late today that the U.S. continues to bolster its capacity for ground operations.

About a thousand troops with the Army's elite 82nd Airborne Division are expected to deploy to the region in just a matter of days.

They'll include a battalion from the division's immediate response force, which is a brigade that's ready to deploy and fight within hours of getting the call.

They'll join two marine expeditionary units,

totaling about 4,500 personnel,

also headed toward the Gulf, also equipped and trained

to be ready for action on short notice.

Now, word of this new deployment camped off

another day of some hopeful talk from the president

about negotiations with Iran.

They're going to make a deal.

They did something yesterday that was amazing, actually.

They gave us a present, and the president arrived today.

It was a very big present worth a tremendous amount of money.

And I'm not going to tell you what that president is, but it was a very significant prize.

And they gave it to us, and they said they were going to give it.

So that meant one thing to me would deal with the right people.

I'm clear what that president he's talking about actually is, though he did later say it had to do with the Strait of Hormuz and was oil and gas related.

Pupported gifts aside, though, gas prices rose again today to $3.98 a gallon, just two cents shy of the $4 mark and a full dollar a gallon more than the day the war began.

Meanwhile today, a senior diplomat in Iran who requested anonymity told MSNown, Iran is not ready to enter negotiations at this time.

Also breaking tonight, MS. Now just confirmed the Pentagon is preparing to send about 3,000 soldiers to the region.

The troops from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division are in addition to nearly 5,000 Marines already on their way to the Middle East.

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