there will be no houthis on the there will be no houthis on the next segment. i'm kudlow.ll be rightore back. some companies today bring politics into the boardroom, ♪. ♪. larry: interesting topic, does the japanese takeover of our biggest steel company jeopardize national security? nippon steel taking over u.s. steel. joining us now, is former u.s. commerce secretary wilbur ross. wilbur, thanks for coming on the show. you know, wilbur, i will look back on this. i never understood, i didn't like the steel tariffs. i like the china tariffs. laffer and i, steve moore were opposed to steel tariffs. why have 25% steel tariffs, 10% on aluminum if now our biggest steel company got taken over? by the way those tariffs were suspended anyway. what was it for? what did we gain out of this? >> well, first of all on the deal itself i don't think people should object to it. nippon steel is a very high-tech steel company. if anything they may have better technology than u.s. steel. they pledged to honor the labor contracts, which go through 2026. and they have pledged zero carbon by 205

appeasing houthis is same as athes appeasing the houthi pay paymaster iran. just a couple of pin pricks in the middle of syria, this amounts to feckless foreign policy. of course, it goes back to the biden's terrible mi misclassification a nuclear deal with iran is possible and iran could be a civil rises mac member of middle east nations and iran would give up its goal of destroying united states and israel, it never had merit, it was a naive policy, and part of that policy, included relaxing of banking, energy and economic sanctions on iran. that relaxing has financed mop monetary come back, giving them more resources as paymaster to terrorist groups in middle east, every decision joe biden made concerning middle east has turned cold as stone. and remember, even today, u.s. lodges no complain with communist china, which through large scale purchases of imported russian and iranian oil helped to finance two wars against america, now even the houthis are humiliating us, a sad state of affairs, very sad. that is my riff. now, let's talk about this. i am intere

appeasing houthis is same as athesing t appeasing the houthi pay ma paymaster iran. just a couple of pin pricks in the middle of syria, this amounts to feckless foreign policy. of course, it goes back to the biden's terrible misco misclassification a nuclear deal with iran is possible and iran could be a civil rises machin member of middle east nations and iran would give up its goal of destroying united states and israel, it never had merit, it was a naive policy, and part of that policy, included relaxing of banking, energy and economic sanctions on iran. that relaxing has financed moptar monetary come back, giving them more resources as paymaster to terrorist groups in middle east, every decision joe biden made concerning middle east has turned cold as stone. and remember, even today, u.s. lodges no complain with communist china, which through large scale purchases of imported russian and iranian oil helped to finance two wars against america, now even the houthis are humiliating us, a sad state of affairs, very sad. that is my riff. now, let's talk about this. i

- will continue to hold back on hitting the houthis? that a good cuestion. hitting the houthis?he houthis? that a good question. ithink— hitting the houthis? that a good question. i think there _ hitting the houthis? that a good question. i think there is - hitting the houthis? that a good question. i think there is a - hitting the houthis? that a good| question. i think there is a desire to de—escalate and try and contain the conflict in the red sea rather than connecting it to what is happening in israel and gaza. i think as long as the warships can contain the threat, i think we won't see any strikes on houthi platforms. the minute they become more of a problem i think you will find that surveillance systems have been very active in finding where the houthi command systems are an that missiles will become a limited —— eliminated as soon as they become a wider problem and that the ships can't cope. problem and that the ships can't co e. ., ~' problem and that the ships can't coe. ., ~ ,, problem and that the ships can't coe. ., ~ y problem and that the ships can't co e, ., ~'

so the houthis are shooting at the same people the islamic republic wants to shoot at. hamas and gaza have been shooting at the same people that the islamic republic wants to shoot it. iran's foray into gaza the majority of the population of sunni is built on hamas as far as palestinian islamic jihad being a spoiler to the peace process and an even more aggressive and violent spoiler to the peace process after the second intifada. the way these groups work is a of local interest in the islamic republic since i can help you with local interest and that it co-ops that local interest through foreign material for political support.t. the houthis can set their own rate of fire that they have the fire thanks to the islamic republic of iran. this is why it was quite hard for me and intelligence community and academic community and analytical communities it say this or a smoking gun other we need support on october 7? you have all the "wa street journal" sources, local sources saying yes, then you have reuters with all their local sources say no. it depends on your perspective

and the houthis in yemen.re probably the loosest string of all of these access, but they still answer to iran. they make a lot of their own domestic decisions within yemen, but when it comes to international operations, they take their direction from tehran. and that is because tehran gives them all of their money, their backing, their funding. and tehran expects whoever gets all of this money and funding from them to take a page from their handbook, to launch attacks, to disrupt shipping lines when iran gifts the objective, because it suits iran's purposes in the region. look,, aly one thing to bear in mind is that iran has shown an uncanny ability to change course of middle eastern, north african politics, when it suits it's political or financial means. they can ratchet up tension, and bring it right back down at will. they can do all of this without getting their own hands dirty. without bringing the fight onto iranian soil. they do this by bringing their proxies, who are all sort of ideologically aligned

but, in a rare interview with abc news this week houthi leader mohammed al-houthi signaled the attacks would not stop as long as israel continues its offensive in gaza. and linsey, u.s. officials tonight telling us the navy's newest and largest aircraft carrier, the uss gerald r. ford, and its strike group, will soon be returning to its home port from the eastern mediterranean sea. it was sent to the region more than two months ago in response to hamas' surprise attack on israel. linsey. >> em, thank you. >> linsey: tonight, the israeli military says the war with hamas will last into the end of 2024, as israeli forces expand their mission to defeat hamas. israeli war planes struck urban refugee camps this weekend, as ground forces push deeper into southern gaza. abc's britt clennett reports from israel. >> reporter: tonight israeli forces releasing video of heavy fighting in gaza as the israeli military says it expects the war to last the entirety of 2024. "the goals of the war require a prolonged war" says idf spokesperson daniel hagari, adding that some of the reservists will return

the houthis are a new threat to peace. yemen stood up to protect palestine.s is putting together a coalition. there are guarantees, and if i find them, the safety of world shipping. materials of our program. digitalization is sweeping the planet, africa is connecting new technologies. the battle of yemen is my battle, the revolution in yemen is my revolution. in the last year we have seen the interaction of the backward saudi arabian forces of the colonialists, the cooperation and solidarity between them against arab nationalism and the revolution of arab freedom, concluded. nationalists. yemen is in the spotlight. the united states, along with nine other countries launched operation prosperity guardian to protect ships in the red sea. let us remember that this reservoir is famous not only for its corals of stunningly beautiful fish, but also for the fact that it is the shortest route between europe and asia. in fact, the americans already created a coalition there last year. already three years ago, when ansar allah rebelled against the sunni authorities. re

the houthi movement is leaving.rthrow, by the way, was welcomed by nasr in the year sixty-two, but today’s followers remain something for the world rather mysterious, either sectarians, or rebels, or actually the authorities, to sergei nikolaevich serebrov from the institute of oriental studies. call it the reformist islamic teachings of the new wave, the postmodern era. that is, the reformers of the era of muhammad abdo and afghanistan at the beginning of the 20th century, they tried to break the ossified traditions of islamic societies in order to open the way to westernization, and hussein put a barrier in the way of the influence of western ideology, and hussein called the main instrument of the influence of the west, the destructive impact of the west on islamic societies, he... called soft power , so he also developed his concept as soft power, so to speak, in response to this one of ours, to attacks that, cousism is such a concept of the coronal path that seyd hussein calls on the ummah, look at the koran as,

is also pointless, but the houthis have something to answer, the houthis have shown that during thisme to get out of this war zone practically, well, to put it mildly, not that impossible, but extremely difficult, because the houthis have one more simple thing left in stock, they will simply die, so, but i would see, if you speak in the embassies, they listen to us, from the embassies of saudi arabia , for example, yes , since it was the saudis who led the campaign , the saudis always seemed to have the operational initiative, but they couldn’t put more pressure on them, mountains, that’s what vlad described, yes, mountains, sands and everything else, now, by the way, in recent years three or four, we usually two countries. we always give the saudis and the emirates in tandem, yes, that they do not spill the water , such a middle eastern water, this is true in most cases, but this is when putin travels, saudi arabia is probably the emirates, although the emirates will probably step aside altogether, everything is fine for them there , they don’t need to climb these mountains again ag

by most measures, the houthis have won.ve also become a significant military force, which brings us back to iran. saudi arabia and the us and almost all western countries believe that they get direct training, finance, military support from iran, but iran denies this. but it's almost certain that this is the case. the houthis are part of what's sometimes called iran's axis of resistance. that includes the assad regime in syria, militias in iraq, hezbollah in lebanon and hamas in gaza. and since the start of the israel—gaza war, the houthis have sought to stand out. for the houthis, this— is about showing they're the most daring member of the axis| of resistance and the most deserving of iranian support. and they do have genuine ideological closeness to both hamas _ and to lebanese hezbollah. but on the face of it, the houthis have provoked a mismatch. on one side is a task force containing some of the world's biggest military powers. on the other, a rebel group in one of the poorest countries on earth. and while the interna

the houthis are a new threat to peace. yemen stood up to protect palestine. the us is putting together a coalition. there are guarantees, and if i find it. the safety of global shipping, materials from our program, digitalization is sweeping the planet, africa is connecting new technologies. the battle of yemen is my battle, the revolution in yemen is my revolution. in recent years we have seen interaction between backward saudi arabia and the forces colonialists. not against the enemies of the arab world, but against the arabs themselves, the dealers who sell weapons to some arabs sell them to israel. those who arm israel also arm saudi arabia and other backward countries in the region. egyptian president gamal abdal-nasir, speech in port said. in the fall of sixty-two in support of the yemen revolution. the imams were overthrown, and nationalist republicans came. yemen is in the spotlight. the united states, along with nine other countries, launched operation prosperity sentinel to protect ships in krasny sea. let us remind you that this reservoir is famous

the houthis aren't attackinu protected. the houthis aren't attacking just _ protected.uthis aren't attacking just one country, i protected. the houthis aren't i attacking just one country, they protected. the houthis aren't - attacking just one country, they are attacking just one country, they are attacking the international community really. they are attacking the economic well—being and prosperity of nations around the world. , ~ , ., ., . ~ ., world. the strikes and hi'acking of shi -s b world. the strikes and hi'acking of ships by the h world. the strikes and hi'acking of ships by the houthis _ world. the strikes and hijacking of ships by the houthis mark - world. the strikes and hijacking of ships by the houthis mark an - ships by the houthis mark an escalation in a series of maritime attacks threatening the commercial shipping industry. the us once international support to patrol the red sea to protect the shipping routes. here in the uk, the home secretary, james cleverly, has apologised forjoking about spiking drinks. the remark is alleged to have been made on

we're not in conflict with the houthis and not seeking conflict with the houthis but we're seeking to defend yourselves and prevent this conflict from widening. >> reporter: kirby admits iran enabled houthis and other proxies in the middle east. >> while they are launched by the houthis we certainly have every reason to believe they're being enabled by iran. as national security advisor said just the other day the houthis are pulling the trigger, iran is providing the guns report now we have some sanctions slapped against the backers of the houthis but no direct engagements with the sites, launch sites where the attacks are coming from related to the houthis. so no increasing of sanctions on iran, specifically maybe going after their oil to cut off that money supply. back to you, larry. larry: edward, one quick question here. mr. kirby is saying white house view, the administration views that the houthis are firing at us. the bidens may not want to expand the war but the houthis are escalating. they're shooting at us constantly and yes, they are being enabled by iran. you know this is

we certainly aren't looking for a conflict with the houthis.d be for the houthis to stop these attacks. gillian: so, you know, everybody and their mother knows that the administration is not looking to broaden the conflict inside israel, but critics of the administration now are starting to say the degree to which the the administration is sort of taking a backseat and only reactionary, defensive moves is now negligent. what do you say? >> i think that's right. there have been over 200 attacks on american troops in syria and iraq since this administration began, over 100 since the october 7th hamas terrorist attack. our responses have been described as pinprick counterattacks. it hasn't deer thed anyone, and -- deterred nip, and that's why these attacks continue. and one has to argue that if we're going to keep american troops in syria and iraq, president biden has to defend them. he's not going to defend them, we should pull them out. gillian: yeah. or at least not allow american service members to serve as a target practice for these foreign

no, the houthi are _ might have to last for? no, the houthi are nonstate _ might have to last for?ve to last for? no, the houthi are nonstate actor who i houthi are nonstate actor who basically have cut the largest supply line in the entire world from europe to asia. we've never seen anything quite this scale before in modern times. you have to go back to the world was to see where supply lines like this get severed in this way. the houthi being the nonstate actor, genesis for the entire issue is of course what's happening in israel and gaza until you saw that which is a big issue to resolve middle east peace, this will keep resonating and so it'll be a very tough one to get the houthi to stop shooting missiles. the only hope is a defensive nature by the naval ships or a more overt act which involves striking missile sites and military placements in yemen. ~ ., ., yemen. sal mercogliano, maritime _ yemen. sal mercogliano, maritime historian - yemen. sal mercogliano, maritime historian at - yemen. sal mercogliano, - maritime historian at campbell university, thank you so much forjoi

if or, number two, about the houthis? we haven't responded to the houthis -- >> reporter: right.arry: -- and we haven't tightened up the iranian sanctions. so i agree with their analysis, i just don't know what their response is going to be. >> reporter: that is the question that i actually had for john kirby. didn't get called on. but i did ask the deputy treasury secretary about that saying why don't we cut off the oil directly with iran, why don't we go more forcefully, and he said that they believe the treasury department has added sufficient sanctions against iran, and it has crippled the iranian economy, yet he did acknowledge that iran has not been fazed by the sanctions and continues to sow that unrest in the middle east, so -- larry: all right. i hear you. of could have fooled me. edward lawrence, great stuff, we appreciate it. all right, now let's go to fox news' bill melugin live from lukeville, arizona, with the latest about the border problems. bill, what you got? >> reporter: hey, larry, good afternoon to you. cbp sources tell me in the last two days there have been

do more about what the houthis are doin.? do more about what the houthis are doinu ? ., ., doing?orraine. indeed, doing? good evening, lorraine. indeed. we _ doing? good evening, lorraine. indeed, we have _ doing? good evening, lorraine. indeed, we have a _ doing? good evening, lorraine. indeed, we have a plane - doing? good evening, lorraine. indeed, we have a plane and i doing? good evening, lorraine. i indeed, we have a plane and have doing? good evening, lorraine. - indeed, we have a plane and have the capability to deal with the houthis, but we expect the international community to be involved on this issue. because it is a threat not only to israel, but the entire western democracies and i think what western democracies and i think what we said at the beginning it has a fight against democracy, not against israel. i think the us and other countries realise that which is by raising the international community coming together with a major force to fight back against those pirates. it's well is also saying it will continue, or benjamin netanyahu is saying it is caught they will

the houthis fired on these u.s. helicopters. the u.s.icopters shot these boats, sank them, and killed all of those aboard. so this is the first time that the u.s. actually targeted the houthis in this act of self-defense. but it is an escalation and a continuation of what we have been seeing in the red sea for the last several weeks, which is the houthi rebels trying to target commercial trade in that region, commercial ships, merchant ships. that's a major concern for the white house because this is such a critical shipping route. and in fact, the owner of the ship had just started regoing through the red sea, as this was happening. now they have said that they will suspend transits in that sea for the next 48 hours. but certainly, the houthis are not the only iranian proxies that the u.s. is concerned about. you have seen the u.s. carry out air strikes in syria and iraq against these proxy groups who have targeted u.s. troops. they have not taken strikes in yemen against the houthis because i think the white house is very seriously con

that is why the houthis shot down a drone. that is why the houthis going against international freedom, something the u.s. cares deeply about. that is why there have been precisely 74, 75 attacks. the longer the conflict in israel goes on, the more likely iran is to turn up these proxies. iran is trying to get us to see, hey, the heat is rising . how do we stop the war against hamas? this is iran coming in from the back door by raising the heat across the region. and one last point about revenge, i don't see this as a revenge point. as we have risk aversion in washington and in particular the rest of the world, the nature of the men at the helm today, they are risk tolerant. they have seen a different america across the middle east. this is a different america. they talked about this after the retreat of afghanistan in 2021. the america today is not the same america 10, 20 years ago. the commander of the aerospace force, the man who gave the order to launch ballistic missiles wherein the u.s. received the largest ever holistic

the houthis claiming their goal was to target israeli ships. a us official tells abc news some of the commercial vessels may have had connections to israel. no one was reported injured. it's the latest attack on commercial shipping by the houthi rebels last month, they released video showing armed members using a helicopter to hijack a cargo ship. the carney, one of several us warships and aircraft carriers sent to the red sea after the outbreak of israel's war with hamas. the us is being very careful not to turn the red sea into a shooting gallery. the houthis claim this unverified video shows them shooting down a us reaper drone last month, and in late october, the carney already intercepting four missiles and 15 drones, headed from houthi controlled territories towards targets in israel. the pentagon put out a formal statement saying it would consider all appropriate responses in coordination with allies and partners. several countries had civilians that fell under attack. but of course, this is delicate. the us is trying to protect this are

the houthis will carry out some kind of punishment, but it won’t be the houthis anymore, these will bebout it, well, plus there naturally this is all oil prices, routes around the cape of good hope, our proposal for the northern route to the internet, you don’t need to send any photos, there are special marrin traffic sites and so on i can suggest and... i loaded there, relatively speaking, in french port, then you will see this, by the way, the houthis are attacking there, let’s say, french ships, so the french ship was carrying raw materials for biofuel to renoir island, it was attacked, but it left the french port, for the houthis this is already a country , which is under the naho umbrella, for example, and a number of other european companies, have already stopped conducting their ships for several days, our companies are not afraid to load, which means they probably also hope that the houthis can. let's still forget that everything we watch, we won, for reasons like this, and not now we are discussing about the same houthis, and i don’t seem to support the threat to sink ships th

larry: the houthis are hueys ard they're striking back with liz macdonald. our best weapon. elizabeth: we've got breaking news and take you to iowa and president trump and nikki haley and they're on the campaign in iowa and really campaigning and going at it and getting to fox news to america meredith in iowa. what's going on? reporter: liz, you're right. all the can dates are in iowa -- candidates in iowa this week trying to get their message out before people tune out before the holidays and people are wrapping up and former un ambassador nikki haley talking in a town hall-style format and voters are asking her questions and the number of questions she got were more on january f than about the economy. however, in her remarks, she also issued a sort of fresh new attack on former president trump who will be here in iowa. here's what haley had to say moments ago. >> rightly or wrongly, chaos follows him. you know i'm right, chaos follows him. we can't have a country in disarray and world on fire going through four more years of chaos. reporter: they're focused on iowa and su

in a rare interview with abc news this week, the houthi leader muhammad ali al houthi signaling thatttacks would not stop as long as israel continues its offensive in gaza. prime minister benjamin netanyahu appearing steadfast in his mission to destroy hamas. now vowing to take back control of gaza's border with egypt saying the corridor should be in israeli hands as that's the only arrangement that ensures demilitarization. netanyahu also saying the war against hamas will continue for many more months, and guys, back to those tensions in the red sea. so far no response from the houthis after this morning's deadly confrontation, but on friday, the militant group had warned the u.s. against any escalation towards its people. whit? >> whit: britt clennett, thank you, and joining us now with more to discuss is john kirby, the national security council coordinator for strategic communications. john, good morning. it's good to have you. so, let's start there with that news about u.s. helicopters firing on houthi boats in self-defense and killing the crews. how serious is this escalation?

the houthis. >> yeah. navy admiral, he nose much better than what he's saying, but he's got to be the out there sort of like baghdad bob in a situation like this. the houthis respect going to stop because the rape a januaries aren't going to stop -- iranians aren't going to stop. here's the joke of it, we're expending million dollar missiles to shoot down drones that cost a couple thousand dollars. that's to the chinese benefit. we're protecting a chinese shipping, a lot of the chinese shipping is going to china, and that's to china's benefit. we're pulling our fleet out of the indo-pacific and putting them in the middle east on the chinese's behalf, and we're not doing anything to stop the houthis. we're taking that a marine expedition their unit, i don't want to start another war in the middle east, but we a ought to bring the marines ashore just like we did in libya when the trip thely pirates were, you know, taking our shipping. send them ashore, take out the houthi leadership, the tribesmen with their

houthis are merely a symptom of it.ut at some point we could start small by eliminating the threat, coming from yemen, being driven by houthi rebels. but eventually the united states along with international partners need to look at iran and what they are doing throughout the region. >> in terms of strikes against houthis in yemen, i know this is part of the debate inside the administration, where is there a reticence there? >> i think there is a ret since because right now with the israel/hamas war going on and we are trying to ensure that the united states is giving israel as much of a free hand as possible to prosecute that, eliminate the threat of hamas to feel safe and cure had their own country, we want to see an expansion to include iran. at some point, once israel eliminates hamas as a threat, then i think as in coordination with the regional allies, the united states as well as international partners are going to have to look at what we need to do to address the root cause of the stability in the region which i

seas including houthi attacks on us warships.t's not off the table is the white house tiptoes not getting into direct standoff with houthi rebels main backers, iran. >> these attacks have to stop. they are unacceptable. the united states, allies and partners have to counter these ships. >> reporter: foreign policy applications aside their economic implications, 30% of global container traffic passes through the red sea. billions in goods and supplies. houthi rebels are aggressively making the red sea, gas prices globally, global trade overall. >> i'm deeply concerned about ensuring maritime cargo around the world. we can't lose control of the red sea and biden comes in, bumps the houthi is from the terrorist watchlist and by april of 2,020 they already fire on the southeast. >> reporter: there have been 37 vessel attacks by the houthis over the last month, we will see if in the new year those attacks continue, more if they ramp up or if the administration can do anything to stop them entirely. neil: thank you for that. retired u.

do we have a sense of what the houthis were targeting? >> in the broad scope, ed, as i mentioned in the opening statement and the whole purpose of this maritime task force is they are targeting commercial shipping. i mean, heck, they have even said publicly. >> usually it's 1 or 2. 14 at one time. >> they have largely focused targeting on commercial ships but we have not seen any specific targeting or intention to target naval vessels. but you can't, you know, when a commander officer is looking at something coming in, a drone or missile, he or she has to make some often times split second -- >> sandra: so john kirby will continue to talk from the white house, bottom line, houthi attacks have to stop, says the white house spokesperson, and said u.s. and its partners will do what they have to do to protect those ships in the red sea, update right now. we will continue to monitor the briefing. karine jean-pierre will be up again shortly. >> john: they'll do what they have to do but in the meantime looks like they are not going to get to the

the houthi are a unique forced.te actor who will have cut the largest supply line in the entire world from europe to asia. we have never seen anything this scale before in modern times. you have to go back to world wars to see where supply lines like this get severed. the houthi being the nonstate actor, the genesis of the issue is what is happening in israel and gaza. until you solve that, a big issue to solve, this will keep resonating. it will be tough to get the houthi to stop shooting missiles. the only hope is the defensive nature by naval ships or striking missile sites and military placements in yemen. caitriona: thank you so much for joining us. guest: thank you. caitriona: the u.s. planning to release one more package of military aid for ukraine this month. the national security council spokesperson says there will be no -- >> very good and productive meeting. >> [indiscernible] are you confident you will get the funding you need, sir? >> yeah. don't look at the camera, just go past in that direction. plea

that follows multiple attacks on shipping by yemen—based houthi rebels. has revealed it s considering designating the houthis as a terrorist group. the national security council has said the issue is now under review. here's our business reporter david waddell. these attacks have had a huge impact. here's one. this video by the houthis shows them storming a british registered cargo ship last month. in recent days, the escalation of attacks have encouraged a series of shipping companies to announce they would suspend their movements through the red sea and embark on the much longer passage around the southern tip of africa. that's costing time and money and a huge impact on carbon emissions. the attacks have been widely denounced. the us, the european union, nato and several countries, including yemen, have issued a joint statement of condemnation. they said there is no justification for these attacks which affect many countries beyond the flags these ships sail under. and they called on all states to refrain from facilitation or encouragement of the houth

we will have more on the houthis attacks.t president ronald reagan did when faced with exact same thing in the 1980s. doctor rebecca grant on that in a few moments. arthel: alright thank you for a new fox poll length shows the border crisis growing in importance as an issue with voters and the migrant surge shows no signs of slowing down a majority of voters say they support measures to boost border security latest numbers show a 63% disapprove of president biden's job on the issue. for months lawmakers on both sides have argued on details of a border deal. >> we have to understand it will not be perfect there be people on the extreme right and extreme left as always it will not be good enough it will be too much and not good enough. our negotiators right now from the republican and democrat negotiators who are diligent doing a great job. and then with the white house involve committed to getting the border under control. that is what i'm very hopeful for and i think were going to see something next week will stay there until

i think iran has a lot of influence with the houthis and can, in fact, tell the houthis to step up attacks or scale them back. again, iran sees that these groups or proxies allow iran to demonstrate capabilities in the region without getting directly involved and so that's why they have been able to provide a lot of support to the houthis, as well as hezbollah and hamas over the years. they have the capabilities because of iranian support over the course of decades, which is what has happened in the region. >> is there an opening to look at the iranian nuclear deal again? is that a way? i mean, is this all having to do with iran feeling choked out because of what happened with the $17 billion that was unfrozen? i mean, is there a way for the u.s. and iran to come to a detente in this arena? >> unfortunately with the tensions very high in the region, i think it's very unlikely there's going to be meaningful progress to a detente with the united states and iran over these matters. iran continues to look at the situation in gaza as being an opportunity for it to be able to support the various

they will feel the need to hit some houthi targets. but of course they are trying not to escalate things too much, linsey. >> certainly a delicate situation there. mary alice, thank you. >>> tonight the israeli army is ordering more evacuations in the southern part of gaza and says it has now expanded its ground offensive to every part of the gaza strip. many palestinians say they're running out of places to go. abc's tom soufi burridge from israel, and a warning some of the images may be difficult to watch. [ sound of gunfire ] >> reporter: tonight, israel expanding its assault on gaza. for the first time confirming its ground forces are now operating in every area of the strip, including the south. massive missile strikes, as hamas fired rockets into southern israel. the israeli military claiming it hit hundreds of terror targets in northern and southern gaza this weekend. >> we see here a fighting tunnel of hamas 15 meters deep right outside a school. >> reporter: entire residential blocks destroyed. the u.n. says hundreds buried in

they will feel the need to hit some houthi targets. but of course they are trying not to escalate things too much, linsey. >> linsey: certainly a delicate situation there. maryalice, thank you. >>> tonight the israeli army is ordering more evacuations in the southern part of gaza and says it has now expanded its ground offensive to every part of the gaza strip. many palestinians say they're running out of places to go. abc's tom soufi burridge reports from israel, and a warning some of the images may be difficult to watch. [ sound of gunfire ] >> reporter: tonight, israel expanding its assault on gaza. for the first time confirming its ground forces are now operating in every area of the strip, including the south. massive missile strikes, as hamas fired rockets into southern israel. the israeli military claiming it hit hundreds of terror targets in northern and southern gaza this weekend. >> we see here a fighting tunnel of hamas 15 meters deep right outside a school. >> reporter: entire residential blocks destroyed. the u.n. says hun

today, the houthis, the leader of the houthis, issued a direct threat to the united states.l strikes. i'm not asking about future operations, but as part of the prosperity guard, do countries have any authority or mission to attack the houthis inside yemen in response to attacks on merchant ships? or is it mainly a defense against any projectiles that may be directed towards the us navy or france. said that everything, as they say, congratulated everyone on this matter, and as if after that he went on vacation, while making deadlines the existence of ukraine to last for three seasons, winter, spring and summer, then there was complete oblivion about what was happening in israel, and what was happening with the temptations, even more so, that is... actually , guys, you why did they get in there, what did you untie? yes, they will celebrate christmas in the red sea, in the gulf of adam, but what are they going to do there, planes are already flying, so you need to do something like that, or if you pulled out some kind of sword in the arab countries, then it should either wave

the houthis are an iranian backed militia _ ships?outhis are an iranian backed militia who _ ships? the houthis are an iranian backed militia who took- ships? the houthis are an iranian backed militia who took over - ships? the houthis are an iranian i backed militia who took over control of most of yemen 9 years ago in a big clue which cloudy arabia and western countries have been trying unsuccessfully to reverse —— a big coup. they control the coast of yemen and they have already previously some weeks earlier fired missiles towards israel. these were also shut down by a us guided missile destroyer in the red sea. they have said that in support of their brothers in hamas, in their words, they would not allow israeli shipping to pass by their coast. and theyissued shipping to pass by their coast. and they issued a warning which was obviously ignored. and as a result of that, they have attacked these ships, which they claim were israeli owned. the israeli government has said there is no connection between the israeli state and these sh

yeah, kash patel is right in terms of houthi's capability.eration prosperity guardian, the response of biden administration is the epitome of this turn the other cheek then cut and run foreign policy that the biden administration has deployed everywhere. punched in the mouth by a lesser opponent, response is, we'll building an international coalition to protect us? this is just so ridiculous. you were there in the reagan administration where the example of what to do, when iran mined the persian gulf and hit a u.s. frigate. ron reagan response sense largest fleet to destroy two oil platforms, and 8 iranian ships, and kill more than 50 irgc soldiers and the problem ended. that is what should happen here. but it is not. just like strong deterrents and a response is not happening with the houthis, it did not happen with hamas or iran, it has not happened with china or russia. you know, we talk about foreign policy all of the time, we have been reduced to talking about the degrees of failure of the foreign policy of the biden administration, neve

without iran there are no houthis. the houthis are completely backed by iran. >> molly: forces in israel are expanding their ground operation in gaza. trey yengst is live in tel aviv with the latest on these escalations. trey, to you. >> good morning. threats from iran and its proxies are increasing amid concerns about the possibility of a broader regional conflict. yesterday alone we understand that 12 attack drones, three anti-ship ballistic missiles and two cruise missiles were shot down by the american eisenhower carrier strike group from the houthis and lasted for ten hours. an american service member remains in critical condition following a drone attack against the erbil air base that drew an american response. zooming in on the ground, israeli chief of staff announced tuesday the idf is expanding operations in central and southern gaza while forces continue to go after hamas leadership. the idf says three additional soldiers were killed overnight bringing the total to 146 since the invasion began. as israeli pr

the houthis. >> yeah.navy admiral, he nose much better than what he's saying, but he's got to be the out there sort of like baghdad bob in a situation like this. the houthis respect going to stop because the rape a januaries aren't going to stop -- iranians aren't going to stop. here's the joke of it, we're expending million dollar missiles to shoot down drones that cost a couple thousand dollars. that's to the chinese benefit. we're protecting a chinese shipping, a lot of the chinese shipping is going to china, and that's to china's benefit. we're pulling our fleet out of the indo-pacific and putting them in the middle east on the chinese's behalf, and we're not doing anything to stop the houthis. we're taking that a marine expedition their unit, i don't want to start another war in the middle east, but we a ought to bring the marines ashore just like we did in libya when the trip thely pirates were, you know, taking our shipping. send them ashore, take out the houthi leadership, the tribesmen with their

the houthis. >> yeah.y admiral, he nose much better than what he's saying, but he's got to be the out there sort of like baghdad bob in a situation like this. the houthis respect going to stop because the rape a januaries aren't going to stop -- iranians aren't going to stop. here's the joke of it, we're expending million dollar missiles to shoot down drones that cost a couple thousand dollars. that's to the chinese benefit. we're protecting a chinese shipping, a lot of the chinese shipping is going to china, and that's to china's benefit. we're pulling our fleet out of the indo-pacific and putting them in the middle east on the chinese's behalf, and we're not doing anything to stop the houthis. we're taking that a marine expedition their unit, i don't want to start another war in the middle east, but we a ought to bring the marines ashore just like we did in libya when the trip thely pirates were, you know, taking our shipping. send them ashore, take out the houthi leadership, the tribesmen with their ak-

arabia, separatist movements and so on further, for some reason they are good at it, but the houthis ahead, we have such missiles, we haven’t hit them before, now we are hitting the center of israel, they say we have such missiles, we i've been wanting to try them out for a long time, there are ballistic ones missiles, there are drones, over 200 km, where they take another question, then the fact is that during the entire war, the eight-year war, they have such a port, called hodeida, this is the second port after aden that was... blocked forces of the naval coalition , which lost over ten ships, so just in case, these are modern american and british ships that were captured by the arab coalition, but during this turn the port practically... did not receive cargo, but after the truce it was unblocked, during this time there they have installed, i am more than sure, a large number of anti-ship missiles, god knows that in response to this iran, the houthis understandably, iran, uh, the words of the iranian minister of defense stated that this is our area of ​​​​responsibility, we will

and the yemeni houthi movement continues to attack.ankers were hit in the red sea, the us navy said. in washington, in order to hide their responsibility for the worsening situation in the region, they decided to find someone to blame with long-term material support iran's encouragement of destabilizing actions. houthis in the region, this is an international challenge that requires a collective response. but washington's allies are in no hurry to rush to help. for example, france, spain and italy stated that they would not transfer their combat vessels to us command. madrid completely vetoed the eu’s participation in the naval operation against the houthis in the ms, although it lifted it a little later, with the caveat that it did not plan to take part. previously, the government's allied parties had already stated that they were uncomfortable participating on mission: us-led. the netherlands, denmark and norway refused to send their warships to fight the houthis, and following the example of australia, they will send only a few spec

footage released by the houthi rebel group shows them l houthi rebel group shows them successfully capturing sea and the group supports hamas and they say they are targeting all ships of ownership links to israel as well as any shipping going in and out of israeli ports, and the houthi group still has that boat so we spotted it here on satellite imagery of the coast of yemen and this is the best image we have from satellite provider planets and it was taken last week. these attacks are huge problems for companies because this region is crucial to global change so the red sea is one of the most crucial routes for oil and fuel shipments. —— global trade. any ship passing through the suez canal to or from the indian ocean has to come this way. about 10% and 200,000 chips passes through it every year. —— about 10% of global trade. they have to go all the way down south, round the south of africa and up again. and that is what several big companies like bp are going to have to do now they have suspended their shipping through the red sea. 0ver shipping through the red sea. over the last month, si

we don't want anybody injured, you know, by these houthi attacks.so a reports out of china and the far east indicate the cost of shipping cargo from china and to europe and to the u.s. from asia will double. i mean, we've got more companies abandoning the red sea trade route. they're getting rerouted. >> right. elizabeth: so what's the answer? >> right. the truth is there's not an easy is, obvious answer to go after because everything you do carries risk. doing nothing carries risk. attacking the houthis carries risk, and you just don't know what you're going to get into. now, the houthis are saying all of this is because of the war going on between hamas and israel and if israel stops this war or once it's concluded, they would also stop shooting the missiles in there -- elizabeth: they may not stop though. >> they may not, that's true. so the issue is if you say we're going to have to start taking them out, that is a course of action you can take, and it may cut it down, but we may end up with more problems on the other side of of that. it is impo

navy sinks three houthi boats and downed ballistic missiles fired from houthi controlled areas.ll have more on that. >>> legal action in donald trump's world is not stopping. we will reveal that question special counsel jack smith has for an appeals court that took more than 80 pages to ask. >>> and we begin this hour with a countdown to the new year. up to 1 million people are flocking to times square to witness new york's wor famous ball drop. this year, local law enforcement on high alert, giving days of nonstop protests over the war in gaza. earlier this month, the fbi warned that the war could push lone actors to commit acts of violence at large public gatherings. but with no known direct threats, new york city is carrying on with its celebrations as usual. and those who have come to see that ball drop, well, they say they're not worried. >> they said this is the safest place to be. >> the security inside, we've never really seen anything like this before. >> i do safe as secure around here. >> this crowd, i don't feel intimidated. i don't worry about my safety. i feel pret

has only publicly announced shooting down houthi-launched drones and missiles. the u.s.tral command earlier they've launched at least 23 attacks on red sea since the israel/hamas war began. in an interview with abc news this week, the houthi leader signaling that the attacks would not stop as long as israel continues its offensive in gaza. prime minister benjamin netanyahu appearing steadfast in his mission to destroy hamas. now vowing to take back control of gaza's border with egypt saying the corridor should be in israeli hands as that's the only arrangement that ensures demilitarization. netanyahu also saying the war against hamas will continue for many more months, and guys, back to those tensions in the red sea. so far no response from the houthis after this morning's deadly confrontation, but on friday, the militant group had warned the u.s. against any escalation towards its people. whit? >> whit: britt clennett, thank you, and joining us now with more to discuss is john kirby, the national security council coordinator for strategic communications. it's good to ha

said that guys, the red sea will become one big grave for you, despite the fact that the houthis areor the first time they now begin to mine, sink everything else, they use it on civilians courts, they are generally not shy about anything in terms of the impact on western countries, the economy, because business is starting to seriously suffer, the americans now have a big problem, if they don’t stop this process, everyone will say, guys, why do we need you needed then, now i will also have a big problem if i don’t stop this process and announce an advertisement on the first program, but we are always on time. we in russia know how to make chromatographs, i believe that chromatographs should be in every home, based on them , a chromatospectrometer, in the morning, looking at the indicators of a chromatospectrometer, you make a decision whether to eat these products or not, i really love my country, i really love russia, the evening when i was watching the news, vladimir vladimirovich putin gave his address and spoke about the importance of history, and i i decided to be a historian ,

it's done nothing but embolden the houthis. for us to attack in iraq, an iranian based operation there as opposed to y attacking the houthis or hezbollah or some other group involved in what's going on in israel is ridiculous. it's time for the united states to take the gloves off and show what that we mean business. this attack on commercial shipping is a whole other level of antagonism coming out of iran. and make no mistake, this is iran. that's who funds the houthis, hezbollah, and also obviously the hamas group fighting in gaza. maria: and the question is why, liz. i don't understand why would president biden take off the terrorist determination for the thehouthis. these are the questions that are mind boggling with this president. >> it's all about whatever trump did, do the opposite. maria: that's exactly right. >> that's all it is. maria: yeah. and both sides by the way are attacking biden for his had handling of this war in the middle east. president biden is you now now g the muslim vote in several key swing states ov