none of that means that they have figured out what to do about bashar al assad. i don't think they like bashar al assad, but how to get him out, it's not clear the americans can do that now anyway. >> you brought the issue of russia into this, and i wanted to pick up on that because today the syrian president was meeting with russian enadvice. how do you think the air strikes that we saw over the weekend impact russia's role at all in syria? does this incline them or push them to double down? does this make them somewhat reserved and staying supportive of the assad regime? >> well, they will be supportive of the assad regime whether or not we strike in order to deter chemical weapons. you know, the strikes actually have the perverse effect of increasing russian leverage and influence over bashar al assad. bashar al assad needs the russians more, and, in fact, there are reports today that the syrian government is asking the russians urgently for more modern updated air defense systems. surface-to-air missiles, show in a sense it may help the russians influence ass

: i don't think bashar al-assad matters that much. to russia, he ran and syria, this isn't a humiliation to the ran address of that potentially said we are going to control the fate of the middle east, no longer the united states and the west. president theresa may and pres. macroin not just because chemical weapons attacks on women and children, also geopolitical, that we will not control the future of the middle east. everybody in that region whether they are on a ran or russia's time for the western side, the bad guys were humiliated and couldn't do anything about it. kelly: teresa may stated there is no practicable alternative to the use of force to deter use of chemical weapons by the syrian regime. this is not about intervening on a civil war, unlimited and targeted strike. the president of the united states dealing with a monster in bashar al-assad and sent a clear message to russia and a ran, what side are you going to be on? where there is moral clarity or a monster tearing out the sheer brutality. >> the president likes to m

>> i believe that bashar al assad is a coward. he has seen now what the united states is capable of. and he understands now that there is a president in the white house that will act on his threats. and so, i think going forward, if this strategy is one that includes sanctioning the assad regime and limiting its ability to kill civilians. there is a bill in the senate foreign relations committee today that has passed the house of representatives that will increase pressure on the assad regime and become conducive to a political solution. i think if congress supports this president and his strategy going forward and if the president, you know, brings back political initiatives, led by him and his allies, i think that assad will -- and will be -- will be dealt with in the right way. and i think then he will start thinking of a political transition if he understands he no longer has the ability to kill civilians at will using chemical weapons or any other weapons for that matter and the syrian people deserve democracy and value that

would you welcome bashar al—assad facing a court one day?d international bodies. what you call civil arms, are rescuers and what you calljihadis with long red beards, moderate rebels, how can we trust you? after everybody now knows with hard proof evidence that lies were made to the british people and violated international law, wasted money, launched an attack based on a hoax. would you put them injail? would you put tony blair in jail after admitting he made a mistake by killing a million iraqi citizens. would you put trump or 0bama injail for killing thousands of thousands of civilians in raqqa. why do laws only apply to us? we are the ones who willjudge and bear in mind, no—one puts me in the parliament? 200,000 of my people elected me. are you telling me those 200,000 people are all brainwashed and don't know what's going on and they should have listened to cnn or bbc or to other media and get there i do about me or people like me? we were surrounded by the same people you put on the terror lists. what i'm asking you is whether you seri

that it has destroyed all of the declared chemical weapons that were under the use of president bashar al assad but that the key word there was declared chemical weapons and they were the suspicion was that there was a lot more that wasn't declared and president bashar assad's forces has certainly been using that in the last two years or so the u.s. . ambassador to the united nations saying that at least fifty attacks have been carried out by the president bashar al assad regime against civilians inside syria and estimates of by local n.g.o.s and medics and which include attacks by other parties as well say there have been as many as two hundred incidents of the use of chemical weapons we're also getting more reports about the details of this joint coalition which is carrying out this operation at the moment inside syria the u.k. prime minister to resign me saying that he has not taken this to his decision lightly we're also hearing reports from the french president and manual mccraw who has just said that he. couldn't tolerate the normalization of chemical weapons use inside syria and th

from donald trump to bashar al assad and his russian masters. firing more than 100 missiles into the heart of syria's chemical weapons program. >> i spoke to the president this morning. he said if the syrian regime uses this poisonous gas again, the united states is locked and loaded. >> reporter: defense secretary james mattis in the late night pentagon briefing not shutting the door to future military action but also not saying what would lead to more air strikes. >> right now this is a one time shot and i believe itd sent a very strong message to dissuade him from doing this again. >> reporter:-shortly after these horrific videos emerged of an april 7th chemical weapons attack in a damascus suburb that the pentagon began planning for military strikes. the target list, a chemical research center in damascus and two chemical weapons in equipment storage facilities located west of homes. the pentagon said there were no reports of civilian casualties and all the military objectives for this strike were achieved. >> i believe we took the heart of

>> very few that want to stand up for bashar al-assad.his is a leader who is loads in westest -- loathed in the because of the way he waged war against his own people with war crimes. very few people in the west would be willing to stand up for him. a number of countries said they felt there should be punishment for using chemical weapons but did not participate in this, particularly germany. they said the use of these kind of editions is unacceptable but chose not to participate or join this coalition that bombed syria last night. host: what should we be looking out for next? we have not seen any efforts to retaliate. what should we be watching out of syria, and also out of russia and iran? alliesif syria's other decide they can let it pass, if they do come if they feel that we can take this one, they hit us and maybe destroyed some facilities but does not damage our capabilities that much, let's let it go because we have longer-term interest in the country we have invested in and we continue to work towards, they may let it go. if they

will you do the same again if bashar al-assad does the same again as you suggested he has? do you think you have the public's consent that you have not consulted parliament? >> as i said in my statement, the purpose of the action that took place last night was to degrade and deter the capability of the syrian regime to use chemical weapons and i also said a full assessment has not been completed but we believe the action was successful but the syrian regime should be resolved in relation to the use of chemical weapons and i have taken this decision and i believe it is the right thing to do. i believe it is in our national interests and also important for the international community to be very clear about this issue, that we've seen people appearing to think they can use chemical weapons with impunity. and restore the issue as i said that has existed for nearly a century the use of chemical weapons is illegal, it is band and we cannot accept it. >> thank you, prime minister. you were hinting toward this meal of your statement about possible further, wider action against supp

first, bashar al-assad still capable to produce chemical weapons. second, the message the countries seasoned to bashar al-assad is you could kill your own people in any kind of weapons, but do not use chlorine and sarin gas. let's remember two weeks before the chemical attacks took place. all but 1,000 people killed in ghouta. and the people killed by the chemical attacks were in a shelter, a basement shelter escaping from the barrel bombs and air strikes. and because they were in a shelter, they got trapped with the gas. >> so mahmoud, let me ask you. barry mccaffrey told me this could not be solved for 25 years? what do people who are opposed to the assad regime in syria want us to do? what does success look like? >> i have heard that president trump tweeted "mission accomplished." with all the respect of president trump, i would like to ask question. which mission will these strikes stop? the syrian conflict? the answer is no. will these attacks stop the refugee crisis? the answer is no. will these attacks stop the extremists? the answer is now.

—assad. capabilities of syrian dictator bashar al-assad.ion with the armed forces of france and the united kingdom, is now under way. we thank them both. tonight i want to speak with you about why we have taken this action. one year ago assad launched a savage chemical weapons attack against his own innocent people. the united states responded with 58 missile strikes that destroyed 20% of the syrian airforce. strikes that destroyed 20% of the syrian air force. last saturday the assad regime again deployed chemical weapons to slaughter innocent civilians, this town —— —— this time in the town of douma near the syrian capital of damascus. this massacre was a significant escalation in a pattern of chemical weapons use by that very terrible regime. the evil and the despicable attack left mothers and fathers, infants and children thrashing in pain and gus being the air. —— gasping for air. these are not the actions of a man, they are crimes of a monster in stead. following the horrors of world war i, as century ago, civilised nationsjoined world

. >> reporter: a message from donald trump to bashar al assad and his russian masters. firing more than 100 missiles into the heart of syria's chemical weapons program. >> i spoke to the president this morning. and he said if the syrian regime uses this poisonous gas again, the united states is locked and loaded. >> reporter: defense secretary james mattis, in a late night pentagon briefing, not shutting the door to future military action, but also not saying what would lead to more air strikes. >> right now this is a one-time shot. and i believe that it has sent a very strong message to dissuade him, to deter him from doing this again. >> reporter: it was shortly after these horrific videos emerged of an april 7th chemical weapons attack in a damascus suburb that the pentagon began planning for military strikes. the target list, a chemical research center in damascus, and two chemical weapons and equipment storage facilities located west of homs. after first light, as the damage emerged, the pentagon said there were no reports of civilian casualties and all the militar

attack on civilians which was thought to have been carried out by the forces of syrian president bashar al assad. we are prepared to sustain this response until the syrian regime stops its use of prohibited chemical agents 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 to be associated with the mass murder of innocent men women and children. this is the largest display of joint force by western nations against the assad regime and were significantly bigger than u.s. strikes on syria a year ago. said the best visit is objective this operation and targeted objectives belonging to the clandestine chemical program of syria the process the main and research center of this program and to important production science has been struck. through these targets we have here the capacity of syria to develop and to produce chemical weapons metal poor deploy desire machine siri get i don't. despite the strikes britain's prime minister made it renewed calls for di

if i were bashar al assad, i would lay low for a while. would reconstitute my capability in secret, and i could bring brutality to my people through other means. >> as we've seen with the barrel bombs. >> as a former air force secretary, what did you make of the president's tweeting and kind of projection of the fact that he would carry out the strikes the days running up to it? if you were in the military and pentagon and planning this, do those tweets help you? >> they absolutely do not help. they were injudicious. i think it was very fortunate. if anything the president boxed himself in. he got himself way out on a limb, and the only option alternate point was to strike because to do otherwise would have perhaps made him look weak. >> and not to mention he telegraphed to our enemies that we're going to possibly be carrying out these strikes, something he faulted president barack obama to doing when it came to some of the terrorist groups. >> ambassador ford, let me bring you into this. my colleague pressed a state department spokeswoman

including bashar al—assad? everybody, exactly.ach to an agreement on banning chemical weapons within a chemical weapons convention. so we hope that this mechanism could work. where does your relationship with assad stand if you say this is a very bad action. you can't stand should er to shoulder with bashar al—assad can you ? you know bashar al—assad is the only legitimate government of syria. and we have been involved with syrian situation just to fight the terrorism and at the invitation of legitimate government to fight seriously the terrorist on the ground. it is a question of asking a legitimate government for fighting terrorism, which we all share. how can he be hej it mate if he is gases people. because he is a member of the un and the syrian theatre is very complex. how can he be legitimate if he gasses his own people? because he is a member of the un and the syrian theatre is very complex. there are different actors, non—state actors. do you feel conflicted? sir, you know how strongly you feel about chemical weapons. do y

do you think bashar al—assad cares that his military assets are being targeted in this way?hether this serves as being these strong deterrent to prevent future use of chemical weapons, again, if there's any self—governance motive here then it's the principle that chemical weapons or weapons of mass destruction act should never be used on the battlefield under any circumstances and that's a strong us, french and us motive —— weapons of mass destruction act. saying he may not be deterred at all, he may continue in the future. that remains to be seen. michael, want to bring you a statement from anatoly antonov, who is the russian politician, you know him currently as the us ambassador to the... the russian ambassador to the united states. he has said in a statement on these airstrikes that russian warned that such actions will not be left without consequences, i'm looking here, this is from the reuters news agency. that is significant. is that the kind of thing which would have worried you when you were in the white house? it's very non—specific. to me it sounds like blaster. y

bashar al-assad has never been willing to grant a single meaningful concession to the syrian opposition. it has never been possible to reach a negotiation about the settlement of war until and unless the shower al-assad is --ced -- but show all aside bashar al-assad is forced to make concessions, or the regime believes -- host: we are joined by jennifer cafarella from the institute for the study of war and an analyst at isw. recentco-author of isw's planning exercises for a strategy to defeat al qaeda and isis. we have been talking about a strike in syria. up next is judy on our democratic line, from indianapolis. caller: i was calling because i was thinking about -- i really feel sorry for the people over in syria. the presidenthat is trying to do what he can to keep them from killing his own people. i don't understand why they do not him like they did gadhafi in libya, just go ahead and bomb the palace or wherever the leader of syria lives. that is the person they need to get. president for being concerned about people in another country who are suffering, but he is a person who is di

so bashar al-assad can still use warplanes to kill people. the french are warning this morning, if he uses chemical weapons again, there will be more military strikes. >> thank you. >> bill just mentioned, defense secretary mattis was a one time shot and it depends on how serious the president responds and if he stops the use of chemical weapons. >> they were a direct response to his use of chemical weapons last weekend. the word he use was we struck harder than the same as similar strike they did last year. officials are stressing that they wanted to make sure they didn't have conflicts with the russians. so they spoke to the russian counterpart. they didn't give them targets information but let them know where they would be in terms of air space. we heard a legal justification. the intent was clear. deterrence. at this stage we are waiting for response from syria. a question of where we are on the escalation latter, will syria respond? i pressed about this in the press conference and saying there is 2,000 u.s. troops in eastern syria and in

as well as a new warning for syrian president bashar al assad. nbc's jennifer johnson has the story from washington. >> reporter: despite targeted military air strikes on syria's chemical weapons sites, the white house is concerned president bashar al assad still has and may use chemical weapons again and is warning assad to be on guard. >> we know it is now up to president bashar al assad whether he'll use chemical weapons again and should he use it again, the president made it very clear that the united states is locked and loaded and ready to go. >> reporter: the white house says president trump's tweet of "mission accomplished" was referring only to friday night's coordinated action by the u.s., britain and france, which destroyed three different research, production and storage sites. >> they also sent a strong message to syria, to russia, to iran that when this president has a red line, he will enforce it. >> reporter: assad met with russian lawmakers today calling the strikes an act of aggression. russia is helping assad fight militants op

by the way, we're there fighting isis, so is bashar al assad.t's not like he and isis are on the same side. there's so many conflicting sides here. he's fighting insurgency. how do we communicate all of this? it seems so contradictory without a secretary of state. >> we don't. actually that's a big part of the problem is that there is no diplomatic effort on going. prior in the obama administration, we had a diplomatic effort that was supposed to be going alongside the threat of military intervention. which is generally you have a tactical military strike and your dip mats come in after the pressure has been put on the enemy your dip mats come in to try to figure out what's going to move forward. so, if you're going to have a military strike, you have to think about what else other than asat if asat goes, what ask the. you have to figure out what a post assad government could look like. >> right. >> those negotiations are not happening right now because we have a president who thinks that negotiation alone is a sign of weakness. he is not using

has the strike done anything to shake the growing power of bashar al-assad and his regime.eam of reporters covering every angle from all

what do you think bashar al—assad's regime's options are?u think bashar al—assad's regime's options are? i do not think it has changed at all and the strikes have not made a difference. bashar al—assad is still strongly backed by russia and is still opposed by the us and the west in general and things on the ground have not changed really. it is interesting to see you say that. the media is preoccupied with what has happened in the last few days. any talk of airstrikes and also the use of chemical weapons is very shocking to many of our viewers to this programme. so, with that in mind, how do we then move forward to make sure civilians, in syria or anywhere else in the world, how do we make sure they are protected? interesting. under current conditions it is hard to do. the us and france have a policy of not tolerating the use of chemical weapons, perhaps in part because they are always the weapons of terrorists. on the other hand, the bashar al—assad regime uses them habitually, going back to his father who used them habitually against his

we have struck this, but will that make bashar al—assad do something different?e russia back down? i think in the coming days we will see this hasn't been very effective to what we need to accomplish, and that remains to be seen what russia does do in response. anatoly antonov tonight said ina response. anatoly antonov tonight said in a release that they felt they are being threatened and that we warn such actions will not be left without consequences and all responsibility rests with washington, london and paris. what does he mean? who knows and maybe they don't know yet but we will be watching for that. colonel davis, what was the point of the airstrike7 is it just bluster on what was the point of the airstrike7 is itjust bluster on the part of the west? that's a really good question i've been asking ever since these threats were made. what is the intent, what's the purpose, what's the strategy behind this? unless you, like, have a sustained, like, desert storm type massive aerial bombardment where you literally take out all the military capability, you're not

well people in the mask even those who perhaps reluctantly support bashar al assad are not supported in more because now there is a nationalist fervor in the air because america has attacked an arab country so they are supporting marcellus are been gotten to the streets and their cars is in the so in flag and or sloganeering for bashar al assad those who are refugees and all rebel like in the area on the syria turkey border are have their own dislike and there are unhappy with it as well because they don't just want bashar al assad regime as a legit to stop using chemical weapons but also to stop and bombing areas which are under control and also for us to go and that's been the demand because they want political change in syria and all the united states and the you can say that that is not their agenda and that is not what they're seeking in syria and for talking to us there from various thank you. i'm moving on to brazil now where thousands have turned in rio de janeiro demanding answers in the slaying of city councilwoman mariani franco she was shot dead a month ago after an event

>> i mean, they change it for bashar al assad.s that chemical weapons will provoke a u.s. attack, but nothing else will. he has a large arsenal. there are all kinds of weapons. barrel bombs. other horrific weapons deployed against civilians in the war. the message is clear now. use those, no problem. just don't use chemical weapons. that could change the situation. >> he used chemical weapons recently and killed 40 or 50 syrians, children included. but half a million syrians have been killed over the last seven years, mostly with conventional weapons. >> i think the message is clear. if you use those, the u.s. will not attack you, and do what you will there, and that's a pretty clear message that's been sent to him. >> there's been some confusion about the president's strategy because only 12 days ago, we remember the president saying the u.s. has to get out of syria, quote, very soon. and then all of a sudden the u.s. engaged in a military operation with britain and france and syria. >> right. well, in the intervening days was th

number two, do you believe we should have direct talks or not with bashar al assad? >> i certainly don't doubt our administration saying that some of syria's chemical weapons capacity was degraded, but let's look at the strategic consequences of what happened. assad is still in power. russia is now going to give more weapons to assad, they're going to get closer to assad, support him even more. there's still no syria strategy in terms of this administration. in terms of talking with assad, makes it harder to negotiate peace when you struck a country that hasn't attacked the u.s. >> it was suggested yesterday by representative barton from texas that the president should work with congress, both sides it appears, to come up with a cogent strategy. what should be the solution here based on your criticism of what's been done so far? >> i agree with representative barton, the administration definitely needs to try to work with congress. they haven't even tried. they haven't presented a comprehensive strategy to syria, and it caused so much consternation that congress on a

locked and loaded un ambassador nikki haley sending message to bashar al-assad that the united statesto strike again if rogue regime launches another chemical weapon's attack. >> if assad doesn't get it, it's going to hurt. it's now up to bashar al-assad on whether he's going to use chemical weapons again and should he use it again, the president has made it very clear that the united states is locked and loaded and ready to go. if we leave, when we leave, it will be because we know that everything is moving forward. heather: so will assad and his allies in russia, iran and russia get the message? our panel is here to weigh in, former deputy commanding general of u.s. forces in afghanistan anthony and national security and foreign affairs expert walid phares. thank you for joining us. appreciate it. >> thank you. heather: i will begin with you general, what do you think in terms of what we heard nikki haley say there and we had the uk come into this and had france assist us, how important was that? >> well, i think it's hugely important, heather, the diplomatic arm, that's nikki haley

i, first of all there are worse options than bashar al-assad. ould be the resurgence of isis and al qaeda and other entities like them that would form some kind of a coalition to govern syria. what that means is, israel is at risk. any christians that are left there will be killed because they have already shown their not only their propensity to do that but tear intent to do that could you wind up with a worse thing than you have now with bashar al-assad in power. i don't deny that for one minute. trish: well, i guess goes back to why we need to be extraordinarily careful about the moves we make at this point in time while making it clear we're not going to stand for this. joan, good to have you here. thank you very much. >> good to be with you. trish: a market off 88 points, forgive me, 90 points as we get new details coming to us on the ig report about andrew mack caib. a lot of concerns about the deep state. is andrew mccabe part of it. that's next. trish: inspector general report on former fbi director andrew mccabe has been released everyon

assad they have gotten to the streets because it is in the soup flag and sloganeering for bashar al assad those who are refugees in the whole rebel like in areas of syria turkey border all have them to strike and there are unhappy with it as well because they don't just want a shot or less as a legit to stop using chemical weapons but also to stop bombing in areas which are under a control and also for us to go and that's been the demand because they want political change in syria and both the united states and the you can say that that is not their agenda and that is not what they're seeking in syria. for a freelance journalist speaking to us there in beirut thank you well germany did not take part in the airstrikes but supported the action german officials are due to meet with representatives from france britain and the u.s. later today to discuss what steps should be taken next german foreign minister heikal math says berlin will help lead a new diplomatic push to end the war in syria. from suing the united nations must lead and carry the negotiation process. but the un needs our

assad bashar al assad did last april and there were strikes on a. port facility that was being used to hit civilians the president trump struck that facility over the past year we have tried diplomacy. and clearly the diplomacy sadly has not worked in a largely because russia has stood in the way finally can i ask you what you think about the wisdom of the president using the phrase mission accomplished because we all know the echo of george w. bush and the iraq war which was a clear indication of him misreading the situation how wise was it for president trump to use that language i understand why people might question our president's use of that however i think what he meant was mission accomplished in that and this is significant in that we managed with the french and british to hit the target to not have a single loss of allies life and significantly degraded the ability of syria to strike on civilian again i think that is what the president meant by that syrian government forces say they have retaken the east and the announcement follows the de

what they're saying he can reconstitute it but they think bashar al assad will think twice. this is about deterrence and upholding international norms. in terms of armaments they did have about 105 cruise missiles that shot from all kinds of platforms including a virginia class submarine there. and they had buy-in as well as real action from the french and british. that's where it stands now. none of the missiles were shot down according to the pentagon. this took place in minutes. and the amount of force put up, this happened after the strikes took place, ali. >> right. because the syrians have a different view on this, right? they said they were able to intercept some missiles. it was all over social media last night that they were able to do that. it is worth noting that the syrians do have a more robust air defense system than one would think. they don't have a very big air force. they have about 200 fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. >> that's right. outside the range of syrian civil defense and it's from there they dropped their cruise missiles. the air defenses are

the usa along with britain and france striking bashar al assad's regime chemical weapons program. david. what's going on? oh hey! ♪ that's it? yeah. ♪ everybody two seconds! ♪ "dear sebastian, after careful consideration of your application, it is with great pleasure that we offer our congratulations on your acceptance..." through the tuition assistance program, every day mcdonald's helps more people go to college. it's part of our commitment to being america's best first job. ♪ proof of less joint pain. and clearer skin. this is my body of proof that i can fight psoriatic arthritis with humira. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms. it's proven to help relieve pain, stop further joint damage, and clear skin in many adults. humira is the number #1 prescribed biologic for psoriatic arthritis. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system pr

bashar al assad's air force remains intact. he can still carry out conventional attacks against the syrian people. he could very well carry out chemical weapons attacks. although now there is an implied threat that more actions are to come. while there may have been a successful campaign, the mission in syria is not accomplished. >> as we have been talking about, richard, the reason for these attacks was to stop these come weapons attacks there. do you get a sense from what has taken place and what you're hearing that it will do exactly that, that it will stop these chemical attacks from the assad regime? >> it's hard to know at this stage. it might. it is sending a message to russia and to assad that there is a price to be paid and there could be future prices to be paid for using chemical womenea. it is also sending a message that the united states is not interested in regime change, does not want to pick a fight with russia. it recognizes that russia has a role in syria and will continue to have a role in syria. so effective

bring us up to date here in the studio now american president trump has called syrian president bashar al assad a quote gas killing animal for his suspected chemical attack on duma now that the u.s. has launched military strikes on syria let's take a look back at the shifting american policies towards the conflict since the war in syria began in march of two thousand and eleven. what started as a popular uprising against a brutal dictatorship quickly spiraled into something far more complicated when protests began in syria in march twenty eleven the government responded with a heavy handed crackdown by the end of the summer then president barack obama had called on president bashar al assad to step down but the flashing quickly turned into a full blown civil war in august of two thousand and twelve president barack obama drew his famous red line for syria warning president bashar al assad that if his government used chemical weapons and there would be an enormous price to pay it all goes to the following year it appeared that line had been crossed. hundreds of people suffocated in rebel c

weapons >> the erosion of that taboo that has been in place for 100 years has gone too far under bashar al assad and it was time that we said no. i think it was totally the right thing to do. >>> the hang seng falls almost 2% >>> and w.p.p. shares slide after martin sorrell resigns he says pressure over a misconduct allegation was hurting the world's largest ad firm >>> and elliott boosts whitbread. and also coming up on "squawk box" from our brand-new studio in abu dhabi -- >> egyptian billionaire tells cnbc how he's navigating the investment situation given the conflict in the middle east. >> i think it's important to tell people like you can't go and support a dictator and get away with it all in all i am positive >>> mission accomplished, that's the assessment of u.s. president donald trump after the u.s. launched missile strikes aimed at crippling syria's weapons program over the weekend. they fired 105 missiles after president bashar al assad's forces launched a chemical weapons attack on dh dhouma president trump and syrian government supporters asked them to rethink their support.

and i think the russians are going to be the limiting force on bashar al assad, not this western attack. the western attack was merely the impetus for the russians to put pressure on bashar. i can't imagine that the russians would ever have approved the use of chemicals. this must have been the syrians on their own because they don't need the chemicals. they're going to win anyway. the russians have guaranteed that. so in answer to the question, i think the russians are going to put pressure on bashar not to use chemicals. >> i remember you made that point when i spoke to you earlier this week that the war is essentially won in that regard. just my last question to you, sir. do you think it may have been slightly premature for the strike to take place today before the opcw have actually said that, yes, we can verify there was a chemical weapons attack. i know the u.s. has its own intelligence, as does france and the uk. what do you think? >> actually i thought we should have done this several days ago. i think we waited too long because by the time we launched this attack, the syrians h

—assad ‘s regime. chlorine, and that they were used by bashar al-assad 's regime.tion a year ago amounted to little more than crater in a runway. it is still likely that this time multinational action will be more expensive and will come sooner rather than later. but, with chemical weapons is due to arrive in douma at the weekend, the window for a quick response would appear to be closing fast. the russians, though, still insist there is no justification for any action. translation: washington continues to make militaristic statements that risk causing a dangerous escalation. there are accusations not only against damascus, but also against the russian federation. donald trump tweeted this morning that a military strike may come soon, or maybe not so strike may come soon, or maybe not so soon. now, if you are being generous, you could say this is the fog of war. keep the enemy guessing. 0r fog of war. keep the enemy guessing. or it may be that there is still some confusion and indecision over what to do next. the white house said that president trump will be speaki

is prepared to continue these operations until bashar al assad stops using chemical weapons. that is if not a new war in the middle east, it is certainly a new open-ended mission, and it is one that carries significant risk. already syrian air defense as cording to syrian state tv, according to some video posted on social immediamedia i was ju looking at, syrian air defenses are in action. syrian state tv broke into its coverage, and it is now about 4:30 in the morning in damascus, to tell whoever was watching that syrian air defenses are in action launching counterstrikes against what it described as the u.s., french, and british aggression. i've been told by u.s. officials that there were great efforts made to try and communicate with the russians, that this was not in any way, shape, or form a coordinated operation with the russians, that the russians weren't happy with it, continue to oppose it, but that they were informed clearly about u.s. intentions. that's easy to do on day one of an operation. but president trump said this is an open-ended operation. so we will see w

came in to syria with a mandate to destroy all of bashar al assad's chemical weapons and it did so it said that it had destroyed all of the declared weapons arsenal that bashar al assad government was holding and as we heard from the pentagon briefing according to defense secretary jim not to say that there has been that the government has not been truthful and that guarantors of this process the russians have not been truthful in coming out in saying that all of the chemical weapons have been destroyed and we also heard just a few hours ago at the united nations security council nikki havey the u.s. ambassador saying that it is fifty incidents of the use of chemical weapons have been recorded by the president bashar. assad's government but according to other activists on the ground at least two hundred reported incidents of chemical weapons use since two thousand so it is one of those areas that we have seen repeatedly heard that there is a red line that the international community would not allow this to happen but this isn't the first time that syria has been hit with missiles by t

definitely the position of president bashar al—assad ?he position of president bashar al—assad? definitely not. this is a warning for the president and his forces not to use chemical weapons, but it says nothing about using other conventional weapons. we have seen over the past seven years the highest number and the best majority of civilians killed, reaching around 500,000 over the past seven years. they were killed in conventional weapons and not chemical weapons. for the course of the war and peace in syria, they are not making any difference. but for the security of using chemical weapons, gas, they are definitely sending a very strong message to the government. we saw the pictures yesterday showing president assad going to work as normal and the message from the syrian regime seems to be business as usual. well, yes, definitely the case. you watch what they are broadcasting and the messages they are sending and you talk to people on the ground, it is a massive —— it isa on the ground, it is a massive —— it is a message to tell the ag

if bashar al—assad uses chemical weapons, if there are egregious human casualties as a result, i saveweapons is beyond the pale. as far as the larger picture is concerned, this administration needs a coherent strategy, and they do not so a coherent strategy, and they do not so far. what will we do with the kurdish forces we have been working with with to fight islamic state? will they hold a fort in eastern syria to prevent islamic state from re—emerging, because many fighters remain in place, they simply melted away to pick this needs to be addressed. —— away. they need a more coherent strategy. thank you for joining us from washington, dc. you are watching newsday on the bbc live in singapore and london. this is what is coming up in the programme. the twinkling singers. how our night sky may not be so silent after all. we take a look at nasa's new mission. pol pot, one of the century's greatest mass murderers is reported to have died of natural causes. he and the khmer rouge movement he led were responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million cambodians. there have been viole

bashar al—assad has consolidated his power. most countries nearby believe that assad has one.ople with chemical weapons. so what are the objectives of another us military strike regardless of its scope? it is nothing short of threatening the assad regime itself, and most people think the united states is not interested in a full—fledged war against the assad and then russia, what is the objective of the mission? a lot of the observers are concerned about that policy. how do you think a new national security adviser factors into all that? you think a new national security adviser factors into all that7m you think a new national security adviser factors into all that? it is certainly concerning. secretary bolton is known to quite hardline statements. i think the likelihood of response would be high but i think that probably just of response would be high but i think that probablyjust ensures that it think that probablyjust ensures thatitis think that probablyjust ensures that it is likely the trump administration will feel the need to ta ke administration will feel the need to t

precision strikes on targets associated with the chemical weapons capabilities of syrian dictator bashar aland he singled out syria's two principal backers. to iran and to russia, i ask, what kind of 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. in damascus last night, flashes, bangs and streaking missiles lit the night sky. those launching the attack seemed as keen to define what this mission wasn't as what it was. this is not about intervening in the civil war. it is not about regime change. it is about a limited and targeted strike that does not further escalate tensions in the region and that does everything possible to prevent civilian casualties. daylight reveals the extent of the destruction. this is all that's left of the scientific research centre near damascus, one of the targets that took the greatest pounding. at a pentagon briefing this morning, the defence chief said all targets had been hit with no casualties suffered. we are still conducting a more detailed damage asses

i think that the russians are going to continue to stand by syrian president bashar al assad. i think the iranians are going to continue to stand by him. i think on the military side of things it hadn't changed anything at all. when you look at what's going on around damascus and other places in syria, then you can see a clear pattern of countries that are committed to syria for better or worse and with all the horrible things this entails for so many civilians. we have to keep in mind as these big powers in syria continue to battle each other or to be adversaries of one other it is always the syrian civilians that suffer the most. you can tell there is that sphere of influence and control that the assad government has that is expanding and consolidating. you have a fear of influence that the turks have that their consolidating slely but it is growing. and the small sphere that the u.s. has a hand in. but there's not many players on the ground that believe the u.s. is in it for the long run. so by and large the strikes seem to be -- and quite frankly it's what the americans ar

it also said it will announce new sanctions against russia over its support for bashar al—assad.m @lvaughanjones good evening. it's fair to say it has been a miserable april so far. if you haven't already heard, things are set to warm up this week. we could see highs of 25 degrees in the south—east, but it's notjust the south—east. some widespread warmth across the country, high teens and low 20s. for today, the sun xiang has been fairly isolated. in the far north, a beautiful afternoon. —— the sun has been. for most of us a cloudy day with outbreaks of showery rain. the rain will continue to push steadily north and east overnight. taking that wetter weather in time —— into northern ireland, north—west england and parts of scotland. a little more cloud, not as cold as the nightjust little more cloud, not as cold as the night just passed. little more cloud, not as cold as the nightjust passed. further south, the rain easing. temperatures quite widely to start monday morning at around five to 9 degrees. monday sta rts at around five to 9 degrees. monday starts off on a relatively q

really prepared for and will not do sufficient damage to the alleged chemical weapons program of bashar al assad to stop him from attacking in future he also says to resume a should have sort of it your approval not trailed after donald trump well i think that would chime with a lot of people the parliamentary reference they're interesting to see what stories are made does offer parliament in the coming few days but she does seem to have convinced at least her own cabinet there is firm evidence that needed to be acted on quickly she says also to ensure the safety of british forces but of course she stressing that there are no there's no talk of putting troops into syria and that is that this is a limited operation and of course in the team. today for the moment we'll leave it that of course come back to you with more analysis let's have some more analysis from russia because they've just given a briefing also short time ago at the russian defense ministry this what they had to say it's very similar to what we or u.s. airplanes were used in fifteen and sixteen and also the planes of the u.s

bashar al-assad is not going anywhere unless they want him to go someplace. they would never risk all the gains they made by getting into a conflict with the united states. it makes no surface. there are people on fox saying what we should do is target bashar al-assad. that makes no sense in view of what you mentioned. we are trying to convince kim jong un who has nuclear rise to icbms, we are not going to change his regime. we are going to leave him in place and he is paranoid about that. we oppose qaddafi. if we take on bashar al-assad it blows up any chance of successful negotiations with kim jong un. >> when you remove one leader the vacuum is very dangerous. thank you for taking a break from all the things you are doing. on the domestic front the white house could vote on a balanced budget amendment that would require the government to spend no more than it takes in. with the gop control how the trillion dollar spending bill democrats said the vote was a joke. >> like a sermon from trump on the virtues of chastity i believe these house republicans today

leland: the bashar al-assad's forces are on the ground again.e lone survivor of the arab spring civil wars. despite his repeated use of chemical weapons. julian turner joins us now with how assad has defied all the odds and to help along the way. >> syrian president bashar al-assad rose to power in july 2000, 1 month after he ruled the country with an iron fist for 30 years passed away. since then, he presided over sectarian civil war that scene million killed on the entire region into turmoil and attacked his own people some 50 times according to the u.n. and yet his reign of terror continues unabated. since 2014 is been focused on drawing the u.s. ever closer to the brink of lord and despite western and arab countries, backing the opposition, refuses to step aside. officials across the board take great care to hold bashar al-assad personnel responsible for the course of events leading up to the administration airstrikes. >> assad and his pictures would do well not to test our resolve where the capabilities of the armed forces of the united sta

assad but it is in partnership with allies allied to the government of president bashar al assad so it is an issue which divides all of middle east and we hate waiting to hear about what sort of retaliate for your steps would be taken but as has been mentioned by other colleagues that there was a major sigh of relief by all sides were expecting a lot more in terms of attacks and sustained action of those promised by the president of the united states for now. thank you. i want to turn to some other stories now because it's been exactly four years since two hundred seventy six school girls were kidnapped from their school in northeast nigeria by the armed group. parents of the missing girls have month anniversary by marching to their school and renewing calls for their release fifty seven girls escaped in the immediate aftermath of the attack and four years on one hundred twelve are still being held by juries president mamadou bari says talks and back around to free the rest of the girls suffering from setbacks because of internal divides within the armed group. a state funeral ha