Sources: U.S. operation to move oil through Hormuz

While President Trump says the US controls that critical oil shipping route known as the Strait of Hormuz, Iran says that very same thing-- same assertion. They control the Strait. Well, here's what the president had to say about the Strait standoff. When they tell us one thing and they do another, but the blockade has been 100% successful. No boats have gotten into Iran. But they are getting in for other places.

So the president might have been referring to this report from Axios, revealing a stealth operation getting millions of barrels of oil through the Strait. Two officials told Axios, the US military helped empty tankers enter the Gulf to get the oil and then leave under US protection. Live now to CBS News Senior National Security Correspondent Charlie D'Agata. Charlie, what do you know about this? Well, first of all, Reed, we don't have to hang it on Axios anymore. I can confirm those reports. Folks that I spoke to at Central Command and the Navy said that the US military and part of the naval blockade is to try to ensure the safe passage of ships along the Strait of Hormuz, both in and out of the Strait. And they said that they have been repeatedly intercepting Iranian drones and missiles trying to target those ships. In addition to that, they said that, if you remember, the last serious campaign they had a couple of weeks ago in July, they said that they degraded Iran's capability to hone in and to fire at those ships in the Strait. So that Axios report kind of gives a sort of elephant walk of cargo ships passing through that south part of the Strait, as you're seeing there, Strait of Hormuz, that hugs along the shoreline in Oman. So that is where there has been some traffic going through. Now, the numbers, I can't really-- the Axios report says between 15 and 20 tankers. I couldn't get those numbers down. They said it really fluctuates day to day. But there is oil moving out of that Strait. Now, control of that Strait, again, the Iranians saying they've got it. The United States say they've got it. I can tell you that naval blockade is still in place. And this isn't anywhere near the kind of free flow of traffic that happened pre-war. In fact, of course, the United States was never responsible for policing that waterway. So that's where we stand right now. Some stuff's getting through, but not anything like what they had before. OK, so let's go from one waterway to another. We've been reporting on the USS George Washingtonarriving to relieve the crew aboard the Abe. What do you know about that crew aboard the Abraham Lincoln? Any word on when those sailors and our nation's servants will be back closer to home?

Right. So, Reed, you and I have been following very closely the George Washington, where it was and where it was going to be. And then this morning, early this morning, before we woke up, we found out that it had reached that Central Command, CENTCOM AOR, as they call it, Area Of Responsibility. So just the fact that the George Washington is now in place and-- key word here-- operational, so it's not in station, it is ready to fight if called upon. That means that the Abraham Lincolnis pretty much out of the fight now. And they kind of turned a corner anyway, when Admiral Brad Cooper visited over the weekend on Saturday. And he actually told Marines on board and sailors on board, you're going home. So that still meant that it was, potentially, active because-- whenever you're in a kinetic conflict zone like that, but you're not launching aircraft off, you're not launching munitions. So it has turned toward home. They're, obviously, very sensitive about exactly where the carriers are and how they're going to be proceeding. But it started leaving that area. It's not out of the region, necessarily, but it started leaving that area a couple of days ago. But now, with the George Washingtonnow front and center, which joins the Bushaircraft carrier, which is already there-- and of course, we talk about aircraft carriers. They're sailing solo. There'll be 10 or 12 destroyers and cruisers, along with those aircraft carriers. So they are fully postured with two aircraft carriers. But the Abe Lincoln has left the chat.

OK. So there's another military story that's pretty fascinating to me. US officials tell CBS News that the Pentagon officials have discussed firing the longtime publisher of the independent American military newspaper known as the Stars and Stripes. So I thought Max Lederer already announced his retirement. What's the story here? [LAUGHS] In fact, he did. He announced that he would be retiring at the end of September, September 30. That wasn't when his retirement was due. And then, we have confirmation that, essentially, he had been asked to leave, that he's going to be replaced. He's been with Stars and Stripesfor 19 years. Their readership has, obviously, gone down from their peak during World War II and the Vietnam War, but still at 1.5 million. I certainly read it. It is partly funded by taxpayers, so the Pentagon has a say in how that management goes. And chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell, back in January, actually, took aim at Stars and Stripes and saying that we no longer want these kind of woke articles. It covers a certain ground, sacred ground, some might say, if you follow the beat that I follow. It does straight-up news reporting. It does straight-up stories. And it has very good contacts because a lot of those folks who work at Stars and Stripesare former veterans, military, et cetera. So they do have a sort of insight. And of course, it's all they do. So they're very good at it. But they will take a cold view at what's going on there. They will take a critical view of what happens with the Pentagon and the Defense Department overall. And it just seems that this wasn't the particular management scheme that the Pentagon is happy with.

One of my most prized possessions is an article that was done in the Stars and Stripesyears ago on my dad. So I'm sad to hear that. Charlie D'Agata, thank you so much for keeping us updated on all of these headlines. You have a great day.