. hey, everyone. it s 4:00 in washington, d.c. i m in for nicolle wallace. a close eye on a volatile situation in the middle east u.s. forces across the region bracing for possible retaliation after airstrikes against iranian-backed houthi militants in yemen. on thursday streaking dozens of targets, more than 60. at 16 different locations across yemen according to the u.s. favors. houthis say at least five were killed in the strikes. the attacks are a response by the u.s. and its allies what has become a slow slimmering crisis and drawn the administration s attention in the last few months. after october 7th with the attacks in israel, ships have gone to the red sea sites of one of the most crucial shipping lanes in the world. hijacking a ship operated by a japanese company. houthis say they re actions are in support of hamas and the ongoing conflict in gaza and say they ll continue their attacks until israel ends its campaign. moments ago president biden answering question
a bigger threat to the global economy if there s a regional war in the middle east that fully draws in iran. so they re trying to kind of navigate this precarious moment until diplomacy, i think, can succeed in lowering the temperature. until diplomacy can do that or the war binds down in gaza we ll just be living in this place of heightened tension and heightened risk of escalation. general, when you talk about bolsters houthis arsenal including crews and ballistic missiles, long-range drones, what s the significance of that arsenal being expanded? iranians, of course, houthis are know shia organization. right back into the classic suni, shia struggle throughout the middle east. one of the challenges is, many of these missiles that are being fired are one-way iranian designed and manufactured drones. they cost 20,000 bucks. the u.s. navy and the brits also have extremely sophisticated air