Hegseth to Testify on Capitol Hill as Democrats Press for more Iran ar Updates

The U.S. carried out a 10th consecutive night of strikes on Iran. Tehran says it hit back, targeting U.S. assets in Kuwait and Bahrain. U.S. Central Command posted this video of the overnight attacks. As the war rages on, CBS News has exclusively learned nearly 100 U.S. service members have been injured in Iranian strikes just this month. The Pentagon says 96% of them have returned to duty. President Trump is promising retribution. You're looking at a social media post he wrote where he said, quote, every time Iran kills an American soldier, they will pay for that killing many times over, end quote. And the ongoing war takes center stage in Washington today. Defense Secretary Pete Hexeth is set to testify before Senate lawmakers who will face questions on the administration's $87 billion request to help fund the conflict. And at the White House, President Trump is set to meet with Lebanon's president. All right, CBS News White House reporter Aaron Navarro kicks off our coverage from D.C. He joins us now. Aaron, good morning. So as the casualties and the cost of this war ramp up, how is the White House defending the war and where do lawmakers stand on it? Yeah, good morning, Errol. The defense of this war from the White House has remained on shaky ground in recent weeks. President Trump has said these U.S. military actions are meant to prevent Iran from ever having a nuclear weapon. But direct talks between the U.S. and Iran about that topic seem to have been put on a pause for a while now. And instead, the U.S. has had to deal with Iran continually striking commercial vessels in a strait of Hormuz as transit through that crucial waterway has remained volatile for most of this month. The White House sent the letter to Congress on July 13, notifying them the U.S. is once again at war with Iran, giving them another 60-day clock to use military action in the region without approval from Congress. But lawmakers largely feel like they're still in the dark about what the White House's plans are and most recent justification is for this war. Take a listen. We haven't had a meaningful Gang of Eight meeting in months, and there's obviously been a lot of developments in Iran, including the tragic, you know, fatalities there. It's been weeks since the administration has briefed us. I think we've got a brief tomorrow, so hopefully that'll help. We got a brief in Gang of Eight maybe four or five days ago by telephone. It's difficult when everybody's scattered around the country because these are highly classified and it's hard to do on the phone. A small group of lawmakers known as the Gang of Eight will be getting a closed-door briefing from Secretary Hegseth and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Koehn about the current state of the war before they get into their larger testimony where they're looking to ask for $67 billion in Pentagon defense funding. Meanwhile, President Trump will also be meeting with Lebanon's President Joseph Oun later this morning as the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon is beginning. That relationship between the U.S. and Lebanon could impact the war with the U.S. and Iran as it has been a sticking point in talks with Iran. We'll see if any strengthening in the ties between the U.S. and Lebanon impacts whether talks start again between the U.S. and Iran. Yeah, the administration's strategy certainly under pressure. Aaron Navarro in D.C., Aaron, thank you.