alligator golf instructor. and in arrested development he played an acting coach. >> do you want the chit or not? >> in 2019 he found a new young audience in the series "the mandalorian" playing the leader of an intergalactic bounty hunter guild. he received an emmy nomination for the show and directed multiple episodes. >> it's a joy to provide entertainment for people who enjoy what you do. >> carl weathers. >> what an incredible body of work and a real beacon in many ways. thank you for joining me today, i'm fredricka whitfield, the news continues with alex marquardt right now. and don't forget keep watching throughout the evening because

tonight gayle king and charles barkley are geet getting real on the top stories make sure to tune in to "king charles" tonight. u.s. response in the middle east as president joe biden vows to send a clear and forceful message to iran-backed militias. the u.s. now says it hit 85 targets linked to iranian backed proxy groups in iraq and syria overnight. iraqi officials claim the blast killed 16 people including civilians. the u.s. hopes to destroy the militant's capabilities or at least degrade them while they can while avoiding a broader conflict. but iran saying the u.s. has made a strategic mistake. u.s. defense secretary lloyd austin said that this is just the beginning

the u.s. central command said it struck six houthi cruise missiles in yemen earlier today as they continue to launch attacks against shipping in the red sea. orrin lieberman is live at the pentagon with the latest. what are you learning about this response last night? >> reporter: you can see here the needle that the u.s. is trying to thread here, not striking iran directly but trying to send a message to leadership by going after the most powerful proxies and militias it backs in the region. four strikes in syria, three more in iraq carried out by u.s. forces including there, a b-1 bomber taking off from the u.s. across the atlantic to carry out the strikes in the middle east and take part in the operation. that in and of itself a message 85 targets across seven different sites in iraq and

syria, the first time we have seen the u.s. strike both in the same evening over the course of the past few months as the u.s. goes after command and control centers, intelligence centers, weapons used to attack forces. the u.s. trying to not only disrupt the ability of the groups to attack u.s. forces but also troy to send a message to iran's leadership that to whatever extent it can. it has to try to pull back the forces and militias especially after tacking. and one week ago, that drone stroke that killed three service members and wounded scores more in jordan. the question, how does that play out from here and that's something the u.s. is watching closely after the broader strikes than what we've seen in the past. but defense secretary lloyd austin, president joe biden promising there is more to come and this is just the start of the response and it's not just in iraq and syria. we're seeing continued u.s. strikes on houthi capabilities

in yemen. so different challenges in different spheres for the u.s. this links back to iran. >> separate but as you say also very connected. oren lieberman thank you. let's turn to nic robertson, live for us in tel-aviv. the biden administration is keen to frame this as iranian antagonism rather than tying it back to the war in gaza. how does what we've seen play out in the last few hours play into this increasingly complex web of efforts to lower the heat across the region? >> i think there's many ways to look at it alex. perhaps a simple way is to look at jordan. a week and a half ago jordan was not in the frame really to be drawn in to the -- you know, the wider concerns about escalation. but all that changed when that iran-backed proxy chose to

strike u.s. troops in jordan. they could have chosen to strike u.s. troops in iraq or syria. but they chose jordan which essentially an iranian proxy putting jordan on the map, hosting u.s. troops knowing that there's a large percentage of the population in jordan who are palestinians who are enraged in some cases ability what israel is doing in gaza, thinking the united states supports israel. so from an iranian perspective stoking problems and lighting a fire in jordan. when that attack took place, jordan initially said the attack was in syria, u.s. troops in syria not jordan. that shows a level of sensi sensitivity. we saw that level of sensitivity again now whereby there were reports that jordan was supporting the united states in these counterattacks of the seven different sites in syria and iraq. quickly the jordanians responded again saying we're not involved

in these air strikes in iraq but didn't mention syria because jordan, quietly, since the beginning of this year, has been targeting sites inside syria. sites it says are associated with making drugs, for which the iranians profit and they're shipped through jordan through the rest of the middle east and the jordanians have come to the conclusion that the iranians are trying to destabilize jordan. so you can look at the puzzle and see how iran is trying to draw jordan into the instability and the instability comes through people's reactions on the streets and potential violence and problems for the monarchy and the government in jordan. that's one example of what's happened. this instability that iran pushes could come on the northern border of israel next. they could choose to use elise stefanik they could choose to use

hezbollah to show their anger. so yes, the white house walks on eggshells. but it comes back to iran and where do they turn up the heat next. >> important to look at the incidents and realize they're not isolated and zoom out to get the fuller picture. this is taking place we've seen thousands gather in tel aviv for protests against the netanyahu government demanding they do more to bring the hostages back home, more than 100 of them. what's the latest on that front? >> i think each weekend we're seeing more and more people, several thousand possibly according to the organizers, maybe as many as 10,000 today coming out on the streets, protesting about the government saying the government is not caring for the interest of israelis, they're not -- they haven't essentially been taking care of the country's interests and that's partly how the war in gaza precipitated.

but also saying they want to have elections and saying the elections should be called now and could happen in about three months time. i think this growing number of people to get enough momentum it's going to have to build from 10,000, perhaps as it is now, well over 100. perhaps 200,000 as the country witnessed during the height of the constitutional change protests that were happening late last year. or earlier on last year. so i think, you know, this is beginning -- it hasn't reached critical mass but it's signaling something that's a growing concern here that this government needs to change. >> so much anger and distress over the fact those hostages are still being held. for more analysis on this i want to bring in our panel of experts, colonel cedric layton

and beth saner. thank you both for joining me. cedric i want to start with you, the strikes in iraq and syria, this is an area the u.s. has hit in the last few months in response to the more than 160 militia attacks on u.s. troops so how was last night different? >> i think the main thing is we used a different weapons system as part of the package that went after the targets and that weapons system, of course, being the b 1 bomber. a bomber that is versatile enough not only can it travel in intercontinentally but can be used against targets like iran itself so in that case i think it was different from the previous engagements we've had with the groups and it's more intense than the counter attacks we've engaged in the past new months. the other thing it was much more concentrated in the moment in time than the other attacks.

you see as we look at the other map, that's the river valley and that is a key area for shipment of all kinds of goods for these iranian proxy militias. it's also an important place for them to reconstitute and an area they can actually stop that kind of reconstitution if the strikes are more sustained than they currently have been. >> cedric, what is the message that the pentagon is trying to send using a b 1 bomber flying from texas across the ocean to drop bombs rather than using fighter jets that we've seen before in the middle east. >> i shows the capacity of the u.s. is that we can deploy from the continental united states at lethal might to an area in the middle east of our own choosing. and that message means that yes, we have assets in the middle east but if you kick us out of

the middle east we are still going to be able to reach out and touch you. and that, in essence, is what the u.s. is trying to tell the iranians. >> beth, there were five days between the deaths of those tloo american service members in jordan and the u.s. response. we saw reports that iran was moving people and assets out of the area in anticipation of the strikes. so do you think the u.s. appropriately sent the message that it wants to, to essentially tell iran and these militia groups to stop messing around? >> you know, i think it's a hard -- a hard thing for us to know where we are and not in the planning room to understand what the basis of that decision was. you know, the bottom line is that in the end, the strikes didn't kill, you know, senior irgc quds force fighters, leaders, officers on the ground. that's just a fact. so iran probably at this point, let's remember this is step one

we are hering but at this point does not feel like it's been hit very hard. that said they're not making a huge deal out of this either. so they're not rattling sabers to escalate either. i think we're just going to have to see what's next. >> beth, while i -- the -- the pentagon said that they did design these plans knowing that there would be casualties. it sounds like casualties were part of that -- >> there were. >> -- planning. this was obviously in response to a situation that the u.s. also lost service members. how careful would the u.s. have been about choosing targets where there might have been more senior leaders that would have caused this -- that could cause this to escalate faster? >> i don't think we were trying to avoid hitting irgc seniors. if that was the case, that was a mistake. but i think it's just that we didn't have that choice because

weather delays apparently pushed this timing back and also the planning cycle. so round one means there aren't a lot of targets that have that opportunity of hitting senior people on the ground. that doesn't mean that round two or four or six will be the same. and, you know, i think that, for example, we know, from reporting that there are irgc officials in yemen helping plan and support the houthis. we also know there is a spy ship in the red sea that is helping the houthis target shipping out there. so there are other opportunities out there that are maybe not hiding or are harder to hide that are going to be on the docket potentially for future strikes. but this first one that's a matter of, you know, the way it worked out. >> and it does come back to striking that balance. we were on all three of us last night with senator dan sullivan

from alaska who said the u.s. should be hitting the iranian ship in the red sea, for example. the biden administration worried that would be a truly escalatory move. but colonel, i'd like you to weigh in on this. when central command chooses the targets. first, give us your sense of how damaging the strikes could have been on what we know what hit last night and going forward, in these future waves and the administration has said that there will be more phases to this. how does central command choose what to hit without crossing the line that iran would potentially feel it needs to respond to in a way that would take things up a notch. >> they get a lot of guidance at central command from the pentagon itself and, of course, the white house. but what they're really doing alex is looking at the targets they think will be most effective without crossing those lines you talk about. so when you pick something to hit, you're looking at potentially let's say a command

and control node or a missile launch facility. and when you look at those targets you see is that a target that if you hit it, will it -- will there be collateral damage, will there be other secondary effects that are undesirable or if there are secondary effects can those secondary effects be used for our purposes to have a good military impact on our efforts. and in those cases what they end up doing is they end up not only looking at the different target sets but also want to make sure that every single target is part of a package that makes sense. in other words, if i hit a command and control node at a lower etch lon should i hit a higher one in a neighboring town. those are things they need to go through and if they need to restrike that target then they will do so in a second, third,

or fourth wave and that's the kind of thing that goes on when it comes to planning these strikes. >>s and they may want to restrike those targets because as we were saying these groups could have pulled things out in anticipation of these strikes. important to remind our viewers the cluster of strikes in eastern syria, western iraq, that's a long way from the border with iran. so they were taking a lot of care to not strike anywhere near iranian territory. we have to leave it there. thank you both so much. >> you bet. >> thank you. we will continue to follow the developing story in the cnn "newsroom." ahead, the polls are open in south carolina for the first in the nation democratic primary. what today could reveal about how energized democrats and black voters are for biden's campaign as it heads into this election season. we'll be discussing that next. stay with us.

>> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. we have this breaking news just in. the u.s. has just launched a second round of air strikes against the iran-backed houthis in yemen. this follows friday strikes against dozens of targets in iraq and syria. oren lieberman is back with us. what do we know? >> reporter: right now we know according to two u.s. officials that the u.s. has carried out strikes on ten different locations in yemen going after dozens of houthi targets at those locations. the targets include an underground weapons storage facility and command centers. and other weapons that houthis have used. the uk also took part in the

strikes. that's significant. it would be the third time the u.s. and uk carried out joint strikes against houthi targets in yemen. it comes one day after strikes in iraq and syria. we should make a distinction here. these strikes in yemen are back of houthi attacks on shipping lanes. while the strikes in iraq and syria, which we expect more based on promises and statements made by president joe biden and defense secretary lloyd austin, those are a result of ongoing militia mils attacking in the region, including the attack last weekend that killed three u.s. service members. you see iran link today both of these but the rational still lightly different. the strikes a broad reminder of not only the threat in the region and the ongoing attack

osinternatis on international shipping and the naval forces in the region. we'll learn more about a battle damage assessment. effectively how effective were these strikes against houthi targets i suspect in the next few hours. generally when there's a uk and us strike we get a statement. so we expect that. but it's noteworthy how close they are together. we've seen the u.s. go after in a powerful and broad way, attacks in iraq and syria and now in a broad and powerful way going after houthi forces in yemen. we'll wait to learn more and keep you posted as we get more information here. >> in terms of the broader global impact, this is arguably the front that is going to affect more people around the world because you do have 15% of

global commercial shipping going through the red sea. that's why it was so important, the u.s. felt, to gather this coalition of nations to both undertake a mission to escort these ships through the red sea, but also to join up with allies in this case the uk as you say, to carry out the strikes. that this is an international response as opposed to what you and i were just talking about, which is in iraq and syria. i want to ask you about the twin goal the u.s. has here in terms of deterring the houthis and degrading their capabilities. give us some context about what has been happening the past few weeks because when the strikes started it was a very big deal. it was the same question of whether they would be deterred and it seems like they are not being deterred. they continue to carry out attacks against these ships. so where does it -- where do things stand in terms of the efforts to degrade their capabilities? >> you're absolutely right, the

houthis and iranian backed rebel groups in yemen have vowed to continue the attacks. nathe case the goal is to destroy as much or a significant amount of weaponry as possible, including antiship ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones. over the course of the last 24, 36 hours we have seen the u.s. not only shoot drones you on of the sky launched by the houthis but also go after the drones before they have launched. that's part of the goal here, prevent them from having the capability to be able to target international shipping. one of the gabarrages from the houthi was 21 separate projectiles. that was several weeks ago, since then we have not seen the houthis launch such a large attacks. still the attacks, even if smaller have continued and we have seen how dangerous they can be. they have hit u.s. owned or operated vessels. they set a chemical tanker on

fire a few days ago. that tanker issued a distress call that a u.s. destroyer and other ships responded to. and we saw these missiles come within one mile of a u.s. destroyer that had to shoot it down with what was one of the last lines of defense, the close in weapons system. defense secretary lloyd austin in his first press briefing earlier this week was pressed on, look, there clearly isn't a deterrent factor stopping the houthis from attacking what's the purpose. he said the u.s. will not stand for the attacks on the shipping lanes. as you point out, alex and where we started this question, this is having a profound effect on the global economy. this is one of the world's most critical water ways and some of the largest shipping companies have had to avoid the red sea and go around africa because of

the houthi attacks. stay with us. we have cedric layton and beth saner back with us. when you hear the list, this number of targets struck. i want to ask you the same question. do what extent do you think the u.s. and allies in this coalition have been successful at degrading what are formidable capabilities that the houthis have, whether it's drones or cruise or ballistic missiles. >> one of the key things when you look at the houthi structure it's a resilient command and control and logistical structure they have, it's owned by years of warfare not only in yemen but also with saudi arabia. so these are experienced fighters. so when it comes to the way in which the u.s. and uk have struck these targets they've been able to take out targets, been able to take out missiles as they're about ready to be launched at shipping.

so that's a good indication there's real-time intelligence being used to go after these targets. but the houthis still have more. and that's part of the problem here. this is going to be a long-term project for the u.s. and the uk and its allies, because the weapons supply that the houthis apparently enjoy is perhaps greater than has been previously estimated. and certainly the iranians have done a good job of stocking them up for these kinds of occurrences for this kind of activity against shipping around the world. >> i think we need to put this in the proper context. we've seen a lot of back and forth between the u.s. and allies and the houthis. but this is a significant response today. some 30 targets across at least ten locations. beth saner talk to us about the iran of it all. the u.s. and intelligence officials who i speak with, they say of all the iranian poroxies

the houthis perhaps the most march to the beat of their own drum. how much is the houthis doing what they want to to achieve their strategic goals, how much of this is iran wanting them to do this? >> i think both. so, you know, the houthis definitely do march to their own drummer but that doesn't mean that iran doesn't have the ability to put the screws to them and make them stop or, you know, control them in some way. we haven't seen iran take their spy ship away. we haven't seen iran remove the advisers on the ground, have we? i don't think so. so they're not trying. and that gets to your point like how much they want this to continue to happen. you know, the iranian -- the houthis are not deterriblable b the united states as i think been pointed out. they're not deterrable by the united states we can only

degrade them. iran however can deter them. that means we have to go after iran support for the houthis. >> i want to bring in generally mark hurtling into the conversation. thank you for being with us. the pentagon, as oren was just pointing out is talking about the counterstrikes, the ones last night in iraq and syria as being different from the ones against the houthis in yemen, which are international, they have the uk making up most of the fire power in terms of that level of support and other countries have given operational support. do you look at these separate fronts as being distinct? >> i do, alex. and there's a couple of reasons for that. first of all the houthis have been conducting a civil war since 2014, as beth said. the other factor is they are directly supplied by iran as are the popular mobilization forces are as well. but it's a different kind of

fight. the houthis are an army. you talk about the pmfs in syria, iraq, and other places in the middle east, they're gangs. they literally, we can't think of them being a tank division you can bomb and there are a lot of casualties there. these are small groups of individuals, flying under different flags and not having a lot of military capabilities. the houthis, on the other hand, have shown, over the last ten years as part of the fight with saudi arabia and then in yemen themselves. they've shown themselves as being somewhat militarily capable. so i'd like to bring the conversation to something else. to the individuals who were saying it took five days for the u.s. to do this, we publicized what we were going to do. i guarantee there are qud force elements on the ground and the houthis who don't know what hit

them. they are getting hit from multiple directions from a force coming in, in some cases, the united states, in some cases allies. and we're showing the requirement for the complexity of a planning of an operation and we're only in day two. a as i said last night we shouldn't be making too many assumptions about what's going to happen next because we're at the "early start" of this and already we've seen two significant strikes as part of the campaign. >> beth, i want to go back to you. the houthis have clearly said what they're doing is tied to their support for palestinians in gaza. to what extent do you think they would stop doing this if that war were to end? to what extent do you see this as being connected to the conflict between israel and hamas. >> the houthis are using the issue in gaza and the palestinians as a way of bolstering their own domestic support. you look at what's going on in

yemen and the houthis are really struggling in their effort to lead that country. it's very, very poor, desperate humanitarian situations. the palestinian cause is very popular there. so they're using it to rally support. so i think that the houthi calculus about whether to stop or not depends on how it ends in gaza. and whether they can kind of say we've accomplished our mission in supporting the palestinians and, you know, rah rah us. but if the palestinian cause in h hamas looks like the big loser, they have the capability -- i think it's important we're fighting this fight around this war. but the houthi capability to disrupt shipping will remain if we don't deal with it now. this is why i think it's separate in some ways as mark just pointed out.

>> and oren lieberman at the pentagon you said the u.s. is trying to thread this needle, strike this balance of responding, deterring but not going too far. i think that plays into the fact that the administration keeps talking about these different fronts as being separate and distinct issues. but talk to me about what pentagon officials are saying and doing to try to tamp each one down. to try to have -- you know, to communicate that these are different and to make sure that they essentially don't boil expanded in the last few weeks and months. >> absolutely. we've seen the effort to go after houthi capabilities become frankly a fairly common thing here. it's rare now that we see a day or a few days we haven't seen the u.s. strike some sort of

houthi weaponry. the latest strikes we're reporting on are larger but you see an effort from u.s. central command to go after and degrade, disrupt, houthi capabilities. i want to point out one more thing here, this is according to sources familiar with u.s. intelligence, iranian leadership has to some extent grown concerned with the actions of the proxies. not just the deadly drone strike that killed three u.s. service members but also the houthi disruption of international shipping and trade. that's not u.s. discomfort and concern over what's happening but countries far closer to iran diplomatically, china and india, have expressed displeasure at how much this has affected the global economy and how global trade works here. so this has had an effect. the question is, there is some level of space between iranian

leadership and the actions of the proxies. it's a function of how much space is there and how much can the u.s. use that space to put pressure on the proxies to sort of back off the houthis given the statements they're making, don't seem to be at all willing to back off. but other statements have been far more interesting. like the hezbollah statement saying they have offered the groups they back to cease their attacks on u.s. forces. so there is -- there is space here and this isn't uniform here. and one of the things the u.s. is trying to do is figure out how much room there is to work and maneuver and are any of these proxies listening in the first place. >> colonel cedric layton, when you look at the resources the u.s. has, dealing with the houthis, we know the eisenhower carrier strike group is out there. what does it tell you about how

seriously the u.s. is taking this issue and the capability to ratchet things up if it needs to. >> the u.s. is taking this extremely seriously. you mentioned the eisenhower in the region. you have personamanently statio personnel from the army, navy, in bay h baca tar. so you have the locations not just ones that have gotten our attention but larger ones and they're there for a purpose. they're there to deter iran and any other actor that wanted to get into that area. we have in the past looked at the middle east as being our area to help -- you know, help with military security.

there are a lot of challenges to that -- those arrangements but the fact we are there, continue to be there after several decades is a testament to the fact that we consider this area a vital importance not only to the u.s. economy but also the global economy. >> and general, i want to bring you in this to this part. we also saw the gerald ford carrier group. they actually left a couple of weeks ago. here you have american ships and jets in the red sea. you have b-1 bombers flying over from the united states. you have u.s. intelligence drones flying over gaza. this is a remarkable level of activity from the u.s. military in the middle east right now. >> it is alex and there's a reason for all that. i'll jump on what cedric was just saying. there's a reason it's dispersed the way it is. the reason the eisenhower is in

the place where it is is because of their capability to knockdown ballistic missiles they know that the houthis are armed with those advanced systems, you talk about the pfm forces in iraq and syria, they're a small band of gang members with rifles and some inexpensive drones and some missiles that are unguided. you talk about the houthi's capability to strike against shipping and also send missiles 1,500 miles to israel, remember that's what they were doing early on in the war, you need to put those destroyers and those frig gits in the area because they have the air defense capability. those are no good in the middle of the deserts of iraq and syria. they are good in the gulf of aidan and the red sea with the houthis can affect different

targets in the area. so all of this is a complicated assessment by the u.s. military saying what do we put where? we put b-1 bombers against a bunch of individual targets in iraq and syria. we continue to use the naval task force, the in chop and the out chop of different type of carrier strike groups. the reason there were two strike groups there at the time in the earl early stages of the war is one was in iffing in the area and one was leaving the area and they both received orders to stay there for a certain period of time. there's only one group there but it's capable, the eisenhower strike group can knock down a bunch of missiles and that's what they ' -- they've been doing so well. >> nic robertson, i want to bring you back we've seen interesting messages from iran

and proxy groups saying we don't want war but we will respond if there's war. oren just mentioned hezbollah one of the biggest iran backed groups in iraq. they said they were standing down their military operations in efforts against the u.s. what did you make of what we are hearing, the signals we are seeing from iran? >> reporter: i think actions speak louder than words, don't they. iran doesn't want a direct confrontation with the united states but the proxies are affecting on the united states, killing its troops and trying to undermine u.s. interests in the region. hezbollah, a couple of days ago, was correct, oren was correct saying when it was clear the united states was about to launch missiles, bombs that might hit them said they were standing down at the moment. this is an engagement of war, if

you will, they've been in for some long time to take on u.s. targets to say they're stepping out of the ring for a couple of rounds and potentially step back in later, which is what they signalled last night about 50 minutes before the air strikes went in. hezbollah said they were waiting for orders what to do next. those orders presumably because they're an iran-backed proxy, were from iran. they were waiting for instructions. so i think actions speak louder than words and it is clear that iran has the ability, not -- not the absolute 100% control, but the ability to include and turn on and turn off proxies at will. look, if you look at hezbollah and lebanon to the north of here that is engaged in an up tick in exchange of fire with israeli forces in the north of israel. they very much listen and -- to what the leadership in iran is

saying. they have their own set of political parameters that they're working to, in lebanon they have their own concerns about their own stability there. when tehran doesn't want to escalate the war with israel on that northern border, hezbollah won't do it. if iran did, i think most bets are they would do it. when a group says something, it doesn't -- may not hold fact to be factually correct a few days later. and i think the houthis are a point in case here. look at how they affect the region, just a couple of years ago they were fighting a long war with saudi arabia. after october 7th, they actually did a mini incursion in saudi arabia, killed troops on the border. they say they're fighting for the people of gaza, the palest palestinians, but the talk these days is a normalization between saudi arabia and israel. what are houthis going to do in regard to that, try to undermine

saudi arabia, perhaps at the behest of iran. it's complicated but come back that the large little groups, if you will, can have their own effect undermining u.s. interest, be it saudi, be it israel. >> it is complicated, tangled and lucky to have all of you here to help us make sense of this. i want you to stay with me. we are going to take a quick break. we'll be back in just a moment with more of our breaking news. stay with us.

i think he's having a midlife crisis i'm not. you got us t-mobile home internet lite. after a week of streaming they knocked us down... ...to dial up speeds. like from the 90s. great times. all i can do say is that my life is pre-- i like watching the puddles gather rain.

-hey, your mom and i procreated to that song. oh, ew! i think you've said enough. why don't we just switch to xfinity like everyone else? then you would know what year it was. i know what year it is. we are continuing to follow this breaking news. the u.s. and the uk striking 30 additional houthi targets in t yemen. this comes one day after the strikes in iraq and syria against seven different facilities, 85 different targets. it comes as president biden is on his way to southern california for a series of

fund-raising events this weekend. pricilla alvarez is live in los angeles for us. so amid this flurry of strikes in the middle east what are you hearing from the white house? >> reporter: that's right. i'm hearing from the white house that the president gave the green light for these strikes to happen earlier this week. the president is currently en route to los angeles where he will be, as you mentioned, engaged in fund-raisers and later to nevada where he will have a campaign rally. all of this while the president is having to grapple with the situation overseas. that includes, for example, these strikes we're just now learning about that occurred in yemen but also the strikes that occurred yesterday when they hit those 85 targets in iraq and syria as retaliation for the iranian proxies killing these three american service members. the president has been very clear including in a statement last night that these strikes are not the end. this is only the beginning.

it's a matter of deterrence. it's also diminishing capabilities. but also very carefully trying to avoid being pulled into a wider regional war. that is the challenge that the president faces here. he has said repeatedly that the u.s. will respond and respond forcefully, especially when service members are killed. but also that they do not -- that the u.s. does not want to escalate any tensions abroad. notably of course the strikes that occurred yesterday did not happen in iran, that was unlikely going in but another example of how they're trying to be careful with the region that is on edge. but also as the weekend shows and last weekend showed, the president as he is trying to campaign ahead of november having to grapple with the trappings of the presidency. that last weekend is when we learned the three service members were killed. that happened when the president was in south carolina and today

as he heads to the west coast, all of these strikes are unfolding. so the president here trying to walk a fine line and responding to these attacks in the middle east and not being pulled into that war while also hitting the campaign trial. >> i'm going to ask you to stay with us while we bring back in our panel. beth, i want to go back to you. we have some reporting from our colleagues that have reported that iran has actually been rather uncomfortable with some of the activities of their proxy groups. what do you make of that? do you think that is possible that iran is not liking what it's seeing? >> i've heard some of the same things and it always makes me wonder which iranian people are talking to. and you know, just like our political situation, the iranian are not a monolith. they're more monolithic in some

ways but there are differences. if you're talking to people in iran like the president who today in a speech didn't even mention the attacks in iraq and syria, well, you know, maybe they have different goals and they prioritize the goals differently than irbc. so maybe it's worthwhile to take a step back and say like iran actually has a very complicated situation that they're trying to work through to their advantage as well. they want to get u.s. forces out of the region. they want hamas to retain in as a palestinian leadership in gaza. they want to destroy israel. all these things, some of these conflict. so i think that you know, we should recognize that they have to work through kind of a complicated calculus as well and we should make that as hard as possible. >> general, there were more than 160 strikes against u.s. and coalition positions in iraq and syria since october. that the u.s. had been

responding to, but in a far lesser way than what we saw last night. so what do you think has changed in the u.s. calculus after the deaths of those three service members last weekend? >> it comes to a boiling point, i believe. what you're talking about is the national security establishment coming together. we talk about those 160 strikes that have occurred since october 7th but when you're talking about iranian fomenting discourse in the area, the entire middle east from iran to lebanon, you're talking ability those tmss have been doing these things not since october 7th but probably within the last 20 years. they've just not been as noticeable. they were very active during the time when u.s. forces were in iraq. since we left iraq. it is as best a form of iran's

national security strategy to put these free floating electrons all over the area to do their external strategy. meanwhile inside of iran, you've got a whole lot of dysfunction from a national perspective. so this is their way of trying to keep their regional identity and keep control of the area and be seen as being powerful. it's not working. going back to your question though, what caused this sudden burst of energy, this campaign plan by the united states? i believe it's because we were playing whack a mole with all the small forces attempting to keep them under control and strike them and not sustain any damages and it just gets to a boiling point where the national security establishment of the united states says okay, enough is enough. now we have got to do something. i think this massive reaction again threading the needle between hurting these forces and ensuring there isn't a regional

war is very difficult to do but it just comes to the point where you have to do something like that to put the enemy in line. i think that's what's happened right now. >> nic robertson, we have 30 seconds but how is the rest of the region seeing this? now jordan is involved because the strike last weekend. >> jordan will be much more on edge about this. we certainly know that hamas has spoken about their terms of a cease fire. they're sticking to what they've said. they don't seem to be moving. the second day they said they don't seem to be moving to a position that israel, qatar, have agreed upon so i think they feel -- by this. it draws out thaeir conflict in gaza getting to an end stop there appears much harder. thfr therefore, that keeps attention on the northern border here. all of these are interconnected and iran is behind all of them but how did you get to an end

stop. i think the gaza issue is going to be a big part of it but you will be left with is this residual knowledge and iran has that knowledge of its proxies reach and prowess from the region now. >> everyone stay with us. there's lots more to discuss. stay with us.

you are in "cnn newsroom." thank you so much for joining us. there's lots of breaking news out of the middle east today. the u.s. and united kingdom have launched a new round of air strikes against houthi rebels hitting at least 30 targets. this comes a day