and each job created by the energy industry supports two others in the community. altogether, the industry supports over 9 million jobs nationwide. these are jobs that natural gas is helping make happen, all while reducing america's emissions. energy lives here. all while reducing hidden in every swing, every chip, and every putt, is data that can make the difference between winning and losing. the microsoft cloud helps the pga tour turn countless points of data into insights that transform their business and will enhance the game for players and fans. the microsoft cloud turns information into insight.

keps. good morning. i'm thomas roberts. this is what we're watching for you. new reaction from ps making no mention of the fallout over the syrian air strike, instead focusing on meetings with foreign leaders including the chinese president and the future of the diplomatic relations between our two countries, here is part of his weekly address. >> i have been clear about advocating for the national interests of the united states, something so important to me and so important to our people. one of the reasons certainly that i got elected. i want to make sure the decision we make truly secure and the safety and security of our citizens. our decisions will be guided by our values and our goals, and we are reject the path of inflexible ideology that too often leads to unintended consequences. >> meanwhile democratic congresswoman gabbert who met with president assad in january

warning the trump administration on what the missile strikes could mean for the u.s.-russia relationship. >> syria is very closely allied with russia. russia has their military on the ground there. so what we're talking about here really is the very high potential for a direct military conflict between the united states and russia, the two world's nuclear powers risking their, whether intentional or unintentional, nuclear consequences. >> as the house intel community recalibrates as chairman devin nunes steps down from leading the russia investigation, new calls for president trump to produce his tax returns. >> the release of the president's tax returns will help the american people better understand the extent of trump's financial ties to putin's russia. the american people have a right to know whether financial conflicts of interest exist

between the president of the united states and a hostile foreign power. >> we do want to start with the latest from syria. nbc chief foreign can't richard engel is skploinijoining us fro istanbul. >> reporter: there are no indications russia wants a war with the united states. moscow is signaling strongly it does not want to see the u.s. do this kind of thing again, does not want to see more strikes against moscow's ally, the syrian regime of bashar al assad. sending a war trip to the mediterranean, the russian prime minister saying moscow and washington are one step away from the conflict. >> russia is down playing the damage caused to this base which washington claims was used to launch chemical weapons. russian images show it largely unaffected. a human rights group says jets have already resumed flights from there. u.s. officials say that at 7:40

p.m. two navy destroyers in the mediterranean launched 60 cruise missiles targeting the shayrat air base. one missile misfiring into the sea, the rest direct hits destroying 20 syrian aircraft, reinforced hangars, fuel and weapons depots. >> the strike was well planned, well executed, certainly more than a pinprick and sends a message not only to assad that using chemical weapons is something he cannot do with impunity. >> reporter: the action was a reprisal for last week's chemical attack which killed more than 80 people. autopsies confirm nerve agents were used. local activists claim the town has been hit again since then by conventional air strikes. a syrian father who lost two twins called on president trump to go further. the trump administration is

suggesting it might. >> the united states took a very measured step last night. we are prepared to do more. >> reporter: repeating what was a limited one-often strike would likely be a step too far for syria's backer, russia. it's already sending a frigate to the area. critics say president trump is venturing into a dangerous civil war without a plan or a clear strategy for syria. the administration is trying to build support for its action in the meeflt with vice president pence talking to the iraqi prime minister, president trump speaking with the king of saudi arabia, this coming before the key meeting between secretary of state tillerson and vladimir putin in russia. >> richard engel reporting in turk turkey, thank you. back at home president trump continues to field praise and criticism for his decision to launch air strikes against syria. let's say good morning to nbc's kelly o'donnell in palm beach florida, today, near the

president's weekend home. kelly, what kind of reaction is the president getting to these strikes from other leaders? is it the same mixed reaction? >> reporter: certainly from u.s. allies, thomas, there has been positive reaction. as richard laid out, russia has a very different view of how president trump has handled this. we've seen that president trump has also talked to allies. he has reached out. he was concerned, according to top paids, about the reaction from the world wanting a bit of a report card for how he did on this really first major test on the world stage, so different than simply meeting with other world leaders and dealing with complex issues, having to make what is a military decision and having to do it in such a short amount of time which auz an option for him. he could have waited longer, but the decisive action to just within a couple of days responding to the chemical weapons attack. basically at this point u.s. allies are supportive. we've learned from the saupd

difficult end, not the u.s. end, on the phone with the king of saudi arabia talking about the strategy. involvement pence speaking with king abadi, a lot of shared concerns and goals among those nations with the u.s. that's part of what we're seeing happening, where the president and vice president and other top leaders are able to talk, also to reassure and provide guidance as to what the u.s. might do next if anything. we saw that nikki haley described that if the u.s. believes further steps are warranted, they're prepared to do that. all we can see from viewing the landscape here, it does not appear anything else is imminent. >> kelly, when it comes to what's taking place, the palace intrigue and the mar-a-lago intrigue, axios reporting president trump might be considering replaces chief of staff reince priebus.

what are your sources saying about a potential switch in the administration like that? >> reporter: thomas, we could roll back the clock during campaign season and we'd have the same conversation about palace intrigue. this has come up time and time again. in part because of the leadership style of donald trump and some of the characters who are a part of this situation where there has been who's up and who's down. it is different than some white houses where there would be a clear structure where a chief of staff would be the supreme voice within the white house. this is different here because you've got the power base of jared kushner who is son-in-law and senior adviser, steve bannon, chief strategist and more of a nationalist voice within the white house. reince priebus comes out of the establishment wink of the republican party who has had no government experience before. that's one of the things people have raised, his ability to navigate government in d.c. on behalf of the president.

we're hearing the same things you are hearing. there are those who believe priebus has been questioned in his role, that there are these rivalries and differing factions within the white house and some uncertainty among staffers about the where the loyalty should be and who is really in charge. at the same time you also get top of firms who discount all this and we'll have to see how it unfolds. we could be having the same conversations weeks from now. kellyanne conway, counselor for the president, is among those trying to tamp this down. >> nothing but rumors and innuendos and press reports, that would make anything other than the real shakeup going on in washington is the way donald trump is coming in as a disrupp tore. he appreciates diversity of opinion. he likes when people disagree or give him differences in viewpoints. he's never had a lot of yes men or yes women around him. we all appreciate that. >> reporter: one of the things that the president's style may contribute in this area is he

has a way of asking those around him and his circle of friends and those people that he trusts what their opinions are about how different staffers are doing. so the notion of the president asking people, and my sources tell me he will ask how is reince priebus doing, that may, to those on the outside or those within the circles of influence in the trump world, both in the white house and outside, play raise the question about whether priebus or any other top official is in some kind of jeopardy for their position. that may or may not be where the president's head is on this. the president does have kind of a manner, according to sources, of checking on how each of his top advisers are perceived by those that the president trusts or the outside world. certainly jared kushner who is the son-in-law has kind of a special place at the table and bannon has brought a lot of the populist energy to the president, and there's some trust there. we'll have to see how it plays

out. very different factions that need to work together. running a white house is one of the tough eflt jobs. priebus is seeing that bolkt from the inside and having to take some of the criticisms playing out in the national conversation. >> we know the president has been honest about prodding himself on his flexibility. we'll see if that applies to folks in the inner circle. i want to bring in republican senator john hoeb ban from north dakota. i start with the syrian air strikes. how did you first learn about them and were you briefed before they began? >> no, i didn't have prior briefings. i first found out about them on the media. we had an extensive briefing yesterday from general dunford. i think it was a limited and appropriate strike that sent a very clear message that we will not tolerate the use of chemical weapons. >> what will we tolerate? what is the strategy for president trump and trying to

create a strategy for the syrian people? >> that's exactly the right question. that's what we talked about yesterday at the briefing, what our next steps. the indication was that we would be learning more about those next steps in the upcoming days. clearly we need to work with our allies to put pressure not only on syria, bashar al assad, but russia, to stabilize the situation there and to move aside out of power and get the regime that is certainly not killing its people, and i think also to work to establish safe zones to try to help protect the people that are there. >> i think when we hear the word regime, we naturally think of something that would be a nefarious enforcer. i know rex tillerson has talked about the syrian people having the right and the authority to put whoever they want to be their leader in power, and then he quickly turned his thought process on that after this

attack by bashar al assad on his own people, and now we have the air strike that the u.s. sent those tomahawk missiles, rex tillerson on his way to russia. there are questions about the legality of what took place with that missile strike. from your standpoint, do you think moving forward, if the president engages again, that he really does need to get congressional support, congressional approval? >> i think we do want to see a strategy that obviously involves diplomacy, working with our allies, isolating syria, putting pressure on russia to join with us. that's a strategy that should be laid out to the congress. i think there will be strong support in congress for that strategy. i think already you're seeing our allies in europe getting behind this effort to, like i say, really develop a strategy that puts pressure on both syria and russia to resolve this terrible situation. >> i want to play for everybody one of your colleagues, senator

chris murphy, what he had to say about the decision to launch air strikes. >> we do have troops inside syria. that means this might not be the final act when it comes to air strikes against the syrian regime. if that's the case, i don't trust the ability of the trump administration to be able to thread this needle. so i would not have authorized this strike. i would have come to congress first, in large part because that's what i think the constitution demands. >> before president trump was president, he tweeted his distaste at what president obama had or hadn't done when it involved syria. when you hear the concerns of senator murphy there, do you think we are about to engage in something that is a potential quagmire for this country again for future military actions? >> no, that's what we want to avoid. that's why we want a clear strategy. we want to work with our allies. i think as far as the strike that the president undertook, understand negotiations work when people understand that you

say what you mean, you mean what you say and it is backed up with the potential threat of military force. so i am hopeful that everyone understands that we want a negotiated solution, but this is a serious situation that needs to be resolved. >> i want to switch gears and quickly talk about the issue of getting a majority, a 60-senate majority for neil gorsuch and the nuclear option being used within the senate, a bipartisan group of senators, 61, sent a letter asking the 60-vote threshold be preserved. your name was not on this letter. explain to us why didn't you want to sign that letter and do you feel there really shouldn't be a 60-vote threshold anymore? >> i think we all support a 60-vote threshold. i think the letter is something that senator collins is working on, and that's fine.

i think our majority leader has been clear that we will corporate to follow and should follow the 60-vote requirement on legislation and really on nominations. that was something our colleagues put in place back in 2013 that essentially now has been completed in regard to all nominees. and i think the focus should be on all of us trying to work together to move legislation with hopefully -- well, more than 60 votes and legislation that will really move our country forward, whether it's health care reform or tax reform, reducing the regulatory burden, the kind of things that can help get our country mooing. i think we're all committed to that 60-vote threshold and we should all be committed to working together to pass this important legislation. >> so you don't regret using the nuclear option to move neil gorsuch into a supreme court position? >> i think, as we indicated when our colleagues across the aisle,

in essence removed filibuster for all nominees except supreme court nominees, that that was the logical result of that action. senator reid, senator cain and others have indicated that. >> senator john hoeven, thank you, we appreciate your time today. >> thank you. >> more coming up about the air strike and the ripple effect it could have across the middle east. how do our allies feel about what happened in syria? that's ahead. gs... ...it starts a chain reaction... ...that's heard throughout the connected business world. at&t network security helps protect business, from the largest financial markets to the smallest transactions, by sensing cyber-attacks in near real time and automatically deploying countermeasures. keeping the world of business connected and protected. that's the power of and.

we're on the move. hey rick, all good? oh yeah, we're good. we're good. terminix. defenders of home. (i wanted him to eat healthy., so i feed jake purina cat chow naturals indoor, a nutritious formula with no artificial flavors. made specifically for indoor cats. purina cat chow. nutrition to build better lives. si'm happy for the distraction.

i'll be right there. and the butchery begins. what am i gonna wear? this party is super fancy. are you my uber? [ horn honks ] hold on. [ upbeat music playing ] the biggest week in tv is back. [ doorbell rings ] who's that? show me watchathon. xfinity watchathon week now until april 9. get unlimited access to all of netflix and more, free with xfinity on demand. we are prepared to do more, but we hope that will not be necessary. >> we have nikki haley, america's ambassador to the u.n. on the situation towards syria. joining me from "the new york

times," mike willis from the hill. the president did not mention syria directly in his weekly address that was released earlier today. he has not also talked about the fact that russia is a supporter of assad and his regime in syria. what do you think the motivations are there to not mention those important things? >> it's tough to say. i think he's mainly reacting to the idea that there's such still operation on some sides of the aisle, you think about republicans like ann coulter coming out saying this is exactly what you said you were not going do do, you were not going do get involved in the middle east. there's reports obviously that donald trump, president trump is seen as someone who did this because of an emotional reason, he was instinctively acting in syria because of that, that these images of people being hurt really moved him. while that many some ways can be interesting to people, as a president you want to be seen as someone who is taking strategic

action and not someone reacting to one single thing. >> and also the fact that this week we saw these interesting moments, mike, with the president meeting with the king of jordan, also with theme president of egypt earlier and the rose garden moment with the king of jordan, jordan being the country that takes in the most syrian refugees and the president talking about the fact that he's proud of his flexibility, almost as if the last person in the room, these important members of the middle east and what their functioning and what their policy issues are, kind of moved donald trump in a different direction when it comes to syria. do you think that's what happened? >> it's difficult to say. we've said all along that he is kind of an impulsive guy. that was clear in the campaign. it does seem to be the case that the last person in the room or the last news article he saw will launch a twitter tirade or in this case there are already accusations that it was just

emotion, an emotional response to something he said in 2013 when he was warning obama against the very same type of strike tochlt answer your question, it's too early to say why he was not mentioning this in his radio address specifically. he seems to now think this is the national interest, whereas on the campaign trail it was all america first and why should we interfere in foreign affairs when we have so many problems at home. so it's an evolving process, and i think in many ways he's waiting the see the fallout of it. he thinks the strike spoke for itself. he's waiting to see the reaction not only on capitol hill and washington but far afield. with rex tillerson heading to moscow next week, we'll know shortly what the fallout will be. >> yam meesh, to mike's point and these other right wing, alt right folks that have come out criticizing the president about this and the fact that he campaigned on america first and

making america great again and now advancing almost a globalist perspective, do you think that's going to come back to bite him? >> i think it could come back to bite him because there's so many people who did not want him to be involved in this. his base -- i think this is a topic very simple for people to understand, unlike tax reform and other things, whether or not you're involved in the middle east is a very easy thing to understand. so here you have americans watching their president doing exactly what he said he wasn't going to do. in 2013 he was very adamant telling president not to get involved in syria and now you see him doing this. you see other republicans changing their minds. people like marco rubio, paul ryan, mitch mcconnell, before they didn't want to give president obama the support to go into syria. now it's something they report. you have americans watching republicans change their minds. >> rubio, mccain and graham giving him a slap on the back

about this move, showing military might. this was a wild week in washington, d.c. and abroad, but the u.s. senate making history invoking the nuclear option to confirm neil gorsuch. how do you think that political divide will change the way the senate works in future issues? >> i think it will certainly change the way it works on supreme court nominees. whether it changes the way it works on future issues, i don't think that will be the case. this has been a body that has been extremely divided, especially since obama came into the white house. you had mitch mcconnell as the minority leader. of course now he's running the show. when he was the minority leader and the democrats were in control, he invoked the filibuster over and over and over again, even on issues that the republicans supported. they were filibustering republican bills, things they were going to vote for, things that they had sponsored. that partisanship has carried over now that senator schumer is

the minority leader, he's going to filibuster everything to pre veent things from getting to the trump white house and getting a signature. the partisan divide, the ideology has not changed. it's still very combative, still very tense and i don't think this really changes that beyond the fight that we just had. i think the more things change, the more they stay the same. in this case everything is going to stay the same. >> yam meesh, when it comes to the feud behind the scenes, steve bannon and jared kushner. do they both survive or does one have to go? >> i think it's too early in some ways to say whether or not this idea that you're already having leaks, axios and other people saying steve bannon may be replaced doesn't bode well for him. jared kushner is always going to be his son-in-law. i think he's always going to choose jared kushner over steve bannon, over anybody, over reince priebus, whoever he puts into the next chief of staff's

office. i think even the fact that jared kushner may not have the name chief of staff, the fact that both he and his wife, the president's favorite child essentially, are in the white house building their power. that says everything about this, who has the real power in this administration. >> there are some heftier names surrounding the president that we are familiar with that we've been following for years, and there might be some craftier lower-profile folks that are sending out those leaks. it's the ones that are quiet that you always have to worry about. mike little liss, yam meesh, thank you very much. the first western reporter to get to the scene of the syrian chemical attack will tell us what he saw and the people he was able to speak to.

♪ whoa that's amazing... hey, i'm the internet! i know a bunch of people who would love that. the internet loves what you're doing... ...so build a better website in under an hour with... ...gocentral from godaddy. type in your idea. select from designs tailored just for you and publish your site with just a few clicks-even from your... ...mobile phone. the internet is waiting start for free today at godaddy. nitrites or artificial mesquite preservatives.added nitrates, now it's good for us all. like introverts. extroverts. (cheering) and even bert. man you gotta' try this sandwich. who's just overt. oscar mayer deli fresh. so good! before fibromyalgia, i was a doer.

i was active. then the chronic, widespread pain drained my energy. my doctor said moving more helps ease fibromyalgia pain. she also prescribed lyrica. fibromyalgia is thought to be the result of overactive nerves. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. woman: for some, lyrica can significantly relieve fibromyalgia pain and improve function, so i feel better. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or blurry vision. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. with less pain, i can be more active. ask your doctor about lyrica.

a 401(k) is the most sound way to go. let's talk asset allocation. -sure. you seem knowledgeable, professional. would you trust me as your financial advisor? -i would. -i would indeed. well, let's be clear, here. i'm actually a deejay. ♪ [ laughing ] no way! i have no financial experience at all. that really is you? if they're not a cfp pro, you just don't know. find a certified financial planner professional who's thoroughly vetted at letsmakeaplan.org. cfp. work with the highest standard. welcome back. i'm thomas roberts at msnbc world headquarters in new york. new this morning, an arrest being made in connection with a

deadly truck attack in stockholm, killing four people, injuring 15 others. the hijacked vehicle plowing into a crowd in a busy shopping district before barreling into a department store in what sweden's prime minister calls a terrorist act. a police spokesperson telling us they have, quote, high suspicion the suspect arrested on terror charges is the driver. the scene in stockholm today where a makeshift memorial has been created at the site of the crash to honor those lost. we also have new reactions today to the u.s. strikes in syria from world leaders. iran's president rouhani speaking out against the strikes and expressing doubt over the u.s. analysis that the syrian government is responsible for the chemical attacks, and a new cal for an international investigation into what prompted the u.s. to strike. we'll go to nbc's matt bradley in beirut, lebanon, with the latest on this. what more can you tell us and

what their suspicions are about how this chemical weapons attack happened in syria? >> reporter: thomas, thank you. this is of course iran's position, consist accident with syria's position and russia's. all of this is just saying russia said immediately, and syria agreed, that this was an example of a bombing done by a russian aircraft or a syrian aircraft against a rebel position and it was the rebels who stockpiled the chemicals in this facility and that's what caused this appearance of sarin gas mixed with chlorine. the turkish officials who saw many of the wounded who came out of northern syria, they said this was a sarin gas attack. now, the united states and other investigators have really disputed this contention of russia's and syria's and now iran, saying if there had been a bombing, that a lot of these victims would have actually had visible appearances of having been bombed. there's a reason why this was called a bloodless massacre.

these 80 people who were killed were largely uninjured but suffering from gas attack. so that's why it didn't look as though someone had bombed the facility that had been stockpiled with sarin gas. nevertheless, it looks like iran's leader, rouhani, wants to call for an investigation. a lot of leaders have quietly being saying this is an impetuous move by donald trump, there should have been more of a thorough investigation as to exactly what happens since clearly there were differing analyses of what went on. of course, rouhani and syria have pointed to the 2013 attacks when obama said a red line had been crossed. remember, back then, instead of obama actually attacking syria and the regime of bashar al assad as donald trump did early on friday morning, he arranged a deal where syria would export its remaining chemical weapons they stockpiled from years earlier to russia. now the americans are saying not all of those chemical weapons

stockpiles left syria. the seer yayrians and russias sy have no chemical weapons, that all this was done in this deal. that's why they're calling for further investigation. >> russian oversight was supposed to happen with that. russia calling this an act of aggression at the u.n. nbc's matt bradley, thank you. telling the world, the first western reporter to meet that syrian town after the chemical attack calls it a ghost town. he'll join me in just a moment to talk about what he saw, as our matt bradley reports that there weren't actually injuries for folks injured, a bloodless massacre because of the gas. more of this. a lot of people have vertical blinds. well, if a lot of people jumped off a bridge, would you? you hungry? i'm okay right -- i'm... i'm becoming my, uh, mother. it's been hard, but some of the stuff he says is actually pretty helpful.

pumpkin, bundling our home and auto insurance is a good deal! like buying in bulk! that's fun, right? progressive can't protect you from becoming your parents, but we can protect your home and auto. progressive can't protect you from becoming your parents, ♪ progeverything your familyyou touches sticks with them.nts, make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs better than clorox.

put under a microscope, we can see all the bacteria that still exists. polident's unique micro clean formula works in just 3 minutes, killing 99.99% of odor causing bacteria. for a cleaner, fresher, brighter denture every day.

russian officials insist chemicals deployed in this week's syrian government attack belongs to rebels. the first western reporter to reach the machine says he saw no

evidence of that. kareem sheheen joins us. you work for "the guardian." describe what the damage was like and how people were acting? >> thank you for having me. when we arrived at the sheen, it was two days after the chemical weapons attack oofs. we went immediately to the sight of the attack. what we saw were remnants of the rockets used, a green-colored fragment inside a blackened crater, a very small crater. we didn't observe much damage in the civilian homes that were on the other side of the street. on the other side of it was a warehouse and silos that we presumed were the factory or the warehouse where the chemical weapons were -- that russia had spoken about were present. we went inside and explored it

and found nothing there to prove that the facility had been used to manufacture chemicals or chemical weapons. >> just so we understand real quickly, so everybody understands, russia is saying the bombs that were used, they were targeted to hit a terrorist chemical weapons factory and that's what caused the issue of innocent towns people and children being affected and killed by chemical weapons. >> reporter: that's right. we went into the warehouse and the silos that were immediately in front of the location where the missile landed to look in there and see if there was any evidence that the facility was being used for the production of chemical weapons. the facility itself had been bombed several months earlier, so part of it was damaged, but

it was the part that was not facing the street where the missile hit. and when we went inside -- until we went into the grain silos, found nothing there except for essentially animal dung and a little grain and soil. we also went into the warehouse right next to it and found it completely empty. it looked like it hadn't been used for several months. >> as you got to the scene two days after this attack happened, by this point there was great loss of life, certainly a lot of confusion about what happened. but from people there that are not part of the civil war and the strife that's taking place, how do they explain why they would be targeted? is it a heavy population for what the assad regime would consider terrorist activity? >> reporter: there was a significant population there.

chan shaykhun, a lot of the refugees had taken refuge there. that's part of the reason we don't know the exact death toll because a lot of the people who died were refugees, so they went back home to bury their relatives. so the town was populated, the area where the strike happened didn't seem to have any military facility nearby. the civilian homes that were right next to it were largely undamaged, but the first responders who went into them found children who were lying down in their beds and had suffocated in their sleep. the attack happened around 6:30 a.m. in the morning. the first responders who arrived there, they also collapsed when they arrived because they didn't know it was a chemical attack, and a second team of first responders had to go, and a third team, in order to save the first responders who had been injured when they responded to the chemical attack itself. the town right now feels like a

complete ghost town. you drive around an it's all abandoned houses and abandoned shops. i saw maybe an estimated few hundred civilians that were left there, including one of the families that had lost about 20 members of the same family, including the father who lost two of his children whose image went viral. he's now in turkey. the town now is a ghost town, but before that it was relatively thriving compared to other war-stricken towns in syria and had a large refugee population. >> when we think about -- specifically you wrote about that dad, not only losing twin toddlers but also his wife and several other family members, he has moved on to refuge in turkey? >> reporter: yes, he was moved to turkey, yesterday he arrived in turkey and he met with president erdogan in turkey.

we're not sure exactly if he's going to remain in turkey or if he's been offered some settlement somewhere else. i met him the day he was moved out to turkey. >> kareem sheheen, the first reporter to arrive on scene there. thank you. we appreciate your insight and reporting oochs. at least one lawmaker says there's more to president trump's tough response to syria than you might think. coming up, the wag-the-dog theory. and what led to steve bannon's ouster from the national security council? is he really losing out in a white house power struggle?

you were made to move. to progress. to not just accept what you see, but imagine something new. at invisalign®, we use the most advanced teeth straightening technology to help you find the next amazing version of yourself. it's time to unleash your secret weapon. it's there, right under your nose. get to your best smile up to 50% faster. visit invisalign.com to get started today.

in the wake of the u.s. air strikes on syria, one of the president's biggest republican krilt ticks comparing him to ronald reagan. you'll find out why next. do you play? ♪ ♪

use the chase mobile app to send money in just a tap, to friends at more banks then ever before. you got next? chase. helping you master what's now and what's next. at crowne plaza we know business travel isn't just business. there's this. 'a bit of this. why not? your hotel should make it easy to do all the things you do. which is what we do. crowne plaza. we're all business, mostly. (healthy weight becausel the first ingredient is chicken. (riley) man, this chicken is spectacular! (jessica) i feel like when he eats beneful, he turns into a puppy again. you love it, don't you? you love it so much! (vo) and now try new beneful grain free, simply made with wholesome ingredients, and no grain.

he was repulsed as a human being by what assad was capable

of doing. the children really moved him, and all i can say about this president, he has the instincts of ronald reagan in many ways. he's an emotional -- instincts of ronald reagan. he's an emotional manna smart m man. >> why president trump decided to carry out thursday's airstrikes. i want to bring in our strategists. so fire a missile and media and mccain and lindsey graham are going to love you. that makes you presidential. the comparison to ronald reagan, is there any truth to that? >> not that i can see. it's tragically ironic that some

of the president's biggest critics from the right, senator mccain, senator graham are now praising him after launching 50 cruise missiles. put aside the foreign policy, the military action for one second, whether you're dealing with syria, whether you're dealing with russia, dealing with these kind of problems requires an actual strategy. firing missiles is not a strategy. this is the part where i think when these events happen, and we've seen this in the past under other administrations as well, republican, democrat, there's a tendency, i think, for everyone to immediately rally. what they should be rallying around is asking really smart, difficult questions about the president in terms of what's next. that is, i think, what you're not hearing. hearing senator graham and others kind of applaud the president is fine, i guess, for his own base but it doesn't go to the heart of what the problem

is. >> does it take the eye off other things. the syrian civil war is a concern. it's something this administration needs to address, but because this administration is so embattled in the first 79 days with different types of scandals, issues taking place from inner circle, ongoing russian probe, is this what trump needs, create a war? >> it may take the eye off the ball, but it puts the focus on the issue, and the issue is look at what happened over there. what happened was an absolute -- it's beyond tragic. i think what trump did was a bit reaganesque. lindsey graham was on appoinpoi. you've got germany saying, fabulous move, other countries saying bravo to this, i think donald trump did the right thing. when you have critics, schumer, people that come out and say this is a good move, i think for

once instead of finding criticism for what he did, give him one bit of kudo and say this was a good move. >> there certainly needs to be a strategy when it comes to dealing with bashar al assad. but being moved to want to avenge dead syrian children and by the same token saying i don't want syrian children coming to this country as refugees, how do you square that? >> i knew this would come up. the thing with that is this. what we did as americans, what president trump did on behalf of americans is he took control and he said enough is enough. and unlike obama, who draws red lines, we actually act on them. i think this has nothing to do with the syrian refugee movement, even though people and under it's are trying to weave it together, it does not. what it's doing is saying chemical warfare is bad and what assad did is absolutely a tragedy and it shouldn't be

happening and no one is going to tolerate it. especially americans of we're not going to tolerate it. >> that's why syrians wan to leave. they want to escape the civil war that's taking place, escape being the target of a crazy dictator that will actually gas them and their children via chemical weapons, come to america potentially. that opportunity under president trump doesn't exist. >> i agree. i agree with you on that point, but they are two separate issues. i know people are trying to intertwine them but they are two separate issues. what they did, they stopped, reacted to something bad. nobody was doing anything so america fast and swift, it got it done. that's not to say that because this is going on, we need to sweep in a bunch of the refugees right now. what we need to do is make sure that syria is going to be a place where they -- refugees can come back to their country and

rebuild and live there. really, i don't think refugees want to come and be displaced all over the world. they love their country. they want to be there. i think, you know, making their country a place where they can reinhabit it and build again is really the ultimate goal here. >> we know wednesday from the rose garden king of jordan addressed the refugee crisis. they have helped with the brunt of that and the fact that they do want to encourage refugees to economically go back at some point into syria when safe. isn't there a fine line that we're walking here with this strike and what the strategy means going forward now with our engagement in syria? >> the fine line is that this administration has no strategy when it comes to syria. the notion, by the way, the notion that the refugee crisis that you've seen and that region has been dealing with for years is not connected to this strike

is almost -- with all respect, almost laughable. the notion you're going to launch 50 cruise missiles to protect, you know, civilians in response to the deaths of children, but you're not going to open your borders to people who clearly want to be safe and protect their children, that policy doesn't square. this is, if you really step back and look at this kind of objectively, you have to ask your self kben what is the ultimate strategy here. that is what the president has not articulated. didn't articulate it before the strike and hasn't articulated since the strike. this, i think, is a reflection of this president's lack of experience. people can criticize president obama all they want, but the reality is that region in particular, anyone who knows anything about it knows how complex it is and how difficult it is. the easiest thing to do for the most powerful military in the world is to launch missiles. that's not to say we shouldn't have done this. the bigger question is what are

we going to do now? what are we going to do a month from now, six months from now? that is how you solve foreign policy crisis. >> i was going to say, whatever in the past as we look back at other administrations basically none of it matters. this is the trump administration. this has been done and now we need to look at the path moving forward as a country and on the international stage. great to see you, noelle, chris kofinis. that's going to do it for now. "am joy." rds 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.

...one of many pieces in my life. find out how american express cards and services so when my asthma symptoms kept coming back on my long-term control medicine. i talked to my doctor and found a missing piece in my asthma treatment with breo. once-daily breo prevents asthma symptoms. breo is for adults with asthma not well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. breo won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. breo is specifically designed to open up airways to improve breathing for a full 24 hours. breo contains a type of medicine that increases the risk of death from asthma problems and may increase the risk of hospitalization in children and adolescents. breo is not for people whose asthma is well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. once your asthma is well controlled, your doctor will decide if you

can stop breo and prescribe a different asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. do not take breo more than prescribed. see your doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets worse. ask your doctor if 24-hour breo could be a missing piece for you. learn more about better breathing at mybreo.com. we're on the move. hey rick, all good? oh yeah, we're good. we're good.

terminix. defenders of home. longer-term status of president assad will be decided by the syrian people. >> hello, everyone. welcome to " j,"