Transcripts For WPVI Nightline 20170407 : vimarsana.com

In these movies, he was here once, told me something ill never forget. Hes construct adminny benihana in his backyard, at his house. So cool. Jimmy youve seen the benihana . Ive eaten there. Its cool. Jimmy the guy flipping the slip, chong it, all that stuff . Yeah. Jimmy what happens to the guy when hes done eating . I guess he goes home. Jimmy he goes home. He doesnt live there . He gets up in the medical of the night and wants some benihana . I dont know if its quite like that. I dont know, actually. But jimmy will you ask him in valerian and find out . Yes, specifically in valerian. Jimmy its very good to meet you and very good to have you here. The movie is called the fate of the furious. It opens in theaters one week from now. Natalie emanuel, thank you, natalie. Be right back with starley dicky the Jimmy Kimmel Live Concert Series is presented by mercedes benz. The best or nothing. Its time for buy one take one starting at 12. 99, at olive garden. Come for an irresistible meal here, and leave wi so you can enjoy family time one more time. Buy one take one, only for a limited time. At olive garden. Dicky the Jimmy Kimmel Live Concert Series is presented by mercedesbenz. The best or nothing jimmy thanks to adam sand letter, nathalie emmanuel. Apologies to matt damon, we did run out of time. Nightline is next. But first, here with the song call on me, starley when youre low and your knees cant rise you feel helpless and youre looking to the sky some people would say to accept their fate well, if this is fate then well find a way to cheat cause, oh, oh, oh, oh well say a little prayer but oh, oh, oh, oh if the answer isnt fair you know you can when you need somebody you know you can call on me when you cant stop the tears from falling down, down you know you can call on me you know you can call on me you cant stop the tears from falling down when youre weary and the road is dark and ill guide you with and if the cavalry and the help dont come well, then well find a way to dodge a smoking gun but oh, then call on me you know you can call on me when you need somebody you know you can call on me when you cant stop the tears from falling down, down you know you can call on me call on me, darling you know you can call on me you cant stop the tears from falling down when youre you need someone you need somebody to cling to when youre you need someone you need somebody to dry your tears when youre you need someone you need somebody to cling to just call on me, love just call on me, love just call on me, love this is a special edition of nightline. Strike on syria. Tonight the breaking news, u. S. Forces launching a military strike against the assad regime in syria. Dozens of tomahawk cruise missiles fired into the air field that launched that horrific chemical weapons attack just days ago. It is in this Vital National security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons. The president s message to the American People tonight. The impact this will likely have on relations with russia and what happens next here. This special edition of nightline will continue. This is a special edition of nightline. Strike on syria. Good evening. We are dedicating our entire show to the breaking news. President donald jkts trump ordering air strikes against syria just days after the regime there allegedly used chemical weapons on its own people. We have a team of abc News Reporters and analysts standing by. Were going to start tonight with abc news chief Foreign Correspondent terry moran. Reporter tonight a major step for this new commander in chief. Tonight i ordered a targeted military strike on the air field in syria from where the chemical attack was launched. Reporter the president addressed the nation from maralago, his florida estate, leveling a harsh indictment against syrian president Bashar Al Assad. Using a deadly nerve agent, assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women, and children. Reporter two u. S. Destroyers in the Eastern Mediterranean fired dozens of tomahawk cruise missiles into a syrian air field, targeting runways, aircraft, and fueling areas to make the field inoperable. Its the same air field that the syrian plains involved in tuesdays chemical attack took off from. This video just released from the pentagon, the swift military response from the u. S. Comes just two days after the news of that horrific chemical attack in Northern Syria appalled the world. An attack allegedly carried out by the Syrian Regime of Bashar Al Assad against its own citizens. As many as 86 people were killed, including 30 women and 20 children. Killed by what turkish officials who have examined the bodies are now saying was sarin gas. These graphic images posted online by activists and people who live in the area show victims struggling to breathe. It is in this Vital National security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons. Reporter President Trumps response tonight marks a 180degree aboutface by a man who repeatedly said over the years he didnt want to get involved in syria at all. Just two days ago, he said this. Im not and i dont want to be the president of the world. Im the president of the United States. And from now on, its going to be America First. Reporter back in 2013 after assads last chemical weapons attack, trump tweeted, again to our very foolish leader, do not attack syria. If you do, many bad things will happen and from that fight the u. S. Gets nothing. But after seeing tuesdays images, like this one of a father cradling his lifeless children, the president had a dramatic change of heart. Do you think assad should be concerned in syria . I think what happened in syria is a disgrace to humanity. And hes there and i guess hes running things. So something should happen. Reporter with tonights air strikes, is trump may find himself deep in just the kind of overseas entanglement this avowed America First president has promised to avoid. Tonight on call on all civilized nations to join us in seeking to end the slaughter and bloodshed in syria. And also to end terrorism of all kinds and all types. Reporter syrias civil war started six years ago as part of the arab spring where citizens across the arab world rose up against tyrannical leaders. Syrias president assad, on the surface a mildmannered, englishspeaking former onth molt, has viciously clung to power in a civil war that has killed nearly 500,000 of his own people. It has also led to the biggest refugee crisis since world war ii, with hundreds of thousands of Syrian Refugees streaming into europe. In his short time in office, President Trump has made headlines with his controversial executive orders banning refugees, including those from syria. The grinding war in syria has drawn in many world powers, including iran and russia, whose troops are on the ground propping up the Syrian Regime. Last year i was on the ground with the Russian Forces in syria. We went to sea on board a russian destroyer, sailed out into the mediterranean, saw how much firepower moscow has committed to this effort. The russian cruiser has cruise missiles on board. It not only is supporting the Russian Campaign in syria, its sending a signal to the rest of the world about the russian navys modern capabilities. Reporter at the main Russian Air Base in western syria, the jets are roaring day and night. The perimeter bristling with helicopter gunships. This is the tip of the spear of russian air power in syria. Reporter the russian commitment here makes u. S. Military involvement tonight in syria all the more complicated. Terry moran is with us from london. What was the impact, would you say, of the russian intervention on the course of the syrian war . You know, dan, they changed the war. They won the war, essentially, for the regime of president Bashar Al Assad when they came in. Given how powerfully the russians have invested in the regime of Bashar Al Assad, how do you reckon theyre reacting behind the scenes at the kremlin tonight . One very good thing is that apparently the u. S. Military gave a headsup to the Russian Military who helped rebuild the air base that was destroyed tonight, that there was going to be an attack, to deconflict essentially, to protect them. And so that was essentially good news. But what russia will react against is the very notion of unilateral action that threatens one of their allies. They are not tremendously committed to Bashar Al Assads regime. One of the russian officers we embedded with said when they arrived they were shocked how corrupt and degraded the regime was. But they do not want to see the United States picking and choosing regime change around the world. And they want to be at the table in any kind of determination of syrias future. Terry moran reporting from london tonight, thank you. For more on this breaking story we have abc news correspondents Martha Raddatz and brian ross in new york. In washington, colonel steve ganyard, military analyst. At the white house, abc News Reporter cecilia vega. Brian, youve been reporting on the sensitivities around intervening in russias zone of influence. What did the u. S. Military have to take into account as they carried out these attacks . One of the sensitive parts of the attack was make sure no russians were targeted or hit. They also had to make sure that the russian antiaircraft Missile Systems didnt launch and go after the cruise missiles that were coming off the u. S. Ships. So that was very sensitive. They were looking really for a onenight war, without escalating this, without bringing russia into it in some way, forcing the russians to defend or to retaliate. It was also important in terms of the the relationship and the dynamics of isis and al qaeda which remain active in syria. Whenever the assad regime is weakened, its a victory in a sense for isis and al qaeda. The point was to make this just a message, not a real weakening of the assad regime. You use this term onenight war. What can you really achieve with a onenight war . Does this change the facts on the ground at all, martha . I dont think it does. This wasnt a strategic strike, hurting asaud Going Forward. Its this one air field. It is a punishing air strike. It took out aircraft. They took out fuel supplies, they took out some of the surrounding infrastructure. But he has many other air fields. I mean, obviously it was meant to control the air attacks with chemical weapons and it may do that to a small degree, but we dont really know where any other chemical weapons are. They removed massive amounts of chemical weapons in 2013 after assad agreed to that, but they clearly hid some of them. Dont know where the others are. But the americans were very sure this was the air field. They knew those two aircraft, where those two aircraft took off from. Obviously they didnt know at the time they were armed with chemical weapons. But they were absolutely certain thats where they took off from. Colonel ganyard in washington, d. C. , where do we go next with this . Are we now embroiled fully in syrias civil war . Hopefully not, dan. Hopefully this is it. I think as martha and brian were talking about, the attack was so prescribed, it was so in such a small area that the intent here was to send a message and not to get into a wider war. If you look back at some of the targets that the pentagon had offered up to president obama, there was a wide variety. It was going to be not only a punishing strike, but it was going to degrade the Syrian Military. In this case, this is just one small air field. Its an auxiliary air field. It really isnt going to change the facts on the ground. Its a statement, its really not a degradation of Syrian Military capability. Do you think this has any ties at all to the decision this week to take his chief strategist steve bannon off the National Security council and perhaps empower the military minds around him . I dont. This was more of an emotional decision by the president. But one of the things we need to realize is this was one air field. Its where the chemical attack was launched from. But assad has been killing babies by the thousands over the years. And this one strike tonight is not going to stop the assad regime from dropping barrel bombs and conventional weapons on civilians. So we may see a decrement of people being gassed to death but hes still going to continue to kill innocents throughout syria. Let me pick up on what you say with cecilia. You say hopefully not, hopefully were not pulled into a wider war. We heard the president say tonight hes calling on all civilized nations to end the slaughter on the ground in syria. Whats your sense of where the white house wants to go now . Because that certainly sounded like a pretty big goal. Well, dan, one of the things that President Trump has stuck to since the campaign, through his very short presidency, is this promise to not tell us exactly where hes going to go and foreshadow what his decisions will be militarily. What we are seeing in this white house right now is a president making these decisions and evolving about his positions on syria in realtime. If you just go back not that long ago, to last year, he had said, essentially, this is not our problem, the fight in syria has nothing to do with us. And just yesterday, right here in the white house, his position he said had changed after seeing those images of those children in syria after that chemical attack. President trump had said that he was moved. And youre seeing decisions being made from a very different person, right, than someone who was campaigning. A big shift happening here tonight from President Trump. Indeed. Were going to be talking about President Trumps evolution as this show continues tonight. But lets stick to the situation on the ground in syria. Whats next here in terms of retaliation . Does the Syrian Government have to respond . Is there any other potential blowback we as americans should be worried about . I suspect there wont be much of a response. Because it wouldnt do much good to respond that way and President Trump might decide to hit them again. I want to pick up a little bit on what is celia said too. He may not like to tell us when a tactical military strike is coming, but what is the strategy Going Forward . What are they going to do if the rest of the world doesnt rally around him . They certainly didnt rally around barack obama to take action against Bashar Al Assad. Then whats next . Does President Trump decide for another air strike . Then another air strike . You have to talk about what your strategy is, what your goal is in syria, and how you accomplish that. Do you accomplish that its kind of clear Rex Tillerson wants to put pressure on russia, he wants to have some diplomatic pressure to bring the world together. But thats a very, very big if. So many variables at play tonight. We want to point out, i mentioned before, the rather stunning evolution weve seen on the part of President Trump. When we come back here on nightline, were going to take a look at what he said as a candidate, what hes saying now, and what might explain it. Thecr products ive used. Enough ive tried enough laxatives to cover the eastern seaboard. Ive climbed a Mount Everest of fiber. Probiotics . Enough avo if youve had enough, tell your doctor what youve tried and how long youve been at it. Linzess works differently from laxatives. Linzess treats adults with ibs with constipation or chronic constipation. It can help relieve your belly pain, and lets you have more frequent and complete bowel movements that are easier to pass. 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Its been the number 1 doctor recommended brand for 10. Straight years, and its still recommended today. Use as directed. Award winning interface. Award winning design. Award winning engine. The volvo xc90. The most awarded luxury suv of the century. Arbreak through your allergies. The volvo xc90. Try new Flonase Sensimist instead of allergy pills. Its more complete allergy relief in a gentle mist you may not even notice. Using unique mistpro technology, new Flonase Sensimist delivers a gentle mist to help block six key inflammatory substances that cause your symptoms. Most allergy pills only block one. And six is greater than one. Break through your allergies. New Flonase Sensimist welcome back to nightline breaking news, President Trump ordering air strikes against syria after that horrifying chemical weapons attack on civilians. Donald trump has long argued that america should stay out of the syrian civil war. So tonights action marks a stunning turnaround. Lets listen to mr. Trumps evolution in his own words. Syrias a mess. You look at whats going on with isis, now think of this. Were fighting isis, isis wants to fight syria, why are we fighting isis in syria . Let them fight each other and pick up the remnants. They ask me, what are you going to do in syria, what are you going to do, are you going to attack russia, start world war iii . Syria i dont want to start world war iii over syria, believe me. I dont like assad at all but assad is killing isis. Russia is killing isis. And iran is killing isis. And those three have now lined up because of our weak foreign policy. I will tell you that attack on children yesterday had a big impact on me. My attitude toward syria and assad has changed very much. I think what happened in syria is one of the truly egregious crimes and it shouldnt have happened. Lets go back to cecilia vega at the white house. Cecilia, its clear if you look at trumps statements that the images out of syria had a huge impact on him. However, the images out of syria in 2013, when the government there launched a chemical attack on its own people, those were also searing. What do you think has changed in the meantime . You know, dan, i was on capitol hill today. That is exactly what one democrat told me, that President Trump, had he not seen those images . 2013 . Theyre wondering what caused this soulsearching move and shift in the president s tone. Especially were hearing that from his critics tonight. The president stood right here in the rose garden, it was just yesterday, he said he saw those images along with the rest of the world, those images none of us could look away from, children, elderly, families. The president said, i now have a responsibility. And something in him has changed. And it was a remarkable thing to hear, especially from a president as you know that so many feel like he doesnt have the ability to change on a dime. He doesnt seem like a man who emotes very much. To hear that coming from him was something pretty shocking. We ask for gods wisdom as we face the challenge of our very troubled world. We pray for the lives of the wounded and for the souls of those who have passed. His speech tonight was remarkable, at least in my eyes. Id never seen him talk about god so much. You watch him more closely than almost anybody, have you ever seen him speak like this before . Not in the terms that he used tonight, praying for the wounded, praying for the dead, may god watch over their souls. But he is a man who does bring in some relimb just language into his speech at times. If i were to put myself in his head a little bit, do a little donald trump whispering if i can, i think there is nothing about this job that wont change someone. That he has to be moved, being a president of this country, 70order days in now, and be faced with the images and the consequences of his actions as he sits in that oval office and makes decisions like the one that he made tonight. Im not surprised to hear him bring faith into this conversation. And we hope that as long as america stands for justice, then peace and harmony will in the end prevail. Its interesting to hear the