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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

bashar albuquerque -- bashar assad and i had sort of a background. he's a neat guy, and not looking into history, but to deal with the matters of today. the thing is, the world is built in such a fashion that if we do not take lessons from the past, we will not be able to achieve success and the president. and i record. western country, major country. dismissing that requires a utilitarian leader, failure to launch upon us in 1989. your tv station. residential areas were shelled. the italian embassy was also attacked. several trains and bridges were bombed. the shelling went on for three mont months. then they run out of. -- double do-do, his facility is. >> there was another dictator who after. i believe tommy bath was the only one to repent publicly, admitting it had been a fake or the grounds for thegadhafi. there was no place for this dictator in his country. it was said democracy will prevail, but we know what's happening in libya right now. the libyan state is all but nonexistent. our president talked about that yesterday with the italian presi

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

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,

president obama's red line that was never followed up four years ago, for some kind of measure against bashar assad. it is incredibly strange and military analysts will know why president assad would have used that kind of tactic this far into the war. he was winning, as far as he was concerned. he had russian. he had iran. the rest of the world had taken their eye off of the assad ball and were focusing on isis. that goes to the heart of presumably who assad is. and now, obviously, potentially, this is an opportunity if it so happens and the u.s. president, the chinese president, who are meeting in florida right now, and throughout tomorrow, can get together, maybe with russia, as well, to see whether there is a way forward out of this. >> the christianian's point, was this just a bad decision on this? >> she brings up the best point. there was no reason for him to do this. he was in the best position he's been in years. the russians are backing him up militarily. they've had a series of victories. they've been able to move people, combatants off of the battlefield and into idlib province. he gets

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

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

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

influence elsewhere in the middle east would allow iranians to make a bargain on the future of bashar al-assad. >> big question has to be, what comes next? you get rid of bashar al-assad, you've got isis, rebels with questionable allegiances, russia and iran tinkering, how do you get rid of assad and make sure you don't replace him with something worse? >> the only way to do that is to get buy-in's with the community that is his base. you have to pose a genuine threat, not just to assad himself but to the lifestyle that the community enjoys in damascus. and some of the other major cities. when you start to think about when they start to look at a future, control of damascus, they are willing to negotiate a political future of syria that does not include bashar assad, and the only way to that without enabling al qaeda and isis is to our moderate groups. >> i know you know the region very well, but a lot of americans are worried about arming someone who will come back to bite us. >> the number one thing we should do is not give them ground to air missiles. >> will leave it there. so good to have

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

assad. and it leads to this question, anyone who supports bashar al assad in doing these sorts of things and tries to cover for him on the international stage and actually votes to international organisms to protect him from sanction, they are at minimum accomplices in war crimes, which is why i reiterate my belief that vladimir putin is a war criminal, who is assisting another war criminal in killing his own people and gassing innocents. and for me, a statement is not enough. a resolution is important, it's not enough. there needs to ba level of outrage. this needs to become a priority. otherwise, otherwise, we have lost our compass as a people and as a nation, and more importantly for those who care deeply about our national security, we have left behind a situation that will only get worse and that only emboldens and makes populations vulnerable, too, and incentivizes people to join radical jihadist movements that seek to target us around the world and here at home. and so i hope we can make this a priority, and i hope it can be a bipartisan one. it should be, and i hope it's one we ultim

assad and the russians do within syria. 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

it's really a threefold message, want to bashar al-assad, two to the russians and three to the chinesebout north korea. >> what happens to bashar al-assad? nikki haley was with her the other day interviewing her, she called him a war criminal. that means bringing him to the international criminal court, potentially. only 30 seconds left. does he leave the regime change? is not so moscow friendly because of their bases there? >> we still don't know. i don't think the policies such as it is toward syria has change. as your interview with nikki haley shows because a week earlier she had been saying exactly the opposite things. we don't know what the the trup administration has in mind of broader goals for syria and for bashar al-assad. >> judy miller i know you will be with us in the evening. thanks so much. meanwhile, the syrian timeline leading up to the missile strike to have that coming up. >> as our coverage of this breaking news continues all evening on the fox news channel. stick around. .. ...at t. rowe price... ...we've helped our investors stay confident for over 75 years. call

al assad a butcher in the comments about these pictures we're seeing. certainly lend credence to that claim. the fact is basharek 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 syrian way of war. they use war to make sure the revolution doesn't occur. so just because mr. trump said it yesterday does

to face up to the facts, face reality and hopefully dissuade itself from continuing to support bashar assad. we heard that russia backs assad which in their words is the legitimately elected president of syria and they say what is america's plan? so there's always been this problem between the united states and russia over syria. it predates trump, but i think the president -- there must be some way to be able do this without harming russian interests, without risking any kind of war with russia. even perhaps going so far as to try to figure out safe zones in northern syria, on the jordan border, turkish border inside syria to protect some of these civilians and i think maybe the world needs to watch and see how russia deals and supports these barbarians and how the united states has been very, very careful in its military intervention in mosul and elsewhere, so it is possible do something without causing all the civilian casualties. >> the president meets with president xi today. what's a realistic goal for the united states when it comes to containing that nuclear threat from north korea

administration and the president, those tomahawk cruise missiles were launched, 59 of them, because of the bashar al assad regime used chemical weapons to kill all those civilians including children. first of all, do you have any doubt that bashar al assad did that? >> i do not c. i trust our military intelligence. >> so does the u.s. have a moral responsibility to respond when the illegal -- against all international law, use of sarin gas is used to kill those kids? i. >> could support that. the question is who gets to decide. under the constitution, congress gets to decide if we get to engage in acts of war. james madison wrote that the executive branch is prone to engage in war. that's why they vested the war making powers in congress, not the prident. in this case congress did not authorize the president of the united states to enforce a chemical weapons treaty with military force. >> i want to quickly turn to north korea, congressman. as you know, the carl vinson, the u.s. carrier battle group headed to the korean peninsula. the decision was announced just after the meetings between president trump a

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

they have as much interest as we do in resolving this conflict and it cannot be that bashar al s assad think this can still happen. >> if the president comes out today in the rose garden press conference and says what you're saug about, that bashar al assad must go, will that satisfy you? does that gar far enough? >> it ear certainly important as a first step to communicate that we do not believe that the future of bashar al assad leading the country is appropriate based on these atrociti atrocities. it's a message for the regime to hear, that the world does not contemplate his remaining there so we can force a diplomatic transition of power. but the reality is american leadership requires the strong statement at the outset. then we have to work with our allies in the region to really develop a strong response. and there are many in the region who have as much of an interest as we do. if there's to be a military action, we've made it clear that it won't involve american boots on the ground. there has to be a response. we should be very thauroughtful about this and work closely with our

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

assad. he's the man that they back and the secretary said that they are going to continue to back them. >> no sign that they are moving away from bashar al assad. matthew chance, good analysis. thanks very much. >>> we have a lot more information coming in. watch this. these are live pictures coming in from the white house where president trump is getting ready to speak to the news media following a meeting with the leader of nato, the secretary of nato. there will be a joint news conference in an hour or so from now. live coverage of that. the u.s. nato alliance -- the nato alliance once slammed by then candidate donald trump as obsolete. we'll hear what he has to say today. this meeting potentially could be awkward. joint news conference coming up in about an hour. our coverage continues right after this. i like that. [ music stops suddenly ] ah. when your pain reliever stops working, your whole day stops. awww. try this. for minor arthritis pain, only aleve can stop pain for up to 12 straight hours with just one pill. thank you. ♪ come on everybody. you can't quit, neither should your pain reliever. stay all day strong with 12 hour

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

justification for this is that the syrian government, the assad the government used chemical weapons against civilians in syria, why do you think bashar al-assad who's been in power for six years during this war, what would be his interest in doing that? >> it's a good question. we know the chemical weapons were there, there were supposed to be removed under an agreement to the left administration at russia as well. trying to figure out who exactly did it, the chemical weapons were not supposed to be there. he bears responsibility for it and so does russia. >> tucker: what would be the objective exactly? purely humanitarian to express our displeasure, or is there a strategic reason that helped the united states? >> let me say that i think the world is watching right now, the world is watching for the united states to lead to. whether that is air strikes or whether that is saying we're going to bring a coalition of the willing to put an end to this war and out of this tragic horrific incident we actually bring a coalition of the willing to put an end to the suffering. >> tucker: were started by attacking government installations in syr

-- 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 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

we oppose barack obama when it -- >> for someone like bashar al-assad -- his own people -- to murder them? >> the way you respond to the threat of bashar al-assad's work with the international community diplomatically to get him out. something that prior to last week donald trump was unable to get behind doing, and get people out of harm's way. if donald trump cares about sweet little children that were murdered last week he should find a way to bring those kids out of harm's way and welcome them to the united states. trish: olive syria to the united states of america. that would solve everything. >> if we want to save children we get them out of harm's way. trish: here is what you are saying that makes sense, we need to get bashar al-assad out and the international community on board. sound like we have most everyone, the big holdup is russia. how does that change? i think vladimir putin is a sane enough player on the world stage that he knows he cannot get into a battle with us and the rest of the world, but how do we get to that point in time? >> yes, our allies applauded the targe

assad regime. 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

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

assad over this u.s. attack over the last 24 hours? >> reporter: well, so far, what we have heard, anderson, from president bashar al assad is more what you would expect to kind of define a bombastic statement, accusing the u.s. of being reckless and short sighted. but i think it will be more clear in the next few days what the real reaction is. and the real reaction i should add is unlikely to be -- syrian regime, whose army is on the brink of collapse. so it's probably fair to air that the russians will have a very strong part in deciding how the regime of bashar al assad r reacts to this. matthew chance just said it looks like the russians may be willing to take this one on the chin, but at this stage, it is still early days, we have heard reports of air strikes taking place in idlib province, from air strikes on the ground. but certainly everyone is going to be watching very closely to see whether or not this changes the face of the battlefield, whether bashar al assad at the very least stops using chemical weapons and more optimistically starts to lower the amount of crude munitions, barrel bombs, et cetera that he uses on syrian

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

sure. >> not because bashar al-assad, the terrible bashar al-assad did by killing innocent, bashar killria. pete: you have iran, hezbollah, and isis as well. >> absolutely, isis. absolutely, isis. pete: thank you very much for your time. we wish the worst on that brutal dictator for sure and the best for you and your family. thank you very much. >> thank you. pete: some lawmakers saying president trump needs congressional approval before escalating military action in syria. texas congressman henry is one of them. he joins us live just ahead. then it's deceit democrats have been waiting for. hillary clinton wants a suggestion for her book title. keep them coming. friends@foxnews.com. and it's a scottish terrier both live as fox and friends continues on beautiful saturday new bike? yeah, 'cause i got allstate. if you total your new bike, they replace it with a brand new one. so, kinda like your second husband. kinda. it's good to be in (good hands). >> all right. let's bring in geraldo herrera. abby: you fit right in fill. >> two of my ex-wives were scottish. pete: but who's counting? boy

really care if this harms his relation because russia has been the world's biggest enabler of bashar al-assad. bashar al-assad, of course, used chemical weapons and that is beyond, you know, the pail. and in the international community that can't happen. nicole: oil had been up three sessions in row and today gaining once again, worries about supplies. so next what, what are you watching today and in particular now? >> well, you know, i think this was a trigger, we have seen for some time that this market has been tightening, rope around its neck because of high supply here in the united states. i think that's going to tighten. there's more upside risk to the market. nicole: phil flynn, thank you so much. >> thank you. lauren: coming up president donald trump responds to syria's use of weapons. >> even beautiful babies were killed in this very barbaric attack. no child of god should ever suffer such horror. lauren: how will russia respond? what is next for syria? we will have answers coming up. were also covering market reaction to the strongs. u. stock market futures are down across the boar

assad regime was responsible. this was the clearest statement yet that they are holding -- bashar al assad responsible for this horrificical attack, that there have to be -- there has to be some response to this. certainly we could read between the lines of what the president was saying at his news conference when he said that this was a game changer, it changed his attitude, that he was rethinking it, that he's flexible. he sent every number of signals that it didn't only cross a red line, it crossed all of these many lines. so i thought, and we said at the time, when i was on the air with brian williams, that that was my reaction, that was also the reaction of my colleagues as we responded in the moment at the news conference, and now it's very clear that this is in play. that the briefing will be held, that the president is going to be shown what his options are. this is the first real crisis in tandem with the north korea crisis that the president is facing and he is with the chinese leader, can deal with the north korea issue, but also can maybe learn some things from president xi about russia, about putin's respo

policy that bashar assad must go because as you know last week secretary of state rex tillerson said it's up to the syrian people to decide what happens to assad. >> again, i would leave it to the white house to tell you what their policy. i am convinced and i know the president was deeply impacted by the images and news he got from there. no matter how you may feel about the president and i know there are people out there that don't support the president, but if you watched yesterday as he was standing next to the king, that was real. that was not politician up there talking. that was a real person who had seen and heard and been briefed on this horrifying attack a and it clearly effected him. tonight's actions show that the days of being able to act with impunity are over when it comes to bashar el assad and there is a president to ensure he does not have the capability or his capability is diminished and he's held accountable. >> i appreciate your time thank you. >> thank you. >> i want to go to jeff zeleny outside of mar-a-lago where the president is. what are you hearing tonight?

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

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

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