you're watching t w news live from berlin and russia slams the u.s. britain and france for launching air strikes against syria moscow calls an emergency meeting of the u.n. security council i'm sure the strikes targeted alleged chemical weapons facilities overnight syrian state t.v. released these images purportedly showing the destruction the western allies say the strikes are in response to the suspected poison gas attack by president assad's forces last week the u.s. says it's ready to strike again if further chemical attacks take place these are

not the actions of a man. they are crimes of a monster instead president from showing here denouncing assad and praising the u.s. military for what he calls a quote perfectly executed attack tweeting mission accomplished. waiter welcome to the program the u.n. security council has rejected a bid from russia to condemn the attacks the air strikes on syria carried out by the u.s. the u.k. and france russia called an emergency meeting of the council over the attacks but representatives voted against condemning the strikes us ambassador nikki haley's told the meeting that the allies are quote locked and loaded to strike syria again if further chemical weapons attacks occur are here today because u.n. secretary general antonio terrorists also spoke earlier and has called for call.

and they are all members to show restraint in these dangerous circumstances and to avoid any acts that escalates matters and worsening the suffering of the syrian people as i did yesterday i stressed the need to avoid the situation from spiraling out of control for more on the story let's go to w.'s washington bureau chief oleksandr phenomena and we'll also bring in russian analyst constantine find out who's been following the story for us but we'll start with you the united nations security council rejected russia's resolution condemning the attacks let's have a quick listen first what the u.s. ambassador had to say we're here today because three permanent members of the united nations security council acted the united kingdom france and the united states acted not as revenge not as punishment not as a symbolic show of force we acted to deter the future use of chemical weapons by

holding the syrian regime responsible for its atrocities against humanity so xander is that the u.s. saying it's ready to strike again. yes you're right the ambassador was pretty much clear about that she said that the. locked and loaded meaning is ready to strike again if the syrian government is going to use chemical weapons again and how he also added that and stress this readiness and determination by saying that if this president and draws a red line he in force is the red line and it was a very clear warning you know not only toward the syrian regime but also toward the russians here that you asked saying listen we don't let you to allow the syrian regime to use chemical weapons again and i think that moscow was listening very

carefully to that warning despite its harsh rhetoric now konstantin moscow our quested this meeting following the airstrikes let's also take a quick listen to what the russian ambassador had to say. going to zation for the group mission of chemical weapons dispatched its experts to syria in order to investigate all the circumstances of a misnomer however in a sign of cynical to stay in a group of western countries decided to take military action without waiting for the results of the investigation russia condemns in the strongest possible terms the attack against syria where russian military personnel are assisting the legitimate government in its counterterrorism unit from sony through its actions united states makes an already catastrophic humanitarian situation in syria even worse. it's a constant thing russia is saying that these strikes also threaten them how is that

true. well i think that's because the u.s. forces may be striking at the why the range of syrian targets they may also even accidentally hits russian advisors and russian military personnel and russian method. on the ground this is this is clearly a possibility and then put it will have to retaliate and he doesn't want to frankly i don't think he wants so the whole war with syria i think at the same time what what what the russian gun just doing in the us that it's trying to actually shift their tension from what it was doing with the help of russia and iran there to the action by the allies and i think it wasn't very successful judging by by the vote and by by what was spoken at the u.n. but these efforts will continue i think that's what russia really fears in the very act is that if the allies launch really

a massive strike with support joke eighty to eighty technology and radar blank out then probably a lot of russian hardware deployed in syria will not be able to cope with that then and one of the reasons that russia has been able to basically achieve what it is cheaper syria is because it was certain technical superiority including superiority in the air and superiority of air defenses until now so if they're overwhelmed by the american attack eventually then it will be of course a very bad thing for putin including his public image well xandra u.s. officials are saying that they have identified the chemicals that were used in the alleged chemical attack last week what do we know about that. they say that they believe that the nerve agent sarin was used in this attack in

duma in addition to chlorine and they came to this conclusion according to their words after analyzing images and witness accounts from the scene they say that symptoms described in reports of media and n.g.o.s symptoms such as constricted pupils convulsions and options of the central nervous systems that those symptoms don't come from chlorine they come from nerve agents however we have to say that the experts from the organization for their probably bishan of chemical weapons have not yet had a chance to study the aftermath of the attack in duma. constantine last one for you how could it russia respond to these airstrikes especially when there's a threat of a further assault in the air now. i don't think there will be any kind of big

military response to that i don't think that russia has in the ability to do that but i think what you have in this more on the diplomatic front and there will be more statements possibly. the russian parliament the duma which is now working on a draft law which will impose counter sanctions all the united states and its allies because of the sanctions that the americans imposed on old russia now it may add a couple of a couple things to the text that will indicate some kind of symbolic sanctions against the u.s. but i think for now it will stop there it all depends on how the americans and their allies are going to act in the coming days and months and death will determine what putin will do old earth frankly speaking i don't think that his arsenal is too big it's fairly limit that constantine fan i got for us and i did of your bureau chief in washington alexander phenomena thank you both

very much. meanwhile nato has presented as have been meeting in the belgian capital brussels the military alliance says all twenty nine of its members are backing the airstrikes or nato allies expressed their full support for the last night's actions which was intended to degrade the syrian regime's chemical weapons capability and to deter further chemical weapons attacks against the people of syria nade thought strongly condemns the repeated use of chemical weapons by the syrian regime. earlier president trump gave his reasoning for the joint strike he said they were in response to last week's a legit gas attack in the syrian town of duma that assault left dozens of civilians dead within minutes of trump's announcement missiles began hitting targets in and

around the cities of damascus and homs. lighting up the night sky and bring to syria possible wave of strikes by u.s. french and british forces they were aimed at facilities crucial to syria's alleged chemical weapons program. in the capital damascus and in the western city of homs. syrian state t.v. claims that one of those missiles had destroyed accounts a research center. the joint military action came a week after a gas attack on civilians thought to have been carried out by the syrian army. we are prepared to sustain this response until the syrian regime stops to choose of prohibited chemical agents i also have a message tonight for the two governments most responsible for supporting equipping

and financing the criminal assad regime. to iran and to russia i ask what kind of a nation wants to be associated with the mass murder of innocent men women and children. it's the largest display of force by western nations against the assad regime since the civil war began. the british prime minister insists it's not about toppling syria's president. this was specifically about the use of chemical weapons there is a wider question on the future political solution for syria and that is a matter that we will continue to pursue in diplomatic channels and diplomatic and political channels with our international partners and allies. this was the response from bashar al assad the president arriving for work this morning business as usual. but russia's foreign minister said the strikes were lawless and

unacceptable he wanted to know why the u.s. and allies had preempted the official investigation into the gas attack. which will produce will see i'm going of course everyone understands that what happened the day before the official chemical weapons inspectors were supposed to travel to the place of the incident in order to confirm the presence or absence of evidence of the use of chemical weapons there. being at the. school. arriving in damascus on saturday ahead of a visit the site of the gas attack the team of weapons inspectors came one step closer to the tree. germany did not take part in the airstrikes but german officials are due to meet with representatives from france britain and the u.s. that meeting will take place in london on sunday to discuss what steps should be taken next german foreign minister says berlin will help lead

a new temple mattick push to end the war in syria. five stormed the united nations must lead and carry the negotiation process. it's a problem but the un needs our active engagement to give a new impetus to the discussions from and. so we will work together with france to create an international format of influential nations to give the political process new momentum. right i'm joined now by c.w. political correspondent simon young to help us break this all down so the german foreign minister was talking about this international format what does that mean and what kind of role could germany play well i think germany like other players here is well aware that the the only thing that will end the war is a compromise perhaps a diplomatic approach in the foreign minister also said there that germany continues to support the u.n.

geneva process which has been going on for years to try and find a negotiated solution but the german government seems to think that there is perhaps an open opportunity here to go beyond that to breathe new life into efforts to end the syrian conflict as a whole and that of course means getting all the players around the table not just syria but iran turkey russia united states and so on germany could be a broke up house in that process given that it hasn't been involved in military action here and heiko loss seems to have a plan he was talking also today about a last thing ceasefire being that the first thing that's needed to allow humanitarian efforts to go on the destruction of chemical weapons under u.n. supervision and ultimately he said a transitional government and new elections in syria so there is a a sort of a plan forming got an outline and as you mentioned bringing all the players to the table and ma says especially said that it's essential to get russia on board for

any sort of political process to succeed but what kind of leverage does berlin have to get. russia to the table yeah i think slightly less than has been the case in recent months because of course russia is now embroiled in this brew hold sort of conflict with the west over its role in the nerve agent attack in the u.k. its role in cyber attacks its alleged role in influencing or trying to influence elections and so on so that's why the foreign minister has also said in recent days that russia's actions are increasingly hostile indicates and berlin will take a tougher line in the future and he's arguing for instance for sanctions economic sanctions against russia to stay in place and so on at the same time everyone here knows that russia has to be part of the solution and for instance the gem president by just on my ass said that until washington and america come together you know the chances of a solution to syria are pretty much zero.