that is certainly tonight the united states has launched a limited strikes against syria on the one the syrian military base something upwards of 40 tomahawk missiles. have hit the syrian land this evening. it's 10:00 on the east coast, at 7:00 p.m. on the west coast, i'm a shepard smith into new york on the fox broadcast network and fox news channel from coast-to-coast on a night when the united states has launched targeted military strikes on syria. dozens of tomahawk missiles meant to send according to the white house a message to the syrian leadership and their dictator bashar al-assad not to launch sarin gas attacks on their own people to stop slaughtering their own people after seven long years of civil war. the russians of course back to the syrian military in this matter, the iranians are in the mix as well. united states troops are on the ground advising the locals as they prepare for an attack on

isis militants in the syrian city of raqqa. it is a region loaded with conflicts, loaded with peril and tonight the united states, the president the united states has made a decision to take this targeted strike in an effort to send a message to the syrian regime. now here's the president from south florida. >> president trump: on tuesday, syrian dictator bashar al-assad launched a horrible chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians. using a deadly nerve agent, he choked out the lives of helpless men, women, and children. it was a slow and brutal death for so many. even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack.

no child of god should ever suffer such horror. tonight i ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in syria from where the chemical attack was launched. it is in this vital national security interest of the united states to prevent and deter the spread of deadly chemical weapons. there can be no dispute that syria used chemical weapons. violated its obligations under the chemical weapons convention and ignored the urging of the u.n. security council. years of previous attempts of changing a asada behavior has l

failed and failed very dramatically. as a result, the refugee crisis continues to deepen in the region continues to destabilize. threatening the united states and its allies. tonight i call on all civilized nations to join us in seeking to end the slaughter and bloodshed in syria. and also to end terrorism of all kinds and all types. we ask for god's wisdom as we face the challenge of our very troubled world. we pray for the lives of the wounded and for the souls of those who have passed and we hope that as long as america stands for justice, then peace or harmony will in the end

prevail. good night, and god bless america, and the entire world, thank you. >> shep: the president speaking just a short time ago, that playback from the white house pool in south florida in the palm beaches at his resort and mar-a-lago. the truth is the slaughter of innocent civilians in syria has been going on for seven long years. no options have been good during all of that. because of the russian involvement with the syrians. with the iranians in place, with the united states working to fight the islamic states. the campaign pledge for president trump was to work with the russians, to work with the russians against isis and to try to negotiate an end to the syrian civil war. clearly a dramatic change in the united states foreign policy has taken place with the launch of tomahawk cruise missiles tonight. for those of you watching on fox

broadcast stations across the country on the east coast, you're late local news is coming up on the west coast prime time just an hour away. analysis continues now and continuing coverage on fox news channel on satellite cable, i'm at shepard smith, fox news new york. and now on fox news channel, our chief white house correspondent john roberts is live at mar-a-lago in south florida, some audio problems there but the president serious as the event. >> i think you could say objectively that that was a very strong statement coming from president trump as he launched his first major large-scale terry action, that he green-lighted this the first major u.s. military action taken against another country and grounded in the suffering of children he told us yesterday when we were in the rose garden

and he was there with king abdullah of jordan where he said that the slow and brutal death of so many was so hard to see, no child of god should ever suffer such horror. it really was the suffering of children, the children who were dead or dying or suffering so horribly that really drove to this action. the united states firmly believes that bashar al-assad took advantage of the statements that came out of the administration, no longer was the regime change in syria a priority for the administration. they were pursuing a different track in terms of policy in syria, he picked that up and ran with it. tonight the president let him know you can't just strike your own people with impunity. the president was very critical and you show the tweets going all the way back to 2013, he

said it repeatedly on the campaign trail, he said repeatedly in recent days. he was very critical of president obama for laying down a red line in the summer of 2012 to say if bashar al-assad uses chemical weapons, that will be a redline, a year later he killed 1400 people with certain gas president trump has said it rightly or wrongly that the reason were in the situation were in syria because president was obama did not respond. president trump taking decisive action to the use of chemical weapons and grounding it in the suffering of children which i think to this white house seizes as being a little more palatable around the world to take military action when it's people like that who are the ones who are suffering the most. >> shep: is my understanding listening to the secretary of state today working to build a coalition on this matter. do we have any idea how that

coalition building is coming along? >> we don't at this point but it's interesting to know this is a 180-degree turn of policy. the more they were seven days ago, when they said that regime change was not the highest priority. now it appears that regime change is not the highest if the highest priority when it comes to policy in syria. rex tiller us in suggesting this is going to take a while. this is not going to happen tomorrow or next week or even by the end of the year because they have to put together a coalition to defeat isis and then puts together a political plan for succession for syrian leadership. of in terms of setting in motion some kind of political plan to replace the syrian leadership, something that president obama talked about years ago. so many different players in that region in the country, so much vested interest with her talk about the kurds, iran, syria, turkey, russia putting together that coalition is going

to be a very heavy lift for this administration. >> i heard one analyst tonight before this happened talking about the possibilities saying that when it comes to syria, history tells us for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. gauging the response of the syrian dictator bashar al-assad a man who is willing to murder his own people for many, many years, gauging what his response might be, i would suspect that might be a very difficult thing to do. >> i would agree with you, but here's the thing. he's gotten away with it until tonight. president trump setting a very different message than previous administrations have and we'll see how he might react to that. general jack keane earlier tonight saying this is was a signal that we can take you out and do you really want to lose everything? or do you want to change her behavior as a sun comes up in syria nc with a the response might be.

>> the president did not call vladimir putin ahead of this, he obviously will talk to them about this at some point, to be a fly on the other end of the telephone with notes to talk to each other. if >> john roberts live in south florida, we just got, from russia's u.n. envoy warning of negative consequences should denotes its carry out this military attack which has not been carried out, we have to think about negative consequences. negative consequences in all of the responsibility of military action occurred will be on the shoulders of those who initiated such doubtful and tragic enterprise. if that's the first word from the russians, that was in the minutes before this launch took place. since then nothing official. but from a serious state television reports the u.s. missile strike on a number of military targets and calls the act and aggression. if the president of the united states says it was a message, a message for syrian dictator, stop slaughtering your people.

the united states is here and if we want to, we will take you ou out. of course the syrian dictator along with the russians could x collate and if they do, we shall see. this is a sean hannity sauer on fox news channel, he is live with us tonight, good evening. >> sean: this is a fox news alert, president trump moments ago reacting to the united states launching at least 50 tomahawk cruise missiles at an airbase in syria. obviously response to the apparent chemical weapons attack on the civilians carried out by the syrian government that was earlier this week. joining us now from the pentagon tonight is jennifer griffin with a look, jennifer. >> i think what's notable from the president's statement tonight as he pointed out the airbase targeted by the tomahawk missiles was the site where they believe the chemical weapon was assembled, the stair and cast

put together before their weapon eyes, and a flu those 120 miles to the village with a bump those families, those children who were sleeping in their beds. it was those images were of those children suffering to breathe, the team to a particularly of affected president trump. as i'm told, the high level discussions taking place last 48 hours. the joint this evening to discuss the final military plan. this was a limited military strike on that one base. remember, this was 50 tomahawk missiles, each of 1,000 pounds warhead, landing on this aircraft, it is an airbase used by the russians in the past,

russian helicopters and warplanes at that base. this was a method to president bashar al-assad that chemical weapons, the use of chemical weapons against one's own people would not be accepted by the united states of america. we have received a statement from senators john mccain and lindsey graham praising the president action tonight saying the american people should back him and in fact, this was a sign of leadership, a tactic should then be turned into a strategy. senator john mccain saying repeatedly today that he believes that the u.s. military should take out bashar assad's air force so that he can no longer terrorize his own people, sean? >> sean: i want to go to one issue here, because he was intelligence community said with high confidence they believe of course the attack was carried out by the syrian government aircraft consistent with eyewitnesses and groups like al newsom of al qaeda group in syria they don't have that fixed

aircraft. this was with very high confidence that it was the assad regime. if we go back under the obama administration, his government agreed to disband the chemical weapons at their capability in 2014 so that obviously didn't happen. >> it's a very clear and we have been hearing from chemical weapons experts infection western intelligence sources what is most clear in these recent days and weeks is that president bashar assad did not do what he said he was going to do end of the obama ad administration said had happened which was that he did not get rid of all of his chemical weapons. it was largely assumed at the time that there were about 1,00s that were taken off shore, the u.s. and russia actually cooperated at that time in 2013, the cape ray, was part of the

removal of chemical agents. it was very clear that bashar assad kept some chemical weapons and those agents were stored were told by the president tonight at this shayrat airbase that was targeted 120 miles from the site of the serin nerve gas attacks 72 hours ago. >> sean: thank you, earlier this week as the president had said with king abdullah of jordan, this crosses many, many lines, beyond the red line, many, many lines. of course expressing his thoughts about the loss of life and the use of this. clearly i think the president's goal to prevent any further mass casualties of civilians, sending a message to the rest of the world that this is not negotiable. joining us now live from jerusalem is john huddy. >> at t were waiting to see what israel's response is going to be, they share intelligence with united states. they have carried out almost on a daily basis or continually air strikes on syrian targets,

in particular syrian convoys, armed convoys going to has the law. that's been a concern in israel, the other concern is iran's involvement in syria. really what were waiting for is the israeli response to this, intelligence aspects and some kind of response from benjamin that in yahoo, israel's prime minister. all of this in the golan heights, israel borders syria, there's always cross-border fire going into israel. all of this is a concern, it is a factor that's being looked at, israel's military, israeli air force, the defense forces are on high alert at this point, sean.

>> joining us now live from our local florida is our own john roberts, as we go back to this press conference earlier this week, the president did say this crosses many lines beyond a redline, many, many lines. with so tonight i guess in this first military action very much in keeping what he said we would not telegraphed these things will be happening. also a very effective president in his statement tonight going on about this deadly nerve agents that choked out to the lives of helpless men, women, and children. it was a slow and brutal death for so many, was latest from mar-a-lago? >> if you look at the way that was written and i suspect steve miller who writes most of his speeches had a hand as well. no child of god it should ever suffer such horror. it's difficult enough to have the world on your side when you are responding to something like that. you see that the suffering of these children and that's just a video that would bring tears to your eyes.

regardless of whether you have your own children, when you see young children suffering like that, babies as well. the president brought up the fact that there were babies, how to something like that ever happen? it was clear when he was speaking with king abdullah of jordan yesterday in the rose garden that he had been deeply, deeply affected by the pictures that he had a scene. add to that that he had been very critical of the present obama for drawing of redline when it bashar al-assad cross to do nothing about it, the president said yesterday, discussed a number of lines including redlines for me. he must have felt compelled at that point to do something about it. keep in mind, former military leaders said this earlier tonight. punishment is not a strategy. you can punish bashar al-assad for doing what he did on tuesday and making most people suffer so horribly. you've got to have a strategy to back it up.

we saw bricks to listen articulate the beginning of that and suggest that the united states needed to build a coalition to defeat isis to establish some sort of political process and then have bashar al-assad to step aside. that has been said before where we have to defeat the enemy and we have to stand up a political process to get rid of the person who is the cause of the problem the first place. it hasn't worked out so well in the past so it could raise questions as to how it will work any better this time around. >> sean: i would just add to what you're saying, it was in keeping with his campaign promises that is not to telegraphed military action. there is no indication the president has any inclination at all to go in and be an occupying force but certainly this is a redline in the the sand. if syria continues to attack innocent men, women, and children with these weapons of mass destruction and slaughter innocent people, this has been a seven year civil war with mass atrocities in the world for the most part has not done me think of i think this certainly sends

a message to the entire world tonight that america is back in war crimes like this will not be tolerated. >> i think you could say the message to bashar al-assad was if you want to lose everything that you've gotten left pretty much defenseless just keep on going the way that you're going, if we can take out one of your airbases, we can take them all out, just move more ships into the region, fire more cruise missiles at you. in terms of telegraphing, the president hasn't said on many, many occasions he didn't like the way the previous administration said we're going to attack x target at x time on whichever day and were going to let you know about it long, long in advance, maybe even months in advance when it came to the fight against muscle which is a example he said it again and again and again. he wasn't going to telegraphed what he was going to do. we should point out the turnaround time for this was very quick, this happened on tuesday and thursday night where firing missiles. the president also showing

tonight's that he is ready to swiftly take decisive action, he made up his mind that something has to happen, he went to jim mattis and he went to hr mcmaster. give me your best plan and if i like it, go with it. >> sean: it seems to me the goal was to prevent any further mass casualties, the ball is now in president assad's court. interesting coming on the heels of the president meeting with general el-sisi the president of egypt, and meeting with king abdullah of jordan and recently with a crown prince of saudi arabia. a very close relationship with the prime minister of israel. seemingly a new coalition has emerged in the entire middle east waiting for the response to matt, john roberts standby at mar-a-lago, will get back to a little bit. joining us now with new information as our own jennifer griffith, jennifer. >> we just gotten details from the pentagon about those tomahawk missiles that first landed at this neil gorsuch air base, we

understand the total number of 9 tomahawk's, two u.s. destroyers the uss porter and uss ross could carry up to 70 missiles we are told. they have now fired 59 at this one air base. were also told should expects imagery from that air base at shayrat, about 120 miles from where the and sarin gas occurred. we also expect imagery released by the panic pentagon of the sn plane that took off from the shayrat airbase that flew and dropped the serin gas bomb on it that villains have hours ago. the pentagon has released that soon. the pentagon described it as a proportional strike, were also told of the pentagon warned the

russians multiple times about this strike prior to the tomahawk's landing at this airbase. they did so through a hotline that is established between what is known as the command center in the middle east, that the u.s. uses. which is the base used by russia inside syria. there are multiple warnings commander to commander, the chairman of the joint chiefs has met with his russian counterpart recently in turkey to establish and reestablish that hotline in the event of this kind of incidents. we also were told that there were russian forces at this base of shayrat until recently, it's not clear they were still here there tonight. the u.s. military did worn through that hotline russian forces that they were going to carry out this tomahawk strike today. >> sean: there were interesting comments by one russian diplomat earlier this week saying that their support

is not unconditional as it relates to syria and assad. you had a great description earlier of these 18-foot long about 2-foot wide, thousand pound tomahawk missiles and their slow trajectory, can you explain that again for those just joining us? >> yes, the tomahawk missile was first introduced during the gulf war, the first gulf war. these are essentially flying telephone poles if you will. they are fired from navy destroyers and they fly at about 500 miles per hour. you can see them with the naked eye when they are flying. they are about 18 feet long, two feet wide and you can imagine that once they were fired from the uss porter and uss ross in the eastern mediterranean, it could take up to 30, 45 minutes before they actually landed because they can be fired from 1,000 miles away.

those destroyers can be quite some distance away. we also understand those two destroyers can carry up to 70 missiles, they've now fired 59. to resupply, we are told those tomahawk missiles are stored at suda bay which is a u.s. base in crete greece, those destroyers would have to resupply in order to continue if there were any follow-on attacks. we understand that this is a limited attack and proportional tech the pentagon said. his design to send a message to bashar al-assad but also to the russians that the u.s. has said that they are willing to work with the russians possibly to fight against isis. we have 1,000 u.s. troops on the ground in syria preparing to help forces, kurdish forces and others that the u.s. has trained to take raqqa which is the isis

capital. this is designed to send a message to bashar assad to stop using chemical weapons to never use chemical weapons again, he was a signatory in 2013 to the chemical weapons treaty suggesting he wouldn't. tonight there was a meeting at the u.n. security council that was indecisive. and prior administrations i believe it would be safe to say that while the u.n. security council debated issues, a resolution on syria and the chemical weapons attack, and administration would have waited for those debates to finish. tonight, we were told that the u.s. wanted a vote on the resolution, russia was blocking it, they expected russia to block the resolution in the end as they have seven times in the past. this president did not wait for marcus president ordered a unilateral air strike against to syria to send a stern message

that the chemical weapon attacks are not acceptable. >> sean: obviously this is to prevent further mass casualties and attacks. a message has been sent before before i go to general jack keane, i wouldn't doubt that there are politicals out there that would make a over the fact knowing that at this particular airbase in syria that russian soldiers were there that they were tipped off. here we go, we had eight months of this russian conspiracy so i wouldn't be surprised if that happens, that would be standard operating procedure, would it not? >> i think it's a blessed world, that is what one does quit military to military. it is notable of the timing of the tomahawk air strikes would be at a time when there would be the fewest amount of people at that airbase. this is designed to send a signal, to send a message. it was not designed to inflict casualties per se. there are likely casualties at the base but it will be getting

more details about that. from a military perspective, it was the right thing to do to use this hotline that's been established between the two militaries to explain we are not at war with russia, were not striking russian soldiers but we are defending the right of the free world to say that the use of chemical weapons is not acceptable. >> sean: also to add to that, rex tiller's and the sectary of state said clearly russia has failed in its responsibility to deliver on their commitment to stop these kind of attacks. either russia has been complicit or simply incompetent in delivering its end of the agreements. clearly strong statement and actions against russia in the strike tonight. we'll get back to you in just a few minutes prior to joining us now live from washington is general jack keane. militarily, this is a very big message that should be heard well beyond a serious tonight,

what's your reaction to that? >> it's a major setback for russia. they've enabled this regime, they have used penetrative bombs to bomb underground hospitals, that's a war crime. they have largely conducted air strikes against the syrian people themselves just like the assad regime has been doing. the fact of the matter is, they've vetoed a seven u.n. resolutions where the u.n. has tried to assign accountability to the assad regime for this kind of criminal behavior. it's a setback for pollutant for short. the iranians as well, but the iranians don't care. if putin cares a little bit more about his image than the iranians did. other factors as we know based on the three visits from saudi arabia, egypt, and jordan that president trump has absolutely revitalized the

historical and traditional relationship that the united states has had from president roosevelt up until president obama. he has revitalized that relationship. i'm convinced now that he will get incredible cooperation out of the sunni arabs. if peace and allowed message to the iranians in the first month of his administration that i am not going to tolerate your trampling on the interests of the middle east and taking advantage of using your proxies to do that and also developing ballistic missiles. i'm going to stand in your way from accomplishing that. this is an incredible message that should've been sent many years ago by the obama administer a shipper to cross in the in 2013 was not just about dealing with retribution for a heinous act. it it was taking advantage of the opportunity to destroy the entire assad air power which

would have shifted the momentum against the regime and likely would have brought it down, we don't know that for a fact. but it was a likely possibility. >> sean: get your thoughts on the world reaction to nights. north korea is watching tonight, the iranians are watching tonight. the russians as rex tillis and said have been so ineffective and may be even complicit earlier today, they are watching tonight, what is the message, how is this could be received that america is back after seven years of war crimes and death and misery and the use of these weapons that it will no longer be tolerated. the goal of this is to prevent any further mass casualty of civilians, that will now be nonnegotiable with united states of america? >> i think the president has been sending some messages since his inauguration. i think the way the world reads him as all the campaign rhetoric to be sure, some of it was not

predictable in terms of what his actions would be as president. i think when they look at him, they see a strong, decisive leader. wes had some success in leadership, he does what he say says. now we see this act taking place, this is a heinous act on the credit tolerated, i'm good to act on behalf of human kind of do something about it. he's sending a message to the chinese, he's telling the chinese the north koreans are trying to weapon eyes the rhetoric is they will use them against my country and my people. don't push me into a corner where i have to use a military option to deal with them. that would be horrific, that would mean a war on the korean peninsula. at the same time, i cannot permit them to launch a missile against the united states. i think he'll get the chinese attention for sure as a result

of that. it's not rhetoric, we've had rhetoric for eight years with passivity and no action. now, he's taken a very limited action but it sends an incredible incredibly strong message to our adversaries in the world were paying attention, iran, china, russia, paying attention, and the rogue state of north korea. they are all paying attention to this. listen, it's not a panacea for all of our problems to be sure, not one military strike on one evening is going to change the world. but it is going to tell the world that we have a decisive president who is going to act on behalf of the u.s. national interest in the interests of our allies when he believes that's at stake. that is an unequivocally loud, clear message. >> sean: thank you come out will get back to you. joining us now from washington is brought to bear, the host of special report to them as fox news channel. if you are making a point earlier with our ownership

king of jordan. the president general el-sisi of egypt, the crown prince and of course the israeli prime minister joining and creating a new coalition here. it seemed that because of all the news that the relationship has changed dramatically. especially with children of the egypt now that we have a new president, what impact do you think that has? >> dramatically, i interviewed president el-sisi just the other night from egypt, he talks extensively about feeling confident that he can work and arab leaders can work with this president? i asked him specifically about russia and how they got involved with such a foothold inside this region. i said do you think the vacuum left by the obama administration enabled russia to take a greater foothold in your region?

he said many things over the last four years occurred and caused many, many problems for the region is very heavy price for that, not just in syria, the entire region is paying a price and asked if he thought he could turn it around with or without the u.s., he said it can't happen without the u.s. i do think there is a different sense about the coalition. to the point that general keene was just making. this just protect strength, the answer to strength greatly which we see in the past but also to china and north korea. >> sean: it also russia, a lot of people might go off on an issue that we have a relationship where they were given a heads-up but on the broader side of this, they were also told by our secretary of state that they might be complicit, be, be incompetent as it resolved in syria and especially the chemical weapons

issue. >> this off-camera briefing going on mar-a-lago, hr mcmaster getting notes about it from the pool in which tillis and says this was a very deliberate process and examination of options the president made the right choice. if no conversations prior or since with moscow, continuing that there was a deacon normals open for deconfliction. i don't want to point out that earlier this candidate campaigns against waging war changes that 180 degrees. it seems like the events in syria had changed how president trump had looked at it, obviously as a civilian he tweeted a number of things back in 2013 there is pushback within

the party, senator rand paul tweeting while all condemned atrocities in syria the night states has not attacked. the president needs congressional authorization for military action is required by the constitution, our prior interventions in this region there are a lot of supporters who buy into what senator paul is saying tonight but you have the president who was acting -- >> sean: was on last couple of days of president was of this crosses many, many lines, be on a redline, and a statement tonight, almost a very emotional statement assad launched a horrible attack, choking out the lives of helpless men, women, and children, and how it is in the vital national security interests of the u.s. to prevent

and deter the spread of deadly chemical weapons. i don't think anybody could deny that but it also is in keeping with his promise not to telegraph military action. there is no indication at all tonight of an idea of an invasion or occupation, it's to send a message. i've got to believe that that message was probably received loud and clear in syria and wherever he may be hiding out this evening. >> ended moscow, definitely. you have to concede that the message for president trump is clearly different from civilian in august of 2013 when he was tweeting is sweet. don't get involved in syria, don't do it, don't get drawn in, focus on america, that was after chemical weapons attack back then. it was the same choking of kids, fathers and mothers in 2013, have thoughts about it have evolved from it you have to concede that. >> sean: i do concede that, i see the tweet that you are referring to and that is true,

also consistent with his decisive action you're right on the tweet, bret baier, special report, thank you. john roberts just got of the briefing with secretary of state to listen and the national security, with the latest there? >> i'm going through my notes, first of all hr mcmaster the national security advisor said that this was aimed at bashar al-assad's capacity to commit murder with chemical weapons. this was taken in the middle the night and the targeting to minimize casualties particularly third-party casualties which could be read as russians because there are some russian forces who were embedded here at these airfields. he very specifically said that the missiles were targeted to avoid hitting the stockpiles of sarah and sarin gas, this was taken up the

ability to put a lot of holes in the runways as well but to take careful steps to avoid hitting the stockpiles of chemical weapons. here is the deliberative process that they went through. there were initial consultations with the president about what happened in syria, the nature of the attack. the nsc last night meant to deliberate a number of options, he had some more questions about that. that's one this afternoon at the national security advisor and secretary state met with him to answer those questions. they went over a number of options, the present weight of those options and decided to act. according to both secretary of state and national security advisor demonstrates this president will act when

governments don't behave and indicates he is willing to take decisive action. of the secretary of state again said this in the scenes of what happened there in syria apparently sarin gas that was used particularly horrible about change his views how horrible these weapons are. ask the secretary tillerson with the diplomatic calculation was about all of this, there are so many different players involved, there's russia, syria, turkey, there were the kurds, there's iran as well. he said that everyone of those players with the exception of russia, iran, and syria would probably applaud what was happening, then went into a lengthy expo nation of what he hopes to do in the future. that is to build a coalition to defeat isis to bring regional groups together, to stabilize the area and then try to set forward some sort of political process that could end up with the replacement of bashar al-assad as the leader of syria.

>> sean: obviously the president did change his point of view especially if you look at tweet from a number of years ago. not every military action is a full-fledged war here. i think the goal is very obvious to prevent to be further masked casualty of civilians it was clear for the present giving his statement tonight, we will replay that. this had an emotional impact on him because of the long suffering and the death of innocent men, women, and children that were targeting care. we have reactions coming in syria and tv calling this an act of aggression. if senators mccain, graham, marco rubio, tom cotten, bill nelson, bob corker all supporting the president action. democrats durbin, any further action would require scrutiny of congress, similar statement by senator ben carton. obviously this is a very different reaction and clearly a redline that actually means something, we'll get back to you in a few minutes, john roberts down at tamara lago tonight,

thank you. earlier tonight, after this news broke that the u.s. had in fact watch these air strikes at this air base in syria, the president did explain his decision to take military action in retaliation to the government using chemical weapons against its own people. here's what he said earlier. >> syrian dictator bashar al-assad lost a horrible chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians. using a deadly nerve agent, he choked out the lives of helpless men, women, and children. it was a slow and brutal death for so many. even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack.

no child of god should ever suffer such horror. the night i ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in syria from where the chemical attack was launched. it is in this vital national security interest of the united states to prevent and deter the spread of deadly chemical weapons. there can be no dispute that syria used band chemical weapons, by living its obligations under the chemical weapons convention, and ignored the urging of the u.n. security council. years of previous attempts at changing assad's behavior have all failed and failed very

dramatically. as a result, the refugee crisis continues to deepen in the region continues to destabilize, threatening the united states and its allies. tonight i call on all civilized nations to join us in seeking to end this slaughter. and the bloodshed in syria. and also to end terrorism of all kinds, and all types. we ask for god's wisdom as we face the challenge of our very troubled world. we pray for the lives of the wounded and for the souls of those who have passed. we hope that as long as america stands for justice and peace and harmony will in the end prevail.

good night, and god bless america, and the entire world. >> sean: no child of god should suffer such horror. the present goes on to say it tonight i call on all civilized nations to join us in seeking the end of the slaughter and the bloodshed in syria. joining us now live from washington that senator marco rubio who put out a supportive statement earlier tonight. senator, your reaction to the president's actions here. >> it was the right decision for a number of reasons. assad had signed an agreement not to have chemical weapons it was an agreement of the russians in the event states were signatories to end a part of. they also signed the convention not to have weapons and they also had a u.n. security council and resolution as well. if they have violated that and therefore there need to be a consequence for that. someone needs to enforce it, russia is not going to enforce it, there helping them. number to come i think it's

important to remember this hundreds of american the skies using sarah and gas. it could ultimately be used against our own troops. that cannot be allowed to stand so it is in our national security interests. number three, i hear a lot of talk i'm not saying you but others this is a symbol and message it certainly has a messaging components. he struck a military base that was used not just on chemical attacks but potentially for future chemical attacks, 59 tomahawk missiles and destroying a particular airbase. that is how you'd conduct military attacks, you have an objective and you dedicate the resources to achieve it and the armed forces of the united states as they always do did so. the president had the legal authority, the moral authority, and quite frankly the military strategy to be successful at it. it was the right decision that he made. >> sean: i agree, the present pn put a statement that russian

forces were notified in advance of the strike using the established deconfliction line, something you know a lot about, can you explain a? >> there are military to military contacts the reason why you do that is not some conspiracy, i've been in tough on all that is anybody else. their objective was not to kill anybody, their objective was to destroy a facility so they can fly planes to attacks. that is the airfield are flying the attacks from, they conduct the chlorine bombs attacks are not airfield that they to conduct the 36 bombs and from the airfield, the objective was not to kill russians commit was to destroy and airbase so that he could not use in the future. that is an appropriate thing to do, >> sean: will save the conspiracy theories for the mainstream media, because they live and die by them, eight

months of conspiracies with no evidence. whenever military action is taken you have to prepare for potential consequences or reaction of others. in anticipation of this, what would you say what would you say is serious reaction of russia's reaction? >> the potential targeting of our troops in iraq and syria combats number one. that's the first thing i would anticipate. the other is some sort of russian stepping up their air campaign, dennis dennis commitment auto ready. consequences of not acting will be very severe, they could've targeted american troops or american interests in the region was sarin gas. at the end of the day what is the point of all these resolutions and all the agreements the events this is the signing onto?

people will forget back in 2013, 2014 the russians and the nonsense entered into this agreement that the syrians were not going to have chemical weapons, they've been using chlorine bombs and now they use sarah again, this is legally an effort to enforce, the russians are going to enforce it there helping them. can i say one more thing, i think it was evident yesterday anyone who saw the press conference, the president standing next to the king of jordan he was deeply moved by what he saw and was he was exposed to. spill move tonight as well. >> lets submit can't be ignored, he clearly was impacted by it. i think that's an important consideration here as well. >> sean: one less question supporting and assisting a assad regime, called out russia earlier saying they failed and the responsibility to deliver in their commitments especially as

it felt to me is a clear sign this administration is willing to take on any consequences as it relates to both syria and russia. i also think the big message here tonight and the take away tonight is this is a message to the world that they want to prevent any further mass casualty of civilians, i would say the messages that's nonnegotiable, is that how you interpret that? >> i think the objective tonight was the destruction of that airbase. if you want to know who's getting the message night in regards to all of this i think if you are in north korea can be see this tonight and he start to wonder whether these are people you want to be messing with. if if you are wrong, he startedo think about whether these are people you want to be messing with. if you are bashar al-assad and your vladimir putin you realize that things have changed. there are things that you are doing better against the national security interest of the event states, were not going to spend two weeks looking for some letter. it is going to be action to protect our interest that's a big change to what we've had over the last eight years.

a >> sean: thank you for your time tonight, we appreciate, joining us now is former speaker of the house fox news contributor newt gingrich, your reaction to the present actions tonight. >> a couple of very big takeaways. first come on donald trump really loves children a babies. you could hear dennis was tonight. contrary to what bret baier said, being present united states, you fill in the way the world, he said god bless the world, i've never heard president say that. this guy was touched deeply, emotionally you see is his job and his parents to try to affect children, this is an amazing week of the president of egypt

comes in, the king of jordan comes in, you don't think they were talking through what to do and syria? this is an amazing moment, the chinese premier is here, he is wondering how serious the company is going to be. after dinner, donald trump proves how serious the united states is. the chinese have a whole left to die just when i listen to donald trump talk. lastly, we had eight years of a very articulate community organizer who did not have a clue about how to be president of united states. we now have three months of the guy who knows how to be president and i think you just proved it and the ronald reagan tradition decisive, surgical, effective use of american power to do something to begin to hurt the syrians. if you do this again i'll take out two or three more airfields. >> sean: may be inadvertently, may be barack obama in this horrific radiant deal was able to create a coalition that maybe nobody even anticipated a decade ago and that is that brought saudi arabia, the israelis, the jordanians and the egyptians into a new coalition. i think very few people have paid attention.

>> i think it's more than that, i think what he proved for eight years is when america is weak among the world is unmanageable and dangerous. virtually every rational leader on the planet is eager to have a strong, decisive american president because then it said by el-sisi, the king of egypt, if the united states does not play a decisive leading role worldwide, that it can't be don done. what you're seeing is donald trump rise to the occasion, being prepared to actually be president leads the world on behalf of the united states and putting america first recognizing lost allies in a good its own neighborhood is a lot better than being alone on a jungle. a >> sean: is one of the message tonight no longer america leading from behind america's living from in front of the world is getting a message died? >> it's not a laughing matter but probably fewer see her in

the airfield right this minute you would think we were living behind, you think that we had decisively responded exactly what he had to do, don't give them an speech, don't create a redline, just hit them very hard and then after you hit them explain to the world what they just saw. >> sean: that is really in keeping what you think about it. i thought one of the best things the president said during the campaign was don't telegraph your military action all of the time. by the way a military strike such as this is not a full-fledged war. i take issue with what senator rand paul said, i don't think the president has any intention to invade or to occupy but i do believe he had an intention of sending a message that if you are going to unleash these weapons of mass destruction against women and children, they are to be consequences. what is north korea's reaction, russia's reaction, what is china's reaction? what is a radiant reaction tonight in your view? >> the russian reaction in 1981

when we shot down the libyan aircraft was that there was a new sheriff in town. i don't think of donald trump of manhattan as a sheriff, maybe there's a new police chief in town. he is prepared to do what it takes. i think there are a very important day, but the week is important. you're going to have a conservative supreme court justice, you're going to have a serious meeting with the chinese. very successful meetings with egypt and jordan and you just demonstrated to the world if you are serious about protecting people and you are serious about doing things that are decisive. >> sean: i want to go back to my earlier question because i don't think the media paid enough attention. it seems like king abella and jordan and the present just hit it off. i don't think i've ever seen the king give more praise to a leader than president trump, he recently met with the crown prince of saudi arabia. this is said great words of praise for prime minister

netanyahu. >> i got exactly the same from president of afghanistan, trump is so much more helpful and he's thrilled to have trump leading because he feels afghanistan is a better future. if "the new york times" doesn't want to put together as part of their first 100 days of story how many world leaders are saying that they like working with donald trump and they trust him and i believe he's a serious man. it's a remarkable turnaround. >> sean: how would you respond respond, the russian conspiracy theorists that have had no evidence but advancing a phony narrative for eight months. the russians were notified because we have a deconfliction line. >> of course they weren't notified. people who were surprised the russians weren't notified were

idiots. i'm sank like it for our entire audience, if you run across the tweets from some guy who is shocked we told the russian military were coming in, get out of the way, wouldn't call the russian military and say g, could we come in. we probably didn't call them, though mike. >> sean: it was military military. >> he might well have said we are coming in, get out of the way, don't try to stop us, don't get in the middle of this thing. were going to roll over you if you do. i think that's a pretty healthy signal. >> sean: i think that's a great signal and i think the secretary of state couldn't have been stronger in his wording that russia has failed and their delivery on their commitment as it relates to and a regime been propping up, complicit or of incompetence. >> people on this thursday evening, contemplate the first

hundred days of donald trump, you have a very strong secretary of state, a very strong territory of defense, a very strong set national syria advisor and a president who is stronger than all three of them. the son of a bad. >> sean: i think 50,000 pounds of tomahawk missiles being dumped on one air base is going to. i don't see the syrians reacting to this except to stand down. >> unlike the irradiance, assad does not have the capacity to wage war outside his own territory come he's losing ground steadily in his own territory i would not be at all surprised to see a military group take about because he's much weaker than his father, his lost over half the country and they generally think he's an idiot. there's a good chance he's going to be deposed. >> sean: we really appreciate it if you're just joining us, the u.s. has lost air strikes in syria from the very location where the planes have taken off,

and chlorine gas noninnocent men, women come and children. we hope you'll stay with the fox news channel continuing coverage all throughout the night of the u.s. military strike in syria, stay tuned, shepard smith is coming up next, we'll see you back here tomorrow night. is a sarin gas attack take killed more than 80, including 27 children. tonight's u.s. attack on an air base near homes in syria designed to send a message to the dictator assad that he must stop murdering his own people. jennifer griffen life at the pentagon with the latest on the strike. >> we've just had a statement from captain jeff davis here at the pentan,