we don't have matt bradley with us in beirut. we'll get to him in a second. christopher dickey, news editor for the daily beast and msnbc contributor. good to have you back with us. let's talk about what i was going to ask matt bradley, the impact on neighboring countries and how they're all seeing this from their perspective. walk us through the region, how the various countries may be seeing this unfolding and what impact it may have on their stances in this conflict? >> i think the initial reaction in some of the countries, perhaps turkey, certainly in jordan, is good. let's take some measures, stronger measures against assad. but at the end of the day, they all wind up paying the price. the big price they've been paying for quite a while now is refugees. lebanon has the highest refugee per capita right now. millions have gone into turkey and millions more into jordan. it's a hell of a burden for these countries to sustain. turkey has moved its troops and proxies into northern syria and there is a substantial force operating quietly out of jordan as well in

tonight i call on all civilized nations to join us in seeking to end this slaughter and bloodshed in syria. >> joining us now from beirut, lebanon, nbc news matt bradley. good morning to you. let's talk a little bit about how our allies are responding and in some cases our enemies. iran taking one side of the divide in syria. what's the initial read in the region? >> reporter: as you mentioned, this is a shark tank donald trump is wading into right now. this maiden voyage into the middle east, he inherited a lot of these conflicts but he'll be poking at a lot of our allies in the region and enemies in what is already a very tense diplomatic game. of course, the russians have been very, very critical of this and they've already suspended what was kind of a hot line between u.s. forces and russian forces. a deconfliction phone line. this is the phone line the united states used to inform the russians they were going to be launching strikes against assad's regime in the first place, late last night. it sounds like, according to the associated press, this will be suspended. it seems as though so many people in the region ar

washington said it was launched tuesday in regulation to the suspected chemical attack. from beirut. henry, walk us through what we know about the strike and any casualties and caused stop -- costs. henry: the u.s. launched approximately 59 tomahawk cruise missiles against al-shayrat airbase in homs province. the damage is said to be huge according to the syrian news agencies. approximately 70 military -- seven were killed military personnel killed. it is said that it is said that maybe nine civilians were killed. russian saying some of the missiles may have missed the basis. planes were to nine destroyed and hangars and other equipment. molly: how significant is this airbase? henry: it is a significant airbase and one of the syrian stationst's modern air from which they carried out a lot of attacks in the past, including chemical weapons. fairly far away from any rebel held territory's, it had a lot of traffic of the syrian military operations. bunkers ofe to the the chemical weapons that were 2013 ofly given up in which and there's evident were not destroyed under the agreement reached that he or

in beirut. he can bring us benjames is in beirut. he can bring us the latest on what has happened.t on what has happened. it is a suspected gas attack, what can you tell us? indeed, suspected because organisations like the syrian observatory for human rights, uk—based monitoring group, they say that 58 people have been killed and have spoken of people choking and fainting after this air strike first thing in the morning, people foaming at the mouth and suffocating in the aftermath of it. activists on the opposition side have posted pictures on facebook groups which are graphic and show children being treated because it looks like they cannot breathe, foaming at the mouth as well. none of these pictures are pictures we have taken ourselves and that we can verify on the ground. the syrian government has not officially responded to this yet. in the past they have repeatedly denied using chemical weapons like this, but reports that the un and organisations with the prohibition of chemical weapons, put together last year, they found at least three exa m ples of last year, they found at

us here watching cnn newsroom. >> our coverage continues with hala gorani in beirut and's isa soares in london. that's the news. stay with us. >>> this is cnn breaking news. >> a very warm welcome to our viewers in the united states and right around the world. i'm isa soares in london. >> i'm hala gorani in beirut. we'll get back to isa with the stockholm truck attack. i want to get you up to date on the developments on the u.s. strikes on an syrian air base. the u.s. says it wants to know if russia was involved on the chemical attack that killed dozens of people including many children. the kremlin that allegations it was complicit were not true. that sfured

for us now. correspondent who is in beirut for us now. were able to listen to the syrian foreign minister they're giving a news conference about this attack that shocked the international community. he has denied the use of chemical weapons and condemned these chemical weapons. what you of that? yes, and the time that was mentioned there was interesting. it matters the time that the russian defence ministry mentioned in their official state m e nts mentioned in their official statements in this as well. 1130 in the morning local time is the time that they put that in a strike at. we were certainly reporting on the pictures and videos coming out earlier in the morning than that. 6:20am in the morning was what time activists on the ground said that those strikes that lent to the symptoms, what seems to be the chemical symptoms, i think everybody agrees and people were exposed to those, but as you say, the differences in the narrative about who is to blame. one other thing that has come out in the last hour 01’ that has come out in the last

hala gorani is in beirut for us. >> and i'm joined by cnn military analyst colonel layton. de ir r n context. you have the militant insurgency in the sinai, you have a radical sized in-sur fwesurgent effort destabilize the military government of abdel fattah el sisi by targeting members ever the christian community, among other strategies that they are using right now.ever the christian community, among other strategies that they are using right now. but they wiare doing it quote/unquote effectively. >> that's right. there are so many different aspects to this insurgency. it is multifaceted. on the one hand there are a lot of elements of isis that are active in the sinai peninsula, also active in egypt at large. so these forces combined with the forces that are sympathetic or part of the muslim brotherhood are forces that are absolutely opposed to the el sisi government. the wegs sst sees the el sisi government as a force for stanlt. the problem is they're sitting on a pressure cooker and that pressure cooker is about to explode. it's very difficult for any government, any c

. >> none of this women in high heels in beirut in the nightclub. i was watching us have a conversation and it -- we digress. i think it's important that we tell different kinds of stories, obviously, because i don't think -- we can't expect people to be dropped into this situation and to have a real understanding -- we can have empathy to some extent but i don't know can we really expect them to understand what it is to live in the skin of that's people and we have not had that maybe artistic interventions before syria we can see. i want to do that and there some characters in my family, like, generations of them. as there are in many families. but i was willing to take the risk to right about them and get disinvited. >> is anyone speaking to you, you the book just came out two days ago. they're going through it. >> two more questions and then i'll turn if over, there's a lot of great questions from the audience. you obviously can help but notice that your book is in the past tense, the home that was our country. when did it go from "is" to "what." >> god, layla. i

in beirut, everybody came through the bekaa valley. we're currently waiting for the hashish farmer. he's asked usecause he doesn't want us turning up to his house yet, because he doesn't know who we are. if you look over that mountain there, just behind it is where you'll find isis, where you'l find groups like jabhah nusrah. it's pretty dangerous. nice to meet you. thank you for having us. nice to have the knowledge that there is a couple of grenades in the back of the car. in the car? oh, there's another one. there you go. he's just handed me... is this an ak—47? he's passing the gun around. does everyone know who you are? that you're the kind of kingpin here? so if we tell someone we're with you, we're safe? here we go. this is how you can tell someone is a bit of a drug kingpin, his house is about ten times bigger than anyone else‘s in the area. it's actually like an episode of narcos. fun and games, but if we bleep this guy off, it's game over. do you have kids? 17 kids?! that's a lot of loving going on. you've got a golden pistol. i'm being handed guns like nobody‘s business. is it loaded r

our correspondent ben james, who's in beirut in neighbouring lebanon, has been following the story for uso this agreement. well, certainly the government of president assad has talked about these sorts of deals as in their field being has talked about these sorts of deals as in theirfield being key has talked about these sorts of deals as in their field being key to promoting some kind of peace, to defusing some of these opposition enclaves that still exist in predominantly government—held areas, the last one we were talking about before this was in an area of homs, once the capital of the revolution but only one opposition held area was remaining there. this is the largest of the surge deals so far, it involves a swap, as you like, hello people are not going to each other‘s towns, the two turns on one side are being evacuated in return for two turns on the other and the sentiment you heard from the man whose clip we just played is partly because they fear that their hand has been forced. starvation and siege is being used to force a deal like this that means they have to be their homes,

elma, kai, you've been with us from way back. linde in beirut. i don't have a dog. i hope your son is doing well. duncan, always so chatty. perma bear. patty with the beard. jeff with your kindness. charles. mrs. m, all you women, you rock. jared, i know that you like pure cocoa beans blended in your protein shake. mike in miami, steven, you live on the scottish border. always had trouble with your tv signal. george in geneva, how are you? writing in tirelessly with your ecb questions. will willem. ian, you're nuts about the greek banks. the poems that come through. the viewer that i call aloha. you write in almost every day from hawaii. alan in dublin. bernard, "power lunch," go "power lunch" from way back in the day. amy from arizona. steve, he's half danish. the list goes on. mr. h. dutch bart. martin, i know you like the opera. arthur. julianne from cyprus. paul, you wrote me simply saying a jell-o comment. how can you tell if there is an elephant in the refrigerator? footprints in the jell-o. thank you very much. and also through the years, many of you writing

using such weapons in the past. a political opposition group has called for a un investigation into today's attack. ben is in beirute latest. as you say, there is always a denial that chemical weapons are used. what is the latest you are hearing? also just in the last 20 minutes or so, a denialfrom the just in the last 20 minutes or so, a denial from the russian defence ministry that their planes were involved in an air strike in this area. we've been seeing footage posted online of what appears to be a rocket attack on hospital where some of the victims of this strike we re some of the victims of this strike were being treated. it is worth reminding everybody of the background chemical attacks in the conflict in syria. just last year, a report by the un and the organisation for the prohibition of chemicalfound evidence organisation for the prohibition of chemical found evidence that three times the government had used chlorine gas in attacks in 2014 and 2015 and it found that the so—called islamic state had used mustard gas in an attack as well. back in august 2013, you will remember this issue was a big one, it w

in beirut. good afternoon. things are a bit woolly. some evacuations postponed until today. what can you tell us? hope to bring you that interview with our correspondent later in the show. the u.n. has failed to adopt a draft resolution on the suspected chemical attack in syria following a veto by russia. it sparked anger from the u.k., france and u.s. who drafted the document. demanded then had syrian army cooperate with investigators and provide details of operations on april 4 specifically. the u.s. has criticized russia's veto. today's vote could have been a turning point. once more this vote could have been the moment when russia saw that its interests do not lie but the murderous dictator rather with the many countries in the international community including those across the middle east that want to end this conflict. by its failure russia will continue to be isolated. genie: in a reversal of campaign rhetoric, donald trump has declared that nato is no longer obsolete. in the campaign he criticized the alliance, saying member countries weren't pulling their weight financially. on the campa

in beirut, everybody came through that way. we're currently waiting for the hashish farmer. he's asked usecause he doesn't want us to come to his house, because he doesn't know who we are. it's pretty dangerous over there. nice to meet you. thank you for having us. nice to have the knowledge that there is a couple of grenades in the back of the car. there you go. he's just handed me, is that an ak—47? he's passing it around. does eve ryo ne he's passing it around. does everyone know who you are? are you the kingpin here? if we tell someone we're with you, we're safe? this is so we're with you, we're safe? this is so you we're with you, we're safe? this is so you can we're with you, we're safe? this is so you can tell someone is a drug kingpin, his ice is about ten times bigger than anyone else in the area. if we leaked this guy off, it's bigger than anyone else in the area. if we leaked this guy off, its game over. do you have kids? that's a lot of lobbying going on. you've got a golden pistol. is it loaded right now? he's just pulled golden pistol. is it loaded right now? he'sjust pulled

use them to bomb innocent people and drop sarin gas on them. any for more, we're going to lebabanon where we arere joinedy yazan al-saadi, syrian canadian writer, researcher based in beirutwe are also continuing with alia malek, author of "the home that was our country: a memoir of syria." phyllis bennis is with us a , fefellow at the institute for policy studies. and we're joined by medeaea benjamin, cofounder of code pink. let's go to lebanon right now to yazan al-saadi. your response to the first u.s. attack on the syrian military base after the tuesday chemical attack inyria? >> well, my fifirst response is that i personally don't think it is going to matter much in the long term. i think it is simply a symbolic attack. let us all forget the u.s. told the russians beforehand they were going to do it. they hit a loan air base. this will not really damamage te capabilities of the assad regime to do what it is doing. i also would like to highlight that regardless of the fact that it is the first so-called u.s. response on the syrian regime, the u.s. has been bombing syria since 2014, killing hundreds of civilians. so for me, i would have to disagree with my other guest

in west beirut. - [voiceover] two bombs that exploded at virtually the same time at the us embassies in kenya and tanzania, killing scores. - [voiceover] the us ambassador to libya and three embassy staffers have been killed in an attack on the us consulate in the libyan city of benghazi. - [kathleen] i've seen firsthand the sacrifice of foreign service families. my father was a consular officer and my mother worked right alongside him. - it's done because people love the concept of serving their country and they love the idea of taking american ideals abroad, taking our values and trying to promote them in various places and also in doing so, helping to protect the interests of our country at home. - [kathleen] from benjamin franklin, america's first diplomat, to today's professional foreign service, these are the foot soldiers on the front lines of america's foreign policy. these are america's diplomats. - [voiceover] great decisions is produced by the foreign policy association, in association with thomson reuters. funding for great decisions is provided by the nelson b. delavan foundation, price-water

in use. the runway seemingly untouched with u.s. officials confirming that syrian planes have taken off. >>> so, we want to go back to abc's alex marquardt who is in beiruteast reaction on the air strikes. alex, what can you tell us this morning? >> reporter: good morning, dan and paula. there was swift and fierce reaction from the syrian regime with syrian president bashar al assad calling this an excessive and unjust act of aggression. as could have have been expected this was widely supported by assad's enemies, widely condemned by his friends including iran, which has been propping up the assad regime for the last several years. the iranian president saying all terrorists in syria are celebrating the u.s. attack. one of the fears is whether there would be some sort of retaliation, a military relax. that is not expected from syria or its allies. there's been widespread support in the region for this military strike. none more so than from israel with prime minister benjamin netanyahu saying president trump sent a strong and clear message today that the use and spread of chemical weapons will not be tolerated, which, of course, is the message that trum

in beirut. >> i'm isa soares live in london. for viewers in the u.s. "new day" is just ahead. for everybody else cnn style starts right ahead. please stay here. how we useur imagination. and at southern company we're building the future of energy, for you. say hello to at&t's best, unlimited data deal and never pay overages again. so now the whole family can binge, surf, shop, navigate, listen, game, stream and more. all without the hassle of worrying about overages or running out of data. in fact, you'll never pay overages again. and remember, it's at&t's best, unlimited data deal ever. so get at&t, get unlimited and get everyone more for less. >>> u.s. military is investigating whether russia was complicit in the syrian regime's grew he is chemical weapons attack on civilians. >> the united states took a very measured step. we're prepared to do more. >> i wish we would obey the constitution and do this the way our founding fathers intended. >> it was a legal move. >> the president has his full

we'll go to nbc's matt bradley in beirut, lebanon, with the latest on this. what more can you tell us what their suspicions are about how this chemical weapons attack happened in syria? >> reporter: thomas, thank you. this is of course iran's position, consist accident with syria's position and russia's. all of this is just saying russia said immediately, and syria agreed, that this was an example of a bombing done by a russian aircraft or a syrian aircraft against a rebel position and it was the rebels who stockpiled the chemicals in this facility and that's what caused this appearance of sarin gas mixed with chlorine. the turkish officials who saw many of the wounded who came out of northern syria, they said this was a sarin gas attack. now, the united states and other investigators have really disputed this contention of russia's and syria's and now iran, saying if there had been a bombing, that a lot of these victims would have actually had visible appearances of having been bombed. there's a reason why this was called a bloodless massacre. these 80 people who were killed were lar

us this update from beirut. the death toll has risen, agencies are quoting around 112 killed in this blast yesterday.re fears of retaliation on some buses waiting to be evacuated from the opposition side, that are besieged by the government, but so far we hear that there were no retaliation attacks, the evacuation went smoothly, and i've spoken to some activists who made it to northern syria in the idlib town — this is the province, idlib province, that is held by the rebels. this is where most of the opposition that are evacuated, not only from these two towns yesterday but elsewhere, they are evacuated to. what happened yesterday has brought some solidarity to both sides after this blast where many children and women, mainly civilians were targeted. we have seen evacuation and help happening from opposition activists as well as loyalists, who ran to rescue the children who were targeted. the iraqi military says that in fierce fighting with islamic state militants its forces have pushed deeper into the heart of the city of mosul. after weeks of near stalemate, troops and police launched an attack in

our correspondent ben james, who's in beirut in neighbouring lebanon, has been following events in syria and he sent user people from one particular town have been moved. 30,000 people could be involved in this in the end. the humanitarian situation in these four towns has been described by the united nations as catastrophic. at the beginning of last year there were reports of people eating leaves off trees in order to try to survive. we hear reports from doctors in these places of a shortage of medicines as a result of these sieges. but although the humanitarian situation is that bad, we also hear from the people who are leaving these places that they see this as forced displacement, and them having to leave their homes because of politics and conflict and they would rather stay at home and have the sieges lift. tell us about a meeting that is going to be happening today between the syrian foreign minister and his iranian and russian counterparts in moscow. what can we expect from that? they have already in the last few minutes been speaking together in front of the cameras, these three foreign minist

us from beirut. do we know more about why thehee equations have been delayed? >> there has been no word yet from the rubble party involved inhese negotiations, or from the syrian government. we have seen many situations that involve prisoner swaps. it is probably due to the rebel's insistence that the evacuations take place simultaneously. people waiting with their loved ones by these green buses, hoping to g get word on whwhat will happen through the evening or hopefully by tomorrow morning. host: they are very keen to get out of these towns, which have been held by government f forces for quite some t time. >> absolutely. it doesn't mean that the decision to leave it is any easier. those that are being given priority are those that are sick or wounded, women and children. conditions in the towns that are rebel held and have been bebesieged by government forces are particularly terrible. madaya made history for residents that were feasting on insects. if they leave these towns tonight or tomorrow, they will ,e at least able to go to idlib where they have access to medical care, but leaving people behind is a tough situatio

us live from beirut. good morning and thank you for joining us. this attack yesterday just underlined the terrible risks and the dangers faced by people in these towns, indeed, especially since the attack took place where civilians were evacuated. it was not targeting only, you know, fighters on either side. what we hearfrom the only, you know, fighters on either side. what we hear from the syrian observatory for human rights and some activists who were at the scene was that a bus loaded with food was distributing food to children, at then exploded and, you know, caused a lot of casualties. so far we have no information about who is responsible behind this but there are? is raised on how this bath with food managed to get into the area when it is sealed with security from both sides. —— it raises issues about how this bath with food managed to get into the area. in the past few hours people in turkey have begun voting in a referendum which could significantly increase the powers of president erdogan. if approved, the role of prime minister would be scrapped, more than 5,000 people have been rescued from boats off the libyan coast over the past two d

we've had reporters inside of yria writing for us in english and arabic from the beginning. e have an office inform beirut in a network of reporters >> absolutely, a lot of buzz and analysis around the strike is fact it doesn't seem to have penetrated the airays of the air base, the base is one of the important for syrian government. from the pentagon statement and what we gather from the gowned, debilitated the runways or russian military ircraft or other aircraft that could use that facility to launch future attacks. around a lot of buzz the fact this doesn't seem to do long-term, significant damage to government's capabilities. it seems to be more like ignalling effect the trump administration is willing to take military action, at all, obamaicant given over the years, we didn't see anything remotely close to this muffle the u.s. policy response to syria. in terms of the impact on refugees, what this will likely do, make it harder to come home, term, t in the short there have been beginnings of discussion around how you can millions of syrian refugees who lost the country again. home discussion around

use of chemical weapons. benjames ben james is our correspondent benjames is our correspondent in beirut.ose missile attacks, a statement of intent by donald trump. what might happen next and what if anything has changed in the wider scenario of the middle east? what is being reported by the syrian observatory for human rights, the monitoring grid, what is happening with the opposition. those cruise missiles yesterday morning. that city that has changed and between the syrian government. planes still taking off from now, it seems, according to that report. it shows potentially the air base wasn't taken potentially the air base wasn't ta ken out of potentially the air base wasn't taken out of commission would it was, the syrian military have managed to get it back up and running. we saw some footage shot by russian state tv. journalists on the ground, in that airbase. we saw some of the hangars were damaged. nine planes had been destroyed. there we re planes had been destroyed. there were shut to —— there was a shrapnel on the runway. not complete destruction of the runway. we will keep an

. >>> all right, let's turn to abc's alex marquardt who is in the middle east this morning with reaction and joins us from beirutashar al assad. good morning, alex. >> reporter: good morning, amy. that's right, president assad lashing out at the u.s. in his first comments since this strike overnight calling this an illegal action and saying that the u.s. is, quote, the initiators of the ongoing dirty war against our people. the question now, how does he react? does he retaliate. in all likelihood he won't. this was a warning shot by the u.s. that he will likely take on the chin but the u.s. is now in a tough spot essentially helping the enemies of assad including isis and the syrian military today accusing the u.s. of being partners now with isis. assad's biggest friend in the region, iran, also out with an angry statement calling this dangerous, destructive and a violation of international law. but they aren't expected to want to retaliate or escalate this either. all across the region the enemies of assad heaping praise on this strike. no one more so than israel which has carried out its own air strikes agains

launching the missile strike on syria last night, joining us with the latest is matt bradley who is live in beirutporter: hi, thanks for this. we just wanted to bring you a -- you up on the latest on what's going on. the reaction has been flowing in from around the region, not just from within syria. the government has called this very irresponsible, but of course those elements within syria who are fighting against the government are offering fulsom praise for donald trump, a man who said he wasn't going to be intervening in syria and he called out bashar al assad as a potential partner in the fight against global terrorism. now elements like ahrar al sham, a far right islamist group very much opposed to assad praising any american intervention they can go. turkey, israel, they're all praising this move. of course we are getting protests from russia. from iran. and from the syrian government itself and they have all calmed this -- called this irresponsible and a violation of international law. all of this accumulated goodwill behind donald trump it can remain with him, this very popular and isola

use a vehicle and now sweden thrust in the path of isis' prop dan da killing drive -- propaganda killing drive. cnn, london. >> all right. we'll be back in beirut after a quick break and we will try to explain why president trump abruptly changed his cruise missile strike in an airbase in the central part of the country. we'll be right back, stay with us. so you're having a party? i'm happy for the distraction. i'll be right there. and the butchery begins. what am i gonna wear? this party is super fancy. are you my uber? [ horn honks ] hold on. [ upbeat music playing ] the biggest week in tv is back. [ doorbell rings ] who's that? show me watchathon. xfinity watchathon week now until april 9. get unlimited access to all of netflix and more, free with xfinity on demand. . >>> this is cnn breaking news. >>> welcome back to our viewers here in the united states and right around the world. are you watching cnn "newsroom." i'm isa soares. >> reporter: i'm hala gorani, we are live in beirut at an airbase in the central part of the country. now there has been a very heated war of words following this military intervention by the trump administration a

we spoke to a reporter on the alleged chemical attack in syria earlier today on "washington journal." >> joining us from beirut this morning, sarah aldiv with the associated press to give us more. thanks for joining us. is there any indication that either there is a direct line of evidence that syria or russia were behind these attacks? >> well, good morning. what the syrian government, of course, denies any part in such an attack. denial was not a surprise. as you saw, russia has said that as far as it knows, there was a syrian air strike but blamed the rebels for holding chemical weapons. we have no way of verifying this sort of information. as you know, reporters have not been able to get on the ground in syria, and we -- not even investigators of chemical weapons arsenal can get in there. as an opposition-held area and the security there has not been easy for journalists or international organizations to be there. anyway, we've talked to people who have witnessed attacks, and most of what we've heard

us. we'll be right back. >>> this is cnn breaking news. >> welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm isa soares in london. >> i'm hala gorani, coming to you live from beirut, lebanon. while president trump's strike on a syrian air base represents a shift in policy to the war-torn country. from what we've heard and what we've seen, it's not a decision he took lightly. the president met with his security council several times before authorizing the strike. the go ahead came just before his meeting with the chinese president. jeff zeleny has that story. >> reporter: president trump's biggest commander in chief moment. launching air strikes in syria. dramatically changing the tone with his meeting with xi jingping. >> the relationship developed between me and president xi is outstanding. we look forward to being together many times in the future. and i believe lots of potentially bad problems will be going away. >> reporter: meeting at his mar-a-lago resort, the president letting the missile strikes speak for themselves. >> what would you say about the strikes on syria? >> thank you very much. >> reporter: the president's decision to strike thursday evening w

us live from beirut with an update. good morning to you, matt. >> reporter: good morning. so, right now we've just heard there were probably something like six syrians who were killed in thisr strike on the syrian regime base. this is a major escalation, but so many people in the region are seeing this as many in the u.s. are, that donald trump has essentially painted himself into a corner with his bellicose language about the syrian regime, and his criticism of his predecessor barack obama. that's what they're seeing. this is little more than a warning shot or a shot across the bow of the syrian regime. but still this rather minor limited air strike, if it indeed stops here, is really upending a lot of assumptions that donald trump brought into office. if you remember, president trump offered limited praise for bashar al assad and said he could become a partner in the fight against terrorism. now other groups extremely islamist in nature are praising donald trump's intervention and the syrian government is protesting saying donald trump will hinder the fight against terrorism which was one of his main planks when he was running for office last year. donald trump is wading

using such weapons in the past. a political opposition group has called for an un investigation into today's attack. benjames ben james bbc news benjames bbc news beirut boris johnson has been borisjohnson has been giving his react sthoun the suspected gas attack. he was speaking alongside his german counterpart who he's been in talks with this afternoon. if this were proved to have been committed by the assad regime, it would be another reason to think they are an absolutely heinous outfit that is an absolute... it's a war crime. bombing your own civilians with chemical weapons is unquestionably a war crime and they must be held to account. that's why i think we both — there's no difference between us at all — we all adhere to the lyse luges that adheres to the un. it's unbelievable to think that in the long—term bashar assad can play a part in the future of syria given what he's done to his people. we have to find a a way forward that leads to a transition away from assad as that resolution clearly says. earlier the bbc‘s benjames said it's very difficult to prove what chemical has been used. it's extremely difficult, the notion of proof in this hig

tonight i call on all civilised nations to join us in seeking to end the slaughter and blood shed in syria. our correspondent ben james is in beirut minutes or so is from the syrian presidency itself of bashar al—assad, a statement that was carried by state tv, read out, they quoted it as saying that what the us has done is nothing more than thoughtless, irresponsible behaviour. they're talking about the us misled by imaginary and hectic propaganda. they're saying that this attack has only increased syria's determination to strike at terrorist agents and to continue to crush them. they're certainly saying their resolve continues in continuing to fight in this conflict as they have before. whether they will or not remains to be seen. the syrian government deny using chemical weapons in that attack on civilians. they said it was an airstrike attack on civilians. they said it was an air strike of conventional weapons that hit a chemical weapons store on the ground, despite lots of activists at and the accounts of doctors treating the patients that emerged from that town saying otherwise. something else that has been carried by state

in this very barbaric attack. no child of god should ever suffer such horror. >> for more on the air strikes, matt bradley joins us now from beirut. good morning, matt. >> good morning, joe. as you mentioned, this was a -- a lot of markets don't seem to be roiled by this news. while it is true donald trump and this new administration are wade nothing a shark tank, it's a an extremely complicated situation on the ground. it's not surprising that markets have not stood up and taken notice. a lot of people in the middle east and the reaction so far has shown people don't necessarily believe this will be a decisive attack, that will be sustained. they see this in the same way that so many in america see this that donald trump painted himself into a corner abowith bellicose language about the assad regime and his predecessor. that's what they're seeing. this is little more than a warning shot or a shot across the bow of the syrian regime. recently we have had fresh news that the "wall street journal" is reporting that the russian defense ministry says only 23 of the 59 tomahawks launched against the syrian regime base actually hit the

we spoke to a reporter on the alleged chemical attack in syria earlier today on "washington journal." >> joining us from beirut this morning, sarah aldiv with the associated press to give us more. thanks for joining us. is there any indication that either there is a direct line of evidence that syria or russia were behind these attacks? >> well, good morning. what the syrian ve

we spoke to a reporter on the alleged chemical attack in syria earlier today on "washington journal." >> joining us from beirut this morning, sarah aldiv with the associated press to give us more. thanks for joining us. is there any indication that either there is a direct line of evidence that syria or russia were behind these attacks? >> well, good morning. what the syrian government, of course, denies any part in such an attack. denial was not a surprise. as you saw, russia has said that as far as it knows, there was a syrian air strike but blamed the rebels for holding chemical weapons. we have no way of verifying this sort of information. as you know, reporters have not been able to get on the ground in syria, and we -- not even investigators of chemical weapons arsenal can get in there. as an opposition-held area and the security there has not been easy for journalists or international organizations to be there. anyway, we've talked to people who have witnessed attacks, and most of what we've heard indicate that there was a rocket missile attack in the town early in the morning on tuesday. most of the pe