Turkey's prime minister is charging that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons against its people and has called on the U.S. to take stronger action, he told NBC News' Ann Curry in an exclusive interview Thursday.

"It is clear the regime has used chemical weapons and missiles," Turkish premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

Erdogan gave no specifics about when and where the weapons were allegedly used, but he said he believes President Obama's "red line" for the U.S. in deciding whether to take action has been crossed.

"It has been passed long time ago," said Erdogan, who is meeting with Obama on May 16.

"We want the United States to assume more responsibilities and take further steps. And what sort of steps they will take, we are going to talk about this."

Erdogan cited as evidence the "remainders of missiles" — at least 200 by his count — that he believes were used in chemical attacks, along with the injuries of Syrians brought over the Turkish border for medical treatment.

"There are patients who are brought to our hospitals who were wounded by these chemical weapons," he said.

Erdogan rejected any suggestion that the rebels might have used chemical weapons.

"There is no way I can believe in this now. First of all, how are they going to obtain this? And who will give this to them?" he said.

"But if it exists, we are against this...We are against whoever holds the weapons."

A member of the United Nations' commission on Syria claimed this week "strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof" that the rebels has used sarin gas, but the panel quickly backed away from those claims -- adding that it had "not reached conclusive findings as to the use of chemical weapons in Syria by any parties to the conflict."

The White House — which has said it has varying levels of confidence that sarin was used on a small scale in Syria — quickly threw cold water on the suggestion that the rebels were to blame.

Erdogan said he could not confirm that sarin was used in Syria. "We don't have such a finding yet," he said.

Asked whether Turkey would support a U.S.-enforced no-fly zone in Syria, Erdogan said, "Right from the beginning...we would say 'yes.'"

He denied that Turkey has provided military support to the rebels but said his country has spent nearly $1 billion on aid to 300,000 refugees from Syria.

"We keep the open door policy because they are fleeing oppression." Erdogan said.

Erdogan said he has heard reports that Assad's wife and children have already left Syria, their lives "ruined" by him.

"The thing he should do now is to leave Syria," he said. "Sooner or later, the opposition are going to get him."

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story included a response from Erdogan to a two-part question about whether he would support a U.S.-enforced no-fly zone and American troops in Syria. The translator only asked Erdogan about the no-fly zone, however, and the story has been changed to reflect that.

A woman who had adopted three children but wanted a fourth hatched a "wicked" scheme, forcing her 14-year-old daughter to get pregnant with donor sperm, a British judge has ruled.

The teenager apparently miscarried her first pregnancy and inseminated herself six more times before she finally had a baby boy at age 17, the ruling said.

After hospital midwives became suspicious, the plot was uncovered, and the mother -- described as an American divorcee living in Britain -- is serving a five-year term for child cruelty.

The case dates to 2011 but was sealed and details were only released after the media challenged restrictions. The family members' names were withheld by court order.

High Court Judge Peter Jackson's ruling said the woman at the center of the case -- who had undergone sterilization for health reasons, according to the Guardian newspaper -- was blocked from adopting a fourth child.

She purchased sperm over the Internet from a Denmark-based company, Cryos International, and convinced her oldest daughter -- then just 14 years old -- to inseminate herself with syringes, the judge wrote.

The teen told authorities that she believed if she did it her mother would love her more.

“My mum is a very determined person and she does her best not to let anything get in her way if she wants it,” the girl was quoted as saying.

The mother was hoping for a girl and had the teen use concoctions of vinegar and lemon juice and adhere to a special diet in the hopes of influencing the gender of the child.

The court said it was likely the girl got pregnant quickly and then suffered a miscarriage. After she gave birth in July 2011, hospital staff became alarmed when the baby's grandmother tried to stop her daughter from breastfeeding the newborn.

"We don't want any of that attachment thing," she reportedly said.

The woman tried to leave the ward with the baby, and child protection was summoned. The teen and her siblings were put into foster care.

In his ruling, Jackson said he was writing with "an abiding sense of disbelief that a parent could behave in such a wicked and selfish way towards a vulnerable child."

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Gregorio Borgia / AP

Pope Francis waves as he is driven through a crowd in St. Peter's Square prior to the start of his weekly general audience on Wednesday.

Twenty million Americans consider themselves lapsed Catholics, but Pope Francis is convincing many to test the holy waters again with his bold gestures and common touch.

After years of disenchantment with the church's hierarchy and teachings, former members of the flock say they are willing to give the Vatican a second chance under new leadership.

Dallas teacher Marilyn Rosa is one of them.

"It was a sign," Rosa, 57, said of the Argentine Jesuit's election as pontiff last month. "It was like a miracle."

Born and raised Catholic, Rosa attended parochial schools and had a church wedding for her first marriage. Over the years, she drifted away from the religion that had been such an integral part of her Puerto Rican family's life.

She questioned the relevance of church policies in the modern world. As a divorced woman, she felt cast out. The pedophile-priest scandals disgusted her.

Three years ago, she quit going to Mass and joined an evangelical church. But she didn't feel at home and she started to wonder how she could fill the void.

"The day the pope got elected, I turned on the TV and when I learned he was Latin, I went crazy at home," said Rosa.

"When they started to talk about how he lived by himself and didn't move into the archbishop's residence, how he took the bus to work, I said, 'I know God is talking to me. This is the man we needed.'"

On Palm Sunday, she and her second husband "reverted," attending services at Dallas' St. Pius X Catholic Church.

"It was packed. I had to stand up the whole time. But I felt so happy. It was like a revival," she said.

Ron Feldman

Father Peter Mussett of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Center in Boulder, Colo., had five people tell him they were returning to the faith in a week because of Pope Francis.

Rosa has kept going to back to St. Pius, encouraged by what she's seen of the pope: from the simple white robe he wears to his rejection of the opulent papal apartment in favor of a spartan guest house.

"He's not letting himself be controlled by the rest of the church," Rosa said. "He's his own man."

Embrace of poor, emphasis on service
It's unknown how many others have joined Rosa around the country and globe and the vast majority of lapsed Catholics have not been enticed back. In the U.S., that's a huge pool of potential "new" members for an institution challenged by secularism and rival religions.

A 2009 report by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life estimated one in 10 adults in the U.S. was raised Catholic but has broken with the church. Its teachings on abortion, homosexuality, birth control and treatment of women were often cited as reasons.

Pope Francis hasn't given any hint of radical change on those issues, but his man-of-the-people persona is appealing to some of the unfaithful.

Tom Peterson, president of Catholics Come Home, which airs ads aimed at the lapsed, said his website traffic tripled the day of the election, adding several thousand visitors. It's been double ever since.

Some interest could stem from the hubbub surrounding the selection of any pontiff, but Peterson thinks Francis' "love for the poor and his humility is exciting people to a great extent."

Father Peter Mussett, pastor of the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Center, which serves the University of Colorado at Boulder, agrees.

Slideshow: Pope Francis: His life before the papacy

Marcos Brindicci / Reuters

Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina was elected to lead the Catholic Church following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. 

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"I had five people in a week who were saying, 'Pope Francis has inspired me to return to my faith,'" he said. "It's pretty remarkable."

Brian O'Neill, 48, an Irish-American cop from Washington State, went to Catholic elementary school and a Jesuit high school but hasn't practiced since graduating from a secular college. He says that could change soon.

The Vatican's stance on social issues, along with the gilded lifestyle of some higher-ups previously drove O'Neill away. Francis' embrace of the poor and his background as a service-minded Jesuit might bring the father of two back.

"I was shocked and amazed when he started doing those things -- you know, 'No Popemobile for me,'" said O'Neill, who wrote a column for his local newspaper about possibly returning to Catholicism.

He said that while Francis' views on church teachings might still be far from his own, his election heralds change.

"When the church says that's the guy we're going to put on St. Peter's throne, that says enough about where the church wants to go," O'Neill said. "Will I go back? I'm planning on it -- if I can find a good service."

'He's another retro pope'
Last weekend, when he was formally installed as bishop of Rome, the pope used the opportunity to appeal to defectors, urging them to come back to the fold.

The News Tribune (Tacoma)

Brian O'Neill, a cop and father of two from Washington state, is a lapsed Catholic who is considering returning to the church because of Pope Francis.

It will take more than an invitation for Kathy Budreski, though. The 70-year-old left Catholicism after the abuse scandal and has been attending a Unitarian church in Cape Cod.

She was heartened to see the cardinals pick a pope from South America, and loved seeing Francis hug a little boy with cerebral palsy after Easter Mass but says he's not a progressive.

"He has a big heart and he loves the poor people, but he's not going to do anything to change the stance of the church on birth control and gay rights," she said.

"I don't see him as a mover and shaker. He has some wonderful qualities but he's another retro pope."

Slideshow: The election of Pope Francis

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Cardinals from around the world gathered in the Vatican to elect the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

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VICE via Reuters file

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and former NBA star Dennis Rodman watch an exhibition basketball game in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Feb. 28.

North Korean media calls Kim Jong Un "the greatest-ever commander." Dennis Rodman says he is "a normal guy."

Neither description seems fitting, but little is known about the third-generation leader now locked in a showdown with the U.S. and South Korea that some fear could lead to war.

Before Kim took over from his father, Kim Jong Il, he had barely been seen in public. And even though he's been in charge for more than a year, there's been only a trickle of information about his personality and habits.

The most recent details about the man threatening to send missiles to the U.S. come from Rodman, who made a trip to Pyongyang earlier this year. Here are some tidbits about Kim that have emerged outside the North Korean propaganda machine:

He shares a birthday with Elvis Presley ... maybe: Kim has been reported to be somewhere between 29 and 30 years old. But Kenji Fujimoto, a sushi chef who worked for his family until 2001 and later wrote a tell-all, claims he was born Jan. 8, 1983 — the same date as The King.

KCNA via Reuters file

Kim Jong Un and wife Ri Sol-Ju last July.

He has a first lady: North Korean media revealed Kim was married last July when it announced his fashionable female companion at the opening of an amusement park was his wife, Ri Sol-ju. No one is certain when they tied the knot or whether they have children. South Korean media say she's a former cheerleader and singer. 

He was educated in the West: Kim attended a state school in Switzerland from 1998 to 2000, posing as a diplomat's son named Pak Un, according to the Washington Post. "I never saw his father or mother," Principal Peter Burri told the paper. Another official described him as "well-integrated, diligent, ambitious." Kim reportedly later attended the Kim Il Sung Military University in Pyongyang, named after his grandfather.

He's crazy about basketball: He idolized Michael Jordan and was no slouch on the court himself. One high-school buddy described him as "explosive" and a "playmaker." Another said he was fiercely competitive: "He hated to lose."

KCNA via EPA

Kim Jong Un and his iMac.

He's brand-conscious: Teenage buddies recalled he had a collection of expensive Nike sneakers. A recent photo of him plotting military action against the U.S. showed an Apple iMac computer on his desk. His wife supposedly carries a Dior clutch, though some think it's a knock-off.

His hairstyle is unsanctioned: North Korea reportedly has 28 "recommended" hairstyles for its people. Kim's 'do — shaved on the sides, floppy on top — is not among them, according to a Hong Kong TV network that obtained photos of the approved looks.

He's a song-and-dance man: High-school classmates told London's Daily Telegraph his favorite song was "Brother Louie" by the German pop duo Modern Talking. Rodman told London's Sun that Kim digs 1980s disco. "There was an all-girl band playing and we were definitely getting down," Rodman said of their visit.

KCNA via Reuters

Kim Jong Un looks at a photo of his grandfather Kim Il Sung last month.

He's a heavyweight: South Korea's Yonhap news agency has reported that after the 2004 death of his mother from cancer, Kim went on a drinking and eating binge, ballooning to almost 200 pounds. He remains plump in a country ravaged by famine and suffers from diabetes and hypertension.

He's a chip off the old block: Kim looks so much like his grandfather, national founder Kim Il Sung, that North Korea's official news agency had to deny rumors he had gone under the knife. Analysts say he hoped to model himself on his grandfather, who was more liked by his people than Kim's much-feared father.

Slideshow: North Korea's young leader, Kim Jong Un

The youngest son of Kim Jong Il succeeded his late father in 2011, becoming the third member of his family to rule the unpredictable and reclusive communist state.

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