n'drt ive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. with less pain, i can be more active. ask your doctor about lyrica. i'm ari melber. welcome to the point digging dealership into the first 100 days of the trump presidency. president trump's 180 on military action. the trump doctrine, may be no doctrine at all. meanwhile the president bombing syria unilaterally. is that legal? it may be for right now. we have a special report explaining that tonight. and with all eyes abroad, the trump administration lost a fight at home over the weekend. a federal judge rejecting its effort to block obama era police reforms in baltimore. that city's police commissioner

joining us and a leader of "black lives matter" all coming up here. we begin with the news on syria. president trump's foreign policy team defending this week's missile strikes. but did he need approval from congress? both parties pushing back on that issue today. meanwhile secretary of state rex tillerson any moment scheduled to arrive in rome for the g-7 summit meetings with key allies. he's also scheduled to meet with his counterpart russian foreign minister sergey lavrov. but putin not on the official schedule. >> we are asking russia to fulfill its commitment, and we're asking and calling on bashar al assad to cease the use of these weapons. other than that, there is no change to our military posture. >> russia suggests the prospect of war if g-7 countries issue moscow any kind of military ultimatum on syria. did this week's strikes cause any significant blow to u.s./russian relations? that remains an open question.

in the meantime back in washington, d.c., just this afternoon, there are more reports of shakeups in trump land. this time kt mcfarland is facing a reassignment or what some call a demotion. a source has confirmed this to nbc news. her departure just days after stevbannon was removed from the principles committee. the white house though is still convinced that this is its best week ever. the confirmation of neil gorsuch, launching of the missiles in to syria, a project that even some democrats are currently behind. >> i think it's important that assad get the message and frankly, that others get the message around the world that when they step over a line into the use of unconventional weapons, that they are taking a very significant risk. somebody might take away their air force. i don't think that is a bad message to send. >> and despite some signals there of bipartisan support, there is no doubt that the president's syria policy is a

sharp departure from his own history, from the rhetoric he used completely and repeatedly to slamg barack obama slam bara the campaign trail and as well as on twitter since he has been president. so is there a bigger approach towards engagement and what happened to all that talk about isolation and america first? "new york times" noting that mr. trump dispensed with his own dogma forcing other world leaders to reexamine in-their assumptions. he demonstrated a highly improvisational and situational approach, also opening the door to a more traditional american engagement with the world. so perhaps the era that was once referred to under obama as don't do stupid stuff is givg way to the age of do what you want and make it up as you go along. let's get right in to it. we have elyse jordan and rick

stangel and eli lake. eli, i'll come to you first because from what i understand, you have written a lot about why this kind of attack is proportionate and necessary. explain that view. >> well, i think it's a good first step. it's important in that it's the first time the u.s. has attacked bashar al assad since he began the mass slaughter of his own citizens. hopefully this is a message that is sent to other rogues around the world that they are not going to necessarily be immune. i think it's a positive that this president did not go to the u.n. security council to allow russia to use its veto to protect its client in syria. and hopefully this is something that can be built upon because almost everybody who looks at syria understands that there will be no solution until bashar al assad this human toothbrush is removed from the scene. >> elyse, though, you have argued that this policy isn't

driving towards a solution because there is no long term plan beyond what has already happened in those strike. >> well, what is concerning about this is that there are so many people who are rushing out to cheer on president trump for dropping 59 tomahawk missiles, but what is the plan? are they going regime change or is this just to send a message? and quite frankly, i think that sending a message is not a good reason to launch a multimillion-dollar air strike. >> well, rick, on that point. of the analysis has started to come in. "new york times" has a big deep dive i mentioned in our intro looking at maybe the trump dock drin doctrine is somehow xwleegs al, which is the opposite of a doctrine. we'll start with the dictionary and let you get more complex. but just for folks to understand, doctrine is a principale, position or poly is taught or advocated by a

religion or in this case a government. >> well, you know, my experience on the world diplomatic stage is that you don't make doctrines for enlightened world leaders. you make doctrines for autocrats who are primg difference who believe in the use of force. i mean, president obama famously said in the atlantic monthly article, you don't use force just to show that you're willing to use force, but unfortunately, the reality is that has a big and positive effect lou arouaro world when the u.s. uses force. so many of these kind of primitive autocratic leaders evaluate american power precisely by our willingness to use force. and i agree in the sense that this is not yet a doctrine, it is a one off, but to so many places i visited around the arab world, people are now looking at america and going wow, the fact that he was able to do this shows that america is on a different footing now. >> so rick, you're speaking as a

former foreign policy member of the obama administration. you're saying you do see at least a short term benefit to what the president has done here? >> i do. and i see the logic to it. and when i traveled around the sunni world after the red line when we didn't bomb syria, that had a tearable effect on our diplomacy and leverage. and again, i can't dispute president obama's rationale, but when do you use force, people notice it around the world and they are used to that. people like believe it or not noerk use force. >> eli, take a listen to president trump explaining some of the rationale which he communicated in the terms of human rights, in the terms of compassion. there is a long history of that in american foreign policy and yet as you know it's highly debated because compassion doesn't tell you where you have strategic priorities. here was president trump on that

point. >> using a deadly nerve agent, assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children. it was a slow and brutal death for many. even beautiful babies were murdered in this very barbaric attack. no child of god shall ever suffer such horror. >> eli, what do you see as the limiting principale if the motivation is that kind of bar about barb richl which does take place in many places with regularity? >> anytime we take military, a it will be cloaked in moral rhetoric, but in this case, and

that is part of an american tradition in some ways, we don't say we have to go to war because we have strategic interests to deter other dirt bags all over the world and this is an important region. but there are i think important strategic value in just showing that assad is not immune. and even though it is symbolic at this point, it has no affect really on the battlefield, but sadly that base is being used again, harm the syrian people. but at the same time, i think it does change the message hopefully can change the calculus, create an opening where, you know, i would hope that this would further degenerate the potential for u.s./russian cooperation and u.s./russian relations and try to put american adversaries more on the defensive and we'll see how they build from there. but you're correct, this is not a consistent kind of principale because if that was the case, the u.s. would have intervened a long time ago go in the congo.

>> and even on syria, you have the question of trump saying he will take additional action. here is lindsey graham. >> here is what i think assad is saying by flying the base. f you. >> well, i think that is senator graham is choosing programs the most effective way to message president trump going through television and trying to say that someone is slighting him and this is someone bringing it on essentially. because we know how disproportionately this president is influenced by praise and something that concerns me that in the aftermath of this strike, which was essentially a one off without a clear mission, unconnected, what is the aftermath going to be. because we've seen over the last decade what happens when an initial maybe we're doing it for humanitarian intervention like

in libya and then it just spirals out of control and the aftermath can be far worse than what we originally went in there to combat. >> and rick, speak to that point because the military precision and ability to hit a target and the and of our military to tee up options for a president is a nonpartisan proficiency.bility tee up options for a president is a nonpartisan proficiency. the whouts ite house is often responding to an option set. how do you contrast take that withnickki haley and rex tillerson seemingly at odds? >> i think all of us agree that there is no defined policy, no defined doctrine. president trump reacted emotionally. but the actual strike is something that i do support and i would support obviously tries to come up with a policy and

doctrine. one of the reasons that we did so little in syria as president obama used to say, there were no good options. only a succession of very bad options. his notion was by doing anything, we are more likely to make the situation worse rather than better. but now that trump has flexed military muscle, maybe there is some way of con joining the grurps that had been involved, iran, russia, syria, iraq, to try to come up with some new kind of dispensation. the problem with regime change as everybody said is we don't have an alternative right now. we need to come up with one. >> right. and the trump folks have made one good argument, that saying that you want regime plan without any plan or way to implement it is some of the hollow language that the u.s. has been criticized for in the past. so it is complex. rick, elyse, thank you both. eli, thank you for joining tonight. >> thank you. coming up, the air strikes a

big foreign policy moment for this trump white house. thousand comes the short term and long term political implications. and as well as later on the point, a special report on the trump administration's efforts to block obama era police reforms in baltimore, a federal judge just rejected that effort. we'll explain, an in-depth conversation including baltimore's police commissioner live on the-point. stay with us. out retirement. a 401(k) is the most sound way to go. let's talk asset allocation. -sure. you seem knowledgeable, professional. would you trust me as your financial advisor? -i would. -i would indeed. well, let's be clear, here. i'm actually a deejay. ♪ [ laughing ] no way! i have no financial experience at all. that really is you? if they're not a cfp pro, you just don't know. find a certified financial planner professional who's thoroughly vetted at letsmakeaplan.org. cfp. work with the highest standard. but i keep it growing by making every dollar count.

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you can figure things out easily, so you won't even have to call us. change your wifi password to something you can actually remember, instantly. add that premium channel, and watch the show everyone's talking about, tonight. and the bill you need to pay? do it in seconds. because we should fit into your life, not the other way around. go to xfinity.com/myaccount one of the biggest questions this weekend in the wake of president trump's bombings of syria is whether he's now effectively declaring open season on bashar al assad and whether this is a strategy in the long term that the white house can actually stick to. the president's own team has appeared to send mixed messages recently as it made the sunday talk show rounds. >> we can have multiple priorities. so stroeof course it's to defea

isis. we have to do that for peace. and it's also to get out the iranian influence which we think is causing so much friction and worse issues inhe and then we have to make sure that we actually see a leader that will protect his people. and clearly assad is not that person. >> in another interview, nikki haley also said the administration thinks regime change will happen, but she didn't say who would be involved or how it would work. and i was discussing this just before the commercial break. meanwhile secretary of state rex tillerson has warned of the dangers that would come with that very regime change. >> we've seen what that looks like when you undertake a violent regime change in libya and the situation in libya continues to be very chaotic and i would argument that the life of the libyan people is not all that well off today. so i think we have to learn the lessons of the past and learn the lessons of what went wrong in libya when you choose that pathway of regime change.

>> three days out from this operation, we're seeing some of the difference between supporting tactics and what the larger strategy is. political support for the tankt cal side is high. the conflicting answers though and the vaguingness about the next steps also leaves a lot of political questions. let's get right to it. hillary clinton's former campaign manager robby mook is here, democratic strategist julian epstein, and "usa today" congressional reporter eliza collins and as well as jonathan allen who is the co-author of the new book shattered, inside hillary clinton's doomed campaign which comes out next week. we can begin with the lighthearted point that we wanted to put you on with somee who describes your campaign in those dark and shattered rms. but let's get right to what i call the politics of it. we did a lot of the policy in our first block and next block we will look at the law. on the politics, your former boss hillary clinton seems inclined to give the president

some room here. >> well, i think she made the point at her talk and i'm glad that the president took her advice that it might make sense to bomb those runways which the president decided to do. but during the campaign, she laid out an entire strategy. as you mentioned, there is a big difference between tactical moves and actually having an end game and we haven't heard that from the president. and also as you pointed out, we're hearing conflicted end games from his cabinet. and then be i think the other thing we heard senator kane talking about how congress has to be consulted if we're going to be in this for the long run. i think everybody again is largely supportive that the president is doing something about this, but thousand the hard work begins. secretary clinton has a full strategy in place.thousand the d work begins. secretary clinton has a full strategy in place. president trump needs to produce the same thing. >> ajohn, is that right that th

president is getting some credit for doing the decisive thing but it's also only a tactical thing? >> well, i think it is only a taical thing in terms of the response toasr al assad. i think him using chemical weapons after he said that he had gotten rid of them created a necessary moment for a response. i think robby is right that the larger strategy matters, but i do not think that the goals of defeating isis and of saying that bashar al assad may not be the future of a stage syria, i don't think those things are in conflict with each other. i think the administration could make sense and we'll have to see the strategy going forward. but there is a reason that the president is being applauded for this particular tactical maneuver and it's because he's listening to on experts, something that robby made the case during the campaign as to this candidate that donald trump was tempt perme temperamentallye force judiciously. and in this limited instance, he

listened to the experts around him, his mind changed. at first he was like who cares what assad did to his people, and within 48 hours or so, he was ordering strikes. so i think this is a reassuring moment for those people who have worried about his temperament over time and, you know, it remains to be seen whether that is something that continues to be reassuring. >> it's funny you use the word reassuring, but the narrative you're presenting is exactly what people are saying. if the military force choice can shift within 48 hours based on photo, compassion or what not, some question whether that itself is reassuring or not. let me go to eliza. john mentions that there was use of chemical weapons for folks who remember john kerry and the russians along with others sort of negotiated the removal of at least what was called the declared chemical stockpiles and we know a lot was taken out of syria which most say is a good thing and yet there were chemical weapons left to use. can you speak to that point and then julian come in afterwards

and respond to anything we've heard. >> there were chemicals left to use and they were used. and the fact that the photos of the kids, i keep thinking about the photo of the father with the two dead twins, that was the message that all of america and the world saw. and that's what president trump saw. we were hearing his visual and those photos is what had him order the strike. but i think the fact that americans saw those are also kind of where the lawmakers now have to react because they're home at recess and their constituents are asking what the strategy is. and even republicans who applaud this decision by president trump are asking for more information on a strategy and also a seat at the table. they want to be consulted moving forward. >> this is hardly reassuring to me. i think this was a symbolic gesture on the part of a president whose foreign policy has been entirely incoherent on this. it was a pin trick prick to use

phrase that republicans used in 2013, this went after one airfield, president obama was talked about going after typhoon a five airfields, there was no real degradation of the chemical stockpile.oon five airfields, there was no real degradation of the chemical stockpile. in all likelihood, trump gave a heads up to syria that he was going to take this strike because he informed republicans according to reports that there was going to be this strike. the russians rather. and the russians likely informed syria. so it's hard to really think this was -- >> but julian, i'm going to let you respond. but you know tthere a deconfliction agreement currently binding with regard to coordination with the russians in syrian air space. >> there is a deacconfliction abrogated. so hard to see how this is -- items hard to see how syria wasn't informed about this. and the russians abrogated the agreement right afterwards.

and 15d staassad started bombin. this is entirely incoherent with the nationalism, the america first nationalism that trump announced. and you see the in-coherence today in the conflict between haley and tillerson in terms of what the real goal is here. the only way that you will fight isis, everybody agrees the objective in syria, first objective is to get rid of isis. the only way you win that war as the obama administration came to this conclusion is if you get rid of the assad regime. you can't -- right now you have a war in syria on four fronts. you have the regime, you have isis, you have rebels in the east and you have the kurds in the north and kurds in the south. you cannot effectively fight isis when you have a four front war. the only way you fight is you have a resolution of the civil war and then you have a unified front and the only way is if you get rush sla to stsia to stop p

assad. >> because we're running out of time, i wan get rob back in. what do democrats do then? >> i think julia hitn something that is really important which is if we need a coherent strategy, which we do, i think the trump administration is facing a major test this coming week in terms of the negotiations that the secretary of state will be having with the russians. we need to see them take a hard line. and i'm going to reduce it and ov oversimplify it a little bit beyond julian just to say the russians can end all this. the russians are a key to getting a solution, a political solution which can is ultimately what is needed. and the question is, is the trump administration strong enough to confront the russians and get that solution. and we'll just have to see. but i think everybody has to force the trump administration to see this entire issue through it's not just good enough to have one good day, we need to see the whole thing succeed. >> exactly the point. >> and eliza, will congress do anything for real? >> we don't know. we saw nancy pelosi request that they come back from recess and

debate. i think that if president trump goes any further, which he did send a letter to congress yesterday that basically said i have the right if i see fit, you're going to see people up in arms especially the democrats. but i do think there is fairly bipartisan support at least from the middle sections of both parties that something does need to be done and what was happening was not working. where they go with that is not clear. >> we are out of time here. i really appreciate everyone being with us. thank you very much. eliza mentions the letter just sent, that is the topic of our next segment. does the president have legal authority to launch there kind of military operation without congress? some arguing that he should not have started this action all by himself. it is complex, but this is something we have seen before. up next, i'll dig into the precedent and some of the legal loopholes that do allow presidents to act on their own. hanging out in here. so if you need anything, text me.

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i've found a permanent escape from monotony. together, we are perfectly balanced, our senses awake, our hearts racing as one. i know this is sudden, but they say: if you love something... set it free. see you around, giulia ♪ on tonight's edition of normal or not, president trump unilaterally bombing syria. legally does the president need

congressional approval for this kind of action? according to modern precedent, the answer is no, at least not immediately. although as you have probably seen by now, some members of congress say trump does need their am approval. >> so i would not have authorized this strike. i would have come to congress first in large part because i think that's what the constitution demands. >> i don't think it should have been done without congressional approval. >> president trump doing this finally waking up to the atrocities in syria is a good thing, but he should not have done this without coming to congress. >> that is the claim. but whether or not this is good policy, let's be clear, the trump administration does have two fairly traditional arguments for why it acted legally last week. it can argue that this was a limited action to protect u.s. interests and counter illegal chemical weapons use. that's basically theinherent au. and they could argue that he is extending the precedent that

congress already passed to authorize military operations. i want to be clear the second argument is obviously more controversial because congress passed that authorization to target stateless terror after 9/11, not explicitly by any means the syrian government. but in the modern era, it is typical for presidents to argue that they can conduct short term military operations because of their authority and that core has already extended a lot of authority in theiddle east. what about the war powers resolution? you might hear a lot more about that this in the trump era, but in 1973, congress passed that law to con stracstrain this kin mission creep, the tendency of many presidents to lean on their unilateral military powers. this with a out of a concern that supposedly limited operations metastasize into full wars without congressional approval. so the law requires the president to report to congress within two days and presidents

routinely follow that prirm requirement. they have submitted 168 reports to congress under the law about limited operations leicht evacuates an embassy as well as full scale wore wars like iraq. so is president trump complying? we can report yes. he just sent a letter over the weekend to congress stating, quote, i directed this action to degrade the syrian military's ability to conduct further chemical weapons attacks. but whilerds are willing to send congress letters since the law passed in 1973, we should telling you most presidents from both parties have taken the position that that law is also at least partly unconstitutional saying it didn't limit their authority to order all kinds of actions without congress. the same law mandates that if u.s. forces are deployed, they can't stay on the ground or engaged for over 63 630 days uns congress approves it. that can set up a major conflict between the powers that the

president says he has and the limits that congress wants to set on war. now, we are a long i with as from that kind deadline for an ongoing deployment. but history is full of supposedly small military operations that get very big very quickly. there is good reason for congress to keep the pressure on the white house here. but as a matter of legal precedent, president trump's approach to syria is normal. whether it's effective? only time will tell. now, next up on the-point, the battle for power in the west wing. bannon versus kushner and a new shakeup on the national security side. we have a big panel to take a look at the intrigue at the white house including a former consultant for steve bannon himself. what if technology gave us the power to turn this enemy into an ally? microsoft and its partners are using smart traps to capture mosquitoes and sequence their dna to fight disease. there are over 100 million pieces of dna in every sample.

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analyst, will be demoted to a diplomatic post. her departure may set up a much bigger earthquake in the west wing. there is a fate about white house chief of staff -- excuse me, chief strategist steve bannon. he met with chief of staff ri reince priebus and jared kushner in a big meeting friday. many saying it was a bury the hatchet session. but bannon's am lies are not sounding that peaceful. last night nbc news reported that one source says bannon's message was this, democrats will never run the white house reportedly trying to nkname jared kushner as well as national economic council director gary cohn as the west wing in trump land. let's get right to it. i have a former darrel eye a aide and also a white house correspondent for the

dailymail.c dailymail.com. kurt, what is going on? >> well, i think you're seeing what happens when you put an alp alpha male who is used to being the be all end all decider in a role where he has to clob clob brate wi collaborate and he's not used to sharing that, he's not used to anyone coming up with any idea that he has pep li. he likes to just move forward and he's meeting some resist tan now and i don't think steve knows how to adapt to that situation.tan now and i don't think steve knows how to adapt to that situation. he expects to be his way or the highway. and if he feels like he won't get his way, he will walk. he has no bones about saying i'll walk away from this, i don't need this, you guys are wrong. >> here is my question to you, kurt. and i know you've done more than one thing in your life, but sometimes you are here as our bannon expert. this guy is very smart, right? he got the seinfeld money residuals, he did the goldman work, he rannen an effective

campaign for an unusual nominee. why would he faceoff in a fight with the family who are the one wing of the white house that are unlikely to ever be fired? >> because i think steve is someone -- and he's talked about this. he's willing to blow things up. he feels most comfortable when there is chaos, when there is conflict and dissension. that is the environment that he likes to create and the environment that you see from the content at breitbart that they like cover. and i think he's just as likely to blow things up, walk away, set the stage for things in his mind to melt down so that he can one day come back and save it all. >> francesca, one report described the last straw, news stories portraying him as the only keeper of the trump blame in opposition to jared, ivanka and gary cohn, all new yorkers. what do you make of that? >> i think there is a difference between him potentially walking

away because he feels that he's being sidelined and some of what we've also been hearing and reporting which he could be the next person on the chopping block potentially. and we've heard so many of those stories at this point and none have turned out to be true so far. which is that remember how it was reince priebus before that was on the chopping block and then conway, and then sean spicer before that. but what i will say in terms of the only person who has actually gotten fired in the trump administration so far was the national security adviser and that was because he lied to the vice president. and if you look in the past to the other people who have most recently gotten let go like chris christie, that was related to the bridgegate scandal. at that time it was overlapping the message that donald trump watrying to push out. and right beforthat, we had paul manafort and that was when he was being charged with potentially taking $12 million from ukraine. so everyone else who has been fired or pushed out of this

administration has had some sort of precipitating scandal that was overshattering donald trump's message at the time and i don't see the same sort of kerfuffle going around around steve bannon that would lead plea to believe that he's on the outs and potentially going to go. >> well, jake, there is one way to look at this which can is the personalities and everyone loves that and steve bannon and what he says makes him very much that kind of figure. the other part of this is whether there is any kind of evolution, whether steve bannon or some other politico, there was an effort by the trump white house to involve that kind of political sort of controversial website operator in the national security life and death decisions of the united states. and that already has changed. they have already removed him because somebody figured out that was aed about idea. >> two quick points glp are two truisms we need to recognize. number one, trump isn't going to

change. he is a 70-year-old man and his ways of working and ways of life are not going to change. the second thing which speaks more directly to bannon is that washington is not going to chan. steve banno ran a great campaign as kurt said, an unusual and effective operator. but now he's working within a system. and we need to think about that. >> jake, i'm going to interrupt you. because i think you might have it exactly back wardbackwards. what if trump's tone and style never changes because he's loud and he tweets, but on substance he's completely malleable. we're analyzing an intervention in syria that is directly opposite of what he campaigned on and what he criticized obama on sbop w on. so who cares if he still troowe the same? >> i think you're right and i don't think that is in conflict to what i said.

you're right, his views are always going to change. and that is part of his being which never is going to change. but i think that you're right on that. and i think we see that now on health care. he said he was going to rip up obamacare on day one and here we are on day 70 something or 80 something and obamacare is still in place and he says he's moving on. so i think there is some truth to that. but i think we have to remember that barack obama also came into washington saying he was going to tear up a system which he was not able to do. so that is one of the many things about d.c. that does not change. >> as we say, jake, i hope you never change because we love you just the way you are. francesca, speak to any of that. >> as far as donald trump, i think that the one thing that i'll be looking at this week is when the nato secretary general comes to the white house and does donald trump continue to go with this america first strategy of we're not necessarily going to get involved in some of these other nato countries, particularly if they're into the

bag their dues. or does the situation in syria change him and make him more likely to say look, we'll help out anybody who is in need who is being attacked who needs our help no matter what. and i think that will give us a better understanding of who is winning this battle inside the white house that we're talking about. is it the steve bannon side or is it the jared kushner side of this white house. >> i would say as in the godfather, never bet against the family. francesca, jake, kurt, appreciate you joining me. possibly a defining moment for trump's foreign policy legacy chen as we've been reporting on he took that action in syria. in the short term, some support from democrats who almost never agree with him on anything. but our big question next on "the point," why do so many humanitarian interventionists say it was good idea and what would be necessary to make it a good idea in the long term? we dig in on that with a former

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president trump's swift action in syria has faced criticism from some republicans who say he should have consulted congress and from trump critics who say he actedism pu ismpull differencely. but he is also finding unusual support this weekend. the syrian strikes are brought out liberal and democratic support. john kerry reportedly backing the bombing and says he's, quote, gratified to see that it happened quickly. much has changed since 2013, but trump's policy does face the same type of horrific chemical weapons attacks that obama derided in syria. assad had clearly crossed the red line obama publicly drew, but he settled for a deal with russia to go after assad's

chemical weapons and not bomb it. why do some liberald li humanitarian foreign policy sxernlts back trump's tack takes? we want to put the politics aside and did dig into substance. we have a panel here. john finer, elyse jordan back with us, and as well as rick stangel back with us. john, why do you think john kerry supports aspects of this? >> well, thanks, ari. i don't think it's a surprise that you're seeing support from some democrats including john kerry for an action that goes to counter horrible thing that a dictator did to some civilians in his own country. that's the kind of thing that people on the left get exercised about the way all people get exercised about it. but i think when you're talking about why secretary kerry supports this action, it's for a very particular reason. he sees the use of force ascension to doing the kind of

diplomacy that will be required to end the seerd i can't conflict. what we have not yet seen from this administration is the plan for where we go from here and i think the support that you're seeing which you often see in the a military intervention is going to wane over time if this action is not situated in a bigger strategy, a bigger diplomatic play to end the war. >> you are sort of getting at the point that this is a bit of a sugar high and that it can always be positive in the moment to see someone as terrible, as villainous as bashar al assad be dealt a blow by our military effectiveness and, yet, that doesn't tell us anything about what happens in the long term. here is what john kerry's old boss, president obama, was saying about this looking back on the syria dilemma. >> for years we have worked to stop the civil war in syria and alleviate human suffering. it has been one ofhe hardest issues i have faced as president. unless we were all in and

willing to take over syria, we were going to have problems. and that everything else was tempting because we wanted to do something and it sounded like the right thing to do, but it was going to be impossible to do this on the cheap. >> that statement right there is kind of a perfect entree into where we are, that this type of action was tempting precisely for what we now see as the reaction, a felling eling of se assad back a moment, the feeling of we can do something. does this prove president obama's point there or undercut it? many republicans and trump allies say this is what action looks like. >> what president obama believed and secretary kerry believed is that ending the conflict will take an integrated strategy making use of all the tools at our disposal when you make foreign policy. obviously military force is one of them. the fact that president obama was willing to threaten the use of military force back in 2013

was essential to getting 1300 tons of chemical weapons material out of syria. dealing with the problem that president trump just dealt with today, with all that weapons material still on the battle pheed with the regime or with isis potentially worse, would have made a much messier problem for him to try to clean up. the notion that an integrated strategy is essential is what president obama was getting at in those comments. >> rick, is this fundamentally a humanitarian action because it responds chiefly to the gassing and the abuse of citizens and not some larger strategic goal? >> well, it comes from a humanitarian impulse, i think, ari. in fact, speaking of which, i mean, president obama, when he won the nobel peace prize, his whole speech was about how the use of force is actually justified on humanitarian grounds. which is why so many people were disappointed when he didn't use force for the violation of the red line, including, as i think,

as jon alluded to, secretary kerry. >>elise, i want you to listen hillary clinton speaking about a perived hypocrisy. this has been discussed a lot over the last few days on refugees. here you go. >> i also hope that they will recognize that we cannot in one breath speak of protecting syrian babies and in the next close america's doors to them. >> that is a compelling point. i see it all over the internet. at least from a foreign policy standpoint, as i mentioned, you have worked for condoleezza rice and others, is there an equivalence from protecting people in their homeland and immigration policy? certainly the united states has intervened in places without opening the doors to every citizen there who might merit, in theory, asylum or refugee status. >> ideally humanitarian intervention would make the

country we intervene in safer for residents so that they don't have to flee and they don't have to become refugees. i am not convinced that that's what this action will accomplish. no one at this point knows exactly what trump intends for his broader syria strategy. you see so much confusion between secretary of state rex tillerson and u.n. ambassador nikki haley as to what the next steps are and what they see as assad's longevity that i think right now chaos and confusion is reigning the day. anotheconcern is just that this is a president so influenced by praise and cares disproportionately about being liked and well received and what's said about him on television and so that all the positivity, i worry, will encourage him to continue asking -- shooting first and asking questions later. >> on that point, jon, here is president trump, as he so often does, finding a way to get in and criticize democrats or his predecessor when it's not really

the main topic. here he was on obama and the red line. >> i think the obama administration had a great opportunity to solve this crisis a long time ago when he said the red line in the sand. and when he didn't cross that line after making the threat, i think that set us back a long ways, not only in syria but in many other parts of the world because it was a blank threat. >> jon, i wonder if the president there is both right and wrong. right that it ultimately proved to be a blank threat, which is a highly disfavored outcome in foreign policy, but wrong when he says that this was an opportunity to, quote, solve this crisis. what about a tactical bombing would ever solve the ongoing humanitarian geopolitical assad/isis crisis in syria? >> i don't think it would have, certainly not that step alone. it comes back to how you follow up on these things with diplomacy. president trump here is employing a tactic he has used

before, whether on the travel ban, health care or now on the syria red line. he is ascribing blame to his predecessor for a difficult situation that he faces. i think what he'll find is that that's not a particularly effective strategy once you're in the big chair. these are your decisions. you own them and you own the results. the sooner he realizes that the more successful he'll be at selling his approach. >> the big chair. all right. jon finer, elise jordan and rick stengel. appreciate your expertise and the history you shared with us. we're just getting started on "the point." in our next hour, a lot more to cover including a special report on a federal judge telling attorney general jeff sessions to basically take a hike and, thus, protecting key obama era police reforms in the city of baltimore. i am joined by the city's police commissioner for his reaction. as well, we are looking at the deadline to file taxes looming. and the issue of president trump's taxes may be back into the political conversation. i'll explain and talk to an

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welcome back to "the point." i am ari melber live from seattle. president trump launched the missile strikes in syria. some in congress this weekend are saying not only did they not know that was happening on thursday evening but they still don't know what the administration plans next. it was just yesterday that president trump sent a letter to congress explaining the move and telling congress, quote, i acted in the vital national security and foreign policy interest of the u.s. pursuant to my constitutional authority. but this morning senator bernie sanders was rejecting mr. trump's approach. >> i do not believe, to answer your question, that the president simply has the authority to launch missiles. i think he has got to come to the united states congress. i think he has got to explain to us what his long-term goals are. chuck, let me just say this. maybe the most important vote that i have ever cast