Page 711 - Capabilities News Today

And it is in that context that we took these strikes last night to get at their capabilities to do exactly that. >> when you say its the houthis, do you mean that it is iran sort of back ing all of this? is that how the administration is seething it? >> no question about it. the houthis are pulling the trigger, but the iranians are providing the guns. we know they are supporting the capabilities of the houthis as well as hamas and hez bollah an the groups in iraq and syria. no mistake a about it...

Proxy who have been emboldened since hamas, also backed by iran, launched those terror attacks on israel on october 7th. we have natasha bertrand at the pentagon. we have nick robertson in israel on this. natasha, tell us about the strikes. what do we know? >> reporter: we are learning a little bit more about the assets the u.s. used to carry out the strikes, including 22 fixed wing aircraft, which include f-18s, which took off from the aircraft carrier that is currently stationed in the red sea...

Vanguards that arrows going to stand up vanguards that arrows going to stand up against the west in defending the palestinians in gaza. this will also further galvanise and radicalise and increase their followership. {flare further galvanise and radicalise and increase their followership.- increase their followership. give us an idea of how— increase their followership. give us an idea of how strong _ increase their followership. give us an idea of how strong houthis - increase their follower...

Militias like the houthis thinking, well, i have to show what i can do, too. you may see an increase in attacks from iranian militias in iraq, from hezbollah in lebanon. all these dangers were factored in. in the end, joe, they decided they had no choice given the level of attacks on shipping but to take a hard response. >> the goal was actually to have an effect, not just send a message, but actually keep them from, deter them from the attacks and make it less possible theyd do it, with the wid...

So they have their options and the capabilities and the u.s. went into this knowing all those were possible and now waiting to see how the houthis respond, which is something they have very much promised to do. >> the white house says theyre confident they have the legal authority to carry out these strikes. theres some members of congress who disagree. whats their argument? >> reporter: this is an important point. by the u.s. constitution only congress can authorize an act of war. they werent g...

The houthis capabilities and whether we see them have to sort of re-assess their ability and maybe have to take a step back to sort of regroup before they might even have the ability to carry out more attacks in the immediatefuture. >> courtney, thank you so much. getting us started. general barry mccaffrey. go to you. help us understand why the administration would decide to launch airstrikes? >> such an economic cost, global shipping coming through the suez canal. at some point they had no opt...

Ground combat capabilities with air power, but its more effective when youre going after radar, coastal sea-based drones, storage sites. i think they probably had an impact. i dont believe the houthis can possibly be deterred. what we can do is wind down their capabilities. to do that it may well require a couple of weeks of unrestrained air power strikes. >> ben, put this in a more global context and talk specifically about the houthis. in the "new york times." built tir ideology around opposit...

Regional deterrence. those capabilities provide us with additional assets to respond to a wide range of contingencies. what were seeing near human in the red sea is the houthi rebels attempting to exploit the situation. ultimately, theyre affecting over 50 nations that are sending commercial shipping through this waterway. well continue to work hard on that, but at the same time, we cant allow the houthis to continue these attacks, putting innocent mariners lives at risk. the houthis have said t...

In the imminent is what he said. i think they are a terrorist group. and lets hear what us department of defense spokesperson, patrick ryder, had to say about what the strikes had achieved... i dont know that i would necessarily describe that as retaliatory or whether what we are seeing is an effort on the part of the houthis say we are still standing but again, i think right now probably the houthis are evaluating what capabilities they have and they have a hard decision in front of them. wheth...

The president tonight clearly trying to contain what is now an escalating regional conflict. it is exactly what many had feared, as the worst outcome, as we are now nearly 100 days since hamas attacked israel. cbss charlie dagata reports tonight from tel aviv. >> reporter: repeated ultimatums gave way to a military action overnight, as f-18 fighter jets and support aircraft led the way in a bombing campaign against iranian-backed houthi militants, including the use of u.s. warships and a submari...