captioning sponsored by cbs captioning sponsored by cbs >> brennan: today on "face the nation." the u.s. and its allies launch a targeted missile strike on syria, retaliation for last week's chemical attacks that killed dozens of civilians. >> these are not the actions of a man they are a crimes of a monster instead. >> brennan: president trump says the strike was perfectly executed and that the mission was accomplished. but some say the strikes didn't go far enough. either way the question remains, what exactly is the strategy in syria and the conflict that's now in its sent year. ambassador nikki haley has been leading the effort at the united nation. >> the syrian regime uses poisonous gas again, the united states is locked and loaded. >> brennan: when our president jars a -- draws a red line, our

president enforces the red line we'll talk with her then with virginia's democratic senator tim kaine. he called the scribe illegal and reckless since the president did not seek approval of congress. the legal problems intensify after the fbi raids his personal attorney's office and home. michael cohen is now the subject of a criminal investigation into his business which may impact his clients, president trump and another head cake for the president as former fbi director james comey tell-all book is released. we'll have analysis on all the news and what's next in syria coming up on "face the nation." good morning, welcome to "face the nation." i'm margaret brennan. friday night's strike in syria was launched by british, french and u.s. over 100 missiles were fired at three sites in syria that the

u.s. identified as chemical weapons facilities. syrian 'teams shoot them down failed and russian forces held their fire avoiding the escalation that u.s. officials had feared. defense secretary mattis called eight heavy strike but one-time shot that set the syrian's chemical weapons back years. cbs news foreign correspondent seth doane are in damascus under the supervision of the syrian government. seth, what's the latest? >> good morning, margaret. advance here of the syrian forces have made going into douma is the big news, remaining control of that area that had been held by the rebels. that is quite significant because it likely gives chemical weapons inspectors access to that site merry christmas you did get access to one of the sites that was hit in that allied show of force on friday. what did you find? >> we got into one of the areas that had been a research facility here in damascus, sort

of university. we were there as it was still smoldering and firefighters were still putting out the fire. the buildings had been completely destroyed. that is a site that the u.s. government, pentagon says is key to the development of biological and chemical weapons here in syria. we met a scientist who was there on the site who told us he had work thread for 38 years. he said, they were not developing chemical weapons there, it is just another example here in syria where you are hearing very different facts or allegations from both sides of the this conflict. >> brennan: the trump administration says it's not going to intervene, have any impact on the course of the conflict? >> there is a real defines that we have seen on the ground here in syria. but what we have seen from the syrian government is determination to move forward and make it appear as though it is business as usual. you saw the pictures that were released right away by the

syrian president and showing him walking into buildings appeared unfazed following these airstrikes. >> brennan: seth doane, than you for your reporting from the capital of damascus, very different images from what we saw in the area hit by alleged chemical attack nearby. we're joined now by the u.s. ambassador to the united nations, nikki haley she's in new york. good morning to you, madam ambassador. there have been reports since april of last year there have been at least 30 continued chemical weapons attacks in syria, some involving sarin. why did this particular attack last week warrant military action but the others didn't? >> good morning, margaret. well, i think that obviously this was cumulative, assad had been using chemical weapons multiple times. but more so this was about the security council resolutions. we had up until this point had

six different resolutions that would have dealt with investigative mechanisms for chemical weapons and russia had devoted all of them. and so we felt like we had gone through every diplomatic measure of talking that we could. it was time for action. one thing that we hoped assad got the message on is the international community will not allow chemical weapons to come back into our every day life and the fact that he was making this more normal and that russia was covering it up, all that has to stop. >> brennan: are there any consequences for assad's patrons, russia and iran who continue to protect him? >> absolutely. you will see that russian sanctions will be coming down, secretary ma newt gingrich enwill announce on monday if he hasn't already go directly to any sort of companies that were dealing with equipment related to assad and chemical weapons used. so i think everyone is going to feel it at this point. i think everyone knows that we sent a strong message and our hope that they listen to it.

>> brennan: the u.s. strikes while they hit their targets they still left assad regime in place along with all the instruments of russian and iranian back can. senator lindsey graham who you know well said he fears this is a weak military response. so what is the u.s. plan for follow up? >> well, make no question about it. this was a very strong response. first of all we went after their storage facilities where they kept components. we went after their massive research facility which was the heart of their chemical weapons program. and we went after their production facility. so, this was very strong attack on the chemical weapons program. we were not looking for war, that's the last thing the president wanted was war. we were not looking to kill people. that was not something that in our american values we would want to do. we wanted to send a strong message that they needed to stop the chemical weapons program. we wanted the political and diplomatic actions that were

taken, we wanted their friends, iran and russia know that we meant business that they were going to feel the pain from this as well. our goal is not to start war. our goal is not to kill people. our goal is to send a very strong message to assad and his friends that we are not going to watch them continue to use chemical weapons on their people. >> brennan: but there is concern that -- there's a risk, without diplomatic follow up looks like mussel flexing. in your assessment has assad won this war? >> this was not muscle flexing. we sent their chemical weapons program back years. so from that standpoint when we look at threats to national, our american national interests we definitely did exactly what we wanted to do. >> brennan: but assad's military has reclaimed the area where these chemical weapons were used. he's declaring victory there. >> look, assad has made end roads in terms of taking back property and land and all this. but that's what the geneva process is for. we're very involved in the

political process of trying to get to constitution of trying to allow the people to elect who is going to lead them. our job was never to take assad out. our job was never to start a war. and so what we have done is we've continued to stay involved diplomatically. we'll see that through in terms of the political solution. from a military standpoint, we felt like along with our allies we needed to make a strong message towards them that russia can cover up in the united nations but russia cannot cover up when it comes to military strikes on syria. and i think that message was heard loud and clear around the world. so, we feel very good about the message that was sent, it is now up to bashar al-assad to see if he's smart enough to receive that merry christmas when you say the geneva process, the u.n. led process that's been stalled for years that would have assad eventually negotiate. are you open to direct talks with the assad regime between the u.s. and the assad regime? >> well, let's be clear. that is a process that's being

handled in the united nations that has been ongoing and constant. so these talks they come together. what has happened up until now is syria has refused to come to the table to negotiate. but russia and all of the other actors involved are coming to the table and now it's russia's turn to deliver syria to the table for that political process. so it's moving. it's not moving near as fast as any of us want it to move. but this is a political process that needs to happen. this is not something that we need tomial terrellly go and do regime change, something we have to make sure a political process goes through. the united nations is the right place to facilitate that. because they do bring on the actors to the table. and we all hope for a political solution for the sake of the syrian people. >> brennan: no direct talks between the u.s. and syria at this point? >> no. we would never want to have direct talks with syria at this point. they're not worthy of talks with the united states. they have done nothing but brutalize their people.

and destroy their land. all in the name of power. so, our goal is that, yes, we will be at the talks as we have been. related to the geneva process, the united states is always there and we'll continue to be there. but, no, we are not going to have any one on one talks with assad. >> brennan: president trump intends to bring u.s. troops home from syria if he does that in the next six months as he says he wanted to, doesn't that cede the battleground to iran? >> we vend said year going to bring them in six months. we want to see our military come home. that is obviously the end goal. but there are three things that we have to do to get there. first of all the president's made it very clear we cannot have chemical weapons usage anywhere. and we will continue to combat that in any way we need to protect american interests. secondly, we want to make sure that they understand that isis had to be defeated completely and wholely in a way that we know we have stabilized the region. we have made fantastic progress on that front.

we're not going to stop until we know that that area is free of isis. then thirdly, we want to make sure that the influence of iran doesn't take over the area. they continue to cause problems throughout the region and we want to make sure that there is a whole. president has asked allies to step up and do more when it comes to syria. so all of these things are being done in the name of bringing on military home. >> brennan: the president called the fbi raid on his personal attorney's home an attack on our country in a true sense. fired off number of tweets about the fired fbi director calling him a slime ball, subtling he should be jailed. what is the president's state of mind? >> well, i have spent multiple times with the president at the white house and on the phone this past week. and his state of mind was very much focused on syria, chemical weapons, getting the option, is that were there, making sure we were not doing anything to cause casualties of human life whether it was allies of the syrian

people. his focus was very much on making sure we knew all of the information so that we didn't make a misstep. and waiting it out to make sure if we were going to do this we were willing go to do it right. >> brennan: but is is it right to say an attack on our country? >> first of all i have been drowning in all things syria, north korea and iran. so i can't -- i'm sorry, i don't have enough information on anything related to comey or all of those things. i just -- i haven't watched tv to watch that. i've been very focused on foreign policy. i think the president's been focused on foreign policy from the meetings i have been in. so i can only talk about those issues. >> brennan: ambassador, thank you very much. >> thanks, margaret. >> brennan: we want to go now to richmond, virginia and senator tim kaine, good morning to you, senator. you called these strikes illegal and reckless. the trump administration says article two of the constitution gave the president clearly the powers to take this action.

why do you think they're wrong? >> margaret, i was interested to hear ambassador haley talk about our hopes to get to a syrian constitution. i hope president trump will follow the american constitution. it's very, very clear, congress has power to declare war and only congress. so if you are initiating war against a sovereign nation like syria that hadn't declared war on united states its only congress that can do it. president trump is not a king, he's a president. he's supposed to come to congress to seek permission to initiate a war as ambassador haley said they had been following these chemical weapons attacks for months. they clearly had time to come to congress to seek our permission. this is really important, margaret, not just about the constitution. it's about the value underlying the constitution. the framers said if we're going to order our troops to risk their lives, put them in a situation where they can kill others are be killed or wounded themselves, then there has to be

a debate and vote by congress to say this is in the national interest. the president said, i can do it without congress. what's to stop him from starting a bombing campaign against iran or north korea or some other nation saying, i think it's in the national interest. it's illegal because he didn't come and ask permission. more over it's reckless because as you pointed out there isn't a strategy. we need to defeat isis. but we hear different things from the administration are we staying there you no to topple assad. to counter iran. to check russia. to help the kurds. buttress israel, to rebuild our relationships with turkey? they haven't laid out a strategy and military action shouldn't be taken as a one-off it should be taken as part of a strategy. >> brennan: do you not think u.s. should have taken action in the wake of a chemical attack? >> margaret, when president obama came to congress on exactly the same instance in 2014, saying, used chemical weapons against civilians,

congress should give authority for us to take military action. i voted for that as a member of the foreign relations committee. but the president was doing it the right way. he came forward with a plan -- >> brennan: he wasn't going to get the support of congress on that. >> we got a resolution out of the senate foreign relations committee it was on the floor then syria said we'll give up our weapon stockpile. as you know, in 2014 at that point -- >> brennan: they did not. >> citizen donald trump said the president can't constitutionally do this without kong to congress. mike pompeo as house member currently being considered as secretary of state said, the president needs congress. i'm very troubled that this is a president who seems to understand what the constitution required when president obama in office but now he thinks he's a king and he can do whatever he wants without congress. >> brennan: you mention mike pompeo before your committee this week testifying as auditions for this role of

secretary of state. you voted for him in cia director, will you vote for him to be the next secretary of state? >> margaret, i've decided to vote against him to be secretary of state. i did vote for him as cia director. he has intel background that suited him for the position. but look, we have a president who is anti-diplomacy. and i worry that mike pompeo has shown the same tendency to oppose diplomacy. he was not just against the iran deal when he was house member, he spoke about the relative ease of wiping out iran's nuclear capacity with bombing run. >> brennan: senator, that's significant that you're saying that you're not going to vote for him because this would mean he's the first nominee to be secretary of state to not get a favorable recommendation by that committee. but this still doesn't stop him from becoming america's top diplomat. >> you're right. we're going to have a floor vote. i'm telling what you my vote is. i don't want a secretary of state who is going to exacerbate

the president trump's tendencies to oppose diplomacy. you've seen donald trump try to under fund state department in usaid. not appoint. tweet out insults about foreign leaders, that's the united states out of international agreement. organizations. we do not need a secretary of state who is going to exaggerate those tendencies. we need secretary of state who is going to stand up for strong diplomacy. i don't believe that is director pompeo's inclination. >> brennan: sir, i want to ask you because you were of course the running mate in the 2016 election on hillary clinton ticket. you harshly criticized james comey for his decision to make it public that he was reopening that investigation into the clinton e-mails. you spoke to abc news about his justification for doing so i want to play that for you now. >> i was operating the world where merry christmas was be going to beat donald trump i'm sure that it was a factor like i

said i don't remember spelling it out. but it had to have been. that she is going to be elected president if i made this from the american people she'll be illegitimate the moment she's elected. >> brennan: what do you make that have explanation? >> the fbi has two real clear rules. don't talk about a pending investigation and don't inject controversy right before an election. they followed those rules with respect to the ongoing investigation into donald trump at the time. they didn't follow the rules with respect to hillary clinton there was a clear double standard. but look, i have so much on my plate to worry about today and tomorrow that i'm not spending time thinking about two years ago. i'm trying to get a president to follow the constitution, make sure that if we are putting our military troops in harm's risk i got a kid in the military virginia is very connected to the military mission. there's got to be a strategy. those are the things that i'm spoke focused on. >> brennan: your voice and face are in the rnc ads, i thought it

was important to comment. you still stand by your criticism of him. >> jim coloradoy is a good man who made a very consequential blunder. good people make mistakes all the time just so happened that the double standard blunder that he made had a huge consequence. >> brennan: senator, thank you very much. we will be back in one minute to talk about the legal problems ahead for the president's personal attorney. retail. under pressure like never before. and it's connected technology that's moving companies forward fast.

e-commerce. real time inventory. virtual changing rooms. that's why retailers rely on comcast business to deliver consistent network speed across multiple locations. every corporate office, warehouse and store near or far covered. leaving every competitor, threat and challenge outmaneuvered. comcast business outmaneuver. >> brennan: very busy week for investigations into president trump and his associates to the block bust are new book out by former fbi director james comey. joining us is cbs news correspondent paula reed to help us break it all down because it has been overwhelming. michael cohen is set to appear in manhattan court tomorrow. the president was very upset made clear that he thought this was an assault on our country, the fact that his offices were

raided. is this truly damaging to attorney-client privilege? >> no, attorney-client privilege alive and well. the fact that only protects conversations you have seeking legal advice. it doesn't protect other conversations maybe you had with your attorney or doesn't protect communication about a possible crime. what is tricky about mr. cohen he's a lawyer sort of small l. mostly works as a fixer for the president, the justice department was argue can they're not focused on his work as an attorney. it also seems that a lot of hysteria about attorney-client privilege, could be pretext to set up the firing of deputy attorney general who is overseeing this investigation as the number two at the justice department he oversees all the u.s. attorney's offices. >> you're connecting those dots for us there. the president was tweeting that week about the special counsel, robert mueller, he said he doesn't have the intention to fire him. white house says he does have the power to do so. that added to the scrutiny not

just about mueller but rosenstein himself. where should we be focused? >> this was quite a revelation at the white house believes that president can fire the special counsel. because up until that point, most of us believed that only the deputy attorney general could fire special counsel. rosenstein will not fire the special counsel without cause. if he won't do it the president should fire the deputy attorney general general then get into this line of succession right now at the justice department. you have just a few justice department officials then you have u.s. attorneys. because rosenstein immediate success or rachel brand vacated her position, left the justice department. there's a lot of conat confirmed positions. it's a very unusual line of succession if rosenstein won't follow those orders. now the question of can the president fire special counsel robert mueller, this revelation is set out the whole discussion here in washington, i talked to a lot of legal experts the prevailing theory is that the president do try to dissolve the regulation under which mueller was appointed.

exactly, it's internal regulation, wouldn't need notice and comment but that would absolutely probably see some legal challenges, mueller himself could even have standing to sue. >> brennan: is there a need for that legislation that congress is dancing around? >> there is certainly a cry from both sides to bolster protections for mueller perhaps insulate him from being fired either through dissolving the regulations or being fired without cause. >> brennan: james comey, who was fired as fbi director by president trump, has put out this book and it's got a plot of personal, very colorful descriptions of the president, comparison to mafia don, criticizes his skin color and tanning perhaps, goggle marks, it's personal. are you surprised that this is the kind of atmosphere and language that the former fbi director is using here? does this matter? clearly getting reaction from the president. >> it does matter, words matter. that is very important. seems at times very petty the problem with that is that it bolsters the president's claim

that there's a disdain for the president among top federal law enforcement law officials and that disdain or contempt that drives investigation into cohen or russia probe not the facts. other important thing is that these petty jabs they distract from other really important tidbits in that books are book, for example, lack of focus on preventing foreign interference in our elections. it's very surprising that he chose to use those pages for this purpose. >> brennan: paula reed, thank >> brennan: paula reed, thank you for breaking it down we'll be back in a moment. it lets you know where your data lives, down to the very server. it keeps your insights from prying eyes, so they're used by no one else but you. it is... the cloud. the ibm cloud. the cloud that's built for all your apps. ai ready. secure to the core. the ibm cloud is the cloud for smarter business.

that you don't think about is very much. counties it's really not very important. i was in the stone ages as much as technology wise. and i would say i had nothing. you become a school teacher for one reason, you love kids. and so you don't have the same tools, you don't always believe you have the same... outcomes achievable for yourself.

when we got the tablets, it changed everything. by giving them that technology and then marrying it with a curriculum that's designed to have technology at the heart of it, we are really changing the way that students learn. and i can't wait for ten years from now when i get to talk to them again and see, like, who they are. ♪ >> brennan: next sunday, we'll speak with former new york city mayor michael bloomberg. he's leading a push to meet obligations and the paris climate agreement despite president trump pulling out of that pact. david. what's going on? oh hey! ♪ that's it? yeah. that's it? everybody two seconds! "dear sebastian,

after careful consideration of your application, it is with great pleasure that we offer our congratulations on your acceptance..." through the tuition assistance program, every day mcdonald's helps more people go to college. it's part of our commitment to being america's best first job. bp is taking safety glasses to a whole new level. using augmented reality so engineers in the field can share data and get expert backup in the blink of an eye. because safety is never being satisfied

and always working to be better. [seen it. covered it. n. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ >> brennan: we'll be right back with lot more "face the nation" including our political panel and a discussion about just what the u.s. strategy is in syria. stay with us.

>> also sometimes not at law. how this situation is -- i know, can you believe what they're doing to poor mr. trim snap it's a disgrace. this whole raid complete violation of attorney-criminal privilege. >> well, if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to worry about. >> is that a joke? we got a real problem here, jeff. you know how much evidence i have in my office? i'm donald trump's lawyer, i got a whole hard drive that's just slide yikes." >> brennan: welcome back to "face the nation" i'm margaret brennan that was ben stiller playing the role of michael cohen from last night's "saturday night live." we turn now to our panel for

some analysis of it all. ed o'keefe is a familiar face as you know he has been at this table before but welcoming him in new role, cbs news political correspondent. so you're going to be seeing a lot more of him here. margaret talev for bloomberg news and cnn political. ben domenech is the publisher of "the federalist" and molly ball with "time" magazine which had cover this week that really said it all. the snl ask skit didn't, this does. molly, let's start off with that. we've also learned michael cohen is due in manhattan court, apparently stormy daniels will be appearing according to her attorney. what do you make of all of this? clearly irritated the president because he sat in the cabinet room at the beginning of the media called this an assault on our country. >> it has clearly gotten to him in a way that few other things

about this investigation have. this morning tweeting about comey which seems to be very much under his pin. but the michael cohen raid monday was a big surprise. it was a surprise to cohen, surprise to the white house. this is someone who obviously has very long history with trump and so it's been very alarming to the president to see this happen. all of these things, as referenced by our cover are swirling around the president in this sort of constant cloud that envelopes him and it's hard to know even what is emphasize because there are so many things sort of hanging over his head. we really don't know how any of them are going to end. >> brennan: ben, this is a criminal investigation into michael cohen that was made clear in court filings. lot has to do with his business. why is the president taking it personally, how should we understand it? >> because it is personal to the president. most personal thing that you can possibly deal with. the thing to understand about

this context in terms of southern district of new york doing this raid and engaging this behavior is that it does strike to the core of what the president thinks about himself and his own personal activities prior to becoming president. and the fact of matter is, this started a year ago under the auspices of investigation into the russian collusion, more like convincing case with the national inquirer which will always get to the personal core of a person. i think in terms of the president's attitude towards this, this actually could be a more significant development in terms of the investigation than we might have initially given it credit for. this actually could cut to significant decisions on the part of michael cohen whether at citizen donald trump's behest or not decisions that could lead to questions about his potential bank fraud or campaign finance issues that could come up.

how much that directly affects the president, we don't know that yet we'll have to learn that in the coming weeks. >> brennan: another thing he was personally affected, at least provoked this book by james comey and the rnc has taken up this call of attacking him with these series of ads that play clips from democrats and republicans alike criticizing the former fbi director. and really not mincing words here. ed, were you surprised at this kind of ad or is this just the competition devolved into name calling. >> i don't think it's just the president. they're working as hard as they can to discredit comey this is going to be a huge week for him, something for his bottom line the book is number one, probably going to remaybe there for awhile. he launches incredible national book tour and media tour tonight. which again just probably helps things for comey. what is telling, though, you

look at the abc news poll they asked about questions of comey, 38% have no opinion of him. so there actually is space for the rnc and the president toe try to discredit him. at the same time plenty of democrats out there as you saw from tim kaine who don't necessarily think totally favorably of him because of the role he played in the 2016 election. there be no doubt there was a role played by him. from a crass political per speck testify to discredit him i got to believe all of this will help book sales. >> frankly james comey only discrediting himself by some of the decisions he's made with this book. the fact is there is not a significant news bombshell, everything that he could have told is has already been leaked, already been published the biggest headline coming out of it actually have more to do with the petty ways that he refers to the president or that the president referred to him. it's much more sort of high school mean girls-esque burn book than it is anything else. >> i think when you take a look,

step back, until now we've been talking about whether or not the president would take 134 action to shake the special counsel investigation, if mueller in trouble, able to keep his job. is rob rosenstein going to get fired. with the release of the book and case against cohen that exists outside of mr. mueller's channel, what you see i think, what may have president so upset is that even if he could force mueller out, even if he were to pursue removing rosenstein, two separate channels one through the justice system the other through the court of public opinion. where no matter what his questions and pursuit of his investigation will continue, that is part of what has his so rattled. the other part is for most american presidents very old when they leave office or their political career was there their career. when they're doing being president they go back to that legacy. for president trump he was a

businessman and image maker for so many years before that his presidency ends in 2020 or four years later he has that that sought to preserve. a lot of money and a lot of connections and networks that is what jim comey is shaking right now. >> brennan: i want to ask you about the decision to strike in syria, you heard the u.n. ambassador nikki haley didn't have time to worry about james comey and what the president's thinking is on that because she's been so focused on this. do you have sense of what it was like inside this situation room, because it was really the first time that defense secretary mattis was there without his wing man, rex tillerson. >> it's a good point. but what mattis had this time was the u.k. and france to help temper the president's thinking, that is what you saw in terms of the way this strike was measured in the middle east lot of people, probably be much worse but actually what the president has done here and part of the reason he made may not have gone after equipment, russian equipment, that sort of thing, is to do very measured strike

that the u.k. financed thement international community could go along with. and so both in theresa may and mr. macron, jim mattis found partners with them to work to help the president make a case for moderation. >> brennan: so much more to talk about we'll take a break and come back, take a breath. we'll be right back. plaque psoriasis can be relentless. your plaques are always there at the worst times. constantly interrupting you

with itching, burning and stinging. being this uncomfortable is unacceptable. i'm ready. tremfya® works differently for adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. with tremfya®, you can get clearer and stay clearer. in fact, most patients who saw 90% clearer skin at 28 weeks... stayed clearer through 48 weeks. tremfya® works better than humira® at providing clearer skin and more patients were symptom free with tremfya®. tremfya® may lower your ability to fight infections, and may increase your risk of infections. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or have symptoms such as fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. before starting tremfya®, tell your doctor if you plan to or have recently received a vaccine. ask your doctor about tremfya®. tremfya®, because you deserve to stay clearer. janssen wants to help you explore cost support options for tremfya®.

>> brennan: we're back with our political panel for some 'physical sis on week we're still reeling from in many ways. ben, we haven't even talked about the fact that speaker ryan decided on timeline that surprised many to step away from public life and go home to wisconsin. what does this do to the horse race? >> in terms of the horse race i don't think it cake at all that much. certainly a sign, though, that speaker ryan was not that optimistic that the november would be very good for house republicans. the race to replace him looks to be pretty decidedly in favor of kevin mccarthy. but that is something that could definitely be for the minority leader position as opposed to speaker of the house. after november, ryan leaving is a tale of a politician who had a moment in time whenever one in washington thought that he was going to be the next clean cut, wonky leader of the republican coalition for decades to come. >> brennan: a young gun.

>> well, that was his branding at the time along with the departed eric kantor and mccarthy himself. one of the things that ryan was very much as much as he was a significant player in terms of charting the policy future for the g.o.p. from the sort of post-obama moment on. someone who is out of step i think increasingly with the culture warrior mindset of a lot of the republican base. his focus on telling stories through histograms and through excel sheets was not something that connected with the republican base in -- >> brennan: is that marketing or is that actually the fiscal conservative. bob corker saying that, this congress, this administration are going to go down as one of the most fiscally irresponsible in history. >> fiscal conservatism is dead until the point when a democrats return to the white house. >> maybe.

he accomplished all he could. i think he knew that at this point only going to get worse for him. usually in the modern era speakers don't get to leave on their own terms. by doing it now, that far out, he gets to set the table for his departure by anointing his preferred successor leaves it to republicans to say you will sort this out. but i think he's correct in saying what whoever is in charge of the republican conference will have no bearing on results in november. and the message he kept sending i think to his colleagues was, get out there and win your race. do everything you need to do to get reelected. if you can't do it, well, that's on you. the head winds are certainly nos and it's going to be a bad year for them it looks like to believe the forecasting. and he knows that. but we should also give him some credit. he's been in congress for 20 years, only 48 years old, all of his kids have been born since he got into congress. family considerations were legitimate part of this.

i think that is true. but again, he gets to do what so few speakser have done, that is get out when he can. >> you did hear some angst from some republicans on the hill that he was leaving right now and not after the election. he was asked about that he said it would have felt dishonest to know he was going to step down. there was this feeling that he was the general abandoning his troops in the middle of a fight. so i think that is part of the reason he rushed to anoint mccarthy was to prevent there being a very messy leadership fight in the middle of a very difficulty lex cycle for republicans. >> will the caucus have their say in this? is kevin mccarthy, have this on lock? >> i don't know. i think probably so. with ryanf trump goes along with this, trump likes mccarthy very much we believe that mccarthy is probably frump's referred speaker. you know, mccarthy had problems last time there were doubts about his ability to lead. but i think things that have changed a lot since then and

what was there are difficult job might be an easier job for mccarthy because we won't have this hamlet act with regard to trump. ryan was so clearly always fighting his own demons and he was getting asked in every press conference to -- this hand wringing about trump, very clear that he didn't like the guy. but that he had to be allies with the guy. mccarthy has been buddies from the beginning, to the extent that republican basically want to do whatever trump wants, that will be much easier for mccarthy to bring them before. >> benefits of being a californian. >> part of the message that paul ryan is sending, save yourself. are there more republican departures? >> i think there's 19 states that haven't had their filing deadlines yet in the wake of the speaker's decision, dennis ros from florida announced he, too, is retiring. u.s. democrats list of about

another two dozen that could conceivably do it. democrats come up with 23 seats to retake it. look like at this point perhaps they could do that. question will be whether they get many more after that.in ret, resignations, promotions from republicans is a big part of their problem. ryan being exhibit a at this point. some forecasting that thinks that his seat is in play. >> mr. grate, one of the things that's been uncomfortable for republicans, particularly from states that produce agricultural products, president's announcements on tariff. that week you had him after this meeting with some senators from those states say, let's take another look at the asia pacific trade deal that he already said he was going to exit. they took that as a sign of hope, president then tweeted the next day, a little bit of a walk back. is this just a policy shift, what does the president walk into this meeting with the

japanese prime minister with this week and tell him his position is on tpp. >> this is a truly fascinating, the president has hinted for some months that there some was potential in theory to talk about reentering the tpp. took to new level. he emerge fred the western leaders, point say, he told -- tap them to figure out if and how we should reenter the at&t pp. i think put down that marker on purpose to put it out there. but here is what's happened. getting out of the tpp was one of the first things president trump did in office. the tariff has nod played well on the stock market, has not played well with some of trim's voters. this seems to be floating of reentering. everyone in the tpp would welcome the u.s. back. but nba many -- >> don't want to renegotiate. >> the terms are set. you guys missed your window. we're not cracking this open but

we think it's good for you and for the rest of the world and good for to some extent countering china. now the president has a real decision to make. >> the president on a platform that sounded frequently protectionist and isolationist, as president, his policies have not been as you might have predicted based on what he was saying at the time. i think this is another example of how wants to play both sides of these things. he likes the idea of protectionism and tariffs in certain respects but doesn't like the idea of wall street's reaction to that. >> brennan: thank you very much. to all of you. we'll be back in a moment to talk about what's next for the u.s. and syria.

to describe the new signature crafted recipe by mcdonald's: garlic white cheddar. layered with a slice of white cheddar cheese... a medley of crispy garlic chips... ...and a dramatic drizzle of creamy garlic aioli. (breath) luckily, you can take your time to savor every bite.

>> brennan: take a closer look at the situation in syria retired navy mayor admiral a former vice chairman and now a cbs news military and homeland security analyst. also with us is ambassador james jeffrey the former u.s. envoy to turkey and iraq under president george w. bush and under obama administration as well. thank you both for coming on the show.

admiral this attack in syria hit three locations, tent gone says set the chemical weapons program back. how do you assess it? >> first of all we have to understand that more than anything else this attack was about the international community standing up one more time to prevent the normalization of the use of chemical weapons. it's not too long ago that the community did this as well when russia made an assassination attempt in britain and many countries ejected russian diplomats. that is yet another example of that community standing up and pushing back saying we're not going to allow this to happen. >> brennan: do you see that -- would this have happened were it not for what you just described happening in the u.k. with that poisoning of that former russian agent? >> yes, i think it would have happened. the question of how much accumulated misbehavior on the part of assad regime using chemical weapons is enough to stack up with international community. time to do something about this. whether or not it results in

assad not using chemical weapons again certainly going to be open for debate, we'll see whether that happens. important thing that the community stood up and said we are not going to tolerate the normalization of the use of chemical weapons. >> brennan: ambassador, what is the assad regime take away from this? this is second time they have been hit. >> i think, margaret, assessment on their part is, trump administration is concerned about dealing with the symptoms of the underlying problem, syrian civil war and nikki haley mentioned iran's expansion. such as isis, the chemical weapons, but not going to do very much against the underlying problem that is detablizing the whole region. >> brennan: that sounds a lot like the criticism of the obama administration. >> it's very similar. again, dealing with symptoms, trump administration a bit more with military force which is not a bad thing. and could have results at least on the chemical weapons front

but it's not again tackling what the problem is. turning to the arab states expecting them to stand up not just to iran is no way to get out of this mess. >> brennan: is there a take away that we can learn in terms of how this strike was decided? erin david miller, long time diplomat says the key take away, what didn't happen in syria that mattis was able to deescalate. >> it is. i think when you consider strike like this is on ragged knowledge of international law, when that happens very important to have a tight target set to have coalition behind you. that's exactly what happened. that's one of the reasons why it took awhile to get this thing together. it didn't happen the day after the chemical attacks. not only have to bring coalition together you have to very carefully exam pin the policy and implications of what you're about to do. was very complex strike, very well executed. takes time to get that together. >> brennan: russia held the fire, what do you make of that? >> russia understands that they're on the wrong side of

history here. they're on a roll. >> brennan: they have been on the right side in terms who have is winning the war far the past seven years. >> they're on a roll. illegally annexed cry merey interfered in our election, trite to now backing a monster who is using chemical weapons gin his own people. i think it was -- writing was on the wall and cream learn certainly going to push back publicly, no question. but they realize that even if they could interfered with the strike which is debatable i don't think that they were going to do too much. >> ambassador, president in his announcement reiterated his intent to not stay in syria. bring the u.s. troops home. you said that is actually not a bad decision, what do you think that would mean if you bring those -- who are there. pull them out. >> pulling the ground troops out, margaret, because i think they're doing a peripheral mission of dealing with remnants of isis is not a bad idea because americans are very nervous about this.

maintaining overall military pressure, no fly zones, action against chemical weapons, essentially what israel is doing, what turkey is doing and other parts of syria would be the building blocks of a real strategy if we could unite everyone. >> brennan: you don't see that as vacating the battlefield to iran? >> no. we'd have to continue to provide as we did with the iraqi kurds after 1991, some kind of liaison capability so that that terrain becomes denied to assad and iranians. >> brennan: that would require trump administration pertaining to protect the areas in the south and they haven't necessarily said they would do that if assad's forces go into these so-called cease fire zones. >> true. it's important to remember that the actual reason why our forces are there in the first place under international law. that is to defeat isil not overthrow the assad regime or some other ambition. probably peripheral sides to that idea, but legally the reason why we're there is

collective self defense with our partners in the region against isil. >> brennan: ambassador in the next few weeks see a lot of potential flash points, iraqi elections and president trump needing to make a decision on the iran nuclear deal. what do you think is going to happen here? can you put those pieces together for us? >> they all circle around central point which is a shift in the geostrategic structure of critically important region in the middle east by iran enabled by russia helped by its proxy such as assad. those in iraq aspect of that, a yemen also nuclear agreement aspect to it. the president wants to pull out of the nuclear agreement, for my money that's not a good idea he should focus on putting together the kind of alliance that can deal across the board with what iran is doing and then put some military and economic muscle behind what nikki haley told you earlier is geneva political process. diplomacy is fine. but diplomat it doesn't work

without pressure. >> brennan: ambassador, admiral, thank you very much for joining us. we'll be right back. we just switched to geico and got more. more? they've been saving folks money for over 75 years. a company you can trust. geico even helped us with homeowners insurance. more sounds great. gotta love more... right, honey? yeah! geico. expect great savings and a whole lot more.

>> brennan: that's it for us today thanks for watching. next week in addition to former new york mayor michael bloomberg, john dickerson a familiar face here will be joining us to talk about the cover story he's written for next month's atlantic magazine on the presidency. for "face the nation," i'm margaret brennan.

(announcer) you work hard to give your children something to build on. i was always trying to think "how am i gonna get her through college?" i wanna have a mechanism in place to make sure that my daughters are well taken care of. i hope to leave my children with something to help them get set up. (announcer) don't let it get eaten away by unexpected fees and legal expenses. my husband did not have a will and everything went away. when my father passed away, he did not have a will or a trust. we're not as prepared as i had hoped we would be. (announcer) every year, tens of thousands of people lose what's rightfully theirs because the right paperwork is not in order. is your property safe? i had absolutely no guidance. i just feel like i did the best i could under the toughest circumstances. (announcer) you could hire an attorney,