You cant eat certain shellfish, so that, what happens is, jewish people think about their food a lot. Woodruff and, its friday. Mark shields and david brooks take on this weeks news, including what a rule change in the senate means for the ability of the two parties to work together. All that and more, on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by q1 moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. The ford foundation. Working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newshour. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff the white house says President Trump has sent a strong signal to the world with last nights Cruise Missile strike on syria. The attack drew widespread support today from american allies, and condemnation from the syrians and their allies. A flash of light and the roar of jet engines lit up the predawn in the eastern mediterranean. Two u. S. Navy destroyers fired off 59 tomahawk Cruise Missiles. explosion amateur video broadcast on syrian state tv appeared to show the missiles striking home. The target the syrian militarys sharyat air base. U. S. Officials say it was the launching pad for a chemical attack that killed more than 80 people in idlib province. Saleh hawa, an opposition activist in idlib, spoke to us via skype. There is a kind of comfort that, at the end, after, of maybe seven years of suffering and pain, that at the end, weve got a kind of ally. Weve got a kind of protector, you can say. Woodruff news of the u. S. Missile strike broke as President Trump was meeting last night at his resort in florida with the president of china. It is in this vit National Security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons. Woodruff both russia and syria claim rebel groups were responsible for tuesdays chemical attack, and the russians quickly condemned the u. S. Missile strike. Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov spoke in uzbekistan. translated of course this is an act of aggression, committed on an absolutely made up pretext. I hope these provocations will not lead to some kind of irreversible consequences. Woodruff the Russian DefenseMinistry Announced that the u. S. Attack caused only minimal damage to the syrian air base, and that most of the Cruise Missiles fell short. Indeed, opposition activists reported seeing syrian jets take off from the base today, heading for rebelheld areas. But, White House PressSecretary Sean Spicer said all 59 missiles hit their targets, from fighter jets to radar sites. Meanwhile, western allies backed the u. S. Move. In a statement, nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said the Syrian Regime bears the full responsibility for this development. German chancellor Angela Merkel also defended the u. S. Action, but urged caution. translated the attack of the United States is understandable, given the dimension of the war crimes. At the same time, and i underline more and more, it remains important and right to focus all the attention on political talks. Woodruff turkeys president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the missile strike was fully warranted but may not be enough. And, syrian rebel groups also called for Even Stronger action against the assad regime. Again, saleh hawa right now, things are different. I think, from now on, russian and bashir alassad and iran and all those you know, naughty countries around the world, will understand that, look, this is america. America today is different from before. America is now ready to act. Woodruff the strike was in stark contrast to president obamas policy. He had warned of a red line against the use of chemical weapons, but backed away from military action after a chemical attack in august 2013 killed more than 1,000 syrians. During the campaign, mr. Trump also advocated against military intervention in syria. This week, he said the chemical attack changed his view of the syrian war, and of assad. Mr. Trump said nothing further today, but at a u. N. Security council meeting, u. S. Ambassador nikki haley did not rule out further action. The United States took a very measured step last night. We are prepared to do more, but we hope that will not be necessary. Woodruff on the diplomatic front, the issue is likely to top the agenda, as secretary of state Rex Tillerson visits moscow next wednesday. In congress, democrats urged the president to seek congressional approval for future moves, while republicans generally applauded his action. This was a response that was required in response to the commission of war crimes. I want to emphasize, this is the beginning, not the end. But the signal that was sent around the world is very important. The president has made a 180degree pivot in one week on what the United States role should be in syria. And i think that as a result, the United Congress should be fully involved. Woodruff well get a deeper assessment of the u. S. Strike, and its implications, after the news summary. In the days other news, the long fight to fill the vacancy on the u. S. Supreme court is over. The u. S. Senate today confirmed President Trumps nominee, neil gorsuch, by a vote of 54 to 45. He will fill the seat of the late justice Antonin Scalia. Lisa desjardins has our report. The nomination of neil m. Gorsuch of colorado to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is confirmed. Reporter the final vote was almost anticlimactic, after republicans triggering the socalled Nuclear Option on thursday. That cleared the way for a simple majority to break the democratic filibuster against gorsuch. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell of course i wish that important aspects of this process had played out differently. It didnt have to be this way. But today is a new day. Reporter in the end, three democrats joe manchin, Heidi Heitkamp and joe donnelly, joined republicans in supporting gorsuch. But most democrats, like dick durbin, lamented how it came to be. When the rule was changed, some senators were engaged in high fives, on the other side of aisle. Im not sure why. I dont think it was a time for any winning celebration. I think it was an unfortunate moment, and the question is, where will we go from here . Reporter not all republicans were celebrating the rule revision. Arizonas john mccain i am very concerned about the future, which will then, with only 51vote majority required, will lead to polarization of the nominees as far as their philosophies are concerned. Reporter but minority leader Chuck Schumer promised to protect the 60vote threshold for ending filibusters on legislation. I hope the republican leader and i can, in the coming months, find a way to build a firewall around the legislative filibuster, which is the most important distinction between the senate and the house. Reporter on that, at least, schumer and mcconnell agreed this notion that this somehow bleeds over into the legislative filibuster is untrue. Im opposed to it. Reporter as for judge gorsuch, his swearingin as the 101st associate justice of the u. S. Supreme court is set for monday. For the pbs newshour, im lisa desjardins. Woodruff President Trump wound up his florida summit with chinese president xi jinping today. Both men spoke highly of their firstever meeting, despite tensions over trade and north korea. Chinese reports said mr. Trump will visit china later this year. Well have the full story, later in the program. In sweden, at least four people were killed today when a hijacked beer truck crashed into a Department Store in stockholm. 15 others were hurt. Witnesses said the truck plowed into a crowd of people before smashing into the store. The swedish Prime Minister called it an act of terror. It was the latest such incident across europe. Police said they are looking for the truck driver. More than 50,000 people marched in cities across south africa today to protest government corruption. They carried signs and shouted slogans demanding the removal of president jacob zuma, after he fired the countrys Anti Corruption finance minister. I am marching because i have a fouryearold daughter and i feel if i dont do something about the future of the country, nobody is going to anything. Im here to fight, to show my support for this country, for the beauty and the future that this country has, instead of the uprising of one greedy, corrupt man. Woodruff the ailing nobel peace laureate desmond tutu, now 85, also made a rare public appearance in support of the demonstrations. His foundation tweeted on his behalf we will pray for the downfall of a government that misrepresents us. Back in this country, a federal judge approved the agreement between baltimore and the u. S. Department of justice on reforming that citys police department. The judge said it is in the Public Interest to approve it, despite the Justice Department request for a delay. Attorney general Jeff Sessions said he still has grave concerns about the agreement, and that it may hinder the fight against crime. The longrunning drought in california is officially over. Governor jerry brown today lifted Emergency Conservation for nearly all of the state. He acted after a series of major winter storms brought heavy snow and rain. U. S. Job growth dropped sharply in march, to its worst showing in nearly a year. The Labor Department reported that today in its monthly summary. It said u. S. Employers added a net of 98,000 jobs, even though economists expected nearly twice that many. The Unemployment Rate fell to 4. 5 thats the lowest in almost a decade. That jobs report, and the tensions over syria, dampened the mood on wall street. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost about seven points to close at 20,656. The nasdaq fell one point, and the s p 500 slipped two. For the week, all three indexes were down a fraction of one percent. Still to come on the newshour the road ahead following the u. S. Strikes on syria; president s trump and xi lay the groundwork for future negotiations; mark shields and david brooks weigh in on syria, the Supreme Court battle, and much more. Woodruff we return now to our top story, the u. S. Attack on a syrian air field. Late today, Administration Officials said theyd seek new sanctions against the regime of Bashar Alassad. For more on the airstrikes, and their effects, im joined by retired general john allen, he was the Top Commander in afghanistan from 2011 to 2013, and in 2014, became the special president ial envoy for the Global Coalition against isis; sarah sewall served as undersecretary of state for civilian security, democracy and human rights during the Obama Administration. Shes now at Johns Hopkins university; and, retired army colonel andrew bacevich, Professor Emeritus of International Relations and history at boston university. And we welcome all three of you to the program. General allen, im going to start with you. Was this a smart move by President Trump, his administration . Judy, i think it was. I think it was warranted. The crime of attacking innocent civilians with a nerve agent puts the assad regime in a position where this kind of an action is absolutely justified. I have been calling for this kind of an action for a long time, and i believe it was justified and it was not just a message to Bashar Alassad, its a message to his russian patrons that the United States is just not going to tolerate this kind of action from him any longer. Woodruff col. Bacevich, whats your view . If indeed some people suggest this is a oneoff event, i think in a week we wont be talking abut it. If this aye shows a more assertive Trump Administration that somehow were going to ratchet up the pressure on the assad regime, trying to produce regime chairntion then i would be very much interested in hearing more about how that is going to occur and beyond that, if assad is forced out, then what . What do we think the United States will inherited, and what will the United States do with that inheritance, recalling the situation after regime change in iraq and libya, you know, those seem to be reasonable questions. Woodruff sarah sewall, how do you gauge what happened . Its very difficult to know right now, judy. We dont know whether this will fall into a category of a symbolic pinprick strike that had no meaningful effect or whether this could be the beginning of something that gets us much more deeply embroiled, whether its similar to the no fly zones that we created in southern and Northern Iraq after the first desert storm war or whether its like the Kosovo Campaign that was designed to produce a negotiated solution we thought would take days and instead took weeks, or whether it could be like the libya intervention where we were nominally protecting citizens but crated a bigger terrorist threat throughout the region. Woodruff and general allen, we dont know how effective this is do, we . Were waiting to find out. Well, ill say a couple of things, judy, to the other points that have been made. The administration is going to have to give us a sense of what their policy is. This is obviously a change from the Previous Administration and military action without political context is often just ineffectual, theres no purpose for it. Its a dangers road to get on, as the other commentators have indicated. So it would be very helpful for us to understand what policy changes have created this strategy within which military action like this can occur. But i think its been an important event because its not just a very important signal to Bashar Alassad and to president putin, there are others around the world who should have taken very significant attention or made significant points of paying attention to this strike. Kim jong un, for example, the president just completed by all accounts a successful summit with president xi jinping of china, and we find ourselves in an environment where theres a similar relationship there, where there is a patron and there is a client, and i know it has not escaped the attention of president xi that the Nuclear Saber rattling of kim jong un has attracted the attention of President Trump. And, so, having held Bashar Alassad accountable for this, we need to Pay Attention to northeast asia about a more activist United States in this regard. Woodruff col. Bacevich, this does send a signal to the rest of the world that this president is prepared to act. Well, i think its important to reflect on how this decision came to be mairksd at least how we understand it came to be made. A week ago the president was largely indifferent to events in syria. It appears that, when he saw the videotapes of the aftermath of the Syrian Chemical Weapons attack, he was outraged and then basically in about a 48hour period, he went from being indifferent to deciding we had to attack syria, and i have to say that strikes me as not so much a change in policy but really a change in impulses. We have an impulsive president. We see little in our president that suggests that he acts after syrias reflection after serious reflection. So, yes, indeed, if somebody like kim jong un in north korea is reflecting on the implications of the syrian attack, are the implications one that would cause kim jong un to be more prudent or does he say, holy cow, we got a crazy guy on the other end of this relationship . Sarah sewall, how much does it matter whether this was a thoughtthrough policy that went into this. It matters enormously because if they dont know what the end game is, if they dont know what their goals are, then they dont know what their next steps are. Lets look at the situation from a couple of different angles. First of all, if all were doing is a red line on chemical weapons, thats not material, but its really not the point. The point is assad is a butcher and so the question becomes for the civilians do i care if im gassed or hit by barrel bombs, the problem is is there. The russian issue, we have a