homeland security committee held its second impeachment hearing of alejandro mayorkas which included an arizona sheriff and the mother of a woman killed by a gang member. watch the entire hearing tonight at 9:00 eastern on c-span, c-span, our mobile video app or online at c-span.org. week, s campaign 2024 coverage as we're on the ground in new hampshire with presidential candidates in the final week obefore the firsn primary. hear the candidates closing arguments. watch voters meet the candidates and experience what it's like on watch on the c-span network. c-span now, our free mobile app or online at c-span.org/campaign2024. c-span i don't recollects your unfiltered view of politics. >> a healthy democracy doesn't

this. it looks like this. where americans can see democracy at work. when citizens are truly informed, a republic thrives. get informed straight from the source. on c-span,■a■b unfiltered, unbi, word for word. from the nation's capital to wherever you are, because the opinion that matters the most is your own.this is what democracys like. c-span, powered by cable. host: welcome back to washington journal. joined n blark, from the center of defense networks and technology from the hudson institute. good to see you. guest: good to see you. host: i want to start with iran. earlier they launched strikes against syria, iraq, and pakistan. what is going on? what is their end game and what are they trying to achieve? guest: iran is trying to establish in the middle east wh

is something they're doing the past couple decades and they've been working through proxies with the houthi in yemen and hezbollah and hamas and some of the sympathizers in iraq. ■group. so force their neighbors to establish itself as a country with freedom of action to drive competition in the region. i ran head pakistan and they and iran says people have been killed. where does this go?

guest: it's another region where a dispute between iran and pakistan and area of pakistan just south of iran. thatthey are trying to force pakistan to defend that border. ■1as well as pushing back onraq and saudi arabia. this is their effort to try to expand its field of control in the middle east. it has decided to take action against a nuclear armed power. they are working with proxies against other countries but this direct attack on pakistan puts

kistan and direct confrontation. iran feels assembled and of his success or a little bit on the defensive because of internal challenges. there have been a s protest ins. they are succeeding overseas but at home is not so ground. ehost: let's talk about the red sea, how eective h■oave the u. n very effective. they have launched a lot of attacks and struck a few container ships with minimal damage and loss of life as far

as we could tell. but the cost to defend against . aside in the red sea as well as other countries and a substantial outlay of personnel and naval presence. the houthis have been successful by forcing a response and west to spend money. they are trying to continue to host: has it been effective? guest: the navy is done good work and its ability with their defense. but the downside because they're using the capabilities they are using, they are using

surface-to-air missiles that costs millions to shoot down drones. this mismatch will become a problem for the u.s. going forward. it's not a sustainable effort. host: if you would like to call and you can do so. the lines are for democrats (202) 748-8000, for republicans (202) 748-8001 (202) 748-8002 and active military on (202) 748-8003. guest: houthis were taken off

the terrorist list and part two negotiate a settlement for a civil war in yemen. houthis have been fighting rebels in yemen so the attempt was to take them off the ■ list and work with saudi arabia to negotiate a settlement in yemen. y that has not panned out and the houthis have accelerated efforts witatagainsg vessels. and shipping vessels. back on the terrorist list makes sense and help cut down on the financial j.networks for them to limited

resources. a wider conflict? guest: it is clear that iran wants to expand this conflict to obtain an the u.s. drawn into a confrontation in the u.s. they can paint theenemy which il domestically because they have is within iran. if they can somehow best the united states in some way it them a way to show that they are a player in the middle east. this is a competition between and saudi arabia and israel. if iran can show the others to be weak and iran is the player

the goal state should gravitate towards as the leader. host:&. what is china thinking right now? guest: they are taking advantage of the series of confrontations siran is selling oil to the chinese■v coming as a result of that sale of oil and electronics are making their way to iran commercial systems. there is also direct militar acthey are taking it's opportuny to iran and looking for ways to take advantage of the host: we have tom a republican

in wyoming. caller: these houthis related to al qaeda? oiguest: the houthis are a separate group that may have some relationship to al qaeda but for the most part, they are a shiite supported group. al qaeda was primarily a sunni supported group out of saudi arabia. ]jthere are probably a few membs that have floated back and forth. host:e, new york, tony,

and independent. caller: palestine to the sea palestine will be free. i was looking at the institute is nothing but american imperialism at its finest. iran has been the largest human. the u.s. is hypocritical of yemen which is going through a humanitarian crisis. the head of the world food ogram is senator john mccain's wife, thus an imperialist interest. south africa stood up to the u.s. and china -- i would like

to say once again from the river to the seapalestine will be free. guest: i think there is a good point to be made that the yemen civil waras had an impact on the civilian population, all bad. the u.s. has to reduce the use saudi arabia.ns provided the challenge is, how do yo when the yemeni population is caught in the middle? host: we have an independent from colorado. caller: i would like to comment on the administration's handling of gaza and houthi