From This Morning to Tonight: A War That Moved Fast
How today unfolded — oil pulled back from $120 after Trump spoke, Iran's new leader took power and immediately launched attacks, and a Tomahawk video forced the Minab question into the White House briefing room.
Oil prices swung from nearly $120 to near-flat Monday after President Trump told CBS News the Iran war was “very complete, pretty much,” while newly surfaced video raised fresh questions about the Minab school strike, and the seventh U.S. soldier killed in the conflict — Sgt. Benjamin Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Kentucky — returned home tonight to Dover Air Force Base.
On the Minab school strike, the story moved further against the administration. ABC News reported that newly surfaced video appears to show a U.S.-made missile striking a building directly adjacent to Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ school. Targeting experts told ABC the footage is consistent with a precision strike on the naval facility next door. When asked directly at his Doral press conference, Trump said he doesn’t “know enough about” the strike, suggested Iran might have used a Tomahawk — a weapon Iran does not possess — and added: “Whatever the report shows, I’m willing to live with that report.” That is not a denial.
And tonight, VP JD Vance attended the dignified transfer of Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Kentucky — the seventh American to die in an unauthorized war — at Dover Air Force Base. Pennington was an Eagle Scout, a Central Hardin High School graduate, assigned to the Army Space and Missile Defense Command at Fort Carson, Colorado. He spent eight days fighting for his life after being wounded at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on March 1. His pastor said Pennington’s father called Saturday morning hoping for recovery, then called again that evening to ask for prayers as his son faded. He was posthumously promoted to Staff Sergeant.
What to Watch For
Whether Israel acts on its assassination threat against Mojtaba Khamenei. Israel said any successor would be a target. Netanyahu has promised “many surprises” in the next phase. The new supreme leader has not been seen publicly since before the war began — but he is now officially the head of state of a country actively at war with Israel and the United States.
Whether the Minab video forces a congressional response. Six Senate Democrats have spoken. The video now provides a visual record that will be very difficult to suppress. Watch whether any Republican breaks rank, and whether any committee chair requests a formal briefing on the targeting package.
Whether Trump’s “very complete” claim holds. He told CBS the war is nearly over. CENTCOM and Hegseth are still describing an accelerating campaign. Iran is still launching missiles. The gap between the president’s narrative and the operational reality is now publicly documented — and oil markets are trading on every word he says.
Bottom Line
Tonight, a 26-year-old from Glendale, Kentucky came home to Dover for the second time in three days — this time in a flag-draped transfer case. Sgt. Benjamin Pennington joined a war Congress never voted for, at a base the administration never mentioned, in a country the president now says is "very complete." The families of the fallen are being asked to trust a process no one has fully explained. That accounting still hasn't happened.