[Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling , Cnn Military Analyst:] However, there's a very obscure I think it's 1923 or 1925 act against chemical weapons that all nations were signatories to after the great World War I, where chemical weapons were used en masse where nations basically signed up to say we'll never allow this to happen again. If we see it happening we will step in and stop it. And I think that's what Ambassador Haley
[Chris Cuomo, Cnn:] Right.
[Hertling:] was citing in the U.N. the other day. There's a third piece, though. Russia signed an agreement in 2013 when they did take responsibility for Mr. Assad, saying we will contribute to assisting getting rid of the last remaining chemical weapons inside of Syria. They did not do that. Secretary Tillerson used that against them last night, basically saying they were incompetent or complicit in not doing that. So all of these things will contribute to the debate in Congress. There was not a War Powers Act, certainly, which sometimes ties the hands of a president. All of those things are going to be factored. But you do have a Republican Congress and Senate that are both going to be supporting President Trump on this, as well as the support on the world stage.
[Alisyn Camerota, Cnn:] We will get the answers to how Congress is feeling for everyone on NEW DAY. Coming up on NEW DAY we'll have several members of Congress on to discuss these strikes Congressman Seth Moulton, senators Ben Cardin, Marco Rubio, Tim Kaine, and Cory Gardner.
[Cuomo:] All right. We have a lot more breaking news coverage. We're still getting information about what was the effect of these 59 Tomahawk missiles launched to get a specific Syrian airbase. When this special of edition of NEW DAY returns we'll have more information.
[Announcer:] This is CNN breaking news.
[Camerota:] We are following breaking news for you. Leaders around the world responding to the U.S. missile strike on a Syrian air base in retaliation for Assad's deadly chemical weapons attack on his own people. The strikes targeted an airbase that housed war planes, airfields, and supply bunkers. It's the first direct military action taken by the U.S. against the Syrian regime in the country's six-year civil war. Russian T.V. releasing this video of the damage left behind the strikes. Russian President Vladimir Putin calls the strikes "Trumped up." He has suspended a 2015 agreement preventing mid-air incidents between coalition and Russian air forces. France and Germany issuing a joint statement moments ago, saying Syrian President Bashar al-Assad bears full responsibility for the U.S. airstrikes. Joining us now is CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour. She is live in London. Christiane, tell us the world's reaction thus far.
[Christiane Amanpour, Cnn Chief International Correspondent:] Well, it's really significant. Obviously, the allies are supporting President Trump. In fact, in the words of the British Defense secretary, he basically called it as it is. This is the first major test confronting President Trump. The Assad regime's use of chemical weapons, i.e, weapons of mass destruction, which are banned under international law. And, therefore, President Trump's reaction was to deter any further use of such weapons and that they would continue, altogether, to try to change the situation in Syria to make sure that those kinds of weapons are not used again. And the allies are beginning to, once again, talk about Assad must go. Not the same kind of chorus that we heard years ago but all of a sudden, as Tillerson has said the U.S. Secretary of State that somebody who does this kind of thing to their own people has no role in future government. Interestingly, though, is the Russian reaction because while they're angry, while they've called it, you know, illegitimate, while they've called it an act of aggression, the Russian Foreign Ministry minister, himself, has said this will not lead to an irreversible situation. And the Chinese reaction, again, very, very important as well because President Xi is sitting there with President Trump in Florida right now, even as this attack and response by President Trump was being launched. The Chinese have said that we condemn the use of chemical weapons. Again, why is this significant? Because both China and Russia have been the main obstacles to any resolutions in the United Nations Security Council and Russia, of course, the main enabler for Syria's Bashar Assad.
[Camerota:] Christiane, what do we think we this means for the future of relations with Russia? You know, we have word that the U.S. did alert Russia shortly before these strikes as an international courtesy. They know that Russians could have been around that area. And then, as you say, the language coming out of Russia is very interesting. What do we think will happen if and when Rex Tillerson does fulfill that promised visit next week to Moscow?
[Amanpour:] Well, first and foremost, we hear from Russia that that visit is going to go ahead. We've heard I mean, not formally from the president, Putin, or elsewhere, but people in Parliament have said there's no reason to cancel that meeting and, therefore, that will be a very, very important meeting. And hopefully presumably, those people sitting around a table are going to try to figure out whether, in fact, you know, there's a new chapter in this effort to contain and to stop the Syrian war. And whether Moscow can be persuaded, as Rex Tillerson has said, to stop supporting Bashar al-Assad when, let's face it, Assad's use of chemical weapons, even though Russia denies it, violates Russia's deal with Assad on this issue as well. So it's not just a violation of what the West and NATO think. So I think that's really important. What further will happen? I don't think anybody believes that this is the beginning of a massive invasion of Syria of any major attempt in terms of, you know, with military, to oust Bashar Assad. But I think it's concentrated in the international community's mind, again, that he is the main obstacle to any kind of resolution in Syria. Yes, ISIS and that fight will continue because both Russia and the United States want to do that and the U.S. is already maneuvering to fully encircle Raqqa and it's got, as you know, some 900 forces on the ground. It's supporting local forces and they've got heavy artillery and they're really getting ready to do in Raqqa what they've been doing in Mosul, so that, presumably, will continue. The question, though, is to try to neutralize the major threat that's posed by Assad because it's Assad who's using the chemical weapons. And even without chemical weapons, who's been responsible for the deaths of, you know, 400,000-plus civilians in Syria over the last six years.
[Camerota:] And Christiane, what about the allies? What about France and the U.K. that had condemned the chemical attack? Now where are they in terms of next steps with or without the U.S.?
[Amanpour:] Well, you know, as you said, Russia was informed through the deconfliction channel that this was going to happen. Also, NATO was informed. They knew within a good amount of time what was going to happen and they all have supported what's happened because of Syria's unacceptable use of these kinds of weapons. But it's still very unclear as to where this is going to go in a broader strategy because while they're saying Assad must go, there's no room for Assad in any political future, there's no real plan at the moment and there never really has been, to either get him out politically or militarily. And the political talks that have been continuing occasionally are convened in Geneva and elsewhere honestly, they go nowhere because the U.N. and everybody else basically says that Assad and his representatives are just not serious. They just are not serious. They won't negotiate with the opposition, even the moderate opposition. And Assad, himself, in a published interview just two days ago said we have no option but to continue this war. So he's sitting there thinking that he's got Russia and Iran and he's going to go for total victory around Syria. That's his mindset. Whether they can break him of that, whether he understands the significance of the U.S. response remains to be seen.
[Camerota:] Christiane, thank you for all the context and please stick with us through our special coverage and breaking news throughout the morning. We'll be back with you. Let's get to Chris.
[Cuomo:] All right. It was just one step perhaps, as Christiane says, but it was a major step. Imagine the shift. You had the U.N. just last night they couldn't even come to a vote on this. They had three different proposals about what to do and now we've had missile strikes. Now, let's take a look at the state of play, what's happened, what could happen next. We have CNN military analyst and advisory board member for Academy Securities, Major Gen. James "Spider" Marks. Always good to be with you on the map, sir.
[Maj. Gen. James "spider" Marks, U.s. Army , Cnn Military Analyst, Advisory Board Member, Academy Securities:] Thank you.
[Cuomo:] All right. So now, as we're looking we're standing in the water. We kind of roughly represent the two U.S. destroyers.
[Marks:] Right near the border on the Ross.
[Cuomo:] All right. So where were we positioned and where did these missiles go?
[Marks:] We were positioned about here in the Eastern Med. We launched the 59 missiles to the airfield right here, al-Shayrat. The intent of that strike was very narrowly focused in on the airfield to eliminate aircraft and the capability of that airfield to launch strikes again. This is where the chemical strike in Idlib took place. This is where it started from excuse me -this is where it started from.
[Cuomo:] This is where we believe by best proof from radar and otherwise that the ships that were used the airships the planes that were used to dump the chemicals, they took off here.
[Marks:] Correct.
[Cuomo:] So that had
[Marks:] Our intelligence
[Cuomo:] That had a message and a strategic component. And how the U.S. did this, there was a risk assessment in that as well, right? No sorties, no fighter planes
[Marks:] No manned aircraft.
[Cuomo:] No manned aircraft from the ships. And the use of the Tomahawks? What does that say to you?
[Marks:] Well, what it does is it really minimizes the risk as you described it. If we were to put manned aircraft over this airspace, we would the United States would have to take out all the air defense capabilities that are on the ground. That's a significant endeavor and that's a significant
[Cuomo:] And would have involved Russia in a different way too because a lot of air-to-ground you know, ground-to-air defenses are theirs.
[Marks:] Absolutely, and that was the purpose of this deconfliction charter that's been in place, delegated down to those military commanders on the ground, Russian and U.S., saying I'm about to fly, don't fly. I don't want to bump into you, you don't want to bump into me. So that's I mean, that was critical for us to do that so TLAMs were the perfect weapon system because they're also incredibly precise. If you want to put it through the upper-right window of a building, it will go through the upper-right window of the building.
[Cuomo:] So, in terms of let's go to the next slide, can we, and show what the U.S. has in the area because if you're not going to use planes from bases you have to think about timing a little bit in terms of your assets.
[Marks:] Right.
[Cuomo:] The ships are fast but it still takes time to get them places. What do we have and where?
[Marks:] Yes, well, what we have is we had as a matter of routine we have ships that are positioned in the Mediterranean and are available for use. In this case, the Porter and the Ross. We also have over in the Persian Gulf we have an aircraft carrier. Now, aircraft carriers don't routinely want to be in the Gulf because that's pretty restrictive, but we have one, and from that platform we could launch similar types of capabilities to include manned aircraft. And the closure time is a little bit greater but it gives us an enhanced capability. Bear in mind also, Chris, that we have forces in Turkey as well and, periodically, some forces in Syria.
[Cuomo:] So, in terms of next steps we have to we're a long way from that. We have to see what happens with the political will in the U.S., the rights of law in the U.S. in terms of what can be done, and then what the Security Council wants to do, and the allies. But, in terms of if you wanted to stick with your capabilities right now, how many how broad is the range of options about other strategic strikes that could be done?
[Marks:] We have we have forces in Turkey that we could include in the additional effort in Syria, itself, and we could do a repeat of what we just saw against other targets, or to completely go after some similar targets.
[Cuomo:] So there's no reason to have boots on the ground. You can do plenty the way things are right now.
[Marks:] Right now, that's correct. That's right.
[Cuomo:] All right. General, thank you very much. Stay with us.
[Marks:] Thanks, Chris, sure.
[Cuomo:] We have a lot more breaking news coverage when this special edition of NEW DAY returns. Stay with CNN.