soi looking to replace bashar al—assad. or not bashar al—assad has any staying power. michael, thank you so much. thank you for having me. we will go back to barbara plett—usher at palm beach. i think we are expecting something from donald trump, a statement. what are you hearing? we are still waiting, actually. we are waiting for an audio statement by the president. as well, we are waiting to get a briefing rum the white house spokesman sean spicer, and national security officials, who are here at mar—a—lago. —— from. they will give a briefing as well. but what we have discussed, the tomahawks were fired from two navy destroyers and hit an air base in the city of homs. it seems to have been a small—scale and limited strike. we don't know much about the damage or whether there we re about the damage or whether there were any casualties. it seems to be the airbase that the planes that carried out the chemical attack took off from, therefore, symbolic. the russians operate the air defence systems and help the syrians do that a

vladimir putin is frustrated with bashar al-assad. his statements are erratic. he has gone out and rebuff those initiatives. >> analysts say putin can be put at greater risk if bashar al-assad pulls another reckless move, it could draw the united states further in the conflict of syria and potentially put u.s. forces closer towards direct confrontation with the russian military. that's on edge tonight. >> does putin have other risk at home if he keeps on backing bashar al-assad. >> putin has to worry about rush back of russia. >> zuni muslims are the people that assad had been killing. they could radicalize against putin. brian, thank you very much. brian todd reporting. coming up, our breaking news, the pentagon reports major damages of syrian air base, president trump launched a missile strike in response to syria's chemical weapon attacks. ♪ ♪ >>> happening now breaking news attack of syria. administration officials warning president trump is prepared to do more at this hour. new details of the target and the impact. what happens next after the first direct u.

talking about bakery bashar al-assad, though he did go on the say bashar al-assad and his army is the legitimate power, but much more aggressive tone for the state department and secretary of state over the last week and a very great focus only russia here and the role it has to play according to the state department in the chemical attack in syria. >> rich, thank you very much. let's bring in john now associate editor of the wall street journal would say that is complicated would barely be the scratch the surface. the russians, the syrians, the united states, isis, and al qaeda. >> china, north korea, domestic politics if you want to spread the net really wide about what messages are being sent here, look, we can extrapolate too much, this is a message clearly to assad not the use the chemical weapons. administration angry that he has them. they were supposed to be gone after 2013. angry at russia. that's take clear medication. i think we could extrapolate a little bit and take a little bit further and see think through how it is that other nations are going to be respond the this. y

he did not say bashar al assad must go. does he need to say that? ys thought saying bashar al assad must go is not that smart. what options are you giving him? there's a way to look at this a little bit different, which is to say the regime is likely to stay and what we need -- if we're going to come to any solution, assad must go, but the next step is for the regime to stay in some shape or form, assad to be gracefully shown the exit. that's a nonnegotiateble demand. i don't think there's any reason to say is that at the outset. it doesn't help the situation. >> so many people are knowing not only must he go, he must go before an international war crimes tribunal and charged with war crimes and executed. you've heard that, phil? >> yeah. and i think peter's right. i think people who say that are dead wrong. people will send hate mail, i don't care. if you want the civil war to kojt, 400,000-plus people have died in syria. the president of the united states talked about the troij of children and infants dying. how many more do you want to die in a ci

in the sender is bashar al-assad. the russians have propped him up. sians say that bashar al-assad should stay in power. the russians are supporting him. the americans just said we're organizing a coalition to take him out. that means the united states with syrian rebels against the syrians, the russians and the iranians that support hezbollah. so far president trump and many other world leaders say the syrian government is flatly to blame. the truth is, the syrian government has been murdering its own people for years. by the hundreds of thousands. these pictures are new. this incident is new. this situation is very old. they dropped barrel bombs from the sky and murders children in their beds on a daily basis. but these pictures and this incident is new along with this president and his entourage. now president trump says the horrible images from this week's attack made him change his attitude toward syria and assad. >> it's a terrible thing. you see babies dead from gas and a very heinous form of gas, which very few people have access, to it's bad s

whole rhetoric now is really moving towards trying to get russia to withdraw its support for bashar al—assade heard from michael fallon and what he has written in the sunday times today is that he is also of the opinion that bashar al—assad cannot continue to be the leader in syria. that changes from some things we have heard previously, back injanuary boris johnson was talking about how bashar al—assad could potentially run in elections. that seems to have moved away from that now and they want a future in which syria does not have him as their leader. thank you. i have a little bit of breaking news. we are hearing that at least four people have been killed and 20 injured in an explosion near a church in egypt. this is coming in via reuters. just to repeat that, we have really got one line on it, at least four people have been killed and 20 injured in an explosion in egypt. these are coming from security sources via reuters and we will bring you more detail as we get it. the us —— the us military has ordered a navy strike group to move towards the korean peninsula, amid growing concerns abo

organise an international coalition to remove bashar al-assad? ose steps a re to remove bashar al-assad? those steps are under way. their first face—to—face meeting. with so many contentious issues on the agenda, will the presidents of china and the us find some common ground? after decades of violence, the basque separatist group, eta has confirmed to the bbc it will disarm on saturday. and an inspired work of art, or expensive folly? we have an exclusive on the latest work by damien hirst. hello. the prospect of us military action against syria appears to be moving closer, because of the suspected chemical weapons attack which killed at least 84 people. syria's claims that it didn't carry out the attack have been met with widespread scepticism, and strong words from the us secretary of state. rex tillerson said there appears to be no future for president assad as syrian leader. he's again appealed to russia to reconsider its support for the regime in damascus. nick bryant reports from new york. yesterday, we saw abdul—hamid alyoussef grieving fo

doesn't mean regime change or a decapitation strike against bashar al-assad. trump administration once bashar al-assad out in the near-term as opposed to what they were saying two days ago, which was not a priority. what we need to see is to what extent direct bilateral conversations between the americans and russians move in that direction. also, where are the iranians. the iranians military are much more important on the ground in syria than moscow. the final point, it was interesting to see a crimmins spokesperson earlier today say support forsian bashar al-assad was not unconditional. they have said that before, and in part because they have limited leverage over the sharp al-assad the but the timing of that after the trump administration escalated, it is not coincidental. i do think there is an opening here for the trump administration as long as they don't further escalate. haidi: we just got these lines coming through from senator durbin saying any further action will require close scrutiny and engagement, anything beyond airstrikes, saying the administr

islamic state is there because of bashar al—assad in a large part of. a signal that they don't support bashar al—assad as part of a means of bringing back any moderate forces in syria. but this is crucial. prior to the last week, that was clearly the us strategy, the most important issue for us strategy was countering islamic state and, you know, they had really moved away remember, just last week, president trump said what happened to bashar al—assad was up to the syrian people to decide. that clearly is looking very different now. but the sequencing strategy is, i think, not one that is going to work very well. i think pressure on bashar al—assad and continuing the fight against islamic state are two things that must happen simultaneously at this point. the payday loan firm wonga says up to 270,000 of its customers may have been affected by a data breach. the information stolen includes names, addresses, phone numbers and bank account details. earlier professor alan woodward from the university of surrey explained how significant this breach is. well,

over the last seven years, there has been, is it better that bashar al-assad is out of control their? obviously israel does not support bashar al-assad, whether it would be better or not for him to be out of control, it's a good question. i don't think i can answer that. obviously israel is on high alert. >> uncertainty either way no doubt. >> the president is meeting with the leader of china, he met with the king of jordan this week and the king of egypt. as our coverage continues, will dive into it. stick around here on fox news channel on this big evening. if you have medicare parts a and b and want more coverage, guess what? you could apply for a medicare supplement insurance plan whenever you want. no enrollment window. no waiting to apply. that means now may be a great time to shop for an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. medicare doesn't cover everything. and like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, these help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. so don't wait. call now to request your free decision gui

the morass in syria. —— our guybe it seems just few days ago he was reassuring the russians and bashar al—assadere expecting they would have to live with this messy situation. umm, i think that rex tillerson has a lot on the line in his discussions with moscow. the question is now, assuming there is some new leverage, because the united states has shown it is willing to put missiles on the ground, if not, boots, can he use that to encourage the russians to bring their syrian proxies and allies to heal in some way, get them back to the table, demand some kind of return to a viable diplomatic process , of return to a viable diplomatic process, something that ratchets down the wall in syria rather than the opposite. thank you very much for joining the opposite. thank you very much forjoining us. from the centre for american progress, formerly from the american progress, formerly from the american and state department. in a few hours' time, the basque separatist group, eta, is due to hand over its last weapon. it announced that it would fully disarm in a letter obtained by the bbc, after a militant

not just on whether or not his support, bashar al-assad -- russia's support for bashar al-assad is unconditionaler or not they might move away from that regime,but also if they are willing to put their own credibility and leverage against some peace momentum, how would that start, boris? perhaps it might start with humanitarian corridors, no fly zones. these have been issues another any table, any negotiation table to discuss syria in the last few years. it's been impossible to get to that point. some people are hoping that all of this heated rhetoric from both sides will actually be able to spark something at this negotiating table. boris, as the two of them sit down, sergey lavrov and rex tillerson, still no word whether rex tillerson will get that face to face with vladimir putin. if he doesn't, it will be quite a snub and perhaps throw negotiations back a bit because vladimir putin and rex tillerson know each other fairly well, and they would likely be able to get to some understanding of each other's position if they had that face-to-face meeting. >> yes, certainly, one of the silver linin

has not gotten involved militarily until now against bashar al assad's regime and a lot of folks are saying maybe it's time. >> the u.s. has been involved. >> against isis in syria but not against bashar al assad's regime. this was the first military action. >> the first direct military action but the united states has been providing weapons and training. >> limit the. how has that worked out so far? >> it hasn't worked out. >> at all. >> it hasn't worked out because it's given the rebels just enough support in order to continue the fight but not enough to win the fight. >> and you blame the obama administration? >> i blame the obama administration. >> they were derelict in their responsibility. >> they had a policy in syria that did not work in part becausy in prolonged the conflict by putting just enough military support in to keep it going. >> but you agree bashar al assad is a butcher? >> he's a butcher and deserves everything that he get and ultimately it's one of the wreens why the united states should at the very least have a policy of anyone who wants to escape that area, and

one more thing on the future of bashar al-assad and this little reported early yesterday with the kremlin spokesman had to say about all this, he said i don't think it's correct to say that there's unconditional support for bashar al-assad, but unconditional support is not possible in the current role, although he did go on to say that we have to keep in mind that a assad and his army as a legitimate power in syria, as we all wait now. it's about morning time, seven hours ahead of moscow, what they are going to do and what russia is going to do in response to all this and whether the secretary of state will still be invited to head there next week. back to you. >> bashar al-assad may find himself all alone. that's for sure. live from the state department this morning, rich edson. >> just after 9:00 a.m. in israel and they were quick to respond to that military strike in syria. they are stressing full support for president trump's decision. let's go back to john huddy. >> as you said, just past 9:00 a.m. and people are waking up to the news about the strikes in syria by president trump the

bashar al-assad regime. ou organise an international coalition to remove bashar al—assad? an international coalition to remove bashar al-assad? does steps are under way. the elephants and the architect. we talk about a wacky new film from singapore that is winning over the critics. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. good morning. it is 7am in singapore, midnight in london, and seven in the evening in florida, where the leaders of the two economic superpowers have met for the first time. china's president xi jinping has been met via donald trump at his florida meeting place. there will be a working lunch on friday. earlier, ispoke there will be a working lunch on friday. earlier, i spoke to a former us ambassador to the asian development bank and i asked him if he anticipated a difficult meeting between the two leaders. just a smooth meeting will be to the benefit of both. washington. the trump administration is still finding its footing. not all of the people

his design to send a message to bashar al-assad but also to the russians that the u.s. has said that they are willing to work with the russians possibly to fight against isis. we have 1,000 u.s. troops on the ground in syria preparing to help forces, kurdish forces and others that the u.s. has trained to take raqqa which is the isis capital. this is designed to send a message to bashar assad to stop using chemical weapons to never use chemical weapons again, he was a signatory in 2013 to the chemical weapons treaty suggesting he wouldn't. tonight there was a meeting at the u.n. security council that was indecisive. and prior administrations i believe it would be safe to say that while the u.n. security council debated issues, a resolution on syria and the chemical weapons attack, and administration would have waited for those debates to finish. tonight, we were told that the u.s. wanted a vote on the resolution, russia was blocking it, they expected russia to block the resolution in the end as they have seven times in the past. this president did not wait for marcus pre

it was bashar al-assad. and i think the russians need to think more carefully about the commitment they made under the chemical weapons agreements to be the guarantor that these weapons would be seized, they would be removed, they would be destroyed. since they are bashar al-assad's ally they would have the closest insight as to their compliance. so regardless of whether russia was complicit here or whether they were simply incompetent or whether they got outwitted by the bashar al-assad regime, you would have to ask the russians that question. but clearly they have failed in their commitment to the international community. >> dickerson: given how strongly the president acted with respect to syria using the chemicals weapons isn't it a rather important point whether the russians were actively engaged in the military chemical weapons use that the u.s. government just launched a military strike over? isn't that a crucial question? >> well, to our knowledge, we do not have any information that suggests that rus

it is a question of where they stand on bashar al-assad's future. here's the secretary said. >> assad's role in the future is uncertain with the acts that he has taken that would seem that there is no room for him together the syrian people. >> that is much more aggressive language of the secretary of state took last week when he was dad the longer-term status for bashar al-assad would be decided by the syrian people. secretary was asked if president trump would organize an international coalition to remove assad. the secretary of state those steps are underway. he was referring to in that case the dash negotiations that were ongoing in geneva with the united nations. beyond this though, the question is where russia will react to all of this? of this is only a few days before secretary of state travels to moscow. later this after -- or late in the afternoon the previous afternoon on thursday, senior state department officials were saying that the trip to moscow was still on and they were going to talk about potentially finding areas were russia could

this is what he said about bashar al assad. listen. >> years of previous attempts at changing assad's behavior have all failed and failed very dramatically. as a result, the refugee crises continues to deepen. and the region continues to destabilize, threatening to united states and its allies. >> christiani ychristian christ one on its own? >> it's possible this might happen again. all we know is what the pentagon is saying. saying this is a one off. this is deterred. we'll see what the reaction is. that has to be the bottom line. and presumably it has to come with some channel to assad to say, okay. we did this. and you have to meet this, this and this threshold so we don't do it again. this is something you cannot get over the fact that it is the first time in nearly seven years, now -- going in its seventh year of this war, that the united states and the western coalition have taken president assad to task for repeated violations of international law. and repeated use of banned weapons of mass destruction. so, many people we

we have to remember that there is a refugee problem from syria because of bashar al-assad. there is an isis problem in syria because bashar al-assad created the civil war which created the vacuum that allowed isis to come in. but bashar al-assad needs to go. in toward preveorder to prevent terrorist group like isis and potentially attacking us and our allies there has to be some level of civility in syria and i don't see any scenario in which bashar al-assad would be able to provide that level of stability. >> we heard also from the white house press secretary also from pentagon officials, they are claiming, we have no independent confirmation of this and tell me what you know, that these 59 tomahawk cruise missiles either destroyed or severely damaged about to% of the syrian air force, syrian planes. what do you know about that? is that true? >> well, there was definitely, they are doing a bomb damage assessment as we speak. i think the attack was successful. it was restrained and specific and timely and i think we can all walk away saying that was a good move. we also need

they come across with one voice on this. >> general hertling, yesterday president trump called bashar al assadt these pictures we're seeing. certainly lend credence to that claim. the fact is bashar al assad was the same guy a week ago, two weeks ago, two years ago, three years ago. this is what he was doing. and chemical attacks that he again denied this morning. he said syria has never used its chemical arsenal at all which is false dating back years. so how should the americans now react to this? >> mr. trump says a lot of things when he learns them. but as you just said, and as steve just said, mr. assad for anybody who has watched him over the last several years, knows he is a butcher. he has used these tactics before, as steve just said. it is straight out of the russian playbook to not only up the ante but basically claim nothing happened. it's ludicrous and disgusting. if you watched or analyzed as the cia is doing on a daily basis, the actions in the syrian government, we've seen chemical attacks before. multiple times. he has attempted to intimidate his people because that's the syri

well, especially when it comes to bashar al-assad. >> assad's role in the future is uncertain and with the acts that he has taken, it would seem that there would be no role for him to govern the syrian people. >> the secretary of state had said last week that it would be up to the syrian people to decide the long-term fate of bashar al-assad. much more aggressive language when it comes to how the secretary of state is responding. russia and iran, syria have condemned his attack. u.s. allies have applauded it. the u.k. said it was an appropriate response to a barbaric attack. the saudi and israelis both say they fully support the united states. turkey coming in and saying it was important and meaningful. we know wait to see if the u.s. and russia will still have their summit to an extent. rex tillerson is scheduled to go to moscow early next week and as of yesterday afternoon that trip was still on. >> interesting timing. will be back with you shortly. we now want to bring you former advisor to the u.s. and nato commanders in afghanistan, good to have you here. you're happy about this,

not with us, that's a pretty small group. >> president trump has spoken out, tensively about bashar al assadnd syria. does the president consider a war criminal and does he believe assad should appear before the icc. >> i think right now the focus is two-fold. one is defeating isis and second is creating a political environment for the syrian people to have a new leadership there. i don't think there's -- i can't imagine a stable and peaceful syria where bashar al assad is in power. we all recognize that that happens and there can be a multipronged approach and isis is contained and there's a deescalation of chemical weapons at the same time creating the environment for a change in leadership. >> does the president believe assad has committed war crimes. >> there's a court that decides those things and there's a reason that while the actions you take against the people that he has, we feel confident in the intelligence that we have but that would be something for a court to decide. >> a lot of people are talking about what the trump doctrine is on foreign policy and what it may or may u not

do we want bashar al-assad out now or later? -- chemical weapons pressure -- strike undertaken was in direct response to the use of chemical weapons. as i indicated we do believe it is in the national interest because it is a threat that unsecured chemical weapons pose given the chaotic conditions on the ground in syria. afight going on against isis, war, a large presence of al qaeda individuals. that important to us whatever weapons are there are bound or secure and destroy ultimately. of basharf the future al-assad, it is important to us that we undertake a political to the finalleads conclusion of how syria will be governed. it is our policy for a unified syria governed by the people of syria. it is clear to all of us that the reign of the assad family is coming to an end. and thetion of how transition itself could be very important in our view to the durability, the stability inside a unified syria, and be durability of the outcome going forward. we are not presupposing how that occurs. furtherear we see no role for the assa

tom cotton said he would consider potentially unsafe zones if you will for bashar al assad. how does president trump -- first of all, what specifically, beyond what you're talking about, beyond sending a message that assad can't stay in power, what can he do that wouldn't destroy the relationship that he wants to build, that he's talked about bielgd with russia. how do you thread this needle? >> i think you have to look at what russia is doing in this instance. this is a country led by a brutal tyrant. russia is supporting bashar al assad. the relationship of putin in his own country, imprisons journalists, kills opponents. it's not an ally of the united states. russia is an adversary. we need -- what i'm concerned about is the unwillingness of the president to call out russia and this admiration he has for vladimir putin. he's willing to get in a fight with so many of our allies but unwilling to say one bad thing about vladimir putin. russia needs to be called to account and held responsible for its behavior. we need a president who's going to do that in a forceful way, help

reporter: you called out bashar al assad as a war criminal. vladimir putin a war criminal. you have a president of the united states that's not calling for assad's removal anymore and says we have to be cognizant of the political realities of that country in syria. you've also got investigations across capitol hill of president trump and his ties to russia. do you think those investigations right now are undermining his ability to be an effective commander in chief on this issue and more broadly? >> no, i don't believe that. that's a separate endeavor, it's an important one. i'm involved in that on the intelligence committee. it's an important part of oversight. to me it's an ongoing practice and the foreign relations committee, we've heard from our allies in europe and this isn't going to end in 2016. we'll continue to see efforts to undermine our democratic institutions. it's part of vladimir putin's asymmetrical plan to undermine a world order that he believes constrains russia, which is not true, but that's his belief. on the first point, sure, there are policy disagreem

election and bashar al assad used chemical weapons to kill of those civilians, including children, lavrov was consistent on both. show me the evidence. we don't accept it. we're ready to have an international investigation but you don't show us any of that evidence. >> that's right. tillerson is almost saying, it's a fact. we don't even know to show you evidence. we don't know what happened in the meeting but it's clear that tillerson didn't have a smoking gun in his pocket yet he's talking about relations being at a low point, low level of trust. and i thought it was so interesting and so remarkable that these two ministers are sitting there and kind of acknowledging. usually there's a lot of pleasantries, they say we have differences but we're going to work through them and paper over it. these were two ministers that sat there and basically were bickering to one another in front of the press and in front of the world on live television. and i think that maybe the election really wasn't what secretary tillerson was going to talk about. the more immediate issue is syria and how the u.s.

the syrian dictator, bashar al- assad launching that attack on his own people, leaving more than 100 d. the president had previously said that the syrian people should decide the fate of bashar al- assad. the secretary of state suggested that the united states might be leaning in another direction. here is what he said about the chemical attack by the syrian regime. >> that attack on children yesterday had a big impact on me. big impact. that was a horrible, horrible thing. i have been watching it and seeing it and it doesn't get any worse than that. i have that flexibility. it is very, very possible, and i will tell you it has already happened, that my attitude toward syria and assad has changed very much. >> that from the president in the rose garden with their jordanian king. shortly after a reporter asked the president, does this mean that this has crossed a line? remember, back in 2013, president obama said that a syrian criminal, chemical strike crossed a line. the united states acted with diplomacy. the president was asked, did this action crossed the red line? this is what he

you will recall that august 31, 2013, president putin said it was utter nonsense bashar al—assad used the russians clamped down on bashar al—assad and in two weeks there was an agreement between russia, syria, and the us, that bashar al—assad would completely disclose his chemical weapons arsenal. and it would be removed by america and russia. there was not a com plete america and russia. there was not a complete listing, but a lot was removed. my guess is that rex tillerson is going to moscow's to tell vladimir putin it is time to clamp down on bashar al—assad and to get the rest of the chemical weapons out. he could say that, but will russia play ball? well, again, the smokescreen propaganda that vladimir putin used in the thousand 13, we are seeing the same thing again. russia does not want bashar al—assad to have chemical weapons. —— 2013. he does not want multiple insurgencies to be able to seize them in syria. many people from other countries could take them to russia to use. russia wants them out of syria. because some people, you may well know, they have seen in putin's commen

and removes bashar al-assad puts a gray man in with him negotiations can begin. wants to retain influence. he wants one or two airbases, he doesn't care about us are al-assad. the great thing here, and called vladimir putin's bluff. trish: i will leave it there. liberals rolling out their latest conspiracy theory that donald trump's airstrikes on syria was a publicity stunt coordinated with russia to show the trump isn't in cahoots with 2. i'm not getting on this. this is what they are saying. we will show you and have reaction next. [ engine revs ] [ screams ] [ shouting ] brace yourself! this is crazy! [ tires screeching ] whoo! boom baby! rated pg-13. [ screams ] did you know slow internet can actually hold your business back? say goodbye to slow downloads, slow backups, slow everything. comcast business offers blazing fast and reliable internet that's over 6 times faster than slow internet from the phone company. say hello to internet speeds up to 250 mbps. and add phone and tv for only $34.90 more a month. call today. comcast business. built for business. >>

bashar al—assad must never use chemical weapons again, ever. d must never use chemicalweapons again, ever. syria denies using nerve gas in the attack on the rebel held town, but the us says it has crossed line. it fired almost 60 cruise missiles at the airbase outside homes which it said the syrian air force used to launch the syrian air force used to launch the chemical weapons attack. but russia, syria's ally, accuses the us ofan russia, syria's ally, accuses the us of an unprovoked show falls. russian prime minister dmitry medvedev said the strikes have brought moscow and washington to the verge of a military clash. the british un ambassador criticised russia's continuing support for bashar al—assad. continuing support for bashar al-assad. russia needs to listen to this council, listen to the arab world, listen to the rest of the international community. above all, listen to the syrian people. but moscow has said it will strengthen syria's anti—aircraft defences. it has also suspended a deal designed to prevent incidents between us and russia

and let's face it, this was more of a symbolic attack that an actual attack against bashar al assad's real military capability took off from the same base that the trump administration attacked early friday. so clearly, bashar al assad hasn't taken a real hit from these attacks and countries throughout the region are wondering whether trump will actually decide to try to dock bashar al assad's military capabilities within syria. they're trying to see whether or not they can really condemn this or whether or not this is as pro forma and symbolic of a move as it looks. >> matt, thank you. >>> joining me now is jack jacobs, retired military colonel and analyst. what is your perspective from what you've learned? >> well, there were several objectives. one is to convince bashar al assad not to use chemical weapons again. i think that was successful. second, the domestic political component to that, any action has one, weather you're in a free country on or one that's not so fro to demonstrate to the local population that you're going to do what you say you're twog to do and you'll be able

the forces of bashar al assad. whether you like this turn of events or not, it's truly not clear why the u.s. government has made that this change. bashar al assad undoubtedly is a butcher with the blood of hundreds of thousands of people on his hands, as well as the ultimate responsibility for what has been the wholesale destruction of his own country. but he's been a butcher all this time. there are hundreds of thousands of people who have died in that war. the syrian government under bashar al assad, they are operating a prison system thought to be like the death camp camps. it appears to be an industrialized human atrocity. this has been true all along. that has been true for years. and it does appear that bashar al assad may have abused chemical weapons against his own civilian population again this week. but this president was emphatic after a much larger chemical weapons attack a few years ago. he was emphatic that that was no reason for the united states to get militarily involved whatsoever in the syrian ci

-- legitimate rule of bashar al-assad. >> reporter: after leaving that meeting with vladimir putin. secretary of state rex tillerson made it clear that the united states' position is that there is no place for syrian president bashar al- assad. >> russia is their closest ally in the conflict. they have the best means of helping bashar al-assad recognize this reality. >> reporter: secretary of state rex tillerson revealed few details about his meeting with vladimir putin. today the russian minister called for an investigation into the chemical attack in syria which killed 80 people. >> it's our colleagues, if they try to avoid the investigation, they are not wanting to find out the truth. >> reporter: they warned the united states not to strike syria again, in the meantime south carolina governor nikki haley address the members of the security counsel. >> it's past time for russia to stop covering for bashar al- assad. >> reporter: president donald trump had this to say about russian support for the syrian rej e-mail. >> -- regime. >> right now we are not getting along with rus

bashar al assad has been a butcher all this time. there are hundreds of thousands of people who have died in that war. the syrian government under bashar al assad, they're operating a prison system that appears to be an industrialized human atrocity on the scale of the death camps we thought had been left behind. that has been true all along. that has been true for years. and it does appear that bashar al assad may have used chemical weapons against his own civilian population again this week. but, you know, this president was emphatic after a much larger chemical weapons attack on syrian civilians. he was emphatic that that was no reason for the united states to get military involved in the syrian civil war. if you didn't want to get involved, if you screamed and yelled and occasionally went to all caps emphasis, if you screamed and yelled about how stupid it would be for u.s. military to get involved in syria after bashar al assad killed 1,400 people with chemical weapons not that long ago, why would bashar al assad killing 70 peopl

russia and its president has said that it's not bashar al-assad that is responsible for that tillerson said there's no doubt that bashar al-assad is the culprit for the attack. >> shepard: the white house warped that more barrel bombs could prompts a reaction from the united states. syrian war planes dropped barrel bombs. a government helicopter dropped them in the north and south. barrel bombs can be packed with nails and gasoline and metal. when they explode, shrapnel goes over a large area. a syrian army source tells reuters news accsy "we do not use these barrels and they don't exist in the syrian arab army" that is a lie and a very big one. observers say syria's military used multiple barrel bombs today. the bbc and others report that assad has used them thousands of times during the cival war killing tens of thousands of civilians. benjamin hall is live on the border with syria and turkey. benjamin, you spoke with u.s. backed rebel fighters. what did they say? >> yeah, hi, shep. we were at a safe house being used by syrian army fighters. among them, a u.s. backed group called the

support of bashar al-assad.—up some of the other main stories. the italian coastguard says humanitarian groups operating rescue ships off the coast of libya have picked up more than 700 migrants out of seven flimsy and overcrowded boats. the number of migrants arriving in italy on boats from north africa are up 30% so far this year, according to official data released last week. the authorities in columbia say at least 290 people are now known to have died following saturday's mudslide in the city of mocoa. the government has ordered an investigation to find out whether building safety regulations were properly enforced. meanwhile the search continues for more than three—hundred people who are still missing. the united states says illegal border crossings from mexico have fallen to their lowest level in seventeen years. the homeland security secretary, john kelly, says fewer than 17,000 undocumented immigrants were detained in march. he said the fall was the result of president trump's tough immigration policies

world leaders condemn the attack, it took the white house nine hours to issue a statement. >> bashar al assad. >> reporter: the president and top diplomat declines to comment on syria during appearances on tuesday. the white house statement calling the attack represent hee and laying the issue at bashar al assad. also blaming the issue on president obama. >> president obama said in 2012 he would establish a red line against the use of chemical weapons and did nothing. >> reporter: the criticism contradicting president trump's tweets after the last chemical attack in 2013. in which he urged then president obama not to retaliate with military action. just last week, two of trump's top administration officials signaling a sharp change in u.s. policy toward syria. >> the longer term status will be decided byyrian people. >> reporter: these remarks draws sharp rebuke from republicans. >> the bottom line is it is a huge mistake. >> another disgraceful chapter in american history. it was predictable. >> reporter: president trump has been having a high level week of interaction with foreign leaders h

they won the war, essentially, for the regime of president bashar al assad when they came in. >> givenlly the russians have invested in the regime of bashar al assad, how do you reckon they're reacting behind the scenes at the kremlin tonight? >> one very good thing is that apparently the u.s. military gave a heads-up to the russian military who helped rebuild the air base that was destroyed tonight, that there was going to be an attack, to deconflict essentially, to protect them. and so that was essentially good news. but what russia will react against is the very notion of unilateral action that threatens one of their allies. they are not tremendously committed to bashar al assad's regime. one of the russian officers we embedded with said when they arrived they were shocked how corrupt and degraded the regime was. but they do not want to see the united states picking and choosing regime change around the world. and they want to be at the table in any kind of determination of syria's future. >> terry moran reporting from london tonight, thank you. >>> for more on this breaking story w

back in 2012, turkey took obama seriously when the united states promised to overthrow bashar al-assad in some kind of political settlement. and then since then, the turks have essentially been carrying the bag by themselves. yes, absolutely, they're hoping for u.s. help in removing assad. lauren: big news, thank you for your happy. thank you so much. nicole: stock markets had initially tumbled the -- on the news of missile strike. josh mahony market analyst joining us now talking about the european markets, how they're reacting to the u.s. military strike cha to expect from the day ahead, what are the traders talking about? >> yeah, morning. essentially we have seen markets not necessarily know what to do. the same kind of thing in asia actually, you saw some markets up and some markets down. same kind of thing in the uk. i guess the question mark here is there's, of course, the initial flight to safety that we saw people moving into gold and japanese yen. the question is this going to have aing impact. u.s.-russia relations within the positive anyway. i don't think that's necessarily

you heard rex tillerson there directly implicating syria and its president, bashar al assad, in the chemicalck. also equally notably, the secretary of state calling on russia, calling on the leadership in russia to, reexamine its relationship with assad. russia, of course, the single biggest supporter, single biggest advocate, if you will, militarily, economically, of assad, of his regime, in syria, and now you have the secretary of state of the united states saying that russia may want to rethink that relationship. nbc news chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell joins me now from washington. andrea, on that point there, rex tillerson calling out russia for its ties to assad, of course, the backdrop of this administration for the first few months have been questions about the relationship between this trump administration and the government in russia. what does this do? what rex tillerson is saying ght now to the relationship between the two? >> this is a turning point. he began to suggest this during a photo opportunity yesterday when i asked him about the syrian attack, the ch

clearly, they are bashar al assad's current ally. they should have the greatest influence on bashar al assad. they should have the influence on him to cause him to no longer use chemical weapon. i hope russia is thinking seriously about its continued alliance with bashar al assad. because every time one of these attacks occurs, it draws russia closer to some form of responsibility. >> if we determine they are responsible? what will happen? >> that will be clearly damaging to u.s.-russian relations. i do not believe that the russians want worsening relationships with the u.s. but it's going to take a lot of discussion and dialogue to better understand what is the relationship that russia wishes to have with the u.s. >> one of the big issues is russian interference in last year's election. that's the consensus view of all of our intelligence agencies. is that on your agenda for the meeting with foreign minister lavrov? what can you say to them? what will be the consequences if russia tries something like that again? >> we have had previ

the people who were killed by all accounts and if you look at the video, although bashar al assad is questioning if they were killed at all, they were civilians who happened to live in that area. if you listen to what bashar al assad says and he's been saying this and his regime have been saying this for years, that he is a force against terrorists and the world should line up behind him because only through his leadership and his military campaign will syria rid itself of this scourge of terrorists. the u.s. position and the international position save the positions of russia and iran is that assad is part of the problem because he's using such brutality and it allows terrorists to find ground. a denial. he came out and said it was fake and maybe the kids weren't dead and if we did have chemical weapons, it wouldn't make sense for us to use it at that particular time and place. i think it will get some attention. >> stay with us. 100% fabrication is what he said. this is a man who the president in a very public forum called him a butcher multiple times. what to do about assad and we

second of that, bashar al-assad's military is on the narrow margins of survivability.he air force and all practical purposes barely exist anymore. the syrian air army no longerns desists. that is why they need conscripts and mercenaries from afghanistan and iran and iraq to fight the war for him because the syrian people will not fight on behalf of bashar al-assad. he does not have the bandwidthal to risk conflict. >> bill: doesn't he have the iranians -- >> he didn't have it before, guys! >> bill: let's not allocate our coverage. doesn't he have the iranians helping him out, though? >> absolutely. he's got the full support of the iranian government, the islamic revolutionary guard, the full support of hezbollah and russia. with that said, bashar al-assad has a very narrow definition of success right now and that's staying alive. there is no fallback option. >> bill: you mentioned this so he can't risk fighting with us. last night. russia. is russia stupid enough to get involved with poison gas? >> bad drones, as you talk about with catherine. i don't think -- i don't

he wants the americans to remove the regime of president bashar al—assad. ight, the air strikes, was a very simple response to what bashar al—assad has done to the syrian people. we want the children to go to school. we don't want bashar the syrian regime denies it has ever used chemical weapons. bashar the syrian regime denies it has ever used chemical weaponslj think has ever used chemical weapons.” think president trump himself knows that syria did not use any chemical weapons and does not have any chemical weapons, as it had given all its stockpiles to the international organisation responsible for that. the americans say they have clear proof that the syrian armed forces carried out war crimes by using nerve gas against syrians. they are absolutely certain of that, that's why they carried out this rate. 14 years after the invasion of iraq, we see iraq has been destroyed. syria is the second secular state after iraq, that is being targeted by them simply because it's secular and it has an army and it's the israeli occupation of palestine. residents in kh

we will go back when bashar al assad is done and when bashar al assad left the country. l assad is in power. what i wish from mr. president donald trump to keep doing that and kick assad out on all of the iranian and hezbollah militia outside of syria and absolutely i would go back to syria. i love this country, but i don't want to stay here. i want to go back to stay with my family and friends in syria. >> all right. thank you so much for sharing your story with us this morning. >> thank you so much. >> and thank you for watching. >> there's so much more ahead in the next hour of "cnn newsroom." don't go away. sound way to go. let's talk asset allocation. -sure. you seem knowledgeable, professional. i'm actually a deejay. -[ laughing ] no way! -that really is you? if they're not a cfp pro, you just don't know. cfp. work with the highest standard. remember here at ally, nothing stops us from doing right by our customers. who's with me? we're like a basketball team here at ally. if a basketball team had over 7... i'm in. 7,000 players. our plays are a little unorthodox. bu

the moral stain of bashar al—assad can no longer go unanswered.ty could no longer be met with empty words. it was time to say "enough." but met with empty words. it was time to say "enough. " but not met with empty words. it was time to say "enough." but not only say it, it was time to act. bashar al—assad must never use chemical weapons again, ever. that was nikki haley. the syrian government denounced the tonight's attack as reckless and irresponsible, but less than 2a hours after the strikes, syrian war planes are reportedly once again taking off from the air base. jon sopel reports. it was after dark on the east coast of america and before the sun had risen in the middle east, when the commander—in—chief gave the order to strike. from two us warships in the eastern mediterranean, a volley of cruise missiles was fired, targeting a single military airbase outside homs that had been used, say the americans, by the syrian air force to launch the deadly chemical weapons attack on idlib earlier in the week. it was in this vital national security int