about the money. it's about the business. it's about the brand. and this hits home. but i think what we saw here today, you and i have covered donald trump for a long time. this was classic donald trump in a certain way. he fights. he spins. he delays. and even when he loses, which on one count he already has, he says he's won. but no question this one's personal. >> deeply personal. and the money i mean his entire brand. i'm a businessman, i'm a billionaire. it goes to the heart of everything he says he is. when do you think we'll know? >> the judge said he'll rule probably by the end of the month. and then the question is it's going to be appealed. the appeals might take years. >> why is it always the -- then i see the look in his eye and i know it's years. all right, well thank you all so very much. we appreciate your time andological of yours as our

coverage of the breaking news out of the middle east and the u.s. strikes continues with ac 360. good evening. thanks for joining us. we begin tonight with breaking news. american-led air strikes in one of the most volatile hot spots in the world right now. mitts is some of the first video of explosions tonight in yemen's just north of the capital. iranian backed houthi fighters from yemen have been attacking commercial ships in the nearby red sea. there's been dozens of attacks. tonight u.s. and british forcevise struck back using air and naval assets. both surface ships and submarines with one houthi official moments ago saying multiple cities had been hit. cnn's oren leiberman at the pentagon for us tonight. m.j. lee at the white house where the president has just weighed in. i want to start at the pentagon. oren, what do we learn so far about the targets that have been hit? >> reporter: more than a dozen different targets were hit by

u.s. aircraft and assets. it was also submarines that took part in this launching tomahawk attack and cruise missiles. they included also storage and launch sites for ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, as well as uavs. those three types of weapons are significant. those are the types of weapons the houthivise used to attack and frankly to try to terrorize international shipping in the red sea. it is because of that threat to one of the world's most critical international waterways that first a number of major shipping companies have chosen to avoid the red sea. but, second, that the u.s. setup what it called operation prosperity guardian, a multinational coalition to defend ships there. that was purely defensive. now, after warning repeatedly the houthis to stop these attacks, the u.s., the u.k., and backed by other countries decided they needed to take offensive action, carrying out these strikes against once again more than a dozen houthi targets across several cities in yemen. this isn't an all-out attempt to try to destroy the houthis, far

from it. this targets the capabilities and tries to degrade the capabilities they have used to attack international shipping lanes over the course of the past several weeks and months, anderson. >> and oren, talk about the coalition that the u.s. has -- has involved in this. >> reporter: this is quite interesting. the u.s. and the u.k. from what we understand took part in the kinetic part of this operation in terms of firing the missiles and carrying out the strikes. but they were backed by a number of other countries here including austral you, bahrain, canada, and the netherlands. the u.s. was making sure this wasn't a unilet ral action and that they had international support. part of that was a diplomatic effort. there was a u.n. council resolution passed warning the houthis to stop international shipping in the red sea. there was also a joint statement put out by a number of countries in the u.s. effectively warning the houthis of the same thing that clearly didn't do anything to stop them. we've now seen 27 times the houthis have attacked

international shipping. and now we are seeing a coalition of partners, some taking part in the attacks, some likely taking part in the intelligence and the logistics that went into these attack on houthi targets. it's not just the u.s. sending a message now, and that's the important point. it is a coalition of countries sending a message. >> and m.j., is it clear when the president made this decision? >> reporter: yeah, anderson, what i'm being told tonight is that sort of the final straw of all this came tuesday when we saw the barrage of attacks by the houthis in the red sea. that when that unfolded, that president biden sort of gave the go ahead for these air strikes that we are seeing on our screen right now. but of course these warnings have been coming for some time. the strikes, these attacks and provocations from the houthis in the red sea have been going on for weeks as oren was just talking about. and u.s. officials had been giving warnings repeatedly. and actually in recent days one u.s. senior official had said this is basically going to serve

as our final warning. there september going to be another warning. so when we saw those attacks on tuesday, which i'm told by a senior u.s. official, also targeted u.s. vessels we knew and we expected tat some kind of different response would likely be coming from the u.s. and its allies. i also want to point you to a part of the president's statements we just got that i thought was noteworthy and gave a signal as to what might be to come. he said in a statement that these targeted strikes are supposed to be a clear message that the u.s. and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel and allow hostile actors to imperil freedom of navigation. he then goes onto say i will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free fro of international commerce is necessary. clearly, anderson, this statement is meant to serve as a warning to the houthis that more of this could come if they do not stop these attacks and provocations in the red sea. >> oren, secretary of state

antony blinken was in bahrain meeting with officials. this has been in the works for quite some time. >> it looks like it because of the amount of effort, operation and planning to car out such a large strike. but to do it with other countries means they have to be on the same page. bu rain is the interesting one here. it's the only country in the region part of this group. it's also home to the u.s. navy's fifth fleet. there is some cooperation here. two countries notably missing, of course, one is saudi arabia which is still trying to work out and advance a delicate sort of cease-fire with the houthis after fighting a years long war with them. and the uae, the emerati is also missing. the u.s. has made clear the defensive part of this not going away to safeguard international shipping. and president joe biden is warning the osive part of this may also not go away if the u.s.

does not stop attacking. we'll see if the coalition of countries taking part grows as well. >> president biden made clear in his statement earlier or just recently tonight the price that has been paid thus far by all of these attacks, the 27 attacks that oren talked about, talked about more than 50 nations have been affected, 27 attacks on international shipping, crews from more than 20 countries have been threatened or taken hostage. more than 2,000 ships have been forced to divert thousands of miles to avoid the red sea. this has been going on for quite some time. >> it has been. and in other words, if you're parsing that statement, this situation has gotten so intolerable that the u.s. and the u.k. along with support from other countries felt compelled to take this kind of action. i think it's also just really important to underscore from here at the white house how much the biden administration didn't really want to get to this point. in so many ways it has been a huge priority for this white house and the administration to try to keep the situation in the

middle east contained, obviously, for a lot of reasons the situation there is incredibly volatile. they also have been very wary of in any way disturbing the current truce in the yemen civil war between the houthi and the saudis. so i think the fact -- the fact this action was taken anyway just really signals how intolerable the situation had become. and just, anderson, since you noted the part of the president's statement where he was talking about the widespread effect of the attack that the houthis have been undertaking, obviously, the potential economic impact is not just a side note. we are talking about weeks and weeks of a situation where major shipping companies have had to find different routes, basically not operate their usual shipping lines in the red sea. that is going to already cause delays and other kinds of disruptions. this is something that u.s. officials and white house officials are watching really carefully. so far at least as of today senior white house officials

saying that they've not seen this kind of economic impact at least here domestically. but if this kind of situation goes on for days or weeks, certainly that is going to become a more urgent problem and urgent potential concern for this white house, anderson. >> oren, we should point out saudi arabia is not listed among the coalition of countries involved in this attack. that is significant given saudi arabia has conducted a long-term bombing campaign in yemen, tens of thousands of people have been killed. they're now as m.j. indicated have something of a truce and i assume are not ininvolved because they don't want to upset that. >> reporter: right, and that a very delicate truce. the reason it looks like the saudis are not involved right now as you point out the saudis conducted a widespread bombing campaign to try to destroy the houthis but that obviously very much unsuccessful as we've seen over the course of the past weeks and months. it's interesting to note the

interplay here between the u.s., the houthis and saudi arabia. early in the biden administration they announced they would halt support to saudi offensive action in yemen though they would still support the saudi's defensively. so the u.s. is very much trying to put that to an end and get that to a cease-fire there that was achieved frankly not all that long ago, 18, 20 months or so. so trying not to upset that here between the houthis and saudi as the u.s., u.k., and others taking part in this strike operation. there's others working in the background the u.s. is trying not to upset. the houthis have promised they would respond to any u.s. action. >> thank you. more now on the scope of tonight's operation what we know so far i want to go to cnn's alex marqardt.

>> the importance of the red sea cannot be denied. if you look down here this is the strait which an absolutely critical narrow area that ships go through into the red sea and then up to the suez canal. there were more than a dozen strikes across yemen from north to south across a variety of targets. we're learning more and more by the minute really of what these targets were, but they were in five different locations if not more in and around the capital, and then in several other locations up and down this north-south axis in yemen. we are hearing both from the coalition that carried out these strikes as well as the houthis. the houthis have said a number of air bases and airports were hit along with several camps.

they mention the 22nd brigade camp which is in the district down south. this is what we're learning from the coalition, which of course, the u.s. is really leading in terms of the assets that were brought to bear. they had radar systems. they had drone storage and launch sites. as oren touched on, the drones have been absolutely a critical part of those attacks that the houthis have been carrying out. ballistic and cruise missile storage and launch sites. and then in terms of what assets were used, this is just what the u.s. used in tonight's series of strikes. we also know the raf, the british air force as well as a british destroyer, they have been out there. but the uss eisenhower group has been out in the red sea serving as a deterrent to iran and other countries. the u.s. trying to send a message to not widen this conflict with that formidable strike group. fighter jets, u.s. fighter jets were used to caro out tonight's strikes along with ships. we don't know exactly which ones

yet, but we do have the name of a submarine used. very notable the u.s. military is telling us tonight the name of the submarine, and they both the surface ships and the submarine fired these land missiles. these are essentially surface to surface missiles, tomahawk missiles against this more than a dozen locations inside yemen. so a formidable amount of force brought to bear tonight in these strikes all across yemen, anderson. >> and obviously we don't know if this is the end of the strikes or this will be an ongoing omeration. what's talk more about what's behind the u.s. decision to launch the strikes now? >> well, quite simply as i think m.j. was just saying, the strikes we just saw or the attempted attacks by yemen just two days ago on tuesday, the biggest yet involving drones, ballistic and cruise missiles was essentially the straw that broke the camel's back. there had been repeated warnings by the u.s. and others to the houthis to essentially knock it off.

we have seen the u.s. carry out responses against iranian backed militant groups in iraq and syria. with we had not yet seen any kind of u.s. response against the houthis in yemen, and that is in large part because they do threaten this waterway. but essentially having choked this off, the u.s. now trying to send a message to the houthis that they need to back down. they're essentially trying to punch them in the nose, bloody them, and get them to stop. whether that will work, anderson, is now the major question. of course, the big foe here in the region is iran. they back forces in yemen, in iraq and syria, in lebanon with hezbollah, of course, and then hamas in gaza. so as oren was saying, the houthis have vowed to respond. so it remains to be seen whether there will be some kind of escalation here or whether the u.s. and these other countries have sent the message that they are intending to send tonight.

this is absolutely critical not just in terms of potential for a widening war but for global commerce. because of the amount of shipping that goes through here, now you have ships being forced to not go through the red sea, instead go south around the cape of good hope, africa, which makes things a lot more complicated, a lot more expensive. >> we should point out a senior member of the houthis made a statement on thursday warning, quote, we will confront america make it kneel down, burn its battleships and all its bases and everyone that cooperates with it no matter the cost. he went onto say we will -- remains to be seen what response if any they have to this attack. manu raju got a statement supporting the strike from senate minority leader mcconnell. the united states and our allies must leave no room to doubt the

days of aggression are over. general clark, let me start with you. i'm wondering what your reaction is to news of these strikes. >> i think it's a first step. i think it could have happened sooner. i'm glad we have a coalition. and when you're dealing with something like this, anderson, you don't to deal with it in the first place. but when you do you must obtain escalation dominance. i didn't see anything in reports about taking out the boats. so there are boats. they've been used to try to attack shipping. take out the boats. take out every means that the houthis have to get at these shipping areas, wherever the mine fields are, the mines are stationed. the iranians pulled their

destroyers back, so they're trying to run from this. that's the next step is to do something with iran. for now it's on the houthis. so they either stop or we will have to escalate what we're doing. it's all a matter of getting the targeting. the intelligence is so critical. we can strike anything in there and probably hit it if we know what we're after. so i'm sure we've been preparing this strike package for a while, but we're going to have to probably go back again and harder, and they're going to -- it's a game, and they're learning from our strike. they're figuring out what we know, so this is just the beginning of this, unfortunately. >> general breedlove, do you have a sense how sofilsphistica the houthis are in terms of the weaponry they have at their disposal? >> well, remember all roads in the middle east lead back to iran. so they are being fed capabilities that are beyond what they have -- would have

created in their -- in their country. and this is what this is all about. we have a strategic defensive issue. we have lost what deterrents we had in this area. 130 strikes against our people, 27 against international shipping, one boat being held. and so our deterrence has to be regained. and we've lost the initiative. we are now reactive rather than proactive. and i think this is the first step to begin to be proactive and try to re-establish deterrence much like wes and others just talked about. we have to make iran and all their proxies understand that they will have to pay a cost for the things they're doing. it's a little slow in coming, but now maybe we will begin to regain that initiative and re-establish the deterrence that we once held in this area. >> so general breedlove, in terms of the houthis what does

that look like? i mean general clark had talked about going after mines, after boats that they have access to. i mean how many other kind of targets do you think there are? how long could this go on for? >> well, i think there are many yet to be struck. we heard today that they happen moving some of their best into bunkers that were built for a different part of a different war. and so they know we're coming after them. and the good news is i think we demonstrated to them today that we have good intelligence of where they are because we did strike value targets today. and i think we just have to increase the cost as wes mentioned, increase the cost so they know this is not going to be a profitable venture. >> nic robertson, we should point out the houthis have been saying they're attacking the shipping lanes, attacking targets in the red sea in support of -- of gaza.

what kind of reaction to due think these strikes will likely have in israel, in gaza, in lebanon? >> yeah, i can if we look back before the houthis started targeting shipping in the red sea, they were actually trying to fire cruise missiles towards israel, trying to hit ilat. so it's interesting it is some of the longer range likely cruise missile sites already been taken out. and of course the saudis have huge commercial shipping interests in the red sea because they're developing with china the part city of gizan which is just across the border from yemen. of course that big signature development in the future is on the red sea as well. so the saudis have a vested interest in stability in the red sea. and it was interesting that in those first waves of attacks that went towards israel from the houthis, it was the saudis as well that actually intercepted some of the cruise missiles going to israel.

they put up fighter jets to do it. and the houthis actually had a cr cross-border raid with the saudis killing saudis on the border after the week of october 7th ostensibly in support of the people of gaza. that was the houthi's rationale. so the saudis here have a vested interest in seeing stability, but a war with the houthis involving saudi allies like the united states and the u.k. is you see very likely to draw them in over time. and i think to a point that -- that general wesley clark was making about the boats, the way the houthis actually operate in the red sea as well as firing drones at shipping, the way they try to board them as well as try to use helicopters, they take over small commercial fishing vessels, sort of, you know, 50, 100-foot type vessels. and they use those as a mother ship for smaller boats that will

then go out and try to board some of these bigger commercial vessels moving through the red sea. so you can blind their ability to see the shipping that's coming by hitting the radar sites, which was one of the target packages today. but the actual means with which they go after the shipping is small, harder to hit, and mingles in with regular fishermen who use the regular fishing ports along the coast of yemen. so this has a possibility to get messy, but clearly the very strong message has been sent. but i think the idea that the houthis are going to back down and pack up and go away quickly, i don't think that's what we're going to see at this time. >> general clark, to nic's point of the houthi small skresales it reminds me a bit of the somali pirates years ago. obviously the scale seems to be different on this, and the impact of it is so far different, so is the u.s. response so far. how difficult is it to -- for

u.s. assets to counter these kind of small boat attacks on -- and attempts to board international shipping? >> well, i think you've got to clear the u.s. commanders permission to do it, put the intelligence on it. we've got lots of resources in the area. you've got helicopters working with our own special forces. we can bring our ships a bit closer if necessary. we can handle this. now, the key is, of course, there's no guarantee we'll never have any collateral damage just in the case of these strikes. we don't know exactly what the collateral damage might be. just to reinforce what nic and phil have said, we need escalation dominance here. we don't want to be in a tit for tat indefinite they shoot some missiles, we drop some bombs. they shoot some missiles, we drop some bombs. that's not the way to handle this. so we've given plenty of warning we don't want escalation. so they're still defiant, the

next time got to be bigger, got to be boulder strike, got to be more comprehensive strike, got to take away not their will but their capabilities to interfere with the shipping. that's the real goal here. you know, we've apologized for two months saying that we don't want escalation. we don't want escalation. we've said that enough. when it comes to it and you have to use military force, you have to use it effectively, and that means getting the escalation dominance. so we cut off their ability. and we can largely do that against sea targets. and they're going to try to lay mines. they're going to use unmanned surface vehicles. they're going to try to get unmanned undersea vehicle. they're going to get information from iran. all that's part of our understanding, and we'll put a campaign plan together, just give us the mission and we'll do it. we want to stop the tit for tat. >> i want to check back in with oren leiberman at the pentagon.

oren, i understand there's a statement you've gotten. >> reporter: we've just gotten a statement from defense secretary lloyd austin who is worth noting does remain in the hospital at this point after being admitted on january 1st. but nevertheless in the statement he released just a short time ago he says, and this echoes language we heard from president joe biden. today's coalition action sends a clear message to the houthis that they will bear further costs if they do not end their illegal attacks. so you see there very much that threat of further action from the u.s., perhaps the u.k. and the countries that back this operation if this doesn't stop. and he also gives a bit more information about what exactly was targeted. uavs, unmanned a aerial vehicles, unmanned surface vessels. we saw those used to try to attack shipping, land attack missiles, and coastal radar and air surveillance capabilities. the u.s. it seems going after the houthi's ability to monitor their own skies and monitor the sea around the southern red sea where many of their attacks have been focused on international shipping. one of the statements worth

pointing out here austin says a coalition of countries committed to upholding the ruled based international order demonstrated our shared commitment to protect commercial vessel and from illegal and unjustifiable attacks. the reason i point that out is because normally when you see the u.s. highlighting support of action a ruled based order it is in the south china sea and taiwan strait these are the actions from china. here the u.s. needing to put a finger point on that and say, look, this is what we're upholding in carrying these the strikes against the houthis in yemen who have target one of the world's most critical waterways. >> it also echoes the language president biden had used in his statements. last month the u.s. launched operation prosperity guardian a coalition where more than 20 nations -- he went on saying we also joined more than 40 nations in condemning houthi threats and

last week together with 13 allies and partners we issued an unequivocal warning houthi rebels would bear the consequences if attacks did not cease. he also points to the security council resolution passed yesterday demanding houthis end attacks on marchant and commercial vessels. so emphasizing just the large numbers of actors in the region and around the world which are involved in this as well as the united nations. alex marqwardt is it clear? >> reporter: there are a lot of u.s. assets not just involved in trying to deter a wider conflict but all across the region more trudilgzally we are learning more about the foreign assets, the nonamerican assets that were also involved in this, notably those royal air force jets from the brits. we also know that they have had a destroyer out in the red sea as well. so what we've known in terms of

this conflict, anderson, the u.s. has actually reduced the number of u.s. forces that they initially sent out following the october 7th massacre. initially there was a carrier strike group, the gerald ford, which was already in the eastern mediterranean, and then the uss eisenhower was sent out to join it. those two carrier strike groups meant to send a very significant message to iran and the groups that they back to not escalate the situation. the ford has actually gone home with its strike group. there have also been hundreds of american soldiers who were sent out to the middle east who have also gone home. but make mow mistake still a huge number of u.s. forces dedicated to this red sea issue as well as the broader region. i mention the eisenhower -- the eisenhower carrier strike group. of course there's the aircraft carrier, the eisenhower. there are two, three other ships associated with that, one cruiser and two destroyers. and four fighter jet squadrons. you have a helicopter squadron,

electronic warfare squadron. so all of those just here dealing with this threat from the houthis in yemen. and then more broadly, anderson, this whole area of command as it's known in the middle east falls under u.s. central command. the biggest base there for the u.s. central command is right here in doha, and then you've got the u.s. fifth fleet that patrols the seas. that is based right here in bahrain. and then, anderson, you have thousands and thousands of u.s. troops who are all across the region here in saudi arabia, here in kuwait, here in iraq and jordan. and so if this were to escalate, it's not like the eisenhower is on its own dealing with the houthis. you also have all these u.s. forces, all these u.s. assets and bases across the region ready to spnld. ag the u.s. goal tonight was to de-escalate. whether the houthis see it that

way, we don't know yet. there certainly is an expectation there could be a response, but i'll agree with general clark, there are assets in place to deal with that response, anderson. >> general breedlove, the houthi deputy foreign minister just issued a statement saying in part, quote, our country was subjected to a massive aggressive attack by american british ships, submarines and airplanes and america and britain will undoubtedly have to prepare to pay a huge price. i'm wondering what you make of that statement and more importantly what is the houthi's ability to project power, to make attacks beyond just the shipping lanes in the red sea? >> so, anderson, it's a great question. you cannot dismiss their ability to wreak havoc in other places in the world. and we'll have to re-establish as several of your discussions have already mentioned tonight.

we're going to have to re-establish our positions to be able to block and prevent, and where required attack those capabilities. this is much like what we have seen in ukraine. and we are going to face some of the same problems in the south china sea and with north korea. these people are all connected in watching how america deals with problems overseas and then attacking them. and remember that we are deterred and have lost the initiative in ukraine largely because of mr. putin's statements about widening the war and nuclear expansion. so what did the houthi leader do today? he threatened us with a wider war and so forth expecting that we might be deterred at that point. i think, again, that thankfully this may be the first rounds of

re-establishing deterrence and retaking the initiative rather than being reactive in these kind of conflicts. >> nic, what do you make of the houthi's abilities? >> i think they're somewhat of an unpredictable actor in this environment because they have seem to in many occasions quite irrationally -- it has a rationale to them and undoubtedly a rationale to their sponsors in tehran. but the ability to do the unexpected cannot be underestimated. for a number of years until china got with saudi and iran to get a diplomatic agreement, almost a year ago now, the houthis were really active in firing cruise missiles into saudi arabia, not just short missiles over the border but hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of miles to the capital

of riiad and this happens over a number of years. they also claim to have sent drones into the uae as well, crashing at one time into one of the airports there. so their ability to do the unexpected i believe cannot be underestimated. and their persistence in taking up what -- you know, the support of the people of gaza, which is -- which is new to them, it's not something that made a big issue out of the in the past. the. yes, they've referenced it but it's not been a big issue. their ability to give unexpected reasons and rationale and do the unexpected can't be overlooked. >> i want to go to m.j. lee at the white house. i understand there's been now another statement from the houthis. >> reporter: yeah, actually, anderson, right now we're

monitoring a press call in place where we're getting just new information about some of the behind the scenes and what sort of led to what we are seeing right now on the screen. a senior administration confirming what cnn reported earlier this evening that u.s. vessels had been targeted by the houthis on tuesday. this is a series of attacks that we saw just two days ago. this included a u.s. commercial vessel as well as, according to the this official u.s. military vessels. and just to give you a sense of what exactly happened on tuesday, we are told by this official that had it not been for this defensive coalition that had been in place in the red sea, this is what we've been referring to as opoperation prosperity guardian that ships would have been sunk and this commercial ship full of jet fuel would have been hit. and they described it as a close call. we're also told as some of this we reported on earlier after

these attacks by the houthis on tuesday, this is when president biden convened his national security team. he ordered his advisers to basically draw up what the possible plans were for retaliation, and then he directed his defense secretary -- secretary austin to carry out this response we're seeing right now led by the u.s. and the u.k. so, again, more details are filtering in about how especially the last days have unfolded. but as we have been talking about throughout the hour, we've gotten a lot of this information from u.s. officials in recent days about how serious the situation was and that there was going to be some kind of action taken. but, of course, we are now learning in realtime what exactly led to those considerations, anderson. >> i'm also getting word that the houthis have made a new statement. i just want to try to get a -- a read on exactly what the wording on it was. i believe that -- can you repeat what that wording was to me, charlie, in my ear?

we were told they said said they had launched possible retaliatory actions. >> reporter: yeah, anderson, i can help you out there. >> sure. >> reporter: houthis are claiming that they have launched fresh attacks on u.s. and u.k. warships in the red sea. obviously this is fast unfolding situation and an incredibly volatile situation where we may see sort of a back and forth now that this -- these air strikes have been conducted by the u.s. and the u.k. u.s. officials are making clear that of course they are very much on the lookout to see how and in what ways the houthis may respond. again, we will get back to you with more reporting once we know exactly what the u.s. assessment of this claim from the houthis is. again, that claim is that they are launching -- have launched fresh attacks on u.s. and u.k. warships in the red sea, anderson. >> general clark, if that is the case -- and again that's just a

statement made by the houthis. we don't have confirmation that this actually occurred. that's something that would pretty easily be monitored i would imagine by u.s. authorities. if u.s. authorities are in the midst of a strike against the houthis, i would imagine they are looking very carefully at what is being lit up in various areas controlled by the houthis. >> sure. and we're also doing our damage assessment after the strike. and obviously the warships have got all of their raiders on alert. you're at battle stations, you're ready to defend yourself, sure. one more thing, anderson, in terms of unexpected directions. we should never forget that there is always a possibility of a terrorist strike managed by iran in the name of the houthis anywhere against u.s. assets including here in the united states. we know these capabilities are out there. we know the iranians have the capability to strike.

we know that iranians are -- they're very carefully managing this. they want to assert their intentions to regional hegemony. they want to isolate and threaten israel. they also want to decrease the credibility and influence of the united states in the region without being struck in such a way they lose their nuclear capabilities. so there is a dance going on with the iranians. and it wouldn't be surprising if they -- some of the efforts come in the form of attempted terrorist activities against u.s. bases, u.s. embassies worldwide or whatever. and i'm sure our government -- for this. >> and nic, more on that some context about their capability. >> reporter: yeah, i mean one of their capabilities and we've seen them use it before in the past on shipping in the red

seagoing back a couple years here, but they have these drone boats, these fast drone boats backed with explosives they send out to try to target shipping. they try to use them against oil tankers in the red sea before. so their ability to launch a couple of those short notice, you know, cannot be uncounted, you know, the naval assets in the region, which i'm sure they're looking out for. one other point i would make here as well, and this must be going through the mind of saudi officials when they consider secretary blinken has been talking about they're willing with israel to have a relationship on an imp provised two state solution, and all those things. but with the houthis at your back door saying they support the people of gaza, that's an implicit threat against saudi arabia for any normalization with israel. if the houthis are going after international shipping and gone after saudi with cruise missiles before, that clearly has to be on their agenda set potentially

for the future, and saudi arabia will be acutely aware of that potential threat. the houthivise really unlocked quite a big -- quite a big threat in the region right now. >> nic, thank you very much. i want to thank everybody so far. in the wake of defense secretary austin's statement a moment ago we're expecting to get more details from a senior pentagon official shortly. we'll stay on the story as we get more additional information throughout the this hour and the evening. coming up next the former president's own closing remarks in the civil fraud trial after making outlandish claims in court. what he said and what the facts say. keeping them honest ahead.

more on tonight's breaking news as we wait to speak with a pentagon spokesman about the british and u.s. air strikes taken place on houthi targets in yemen. got new video tweeted out by britain's secretary of state for defense. their defense secretary. it shows a british era fighter aircraft, the kind that took part in the strike taking off. back to our breaking news. the missile strike against the iranian-backed houthis. we're joined now by pentagon press secretary major general pat patrick ryder. appreciate you being with us. what phase is this mission currently in is is it ongoing?

is it finished? >> thank you very much for having me. we conducted these strikes, of course. you know, if there is an eventuality we may need to take defense strikes we'll do that. for all intents and purposes now we've conducted this significant multination operation in order to send a clear message to the houthis that the kind of attacks they've been conducting since november 19th, 27 as of today, wril not be tolerated. these strikes were specifically targeting nusilts that were known to have raiders, missiles, and uav capabilities that have enabled the houthis to have these strikes. the intent is to disrupt their ability to do this in the future. >> have you done damage assessment yet to get a sense how effective these strikes have been? >> after any operation of course that's going to be a natural aspect and of course that's ongoing right now.

of course we'll know more, but these strikes again were intend today be very surgical, very precise, and very deliberate to degrade and disrupt houthi capability. >> you indicated that there would be more if there are further strikes by houthis, if there are not further strikes, is this done? we talked to general wesley clark earlier who was pointing out, you know, there are small boats used by the houthis to strike at ships in the red sea. are you looking to -- are you looking for other targets now? or is it basically this is done and you're waiting to see what a response is? >> yeah, well, i'm not going to as i'm sure you can appreciate telegraph or speculate on potential future operations. but as secretary austin has said tonight in his statement, we reserve the right to protect and defend our forces, to defend the global trade that transits through the red sea, and to take necessary steps to, again, make sure that the houthis understand loud and clear that it's

unacceptable to the international community to continue to conduct these reckless, dangerous, and illegal attacks against commercial shipping and mariners that are transiting this vital urt waterway. >> key forces at play in this dach. >> we'll let our international partners of course talk to their own rule. for the united states we had multiple capabilities involved in this to include u.s. navy and u.s. air force aircraft, u.s. navy ships and submarines, subsurface capabilities all participating in these strikes. and, again, we'll have much more information to provide in the future on what those capabilities were. but needless to say this multinational effort will send a very loud and clear message to the houthis tonight. >> there was a vow of retribution from the houthis saying, quote, we will confront america, make it kneel down, burn its battleships and all its

bases and whoever cooperates with it no matter the cost. have you seen any response by the houthis thus far? there was also a claim they made about launching retaliatory strikes. >> so far we've not seen any kind of reaction or retaliation. and it's important to remember how we got here. on november 19th we started to see these houthi attacks against commercial vessels transiting this waterway. over 50 nations have been affected by this. as you know 10, 15% of global trade transits the red sea. there'd been multiple warnings by nations to say there would be consequences. clearly none of us want to see an escalation of conflict. no one wants to see the tensions rise in the region, but it's unacceptable to see the kind of behavior that we've been seeingch and so, again, tonight was intend today disrupt and degrade their ability to launch those attacks. >> how much of this coalition force is comprised of u.s. military assets?

and how much of it is made of foreign military assets? can you say? >> i don't have a break down to provide, anderson. needless to say i think the important thing here is the fact this is a multinational effort, a multinational coalition, and that these houthi attacks as i highlighted essentially affecting over 50 nations and global trade and economic well-being of nations around the world. so, again, we would hope that the message is received loud and clear, the houthis stop these attacks, and that mariners and commercial vessels can transit this vital waterway without being subject to the dangers that these attacks have presented. >> general ryder, i appreciate your time tonight. thank you. >> thanks, anderson. coming up next the former president in court and afterwards making claims about his cicivil triaial and that rereality. we're kekeeping themem honest n. to duckduckgo on all your devie

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came after the judge in his prior reversal alouded trump to speak in court and cut him off. it continued with the former presidents make a string of claims which could be true if omcourt records did not exist or newspapers or if time flowed backwards or were reversed. here's the condensed version. >> we didn't have a jury. we had no rights to a jury. this is a statute that's a consumer fraud statute, never been used for anything like this before. and it's a shame. we won this case already in the court of appeals. >> keeping them honest again in the condensed version because some of these claims have been repeatedly debunked, his lawyers never pushed for a jury trial. the statute in question in response to his claim has been used before including against trump university and yes the trump foundation which generated millions of dollars in settlements and resulted in that foundation being resolved. and no, the former president has

not already won the case on appeal. a more repeat appeal to pause the trial ended in defeat. kara scannell joins us with more on what happened in court. kara, what was it like in court today? >> this was the closing moment in the case and was hear for opening lgz and again today for closings. initially the judge didn't allow him to speak so he wasn't going to speak. after all the attorneys finished their closing arguments he said to the judge can the former president please speak. the judge gave him the remaining five or six minutes of the day where he said you can talk but you have to work within the ground rules is talk about the evidence and the law and trump didn't. he proem claimed he was an innocent man and being purseicated. he said this is political witch hunt. what happened here, sir, is a fraud on me and he continued to go on and attack the investigation. the judge gave him a cue he had

one minute left. and trump said to the judge you have your own agenda, i understand that. the judge said mr. kice, control your client. he said i did nothing wrong, they should have to pay me what they did to me reputationaly and everything else. they did not put on one witness that they said they felt had committed fraud here. the attorney general's team said the buck stops with trump. he's the head of the organization. and they said that the judge could infer from trump's vast knowledge of all of the assets including the triplex apartment that the a.g.'s team was overstated which trump has acknowledged was overstated for some of these financial statements. they said given his vast knowledge they can infer he had the intent to commit this fraud because he didn't change any of the valuations that they believe he knew were overvalued. now, what was interesting today is that the judge he's very

active, he interrupts everyone and engaged throughout the trial. he stops one of the lawyers and brought up eric trump jr. and donald trump and said to them what evidence, i haven't seen any of fraud that they knew that fraud had been committed. they said that you can't stick your head in the sand and use that as a defense. one was in the white house, his two sons are running the company. >> elie, ultimately how do you think the judge will decide here? >> trump has already lost. i think trump is going to lose even further now. there's six other counts, and i think the judge is going to find against trump over some or all of them. the big questions earlier how big is the decision going to be? how much money is the trump org going have to pay. the bigger concern for the trump org they could lose their business certificates which

could put them out of business. it's going to be a heavy hit for the trump org. >> in the closing argument the attorney general's team said trump, quote acted with intent to defraud his financial statements. how do you expect intent. >> the a.g. has to prove intent to defraud. the a.g's office acknowledged they did not have direct information. they asked the judge to infer from other evidence. you can say based on michael cohen's testimony, based on if trump ran this place, based on the extent of the overinflation, he had to have known, and that's the argument on intent. >> joey, do you think the former president did himself any favors with the judge or with the end result in this? i mean politically it's one thing to his supporters, but in the court did he do himself any favors by talking? >> anderson, i think they are mindful the trump team with regard to the two things they have to accomplish here. the one thing obviously is in court and what you have to communicate with the judge. closing arguments are obviously about the facts and about the

law. and actually that was the reason that he couldn't give the closing argument because he would not agree to follow those rules. and instead wanted to wax poetic about the campaign, et cetera, attacking the attorney general and everyone else when they said you can't make it. in term of an in-court proceeding i do not think he did himself any favors with respect to denigrating the attorney general saying it's a witch hunt, et cetera. however, there's that other imperative which is very big. and there is that there's presidential election. and with regard to that you want to contain and keep the narrative i'm a victim, i made a lot of money for banks and other people, there was no fraud, i'm being persecuted. and that's something that i think play tuesday his followers, and as a result of that there me may have done himself a lot of favors. i think it's the bridging of those two gaps at the end of the day he's mindful of. >> he's fund-raising off all these appearances.

>> the final word was said today, the legal briefs all filed last week. the judge saying he expects to make his decision, which will come in a written opinion by the end of the month. he said it's not a process, it's a not a guarantee. look for it by january 31st. that won't be the end of this because trump's team has already said they're going to appeal. it's a matter what they're going to be appealing. this will continue for months potentially on end until the court has the final say in this. >> i think trump's team is going to appeal certainly what the verdict it is. i also think thegory teeg claim when the suggest gave summary judgment, the judge ruled before the trial he actually violated procedure there. because summary judgment means if i take all the facts, meaning if i assume the word as trump argues it he still loses. that's what trump did. he says the a.g. says "a," trump says "b," i find "a" way more credible.

but i think they'll argue on appeal that's a verdict. that was inappropriate for summary judgment. i don't think they'll get this case thrown out. >> i think that obviously there'll be an appeal and probably have multiple layers to that. remember what that looks like. the judge makes a determination. thereafter it goes to what we call an appellate division. that's an intermediate level court. it's going to turn on two things they they always do, fax cts an the law. it's up to the judge to make the factual finding. if they're supported by facts and he matches that to the laws at issue here, i think you know what ultimately the courts need to decide whether there's any overstep or errors, et cetera, and i think they'll have their hands full because they're going to appeal everything in this case. >> kara, you covered a lot of trials. how does this compare?

>> i mean this was kind of a wild trial because it was a bench trial. the judge gave them a lot more leeway in this case. there were a lot of speaking objections. the parties would break out slinging insults at each other at different points during this trial. it was unlike anything else, and i've covered a lot of trials to actually see it handled this way. i think part of what the judge was doing he was very cognizant they were going to appeal. so he was giving the trump side a lot of room to make their record, put a lot of things on the record. but, you know, it was a three-month long trial. even today it was this idea that he set the rules for trump coming in and then in the end ultimately let trump speak because he said no one had more to lose in this trial than trump. and so he felt since there was no jury, it was perfect for trump to have the final word. >> thanks so much. appreciate it all of you. the news continues. i'll see you tomorrow. the source with kaitlan collin