continues to wrestle with faith. the world looks to the pope for guidance and comfort. and in the darkest of times, lessons of the past must light his way. civilians in the crosshairs in syria. world powers are reacting to the latest apparent chemical attack. and the u.s. president donald trump says there is a big price to pay for that attack. now he and his advisers planning their next move. plus a town in mourning. remembering the victims of a crash involving a bus packed with young hockey players. hello and welcome to our viewer here is in the united states and of course all around the world. i'm rosemary church. >> and i'm george howell from cnn world headquarters in

atlanta. "newsroom" starts right now. >> and we start with growing outrage over an alleged chemical attack in syria. the u.n. security council is set to meet in the coming hours, this after dozens of civilians were reportedly killed in a gas attack in douma saturday. now, we want to warn you that some of the images we're about to show you are very graphic and very disturbing. the syrian government denies it used chemical weapons. its ally russia has even called the whole thing a hoax. but u.s. president donald trump doesn't appear to be buying that. he lashed out on twitter, calling syrian president bashar al assad an animal. he also warned there will be a big price to pay. >> mr. trump may have been reacting to the images like the images that you're seeing here. and again, we warn you, these images are disturbing. they are graphic. this video appears to show some of the victims lying on the

ground, many of them children, foam in their mouths, which is a potential bit of evidence of a chemical attack. just more than a year ago that the u.s. launched missiles at a syrian air base. that strike came after an alleged sarin attack by the syrian government. the president will meet with his advisers and military officers in the coming hours, and he'll have to decide how the u.s. responds this time to those videos that you just saw. >> that's right. and cnn's ben wedeman is in beirut in neighboring lebanon. he joins us now live. so, ben we have seen reports of a missile strike on an air base near damascus. what are you hearing about that? and who might be behind it? >> well, what we're hearing or rather seeing is reports by the syrian news agency there was an air strike on the t-4 base 100

kilometers northeast of damascus in homs province. according to the syrian news agency report, there have been fatalities and casualties as a result of this missile strike. they also say that eight of the missiles were shot down before reaching their targets. now the pentagon has denied they were behind this strike. and certainly given trump's proclivities, if they had been behind it he certainly would have made it known. now the other main suspect is of course israel, which over the last few years has conducted more than 100 strikes within syria, although it has denied to comment on these reports coming out of syria. this t-4 base it's important to

remember that on the 10th of february, the iranian drone was launched from there. it entered the israeli airspace. the israelis struck the t-4 base and one of their f-16s after that air strike while returning to his israeli airspace was hit by syrian defenses. so this may actually have nothing to do with the alleged chemical attack in douma yesterday. it may perhaps be a result of israeli revenge for the shooting down of the f-16. at this point we simply don't know. we waiting for more details. >> we certainly are. in the meantime, ben, what is the latest information you have in douma where this alleged chemical weapons attack took place? and what do you know about an evacuation deal that has apparently been made to get all the rebels out of the area?

>> yes. we understand that there has been an agreement between the russians and the saudi-backed faction that is in control or was in control. now i suppose we should say of douma. and now according to that agreement, 8,000 fighters will be bussed out of the area, along with 40,000 of their relatives. and they will go to northern syria, similar to other deals worked out with factions in the eastern ghouta. deals between the russians and these factions whereby they are sent up north, some of them in the area of gerablis, which is controlled by turkey and along the turkish border. others to idlib, an area northeast of syria where -- rather northwest, where we've seen tens of thousands of opponents of the regime and their relatives moving to after

similar agreements in other areas. >> rosemary? >> all right. many thanks to our ben wedeman for that live report from beirut where it is just after 9:00 in the morning. the white house says the president spoke with the french president, emmanuel macron, about the suspected chemical attack in syria. both leaders agreed the assad regime must be held accountable for its human rights abuses. >> the reported chemical attack on civilians may pull mr. trump back into syria's civil war just days after he said he wanted to withdraw u.s. troops. abbey phillips has the details. >> reporter: president trump finds himself once again respond to an alleged chemical weapons attack perpetrated by the assad regime in syria. this time the president is lashing out after vladimir putin, russia, and iran for enabling the rashad regime. but he is also criticizing his predecessor, barack obama. he said this about obama's red line that he failed to enforce. he said if president obama had crossed his stated red line in

the sand, the syria disaster would have been ended long ago. animal assad would have been history. but in 2013, president trump actually warned the president against enforcing that red line. and now it seems that he has drawn one of his own. what that big price to pay will be is unclear. and here is what homeland security adviser tom bossert said about the options available to president trump. >> so is it possible there will be another missile attack? >> i couldn't take anything off the table. these are horrible photos. we're looking into the attack at this point. >> the national security council is expected to meet on the syrian issue on monday, as is the u.n. security council. but president trump is coming into the situation having already said in recent weeks that he wants to pull the united states out of syria altogether. he also does not have his full national security team in place. the president is still waiting for his cia director to be confirmed, and also is waiting for his secretary of state to be confirmed as well. his new national security

adviser john bolton, his first day on the job is today. abby phillips, cnn, white house. >> abby, thank you. moscow is calling the reports of a chemical attack a hoax. a statement from the foreign ministry said syrian government troops are liberating civilians from the control of terrorists and militants. >> the statement goes on to warn that using far fetch and fabricated pretexts for military intervention in syria where russian servicemen are deployed at the request of the legitimate government is absolutely unacceptable and could lead to the most serious consequences. >> let's put all this into focus now with scott lucas. scott is a professor of international politics at the university of birmingham, live in birmingham at this hour. glad to have you with us. it was just a year and two days ago, scott, that the u.s. president responded sending rockets in after a similar

chemical attack. last week here is what he told his supporters about syria. listen. >> we're knocking the hell out of isis. we'll be coming out of syria like very soon. let the other people take care of it now. >> and now the about-face. the president promising there will be a big price to pay as the white house considers its next move. how do you suppose they, scott, maneuver these many mixed messages? >> well, first of all, you need to realize the context in which donald trump made that statement yesterday, reversing his decision. he made that simply after watching television and seeing images of those killed in the chemical attacks by the assad regime. and he responded on twitter. it's one thing to lash out on twitter. it's another to make plans. the question is not what is president trump doing, but what is the pentagon presenting to him in terms of american military options? now you heard what happened last time, which is more than a year

ago after a nerve agent attack in northwest syria killed more than 90 people. the u.s. did fire on the air base that launched that attack, almost 60 tomahawk missiles. but it's important what happened next. because then for the next year, russia and the assad regime continued the attacks on opposition territory, including near damascus as we're seeing now, killing thousand more civilians. and of course the u.s. didn't do anything at that point. instead donald trump talked about withdrawal. what i think the options are, i think the pentagon will give options to strike, for example, the assad regime's military facility, including air bases. i think the broader option ask whether the u.s. now will take an option that it could have taken six years ago, and that is to join others in protected zones for civilians who remain outside the regime's control. in other words, an effective protective and no-fly zone not only against the assad regime, but against the russians. >> mr. trump is receiving some criticism from his own republican colleague senator

john mccain, who said in a statement the president by announcing that the u.s. would withdraw, bashar al assad and his russian and iranian backers have heard him and emboldened by american inaction, assad has reportedly launched another chemical attack against innocent men, women, and children, this time in douma. so the question here, what do you make of that criticism that the assad regime has been emboldened by the u.s. president saying it's time to get out of there? >> well, john mccain has been a long-time backer of the syrian opposition. and i respect what he says. but let's be clear. the assad regime was emboldened back in 2013 when it carried out its first nerve agent attack, kill mortgage than 1400 people. and the international community didn't respond. instead, russia took the lead, cent steered the discussion into other areas to avoid a response to that chemical attack. now here we are five years later, and russia and the assad regime did not carry out these

attacks in the last three days that in fact killed more than 300 people because of what donald trump said last week. they did it because they were not getting a full surrender. and they effectively showed short of a full surrender, they will carry out these attacks. whatever the united states says. the question is not what the u.s. says, the question is what the u.s. in fact the uk and other countries do. watch out for one thing in particular, george. many of the people displaced in syria now live in opposition areas along the south and the northwest. those areas are controlled in part by turkey. does the united states join with turkey in saying these people are beyond attack? now the problem with that, the challenge for that is if you do that, you effectively are saying that syria is no longer a sick sing -- single country. >> both the united states and france are promising a strong and joint response in the coming hours, the u.n. security council will hold an emergency meeting

this monday, of course. but given russia's firm support of syria and the failed track record of the u.n. making much of a difference in this conflict, what impact can the international community really make at this point? >> well, it will be rhetoric out of the security council. the russian, and i'll use the nonacademic term now, as they always do, are lying. they're lying by saying is there no significant chemical attack or that the assad regime didn't do it, and they'll continue to the it. the u.s., the uk and other countries will criticize that. but what russia will count on is there will be no action beyond this. now france says said in recent months that if there is an attack with a chemical which is stronger than chlorine, and it looks like that is what happened this weekend. that will intervene militarily. the united states at least with donald trump's tweet is actually saying it will do so. but you need to watch for this for days and even weeks. is there a coordinated effort to

send a signal to the assad regime that it can no longer carry out conventional takes but chemical attacks. and will that stance be maintained against moscow. and that is the question we've had for five years, and it is the question which is now drawn into sharper relief by what has happened this weekend. >> 7:13 in the morning there in birmingham, england. scott lucas giving us context and perspective. thank you for your time today. >> thank you. and coming up next on "cnn newsroom," a community comes together in grief after a deadly bus crash in canada. we'll have the details just ahead. plus right wing leaders in hungry are celebrating another electoral victory. why human rights activists fear for that nation's democracy. stay with us. sfx: muffled whistle text alert. i'm your phone, stuck down here between your seat and your console, playing a little hide-n-seek. cold...

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other money managers. fisher investments. clearly better money management. activists are warning that hungry could become more autocratic at the sunday's parliamentary election. most of the votes have been counted. right wing minister victor orbit appeared to have secured his third term. >> his object sieve to keep a

supermajority in parliament. he campaigned heavily against immigrants and has widely criticized the european union. this is what he told supporters sunday. >> translator: first, i would like to congratulate the voters. thank you for your participation. turnout has cast all aside. we gave ourselves a chance to defend hungary. >> mr. orban has tried to create what he calls a liberal democracy. critics say he has undermined free media, civil society and judicial independence. well, german police have detained several people now who reportedly were planning a knife attack on sunday's berlin half marathon. >> that's according to a german newspaper. the popular event went on without incident. police say that the suspects are between 18 and 21 years old. >> the paper adds the main suspect allegedly knew a

tunisian militant who killed 12 people in a christmas market attack in berlin back in 2016. well, this comes barely a day after a truck slammed into a crowd in muenster, germany. >> two people were killed, 20 others injured. that when a driver plowed into a restaurant's open terrace and fatally shot himself on saturday. investigators now say he acted alone. cnn's erin mclaughlin is in muenster with the very late ohs tonight investigation. >> reporter: we still do not know why this happened. why a man acting alone plow advance into a busy cafe, bringing horror to a sunny saturday afternoon. police searched his van and his homes in east and west germany. searches yielding few clues other than firecracker, gas canisters and fake guns. they say they're chasing multiple leads. so far no links to terror. no evidence of any political motive. german media reports the suspect

had a history of mental illness. authorities say they're investigating that possibility. >> translator: we cannot say that everything is finished. but what is very clear from the apartment search and the other related vehicles, also a contain err is that there is no indication of political background. we're assuming the motives and causes are with the perpetrator himself. >> he is 48 years old, german, lived in the area and had a record of petty crime. police say that at the end of last month, he e-mailed his neighbor, making vague references to suicidal thoughts, but nothing to suggest a potential attack. at least two people lost their lives in the attack. a 51-year-old woman and a 65-year-old man, 20 injured in this sleepy cathedral city shaken. >> one couldn't believe it. one had always felt oh, this cozy muenster, everything

hatches all over the world, but we are safe here. >> people still are, you know, fighting for their life in the hospitals. and i think it's all these kind of things you feel with the people, you say my god, we could have sit here. >> reporter: everyone here is now left with one simple question. why? with the attacker dead of ah parent suicide, some fear we may never know for sure. erin mclaughlin, cnn, muenster, germany. in saskatchewan, canada, a close-knit community is in mourning after a deadly bus crash that sent shockwaves across that nation. >> canadian prime minister justin trudeau attended the emotional vigil for the 15 people who died after a tractor-trailer collided with the bus carrying a junior hockey team. >> 14 people were injured. all the people were members of the humboldt broncos. and among them, 20-year-old logan schatz, the team captain.

>> 20-year-old jaxon joseph. he is the son of former national hockey league player chris joseph. and head coach darcy haugen. >> they are investigating all aspects to figure out exactly what happened there. israeli forces and palestinian protesters clashed for the second straight weekend over israel's blockade along the gaza border. >> cnn's oren liebermann has the very latest for us on that conflict. >> reporter: there is no question the border between israel and gaza remains tense after a second friday of widespread protests along a security fence. sunday afternoon, the israeli military fired across the border after they say three palestinians crossed the fence into israel, then crossed back into gaza. and that gives you an idea of how sensitive the border area is right now. the most talked about story throughout the weekend has been the killing of palestinian journalist murtaja. he was wearing his press vest

when he was shot and killed been friday. hundreds attended hid funeral, including the head of hamas in gaza. murtaja's death and the death of eight others have amplified international criticism against israel, accusing israel of using disproportionate and indiscriminate force against palestinian protesters in gaza. reporters without borders, an international media watchdog says it's clear that israel fired intentionally at murtaja. the israeli military says it does not intentionally target journalists. it said, quote, the situation when journalists are hit by idf fire are not familiar to the idf and are being looked into. israeli officials have said those who were shot were attempting to carry out attacks or breach the security fence. defense minister victor lieberman said there were no innocent civilians. he called the demonstrations a terror parade. 31 gazans have been killed.

hundreds more have been injured by live fire. plo official slammed israel's use of live fire in response to protests, calling for an international investigation into israel's actions. obviously the situation remain versus fluid now. but already we're expecting more protests this coming friday. and that's true for every friday from now until mid-may. even if the numbers were down from the previous week, each of these protests still has the potential to spark a much bigger conflict. oren liebermann, cnn, jerusalem. >> oren, thank you. still ahead here on "cnn newsroom," more on the alleged chemical weapons attack in syria. we'll have the very latest for you. plus will facebook get a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down when its ceo faces congress this week? a look at the issues facing the social media giant. ♪ hey, sir lose-a-lot!

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that's more speed than at&t's comparable bundle, for less. call today. live coast-to-coast across the united states from london to sydney and all points in betweenment you're watching "cnn newsroom." thanks for being with us. i'm george howell. >> and i'm rosemary church. it is time of course to update you on the main stories we've been following this hour. >> and first in hungary, the right wing prime minister viktor orban wins. most of the votes from sunday's election have now been counted. his ruling coalition is expected to keep a supermajority in parliament. german police reportedly foiled a plan to attack sunday's berlin half marathon. a german newport reports several people were detained. the half marathon went on as

scheduled. police say the suspects are between 18 and 21 years old. according to reports, one allegedly knew a tunisian militant who killed 12 people in a christmas market attack in berlin back in 2016. the small town in saskatchewan, canada. people there remembering the victims of the deadly bus crash with a vigil on sunday. 15 people died when a tractor-trailer collided with a bus carrying a junior hockey team. 14 other people were injured. canadian police are investigating the cause of that crash. u.s. president donald trump is condemning the syrian government and its allies after an alleged chemical weapons attack in douma. a warning. some of the images here are very disturbing. dozens of civilians were reportedly killed in saturday's allege aid tack. syria's government denies it's responsible. the u.n. security council is set to hold an emergency session in the coming hours. analysts lieutenant colonel

rick francona, rick, good to see you. now according to rescuers, dozens of people were killed in douma. hundreds more were exposed to toxic gases. but syria's government and russia deny any involvement in this suspected chemical attack. but is there any other credible explanation for what happened, particularly when you lack at those disturbing images? >> no, there is no other explanation. if you look at where this is, this is the last remaining enclave to the east of damascus. it's completely surround by syrian ground forces. they're pounding it daily with artillery and air. they completely control all access to this area. if there was any attack at all, it was done by the syrians. i don't think there is any question about that. >> we know now that the u.n. security council will hold an emergency meeting monday. what do they need to do about this? how do they need to respond? >> well, of course they're going to have to condemn the syrians. and no matter what action they

try and take, i believe the russians will veto it. the syrians are emboldened by this. they know the russians not only support them militaryfully the country, but also support them diplomatically on the international stage. that includes the united nations. i don't expect anything to come out of the united nations maybe other than a commitment to launch an investigation. somebody will start a study. but nothing concrete is going to happen there. >> rite. and president donald trump, he has condemned syria, russia and iran in the wake of this suspected chemical attack. and he said on twitter that there will be a big price to pay. what do you think he means by that? >> he has kind of boxed himself into a corner by making these statements. this is very similar to president obama's red line. when you draw these lines, when you make these threats and you're challenged, you have to back them up. so now the president is probably going to have to order some reaction. and i know the pentagon has

probably provided him with a range of options be they missile strikes, some sort of air strike. but he is also forced into action now. of course when you see the images on tv, you understand that we've got to do something. >> and what would you expect to be the outcome here, the response from the united states? >> well, i think we're probably do very much what we did a year ago. if you remember, it's almost exactly one year when we launched the attack on the attack responsible. we may see a similar strike on whatever base they believe launched this attack. helicopters can come out of anywhere. but you've got to send a message to the syrians. will it have a military effect? no. will it change the outcome? no. are the syrian goings to win? yes. but we cannot sit by. >> a deal was reached which means the government has won the entire douma area back from the rebels. what does that tell you? >> this tells me, i am so

confused, rosemary, as to why the syrians would do this, knowing they're risking a retaliatory strike by the united states or other western countries when they didn't need to. they won. it only a matter of time before they reduced that pocket to nothing, be it by brute force or by the agreement we now know they have reached. why do it? why incur the wrath of the rest of the world. it makes no sense. i have to believe the russians would have been counselling them against this. but having spoken to several russian military officers over the years, they say the syrians don't always listen to their advice. >> rick francona, we're also thankful for your military analysis. thank you very much. >> good to be with you, rosemary. still ahead, bill cosby back in court in the coming hours for a look at his retrial. a look at the case against him. we're just tv doctors. if this was a real emergency, i'd be freaking out. but thanks to cigna, we can do more than just look heroic.

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welcome back, everyone. well, less than a year after bill cosby's trial ended in a

hung jury, the tv legend is heading back to court for a retrial. >> he is facing three counts of aggravated indecent assault. >> opening statements are expected monday in the pennsylvania courtroom. but as cnn's jean casarez explains, the proceedings will also unfold in a different world. >> survivors united! >> reporter: with the momentum of me too -- >> survivors united! >> reporter: and public accusations against hollywood. >> have i been silence for 20 years. >> reporter: only one major celebrity has been charged with a felony sexual offense, america's dad, bill cosby. the comedian and tv legend's retrial beginning now. >> the atmosphere has shifted. it's not a very favorable time to be defending yourself against accusations of sexual assault. >> charged with three counts of felony aggravated indecent

assault, the 80-year-old cosby could face a decade in prison if convicted. prosecutor says in 2004 he assaulted this woman, andrea constand at the time the director of women's basketball operations at temple university in philadelphia. diana parsons is her sister and says it took a year before constand said anything about what happened and went to police. >> she said that she just knew she had to lie down. and she said that bill cosby helped her to the couch. she said she really couldn't walk on her own. >> reporter: constand told police cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her at his home in montgomery county, pennsylvania. cosby denied the allegations. the district attorney at the time said the case was weak. . >> did i think that i could prove it beyond a reasonable doubt based on available, credible evidence? no, i didn't.

>> reporter: in criminal charges against cosby. constand then filed a civil suit. cosby testified in a sworn deposition before they reached a confidential settlement. fast forward to 2015. that deposition was unsealed, revealing cosby had admitted giving drugs to women he wanted to have sex with. prosecutors reopened the criminal investigation and days before the statute of limitations ran out, cosby was charged in criminal court. pennsylvania defense attorney brian mcmonagle represented cosby from the beginning. he pleaded not guilty, a first trial last year ended in a hung jury. >> she is entitled to a verdict in this case. >> reporter: now a new trial with some big differences. a new defense team for cosby led by tom mesereau, who got an acquittal in 2005 for michael jackson in his child molestation trial. before representing cosby in 2015, mesereau told cnn how he

would question constand. >> the first thing i would ask her would be what's more important to you, money or principle? did you take money and walk away confidentially? or did you take this to a jury and do it publicly? >> reporter: in the last trial, one other woman who said cosby drugged and assaulted her was allowed to testify for the prosecution. kelli johnson. >> i remember waking up in a bed with mr. cosby naked beneath his open robe. >> reporter: in this trial the judge says five prior accusers can take the stand. one who has been subpoenaed, former supermodel janice dickinson. the defense wants a witness by the name of marco jackson to take the stand. she knew andrea constand and would testify according to the defense. constand said she could fabricate everything, that bill cosby drugged her and sexually assaulted and she could get a lot of money. prosecutors say that is

blatantly false. with no forensic evidence, the case is all about credibility. jean casarez, cnn, norristown, pennsylvania. >> thank you. switching over to weather, it is that time of the year here in the states that it is supposed to be spring, right? >> yes. >> it doesn't quite feel like spring. >> it's resisting. and pedram javaheri joins us now with the latest. and when we can expect to see spring appear. >> come on, spring. >> across parts of the u.s., we had very much spring-lake temperatures in february, even in the beginning of march. and it has all come to an end since then. winter essentially happening a coupe of months after it should have happened, at least for chunks for the united states. here is what it looks like. you take a look at the perspective. we're talking about snow showers across the great lakes. maybe not unheard of for the beginning or middle of april. but certainly this is going to extend a little farther to the south and become somewhat unusual. notice the marine snow line into parts of kentucky, even parts of

northern tennessee getting in on the action. a pretty impressive ban of coverage as far as the snow showers expected. not going to be a major player as far as accumulations are concerned. still, disruptions absolutely going to be expected on the roadways into the early morning hours. and again, a quick moving system brings in some snow showers across portions of, say, pennsylvania on western new york as well. and the cold wet weather pushes farther south. you look at the big temperature fluctuations in recent months. since the 1st of january, the u.s. has recorded 7300 record high temperatures. 6300 record low temps. a one to one ratio for every record high you get a record low. but when you look at the last seven days, a complete flip-flop. 572 record low tefrs set versus 18 record high temps. that is a 31-1 ratio for every 31 record low temps, only one high temp has been coming in way above average to the record

department. here is the perspective. a ridge of high pressure out to the west, temps in los angeles well into the 80s the next couple of days. while on the opposite end of the perspective, 10 to 20 below average. and that pattern really short-lived here. we know the days are rather long. also the sun angle quite high as well. a mild setup as we go in towards saturday. look what lines up out there towards the northern portion of the u.s., guys that is going in from sunday into monday of next week. potentially another cold spell at that point by tax day across pars of the eastern u.s. so it looks like spring is still going to be delayed. >> we don't like your weather report. all right. thanks, pedram. hopefully it will be different next hour? >> i hope so, maybe. we'll see. >> pedram, thank you. still ahead here on "newsroom" the head of facebook on the hot seat. how will mark zuckerberg do in front of the u.s. congress? we'll take a look. en almost eveg so we know how to cover almost anything.

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flonase relieves your worst symptoms including nasal congestion, which most pills don't. flonase helps block 6 key inflammatory substances. most pills only block one. flonase. welcome back, everyone. well, on tuesday, facebook ceo mark zuckerberg will face members of the u.s. congress about the data controversy his company is facing. information from some 87 million

users was allegedly harvested by the data company cambridge analytica without their knowledge. meanwhile, the social media giant has announced more changes to its site to stop election meddling. >> in a facebook post on friday, zuckerberg said this. these steps by themselves won't stop all people from trying to game the system. but they will make it a lot harder for anyone to do what the russians did during the 2016 election and use fake accounts and pages to run ads. cnn's lori seagal sorts it all out, that what this means. >> hey there. facebook announcing a number of changes to combat election meddling. it's a push for more transparency around advertising. and the social media company will begin labeling all political and issue ads. there is also a part of this who is going to show who paid for the ads and require anyone who wants to run a political or issue ad to verify their identity and location. so they'll have to be approved in order to do this. this is an expansion from

facebook's prior moves. these measures would have applied to political ads. so ads mentioning candidates. but this expansion also covers issue ads if you think of issue ads, they cover hot button issues think. gun control or education. as part of this, the company also announced a searchable database where users can see how much the ads cost and also what kinds of people advertisers are targeting. this is all about more transparency. and one more move which is actually pretty interesting, the company is going to start verifying people behind pages if they have a big following. think about pages like the topics or organizations that you like on facebook. and then think about 2016, russian trolls actually used pages to pose as americans on different sides of the political spectrum to create division in america. facebook found out about this after the fact. now, you know, this news is coming as sheryl samberg made the media rounds.

one question. >> what we weren't focused enough on was protecting. because that same data that you enable to use social experiences can also be misused. >> do you think there could be other breaches like the one we saw in cambridge analytica where tens of millions of people's data was accessed improperly? >> we're doing an investigation. we're going to do audits. and yes, we think it's possible. that's why we're doing the audit. >> and all of this is coming before a monumental week for facebook. the ceo, mark zuckerberg will be testifying before congress on tuesday and wednesday. you'll have lawmakers posing very challenging questions to mark about the companies a use of data in light of the cambridge analytica scandal and everything that has come out. and also the weaponization of the platform for political purposes. back to you. >> to talk more about this, let's bring in logan young. logan the co-founder of blitz

metrics. logan, it's gad to have you on the show this hour. this week we will see the young leader of one of the most powerful companies in the world testify in front of both the house and the senate. this is less about actual legislation. it's more about tough questions. there may even be some grandstanding. going into this, do you see this as a thumbs up moment for mark zuckerberg to change public perception, or should he consider the thumbs-down button as he gets into this? >> so i'm not sure if he is getting the light from the government he is looking for. so far, mark, he has been very apologetic. but when he goes to testify this week, it's time for a show me, don't tell me this approach. mark is okay, what he doesn't want is for the government to have to step, in get their hands involved and be them that enforce the regulations. as long as facebook is continuing to push the pace itself, i think mark will be happy and what he'll be able to testify on will determine that moving forward. >> it's likely we'll hear zuckerberg point to the many

changes facebook has rolled out, things like tightening restrictions on third party data providers. and more transparency with preliminary ads and people's personal data. do you think that's enough to convince lawmakers that is there there is a quick fix for facebook's problems? or are these challenges just beyond the scope of a simple engineering? >> so it's a good question. i do think it will be enough. facebook has been very proactive. like you mentioned, they've already made changes. starting tomorrow and monday they'll be making more when users log in. you'll be able to see what apps have access to your data. last weekend tinder was down. so we've seen a lot of changes already happening. i think the government -- it's not really a facebook problem that is the issue. it's a regulation problem. other players in the space like google, amazon and an legal also have tons of data. the thing is it's not just facebook. as long as there is some regulation in place across the board, then i think the problem will be solved. >> we're actually hearing from

some lawmakers about what they will have to say this week about facebook. here is one example. we'll talk about it on the other side. >> i don't want to hurt facebook. i don't want to regulate them half to death. but we have a problem. our promised digital utopia has mind fields in it. mr. zuckerberg has not exhausted himself being forthcoming. we had one hearing. mr. zuckerberg sent his lawyer, very bright, very articulate. could talk a dog off a meat wagon. but he didn't say anything. my biggest worry with all this is the privacy issue and what i call the propagandist issue are both too big for facebook to fix. >> so logan, zuckerberg has admitted that facebook could have done more. he has apologized, but still points the finger to cambridge analytica. do you think that lawmakers will be satisfied with what they've heard so far, his apology?

>> i don't know whether they'll be totally satisfied because, look, the more facebook has told us as they've been trying to give us answers, all it's done is fielded more questions where people are saying what, you're pulling data from where? >> initially when we think of the 2016 election, zuckerberg was asked was that possible? and he kind of gaffed at the question and said that would be a little crazy. since then they had to retreat and say this did happen, this did happen, this did happen. people don't understand the data capabilities that facebook and other players have. so as we're starting to have the light shined on that, it's again, giving us more questions. the more we know, the more we want the find out how deep this rabbit hole goes. >> logan, real quickly here. so a lot of focus and attention will be on mark zuckerberg. what about people in general, just understanding the rules, the terms and conditions before they opt into these things. >> so there is a big education gap that exists, putting facebook in between its users. you're going to start to see

everything previously has been hidden in the shadows now is going to be shown forth on the light. so when you go into an app and try information through facebook, when you log into facebook, when you see ads, all that is going to be way more broadly known so that the user who doesn't understand data, doesn't understand the back end of facebook, they're going to understand yes, you're accessing my data. and facebook is trying very hard to bridge that education gap that exists. >> logan young, we appreciate your time today. we thank you. >> thanks, george. >> i'm rosemary church. >> and i'm george howell. let's reset. more news at the top of the hour. stay with us. re. she's coming! stall. my video call's lagging. mom? surprise! surprise! hold up. hold up. we got a laggy video call here. you need verizon, the best network for streaming. here. trade ya. okay, people, that's a reset. you want us to surprise her again? yeah, but like in a fun way. like this. all my favorite friends are here. there's tony and diane. like something like that. (avo) get up to 50% off our best phones,

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civilians in the crosshairs in syria. world powers now reacting to the latest apparent chemical attack there. and u.s. president donald trump skez there is a big price to pay for that attack. now he and his advisers are planning their next move. plus a town in mourning. remembering the victims of a crash involving a bus packed with young hockey players. we are live at cnn world headquarters in atlanta. we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. i'm george howell. >> and i'mos