U.S. Bolsters Military in Middle East Amid 12th Night of Strikes on Iran

Let's begin this morning with the new troop movements that suggest that the war with Iran could soon be escalating. Last night marked 12 straight nights of U.S. airstrikes on Iran. CBS News confirmed American B-1 bombers are being deployed to the region, as well as refueling jets, which often precede an uptick in combat. This morning, Secretary of State Mark Rubio said until Iran is willing to negotiate, the president's policy is, quote, a head for an eye. The problem with Iran is every time they make a deal, the people that are in charge there, they either break it or they want to change it. So it looks like they're not ready to make a deal. So they're going to continue to pay a price, and every night the price gets higher and higher and higher. And that's what's happening now. And until maybe in a few days, they'll be ready to make a deal once they realize that this is not a winning proposition for them. CBS News senior national security correspondent Charlie Daggett is joining us from Amman, Jordan this morning. So these movements, Charlie, these movements of military assets, what do they signal to you? And what are you hearing potentially from our allies in the region? For a lot, we yesterday spoke to General H.R. McMaster and others, and this move by the president almost seems there's a whiff of desperation to it. Yeah, well, certainly here in Jordan, Vlad, people are bracing for more to come. In fact, Jordan has come under attack once again from drones and missiles from Iran. But when you talk about that, what appears to be a troop escalation, a surge, I'm going to temper it down a little bit. But we tend to look for markers ahead of major U.S. military operations. Where do you look to? Refuelers, as you mentioned, right? These are air-to-air refuelers that can refuel fighter jets, the fighter jets themselves. We've seen squadrons of fighter jets come in, F-35s, F-18s, F-22s. They've been coming in and out. Now, normally that would be a rotation, a routine rotation, more coming in than going out. Specifically, though, we've paid attention to the B-1 bombers. So B-1 bombers, flight trackers have seen going from the U.K. to this region. And that would be the first time that they've entered this region really since the first few days of full combat, right, back in February and March. So that is an indicator. Why? Because of what they can carry. They're the heaviest bombers in the fleet. They can carry 2,000-pound bombs. They can hit deep underground. That gives the Pentagon and the president, in this case, the option to hit places like Pickaxe Mountain, which is an area that has been identified as possibly holding some of Iran's nuclear centrifuges, and would give the president an option to hit that. At the same time, there's been another development here, and that is the Houthis in Yemen, who have threatened to close down that strait, and they're following through on that strait. And one last thing on that threat. One last thing that I have to add here, and this is an indicator too, there have been more U.S. medical personnel sent to Landstuhl in Germany. Again, all of these indicators suggest that they may be preparing for something more intense, because that is what the DOD does, not necessarily indicating that that is going to happen. Yeah, Charlie, it's important context. Doesn't mean that it is a certainty that it's going to happen, but all of these things could be pointing towards something. I also want to ask you, we've seen some new attacks on Saudi oil tankers. What more can you tell us there? Yeah, so this is exactly what I was talking about with the Houthis. So the Houthis in Yemen are aligned to Iran, and you might remember Operation Rough Rider, which was just over a year ago, I think it was May, March, April, May, sometime when the United States had squared off against the Houthis, because the Houthis had shut down that channel, the Bab al-Mandab channel, also known as the Gate of Grief. And the Houthis claim that they have struck two Saudi commercial vessels, and a UK maritime organization monitoring that can confirm at least one of those has been struck. So that, when you combine that channel and the Strait of Hormuz, you're talking about a shutdown of two major channels in this region, which is obviously going to have an impact on fuel prices, not just in the United States, but across the globe, and fuel prices are going to have a knock-on effect for everything else. So that is where we are today. And that's why there's been these dramatic developments, not only in the number of US military assets that have been surging to this region, but the fact that the Houthis have now apparently joined this battle, which obviously creates another challenge for US forces here. All right. Charlie D'Agata reporting from Oman. Thank you, Charlie. For more on the war with Iran, let's jump over to CBS News White House reporter Aaron Navarro. He's at the White House. So, Aaron, we just talked with Charlie about that increase in US military capacity in the Middle East. What are we hearing from the White House? Oh, good morning, Kelly, and what we're hearing from President Trump is what that increased military presence could be used for, which, picking up off of Charlie's point, is potential attacks on the Houthis should they strike another vessel in the Red Sea. The president posted on Truth Social that he will hold Iran responsible, as well as the Houthis, and, quote, major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and the Houthis should they strike another vessel. The president has also previewed, though this has yet to happen, strikes, larger-scale strikes on Iran's civilian infrastructure, its power plants and bridges, showing that he's looking to expand this war should the current status of really no negotiations with Iran continue. But lawmakers here in D.C. are continually growing frustrated with the lack of an answer from the White House on if and how this war will end. Take a listen to Senator Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky. I think the Iran war has not been a success. I've been opposed to the Iran war from the beginning. I think by any objective measure, we're worse off than we were before we won it. Now, back to the Houthis in the Red Sea, the president in the Truth Social post made a point to say that he was disappointed in them for striking these vessels, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio talking to reporters in the Philippines said that the Houthis had been, quote, gotten suckered into this conflict by Iran. So, Aaron, so that's Rand Paul. He's a Republican, obviously, saying that he's been opposed to the war from the very beginning. You also had yesterday when the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, appeared on Capitol Hill. You had a very tense exchange this week with Senator John Ossoff, where the senator essentially asked him, in fact, repeated his words back to him that he told members of Congress and the American public that Operation Epic Fury was a historic and overwhelming victory. And he asked Secretary Hegseth if he made an accurate statement when he delivered those remarks, and the secretary could not answer. At least he sort of dipped and dodged around the questions that he was being asked very pointedly. So the question is, if the Iranians come to the table, that doesn't really signal an end to this war. What is the president, what is the Secretary of Defense saying is the end goal here? Well, they've retreated back to their main goal of preventing Iran from having a nuclear weapon. But any specifics from this point on to ending the war have not really been given. We might hear more from White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitch. She's scheduled to give a press briefing around 11 a.m. Washington time. But you're seeing, in addition to strikes on the Houthis, larger scale strikes on Iran's civilian infrastructure, President Trump say he could be attacking Pickax Mountain, where there had been suspected nuclear material being brought under that mountain, according to reports of Israeli intelligence. So the president is not really talking about exactly what the off-ramp looks like and has really gone back to his main argument that Iran is being prevented from having a nuclear weapon, though more evidence shows at least the contrary to that. And Aaron, switching gears, there was an announced nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia or between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. What more can you tell us and what's the president saying? This was a signed deal for Saudi Arabia to be able to develop civil nuclear programs in coordination and involvement from American companies. And that was signed and announced by the Department of Energy yesterday. But President Trump this morning put a very big condition on that, saying that it will be finalized as long as Saudi Arabia signs the Abraham Accords, as long as they agree to normalize their ties with Israel. That had been an effort going on in President Trump's first term. That had been an effort going on in President Biden's term. But that was derailed after the October 7th attacks and Israel's continual bombing of Gaza, as Saudi Arabia has made clear that Palestinian statehood is a must for them to normalize their ties with Israel. There's also many other factors, such as Saudi Arabia being generally displeased with this war in Iran, as well as the 2025 U.S.-Israeli tax on Iran, as well as the growing competition in the region between themselves and Israel, as they have partnered with other Arab countries, such as the United Arab Emirates. So far, we have not seen any word from a Saudi leader or official reacting to this condition from the president. But he's making clear that that condition remains. All right, Erin, really appreciate it.