welcome to the lead. how about this for question of the day? fani willis, what are you thinking? exactly parks trisha murphy. murphy is a top opinion writer for the atlanta journal constitution asking that of district attorney fani willis who has yesterday to deny that she has a special relationship with a special prosecutor she hired, the stunning scandal revealed in legal briefs in georgia. donald trump was at the first hearing today since the allegations were revealed. plus inside the iowa caucuses, exactly how does this very american, very bizarre process work and why does iowa opt for this versus the more popular and easy primary process where voters just line up and vote in the polls? leading this hour, what could be a worsening global crisis for president biden, iranian-backed houthi militants warning of retaliation against the u.s. and its allies for strikes against houthis in yemen last night. the white house insists these were self-defense strikes intended to
coverage of the iowa caucus will continue. see you sunday morning. happening now, u.s.-led air strikes inseed yemen trigger a vow of retaliation by iran-backed militants. mass protests erupt in yemen and fears of a full scale regional war intensify. also this hour, a potential blizzard and bitter cold are disrupting the final push to the iowa caucuses. we re tracking the candidates and severe weather with only three days to go before the first presidential votes of 2024. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer, you re in the situation room. let s get to our top story tonight. iran-backed houthi militants vowing to hit back after a u.s. led coalition struck their position faze yemen. the national what is president biden saying as the u.s. braces for retaliation? wolf, the president spoke briefly earlier today reiterating that the united states stand as poised to respond to any additional houthi action including missile an
let s get to our top story tonight. iran-backed houthi militants vowing to hit back after a u.s. led coalition struck their position faze yemen. the national what is president biden saying as the u.s. braces for retaliation? wolf, the president spoke briefly earlier today reiterating that the united states stand as poised to respond to any additional houthi action including missile and drone attacks that they launched in the red sea and he addressed concerns that iran might get involved in this con flith because the houthis are supported and backed by iran. reason ran has been providing them with intelligence to attack these vessels in the red sea. he was asked if we are in a proxy war with iran. i ve already delivered the message to iran. they know not to do anything.
we designated the houthis as a foreign terrorist organization. they re doing it on behalf of the iranian government. this is a very aggressive move from iran s proxies just like hezbollah, just like hamas. it s very tense. the bottom line is the best way to keep things in check is not to let them go unanswer. does the u.s. need to brace for other iran-backed proxied, hezbollah, various iran-backed militias in iraq and syria, hamas in gaza, for example, should the u.s. brace for them to respond as well? i think everybody right now is aware that every day you re facing risks both from hezbollah in the north. it s why the president sent initially two carriers to the region to keep the make a
case. wade is in the middle of a divorce so they are seeking documents they believe could substantiate some claims so this is absolutely going to turn into a political issue. now it s not clear that this would make the charges themselves go away but there will likely be calls for either one or both of them to step aside, potentially someone else to take over the case. this for the trump team let me tale you in talking to sourss in trump world this is a gift giving them the opportunity to try to undermine the credibility of this case that has always been such a concern because it s a state level case. even if trump is re-elected to the white house, he nor any other president could pardon anyone convicted in that probe. interesting indeed. looking ahead to next week, there s the e jean carol defame