Mixed Messages From Trump Administration on Syria; Interview With U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Strike on Syria. President Trump makes his first major military move as commander in chief.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Tonight, I ordered a targeted military strike.</s>TAPPER: But is it just the beginning?</s>NIKKI HALEY, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: We are prepared to do more.</s>TAPPER: U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley will be here with the very latest. And what now? Mixed messages from the Trump Cabinet on the path forward.</s>REX TILLERSON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I would not in any way attempt to extrapolate that to a change in our policy or our posture relative to our military activities in Syria.</s>TAPPER: As Trump's critics in Congress demand a serious strategy. Plus, staff shakeup? Reports of bad blood running through the West Wing, as Trump's top advisers battle for power.</s>KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT: Donald Trump as a businessman and certainly as president of the United States surrounds himself with a diverse group of people who have very strong opinions.</s>TAPPER: Is Trump about to tell someone, "You're fired?" And the best political minds will be here on what happens next.</s>TAPPER: Hello. I'm Jake Tapper in Washington, where the State of our Union is fraught with tension. The United States is flexing its muscles on two fronts in the days following President Trump's airstrikes in Syria. A coordinated diplomatic campaign towards Russia is under way by the U.S. and the U.K. British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson has canceled his visit to Moscow to -- quote -- "coordinate international support for a cease- fire" at the G7 meeting on Monday. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, however, will go on the trip amidst renewed tensions between Washington and the Kremlin. Meanwhile, a show of American and military might in the Pacific, as a Navy strike group moves towards North Korea. Defensive officials say the aircraft carrier is being sent in response to recent provocations by the hermit kingdom. This all happens amidst a violent weekend across the globe, two churches bombed in Egypt on this Palm Sunday, killing dozens and injuring hundreds more. Swedish police have just arrested a second suspect in the truck attack in Stockholm this week that killed four people. An Uzbek man was already in custody. Violent clashes in Venezuela, meanwhile, as thousands fill the streets there to protest their socialist government. And, of course, continued violence in Syria, including renewed bombing by the Assad regime and coalition forces. It's a very busy morning around the world. Let's welcome the United States ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley.</s>TAPPER: Ambassador Haley, thanks so much for joining us. You said on Friday that the United States is -- quote -- "prepared to do more in Syria." But I want to understand what the threshold might be for additional military action. Would it be the use of chemical weapons or could even a conventional attack on civilians be the trigger?</s>HALEY: Well, Jake, what I can tell you is what happened this week was really one of the president's finest hours, to sit and watch all of the conversations and how he listened to each and every member of his security council and asked all the right questions. He wanted to know exactly what the facts and the evidence was. He wanted to know what the options were, what the risks were, and the political strategy and solution side of it. And after all of that, he made a very, you know, strong decision. And I think it was one that was very good for the world. What I can tell you now is, this is how he responded to the chemical attack in Syria. I was trying to give warning and notice to the members of the Security Council and the international community that he won't stop here. If he needs to do more, he will do more. So, really, now what happens depends on how everyone responds to what happened in Syria, and make sure that we start moving towards a political solution, and we start finding peace in that area. And so I think a lot of people need to step up. The United States is going to continue to watch and be active. And we'll see what happens.</s>TAPPER: So, further military action is possible. But I guess what I'm wondering is, the chemical weapons attacks have been going on since 2013, but far more Syrians have been killed by conventional weapons, barrel bombs and the like. Might that also be a trigger? I mean, President Trump clearly said that the use of chemical weapons is what crossed the line for him. But is that the only line?</s>HALEY: Well, I can tell you that his focus was on the fact that innocent victims were hurt by a terrible regime that was attempted to be covered up by Russia or, you know, make excuses for Assad by Russia. And he said he wasn't going to put up with it. And to see the images, to see the pictures, and to see the horror of that act, knowing that it was a violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, knowing it was a violation of multiple Security Council resolutions, he said, enough, we're not going to watch this anymore.</s>TAPPER: So -- but this is a departure. And while I'm not second-guessing the decision, you know, as I said, it's not the first chemical weapons attack. It's not the worst chemical weapons attack. And, in fact, during the campaign, President Trump warned against getting involved militarily in Syria. Take a listen.</s>TRUMP: It's not that big an area. The airspace is very limited. So, now you have -- what, do we start World War III over Syria?</s>TAPPER: So, he was worried about starting World War III over Syria. Why is that no longer a concern? And why was the 2013 chemical weapons attack, which, as you know, was deadlier, not a trigger for him in terms of the principle of action in Syria?</s>HALEY: Well, he wasn't president in 2013. And I can tell you...</s>TAPPER: But he opposed it. He opposed action.</s>HALEY: But I don't know what his thought process was then. I can tell you what his thought process was this week, which was, he is not going to condone chemical weapons use ever. And so what you saw was, he wasn't just going to say it. He was going to act. And what we have seen at the United Nations is a huge sigh of relief. They're just so thankful that the United States led on this issue. And we called out Russia, because we needed to. We put Iran on notice, because that -- we need to get that influence out of there. And we told Syria, we are not going to watch this anymore. And so what the president chooses to do, I hope that what Iran sees and Syria sees and Russia sees is that this is a president that's not afraid to act, and that he does expect to move towards a political solution. And they have to show genuine willingness to do that.</s>TAPPER: He's not concerned anymore, though, about this being a potential quagmire or about this potentially starting World War III?</s>HALEY: I can tell you that, of the conversations I had this week, he knew what the risks were, he knew what the situation was, he looked at the history of the situation, and he decided. And I think his decision was right. And I think you can see that from the international community. They all fully support it.</s>TAPPER: On Thursday, the secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, said there is -- quote -- "no role for Assad" in governing Syria. Take a listen.</s>TILLERSON: Assad's role in the future is uncertain, clearly. And with the acts that he has taken, it would seem that there would be no role for him to govern the Syrian people.</s>TAPPER: So, 10 days ago, you said that getting Assad out of Syria was -- would no longer be a priority for the United States. Obviously, since then was the chemical weapons attack. But I'm trying to figure out, is regime change in Syria now the official policy of the United States?</s>HALEY: So, there's multiple priorities. It's -- getting Assad out is not the only priority. And so what we're trying to do is obviously defeat ISIS. Secondly, we don't see a peaceful Syria with Assad in there. Thirdly, get the Iranian influence out, and then finally move towards a political solution, because, at the end of the day, this is a complicated situation. There are no easy answers. And a political solution is going to have to happen. But we know that it is not going to be -- there's not any sort of option where a political solution is going to happen with Assad at the head of the regime. It just -- if you look at his actions, if you look at the situation, it's going to be hard to see a government that's peaceful and stable with Assad.</s>TAPPER: Well, of course, it's hard to, but is it the position of the Trump administration that he cannot be ruler of Syria anymore; regime change is the policy?</s>HALEY: Well, regime change is something that we think is going to happen, because all of the parties are going to see that Assad is not the leader that needs to be taking place for Syria. So, what I think you're seeing is, this isn't about policy or not. This is about thoughts. And so, when you look at the thoughts, there is no political solution that any of us can see with Assad at the lead. And so I -- and I don't think that that's something for the United States to decide. That's something the entire international community has decided, that it's going to hard-pressed to see Assad in that leadership role. And so you're going to see the president is going to very much watch this. We are all going to keep calling out the international community and asking them to push for a political solution. We're going to continue to call out bad actors when they do something like this. And you're going to see this administration act when they think it's appropriate.</s>TAPPER: You have talked about the possibility of further military action. As you know, President Trump used to believe that congressional approval was needed for any kind of military strike in Syria. I know you're a big fan of his tweets. Here's one of his tweets from 2013 -- quote -- "The president must get congressional approval before attacking Syria. Big mistake if he does not." If you're confident that the Assad regime was behind this chemical weapon attack, and the possibility of further military action is there, should the Trump administration lay out the evidence, come to Congress, and get the specific authorization to use force?</s>HALEY: Well, it depends on the action. But I can tell you that he worked very closely with the leaders in Congress, all of the Cabinet members. You know, first, you have to give huge kudos to General Mattis and the military for how they handled this so flawlessly. He really worked with -- I know General Kelly was on the Hill. The vice president was on the Hill. I mean, they very much stayed in communication with leaders of Congress. And I think that's what you're going to see this administration do is, there are -- the only surprises are going to be to the international community. But we're going to focus on working with everybody. We see this very much as a team. The president has very much acted like this is a team with all of his Cabinet members, but also with members of Congress. And so I think that he's going to continue to work with them when it comes to actions like this.</s>TAPPER: Is it fair to say that the president will keep Congress informed, but there's no plan right now to seek an official authorization for use of military force?</s>HALEY: It's fair to say that he has very much said that he wanted to keep Congress informed, and a part of what was happening as it was happening. But you would have to ask him on the congressional thoughts. I haven't had that conversation.</s>TAPPER: Speaking of Congress, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Friday that he would look favorably on stepped-up sanctions against Russia, stepped-up sanctions against Iran, and others who support the Assad regime in Syria. Does President Trump want tougher sanctions on Russia and Iran?</s>HALEY: I think it's conversations that we'll be having and have started to have going forward. But I think you have to look at the situation. Here was, you know -- you saw this terrible tragedy on innocent people, a lot of them children. And the first reaction from Russia wasn't, how horrible. It wasn't, how could they do this? It wasn't, how did this happen? It was, Assad didn't do it. Assad didn't do it. Why was that the reaction? And so all of that is in play. That's why you're seeing the investigation on Russia. That's why you're seeing the fact that we know the evidence on Assad. We've seen it. We've been -- we know exactly what happened. And so we're calling them out. But I don't think anything is off the table at this point. I think what you're going to see is strong leadership. You're going to continue to see the United States act when we need to act. We're going to have the backs of our allies. But we also need to see our allies have our backs, which very much happened in the United Nations this week, especially led by our British counterparts. And you're going to see us continue to make sure that we're doing everything we can for the safety of the United States people, but also for the safety internationally. We think this was not only a national security issue. This was an international security issue. And I think the president wanted to make that known and make that response well-pointed-out.</s>TAPPER: Ambassador Haley, stay right there. We're going to take a quick break. We will be right back.