against syrian president bashar al-assad's forces since the syrian war began over six years ago. the move comes after the u.s. accused assad's forces of using the shayrat t airbase to carry t a a chemical weapons attack that killed 86 people, including at least 30 children. syria denies carrying out the attack. we will host a roundtable discussion. then to capitol hill where senators invoke the nuclear option that will allow supreme court justices to become confirmed possible majority. >> the nuclear option means the end of a long history of consensus on supreme court nominations. it weakens the standing of the senate as a whole. as a check on the president's ability to shape the judiciary. amy: the vote in's a democratic led filibuster aimed at blocking neil gorsuch's confirmation for the supreme court. all l that and morere, coming u. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. u.s. warships fired a barrrragef missileses into syria thursday evening, in the first direct u.s. assault on the syrian government sinince the start of civivil

the new road must see the syrian regime engaged. the new road must have russia and iran not only at the table but negotiating in good faith. we are sitting in the halls of the organization that was built to guide us when peace seems out of reach. the united nations has a vital role in convening those negotiations and helping the parties to resolve their disputes. the agenda has been set, and it is long overdue for a proper negotiation on the future syrian-led transition that meets the legitimate aspirations of the syrian people happens. assad must engage in serious discussion about that future to meet those aspirations of all syrians. madam president, in conclusion, the united kingdom supports the u.s. action as an appropriate response to a heinous act by a brutal and uncaring dictator, by a dictator who thinks gassing his people is somehow a legitimate step on the road to stability. it is time now to get a genuine political process back up and running. those discussions may be long and difficult, but the people of syria deserve not

-- -syrian talks. i think you, madam president. >> thank you to the ethiopian representative. i will give the floor to the representative of ukraine. >> thank you madam president. we were also shocked by the terrorist act in stockholm, our solidarity and condolences to sweden. first of all, i would like to stress that we came here not to discuss yesterday's strike by the u.s., but the consequences of a terrible deadly chemical weapons attack last tuesday. i also would like to draw attention to the statement of the minister of ukraine that states the following -- any use of chemical weapons is an outrageous violation of international law and constitutes a war crime. perpetrators of such acts have to be brought to account. impunity for a violator of international law leads to further crimes on his part. chronic blocking of the work of the un security council is unacceptable. the syrian regime sponsors and advocates also bears responsibility for the use of weapons of mass destruction in syria and subseque

to end the war in syria and what the syrian people -- and that the syrian people are allowed to determinetheir own future. i think you madam president. >> i will now give the floor to the representative of ethiopia. >> thank you madam president. thank you for organizing this meeting. condolencesss our to the government of sweden and to our swedish colleagues. we are condemning the terrorist attack. proceedings to 2-3 points and want to raise. first, if the situation is here continues and the result will be the collapse of the syrian would beose who'd win the terrorists. we have no doubt. we have seen it too many times. this perhaps is another indication that the noernational community has united stand on giving priority for resolving the syrian crisis through political dialogue, and countering the spread of terrorism in a united into consented manner. there is no justification for the crime committed. is an urgent issue that requires gratification. and him playing with wisdom. facthas to do with the that too many states and non-state actors are very much active in syria. syria hast know t

but the syrian regime doesn't let them. they hide behind bureaucracy and deny requests for humanitarian access. this is permission that the government could give if it actually wanted to. the few convoys are often held up at checkpoints. they are stopped by soldiers or rogue militias that the assad regime can't control. the aid they care doesn't reach those who need it. and months after months we talk about these very issues and nothing changes. even more bone-chilling is the fact that convoys that do get through are looted of medical supplies. i have no military purpose but are essential to saving the lives of civilians who don't bow to the regime. syrian government forces and pro-government militias remove forceps and nd raid pediatric kits. hey remove equipment, family hygiene and burn kits from trucks. there is no reason that i can conseff apply think of this to happen. maybe my colleagues from russia and otheral jice the syrian regime can help me out. what does not include medicine? what possible justification is there

responsible, or the syrians we re were responsible, or the syrians were responsible, or the syriansthis hit a chemical dump held by the rebels. if they are 100% confident of their intelligence, then this was an appropriate reaction limited to the airfield and the aircraft that launched this attack. and obviously they've informed the russians in the process to make sure that their people were not caught as collateral damage in this process, and indeed the syrians bust have been aware of it because there appears to be ready limited casualties at the airbase. the syrians say there are six satiety is but a great deal of ground damage, it would mean that a strike in that sense is pretty successful in its objectives. strike in that sense is pretty successful in its objectivesm strike in that sense is pretty successful in its objectives. if it is just left there, does successful in its objectives. if it isjust left there, does it successful in its objectives. if it is just left there, does it make any difference? it is not going to make a huge difference on the ground to military capabilit

the statements of the international syrian support group. the delegation's preferred to focus on different issues and the gaps are still wide. everyone in geneva did engage. they also discussed general principles regarding the character of a post-transition syrian state. these u.n. ideas remain living points that can be further developed as the negotiation progress on the substance of each of the baskets. one day soon, all of these discussions will come together in eight packages for a negotiation, a real negotiation. assumet was premature to common understanding, some points became more clear than before. example, i have a growing appreciation that the basis of transition must be legally and constitutionally solid and that the journey and destination will mapped out and agreed to -- -- d hoped that has the potential to ensure the constitutional basis of the transition and how syrians in --nsition mode might agree might write and agree on a new constitution. this should not be underestimated. let's be frank, the fragile progress is in grave

and the syrian infrastructure. these include the practice of so-called international coalition. recent incidents have been that proven that this coalition has only destroyed infrastructure, bombarded civilians, and provided air cover to nusra isil, and other affiliated terrorist groups, as was the case when the coalition bombarded the syrian army position on 17 september, 2016. the direct military support and the air cover to armed terrorist groups was not only provided by the so-called international coalition. israel was first to win the honor of supporting terrorism. since terrorist groups, including al-nusra front, started their operations in the area of separation, israel has provided all forms of support to these groups, including medical relief and care to injured terrorists at the expense of the regime, as you all know. israel has provided air cover by launching airstrikes against syrian army positions. every time the syrian army was able to gain ground against these terrorist groups. even worse, israel has

nikki haley and the syrian ambassador. this is about 45 minutes. >> we are grateful for the briefing. involved withsely a march round of inter-syrian negotiations in geneva, and we toe urged all participants constructively search for mutually acceptable solutions and compromises on the political track. we have been actively in touch the syrian authorities in this context and also with a broad range of opposition movements. we support you in your efforts, and we hope that you will further step up these efforts. the fact that the geneva process has been developing and that the allies have been discussing be before great baskets of the agenda is very important, and the fact that they agreed to the conceptual proposals made by your -- all this can be a signal -- can be considered a significant achievement. we expect the geneva process to continue. we have this negative experience .n 2016 you cannot flag in your efforts. you must continue in your work syrian delegation, actively urging them to dialogue and to finding common the

told the russians, the ru r russians would pass along to the syrians and tell the syrians you better get your jets in some sort of bunker. >> it would be interesting to find out how much deconfliction conversations there were, over what period of time, how details they were. i'm not surprised they used that channel to have that kind of discussion because they have an om gags to dues, didn't want it het i think this played out probably the best way it could. obviously there were russian forces at this base and as i understand it, there was russian aircraft at that base. it will be interesting to sao if any of those russian aircraft were hit as a result of being there. this is why you have a deconflicts channel. >> do you know or does anyone know request there why the iranians, as you know admiral kirby, they have plenty of forces in syria as well. >> they do. people i've talked to this evening haven't indicated that there was deconflicts with iran. there's also no existing this is a republican guard that's there in mez bla-- hezbollah. >> let me read the statement we just got in from

the syrian forces are not good to go against u.s. troops in retaliation, we would effectively destroy that force if they did. they certainly understand that, the russians are not going to attack american forces on the ground, that would put us at war with russia, they don't want to war with the united states. all this was calculated, i know were talking about all the risk to american forces. it's a very, very low risk here and certainly the pentagon is very much aware of that as is the president now. >> for seven years the syrian dictator has been spluttering his own people, including one a red line was crossed if you will back in 2013, barrel bombs struck from fixed wing aircraft, killing civilians. now we've retaliated for the strike which happened the last week. is there and if-then plan worked out. if the syrian military launch is another one of these attacks on the people, did the united states strike again? or is there a plan? >> certainly we would. he has six operational airfields, we've taken down one and the air infrastructu

implemented,, if would lead to an end to the syrian crisis within 24 hours.a time when geneva talks were able to shape a new vision for a roadmap in syria, at a time when my country is witnessing a diplomatic detente and visits from different parliamentary missions, ,ncluding western parliaments to inform the public opinion of the real evidence in syria and to call for the government support in syria in its war against terrorism. i put this question to every person who still resorts to logic and reason when trying to understand this blind madness and this brutal appetite to burn my country syria and the region to the ground and to move with international relations to a new , and of wars and conflict let me remind you that only ,errorism, extremism, hatred the military might and the law of the jungle will be the only victors of this war. sent to you and to other members of the council you ander inviting inviting the director general of the opcw, inviting him to send a technical mission to khan sheikhoun and the airbase to uncover the truth. which means that th

we need to see a credible process through which syrians can chart their future. we need to see russia choose to side with the civilized world over at assad government that brutally terrorizes its people. the united states is ready to do its part in the russia needs to do its part. getting syria about peace means that iran needs to do it's role. countlesse chief. a -- chief accomplice. standing next to assad's soldiers are hezbollah with russia's courtesy and the power to overrule the military. iran is dumping fuel on the flames of the war so it can expand its own reach. this counsel need to bring attention and we need to collectively demand that iran stop. to make sure they cannot use syria as a base to continue terrorizing these people in the entire region. this counsel needs to be serious about peace too. repeatfter month, we all the same points. look at what happens on the ground. counsel's relevance depends on taking action to condemn those responsible for taking violets and to hold them accountable for defying this council's demands. it is not just for a pol

nor any benefit to any syrian. these gross tactics will only cause further human suffering, human suffering born prime layerly by the civilian population, and for which perpetrators much, and we are determined to be held to account. if not now, in the near future. beyond these attacks, that have so shocked the world, as i've said to you, i'm also gravely concerned about the situation in eastern guta out damascus, where civilians remain trapped in reports of relentless shelling, and ground fighting. the last informal access routes have been closed to restricted movement for some 400,000 people who live in the area and who the u.n. has been unable to access since october last year. increased fighting has resulted in displace independent northern hamas, where some 20,000 people have been displayed. air strikes are killing civilians and damaging infrastructure. just this week a medical facility was reportedly struck by air strikes, and in -- where the chemical aoccurred -- attack occurred earlier the markets were taken

i'm talking about training syrian forces. that's what i would do. >> did you tell the president that is a good idea? sen. graham: no, i told him i was proud of him for standing up and doing something obama would never do, that he did the right thing. the deaths of those babies will not go in vain if we can get rid of the guy who killed 500,000 people. trump feelsident like he had no other choice. here's what i hope he feels like. sad has got to go. if he stays, this war never ends. >> [indiscernible] sen. graham:

assault on the syrian regime. message to assad after an attack of his own people of a long, bloody civil war. >> i will ask congresswoman who recently met with bashar al-assad in damascus. russia's role. the pentagon now investigating if the kremlin was complacent in the syrian chemical attack. moscow is fighting back and defending putin's ally bashar al-assad. on the outs at one o f the most crucial moments yet of the trump's presidency. we are learning a major staff shake up is becoming more likely. tonight, who's on the short list for a possible shake up? we want to welcome our viewers around the world, i am wolf blitzer, you are in "the situation room." this is cnn breaking news. >> we are following breaking news on the u.s. strikes in syria tonight. president trump's first major military action is sending a clear message that bashar al-assad must stop using chemical weapons. the pentagon says it struck the same areal base bashar al-assad used to launch a deadly nerve gas attack. we are told of 60 u.s. missile

conflict by all parties, most notably the syrian regime. chemical weapons use is clearly illegal, constitutes a threat to international peace and security, and war crimes or crimes against humanity. there must be no impunity for such atrocities. madam president, sweden has been extremely clear that the attacks must be condemned in the strongest terms, that there needs to be a rapid, full, and impartial investigation to confirm the use of chemical weapons and those responsible for this momentous attack must be held to account. this is why we have worked tirelessly over the last days to ensure it option by this council of a strong resolution at a robust and immediate investigation into this outrage. while this effort did not bear fruit yesterday, we see hope there is enough common ground for this council to move forward on a strong resolution. efforts should continue, and we will remain constructively and actively engaged. with regard to the u.s. airstrike last night in response to the fourth of april attack, it is important action is based o

notjust syrian people — syrian businesses.was no protection for syrian businesses. and they moved tojordan... so businesses that were operating in syria are moving tojordan because of the enterprise zones. if you were being bombed to bits in aleppo, you might think it's a good idea to move. but is that injordan's interests? of course it is! they're getting jobs for their own people as well. as i say, capitalism is not zero—sum. if you set up a succesful firm injordan, why would you ever close it? even if you can then restart the operation back in syria. earlier this month, we had the mayor of a town in lebanon, the mayor of naameh, called charbel matar, saying, "we have to stand with our own people first before we stand with the syrians," and he was saying that as he was issuing a decree to order businesses owned or operated by syrians to close, which was in keeping with the law. yeah, i mean, that's tragic, isn't it? so it's no good lecturing the government ofjordan, saying, "you mustn't do that." it's no good preaching — we'

to the syrian government and what has been the syrian government's response to those strikes? >> obviously, declared of violation of international law and sovereignty. the effectiveness and you can say it on two levels. the first one, it is a simple signal. >> that's not the case throughout the obama year and despite the crossing of barack obama's red line. august 2013 near damascus also to hit a rebel control area. that's now gone. the administration makes it clear that we'll strike the military force how pofl that message maybe. you cannot possibly over estimate the level of damage done to this airfield, not far away from home where these air strikes with r launched and we don't know the full picture and the amateur videos showed. it does not provide evidence that the round way is able to launch strikes. we'll act gloelly. you cannot do this and expect no consequences. yes, was the damage severe. >> one other question for you, nick. why would assad use chemical weapons, period? >> he's delivering several blows to his people without the use of chemical weapons. >> lets break

every single day, syrians face death i some kind of form, by the syrian regegime, its allies, by the u.s. coalition now, by isis, by all of these forces that have declared the syrian people their enemies. amy: obama administration people say it is wrong to say obama did nothing after the 2013 gas attack. , that he worked out a deal with of gas,or the removal weapons of mass destruction from syria's a small. what happen with that? why is this gas available and do you know what it is? know what itn't is. some of the world health organizations are saying it is some kind of nerve gas, might be sarin plus chlorine. we don't know. we do not know how much the assad regime gave access to these organizations that investigated the arsenals and its destruction. , organizations and investigative authorities, have not been given access to syria to be able to remove chemical weapons, to be able to remove all sorts of weapons that have been killing syrians. and that is the problem. there are no investigative groups coming in from the u.n., from other groups, to be able to really understand what is

the syrians will say it didn't do much damage. 20 aircraft out of the air force the size of syrians is a lot effective air strike, does it send the right message? is the message going to be received in damascus? >> it is interesting that the runway wasn't hit and maybe wasn't the right mu in addition for that, it wasn't even touched apparently, that probably was a deliberate thing in terms of the strength of the message. isn't the risk here, they sent this message because of the chemical attack that killed a few dozen people horrendously. tomorrow barrel bombs will start falling from syrian helicopters and people will start being torn to shreds. and then does that not require a response? >> you can kill as many people as you want it appears with conventional weapons. but you drop one chemical round and all of a sudden, you're an international pariah. it is kind of puzzling, there are so many deaths, 400,000 syrians have died so far in this civil war, yet an attack that kills less than 100 draws this kind of response. it's a symptom of the time i guess. >> back to my point, why did assa

at the expense of syrian civilians. there too needs to be a change? >> absolutely. i think in the end, the only way this is going to get resolved is in one key target is kept in mind and that is that isis is the biggest destabilizer in the region. there are crimes being committed by many, many different powers inside syria. the syrian go. but in the end, the defeat of isis is fundamental am f. they can agree on that, then i think there is a possibly way forward. unfortunately, isis and other powers, other forces which are involved in syria are, if you like proxys for many other powers the meddling from outside, is making it far more dangerous and far less likely that there is going to be a diplomatic solution very soon. >> but how do you solve the isis issue which is a pressing one, obviously, without solving the political issue in damascus, those two things go hand-in-hand, don't they? you have to do both at the same time or neither will work? >> well, regardless of what we believe to be the character of the assad regi

it's a prominent and large syrian airbase, also used by russian soldiers and troops and has both syrian and russian jets from what we are understanding. syrian and russian media are reporting extensive damage to this base. the pentagon telling fox news that before the u.s. carried out the strikes, they did notify russia through secure lines. that was their warning, multiple warnings according to the pentagon for russia to get their troops out of the way. they were able to get most of the syrian jets off the runways and into safe places. a little mixed messaging here in terms of what we're hearing from the syrian media. there are at least six dead, seven wounded during the strikes. the syrian jets were able to escape unharmed. it's not really clear what the extent of damage was, but we are hearing several different reports. what were also hearing is at the syrian regime condemned this attack, saying it undermined serious operations of counterterrorist operations. mixed messaging in terms of what were hearing out of syria. they're trying to justify chemical attacks, these were not civilia

the syrian regime denies it has ever used chemical weapons.t has ever used chemicalweapons. i think trump himself knows that syria did not use any chemical weapons and does not have any chemical weapons and it has given its stockpile to the international organisation responsible for that. the americans say they have cleared proof that the syrian armed forces carried out war finds by using nerve gas against civilians, they are certain of that, thatis civilians, they are certain of that, that is why they carried out this raid. four years after the invasion of iraq we see iraq has been destroyed. syria is the second secular state after iraq that is being targeted by the west simply because it is secular and it has an army and again with the israeli occupation of palestine. in one of the damascus suburbs in which more than 1000 people were killed by chemical weapons in 2013, local people stopped believing the regime yea rs people stopped believing the regime years ago. they want more military action from the americans. translation: we hope that fo

the syrian arab republic has stressed that the syrian arab army does not have chemical weapons in the first place. and that it would never use such weapons in any of its operations against armed terrorist groups. that it condemns the use of such weapons as being unjustified under any conditions. let me stress that it is well known that those weapons have been used and stockpiled in many parts of syria by terrorist armed organizations in cooperation or rather with a wink and a nudge by some ruling regimes in the region and outside including turkey, soud sawe -- on the use of chemical weapons by terrorists in many parts of the arab republic. this aggression would surely send erroneous messages to those terrorist groups involving them to use chemical weapons in the future and to continue perpetrating terrorist acts against the syrians. a associated terrorist organizations did wage many attacks on many parts of syria and its allies in the war against terrorism confronting them despite desperate attempts to support them. the american aggression is under this umbrella. this condemnable aggr

we don't know if the syrians will retaliate. we don't know reaction from the russians who also do use that base. we don't know if there were russian aircraft there at the time. the u.s. military saying they didn't strike any and they don't believe there were any russian casualties. but we don't quite know yet what is the next step. this is the proportional response that we have been hearing about for 24 or 48 hours that may be coming to the weapons attack earlier this week. we do believe that this is the extent of it for now unless there is some follow on step from the syrian regime. >> thanks for that update. joining me now from washington, d.c., nbc news white house correspondent kristin welker. the president is with the chinese delegation. vice president back in d.c. a little bit of uncertainty about whether we hear from the president and what the unified message of the executive is coming out of tonight. >> that's right. it was a stark contrast because you had the president in florida with the palm trees meeting with the pre

is cemmittieg— if it is proven the syrian i5%_i if it is proven the syrian bah if it is proven the syriantting that; it if it is proven the syrian bee-bah if it is proven the syrian “emissiti if it is proven the syrian be a war crime. & iti if it is proven the syrian be a war crime. hg that. iti if it is proven the syrian be a war crime. if ité that; iti if it is proven the syrian be a war crime. if it is that; iti if it is proven the syrian be a war crime. if it is proven i will be a war crime. if it is proven it will be taken to the security council afterwards. i suppose questions would remain wide those inspectors were not able to rid the country? of course, yes. the us says it is withdrawing funding for this, the united nations population fund — unfpa. it's an agency that promotes family planning in more than 150 countries. the us reason is that the agency supports or participates in a programme of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilisation in china. but the unfpa says "unfpa refutes this claim, as all of its work promotes the human rights of individuals and couples to make their

nor any benefit to any syrian. these gross tactics will only cause further human suffering, human suffering primarily by the civilian population. and for which they must and we are determined to be held to account if not now in the nearest future possible. beyond these attacks, this was so shocked the world, as i said to you, i am also gravely concerned about the situation in besieged eastern -- where civilians remain trapped amid reports of relent else shelling and air strikes. they have reportedly been closed and further restriction movement for some 400,000 people who live in the area. wheen the u.n. has been unable to access since october last year. increased fighting has also resulted in displace ment in the north where some 20,000 people have been displaced in recent days. air strikes and shelling continues to kill civilians and damage civilian infrastructure. just this week i met with a medical facility in a village and was reportedly struck by air strikes and the chemical attack occurred earlier in the mont

assault on the syrian regime.sage to assad after an attack of his own people of a long, bloody civil war. >> i will ask congresswoman who recently met with bashar al-assad in damascus. russia's role. the pentagon now investigating if the kremlin was complacent in the syrian chemical attack. moscow is fighting back and defending putin's ally bashar al-assad. on the outs at one o f the most crucial moments yet o

they also targeted syrian government as well, the syrian military. 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 there appears to be an industrialized human atroci 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 that that was no reason for the united states to get militarily involved whatsoever in the syrian civil war. i mean, if you didn't want to get involved, if you screamed and yelled and occasionally wen

syrian media quoting syrian leader and official saying that undermines syria's ability to conduct counterterrorism operations. they're very much relying on the messaging that this was an act that will hurt them in terms of fighting a group like isis and other extremist groups in syria as oppose to the ability to carry out future chemical weapon's attacks on innocent civilians like we saw on tuesday. the bigger question, nicole, lauren, what happens next. next few hours and next few days could be a very difficult for this region. we saw israel's statement issue in support of this and turkey and saudi arabia. groups that have long opposed the assad regime. the question is how does syria or russia or hezbollah or even iran respond. there are u.s. troops in syria, there are u.s. troops in iran and turkey and israel is a favorite target as group of hezbollah and syria as well. a lot of potential target ifs the assad regime or any supporters decide to respond. that's what we are going to be looking for in the next few days and hours. lauren: connor powell, thanks and be safe. nicole: missile strikes on

the syrians are not fighting terrorists. they're fighting mostly the civil wans and the moderate opposition. but what's important is that the president of the united states took the commander in chief decision, in violation of international law and the use of weapons of mass destruction. it's not the first time that syria has done it. but the first time that assad has been punished for it. it was a deterrent, as far as ryan is reporting and others from the fog, a one-off, retaliated for this strike. and response from u.s. allies has been very supportive. israel, the united kingdom, france, many, many others. nato says it was alerted before this happened. the british defense secretary said this was an entirely american of ration. it wasn't a nato operation but we support it. that's the reaction from the allies. >> what about from russia? we spoke with matthew chance a minute ago. there were russians on that base. that is a facility they've invested in and have used. that could be incredibly dangerous to have any kind of russi

having worked the syrian problem myself for a long time i have no doubt that this was the syrians. >>come from do you think. >> these aren't big chemical weapons. they're quite small. they can be moved around the country quite readily. years ago, for decades, the syrians have played a game of moving their weapons around. so, taking out the chemical facilities would be very, very difficult. taking them out in an airfield is much, much easier. you have to be very careful when taking out chemical weapons. when you hit a chemical weapons depot, you run the risk of creating the problem you're trying to prevent. >> no doubt. i want to read a part of president trump's letter to congress that he sent today about the intent of the u.s. air strikes and i quote, i directed this action in order to degrade the syrian military's ability to conduct further chemical weapons attacks and to dissuade the syrian regime from using chemical weapons, thereby promoting the stability of the region and averting a worsening of the region's current humanitarian catstrophe. >> if they destroyed 20 syrian air to g

you weaken the syrian regime someone fills the vacuum. what's the largest and most dangerous military force in syria after the regime? isis. and isis is always very good at taking advantage of other forces weaknesses to fill the vacuum. so, yes, we've been focusing on the syrian regime but isis is still very much a threat to syria, to iraq and elsewhere. hala? >> i'm sure it's looking at the situation very closely trying to see how it can play to its advantage. ben wedeman in antakya, turkey. thank you very much. >>> we were with ben discussing the bigger picture. you have rebel groups, you have isis holding major parts of the territory, including raqqah though they are under pressure and now the syrian regime of bashar al assad feeling the heat a little bit after that u.s. strike. how does this change the picture, this u.s. military intervention, the overall syria picture? >> i don't think the limited and targeted attack by the trump administration will make any strategic difference in syria. if the administration, the trump administrati

get russia and the syrian government somehow away somehow get russia and the syrian government somehowd domestically in the us in terms of what he can do with russia. and, in fact, as the campaign against the islamic state proceeds, people in the administration, us allies like israel and saudi arabia, they are becoming increasingly concerned that the destruction of the islamic state will actually let russia, iran, and an empowered syrian government assume a more influential role in the middle east. and they want the united states to push back against that. and so just two days after the senior administration officials are talking about how they are not out to overthrow the bashar al—assad government, everything changes because they were looking for a window, some opening, where they could take military action and try and push back against the growing influence and disruption of the iranian— syrian axis in the region. it is worrying how he was not able to act on his original impulses in the region to co—operate with russia, to take a more open position with the syrian government, but he

>> reporter: now, john, what we're hearing from the syrian presidency, via the syrian arab news agency, is that they're describing the u.s. missile strikes as unjust and blatant aggression, irresponsible, and short-sighted. the syrian foreign ministry has put out a statement saying that these missile strikes were merely using the incident the chemical attack as a pretext for military aggression against syria. we're hearing, for instance, not surprisingly, iran, a key ally of syria, condemning the missile strike. but we're hearing, however, from others, for instance, the turkish government is praising the attack -- or rather, the missile strike by the united states, as is jordan, saudi arabia and other arab countries as well. and in social media, he's seen a surprising outpouring of support for a man who's been called abu ivanka enrike, a term of endearment arabs would be using in this case. some people on twitter changing their pictures to that of trump and written in arabic "we love you." john, poppy? >> ben wedeman reporting for us on the turkish/syria border. thank you very, very mu

destroyers overnight targeting the airfield syrian jets used for tuesday's chemical attack. syrian officials say several people were killed in the strike including some military officials. a russian spokesman this morning saying vladimir putin believes the u.s. attack violates international law. >> a top official from u.s. ally turkey calling the air strikes imperative to punish the assad regime for this chemical attack on its own citizens. >> so mixed reaction all over so far. let's begin our coverage right now with abc's alex marquardt who just arrived in the region. >> reporter: overnight a major step for this new commander in chief. >> tonight i ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in syria from where the chemical attack was launched. >> reporter: the president addressing the nation from his florida estate leveling a harsh indictment against syrian president bashar al assad. >> using a deadly nerve agent assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children. >> reporter: two u.s. destroyers in the eastern mediterranean fired dozens of tomahawk miss

strike on the syrian regime, a response to that nerve gas attack this week that killed more than 80 syrian civilians. nerve gas is banned by international convention. its use is a war crime. but syrian dictator, bashar al-assad, has inflicted it repeatedly against civilians who rebelled against his rule six years ago. today, mr. trump said, "something has to happen." holly williams reports from the syrian border where survivors of the attack are being treated. >> reporter: abdul hameed al-youssef lost his nine-month-old twins in the attack. aya and ahmed. "say gone, my loves," he said. before he buried them along with his wife and several other family members. turkey's government said today that initial findings suggest it was sarin nerve agent. the chief suspect is the syrian regime, in part because the target was in a rebel-controlled area that's been pummeled with air strikes by the regime and its ally, russia. witnesses from the town of khan sheikhoun say the chemicals were dropped on them from the air. the explanation for this atrocity given by russia and the syrian regime is that a c

please, help syrians stay in their country.ase establish safe zones and please take out assad owes air force so they won't be able to commit more atrocities committing traditional weapon. just so people can know what we've suffered in the pass six years. >> kassam eid, appreciate it. we'll be in touch and we'll be right back. g. we didn't know if it was even something that we could plausibly do. but having the zestimate in which they kinda calculate out what the approximate value of that house, maybe, should be. it took all of that kinda scary risk away. i can't tell you how much happier we are having a place of our own. whatever home means to you, we'll help you find it. zillow. then you're a couple. think of all you'll share... like snoring. does your bed do that? the dual adjustability of a sleep number bed allows you each to choose the firmness and comfort you want. so every couple can get the best sleep ever. does your bed do that? for a limited time find clearance prices on the cse bed. now only $1399 - save $500. only at

they have human penetrations, i guarantee you, of the syrian government and have intercepts of the syrianilitary. if you want to tell me afterwards why they still continue to cover up for the russians, that they still don't know it. i don't buy that for a second, wolf. they got to know. >> john kirby, do you buy that? >> i think there's certain a level of knowledge here. how high it go, i don't know, but i think phil is right. i think certainly there's -- in the last four days they have gained more knowledge -- more context about what happened. >> you know there was a tomahawk cruise missile strike, nia, but is there a real trump administration strategy, dom call it doctrine, that is unfolding right now? >> there doesn't really seem to be. you've seen some shifts even over the last couple of days. tillerson initially said that the fate of assad would be up to the syrian people. he is now saying that -- that assad's reign over syria will come to an end. i think the question still in terms of the policy it what does that mean? how does his reign come to an end, and when does it come to an e

and piloted by syrians, some piloted from the syrian bases on the west coast, they have actually beenive factor in suppressing not just islamic state and other groups but some secular opposition who are actually aligned with the united states. what this does is take the u.s.'s alignment against the assad regime and takes it a step further. but as i mentioned earlier, the question here is whether or not donald trump's intervention will be limited to this air strike, these 60 missiles, or whether there will be more. >> matt bradley in beirut, thank you very much. >>> still to come, the top stories, and the global market reaction, including to those air strikes in syria. >> plus president trump meeting with his chinese counterpart in florida today. we'll speak with leland miller on what to watch and how this equation has changed after last night's news in syria. "worldwide exchange" will be right back. you get used to food odors in your car. you think it... ...smells fine, but your passengers smell this bell dinging new febreze car with odorclear technology cleans away odors... ...for up

targeted a syrian airfield further south where it is believed the syrian regime stored chemical weapons before launching them into civilian neighborhoods. we're also now learning that same targeted airfield is back open and operational today. witnesses are reporting aircraft taking off and returning to the base and getting technical checks and refueling. this as the pentagon continues to investigate whether russia was involved in the chemical attack and if it executed a coverup. we've got team coverage from the ground in syria to trump's southern white house in florida. let's begin with ed wedeman on the border between syria and turkey. ben, what more are we learning about these new air strikes? >> there were air strikes yesterday and today on a town which on tuesday morning aircraft struck, it's believed with chemical weapons. death toll to that attack has now gone up to 89. now, we understand one of the air strikes today left a woman and several other people wounded and there was another air strike on a town just about seven miles to the north of -- excuse me -- as well. in that insta

firing 59 cruise missiles at a syrian air base. the strikes in retaliation for president assad's chemical weapons attack on his own people that killed dozens. including children. >> the latest from the u.s. military. they say they hit their target. the base, they believe, was used by syria to launch war planes and carry out the deadly chemical attack. russian officials will bolster air defenses in syria adding that the risk of a collision with the u.s. could not be higher. this is a stunning reversal for president trump. the president gone from 2013 warning obama to stay out to having his secretary of state and ambassador to the u.n. saying assad is a serious problem and now a missile strike. we have the global resources of cnn covering the story. let's start with cnn's jim sciutto live in d.c. what a difference 24 hours makes. >> no question, chris. we are getting our first battle damage assessment as the military calls them from the strike. the military saying of the 59 tomahawks fired, 58 of them severely damaged or degraded the