>> [ music ] and new phase of military activity in the middle east has leaders across the globe on edge once again. last night, the united states and britain hitting dozens of military groups in yemen. the air strikes are self- defense, according to the biden administration.

>> the white house had been under pressure to more directly confront the iran backed houthis. they were hesitant to do to the risk of widening the risk in the middle east. the question now is will that houthis respond as they have promised to? or and is live for us at the pentagon. walk us through the logistics of this attack. >> this is clearly a coordinated attack, the u.s. and the uk acting in a connecticut fashion, actually hitting targets here, but with the backing of several other countries australia, canada, and the netherlands. that gives you an idea of the planning and preparation that had to go into an attack like this. there is now a briefing going on about the operation itself. we are told there were 28 sites struck, more than 150 munitions used point this is video from

yemen of those strikes as they took place. again, nearly 30 sites belonging to the houthis, the iranian proxy rebel group that controls west yemen, a number of cities there. right on the coast of the red sea. the u.s., the uk, and others felt this was necessary after repeated houthis attacks on shipping lanes in the red sea. a very narrow straight there, one of the world's most critical waterways. the u.s. had tried to apply diplomatic pressure including through a u.n. resolution, but that houthis attacks kept coming. at least 27, and another attempt earlier today from the houthis to launch anti-ship ballistic missiles. so perhaps now 28 attacks on international shipping lanes, including one after the u.s. and uk operation. the houthis not backing down, they are now saying any u.s. and uk target is a legitimate target for them, and there is

speculation that this isn't just pure rhetoric, the houthis will try to find some way to respond. they have options here, should they choose to, and they have the capabilities to do so, either u.s. vessels in the red sea, u.s. bases in the middle east, or they could target u.s. allies, too. >> are u.s. officials saying why now? >> reporter: that's got to a point where frankly, the u.s., the uk, and others saw these repeated attacks and didn't see any reason to believe they were going to abate, that that houthis were going to back off of this. they had promised the attacks would continue. they said they are standing in solidarity with the palestinian and people and against the war. that was the reason any attacks continued. the u.s. called the self- defense strikes, and we are still asking about this. the biden administration said

american vessels came under direct attack of the houthis over the last couple of days, we are waiting to learn what vessels specifically, but it is clear the u.s. and the uk felt compelled to ask, given the repeated nature of the attacks on one of the world's most critical waterways. >> or in, thank you so much for that report from the pentagon. let's get you now from the region. we have jeremy diamond live for us in tel aviv. jeremy, big protest today in yemen, in the capital. is there a sense from leaders in the middle east that these strikes will calm things, or it is going to add to the unrest in the region since october 7th? >> yeah, brianna, i think at this point, there is far more concerned that this will escalate the conflict rather than tapping things down. if you look at the statements from some of the major players in the region, whether saudi arabia, kuwait, jordan, other countries as well, effectively, the focus from most of those

statements is expressing concern about the prospects for more escalation and also urging of restraint, in particular from saudi arabia, which not too long ago was in direct conflict with those houthis rebels, and yet now they find themselves much like the u.s. was at the time, no urging restraint. and so, the question is really, what exactly have these u.s. strikes accomplish? the united states maintaining that this was in self-defense, aimed at trying to prevent this conflict from spiraling even further into a broader regional conflict point but the question now is, to what extent did this actually damage the houthis capabilities to continue launching these strikes? because what it certainly hasn't done is wanting their willingness and their desire to continue launching these attack drones, the is ballistic and other types of missiles towards these shipping lanes, and potentially as well as towards

other u.s. assets in the region. just today, there is the report of at least one missile being fired from yemen towards the gulf, in that very same area where these ships have been traveling. in terms of european allies, there has been a lot of support so far what united states and the united kingdom have done, backing of this notion of this being self-defense, and also noting the importance of protecting the freedom of navigation and security in the region. one country.notably hasn't chimed in on all of this is israel. israel of course has come under fire from missiles, fired by houthis rebels in yemen towards southern israel, but so far, no response, no reaction from the israeli government to the strikes carried out by the united states and the united kingdom. >> jeremy diamond live from tel aviv, thank you so much. we want to expand the conversation now with format defense secretary and former cia director, leon. thank you so much for being with us, this surge in houthis attacks that the white house

is responding to come do you think that houthis motivation here is to please iran? is this coming of their own volition? why do you think they are doing this? >> oh, i don't think there is any question that the houthis are proxies for iran. and that iran is pretty much behind a lot of the attacks by various proxies throughout that region, including the houthis. so, there is no question that the houthis would not have been able to accomplish this without support from iran. >> and so, how much of their effort in the red sea do you think is directed locally in yemen? how much involvement do you think iran has beyond supplying weapons? >> reporter: i think that just as the attacks against our forces in iraq, in syria, and

elsewhere are intended to try to strike at those who are supporting obviously israel, i think the houthis are basically making these attacks in order to go after commerce in the red sea, and be able to send a message that they are going to continue to disrupt navigation in the red sea, as long as the war continues in gaza and with hamas. so, that is the message. and the counter message has to be one that i think the president and our allies with standing, which is if you continue to do this, you are going to pay a price. >> so, you don't buy the sentiment from certain democrats, progressives specifically, that are arguing that this kind of action rests

a broader conflict -- actually, secretary, we are going to stand down for a moment, we are going to go to president biden who is speaking about these strikes in yemen, let's listen. >> we are going to get a chance to talk, apparently, after the fire station, so rather than -- by the way, anybody want a coffee? it is on me. you will take a smoothie? another six bucks, but i will do it anyway. seriously, if anybody here wants anything, i will pay for it. that's that is very generous. >> by the way, do we have all the stuff for the firefighters? >> that we do, freezing coffee, all wrapped up, ready to go. >> low on supplies, probably. >> we are going to keep listening to the remarks from president biden there, he is in

pennsylvania, he spoke for a moment about the attack in yemen, then pivoted to talk about brewing coffee. the note, secretary leon, from president biden, was part of the reasoning, part of the rationale behind supporting this attack was there were no civilian casualties in his estimation of what happened. going back to the point about the potential for retaliation, there are members of the president's party on capitol hill who believe that this kind of strike could lead to a further escalation. it doesn't sound like you buy that argument. let's listen, i have been dealing with terrorists in various positions i have had, and frankly, pretty pleased does not work with terrorists. if you want to have a deterrence, you know, we went through all of the steps to try to ask them not to do this, an ultimatum was clearly issued to them time and again.

we have been doing it for three months, but their response was to then send a huge barrage of drones and missiles against shipping and the red sea. we can't just stand back. and allow that to continue. and have any kind of credible deterrence in that region. so, what the united states and our allies did was to make very clear that if they are going to continue to do this, they're going to pay a price. and that's what this attack was all about, and it is the right thing to do. >> so, if the root for this violence in the red sea and in gaza with hamas and hezbollah in lebanon, at the root of these groups is iran and iran is actively accelerating its nuclear program, shouldn't the united states be more assertive with iran? is that your view?

>> i don't think there is any question that diplomatically, we have to continue to send signals to iran about their support for proxy forces in the region. we have to continue to make it clear that we are aware that they are supporting these forces. but at the same time, look, iran does not want to engage in a full-scale conflict. they are going to fight until the last houthis is dead or the last proxy is dead, that is their approach to the conflict that we are now dealing with in the middle east, and so, the best way to send iran a message is to send their proxies a message that they can't get away with what they are doing. >> former defense secretary leon, apologize for that interruption from president biden, he says he is going to speak more about this soon. you are more than welcome to come back and discuss any time. >> thank you, good to be with

you. >> of course. though the pentagon and the white house are calling these strikes an act of self-defense, as we mentioned, some lawmakers in both political parties are taking issue with how the strikes were approved and carried out. we are going to get reaction from one decadent democratic lawmaker a little bit later who supports this military action. and of course, we are just a few days out from the iowa caucuses. our first glimpse at how presidential hopefuls are reaching voters but whether it may play a role. some record-breaking winter storms freezing some candidates last-minute campaign stops, bone chilling cold threatening turnout on monday. we will discuss in just moments. >> [ music ]

iowa is facing dangerously frigid weather, and that has

some of the republican presidential hopefuls just scrambling to shift their campaign strategies just three days before the caucuses. today, ron desantis calling off most of his events in the state because of the snowy conditions. nikki haley opting for tele townhomes instead. >> i am so sorry that we couldn't be in for dodge, but i didn't want to miss the opportunity to be able to communicate to all of you that we are planning to come out and see you on this snowy day in iowa. >> i will ask you for your support on monday, i know it is going to be called, i know it is going to be not the most pleasant, i don't think it will ever be able to pass about that has more impact, given the circumstances. >> on top of the snow and ice in the region, mondays caucuses are expected to be the coldest in iowa history. with wind chills, the subzero temperatures could feel as cold as -30 in some areas.

let's discuss with conservative iowa radio host jeff angelo. jeff, thank you so much for being with us. >> hey, safe and warm and glad to be with you this afternoon. >> you hear from voters calling into your show frequently, what are you hearing from them about what is guiding their choices as we get closer to caucus day? >> it really is economic issues, that is at the top of everyone's list, and to be specific, they don't feel that their wages are keeping up with inflation, and they want to know that the politicians have a plan for that. the border, of course, is at the top of a lot of iowans mines as well, specifically to iowa, we are right on i-35, a lot of concern about fentanyl coming up the highway into iowa, so those are concerns. some of the standard ones, though, that you are going to hear every campaign, my listeners will talk to me about the social security, what about

medicare? so, those are the issues that affect the daily lives of working-class iowans and those are the issues that come up the most. >> jeff, it sounded like ron desantis was setting some expectations there about potential lower turnout, expectation setting obviously very important in politics, but how are you expecting that the weather or the temperatures are going to affect the caucuses? >> yeah, i don't think we are going to have a record turnout, brianna, because you know, as you said, -30 wind chills, so you measure the enthusiasm of the voter, you have got the diehards who will absolutely show up some of the folks were very enthusiastic about a specific candidate will show up, but then you have got a lot of folks have heard all the news reporting, they have heard all of the hype, maybe they have gone to an event with the candidate, and maybe they were going to come out this year and caucus for nikki haley or ron

desantis but nothing like -32 encourage you to simply stay in the kitchen and have a little chilly that night and watch cnn. >> sounds lovely. >> yeah, we will have some chili. what do you think the weather is going to do for the odds that ron desantis or nikki haley get close to donald trump? because right now, the polls have him 28 to 30 points up. >> right, boris, that is a great question, i think it really diminishes their odds of getting closer, because donald trump supporters will absolutely walk through a snowstorm to head to caucus for him, and then there is less enthusiasm on the desantis side, i think even a little bit less on the haley side, to be honest with you, so if you are starting to measure levels of enthusiasm, the trump supporters will show up. desantis will be bagging his people to show up. in the clip you just played, this is a very consequential election, haley is desperately trying to convince people to

show up as well, but i think they're going to have more trouble than trump well. so, the more the temperature drops, the higher probability that trump wins big. >> we see these pictures from des moines, i mean, this is treacherous stuff, this is going to make it really tough. it is such a bummer for these candidates. ron desantis has been to every county, right? he has put in a lot of work especially. i wonder what you think, sort of looking back on the origins of his campaign in iowa and how the ark has kind of gone, what do you think? >> i think that he did come into iowa viewed as the alternative to donald trump. if you weren't going to caucus for trump, you were going to vote for ron desantis. but honestly, the reason that the iowa caucus is so unique and essential to the american political process is this is old-fashioned retail politics, this is one on one with people, and i don't think that ron desantis is at his best in

those one-on-one situations. i think when he is behind the podium and he has got his talking points and he is challenging his opponents, that is when he is at his best, but i wins will actually come out and kick the tires. most of the people that attend the caucus on monday night have gone to candidate events. probably have asked the candidate a question at one time or another, and then they come away with a gut feeling about how that person, like ron desantis, interacted with them, and that that feeling will lead them to say, that is just not the right person for me. >> if only we could all have the access to candidates that iowans have, it is pretty amazing stuff. jeff, great to have you, thank you so much, and have fun on monday, it is going to be wild one way or another. >> and cuban popsicle standing in front of a cornfield, that will be great. >> looking forward to that. >> [ laughter ] by, jeff, thank you.

just a moment ago, we dipped in life to bring you some remarks from president biden in pennsylvania, we just caught the talent of it. here is the full exchange he had with reporters as he was speaking about the strikes, those u.s.-uk joint strikes in yemen, and also the hospitalization of defense secretary lloyd austin. >> [ laughter ] >> i have already delivered the message. [ indiscernible ] >> that we will make sure that we respond [ indiscernible ] along with our allies. >> [ indiscernible ] secretary austin? [ indiscernible ]

>> yes. >> [ indiscernible ] >> no. [ indiscernible ] i think they are. yes point. i don't think there are any civilian casualties, that is another reason why it is a success. look, we are going to get a chance to talk, apparently, after the fire station. >> so, it sounds like we will be hearing more from joe biden. we understand that some of that was sort of difficult to make out what you said there as he is at a coffee-smoothie shop there. >> i think the main headline was he was asked about defense secretary lloyd austin, was hospitalized at the start of the year, not notifying the white house immediately that he

was sent to the icu. the president describing that as a lapse in judgment. i think he was also asked if he was in contact with secretary austin, which he replied yes. >> you heard the part that i didn't hear. i couldn't make that out. he did say also he has delivered a message to iran, they know not to do anything amid these questions about whether what is going on in the middle east is going to balloon to something larger, and then he said they're going to make sure to respond to the houthis, the iran backed rebels, as long as they continue their outrageous behavior. we will expect more ahead from president biden. we will be back in just a moment. >> [ music ]

tensors along the u.s. southern border are growing between governor texas abbott and the biden administration. the texas military department is blocking federal border agents from doing their job by barring access to miles of the border in eagle pass. >> the state military has also taken over a park to use as a migrant staging area. rosa florez joining us now with more on these tensions. one former security official called abbott's actions is mind blowing. how is the white house responding? >> reporter: the white house is condemning these actions by the state of texas, just like they have condemned up our prior actions, like the busing of

migrants to northern cities, but the white house issuing a statement, saying in part, "governor abbott continues his extreme political stunt that not only seek to dehumanize people, but that also make it harder and more dangerous for border patrol to do their jobs." let me keep you up to speed as to how all of this started. it was wednesday evening when texas authorities started putting up razor wire fencing and gates around a public park. shocking local officials. well, the situation escalated when the state of texas took the extraordinary step of blocking border patrol from that public park, not only from the public park, which border patrol uses the boat launch at public park to launch their boats, to get access to the rio grande, but also to staging area that they used during migrant surges, and also to miles of the river and the texas military department, which is the state authorities that are there, doubling down, saying they are not getting border patrol access.

saying in part in a statement, " the current posture is to prepare for future illegal immigrant searches and -- [ indiscernible ] at the rio grande and the greater eagle pass area." but governor abbott taking it a step further today during a press conference, saying the state of texas has the authority to do this. take a listen. so, texas has the legal authority to control ingress to any geographical location in the state of texas, and authority is being asserted with regard to that part in eagle pass, texas, to maintain operational control. >> now, the biden administration is asking the u.s. supreme court to intervene, so that border patrol can regain access to this area. and boris and brianna, i have not had that one of the other important things, the numbers at the u.s. southern border have plummeted significantly.

apprehensions back in mid- december were about 10,000 migrants a day along the u.s. southern border, that dropped to about 3000 per day in january. now, in eagle pass, the epicenter of this latest battle, they are about 500 per day this week, so that also raises questions about why is the state of texas doing this at this point in time? back to you guys. exit rosa florez, thank you so much for the update. president biden is facing sharp criticism from the rest of democrats for authorizing those air strikes on iranian backed militants in yemen. >> we are going to be speaking with congressman seth moulton who is an iraq war veteran about the impact of these strikes and whether the president had the authority to carry them out. >> [ music ]

the white house is dismissing backlash, not just from republicans, but from some progressive democrats, for not going to congress before ordering strikes in yemen. the retaliatory move on houthis rebels was in response to more than two dozen attacks on shipping lanes in the red sea. democrats say that president biden, i should say some democrats say that president biden failed to follow the constitution by not getting congressional approval, but this afternoon, an official said the white house is confident and comfortable in its authority to strike.

congressman seth moulton joining us now, a democrat from massachusetts, he served four tours in iraq and sits on the armed services committee. thank you so much for being with us, obviously you support the president's decision on the strikes, your colleagues, some of them, including chair of the progressive caucus, said if there is time to build an international coalition, there should have been time to come to congress. what do you say at that point? xi say the president is doing exactly what he is supposed to do, he is following the war powers act, which states very specifically that the president has the authority to conduct strikes like this, to protect u.s. national security. he is not just protecting u.s. national security, he is protecting the national security of the 55 different nations that have been targeted by these terrorist attacks. he is doing it in concert with some of our strongest allies, including the united kingdom. so, he is fully within his constitutional powers, but the act says the president has 48 hours to notify congress and

the strikes can't continue for more than 60 days. he is following both the letter and the spirit of the law so far. >> at what point then does he need to ask congress for approval, and you understand that process could be underway, because this doesn't seem to be a short-term thing. >> yes, i do, i think -- first of all, he has to notify congress in 48 hours, that process is underway. and then within the next 60 days, if he wants to continue, he is going to have to come to congress to ask for support. but look, the republican led house right now can't even pass the simplest procedural votes. the house came to a standstill again this week on a procedural vote, just to get to the boat to actually vote yes or no on a piece of legislation. so, expecting that the house of representatives under this republican leadership is going to secure the security -- the national security of the united states, that is a long shot

right now. i am embarrassed to say that as a member of the house myself, but that is part of the context your for why the president had to take decisive action, which is exactly what the administration did. >> it is not a highly functional body, i think that is certainly noted by what we have seen this week and other weeks. so, at first, it was carrier strike groups going to the region for deterrence, then you had special ops advisory assistance at a pretty high level, that then quickly got out of dodge, out of israel. then you had u.s. strikes in syria against proxies, in iraq, including one in baghdad, now what we have seen in yemen overnight. the u.s. said it doesn't want to make this a broader conflict, but isn't it already a broader conflict? >> it is not just that we don't want to make it a broader conflict, we are actively working to prevent it from becoming a broader conflict, and i think that is the most important reason and why the president took this action.

there are a lot of militant groups like the houthis andy gannon who are trying to instigate a broader region war, that's what these terrorist groups want. hamas has been very explicit in this, they want the other terrorist groups in the region to join in. so, what united states is doing with its presence and with the deterrent strikes is saying, that is not going to happen. you act up, you conduct terrorist activities against peaceful international shipping, we are going to hit you back and prevent that from happening again. so, there are people who will say that this is escalation. i think it is exactly the opposite, it is deterrence. it is exactly the message we need to send to these militant groups, to these terrorist in the middle east, that this kind of violence won't stand and we are not going to allow it to instigate a broader regional war. >> to your point about hezbollah, you have israel striking a hamas leader in beirut that has been targeting missiles over the border in

lebanon, netanyahu visited israel's border with lebanon, taught about giving hezbollah a taste of what israel has given hamas. do you worry that israel is going to cross the line and make this a bigger work? >> i think that is a legitimate concern. i don't think it is in israel's interest to have a broader regional war, but i do think there is diplomacy going on behind the scenes, brianna, to say to the israelis, be careful. so, there are a lot of ways in which the u.s. presence in the region right now is preventing a wider regional conflict. it is slapping down these terrorist attacks from yemen as we saw last night, the terrorist attacks in iraq against u.s. troops, it is having close consultation with our allies, including the israelis, saying you have got to tread carefully here and not spark a wider conflict. there are a lot of ways in which the u.s. is playing an important role here, because we don't want a broader middle east war.

>> congressman moulton, thank you so much for joining us, we appreciate it. >> good to see you, brianna keilar . >> nearly two years after a gunman entered a supermarket in buffalo, new york and killed 10 black people, the justice department has announced it is seeking the death penalty for the shooter. next, we are going to speak with the son of a woman who was killed in that attack, why he says he has mixed emotions about that decision. >> [ music ]

now to a major update in a story that we have been following very closely, the biden administration today announced it is going to seek the death penalty for the gunman who killed 10 black

people at a buffalo supermarket in 2022. it marks the first time biden's justice department has sought the death penalty, and victims families are having mixed reactions, listen. >> it just shows the privilege once again. once again, he is protecting federal custody. once again, they've got to decide which jail he will go to, which is now federal, so to never have closure, to always be in this circus is exhausting and exasperating. >> joining us now is mark talley, his mother, geraldine talley, was killed in the shooting. mark is now the executive director and the founder of agents for advocacy, he is also the author of the book 514: the day the devil came to buffalo. mark, thank you so much for joining us. you have been through so much, your family has been through so much, you don't necessarily support doj's decision here, tell us why.

i disagree with the decision that was made today. i'm not angry about it. i'm not. at the end of the day, his white supremacist life will be coming to an end. i just don't necessarily like how it's going to come to an end. he's going to know his death they eventually. he's going to be given a date in which he will no longer be here. on 5/14, my mother, she did know this would be her last day on earth. ruth whitfield didn't know this would be her last day on earth. that's going to affect him for the rest of his life. so i feel, you know, why does this white supremacist who committed this act of racism, domestic terrorism, he gets that privilege, to know when he's going to die?

for me, i would want him to rot in a super max prison or stay here in county jail somewhere near the city to which he caused all of this chaos. i want to constantly be surrounded by the same individuals that he wanted to kill. i want every second of the rest of his life to be constant turmoil, not knowing if this is going to be the day that someone tries to kill him because he tried to kill people that look like me. i want him to constantly fear that this could be the day he's going to die. i want him to constantly know that he is going to be assaulted, possibly assaulted by multiple individuals with no guards around. i want everything and everyone he's ever loved to suffer. i want people who have any idea what type of monster this person was. i want the person who sold him this semi automatic illegally modified weapon, i want all of these people to suffer. i want his life, the rest of whatever life he has, to be filled with pain, misery, and

just unimaginable suffering. and for as long as i'm living, whether that be 20 years or another 60 years, i want to personally see him suffer to the point that he can't take it no more. but i just feel for him to be given his day of death, i think this is a cowards way out. it's just very disrespectful to the families of 5/14 and anybody affected by 5/14. >> and mark, i understand that you and other victims families met with the justice department. and they explained their decision. i'm wondering how they presented it to you, and what the reaction was like inside the room. >> they definitely did presented very professionally. i really can't speak for any of the other families. i just know for me, you know, it was a stop in the heart. i feel he should be able to rot

and decay and harden into the piece of you know what that he is. not waiting patiently in federal custody to die peacefully. he should be surrounded by the people that he tried to kill. >> mark, tell us a little bit about your mom. >> very southern. loved her family, loved her friends. even though i was adopted, she still treated me like her little boy. it's hard to, kind of, you know, replace those memories. it's just hard to cherish those memories for someone who's no longer around. and especially how she was a victim of racism and domestic terrorism that was spread all throughout on the internet.

>> mark talley, we are so sorry for all that you and your family have endured. we are grateful for you sharing your story with us. we hope you would consider coming back as we get more information on the future of the shooter that was involved. mark talley, thank you so much for the time. >> no problem. thank you. >> stay with cnn. we are back in just moments.

ebay is going to pay a $3 million penalty after the company was charged with stalking a massachusetts couple after ebay employees sent brightening packages to this couple, including live spiders, cockroaches, a bloody pig mask, even a funeral wreath. >> file this under truth is stranger than fiction. the acting u.s. attorney said that ebay's senior director safety and security without to protect the company's reputation and silence the couples reporting. the couple published an insider newsletter for others in e- commerce and was sentenced to more than four years