>> we have some video into our newsroom over the last one hour. what does it show? may be a battle assessment to get a sense of what was destroyed. some of these air strikes come you may not even look like description, that is where i will be tonight and tomorrow. >> great to have you, ainsley, travel safely. >> we'll be watching you this weekend. >> bill: here we go, breaking news from overnight as the u.s. strikes cereal with tomahawk missiles, president trump ordering the action in response to eight suspected nerve gas attack by the syrian president on his own people from earlier this week. it was efficient, quick, and now we await the fallout. as we say good morningto you. even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack. no child of god should ever suffer such horror. tonight i ordered a targeted tonight i ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in syria from where the chemical

attack was launched. >> bill: this could be a game changer in the u.s. relationship with syria, not to mention russia. story still developing, here's what we know at the moment. the u.s. fired 59 tomahawk missiles from navy ships in the eastern mediterranean. about 28 syrian aircraft were destroyed. none of those aircraft able to take off and escape. all of the destroyed syrian aircraft were jets and not helicopters. there were no russian airplanes at the airfield at the time, in the russians were given about an hour notice before the attack. >> shannon: chief white house correspondent john roberts is alive at the presidents mar-a-lago resort in palm beach with the very latest. what is the reaction from the president this morning? >> good morning to you. according to a senior administration official i talked to a short time ago, the president is pleased with both the execution in response to the air strikes against syria last

night. according to rex tillerson who briefed us last evening, the response has been for the most part very, very good, a lot of support, particularly among our allies around the world and the company around the region, clearly iran not happy about it, the foreign minister tweeting out this morning that this was another bogus attack -- rather an attack against bogus claims of chemical weapons, the same as 2003. clearly this rattled the cage of iran. russia not happy about this, and clearly syria but not be happy about this as well. the united states went to great lengths to try to minimize the casualties here according to hr mcmaster, national security advisor, who briefed us last night saying that the targets were very, very carefully chosen to minimize casualties, particularly third-party casualties. you can read russians into that. as well as being very careful not to hit that depot that was holding those chemical weapons. there was some grumbling for

members of congress who believe the president should have came to them first for an authorization for this strike. senator marco rubio of florida does not agree with some of his colleagues, this is what he said just a short time ago on "fox & friends." >> we don't have 535 commander-in-chief, we have one peer number two, this is not a declaration of war, not a commitment of significant ground troops over an extended period of time. this was a strategic attack and an exigent circumstance, in the president has have the ability to act. that is his role as commander-in-chief is to protect our national security interests. >> secretary of state said late last night in the briefing that this proves the president is not afraid to take action when governments and actors cross the line. hr mcmaster, national security advisor said they weighed the consequence of action with the consequences of inaction. the calculation came down on the side of taking action as it did last night. >> shannon: actually, it is shannon here in d.c. the president is going to meet with chinese president xi in a

few hours, how does this play into that conversation? >> it sets the table and an interesting way. don't forget one of the big issues he wanted to talk to the premier of china about was this issue of north korea and what it is doing in terms of its nuclear weapons program and its missile program, saying he was going to lean on xi to use china's influence against the leader of north korea appeared he said in an interview with "the financial times" last week that if china did not come to the table and help out, the u.s. would take action on its own. the secretary of state yesterday, when he gave that impromptu briefing, said he is calling on china to take notice of what north korea is doing whr authority on that u.s. security council or new leaders of china, china can be part of a nw strategy to end north korea's reckless behavior and ensure security, stability, in an economic prosperity northeast asia.

>> not likely we are going to hear from president trump or president xi today, but if this goes according to the way many of these go, it is likely we will get a communication from both countries and then there's good potential we will have background briefing later to tell us what went on during these bilateral meetings. >> shannon: we will count on you to keep us updated. john roberts, thank you. >> bill: let us give our viewers an area of what we were talking about, tricky to the north on the northern border. capital city damascus down here in the south. this is the province where the chemical attack took place a few days ago. this is where we believe the jets that carried the chemical weapons were carried from here we have an eastern mediterranean, two navy destroyers, the uss porter and the uss ross. it was on board these destroyers that 59 tomahawk missiles targeted that airbase and to devastating effect based on some of the images we are getting so far today.

general jack keane had a long night with me last night, now chairman of the institute for the study of war and fox news military analyst, thank you again for coming back here. >> glad to be here. >> bill: we rely on you heavily for a lot of this as we go through it. there is a statement that russia's state-of-the-art different system was not deployed when we fire the tomahawk missiles. if that is not true, what would that suggest? >> certainly the russians got warning. this is not the first time they received a warning from us. when we conducted air strikes in and around aleppo going against our al qaeda affiliate, we gave head up for that, so that worked out so we can deconflict our operations, russians do not want to get in a fight with the united states, that is for certain. they never in my judgment ascertained the thought of interfering with this attack whatsoever. >> bill: what happens now, general when you move to the next day where we have arrived now? you have a position on behalf of vladimir putin that needs to be analyzed, what does assad do

next, up to 1,000 service members on the ground in syria? what do you believe is chapter two in this story now? 's >> a couple things have happened as a result of this appeared first of all, remember, diplomatic action can be very credible and influential when the threat of the use of military force is credible. president trump just established that credibility, so we have discussions going on with president xi. now he has to deal with the reality when president trump says to him, you are forcing me into a corner here, if we do not do nuclear rise north korea, i may in fact have to use singular action, that is an incredible statement that gives our diplomats more leverage to accomplish what they are trying to achieve politically. this is good news. with putin, tillerson has leverage going into his

discussions with him last week that he did not have the previous week. that is because of this strike tonight and the credibility of the president of the united states who is not going to stand for any killer in the world using wmds becoming normal and the road, and that gives us leverage. >> bill: tillerson will be in moscow on tuesday of next week. do you believe militarily speaking this is it for now, or is there more to come tonight at nightfall? >> i think this is it. i think the message has been sent to assad into putin, who is his enabler as well as the iranians, at no more wmd attacks on the syrian people. that is still assad's choice, to be sure, but i suspect strongly that putin probably one, was frustrated by the fact assad did it, and and two, does not wantm to do it again. obviously the president of the united states does not want him to do it again. assad will continue to kill his

people, though, using conventional bombs. >> bill: but the message has been delivered for now with regard to chemical gas. correct? >> absolutely. >> bill: thank you, general peer jack keane, do not go far. thank you, 10 minutes after the hour, we have a big lineup today. >> shannon: we sure do, we will hear from senator john mccain and a minute, chair of the armed services committee. senators ted cruz and michael lee also joining us for the next hour, chris called the mike wallace, bret baier and former investor to the u.n. john bolton. a lot of these folks were probably up most of the night adjusting the news and we are glad to have them with us. >> bill: more headlines to come, we are waiting for news from the president down in florida and could get reaction from the u.n. from nikki haley peered back to our syria coverage in a moment, but we are also watching significant developers on capitol hill today. we are only hours away from the vote that will confirm judge neil gorsuch on the u.s. supreme court. after senate majority leader mitch mcconnell and republicans invoked the nuclear option for the first time in american history regarding a

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>> bill: as you expect, a ton of reaction pouring it after the u.s. missile strike in syria. shannon and i spoke to one of the most influential voices on

military affairs just a few moments ago. pence senator john mccain is the chairman of the armed services committee, we thank you for joining us today. busy day. your colleagues are all over the map on the same the president acted swiftly, decisively, justified, others are saying this is unlawful, he needed to come to congress. what say you? speak i say that the president was establish a long time ago when ronald reagan struck libya after there had been a bombing h killed americans. i believe the president of the united states has the authority to carry that out. there is a much larger issue of the authorization of use of military force which will be boring and take too long. i am all for that. but this president reacted to events which were so horrific that it required american reaction, and i believe that not only was the act itself important, but the signal that it sent to the world from president trump was as importan

important. >> bill: senator, bill hemmer and new york, is this it for now or do you expect more strikes tonight? >> i would not expect more strikes, but i would hope that we would reinvigorate our support for the free syrian army, establishment of a no-fly zone, and move forward. this is important, and it is important signal, but it is the beginning of a departure from the failed policies of the last eight years, and you're not going to repair that overnight. the other point i would like to make really quick is that the president showed me that he has interest in what i believe is the stratus national security team assembled. i was not sure, frankly, whether he listened to them or listened to others. i think it is very clear that he values their advice and counsel, and this action is a result of the collective wisdom of some of the wisest people i have known. >> shannon: here domestically and internationally, those who are praising these efforts and strikes are saying that it is only the first step.

it has to be a conference of strategy, they have not seen one yet from president trump, how do you think that plays out? >> to a large degree, some of it has been formulated such as taking raqqa and mosul, but we have a lot more work to do. i do have confidence in this team and putting that strategy together. it has only been, however many days it has been, and i believe they can peered i would not have waited on this. the fact the president reacted as rapidly as he did rather than the usual washington consultations, all of that kind of thing, was also important. >> bill: however, senator, the reality is this. and working this out as you do so well, assad is still in power and for the foreseeable future. russia is still on the ground. so are a thousands american special ops in the eastern part of syria. what comes next in an extremely

twisted international plot? >> i think what comes next as you said, arming and equipping this free syrian army, moving forward with taking mosul and raqqa and creating safe havens for these refugees and do that step-by-step. you have the isis problem, that is mosul and raqqa, and long-term isis come in their short term, you have bashar al-assad committing war crimes peer those are war crimes. it is unacceptable. the rest message to russia is we are not going to stand by while you support a person who is committing gross war crimes in the use of chemical weapons. it is complex, difficult, and there is a long way to go. real quick, it's a long way to go, but this beginning had to happen. >> bill: he saw what happened in libya with qaddafi, you know that in a vacuum in the middle east, jihadi through less

largely filled out vacuum. if you had to take that side down, who is the next leader? all of the people you've been chasing for years, what comes of them? >> if you take a bashar al-assad, you've eliminated one of the worst were criminals and recent history. then you have the hard work. you mentioned libya, we walked away from libya, and that was disastrous consequences. learned that lesson. don't walk away. you've got nationbuilding. you've got democracy to try to instill peered you have to help restore their economy. the places are in ruins. it is a hard slog and very unglamorous, but you have to plan for that. but for bashar al-assad's to stay in power in used chemical weapons against innocent civilians is an unacceptable situation. this is the end of the beginning, not the beginning of the end. >> shannon: senator, what does this do with our relationship with russia? no surprise there was negative reaction from iran and russia that continues to today but

russia saying that this has damaged our relationship and ability to work together with regard to resolving syria. >> remember when we went into coast evoke? the russians complained. vladimir putin is an old kgb colonel, he understands force, that is all he understands. he is hell-bent on expanding the russian empire. when he is faced with reality, we are a stronger nation and steadfast leadership, he's not going to challenge that. ukraine right now, what we need to send a signal to him, give them defensive weapons to defend themselves. again, back to my hero and a lot of peoples, ronald reagan, peace through strength. the president of the united states last night showed strength. >> shannon: senator john mccain, always good to see you. thank you for coming in. >> bill: while that is happening, this is happening overseas, more breaking news, this time in stockholm, sweden, reports of a large truck being driven into a crowded shopping

area. there are reports of several injuries. that is all we know right now. it is developing. more from sweden as we get a quick break here. back on that after this.

>> shannon: we are getting numerous initial reports about a large truck being driven into a crowded tracking area in stockholm, sweden. we are told this is a very heavily populated area with pedestrian traffic, a lot of shops, a lot of commerce in that area. there are reports of several injuries. we are trying to get some things confirmed. we will keep on that story and bring details as soon as we get more. >> bill: also, watching this, another fox news alert, the senate is back in session a few moments from now, and they are expected to vote around 11:30 a.m. eastern time on supreme court nominee judge neil gorsuch.

all this happening after the republican majority employed the so-called nuclear option, changing senate precedent to allow this confirmation with a simple majority vote. senator mike lee, republican member of the senate judiciary committee with me now. senator, good morning to you. in two hours, gorsuch will be confirmed, how does the senate change the moment that happens? >> the senate does not change, the supreme court does. we've been dealing with the same precedent since november of 2013 when then democratic majority in the senate decided to take this nuclear option, decided to change senate president in order to allow debate to be closed on the executive count, meeting in the context of the confirmation of presidential appointees. to a simple majority threshold. >> bill: how many democrats will vote in favor of neil gorsuch's today, do you believe? >> i believe there will be about four. we are happy to have any and all democrats who want to support him. disappointed it is not more than

that. it is an eminently qualified judge, judge that had the privilege of arguing in front of the assistant judge, i had the opportunity to question as a member of the senate judiciary committee. i don't think there has ever been a more qualified supreme court justice in our history. i think he will join the ranks of role models on the court like justice alito for whom i clerked, justice thomas, and i think he will be a great successor to justice scalia. >> bill: that appears he would get around 55 or 56 yeas today, you agree on that? democrats have been defiant, they are upset about merrick garland from last year. it appears they are getting a lot of pressure from the left. they might be raising a lot of money from the left as well. what is ultimately, do you believe, the justification for chuck schumer and the defiance they have shown? >> they have an ideological

difference. they want to use the court, perhaps, for different reasons than just deciding cases. what we have seen in recent decades is a move among certain members of the supreme court of the united states in the direction of deciding policy rather than just interpreting the law. deciding cases on the basis of t just outcome as they perceive it rather than on the basis of what the law actually requires. the difference there between what liberals want to accomplish for the court and what conservatives would like to see as we just want to see the court to be a court, not an engine for social change. that is upsetting to some on the left. >> bill: i'm going to turn your attention to syria. i know you've been watching develop in late last night into the early morning hours. what do you think is important for your constituents in utah and the american viewers watching this to understand about what has happened thus far? given the commander-in-chief's decision to hit that airfield. >> first of all, i think the american people understand that there is a constitutional obligation anytime we are giving

involved militarily in a foreign conflict for the president of the united states to come to congress and make the case as the people's elected representative in congress as to why we should be involved in war. the constitution of the war powers resolution gives a little bit of wiggle room there. a president can order a discrete strike, but there is a short shot clock on that that the president needs to come to congress to make the case to the american people. not just to follow procedure -- >> bill: that may come another day. but as for today, do you support the decision he made? >> it is impossible for me to evaluate that completely. i don't have all of the facts yet. i don't have the intel the president had when he made the decision. i look forward to getting that information. >> bill: is there a chance he would disagree with this decision? >> sure. i am a firm believer that any time we get involved in something like this, we've got to have a clear plan in mind. that plan needs to be linked to making the american people safer rather than just some abstract

concept, abstract point we are trying to make. i trust that the president and those close to him have the ability to make these decisions in a way that will enhance the safety of the american people. >> bill: the ideas he is sending assad a message from you cannot use chemical weapons on anyone at any time. is that the message being received? >> i understand that point. we do have to have a plan as to what is going to happen. i look forward to hearing what the plan is. in other words, we need to know if the plan is not to topple assad we need to know what the post assad cereal would look like, how are we going to get there and how it's want to make the american people safer. >> bill: make you for coming in today. mike lee, republican from utah, thank you, sir. 9:30, back to shannon in washington now. >> shannon: senator rand paul is one of those that demand that president trump go to congress for approval for military action and syria. we're going to ask senator ted cruz about that and just a moment, but first hear it's senator marco rubio on the

commander-in-chief. >> made it clear that as a human being, as a grandfather, as a father, donald trump was deeply impacted by what he saw in addition to acting on behalf of the national security of the united states. he acted decisively.

>> bill: nonclinical 33 in new york, want to bring you back to this update on the breaking story out of stockholm, sweden. they are reporting that three people are dead after a large truck pot into a crowded shopping area and stockholm. the swedish broadcaster says that shots have also been fired. all of that unconfirmed to us here at the fox news channel. screen left, however, some of the first images from our sister network, sky news. you can see several people running down what appears to be a rainy cold day in sweden on the main road. late in the afternoon and stockholm, we are watching the story for more. again, there are reports of fatalities. we have not confirmed that, but we are watching the story for more out of sweden so standby

for more on that as it develops. in the meantime, fox news alert, u.s. plunging nearly 60 missiles against syrian targets as payback for an alleged syrian government sarin gas attack on civilians earlier this week. this was the reaction in the dead of night, eastern mediterranean, air strikes nearly destroying a syrian air base, making it harder for assad redeem to deliver anymore chemical weapons and possibly ground the aircraft for a time. pentagon also saying the strike was a one off and there are no plans for more action. jennifer griffin live at the pentagon, she was at her post all night, joins us now with more from there. what are you hearing? >> we spoke this morning to two senior defense officials with direct knowledge of the strike. the pentagon is still doing the initial battle damage assessment. here's what we know so far. 60 tomahawk missiles were launched from two navy destroyers and the eastern mediterranean. we now know one of those

tomahawk's failed and likely fell into the sea. about 20 syrian aircraft were destroyed at the shayrat air base, none of the syrian jets managed to take off inescapable for the missiles at the target. we are told there were no russian aircraft at the syrian airfield at the time of the strike. pentagon officials say they gave the russians when our heads up before the missiles hit the target in order to minimize casualties. also noteworthy, this strike was against fuel depots, ammunition storage and aircraft, making it difficult for assad redeem to launch another chemical weapons attack from this site, but not impossible. we also know more about the launch itself. the two destroyers, uss ross and porter, launched the tomahawk cruise missiles from a position south of cyprus, the first missile launched at about 740 eastern time, it took 30 minutes for both ships to launch the missiles, some loitered in the air, circling overhead the target, we are told, and then an hour later, at 8:40 eastern, all

59 missiles hit within 2-3 minutes of each other. i am told this tomahawk e or eco version is the latest model and has two way satellite communications allowing the missile to be reprogrammed in flight if necessary. each vessel carries a 1,000-pound warhead, costs $1 million apiece, and unlike using a conventional bomb, these tomahawk's, we are told, do not make a creator when they land. that means that the runway at this airstrip could be used again soon after minor repairs. however, no aircraft fuel or ammunition this airbase has essentially shut down for the time being paid pentagon officials tell us chemical weapons have been stored at this base in the past. the pentagon says the plane that carried out the chemical weapons attack tuesday took off from this shayrat base peer the military tracked its flights by radar and released this image as proof. fox news is told the mission is now complete, there are no more

tasking to shoot more muscles but there are remaining tomahawk's on board each destroyed appeared western intelligence sources tell fox the syrian chemical weapons unit responsible for the attack tuesday is called unit for 50, and it is led by syrian brigadier general hassan. three years ago, he was sectioned by the u.s. government, but so far, he has not been brought to justice. these images we are showing you of him are the first time that we have seen pictures of him. they were provided to us by western intelligence. >> bill: great reporting after a very long night, thank you, from the pentagon they are back to shannon in washington. >> shannon: for more on this, let's bring in senator ted cruz, member of the armed services committee appeared good to see you this morning. >> good to be with you. >> shannon: overall, there's been a positive reaction but in the senate, tim kaine, former vice president nominee said that congress will work with the president by his failure to seek congressional approval is unlawful. on the house side, josie gabbert

said it is shortsighted and will lead to more debt civilians in y strengthen al qaeda and other terrorists, what is your response? >> listen, syria is a humanitarian disaster. it is a total mess. the honest answer is there is no good answer to syria right now, after eight years of obama's broken redlines and weakness, we have seen syria turned into a war zone that has resulted in hundreds of thousands of refugees and chemical weapons, it is a bad situation. that being said, the authority to declare war under the constitution is given to congress. the commander-in-chief acted last night, and i look forward to president trump in making the case to the american people, making the case to the people of congress to see what further military action should be taken if any, they are folks in congress that went to cs and protracted military involvement in syria, i think that would be a mistake.

if it is the commander-in-chief's prerogative to defend this nation and congress has the authority to do that. >> shannon: you think he had the constitutional right to do what he did last night? >> it's been long accepted that the president can respond to exigent circumstances and immediate threats, there is a difference between a single strike in his exigent circumstance versus engaging and prolonged military conflict, some have called for maintaining a no-fly zone. i think that can be very dangerous. i think that invites conflicts with other nations. assad and syria are puppets of russia and iran. one of the real dangers, bashar al-assad is a monster. he has used chemical weapons to murder innocent men, women, and children. it would be even worse if those chemical weapons fall into the hands of radical islamic terrorists, if they fall into the hands of isis, al qaeda, and

that is one of the really important reasons why congress has the authority over declarations of war to ask these questions, to make sure military action should be directly tied to the national security interests of america. >> shannon: ready go right now with russia? it's been a complicated relationship. early on, it supporters that he was too close and fighting over president putin, now the russian say we broke international laws and cannot work together in syria. we have crossed the line now where do we go with russia? >> i think putin, and for that matter, bad actors across the globe, the only thing they respect his strength. with eight years of barack obama as president, what we saw was a weak president whose word did not mean anything. our friends did not trust us, and our enemies did not fear us. i will say that i am encouraged in the opening months of the trump administration about foreign policy and national security. the team that has been assembled

as an an excellent team. secretary mattis is a legendary war fighter. general mcmaster in the national security council is a very, very well respected strategist. i think for dealing with russia and putin, having a strong president who putin has reason to fear, i think that is a step in the right direction. >> shannon: within a couple hours, you have an important vote to make witches on supreme court nominee judge neil gorsuch. i am reading headlines and articles and press releases saying that the senate is dead, pronouncing it dead, because you went nuclear, meting out supreme court nominees will only need 51 votes to get past a filibuster. do you worry that the minority, whichever party it is in the future, is going to have lost a critical tool? >> i think we need to stop for a second and reflect on where we are and what is going to impact history. ten years from now, 20 years from now, 30 years from now, we will still be having an ongoing

impact. today, we are going to confirm judge neil gorsuch to the u.s. supreme court. that is the manifestation of a promise made to the american people over a year ago. you and i both remember where we were in february of last year since justice scalia was found dead peer he was a line of the law, a hero and someone we both knew well. so that transform with the last election into a referendum on the supreme court. it was an election millions of conservatives across the country, myself included, showed up at the polls principally to protect the constitution, to protect that seat for justice scalia. president trump promised to nominate principled originalist constitutionalist in the mold of justice glia who we hunter promised liberal judicial activist who would undermine the constitution and bill of rights. judge neil gorsuch is a manifestation of that promise

and that is really important for the long-term liberty of this country. >> shannon: exit polling showed it clearly was a top issue for people who decided to show up regardless of how they felt about the two candidates, they felt strongly about the court. any clue how quickly he may be sworn in? we know the president is in mar-a-lago, the chief justice potentially, any insight? >> i don't know for sure. there is often more than one swearing-in, there is often want to allow someone to go to start doing their job, in a more ceremonial swearing in and the rose garden with a lot of pomp and circumstance, so we may see that. it's going to be very quick. one of the reasons was that judge neil gorsuch could be there in time to vote on decisions as you know, the supreme court term typically ends at the end of june, big cases usually at the back end, and we do not want the court deadlocked 4-4 pure judge gorsuch twill be there to break the ties where there are ties. i'm sure they are holding cases

for him. that was important. the reason we care about this is because the supreme court has the ability either to protect our fundamental rights, protect free speech and religious liberty and the second amendment or to undermine those amendments which is what they would have done if hillary clinton had put an activist on this court. today is the day to celebrate. it is also a day to recognize that the republican majority in the senate did its job despite unprecedented democratic filibusters. >> shannon: there was a ton of pressure because i remember from february 13th of last year until now, it was the one thing i thought, no matter who of you i talked to on the senate and g.o.p. come here were committed to sticking together, and today is that bearing the fruit on that. we will be watching the vote, thank you so much for making time for us. >> thank you, good to be with you. >> bill: want to get back to this update on what's happening in stockholm, sweden. there are reports of fatalities after a truck struck a shopping district and stockholm, and some of the images we are not

getting, swedish broadcasters saying that shots have been fired as well peer from home and toward which a target, we don't know, but this is an image, one of the first we are getting from our sister network sky news working the story. it is late in the afternoon, just a bit before 4:00 on a friday and stockholm, sweden. remember it was just about two weeks ago when the vehicle went into parliament in london. last july, think about the big refrigerator truck and nice, france, at the end of this liberation of the steel, the 14th of july. isis has committed gated online to encourage these relatively simple attacks. this could be another one just like it. it bears the hallmarks but none of that right now is confirmed. sky news is on it. we will dip in there any moment when they come back to the broadcast to figure out what sort of images and facts we can gather now from this story. if we have that broadcast, go ahead and bring it up. if not, i will tell you what we know because we don't have much at the moment. it was just a bit before 4:00 in the afternoon.

appears to be what would be a common pedestrian shopping mall perhaps in central stockholm. apparently, this truck came to rest at a department store. whether that was the target or whether that was the endpoint is something we do not know. i mentioned the attacks that we have washed over the past 12-18 months. catherine herridge has been watching all of that develop as the strategy on behalf of the jihadi plural ideas paid what o you have on the story? >> and the last few minutes, i've been speaking with a home and security official that they are monitoring the situation as it unfolds and stockholm, sweden. no one has any information to indicate it is terrorism, but the indicators here seem self-evident, the use of a vehicle as a weapon against civilians, and then also these reports of shots fired, if that is correct, it speaks to some

level of coordination. the other factor that has the attention of counterterrorism analysts at this hour, and again this story is just unfolding, is that we have had two significant communications from isis this week. we had the eighth edition of their magazine which is like the "inspire" magazine for al qaeda, the how-to guide for attacks, and we also had isis through its cyber operations issue a new list of individuals they called those who were eligible for death or they kill list, about a thousand people in the u.s. and the u.k., so that is certainly in the chatter appeared whether it is connected, we do not know at this point, but certainly, this event has the attention of homeland security here in washington. they are monitoring the situation and also going back through their intelligence streams to see what if anything may be consistent with what is unfolding in that city. >> bill: we are watching the image of this truck appeared clear that was its final destination, department store.

these reports of shots fired, that leads you to think about a few other things. was the person driving the truck armed or was there a police officer alerted or a security official guarding a story that was alerted that unloaded a gun to try to prevent more? see typi do not want people to draw this conclusion because we are really early into this, but what we have typically seen or the profile and these attacks is the individual has hired a rental vehicle or hijacked a vehicle and are usually armed and after they have the site of impact, the crowd or department store or a parade, they've been go by foot to then launch a second round if you will, using a firearm. i just want to draw people's attention to a larger issue. years ago, when i first began covering this area which is now going on 25 years in fact, i was

given a piece of advice, and it really rings true in these situations which is that terrorism is like water. it takes the path of least resistance. as we have shored up security and some areas, terrorists have moved to others in order to evade that type of security. the latest iteration of that is the use of vehicles as weapons. again, we have not reached that conclusion in this case, but certainly be characteristics that would fit that profile are evident on the screen right there. >> bill: the point you make about the last edition of this publication they have from isis to encourage, yet again, more evidence possibly for encouraging people that are living now and stockholm, sweden, and other european capitals and possibly here at home. >> we have to see if it syncs up, but i am just laying out the data points, two big announcements from them this week and then this. >> bill: thank you, sky news is now back on the air. let's drop in. >> they are invested getting the possibility that this was a

terrorist attack, but not confirming that it is so pew no confirmation of gunfire, little earlier, we were speaking to a local journalist who was suggesting that there were perhaps two incidents ongoing in the city at the same time. there is always a degree of confusion at times like this with people moving from one area to another. however, no word beyond what we've had from the police thus far, but we know that at least two people have died. in the pedestrian area, a truck traveling at speed going into a shopfront, little surprised that there have been two fatalities. >> clearly at this stage with all of these kinds of incidents, people don't want to necessarily relate to a bandwagon food that has a vehicle used, vehicle-based attack, this of course reminds us of events on march 22nd and nice, but it is fair to say that the swedish

public service television stations are reporting they are being told that they are treating the incident as a possible terror attack. we cast our minds back to march 22nd here in the united kingdom. there was a major terror incident involving one man, a vehicle, and a vehicle which was plowed into people on westminster bridge. then, of course come he got into the grounds of the palace of westminster, and at that point, it was said by islamic state they were not saying they were responsible for it, but they had inspired this man. so what that man was shot dead by security services at the scene. the sense being that using a vehicle to carry out this kind of attack is a sort of modus operandi which has been inspired by islamic state and we have seen it put two effect of course and nice and also in

berlin. >> a little earlier, i spoke to peter, a local journalist, and he provided us with a bit of insight into exactly what has been happening there but also just exactly what the conditions are like on the streets of this pedestrian iced area in central stockholm. >> the very latest is that it has been confirmed, as you mentioned, and a lorry has been driven into a department store in central stockholm on this friday afternoon, in three people have been killed, armed police have cornered off a major area. unconfirmed reports say that the lorry driver first drove into people on drottninggatan which is one of the main central streets in the city. mainly pedestrian street, the main shopping area of central stockholm. it then drove into the big department store, and swedish radio, public service both report that at least a three people have been killed in the incident, and news just coming in of shooting in another area in central stockholm.

it is a 20 minute walk away from drottninggatan. so that is just coming in, reports from people. >> it appears there may be two separate incidents ongoing and stockholm? >> these are two separate areas in central stockholm. we have information regarding the shooting and the other district in stockholm just coming in. >> at this time of day, this truck has headed into the department store, how busy would central stockholm be? you mentioned this as a pedestrian area. >> it is a pedestrian area and the main chopping district and central stockholm so a lot of people would be there on a friday afternoon. no vehicles driving at that place usually. >> the latest we are hearing from swedish police is that there are many injuries. that is not surprising to you, how would a vehicle have gotten into that pedestrian area?

are there barriers are security measures? >> there are barriers, but we don't have exact details about that. it is the same area where we had a terror attack five years or some seven years ago. where no one was killed, but police have not said this is a terror attack, they look at the situation very seriously. >> in london, people are very used to seeing armed police, security barriers particularly in and around parliament. what is the level of security on the ground and stockholm? and in the swedish capital? >> you cannot really compare to the situation in london. of course, there are police and the city, but not in the way we see in london or in paris, so it is a different situation here. >> it would not be the case that the pedestrian area as frankie happens impeding much every city in the u.k., -- >> not with heavy machine guns

or anything. >> bill: our news reporting from central stockholm, some of the reports from them confirm what we've been picking up over the past 25 minutes or so, pedestrian shopping mall, the main shopping mall and central stockholm. so popular in western europe as well. reports again of three dead, the driver driving into the main pedestrian area, eventually coming to a stop and ramping right up into the shopping store that you see in the upper right-hand corner. reports of shots fired. we cannot confirm that. also reports of yet another incident ongoing and stockholm, another part of the city. we cannot confirm what is happening there as well, but the evidence on screen seems to suggest that stockholm, sweden, has been hit by yet another terror attack in the central part of that city. we are back on this story in a moment out of stockholm where it is almost 4:00 in the afternoon on this friday.

>> shannon: as they continue to scramble there, we will get you more details as we get them paid the other big story we are following now, president trump taking major action against syria overnight, launching missiles that nearly destroyed a syrian air base, chris wallace, bret baier are on deck with more coming up.

>> shannon: reports of shots fired and three people dead as a truck drives into a crowd in sweden. the latest mayhem coming just hours after president trump took decisive and dramatic action in syria, dozens of tomahawk missiles pounding as a response to the horrific chemical attack on civilians. a support quickly pouring in from allies around the world. look up to a busy brand-new hour of "america's newsroom hq," i am shannon bream and for martha maccallum in washington. >> bill: good morning to you, i am bill hemmer. the president sent a pointed message to punish assad sending the message the military strike

and motion about hosting the president of china and florida. president donald trump denouncing the gruesome gas attack while announcing the missile strike late last night. >> no child of god should ever suffer such horror. tonight i ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in syria from where the chemical attack was launched. it is in this vital national security interest of the united states to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons. >> bill: that from mar-a-lago late last night. want to get the latest now, connor live on the border between syria, what are we learning more about these strikes? >> we understand according to both the syrian estate tv and russians that there were several

people killed including seven syrian soldiers at this base. it's a base that was home to both syrian planes and also russian planes, however according to pentagon officials, they are saying there were no russian planes damaged. we are getting multiple reports or different reports about how many syrian jets were in fact damage. syrians are saying only six or so of the jets were in fact damaged by the pentagon telling our team in d.c. about 20 or so were damaged. all of these projects, none of them are helicopters. this is the side that donald trump in his administration say was used to launch tuesday's chemical attack, and this is where the jets took off from and returned. so that is the reason this case and airfield was targeted by these tomahawk missiles. the one thing we also are hearing is already syrian jazz are back up in the air and striking at rebel targets around syria, so while this was a hit against assad regime, it's by no mean a fatal blow to their

air force. >> bill: what about possible retaliation? what are you hearing and what are the possibility? >> the possible it is our a lot, actually. there are u.s. troops in syria, several thousand in iraq, and turkey, nato ally, and of course here in israel, israel is always a target for groups like hezbollah or even assad and his regime, iran could also possibly have some type of retaliation. of course, russia. this is the big question, not really clear who would retaliate and who they would retaliate against? there are a lot of act to 8 possibilities. it could be that assad redeem but when israel has struck inside syria when they believed there were weapons being transferred from assad regime to groups like hezbollah, israel has struck but the regina never responded, but it is very possible that a group like hezbollah could respond and respond against israel, they could respond against u.s. troops in syria or in iraq. there are a lot of potential

retaliation spots and groups, and allies here in the region. that is what most people in this region are fearing and watching. what will the next 24, 72, 48 hours bring? >> bill: thank you. we will be back with more developments as we get there. >> shannon: joining us now for more on this, chris wallace, anchor of "fox news sunday," good to see you today. >> great to have you here. >> shannon: is this the first real big test for the president as his role of commander-in-chief? >> absolutely. this president has talked and did starting with the inauguration in effect that there is a new sheriff in town. boy, the 77th day of his presidency is when he really sent the message, there is no role more important for a president then commander-in-chief. the contrast between barack obama, long meetings, lots of considering, some would say caution, some would say over caution, in this president who saw something, was outraged by it and took immediate, swift and

decisive action, dramatic statement that this is a different president with a different sensibility about the projection of the u.s. force. >> shannon: there are so many foreign policy fires potentially around the world right now, north korea, the middle east, so many complications they are. what message do you think this sends to the leaders involved in some of those other issues? >> i have to laugh because this is happening as president trump is meeting with the chinese president xi at mar-a-lago today. one of the issues we know at the top of the agenda is the president, president trump saying if you do not act against north korea, get them to stop their nuclear program, their ballistic missile program, i will. that is a direct quote from him. you think that maybe has a little bit more residence after they had dinner, past the potatoes, by the way, i am launching 59 cruise missiles into syria. you have to think that whether it is xi about north korea, putin on various issues involved

there, iran, this is a strong statement. this is a president who will, yes, he will consider, yes, he will meet and look at all of the options, but he will act which is not always of the you could say about barack obama. >> shannon: there are many who say this message is as much for syria as it is for russia and for iran because it has become such a proxy over there. >> absolutely. i thought it was very interesting. this president has taken some heat for being overly friendly, overly understanding about vladimir putin, and you've got the statement from the secretary of state yesterday because, of course, supposedly, all the chemical weapons were gone. russia had guaranteed that. rex tillerson said last night, either russia or is complicit or incompetent, so that charm offensive with pollutant and the -- putin seems to have ended. >> shannon: there have been questions about what the overall strategy will be with regard to syria and hemp mapping that out

in detail. >> and my experience in the past -- i have not today looked at the law, but presidents are allowed to take action. i think there is a 90 day window in terms of announcing things for a single discrete action like this, the launch of missiles on one base to respond to a specific attack, i don't think he is in any trouble. if he were to continue a big campaign, and there is no indication he wants to do that, but let's say there is retaliation, and he begins to really move against assad regime, he probably would have to do that. this has been an issue under the war powers act, under great dispute for decades. i remember ronald reagan doing it back in the '80s. generally speaking, presidents go to congress when they feel they need to or want to or are sure they will get support. if it was just this discrete action, i think he is in pretty good shape. >> shannon: quickly, we know some of the guess you have this weekend but a barely there is a surprise as well. >> i cannot fully disclose it,

but we are going to have a top administration national security official, exclusive interview. someone you all know. it has not been locked down in announced yet, but we will have that interview on sunday in addition to others. a >> shannon: i will not tell my audience about here great to you. >> great to have you back. >> shannon: good to be here. it disappeared out of the prompter because this is life to become also senator john cornyn. >> there you are. and ben cardin, the number two republican in the senate, top democrat and senate foreign relations, we will talk about their reactions to what is going on in syria, the war powers act and also talk about the big action in the senate, the nuclear option and the confirmation and how it's going to change the senate as an institution. >> shannon: it does, get to see you. >> all in all, a quiet week. >> shannon: but we will tune in anyway. thank you. >> bill: news breaking out of stockholm, sweden. more confirmation now, swedish intelligence agencies say "a

large number of injured" when a truck crashes into a department store there. the prime minister and sweden saying that every indication leads them to believe that the truck crashing in the store is a "terror attack" appeared on the phone, fox news national security and foreign affairs analyst, good morning, it appears it has happened yet again. >> it did, it did, honestly, two points here. number one, it is still an ongoing police operation, so the final conclusion will come probably in a few hours when swedish authorities will probably hold a press conference. second as we saw, governments in general and sweden in particular, they are very cautious in using words and terms and terrorism. they are getting there because they need the evidence, the legal framework but for experts who have been following this kind of type of attack, especially in europe, almost through the fact this is a repeat of what happened in nice,

other places, this is an act of terror, now we wait to see the linkage, either to isis or others, but that is too early to determine. >> bill: do you recall the most recent history of potential terror attacks in sweden? the cause for concern that has grown in that country. how would you address that? >> first of all, for about ten years, there have been any repeated attempts and attacks, it is a long list. but over the past few months, if you recall, there was a debate here in the united states and our own politics about what is going on in sweden. we have been observing and monitoring social media clashes because this is where it begins. you start to see the violence in words, that is where most of our agents observe at first including part of the chatter, then there were some incidents, but this attack is basically the

plan, things that have been scouted, we will learn more about the facts, but any expert will tell you this is a copycat of what is happening now across europe, and one more point here is that it seems that they, whomever they are, have discovered the weak points in sweden and europe and probably in the west in general. they can use knives and trucks. >> bill: it is relatively simple. reports of three dead. that has not been confirmed by some images we are getting online right now, i would just describe them to you. it appears there are black blankets, orange blankets in the street where some sort of monorail train would run through the shopping district, people could get on and off to enjoy a day of shopping, but not on this fate delete my day. if these blankets are covering that of human remains, the fatality report we are getting will get confirmed pure or not going there yet because we cannot confirm it on our own. however, sir, it is apparent that isis has tried a chicken medicate with its followers in

western europe, here in the u.s., canada, the u.k., london that we saw two weeks ago to encourage them to use this relatively cheap and easy form of terror. get a truck, get a car, drive it into a crowd. it is a frankly that simple. >> it is that simple, but horrific at the same time. remember what isis has for us in the west, europe and the united states and canada. you have standing guidance, it goes almost back to it 2014, 2016 with the reaction against isis. they asked their supporters, the jihadists around the west two act. a second, there is more specific guidance to potential jihadists in those countries to use everything they can, in the synthesis method possible including cars, trucks, knives, anything that we cannot detect. we cannot detect all cars, it we cannot detect what is in the

mind of the individual. >> bill: sadly, you are correct. thank you. jumping on the phone there at the last minute, walid phares, r terrorism analyst taking us through the story and stockholm, sweden. we'll get back there in a moment and gather more information and bring it to you the viewer at home. >> shannon: more on our other big breaking story today, the u.s. strikes on syrian targets. what impact is all of this going to have on u.s. relations with russia? ambassador john bolton will weigh in on that. and we are awaiting a vote on supreme court nominee judge neil gorsuch. will the fight over his nomination have a lasting impact on the senate? to senators, both sides of the aisle, will join us live. ♪

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>> bill: here's the latest from sweden, and prime minister apparently talking and stockholm says one person has now been arrested after this deadly truck attack at a department store in stockholm. further, the swedish intelligence agency is saying that they have a large number of injured after the truck crashed through a crowded pedestrian mall on a friday afternoon. also, there are reports of fatalities. at one point, police were suggesting as many as three could be killed as a result. we're just trying to piece this together and get the images and the reports and as quickly and as accurately as possible. our sister network sky news is working this, and we are as well. more in a moment from stockholm when we get it here on a busy

friday morning for "america's newsroom" ." >> this president reacted to events which were so horrific that it required an american reaction and i believe that not only was the act itself important, but the signal that is sent to the world from president trump was as importan important. >> shannon: u.s. strikes in syria raising new concerns about relations with russia. president putin continues to support president assad and condemns the u.s. strength. it spokesperson says "president putin considers the u.s. strikes against syria and aggression against a sovereign government in violation of the international law and under a far-fetched pretext." this step i washed and is causing significant damage to russian-american relations which are already in a deplorable state." john bolton is a former u.s. ambassador to the u.n. and fox news contributor. a lot to unpack here. first of all, back to the attack earlier this week, what do you

make of the timing, why now? >> i think assad may have thought he could get away with it. he certainly had for several years under the previous administration. i have to say, there were also some statements by senior administration officials and we had to accept assad and power, that was kind of the inevitable. i don't know what the cause was, it may have been a test, but the president's response was exactly correct. he identified a threat to american national security, that is the breach by syria of this obligation under the chemical weapons convention. i think whenever an anti-proliferation treaty like that is violated, american security is definitely implicated. >> shannon: we saw the statement there from dmitry peskov, he said syria and its government have no chemical weapons, partnering that deal they brokered. a >> look at the performance of russia and syria. if you want to know what it is like to cut deals with russia in syria and the arms-control

world, i've had some experience, this is what you get from russia over and over again. ask them if they are in violation of the intermediate range nuclear forces agreement which they are and we have seen multiple times, no. how about the new start treaty and compliance over there. the russians we suspect themselves have violated the chemical weapons convention. this is what you get when you make a deal with the russians and the arms-control area. i think it is a learning experience for the new administration. >> shannon: senator mccain, you heard him say this was a signal to the road about how he's going to operate, last eight years. >> i agree with that, if you look at the capitals of america's adversaries and potential adversaries around the world, iran, north korea, elsewhere, they are scratching their heads this morning saying maybe we need to change our calculation here. i think a hollywood script writer could not have come up with a better script than the president orders an attack on syria, and then sits down for president xi, what a

conversation starter. >> shannon: absolutely, in those conversations continue as they need to talk about north korea, role that china could play but has not played as north korea steps up their aggressive behavior. >> china has been skittish for this for 25 years, they say they don't want north korea to have nuclear weapons but they've never done what they have the unique ability of doing which is squeezing the redeem here they are afraid, and rightly that if they squeeze too hard, the ridging will fall peer that is what i am waiting for. i think there is a deal with china to unite the two koreas, the division of the peninsula and 1955 wasn't supposed to be temporary, this is a great time to talk about it. >> shannon: i always imagine from the minute do neck humanitarian side, the north korean people to see the rest of the road as it waits for them and the freedom that would be there. we will see if we get steps closer to that, get to see you, ambassador. >> bill: the commander-in-chief now with his most public military decision to date, and is it ever. how is this playing out going

forward? bret baier from washington on the people he hasn't spoken to this morning. we'll talk to him in a moment. first, senator marco rubio from a bit earlier. >> up until this point, they figured we can do whatever we want and nothing will happen to us other than some nasty letter from the u.n. now they understand that very well could be consequences. let's take a look at some numbers:

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saying 20 syria jets were destroyed. they will believe that at least seven syrian soldiers were killed in the strikes peered bret baier, host of "special report" on late last night and back with us. good morning to you. let's talk syria, who have you spoken to this morning, and what are they saying in the early hours? >> i walked to the mike talked to a few senior officials who described the process is really orderly it was quick. they said the decision-making process and laying out the options happened as it should have.

i also talked to a number of ambassadors, and they had said that the reaction around the world is one of strength right now. most said flat out that they thought this was a good move for president trump, and it sends a signal that the u.s. in fact will not allow chemical weapons to be used. it also since the signal that perhaps president trump may act in north korea if things do not change on the ground. that obviously as you've been talking about is key as he meets with the chinese president. >> bill: i think about the leader from saudi arabia who was there just in the last month. i think about your interview with the president of egypt earlier in the week, king abdullah from jordan who was in washington as well just two days ago. these are all sunni leaders who have wanted assad to get out for a long time. under the previous administration, they've been given the stiff arm a little bit. now this administration has embraced them. i'm wondering how that changes the dynamics on the ground when

you consider benjamin netanyahu and israel in the south west of syria as well, how do you see that? >> i think that is a key point. those meetings really laid the groundwork for coalition that is saying that they really want to work with president trump and his administration. all of them full throated support for the president and his look at the middle east, believing he can do big things. remember they were all frustrated as you point out with the obama administration, namely that the obama administration put iran at the center of its geopolitical focus. now these arab nations, these golf estates would like to separate russia from iran, and they would like to move forward with some solution in syria. they think strength like this perhaps gets them to the table and enables that negotiation to really happen. >> bill: that lays out the framework for an entirely new relationship in that part of the world. "wall street journal" writes today, i will get your reaction in the end, quote now.

"with his message delivered both and missiles and a presidential address at the podium and his private residence in florida, president trump faces difficulties his predecessors and other world leaders have grappled with for years. now what?" that is a big question throughout the day. >> wright, now watch? what you heard from second tillerson is their plan. it is to project strength much like ronald reagan mentality, but get to the table and perhaps say where you listen to russia saying that it is not necessarily assad we are not stuck on him, they probably would like some other alawite leader in the same tribe, but get to some dramatic solution in syria so that the entire region can move forward. i think what is interesting is how russia and iran react to this and what we see today and in coming days from any kind of retaliation. >> bill: excellent points they

are. i quickly went to pivot to stockholm if i could. it appears it has happened yet again. a person has been arrested. we are waiting on the identity of that person for this is a significant story hitting a western capital city on a friday afternoon, busy pedestrian mall. possibly three called my killed, and many others injured. just talking to catherine herridge last hour, this is now a weapon of choice on behalf of isis. as they grow out of the areas of eastern syria and mosul that under such siege and pressure that they are now trying to communicate as best they can and as effectively as they can with jihadi or less in america, western canada, drive a car, drive a truck to inflict terror whenever you can, and that is what they have done. >> it is devastating and is the weapon of choice now as catherine has most direct mention. the magazine that lays out the how to focuses on this vehicular

homicide, this attack using trucks and vehicles. i think you're going to see more attacks like that because it is easy. they are always open to it. i think it's interesting the swedish put out a statement saying american citizens should be away from this area, namely that i think targeting americans is going to be key for isis in the wake of the actions and that stepping up going after isis and iraq in syria. >> bill: also department of homeland security is monitoring all of this out of stockholm. the prime minister in sweden has plotted a terrorist attack already. thank you, you're going to have a busy day today. thank you for taking some time. more now as we break from the hill. >> shannon: u.s. senate is preparing for a big boat today petey can see there now to senator john mccain. they are going to be confirming u.s. supreme court nominee neil gorsuch. mccain on the floor supports the nomination, maybe not how they got to the point but in a moment, you will hear from two

senators, one from each side of the aisle. they will join us live to give us their take on how long the battle scars from this fight are going to last.

>> shannon: we are awaiting the start of a confirmation vote for judge neil gorsuch, ultimately it will mean he will be on the supreme court. the senate is expected to begin the process and the next hour with the vice president presiding. we see there now live, utah republican orrin hatch on the floor, chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel is live on capitol hill to tracking all development spirit are leading republican saying before we get to the final vote today? >> good morning, they are praising judge neil gorsuch and sound excited to get him confirmed after a bruising fight. the final confirmation vote will take place on the senate floor about one hour from now, leading republican say that judge gorsuch is a very fight judge, very fine man and the opposition to him really had nothing to do with him. as you mention, vice president mike pence will be in the chair

presiding over this confirmation vote. he will not be needed as a tiebreaker, but obviously confirming a first supreme court justice will be a huge moment for a new administration. as for democrats, they are expressing some regrets. saying that this will make the supreme court a more partisan plays, make the senate a nastier place, delaware democrat senator chris coons do not express concern about the so clute nuclear option it was sick with regret about the damage done to the senate appeared he said there was too little discussion of the lasting consequences of the so-called nuclear option. but republican say democrats were not going to accept any trump nominee for the supreme court, so they were forced to take this action. >> shannon: mike emanuel, busy morning there, we will check back in with you, thank you very much. >> the authority to declare war under the constitution is given to congress. the commander-in-chief acted last night, and i look forward to president trump making the

case to the american people, making the case to congress about what further military action should be taken if any. >> bill: senator ted cruz a little bit earlier today on "america's newsroom" supporting the decisive military action in syria, but how wide is the support now? ohio senator rob portman, republican on the foreign relations committee, minnesota senator amy klobuchar, ricky democrat on the rules committee, i look at both of you here to america due to "america's newsroom" "america's newsroom" ny has turned out to be a significant date of news, good morning. they will befall senders at 1:00 today. senator amy klobuchar, will you be there for that and do you support the action that has taken place overnight? >> i most certainly will be there. i think hitting that base which was the source of both chemical weapons, that atrocity directed at young children was an outrage. i think it was the right thing to do, but that being said,

going forward, i believe we should have an authorization of military force if, in fact, they are going to have additional actions taken. i am sure we will be discussing that today. i believe it was the right thing to do. >> bill: it is described as a one-off comedy think that is the case? >> i don't know p that is why we will have their briefing today. >> bill: senator portman, will you be there in ndu on record support president trump's decision from overnight? >> of course i will be there and i think it's important to hear from general dunford, but we need a strategy. i think this was inappropriate and measured response to an atrocity particularly given the fact that assad's are brazenly violated the 2013 agreement that was just reached. a russian-led agreement at the united nations that said they had to get rid of all of their chemical weapons. i think this was an important day and measured response. i think we need a strategy which is what we are looking for, longer-term strategy for dealing with syria and the region, to deal with the violence that is going on there but also the

refugee flows that have threat not only our national security but the national security of so many of our allies. >> bill: these are big issues, senator mccain described the hit on qaddafi on behalf of ronald reagan, you hit the target then pulled back then see if that is the case with the other big story happens in about 50 minutes. that will be the vote and confirmation of judge neil gorsuch to the u.s. supreme court. senator klobuchar, why is neil gorsuch so unacceptable to so many democrats? >> i think part of this came out through the hearings. you look at the recent analysis by "the washington post," they actually found him to be more conservative than justice scalia and many of his opinions. so there was a difference of philosophy here. i think what is very important is that we go forward, that we keep that 60 vote threshold for legislation so that we do not just destroy the senate. but senator chris coons was talking about there with the use of the nuclear option and our concern of the impact that is going to have on the judiciary

moving forward. in my state, i am proud we have republican presidential appointed judges and democrat appointed judges, all of whom have been professional and have a lot of good experience. we want to continue that moving forward. >> bill: you heard his hearings, two days worth, you've met with him privately. is he really that far out of the mainstream? >> i felt that he was out of the mainstream. not really and how he interacted personally. i had a very good conversation with him. but when you really look at his record, things like throwing out the chevron decision that justice scalia firmly embraced, 13,500 cases, i'm not going to relitigate the whole thing today, but there were some real concerns. >> bill: you were saying this was not pressure from the left or your constituents, money raising effort on behalf of liberals in other parts of the country be you are denying that? >> i went into this with an open mind. was i angry with what happened with merrick garland >> president trump: yes, i was. but i have supported other nominees i thought were more in

the mainstream philosophically that the president might have nominated? i would not have chosen them first, yes, i would have supported them, so this was really just about his views, and the reason we are here today is to say that moving forward, we still think there is ample opportunity for people to work together on legislation and other things that are very important. >> bill: it appears 3-4 senators that are democrats will vote for neil gorsuch, so the whole nuclear option has literally been blown up in front of you. how does the senate change after today? >> he will win a bipartisan majority of the united state senate and take his seat on the supreme court appeared as you know, i think he is incredibly well-qualified. to the point that he is not mainstream, i agree on a lot, but we disagree on this pair 97% of his cases were unanimous as part of a three-judge panel. almost always involving judges that were appointed by democrats and republicans alike. in the majority, 98% of the

time, only one of his decisions even went to the supreme court to be challenged. that one was affirmed. i think he is incredibly bright and qualified and experienced, and he has the right kind of person to have on the court. >> bill: we expect that court in 15 minutes p a third topic to both of you. you are pushing president trump to put pressure on the chinese president to stop synthetic opioids from coming into the u.s. and a crackdown as they are made in china. senator portman, what can president trump do on this common issue he campaigned against frankly in places like new hampshire and ohio? >> it is outrageous and totally unacceptable that you have these poisons being produced in china, in laboratories in most of it comes from the law enforcement then sent by the u.s. mail system into our communities. this poison affects all of our communities now pit in ohio unfortunately, we are at the tip of the spear, probably the number one state of the country

but every state is affected. amy klobuchar and i have worked on these issues together for years and we have a new legislation called the stop act that sensibly let's require the post office to have the information at the other private carriers have said law enforcement can find these packages and keep this poison out of our communities and of course, the president should raise this with president xi because china has the opportunity to shut down these labs and to make illegal b's chemicals go into making fentanyl. this is the new synthetic heroin that is just devastating. >> bill: change one molecule, you have to track it down again. senator klobuchar quickly on this. are we making progress or is this still the scourge that has been described in the past? >> senator portman and i and two others lead a bill last year on opioids so we are starting now to have a national blueprint for the country to really take this on to minnesota, we've lost everyone from prince to superstar two teenagers rural areas. it is a scourge, especially in the heartland of america in rural parts of our state.

so what we would like to focus on is one prescription drug monitoring so people cannot dr. shop and keep getting drugs to feed their addiction then getting these illegal drugs off our shores, and that is what the bill is about. >> bill: wish you both the very best on that effort. thank you for your time today. amy klobuchar, rob portman, democratic and republican senators together on that issue at least. incorporated you. >> shannon: always good to see bipartisanship where the two parties can work together. the president taking foreign policy in a new direction with u.s. air strikes in syria. how is this going to affect america's standing in the middle east? that is next. a hotel room, i want someone that makes it easy to find what i want. booking.com gets it. they offer free cancellation if my plans change. visit booking.com. booking.yeah.

>> shannon: president trump taking military action against syria after years of what he called failed attempts to change president assad's behavior. joining us now, nationally syndicated radio talk show host dana loesch and by selling dr. joel rosenberg who was at

the white house this week for meetings with the egyptian president. going to start with joel because you know someone, you know this region better than many people, what does this do? >> first of all, it was not at the white house, it was a private meeting, but separately, it was a huge moment for the president because you cannot allow as a superpower come you cannot allow terrorist states to use weapons of mass to show action, to kill children or anybody. so you have a situation in which the world only superpower has been awol for the last eight years. we drew a redline on chemical weapons and we bailed. so the president has to reassert american authority, but this has to be the beginning of a process. it's not the strategy or goals yet, he needs to develop them and start a systematic process in syria. >> shannon: can you give us a sense of how the syrian people, the people in the region are feeling? they are so many outside actors

with the russians, iranians, the u.s. >> you can sum this up in one word, suffering. the people of syria are being slaughtered by assad with putin's assistant, ron, we are talking about half a million people dead. millions upon millions are running for their lives. we live in israel, and it is surreal. we've got a border with a genocidal country. the rest of our neighbors are deeply concerned, king abdullah was just here in washington. he had been calling for the removal of assad. president abdel fattah el-sisi was interesting because he has not called for the removal of assad but he clearly wants to work with the president. that is what he told us in this meeting. he said, i want to work against radical islamic terrorism and we need a strong egyptian and sunni alliance against these types of threats. >> shannon: i want to bring in dana, politically, ready think this has the greatest impact? the president appears rather decisive when it counts.

>> i think that is the big take away with this. i think even some of the trump's detractors were really surprised last night by the swiftness of this action. i think it does show a level of decisiveness that we have not seen. in the past eight years. it shows that trump is willing to enforce obama's redline. remember obama drew the redline in the sand and then nothing much came of that. i think it is amazing objects that he has done it at mar-a-lago, having dinner with president xi and all this was taking place then he bit him good night, and this is everything that is happening the rest of the evening and this morning. it shows he can multitask. really, he's enforcing obama's redline pit i know congress is going to debate whether or not they are going to need to have an authorization to continue further although everything we've been hearing i know, you spoke with the ambassador john bolton earlier who said this was a one-off, it is intended to send a message and not just to assad also to russia, also to north korea, also to a lot of these other players who thought

they would have been able to skate by these past eight years, now it shows there is someone new in the white house. the obama era of foreign policy is over, and i think a lot of people in the united states are quite pleased with that. >> shannon: thank you very much. by the way, your latest trilogy of books, "without warning," and if folks want to understand the region better, it is there. >> it is on syrian chemical weapons, uncanny but scary. >> bill: thank you, from stockholm now, it has happened yet again, swedish prime minister saying this was an act of terror. the latest after a truck was given through a crowded shopping mall. more in a moment from stockholm after this.

>> bill: from florida, president donald trump sentiment meet with the president of china any moment now as we await that

in the world is watching the meeting as well to see what level of pressure president donald trump can place on china with regard to north korea and its nuclear missile testing. senior foreign affairs correspondent greg palkot not live in seoul, south korea, just back from a demilitarized zone, the dmz with more from there. >> yes, some analysts here are saying that president trump in sending those cruise missiles against syria is sending a message not just to syria but also to north korea. that the military could be an option in this region as well. as we found out today, the u.s. military is ready for whatever, take a look. >> it helps when you are practicing with this stuff to be close to the real thing. these are multiple launch rocket systems soldiers are training, exercising on them if they need to, they can fire a rocket or missile from this vehicle over those mountains, north korea, some 15 miles away.

>> u.s. forces here dealing with it worth to be a conventional military just as scary as the nuclear one. over a million soldiers, tanks, thousands of pieces of artillery plus one of the biggest stockpiles of chemical weapons in the world. again, 28,000 u.s. troops using radar to look for incoming, also using long-range artillery aimed at spotting hot spots across the border. as well as eight fences exercise where it troops work their way through a mock village, clashing with folks that were clearly supposed to be north korean alongside south korean soldiers for which they had high praise. here's how one general described it all to us. >> we respect the potential of the forces to the north, but we like to say that our job here is to deter that aggression, and we train very hard every day so that they know that we are ready in the event of a crisis.

>> by the way, these exercises drive kim jong-un absolutely crazy. his bridging cost them a rehearsal for an invasion or rehearsal for war, in the officers we spoke with today have no intention of giving them up. >> bill: we will see what comes from korea and florida, greg palkot i, great to have young the ground there. seoul, south korea, . >> shannon: the u.n. security council meeting in the next hour for a briefing on the u.s. air strikes in syria. reaction from around the world and a live update from the winter, southern white house, coming up.

>> busy day here in washington as we keep our eye out for that vote on judge neil gorsuch edge. republicans said to make him just as neil gorsuch's by end of the day. they've got a lot of other things to talk about here on the hill as you know. >> expect that in 30 minutes. we'll have live coverage of that also the latest of stockholm,

and the fallout from the raid overnight in syria. where watching the president's movements in florida and when he pops up, we'll show it to you live. have a great day everybody. "happening now" starts right no now. >> jon: we begin with fox's alert as reaction pours into the commander-in-chief's decision to attack a syrian air base missiles last night. president trump is now sitting down with the president of china and florida, hoping to rein in the nuclear ambitions of north korea. good morning, welcome to happening now, i'm jon scott. >> julie: i'm julie banderas and for jenna lee. u.s. allies are rallying around president trump's decision to launch tomahawk missiles at a syrian air base. the strike was a response to the syrian regime's latest brutal attack on its own people with chemical weapons which left