CNN anchor Erin Burnett called the conditions on the USS Abraham Lincoln "shocking" during a live broadcast on Thursday as new details emerged about dire troop morale.
Burnett spoke with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), who sits on the Armed Services Committee. The lawmaker wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asking for information about the troops on naval ships and pushed back on Hegseth's claims.
"Hegseth trying tocharacterize these powerful,credible reports as fake news isreally a disservice andprofoundly disrespectful to thesailors who are on the USS Abraham Lincoln and enduringthese hardships," Blumenthal said.
He explained how the lack of supplies, access to food, hot water, toothpaste and soap affects morale and increases stress, which he said contributed to a sailor reportedly going overboard.
"Anyone who'sfamiliar with how an aircraftcarrier operates knows thatthese jobs are highly stressful,requiring stamina as thesefighter jets land on an areathat looks like a postage stampas they begin their descent," Blumenthal said. "Andthese sailors, whether they areon the deck or below, doingmechanics or at the surveillancesystems, fending off possibleattacks, are all undertremendous stress and doing workthat can be highly dangerous ifthey are either distracted ordemoralized. So it's a realstrategic issue."
Reports indicated Thursday that the USS Washington was on its way to replace or relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has been at sea for a record 200-plus days without a port call — they haven't touched ground since the ship deployed from San Diego in November 2025.
But that still doesn't solve the problem, Blumenthal explained.
"The USS Washingtonis being taken away from itsforward position in the fareast. So the endless war ofimpulse without strategy andexit plan is having a toll onour military readiness," he added.
Burnett pointed out why this was problematic.
"When you hear this as an American and Americans rightly have pride in the greatest military in the world, but to hear that you have a premier military ship like this, right, a carrier where people aren't getting enough food, I think it's stunning," Burnett said. "It's hard to hear. And it's frankly shocking. And the conditions on the Lincoln appear to be in no small part because of the war with Iran."
Blumenthal described another disturbing report: sailors have not been receiving their care packages.
"Anybody who's had sons or daughters in the military, I've had two, knows that a stale cookie can be worth its weight in gold," he said. "That kind of destructive impact to morale can have a ripple effect in the crew."