07/04/2017 Victoria Derbyshire

Hello. It's Friday, welcome to the programme. Tonight I ordered a

targeted military strike on the airfield in Syria from where the

chemical attack was launched. Just two days after a chemical weapons

strike that killed 86 people, including 27 children, Donald Trump

authorised a cruise missile strike on an air base in Syria. It's the

first direct military intervention from America against the Syrian

Government since the flick began. The missile attack marks a huge

change in policy by the Americans and it's a hiej test of Donald

Trump's presidency. We will look at what it means for him at home and

within the international community. Assad's role in the future is

uncertain, clearly, and with acts he has taken it would seem there would

be no role for him to govern the Syrian people.

The US Secretary of State said the attack was a proportionate response

adding that Russia had been either complicit or incompetent by failing

to secure the chemical weapons of its Syrian ally. A Romanian woman

injured in the Westminster terror attack two weeks ago has died.

Andrea Cristea had been visiting London with her boyfriend.

Good morning. Welcome to the programme. We are live until 11am

this morning. We will be looking throughout the show at the

implications of that missile strike by America on a base in Syria. It's

the first time America has intervened directly in the conflict.

Do get in touch. Texts will be charged at the standard network

rate. That's our main news, that the US

has carried out a missile strike on a Syrian air base in response to a

chemical attack that killed dozens of civilians. 59 cruise missiles

were fired from the Mediterranean. They hit the base from where the

attack was launched. Here is David Willis.

It was a decisive response from an administration that has

often seemed disorganised and at times dysfunctional.

A fusillade of Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from US Navy ships

in the Mediterranean aimed at the Syrian air base

from which America says that deadly chemical weapons attack was launched

A line in the sand moment for the new commander-in-chief.

On Tuesday, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad launched a horrible

chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians.

Using a deadly nerve agent, Assad choked out the lives

These are the heart-breaking images that moved the President to action,

triggering in the process a remarkable shift in foreign

policy on the part of his nascent administration.

A week ago, White House officials professed little interest in regime

change in Syria but the use of what they say was a deadly nerve

agent by Bashar al-Assad's forces has changed everything.

Tonight, I call on all civilised nations to join us in seeking to end

the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria and also to end terrorism

News of the missile strike somewhat overshadowed a one-day summit

with China's President Xi at which the two leaders

were expected to discuss the growing threat posed by North Korea

but depending on where the US goes from here he could find

he has his work cut out in Syria, a quagmire of a conflict

which could define his presidency one way or the other.

Let's get more from David in Washington. Of course that's the big

question, where do things go from here? Yes, indeed. The indications

are that this is, if you like, a one-shot deal, that the United

States will not be planning, for now at least, any further attacks of

this kind. But that's the unofficial word. We wait to see. The

administration simply confinding its comments about this attack to the

fact they believe it was a proportionate response and one which

sends the sort of message that's needed to Bashar al-Assad, namely,

that he can not get away with this sort of use of chemical weapons.

David, thank you very much. Much more reaction still to come. Let's

catch up with the rest of the news. Good morning. A Romanian tourist who

fell into the River Thames during the Westminster terror attack has

died. Andrea Cristea was walking on Westminster Bridge with her

boyfriend when they were driven at by the attacker Khalid Masood, who

was later shot dead. Her boyfriend had planned to propose later that

day. Her life support was withdrawn yesterday. The 31-year-old becomes

the 5th victim of the March 22 attack.

A four-year-old child has died in an incident at a farm in Northern

Ireland. Police were called out to the farm yesterday evening where the

boy was pronounced dead at the scene. Northern Ireland's police

force says officers will work closely with the Health and Safety

Executive as they investigate the circumstances of what happened.

There's been a sharp increase in the number of accident and emergency

departments in England turning away ambulances, compared with the

previous three years. The enough field trust think tank says its

analysis. Ambulances are diverted when

hospitals are exceptionally busy. It's a temporary measure to take

the pressure off A, but it means patients have further

to travel for urgent treatment. Today's report shows how the number

of diverts has leapt During the three winters beginning

in 2013, this happened But in this most recent winter,

the number of diverts The report says this is bad

for patients and explains why ambulance trusts in England

are missing their expected 500 or so - you may say "Well,

it's not a very big number." They reveal a service under

tremendous pressure. There'll be 500 diverts but there'll

be many more A departments working right at the limit

that they could have diverted. And the report says morale is low

among ambulance staff, NHS England believes too many

ambulances are being dispatched to simply try to hit targets,

and it's reviewing the system. We can stay with health. GP practice

closures have hit record levels with hundreds of thousands of patients

forced to change surgeries last year. That's according to figures

obtained by the medical magazine Pulse. The Royal College of GPs said

doctors could no longer cope with growing patient demand but NHS

England said all patients would still be able to register with the

surgery. The Government is consulting on

plans to ban letting agents from charging tenants unfair fees for

private rented housing. The proposals are aimed to stop hiding

charges and end costly upfront fees. It comes amid concerns some letting

agents would double charging tenants and property owners for the same

service, a consultation on the plans will run for eight weeks from today.

I do think it's an important first step and we have been campaigning on

this for years and we know tenants are desperate for this ban to come

into force. Certainly it is only the first step. There is a lot more the

Government can do, starting with the issue of how unstable the private

rented sector is. We need to move towards longer tenancies so that

tenants aren't having to move so much in the first place.

ETA has said it will officially disarm from tomorrow according to a

letter object taped by the BBC. More than 800 people -- obtained.

It declared a ceasefire in 2011. The Spanish Government has refused to

negotiate with the group whose aim is to achieve independence from

Spain. That's a summer of the latest news.

More from me at 9. 30 am. Thank you. We are focussing the programme today

on the American air strike against the air base in Syria today. Get in

touch with your thoughts. Texts will be charged at the

standard network rate. Plenty of reaction the latest throughout the

programme. Let's catch up with the sport.

The Masters is under way. What's happened to Dustin Johnson?

A real shock, the world number one pulled out of the tournament, it's

the second time in Masters history that the world number one won't

feature at Government's first Major of the year out in Augusta. You

might remember on Wednesday that he slipped on some stairs at the rental

property he is staying in, he bruised his back and elbow and it

was limiting his movement and swing. He was on the practice range before

heading out for his opening round and he looked OK. He said he was

going to try to play on but he took one look at the opening hole and

decided here at this moment he wasn't going to continue which is a

real shock, not only for the tournament but for him himself. As

the world number one he has had an incredible start to 2017 and won the

last three tournaments he has played in, he was the US Open champion. He

looked like he could be the man to beat in Augusta. As you can imagine

this is what he had to say after, he is bitterly disappointed. I feel

like I am playing the best golf in my career and for me to pull out, I

mean, it sucks really bad. I am very sad that I have to do it but it's a

freak accident and I feel like I wanted to play, I wanted to try to

play. It's just, you know, I am not going to be able to compete like

this. A terrible shame for him, what about

what happened on the course, particularly with British players?

Let's start with the British hopes. Lee Westwood is leading those. He is

third at the moment. He shot what was a decent opening round, a round

of 70. He struggled on the front nine but improved on the back nine

with a series of birdies which puts him in contention after the opening

round. Danny Willett, the defending champion, we were talking about him

12 months ago when he became the first Englishman to win the Masters

in 20 years. He dropped shots on his opening two holes but recovered

well. He finished on 73. This man in front, Charlie Hoffman with an

opening round of 65. It looked at one stage we weren't going to see

any players shoot scores in the 60s, that would have been the first time

that happened in 60 years but he performed brilliantly on the back

nine. A little unknown, the American, outside the world's top 50

and he's never led any Major at any stage after any round so it goes to

show the performance from him as he leads, still early stages,

obviously, at the moment after that opening round. Thank you very much.

It was Tuesday when a clearly emotional President Trump spoke at

the White House about the horrible terrible chemical attack that had

killed as he put it beautiful babies in Syria. He then said something

should happen. That something did happen in the early hours of this

morning. 59 missiles were fired at an air base from which the Americans

said the chemical strike was launched. It's the first time

America has intervened directly against the Syrian Government in the

conflict that's been going on for six years and marks a real shift in

policy and attitude. This was what the President had to say hours after

the attack. On Tuesday, the Syrian

dictator, Bashar al-Assad, launched a horrible,

the weapons attack Using a deadly nerve agent,

Bashar al-Assad choked the lives of helpless men,

women, and children. It was a slow and brutal death

for so many, even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this

very barbaric attack. No child of God should

ever suffer such horror. Tonight I ordered a targeted

military strike on the airfield in Syria from where the chemical

attack was launched. It is in this vital

national security interest of the United States to prevent

and deter the spread and use There can be no dispute that Syria

used banned chemical weapons, violated its obligations under

the Chemical Weapons Convention, and ignored the urging

of the UN Security Council. Years of previous attempts

at changing Bashar al-Assad's behaviour have all failed,

and failed very dramatically. As a result, the refugee crisis

continues to deepen, and the region continues

to destabilise, threatening Tonight, I call on all civilised

nations to join us in seeking to end the slaughter and bloodshed

in Syria, and also to end terrorism We ask for God's wisdom

as we face the challenge We pray for the lives

of the wounded and for the souls And we hope that as long as America

stands for justice that peace and harmony will,

in the end, prevail. Good night, and God bless America

and the entire world. Russian state television is showing

pictures of the damage caused to the airbase. We have not got the

pictures at the moment but I can tell you what they are saying about

the impact of the air strikes, saying that nine planes were

destroyed at that Syrian air base but the main runway was left

relatively unscathed, the pictures reportedly showing craters, debris

and rubble. But the main runway looking largely intact, although

those nine planes reportedly destroyed. Reaction coming out of

Germany and France, a joint statement has been issued saying

after the chemical weapons massacre of the 4th of April on Khan

Sheikhoun in north-western Syria, a military installation of the Syrian

regime was destroyed by a US air strike last night. President Assad

has sole responsibility for this development. That is just through

from France and Germany in a joint statement. In a moment we will speak

to Simon Jenkins, a newspaper columnist who says anything the West

does will only make matters worse. We are also drawing down the line

from Syria. In France we can join to a representative from Unicef. And

Alison McGovern, a Labour MP who voted against military action in

2013. Let's go to our correspondent Ben James in Beirut in neighbouring

Lebanon. What is the latest you are hearing that? About one hour ago we

were watching Syrian state TV to see a statement by the Syrian army,

their first official response to what's happened at this airbase.

They are talking about six people having been killed. We will await

any further news on that, but that is their latest statement. There was

some report going round of somebody in the rank of Commodore having been

killed, that was according to the Syrian Observatory the human rights,

we will await confirmation of that. We heard a Syrian army statement, in

comparison to terrorism, they will call in the United States is

essentially a partner of Isis and al-Nusra as a result of this strike.

The so-called Islamic State they are referring to. And the group formerly

known as al-Nusra front that is now part of a wider umbrella of jihadist

groups whom many still consider to be linked to Al-Qaeda, a designated

terrorist group according to the US government. They do operate in the

area of north-west Syria in which Khan Sheikhoun is the place, the

site of course of this alleged chemical attack earlier in the week.

That is what the Syrian military has been saying. The governor of Homs,

the province in which this airbase is, has been talking through the

morning about the rescue efforts on the base, talking about the fire

fighting taking place, talking about material damage as well as opposed

to high numbers of casualties. Of course it is still unclear exactly

how much warning the Syrians may have got. We do know that the US

military used their established protocol with the Russians to seek

their consent, they made very clear, not a political conversation, but a

military notification. We understand from the Russians that the agreement

through which those notifications take place is now off as far as they

are concerned, it was signed in October 2015 just after the Russians

began to use air operations in support of President Assad. We have

been hearing from somebody who lives very close to this airbase, one of

the BBC producers has a contact close by, they were speaking to

somebody who lived there saying they were woken up at 3:45am, very early,

by the repeated sounds of these cruise missiles hitting,

earthshaking sounds is how they were described. They were talking about

the ambulance activity and also talking to people that they no one

the airbase, talking about devastation. It is still unclear

exactly what the situation is on the base itself, precisely how many

planes may have been damage. The Americans say they were targeting

not just the aircraft but the infrastructure that supports them,

things like fuel and ammunition, on the basis they say they have

conclusively linked to what they say is the chemical attack on Kaja Kim,

which of course the Syrian government denies having carried

out. -- on Khan Sheikhoun. There are two questions, this is going to be

of limited impact on military capability, which presumably it will

be, but the broader strategic implications we just have to wait to

see what happens next. We certainly do. You are right, whether this is

maybe more of a symbolic strike than one which might have a huge

practical impact on what the Syrian air force and forces can do. Because

the Americans felt they had to militarily warned the Russians, the

Russians are allies of the Syrians, so presumably the Russians want the

Syrians as well. We don't know how much warning was given, we don't

have any of the mission about that, we know that happened according to

the Americans. The Russians on their part have said that none of their

personnel were hurt. We heard reports to suggest that Russian

forces were seen going away from the airbase yesterday. We cannot

corroborate those reports, but there is a notion that with some kind of

warning then maybe the casualties and damage as well was more limited

than it otherwise would have been. Still, the symbolism of this strike

cannot be underestimated. It shows a potential change, a huge shift from

the Americans in their policy. Only last week there were talking about

it being silly to target President Assad when the priority was

targeting the so-called Islamic State. Thank you, Ben. Well, let's

bring in our other guests in the studio and elsewhere. I want to come

to you first of all, Abdul. You are just north of Idlib. What is your

reaction to the American intervention now? Hello, thank you

very much. Yes, I wanted to say that everyone on earth may be happy to

have partial punishment for the criminal, for the crimes that Assad

made. Just when I woke up I saw my brother-in-law, who is seven years

old. He told me, they say that the US targeted Assad, does this mean

that we will not see planes in the sky? Does this mean that I can go to

school without planes? I said, OK, this is not the case. Yes, in

general, even children are happy with this. I mean, these strikes.

But speaking for me, I cannot consider them. I consider them only

strikes. Because when you consider it a strike, it should be kind of

surprise and kind of shocking. But America said that they talked and

told Russia before these strikes, and frankly speaking, even the

damage with the most technical on earth, these kind of damage and

casualties is so limited. So this means that it is a political strike.

It is more than military strikes. Alison McGovern. In 2013, you warn

of the MPs that voted against military action in Syria. Do you

think it is now time for military action? Well, the approach that is

taken needs to be part of a strategy to protect civilians. You know, as

we've just heard, people need to get to school, they need to be able to

have access doors but also medical care. If this new approach is to

work -- to hospitals and medical care. It must be part of a strategy

to protect civilians in Syria. That is what I and others across the

House of Commons from both parties have been saying for some time now.

We would ask the British Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary

to come back to the House of Commons when we come back from recess and

explain how the UK can play a role with France, Germany and others to

make sure that whatever happens from now it is part of a comprehensive

strategy that gets Syrian kids back to school, gets supplies to

hospitals so that people can be treated on taking care of, and that

we get on the road to these in Syria. Can you spell out what you

think the strategy should be? Well, the UN needs access. One of the

problems we have had is that there are, you know, warehouses full of

aid that has been made available by the international community. But the

Syrian regime has had a campaign not just of dropping bombs but also of

starving people and besieging Syrian pounds. So, as part of what is going

on now, the UN must be allowed to have access to people who need help

in Syria, get that medical equipment in, get food aid and other necessary

supplies to people in Syria, open up humanitarian corridors. Because, you

know, these strikes will not be enough unless they are part of a

strategy that helps save lives in Syria. Simon Jenkins, those are

exactly the kind of things that has been set for a long time. It hasn't

been happening. Does military action change that? I don't think it

changes anything. It is one thing to spike a child, what do you do next?

It has been going on eight years, it is the most Gnostics of all war we

have ever come across, but it won't end with outside intervention -- the

most nasty civil war. The only way this war is going to end is if one

side wins, the side that is winning is unfortunately Assad. In 2013 he

was much weaker. In the years since, with Russian and Iranian support,

without decisive action by the international community, he has

become a lot stronger. That is mute, nobody thought he was really going

to lose. You are quite right, the Russians decided to back him, and

the Iranians, and most importantly, Lebanese factions decided to back

him. He was not likely to lose. It was prolonging the civil War and it

was gleeful. We played a part in prolonging the Civil War and we are

looking bring it to an end --. People feel desire to react with

horror, you want to do something. You almost cheer when you see the

bombs going off, but that is not sensible rational politics, we have

been here twice before in the Middle East, in Lebanon and Iraq, both

times we intervened and both times was to disaster. Why do it again? Do

you agree that we have played a part in prolonging a civil War? I

disagree with Simon in the sense that Syria is Syria. We have to

treat this situation on its merits. It is easy to say this is just like

other countries. I don't agree with this counsel of despair that there

is nothing that we can do. Personally, I think that what we

need now is a re-establishment of the international humanitarian

principles that we all signed up to. We signed up to... Sorry to

interrupt, this is a crackle what has been several long time, it has

not happened. -- this is exactly what has been said for a long time.

Mike things be different now if you have voted for military action in

2013? If my vote had been different in 2013, I have no way of knowing if

the situation would be better or worse, it is an impossible question

to us. Do I regret that maybe I could have bought the Prime Minister

back on more occasions, maybe we could have asked more questions? Of

course, I think about every missed opportunity everyday. But my regret

will do no good for in Syria. What can do some good is a

re-establishment of humanitarian principles, and putting pressure

through the UN mechanisms to get aid in, and if necessary, if there are

people who need to be helped, to get them out so that we can try and save

lives in Syria, that is what we can do now. Let's bring in a rough

present different UniSA. It is now a chemical weapons attack -- a

representative from Unicef. You are talking about the humanitarian

aspect rather than the politics. What is your reaction to that? There

have been previous chemical weapons attacks that have not elicited this

response. But aside from that, if this had been a conventional weapons

attack there would not have been this reaction now? Well, Joanne, I

have been a humanitarian worker for 25 years. I have been working in

many, many conflicts. I do not recall a single conflict that got

sorted out by military power. I'm afraid the same applies to Syria. I

don't think that a military solution is the way forward for what has

happened for the last six years, and continues happening in Syria. How do

you see the solution? Well, the solution needs to come through a

dialogue, a political dialogue, how strange all of that may sound today.

It is a dialogue that brings all of the parties around the table, the

parties inside Syria, and the parties who have influence over

those who are active inside Syria. All around the table, and, from

Unicef's perspective, we have been calling it and will continue calling

to all of these parties to maybe take a few seconds and start the

negotiations reflecting on all of what the six years so far has

brought the children inside Syria. Abdul, when you hear the

conversation focusing on, you know, the need for diplomacy and for all

of the parties to be around the table, and for military intervention

not to be the answer, how do you react?

Diplomatic and political issues cannot be achieved easily in Syria

without... Assad says just to maybe yesterday he said there is no

solution for him but to retreat, but to be victory, I mean he wants Syria

for his gain. So, political and dialogue solutions in Syria are not

available this time, not because we don't want, no, because other part,

I mean, Assad he doesn't want this solution. They want to get all the

land. After that they want the political issues and dialogues and

conversations so this means that they are not ready for it. We want

peace, our people here want peace. But we have been listening to this

political solution for Syria for six years, what happens? Nothing has

changed. How many, there are maybe dozens of conferences but nothing

has changed, this means that there will not be political solution for

Syria now at least, so if there should be a political solution it

should be proceeded and resolution to punish and stop the madness of

the criminal of Assad and his lies. I want to say about that he used

chemical weapons to say that we can do anything, this is our land and we

can do anything. Of course he knows that another - nevertheless he used

chemicals. I want to say that the international community hasn't had a

movement but when chemical attack happens, I mean when they saw

pictures of children, the pictures of people dying who are like their

children in front of them, but what about the other weapons for six

years we are experiencing? A final thought, Simon Jenkins, this shows

Assad that he can not act with impunity? He can act with impunity,

I am sorry, we say these phrases, we must punish all these things, he can

more or less do what he likes as long as Russia is behind him. We

have to recognise the real politics of this, it's not going to be ended

other than militarily at the moment. Once that's over, once Assad in some

sense has won, he is obviously winning, once he has won, then I

think the pressure on him will be to go. At the moment it's clearly not

going to happen. These gestures are, they establish moral signalling of

some sort but they don't do any good. You don't do good even in

civil wars by bombing people, that remains the truth. If there was

another way out we would have found it by now but we haven't. It's a

desperate situation. We are sitting in chairmans millions of miles away

but we have an obligation to think what we are doing and dropping bombs

all over the Middle East now, I mean, six or seven countries we are

bombing, it achieves nothing. It makes us feel good. Thank you.

Thank you all of you. Do stay in touch, your thoughts are always

welcome. Still to come: As Russia announces

the suspension of an agreement with the US military designed to prevent

air incidents over Syria we will hear about reaction from around the

world to that US missile strike on Syria.

Washington described its missile strike as a proportionate response

to a suspected chemical weapons attack which it blames on the Syrian

regime. Dozens of civilians were killed. 59 cruise missiles were

fired from US warships in the Mediterranean. President Trump said

it was in America's national security interest to prevent the

spread of chemical weapons. Tonight I ordered a targeted

military strike on the airfield in Syria from where the chemical

attack was launched. A Romanian tourist who fell

into the River Thames during the Westminster terror

attack has died. Andreea Cristea was walking

on Westminster Bridge with her boyfriend when they were driven

at by the attacker Khalid Masood, Her boyfriend had planned

to propose later that day. Her life support was

withdrawn yesterday. The 31-year-old becomes the fifth

victim of the March 22nd attack. A four-year-old child has died

in an incident at a farm in Maguiresbridge in Northern

Ireland. Police were called out to the farm

yesterday evening where the boy Northern Ireland's police force says

officers will work closely with the Health and Safety Executive

as they investigate GP practice closures

have hit record levels, with hundreds of thousands

of patients forced to change surgeries last year,

according to figures obtained The Royal College of GPs said

doctors could no longer cope with growing patient demand,

but NHS England said all patients would still be able

to register with a surgery. Let's catch up with the sport.

The favourite for the Masters, Dustin Johnson, pulled out before

his opening round. He hoped to play despite hurting his back at a fall

on the stairs at his rental home. He said that he simply couldn't swing a

club. Lee Westwood is the leading Brittain. Charlie Hoffman is 7-under

par. Westwood, a bad hoping nine holes but recovered on the back

nine. The drivers had to find alternative entertainment when

practising ahead of this weekend's Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton

apologising to fans saying they needed to find a better way to cope

in bad weather. She tested positive for EPO, the

blood booster. That's all the sport. I will be back

with more around 10 am. Thank you. Let's bring you all the latest

developments on our main news. The US has fired nearly 60 Tomahawk

missiles from warships in the eastern mediterranean

at the Syrian government's Shayrat The White House says Syrian planes

from the base carried out Tuesday's raid on the rebel-held town

of Khan Sheikoun, in Idlib province, in which it's alleged

chemical weapons were used. Last night, the US Secretary

of State, Rex Tillerson, said that the US held Syria

responsible for that suspected gas attack in Idlib

and he also called on Russia to modify its relationship

with Syria. There is no doubt in our minds and

the information we have supports that Syria, the Syrian regime and

the leadership of President Bashar al-Assad are responsible for this

attack and I think further it is very important that the Russian

Government consider carefully their continued support for the Assad

regime. REPORTER: Does Assad have to go?

Assad's role in the future is uncertain clearly. With acts he has

taken it would seem that there would be no role for him to govern the

Syrian people. What substance is the United States prepared to take in

order to remove him from power? The process by which Assad would leave

is something that requires an international community effort, both

to first defeat Isis within Syria, to stabilise the Syrian country, to

avoid further civil war and then to work collectively with our partners

around the world through a political process that would lead to Assad

leaving. The air strikes not only represent

a change in the direction and escalation of America's role

in Syria but could also have an effect of its relationship

with the regime's strongest backer - Russians were present at the base

which was targetted in the early hours of this morning

though their role They are now saying the air

strike was a violation We are hearing from the Russian

Foreign Minister that no Russians were killed in the air strikes and

he is saying he hopes that the provocation will not lead to

irrepairable damage to ties with the US.

As Donald Trump meets the Chinese President today. We can talk to

Jonathan Marcus. Decisive is the word being used. Swift reaction by

don't and a swift change of policy. A decisive and swift response, yes.

If you look at the method of the attack, the scope of the attack, I

think all the signs are that this is what the Americans say it was, a

limited strike intended to re-establish a deterrent line

against the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime in Syria. They

hit essentially infrastructure, aircraft hangars, runways, aircraft

themselves, they weren't aiming at barrack blocks. There may have been

casualties, that's regrettable, it's good news there weren't any Russian

casualties at the base. But I think the Americans have essentially done

what many people will argue, certainly in America, many voices

have been saying this is what President Obama should have done

back in 2013. The great difference now, of course, is then the Assad

regime was much shakier. It might have begun a process that would have

led to the regime's fall. Today, the regime has consolidated itself with

Iran yn and Russian help. This is in many ways a message as much to

Russia as it is to Damascus, Donald Trump for all the criticism of him

and the bluster and his inexperience, he does seem to have

reacted pretty resolutely in this first crisis. In terms of military

impact what might this do to the capability? Well, we don't know yet

fully the extent of the damage on the ground. We are hearing nine

planes reportedly struck. You know, they will have lost some

aircraft, lost have personnel probably and some equipment. It

doesn't fundamentally alter the military balance on the ground but

what it does do, it sends a clear warning that if you have recourse to

these sort of weapons, this kind of consequence will occur. We have to

be very blunt about this. Donald Trump made a big thing of the

appalling images of children and babies affected by the chemical

attack. We all know that babies and children are being killed in Syria

virtually every day of the week by conventional weapons, have been for

many, many years now. But there is particularly in the West a strong

sense that chemical weapons do cross a line. They have been taboo,

they've been a particular concern ever since their first use in the

Great War in World War I and Mr Trump made it clear he thinks there

should be a general prohibition of their use. They're banned by treaty

and so on. When people use them there have to be consequences. Thank

you. As countries across the world digest

last night's news from Syria, let's try and gauge some

of the international reaction. In a moment, we're going to speak

with Jonathan Paris, a Middle East security expert

at King's College London. And down the line

by Doctor Beyza Unal, a research fellow at Chatham House,

who is a Turkey speclialist. But first, let's speak

to our political correspondent, Eleanor Garnier, who joins

us from Westminster. The UK Government has really led the

international support of the US for this attack, this strike on the

airfield in Syria. Both the Defence Secretary and the Prime Minister

were informed throughout, I am told. Michael Fallon who I was speaking to

moments ago said he and the Prime Minister had been in contact at all

levels with the US administration, he said that the US Defence

Secretary had called him yesterday to discuss the options that the US

were looking at and then James Mattison called to inform him of

don't's decision and the strikes were going ahead. Sir Michael said

the strikes were limited and appropriate. They were appropriate

response to what he said were the barbaric chemical weapons attacks

that took place this week. I asked Michael Fallon if he thought the

attacks were appropriate, why wasn't the UK itself also involved?

We have not been asked to be involved in this.

They didn't ask us to choose a particular option. They decided to

take this action, a very limited, appropriate action, attacking the

airfield, the aeroplanes and the equipment that they believe were

involved in the gas attack with the very specific purpose of trying to

deter the regime from future gas attacks on their own people,

including civilians. I asked Sir Michael if the US had

been asked to get involved, would the UK have been involved, he didn't

answer the question. He did confirm that of the UK Government were going

to be involved in some sort of military action, the Government

would consult parliament, go back to the House of Commons and ask MPs to

vote on whether we should be sending in any military action. Remember

that back in 2013, MPs rejected a vote on action in Syria. We have

heard from the Liberal Democrats this morning, too. Tim Farron but

out a statement saying that the attack by the American forces was

the right thing to do, but the Lib Dems called on the Government to do

more, saying that rather than putting out a bland statement while

the US attacks, it should now follow up on call an emergency meeting. It

said that evil happens when did people do nothing. We cannot sit by

while a dictator gasses his own people. We cannot stand by, we must

not act -- we must act. Clear support for the actions overnight,

but no support at the moment for the UK to get involved itself

militarily. Thank you. Let's go to Crispin Blunt. Is it time now for

them to be -- for there to be more action? I think the Americans have

carefully calibrated this action. It is in relation to the chemical

strike. They said there is no doubt that the Russians on the Syrians

were responsible, or the Syrians were responsible, for it. They have

explicitly rejected the explanation given by the Russians and the

Syrians that this hit a chemical dump held by the rebels. If they are

100% confident of their intelligence, then this was an

appropriate reaction limited to the airfield and the aircraft that

launched this attack. And obviously they've informed the Russians in the

process to make sure that their people were not caught as collateral

damage in this process, and indeed the Syrians bust have been aware of

it because there appears to be ready limited casualties at the airbase.

The Syrians say there are six satiety is but a great deal of

ground damage, it would mean that a strike in that sense is pretty

successful in its objectives. If it is just left there, does it make any

difference? It is not going to make a huge difference on the ground to

military capability, and what actually then changes? Well, this is

related obviously to the illegal use of chemical weapons. Syria was

supposed to have surrendered its chemical weapons in 2013. The

Russians brokered that deal, and they oversaw the disarming of the

Syrian government of its chemical weapons. And if it is the case that

they used them, then plainly the Russians didn't do their job

properly and the Syrians illegally held onto these weapons. And they've

now taken the consequences, but it was tragically the consequences

being meted out onto the people in Idlib province, as we have all seen.

Sorry to interrupt, but does a solitary air strike like this

actually change anything in terms of, you no, the situation on the

ground with chemical weapons? Well, it will certainly change the

situation Rapant guards to chemical weapons. It is inconceivable that

there will be a repeat of this -- with regards to chemical weapons.

The evidence on the ground we are getting from some journalists is

that there are no buildings that were struck that would support the

Russian- Syrian exploration. -- explanation. At the UN Security

Council, the Russians were opposing a resolution which would have

mandated an inspection of the airbase and the records of the

aircraft that took part in the raid. So, whilst of course it looks very

that the Syrians would have used chemical weapons at this time given

that the regime is not under an existential threat, and they appear

to be securing a number of localised ceasefires around the country, that

set-aside, if the Americans are 100% confident that this was used by

Syrians, this will send a very profound message about the future

use of chemical weapons. What it does in the wider conflict, it will

have yet to see. But it may encourage the Syrian government to

be rather more co-operatives in the political talks that are now taking

place in Geneva. Jonathan Paris, do you agree with that analysis, that

this will mean that Syria will not use chemical weapons against? Having

worked with Crispin in the past, I always agree with him. There was

wonderful nuance. He said he was surprised that Assad would pick now

is a time -- one little nuance. That is precisely the problem with Assad,

if he feels he has Russia and Hezbollah and Iran's support and no

opposition from the United States, which he had faced under Obama, he

will go to the limit. That's the way he operates, that's the way much of

the Middle East operates. Prior to this, President Trump had reiterated

his view that Assad was not the target, it was IS. I would say that

what Assad did, assuming he did this earlier this week is probably the

stupidest mistake any leader could do for his own cause. I mean, he has

just changed the Trump administration 180 degrees. Yes, I

agree with Crispin, this was a calibrated, it is not meant to

escalate into a full-blown civil war with Russia, it's not meant to

escalate even as a local level, but it is a message that when this

president says, I'm going to do something, you know, it's a message

to others that he may very well do something. That might get more of

the Russian reaction. We can bring in Sarah Rainsford from Moscow. What

is being said in Moscow, Sarah? Well, what you might expect, I

suppose. A lot of outrage and indignation, some strong statements

coming from the Foreign Ministry and the Kremlin. We heard first from

President Putin's spokesman, who talks about Mr Putin describing what

had happened as an act of aggression against a sovereign nation. Talking

about it having a very significant effect on relations between

Washington and Moscow. But as he said, that relationship is already

in a pitiful state. We then heard from the Foreign Minister, Sergey

Lavrov, who has been speaking at the last few moments. He has talked

about the fact that as far as Russia is concerned, there was no basis for

this air strike by the United States. Russia saying over and again

that there should have been an investigation into what happened.

They dispute the idea that Syrian government troops used chemical

weapons. Mr Lavrov said that without waiting for an investigation the US

has chosen to strike in Syria, and saying that it shows that this was

simply a pretext and the United States is aiming to remove President

Assad from power. This is about regime change, it's not about the

use of chemical weapons. So very strong wormwood. The question of

course is whether that leads to any kind of action from Russia -- very

strong language. We have just been hearing that there were no Russian

casualties in this strike. Looking at images we have seen on state

television here from the airfield itself, there seems to be a number

of planes still impact, the damage is obviously fairly serious, but

minimal consequences in terms of human lives lost. We do know that

the Pentagon did give advance warning of this strike along its

information channels, which it still has with Russia, about what happens

in Syria. Therefore it seems the damage has been kept to a minimum.

Doctor Beyza Unal, a Turkish specialist, how will Turkey see this

intervention? Well, the first reaction from Turkey was positive.

The president actually said that they were expecting the United

States to take action way before. He said that actions speak louder than

words. Which is true in the Turkish sense. They are thinking that this

is a positive outcome. The caution I think with Turkey is that they have

been doing dialogues and agreement between Russia, Turkey and Iran in

the Geneva talks. It will be a cautious area. I think that Turkey

needs to be careful in balancing the relations between the United States

and Russia now that we know that Russia is making statements about

going away from the agreement about the airspace in Syria. Crispin

Blunt, on that, what do you think now about no-fly zones, safe zone

is, in Syria, and those potentially being right back on the agenda?

Well, the situation is immensely complex. What you have got to do

with any proposed intervention is then play out what the consequences.

The difficulty with no-fly zones and secure zones is then securing it.

You may be able to secure it from the air, but if you have an area on

the ground which can be infiltrating by people who the security forces

who are going to keep the area clear on the ground, and if you look at

the complexity the situation in northern Syria, those are quite

difficult questions to answer. It would seem that the Turks are trying

to establish some kind of safe zone in their advance. And the Syrian

Kurds, who are their enemies, who they see as Allied to the PKK, who

are unidentified terrorist organisation running an insurgency

in eastern Turkey, they have managed to get Russian, American, Syrian and

government forces deployed between them and the Turkish forces, really

covering their flank. That just gives you some sense of the

complexity that is on the ground there. What's really needed is for

the international community to get back to where it was in November 20

15th with the agreement of the International Syrian support group

to focus on both Isis on the campaign against them, and on a

political settlement for those who can be brought into a political

agreement of the competing parties in the Syria and Civil War. On the

complexity, Jonathan Paris, it is interesting to see a tweet from

Donald Trump in Prydie 13 when President Obama said there was a red

line is chemical weapons were used -- in 2013. Donald Trump said

President Obama's weakness and indecision may have saved us from

doing a horrible and costly in more ways than money attack on Syria. It

is a highly complicated thing. You don't have to go back to 2013, just

go back one week and listen to the statements that he made and

Ambassador Nikki Haley made up the UN. That was that we can live with

Assad. But after he sees that choking babies, he really was

impacted. This is a president that is if event driven, if you will. He

is not an ideological effects guy. You have to take into account what

events do to him. That is what Assad failed to understand and what Putin

failed to understand. Mr Trump has scored a number of victories with

this little manoeuvre. I agree with Brisbane, this is a one-off in that

sense it shouldn't be a mandate for further attacks. But I think Assad

and Iran and Russia should be put on notice that they do not own Syria.

Thank you all very much. What will the missile strike

on Syria mean for relations between the United States

and Syria's ally Russia? We'll be speaking to a former member

of the Russian parliament Donald Trump was highly critical

when Barack Obama suggested We'll be looking at why he's

decided to intervene Jonathan Paris saying he is an event

driven president, not ideological. We will be talking more about that.

Let's get the latest weather update with Ben Rich.

Good morning. We have got some dry weather to come this weekend. If you

have outdoor plans, for once things aren't pretty decent shape. It is

going to be largely fine and dry -- are in pretty decent shape. We will

see some sunshine and gradually as we head on through the weekend,

those temperatures are going to lift as well. Let's take a closer look at

things. First of all, let's see how things are looking out there this

morning. Weather watchers have been out there taking their pictures. A

misty start in Somerset. For others, quite a lot of sunshine, flowers in

bloom in Lincolnshire. And some beautiful skies in the Scottish

Highlands. Some blue sky and patchy cloud. That really is the story for

today. If we look at the recent satellite picture you can see some

cloud around. Quite a lot of cloud in parts of Northern Ireland,

south-west Scotland, northern England, North Wales and the West

Midlands. Where we have the cloud at the moment it should break up as we

go through the rest of the day. Just about all of us should join in with

spells of sunshine. As always, thick cloud in the north-west of Scotland,

maybe the odd spot of drizzle and fairly breezy weather here. Further

south with the sunshine and light winds, very easily 18 or 19 degrees.

But with the dry weather and sunshine, particularly across

England and Wales, they're in mind the high pollen love. -- high pollen

levels. Where we get clear spells we can see some fog patches towards the

south-west, and also temperatures will drop away. Pounds and cities

for - 9 degrees, the countryside cold a band that -- towns and

cities. After the chilly start of the weekend, plenty of warmth and

sunshine. Saturday, blue skies for the vast majority. Some extra cloud

across the far north of Scotland. By tomorrow afternoon, if you want to

get out and about in land, temperatures of 21 degrees. It will

be cold a to the coast, developing something of a sea breeze across

northern England. Sunspots could get to 20, Northern Ireland 17 or 18

degrees. Always for the Western and Northern Isles, a little more cloud

and some splashes of rain, temperatures nine or 10 degrees. The

Grand National tomorrow of course. The weather fine for the racegoers.

Plenty of sunshine, 17 or 18 degrees. Into Sunday, the

temperatures look like they will climb even further. Warm air wafting

its way in from the south. Howell will it get? Across central and

eastern England, maybe eastern Scotland, it could get up to 19, 20,

21, but possibly 23 or 24 degrees towards the south-east. Further

north and west, a band of rain sinking its way into Scotland and

Northern Ireland. Here it will be cooler. As we get into Monday, call

are sinking its way southwards across all areas. Don't get used of

the warmth on Sunday, it isn't going to last for very long -- cool air.

Hello. Welcome back.

Two US ships have fired 59 cruise missiles against a Syrian air base

in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town.

The Syrian Army says six people have been killed. I ordered a strike on

the airfield in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched.

Yeah, even children are happy with this, these strikes, but speaking

for me I can not consider them the strikes, I can consider them only

strikes. Russia has condemned the attack as

an act of aggression. The Kremlin has suspended

an agreement with the US designed to prevent clashes

between their airforces over Syria. The strike on Assad's forces

is a major change of direction He has been highly critical

of previous suggestions And we will talk to a senior police

officer about why he believes people in possession of drugs,

even heroin and cocaine, Instead they should

go to a workshop. Russia has condemned an American

cruise missile attack that destroyed a Syrian air base

as an act of aggression. The Kremlin has suspended

an agreement with the US designed to prevent clashes between their air

forces over Syria. Washington described

its missile strike as a proportionate response

to a suspected chemical weapons attack which it blames

on the Syrian regime. 59 cruise missiles were fired from

US warships in the Mediterranean. President Trump said

it was in America's national security interest to prevent

the spread of chemical weapons - It was a decisive response

from an administration that has often seemed disorganised

and at times dysfunctional. A fusillade of Tomahawk cruise

missiles fired from US Navy ships in the Mediterranean aimed

at the Syrian air base from which America says that deadly

chemical weapons attack was launched A line in the sand moment

for the new commander-in-chief. On Tuesday, Syrian dictator Bashar

al-Assad launched a horrible chemical weapons attack

on innocent civilians. Using a deadly nerve agent,

Assad choked out the lives These are the heart-breaking images

that moved the President to action, triggering in the process

a remarkable shift in foreign policy on the part of his

nascent administration. A week ago, White House officials

professed little interest in regime change in Syria but the use

of what they say was a deadly nerve agent by Bashar al-Assad's forces

has changed everything. Tonight, I call on all civilised

nations to join us in seeking to end the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria

and also to end terrorism News of the missile strike somewhat

overshadowed a one-day summit with China's President Xi

at which the two leaders were expected to discuss the growing

threat posed by North Korea but depending on where the US goes

from here he could find he has his work cut out in Syria,

a quagmire of a conflict which could define his presidency

one way or the other. Let's get more from

David in Washington. Your report highlighting this

strategy change essentially, how is this playing out? Interesting, the

previous administration of Barack Obama spent about three years doing

all it could to avoid getting drawn into the conflict in Syria. Here,

less than three months into the new administration of Donald Trump, we

are seeing precisely that, military intervention, the firing of 59

Tomahawk missiles. The President making the point this is essential

to fire a shot across the bows of the administration of Bashar

al-Assad and make the point he can't get away with the use of chemical

weapons. As far as members of Congress are concerned, this move

seems to have been met fairly favourably although there are some

urging that the President go through Congress if he decides to mount

further action of this kind. Will he do so? Is this a one-shot deal? The

suggestion is that it might be. But we will have to wait and see. Thank

you. A Romanian tourist who fell

into the River Thames during the Westminster terror

attack has died. Andreea Cristea was walking

on Westminster Bridge with her boyfriend when they were driven

at by the attacker Khalid Masood, Her boyfriend had planned

to propose later that day. Her life support was

withdrawn yesterday. The 31-year-old becomes the fifth

victim of the March 22nd attack. A four-year-old child has died

in an incident at a farm in Maguiresbridge in Northern

Ireland. Police were called out to the farm

yesterday evening where the boy Northern Ireland's police force says

officers will work closely with the Health and Safety Executive

as they investigate That's a summer of the latest news.

Paul has texted, America has done what the UN did not have the guts to

do and Trump is proving to be a good President after all. Another text,

an attack based on very little. If any proof, other than a video with

no date or time in the footage. No go ahead from the UN and no proof

kwho carried out the chemical attack. John emails, unlike his

predecessor he has the wit to say enough is enough. Steven tweets,

Trump did something in three months, unlike Obama and his red lines, he

was hopeless. Trump has warned Assad, well done. Cheryl tweets, in

regards to Trump how does he think it's going to help? War is not the

answer and nor is violence. Another says I never thought I would say

this, well done Trump, at last someone with the courage to go after

Assad. Now let's call on our MPs and Prime Minister to join in action

against Assad and if necessary Russia also. David texts, I back the

action taken by President Donald Trump against the Assad regime. He

has been murdering his own people for years and it must stop. Using

chemical weapons drew a line in the sand and the west responded. Colin

on Facebook, why doesn't the US and the West keep its nose out of other

country's business, we will be attacked and will be the bad guys in

the end, thank you for those comments. Keep them coming in.

Texts will be charged at the standard network rate. Let's catch

up with all the sport. Golf's world number one Dustin was

devastated at having to pull out of the Masters. He hurt his lower back

on Wednesday when he fell down the stairs. I feel like I am playing the

best golf in my career right now and for me to pull out, I mean, it sucks

really bad. You know, I am very sad that I have to do it but it's a

freak accident and I feel like I wanted to play, I wanted to try to

play. It's just, you know, I am not going to be able to compete like

this. Lee Westwood is the leading Brittain

after a blustery opening round. He made five birdies in a row to come

home in 70. He is 2 under par. The defending champion Danny Willett had

a rollercoaster round, including an eagle but a double bogey and three

bogeys, he is one over. The leader out in front by four is the American

Charlie Hoffman. He hit a round of 65. Outstanding really. It was

tricky conditions on the course. There were truly awful conditions in

Shanghai where practice ahead of this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix

was also wiped out. The first session disrupted and the second

never got started as the medical helicopter couldn't operate. It

wasn't safe for the drivers to go out on to the track. Under the

circumstances, the drivers had to find alternative entertainment.

Lewis Hamilton lending his hand. He said organisers really need to find

a way to better cope when the conditions are this bad.

She won't be able to defend her month after testing positive for

EPO. She will face sanctions if her B sample also failed.

And that's all the sport for new. The Romanian woman who fell into the

Thames during the Westminster attract has died. Andreea Cristea

became the 5th victim. Tom Symonds is with me now. Tell us more about

her and what happened. She was Romanian, 31 and was a promising

architect and she had come to London for a visit with her fiancee, they

were looking - he was going to propose to her on this trip. He

himself was injured. The car came towards them, hit him, seems to have

pushed her against the side of the bridge and possibly over the railing

into the water on the bridge that day. I think it was a particularly

shocking incident as part of a very shocking day. Clearly there will be

an inquest to examine the real cause of her death. But she fell into the

water. She was rescued quite quickly, taken to hospital and then

transferred to St Bart's where she had been receiving specialist care

but the doctors took the decision, I think yesterday, to turn off her

life support machine and she has become the fifth victim of this

terrorist attack in central London. Really sad. There's a picture of her

and her boyfriend who was going to propose on the trip. What is the

latest on the police investigation? Before I say that, let me give you

some idea of what her family have said. The police put out a

statement, the family have described her as the most u like and

life-loving person you can imagine. She was cruelly and brutally ripped

away from our lives in the most heartless and spiritless way. She

will always be remembered as our shining ray of light that will

forever keep on shining in our hearts. Of course to remember those

other victims of this attack. Kurt Cochrane from Utah and Leslie Rhodes

and Asha Frayde. To turn to the investigation, it's ongoing. The

unanswered question is what was behind the attack. We do know that

Khalid Masood was a convert to Islam. But there is very little

about any degree of radicalisation that may have happened to him later

in his life. I think that really is still the focus of the police

investigation. All of those who were arrested in the wake of the attack

have been released. Thank you very much.

I want to show you pictures of the Syrian air base that was hit by the

American air strikes overnight. These pictures just coming through

from Russian state television. I am not sure we can bring them to you

right now. While we try to get access to those pictures, the

reports are that nine aircraft were completely destroyed in the attack.

Limited damage to the runway. Minor damage on the runway it seems

according to the pictures that we are trying to bring you now. The

pictures have been shown on Russian news channel. We are still trying to

bring you those pictures. We will go to them as soon as we can.

We are also getting more reaction. Here, the Defence Secretary said the

UK Government fully supported America's decision to act. A number

of other world leaders have also stated their support for

Washington's missile strike as Keith Doyle reports.

Syrian TV reporting the air strikes. The presenter announcing that there

was a missile strike by the United States. The TV played National music

and showed pictures of the Syrian army. The information minister told

the station that the strike was limited in time and space and was

expected and he did not anticipate any escalation. The Defence

Secretary said the UK was given advance warning and the Government

supported the US action. The Americans believe they have

exhausted all possible diplomatic and peaceful ways of dealing with

the use by the regime of chemical weapons. And they have been

determined to try to prevent future attacks like this. So they've taken

this action today, limited and appropriate action, against the

airfield and the aeroplanes and the equipment that was used, they

believe, in this attack. And that is action that we fully support. As the

US released pictures of the flight paths taken by the Syrian planes, it

says were involved in Tuesday's chemical attack, and aerial shots of

this morning's bombed airfield, Russia issued a strongly worded

statement calling the bombing aggression against a sovereign state

in violation of international law. And insisting the Syrian army did

not use chemical weapons. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin

Netanyahu welcomed the US attack, saying that in both Word and action

Mr Trump sends a strong and clear message that the use and spread of

chemical weapons will not be tolerated. Other world leaders gave

similar support. The Australian government strongly supports the

swift and just response of the United States. This was a

calibrated, portion at and targeted response. It sends a strong message

to the Assad regime. Syrian rebel groups called on the US to continue

the attacks. They and the world will wait to see if this situation

escalates. Keith Doyle, BBC News. Let's show you the pictures we have

got from the airbase which was hit by the American air strikes, and we

can see their rubble. As we continue to look. That seems to be inside.

Mike there you go. That's the runway which, as we have

been hearing on reports, was not damaged. Or at least there is no

particularly significant sign of damage to the runway in the pictures

we are seeing here. It is being reported that nine aircraft were

destroyed in these attacks, those missiles launched overnight, 58 of

them. These pictures are being shown on Russian state television, which

show the damage to the airbase. Russia has said that the Russians

were killed in the attack at the airbase. The United States did give

warning to Russia ahead of the attack. There were some killed.

Reports that six people were killed at the airbase. Let's go to our

Political Correspondent Eleanor Garnier. Joining us live from

Westminster. Strong international support, Eleanor, for America's

actions, including from Britain. Britain has been at the forefront of

the support for the US strikes in Syria. And the Defence Secretary,

Michael Fallon, said that he the Prime Minister had been kept

informed throughout. He said he'd spoken to the US Defence Secretary

yesterday, and they discussed the various options that the US were

looking at. And then he also spoke to him again and was informed that

Donald Trump had made the decision for the strikes to go ahead. Michael

Fallon described the strikes as appropriate. He said that they were

limited, and he said that they were a response to what he called the

barbaric chemical attacks that had taken place earlier this week. I did

ask him whether the UK itself would be getting involved in any military

action and why it hadn't been involved overnight too. He stressed

again and again that this was action taken by the US alone. The US had

not asked for the UK to be involved. He did also say that if the UK were

to consider any military action, it would go back to Parliament, back to

MPs, and there would be a vote in the House of Commons. He also noted

that back in 2013 there was a vote about military action in Syria, and

that was of course rejected by MPs. Allen, thank you. Let's get reaction

from Russia. We can talk now Sergei Markov, who is a former MP of

President Putin's united Russia party. Thank you for joining us. Is

your reaction? My reaction is that Donald Trump wants to show that he

is not as weak as Barack Obama. He is a really tough guy. He wants to

become a real president. That is why he decided to use such provocation

of these chemical weapons, which can be organised by al-Nusra, and

everybody who is informed understands this very well. What

will the impact be in terms of American- Russia relations? I think

now Russia will react strongly by words, and carefully by action.

Because Russia understands very well that Donald Trump bombed Syria for

domestic political purposes. It was kind of what we call Congress, a

political object of Congress. That is why Russia will react carefully.

Russia will say it is aggression against another country, the

Security Council should go. But I don't think that the clashes between

Russia and the United States will really happen. After Donald Trump

will reach his domestic political goals. And we of course are

concerned about unpredictability of behaviour of Washington which we

have had in the last few years. And we are very much disappointed that

the United States, in cooperation with al-Nusra and Al-Qaeda in Syria,

and in the Ukraine. In the end, I mean, it doesn't matter what you say

or think about Donald Trump's motivation being to play to a

domestic audience, if it impacts on the situation on the ground in

Syria, it will have its desired effect. In Syria, from a military

point of view, this air strike means not too much. Because this airfield,

especially for these aeroplanes, and also, we should look more carefully

on the future. If the United States really will try to make such a war

in Syria, which they have conducted in Iraq, of course it would be a new

catastrophe for the Middle East. It could lead to the conflict,

potential military conflict with Russia. But if the United States or

in the limited by this and possibly a second air strike, we will not be

in that situation and we will continue our Russian policy as we

used to. Why is it that there are still, there is still the capability

by Syria to use chemical weapons when there was that agreement under

which Russia was supposed to oversee the ending of the use of chemical

weapons to secure and destroyed them? Russia failed to do that? It

is a great question, everybody can understand. Look from Asad's point

of view. The press spokesman of Donald Trump talking war, against

Bashar al-Assad. Two days after this, Bashar al-Assad decided to use

chemical weapons, with no real military reasons. You know, it's

madness. To believe that Bashar al-Assad organised this chemical

attack, it is not think what happened. It is pure propaganda. Of

course, the chemical attack has been organised by al-Nusra, undermining

possible corporation between Russia and the United States. And al-Nusra

made it quite effective. Thank you for joining us, Sergei Markov. Well

- the decision by Donald Trump to launch an attack on the Syrian

government regime marks a big shift in policy. Throughout his

presidential campaign Mr Trump strongly opposed military

intervention. However, after Tuesday's suspected chemical attack

he made clear his attitude had changed. Here's a reminder of what

Mr Trump was saying up to this week. But if they ever did overthrow Asad,

you might end up with as bad as Asad did, and he's a bad guy. But you

might end up worse than Bashar al-Assad.

That attack on children yesterday had a big impact on me, a big

impact. It was a horrible, horrible thing, and I will tell you, it's

already happened that my attitude towards Syria and Bashar al-Assad

has changed very much. They will have a message, you will see what

the message will be. Tonight I ordered a targeted militarily strike

on the airfield in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who ran against Donald Trump for the

Republican presidential nomination, has given his response to the

strikes. My first reaction is too obviously acknowledge and appreciate

the skill and bravery of our men and women in uniform. The president took

an appropriate step tonight, it is not just symbolic. He took an attack

against an airfield from which these chemical attacks were conducted

against innocent civilians. And I think the president made the right

move. Obviously now it is an attack that have a strategic objective,

degrading Asad's capability to continue to attack his own people

with nerve agents like siren. We can talk to a writer for the New York

Times. Thank you very much for joining us. How do you think this is

going to go down in America? Well, I think initially this could actually

be addressed the position of Donald Trump, he has had a quite rocky 77

day presidency so far. This shows him to be decisive and strong. After

Obama in 2013 failed to call Asad into account after using chemical

weapons against his own people, many saw Obama as being weak. Now Trump

can show himself to be decisive. However, there are serious risks.

The base that selected Mr Trump come primarily from rust belt states,

they elected him on the economy. The last thing they want is for the

United States to become mired in another war in the region. There are

also risks vis-a-vis his relationship with Mr but in going

forward, and also we have seen in the past that Isis can take

advantage of power vacuum in the region, that this can cause of the

United States can suddenly focused on taking on Mr Assad rather than

the Islamic State. He has been criticised for being unpredictable.

Does unpredictability actually, is it an asset in this situation? In

some ways it is an asset. As we have seen with the Chinese, who field are

stabilised by Mr Trump, -- who field by stabilised. His lack of

predictability can put his opponents on edge and possibly work to his

advantage. And in terms of the sort of, the way that the story will be

covered, I mean, you are with the New York Times, there has been

animosity between the New York Times and Donald Trump and, you know, the

sort of war between him and the media. That does seem to have gone

away. How do you now assess Donald Trump as president and whether we

are starting to see a sort of new direction, potentially?

Unfortunately our line there froze. We will still have plenty of

reaction to those events overnight in Syria. The American air strike on

an air base reportedly nine aircraft destroyed by the airstrikes but the

ramifications extending beyond what the impact is on the military

capability on the ground. Also coming up we will be speaking to a

police officer who thinks possession of drugs, even heroin and cocaine,

should not be punished with prison. And we will look at the history of

the Syrian conflict to see how we got to the stage where the US felt

it needed to attack a Syrian air base.

Let's join Rachel for all the news. Good morning. Russia has condemned

an American cruise missile attack that destroyed a Syrian air base as

an act of aggression. The Kremlin has suspended an agreement with the

United States designed to prevent clashes between their airforces over

Syria. Washington says its missile strike

was a proportionate response to a suspected chemical weapons attack

which it blames on the Syrian regime. Dozens of civilians were

killed. 59 cruise missiles were fired from US warships in the

Mediterranean. President Trump said it was in America's national

security interest to prevent the spread of chemical weapons.

Tonight I ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in

Syria from where the chemical attack was launched.

A Romanian tourist who fell into the River Thames

during the Westminster terror attack has died.

Andreea Cristea was walking on Westminster Bridge with her

boyfriend when they were driven at by the attacker Khalid Masood,

Her boyfriend had planned to propose later that day.

Her life support was withdrawn yesterday.

The 31-year-old becomes the fifth victim of the March 22nd attack.

A four-year-old child has died in an incident at a farm

in Maguiresbridge in Northern Ireland.

Police were called out to the farm yesterday evening where the boy

Northern Ireland's police force says officers will work closely

with the Health and Safety Executive as they investigate

There is been a sharp rise in the number of accident and emergency

departments in England turning away ambulances, that's compared with the

previous three years. Analysis by the Nuffield Trust shows ambulances

were diverted 500 times. NHS England says too many ambulances are being

despatched and the system is under review.

That's a summary of the latest news. Join me at 11am. Now back to Joanna.

Thank you very much. Let's catch up with the sport.

Only one place to start, and that's with golf. Dustin Johnson offered

drama on the opening day of the Masters as he pulled out before the

first round. It's only the second time in the tournament's history

that the world number one won't feature at the first major of the

year. He hurt his back in a fall downstairs at his rental property on

Wednesday. Heading out to the first tee he said he couldn't swing a club

and that prompted him to pull out. Lee Westwood is the leading Britain.

He struggled on the front nine but recovered with five birdies in a row

on the back nine to put himself up there on the leaderboard. The

drivers had to find an alternative form of entertainment when practice

ahead of this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix was badly affected by

poor weather. Lewis Hamilton apologised to fans and said

organisers need to find a better way to cope when the weather is bad. The

Olympic mar shoon champion of Kennia has failed an out of competition

drugs test. She won't be able to defend her title this month after

she tested positive for the blood booster EPO. It's Ladies Day at

Aintree. The feature race was won by Tea For Two. Back to you.

A statement from the Pentagon on that cruise missile strike against

Syrian air force, statement put out by Pentagon spokesman saying at the

direction of the President the US forces conducted a cruise missile

strike at about 8. 40pm local time. The strike targeted an airfield in

response to the Syrian Government's chemical weapons attack. A total of

59 Tomahawk missiles targeted storage, ammunition supply bunkers,

air defence systems and radars. As always, the US took extraordinary

measures to avoid civilian casualties and to comply with the

law of armed conflict. Every precaution was taken to execute the

strike with minimal risk to personnel at the airfield. The

strike was a proportional response to Assad's heinous act. The airfield

was used to store chemical weapons and Syrian air forces. The US

intelligence community assesses that aircraft from there conducted the

chemical weapons attack on 4th April. The strike was intended to

deter the regime from using chemical weapons again. Russian forces were

notified in advance of the strike using the established deconfliction

line. We are assessing the results of the strike. Initial indications

are that the strike had severely damaged or destroyed Syrian aircraft

and support infrastructure and equipment at the airfield, reducing

the Syrian Government's ability to deliver chemical weapons. The use of

chemical weapons against innocent people will not be tolerated. That

statement just through from the Pentagon. We are also hearing from

Donald Tusk, President of the European Council who tweeted to say

the strikes show needed resolve against barbaric chemical attacks.

The EU will work with the US to end brutality in Syria. That echoing

strong international support for the American actions overnight. We will

talk more about it short:. If you're caught with Class A drugs

you can swap prison for an education workshop -

that's part of a controversial new The force is one of the first

in the country to adopt the policy. A senior officer says

possession of drugs - even cocaine and heroin -

should not be punished Instead offenders are offered

a three-and-a-half hour education workshop, known

as a "diversion" course. Critics say the initiative may be

simply "a slap on the wrist". Fiona Lamdin's had

access to the workshop. Police out on the streets

of Bristol, looking for dealers... I'll just wait at the bottom

of St Nick's, wait for him to come There's two, two in there,

and he was ready to smoke it. Do you have something

on you you shouldn't have? But when they do find them,

these days many drug users If police in Bristol now catch

people carrying even Class A drugs, there is another option other

than the criminal justice system. We can deal with this

on the street, something called The Drugs Education Programme,

or DEP, a compulsory three We're not going to say,

you're going to be a heroin addict, you're going to go to prison,

but already, just by using drugs, you're putting yourself

at a real big risk. It's offered to anyone

caught just in possession, So far they have had nearly 400

people through the doors. It really does limit the kind

of work you can get. A lot of you, you said you hadn't

told your employers, Understandably, most on the course

don't want to be identified, but they all tell us that

being here is better I was found with cocaine

in a nightclub. I'd use it every now

and again on a night out. I don't think I'll use again

because of the shock I've had and the whole

process and everything. So would you go so far as to say

it's a life changer? Yeah, definitely, because my job

means so much to me. What we're not going to do

patronise you, we're not going to stand here and say that

all drugs are bad... I would have lost my job if I'd

got a criminal record so it's a massive relief,

it would have been life Back on the streets,

the police find this man. He's only 28 but the daily wraps

of crack cocaine are killing him. This man is now far too

ill to be offered it but even here the emphasis

is on getting him into treatment. Every time I see you you're

like scrambling around Hepburn Road The Misuse of Drugs Act

was brought in in 1971. This new approach has come

from this man, Paul Bunt. He says the current legislation

just isn't working. There are plenty of people out

there who would find it frankly absurd that someone,

for the possession of just a few grains of powder,

could end up in prison People who supply these substances

are the criminals, they're the people who are profiteering

from other people's misery. People who use these substances,

in my view, need help. But they need help

with consequences. White male, white female,

both wearing black... And when police arrest

him, they find drugs. He will face court for the criminal

damage but even he will be offered Some will say that's

just too lenient. No, I don't think it's a soft touch,

I think it makes absolute sense. What we've done in effect

is replaced a court appearance with a three and a half hour

educational intervention, They have to attend it,

they have to remain at it and they have to actively

engage in it. If they do all that,

they escape a court appearance. Because I believe that a court

appearance won't give them This is a drug that we just don't

know what it's doing to people, Back in the classroom,

the lesson is the danger of drugs. On this slide here, this

is septicaemia setting in. And a YouTube film of a man

paralysed by Spice. This guy is physically

paralysed and his body has I think for me, I was in the prison

service for 20 years, and in that time I saw the same

people come in and out for the same offences,

quite often drug-related. By the end of my career I was seeing

people come in and then I was seeing their children come in,

and that, for me, is very sad. And if pictures aren't enough,

they wheel in a real-life survivor. Mark has come along

to tell his story. I found myself homeless

and living on the street, shoplifting, stealing,

lying to people. I don't want anyone else to go

through what I went through, basically, so if I can open people's

eyes and they get more awareness around drug use and abuse,

then hopefully it can do some good The drugs are cut with

drain cleaner, they're The pilot scheme has

been running for a year. No one so far who's been

here has been rearrested. Drugs are always glorified but this

is sort of unglorifying them. But does it mean people

are stopping taking drugs? Honestly, will this make a

difference to your future drug use? It's not going to stop me

taking them as such, but I would be a bit more careful

about who is around me, I would definitely play it smarter,

probably keep it in the privacy of my own home, not stand out

on the street taking it. And the police say even

that is a success. We are specifically looking

to use the drug education Tonight they're preparing for

an operation at a Bristol nightclub. They're getting a really high

success rate so hopefully that The police dog is out searching

for drugs and those they find in possession are likely to face

a course rather than Critics may call this a soft touch

but police forces across the UK are watching this trial

with interest and if it works, this soft touch could be

rolled out nationwide. If you want to watch that again it's

on the programme page. Back to our main news. The United States has

carried out a cruise missile attack on a Syrian air base. US officials

have said a red line had been crossed by President Assad's regime

when it carried out a chemical attack on dozens of men, women and

children in a rebel-held town this week. Let's look back at what

started this deadly conflict six years ago.

A red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons

To me, the biggest danger of escalation is it the world

community, not just Britain, but America and others,

Because I think Assad will draw very clear conclusions from that.

No one can imagine what happened inside Aleppo

We hope that, really we hope to have a ceasefire soon

because those people now are dying here.

They cannot go and they cannot leave.

Really, it's catastrophic, the situation here, it's

We condemn the use of chemical weapons in all

If proven, this will be further evidence of the barbarism

Justin Bronk is a military airpower and technology expert at

the Royal United Services Institute, an independent thinktank.

And Ahmad was part of the student uprising against the Syrian

He fled the fighting and made the perilous journey to the UK.

Thank you both for coming in. Ahmed, what is your reaction? The Americans

previously said in red line was crossed when chemical weapons were

used. There was no military action. Now there has been. I mean, from a

Syrian perspective, it's a bit cynical, because already we have

over 500,000 people killed. But when you see the US government

intervening in that country because of the use of the chemical weapons,

the Syrian people feel like they have been let down, you know. It

sends a message, you can carry out killing people using conventional

weapons, but if you use the chemical weapons, it is a red line. Does it

make a difference, going forward? I think initially it does make some

difference. I mean, already the damage has been done. The number of

people have been killed, the number of displaced people is appalling.

But I think it sends out a message that in is enough, and that the

Assad regime should consider carefully what steps it is going to

take to go ahead. What impact do you think the lack of intervention

before has had? Because obviously, as we mentioned, president Obama

said that if chemical weapons had been used it would be a red line.

They were used, and nothing happened. In terms of the reaction

within Syria to the way the international community was

responding and sort of where they might sort of get support from, and

also the message that it sends to President Assad? I think it's

really, now, the reaction is a bit mixed in Syria. For example, I have

been trying to follow my friends back in Syria, watching Syrian news.

I think it is a kind of mixed reaction. Some people are very

happy, Syrians, you know, very happy because the US eventually intervened

to destroy the Syrian air power which the Syrian people have

suffered a lot because of it. On the other side you have goggles of

people -- you have got a lot of people who say it is not going to

change anything. This has been going for a long time. I think the carnage

will still carry on. Justin, reaction coming out from the

Kremlin, amongst other things, the Russian Defence Ministry is saying

the US air strikes or a crude violation of the joint agreement on

Syrian air safety. What was that agreement? So the Russians and the

US-led coalition have established a series of working protocols to the

conflict -- 2-D conflict as base on both sides. The Russians

predominantly supporting Syrian army operations and the American

coalition going after buyers. There is crossover because it is crowded

airspace. -- going after Daesh. These strikes were a violation of

safety protocols, according to the Russians, because it has been made

clear that the Russians were warned, and indeed warning the Russians has

almost certainly discreet so practically the effectiveness of

those strikes because the warnings will have been passed on. Also

having time to withdraw the aircraft. I think what the Russians

or annoyed about is that there was a tacit understanding that if the

US-led strikes only targeted by Ayesh and stayed carefully away from

any Syrian regime forces dog will only targeted by -- Daesh. How do