There is sanctioned. Not box them in. With secretary tillerson arriving that could be productive. The firm believe here is russia must back away from its support of Bashar Al Assad, must begin to help bring a ceasefire to syria, must begin to support the International Peace political process to transition away from president Bashar Al Assad. This seems to be what were hearing from the italians, the french. Were going to hear from some of those other nations in the coming hours or so. That is the strong message that will go to russia with secretary tillerson. The war in syria needs to end. Russia has a major role to play in it and cannot back away from its responsibilities. Chris. Nic, thank you very much. A lot of news happening right now. In just a few hours secretary of state Rex Tillerson is going to arrive in moscow. Relations to the u. S. And moscow, according to russian officials, as bad as they have been since the korcold war. Context couldnt be bigger. Whether or not russia knew about the chemical strike that happened in syria. Michelle kusinski, were waiting on putin to address this morning as well, right . Right, chris. Hes supposed to speak any minute. So hes going to be here with his italian counterpart. They have been having a meeting. We expect him to at least in some part address the strikes in syria, u. S. Relationship. Weve heard such strong rhetoric on both sides, russia calling it an act of aggression, saying the u. S. Is getting very close to being in a military clash with russia. The u. S. Side saying that nothing is off the table. But now were seeing as were getting closer to a u. S. Russian meeting, at this point we dont know if Vladimir Putin is going to meet with secretary tillerson. Its customary when a u. S. Secretary of state comes here that putin extends an invitation, there have been some reports that is going to happen but so far there is no official line there is that invitation. We do know secretary tillerson is going to meet with the Russian Foreign minister. There has been reporting over the past couple of days that this is going to be a hard line that the secretary will deliver. It will be Something Like an ultimatum telling russia to drop assad, accusing them of complicit. But when were hearing now from Rex Tillerson just over the last two days when he was asked, is this going to be an ultimatum, he said, well, were going to try to change their tune on this. Was russia complicit . He said there is no hard evidence of that. So hes not wanting to go into this meeting with that hard line, but its clear theres going to be a very difficult discussion thats going to take place very soon. Thanks so much for laying all that out for us. Meanwhile the white house continues to send mixed messages on President Trumps evolving Foreign Policy particularly on syria and when the president will take military action again. Also, questions about the effectiveness about u. S. Missile strike on the base in syria. Joe johns is at the white house to help us understand it all. Hi, joe. Good morning, alisyn. The question seems to be where do they go from here on syria. The administration articulating its policy it will go it alone if necessary on difficult issues if there is a u. S. Interest at stake. Nonetheless very difficult this morning for the administration to put forward what you could call a coherent Foreign Policy. If you gas a baby, put a barrel bomb in on innocent people, i think you will see a response from the president. Reporter white house secretary sean spafr saying another barrel bomb could result in missile strikes. When you watch babies and children be gassed and sufrl under barrel bombs you are instantaneously moved to action. This would mark a dramatic escalation of u. S. Action considering assads regime dropped 495 barrel bombs last month alone according to Syrian Network for human rights. Spicer meant to signal the president is never going to rule anything out. Further muddying the waters this interventionist comment from secretary of state Rex Tillerson at the g7 summit in italy. We rededicate ourselves to Holding Account to any and all that hurt innocents around the world. Different from trumps world vision. Were not going to become a world policeman running around the world. Assad is unclear. A stable syria where assad is in power. Spicer seemingly taking the position taking bin u. N. Ambassador nikki haley on sunday. Regime change is something we think is going to happen. Its going to be hard to see a government peaceful and stable from assad. Opposite from statements from Rex Tillerson. Once we conclude the battle against isis, and it is going quite well, then we hope to turn our attention to achieving ceasefire between the regime and opposition forces. I think they are still searching, frankly, for a policy and a strategy. Meantime syrian warplanes are back in the sky taking off from the air base hit by the u. S. With dozens of Cruise Missiles. Pentagon claims it caused 20 of the aircraft to be destroyed. Two officials tell cnn it was 20 planes not 20 . One voice absent in the debate over syria is the voice of President Trump who has asked the defense secretary to give him a complete assessment of the damage in the Cruise Missile strike on friday. The pentagon has not held a Briefing Since friday. That is part of the problem. Joe, thank you very much for that reporting. What do these mixed messages, conflicting facts mean . Lets try to nail it down with our experts, cnn military analyst, cnn political analyst abb abby phillip and ambassador burns. Thank you for being here as we muddle through this. Ambassador im going to start with you. When the secretary of state says what we all obviously wish in our heart that the United States will rededicate ourselves to holding to account any and all who commit crimes against the innocent anywhere in the world, what does that mean in terms of our policy . Well, its confusing. The administration has had trouble sticking to one message, because they are struggling for a strategy. When you see these statements youre looking at an administration trying to find its way forward. It was appropriate last week. It was the right decision for President Trump to launch the Cruise Missile attack because of the use of sarin gas. Frankly, they ought to be sending the message, they may be, any repeated use by assad of chemical weapons will meet with another attack by the United States. The broad statements particularly by Rex Tillerson in italy and sean spicer, they are impossible to implement in this environment. The key is the visit to moscow. They have to decide how hard to push the russians toward international investigation, extraordinarily difficult to do because the russians are strong in syria the talk they can somehow push the russians easily toward negotiations i think is misleading. The russians have a base there. They have iran and hezbollah working with them. They are in a stronger position than the United States. That was just echoed by the italian official at the g7 saying russia has to be part of the solution. Syria, what a big day. Have you this formation of what the points of consensus are with the International Community and how that will play out when tillerson and his russian counterpart meet later today. Today the stakes couldnt be higher in terms of this issue. The premise that, yes, america should rededicate itself, very controversial. We just had an election where a huge slice of the American People said no way. No more america is policeman. Theres more going on all the time. Its really ugly, unfair, let them handle it. That was a big part of this. Now a big change. A point of interest on it. Spicer says chemical weapons, no way. Barrel bombs, no way. People say, oh, no, he went too far. Barrel bombs are horrible things, flying ieds inaccurate filled with horrible agents in them. They cause amazing devastation to people. What does it tell you they are triers to parse things that are equals. Its hard to discern a coherent message out of this. As ambassador burns mentioned, there are some really difficult ways to go through this. The electoral base that said no more wars, in essence, is not going to be happy with anything said from this particular point. From a military perspective, barrel bombs like you said are flying ieds. They are actually one of the most destructive weapons that anybody can use. They are not modern weapons. They are completely imprecise and they wreak a lot of havoc on civilian populations. Thats the type of thing thats completely anathema to the way in this the United States wants to fight Foreign Policy and anathema the way we fight wars. Are we misinterpreting the trump voter. They werent pieeace nics. When its in our National Security interest well act. Its hard to know if a chemical attack in syria was somehow in our National Security interest but wouldnt they get on board if he frames it that way . Its hard to know. Its very clear the white house is still trying to figure this out, too. They arent sure how far they can go. Between sunday and monday you had two different kinds of lines being drawn here by nikki haley and Rex Tillerson on chemical weapo weapons. Then it expanded into more conventional barrel bombs monday. Part of that has to do with the fact they want to make sure the president isnt going too faa out of his base. Many saying this is going way too far. Whats the difference between doing what youre doing here and what we were opposed to with president obama years ago. The white house doesnt know. They are trying to kind of like go back and forth just to test the waters out. For Foreign Policy that makes for, you know, really confuse on the world stage at a moment when people are looking to the United States for leadership. Also getting a mixed message on the facts, effectiveness and outcome of that syrian missile strike. The president putting out this odd tweet about why you dont blow up runways, wasnt my experience in battle areas, they blow up lots of runways. Do you generally if you want to destroy an air base. If you want to stop them from launching strikes. If you want to destroy an air base, absolutely, you destroy the runway. Lets say you have a place where runways cross, thats the point you hit. Any place that is an aircraft hangar, any place where there are Something Like fuel storage areas, weapons facilities, all of that stuff. But they didnt do that here. Thats right. What that tells me is the goal was really not to do that. They didnt want to destroy the Syrian Air Force or that base but what they wanted to do was send a message. When you mentioned some of the fact issues, the business about destroying 20 of the Syrian Air Force, absolutely not. Twenty aircraft, yes, thats possible. One air base, one location, one wing. Theres no way you can get 20 of that air force even though its a relatively small air force. Nick burns, it also raises the question of policy objectives. They wanted it to look like a massive success. 100 million of tomahawk missiles sent over there. Trump trying to play cover with what happened with the runways. It was really silly to people in the military community that we left the runways alone because they are quick to fill in. What does that suggest to you about what this administration is still trying to do to show success . I think they just dont know where they are going on syria. A week ago today, chris, the administration was saying they are backing off any commitment to syria whatsoever. You remember that. Then the sarin gas attack. That led the president , i think for the right reasons, to say we had to respond in some fashion to send a signal to assad. The problem now is russia has all the leverage. As Rex Tillerson goes to moscow, i think he correctly has been saying we need an International Negotiation to end this war. 12 million homeless, hundreds of thousands dead, but youre not going to do that unless we have leverage on the ground. That gets you back to the difficult issues president obama tried to sort out. Do we arm syrian militia, convince assad and russians they cant win a total victory . Thats a strategic question. They seem to be all over the map struggling to find their way forward. Its difficult but they have to be more disciplined. We should also point out that the pentagon has not had a single press Briefing Since thursdays missile strikes which leads to guessing. The pentagon could answer some of these things. Instead were casting about for what the logic is. Panel, thank you very much for all of this. Up next the white house trying to downplay some highlevel infighting. Can Jared Kushner and steve bannon coexist before someone gets shown the door. Plus take a look at this video. That screaming is a chinese doctor refusing to leave. Hes okay. The screams are showing the kind of height of the emotions of the situation, not the reality. Those are his glasses. That wasnt blood coming out of his face. They are dragging him off the united flight because it was overbooked. Is this the way an airline should be able to act . Well give you the facts. You decide ahead. You go. Its that splenda naturals gal, isnt it . Coffee look, shes sweet, shes got natural stevia, no bitter aftertaste, and zero calories. All the partners agree . Even iced tea . Especially iced tea. Goodbye, sugar. Hello, new splenda naturals. Could bounce back like it used to . Neutrogena® hydro boost water gel. Instantly quenches skin to keep it supple and hydrated day after day. With hydrating hyaluronic acid, which retains up to a thousand times its weight in water. This refreshing water gel plumps skin cells with intense hydration and locks it in. For supple, hydrated skin that bounces back. The hydro boost skincare line from neutrogena®. See whats possible. May not always be clear. But at t. Rowe price, we can help guide your retirement savings. So wherever your Retirement Journey takes you, we can help you reach your goals. Call us or your advisor t. Rowe price. Invest with confidence. Usaa gives me the and the security just like the marines did. The process through usaa is so effortless, that you feel like youre a part of the family. I love that i can pass the membership to my children. Were the williams family, and were usaa members for life. [ [ screams ] ] [ shouting ] brace yourself this is crazy [ tires screeching ] whoo boom baby rated pg13. [ screams ] he understands that we have some pretty smart, talented individuals who are opinionated on a lot of subjects but our battles and policy differences need to be behind closed doors. There was a lot of stuff joempb blown about this that makes it oout into the media and makes it more sensational than it really is. Thats white house sean spicer trying to tamp down any infighting. Cnn analyst david drucker. Great to have all of you. Patrick, lets start with this. Reports of highlevel infighting, somebody going to be shown the door, that probably is a little overblown. Is it fair to say theres tension between steve bannon and Jared Kushner and no one knows who is going to prevail . Its very fair to say that. Who will prevail, Jared Kushner is in a certain position. He is family. President trump made a real effort to bring him and ivanka trump to the white house. Historically he has turned again to ivanka trump and to jared essentially to have his back. Whats steve bannon thinking. If he cant win this battle, why fight with jared . Steve bannon very much came in during the summer and looked to the campaign that didnt have a lot of in electial architecture, policy coherence. The reality is that he sort of read what President Trumps instincts were on aggressive posture, taking basically government away from the big beaurocracy and turning it into Something Else. Hes created that. Reince priebus, chief of staff has been operations guy, links to the party. Jared and ivanka reinforced a lot of President Trumps long held instincts. Its been steve bannon that brought in sort of that outsider impulses that a lot of trump voters liked about him. One thing immutably true in this spin game, which is what it is coming out of the white house, people want to attack the white house, what a sieve this white house is. The white house, david drucker, talks about leaks all the time. Forget bows russian interference, contacts, who is leaking this information . Ive never seen a white house leak more this early on than that one. Thats an objective observation. Put it to the side. The reality inside that white house, david, what are you hearing . I dont hear bannon and jared are fighting. I hear the president is really taxed to find people to deliver for him on a consistent basis. I think part of the problem trump engenders and sort of likes this competition and factualism all done to curry favor with him and to try and win a big competition for his affection and decisions hes going to make. And i think regardless whether its steve bannon, Jared Kushner, reince priebus, i think what the white house needs to figure out is how they are going to have a clear line of authority from oval office to key deputy once they get things done. What they get done is one thing. If t