allow the president to move forward unilaterally just because it's difficult to get an authorization. >> the attack puts ump's hopes for diplomacy with russia on ice. the kremlin called the mitar action a violation of international law and vowed to help the syrian government rebuild. meanwhile back on capitol hill, the senate has confirmed neil gorsuch to the supreme court. it comes after republicans invoke d the so-called nuclear option. we have more on this breaking news. kasie hunt is on capitol hill and nbc's hans nichols joins me from the pentagon. first to you, chris jansing. i know sean spicer just held an off-camera briefing. the white house is standing behind this decision. >> reporter: they are absolutely, and they are standing behind the constitution saying that's justification for it, that it was in the national security interest. the key question, obviously, katy, was, so what's next?

what are the next steps? there were two opportunities today where we thought we might get an answer to that question. first there was what we call a pool spray when president trump was meeting with president xi this morning. he went in and made some comments about the relationship between the two, but we did not get an answer about anything regarding syria, so his comments from last night stand. but as you mention the, there was also an off-camera briefing by sean spicer, and what he said was, when i spoke with him yesterday he said, listen, we're not going to be telegraphing our moves. however, this decision was decisive, that it was justifiable, and most importantly, it gifves a signal not just to america but to the world that we are going to take action. that action played out in dramatic fashion. from sean spicer we got details on how this all came to be. it started with a briefing on tuesday morning. we saw publicly what he expressed privately in that

briefing when he saw what had happened, particularly to children as a result of the gassing of citizens of syria, a very visceral response to that, something that carried him throug through. the next 72 hours, which is a very fast pace for this to play out, it included his knowledge starting at 4:00 yesterday going into the dinner with president xi that there was going to be these attacks. it happened, he informed them personally and left the dinner to go into a secure room, the same place that there had been a meeting before that dinner, and they watched to see how this all played out. there was a picture you that was released from that period. this is essentially set up like the situation room is back at the white house. it's a secure location, a place where classified information can be discussed and he's surrounded by, obviously, his national security team, his closest advisers and also people in the secure video conference from back at the white how else.

as far as the next steps, there is, of course, that political reality and what's been happening on capitol hill, which has been the call by many members of congress that he needs to consult with them, that they need to sign off on further action, katy. >> and chris, you and -- u.n. ambassador nikki haley just spoke at the u.n. and she delivered a pretty strong message for the world and russia. >> the world is waiting for the russian government to act responsibly in syria. the world is waiting for russia to reconsider its misplaced alliance with bashar assad. the united states will no longer wait for assad to use chemical weapons without any consequences. those days are over. >> are we now seeing the u.n. ambassador, n kirikki haley, anx tillerson all get on the same page regarding russia? >> reporter: i think there is a definite change in tone and there certainly has been some

pretty harsh language coming from russia itself. but clearly, they understand after what has been, i think we could say pretty securely, a rough start to this presidency, that they feel that what they did yesterday was important, that it septembnt a very strong signal, and now that they are also -- obviously you cannot separate that from the russian involvement there. they sent a very clear and strong message. and it's also clear from talking to senior members of the white house staff that they want this message to be heard far and wide, so whether it's to russia, whether it's to syria, whether it's to north korea but also to our allies who sean spicer has indicated that the response has been very positive about the decision that president trump made. katy? >> hans, the trump administration is calling this a success. what in their eyes makes this a success? >> reporter: most of the tomahawk missiles, all but one that they fired, hit their targets. their targets were on that

airfield. they think they disabled that airfield and sent a strong message of deterrence. not only for this attack, future attacks and they took out missiles in that attack. we don't have a full damage assessment, a bda as they call it in pentagon spch. we'lbe awaiting that, but they ok close to two dozen aircraft, took out some radar and key equipment in this process. there has been questions, why didn't they just pock the runway, take some divot marks on the runway. they think that wouldn't have been good use of the tomahawk missiles. you can take some asphalt and retar that simpler than if you just blow it up. katy? >> there are claims that the syrian government carried out this attack. how are they doing that? >> reporter: they're not only backing up their claims, they're adding to it saying russia might

have had a role into it. they're looking into investigating what sort of role russia might have had. russia has a lot of chemical weapons experts. where they took off from, that's where russian personnel were at, and also, it was russia's responsibility, according to the u.n. mandate, to make sure and verify that all the chemical weapons under that 2013 deal were removed from the country. here are the details they're giving us. they have some pretty good pictures showing a big crater in the center of a street. they think this crater was caused by a chemical weapons-laden bomb and that they landed on 6:25 on tuesday morning. that's april 4th. they look at the rim of that crater and they see the telltale signs of staining, the kind of staining that would be caused by a chemical like sarin gas. here's what's interesting. after that, katy, they had some -- they saw a drone or some sort of unmanned vehicle taking

pictures of everything. and then a couple hours later after some of the pictures may have shown some people going into the hospital, the hospital was flattenedith a much bigger bomb. the russian involvement could potentially be there, and they're trying to figure out who dropped that second bomb on the victims of those who were affected by the chemical attack. katy? >> and kacie, there is a meeting later on today with all the senators with the chairman of the joint chiefs, i believe. can you give me a little bit more insight about what they are expected to be hearing in that briefing and whether or not any lawmakers will be briefing us, the american public? >> reporter: well, katy, they are actually coming out of that meeting as we speak, and we have been talking to some of them here who have been expressing, you know, their concerns and feelings about what happened overnight in syria, what the trump administration did. we're here to brief all of the members of the u.s. senate and

anyone who happens to be in town right now, the house of representatives already on their two-week recess. we have heard some division between members of congress, but for once, as you said, they don't necessarily divide strictly along partisan lines. there have been some democrats who said this is the right thing to do, republicans as well, and there have been a handful of republicans who really criticized the trump administration as well as democrats who say they want to bring members of congress back in here to try and vote on and debate an authorization of use of military force here. senator john mccain often has hadough words for president trump. he didn't today. take a listen to what he had to say earlier today. >> i think the president, justice ronald reagan, had to respond when the libyans bombs a disco in berlin and he responded. this violation in war crimes deserved a response. i'll be glad to engage, and i have, with some of my colleagues on authorization of use of military force.

this was a response that was required in response to the commission of war crimes. i want to emphasize, this is the beginning, not the end. but the signal it has sent around the world is very important. >> reporter: so, of course, you heard him there comparing president trump to ronald reagan, actually, which is not something we've heard from senators mccain or graham very much in other situations. and we do know that the president did personal outreach to both of them. i talked to lindsey graham as well earlier today, and he said, yeah, the president called me around midnight. i told him i was proud of him, but this should, of course, only be the first step. there are other members of congress that are arguing if there are going to be additional steps in this, they should talk to congress about it first. but so far the appetite for a vote of some kind on this is just not there yet. we'll see if the trump administration escalates and if that becomes something that members of congress demand more aggressively. katy? >> it should be noted that senators mccain and graham are two of the bigge hawks in

congress. so notable that president trump reached out to them. kasie hunt, thank you. hans nichols as well and chris jansing, appreciate it. now i want to bring in four-star general barry mccaffery and nbc military analyst. and chris haas, a former personal assistant to george h.w. bush. he is also the author of "a world in disarray." richard, let's start with you. talk to me about what this means diplomatically. this is what the united states is calling the least invasive and most limited strike they could have done in syria, but certainly a sensitive place to do so, especially with the ongoing drama between this country and russia. >> katy, it's a lot of things. i think it was a signal that the united states is now more prepared than it has been over the last eight years to use

military force. it's, though, still limited. i think people who are saying this is getting us involved in some kind of an open-ended quagmire in syria are way off base. this was a discreet military action. i think the next emphasis is going to be much more what it is we do when we liberate territory that is currently controlled by isis. i think it's also the beginning, perhaps, of a long conversation with russia about under what terms they would begin to distance themselves from the support they have been giving to the government there and under what kind of conditions might they set? my own view is that over time we might have more to work with when it comes to russia and syria than iran and syria. so i think it's important that we have a diplomatic element of our strategy as well as additional military elements going forward. but i think that's exactly where we are now, and i think this was important. but i also wouldn't exaggerate or make more of it than it was. >> rex tillerson is going to be

in russia next week, our secretary of state meeting vladimir putin for the first time as secretary of state. what does this do to this first meeting? >> i actually think it's helpful, and i think this is part of the process of what i would call setting the context for u.s.-russian relations. i think to show that russia is not alone in its willingness to act on behalf of its interests in the middle east, that's a good signal. i think also we need to do more of the same in europe. i, for example, would do more to increase the strength of nato. again, against that backdrop, i think conversations with russia are more likely to bear fruit. our goal should not be to humiliate russia, isolate russia. it should be to talk with them, it's possible to work with them, but we should not kid ourselves. it's not going to succeed with russia diplomatically if we're simply relying on putin's self-restraint. we need to build a context where mr. putin sees it as disadd van

teenagevantagious to use force. >> we can't stand to see those images of children, but yet still ban syrian refugees from coming into this country. >> without saying it's literally inconsistent, i think there's something to that, katy. i think the united states has overreacted to the immigration or refugee threat. yes, we need to vet, but we also can do that and be consistent to our humanitarian values. i think we need to be very careful about signalling american muslims. there are more than 3 million american muslims, but somehow muslims are not trusted or treated differently. we run the risk of radicalizing or alienating this important community and securing something that doesn't exist. this might get the president to

look at the inconsistencies in his policy and to revisit the ban on refugees from syria and other countries. >> general mccaffery, will these limited strikes stop bashar al-assad or the syrian regime from committing more atrocities like this? >> undoubtedly not. you know, at the end of the day, syria has been devastated, half million dead, millions of refugees. much of it done with self-propelled artillery tanks, ak-47s. it's surprising to me that assad used chemical weapons at this point. it's a terrific terror weapon against civilians. but it didn't substantially contribute anything to the battle that he's winning on the ground now with russian -- with iranian revolutionary guard with hezbollah support. it looked to me like a monumental miscalculation. i think the trump administration has definitely gone after a

target and signalled chemical weapons are off the table. and probably that will work. but as richard haas correctly points out, look, this is a larger issue. there is a dozen war infractions. there is essentially a shia-sunni-muslim civil war. assad thinks they get slaughtered if they lose. they probably would be. so in the long term, none of this contributes to solving sitter yathe syrian problem. i have said and called for more humanitarian assistance to the millions that are across the jordanian and turkish and iraqi borders from the europeans and the united states. i think that's the next area. we do not have a vital security interest at stake in syria. we do in north korea, iran, russian threats to eastern europe, so we have to be careful about not getting bogged down

again in another middle eastern country. >> speaking of that, nikki haley a moment ago was speaking at the u.n. and she issued a stern warning to both syria and to russia to stop this, and for russia to make sure that syria stops this, and if they do not that we will act again. she's basically not taking anything off the table. if that is the case, what is on the table for us? >> well, you know, she's pretty impressive. i had some dealings with her as governor. i was very impressed by her statement. it sounds as if the trump administration is starting to get a consistent message. there isn't a lot we can do in syria. it would be madness to intervene on the ground, to include creating internal safe havens with ground combat forces. i think what we could do, the next step up would be to tell u.s. naval air and u.s. air force, destroy the sir kwan ayy

force. that would make a qualitative difference in the war. it would take them several weeks. there are unknown consequences. would the iranians attack u.s. forces in iraq? there are continued dangers in the u.s. military in iraq and syria. it was good for the trump administration and secretary haley this morning. >> 200,000 civilians have been killed in this attack in syria the past several years, the vast majority coming at the hands of the syrian-iranian-russian regime. retired general mccaffery i thank you both for joining us today. we're back live on capitol hill where members of congress are being briefed on syria right now by the chairman of the joint chiefs. i'll talk to congressman ted lu of california after the break to

find out where he stands on the strike, and there is no shortage of aggression on the part of his colleagues. >> the goal was to destroy an air base. >> i think the signal that was sent last night was not just for bashar assad, it was also for putin. >> any time we send our young men and women into harm's way, i think the president owes it to the american people to come to congress and present a plan. >> i do think this has to be viewed in the larger context of a total coherent syrian policy. umbrellas!!

you need one of these. you wouldn't put up with an umbrella that covers you part way, so when it comes to pain relievers, why put up with just part of a day? aleve, live whole not part. tell you what, i'll give it to you for half off.

it is essential that the world does more to deter assad from committing future murderous atrocities. but the action taken last night needs to be followed by a broader strategy to end ria's civil war. we cannot in one breath speak of protecting syrian babies and in the next, close america's doors to them. >> that was hillary clinton moments ago in houston reacting to the airstrike in syria. also happening right now, general joseph dunford, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, he is briefing members of congress on that strike. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, while showing general support, want to know what the plan is going forward. are there more strikes is to come, and what do they hope to achieve? also, what's the long-term

strategy? >> there aren't additional activities that are planned right now. i know people are asking this. there are additional options should they be necessary, but this was exactly, andrea, the kind of operation that i had hoped and was so disappointed didn't happen back in 2013. >> even if this is the right thing to do, there is a right ordered to it. and the 9/11 authorization that was passed after 2001 is about military action against terrorist groups, it's not about military action against a state. >> i'm joined by congressman ted lu, democrat of california and member of the house foreign affairs committee. congressman, thank you for joining us. a little bit earlier you released a statement that reads in part, president bashar al-assad's latest attack on his own people was heartbreaking. the law does not allow president

trump to act without congress. his unilateral decision to launch 50 tomahawk missiles was unconstitutional. congressman lu, do you believe the only justification for using milita f sorcehould be if we ourselves are attacked? >> no. clearly the president can take limited actions that congress has authorized, such as going against terrorists who are involved with 9/11 or in terms of iraq when congress authorized use of force in 2002. but there's been no congressional authorization to launch 59 cruise missiles at a country that has not attacked us. donald trump's action last night was unconstitutional. he should not do it again. >> had he come to congress, would you have voted to give him the authority to do that? >> i might have if he had articulated a strategy, and that is where my fundamental problems with what he did. there has been no coherent strategy from the trump administration. last week they signalled they were okay with assad even though he had previously killed hundreds of thousands of people

in syria and used chemical weapons. last night they attacked the assad regime. we need to know what is the trump administration thinking and what is their long-term strategy in syria? >> congressman, you saw those images of children in syria after what is reported to be that sarin gas attack, children with their clothes being ripped off their bodies, children who were being hosed down to get the chemical off their bodies, children who were dying of suffocation on camera from that chemical attack. does the u.s. do nothing in this situation? >> i have seen gruesome images and those chemical weapons images were horrific. i've also seen images of people blown up from tanks, of children dying from famine, of people shot from guns. there are horrific images from everywhere, and the issue is not should the u.s. respond, it's can the president engage in an act of war unilaterally and the

conversation says he can't do it. he need authorization. >> how do you want to see the u.s. respond to what is going on in syria right now? >> i would like the trump administration to present a plan to the american people and to the congress as to what their strategy is in syria, who are they supporting, how long are we going to be there, and are our troops really fighting for a vital u.s. national security interest? because what -- >> congresscongressman? >> yes. >> i'm sorry. but what do you want to see there? do you want to see the u.s. come to the aid of civilians, do you want the travel ban lifted so syrian refugees can come into this country? what do you want done to help those people, or is this something that's just the responsibility of the syrians? >> i'd like to see the travel ban withdrawn, i'd like the president to come to congress to seek authorization of the use of military force, and then the american people can debate, is this a critical use of taxpayer money? is this something we should support? but we need to have that debate first, not just have the president launch missiles

because he sees some image that offend him. >> congressman ted lu, thank you for your time. >> thank you. we're following breaking news out of stockholm, sweden. video shows pedestrians running after a large truck ran into a crowd and crashed through a department store. at least two people were killed, several others are injured. sweden's prime minister says everything indicates that this is a terrorist attack. and now a manhunt is under way for the suspect. eyewitnesss describe confusion as smoke billowed from the crash site. today's attack is just the latest in a series of vehicle-based terror attacks across europe, coming just two weeks after a similar incident in london. straight ahead, gorsuch gets through as trump's nominee, and he is officially confirmed to the supreme court. we'll get reaction from across d.c. and find out when gorsuch will officially get his robe to the high court.

e*trade's powerful trading tools, give you access to in-depth analysis, and a team of experienced traders ready to help if you need it. it's like having the power of a trading floor, wherever you are. it's your trade. e*trade

hey richard, check out this fresh roasted flavor. looks delicious, huh? -yeah. -and how about that aroma? -love that aroma! umph! -craveability, approved! irresistibly planters.

that had built his house once thout of straw.tle pig one day a big bad wolf huffed and he puffed and blew the house down. luckily the geico insurance agency had helped the pig with homeowners insurance. he had replacement cost coverage, so his house was rebuilt, good as new. the big bad wolf now has a job on a wind farm. call geico and see how easy it is to switch and save on homeowners insurance.

as president trump meets with china's president xi at

mar-a-lago, other world leaders are reacting to the syria strike. secretary michael fallon says his country fully supports the strike. benjamin netanyahu says he hopes this message resonates not only in damascus but pyongyang and elsewhere. and erdo praises it but says it's not enough. with us now richard engel live on the phone from turkey and bill miele in moscow. richard, let's start with you. has this made bashar al-assad's position in syria any more tenuous than it was before? >> reporter: i don't think it has, actually. it hasn't changed the balance of power. it might dissuade him from using chemical weapons again. that message was clearly sent. but i think the idea of this

strike, according to military officials i'm speaking to, was not to topple assad or to undercut his position in the country or change the dynamic in the civil war, it was specifically to target the base and the chemical weapons capability that was used to carry out the attack earlier this week that killed dozens of people and shocked so many people, including the president. >> will it deter him? the point seemed to be to deter him from using chemical weapons on his own people again. is this something that's going to stop him from doing so? >> reporter: what military officials are telling us and telling nbc is that this was an act of desperation, that assad's forces were taking losses, that they were concerned about losing control of a strategic air base. t the air base that had been attacked but anoth one in syria. and that because of the battlefield losses they were

taking, they decided to escalate and to use these chemical weapons. now the trump administration wanted to send a message that times have changed, that there is a new sheriff in town, so to speak, and that the u.s. will not hesitate to act when it sees there's a need. and i think the biggest takeaway from this was not the scale of the attack, which was very small, very precisioned, if you will, very precise, if you will, it was the speed. there was not a lot of hand wringing, there was not attempts to go to the u.n. or form a national alliance. this was strictly an american decision. russia was informed ahead of time, we are told, in order to try and deconviflict some

potential charactasualties, but happened very quickly. i think that's the takeaway. whether assad will receive this message, it's hard to know. his army and military felt desperate enough they would use these banned weapons. i assume in the future they're going to feel desperate again. but a message has been delivered. time will tell if it changes his behavior. >> nbc's richardengel on the phone with us from turk. richard, thank you. now to moscow where we find chief global correspondent bill meal mealie. bill, what is the reaction in russia from the strikes? >> there is a lot of back and forth between russia and the u.s., but a lot of it is actually quite predictable. let me give you an example of that within the last few hours. at the u.n., the emergency security council meeting, we have the deputy ambassador not only sounding angry but looking angry, wagging his finger at

nikki haley, the u.n. ambassador, saying this was illegal and against international law. nikki haley coming back and saying the u.s. is prepared to do more on syria. and medevev saying they lack military action against syria. this was predictable, as was president putin's statement saying this was an act of aggression that would have negative consequences. so, you know, some strong words. but when you look at it, russia is accepting that it was warned that these military strikes would happen. no russian military personnel were killed. the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov actually said, i don't think this will lead to an irreversible situation. so although the russian defense

ministry has taken a swipe or two at the u.s. saying only 23 of these missiles actually hit the base and so on and so on i think along with limited strikes you've got limited condemnation from russia. strong words, but i think a containable situation here, katy. >> bill, what about this russian warship that is headed toward u.s. destroyers? what message is vladimir putin trying to send with that? >> reporter: again, it was at the black sea and now it is headed toward the eastern mediterranean. that ship will go quite close to the two u.s. warships that are there. they have observed that ship several times and many other russian ships who operate in close quarters in the past. they don't see it as a particular threat. russia is sending a signal sending its warship back, but it's not as if that warship is about to open fire. so again, i think this is

understandable, containable. it's almost a symbolic move by russia sending the warship back, ka katy. >> thank you, bill. joining me now senior director nira haap. is he trying send a message to both china and north korea that he is willing to act unilaterally? >> there is a lot of political theater going on right now, and certainly the question is, the strikes last night, are they just fancy fireworks or are they actually for a larger strategic goal? what we're really seeing is that we have a president who is willing to take unilateral action, he's willing to, on a moment's notice, launch missile strikes. growing up, while he's chatting with china, leaders of china, that does show that potentially he is willing to go make some decisions against north korea similarly as well. what we're missing, though, is

the diplomatic follow-up. secretary rex tillerson referenced yesrday the geneva process potenly for removing assad, which is unfortunately a stalled political process that's been going on for several years now. exactly the kind of frustration that people around the world have been expressing with the international order. so what are we going to be doing as a military and diplomatic community in the united states to really end this threat to the syrian people? >> foreign policy officials and military officials say syria and russia are one thing. what we are really concerned about right now is north korea, and that is the biggest threat on the world stage at the moment. how does kim jong-un interpret what president trump did last night? does that send a message to him, or does that only embolden him? >> it certainly shows at least one of the two party, and right now that's the united states, is willing to launch missile strikes unilaterally into

another country. so far what we've seen from north korea is they have the capability to potentially be able to launch a strike all the way across the united states, and they like told these testings of missiles as a show of strength. the unfortunate side is that you have 11 million people who have been displaced in syria, have nowhere to go, and we really don't see syria ever coming back together again into anything resembling a country. so launch, a military strike and not attacking chemical weapons might show strength in one way to north korea, but it certainly doesn't help solve any of the problems we're seeing with isis and broader terrorism in the middle east. after a quick break, we are live at the supreme court where preparations are underway to swear in a new justice, neil gorsuch. stay with me, mr. parker. when a critical patient is far from the hospital, the hospital must come to the patient.

stay with me, mr. parker. the at&t network is helping first responders connect with medical teams in near real time... stay with me, mr. parker. ...saving time when it matters most. stay with me, mrs. parker. that's the power of and. adult 7+ promotes alertness and mental sharpness in dogs 7 and older. (ray) the difference has been incredible. she is much more aware. she wants to learn things. (vo) purina pro plan bright mind. nutrition that performs. there's nothing more important than your health. so if you're on medicare or will be soon, you may want more than parts a and b here's why. medicare only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. you might want to consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company.

like any medicare supplement insurance plan, these help pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay. and, these plans let you choose any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. you could stay with the doctor or specialist you trust... or go with someone new. you're not stuck in a network... because there aren't any. so don't wait. call now to request your free decision guide and find the aarp medicare supplement plan that works for you. there's a range to choose from, depending on your needs and your budget. rates are competitive. and they're the only plans of their kind endorsed by aarp. like any of these types of plans, they let you apply whenever you want. there's no enrollment window... no waiting to apply.

so call now. remember, medicare supplement plans help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. you'll be able to choose any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. whether you're on medicare now or turning 65 soon, it's a good time to get your ducks in a row. duck: quack! call to request your free decision guide now. because the time to think about tomorrow is today. you didn't know we had over 26,000 local activities listed on our app. or that you could book them right from your phone. a few weeks ago, you still didn't know if you were gonna go. now the only thing you don't know, is why it took you so long to come here. expedia.

everything in one place, so you can travel the world better. with e*trade you see things your way. you have access to the right information at the right moment. and when you filter out the noise, it's easy to turn your vision into action. it's your trade. e*trade. neil gorsuch is now set to become the 113th u.s. supreme court justice. in a major victory for president trump, they approved this motion on a 24-36 vote. >> i think as we all know this is a person of extraordinary credentials who will bring honor to the supreme court for many, many years to come. so it is indeed a proud day. >> i want to congratulate judge

neil gorsuch on his confirmation to the united states supreme court. >> america will benefit from justice gorsuch joining the court. >> i think he's proved that he's a judge's judge, and most significantly from my standpoint as a member of congress, a person that wants to interpret law and not stretch the intent of congress. >> one group that is very happy with the outcome is the nra. in a statement, the national rifle association said, the nra would like to thank president trump for fulfilling his campaign promise to place a pro second amendment justice on the supreme court. nominating gorsuch has again demonstrated president trump's unwavering support for our fundamental right to self-defense. but now that the vote is over, what does it mean for the supreme court? joining me now, nbc justice correspondent pete williams who is at the supreme court. pete, there is no person better to answer that question than you. first of all, when is judge gorsuch going to get his roebes

and what decisions will he likely face? >> reporter: monday is the day he'll get his robes. there will be two swearing-ins. supreme court justices take two oaths of office. he'll take the constitutional oath, and it's a bit blustery, so pardon my super unkempt look here. he'll take the oath monday morning at 9:00 a.m. here, and then he'll go to the white house and take the judicial oath. that will be in a public ceremony by the supreme court. it will be the first time a supreme court justice has ever sworn in a former clerk. remember neil gorsuch was a clerk for one who had just retired, so some history there. then he'll come up here and do work of a justice. he can't vote on anything that was argued before he got here, so he'll hear and vote on the rest of the cases in the term.

there are 13 cases left. the court is not sitting next weekt the week after, that's when they start hearing the last two weeks of oral argument of the term. he'll be able to vote on those. the immediate significance, of course, is that he brings the court back to its full strength of nine justices, and one of the remaining cases is one of the bigger cases of the term. it's a religious freedom case from missouri and it raises the question of whether states can, without violating the u.s. constitution, refuse to give money to churches even if they give money to, like, other public schools, for example, can they not give money to church schools? that will be a big question, katy. >> do any of his past decisions indicate how he might rule on that? >> well, remember, he was one of the people who signed onto the big hobby lobby case a couple years ago, saying a privately held company that was closely held, a religious family, had the right to refuse to give contraceptive aid to their employees to cover their insurance. the supreme court ultimately voted that same way 5-4.

on this religious question, one would assume he will vote as the justice he's replacing antoni scalia would have, katy. >> correspondent pete williams who looks dapper even when windblown. thanks. north korea acts as a leader of aggression. ♪ (dog barking) anyone can dream. making it a reality is the hard part. from the b-2 to the upcoming b-21, northrop grumman stealth bombers give america an advantage in a turbulent world. and we're looking for a few dreamers to join us.

remember when you said men are supeyeah...ivers? yeah, then how'd i get this... ...allstate safe driving bonus check? ...only allstate sends you a bonus check for every six months you're accident free. silence. it's good to be in, good hands. he's a nascar champion who's she's a world-class swimmer who's stared down the best in her sport. but for both of them, the most challenging opponent was... pe blood clots in my lung. it was really scary. a dvt in my leg. i had to learn all i could to help protect myself. my doctor and i choose xarelto® xarelto®... to help keep me protected. xarelto® is a latest-generation ood thinner... hat's proven to treathelp and reduce the risk of dvt and pe blood clots from happening again. in clinical studies, almost 98% of patients on xarelto® did not experience another dvt or pe.

here's how xarelto works. xarelto® works differently. warfarin interferes with at least six blood-clotting factors. xarelto® is selective... ...targeting just one critical factor, interacting with less of your body's natural blood-clotting function. don't stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor as this may increase risk of blood clots. while taking, you may bruise more easily, or take longer for bleeding to stop. it may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. xarelto® can cause serious, and in rare cases, fatal bleeding. get help right away for unexpected bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. if you've had spinal anesthesia, watch for back pain or any nerve or muscle-related signs or symptoms. do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. tell your doctor before all planned medical or dental procedures and before starting xarelto® about any conditions, such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. you've got to learn all you can... ...to help protect yourself from dvt and pe blood clots. talk to your doctor about xarelto®. there's more to know.

liberty. we'll keep making additional progress. the relationship developed by xi and myself i think is outstanding. we look forward to being together many times in the future. and i believe lots of very potentially bad problems will be going away. >> the other big news today, president trump is meeting with the president of china. for more on this, noted north korean expert gordon chang joins me now, the author of "nuclear showdown." gordon, donald trump sent these missiles while he was meeting with the president of china,

well, while he was at m-a-lago with him. >> i think the timin may have been dictated by the meeting. what trump did by attacking a chinese ally and friend while xi jinping was there to cut the chinese leader down to size and make him much easier to deal with on all range of issues, syria, north korea trade. xi jinping has a lot at stake. he asked for this meeting so he'll be held accountable for the results when he gets back to china. his many adversary there's use this against him. this is important because he has his 19th communist party meeting. >> does this act in any way against north korea put sanctions on north korea to get the north koreans to stop with their missile launches in. >> yeah. i think it puts a lot of pressure on china to move toward the american position. they don't want to do that because they see north korea as

a great bargaining chip. donald trump has done something that nobody thought he would do. that is to attack syria. and you have to remember that the warnings from the administration on tuesday against north korea were more ominous than the ones on wednesday against syria. so kim jong-un, the north korean ruler must now be thinking about his future and china right now has to change its policies. >> how dangerous is it for kim jong-un to be worryinging about his future? does that make him more or less likely to do something wild? like send a missile that could hit a piece of land rather than into the sea? >> i think it makes him more dangerous. he already has a low threshold of risk. starting in january, we saw a lot of signs of instability. he very well may just roll the dice festival thinks he is in an untenable position, you have to remember his family has used violence to upset status quos that when he thought were

unacceptable. if he is put in a corner, we don't know what he wld do. his risk calculus is very different. >> gordon chang, really appreciate your time. if you didn't get enough, he will be back on our televisions on msnbc all weekend so please tune in for that. now breaking news. swedish national police tell nbc news they've made an arrest in the deadly truck attack in sweden that killed four people. we'll have much more only coming up at the top of the 3:00 p.m. hour. will your business be ready when growth presents itself?

american express open cards can help you take on a new job, or fill a big order or expand your office and take on whatever comes next. find out how american express cards and services can help prepare you for growth at open.com. find out how american express cards and services ♪ everything your family touches sticks with them. find out how american express cards and services make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs better than clorox.

♪ king arthur: ready! washington: charge! empress wu: charge! (in chinese) king arthur: charge! ♪ let your reign begin. evony, the mobile game. download now. when this guy got a flat tire in the middle of the night, so he got home safe. yeah, my dad says our insurance doesn't have that. what?! you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance.

that will do it for me this hour i'm katy tur. kate snow picks things up now. >> we have the fast breaking news coming in to us on the u.s. missile strike targeting an air fiel field. u.s. officials assessing the damage from the 59 tomahawk cruise missile that's were fired in the mediterranean sea. we just heard some very strong words from u.n. ambassador nikki haley. we'll bring all of that to you in a moment. we're also covering what katy mentioned. we've just learned that an arrest was made in question, the attack in sweden. the prime minister said everything indicates it is a terrorist attack. and womenization. hillary clinton said that's just one of the factors behind her loss to trump.

we'll have more on that interview and what she said about syria and the air fields before last night's air strike. i want to start in florida. chris jansing is following the latest from palm beach where trump was today, meeting with the chinese leader. we have kasie hunt on capitol hill. chris, let me start with you. i understand the chinese leader has left. what more have we learned about the syrian air strikes? >> we heard from the president himself. the crew was allowed to go in before they had a working lunch and all the comments were about the relationship with president xi, which he called outstanding. he said there are a lot of very bad problems, a lot of very bad problem that's are going to go away. he indicated that there was some sort of understanding, alhe no very short on specifics here. but there's no doubt these were difficult meetings. in part obviously because of the topics, trade, all throughout the campaign season talkedbout