were expecting it this is a legitimate syrian government let as said is and power by the syrian people's choice the u.s. and nobody has any right to make any decisions as to what should be going on in syria other than the syrian people and the government that is in place right now and we need to respect that it's a sovereign nation who has representation in the united nations and it's just ridiculous to see how is it that international law can apply to them and it doesn't apply to others. so i and this is jacqueline also in the studio with nikki i just wanted to say during his announcement trub also cast a shadow on russia we can take a quick listen to what exactly he had to say the nations of the world can be judged by the friends they keep no nation can succeed in the long run by promoting rogue states brutal tyrants and murderous dictators russia must decide if it will continue down this dark path or if it will join with civilized nations as a force for stability and peace so there we have the u.s. president suddenly saying that your allies define you but the us friends are questionab

policy, nor an attempt to depose the syrian regime. the strikes were justified, legitimate, and a proportionate response to the syrian regime continued use of chemical weapons on its own people. we do not seek conflict in cannot allow such violation of international law. our goal in syria remains defeating isis, by with and through the 70-nation coalition. we will not stand by passively while assad, backed by russia and iran, ignores international law. the actions in april 2017 and on april 7, 2018 show that they have abandoned their commitment to the international community and resorted to a legal tactics against the innocent syrian people. we call upon russia to honor its commitment to make sure that the assad regime dismantles the chemical weapons program and never uses chemical weapons again. diplomats working to set conditions for the united process toked succeed. anlook forward to effort to provide transparency. general mckenzie? >> good morning. i will spend the next few minutes talking about the military details of the strikes

i want to emphasize of the strikes are directed at the syrian regime. in conducting these strikes we have gone to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties. this is a time for all civilized nations to urgently unite, ending the syrian civil war by united nations backed process. in accordance with the chemical weapons convention prohibiting the use of such weapons, we urge responsible nations --to condemn the assad regime. to join us in our firm resolve to prevent chemical weapons for being used again. we will provide a military update. >> good evening. esam joined by our attached secretary mattis has just outline the policy and legal plan. i will address the strike and military dimension. at 9 p.m. eastern standard time, french, british, and u.s. forces in syria in support of president trump's objective. our forces were integrated throughout the planning and execution of the operation. the targets that were struck and destroyed were specifically associated with the syrian regime's chemical weapons program. we selected targets that would minimize the ri

russian or the syrian air defenses had engaged the syrian state t.v. saying they shot down thirteen tomahawk missiles can you refute that jennifer i can't tell you the results we literally as you know the time on target was about an hour ago and we came straight up here to give you the best information we have right now to more morning the secretary talk about a minute we'll give you that more detail operational update and some of the details but those details aren't available to us right now but there are strikes is over this wave of air strikes is over that's where we're out here speaking to you know. i'm not as. i want to follow up on you what you said about the legal basis for the strike could you talk a little bit more about that because in your testimony the other day it sounded like you were saying that this is a potential strike with somehow be linked to self-defense i mean that the presence of american forces in syria can you say a little bit more about that and also we're talking whether or not there will be future action additional strikes.

particular syrian aircraft. now, that, again, a limited strike. it does feel like this is yet again something pretty similar, a limited strike intended to send a message. but there will be some people asking, including in washington, that if that was not successful in changing president assad's regime, will do strike successful either? that was the bbc‘s chris buckler in washington. also in washington is michael carpenter, a former deputy assistant secretary of defence, who served as foreign policy adviser to former vice presidentjoe biden. he is now a resident senior fellow with the atlantic council and joins us now. thank you for coming back on the show. how does this strike helped the syrian people if regime change is not the answer? well, regime change was never the goal year. it wasn't last year and it isn't now and it won't be in the future. that is, you know, us policy has not been to pursue regime change. so this is a significant strike. it targets various different locations across the country, as opp

looking at syrian state tv, u.s.—led attacks on syria, downing a number of missiles, while you have been there have you had a sense that people there saw this coming or expecting it, or weapon pairing for it? —— were preparing. they were following the news as we all have around the world. we have been here for a couple of days here on the streets talking with people in damascus, it is friday was a holy day, a quiet day of rest. there was this real ease throughout the city in the places where we were, it was a beautiful sunny day and people were out. we went to an amusement park and what other photographing her child and her brother on a ride. there was a sense that maybe president trump would not follow through with those threats that he had made to the world on twitter earlier in the week. there was a sense also among the civilian population that the targets as it turns out, according to the pentagon, they were not civilian targets, they were carefully selected military target according to the us pentagon. but

did it give the syrians time to move them off-limits? secretary mattis, to confirm earlier when you were saying you had information about one of the chemicals. we are all assuming that means chlorine, not necessarily sarin, if you could clarify that part. gen. dunford: i am not aware of any specific actions the syrians took to move chemical weapons in the last couple days. sec. mattis: we are very confident that chlorine was used. we are not ruling out sarin right now. reporter: i would like to follow-up on the question about the targets that you first examined and then triaged down to three tonight. it sounds like you went after facilities and not the weapons, as indicated earlier, to minimize accidental risk to civilians. in the targets that remain, could you characterize perhaps the ability to pursue it, to ramp it up again and again have chemical weapons? gen. dunford: i think it is too early to make that assessment right now. reporter: general dunford, did any russian defenses engage u.s., british or french ships or missiles? secret

against the syrian arab army let me remind you one year ago. and you probably in the beginning of the world by the united states against the scheuer our military. and humps such i think these groups have been praying for another such a dark under the pretext of fending off syrian chemical attacks given what you just said. sorry to interrupt given you given what you just said east a prize that we don't hear other international leaders perhaps point out some of the concerns that you have what we hear at the moment is perhaps from donald trump saying well it's clear that assad has done it but you know you put out a case there to say why he shouldn't but that's not an argument we hear elsewhere very often. or these people have and closest and covering up for the terrorists and the fear of groups they have been financing them and supporting them militarily with intelligence information with training etc you name it so they are the ones who have an interest and feeding the progress of the syrian arab army i think the claims are preposterous i think e

syrian christians and other syrians in that country from the isis murderers. we have no right to do what we did. outrageous.his is it is unnecessary. host: what would you like to see the u.s. do instead? caller: diplomacy. sanctions. sanctions that do not hurt the syrian people. no one is asking the syrian people what they want. it is all the talking heads, the military experts. pounding the drums for war. it is easy for them. host: in a new york times, they say officials have lost count of how many have died in the syrian civil war. in seven years, the casualties of the civil war have grown from the first handful of protesters shot by government forces to hundreds of thousands of dead. on, manyr has dragged international monitoring groups have essentially stopped counting. even the united nations, which released regular reports on the death toll during the first years of the war, gave its last estimates in 2016 and relied on 2014 data in part instead that it was virtually impossible to verify how many people died at that time. at that time, they said 40,000 p

the syrian government must be stopped so i'm going to have a report. on turkey's southern border with syria. this is what's left of the burrs 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 assad government got the message that its actions will not go unpunished was. the dawn on syrian state media was that of defiance in the face of what they called tripartite aggression. we did not sleep at the right honestly we went to the streets to support the army and the air force struck down the missiles. was syria's war has divided opinion in the middle east people came out in solidarity with the assad government in sitting there their support for iran and hezbollah or their is high and the 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

syrian government is saying that more than 110 missiles were fired toward syrian territory, they say the majority were intercepted, but they did say that that specific facility was hit. they say that there was only material damage, no people killed or wounded, but they certainly acknowledge that there was a hit on that place. and also in and around homs, there were apparently storage facilities that were hit as well. the syrian government for its part is saying that most of those missiles were intercepted but that some went off court after being intercepted and apparently some civilians were wounded. that is what the syrian government is saying. but they are also trying to display a sense of calm. there were some pictures of bashar al assad posted on the official twitter account of the syrian presidency of him seemingly casually walking to work at around 9:00 a.m. local time this morning. and we're also hearing that apparently now in damascus the situation is quite calm. there was a small demonstration for the syrian defense ministry against the air strikes and we're also hearing tha

military with our allies to destroy the syrian weapons capabilities. tonight, france, united kingdom and united states took action to end the chemical weapons infrastructure. clearly, the assad regime did not get the message last year. together we have sent a clear message to assad and his murderous lieutenants that they cannot perpetrate another chemical weapons attack. they will be held accountable. we remain committed. the strike tonight separately demonstrates international resolve to prevent chemical weapons from being used on anyone under any circumstances in contradiction of international law. i want to emphasize these a strikes are directed at the syrian regime. we have gone to great lengths to prevent civilian casualties. it is a time for all civilized nations to urgently tonight in ending the syrian civil war by supporting the united nations. in accordance to the convention preventing the use of such weapons, we urge responsibility to condemn the assad regime and join us in our firm resolve to prevent chemical weapons from being used again. g

mattis made clear this is directed at syria and the syrian regime and not russia. that is key because mattis as we know in the debates leading up to the decision tonight had been concerned about escalation that might bring the u.s. into conflict with any russian forces on the ground there. the final point i would make is this -- it is remarkable to hear from mattis for him to say that -- very confident that chlorine gas was used. that we knew and that is has been used dozen of times over the past year without any u.s. response. no definitive answer on a nerve agent or sarin gas. in fact he said we're not ruling it out. that is a remarkable step behind from where -- it felt like the evidence was going this week and what seemed to be the standard for u.s. strike here, what distinguished this use of chemical weapons was that it appeared that a nerve agent was used. but mattis saying more than a week after the attack happened, simply just not ruling it out, that is interesting. they clearly don't have the evidence standard that they had set out early on as distinguishi

i mean syrian regime also won because. it suffered only limited damage of its infrastructure and had zero casualties so you don't think the russians are going to take any action at all. if we're talking about military action no i don't think so no one is interested in the for the military solution because ultimately everyone understands if the conflict will grew and between the u.s. and russia in military terms that work can spin out of control quite quickly so no one is interested in that ok joshua landis in a result we don't have confirmation yet what chemical weapons were used or who was responsible i mean the o.p.c. w. hasn't actually completed its work in duma even if we did have confirmation that chemical weapons were used is it legal under international law for the americans french and british to take this unilateral action unilateral military action in syria and that's a very good question and i don't i don't know the answer to it not being a lawyer clearly united states has done this on numerous occasions the u.n.

syrian airspace they did they did attack syrian targets inside syria from the lebanese airspace as far as a. note from news for from the news let's bring him back robert ford there in maine robot even though the u.s. fired something like fifty nine tomahawk cruise missiles at syria's shariat air base last year that was last april following that attack on the handshake and that hasn't stopped the use of chemical weapons by syria so the response has been pretty ineffective hasn't it. i don't think anyone who understands the syrian government wouldn't to dissipate that only one time strike would change the behavior of president assad and his military team the strong strike that trump launched a year ago did actually stop the syrian government from using chemical weapons for a few months there was to turrets that's a good thing but the syrian government by its nature is always testing the edge of the envelope was always testing limits so after not using chemical weapons for some weeks then a few months they began again using small amounts of gas here in small amounts of chlorine gas there

involvement in the syrian war for the moment that i think will satisfy russia as. an acceptable cost for what's been going on over the last few days and weeks and you know they could've had their own assets hits they could have had to rein in assets hits that hasn't happened as far as we know so far so for russia this ensue out but they will be half they will have to be seen to be doing something went they . yeah exactly so you know we'll have lots of angry comments we've had some of it already and the russians are already calling for a meeting in the united nations to condemn this attack. as we heard from the russian ambassador to the united states he says they'll be consequences for it we'll have to wait and see what those consequences are you know hot talk is one thing but actually pushing back in some meaningful way against the united states is another. see the russians are going to be going to be going through a list of available options at the moment and it will be up to putin to decide how much he wants to hit back at the u.s. and whether he wants that respo

the western alliance said the strikes were about deterring the use of chemical weapons but the syrian opposition leader. once and on all attacks against civilians by the syrian government on twitter he said maybe the regime will not use chemical weapons again but it will not hesitate to use weapons this was never about regime change nor was it about reducing the syrian government's military strength and it's not just about punishing the government for the alleged use of toxic materials. to bring it on the main issue is iran's presence in syria so this sort of crisis has to be seen in this political context this time they didn't target iran because they want to avoid escalation but the issue about their presence has not gone away especially for israel. israel has been targeting iranian assets in syria first. time now iran said seven of its revolutionary guards were killed in the latest suspected strike on the t four air base it's promising retaliation the risk of confrontation between the u.s. and russian military may have now receded but the possibility of a showdown between israel an

syrian territory from international terrorists and this airstrike was launched on the very day when a special mission of the old w. was york spectacle to start its investigation in. in a suburb of damascus where a chemical weapons so were supposedly used to you know i would like to point out that. there are no chemical weapon manufacturing facility used in syria as reflected by the p c w c news release american aggression indicates that the united states is not interested in object to be an investigation is the word and the u.s. is looking to torpedo a peaceful settlement in syria and to destabilize the situation in the middle east this has nothing to do with the declared goals of fighting international terrorism we are currently of the mask the situation in damascus and other cities of syria is calm but as you can you know when you serve in a real time watching the situation right when you're on the big screen isn't actually been following the situation in syria any more thank you. ok we just been listening in live to the defense ministry briefing that was thirty red square the russi

and he was confident the syrian regime -- what evidence do you have of both, chlorine and of the syrian attack and the opcw is on the ground now, they are collecting information on that. >> we are still assessing. as the secretary said last night, he is confident of the evidence that we already had, which is why he recommended this strike last night. we are still assessing and getting details. we can provide more details once we have them. >> can you give us a sense of what evidence you do have? >> various. there's various intel. when we have more, i will come back to you. barbara? >> general mckenzie, could you speak about in barzah and the other facilities, were there actually, are you convinced there were chemical agents inside at the time of the strike? how did you mitigate not having a dispursal chemical agent cloud. dana, the president talked of a po possibility of a sustained response. the secretary spoke about this being a single strike at this time. could you help people understand, is there a difference there? what are they both talking about? for both of you, please. >> i'll

syrian state tv has broken into programming and is now reporting that syrian air defense forces have launched counterstrikes against the, quote, american, french and british aggression on syria. syria does have relatively advanced air defense systems. we had been expecting that if there were manned aircraft rather than missiles or drones that were involved in a significant air attack in syria tonight or at any time that syrian air defenses would have to be part of the calculus in terms of how the attack would be structured, what the first targets would be and what the overexpectations could be for what could be hit effectively. joining us now for more on that and the rest of this news is colonel jack jacobs, msnbc military analyst, medal of honor recipient. colonel jack, it's a pleasure to have you with us. thanks for being with us tonight. let me ask you about the air defense force factor. how serious are syrian air defenses and how much would that have to factor in to planning for this strike tonight? >> well, they're not insubstantial, but we're probably launching missiles, both s

donald trump sent fifty seven cruise missiles at the syrian base o.p.c. w. is on its way to duma to investigate we've contacted various groups including the world health organization they've cited saddam's but have refused to go into any details what comes next no one can say whether the u.s. will go ahead with a preemptive strike or where the cooler heads will prevail author and journalist max blumenthal believes people should be skeptical about the role of one group in particular in syria. well what's remarkable is that this group the syrian american medical society is cited by a who's who of western media organizations as a credible source when it's anything but this organization which is funded to the tune of some close to six million dollars or more by usa id a wing of the state department which actually emerged out of the cia to encourage regime change and what the u.s. considers enemy states this organization is directed by operatives name sahar so who is actually a lobbyist who's been lobbying the u.s. government since the obama administration for a

and the reality is, these military strikes, it is not going to save syrians. it may change the tide, but not necessarily for the tide, but not necessarily for the better. if, for example, the assad regime is weakened, it is possible that would create a power vacuum possible that would create a power vacuum notjust possible that would create a power vacuum not just for jihadists, possible that would create a power vacuum notjust forjihadists, but it could actually influence in russian and iranian power. because they are of course allies with the side. so i do have a lot of concerns about this mission. 0k, max. i am sure we will come back to you in the coming hours. this is a joint operation by the us, the uk and france. prime minister theresa may hasissued france. prime minister theresa may has issued this statement. this evening i have authorised rajesh armed forces to conduct co—ordinated and targeted strikes, to degrade the syrian regime's chemical weapons capability and to deter their use. —— british armed forces. we are acting together with our ameri

another batch of syrians forced to leave their homes. these are nearly four thousand people displaced from doumani of the syrian capital damascus where the latest suspected chemical attack happened. we lived in birthdays in eastern guta especially in the last three days with the original creation in juba which used resulting in suffocation cases among the civilians. with force displacement of hundreds of thousands of people in chemical attacks were unthinkable for these protesters in two thousand and twelve in the beginning really mobile videos used to capture the peaceful syrian uprising against bashar al assad . then the syrian government began its crackdown with the arrests torture and killings the opposition also picked up weapons. and radical groups such as ice and took advantage that was the first event for the assad government which insisted it was fighting what it called terrorists. a major syrian chemical attack and change things in two thousand and thirteen and the threat of u.s. action inside syria remains that the threat. the

to provide food and milk to syrian children? or to provide armed groups with the weapons and groups that have committed the most heinous crimes against the syrian people? onis it spending resources your planes or fighter jets that have been so active in syria? colleague has been threatening my country. in most security council sessions. she is knowledged that her administration -- she acknowledged that her administration does not give the security council any weight. it does not respect the principles of international law. let us test the credibility of what she presented. referringhat i am not to the american administration as the american regime because it is shameful. we cannot do this in the united nations. so, let us test the credibility of what she presented. she said this security council must act to achieve justice in syria. ok, then. is her administration should allow the disclosure of com results of the uns -- they investigated the presence of the bmd in iraq for 18 years. this commission was headed by a swede. this co

our syrian strategy has not changed. the syrian regime has forced us to take action based on their repeated use of chemical weapons. since april 2017 chemical attack, the u.s. has impose hundreds of sanctions involved in chemical weapons in syria and north korea. we have designated entities in asia and africa that have facilitated chemical weapons. we have revoked the visas of russian intelligence officers in response to the chemical attack. we will continue to seek out and call out anyone uses and anyone who aids in the use of chemical weapons. with yesterday's military action, our message was clear. the united states of america will not allow the assad regime to used chemical weapons. last night we obliterated the major facilities that were used for mass murder. i spoke to the president this morning and he said it the syrian regime uses less gas again the u.s. is locked and loaded. when a president dress a redline the u.s. president. we worked in lock step, we were in agreement last night our great friends and allies s

until the syrian government stops using chemical weapons he also called on russia to take responsibility for not preventing the chemical attack in syria according to several media reports there were explosions in the mascot's heard right after the us presence beach arabic media said six powerful blast occurred in the syrian capital's district where scientific centers are located and sources say that strikes targets included a research center the airport and special units barracks the syrian military claims it has intercepted more than twenty missiles in london u.k. prime minister theresa may said that there were no alternatives to striking syria since all diplomatic means had been exhausted while at the pentagon u.s. secretary of defense jim mattis and general joseph dunford said no additional attacks are planned at this time he also said it was difficult to get evidence of chemical weapons attacks out of syria russia's ambassador to the u.s. has slammed the attacks saying that u.s. actions in syria will have consequences. we're now joined live by richard becker who is a member of the an

nor an attempt to depose the syrian regime. the strikes were justified, legitimate and proportionate response to the syrian regime's continued use of chemical weapons on its own people. we do not seek conflict in syria, but we cannot allow such grievous violations of international law. our goal in syria remains defeating isis. by, with and through the 70-nation coalition. but we will not stand by passively while assad backed by russia and iran ignores international law. the assad regime's actions in april 2017 and again on april 7th, 2018, show they have abandoned their commitments to the international commune iity resorted to illegal tactics against the innocent syrian people. we call upon russia to honor its commitment to ensure the assad regime dismantles its chemical weapons program and never uses chemical weapons again. we support our diplomats who are working to set the conditions for the united nations backed geneva process to succeed, and we look forward to working with the united nations envoy to syria, stephan de mist

the era of the suffering of the syrian people and we are quite keen to give the syrian people all the support it all got to reconstruct what has been destroyed by the wall really to give all assistance without any political preconditions here it is the response ability of the international community because we need to harrop sincerely and we have managed to destroy our use. and we have managed to defeat it's a national interest them and it's a must to give our support to the syrian people thank you very much indeed thanks for the russian government for hosting us. the turkish foreign minister the flotus use. at the very beginning i'd like to thank you for hosting us and convening this mating it is that meeting other ministers of they come to the argonne toes to the. stand up process to do that last month during the last forty days we have seen a lot of action a lot of moves that indicates how strong is the cooperation and they called the nation it's a must to coordinate the birds to face the recent incidents it's holton to form a sort of a consultative mechanism to sort out the syrian

security council after the strikes targeted allegedly chemical weapons facilities overnight syrian state t.v. has released abuse images purportedly showing the destruction the western allies say the strikes are in response to the suspected poison gas attack by president assad's forces last week the u.s. says it's ready to strike again if further chemical attacks take place. these are not the actions of a man. they are crimes of a monster instead the president trying to show here denouncing assad and praising the u.s. military for what he calls a quote perfectly executed attack tweeting mission accomplished. time by a schwager welcome to the program the u.n. security council has rejected a bid from russia to condemn the air strikes on syria carried out by the u.s. the u.k. and france russia called an emergency meeting of the council over the attacks but representatives voted against condemning the strikes us ambassador nikki haley told the meeting that the allies are quote locked and loaded to strike syria again if further chemical weapons attacks occur. and u.n. secretary general antonio

our syrian strategy has not changed. the syrian regime has forced us to take action based on their repeated use of chemical weapons. , the the chemical attack united states has imposed hundreds of sanctions on individuals and entities involved in chemical weapons in syria and north korea. we have designated entities and agents. we have revoked the visas of russian intelligence officers in response to the chemical attack. we will continue to call out anyone who uses and anyone who aids in the use of chemical weapons. our message was crystal clear. the united states of america will not allow the assad regime to continue to use chemical weapons. the night we obliterated major facilities that were used for mass murder. i spoke to the president this morning and he said it the syrian regime uses less gas again the u.s. is locked and loaded. when our president draws a redline, the president and horses a redline. we are deeply grateful to the united kingdom and france in part of their coalition to defend. we worked in lock step,

has discussed the issue of whether or not the syrian declaration of its chemical weapons program has been complete and comprehensive for some time that was the reason why in two thousand and fourteen already a declaration assistance team was set up by the opposite of you to work with the syrian government and to make sure that the declaration wasn't that comprehensive so there was from early on a question mark as to whether or not there were aspects of the syria program that had not been declared completely o.p.c. w wording in all of its statement is often very careful and had for good reason i suppose was the o.p.c. w. satisfied about dealing with chemical weapons in syria that. well there was a degree of sort of. satisfaction obviously in the context of removing the declared chemical weapons from syria and also dismantling the declared chemical weapons production could be a capability but as i said that's not just addressed to the syrian government but to the context as a whole they were both the issues of a continued use of chemical weapons improvised chemical weapons cloran musta

syrian state tv said the syrian military was confronting the airstrikes with anti—aircraft weapons and claim 13 missiles have been shot down in south damascus. us military sources are porting tomahawk cruise missiles are being deployed against multiple targets —— are reporting. jim matters at a pentagon meeting confirmed the strikes were over. vasjim matters. steve fish is a policy adviser —— jim matias. thank you so much for being patient and sticking with us this past half an hour you have been there. steve, this is pretty significant. would it be fair to describe it as the most significant escalation in the middle east since the start of the war in syria?” don't think so, not necessarily. i really think none of the major actors in this really want an escalation beyond what's happened today. i think this mightjust be... putin certainly does not want a showdown with the united states. trump does not want one with putin, in fact trump does not want one with putin, infact trump trump does not want one with putin, in fact trump wants to get out syria. the british and french wan

response to the united states and i think probably the syrian regime the syrian opposition and many of its allies including in syria and perhaps some of the american special forces in the country may pay the price for what is happening today there's also the larger the larger picture of russia being slapped down with its own presence in syria as a superpower when its own clients bashar assad is hit twice last year last april and today and this does definitely diminishes the prestigious of russia as a country that thought over the last three years has established itself as a regional power at least in the middle east so all in all i think we are yet to see the intermediate and long term implications of what is happening in syria tonight absolutely and just in this in the more immediate time do you think it's going to have any impact on assad launching another chemical attack. i think that would be you know the ultimate irony right because and then of the day if you keep punishing the regime for getting those attacks and the regime continues the carrot is them it only means that you dete

obviously, the syrian regime has been backed by russia. this action has been about chemical weapons. there is also the wider issue of restoring peace and stability -- and security in syria, a political solution to that. we will continue to work with all partners, and russia's involvement in that will be a part of that to bring about the security and peace with syria for the future in a political -- for the future, and a political solution with syria for the future. reporter: given the failure, as you have said in your statement, of all diplomatic efforts so far, what is the plan following these strikes? prime minister may: sorry? reporter what is your plan : following these strikes? prime minister may: as i said, effort in itself has not had the impact that we wished it would have. we have now taken the military action. and alongside that we will renew diplomatic efforts as well. some of those will need to be through the united nations to push for proper investigative opportunities, proper investigation and the holding of account of those

another batch of syrians forced to leave their homes. these are nearly four thousand people displaced from doumani of the syrian capital damascus with the latest suspected chemical attack happened. we lived in bad days in history especially in the last three days with the original creation in juba which used resulting in suffocation cases among the civilians was i. but forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of people in chemical attacks were unthinkable for these protesters in two thousand and twelve in the beginning really mobile videos used to capture a peaceful syrian uprising against bashar al assad. then the syrian government began its brutal crackdown with the arrests torture and killings the opposition also picked up weapons and radical groups such as ice and took advantage that was the first event for the assad government which insisted it was fighting what it called terrorists. just a major syrian chemical attack in who to change things in two thousand and thirteen and the threat of u.s. action inside syria remains that a

with the chemical weapons capabilities of syrian dictator bashar al assad donald trump has argued be us how to take action to protect its national interest at the stop the assad regime use of chemical weapons the purpose of our actions tonight is to establish a strong deterrent against the production spread and use of chemical weapons establishing this deterrent is a vital national security interest of the united states and heed this message for president assad's russian an iranian alights what kind of a nation wants to be associated with the mass murder of innocent men women and children the nations of the world can be judged by the friends they keep no nation can succeed in the long run by promoting rogue states brutal tyrants and murderous dictators. it's just over a year since the signing gas attack in syria provoked an american military response this was a joint operation the french and the british joining the americans tonight france the united kingdom and the united states took decisive action to strake the syrian chemical weapons infrastructure. clearly the assad regime did n

where's the justice for the syrian people? worth the justice for the same people who were inspired by the uprisings that took place in tunisia and libya and egypt and bahrain and yemen? they were met with supporters of therewho said, it is -- proceeded to burn the country with the support of friends of the u.s. who are not friends but actually going in and looking for the national interest is. i think that is what is missing in all of these discussions about the future of syria is, where is justice and accountability for war crimes? russia is an enabler of the regime. for so long russia has been "leading -- seveveral people wil say, this time for diplomacy. there's been diplomacy since 2012. there has been talk in geneva and sochi and so many different places for years. yes, the problem is because these demand's are not around justice, they are not around an anddiate end to airstrikes putting on the table that the syrian people deserve accountability from the leaders who brought his work comes against them. until we get to tha

advisor of the supreme leader of iran not the syrian defense minister and not the syrian chief of stuff it was an iranian who actually made this visit. a very visible visit to yesterday which shows in my opinion that it's in charge here that it's not the syrian regime so if the russians wanted to talk to anybody i in my opinion the a must talk to the iranians because they are calling the shots not the syrian regime. we'll leave it there of course and join you for more analysis through the day. we're waiting for the u.k. government to speak shortly in london now we understand it will be the prime minister theresa may we'll go to that press conference as soon as it happens. let's cross over to the u.s. and go. from the pentagon. to. in d.c. i apologize for that which happening of course let's just talk about the comments being made by the u.s. certainly how quick both the president and the defense secretary would take to the end waves late. friday night to explain to the u.s. public exactly what was going on and the reasoning for it. yeah that's right it was president donald trump that it

syrian officials are defiant. translation: this aggression will only increase our determination to defend our sovereignty, dignity, national security and the security of our citizens. syria says it's business as usual, pictures released appearing to show president assad strolling to work. the president's supporters are celebrating what they call a victory over aggression. last night's attacks were almost certainly less widespread than they expected. it seems clear that for now the bombing is over. right now, this is a one—time shot and i believe it has sent a very strong message to dissuade him, to deter him from doing this again. france says it will not hesitate to act again, but, like its allies, it says is not out to provoke. translation: we are not looking for confrontation and we do not see any logic of military escalation. that is the reason why we, with our allies, ensured the russians were warned beforehand. russia has condemned last night's operation and is calling for a meeting of the un security counc

in the syrian civil war. chief advisor to the turkish president welcome to the show it's great to have you back so a lot to talk about you. third is talk of bombing syria following the alleged chemical attack in dumas one day donald trump is telling question rushes to prepare for the coming myself the next day he says that can happen soon are not so soon so do you think this is an attack that is really coming this threats real. well as far as we can see trump needs something for his domestic consumption so they may have a missile attack but i don't think it's going to be a very deadly missile attack i don't think it's going to be a very effective missile attack just like they did about a year ago when double trouble again. unleashed a missile attack against syria it may be a similar attack they just want to show to their own people that we sent something and we kept our promise but i don't think it is going to be. a military attack that is going to affect the balances in syria i don't think it's going to be a

to depose the syrian leader. these strikes were justified, legitimate and proportionate assad continued use of chemical weapons on its own people. i do not see conflict in syria but we cannot browse the -- of international law. while assadains backed by russia and around ignores international law. they have abandoned their commitment to the international .ommunity and resorted to we call upon russia to honor its commitment to assure the assad regime dismantle its regime and never use a chemical weapon again. we support our diplomats who are working to set the conditions of the united nations and back to geneva process to succeed and we look forward fdri now give you a detailed overview. i will spend the next few minutes talking about the military details of the strikes last night. can i get the first graphic? as you heard from the president and from secretary mattis and chairman dunford, the united states, the united kingdom, and france, three of the five permanent members of the u.n. security council, conducted