captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for saturday, april 14: responding to the use of chemical weapons, the united states, france, and the united kingdom strike targets inside syria. asseing the impact of the escalation in the middle east. and, the increasingly complicated relationship between united states and russia next on "pbs newshour weekend." >> "pbs newshour ekend" is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. asuedgar wachenheim, iii. dr. p. roy vagelos and diana t. vagelos. the j.p.b. foundation. the anderson family fund. rosalind p. walter barbara hope zuckerberg. corporate funding is provided

by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products.' that's why your retirement company. >> additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. from the tisch wnet studn s at lincnter in new york, hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: good evening, and thanks for joining us. la night, the u.s.long with allies britain and france, launched missiles targeting syrian chemical weapons facilitys. the attack came in response to last week's suspected gas attack in a suburb of damascus that killed at least 45 people and sickened hundreds of others. >> reporter: defense department officials said the three nations deployed more than 100 missiles against three targets which they said will "impact the syrian regime ability develop, deploy and use chemical weapons in the future."

two of the air strikes hit neara homs-- and onedamascus. this b scientific research center in northern damascus-- was badly damaged. syrian state media said the damaged facility "specialized in cancer medicine." pentagon spokesperson dana white said the air strikes went as planned. >> this operation was carefully orchestrated and methodically planned to minimize potential collateral damage. i can assure you we took eveec measure and tion to strike only what weted and we successfully hit every target. >> reporter: syrian state television reported 13 missiles were shot down. pentagon officials said the u.s. is confident that all of its" missiles reached their targets." and the u.s. government repeatedly cautioned against a disinformation campaign. president trump tweeted this morning that it was "r"a tly executed strike last night," and

it was "mission accomplished!" echoing the poorly timed phrase used at an event with president george w. bush just six weeks after the invasion of iraq in 2003. in a primetime address to e nation last night, the president vowed to continue sustained military action if needed. he also held russia and iran responsible for supporting syria's use of chemical weapons. i to iran and to russia k, what kind of a nation wants to be associated with the mass murder of innocent men women and children? the nations of the world can be judged by the friends they keep. >> reporter: defensetary mattis said last night's action nless mone-time shot" assad decides to use more chemical weapons. at the fifth u.n. security council meeting on syria in a week, u. ambassador nikki haley reiterated the united states' commitment to eliminate syria's use of such weapons.

i spoke to the president this morning and he said if the syrian regime useshis poisonous gas again the united states is locked and loaded. when our presint draws a red line, our president enforces the red line. >> reporter: there was widespread support for the missile strikes from members of congress. house eaker paul ryan supported the use of military force saying the assad's regim"" unconscionable brutality against innocent civilians cannot be tolerated." senate minority leader chuck schumer tweeted thatoi" pied, limited action" is appropriate, but the trump admintration has to be" careful about not getting us into a greater and more involved there was "full support" from nato allies, however the russian ambassador to the u.n. called the air-strikes a "blatant disregard for international l" british prime minister theresa may said it was "right" and" legal" to take military action.

>> this must be stopped. we have sought to do so using every possible diplomatic channel, but our efforts have been repeatedly thwarted, both on the ground and in the united nations. >> reporter: iran's supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei denounced the air-strikes. >> ( translated ): last night's strike that happened at dawn ayrgainst is a crime. i clearly announce that the u.s. e esident, the french president and the british prnister are criminals and have committed a crime. >> sreenivasan: newshour weekend special correspondent jane ferguson joins us from beirut to discuss the reaion in the middle east.as thereeen some time for this to settle. what's the reaction been? >> in lebanon, we've seen condemnation of the attack from the president here. he is a christian who is allied with hezbollah. he himself has said that the missile strikes will impede all

ongoing attempts to end the suffering of the syrian people. unsurprisingly, we have also seen condemnation coming from hezbollah themselves, calling this a "trilateral treacherous american, british, french aggression against syria."w ose, of course, are voices from the very much pro-assad ngs here.h i think anybody who is anti-assad or pro-opposition is not exactly celebrating in the streets here, as we have seen in damasc, for those who are backing the government there. they have been celebrating. but those whare anti--assad are likely to see this as something that's not necessarily going to change the course of the war. it won't really change assad's ability to kill his own people and attack them with the conventional weapons, which have been, by and large, the most common way of killing people in syria to date. >> sreenivan: there are so many different actors inside syria at the moment. the entire neighborhood seems o be involved, either directly or as proxies.

>> certainly. this is a multilayered war. and, of course, what was so concerning, what eveone was very worried about in the run-up to these strikes was t thatre could be any possible clashes rtween-- direct clashes between america asia. this has been the kind of war that has turned into various proxy wars for some timeow. you have the turks in north who are basically fighting kurds in there. you also have 2,000 american troops inside syria right now fighting isis. you have, of coursethe russians there, hezbollah, and iran. and we ao have israel watching very anxiously iran's growing position in syria, and any attemptsro ech their position in there. and what was lost, actually, in the news yesterdawas that the israelis made an announcement that the drone that they shot down over their own terrory back in february, that they say was an iranian drone, yesterday, they actually saidhat it was

armed, that it had explosives attached and they believed it was intended to attack them. >> sreenivasan:inally, let's not forget the people involved, the displacement of the syrians from theas civil war had a ripple effect throughout the middle east. >> hugely. of cours here in lebanon now, one in four people is siaryan. and you see that across in os tr arke jordan and turkey, and, of course, the migration of people towards euro. now, when we talk, hari, about all of these proxy wars, we're talking about american interests in syria, russian interst turkish interests. there never seems to be anybody who is reallyighting on the side of the syrian people, and that is the great tragedy of ifthis war. anhe car continues the way it's going, then those people are going to continue to suffer. >> sreenivasan: all right, newshourec weekend ial correspondent jane ferguson joining us via skype from beirut tonight. thank you so much. here to help us break down the details of the military operation itself is douglas ollivant, senior vice president

here to help us break down the details of the military operation itself is douglas ollint, senior vice president at the global consulting firm at the national security council in both the bush and obama administrations. how significant was this attack last night? >> well, "signficant "say loaded term. it was significant in that it did allow the administration to maintain its red line on the prohibition against the use of chemical weapons. they've repeatedly warned th regime, and they were able to reinforce this very narro. question now, if you're looking for a ripple into some of the larger questions in syria about the status of the assad regime or what's going on with isis or the expansion of iranian influence, it should have almost no effect on any of those questions. an: you know, yesterday, speaking of chemical weapons, there was a point where defense secretary mais was asked about which specific chemicals were used in ts attack. and i think the u.s. government says that they know chlor eefns, but th don't know the other one. and it's still kind of an open question for them, or at not one that they're willing to share with the public.

does that mean our red line has moved, and that we would respond a chlorine gas attack? >> well, it appears so. or, they do, as you hinted, they do know that there were oer chemicals used here, and they're not prepared to talk about that in a open forum. >> sreenivasan: right. how about the-- the military has wme out and saide have degraded their ability to produce and distribute chemical weapons this morning and last night. but at the same time, they also said that we didn't go after all of the possible target naips tried to minimize targets that were, perhaps, located ina civiareas or would have greater civilian casualties. so is the a chance then that the syrian government still has several facilities that could produc c or distributmical weapons? n well, it's very conceivable. chemical weapons aot that hard to produce. most of this technology is dua use, the things that you use for ordinary perochemicals,chemicalr fertilizers, and so on, can be

repurposed toth make chemical weapons. so they're not that difficult to produce, and they could be done a number of sites. >> sreenivasan: and does this end up pushing the united states into having a military response if and when there are ever any chemical weapons used in syria-- if this is the red line a this is how we are going to prosecute it, we seem to have set precedent. >> it certainly seems that way, and the use of the word "sustained" that president trump used, that there would be sustained attacks, certainly smed to imply that were there to be another use of chemical weapons by the assad regime, that that would cause another retaliatory attack. so it appears the intent is to impress on the assad regime that there will be ait for at that time. you use chemical weapons you can expe this kind of response. >> sreenivasan: i hate to ask this question, but this doesn't seem to imact all the conventional weapons that the

syrian government and the russian governmt are using against civilians. we seem to have drawn the line at chemical weapons, but there on still people being killed a fairly regular basis in this civil war.gh >> that's the question at hand is this very narrow question about weapons of mass destruction, which are defined as nucea chemical, or biological weapons. and we mass all three of those together. so we're enforcing a red line it's united states and its allies are enforcing a red line on the use of these weapons. but if someone is using conventional weapons to a very catastrophict, effec that is lamentably not something that is being enforced righ snow. enivasan: all right, douglas ollivant, thanks so much. >> my pleasure. read more about the international response to the airstrikes in syria. visit pbs.org/newsur >> sreenivasan: the kremlin

immediately condemned the trilateral attack on syria last night. a statement from russian president putin called the missile strikes "an act ofes agon against a sovereign state," that, "is having a devastating impact on the whe system of international relations." mr. putin also said the attack would exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in syria. joining me now to sort out what the russian rhetoric means and what may ce next is kimberly marten, a professor of political science at barnard college and the director of the prsiram on u.s.-rrelations at columbia university's harriman institute. so how are we to square the statements that we had from the russian the u.s. last night, posted on their facebook page, with what president putin is calling for, with the actual military actions tt haven't happened? >> i think when we look at what's actually been happening on theround, it's cause to have a lot of confidence that both sides are actually trying tamp down the situation and make sure that it doesn't rescalate beyond the cent situation. so we know that the u.s. had-- and the british and the french--

had some contact with the russians in advance using the syria deconfliction line to maybe reassure the russians that no russian installations in syria would be hit. we know from the russian side that they did not activate their own missile defense systems. and so it just is an indication that the deconflation line is working, that at least the militaries on both sides want to keep the crisis limited, even though thehetoric coming from politicians in russia has been a lot stronger. >> sreenivasan: so some of that rhetoric could be saving face? >> it could be saving facie. althought doesn't seem very convincing tconvincing to the il commity, because nato came ut unanimously in favor of the air strikes and against what assad had been doing with the chemical weapons. it seems like the united nations is not agreeing with russia's pehipective. so i probably the rhetoric is more likely for a domestic audience in rustia to jus the russian continuing support of the syrian regime, which, you know, might actually be kind of

embarrassing for russia that they find themselves having to support somebody who uses asemical weapons. >> sreen: but this hasn't slowed russia's support in the past few years, as there's been evid that there have been chemical attacks in syria. >> yes and no one really knowsl how to en the continuing russian support for assad. maybe it's just thats putinme stability in the region. maybe it's that he seess it as a way of demonstrating russian strength and the ability of russia to have an impact on middle east politics. maybe it's that he has a paranoia of regime chae, and that extends to syria, as well as to russia and to ukraine. it's also possible that he just sees the assad family as being somebody who has been in the patron leadership' client network for many decades, and, therefore, feels that by supporting assad, he sending a message to his supporter as home out how strong he is and how he can support people who are in ans patron client network. >> sreenivthe iranian leadership has called this a military crime, depends on what

nato says, what the u.n. says. i mean, are there any repercussions that russia actucoly faces froinued support of syria right now? >> well, i don't think that there's going to be anytaili action taken against russia. iothink that part of the reason that the san regime has stayed in place against russia for as lonas has, has been real unhappiness in the western russia is about wha doing in the syria, even though that's not expciy mentioned as being part sanction regime, i think it's probably a part of it. but, you know, there's a limit to the rercussions that russia could face because there's just not that much that the westermmn ity do to harm russia without getting involved in direct military conflict, and i don't ink anybody wants that. >> sreenivasan: what about the stability-- you mentioned that-- whin the region? are russia's core interests? is it their access to military is it kind of a launching point? is it a strategic value to have the presence they have in syria? >> well, it htras someegic value, but i think we have to remember that russia hasn't demonstrated thacurrently its

military has the projection capability to actually use those hses for m that's significant. so we've seen that the russian military has performeduite well i the takeover of crimea, in some of the things that have happed in eastern ukraine, where the russian military has been involved. but that doesn't mean truhat ia is on the verge of becoming a superpower who is going to engage in power juojection out into the oceans. don't foresee that happening any time soon. >> sreenivasan: this is also not happening in a vacuum. it's happening in the context oe a election that the u.s. intelligence committee says that the russians did meddle in. happens in the context of poisonings in the u.k. will of lrmer spies. this is kind of ger pattern of behavior. does that all factor into how the world f?ls about russ >> oh, i'm sure it does. but one thing to keep inind especially about the poisoning case that happened in the united kingdom, is that ere is some evidence that, that particular kind of a nervent, novichok, 990s ind in the mid an organized crime hit against a

russian banker. and we don't know that for sure, but there is evidence, a recent investigation continuing on that point. wean the item wased manufact in russia. that doesn't mean necessarily that it was putin as an individual who orded it. and because we know there are organized crime connections with srussian cevices, it could actually be something that was done by a state agent but not necessarily with a state goal in mind of punishing a spy. it might have been for organized crime reasons, iaddition. >> sreenivasan: all right, kimberly marten, thanks so much. >> thank you, hari. in last night's address to the nation, president trump said that t response to the rocities in syria would also include diplomatic efforts. but seven yes into the civil war, there has not yet been a concrete diplomatic breakthrough. joining me now from washington, d.c., to discuss the challenges on that front is robin wright, a joint fellow at the u.s. institute of peace and the woodrow wilson international center and a writer for "the new rker." the president made a point of saying that this would be

combined american, british, and french resnse to these atrocities will integrate all of our powers, military, economic, and diplomatic. what kind of leverage do we have left in syria? the united states has never had very much leverage in syria, and its thlitary operation, he exception of the strike last night, is really focused largely on isis. the united states has opted notn gelved in the civil war. it has been a player in tryin mobilize the international community through the united nations on theiplomatic front, 01t the two different efforts since have so far led no place. there have been the talks sponsored by the united nations, held in genev ain several different rounds. but the fact i the opposition and the syrian government have often refused to even sit in the sa room together. the second process launched last year by russia, iran, and turkey has tried to generate more momentum. their talks have takn place in

kazakhstan, but they also have not led to anything. so therabe's a lot of talt this strike generating more steam behind the diplomatic process, but in a briefing by the white house today, they apfered no new ideas about how exactly that mightn. >> sreenivasan: you know, and i remember on this very program, saying in multiple those weekends hey, there might be a cease-fire. and then within a matter of urs-- if that-- or possibly days, the cease-fire evaporates- in thibesides this specific incident, is bashar al-assad winning the civil war there? >> over the past year, the assad regime has managed with the hp of russian air power, iranian ground forces and hezbollah fighters to consolidate his hold over the majority of syria, to s of together patc different parts of the country. he now controls all the major cities. the pockets that have been beyond his control, one of them was in eastern ghouta, e whe

used chemical weapons last weekend, and which-- where the rebels have now surrendered. and that is no longer as much of an obstacle. then there's the al qaeda operatives, the islamist groups up in the northwest. and then there's thearge autonomous zone where the united states has been helping kurdish and arab fighters and syrian democratic forces fight isis. but the fact is that assad is at this point winn ag the war, the reality is that the military strike will not change that. >> sreivasan: are there any economic pressures that we can assert, either directly or indirectly, on syria? >> well, the rege has been sanctioned for a wide real estate of activities, whether it's human rights violation, support for extremist grps, and so forth. the fact is that russia, as the main prop-- diplomatic prop-- for the assad regime has been unwilling to pissure prdent assad. and the united states has onalso

sanc russia, and, of course, that hasn't led to a change in its behavior on othe so there's a real problem of how do you change thiserrible stalemate on the ground that has so far, in a war, killed something like a half million people, that has led to the dilacement-- over half ofthe country's 23 million people-- and has led the majity to be dependent on international aid for their daily bread. >> sreenivasan: andhort of this particular response, it's gone relatively unchecked, aninghat there hasn't anyone exwn military aggression from an outside foe based on any actions that bashar al-assad has taken. >> that's right. and in the year since the united states last struc syria-- again, because of chemical weapons -- the regime has repeatedly used chemical weapons, the white house admitted today. and the facis the military strike does dnot eliminate there enange of facilities, chemical stockpiles, commad posts used for chemical weapons in syria.

they did strike three ianort sites but not all of them. and so, assad continued to use chemicalpo wns. and short of some kind of foreign invasion, you know, with an extraordinary-- hundreds of thousands of troops-- it's very unlikely that the military balance of power inside syria will change very much >> sreenivsan: all right, robin wright, thanks so much. >> thank you. >> sreenivasan: dangerous storms are sweeping through the south and midwest this ekend delivering tornadoes, flooding, and an april bpolizzard. ntially record-setting snow is hitting parts of the upper midwest and southern plains, making trave impossible before the storm moves into the great lakes and new england tomorrow. ten tordoes have been reported in the south, with the strong winds causing one death in louisiana. meanwhile here in the northeast, 80-degree temperatures today will dp into the 40s by tomorrow.

anti-apartheid activist and foer wife of the late president nelson mandela-- winnie mandela-- was buried today in sou africa. ahead of the official funeral, more than 40,000 people attended services at a stadium in the township of sowe. among the mourners, leaders of african nations and the reverend jesse jackson. winnie madikizela mandela was a beloved but controversial figure in south africa. she was coicted on kidnapping and assault charges in 1991 and had a bitter divorce from her husband in 1996. in 2016 the african natiol congress, the party of nelson mandela, presented her one of its highest honors for her work to end apartheid. oscar winning director milos forman died today at a hospital in connecticut. forman is best known for the films "one flew over the cuckoo's nest" and "amadeu" both of which won oscars for best picture, best director, and more. he emigrated to the united states from his native czechoslovakia after the soviet invasion in 1968 where his early films were considered rellious and subversive.

milos forman was 86 years old. >> sreenivasan: on tomorrow's broadcast, we'll have more on the attack inct syria, rions to former f.b.i. director james comey's new book, and we'll look esead to the issues facing enpresident trump's attorney michael cohen, who will appear in federal courtn monday. that's all for this edition ofho pbs ne weekend. i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for watching. have a good night. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein

family. sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. dr. p. roy vagelos and diana t. vagelos. the j.p.b. foundation. the anderson familfund. rosalind p. walter barbara hope zuckerberg. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retiremen.t produc that's why we're your retirement company. rt has been suppo provided by: t and corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. be more. pbs.

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