. >> john: it comes as we are getting brand-new information about the u.s.s. mason shooting down another drone in the red sea today, the drone fired from the same houthi-controlled area as the ones over the weekend. we will take you to the briefing as soon as it happens. >> sandra: israel moving into the third phase of ground operations, 138 hostages are still in captivity and hamas has vowed to not release anymore until there is a ceasefire. hello, john, welcome back. >> john: good to be with you. john roberts in washington, "america reports". israel continuing its campaign against hamas hitting the terror group's strongholds in southern gaza overnight. idf engaging in house to house gun battles after entering the second largest city in the strip. >> sandra: israel's military says it has killed about half of hamas mid level batallion commanders by now and prime minister benjamin netanyahu said moments ago idf forces are encircling the house of a senior hamas leader. >> john: trey yingst is on the ground, who is this senior official that israeli forces say they have

ships in the vicinity, but the u.s.s. mason didn't respond to the may day call. tely 90 nautical miles away. the mason was prepared to render assistance. >> the french navy frigate intervened and following a complex tear attacks targeting the vessel, the strinda shot down a drone and escorted the affected tanker out of the danger zone. the houthis say they will target any ship coming to or from israel if they're internationally flagged. there has never been such a grave threat to international ships i'm told by concerned u.s. navy officers. charles? >> charles: wow. jennifer griffin, thanks very much. overwhelmingly a cease fire in gaza. the 153 in favor of the report. general spalding, welcome. this is one of the most vital areas in the world economically. geo politically. that's a pretty powerful statement that i don't think has come across at least to the average american. i don't think we understand what is building up there. >> we don't. we have these new versions of war that is going on in the middle east. let be clear. we're at war with iran. they're just t

navy was busy in the red sea, u.s.s. mason shot down a drone and ballistic missile.story any warship has ever shot down a ballistic missile in combat. the first time was three days ago. there have been over 20 attacks against commercial shipping in the red sea over the past two months where 10% of the world's oil flows. russia launched the largest missile strike on ukraine in two years. the foreign minister said 110 russian missiles and numerous drones were fired at civilians. a maternity ward, schools, hospitals, residential buildings and commercial facilities all hit. president biden is going to have to handle a host of foreign policy challenges next year including his challenges here at home while running for re-election in 2024, mike. >> mike: lucas, many thanks. >> in is not how we should not to win. as a republican candidate i will remove myself from any gop primary ballot where one of my competitors, donald trump included, is forcibly removed through this unconstitutional maneuver. >> it opens up pandora's box. can you let a republican secretary of state keep

less than a week ago they fired missiles at the u.s.s. mason.ping defend commercial vessels from houthi drones and missile attacks. they have reason to believe the attacks are fully enabled by iran. "new york post" called it a red alert. retired general jack keane said this. >> the united states will defend itself certainly but it is not going to stop them from doing it. so they are showing american weakness in the region and their ability to leverage their nineties that region. after all. they are objective is dominate and control the middle east and control the persian gulf flow of oil. this is all part of their strategic objective. >> harris: alexandria hoff is in washington, d.c. for yours with more on this. >> good to be with you. of course as one could expect iran is pushing back on the most recent allegations that their proxies had anything to do with this saying they've been made in an effort to deviate public opinion of nations not that iranian proxy pr is always great among other nations. it is not just u.s. troops and equipment being

. >> john: a live look at the pentagon awaiting the briefing there, first since the u.s.s. mason shot down another houthi rebel drone yesterday in the red sea. dan hoffman, former cia station chief and fox news contributor. we see all the missiles and drones coming out of yemen either launched or fired by the houthis. american ships are taking them down, yet unlike what we see in syria, there is no direct response by the u.s. against the houthis as there was against iran-backed proxies in syria. the question is, why wouldn't we respond directly? >> and let's also remember the response against the iranian proxy militants and terrorists in iraq and in syria has not been enough to prevent those attacks from continuing to occur. roughly 80 of them in iraq and syria, and they have caused traumatic brain injuries for some of our soldiers. iran is dialing up the kinetic pressure on us and doing it because they are playing the long game, they want to make it appear as if the united states is at war in the middle east. on the side of israel. so that when the protests occur with pro-palest

. >> sandra: colonel, the u.s.s. masonhot down the houthi uav out of yemen, it happened this morning and this was after iran's foreign minister put out a very big warning that the war in gaza could lead to what he details as a big explosion of conflicts in the middle east. this is the statement, at least every week we receive, this is iran's foreign minister, a message from the u.s. telling us that u.s. bases in syria and iraq are targeted by some groups. at any moment there is a possibility of a big explosion in the region, one not controllable by any party. how do you interpret that? >> well, sandra, we are effectively in a low grade war with iran in the region right now. it's the kind of war iran wants. it's the kinds of war that affords them every advantage. because they have effectively subcontracted all the fighting to people they don't care about, in places they don't care about, using resources they don't care about. so the houthis, hezbollah, different groups are attacking americans in bases in iraq and syria and

the u.s.s. mason responding to the scene to give aid. the latest assault. the attacks against u.s. forces rises to 92 since mid october. ambassador volker. call for number one this is today from john kirby. >> the rockets fired back and forth are of concern to us. what we have communicated clearly to our partners in the region privately and publicly. this includes iran, we're not wanting to see additional conflict or a bigger conflict but we'll do what we have to do to protect our national security interests in the region. >> dana: all right, ambassador, what do you know about that and how do you think the united states should be responding? >> well, what john kirby said is right but it is not actually what we're doing. 92 attacks against u.s. forces and a smattering of responses to that. we're so deterred by the risk of than escalating war that we aren't deterring that escalation, we're seeing it happen before our eyes. what we just saw with this attack on norwegian flagged vessel in international waters is quite shocking. we have to ask ourselves where did the houthis get these m

the u.s.s. mason shot down a houthi drone coming out of yemen wednesday.ruise missile struck a dutch-owned missile in the strait. iran backed houthi rebels have launched 15 attacks on ships since november 19. there's not been this many missiles fired at international ship since the tanker wars in the 1980s during which u.s. warships had to escort vulnerable oil tankers. >> there's been another attack on a ship in the red sea. two former centcom commanders say there's things that the u.s. military could do to take out some of the missile launchers. there's coastal in yemen. why is not being done at this point? >> as i mentioned before, we're actively addressing this issue. right now the primary mechanism is working with international allies and partners to further bolster the task force that will address this problem. >> how many partners are there in this maritime task force who are dealing with the houthi missiles in particular? >> i don't have anything to announce right now. in the near feature we'll have more information to provide. >> defense secretary

. >> sandra: the u.s.s. masonright now en route to assist a liberian flagged cargo ship hit by houthi rebels in yemen, the ship catching fire after the attack. they believe ballistic missiles targeted three ships in the same vicinity over 24 hours. jake sullivan called on iran to stop the houthi attacks, threatening shipping vessels in that area. >> while the houthis are pulling the trigger, so to speak, they are handed the gun by iran. and iran has a responsibility to -- to take steps themselves to cease these attacks because these attacks, as i said before, are a fundamental threat to international law and international peace and security. >> sandra: while iran-backed proxies are blamed for at least 92 attacks since mid october against u.s. forces stationed in syria and iraq. john. [gunshots] >> john: new video showing israeli forces inside gaza where the idf is locked in a brutal battle with hamas. national security adviser jake sullivan is in israel, amid mounting palestinian deaths, as the idf continues the b