| | | | "I don't think anything is off the table at this point." -- US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley about possibly imposing sanctions on Russia and Iran, to CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union." | | | Haley says a regime change in Syria is inevitable | | Buzzing on the Sunday shows: US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said removing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power is a priority -- an extraordinary U-turn in the Trump administration's stance on the embattled leader.
Just days after the United States launched military strikes on a Syrian air base in response to a chemical weapons attack widely blamed on the Assad regime, Haley said Assad's departure was inevitable. But before Tuesday's chemical attack, Haley had said toppling Assad was not a priority. Before he was elected President, Donald Trump described fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and seeking Assad's removal at the same time as "idiocy."
"Getting Assad out is not the only priority," Haley told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union." "So what we're trying to do is, obviously, defeat ISIS. Secondly, we don't see a peaceful Syria with Assad in there. Thirdly, get the Iranian influence out. And then finally move towards a political solution, because, at the end of the day, this is a complicated situation, there are no easy answers, and a political solution is going to have to happen." | | What about Russia and Iran? Haley said nothing "is off the table" when it comes to imposing tougher sanctions on the two countries siding with the Assad regime in Syria. Her comments come after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told lawmakers he would look into stepping up sanctions on both countries.
What happens next? Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is scheduled to visit Moscow this week to meet with his Russian counterparts -- a meeting that comes after the Russians have only intensified their support for the Assad regime, and opposition to US action there -- after this weeks' news. On Sunday, Tillerson said he plans to ask them about their commitment to ensuring Syria has no chemical weapons.
"That will be part of the discussions when I visit Moscow next week, is to call upon Foreign Minister (Sergey) Lavrov and the Russian government to fulfill the obligation it made to the international community when it agreed to be the guarantor of the elimination of the chemical weapons," he told ABC's George Stephanopoulos on "This Week." "And why Russia has not been able to achieve that is unclear to me." | | | President Donald Trump spent his Sunday at what appears to be his favorite course, Trump International Golf Course, in West Palm Beach, Florida. This was his 16th visit to a golf course since becoming President and the 10th weekend that he has visited a Trump property since taking office. | | What's next for the GOP after Obamacare? | | CNN's Lauren Fox and Phil Mattingly write: House Republicans spent five weeks trying to repeal Obamacare. For their troubles, they didn't pass a bill, but instead ended up with eroded trust within their own ranks, with President Donald Trump and with their leadership that threatens to plague the GOP in the months ahead.
House Speaker Paul Ryan repeatedly said the transition from opposition party to governing party was inevitably going to be difficult. "Growing pains," Ryan called it. It won't get easier. Even as Ryan said flexibility had been built into what, by all accounts, was an ambitious legislative agenda and calendar, there are no easy wins on the horizon.
The deadline for funding the government is April 28, when the current spending legislation expires. Ryan and his colleagues working on tax reform are clear-eyed about the haul ahead on that front. A major infrastructure package -- a Trump priority -- is rife with ideological landmines. And there's still health care. On that, Ryan made clear Thursday, conversations will continue -- even if he implicitly acknowledged that the consensus they need is far from a sure thing.
Now, lawmakers have two weeks at home to think about what went wrong as they spend the spring recess back in their districts. | | 4 things you might have missed today | | ISIS claims responsibility for Egypt's church bombings: ISIS claimed responsibility for bombings that killed 43 at two Coptic churches in Egypt on Palm Sunday -- strikes against a vulnerable minority on one of the most important days on the Christian calendar. More on that here.
US aircraft carrier-led strike group headed toward Korean Peninsula: A US aircraft carrier-led strike group is headed toward the western Pacific Ocean near the Korean Peninsula, a US defense official said. The move of the USS Carl Vinson strike group is in response to recent North Korean provocations, the official said. More from CNN's Ryan Browne.
K.T. McFarland to leave NSC for Singapore ambassadorship: K.T. McFarland, the one-time top deputy to ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn, has accepted the US ambassadorship to Singapore and will likely leave the National Security Council in the coming months, a senior administration official told CNN. More from CNN's Dan Merica.
Steve Bannon's worst week: CNN's Chris Cillizza writes that Steve Bannon, President Donald Trump's chief strategist, has watched his power within the White House steadily shrink, an erosion that culminated this week when he was removed from the National Security Council and his battles with Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, spilled into the open. Read his analysis here. | | | A pair of veteran liberal leaders call on Hawaiians to vote Rep. Tulsi Gabbard out of office after the Democrat questioned whether Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was responsible for last week's chemical attack. ... Republican Sen. Marco Rubio says Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is espousing a Syria policy that might be doomed to failure. ... Coal country's message to President Donald Trump: We want jobs of the future. | | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Check out Five Things for Your New Day, CNN's morning newsletter. Give us five minutes, and we'll brief you on all the news and buzz people will be talking about. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
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