♪ >> bill: "the o'reilly factor" is on tonight. >> do i think? yes, i think. >> bill: president trump president trump commenting on the susan rice situation, which was a big break for him. "talking points" will explain. >> i think it is crazy that we are considering confirming a lifetime trump nominee to the supreme court. that is nuts. >> bill: the far left trying everything to derail judge gorsuch's supreme court appointment but they fail. we'll have the latest. >> can i see some dance moves? >> i want someone to sing "galveston" for me. [laughter] >> i don't know the lyrics. >> bill: also, i had come is to watters in texas doing some

spring break analysis. >> i understand what it is about drinking and being on spring break and dealing with naked people. >> bill: caution, you are about to enter the "no spin zone" ." "the factor" begins right now. ♪ >> bill: hi, i am bill o'reilly. thanks for watching us tonight. a good week for president trump. that is a subject of this evenings "talking points" memo. if you have noticed an uptick in the media-trump hatred, it is no accident. after a few rocky weeks, the president has had a very good few days. he met with the president of egypt and the king of jordan. both men praising him lavishly. this is important because egypt and jordan are helping america in the fight against isis. also, mr. trump got an enormous break when the susan rice story hit. whether the former national security advisor under president obama did anything wrong or not, story has taken

attention away from allegations about the russia-trump campaign stuff. so, even though the left-wing media doesn't want to cover their susan rice story, that's obvious, fair news agencies like the fox news channel are discussing act. the american people are aware of it. that helps deflect does liberal bias against president trump. then, the looming appointment of judge neil gorsuch's supreme court. democrats in in the senate blocked the boat today but no, republicans have changed the rules and the judge is likely to be confirmed tomorrow. that is a big win for president trump by "the drudge" is a traditional man who will not rule on his political beliefs as some supreme court justices now do. gorsuch is despised on the left because they know he could be on the court for decades that he is not going to carry water for anyone. in fact, i wouldn't be surprised if some conservative americans are disappointed by justice

gorsuch because he is not a political guy. all in all, president trump is nominated a fair amount of the court, a person who will not buy into the myth of the united states need to be changed in dramatic ways. finally, mr. trump will meet with the chinese president, an avowed communist, over the next few years in palm beach florida. i don't know if there are any other communists in palm beach, may be. as he hopes to get china's hope to subdue north korea, which has become a major threat. mr. trump also wants to modify trade deals also more american products are sold in china, the most populated country on earth, nearly 1.5 billion people. things have gone very well this week for donald trump. as you know, every day is an adventure. however, it is safe to say the trump haters are very frustrated this evening. that is the memo. now, the top story. the head of the house intelligence committee devin noonan is now saying he is stepping aside for the

committee's investigation of russian interference in the 2016 election. mr. nunes under heavy pressure for going to the white house before he briefed his fellow committee members on surveillance information that he was given. joining us from arlington, virginia, former speaker of the house, newt gingrich. he knows how these things work. were you surprised nunes stepped aside? >> i was. i talked with him today. he has a good rational reason, he doesn't want his fellow members to go home and spent the next two weeks answering questions about him. so, he simply stepped to one side. that puts trey gowdy, who knows a great deal about investigations, and a key position on the russian thing. nunes is still chairman of the full committee. probably not what i would have done, but i respect his reasoning and why he didn't. he did it to protect his fellow republicans. >> bill: the pressure on him was enormous, though, i think the left would claim a victory there, will they not?

>> sure. it is all garbage. the trickle group that filed against him, one of them was moveon.org. i think they have filed or absurd. i i think somebody frankly shoud cut them off and not allow them to ever file because what they are doing is so pointedly political. i think in that sense, nunes probably would have been better off historically to just shrug it off and keep moving. i don't think republicans can afford to recuse themselves every time some left-wing groups smears them. i think with the attorney general recusing himself, with nunes recusing himself, this is not a good habit to get into. >> bill: the susan rice story. again, were you surprised when that broke? how do you assess it as it stands now? no speculation zone here, mr. speaker. >> you and i are both holding oh to remember water great. that was a physical break and if i campaign headquarters and only

people going to jail and richard nixon resigning from the presidency. this is the equivalent of an electronic watergate. electronically eavesdropping on the transition team for the other party after they won the election. apparently, the national security advisor was requesting it. if it is not illegal, it sure should be illegal. this is insanity. you cannot have the instrument of the government used to eavesdrop on your opponents without enormous long-term destruction. >> bill: that's a pretty bold assessment. you say that susan rice, then the national security advisor to the president, working in the white house, you say flat out, mr. speaker, that she sought classified surveillance for political reasons. that is what you said. correct me if i am wrong. >> that is what i said. >> bill: how can you back that

up? >> first of all, what they have to do is subpoena the documents, as a historian, i don't think these documents happen to show up on her desk. because somebody happened to drop by and go, "oh, susan." >> bill: the reporting is that she actively sought them, not only on the transition team, but before that. our fox news investigators said almost a year she was doing it. we know that. but we don't know the motive. >> oh, come on, bill. the national security advisor has no reason to be listening to her political opponents. it is a total violation of the american system. as i said a minutes ago, if it is not illegal, they ought to pass a law to make it illegal. this is very dangerous stuff. >> bill: there is a context. >> one more thing. do you really believe that the national security advisor, whose offices directly down the hall from the oval office, did this for over a year and barack obama

didn't know about it? >> bill: i believe where the facts take me. okay? but there is, as we discussed last night, and detail on this program, there is a rationale because once the emails of john podesta and others in the dn became public on a hack and then, once russia was raised as a possible hacker, then, it becomes a national security issue, right in her alleyway. am i wrong? >> [laughs] as a matter of public record, this was an entire book, we know that bill clinton got a half million dollars for a speech in moscow. we know that the clinton foundation got millions of dollars from russians. we know that john podesta's brother, the chairman of the clinton campaign, his brother is a registered agent for a bank that is largely controlled by putin. we know lots of stuff or advising that a national security issue? >> bill: you are dodging the

question. how unlike you. susan rice, national security advisor -- let me rephrase it. national security advisor gets information that there is a hack going on against democrats and russian may be doing it. doesn't she have two swing into action? that is going to be her rationale. she will say, look, we were investigating the hack and that is why i had to go in and to see was talking to. >> there is no reason for the national security advisor to know who is talking to who unless the fbi or the cia or the national security agency comes in and says, oh, this person is directly implicated. otherwise, she has no national reason to know that. everybody who has talked about this, the former director of national intelligence, the head of the national security agency, the head of the fbi, have all said there is no evidence of any collusion between trump and the trump campaign and the russians.

to be when that is that ms. rice had no investigative authority o look at this stuff. she could have asked the justice department to do it. certainly, loretta lynch would have done it, right? they are bugs. >> would be totally appropriate -- but for her to know it, for it to be taken to the white house, and a form which allowed her to know who the americans were, and at the time when they happened to be the opposition ticket, then, they happen to be the transition team of the opposition party, this just frankly is an extraordinarily dangerous situation because now, you have the dash this is like some third world dictatorship. the power of the federal government looking into what the opposition is doing in a way which, as i pointed out earlier, all of watergate involved one physical break in one time. this apparently involves electronic break-ins over months. >> bill: are you going to make a prediction that this story is

going to blow up like watergate did? >> the republicans in the house and senate, for reasons beyond my comprehension, have allowed us to be defined by the news media in a one-sided way. if they want to look into russian efforts to shape american politics and they want to look at both parties, that's fine. but for them to allow this to be defined as they look at the trump administration, et cetera, is crazy. if they don't go after -- this is simple. it is subpoena all the decision documents, subpoena all the emails, find out who was delivering what to her, when did she know it, and did she give any of it to the president of the united states? if obama was getting the stuff, this is as explosive as watergate. a speed when i'm hearing director combing at the fbi is not cooperating with the investigation, at least on the house side. are you hearing that? >> i don't know if that is true or not. if it is, they should subpoena him. the director of the fbi is not a petty dictator of law

enforcement who is about the congress. he is a creature of the executive branch and he has direct responsibilities to congress and he should be cooperating. although, again, the justice department, 97% of the donations of the justice department went to hillary clinton. 32-1 ratio of pro-clinton over pro trump in the justice department. i think that has to worry every american. it might lead us to change back and cut off all federal donations from federal employees. >> bill: mr. speaker, as always. thank you very much. next on "the rundown" ," fox nes reporters have more information about the susan rice story and you will hear it. later, judge pirro on the outrage of the week. and watters on galveston, texas, chasing away spring breakers. those reports after these messages.

>> bill: my continuing saga of the former national security advisor, susan rice. as we know, fox news along with bloomberg is reporting that ms. rice actively sought to

classified information for about a year. some of that involve the trump campaign staff and transition people. caught on wiretaps involving foreign nationals. joining us from los angeles, fox news outcome investigator, malia zimmerman. what do you have a forest tonight that is new? >> hi, bill. one of the stories we have been working on is what you brought up with newt gingrich, which is stonewalling. we understand from the house and senate intelligence committees that there has been stonewalling by the u.s. intelligence agencies that are supposed to provide information. that would include, for example, the nsa. that would include the fbi. as you recall, they had an open hearing in the house with the intelligence committee. james comey and admiral rogers came to talk to the house intelligence committee members. that was a public hearing. during that hearing, they were 100 questions that weren't answered. they were supposed to come back into private sessions and that was never done. his speed was they didn't show up.

i remember that. when you say stonewalling, what form did the questioning from the house until committee in the senate intel committee, they didn't subpoena documents, did they? >> what they did, they ask these questions during the hearing. when they weren't able to answer them publicly because they said it was classified or they couldn't reveal that information, they said they would come back and have a private hearing with the house. also, you remember representative nunes had recover that information from his review and the white house executive office of those documents. he wanted to review those with them in private. there has been, from what we were told, all kinds of excuses as to why james comey hasn't come back and really, no response on several of the questions. >> bill: congress goes on easter break. that means this will be put off until late april, early may. i think they may have to subpoena things and they should. it should and they at this

point? that is how you get information. subpoenas to the fbi and the nsa and say, look, we need to know, the speaker of the house was just mentioning, how many people were unmasked, how many times susan rice walked in and ask for information. they have to give that up under subpoena, do they not? >> they will do. also, you would want them to ask for the logs. there is a paper trail, a very extensive paper trail, in terms of what susan rice asked for, and other people in the administration ask for, and how it was given to them. in terms of the unmasking. they have to get those logs. that is a key part of it. >> bill: so, physically, susan rice goes to the fbi building or to the nsa building, and checks in, and then, makes a request for research and information. she has to make the request so they can bring it to her.

correct? >> rights. >> bill: true they do that request in writing or verbally? >> you know, i'm not sure how that works. >> bill: she has to make it either in writing or verbally. i want to see this, that she has gotten a heads up on from somebody. then, they write to that request down, that is what you are talking about, there is a log, where the fbi employee involved, okay come on this day, susan rice asked to see this informat. that has to be written down, correct? >> correct. every time they go into the system, from what i am told, there is a log, there is a record of that. so, that would be providing a date that the document, what it was regarding, and the name that was supposed to be unmasked through that process. it is probably a gold mine of information. i >> bill: it would be a summation of what ms. rice took

away, what she sought, a summation. i'm just not sure come because i don't know any of this, i don't know what they do, what they were required to do, but if they are required, as you say, to keep a detailed log of what would happen, you are right, you subpoenaed that and you can figure out how often she was over there, what she saw -- i don't know if they have to give a reason. do they have to give a reason? >> i would imagine not. just have the actual documentation. i understand because we have asked what other names, what are the names that have been unmasked. to find that out probably would be a violation of classified information. >> bill: they won't give it to the press. >> right. but people have told us basically that they are tracking everybody that logs into that system and what is requested, what documents are printed. as you know -- there is a very careful record.

>> bill: please keep us posted. very interesting story. directly ahead, "outrage of the week" trying to torpedo judge gorsuch. later, the tyrant assad gassing his own people again. now, the usa may take military action. the latest next. you always pay

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>> bill: a "outrage of the week" segment. judge neil gorsuch, a left-leaning website tried to smear him with plagiarism charges. turned out to be bogus. far left senator elizabeth warren is almost hysterical. >> i think it is crazy that we are considering confirming a lifetime nominee to the supreme court at a moment when the president campaign is under the cloud of an active, ongoing

fbi counterintelligence investigation that could result in indictment and appeal that will go all the way to the supreme court. so that trumps nominee could be the deciding vote on whether trump or his supporters broke the law and will be held accountable. that is nuts. >> bill: then, godzilla comes. i'm sorry. here now, judge jeanine pirro. you see her saturday and sunday nights at 9:00 p.m. on fnc. now, that is a partisan opinion. how does it rise to the level of outrage? >> it rises to the level of outrage because there are no facts to support that. what do you find her saying, she is predicting with her crystal ball that the president is probably going to be indicted, convicted, going to the supreme court. i guess she didn't have that crystal ball when hillary clinton was running. but i digress. i think most incredible about this is that she talked about

his record and how he is not in the mainstream and yet, she doesn't identify anything in his record. and she talks about women's rights as it relates to judge gorsuch, when the truth is, that her rights, her record as it relates to women, is unbelievable. this is a woman who -- when we find out from the free beacon that women in her senate office are paid $0.71 per dollar that men are paid. >> bill: she was impressed by that revelation by the washington free beacon. i don't know if people saw it. let me just get the report out. the report was that in senator warren's office, women are making $0.71, whereas men doing the same kind of job are making $1. today, i think this is the national equal pay day.

she usually is in the front of that, espousing that. today, she couldn't say anything. >> she didn't say anything for the first time in years. here is a woman in a canoe paddling, she's got no facts behind her argument. i am not going to predict what kind of canoe she has. >> bill: the most important thing you said and why the judge is outraged is because the hypothesis that she put out, that gorsuch shouldn't be confirmed because may be some day, sometime, trump or some of his associates might have to face the justice system, is based on nothing at all. >> it's absurd. >> bill: if that argument were to carry forth, nobody could possibly be confirmed to anything because he could always fabricate -- that is what i said about godzilla. this might happen and therefore you can't have that.

so, i am in accord with your outrage. >> but aside from that, if you think about it, this is a man that america watched in hearings, who has the temperament, the intellect, who was voted unanimously by democrats, many of whom were in the senate now -- >> bill: trump wasn't president. >> that is the point. this is all about democrats hating donald trump. >> bill: it's moot because the judge will be a justice tomorrow. this is interesting. judge pirro, much more photogenic than i am, take a good look, is now going to host a show on the fox broadcast network, the people who give you "the simpsons," called "you, the jury." now, you are not only a fox news star, but you are a fox broadcast a star, as well. what is this a show about? >> bill, the american people has always been fascinated by

courtroom standby trials. this is the first time america can actually watch a trial ripped from the headlines, outrageous cases, that they are familiar with, and actually engage in in a deliberation tht itself. >> bill: they will vote? >> america is the jury. i will stand there and say, ladies and gentlemen, you have r fox news app and get ready to vote for the plaintiffs. >> bill: everybody all over the country votes. >> you, america, areury. >> bill: guilty or not guilty? >> liable, not liable. >> bill: all civil stuff? >> we are not sending you to jail. >> bill: are they are actors playing the people? >> they are real. >> bill: you dragon real people? >> we have the best lawyers in the country. i was amazed at the skill of the lawyers. in the end, we have the litigants of the closing arguments, they face off, they use the pain, the anger, the hostility -- >> bill: an hour or half-hour? >> the it's an hour.

these are cases where from the headlines. >> bill: friday night, 9-10:00 p.m. then, "the simpsons" follow you or before? i love "the simpsons." no, i don't. plenty more as "the factor" moves ahead along. will the united states bomb syria? after that, we will have the latest. watters spring breaking in texa texas. >> what is that like when all those college students come around here? >> i have no idea. >> it's party time. it's crazy time. >> bill: yeah, crazy time. we hope you stay tuned for those reports. ♪

>> this is a fox news alert. i'm jonathan hunt. the white house considering options for military action in syria. it follows this week's horrific chemical weapons attack that left close to 100 people dead and scores wounded and rebel held territory. president trump is being presented with his military options by secretary of defense general james mattis and nsc advisor h.r. mcmaster, while traveling to florida, mr. trump had this to say. >> i think what happened in syria is a disgrace to humanity. and he's there and i guess he is

running things, so, something should happen. >> in the meantime, fox news has just learned that the u.n. security council will not vote on a resolution on syria tonight. however, we have been told consultations among council members are ongoing. the full senate votes tomorrow on the supreme court nomination of judge neil gorsuch to replace justice antonin scalia. two hours of debate are scheduled, followed by the vote now scheduled for 11:30 a.m. eastern. his confirmation is expected. only a simple majority is needed. since the republicans used the so-called nuclear option today, all 52 republican senators and through democrats are expected to vote in favor of his confirmation. i am jonathan hunt. now, back to "the o'reilly factor." ♪ >> bill: "truth serum" segment. disturbing situation in washington state, regarding a criminal illegal alien, who had been deported four times. >> a routine traffic collision with no injuries turned into

something that has changed lives. armando chavez corolla, the innocent victim, has been deported. his family claim to the trooper kept him at the scene too long. even though they admit he was here illegally, married to a u.s. citizen. the family says shabbos was at the scene several hours. for the state patrol chief said their internal investigation did not find that the trooper actually did a stall. >> she did not. the investigation didn't prove that. >> bill: they are mad because the bluebirds attained the illegal alien, so i.c.e. could . you may have noticed the reporter called mr. corona and innocent victim. that was the reporter's words. the man is a felony drug conviction in this country, he has been deported four times. before he was deported again on march 2nd. the innocent victim. here now with us in new york city, our "truth serum" correspondence, eric shawn and shannon bream. let's talk about the state trooper. tell me about what happened to

her. >> there was an investigation about whether or not she detained him. when she showed up to this accident, there were three different collisions involve. he was one of the people involved. she ran his driver's license. when she did, there was a hit for my federal agency that said this is a previously deported felons. we need you to contact us for more information. >> bill: let me stop you. the state trooper runs the license, as they bored in any accident, and there is a hit. police detained because the person has been deported four times. i don't know whether the drug felony was on the sheet or not. what does she do? >> she does. she continues to investigate the situation, the accident. during this time, what she ended up getting in trouble for her, she turned off the camera and her car, kept everybody there until the i.c.e. agent showed up -- >> bill: the i.c.e. agent came out to the accident site? she alerted the i.c.e. agent. >> they would have never known otherwise.

they said this is a felony convicted, four time deported individual. >> bill: the governor of washington says the state trooper is not allowed to do that. >> that order came out right after this accident and said -- >> bill: this is after the accident. she didn't defy the governor because she did it before. >> she has been cleared by the investigation. they said she didn't do anything illegally, notifying i.c.e. the only thing we didn't like is that the camera got turned off at some point. >> bill: if she had done the exact same thing, because of the order from the governor, now, she would have been in trouble. >> a different story because now there is an order, don't cooperate with a feds -- >> bill: even if it is a convicted felon drug beat and four deportations, the state troopers in the state of washington are forbidden by the governor to inform her i.c.e.? >> based on his order, they wouldn't want to take a chance for their own careers. >> bill: this is where we are living. now, susan rice, as everybody

knows, is in the news. we asked eric shawn, our "truth serum" correspondent, to tell us about her. there's a lot of rumor and nasty stuff about her. let's give it a fair shot. >> she is 52 years old, born and raised in washington. a prominent family, her father was the first african-american member of the federal reserve board in washington. she's a brainiac with a stands for phi beta kappa, oxford, a rhodes scholar. she got involved in foreign product on my policy, helping president clinton's campaign, that put her into the white house. she went into the national security council dealing with peacekeeping and international organizations during rwanda genocide. >> bill: and bill clinton as president, so, she is in the white house, then, what happens? >> she becomes existent secretary of state under madeleine albright. she is in the state department

during the george w. bush years, she goes to the brookings institute. and then, she endorses and gets involved with not hillary clinton in 2008, but barack obama. >> bill: she was on the obama train early. when you say she was assistant secretary of state, there are a lot of assistance, not just one. >> she was for african affairs. africa is a major interest of hers. >> bill: areas of expertise. president obama gets elected and she worked for his campaign, what happens to her? >> she is nominated and goes to the u.n., as the u.n. ambassador dürer to the united nations under president obama. she is there for four years, deals with iran and north korea, but is perhaps best known for the day she appeared in the sunday news programs talking about benghazi. >> bill: she was the u.n. ambassador at the time? >> yes. >> bill: why would she do that when she is a u.n. ambassador, why didn't the obama administration set up one of the

national security people? >> there's a lot of talk about hillary clinton not doing it or not wanting to do it. so, she was the one who went out there and said it was a spontaneous reaction. >> bill: she called all kinds of hell for that. then, she was involved in the bowe bergdahl scandal. >> after that, at one point, she was up for secretary of state, she withdrew her name, the feeling was there was too much controversy over benghazi. you become the national security advisor when bowe bergdahl was traded, swapped for the taliban five. she supports that, defending it saying that he served with honor and distinction, it was a p.o.w. captured on the battlefield. we know now the truth is that he walked off the base because he wanted to complain about the conditions. >> bill: the trail starts pretty soon. >> five years held captive by the taliban. his trial for desertion and conduct -- there is a hearing in may. >> bill: that is her resume. now, she is caught up in this,

whether she was involved in unmasking americans who should not have been unmasked pretty good, shawn. i am impressed. thank you, guys. i appreciate it. when we come back, will there be war in syria? will the usa bomb them? will have the latest. watters on one texas city is saying they don't want the college spring breakers. up ahead. ♪

>> announcer: "the o'reilly factor," the number one cable news show for 16 years and counting. >> bill: thanks for staying with us. i am bill o'reilly. and the "impact segment" tonight, where there be a war in syria? as you know come the time and assad, who runs the country, fighting a civil war to keep power aided by russia. this week, assad used poison gas to kill men, women, and children, at least 86 people have died. that prompted this from the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. >> when the united nations consistently fails in its duty to act collectively, there are times in the life of states that we are compelled to take our own action. for the sake of the victims, i

hope the rest of the council is finally willing to do the same. >> bill: joining us now from washington, christopher harmer. and from boston, fox news military analyst, colonel david hunt, author of the new book "without mercy." colonel hunt, what you think is going to happen here? >> what i think is going to happen, the secretary of defense will meet this weekend, talk to the president, and ask or tell him, two options, strategic or attacking. one is wiped the entire air force off the map. if we are sure that assad did this, or a smaller tactical strike, just take out an airfield, airfields are a couple planes. it sounds to me that we aren't laying the groundwork from the ambassador, as you just showed, and from rex tillerson, and from the president, to do something for you to the issue is going to be, we have u.s. forces on the ground. if we do this against assad,

there will be consequences and put u.s. forces, who are already deep inside to syria, at risk. >> bill: about 1,000 u.s. troops, i understand. when you say they will put them at risk, how clocks like the bombs aren't going to fall on them. they will be targeted at the air force, which is in that bed, by the way. it was estimated that it would take one day for the u.s. forces to knock on the syrian air force. he had >> forces on the ground, that has been coordinated with assad's forces on the russians. that is coordinated. if we bomb assad for this reason, by the way, he has been killing his own kids for years. if we do this, the u.s. forces to lose that coordination effort and it puts us in danger. they are already in the middle of six countries there are at war in the middle of syria played a very dangerous place.

this will heighten it. that has to be a consideration. >> bill: mr. harmer, do you see it that way? >> i don't see any heightened risk. they are already in country and fighting. the people that they are fighting against are overwhelmingly isis and al qaeda. they are not the targets of this potential strike. the targets of this is striker the ability of the assad regime to develop chemical weapons. in a relatively short. backup time, we could destroy the entirety of the syrian air force. prior to the war, they were fairly big. after six years of civil war, it has been ruined. coming from an infantry background, i am synthetic to the man on the ground. i don't want to place them at further risk. i don't see that a strike against the syrian air force depletes the forces -- >> bill: the colonel's point is this. if assad is allowing transit, for example, of u.s. forces from iraq into his country, not

impeding that, that is the deal, okay, that he wouldn't do that anymore. that it would be more difficult. it might even open fire on the troops if they found not. certainly, assad won't be happy that the u.s. is bombing his airfields. conceivably, that could happen. >> certainly, anything is conceivable. i can't imagine that assad bashar al- is going to escalate against the united states. >> bill: i would say it is a gamble. if there military action does launch, russian planes are ther there, too. aren't russian planes there? >> it's not like russian planes is pressure on the ground. by the way, as my friend should know, there's a lot more than 1,000 soldiers in syria. the point i'm trying to make, it is already bad enough. there are six different armies and ten terrorist organizations in the middle of this.

for the amount of u.s. soldiers in point, and bombs, although they can be surgical, can be indiscriminate. how about week kill a couple of russians or hit a russian aircraft? >> bill: you have to let russia know ahead of time. if president trump doesn't do anything, he becomes like president obama. they let the gas go. assad has a history of it. he said he destroyed his cash of outlawed gas weapons, that's not true. all israeli intel and u.s. intel know that. if we let it go, then, trump looks weak. he looks like obama, no? underss could work. i am also not convinced that this is assad. why would he do this? this sounds to me more like rebels. if it turns out to be them, understand that we are changing the nature of the game. that is unpredictable.

>> bill: i don't think you can stand by and do nothing. i don't know if bombing is the right thing to do but i think you have to do something. we'll give you the last word, mr. harmer. >> the days of collateral damage or significantly reduced. we are talking about tomahawk cruise missiles that have a range of 1,000 nautical miles. accuracy within 1 meter. we are talking about 98, 99% success race. i the other thing regarding who conducted this attack, we have hundreds of survivors that said this attack was conducted by aircraft. none of the rebels have that kind of aircraft. this was a false flag information, that is not supported by the facts. >> bill: go discussion. one quick note, colonel hunt's book "without mercy" is a thriller. watters on deck. texas city says no to young spring breakers. watters is next.

>> "shepard smith reporting." interesting developments today and foreign policy. this afternoon, secretary of state rex tillerson announced from south florida that the president of the united states had been deeply impacted by the syrian strikes, the syrian missile strikes, i should say criminal, chemical strike that killed dominic some 80 people. the syrian dictator, bashar al- assad launching that attack on his own people, leaving more than 100 people wounded. the president had previously said that the syrian people should decide the fate of bashar al- assad. the secretary of state suggested that the united states might be leaning in another direction. here is what he said about the chemical attack by the syrian regime. >> that attack on children yesterday had a big impact on me. big impact. that was a horrible, horrible thing. i have been watching it and

seeing it and it doesn't get any worse than that. i have that flexibility. it is very, very possible, and i will tell you it has already happened, that my attitude toward syria and assad has changed very much. >> that from the president in the rose garden with their jordanian king. shortly after a reporter asked the president, does this mean that this has crossed a line? remember, back in 2013, president obama said that a syrian criminal, chemical strike crossed a line. the united states acted with diplomacy. the president was asked, did this action crossed the red line? this is what he said. >> had crossed a lot of lines for me. when you kill innocent children, innocent babies, babies, little

babies, with the chemical gas that is so lethal, people were shocked to hear what gas it was, that crosses many, many lines, beyond a redline. many, many lines. >> that was the presidency yesterday. today, this afternoon, the president went to mar-a-lago in florida triggered the chinese. they are scheduled for meetings there tonight, in fact, they are having a dinner at mar-a-lago as we speak. at the same time, just before 3:00 eastern time this afternoon, the secretary of state rex tillerson, who was also down in south florida, came to the microphones to talk about possibilities. >> the events that have occurred in syria with a chemical weapons attack here in the past day, just i think horrified all of us and brought to the front pages into our television screens, as well, the tragedy that is part of the syrian conflict. there is no doubt in our minds

and the information that we have the supports that syria, the syrian regime, under the leadership of president bashar al- assad are responsible for this attack. i think further, it is very important that the russian government consider carefully there continue support for the assad regime. >> that is certainly a change. it was secretary tillerson who just three days ago said that the fate of the syrian dictator, bashar al- assad, would be left to the syrian people. the truth is, millions of syrians have left that country. more than 1 million more are displaced because of the ongoing civil war. humanitarian aids say that some 500,000 syrians have been killed by the syrian government. attacks on their own people is absolutely nothing new. it has been going on for the better part of seven years. in fact, there have been widespread reports of barrel bombing, the dropping of barrels from planes and from helicopters, that left men,

women, and children, some asleep in their own beds, killed in the dark of night. that, if true, would be a war crime. the investigation has continued throughout. then, we learned that last night, senior white house officials began a late night meetings to discuss possibilities. what command theory, the united states might be able to do. secretary of state -- secretary of defense madison the army general h.r. mcmaster and along with rex tillerson came together, they were told the meeting last night lasted into the early morning hours of today. the joint chiefs were said to come together early this morning. again, discussing possibilities. what is possible to try to stop the syrian dictator, bashar al- assad. make no mistake, the pentagon has been game planning the sort of thing for a very long time. the "if then" possibilities are always on the table. the pentagon does this sort of thing for reasons around the world. consider the problems of north korea, as the north koreans recently launched yet another missile, one that failed and fell into the water

sooner than they expected. but it happened while we were waiting for this meeting with the chinese president, xi, ongoing right now in south florida. the question is, what will the united states do next? the president said that we could act alone in north korea. now, the war this afternoon come the secretary of state rex tillerson is at the united states is working to bring together a coalition to see what the options are to strike against the syrian dictator, bashar al- assad. we know that a meeting was scheduled at the united nations tonight, there was talk of a possible resolution on this matter. at the word inside the united nations was that the russians are slow rolling mess. the reasoning, the russians backed the syrian army and the syrian dictator, bashar al- assad. the russians have been up supplying the syrians with weapons. the united states backed the syrian rebels, which are fighting against the syrian government. in the midst, hezbollah, backed by the iranians.

there are a lot of forces on scene at the same time, along with american forces, who are working to fight against isis. a perilous environment under all circumstances. but the president has made it clear, something must happen. the question is what. that is what we are waiting to find out. if and when they make some sort of decision about what to do in syria. jennifer griffin worked at the pentagon for us and has been following with today. secretary of state tillerson with a different tone today than we have seen before, jennifer. >> very interesting, shepard. secretary of state tillerson clearly said that steps were being taken to remove the regime. i am told by officials that he may have over spoken. planners of the pentagon certainly have no appetite at this moment in time for regime change in syria. but there is a feeling that president bashar al- assad needs to pay a price for having used chemical weapons on his own people. here's what we know happen today. we know late today that the joint chiefs might hear and what

is known as the tank. they had a meeting to discuss those options for syria military reactions and what the second and third order effect would be to any sort of air strikes or strikes in syria. we know that they met late this afternoon. we know national security advisor h.r. mcmaster and defense secretary jim mattis flew down to mar-a-lago where they briefed the president is afternoon on the military options available to him with regards to syria. at the same time, simultaneously, and new york at the u.n. security council, ambassador nikki haley was involved in intense negotiations in the security council. they were supposed to raise and discuss further a syrian resolution that was being put together. we know from our producer who was up outside those meetings, that in fact they watered down some of that resolution and then, the u.s. had wanted to

vote on that resolution this evening. but without a vote was postponed until tomorrow. but it is not happening tonight. those discussions at the security council has ceased for this evening. so, all eyes right now on mar-a-lago and any decision that president trump will be making, will have made, with regards to striking an syria, the indicates are, if you listen to his tone and the change of tone, the way he has discussed in syria and the last 48 hours, i'm told there have been high-level discussions for the last 48 hours and that the president is very serious about sending a message to president assad. >> jennifer griffin at the pentagon. let's go down to mar-a-lago. our senior white house correspondent john roberts is five there this evening. john, xi, the chinese president on-site at the moment. the speaker that is correct. he arrived this afternoon. the president greeted him at

mar-a-lago just before dinnertime. they had it to brief meetings of men, having dinner tonight. the hard work of diplomacy between china and the united states will come tomorrow, that is when the president is expected to talk about areas of agreement, the two leaders met with each other, and some areas of disagreement. one thing i can tell you about as it relates to syria, without the president come out and say that he was very strongly affected by what he had seen in that chemical weapons attack. he repeated that this morning, when he gave an interview to "fox & friends," the wounded warrior project, about to take place. what seems to have evolved here, shep, you might remember nikki haley, the ambassador to the united nations, told a small group of reporters that regime change in syria was no longer the top priority for the united states as it came to syria. then, they watched as the white house and the pentagon and elsewhere throughout the administration, as the attacks at the syrian regime was launching against rebel forces

in that country began to escalate, culminating with that apparent gas attack on tuesday and into wednesday. a lot of people in the administration look at this and said, did bashar al- assad take what was said by nikki haley, the group of reporters, as a green light for assad to start attacking his people with impunity? just to remind you of what it was that ambassador haley said, she said "you pick and choose your battles and when we are looking at this, it is about changing up priorities. in our priority is no longer to sit there and focus on getting assad out." so, there is thinking and administration at assad picked up that football and ran with it, thought he could do whatever he wanted to do. now, president trump yesterday, with his stern language at that press conference, when he said again today, in these discussions with james madison secretary of defense h.r. mcmaster, the security council, about possible targets for an air strike,

president trump is weighing the options as to how he is going to slap back at bashar al- assad, to say, and effect, that was not a green light for you to do that. where do we go from here? we don't know what is going to happen, shep, but we do know that a wide range of options are being talked about earlier in the day, when i first came out, that he was considering air strikes against syria. it was portrayed as something in a basket of potential things that the president could take forward. we'll see where this goes in the hours ahead. >> john roberts live at mar-a-lago. let's turn to bret baier in washington. i was watching with great interest tonight as you spoke with general jack keane, the understanding of the back of my mind that nothing has changed, that the murdering of his own people has been going on for seven years. it seems for the president, that attack made a real impact. it had an impact. >> president trump talked about that, shep. general keane said the different options that he has, a number of

them at his fingertips, including the two u.s. naval destroyers, within range, talking about the different options. what this is potentially, if president trump does move forward, is essentially coming to fruition of the redline that president obama drew in 2013. if this happens, that essentially is what it is. now, a lot of focus on president trump and candidate trump, as he tweeted in august, 2013, september, 2013, that president obama should not attack syria and if he did he should get congress' approval first. that will come up definitely, and not only these days, the but the days ahead, if he chooses to move forward. but i think that once you are in this part of being president of the united states, the view changes, shep. >> no question about that. in fact, thank you very much.

previous presidents has, cap said there comes a point in the course of your presidency, not about time, it's about situations. at some point, you come to the realization that the weight of the world is really on you, the decisions you make affect all of the people of this planet. it is possible that as a president put it, the actions of the syrian dictator, bashar al- assad, as the administration puts it, this gas attack on his own people, the pictures, the baby is dead in their beds, had a lasting and changing effect on the president of united states. this administration, which said it will not be interventionist, this administration which said that syrian people would decide the fate of their own leader, now suggesting that it wants to build a coalition to go forward with whatever comes next. the truth is, we don't get to know exactly what that might be. we know the color lotion is building, it's underway. we know the president has made a decision, something must be done. we'll have continuing coverage throughout the night on

fox news channel. our correspondents are on scene at mar-a-lago in south florida come at the pentagon, and bret baier in washington with many more on the sidelines. first, we'll take you back to regular programming. tucker carlson begins on fox news channel. it starts right now >> this is a fox news alert, a lot is going on in the country of syria, we are hearing conflicting reports tonight about what exactly that is, today of course there was a chemical attack on civilians in that country and claims from the very beginning has been that attack was waged by the government of bashar al-assad. the president of the united states says his attitude has completely changed as a result of the attack, he is no longer sure that assad should stay in power, there are indications tonight that some sort of military action might be