nick schifrin starts our coverage.is in a remote desert corner at the intersection of three countries, and the attack on to tower 22 lead to a u.s. valve or revenge. >> the president and i will not tolerate an attack on u.s. forces and we will take all necessary actions to defend the u.s. and our troops. >> we will respond decisively to any aggression and we will hold responsible people who attacked our troops. nick: u.s. military and defense officials say erin -- and got through the base's air defense because it was misidentified as a u.s. drone. the three soldiers killed were u.s. army reservist -- bases in iraq and syria have been targeted repeatedly since mid-october. this weekend was the first in jordan. to 22 is located on the jordan side of a remote demilitarized zone where jordan, iraq, and syria meet. to the north -- for years, it's functioned as a launching point for special forces combating isis militants and monitors a weapons shipping route along a highway leading into baghdad. the base has been the target

nick schifrin starts our coverage. in a remote desert corner at the intersection of three countries, and the attack on tower 22 lead to a u.s. valve -- thou of revenge. >> the president and i will not tolerate an attack on u.s. forces and we will take all necessary actions to defend the u.s. and our troops. >> we will respond decisively to any aggression and we will hold responsible people who attacked our troops. nick: u.s. military and defense officials say and iranian and got through the base's air defense because it was misidentified as a u.s. drone. the three soldiers killed were u.s. army reservist -- bases in iraq and syria have been targeted repeatedly since mid-october. this weekend was the first in jordan. tower 22 is located on the jordan side of a remote demilitarized zone where jordan, iraq, and syria meet. to the north -- is a garrison in syria that relies on tower 22 fort logistics and other support. for years, it's functioned as a launching point for special forces combating isis militants and monitors

as nick schifrin reports, the u.s.arned it will strike again, if the houthi campaign continues. >> for as far as the eye can see, pro-houthi demonstrators today filled the streets of the capital, waving weapons, demanding death to their enemies, a promise repeated by houthi leader mohammed ali al-houthi. >> did you not hear yesterday, yemeni people, the airstrikes? are they not the same raids we they did not bring anything new. but we are the ones who will bring something new. last night from jets, ships, and a submarine, the u.s. says a first run of strikes targeted 16 locations and later 12 locations with over 150 munitions. that was on the higher end of military options. the u.s. military says it hit more than 60 military targets in mostly unpopulated areas, targeting drones and missiles the houthis have used in recent attacks. including the attack yesterday with more than two dozen drones and missiles aimed at u.s. warships. pres. biden: if they continue to act and behave as they do, we're going to respond. since n

amna: nick schifrin, thank.ou. ♪ geoff: with just four days until the first-in-the-nation iowa caucuses, the republican presidential field continues to shrink and the remaining candidates are making their closing arguments. lisa desjardins reports on the candidates and their messages. >> we have campaigned in iowa for 11 months. >> probably a little rare. us floridians usually don't go north in january. lisa: the gop hopefuls on a last campaign sprint in the hawkeye state. >> so on the 15th, on monday, it's gonna be so cold. like, i don't even know what negative 15 is. lisa: reminding iowans that they're a long way from home. >> i do have a winter coat, believe it or not, and it's pretty nice. and i left the winter coat in tallahassee, so they're now doing an operation to get that winter coat up. lisa: florida governor ron desantis and former south carolina governor nikki haley met face-to-face last night. >> bless his heart. desantislies.com. lisa: trading barbs in a deeply personal debate. >> we don't need ano

nick schifrin has been following the story. let's start with the secretary's health.oing? why are we just learning about this now? nick: austin's doctors say they expect a full recovery but they also said it can be a slow process. there is no real answer to the second question, which is why you are getting the criticism you referenced. let's go through the timeline again as we did last night. in early december, one month ago, austin learned he had prostate cancer. december 22, he underwent a removal of part or all of the prostate under general anesthesia and transrred authorities to his deputy. january 1 he was admitted to the icu at walter reed with what his diet -- his doctors diagnosed as a uti and fluid in his abdomen. he transferred authority to his deputy and didn't say why. january 4 he informed the national security council and his deputy about the hospitalization. january 5, he makes a public statement and at no point during that entire process did he say or admit he had prostate cancer. take a listen to the spokespeople on the defense department and the nati

nick schifrin has been following this story. let's start with the secretary's health.ow about how he is doing and why over just learning about this cancer diagnosis now? nick: his doctor say they expect a full recovery, but they also say it could be a slow recovery. there is no real answer to the second question, and that his client we are getting all the criticism you reference. let's go through the timeline as we did last night. in early december, one month ago, austen learned he had prostate cancer. on december 22, he underwent a prostatectomy, the removal of part or all of the prostate under general anesthesia and transferred his step -- his duties to his deputy. his doctors would diagnose a urinary tract infection and fluid in his abdomen. on january 2 he again transferred his authorities to his deputy but did not say why. on january 4 he informed the national security council and his deputy about the hospitalization. on january 5, he makes his first public statement, and at no point during that entire process did he say or admit that he had prostate cancer. take

nick schifrin reports. nick: across the region tonight, fears of escalation.israel launched one of its largest salvos against hezbollah in lebanon since october 7. just yesterday, a mother and son were buried together, killed on sunday by a hezbollah missile. in northern iraq, iran launched a rare ballistic missile attack on what it said was a local office of israel's spy agency. but, among the dead was a kurdish multimillionaire and his family, killed in their home. and off the coast of yemen, u.s. warships launched the third round of strikes on the houthis in six days. the target today, four houthi ballistic missiles before they could be fired. the houthis welcome war, and once again, today launched a missile the u.s. military said struck a maltese-flagged ship that was able to sail away. >> what we have right now in the region is a recipe for escalation everywhere. nick: 3000 miles away at the world economic forum, leaders fromhe region and national security advisor jake sullivan acknowledged concerns of wider war. >> we have to guard against and be vigilan

nick schifrin reports. nick: across the region tonight, fears of escalation. launched one of its largest salvos against hezbollah in lebanon since october the 7th. just yesterday, a mother and son were buried together, killed on sunday by a hezbollah missile. in northern iraq, iran launched a rare ballistic missile attack on what it said was a local office of israel's spy agency. but among the dead was a kurdish multimillionaire and his family, killed in their home. and off the coast of yemen, u.s. warships launched the third round of strikes on the houthis in 6 days. the kurt -- the target today, 4 houthi ballistic missiles before they could be fired. the houthis welcome war, and once again today launched a missile the u.s. military said struck a maltese-flagged ship that was able to sail away. >> what we have right now in the region is a recipe for escalation everywhere. nick: 3000 miles away, at the world economic forum, leaders from the region, and national security advisor jake sullivan, acknowledged concerns of wider war. >> we have to guard against and

nick schifrin looks at the widening u.s. military campaign and the threat posed by iran. nick: just after midnight in iraq, u.s. strikes targeted an iranian backed militia. two hours later in yemen, the u.s. military targeted iranian backed houthi rebels. strikes in 2 different middle eastern countries, against 2 different iranian supported groups, designed, in the words of national security council spokesman john kirby, to prevent wider war. we don't want to see the >>we don't want to see the conflict escalate. we don't want to see some broader war. we're not looking for a war or a conflict with anybody. we're actually trying to de-escalate. nick: iran's revolutionary guard corps has long supported what iran calls an axis of resistance to conduct forward defense against its enemies. in iraq, that includes khataib hezbollah, a shia paramilitary group that the u.s. labels terrorists, but is also part of the iraqi military that helped defeat isis. last weekend, the us military says the group fired rockets and ballistic missiles at this u.s. military base, al assad, causing,

in a moment, nick schifrin speaks with the u.n. humanitarian chief about conditions in gaza. first, his report on this deadly day for israel's defense forces. nick: a prayer for the dead. a family grappling with grief. sergeant first class hadar kapeluk was a 23-year-old reservist, killed in gaza yesterday. sergeant major ilay levy was from the same unit. today, his mother said a final goodbye, and his father delivered a message of determination. >> let's show our enemies that we are strong and even in such a difficult situation we do not break. please say with me three times, the people of israel live. >> aam yisrael hai. nick: an israeli officer described how 21 reservists died in the destroyed building behind him. the 261st brigade had been preparing to demolish the building with their own explosives, when a palestinian militant opened fire, said israeli army spokesman rear admiral daniel hagari. >> [translated] the first rocket hit one of the buildings in which explosives had been laid out. the hit apparently led to the explosion that caused the collapse of the building a

nick schifrin reports. >> the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the gaza strip -- reporter: deliveredal thunderbolt. >> israel must in accordance with its obligations under the genocide convention in relation to pals indians in gaza take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts within the scope of article number two of the convention. >> the conviction on genocide -- reporter: the convention was adopted 75 years ago. in article two, genocide is defined as arcs committed with the intent to destroy in whole or in part a national or religious group and sites as examples killing, injuring, inflicting conditions calculated to bring about physical distraction, preventing births or transferring children. >> israel must assure that its military forces do not commit any of the aforementioned attacks. reporter: the court declined south africans request for a cease-fire in gaza and acknowledged israel's right to defend itself. but it also said that israel must take immediate measures to deliver humanitarian gaza, prevent and punish incitement to commit genocide and pre

nick schifrin talks to the top state department official overseeing yemen policy, about today's moveoing tensions. nick: today's designation follows more than 30 attacks by the houthis on commercial shipping in the red sea and gulf of aden, and three rounds of airstrikes in the last week, by the us and the uk targeting houthi capabilities. despite those airstrikes, just today a parent houthi drones and missiles hit at least two ships. tim lenderking is the us special envoy for yemen, and joins me now. why has the biden administration relisted the houthi's as a specially designated terrorist group? tim: the reason was to try to get at the problem, which is the houthi attacks on international shipping. it is not american or israeli shipping, it is international shipping. having a problem of this scope, which is global in its dimension, bear in mind that 15% of international commerce flows through the red sea. 30% of container traffic. so the fact that the houthis have struck at ships that affect 50 different countries, we made every effort to show this is an international problem and r

we are joined by nick schifrin. let's start with the attack that killed the three u.s. soldiers. what do we know about how the administration plans to respond? >> officials say the challenge is to reestablish deterrence against these groups without going to war with iran itself. what could that look like? i'm about to describe the broad categories of targets. a group of targets is iranian backed groups in iraq and syria. these are iraqis and syrians who fight for these groups, whose weapons and financing often comes from iran. the second category is iranian assets in iraq and syria. there are iranians from iran's revolutionary guard course, that run centers in these places, that run weapon sites. these are obviously iranians running these leases. some are in damascus and baghdad where the commanders fly in. there are also more rural targets. the third category would be iran itself. everything from the irgc headquarters in downtown tehran, to iranian naval ships, including a ship of former military official tells me is helping the who these in yemen. today, john kirby said the res

nick schifrin looks at the widening u.s. military campaign and the threat posed by iran. nick: just after midnight in iraq, u.s. strikes targeted an iranian backed militia. two hours later in yemen, the u.s. military targeted iranian backed houthi rebels. strikes in 2 different middle eastern countries, against 2 different iranian supported groups, designed, in the words of national security council spokesman john kirby, to prevent wider war. we don't want to see the >>we don't want to see the conflict escalate. we don't want to see some nflict with anybody.war or a we're actually trying to de-escalate. nick: iran's revolutionary guard corps has long supported what iran calls an axis of resistance to conduct forward defense against its enemies. in iraq, that includes khataib hezbollah, a shia paramilitary group that the u.s. labels terrorists, but is also part of the iraqi military that helped defeat isis. last weekend, the us military says the group fired rockets and ballistic missiles at this u.s. military base, al assad, causing, quote, "a number" of american injuries.

nick schifrin has been following this and is here with me. it is good to see you. did we learn from the pentagon today and how has president biden responded? nick: the pentagon said he is recovering well and in good spiritual and john kirby expressed confidence in austin. but there are huge questions about that leadership, especially after the pentagon admitted there was a second state in the hosta in austin did not disclose to the public or the president. that's gotha through the calendar according to officials i spoke with. on december 22, austin underwent an elective procedure and transferred his authorities temporarily to his deputy but did not inform her of why org knowledge it publicly. that is hospital visit number one. on january 1 he was in a secure call with president biden president biden and later that day experienced quote extreme pain and was taken to walter reed intensive care in an ambulance. no national security official was informed. even on january 2 he again transferred his authorities to the deputy secretary of defense. nobody told her why she

nick schifrin speaks with the un's humanitarian chief about conditions in gaza but first, his report on this deadly day for israel's defense forces. >> a prayer for the dead. a family grappling with grief. sergeant first class hadar kapeluk was a 23-year-old reservist, killed in gaza yesterday. sergeant major ilay levy was from the same unit. today, his mother said a final goodbye, and his father delivered a message of determination. >> let's show our enemies that we are strong and even in such a difficult situation we do not break. please say with me three times, the people of israel live. reporter: an israeli officer described how 21 reservists died in the destroyed building behind him. the 261st brigade had been preparing to demolish the building with their own explosives, when a palestinian militant opened fire, said israeli army spokesman rear admiral daniel hagari. >> the first rocket hit one of the buildings in which explosives had been laid out. the hit apparently led to the explosion that caused the collapse of the building and the collapse of the building next to it. report

but as nick schifrin reports, south africa is requesting a preliminary ruling, which could have far-rangingrael and the united states. nick: in the depths of gaza's despair, south africa accuses eric israel of what's been called the crime of crimes. >> the actions show a systematic pattern of conduct from which genocide can be inferred. nick: today, south africa asked the international court of justice to compel israel to stop the war and what it called decades of discrimination. >> the application places israel's genocidal acts and omissions within the broader context of israel's 75 year apartheid. >> the draft convention on genocide is being presented to the general assembly today. nick: it was 75 years ago last month that the u.n. adopted the genocide convention, the first human rights treaty. it was born out of the nazi's final solution, a campaign of systemic murder that helped lead to the birth of the state of israel. the convention defines genocide as acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group, and cites as examples ki

lisa: i want to credit nick schifrin for a lot of this reporting. right now the u.s.ying for critical weaponry and also the ukraine government to keep financially viable. $4 billion is needed for them routinely to keep the payroll going. the u.s. is paying for teachers and those kind of things. if there is not air defense for ukraine, that will be a game changer soon. they will probably not be able to make it as they are coming up quickly. amna: our congressional correspondent lisa desjardins, covering these critical negotiations. thank you. lisa: you're welcome. amna: former president donald trump is also dealing with his own legal problems today. he took the stand in a new york city courtroom as part of the defamation lawsuit filed by writer e. jean carroll. in an earlier trial, trump was found guilty of sexually abusing carroll in the 1990's in a department store dressing room, and then defaming her by denying the assault and alleging she invented the story to make money. our william brangham was in the courtroom today and joins us now. william, it is good to see y

in a moment, nick schifrin speaks with an american doctor who's just returned from gaza, but first hestate of medical care there. and a warning, some of the following images and descriptions are disturbing. nick: in gaza's hospitals today, suffering too terrible to name. the mother hoping to find her son. has just found him in a white body bag. they pray for him at the european hospital in the southern city of khan younis, three days after he left his home looking for food never to return. she was told her son was killed in an israeli airstrike. he was buried so quickly, his gravestone is a cinderblock. >> i am hurting like a burning blaze. i told my husband, let's pray for him, he will come back. but it was my last goodbye for him. may his soul rest in peace. nick: the wounded are rushed in, and there are scenes of desperation. this man, wounded, was brought into a hospital where triage is on the floor and treatment is often without anesthetic. none of gaza's 36 hospitals are fully functional, and fewer than half are even operating. now is the area outside this hospital back in the s

nick schifrin has been following this and is here with me. it is good to see you.id we learn from the pentagon today and how has president biden responded? nick: the pentagon said that austin is "recovering well" and in good spirits. john kirby expressed confidence in austin. but there are huge questions about that leadership, especially after the pentagon admitted there was a second stay in the hospital that austin did not disclose to the public or the president. let's go through the calendar according to officials i spoke to. on december 22, austin underwent an elective procedure and transferred his authorities temporarily to his deputy but did not inform her of why or knowledge it publicly. that is hospital visit number one. on generate first, austin participated in a secure call with president biden and later that day experienced "extreme pain" and was taken to walter reed intensive care in an ambulance. no national security official was informed. even the next stay, january 2, he again transferred his authorities to the deputy secretary of defense. nobody told

lisa: i want to credit nick schifrin for a lot of this reporting. right now the u.s.ying for critical weaponry but the ukraine government to keep financial aid viable. $4 billion is needed for them routinely to keep the payroll going. the u.s. is paying for teachers and those kind of things. if there is not air defense for ukraine, that will be a game changer soon. they will probably not be able to make it as they are coming up quickly. amna: our congressional correspondent lisa desjardins, thank you. lisa: you're welcome. amna: former president donald trump is also dealing with his own legal problems today. he took the stand in a new york city courtroom as part of the defamation lawsuit filed by writer e. jean carroll. in an earlier trial, trump was found guilty of sexually abusing carroll in the 1990's in a department store dressing room, and then defaming her by denying the assault and alleging she invented the story to make money. our william brangham was in the courtroom today and joins us now. william, it is good to see you. we should note that the president, de