every time. at safelite, we stand behind our work. bye, bye. because the ones you love, sit behind it. (parents whisper jingle) safelite repair, safelite replace. this sunday that syrian chemical outbreak prompts cries around the world and a military response. >> tonight i ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in syria from where the chemical attack was launched. >> this morning we have the story covered from all the angles. u.n. ambassador nikki haley. >> the united states took a very measured step last night. we are prepared to do more. >> frequent republican critic of president trump, senator lindsey graham. >> it was a wonderful signal to

send but it's got to be followed up. >> reporter: the former vice president nominee, senator tim kaine. >> to do this without congress, without a vote, i think is a clear violation of the law. >> reporter:nd senator bernie sanders who warns that this atta could lead to a military quagmire. plus, power struggle at the white house. if chief strategist steve bannon leaves, does president trump's populist nationalist agenda leave with him? joining me for inside an analysis are david brooks, columnist for the "new york times." danielle pletka, rich lowry of the national review and helene cooper. welcome this sunday morning. it's "meet the press." good sunday morning. this breaking news before we get

to the serious story. there were attacks on two egyptian christian churches this morning. a bomb exploded in a church packed with palm sunday worshippers north of cairo. it killed more than two dozen people, wounding scores of others, according to health officials. hours later a suicide bomber killed at least 11 people in front of a church in alexandria. isis has claimed responsibility for both of those attacks. now we move to syria. this week president trump became the seventh consecutive american president to launch a military action against a country in the middle east. of course, the first one in that seven consecutive streak was a failed attempt to rescue in iran. missiles launched in the mediterranean is what the trump administration called a proportionate response to last week's chemical attack that killed 80 people and caused

horrific suffering seen in pictures circulated around the globe. he drew praise in many usual trump opponents but criticism from some of his stronger supporters. it raised all sorts of questions about the trump administration. what is president trump's ultimate goal in syria? was this mission accomplished or mission creep? was this a message sent around the world, from china to north korea? and can president trump sell this to his nationalist base who was deeply skeptical about taking any action in syria? we have two republicans and two democrats here with us this morning and many different points of view. this isn't cut versus dry, red against blue. ult malimately there was this question. is this a sudden change in his thinking about foreign intervention? >> no child should ever suffer this much.

>> reporter: the president made it clear the country should steer clear of anything being done in syria. >> now hillary clinton wants to start a shooting war in russia that could very well lead to world war iii. >> if we did nothing, if we did absolutely nothing, we would be in great shape. >> reporter: president trump's decision to back away has supporters confused and even angry. some blame it on chief strategist steve bannon, who just days before the syria strike, was ejected from the security council amid tensions with trump's son-in-law jared kushner. >> rubio's happy, hillary's happy. oh, yeah, the weekly standard people. all the conservatives are happy. >> the syrian brutality is nothing new. in 2013, eight days after assad launched a chemical attack which killed more than 1400 civilians, including hundreds of children, trump tweeted, what will we get for bombing syria besides more

debt and a possible long-term conflict? obama needs congression approval. but now with the power of the presidency, mr. trump appears to have abandoned that point of view, at least for now. but what is his ultimate goal? >> we are prepared to do more. but we hope that will not be necessary. >> just last week, mr. trump's secretary of state backed away from the policy of regime change in syria. >> i think the status, the longer term status of president assad will be decided by the syrian people. >> but now a week later -- >> with the acts that he has taken, it would seem there would be no row for him to govern the syrian people. >> an american official said russians on the ground were given notice that the missiles were coming. flights from the base have already resumed. and secretary tillerson's trip to moscow this week is still on. at home, most of washington's foreign policy establishment is applauding the strikes. >> the strikes were important.

i think they were the signal is as important as the actual damage that was done. >> while a coalition of liberals and conservatives skeptical of intervention without approval from congress, opposes them. >> my heart breaks seeing those images. what can we do? it doesn't mean we sort of rip up the constitution and say, okay, it's fine to bomb anybody if they're committing atrocities. >> doing this without consulting congress without a vote, i think, is a clear violation of the law. >> it's clear to say that no one has been more forceful to reonding to the response to the chemical aac tn u.n. ambassador nikki haley. she has been the face in this crisis and yesterday i asked her if she thinks the trump administration has achieved its goal with the military strike or if more needs to be done. >> i don't think that's dependent on the united states, i think that's dependent on the actors at play. this is a very conflicted situation. we know there is no easy solution to the crisis that's in syria, but our focus is to make sure that we're focused on

strengthening the cease fire, we want to continue to have the backs of our allies, turkey, jordan, iraq, make sure they know we've got their backs. we want to push toward a political solution, because at the end of the day, that's really what's needed, is to make sure a political solution comes together, and we hope they'll continue those talks in geneva and we hope we'll continue to see some progress. >> a big part of that political solution would include the russians. obviously they don't accept the conclusion that the united states and others did that this was assad's regime that ordered this chemical weapons attack. do you plan to present the evidence publicly, and do you plan to do it at the united nations? where is the evidence going to be presented? >> you know, the interesting thing, chuck, is when this chemical weapons murder happened to so many people, russia's reaction was not, oh, how horrible. or how could they do this to innocent children, or how awful

is that? their initial reaction was, assad didn't do it, the syrian government didn't do it. why were they that defensive that quick? the idea of the casualties came after. the first priority for them was to cover for assad. so what we knew from intelligence, that the syrian regime had done this again as they had done so many times before, we had the evidence that they had done it. it's obviously classified, so certainly i'm not the one that would release that formion, but it was enough that the president knew. >>ut there's no plans on presenting t evidence publicly? if you look -- isn't it important to isolate -- in order to isolate russia to publicly show how wrong they are about this? >> so i don't doubt that that information won't come out. i think you're also seeing the investigations of russia now. that information is going to come out when they can declassify it. i fully suspect the proper directors will come out with that information, but for right now, all we needed to know in

that room is, is it true? did it happen? what's the evidence? and go with that. what you saw is we watched the president in what i believe is his finest hour since he's taken office. because he was very thoughtful about it, he talked about risk, what general mattis and the military did was just a rock star performance because they were so focused on making sure there were limited civilian casualties, if any at all. they were focused on making sure they hit the air base where the syrian government actually used the planes to carry the chemical weapons, and they were focused on making sure they understood the united states is not going to allow chemical weapons use ever. >> if assad doesn't use chemical weapons, but this civil war continues and he's brutal but he uses conventional weapons to be brutal, are we going to sit on the sidelines? >> i think what you're going to see is we'll keep all our thoughts and plans close to the chest. this president is not going to go and release any sort of

information. but what i think you are going to see is pressure on the political solution. that's really what's going to happen. in no way do we look at peace happening in that area with iranian influence. in no way do we see peace in that area with russia covering up for assad. in no way do we see peace in that area with assad as the head of the syrian government, and we have to make sure we're pushing that process. the political solution has to come together for the good of thpeople of syria. >> what about the fact that we are not allowing syrian refugees unless under the most extreme circumstances into this country right now? >> you know, look. this is what i will tell you. i have watched this administration focus so much on the safety of united states citizens. as a mom and as a wife, i'm very grateful for that. what this president has done is said, prove to me that you are vetting these people properly, and if you are vetting them properly, then we will resume where we are. but until then, you have to prove to me that these people

are being vetted in a way that we're not putting american citizens at risk. so what he did was -- i think there were those countries that we knew there were problems that we couldn't vet, and that's key. you can't vet, you don't know who you're letting in, you don't know if there's any sort of bad intentions there. and so what you're seeing is the president is being very cautious with that. he's making sure that its people, safety first. how do we get to a safe syria? how do we make sure those that have fled that area can go home and make sure they get back there? but the president is not going to sacrifice the safety of american citizens. >> who should bear that sacrifice? these syrians you have so eloquently noted, these women and children in particular that were trying to flee, get out of harm's way and they end up getting gassed by assad, who should take that burden if the united states is not going to help out? >> well, i think you saw the ited stas ke that burden this week. the ited states fought for the

people of syria and told assad no more. >> and final question, what is now the priority in syria? assad's removal or defeating isis? before the emphasis was on defeating isis, then we'll deal with assad. has that changed? >> i think what you have to understand is we can have multiple priorities. of course it's to defeat isis. we've got to do that for peace and stability in the area. it's also to get out the iranian influence which we think is causing so much friction and worse issues in the area, and then we've got to go and make sure that we actually see a leader that will protect his people. and clearly, assad is not that person. >> that was, of course, nikki haley, the u.s. ambassador to the united nations. my next guest has been a frequently critical person on political issues. the senator joins me from clemson, north carolina. thank you for joining me again. >> thank you. >> i want to get to that last

question i asked ambassador haley. does this change america's position here of prioritizing -- what to prioritize in syria, isis over assad? both secretary tillerson and ambassador haley have indicated isis is still the priority. what say you, senator? >> i think isis should beat germany and isis should beat them, isolate mosul. ambassador haley just said on your program, you'll never end the war with assad in power, so that means regime change is now the policy of the trump administration. that's at least what i've heard. so you need more american troops to accelerate the demise of isil. we're relying too much on the kurds. more american forces, 5 to 6,000, were to track more regional fighters to destroy isil. you need a safe haven quickly so people can regroup inside of

syria. then you train the opposition to go after assad. that's how he's taken our own people in his efforts, and they need to tell assad, we will take you down. >> do you think president trump should take that advice? you're calling for troops to be sent in. are you going to give the resolution so he has that authority? >> he already has that authority. you have some good people on this program. i think the president has operation to use force. sign the chemical weapons treaty ban. there is an agreement not to use women cal weapons. war criminals don't police each other very well. the putin regime is a bunch of war criminals, and we expected them to police assad? that didn't work out very well. so all these resolutions are limitations of using force, not authorization to use force, so i don't intend to vote for anything that limits our ability

to win the war on isil or replace assad. >> so you think syria, a sovereign country not mentioned at all in the current world organization, somehow you can send troops into that sovereign nation without having to have congress grant the president more authority there. i think you're in the minority view on that. don't you think, senator? >> no, we already got troops on the ground. i don't see anybody saying cut off funding. if you don't like the thousand american troops that are helping to destroy isil, cut off funding. be consistent here. i want more american troops, 5 or 6,000 like we have in iraq, to help destroy isil. that means it will accelerate the demise of isil. i want to train opposition forces to take assad down. he's a threat to the united states because he's a proxy of iran. he used chemical weapons. he violated a treaty that he signed. i think it's up to us to enforce that treaty. we're all on sound legal footing here, but our strategy is not yet developed. what comes next?

i'm glad trump did this. he is no longer obama in the eyes of our enemies, but he needs to do more to close the deal. there is a new sheriff in town. >> do you think there is a moral difference between the use of chemical weapons and barrel bombs? >> no, there is a legal difference, not a moral difference. if you're a mother, your baby is dead. but we do have treaties that we've signed all over the world saying we're not going to let one nation use weapons of mass destruction. that's what the chemical weapons treaty is all about. but i will say this. if you kill babies with conventional bombs, it's still a moral outrage. here's what i think assad is telling trump by flying from this base. f you. i think he's makg a serious mistake. if you're an adversary of the united states and you don't worry about what trump may do on any given day, then you're crazy. >> i have to say, you used the initials, but i think that's a first for "meet the press," senator graham. we had a few people watching and

it raised some eyebrows. >> good. >> i have to ask you about the president's change of heart on this, because joanna goldberg in national review, who is supportive of this strike but this change of heart still concerns him. he writes, the strike on syria is the single best proof that trump has no overriding commitment to any idealogical position. if trump can abandon his position on this all because of some horrific pictures on tv, what position is safe? >> well, here's my view. he abandoned a position that was not working, which is leaving assad alone. obama said he has to go in name only. this president is setting in motion actual strategy to get rid of assad. to the american people, the war never ends with assad. he's a recruiting gold mine for isil and al qaeda. he will not be accepted by the region nor his people. and so i'm glad the president did this. >> you want him to punish russia more for his support of assad. what is something concrete that you think he can do in the next

couple of months to punish russia for its support of assad? >> sanction russia for not only interfering in our election but add a paragraph to my bill that says russia aided and a betted assad in using chemical weapons, because he did. the russian soldiers on the base where this attack occurred, the russians intentionally, in my view, left chemical weapons in the hand of assad, their proxy. so if i were president trump, i would go after russia through sanctions not only for interfering in our elections, but aiding and abetting the use of chemical weapons by war criminal assad. >> a fired-up lindsey graham this morning from clemson, south carolina. senator, thanks for coming on and sharing your views even if they were not necessarily pg rated this morning. >> good morning. when we come back, two senate democrats, tim kaine of virginia and bernie sanders of vermont with two different views of what the united states should do in syria and how they should do it. they're next.

♪ everything your family touches 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. ...one of many pieces in my life. so when my asthma symptoms kept coming back on my long-term control medicine. i talked to my doctor and found a missing piece 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. that goes beyond assuming beingredients are safe...ood to knowing they are. going beyond expectations... because our pets deserve it. beyond. natural pet food.

[ [ screams ] ] [ shouting ] brace yourself! this is crazy! [ tires screeching ] whoo! boom baby! rated pg-13. [ screams ]

welcome back. to some ex tenlt ttent the u.s. strike on syria scrambled some people's views. he's been a full-throated critic of the new president but he does support the syria pralgsz bopert with reservations. senator tim kaine from virginia, welcome, sir. >> thank you, chuck. nice to be with you. >> my question is, why do you support this action? i know you have some legal views and i want to get to those, but why do you support this action? >> as you know, i'm a strong supporter that the u.s. should take strong action to sup causes like the ban of chemical weapons, so i voted for a limited strike in 2013 to do the exact same thing. and a limited strike for the humanitarian purpose is something i would likely support if there is a plan. but where i differ from this administration, and i took the

same position with respect to president obama, we are a nation where you're not supposed to initiate military action, start war, without a plan that's presented to and approved by congress. that makes us different than virtually any nation in the world, the idea of the drafters of our constitution was that you had to put a check against an executive gone wild. we don't have a system where the president just gets to launch missiles against anyone they want to, and they haven't presented a plan to congress and asked for our approval. that's what they've got to do. >> but senator, in this case, it's very limited, number one. and number two, there were american interests on the ground. we have uls u.s. soldiers, spec operations on the ground very close to chemical weapons. if you're saying this action was illegal, you must be saying the action by obama was illegal, e grenade action was illegal.

>> i was a senate candidate when the president bombed for literal purposes, and i was the one who said president obama had exceeded his authority because the u.s. was not under imminent threat. that's the only circumstance where a commander in chief can use article 2 power without going to congress if there is an imminent threat to the united states. you just heard lindsey graham say that wasn't the case, and president trump did not say the u.s. was under imminent threat. we had a briefing by the white house on friday. they still presented us with no plan. we don't know if it's limited or whether there's more. and when we asked about the legal authorization, they said they weren't prepared to discuss that but they hope to discuss it in the coming days. again, our system is we don't want a president, any president, just being able to start a war or launch missiles whenever they want. there's got to be congressional approval. >> you heard senator graham, and he outlined what he would like

to see, what actions are taken going forward, and he described sending maybe 5,000 troops, and i asked him, okay, do you need congressional authorization for that? he says no. let me ask you this question. if an authorization is on the floor of the senate that describes what senator graham wants to do, sending in a limited number of troops to basically push the momentum back against assad again, would you support something like that? >> you know, lindsey and i agree with that he see atrocities are horrible, but here's where we part company. he stated very plainly, great. the trump administration is for regime change. i don't think the u.s. policy toward any nation should be, we get to change out your leaders. if assad is doing things wrong, violating international treaties with an authorization, we can try to deter him from doing it. we can prosecute him for war crimes, but i don't think the policy of the u.s. should be, we're going to change the regime of your leadership. that's for syrians to decide. we should be part of a political

process, but i don't think regime change should be official u.s. policy. >> do you think assad will go under any circumstance that isn't military? >> i agree with ambassador haley that i don't think there's any political solution to the civil war in syria. that doesn't mean assad moves aside because he's tearing up the country. but instead of regime change, what we should focus on is humanitarian relief. in february of 2014, the u.n. security council said, we should be delivering humanitarian aid to syrians. if we had started doing that then, many fewer would have left the country. that's what we should do, but neither regime change nor a full-on unauthorized war against syria is what we should be doing. >> senator tim kaine, i'm going to leave it there. senator, thanks very much. i'm going to turn to yet another point of view on this. joining me now is democratic senator bernie sanders who has a little bit of a dimmer view of the strike on syria.

senator sanders joins me from vermont. good to have you back, sir. >> good to be with you. >> explain to me why you are against this strike. >> well, chuck, first thought. let's all recognize that in a world full of disgusting dictators, bashar assad maybe ranks at the top. this is a guy in order to hang onto power has allowed 400,000 people in his own country to be killed and millions to be displaced. our goal long term has got to work with countries around the world. we cannot do it unilaterally. we've had to work with countries around the world for a political solution to get rid of this guy and to finally bring peace and stability to this country which has been so decimated. i do not believe, to answer your question, that the president simply has the authority to launch missiles. i think he has got to come to the united states congress, he has to explain what his long term goals are. maybe the most important vote

that i ever kals cast in my lifa member of congress was against the war in iraq. when we get sucked into a war, we do not know the unintended consequences. it is easier to get into a war than it is to get out of a war, as we have learned now over the last 15 years in the middle east. >> is there a point where humanitarian cause sort of trumps that? you know, where you see the gassing people. is there a point where america's moral authority is being challenged here and you have to send a military message because no one else is going to do that and nothing else will deter assad? do you ever belief there ve the moment like that? >> what we are seeing in syria is the disintegration and the destruction of an entire country. it is horrible beyond horrible. yes, i mean, what can we say about somebody who gases men,

women and children in his own country? it is disgusting beyond words. but what we have got to do is be smart and figure out what is the rational solution. is putting 50 missiles into syria going to solve that problem? at the end of the day, in my view, we have got to learn about what the failure of our efforts in iraq and afghanistan, not repeat them. understand there will be diplomacy, demanding that russia, demanding that iran sit down at the table with the rest of the world and get -- help us solve this problem. >> they've been calling for that for three years now. there has been this -- you know, the talks in geneva. then secretary of state john kerry kept going back to the table. the russians and iranians don't look like they're interested in a diplomatic situation here. >> chuck, you're right. this is an extremely complicated and difficult issue.

but i can also tell you that we have been in war in iraq and afghanistan for 14 years. thousands of american soldiers have died. the whole middle east has been thrown into an uproar, a massive instability. all that i'm saying here is that we have got to be clear about what our goals are, not do it unilaterally and understand also, may i say, that when we have a collapsing middle class and 28 million people without any health insurance and an infrastructure that needs a trillion dollars of repair that maybe we don't want to throw trillions of dollars more into unending perpetual warfare in the middle east. >> in december of 2015, you called for more diplomacy, working with the russians. in fact, you said, i am more than aware of the political differences we have with russia today, but our job is to bring together a coalition which understands that the primary function right now is to destroy

isis, to push aside for the moment at least other differences of opinion. now, back then you were a proponent of, hey, we have to prioritize the isis situation first in syria. has your mind changed on that watching what assad has been doing? >> assad has been doing what he has been doing for years. chuck, 400,000 people in syria have been killed, men, women and children. over 5 million people have been displaced. this is a horror show. yes, we have got to destroy isis. yes, we ooereventually have got get rid of assad. but we cannot, in my view, do it unilaterally. that will not work. >> what do you do with the russians, though, if they're not going to be at all interested in a political solution? how do you encourage them to the table? >> i think you may want to make them an offer they can't refuse, and that means tightening the screws on them, dealing with sanctions, telling them that we need their help. th've got to come to the table and not maintain this horrific

dictatorship. none of this stuff is easy, chuck, in any position that anybody takes can be criticized. but at the end of the day, i think getting the united states involved in perpetual warfare, sending troops into syria will just continue the process of money going down a rathole. i think ultimately the solution has got to be political. and by the way, one other thing that concerns many people is that trump says one thing and he ends up doing another thing. let's get some consistency from this president. let's get the congress involved in this debate. >> senator bernie sanders, the independent progressive from vermont. senator, thank you for being on the show, sir. appreciate it. >> thank you. well, there you have it. a lot of perspectives on syria these days. so the political fallout from what happened in syria this week, that will be next with the panel. and later, there is nothing new about a white house power struggle. but the one we're hearing about

in the west wing involving steve bannon and president trump's son-in-law jared kushner could have longstanding issues with domestic policy. stay with us. the independence. and since we planned for it, that student debt is the one experience, i'm glad she'll miss when you have the right financial advisor, life can be brilliant. ameriprise 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. you wto progress.move. 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. ♪ seriously, what is this place? it's heaven. yeah, muscle heaven. you want to take one for a test drive? (tires squealing, engine revs) the challenger and charger have the most affordable v8 engines in their classes. check them out now during the fast and furious sales event. the fate of the furious. in theaters april 14th. in dealerships now. now get 20% off msrpl 14th. cash allowance on select 2017 dod charger models in dealer stock.

welcome back. the panel is here. rich lowry of the national review, helene cooper, mike

pletka. what have we learned about donald trump this week in syria? >> we're debating him like he's winston churchill in the world war. i'm afraid of the story "finding nemo," that he did one thing and it will have no consequences, that there's no strategic thinking behdt and no strategic shift. i do think the one promising thing is we'll never be in the business of regime change any time soon, but we should be in the business of some basic norms in civilization. in world war i, thousands were gassed to death. soot least we can be against gassing. in that sense, this action was a useful action, and we should just be in the business of trying to make sure when people fight, they behave with some level of human decency. we had a thing in this but i'm not sure it was big. >> we were all over president obama when he told president

putin he would be flexible. i don't think we know. we don't know whether this was a tactical strike or a strategic shift. and we have the secretary of state suggesting to us, no, no, no. there's nothing to see here. this was just a one off. >> still isis. >> still about isis, not about assad. then we have nikki haley suggesting, no, things seem to have changed. i think we'll have to wait to see what dops evelops in the ne weeks. >> rich, i want you to respond to this because it's a thought that jonah goldberg used with lindsey graham there. he writes this. a positive interpretation of these latest developments is that trump is someone who is willing to pivot in circumstances, to learn and evolve. but another take is trump isn't just uninformed but unformed and that's not reassung at all. where are you on that? >> clearly, things he said for years on twitter and even his campaign at rallies were not

well considered, to put it mildly, about syria. i think it's good that he feels the pressure of the office, as he admitted over the last week, and has adjusted. i'm skeptical, though, of pinprick strikes. it could be this one succeeds in the narrow goal of deterring future chemical attacks. but what's happening from this airfield is assad will continue with his more routine air crimes as if nothing has happened. >> where were the pentagon officials on this? is this the plan they really wanted him to pick, or were they kind of hoping he would do something a little more robust? >> i think what you've seen is an assertion right now of the pentagon when it comes to american national security policy, and we just saw that take place last week. >> this was not mattis trifen? >> it was absolutely mat trtis driven. i found your interview with

nikki haley extraordinary, because she's been very strong in the last week saying assad must go. but if you look at what she said on march 30th, and rex tillerson, the secretary of state, echoed her on the same day. they both came out saying getting rid of assad was not the focus of the trump administration and rex tillerson went even further than that in ying it's up to the syrian people. a lot of people believe that sent a message, that therump administration was not going to go after assad any more and he could do what he wanted. now a week later, you have them spinning a completely different line. this level of mixed messaging and national security, i think, is dangerous. i think it gets back to sort of, i think, a basic point of american foreign policy is to figure out what you believe and what you stand for and speak with one voice. but we're having people saying everything right now. nobody knows at this point whether we are in favor of regime change or not. >> that's because the structure of this show has changed.

in past administrations they would get on and tell their point of view. >> we're still overstating this. barack obama said assad must go. barack obama said he had a red line. and assad didn't go and the red line was not a red line. the truth is that administrations do evolve, they make decisions, and it's early days for the trump administration. i'm willing at this point to give them the benefit of the doubt that there is an actual evolution and thinking going on as they assess all of their policies. we're not even 100 days in. >> it was a bad week for obama's legacy. because one, trump showed doing this sort of the exemplary strike is not that difficult so it made obama's ideas a little diculous and it made it all a total sham if that's what it is. >> individuals from congress want this debate about does this belong in the authorization or

do you need a new authorization if you're going to do more in syria? this seems like the rank and file trump leadership here. does anyone want to vote? >> i don't think anyone wants a vote on this. they did nothing under obama. they are not going in with use of force. they didn't do it under obama. the reality is that if they choose to do this, and they get into a fight about whether syria should or should not be included, the next time hezbollah does something, the next time an american dies at the hands of the iranians or syrians, it's going to be because congress did not let them do it. there is no percentage for them. >> but i want to go to a point you made off camera. if congress doesn't exert their authority here, then they're exceeding it. >> we had one branch that didn't want to protect his prerogatives because too much accountability

would be involved. i think this was done within congressional authorization, but if you really have the idea of going against assad and weighing the regime, you need congress authority for that. >> the world moovves just a lite too fast. i'm going to pause here. coming up, would you buy a product endorsed by this man? a lot of people were asked the very same question. we'll reveal their answers when we return. after he gave his name the woman from capital one said "mr. garner, are you related to jennifer?" kind of joking with him. and my dad was so proud to tell her, "as a matter of fact, she is my middle daughter". so now dad has the venture card, he's earning his double miles, and he made a friend at the company. can i say it? go ahead! what's in your wallet? nice job dad. tech: when your windshield trust safelite autoglass.. our exclusive trueseal technology means a strong, reliabe bond.

at safelite, we stand behind our work... because the ones you love, sit behind it. (parents whisper jingle) safelite repair, safelite replace. and you're about in to hit 'send all' on some embarrassing gas. hey, you bought gas-x®! unlike antacids, gas-x ® relieves pressure and bloating fast. huh, crisis averted.

welcome back. when he won the white house, critics thought donald trump would use his white house by endorsing products. we asked, how would a trump endorsement play with consumers? 18% of americans would be more than likely to use a product endorsed by donald trump, 49% said they would be less likely, and a full 29% of americans

would boycott a product. that means a good or service by donald trump would most likely cause a slump of that product rather than a bump, and by a big margin. even by republicans, the results were surprising. more likely to use, 31%, less likely to use, 23%. that's really only an eight-point difference. by the way, 11% said they would actively boycott. among democrats, more likely to use is 10%, less likely to use, 71%, and 45% would boycott that product. it boils down to democrats on is question. only 8% more likely to use, 55% less likely. that's pretty striking. nearly a quarter of dependents would actively boycott a product by trump.

don't be surprised to see more and more brands simply run away from politics altogether. forget pro or con on trump. they may not want to touch any of it. when we come back, the power struggle in the white house. however you look at it, the result can have a profound impact on where donald trump's presidency goes from here. stay with us. that's why you'll stay in this drawer forever. i can't live without you, and that's why i'll never ever wash you. protect your clothes from stretching, fading and fuzz with downy fabric conditioner. fading and fuzz with downy fabric conditioner. it smooths and strengthens fibers to protect clothes from the damage of the wash. so your favorite clothes stay your favorite clothes. downy fabric conditioner. tech: when your windshield trust safelite autoglass.. our exclusive trueseal technology means a strong, reliabe bond. at safelite, we stand behind our work... because the ones you love, sit behind it. (parents whisper jingle) safelite repair, safelite replace.

and you're about in to hit 'send all' on some embarrassing gas. hey, you bought gas-x®! unlike antacids, gas-x ® relieves pressure and bloating fast. huh, crisis averted. mait's a series ofar is nosmart choices. like using glucerna to replace one meal or snack a day. glucerna products have up to 15 grams of protein to help manage hunger and carbsteady, unique blends of slow release carbs to help minimize blood sugar spikes. every meal every craving. it's the choices you make when managing blood sugar that are the real victories. glucerna. everyday progress.

back now with the panel. there was a lot of palace intrig this week.

steve bannon the chief strategist there. rich lowry, what do you make of it? do you connect bannon being kicked off the national security council two days later something that he argued against a serious strike happens? it's clear if it's bannon versus the president son-in-law, bannon is losing. >> yeah, there can only be one person fired in that equation. if the democrats take over, and this is one bizarre thing about this administration, you have jared kushner and ivanka trump who wouldn't be within 100 miles of any other republican administration. if they take over, i think you'll see probably a less chaotic white house, but on policy, i would worry. anything that might be embarrassing at a dinner party with anna winter will either be j jettisoned or significantly softened. >> i do think sons in law do get fired sometimes. there is a fancy restaurant in

new york called cipriani. then there's a bunch of truck stops in texas called buc-ee's that's a fill solve cal question and hard to have a strategic administration when you're trying to be both. >> going back to the president's son-in-law, you can't have a troica if one can't be fired. >> the problem with the administration is the palace intrigue. the old byzantine empire. you have the grand bazaar, the family, the son-in-law, and bannon is the one who is expendable in that equation. but he has a lot of sway with the president otherwise he wouldn't be there. >> not to mention the fact that bannon is credited with helping trump get elected. i certainly don't think it was jared kushner.

i think when you look at this kind of intrigue, i thought it was interesting they chose to take kushner with him on the trip to iraq this week. and you see the rest of the administration is sort of reading tea leaves, as well. the pentagon certainly thinks that kushner is where their future is. >> there is no trumpist wing in congress, and the core trumpists are just a faction in the white house itself. what i fear is what was best about trumpism, focus of white class voters, widening of economic policy, that will be jettisoned. >> imagine the alternative here, written in civic hall, hillary clinton quietly sent her son-in-law, investment banker marc mezvinsky was sent to iraq on monday. and clinton's husband has remained home in new york but chelsea has taken an unpaid role

in the administration while continuing to run the family foundation and earning five and six figur giving speeches to corporations with interests in washington. >> totally credible. totally credible. what happened and to be fair, everyone would have said exactly the same thing they said about jared kushner going to iraq. people would be critical. the problem with hillary was she had her daughter and a foundation and it looked corrupt and you know what -- >> we could just have a monarchy with family. one thing about the bannon, you don't have to be kind to succeed in washington, but you do have to be nice to the people that you work with. and fundamentally i think bannon is failing that test. >> what happens if former head of goldman sachs or gary cohen ends up chief of half? >> it would be a huge flip and we would be seeing a return to the donald trump that we used to think we had. the same trump who said to many

people "you know you guys, liberals, you're going to like having me as president, don't worry about it." before he moved further to the right to embrace more of the republican orthodoxy. >> but we have the midterms next year and if donald trump abandons the people who elected him, he will be in trouble and the republican party will be in trouble in 2018. >> we'll be back in 45 seconds with end game. what hillary clinton said about president trump and the people who voted for him. with end game. what hillary clinton said about president trump and the people who coming up, "meet the press end game and post game." brought to you by boeing. alys working to build something better. 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. imy moderate to severeng crohn's disease. i didn't think there was anything else to talk about. but then i realized there was. so, i finally broke the silence with my doctor about what i was experiencing. he said humira is for people like me who have tried other medications but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohn's disease. in clinical studies, the majority of patients on humira saw significant symptom relief. and many achieved remission. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b,

are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. if you're still just managing your symptoms, talk with your gastroenterologist about humira. with humira, remission is possible. "meet the press end game" brought to you by boeing. >> hillary clinton came out and did an interview with nick kristof where hours before president trump addressed the nation saying we're bombing an

airfield, she recommended we bomb the airfield. she said something else interesting. she characterized the mindset of trump voters this way. i don't agree, i don't approve of him, but he looks like someone that has been president before. she believes misogyny has played a larger role in this. >> i think many women feel that way. i don't think i would necessarily dismiss that. i've talked to plenty of trump voters who say they didn't just like hillary, including women. i think there is something to be said for that. i think -- i'm not going to plug my book because you're giving me the perfect opportunity to do that. "madame president." >> but i am. >> about what happened in the liberian election when they elected a woman, but we can't pretend it doesn't exist.

>> but she said women in power get negatively characterized over time more so than men. >> first of all, hillary clinton doesn't want to take responsibility for anything. she lost the election because she is hillary clinton not because she is a woman. yes, of course, women in power are more negatively portrayed. a hard charging woman, can i go after lindsey graham and use a bad word? we know what it is. if you want to be a woman who is influential, stand up to it. ignore it and it will change. scream building misogyny doesn't change things. >> i disagree. it clearly played a role. donald trump is a cliché of old fashioned masculinity. and a lot of people long for that kind of masculinity which is they ever coming back, but they long for it. to say that his hyper macho stereotype is not part of why he got elected, i mean it wasn't his knowledge. >> you saw this in the primaries.

if he was standing in the middle of the debate stage, he was just a bigger figure than anyone else up there. he had a certain bearing and that helped, but hillary clinton is not good at politics. she is not a good campaigner. probably the one active politician in the country that could have lost to trump and she did. >> do you think another woman could have beaten trump? >> a likable woman, yes. >> once we use words like likable, trump is likable? >> no, but there are women politicians who are likable. barack obama said you're likable enough, hillary, and that was not true. that was not true in this election. >> make associateable. >> i think relatable is fferent than likeability.

all right, well, this is -- this one is fraught with a lot of peril, but the good news is, a lot of people will be having their own debates about this issue later today. we'll be back next week, because even on easter sunday it's "meet the press." so we will see you next sunday. you can see more end game in "post game" on the "meet the press" facebook page.

very good sunday to you. i'm richard lui in new york city. welcome to pulse of america. here are some of the stories today. foreign policy team defends this week's missile strikes. should president trump have sought approval from congress rex tlerson any moment will arrive in rome to meet with u.s. allies. russia suggests the spros spects of war if the g-7 countri