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At Least 47 People Killed In Egyptian Churches Blasts; U.S., Russia, Iran In Escalating Dispute Over Syria; Tillerson To Visit Moscow Amid Syria Dispute; Sweden Mourns 4 People Killed In Terror Attack; U.S./Russia Relations After Strike in Syria; U.S. Sends Mixed Messages on Syria, Assad's Future; White House Feud Between Bannon & Kushner; North Korea Holds Marathon as Nuclear Tensions Escalate; Sergio Garcia Wins at Masters Tournament. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired April 10, 2017 - 01:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[01:00:00] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Palm Sunday attack: ISIS claims responsibility for two blasts at Christian churches in Egypt, killing 47 people. Plus, mixed messages from America's top diplomats on U.S. policy for Syria and Russia. And a thrilling finished to the masters after Sergio Garcia wins his first major title in nearly 21 years on the pro-Golf tour. It's all ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, we're live in Atlanta. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen.

Our top story: Palm Sunday, turned into tragedy for Egypt's Christian community. ISIS has claimed responsibility for bombings at two Coptic churches, at least 47 people were killed, more than 100 wounded. CNN's Ian Lee has more from the area. A warning for you, his report does contain a video some might find disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IAN LEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A day of celebration turns to mourning, as a bomb rips through a crowded church in Tanta, Egypt. The devastation, the carnage, the mallear barbarism as ISIS claims responsibility.

EMI EDWARD SILIB, WOUNDED IN ATTACK (through translator): I was sitting in the front and suddenly everything went dark. I passed out and someone pushed me off of my seat. A few seconds later, I got up and saw bodies all around me.

LEE: Then, hours later, the Coptic Pope delivers its sermon in the port city of Alexandria. Outside, a man, in a blue jacket, tries to gains entry. When denied, he detonates his bomb. So much innocent bloodshed on this pious of days. Sadness quickly turned to rage when Christians mobbed a regional police chief.

WIMBY LAMA, RELATIVE OF VICTIM (through translator): The authorities have received warnings before that the church is being targeted. Why weren't proper measures taken to protect people?

LEE: ISIS has been stepping up attack against Christians here in Egypt, killing dozens in previous months. With nerves raw, and tempers high; President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi urges unity. ABDEL FATTAH EL-SISI, EGYPT PRESIDENT (through translator): I want to

say to the Egyptians who can hear me now, you must know, that what is being done is an attempt to destroy you, to tear you apart. Because if you are one unit, it will be difficult for anyone to defeat this country.

LEE: The President declared emergency law for three months, granting the police and army extra powers. It's hard to quantify this type of violence. Everyone outside this church in Tanta has a story of a loved one. The pain is seen in the eyes of the survivors.

DAVID SABED, EYEWITNESS: I saw blood and organs of our friends.

LEE: This is your friend's blood?

SABED: Yes.

LEE: On the robe? What happened to your friends?

SABED: He was killed.

LEE: This Christian man asks me, when? When will he be able to pray in peace? A question tonight, with no answer. Ian Lee, CNN, in Tanta, Egypt.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Joining me now is Mokhtar Awad, Research Fellow at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University. Thank you for being with us. Let's just start off by asking, why is ISIS targeting Egypt's Christians?

MOKHTAR AWAD, RESEACH FELLOW AT THE PROGRAM ON EXTREMISM AT GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY (via Skype): Well, for many years, ISIS has been trying to expand its reach inside the Egyptian mainland. It's hoping that by attacking the Christian minority, it will somehow instigate to turion strife. In other words, one of the easier ways to instability - this strategy has worked for them in Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere, and they're hoping to replicate it in Egypt.

ALLEN: And you also wrote that this attack, the most deadly in decades against Christians there in Egypt, represents a sea-change for Christians there. What did you mean?

AWAD: Well, fortunately, ISIS is trying to introduce an idea that exists elsewhere. In other words that, people that they declare as their enemies can be killed indiscriminately for no reason or whatsoever, other than whom they are. Christians have long been victims of persecution in Egypt by Islamists, even ordinary Muslim mobs. However, the idea that the Christian can be subject to murder at any time or any reason, is definitely something that's new. And so, ISIS is trying to strike, to strike fear. Hopefully - I don't believe they're going to be successful, but it's a sea-change just because of this dimension because we've seen how people who are inspired by ISIS, and people who act on behalf of ISIS don't seem to have any trouble in indiscriminately killing civilians. [01:05:20] ALLEN: And they've worked on security at the Christian

cathedrals and churches since ISIS laid out this threat. But we saw, you know, that it's very hard to say ahead of radicals in what happened there on Sunday. What is the burden now that Egypt has as far as protecting ten percent of its population, the Christians?

AWAD: Well, it's a really monumental task, I mean, the issue is two- folds here, barely the smaller part of this is the physical security of houses of worship. Unfortunately, the Egypt's houses of worship have long been secured by police primarily, because they've been targets for decades. What they need there is a far more robust in Syria's security regime because most of the time, the people they have on these details are a conscript who don't nearly have significant training. More importantly, though, these are Syria's Security Sector Reform especially in its intelligence capacities inside Egypt proper itself to be able to detect and disrupt these threats, because obviously, ISIS will always attempt and they're wide-finding a needle in a haystack.

However, an attack like today's, double attack coordinated possibly could have been prevented, had security forces been able to detect the attack before it happened. And the fact that two cells in the Egypt's Nile Delta were planning such an attack, and so it's a two-fold issue of physical security but also improving intelligence capacity.

ALLEN: And that was the deadliest attack on Christians in Egypt, in decades. The United States has taken strong action against the Syrian regime, but two of its top diplomats are sending mixed signals about what's next. Last week's missile strike in Syria was a response to the deadly chemical weapons' attack, blamed on Bashar al-Assad's regime. On Sunday, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley, and Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, seem to differ on how Assad might be removed from power.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REX TILLERSON, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: We are hopeful that we can work with Russia and use their influence to achieve various of stabilization throughout Syria, and create the conditions for a political process through Geneva in which we can engage all of the parties on a way forward. And it is through that political process that we believe the Syrian people will all fully be able to decide the fate of Bashar al-Assad.

NIKKI HALEY, UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATION: There is not any sort of option where a political solution's 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Meantime, two Syrian allies; Russia and Iran say, the U.S. crossed red lines with that missile strike. They released a joint statement reaffirming their commitment to Syria's government. CNN's Clarissa Ward has that. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT: The war of words appears to be heating up somewhat with Syrian State T.V. running a statement from Russia and Iran essentially saying that, if the U.S. tries to pull something like this again, it will be met with a serious return of force. This was always the great concern that the Obama administration had about getting involved in Syria militarily that any kind of an intervention would only escalate the situation. And that in a worst-case scenario, it could lead to a potential point of conflict directly between the U.S. and Russia inside Syria, that potentially, of course, could lead to some type of global World War III type of conflict. So, this was always the fear with the Obama administration.

At this stage, the rhetoric we're hearing from Russia and Iran appears to be just that, there's no indication yet that this is going to escalate militarily. There's every indication that, potentially, Russia will sort of take this one on the chin and accept it. But the key here in terms of moving forward, in getting some more clarity on these issues is what does the U.S.'s Syria policy fundamentally look like? Is the priority ISIS, is it the ouster of Bashar al-Assad, or can it somehow be both? We're hearing mixed messages from different parts of the Trump administration, and I think we'll only really get to grips with what's a clearer idea of what it is going to look like when we see Tillerson sit down with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, later this week. Clarissa Ward, CNN, near the Turkish-Syrian border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Joining me now is Andrew Tabler, a fellow in the Program on Arab Politics at the Washington Institute, and he'd lived and worked in every Middle Eastern country. Andrew, thank you for being with us. You wrote just after the inauguration that Donald Trump's most complicated foreign policy challenge would be Syria, and we saw that brought to the forefront this week. What do you think of his decision for the limited strike and its effect?

[01:10:24] ANDREW TABLER, WASHINGTON INSTITUTE ARAB POLITICS PROGRAM FELLOW (via Skype): I think it was the positive move, it was justified given the Sarin attack in Syria. The question is, what, you know, what does the administration then, do now? How they dissuade the Assad regime from using more chemical weapons, and how they tie it to a political process. I think that's what they're going to be focusing on this week.

ALLEN: And now we have Rex Tillerson, going to Russia to speak with him about Syria. What kind of delicate diplomacy dance will he have to perform there?

TABLER: Well, he has to focus on a couple of things. One is, the issue of the Syrian war, and that's a - the strike comes in the context of that. The other is, trying to make sure that the U.S. can carry out its strikes against ISIS in Eastern Syria, they call that "deconfliction." An agreement signed between Russia and the United States in 2015. They kind of keep Russian aircraft and American aircraft from hitting each other over Syrians guys.

ALLEN: Absolutely. And we have Tillerson and Nikki Haley seeming to be not on the same page when it comes to dealing with Syria, the Assad regime, and ISIS. She indicated Assad has to go period. Tillerson didn't say that exactly.

TABLER: Well, I think there's going to be a lot of back and forth about, about this sort of the coming days. But U.S. policy remains, the President (INAUDIBLE) that has to leave is part of the political process. Now, how you get there, what point he leave and so, are the details to be worked out. But I think, by and large, you'll see a (INAUDIBLE) U.S. policy in the coming weeks that integrates the C.W. approach with a political strategy.

ALLEN: And Russia though, indicating in a statement through Russian T.V. that, Russia and Iran would not be pushed around, and I'm paraphrasing, it said, American will not rule the world. Sound like, it's never been more complicated in an already complicated with where Russia and the United States keep themselves in this thing without hitting each other as far as airplane's in the air, and as far as their competing outcomes that they're looking for.

TABLER: That's right. I think the United States has stuck its let's say, little toe into the conflict. Other powers like Russia, Iran, and so on who had their whole foot, or arm, or leg into the conflict, they are - they're, they're basically, questioning what U.S.'s motives are. But it's very difficult to affect the situation on the ground unless you're willing to get militarily involved, and the U.S. did that this week. It laid down a line on the use of chemical weapons, particularly, Sarin in Syria. We'll have to see what kind of effect that has.

ALLEN: And where did they go from here? As far as laying out the bigger picture of, you know, the United States has taken it, and taken it, and taken it. The world has seen all of these egregious acts, and it reacts and the goes on. But now, with the U.S. and this new administration saying, we're going to strike you if you're going to continue this. Does this ramp up in a dangerous way?

TABLER: I think it's pretty manageable. U.S. intervention last week was pretty narrow, it's concerning C.W., it's on one base. So, it goes from there but it sends a very clear message the Assad regime and the Russians, you're not going to be able to gas your way out of this conflict.

ALLEN: We appreciate you joining us. Thanks so much, Andrew Tabler. The U.S. is building up pressure on North Korea with American warships being sent to the Korean Peninsula next here; how Pyongyang is responding. We have a reporter inside North Korea. Plus, one small American town has a special connection with China. We'll tell you how Beijing is bringing jobs to Ohio.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:16:26] KATE RILEY, CNN WORLD SPORTS ANCHOR: I'm Kate Riley with you CNN WORLD SPORTS Headlines. What a day it has been at the Masters. The final round has delivered the men summit between Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia battling out the Green Jacket. Both of them have the chance to win it at the 18th hole of the end of their final round but two near misses suddenly both finish on nine on the par and headed to sudden death Playoff. It was the Spaniard, Sergio Garcia, who delivers winning his first ever Major.

Another Chinese Grand Prix, another victory for Lewis Hamilton, his fifth in fact. The damp condition in Shanghai has impacted the start of this race with two crashes playing out on the wet surface. At one point, Hamilton's Mercedes team might found trouble spinning behind safety car. Hamilton led throughout comfortably seeing after challenge of Vettel he would have won the very first Gran Prix of the season. Hamilton emerging unscathed though, to seal his first win of the season.

And Sunday was an unmarked day. The Oklahoma City Thunder star guard Russell Westbrook, not only did he drained a buzzer-beating to give the Thunder the win over the Denver Nuggets, but he finally broke Oscar Robertson's 55-year-old Triple-Double record, scoring double digit in three different categories. Westbrook recorded his 42nd Triple-Double of the season. Thunder would win 106-105 and Westbrook would finish with 50 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists. And that's a look at all your Sports Headlines, I'm Kate Riley.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: North Korea's reacting to the U.S. redeployment of the carrier strike group to the Korean Peninsula. Government officials in Pyongyang tells CNN sending the warship is yet another provocation by the U.S. but this isn't an unusual American military move. The U.S. often shows up its military force in the region. The Trump Administration is now defending its decision to send that strike group.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERBERT RAYMOND MCMASTER, UNITED STATES NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Well it's prudent to do it, isn't it? I mean what North Korea has been engaged within the pattern of provocative behavior. This is a rogue, a regime that is now a nuclear-capable regime and President Xi and President Trump agreed that that is unacceptable, that what must happen is the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. And so the President has asked us to be prepared, to give him a full range of options to remove that threat to the American people and to our allies and partners in the region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Our Alexandra Fields joins us now for the picture from Seoul, South Korea. Certainly always a tense, moments with North Korea but this is a pretty high on that level.

ALEXANDRA FIELDS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, certainly. New moments have been more tense that what we've been experiencing lately. Tensions here on the Peninsula and also we know that Washington has declared that this is not just a regional security concern the North Korean nuclear threat, but a global security concern with North Korea openly expressing their intention to be able to test launch in the intercontinental ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear tip warhead all the way to the U.S. What you're seeing right now is significant, not in fact that you've got a U.S. aircraft carrier returning to the waters of the Korean Peninsula where this aircraft terrorist often do participate in various training drills. But the fact that this carrier has been rerouted as a result directly according to one official in Washington, of the provocation from North Korea, and there have been a barrage of these provocations as the U.S. sees it. As many as four missiles test since the start of this year, some tuned dozen missile test in North Korea in just the last year.

You've also got satellite imagery suggesting to analysts who carefully watched and monitored movements in North Korea, those images suggesting that North Korea could be preparing not only from war missiles launches but also for its sixth nuclear test. That's a concern right here in South Korea where officials from the Defense Ministry are saying that they will be carefully watching North Korea, especially in the next coming days. April's a time where there are several high-profile political events inside North Korea, including the celebration of the founder's birthday. They say that that could be the kind of timing that North Korea would look at for another provocative measure like a nuclear test or a missile launch. Of course, it is impossible to predict when North Korea will take these kinds of actions. What we do know clearly though, is that they have accelerated the pace of their weapons development program and these test launches. We've seen these things come much more quickly with less time between tests. And Natalie, that isn't just reflection of the intentions from North Korea according to analyst and experts, but it does seem to suggest that they have made some advances, these experts say, because they seem to meet less downtime between these tests doesn't raise really international concern at this point.

[01:21:29] ALLEN: It certainly does. Thank you, Alexandra Fields for us in Seoul, South Korea. Well, the U.S. President has accused China of stealing American manufacturing jobs. But now, a Chinese company is making good on a billion dollar promise to bring thousands of jobs to the U.S. and in one Ohio town, in particular, that really needs jobs. Here's Matt Rivers for that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Moraine Ohio, just south of Dayton is an area that used to be - that used to be filled with factories and manufacturing jobs. There used to be key breakfast specials across the streets but this is the rustbelt. So the restaurants closed, the jobs left, and the factories rested out. SHANE REFFERT, FUYAO EMPLOYEE: Really (INAUDIBLE) RIVERS: We met Shane Reffert a local in a place where Moraine has

pinned its hopes. Fuyao Glass, a Chinese company opened this new $600 million plant last October in the center of this small Ohio town. It supplies auto glass to a resurging industry in Detroit and elsewhere. More than 2, 000 people now work here with plans for hundreds more.

REFFERT: Makes you feel good as person and makes you real more complete. I mean your needed somewhere.

RIVERS: For decades, this plant was occupied by General Motors. They made Trucks and SUV's but it closed back in 2008 and laid off thousands.

This SUV right here is the last one that rolled off the line before G.M. shut its stores and that windshield is the first one that Fuyao made after it took over.

Fuyao is a Chinese company that invested a billion dollars overall into U.S. operations. But if the whole made in America, thanks to China concept feels ironic, it could be because of this.

DONALD TRUMP, UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: We can't continue to allow China to rape our country and that what they are doing.

RIVERS: The President campaign on anti-China rhetoric is using it as stealing millions of American jobs, jobs he said he'll bring back. His tough talk resonated with people in this part of Ohio. The factory sits in Montgomery County which voted Obama in 2008 and 2012 but went narrowly for Trump in 2016. It's one of the key county's that delivered him the Presidency. And yet here in Moraine, there's thousands of people relying on a Chinese company for a paycheck. CNN met Fuyao's Chairman in Beijing

RIVERS: Why hasn't the President's rhetoric about China scared you off?

CAO DEWANG, FUYAO CHAIRMAN (through translator): I'm a Businessman, he says, so is Trump. I think he's threats are just campaign talk.

RIVERS: The Company has faced accusation of low pay and safety violations. There is a drive to unionize workers. Fuyao says it's addressing the concerns and plans to be here permanently. We asked Shane Reffert what he'd be doing otherwise.

REFFERT: That's a tough question, trying to find another good job which is very hard here in Dayton.

RIVERS: The hopes is that Fuyao will bring back other local jobs to an area that was, until recently, all about what used to be, now focused on what might be. Matt Rivers, CNN, Moraine, Ohio.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Police in Sweden have made a second arrest after Friday's terror attack. Four people were killed when a driver hijacked this truck plowing it into a crowd on the Capitol. Police say a man they arrested after the attack was likely behind the wheel. Prosecutors now say the second man is being held on suspicion of terror. A dramatic new video shows that chaotic moment of the attack. We have a view from inside the shop, you can see people running, and fleeing because there's a truck behind them. And then you see there the truck speeding past. Our Max Foster report terror though hasn't scared Swedes away from this street.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[01:25:23] MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT: There's been a fierce determination here in Sweden to get life back to normal. That message has come from the King and the Prime Minister right down to the ordinary Swede. So imagine that this was the streets where the attacker came thundering down in his truck. That's how busy it would have been, amazing to think that there weren't more deaths, that there weren't more injuries. But the message here is that people should carry on with their ordinary lives into fights about the horrendous terror threat.

The truck came thundering down here into this department store and they put up ply boards, as you can see, to replace that smashed window. And instead of just leaving there, people are coming here and it's almost turned into a makeshift shrine. You can see messages there, people have penned the message RIP but most - mostly and repeatedly the word "Tillsammans" which means together.

All the flowers have been taken in some areas like this and place some steps around the corner for a vigil. That was a national moment for the countries come together. They've been a huge outpouring of gratitude as well to the emergency services in their rapid response to the attack on Friday. So people are laying flowers in police cars for example with cards saying we are proud of what you did. Max Foster, CNN Stockholm, Sweden.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Top U.S. officials are sending mixed messages over Russia's role in Syria's deadly chemical attack. Will Washington's decision become clear at Monday's G7 summit in Italy? We'll have a report. Plus more on North Korea, not into affect on the inside after what we've seen with their missile launches on the outside.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[01:30:30] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to all of our viewers all around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen.

Here are our top stories right now.

(HEADLINES)

ALLEN: U.S. Secretary of state Rex Tillerson is in Italy for the G-7 summit. He'll meet with sixth of his counterparts from around the world to discuss Syria and Russia's role in last week's devastating chemical attack. Tillerson then heads to Moscow to meet with Russia's foreign minister on that same topic later this week.

That meeting comes at a delicate time in U.S./Russia relations. In the aftermath of the strikes on the Syria airbase, there are questions about whether Russia was aware its allies had chemical weapons. Tillerson stopped short of accusing Moscow of direct involvement, but the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. took a harder line.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REX TILLERSON, SECRETARY OF STATE: I'm not seeing any hard evidence that directs the Russians directly to the planning or execution of this particular chemical weapons attack. And, indeed, that's why we try to be very clear that the Russians were never targeted in this strike.

NIKKI HALEY, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: They now have to answer for this. How can they, with a straight face, cover for Assad? Because if they're covering for Assad, then what are they really saying? They're saying, by covering for Assad, that they knew it was there, or they were incompetent by having chemical weapons there in the first place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Our Matthew Chance has more on Moscow's response to the U.S. strike.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERANTIONAL CORERSPONDENT: There's certainly been some bluster from the Russians, including recently in a joint statement with Iran, also a key Syrian ally, criticizing the U.S. missile strikes and vowing not to allow, in its words, "America to dominate the world."

But behind that, Moscow has been quite measured. It was informed in advance of the U.S. strikes but didn't activate its sophisticated missile defense or retaliate on the ground in Syria.

What Russians officials are making clear though is that this may not be the case again should the U.S. choose to carry out further strikes. Moscow says Syrian air defenses will be beefed up and U.S./Russian military contact suspended, all raising the stakes for any future U.S. military action.

All this, as Moscow prepares to host the U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, whose highly anticipated visited later this week is set to be dominated by the fallout of the U.S. strikes on Russia's Syrian ally. He's expected to press Russia on the issue of chemical weapons in Syria. Moscow denies Syrian government forces carried out the apparent chemical attack last week, saying chemical munitions in the hands of rebels are what caused the horrific loss of life.

Tillerson, the former CEO of the oil company, Exxon, had been accused of being too close to the Kremlin, criticized for that. He received a Russian Friendship Medal in 2013 from President Putin himself. But he now comes to Russia as part of a Trump administration which has just bombed Moscow's main ally in the Middle East.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE) ALLEN: A vocal critic in Donald Trump's own party is praising the president's actions. Republican Senator John McCain calls the missile strike on a Syrian air base an excellent first step, but the questions whether the operation will far enough since the Syrian airfield reopened less than 24 hours after the strike.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R), ARIZONA: Taking out all their support facilities doesn't let them fly with any consistency but it - the signal that they're able to fly almost right away out of the same facility indicates that I don't think we did as thorough enough job, which would have been cratering the runways. Somebody will say, well, then they can fill in the runways. Yep, and we can crater them again, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:35:17] ALLEN: U.S. national security adviser, General H.R. McMaster, says the missile strikes were a warning to Syria

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. H.R. MCMASTER, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: What's significant about this strike is not that it was meant to take out the Syrian regime's capacity of ability to commit mass murder of its own people, but it was to be a very strong signal to Assad and his sponsors that the U.S. can't stand idly by as he is murdering innocent civilians, which was a red line in 2013.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Joining me now is CNN political analyst, Josh Rogin, to talk more about all the issues.

Josh, thank you for being with us.

So much going on inside the White House and outside. Let's start with what we saw in Syria this week after the U.S. attacked after the chemical attack. Now we have the secretary of state saying we can work with regime and we have Nikki Haley at the U.N. saying Assad has got to go. What's up with this?

JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: We're getting two contradictory conflicting messages from two top Trump administration officials. Tillerson is representing what the Trump Syria policy was as of a week ago, which is we have to work Russia and the Assad regime on ceasefires and then work towards a political process where both sides agree to some sort of transition. That was the policy until Trump saw those pictures of those gassed children in Idlib and totally changed his mind. And Nikki Haley, who was always more hawkish on this kind of stuff, is now more in line with where we think President Trump is, in the sense he's no long willing to tolerate some of Assad's worse behavior. But we don't know. They had a process to strike Syria but it was limited to the degrading of Syria's chemical weapons capability and deterring them from using chemical weapons again. What happens next is anyone's guess. When Tillerson travels to Moscow, the question is, will his idea of the future of the Syria diplomacy become the policy because he's the one doing it or will some more of the more hawkish voices prevail.

ALLEN: It seems the message coming from Russia is we're not dealing with the hawkish voices. They're indicating they've got a place on the world stage and the U.S. is not going to push them around. How does Tillerson work with that?

ROGIN: That's exactly right. There's a real disconnect here. As much as we can say Tillerson is still on board to work with the Russians, and that's still the goal, the fact that President Trump decided to send 59 cruise missiles in to attack Assad's air base in Syria, that changes the calculation for everybody, for the Russians, for the Iranians, for Assad, for the opposition, for our allies, and the climate is not right for working with Russia. They're not interested in that, nor would you expect them to be after we just escalated. Right now, their stance is to escalate back and they're testing the trump administration's commitment to this new policy. The problem is the Trump administration hasn't figured out what the new policy is so they don't really have time to come up with sort of a nuanced response before Tillerson gets on the plane two days from now. So it will be interesting to see what happens, to see if Tillerson is given a long leash to figure out what he can work out with the Russians and how the Russians treat him when he gets there. It's like, if you don't know where you're going and any road will take you there, and that's where the Trump administration is right now.

ALLEN: And indications are they don't have a solid policy. It's evolving.

Now we hear inside the Oval Office, issues between Steve Bannon and Mr. Trump's son-in-law, another advisor, Jared Kushner. What do we know about that?

ROGIN: I think these tensions have been brewing a long time. They've just burst out to the press in the last few days and weeks. What's going on is you've got a team of America First economic nationalist and, on the other hand, you have a team of basically Goldman Sachs bankers and former Democrats from New York City, and they were going to clash sooner or later. Now it's spilling out into the public. The president likes to set off these rival teams and let them fight it out. But in the end, one has to win, one has to lose. If you're married to the president's daughter, chances are you're going to win. So I think the Bannon team is playing this game cautiously. I think they're going to have some wins. Next week, there will be some trade executive orders that will show the president is still committed to that America First nationalist agenda when it comes to trade and economics. When it comes to foreign policy, he just attacked Syria, so I think, in that sense, the nationalists are on the ropes.

ALLEN: Josh Rogin, for us out of Washington, thank you.

ROGIN: Any time. [01:40:04] ALLEN: Coming up, two kinds of races in North Korea, a runner's marathon in Pyongyang and a nuclear race. Why the mood is festive inside the country.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: This just in to CNN. We are getting to see the inside of the passenger Sewol ferry that sank off the South Korean coast almost three years ago. 304 people died, most of them high school students on a field trip. Nine bodies are still missing. The ferry was recently raised from the ocean and brought to land. Officials plan to clean it and conduct safety checks.

As reported earlier, the U.S. is redeploying a carrier-led strike group to the Korean peninsula. The show of force coming as concerns grow over North Korea's advancing weapons program. Tensions are high. But on the streets of Pyongyang, there's a different mood.

Our Will Ripley is the only U.S. correspondent in the North Korean capitol right now. Here's his report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRSEPONDENT: This is my eleventh trip to North Korea and I have to say this has probably been the most tense it has been in my time visiting this country over the last few years, at least when you're talking to government officials. They're watching closely actions by the Trump administration. They're aware of the missile strike in Syria. They have strongly condemned it. They call it a bloody example that North Korea must learn from. The say the key difference is that if the U.S. launched a similar strike here, they promise they would retaliate, potentially putting tens of millions of people in South Korea in harm's way because North Korea has a sizable arsenal pointed at Seoul, the South Korean capitol. There are also 28,000 U.S. troops there.

Inside North Korea through, when you're not talking to government officials, the mood is different. There's a festive atmosphere on the streets of the capitol this week, as we experienced firsthand.

[01:45:09] RIPLEY (voice-over): The Pyongyang Marathon, one of the rare days that foreigners are free to run through the streets of North Korea without constant government supervision.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is probably the best way to check out a country that's probably one of the least understood country in the world.

RIPLEY: They run alongside North Koreans, like this university student.

"it was great," he says. "I'm so happy so many foreigners came. We all ran together."

(CHEERING)

RIPLEY: A friendly competition in front curious crowds cheering for people from places they'll likely never see.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's completely shut out to the outside world.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like I'll leave with so many questions. What's real, what's not real. It's a surreal experience.

RIPLEY: North Koreans are told they live in a Socialist oasis, safe from the turmoil of the outside world, a world they're kept far away from.

(on camera): You're here on your honeymoon?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

RIPLEY (voice-over): This newlywed from Chicago says she's surprised this closed society is giving visitors such a warm welcome.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's really down to the fact that we're all humans and the people in this city are very warm and they can be just like us.

RIPLEY (on camera): Of course, there's another race happening here in North Korea that's capturing the world's attention in a different way. It's the race to develop nuclear weapons. And analysts say Pyongyang is moving closer to the finish line every day.

(voice-over): These women say they are not preoccupied with the nuclear arms race. They're more excited about North Korea's biggest holiday week of the year, the celebrations honoring the nation's late supreme leaders.

(on camera): Do you ever think or worry about the rising tension between North Korea and the U.S.?

"I'm not worried at all," said this housewife. "We have a strong leader. We have Marshall Kim Jong-Un."

Their government tells them the U.S. is responsible for North Korea's economic hardship and isolation.

"I hope more foreigners will come here," says this student, "so they can learn about our Juche philosophy."

Runners pass the Juche Tower, a symbol of self-reliance and self- development.

North Korea intends to win its nuclear arms race, with or without the acceptance of the outside world.

(on camera): Lot of major developments happening. We know the U.S. carrier strike group "Carl Vinson" is headed towards the Korean peninsula. The North Koreans say they are monitoring that strike group's activities.

Tomorrow here in Pyongyang, the Supreme Peoples' Assembly, a political gathering where delegates will vote in favor of whatever North Korean leader, Kim Jong-Un, puts before them.

And then on Saturday, North Korea's most important holiday, the Day of the Sun. It is around this particular holiday that this country has a track record of military demonstrations, shows of force to project power both domestically in North Korea and also around the world.

was involved but that doesn't mean they're blameless. Christians in Egypt are in mourning after bomb attacks at two of their

churches that killed at least 47 people. ISIS claimed responsibility and promised more attacks. Combine that with the fact that joint military exercises with South Korea are kicking off this week. And satellite imagery shows North Korea may be ready to conduct their sixth nuclear test at any moment. So much of the world watching activities in this country very closely and with great concern.

Will Ripley, CNN, Pyongyang, North Korea.

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ALLEN: After nearly two decades of trying, Garcia has finally won a major golf championship. And he did it at the Masters. We'll hear from him next.

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[01:52:28] ALLEN: Spanish golfer, Sergio Garcia, has finally won the first major championship of his career. He defeated Justin Rose in a dramatic sudden-death playoff at this year's Masters tournament in Augusta, Georgia.

Garcia is the third Spaniard to win the coveted green jacket and he won it on the birthday of his idol, the late, great Seve Ballesteros.

Here is how Garcia explained his excitement during the nail-biting showdown to our Don Riddell.

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DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT CORRESPONDENT: Sergio, that was awesome. Many congratulations. They say the best things come to those who wait.

Most people will have no idea what it was like to go through what you did today and to pull it off in the end. Can you describe what it was like and what was going on inside?

SERGIO GARCIA, PRO GOLFER & MASTERS CHAMPION: To tell you the truth, I was quite calm all day, which was great because it allowed me to have clearer thoughts in my head and allowed me to sing a little bit more freely. It allowed me to create thinks which was able to do throughout the whole career. Yeah, it was an amazing day. It was a joy to be out there playing with Justin and both playing well and going at each other. So it was a thrill.

RIDDELL: What happened at the end? I mean, it was a very moving moment for everybody who was watching. It was incredible.

GARCIA: Yeah, I could feel the energy from the crowd and everything. Everybody was -- it felt like everybody was just so looking forward to that moment, not only myself and my whole group, my whole team. But everybody about that community. It felt like they were waiting for that to happen and, you know, just a lot of different thoughts, a lot of different memories, past memories from past Masters for me, and all the major championships and all the tournaments. So just a whole bunch of little flashers that -- it was nice to go through it that quickly, I guess.

RIDDELL: I can only imagine how emotional it would be, just to do it. But to do it on what would have been on Seve's 60th birthday. If he were here, what do you think he would be talking about?

[01:55:01] GARCIA: I don't know. I mean, I think probably he'll be proud of me. I think that he'll probably have a little glass of wine together. But it was special to do it -- to do it on his -- what would have been his 60th birthday on a place that I know has been so special for him and for his Maria and now also for me. And it's just -- I'm glad I got to do it and, you know, we can enjoy it.

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ALLEN: And he will follow up this spectacular day with another coming up in a few weeks. He is getting married.

Thanks for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen.

Cyril Vanier and Rosemary Church are up next with more CNN NEWSROOM.

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[02:00:07] CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR: Terror on Palm Sunday. Egypt now in mourning as ISIS claims responsibility for two blasts at Christian churches that killed 47 --