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CNN International: U.S. and U.K. Strike Houthis Fighters in Yemen; Millions Across U.S. Under Storm Watches; Iowa Republicans Choose Their Nominee in Caucuses Monday; Trump Delivers Five-Minute Monologue From Defense Table. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired January 12, 2024 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Bianca Nobilo.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Max Foster joining you live from London. Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These strikes were intended to be very surgical, very precise and very deliberate to degrade and disrupt Houthi capability.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Already the Houthis are saying that they are going to respond against U.S. and U.K. interests.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The temperatures are dropping. It was warmer this morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The kids are out of school today.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a political witch hunt the likes of which nobody's ever seen before. They owe me damages for what they've done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The sitting president, sometimes wayward son, could face prison time over taxes he didn't pay on foreign earnings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo.

FOSTER: It's Friday January the 12th, 9 a.m. here in London, noon in Sanaa and other parts of Yemen where the U.S. and U.K. forces have been hammering Houthi targets.

NOBILO: The escalation in regional fighting has Russia calling for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council later on today. Newly released images from the British Defense Ministry show some of the new coalition strikes. A U.S. military official says it's unclear what percentage of Houthi assets have been destroyed inside Yemen but that the amount was significant.

FOSTER: A U.S. commander says more than 60 Houthi targets were hit at 16 militant locations, some of which you can see here.

NOBILO: This is a direct response to the surge of Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea. The Iran-backed Houthis claim that they've been going after vessels with a connection to Israel as a show of support for Palestinians in Gaza.

FOSTER: The U.S. president issued this statement.

These targeted strikes are a clear message that the United States and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to imperil freedom of navigation in one of the world's most critical commercial routes. I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary.

NOBILO: U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says there will be further cost to Houthi forces if they don't end their illegal attacks in the Red Sea. And here's Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Pat Ryder.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. GEN. PAT RYDER, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: We reserve the right to protect and defend our forces, to defend the global trade that transits through the Red Sea and to take necessary steps to, again, make sure that the Houthis understand loud and clear that it's unacceptable to the international community to continue to conduct these reckless, dangerous and illegal attacks against commercial shipping and mariners that are transiting this vital waterway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: We are getting mixed reaction from congressional leaders to the U.S. strikes against Houthi rebels. Some Democrats are criticizing President Biden for not getting congressional approval, which is required by the Constitution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): He should have come as the Constitution requires to Congress. And that was echoed in a bipartisan way by Senator Mike Lee, Representative Jonathan Jackson and many other senators and congresspeople.

The Constitution requires that if there is not an imminent threat of self-defense, that he has to come to Congress. And here we know by your own reporting that this has been going on since December. He's assembled an entire international coalition. He certainly should have come to Congress so that we can discuss whether this actually could put more American troops at risk.

I'm concerned about retaliation in Iraq and whether it could draw us into a Middle East war. And I believe that he did not follow the Constitution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Senator Mitch McConnell and other Republican leaders welcome the strikes, but they blame Biden for not acting sooner. Here's what a former defense secretary in the Trump administration had to say about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK CASPER, FORMER U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: Look, I think it's a bold action by President Biden. I think it's overdue. And based on what we've seen so far, I think it's fairly comprehensive and should go a long way to deterring the task of degrading their capability -- capability to continue conducting these attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: According to a congressional source, leaders in Congress were briefed by senior Biden administration officials earlier on Thursday.

FOSTER: Let's go to Abu Dhabi. CNN's Paula Hancocks is there. So, the White House being very clear, this is to protect economic value, if you like, because it's a shipping lane. But you also heard there from someone in Congress suggesting that the risk is that it will be interpreted as getting involved in the Middle East crisis and the war.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's correct, Max. I mean, it is a risk that at this point the U.S. deemed was necessary and a risk that had to be taken, given what they say had been happening from the Houthi rebels, the attack on Tuesday by Houthi rebels.

[04:05:00]

We understand from a senior administration official that those 21 drones and missiles that were shot down by U.S. and U.K. Navy assets in the Red Sea, that was actually targeting a U.S. commercial vessel.

So this was really the tipping point from Washington's point of view. But they did have the support of the U.K. and other countries who believe that this was necessary.

Now, we've heard from a U.K. junior armed force minister that no more attacks are immediately planned. But the U.S. has left the door open for the possibility that there could be more. We heard from U.S. President Joe Biden saying that he wouldn't hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary.

So it's daytime now in Yemen. The results of those nighttime strikes will be more evident. It's clear that the U.S. and U.K. militaries will be assessing whether or not they have sufficiently degraded the military capability of these rebels or whether there will be a need for more attacks. The Houthi rebels have already said that there will be a retaliation.

We've heard from the spokesperson calling what happened overnight here barbaric, terrorist, and a deliberate and unjustified aggression. Also pointing out that they were wrong if they thought that they would deter Yemen.

So I don't think anybody really expects this to be the end of it. There is this expectation that there will be some kind of retaliation from the Iran-backed group. It's unclear what kind of format that retaliation will take, of course, depending on how degraded the assets of this militia group are after the bombing attacks. But certainly nobody expects this to be the end of it.

Now, we did also hear from a senior U.S. administration official that part of the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's message when he has been in the region the past several days has also been to point out that if these attacks would take place, they would be in a defensive nature. They would be self-defense, and they would not be intended to expand the conflict more than it already is.

So certainly this has been in the works for some time on the U.S. side. The political decision from President Biden hadn't been taken to carry it out until after those Tuesday attacks.

But it also shows that the political landscape was being prepared by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken while he was here to make sure that everybody in the region knew that they weren't trying to increase this conflict. But of course, there is always that risk that this could expand what is already happening -- Max and Bianca.

FOSTER: OK, Paula in Abu Dhabi, thank you so much for that.

Well, the Houthi deputy foreign minister is warning the U.S. and U.K. to prepare for severe repercussions.

NOBILO: Another senior leader says the militant group has already launched retaliatory attacks. CNN's Nic Robertson has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: So those targets in the town in the southwest of Taiz, in the western port city of Hudaydah, along the border or close to the border with Saudi Arabia, the town of Sadr, and also around Sanaa, the capital, those targets there at radar sites, at ballistic missile launch and storage sites, cruise missile launch and storage sites, drone launch and storage sites, those are intended, as the coalition says, as the United States says, to send a message. But they're intended to degrade the Houthis' ability to target shipping in the Red Sea.

But already the Houthis are saying that they are going to respond against U.S. and U.K. interests. It was U.K. typhoon fighter jets that targeted two different sites. It was the United States missiles and fighter aircraft that targeted other sites.

The Houthis say that they're going to respond. And it's not quite clear how they'll respond to U.K., U.S. interests in the region. How will they respond?

The potential here for escalation is very real. And it could be that the Houthis continue to try to target shipping in the Red Sea to send a message. Remembering, of course, that after October 7th, they began by trying to target Israel by sending cruise missiles to Israel and that some of those were intercepted by the United States, by the U.K., and also by Saudi Arabia.

So there are a number of different ways and places that the Houthis can target back. They've had a long-running war against Saudi Arabia that only just ended not so long ago, where they were sending long- range cruise missiles to the capital, Riyadh. They've sent drones into the United Arab Emirates. So there's a number of ways that they can destabilize, in their own view, U.K. and U.S. interests in the region by doing it not just in the Red Sea but more broadly across the region.

[04:10:02]

So the concerns of the Saudis about the potential for escalation are very real. They've been worrying about the October 7th, Israel's response to that, escalating tensions, the northern border in Israel with Lebanon and Hezbollah, all these Iranian-backed proxies trying to stoke tensions in the region. And the Houthis are the ones that seem to have precipitated this particular escalation.

The Saudis, of course, are saying that the freedom of navigation in the Red Sea is of vital importance to the region. So while they are not part of that military coalition in the Red Sea, they are clearly giving it a green light to go ahead.

But this potential right now, depending on the Houthi response, this is a very, very volatile time right now.

Nic Robinson, CNN, Tel Aviv, Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: The Houthis' leader also posted online that the American and British strikes are, a quote, unjustified aggression that reflects a brutal psychology.

Earlier, military analyst Cedric Leighton weighed in about what the militant group might do next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.) CNN MILITARY ANALYST: What they will probably do is they will try to redouble their efforts. There will have to be some re-strikes of some of the targets that were hit, and there will probably be some new targets that the U.S. and the U.K. and other countries will probably have to engage before this is over.

The U.S. effort is designed to protect international commerce. It is not related to what the Israelis are doing in Gaza. But the Houthis have conflated the issues and have made it very clear to their population that they believe these issues are connected to each other, and that, of course, is going to present a major difficulty in terms of managing perceptions and managing what happens next.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: The U.S. says more than 50 countries have been affected by dozens of Houthi attacks in recent months. A number of companies, including Danish shipping giant Maersk, have been diverting their vessels away from the Red Sea and around the southern tip of Africa.

NOBILO: That adds thousands of nautical miles to the journey and causes weeks of delays in shipping times, and all of that adds up to a major potential threat to the global economy.

FOSTER: Jorgen Lian, head of shipping equity research at DNB Markets, explains the potential impact on global shipping.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JORGEN LIAN, HEAD OF SHIPPING EQUITY RESEARCH, DNB MARKETS: So there's essentially two things that happen. So the first is time, and the second is cost, and they're slightly connected. So the former initially leads to short-term disruptions by adding 10 to 15 days to the time spent in transit and potentially an immediate shortage of goods until the trade routes are reestablished.

Then secondly, that ties up transport capacity and equipment for longer, which leads to tight supply in freight markets. And that leads us on to the second point, which means increased costs, which is also twofold.

So firstly, there's longer sailing distances. That means more fuel costs to operate the ships. And then in addition, the tightening of the shipping market itself increases the freight rates when customers need to compete for the available slots. Now, that's where the costs really start to skyrocket.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Before the attacks in Yemen, media in Iran reported its navy had seized an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, and it's now being diverted to an Iranian port. U.K. authorities say the vessel was boarded by at least four armed people early Thursday, and a course set for Iranian waters.

FOSTER: Tehran says a court ordered the seizure in retaliation for the U.S. confiscating the same ship and its oil. Last year, the U.S. State Department condemned the move.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VEDANT PATEL, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: The Iranian government must immediately release the ship and its crew. This unlawful seizure of a commercial vessel is just the latest behavior by Iran or enabled by Iran aimed at disrupting international commerce.

We believe this kind of action will simply add uncertainty for commercial shipping and for regional and global economies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: A maritime monitoring website, TankerTrackers, says the vessel is a Marshall Islands-flagged crude oil tanker named St. Nicholas.

FOSTER: As British troops take part in the Yemen operation, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is headed to Kyiv. His office says he'll sign what the statement calls an historic security agreement with Ukraine. That will include a U.K. commitment to consult with Ukraine if Russia ever invades it again.

NOBILO: 10 Downing Street also says Britain will send more than $3 billion in military and humanitarian aid to Kyiv over the next financial year. More than a quarter billion dollars will be spent on military drones, which the U.K. calls the largest drone delivery to Ukraine from any country.

Across the United States, millions are under threat of severe weather today. And millions more can look forward to bone-chilling cold, snow and even blizzard conditions, leading many school districts across the country to close today in anticipation of the extreme weather.

[04:15:00]

FOSTER: More than 240 daily cold temperature records could be tied or broken across the country through Tuesday, courtesy of a massive storm system impacting the U.S.

Meanwhile, more than 50 million people in the southeast are under a severe storm threat today, where tornadoes, high winds and large hail threaten the region.

NOBILO: And in the northeast, another round of heavy rain is prompting flood watches for more than 35 million people along the eastern seaboard.

Winter weather is impacting the last weekend of campaigning for Monday's Iowa Republican caucuses. One candidate has cancelled today's events because of blizzard warnings. That's ahead.

FOSTER: Plus, we'll tell you about the closing arguments in Donald Trump's civil fraud trial in New York and the familiar but false claims that he's making.

NOBILO: Also ahead for you, the U.S. Secretary of State tries to ease concerns that the war in Gaza is spreading.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: The 2024 presidential election season gets underway in earnest on Monday. When Iowa Republicans hold caucuses to select their nominee. With just three days left to convince voters, blizzard warnings have prompted Nikki Haley to cancel Friday's in-person events. Still, she says she trusts Iowa voters to make the right choice. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[04:20:00]

NIKKI HALEY, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Monday matters. Your voice matters. I trust you. I trust you because I know America gets this.

The political pundits on TV want to write this story already and act like November 2024 is already here. They don't know. But you do. And we'll find out on Monday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: No word so far on whether Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will cancel any campaign events because of the weather. On Thursday, he struck an optimistic note about his chances.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON DESANTIS, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'd rather be the underdog. I understand that there's a lot of folks that have wanted to create that narrative really from the beginning of the election. I'd rather be in that position.

I think I run very well as the guy that's working harder than everybody, as the guy that's shaking the hands, that's answering the questions. And I'm showing up. I mean, you know, all these debates, I've accepted. I've accepted opportunities. People said they will invite Trump. I've accepted. You know, I don't mind. Like, OK, well, I do mind. I think he needs to debate. But if he's not going to debate, he's going to do this town hall. And then he's going to try to blame me for Fauci. Wait a minute. You should be on the stage doing that. Let's see how that goes in the back and forth.

You want to start talking about you're not responsible for Fauci. But he doesn't want to do that because he knows that we would have the ammunition on that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, Vivek Ramaswamy is staying on the campaign trail despite the weather warnings. He has four campaign events planned for Friday, saying there is no substitute for meeting Iowans face to face.

NOBILO: The impact of the weather is going to be fascinating on this. Will it mean only super motivated voters turn out?

FOSTER: I don't know.

NOBILO: I think Iowans are made of sturdy stuff and they'll just get to it.

Yes, I mean, it is often cold there at this time of year. Maybe it's just part of the --

NOBILO: Yes, get the snow boots out.

Well, the leading Republican presidential candidate spent his day Thursday in a New York courtroom. Closing arguments wrapped up in Donald Trump's $370 million civil fraud trial. A ruling is expected by the end of the month.

FOSTER: Outside the court, Trump falsely claimed that his legal troubles were caused by President Joe Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My legal issues, every one of them, everyone civil and the criminal ones are all set up by Joe Biden. Crooked Joe Biden.

This is something that's never happened in this country. Even the civil ones. This is civil. They're set up by Biden. Every single just about case that I'm involved in is set up by Biden. They're doing it for election interference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: In fact, the New York case was initiated by state investigators in 2019 before Mr. Biden came to office.

NOBILO: The former president also launched into a five minute monologue from the defense table after the judge allowed him to address the court directly. CNN's chief legal affairs correspondent, Paula Reid, has more on that and the rest of the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: A former President Trump getting the last word in at closing arguments. Usually closing arguments are an opportunity for lawyers to summarize their theory of the case. And the day kicked off with Trump's lawyer, Chris Kise, laying out their theory of the case, arguing that this is a political persecution and that his client, Trump, had no intention of defrauding banks and that the banks were never harmed.

But after Kise wrapped his remarks, he then asked if his client could have a few minutes to address the court. And look, the judge granted it, saying, I'll give you five minutes. And the judge had previously set a restriction on Trump, saying you can participate in closing arguments, but you can't give a campaign speech.

And that's exactly what Trump did, attacking the judge, attacking the attorney general's office and insisting that he is a, quote, innocent man.

Now, Trump addressed the public on his way into court, on his way out of court, those remarks in court, and then had a press conference. So it appears that he got a real return on investment here in terms of amplifying his argument that he is being targeted because of a desire by his political opponents to try to, quote, interfere in this election. But I want to note something that the attorney general's office said in their closing arguments. They noticed that even though Chris Kise talked for two hours, other attorneys got up and laid out their closing arguments. Not one person addressed the false financial statements that Trump submitted that misrepresented his assets by billions. And those are really the key to this case.

Paula Reid, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: President Biden's son, Hunter, pleaded not guilty to tax related charges in the federal court in California on Thursday.

Prosecutors say for tax years 2016 through 2019, Hunter Biden spent his money on drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels, exotic cars, and on basically everything but his taxes.

NOBILO: His attorney argues that the charges are part of a political hit job. Republicans have accused President Biden of benefiting financially from his son's business dealings with Ukrainian and Chinese companies. These claims remain unproven. The judge has set Hunter Biden's trial date for June 20th.

[04:25:00]

FOSTER: We'll get back to our breaking news after short break.

The U.S. and the U.K. launching air and sea based strikes against Iran backed Houthis targets in Yemen.

NOBILO: Also ahead, Israel's facing accusations of genocide in Gaza at the top U.N. court. Details on this historic hearing coming up for you next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Bianca Nobilo.

FOSTER: I'm Max Foster. If you're just joining us, let me bring you up to date with our top stories this hour.

The U.S., the U.K. and its allies say the airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen were aimed at restoring stability in the Red Sea. Iran responded by calling the strikes a violation of international law. A U.S. military official says damage to Houthi assets was significant.

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak unveiled plans to provide Ukraine with $3.2 billion in military and humanitarian support over the next year. Mr. Sunak will visit Kyiv on Friday to sign a security cooperation agreement with Ukraine.

NOBILO: A senior Biden administration official says these U.S. and U.K. strikes may not be the final action against Houthi targets. More now from CNN's Alex Marquardt and MJ Lee.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: The United States and the United Kingdom have announced that they have carried out what they call precision strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen. More than a dozen of them.