The bottom line confirmation of judge neil gorsuch to the Supreme Court but also greater distrust and acrimony in the senate. Meanwhile, over in the house, chaos in the Intelligence Committee. Its chairman recusing himself from all matters related to the russia investigation. An Ethics Committee is now investigating allegations that congressman nunes made unauthorized disclosures of classified information. Chairman nunes calling it all a left wing witchhunt. Kasie hunt pulling double duty on this thursday covering both stories on capitol hill. We have jake sherman and dana and e. J. Lets start with these votes which started this morning and for viewers and listeners, thwe want to walk them through the process. A cloture vote to end debate failed by ten votes. By parliamentary rules, that led a motion to reconsider which also failed. A procedural vote brought by the Senate Minority leader to delay the vote to april 24th. That then failed after that the socalled Nuclear Option vote, which was 48 votes to 52, that failed vote means a majority did not agree with the chair which had ruled that 60 votes were needed. Then came the vote to sustain the decision of the chair. Moments ago the big vote, 55 voting to end debate and invoke cloture on the nomination. Simple majority was needed. That moves us to a final vote possibly friday. A simple majority. Just a simple majority now being needed to confirm judge gorsuch to the Supreme Court. Kasie, lets start with the mood on the floor. What is it . This is a really significant step. The pictures that you see of people Milling Around on the senate floor doesnt really capture what this means in the context of the senate. It is very arcane down in the weeds all of these procedural motions but what it means is a further damaging of whatever bipartisanship may have been left here in the senate. And theres been a lot of back and forth and anger about who started it, whose fault is it. Republicans say democrats did this halfway in 2013 when they eliminated 60vote flethreshold excludeing Supreme Court nominees, they say you didnt give garland a hearing or vote and Mitch Mcconnell who people thought would care about the senate that there was no way he would want to do this or go forward with it, is actually Going Forward with it. It tells you a lot about how relationships here have deteriorated over the years and how people have settled back into partisan habits and trenches. There were a handful of people who protested this on the democratic side Michael Bennett from colorado gave a speech on the floor saying that this wasnt going to be productive. He was one of the people who voted to he voted with republicans on ending debate at the 60vote flethreshold. You had john mccain when we asked about this earlier this week anyone that said this would be good for a senate is a stupid idiot. There are people that have been around here for a long time that think this is not a good move that think this is going to make senate races more partisan and i believe we have a little bit of sound that we can play from this debate. Take a quick look. Mr. President , this will be the first and last partisan filibuster of the Supreme Court nomination. When history weighs what happened, the responsibility for changing the rules will fall on the republicans and leader mcconnells shoulders. So there you have it. Th essential partisan back and forth saying thissnt going to happen again. The rule has now been officially changed so the next time theres a Supreme Court nominee that is picked by the president that comes up to the senate, Majority Party will be able to pass that nomination through with majority of its votes. Now, it doesnt mean there may not be a situation down the road where there are so many people that find the nomination unpalatable that it doesnt go forward, that happened with Harriet Miers nominated by president george w. Bush and it became clear very quickly there was so much opposition to her in the senate that they withdrew her nomination. At the end of the day, this is going to make it easier for one party to push through their judicial nominees onto the bench and i think its also going to some people i talked to here say they worried it will politicize Senate Elections even more than they are. They will become referendums on judicial choices. Hard to imagine how Senate Elections could become anymore politicized. About this particular issue is what i mean, craig. I want to come back to you in a second and talk about nunes. Jake, let me bring you in. You talk to any senator now and they bemoaned this Nuclear Option. Why are we here then . If so many detested the idea of it, how did we get here . Thats a very good question. Its been a long road. I tend to agree with everything kasie said. I tend to think that the public, and i think this is what senator mcconnell is banking on, the public wants the donald trump won the election. The public wants to fill the slot in the Supreme Court. Mcconnell took a big gamble back last year when he did not even give a hearing to obamas Supreme Court nominee. He said the party that wins the election will fill the vacancy. He truly believes and he told us this at a politico live event not too long ago that he has the Political Capital to do this. I dont know that rule changes and things of that nature play in senate races or in president ial races or anything like that. I think this is an inside the beltway inside baseball issue but it is critically important because it does kind of tell the story or illustrate the long deterioration of tradition and deterioration of rules on capitol hill and thats a narrative that we had seen in the house and in the senate and we see somebody in the white house right now in President Trump that also does not confirm to Many Political norms so part of an overarching narrative thats becoming more and more prominent in d. C. Dana, one of the things that struck me about all of this, it would seem to me that ending or changing precedent here in the way that they have, it would seem to me that this would only encourage future president s to nominate justices that are on the furthest ends of the political spectrum. If you only need 51 votes, no longer seem to be an incentive to nominate someone to the court that might be remotely centrist or moderate. Thats absolutely whats going to happen. Thats why the senate and senate races are going to become even more politicized because everyone voting for the senate next year knows they are casting their ballot for roe v. Wade, for gay rights, for any other issue that may be before the court. And this is bigger than whats going on with kneel gorneil gor the Supreme Court. In a real sense they broke the senate today where bipartisanship was sort of the last vestage of that and we dont have it. Anyone that believes it will stop at this and not turn into retaliation of ending filibuster for all forms of legislation turning the senate into dysfunctional house, youre kidding yourself if you dont think thats going to happen. Well feel the repercussions of what weve seen in the last hour for years, if not decades. E. J. , the thinking so far has been the legislative filibuster is going to remain. Are you concerned that its just a matter of time before its a 51 threshold in the Upper Chamber for pieces of legislation related to health care and taxes as well . Im going to be all alone here today. If the filibuster is further weakened, i dont think thats a terrible thing. The republicans abused the filibuster all during the obama years and we didnt used to have supermajorities all the time. Second, neil gorsuch is not a moderate. Neil gorsuch is almost certainly to the right of Antonin Scalia particularly on regulatory issues so the Current System didnt guarantee moderates. If you kept the 60vote threshold, you would have sent gorsuch back and say we want someone more moderate. Now that they override this, i dont think it will make that much difference. Thirdly, the Supreme Court is already highly politicized but its mostly been an issue on the right. Donald trump got a lot of conservative votes from conservatives who didnt like him very much because he promised to appoint judges like neil gorsuch. I think it might politicize the issue now even more for liberals and last point is i think this day has been coming for a long time. Democrats have been eight words. Bush v. Gore, citizens united, Shelby County or Voting Rights and then garland. From the moment the court made george w. Bush president in a decision where they said we dont want you to apply these principles, they want to make bush president theres been a fury among liberals and democrats and then the decisions on Campaign Finance reform gutting Voting Rights act were very political. Thats why i think very moderate democrats like mark warner or john tester voted against gorsuch today. This wasnt just the base or appeasing the base, this feeling runs very deep and i think it goes back 17 years at least. Lets talk about the other big story on the hill here. The drama on citol hil regarding devin nune nunes recusing himself from the Russian Investigation now. Bring us up to speed on where that is. Well, youre watching right now. This was devin nunes. We were again chasing him out of the capitol here. He got into a car and drove away heading him back to his home state of california for this twoweek recess that is just starting. What we know is that the house Ethics Committee had decided to investigate whether or not nunes disclosed classified information over the course of the press conference and public statements hes been making for the last few weeks over this investigation into russian mettle ime meddling. Its a bipartisan committee. This is not a referral from the office of congressional ethics. We see that not infrequently. This is Ethics Committee which requires at least one republican would have had to say they think this needs to be investigated. Nunes met with House Speaker paul ryan last night, we know. It was at that meeting that they talked through the options and theyre saying devin nunes decided it was best to recuse himself from the russian m meddling investigation. Hes not going to step down as chairman of the committee. Theyre having the next in line republican, congressman conway from texas, take over the investigation into russian meddling. That was all kind of decided upon at this meeting with the speaker last night and of course we got up this morning to a statement from nunes who calls these allegations left wing smears that have led to this investigation. You can see there left wing activist groups filed accusation against me with the office of congressional ethics. The charges are entirely false and politically motivated. Now, again, that office of congressional ethics is an independent body that can recommend an investigation but for the Ethics Committee to come out and say theyre going to do it, thats a bipartisan move. Its different and more significant thing. Thats what is going on right now. So nunes did not want to comment beyond the statement he put out earlier today about this. The speaker, paul ryan, putting out a statement and talking to reporters a little bit saying that he still trusts devin nunes and has confidence in him but that this investigation had become a distraction to the point where he supported his decision to recuse himself here. So democrats now saying this was a good move and they are trying to say they want to work with mr. Conway to try to get this investigation back on track. Remember, there is some interest among members of the committee to make sure that this is a credible investigation, craig. Heres that exchange between you and speaker ryan. Do you still have faith that he didnt do anything wrong . Did he mishandle classified information . I dont believe so. Chairman nunes wants to make sure this is not a distraction to an important investigation so he wants to go clear himself while this Investigation Continues on without any kinds of distractions. So, kristen welker, let me bring you into the conversation to remind folks at home or in their cars, this Development Due entirely because of the controversy of white house officials sharing intelligence documents with nunes which nunes then turns around and shares with President Trump. Whats been the response from the white house here . Reporter it was a swirl of controversy, craig. He shared it with the media before he shared it with his committee cochair. Remember, the president has consistently said he has confidence in devin nun toes ca nunes to carry out this investigation. He did not join the calls for him to step down from the russia investigation. Sean spicer spoke earlier today with some reporters and he said hes not aware that devin nunes gave the president a headsup about his decision, but he pushed back against this notion that this is in anyway become a distraction and stressed the Administration Still wants the investigation to move forward. Of course they say the real story here are the leaks and the unmasking ofom Trump Campaign officials and trump transition officis unmasking being the identities of those officials being unveiled and revealed throughout the course of surveillance. But this has been undoubtedly something the white house has had to contend with in daily briefings and press conferences so its hard to argue it hasnt been a distraction to some point. So undoubtedly this helps them turn the page on that. It comes at a critical time, craig, for this president. Hes facing arguably his two biggest Foreign Policy tests yet on syria, on north korea and of course we were just watching air force one there as hes about to take off to meet with the president of china in mar la. This could turn the page on whats been a controversial chapter on both sides of pennsylvania avenue. Let me ask you one last question about what might be happening in the house as it pertains to health care reform. I understand that you talked to some members of the Freedom Caucus a short time ago. What sense did you get from them that this is going to be a new bill and that this bill has a better chance of succeeding than the first . What did they tell you . It depends on the hour and it depends on who you talk to and what you believe. The house Freedom Caucus maintains, conservative Freedom House caucus maintains that if Vice President mike pences offer was put into legislation, it would pass the house. That doesnt really speak to the larger political dynamics that it would die in senate and wouldnt go anywhere. I think were a long way away from a Health Care Bill passing when Congress Returns in two weeks, theyre going to have to dealith Government Shutdown threat in about four or five days at the end of april so were talking about at least may until we see a bill come up and, remember, the white house says it wants a trillion dollar infrastructure package. He wants tracks reform. Theres a lot of stuff the white house says it wants. The body signals that i get from the white house and people in that world is they dont want to deal with this right now and they want to move on with their lives and beginning to realize there isnt really a way to get both moderate republicans and conservative republicans to agree. Jake sherman, e. J. , dana, kristen, kasie, a big thanks to all of you. Now to microsoft pulse question on this thursday. Now that representative nunes stepped aside, do you think a fair investigation of russia s meddling in the investigation can be conducted by the house . Thats the question. The pulse is live. House Republican Leaders floating that Health Care Amendment that could sway conservatives and moderates in the party. Ill ask one moderate republican if we are perhaps one step closer to trump care and the pentagon now working on military options on syria to send to secretary of defense. What are those options . For lower back pain sufferers, the search for relief often leads here. Today theres drugfree aleve direct therapy. A high intensity tens device that uses technology once only in doctors offices. For deep penetrating relief at the source. Aleve direct therapy. So we know how to cover almost alanything. Ything, even a coupe soup. [woman] so beautiful. [man] beautiful just like you. [woman] oh, why thank you. [burke] and we covered it, november sixth, twothousandnine. Talk to farmers. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum nitrites or artificial mesquite preservatives. Added nitrates, now its good for us all. Like introverts. Extroverts. cheering and even bert. Man you gotta try this sandwich. Whos just overt. Oscar mayer deli fresh. So good weve done well in life, with help from our advisor, we made it through many market swings. Sure we could travel, take it easy. But weve never been the type to just sit back. Not when weve got so much more to give when you have the right financial advisor, life can be brilliant. Ameriprise two big issues prominent on the house side. House Intelligence Committee chairman devin nunes stepping aside from the russia investigation and republicans trying to reach a compromise on a Health Care Bill before the recess, which starts tomorrow. I want to bring i new york republican congressman dan donovan. Congressman donovan, thank you for your time this afternoon, sir. Thank you, craig. Lets get your reaction to chairman nunes decision to step aside a few hours ago. I think its a personal decision. I know theres a lot of pressure on the chairman. He had the confidence of the leadership. He had the confidence of speaker ryan. For some reason, devin decided now is the time for him to step aside and let the investigation continue under the leadership of some other members. And thats a personal decision he had to make. I was a prosecutor for 20 years. There was times when i recused myself of investigations or prosecuting cases for reasons that i had, so i give him credit for standing strong at the time that he determined that he was going to continue with the investigation. I give him credit for deciding now is the time for him to step aside. As you know, the house Ethics Committee is now investigating whether congressman nunes may have made unauthorized disclosures of classified information. As you mentioned, you are a prosecutor. I imagine you deal with classified material on a regular basis. What procedures do your committees have in place for dealing with that information . Well, as you said, the Ethics Committee will first decide whether or not there was a violation. Some things may amount to being a crime. Some of the sensitive documents and briefings that we get, some of them are oral, are highly classified. Top secret at times. Put methods and assets in danger if it was revealed. I do not know what these ethics charges are or claims that chairman nunes may have divulged classified information. Im always because i was a prosecutor, craig, i always say let the committees do their work. Let the investigation take place. Let the Ethics Committee examine and hear the evidence and then once they decide, then well know what actually occurred. Lets turn to health care here. The bills failure defeat for the white house. Defeat for congress as well. P ldership as well. Now the white house and house leaders say they want to move forward. This is part of what Speaker Paul Ryan said a short time ago about the Health Care Bill. This promise is just too important and the consequences of inaction are just too dire for American Families for us just to give up. That is why over the last couple of weeks we have encouraged members from across the conference, you see many of them represented here today we encouraged members from across the conference to come together and to try to find consensus. Congressman, has there been a real attempt to reach a consensus . I believe so. Ive given the president and speaker ryan all of the credit in the world. Hes right. The Affordable Care act is about to collapse upon itself. The president and the speaker could have let it happen and pointed at the Previous Administration and said, see, we told you this would happen. They tried to correct and repair our broken Health Care System. We made a promise to the americans that we would do so. Because of the first time a vote never occurred or there wasnt enough members voting yes to get it passed, i happen to have been a no vote, craig, but because there wasnt enough votes then doesnt mean we give up. We made a commitment. You want to revisit this thing . You want to revisit it in the near term . I think we have to repair our Health Care System and revisiting until we get it right. Im a proponent of getting it right rather than getting it done quickly. I credit the speaker and president for continuing thissest becauthis e effort because the American People deserve it. Lets turn to syria here. President trump says that now he has changed his tune a bit with regards to the assad regime in light of those deplorable images that weve seen over the last two days. Would you support a military strike against syria . You know, i leave that to our military leaders but something has to happen. It was inhumane to let children and babies suffer, suffocate, use chemical weapons against them by their own government. I know theres people that are concerned about if you take assad out, theres a void and who will fill that vacuum in the next monster might be even worse than he is, we cannot let this continue. We have to ask our allies and ask the people who have supported syria to take action against this heinous crime that was just inhumane. You wont go on record and say you support a military strike . You know, im on Homeland Security and foreign affairs. We have great military leaders, generals and admirals, they should be consulted by the president and see what their recommendation are and follow people who are experts in this field. If they recommend a military strike, youre okay with that . I am. If its their recommendation, i would certainly listen to what they have to say and trust their judgment. Congressman, i appreciate your time this afternoon. Do appreciate it. Pentagon mulling options for a possible military response to the syrian chemical attack. Were going to take a look at the possible scenarios next. Over hereno ver here dog barking whoever threw it has to go get it. Not me somebody will get it. dog barking anyone can dream. Making it a reality is the hard part. From the b2 to the upcoming b21, Northrop Grumman stealth bombers give america an advantage in a turbulent world. And were looking for a few dreamers to join us. Everything your family touches sticks with them. Make sure the germs they bring home dont stick around. Use clorox disinfecting products. Because no one kills germs better than clorox. Start here. At fidelity, we let you know where you stand, so when it comes to your retirement plan, youll always be absolutely. Clear. Its your retirement. Know where you stand. Heartbreaking images out of syria. The material youre about to see is disturbing. A father here holding his lifeless 9monthold twin daughters. Another picture capturing the agonizing scene in syria. Father sobbing goodbye as he laid them to rest in a mass grave where 22 members of his member were buried following tuesdays suspected chemical attack. President trump denounced the attack wednesday saying he now has responsibility to act on syria. I want to bring in nbcs pentagon correspondent joining us from the white house. I understand first you have new information as well. According to two military officials, its clear that they have seen a syrian fixed wing aircraft drop bombs on the site. They saw the explosion. When i say see, they see this through a variety of methods. A lot of it surveillance thats taking place in syria because theres, of course, the active campaign there. But this is pretty clear proof at least as far as the pentagon is concerned that Syrian Forces were behind this. Ese were bombs and the bombs ca disperse. They think there may be two different chemicals in there. Theyre not certain on that. I wont get there until were totally certain. If i could go back to the earlier part and thats options. At the pentagon theyre preparing and ready at a moments notice to give the president any options that they ultimately come up with. We know secretary mattis will be down there in florida with President Trump in association with that visit. If the president asks for options, sources assure me mattis will have them ready to present. In terms of what they could be doing, if you think of just the air side, could you do cruise missiles, a drone or you could do fixed wing aircraft on the american side. The challenge with that last option is syrian air defenses are sophisticated so that may lead to more risk than theyre willing to take. The threshold question, does President Trump want to send a message or eliminate the threat sending a message is a lot easier to do. Eliminating the threat needs you to take into account the delivery mechanisms the syria have, where stockpiles are and what complications you could be involved with if any Russian Forces are with Syrian Regime forces. Hans nichols for us breaking down options and giving us new information on what went down tuesday in syria. Hans, thanks, as always, sir. High stakes summit. President trump facing a major diplomatic test this afternoon when he meets with chinas president for the first time face to face. Well take a closer look at what is at stake. Well also remind you why the meeting could be a by the awkward. The white house reaching out to moderate democrats in hopes of getting legislation done. Ill talk to one democratic congressman whose constituents have been urging him to get tougher on the president. Befi was active. Gia, i was energetic. Then the chronic, widespread pain drained my energy. My doctor said moving more helps ease fibromyalgia pain. He also prescribed lyrica. Fibromyalgia is thought to be the result of overactive nerves. Lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. For some, lyrica can significantly relieve fibromyalgia pain and improve function, so i feel better. Lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. Tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. Or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or blurry vision. Common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. Dont drink alcohol while taking lyrica. Dont drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. Those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. With less pain, i can be more active. Ask your doctor about lyrica. With e trade you see things your way. You have access to the right information at the right moment. And when you filter out the noise, its easy to turn your vision into action. Its your trade. E trade. Theres nothing more than my vacation. Me so when i need to book a hotel room, i want someone that makes it easy to find what i want. Booking. Com gets it. They offer free cancellation if my plans change. Visit booking. Com. Booking. Yeah. Its about moving forward, not back. Its looking up, not down. Its being in motion. In body, in spirit, in the now. Boost® high protein its intelligent nutrition with 15 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. For when you need a little extra. Boost® be up for it we are awaiting for chinese president xi jinping to arrive in florida. Rex tillerson expected to speak after the chinese president arrives. Well bring that to you here as soon as it happens. High stakes meeting set to take place in the sunshine state. President trump sitting down for a number of sessions with the chinese leader. There could be some awkward moments. President trump has been quite vocal in his criticism of china. We cant continue to allow china to rape our country and thats what theyre doing. Its the greatest theft in the history of the world. In the history of the world, this is the single greatest theft ive ever seen. Weve rebuilt china. We have a 500 billion trade deficit, and you know what . Were going to start reversing things very, very quickly. China is taking us to the cleaners like probably nobody in history. The worst abuser of the United States. You have the massive theft of intellectual property, putting unfair taxes on our companies, not helping with the menace of north korea like they should. And the atwill and massive devaluation of their currency and product dumping. Other than that, theyve been wonderful, right . Nbc news chief White House CorrespondentHallie Jackson is in florida this afternoon. You also see air china on the left side of your screen. President xi jinping just landing there. What are the expectations for this meeting, hallie . Reporter saying hi and breaking the niice, craig. Administration in the u. S. And experts in chinese American Relations are saying expectations are somewhat low in the sense this is the first first to face meeting. Its crucial, dont get me wrong. The most important diplomatic dinner that President Trump has had yet. The dinner tonight with president xi jinping who is now just landing on the tarmac here in palm beach. But this is going to be int introductory. Dont think there would have been major agreements hammered out between these two. Its to sit down and talk face to face. You played a montage of comments of the president on the campaign trail. When two leaders sit down to talk, a lot is behind them. Thats not to say President Trump wont try to show strength and president xi understands that and is coming in with that knowledge. They each know what the hot button topics for the other will be. The two biggest items on the agenda from u. S. Perspective will be north korea and number two, trade. And some of these Economic Issues that President Trump has talked about on the campaign trail when he was a candidate. North korea especially relevant at this moment given obviously the Missile Launch earlier this the week. China exerts a lot of influence over pyongyang. Watch for President Trump to put pressure on president xi to do something about north korea or put pressure on north korea. Trade is going to be crucial too. We may hear more about International Issues when secretary of state Rex Tillerson potentially speaks to members of the media in just a couple minutes. Well watch that from here in florida. Hallie jackson in florida. A lot of folks surprised that the dinner is even happening since candidate trump said he would never have the president of china over for dinner. Hallie, thank you. I want to bring in niour guests. P. J. , let me start with you. Theres a story in politico that says President Trump will be at a distinct disadvantage for todays meeting. Some china watchers say that he could easily be outmasked by a Diplomatic Team aiming to exploit gaping holes in the white houses china policy. Whats your assessment here, p. J. . I think its important that the meeting happens. This is the most consequential bilateral relationship that the United States has with any country around the world and also the most complex. The fact that two leaders are meeting early in the president s term is a positive. Youre absolutely right, craig. Compared to when president obama first met president xi where obama was the more experienced leader and now president xi is the more experienced leader and theres no indication at this point that the Trump Administration really has fleshed out its policy toward the Asia Pacific Region and china. So i think for both leaders if there is good choreography and if theres Good Chemistry and theres some sort of consistenty in terms of the language both sides use, it may be a successful meeting. What the president wants to see is what is president xi going to commit to in terms of future action and north korea is significant among them. Just an aside, our nerds always have it at xi jinping. Youre saying it ki jinping. Sounds like i was wrong on that one. We are waiting for president xi there. We heard there during the montage of sound bites that President Trump spent time criticizing china on human rights but the bulk of the time has been spent criticizing china on currency manipulation to the trade imbalance that exists with that country. With regards to trade specifically, what are expectations and how realistic are those expectations . The Trump Administration had a fundamental misapprehension of the nature of the problem. They thought and President Trump regularly criticized china for devaluing its currency to get a trade advantage visavis the u. S. And other countries. This was a problem historically. In the last few years its been opposite. At this point china is, if anything, propping up the u. N. And currency is more or less where the market would put it. At the end of the day, i dont think that theres all that much that china is going to do to adjust its trade flows visavis west. That is going to take a restructuring of the chinese economy and thats not likely to happen. I dont think there will be all that much happening on the human rights front or north korea front or South China Sea front. Sounds like expectations are low for you. Go ahead. I mean, look, the chinese xi jinping wanted President Trump to win the election because he was worried that Hillary Clinton would be really tough on the South China Sea. To everybodys surprise, trump did win and now hes stuck with somebody who is deeply unpredictable. The chinese are nervous that if trump causes problems with relations with mexico and australia, how might he react to china and xi jinping has a Party Congress enormously important to him. He wants everything in florida to go very smoothly. Why is this meeting happening at maralago and not 1600 pennsylvania avenue . I think informality of m maralago is attractive to the chinese. If you come to washington, is it a state visit . All of the pomp and circumstance. I think the casual nature of this is actually potentially useful. And having the leaders actually get to know each other. I think that behind the low expectations, there is genuine complexity here because these are two very strongwilled leaders. They both have significant political constituencies that they need to communicate to. They will want to show that they can get along and potentially get things done but each one will resist being pushed around by the other. I think that to nicks point about unpredictability, i think the chinese are nervous about this and theyll be delighted with a heavily scripted, you know, meeting and by the way, theres not going to be a major press event between the two leaders. The chinese are delighted about that. Always good to have your perspective and insight. Thank you. And again, this is president xi jinping. Any moment now expected to emerge from that aircraft there on the tarmac at palm beach international. We will bring that to you live on the other side of this break. Also, reaching across the aisle. President trump saying that he wants to work with democrats to pass key legislation. Ill have one moderate democrat how willing are they to work with him . [ all sounds come to a crashing halt ] ah. When your pain reliever stops working, your whole day stops. Awww. Try this. 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Remember here at ally, nothing stops us from doing right by our customers. Whos with me . Were like a Basketball Team here at ally. If a Basketball Team had over 7. Im in. 7,000 players. Our plays are a little unorthodox. But to beat the big boys, you need smarter ways to save people money. We know what you want from a Financial Company and well stop at. Nothing to make sure you get it. One, two. And we mean nothing. Theyll be eating in maralago, not having hamburgers over a conference table. Hallie jackson also standing by for us there, chief White House Correspondent. We were talking about expectations from the american side. What deen about ex ttrications fr from the chinese side . Reporter president xi is coming in knowing that President Trump likes people of strength. He will be coming here with that advantage of talks with President Trump. Remember, he has a lot of pressure back home, back in beijing to come out of this meeting essentially looking good, not looking like he gave up too much. Both men, both President Trump and president xi we see in that shot breaking up just a little bit there have a lot of stake. It benefits both to have a relationship that is beneficial, if you will. I will say that president xi is likely to talk more about the trade and economy. President trump is more likely to avoid topics like, for example, human rights given that that could be a major flash point that could send discussions sort of tumbling. I will tell you also that Senior Administration officials, two of them, are telling msnbc news that there are not the type of talking points you usually see before a summit like this. They want it to be a little less formal, they want it to feel more flexible. Thats partly why its happening down here, craig, and why president xi is not landing in washington and hes coming to maralago for this sort of icebreaker type of talk. Its only 24 hours. Hell fly back tomorrow night. As we talked about earlier in the show, the guidance, the expectation for people in and out of the administration say dont expect a big handshake in the end, some type of deal for north korea or bilateral trade agreements. This is all about making sure these two leaders get off to a good start face to face personally and set the table for lower level negotiations on the nittygritty down the road. President xi jinpingndex tillerson on the tarmac greeting. I have spilled into the 2 hour. My time here is done. Katy tur is here to pick up coverage. Well continue talking to Hallie Jackson as we watch xi jinping meet are Rex Tillerson, our sre