BREAKING: US military strikes Houthi targets in Yemen

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Fox News correspondent Lucas Tomlinson reports on the developments on ‘Fox Report.’ #foxnews   Subscribe to Fox News! https://bit.ly/2vBUvAS Watch more Fox News Video: http://video.foxnews.com Watch Fox News Channel Live: http://www.foxnewsgo.com/  FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service delivering breaking news as well as political and business news. The number one network in cable, FNC has been the most-watched television news channel for 18 consecutive years. According to a 2020 Brand Keys Consumer Loyalty Engagement Index report, FOX News is the top brand in the country for morning and evening news coverage. A 2019 Suffolk University poll named FOX News as the most trusted source for television news or commentary, while a 2019 Brand Keys Emotion Engagement Analysis survey found that FOX News was the most trusted cable news brand. A 2017 Gallup/Knight Foundation survey also found that among Americans who could name an objective news source, FOX News was the top-cited outlet. Owned by FOX Corporation, FNC is available in nearly 90 million homes and dominates the cable news landscape, routinely notching the top ten programs in the genre.  Watch full episodes of your favorite shows The Five: https://www.foxnews.com/video/shows/the-five Special Report with Bret Baier: https://www.foxnews.com/video/shows/special-report Jesse Watters Primetime: https://www.foxnews.com/video/shows/jesse-watters-primetime Hannity: https://www.foxnews.com/video/shows/hannity The Ingraham Angle: https://www.foxnews.com/video/shows/ingraham-angle Gutfeld!: https://www.foxnews.com/video/shows/gutfeld Fox News @ Night: https://www.foxnews.com/video/shows/fox-news-night  Follow Fox News on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FoxNews/ Follow Fox News on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FoxNews/ Follow Fox News on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foxnews/

Transcript

00:00Lucas Tomlinson is at the White House for us with the latest on those strikes.

00:04Lucas.

00:05John, these are the most significant airstrikes since President Trump returned to the White

00:10House.

00:11And the first time U.S. jets have struck these Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen since

00:15President Trump returned to the White House.

00:17U.S. officials say F-18 Super Hornets from the flight deck of the USS Harry S. Truman

00:23were the vanguard of the strikes, along with Air Force fighter jets and drones.

00:27President Trump announcing the strikes just a few minutes ago on his True Social saying,

00:33quote, Joe, today I have ordered the United States military to launch decisive and powerful

00:38military action against the Houthi terrorists in Yemen.

00:41They have waged an unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence and terrorism against American

00:46and other ships, aircraft and drones.

00:49Joe Biden's response was pathetically weak.

00:51So the unrestrained Houthis just kept going.

00:54And John, recall just days after taking office, one of President Trump's first executive orders

00:59was re-designating the Houthis a foreign terrorist organization after the Biden administration

01:04removed them.

01:05The State Department made it official earlier this month, marking Houthi leaders ripe for

01:09assassination.

01:10The targets of today's strikes include air defense systems and missile and drone factories,

01:15and also include a strike against one of the Houthis' top missile officers.

01:19The Houthis are backed by Iran.

01:21Many consider them modern day Barbary pirates.

01:23Since the October 7th massacre, they have launched over 100 attacks against commercial

01:27shipping.

01:28U.S. warships also came under the crosshairs of the Houthis.

01:31Dozens of times in recent years, the Houthis launched anti-ship ballistic missiles and

01:35crewed drones at the American warships.

01:37None were successful and all were shot down.

01:40And just a few days ago, Houthis leader said attacks would resume against shipping in the

01:45Red Sea and including Israeli ships.

01:48General Kurila, the head of U.S. forces in the Middle East, has been itching to launch

01:51these strikes to reopen those vital shipping lanes and destroy Iran's proxy force in Yemen.

01:57Kurila ordered Truman, the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, back to the Red Sea late last month

02:01to be prepared to launch these strikes, those Super Hornets as you can see there.

02:06Last month, the Houthis launched surface-to-air missiles and an Air Force F-16 orbiting overhead,

02:11as well as an American Reaper drone.

02:13And John, it's not just in Yemen where U.S. forces have been engaged.

02:17Last night, President Trump announced the number two leader in ISIS had been killed

02:20in an American drone strike.

02:21We have some video footage, as you can see there.

02:24That happened in western Iraq yesterday.

02:27And John, these airstrikes against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels were meant to send a message

02:31to Tehran as well, to stop their support for the Houthi rebels.

02:35Of course, that's where these missiles and drones that the Houthis fire at commercial

02:39ships and U.S. warships come from.

02:41I'll also read a little more from President Trump's lengthy statement on Truth Social.

02:46He had a message to the Houthis.

02:47It says, quote, Your time is up and your attacks must stop starting today.

02:52If they don't, hell will rain down upon you like never before.

02:57And to Iran, support for the Houthi terrorists must end immediately.

03:01And President Trump said he won't be nice about it.

03:03John, you're a Navy veteran, Lucas.

03:06I know that during the Biden administration, the Navy said it was basically more engaged

03:12in, you know, seaborne operations than at any time since, I think, World War II.

03:19Do I have that right?

03:20And is this kind of intended to put an end to that kind of thing on the part of the Houthis?

03:26That's right, John.

03:27Multiple times, U.S. warships came under ballistic missile attack in the Red Sea and off the

03:32coast of Yemen, in the Gulf of Aden.

03:33And just for context, that has never happened in world history.

03:37Ballistic missiles have never been launched at U.S. warships before.

03:40Thankfully, they were all shot down, but that was always a concern in the Pentagon.

03:43What if those missiles gets through?

03:45It was notable when President Biden, in his farewell address, he's talked about U.S. forces

03:50not being engaged in combat.

03:52And if you looked at the Navy press release when the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower strike group

03:56returned from the Red Sea, they talked about hundreds of bombs being dropped against the

04:00Houthis, dozens of surface-to-air missiles from those Super Hornets shooting down those

04:05crew drones that are flying overhead.

04:07There was also an issue of cost.

04:09These interceptor missiles launched from the guided-missile destroyers and cruisers in

04:12the strike group, John, those missiles cost millions of dollars shooting down, in essence,

04:18flying lawnmowers launched from the Houthis, very crude drones, just $50,000 or so in cost.

04:24And the fact that these shipping lanes, vital shipping lanes that are needed for commerce,

04:28for oil trade, have been essentially shut down since the October 7th massacre, commercial

04:33ships having to take that long journey around Africa, certainly adding to the cost.

04:37So certainly there's an economic message here with these strikes against the Houthis

04:41today.

04:42And by the way, John, these strikes could go on for a number of days.

04:44That's not immediately clear.

04:45Right.

04:46Because I read that one of the goals is to target their weapons storage facilities, which

04:51are reportedly deep underground.

04:53So they're going to be using those bunker busters and probably repeatedly to try to

04:58get to those warehouses that are essentially buried.

05:02Right.

05:03And it's notable, John.

05:04Super Hornets carry 2,000-pound JDAM satellite guided bombs.

05:08Those are not bunker busters.

05:09So if you needed those, you'd probably have to call in something heavier, some B-52 bombers,

05:13perhaps a B-2 bombers.

05:15We saw that one time during the Biden administration, B-2s launching from White and Air Force Base

05:19in Missouri.

05:20But certainly this is a powerful message being sent.

05:22You know, you also have Tomahawk cruise missiles aboard those guided missile destroyers in

05:27the Truman strike group.

05:28We didn't hear about any Tomahawk strikes today, but certainly there's more firepower

05:33in the area, if caught upon.

05:34A powerful message being sent not only to the Houthis, but as you say, to Iran as well,

05:40Lucas.

05:41There's no question, John.

05:42You know, President Trump recently sent a letter to the Ayatollah saying Iran needs

05:46to end its nuclear enrichment program, stop in this path toward what many in the intelligence

05:52community say is a path to a nuclear bomb.

05:55The Israelis have been itching to strike the Iranians so far.

05:59While the Trump administration has voiced its support for such an operation, President

06:02Trump has said he wants to end this diplomatically.

06:05That's why he sent that letter.

06:06But it was rejected from the Ayatollah.

06:07But the Iranians support these Houthi rebels.

06:10And so there's no question this is a message being sent to Tehran as well in Sana'a in

06:13Yemen.

06:14All right.

06:15Lucas Tomlinson at the White House.

06:17If you get more information on these attacks against the Houthis in Yemen, get back to

06:21us.

06:22Thanks, Lucas.

06:23Click here to subscribe to the Fox News YouTube page to catch our hottest interviews and most

06:27compelling analysis.

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