The Note: The Moscow meetings

— -- TRUMP’S FIRST 100 DAYS with ABC’s RICK KLEIN and VERONICA STRACQUALURSI

Day No. 82

THE BIG STORY: Who would have bet that the U.S.-Russia relationship would or could grow more complicated in advance of the first high-level meetings involving the Trump administration? President Trump’s strike on Syria appears to have caught the world off guard. Even the Russians, it would seem, were inclined to take the new president literally when he said Syria was not America’s problem. As U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson meets his Russian counterpart today, the challenge falls to Tillerson to define how Syria fits in with a larger strategy that appears not to have been fully developed. Tillerson is suggesting a nudge, not a push: “I hope that what the Russian government concludes is that they have aligned themselves with an unreliable partner in Bashar al-Assad,” Tillerson said early today of the Syrian president. The first meeting with Russia was always going to be a major moment for the Trump White House. In an odd way, though, the confrontation may be constructive for the U.S. side. Tillerson goes into the meeting with some moral high ground, with election-era allegations fading for the moment. Even if U.S. policy toward Russia remains a work in progress, world events have pointed the way for the Trump team.

THE SLEEPER STORY: If you needed proof that the easy part of confronting Syria is over, the new ABC News-Washington Post poll points it out. President Trump finds himself with a bare majority’s support – 51 percent – for the missile strike he launched last week. But while a similar majority wants U.S. policy to be removing Assad from power, agreement breaks down over how to get there. Barely one-third want more U.S. strikes on Syria, and a similar minority supports military action aimed at ousting Assad. It may even be that the White House is as conflicted as the public, given the well-documented contradictions about what circumstances would lead to another U.S. strike. It’s becoming more clear not just that there’s no White House strategy, but that there’s no good strategy to be had.

THE SHINY STORY: We find out today what’s the matter in Kansas, with implications well beyond. President Trump is lending his voice (via robocall, where he says he needs the GOP candidate’s help “big league”) to a special House election that has already drawn the attention of Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, and a long list of Republicans worried about losing a seat in a district the president just carried by 27 points. The seat most recently held by CIA Director Mike Pompeo has a history of being carried in waves, going Democrat post-Watergate, in 1976, then Republican in the Contract With America year of 1994. Democrats will try to spin a narrow defeat as a sign of things to come, and it may be that. It doesn’t hurt the symbolic value of the district that Charles Koch and Koch Industries live there. What Democrats really need are some wins, even if this seat, like others that precede waves, may not be a realistic long-term target. But this election, combined with next week’s in Georgia, suggests that GOP defense will be expensive, and maybe not all that effective, this year and next.

TLDR: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson heads to Moscow today for the first high-level meetings with Russia, as tension builds between the United States and Russia over the U.S. airstrikes in Syria.

PHOTO OF THE DAY: Neil Gorsuch became the 113th judge to serve on the Supreme Court as he was sworn-in Monday during a ceremony in the Rose Garden. Justice Anthony Kennedy, for whom Gorsuch was a law clerk, administered the oath to Gorsuch as his wife held up the Bible and President Trump beamed in the background. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

NOTABLES

--51 PERCENT BACK US STRIKE ON SYRIA BUT WITH CONCERN ABOUT RUSSIAN RELATIONS (POLL): The slimmest majority of Americans in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll supports the Trump administration’s missile strike on Syria, with strongly partisan opinions, muted appetite for further action, little confidence it’ll achieve the desired effect – and majority concerns about the impact on U.S. relations with Russia. Fifty-one percent in the national survey support the air strike. Four in 10 overall are opposed, with the rest undecided. The same number, 51 percent, also support an explicit U.S. policy to remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power, a point on which administration policy has seemed inconsistent. That said, just 25 percent overall think the attack will successfully dissuade Syria from using chemical weapons in the future. (Six percent are very confident in this; 41 percent, not confident at all.) Barely more than a third, 35 percent, support additional U.S. strikes on Syria. And the same number, 35 percent, support military action specifically to remove Assad from power if diplomatic efforts fail. All are much lower than support for the initial strike. ABC’s GARY LANGER has more: http://abcn.ws/2oSaCG7

--WHITE HOUSE WALKS BACK SUGGESTION US MAY RESPOND TO ADDITIONAL BARREL BOMBS IN SYRIA: The White House is walking back a suggestion from press secretary Sean Spicer on Monday that President Donald Trump may take more military action in Syria in response to additional barrel bombings of civilians, ABC's RYAN STRUYK reports. “The answer is, if you gas a baby, if you put a barrel bomb into innocent people, I think you will see a response from this president,” Spicer told reporters Monday afternoon. “Make no mistake: he will act.” But a White House aide told ABC News Monday that "nothing has changed in our posture." http://abcn.ws/2nyW9Ph

--SEAN SPICER CALLS REPORTS OF ADMINISTRATION INFIGHTING 'OVERBLOWN': Press secretary Sean Spicer attempted to downplay stories of infighting in the White House, calling a report that President Donald Trump personally intervened Thursday in an escalating feud between two of his closest advisers "overblown" and "little more sensational than it truly [was]," ABC's VERONICA STRACQUALURSI writes. "There's always going to be a healthy debate internally on a variety of policy issues among the Cabinet, among the staff, to make sure the president sees every option that's available," said Spicer. http://abcn.ws/2pn6nyE

--IN HISTORIC MOMENT, NEIL GORSUCH SWORN IN AS SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Trump's pick to the fill the Supreme Court slot left open after the unexpected death of Justice Antonin Scalia, was sworn in Monday morning, becoming the 113th person to serve on the Supreme Court. Gorsuch's confirmation is a victory for President Trump, who has struggled to achieve his campaign promises of a travel ban from predominantly Muslim countries and health care reform, note ABC's KATHERINE FAULDERS and VERONICA STRACQUALURSI. http://abcn.ws/2ojpWZ3

SPEED READ with ABC’s ADAM KELSEY

TRUMP WAS MOVED TO STRIKE SYRIA BY 'DISTURBING' IMAGES, WHITE HOUSE SAYS. President Donald Trump was moved to order a strike on a Syrian government air base after seeing harrowing images and intelligence on the chemical attack in the country last Tuesday, according to the White House. The administration announced last Thursday night that two U.S. destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean bombarded a Syrian air base with 59 Tomahawk missiles -- a response to the use of chemical weapons believed to have come from the Syrian government. ABC's PAUL BLAKE has more: http://abcn.ws/2ojOzoR

WHAT TRUMP AND ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS HAVE SAID ABOUT SYRIA. After the United States launched airstrikes in Syria last week in the wake of a horrific chemical attack there, questions remained about the administration's strategy going forward, including what would spark Trump to act again and how would he respond. The most prominent question is whether the administration believes Bashar al-Assad, who Trump holds responsible for the chemical attack that killed Syrian civilians, should remain Syria’s leader. ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI and RYAN STRUYK note what each official has said so far: http://abcn.ws/2poyWM5

ALABAMA GOV. ROBERT BENTLEY RESIGNS FOLLOWING ALLEGATIONS OF USING STATE RESOURCES TO HIDE AFFAIR. Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley has resigned following allegations that he used state resources to cover up an affair he was having with one of his top aides. Bentley, 74, was booked into a Montgomery County Jail Monday on charges of failing to file a major contribution report and knowingly converting campaign contributions to personal use, note ABC's JULIA JACOBO and MICHAEL EDISON HAYDEN. When asked if he was guilty at the Montgomery County Courthouse, Bentley responded, "Yes, sir." http://abcn.ws/2nySaSO

CARRIER GROUP HEADS TO SEA OF JAPAN AMID TENSIONS WITH NORTH KOREA. The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson strike group is heading to the Sea of Japan amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and North Korea and following multiple missile tests conducted by the regime this year. The strike group, comprised of the aircraft carrier and three other ships, had just completed a port visit to Singapore before receiving orders to head into waters east of the Korean peninsula, explains ABC's ELIZABETH MCLAUGHLIN. http://abcn.ws/2nVClk4

WHO’S TWEETING?

@Elizabeth_McLau: Top issues on the table as #Tillerson heads to #Moscow amid escalating war of words http://abcnews.go.com/International/top-issues-table-tillerson-heads-moscow-amid-escalating/story?id=46701737

@DavidWright_CNN: Sec. of State Rex Tillerson: "I think it is clear to all of us that the reign of the Assad family is coming to an end."

@Nawazistan: .@TerryMoran on what Justice Gorsuch can expect as newbie on the #SupremeCourt. #cafeteriaduty #answeringthedoor http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/cafeteria-duty-junior-justice-firsts-neil-gorsuch-experience-46706134

@kurtbardella: #bannon #kushner palace intrigue not “overblown” by media, it’s of their own making - my take @CNNTonight @donlemon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVxnReEh49I&feature=youtu.be

@tackettdc: On Syria, "one voice has not been heard from: that of Mr. Trump himself" @peterbakernyt @gardinerharris https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/10/world/middleeast/syria-trump-assad.html?smid=tw-share