“I get why a reporter tries to get this stuff, whatever, and she’s a moron, she doesn’t know what she’s talking about, (I) shouldn’t characterize, but I get why they want to get this sort of stuff. The real question is, who was it inside the administration, inside the government that leaked it?”

Earlier on Wednesday, Donald Trump called out Bertrand on Truth Social, posting “Natasha Bertrand should be FIRED from CNN! I watched her for three days doing Fake News. She should be IMMEDIATELY reprimanded, and then thrown out ‘like a dog.’”

CNN released a statement supporting the journalist that read, “We stand 100 percent behind Natasha Bertrand’s journalism and specifically her and her colleagues’ reporting of the early intelligence assessment of the U.S. attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. CNN’s reporting made clear that this was an initial finding that could change with additional intelligence. We have extensively covered President Trump’s own deep skepticism about it.”

It concluded, “However, we do not believe it is reasonable to criticize CNN reporters for accurately reporting on the existence of the assessment and accurately characterizing its findings, which are in the public interest.”

Hurt did admit, however, that it was unclear just how damaging the strikes were. “We don’t know, it’s going to take time to find out, I can’t wait to find out what the damage actually was,” he said.