japanese we should be able to beat the houthis. secretary austin and the biden administration is failing our troops in the field. i admire him, he is a patriot, but he is not doing a good job protecting the soldiers. without iran there are no houthis. the houthis are completely backed by iran. molly: forces in israel are expanding their ground operation in gaza. trey yengst is live in tel aviv with the latest on these escalations. trey, to you. good morning. threats from iran and its proxies are increasing amid concerns about the possibility of a broader regional conflict. yesterday alone we understand that 12 attack drones, three anti-ship ballistic missiles and two cruise missiles were shot down by the american eisenhower carrier strike group from the houthis and lasted for ten hours. an american service member remains in critical condition following a drone attack against the erbil air base that drew an american response. zooming in on the ground, israeli chief of staf
welcome to a special edition of fox news live. problems piling up for president biden at home and overseas. peace looking as el useive as ever in the middle east while the crisis at the southern border spirals further out of control. despite all that merry christmas, everyone. i m rich edson. i m claudia cowen. the president is facing growing pressure to respond to houthi attacks in the red sea. the white house confirming iran has been providing weapons and intelligence on ship locations fueling a crisis in global shipping and raising tensions in the middle east. exiled iranian leader says when it comes to proxy wars, iran wrote the book. this regime has mastered proxy wars particularly emboldened and encouraged when apiecement becomes an element more reason to push the envelope. we shouldn t be surprised to see these are the kind of acts that the regime will take advantage of to try to get as much credit as possible but at the same time not bearing the consequences and
you could join us. we begin with some news from the war in ukraine. russia says its troops have fully captured the ukrainian city of bakhmut. there has been no immediate reaction from kyiv to those claims, but if true, it could mark an end to the longest and bloodiest battle of the 15 month war. russia has been trying to take bakhmut since last year in a grinding war of attrition. and in the last few minutes, the russian news agency interfax has said president putin congratulated his troops for capturing the city. earlier, ukraine had said its units were still fighting in the city. this comes on the heels of the us agreement to allow ukrainian pilots to train in american made f 16 jets. a move moscow had criticised. meanwhile, ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky has been on a whirlwind tour in an effort to drum up support and weapons for an expected counter offensive against russia. it s been a busy few hours for zelensky, touching down injapan on saturday for diplomatic t
re-election in november by nearly 20 points. now he is aiming for the white house and taking on the last republican to hold it. florida governor ron desantis will declare tomorrow evening he s a candidate for president. part of a campaign rollout that includes a twitter conversation tomorrow with ceo elon musk. paperwork filing with the federal election commission. and an overhaul of ron desantis.com which went from a florida based political page to an alligator. rising from the water. i think what we have done in florida should inspire people. defended fight against disney. touted run as governor. he sparred with the naacp after the organization issued a florida travel advisory, claiming the state has become hostile under the governor s leadership. desantis called it a stunt. and republicans noted the chair of the naacp s board of directors lives in florida. the white house has even weighed in. republicans in florida have attacked diversity, administration for the pa
with g7 leaders in an effort to drum up support and weapons for an expected counter offensive against russia. mr zelensky will address the leaders of the major western democracies during meetings on sunday. while the war in ukraine continues to dominate those summit talks the war itself is raging on. bakhmut has been the focus of the longest and bloodiest battle of the war but the leader of russia s private wagner group has said the city has now been taken. russia has been trying to take bakhmut since last year in a grinding war of attrition. and in the last few minutes, the russian news agency interfax says president putin has congratulated troops for capturing the city. earlier, ukraine says its units are still fighting in the city. this comes on the heels of the us agreement to allow ukrainian pilots to train in american made f 16 jets to help with its fight against russia a move moscow and china have criticised. here now, our political editor chris mason, who s in h