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
speak later tonight. gabe gutierrez, thank you on a busy night there. david, when you take it all together, what would be the next steps if this was effective in the eyes of the west? well, i think the next steps would be that the houthis would stand down. they would realize that further punishment is what they re likely to get if they keep provoking this, and you know, with some luck, that will make the region a little safer. i think it s important to keep in mind, they kept firing missiles and they actually struck something that produced a lot of deaths, it would have been a call for a much broader response, and that could have actually been escalatory. so this was very carefully timed, very measured, handled in a very measured and responsible way. david on the breaking news, our thanks. and thanks to you at home for joining us on the beat. our coverage continues with a lot going on. the reidout with joy reid
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
you know what else they want? they want to make sure their loved ones who were essential workers who made sure we were thriving during covid, they families can come out of the shadows and actually get relief. that s a domestic policy issue, and the republicans don t want to touch that because they know even moderate independent republicans believe that someone who has been paying taxes here for 20, 30 years, they too deserve a shot at the american dream in a fair, square way. i also think that whole abortion issue is absolutely a loser, and that s why trump knows that and republicans are trying to back pedal, but that s too late. a national abortion ban, i don t know how they think that s the answer. that s not going to fly. thank you both very much. coming up, the u.n. s highest court begins hearing arguments accusing israel of committing genocide in gaza. key takeaways from the first day of this landmark case when the reidout continues.
told us of about three months, we have had missiles launched at our ships and commercial shipping. we have had drone attacks. we had small boat attacks. we have warned these houthi rebels, houthi pirates again and again and again. and they have simply not responded. and joy, we can t just sit back and be defensive here and allow these iranian backed rebels to simply break 15% of the global shipping chain. that will increase costs for all of us in every single way. it shatters the confidence and the consensus in global shipping. that s what s happening here. so the administration correctly has decided to launch a series of strikes, three important things to note. number one, it s u.s. plus coalition partners. certainly, the united kingdom, i suspect others have been