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Remembering the Holocaust Victims; Trump's Suspense Action Against Syria; Zuckerberg Faces Tough Questions on Day Two; Paul Ryan Retires in January. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired April 12, 2018 - 03:00   ET

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


[03:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, HOST, CNN: The world awaits Donald Trump's next move following the suspected chemical weapons attack inside Syria. The U.S. president warns that missiles will be coming to the country.

Plus, round two for Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO faces tougher questions during his second day testifying before U.S. lawmakers.

And Pope Francis asks for forgiveness, admitting he made grave errors in handling Chile's sex abuse scandal.

Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. And this is CNN Newsroom.

First, to Jerusalem, marking a solemn occasion. Holocaust Remembrance Day, remembering the six million Jews killed during World War II, an occasion mark by sirens and silence.

CHURCH: As you saw there, right across Israel, two minutes of silence remembering the six million Jews lost in World War II.

And we will go to our Oren Liebermann later on o mark that day. But we do have Oren Liebermann standing by now. Oren, we saw there Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others right across Israel marking this most solemn of days across Israel. Talk to us about how people there deal with this, how they cope with this day.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Two minutes of silence for Holocaust Remembrance Fay ending just a moment ago here on Jaffa Street in Jerusalem, one of the main thoroughfares.

And it is a very surreal two minutes one of the most somber, one of the most solemn moments in the entire year here in Jerusalem and in Israel, where everyone comes to a stop no matter what they're doing, whether they're walking here or driving.

In fact, the light rear view behind me also comes to a stop on a moment of reflection to remember six million Jews killed in the Holocaust.

This year there's very much a political overtone to Holocaust Remembrance Day. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his speech for the holiday speaking last night, he said they will not stand for Iranian aggression and they will stand resolute against Iranian aggression in Syria.

[03:04:58] That very much a them we heard throughout Netanyahu's speeches as he has often Iran to Nazi Germany, so tying in Iran in the situation today in Syria, the Holocaust Remembrance Day and everything else going on in the region here.

Images from the suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria playing very powerful here, especially on and around Holocaust Remembrance Day. Having an incredible powerful impact here as Israel mourns on this holiday.

CHURCH: Remembering the six million Jews killed in the Second World War. Our Oren Liebermann joining us there live from Jerusalem, we thank you so very much.

Well, British Prime Minister Theresa May is set to convene an emergency cabinet meeting where she could lay out here case for joining the U.S. in military action against Syria.

The Daily Telegraph report she has ordered submarines within missile range of Syria. The anticipated strikes would be retaliation for a suspected chemical weapons attack blamed on the Assad regime against civilians in the town of Douma on Saturday.

In the U.S., President Donald Trump's national security team is scheduled to meet at the White House in the hours ahead.

On Wednesday, Mr. Trump tweeted a warning to Russia to get ready missile strikes will be coming to Syria. Spokeswoman Sarah Sanders try to explain what that meant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH HUCKABEE-SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We're maintaining that we a number of options and all of those options are on the table. Final decisions haven't been made yet on that front.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You mean anything at all? What does that mean?

SANDERS: It certainly means, I think there's a lot, there that you can read from, but at the same time, the president has a number of options at his disposal and all of those options remain on the table and we're continuing to look at each one of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And Russian media report Syrian government forces will have now regained control over eastern Ghouta, the Damascus suburb was one of the last major rebel held areas in the country. Its largest city Douma is the site of that suspected chemical over the weekend.

And CNN's senior international correspondent Arwa Damon is live in Istanbul, our international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is in Moscow, and in Tehran, CNN producer Amir Daftari. Thanks to all of you for joining us. Arwa, I want to start with you. And of course, the world is still waiting for the U.S. military response to the suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria along with the allies. So, what has President Assad been doing to prepare for the eminent attack, and what all might be achieve by U.S. air strikes if the last year is any guide?

ARWA DAMON, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Well, base on various different reports from Syria and other sources, it does seem as if the regime at this stage is trying to move some of its key assets away from areas that they are protecting potentially could be the sites of these various strikes.

If we go back to what happened last year that was in Trump administration ended up launching numerous tomahawk missiles at an air base that was where aircraft had departed from after -- to carry out a chemical attack that happened in the province of Idlib. Now that was a one-off attack.

And I think for many Syrians who are perhaps watching this right now, at least members of the Syrian opposition and those living in rebel- held areas, what they are going to want to hope and see is something that is, perhaps a bit more sustained, something that somehow changes the dynamics on the ground.

At the very least, to such a degree so that they are no longer being subjected to these kinds bombardments. Because for them, Rosemary, it's not just the chemical attacks. These chemical attacks generate massive headline, they generate sort of this global broader discussion, various countries jumping into action.

But Syrian rebel-held areas are being bombarded every single day. And what they are going to want to see is some of longer term strategy, some sort of end game. In an ideal world they would want to see some sort of a no-fly zone being put into place. That is highly unlikely, but we're going to have to wait and see as to whether or not this is just again another one-off strike or strikes or whether it's something more sustained.

CHURCH: Arwa Damon joining us there from Istanbul. We turn to Nic Robertson in Moscow now. And Nic, Russia made it clear that it will shoot down any missiles directed at Syria. President Trump directed a tweet to Russia saying those missiles are coming. How dangerous is this escalation and how far might Syria and Russia go to respond to U.S. air strikes?

NIC ROBERTSON, INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR, CNN: Well, Russia has made clear, is that if Russian soldiers are put in danger, it doesn't quite make clear what danger means but it presumably means if Russian soldiers are impacted or injured during the strikes and this would be crossing a red line for Russia. It doesn't say what the stakes would be necessary for strikes that might impact the Syrian forces.

[03:10:03] However, a statement even a month ago from the top military general here, he said that if there were missile strikes by the United States as missiles and the carriers will be struck down. President Putin as he tends to in these situations, sort of strikes a tone that stays out of the fray here.

And following on from President Trump's tweets, President Putin said that he hoped common sense would win in this very chaotic situation. He said this was a time for diplomats and diplomacy.

That said, however, his foreign ministry spokesman took the very undiplomatic tone responding to President Trump's tweets by saying that the President Trump should fire his slot missiles at terrorist, and then suggested that any American air strikes were an attempt to cover up what the military and the government here are saying was a fake chemical attack by rebels with the help of the United States.

So, and then the foreign ministry spokesman also went on to say responding to President Trump next week which was stop the arms buildup, a response that again, was more inflammatory than it was calming as is President Putin seem to be, saying well, let's do that. Let's get rid of chemical weapons.

We've also heard from other military commanders here in Russia and they are suggesting that rather than the United States by missiles into Syria that it actually spend some money to help with the rebuilding. This is what one general said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VIKTOR POZNIKHIR, DEPUTY HEAD OF OPERATIONS, RUSSIAN GENERAL STAFF (through translator): Instead of announcing the coalition's readiness to fire missiles at Syria, United States would do better to rebuild the destroyed city of Raqqa and provide wide-ranging help to its suffering population.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: However, on the balance of all the international diplomatic conversations that the United States and its allies, the United Nations has had with Russia and with Syria over the conflict in Syria is been made very clear to Russia that there will be no international contribution or little international contribution from the Gulf states that could help from the United States, from the Europeans unless Russia actually helps bring President Assad to the negotiating table, the U.N. negotiating table in Geneva.

And this is something that Russia has persisted and apparently refusing to do, so the request for the United States to help with reconstruction in Syria flies in the face of what Russia is being told that money is available, but you need to follow through on Russia's own U.N. commitments, which is a political transition by President Assad, and then plenty of countries will be ready to help with the rebuilding.

CHURCH: Right. Our Nic Robertson joining us there from Moscow. Many thanks to you. We turn to Amir Daftari in Tehran now. And Amir, how might Iran respond once the U.S. and its allies have struck back militarily at Syria?

AMIR DAFTARI, SENIOR PRODUCER, CNN: Good morning from Tehran, Rosemary.

As we've just heard, Iran and Russia are ally in Syria and are together very much part of a joint strategy. Now here the government has been quite muted on a response, not giving too much away, although a top aide to the supreme leader here did say that Iran would stand by its ally Russia in the face of any foreign aggression.

Now one thing they have been wanting to highlight is the accusation that they were somehow implicated in these alleged gas attack in Douma. Now the Iranians are keen to remind everyone that they too were victims of a major chemical and gas attacks in the 1980's during the Iran-Iraq war.

And they know all too well the devastation and the death that these chemical attacks cause, and that they will never be part of such an attack anywhere else.

CHURCH: And -- all right. Thank you so much, Amir Daftari joining us there from Tehran. We appreciate that.

All right. We'll take a very short break here, but still to come on CNN Newsroom, President Trump once said it was foolish and dupe to broadcast ministry plans ahead of time. So why is he doing it now?

And the second day of grilling for Facebook CEO filled with lawmakers demands for one word answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK ZUCKERBERG, CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, FACEBOOK: Yes or no, congresswoman, I believe--

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes or no?

ZUCKERBERG: Congressman, you--

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I bet a yes or no question.

[03:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

Well, U.S. President Donald Trump used his favorite form of communication, Twitter, to raise the rhetorical heat on Syria. But that's just one big issue he's dealing with.

Here's chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, will you take a few questions?

(END VIDEO CLIP) JIM ACOSTA, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Avoiding questions from the press, President Trump all but declared war on Twitter, previewing air strikes aimed at Syria while tweeting a warning to Russia. "Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and smart. You shouldn't be partners with a gas killing animal who kills his people and enjoys it."

The president vowed to take action while in response to the suspected gas attack allegedly carried out by Syria also violates his past pledges to never telegraph his next move.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: When the president says get ready Russia, they will be coming, the missiles are coming. How is that anything but an announcing of a pending air strike?

SANDERS: That's certainly one option but that doesn't mean that's the only option or the only thing that the president may or may not do. Just because he does one thing doesn't mean he can't do a number of other actions as well.

ACOSTA: Is that--

(CROSSTALK)

SANDERS: And he certainly hasn't laid out the timetable which is avoid be broadcasting his intentions.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: When former President Barack Obama face the question of striking Syria in 2013, Mr. Trump tweeted, "I would not go into Syria, but if I did, it would be by surprise and blur it all over the media like flaws."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Unbelievable.

ACOSTA: Something he promised again during the campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I have a substantial chance of winning. If I win I don't want to broadcast to the enemy exactly what my plan is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: But the president is blaming the bad blood with Russia on what he called the fake and corrupt Russia investigation.

The latest twist, investigators who raided the office of the president's personal attorney Michael Cohen are interested in finding any information about Mr. Trump's infamous comments to Access Hollywood that nearly cost him the election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Grab them by the (muted).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: CNN has learned the president and his legal team are now reevaluating whether Mr. Trump will sit down with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigators. But Mueller has his defender who were out with a new act.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Robert Mueller rescued fallen marines under enemy fire and was awarded a bronze Star for Valor.

As a prosecutor he spent decades going after corruption, financial fraud and terrorism. As the head of the FBI under George W. Bush, Mueller has been trusted by Republicans to put America first.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: The White House still insist the president has the power to fire Mueller or even top officials at the Justice Department, a move that could lead to a shakeup at the special counsel's office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: The president certainly has been clear that he has a very deep concern about the direction that the special counsel and other investigations have taken. This investigation started off as Russian collusion, of which there was none, that has been very clear that nothing has come up over the last year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: The questions about the Mueller probe come as Republicans are in search of a new leader in the House when Speaker Paul Ryan announce he is retiring at the end of his term, a departure that is fueling fears of a Democratic wave in the midterms.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL RYAN, UNITED STATES SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Yes, I really I gave it some consideration, but I really do not believe whether I stay or go in 2019 is going to affect a person's individual race for Congress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: As for the upcoming midterms there are growing worries inside the White House and among top GOP congressional officials that Democrats will immediately seek to impeach President Trump should Republicans lose control of the House this November.

[03:20:03] Multiple officials tell us the president is aware of this concern among his advisors, as one White House source described it, there is, quote, "anticipation of death about the November midterms."

Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House.

CHURCH: Now you saw House Speaker Paul Ryan there in Jim Acosta's report. In the line of succession, the speaker of the house is actually the third most powerful position in the U.S. government behind the president and vice president.

In a CNN interview in May 2016, Ryan declined to endorse Donald Trump in his bid for president even though they are from the same party. He spoke to our Jake Tapper on Wednesday and said this about President Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN: We're very different people. I'm from the upper Midwest. I'm not from New York. We're from a different generation. So we definitely have different styles but what we learned after we got to know each because we didn't know each other at all in the campaign, and yes, we had a pretty -- we had a lot of friction in our relationship.

What we learned is we have a common agenda that we agree on and we want to get it done. And we know it's going to make a big difference in people's lives and that's what we are elected to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Now Ryan also said he has no plans to run for office in the future, including the presidency.

Up to 10 hours of testimony from Facebook CEO, U.S. lawmakers appear to have consensus on the need for regulation of social media. But there were no specific suggestions offered from Congress or Mark Zuckerberg on how to do it. The questioning by House members on the second day of hearing was pointed and focused on Facebook's data collection and how both users and known uses can protect their information.

Several representatives Zuckerberg's answers did not satisfy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK PALLONE, (D) UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE: Will you make the commitment to change all the user to changing all the user default settings to minimize to the greatest extent possible, the collection and use of user's data. That's -- I don't think that's hard for you to say yes too, unless I'm missing something.

ZUCKERBERG: Congressman, this is a complex issue that I think is deserves more than one word answer.

(CROSSTALK)

PALLONE: Well, again that's disappointing to me.

MIKE DOYLE, (D) UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE: Why should we trust you to follow through on these promises when you have demonstrated repeatedly that you're willing to flout (Ph) both your own internal policies and government oversight when the need suit you.

ZUCKERBERG: Congressman, respectfully, I disagree with that characterization. We've have a review process for apps. For years, we've reviewed tens of thousands of apps a year and taken action against a number of them. Our process was not enough to catch a developer.

In general, we're not in the business to providing a lot of information to the Russian government.

ADAM KINZINGER, (R) UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE: The data only from the accounts located in or operated from those countries in terms of Russia or anything or does it include Facebook's global data?

ZUCKERBERG: Well, congressman, in general, countries do not have jurisdictions to have any valid legal reasons to request data of someone outside of their country.

KINZINGER: But where it is store, where is the data? I mean, what they have access the data--

(CROSSTALK)

ZUCKERBERG: We don't store the data in Russia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: What a day for Facebook CEO. Cyber and privacy expert Mark Rasch joins me now to talk more about Zuckerberg's testimony. Thanks so much for being with us.

MARK RASCH, FORMER JUSTICE DEPARTMENT PROSECUTOR: Thank you.

CHURCH: So, day two of his testimony, how did it go?

RASCH: Well, he got a rougher time today than he did yesterday. And I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that members of the House of Representatives got to see him yesterday and asked a lot of follow-up questions that weren't really probed in the Senate version.

The second one is that I think that quite frankly, members of the House are younger and more adept using the technology so they know better what to ask.

CHURCH: Yes. There was that sense that he really got the better of the Senate because he knew so much more than them. So during both days of testimony Zuckerberg tried to assure lawmakers that Facebook users had control of their data, but then admitted that he, himself, was one of the 87 million people whose data was improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica. Does this undermine his position do you think?

RASCH: Well, you know, control of data is an interesting thing because there are lots of settings that you can control in Facebook to increase or reduce your privacy and see who's shared with. But in a way, there's just too many choices. When you have that many choices you really don't know what to do with the choices.

So the idea that people have control over their privacy is not that helpful And the fact that Mark Zuckerberg's data was leaked demonstrate that you never really control your data.

CHURCH: Right. And government regulation is the buzzword of buzz phrase at the moment and tech companies like Facebook resisting the idea. Do you think that's the way forward, and if so, what form should that regulation take?

[03:25:00] RASCH: We need to have some general rules of the road. We need to have some agreed-upon privacy principles. And this is something that they are doing a lot in Europe with what's called the GDPR, and these are some general data protection and privacy principles about what data you're allowed to collect, how you're allowed to use it, how long you're allowed to keep it.

The fact is it should be something be able to see what's been collected about them and delete it. These are some basic privacy principles that they have in Europe but we don't have in the United States.

CHURCH: And in previous life you prosecuted cyber crimes at the Justice Department. What's your take on what's happening now with so much user data apparently being available to advertisers and foreign actors?

RASCH: Well, so making it available to advertiser even foreign actors through apps is not a crime. It's not like somebody broken and stole it. They trick people into giving it to them. Now that might be fraudulent or deceptive trade practices but it's probably not a crime, but the more data that you have and the more sensitive and the more personal data you have, the more vulnerable it is not only to leaking and misuse but the actual hacking and theft.

CHURCH: So, just a final word on regulation. Do you think the Senate and the House up to pulling together some sort of path to a regulation that would work for everyone with this, it's very much a new world, doesn't it?

RASCH: So, what I would recommend to both the House and Senate take this information about what happened at Facebook and look at it more globally, and by globally I don't mean internationally, but I mean, look at it in terms of how technologies using personal data stop, take a deep breath and ask what should happen.

Don't regulate just to regulate but do smart regulation that really forwards the government's interest and the interest of people.

CHURCH: And you'll think -- do you think they'll be able to do that?

RASCH: This is Congress. I have very little faith that they'll be able to do anything.

CHURCH: Mark Rasch, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it. RASCH: Thank you.

CHURCH: One of the victims of a chemical attack in the United Kingdom has turned down help from the Russian embassy.

Yulia Skripal was discharged from hospital on Monday. In a statement released by police, she says she's still suffering from the effect of the nerve agent that poisoned her and her father, a former Russian double agent who still seriously ill.

She also says she has been made aware of contacts that the Russian embassy who have offered her their assistance in any way they can, but she says at the moment she doesn't want to avail herself of their services. She says if she changes her mind she knows how to contact them.

Russia's embassy to the U.K. has raised doubts about the authenticity of her statement, saying they want proof what is being done is with her free will.

We'll take a short break here, but one of the last rebel-held areas in Syria has now fallen to government forces. Still to come, what the British prime minister and her cabinet have in store for the Assad regime.

Plus, Pope Francis apologizes for the way he handled a sexual abuse case in Chile. We'll have that when we return.

[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN NEWSROOM HOST: A very warm welcome back to CNN Newsroom. I'm Rosemary Church. Time to update you now on the main stories we had been following. Donald Trump's National Security Team will meet in the coming day to discuss their options in Syria. The U.S. president seems committed to military action, on Wednesday he tweeted get ready, U.S. missiles are coming.

Russian media report Syrian government forces have regained control over Eastern Ghouta, the Damascus suburb was one of the last major rebel-held areas in the country, it's the largest city Douma is the site of their suspected chemical attack over the weekend.

Mark Zuckerberg faced tougher questions on his second day on Capitol Hill. The CEO of Facebook avoided making specific promises on protecting user-data. Lawmakers indicated support for government regulations of social media, but there was no clear direction for legislation.

A reporter in the Daily Telegraph says British missile strikes on the Assad regime in Syria could start by Thursday night. Prime Minister, Theresa May, will meet with her cabinet soon to discuss strategy. And CNN's Phil Black, is live now in London. He joins us. So, Phil, what more are you learning about the role Britain will likely play in these missile strikes in Syria?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, Prime Minister, Theresa May, has recalled her cabinet here to Downing Street, cutting short here the Easter break to discuss that very issue, precisely, what role Britain could play, and all the options. Also, what could follow, the broader strategy on Syria and so forth?

It is notable that in recalling cabinet she has not recalled parliament which suggests that she is prepared to move ahead without parliament having the final say on whether Britain could play and military role in a response to Syria's alleged use of chemical weapons. That's particularly notable, because it breaks what has become a recent political convention in this country, where Parliament does get to have the final say.

That has been the political convention ever since the Iraq invasion of 2003. That was obviously a very controversial military intervention. The aftermath, the legacy of that has even been more controversial, which is why her predecessor, Prime Minister, David Cameron, lost a vote on the possibility of striking the Assad regime in 2013. But as I say, it looks as if Theresa May is prepared to proceed without that parliamentary approval on this occasion.

In recent days, her language has been getting tougher, she's been talking about the need for accountability and also deterrence from the further use of chemical weapons. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We will now work with our ally, our closest allies, to see how we can ensure those responsible are held to account and how we can prevent and deter the humanitarian catastrophe that is the use of chemical weapon in the future. Because a continued use of chemical weapons cannot go unchallenged.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACK: So you mentioned, British media reports suggest that British submarines are being move into position from which they could strike with cruise missiles. That is one capability that Britain could offer, another are fighter bombers based likely out of Cypress. But as I said, these are the things that will be discuss by cabinet today and it does appear that Prime Minister Theresa May wants to get this cabinet approval and be ready to move with the United States without going to British parliament for its final approval, Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Our Phil Black, keeping abreast of developments there at 10 Downing Street, where it's 8:34 in the morning we thank you very much.

Across the Atlantic, Donald Trump has fired off a tweet aimed squarely at Russia. CNN's Barbara Starr, reports from the Pentagon.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Trump now using Twitter to promise an act of war, tweeting, Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready, Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and smart. This is the President who repeatedly said, he would never telegraph

military moves in advance.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: America's enemies must never know our plans. I will not say, when we are going to attack.

We no longer tell our enemies our plans.

[03:35:06] STARR: The President's startling tweet catching allies and the Pentagon by surprise. A spokesman told CNN, the department does not comment on potential future military actions. But Defense Secretary, James Mattis said the military is on standby.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We stand ready to provide military options.

STELTER: U.S. Intelligence agencies are locking down the final assessment of what chemical agent Syrian forces used.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're still assessing the intelligence.

STELTER: The next key decision, what targets to hit. Airfields, helicopters, chemical storage sites or escalates and hit Assad's regime including government targets in Damascus. Satellites and other U.S. Intelligence aircraft are now working closely for signs that Assad, as well as Russian unit are using the advance notice to move aircraft, weapons and personnel out of the way of a potential attack. But Russia also has a key military move, it will likely play.

JAMES CLAPPER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: The Russians have the air defense capability employed in Syria that they could be a threat.

STELTER: Moscow now knows to aim its radar and anti-air missiles toward airspace over the Mediterranean. European aviation authorities are already warning commercial airliners of possible missile strikes in the Eastern Mediterranean in the coming hours. The U.S. hopes to get French and British aircraft in ships to be part of the strikes.

The U.S. has two surface ships and possibly unacknowledged submarines off Syria, ready to fire satellite-guided highly precise tomahawk cruise missiles, the very type of smart missiles the President tweeted about. The Russian foreign ministry quickly on social media keen in on the President's use of the phrase "Smart Missiles" with a warning and a question. Smart missiles will destroy all evidence of chemical weapons used on the ground.

The Russian perhaps not so suddenly suggesting evidence could disappear. Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEO)

CHURCH: CNN military analyst, Rick Francona, joins me now to talk more about this. Thank you so much for being us. So, early Wednesday, President Trump warned Russia in a tweet to get ready, because new smart missiles will be coming. Even though Mr. Trump has previously criticized any telegraphing of military intentions, let's just listen to what he has said in the past. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I don't want to tell the enemy how I am thinking. Does that make sense? Surprise. Remember they use to call it, the element of surprise.

I keep saying, whatever happened to the element of surprise?

You know, I've been saying, the element of surprise.

We're too predictable. We need to be unpredictable. We have to be unpredictable.

We want to be unpredictable, folks. We want to be unpredictable.

We have a President that gets up and said, we will attack them here. We're going to leave here, we're going to leave -- this guy gets up and tells everything whatever we are going to do. Why can't he just keep his mouth shut?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: So why is the U.S. President now doing exactly what he criticized President Obama for doing, removing any element of surprise, and telling his enemy how he is thinking and what he intends to do.

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I think, he just gets caught up in the moment and he can't help himself. Telling the Russians that we're going to -- we'll be attacking them with new and smart missiles is not a good thing to do. It also raises the question is, who are we actually going after here? Are we going to punish the Syrians for using chemical weapons, or are we going to punish the Russians for sponsoring the Syrians? That is not clear now. I thought the initial goal was to provide a deterrent, so the Syrians don't do this again.

CHURCH: And President Trump's National Security team will meet in just a few hours from now at the White House to discuss Syria, would you expect any decisions on a military response to have already been made at this point, given the tweet that we saw from the President and given all the time that has passed? Has President Assad benefitted from being able to prepare for whatever it is that is coming?

FRANCONA: Well, we've seen the Syrians take defensive measures. They've moved aircraft around, they changed some of the defensive posture. We even seen the Russians sorting most of the fleet that they have based in Syria, out into the Mediterranean. So they are taking defensive measures to mitigate the effects of an attack.

That said, the longer we wait, of course the longer they're on alert and it does create a bit of problem. You can't be on alert forever. I think the problem is, that United States has an idea what it wants to do, but they'd like buy-in from the French and the British. That takes time. It also takes time to move assets to the area, if this is going to be more than just a pin-prick strike. [03:40:00] And I think the longer we wait, the longer the lead time

is, the bigger the strike is going to be.

CHURCH: Interesting. And what do you make of Russia's threat to shoot down any missiles that are fired at Syria and how risky is that that this could perhaps escalate tensions between the U.S. and Russia that perhaps could get out of hand?

FRANCONA: I think that is a real concern. If you look at all of the military installations in Syria, virtually all of them, house Russian troops, as well as the Syrians and we also see Iranian forces at many of these. So you ran the risk of killing Iranian or Russian troops if you do this. The Russians of course, are believe they're within their rights by defending Syria, by defending their own troops, all this installations.

They are of course they're going to try and shoot down the missiles. And of course if we -- if we get engaged in this confrontation with the Russians, where does it end? Does it lead to a larger confrontation? Does it expand between, you know, the U.S. or a coalition of forces going after Syria or is it going to grew up into a -- a hot or a hot battle of confrontation between U.S. and Russian forces.

CHURCH: It's a nerve many, we're watching very carefully to see what the next move is. Rick Francona, thanks so much for your military analysis. We always appreciate it.

Onto another story we're watching carefully. Pope Francis has admitted he made serious mistakes in his handling of a sex abuse case in Chile. And he is asking, forgiveness from those he offended back in January, Francis stood up controversy for defending a Chilean Bishop, Juan Barros was widely accused of covering up sexual abuse in the church.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's an issue that worries Chileans, the case of the bishop of (inaudible). Do you give all your support to Bishop Barros?

POPE FRANCIS, VATICAN POPE: The day they bring me proof against Bishop Barros that is the day when I'll talk. There has not a single proof against him. Everything is slander. Is that clear?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN's Vatican correspondent, Delia Gallagher, joins us now from Rome. So Delia, what's the back story to this and how difficult would it have been for the Pope to apologize and admit he made grave errors?

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that is right, Rosemary. You know, the fact that the Pope has apologize is almost the least he can do in this situation which frankly has been a big stain on his credibility in terms of his handling of sex abuse, The letter in which he admitted grave mistakes in his judgment of the situation and asked for forgiveness from the victims was issued yesterday.

And it was prompted by a report which the Pope receive, having sent a special investigator down to Chile, he received the report in March. 2,300 pages, 64 victims interviewed in this case in Chile. The reason this is so important, Rosemary, is that the Pope appointed this man, Bishop Barros, in 2015 amidst outcry in Chile, that this bishop had covered up for sex abuse cases.

And the pope vigorously, personally defended him for three years and said accusations against him were slander and that he had no evidence against this bishop, when in in fact it transpire that the Pope's own head of the Commission for Protection of Minors, Cardinal Sean O'Malley, had hand-delivered a letter of evidence from one of this victims in 2015. And the pope failed to investigate it until 2018.

So this case is exemplary, showing that in 17 years of the Vatican attempting to put structures in place to listen to victims, to hold bishops accountable, here we are in 2018 with Pope Francis pledging their tolerance, pledging to listen to victims, and yet this case has happened, where for three years, victims were trying to be heard and indeed before that based on the testimony of one of these victims in Chile, with the bishops and priests there. And his voice was not heard until just now.

That is the reason for the pope's request for forgiveness. We don't know all of the details of that report, but we know that the pope has requested the Bishops of Chile to come to Rome to discuss the situation further, and indeed has invited some of the victims to come to Rome and meet with him personally, Rosemary.

CHURCH: That is very important, of course the big question, will his apology from the pope be enough for the victims, given some questions still remain.

GALLAGHER: Well, absolutely. Obviously the main point here is not just the apology or meeting with the victims. Some victims have already come out to appreciate the Pope's request for forgiveness. But the point is what is being done to effectively handle sex abuse cases, to listen to victims and to deal with bishop's accountability for those bishops who covered up, who knew about sex abuse cases and failed to report it.

[03:45:14] And what this case makes clear is that the Vatican is still grappling with exactly how to do that in all of these different countries around the world, and have an effective structure in place to deal with it. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Many thanks to our Delia Gallagher, joining us there live from Rome, we appreciate that.

We'll take another break here. But still to come, the officers of President Trump's personally attorney raided by the FBI. We have more details about what was behind it and what kind of legal jeopardy he could be in. And meet a Manchester bombing survivor who received a special

invitation to next month's world wedding. Back with that in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. We are getting new details about FBI raids on the office, home, and hotel room of President Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen. The president is furious about the raids which brought new scrutiny on his attorney. So how much legal hot water could Cohen be in? Our Brian Todd, tackles that question.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Michael Cohen talks about his lunch, but not his legal problems, as journalist tracked him through Manhattan. Cohen's dodge comes as CNN is learning that FBI agents, who raided Cohen's office and other properties this week, were looking for communications that Donald Trump may have had with Cohen related to Trump's infamous "Access Hollywood" tape. .

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, how are you? Hi.

TODD: "The New York Times" reports the FBI was also looking for evidence of whether Cohen tried to prevent damaging information about Trump from being revealed in the run-up to the 2016 election. Former federal prosecutors tells CNN, they believe Trump's personal attorney is in a serious legal jam.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a bizarre situation. Now if you wrote a script about this, no one would believe it.

TODD: One key question regards comments by the President last week aboard Air Force One.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you know about the payment the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels?

TRUMP: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Then why did Michael Cohen make it if there was no truth to the allegations?

TRUMP: You'll have to ask Michael Cohen. Michael's my attorney and you'll have to ask Michael.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you know where he got the money to make the payment?

TRUMP: No, I don't know. No.

TODD: Former prosecutor say they don't think Trump's comments on Air Force One precipitated the FBI raid on Cohen, but they say Trump's remarks could complicate the Stormy Daniels case against Cohen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, the national question is then, if the President didn't know about it, did he authorize it some other way, these payments to Stormy Daniels, if he didn't, why were these payments made?

[03:50:00] TODD: Former prosecutors say by conducting that raid, several investigators must have had significant evidence on Cohen and he could be a legal target.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If they decide to have enough evidence to engage, you know, in a very aggressive -- a very aggressive move, that the likelihood of Michael Cohen is going to be charged is high.

TODD: If Cohen is charged, what do you think he'll be charged with?

MICHAEL ZELDIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Most likely election violations. The payment of money, so close to the election to be an influencer of the outcome of that election.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The other charges would be bank fraud, wire fraud. Was the bank told the truth of the purpose for obtaining these funds? If the bank was not, if there are misrepresentations, there's potential bank fraud.

TODD: If Michael Cohen is charge, legal experts say President Trump could be drawn into some legal jeopardy in Cohen's case. If investigators find communications or other evidence that Trump knew about the payments to women or other sensitive matters. Cohen has told CNN that he believes in the end it will be found that he did nothing illegal, the White House has not commented for our story. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO)

CHURCH: It has been almost one year since the suicide attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England. And a girl who was at that show has received a special invitation to the royal wedding. 12 year old, Amelia Thompson was delighted to learn she had been asked to attend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMELIA THOMPSON, MANCHESTER ARIANA ATTACK SURVIVOR: I was speechless. I didn't know what to say. I was speechless. I was just like, is someone messing with me? Like, as we got into further detail, it was like, this is genuine.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Amelia's mother nominated her to be one of the members of the public allowed onto the grounds of Windsor Castle on the wedding day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She has been through a lot. She is had a rough couple of year and since then it's been really hard. We've still got contact with a lot of the families. And that is something special about it. We got our new friends, they feel like family to us, which is really nice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And as her plus one, Amelia chose to ask a woman whose granddaughter was killed in last year's attack.

Still to come, what's in that cup? A look at the quirkiest moments of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's testimony to Congress.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, found himself back in the spotlight for his second and final day of testimony before Congress. CNN's Jeanne Moos has the quirkiest moments from the hearing.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There he was.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are the face of Facebook.

MOOS: Face-to-face with all those members of Congress.

MARK ZUCKERBERG, CEO FACEBOOK: Congressman, yes. Yes, Congressman, Congressman, Congresswoman, I disagree with that assessment.

MOOS: His senate testimony the previous day had been cushier, propped on an extra thick cushion that added some height to Mark Zuckerberg's 5'7" frame, but the cushion was nowhere to seen during his House Committee testimony. Perhaps, because of all the jokes, Mark Zuckerberg, in a booster seat, looks like he is about to ask the waitress for chicken fingers and apple juice. Actually it was orange juice.

ZUCKERBERG: It takes you to form --

[03:55:00] MOOS: Lots of O.J. and even more water.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some things are striking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More regulation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That you start, in your numb -- norm room.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was a significant increase --

MOOS: There was a significant increase in difficult questions.

ZUCKERBERG: Yes or no. Congresswoman, -- Congresswoman, I believe -- UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes or no.

ZUCKERBERG: Congressman --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes or no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've got a yes or no question.

ZUCKERBERG: Well, the answer to that question is yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why should they trust you again with their likes, their loves, their lives?

MOOS: He was even grilled about ads for opioids on Facebook.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is bad stuff, Mr. Zuckerberger.

MOOS: Zuckerburger? Zuckerman?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you for coming before us, Mr. Zuckerman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Apparently Safebook -- Facebook --

MOOS: After more than four and a half hours in the hot seat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are almost done.

MOOS: The chairman teased Zuckerberg.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I suppose you want to hang around for another round of question. Just kidding.

MOOS: He got teased online for looking like a character from star trek and on late night for looking robotic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can we play the audio from that clip?

MOOS: It's enough to make the face of Facebook say, what the Zuck. Jeanne Moos, CNN.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thank the chair.

MOOS: New York.

(END VIDEO)

CHURCH: Everyone having fun with him, right? Television reporters and anchors try really hard not to make mistakes during live programs. But sometimes some of us fall short. Check out this British reporter full during an interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to have to jump into the water, actually. I got to be careful, because I have this sound pack on. (inaudible) James guy, (ph), congratulations. Oh! I didn't see the step. Inconsolable there. Just look before you get in the swimming pool. I hope you can still hear me. I had to get rather close and mind the step. You don't want to talk about me falling in the water. All the people watching here are literally on the floor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Oops, that got uncomfortably awkward there. And that was BBC reporter Mike Bushell, trying to interview British swimmers at the Commonwealth Games. Goes without saying, watch your step.

And thanks to you company this hour, I'm Rosemary Church, remember to connect with me anytime on Twitter, @rosemaryCNN. The news continues now with Max Foster in London, you're watching CNN. Have a great day.