concern among the americans. as one expert put this, there s one clear winner in this entire scenario at this stage and that is the russians. they are now exerting, as they have been all along, influence over damascus. they also have greater influence over ankara and they have a measure of influence over the kurds, who have turned to just about everyone they can for help but have come up dry. the though, it would seem have managed to make a key strategic victory, and that is in seeing the u.s. military pulling back and pulling out without even having to fire a shot. arwa damon, cnn, on the turkey/syria border. interesting in arwa s reporting on her instagram she has a picture where she s there reporting and you see what looks to be the sun setting. she says, clearly that s not the sun setting. naets an explosion. that sets the tone here.
actually go even further than any of them had anticipated. turkey and its arab syrian fighting force have managed to capture a key area of what s known as the m4 highway, a strategic highway that cuts east to west. this has not only cut off key kurdish towns from one another, but also poses a risk to the u.s. military given where their bases are located. in all of this, who is actually the big winner? an expert i was talking to says it s russia. they are not only the playmaker here, but also the kingmaker. russia now is able to exert influence over damascus, over ankara and the kurds. and they have managed to get rid of the u.s. military presence inside syria without having to even fire a single shot, alex.
he s a general. he s been around this all his life. anytime you have the situation, you re going to think about that. i think he doesn t want to be the guy that brings people in. all right, guys. thanks so much. joining us now from jerusalem is mike t mike. we know right now first of all that dawn is breaking, so we ll start to get a better idea of what the damage is. there are vehicles driving around the city of damascus right now with loud speaker blasting syrian nationalists songs. we ve got people who say the night sky was lit up orange. loud blasts could be heard all over damascus. the smoke was concentrated in the eastern part of this city. syrian state tv claim that scientific research centers were hit. what we re hearing from the pentagon is what they re calling
unfettered access. and investigate the douma attack. the president made the final decision about military action yesterday. in the beginning of the week there was strong indications he wanted to do. he made the final decision and gave the order tonight. and that is where the president s national security team and also uk and france. everyone signed off on it and off it went tonight, shannon. thank you, john. defense secretary mattis speaking and giving us the lay of the land. we ll bring in jennifer grittingive good evening. or should i say good morning. reporter: good morning, shannon. it is dawn in damascus. . the pentagon colleagues from