You can tell that the special military operation in Iran is going better than the Elitist Media would like because they are desperately seeking to talk about other things. And so they have settled on artificially extending the tiff between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV. Additionally, there is an issue with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s use of the word “Pharisees”” to describe the media.
Correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns was excited about being able to cover the latter. She even bragged about it on X:
Live, from Las Vegas! Putting my life long Catholic education to good use tonight by name checking the Pharisees in track… Our report from the road tonight: https://t.co/TsBCK8H0JG
— Caitlin Huey-Burns (@CHueyBurns) April 16, 2026
The subsequent report might lead Huey-Burns to reconsider her prior tweet. Especially her “name-checking” of the Pharisees:
CBS continues to milk the Trump-Leo row. It is fascinating to watch Elitist Media try to stumble through conversations about matters of faith. Note Caitlin Huey-Burns' description of the Pharisees: pic.twitter.com/ACOoUBUyQ6
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) April 17, 2026
CAITLIN HUEY-BURNS: It comes as the President is facing heightened political pressure to end the war, along with criticisms from the Pope, who today denounced what he called the masters of war.
POPE LEO XIV: The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants.
HUEY-BURNS: Trump said today he has a right to disagree with the Pope.
DONALD TRUMP: But the pope has to understand Iran- very simple: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.
HUEY-BURNS: The Pope also called out those who use religion to justify war. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has cited biblical references several times during the conflict.
POPE LEO XIV: But woe to those who manipulate religion in the very name of God for their own military, economic, or political gain.
HUEY-BURNS: Today, Hegseth invoked the Bible to compare the press to Pharisees, often portrayed as enemies of Jesus.
PETE HEGSETH: The legacy, Trump-hating press: your politically motivated animus for President Trump nearly completely blinds you from the brilliance of our American warriors. The Pharisees scrutinized every good act in order to find a violation.
The description of the Pharisees as “enemies of Jesus” is a deceptive oversimplification within the context of the report, but is also an apt descriptor of the media- especially given their coverage of the Iran operation. The Pharisees were, above all else, legalistic religious leaders who were hung up on process.
Consider the words of Jesus in Matthew 23:23 and 24:
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
This is what Hegseth alluded to then he referred to the media's scrutiny of every good act. There is always the grinding and the straining, which is why the media are focused on Hegseth’s recitations of Scripture.
In the meantime, the Elitist Media found a way to add on another day to the controversy between Trump and Pope Leo. Anything to avoid reporting on the success of the Iran operation.
Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned report as aired on the CBS Evening News on Wednesday, April 16th, 2026:
TONY DOKOUPIL: Good evening. In a moment, we'll have some news on the potential for peace in Iran but first, for another day, President Trump and Pope Leo trade comments over the legitimacy of that war in the first place. The Pope speaking in Cameroon on his tour of Africa, said, “the world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants.” And then a few hours later on the lawn of the white house, the President responded, saying: “this is the real world, and the Pope needs to understand that.” We begin our coverage tonight with Caitlin Huey-Burns, who is with the President in Las Vegas this evening. Caitlin, good evening.
CAITLIN HUEY-BURNS: Good evening to you, Tony. Well, the President is trying to shift gears tonight, hitting the road to tout his economic policies ahead of the midterms as voters are feeling the pinch at the pump.
As President Trump headed to Las Vegas today to try and change the subject from war to the economy, he downplayed rising gas prices.
DONALD TRUMP: They're not very high. If you look at what they were supposed to be in order to get rid of a nuclear weapon, with the danger that entails.
HUEY-BURNS: Gas prices have risen more than a dollar since the war started nearly seven weeks ago, and as Americans file their taxes this week, the President is touting the gains from his tax policies. But rising gas and food prices threaten to wipe out those savings.
CITIZEN: We saved a little bit of money on taxes, but we are paying so much more for groceries and for gas.
CITIZEN: It seems to take a long time, like, for the prices to come back down to even where they were at before this.
HUEY-BURNS: It comes as the President is facing heightened political pressure to end the war, along with criticisms from the Pope, who today denounced what he called the masters of war.
POPE LEO XIV: The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants.
HUEY-BURNS: Trump said today he has a right to disagree with the Pope.
TRUMP: But the pope has to understand Iran- very simple: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.
HUEY-BURNS: The Pope also called out those who use religion to justify war. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has cited biblical references several times during the conflict.
POPE LEO XIV: But woe to those who manipulate religion in the very name of God for their own military, economic, or political gain.
HUEY-BURNS: Today, Hegseth invoked the Bible to compare the press to Pharisees, often portrayed as enemies of Jesus.
PETE HEGSETH: The legacy, Trump-hating press: your politically motivated animus for President Trump nearly completely blinds you from the brilliance of our American warriors. The Pharisees scrutinized every good act in order to find a violation.
HUEY-BURNS: And we learned tonight that police were called to investigate a bomb threat at the home of Pope Leo's brother in suburban Chicago. The threat was determined to be unsubstantiated, but they are continuing to investigate. Tony.
DOKOUPIL: Caitlin Huey-Burns for us from Las Vegas tonight. Caitlin, thank you very much.
