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U.S. and U.K. Strike Iran-Backed Houthi Targets in Yemen; Biden: Strikes in Response to "Unprecedented Houthi Attacks"; Blizzard, Frigid Temps Could Wreak Havoc on Iowa Caucuses; GOP Hopefuls Brave Freezing Temps in Run-Up to Iowa Caucuses. Aired 3- 3:30p ET

Aired January 12, 2024 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[15:00:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: A new phase of military activity in the Middle East has leaders across the globe on edge once again. Last night, the United States and Britain hitting dozens of Houthi military targets in Yemen. That is the Iran-backed rebel group.

The Biden administration saying the airstrikes are self-defense. The Houthis have launched a string of drone and missile attacks in the Red Sea, which have wreaked havoc on that vital shipping lane.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: The White House had been under pressure to more directly confront the Iran-backed Houthis, partly they hesitated too because of the risk of widening the conflict in the Middle East and inflaming tensions with Tehran. But President Biden says that further actions are still on the table. The question now is, will the Houthis respond as they've promised to.

CNN's Oren Liebermann is live for us at the Pentagon.

So, Oren, walk us through the logistics of this attack.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: So this was clearly a coordinated attack. The U.S. and the U.K. acting in a kinetic fashion, that means actually hitting targets here, but with the backing of several other countries, including Australia, Canada, Bahrain, and the Netherlands.

So that gives you an idea of the amount of planning, preparation, and coordination that had to go into an attack like this. There's now a briefing going on about the operation itself. We have learned there were a total of 28 sites struck, more than 150 precision-guided munitions used. You have seen some of the videos and images here. This is video from Yemen of those strikes as they took place.

Again, nearly 30 sites hit belonging to the Houthis, the Iranian proxy rebel group that controls western Yemen across a number of cities there, including Hudaydah, one of the important cities right on the coast there of the Red Sea. The U.S., the U.K. and others felt this was necessary after repeated Houthi attacks on international shipping lanes in the Red Sea. And that very narrow strait there, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, one of the world's most critical waterways. The U.S. had tried to apply diplomatic pressure, including through a U.N. Security Council resolution, but the Houthi attacks kept coming, at least 27. And we just learned a short time ago about another attempt earlier today from the Houthis to launch anti-ship ballistic missiles, so perhaps now 28 attacks on international shipping lanes, including one after the U.S. and U.K. operations.

So the Houthis not backing down here. They're now saying that any U.S. and U.K. asset is a legitimate target for them. And there is an expectation that this isn't just pure bluster or rhetoric that the Houthis will try to find some way to respond.

Boris and Brianna, it's worth pointing out that they have options here should they choose to, and they have the capabilities to do so, either U.S. vessels in the Red Sea, U.S. bases in the Middle East or they could target U.S. allies there, too.

KEILAR: Are U.S. officials saying why now?

LIEBERMANN: This got to a point where, frankly, the U.S., the U.K. and others saw these repeated attacks and didn't see any reason to believe they were going to abate, that the Houthis were going to back off of this. They had promised the attacks would continue. They have said these are standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people and against the war in Gaza, standing against Israel, though it's hard to see how that is with about 2,000 kilometers of Saudi Arabia between Yemen and Israel.

But that was the reason given and the attacks continued. Worth noting that the U.S. called these self-defense strikes and we're still asking about this. The Biden administration says American vessels came under direct attack from the Houthis over the course of the past couple of days. We're waiting to learn what vessels specifically. But clearly, the U.S. and the U.K. felt compelled to act, given simply the repeated nature of the attacks on one of the world's most critical waterways.

KEILAR: All right. Oren, thank you so much for that report from the Pentagon. Let's get the view now from the region.

We have CNN's Jeremy Diamond, who is live for us in Tel Aviv.

Jeremy, big protest today in Yemen, in Sana'a, the capital. Is there a sense from leaders in the Middle East that these strikes will calm things or that it's going to add to the unrest in the region since October 7th?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna. I think at this point there is far more concern in the region that this will escalate potentially the conflict rather than tamping things down. If you look at the statements from some of the major players in the region, whether it is Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, other countries as well, effectively focus - the focus for most of those statements is on expressing concern about the prospects for more escalation and also urgings of restraint, in particular from Saudi Arabia, which not too long ago was in direct conflict with those Houthi rebels and yet now they find themselves, much like the U.S. was at the time, now urging restraint.

And so the question is really what exactly have these U.S. strikes accomplished. The United States, of course, maintaining as Oren just said, that this was in self-defense, aimed at trying to prevent this conflict from spiraling even further into a broader regional conflict.

[15:05:08]

But the question now is to what extent did this actually damage the Houthis' capabilities to continue launching these strikes? Because what it certainly hasn't done is blunted their willingness and their desire to continue launching these attack drones, these ballistic and other types of missiles towards these shipping lanes and potentially as well towards U.S. assets in the region.

In fact, just today, there's the - a report of at least one missile being fired from Yemen towards the Gulf of Aden in that very same area where these ships have been traveling.

Now, in terms of European allies, there's been a lot of support so far for what the United States and the United Kingdom have done, backing of this notion of this being self-defense and also noting the importance of protecting the freedom of navigation and security in the region.

One country that notably hasn't chimed in on all of this is Israel. Israel, of course, has come under fire from missiles fired by Houthi rebels in Yemen towards southern Israel. But so far, no response, no reaction from the Israeli government to these strikes carried out by the United States and the United Kingdom.

SANCHEZ: Jeremy Diamond live from Tel Aviv.

Thank you so much, Jeremy.

We want to expand the conversation now with former Defense Secretary and former CIA Director, Leon Panetta.

Mr. Secretary, thank you so much for being with us. This surge in Houthi attacks that the White House is responding to, do you think the Houthis' motivation here is to please Iran? Is this coming of their own volition? Why do you think they're doing this?

LEON PANETTA, DEFENSE SECRETARY UNDER OBAMA: Well, I don't think there's any question that the Houthis are proxies for Iran and that Iran is pretty much behind a lot of the attacks by various proxies throughout that region, including the Houthis. So there's no question that the Houthis would not have been able to accomplish this without support from Iran.

SANCHEZ: And so how much of their effort in the Red Sea do you think is directed locally in Yemen? How much involvement do you think Iran has beyond supplying weapons?

PANETTA: I think that just as the attacks against our forces in Iraq, in Syria and elsewhere are intended to try to strike at those who are supporting, obviously, Israel. I think the Houthis are basically making these attacks in order to go after commerce in the Red Sea and be able to send a message that they're going to continue to disrupt navigation in the Red Sea as long as the war continues in Gaza and with Hamas.

So that's the message and the counter message has to be one that I think the President and our allies were sending, which is if you continue to do this, you're going to pay a price.

SANCHEZ: So you don't buy the sentiment from certain Democrats, progressives specifically, that are arguing that this kind of action risks a broader conflict. Actually, Secretary, we're going to stand down for a moment. We're going to go to President Biden, who's speaking about these strikes in Yemen. Let's listen.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes. It was very - I don't think there's any civilian casualties. That's another reason why it's a success.

So, look, we're going to get a chance to talk, apparently, at the - after the fire station. So, rather than - by the way, anybody want a coffee? It's on me. All right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll take a smoothie.

BIDEN: You'll take a smoothie? Well, they're six bucks, but I'll do it anyway.

Seriously, if anybody here wants anything, I'll pay for it. Okay?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's very generous of you.

BIDEN: All right. And by the way do we have all of the stuff for the firefighters?

VARGAS: Yes, we do, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, we do.

BIDEN: All right. Good.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible) and coffee, all wrapped up radio.

BIDEN: All right. Good.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's (inaudible) on business, it's boring though. Yes, they're good (inaudible) ...

SANCHEZ: We're going to keep listening to the remarks from President Biden there. He's in Pennsylvania. He spoke for a moment about the attack in Yemen and then pivoted to talking about brewing coffee. The note - former Secretary Leon Panetta, if you're still with us - from President Biden was that part of the reasoning, part of the rationale behind supporting this attack was that there were no civilian casualties in his estimation of what happened.

Going back to the point about the potential for retaliation, there are members of the President's party on Capitol Hill who believe that this kind of strike could lead to a further escalation.

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It doesn't sound like you buy that argument.

PANETTA: Now, listen, I've been dealing with terrorists in the various positions I've had, and frankly, pretty pleased does not work with terrorists. If you want to have a deterrence - we went through all of the steps to try to ask them not to do this, an ultimatum was clearly issued to them time and time again. We've been doing it for three months.

But they - their response was to then send a huge barrage of drones and missiles against shipping in the Red Sea. We can't just stand back and allow that to continue and have any kind of credible deterrence in that region. So what the United States and our allies did was to make very clear that if they're going to continue to do this, they have - they're going to pay a price and they're going to pay a price and that's what this attack was all about and it's the right thing to do.

SANCHEZ: So if the root for this violence in the Red Sea and in Gaza with Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon, if the root of these groups is Iran and Iran is actively accelerating its nuclear program, shouldn't the United States be more assertive with Tehran? Is that your view?

PANETTA: Well, I don't think there's any question. Diplomatically, we have to continue to send signals to Iran about their support for proxy forces in the region. We have to continue to make it clear that we're aware that they are supporting these forces. But at the same time, look, Iran does not want to engage in a full-scale conflict. They're going to fight till the last Houthi is dead or the last proxy is dead. That's their approach to the conflict that we're now dealing with in the Middle East.

And so the best way to send Iran a message is to send their proxies a message that they can't get away with what they're doing.

SANCHEZ: Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, apologize for that interruption from President Biden. He says he's going to speak more about this soon to come. You're more than welcome to come back and discuss any time.

PANETTA: Thank you. Good to be with you.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

Though the Pentagon and the White House are calling these strikes an act of self-defense, as we mentioned, some lawmakers in both political parties are taking issue with how the strikes were approved and carried out. We're going to get reaction from one Democratic lawmaker a little bit later who supports this military action.

And of course, we're just a few days out from the Iowa caucuses, our first glimpse at how presidential hopefuls are reaching voters, but weather may play a role. Some record-breaking winter storms freezing some candidates' last minute campaign stops. Bone-chilling cold threatening turnout on Monday. We'll discuss in just moments.

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KEILAR: Iowa is facing dangerously frigid weather and that has some of the Republican presidential hopefuls just scrambling to shift their campaign strategies just three days before the caucuses. Today, actually, Ron DeSantis calling off most of his events in the state because of the snowy conditions. Nikki Haley canceling her in-person events, opting for tele town halls instead.

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NIKKI HALEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm so sorry that we couldn't be in Fort Dodge, but I didn't want to miss the opportunity to be able to communicate for all of you that we're planning on coming out to see us on this snowy day in Iowa.

GOV. RON DESANTIS, (R) FLORIDA, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'll ask you for your support on Monday. I know it's going to be cold. I know it's going to be not the most pleasant, but I don't think you'll ever be able to cast a vote that has more impact given the circumstances. We don't know what the turnout's going to be. It could be much smaller than what it's been in the 16th cycle. That's possible.

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SANCHEZ: On top of the snow and ice in the region, Monday's caucuses are expected to be the coldest in Iowa history. With wind chills, the sub-zero temperatures could feel as cold as minus 30 in some areas. Let's discuss with conservative Iowa radio host Jeff Angelo.

Jeff, thank you so much for being with us.

JEFF ANGELO, CONSERVATIVE IOWA RADIO HOST: Hey, safe and warm and glad to be with you this afternoon.

SANCHEZ: You hear from voters calling into your show frequently. What are you hearing from them about what's guiding their choices as we get closer to caucus day?

ANGELO: It really is economic issues. That is at the top of everyone's list. And to be specific, they don't feel that their wages are keeping up with inflation, and they want to know that the politicians have a plan for that. The border, of course, is at the top of a lot of Iowans' minds as well. Specifically to Iowa, we're right on I-35 and a lot of concern about fentanyl coming up the highway into Iowa. So those are concerns. Some of the standard ones, though, that you're going to hear every campaign, my listeners will talk to me about, the Social Security, is that going to be solvent much longer, what about Medicare, so those are the issues that affect the daily lives of working class Iowans, and those are the issues that come up the most.

KEILAR: Jeff, it sounded like Ron DeSantis there was setting some expectations about potential lower turnout, expectations setting obviously very important in politics. But how are you expecting that the weather or the temperatures are going to affect the caucuses?

ANGELO: Yes, I don't think we're going to have a record turnout, Brianna, because as you said, negative 30 wind chills.

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So you measure the enthusiasm of the voter. You've got the diehards that will absolutely show up. Some of the folks that are very enthusiastic about a specific candidate will show up, but then you've got a lot of folks that have heard all of the news reporting. They've heard all the hype. Maybe they've gone to an event with the candidate, and maybe they were going to come out this year and caucus for Nikki Haley or Ron DeSantis. But nothing like minus 30 to encourage you to just simply stay in the kitchen and have a little chili that night and watch CNN.

KEILAR: Sounds good.

SANCHEZ: I would love that, yes.

KEILAR: Sounds lovely.

SANCHEZ: Yes, love some chilly.

What do you think is the weather is going to do for the odds that Ron DeSantis or Nikki Haley get close to Donald Trump? Because right now the polls have him, what, like 30 - 20- to 30 points up.

ANGELO: Right. Right, Boris. That's a great question. I think it really diminishes their odds of getting closer because Donald Trump supporters would absolutely walk through a snowstorm to head to caucus for him. And then there's less enthusiasm on the DeSantis side. I think even a little bit less on the Haley side, to be honest with you.

And so if you're starting to measure levels of enthusiasm, the Trump supporters will show up. DeSantis will be begging his people to show up, as in the clip you just played. This is a very consequential election. Haley is desperately trying to convince people to show up as well. But I think they're going to have more trouble than Trump will.

So the more that that temperature drops, the higher the probability that Trump wins big.

KEILAR: We see these pictures from Des Moines. I mean, this is treacherous stuff. This is going to make it really tough. It's such a bummer for these candidates. I think of - Ron DeSantis has been to every county, right? He's put in a lot of work, especially. I wonder what you think, looking back on sort of the origins of his campaign in Iowa and how the arc has kind of gone. What do you think?

ANGELO: I think that he did come into Iowa viewed as the alternative to Donald Trump. If you weren't going to caucus for Trump, you're going to vote for Ron DeSantis. But honestly, the reason that the Iowa caucus is so unique and essential to the American political process is this is old fashioned retail politics. This is one on one with people.

And I don't think that Ron DeSantis is at his best in those one on one situations. I think when he's behind a podium and he's got his talking points and he's challenging his opponents, that's when he's at his best. But Iowans will actually come out and kick the tires. Most of the people that attended the caucus on Monday night have gone to candidate events, probably have asked the candidate a question at one time or another and then they come away with a gut feeling about how that person - like a Ron DeSantis - interacted with them. And that gut feeling may lead them to say, that's just not the right person for me.

KEILAR: Yes, well, if only we could all have that access to candidates that Iowans have, it's pretty amazing stuff.

Jeff, great to have you. Thank you so much. And have fun on Monday. It's going to be wild one way or another.

SANCHEZ: Yes, tune in. You'll see a Cuban popsicle standing in front of a cornfield. It'll be great.

ANGELO: Looking forward to that.

SANCHEZ: Thanks, Jeff.

KEILAR: Bye, Jeff. Thank you.

So just a moment ago, we dipped in live to bring you some remarks from President Biden in Pennsylvania. We just caught the tail end of it. So here is the full exchange that he had with reporters as he was speaking about the strikes. Those U.S.-U.K. joint strikes in Yemen and also the hospitalization of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

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BIDEN: These are all the folks that work at the White House.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have a message for Iran, sir?

BIDEN: I've already delivered the message to Iran. They know not to do anything.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are we in a de facto proxy war with Iran?

BIDEN: Hang on one second.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will you continue bombing the Houthis if the attacks don't stop, sir?

BIDEN: Say that again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will you continue bombing the Houthis if the attacks don't stop? Will you continue with the strikes, sir?

BIDEN: We will make sure that we respond to the Houthis if they continue this outrageous behavior, along with our allies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have confidence in Secretary Austin?

BIDEN: I do.

I'm sorry, (inaudible) ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was it a lapse in judgment for him not to tell you earlier?

BIDEN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are we in a de facto proxy war with Iran?

BIDEN: Say again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are we in a de facto proxy war with Iran?

BIDEN: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you willing to call the Houthis ...

BIDEN: Iran does not want a war with us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you willing to call the Houthis a terrorist group, sir?

BIDEN: I think they are.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was the strike successful last night, sir?

BIDEN: Yes. It was very - I don't think there's any civilian casualties. That's another reason why it's a success.

So, look, we're going to get a chance to talk, apparently, at the - after the fire station. So, rather than - by the way, anybody want a coffee?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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KEILAR: All right. So it sounds like we will be hearing more from Joe Biden. We understand that some of that was sort of difficult to make out what he said there as he's there at a coffee smoothie shop there.

SANCHEZ: Yes, I think the main headline was that he was asked about Secretary Lloyd Austin - the defense secretary who was hospitalized at the start of the year not notifying the White House immediately that he was sent to ICU. The President describing that as a lapse in judgment. I think he was also asked if he's in contact with Secretary Austin to which he replied very quickly yes.

KEILAR: You heard the part I didn't hear. The part that I did ...

SANCHEZ: It was tough. It was tough to (inaudible) ...

KEILAR: ... because I couldn't make that out, but he did say also that he's delivered a message to Iran. They know not to do anything amid these questions about whether what's going on in the Middle East is going to balloon to something larger. And then he said that they're going to make sure to respond to the Houthis, of course, the Iran- backed rebels as long as they continue their outrageous behavior.

So we'll expect more ahead from President Biden. We'll be back in just a moment.

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