hey rick, all good? oh yeah, we're good. we're good. terminix. defenders of home. what comes next after the u.s., france and the u.k. struck syria's chemical weapons? thanks for joining us this hour. i'm natalie allen. >> i'm george howell. welcome back, viewers in the united states and around the world. we start with the united states claiming success after missile strikes and air strikes in syria. the u.s., u.k. and france launched the missiles after an attack in duma last week. this from donald trump. thank you to the united kingdom

and france for their wisdom and their fine military. mission accomplished. >> the strikes involved ships, warplanes and missiles. they were meant to send a message to bashar al assad to dismantle his chemical weapons program. the united states says more than 100 missiles were fired and all of them hit their targets. at the u.n. saturday, ambassador nikki haley said, the u.s. is ready to do it again. >> i spoke to the president this morning. and he said if the syrian regime uses this poisonous gas again, the united states is locked and loaded. >> we know that the strikes targeted at least three sites in syria. they include a research facility in damascus and a storage

facili facility near homs. the video that you see like this shows what's left of the research facility in damascus. we have satellite images from homs. they show one of the targets before and after the strikes. on the right, it appears a structure has been completely destroyed. >> we have our reporters across the world covering this story. >> our cnn international correspondent fred mrin beirut. how much of this is seen as political symbolism? how much is seen as a long-term message from the west on the issue of chemical weapons? >> reporter: i think most of it is seen as political symbolism. if you look on the ground of syria, it doesn't appear that

bashar al assad is fazed with those strikes. he had ample warning in the form of the tweets that president trump sent out saying that missiles would be on their way. and if you look at the situation on the ground, the syrian military has won back the entire territory east of damascus. the centerpiece of that was the operation in duma, where the alleged chemical weapons attack took place. that's a huge victory for the assad government and something they've been working towards for a long time. they were fazed or concerned about the u.s. strikes, it doesn't seem on the face of it they are anymore. neither are those that support assad in the capital of damascus. it may have sent a message of deterrent, as far as chemical weapons is concerned. the blasts that happened in

damascus, they shook people in the early morning hours. by and large, as far as the trajectory as syria's civil war is concerned, it won't change much. the military is intact. the russians are very much in control of the situation. while it may have sent a message as far as chemical weapons are concerned, anything else, it doesn't seem to have changed, either. and the syrian military believed to have had a warning that something may have been coming. there was big things that happened in the run-up to all of this, where you have the diplomatic wrangling and the people that discuss all of this and the president tweeting, that would give them time. the u.s. did acknowledge at the time they struck, they didn't believe people were in there. they did believe that people would evacuated the facilities before the strikes took place. >> fred pleitgen live in beirut.

thanks for the story. russia and turkey are key players in the conflict. they agreed to work together to find a solution to the crisis. >> vladimir putin and his turkish counterpart said they were committed to de-escalation zones. this is according to state media. russia did not get the u.n. security council vote, the votes it needed for a resolutisolutio condemning the air strike on syria. russia's ambassador called the strikes a violation to the u.n. charter. >> russia has done everything possible to convince the united states and their allies to refrain from their plans that would destabilize the middle east. the united states and its allies continue to demonstrate disregard for national international law. >> the strike in syria set off diplomatic alarms around the world. nic robertson joins us from

moscow. no surprise that russia is condemning the actions by the west. how would you character -- looking at the story we just read -- the dialogue between turkey and russia? >> he is in an interesting position because of his engagement of his forces inside syria because of the leverage and relationship he has with the united states. being a member of nato and a few weeks ago, hosting president putin and the iranian leadership in a summit that was about syria. he's in a tee key strategic position. he had a phone call with president putin before the strikes took place. he had a phone call with president trump before the strikes took place. it puts him in the position of

playing both sides. it was a supportive tone on the strikes. his conversation with president putin has found areas of mutual interest. this is typical of the language we hear when world leaders speak to each other. the talk there about bilateral interests and what they might be able to do to achieve peace in syria. the general, bigger view here, is if you want to have peace in syria, it will involve a lot more than just two parties. clearly, it will take more than erdogan and putin to bring about a peaceful situation in syria. yet, president erdogan is something that president putin is talking to. and transfer, it's a way to deliver a message to president putin about what the broad international community sees about moving forward with peace talks. you know, i think, we've had the

strikes over the weekend. but nothing's really changed. that's the reality of where we're at today. >> with does this fall? is there impetus that he would cooperate here? >> again, the reality is, nothing has changed. he'll recognize if he uses chlorine or chlorine mixed with sarin, or that scenario exists again, there could be more strikes. that's been made clear. really, strategically, the areas of de-escalation, deconfliction that have been described in some parts of the country as a russian plan to sort of bring stability, at the moment, they just appear to be delay and hold tactic. you call for several areas of de-escalati de-escalation/deconfliction. and when you have the resources to clear up the rebels there, you go and do it. nothing has changed here to

address the power balance in syria and the diplomatic moves to get to peace talks so far at least. >> seems maybe one half-step forward and three steps backwards. nic robertson live in moscow. thank you. let's look at the united nations angle of this story. let's bring in sir tony brenton, the former british ambassador to russia, live from cambridge, england. good to have you with us this hour, sir. at the u.n. security council e meeting, we heard from the ambassador for syria, saying the strikes won't make a difference to syria's contribution to this conflict. >> these three states should realize that after seven years of a terrorist war that was imposed on my country, a war carried out by the three countries and their agents in the region, their missiles,

their planes, the bombs will not weaken our determination to defeat and destroy your terrorists. this will not prevent the syrian people to diseaecide on their o political future. >> at the least, the use of conventional weapons in this war will continue. with regards to the red line on the use of chemical weapons, is there a sense from the strikes, that a message was sent that will at least make a difference with the syrian government? make them think twice? we may be having trouble connecting. are you able to hear our question, sir? i think we're having signal issues. >> wait. can you hear us, mr. brenton? >> having audio issues.

>> we'll push on to the next story. in a world exclusive, cnn speaks with the survivors of the latest suspected chemical attack in syria. >> reporter: they were hiding in a basement when the alleged chemical attack took place. they could barely breathe. she clawed her way up, dragging her daughters. then, the other strikes began. >> that's arwa damon there. survivors tell cnn the clothes still smell of the attack that almost killed them.

you're looking at some of the damage from the air strikes in syria. this rubble used to be buildings reportedly part of a scientific research lab in damascus. hours after the attack, you

could still see the smoke rising there. >> after the strikes, the syrian regime is defiant, declaring victory in the last area of damascus that was held by rebels. the syrian military says it's cleared all iner surgentinsurge. >> the syrian regime labels rebels as terrorists. units of our valiant armed forces, along with its allies, completed the cleansing of eastern ghouta, in all of its towns and villages after the terrorists left douma. it's been a condemned operation. the u.n. says more than 130,000 civilians have fled the rebel enclave. now, many of them live in limbo in makeshift camps. >> now, there are more in the camps. in a world exclusive, cnn is the

first network to speak with survivors of the suspected chemical attack in douma. arwa damon spoke with them just after the air strikes. >> reporter: there's definitely something that stings. these backpacks belong to 7-year-old twins from douma. they're a little shy, hesitant. we smelled something, they say. their mother tells us they remember everything vividly. they were hiding in the basement when the alleged chemical weapons attack in douma took place. they could barely breathe. she could feel her body go limp. then, the other strikes began. we were between two deaths, she remembers. either from the chemical strikes

or others on the rooftop. the smell is still strongly, the things they haven't been able to wash yet. that's the toy her daughter would hide to keep her safe. she would tell her toy, you might suffocate but you'll be safe from the bombing. that's how the kids' minds work. yesterday, they were digging a tunnel for the ants so that the ants wouldn't suffocate, just in case something happened. in another tent, we meet a boy with a scar across his abdomen from shrapnel. his uncle who doesn't want to be identified was among the worst in the family affected from the chemical strike. this new camp is inhabited by those who survived the siege. its relentless bombing that drove families underground, so

that something as simple as feeling the sun on their skin was a luxury. this family thought there was a lull in the bombing and went outside, when she says three air strikes slammed next to them. the next thing she remembers is being in the hospital. she had just gotten out of surgery in the hospital when the wounded from the chemical strikes, she says, began coming in. the scene was so horrific, she says she forgot her own pain. what she doesn't know, what no one has the heart to tell her, is that her husband is dead. her son, just 2 years old, is too young to remember his father. the limitedu.s./french/k. rike may have sent a message to the syrian regime about chemical weapons. but not about the rest of its arsenal. for those who have endured the unimaginable, it's little more than a move on a test port. this 68-year-old arrived here from douma. she has buried too many

relatives to count, including her son and two grandchildren. there's nothing left for them. even if they could go home, there's nothing left. she says her country has caused her too much pain. and remembering the long lost days when her family was around her, when they were all alive, when feeling safe wasn't a luxury, it's all just too much. arwa damon, cnn, syria. let's talk what's next for syria with josh ua landis. he is the director for middle east studies at the university of oklahoma. thanks for talking with us. we just saw another heart wrenching story, of what happened to the people that survived from this. let's talk about the mission we just saw. president trump proclaimed mission accomplished. in your view, was it? do you think assad will be deterred at all? >> i do. i think he will be deterred.

the united states made a mistake by not including chlorine gas in the initial prescribed chemical weapons in 2013, when obama made his deal with the russians. then, they were added later. but america took no action when they were used. and this is, in a sense, plugging up a hole. i believe assad doesn't want to lose his important research facilities. and he will stop using it. as we know, about 1,900 people have been killed with chemical weapons. it's a narrow bandwidth in the larger -- this is a teeny bit and it's not going to give much satisfaction to the syrian opposition or the countries that want to see assad removed. it does n mea tt the united states, france, britain are at war with assad. >> that phrase, missioned

accompli accomplished, that harkins back to a banner that was proclaimed over a warship but a war that continued on. that phrase used by the u.s. president in the tweet, does this undermine the description of success with these strikes? >> you know, both obama and trump tried to define their mission in deterring chemical weapons narrowly. and we heard the british prime minister explain this is not about regime change. not about change in the course of the world. your viewers and the world sees the massive destructions, babies being killed. and it doesn't look like anything has been accomplished to bring peace to syria. >> we're hearing peace talks at the u.n. with french president macron, between vladimir putin

and erdogan. is this something that could be a slight turning point in getting the world to reengage in syria in a way to try and curb the fighting? >> what we're seeing in a picture is that syria is being divided. we're coming to an end game, in a sense, there's three major powers, turkey, america and russia backing assad. assad has 22% of the country. he's cleaning up pockets of the resistance. the americans have taken up 30% ofhe country. the northeast and with the kurdish allies and democratic forces. and turks are spreading their influence. it looks like they're going to take idlib province. so, syria is being divided into three major chunks. the big question mark for the future here is will the united states remain for the long haul,

as secretary of state tillerson said it would months ago. he's fired today. and trump says he's determined to pull the united states out of syria. that would bring 30% of the real estate back on the market, in the heartless terms. it will cause a scramble for those 30% between different forces in syria, should that happen. that's, in a sense, a big unknown today. >> really, two messages coming from the u.s. president. one message that if chemical weapons are used again, there could be another response like the one we've seen. at the same time, the president, as you pointed out, saying he would like to see troops withdrawn from syria, part of the america first message. the question here, can you be a global superpower to act as the global police, as the u.s. has been described before? or can you have the

america-first message? the two seem contrary. >> they do seem contrary. on the other hand, trying to establish a separate nation state for the kurds is a difficult task. this is an extremely damaged part of syria. it's about the poorest part of syria. to encourage kurdish nationalm, build them an army that can defend against the turkish army and the syrian army. it's going to be difficult and costly and it will take decades to do a nation to defend against the much larger armies, to declare it is illegal for the united states to do this, to carve up syria. i understand trump's desire to get out, this will not take

america stronger to take this nation-building project, that america should put its money elsewhere. but that's a question, of course, that is in the air today. many people believe that the united states should remain in northern syria and should continue the fight against assad to drive him from power and to roll back iran. there's many calls in washington for this much larger agenda to restore american power in northern middle east. >> joshua landis, thank you so much for joining us. anti-war protesters around the world are denouncing the strikes in syria. some of the demonstrators in london are concerned the strikes could escalate the syrian civil war. >> we saw protests in turkey. many activists say only a political solution in syria could help bring stability to the region. and protesters in washington marched in front of the white

house saying hands off syria. still ahead this hour, a new mission for u.s. allies justifying air strikes against syria, as france proposes a new u.n. resolution. we take you live to paris and london, ahead.

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following the strike on syria. welcome back to viewers in the united states and arnoound the world. i'm george howell. >> i'm natalie allen. we want to recap for you. the operation was launched early saturday in response to the suspected chemical attack last week. the strikes targeted syria's chemical weapons program. the u.s. says they were a success. on twitter, president trump declared mission accomplished. >> 3 sites were targeted with 100 missiles. the u.s. says all the missiles hit their targets. syria and russia deny that. this video shows what's left of a reported research facility near damascus. the american, french and british leaders have spent quite a bit of time on the phone, since the air strikes, talking to world

leaders, explaining their actions. >> shinzo abe said the use of chemical weapons is inhumane and should not be allowed. on saturday, nato voiced support for the air strikes. >> nato condemns the repeated use of chemical weapons by the syrian regime. chemical weapons cannot be used with impunity. they cannot become normalized. they are an immediate danger to the syrian people and to our collective security. and those responsible must be held to account. >> at the united nations on saturday, the united states says it's, quote, locked and loaded," if it needs to answer again. france is calling for a new

mechanism to investigate chemical weapons attacks in syria. the u.s. and britain back that. >> phil black is in london for us, outside 10 downing streak, and atika shubert in paris to talk about their role in this strike. what is the u.k. government response to the outrage expressed by syria and iran and russia, on the side of syria. you have much of the world saying, this had to be done. those players, no surprise, they would express their outrage. >> yeah, natalie. britain sees the syria regime as a use of chemical weapons, and russia and iran as enablers. they think this military action was necessary, right and legal to reinforce that the use of chemical weapons is unacceptable in all circumstances, especially

against civilians. no mission accomplish tweets. just stressing that the mission was limited, specific, targeting only syria's chemical weapons capability that it's been successful and has wide ranging international support. >> atika shubert in ris. we've heart from theresa may and the u.s. president, mission accomplished. but we haven't heard from the french president macron. what's the expectation there? >> reporter: it's interesting. yesterday, everything we were getting from macron was via twitter. he said a red line had been crossed and it included a photo of him in that meeting at the defense ministry, giving the military order and a few follows all on twitter. today, we are expecting a

marathon interview to be happening later this evening. he's going to be profiled by -- interviewed and grilled by two high-profile journalists here in a live interview that's expected to last two hours. it has eight cameras. more than 100 people have been building the set for this. it's a massive undertaking. the interview has been planned for quite some time. it's going to mark the fact it's been a year since he was elected. clearly, it's going to be a platform for him to talk about and explain to the french people why he took this military action. >> following the story live in paris and outside number 10. thank you for the reporting. we'll stay in touch. let's put all of this in political perspective. steven is the chief diplomatic correspondent were "the new york times," live for us in brussels at this hour. pleasure to have you. >> thanks, george.

>> the u.s. president saying mission accomplished. those words haunted george w. bush in the iraq war. assad turned in chemical weapons in 2013 abnd he was back in business soon after. >> the accomplishments were minor but that was intended. a year ago, donald trump said i'm going to do what obama didn't do and he sent 59 cruise missiles and blew up a bunch of airplanes. and for a year or so, assad continued to use chemical weapons but in small portions. and now, a year later, there was a bigger attack and a very bad video. and now, the world has responded. but it has responded solely on the chemical weapons question. if you think about syria as 22

million people, half of woman are either refugees or internally displaced at this point. 500,000 seyrians have died. only 2,000 of them have died from chemical weapons. defense of the chemicalns weapo treaty when we choose to do it. but let's not exaggerate the impact of what just happened. >> putting it into perspective, for sure, keeping in mind the many people that have tried to escape that country for better lives, to escape the war and violence there. within that proclamation from the u.s. president of mission accomplished, there's the broader question, the red line on the use of chemical weapons. is it clear, is that red line coming down to chlorine?

does it come down to sarin? what is it? >> that's a good question, george. until the opcw comes with its findings, and it just got in after the attack, we don't know if sarin was used. we heard rumors. we've had some reports that it was used. generally, the syrians have been using chlorine for the last year, which, in the beginning, was not considered by itself a chemical weapon, though it is now considered by many to be so. assad has used chlorine regularly over the last year with nobody responding this way. it is possible that sarin gas was used this time, too. we don't know for sure but we know a horrible thing happened. and for the world to respond with horror with what happened is only right and just.

and i have no problem with the attack on syria's chemical weapons production facilities. all i'm simply saying is in the context of this murderous civil war, which now involves russia and iran and ez bow hezbollah a let's not stress the impact of what happened. >> in discussing the player that are in this, and hearing from the u.n., erdogan and putin are talking about a diplomatic solution. is there any chance at this point with assad seeming to have the upper hand and to be just about winning this thing? >> well, there is a new push to sit down in geneva. and of course, the russians have generally protected assad. i don't think the russians are particularly in love with assad. they just want the regime to

survive. assad is not that easy a client. i think he's refusing to go. there's a lot of people in the regime, people of his family, as well. he's not that easy to control. ruia and iran have saved him and his government. usually people are exhausted, war's end when a general direction is clear, here also a general direction is clear. there's a pressure from the europeans, from many people, now, to try to institute a long-lasting decent cease-fire while xwoenegotiations go on. that would only happen because assad feels he's in control of the biggest part of syria. >> steven, as always, thank you

for your input. we appreciate you joining us. >> thank you. more on the strikes in syria later this hour. a bit on u.s. politics. the feud between the former director and the fbi and the u.s. president heats up again, as james comey promotes his new book. now, he's explaining his mindset and the run-up during the and the run-up during the election. "i have antivirus, buty computer's still slow..." "that's not right..." "maybe if i reboot..." "what's with all the popups?" "why does it keep on crashing?" "this is taking forever." "i think it's time for the fixmestick." fixmestick is a plug-in virus removal device. it's the smart, simple, safe way to clean your computer yourself. with fixmestick you don't have to replace your computer. it helps you keep your files, and your privacy. fixmestick reboots your computer from a system on the stick, so that it can remove the malware that got past your antivirus software. it's the smart, simple way to clean an infected computer, with a whole lot going on inside the stick...

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an interesting few days ahead, for donald trump. on monday, the president's personal attorney, michael cohen, has been ordered to appear in court. that's after the fbi raided his home, office and hotel room to series evidence. >> cohen is under criminal investigation for a number of matters, including his rol i hush money paid to stor daniels, who says she had an affair with the president. daniels said she might show up, as well. on tuesday, james comey's book is officially released. excerpts are making a splash, including a clip of a tv interview. >> in the abc interview, comey says he thinks his belief that

clinton would win the election was the factor in his speaking out then. >> i don't remember consciously about thinking about that, but it must have been. i was operating in a world where hillary clinton was going to beat donald trump. i am sure it was a factor. i don't remember spelling it out, but it had to have been. that she was going to be elected president and if i hide this from the american people, she will be illegitimate the moment she is elected. >> if you knew that letter would elect donald trump, you'd still sent it? >> i would. >> whether the president is reading comey's book, that's unclear. but it hasn't stopped him from attacking that book. >> and it's all on twitter. here's cnn's brian todd. >> reporter: president trump calls james comey a weak slime ball. before the book comes out, trump

slammed the man he famously fired, often calling him a leaker and a liar. >> i fired comey. i turned out to be the right thing. you look at all what he's done and the lies and the fbi with the insurance policy and all the things that happened. i did the right thing. >> reporter: trump is venting his strongest anger towards comey, after comey revealed details that trump asked him to look at allegations that russians recorded trump watching prostitutes urinate in a hotel suite. >> he said if there's a 1% chance my wife thinks that's true, that's terrible. i'm thinking, how would your wife think there's a 1% chance. >> reporter: the fact this episode has personally embarrassed the president is at the heart of the war between the president and comey.

>> he is deeply wounded when he is humiliated. his whole life is about promoting how big and powerful and competent he is. the thing he dreads the most is being shown up. to being described as less than. >> reporter: biographers say it's a lifelong pattern. braden carter, for years, publicly insulted trump's physical traits. calling trump a short-fingered bulgarian. during the campaign, marco rubio got in on it. >> have you seen his hands? they're like this. you know what they say about men with small hands. >> reporter: and trump couldn't help himself. >> he referred to my hands. if they're small, something else must be small. i guarantee there's no problem. >> reporter: one of his most public embarrassments was at the hands of obama at the correspondents dinner. >> no one is happier, no one is prouder to put this birth

certificate mtero rest than the donald. and that' because hean finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter, like did we fake the moon landing? what really happened in roswell? and where are biggie and tupac? >> reporter: a seething trump never even attempted a smile. >> people who spoke to him afterwards said they were as angry as they'd ever seen him. he began talking much more seriously about challenging the president, about running for president himself. >> reporter: so far, trump hasn't publicly attacked stormy daniels and karen mcdougal. there's only been denials from the white house. but those accounts of alleged affairs would have allegedly barsed him. >> maybe they know more than what they've revealed so far. and this is a president who is sensitive to his wife's experience of all this. >> reporter: trump biographers

say it's possible that the president could go after others he's had relationships with if they cross thresholds or if they produce documents embarrassing to the president. if they cross the important threshold of humiliating donald trump. brian todd, cnn, washington. >> the book hasn't come out yet. we'll know more this coming week. an activist who survived a gas attack in syria more than four years ago, they've been going on that long, is now thanking the u.s. for taking action. but he tells cnn the strikes aren't enough. and we'll hear from him next.

looking at the launch of the missiles that went over syria. 105 were fired from naval and air platforms in the red sea, the gulf and the mediterranean. the strikes launched with france and the u.k. were a success. they targeted the chemical weapons program after the attack last week. >> the u.s. says all of the missiles hit their targets. iran and russia are critical of

the strikes. but ny nato cntries have been supportive this comes almost four years nce the world learned about one of the first chemical attacks attributed to the syrian regime. >> a survivor of that attack is now praising president trump for striking syria. he spoke earlier with our colleague, anna cabrera. >> i want to start by thanking president trump for showing true leadership and bravery and taking action against the brutal regime against bashar al assad. >> have you been in contact with anyone in syria? >> i talked to my friends yesterday. we all shared the same feelings. jumping, feeling that someone is going to punish us, especially after the recent massacres in douma, when he killed 205,000 civilians. but again, we all got to an end,

as soon as we heard general mattis talking. and as soon as we started knowing real information about what kind of strike it was. >> so, what is your message then to president trump about how you believe the u.s. can have a part in best protecting the syrian people from further atrocities? >> well, i just want to tell mr. trump, directly, i'm a syrian refugee who survived chemical weapon attacks, who lived for two years under siege and bombardment by the government. i would like to buy you a beer and sit in front of you and tell you how bad it is in syria. how you should listen to your heart, not listen to your generals. you proved you have a big heart, a lot bigger than obama because you tried to do something. we need real long-term coitment to bring peace to syria. we need to hold war criminals

accountable. otherwise, we will only help creating isis 2.0 that will come out and say they don't care about you, we're the only ones who want to fight assad. >> many like kassem say isis cant be defeated until there's a solution to the civil war. that's what we're talk about as our coverage on syria continues. >> stay with us. we'll be right back after the break.

we continue following the strike on syria. what comes next after the u.s., france and britain's military strike. i'm george howell. >> and i'm natalie allen. we begin with the u.s. claiming success. the united states u.k. and france laufrnched the strike afr the attack last week. president trump tweeted a perfectly