soi looking to replace bashar al—assad. so i think there is a huge shift in attitude when it comes to whether or not bashar al—assad has any staying power. michael, thank you so much. thank you for having me. we will go back to barbara plett—usher at palm beach. i think we are expecting something from donald trump, a statement. what are you hearing? we are still waiting, actually. we are waiting for an audio statement by the president. as well, we are waiting to get a briefing rum the white house spokesman sean spicer, and national security officials, who are here at mar—a—lago. —— from. they will give a briefing as well. but what we have discussed, the tomahawks were fired from two navy destroyers and hit an air base in the city of homs. it seems to have been a small—scale and limited strike. we don't know much about the damage or whether there we re about the damage or whether there were any casualties. it seems to be the airbase that the planes that carried out the chemical attack took off from, therefore,

who recently met with bashar al-assad in damascus. russia's role. the pentagon now investigating if the kremlin was complacent in the syrian chemical attack. moscow is fighting back and defending putin's ally bashar al-assad. on the outs at one o f the most crucial moments yet o

to topple bashar al-assad. it is not something they have ever supported, the removal of a leader in another country, but it is a complex set of questions for the chinese because of their economic and political stance. as it grows, they are necessarily getting more intertwined with these international affairs in the middle east. it is there one belt, one road project that stretches into that region, they have a greater role to play. domestically, these horrendous images of this attack, this gas attack on civilians in syria have played out here in china, and domestically there is pressure for the chinese to take a stance on what is happening in syria. interesting dynamic there. we have to leave it there. tom mackenzie and beijing. we are hearing from the u.s. president donald trump speaking to reporters at his mar-a-lago resort after this air strike on syria. he is saying essentially that we must follow through with a new comprehensive strategy and said he did order this attack on the syrian airfield. it is a syr

talking about bakery bashar al-assad, though he did go on the say bashar al-assad and his army is the legitimate power, but much more aggressive tone for the state department and secretary of state over the last week and a very great focus only russia here and the role it has to play according to the state department in the chemical attack in syria. >> rich, thank you very much. let's bring in john now associate editor of the wall street journal would say that is complicated would barely be the scratch the surface. the russians, the syrians, the united states, isis, and al qaeda. >> china, north korea, domestic politics if you want to spread the net really wide about what messages are being sent here, look, we can extrapolate too much, this is a message clearly to assad not the use the chemical weapons. administration angry that he has them. they were supposed to be gone after 2013. angry at russia. that's take clear medication. i think we could extrapolate a little bit and take a little bit further and see think through how it is that other nations are going to be respond the this. y

who recently met with bashar al-assad in damascus. russia's role. the pentagon now investigating if the kremlin was complacent in the syrian chemical attack. moscow is fighting back and defending putin's ally bashar al-assad. on the outs at one o f the most crucial moments yet of the trump's presidency. we are learning a major staff shake up is becoming more likely. tonight, who's on the short list for a possible shake up? we want to welcome our viewers around the world, i am wolf blitzer, you are in "the situation room." this is cnn breaking news. >> we are following breaking news on the u.s. strikes in syria tonight. president trump's first major military action is sending a clear message that bashar al-assad must stop using chemical weapons. the pentagon says it struck the same areal base bashar al-assad used to launch a deadly nerve gas attack. we are told of 60 u.s. missiles degraded or destroyed their intended target over night. over the united nations, the u.s. ambassador nikki haley threatened the military action saying presid

he had been quite indifferent about bashar al—assad, not really that interested , bashar al—assad, not really that interested, or at best saying maybe assad, together with the russians, could fight islamic state. so he backed off the opposition to assad. and now he is saying that assad is the bad guy, and therefore he is going to strike against him. so it is quite a shift from him, i think. it is actually shift for american policy in general, because as you know, the americans never did actually attack bashar al—assad. they entered the war at first covertly, but also overtly to some extent, training and supporting opposition fighters and providing them with weapons, but they did not ever. . . them with weapons, but they did not ever... the obama administration, directly attack the target of bashar al—assad, even though they contemplated it again because of the chemical weapons strikes, so that is a shift in american policy, as well asa a shift in american policy, as well as a change from mr trump. and i suppose if you want to be cynical about this, there is no harm politically, for

al—assad. what michael fallon has attempted to do with these words and this tome is to bring some pressure to bear on russia to try and get them, too i suppose, withdraw the support they have been giving to bashar al—assad. borisjohnson has pulled out of his visit but the americans are still going to moscow. it is a difficult question to answer, but is it likely that russia and president putin in particular will listen to any of this? in terms of boris johnson cancelling his visit, they describe it as absurd and have basically said it as absurd and have basically said it was just theatrics. they have not taken not it was just theatrics. they have not ta ken not particularly it was just theatrics. they have not taken not particularly seriously. borisjohnson taken not particularly seriously. boris johnson says taken not particularly seriously. borisjohnson says that taken not particularly seriously. boris johnson says that the reason he withdrew his planned trip to russia was because the americ

who fills the void that bashar al-assad has held. those are the very big questions that have just arisen on an enormous news day. rich edson with analysis with a.b. stoddard. that's next on a thursday on the fox news channel. crohn's disease,... ...i was always searching for ways to manage my symptoms. i thought i had it covered. then i realized managing was all i was doing. when i finally told my doctor, he said humira was for people like me who have tried other medications,... but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohn's disease. in clinical studies, the majority of patients on humira saw significant symptom relief... ...and many achieved remission. humira can lower your ability to fight infections... ...including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers,... including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions,... ...and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas wher

islamic state is there because of bashar al—assad in a large part of. they need to think carefully about sending a signal that they don't support bashar al—assad as part of a means of bringing back any moderate forces in syria. but this is crucial. prior to the last week, that was clearly the us strategy, the most important issue for us strategy was countering islamic state and, you know, they had really moved away remember, just last week, president trump said what happened to bashar al—assad was up to the syrian people to decide. that clearly is looking very different now. but the sequencing strategy is, i think, not one that is going to work very well. i think pressure on bashar al—assad and continuing the fight against islamic state are two things that must happen simultaneously at this point. the payday loan firm wonga says up to 270,000 of its customers may have been affected by a data breach. the information stolen includes names, addresses, phone numbers and bank account details. earlier professor alan woodward from the university of surre

al—assad that the americans we re bashar al—assad that the americans were expecting they would have to live with this messy situation. umm, i think that rex tillerson has a lot on the line in his discussions with moscow. the question is now, assuming there is some new leverage, because the united states has shown it is willing to put missiles on the ground, if not, boots, can he use that to encourage the russians to bring their syrian proxies and allies to heal in some way, get them back to the table, demand some kind of return to a viable diplomatic process , of return to a viable diplomatic process, something that ratchets down the wall in syria rather than the opposite. thank you very much for joining the opposite. thank you very much forjoining us. from the centre for american progress, formerly from the american progress, formerly from the american and state department. in a few hours' time, the basque separatist group, eta, is due to hand over its last weapon. it announced that it would fully disarm in a letter obtained by the bbc, after a militant campign that killed more tha

comparing bashar al-assad to adolf hitler. arguing that hitler did not use chemical weapons on his own people. something that is not even factually correct since hitler had millions of people mostly jews murdered in gas chambers. then as reporters pressed him, actually even sort of threw him a life line one point. his successive attempts only got more baffling. >> you know, you had a -- someone as despicable as hitler who didn't even sink to using chemical weapons. i think when you come to sarin gas, there was no -- he was not using the gas on his own people the same way that assad is doing -- there was not -- he brought him into -- the holocaust center. i understand that. i'm saying in the way that assad used them where he went into town, dropped them down into the middle of towns. it was brought to -- the use of it -- >> okay. it was the whole thing was baffling. for more let's turn to senior white house correspondent jeff zeleny. >> reporter: christine and boris, the trump administration doing something it rarely has done,

that removing bashar al assad is still not necessarily a top u.s. priority. what is it? >> right, and we heard from nikki haley, the u.n. ambassador who sounded a lot like language-wise like sean spicer. what is it? i don't know that they know candidly, wolf. there's no obvious answer here. i always remind people this is -- this is not on donald trump necessarily. this is deeply complex set offish are use. there are no good options from a policy perspective boston also from a political perspective. lot of polling in the last 24 hours where people broadly speaking support the strike that was made against the air base but don't -- there's no consensus or anything close to a consensus, diplomacy alone or air strikes without ground force and 70% of the people do not want ground troops in the area. >> another remarkable statement that sean spicer delivered today at his briefing, elise, and it involved what is called barrel bombing. i want you to listen to this. >> yeah. >> if you gas a baby, if you put a barrel bomb in to innocent people, i think you can

while protecting its clients bashar al-assad. if he now directs his bad behavior and stops using cw, i think we could have an opportunity to use forward in geneva weather hasn't been one before, precisely because the russians have been willing to do any heavy lifting on this. i think this is a moment of incredible potential, but i don't think the russians are going to totally overturn the applecart here. >> they backed assad constantly and consistently through multiple security council resolutions threatening that. it just hours before the air strikes occurred, the security council went home because russia said we are not going to deal with this issue. they are not going to change the behavior. they're not going to pull the switch. they are wedded to this guy. or are they wedded to a regime that's friendly to them? >> they are wedded to a regime in syria that is friendly to them. that's their main objective. it is their base there, their presence and influence there. and remember, donald trump warned that through channels that we

it was bashar al-assad. and i think the russians need to think more carefully about the commitment they made under the chemical weapons agreements to be the guarantor that these weapons would be seized, they would be removed, they would be destroyed. since they are bashar al-assad's ally they would have the closest insight as to their compliance. so regardless of whether russia was complicit here or whether they were simply incompetent or whether they got outwitted by the bashar al-assad regime, you would have to ask the russians that question. but clearly they have failed in their commitment to the international community. >> dickerson: given how strongly the president acted with respect to syria using the chemicals weapons isn't it a rather important point whether the russians were actively engaged in the military chemical weapons use that the u.s. government just launched a military strike over? isn't that a crucial question? >> well, to our knowledge, we do not have any information that suggests that rus

if not, bashar al-assad must stay in order to discuss the diplomacy. we haven't been able to have a successful talk in part because many of the rebel groups have been invited to show up to the table won't sit down with any government in damascus. this is a chance for assad to kind of recalculate and make his own assessment about what is in the best interest of his clan, his family, the minority group in syria and also his country. we'll see, one thing for sure is he's been put on notice, if he uses chemical weapons again it will be the end of his regime. >> do you have a feeling that this moment has created an opportunity for clarity, so much criticism of the syrian war has been the dithering, lack of a focus of what the nca really is, is there a moment here for the united states to say we can do more to pursue an end state that we really like, or is this a one strike that the warning in hopes that it doesn't lead to war? >> there is surely the possibility that something good can come out of this, but once again we know all too little about what donald

his design to send a message to bashar al-assad but also to the russians that the u.s. has said that they are willing to work with the russians possibly to fight against isis. we have 1,000 u.s. troops on the ground in syria preparing to help forces, kurdish forces and others that the u.s. has trained to take raqqa which is the isis capital. this is designed to send a message to bashar assad to stop using chemical weapons to never use chemical weapons again, he was a signatory in 2013 to the chemical weapons treaty suggesting he wouldn't. tonight there was a meeting at the u.n. security council that was indecisive. and prior administrations i believe it would be safe to say that while the u.n. security council debated issues, a resolution on syria and the chemical weapons attack, and administration would have waited for those debates to finish. tonight, we were told that the u.s. wanted a vote on the resolution, russia was blocking it, they expected russia to block the resolution in the end as they have seven times in the past. this president did not wait for marcus pre

but bashar al-assad needs to go. in toward preveorder to prevent terrorist group like isis and potentially attacking us and our allies there has to be some level of civility in syria and i don't see any scenario in which bashar al-assad would be able to provide that level of stability. >> we heard also from the white house press secretary also from pentagon officials, they are claiming, we have no independent confirmation of this and tell me what you know, that these 59 tomahawk cruise missiles either destroyed or severely damaged about to% of the syrian air force, syrian planes. what do you know about that? is that true? >> well, there was definitely, they are doing a bomb damage assessment as we speak. i think the attack was successful. it was restrained and specific and timely and i think we can all walk away saying that was a good move. we also need to be talking about why did assad and forces use chemical weapons in the first place. what were the reality on the ground that assad was responding to and many have t

this is what he said about bashar al assad. listen. >> years of previous attempts at changing assad's behavior have all failed and failed very dramatically. as a result, the refugee crises continues to deepen. and the region continues to destabilize, threatening to united states and its allies. >> christiani ychristian christ one on its own? >> it's possible this might happen again. all we know is what the pentagon is saying. saying this is a one off. this is deterred. we'll see what the reaction is. that has to be the bottom line. and presumably it has to come with some channel to assad to say, okay. we did this. and you have to meet this, this and this threshold so we don't do it again. this is something you cannot get over the fact that it is the first time in nearly seven years, now -- going in its seventh year of this war, that the united states and the western coalition have taken president assad to task for repeated violations of international law. and repeated use of banned weapons of mass destruction. so, many people w

you can achieve your goals which is not to keep bashar al assad in power. it is to keep syria together as a unitary state. when he starts using chemicals, that's not a winning han. we want to keep syria together. you want to keep syria together. the best way to do that is not with bashar al assad. >> the president as a candidate, as a private citizen says don't telegraph what you're going to do. keep them guessing. i assume that's part of his strategy, not to announce. >> i think that's probably true. he said that during the campaign and even when people tried to press him on what his plans were he claimed he had these secret plans. yeah, i think he likes to operate in that way. if you look at the syria strike also he moved very quick wely a he's not somebody who's going to want to go to congress and talk about it and think about it the way president obama did. >> the iranians are involved supporting bashar al assad as well through various militia groups. saying the u.s. must not carry out any strikes. they didn't say what they would do, but it is a factor

right now the question is how will bashar al-assad respond. they finally backed down or will it be emboldened? on what are the wider implications that has been a civil war in syria, middle east, and u.s. relations. as well as president trump sending a blunt and direct message earlier last evening out of the deployment of a chemical weapons that were now spanned by the geneva convention back in 1925. >> we have assad choked up the lives of lifeless men, women, and children. it was a slow and brutal death for so many. >> it is just after 1:00 a.m. on the east coast. it is 8:00 a.m. in damascus where the sun has come up. we are seeing the damage of the strikes. thank you for joining us. i'm eric shawn. >> a barrage of american tomahawk missiles blast and airbase in central syria. retaliation for a political chemical attack that left 90 innocent civilians that earlier this week. the trump administration said syrian president bashar al-assad is to blame. >> around the world has been astounded with his military action, making many wonder if the new

position on whether bashar al-assad should stay. the secretary said there would be no role for him to govern the syrian people. much different than a week ago and the secretary said that it will be up to the syrian people to decide the long-term status of presidents before. secretary tillers and did speak of what he said the steps that were underway of an international coalition to remove assad. the state department said he was talking about ongoing dialogues with the united nations. this is a few days before secretary of state rex tillerson was supposed to travel to moscow. state department officials are saying that as of yesterday afternoon that trip was still on and they still hope to talk to russia about areas where the united states and russia may be able to cooperate so long as it's good for the united states. what we've heard from russia thus far is there is no disinvited to the united states. secretary of state rex tillerson. we'll see how that story develops through of the day. >> any country or keeping a particular ion? re

do we want bashar al-assad out now or later? -- chemical weapons pressure -- strike undertaken was in direct response to the use of chemical weapons. as i indicated we do believe it is in the national interest because it is a threat that unsecured chemical weapons pose given the chaotic conditions on the ground in syria. afight going on against isis, war, a large presence of al qaeda individuals. that important to us whatever weapons are there are bound or secure and destroy ultimately. of basharf the future al-assad, it is important to us that we undertake a political to the finalleads conclusion of how syria will be governed. it is our policy for a unified syria governed by the people of syria. it is clear to all of us that the reign of the assad family is coming to an end. and thetion of how transition itself could be very important in our view to the durability, the stability inside a unified syria, and be durability of the outcome going forward. we are not presupposing how that occurs. furtherear we see no role for the assa

given that the syrian regime baff schof bashar al assad agreed to remove them. despite the evidence then and the evidence now. >> back in 2013, it killed many more people than this chemical attack and the agreement between the russians, united states to remove those weapons is completely counter to what he said. there is more sound. as we wait for that, let's go to ben wedeman on the turkey/syria border with more. ben? >> yeah, obviously this interview with bashar al assad not a surprise that he flatly denies that the regime used any chemical weapons. this has been their line consistently over the last few years. and it's important to keep in mind you were talking about the restrictions that were placed on the afp press when it came to that interview. it was shot by a crew of the president, not of afp. they were told beforehand they could ask whatever questions they liked but that they would be given only those parts of the interview that the presidency decided to. so they only were given a first five questions and the first five answers. so it was probably not

al assad? >> we discussed no change in the status of sanctions that have been in place with russia as a result of certain actions taken in ukraine, as you know. i think as to the question of the interference with the election, that is fairly well established and i think that has been spoken to on the hill as well with the congress and it is a serious issue. it's one that we know is a serious enough to attract additional sanctions. and so we are mindful of the seriousness of that particular interference in our elections and i'm sure that russia is mindful of it as well. >> well, the state secretary did not threaten me with sanctions, did not threaten me with anything. frankly, we spoke about the items on our agenda, including whether problems and in fact on the majority of them there are problems and what will happen if the investigation will demonstrate the involvement of the syrian leadership and the chemical attacks. i believe that question is hypothetical. we don't want to try and guess beca

russia is supporting bashar al assad. the relationship of putin in his own country, imprisons journalists, kills opponents. it's not an ally of the united states. russia is an adversary. we need -- what i'm concerned about is the unwillingness of the president to call out russia and this admiration he has for vladimir putin. he's willing to get in a fight with so many of our allies but unwilling to say one bad thing about vladimir putin. russia needs to be called to account and held responsible for its behavior. we need a president who's going to do that in a forceful way, help to lead a coalition in a thoughtful strategic response to this and i think the internional community has a right to be kshd whether the president of the united states is up to the job in light of this unusual fondness for vladimir putin. it's complicated. no easy answers. sb we have to look at all options and encourage the coalition of partners in the region to do their part and come to the table. and the whole world has to respond to this. >> befo

what is possible to try to stop the syrian dictator, bashar al- assad. make no mistake, the pentagon has been game planning the sort of thing for a very long time. the "if then" possibilities are always on the table. the pentagon does this sort of thing for reasons around the world. consider the problems of north korea, as the north koreans recently launched yet another missile, one that failed and fell into the water sooner than they expected. but it happened while we were waiting for this meeting with the chinese president, xi, ongoing right now in south florida. the question is, what will the united states do next? the president said that we could act alone in north korea. now, the war this afternoon come the secretary of state rex tillerson is at the united states is working to bring together a coalition to see what the options are to strike against the syrian dictator, bashar al- assad. we know that a meeting was scheduled at the united nations tonight, there was talk of a possible resolution on this matter. at the word inside the united nations was

reporter: you called out bashar al assad as a war criminal. vladimir putin a war criminal. you have a president of the united states that's not calling for assad's removal anymore and says we have to be cognizant of the political realities of that country in syria. you've also got investigations across capitol hill of president trump and his ties to russia. do you think those investigations right now are undermining his ability to be an effective commander in chief on this issue and more broadly? >> no, i don't believe that. that's a separate endeavor, it's an important one. i'm involved in that on the intelligence committee. it's an important part of oversight. to me it's an ongoing practice and the foreign relations committee, we've heard from our allies in europe and this isn't going to end in 2016. we'll continue to see efforts to undermine our democratic institutions. it's part of vladimir putin's asymmetrical plan to undermine a world order that he believes constrains russia, which is not true, but that's his belief. on the first point, sure, there are policy disagree

bashar al-assad regime. will you organise an international coalition to remove bashar al—assad? an international coalition to remove bashar al-assad? does steps are under way. the elephants and the architect. we talk about a wacky new film from singapore that is winning over the critics. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. good morning. it is 7am in singapore, midnight in london, and seven in the evening in florida, where the leaders of the two economic superpowers have met for the first time. china's president xi jinping has been met via donald trump at his florida meeting place. there will be a working lunch on friday. earlier, ispoke there will be a working lunch on friday. earlier, i spoke to a former us ambassador to the asian development bank and i asked him if he anticipated a difficult meeting between the two leaders. just a smooth meeting will be to the benefit of both. washington. the trump administration is still finding its footing. not all of th

it is clear bashar al—assad did this. but what about the idea it could be used at an earlier or later time. i am sure they will be coming clear on their weapons. russia was embarrassed by this happening. they we re embarrassed by this happening. they were humiliated. russia was part of that accord in 2013 that were supposed to eliminate these chemical weapons. there was some concern when rex tillerson was elected about his previous close links with russia, could that give him leverage? no. i was surprised to see rex tillerson talking tough. he has arrived in moscow today with strong endorsements from the g7 supporting the missile strikes on the syrian air base and on bashar al—assad to remove those weapons. i can president putin will see rex tillerson in a different way than he did afew tillerson in a different way than he did a few years ago when he got that special award. william courtney. the united nations says there has been a surge in the use of children as suicide bombers by the west african islamist group, chari

for bashar al-assad. russia needs to listen to this council, listen to the arab world, listen to the rest of the international community. above all, listen to the syrian people. but moscow has said it will strengthen syria's anti—aircraft defences. it has also suspended a deal designed to prevent incidents between us and russian warplanes over the country, while washington says it is preparing further economic sanctions against syria. daniel boettcher, bbc news. workers at three rail companies have begun a 24—hour strike on the day of the grand national race at aintree, near liverpool. the action, involving southern, merseyrail and arriva rail north, is part of an ongoing dispute over staffing and the role of conductors. merseyrail said choosing to strike on the day of the race meeting would damage liverpool's reputation. there are just over four hours to go before the start of the grand national horse race. 600 million people from around the world are expected to watch. its exactly a0 years ago that

vladimir putin, bashar, al-assad and kim jong-un not going to back down. putin meeting with secretary

they're the ones who have gained so much by fighting along bashar al assad. they've been saying this was a foolish mistake for donald trump, but, i mean, with all of these different groups, they're saying somethinging that is condemning, but not threatening. so we're seeing a very interesting line here. .there's a lot of reasons for that, but mostly because they want to see whether trump is going to continue to attack the assad regime. we heard nikki haley saying that the u.s. is prepared to do more and countries here want to see whether or not trump will actually follow that up. and let's face it, this was more of a symbolic attack that an actual attack against bashar al assad's real military capability took off from the same base that the trump administration attacked early friday. so clearly, bashar al assad hasn't taken a real hit from these attacks and countries throughout the region are wondering whether trump will actually decide to try to dock bashar al assad's military capabilities within syria. they're trying to see whether or not they can really co

the forces of bashar al assad. whether you like this turn of events or not, it's truly not clear why the u.s. government has made that this change. bashar al assad undoubtedly is a butcher with the blood of hundreds of thousands of people on his hands, as well as the ultimate responsibility for what has been the wholesale destruction of his own country. but he's been a butcher all this time. there are hundreds of thousands of people who have died in that war. the syrian government under bashar al assad, they are operating a prison system thought to be like the death camp camps. it appears to be an industrialized human atrocity. this has been true all along. that has been true for years. and it does appear that bashar al assad may have abused chemical weapons against his own civilian population again this week. but this president was emphatic after a much larger chemical weapons attack a few years ago. he was emphatic that that was no reason for the united states to get militarily involved whatsoever in the syrian c

al- assad -- legitimate rule of bashar al-assad. >> reporter: after leaving that meeting with vladimir putin. secretary of state rex tillerson made it clear that the united states' position is that there is no place for syrian president bashar al- assad. >> russia is their closest ally in the conflict. they have the best means of helping bashar al-assad recognize this reality. >> reporter: secretary of state rex tillerson revealed few details about his meeting with vladimir putin. today the russian minister called for an investigation into the chemical attack in syria which killed 80 people. >> it's our colleagues, if they try to avoid the investigation, they are not wanting to find out the truth. >> reporter: they warned the united states not to strike syria again, in the meantime south carolina governor nikki haley address the members of the security counsel. >> it's past time for russia to stop covering for bashar al- assad. >> reporter: president donald trump had this to say about russian support for the syrian rej e-mail. >> -- regime. >> right now we are not getting along with ru

bashar al assad has been a butcher all this time. there are hundreds of thousands of people who have died in that war. the syrian government under bashar al assad, they're operating a prison system that appears to be an industrialized human atrocity on the scale of the death camps we thought had been left behind. that has been true all along. that has been true for years. and it does appear that bashar al assad may have used chemical weapons against his own civilian population again this week. but, you know, this president was emphatic after a much larger chemical weapons attack on syrian civilians. he was emphatic that that was no reason for the united states to get military involved in the syrian civil war. if you didn't want to get involved, if you screamed and yelled and occasionally went to all caps emphasis, if you screamed and yelled about how stupid it would be for u.s. military to get involved in syria after bashar al assad killed 1,400 people with chemical weapons not that long ago, why would bashar al assad killing 70 peop

al-assad. >> tillerson added it should be a clear choice between the regime of bashar al-assad, iran and hezbollah or middle eastern countries and the west looking to replace assad in that country. shortly before secretary tillerson arrived in moscow, vladimir putin, the president, went on air here in russia and said that essentially he wants the united nations to investigate the chemical attack last week in syria. the same chemical attack that the united states responded to thursday with its strikes against the assad regime. russia and its president has said that it's not bashar al-assad that is responsible for that tillerson said there's no doubt that bashar al-assad is the culprit for the attack. >> shepard: the white house warped that more barrel bombs could prompts a reaction from the united states. syrian war planes dropped barrel bombs. a government helicopter dropped them in the north and south. barrel bombs can be packed with nails and gasoline and metal. when they explode, shrapnel goes over a large area. a syrian army source tells reuters news accsy "we do not use these ba

support of bashar al-assad. rex tillerson speaking. let's round—up some of the other main stories. the italian coastguard says humanitarian groups operating rescue ships off the coast of libya have picked up more than 700 migrants out of seven flimsy and overcrowded boats. the number of migrants arriving in italy on boats from north africa are up 30% so far this year, according to official data released last week. the authorities in columbia say at least 290 people are now known to have died following saturday's mudslide in the city of mocoa. the government has ordered an investigation to find out whether building safety regulations were properly enforced. meanwhile the search continues for more than three—hundred people who are still missing. the united states says illegal border crossings from mexico have fallen to their lowest level in seventeen years. the homeland security secretary, john kelly, says fewer than 17,000 undocumented immigrants were detained in march. he said the fall was the result of pres

they are not tremendously committed to bashar al assad's regime. one of the russian officers we embedded with said when they arrived they were shocked how corrupt and degraded the regime was. but they do not want to see the united states picking and choosing regime change around the world. and they want to be at the table in any kind of determination of syria's future. >> terry moran reporting from london tonight, thank you. >>> for more on this breaking story we have abc news correspondents martha raddatz and brian ross in new york. in washington, colonel steve ganyard, military analyst. at the white house, abc news reporter cecilia vega. brian, you've been reporting on the sensitivities around intervening in russia's zone of influence. what did the u.s. military have to take into account as they carried out these attacks? >> one of the sensitive parts of the attack was make sure no russians were targeted or hit. they also had to make sure that the russian anti-aircraft missile systems didn't launch and go after the cruise missiles that were comin

nicole: how bashar al-assad will react against military? he has worked with the syrian rebels, we have much more coming up on all of this breaking news and let's check in on the market which has been down 140 points now down 35. s&p futures down 5. fbn:am, keep it right here. >> against humanity that were committed against bashar al-assad, i'm sure that the russians are also complicit in this as well. i know the president was appalled by it. [vo] quickbooks introduces jeanette and her mobile wedding business. she travels far and wide to officiate i do's. and quickbooks automatically tracks those miles. she categorizes with a swipe and is ready for tax time. find more than $4000 in tax savings. visit quickbooks-dot-com. >> tonight i call on all civilized nations to join us to seek end to slaughter and bloodshed in syria and also to end terrorism of all kinds and all types. nicole: breaking news this morning, the u.s. military firing dozens of missiles into syria. the pentagon says 59 missiles were launched from two naval destroyers in the me

clearly, they are bashar al assad's current ally. they should have the greatest influence on bashar al assad. they should have the influence on him to cause him to no longer use chemical weapon. i hope russia is thinking seriously about its continued alliance with bashar al assad. because every time one of these attacks occurs, it draws russia closer to some form of responsibility. >> if we determine they are responsible? what will happen? >> that will be clearly damaging to u.s.-russian relations. i do not believe that the russians want worsening relationships with the u.s. but it's going to take a lot of discussion and dialogue to better understand what is the relationship that russia wishes to have with the u.s. >> one of the big issues is russian interference in last year's election. that's the consensus view of all of our intelligence agencies. is that on your agenda for the meeting with foreign minister lavrov? what can you say to them? what will be the consequences if russia tries something like that again? >> we have had prev

he said they must now reexamine their relationship with bashar al assad. bill, that message now being delivered clearly and loudly by the trump administration. how is it going over in moscow? >> reporter: well, it's interesting that the words nikki haley used are not very different from the words the previous u.s. ambassador to the u.n., samantha power, used. she was very passionate at fwims russian attacks, using photographs as well just like the current ambassador did. so russia has heard thought before. but there was one interesting nuance response today from the chief kremlin spokesman. so rex tillerson said earlier, it is very important the russian government consider carefully their continued supportor the assad regime. here's what dmitri said before rex tillerson said that in an interview. he said russia's support for assad is not unconditional. that is not possible in this world. he did also say, assad and his army are the only real power in syria that can resist terrorists on the ground. but he did make the point that russia connecticut vinuld not

today, bashar al assad is saying the video might not be true. these people who live in the area that was attacked are terrorists. they could have staged it. syria would never carry out a chemical weapons atack, doesn't have chemical weapons t gave them up a couple of years ago and that this is all 100% fabricati fabrication. it goes back to the credibility of the video. do you believe the images are true, do you believe they are genuine? president assad in the this interview speaking with

al-assad. he says he's disappointed, but he's not surprised to hear what he's heard out of russia. look, this is how we'll deal with these guys in syria. if you want to deal with bashar al-assad, it's going to put you on the wrong side of history. >> bill: john, we appreciate it very much. let's bring in catherine harris joining us from washington. doesn't seem to be any chinese reaction in the sense that sometimes after a meeting, a day and a half meeting, there is a joint statement, that we didn't get any joint statements. putin postures behind the scenes. is there any serious, serious reaction tonight? >> i wouldn't say serious reaction, but i would say the leading edge of this investigation right now is into whether russia had some kind ofi role, bill, in this chemical attack earlier this week, and whether a second strike on that town in syria was really an effort to destroy evidence and be part of a larger cover-up of that crime. and that is really where a military intelligence is focused

the moral stain of bashar al—assad can no longer go unanswered. his crimes against humanity could no longer be met with empty words. it was time to say "enough." but met with empty words. it was time to say "enough. " but not met with empty words. it was time to say "enough." but not only say it, it was time to act. bashar al—assad must never use chemical weapons again, ever. that was nikki haley. the syrian government denounced the tonight's attack as reckless and irresponsible, but less than 2a hours after the strikes, syrian war planes are reportedly once again taking off from the air base. jon sopel reports. it was after dark on the east coast of america and before the sun had risen in the middle east, when the commander—in—chief gave the order to strike. from two us warships in the eastern mediterranean, a volley of cruise missiles was fired, targeting a single military airbase outside homs that had been used, say the americans, by the syrian air force to launch the deadly chemical weapons attack on idlib earlier in the week. it was in

>> reporter: well, so far, what we have heard, anderson, from president bashar al assad is more what you would expect to kind of define a bombastic statement, accusing the u.s. of being reckless and short sighted. but i think it will be more clear in the next few days what the real reaction is. and the real reaction i should add is unlikely to be -- syrian regime, whose army is on the brink of collapse. so it's probably fair to air that the russians will have a very strong part in deciding how the regime of bashar al assad r reacts to this. matthew chance just said it looks like the russians may be willing to take this one on the chin, but at this stage, it is still early days, we have heard reports of air strikes taking place in idlib province, from air strikes on the ground. but certainly everyone is going to be watching very closely to see whether or not this changes the face of the battlefield, whether bashar al assad at the very least stops using chemical weapons and more optimistically starts to lower the amount of crude munitions, barrel bombs, et cetera that he uses on syrian

bashar al assad. but for democratic congresswoman who recently met with assad in damascus, there's no proof. listen to what she told wolf blitzer. >> if president assad is found to be responsible after an independent investigation for these horrific chemical weapons attacks, i'll be the tirs one to e denounce him, to call him a war criminal and call for his prosecution into criminal court. make sure those consequences are there. but the key is now with president trump's reckless military strikes last night, it flew directly in the face of the action that the u.n. was working on at that time to launch an independent investigation. to find out what the facts are, who was involved and who was responsible. so i'm skeptical because we have to take at a premium the cost of these wars not only on the syrian people and the people in the middle east, but the cost of these wars here in the united states. >> now you have democrats who are calling on the congresswoman to leave office because of what she said. how

syrian president bashar al-assad said the u.s. airstrikes against his regime followed deeply false claims. president assad: our impression that the west, mainly the united states, they fabricated the whole story in order to have a pretext for the attack. only a few days, 48 hours, between the plane and the attacks and no investigations, no concrete evidence about anything. the only thing were allegations and propaganda and the strike. reporter: old words from assad, who knows -- bold words from assad, who knows moscow remains in his corner. efforts to investigate the gas attack with syrian cooperation were vetoed by russia at the un security council on wednesday. >> it is long past time for russia to stop covering for assad. it is long past time for russia to push seriously for peace and not continue to be part of the problem. reporter: but moscow says damascus doesn't even possess chemical weapons, and blames rebel groups. in a continued show support for assad and his regime, the foreign ministers of russia and iran will meet wit