Bashar al assad. Americas two top diplomats seemingly at odds. Meanwhile, both russia and iran are making it clear they are on the same page. Syrian state media citing a joint statement from moscow and tehran saying, and i quote, we will respond strongly to any aggression on syria. Russia and iran will not allow america to dominate the world. That ominous warning comes as the Trump Administration c confronts yet another potential, north korea. An Aircraft Carrier led strike group is deploying towards the Korean Peninsula. An official confirms to cnn this is in direct response to recent proverb vaocation provocations. Cnn is covering this as only cnn can. We have a team of reporters and analysts standing by. Want to begin with cnns Senior International correspondent, clarissa ward, live along the syrian turkish border. Clarissa, it doesnt sound like secretary tillerson will pressure russia for regime change in syria. He says isis is the bigger foc s focus. Does this alter the Bigger Picture . I dont think it does. Even though weve heard secretary of state Rex Tillerson reiterate what the Trump Administration has been saying for some time, and frankly what the Obama Administration was saying before it, that the priority when it comes to americas interests in syria is to defeat isis once and for all, at the same time regardless of that, there is absolutely no doubt that this strike has affected the Power Dynamics of the various International Parties who are involved with the syrian conflict. And i do think have seen tillerson of step away from comments a week ago which basically said it is up to the Syrian People to decide whether assad stays or goes, to now the fact talking about the fact that it does not appear stability can exist syria with Bashar Al Assad in power. While regime change still may not be the primary interest of the u. S. In terms of its syrian policy, at the same time it is clear that they are backing away from this idea that Bashar Al Assad does not need to go at some time in the long term future. When it comes time for secretary tillerson to sit down with his russian counterpart, sergey lavrov, this is going to be the major bone of contention between the two. And for the first time in many years, tillerson will actually have some leverage and some heft when he sits down at that negotiating table, because it is clear now that the u. S. Is willing to go further than it the Obama Administration ever had been, ana. And yet if russia is taking this sort of confrontational stance in that statement we read earlier, can the u. S. And its Coalition Partners still go after isis the way it needs to without russias cooperation . Listen, without russias cooperation, and im thinking specifically of the deconfli deconfliction russia around the u. S. Have to avoid any jets in the skies to avoid any incidents or accidents in the skies that could escalate that much further. Without that deescalation, it will be much harder for u. S. To go after isis on the ground. There needs to be some kind of cooperation. But i wouldnt read too much into the rhetoric that we are hearing from russia, from iran. They have to respond forcefully. But the devil will be in the detail and what they do in practice rather than what they say. Clarissa ward, thank you. Now to will ripley, live in north korea, the only north korean journalist in pyongyang as that u. S. Aircraft carrierled strike group is heading into the peninsula. Will, who you is north korea responding . Reporter well and ana, i was with government officials when news came in the Carrier Strike group was headed back to the kree nan peninsula. It was here a matter of weeks ago conducting joint military exercises between the u. S. And south korea. The officials did not seem fazed but they did say this is yet another provocative action by the Trump Administration. They are watching all these developments unfold very closely. Another interesting discussion i had with officials here, they dont think it was coincidental that President Trump ordered the missile strike on syria when he was having dinner with chinese president xi jinping at maralago. They believe that was a deliberate show of force by the United States, a threat to china to expert more economic pressure over north korea, and also a threat to north korea itself that things will be changing under the Trump Administration. But the North Koreans say they are not backing down as a result of this. In fact they say the opposite. They say they feel emboldened and feel a new sense of urgency to speed up their development of their Nuclear Weapons. The ultimate goal of north korea leader kim jongun is an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile were a Nuclear Warhead capable of striking the mainland u. S. Animal cysts say this country is ready to push the button on its sixth nuclear test at any moment. They provide valuable scientific knowledge and valuable propaganda for the north Korean Leader inside this country and also to project power to the outside world. We dont know whats going to happen on the ground here but Officials Say even if china were to, for example, enforce stronger sanctions against this country, they say their Nuclear Program and their Missile Program would be the last thing that they would cut funding for. They say they would rather go without food and even electricity than to give up those weapons because this government tells the people here that they are under the imminent threat of an invasion by the United States, and this Carrier Strike group moving towards the Korean Peninsula only reinforces that narrative that american missiles could come raining down on this city and other areas in north korea at any time, ana. Will ripley reporting in north korea. Whats next for north korea, for syria . President trump is apparently reaching out to u. S. Allies to discuss. We spoke yesterday apparently with japanese Prime Minister shinzo abe. President had a conversation with him. The two agreed that syrias use of chemical weapons warrants a strong response from the International Community. Cnns athena joins joins us from palm beach, florida since the president was at maralago. Hes ed hheaded back to the whi house. Reporter ana, north korea did come up in the phone call that the president had yesterday with Prime Minister abe. A retweet from the readout that the white house gave to us saying President Trump and Prime Minister abe agreed to further cooperation on a range of regional issues, including the threat posed by north korea. North korea really is one of the top challenges for that region and for the u. S. Partnership with allies in that region, not just japan but also south korea. Youve been talking about this navy Aircraft Carrier led strike group that is heading to the western Pacific Ocean near the Korean Peninsula. H. R. Mcmaster, the National Security advisor, was asked about that move this morning in an interview on fox news sunday. Watch what he had to say. Well, its prudent to do it, at any time is . I mean north korea has been engaged in a pattern of provocative behavior. This is a rogue regime that is now a nuclearcapable regime, and president xi and President Trump agreed that that is unacceptable, that what must happen is the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. And so the president has asked us to be prepared to give him a full range of options to remove that threat to the American People and to our allies and partners in the region. Reporter so there you heard mcmaster talking about a full range of options the president has asked for. You also heard from will ripfully juripley just what a big challenge it is to deal with this north korean problem. It is an intractable problem that multiple u. S. Administrations have not been able to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. Ps is the president s team feeling emboldened about dealing with north korea in light of the syrian missile strikes . That is a very, very good question. We know that the president taking action on thursday night sent a message not just to syria, not just to north korea or china, but to the world. Its no accident that it took place while he was having that very important summit with the chinese president. China being key to dealing with north korea. China being the country that has the ability to put the most pressure on north korea. But we also know that secretary of state Rex Tillerson has stressed in a briefing we had with him here on thursday night that the action on thursday night shows the president is ready to take Decisive Action when called for. The hope is that that could influence relations with north korea. But the big question is whether it really will. Athena jones reporting in florida, thank you. I want to bring in cnn Global Affairs correspondent elise lavett. Ambassador nikki haley and secretary Rex Tillerson seem to be at odds over the next moves in syria. We played their countering narratives at the top of our show. How do World Leaders decide which one to listen to . Well, im not sure if the message is really different, but maybe the tone as opposed to the substance, ana. Clearly this administration wants to focus on isis, wants to defeat isis, then mo of to some kind of political collusion in syria. Secretary tillerson is saying that thats kind of in the distance, and i think you also hear something very similar from nikki haley, maybe shes a little bit stronger in saying the u. S. Is going to have to work on that. I think there is a kind of consensus right now that the key to this is really russia. The u. S. Had always said that it felt like russia needed to be part of the political solution. And i think as secretary tillerson goes out to moscow, later in the week hell be at the g7 tomorrow meeting with all the leaders, there need to be a message to the russians, all from the same page, to kind of drive a wedge through syria and russia. Not sure if thats really possible, but as weve been saying, listen, one of the things that the u. S. Has been unable to do is have any leverage against russia, because when secretary kerry would have all these marathon sessions about an end to the conflict in syria with russian sergei Russian Foreign minister sergers Russian Foreign minister serge s lavrov, he would always say i dont have any leverage, the russians know im not going to take any military action. Well, they dont know that anymore. President trump has shown that is he ready to take action when he thinks u. S. National interests are at stake, or there is a very strong humanitarian component and try to send a huge response and message to the russians and syrians that they can evade chemical weapons anymore. I think all of this does send a message to the russians, as secretary tillerson goes there, that, no, theyre not looking to get assad out of the picture right away, but the russians have a very stark choice in front of them, are they going to be part of the solution or are this going to be part of the problem. Elise, you talk about that Decisive Action the president took, something that a lot of critics of president obama have hammered him on, not enforcing that red line that he drew about chemical weapons. Douglas, a concern during president obamas decision about making to that Decision Making process about whether or not to mill taerl intervene in syria was, if you strike, what do you do next . So how big of a calculated risk was this decision to strike by President Trump . I dont think it was much of a risk at all now that its been successful. The fact of the matter is it worked. And Donald Trumps getting kudos from all over the world for being decisive. He also has spent so much time criticizing brohm for even drawing the R Barack Obama fo drawing the red line in the sand, he says chemical weapons cant be used, they broke International Law and donald trump did something quick, precise and proportional. And it allows secretary tillerson to go to moscow, not be painted in a box and be able to try to negotiate something out of syria. It is a paradox here that nobody knows what our desired effect is. But i do think Trump Administrations main goal now is to get rid of assad. It might be a puppet replacement that russia likes in its place, but i dont see how the Trump Administration can do business with assad in the future after he used chemical weapons as he did. Colonel, while that initially may have sent a message, the truth of the matter is the Syrian Air Force is already using that same airbase again. I want to play for you what republican senator Lindsey Graham said about that. Heres what i think assads telling trump by flying from this base. Fu. I think is he making a serious mistake. Because if you are an adversary of the United States and you dont worry about what trump may do on any given day, then youre crazy. Colonel, what do you make of that move from assad . Do you agree . I think what assad is doing, hes maybe trying to say that he can do whatever he wants. But the fact of the matter is he is actually flying without chemicals weapons, at least for the moment. So in this sense the actual air strike with the tomahawk missiles really did work because it put syria on notice, and of course by extension, it put russia on notice, this kind ever behavior, using chemicals weapons against civilian populations, was something that the United States wouldnt tolerate and so far as much as we can tell, theyve heeded that warning. Now north korea, lets talk about whats going on there, the u. S. Deplaying an Aircraft Carrier strike group to the Korean Peninsula. I want to play for you what President Trump said last year about how hed deal with north korea as president. One of the papers called the other day. And they said, would you speak to the leader of north korea . I said absolutely. Why not. Why not. Theres a 10 or 20 chance that i can talk him out of those damn nukes. Because who the hell wants him for have nukes . And there is a chance. Douglas, should President Trump negotiate directly with kim jongun. No, he should not. He might want at some very low, unofficial level be initiating. But theyve deceived the United States time and time again. I think the Trump Administration is doing the right thing doing a kind of great white fleet like Theodore Roosevelt telling them that we mean business, that youre not going to be allowed to fire missiles with immunity willynilly. I think it is appropriate for the fact that north korea has been so reckless, particularly in the last few months since trump became president , kind of pushing him and taunting him in to being more marshal. So far, the actions the u. S. And International Community have taken against north korea havent seemed to work. What with your advice be for President Trump on that issue . I agree with Douglas Brinkley that the idea of actually moving a Carrier Strike group at this particular time into the waters off north korea is a very good idea because it puts everybody on notice. But this is the first step. And what you end up doing with this is you make it very clear, and i think i at least get the feeling that President Trump made it clear to president xi of china that Nuclear Weapons in north korea are not the right way to go. And any further Nuclear Tests would be something that would have to be dealt with ramped up sanctions, with ramped up military efforts against them, and in essence, secretary of state tillerson and others have put it on the table that force could be us