Transcripts For CNNW Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer 20170406

Information. Well tell you about his surprise decision to step aside. Senate showdowns. Republicans made good on their threat and pulled the Nuclear Trigger to guarantee the president S Supreme Court nominee is confirmed. Will the gop come to regret this historic move. And clinton speaks out tonight. Hillary clintons talking publicly about the impact of russias election meddling calling the hacking of democrats a more effective theft than watergate. Were just getting in portions of her first interview since losing to President Trump. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer. Youre in the situation room. Announcer this is cnn breaking news. Were following a lot of breaking news this hour including the new threat of u. S. Military retaliation for serious chemical weapons attack. President trump is privately telling members of congress that hes considering military action. Mr. Trump just told reporters that something should happen to punish the syrian strongman al assad. Secretary of state rex as i recallton also wrapping up the pressure. Tillerson appears to open a regime change in the reversalst Trump Administration was sending before the gas attack. Right now, the president is in florida for his high stake summit with the leader of china. Were told mr. Trump is planning to meet with his National Security team later tonight and defense secretary james mattis will brief him on various military options. We expect to see mr. Trump in maralago in palm beach later this hour. Were standing by for that. The embattled house intelligence devin nunes steps aside from his committees russia probe because he is under investigation. The House Ethics Committee now looking into whether nunes mishandled classified information. And Senate Republicans have taken drastic and historic action to clear the way for the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee neil gorsuch. The gop deploying the socalled nuclear option, lowering the number of votes needed to break a filibuster. Our correspondents and guests are all standing by as we bring you full coverage. First lets go to our jeff zeleny hes with the president in palm beach florida. You were on air force 1 when the president spoke about al assads future just a little while ago. Reporter wolf, i was and the president spoke in his most direct terms yet about Bashar Al Assad. He called the chemical attack there a truly egregious crime but when pressed by reporters as he visited with us for just a few minutes, he declined to say whether assad should leave power. When he was asked that directly, he said this, he said i think what assad did was terrible. But then asked again before he went out to the front of air force 1, he said something should happen. Do you think that assad should leave power 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. But wolf, the president did not elaborate on what that something should be. Now of course yesterday we saw him in the rose garden at the white house saying he does believe that syria crossed several lines here so the president clearly making his case and eluding to members of congress and others that they are at least considering military strikes. The options are somewhat limited in that regard. He is meeting with his National Security team shortly and hell be speaking as well or will see him coming up later this hour. Yet they are still considering all these options. He has of course been opposed to removing assad from power before but now after seeing those gruesome photographs he said that changed him. Well see what action it leads him to, wolf. Like so many millions of people around the world. He saw those bodies of those young children, those kids and that had an important impact on him. Well get back to you. Were learning more about the military options being considered by President Trump right now. Lets go to our pentagon correspondent barbara star. What are you hearing from your sources. Reporter what we are hearing this will be the full weight of being commander in chief. This is the decision on the table tonight when he meets with his National Security team, a go or no go. You will remember president obama for a number of reasons did not engage in military strikes against the assad regime, now tonight, that is a question for this president. A grieving father cradling his dead children as the death toll rises, more bodies recover evered, 86 murdered including 26 children. Tonight the Trump Administration is considering air strikes against al assads regime and to retaliation with bombing with nerve agent here in northern syria. We are considering an appropriate response for this chemical weapons attack which violates all previous u. N. Resolutions, violates International Norms and long held agreements between parties including the Syrian Regime, the russian government and all other members of the u. N. Security council. Its a serious matter. It requires a serious response. Radar track shows regime planes were in the air at the time of the attack. Heat signatures show those planes dropped bombed on areas where civilians suffered exposure to nerve agent. Military commanders have longstanding options for attack assad. He could offer a limit strikes, hitting airfields where the attacking aircraft launched. He could still use artillery filled with deadly agents and bombs thrown out of helicopters. They could be reconstructed anywhere. Its not like a factory where these are being produced, so you may send a signal but it isnt going to likely effect their capability of continuing to do these kinds of things to the civilian environment of syria. The u. S. Military has war shirps an aircraft in the air ready to go. In the mediterranean u. S. Navy war shirps, the uss ross and porter could fire missiles. The u. S. Could also fly stealth aircraft, b. 2 bombers with relatively safety to strike targets. President trump says his opposition to going into syria has changed but there are political limitations. The u. S. Military warns it cant guarantee where Russian Forces may be located. I think there would have to be coordination with the Russian Military as well because theyre going to see us entering what they now consider their air space, bombing their ally as part of a retaliatory strike. I dont think thats going to go very well. Reporter the challenge for the president as he looks at these options at maralago tonight is this in part, what would it take to convince al assad to change his behavior and not attack and kill his own people. Wolf . Thank you. Now to the surprise shakeup in the trump russia investigation. The House Intelligence Committee chairman devin nunes stepping aside from his committees probe now that he, he is under investigation by the ethics committee. Our senior congressional reporter is joining us from capitol hill. Repeatedly rejected calls to recuse himself until now. Reporter no question about that. I had asked mr. Nunes repeatedly over the last week would he step aside amid those growing calls for him to recuse himself, but the revelation that the House Ethics Committee is investigating whether he miss handled classified intelligence was the latest in a string of controversy that became too difficult for him to overcome. Tonight the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee forced to step aside from leading the investigation into russia amid growing accusations that he had grown too close to the white house. Strict procedures reporter already under sieged congressman devin nunes facing a new problem, the House Ethics Committee on whether he improperly disclosed classified material. This is information that was brought to me that i thought the president needed to know about incident or collection where the president himself and others in the Trump Transition Team were clearly put into intelligence reports that ended up at this white house and across a whole bunch of other agencies. Reporter democrats have accused him with coordinating with the white house a charge hes denying. Leaving the capitol thursday, he refused to answer any questions but he released a statement blaming left wing groups for making false and politically motivated accusations. Still he said it was in the best interest to let congress and mike conley lead the committees investigation into russia and the trump campaign. The news stunned members of the Intelligence Committee who only learned of the decision after staff handed them nuness statement once he abruptly left a closed door meeting. I think now the investigation can proceed. Reporter it marked a dramatic shift from a week ago when nunes defiantly rejected calls to step aside amid his decision to cancel a public hearing. They couldve provided more information on russias alleged coordination with trump transition. Why would i not . You guys need to ask them why these things are being said. Theyre saying it cannot run with you as chair. You got to go talk to them. That sounds like their problem. Reporter House Speaker paul ryan privately met with nunes last night and said he supports the chairmans decision. He wants to make sure this is not a distraction to a very important investigation. Reporter but neither ryan or his aids would say if the speaker urged him to step aside. Reporter did you urge him to step aside . Nunes had grown weary on whether the white house had given him intelligence so he could provide cover to President Trumps unsubstantiated charge that former president obama had trump tower wiretapped. On tuesday i got to get reporter on wednesday . Were not going to talk about anything to do with this investigation. Reporter another question tonight is whether mr. Nunes would get any of that top secret intelligence information that is reserved for the socalled gang of eight who get that secret intelligence information. Whether hed get that information related to the Russian Investigation and at the same time some intelligence sources are telling cnn that they have concerns with sharing some information with mr. Nunes because there are concerns he may have revealed some of the information publicly as he did when he talked about that surveillance information that he later briefed the president on the United States on. Well see if this investigation gets back on track after weeks of turmoil. Good point. Up on capitol hill. Thanks very much. Were joined now by republican senator jeff flake. Hes on the committee and senator we just got some video in. I want to show it to our viewers. This is just moments ago. Lets watch it and listen. The president receiving the president of china. President trump and president xi jinping offer at maralago in palm beach. Do you think, senator, that President Trump is going to be able to convince the chinese leader to really start squeezing north korea on this Nuclear Threat, this Ballistic Missile threat and get something done . I sure hope so. The North Koreans keep provoking and it seems to be at an accelerated pace. Im glad the president is having these important discussions and i hope he has some effect. The chinese are the one with influence over the North Koreans so this is important. But as far as all options on the table as far as north koreas concern, the military option its not a very good option, is it . Its not. Its not. But it has to be on the table. We have to assume that if we dont get chinas involvement that we may have to take other means and i think obviously we all believe that having north korea with the capability to reach our allies and our shores is not acceptable. Speaking of military options, you heard the president , President Trump Say Something should happen as far as sr. President Bashar Al Assad is concerned because of the chemical weapons attack, should the president go a step further and immediately call for al assad to go . It is tough to imagine how in the world you could have a Bashar Al Assad rule the Syrian People after what hes done to them. So its just unimaginable if anybody could contemplate it before, they certainly be cant now. So whether he says that or not, i think we have to start taking measures that assume that he will not be there. Just a few days ago, secretary of state Tillerson Al Assad fates will be decided by the Syrian People on the same day the Us Ambassador said our priority is no longer to sit there and focus on getting al assad out. Are you surprised to all of a sudden see a very dramatic shift in statements from them as well as from the president . Well, it has been a shift by the president , certainly. He has said as much. He said that his thinking is very much different today than it was just a week ago. So, yes, there has been a shift and i think it will necessity tate another strategy. It will be ultimately the Syrian People that decide but they can be helped and i think that youll see that help provided. So hes told members of congress, i dont know if hes spoken to you, senator, but he has told various members that hes considering now a military response to tuesdays gas attack killing so many civilians and so many children. Do you support military strikes on various Syrian Regime targets . I do. I do. I wish that we wouldve when we drew that red line years ago. I wish we wouldve enforced it. One of the big mistakes that was made was not enforcing that red line. And when the president came to congress to ask for permission when he had all the authority to move ahead under war powers and inform us 60 days later when you draw red line like that, you enforce it and i hope that we move now to ensure the people know that we cannot count this kind of activity. Anybody who has watched those videos of those kids after that attack, they know that we have to act. The president said earlier he has spoken to Vladimir Putin about the chem attack, will you encourage President Trump to hold russia accountable because of his very strong support for the Bashar Al Assad regime . You bet. The initial reaction to blame it on the Syrian Rebels and to say that these were actors or whatever else just follows a pattern that were seeing increasingly out of the russians and this will be a real test of the Trump Administration to see if theyre willing to stand up and stand up to the russians and tell them, you know, heres whats happening in syria, you know it, we know it, its time for you to take a responsible position. Whats your reaction, senator, to the House Intelligence Committee chairman devin nunes deciding to step aside from the russia meddling in the u. S. President ial election investigation . We have to have an independent look at this and i think everyone knew that given some of the activities perfect this would not be viewed as an independent investigation. So i was glad to see the action that happened today or yesterday and i support that and i think that we can all feel more confident now in the investigation Going Forward. Do you believe the chairman, devin nunes, did something wrong . I believe that certainly he lost the trust of those of us on capitol hill who have been calling for our Standing Committees to move forward and have resisted calls for an outside commission. Those take too long, they cost too much and they become partisan vehicles typically but if our Standing Committees like the House Intelligence Committee is going to move forward, people have to have confidence not people in the country but people in congress and i think that confidence was lacking. He said he recused himself from this russian meddling investigation because hes now under investigation by the House Ethics Committee supposedly for revealing classified information o. I dont know if you listen to everything he said but in the course of those words that he uttered publicly, do you believe he revealed classified information . I dont know. I think that that would come out in an investigation moving forward. Im just glad to see that he acted responsibly and took the position that he did yesterday and stepped aside. Senator, we have more to discuss. Theres more breaking news. I need to take a quick break. Well be right back. This bar is made with cranberries and almonds. So, guess what . We call it cranberry almond. Give kind a try. Hes a nascar champion whos shes a worldclass swimmer whos stared down the best in her sport. But for both of them, the most challenging opponent was. Pe blood clots in my lung. It was really scary. A dvt in my leg. 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It has some serious implications not only for the way the senate conducts their business and how they potentially forge bipartisan compromise Going Forward but also for Donald Trumps washington Going Forward. Mr. Barrasso reporter tonight the senate forcing a monumental rule change clearing the way for neil gorsuch to be confirmed as the next Supreme Court justice. Mr. Sullivan . Aye. Reporter a series of ar cain procedural moves leaves behind an indelible new president. Set on november 21st, 2013, is a majority vote on all nominations. Reporter now with the socalled nuclear option, only a simple majority of 51 votes is needed to approve a Supreme Court nominee lowering the bar from 60 votes. The responsibility for changing the rules will fall on the republicans and leader mcconnells shoulders. Reporter both sides now blaming the other. The opposition to this particular nominee is more about the man that nominated him and the party he represents than the nominee himself. Reporter the implications on capitol hill go beyond just battles over Supreme Court nominees. The Longstanding Senate rule that was broken today chips away at one of the hallmarks of senate tradition. A very sad day for the senate. Reporter procedure that was set up to intentionally forge bipartisan compromise. We have now destroyed 200 years of tradition of requiring 60 votes in which meaning that you have to have bipartisan approach to these issues and these appointments and i think were on a slippery slope. Reporter sparking new concern that the senate could become more polarized without the explicit need to Work Together. The senate should be different. The senate should not be the house with a six year term. Reporter that deterioration started years ago. Weve already slid down the slope. Thats harry reid decided that executive nominations would be done by simple majority and we simply went with the harry reid rule today. Reporter fresh concern that republicans eager to get President Trumps agenda through could use similar procedural tactics beyond just Supreme Court nominee but on legislation. Just as it seemed unthinkable only a few decades ago that we change the rules for nominees, todays vote is a cautionary tale about how unbridled partisan escalation can ultimately overwhelming our basic inclination to Work Together. Reporter this Week Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell vowing that is not on the table. Theres not a single senator in the majority who thinks we ought to change the legislative filibuster, not one. Theres no threat to the legislative filibuster. Reporter meantime as all of this was unfolding today here in washington, neil gorsuch was over a thousand miles away keeping tabs on these procedural moves in the senate from his home in colorado. His final confirmation vote will come tomorrow night here in the senate. He will be confirmed and go on to become the next Supreme Court justice. Hes only 49 years old. Hell be potentially for 30 or 40 years, long after the Trump Presidency is concerned. These decisions have enormous impact. Thank you very much. I want to bring back senator jeff flake of arizona. Senator, you know what . Theres a majority minorities in the senate of democrats were to gain control, regain control of the majority in the senate and regain control in the white house in 2020, how concerned are you that your party would be in the minority and you would be able to use that filibuster to block lets say a liberal or even a far left Supreme Court Justice Nominee . Well, we have to remember that what we did today, frankly, was just making de facto prior to 2003. I was here in 1987 as an intern during the judge bourque nominations one of the most controversial of all time. Not one senator and it would have only taken one to not give unanimous consent to move to a vote and could have filibuster. It wasnt done. It wasnt done with judge thomas either, very controversial just a couple years later. So in the past, we simply didnt filibuster judges and so now the rule is that we cant. About it was an issue of behavior, now its an issue of the rules and i wish we didnt have to do this today, but i believe we didnt have a choice. If we couldnt confirm judge gorsuch, a mainstream candidate, how in the world could we confirm anybody else. Youve always been a moderate republican, youve always wanted to work with your democratic colleagues, senator flake, now that this has happened are there less opportunities for the two parties in the United States senate to cooperate and Work Together . I think on the legislative filibuster, Mitch Mcconnell is right. There is no stomach at all to change the legislative filibuster so theres still the requirement to reach across the aisle to get 60 votes and im glad there is. If you want legislation that endures, that is durable then you reach across the aisle and thats what we have to do on legislation. Well still have to do that and im glad for that. That makes the senate, the senate. With regard to judges, like i said, all were doing is codifying what was the practice and tradition of the senate for years. I wish we didnt have to do that, i wish we could change behavior rather than the rules but that seems impossible right now. Thanks so much for joining us. Thank you. Just ahead well have more on the breaking news. President trump is now considering military action in syria. And stand by for Hillary Clintons first interview since the president ial election on the impact of russias meddling and other reasons she believes she lost to President Trump. Shes also revealing what shed do about syria if she were in the white house tonight. I tried hard to quit smoking. But when we brought our daughter home, that was it. Now i have nicoderm cq. The nicoderm cq patch with unique extended release Technology Helps prevent your urge to smoke all day. Its the best thing that ever happened to me. Every great why needs a great how. Our 18 year old wase army in an accident. 98. When i call usaa it was that voice asking me, is your daughter ok . Thats where i felt relief. Were the rivera family, and we will be with usaa for life. President trump now at maralago in palm beach, florida. Sources say hes considering u. S. Military action in syria. The president expected to meet with his National Security team tonight, get briefed by the defense secretary james mattis on various u. S. Military options in syria. This is the president begins his summit with the visiting chinese president. Our experts are here. First of all, we want to welcome our newest member, john incurby and the state department our new cnn military and diplomatic analyst. Thanks very much for joining us. Let me play a clip. This is the president speaking out just a little while ago on syria and the impact its had these latest gas attacks on killing all these kids. Do you think that assad should leave power in syria . I think what happened in syria is a disgreat to humanity and hes there and i guess hes running things, so something should happen. Referring to al assad. I think hes running things so something should happen but johns thats a marked contrast to what we heard only a few days ago from tillerson, the ambassador to the u. N. , nikki haley, the regime change in syria was not necessarily a u. S. Priority. How markable is this shift . Its 180 degrees different. I think its a pity that it took Something Like this terrible gas attack to turn their minds to whats going on in syria and by assad and by russia, but it has and i thought the comments by nikki haley and by secretary tillerson just the other day were welcome. They were good and strong. Notably they included russia and iran which the president didnt do in the rose garden and i didnt hear him do that today. I think its really important that as we look in options in syria we consider russia also needs to be held to account for what theyve done, the support theyve given. The only reason that assad is in the power that he is and the only reason he was able to conduct an attack like that was because hes been supportive by Russian Military forces on the ground. They give him target information. Theyre conducting operations on their own in syria. And supported by Iranian Forces as well. When the president does meet tonight at maralago with his National Security Team Including defense secretary, are the options he will consider different than the ones that were president obama . Well, admiral incurby can speak to this better than i, i think some of them are, what we would look at before, which is launching missiles from offshore, launching air attacks. Its a matter of degree but theres one thing that is different and admiral kirby underscored it and that is the degree to which the russians are meshed in the syrian operations and that complicates your planning and it is dubably complicated because of the president s continuing benevolence about confronting russia on syria or anything else. Could military action by the u. S. In syria escalate regional tensions right now . I think it could for a couple reasons, number one what David Axelrod just said, we got to remember youre getting involved with the russians on the ground, not only people on the ground but russian air defenses and the iranians have a presence there. There is a another piece of this that is missing that we skirted over. Lets focus on it for just a second. On march 30th, speaking of regional tensions on march 30th the secretary of state said it is for the Syrian People to decide the future of their president , thats Bashar Al Assad. Within the past 24 hours we have the secretary of state suggesting that he has no role in the future of syria. Are we getting involved in region players with ousting another dictator. I cant figure out to change the perspective of this white house to make that decision. Just to close here, wolf, the president saw a few images from a disaster, a catastrophe where nnts died including children. In the past 6 years 400,000 plus people have died. You have nearly 5 million refugees, 7 million plus displaced people. Does the man not read a newspaper and what happened with a few images that changed the decision about whether he should go or not . I cant figure it out. Were hearing from the president today words very different than what he uttered as a candidate and certainly as a private citizen. Completely different. Unrecognizable almost from donald trump. I mean just on november 3rd right before the election, he said in a speech and let me quote this, Hillary Clinton wants to start a shooting war in syria that could very well lead to world war iii. So here we are now talking about potential military action against assad, probably prescribed military action, very limited and targeted or whatever, but its military action which we would presumably due unilaterally without congress it seems to me but who knows, and its a very different president. I guess i ask the same question that phil asked which is, what has changed . We saw these pictures in 2013. We know about whats been going on over there. Im glad the president has come around to this point of view quite frankly, but what he said during the campaign was 180 degrees. He still hasnt said anything much about russia as Rex Tillerson he hasnt said anything about russia. Or as u. N. Ambassador nikki haley. Let me turn to this dinner with the visiting chinese president. He has said a lot of things about china over the past year and a half, two years. Let me play this clip. We are going to label china a currency manipulator. Were like the piggy bank thats being robbed. Chinas taking our jobs, our money, our base, our manufacturing. The gravity abuser in the history of the country one of the greatest thefts in the history of our world. We cant continue to allow china to rape our country and thats what theyre doing. Listen your mother [ bleep ] were going to tax you 25 . He goes into this meeting tonight, this dinner and then further talks tomorrow at maralago with the chinese president with a lot of history there. Imagine that he wont be using that precise language with the chinese president in this meeting, wolf, but donald trump is going to have to show his supporters, americans in general, is there any tough action or no action to back up this tough talk or is he going to work with the chinese in a way that may be people havent expected and there is of course a great incentive for them to Work Together on some issues like confronting north korea. Thats not something that the United States is really preparing to go alone. Weve benefited from chinese help on that and donald trump has encouraged them to take a tougher stance toward north korea as these tensions so far theyve been reluctant do very much to reduce that Nuclear Threat from north korea. When you talk a little bit about Hillary Clinton pause today she just gave her first interview at the tina brown, women in the world summit and she addressed the issue of the russian president Vladimir Putins goals in the 2016 president ial election which she lost. Listen to this. People have asked me, well, you know why do you think he did that to you and, you know, i dont think its too complicated. I think he had his desire to destabilize us and others and, you know, hes not exactly fond of strong women. What do you think . Youre smiling. I think shes a hundred percent right just based on my interaction with russian officials both at the pentagon and the state department. Its a very masculine environment there. They also she was tough on russia when she was secretary of state. She was very clear, she was very candid and i dont think they appreciated that and she did come out publicly supporting some of the political protests which i think putin never forgave her for. Theres no doubt in my mind that i think it can be argued whether he was specifically trying to get trump elected. He was certainly trying to hurt her chances in the election. Theres no question about that as well as trying to sew doubt and discord in our own democratic process. What did you think . Boy, im going to go out on a limb here and make a political, i think technically i agree with the admiral. Shes correct. The russians ma lip natured her. They were trying in favor of donald trump but i want to hear the rest of the interview because im afraid what she might say and i gather from the initial reaction is that was partly responsible for her loss as an outside observer, i dont think she ran a Good Campaign and i dont think she connected with the American People. Until the Democratic Party starts to say as a nonpolitical person weve got to do better with the American People and stop blaming the fbi, jim comey and the russian intervention i think they got a problem. Your wish is our command. Her loss well play more of what she had to say. Certainly misogyny played a role that has to be admitted and its a pretty simple, but unfortunate phenomenon. With men, success and ambition are correlated with likability. So the more successful a man is, the more likeable he becomes. With a woman, guess what . Its the exact opposite. There are things we could have done better, there are things i couldve done better, but i think it is fair to say that the outside intervention, the combination of the comey letter on october 28th, wikileaks which played a much bigger role than i think many people understand yet, had the determinative effect. I dont want anybody running campaigns or the Republican Party to have their communications stolen, which is what it was. It was a theft. It was a more effective theft even than watergate back in the day. Gloria, what do you think . Its hard to deconstruct that. She she had there is misogyny. Women candidates are always treated differently than men but she didnt do well with White Working Class noncollege educated women either. She had a problem with a lot of women. So on that front you cant say it was just misogyny. I think that everything that Hillary Clinton said is probably accurate to a degree, but im with phil. I think theres much more to her loss than all of that. Comey certainly changed the equation, absolutely towards the end of the campaign and it cost them an awful lot. Did it cost them the election totally . I dont think well ever know, but i do think that she was a flawed candidate and she did not connect as phil says in many ways and i think shes always going to be asked about that, but needs to move beyond it at this point. Im anxious to get David Axelrods reaction. Go ahead, david. I agree with much of what you said including the fact that she couldve done better and her campaign couldve done better. Theres no doubt that the factors that she mentioned were behind dranss to her campaign but i liken it to the human body. Her campaign was in a weakened state and therefore things like comey coming along when he did put her in a position to lose that race. Had her campaign been in stronger shape or a strong economic message for example, which was lacking, they may have been in a better chance they may have had a better chance to repel the impact of some of those negatives that she outlined in her remarks. What was your reaction . I think it was interesting that wikileaks did have a determinative effect. It sounds to me like she really does think these outside external factors made the difference for her in this race and that otherwise she wouldve won and of course has glor kra said, maybe thats true, maybe its not but its really interesting with her having had months to really think about this, to reflect, that still shes not really taking the responsibility herself for most of this loss. Shes saying it was the russians, it was all these external factors. She also weighed in on the Trump Presidency so far and i want you to guys to weigh in after we hear this. I dont understand the commitment to hurt so many people that this this administration this white house seems to be pursuing. Theres so many examples in just the first hundred days and then of course what they did or tried to do to the health care bill, which i did i will confess to this. Having listened to them talk about repeal and replace for eight years or seven years, now, they had not a clue what that meant. They had no idea. I dont know that any of them even read the bill. Read the law. Understood how it worked. It was so obvious and health care is complicated, right, and and so they they dont know what to do and i do admit that was somewhat gratifying as a, you know were going back did you get the sense how much she regrets not winning that election at least that comes through . Well, and how much she enjoyed engaging in that reparte. The question is, whether this is the role that she should be playing at this time, whether she should just jump right back into the fray, pick up all the these arguments, defend her campaign, defend her candidacy. Im not sure thats the best role for her to be playing for herself at this moment. Phil, had a do you think . I think shes reflecting in some ways what the president has done to us. Hes taken us to a negative place. The congress is wrong. The judges inappropriately turned down my immigration policy. Its the media that created the russia a shining she has a role in america. How do we set a goal for america to do better, whether its an education in health care. Instead shes looking back at an election she lost. I dont think either one of them is right. Why doesnt she paint a picture of the future instead of a pick of the past. Thats my question. First interview weve seen of Hillary Clinton at the women of the world summit. Just ahead, were following the breaking news as President Trump wlas milita weighs military action in syria. I think when youre faced with the disaster that strikes a country, you do see that people care. People were dying. We have to do something about this. We have something in development, so well accelerate. I think it was really necessary for people, companies to step up and try to do something about this. Nice tells you what you kind want to hear. Ifferent. But kind is honest. This bar is made with cranberries and almonds. So, guess what . We call it cranberry almond. Give kind a try. And her new mobile wedding business. Tte at first, getting paid was tough. Until she got quickbooks. Now she sends invoices, sees when theyve been viewed andtadahpaid twice as fast for free. Visit quickbooksdotcom. Guests can earn a how cafree night when theypring book direct on choicehotels. Com and stay with us just two times . Spring time. Badda book. Badda boom. Or. Badda bloom. Seriously . Book now at choicehotels. Com. Tonight an unseen enemy has potential to unleash a Global Health crisis. Theres a growing threat from Infectious Diseases and a deadly pandemic. Take a look. The last three decades there have been about 30 newly emerging diseases that had the potential to be pan democratics. If we do nothing, its not a matter of if there will be a global pan democrat irk, its just a matter of when. Which virus, and how bad. The world changes around us at increasing speed. We caused a lot of that change. Migrating to cities, stripping the earth of its resources, and altaring prime evil jungle. We have seen whole spire ecologies, that which you can see with your eye and that which you can only see with a microscope. One system after another completely reshaped. In every case, this afords opportunities for viruss and bacteria to seek out new homes, cause new havoc, including disease for human beings. Im joined by dr. Anthony fauchi, of the National Institute for allergy and infectious disease. Which disease worries you the most right now, doctor . The thing thats most worrisome for a long time now is the possibility of a pandemic for a enflew end zona. It could chaj through the pop lakes of the world. Respiratory illnesses are a threat. We add bohad ebola in africa. Its difficult in the broad population to spread Something Like ebola. Whereas with influenza because of the speed of travel throughout the world, 18 hours youre on the other half of the world, thats what we worry about. How do we prevent a pandemic like that from occurring. Outbreaks you cannot prevent, the emergence of a new in23eks. The trick is to keep it from going from an outbreak to a epidemic ajds from an epidemic to a pandemic. Having a good vaccine capability is one of the answers. In china theres a bird flu smoeltderring there, not spreading very rapidly. Were developing a vaccine so that if it develops the ability to go from human to human we have a head start. First of all, is there a vaccine for zika in the works . More than in the works. We actually started an advanced phase two study about a week and a half ago in the United States and puerto rico and well be going into south america with it as we get into the summer. Were well on the way to a zika vaccine. Is zika a problem . We want to keep an eye on it because it may reexplode in puerto rico. You think that the vaccine will be ready in time . Probably not. I think that at best, if we get another infections that we can show that it works, it likely wont be until the end of 2017, the beginning of 2018. Were grateful for everything you do, everything nih does. Appreciate it very much. Thank you. An unseen enemy. The documentary premiers friday night 10 00 p. M. Eastern only here on cnn. Mustsee tv. Youll have to see this very, very important. Thanks very much for watching. Im wolf blitzer this the situati situation room. Erin burnett out front starts right now. Next, breaking news. The defense secretary briefing the president on military options in syria. Will trump put american boots on the ground . Plus steve bannon demoted, yet traveling with the president to m maralago. And legendary comedian, the king of insults. Lets go out front. Good evening, im erin burnett. We begin out front, edging toward war. President trump considering military action against syria. James mattis briefing headline his next moves. We understand all options are on