yemen's houthi rebels are celebrating.on: this mission comes as part of our legitimate and natural right to react to the crimes of the aggression and its continuous blockade on our country for the past five years. aramco, owned by the saudi state, is one of the world's biggest oil companies. khurais produces around 1% of the world's oil. and abqaiq is capable of processing 7% of global supply. some reports say half the kingdom's oil production will be affected. this could impact oil prices in the coming days. in recent months, houthis have carried out a series of strikes on saudi arabia's oil facilities, using missiles and drones, but the latest attacks are among their most destructive. this is embarrassing for saudi arabia. in this hugely uneven conflict, the houthis have once again demonstrated their ability to cause damage and fear in a war that shows no sign of ending. i spoke to sama'a al—hamdani who is a non—resident fellow at the middle east institute, i said that the houthis have claimed responsibility, but that th

it was a bit suspicious when the houthis play dead.ficial website, they are often quick in releasing such information, they often do it before the official media news comes out with any statement. they did not do so with any statement. they did not do so this time. i was surprised. this is number one, number two is that if you look at the location, it did not seem to appear that this was within the firing range for the houthis. the military experts i spoke to said this was outside the range of what a drone attack or belittling missile can conduct. if that is the case, if iran they'd back the attack, why would they launch this attack on this site? this all has to do with the us — iran escalation in tensions. the timing is of the essence. we are three days away from the united nations general assembly meeting. three days away. there is the proposal floating by meeting. three days away. there is the proposalfloating by emmanuel macron on giving a 15 million line of credit to around two help alleviate from some of the economic hardships th

the houthis are aligned with iran.he other being the yemeni government which is supported by a saudi—led military coalition which the americans support. we now know who the saudis blame for the weekend. translation: initial findings indicate the weapon used are iranian. we will continue our investigation. but our findings suggest this attack was not launched from yemen by houthi militias. one political scientist said it was impossible that the houthis launched the attack without iranian support. he said there is no way the houthis wouldn't have done that if they hadn't told the iranians before this. so what do we know about the relationship. there is a relationship. there is a relationship. there is a relationship. the iranian leader said he is going to support his muslim brothers where ever they are. in terms of support iran has given the houthis, would that give them a position to carry out the attack on their own? well it is difficult to say, we know that over the last couple of years, iran has been providing drones

houthi rebels have claimed responsibility. the united states pointing the finger at iran inside. iran pointing back to the houthis. keeping in mind, bobby, they support rebel groups, militias. if we have a map to see how wide in the region iran has its sway there. the question here, given that tehran points out there is no evidence to prove that they are behind this, it is interesting to see the united states still pointing the finger at iran. >> reporter: yes. and i think that's -- and the fact that secretary of state pompeo specifically said there's no evidence the houthis did this but they think the iranians did this suggests he has some sort of material proof of this. and i think the international community will be waiting to see what that evidence looks like. to some of us it is six of one and half dozen of the other. it is a distinction without a difference. because the houthis do operate quite frequently within parameters set for them by the iranian revolution guards, irgc, and quite often are using iranian-supplied equ

but its houthi allies in yemen are claiming responsibility. the houthis say they launched drone strikes, but senior u.s. officials are spectacle. one shared these satellite images and they say the angle of the strikes would've been difficult from yemen and that the attacks likely originated in iran or iraq. >> regardless of who's to blame, the strikes have crippled the saudi oil industry. take a look at this image from nasa on sunday. you can see exactly where it happened. the thick dark smoke streaking across the desert as the lifeblood of the world's economy burns. cnn's jeremy diamond reports the white house is considering options. >> reporter: president trump raising the specter of a military response after saudi oil facilities were struck in an attack on saturday cutting down half of their oil production capacity. the president taking to twitter on sunday to say saudi arabia oil supply was attacked. there is reason to believe that we know the culprit are locked and loaded depending on verification but are waiting to hear from the kingdom

houthi rebels have claimed responsibility. cnn is live in tehran with this story. >> plus, israel's upcoming elections. it's already appearing to be a tight race from. the prime minister has posted no support for a significant portion of the population. more ahead on that story for you. >> also ahead this hour, the opioid crisis. thousands of people have loved their loved ones. a family that many hold responsible stashing their millions on it. live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. i'm george howell. cnn "newsroom" starts right now. >>> the global economy runs on oil. and right now oil could be running short. attacks on two saudi oil facilities shocked the kingdom's energy sector on saturday. it's not clear yet who is responsible. the united states, though, accuses iran. a u.s. source with knowledge of the incident says the attack may have been launched from inside iraq. here's more of what we know. iran-backed houthi militants in yemen ha

going on between the houthis and the saudi led coalition. now, the coalition has come out with a statement saying that they're describing this attack as a terrorist attack, but interestingly, even though the houthis claimed responsibility, the coalition statement says they're still investigating who might have been behind it. fred? >> ben wedeman, thank you so much. joining me to discuss, cnn intelligence and security analyst and former cia operative, bob baer. bob, good to see you. these attacks and yemeni houthis, who in your view is supplying them with these at least ten drones? how would they be able to do this? >> reporter: well, the suspicion will be iran. the saudis will definitely accuse iran of this. and this is what is probably true because the houthis are backed by the iranians. it's a very potent proxy force and the iranians know how to keep their fingerprints off an operation like this, but the suspicion as i said, fred, will be iran. >> so the two attacks alone have shut down half of saudi arabia's oil output. how vulnerable wo

. >> the fact of the matter is that the houthis have accepted responsibility for that.nd somebody else did it, they will look for the culprit, i wasn't iran. arthel: captain wells do you believe iran is responsible for strikes on saudi oil facilities? >> i think they are culpable in the strikes, i think if the actual cruise missiles as i understand it from reading or one variety which have the actual range to actually get to the saudi oil facilities, look at the deeds of the iranians with regard to defense trade with the houthis and they are responsible for that particular capability, very sophisticated capability, it really is a game-changer and adds to the threats not just to saudi arabia but also to the world economic community and these are -- these are deeds that need to be reconsidered, i think foreign minister needs to speak a little more as statesman as opposed to communicating threats, that's what diplomacy is for. arthel: very interesting, new reporting out that president rouhani wants the u.s. and western powers out of the region, the fury of persian gulf sho

lina, if this was the houthi rebels behind it, it's a big win for them, isn't it?g it at the moment. they are claiming this is a big victory for them and this is, as they say, a legitimate act of revenge, but, of course, we need to look at the situation from a regional perspective. tension has been rising between saudi arabia and iran. earlier this summer, in june, july, both saudi arabia and washington accused iran, blamed iran for an attack on oil tankers in the gulf area, in the gulf water. so this has been tit—for—tat attacks between saudi arabia and iran but of course saudi arabia has the backing of the united states who is imposing sanctions on iran, mounting pressure on iran so the latter is feeling squeezed and the houthi are there as well as iran's hand in yemenjust bordering saudi arabia, but it is a big threat for the country. the headlines on bbc news: the former prime minister, david cameron accuses borisjohnson of acting ‘appallingly‘ during the 2016 eu referendum campaign. and, as you've been hearing, african leaders are paying their respects at the

houthi rebels in yemen say they are responsible.ican leaders pay their respects at the funeral of the former zimbabwean president, robert mugabe — who ruled over the country for four decades. a man has been arrested after a solid gold toilet worth millions of pounds is stolen from blenheim palace. and coming up at 8:30pm, a look at how algerians are trying to rewrite the history of revolutions in algeria: revolution of smiles. good evening and welcome to bbc news. in the last half hour, the former tory minister sam gyimah has become the latest mp to defect to the liberal democrats. the mp for east surrey was kicked out of the conservative party after voting against the government over no—deal brexit. he had previously resigned as universities minister after opposing theresa may's withdrawal agreement. liberal democrat leaderjo swinson announced the pa rty‘s newest mp at their annual conference this evening. conference, there's someone that i would like you to meet, a first—time attendee at liberal democrat conference. someone who ha

a houthi rebel spokesman says it will continue the ar the attacks.artin give yit said he's extremely concerned about the escalation. the special envoy called on all parties to exercise restrairnlt to prevent future incidents that poses a thread to regional security and jeopardize the u.n.-led political process. the "wall street journal" reported saudi officials wants to restore their oil production to normal levels by monday. but if that does not happen, we could see oil prices go up. retired air force general be says the use of a droins concerning. >> the problem with drones is they can come from nearly anywhere. it requires to have a more full tomorrow security capability in terms of finding out what's going on and cutting off access to funds and technology. reporter: the international energy agency says they are in contact with producer and consumer nations and for now the markets are well supplied with amble commercial stock. rick: the trump administration responding vigorously to the drone attack on saudi arabia. reporter: president trump said h

you have the houthis in yemen.so they have a lot more they can get fire back at the saudis if the saudis decide to actually act. but the assumption is that the saudis, even though they spent hundreds of billions of dollars on their military, they probably can't do anything without the direct involvement of the united states. fred? >> okay. and then, kim, that the u.s. would, by way of the secretary of state, accuse iran of being behind this, does that mean that there is already evidence retrieved by the united states to substantiate that kind of claim, to tweet that out publicly, and has enough time elapsed so that u.s. intelligence perhaps can look at these satellite images, something in which to determine the origins of this strike? >> well, it does sound like it's a u.s. official prelude to some sofrt an action. remember that president trump called off a military strike on iran last spring, instead conducted a number of cyberattacks. if the u.s. is preparing or considering for something more, something that woul

fighting against houthi rebels backed by iran. four years against houthi rebels backed by iran.ked by iran. four years on, thousand have been killed in air strikes, and the conflict has created the world's worst humanitarian crisis. previously, the rebels only had limited capabilities, but claimed this latest attack changes that. other than words, they have shown no evidence. the us release these satellite images, proof, they say, that it was not the houthi rebels but iran that was responsible. this is unacceptable. it is unacceptable and they must be held responsible. make no mistake about it — this was a deliberate attack on the global economy. as tensions in the region escalate, iran categorically denies the allegations but continues to defend the houthi rebels. translation: yemeni people are exercising their legitimate right of defence. the attacks are reciprocal, and the main solution is to hold these attacks. if attacks like this continue, the fear is that saudi arabia, with their allies, will respond with greater force, and it will be the people of yemen that pay the pric

houthi rebels in yemen say they are responsible.five people have died, and thousands of properties are evacuated after flash flooding hits spain's east coast. a man's arrested after a one million pound solid gold toilet is stolen from blenheim palace. and in sport — lots of goals in the premier league — as liverpool come from behind to beat newcastle 3—1 and stay on top of the table. good afternoon. the former prime minister, david cameron, has accused boris johnson and michael gove of trashing his government, with what he calls ‘appalling behaviour‘ during the brexit referendum. in his first major interview since leaving downing street three years ago, mr cameron has told the times newspaper that the outcome of the referendum left him depressed, and that he worries about it every day. here's our political correspondent susana mendonca. it was a decision that brought down his premiership and set britain on a turbulent course to leaving the european union, which we're all still on. up until now, david cameron has kept quiet about bre

not with the houthis.n, you believe that the united states is omnipotent and the united states military equipment are flawless. and that is why you're a bunch of people with no access to anything, cannot defeat that. but i can tell you, it's going to be news for you and it's going to continue to be news for you that people can do -- when they see kids killed and maimed. when they see their wives bombarded, their houses, their hospitals, their schools destroyed. that gives you a lot of creativity, a lot of tenacity to go and search for yourself. this is exactly how we did it. how do you think we built all of this? huh? how do you think we built the missile system that brought down a u.s. drone? we were not supported by anybody. we were not given any equipment. we were not given any means of defending ourselves. we went through eight years of war. nobody gave us means of defense. >> you are very sure that the houthis did this. there is one major inconsistency. >> i am sure iran didn't do it. >> understood. b

iran is backing the houthis and has been a bad actor but it's not just as simple as houthi equals iran. >> he does have a point and this could just be that the houthis could have gotten the capability and done it on their own. but the iranians have been back with the houthis for a long time. they've been using them as a proxy element not just to wage war inside yemen, but to attack saudi arabia. this is a significant tack on sovereign state facilities for saudi arabia and they have a right to defend themselves. so it has become a bit of a proxy war. we have been supporting saudi arabia and iran has been supporting the houthis. what is really important is that this doesn't broaden into a larger regional conflict and i think that's why i say that even though this is very tense and a major escalation in tensions, that the administration should be looking for options short of military action. i found senator graham's tweet and comment about putting on the table strikes on iranian facilities not a good idea at this time. >> this is such a dicey moment and we'll watch as we go forward into t

>> that's another really important request he to ask and looking at sort of the houthi claim, the houthisd that these weapons were drones, they didn't necessarily say that they were launched from yemen, but on the one hand if that claim is true then maybe this is something that was part more of the houthi fight against saudi arabia in yemen, but, again, if there is more of an iranian role in this to include even directly, then i think you lifted out of that saudi arabia houthi frame or perspective and look at it from the broader u.s./iranian/saudi conflict that's been going on for a long time. >> let's talk about ben rhodes the former national security adviser to president obama. he reacted to pompeo's blaming of iran tweeting her this is an incredibly dumb, dishonest and dangerous thing to say. do you agree with him? >> certainly ben rhodes is entitled to his opinion but i would like to think that if secretary pompeo was going to make that claim that there would be some factual basis for him to support that. so whether that's coming from the intelligence community or other streams of inf

houthi rebels in yemen say they are responsible.ican leaders pay their respects at the funeral of the former zimbabwean president, robert mugabe — who ruled over the country for four decades. at least five people have died, and thousands of properties are evacuated after flash flooding hits spain's east coast. a man has been arrested after a solid gold toilet worth millions of pounds is stolen from blenheim palace. and coming up at 7.30pm on sportsday, a roundup of all the day's premier league action and the latest on the ashes. good evening. welcome to bbc news. the former prime minister david cameron has accused boris johnson and michael gove of trashing his government, with what he describes as their appalling behaviour during the brexit referendum. in his first major interview since leaving downing street three years ago, mr cameron told the times newspaper that the result of the referendum left him feeling depressed, and that he worries about it every day. our political correspondent chris mason's report contains flash photogra

houthi rebels in yemen say they are responsible. leaders pay their respects at the funeral of the former zimbabwean president, robert mugabe — who ruled over the country for four decades. and now on the bbc news channel, a look at how algerians are trying to rewrite the history of revolutions in the arabic—speaking world, in algeria: revolution of smiles. in february this year, millions of algerians took to the streets. their 82—year—old president was rumoured to be considering a fifth term of office. their ailing president was propped up by a ruling elite, widely seen as corrupt. for almost five months, the algerian people have been demanding change. until now, the demonstrations have been peaceful, with the army acting as referee between the people and the regime. but now it has to decide which side to back. for the first time, this film tells the full story of algeria's protest movement, with exclusive footage of the demonstrations and the voices of people calling for change. anes tina is one of algeria's most daring screenwriter

houthi rebels in yemen say they are responsible african leaders pay their respects at the funeral ofhe former zimbabwean president, robert mugabe, who ruled over the country for four decades. a man has been arrested after a solid gold toilet worth millions of pounds is stolen from blenheim palace. and we'll be taking a look at the front pages of tomorrow's papers. at the later time of 11:30pm only this evening. former tory minister sam gyimah has become the latest mp to defect to the liberal democrats. the mp for east surrey was kicked out of the conservative party after voting against the government over no—deal brexit. he had previously resigned as universities minister after opposing theresa may's withdrawal agreement. liberal democrat leaderjo swinson announced the pa rty‘s newest mp at their annual conference this evening. sam gyimah told our political correspondent jonathan blake why he decided to join the party. very simple, that the values that attracted me to the conservative party of which i have been a member for over two decades, they are no longer the values of the party

fighting against houthi rebels backed by iran. for years on, thousands have been killed in air strikes, the conflict has created the world's worst humanitarian crisis. previously, the rebels have only had limited capabilities, but claiming this latest attack anges that. they show no evidence. da the u.s. government released these satellite images -- proof, they iran that houthis but responsible. >> this behavior is unacceptable, and ey must be held responsible. make no mistake about, this was a deliberate attack on the global economy. reporter: as tensions in the region escalate, iran categorically denies allegations th d continues to defend the houthis. >> yemeni people are exercising their legitimate right of defense. reporter if attacks like is continued from the fear is that saudi arabia with their alliesh will respond weater force, and it will be the people of yemen that pay the price. laura: a brief time ago president trump commen the attacks and any possible retaliation. pres. trump: that was a veryd large attack, could be

from houthi territory inside yemen. what pom pay kwloe peo is sayin didn't even come from yemen. this is going to make even more difficult any sort of reproachment with iran. president trump was talking about being willing to help their economy back on its feet. this is certainly going to, i think, torpedo any chance for that. also, there's significant now, i would think, a rise in increase of actual conflict between saudi arabia and iran and maybe even through yemen. i don't know that this would result in an attack by saudi arabia to iranian territory, but clearly the saudis are going to be looking for a way to retaliate inside yemen. all that's going to do is make that conflict even worse than it is. >> a source says that aramco hopes to have oil capacity restored within days. how serious a disruption is this to global supply? >> well, as ben was reporting, you know, 5% of global oil supply now affected. is it a disaster, catastrophic? no, but it will certainly have a bite and an impact. it's going to be exacerbated b

a houthi-run newspaper in yemen claimed ten drones were used to hit the oil field and that houthi rebelse behind the strikeses. the houthis have used drones to target saudi arabia many time over the past year, and united nations representatives is say they do have the technology capable. >> translator: we exploited vulnerabilities in the saudi defense systems, and we built our drones. therefore, the saudi and emirati air pace became open to us after their defense systems failed to even spot our drones. >> reporter: iranian foreign minister mohamed zarif implied in a tweet that u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo was being untruthful this weekend as he blamed iran for the escalation. the attack comes amid concern of a tense relationship, if any, between the iran and the united states. amid these iranian denials and houthi rebels in yemen claiming they are behind saturday's attack, there is no evidence linking anyone in yemen to the attack. it is important to note that this oil field is more than 500 miles away from yemeni soil, raising new questions about whether iranian-backed rebels cou

are war, the saudi protect the houthi i the houthi's attack back, iran is backing the houthis and haseen a bad actor but it is not as simple as houthi equals iran, lindsey graham calling for a military response saying in a tweet it is time for the us to put on the table and attack on iranian oil refineries. if they continue their provocations or increase nuclear enrichment. joining me is house minority leader kevin mccarthy, great to see you. thank you for joining us. your reaction? >> it is what iran is doing. the same country that shot down one of our unmanned drones, the same country that put bombs on tankers, has attacked saudi arabia 100 times. we need a united front. the way the trump administration has handled this has been tremendous. what he has done by making sure we are not at war, military units over there to send a clear message to iran but at the same time trying to claim they are at the table negotiating, they are the terrorists around the world, never should have had the agreement in the first place in trying to disrupt the cost of oil. thank god america changed the co

four yea rs houthi rebels, backed by iran. in airstrikes and the conflict has created the world's worst humanitarian crisis. previously, the rebels have only had limited capabilities. but claiming this latest attack changes that. yet other than words, they have shown no evidence. today, the us government has released these satellite images, proof, they say, that it wasn't the houthis but iran that is responsible. this behaviour is unacceptable. it is unacceptable, and they must be held responsible. make no mistake about it, this was a deliberate attack on the global economy. as tensions in the region escalate, iran categorically denies the allegations but continues to defend the houthis. translation: yemeni people are exercising their legitimate right of defence, the attacks are reciprocal and the main solution is to halt these attacks. if attacks like these continue, the fear is that saudi arabia, with their allies, will respond with greater force, and it their allies, will respond with greaterforce, and it will their allies,

fighting against houthi rebels backed by iran.ousand have been killed in air strikes, and the conflict has created the world's worst humanitarian crisis. previously, the rebels only had limited capabilities, but claiming this latest attack changes that. other than words, they have shown no evidence. the us release these satellite images — proof, they say, that it was not the houthi rebels but iran that was responsible. this behaviour is unacceptable. it is unacceptable and they must be held responsible. make no mistake about it — this was a deliberate attack on the global economy. as tensions in the region escalate, iran categorically denies the allegations but continues to defend the houthi rebels. translation: yemeni people are exercising their legitimate right of defence. the attacks are reciprocal, and the main solution is to hold these attacks. if attacks like this continue, the fear is that saudi arabia, with their allies, will respond with greater force, and it will be the people of yemen that pay the price. an american dru

now the notion is put forward by the houthi rebels. they were adequately technologically advanced to fly through tens of billions of dollars of saudi air defenses. it hit ten oil refinements. the houthis have the capabilities and some say the geography where these attacks were puts it a lot closer to southern iraq and even possibly iran across the persian gulf there. iran has categorically denied any involvement in this attack at all. their foreign minister said the u.s. is practicing max deceit. what's notable is the victim of the attacks, saudi arabia, has yet to directly accuse iran as well. is that because they fear if they did so they may be forced into retaliation? is that because they're not clear themselves? we'll find that answer out possibly in the days and weeks ahead, too. some analysts are saying maybe now the ultimate iraq takt is out. mike pompeo is trying to sound tough as well. they're trying to corner iran into some negotiation at the u.n. assembly. that's unclear, too. but we had a sea change where a matter of 48 hou

the houthis know what they did and they know what they need to do.ey release some evidence last night. i think it's important for the saudi government to understand what they're trying to achieve. do they want to fight iran until the last american -- is that the -- because if that is -- they can be that is the case? >> why? >> because iran will defend itself. >> now, you hear some of the rhetoric there. a little bellicose. the overall tone is one of hoping the conflict would be avoided saying directly he didn't believe that's what donald trump sought at this point. in fact, at times donald trump he was tried to be coaxed into war from bad advice but stayed away from that particular problem. still, negotiation seems like a slim chance. you heard the reasons why that is the case earlier on. as you heard him responding to the all-out war. it's still a possibility i have to say. >> it was interesting to hear him phrase the president's i am prudence. not something you expect to hear from the iranians. >>> thank you, knick. >>> unrelenting rain in texas. p

accused iran behind the attacks which were claimed by houthi rebebs. pompeo said d they carried out what he called a an unprecedentd attack on the world's s energy supply. iran has denied d any involveme. the forereign minister javavad f tweeted -- the attacks sentnt oils prices soaring after they reporortedly hahalved saudidi oil productiony -- in the immediate aftermath. the attack came just ahead of the united states general assembly in new york. last week mike pompmpeo said president trump is open to meet with the iranian president with no preconditions. but on sunday, trump lane 20 called the fake news for essentially reporting what pop have publicly said. we will have more after headlines. thely 50,000 members of netted autoworkers have launched a strike, walking out of over 50 general motors facilities at 11:59 last night. workers say gm continues to deny employee's demands for fair conditions and compensation despite leading the company to record profits following bankruptcy and a federal bailout. this is ted krumm, head of the uaw's bargaining

these weapons systems had ranges that could not have come from the houthis. it is nuts to make the assertion this was an take by the houthis. this was iran true and true. the united states will respond in a way that reflects that act of war by this iranian revolutionary regime. >> brennan: it was launched from iran? >> this was an attack by iran on the world. i'm at the u.n. the u.n.'s primary charter is to prevent -- -- the u.n.'s primary charter was to protect peace around the world. this was a state-on-state act of war. >> brennan: iran's foreign minister has repeatedly denied any part police played by iran s attack. will the u.s. release evidence that proves he's lying? >> well, we already have. there is already ample evidence that demonstrates he's lied. you saw the saudis showing these were iranian systems built and manufactured inside of iran. >> brennan: but they haven't given evidence that it was launched from iran. >> i don't know why anybody listens to the iranian foreign must bester. he has nothing to do with iranian foreign policy and he's lied f

thbeen an increasing convergence between iran and the houthis, but it's important not to phe houthises of iran. >> reporter: are the houthis capable of doing this without iran's involvement? >> my understaing is no. ain, we're talking about a qualitatively different sort of operation in terms of the planning, the actual technical eqpment that was used. they've certainly been increasing, you know, the audacity of their attacks both with drones missiles, but my understanding is this would require iranian assistance. >> reporter >> woodruff: so you've pointed ouand said it again that there's no evidence that the u.s. wants -i mean, president trump is saying and he said it again today that he doesn't want to see war with iran, but he's also said overs the weekend, he talked about being locked and loaded, suggesting the u.s. is ready to launch a military attack. what would the consequences will if that happened? >> you would have, i think, open war. there's no way to sort of punish iran, yoknow, discreetly to keep this compartmentalized. i think in this sort ofu situation uld have the glo

is it the houthis in yemen, iran, the houthis acting on behalf of iran with their help there's all kindsw exactly is the white house tackling these layers of the onion and what exactly could happen with the policy response. >> you can imagine there's an enormous intelligence going on behind the scenes to -- why they conducted this strike. but take a look at the tweet this is the tweet you just read from the president of the united states who indicates here that the united states is close to verification in terms of who actually conducted the strike. the president saying ultimately that the united states is locked and loaded, which seems to imply some kind of military response he also says that the united states is waiting to hear from the kingdom that is saudi arabia as to who they believe was the cause of the attack and under what terms we would proceed. the president leaving there unsaid what the united states might proceed with, but it is prime bli some kind of military response we'll wait and see what the white house has to say during the course of the day today. there was a high lev

i think what we're hearing from the houthis is essentially a doubling down on their rhetoric. they claim ten drones and actually 19 site were hit. what they're saying is, i get at the moment the houthis' message is messaging by proxy for somebody else. the messaging by proxy from whoever perpetrated these attacks is saying if you do something we can respond to other site. there are a huge number of vulnerabilities across this country and other places in the middle east. no one expected these kind of thing. that's why these facilities sit out in the desert, under satellites, everyone can see what is there. it's not a mystery. >> not a mystery at all and certainly complicates what aramco does if they file the biggest ipo in the world and what this means for global oil supply. thank you very much. >>> still to come, some democrats, 2020 candidates, calling this morning for supreme court justice brett kavanaugh to be impeached after "the new york times" story details new allegations against him. we'll discuss that. >> betto o'rourke and pete buttigieg get into a public disagreemen

( laughter ) while the houthis claim they did it, the administration blames the houthi's allies, irancording to one intelligence expert, "this is the handiwork of a sophisticated, most likely state actor, and most likely the work of a government or government-sponsored group," and argued that such an attack could not be carried out with ten drones, which the houthis claimed to have used. yes, drones are highly-advanced tech. so they've narrowed down the suspect to iran or your dad who just bought a quad-copter at best buy. ( laughter ) totally sweet. we're taking the family picture. we're taking the family picture this way this year. we're doing the christmas card! everybody in the yard, everybody! oh, i blew up an oil refinery. ( laughter ) ( piano riff ) anyway, our top intelligence officials think iran did it, and so does our top unintelligence official-- donald trump. ( laughter ) ( cheers and applause )ri who tweeted: (as trump) "saudi arabia oil supply was attacked. there is reason to believe that we know the culprit, are locked and loaded depending on verification." hold it rig

the saudis and houthis are at wa war. the u.s. is also getting some support from allies of the president including republican senator tom cotton who encouraged the administration to take a hard line against iran. the u.s. is ramping up pressure against iran but remains to be seen what options the president has left. the u.s. has imposed crippling sa sanctions regime in iran. >> nick, how is the u.s. responding to this? >> reporter: bear in mind the seriousness of this by secretary pompeo. saying that could massively escalate raw tensions in the region. iran has denied it. its senior counterpart saying on twitter this. be he is referring they are fighting the houthi rebels who are launching drone strikes and saying they took responsibility for launching ten drones they say carried out the attack. he says blaming iran won't end our disaster. accepting our april 15th proposal to end talks and he is referring to the nuclear deal there and iran is saying let's get back to talking but you have to ease sanctions against iran first. point

houthis as really proxies of iran. >> reporter: are the houthis capable of doing this witho iran's involvementnding is no. again, we're talking aboua qualitatively different sort of operation in terms of the planning, the actual technical equipment that was used. they've certainly en increasing, you know, the audacity of their attacks both with drones and missiles, but understanding is this would require iranian assistance. >> reporter >> woodruff: so you've pointed out and said it againhat there's no evidence that the u.s. wants -- i mean, prident trump is saying and he said it again today that he doest want to see war wh iran, but he's also said over the weekend, he talked abobeut g locked and loaded, suggesting the u.s. is ready to launch a military attack.at ould the consequences will if that happened? >> you would he,v think, an open war. there's no way to sort of punish iran, you knw, discreetly to keep thials compartmeed. i think in this sort of situation you would have the gloves come off, right? iran can retaliate in different theaters against u.s. forces in iraq and lebanon, so this