starts now. good evening. we re following breaking ne. the u.s. and british military have launched strikes against targets in houthi controlled yemen, according to two u.s. officials. this comes after the iranian-backed militant group has launched a series of attacks on commercial ships in the red ahich has stoked fears of a wider conflict in the region already reeling from the israel/hamas war. we have a lot to get to. this is obviously a huge development in the region. you re looking at a map right there. the challenge has been that the houthi attacks have caused ships that would normally go through the suez canal to have to go around the horn of africa, meaning it takes a lot longer to get there. there have been some limited military strikes that have killed some houthis that were involved in this blockade. the houthis launched this blockade in protest to the killing of palestinians in gaza. so that is just the setup, the background to what s going on. the houthis are an
earlier in the day. he said he did not view it as an escalation. at least not yet. but there are, quote, danger points. however, this breaking news that these air strikes are under way does seem to really ramp up the stakes. this is something the u.s. and the uk have been considering for some time. and they had already responded, joy, by shooting down missiles and drones fired by the houthis. they had already also recently sank some houthi boats that had fired on commercial ships. but this is the first time that the u.s. air strikes are targeting the houthis inside of yemen. these land-based targets. again, we don t have reports. it s too early to know of any injuries or exactly how many targets were hit. and officially from the white house, no official word yet, joy, but what we know is from the two u.s. officials is that these air strikes already are under way. and let me ask you this question, because the question of whether or not there will be an escalation. i mean, one would th