On today's news brief: Reportedly, the Pentagon is preparing limited but intense ground operations inside Iran, Iran's Houthi allies in Yemen have also entered the fight, fears are growing over potential Iranian sleeper cells in the U.S., the partial government shutdown has now stretched into its sixth week, and a group called The Youth Abortion Support Collective, run by Advocates for Youth, hosted a two-day “abortion doula” training at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte last November sparking a fierce debate.