qualifying customers may receive $750 toward a new audi q5 good afternoon, kate snow with you in new york city. here's what's happening on msnbc live. russian air strikes in syria. just who was the intended target of those air strikes? and firing back, we have new sound in from hillary clinton, responding to an admission from the likely next speaker of the house, that confirms the house benghazi committee was squarely aimed at politics. maybe not confirms, but suggests that for sure. and pope francis tells the

kentucky county clerk to refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, to stay strong. dramatic video, shows the chaotic aftermath. the russian government claims those strikes were a pre-emptive measure in fighting isis. earlier today, defense secretary ash carter said it doesn't appear isis is in that area. >> i want to be careful about confirming information, but it does appear that they were in areas where there probably were not isil forces and that is precisely one of the problems with this whole approach. >> we're expecting president obama to make remarks shortly at the white house. he's speaking to state democratic legislators. we'll bring you his remarks live. let me bring in nbc news pentagon producer, nbc news white house correspondent kristin welker, and ayman mole

heldin at the u.n. carter said it appears isis was not in that area, so who do we think they were targeting? >> all we know is that there's not isis in the area, it's mainly opposition forces there. the problem is, the opposition forces is far from a monolith. it's so many different groups and they really range in the spectrum of groups that are allied with the u.s. and the coalition, are fighting along -- you know, for the same ultimate measure to ones that terrorist groups, like al nusra. so we don't know what the russians were targeting today, some kind of command and control structure, were they going after tanks, personnel, buildings? we don't know any of that. and unfortunately secretary carter didn't shed any light on

that either. another issue that came up in the briefing is, based on who those people are there on the ground, the u.s. and coalition is supporting many of the opposition forces in syria. so if those are people there that the u.s. and the coalition support and back, what obligation does the coalition have to protect them? if they're coming under attack, coming under air fire from the russians, from russian air strikes, does the coalition have any kind of responsibility to protect them? and that's another question that we're asking around here today and we can't get a clear answer to. >> kristin welker at the white house, as we await president obama, who is due to speak in about seven minutes at the building next door to you. have we gotten any guidance from the white house? i know josh earnest spoke earlier today. >> well, there's no indication that president obama is going to address what we're seeing in syria, however, of course, you never rule anything out. and the ultimate decision does rest with him.

white house press secretary josh earnest underscoring a lot of what we heard from the defense secretary, which is that there's going to be a cooperation between the u.s. and russian forces moving forward in the sense that they'll try to deconflict this situation. that means they'll hold discussions to try to determine and make sure there's no mistaken engagement between these forces in the air that could further escalate this crisis. i think it's interesting, ash carter had harsh words for russia, saying they should have alerted the u.s. earlier than an hour. that's when the u.s. got an alert that russia was going to launch air strikes. carter, saying, quote, this is not the kind of behavior we should expect professionally. he also called the strategy by russia ill advised if it's not accompanied by some type of plan for a political transition within syria. and that's the key point, the

u.s. believes assad should go. they say he is the cause of the instability and the civil war in syria that has allowed isis to flourish. russia believes assad is the key to fighting isis. ash carter making it very clear in the coming days and weeks the u.s. would really try to push russia to get to the point, to try to bring about that type of political resolution. but at this point, the two sides are very far apart. >> speaking of complicated, let's talk about the united nations. ayman, you're standing outside. what are other world leaders saying today? >> we're going to be hearing from the syrian opposition shortly. expecting to hold a press conference in ten minutes time to give the syrian opposition's version of what they believe happened on the ground inside syria. . and they're not holding their punches. they're calling what russia did an aggression, they're calling on the international community to condemn what russia has done, and what the assad regime has

done, and not just on the u.s. and international community condemn it, but to implement a no aerial bombardment campaign over syria. they want to see the u.s. and its allies impose this no-fly zone. according to the syrian national coalition, they believe those that were targeted today inside the areas of homs where the russians carried out the air strikes, included civilians. three children amongst 35 civilians that were killed. these are the first responders if you will of the syrian opposition. so they're very clear about what they think happened today and who the russians were going after. now, in addition to the syrian opposition, we're also starting to get some insight from some of the arab leaders who are substantiating what ash carter was saying, that they don't believe russia was going after isis, but going after other members of the syrian opposition, particularly rebel groups that have been supported

in the past by arab gulf countries. why this is so important is, russia is not making the same distinction that we are. that is, the united states and members of the media, that there's a differentiation between isis-held area, as well as areas that are being held by some of the opposition rebel groups. the russian government and assad regime treat all of them as a single entity, as terrorists trying to bring the downfall of the assad government in damascus. so that's perhaps why this is going to be a much more complicated situation going forward there. but another point i've been hearing, particularly from arab countries, this will fuel the recruitment efforts of a lot of the jihadist groups operating in syria. now that the russians have been involved, you can expect an uptick in calls for other fighters to join the fight against russia and the assad regime. and they're really trying to use images of the past, when russia

was involved in places like afghanistan in the '70s and that was filled with jihadists for many years. now they're calling for similar scenarios to unfold in syria against the russians. >> ayman, stand by, as we are awaiting president obama to speak to a group of democratic people from -- excuse me -- lawmakers. looking for the right word. lawmakers who are democrats, coming into washington from around the country. he'll be addressing that group in just a moment. we don't know whether he'll talk about the subject at hand, about the russian air strikes or not. but let me bring in mikey kay, a former adviser to the uk minry of defense. also brad penison. mikey, let me start with you, you've been listening, and we'll keep an eye on the podium where the president is set to speak. . what's complicated and confusing for americans and the map of the ground and what's happening on the ground in syria right now.

you just heard ayman say the russians don't make a distinction in terms of isis-held territory and not. but the americans sure do. >> what it's doing, it's highlighting the complexity that those who have been following the syrian conflict for the last four years understand and know. but down to bare bones, there are two effective insurgent groups. one is the islamic state which we all know about. the other one is -- >> al qaeda. >> al-nusra have been making gains in the northwest of the country, just north of lat kia, which is the assad stronghold, and in homs. so what you're seeing at the moment is putin posturing his forces out of al assad international airport, which is in the strong hold, and he's strengthening those areas of lat kia, which at the moment are coming under threat.

that's al-nusra. the islamic state hold the capital and aleppo. that's the central swathe of syria. so he's not targeting them at the moment. we've got to remember as well, when he does want to target them, he's going to have to get the intelligence first. put up drones, look at the intelligence, and that will take a little bit of time to work out. he'll have the human intelligence side from assad's forces, but it takes a while to gain the data and get the target sequencing in line and then launch the attacks. >> are we talking about a situation where the united states will have to take a back seat and watch while all of this unfolds with russia? >> well, certainly they don't want to get in the way as secretary carter was saying. there's a huge concern about decon flikz, making sure that u.s. and russian forces don't wind up in the same area, getting in each other's way. one of the bright spots, if

there is any, to today's action, the russian strikes occurred in a place where there's not much coalition activity. that doesn't seem to be a risk today. that could change. >> okay, mikey, let me go back to you. obama and putin, we all remember the picture from just two days ago, shaking hands. kind of icy, but they met behind closed doors. we're just two days later, and it would seem this is a major affront by putin. this is a sort of in your face move. >> i think we have to, in getting in putin's mind-set, we have to understand what his natural interests are. we have to understand there's been a jihadist insurgency on his doorstep for a long time. in 2004, 1100 people taken hostage, 700 of them being children, 380 of them being killed. he's had a serious problem. assad looks at the future of syria and says, is that jihadist

problem going to worsen if we take assad out of the equation? >> putin looks at the situation. >> he looks at it and is it going to get worse with assad or without assad? if we take him out, syria is a nightmare at the moment, a humanitarian disaster, but what does it look like if damascus falls to the insurgents? the syrian coalition, the president was on "morning joe" this morning, that's great, but that government will not be voted for by the syrian people, who is going to be the military and security apparatus that fuses with that political alternative? who is going to carry out the rule of law? because if you take out assad and the regime, who have you got left? it will be the responsibility of those people that take assad out. unfortunately, as we saw in iraq and afghanistan, that responsibility will rely on either russia or the u.s. or

europe to fill that vacuum. we saw in afghanistan, we saw in iraq, and we saw what happened in libya when you create security vacuums. so that's where i think putin is coming from. whether it's right or wrong, that's for the viewers to judge. but that's his mind-set. >> kristin welker, how does the white house -- what does the white house have to do right now? >> well, i think the white house is going to be quite firm with putin moving forward. as you mentioned, president obama just met with president putin two days ago. we do have indications that russia indicated they would begin launching air strikes, but as you pointed out, kate, this was largely a surprise. russia only gave the u.s. an hour's notice. so i think that you are going to see the level of communication between u.s. officials, top officials here at the white house, and top officials within russia escalate. defense secretary ash carter,

saying he would be reaching out to his counterpart in the coming days and that is where this begins. i think you might see some shuttle diplomacy as well. perhaps meetings. because this is a very fragile situation, and if there's any type of mistake that occurs while these air strikes are being launched, it could cause the situation to escalate quite quickly. >> courtney, you were the one that reported earlier today, that they got an hour's notice. what has the coordination been like so far between the russians and the united states? >> just yesterday secretary carter ordered some members of his staff to begin to talk to the russians. i don't think it's been determined yet by the pentagon is exactly what level that occurs at. is this some sort of military officer to military officer speaking? or is this a policy person in the united states to a policy person in russia? we have no idea how this is

going to happen. but i think there's a very fine distinction between the u.s. and russia coordinating their actions and deconflicting. and i think what we're going to see here, assuming that this conversation actually begins, because it has not actually begun between the u.s. and russia, is more of a decon flikz, so not too unlike what we saw today where a russian general went to the embassy in baghdad and knocked on the door with a written statement, saying, we're going to begin bombing in syria in the next hour, versus coordination. it will probably be a little bit more formal than that going forward. but a coordination would be where the u.s. and russia are telling one another, you know, we're going to strike at this location, in this general location, at this general time. i don't see the u.s. and russia providing that much information to one another. it wouldn't be so far as to provide intelligence to one another, but i don't foresee at this point, unless something dramatic and major changes, the

u.s. providing russia with that level of detail. as you can see today, the russians came to the u.s., said, we're going to begin air strikes, the u.s. carried out air strikes around aleppo and did not inform the russians of that in advance. >> okay, thank you all. stay with us. we're looking at the live pictures where president obama will deliver remarks to state legislators. we'll see if he addresses the russian escalation in syria. when we come back, we're turning to hillary clinton firing back after an allegation that the benghazi committee may have been all about taking her down politically. we'll tell you what she had to say and talk to a member of that committee coming up next. also hurricane joaquin has strengthened into a category one, we'll check the path of the storm straight ahead. before earning 1% cash back everywhere, every time...

2% back at the grocery store... and 3% back on gas... vince of the flying branzinos got a bankamericard cash rewards credit card, because he may earn his living jumping through hoops, but he'd rather not earn cash back that way. that's the spectacle of rewarding connections. apply online or at a bank of america near you. iflike i love shrimp, come to red lobster's endless shrimp... ...for as much as you want, any way you want it... sweet, buttery, and creamy. like new pineapple habanero coconut shrimp bites... ...and teriyaki grilled shrimp. and yeah, it's endless, but it won't last forever. ♪ everything kids touch during cold and flu season sticks with them. make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs better than clorox.

i'm a senior field technician for pg&e here in san jose. pg&e is using new technology to improve our system, replacing pipelines throughout the city of san jose, to provide safe and reliable services. raising a family here in the city of san jose has been a wonderful experience. my oldest son now works for pg&e. when i do get a chance, an opportunity to work with him, it's always a pleasure. i love my job and i care about the work i do. i know how hard our crews work for our customers. i want them to know that they do have a safe and reliable system. together, we're building a better california.

so as we say, we're keeping an eye on the president here at the eisenhower executive office building, where he's speaking to a group of democratic state ledgealators, we're monitoring all of that to see if he will talk about the russian air strikes in syria. it would be his first public comments about that situation if it happened. and if it happens, we'll bring it to you live here. it's always been a roller coaster of a day on capitol hill today. the house expected to take up a bill that would avoid a government shutdown. and the top candidate to become house speaker, kevin mccarthy, also coming under fire today

from democrats for comments he made about hillary clinton's poll numbers. >> everybody thought hillary clinton was unbeatable, right? but we put together a benghazi special committee, a select committee. what are her numbers today? her numbers are dropping? why? because she's untrustable. but no one would have known any of that had happened had we not -- >> i agree. i give you credit for that. >> and just this afternoon, in an exclusive interview with msnbc's al sharpton, hillary clinton responded. >> what's your response to mccarthy's comments? >> i have to tell you, i find them deeply distressing. i knew the ambassador that we lost in benghazi. along with him, we lost three other brave americans who were representing us in a very dangerous part of the world. there have already been eight investigations in the congress,

one independent investigation. we've learned all we can learn about what we need to do to protect our diplomats and other civilians, and we need to be enforcing and implementing those changes which is what i started and what secretary kerry has continued. so when i hear a statement like that, which demonstrates, unequivocally, that this was always meant to be a partisan, political exercise, i feel like it does a grave disservice and dishonors, not just the memory of the four that we lost, but of everybody who has served our country. >> for all the latest, i'm joined again by nbc capitol hill correspondent luke russert. how's it playing up there on the hill, luke? >> well, this was a huge unforced error by speaker in waiting kevin mccarthy, kate. so much so that one operative i spoke to, who is close to

leadership, said this was a yikes moment. and there's been a lot of speculation about whether or not kevin mccarthy is ready for this job. all that being said, it should be okay. democrats got an unexpected political gift from this. this is a point they've been pushing since the inception of the benghazi committee. house speaker john boehner has gone out his way to say, i appointed trey gowdy, a former homicide prosecutor. this is not but a look at what happened on the ground on that day. democrats are saying, this is a partisan fishing expedition. barbara boxer, long-term member of the senate relations committee saying, every american should be outraged by this politically motivated sham. it's time to disband this committee which is clearly not focused on a tragedy, but on a political smear campaign. i believe the committee is an abuse of taxpayer funds. expect nancy pelosi to agree.

hillary clinton is expected to testify here on capitol hill about benghazi. this is something that her supporters will clear use as ammo against the gop. the folks on the republican side for the benghazi committee say mccarthy erred in this respect, but it doesn't influence our investigation. we believe it to be an upstanding investigation and one that will elicit real results. mccarthy saying it's not political at all, just had to do with the irresponsibility of clinton. but democrats are quick to say, if it's not political, why is the speaker in waiting mentioning poll numbers? so that's the situation here. >> luke, thank you. i want to bring in democratic congresswoman from california. hillary clinton told reverend al sharpton, this was deeply distressful. called it a partisan political exercise, i'm going to guess you

agree with hillary clinton. >> sadly, i think that's exactly the case. and that's a point that i was quick to make when they first impanelled the benghazi committee and when i was asked to serve on that committee. i suspected and had hoped otherwise, but i had suspected that it was clearly just being formed to try to bludgeon hillary clinton's credibility in anticipation of her run for the presidency. >> but let me ask you, congresswoman, republicans would say this committee has done good work, that the committee unearthed important revelations in hillary clinton's e-mails. just in the last hour, i believe, we've gotten a release of 6,000 more pages of clinton e-mails. so what would you say to that? that they have unearthed things that the public had the right to know? >> well, the benghazi committee, when it was constituted, the purpose of the committee was to review the events that had happened on september 11th. and try to find out what

failures occurred that evening, that caused four brave americans their lives. if they're not going to do that work and they're going to go after hillary clinton, they should have just named it the clinton committee. but they made a promise to the family. they brought families in, and they made a promise to them that they would do their best to try to get at the facts and the evidence, to provide them with answers that many of them still have, and closure, and they've done none of that. all they've done is these wild goose chases and they've harassed and tried to bludgeon hillary clinton's credibility over and over again. to what end, clearly it's political, because it was a stunning revelation by the presumpative speaker to be that they wanted to drive down her poll numbers. and we're going to spend $4.5 million of taxpayer money to do that. it's just beyond the pale.

i have no words to describe how ridiculous, wasteful, and what an abuse of power that is. you know, and it came from the mouth of the person that is going to be probably leading the republican party. >> you say you want answers for those families. senator barbara boxer of california just called for the benghazi committee to be disbanded. should it be disbanded? >> look, when i was asked to serve on the committee, i was given a binder of the eight independent investigations that were done on a bipartisan basis in both the house, the senate, and an independent commission, and i read through each one of those reports with a fine-tooth comb, looking at the witness testimony and the evidence. and there was nothing in those documents that caused me to come to any conclusion other than, it was unexpected. were there failures in security that in hindsight maybe we should have beefed up? certainly. but the people that responded, responded appropriately at the time with the information they

had at the time. and tragically, four americans lost their lives. but all these fantastical conspiracy theories, there's been no evidence uncovered in the 72 weeks this committee has been in existence, the longest-running investigation ever, that proves anything to the contrary. so it's very disingenuous to tell families, we're going to get answers and closure for you, and there's been no new evidence that points to anything other than what the eight reports have all concluded. chairman dowdy said i'd rather ask the question twice than not at all. well, those questions have been asked and answered over and over again. we have these eight different reports. i mean, what else do they think that there is to find? and every time one of their fantastical conspiracy theories is disproved by the evidence,

they create another one. >> congresswoman, thank you so much. we should mention, that we reached out to congressman trey gowdy. and other republicans on the committee to have them on today, we did not receive a response, but an open invitation right now to come on our show at any time. still ahead, russian airplanes continue war strikes in syria. we'll discuss how that stepped up aggression could impact a multi-layered war. and we're tracking hurricane joaquin, right after this. yeah! okay... guys, i'll be writing a new language for machines so planes, trains, even hospitals can work better. oh! sorry, i was trying to put it away... got it on the cake. so you're going to work on a train? not on a train...on "trains"! you're not gonna develop stuff anymore? no i am... do you know what ge is?

bis committed to truth on the label.

when we say real meat is the first ingredient, it is always number one. we leave out poultry by-product meal, corn, wheat and soy. and, we own where our dry food is made - 100%. can other brands say all that? for grain-free nutrition you can trust, does your food go beyond? learn more at beyondpetfood.com san fwhile this parking loting lies still. life, proposition d and mission rock will create a new neighborhood right here with 40% affordable housing, 8 acres of parks and open space, all connected to public transit, and generate $25 million a year in revenue for san francisco. vote yes on d to turn this into this. ♪ it's gotten squarer. over the years.

brighter. bigger. thinner. even curvier. but what's next? for all binge watchers. movie geeks. sports freaks. x1 from xfinity will change the way you experience tv. keeping a close eye on hurricane joaquin, now a category one storm, winds topping 80 miles per hour now, packing a lot of rain. for more on where the storm might be headed and when it might come here to the east coast of the united states, we're joined by rafael miranda. tell me what you see. >> that's the question, where is joaquin headed?

big question, still lots of details to be ironed out. it's been strengthening, a much better organized storm. you can see more symmetrical, better outflow, lots of warm water to work with, that's the fuel for these storms. it's been picking up in intensity, winds at 85 miles per hour. just mearnding throughout the bahamas, moving to the southwest 6 miles per hour. here's the northern american model, moving up the coast and veering inland sunday morning as a category 2, maybe 3, hurricane there, terrible news for the southeast. but this is just one possible solution if it gets caught up in a troth here. there's still not a lot of consensus, especially with the european commutputer model. that continues to take the storm out to sea. that would be great for everyone. otherwise, take a look at the trend here, definitely into the carolinas, making landfall sunday into sunday night. if the storm moves up the coast further, parallel to the coast,

could be looking at landfall in the mid atlantic or even the northeast as we head into monday. one thing is certain, it will be meander and strengthen throughout the day tomorrow to a category 2, by saturday morning, major category 3 storm. after saturday, the paths diverge. right now, the national hurricane center has it in the middle and taking the storm into the mid atlantic. so still plenty of questions that we need to answer. we'll get another update at 5:00 and that will help us out, but still something to watch. >> looking like maybe the carolinas need to get prepared. >> definitely. >> thanks so much. up next, more on russia's hand-delivered warning to the united states moments before it began conducting air strikes in syria. >> this is not the kind of behavior that we should expect professionally from the russian military, professionally, and that's one reason why i think

it's a good thing to have an avenue of communication that is less unprofessional than a drop-in. >> a live report from the pentagon up next. some cash back cards love to overcomplicate things. like limiting where you earn bonus cash back. why put up with that? but the quicksilver card from capital one likes to keep it simple. real simple. i'm talking easy like-a- walk-in-the-park, nothing-to-worry-about, man-that-feels-good simple. quicksilver earns you unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, everywhere. it's a simple question. what's in your wallet?

...intercourse that's painful due to menopausal changes.it... it's not likely to go away on its own. so let's do something about it. premarin vaginal cream can help. it provides estrogens to help rebuild vaginal tissue and make intercourse more comfortable. premarin vaginal cream treats vaginal changes due to menopause and moderate-to-severe painful intercourse caused by these changes. don't use it if you've had unusual vaginal bleeding, breast or uterine cancer, blood clots, liver problems, stroke or heart attack, are allergic to any of its ingredients or think you're pregnant. side effects may include headache, pelvic pain, breast pain, vaginal bleeding and vaginitis. estrogens may increase your chances of getting cancer of the uterus, strokes, blood clots, or dementia, so use it for the shortest time based on goals and risks. estrogens should not be used to prevent heart disease, heart attack, stroke or dementia. ask your doctor about premarin vaginal cream.

and sometimes i struggle to sleep at night,blind. and stay awake during the day. this is called non-24. learn more by calling 844-824-2424. or visit your24info.com.

we're following breaking news out of syria where russia launched air strikes today. russia claims the strikes are a measure to fight isis in the region. the united states said it was given an hour's notice of the strike by the russian government. let me bring in courtney again. courtney, any news about the coordination between the two countries militarily? >> no, there hasn't been any change. as you said, the russians, about an hour before they began the air strikes in the western side of syria, they went to the embassy in baghdad and read a prepared statement, saying they were going to begin strikes within the hour. there's been no coordination on the u.s. side, now that russia is flying missions in syria, the u.s. and the coalition have not

been informing the russians of where the strikes are going to be occurring, where their air assets are going to be. so there's still the very real potential here for some sort of an altercation or what not. the only thing you have to keep in mind is that the russians are really flying far on the western side of the country in an area where the u.s. and the coalition have not been. they don't have any drones or anything in that area. one thing that we haven't really been talking about so far today is what exactly is the ultimate result -- or the ultimate hope of the russians for these strikes today. we don't know what they were striking, whether it was tanks or personnel or who. but u.s. defense officials who i've spoken to here today say the most likely goal is just to create some time and space, what they call time and space on the ground, so that syrian forces can move back into that area and retake it from the opposition forces, who have been holding that area around homs. >> okay, courtney, following it all from the pentagon.

let me bring in steve clemons, washington editor at large for the atlantic. and mikey kay still be me in the studio. former adviser to the uk minry of defense. let me start with you, steve, i understand you spoke with senator john mccain this afterno afternoon? >> i just talk to him and he made some interesting statement, that in this area around homs, that the russians aren't even pretending that they're not trying to wipe out of the assets around homs and that isis is not in that area. people are reporting that russia is hitting isis targets, john mccain disputed that heavily. saying that the russians are knocking out important moderates and those who have been fighting around homs and that they've killed quite a number of civilians, and blamed this on what he believes to be the collapse of the perception of american power in the region, that it hasn't been for 42 years since 1973, that russia has

flexed military muscle in the middle east like this. >> sorry about that, i was talking to somebody else here in the studio just for a second there. steve, thank you. i think we have some new sound in, it's the russian foreign minister, am i right? that's right. sergei lavrov speaking at the united nations a few minutes ago. [ inaudible question ] >> was that something about pentagon? >> yes -- [ inaudible ] >> everything, everything was said by the russian minister of defense. don't listen to pentagon about the russian strikes. >> don't listen to the pentagon about the russian strikes. that's the russian foreign minister speaking to reporters just a few moments ago.

mikey, what do we make of that? you've been saying this is not unexpected, that you're not surprised by any of this. >> i don't think we should be, because what putin did last year, in terms of crimea and protecting the black sea straights huge russian naval base, which gives him access to the mediterranean and into the middle east. not only important for maritime force projection to do what he needs to do in the middle east, but also important for his economy. the world bank have predicted inflation is going through the roof. and western sanctions from the ukraine are still imposed. so he's got to protect that somehow. but can i just talk briefly about the decon flikz piece here. >> which is making sure we don't shoot at each other. >> right. i've done three tours in iraq and three in afghanistan. three was flying. and the decon flikz piece is interesting because when you don't have another coalition

partner involved, it's still really complicated. it runs off the air tasking order, which is a long list of missions that happens and it's planned, 24, 48, 72 hours in advance. that's run from a base in qatar. that's the combined air operations center. and the americans and the uk have been running both the afghanistan air campaigns and the iraq air campaigns in there for the last ten years. but it took them a long time to get up and running. what you have to ask yourself, where is that combined air operations center for the russians? where are they managing their missions from? and there's this whole process of selecting targets 72 hours out, then gets put on the tasking order and then it gets executed. how is that happening? how are they talking? because a blue on blue here is a very real significant eventuality, so theek spooi

communication is fundamental to going forward. >> critically important to keeping everybody alive. >> kate, it's supremely complicated. and the whole process in english is really complicated, let alone -- >> the acronyms you were just throwing around are complicated enough. let me bring steve in just for one last thought. we just heard the foreign minister of russia saying, don't listen to the pentagon. >> you have basically russia telling the u.s., don't operate in this zone while we're there. we have secretary of defense ashton carter saying there will be no change to what the u.s. is doing, and when you get into the complexity, what mikey just shared, he's right to question the side of what's russia, but you have two superpowers that run into potential terrain and turf issues in syria, who have different objectives, and certainly russia has upped its stock and role in whatever happened and is conducted with syria from here on out.

he's completely changed the game and changed our equation of what we can do, whether we want to admit it or not. >> the president the other day said we are not in a cold war, but those are sharp words from the russians today. thank you both for being with us. turning to a story getting a lot of attention today. with the saturation coverage of pope francis's visit last week, very hard to believe that anything could have stayed secret. but nbc news has confirmed that controversial kentucky clerk kim davis met the pope during his visit to washington last week. here's how davis described the meeting this morning. >> i put my hand out, and he grabbed it and i hugged him, and he hugged me, and he said, thank you for your courage. >> for more on this, i'm joined by nbc's hallie jackson. we were talking to the lawyer for kim davis last hour. this was a clandestine meeting they managed to pull off in the

middle of washington, with millions of people watching pope francis's every move, kate. and they say the legal group representing kim davis said this is because they wanted to make sure to not overshadow the pope's visit. and really the pope's message. he was here for a reason. that's why this information, they say, is coming out days after the fact. the meeting happened apparently on thursday, they say, at the residence where the pope was saying in washington. kim davis and her husband secretly whisked in, nobody recognizing them, apparently, to have 15 minutes together with the pope. i'm being told it was just the couple, the pope, a few security members, members of the security team and a vatican photographer in attendance. there are some photographs, but those have not been released just yet, kate. so it's an interesting meeting, but i'll tell you, papal experts also caution, they point out, listen, pope francis met with dozens of people, politicians, celebrities, whomever during his trip to d.c., it doesn't mean he's endorsing all the battles

they're involved in. that said, religious liberties is an issue the pope is involved in. we saw him stop at little sisters of the poor that's in a battle right now with the obama administration over the health care law and show his support to them. another visit out of the blue. so not surprising that the pope might meet with somebody like kim davis, but still some questions about that meeting and how it came about. right now, liberty counsel, the legal team s not saying who initiated this encounter, only that the pope only meets with who the pope wants to meet with. >> and the lawyer last hour didn't clarify that either, who made the phone call first. hallie jackson, thank you. coming up, straight ahead, donald trump getting set for a big town hall tonight in new hampshire, where at least two of his rivals are campaigning today. we're live there, coming up. ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ it's the final countdown! ♪ ♪ the final countdown! if you're the band europe, you love a final countdown. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. well, it all started with my free credit score from credit sesame.com. they gave me so much more than a free credit score. credit sesame's money management tools and personalized offers saved me tons of money and helped me reach my goals.

i just signed up with their free app. what's my credit score? your credit score is 650. that's magic! no, that's credit sesame.com you get so much more than a free credit score so do more with your score at credit sesame.com i've had moderate to severe plaque psoriasis most of my life. but that hasn't stopped me from modeling. my doctor told me about stelara® it helps keep my skin clearer. with only 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses... ...stelara® helps me be in season. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and increase your risk of infections. some serious infections require hospitalization. before starting stelara® your doctor should test for tuberculosis. stelara® may increase your risk of cancer. always tell your doctor if you have any sign of infection, have had cancer, or if you develop any new skin growths. do not take stelara® if you are allergic to stelara® or any of its ingredients. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems including headaches, seizures, confusion and vision problems. these may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. serious allergic reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you or anyone in your house

needs or has recently received a vaccine. in a medical study, most stelara® patients saw at least 75% clearer skin and the majority were rated as cleared or minimal at 12 weeks. stelara® helps keep my skin clearer. ask your doctor about stelara®.

a brand new national poll shows good news for donald trump who has opened up a ten-point lead over his closest gop rival. tonight the front-runner is in new hampshire where in a few hours he'll hold a town hall meeting in keen, new hampshire. and joining me now, katy tur, who is on the ground there. this is the first town hall he's had in a while. the last one was when he got the controversial question about president obama. >> reporter: certainly the first time he's going to be in new hampshire as well. we're not entirely sure if he'll

be screening questions from the crowd before he takes them tonight, but i imagine there might be some degree of that later on. then again, donald trump likes to rewrite the book and fly by the seat of his pants, if you will. there's not a lot of preplanning that go into these things. so i'm not sure, assuming that will happen is necessarily the right thing. we do expect him to tout his tax plan. this is the first time that he will be facing potential voters after releasing it. and the headline for him is that he's going to eliminate, he says, millions of -- income taxes for millions of people. gonna see how that plays with the crowd here. he's got a big name enforcement to tout. the billionaire apple investor has said he thinks donald trump is the right man for the job, that he's the one to go in and clean up the dysfunction in congress. he even compared him to teddy roosevelt. expect to hear those two things prominently tonight. >> and meanwhile, the twitter war continues, lot of back and forth between donald trump and

marco rubio. >> it's really interesting, because today we had the "people" magazine article that paints trump as a gentler guy, a family man, with his son and his wife. telling his son that it's okay if he gets to the white house because he's going to be helping people and other children like him. then you also have the donald trump that we see on the campaign trail, the one that starts tweeting at 7:30 this morning about what a joke marco rubio is, and how he's not fit for office and how he's a baby and he has no money in his bank, et cetera et cetera. so he's keeping up the attacks on marco rubio, as marco rubio continues to climb in the polls and continues to gain some head way. you can certainly start to see that the campaign is treating the rubio camp as a threat. meanwhile, the rubio camp is saying that donald trump, this is the way he reacts when somebody criticizes him. kate? >> there was that comment from mitt romney today where he criticized donald trump, said

his foreign policy plans are absurd and dangerous. any reaction from the campaign to those comments? >> so far, no reaction as of now. we will ask later when there's press availability. but this is one of the things that donald trump has been criticized about, about not being deep on his foreign policy knowledge or expertise. it's one of the areas he was weakest during the last debate, according to those who were core scoring the last debate. and when i ask voters about whether he has enough knowledge to go in and be ready on day one, they think that he does need to be a little bit more knowledgeable. the camp has said they'll be releasing what they're calling a military group in the coming weeks. a group of advisers, we assume, that will be helping him craft a more complete foreign policy platform. >> katy tur, watching it all in new hampshire. you'll have the details tomorrow or later tonight about what happens there. thanks so much. and now for a look at how the markets closed out ted, meg

is here. meg? >> going into tomorrow, the dow gaining 235 points. s&p up 35 points, and the nasdaq jumping 102 points. that's it from cnbc, first in business worldwide. ♪ [ birds squawking ] my mom makes airplane engines that can talk. [ birds squawking ] ♪ my mom makes hospitals you can hold in your hand. ♪ my mom can print amazing things right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] my mom makes trains that are friends with trees. [ train whistle blows ] ♪ my mom works at ge. ♪

my mom works at ge. ♪ everything kids touch during cold and flu season my mom works at ge. sticks with them. make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs better than clorox. now? can i at least put my shoes on? if your bladder is calling the shots... ...you may have a medical condition called overactive bladder or oab. you've got to be kidding me. i've had enough! it's time to talk to the doctor. ask your doctor about myrbetriq to treat the oab symptoms of urgency, frequency, and leakage. myrbetriq is the first and only medicine in its class. myrbetriq (mirabegron) may increase blood pressure. tell your doctor right away if you have trouble emptying your bladder or have a weak urine stream. myrbetriq may cause serious allergic reactions. if you experience swelling of the face, lips, throat or tongue... ...or difficulty breathing, stop taking myrbetriq and tell your doctor right away.

myrbetriq may affect or be affected by other medications. before taking myrbetriq, tell your doctor if you have liver or kidney problems. common side effects include increased blood pressure, common cold symptoms, urinary tract infection, and headache. take charge by talking to your doctor about your oab symptoms and myrbetriq. business worldwide. it takes a lot of work... but i really love it.s. i'm on the move all day long... and sometimes, i just don't eat the way i should. so i drink boost® to get the nutrition that i'm missing. boost complete nutritional drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. all with a great taste. i don't plan on slowing down any time soon.

stay strong. stay active with boost®. time now for a quick look at what's popping today. first lady kim kardashian west? could it be? the 34-year-old sat down with ellen and addressed the surprise announcement that her husband kanye made at the mtv awards about his presidential aspirations. >> that was new to me. >> so he never even said to you, maybe i want to run for president someday? >> no, that wasn't a discussion in our household.

>> maybe he's not serious. is he serious? >> no, he's serious. >> he is? >> i believe he is serious. and i know that, you know, he -- if he puts his mind to something, he'll do his best. >> republican presidential hopeful rick santorum stopped by "the view" to talk about his vuz on planned parenthood and same-sex marriage. >> i want to reallocate every dollar that goes to planned parentho parenthood. when you have a law that says marriage has nothing to do with children anymore, you're not going to have a society encouraging the behavior that is in the best interest of children in the future of society. >> and on a lighter note, if you thought it was a rough night for one yankee fan at the ballpark. he was sitting in the front row, when you see this video at last

night's game. he had a chance at not one, but three balls. he fumbled them all. the ball boy took pity on him and tossed him a ball and i think hit him in the face. i feel sorry for the guy. i wouldn't be able to catch that ball either. that does it for this hour. "mtp daily" with chuck todd starts right now. russian air strikes in syria. they claim it was on isis. the pentagon doesn't believe them. called it unprofessional. meanwhile, senator john mccain, lashing out at the obama white house for what they say is again, leading from behind. speaking of capitol hill, another shutdown countdown watch. there's a plan to avert it, but the clock is ticking with less than seven hours left. it's "mtp daily," and it starts