I feel it's important that in advising the president, if confirmed, that I deal with facts, that I deal with sufficient information. Which means having access to all information.

I think the President Donald Trump was quite clear in his statement that he made to the American people that Syria's continued violations of U.N. resolutions and previous agreements that Syria had entered into regarding the Chemical Weapons Accord would no longer be tolerated. I think we have stood by and watched multiple weapon - chemical weapons attacks by the Syrian regime under the leadership of Bashar al-Assad.

Our priority in Syria, really hasn't changed. I think the President Donald Trump has been quite clear. First and foremost, we must defeat ISIS.

We've seen what violent regime change looks like in Libya and the kind of chaos that can be unleashed. And, indeed, the kind of misery that it enacts on its own people.

I think the Russians need to think more carefully about the commitment they made under the chemical weapons agreements to be the guarantor that these weapons would be seized, they would be removed, they would be destroyed. And since they are Bashar al-Assad's ally, they would have the closest insight as to the compliance.

I think continued actions by Bashar al-Assad clearly call into any question of him expecting to have any legitimacy to continue as the leader of Syria. With each of those actions, like attack with conventional weapons, barrel bombs and block humanitarian aid he really undermines his own legitimacy.

We are making tremendous progress that ISIS really does present to the homeland and to other homelands of allies around the world.