tonight i call on all civilized nations to join us in seeking to end the slaughter and blood shed in syria. and also to end terrorism of all kinds and all types. >> president trump's first major military maneuver, 59 american tomahawk missiles launched on the syrian base after a chemical weapons attack. how will syria, russia and the world react. >> supreme court will add neil gorsuch to the bench. >> and the passing of a comedy legend, mr. warmth himself don rickles. "early today" starts right now.

a lot to cover this morning. good morning. i'm yasmin vossoughian. >> i'm frances rivera. certainly all eyes on syria this morning after the united states launched 59 tomahawk cruise missiles targeting a syrian airfield. the strike was in response to syria's alleged use of banned chemical weapons. the missiles were nired from two u.s. warships in the mediterranean sea. they hit the airfield used to carry out the suspected chemical attack. matt, what can you tell us about the latest on the strikes and also about possible casualties? >> reporter: well, thanks, frances. the syrian government said there were casualties around the area that was struck. this was sort of a support base that rebels said that the syrian regime used in order to attack rebel positions throughout northern syria. of course the syrian government is saying this wasn't

necessarily such a crucial base but the rebels who have spoken to nbc and some of the wire agencies said that this was indeed a major point of departure for armed weapons going and attacking rebel positions throughout northern syria. there have been casualties, we're not sure on the numbers on the ground. the russians have said that this base was used to house some russian soldiers but said they suffered no casualties in the process of these air strikes. again as you mentioned, nearly 60 bombs dropped from u.s. war ships in the eastern mediterranean. so this is a major attack but it seems as though at this point a limited one. the trump administration said that they are going to be -- they were examining options and seems as it stands at this moment this was just a shot across the bow of the syrian regime but it's still a major moment for donald trump. he is wading into a shark tank of all of these different groups and it's a topsy-turvy movement

for his maiden voyage into war in the middle east. frances. >> certainly our relations with russia with the kremlin calling this aggression against a sovereign nation, which violates international law. we'll hear more from the international stage as well. matt bradley in beirut, thank you. the president explaining his decision to order these strikes from his club in florida where he is hosting chinese president xi jinping. here is what the president had to say. >> tonight i ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in syria from where the chemical attack was launched. it is in this vital national security interest of the united states to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons. there can be no dispute that syria used banned chemical

weapons, violated its obligations under the chemical weapons convention, and ignored the urging of the u.n. security council. tonight i call on all civilized nations to join us in seeking to end the slaughter and bloodshed in syria, and also to end terrorism of all kinds and all types. >> edward lawrence in d.c. how is washingtoning reacting to this strike? >> reporter: so far republicans and democrats support this surgical missile strike. they say that a message had to be sent to the assad regime that using missiles or chemical weapons on helpless people will not be tolerated. they went on to say that for example senator bob corker a republican said he applauds

president donald trump for this. the ranking member of the foreign relations committee ben cardin said this shows the u.s. will stand up against the use of chemical weapons. members of congress were briefed before the missiles rained down, they were briefed as the barrage was happening, this shows that the white house is willing to work with congress on this, reaching out to them, going forward though senators say if any escalation happens beyond missiles or air strikes that congressional approval will be needed. >> for now it seems more of a united front out of washington. edward lawrence for us, thank you. i want to bring in nbc news military analyst and congressional medal of honor recipient colonel jack jacobs. i appreciate your being with us. you had the question that so many of asking now, that what next question that applies to this administration it applies also to the assad regime. we got to look at the end game. what are we looking at? >> we're not looking at much. i think it's not entirely clear what our strategy is indeed i

think a lot of people are convinced that there is not necessarily a strategy. don't forget this was it new strategic strike, it was a tactical strike set to achieve fairly narrow goals including domestic, political goals, foreign political goals, and convincing assad not to use chemical weapons again which i think to that extent it was a success. but what next? it all depends on what kind of strategy that national security adviser joe mcmaster puts together. i think he was hired specifically to do that. not just for the middle -- not just for syria, not just the middle east but across the entire arena in which the united states operates. for his entire life, his whole professional life, he's been very much focused on strategy. i think he was engaged specifically to create a strategy and we haven't had one

before and i think he is working on it right now. what it's going to look like remains to be seen. but this is a good opportunity for the united states now to use other instruments of policy, not just the military instrument, in its quest for stability in the middle east. >> what about the fear of creating a vacuum in that area if assad were to leave. what about isis and then coming in to that area? >> it's a very big problem. by the way it's a very big problem in all of the countries in the middle east. we saw exactly what happened including libya and iraq when there was no follow through, no way to stabilize the country and so on. it's not entirely clear what would happen if there were no regime, no assad regime as it stands now. but whatever it's going to be, the country itself would fragment and be difficult for american national security interest. the united states needs to work with the russians and frankly, with iran and with saudi arabia

to make sure there's a concerted effort to keep stability in the region. particularly in syria. >> especially you have a lawmaker say the strikes will hamper relations when it comes to the united states and russia of it we'll continue to follow that and watch. as always, thank you. i want to get perspective on bashar al assad. i want to go to cal perry who met and interviewed the leader. good morning, cal. take us inside assad's mind-set right now. will these air strikes deter him? >> certainly that's the hope. keep in mind bashar al assad has changed since the civil war began. he was a darling in the middle east, he was going to open up peace negotiations with the israelis, he was close to the french, all of that changed when people took to the streets. remember, people took to the streets calling for reform and it was his military's response to those calls that then inflamed the situation. it was his killing of civilians in the streets of cities like

dara and damascus that really brought us to where we are today. the oth eer thing is that he's t really the president of syria. putin is really the person who is largely in charge, bashar al assad is at this point fighting for survival. he is going to keep taking cues from moscow. >> we're hearing those reactions where you have president putin saying this strike is aggression against a sovereign country, violating international law and detracting from civilian deaths. what can we expect from russia and what may follow as far as how they may come about in dealing with a strike? >> i think look, the real fear here in my real fear is that president assad is going to reassert himself to the syrian people. they are already playing this off like this was a, quote, limited strike, that this didn't have effect on the capabilities of the syrian air force. i think unfortunately what you're going to see in the next 24 hours is probably more attacks on the civilian

population of syria. keep in mind we're in year six, we've seen a half million dead, we have a refugee problem of biblical proportions, none of that changes tonight because of 59 tomahawk missiles fired at one target. what is going to continue for the syrian president for president assad is continuation of this policy fighting for survival he now is in control of some 80% of the country, he's looking for the other 20%. >> a lot of people waking up to this news. we'll see what transpires as you said, cal perry, thank you. we're also watching here on "early today" severe weather slammed the eastern half of the country. there was heavy rain in florida. a possible tornado destroyed at least a dozen homes and lightning sparked a massive house fire. further north the d.c. area was under a tornado warning as brutal winds tossed large trees into homes and knocked out power for thousands. in the midwest the wind gusts so powerful they showered high rise windows in chicago. >> meteorologist bill karins has

been tracking it all. >> huge storm responsible for everything you just showed us has now moved up into canada into quebec. on the back side this blue is snow, it's snowing pretty good in areas of cleveland, erie to buffalo to rochester to syracuse. really not too crazy. a lot of the roads will be wet. we could get a slushy inch or two. again today, travel forecast isn't too bad. the worst weather is on the of course our big weather story is what to expect for the phillies home opener. temperatures topping out in the upper 40s, but we have gusty winds especially for this afternoon. one or two isolated showers for the most part, mainly dry, but a chilly day. make sure you stay nice and warm. thank you. here's a look at what we're working on for "nbc10 news today" this friday -- >> we're following breaking

developments in syria after the u.s. launched air strikes last night. this morning, we're talking to military experts and local lawmakers about the move. and the community is expected to return to normal for people riding the rails into new york following monday's derailment. we'll tell you what new jersey transit officials have planned for the morning rush. welcome home, philly. today the phills are back for their home opener. we're live with a preview. "nbc10 news today" starts at 4:30 after "early today." iday morning. the smoother the skin, you are in it. so find a venus smooth that contours to curves, flexes for comfort, and has a disposable made for you. skin smoothing venus razors. venus

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confirmation this afternoon. from the head of the house intelligence committee devin nunes is going to step aside. his decision comes as the bipartisan house ethics committee announced it would investigate whether nunes illegally reviewed classified information when he saw intel reports that saw trump transition officials were picked up in the surveillance of foreigners. he called the complaint entirely false and politically motivated. the fda allowing a company to market home dna kits to consumers to test for certain genes that put some at risk for serious medical conditions. customers today $200 test on line and send back a saliva sample tested for markers which could be associated with one of 10 diseases or conditions. including late onset alzheimer's, parkinson's disease, celiac disease and various blood and organ disorders.

although it does not include cancer. the fda warns the tests cannot diagnose a disease. >> a big argument that people say we don't want to know. >> for those who do especially with family history. >> exactly. remembering the life of a legend, you're watching "early today." starting thursday at kohl's get play proof kid's gear built for springtime fun like jumping beans dresses for only $12 $7 mix and match tops and bottoms and carter's sandals $19.99. you'll get kohl's cash too. play proof guarantee only at kohl's.

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he was one of the funniest men of his time.

don rickles known for miss big mouth and verbal assault, qualities that endeared him to generations. >> rickles died at his home at the age of 90 after a long career. lester holt has a look back at the life of this comedic legend. >> quite a night. welcome mr. warmth, don rickles. >> the only thing truly warm about don rickles were his sizzling insults, a master at the comedic putdown. >> what is your ancestry? >> honduran. >> i'm in the business 25 years i don't have a joke for a jerk that's honor do you rememberen. >> yes, he went there. before went there was a thing. >> you think insult humor is the easiest to come up with? >> standing next to you, it is. >> don rickles didn't really tell jokes. >> i started making fun of the guy that yelled at me making fun of the room, making fun of the people around me. and then it became a putdown thing. >> he credited his rise to another master of humor, johnny carson, and more than 100

appearances on his show. >> when i hit johnny's show the whole world knew me. >> no. >> i'm so lonely. >> even before a president he didn't hold back. >> it's a trait for me to fly all the way to california to be here for this kind of money. >> rickles appeared on the silver screen and later the animated screen, in toy story. >> what are you looking at you hockey puck? >> rickles perfected the secret sauce of making people laugh not just at his humor but at themselves. >> he used what we all aspire to be. >> no matter what he said you always knew it came with a wink. because he knew that we knew it was all in good fun. >> i'd like my family to know i was a good father and a good husband. and i'd like the public to know that i was laughing along with them. >> spans decades.

to see a look back at everything he has done. our thanks to lester holt for that. >> i didn't realize he was the voice in toy story. next time i'll be thinking of him then. ahead watching your money. how world markets react to the u.s. air strikes in syria. who's stared down the best in her sport. but for both of them, the most challenging opponent was... pe blood clots in my lung. it was really scary. a dvt in my leg. i had to learn all i could to help protect myself. my doctor and i choose xarelto® xarelto®... to help keep me protected. xarelto® is a latest-generation blood thinner... ...that's proven to treat and reduce the risk of dvt and pe blood clots from happening again. in clinical studies, almost 98% of patients on xarelto® did not experience another dvt or pe. here's how xarelto works. xarelto® works differently. warfarin interferes with at least six blood-clotting factors. xarelto® is selective... ...targeting just one critical factor, interacting with less of your body's natural blood-clotting function.

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good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you and risk off is the mood among global traders, oil felt the most immediate impact now looking at prices higher by 1.5%, crude above $52 a barrel. this is not due to immediate supply concern but the mere threat that could spread into a broader geopolitical conflict when you talk about the fact that russia and iran are the big supporters of the syrian regime. elsewhere that risk is seen investors put money in other safe havens including gold moving higher, the japanese yen higher against the dollar and the u.s. stock futures are pointing to a slightly lower open. >> nancy, thank you. you're watching "early today." per roll

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air strikes in syria. this morning, leaders around the world are responding overseas. kidnapped on the loose. a 4-year-old is free, and police trying to find the person who took her. and welcome home, phillies. the phills return for another season without philly sun. we made is to friday, and boy is there a -- we made it to friday, and boy is there a lot going on. i'm tracy davidson. >> i'm vai sikahema. we have the first alert neighborhood forecast, the most accurate forecast in town. what do we expect this morning? good morning. we're expecting a windy friday. a gusty friday, as well. temperatures only topping out in the upper 40s right now.

just starting to see the winds pick up. and it looks like we're seeing a northwesterly influence. of course, the feels-like temperatures something to look at. right now 15 mile-per-hour wind speeds, 16 for allentown. even though they're strong now, they're going to shift and come out of the west/northwest which means colder air moving into our area. current temperatures in the 40s. allentown, 45. philadelphia, 47. dover, 49 along with atlantic city and mt. holly, 47 for you. i do want to show you the feels-like temperatures. really this is going to be the issue all day long. they're not that bad right now. it feels like 38 in allentown. that's chilly. mt. holly, 43. philadelphia and trenton feels like 40. as the day progresses and winds pick up and come out of the northwest, it's definitely going to be an issue for today as far as the feels-like temperatures. coming up, of course, i do have

your phillies' home opener forecast. i'll see you in a bit. jessica? >> thanks. we're starting on the roosevelt boulevard. our cameras around 9th street. a few minutes ago we had construction. it was into this right-hand shoulder. it literally just cleared in the last five minutes. i wanted to update you there. no backups or reported delays because of that. as you see, there was a little bit of residual delay at the time when they were getting the construction vehicles out of the way. for now, we're good. it's currently blocked. set to reopen sometime this morning. i'm going to keep my eye on that for you there. also watching the schuylkill expressway. we'll check in with drive times here. no problems or delays so far. we are into the green eastbound, 12 minutes from the blue route to the vine. average speeds in the 60s moving to center city. >> thanks. this morning we're following breaking developments in syria where the u.s. launched about 60 missiles against a syrian air base that was home base for the chemical attack this week that killed dozens in