the passenger forcibly dragged off a plane, could it happen to you?

this is cnn tonight. i'm don lemon. it's not exactly friendly flying the skies. >> come on. >> what are you doing? >> you busted his lip. >> oh, my god, what did you do to him? >> more eyewitnesses speaking out about what really happened when a passenger was dragged off a united airlines flight to make room for employees. the america and the world back the actions in syria. so why are some of his strongest supporters outraged? let's get right to that united airlines story, though. i want you to take another look at one of the passengers forcibly removed from one of its flights. >> you busted his lip. >> oh, my god.

look at what you did to him. >> so similar details for you. the flight was overbooked. when no one volunteered to give up their seat, the passenger was dragged off the plane. the next video was shot by another passenger who wishes to remain anonymous. >> i have to go home. i have to go home. i have to go home. just kill me. i have to go home. just kill me. i have to go home. >> joining me now is doyle davis who was sitting a few seats away and witnessed that. how are you doing? >> i'm doing well. how about yourself? >> so you were seating a few seats away. tell us what you saw. >> well, to begin with a gentleman on the plane was asked

to deboard, he originally before the event began he actually volunteered to deboard the plane with his wife in exchange, you know, for credit for the airline. then they told him he wouldn't be able to get to louisville the following morning to which he responded he had to work the next day. he apparently a doctor in the louisville area, and he was on call the next day. and told them, okay, i can't. i have to stay on this flight. i have to get to work in the morning. so he sat back down and not too long after that an administrator from the airline came onboard, told him he had to leave, and he said he couldn't and wouldn't e

de-board. then he proceeded to ask why she was picking on him. specifically he said he felt his race was an issue. he said the color of my skin, is that the reason you're trying to force me and my wife off? why us and no one else? the lady told him you're going to have to leave or i'm going to have to get the police here to pull you off. >> how close to him were you sitting, doyle? >> i was about five rows behind him. >> united has said that he was selected randomly. do you believe that or do you think there was some other issue that he may have been right about his race? >> you know, i don't know. for me to answer that would be pure speculation. i have no reason to believe that

race wasn't an issue, however i do believe the way the personnel from the airline chose to handle it was just very, very poor and in poor taste. >> so it wasn't necessary because you see in that video i mean they are dragging him out of there. and it appears to me that he's a bit damaged. was he bleeding? what kind of condition was he in? >> he was bleeding. as the police were trying to get him off the plane, and i would like to back up just a second if you wouldn't mind. the police did try several different times to ask the man to just de-board the plane. it is my opinion that they tried everything in their power to resolve the issue as peacefully and with the least amount of

violence necessary. the man just kind of ended up becoming -- and i don't want to use the word belligerent because that's not right here. he felt his rights were being violated, and don't necessarily disagree. that may have been the case. but i do believe the police did everything in their power to do the right thing here, and i feel as though they did the right thing. >> you think they did the right thing? >> well, at this point you've got to keep in mind at this point they're doing their job. i mean they're charged with keeping the peace, and they at this point were following directives and orders to get the man off the plane. now, as far as him getting injured, i do not agree with it. it was actually in poor test is

the best way to put it. he did smack his face on a arm rail or what we call an armrest on the aisle as they were escorting him off the plane. and that's where all the blood you see in those videos and in the pictures, that's where all that blood came from. >> doyle, let me ask you there's video of him running up and down the aisle. was that before or after they removed him? >> that was after they removed him. and there was a great deal of confusion. we cannot manage how he managed to escape police custody and get back on the plane. but what was actually more disturbing than anything was the fact he was running back down the aisle, blood pouring out of his face and running down his arms and hands saying i have to go, i have to go home.

he appeared to be disoriented almost as if he were drugged or something along those lines. once again, i'm not saying he was on drugs or -- >> you can imagine he was probably -- you can imagine, though, someone experiencing that amount of trauma, you would be disori wanted. i hear other passengers around him screaming i can't believe you guys are doing that, this is horrible. it doesn't appear he would have to be dragged off the plane that way. i don't think they should treat anybody on a plane that way. >> no, i don't think any american citizen should be treated this way. but i think the porn thing here is that the narrative should not be that the police were in the wrong. the police were asked to remove

a man from a united airlines flig flight. it was the united airlines personnel at the scene who allowed the situation to be handled so poorly. first, they handled the situation poorly, and essentially put the police between a rock and a hard spot and forced them to make decisions -- did they make the right wrong, did they make the wrong one? >> having said what you said about united, how does that make you feel about flying united? >> i'm actually trying to get moved. i was supposed to take a united airlines flight to get home from this trip, and i'm trying to get that flight canceled in exchange for another airline. >> yeah, doyle dave us, thank you for your time. i appreciate it. >> no problem, thank you. >> now, i want to bring in my panel. good evening to all of you.

angela, you first. if you spent any time online today you saw that shocking video, the guy bloody. and now it's all over the news. and i just spoke to that passenger and he said that he didn't think the police did anything wrong, they were between a rock and a hard place. do you agree with that? >> of course i don't agree with that. i also don't iagree with his sentiment that no american citizen should be treated that way. i would argue that no human being should be treated that way, don. i do think it's important to acknowledge what is legal for faa standards. it is legal for people to be bumped in fact last year 40,000 people were bumped off flights. i think the issue is when you have someone that is booked on a flight, you allow them to board, and then you physically drag them off that fligt. that violates all types of standards for human zeesancy. for that man's face to be

bloody, i can't imagine how he's felt. this is the second time in united airline history where the company has failed. in fact the ceo issued a statement justifying the behavior. the only thing they can potentially avoid a lawsuit is saying i'm so sorry this happened. >> i do find a lot of people who work in the airline industry are being particularly defensive tonight. completely on the opposite side. but some for reason on this one, i don't understand why. it appears to be the same thing to me. but ben, what do you think? who's at fault here? >> this should have never escalated to point where you had to get the police involved if you're running a company in the appropriate manner. the united airlines is a company that made literally billions of

dollars in net income last year. you look at this story, you have a full flight. you offered $400 the first time. no one took you opon that voucher. you then go to more money, $800, no one took you up on that offer. you then go to whatever it tike takes to get the people off the plane so you don't have an episode like this when you make billions of dollars and purposy sell a product knowing there's going to be an issue. if it takes 3,000 in virters or 5,000 in virters. i guarantee someone would have happenally reached up and gone to -- >> so you're saying its the airline's fault? >> yes. if you overbook a flight, there is some responsibility united should be under tonight to pay whatever it takes when you're maximizing your profits,

overselling your flights on purpose. >> so the guy was kicked off because they were over booked, not because he was being unruly or drunk. dragged off because the airline was book. what do you think? >> first, the faa guidelines state you can pay only $1,350. you can't negotiate past that point. >> but it didn't go to that level. >> yep. there has to be something in there that we talk about de-escalation and talk about other tactics to have a medical professional who's simply trying to get the work the next day, mentally he's going to have to face that anguish. this isn't the first time. two years ago their ceo had to

resign. they kicked young ladies off the plane a few months ago for wearing leggings. united airlines has some problems and it rocks from the top. and that statement the ceo had today was pathetic. >> let's put up the statements since you mentioned it. flight 3411 from chicago, this is how united explained. after our team looked for volunteers, one customer refused to live. law enforcement was asked to come to the gate. we apologize for the overbook situation. and then the ceo went onto say this is an upsetting event. from all of us here at united i apologize for having to reaccommodate these customers. we're conducting our own detailed review of what happened. he apologizes for having to

reaccommodate but not for how the passenger was treated. >> look, there's an instigs statement. i agree fully. there's a bunch of wrong parties here. you look at the security officer who did ask multiple times. passenger was wrong not to comply. but that aside i think ben hit the nail on had the head here. these airlines should not be able to do this. they put the customer before the dollar at the end of the day. when you overbook flights, there are people trying to get to -- i personally was trying to get to my grandfather's funeral when i was on an overbooked flight. it's uncalled-for to purchase a ticket and then boiler point language at the bottom say you purchased a ticket -- >> listen, i'd be boxing if someone tried to do that. it would be like i paid, my

money is green like the next person. and the people who didn't pay anything and they're going to get a seat on the plane? no sir ree bob. i want to point out that the officer we see in that video was put on leave today. quickly because we've got to go to break. >> bakari said they can only go up to a certain number. they didn't even go up to the number. if they know that is a problem, then you go to congress and you raise a number. no one is congress is going to say no. >> with this video, i just have to say i know the police are brought onto do a certain job and the airlines got them involved, but imagine if that a family member being yanked off that plane. >> i agree. >> i would be so passed off.

all right, we've got a lot more to talk about.

donald trump famously squuered president obama for playing golf, but since becoming president he's spent plenty of time playing himself. back with me now, my panel. you guys are going to love to talk about this. >> there's goes the bipartisan agreement. >> yeah, let's talk about what's looking more and more like president trump's routine here. we crunched the numbers and found the president has spent six weekends and a total of 21 days at mar-a-lago. the total cost of those trips $21.6 million. i'm going to check those numbers, but i think it's like 13 times he's been to the golf course -- 17 times.

so you know. >> just for pure numbers sake barack obama went do the golf course in the first 81 days zero times. the fact is donald trump is on pace to spend more money in his first year traveling and traveling the -- >> hold on one minute, bakari. >> did you just kanye west me? i was making a point. >> put that back up please because we heard so much from donald trump about president obama going to the golf course and playing. but look at that, 17 times. obama zero times. i'm just saying, people, if you don't see the hypocrisy in that, then you don't want to see it. you're blind. as a matter of fact, let's

listen to him. then you can finish, yes. let's listen to him and i'll let you finish. >> obama, it was reported today played 250 rounds of golf. he played more golf last year than tiger woods. this guy plays more golf than people in the pga tour. golf, golf, golf, more, more. learning how to hit, learning how to hit the drive, learning how to put, i want more. because i'm going to be working for you, i'm not going to have time to play golf. these little trips, they cost you a fortune. if i were in the white house i don't think i'd ever see -- i just want to stay in the white house and who's going to leave? >> me too, don, same face.

>> that's not fair. you took mest of my thunder, but my point still remains that the right has lost credibility. fox news, these talk shows, all of these are filled with hypocrisy. everyone else who blasted obama for going golfing, they all of a sudden are quiet about the utter expense. we can't take care of the poor because you've to take care of my three homes and shuttle me around the country to play golf. i wish someone could sit up here and justify his behavior. because the fact is he's not at home, he's not doing the work nesary, and it's really dispickable when -- >> let him get in. can you let kaley talk please, ben, because you've been talking the entire segment. >> i haven't even talked about golf. go ahead. >> kaley, go on.

kaley before you go on, the president is on pace for the first year of office has surpassed barack obama's spend ogon travel for the entire eight years. come on now. >> look, you know, you're right. but one thing i want to talk about is when bakari has said is there's so much hypocrisy -- as ben pointed out on his twitter feed when liberal left-wing kmenitators was talking about trump and syria when -- >> can we stick to the golf, kaley? can we stick to the golf? >> i'm point ugout if you want to point to hypocrisies, it happens on both sides. it'sads if there's nothing going on, no hypocrisy on the left.

>> you can get in after this. >> just let me know. >> just real quick, dan. i'll be much quicker than you've ever been. just interesting point here, we are the fiscal conservatives now, bicarry. who would have ever thought it. don't shake your head, girl. you know i'm right. i don't know what you thought about the golfing, because you were talking about syria. but the only point i'm raising is a million a day, $3 million a trip. spending that cash. >> shouldn't you be leaving by example, if you are a conservative, a fiscal conservative, shouldn't your life be an example of that or is it do as i say and not as i do? >> three things here --

>> oh, my gosh, can we talk about golf? >> it's three things. sure, i'll talk about gall. when he was in mar-a-lago just a couple of days ago was he not with one of the biggest leaders in the world and talking about north korea. >> he can't do that in d.c.? >> let me finish making a point. when you go down and meet and spend quality time playing golf with a world leader, there is a relationship there being built. you can't criticize -- >> they should build golf courses in washington, d.c. or maybe they should build golf courses at camp andrew. you're acting as though somehow the weather in florida is the same as washington. >> it was in the 50s this weekend.

what are you talking about? >> my point is when you have a world leader come in. >> i've got to go. ben, here's the thing. ben, here's the thing, you guys -- you can never criticize or at least we showed the tape of the president being hypocritical, and you go he's not being hypocritical. you can't even acknowledge it. that takes your credibility away. you have no credibility when you do that. >> $3 million. >> buy, see y'all later. thank you. we'll be right back. you won't see these folks they have businesses to run. they have passions to pursue. how do they avoid trips to the post office? stamps.com mail letters, ship packages, all the services of the post office right on your computer. get a 4 week trial, plus $100 in extras

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so you won't even have to call us. change your wifi password to something you can actually remember, instantly. add that premium channel, and watch the show everyone's talking about, tonight. and the bill you need to pay? do it in seconds. because we should fit into your life, not the other way around. go to xfinity.com/myaccount president trump closing in on his first 100 days in office is his president in chief taking command? i want to bring in the cocreator of the show times the circus. good evening to both of you. hark, i love watching the show,

"the circus." let's talk about what happened with syria. it seems to be a pivotal moment for the president. do you think he's sort of taken back some of the bad press, and is this a pivotal moment for him to move into a better position? >> yeah, it gives him a big reswret, an opportunity for people to look at him differently. every president gets tested by far by external events, the events that are unplanned, the crises that are imposed upon you to see how react to that. this is his first tonight to do that. but just hitting the airfield was the easy part. now he's got to get into a very complicated situation with the middle east. as john mccain said, now the important part begins. he was way overextended on the whole putin thing. i think everyone knew it.

they all know russia is bad actor, but he was so far extended out there this is going oo be kind of my nixon to china thing. that's off the table now. and i think that's good for trump, and i think he kind of realizes that now that this strike has given him on opportunity to say you know what, he is a bad guy. >> so he's had an epiphany. >> right. >> so secretary of defense james mattis has said it's destroyed 20% of the war planes at the field. here's the thing, there have been so many lies from the administration, so many mistruths, so many crazy things like spying and that sort of thing. isn't this an example where it's

key and you need support? >> absolutely. that's why mattis and the other national security people around him have been stepping forward and they're get a lot of credibility a lot of kudos from the foreign national committees from people around the world. people think that mattis and these other people that are now in place are a really solid team of not just generals, these are like reformed generals. these are the guys who have written a book about doing things differently. >> i'm not going to jump ahead in the texas book here. but i want to see what's happening with the team and also gets your thought on the adults are in the room now. there's a new poll out. 57% of americans approve of the strike, but they are concerned about any further action, and it's bumped his approval rating up to 43%.

do you think it will last? >> i do think it's been good for the president. it obviously was a distraction from a lot of things that were going wrong for him on the domestic level. last weekend it was also kind of surprising moment for president trump because certainly he was out on the campaign trail all last year talking about how the u.s. should not be the world's policemen and so forth. so this was a departure from what he was talking about on the campaign trail. and he clearly had a human reaction. so you have a lot of people questionings what the trump doctrine is, what his next move will be, how predictable this will be, and how this will be received around the world. and that means we're not talking about the collapse of the healthcare bill or the other things that have gone awry in his first 100 days, so that is welcome thing for him. >> i'm willing to bet, mark,

that that approval rating going up now to 43%, i'm willing to bet that that's not necessarily from his traditional supporters. that may be people he's won over. >> his main supporters for trump -- >> didn't want him to go to war. >> i think in this instance it's a proportional response and was the right thing. >> but shouldn't this be a message to him he should stop going back to well, he has his base. and now he's doing important things whether trutestrategic o and for the most part he doesn't seem to be sending out childish treats tweets, this should be a wake up call for him to step into the office. it's raising his approval rating. >> i think certainly he sees

there is a chance for him here to step up and really take on the mantle of the presidency. like mark was saying, you're really seeing his national security advisers, whether it's mcmaster or kelly or others, reela sended here. he's list took the generals around him. you're also seeing some of the more moderate vovoices in the white house now really rising in terms of who he's listening to. and i think that we may see a bit of a pivot here. and it's an interesting moment for the administration because, you know, they're in this 100 day moment. they're trying to make the case that they are doing important things. and this is his first chance to show that he he has the presidential medal on the foreign policy front. >> mark hold your thought because i want to get this clip in. watch this. >> there's no doubt that vladimir putin is intent on

restoring the russian empire. you've got a world in turmoil. >> i know that what happened last night doesn't relate to all your concerns with trump, but do you look at him different this morning that you did yesterday? >> yes. but this is not the end. i think we're exaggerating this a little too much here. wefb got a lot more work today. >> i think he's right. i know you never thought twice about updating your show. the thing is with bannon now in there, the adaults in the room, do you think that was a sort of change in the tone or -- >> well, i think he had the right people in the room. and that was the right response at the right time. and you had people like john mccain who knows more about these issues than anybody ipunited states congress say right first step, lot more to do. but what i'm encouraged by is we have a president who -- he likes

to be liked, right? i meano he gave a speech to congress that was more moderate in tone and a much broader message to all of america. and he got positive feedback, good ratings. he's getting a good response from this, proportional response. i think the more he sees, the more he'll govern better. he's got to see what's the coalition i can win. >> you articilated that much better. was it -- i forget what it is. i just want to be lufbd, is that so wrong? 8:00 p.m. from the executive producer of the circus, 8:00 p.m. on show. thank you, sir. when we come back why some

president trump's biggest supporters are outraged by his missile strike in syria. ♪ there's nothing more important than your health. so if you're on medicare or will be soon, you may want more than parts a and b here's why. medicare only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. you might want to consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company.

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reports are growing tension

in president trump's inner circle. and let's talk with my panel. so good to have all of you on. you have been talking to cell anne conway. what has she told you about tension inside the white house if any? >> well, she's saying exactly what she's been saying in the media. a lot of this palace inkreeg is overblown, and there's not a lot there. she says the media and critics on the trump administration would rather focus on that than some of the successes they've had of late not the least of which is the conifer magsz and swearing in of judge neil gorsuch. they wanted nothing more than a conservative justice of the supreme court. this was a great day for

conservatives, a great day for president trump. >> and we covered that hours live. we covered that gorsuch live, syria live. it's all we've been talking about. but, matt, this is interesting. you think the reports of recent turn off inside the white house have been good. why is that? >> well, number one i think they're true. of course they're true. but i think it's good. i think donald trump has actually been writing his shift. he got off to a rough start. remember the muslim ban executive order that was ciotic, and there was a another executive order that there's litigation surrounding it. not a great rollout, and i think part of it is frankly nobody on his team has government experience. and i think that slowly but surely things have gotten better. and just one prime example of that has been michael flynn being replaced by general h.r.

mcmaster. it was a huge trait out, now he's getting very good advice, very good counsel. i think that has a lot to do with the successful air strike on syria that took place. so, look, i think we tend to get all work up over there's palace intrigue and people were fighting over each other. i think this could end up working out very well. i think the people that were getting pushed out were bad actors and they might be replaced with more competent experienced staffers. >> a lot of people were saying flynn, why would you nominate that guy, and now it comes to fruition. and those people were sort of critical of the media that was reporting it. they said real donald trump steve bannon is a linchpin to

your conservative. you said we've seen this before. when? >> well, i think that having -- any time their power of control is in jeopardy and at risk, you see that galvanizing between those who publicly go out there and make these announcements. it's not just a story. it's that actions are being taken by policy makers, by people who continue to put new information out there, new opinions out there. and that's what creates a story. these sources at the white house who calls and tells them their side of the story, that's reportable. steve bannon was on the cover of the "the times" magazine. in a large way they made them the scrutiny of being out front. >> i bet president trump did not like that.

mark, i've got to ask you, listen, it wasn't just the king tweeting, the one i just read. laura ingram not happy about it, and there were some other folks as well not happy about the syria air strike. and i think this is -- anne said the trump campaign on not getting involved in the mideast said it always helps our inams have creates more refugees. then he saw a picture on tv. candidate trump understood that perpetual war in the middle east doesn't help make america great again. hope that doesn't change. that's engram. what do you think, mark? >> donald trump runs on a popilous ajendsa. others are hard cover conservatives, and you see this clashing constantly. some of those are some of the

conservatives that king is appealing to. so you see the gap for running for president and being president. i do agree it was a successful strike, it's way to earl ato say it was an successful strike. it makes the people distracted from all the other scandals, all the failers of the trump administration. but it doesn't necessarily make sense. if you were someone who voted for trump because you didn't believe in these strikes and believed his political approach and said he engaged, it make look like they stood up to the big power and -- despite what kelly anne conway said, that's what's happening. >> even the alt-right, they're not happy about this as well. don't go anywhere. pain used to shut me down during pick-up games.

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i'm back now with my panel. kurt, i know you wanted to jump in on that, but i just wanted to say the alt-right not happy about this, sort of the

nationalist trump supports. do you think that the alt-right understand that? >> i think that the alt-right was conditioned during the campaign, and this is actually where during the campaign candidate trumped. every few weeks there was an election that helped trump look victorious that created a reswret every few weeks. hey, trump won this, trump won that. and his audience in the alt-right got to bask in that victory. and now as president that's all gone now. that calender was wiped out. and not having those built in victory moments. >> that's why he keeps going back to the sort of campaign style rallies now. >> yeah, and i will say this i think what donald trump did with

syria is the right move. but you don't even have to be an alt-righter but if your a noninterventionalist, an isolator, if you believe america should not be that involved in the world, this has to be incredibly dispiriting. this is the one guy who ran saying i'm not going to help syria, i don't care about chemical weapons and then not at 100 days he does intervene. it has to be a little frustrating if you backed -- >> so alice, what does he do then to start of bridge the two, bridge the gap? >> well, clearly i think the alt-right's going to have to understand they're not going to get their way 100% of the time, and this is clearly one of those instances. i think what thoifr trying to do is reinforce his commitment to america first. if you go back a year ago on this topic he says part of the

america first policy is america is more peaceful and prosperous. >> before i run out of time, i want to get mark in because, mark, i can't leave you out. he changed his positions a lot. i'm not being fusheegs s. that's an honest question. >> i mean he ran on one thing, and he's doing the exact opposite. and i think strutej clee at some point it has to do with principle and what's right and not make predictions. he's the guy who goes on twitter and marks for for years on all these things and then does the exact opposite. >> i got to ge. how many times have you guys been golfing this year? anybody? >> zero. >> interesting. thanks, y'all. good night.

is president trump redefining his red line on syria? more mixed messaging on syria, leaving many wondering how far the u.s. will go. and rks tillerson's high-stakes visit to moscow. what message will he deliver to the kremlin? facing a pr nightmare after disturbing video of a paid passenger being forcibly dragged from an airplane. a man who paid for his seat, a doctor who wanted to get backo