are launching strikes tonight# against Houthi targets in Yemen.# The strikes are in response to# numerous attacks against shipping## vessels in the Red Sea in recent months.

Nick Schifrin joins us now for Nick, so what do we know at# this hour about these U.S.# strikes?

Amna a U.S.# official confirms fired by ships in the Red Sea, as well as# jets that were flying off of those ships.# The targets include logistical hubs, air# defense systems and weapons storage site.# And the weapons storage sites that we're# talking about are the weapons that the## Houthis have been using in order to attack U.S. ships and commercial ships i That means drones, ballistic and cruise missiles.

Uh, before this strike, I talked to former## military officials who told me that the US does# have intelligence that they believe that can## degrade Houthi capabilities, degrade the ability# for the Houthis to attack, uh, these ships, uh,## both commercial and military, and even earlier,# uh, a few months ago, try and attack Israel.# Uh, but administration officials told me# that they weren't sure that these strikes## would actually deter the Houthis# from continuing to launch strikes.# And so what the U.S. tonight is expecting is## a Houthi response and a couple of rounds of back# and forth according to US officials I talked to.

And so the expectation again, is that## the Houthis will strike back.

And this is just the beginning.# Amna earlier today, uh, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi,# one of the Houth if you strike us tonight, we're going to# strike you harder than we already have.# Just the beginning of a new phase.

But as you've noted befo this didn't happen overnight.

This has been building f Remind us of the context in how we got here.

Yeah, in Yemen on commercial shipping and U.S. shipping since the middle of November,## since the last six weeks.

Uh, it started with that brazen attack,## photos of which you're seeing right# there, Houthi militants landing with## a helicopter on the deck of the Galaxy Leader.

They actually kidnaped a dozen foreign officials## that night, foreign sailors.

The U.S.# created a maritime coalition in order to defend# wh ich is key to international shipping.

Some 15% of all boats go through there.# But clearly, those warships did not prevent the# Houthis from continuing to launch this attack.# Between December 16th and January 4th, the# US Navy shot down 61 missiles and drones.# And so that is what clearly has led to# tonight's strike, the idea that many in the U.S.# administration and also the British# administration, which took part in this,## wanted to try and restore that deterrence,# wanted to strike bac And that's what's happened tonight.

I'm gonna quickly, uh, the context for this,## not only the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, but# also the political advancement that has really been pushing.

The U.S.# has been trying to the Houthis and the coalition-backed# government backed by Saudi Arabia.# The progress that have been# made in the last six months## has actually been pretty good, and so what U.S. offi strike actually takes away from that progress or,# in fact, gives them leverage over the Houthis.# We'll see what happens next.

Nick Schifrin, thank you so much## for your reporting.

Thank you.