>> hello and welcome everyone. i'm michael holmes in atlanta. appreciate your company. we begin with breaking news, and concerns about a possible widening of conflict in the middle east. the u.s. and uk have been striking houthi targets in yemen following a surge of attacks by the iran-backed rebels against commercial vessels in the red sea. have a look at these images that came in a short time ago, showing american fighter jets taking off from the uss eisenhower aircraft carrier. a senior u.s. military official says it is unclear what percentage of who the assets were destroyed inside yemen, but said the amount was significant. houthis say they retaliated. we are told u.s. and coalition forces hit more than 60 targets at 16 of the locations, and those targets included the

militants radar systems along with storage and launch sites for ballistic myself, cruise missiles, and drones. i can show you where they are located. you can see there on the map, the u.s. has carried out strikes against iranian proxies in iraq and syria in recent months. this is the first known strike against the houthis inside yemen. a clear sign of the growing alarm over the threat to international shipping, in one of the world's most critical waterways. the u.s. president issuing a statement, quote, these targeted strikes are a clear message that the united states and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to imperil freedom of navigation in one of the world's most critical commercial routes. i will not hesitate to further direct measures to protect our people, and at the free flow of international commerce as necessary. u.s. officials say, the strikes targeted weapons used in houthi

attacks on commercial shipping, attacks that have been going on for weeks now. oren liebermann with details from the pentagon. >> after repeated warnings to the houthis in yemen to stop attacking international shipping lanes in the red sea, one of the world's most critical waterways, the u.s. and uk got to the point where they felt compelled to act. early friday morning, yemen -- u.s. central command, the u.s. and uk backed by several partners carried out a series of more than a dozen strikes against sites in yemen used by the houthis. radar systems, storage and launch sites, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles. these are significant. the u.s. not trying to start a war, or escalate with houthis, but these are the systems they have used repeatedly to attack u.s. shipping length. they have launched 27 attacks against commercial vessels in the red sea. again, absolutely critical waterway. those attacks are forced some of the world's largest shipping

companies to avoid the red sea. of course -- the u.s. set up operation prosperity guarding more than 20 other countries to defend those shipping lanes. that was purely a defensive operation. when those attacks continued, and certainly after tuesday when we saw the largest such a barrage launched from the houthis, the u.s. stepped in, prepared its plans, and finalized those plans, then acted carrying out a series of strikes intended to degrade the ability of the houthis on iranian-backed proxy in yemen to target international shipping here. the u.s. will try to contain this so it doesn't escalate too much, but fully aware of the risk of escalation here, knowing the houthis that promise to respond to any american action. it is worth noting, even the defense secretary lloyd austin in the hospital, following complications over a surgery for prostate cancer, he tracked this very closely, was intimately involved in the planning over the course of the past 72 hours, holding two calls with presidential, and multiple daily calls with the

nsc, the chairman of the joint chiefs, and the commander of u.s. central command. earlier on -- execute those strikes, and we saw those play out late in the evening. the u.s. essentially carried out the warning we have seen them threaten repeatedly, not if they're houthi attacks on international shipping, continue the u.s. and uk will be forced to act. that is what we have seen. of course the question, where does this go from here as the houthis promised a response and the iranians essentially get into this and respond in their own fashion, those are questions the u.s. has asked, and to find out the answer, we will watch the region very closely. oren liebermann, cnn, pentagon. >> houthi militants lashing out against the u.s. and uk's -- one senior leader issuing a statement, quoting, here we will confront america, make it kneel down, and burn it's battleships and all its bases, and everyone who cooperates.

the houthi leader also called on the world to prepare for america's defeat, and vowed not to abandon people of gaza. all right, turning now to washington, i want to bring in cnn senior military analyst and retired air force colonel cedric leighton. good to see you. so do you expect this to be short sharp and focused? or if the message is not received couldn't broaden? >> michael, i think it could broaden. i know the pentagon is optimistic that they will have a short and sweet so to speak effect on the houthis and make them really in essence stop the type of activities they have been doing in the red sea, but i do not think that will be the way the houthis will handle this. what they will probably do is try to redouble their efforts, there will have to be some brief strikes of the target, it and probably be some new targets the u.s. and uk and other countries will probably have to engage before this is

over. >> unintended consequences are always, possible always feared, what are the risks? could just for example a civil war reignited? the saudi peace efforts be derailed? >> i think those are very valid concerns, michael. one of the key aspects of this environment was the fact that the saudis were in essence trying to withdraw from their engagement in the yemeni civil war. so with that process, it is probably grinding to a halt at this particular point, and you also have the situation where this kind of activity on the part of the, u.s. the uk, and other countries, has the risk of igniting this conflict in a different way, perhaps than it was originally. that will create some other dynamics within the region. some of those can't quite yet before seen. >> it is not a strike on iran, not directly, but a strike on a long time iranian proxy. how might iran respond at all,

and would a direct response be, you know, be direct or through proxies i suppose? could also happen anywhere in the region, right, it could have been in syria and iraq. >> absolutely, it could certainly have been in any part of the middle east. most likely it could also happen in other parts of the world. that is most likely to occur in the middle east, but probably through proxies, because the iranians do not want to at least not yet, they do not seem to want to directly confront the u.s. and its allies. the other aspect of this is that the proxies that iran has aren't necessarily as directly controlled as we sometimes think they are by the iranians. so the houthis might have one idea, where if the iranians in tehran might have a different idea of how to proceed with this. so i think the iranians will be cautious, but i think there is a risk this could further inflame tensions and there might be some sympathetic strikes in places like iraq or

syria that will be tied to this action in the red sea. >> and for the u.s., what about the optics of this? could it be seen by some in the region as the u.s. getting involved in the gaza war, importantly on the side of israel given that the houthis say they have been doing all of this for the people in gaza? >> i think that is a definite possible interpretation by many in yemen, especially on the houthi side. i think it would be a misinterpretation of what the u.s. effort is. the u.s. effort is designed to protect international commerce, not related to what the israelis are doing in gaza. but the houthis have conflated the issues and have made it very clear that their population they believe these issues are connected to each other, and that of course is going to present a major difficulty in terms of managing perceptions, and managing what happens next. >> and the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has told biden that if the united

states did not move against the houthis, israel would. do you think that was part of the u.s. calculus heading off the possibility of israel striking yemen with all the regional fallout that could produce? >> well i think it is perhaps a -- reason to do this at this particular point in time. i don't think the u.s. would have looked to kindly on the israelis doing something like this. i think we look at this as being something that should be handled on a more international level, and it is certainly better for the u.s. and its partners in this operation that the israelis not be involved in it. so i think this was something that happened because of what the houthis were doing primarily, but the israeli comments especially by the prime minister were ones that they had to i think respond to, to some degree, so that they wouldn't actually set this region on fire even further. >> all right colonel cedric leighton, always a pleasure to

see. >> good to see you as, well michael. >> still to come here on the program, the houthi attacks in the red sea are threatening to disrupt international shipping and the global economy. i will speak with an expert about the potential impact on that.

all right let's get you up today on the breaking news. the u.s. and uk have launched a series of air and sea bass strikes on houthi militants in yemen. the pentagon, says targets included a drone, missile, radar, and surveillance sites. it senior u.s. military official describing the damage as, quote, significant. the strikes come after weeks of attack on commercial shipping by the iran-backed group. the u.s. has more than 2000 ships have been forced to re-route to avoid the red sea. a senior biden administration official says these uk and u.s. strikes might not be the final action against houthi targets. more on the military campaign from cnn's alex marquardt. the united states and united kingdom have announced they have carried out what they call precision strikes against houthi targets in yemen. more than a dozen of them because of the attacks by houthi forces since late november against commercial shipping in the red sea. this is the red sea right here.

it is eight critical waterway that sees some 15% of the global shipping trade pass through it. so there were more than a dozen strikes, mostly in the western part of houthi controlled yemen in and around the capital over here on the coast, and then up here we saw this video of the night sky glowing after the strikes, in just a moment you will see another strike right there. in terms of the targets that were hit, this is both according to the pentagon as well as the houthis, air bases and airports, camps, radars the, stems drone storage, and landslides, jones have been central to those who the attacks. you have ballistic and cruise missiles, storage launch sites that were hit, as well as coastal radar and air surveillance capabilities. now in terms of what was used in these strikes, you have fighter jets from both the u.s. and united kingdom, this is one

of the british fighter jets that was taking off in order to carry out an airstrike. you also have ships and submarines platforms used according to the pentagon. one of the submarine's name was the -- guided submarine that ships and submarines are able to fire tomahawk missiles against those targets on yemeni soil. now to what extent the uss eisenhower korea star coop was used, we do not know. it has been in the region to try and deter any regional actors including the houthis and iran from expanding the conflict we are seeing currently between israel and hamas. the houthis warning they would retaliate against any international strikes, and the u.s. saying they and their partners are prepared for that. in the wake of their strike, saying this may not be the last word in terms of military action against the houthis. alex marquardt, cnn,

washington. >> now the u.s. says more than 50 countries have been affected by dozens of houthi attacks in recent months. a number of companies including the danish shipping giant merck have been diverting their vessels away from the red sea, and taking the long way around the southern tip of africa. that adds thousands of nautical miles to the, journey and causes weeks of delays in shipping times. all of that adding up to a major potential threat to the world economy. >> we are very focused on the economic side, on monitoring the potential affects on the u.s. economy. some shippers are taking alternate routes that is leading to longer shipping times, but so far that really hasn't had an effect on the u.s. economy. >> joining me now from oslo, norway -- is the head of shipping equity research at -- thank you for being with us.

before we get to the business of shipping, let's begin with the strikes on the houthis. this has been talked about as a possibility for weeks now after the attacks on shipping. what is your reaction to it? how do you expect it to unfold? >> i think it is encouraging to see that the strikes that have just been announced, an order to deter further the attacks, hopefully that -- you get things back to normal again. >> for those who don't know, just how important is the red sea for shipping? a lot of people watching probably -- how important is it for all our lives when it comes to getting things from a to b? >> it is hugely important as a waterway, accenture connecting the west, the sea board trade accounts for 85% of global trade, and more than one and a

half times per capita each year, so of this roughly ten to 15% chance it through the red sea, the differences between segments of 20 plus percent of container trade and 50% of tanker trade so what this essentially means the food on a, tables close on our back, and the list goes on. >> and rerouting isn't just about inconvenient delays, inflation can be impacted, global trade volume, so one. what real world impacts come from the rerouting of goods? >> there is essentially two things that happen. the first is, time in the second has cost. so the former, unofficially leads to short term instructions by 10 to 15 days, and time spent in transit and potentially in the media shortage of goods, until they trade routes are reestablished. secondly that ties up transport for longer, which leads to ted

supply and the framework, and that means the second point which means increased cost. it is also twofold. so first there is longer distances, that means more fuel cost to operate the ships, and then in addition the tightening of the shipping market, itself increases the -- customers need to compete for the available slots. that is where the cost to really start to spiral, and benefit the company's facing these -- especially the number of ships in me -- >> it is a great explainer of the effects. a lot of people might be surprised that you know, a group of rebels can and with a good measure of success, hold elements of the global economy hostage. how fragile does this make the system look? how fragile is it? >> yes, well, that is the big question. how long this will last and go on? so far i would say --

have not been too impactful on the global economy, at two have been much more extreme had the suez canal closed -- and affected other types of shipping like energy shipping for instance and -- the again, the u.s. led coalition of prosperity has proven that the fact they can intercept wide scale attacks provide some comfort for the merchants up until now we have seen these effects or attacks being announced. but it truly does show how fragile supply chains are, it is not the first time there have been -- so from 1967 to -- high energy prices for the 70s, and also a short in 2021. >> again it is a good point because there's already some problems right. traffic through the panama canal has been affected by a severe drought, hasn't it? is there a compounding effect

of multiple issues? >> well, the shipping market is very sensitive. so, that is when the -- comes into the equation. now that is much higher than the cost of shipping essentially. so to answer the question, yes, they both contribute to -- that tends to be a huge positive for the industry that is generally characterized, and high-efficiency among the operators to survive. so they might not be hugely interconnected as such, but feeling on market aborts again several sectors. >> great analysis. thank you so much, really appreciate it. >> all right we will have much more on our breaking news after a quick break. also ahead, israel accused of genocide against palestinians in gaza. the first day of arguments at the top court is coming up next.

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where the u.s. and uk have been striking for houthi controlled areas. this is a direct response to the barrage of attacks on commercial vessels in the red sea might have the militants supported and funded by iran. u.s. central command releasing fighter jets taking off from the uss dwight eisenhower aircraft carrier. the royal air force which you will see in the next video also carrying out deliberate strikes on houthi facilities in yemen. and here is where that is all playing out. u.s. commander says, more than 60 houthi targets were hit, and 16 melittins locations. the rubble group has vowed to, quote, tread on america with our feet. we call other want to prepare for america's defeat. the u.s., uk, and eight other countries issued a joint statement on the fight against through the targets, reading in part, quote, our aim remains to de-escalate tensions and restore stability in the red sea, but let our message be,

clear we will not hesitate to defend lives and protect the free flow of commerce in one of the world's most critical waterways in the face of continued threats. now australia is one of the nations that provided support for those strikes. here is the australian defense minister. >> these are very important actions. the actions that have been taken today supported by australia or about maintaining freedom of navigation on the high seas, they are about maintaining global trade. that is completely central to australia's national interests. >> the houthi deputy foreign minister is warning the u.s. and uk to prepare for severe repercussions. another senior leader said the militant group has already launched retaliatory attacks. cnn's nic robertson with more. >> so those targets in the town in the southwest of --

and the western port city of -- along the border or close to the border with saudi arabia in the town of -- but also around the capitol, those targets that our radar sites and ballistic missile launch and storage sites, cruise missile launch and storage site, drone launch and storage, say those are intended as the coalition, says as the united states says, to send a message. they are intended to degrade the houthis ability to target shipping in the red sea. already, the houthis are saying they are going to respond against u.s. and uk interest, and uk typhoon fighter jets that targeted two different sites. it was the united states missiles and fighter aircraft that targeted other sites. houthis say they are going to respond, and it is not quite clear how they will respond to uk u.s. interest in the region.

how will they respond? the potential here for escalation is very real. and, it could be that the houthis continue to strike a target shipping in the ready to send a message. remembering of, course after october 7th, they began by trying to target israel, muscling cruise missiles to israel. some of those were intercepted by the united states, by the, uk but also by saudi arabia. so there are a number of different ways and places the houthis could target back. they have had a long running war against saudi arabia that just ended not so long ago, where the worsening language christmas south to the capital riyadh. they have sent drones into the united arab emirates. so there is a number of ways they can destabilized in their own view uk and u.s. interest in the region by doing it not just in the red sea, but more broadly across the region. so the concerns of the saudis about the potential for escalation or very real, they

have been worrying about the october 7th attacks israel's response to that escalating tensions in the northern border in israel with lebanon and hezbollah, all of these iranian -backed proxies trying to stoke tensions in the region. the houthis are the one who seem to precipitated this particular escalation. the saudis of course saying that the freedom of navigation in the red sea is a vital importance to the region. so while they are not part of that military coalition in the red sea, they are clearly giving it a green light to go ahead. but this potential right now depending on the houthi response, this is a very very volatile time right now. nic robertson, cnn, tel aviv, israel. >> south africa accused the israel of a genocide in gaza in a historic case at the u.n.'s top court on thursday. in the first of two days of

hearings at the international court of justice, south africa is calling on the court to order a halt to israel's military campaign in gaza, arguing that israel's attacks are intended to, quote, bring about the destruction of the palestinian population. it is lawyer for south africa says the world has failed the people of gaza. >> despite the horror of the genocide against the palestinian people being livestreamed from gaza to our mobile phones and computers, and television screens. the first genocide in history where its victims are broadcasting their own destruction in realtime, in the disparate so far vain hope that the world might do something, gaza represents nothing short of a moral failure. >> now with emotions running high, both pro palestinian and

pro israel demonstrators gathered outside the court in the hague. israel will deliver its response in the coming hours. it strongly denies the allegations calling other case atrocious and post war stress. >> south africa screams to the high have, and so it was south africa when millions of people who are being murdered and uprooted from their homes and syria and yemen, my, home by hamas as partners? the world is upside down. where were you? we know where we are. >> the executive director of human rights watch joins me now from new york with more. before we get on to the, report i want to begin with the international court of justice case. israel says of course, it is defending itself from a hamas genocide. the prime minister said that thursday. the south african case of course that the opposite. israel is perpetrating a genocide. how strong do you think the south african cases? i mean south africa is actually

asking the international court of justice to determine if israel's military operations in gaza and in contravention of the convention against genocide, and also if israel has actually failed to prevent genocide. these allegations are before the world court, because it underlines the seriousness of the situation, and the gravity that the allegations. but it really is for the court to determine the strength of south africa's case, but we certainly do support human rights watch, and the courts jurisdiction, and its ability to hear this a very important matter. >>ll right let's turn now to the human rights watch world report 2023, which you coauthored, the report headline says, quote, the human rights system is under threat, a call to action, where action is most certainly required? >> well let's go back a second. we have to look at the threats

that were there. the major threats we saw in 2023 was an alarming rise in two particular types of actions by states that make up the international community. one is double standards. we saw a kind of selective outrage being implemented by states. the prime example of this is states like the united states, and member states of the european union who rightly and loudly condemned the attacks on october 7th in israel, but much more immunity when it came to israel's response, and the bombardments in the deaths of civilians in gaza. the other big trend that we saw was that there was this alarming move into what we referred to as transactional diplomacy. that is where governments will prepare to turn a blind eye to domestic human rights abuses in the countries, so they could advance their short term political gains, whether they

be for security, war to secure energy deals, or trade. a prime example of this has been australia and the u.s., rolling out of the red carpet for prime minister modi of india, completely ignoring the fact that there has been an increase in repression under the modi government, particularly of ethnic minorities, free, press and civil society. so what we are calling for and what needs to change is that we need to see more consistency and commitment to the rules of international law, of human rights, lower and principle decision making by states. if we do not see that, then there is a real risk that the system we rely on for our own fundamental rights and freedoms will be questioned and it becomes fragile, and it can be attacked by nefarious actors who would like to see the end of it, and she's like china and

russia for example. >> right, do you feel the work of human rights groups is undermined by the world valuing some lives more than others? >> actually, it reinforces what is important about human rights groups. what we have seen this year is the threats that emerge if there is an inconsistency and the application of human rights. what human rights watch tells us is that all lives in a manner where they are, no matter what their ethnicity or their religion, have the same value. if countries are to choose and selectively which situations they engage in to protect those lives, it will undermine the system. it is imperative that we protect civil society and human rights groups, whether international groups like human rights watch, or local human rights organizations in uganda. it is imperative they play that

role for governments. >> it is an important annual report. human rights watch, thank you so much. >> thanks for having me. >> much more to come on our breaking news when we return. also to come, we will tell you about closing arguments in donald trump's new civil fraud trial in new york, and the familiar but false claims he is still l making.

president joe biden said the u.s. will not hesitate to take further action if the houthi rebels don't stop their attacks on the red sea. >> -- launched targets in yemen on friday, a senior who the leader said the military group is responded with retaliatory attacks u.s. says the houthis of launched a police 20, seven missile and drone attacks on commercial shipping and recent months reaction coming in from u.s. senate republican leader mitch mcconnell he says quote, president biden's decision. to use military force against these iranian proxies is over

due, the united states and their allies must leave no room to doubt that the days of unanswered terror oppression are over coming to new york now are both sides wrapped up clothing arguments in donald trump's 370 million dollar civil fraud trial. the judge expected to rule by the end of the month, trump delivered what were effectively campaign speeches both inside, and outside the coat room. a repeating a litany of false claims saying he's won the case when the judge is already determined he is liable for fraud and claiming he was denied a jury trial when his own lawyers failed to ask for one. we >> did have a jury, we had no rights to a jury this is a statute that's a preferred statue never been used for anything like this before, and it's a shame we won this case already in the court of appeals. the former president

launched into a five minute monologue from the defense table after the judge allowed him to directly address the court directly >> paula reid with more on that and the rest of the story. >> reporter: former president trump getting the last word in a closing arguments, usually closing arguments are no opportunity for lawyers to summarize their theory of the case, and the day kicked off with trump's lawyer chris kise laying out their theory of the case, arguing this is a political persecution and that his client trump and no intention of defrauding banks and that the banks were never harmed but after cars wrapped his remarks he then asked his client could have a few minutes to address the court and the judge granted it saying i will give you five minutes. the judge a previously set a restriction on trump saying, you can participate in closing our hands can't give a campaign speech. that is exactly what trump did. attacking the judge, attacking

attorney general office, and insisting that he is quote innocent man. trump addressed the public on his way into court on his way out of course, those remarks in court and had a press conference. it appears we got a real return on investment here in terms of amplifying his argument that he is being targeted because of a desire by his political opponents to try to quote, interfere in this election. i want to note something that the attorney generals office said in their closing arguments, they notice that even though chris cars talked for two hours, other attorneys got out and laid up their closing arguments not one person addressed the false financial statements that trump submitted, that misrepresented his assets by billions. those are really the key to the case. paula reid cnn new york. president biden's son hunter pleaded not guilty to tax related charges in federal

court in california on thursday, prosecutors say for taxes 2016 through 2019 hunter biden spent his money on drugs, escorts and girlfriends. luxury hotels, exotic cars and on basically everything but his taxes. his attorney argues that the charges are part of a political hit job. republicans of accuse president biden of benefiting financially from his son's business dealings with ukrainian and chinese companies, but his claims have not been proven. the judge has said hunter biden's trial date for june 20. u.s. military has not properly tracked more than a billion dollars worth of weapons for ukraine, that's according to new report by the pentagon expected general. the weapons belong to a category that requires enhanced monitoring after their exports, things like javelin missiles in

night vision equipment, the watchdog says it is outside the scope of the investigation to find out what happened to them, the pentagon suggests there's no reason to believe foul play was involved. >> no credible evidence of the listen diversion of u.s. provided advanced conventional weapons from ukraine. we do see some instances of russia continuing to spread disinformation to the contrary, but the fact is as we observe the ukrainians employing these capabilities on the battlefield we are seeing them use them effectively. now the report came as congressional republicans are stalling more than 60 billion dollars in u.s. military aid for ukraine, the findings could bolster their argument against sending more money. u.s. and uk are conducted military strikes on houthi targets in yemen, when we come back we will renew the latest on those attacks and their aftermath.

here is a quick update on the strikes an american by american british forces, they get multiple radar drone and missile sites. marking the first known u.s. strikes on the iranian proxies in yemen, the houthis later comely they launched counterstrikes an american a british war strips, but no word of that coming through as of yet. a senior u.s. official says friday strikes milan be their last word on the attacks on who the targets there, the strikes in yemen following weeks of houthi attacks on international shipping in the red sea, one of the world's key commercial sea lanes. cnn's mj lee with the latest from the white house. >> reporter: president biden saying thursday that the u.s. is sending a clear message to the houthis that their ongoing attacks on the red sea will no longer be tolerated, he said in a statement that he will also not hesitate to direct further

measures to protect u.s. personnel, and the freedom of navigation in the red sea. u.s. officials of course have been warning for weeks that the houthis must stop, its attacks on shipping vessels in the red sea, and last week we saw u.s. officials give what they said was a final warning, and what we are learning tonight is that the attacks that we saw from the houthis on tuesday, this was just two days ago, had targeted some u.s. vessels, and what we are told by sources that had not been for this defensive coalition called, operation prosperity guardian, that was already set up by the u.s. in the number of its allies in the region see, that we may have seen situations for ships were sunk by these attacks. and that there was even an instance within the last month where a commercial vessel got carrying jet fuel may have been hit. the senior official saying some of these were visibly close

calls. now it was after these tuesday attacks the president biden were told, convened his national security team and asked them to draw up a number of possible plans, for retaliation and that is what ultimately culminated in these airstrikes conducted by the u.s. and the uk with the support of a number of other nations, and what one senior military official said thursday night, was well it's not possible to say exactly what the damage was, the described a. mj lee cnn the white house. thanks for watching cnn newsroom, i'm michael holmes i will be back with more news after the break.

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