watch the entire episode if you happen to be doing cost something different on sunday morning. we'll see you back here with the latest buzz. eric: we start with a fox news alert. new reaction pouring in about the joint airstrikes in syria. the united states is repairing new sanctions on russia over its continued support of the regime of bashar al-assad. president trump parading the operation on twitter. those airstrikes targeting and take out key facilities we are told. with new images revealing the extent of the damage inflicted by the coordinated evident by the u.s., britain and france. welcome to america's news headquarters. i'll be under viewing karen pierce, a member of the u.n.

security council. arthel: hello, i'm arthel neville. dramatic before and after pictures showing the devastation suffered sat one of the three -- at one of the three sites hit during the strike. nikki haley appearing on "fox news sunday" this morning saying the strike was necessary to send a clear message to syria that the use of chemical weapons will never be tolerated. >> al-assad knew russia had its back and would cover for them at the united nations. we have to be clear that we can't allow the use of chemical weapons. that's why you saw him strike this weekend and that's why he expelled 60 russian spies after the attack in salisbury. this could happen in the united

states if we are not smart. arthel: we'll hear from a member of the house armed services committee soon. we start with kevin corke at the white house. what is the white house assessment of the strike, and might there be more strikes in the days ahead? reporter: the battle damage assessment is ongoing. they will keep an eye on how that goes with their partners at the pentagon. but if there are additional strikes on the syrian people by the government there, by the assad regime, most of certainly more strikes are on the way. the president pleased with what he has seen so far not just from the partners internationally, france and the u.k., but from what the u.s. has been able to do in defense of the syrian people. he said the syrian raid was so perfectly carried out with such precision, the on way the fake

news media could demean was to seize on the term mission accomplished. the strikes say white house officials did the exactly what they were meant to do. that is, degrade and december trite assad chemical weapons capability and sending a message to its primary benefactor, russia. reporter: russia and syria are signatories to the chemical weapons convention. that means countries are not supposed to possess chemical weapons. russia and syria can top using those. russia needs to stop backing bashar al-assad. they need to stop that now to avoid further action. and they need to stop attacking

their own people in syria. reporter: what they are saying is they are primarily -- saying the russians are primarily responsible because of their support for the assad regime. arthel: is there any reaction at the white house to the president's use of the words mission accomplished? reporter: tell the truth, as soon as you sow that -- as soon as you saw that, didn't you think, where have i seen that before? what they are trying to do is draw a distinction between the military use of that terminology and the political. let me share for the folks who missed it. he says a perfectly executed strike last night. thank you to france and the u.k. could not have had a better

result. mission accomplished. here is what u.s. ambassador to the u.n. nikki haley has for an explanation. >> mission accomplished is a military term. as a military spouse i know mission accomplished means you have one task currently in front of you, and when it's completed, it's mission accomplished. politically mission accomplished means something broader. i think it president was referring in military terms. reporter: making that distinction. does it make it easier for the media to deconstruct on the fly? arthel: kevin corke, thank you very much. eric: the pentagon is warning syria still has enough chemical facilities to potentially attack its own people with those weapons.

>> it was the right move. and not only was it the right move, but the inclusion of britain and france in the operation as well as the support turkey gave us, perhaps gives us a way forward. eric: doug mcelway is live with us in washington. what do we know about the damage these strikes cost. reporter: 100 missiles landed within minutes much each other -- minutes of each other. >> we successfully destroyed three buildings in metropolitan * damascus, one of the most of heavily defended air space in the world. this will set their chemical weapons program back for years. reporter: chemical weapons storage sites were destroyed outside the sit of homs.

in addition a pair of u.s. air force b-1 bombers fired' missiles at that research center. and the fast attack u.s.s. john warner launched tomahawk missiles from the mediterranean sea. the destroyer laboon terks fired 7. 20% of the missiles fired into syria came from british and french forces. eric: what do we know about that much heralded russian defense system that's in place over syria? reporter: they were silent during this entire attack. assad's forces did fire 40

surface-to-air missiles into the sky. but they were basically directionless. and they were launched after the strikes hit their target. russia has vowed retaliation. but what form it may take is anybody's guess. they don't believed putin may launch an avert military strike. it may be a cyber attack or another poisoning of a diplomat. we will find out. eric: we'll ask our u.n. ambassador karen pierce about that. arthel: we'll bring in arizona congress one and martha mcsally. pair force veteran. thank you for being here with us this sunday.

if i could start with your reaction to the new sanctions on russia that we are reporting. can you tell us any more details about those sanctions? >> let me first say i'm proud of the men and women who participated in the attacks. they showed their professionalism and precision will insure they attack the exact targets they are given. this was a specific attack using military force. but we have diplomatic and economic power. the space has been created -- arthel: congresswoman, excuse me, i was going to give you a specific question that would give you a chance to sing the praises of the troops. but let's tailor this a bit. co-can you shed any further light on the administration strategy in syria, and do you think america should take on a

future role there? >> i think we have to look at our vital national you interest. in this case it was related to insuring the use of weapons of massachusetts destruction aren't used. when i look at the rest our vital national you interests is to insure syria does not have a land bridge through iraq into syria threatening our close ally israel. and we have a failed state in syria. we have to make sure it doesn't become an additional safe haven for terrorists. >> how long should we be there. >> we should not be involved in this civil war. but we need to to us dip make it and economic power and hold russia and iran accountable. and in order to support the geneva process for some sort of diplomatic solution. war is politics by other means.

russia and iran have continued to be obstructionists and destabilizing in the region. this is not for american troops to be going for regime change. arthel: they have said this is not about regime change. it's about the strikes at hand. speaking of which, you know firsthand the precision with which our airmen and women can carry out a mission. is a series of airstrikes going to be sufficient to accomplish the mission at hand? >> this particular mission was twofold. one was to degrade their capabilities. secondly, to send a strategic message to assad and russia and iran. we are propping them up. and others around the world who are listening and watching. you will not violate using weapons of mass destruction against your people without

having consequences. >> so the question is, i'm asking you, it's one round of fire enough? >> what happens next is up to assad, russia and iran. if they choose to use chemical weapons again, then we are locked and load as nikki haley said. and we'll continue to show you cannot controls that red line. it can't be tolerated either in london, malaysia or in syria. civilized world needs to stand strong on this. the next steps are up to assad. they probably still have residual capability. now it's a matter of what is their intent. will they continue to use the wmd against their own people. >> he had three major goals that he wanted to accomplish. he wanted to make sure chemical

weapons were not used, or weapons of mass destruction were not used in any way that could harm american national interests prime minister wanted to make sure we defeated isis completely and holy to make sure all of that threat is gone because it's a threat to american national interests, ban he wanted to make sure we had good grounds up to watch what iran was doing and they weren't making a lot of aggressive headway in terms of that. arthel: congresswoman you said we are locked and load, that's the words from the administration. how do you think getting our troops involved in a protracted mission in syria would be received or tolerated by the american people. >> they are specifically involved in the counter terrorism fight right now. and in this case the strikes were related to another interest which is the use of wmd.

it creates the space for other elements of national power. political and economic, with other powers in the region to move forward for a diplomatic solution for syria. that's not our responsibility. that is the responsibility of those in syria and other actors in the region. we can assist, but it's not our job, nor would i support our troops being involved in that civil war. arthel: how do we nudge and assist assad to get to the table of diplomacy. even after the strikes friday he's attacking his people saying i'll keep doing what i'm doing. perhaps this attack, i don't know if it's chemical weapons that have been used. but he's going full steam ahead and russia doesn't seem to be able to stop them. i'm not sure if they have the will to stop them. i want to circle back. you are a member of the house

armed services and homeland security committee. can you give americans watching right now a clear and simple idea of what the administration strategy is towards syria? >> there is nothing clear and simple when it comes to the middle east or syria. let the administration speak for themselves. from my experience in the military it has to be to protect americans from having safe havens for organizations like isis that could attack us, and also to make sure there isn't use of weapons of mass destruction. there is plenty of failed states around the world. we don't get involved in all of them unless we see vital national interests. this is up top assad backed by russia and iran. this strong message needs to be, russia has been destabilizing this region and propping up assad. so they need to stop obstructing

a diplomatic solution. iran is trying to create a land bridge to threaten their strong ally israel. it's up to them, with the pressure the international community, he see them step up and support participating in the strike. there is a geneva process led by the u.s. and other elements of syrian sects and different elements of power are involved. arthel: at the moment's not work. we'll see what these new sanctions on russia will bring to bear. colonel mcsally, thank you for the interview, and thank you for your service. eric: we are learn something new details from james comey in his new memoir out in two days. but the former fbi director is saying played a major role in the investigation of hillary

clinton's email. a draft resolution on syria has been circulated to the members of the security council at the u.n. karen pierce is here for her first american television interview as ambassador. she was direct and pointed in blaming assad. >> this one of the most of serious challenges to the international non-proliferation regime we have ever seen. a state party violated the chemical weapons conning vengs. it defied the security council and broken international law. hn relieving strength of aleve.

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discredit. comey talked about the election and the decision to reopen the investigation into hillary clinton's use of a private email server. >> he made these decisions based on the political landscape and not the facts of the case. when the person that is supposed to lead the highest law enforcement agency in our country starts making decisions based on political environment instead of what is right and what is wrong, it, a dangerous position. that's one of the reasons there is a huge bipartisan consensus that james comey doesn't have credibility. >> he says comey was not perfect but that doesn't mean he's bad. >> imcomey in my way always good man who made a consequential blunder. good people make mistakes all

the time. it just so happens the double standard blunder he made had a huge consequence. reporter: he says his behavior may not be illegal but it violates ethical norms of leadership. the white house is pressing back hard. >> the american people see right through the blatant lies of a self-admitted leaker. one of the president's greatest achievements will go down as firing james comey. reporter: he's set to speak with fox's bret baier later this month and abc's "20-20" tonight. eric: adam winkler joins us

next. he joins us from los angeles. professor, good to see you. the president vowed not to fire robert mueller. but there are reports that rod rosenstein is on thin ice. what do you think it would mean if rosenstein was dumped. >> if rosenstein is fired that will start a hullabaloo over what's going to happen to mueller's investigation. rosenstein has the authority to fire mueller. if you replace that person with a trump loyalist you may expect a real change in the mueller investigation. eric: do you think a change could influence robert mueller? >> it's not that they would influence robert mueller.

he's a man of great integrity. i don't think he'll influence his direction by the direction of donald trump or his loyalists. but the person in charge of the investigation is rosenstein. but rosenstein will approve expansions of mueller's authority and aproper things like the seizure of documents from cohen's office. eric: some will say it's too late, the train left the station. of course the investigation would still continue unimpeded. but you don't buy that? >> well, it would continue unimpede. however, rosenstein controls the shape and nature of that investigation. so if rosenstein says i don't think the special counsel has the authority to investigate this or investigate that.

then it can stop mueller from doing so. eric: you are a constitutional expert. what would it mean? would a constitutional crisis ensue? what would it mean constitutionally in terms of the separation of power between the executive and congress if rosenstein was fired, if indeed mueller was dumped? >> it could lead to a constitutional crisis. that's what happened with richard nixon as the investigation into watergate got more detailed. he decided to fire the people in mule per and rosenstein's positions. that led congress to push back against president nixon and lid to serious consideration of impeachment proceedings. how serious the pushback will be depend on what the republican leadership in congress decides

to do. eric: do you think the republican leadership made that clear to the white house? >> i don't know that we even heard a united front from republican leadership. we heard some people say that would and line president trump could not cross. but we have had a lot of republican leaders be silent on it in have been efforts to discredit the mueller investigation from the get-go. so i'm not sure the republic scan leadership would take a strong stand against the president. eric: one of the president's tweets, slippery james comey will go down as the worst fbi director in history. i never asked him for personal loyalty. i hardly even knew this guy. his memos are self-serving and

lies. is it fair? he said he thought hillary would win and that influenced his views on the investigation. what do you think of that? >> it's inappropriate for the political director to take into account political considerations. i am not sure that helps donald trump's case. in some ways it sounds like the political considerations led him to be more harsh on hillary clinton. comey. it's not like he gave soft because to hillary clinton. it suggests he was harsher on hillary clinton because of those political considerations. but the fbi director should not be factoring in concerns about the electoral viability of a candidate. eric: it's really complicated

and sometimes confusing. we have thing texts from peter strzok. we have to wade through this. what can we take from it? >> i think the real question is we really see a split on what happened. we don't know exactly what the facts are in part because congress hasn't been doing an active job investigating the controversy. if congress were a little more active maybe we could get to the bottom of it. but congress doesn't show as much of an appetite for doing that. it's up to robert mueller and his report that he's going to issue to determine what happened. eric: professor adamaging winkler from ucla. thank you for joining us on the fox news channel. they will there are chemical weapons were band by the geneva protocol in 1935.

but that has not stopped syria from using them against her own people. karen pierce is here to explain what the global community should do. >> we are facing a litany of violations, no sense of regret or responsibility. a shameful record wrapped in a mix of denial, deceit and disinformation. classics like lobster lover's dream are here too. so enjoy these 10 lobsterlicious dishes now. because lobsterfest ends april 22nd. .. .. the day after chemo might mean a trip back to the doctor's office, just for a shot.

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>> it cannot be illegal to use force to prevent the killings of such numbers of innocent people. i will take no lessons with the president of international law from russia appeared drained your british ambassador karen pearce at the u.n. security council yesterday addressing the 15 members of the security council about the u.s. british and french airstrikes and russian culpability. she bluntly and directly put the

blame not just on syrian dictator bashar al-assad, but also on moscow, saying the world cannot abide by the deployment of chemical weapons. ambassador parrish joins us now in the studio with the first united states television news interview with ambassador to the united nations. ambassador, welcome. >> thank you very much. >> united nations itself was founded on the principles of your prime minister, winston churchill defeating the not days. here we have this grave humanitarian crisis that is overwhelming. it is happening on our watch. why has the west been unable to stop in syria? >> you are absolutely right that the u.n. was founded with the noble purpose of noble principles and if the u.n. can't deal with this sort of situation, then why have it. it is the price of keeping the

veto. it's incumbent on people like the p5 to uphold international law, to uphold the principles of the u.s. and to do something about such crises at this. what you have with russia is one member who want to have a special responsibility, that number is blocking the u.n. and the last to help with this problem. >> you believe vladimir putin has the responsibility that they have now vetoed 12 resolutions, six dealing with elections and they've allowed this to happen. >> i don't want to go that far. i hope even at the late stage that russia would still come back and still help us resolve this crisis. but i think we find it astounding as do many people that the country that helped build the chemical weapon convention and the global non-proliferation regime that russia can now be one of those rogue countries has been looking

to undo it. or do you say russia is a rogue country? >> it has tended these. would much rather get back to the stage where russia works with the rest of the p5 and security council to find a way to bring the regime to the negotiating table and get back into the process to have too dismantled the chemical weapons and for the accountability. it is worth remembering that russia helped pass the resolution that demanded this year you get back its chemical weapons. so she now needs to deliver. >> but then again, they disbanded a couple years ago to go after the chemical weapons. >> they originally set the mechanism up in last year in november you're quite right right they dismantled us. there's some serious questions as to why russia is supporting assad and breaking international law, why they condone the suffering and killing of so many

civilians in syria. eric: there's a new resolution supported by the french and i.q. do you think this opacity think russia will have a 13th veto? >> the full condition of what a happen next, this is what this resolution is to put forward. something the french, british and americans are cooperating on together. i think it represents the will of the vast majority of people on the security council including china. over the next few days and weeks, we will be pursuing out the secretary general and we look to the russians to come back into the international fold and help resolve this conflict. >> you think these airstrikes were enough? the supposedly search facility and in the sense they were choreographed. the u.s. has apparently had a deep reflection of the russians

telling them it's coming. not specifically where. you think it's enough for should we have done more? take out the air force and the helicopters, but then they protect them. should this be a no-fly zone imposed to syria? >> the airstrikes you saw have been deliberately set up to be limited and targeted and specific and to concentrate on the facilities. that would be the immediate problem we were seeking to address in the humanitarian distress of the serious people. we will have to see what happens over the coming days. i don't want to preempt that, but airstrikes were deliberately set up in the way they were. i hope they will induce the russians to help put this conflict to rest. eric: do you think bruton and assad have gotten the message. the propaganda video where they show him going to war with a

briefcase. there isn't one of the presidential palaces, like nothing is happening. in the strike last year, 59 missiles that did not stop him from using chemical weapons. >> we wouldn't be in the conflict we are as president assad didn't have the spirit we all work together in the security council to find a way to bring him to the table. i think your video shows why russia is so critical to this. president assad has shown that to his own devices he will not come to the peace table. ps allies, russia, iran. they need to help bring him to that table and dismantled the chemical weapons and make progress on the political program. >> in terms of russian behavior can you had a string of assassinations in your country. that's an attack on britain. what would you say to russia

about this and the critics who say outside of the british attack, they have something called vc as an agent in the russians say they didn't do it or denied responsibility. >> we've set out clearly why we believe was carried out by the russian state and they set out what we believe was used and this is confirmed by the international body looking after chemical weapons. they confirm that the military grade nerve agent. only russia has the means and the method to carry out such an attack and the track record as well. in terms of freeing me another attempt to rewrite history in their own image. eric: finally, this is your 20th day at the u.n. did you get off the plane and go right to work? >> yes, i did with the

secretary-general through time to see me, the formal diplomatic announcement. >> thank you for spending time with us here on the fox news channel. we'll catch up with you tomorrow. >> , thank you very much. arthel: nice to have the ambassador here. paul ryan announcing his retirement saying he and republican colleagues on the hill company done. coming up, what impact ryan's retirement could have as republicans had towards the mid-term elections. received wo! the louisiana purchase, is complete! instant purchase notifications from capital one . technology this helpful... could make history. what's in your wallet? where we're changing withs? contemporary make-overs. then, use the ultimate power handshake, the upper hander

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comfortable making this decision is because we have a very capable leadership team. eric: after three years as speaker of the house, paul ryan announcing he will be leaving congress at the end of his term in january. what implications could this have his republican look to try to hang on to control the house come midterm elections. here to discuss, white house correspondent for the daily caller starting here. as paul ryan's retirement more the reflection of ryan's own record as speaker or is it a foreshadowing of things to come in november for gop candidates? >> sure. thanks for having me, arthel. it is a reflection of paul ryan is very frustrated. he sees the logjam currently going on in the senate. he knows the remainder of this term and probably in the future with impending losses on both sides in houston and if the republicans that it's unlikely he's going to be able to do the subsidy work that he wants to

do. at the same time, his retirement to sending a message to some republicans of a morale problem. we've heard from some members that it is disheartening to have your leader step down so early in the term going into such a contentious election. it said in a mood here which is not very good for republicans. arthel: so kevin mccarthy becomes the next speaker, will things be different or more of the same? also, would he hear about house majority whip steve scalise as a potential successor? >> steve scalise has made it very clear here he will not run against kevin and he never has and never will. in terms of kevin mccarthy, he's got a great relationship with the president. paul ryan and donald trump do not have the best record going in whenever the president won the white house. kevin mccarthy and the president are very close. in terms of legislative agenda, if the house is lost, we are not

going to the legislation progressively more so than right now. very likely more of the same. but a tighter bond between perhaps the next speaker of the house where the next minority leader in the white house. >> i will get to that later if i can. right now something you just mentioned. i want to find out if you think the gop has a collect his weary and as speaker ryan white flag is indicative of a disintegrating party. >> with the speaker will say it's obviously it's not a white flag of surrender. it's not a disappearing majority. he has a fund-raising juggernaut of tens of millions of dollars. he's sticking it out through the rest of the term. some members have said this doesn't affect them anyway whatsoever. in terms of symbolism, it is a big deal when the speaker of the

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arthel: we are back with white house correspondent for the daily caller. before the break i wanted to talk about the democratic party. certainly not free of anxiety. they can't take a passive road to the midterms. what is the workload for democrats between now and november? >> one of the biggest problems for democrats is the president's approval rating has been steadily rising and their lead on the generic ballot a couple months ago was 12 to 15 points and now we are only five to six. part of the issue republicans have been hammering them down just irks is if the democrats take the house, we are almost certainly going to see articles of impeachment filed against the president. people do not like this negative message in which the democratic party right now has internal debate about what policy they stand on other than opposition to the president. they have not put forth a positive agenda. at the same time, nancy pelosi

has been at the home of that party in the house now for several years right behind her, steny hoyer in his upper 70s. it seems to be a gap in between the leadership age in the enthusiasm of the democratic race. lack of a positive message, total opposition to the president. no real face of the democratic base and leadership than they do have quite the workload cut out for them going into the midterms. arthel: they can just be anti-tribe, anti-tram. however, just because someone's actual age does not mean they are not qualified or energetic enough to do the job. back to speaker ryan. do you think if he had been speaker under a different administration this would've played out differently? >> yes, absolutely do. the president and speaker ryan always did well on a policy level.

speaker ryan is a conservative. he believes in welfare reform, tax reform of which they did align on. at the end of the day, he believes in a much more compassionate conservative message and wish this on the 2012 campaign. this president is much more of a deficit spender. he is somebody who ran on a hard-line stance on immigration and these were really not policy priorities for the speaker. it absolutely would've been different if he had been under a different president. especially different republican president. arthel: father and jetty, i leave it there. we'll be right back after this break. (vo) lately, i've been selective about what i eat. this new beneful select 10, has 10 amazing ingredients! (avo) with real beef, plus accents of sunflower oil and apples, suddenly your dog's a health nut. (vo) the old me woulda been all over that.

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...like me. mayhem is everywhere. are you in good hands? eric: well, that does it for now. tranter will be back at 4:30 p.m. eastern time. we will see you then. leland: coming up, president trump goes on a twitter marathon this morning tweeting about everything from fired fbi director james comey's new book to the airstrikes in syria. we'll go live to the white house now the administration is pushing back against critics from all sides. elizabeth: learning new details about the effect of mass a friday night missile strike wisteria and threats from all sides about what could happen next. tranter where bipartisanship in washington both republicans and democrats with james comey's new book going rogue with the autobiography titled a higher