for generations to come. antonin scalia lives. >> and he is a hunk, too. >> all right. thank you to our guests here, kennedy, welcome back. we will see you back here monday, same time, "happening now" now. >> jon: every senator in washington is now being briefed on the operation that launched air strikes on syria last night. welcome to the second hour of "happening now," i am jon scott. >> julie: i'm julie banderas, good afternoon to you, in for jenna lee today. just of dunford getting set and getting the senators up to speed as reaction pours in from around the world. to the u.s. military a strike on syrian air base, tomahawk missiles putting the base for a chemical weapons attack was launched, killing dozens of syrian civilians earlier this week. russia condemning the u.s. strike while saudi arabia and our western allies applauded it. here at home, capitol hill is figuring out the next step.

>> i think what happens next, as i said, equipping the free syrian army, moving forward with taking mosul and raqqa, and creating safe havens for these refugees. >> we need to know if the plan is now to topple assad come need know what the post assad syria will look like, how we get there and how that makes the american people safer. >> i think the white house should bring to us their plan on syria. i hope that what the plan would contain would be the establishment of a humanitarian zone in northern syria where we can deliberate -- deliver aid to syrians that would be protected by u.s. and other nations military assets from the bashar al-assad rise. >> i appreciate president trump making that case to congress about what further military action should be taken if any pair there are some folks in congress who want to see us in protracted military involvement in syria. i think that would be a mistake.

>> julie: conor powell is live from the syria-israel border with the very latest. >> the u.s. response to tuesday's chemical weapon attack came in the form of 59 tomahawk cruise missiles fired at the shayrat air force base in homs province. this is a significant and important location for the syrian regime. according to officials, there was significant damage done to the airfield. syria puts that number at six syria jets destroyed, but the pentagon puts that number higher, 20 or so is what they are saying. at least seven people were killed in these strikes, and about nine or so injured. not surprisingly, syrian officials and russia condemning the move. they are saying come according to syrian officials, this will undermine their ability to fight terrorism in their country. they are very much trying to portray this as a strike against their ability to fight groups like isis and the al qaeda affiliate in syria as opposed to a response to the chemical

weapons attack that killed more than 80 people on tuesday. also, other u.s. allies weighing in from across the region. saudi arabia, israel, turkey all supporting this move and saying that this was a positive move by the trump administration. though there is a question about what happens next. there is a great deal of concern that this was just a one-off move by the trump administration, countries like turkey want to see the u.s. to even more against the assad regine. regine change is still very much on the list of many officials and leaders across the region peer there is also concern about how might hezbollah, which called this a foolish act that will raise tensions in the region, how might they respond or russia or even the syrian regine respond? there are u.s. troops in syria peer there u.s. troops in neighboring iraq, there are u.s. troops and nato ally turkey as well, so there are possible targets if any of these groups, the assad regine or russia

decide they want to retaliate. israel, of course, is always in danger from groups like hezbollah or assad as well, so there is a concern that there could be a retaliation and that while the trump administration says this was a limited engagement in syria, there is very much the potential that this could escalate into something more. >> julie: conor powell, thank you very much. >> jon: some calling the u.s. strike against syria the first major foreign policy test for the trump administration. white house press secretary sean spicer tweeting this photo, showing president trump and his national security team briefing him on the strike last night. an article in "the wall street journal" highlights the importance of the military move, saying "the larger point for mr. trump to recognize is that he is being tested. the world, friend and foe, is waiting to see how he responds to mr. assad's war crimes. his quick air strike on the evening he was having dinner with chinese president xi jinping makes it clear that

the obama era is over." that editorial in "the wall street journal" paired that spring glen hall, u.s. news editor for "the wall street journal" ." it was some stunning thing when we learned last night that this air strike had been ordered this early in the trump administration, your first reaction? >> it was really a moment because we heard the president previously saying something needed to happen. then that very night, we got the word that the missiles were being launched. it was a strategic effort done by missiles, keeping u.s. plants out of the air space, keeping arm's length, but while it did have an impact in that sense it sent a signal, did not destroy assad's airpower, and there are many other bases left. the question we were just discussing is still on the table, how far does it go from here? >> jon: bashar al-assad has said he destroyed his chemical weapons stockpile. he proved this week that he has not destroyed it, you stood on his own people.

what is the next step if you were to do it again, then what? you take out the rest of the air force? >> that is the question, exactly right. how much engagement as the president want to take? he sent a signal, and it was a global signal because it comes on the eve of his meetings with xi jinping, also sends a signal to iran and tehran, also a signal to north korea that he is going to take action, and you may not know when to expect it on some of these things. what does he do next to reinforce the signal? how does he bring diplomacy to the table? how hard does he push? and the big question is, what does this do with the russia-u.s. dynamic? >> jon: because bashar al-assad would not be in power were it not for russia and two may be a lesser extent, the iranians. so those two countries really need to bear some of the responsibility for what happen here, do they not? >> there needs to be, and many are saying, a broader coalition. in order to be swift, it was

u.s.-only action. as you mentioned earlier, many allies in the region and elsewhere have supported that button or in order to see real change down there, there needs to be a broader coalition in the middle east and there needs to be some sort of broader strategy globally in terms of taking aggressive action against the assad regime following these attacks on his own people. so that, we have not seen yet. that is going to be the next real test to see how does he leverage this moment into a bigger opportunity to create a coalition that makes a difference out in the middle east. >> jon: i know you work on the news side, not the editorial side of the paper, but the editorial from which i just read also went on to say that essentially the trump administration has to think about what kind of long-term relationship it wants in that part of the world and that other countries, the paper would have liked to see other countries involved to show how deplorable this gas attack was. why do you suppose no one else

was involved or did the u.s. and lean not make the request? >> i think the president had to -- decided that he wanted to act swiftly and did not want the attacks by assad on his own people to go unanswered. i don't think there was enough time to pull together a coalition and broker a deal with a bunch of other partners. that is probably what needs to happen now if he wants to leverage this moment and shift the alignment in the middle east, especially around syria because the u.s. has largely been on the sidelines there. donald trump had himself previously said if russia wants to take care of that problem, i am happy to let them. this is a total change to that. he is now income has accepted responsibility for this and said so, sooes that mean and what does it look like going forward is still an open question. we are watching to see how he forges diplomatic solutions to follow through on this. we have seen nikki haley of the united nations starting down that path. we've got to see what happens in terms of a global coalition

coming together. there are two sides in about a right now, nobody wants to see it turn into a proxy war between the u.s. and russia, so it's a very treacherous situation to navigate. >> jon: on that front, we expect to hear from nikki haley at the u.n., and our u.s. ambassador, the u.n. ambassador any minute now. glenn hall, thank you. >> julie: we've gotten information for you this our coming and as a manhunt is now underway for a truck driver who plowed into a department store in stockholm, sweden. there are reports that several people were killed and many more injured and what the prime minister has called a terror attack. police now are urging people to stay away from the scene and central stockholm after a beer truck was hijacked and then used to carry out the attack. we will of course bring you more on this story as it continues to develop. >> jon: pentium response to the syrian air strikes on capitol hill. some lawmakers say the president should have sought congressional approval before taking military action against syria.

so did the president have the legal authority to order those strikes? gregg jarrett breaks it down for us. and the world taking sides on this syrian attack. who is supporting the u.s. and who is supporting syria? i didn't know where i was from ethnically. so we sent that sample off to ancestry. my ancestry dna results are that i am 26% nigerian. i am just trying to learn as much as i can about my culture.

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>> julie: here at home, some lawmakers on capitol hill arguing the president should have sought congressional approval before ordering those strikes on syria. in fact, senator rand paul tweeting, and i am quoting "the president needs congressional authorization for military action as required by the constitution." joining us now, fox news anchor and attorney gregg jarrett and my pal here in the studio. first of all, senator rand paul says this is not okay. this is against the law. this is against what washington believes in, against the constitution. is he right or wrong? >> he's a doctor and may be a pretty good one but he does not seem to know much about the constitution and the law. first of all, it is true that

article one, section 8 of the constitution says only congress may authorize a declaration of war. that is not what is going on here. this is a singular, limited military action, not an expensive war, so that president does not need congress' permission. and they debated the language to use. they knew there would be times when a president had to act expeditiously to protect vital national interests and so they chose the language "war" as opposed to military action required for a bike congressional approval. >> julie: isn't president trump also authorized under the 1973 war powers act? >> he absolutely was. that was the outgrowth of the vietnam war which was no war at all actually, formally declared even though more than 60,000 americans lost their life. it basically says that the president can use military action like this if he notifies congress within 48 hours. president trump did that.

there is another law, julie, which i know you know about, which is the 2001 military authorization of force act by congress. which basically says the president can use military force to prevent a terrorist attack, that is not just made a terrorist organization, that means a terrorist state come use of chemical weapons against innocent people is an act of terrorism, and remember, we have american assets in the region that are vulnerable and need to be protected. >> julie: were going to ask you to stand by for one moment. >> jon: u.n. ambassador nikki haley speaking out at the united nations. let's listen. >> he has committed criminal acts that shocked the conscience of all humanity. the international community has repeatedly expressed its outrage. the joint investigative mechanism has found beyond any doubt that that syrian regina has used chemical weapons against its own people multiple times.

on tuesday, the assad regina launched yet another chemical attack on civilians, murdering innocent men, women, and children in the most gruesome way. assad did this because he thought he could get away with it. he thought he could get away with it because he knew russia was have his back. that changed last night. as i warned on wednesday, when the international community consistently failed in its duty to act collectively, there are times when states are compelled to take their own actions. the indiscriminate use of chemical weapons against innocent civilians is one of those times. the united states will not stand by when chemical weapons are used. it is in our vital national security interest to prevent the spread and use of chemical weapons. our military destroyed the airfield from which this week's chemical strike took place.

we were fully justified in doing so. the moral state of the assad regime could no longer go unanswered. his crimes against humanity could no longer be met with empty words. it was time to say enough. but not only say it, it was time to act. bashar al-assad must never use chemical weapons again, ever. now while the syrian regime is responsible for the chemical weapons attack, it is not the only guilty party. the iranian government bears a heavy responsibility. it has popped up and shielded serious brutal dictator for years. iran continues to play a role in the bloodshed in syria. the russian government also bears considerable responsibility. every time assad has crossed the line of human decency, russia has stood beside him.

we had hoped to the security council would move forward, but russia made it known, as it has done seven times before, that it would use its veto once again covering up for the assad regime. further delayed by prospecting not compromising from russia by a watered-down resolution which has only strengthened assad. strengthening assad will only lead to more murders. we were not going to allow that. but it is even more than that. russia is supposed to be a guarantor of the removal of chemical weapons through syria. think about that. russia is supposed to have removed all of the chemical weapons from syria. but obviously, that has not happened. and innocent syrians continue to be murdered and chemical attack attacks. let's think about the possible reason for russia's failure. it could be that russia is

knowingly allowing chemical weapons to remain in syria. it could be that russia has been incompetent in its efforts to remove the chemical weapons. or it could be that the assad regime is playing the russians for fools. telling them that there are no chemical weapons, all the while stockpiling them on their bases. the world is waiting for the russian government to act responsibly in syria. the world is waiting for russia to reconsider its misplaced alliance with bashar al-assad. the united states will no longer wait for assad to use chemical weapons without any consequence consequences. those days are over. but now we must move to a new phase. a drive toward a political solution to this horrific conflict. we expect the syrian regime and its allies to take the u.n. political process seriously, something they have not done up until this point. we expect russia and iran to

hold their ally accountable and abide by the terms of the cease-fire. we expect this council to speak loudly and forcefully when the regime or its allies undermine the political process and countless of our own resolution resolutions. the united states took a very measured step last night. we are prepared to do more. but we hope that will not be necessary. it is time for all civilized nations to stop the horrors that are taking place in syria and demand a political solution. thank you. i will never see my function as the president of the council. i give the floor to the representative of the syrian-arab republic. >> jon: strong words from the u.s. ambassador to united nations, nikki haley, regarding the attack on syria launched last night. she said the u.s. is prepared to

do more. in that light, fox news has just learned that the u.s. military is investigating whether russia and fact played a role in the chemical weapons attack earlier this week in syria. the u.s. military says that there were believed to be between 12 and 100 russian military personnel on that base when u.s. cruise missiles attacked it. the military, our military says that we gave the russians about a one hour notice, and it is not belief that any russian personnel were killed on the base. the u.s. military is also saying that russia was not honest when it said that bashar al-assad, the leader of syria, had gotten rid of all of his nuclear weapons. so the investigation is underway as to whether or not russia played a role in that chemical attack. >> julie: also, coming right back, we're going to be talking about the legality of this. some lawmakers saying that what

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>> julie: be joining us now, fox news angry and attorney gregg jarrett. we were talking about how some lawmakers are saying this is unconstitutional, but there is precedent set here by our former president of the united states because president obama infected this in libya. he went ahead and ordered those bombings and did not get congressional consent. >> that is right. he later got it, but he went ahead and said i have the right to do this without consulting in getting permission from congress, and he presented all of the constitutional arguments you and i were talking about before. he is a bit schizophrenic because when it came to confronting bashar al-assad in

syria, he said, really congress ought to be the one that makes this decision. he abdicated his responsibility to congress, which undermined the constitution itself. but look, over the course of our republic, there have been 125 occasions in which american presidents have done precisely what president trump did. so there is a long and distinguished precedent that supports president trump's actions against syria. >> julie: he picked up where president obama left off with his time, there is no redline. >> one could argue that but for the failure president obama to act, president trump would not have had to. >> julie: gregg jarrett, thank you, always great to see you. >> jon: u.s. air strikes in syria welcome sight for rebels there who opposed the regime of bashar al-assad. some of them healing the response is a right direction. this after the obama admission from failed to provide them with

support they say they needed to fight assad and his allies pre-joining us now, david, a former state department official who has been in touch with syrian opposition leaders about those air strikes. david, what is their reaction? >> to be honest, they are quite happy and relieved that this has happened, but also surprised. this has been a stunning turn of events. 24 hours ago, the road was very different than it is today. no one really thought this was going to happen, of course they had been hopeful for a long time that the u.s. would take some action. i think it is going to be very impactful. it is going to make a difference. this is a really important action by trump. he's a really unlikely proponent of using military force for humanitarian purposes, but that is exactly what happened here. you can only justify this military action on the grounds of stopping war crimes and atrocities, crimes against humanity, the types of things that the u.n. doctrine, the

responsibility to protect, calls for states to do. the u.s. has done this unilaterally without the backing of the u.n., without even the backing of our allies, but it is a strong move, good move, it's going to make a difference in syria. i will bet you that assad did not expect it. he had probably come to think that the west would never hold him accountable for his actions. so this is an important change in the syrian opposition, and i am sure many syrians in syria and the syrian diaspora are very happy. >> jon: does it speak significantly weaken him? as long as he has the russians in your -- iranians supporting him, this doesn't affect his power, does it? >> it hasn't sued seeley weaken his military power, we took out one military base, but he is now left with the question of what comes next. and what will the u.s. do the next time they use chemical weapons or barrel bombs or the next time i attack a town full

of civilians and have lots of civilian deaths. he will now have to worry about that. whereas, up until yesterday, i think he truly believed he would never be held accountable. this really changes the dynamic in syria. that is really important. you heard nikki haley give a really good speech, really important speech, justifying why the u.s. did this, and then she talked about what is next. she pushed for a political resolution to this. she also was very strong and stating that russia and iran have some culpability for this as well. all three parties, assad, iran, and russia have to be brought to the table to find a political solution. this small military strike is not going to cause that on its own, but all three countries now have to worry what is the u.s. going to do if they do not come up with a resolution soon. >> jon: interesting that you are a former campaign advisor, foreign policy advisor for the

obama campaign. you've been arguing for this kind of action against the syrian regime mcpherson five years now. david also a former state department official, thank you. >> julie: desperate manhunt in sweden on going right now for the person behind a deadly truck attack in stockholm. coming up, but the u.s. government is doing to help. plus, members of congress weighing in on president trump's decision to launch air strikes on syria. some of them saying he should have sought congressional approval while others and some surprising ones in fact are applauding his move. >> what was done had to be done. it sends a clear signal that there is a new sheriff in town.

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>> jon: fox news alert, the nation of sweden on high alert after a truck driver plowed into a department store in stockholm. authorities are now searching for that person who killed several people and injured many more. chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge is alive with the latest from washington. speak of home insecurity secretary john kelly and his team are monitoring the situation in stockholm, and working to determine if there is a direct tie or was ind by terrorist groups. this wish my minister says everything so far indicates that crash was a terrorist attack. the truck was stolen then plowed into a department store in central stockholm, during a peak period of the late afternoon where shoppers prepare for the weekend. the timing to suggest the plot

was time to maximize fatalities. swedish police now report at least three people are dead and another eight seriously injured. the city center was transformed by bodies covered with blankets and security measures blocking off streets and shutting down transit lines including the main train station. there is dramatic video of one man wrestled to the ground by three police officers near the scene, and this video where you see another individual being handcuffed and restrained by authorities. the swedish government has not provided their names or identified them as suspects at this time. today's attack bears striking similarities to london on march 22nd where a self radicalized british national plowed a car into pedestrians on westminster bridge, killing four and then stabbing a police officer to death before the suspect was shot. news of today's attack spread quickly on isis linked social media accounts, but i want to emphasize there has been no claim of responsibility by any terrorist group. no counterterrorism analyst told me this morning that it was

worth noting that the eighth edition of the isis online magazine was posted thursday and the group posted a new kill list targeting british and american citizens earlier this week. spew >> jon: dangerous times, catherine herridge, our chief intelligence correspondent, thank you. >> julie: lawmakers on capitol hill responding to president trump's military strike on syria, getting support from both sides of the aisle. other members of congress, they think they should be involved going forward. listen. >> it was the right thing to do. number one, it was legal, had to be done, he was in violation of an agreement that we were guarantors of. >> there is no legal justification for this. >> president trump's doing this finally waking up to the atrocities in syria is a good thing, but he should not have done this without coming to congress. >> this president reacted to events which were so horrific that it required american reaction. >> the question is what comes next? is he going to continue to use force, he really needs to consult with congress and tell

us exactly what authorization he would like to have. >> i think it was a welcome demonstration of america's commitment, but what comes next is harder. >> julie: ray me now is lawrence jones, tv host on "the blaze," radio host and a conservative commentator. also scott, former chairman of the democratic party in washington, d.c., and a democratic strategist. thank you both for talking to us. >> good afternoon. >> julie: you just heard the top ranking lawmakers in both parties, many applauding the missile strike, even senate minority leader, in this one, i do know about you, games as a bit of a surprise, chuck schumer p this is the first time he has that anything positive to say about the trump administration. he released a statement saying this, i will read it for you. "making sure assad knows that when he commits such despicable atrocities he will pay a price is the right thing to do." is this an issue, scott, and i can actually unite democrats and republicans?

>> at least on this particular issue. using chemical weapons against your own people, who does that? it is a war crime, and i think the trump admission ration had to respond to that. in regards to schumer, he is absolutely right. i think he's going to get a lot of democrat and republican support on this issue because i think democrats are frustrated with aleppo, the prior administration and at least we are where we are right now. that begs the question, where are we with russia, assad, are we in or out? do we have a plan for getting into and plan for getting out? those are the hard questions, and i think congress has to be consulted on that. i think the democrats will be very supportive in regards to resolving this issue. >> julie: president bush kept his promise. he said he would not discuss monetary strategy publicly, and he did not. then he acted quickly and swiftly peered many politicians, though, who initially lacked confidence and how president trump might take advice from his military commanders back when he was running, believe this is a president that deals with redlines. now there are no red lines.

how does this play out in washington? >> i think it is important to recognize that this president inherited this mess. he did not establish the redlines, but he definitely enforced the redlines. i think it is important when we are talking about military strategy, as you said, president trump said during the campaign that he would not discuss this publicly. i think it is also important to note that what he did, this strike, he could have taken out six of them, but this was the most restrained option he could enforce. i think he did a great job to implement it. i think he took the advice of the generals. i think they have his back. i don't think this is a political issue. i think the president is on the right track on this. >> julie: senators marco rubio, john mccain, lindsey graham. they've been a bit opposed to the president's policies, but they have all come out and support. they have praise to the president, saying this was an important step and bringing to a close the chaos that has happened in syria for years.

then there are republicans who are not on board peer they are not supporting the president's decision. senator rand paul for example saying that the president needs congressional authorization for military action as required by the constitution. cumbersome adjusted from michigan echoing those remarks saying that air strikes are an active war, atrocities and syria cannot justify departure from constitution which invests in congress power to commence war. under the constitution as we know, the white house only needs to seek approval and an act of war, which this is not. it is in response to an atrocit atrocity. but it is not necessarily declaring war. >> you're absolutely right about that. i'm sorry. i think it is subject to presidential interpretation, one. to come you could argue on the 2003 congressional authorization in regards to the iraq war, he could go in and do this strike, but again, it is subjeco interpretation. the reality is what everyone is

concerned about, democrats and republicans in the house and senate is what does this mean? does this get a steeper end? if we do, what is our overall strategy? the president has to explain that, and i think he will find bipartisan support if not perfect support that he has to go to congress to at least have the discussion. >> julie: scott, go ahead. >> and nothing this is an interpretation issue. i thing the president is in his powers. remember, this has been done over 125 times per president obama did the same thing with syria. i think this was a restrained option. this is not war. i think though senators should be reminded that we have to do something when it comes to innocent children and families being targeted by another country. >> julie: lawrence jones, scott bolden, that is all the time we have. thank you very much. we appreciate it. >> jon: as we learn new details about the syria strike last night, russia is stepping up in support of president assad, at least verbally. what happens next?

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u.s. air strike on syria, guided missile destroyer uss porter played a major role in launching that attack. now a russian warship in the eastern mediterranean is heading toward the border, and another navy destroyer that launched those strikes. the developments raising serious questions about what comes next. a piece in "the washington post" reads "the biggest difference that trump and his commanders confront now is the presence of russian troops on the battlefield and russian air defense systems that are capable of shooting down u.s. planes. today, russian troops are intermingled with the syrian forces, and any strike on a syrian military target could also produce russian military casualties." mitchell is a retired u.s. army special forces lieutenant colonel and national guardsmen. let's talk about the latest development, the russian ship steaming toward the u.s.

destroyers in the mediterranean. is that a threatening maneuver, or is it routine and certain stances like this? >> i don't consider it a threatening maneuver. it is something that russia has to do and something that can make the international news like it is making today. but you can be assured, and we can all be assured that we have for protection that our navy needs out there in the mix. there is no threat to the u.s. from the russian ship. >> jon: what about the fact that russian forces were not to be on the ground at this airfield, and we are told pentagon actually notified the russians about an hour before the attack. frankly, that surprises me because the russians could have been picked up the phone and called the syrians coming in they could have flown their planes out of there in that hour. >> we can probably assess that is exactly what happened. the russian advisors, the russian chemical munitions experts, if that is what they were, certainly told their syrian counterparts. it is hard to find a syrian jet

pilot at 4:00 in the morning. that is quite likely why most of those jets were destroyed on the ground. it is something that it is important that we did notify the russians through the deconfliction line because this is not a direct connecticut strike against putin's forces on the ground. it is quite literally, as we've been saying, enforcing the redline and departing from the policy of the previous administration strategic patients pray that as long since over. no better way to get that message across to the world than 59 tomahawk cruise missiles instead of a speech. speak to the neck >> jon: is there any danger, you think come of repercussions for the u.s. troops on the ground in syria? >> just from open-source news, we know that our u.s. troops are at a distance. they are in other parts of the country and are maintaining a significant separation from obviously syrian and russian forces. but our guys on the ground are following the news. they know what is going on. i am sure they are forced protection posture has increased as a result of the strike on the

airfield. >> jon: you mentioned a strike on the airfield. there are six airbases that bashar al-assad controls. the u.s. could have gone a lot farther than it did. do you suggest that this is roughly proportional? is this about right in proportion to compare to what assad did launching the chemical attack? >> that is the thing. wmd use on your own civilian population is out of proportion. if we looked it up, there would be tens of many more times people killed in the previous week by a conventional munitions but because of his violation of agreements that we and the international community have made with russia and syria, it was proportional. we look for proportionality. but that does not mean this cannot happen again tonight. if he has other airfields, and i am sure we are close in monitoring activity at those other airfields, so it is not beyond the pale that there will be other strikes on other airfields to come if the indicators of other chemical

munitions air strikes are getting ready to take place. >> jon: we know the russians have sold and installed very sophisticated antiaircraft weaponry on syrian soil. how dangerous is that in the event that some kind of a manned aircraft strike might be needed? >> fortunately, we don't need to do that. this is not operation el dorado canyon when the president reagan sent the f111 over libya. we don't have to send pilots or just send machines now. we have the ability to send drones and those tomahawk missiles do the job that a single precision guided bomb delivered by an airplane would do. we can continue to use on unmanned systems to get the job done. >> jon: vicki very much. >> julie: president trump's decision to strike syrian airbase draws global action amid further straining relations with

russia. it comes just days after and before secretary of state rex tillerson heads to moscow. ahead, the response from the kremlin. who's he? he's green money, for spending today. makes it easy to tell you apart. that, and i am better looking. i heard that. when it's time to get organized for retirement, it's time to get voya. whfight back fastts, with tums smoothies. it starts dissolving the instant it touches your tongue. and neutralizes stomach acid at the source. ♪ tum -tum -tum -tum smoothies! only from tums

>> hello, everyone, i am melissa francis. our own john roberts sat down with white house press secretary sean spicer moments ago. president trump's reaction to the air strike on syria. plus, we have senators james lankford, rand paul, and james white after a briefing on the syrian operation. we'll have brand-new information from them. and officials now saying the pentagon is investigating whether russia participated in syria's chemical weapons attack. all that and more on "america's newsroom hq" ."

>> julie: back to the follow-up from the u.s. air strike on syria. senators are being briefed on the operation at this hour as we speak. meanwhile, the trump administration getting praise and criticism for launching the attack. in fact, in response to a deadly chemical attack in syria, all of this as the secretary of state rex tillerson prepares to travel to russia next week. moscow and washington now at odds over syria s russia continues to support president assad. >> there is no doubt in our minds and the information we have supports that syria, the syrian were gm, bashar al-assad are responsible for this attack. i think further, it is very important that the russian government consider carefully their continued support for the assad were gm. >> julie: chief washington correspondent james rosen is a lie from the state department, great to see you. >> good afternoon, great to be

with you. words of support from the air strike came from great britain and saudi arabia which held the president's "courageous decision." from those countries from which condemnation would be suspected, condemnation swiftly came. iran foreign minister tweeting this morning about what u.s. aides saddam's use of chemical weapons than resorts to military force over bogus chemical weapons allegations first and 2003, reference thereto the iraq war, and now in syria. not even two decades after 9/11, u.s. military fighting on the same side as he keita in ices in yemen in, time to stop hikes and coverups" peered russia, given an hour's notice, to the strike at its client state by bringing a violation of international law and shutting down, at least for a line like time, the lines of key mitigation our country and use russia have been using for military operations do not conflict. while previous initiatives of this kind have been presented as efforts to combat terrorism, the

russian foreign ministry said in a statement now they are clearly an act of aggression against the sovereign syria. actions undertaken by the u.s. in fact do not inflict further damage to the u.s.-russian relations. of course, we also saw some strong words pushing back against russia from the u.n. ambassador to the united states ambassador to the u.n., former governor nikki haley. at one point earlier this week, she asked how many more children have to die before russia cares? one other aspect of this operation that is extraordinary, not too often we see an american commander-in-chief launched kinetic military action while he is being visited on our soil by a foreign leader of the stature that we have here, that being xi jinping, the president of china. the chinese president arrived at mar-a-lago yesterday for meetings with president trump, and many observers last night were saying this was intended to send the chinese president a message that he better start to get his client state, north korea, more in line. >> julie: certainly an unprecedented meeting.

thank you very much, james rosen. >> jon: more fallout from the u.s. air strikes on syria. a russian warship now approaching the u.s. navy destroyers that launched the attack. more in a moment. you seem knowledgeable, professional. i'm actually a deejay. -[ laughing ] no way! -that really is you? if they're not a cfp pro, you just don't know. cfp. work with the highest standard. i ...prilosec otc 7 years ago,my doctor recommended... 5 years ago, last week. just 1 pill each morning, 24 hours and zero heartburn. it's been the number 1 doctor recommended brand for 10... ...straight years, and it's still recommended today. use as directed. z282sz zwtz

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>> jon: thanks for joining us. "america's news hq" starts now. >> melissa: new response from the white house and the pentagon as reaction pours in to president trump's decision to unleash tomahawk missiles on syria. hello everyone. i'm melissa francis. navy warships firing dozens of missiles. the u.s. strike was in response to syria's chemical attack that killed more than 100 of its own citizens. the missiles nearly levelled the syrian air bass. allies are rallying behind the de