The United States could strike Syria within hours in response of President Bashar al-Assad's chemical weapons attack this week that killed more than 80 people, NBC News reported Thursday.
Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel told Chris Matthews on MSNBC that Trump administration military officials said "something is seriously under consideration, that it could happen imminently, that a wide range of options are being presented to the president.
"This could develop very quickly, perhaps even in the next several hours," he said. "The president is leaning toward a more limited option, not a massive military campaign that would change the regime — not toppling Bashar al-Assad, not a U.S. ground invasion."
The move could most likely be "more like limited military strikes," Engel said. "Particularly, strikes against the chemical weapons capability.
"So, more of a measured response."
President Donald Trump said earlier Thursday "something should happen" in response to Assad's attack late Monday, which killed 86 people, including 28 children.
"I think what Assad did is terrible," President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to a summit meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Florida resort. "I think what happened in Syria is one of the truly egregious crimes.
"It shouldn't have happened. It shouldn't be allowed to happen.
"What happened in Syria is a disgrace to humanity," Trump added. "He's there, and I guess he's running things, so something should happen."
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said "steps are under way" to remove Assad from power.
"Assad's role in the future is uncertain, clearly," he told reporters at Mar-a-Lago. "With the acts that he has taken, it would seem that there would be no role for him to govern the Syrian people."
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