ongress. you were always stubborn. and on that note, i'm evan low, and i approve this message. hello and welcome to all our viewers in the united states and around the world.

i'm nick watt live in los angeles. ahead on "cnn newsroom," the u.s. targets houthi rebels in yemen in its latest round of retaliatory strikes. as iran warns that the u.s. is fueling more conflict in the middle east. president biden is projected to win his first official primary of the 2024 campaign. we'll examine what's ahead as biden looks toward the general election. and this -- >> i am honored to stand here as first minister. we mark a moment of equality and a moment of progress. >> after two years of political gridlock, northern ireland's government returns to power-sharing with a new historic first minister. a new u.s. strike on a

houthi anti-ship cruise missile in yemen. the u.s. says the missile was prepared to launch when it was destroyed. this comes after earlier strikes by the u.s. and the uk against 36 houthi targets at 13 locations. the u.s. says it hit facilities involved in attacks on international shipping. the british defense secretary says the strikes are about, quote, protecting innocent lives. the u.s. and uk are at the forefront of an international coalition trying to stop the iran-backed houthi attacks that are causing problems for international shipping moving through the red sea. iran's foreign minister is slamming the u.s. for trying to resolve issues by force. this is according to state-run media. he reportedly told the u.n., quote, the u.s. government's military approach, especially

its joint air strikes with britain against yemen and redesignating the ansarulah movement as a terror group have complicated the situation and made it more difficult to reach a political situation. the u.n. security council is planning to meet on monday to discuss those u.s. air strikes in the middle east. russia says it's requested the urgent -- the russian foreign ministry says the air strikes are a, quote, blatant account of u.s.-british aggression against sovereign states. cnn's paula hancocks joins us now from abu dhabi. could you dig a little deeper on these fairly strenuous reactions to these latest strikes? >> reporter: well, nick, i think the iranian response is not surprising. the houthi rebels, clearly

iran-backed, iran-funded, with some cases, iran-trained as well. so what we're seeing this weekend on friday night into saturday and also saturday night into sunday is the u.s., and in the second case, coupled with the uk and support from other countries, targeting these iranian militia in the region. now, we've heard from the uk defense minister pointing out that this is not a new escalation. what we have seen from these strikes against houthi rebel targets in a number of locations in yemen, pointing outta this is an ongoing process to try and protect the red sea, to try and protect commercial shipping, to try and degrade the ability of the houthis to be able to target u.s. navy, coalition navy, and also commercial vessels. but we have seen, and this is the third time that the u.s. and the uk have carried out these joint attacks against the

houthis, we have seen that they are able to continue to launch these, for example, anti-ship missiles against targets that they see in the red sea. so we have understood from both washington and london that this is an ongoing process. it's not something that is a one and done. so they will make sure that they can continue to target these missiles. in fact, we saw just in the early hours of this morning that they did target a missile that they said posed an imminent danger and was about to be launched by the houthis. it is important to note, it's separate to what we saw overnight friday into saturday local time when the u.s. targeted a number of elements in both iraq and syria. that, they say, was in retaliation for the loss of three u.s. servicemen. it's following that deadly green attack at the end of january. nick? >> so paula, we've got russia

also strongly against these attacks. but the u.s. has said that these attacks will continue at the times and places of their choosing. i mean, doesn't seem to be much meeting of minds here? >> reporter: not in the slightest. we've heard from washington and we heard from the biden administration that this was going to be a multi-tiered response to that deadly drone attack, and we've heard from the u.s. defense secretary, lloyd austin, that what we saw earlier in the weekend was the first round, the first start of this attack. so they have definitely left the door open for a number of further attacks. we have seen more than 160 drone, missile, rocket attacks from the iranian militias in iraq and syria against u.s. and coalition troops, and they have said that they will continue to fight against that. nick? >> paula han socks in abu dhabi,

thanks very much. anti-government protesters in israel are taking their message directly to prime minister benjamin netanyahu. they marched towards one of netanyahu's residences on saturday, calling for his removal. in tel aviv, protesters blocked a major highway and wrote the word "help" on the pavement. their message, they want the netanyahu government out, and they want the hostages currently held in gaza back home. but hamas is digging in on its demands for any deal, which include ending israel's military operations. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken is headed to the region in the coming hours. it's his fifth trip to the middle east since the october 7th hamas attacks. elliott gotkine is keeping an eye on all of this from london, and he joins us now. elliott, a couple of different

protests in israel sort of merging? >> reporter: that's right, they bleed into one another. we've seen in the hostages square, opposite the israeli defense ministry in tel aviv, they've been gathering there to call on the government to keep pressure up on the government so that it does all it can in order to bring the more than 100 hostages abducted during hamas' rampage on october 7th. >> to get those hostages home, still in captivity after 120 days in the gaza strip. at the same time there are protests against benjamin netanyahu and his government which in terms of tel aviv are very close by, so they bleed into one another physically. also in terms of overall ab abje abjectives. ful the people who are demanding israel do whatever it takes to get the hostages home feel that prime minister netanyahu is one of the main obstacles. they would point to, for example, leaks of a conversation that netanyahu had with a

representative from the hostage families. they say all their phones were taken, so it must have come from the government. they also point to comments by netanyahu this week, for example, saying he won't be releasing thousands of terrorists, in his words, in order to get the hostages home. and then his national security minister of the far right saying, in his words, if a reckless deal is done, that would mean dissolution of the government, something the netanyahu doesn't want, because all polls point to he would be ejected from office. both sides seem quite far apart in terms of reaching a deal, nick. >> and elliott, in terms of the american involvement here, i mean, obviously this week we've seen u.s. striked on iraq, s syria, and yemen. they're also sending the top diplomat, antony blinken, to the region. what's he hoping to achieve? >> reporter: this is his fifth trip since the hamas massacre of october the 7th.

he's going to take in saudi arabia, egypt, qatar, israel, and the west bank. i suppose his agenda is going to be pretty familiar to him in that it's pretty much the same as it has been, namely, to boost humanitarian aid into the gaza strip, to try to somehow facilitate this framework deal that's on the table and make that turn into an actual deal between hamas for the release of those hostages in exchange for the release of palestinian prisoners, and also to try to keep up the pressure, perhaps, on the egyptians and qataris to get them to lean more on hamas as well to that end. it's unclear if he's going to be any more successful this time around, but certainly these are the reasons why he's in the region this time around. nick? >> elliott gotkine in london, thanks very much. the u.s. house of representatives will vote next week on a clean standalone bill providing $17.6 billion in aid for israel. house speaker mike johnson made the announcement on saturday.

this news comes as the senate prepares to unveil its own bipartisan legislation which pairs border security with aid for israel, ukraine, and taiwan. senate negotiators are expected to release the measures' text no later than sunday with procedural votes starting next week. and now to the u.s. presidential election. joe biden has clinched a landslide victory in south carolina, the first official democratic primary. cnn is projecting he has crushed his two opponents, minnesota lawmaker dean philipps and author marion williamson. he's crushed them by more than 96% of the votes, so he will pick up all of the state's 55 delegates. hailing his projected win, mr. biden says in 2020 it was the

voters of south carolina who proved the pundits wrong, breathed new life into our campaign, and set us on the path to winning the presidency. now in 2024, the people of south carolina have spoken again, and i have no doubt that you have set us on the path to winning the presidency again and making donald trump a loser again. cnn's eva mckend has more. >> reporter: though the results of this primary contest, not surprising, this state still hugely consequential for president biden. it was south carolina and the black voters in this state that brought his campaign back to life in 2020. that is why he pushed so hard for this state to hold the first in the nation primary. and when you speak to black voters across the state, the reviews are mixed. some are really excited about biden. they still give him a lot of credibility for being barack obama's vice president.

others have economic anxieties and feel as though routinely voting for democrats, they have very little to show for that. then you have pragmatic voters. people who are so concerned about former president donald trump returning to the white house, they think voting for biden is a safe bet. democrats here, they say they are excited about the black turnout, that they were able to get to rural parts of the state like never before via bus tours and other mechanisms. they say the enthusiasm here from black voters will be mirrored across the country. eva mckend, cnn, columbia, south carolina. >> joining me is thomas gift, the director of the center on u.s. politics at university college, london. thomas, can we really read anything into this ridiculously lopsided contest? >> it's great to be with you, nick. i don't think we can read too

much into it. a biden win in south carolina was always a foregone conclusion. i do think it's symbolically important. this is the state that propelled biden to the nomination in 2020, gave him a shot in the arm when everyone thought his campaign was done after poor showings in iowa and new hampshire. for the same reasons south carolina had been good to biden, it did have the potential to expose his vulnerabilities. democratic turnout was extremely low in south carolina yesterday. only about 24% of the 2020 numbers. but i think that's entirely a function of biden not having any real competition. i think skeptics could read into it as a lack of enthusiasm. progressives can't be bothered to show up to a primary, they might go m.i.a. in the general election. i think that's overinterpretation. what we saw from south carolina is biden faces no legitimate threat to the democratic nomination. >> okay. and there's been a lot of talk of biden's past, and they say

hopefully future support amongst black voters. how key is that dem demographic to biden winning re-election? >> i think one of the most encouraging pieces of news from south carolina was that black voters comprised about 76% of the early vote. and that's actually up from 56% in 2020. i do think that that's important, because there is some evidence that biden has been hemorrhaging support among black voters nationally. polling shows that's particularly truitt young black voters, who some argue are becoming a less reliable bloc. congressman clyburn and other democrats touting the administration's record on racial issues, such as biden appointing the first black woman justice to the u.s. supreme court. to be clear, biden's going to win black voters by a landslide in the general, but if even a

small fraction peel off to trump, that could pose a problem. i think black voters are prioritizing economy, inflation, crime. i think for strategists who keep their eye on demographic trends, solid support we saw for biden in south carolina could be a w bellwether. that's good news for him. >> you mentioned a kind of slip for biden, particularly amongst younger black voters who i've been reading seem to think biden doesn't necessarily what their needs are, doesn't really relate to them. is there any chance that the democrats might ditch joe biden and go for somebody perhaps younger? out here in california, we've seen governor gavin newsom -- i wouldn't say running a shadow campaign, but projecting himself on the national and international stage. i am told that he is, perhaps, waiting in the wings some anything happen to joe biden.

is there any chance that biden will not be the nominee? >> i guess never say never, but i really do think the odds of that are relatively small. i think there are two key reasons why biden is unlikely to step down. one is he just thinks he is the only candidate who can beat trump, and one reason to think that is because he's done it before. he likes to say, don't compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative. with the alternative being donald trump, he thinks that he can win that one on-on-one matc. second, there's no obvious heir apparent. you could think about potential individuals like the governor of california that you just mentioned, gavin newsom. but i think anyone besides joe biden still has an achilles heel. some democrats would like

someone to parachute in from the field, like michelle obama. but i think that's really just liberal fantasies. at this point, democrats are going with joe biden unless he chooses to step down. i think he's going to be the one to go up against trump. >> no liberal fantasies. thomas gift, thank you very much for your time. still ahead, millions here in california brace for heavy rains and severe flooding. how communities are preparing to weather the storm. deadly wildfires are burning across chile. officials sounding the alarm, telling residents to flee to safety.

♪ millions of people in california can expect heavy rain, severe storms, and life-threatening flooding as another atmospheric river moves in as we speak. millions of sandbags are available, and rescue equipment has been prepped. a number of places in southern california have issued evacuation orders because of the flooding risk. and also the risk of mudslides, landslides, and debris flows. some residents say they're

bracing for the worst and hoping for the best. >> everything that i've read has us getting 5, 6, 7 inches, which is essentially six months' worth of rain in about three days. it should be a doozy. >> hopefully we are fast so it won't saturate us too much. >> cnn's camila bernal has the latest on efforts to get ready. >> reporter: officials in los angeles say there's a few easy ways to prepare. avoid untravel, have an emergency kit ready, and come to your local fire station because that's where you're going to be able to find sandbags. there's been a steady flow of people coming to fill sandbags. a lot of them saying in previous storms, their garages, for example, flooded. so this time around, they want to be prepared. that is the before the storm. during the storm, officials are saying that personal safety is

and should be your number one pry eefrt, not going to flooded areas. those currents can be very deceiving. officials also saying they are prepared, as well. take a listen to what the l.a. fire chief had to say. >> we've got our swiftwater rescue apparatus boats. we have our teams that will be fully staffed, ready to respond. these teams are highly trained in swiftwater technical rescues. they stand ready to respond to a moment's notice. we've also bolstered our air apparatus, our helicopters, our air resources, adding skilled pilots and rescue teams to our helicopter fleet. >> reporter: officials saying there are crews ready to accuracy power outages if that happens or if there is that need. there have also been outreach teams that are targeting the homeless population and telling

them to find shelter, especially those that are currently in areas that are near the river or that normally flood. overall, officials telling people to take this seriously because it could be dangerous. earlier i spoke with san jose state meteorological professor jan hall. he weighed in on the storm itself and the damage it could bring. >> it's going to be a really impactful storm. whether every single location is going to see some of these sorts of flash flooding, that's not going to happen. but a lot of locations are. it's a 2-headed storm. the first portion is in northern california. the rain has already begun up here. it will continue through tomorrow with moderate to heavy amounts. san francisco could see 3 inches of rain. the winds are going to be strongest along the north and central coasts gusting to 50, 60 miles an hour. some of the mountains around here could see gusts up to 80 miles an hour. then everything shifts tomorrow

into southern california with heavy rain ongoing sunday and monday. and as was just reported, we're looking at something on the order of 3, 4, 5 inches of rain in the l.a. basin and the other populated areas of ventura, santa barbara, riverside, orange county. lots of people impacted, and you know, in areas that are made mostly of concrete, you're going to have flash flooding. >> are these kind of events becoming more common? i was up your way i think for the first six and seven years i lived in california, barely any rain. it seems to be more of these storms coming in. march, the last pineapple express came in and damaged up there. are these kinds of events becoming more common? >> yes. over time, looking at the last year or two isn't a good metric.

if we go out over the next ten years, we'll see more of these events than we saw in the previous ten years. >> they're becoming more intense? i read one climate analyst saying that these kinds of events are 10% more intense. i don't know how you reach that number, but is there some truth in that? >> possibly. a warm atmosphere can hold more moisture. it's a real fuzzy metric to try and get your hands around. we need to look at it over a longer period of time and average them out. deadly wildfires have forced the president of chile to declare a state of emergency. over 50 have died, over 1,000 homes damaged. the death toll is likely to rise. nearly 400 residents are said to

be listed misting in chile. a pan has been detained for accidentally starting one of the fires. police say he wassing too welding work when grassland example nirted. over 90 fires are burning in chilg chile, acing over 100,000 ache erlts. the tourist area of val paraiso is particularly hard hit. we're following the latest on u.s.-led strikes in the middle east. still ahead, we'll take a closer look how iranian-backed militia groups are using drones to their advantage. russian police take journalists into custody. we'll have the details after the break.

♪ we're following breaking news in the middle east where the u.s. and the uk have launched attacks on iran-backed houthis in yemen. the u.s. says they hit 36 targets across the country. the strikes were supported by several other nations, including australia, bahrain, and canada. u.s. officials say they targeted facilities used in attacks on international shipping lanes. the white house says president joe biden approved the strikes earlier this week. both the u.s. and iran say they don't want war in the region, but they continue to point fingers at each other over the current heightened tensions. there are thousands of u.s. troops on the ground across the middle east, as well as many iranian-backed militia groups. president biden blames iran for the deaths of three american soldiers killed in that drone attack in jordan. he said iran is, quote,

supplying the weapons to the people who did it." u.s. officials have not determined what kind of drone was used but some analysts believe it was a tape of shahed drone. joining us is fabian heinz, research fellow for defense and military analysis at the international institute for strategic studies. fabian, let's start with, how have these relatively low-cost drones changed the landscape across the middle east, and indeed beyond? >> so the way i always talk about it is to say, imagine living in 1990. there would be no drones of this kind. there would be no precision-guided missiles as well. the only thing these groups could really do would be to fire artillery rockets with a range of a few dozen kilometers or guerilla attacks. these new technologies enable them to strike targets hundreds

of kilometers away. the houthis have missiles and drones with ranges over 1,000 kilometers. they are able to hit the adversary very far away, and of course that changes the strategic picture quite a bit. >> in terms of how the u.s. fights back against that, we've seen the u.s. throwing b-1 bombers and fa-18s at this, to use the old cliche, asymmetric. what can the u.s. do to try to counter this drone threat we're seeing across this region and elsewhere? >> it's quite challenging. when you i do look at these drones being used in iraq, they're complex systems. it's easy to move them around. it's easy to hide them. when you look at yemen are the u.s. seems to have quite a few successes when it comes to targeting and shipment, for example. the houthis are still using them and still using drones. it's difficult to counter them

with defensive actions. defensive actions don't work 100%. all these drones that are used by pro-iranian groups are used to target as some sort of metric strategy. even if you intercept them, there's still psychological effect, stitt political effects. it's a very rare headachy trial. >> part of the targets for american strikes, can they try to basically just interrupt the supply chains from iran? is that one practical way of trying to counter this just stop iran being able to ship these drones to these groups? >> if you look at the geography of the area, it will be very difficult to stop the shipments themselves. you can always try to hit the storage areas in the hope of degrading that arsenal. you can never eliminate that arsenal entirely because these

systems are too easily dispersed. you can try to degrade it but that requires very, very good intelligence. do they know where certain groups hide their drones? that's real challenging. >> and the various people we speak to, people tend to disagree slightly on just how much control tehran exerts over these various groups, the houthis, kataib hezbollah. what's your take on sort of how reliant these groups are on iran for their weapons, and how much do they listen to iran in terms of the missions that they themselves carry out? >> so this is the beauty, so to say, of drones and missiles. you can always look at them and identify them. when you have to -- when you have propaganda released by these groups, you can identify the type. because we know quite a lot

about the iranian drone arsenal, we can prove easily these drones are coming from iran. basically, all the drones these groups have used have been coming from iran. the same is true for the houthi anti-ship missiles. how exactly the political connection potential command and control between iran and these groups looks like? it's very controversial, and very, very hard to gather evidence of it. these decisions are made behind closed doors. if you look at the systems, there's no doubt they're relying on iran to a very high degree. then you can -- these attacks have been ongoing for a long time. you need to resupply, and the iranians are continuing that supply. they can say, we won't support you financially, we don't give you these kinds of systems anymore. but we're not seeing that. on the contrary, we're seeing

iran continue. russian officials say at least 28 people were killed after a strike on a building near the front lines in eastern ukraine. moscow claims ukraine was targeting a bakery when it hit a two-story building in liskhusansk, cnn cannot verify. the town was captured by russian forces in july 2022. it was one of moscow's last conquests before ukraine's successful summer down offensive in the kharkiv region. meantime, a russian official says a massive fire broke out at an oil refinery in volgograd after ukrainian forces launched a drone attack on that city. race's military says all drones

were intercepted and the fire was contained without casualties. we are hearing reports that journalists were detained after russian police cracked down on a protest at vladimir putin's election headquarters. one russian source says authorities pulled men from the crowd of protesters in moscow. seven journalists were taken to one police saying. at least another 27 people, only one of them an actual protester, were driven to another police station. the source says one state media employee has been released. the protest was part of a growing movement of women demanding their husbands and sons be brought home from the war. cnn contributor jill dougherty spoke about how the kremlin could handle these women. >> reporter: you know, i think a lot of it is the kremlin's dilemma. what do they do with these

women? because they're really not political, per se. they're grassroots. they're not really very well organized. and face it, if you have pictures of women being hauled off and hit with ba trons, it would be a very bad look for the kremlin. so -- and these are the mothers and the girlfriends, spouses of people who are serving in this, as putin calls it, the special military operation. so they're doing what they're supposed to be doing and the message is not, we hate the war. they don't even call it a war. so what they want is they want their husbands and sons, et cetera, back. and so how does the kremlin really fight against that? it's virtually impossible in kind of a pr way. and in -- in a society way in russia. >> saturday was a day that many in northern ireland thought they

would never see. coming up, a sinn fein politician leading its parliament, and she says she will help create unity. he calls himself the world's coolest dictator. he's expected to score an easy win in el salvador's election.

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explains, they're pledging to serve all of northern ireland. >> reporter: as the sun rose over the city of belfast this morning, some spoke of a new dawn. the stage being set for the landmark moment political paralysis finally ended. and it was a historic moment for sinn fein's michelle owe near, cheered by supporters, the first nationalist or republican to ever be appointed first minister of northern ireland. >> today opens the door to a future, a shared future. i am honored to stand here as first minister. we mark a moment of equality and a moment of progress. a new opportunity to work and to grow together. >> reporter: this day, she said, would have been unimaginable to her grandparents, made possible by the good friday agreement.

michelle o'neill's father was an ira prisoner, and she has attended memorials for former members. but she has pledged to show respect to the royal family and cooperate with colleagues to cherish the union. >> this is an assembly for all. catholic, broughprotestant, and dissenter. i am sorry for all the lives lost during the conflict, without exception. the past cannot be changed or cannot be undone, but what we can do, what we all can do, is build a better future. i will never ask anyone to move on, but i really do hope that we can all move forward. >> reporter: the dep who collapsed two years ago in protest over brexit trade rules nominated a deputy minister. anna baggily's family also has ties to the troubles. her father was convicted in a royalist plot, and she speaks of

remembering the devastation of an ira bomb. >> michelle and i come from different backgrounds. regardless, for my part i will work tirelessly to ensure we can deliver for all northern ireland. michelle is an irish republican, and i am a very proud unionist. we will never agree on those is issues, but what we can agree on is cancer doesn't discriminate and our hospitals need fixed. >> reporter: the post of deputy first minister has equal power but less symbolic weight. some unionists have found michelle owe appointment hard to bear. >> we have a sinn fein first minister, but not in my name nor in the name of thousands of unionists who will never bow the knee to ira sinn fein. >> reporter: it's been a very long road to reach this point. the two-year hiatus has piled pressure on public services across northern ireland. few see its return as a panacea, but many hope it will be a

platform to start fixing things. a politician who dubbed himself the world's coolest dictator is expected to cruise to re-election in el salvador today. polls in the country's presidential election are set to open in just a few hours. incumbent leader nayib boucle lay is believed to be a shoo-in largely because of his crackdown on the country's notorious gang violence. he managed to lower the country's murder rate, but critics say the crackdown led to massive human rights abuses and a dismantling of political checks and balances. coming up, facebook has been around for 20 years now. we'll take a look at its complicated legacy. plus, he's arguably the greatest football star of his generation. we'll get the latest on lionel messi's visit to hong kong with his inter miami squad.

20 years ago today, mark zuckerberg launched thefacebook.com.

since then, facebook has become a social media juggernaut. gamei guying our relationships with likes, comments, and shares. it also introduced a news feed which can bring people closer together but which has also spread dangerous misinformation and harmful content. this week, the billionaire zuckerberg apologized to families for the harm the site has done to children, but only after a lawmaker asked him if he would. right now, facebook has more than 2 billion active daily users and 20 years since it was founded doesn't look like it's going anywhere. messi mania is sweeping hong kong. the football superstar is there with his team, inter miami, for a preseason game which got under way about 50 minutes ago. inter miami co-owner david beckham is also there. tickets for the match sold out in less than an hour.

cnn's kristie lu stout joins us live now from hong kong. this is all rather exciting for you in hong kong. >> reporter: very exciting, nick. in fact, team hong kong, the local squad, just scored. the score now is 1-1. the crowd, wild. but there is still messi mania among the stands. you see it in the fans, all wearing the pink jerseys. lionel messi, the argentine football legend and superstar, is here with his team, inter miami, for a preseason friendly against hong kong. let me tell you, this does not feel like a friendly. team hong kong is going all-out. they are playing hard, and every time they touch the ball, the fans in the stands, even the ones wearing pink jerseys, they are cheering out in support. this is inter miami's first-ever international tour. the co-owner of the team, david beckham, also here. he was spotted earlier, before the match began, at the top of the hour signing jerseys and adding a little bit more football star power to the

proceedings. and this is a sold-out event. some 40,000 fans in the stands. earlier i spoke to one of them, the very colorful fan, listen to this. >> i'm happy to see him, obviously. happy for hong kong and all the fans, all the argentina supporters, all the new inter miami supporters. yeah, it's great. he hasn't been here since 2014. and he was -- he came as a runner-up, world cup runner-up, now coming as a world champion. it's perfect. >> reporter: we also spoke to a hong kong footballer who was selected to be on the hong kong squad. he told us how this encounter with messi, who is still on the bench, not on the pitch yet, is a dream come true. i want to share with you. jordan lam said, "i was so surprised to get into the final squad, and i think it's a dream come true playing with the goat, the greatest of all-time, messi. something i never imagine in my

life." the match started at the top of the hour. team hong kong, they are playing hard. we need to get back inside to figure out what's happening right now, nick. i'm going to have to toss it back to you. >> kristi in hong kong, thank you very, very much. enjoy. sticking with football, there are reports that french football star kylian mbappe will join real madrid. he has not informed either team of his decision, but he's expected to make the announcement next week. thanks very much for joining us. i'm nick watt. "newsroom" continues with kim brunhuber. that's next.

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welcome to all of you watching us in the united states, canada and around the world. i'm kim brubbrunhuber. the united states responds to the drone tack i