US Admiral Brad Cooper refuses to answer questions about Minab school attack

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[00:00:00]Good evening and welcome to the program.

[00:00:02]For months, the White House and the Pentagon have deflected questions about the strike on a school as the war in Iran began. Today, that shifted. More than 150 people, mostly girls, were killed, according to Iran, and the evidence has pointed to an American missile. Skies Dominic Wagghorn was the first international journalist to visit the site. Here's some of his report, which we brought you last night. The missiles struck in the middle of the morning when the school was full of children, causing enormous loss of life.

[00:00:38]>> Staff at the school had already realized that Iran was under attack that morning and called parents to take their children home. Most of them didn't get here in time. Survivors say that most of the children, the girls on the upper floor of the school were moved to that end of the building to a prayer room for their safety. When the missiles struck, they killed many children and teachers on impact. But they also tragically collapsed completely that end of the school, trapping and killing many more.

[00:01:07]>> Dominic Wagon there. Well, this afternoon, the top US military leader in the Middle East was pressed in Congress for information on the bombing and why the investigation is taking so long.

[00:01:17]Just have a listen.

[00:01:18]>> So, the investigation is ongoing. uh as soon as it is complete. I'm happy to be as possible. We will not take responsibility for something we very obviously did >> and what so it's a it's a complex investigation. The school itself is located on an active IRGC cruise missile base. It's more complex than the average uh strike. Uh as soon as we're complete, I'm fully committed to transparency uh given your important oversight role and the other members here.

[00:01:43]>> Just so you know, and I have an enormous amount of respect for you and enormous amount of respect for the Pentagon. I do not trust that answer.

[00:01:51]Note what Admiral Brad Cooper claimed that the school was on an active missile site run by Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

[00:01:59]Previous reports have suggested the strike was accidental due to outdated information about a base near the school. Meanwhile, President Trump has revealed how close he was to launching a new round of attacks on Iran and ending the fragile ceasefire.

[00:02:15]>> I was an hour away.

[00:02:18]>> We're all set to go. You're talking about yesterday. Yes.

[00:02:20]>> We were going to be striking very It would have been happening right now.

[00:02:24]>> Yeah. It was all done. The boats, the ships are all loaded. They're loaded to the brim and we're all set to start.

[00:02:32]>> Well, more on that uh shortly. But first, an update from Dominic Wagghorn in the Iranian city of Minab where the school strike happened. He gives his take on what Admiral Cooper said today.

[00:02:42]Have a listen.

[00:02:44]pretty painful listening to Admiral here sort of wriggling under congressional uh cross-examination and not answering the question. The question was did America was America behind the attack on this school that killed at least 150 people 120 of them children and he said America does not target civilians. That is not the question he was asked to answer as he was reminded and he simply wouldn't answer that question which will I think add to the frustration of people here who who say that for almost three months now they've wanted answers and America will simply not do what it's done in the past in Iraq and Afghanistan where when all the evidence is stacking up against it these were Americanmade Tomahawk missiles that morning the Americans were targeting a number of targets in the area with all that evidence against them why not just say what they've done in the past which which is yes it We were behind it. It was a mistake. We're now trying to work out uh why. We've been to the school a number of times this week and I can categorically tell you it is a school or was a school. It's now a pile of rubble. It is not a missile base.

[00:03:44]It's not on a missile base. It's been a school for at least 10 years. It's marked on maps. Has been uh marked on maps for at least 10 years as a primary school. If you look at it from satellites, you'll see playgrounds.

[00:03:56]You'll see the markings of football pictures as well. A lot of the kids there we spoken to to their parents were were soccer mad. So you could see it was a primary school and we've spoken to as I say parents, teachers, nurses, children as well. And we we've asked most of them because there were and have been these reports that it was near or part of a military base, you know, is has it been or or is it anywhere near a military base? Did have you seen any evidence of military activity? And they've all said no. Now there are some maps that show it is adjacent to or close to buildings that there are some reports uh linking to the IRGC uh the Revolutionary Guard Corps and some of those buildings may have connections or may have had connections with the IRGC. But I can categorically tell you that that nowhere near the school that we've been to and filmed for almost a week is there any evidence of milit military activity. It's certainly not on an active IRGC military base unless that's a bunker deep underground which uh I think we would know by now because there's a big crater in the middle of school of this school caused by uh cruise missiles.

[00:05:04]>> Dom Horn there. Well, let's go straight to Washington and speak to our US correspondent Mark Stone. Mark, um just getting um some of Dom's reactions to what Admiral Cooper had to say, but I'm keen to get your reaction, too, because of course we've been watching um this afternoon and of course in the openers of the the show as well you confronting the admiral.

[00:05:28]>> Yes. Uh he he was here again uh today.

[00:05:31]He's based down in Tampa in Florida, which is the headquarters of Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper. But he was up here today uh for a second day. He was here last week and then back today.

[00:05:40]Last week he faced questions from senators. Today it was the turn of Congress people on Capitol Hill uh to to ask him the questions that that many others want to ask as well. And as you saw in the clips you played, uh they didn't get a great deal out of him. Uh what they did get though was a kind of new version of events because for the first time he he appeared to be suggesting uh that the school was based was on the site of a of an active IRGC missile launch site. Uh as you as we've just discussed there is no evidence of that. But that's a a new claim because prior to that there were some suggestions again all kind of conjecture that that perhaps it was a wrongly targeted AI uh being used perhaps for the targeting. none of this confirmed because the Pentagon has not revealed anything and just hides behind these comments. So, look, it was um it was an opportunity uh to try and speak to him directly, to get up close to him and to ask him what happened.

[00:06:39]>> Admiral Mark Stone from Sky News. Can you explain why you cannot reveal what happened in Manab?

[00:06:44]>> Hey, how you doing? Investigations.

[00:06:46]Investigations on >> For how long can you hide behind an investigation is ongoing, sir? We have We have a team in Manab right now. They have seen what happened. They have seen no evidence of a a Iranian missile base there.

[00:06:59]>> For how long can you hide behind an investigation is happening? Sir, when will the investigation conclude?

[00:07:05]Admiral, can you tell us when the investigation will conclude? Can you have say anything to the families who died in Manab? Hey, I'm PA.

[00:07:15]>> Now, following that encounter, I have had quite an interesting conversation uh with a source close to the admiral uh who has explained in a little more detail why they are arguing why they say there is a delay to the result of the investigation. Now the claim is uh that they they will not jump the gun and announce at any you know as Dom was saying they won't say look we did it but we don't know why it happened. They want to wait so they say until they have the investigation complete before they reveal the whole thing. Um and they say uh the suggestion I'm getting from sources is that there are different departments uh involved in the investigation. So a a general officer who is not part of Sententcom is in charge of the investigation. Uh so it's it's not quite like they're marking their own homework. There is an officer who is not part of the the department within the military who is prosecuting this war. That officer is in charge of the investigation. He's gathering evidence from all sorts of different agencies, including probably the likes of the CIA, and they are waiting for all that to come together before they reveal anything. Uh but it doesn't answer why this is taking quite so long. This strike uh was back in February, the end of February. It is now May and we have absolutely no answers.

[00:08:32]>> Yeah. And you know when you look at previous US strikes in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, um Syria, investigations have been concluded within weeks. Um so the fact that as you say this has taken so long is what is um you know shifting from the usual standard US response to these things. Um Mark, I just want to um shift your attention away from that and and uh focus on what Donald Trump has been saying um as well today because yesterday you told us um that he had called off uh the strike on Iran which was planned for today. Um he gave us a little bit more detail around that.

[00:09:12]Yeah, the president gave an impromptu tour of his ballroom site uh the the site of the old east wing at the White House demolished. Now a ballroom is being built. Uh and as part of that tour that he gave, he did answer some questions about Iran. uh he put a bit more detail on that post that we had yesterday where he said that because of conversations with leaders of Gulf Arab countries he had decided to call off a strike that he had up until that point decided would happen today. Uh there is behind the scenes we know a lot ongoing in terms of negotiations. We know too uh that the likes of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, perhaps UAE as well are very concerned about what the blowback would be, the impact, the retaliation would be of a resumption of American air strikes on Iran. They are in the targeted firing line from Iranian retaliation. I think it's clear now that behind the scenes, they have put some pressure on the Americans, certainly the Saudis, and said, "Look, don't go ahead with this.

[00:10:14]Don't resume this conflict." Now, it's also quite helpful for the president to be able to lean back on on on that pretext that, you know, them saying don't do this now because frankly, he does not want to to resume this conflict. What he wants is for Iran to capitulate. What he wants is an off-ramp. What he wants is all this uh to come to a conclusion, not least uh because uh the the straight of Hormuz is still such a massive problem economically for all of us. Uh but he doesn't want to be seen to be backing down. He is in a corner right now.