secretary of state rex tillerson. until it happened, it was entirely unclear whether the two would actually see each other in person. just six days ago, the u.s. launched a missile strike in syria which russia condemned as vladimir putin backs syrian leader bashar al assad. moments ago, we saw secretary tillerson there in moscow holding this news conference with his counterpart sergey lavrov. they were candid about how it's a low point, mr. tillerson's own words, especially regarding syria. russian's foreign minister insisted on an independent investigation over who was behind the chemical weapons attack despite the u.s.' certainty that syria is to blame, that the assad regime is to blame. here's more from that news conference. >> the current state of the u.s./russia relations is at a low point. there's a low level of trust between our two countries. we cannot have this kind of relationship. >> joining me now is someone who has been inside these high-stakes meetings, jon finer, chief of staff for secretary of state jo

vladimir putin kept rex tillerson dangling. they got a notion there would be a meeting but it wasn't official. he has canceled his departure tonight that was scheduled. he will leave in the morning. they're meeting right now, it has been just under an hour. they started about seven minutes after 11:00 your time. seven minutes after 6:00 p.m. our time. they're meeting at the kremlin, and putin started the day with a slam on the u.s. policy on syria as you just pointed out saying there is no evidence of the intelligence. we're expecting tillerson will be presenting that intelligence. lavrov greeted tillerson with a very cold shoulder saying not only they have disagreements over syria, but saying there have been conflicting issues coming from washington. mixed messages. we all noted that, but he seized on the american press criticism, and the analysis from the u.s., and also said that there is no one for russia to talk to because this administration has not appointed anyone to the state department to work under secretary tillerson

so was tillerson today. even though you could argue with sanctions, the united states clearly has the upper hand. the fact that lavrov pushed so hard on syria to get the resolution in the united nations and then the national security council, which he objects to in that form, in the united nations. everybody knows russia and china can stop anything. that's what they're looking to do. so if trump isn't tougher than tillerson was this afternoon, then everyone has to question why neither one of them are willing or able to take on putin, lavrov and russia, especially over syria. >> melissa: chris, did you watch that and see a pushover in rex tillerson? >> no, i didn't see a pushover. i saw someone who wasn't there to pick a fight over bosnia and iraq and libya and sudan. by the way, if he wanted to, there's plenty of push back that is readily available. number of countries that russia and the soviet union rolled over. not to liberate, not to provide with democracy and elections, but to occupy. and, by the way, w

tim: on the issue of syria, rex tillerson is arriving out. he got the medal of friendship years ago. what leverage does he have if he meets president putin? >> yeah. the russians know that president trump, unlike president obama, is willing to use force if major norms are violated. at the same time, u.s. leverages may not be sufficient to convince putin to abandon assad. assad has been his ticket to influence in the middle east. the russians don't even believe the evidence, or they claim not to believe the evidence, that they used chemical weapons. they may be prepared to see the war grind on. the choice rex tillerson wants putin to make is one he may feel he can kick down the road. tim: rex tillerson says if you don't do this, or else, that raises the stakes even higher. and president putin is psychologically not that sort of man who wants to be put in that situation. >> he doesn't like to be cornered. but the question is more basic, what is the "or else" in the message? the main priority for the administration -- i think it is the right one

tillerson: the leaders had positive, productive meetings. president trump and president xi agreed to work in concert to expand areas of conversation while managing differences based on mutual respect. they noted the importance of working together to benefit the citizens of both of our countries. president trump noted the challenges caused by chinese government intervention and its economy, and raised serious concerns about the impact of china's industrial, agricultural, technology, and cyber policies on u.s. jobs and exports. president underscored the need for china to take steps to label -- to level the playing field for china to take steps to level the playing field for american workers for reciprocal market access. the two sides noted the urgency of the threat of north korea's weapons program. they reaffirmed their commitment to denuclearize the korean peninsula and fully implement un security council resolutions. they agreed to increase cooperation and work with international community to convince the dprk to peacefully was all the issue

rex tillerson on his way there after these meetings wrap up. thank you for that, nic robertson. >> his visit obviously comes at a crucial time. relations between the u.s. and russia are deteriorating by the day. tillerson slammed the putin regime for supporting dictator bashir al assad. and on the other side, the air strike byby the united states was labeled an act of aggression. probably even more important is who he is going to be delivering that message to, right? >> it's become a point of contention, boris. he is supposed to be meeting with his counterpart, sergey lavrov. those two men will speak for sure. the state at the present time had been preparing for a meeting with vladimir putin. we heard from the spokesperson, look, we never put that on the schedule. it could still happen but it's not on the schedule. rex tillerson knows vladimir putin personally, received an award from this country. they could really get down to the upshot, the bottom line in terms of this negotiation quite quickly. but if vladimir putin refuses to meet with rex

what was the message that tillerson had to express? guest: it's sort of the same as american policy was prior to last week but with the added sort of wrinkle of the fact the u.s. struck this airbase in syria. basically he has been trying to say assad must go. he is an unreliable partner. priority isirst fighting the islamic state, the u.s. will not stand by and allow chemical weapons to be used against civilians. host: he ultimately has to call out russia saying that they have watched this happen all this time and turned a blind eye to it. i'm paraphrasing greatly. guest: he said that any also said the airstrike is the same thing as the invasion of iraq and not that different from libya. you invaded there, where's your magical solution to libya now? the russians have an answer for everything that tillerson might say. has anon one would hope answer to everything that lab rov would say. host: you talk about these areas of the country's that they could work together. guest: if there is going to be an area of agreement, it will be about as

what tillerson said at the g 7 was not regime change. they want asad out, but through the political process. it was no different, frankly, from what john kerry and barack obama were saying in the previous administration that there should be negotiations in geneva and that's the way to get him out. a lot more mainstream than what was originally said. they can hardly hold an election. but what about the confusion of different voices on strategy to syria? >> it is a real problem. the administration seems a little built adrift. now they just changed their position last week when they used force against syria. i supported that, the cruise missile attack. he could say, for instance, that we're not going to stand for chemical weapons attacks but we don't have an intention of intervening in this particular war. we have an intention of leading a diplomatic process. i think that is a safer line for the administration. in the final analysis russia has the power and the united states doesn't. so putin who is of course cynical and opportunistic under

rex tillerson is as clueless as donald trump. the difference is that rex tillerson knows that. rex tillerson is just smart enough to know where his ignorance begins, which is everywhere in the world unless it's about making a deal to extract oil. the news media has been far too patient with the silence of rex tillerson. and apparently far too busy to have spent much time on the objectly immoral idiocy that did come out of his mouth last week. "decided by the syrian people." last week that statement included all of the people who were gassed this week and killed. but now it doesn't. president assad doesn't have to worry about how those people would vote in rex tillerson's imaginary syrian election. that would be decided by the syrian people. what is so profoundly immoral about what rex tillerson had to say last week is that he has been so lazy in his approach to his new job, so lazy that he might not have understood that president assad would take that statement as america's official okay that he can now do whatever he wants because the united states is perfectly okay with this

with secretary tillerson arriving that could be productive. the firm believe here is russia must back away from its support of bashar al assad, must begin to help bring a cease-fire to syria, must begin to support the international peace political process to transition away from president bashar al assad. this seems to be what we're hearing from the italians, the french. we're going to hear from some of those other nations in the coming hours or so. that is the strong message that will go to russia with secretary tillerson. the war in syria needs to end. russia has a major role to play in it and cannot back away from its responsibilities. chris. >> nic, thank you very much. a lot of news happening right now. in just a few hours secretary of state rex tillerson is going to arrive in moscow. relations to the u.s. and moscow, according to russian officials, as bad as they have been since the korcold war. context couldn't be bigger. whether or not russia knew about the chemical strike that happened in syria. michelle kusinski, we're waiting on put

secretary of state tillerson was seeking over syria. not easy, with u.s.-russia relations at their worst since the cold war. he met his russian counterpart, sergey lavrov. behind closed doors in the kremlin, president putin. there was a lot to talk about, including this. last week, america launched cruise missiles targeting a syrian government airbase. an act of aggression, said russia against moscow's ally. washington claimed it was an appropriate response to the chemical weapons attack. today, america and russia publicly disagreed about who was behind it. secretary tillerson: the facts we have are conclusive, that the recent chemical weapons attack carried out in syria was planned , directed, and and executed by the syrian regime forces. >> we saw no evidence of this, and from eyewitnesses when the planes took off, it is clear there was no chemical substances present there. steve: there was disagreement over president assad. moscow appears unwilling to do what america would like it to , stop supporting him. today, donald trump called assad truly evil. se

tillerson: i don't have any particular information. i don'tit would be -- have any particular information that i think would be appropriate to share with you at this point. we gather the information we can for our intelligence sources and shared sources from other countries, as well. i don't think it would be appropriate for me to comment on that at this time. russia has come out strongly against the attack, calling it an act of aggression. do you have a comment quest mark sec. tillerson: i'm disappointed -- have a comment quest mark -- have a comment? i'm disappointed in the response from the russians. disappointing, but sadly i have to tell you, not all that surprising. >> [indiscernible] sec. ross: practices to announce executive orders and executive memoranda when they are issued, not in response to rumors. >> [indiscernible] not a topic inas today's session, but we have been looking very carefully at that and the alternative, both from an energy generation and national security point of view. sec. mnuchin: i would comment oft any

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

rex tillerson is a reasonable guy. he's not a fist thumper. you'll recall secretary john kerry had a remarkable relationship with sergey lavrov. that and $5 got them each a cup of coffee. doesn't seem to achieve anything when it comes to russia's expansionist tendencies and its tendencies to protect its interests around the world. >> well, in order to move the russians, you have to make it clear to them it is in their interest to help a transition. that's the challenge. but their continued presence in syria, the continued violence, the instability, the international outrage, at some point, i think, i hope, that they're going to get the message that this is not something that can be tolerated indefinitely. and they will begin to, i hope, move toward some type of constructive relationship. but, again, the situation is probably the most complex one in the world, in terms of different factions between the interests ssia, between the intests in the iranians, also on the grou there. at this juncture though, one of the things is we don't seem ourselv

tillerson's visit comes as u.s. officials are accusing russia of trying to cover up syrian's leader bashar al-assad using chemical weapons against his own people. president trump warning putin against backing assad in a new interview. listen. >> frankly, putin is backing a person that's truly an evil person, and i think it's very bad for russia. i think it's very bad for mankind. it's very bad for this world. but when you drop gas or bombs or barrel bombs -- they have these massive barrels with dynamite and they drop it in the middle of a group of people. in all fairness, you see kids with no arms, no legs, no face. this is an animal. >> for the latest let's go live to cnn's paula newton in moscow. paula, those are the strongest words that we've heard from this administration on bashar al-assad in syria. but yet we just heard a few moments ago that a russian foreign minister says that the white house's position on syria is a mystery to the russians. what do we expect to come out of this meeting? >> reporter: well, a

so a will the lot to talk about addition to previewing tillerson's visit to russia. all of that when we see you at the top of the hour. >> to be a fly on the wall. >>> higher education one state just passed a law for free college tuition. free college tuition. we'll take a look at that and money sense next. inary clay. from l'oréal hair expert/paris. we're out ink,nk! not ink. printing doesn't have to be painful. now, during "hp savings month" at staples, get up to $180 off hp printers. but shouldn't it be about firsts?d in zeros. and seconds... how about adding a third? we think there's a bajillion ways to measure success. and whether you have hundreds or millions... we think you deserve the financial freedom to sleep like this at night. this is the new success story. and at t-i-a-a, we're with you. start today at t-i-a-a dot org. >>> the death toll from two bloody church bombs now rising to 49. isis claiming responsibility for both. egyptian nationals, threatening more violence to come. it came on one of the two most important days on the christian calendar. it's

guests, and rex tillerson actually, ina sense, guests, and rex tillerson actually, in a sense, addressed some of those concerns in interviews that he gave today. he said that this did not represent, this cruise missile strike last week, a change in policy on the part of the trump administration as far as syria was concerned. the priority, as far as syria was concerned, he said remained the destruction, the elimination of so—called islamic state. 0nce elimination of so—called islamic state. once that had been achieved, thenit state. once that had been achieved, then it would be possible to cooperate with allies in attempting to get some sort of ceasefire on the ground in syria. but any suggestion that the cruise missile strike in response to that chemical weapons attack represented some sort of change in direction was false, mr tillerson said. there had been speculation that perhaps the isolationist, america first policy of donald trump had somehow been abandoned overnight, but that doesn't seem to be the case. joining me now from new york is leslie vinjamuri, us foreign policy expert

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

tillerson, the russian is to you. we heard from washington not only confronting, but quite aggressive statements. president trump said that he called president assad a beast, and animal, and also the comparisons of assad to hitler's by secretary price, that hitler's never used to the chemical weapons. do you think it is diplomatic? is the rhetoric likely to change? >> well, i think that the perspective from the united states, some ordered by the facts that we have, are conclusive. the reason chemical weapons attack carried out in syria was planned and it was directed and executed by syrian regime forces and we are quite confident of that. is just the latest in a series of a use of chemical weapons by the assad regime. onwithstanding their use more than 50 occasions of chlorine bombs and cluster bombs , and other types of weapons that are intended to mean -- maim and kill in the most terrific of ways. i think the characterization is one that president assad has brought upon himself. >> [translator] i would like to add

tillerson. that started off with the expectation that we were going to get to a press conference by 11:00 eastern time, so little more than two hours ago. that never happened. during the 11 11 -- 11:00 houre learned rex tillerson had a surprise meeting, was in an unexpected, unscheduled meeting i should mention with vladimir putin, so that is where we are right now. we understand that meeting has wrapped up, and we do expect the press conference to take place. in the meantime, back here at home, as we continue to watch what is happening in russia, the u.s. ambassador to the u.n., nikki haley with more strong words for the kremlin on combating threats like syria and iran. this occurred just a short time ago. >> we need to see russia choose the side with the civilized world, getting serious about peace also means we have to be honest about iran's role in syria. iran is assad's chief accomplice in the regimes horrific acts. iran is dumping fuel on the flames of this war in syria so that it can expa

state rex tillerson and his russian counterpart. they just wrapped up a four-hour, very tense meeting in moscow, and as we wait to hear from them, the president this morning slamming vladimir putin's relationship with dictator bashar al assad. >> frankly, putin is backing a person that's truly an evil person, and i think it's very bad for russia. i think it's very bad for mankind. it's very bad for this world, but when you drop gas or bombs or barrel bombs and they have these massive barrels with dynamite and they drop them right in the middle of a group of people and in fairness you see the kids no arms, no legs, no face, this is an animal. >> cnn's clarissa ward on the turkish border with syria right now. clarissa, there are these meetings going on in moscow right now between the united states and russia about the syrians and about the people that you've spent so much time with covering. there was some support for the actions taken by the u.s. last week, but as they're watching what's going on in moscow right now, what are the peo

rex tillerson arriving here i

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

question to rex tillerson. have you discussed today the question of russia and its alleged intervention in the presidential elections in the united states and how do you think the actions of russia in cyberspace are different from the american similar actions. for instance we know the us intruded into iran in the same way. the united states intruded into the missile project of korea. and a question to sergei lavrov, talk about reconstituting the work of the bilateral presidential convention. on the issue of cyber security and the challenges that it is placing on everyone in terms of a new threat and an emerging threat, i think i make a distinction when cyber tools are used to interfere with the internal decisions among countries as to how their elections are conducted. that is one use of cyber tools. cyber tools to disrupt weapons programmes, that is another use of the tools. and i make a distinction between those. clearly this is an issue that has emerged in ourtime and for this is an issue that has emerged in

, and it will also be a challenge for rex tillerson. even though he's known here and even though he was personally honored in the past as a businessman by vladimir putin. he's due to meet the russian foreign minister sergey lavrov. will president putin signal his displeasure at the united states by refusing to meet rex tillerson. he needs to tread a fine line. he wants to be tough od tell the russians exactly why the u.s. launched those missiles on that air base. but he also wants to accomplish one of the key aims of donald trump's foreign policy which is better relations with russia, and that has to start with this, his first visit here. he's already been pretty tough with the russians. so there could be a frosty reception. a couple of days ago, he said russia was either compliceit in syria's chemical weapons program or incompetent because it didn't know that syria had chemical weapons at that base. tough words from him. he will come here from the g7 gathering in italy. and he will want to bring here a united message from the west. int

they don't know if tillerson speaks for the u.s. or the ambassador. they want to hear it from donald trump, and i think what's happened with russia is right now this whole conflict with russia helps the administration deflect from some of the investigations in washington. tillerson was awarded an honor from the russians years ago as exxon ceo. it's good for him to be in contentious with russia right now. so, you know, but let's have a coherent policy. right now the syria and russia policy of president trump are the same as president obama's yet he criticizes obama every second. >> you heard greta van susteren, and former ambassador to the united nations, governor of new mexico bill richardson, thank you. >>> a very busy morning, a major meeting between tillerson and lavrov in russia just wrapping up. in minutes we could hear from tillerson, the secretary of state and his russian counterpart. we're on it. we'll be right back. hey dad, come meet the new guy. the new guy? what new guy? i hired some help. he really knows his wine. this is the new guy? hel

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

>> it's a big win for rex tillerson and rex tillerson's style. i've worked across the table from the russians for almost a decade. you need to understand that there's always a public pronouncement and there's a difference in their private conversations. so i think what this shows is that for all the bluster that we're hearing for the u.s. calling the russians out, it's actually working because putin wants to meet with secretary tillerson. this is a big win for him. >> jenna: quick final thoughts for you, michael. fox news is reporting that russian bombers have been headed around the airspace of japan. that's also been happening. what do you think this meeting means? >> 30 seconds, spinning off of what you just said, there's a lot of russian miss behavior not just in the middle east. some of it is partially understandable if you view history the way they do. most of it is dangerous and unreasonable. we'll have to get to work with putin on issues on rethinking future security structures for europe, ukraine and georgia are still in a very ambiguous

even before rex tillerson landed, russia was already striking back. and the russian foreign ministry says relations with the u.s. have not been this bad since the end of the cold war. what can tillerson really do? let's get over to michelle kaczynski in moscow now. so this appears to be the first time putin has not planned to meet with a visiting secretary of state. is that in and of itself supposed to send a message? what are you hearing? >> definitely. that's a huge thing. to the point that originally the state department had it pencilled in on secretary tillerson's schedule that he was going to meet with putin after he met with lavrov, and then it would be sort of solidified later with an exact time. well, now the kremlin has not extended the invitation to have that meeting at all. yeah. the message is this relationship is pretty much in the gutter right now. what can either side do to make it better. the words exchanged are not helping. president putin himself today in an unrelated statement -- he is meeting with his italian counterpart, and start

and also commenting on rex tillerson. and she said the missile strike is not part of washington's strategy because washington doesn't have a strategy. she said the only thing that's predictable about american policy at the minute is the unpredictability of the u.s. policy. and i do think that chimes with some things people are saying in the u.s. as well because one missile strike is a tactic, it sends a message to the russians, but it's not a strategy. it says nothing about what president trump wants to do in the long term. where is the strategy on president assad? where's the strategy to end this war? where is the diplomatic and political strategy in the months ahead? that's another question that rex tillerson may have to answer here in moscow. it's a question the russians too will want answered. richard. >> bill, thank you so much. nbc's bill neely for us in russia. joining us representative democrat from california also sits on the house committees on the armed services and budget. thank you for being here, representat

rex tillerson travel's to russia. we understand from a russian channel that he will indeed meet president vladimir putin, but we need confirmation on that. if he did not meet the president, it would be the first time in 30 years that a u.s. secretary of state would go on a racial state visit to russia -- an official state visit to russia and not meet the president. ♪ . ♪ vonnie: extend the longest losing streak since june. statement of intent, rex tillerson travels to moscow with a strong message as the white house informs. to stop using girl bombs against civilians. as janet rights dip yellen says it is time for the central bank to ease off the accelerator. this is bloomberg "surveillance." i am vonnie quinn. david gura is with me. deal politics in marcus today. russia,nd korea and interesting to see whether rex tillerson does meet with the president of russia later today. vonnie hoping to get confirmation shortly. let's get to the bloomberg first word news. -- presidentsan trump persuade russia to cut his suppor

rex tillerson spoke earlierli russia on theisha of syria. rex tillerson spoke earlier. i hope that what the russian government concludes is that they have aligned themselves with an unreliable partner in president assad. someone as despicable as hitler would didn't sink to using chemical weapons. toshiba is in big trouble. their survival is in question. three explosions has hit a team bus window, marc bartra has been injured. this is ahead a champions league game against monaco which has been postponed. all the details on that. and as usual, as you're watching outside source, we're online as well. e—mail us, or get me online as well. e—mail us, or get me on social media. use the hashtag bbc os. this time yesterday, i was talking to you about how the g 7 wanted to pressure russia on its relationship with the syrian government. we can scrap that. canada, france, germany, italy, japan, the uk and the us couldn't agree on how to do it. now that was happening in italy. we're now going to have to move to moscow, because that is where the us secretary of state, rex tillers

interesting that tillerson raised that this week. interesting that president trump still won't criticize president putin. he was asked today at the press conference, what is your relationship like with vladimir putin? he pivoted away from putin and said outlaw of nice things about xi jinping, that they had good talks at mar-a-lago and on the phone about north korea. and david's points i think is central here. it looks as if the united states has flipped. now very open in praising china, very critical of russia. the opposite of where president-elect trump was during the transition. charlie: what do you guys both see as our options in north korea? the president has said in the interviews in the last couple of days, i'm sending an armada to the waters off north korea. what do you make of that? david: charlie, i'll begin and then hand it to nick. i think trump has pretty much told us the baseline, that he happened extensive, said four hours of one-on-one conversation with president xi. north korea was a central part of that. i'm told tha

is it true what rex tillerson is saying? does she have the full backing of the administration that the u.s. wants to solve the korean issues with direct talks? >> reporter: based on my conversations with senior administration officials, the secretary of state is working in concert with the president. it would be unlikely that he would be delivering a message that breaks with the way in which the president is thinking about this situation with north korea. but i want to understore the thinking inside the white house, which is that they are favoring diplomacy over military action. you did hear president trump issue that stern warning effectively saying, look, it is something that is possible. but we know it is a last resort. they want to work on sanctions first, to see if that is effective. they have been ramping up the pressure on china to see if that is a way to get north korea to back down. and you heard president trump in that interview with reuters really stress the fact that one, the talks with china are moving in the ri

putin t is tillerson's role. is he in the loop, how much weight does he carry. those are open questions. >> we're getting closer and closer to that 100 day marki an it's clear that administration is aware of that. and they have had some blunders, the travel ban, failing you'res ev of the travel ban. failure of replacing obamacare. but they have had some success. let's listen to sean spicer. >> we have done so many great things, including nominate and confirm a supreme court justice, roll back more regulations than any president in modern times, rom back the obama era roam on coil, oil and natural gas, restored confidence in the economy. we're now seeing historic levels of consumer ceo of home builder manufacture confidence. there has been a 12% gain in the stock market and we've even seen a reresurgence in the mining industry. we've reduced illegal boarding crossings by over 60% to the lowest level in nearly two deck asd and implemented historic ethics reforms including a lifetime foreign ban. >> the symbolism of

you've heard it from tillerson. tillerson is going on tuesday to moscow and we've been told he will raise not tonight syrian issue and saying clearly that moscow must reconsider its denial that assad was involved, but that he will raise, and i asked the question, will he raise this with president putin. he will raise the question of putin's interference with the election, with the officials in moscow. there is probably, there you see secretary president trump -- excuse me, president trump with his wife melania. >> the president has been in total again the investigation. we know how that has evolved, special when i the tweet ask changing the subject. what secre tillerson said is squint the intelligence conclusions from the prior administration. the briefers say he will bring this up in russia. if he is meeting with putin, he will bring this up with putin. the u.s./russia relationship will depend on their response to these core issues where they're inconsistent with international law. >> andrea mitch old what is and w

"if putin extends an invitation to rex tillerson, tillerson would be willing to meet with him," but so far such a meeting has not been requested from the kremlin. what's in it for him? >> if he wants to, in essence, say, okay, united states, i've put you on notice that i'm very displeased with how you've handled this with the attack in syria but i will meet with you in the interest of dialogue and in the interest of working together at some point in the future, that would be a good thing. it would show him, in essence, to be a bigger man. but i don't know if he can bring himself to do this. putin feels that he needs to not only control what is going on diplomatically in syria but he also needs to make sure that he maintains russia's presence in syria and that's really the key that is driving him. >> on syria, one other piece of this briefing, let me set this up for everyone, one of the questions -- i believe it was from kristen welker over at nbc, did ivanka trump influence her father whatsoever in all of those tomahawk missiles heading in idlib's direction. this is what sean spicer sa

that putin would want to meet with tillerson. but this is, as one official told me, classic kremlin playbook. that they wanted to show themselves in a position of power here. add some drama and mystery to it. the fact that it's a very long meeting shows that there is discussion going on. i think the message would have been very clear if this meeting hadn't happened. it seems like the kremlin wanted to put that notion out there, that this wasn't just a done deal, that the meeting would occur. now that it has, we're just going to have to see, if any opening to progress can come of this, which we'll hear from the foreign minister and from secretary tillerson. but when you listen to what putin himself was saying earlier in an interview, i mean, more of that strong rhetoric that we have heard over the past couple of days. it is really coming from both sides. you have two deeply entrenched positions here. it's difficult at this point to imagine where that opening lay, but always there is some opportunity for cooperation. because the u.

charles: tillerson is no john kerry. lavrov alluded to that pointing the finger saying how thing have festered so long. there is a whole new dynamic here. the only thing i saw them agree on is perhaps there should be better lines of communication. >> i think it predictablity of russia dealing with the united states is over. prussia is not sure what action the united states is going to take with syria. they were not expecting the united states to respond after the syrian chemical attack. watching this response coming from the * which was from a position of strength pretty much causan unbalanced approach for putin and for the russians. i think the russians -- now that you have the white house saying the russians are covering up for the syrian regime and pointing the finger at russia saying we need to make sure we can get a peace deal in syria to bring real change. that's something putin did not face during the obama administration which was all talk, no action. charles: the meeting over the weekend, russia was saying what

our correspondence is travelling with rex tillerson and sent this report. this is not the kind of meeting that once seemed to be on the card. long gone talk of a grand resetting of relations with russia, producing is encouraged by donald trump was replaced by tensions over the chemical weapons attack in syria and russian anger over the military response from america. translation: is important for us to understand your intentions. the intentions of the us and the real intentions of this administration. the theft of state said both sides have some explaining to do. we can further clarifying areas of common objectives, of common interest, even when tactical approaches may be different. and to further clarify areas of sharp difference so we can better understand why these differences exist. the trump administration has raised the stakes by publicly and strongly blaming russia for the actions of its syrian ally. it is a major shift in approach and not clear what the larger strategy is. relations have never been easy but moscow says they have not been this low si

tillerson's said we do not think it is russia's future. we are not at the stage where we can sit down with the russians and talk about syria going forward. it is a preliminary, get to know you meeting and hopefully it will produce an agreement. host: what you think the secretary of state's message? guest: -- i think he did quite well. in the press conference, he moderated some of the things others in the administration said. he did not say it was necessarily proven the russians knew about chemical weapons and other officials said as they did. he did as well as could be expected. host: as far as a going forward aspect, what is on the timetable as far as meetings between the two countries and the topics? guest: the meeting between the two presidents will take place in july at the g 20 in germany. president trump at the beginning said he would. that will be other meetings between the foreign ministers and secretary of state given multilateral meetings but nothing concrete. we have to stop building up. they announce that will be a working grou

rex tillerson is known here. he wants to be seen as being tough. but it is quite that this heated rhetoric could all be calmed down if these two men find areas of agreement. as sean spicer said, we'll do a deal if we can find an area of national interest. if we can't, we won't. katy. >> and maybe we will try to refrain from making comparisons between hitler and assad, comparisons that are not quite the same, at least at the moment. ill a he leave it there. bill neely and ambassador thomas pickering, former u.s. ambassador to russia, thank you, guys. >>> up next, that united airlines flight that everyone is talking about. >> no! oh, my god! >> we all now know who that man is. with each passing hour, this is turning into a bigger pr nightmare for united airlines. >>> first we're asking, should airlines stop overbooking flights even if it means you pay more? here's how you're weighing in so far. 82% of you say yes, they should stop doing that. you do still have time to vote. go to pulse.msnbc.com. rodney and his new business. he teaches lessonso le..

tillerson said earlier today. i want to quote him. it is clear to all of us the reign of the assad family is coming to an end. newt gingrich argued this last night about what's happening. >> he has very strong person amounts around him and he gets on the phone. when he does something in syria he is talking to the saudi king next and met with the egyptian president and met with the king of jordan. he is getting information from more sources than any president i can remember and he does it very actively and very aggressively. and he learns very, very fast. >> bill: how does the public reflect on that? polls suggest what? do they support him on this or not, byron? >> what speaker gingrich said it's important but also important for a president to prepare the public for some action he is going the take especially in the area of going to war. i mean, this is a very, very big deal. look we just had a recent "washington post" poll asked public approval of the syria air strike. it was 51% approve, 40 disapproved. 51% is a very bare majority, a

tillerson. he has entered the chamber of the u.n. security council. this meeting is getting under way. we will go back in there the minute the secretary starts speaking. let's go to the white house now. cnn's joe johns is there. not only do we get this sort of policy shift from the secretary of state, joe, but also more words from the president, beyond just major, major conflict on north korea. he sort of talked about kim jong-un in terms that we hadn't really heard before. >> reporter: he certainly did, and i have to underscore that blunt language by the president in the interview with reuters. essentially speaking in blunt terms that there could be war. and it raises a couple questions, first, whether it was intentional to send a signal to north korea about president trump's resolve, or in the alternative, whether the president of the united states and the secretary of state of the united states somehow were not on the same page, because you saw just from elise labott's reporting there, hey, h

tillerson's first trip to russia as secretary of state. he said that bashar al-assad will not be in power much longer and there's no future for russia siding with a dictator that murders his own people. >> russia has aligned itself with the assad regime, the iranians and hezbollah. is that a long-term alliance? russia can be a part of the future and play an important role or russia can maintain its alliance with this group, which we believe is not going to serve russia's interests longer term. >> we have live fox team coverage with amy kellogg at the g-7 meeting in italy. we begin with kevin work. >> it's been argued that the president's policies and ideas about syria have evolved from candidate trump to now commander-in-chief trump. one thing is certain. that is the white house is consistent assertion that the only way forward in syria is without the leadership of bashar al-assad. that means that russia would have to join the rest of the international community in seeing the end to his reign. that's the message rex tillerson is taking to

rex tillerson meeting with the russian counterpart. russia says the strikes were a violation of law and discounts what happened. the white house accusing the russians of helping syria of covering up. and vladimir putin could meet with tillerson today. >>> also, we have reporting on president trump's claims that susan rice broke the law on the unmasking. >>> and an explosive report of the trump campaign aide investigated as a russian agent. stiex a stakes are high on day 83 of the trump presidency. we have michelle kosinski live in moscow. >> reporter: alisyn, you have the two-hour meeting beginning with secretary of state rex tillerson and russian foreign minister sergei lavrov. a time for pleasantries and welcoming. lavrov slamming u.s. strikes on syria as a violation of international law. something he said should not be repeated. he took the opportunity to criticize the state department. saying how difficult it's been to talk to them because there are still so many high level positions that have not been filled. tillerson, for his pa