is. I mean, especially our generation knows what it's like to see Americans come home in caskets. But that doesn't weaken us one bit. It stiffens our spine and our resolve to say this is a fight we will finish.

[Margaret Brennan]

So far, more than 16, 1,500 Iranians have been killed, according to a group called Human Rights Activists in Iran. That includes 168 people, mostly children at a school in the southern part of the country, an area the US Was attacking at the time. Have you made any conclusions about whether or not the United States inadvertently or not was involved in any military strike at that school?

[Lesley Stahl]

Well, we're still investigating, and that's where I'll leave it today. But what I will emphasize to you and to the world is that unlike our adversaries, the Iranians, we never target civilians.

[Margaret Brennan]

There was a report late in the week from two officials that it was likely U.S. involvement. Is that report false?

[Lesley Stahl]

I've already said we're investigating.

[Margaret Brennan]

If you could tell the American public it definitively was not us, you would tell us, wouldn't you?

[Lesley Stahl]

I would say that it's being investigated, which is the only answer I'm prepared to give.

[Margaret Brennan]

Tonight, Iran announced that a son of its slain leader would replace him. President Trump said this morning any leader picked without his approval is, quote, not going to last long. You said this is not a regime change war, but the regime has changed, that's obvious. Can you square the two? Sure, go ahead.

[Lesley Stahl]

I meant what I said. It's not a regime change war in a conventional George W. Bush context of hundreds of thousands of troops. I mean, in Afghanistan, what I watched as a young captain was Americans thinking we were going to remake a society that was basically biblical times with AK47s and cell phones. The hubris of we're going to take Afghanistan and turn it into a Jeffersonian democracy by building Western style forces and Western style institutions. It was never going to work. And I saw it and watched it doesn't dispel the courage of the Americans who fought there, who I know there. But this is not a remaking of the Iranian society from an American perspective. We tried that. The American people have rejected that. President Trump called those wars dumb and we're not fighting that way.

[Margaret Brennan]

President Trump also said this week he would like to protect some of the people who he would like to come to power in Iran. Is that a new mission for your department? No. How would you protect people that are inside the country that he might think could rise to the level of leadership there.

[Lesley Stahl]

The best way to protect them is what we're doing right now. What you see right now between American efforts and Israeli efforts is a generational opportunity for the people of Iran.

[Margaret Brennan]

This past week, Iran launched missiles and drones at nearly a dozen Middle Eastern countries, including American allies Qatar, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia. There's reporting from our Margaret Brennan that not us, but allies in the region are running very low on interceptors. Is that true, number one? Number two, how prepared are we to help them restock interceptors to protect them as we continue this campaign?

[Lesley Stahl]

Very prepared. We plan for that. As you heard Admiral Cooper Yesterday, lay out CENTCOM commander, their missile projection is down 90% from that height. So if. Excuse me, missile shots. So if they can't shoot anywhere near that volume, our projections of munitions are well beyond what we would need. And we can cross load for allies if need be, always ensuring that our forces and our troops and our bases are taken care of first. But where we can help allies, we will.

[Margaret Brennan]

Since the war began, oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world's oil flows have stalled. US gas prices are up an average of almost 50 cents a gallon. The President said this week the Strait of Hormuz will be taken care of. How will that be taken care of? And how will the ships that are there that are not moving start to move and be moving with a degree of confidence that they will not be inhibited by what remains of the Iranian either boats or gun emplacements along that strait?

[Lesley Stahl]

Well, we're taking care of a lot of that.

[Margaret Brennan]

How?

[Lesley Stahl]

Well, American firepower, what was the Iranian navy is largely no more. There'll be more boats to be sunk for sure. So their ability to project any power in that area, in a naval sense, is diminishing. Diminishing, and will be increasingly diminished. Again, what I want your viewers to understand is this is only just the beginning.

[Anderson Cooper]

The names of America's great innovators are as enduring as the nation's founders. Thomas Edison, George Washington Carver, Steve Jobs, Henry Ford. Each complex as they were, transformational. So what's the secret to American innovation? We asked Bill Ford, the executive chair of one of the nation's oldest automakers.

[Margaret Brennan]

For me, it's always been about more than technology. It's about a deep commitment to empowering workers so that everyone can achieve their full potential. My great grandfather, Henry Ford understood this. Back in 1914, he did more than just raise wages. He doubled salaries by creating the $5 a day wage. He pushed the boundaries of what was possible in American manufacturing, and he helped create a middle class. He understood that when you invest in people, innovation follows. In doing so, Ford Motor Company put the nation on wheels and provided a freedom of movement that the country had never known. I've always believed that companies shouldn't exist unless they make people's lives better. We're here to build opportunity and communities, and that's the secret to American innovation and will be for the next 250 years.

[Anderson Cooper]

Bill I'm Bill Whitaker. We'll be back next week with another edition of 60 Minutes.

[Lesley Stahl]

A lot of short daily news podcasts focus on just one story. But right now you probably need more on up first from NPR. We bring you three of the world's top headlines every day in under 15 minutes because no one story can capture all that's happening in this big crazy world of ours on any given morning. Listen now to the up first podcast from npr. I'm back.

[Anderson Cooper]

I'm really back.

[Scott Pelley]

School Spirits returns. Why am I here?

[Lesley Stahl]

Not dead, right? This place is an absolute death trap. We need to get out of here now.

[Scott Pelley]

School Spirits new season, now streaming only on Paramount. Plus.