ambassador to syria in london hide hyena's syria consulting research fellow at chatham house and the moscow alexi chemical middle east expert of the russian international affairs council gentlemen thank you all for joining us robert ford let me start with you if i may at the pentagon has denied that u.s. forces were behind the missile attack on the syrian airbase but the russians a blaming the israelis so who do you think is behind it and what message were they trying to send well i think everyone's suspects that it was the israeli air force that struck up a syrian air base the israelis have hit that air base before it so in february they did so then they said because the iranian revolutionary guard corps is using the base for a war or support to its operations in syria and the israelis have long said that the iran revolutionary guard corps operations and presence in syria constitutes a threat to israeli national security so i think i think almost everyone assumes it was the israelis let's bring in a hide hide there in london i mean what's your take on this missile strike on the syri

arwa damon, cnn, syria. >>> let's talk what's next for syria with josh ua landis. he is the director for middle east studies at the university of oklahoma. thanks for talking with us. we just saw another heart wrenching story, of what happened to the people that survived from this. let's talk about the mission we just saw. president trump proclaimed mission accomplished. in your view, was it? do you think assad will be deterred at all? >> i do. i think he will be deterred. the united states made a mistake by not including chlorine gas in the initial prescribed chemical weapons in 2013, when obama made his deal with the russians. then, they were added later. but america took no action when they were used. and this is, in a sense, plugging up a hole. i believe assad doesn't want to lose his important research facilities. and he will stop using it. as we know, about 1,900 people have been killed with chemical weapons. it's a narrow bandwidth in the larger -- this is a teeny bit and it's not going to give much satisfaction to the syrian opposition or the countries that

to syria one thing well we tried for many many years to get syria interested in opening up talks with the israelis they were very very reluctant to come anywhere near the wind for the last president is last year's ok i don't care if you have no idea what you actually mean does not there are seven years of civil war a proxy international war it's because assad didn't want to talk to the israelis really. no no don't don't misinterpret i'm just saying that. we have tried to do something positive in syria we did work on it to extensively year after year you didn't get anywhere ok so that's passed but it didn't leave a very good impression of syria in washington and i can tell you. well i think this is a thank you to know that syrian ambassador young all of the young women after the billions of dollars the training the funding the souring of these jihad is from outside the country that's what the u.s. policy has been and now they are illegally present they're under illegally under international law the damascus government wants them out and they won't leave i mean who is breaking the law h

syria state t.v. broadcast footage of the building it said was a research center hit by a mistrial the joint military action came a week after a gas attack on civilians which was though it was being carried out by the forces of syrian president bashar al assad. we are prepared to sustain this response or until the syrian regime stops or choose of prohibited chemical agents i also have a message tonight for the two governments most responsible for supporting equipping and financing the criminal assad regime to iran and to russia i ask what kind of a nation wants to be associated with a mass murder of innocent men women and children. this is the largest display of joint force by western nations against the assad regime and more significantly bigger than u.s. strikes on syria a year ago. set up at us your visit is objective this operation targeted objectives belonging to the clandestine chemical program of syria plus the main research center of this program and to important production science has been st

of course, syria isa during this strike. of course, syria is a crowded theatre of war. in the danger of this conflict spreading and growing, it still exists. stay with us on bbc news, or coming up stay with us on bbc news, or coming up we will have the latest on those as strikes. pol pot, one of the century's greatest mass murderers is reported to have died of natural causes. he and the khmer rouge movement he led were responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million cambodians. there have been violent protests in indonesia, where playboy has gone on sale for the first time. traditionalist muslim leaders have expressed disgust, the magazine's offices have been attacked and it is said that staff have gone into hiding. it was clear that paula's only contest was with the clock, and as for her sporting legacy, paula radcliffe's competitors will be chasing her new world best time for years to come. quite quietly, but quicker and quicker, she is seenjust to slide away under the surface and disappear. they are this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the us ambassador to

isolating syria has not worked what what role do these countries play in some sort of solution to syria. well definitely it's a very important issue which has been brought by sami that syria's membership in the end of the it was suspended in their youth two thousand and twelve after the eruption of the syrian civil war which of up to. modest to fifteen of two thousand and eleven when the arab spring erupted in a number of arab countries and yes syria has been isolated and has been boycotted by many out of. countries and many out of big teams but i believe that there are a number of other countries who are insisting in bringing back seat again to the membership of the oblique i believe there are about ten out of countries a lot of calling for the for bringing syria back. because syria has managed to survive the past. seven years. of civil war on also syrians ability to to defeat of the so-called terrorists of isis and in a number of areas in the syrian territory and with the support of the questions and the iranians for the. assad regime it seems to me that it doesn't make in a sense to

s first strike on syria and this latest strike, syria number oft a suspected chemical weapons attacks. when you think the action the u.s. took will change the regime's calculus and anyway? vice president pence: the action was focused exclusively on a chemical weapons program and we believe it has significantly eroded and crippled the ability of they regime-- ability of the to use the chemicals they have been producing against civilians. the attack a year ago was against a military base the deployed this type of ordinance -- this type of ordnance. this time the focus was on the chemical weapons regime itself and our hope is that syria and its patrons got the message. but syria should know, their supporters in russia and iran should know, that the u.s. and our allies and this of life are prepared to continue this effort -- and our allies in the civilized world are prepared to continue this effort to ensure chemical weapons are not used against civilians in syria. we believe we significantly degraded their program. believe we significantly degraded their ability to butuce chemical weapon

in syria. it could be rebels that are trying to overthrow that government. that is just like anyone in the united states, a rebel going against our country and release terrorist bombs or things in our country. we cannot go by what information these other countries are releasing. ,e have to verify it our self and our country is going bankrupt as a result of doing the job of these other countries. they should be involved in what is going o >> we leave washington journal to join united nations security council holding a joint meeting on the syrian air strikes by the united states, great britain, and france. >> [speaking spanish] excellencies,nt, i've been following the reports of airstrikes in syria conducted by the united states, france, and the united kingdom. last night at 22 hours of new presidentu.s. announced the beginning of airstrikes in participation by france and the u.k. indicating they were targeting the chemical capabilities of the syrian government to deter their future use. followed

the stakes in syria are high. this chaos goes far beyond its borders, threatening allies and partners. and i again commend ranking member engel for his steadfast, years-long commitment to addressing this conflict. there is no excuse for the senate's failure to act on the seizure civilian protection act. this bill, passed twice unanimously by the house, would make those supporting assad's killing machine and his barrel bombs and his gas attacks, pay a real cost. the committee also recently passed the no assistance to assad act, which prohibits the regime and prohibits its allies from profiting from any reconstruction. both these bills would give our diplomats real leverage. if the united states isn't engaged in the middle east, iran will certainly take advantage. tehran is already aggressive and capable as this committee has highlighted. the regime is using its bolstered position from a windfall of cash from the nuclear deal to help hezbollah amass missiles along israel's borders. they are seeking, obviously, to es

ambassador to syria and bahrain welcome back to r.t. the u.k. brought up the chemical incidents in syria's can shake a year ago today to remind people that was when dozens of people died at the u.s. to model those tomahawk missiles take out a syrian air base a particularly nasty incident but what's that got to do with the poisoning of mr scrapple and his daughter. well exactly the u.k. statement designed precisely to muddy the waters and tooth near russia and syria at the same time in fact the report to which the british delegate referred actually produce some evidence to the contrary of what britain has been thing about that in food and in syria that report did mention that some alleged victims of the alleged poisoning by syrian born presented to hospital hours before syrian planes were actually established to be at the site of the bombing so the. shot themselves in the foot by bringing up. but. it's an attempt to muddy the waters the british government today is on the back foot following the brave statement by the director of the porton down c

troops out of syria. in this video which is being broadcast around the world since this weekend's horrifying and it claims to show the aftermath of the attack. though cnn can't independently verify the footage shot by activists and local doctors. in it, men, women and children, are gasping for air and foaming at the mouth as emergency responders frantically try to save their lives while many lie lifeless on the floor of an underground shelter. our senior international correspondent fred pleitgen is in damascus and joins me with the latest. fred, the syrians are obviously denying it. the russians, too. what do they expect will be the next move? >> reporter: well, i think that the russians and the syrians both are going to wait and see what the americans are going to do, put i think, christiane, they are concerned about the things they heard from the white house, from president trump tonight. at the same time, you hear the russians saying they think this is a hoax. they've not detected anything that would i

we kicked isis' ass out of syria, but the war in syria has been won by syria. the context is interesting. as good an operation as it was, it's going to have an effect of stopping chemical attacks. neil: the president seemed to telegraph as much last week before when he hinted just get out of syria. what do you make of that and what our position should be now going forward, especially after in? >> again, in context, as you know, we helped start this thing during the last administration. with the saudis, intel stuff, we began to try to get assad out of there and it went upsidedown on us, and everybody else fast. this is now, has been won by russia and iran and syria. the russians got a port that they've always wanted. iran's got influence. this is a bad situation, we cannot get back in the middle of because again, 17 years of war, we're still in. we cannot get into this one. neil: you know, colonel, and the perspective from a soldier here, and you see politicians or ambassadors gathering, again, with the best of intentions, we can assume, to keep the world at pea

we want the same in syria. it's interesting, though, getting behind the desk of the oval office which i have never sat there is a very sobering position. and sitting down realizing that there are massive strategic objectives out there, that the united states plays a vital role in, is very sobering, and seeing in an instance in syria people choking to death on gas, that has a different impact on you when you are the president. seeing the crescent shield, the crescent bridge all the way across the middle east and knowing that the iranians are on the doorstep of israel has a very sobering effect to you. i think the president has responded very well to this call of leadership, this burden of leadership and has said america has a role to play in this world and i'm the leader at the helm. >> the president went on from there to talk about the middle east. he says it is a very troubled place. america can't solve all of its problems, he said we will be a partner of them and a friend, but the fate of the region lies in t

strikes in syria ninety six hours ago the u.s. struck three locations in syria and you know what you are extended coverage as we analyze exactly what happened with our correspondents around the world now. it is of course the largest intervention by western powers since against syria's government since the war began nearly seven years ago now the us britain and france have it really hit regime change targets with a barrel of strikes from ships and fighter jets in response to a suspected poison gas attack last week the u.s. president donald trump announced the operation explosions were heard in syria's capital damascus the government's key allies have responded with anger russia has warned that there will be consequences iran says it's a clear violation of international law as dawn broke in damascus regime supporters gathered to cheer for president bashar al assad syrian officials have described the military action as brutal american british french aggression. now all of the strikes were aimed at degrading syria's chemical weapons c

in syria. site isans to visit the complete and they are ready to go. i'm confident they will have full access without any restrictions to perform their activities. allow me tot, repeat what i said yesterday. represents the most serious threat to international peace and security. we see confrontations and proxy wars involving several armies, opposition groups, militias, foreign fighters from everywhere in the world and various terrorist organizations. from the beginning we have --nessed system mastic systematic violation of international human rights law and violations of the letter and spirit of the u.n. charter. for eight long years the people of syria have endured suffering upon suffering. suffered through crimes, starvation, attacks on innocent civilians and civilian inner structure -- civilian infrastructure, chemical weapons, the list goes on. this critical juncture i call on all members to act consistently with the charter of the united nations, including the norms against chemical weapon

he was announcing that the united states has decided to strike syria, strike locations in syria and president trump said that that was done in conjunction with france and the united kingdom. president trump talked about savage chemical weapons against his own people, referring to syria, talking about last year when they use 58 missile strikes that destroyed a significant proportion of the syrian air force. significant proportion of the syrian airforce. he described significant proportion of the syrian air force. he described this particular incident, the use of chemical weapons in douma as a significant escalation, and he said they were not the actions of a man but the crimes of a monster, referring to president bashar al—assad. with going out to chris buchler, our correspondent who is in washington. chris, itappears buchler, our correspondent who is in washington. chris, it appears as if for the past week, the question we have been wondering about, whether any action would be taken, has just been answered by president trump. the days of diplomacy, and now we have the announcement that mili

yes. >> i'm from the syria. actually i'm from north of syria. i'm the represent tv of syrian democratic down -- down in the d states. i'm asking about the rowell -- role of turkey in the syrian issue. especially invading and occupying syrian territory, and the other areas, and now that they are beheading -- to all these syrian borders to the iraqi borders. so what do you think is for the interests of the united states to have like that? because in this case, they are increasing the issue of -- and irany syria. what's the solution, especially after this donald trump when he declared withdrawing the u.s. out of syria. what do you think about that? thank you so much. >> let's do those three. paul. isis. >> so to start with isis. russia did attack a lot of isis targets and also attacked the free siren army and other opponents of assad or major ones. i think because russia does not like isis. it is a threat to russia. there are isis aligned people in the no, cautions who created problem -- caution -- caucuses would present problems to the russians so

economic effectiveness of economic activity of syria if you want syria to have no economy at all. you want to withdraw this country back into the stone age just a few years ago this country was one of the most developed countries in the middle east. you want you want to finish off what your sanctions haven't achieved yet at the same time you're trying you are shedding crocodile tears about the suffering of ordinary syrians ordinary syrians which who are tired of war and they were happy that they are legitimate or thirty have freed in their territory or not you're not interested in their suffering you're aggressive actions contribute to worsening the humanitarian situation which you are so worried about according to your statements . in twenty four hours you could stop the conflict in syria for this washington london and paris only have to give orders to two there are handpicked terrorists to stop their fighting against the legitimate authorities and against their own people not of the strikes were conducted against syrian military air fields which are being used in the course of a

any more complications in syria turkey and russia as well as iran are partners in for peace in syria any move that will spoil this. is something that turkey does not desire plus turkey is a friend of russia. yes we are allies with the united states but we have vested interests in russia and as i said the peace process has been started with turkey and russia between prison that go on and put in so we want that process to continue without any hindrance and outside interference is just going to make things more complicated but i don't think any kind of intervention by the americans british or the fridge is going to make any real impact on the peace process it's will just be a ripple say force comes to worse an american or russian missiles to collide in syrian skies what would that mean for turkey's operation in north of syria. we'll it's a very undesirable situation because the american presence in. the north of syria their alliance with the kurdish militants the kurdish terrorist p.k. is undesirable for turkey so does not want this kind of american presence there what turkey wants is t

-led strikes on syria. they've been called a success by the president but what exactly did they accomplish? this hour, some perspective. >> to quote the pentagon, these strikes were precise. >> strategic, we're no better off, tactically, we're slightly better off. >> all of the diplomatic initiative has been lost. >> this strike was important because basically we were standing up to the principle you do not use chemical weapons in warfare? >> this really a one-time shot as the president said and will the base support that? our experts gore ing to weigh in. >>> plus, the president coming under fire for using two words that some say he should have avoided. >>> okay. first to breaking news, right now from the united nations security council which is meeting in emergency session at the request of russia. on the agenda, last night's u.s.-led military strike on syria. three-country coalition response to last week's chemical attack on civilians. russian president vladimir putin has declared the strikes an act of a

your expertise on syria. coming up as we wait for the press briefing to begin, new developments today involving stormy daniels now hiring a sketch artist hoping to expose the man who tried to threaten her into silence seven years ago. will it work? is it a bit of a reach? we'll discuss. it's ok that everyone ignores me while i drive. it's fine. because i get a safe driving bonus check every six months i'm accident free. and i don't share it with mom! right, mom? righttt. safe driving bonus checks. only from allstate. switching to allstate is worth it. >>> you can run but you can't hide. that is the latest we are hearing from stormy daniels' attorney raising the stakes with this new salvo aimed at the president of the united states. he says he plans to release a sketch of the man that threatened stormy daniels about her alleged affair with trump. >> a composite sketch has been produced. we will be releasing that tomorrow along with a significant reward. we are close to identifying this individual. >> with me n

wants to divide syria, to tear syria apart. there are various plans how to roceed, you know that geneva plan, the arabians, so on and so what -- it iranians, so on. at the same time, it seems to me with all of the countries that have really limited goals. hey are also following policies that make it impossible for syria to be put back together. i would like some comments on that, because it seems to me that the more militias, the more groups, the more actors, the more weapons to different groups that all of the outsiders are putting in, the less possible it becomes for syria to stay together. and i went in -- can i weigh n? first of all, if assad is assassinated, one of the bigger dangers for us is that he survives, because who is going o come to his rescue, who is going to rebuild the country? i hink there are a lot of good questions. i agree with you, everybody agrees on, every country, everybody, they want to hold syria together. it is questions. i agree with you, like the iraqi former ambassador said the only people who wan

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prime minister's decision to join the attack on syria. we are certainly expecting a day of heated debate here in westminster at the house of commons as in fact m.p.'s will be gathering to debate to rescind may's decision to go ahead and strike against syria along with the us and france this weekend without getting parliamentary approval first despite there haven't been quite a handful of calls not just within the opposition but also inside the conservative party to allow parliament to be able to vote and weigh in on these potential strikes at the time first and of course that didn't happen and we did see theresa may go ahead an act seeing it as justified and necessary talking again about evidence and using the word that seems to have become quite popular over here in britain highly likely i cannot tell you everything but let me give an example of some of the evidence that leads us to this conclusion open source accounts allege that a barrel was used to deliver the chemicals. multiple open source reports claim that a regime helicopter was

but support for syria was one of them. relations not just between britain and russia, but america and russia are at a low ebb, is there a sign that the united states and russia want to pull back from that? nicky hayley said he would like to have better relations with russia. and president trump, even when he castigates russia, he says the same thing. she said we will not put up with bad behaviour in order to do that. however, the way that russia and the us, the way they related to each other in terms of this recent attack, in syria, the fa ct of this recent attack, in syria, the fact that the americans were very careful not to hit russian targets, the fact there was some kind of communication going on even if not perhaps directly about the strikes and the fact some russian officials have expressed a desire to have talks and a relief that the strikes we re talks and a relief that the strikes were not worse, does show that there is at least on both sides a wish not to escalate things over syria, which is where the point, the

w was supposed to begin its mission in syria on the ground in syria its investigation on saturday at the u.s. launched its strikes literally hours before with that investigation was supposed to kick off so obviously a lot of questions were raised by whether or not that mission is jeopardized whether or not any objects of infrastructure that were supposed to be examined by the experts over the o.p.c. w. were hit or damaged now the body has issued a statement it's a rather brief one literally just two sentences outlining the current state of events and they are saying that they will be going forward with their mission in syria no details as to whether or not they feel affected in any way by the strikes back to the reaction from moscow then anything more wider than the kremlin well yes the russia's foreign ministry has laid out its view of the situation right now they've said that basically the u.n. security council has to hold accountable the u.s. the u.k. and france for what they did in syria they promised to present its russia's facts what russia knows about the strikes to the u.n. s

with syria. this is what's left of the birds a scientific research center targeted by missiles from the u.s. britain and france the site near the syrian capital damascus was among three alleged chemical weapons facilities hit during the joint operation the u.s. hopes the government got the message that its actions will not go unpunished. but the syrian state media was that of defiance in the face of what they called tripartite aggression. we did not sleep at night honestly we went to the streets to support the army and the air force struck down the missiles. as war has divided opinion in the middle east people came out in solidarity with the assad government in cities their support for iran and hezbollah or there is high and u.s. sentiment to the relief of the syrian government and its allies the operation was limited instead of a much discussed sustained attack the syrian government thanks its russian partners for the warning about the much anticipated strikes after days of tough rhetoric betwee

from syria. and finally, and this is where i think we get to the question of where we are going to go from here -- oppose the creation by ofn and hezbollah over time a whole new front against israel, similar to the one that iran and hezbollah have created over time in lebanon. that means many thousands of missiles, underground bunkers and tunnels, command-and-control centers, all targeted at israel. in the event that iran or hezbollah decides to use those facilities against israel, whether in retaliation for israeli strike against iran or for some of the region -- some other reason. i want to tell to quick antidotes -- antidotes -- anecdotes that i think illustrate some aspects of what i just said. it so happens that i was in israel in the very moment that byma decided not to enforce force the chemical weapons redline that he had announced in september of 2013. and it so happened that at that very moment's, i was deep in conversation with a rather senior israeli security official with responsibil

inside of syria. a is possible for us to find way forward that makes the russians unhappy, but does not risk the escalation everyone seeks to avoid. host: the u.s. has had mixed messages as well. we of the president say how much he wants to work with putin, but at the same time named putin by name in respect to the attacks. is it advantageous for the u.s. to pressure russia on the issue of cra the same way that it has pressed china on north korea? guest: absolutely. to the unitedsks states. the russians are exploiting the opportunity to undermine the u.s. and posture diplomatically. it is not a vital russian syria.t in they are there to undermine us. in this case, the russians have no desire to work with us. host: we will go to the pentagon briefing live. >> good morning. happy saturday. i want to start by making one point clear. the use of chemical weapons anywhere in the world is an inexcusable violation of international law. the united states will not tolerate it. the assad regime attack against in

and russia's involvement in syria these attacks is it likely to make russia think twice at all about the level of its involvement whether it will downscale are. not of it in fact a new kind of perverse he strikes probably strengthens russia's hand and telling assad is i told you so if you can see to use these chemical weapons you're going to share that as a whole i mean russians are kind if back to syria used chemical weapons but the united states and the west will probably continue to you know impose a military cost on the side of it because it is to use them is there a willingness by moscow to see the syrian war through to the end because it's been suggested that a sat on his own can't do that. well it's almost over i mean it's just mopping up operation again and when you say the war is over really it is you know people are still fighting between anti-government forces and the syrian military under assad is over and say anything about the kurds this is a new about the turkish forces so be a war that is over but the country will still be fractured it and of course russia's leading f

syria is a sovereign nation. when you push for the oust of a leader of a different country, it's obviously bringing up very, very critical, legal, international legal issues. we saw that with saddam hussein. a lot of people saying the united states never had the authority to push him out of power in the way it happened, especially with regards to claims of weapons of mass destruction that never came true. people fearing that could be repeating history and history that hasn't been kind to the united states in terms of relationships in the middle east. obviously, that's very complex. you have a separate battle going on in terms of the american battle against the islamic state group and other militant factions in the country. this weekend, we are expecting a renewed authorization for the use of military force, which would allow the president to authorize action against the islamic state group or any associated forces around the world that are product of al qaeda, the original parent group. you have this different el

syria's wa hab recently syria's wahab recently entered its eighth year. the us has described the overnight strikes against syria as "precise, overwhelming and effective". the us, france and the uk fired more than 100 missiles in response to a suspected deadly chemical attack on the town of douma last week. the pentagon said that the explosions hit a scientific research facility in the capital, damascus, as well as two locations near the city of homs. president trump thanked his allies and said the strikes were "perfectly executed", declaring "mission accomplished". 0ur diplomatic correspondent, paul adams, has this report. after a week of talking, an hourof bombing. from a french ship in the mediterranean, a salvo of cruise missiles, 12 in all. britain acting too, tornados taking off from their base in cyprus, also loaded with missiles. a carefully co—ordinated operation led by the united states. a short time ago, i ordered the united states armed forces to launch precision strikes on targets associated with the chemical weapons capabilities of syrian d

liz: forces in syria were nearly 2,000 troops. joining me now with a look at military perspective heritage foundation visiting fellow and former army special forces officer steve buchi. i really appreciate it. i wanted to get your perspective because i'm curious as to, yes, we heard the announcement from the president seconds later and during speech we were getting bombings. >> the president gives initial intent to department of defense folks and start looking at options, they'll come back to the president in the midst of the process of trying to either get more guidance, sort of offer him something he may not have asked for initially, sounds like a long time for this kind of precision was pretty -- liz: the effort -- >> that complicated further, it's simple when -- >> qatar to airbase. that sort of things. liz: i'm curious as to troops on the ground. more than a week ago, we had heard that they were going to be drawing back out of syria, we heard that from president trump. what now? what are they thinking? has their mission chang

a similar strike in syria. there wasn't much of a response from the bashar al-assad regime, will there be a response going forward? could this escalate to something that escalates into original conflict. kelly: thanks for the report from jerusalem. jackie: from the washington bureau the founder of the national institute and senior advisor to the house intelligence committee and former white house counsel to president bush. thank you for joining us this morning. you have been around for some big decisions in washington. what do you think of the decision tonight to bomb syria? >> the president made clear the use of chemical weapons was not appropriate. to get the french and british joining with us demonstrating the international coalition for these activities. kelly: air celebrating that the missiles that hit those targets didn't do anything. is that the head game president trump is saying that we are not messing around or are we trying to destroy them? which is more important? the destruction of those sites or l

against syria. however, we have now learned that these images were not of tonight's joint military operation. we apologize for this error. quick break for us. more of the continuing coverage after this. >>> welcome back. msnbc continuing coverage of the strikes in syria. over shadowing the military action is the president's turmoil over the russia investigation. court filings confirm his long time attorney michael cohen is under criminal investigation. former c ishs a director weighed in on whether his troubles at home may have impacted on when and how to impact syria. >> i think the way the strikes were carried out was i think consistent with what the united states is trying to do in the past. when dealing with a difficult situation. one is we didn't do itdo. we were very surgical in term of the strike. going after the facilities. storage as well as delivery mechanisms. way it was done is consistent with what the u.s. million tear tries to do. as far as whether or not other things came into play. i

bad legal arguments for the syria air strike. help us understand what secretary mattis was saying and some of the legal considerations that are at play as we begin the process in the early morning hours in syria. >> right. so first of all i want to say that i have no moral problem for international politics problem with striking syrian chemical weapons capability. this is a horrible, horrible regime with -- that is in, you know, grotesque violation of the chemical weapons convention. and that said, there are some pretty serious legal questions, both under domestic law and under international law about what the united states and its allies did. the domestic law question is, you know, under what circumstances can the president launch a strike like this where there is no self-defense element, nobody is going to be attacking us? and congress has not authorized the use of force in this context. so that's the domestic law question. and what general mattis was saying is that the president has the inherent authority under article two of

what is syria saying about that? they have been acts or pretending it wuasn't a big dea. >> that's right. they are saying it wasn't a big deal. when you look at the satellite images and some of the video we have seen from the aftermath which is sort of in the north the u.s. certainly seems to have annihilated pretty much all of the buildings. the big question is how much of a depth does it make and then also were the facilities in use? those are all questions that were very difficult to answer. it may be a deterrent. they announced it had taken over the entire area where the alleged kem chemical attack too place. it seems they have had a pretty big military victory. it is hard to state how hard it is. it was always a thorn in the side with the rebels there being very very close to his seat of power. it seems as though assad is unphased by any of this. it was put out after the strikes took place that showed he a apparently casually walking to. of. >> pred is there. thank you. >>> russia and turkey are key players. the

president donald trump said syria would pay a big price than took to twitter to warn syria's main backer russia vows to shoot down missiles fired at syria get ready russia because they will be coming you shouldn't be partners with a gas killing an animal who kills his people and enjoys it u.s. secretary of defense james mattis said the u.s. military was still assessing the situation but didn't rule out a strike we ready to provide military option to third proprium as the president determined. u.s. warships left port on wednesday on route to the middle east they're not due to arrive for weeks indicating washington means to keep up the pressure. meanwhile russia has moved fast to establish itself in duma this amateur video purportedly shows russian police investigating near the site of the attack moscow says it and the regime are ready to allow a probe which shouldn't assign blame and the kremlin has argued that caution is in order. we do not participate in twitter diplomacy we support a serious approach we still believe that it is important not to take any steps that may harm the already

airfield in syria. i think from became president of the united states i think this was actually a big moment. and that's the way it looks for now as you can see that the u.n. security council emergency hearing still ongoing that's the french envoy francoise the lot for talking now we heard from the u.s. and the u.k. earlier as well as the russian envoy russia of course has convened this fifteen u.n. security council meeting in a week on syria and there's been some angry exchanges and accusations across the chamber as well we'll pull that together and tell you what's been said with our washington correspondent when i had lie news returns after the break. american sanctions would be damaging but i mean that is this justice is a failure is this all us should would use a country like a tissue paper and when it thinks it doesn't need it anymore it just costs the way i think it's very immoral. about your sudden passing i've only just learned you worry yourself and taken your last turn. up to you as we all kne

syria. a three-country coalition response to last week's chemical attack on civilians. russian president vladimir putin declared the strikes an act of aggression. and ambassador nikki haley said it was high time for action. >> we talked about the victims in douma. we talked about the assad regime and its patrons, russia and iran. we spent a week talking about the unique horror of chemical weapons. the time for talk ended last night. >> in syria, international chemical weapons inspectors arrived in damascus this morning to investigate last week's chemical attack to get proof that it was a chemical attack. they got there hours after the united states, the united kingdom and france launched missile strikes. a total of 105 weapons were used. >> we took every measure and precaution to strike only what we targeted. and we successfully hit every target. >> u.s. officials contradicted russian claims that more than 70 coalition mills have been intercepted. >> these attacks on multiple axis were able

what is israel's redline in syria? >> i think there is a misunderstanding with iranian presence in syria. what we speak about is iranian military base in every part of syria. it is presence we will not allow. if they are smuggling drugs, or have some business, even if they are only in the capacity of advisors. it is another story. but to establish military space, it doesn't matter if it is aerospace or navy hub or some base for their ground operations, will not allow it. also it is this position we expect to everybody in the world. we have determination to protect ourselves. >> people here and elsewhere turn to you for special insight into understanding russia's strategy. how do you evaluate what russia really wants in syria, and what the limits of russian objectives are? for example, the debate on united states on that russia-iranian relationship. can we divide russia from iran? would you think the possibilities are here? >> i don't think it is the right approach for me to start with analysis about russia. but what is

you're watching video of you news coming to you live from burning brush of says an alleged gas attack in syria was staged this as an international team prepares to begin an investigation of the site this findings could determine if the u.s. decides to launch retaliatory strikes also coming up the reef and not a foot eight year old girl in india still has the conscience of the nation been through and once again puts the spotlight on how difficult it is for rape victims to get justice despite the government promises to do better. and a huge shake up act folks bargain have a decent takes over as c.e.o. the new man at the top wants to reshuffle major brands and prepare the auto giant for the future. to you i'm to touch. the russian foreign minister has claimed that a suspected gas attack in the syrian town of duma was staged speaking to reporters in moscow sergey lavrov said a foreign intelligence agency helped fabricate the attack but he offered no evidence and did not name the country in question meanwhile an international fact finding mission is arrived in syria to investigate the alleged attac

russia's foreign minister says moscow has solid evidence that the alleged chemical attack in duma in syria was staged. any traces of the use of chloride or any other chemical weapons. in fact we have evidence. that this was a false flag false flag operation to be ahead by those who promote through so phobic ideas. separately the u.s. defense secretary says america has the right to carry out a preemptive strike on the syrian government to defend its troops james mattis also admitted though that there was no clear evidence that chemical weapons were used in an attack in the city of duma last weekend but as it goes down of explained fears are growing over the situation in syria because of a lack of evidence hasn't prevented the u.s. from starting a full scale war in the past we're looking very very seriously very closely to that whole situation and. we'll see what happens folks will see what happens if the drum of war is beginning to bang in washington and the beat is for syria the u.s. is again accusing president assad over using chemical weapons on his own people but the basis for this conv

syria early twenty eight hundred. seven years of civil war and still no end in sight there are too many interests involved this war goes beyond the assad regime fighting rebel groups. major foreign doctors are playing their part too. these are the main ones they regularly supply weaponry and personnel to those they believe can help to meet their own geo political ends russian president vladimir putin is one of president assad's closest allies russia has provided military support to assad since twenty fifteen since then the syrian government has managed to recover lost territory with the aid of russian airstrikes putin wants to strengthen russia's military presence in the region reduce american influence and keep radical islamists out of power the russian air station near latakia is now a permanent fixture on the tarsus marine base russia's only such base in the mediterranean is being enlarged. president hassan rouhani of iran is another supporter after all iran has no intention of losing one of its closest allies in t

strike in response to the alleged gas attack in syria. and the world health organization demands on handed access to check crippled survivors show signs of having been exposed to chemical weapons. and algeria begins three days of national mourning after the country's worst plane crash kills more than two hundred fifty. celebrations in as a by. john as president aliyev wins a fourth term in a village that was boycotted by the opposition. but let's start with syria and the strong language is coming from washington about how it will respond to saturday's suspected chemical attack in duma which isn't far from the capital damascus the white house press secretary sara saunders says no timetable is being set for potential military action against the syrian government and that all options remain on the table that despite the president comes early a tweet warning russia to get ready for missiles to be followed wolf from white house correspondent kimberly halkett. this is how the united states responded to last year's nerve agent gas attack in qana