breaking news obvious syria. u.s. forces firing missiles in response to a suspected chemical attack on the syrian people. good to be with you this morning. i'm francis rivera. >> we're here in new york. it's 6:00 a.m. in the east. 3:00 out west. and here is the latest. explosions rang out over parts of syria last night around 9:00 p.m. eastern time. that was 4:00 in the morning in syria. moments after president trump announced he officially ordered strikes to punish the syrian regime for last week's suspected

chemical attack on civilians. >> the purpose of our actions tonight is establish a strong deterrent against the production, spread, and use of chemical weapons. establishing this deterrent is a vital national security interest of the united states. >> the strikes took place over syria's capital damascus. the syrian government released video showing what it says were missiles over damascus. the u.s. military officials say the strikes were carefully targeted against syrian president bashar assad's chemical weapons capability. >> they will lose years of research and development data, specialized equipment, and expensive chemical weapons precursors. it was a strong action to the regime but inflicted maximum damage without unnecessary risk to innocent civilians. >> right now this is is a one-time shot and i believe it

set -- sent a strong message to dissuade him. >> french officials released videos of their jets joining. theresa may told reporters there was no alternative to military action. russia's ambassador to the u.s. warned such actions will not be left without consequences. after daybreak some syrians gathered and showing support for president assad. the syrian government released video of president assad arriving at work going about his business as usual. >> among our team of nbc correspondents covering the story jeff bennett at the white house. we begin hans nichols. double what we saw this time last year. three separate facilities here. >> reporter: officials are

stressing the strikes were specific, targeted, and district response to assad's actions. i think when you talk to offici officials here, they're talking about an escalation ladder. they want to make sure it doesn't escalade beyond control. they want to send a clear message and their goal was deterrence. we heard a fair amount last night about their legal justification for this. how they think they have the right to do this under international law. we haven't heard a whole lot on the strategic or the tactical success of these strikes. we, frankly, need to find out more about that. there's some conflicting reports, especially from the region saying they knocked down some of the tom hawk cruise missiles the goal of the strikes was not regime change. it was specifically designed to degrade the syrian war machine's

ability to create chemical weapons and to set that back now. there were no attempts to broaden or expand that target set. >> reporter: general dun ford said russian air defenses did not activate. there are a lot of russians inside syria. those air defenses didn't take any shots, according to dunford. dunford also said, however, they're changing their force protection. because, remember, the u.s. does have about 2,000 troops in eastern syria. they have upped the protection of those troops and potential response from either russian or iranian assets inside syria. they stressed they didn't want to kill any civilians and no foreign nationals. so as day develops we need to figure out what the battle damage assessment was and if any foreign nashls were killed inside syria. >> hopefully we'll get more of

an idea when we hear from the pentagon at 9:00 a.m. eastern time. we turn to jeff bennett. what have we learned about what lead to the speech last night? the president addressing the nation, as i said, shortly after 9:00 p.m. eastern time. help us understand the conversations that lead to the announcement to the strikes last evening. >> reporter: good morning, david. that's right. you heard the president there refer to the missile strikes as an effort to deter assad from using chemical weapons against his own people. he was clear it wouldn't be an open-ended engagement. he blasted iran and russia for enabling the syrian regime. particularly following the suspected chemical attacks. and he also said that britain and france joined the u.s. in the strikes in what he called a coordinated operation intended to show western resolve in the face behalf the leaders of these three nations called persistence violations of international law. take a look. >> the purpose of our actions tonight is to establish a strong deterrent against the production, spread, and use of

chemical weapons. establishing this deterrent is a vital national security interest of the united states. the combined american, british, and french response to these atrocities will integrate all instruments of our national power. military, economic, and diplomatic. we're prepared to sustain this response until the syrian regime stops its use of prohibited chemical agents. >> you heard the president refer this to as a sustained response. as hans pointed out, military leaders at the pentagon said it was a limited one-night engagement. of course, the other thing we're tracking here is reaction from the lawmakers, which, so far has split almost predict bli along partisan lines. republicans seem to be backing the president without reservation. there's criticism from did

democratic lawmakers who are criticizing the president for going forward without securing congressional authorization. here is a statement from virginia's senator tim kaine. he said president trump's decision to launch air strikes against the syrian government without congress's approval is illegal and absent of broader strategy. it's reckless. and that's one thing we're hearing from the democratic and republican lawmakers alike. they want to hear more from the administration about the strategy for syria for the months ahead. >> jeff, thank you very much. jeff bennett joining us from the white house. joining us now is robert ford. a former u.s. ambassador to syria. great to have you with us this morning. let me start by asking you for your reaction to the strikes you heard what the president said. prime minister theresa may talked about the narrowness of these strikes making them retaliation for the chemical weapons attack. let me get your reaction to them in the case that the president made. >> i think the step was very positive. it's important to american

national security to reestablish the international against the use of chemical weapons and these strikes from everything we've heard so far were narrowly targeted and, therefore, have avoided any serious response. that's positive, as well. so i think it's a good step. >> help us understand the timing here. of course, it's been a lot of change over in the white house. john bolton days on the job here. why would bashar al sad make the chemical attack a week ago in the suburb outside of damascus. obviously, he must have thought it could lead to retaliation from the u.s. from other countries. why would he do it, do you think? >> well, i don't think he expected american retaliation or at least he didn't expect much american retaliation.

he had the strikes on april 7th, the night of april 7 because negotiations had broken down between his forces and rebel opposition forces in the town the town hit by chemical weapons. so in order to push the rebels to capitulate, he used chemical weapons. as it turned out, it was a successful tactic. the next day the rebels did capitulate after that chemical attack. >> as we heard from secretary mattis in this that we have sent a clear message to assad in his words. how do you think assad interpreted that message? where do you think we go from there on that side? >> well, i think assad will stand down for a time from using chemical weapons. if it is true, as the pentagon officials said they did significant damage to chemical weapons facilities and stores.

that will slow down the regime's ability to rebuild its chemical weapons capacities. i would expect that some months down the road three, four, five months. he'll begin again testing american resolve. assad needs chemical weapons because he has a manpower shortage. he has a military incentive to use chemical weapons. and so unless the united states sustains its policy and strikes assad when he uses chemical weapons again, the deterrent value will be lost. >> hope us understand the profile of assad. you were ambassador to syria. what did you learn about him from dealing with him. about the way he responds to attacks like these. just to condemnation from the international community as a whole >>well, i met assad twice.

in 2011 when i was the american ambassador in syria. he is not a man who likes direct confrontation. he lies to your face. he'll do it even when he knows you know he's lying. but he's kind of a wiggly character. we'll try to establish by stealth because he won't go for direct confrontation. that's why, for example, he consistently denies that he's bombing civilians. he consistently denies that his forces are committing any atrocities in the syrian civil war. >> early on this week we heard from the president who put the self-imposed deadline, 24 to 48 hours when we would see action. now we heard from him last night on these strikes. here is what the president had to say. we'll talk about it on the other side, sir.

>> no nation can succeed in the long run by promoting rogue states tyrants and murderous dictators. >> at this point, when we have these strikes that can be seen as one-and-done. and a sustained effort here, what can you say about what we can see on the world stage? the message it sends to the world. also, where we go militarily and diplomatically. >> i think in the next days it will be important to maintain deep conversations with the russians to make sure that there isn't any misunderstanding about american intent. that this was about deterring chemical weapons. not about regime change in damascus. the strikes were limited that way. and i think it will be possible to contain the russian response that way. no need to goad them. i think it would be good for the

tweets to be respectful. second point, i think the strikes will increase american credibility when it speaks about syria. and when it speaks about establishing international norms against the use of chemical weapons. that's an important message to send to dictators around the world from sudan to north korea. family, the next steps on the diplomatic side, i think, in particular, the united states needs to develop a strategy about what to do with its forces in eastern syria. >> i watched the prime minister speak about an hour ago and the question she didn't answer definitively whether she would support further strikes if we saw chemical weapons used again. there's ambiguity around this, as well. if you listen to what was said last night, as well. how important to get a clear

answer on that in the coming hours? >> i think it's really important in order to establish that deterrence against more chemical weapons use by the assad government. it's really important to send a message if the syrian government uses chemical weapons again, they will again receive strikes from the united states and its allies. that's an extremely important message to send now. obviously you won't do strikes if you don't have good evidence but they do. chemical weapons attacks in the future. but it's important to set now the deterrence message don't do it again or else. >> former u.s. ambassador to syria, thank you very much for your time. next on msnbc continuing coverage against the u.s. strikes in syria. how the launches are being seen inside syria. you know what's awesome? gig-speed internet.

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back now on msnbc with breaking news. new video from the syrian government shows destruction of what officials say is a scientific research center targeted by missile strikes overnight. u.s., french, and british forces say they launched strikes against syrian president bashar al assad's chemical weapons facilities in response to last week's suspected chemical attack on civilians. joining me from london is tammy leitner. theresa may spoke a short time

ago. in listening to the speech, you would hear consistently "deter and degrade." give us a sense of what her message was out there as well as those words. >> that's right. you know, she said she had many conversations over the course of the week and really labored over the decision before deciding to participate in the strikes. she said, you know, sending service personnel into combat is one of the most grave decisions she's had to make as prime minister. but that she believes this military strike was in britain's best interest. she was clear it was a calculated attack on syria. this was not about intervening in syria's civil war which has been going on for seven years. she said it was not about f-- forcing a regime change in syria. she was about the use of chemical weapons by the assad regime. she was clear she believes the syrian regime is responsible for not only the april 7th attack, but also a chemical attack in

2013 when 800 people were killed. the attack last year that claimed 100 lives, and 14 other smaller chemical attacks. all of these, she said, helped her make her decision to join forces with the u.s. and france. let's go ahead and listen to some of her remarks. >> last night's strikes by the u.s., uk, and france were significantly larger than the u.s. action a year ago. and specifically designed to have a greater impact of the regime's capability and willingness to use chemical weapons. and this collective action sends a clear message that the international community will not standby and tolerate the use of chemical weapons. >> reporter: the prime minister will be in parliament on monday to make a statement and to allow members of parliament to ask her questions about her decision to join forces with france and the u.s. in the sir strike. francis? >> we know she's facing questions and criticism as is

president trump in the united states about speaking and asking parliament for that. i want to ask you, also, when it comes to this sustained response versus limited night engagement here. and the support of the uk and theresa may and how far she'll go in actually saying and saying that the people have the confidence in that. >> reporter: you know, it would appear right now that the u.s. and the uk have the support of their european allies. both the uk and france have come out saying the attack one week ago was the work of the syrian regime. germany issued a statement supporting the strikes, as well as the nato secretary general. francis? >> tammy leitner for us. thank you for the update. let's get the response from syria. kal perry joins us live. we've seen the footage bashar al assad going back to work. you could hear bird song in the

background, described by the "washington post." >> reporter: that was a front video they put out at 9:00 a.m. president assad walking to the presidential palace with a briefcase in hand. syrian media is a well versed propaganda wing. let's be clear about that. and the way syrian state tv is putting it out this morning is one of victory. they say they, quote, thwarted an american attack. they call it the three-headed monitor of the uk, u.s., and france. one of the things about the strike we keep hearing it was strategic. that was it was pinpointed. it was diplomatically, as well. it seems like everybody is able to keep the status quo. the americans can say they did what they said they were going to do. we have the tweets from trump. the syrian government said they're continuing to be victorious not just against the rebels that remain but the united states. and the russians can perhaps not respond because none of their soldiers were killed.

we heard that from vladimir putin. he's threatening to take it to the u.s. security council but not threatening retaliation. >> hans nichols said we're going to get a briefing from the white house here this morning. i'm curious about what we know about what the strikes hit. >> reporter: according to the uk prime minister and the pentagon, we're talking about three chemical weapons facilities. one storage, one that helps to build these chemical weapons, and a bunker, according to the united kingdom prime minister that was used for these attacks. both nations, the united kingdom and the united states going well out of their way to stress this is not about regime change. this is just about the chemical weapons. it's worth noting when you look at the casualties of what has been a horrific seven-year war. we're talking about half a million people killed. 11 million people displaced. those people were not killed or displaced by chemical weapons. they were killed and displaced by conventional weapons. in specifically the barrel bombs. so the question is, has the united states committed itself to responding not just to chemical weapons in the futures

but the everyday violence that we know that we're going to see? the sans probably not. >> we've heard from the russians via the ambassador to the united states that these actions won't be left without any consequences. so in that sense, what would those consequences be? and, as far as the last 12 hours, did they attempt to shoot down the missiles? >> reporter: the syrian government is saying they shot down at least 13 missiles. we know it was about double used last time. perhaps 120 used this time. the russians are saying they helped shoot down a larger number. 30 or 40 of these missiles. it'll be interesting to see whether the russians reposition any of these batteries. we know that so much time was lost strategically by u.s. president trump when he put out that tweet. it's like playing hide and seek. but instead of counting to ten he counted to a thousand.

he allowed them to move their equipment on to russian bases. that was obviously key here in what we saw in the last 24 hours. >> can we get your sense how the remarks from president trump has been received by foreign media. he talked about syria and talked about iran and russia. how is it playing globally? >> like a man who has political problems at home. the world view of president trump is a storm in a teacup. there's a narrative going around that perhaps general mattis was able to pull president trump back from doing something wider. but, listen, wide spread combination by iran, by russia, by the syrians, obviously, on the other side the british, the french are hailing this as a success. that's not just a message sent but perhaps a deterrence against using chemical weapons in the future. important to remember, of course, we've seen dozens of chemical attacks on our tv screens and, you know, it begs the question what made this different?

>> kal, thank you very much. journalists in syria who felt shakes and bangs from the attack in his neighborhood. we'll talk to him next. well, like most of you, i just bought a house.

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welcome back. here at msnbc world headquarters in new york. at the half hour we want to bring you up-to-date on breaking news. u.s. bombs fell on parts of syria overnight. british, french, and u.s. forces launched missile targets in response to last week's suspected attack on civilians in syria. the strikes took place over syria's capital damascus. u.s. officials say the strikes targeted president bashar al assad's chemical weapons capabilities. but syrians gathered to show support for assad. the government released video claiming it shot down incoming u.s. missiles along with footage for assad showing up for work as usual. earlier today the french released a statement saying they believed assad was behind the chemical attacks.

>> in a civil arwar and it was t about regime change. as i discussed with president trump and president macron it was a limited, targeted, and effective strike with clear boundaries that expressly sought to avoid retaliation. >> jeff bennett is at the white house for us. we have hans nichols at the pentagon. we begin with danny mackie who is inside damascus, the capital of syria. i'm sure that you were aware, as we were, of the conversations taking place over the last seven days about how the u.s. might react to that chemical weapons attack. let me just get a sense from you of what happened last night or early in the morning your time. what did you realize what was happening? >> well, it was around 4:30 in the morning yesterday and after what was a build up for about three or four days of you sensed the deescalation toward syria.

at 4:30 exactly, a number of missiles and rockets began landing on different areas of damascus, which are unlike the average sounds of war. you can tell immediately that this was high-end staff. definitely cruise missiles. you had jets in the air. after 10 or 11 bangs, after the start of the offensive, you can sense different strikes or curing in different areas of damascus. immediately after that we had syrian air defenses firing back using s 200 missiles attempting to down the rockets. and the strikes continued after that. more than one wave. the first sight was targeted was a research facility on the eastern side. and the second wave targeted the only military airport within the confines of damascus. and the last strike targeted the

research facility. it's been denied by state media. the facility is just a stones throw away from where i'm based in the western side of damascus. when the rockets landed there, it created a huge thud within the neighborhood. the houses were shaking from the ground. and you can tell this was a very sophisticated method of missiles striking these areas. i could confirm it was two-pronged. you had the air strikes and missiles being landed at the same time cruise missiles. at the same time, homes suggested there was a number of strikes in the different facilities. one of them the research facility. the other one other airports and air bases. after taking stock of the situation, it's clear that there has been a number of limited strikes. this is no ways symbolic. this is definitely very serious. and they were limited in the

scope of the actual attacks themselves to areas where there would be no real civilian casualties. state television has reported around six civilian casualties so far. that's a maximum of what i've heard thus far today. we're waiting on more news in regard to civilians or military casualties. >> we did see the video of syrians acting in defiance in support of assad. it's afternoon there in damascus. what else are you seeing as far as sieve -- civilians or residences in syria? >> there has been a number of rallies taking place across syria. that's strange considering the events that happened yesterday morning. at the center of damascus you have tens of thousands of civilians and protesters gathering and stating their defiance in the face of these u.s.-led attacks participated as well by britain and france. it's essentially a message of

strength. these attacks won't break us. in addition to that, you have the syrian president filmed for the first time throughout the war going into work in a video this morning, which was released by the presidency page on twitter. going into work as if nothing happened. as if things continued as normal. i can definitely tell that sometimes in the late hours of yesterday evening things were not normal. there was a big state of panic within syria over the attacks. not a lot was clear about what was happening. and definitely in terms of the civilian perspective of what happened. they have been expecting attacks for the first three or four days since the chemical weapons attack. it died down, to an extent. there's been a lot of deescalation. no one expected an attack. people woke up surprised with the attacks happening today. and after that, life returned to anew. people have been living with war for seven years.

they have grown accustomed and adapted to the issues which we're facing on a day-to-day basis. whether it's foreign air strikes or rebel groups. and the rebels in damascus have almost completed their evacuation. so things continued as normal in damascus after the u.s.-led strikes. >> i want to ask you, lastly, about the circumstances surrounding damascus. of course this chemical attack occurred in what i gather is the last rebel stronghold in the suburbs outside of damascus. give us an update here on the progress. the regime has made in routing out the opposition around damascus. what is the status of that part of this fight? >> i've been here for about three months. since the beginning of the military operation launched by the syrian army and the allies and the last rebel held border was dorma. this is a scene of a suspected

chemical weapons attack that took place around a week ago. negotiations, i reported, were intense. after an initial agreement was reached for them to leave, a pause in the fighting happened. their negotiations went sour. the russians sponsored these negotiations. after that, the chemical weapons suspected attack took place. the next day i was there and the rebels and the government with russian sponsorship agreed to leave the enclave. after that we had something unprecedented. literally 40,000 civilians and 8,000 fighters have been evacuated within the space of three to four days. in an unprecedented process. it's never happened any other area in syria in that speed. that was done by the syrian and the russians to bring these people out. what i've been hearing today is that syrian police, not syrian military forces but police forces as per the agreement,

alongside russian military police are waiting for the u.n. delegation to assess the site of the suspected chemical weapons attack. it will happen over the next few hours. watch the space definitely for more developments. >> that's danny mackie an independent journalist based in damascus. thank you for the time. we'll turn to jeff bennett at the white house this morning with the latest. jeff, we're waiting for a fuller briefer from the pentagon this morning. what's the white house saying in the wake of the statement that the president made last night and the wake of the statements took place? what is the white house saying about steps forward? >> reporter: that's the big question. democratic and republican lawmakers want to get a sense of the broader strategy for the months ahead. to give you a sense of what lead to the speech we saw last night from president trump, we understand that administration officials rushed to really formulate a response after it became clear that french president mack -- macron was

prepared to act. and then from there that's how they arrived, more or less, at the speech we saw the president give last night. a speech, by the way, required careful calibration. remember it was just ten days ago that president trump called for the swift removal of u.s. troops from syria once the mission to defeat islamic state militants was secured. that all changed last weekend after he condemned chemical attack in a tweet and warned there would be a big price to pay. >> jeff, thank you very much. jeff bennett at the white house. let's head to pentagon and nbc's hans nicoles. what are you hearing about the effectiveness of the strike and what we're hearing as far as a sustained response versus a limited one-night engagement. will it be addressed, do you think, this morning when the pentagon has a briefing later later? >> reporter: we want to make it clear it's a direct-one night engagement unless there's something else that happens.

in terms of the success of the attack, they're saying they achieved their goals tactically. they haven't provided specifics. in part, because the full battle damage assessment, the b.e.a. hasn't come in here yet. we're waiting for a briefing on that at 9:00. what they're trying to stress is they used the de-confliction line. it was coordinated with allies. it was a limited specific strike. what they're doing now is making sure that the u.s. troops in syria, the 2,000 troops in eastern syria have enough force protection if there's any sort of response. they're al they didn't intend to kill 84 nationals. so far the response from russia has been muted. there hasn't been a direct challenge. there hasn't being anything too bellicose coming out of the kremlin. we need to figure out how successful the syrian air defenses were. what sort of assets the u.s. used, and what are the potential triggers, again, if there's going to be another response. and is there any daylight

between president trump and secretary mattis? the way i read it is secretary mattis said it was a response. if there's another chemical weapons attack by the syrian regime, they can expect an even harsh response so president trump and secretary mattis view it as a continuum and escalation ladder. those are some of the questions we'll be trying to get answers for later today. guys? >> all right. thank you. will there be another chemical attack? we'll get the response from russia there. hopefully. and get reaction from russia next to this missile attack. we'll have that for you here. will moscow respond in any military fashion?

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it is a breaking news we're following at this hour. new reaction from russia to the u.s., french, and british military strikes last night. the action coming after last week's apparent chemical attack by the syrian government on its people. the strikes targeted three sites. a scientific research center near damascus, a chemical weapons facility, and another facility a command post near holmes. for the reaction from russia. we go to keir simmons in moscow. what we're hearing out of russia are consequences and condemnation. >> reporter: yeah. condemnation from across the

russian government. president putin in the kremlin calling it an act of aggression. condemnation from iran, russia's partner inside syria. the russian ministry of defense holding a news conference in the past few hours in which russian military officials there say that of 103 missiles that were fired, 71 were shot down by the syrian air defenses, which, of course, are supplied by russia. now, i mean, that's a pretty bold claim. unverifiable by us in moscow. russian are saying they may use the opportunity to supply syria with more sophisticated air defenses. and francis, away from the rhetoric and counter claims, i think, inside the kremlin, they'll be satisfied that this has not lead to a larger confrontation with the united states and at the same time russia's advantage inside syria hasn't been lost.

certainly there is no sign of president putin heeding president trump's wonder and turning away from syria this morning. >> as we await the pentagon briefing in a few hours, keir, about targeted air defenses, collateral damage in any way so far? >> no, i mean, what is interesting is that the russians confirming that they did not engage their air defenses against this multiple missile strike. now there are two forms of air defenses inside syria. one is still russian but it's from the syrians. and the other is run by the russians. it's there to protect russians. there was some talk about whether russia would engage. you may remember the russian ambassador to lebanon threatening before the strike that russia would shoot down missiles and target the origin of those missiles. that didn't happen. potentially because russia could

tell quickly, i suspect, that this was not as dramatic an attack as perhaps have been suggested it might be, on the other hand. it's absolute the case. just as in the u.s. there was an urgency, a keenness not to end up in a confrontation with russia. that's true, too. the russians, while prepared to face up to the u.s., if you like, they do not like want to get into a direct confrontation with the u.s. and certainly not with the kind of u.s. fire power you saw overnight. >> especially with a strong words we heard from donald trump, the president last night. the strongest language he's used with russia. thank you so much, keir simmons. president trump's address to the nation about the strikes and the message he's sending to iran. we'll get the view from inside tehran next. mom? dad? hi! i had a very minor fender bender tonight

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ai had a lot on my mind. could this happen again? was my warfarin treatment right for me? my doctor told me about eliquis. eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots and reduces the risk of them happening again. not only does eliquis treat dvt and pe blood clots... eliquis also had significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. eliquis had both and that turned around my thinking. don't stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. if you had a spinal injection while on eliquis call your doctor right away if you have tingling, numbness,

or muscle weakness. while taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily... and it may take longer than usual for bleeding to stop. seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. both made eliquis right for me. ask your doctor if switching to eliquis is right for you. we are with our breaking news coverage of the u.s.-led missile strike in syria and new reaction out of iran. one on of two see kiran allies president trump singled out in

his announcement last night. >> i also have a message tonight for the two governments most responsible for supporting, equipping and financing the criminal assad regime. to iran and to russia, i ask what kind of a nation wants on to be associated with the mass murder of innocent men, women and children? >> nbc news tehran bureau chief ali ruzzi join us now for reaction. how is the government reacting and taking those words from donald trump last night and the strikes to follow? >> well, good morning, francis. unsurprisingly, the authorities here in tehran strongly condemned the attack on syria last night almost immediately after the air strikes. the foreign ministry here issued a statement saying the u.s.-led attack on syria was a fragrant violation of international law,

ignoring syria's sovereignty and warned of broader regional zebss. they also accuse odd president trump of launching the attack to deflect from his own personal problems. but the attack broadened iran's line of defense, and by that they mean the land corridor they've fallen from tehran, syria, lebanon, with all the way to the mediterranean. iran's president this morning said that he spoke on on the phone to bashar al assad and said that he's fully behind him and syria while the highest authority in iran, the supreme leader, accused the leaders of america, france and britain of being criminals that have committed genocide in syria. so some pretty tough talk coming out of iran this morning. >> given the restricted operation of these strikes, do

you get a sense this will further escalate the tensions or in some sense avoid the provocation.? >> well, it's a very good question. i've never seen relations between iran and america so bad and they could easily get much worse than this. and tehran is fully aware of that. they don't want to complicate matters any further while a decision on the nuclear deal hangs in the balance. the leadership here is anxious. they don't want to give president trump an excuse to come down hard on them directly. so the authorities here are probably breathe ago sigh of relief. the attack on syria was fairley narrow. it didn't target iranian assets and iran didn't have to step into the fray for now, at least. but the tensions between iran and america aren't going away anytime soon and the smallest actions or words could trigger a series of events that are very unpredictable. >> and how do you think those

words were taken or received by the iranian people? >> well, the leadership here doesn't like to pay too much heed to the words of donald trump. they don't like to put much weight on it. but they're obviously behind closed doors going to take it very seriously. they feel a lot of pressure from president trump on iran. not only amongst the nuclear deal, but with their regional influence. they feel like the trump administration is trying to clip their wings, so they are going to take any words that come from president trump quite seriously. oddly enough, though, the end of his statement, he opened the door a little bit to some sort of negotiations. he said, well with, you know -- >> losing our shot there in tehran, but we thank him for the update and his reporting there. the pentagon calling the military strikes a one-time shot to deter syria from using chemical weapons, but will it work? we'll have new reaction at the

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good to be with you this morning. i'm frances rivera in new york. >> and i'm david goodright. breaking news this morning out of syria following retaliatory strikes led by the u.s. military. >> we are prepared to sustain this response until the sia