we begin this evening with syria and talk to derek chollet and robert ford. >> we've got to deliver real pain on assad. and i think there's also the russian calculation as robert just mentioned. there is no question russia, which is more engaged in syria today than it was four or five years ago in terms of number of personnel on the ground, knew that assad had this stock pile, or there is every reason to believe that we knew he had it. the question is whether they were surprised by this use of chemical weapons. and if in fact they're angry that he has done it because it has put them in a terrible position. >> we continue with et approximater baker of "the new york times." >> it's not that hard to find statements from the campaign trail where he said you know, syria is not america's problem. we shouldn't go there, where he said we should be working closely with russia and stop alienating them. where he said, you know, china shouldn't be invited to dinner, they're our enemy. an here in the last week alone he has involved us more in syria's civil war than ever before, the first american mil

robert ford. mr.mbassador, thank you for joining us on this saturday. >> my pleasure to be with you. >> you've heard them frame this u.s. cruise missile strike as message sending to the assad regime and the russians as well specifically about chemical weapons use. you have met assad more than once. do you believe he is a man, in this case, who will take that message and restrict, at a minimum, his chemical weapons attacks going forward? the language of force is exactly the language he understands but it's a very clever, very patient government. and i would expect that he may stand down from using chemical weapons for a time, month or two or three. and then he will start using them again in small scale here and there and testing the american president's resolve. >> that kind of activity, i assume, not affected by this kind of strike. >> oh, no, not at all. in fact, today there have been heavy bombardments in areas, suburbs of damascus to the west of damascus, up around the city to the north of damascus

charlie: robert ford talks about leverage on the ground and negotiation.iplomats talking about that fact during the admin -- obama administration. what is leverage on the ground, and what is reasonable leverage produce aund to willingness for people to come to the negotiating table? derek: we have to deliver real pain on assad. there's also the russian calculation. there's no question russia, which is more engaged in syria today than it was four or five years ago in terms of personnel, had this assad stockpile. the question is whether they were surprised by this use of chemical weapons, and whether they are angry he has done it, because it has put them in a terrible position. if you think back to the redline episode, robert and i were both in the government advocating for force, it was the threat of force that brought the russians around to bring assad to come forth with a diplomatic agreement to give up over 1000 tons of chemical weapons. the question is whether the russians feel that pressure enough and whether what happened on thursday night is enough t

the former ambassador robert ford was a guest.ere's what he said. >> my own sense is that the war in syria was already finished, and assad won. we are not going to get into a new erect kind of four or a new afghanistan kind of war. the civil war -- there may be some fighting for a year or two, deposition will not give up but they are not going to win. assad is going to win. bret: first of all, i'm not sure i agree with ambassador for that if assad remains in power that the fighting stops. so long as assad remains in power, sunnis will rise up to oppose him. he's not that strong, even with the help of the russians. what i am convinced of is that as complicated -- and anthony is right -- as complicated as syria is, there is no solution in syria while he remains president of the country. tony: here's the challenge, if i could. how do civil wars and? -- end? we have looked at this intensively. one of three ways. either one side wins and i'd agree with brett and disagree with robert ford. second, the fight to exhaustion. that will happ

here in new york is robert ford, a former ambassador to syria. m pleased to have both of them on this program. let me begin with the obvious. tell me your assessment of this strike. robert: i think the strike was a good idea. i saw a statement from secretary of defense mattis, that it 'sstroyed about 20% of assad airplanes. he paid a price. .hey want to deter they are limited, defined discrete objectives and i think , it needed to be done. now it is up to secretary tillerson to get the russians to understand that we are serious, and for the russians to turn to their syrian allies and say, do not keep doing it. charlie: do you think that will happen? robert: i don't think the russians are happy that assad used chemical weapons. i doubt very much of that the russians have tried very hard to to stop doing it. there is a difference. charlie: do you think they are complicit in that they knew they had access to chemical weapons? robert: i think they knew that very well. charlie: so they were complicit. robert it's not a question that : if they had them.

joining me now is ambassador robert ford. the last u.s.sador assigned to syria under the obama administration. good morning. your first reaction to the missile strike. was it the right move? >> i think it is important to reestablish deterrents against the use of chemical weapons. syrian president assad was using them constantly. it's good then to try to make him pay a price and reestablish deterrents. >> we know you have met with president bashar al assad. you have spoken with him. why would he continue to authorize chemical attacks against his own people? >> he is trying to intimidate the civilian population so they no longer support the opposit n opposition. >> we know there are keskeptics who put up other theories. tulsi gabbard called it short sight. it goes to questions if assad authorized this attack. do you doubt he ordered it? >> i'm not sure he, himself, authorized the attack. he may have given a blanket instruction that it is okay to use chemical weapons. it is important for the viewers to understand that assad forces have been u

. >>> in the next hour robert ford will join us with his view on what's next in u.s. policy toward syria and russia. >>> in a clear show of force, a u.s. navy strike group has been redirected to the korean peninsula. the aircraft carrier "uss carl vinson" and several other warships departed singapore over the weekend. the group was dispatched ahead of more ballistic attacks in north korea. president trump has hinted the u.s. is prepared to use force to stop the north's nuclear weapons program if necessary. >>> the state department is condemning deadly terror attacks on churches in egypt. it calls them barbaric. two suicide bombings killed 40 people on one of the holiest days on the christian calendar. more than 100 others were injured. they were just a few hours apart. isis has claimed responsibility. mark phillips is following the latest developments from london. mark, good morning. >> good morning. well, christians make up about 10% of the egyptian population and have been frequent targets of jihadi bombers, but this double attack has seemed to have another motive.

robert ford, a former ambassador, was a guest on the show last night and here is what he said. >> my own sense is the war in syria that involves bars bars is basically finished and assad won. so we're not going to get into a new iraq kind of war or a new afghanistan kind of war in syria. >> rose: the civil war is essentially over? >> essentially over there. may be fighting for another year or two. the opposition is not going to give up, but they're not going to win. assad's going to win. >> rose: assad's going to win? first of all, i'm not sure i'm going to agree with ambassador ford that if assad remains in power that the fighting eventually stops. in fact, i think, as long as assad remains in power, sunnis will rise up to oppose him. he's not that strong, even with the help of the russians. what i am convinced of is that, as complicated -- and anthony, by the way, is right -- as corchlcated assyria is, there is no solution in syria while he remains president of the country. >> here's the challenge -- if i could -- how do civil wars end? we've looked at this intensely. one of three

we can now speak to ambassador robert ford. ambassador to syria between 2011 and 2014 and currently a senior fellow at the middle east institute in washington. and a professor at yale. i know you lead for the state department on policy towards syria. there's going to bea un policy towards syria. there's going to be a un resolution, clearly. the white house and the us secretary of state are seeing strong things. you see much change in? there's going to bea see much change in? there's going to be a draft resolution, which the americans, french and british are going to football —— put forward. i don't think the russians and chinese will allow it to pass, however, and the russians and chinese have already vetoed the condemning of syria. how do you think it will play out in the future? i think this latest atrocity, which clearly was committed by the syrian government, you heard the un representative saying it was delivered by aircraft and only russian aircraft operate around that area, along with syrian government aircraft. the issu

. >>> robert ford was the last american ambassador to syria. he left in 2012 when the u.s.d the embassy. in 2014, he resigned when he found himself unable to defend and support the obama administration's policy on syria. you were the last u.s. am ba ambassador to syria. you sat down with assad. as a person and as a leader, what were your impressions of him? >> he was charming, actually. his english is fluent because he studied medicine in britain. he is not stuffy. he is not stuck-up. but he does get angry when i raised human rights with him in that meeting you just showed the photo. he got quite angry at me. i think what most struck me is that several times during my conversations with him, he just out and out lied about things they were doing. and he knew that i knew he was lying. and he did it anyway. >> he lied repeatedly in interviews i have se. he lied about the nature of the demonstrations against him that began peacefully, that began in daraa because of the arrest of some children who had sprayed some graffiti. from the beginning, he has been cracking down on his ow

we begin this evening with syria and talk to derek chollet and robert ford. >> we've got to deliver realand i think there's also the russian calculation as robert just mentioned. there is no question russia, which is more engaged in syria today than it was four or five years ago in terms of number of personnel on the ground, knew that assad had this stock pile, or there is every reason to believe that we knew he had it. the question is whether they were surprised by this use of chemical weapons. and if in fact they're angry that he has done it because it has put them in a terrible position. >> we continue with et approximater baker of "the new york times." >> it's not that hard to find statements from the campaign trail where he said you know, syria is not america's problem. we shouldn't go there, whe

robert ford was here at the beginning of april and said, "the idea that the united states could stillnge the assad government or impose a new government, we are past that. aleppo was the final nail in that coffin." he went on to say, "essentially the civil war is over and assad has won." clarissa: there is no question when you look at how the momentum has shifted and the fall of aleppo. we have seen not the end of the opposition, but what you are seeing is the opposition turning into a guerrilla-style insurgency, rather than 2 equals. they were never equals, but 2 fighting factions on the battlefield. the only province that the rebels are in control of is idlib. if the chemical attack is a harbinger of things to come, you can be sure that the assad regime will try, perhaps in the near future, to push the rebels completely out of the idlib province and regain control of that territory across the north of the country. the problem of the regime is that it is almost an empirical victory. who lives there? there's no one in eastern aleppo. you only have skeletons of buildings and almost an

i'll joined by robert ford, the last u.s. ambassador to serve in syria. he served in the obama administration. ambassador, thank you, sir. so let me start with this question. the strike last night. is that an effective dermadeterrent on assad from using kechemical weapons? >> 59 missiles is a lot of missiles and i think they did some serious damage to that one air base. but the syrian air force is not destroyed. my guess is that bashar al assad will stand down for a time. he will stop using chemical weapons for a time. and after the passage of time, two months, three months, he will start testing the american he resolvegain with small scale chemical weapons deployment, not as big as we saw on tuesday but just testing the american reaction. >> that would be, that's exactly what he did. i feel like if 2013. little test, little test, you saw rhetorical escalation from president obama. then he got to the red line comment. then we got to the point where it looked like there would be strikes and then he backed off. what would your recommendation be now if presi

. >> joining me now is ambassador syria robert ford and professor at yale university jackson institute. as well as adam smith. he joins us from the state of washington. congressman, let me ask you about this, what is our policy towards syria. are we trying to dump the assad family and get them out of there or are we trying to live with them. >> trump doesn't have a policy, so we don't have a clear policy. look, i think there's a policy here and that is to recognize that as long as assad is in power, there will be chaos in syria. there's no question about that. he is an illegitimate ruler and that is the yost syrians view him. frankly, both the extremist and isis in the moderates who started the protest, gosh, five, six years ago now. as long as he's in power there's going to be chaos. but the trick is, number one it's not easy to get him to leave. number two, what comes next, that's where our policy has fallen short. this is what president obama tried to do. he tried to build up a coalition of syrian moderates who could offer an alternative to asought. yo -- assad. the u.s. military go

robert ford was here, maybe the beginning of april and he said the following. the idea that show the united states could still go in and try to change the assad government or impose some kind of new government, i think, we're just long past that. aleppo was the final nail in that coffin. and he went on to say that essentially the civil war is over. >> uh-huh. >> and assad has won. >> i think that there is no question when you look at how the momentum has shifted. and the enormous significants of the fall of aleppo. we did see essentially not quite the end of the opposition, but i think now what you're seeing is the opposition turning too more of a gorilla style insurgency than a sort of-- then two equals, well, they were never equals but two different fighting factions facing against each other on the battle field. the only province that the rebels are still in control of is i hadlib and if the events that we saw with the chemical attack are anything to go by, if there a harbinger of things to come, you can be sure that the assad regime is going to try perhaps

. >>> and we'll bring in robert ford, ambassador, thank you for being here. let me get clarify from you on this. we have nikki haley, the united states ambassador to the united nations. a voice that americans don't normally hear from as much as they do the secretary of state. we have a secretary of state who doesn't talk to the media all that much. and this weekend they have said what seemed to be messages at odds with each other about whether or not bashar al assad gets to remain as the boss in syria. do you think, this is by design, or are they not on the same page? >> i think the administration is still new and is still working out how to best coordinate their talking points. that's not so strange in a new administration. but number one, their priority remains fighting the islamic state. number with, i think they would like to see bashar al assad go but are not planning on sending in military forces. i think those two things are clear from the statements, both nikki hailey and secretary tillerson and national security adviser mcmasters, they are all pretty

robert red ford has made a few good movies that's all is he good for.hat's it. he will and always will be a liberal. a lot of people not talking about what he is saying. just saying celebrities and media folks in general just stay away. brian: he was really good in the -- steve: he also did the president all the president's men had to do with watergate. all started 45 years ago. abby: take a lesson from country music. >> big take away. brian: he played woodward. steve: or bernstein. abby: good to have you here, carley. >> thank you. abby: brand new bombshell showing trum -- fox news senior correspondent adam housley blew the story wide open. steve: he is coming up 10 minutes. brian: thank you for the ball park opening day: show you thousand make stadium favorites in your house like chili dogs and cracker jacks. celebrating baseball because fox sports has the contract. we should bring that up, too. ♪ ♪ the touch of a precious child snow and know a mother's ♪ advil liqui - gels work so fast you'll ask what bad back? what pulled hammy? advil liqui - gels m

ford fusion. on sunday afternoon, he approached 74-year-old robert godwin sr. at random while the former foundary worker was out collecting cans. >> found me somebody i'm you go to kill. i'm going to kill this guy right here. old dude. can you do me a favor. can you say joy lane. >> say what. >> can you say joy lane. >> joy lane. >> yeah. she's the reason why this is about to happen to you. >> reporter: then stevens allegedly pulled the trigger, the homicide too disturbing to show. afterward investigators say stevens uploaded video of the murder onto his facebook page. most in fairmount park didn't know what the large police presence was about but they did know about stevens and the horrifying crime in cleveland. >> i think it's crazy. yeah, i don't -- i mean, the world is crazy right now so, you know, a lot of things happen and people just -- people just crazy. >> that was crazy. i'm just getting -- it's really out of control. >> reporter: this afternoon cleveland police announced a $50,000 reward in the case and urged stevens to surrender. >> we're still empl

ford fusion. >> he has de pilla -- he has deep, deep issues. >> reporter: he killed robert godwin senior with a gun. >> can you say joy lane? >> reporter: the homicide too disturbing tore us to show. that woman whose name was mentioned issued a statement saying steve is a nice guy, he is generous with everyone he knows, he was kind and loving to me and why children this is a very difficult time for me and my family. godwin's family devastated. >> it's not real. i don't know what i am going to do. >> reporter: cleveland police initially did make contact with stevens after the incident but they have not reestablished the connection, the church continues, we'll send it back to you in the studio. >> reporting live from cleveland this noon. >>> a church in delaware county was badly damaged by fire this morning, but the reverend says they will rebalanced. chopper 6 hd was over the scene at 8:30 at memorial presbyterian church in boothwyn. fire officials say the blaze started in the back of the church, the walls and floor in the area were destroyed. church windows we broken out and there are holes in

that stephens is believed to be armed and dangerous and driving a white ford fusion with temporary license plates. his victim, roberten who are devastated. >> this man right here was a good man. and i just -- i hate that he's gone. >> stephens claimed on facebook that he committed multiple homicides. police say they have no knowledge of other victims. the police chief sent a signal to people who may have had contact with stephens. >> if there is someone who is helping steve, or if you think you're helping steve, you're really not. you're going to get yourself in trouble along with him. >> i asked former u.s. marshal james shield about that. what is the chief saying when he says that? >> either the chief is aware of someone that is providing that type of help. that's not surprising. or he could be saying we don't have anything else. there's somebody else out there that might be providing some help. sometimes many fugitives will resort to going to help that owe them something. that are friends. close associates. people they can trust. >> james shields says officials involved in the manhunt will be looking to see if st

robert frank. let's head over to john ford for a look at what's coming up on "squawk alley." >> we'll dig in and michaelte of the ag market. all that and more coming up. excuse me, are you aware of what's happening right now? we're facing 20 billion security events every day. ddos campaigns, ransomware, malware attacks... actually, we just handled all the priority threats. you did that? we did that. really. we analyzed millions of articles and reports. we can identify threats 50% faster. you can do that? we can do that. then do that. can we do that? we can do that. >>> as president trump pushes for a manufacturing rebirth, companies are inventing new technologies changing factories and the job descriptions that go with them. morgan brennan joins us with more on that story. morgan? >> this is a top focus in manufacturing right now. how new tech think automation, 3-d printing is fundamentally transforming factories. take general electric. it's rolling out its "brilliant facto factory" concept in action at a plant. big data, software, robotics, used to fit locomotive engines. workers are transitioning from

robert godwin senior. his family in shock. >> i don't know what i'm going to do. it's not real. >> reporter: stevens was last seen in a white ford fusion. overnight, a signal from his phone possibly picked up in pennsylvania. now, resident there is, in new york, indiana, and michigan, told to be on alert. we have learned from the woman whose name was mentioned just before the shooting. she released a statement saying the suspect is really a nice guy. he is loving to me and my children. we'll of course stay on top of the this story. >>> vice president mike pence making a surprise visit to the korean demilitarized zone. >> this after the north's failed missile launch. the era of strategic patience with north korea is over. he declared all options are on the table. >> reporter: good morning. that failed missed launch in north korea has not aleve rate issed concerns. vice president mike pence with a warning from the administration. the u.s. will take action if necessary. with all eyes on nofrt korea, a weekend missile launch failed in spectacular fashion. u.s. commanders say a medium-range ballistic missile blew up almost immediatel

ford fusion. >> obviously he had deep issues and we want to get him off the scene as soon as possible. he allegedly approached 74-year-old robert godwin armed with a gun. >> can you do me a favor? can you say joy lane? >> joy lane. >> yeah. she is the reason this is about to happen to you. >> than the trigger was pulled, killing god when. that woman whose name was mentioned issued a statement, saying "he really is a nice guy. he is generous with everyone he knows. he was kind and loving. my children. this is a very difficult time for me and my family." family is devastated. >> i don't know what i'm going to do. it is not real. >> it is like my heart is going to stop >>. cleveland police initially make contact with him after the incident but attempts to reconnect with him have failed. emily rao, abc news, cleveland ohio. >> the highest phici will take a final vote on an ordinance that would make hyattsville a century city. the measure would prohibit city staff from transferring information about a residence in -- immigration status from the federal government. this will result in the loss of $20,000 a year in federal grant money

robert godwin senior. his family is in shock. >> i don't know what i'm going to do. reporter: so far, no additional victims have been found. stevens was last seen in a white ford fusion. he is 6'1", 244 pounds. >> we want him to turn himself in. we will look unt facebook said this was a horrific crime and we do not allow this type of content on facebook. atvew tonight, a pack of drivers it legally on the road. they were traveling east on route 50 in arlington at about 7 p.m., then passed into alexandria. alexandria police say they lost sight of the pack on southbound route one. ifice want to hear from you you recognize them or see them riding around tonight. a first today at nationals park, the team hosting its first ever easter egg hunt during its kids celebration. lucky kids found special eggs in the outfield with golden tickets inside, redeemable for nats gear like jerseys and autographed memorabilia. president trump and first are back at the white house tonight getting ready for tomorrow's easter egg role, a tradition that dates back to 1878. there is president obama behind us. we will be there. washington" will be there bright and early at 4:25. that said

robert godwin, sr. his family in shock. >> i don't know what i'm going to do. it's not real. >> reporter: stevens was last seen in a white ford fusion. where with temporary tags. overnight, a signal from his phone possibly picked up in pennsylvania. now, residents there, and in new york, indiana, and michigan, told to be on alert. and we have also learned of another side of the suspect overnight, from the woman whose name was mentioned just before the shooting. she released a statement in part say thagt the suspect really is a nice guy. he is generous and was kind and loving to me and my children. we, of course, will stay on top of this story should there be any new developments. >>> vice president mike pence making a surprise visit to the korean demilitarized zone. as tensions escalate over north korea's nuclear arsenal. >> this after the north's failed missile launch. peps said the era of strategic patience with north korea is over. he declared all options are on the table. abc's january janae norman has more. >> reporter: kendis and arielle, good morning. that failed missed launch in north korea has not alleviated concerns

steve robert godwin on easter at random and then boasted about the murder on facebook. police say to look for a white ford fusion, or the suspect himself, 6'1", 240 pounds. if you believe you see him or his vehicle, call 911 immediately or if you have information that could lead police to him or his vehicle, call the fbi tip line, 800-call-fbi. they are hoping that a $50,000 reward will help motivate anyone who has any information to turn him in. jacob rascon, nbc news, cleveland. >> we can only hope they find him soon. that story is so sad. >>> much more news today ahead. >>> including the latest of a murder on a fitness instructor. wh fios is not cable. we're wired differently. maybe that's why we've been ranked highest in customer satisfaction by jd power 4 years in a row. and now you can love fios too. get 150 meg internet, tv and phone. all for $79.99 per month, for the first year with a two-year agreement. it's the only internet with equal upload and download speeds. cable only offers upload speeds that ar