host: the president's reference to mar-a-lago, in case you're interested, the mar-a-lago website.his is what it looks like and you can get more information on what it would cost to join to be a member of mar-a-lago for a wedding or other event. cynthia from the independent line. ood morning. -- er: why don't you have [inaudible] everybody would find out the real situation what is happening. this is just a circus. donald trump is not in charge by himself. congress has run away. i mean, he's got open purse, the whole government has an open purse on all of us. i mean, it's not good for trump. it's not good for any of us. please let's get it together. the people are in charge. they should be in charge. congress has to do something about this. we need to stand together, everybody now. they're trying to teach the constitutional rights to everybody. let's start teaching in schools because we gone forgot about all the rights. especially the first five of them. host: thank you for the call from texas. mark knoller of cbs news who keeps fess tidous information on all things presidential wit

this is the great entrance hall to mar—a—lago.ur which appeal to the real estate mogul. he then turned it into a private club to make a bit of money, or even a lot of money. membership costs have doubled since the election. today, access to this elite resort would set you back a cool $200,000 a year. mr trump has stayed at mar—a—lago nearly every weekend since his inauguration, despite grumblings about the cost to taxpayers for all the security. the president is perfectly in his rights to spend his weekends wherever he pleases. to be honest, between washington in the rain and palm beach in the sun, which would you pick? christian, i am firmly here in washington, dc where it is pouring down with rain. not in florida. you showed those picture of him setting off in the pouring rain and he is going to be under a palm tree next. who is the fool? how about 100 days coming to you from florida? i'm going to paris for the elections. how about that? that's all from one hundred days — plenty more on that meeting between presidents trump and

plus, the potential market impact of the mar-a-lago meeting. that is up next.s is bloomberg. ♪ haidi: this is "bloomberg markets: asia." i am haidi lun in sydney. across in ag news bloomberg in the last few minutes, u.s. missiles launched against an airfield target in syria according to a report from nbc in response to the chemical attack we saw earlier this week. what we have in terms of details , the u.s. has launched the strike on syria as a response, comprising 60 tomahawk missiles according to u.s. officials targeting one large syrian airfield, hangers, and aircraft in that area. we also know that to navy destroyers have launched of this as part airstrike. in terms of market reaction, futures erasing gains after news of the airstrike. the yen jumping to above 110 after this report. an entirelyrly not unexpected thing come although perhaps surprising given that president trump is meeting with the chinese president at the moment. we did have that sentiment from president trump, saying, forecasting this might happen, that there might be a u.s. response. he sa

the president's being briefed at mar-a-la mar-a-lago. what's the latest on this. >> reporter: all of this moving forward tonight with briefings, updates, options being looked at. late this afternoon here at the pentagon the joint chiefs were called in and they were briefed on the options. these are some of the classic signals that one would see before military action is taken. these things tend to have a pattern of activity. any president will get one last briefing from his commanders about what they want to do and what they hope to achieve. it's been our understanding here at cnn through most of the day that there are basically two options on the table for the president. a limited option if you will. strike perhaps the airfields that the syrians use to launch planes to drop those bombs filled with nerve agents on civilians, women and children being killed, those horrific pictures we saw, that would be the limited option. that would send a signal to assad and to the world that trump is serious and willing to use military force. there wil

some people sort of referring to this as the mar-a-lago loophole. i asked a senior administration official about that very point. the pushback from the white house is that look, the president can encounter leaders outside of the white house. that effectively this could happen whether he's at mar-a-lago or a summit or any other location, but stef, the bottom line is if you have world leaders coming to the white house likely the press would be aware of it, would see them entering. there would be some record of it. in this instance, this was something, again, that the press learned about after the fact. expect a lot more digging and questions to be raised about all of this. >> all right. i want to bring my panel in. president trump saw any of these leaders at the white house what would be missing is the $200,000 it costs to join mar-a-lago. that $200,000 that goes to president trump. president trump, one of the things he said on the campaign trail, he wasn't being paid by special interest groups. he wasn't taking money from them. he owed nothing to no

. >> what mar-a-lago doesn't want you to know about its kitchen. >> president xi was enjoying it. >> when "all in" starts right now. >>> good evening from new york. i'm joy reed in for chris hayes. today the u.s. dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb it has ever used in combat, the gbu-43b massive ordnance air blast or moab, informally known as the mother of all bombs, onto an islamic state tunnel complex in eastern afghanistan near the border with pakistan. now, this is the file footage of the 22,000-pound moab being tested in florida back in 2003. until today, it had never actually been used against an enemy. despite that, this afternoon donald trump appeared to indicate he was not involved in the decision to deploy the bomb. and even at this hour, it's not clear whether he knew about the strike before it took place. >> we are so proud of our military, and it was another successful event. >> did you authorize it, sir? >> everybody knows exactly what happened, so -- and what i do, is i authorize my military. we have the greatest military in the world, and they've done a job as usual.

what will happen this weekend in north korea with the president at mar-a-lago?tom line with cnn political director david chalian. it's a critical weekend. national security experts around the world have their eye on north korea expecting some kind of displace think weekend. is it a nuclear test? a ballistic missile launch? it might be something, and might be something soon. i think the white house probably wants to put out a different image eight weeks after he saw him dining with the japanese prime minister. the white house is probably learning on the job here. >> no doubt about it. in fact, we've learned from the white house there is a secure facility at mar-a-lago for president trump to be able to absorb information, be in touch with aides if he needs to be. that's quite different than out in the open. all that controversy whether or not he was looking at classified information out in the open. those eight weeks ago. i definitely think you're right, john. they are looking to portray a different image, and they are, indeed, learning as we go here, but this all

trying to make money off of mar-a-lago. says why does the president or why did president obama need to go to hawaii so much, i think that's a legitimate question. that's what camp david is for. but the trump family are billionaires. they do not need to make money off of ma ra la go. that's where he prefers to do business. >> fine. we'll see if the initiation fee goes to charity. >> i have a point about it. >> we have to go. >> thank you. >> love you, brother. good to see you. >> right back at you. >> so the president plans to reveal his tax plan, at least in the broad strokes tomorrow. one headline we get is corporate tax is going to be cut in a big way. is that good for you? we'll debate the numbers next. the guy says you picked the wrong insurance plan. no, i picked the wrong insurance company. with liberty mutual new car replacement™, you won't have to worry about replacing your car because you'll get the full value back including depreciation. switch and you could save $509 on auto insurance. call for a free quote today

trump meets foreign leaders like the chinese president at mar-a-lago.palm beach county sheriff ric bradshaw. >> if we were just doing the president up at mar-a-lago its 60 to 70,000 a day, you can double that right now and that's not including all the other security measures we're taking with fencing and some barriers and stuff like that that's additional cost. >> yang: for more on what it costs to protect the president and how this commander in chief compares to his predecessors, i am joined by ken vogel, the chief investigative reporter for politico. and presidential historian michael beschloss. gentlemen, thanks to you both. ken, let me start with you. we heard in the spot the the former secret service agent talking about the challenges in terms of manpower and planning or protecting three residences, essentially. what are some of the other challenges the secret service has to deal with in not just the white house but trump tower and mar-a-lago? >> well, trump tower in the middle of manhattan one of the most densely populated areas in the country, a

. >> mar-a-lago. >> mar-a-lago. >> i like mar-a-lago. >> the mar-a-lago meeting. >> mar-a-lago. >> mar-a-lago. >> in mar-a-lago. >> sit down, everybody, please. i mean this is mar-a-lago. we give you seats. >> has the president's florida resort become an ethics loophole? >>> and taking aim at a developing trend in political ads. this is "mtp daily," and it starts right now. >>> good evening. i'm chuck todd here in washington. welcome to "mtp daily." right now the president is racing to find a legislative accomplishment ahead of a 100-day deadline that he today has called ridiculous. there are rumblings of a possible government shut down as the president looks for a win on health care, tax reform or the border wall. both the struggles and setbacks, confrontations, investigations and general chaos of the president's 100 days have consumed a ton of oxygen. but there's an issue that perhaps just as important if not more that has now been thrust back into the spotlight. the president's possible conflicts of interest. first of all, remember this. >> hillary clinton did government favors for those g

but they will be meeting at mar-a-lago, golf or no golf. be watching for in this meeting? >> well, first, ana, let me first say that typically is the kind of meeting that would actually take place at the real white house, the one in washington d.c. you know, the president i think has to get over the fact that he's -- you know, he's not just a hotel/motel owner anymore. he's actually president of the united states. how we conduct our business i think is very, very important. you know, the fact of the matter is that president xi jinping is very experienced in his work. he holds three different significant positions in china, the ambassador from china is leading the preparations for this particular visit. so, you know, they have a sense i'm sure of what they want to accomplish, and, unfortunately, at the moment we have no idea what president trump might try to do other than the rhetoric, heated rhetoric from the campaign. >> well, this gave us a clue perhaps or a little sneak peek of their meeting, mike shields. president trump said this today

trump's traveling often to mar-a-lago his glitzy, sprawling florida estate.private club owned by the family business. seven trips since he took office including another one this week, more than half of the weekends. >> we have the southern white house in florida. we get a lot of work done. there's no rest it's all work. >> reporter: who z what gone to the southern -- who has gone to the southern white house? high level job applicants, policy applicants and members of congress many flown down at taxpayer expense and staying in high priced rooms and chinese president xi jinping. last week he stayed overnight at a nearby resort and japanese prime minister shinzo abe. businessmen like new england patriots owner robert kraft who travelled on air force one. and marine one. how unprecedented is this? >> i can't think of anything like this that we have seen at any time in the modern era. >> reporter: steve schooner an ethics expert at the george washington law school says that unlike president bush's trips to crawford ranch or president obama's trips to hawaii, presi

to the owner of mar-a-lago, donald trump, president of the united states. with ice cream, two sauces, and a trump logo right on the top. but we've learned some information about the kitchen where it's made that may turn your stomach. according to "the miami herald," florida restaurant inspectors found 13 health code violations at mar-a-lago's kitchen in january. three of which were, quote, high-priority, meaning they could allow the presence of illness-causing bacteria on plates served in the dining room. a spokesperson for mar-a-lago responded to the report saying, quote, we take food safety very seriously, and all the minor adjustments were made immediately. additionally, the report by the health inspector was updated the very same day to reflect that the mar-a-lago club was in full compliance. the communications director for the florida department of business and professional regulations also released a statement, saying, quote, these infraxzs were part of a routine inspection and were not complaint-based. the infraxzs were corrected on de and the eablis

28% of his presidency, down in mar-a-lago. this is his 17th week, i think he's there. he's doing this in a week that benefits him personally. he's going down at taxpayers' expense, costing $25 million so far. on pace to spend more than barack obama spent over the course of four years. as a result of this, he is benefiting personally because the money is going into his pocket for the trump properties. that is not an ethical situation for an american president. >> keith and alice, we'll have to leave it there. we'll have you both back. thank you for joining us. >>> up next, the inspector general of veterans affairs said the hospital in washington, d.c., is putting patients at risk. a closer look at this scathing report next. live in the "cnn newsroom." to anticipate is lexus. experience the lexus rx with advanced safety standard. experience amazing. today, it's the dawn of a new lawn. that's because new roundup for lawns has arrived. finally, there's a roundup made just for your lawn, so you can put unwelcome lawn weeds to rest.

mar-a-lago said we were scheduled to have these increases.ardless of the election but still it's concerning to many in the ethical community and president trump as you mentioned in the intro continues to go to his properties when there are cameras around and for anyone who didn't know what mar-a-lago was before he became president, they now know because it's on tv all the time. of course, we're -- we need to be there to cover what the president do, so that's essentially free advertising for president trump. >> all right. cristina alesci, thanks so much. latest in conflict of interest watch. back to politics. 100 days after he left office former president barack obama is back in the spotlight making his first official post-presidential remarks at the university of chicago speaking to young people about civic engagement. let's bring in correspondent athena jones. he chose a youth roundtable since leaving office which leaves a clear signal of what kind of work he wants to be doing. >> reporter: we heard the president talk quite a bit about this

this just happened to take place at mar-a-lago. hallie, this is going to continue to get a lot of debate and attention. we talked to sean spicer about access at mar-a-lago in recent briefings. >> i want to stick with the white house for a second. another meeting happening with the egyptian prisoner who had been freed. what can you tell us? >> this is significant. the trump administration was able to secure the release of a 30-year-old egyptian american aide worker. a woman by the name of aya hijazi. she and her husband were released and brought back here and landed at about 10:00 at andrews air force base. she has been held captive, hallie, for three years since may of 2014. the obama administration had also pushed to get her out. what is the difference here? the obama administration had a very different relationship with the egyptian government. the president of egypt had been barred from visiting president obama because that administration had of his human rights abuses. president trump trying to reset that relationship. he invit

staying not actually at mar-a-lago but at his own nearby resort. and you are talking about president xi jinping of china, who is here. and that is why we are here. this is the reason for president trump being not at the white house on the delivering that address to the nation on the syrian air strike from programs a more familiar setting like maybe the east room. but why we are in fact doing it here, from palm beach. it was an interesting and rather jarring juxtaposition i think to stand here, it is a warm florida evening watching and listening to what was happening behind the scenes with these air strikes happening earlier this evening. couple of things. this was essentially a crash course in crisis management for president trump. he is juggling the crisis in syria which is overshadowing what would be in any other evening our big story, which was the threat from north korea after the latest provocations and the discussions with president xi about how president trump was going to be questioning president xi to flex om muscle wi some muscle with nor

we know that president trump is over at mar-a-lago. we just sa some pictures, some video of him in the dining room there with president xi. if you noticed who else is at that table, his inner circle of advisers, jared kushner and ivanka trump, his daughter and son-in-law next to him, along with steve bannon, along with members of his cabinet, including secretary ross who was there. the president was heard joking about these negotiations with xi, saying i didn't get much out of him, at least so far. but he is working at least right now to break the ice given that xi is only here for 24 hours or so. at the same time, you've got this discussion on what kind of military options you will -- he might look at here. he might consider in syria. i think it is important to note, to underscore some of that reporting, which is that amidst talk of the strongest signal yet from president trump that he may take action now to try to push assad from power, his secretary of state is saying it needs to be done through international allies, through an inte

. - yeah, that is mar-a-lago. - that's right, this mar-a-lago.0 acre estate in palm beach, florida, where it costs a mere 100 grand just to become a member. - i think that if mr. trump... runs america... the way he runs his club, mar-a-lago... we have got it made. - yes. - we're gonna have the american dream back again. yay, yay, yay! - if we can run america... like, uh, an all-white, all-rich... private country club, we are good to go! - we are not an all-white country club. - very diverse. - very diverse. - how many african-american members are there? - i don't know. i can recount it. i've seen them, i know our head guy who is our... uh, top maître d' was-- was-- oh, he was divine. divine. divine. divine. - okay, but aside from this guy, divine, who else? - oh, we have our musician, um... i don't know all the memb-- - are you talking about members or staff? - oh, no, mem-- i'm talking staff and members. - oh, okay. - oh, staff and members. absolutely. - with all the diversity at mar-a-lago, toni must be open-minded when it comes to immigration.

, in part, abe was at mar-a-lago.y don't play golf. they're still doing it there. how much is this about the theater in terms of what it says to the rest of the world? >> well, i think a lot of it is about positioning, vis-a-vis other major players like japan. but i also think a lot of it is attempt by president xi jinping to build a personal relationship with president trump and doing it in the president's home effectively causes that to happen. so i think it's very strategic. and again, xi jinping is a very tested world leader. they know a lot about optics, as well as substance. and i'm sure that the chinese request to do it in mar-a-lago really played very much in to that perception. >> you know there's not a golf course at mar-a-lago. it's not a golf club. >> it's effectively the president's home. >> right. he has a golf course in virginia that trump owns, too. there's a golf course in palm beach that he owns, but it's not a golf course. it's on the ocean, and mar-a-lago. so it's, you know -- i don't know. i can't

even at the president's mar-a-lago resort. abc's david wright reporting from west palm beach tonight. >> reporter: in berkeley, california, today, a melee, violence flared between pro and anti-trump demonstrators. a clash complete with fire crackers and pepper spray. police in riot gear standing by. at least 15 demonstrators are now under arrest. this on a day of nationwide protests scheduled for tax day, april 15th. in new york, l.a., washington, and chicago. dozens of cities, protesters demanded president trump release his tax returns. >> so, what does your sign say? >> well you can read it. it says 75% of americans say, "release your taxes." and that's what we want donald trump to do. >> reporter: today they were even marching on mar-a-lago. >> he's scamming the united states. he's costing millions of dollars by coming to mar-a-lago every weekend to play golf. >> reporter: at that first debate with hillary clinton, trump promised he'd eventually release his returns. >> i'm under a routine audit, and it'll be released. and a

the protest here at mar-a-lago as well. of course, during this tax day demands that president trump release his tax returns. that's something that's taking place. we saw the president playing another round of golf at his own trump international golf course. by our account, that would make it 19 visits to a golf course since he's become president and of course, his seventh time that he's been here at mar-a-lago resort. white house officials say that the white house staff's footprints is light giving the opportunity for the president to spend time with his family as well as other staffers. he's been briefed and updated on the situation in north korea. people were on high alerts yesterday and through the evening and over night whether or not there would be a provocation. his national security adviser, kt mcfarland is here at mar-a-lago to give him the updates. it is a relaxed weekend than they had anticipated and we heard paula's report of the vice president's trip and that's what they are tracking and following closely. he wi

we will have the latest from mar-a-lago. u.s. payroll gains slowed in march while the jobless rate unexpectedly dropped to the lowest in almost a decade, suggesting the labor market is returning to a more sustainable pace of progress. i will discuss the latest jobs report with the former director of the national economic council. the u.s. launched dozens of missiles at syria after the accusation of killing its own civilians wioison gas this week. the decision to attack came as president trump is hosting china's president xi jinping at his mar-a-lago estate. joining us with the latest is our chief washington correspondent, kevin cirilli. we heard from the president last night. there was a briefing with the secretary of state and the national security adviser. ist more are the white -- the white house adding to what we know about the strikes last night? kevin: we moments away from getting a briefing of sorts with an update regarding the syria issue that has developed this week. obviously, since that missile attack was launched agai

this means by the time president trump is wheels up, leaving mar-a-lago on sunday, he will have spentof his term at his florida resort, and that includes the time spent traveling to and from his florida resort. by one estimate, these trips are costing taxpayers 3 million bucks a throw, and not helping the optics of all of it was the second blue and white air force jet today. though smaller than air force one, arriving at the same time and carrying the first lady to florida from new york where she lives with their son barron. that is our broadcast on the thursday night. thank you so much for being here with us. and good night from new york. >>> tonight on "all in." >> we have given them total authorization. >> america just used the largest bomb yet in afghanistan, but who gave the order? trump's cabinet of generals and the expanding military footprint. >> i would bomb the [ bleep ] out of them. >>> then the fight for health care. republicans hear from their voters. >> i want this repeal crap to stop. >> as the president threatens to sabotage obamacare. >>> plus, leaked plans for the tr

today, he is hosting chinese president xi jinping at his mar-a-lago golf resort. all of that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president donald trump said wednesday a chemical weapons attack in syria this week that left at least 86 people dead had altered his position on syria and its leader bashar al-assad. speaking at the white house alongside king abdullah of jordan, trump called the attack an affront to humanity, but offered no details about his planned response. pres. trump: it crossed a lot of lines for me. when you kill innocent children -- innocent babies. babies. little babies. with a chemical gas that is so lethal. people were shocked dear what gas that was. that crosses any, many lines. amy: when trump was later asked whether he would consider military intervention in syria, he said he would not disclose his plans leaving open the , possibility of a surprise attack. trump's remarks came just days after his administration said it would no longer seek the ouster of bashar al-assad.

as opposed to being at mar-a-lago, which is his playground, his backyard.an sort of set the tone. he doesn't have to deal with the pomp and circumstance that comes with having an official visit in washington versus, hey, just come over for the weekend. [ overlapping voices ] >> he likes the winter palace. he can hold court. >> it's very romanov. it's very regal, the setting. it's not republican in a lower case r setting. it just isn't. >> there's two points here i think we have playing out. china's always the bad man, the boogeyman if you will in presidential campaigns, since time immemorial. once a president's elects, they come to their senses and realize you've got to deal with -- this is the most important bilateral relationship we have in the world. second thing is although all this is good-feeling now, it's important to remember that the president, by backing away from tpp, by throwing that overboard, has basically opened up a vacuum that xi has moved into in asia in ways that our allies are very disturbed by the vacuum that we've created here on that

our correspondents are on scene at mar-a-lago in south florida come at the pentagon, and bret baier in washington with many more on the sidelines. first, we'll take you back to regular programming. tucker carlson begins on fox news channel. it starts right now >> this is a fox news alert, a lot is going on in the country of syria, we are hearing conflicting reports tonight about what exactly that is, today of course there was a chemical attack on civilians in that country and claims from the very beginning has been that attack was waged by the government of bashar al-assad. the president of the united states says his attitude has completely changed as a result of the attack, he is no longer sure that assad should stay in power, there are indications tonight that some sort of military action might be imminent. we are going to bring you that the second we hear anything about it. secretary of state directs to listen said that the u.s. is moving toward removing the president from power. >> we are considering an appropriate response for this chemical weapons attack which violates all previo

mar-a-lago has benefitted from the trump presidency.club raising its initiation fee from $100,000 to $200,000 right after the election. >>> breaking overnight. north korea's military staged a large military drill. it comes the same day north korea celebrates the 85th an versely of the founding of its people's army. this is the latest in a series of recent escalations involving pyongyang. and now, a nuclear powered american submarine, "the uss michigan" arriving in south korea. one u.s. military official describing it as a show of force. the arrival coming just hours after president trump called for more sanctions against north korea and had some tough words for kim jong-un. going to go live to seoul, south korea, and bring in alexandra field. a lot of moving parts here. bring us up to date. >> reporter: day-by-day, christine. officials in south korea are closely watching what's happening on the other side of the border. they're the ones who confirmed that north korea were participating in large-scale artillery drills. those drills promp

he compared the mar-a-lago to president bush's crawford, texas, ranch.-a-lago an amazing estate that has been a very effective tool for my father to go down and get to know somebody without sitting across a wooden partition. sean spicer was asked whether the white house would be more transparent about who the president meets with at mar-a-lago. >> i think we've done a fairly good job of making sure that people know who he's meeting with, who he's speaking to and when appropriate the contents of those calls. i think the president and -- is entitled to have some times with his family and friends to just catch up. >> the conservative budget watch dog judicial watch puts the price tag of each mar-a-lago visit at $1 million. other estimates claim it's upwards of $3 million price tag per visit snul we'll get a check of your weather with bill karins. >> we're watering the flowers and lawns in a few spots this morning. umbrella weather heading anywhere in minnesota, also northern wisconsin. pretty good thunderstorms by sioux false and houston area. houston, you

there was a lot of back and forth over who invited who to mar-a-lago versus the white house. the president's aides have said that the president decided to invite president xi to mar-a-lago. but really what's going to be interesting during these meetings is how much ground they have to cover and that's something they can do whether it's at mar-a-lago or at the white house, of course. this is going to be president trump's first opportunity to really tackle the bold campaign promises he made with regards to rebalancing the trading relationship between the united states and china. of course, that's something that president trump has railed against for years, even before launching his presidential campaign. and now he gets his first opportunity to try and make some inroads on that. so they are going to be discussing that. but the question is whether all of that will be overshadowed by the increasing urgency of the situation in north korea. the president, a senior white house official telling reporters just a couple days ago that the clock has now run out on north korea and as we k

. >> mar-a-lago. >> mar-a-lago. >> i like mar-a-lago. >> the mar-a-lago meeting. >> mar-a-lago. >> mar-a-lago >> sit down, everybody, please. i mean this is mar-a-lago. we give you seats. >> has the president's florida resort become an ethics loophole? >>> and taking aim at a developing trend in political ads.

let's go down to mar-a-lago.hite house correspondent john roberts is five there this evening. john, xi, the chinese president on-site at the moment. the speaker that is correct. he arrived this afternoon. the president greeted him at mar-a-lago just before dinnertime. they had it to brief meetings of men, having dinner tonight. the hard work of diplomacy between china and the united states will come tomorrow, that is when the president is expected to talk about areas of agreement, the two leaders met with each other, and some areas of disagreement. one thing i can tell you about as it relates to syria, without the president come out and say that he was very strongly affected by what he had seen in that chemical weapons attack. he repeated that this morning, when he gave an interview to "fox & friends," the wounded warrior project, about to take place. what seems to have evolved here, shep, you might remember nikki haley, the ambassador to the united nations, told a small group of reporters that regime change in s

mar-a-lago. matthew chance in moscow. jim acosta is at the white house tonight. let's bring in suzanne from florida. so for president trump, sort of a working golfing weekend for the president? >> reporter: you could call it that. they say they are ready for anything, that they are prepared. his chief of staff reince priebus was with him in the motorcade at joint base andrews but did not accompany him here in florida. so he doesn't have his top level staff in florida with him. we are told from a white house official that's very intentional. that this is supposed to be a light foot print allowing the president to have time with his wife and children, allow top advisers do the same. sit a break in protocol, having covered president obama and president bush, there's usually a security adviser even on vacation with the president. but trump is doing things differently. he does have members of his national security staff with him, some junior members. they are keeping an eye on what happens in north ko

and the comments they're making at mar-a-lago mar-a-lago.is the most important weekend he has coming on a weekend he's talking about war with syria and military options in north korea. this is the most important meeting he has had in his young presidency. >> absolutely. i think it's important to also note that the syria part of this is happening in the middle of this. they thought they would just be dealing with this meeting in china and he's been talking for weeks about north korea leading up to it. now, he's facing, figuring out, he said it crossed multiple lines in syria, exactly what he's going to do. i think it's quite a balancing act for him. this is a test of his presidency, the first test really on foreign policy. >> this test with presidency, this is -- there has been no bigger event than this particular meeting he is going to have. his meetings so far have had bu bumps. the awkward non-hand shake with angela merkel and too long hand shake with the leader of japan, shinzo abe. no one can afford for there to be an error with the pres

there's two kinds of food in mar-a-lago.ere's the food for the members and the people who pay $200,000 to get in and that's world class food. then you have the food for people like me who go to black tie shindigs. it's $1,000 to get in and to go to one of these. it's more like cafeteria food at that point. i'm wondering if the coolers that were in question here were coolers for the small fry, not for the members. >>let talk about palm beach in general. is it palm beach proud to have so many visits from the president and all the dignitaries? >> palm beach in general is like an oasis in the desert. it's liberal all over the place in palm beach county. it's very heavily liberal. but palm beach itself, about 10,000 people, is heavily republican. so because of that, there's some pride in having donald trump there. i think it's getting old pretty fast. i went on north avenue a couple -- worth avenue a couple weeks ago. that's the center of town, where the stores are, the fancy stores. sort of like rodeo drive. at this point, it sh

trump in mar-a-lago in palm beach later this hour. we're standing by for that. >>> the embattled house intelligence devin nunes steps aside from his committee's russia probe because he is under investigation. the house ethics committee now looking into whether nunes mishandled classified information. and senate republicans have taken drastic and historic action to clear the way for the confirmation of supreme court nominee neil gorsuch. the gop deploying the so-called nuclear option, lowering the number of votes needed to break a filibuster. our correspondents and guests are all standing by as we bring you full coverage. first let's go to our jeff zeleny he's with the president in palm beach florida. you were on air force 1 when the president spoke about al assad's future just a little while ago. >> reporter: wolf, i was and the president spoke in his most direct terms yet about bashar al assad. he called the chemical attack there a truly egregious crime but when pressed by reporters as he visited with us for just a few minutes, he de

the latest on the mar-a-lago meeting.berg. ♪ theresident trump and chinese president are having dinner at the mar-a-lago right now as they kick off a high-stakes summit. one of the first big challenges of trump presidency. we heard from the president, take a listen. >> it is an honor to have you in the united states. we have had a long discussion notady and, so far, i have -- got to nothing. absolutely nothing. but we have developed a friendship, i can see that. i think, long-term, we are going to have a very good relationship. i look forward to it. with bring in our reporter live. we just saw a video there, trump mentioned this was a friendly exchange with a handshake before they started dinner. they're kicking things off in a cordial manner. >> yeah, seemingly so varied we were just talking about it talking about how they are friends. hours, this is the first time they have met face to face. this is the optics, hallows. i want to talk to peter martin. about what the content of the substance will be tomorrow. what are th

we want to head now to florida and mar-a-lago. chris jansing who is tracking the developments from the white house. what are you hearing this morning from the white house and walk us through how this all unfolded last night, this extraordinary backdrop, the president meeting with the president of china has he made this critical decision. >> reporter: yeah. and we're going to be hearing potentially from the president just about half an hour from now hen he goes into that bilateral meeting with president xi. and as you know when the pool goes in they have an opportunity to ask questions. in addition we may get further comments this morning as we goes into the critical meeting with the president of china. but this all came together very very quickly. we are told from senior white house officials that there was a growing level of confidence over the 72 hours since the attack happened that it was assad, that it probably was sarin gas and the president wanted to talk to the options. they narrow ed down to three, then two. we're told tha

going back to mar-a-lago, the chinese know that as well. think there is an opportunity for some progress to happen on the trade front in particular. charlie: about south china, those islands? any possibility that the chinese -- the chinese seem to me -- you have been there recently -- they are deepening their commitment. it is not just the united states. the pacific nations have states there. they seem to be showing no likelihood to pull back. kevin: i think that is a right call, charlie. if there was anything else, i would tell you. but i just don't think it is. i go there a lot. so the question is, how is it now handled? from one point of view, the chinese and the last three or four years have reclaimed three or four islands. they have fortified them, and it may well be that the opportunity now exists to take the temperature down. you see, china does not want a war with the united states. there is a big reason for that. i think the realists in beijing can work out that given the overwhelming power the united states pacific fleet, the unit

the message at mar-a-lago, we don't want to everybody president xi. there's no doubt that if trump can take decisive action in syria like he did, he can take decisive action in north korea as well. >> what message do you think was sent by president trump last night to china on north korea? >> i would be a little cautious about thinking that the lessons out of almost no risk strike on a syrian airfield relates to north korea. north korea has not only nuclear weapons and a delivery system currently that will allow them to strike japan and south korea and u.s. forces in the region, but they also have the better part of 20,000 artillery pieces that could bombard seoul. 23 million people in a short order and a bizarre internal decision making process that we don't understand. so i don't think the chinese are going to read president trump's action in syria as imminent strike on north korea. i hope we don't do that. north korea, the only short-term action we can take is enhance ballistic missile defense. we've got some excellent technology. thaad. we have to

departing yesterday for mar-a-lago, leaving a week ago, march 17 leaving for mar-a-lago, in a week ofgn and domestic policy 180s from the president, this might rank with saying nato is not obsolete. you can argue that the world had simply changed and he is merely changing with it. on this, the only difference seems to be is that was then and this is now. a reminder, here's then. >> i wouldn't leave the white house very much, because, you know, like little things, like these little trips where they -- they cost you a fortune. >> i love working, i'm not a vacation. i'm not like obama where he takes air force one to hawaii. i promise you, i will not be taking very long vacations, if i take them at all, there's no time for vacations. there's people that go away for weeks and weeks, i don't like taking vacations, obama likes going on vacation, i like working. if i get elected president, i'm going to be in the white house a lot, i'm not leaving, we have deals to make, who the hell wants to leave, right? >> just not a vacation guy, he said, so keeping them honest. take a look, by the end of

for stancewe have the chinese president flyi all the way to mar-a-lago. he arrives there before trump does. melissa: i noticed that. >> very important from a chinese protocol point of view. it shows that xi xinping wants to talk to him. there are a lot of issues there for the chinese. melissa: that's a great point. gillian, that wasn't lost on me. we were live during that hour watching it happen. the fact that president trump arrived second and wasn't there to greet the chinese president, that is not an accident, right? >> no, of course not. incredibly complex sort of protocol rules and procedures going to have a reighead of state visit like this. it was definitely something sought out in advance. this trip was something that happened at the suggestion of the chinese which is another interesting thing. this is not as simple as an invitation going from the white house to their government. so the whole thing is a little bit unconventional. the choice of mar-a-lago signals a little bit of thinking. don't want to read too much into it. but it indicates the pr

>> trump's aides said he's most comfortable at mar-a-lago. i would argue this is the biggest meeting with his young presidency. china is a much more important economic issue for the united states, so hopefully it will work. it's a critical week for him. he's meeting with three foreign leaders. but president xi is very skilled at this and it will be interesting to see who comes out ahead so to speak after these talks. >> david, thanks so much. good to see you. >>> coming up, keeping up the fight. president trump vowing that the battle to repeal and oh place obamacare is far from over. so where does the fight over priority number one for the gop go from here? [vo] quickbooks introduces jeanette. and her new business: i do, to go. jeanette was excellent at marrying people. but had trouble getting paid. not a good time, jeanette. even worse. now i'm uncomfortable. but here's the good news, jeanette got quickbooks. send that invoice, jeanette. looks like they viewed it. and, ta-da! paid twice as fast. oh, she's an efficient officiant. way to grow,

the two are about to meet as the president's members-only resort in mar-a-lago, florida.hat's where we find kayla tausche. >> reporter: the president is wheels up from washington, d.c. on the way to palm beach, florida, where the high-stakes meeting between the president and his chins countese counterpl be taking place. president xi is expected to arrive in 20 minutes, met by secretary of state rex tillerson. remember, rex tillerson and president xi had a meeting in beijing last month when tillerson went on an asia term when tillerson used the term "win-win" in terms of how he wanted to pursue a u.s./china relationship. it was a phrase directly borrowed from the bay beijing had hoped to approach it. we will see exactly how that changes when the president lands and the two are set to meet for the very first time. president has said it will be a difficult conversation, of course, given all of the criticisms that each government has been lobbing at each other. we're told by the white house here's what's on the agenda. first and foremost, north korea, defuse ugg the situation

we don't know because we do not get the logs of the mar-a-lago visitors?e theer they would summit, it would be incredibly tightly controlled. but i do think there's a certain irony. xi jinping, the party general secretary of the chinese communist party, showing up at a place like mar-a-lago while he is conducting an attack or up she campaign. this is donald trump. diplomatic donald trump. this is sort of the equivalent of bush's ranch for xi jinping. democratic ideals have deep roots in modern chinese history. >> which is to say china has a long tradition of democratic sentiment that bubbled up again and again over the last century. it also has a deep tradition photography.nnia throughout history, these two things have collated, at least in modern history. china has a rich tradition of democratic sentiment that keeps returning. amy: we will continue this conversation and post it online at democracynow.org. orville schell is director of the center on u.s.-china relations at the asia society and co-author of "wealth and power: china's long march to the twent