there are no absolutes here. if the united states wanted to lead in this situation they could lead in lots of ways. with greater military strikes, larger sanctions. if they wanted to do less, they could pull out. the problem is the president and this white house has not decided. the united states, especially special operators, are stuck on the ground. they ve taken most of the territory. they have a lot more isis fighting to go but they don t know what s coming next. they don t know if they re going to be there six months or a year. there will be more air strikes or a peace process that ends in geneva because according to the u.s. military, that s the end mission. they re committed there until they get to a peace process in geneva and right now there is no u.s. leadership to make that happen from this white house. naveed, i talked about the geography a moment ago. this attack confined to a suburb outside damascus which is government-controlled. where does this conflict stand, as you
it. it took late yesterday outside the capital city of damascus. the attack killed dozens of civilians, including children. some of the images from the aftermath are so disturbing we can t show that to you on television. this morning, president trump called out russian president vladimir putin by name accusing him of being complicity in that attack tweeting, quote, many dead, including women and children in mindless chemical attack in syria. area of atrocity is in lockdown and encircled by syrian army making it completely inaccessible to outside world. he continues, president putin, russia and iran are responsible for backing animal assad. big price to pay. open area immediately for medical help and verification. another humanitarian disaster for no reason whatsoever. he concludes sick. jeff bennett covers the white house for nbc and jeff, this has been a strong response here from the president to this attack. what are white house officials saying? well, it certainly is a strong
u.s. defense. koec kevin, this morning the president s tweet big price to pay. how do you begin to think when you think about what the president has said in recent days? i think you need to immediately speculate about air strikes, will there be a response at assad using this connection cal atta chemical attack as a legal justification. syria pals has been all over the map in the last two weeks. a real mess. a lot of people need reminding i think that the u.s. has been actively striking in syria every day, every week, for several years now. but the difference is the counterisis campaign that is outside of assad s territory versus everything on the inside. there has been no decision on how to get to a peace right l f should say the white house. the trump administration is floundering. the u.s. military knows its limitation. it is that counterisis campaign.
russia and talk about targets as a strategic base to have a presence, the common denominator when it comes to destabilizing forces around the world, whether crimea, ukraine, syria or interfering in our 2016 elections is russia. until we call out russia and prioritize the threat of russia towards the u.s. and the world at large,hiss going to inue to happen. let be vyill breathes the air that he breaes simply becse putin gives him sanctuary. i don t think put h any issue or interest in assad other than they want to keep that strategic base. so by putting pressure air strikes are going to happen, but by putting pressure on putin, perhaps you will see what should happen which is honestly a regime change. it is putin who keeps assad in power. until we lean on the russians, nothing in syria will change. simple as that. almost a year to the date the president spoke out after that chemical attack. listen to what the president said then.