NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo got into a heated argument with Bill O’Reilly as the pair exchanged verbal blows about the extent of Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
During Wednesday’s episode of Cuomo, the former Fox News host argued about how much highly enriched uranium Iran has and how close the Middle Eastern country is to developing a nuclear weapon.
At one point, the disagreement turned so explosive that Cuomo had to remind O’Reilly, “It’s my show,” and told the 76-year-old to put his finger down while he was yelling his point.
The pair’s furious back-and-forth started about comments International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi made about Iran having enriched uranium at 60 percent, which is “very close to the degree you need to make a bomb.”
Cuomo also questioned why Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a press conference after the two-week ceasefire deal was agreed that the U.S. knows “exactly” where Iran’s enriched uranium is.
“Hegseth saying we know exactly what they have. Israel doesn’t say they know exactly what they have,” Cuomo said. “Obviously, there was a miscalculation during the initial campaign last summer, and the assessments were grossly exaggerated, if not outright deceptive, but they haven’t had any real monitoring in five years?”
“No. But the director, Rafael Grossi, on March 22 of this year made it very clear that he believes the enriched uranium in Iran stands at 60 percent,” O’Reilly said. “Why would he say that?”
Cuomo replied, “that’s not, that’s not exactly what he said,” before O’Reilly interrupted with, “I got the quote here.”
“Yeah, me too,” Cuomo said while holding up his phone. “What, do you think I’m just gonna let you take it out of context, like you did on your show last night. Not here.”
The pair then continued to argue about whether the IAEA was able to verify Iran’s nuclear capabilities, with Cuomo suggesting the enriched uranium percentage is “only one step in building a usable nuclear weapon that could take additional complex steps that could take months or even years. That’s the context.”
The bickering then intensified between the pair, with Cuomo suggesting that O’Reilly admit he was “corrected,” and O’Reilly suggesting Cuomo made a “mistake.”
“Keep quiet, for a second,” O’Reilly said.
“No, it’s my show, pal,” Cuomo fired back.
“You don’t want me to read your quote because it’s going to make you look foolish,” O’Reilly added.
“Read it. Read it,” Cuomo said. “And don’t point. Be a man. Don’t be a big mouth. Read it.”
O’Reilly then read the March 22 comments Grossi gave to CBS News, in which he said that the “inventory of enriched uranium at 60 percent, which is very close to the degree you need to make a bomb.”
Cuomo said he agreed with the assessment from Grossi because it wasn’t some “ham-fisted, opportunistic judgment,” but the wider context is still missing.
“He says they still have their own surveillance mechanisms. It’s just been broken down over time, and they haven’t had any real eyes on the situation for years, which is why no one really knows,” Cuomo added. “I know they have things, we just don’t know how much.”
