there's a lot of pressure going into this meeting on mr tillerson. 's a british blogger, edward hardy saying tillerson‘s meeting will be a big test, if he fails to make ground, it will show that trump hired a businessman, not a diplomat. rex tillerson headed exxon mobilfor many years. this would be a tough test for a ny many years. this would be a tough test for any diplomat. there's a serious man across the table. sergey lavrov is a seasoned diplomat. rex tillerson not so much. well that's quieght right. he hasn't been a diplomat for long. he has a long track record of working in russia and working at the highest levels there. he knows this country and he knows the people at the top of it. we shall have to see how he does tomorrow. let's get the analysis of the bbc‘s state department correspondent. she's travelling with rex tillerson.. rex tillerson has quite a difficult task now that he has arrived. he has been saying very clearly that the russians have backed the wrong side in the warand russians have backed the wrong side in the war and he wants t

mr. tillerson has denied. then we've heard that maybe it's about o protecting the syrian people, setting up safe zones or no fly zones and so forth, which would be a far more complex operation. you could argue you've got an administration that is only 80 days into its time in office. they haven't had time to figure out their goals. but what we do know is that's very different from what donald trump was saying during the campaign which was we shouldn't be involved in these kind of conflicts at all. america first means focusing on america within its borders. >> it is interesting too, how the president, president trump has referred to the president or russia as saying you know, he's supporting a very bad man. and clearly we had the secretary of defense presenting evidence why they were sure that this came from bashar al-assad and the united states makes sure it notes that there are russians that were connected to where this took place. and that they clearly, you would expect, to have known because of their prox i

mr. tillerson: yes, sir. >> does the president-elect agree with you? mr. tillerson: we have not had the opportunity to discuss this specific issue. >> your statement on page three, his campaign, he opposed a commitment to advancing american interests and our foreign-policy. i hope to explain that this approach means and how to implement that policy if i am confirmed. there was discussion about with the worldview will be. >> the principles, i thought russia would be at the very top of that. mr. tillerson: that has not occurred yet, senator. >> you have met with world leaders including governor pruden and russia. in 2013, he ordered you with the order of friendship award. he said you had direct and personal access to the russian president over the course of your tenure there. in 2014, exxon mobil lobbied aggressively against sanctions on russia after their invasion of the ukraine. exxon lobbied against this which it lastuced in this and year. you implode well-known washington-based lobbyists to support these efforts and you personally benefited -- visited the

mr. tillerson denied. then we heard it's about protecting the syrian people.ting up safe zones and no-fly zones and so forth. which would be a far more complex operation. you could argue, you have an days intotion only 80 its time in office. they haven't had time to figure out their goals. but that's very different from what donald trump was saying during the campaign, which was we shouldn't be involved in , these kind of conflicts at all. america first means focusing on america within its borders. charlie: it's interesting, too, how the president, president trump, has referred to the president of russia as saying he's supporting a very bad man and clearly we had the secretary of defense presenting evidence why they were sure this came from bashar al-assad. and they note that there were russians connected to where this took place. expected -- they would have been expected to have known, because of their proximity and it is a violation of the treaty, what russians should have seen what they were planning to do. david: tillerson said the other day the russians w

mr. tillerson. however, he did for two hours, and mr. tillerson and lavrov met for three. the first word was from sergei lavrov saying, this has been a long day. all they agreed on, i think, was that they didn't agree on very much and that their relations were at a terribly low state. and on that, mr. lavrov said the current situation with the u.s. is far from easy. we need to deal with the irritants in our relationship. and rex tillerson said the current state is at a low point, which is interesting. that would suggest that it's even lower perhaps than it was under barack obama. we can't let this continue. we need to put an end to this steady degradation. then they talked about ways that they would do that. but apart from ukraine, which they said they touched on a little, and the situation in the korean peninsula which they agreed was bad, really a lot of the discussion was not really based on syria but based on what happens next with president assad. mr. tillerson sdhey discussed assad at length. he said assad should leave power in an orderly way. the reign of the assad

the rhetoric about mr asaad has been harsher, including from mr tillerson who said it doesn't seem thataad can govern in the future but again, it wasn't entirely clear what he meant by that. mr obama also said the same thing although didn't take any the same thing although didn't take a ny ste ps the same thing although didn't take any steps to unseat him aside from some support to the opposition. when mr tillerson was talking about a long—term thing that will be resolved through a political talks, through political framework, so there does seem to have been a little more hardening of the view amongst this administration that mr asaad is not a role to play but not a decision to actively unseat him at this point, more a question of responding to an attack that this administration has said was venus and intolerable and to which they felt they had to respond. thank you, barbara. now for the latest financial news with aaron heslehurst, and world business report. face—to—face and just the start of what president trump calls a great relationship. yep — the leaders of the world's two biggest e

mr tillerson was ceo of exxon mobil.llerson was ceo of exxon mobil. mr tillerson has been awarded the order of friendship, the highest honour a foreigner can receive in russia. this is what president putin said before the meeting today. translation: it's possible to say on the level of trust on a working level, especially on the military level, especially on the military level, it has not improved, but rather has deteriorated. tension, as you'll know, has been ratcheting between russia and the us since last week's chemical attack syria. they disagree on whether the assad regime was responsible for what happened there. donald trump has again returned to that issue. here is what he said. frankly, we talked chemicals, people just he said. frankly, we talked chemicals, peoplejust don't he said. frankly, we talked chemicals, people just don't see this, the level of mortality, the level of viciousness. when they drop barrel bombs and bombs of any kind right on top of a civilian population, that's the worst thing, i've never se

mr. tillerson: i thank his excellency. i now give the floor to his excellency, minister for foreign affairs, kazakhstan. >> mr. president, distinguished excellencies and colleagues, i would like to thank his excellency, secretary of state tillerson, for convening this debate on dprk. a topic that unfortunately becomes highly relevant in the ight of recent events. for kazakhstan, nuclear development, nonproliferation and nuclear security have been essential priorities of our national policy since our independence. from the time of joining the united nations in march, 1992, my country has worked with steadfast determination to promote development of nonproliferation globally. that's why i hope today's meeting will help the council to come up with a collective way to bring peace to the korean peninsula and find ways to denuclearization. my country firmly believes that the security council is the single body entrusted to maintain international peace and security, should preserve its unity at this critical stage. and in this reg

mr. tillerson said the nuclear deal was working and the iranians were keeping their part of the bargain, but he said it was too narrow and had to be considered with all of these other factors and that would lead to context for the review . whether they care of the deal, they will take a much tougher line. they say that unchecked, iran could take the path of north korea, even. tim: thank you, very much. you are watching bbc "world news america." the american tv percent to her bill o'reilly is being dropped from fox news over sexual harassment claims. he was photographed shaking hands with pope francis at the vatican on wednesday. 50 sponsors have withdrawn advertising from "the o'reilly factor." british parliament voted in favor of holding a general election on june 8, three years ahead of schedule. prime minister theresa may said the election is needed to strengthen her hand on britain's exit from the european union. a special election in georgia ended with no clear winner. emma kratz, republicans, and even the president are claiming andemocrats, republicans, even the president are claim

mr putin's comments came as his foreign minister, sergei lavrov, was holding talks on syria with his us counterpart, rex tillerson russian capital. opening the talks, mr lavrov warned the us not to adopt an "us or them" approach regarding russia's support for syria's president assad. mr tillerson wants russia to withdraw that support following last week's chemical attack on a rebel—held town which killed more than 80 people. our north america correspondent barbara plett—usher is travelling with mr tillerson and she sent this report from moscow. this is not the kind of meeting that once seemed on the cards. long gone is talk of a grand resetting of relations with russia, previously encouraged by donald trump. that has been replaced by over tensions over the chemical weapons attack in syria and russian anger over the american military response. translation: it is important for us to understand your intentions, the intentions of the us and and the real intentions of this administration. the secretary of state said both sides had some explaining to do. we can further clarify areas of common objectives, areas of commo

mr. tillerson. over the last days from washington we've been hearing contradictory and aggressive statements like mr. trump's calling mr. assad and animal as well as mr. spicer saying who compared mr. assad to mr. hitler who said that mr. hitler never used the chemical weapons. do you think the rhetoric can change and is it helping diplomacy or not? thank you. >> well, i think the perspective from the united states supported by the facts that we have are conclusive. that the recent chemical weapons attack carried out in syria was planned, and it was directed and executed by syrian regime forces and we're quite confident of that. this is just the latest in a series of the use of chemical weapons by the assad regime and notwithstanding their use in -- on more than 50 occasions of chlorine bombs, and cluster bombs and other types of weapons that are intended to maim and kill in the most horrific ways. so i think the characterization is one that president assad has brought upon himself. [ speaking in fo

mr. tillerson and mr. lavrov and no sign of any real agreement between them except agreeing to disagree. frances, yasmin. >> bill neely, thank you. a lot of eyes on whether or not president trump will actually meet with the u.s. and when that will happen. >> on the front burner as well, north korea, new satellite images show it could be preparing to launch a nuclear test. analysts say heavy activity near north korea's test site point to an upcoming underground detonation. some say it could come as soon as saturday when north koreans will celebrate the birth of the country's founder. photos of kim jong un could be seen watching military drills in preparation for the celebration. this days after the united states began sending warships to the korean peninsula. in a call with president trump yesterday, chinese president xi jinping says beijing is willing to work with the u.s. on stopping north korea's nuclear weapons program. >>> police in sacramento, california, launched an investigation into one of their ow

mr. tillerson said we discussed assad at length, tillerson said assad should lead power in an orderly waye rein of the family is over and russia can help him recognize this reality. it has the best means. mr. lavrov said the u.s. has an obsession with regime change. getting rid of dictators. we've seen too many examples of that. hardly any of them are positive, so a long day for both diplomats and they, i suppose as i said, agreed on one thing, that relations were at a low point and need to be improved. brian? be bill, as one of our most traveled correspondents of this era, i know you're at home just about anywhere in the world and you covered stories just about everywhere in the world. did you ever dream you would in moscow this often, especially covering a story that has taken this specific turn? >> not at all. at the end of the cold war when the soviet union was collapsing. interestingly, of course, this morning, vladimir putin didn't just say relations between russia and the u.s. were the worst since the cold war, he said they were at an even lower point under donald trump which i thi

mr tillerson did not accuse moscow of involvement in the attack but he said he would discuss russia's when he visits the country on tuesday. he also clarified there is no change in the us policy towards syria. i think the president was very clear in his message to the american people. this strike was related solely to the most recent, horrific use of chemical weapons against women, children and as the president said, even small babies. the strike was a message to assad that your multiple violations of agreements at the un and under the chemical weapons charter in 2013, that those would not go without a response in the future and we are asking russia to fulfil its commitment and we are calling on assad to cease the use of these weapons. other than that, there is no change to our military. joining me now from washington is our correspondent, david willis. that air strike by the united states will surely affect the tone and agenda of mr tillerson‘s visit to moscow? there is no doubt. the secretary of state has had some pretty harsh things to say about the russians in recent days and he r

mr tillerson will have quite a task in front of him.rots or sticks in either regard? he has got eve ryo ne sticks in either regard? he has got everyone else, all the other nations behind him saying, "you have got to tell vladimir putin, assuming the two men meet, that this siding with president assad cannot continue? well, i think it really depends on how far the americans want to go. yes, he does have the support of the western allies and of the sunni arab allies who have been reinvigorated by the american action, the willingness to use military force in this one particular instance hoping that this means now the americans are going to take a more aggressive stance. so, that is the same as before in terms of the west and the arabs. the new thing is the americans and what they might do, yes, he is coming from a unified message, but the russians want to know what is the syria policy of the united states? does this military strike mean it gives them leverage that they could strike again if chemical weapons are used again or if president a

you see that with mr tillerson's statement that they should not support bashar al—assad, and the russians been assumed to have struck out against these missiles coming through, and therefore you may expect the possibility even some russian casualties. so it is taking russians on in casualties. so it is taking russians onina casualties. so it is taking russians on in a way that the obama administration, even, never really wa nted administration, even, never really wanted to do. they always felt that this would escalate the situation with the russian. so, for an administration like mr trump's, mr trump has not said one critical word about russia or putin. it is quite a step, yes. buti about russia or putin. it is quite a step, yes. but i think... it seems to me that the dynamic here would be just as much this redline issue. if mrtrump is going just as much this redline issue. if mr trump is going to criticise president obama for setting alone in the sand, or setting a red line that chemical weapons can't be used or he would respond, and then he didn't respond, now president trump can say

mr tillerson did not accuse moscow of involvement in the attack but he said he would discuss russia'sns on chemical weapons when he visits the country on tuesday.he also clarified there is no change in the us policy towards syria. i think the president was very clear in his message to the american people. this strike was related solely to the most recent, horrific use of chemical weapons against women, children and as the president said, even small babies. the strike was a message to assad that your multiple violations of agreements at the un and under the chemical weapons charter in 2013, that those would not go without a response in the future and we are asking russia to fulfil its commitment and we are calling on assad to cease the use of these weapons. other than that, there is no change to our military. david willis is in washington for us. the us secretary of state not exactly trying to smooth a path ahead of his visit to moscow, easy? -- is ahead of his visit to moscow, easy? —— is he. harsh criticism of russia following the chemical weapons attack last week, none of it harsher

mr. tillerson. mr. n will have to walk a fine line between being tough and explaining exactly why the u.s. took the action it did in syria. on the other hand, trying to achieve one of the chief foreign policy goals of trump's young presidency. that is better relations with russia. remember, he is america's top diplomat. he has been tough on russia already. saying that russia was either complicit in the chemical weapons program. some have had tough words. nikki haley at the united nations emergency meeting, she exchanged strong words with the russian am bass doppler radbass meeting. >> every time assad crossed the line of human decency, russia has stood by side him. the united states took a very measured step last night. we are prepared to do more. but we hope that will not be necessary. >> describe that attack of the international violation of law and act of aggression. we strongly condemn the illegitimate actions by the u.s. >> reporter: rex tillerson will come to moscow straight from a meeting of the g

mr. tillerson. we only y heard echoes of that n the public statements. one question was -- by the way, lavrov, the foreign minister, met first with tillerson and then putin joined them. altogether, about five hours. the first was, what is going on in washington? what is all this talk that putin is our covet? are you people operating on the assumption? secondly, who is making policy toward us in washington? remember that when president obama had reached an agreement last year with president putin for joint military cooperation in syria, our department of defense sabotaged that policy by bombing a syrian troop camp. putin publicly said, who is making policy in washington? i think those were the two fundamental questions they were going to ask. the third question was, that we had agreed, said putin to tillerson, that you now accepted our position which we have held to for years, but which president obama rejected, that the choice is between president assad in damascus or the islamic state in damascus. you said y you accepted that position, but after this che

mr. tillerson very well. they did, and by they, i mean putin himself, one of the biggest economic financial investment deals they've made. that was when exxonmobil got -- >> the rosen act deal. the oil deal? >> no, but it's -- all right. the point is, that was an enormous decision by russia. they know tillerson. they know him to be, unlike many american representatives, a deeply serious and competent man, and straight forward. so what's going to happen, and by the way, putin was supposed to meet with him, but apparently he's not, but that's not certain yet. they are going to have some hard questions for mr. tillerson. and the answers they get, may influence what happens next. and next is the possibility of war with russia. >> colonel, do you agree with that? that russia does not want, as the professor put it, hot war, but they fear that the u.s. does? and therefore, what do you make of the comments by russian president vladimir putin? not just condemning what tillerson said, but arguing that the u.s. is doing

mr. tillerson: we discussed no change to the status of sanctions that have in place as a result of certain actions taken in the ukraine. therding the question of interference in the election, that is very well established in the united states. that is being spoken of on the hill. it is a serious issue and is serious enough to attract additional sanctions. we are mindful of the seriousness of that particular interference in our elections and i'm sure that russia is mindful of it as well. translator: we have had a frank discussion about the issues on .ur agenda this investigation reveals that the hypothetical attacks, we do not want to speculate. you will after the airstrikes, we do not want to speculate. matter of the use of chemical weapons. i'm not trying to exonerate anyone. the american legislation, the russian laws. today, we have discussed an for an unbiased and fair investigation. as for the allegations, we have irrefutable proof that we have the electoral campaign. you have to say again that we haven't seen any fact, or attempt at facts. .ave not seen any evidence we have requested

and that message will be reinforced when mr tillerson, not borisjohnson, goes to moscow next week forll be a very tough encounter between russia and the united states. two people have died in a fire at a care home in hertfordshire. firefighters were called to the newgrange care home in cheshunt early this morning. a number of people were taken to hospital. our correspondent andy moore has more details. firefighters were called here at 5.50am this morning and they were confronted by a fierce blaze, raging in the roof space from end to end of this fairly modern, substantial building. there are 35 residents here, they are elderly and infirm. many of them are wheelchair users. firefighters had to manhandle many of those residents onto their shoulders and then down on ladders. the residents were brought out into the street here, some of them in chairs, they were in their nightclothes and they were covered in blankets and clothing, anything to keep them warm. residents say it was a fantastic response by the emergency services. a big fire incident close to my house. the rescue team are near.

mr tillerson wants to persuade the kremlin to drop its support for the current syrian regime and its ssad. but russia has criticised the us' military action. speaking as the talks between the two sides opened, us secretary of state rex tillerson called last week's us missile strikes on a syrian airbase troubling, and said it was crucial not to let such actions happen again. and he said he hoped the talks would help end confusion between the two nations. our meetings today come at an important moment in the relationship so that we can further clarify areas of common objectives, areas of common interest, even when our tactical approaches may be different. and to further clarify areas of sharp difference so that we can better understand why these differences exist and what the prospects for narrowing those differences may be. and to have a very open and candid frank exchange so that we can better define the us—russia relationship from this point forward. the russian foreign minister, sergei lavrov, said that he wanted to clear up what moscow regards as washington's ambiguous and contradi

mr. tillerson. these people are dead. >> ron, what do you make of the exchange now two months later with what we know? >> the senate should never have confirmed rex tillerson. it's sad that marco rubio voted to confirm rex tillerson after giving those answers. this goes back to what maya said before. it's all the people around trump who have these ties to russia. mr. tillerson made a lot of money doing business in russia. former senator sessions now attorney general and his team have ties to russia. when you put it together it lays at the president's doorstep. when it has been laid at his doorstep his answers have been disappointing. he was asked about these crimes. russia has committed, killing journalists. instead of deploring it, condemning it, he said, oh, our country is not so innocent either. that idea that we're going to lower our human rights and civil sights standards, lower our civil liberties standards to russia's level as a way of getting along with russia is a deplorable concept. that's

one leading kremlin watcher says mr tillerson must tread brake heavily to do a deal with the russianho can make unexpected moves towards partners and even concessions, but he never does it under pressure, just the opposite. about last week‘s gas attack, moscow and washington do seem to agree on one thing, there should be a full investigation, but there is plenty of room to dispute who carries it out and when and how. the g—7 meeting of america‘s allies ended today without giving rex tillerson much extra political ammunition. ministers agree any further threat to sanctions. borisjohnson had pressed hard for it but insisted no consensus was not defeat. i am not going to pretend to you that this is going to be easy, but there are very few or better routes forward that i can see for the russians. this is a way forward for russia and for syria, and in going to make this offer, i think that rex tillerson has come as you can see, overwhelming support. so looking at borisjohnson‘s performance, what is a former conservative foreign secretary make of his gamble over sanctions? putin will be pl

to be cheerful, number one, one of the first thing that sergei lavrov said after meeting with mr tillersony are going to re—establish the protocols which mean that they will warn each other over the skies of syria is a russian jet is there and an american jet is there. and they will have those safety procedures in place will stop they scrap those open to this meeting today after the bombing of the airbase last week. so, they are co—operating at the shoppers and that this debate. the people with the actual bombs are now talking to each again. but last week they said, we are going to bomb that in the ministry move your claims, that is how close this age. if one of them had gone wrong and the russian had been killed, we dread to think, they are posturing, but there is a back channel the roof racks to lament and we should be grateful for that. let's go onto the metro, russia pointed the finger at britain. this is more of the same, i think bush is a night, i saw this earlier run —— russia is annoyed. perhaps public posturing they have to be seen to be jabbing the finger at britain. this will go

mr. tillerson uses the same phrasing over and over again. i think we would all agree that those should be goals of u.s. foreign-policy. president-elect trump has downplayed russian attempts to influence our election, he has suggested that nato is obsolete. he has openly rooted for the breakup of the european union union. he has lavished praise on fiber -- on vladimir putin and refused to continue sanctions. he has criticized one of our most important allies in the world, chancellor merkel. he has promised to bring back torture, and he has called for japan and south korea to take a look at obtaining nuclear weapons because they probably cannot rely on our security guarantee any longer. i hear what you are saying. can you understand why, right now, the world perceives the trump administration's foreign-policy as the exact opposite of where we stand in our values? i understand where you stand, but can you explain how the world's perception of the values is the exact opposite of what you describe. >> i understand nervousness before a new adminis

mr. tillerson as he comes here next week. >> that suspension may increase the chances of that. paula newton, thank you very much. >>> let's go to athena jones who is near mar-a-lago the president's resort there in florida. he's waking up this morning there. athena, we heard from ambassador haley, ambassador to the u.n. that the u.s. is prepared to do more. but hoping that it does not have to. what is next? do we have an answer to that question? >> reporter: hi, victor. we don't have an answer to that question yet. what the u.s. does next will depend a great deal on what syria does next. it sounds like ambassador haley was communicating that all options remain on table. secretary of state rex tillerson had a briefing with reporters at mar-a-lago yesterday and he said the future will be guided by how we see their reaction the syrian's government reaction. the u.s. is monitoring the syrian response looking into whether they tried to attack u.s. forces or coalition forces or detect the syrian government is planning to launch another chemical weapon attack. thursday night's strikes

mr. tillerson has been saying and he says look, tillerson, u.s. was disappointed by the russian response. he's saying look, was he expecting anything else? he called it a startling statement with a purpose, though. it builds leverage before the visit. and that means that look russia is going in this meeting with secretary tillerson hoping that what they heard from athena jones just now comes true in those meetings. they are willing to bet that the united states will demand much more and one thing it will demand is why does syria still have chemical weapons. russia was supposed to be responsible for the fact that by 2014 that syria had gotten rid of all of its chemical weapons. >> i'm sure that will be the top of the list. let he had get to what's happening with the movement of the frigate being moved from the black sea into the mediterranean. tell us about it. why is it moving? >> reporter: so it wasn't the black sea doing maneuvers, exercises with the turkish naval forces, as soon as those air strikes happened it was turned around. hit been in th

mr. tillerson supports this kind of investigation.e said that the powers will be taken immediately in order to do that. we shall attempt in the security council to approve a memorandum, which will not be so much about the investigation as to try and fix and identify the culprit. so we didn't want to impose any kind of line on anyone, but we want an honest investigation. we also very thoroughly discussed the situation with regard to our air forces with the u.s.-led coalition and the russian forces. we talked about the deconfliction memorandum during the operations in syria. you know that this was halted. but president putin confirmed our determination to put it on track again, confirming that the main aim, of course, is between these forces of the coalition and the russian forces is to combat al-nusra and others like isil. the publicized intention of america and russia -- we trust that countries in the region should not repeat this kind of incident, particularly the countries of the mideast. we confirmed once again the overall determin

mr. tillerson hasn't wanted to dwell on it since his boss is a skeptic. he said it's basic live an established fact that russia messed with it and of course putin denied that. charlie: a lot of people from putin to tillerson to others are saying that the relationship is at a low point. what are the implications of that? david: the implications is what happens if it spirals downward? i mean, we can fight over syria. we have proxy war that went on throughout the cold war. we don't have the numbers of nuclear weapons pointed at each other, thank goodness, that we did at the height of the cold war. we don't have the sense of russia as a rising power that is going to challenge us that we had during the cold war. that roam has been taken on now by china. but we certainly do have a sen of contention and that contention is really in three or four different different places. it's over crimea and the ukraine and mr. tiller son said today there would be no relaxation of sanctions until that's solved. it's over europe where the russian are now meddling in the electio

mr. tillerson and vladimir putin. and mr.er there will be a meeting or not and kept him waiting for a few hours, which is his usual habit, by the way, this primitive posture and power play to show who is the boss. this meeting did happen in the end, as you just said. but there was another meeting that didn't happen. and that's the meeting between the u.s. secretary of state and representatives of russian civil society. those kinds of meetings happened under every previous secretary of state, both parties, republican and democrat, that was a long-time tradition. just last week, there was several letters sent from the u.s. congress, again, completely bipartisan, senior republicans, and senior democrats, urging mr. tillerson to find time while he is in moscow to meet with representatives, russian civil society, as well as with officials from the putin regime. now regrettably, that meeting did not happen. this was the first visit by mr. tillerson as secretary of state to moscow and i think many people were watching for those sign

mr. tillerson's own words, especially regarding syria.sian's foreign minister insisted on an independent investigation over who was behind the chemical weapons attack despite the u.s.' certainty that syria is to blame, that the assad regime is to blame. here's more from that news conference. >> the current state of the u.s./russia relations is at a low point. there's a low level of trust between our two countries. we cannot have this kind of relationship. >> joining me now is someone who has been inside these high-stakes meetings, jon finer, chief of staff for secretary of state john kerry. thank you so much for joining me. >> thank you. >> so you have secretary tillerson out on the world stage talking about this international crisis. how do you think he did? >> i thought secretary tillerson did fine. it was a perfectly credible performance. to be honest, my biggest take away was de ja vu of what was a classical performance of sergey lavrov right down to the condescending tone with spiced in biting remarks along, a history lesson of someo

mr. tillerson left that door open just a couple of days ago. secondly, i want to see the united states leadership and the united nations to establish a tribunal so we can get the indictments against mr. assad and others who are accountable for these war crimes. we cannot be silent about this. we've got to see action and it starts with the president. >> senator, the administration's made clear just this clear that removing assad is no longer a priority. rex tillerson and nikki haley saying it is up to the people of syria to decide. they said that before this apparent chemical attack. do you think that statement opened the door to the attack? >> i'm not going to try to connect dots. i know, though, when you talk to the major stakeholders in the region, there is no confidence about mr. assad remaining as the leader of syria. he has to go, and that needs to be clear and the united states and our leadership must make that clear. so i'm asking mr. tillerson and asking president trump, make it clear to the international community that we're with them

but mr tillerson's prospects of success do not look huge.overnment forces bombing a storage facility where chemical weapons held by the rebels were being stored. the meeting has got underway with an uncompromising statement from the russian foreign minister. let's hear what he said. translation: we have raised multiple times that we are prepared for a constructive equal footing. this is our consistent policy and it is completely in line with the international law and it is not influenced by the current politically mat with the complicated choices and wrong choices either with us or against us. we believe in collective actions and we do not think it's effective to have the hind closed doors alliances. —— to have the hind closed doors alliances. we have given our position, we have got our message across to washington and to you as well multiple times. it is important for us to understand your intentions and the intentions of the us and the real intentions of this administration. we hope we can clear those things up today. welcome. and this was

mr. tillerson gets here, he gets here tuesday night, meets lavrov on tuesday.a real challenge for him. he has to be strong and defend the mess siel strikes but also he needs to accomplish one of the central goals of president trump's central issues which is improve relations with russia. that's a tough job right now, thomas. >> it's a huge sticking point if russia will not admit to the fact that syria still had chemical weapons after 2013 in which time russia was supposed to oversee the disposal and removal of syria's chemical weapons. bill neely reporting in moscow for us. thank you. >>> the manhunt and the aints-government manifesto. coming up next, a man seen in a disturbing video caught stealing 16 guns and making threats against the president. all of this playing out in paul ryan's house. >> i'm hoping he doesn't come back. i'm hoping we don't have to dive into a basement to get out of a gun battle. but to beat the big boys, you need smarter ways to save people money. we know what you want from a financial company and we'll stop at... nothing to make sure

mr. tillerson was busy. but did he miss the barrel bombing?he iranian revolutionary guard? did hi miss the russians striking with precision weapons, hospitals in aleppo? deliberately killing people in hospitals? >> you heard what ambassador haley said about syria. >> and to say now that we're going to turn our backs on these people? what about the thousands we have trained and equipped? what about those people? what signal do we send people who struggle for freedom around the world? that syria is determining its own future? let's go back few years. bashir assad was on his way out the door before hezbollah came in with the iranians sponsoring them and the iranian revolutionary guard. how can the syrian people determine their own future? >> very tough to do that right now. i want to go back to russia. obviously, syria is very important. but, president trump just tweeted the real story is the surveillance, find the leakers. is the real story the surveillance? or what's going on in the investigation? >> i think all of it needs to be examined. obvi

mr. tillerson comes here from that g-7 summit in italy with a united message. he will tell the russian foreign minister, sergey lavrov, that russia should drop their support for president assad. that assad is toxic and he is not good for russia. let's hear a little bit more of what rex tillerson had to say before he left to come to moscow. take a listen. >> russia has really aligned itself with the assad regime, the iranians and hezbollah. is that a long-term alliance that serves russia's interest, or would yaurussia prefer to realign with the united states, with other western countries and middle east countries who are seeking to resolve the syrian crisis? >> and that's, i think, the way he will put it to the russians. i don't think he's going to bang the table and hand out any ultimatum or any strong demands of russia. but, you know, russia, i think, is not likely to respond. russia has just doubled down on its support for president assad, promising more military help to strengthen assad's air defenses. and, of course, ass is, at the moment, winng the war wit

mr. tillerson was busy. but did he miss the barrel bomb ing? did he miss the iranian revolutionary guard? the russians striking with precision weapons, hospitals in aleppo? >> as the senate repairs to vote on neil gorsuch, two different takes on whether he gets confirmed to the supreme court. here's mitch mcconnell and chuck schumer this morning. >> neil gorsuch will be confirmed this week. how that happens really depends on our democratic friends. >> it's highly, highly unlikely that he'll get 60. >> kelly o'donnell standing by for us. we know the president was tweeting earlier, what all is he saying? >> well, wup of the topics that has come back for the president is something we had been given some indication they were ready to put aside. that's health care. so the president today tweeting a couple of things about health care, say iing this that talks repealing and replacing obamacare are and have been going on and will continue until such time as a deal the hopefully struck. also today, the president is out at one of the golf courses he has

mr. tillerson must tread very carefully to make a deal with the russian leader. >> we know putin well. putin is a person who can make unexpected moves towards partners, and even concessions, but never bends under pressure. just the opposite. james: on last week's gas attack moscow and washington seem to , agree on one thing there , should be a full investigation. but there is plenty of room to dispute who should carry it out, and when, and how. the g-7 meeting of america's allies ended today without giving rex tillerson much political ammunition. ministers failed to agree on any future threat of targeted sanctions. boris johnson pressed hard for it, but insisted no consensus was not defeat. secretary johnson: i don't pretend you this is going to be easy. there are very few better routes forward that i can see for the russians. this is a way forward for russia and syria, and in making this offer, i think rex tillerson has overwhelming support. james: so, looking at boris johnson's performance, what does a former conservative foreign of the gamble? >> putin will be pleased they weren't a

mr. tillerson himself, he treads a very fine line. he wants to be tough in showing exactly why america launched those missiles. but he also wants to accomplish the central plank of donald trump's foreign policy toward russia, and that is better relations with moscow. he's already been pretty tough. i mean, he did say a couple days ago that russia was either complicit in syria's chemical weapons attack, or it was incompetent because it knew nothing about the fact that chemical weapons were stored at that base. so he's already talking tough. one of his diplomats of course nikki haley at the u.n. talking very tough at that emergency session yesterday. now, mr. tillerson will come here off the back of the g7 gathering in italy. and he will want to bring a united message from the west to moscow. and interestingly today the british foreign secretary boris johnson canceled his visit here to moscow early next week. he said in order to send a clear and coordinated message to the russians, a message that will be delivered by rex tillerson. the