Syrian air base. This is retaliation for dictator Bashar Al Assads deadly chemical attack on his own people. U. S. Officials say the missiles hit the base that syrian warplanes used to launch that chemical attack. The u. S. Operation praised by u. S. Allies, not surprisingly, condemned by syria, russia, and iran. Russian officials now say in the aftermath, theyre actually helping to bolster the air Defense System in syria, also saying the risk of a collision with the u. S. Couldnt be higher. Were following the breaking news throughout this show. Lets start with jeff zeleny, in florida traveling with the president. Also with us, chief National Security correspondent jim sciutto in washington and paula newton is in moscow today. Jeff, what are we going to hear from the president today . Any more reaction so far that youve been able to gather from the white house after the strike last night . Good day, kate. We are expected to see the president here coming up shortly, later this hour at his first meeting with the president of china. Its why he is here in maralago in florida for the first place. Now, we do not know if the president will say anything more or answer anything more about the strikes in syria last evening. Were getting a little bit of conflicting reports from administration officials. Initially, i was told that he may answer a question on this, then i was told he would not. So well frankly have to wait and see, but the president isnt planning any major speeches or press conferences here to talk about this. Quite frankly, the administration is letting the action last night, the president s biggest military action since taking office, speak for itself. We, of course, are watching the reaction from around the world, particularly looking at the reaction, the harsh reaction, from russia. And that is where the next challenge of this administration lies, certainly. We saw very strong words last night from secretary of state Rex Tillerson who briefed reporters here. And i asked him specifically about russia, and he said, look, russia is either incompetent or complicit in failing to remove chemical weapons as it had agreed to under the u. N. Agreement from 20132014. So, the question now is what the administrations policy towards syria is going forward. We have been hearing republicans and democrats on capitol hill saying they need to hear more from the white house. So, kate, that certainly will be coming in the coming days here. But as of now, we are not, quite frankly, sure if the president will speak in a fulsome way on this this morning or not. We will see along with you. That could be coming in any minute. Thank you so much, jeff. So, jim, as jeff was talking about, the reaction from capitol hill by and large was positive following this strike. Of course, all wondering whats next. But what strategic goals are you picking up did this attack accomplish . Well, very tailored, very tailored specifically to chemical weapons used. This hit the base where the horrific chemical weapons attack was launched from, aircraft on that base, et cetera. And the president s comments specifically referenced the chemical weapons attack, and declaring that a direct threat to u. S. Interests. It does not talk about Bashar Al Assads other military capabilities, which remain significant, and thats the key here. Bashar al assad maintains an enormous capability to kill his own people, and the principal way hes done that is not via chemical weapons but barrel bombs, conventional weapons, et cetera, and that he maintains. So, at least so far, no fundamental change to the battle structure and capabilities on the ground. That said, you do have bipartisan support for this. Youre hearing it even from members of the Obama Administration who might have privately counseled the president to go ahead when his red line was crossed. But youre hearing it from republicans as well. Have a listen to senator john mccain. This was a response which was required in response to the commission of war crimes. I want to emphasize, this is the beginning and not the end, but the signal is sent around the world is very important. I hope that the message is, the only thing that Vladimir Putin, the bully and thug understands, and that is, when you commit war crimes and help people commit war crimes, theres a penalty to pay. And theres a lot of talk about that, messaging, right, that this was intended not just to be a message to Bashar Al Assad dont use chemical weapons but a message of resolve to other adversaries, certainly russia, which is directly involved here in syria, but perhaps china as well. You have the chinese leader here, a not too subtle message that when this administration is challenged, it wont be shy about acting in return. It is Pretty Amazing that this is playing out as the president is in florida meeting with the president of china. Jim, its great to see you. Thanks for that. Paula, so, as jims pointing out, as jeff has pointed out, russia not happy, a strong reaction to this attack. What are you hearing right now from moscow today . Some of the strongest reaction, kate, actually coming from the Prime Minister, dmitry medvedev. He put in a Facebook Post that this action actually brings the United States and russia on the verge of having conflict, and translated from russian, saying on the verge of having conflict with each other. He also accuses the United States of not only violating international law, but also its own laws by not going to congress. And key here, kate, hes saying, look, how does this help us fight isis . Having said that, kate, Vladimir Putin had some strong comments as well through his spokesperson, saying that, look, this was an aggression. What have they done, though in terms of deeds . They have suspended what is the air Defense Command or what they call the deconfliction. What does that mean . That open line of communication so that they do not conflict with each other in the air in syria. That has been suspended. Having said that, this is still quite a nuanced response, especially when it comes to actions, and many people knowing that when Rex Tillerson hits the ground here in the middle of next week, that will be the test of exactly how russia has reacted to this strike. Yeah, that meeting was already important. It cant be overstated how important that is now. Great to see you guys. Thanks so much for following all this, but also, of course the focus now is what is next here for the president , for the world, for whats happening in syria . Joining me to discuss is cnn military and diplomatic analyst, former state department and pentagon spokesman, admiral john kirby and former Supreme Commander general wesley clark. One second, guys. Im sorry. Im going to go to capitol hill right now. Mitch mcconnell is speaking from capitol hill about this attack. This was a strike that was well planned, well executed, went right to the heart of the matter, which is using chemical weapons. So, had i seen that kind of approach by president obama, im sure i would have signed up. Do you believe were at the point now where the u. S. Policy should be assads removal in syria . I think this strike was simply about dont use chemical weapons again. Thats what this strike was about. So i dont think it necessarily leads to another conclusion, but look, i dont see how they can possibly be any settlement in syria that includes Bashar Al Assad. I just cant imagine after all the butchering of his own people hes been doing now for four or five years, that there could be any successful conclusion to this chaos with him still there. [ inaudible ] said he would support additional sanctions on russia, because you know there is undergirding the assad regime. Would you urge the president on that particular issue that putin continues to help assad and keep up his air defenses, there can be future attacks . Well, i think its certainly good that the administrations not lifted any of the existing sanctions. And if they feel they need additional sanctions, or we can come up with something that seems to enjoy bipartisan support, id be open to it. The russians are not our friends. I think theyve demonstrated that over and over and over again, so id certainly be willing to talk to chairman corker and anyone else who thinks we may need to go beyond where we are. First off, has the white house asked for anything in the spending bill that you feel would jeopardize its ability to pass here in the senate . And two, have you talked to mitt romney about running for senate in utah . On the first question, you all know how i really dont like to negotiate these deals with you guys. All of those items are under discussion between the white house and democratic leader in the senate and the four corners on the committee. I cant specify how it all plays out. Yeah, ive had some conversations with mitt romney. Obviously, im an orrin hatch support supporter and orrin has to decide what he wants to do. If he wants to run again, im for him. Sir, can you describe given that the president s ill get to you in a minute. Yeah. Sir, can you talk about your interaction with the president and the administration on syria . Are you satisfied with the interaction between the administration and [ coughing ] were listening right there to the Senate Majority leader, Mitch Mcconnell, speaking really hearing from him for the first time in the aftermath of this u. S. Air strike. What he said is that he thinks this was simply about dont use chemical weapons again. And he also said that he thinks that the president had the authority for this, to do what he did, and hes glad that he did it. Let me get back to where i was right before we jumped over to capitol hill, back to general wesley clark and admiral john kirby. Gentlemen, thank you again for joining me. I really appreciate it. Lets talk about whats next and where this goes. General, we are learning that u. S. Military operations in syria, according to u. S. Officials, had been temporarily adjusted. Thats the terminology theyre using to ensure the protection of u. S. Forces fighting isis. Does that mean that they feel retaliation from the assad regime against the United States . What would that look like . Well, i think you have to expect that there would be some effort by the assad regime to strike back. It could be assads own military firing artillery. It could be mortars. It could be some kind of a terrorist strike organized by assad against United States forces over there. We dont know what that could be exactly. But yes, you have to anticipate that assad under great pressure is going to feel the urge to strike back. Admiral, when the secretary of state was doing a briefing last night, he said in no Uncertain Terms the following, and i thought it was pretty stark language. He says that this is not no way the actions in they took. A change in our policy or posture relative towards syria today. And he said theres been no change in that status. What does that mean . I think what hes trying to say there is that you shouldnt read into this strike some sort of larger now development from a policy perspective that they are going to use military force to oust assad or to get into a broader involvement into the civil war in syria. But kate, the problem with this is that you dont necessarily get to control all those factors. The truth is that by conducting this strike and i think it was done with great precision and to the proper tactical effect here is that you have now put your thumb on the scale in this civil war. You have now set expectations. The turks are already now talking about expanding this to nofly zones and the opposition groups and our sunni arab allies are hoping they could lead to more aggressive u. S. Military action in the civil war. So i dont know that they get to perfectly control the outcomes in that regard. And general, we were hearing from paula newton that the russian Prime Minister saying that this brings the u. S. And russia closer to a collision than ever. I mean, the Russian Military says now that its going to help strengthen air defenses in syria after the strike. Theyve suspended the deconfliction channel, as they call it. What does that all mean . Where does this go . Well, we dont know where it goes because we dont know what the administrations real policy is going to be going forward. I think the administration, as john said and its important for them to hear that to articulate that, right, general . Thats right. I think the administration would like to think this is a oneoff strike. Okay, we did it, we showed you not to do it, now lets go on, keep on going. But in fact, its stronger than that. This is a change from what obama did. It was done without congressional approval. It was also done without u. N. Or nato support or approval. And so, it is a strong push. And when you make a strike like this, and its the United States of america, you have, as some people have said, put your thumb on the scale in the syrian civil war. So, there will have to be a lot of diplomatic fencemending to go back to the status quo before we did this strike. We dont know whether thats really the policy or not because the administration has said at one point that Bashar Al Assad was going to stay, if that was the will of the syrian people, and at the other point said he cant stay. So, if we really believe he cant stay and were now intervening with military force, where does this lead us . Do we set up a safe zone, a strong alternative government somewhere on the jordan border and try to push assad out . Do we cut a deal with the russians and try to give them a deal, say if youll get rid of assad, well enable you to do a, b or c . We dont know where it goes. And russias a huge factor in this, john. I mean, as the secretary of state is right now, at least, still scheduled to head to moscow next week for meetings, i mean, i truly do wonder i mean, that is probably the most hostile diplomatic atmosphere you could enter. Well, its never its been pretty frosty of late, thats for sure. Yeah. I think, look, the president ought to take advantage of the leverage he may now have with the russians with respect to diplomacy and put tillerson on a plane a little early. Send him to geneva. Try to set up a meeting with russians and the u. N. And try to restart some meaningful political talks. One of the things they knew before was that there wasnt necessarily the threat of military force when we sat down at the diplomatic table, and therefore, there was a perception that we didnt have the leverage that we maybe could have needed to get the russians to really push diplomacy forward. We may now have that with this strike. That may be a tangential effect that they werent counting on. They ought to take advantage of that. Admiral john, general, thank you very much. Its great to see you both on this important day. A live look now at capitol hill. We will be seeing Vice President mike pence, i am told, arriving on the capitol. He is there for the other very important story that weve been following. There he is. There is the Vice President arriving to the Capitol Steps right now for the final confirmation vote for Supreme Court nominee neil gorsuch. A lot of news has been happening this week. That was obviously a huge story for us as republicans pulled the Nuclear Option yesterday in order to push through this nomination. Vice president mike pence there for that historic vote. He could be there to help cast a vote, break a tie, if needed. That vote outcome, though, not in question, especially now with that rules change. Vice president right there. Coming up for us, minority leader, top democrat in the house, nancy pelosi is now calling for the house to cut the recess short to come back to that capitol we were just looking at and debate the strikes on syria. Whats the role of congress here . Details on that, ahead. Plus, the u. S. Ambassador to the United Nations set to deliver her first public remarks since the air strikes in a Security Council meeting this hour. Russia and syria also expected to speak. Well bring that to you live. Hes a nascar champion whos shes a worldclass swimmer whos 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 latestgeneration blood thinner. Thats 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. Heres how xarelto works. Xarelto® works differently. Warfarin interferes with at least six bloodclotting factors. Xarelto® is selective. Targeting just one critical factor, interacting with less of your bodys natural bloodclotting function. Dont stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor as this may increase risk of blood clots. While taking, you may bruise more easily, or take longer for bleeding to stop. It may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. Xarelto® can cause serious, and in rare cases, fatal bleeding. Get help right away for unexpected bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. If youve had spinal anesthesia, watch for back pain or any nerve or musclerelated signs or symptoms. Do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. Tell your doctor before all planned medical or dental procedures and before starting xarelto® about any conditions, such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. Youve got to learn all you can. To help protect yourself from dvt and pe blood clots. Talk to your doctor about xarelto®. Theres more to know. But theyre different. D kind its nice to remove artificial ingredients. Kind never had to. Weve used real ingredients, whole nuts, and Natural Flavo