don't wait for watchathon week to return. [ doorbell rings ] who's that? show me netflix. sign up for netflix on x1 today and keep watching all year long. good evening. tonight a showdown with russia over the poison gas attack in syria, ill chosen holocaust comparisons on passover by the white house secretary. and after days of botched statements from united airlines for dragging that man off a flight, the ceo issues an actual apology. all that and more on the program ahead. but we begin with breaking news on the trump administration charges of improper surveillance by the obama administration. cnn is learning more about the claims of house intelligence committee chairman devin nunes that members of the obama administration improperly requested the identities of

americans appearing in intelligence reports. now, just to refresh your memory, here's what congressman nunes has said previously. >> there's some information in those documents that concern me, in the reports that i read, that i don't think belong there. it would make me uncomfortable. some of it, i think it bothered me enough that i went over to the white house because i think the president needs to see these reports for himself. i was concerned about americans' identities being either not masked properly or in fact being unmasked in intelligence reports. >> congressman nunes also said that he would share what he saw with other committee members. well, he has. jim sciutto and manu raju are here with what those committee members are now saying. jim, what have you learned? >> tonight, anderson, both republican and democratic lawmakers and aides are casting doubt on claims by nunes that obama administration officials improperly requested the names of u.s. individuals that had

been redacted in intelligence documents. cnn sources say that these lawmakers have now seen the same intelligence documents that nunes reviewed last month, and they tell cnn they see no evidence that the obama administration officials did anything out of the ordinary or illegal. one congressional source described the request to me as, quote, normal and appropriate. >> manu, i know you and jim have talked to sources who have actually seen the documents. what are they telling you about their contents? >> one congressional source telling me there's, quote, absolutely no smoking gun in these reports. in fact, this person even urging the white house to declassify these reports to make it clear that there is nothing alarming in them. now, a lot of questions have been raised around the role of susan rice, the former obama national security adviser and whether she acted legally in requesting the names of trump officials who were incidentally collected in intelligence reports. now, president trump himself has said he believes that she may have broken the law. but, anderson, multiple sources

who have reviewed the documents that nunes saw say flatly those documents do not back up the president's claim that she may have broken the law and that these requests she made appear to be routine requests. now, the president, an derson, has not yet revealed what intelligence he's relying on to make that assertion that she may have broken the law. >> jim, i mean even if the obama administration acted properly, what are the rules for actually making and granting these unmasking requests? >> anderson, the rules, they're set by the intelligence community. certainly senior national security officials in an administration, including the obama administration, can legally make such requests, and the intelligence agencies, principally the nsa in this case since it involves communication intercepts, then decide whether to grant that request or those requests. but i'm told that in practice, the requests of senior officials are rarely denied. now despite their judgment that obama officials' requests were within the law and regular practices, some members of congress continue to have

concerns about the justifications given for unmasking requests, some of them, and the standards for the intelligence agencies to grant those requests. >> and, manu, i mean chairman nunes, he was forced to temporarily recuse himself from the investigation as being investigated by the house ethics committee because of his actions handling the documents. what's the status of that investigation? >> well, anderson, both house democrats and republicans on the intelligence committee have agreed on a list of witnesses to interview, but there's actually a divide in the witnesses that they want to talk to. sources tell us that republicans are mostly focused on those who may have leaked classified information while democrats are looking for testimony about any of those ties that may exist between russia and trump associates. now, they do plan to interview all of them as part of this agreement between democrats and republicans on the committee. but one person on that list who will also likely be interviewed is susan rice, and she will have to defend, anderson, what she did in requesting the identity

of those american citizens. and she'll have to do that not just before the house panel but also likely the senate intelligence committee as well, anderson. >> jim sciutto, manu raju, appreciate the breaking news. we'll have more reporting on that in our next hour as well. right now, late word from president trump on syria. here's his answer when asked by fox about the possibility of deeper involvement there. >> we're not going into syria. but when i see people using horrible, horrible chemical weapons, which they agreed not to use under the obama administration, but they violated it -- >> they said they got rid of them. >> look, what i did should have been done by the obama administration a long time before i did it. and you would have had a much better -- i think syria would be a lot better off right now than it has been. >> his remarks came on a day the administration accused russia of helping cover up the poison gas attack and secretary of state rex tillerson arrived in moscow to meet with his russian

counterpart, the foreign minister sergey lavrov. now, press secretary sean spicer asked whether secretary tillerson would confront him about it, spicer was less than clear following this -- with this follow-up. >> in a time that the united states has called out russia for a disinformation campaign in syria for collusion with a government it regards as carrying out a war crime, meeting with the russian president, is it or is it not a priority of this president to have his secretary of state of state convey that directly? >> he is conveying that message. that's what he's doing. if the head of the russian government won't meet with him, he can convey it to his counterpart. >> that was far from the only rough moment for sean spicer. he also suggested that bashar al assad was worse than hitler, saying hitler never used chemical weapons in the way assad did. then when given a chance to clarify his remarks, here's what sean spicer said. >> i think when you come to sarin gas, there was no -- he was not using the gas on his own people the same way that assad

is dog. i understand. thank you. i appreciate that. there was not, in the -- he brought them into the holocaust center. i understand that. but i'm saying the way assad used them where he went into towns, dropped them down into the middle of towns. >> needless to say, they were called concentration camps, death camps, not holocaust centers. in any case, another explanation then followed, then an apology during a conversation with cnn's wolf blitzer which we'll bring you shortly. first, cnn's sarah murphy. president trump is saying the obama administration should have used air strikes against syria. he was saying just the opposite before he became president. >> that's right. he had a very different feeling a few years ago when he was a private citizen. he was taking to twitter to say the u.s. shouldn't intervene in syria, that there was nothing that fight could get for the u.s. it wasn't our fight. it wouldn't further american interests. obviously it's one thing to say that as a private citizen. it's another thing. obviously he is learning once you are in the white house, once

you are confronted with those horrific pictures of chemical attacks on civilian and you, as the president of the united states, have the ability to do something about it, obviously he did. >> did we get any further clarity from the white house today as to whether or not russia was, in fact, complicit in the chemical weapons attack? >> reporter: we did not get a good answer on that. the administration is basically saying there was no consensus within the intelligence community that russia knew ahead of time about this attack or what their role was in it. but what they were clear on is that russia essentially tried to cover up for syria. they tried to cover up for bashar al assad and for his cruelty. so they're beginning to put pressure on russia to warn russia that you are basically in bed with the wrong partner on this. and it was interesting to see one senior administration official lean a bit further into this today and to say, it is a significant question, a question worth asking the russians. if your forces were intermingled, were co-located with these syrian forces who were preparing this attack, who carried out this attack, how

could you not have known about it? but, again, the administration won't go so far as to say that russia knew anything ahead of time. they're saying the tension just is not there yet to conclude that, anderson. >> we're going to have more on sean spicer's hitler remarking and his apology. but first the latest on the secretary of state's visit to moscow and the rising stakes surrounding it. michelle kosinski is in the russian capital and joins us now. so, what is tillerson's agenda as far as we know. do we know if, in fact, he will be meeting with president putin? >> reporter: well, the state department expected that meeting to happen because that's what always happens. as long as putin's been in office, he meets with u.s. secretaries of state. but then suddenly this notion kind of evaporated. the russians aren't saying anything about whether putin will find time to meet with tillerson. it hasn't been scheduled. it almost seems in some of their responses like they're trying to string the americans along. the state department says tillerson will meet with putin if he is asked. but look at the message that

sends about the state of the relationship, the fact that it hasn't even been scheduled yet. as for the u.s. message, tillerson wants to confront his counterpart, the russian foreign minister, about their stance supporting assad. the u.s. wants to, quote, get them to rethink that stance and also to reinforce that the u.s. is going to hold russia accountable for its actions. here's some of the criticism that tillerson levied against russia today. >> stockpiles and continued use demonstrate that russia has failed in its responsibility to deliver on its 2013 commitment. it is unclear whether russia failed to take this obligation seriously or russia has been incompetent. but this distinction doesn't much matter to the dead. we can't let this happen again. >> reporter: we've heard strong responses over the last couple of days from a number of u.s. officials, even to the point of saying the u.s. is open to

further military action if necessary. but from tillerson today, it seems like as he's approaching this crucial meeting, he's being more careful with his words, not wanting to project too hard a line. i mean we heard him say things today like he hopes that assad isn't in syria's future. he hopes that russia will change its tune because what it's doing now is not in its best interests. anderson. >> i also understand that vladimir putin was asked about russia's complicit in the syria attacks today. what was his response? >> reporter: yeah, this was interesting. i mean saying that essentially the assad regime and russia are being framed for the chemical attacks. repeatedly russia has blamed rebels or terrorists within syria for stockpiling these chemicals and then using them. that's what they're saying happened last week, that a stockpile was hit and that's how the attack happened. even went so far as to compare this dynamic to what happened in

the second iraq war in 2003 in saying that, you know, the u.s. action will have consequences and blaming others besides obviously russia itself or the regime. >> michelle kosinski, thanks very much. ahead, more breaking news tonight. the man who speaks for trump, white house secretary sean spicer apologizing tonight for the controversial remarks he made on passover no less about the holocaust and hitler. plus united airlines has issued a new statement about the passenger dragged off a flight bleeding so that a united employee could have his seat. with outrage growing, now there are questions about whether the flight was actually overbooked. details ahead. >> busted his lip. >> oh, my god! look at what you did to him. americans - 83% try to eat healthy.

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use of chemical weapons when he suddenly segued into hitler. here again is what he said. >> hitler didn't even sink to the level of kuziusing chemical weapons. what did you mean by that? >> i think when you come to sarin gas, there was no -- he was not using the gas on his own people the same way that assad is dog. i mean there was clearly -- i understand your point. thank you. i appreciate that. there was not, in the -- he brought them into the holocaust center. i understand that. i'm saying in the way that assad used them where he went into towns, dropped them down into the middle of towns. so the use of it. and i appreciate the clarification there. that was not the intent. >> well, his remarks obviously came as jewish people around the world are celebrating passover. jeff zeleny joins me with the latest. walk us through how this all happened. >> it started off with sean spicer trying to say that president bashar al assad of syria was worse than adolf

hitler, that hitler never used chemical weapons at all. he went on to our wolf blitzer and launched a multiple apology. let's watch. >> why did you even make that comparison to hitler on gas attacks as you know 6 million jews were killed in the holocaust. many of them with poison gas. >> well, thanks for having me, wolf. i was obviously trying to make a point about the heinous acts that assad had made against his own people last week using chemical weapons and gas. frankly i mistakenly used an inappropriate and insensitive reference to the holocaust for which frankly there is no comparison. for that i apologize. it was a mistake to do that. >> tell us who you're apologizing to right now. there are holocaust survivors out there who were listening to what you said and couldn't believe a spokesman, the press secretary for the president of the united states, would make such a statement. so just specifically tell us who

you want to apologize to. >> well, clearly, you know, anybody who not just suffered in the holocaust or is a desendent of anybody but frankly, you know, anyone who was offended by those comments. it's not -- as i said, i'm not in any way standing by them. >> did you not know, sean, that there were gas chambers where the nazis brought jews and others, gypsies, homosexuals and others, mostly jews, to slaughter them in these poison gas chambers and other death camps? >> yes, clearly i'm aware of that. again, it's, as i said initially, there's no attempt to clarify this. the point was to try to talk about the use of aircraft as a means by which assad was using these to gas his people. but it was a mistake to do that, and, again, that's why i should have just stayed on topic, stayed focussed on the actions assad had taken. >> have you spoken to president trump about your blunder today?

>> obviously my -- it was my blunder, as you put it correctly. and i came out to make sure that we stay focused on what the president's doing and his decisive action. i needed to make sure that i clarified and not in any way shape or form any more of a distraction from the president's decisive action in syria and the attempts he's making to destabilize the region and root out isis out of syria. >> you're the press secretary for the president of the united states at the white house. this is not the first time your comments from the white house, from the lectern there, have been criticized. are you worried, sean, that you have a credibility problem right now? >> no. i think this is why i'm here right now, wolf. you know, i think i clearly, as i said earlier to you, to your audience, when you make a mistake, you own it. my comments today did not reflect the president's, were a distraction from him, and frankly were just misstated, insensitive and wrong, and i wanted to make sure i clarified them as soon as possible. so i appreciate you having me on, but i think one of the things i think is important is

we all make mistakes. you've made mistakes. other outlets, me, and everybody does. we all hopefully have a bit of forgiveness in us, and i hope that people who understand know that when i make a mistake, i'll try to own it, and i would ask people for their for giveness. >> sean spicer, it was good of you to come out and apologize to the american people, indeed to people all over the world for your mistake today. >> jeff, that was the apology. i just want to make sure i heard one other thing. did he say he didn't want to step on the president's effort to destabilize the region. i assume he meant stabilize the region. >> he did say that, anderson. he did mean stabilize the region. i went back and asked official and they said he meant to say destabilize isis there. the administration trying to make clear the fight is against isis. but, again, that speaks to the challenges facing this press secretary here, who isn't always as precise with the many words that he says and delivers every day. >> right. this comes after just the day before he talked about barrel bombs numerous times and then that had to be kind of explained later.

it's well known that president trump watches all these press briefings. do we know if he was forced to apologize by the president? >> anderson, there's no question that sean spicer was told by senior administration officials above him in the food chain, if not the president himself, to come out and clean this up and apologize and take care of this immediately. this was sort of taking on a life of its own during passover like you said. sean spicer would not specifically answer the question when i asked him if the president directly sent him out, but i know that other advisers inside this administration did. and sean spicer said to me as he walked back into the white house, after what was, you know, the biggest apology made by anyone in this administration, he says, i wanted to make sure that i set the record straight. the question here is his credibility going forward. did this solve it, or did this further deepen already worsening problems, anderson. >> jeff, thanks. just ahead, more on sean spicer's statements and the outrage that it sparked. will his apology make a

difference, or is it the beginning of the end for his job? plus a new statement tonight from united airlines about this video and the passenger who was yanked out of his seat, dragged off a full flight to make room for a united employee. >> no! . this is wrong. oh, my god. look at what you did to him. igno withstand sunlight this bright... ...this bright... ...or even this bright. if a paint could protect your door's color against the strongest uv rays... ...it makes you wonder... is it still paint? aura grand entrance from benjamin moore®. only available at independently owned paint and hardware stores.

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again, the breaking news from the white house, press secretary sean spicer apologizing for his controversial statements about hitler and the holocaust. here's what he told wolf blitzer just a short time ago. >> i was obviously trying to make a point about the heinous acts that assad had made against his own people last week using chemical weapons and gas. frankly i mistakenly used an inappropriate and insensitive reference to the holocaust for which frankly there is no -- there is no comparison. and for that i apologize. it was a mistake to do that. >> that apology from the man who speaks for president trump, who makes a point of rarely apologizing. it came just hours after mr. spicer said that hitler never used chemical weapons. reporters in the briefing room were quick to challenge his claim, pointing to the use of gas obviously in concentration

camps. when asked to clarify his remarks, here's what spicer said. >> hitler didn't even sink to the level of using chemical weapons. what did you mean by that? >> i think when you come to sarin gas, there was no -- he was not using the gas on his own people the same way that assad is doing. i mean there was clearly -- i understand your point. thank you. i appreciate that. there was not -- he brought them into the holocaust center. i understand that. but i'm saying the way that assad used them where he went into towns, dropped them down into the middle of towns. so the use of it, and i appreciate the clarification there. that was not the intent. >> just be clear again, they were death camps, not holocaust centers where millions of jews as well as gypsies, gay men and others were murdered in gas chambers. that was followed by a further clarification and then an apology. joining me now ari fleischer,

also cnn political commentator and democratic strategist paul begala. paul, obviously a press spokesman does not want to become the story. this is not the first time for sean spicer. can he survive this? >> no, in short. >> you don't think so? >> it's not -- it's not just this outrage about the holocaust, and he apologized, and i think i have to accept that apology. it's the whole pattern. the very first thing he did on his very first day on the job was go out and berate the press and spread falsehoods about the size of the crowd at the inaugural, thereby diminishing not just the credibility of sean spicer, it's about the white house, about the united states of america. i always say watch the organ grinder, not the monkey. spicer is a monkey. fleischer is a monkey. the president is the organ grinder, and it's his credibility is at risk. and he has a pen chant for saying untrue things as well.

that's a bigger problem because he's got a four-year no cut contract. spicer does not. i don't think he'll make it to day 100 because he's making the president look bad. he's making the united states look bad. >> ari, he obviously got caught up in a bad choice of words and dug himself deeper. do you think he can survive? >> of course he will. it's a hard job to be the press secretary, and sean made a bad mistake today. i say that not only as somebody who used to sit in that job but as a jewish american who lost significant members of my family in the holocaust. i wish sean had never said what he said. but having said it, sean then do realize a couple hours late, he realized what a terrible thing it was he said, and he did apologize. and i accept that apology. but what also happens in washington, and paul just showed you how it's done. when somebody says something in a political party that you don't agree with, you try to make them delegitimate, illegitimate. you try to say they can't hold their job. they shouldn't hold their job. he made a mistake. he shouldn't have done it, and i'm glad he apologized. >> let me be clear.

i didn't say i would fire him. i said he will be. i'm predicting. trump is not a loyal guy. he's had three campaign managers and three wives. >> there's already been a lot of stories about the president's dissatisfaction early on with sean spicer. you know, he apparently according to reporting set time aside to actually watch press conferences, critiques them. >> the problem with the trump administration is not the administration. it's trump. we can change monkeys every day and we will. he'll churn through staff. he'll burn them out. it's trump. this president, all human beings lie, therefore all presidents lie. politicians lie probably more than normal people. but this is a different standard. this is a president who has absolutely no regard for the truth. spicer made a big mistake today, but the bigger mistake is repeating these lies about proes president obama. now we learn susan rice they were lying about. the level of lying in this administration is breathtaking and it's because of president trump, not because of mrmr. mr. spicer. >> yesterday sean spicer talked

about barrel bombs as being something which could trigger another u.s. military response at a time when he's, you know, clearly the administration -- i mean nikki haley is saying one thing. rex tillerson is saying something else, and sean spicer is talking about barrel bombs which they then had to kind of walk back. >> then you saw in president trump's interview with maria bartolo mow of fox business, he made a reference to barrel bombs himself and how concerned he was about that. so i think sean actually does a very able job of speaking for his boss. he knows what donald trump wants to say. he represents his bogs, and he does that very ably, which is the job of the press secretary. the press secretary is to represent what the president wants said. he made a mistake today, but he's a very fine representative of what the president wants said. people like paul who don't like the president and they'll do everything they can to undermine and attack the staff as a way of getting at the president because -- >> i should point out general mattis just today was very vague on whether barrel bombs would in fact trigger military response. sean spicer seemed to include it along with chemical weapons. you can argue was he talking

about chlorine gas? >> we don't have a policy in syria. in that sense, i don't fault the administration because it is the problem from hell. it's a very difficult thing. i don't actually fault him so much for getting that so wrong yesterday as there are times -- and you're too good a republican to admit where you said, i guarantee, i bet my lives there's times you said to george w. bush, no, sir, i can't say that from the podium. no, sir. the first day, when donald trump sent him out to lie about the size of his crowd, who cares? the answer was the only thing a loyal aide says is no. no, sir, i won't say that. >> did you ever say that to bush? >> no, because i never had to. >> please. >> this is a different white house. you had to in your white house. >> give me a break. >> the point here, again, is if you want to broaden this to broad politics, there are a goop -- group of people who still can't accept the results of the election in november. the fact of the matter is the american people made a decision to put somebody in washington unlike anybody who's ever been there before. and there are pluses and minuses

to that. the plus is we have an outsider. we have a businessman who came here to change washington. >> as press secretary, how crucial is it that you don't lie from that podium? >> of course you can't lie from that podium. >> do you believe that sean spicer as said things which are not true from that podium? >> no. i think he's represented what his boss thinks and if his boss thinks sean job is to say the president's believes x, the president believes y. the argument about the inauguration crowd was a silly argument. it never should have been gotten into in the first place. i think everybody has acknowledged that. >> the problem the isn't is a pathological liar and he makes everybody around him into pathological liars. spicer was a very popular guy at the republican national committee. >> you forget the person that you were for hillary clinton in your super pac. what was her reputation for honesty. >> that election is over thanks to mr. putin. mr. trump got to -- >> the american people had a choice between two unpopular candidates. what's hard for you to get over is the least popular person actually won. donald trump, who was less

popular, beat hillary clinton. >> you work for a guy who snuck in without winning the vote either. so he was kind of illegitimate as well. then he lied us into a war. >> paul's theories, here we go with the crazy conspiracy theories. >> i think we'll wrap it up here guys. thank you. coming up, two top national security professionals weigh in on the war of words with moscow. among other things, we'll talk to admiral john kirby and michael hayden when 360 continues.

defense secretary james mattis spoke out on camera for the first time since the cruise missile strike on syria. he said the intelligence on who's responsible for the attack points in one direction only. >> it is very clear that the assad regime planned it, orchestrated it, and executed it. and beyond that, we can't say right now. we know what i just told you. we don't know anything beyond that. >> secretary mattis said the purpose of the missile strike was, in his words, singular. he said the american focus in

syria continues to be defeating isis. a short time ago i talked about syria with former cia and nsa director, retired general michael hayden as well as admiral john kirby, who served as a defense department and state department spokesman. >> general hayden, where do you see this going between the u.s. and russia basically staring each other down right now over these chemical attacks? >> yeah, and the chemical attacks, anderson, are just part of a larger package of things that are poisoning the american-russian relationship, the activity, obviously the interference in the u.s. electoral process. so i think secretary tillerson is arriving in moscow with a list of grievances, and i think he is going to be pointing out to the russians that if they expect better relations with the united states, that is going to be conditioned on better russian behavior. so we'll see how that dialogue goes. i mean the secretary has been tough with the russians in the

past when it comes to business dealings. now he's carrying a diplomatic portfolio but with the same requirement. >> general hayden, the white house seems to be going further than the pentagon in tying russia to this attack. is caution the better way to proceed? >> look, i am with the pentagon guys, and i thought that press conference that they had this afternoon was remarkable for its candor and its accuracy and in great care two or three times, the question seemed to want to put chum in the water to blame the russians for this. and each time the general and the secretary were very emphatic. this was a syrian decision. we're saying the syrians did this. the syrians bear full responsibility. >> admiral kirby, from your vantage point, how does secretary tillerson approach this meeting with the russians tomorrow? >> i think this is a real important moment for the secretary of state, and i hope that when he sits down tomorrow with foreign minister lavrov that he comes with some big ideas. i mean whether you support the

strike, you don't support the strike, it now could provide them some leverage, some leverage that we haven't always had with the russians to get them to the table, to try to find a diplomatic solution. this is the moment, and i hope he takes full advantage of it. >> how does it provide leverage? >> well, because, look, if they will continue to believe that we're not afraid or not unwilling, i should say, to use military force to react to the regi regime's use of chemical weapons, that might be enough to get them to the diplomatic table. one of the things that was not available to secretary kerry -- and this was widely reported at the time -- was military options. so when we met with the russians on many occasions, he didn't have necessarily diplomacy backed up by the threat of force, that leverage to get the russians to take seriously real diplomatic solutions. well, that may be different now. i know and it was very clear that secretary mattis very narrowly defined this mission

and made it clear the focus remains on isis and that they weren't going to expand the mission. but still, you've got to believe that this strike rattled the russian cage a little bit. again, i think secretary tillerson should take advantage of that. >> general hayden, i mean secretary mattis said today the situation would not spiral out of control because russia always acts in their best interest. they're a rational actor and it's not in russia's best interest for it to spiral out of control. do you agree with that? >> i think i do. i think that's a very accurate statement. but as john points out, secretary kerry was out there almost lost in space sometimes trying to force, demand russian action, but he didn't have anything to finish the sentence. and if you don't, this could happen. so now secretary tillerson has this additional tool. i think the russians will act carefully here. we have not pushed back on them for several years, whether it's in the ukraine, crimea. in syria, now that's happened.

it does create some space and the russians are rational actors. secretary tillerson has a challenge, but i think he's got opportunity here as well. >> admiral kirby, though, for russia to have to choose between the u.s. or syria, i mean they do have, you know, a base there. it's a key ally for them in the region. they need that geographically. >> sure. nobody is asking them to choose the u.s. over syria, anderson. they're not going to let go of this toehold they have in the middle east. but they're not in love with assad. they're not married to assad. what they are married to is their interest in syria and in a stable regime, a regime that can allow them to continue to operate out of there. that's the key. and even they have signed up to all the geneva communiques which calls for a political transition and a diplomatic solution and a transition away from assad and towards a government that is selected by the syrian people. they've signed up to that themselves. so we're not asking them to do anything differently than what they've already said they would

do. it's just that now perhaps the secretary of state has a little bit more leverage when he goes tiny that table. >> general hayden, it was left somewhat ambiguous today as to whether chlorine barrel bombs would trigger a military response. are they right to be wary of red lines, and particularly that line? >> i think they are. anderson, i think it was very clear the secretary said if sarin is used again, we went out there because that was a vital american national interest to not lower the bar for the use of these kinds of weapons anywhere in the world. i think he also made it quite clear over here as tragic as it is, using barrel bombs with high explosives would not automatically trigger the same kind of american response. then he left that nether world between the two a bit ambiguous. would the americans respond if the syrians used chlorine? and actually the chlorine use has a bit of a different legal status internationally. i think it was a good thing to

leave it ambiguous so as not to invite the syrians to go ahead and do this. >> admiral, general, i appreciate your time. thank you. >> thank you. coming up, the ceo of united airlines has put out another statement, yet another one about this incident caught on video. a man violently dragged off the plane because airline employees needed seats. plus new information about whether the flight itself was really overbooked next. >> no! my god! if you've tried every pill on the shelf to treat your tough nasal allergies...

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daily life a guessing game. and bloating made will i have pain and bloating today? my doctor recommended ibgard to manage my ibs. take control. ask your doctor about nonprescription ibgard. united airlines is fully embroiled in a p.r. nightmare of its own making and the company is dragging this thing out like it's a passenger on an oversold flight. the ceo put out a new statement today after a video went viral of a doctor who was involuntarily bumped from a flight and unceremoniously forced off the plane bleeding and screaming. the latest statement contains an apology, too little too late after the ceo put out a much more tepid one yesterday and an internal memo that basically blamed the passenger and defended employees. this is why a whole lot of people don't like flying or p.r. double speak. rene marsh has details. >> just kill me. kill me. >> reporter: as united as david dao receiving treatments, the airline is tail

spinning into a public relation disaster after video of dao being dragged from a sunday night's flight went viral. >> oh my god. >> the airline first said, the flight was over booked then changed its language to tuesday to over sold. >> united did not respond to multiple attempts to clarify the change. from the white house. >> when you watch the video, it is troubling to see how it is handled. >> to late night tv. >> the ceo of united airlines. this is an upsetting event for all of us. i apologize to reaccommodate these customers. [ laughter ] >> reaccommodate. just like reaccommodated el chapo out of mexico. [ laughter ] [ applause ] say nothing, take no responsibility, corporate, bs

speak. >> i don't know how he did not vomit when he typed that. >> on social media, united airlines feeling the stake. the airlines' lack of compassion. it took two days for ceo oscar munoz apologized to dao who left bloody. i apologize to the customers removed and all customers aboard. no one should be mistreated this way. the new statement, a far cry from the e-mail of the ceo sent to employees on monday defending the flight crew and calling the passenger disruptive and b biligerant. >> the ceo's response was off

mark. >> it was not sympathetic and apologetic, he coddle the myth that all passengers are donald trump extensiv-- disruptive. >> if it is over booked, lawmakers are calling foul. >> krmeanwhile, members of congress are calling for the department of transportation to launch an investigation. right now the agency is only reviewing the incident. >> the video reached and trending on china's version of twitter generating more than 100 million views. china is a huge growth market

for the airline. >> do we know what's behind the changes of language of over booked to over sold? >> over booking a flight means they are simply just more reservations out there than there are seats and the airline usually of a no show, they think that some people may not show up and if that's the case everything is all right. over sold flight is when eventually you have too many people checking in and just not enough seats. now, we know that the airline originally said that the flight was over booked, meaning too many reservations, not enough seats but then they changed their language, it really remains uncleared of what behind the changing of the language. they're not responsive at all with many of our calls and e-mails. so that part is remaining unknown as to why now they are changing that language. >> renee marsh. thank you very much. >> it is one of the most shocking examples of outraging

airlines' behaviors but not the only one. >> american airlines jet, the crew tried to remove a woman before take off. the woman says she did not hear the flight attendant asking her to take a seat in the isle until he started to yell at her and threatened to kick her off the flight. moments late e a female attendant came to remove her. >> are you serious? >> by now, the woman is crying. >> if you don't come out, i have to call the officers. >> that did not sit well with her fellow passenger. >> you lost a lot of customer. in the end, the woman gave in. the american airlines told the washington post, they were in contact of the passengers and

apologized. a vietnam veteran was removed for not putting his golden retriever dog on the floor for take off instead of on the seat. >> i am legally in the right by ada law. >> when crew members told him the pilot want take off. >> get away from me. >> i don't care. get away from me. leave! the veteran stood and made his case to passengers. >> i earned the right to have this service of this animal because of my service to this country in vietnam so i am sorry but i am not budging. >> he and his dog were still removed by an officer and rebooked for the next day. >> cell phones appeared to be a clear trigger for removal. this woman was talking on hers on a spirit airline jet.

>> stop it. so was this woman. >> this passenger says spirit kicked her off of the flight because of her cleavage. another passenger backed that up. >> two or three times people came over and said, they're still not kcovered up enough. i will put it across my chest, these are my breasts. >> the airline said the woman had been drinking. the same passenger said she was not act drunk or misbehaving. the case may end up in court. this woman says she was banned for flying too because of how she was dressed. the jet pblue passenger told he that her outfit was inappropriate. >> in the end, jet blue offered her a $162 flight credit.

she says, she wants the airline to offer sensitivity training. >> cnn new york. another hour of breaking news of house intelligence devin nunes, the members requested of identities of intelligence reports. tonight of what cnn has learned ahead. the average family's new, but old, home: it stood up to 2 rookies, 3 terrible two's, and a one-coat wonder named "grams". it survived multiple personalities, 3 staycations, and 1 tiny announcement. behr. number one rated interior paint, exterior paint and stain.

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top of this hour of "360" of the only stories that you will see here. cnn is learning of more of the claims of devin nunes and members of the obama administration req t