not only the trump administration will have to answer, but the other actors who have a stake in the conflict will have to answer. obviously the assad regime. the iranians, the russians will all have a say in what happens next. this strike was clearly undertaken to not only punish and to mean what we say in terms of red lines and defending international norms against the use of chemical weapons but also an attempt to demonstrate the u.s. is willing to use unilateral force if necessary. that i think begins to shape the diplomateck environment. i think what we flared the prior administration was often that this conflict doesn t have a military solution. there has to be a political and diplomatic settlement. i think he have one agrees with that. the question of whether or not military force or some element of strikes like that can shape a diplomatic solution is really now at play.
obama decide not to do it to. take a russianealhat would supposedly rid syria of cmical weapons. four years later, a very different president, in a matter of days, a decision was taken. it was an exclusively american decision. the russians written formed just ahead of the strikes. and now it is come and gone. and richard, i m sorry to step on you. there is a delay on the line. have we heard anything out of the assad regime? do we have any idea what their response will be? we have heard quite a bit from syrian officials, also russian officials. you have to listen to what they say and how severe the reaction is. so of course the syrian there s condemn this. their country was just fwaattac by the united states. a limited attack but still attacked. president assad said it was irresponsible and foolish.
if that s the case, certainly congress needs to be part of that authorization. whenever you launch weapons and engage in warfare, congress has a very important role to play. so hopefully the administration will come forward. but i do think we have to deal with the longer term for syria in to have a political solution there. it starts with getting rid of assad. the russians need to step up and understand that assad is basically, a war criminal with his actions that he engaged in aleppo and the kept attacks. the president should demand the russians to force him out and be part of a political solution, including creating some safe zones in the short run that the people of syria know they can live with some measure of safety in what is an absolutely horrific situation right now. let me ask but the refugee crisis. you said a moment ago that you wish that more refugees would be let into this country. i know that s your position as a democrat. do you see this week as a turning point? do you
the determinative effect. she used the term the womenization of information. what did she mean in. she meant with the russians had first stolen the campaign e-mails shelf described it as a theft bigger than watergate. and then they weaponized it by leaking it through wikileaks and doing it in a very careful, methodical way that some people say suggest some knowledge of the political system that russians might not have had. let me play one more portion. i want to include this. you asked her about mysogyny and empowering women. here s that exchange. this is a women s empowerment conference. i have to ask fundamentally, a man who bragged about sexual assault won the election and won 53% of the white women s vote.
others said it was politically motivated in an attempt to cover up political problems and power struggles at home and president trump s own domestic concerns. that is a condemnation but a fairly weak one. there is no indication that the syrian military plans to retalia retaliate. there are hundreds of american troops in syria. no talks of potential strikes against him. when you look at the syrian reaction, they seem to be grumbling but not intending to do anything. the russians, pretty much the same. there have been some statements from top russian officials, a statement from putin saying this is a violation of a sovereign country. when moscow wants to express its anger, it knows how to and we haven t seen it so far. if there is a danger right now, it would be that the u.s. is expressing too much confidence. not accepting what seems to have