an appeal which is very unusual. rulings in britain are usually final. justice a landmark sentence for convicted war criminal and former president of liberia, charles taylor. he's been sentenced to 50 years in prison by a special international court. he's convicted of supporting rebels in sierra leon who slaughtered thousands of people during the country's 11-year civil war. taylor armed rebels in exchange for so-called blood diamonds. mitt romney unofficialing clinching the rop nomination for president. he won last night's texas primary putting him over the number of 1,144 delegates. beryl is once again a tropical storm, forecast to head up the coast of north and south carolina today. the storm has already dumped up to a foot of rain, packing winds of 35 miles per hour and could lead to dangerous rip currents and rough surf. chinese human rights activist chen guangcheng says his country fails to enforce its own laws and insists its abusive treatment of dissidents threatens its stability. he writes "after the local police discovered my escape a furious pack of thugs, not one in uniform, bearing no search or arrest warrants and refusing to identify themselves scaled the wall of my brother's farmhouse in the dead of night, smashed through the doors and brutally assaulted my brother. after detaining him the gang returned twice more, severely beating my sister-in-law and nephew with pick axes. they traveled 2,000 miles to crack the curse of the billy goat, the curse that haunted their beloved chicago cubs since 1945 and raise money for cancer research. yesterday the cubs presented them with a check for $1 for every mile but bad news, wrigley the goat was not allowed into the stadium, just like back in 1945, that curse was started after a local fan and his goat were kicked out of a world series game because his goat was too stinky. the cubs haven't won a world series since 1908 and they are bound and determined there will be no goat in wrigley field. >> i'm surprised about that. i mean really, wherer this -- >> i'm not. you let one goat in you got to let them all. >> the curse. >> the slippery slope argument. >> try to reverse the curse. >> start by winning a game, start small. >> bring the goat in first. it will be a matter of time. we get to our top story this morning on the day mitt romney was trying to get voters to focus on jobs and the economy and why he should be the next president he was overshadowed by a man and his issue. listen. >> a lot of people don'tte of h this is official, he was born in hi hawaii on this date why do you deny that? >> a lot of people do not think it was an authentic certificate. i know you won't report it but many do not hit it it was authentic. his mother was not in the hospital, there were many other things that came out. >> kevin madden was trying to distance the governor from donald trump's comments on "anderson cooper" last night. >> every time this issue has come up governor romney made it very clear he disagrees with donald trump and disagreeds with his emphasis on the issuissue. >> white house correspondent press secretary says that's not enough. ray brownstein, worked in the bush white house and will cain and margaret hoover. nice to see you all. >> good morning. >> the birther thing won't go away. i thought after it was officially well why are you doing this will? >> it's not going away because of donald trump, and it's still here. >> it's neat only donald trump. other republican officials in nevada and north carolina and other places who raised it. there is a chunk of the republican party that believes this erroneously and polling is pretty clear there's a core in there that continues to hold these beliefs. seems indicative of a broader concern of who barack obama is and the change that he represents. that point of view finds voices within the republican coalition and mitt romney as he was earlier with rick santorum on the separation of church and state, with rush limbaugh on the attack on the georgetown student over the contraception debate mitt romney is uncertain when it comes to the voices in his party and he could do more to squash this if he wanted to. >> the governor was campaigning in las vegas yesterday and talking about something that a voter had said to him and i want to play that clip. do we have that? could you guys play that? . >> i was speaking with one of these business owners who owns a couple of restaurants in town and he said, "you know, i'd like to change the constitution. i'm not sure i can do it," he said, "but i'd like to have a provision in the constitution that in addition to the age of the president and the citizenship of the president, and the birth place of the president being set by the constitution, i'd like it also to say that the president has to spend at least three years working in business before he can become president of the united states." >> will cain, what was that about? >> i think that was about promoting businessmen as appropriate leaders of the united states. >> you don't think there was anything interesting in talking about the constitution saying the age of the president and the birth place of the president and the citizenship of of the president, the long run-up to something about business which the romney campaign consistently says is their focus. margaret hoover come on. >> you said will cain and didn't get the answer you like. >> it's not the answer i like. i think you're not being honest with me. >> excuse me, when i'm accused of being dishonest you can be assured i will respond. >> good, you go. >> i think this is the unfortunate happenstance of including donald trump in your news coverage. we expand the narrative to assume that everything mitt romney says when he's speaking on the value of business experience that -- >> run that clip again. >> no, you can play it as soon as i'm done but let me finish this. >> i'm not saying every little thing. i'm saying this particular clip where he talks about changing the constitution because the age, the birth place, the citizenship and then goes on and talks about the business. let's play the clip and then margaret i'll get to you. >> i was speaking with one of these business owners who owns a couple of restaurants in town and he said, "you know, i'd like to change the constitution. i'm not sure i can do it," he said, "but i'd like to have a provision in the constitution that in addition to the age of the president and the citizenship of the president, and the birth place of the president being set by the constitution, i'd like it also to say that the president has to spend at least three years working in business before he can become president of the united states." >> on the day when birther is something that donald trump has raised as your top story in the news you're really going to do that? just happens to be. >> genuinely my view is if you go around the country and talk to the tea party and talking to people, the talk of the constitution is prevalent in every single conversation people are carrying their pocket constitutions, there's been a return to the constitution and return to our roots. i think since they've read the constitution they know that age is in the constitution. they know that birth place is in the constitution. they know citizenship is in the constitution. i genuinely believe that mitt romney who has been accused by some reporters as being a bit of literally this is a quote "malfunctions automaton" sometimes he makes unfortunately unparallels at the wrong time. it doesn't scheme it was malorchestrated or malevolent. >> i didn't intend that. >> i'm just refusing the notion that this was orchestrated. i just think it was unfortunate. >> first of all it would be great to have a constitutional amendment that would protect us from abraham lincoln and president radios settle who did not have the business experience romney called for. i disagree with you, romney above all is the one who has let the oxygen into the story by two decisions, first the decision to appear prominently with trump and second the decision to remain silent as trump doubled down on the discredited allegations. the fundamental story is not donald trump bloviating as was spoken yesterday but romney holding back and being fundamentally silent while trump is bloef vating as he was on rush limbaugh and -- >> i had been on this association with donald trump is a bad decision. you do not want to be teammates with donald trump. he puts out a negative viewpoint. i will not allow that opinion and narrative to be expanded into this concept that mitt romney is in fact a birth en'playing into the birther issue. >> no one has said. >> should we play the clip again? >> the reason i say play the clip again is because what you said is just happenstance. i'm playing the clip again because there are words in there i think there are people who would argue are not happenstance as margaret says unfortunate on the day the thing you probably should not do, ixnay on the birther thing, you're going to talk about the president's place of birth and citizenship? it seems like an unfortunate -- >> the main thing to take away from the conversation it's a great illustration of why donald trump should not abtached to mitt romney. >> or vice versa. >> if that statement lived on its own without donald trump in our world we wouldn't be talking about. >> exactly right. i'm worn out, only ten minutes into the program. i'll have to get something stronger than tea. still ahead on "starting point," as the crisis in syria reached a tipping point, now 11 countries are kicking out their syrian ambassadors and there is talk that this nation should help arm syria. person who is getting a play-by-play on what's happening. david letterman opening up in a rare interview, about his wife, regina and life after 9/11. here's margaret playlist, a good treadmill song "all the lights" a little kanye. ♪ a party? 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[ female announcer ] new ensure clear. nine grams protein. zero fat. twenty-one vitamins and minerals. in blueberry/pomegranate and peach. refreshing nutrition in charge! made with only milk... cream... a touch of sugar... and pure natural flavors. coffee-mate natural bliss. from nestle. add your flavor naturally. there are a lot of warning lights and sounds vying for your attention. so we invented a warning.. you can feel. introducing the all new cadillac xts, available with the patented safety alert seat. when there is danger you might not see, you're warned by a pulse in the seat. it's technology you won't find in a mercedes e-class. the all new cadillac xts has arrived. and it's bringing the future forward. welcome back to "starting point." 11 countries have kicked out their syrian ambassadors, along with the united states, australia, britain, france, germany, italy, spain, canada the netherlands and japan and in just a few hours the u.n. security council will meet to talk about what to do now after that massacre that took place in a town called hula, where 108 civilians were killed, nearly half were children, 49 children. u.s. envoy kofi annan who -- u.n. envoy, sorry, kofi annan meeting with the syrian leader assad said this, he's condemned the killings too and even vowed to organize and investigation but of course many people are pointing to the syrian leadership as the one to blame. cnn's iben with a theson has more from istanbul. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, soledad. in addition to the countries you mentioned turkey within the last two hours announced it is expelling syrian diplomats from ankara. there seems to be a tit-for-at that time, and syria saying the dutch charge d'affaires has 72 hours to quit and leave the country. these countries are furious, 109 people were killed in hula on friday, and that u.n. military observers have concluded that the majority of those victims, including 49 children under the age of 10, were killed by pro-government shebiha me lis a militias. peacekeepers found 13 bodies, all of their hands bound, some appear to have been shot in the head. the commander of the u.n. observer machine says this is an appalling and inexcusable act. no end to the killing in sight, this has been going on for nearly 15 months. >> ivan watson thank you. >> the white house insists that military action is not the right course of action at this moment. governor romney thinks otherwise. he released a statement which reads "we should work with partners to arm the opposition so they can defend themselves. rop congressman mike rodge certifies the chairman of the intelligence committee. nice to see you, sir. >> good morning. >> what do you think is the right strategy right this moment? >> i would be more aggressive with our arab league partners. i'm not sure arming is the right answer here, mainly because we're just not exactly sure who the bad guys are and who the good guys are right now in syria so you don't know who you're giving weapons to. al qaeda has been attempting to infiltrate and we've seen them do bombings in damascus. more concerted effort by taking standing shoulder to shoulder with the arab league who does want to do more in syria is probably the best course of action. >> you get a sense that allies, even those who have sort of talked about arming the opposition and not even specifically which opposition, seem to see big risks in even diplomacy. it looks to me as if the diplomacy kofi annan's plan is failing and miserably, exhibit "a" the massacre this weekend, so what kind of diplomacy moves from where we are now to something that's aggressive and going to work? >> i'm not saying just diplomacy. remember i'm the intelligence chairman. we have tools at our disposal i believe we're not using in syria and need to use in syria and that combs through our efforts with the arab league so there are things that we can do without arming the rebels and what keeps me up at night we know of at least a dozen or so sites that have serious chemical weapon caches and that's just what we know of in syria, so we have a national security interest to say we need to make sure this thing all happens correctly, all the right steps are taken so that we don't lose these weapon caches and something more horrific happens. it has to be tempered and aggressive. one piece that's miss something we're not being aggressive with our arab league partners in certain capabilities the united states has, really no one else has that can have an impact on the assad regime in syria and the other part of this, we need to put pressure on russia. we expect iran to support syria and they are. russia needs to decide if they're going to be on the side of the rest of the world or isolate their behavior when it comes to supporting the assad regime in syria. >> you say tools at our disposele. what do you specifically mean? >> i couldn't talk about specifics but there are certain things and capabilities that the united states hats that can in conjunction with our arab league partners could provide a tipping point so it would provide certain capabilities to units that we know who are trying to overthrow the assad regime that we can vet, that we can test, that we can understand who completely that they are, and we can empower them to be more effective in what they do and i think that kind of activity should happen and we need to stop talk about it and start engaging with our arab league partners. >> going back to your point about russia, they may be the diplomatic variable. what do you think the west can do to make russia more comfortable with the idea of a regime change in syria and move them to the side of putting pressure on assad? >> well, you know, a big part of it is, it's russia's last toehold in the middle east and i think there is attachment to the notion that, and by the way assad is holding on and looks like he's doi ining pretty well there. they're making this calculation he's going to win and they're going to have the toehold in the middle east through syria. we need to change that dynamic. we need to convince our russians this is not in their best interests, that some of this slaughtering of women and children is going to get on them as well, and that's just not the place they want to be in the world, and they need, again a little public pressure, a little bilateral effort from the united states and others, other european allies, i think can turn tushia on what's happening. i don't think they want to be on the wrong side of a slaughter in a town like hula. we need to put the question to them, where do you want to be when this is over. we'd like you to be with theest a rest of the world. they also have huge weapon sales going into syria, another big problem we have to deal with. >> congressman mike rogers, nice to see you there. >> great to see you shall appreciate it. >> he was talking about the opposition, russia sort of betting on the side of the assad regime and clearly no matter how terrible some of these massacres have been, the opposition is clearly not easy to wipe out. they are continuing to fight back. >> the congressman said he doesn't think or hopes russia doesn't want to find itself on the wrong side of the massacres like what took place in hula. we have a quote from the foreign minister of russia saying he's concerned certain countries will use its hula massacre as a pretext or voicing demands related to regime change, basically saying russia will not come to the side of the good and as long as that's true the united nations basically has no role in the process. >> he said something interesting, too, i asked him what specifically, obvious he will he's like i cannot tell you specifically intelligence rules will not allow me to do that, but then he went on to say there are people on the inside that maybe could be swayed and there is conversations about the inside the military, if in fact those people are sort of on the fence. >> and the part of the diplomacy with russia is whether you can make them more comfortable with the successor regime is the one point of leverage. >> it's hard to break up the regime because they're sectarians and aloites. the other question i have, why don't we know who the rebels are? this has been going on for 15 months. we don't know who the bad guys, who the good guys are, who we should or shouldn't arm. >> you make good points. >> and that's a policy choice if we don't know who the rebels are, we haven't tried to find out. >> i think it's unusual circumstance unlike something like libya where you have many opposition and it's harder to figure out which to arm. >> we're burying the lead here. republican chairman of the house intelligence committee just completely disavowed mitt romney's call for arming the rebels, much less john mccain and lindsay graham and others who want to go further into air strikes. an important point to show how little stomach there is for either party becoming embroiled with this. ahead on "starting point" a big get real to facebook ceo mark zuckerberg, honeymooning in italy and not making friends with the waiters in rome. we'll tell you why. >> good news, i'll tell you why. >> the president has a problem with the polls, i don't mean polls, i mean people in poland, the speech the president would like to do over, if he could. you're watching "starting point." we're back in a moment. 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