Send but its got to be followed up. Reporter the former Vice President nominee, senator tim kaine. To do this without congress, without a vote, i think is a clear violation of the law. Reporter nd senator Bernie Sanders who warns that this atta could lead to a military quagmire. Plus, power struggle at the white house. If chief strategist steve bannon leaves, does President Trumps populist nationalist agenda leave with him . Joining me for inside an analysis are david brooks, columnist for the new york times. Danielle pletka, rich lowry of the National Review and helene cooper. Welcome this sunday morning. Its meet the press. Good sunday morning. This breaking news before we get to the serious story. There were attacks on two egyptian Christian Churches this morning. A bomb exploded in a church packed with palm sunday worshippers north of cairo. It killed more than two dozen people, wounding scores of others, according to health officials. Hours later a suicide bomber killed at least 11 people in front of a church in alexandria. Isis has claimed responsibility for both of those attacks. Now we move to syria. This week President Trump became the seventh consecutive american president to launch a military action against a country in the middle east. Of course, the first one in that seven consecutive streak was a failed attempt to rescue in iran. Missiles launched in the mediterranean is what the Trump Administration called a proportionate response to last weeks chemical attack that killed 80 people and caused horrific suffering seen in pictures circulated around the globe. He drew praise in many usual trump opponents but criticism from some of his stronger supporters. It raised all sorts of questions about the Trump Administration. What is President Trumps ultimate goal in syria . Was this Mission Accomplished or Mission Creep . Was this a message sent around the world, from china to north korea . And can President Trump sell this to his nationalist base who was deeply skeptical about taking any action in syria . We have two republicans and two democrats here with us this morning and many different points of view. This isnt cut versus dry, red against blue. Ult malimately there was this question. Is this a sudden change in his thinking about foreign intervention . No child should ever suffer this much. Reporter the president made it clear the country should steer clear of anything being done in syria. Now Hillary Clinton wants to start a shooting war in russia that could very well lead to world war iii. If we did nothing, if we did absolutely nothing, we would be in great shape. Reporter President Trumps decision to back away has supporters confused and even angry. Some blame it on chief strategist steve bannon, who just days before the syria strike, was ejected from the Security Council amid tensions with trumps soninlaw Jared Kushner. Rubios happy, hillarys happy. Oh, yeah, the Weekly Standard people. All the conservatives are happy. The syrian brutality is nothing new. In 2013, eight days after assad launched a chemical attack which killed more than 1400 civilians, including hundreds of children, trump tweeted, what will we get for bombing syria besides more debt and a possible longterm conflict . Obama needs congression approval. But now with the power of the presidency, mr. Trump appears to have abandoned that point of view, at least for now. But what is his ultimate goal . We are prepared to do more. But we hope that will not be necessary. Just last week, mr. Trumps secretary of state backed away from the policy of regime change in syria. I think the status, the longer term status of president assad will be decided by the syrian people. But now a week later with the acts that he has taken, it would seem there would be no row for him to govern the syrian people. An american official said russians on the ground were given notice that the missiles were coming. Flights from the base have already resumed. And secretary tillersons trip to moscow this week is still on. At home, most of washingtons Foreign Policy establishment is applauding the strikes. The strikes were important. I think they were the signal is as important as the actual damage that was done. While a coalition of liberals and conservatives skeptical of intervention without approval from congress, opposes them. My heart breaks seeing those images. What can we do . It doesnt mean we sort of rip up the constitution and say, okay, its fine to bomb anybody if theyre committing atrocities. Doing this without Consulting Congress without a vote, i think, is a clear violation of the law. Its clear to say that no one has been more forceful to reonding to the response to the chemical aac tn u. N. Ambassador nikki haley. She has been the face in this crisis and yesterday i asked her if she thinks the Trump Administration has achieved its goal with the military strike or if more needs to be done. I dont think thats dependent on the United States, i think thats dependent on the actors at play. This is a very conflicted situation. We know there is no easy solution to the crisis thats in syria, but our focus is to make sure that were focused on strengthening the cease fire, we want to continue to have the backs of our allies, turkey, jordan, iraq, make sure they know weve got their backs. We want to push toward a political solution, because at the end of the day, thats really whats needed, is to make sure a political solution comes together, and we hope theyll continue those talks in geneva and we hope well continue to see some progress. A big part of that political solution would include the russians. Obviously they dont accept the conclusion that the United States and others did that this was assads regime that ordered this chemical weapons attack. Do you plan to present the evidence publicly, and do you plan to do it at the United Nations . Where is the evidence going to be presented . You know, the interesting thing, chuck, is when this chemical weapons murder happened to so many people, russias reaction was not, oh, how horrible. Or how could they do this to innocent children, or how awful is that . Their initial reaction was, assad didnt do it, the Syrian Government didnt do it. Why were they that defensive that quick . The idea of the casualties came after. The First Priority for them was to cover for assad. So what we knew from intelligence, that the Syrian Regime had done this again as they had done so many times before, we had the evidence that they had done it. Its obviously classified, so certainly im not the one that would release that formion, but it was enough that the president knew. Ut theres no plans on presenting t evidence publicly . If you look isnt it important to isolate in order to isolate russia to publicly show how wrong they are about this . So i dont doubt that that information wont come out. I think youre also seeing the investigations of russia now. That information is going to come out when they can declassify it. I fully suspect the proper directors will come out with that information, but for right now, all we needed to know in that room is, is it true . Did it happen . Whats the evidence . And go with that. What you saw is we watched the president in what i believe is his finest hour since hes taken office. Because he was very thoughtful about it, he talked about risk, what general mattis and the military did was just a rock star performance because they were so focused on making sure there were limited civilian casualties, if any at all. They were focused on making sure they hit the air base where the Syrian Government actually used the planes to carry the chemical weapons, and they were focused on making sure they understood the United States is not going to allow chemical weapons use ever. If assad doesnt use chemical weapons, but this civil war continues and hes brutal but he uses conventional weapons to be brutal, are we going to sit on the sidelines . I think what youre going to see is well keep all our thoughts and plans close to the chest. This president is not going to go and release any sort of information. But what i think you are going to see is pressure on the political solution. Thats really whats going to happen. In no way do we look at peace happening in that area with iranian influence. In no way do we see peace in that area with russia covering up for assad. In no way do we see peace in that area with assad as the head of the Syrian Government, and we have to make sure were pushing that process. The political solution has to come together for the good of thpeople of syria. What about the fact that we are not allowing Syrian Refugees unless under the most extreme circumstances into this country right now . You know, look. This is what i will tell you. I have watched this administration focus so much on the safety of United States citizens. As a mom and as a wife, im very grateful for that. What this president has done is said, prove to me that you are vetting these people properly, and if you are vetting them properly, then we will resume where we are. But until then, you have to prove to me that these people are being vetted in a way that were not putting american citizens at risk. So what he did was i think there were those countries that we knew there were problems that we couldnt vet, and thats key. You cant vet, you dont know who youre letting in, you dont know if theres any sort of bad intentions there. And so what youre seeing is the president is being very cautious with that. Hes making sure that its people, safety first. How do we get to a safe syria . How do we make sure those that have fled that area can go home and make sure they get back there . But the president is not going to sacrifice the safety of american citizens. Who should bear that sacrifice . These syrians you have so eloquently noted, these women and children in particular that were trying to flee, get out of harms way and they end up getting gassed by assad, who should take that burden if the United States is not going to help out . Well, i think you saw the ited stas ke that burden this week. The ited states fought for the people of syria and told assad no more. And final question, what is now the priority in syria . Assads removal or defeating isis . Before the emphasis was on defeating isis, then well deal with assad. Has that changed . I think what you have to understand is we can have multiple priorities. Of course its to defeat isis. Weve got to do that for peace and stability in the area. Its also to get out the iranian influence which we think is causing so much friction and worse issues in the area, and then weve got to go and make sure that we actually see a leader that will protect his people. And clearly, assad is not that person. That was, of course, nikki haley, the u. S. Ambassador to the United Nations. My next guest has been a frequently critical person on political issues. The senator joins me from clemson, north carolina. Thank you for joining me again. Thank you. I want to get to that last question i asked Ambassador Haley. Does this change americas position here of prioritizing what to prioritize in syria, isis over assad . Both secretary tillerson and Ambassador Haley have indicated isis is still the priority. What say you, senator . I think isis should beat germany and isis should beat them, isolate mosul. Ambassador haley just said on your program, youll never end the war with assad in power, so that means regime change is now the policy of the Trump Administration. Thats at least what ive heard. So you need more american troops to accelerate the demise of isil. Were relying too much on the kurds. More american forces, 5 to 6,000, were to track more regional fighters to destroy isil. You need a safe haven quickly so people can regroup inside of syria. Then you train the opposition to go after assad. Thats how hes taken our own people in his efforts, and they need to tell assad, we will take you down. Do you think President Trump should take that advice . Youre calling for troops to be sent in. Are you going to give the resolution so he has that authority . He already has that authority. You have some good people on this program. I think the president has operation to use force. Sign the chemical weapons treaty ban. There is an agreement not to use women cal weapons. War criminals dont police each other very well. The putin regime is a bunch of war criminals, and we expected them to police assad . That didnt work out very well. So all these resolutions are limitations of using force, not authorization to use force, so i dont intend to vote for anything that limits our ability to win the war on isil or replace assad. So you think syria, a sovereign country not mentioned at all in the current world organization, somehow you can send troops into that sovereign nation without having to have Congress Grant the president more authority there. I think youre in the minority view on that. Dont you think, senator . No, we already got troops on the ground. I dont see anybody saying cut off funding. If you dont like the thousand american troops that are helping to destroy isil, cut off funding. Be consistent here. I want more american troops, 5 or 6,000 like we have in iraq, to help destroy isil. That means it will accelerate the demise of isil. I want to train Opposition Forces to take assad down. Hes a threat to the United States because hes a proxy of iran. He used chemical weapons. He violated a treaty that he signed. I think its up to us to enforce that treaty. Were all on sound legal footing here, but our strategy is not yet developed. What comes next . Im glad trump did this. He is no longer obama in the eyes of our enemies, but he needs to do more to close the deal. There is a new sheriff in town. Do you think there is a moral difference between the use of chemical weapons and barrel bombs . No, there is a legal difference, not a moral difference. If youre a mother, your baby is dead. But we do have treaties that weve signed all over the world saying were not going to let one nation use weapons of mass destruction. Thats what the chemical weapons treaty is all about. But i will say this. If you kill babies with conventional bombs, its still a moral outrage. Heres what i think assad is telling trump by flying from this base. F you. I think hes makg a serious mistake. If youre an adversary of the United States and you dont worry about what trump may do on any given day, then youre crazy. I have to say, you used the initials, but i think thats a first for meet the press, senator graham. We had a few people watching and it raised some eyebrows. Good. I have to ask you about the president s change of heart on this, because Joanna Goldberg in National Review, who is supportive of this strike but this change of heart still concerns him. He writes, the strike on syria is the single best proof that trump has no overriding commitment to any idealogical position. If trump can abandon his position on this all because of some horrific pictures on tv, what position is safe . Well, heres my view. He abandoned a position that was not working, which is leaving assad alone. Obama said he has to go in name only. This president is setting in motion actual strategy to get rid of assad. To the american people, the war never ends with assad. Hes a recruiting gold mine for isil and al qaeda. He will not be accepted by the region nor his people. And so im glad the president did this. You want him to punish russia more for his support of assad. What is something concrete that you think he can do in the next couple of months to punish russia for its support of assad . Sanction russia for not only interfering in our election but add a paragraph to my bill that says russia aided and a betted assad in using chemical weapons, because he did. The russian soldiers on the base where this attack occurred, the russians intentionally, in my view, left chemical weapons in the hand of assad, their proxy. So if i were President Trump, i would go after russia through sanctions not only for interfering in our elections, but aiding and abetting the use of chemical weapons by war criminal assad. A firedup Lindsey Graham this morning from clemson, south carolina. Senator, thanks for coming on and sharing your views even if they were not necessarily pg rated this morning. Good morning. When we come back, two senate democrats, tim kaine of virginia and Bernie Sanders of vermont with two different views of what the United States should do in syria and how they should do it. Theyre next. Everything your family touches sticks with them. Make sure the germs they bring home dont stick around. Use clorox disinfecting products. Because no one kills germs better than clorox. One of many pieces in my life. 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