Document npLYEgLxy77QnYXZBXong1Ly1

SUNDAY BEST -- JAKE TAPPER talks to U.N. AMBASSADOR NIKKI HALEY on CNN'S "STATE OF THE UNION"-- TAPPER: "[I]s it the position of the Trump administration that he cannot be ruler of Syria anymore? Regime change is the policy?" HALEY : "Well, regime change is something that we think is going to happen because all of the parties are going to see that Assad is not the leader that needs to be taking place for Syria. So what I think you're seeing is, this isn't about policy or not, this is about thoughts. And so when you look at the thoughts, there is no political solution that any of us can see with Assad at the lead." -- SECRETARY OF STATE REX TILLERSON talks to GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS on ABC'S "THIS WEEK": STEPHANOPOULOS: "[Y]ou accept that right now, the Syrian people have no way to remove Assad. That's going to take greater pressure from the United States, from the international coalition, perhaps military pressure." TILLERSON : "Well ultimately it could, George, but we've seen what that looks like when you undertake a violent regime change in Libya and the situation in Libya continues to be very chaotic and I would argue that the life of the Libyan people has -- is not all that well off today, so I think we have to learn the lessons of the past and learn the lessons of what went wrong in Libya when you choose that pathway of regime change. So we know this is going to be hard work, but we think it's also a process that will lead to a durable and lasting stability inside of Syria. Any time you go in and have a violent change at the top, it is very difficult to create the conditions for stability longer term." STEPHANOPOULOS: "So it sounds like from what you're saying right now, there is no real change in the United States' military stance towards Syria from what it was last week." TILLERSON : "That's correct, George. This strike -- I think the president was very clear in his message to the American people that this strike was related solely to the most recent horrific use of chemical weapons against women, children, and as the president said, even small babies, so the strike was a message to Bashar al-Assad that your multiple violations of your agreements at the UN, your agreements under the chemical weapons charter back in 2013 that those would not go without a response in the future and we are asking Russia to fulfill its commitment and we're asking and calling on Bashar al-Assad to cease the use of these weapons. Other than that, there is no change to our military posture." NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER H.R. MCMASTER speaks to CHRIS WALLACE on "FOX NEWS SUNDAY" -- COLIN WILHELM: "National Security Adviser Gen. H.R. McMaster said that while the U.S. would push for regime change in Syria, 'We're not the ones who are going to effect that change.' "'What we're saying is, other countries have to ask themselves some hard questions,' McMaster continued in an interview with Fox's Chris Wallace. 'Russia should ask themselves, 'What are we doing here?' Why are we supporting this murderous regime that is committing mass murder of its own population, and using the most heinous weapons available?'" -- SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM to CHUCK TODD on NBC'S "MEET THE PRESS": GRAHAM: "Ambassador Haley just said on your program, 'You'll never end the war with Assad in power.' So that means regime change is now the policy of the Trump administration. That's at least what I've heard. So you need more American troops to accelerate the demise of ISIL. We're relying too much on the Kurds. More American forces, five or 6,000, would attract more regional fighters to destroy ISIL." WE THOUGHT HE DOESN'T TELEGRAPH HIS MOVES? -- @realDonaldTrump at 3 p.m. Saturday: "The reason you don't generally hit runways is that they are easy and inexpensive to quickly fix (fill in and top)!" -- NYT's PETER BAKER: "The Emerging Trump Doctrine: Don't Follow Doctrine": "As he confronted a series of international challenges from the Middle East to Asia last week, President Trump made certain that nothing was certain about his foreign policy. To the extent that a Trump Doctrine is emerging, it seems to be this: don't get roped in by doctrine. In a week in which he hosted foreign heads of state and launched a cruise missile strike against Syria's government, Mr. Trump dispensed with his own dogma and forced other world leaders to re-examine their assumptions about how the United States will lead in this new era. He demonstrated a highly improvisational and situational approach that could inject a risky unpredictability into relations with potential antagonists, but he also opened the door to a more traditional American engagement with the world that eases allies' fears." http://nyti.ms/2nXLY2D DEVELOPING -- "Church bombings in Egypt kill 37, wound dozens," by AP's Hamza Hendawi in Tanta, Egypt: "Bombs tore through two Egyptian churches in different cities as worshippers were marking Palm Sunday, killing at least 37 people and wounding around 100 in an assault claimed by the Islamic State group. In the first attack, a bomb exploded at Saint George church in the Nile Delta city of Tanta, killing at least 26 people and wounding over 70, officials said. Later, an explosion hit Saint Mark's Cathedral in the coastal city of Alexandria, the historic seat of Christendom in Egypt, killing at least 11 people and wounding 35 just after Pope Tawadros II finished