so much to all of you for joining us I'll be live here on Capitol Hill throughout the evening as our special coverage of the State of the Union continues ac360 starts now at the white house right now President Joe Biden preparing to face Congress and the American people and deliver a speech that could have huge consequences for his re-election campaign he'll soon leave for the US capital to give his State of the Union Address less than 48 hours after his long anticipated rematch with Donald Trum
p became a reality welcome to a special edition of ac360 I'm Anderson Cooper and I'm dick Tapper about an hour from now President Biden will walk into the house chamber under enormous pressure to forcefully and successfully sell his vision for America and his argument for a second term Mr President Biden needs to take advantage of this opportunity with tens of millions of Americans watching to make his case and Perhaps Perhaps the most important speech of his decades long career in public life t
his will be a critical test of the 81-year-old commander-in-chief he will try to convinced skeptical voters that they have benefited from his presidency and that he is ready and able to serve four more years despite widespread public concerns about his age and about his stamina the president's battle with Donald Trump of course looms over it all and newly released excerpts of his speech the president takes swipes at Trump while not mentioning him by name hitting Trump on some of the most potent
issues that divide the two men the defense of democracy and the threat to Reproductive Rights across the country perhaps foremost among them we're also told the president will draw a contrast with President Trump former president Trump and Republicans on the economy as well calling for higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy President Biden also will address an issue C causing descent within his party the Israel Hamas War Administration officials say he will announce an emergency US militar
y mission to establish a port off the coast of Gaza in the Mediterranean to provide life-saving humanitarian Aid we're covering all of it of course with our team of correspondents at the capol at the White House and in a Battleground state that could very well decide the November election first let's go to MJ Lee who's at the White House and MJ as President Biden gets ready to head to the capital what more are you learning about his speech Jake any minute now President Biden will get into his mo
torcade and make that short ride over to Capital Hill where he will deliver one of the most consequential speeches of his presidency one word that I'm learning he we do not expect to hear from the president tonight is the word Trump a White House official who reviewed his prepared remarks earlier this evening tells me that the former president is not named but Aid's have made very clear that it is going to be abundantly clear throughout the course of the speech that President Trump is exactly wh
o President Biden is talking about and referencing in his speech tonight now this speech of course Jake has been months in the making uh we know that the president did a full run through this afternoon at the White House with his AIDS who were fueled I'm told by boxes of Andy's Pizza and we know of course with any major President Biden speech that there could be last minute edits that are made to this speech but I'm also told that for the most part this speech was finalized at least by this afte
rnoon one White House official telling me that that is simply because he knows what he wants to say uh one just final thing I would note too from my position here Jake at the White House North Lawn I can hear right now sounds of protesters that are near the White House they are calling for a ceasefire in Gaza this is just one more reminder of of one of the toughest issues that President Biden will have to address tonight uh we are told that it looks like these protesters are trying to get in the
way of the president's motorcade again he should be getting in that motorcade any minute now now Jake all right MJ Lee at the White House for us let's go to Capitol Hill now on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue where my colleague danab bash is in Statuary Hall Dana that's right Jake and I am here with the indaal Manu Raju you can feel the tension here outside the chamber the question is what is going to be happening inside I know you have some great new reporting about the concerns there's g
oing to be a lot of tension inside the chamber in fact the house Republican leadership has counseled their members not to have any outbursts not to Heckle the president something that we saw last year and Joe Biden turned it around against Republicans viewed in large Parts perhaps as most effective part of the speech they're try to avoid that tonight but not just the house Republican leaders are urging the hardliners not to do that also some other fellow like-minded hardliners like Congressman M
att Gates has told his like-minded colleagues not to go that far saying it actually makes the president look more vigorous he told me he's told his colleagues quote be best and but Dana that is not going to be the only uh possible signs of a spectacle in the audience tonight with the former expelled Congressman George Santos is using his floor privileges he's going to be actually in the house chamber tonight and also we saw those Pro Palestinian demonstrators there is some expectation that perha
ps this speech there could be interrupted by some Pro Palestinian demonstrators we don't know that for sure but that is the belief as we go into this critical moment for the president but how does he deal with that how does he deal with the outpour that could still be coming from Republicans some Republican hardliners like Margery Taylor green and Lauren B told me that they may yell back at the president so there's a lot to digest tonight we'll see how the president deals with it it's always cra
ckling in here on a night like tonight but it is next level tonight Jake as and Manu Raju on Capitol Hill thanks so much and let's talk with our panel Casey H what do you hearing from Democrats on Capitol Hill about any possible anxiety they have I mean this is this is it's not overstating it to say this could very well be the most important speech of of Joe Biden's long career you're absolutely right about that and I think we'd be ignoring the obvious and I think all the people I've been talkin
g to on the hill would be ignoring the obvious if they didn't acknowledge that yeah there are some nerves here I mean there is going to be a sense of being on pins and needles a little bit uh that they acknowledge uh hoping that the president doesn't make a mistake tonight because I do think they also acknowledge just how high the stakes are they are you're absolutely right about that I mean this I mean Jamie I you know I think there's a sense it's even more important than the the 2020 election
for the president a absolutely according to a source familiar with the speech was told that democracy in Peril is back and they see this as the launch of 2024 and that this campaign we have to from their perspective is more important more dangerous than 2020 remember January 6th came after 2020 the 91 indictments so I actually went back after I talked to the source and I looked at Joe Biden's convention speech and remember those themes soul of America lightness and dark character and decency I'm
told we'll hear more on those themes tonight it's it's reset the narrative around his age around his stamina and then it's refocused they they just have to turn the ship to a whole different topic it's going to be all of those things that jimie talked about but also the the bread and butter issues I mean they understand that the economy is such a huge part of the American psyche right now perhaps more so even than some of the loftier concepts that they're going to be talking about around democr
acy whether they like that or not people are paying attention to what's going on in their homes they they they need to refocus the American attention at this particular moment now that there's a real campaign underway on the issues that they want it to be about not what the narrative has been up until this moment I also think to to know Joe Biden and to have covered Joe Biden is to know how meticulously he prepares for a moment like this obviously every president rehearses for a state of the uni
on or the annual addressed Congress Biden dedicates hours to rehearsing the speech time and time again word for word because he knows that public speaking is not always his strong suit and they really want him to get it right he's done it for his January 6th anniversary speech I'm told that he's done it for this and so he does prepare so carefully for this knowing what it's going to look like and the one thing you know with the State of the Union everyone's always trying to jam their talking poi
nts in it to get their issues in it by the end it's kind of just a wish list by the end laundry list really but what they know about this one is it's not even just substance it's style over substance style before substance and the White House has readily acknowledged that today he has 242 days to do the political equivalent of bending a steel bar he's underwater on every major issue on the economy on immigration on Vigor to be the president of the United States mental capacity be president Unite
d States so the Optics matter a lot is he vigorous is he making the case uh does he respond if he gets heckled or just somehow booed in the crowd is he show that he's in the game and fighting but the Democracy part plays with some voters he has to deal his biggest problem right now is immigration and cost of living immigration and cost of living he has to convince people that it's going to get better and soon one of the best things about being a congressional correspondent is that lawmakers come
to you they're all over the place and Dana Bash is in Statuary Hall and she's got one of them Dana thank you so much I do Senator Elizabeth Warren of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts we understand that the president is going to be talking a lot about corporate greed and about how to help people who are affected by corporate greed he's going to be singing from your Himel Senator how do you want him to specifically talk about it to really get through to the American people you know I want to say
it this way he is singing from the American people's Himel because while I've been talking about Corp Greed for a long time the American people were way ahead of both of us so for example talking about now shrink flation the idea that companies think they can just kind of sneak it past us to keep prices the same that give us fewer Dorito chips you know fewer or fewer pieces of paper in the toilet paper roll and American people are really sick of this so I think what this is about is Joe Biden b
eing Joe Biden he gets out there and talks directly to the people he's fighting for and he talks about using all the tools of government to come back and say predatory pricing is predatory pricing and it's illegal so they're going to start the investigations they're going to stay after these companies and they're not going to try to give them a free pass they're actually going to dog them on this and I think that's good so there's the the policy the message and the way that a leader communicates
that message what does he need to do given the obvious I mean I don't even need to to say it we know uh that the American people are concerned about about his age and they want to see a performance that shows that he he could push the policies that you are talking about so look I think all we have to do is just turn him loose and let Joe Biden be Joe Biden because when he winds up on the issues he really cares about and those are the issues that hit American families in their pocketbooks he's r
eady he's off and going because that's his whole life you know I think voters are entitled to ask about anything they want to ask but at the end of the day every one of those questions drives toward can you do the job can that person do the job I know that Joe Biden can do this job and the I know he is doing it and he's doing it so effectively on behalf of the people who need him Senator thank you so much for stopping by I appreciate it Jake back to you thanks Dan and as we get closer to Preside
nt Biden's actual speech we're going to go back to Capitol Hill to speak with another prominent Ally of President Biden that's Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and we're going to go live to that anti- Gaza war protest happening near the capital right now protesters apparently hoping to cut off the president's motorcade route there's much more ahead on CNN State of the Union coverage stay with us we'll be right back I'm Larry m in Nairobi Kenya and this is CNN you're looking at a live view of Ca
pitol Hill where anticipation is building for President Biden's State of the Union Address which should take take place less than an hour from now let's go back to Dana Bash who's inside the capital with another special guest Dana thank you that that's right Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont thank you so much for being here the president is going to announce tonight that the US military is going to uh build an emergency port to help get humanitarian Aid inside Gaza there are protests right now o
utside the White House outside the capitol do you think that this kind of move will help to quell that frustration it's not a question of quelling frustration D it's a question of feeding starving children we are looking at one of the great humanitarian crisis in modern history hundreds of thousands of children are facing starvation the United States sadly because we are arming the Israelis is complicit in what's happening it's got to stop so I think when the president talks about airlifts I thi
nk I a step forward when he talks about a peer and providing Aid through the sea that's a step forward but at the end of the day the way you get Aid into Northern Gaza is by demanding that the water restrictions be lifted the convoys come in and we start feeding people are you satisfied with what the president has done on that so far no I'm not it's a step forward but we have a long way to go but the bottom line is right now Israel in my view certainly had a right to defend itself from the terri
ble Kamas attack on October 7th they do not have a right to go to war against the entire Palestinian people it is a mistake to my mind to be thinking about giving Netanyahu and his right-wing government another $10 billion that's wrong I oppose it I hope the president will eventually oppose it the president tonight according to excerpts given to us by the White House is going to say my lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy some other people my age see a different story an Ameri
can story of resentment revenge and retribution he's not saying the name Donald Trump you think it might be Donald Trump I mean what you think think just you know I don't know just a guess might be good guess yeah I think it is what do you think about that message I think it's an important message look we as Americans are going to have different points of view political points of view but I would hope that every American appreciates that hundreds of thousands of men and women have put their live
s on line died to defend democracy and to defend freedom and you have a former president whose name I will not mention begins with a T I won't mention it though who really is trying to undermine democracy and I hope that we can come together and say look you disagree with me fine but elections are elections somebody wins you respect it you call up that person you don't try to make it harder for people to vote you try to expand our democracy so I think the president's point is a important one Sen
ator thank you so much appreciate you stopping by thank you Jake back to you thanks Dana let's get more now on those protests against President Biden specifically against his handling uh the Israel Hamas war and his support for prime minister Netanyahu cens uh Gabe Cohen is right now at a demonstration near the capital Gabe tell us what's going on people speak are terrified so Jake what you're seeing behind me are dozens of ceasefire protesters standing just a block or two away from the capital
they have shut down Pennsylvania Avenue this major road what they believe could be the motorcade route for President Biden as he makes his way from the White House to the capital for the State of the Union speech now of course they know it is unlikely that they would actually stop the motorcade they considered this more of a symbolic Pro test they wanted to block this road to again keep up that pressure campaign against the president as those uncommitted votes are happening across the country th
ey felt like this was the biggest platform where they could make a statement to the president actually block his route to come and speak in front of Congress but as we turn the camera around you can see what's waiting for them here Jake there is a huge police presence a line of officers we haven't seen any arrests yet but it looks like they are getting ready to start taking people into custody would likely be a misdemeanor charge but but look Jake these are people who have said they are ready to
be arrested they are here to make a statement some of them have been arrested several times uh throughout these protests that we've seen here in DC and around the country all right Gabe thanks so much we're going to keep tabs on these protests as they continue uh let's go now to John King however right now at the magic wall and John tell us uh what hurdles President Biden faces with voters who might be tuning in to watch him tonight it's a very long L Jake the president delivers this speech at
a historic low if you look at it number one this is the map from 2020 the president 244 days from now wants to recreate this map he wants to win the second term let's walk through as you mentioned though some of the obstacles here's one of them right here the president's approval rating personal approval rating often the North Star you judge an incumbent president seeking reelection what's the approval rating he's below 40 right now that's near his all-time low at 38% when he gave that first add
ress to congress not technically the State of the Union right after the inauguration he was at 57 so he is is nearly 20 points down from when he began his term and it's a huge problem for the president so let's put that into historical context for you forgive me for turning my back just want to stretch this out look at these recent past presidents where they were at this point heading into the reelection year Ronald Reagan was at 55% he won George W bush at 51% he won George HW Bush at 43% he wa
s a one-term president he was at 43% Joe Biden's at 38 Barack Obama was at 45 and he won Clinton at 56 and he won Donald Trump 10 points higher than Joe Biden is right now and he lost so you look at that 38% most political Pros tell you you at least need to get close to Obama get into the mid 40s and you have a chance to win at 38 it's incredibly Bleak and that's where the president is at the moment why because people simply do not believe they have been helped by the Biden agenda look at this s
tunning number in the New York Times Sienna College poll from the weekend fewer than 20% 18% of the American people registered voters think Joe Biden's policies have helped them personally that has to be a gut gut punch to the president 43% think it hurt them that's a huge challenge tonight try to convince the American people what he's doing has actually helped them again the economy there are a lot of great statistics when it comes to the economy Joe Biden will say tonight he's a record job Cre
ator that's a fact he will say uh that the stock market's doing pretty well that's a fact but this is what people feel cost of living food and goods are you very concerned about the cost of food and consumer goods a year ago 75% said yes it's down a bit Jake but only to 72% now housing this is H the president a year ago 60% said they were very concerned about the cost of housing that's up a bit to 64% if there's one silver lining look at the drop in concerns very concerned about the cost of gas
and energy that is down a bit from a year ago one bright spot but here these cost of living concerns still are hurting the president and another issue that is just crushing him is this the immigration issue again these numbers are stunning when you look at them how's the government doing with migrants at the southern border 18% of Americans say a good job 80% say a bad job and this is where it's hard for the president 73% of Democrats say he's doing a bad job even his own party doubts about his
leadership 89% of Republicans say that so Jake if you look at this map and if the president wants to have any hope any hope of recreating this map this number here and this line has to start going up and that Journey has to start tonight it's a big challenge John King thanks so much we're going to get our very first look inside the house chamber in minutes as dignitaries start to take their seats and we are standing by for President Biden to leave the White House for the capital if he can make i
t through the protests coming up we're going to get insights into the president's mindset at this pivotal moment from two insiders who know him quite well our live coverage of the State of the Union continues after this quick break I'm Hadas gold in Jerusalem and this is CNN welcome back right now the spotlight is on Capitol Hill in one of President Biden's most important speeches ever raising the curtain on his historic rematch with Donald Trump we are standing by for the president to leave the
White House the capital where he will deliver his State of the Union Address you see the protesters there his motorcade will have to navigate around them against his uh uh they're protesting obviously against his handling of the Israel Hamas war and all of that is happening near the capito tonight let's go to eron Bernett on Capitol Hill Erin all right Anderson thank you and I am here with two people who uh know the president very well have you've recently Evan spend a lot of time with him uh r
eporting and uh so so when we sit here tonight Kate beningfield you were the communications director for three state of the unions with President Biden so you've seen his preparation you've seen what he does um you know I I was with him today at that off the Record lunch obviously can't talk about the substance of it but he he knows every word in the speech that's clear to me how involved is he in this I mean does he does he get nervous as he's approaching and coming in a moment like this I don'
t he doesn't get nervous he is extremely he's extremely involved in every detail of the speech he is somebody who cares tremendously about detail he talks a lot about as a young man when he first came to the Senate he had a couple of experiences where he was on the senate floor and felt like he didn't have all the information he needed he tells a story about having a debate about stripper Wells the wells that uh use a a small that draw draw out second I thought you were GNA be talking about some
thing else no no draw out a small amount of energy and he was he was challenged by a senator who questioned him on details that he didn't have and that was a really formative experience for him and so he is very very focused on detail makes sure he knows everything cold but he also loves this night he loves remember he served in the Congress for 36 years he loves the Congress he believes in institutions in this country and so the significance of a president standing up delivering the state of th
e union is something that's important to him so this is a night that he really enjoys you know you spent an extensive amount of time with him for your recent extensive article that I hope everyone uh will read who hasn't Joe Biden's last campaign but but as we sit here tonight look at that Capital where he's going to speak you're remembering January 6th and the conversation that you had with him so as he approaches here any moment at his motorcade he leaves the white house he's going to come her
e and he's going to approach his Capital with thoughts in his head what did he tell you you know it was fascinating I didn't expect him to do this first thing he did when I got to the Oval Office was he said let me take you and show you where as he put it Trump sat and watched the Revolution by which he meant where did Trump sit during those fateful hours on the afternoon of January 6 was in that Oval Office dining room and the message from President Biden was fairly explicit fairly clear which
was he in some deep way thinks that Donald Trump defiled the presidency I mean that is his visceral response and over and over when we talked over the course of this interview he returned to this idea kept calling him a loser over and over again there is a degree to which this resonates for Joe Biden on the deepest personal level I think there's also a way in which let let's be honest he spent 36 years in this building for him it is very much a part of his identity as one of his AIDS said to me
um you know he loved being a senator he misses being a senator and I'm just uh the Beast obviously the the car that he's going to get in is is in front of the White House we see the motorcade waiting and by the way I should say that's over at the White House just near where we are where we are Kate we've seen motorcades go by we've seen the vice presidents Kate obviously having been there knew exactly whose motorcade it was um as as as uh vice president Harris was coming um but you know obviousl
y front center and that was clear even in the off the Record that he had with all of us today it seems to me he'll probably bring it up tonight in some way shape or form he certainly will be judged on it and that judgment is on how he looks and how he moves and how he talks how much has he internalized this I think he has internalized it I mean he certainly look he is a political animal he loves politics he knows politics insided out he knows campaigns he's not under the impression that age is n
ot going to be a factor in this campaign I think you know he's somebody who again he came into the Senate when he was 29 you know he was always the young guy who was uh you know up and coming and I think he has fundamentally viewed himself that way for a very long time and you know you you speak to um you know his gate and uh his physical presence maybe not being as strong as it was when he was 35 or 40 um but you know there is no doubt that his mental capacity is very much there I can promise y
ou that every Aid who worked on this speech who went through the lengthy and torturous process of putting this speech together and answering his every question said by someone who has been there on that end said by somebody who was on the end of that very torturous and yet you know greatest honor of my life process but you know very torturous and he is uh demanding and he uh is exacting and and everybody who was part of putting the speech together I promise you uh was feeling that so Evan you wr
ite of him on this issue of age after the extensive time that you spent with him you write his voice is thin and clotted and his gestures have slowed but in our conversation his mind seemed unchanged he never bungled a name or a date and I will say my impression of being with him for 90 minutes at this lunch today was he had plenty of stats and stories and quotes and none of them were bungled none of them a lot of back and forth um but it it's interesting when you read this nobody wants to read
that their voice is thin and clotted you know um but it's nice that your mind is unchange but it just shows the stakes tonight yeah it really does and I think a lot of Americans when they turn on that TV tonight this is one of the things they're looking to see look we all know when we get older it's going to change our bodies in some ways the question before us is does it change your mind and are you able to make decisions are you able to land the point are you precise in your thinking are you s
harp are you fiery when you need to be we're going to see some of that or we won't and that is really a key thing I think to be looking for there's probably going to be moments tonight that he doesn't plan for and as you've seen as others who have been on the other side of the negotiating table with him have seen he can get feisty in those moments and part of the challenge and the task is to stay in command of the of the evening um but also make people when feisty may be good it can be very effe
ctive can be very much the goal absolutely I think feisty is great I think it gets to kind of what people what what I would imagine Joe Biden wants people to come away with and I is a sense that he is fighting for them and so for them to see some fights us from him that's a good thing all right we'll be here all night and uh we'll see what what happens here Anderson Ain thanks we want to hear from a key player in Capitol Hills we get closer to the president's speech Dana Bash uh is on Capital Hi
ll right now Dana who did you just talk to well I just talked to Steve scales the House Majority Leader but before I talk about that I want to tell you that a lot of key players are walking by me right now members of the United States Senate hi senator are coming by they're making hi hi Senator you want to come talk okay that was Senator uh Kennedy who doesn't want to come talk because he says he's got a speech to hear but you see all of the Senators uh coming in this is what they do uh they com
e hi senator from the Senate side of the chamber I just wanted to thank you Senator thank you uh Hey Senator come come say hi for one sec okay how what do you expect to see tonight and here what do you hope to hear you're in a very uh important race in Pennsylvania Senator case he he'll he'll Focus among other things on border security in terms of domestic issues and lowering costs and I hope he mentioned something about greed flation and Shrink flation that's important for your constituents it
is and your voters yes okay thanks Senator so uh think most of the most of the US Senate now has uh gone past me as they head into the house chamber Anderson um you know this is one of those Traditions even though so much of of the institutional um Norms we've seen here on Capitol Hill get busted in various times for various reasons but this is one of those um Traditions that continue that the members of the Senate line up really in a bipartisan way and make their way over to the house for this
momentous evening Anderson and D you were talking to you talked to Steve sces just a moment ago yeah that's right and I believe uh we can play some of that I should mention before before we go to that that he is the number two Republican in the House of Representatives is suffering from blood cancer and he has just recently returned uh from his home state of Louisiana where he was getting treatment back to the capital how are you feeling I'm feeling great thanks uh really good to be back um and
in remission from cancer so God has uh answered a lot of prayers sure sounds like it uh uh when you the chamber when you're thinking about the chamber and uh the people in the conference uh have you talk to them about decorum and about how to react and how not to react to the president well I think you'll see both sides you know really uh looking to hear what the president has to say and any state of the union you got a lot of you know standing up and applauding and a lot of um you know people j
ust listening and sometimes there are some lines that maybe our side might not be as excited about as the other side and vice versa but uh you know we'll see what what the president has to say we're we're going to be eagerly listening thank you for stopping I'm glad you're well thanks a lot and Anderson now you're seeing photos of uh excuse me live pictures of the Vice President of the United States who is also the president of the US Senate making her way through the house chamber obviously gre
eting some of the house members and her former colleagues she too was a not certainly didn't serve anywhere near as long as the president but she too was a member of Congress before she of the US Senate before she uh was tapped by Joe Biden to be his running mate Anderson yeah then as we continue to watch the Senators come in I want to talk to our our team here in New York everybody here on this uh panel has either served in the white house or served on campaign so let's start David Asar with yo
u what would you be advising President Biden to be doing tonight there's Senator a mansion Romney as well yeah look I think he's got two big missions here uh one has to do with what he has to say because I there are a lot of people who are hungry to know what is the message what is the central argument uh for you in this contest uh with Donald Trump and it has to include an economic narrative that people are willing to absorb and it has to be value lated and future oriented but the second piece
is how he says it because the central Republican argument is that things are out of control and Biden isn't in command that he's somehow not able to take command he needs to command this room which one is more important because a lot of people are going to be watching this tonight but a lot of people are going to be seeing of it over the next several days on you know social media yeah look I think the the first part is a long-term project I mean they both are but the theater of this moment is is
very very important and that's why I think the Speaker of the House told his Republican colleagues do not try and Heckle do not challenge because Joe Biden will take that challenge and remember someone said it earlier he worked in this building for 36 years he's very comfortable in that kind of environment and in terms of the heckling and so on I have to believe his team I certainly would have then prepared him for this and they thought through how are you going to deal with it if it comes on t
his issue if it comes from that person if there are hecklers in the gallery around the is Israeli uh uh Gaza Senator Mitch McConnell Scott Jennings obviously you're a Ally of of the senator who worked with him for for a long time what are you looking for toight but I agree with a I think basic image is the issue here because I think The Narrative of this campaign uh as we've talked about on some of our election nights is strength versus weakness and I think the words are going to going to matter
less than what he looks like what he sounds like does he look like does he have the Vigor to serve another term as president of the United States you already see the Trump team out uh the larger Trump organization out with an ad ahead of this speech today a showing him at a Podium looking confused uh and then showing sort of an overlay of KLA Harris over his shoulder she's going to be right over his shoulder tonight and I think you're going to continue to see the Republicans go at that so the i
mage here can he get through this I mean it's not like you have to go up and do Feats of Strength he's not going to be juggling bowling balls or anything he should be able to do it but if he has a blip if he has a senior moment the downside possibilities of this speech are a lot uh greater than the EPS Manu Raju is uh is there Manu talk about why so many of the democratic members in the chamber are wearing white tonight yeah a lot of the democratic women are really to represent uh Reproductive R
ights abortion rights this is a a point that they have been making in several consecutive State of the Union addresses especially taking greater importance now in the aftermath of the overturning of Ro v Wade you're seeing members really making their points on the Republican side as well uh there a lot of Republicans Anderson wearing white ribbons uh in support of so-called angel families of course those are the families who have had family members killed uh by undocumented immigrants and also m
any Republicans wearing buttons representing their calls for greater demands on border security uh inside the chamber here Anderson members are pretty it's a pretty almost like a cocktail reception people greet each other pretty warmly right now but mostly the Democrats and Republicans keeping to themselves on their own respective sides of the aisle not a ton of bipartisan mingling right now as we expect a pretty tense moment when the president enters here and delivers a speech Anderson uh back
here with the teams we continue to watch Ashley Allison you worked with Biden Harris uh the National Coalition director back in in 2020 what do you hope to see from the president today you know I think he has to be honest with how the American people are feeling both Republicans and Democrats and I think that Honesty will give him some credit but then he has to lead with his heart um he has to talk to his Coalition he has a really big job because there are a lot of issues that people are feeling
unsettled about and he needs to be able to tell young voters there is a future and I see it and I want to help transition you into this future but then he has to talk to the Nikki Haley voters that are going to be tuning in and they're saying what am I going to do now and so he can't go too far to the left but he also can't go too far to the center because his Coalition is so fragile right now it was very hard to build it in 2020 and it's going to be even harder this year so we I I agree with b
oth Axe and uh Scott is that it's how he presents the information it's not so much what he says but how and people have to believe I know things don't feel great right now but it will get better with me yeah we see Lindsey Graham there Senator tuberville as well and I would just note Mike Johnson's first day of the Union is Speaker I think watching a year ago all of us assumed Kevin McCarthy would probably be up there so just major changes seismic changes that happen very quickly in American pol
itics but um listen he's got a huge uphill battle to Ashley's Point um there's some ground he can gain with moderates who feel politically displaced with Donald Trump as the nominee they're going to be listening for what's his plan on getting Aid to Ukraine is he going to continue to support Israel and wanting to hear him talk about the Border this has to be a big theme tonight it's the number one policy issue for voters across the board um I think he's going to start to sound much like a republ
ican on some of these uh border issues um but on the flip side he does have this this issue uh with progressives and he can't risk alienating them I also think it's interesting that uh Republicans chose to put up ktie Brit to give the response A 42-year-old Senator just a generational J toos somebody who's about the age of how long Joe Biden served in the Senate to just point to the the ju position of his age that wasem Jeff someday I think he'll be up there as a speaker I hope um but um look I
think he's going to look like a grandpa and the question is is he going to be a fighting Grandpa and I think he should be a fighting Grandpa tonight look whatever he says about overseas and this that everything he's done groceries cost too much and the rent is too high that is the bottom line and if he can explain how he is going to go after these ripoff uh grocery stores that are jacking the prices up too much now he's going to push down on interest rates you can get a house you can rent a hous
e you can get a car you can you can walk out the grocery store without having a heart attack I think people are going to say look that's an old grandpa that Grandpa's fighting for me and I think if he spends too much time bragging on himself it's not going to work often these things do become a long laundry list of he's got stuff to be proud of look gas prices are low unemployment is down stock market is up student loans have been cut all that stuff is good but the groceries cost too much and re
nt too hot rent too hot if he's if he's if he's a fighting Grandpa he'll be all right toight I would say this I I I think Joe Biden is going to do a good job tonight this is his 51st state of the union he got elected in 1973 51st time he's been in this chamber for the State of Union if he screws it up shame on him he's got a chance to practice it so the bar is pretty low on reading a script and doing a good job I think he just raised it actually so I I think that he was listening to John King ea
rlier in the broadcast he's probably in the bathroom of the White House thrown up right now because what John King said was true he's going to go out here and he's got to bend a steel bar across his head because the New York Times Santa 38% approval rating 18% of Americans think that Joe Biden has helped them no matter what he says tonight in the next two hours those numbers aren't changing yeah but this is a long-term project he needs to lay down the argument and I agree with much of what was s
aid here he needs to be Joe from Scranton tonight not not President Biden from the White House he needs to talk about the day-to-day struggles that people are having and fit the things he's done and the things he wants to do into the fight to uh make it work for them make the economy work for them and I think that's going to be I hope that's the essence of what he does build that contrast because then he can talk about Donald Trump has never struggled for anything he doesn't know your struggle h
e pretends like he does but he's not being honest I have and he can also talk about he he doesn't have to build that uh bend that lead bar by himself you have women in the chamber wearing white because their Reproductive Rights have been uh taken away he has a c the most diverse cabinet ever he's going to talk about housing tonight get secretary fudge out there talking about going into Battleground States talking to black women talking to black men about how you can build generational wealth in
uh in your community because of the work Joe Biden has done if you could afford a house fundamentally fundamentally what his message should be is I am fighting for your future the other guy is absorbed by his past and and veng and that's not going to get you that's not going to help you with your rent it's not going to help you with your grocery bill we're waiting for the president to be leaving the White House let's go back to Jake in Washington that's right Anderson we are waiting for the pres
ident to leave the White House normally we would have expected him to have left uh by now there are massive protests in Washington DC we're watching some people walk out of the white house right now and the president is not among them yet uh and we're wondering obviously uh if there an alternate route for the motor cave uh needs uh to be planned out by the Secret Service uh Jamie gangal has some news on one of the surprise attendees uh of tonight's uh State of the Union Address um former former
New York Republican Congressman George Santos who was expelled from Congress in a very rare act uh still apparently has floor Privileges and is there Jamie what more can you tell us once a member always a member so on I guess a lighter note George Santos is back you're right it turns out out even if you're expelled there's the I'm sorry to interrupt but there is the first couple First Lady Joe Biden how are you feeling sir he was asked and he said good St did a little muscle Flex of some sort fo
r you the president appearing to be in good spirits as he gets into the Beast the nickname for that vehicle uh and Jamie I rudely interrupted you to narrate the president leaving the building uh please continue tell us tell us again about George Santos in the background scene because I cannot imagine he was welcomed uh back to the capital well it it turns out that even if you're expelled even if you're indicted you still have floor Privileges and George Santos is back I'm told that he was sittin
g in some seats and the GOP floor staff politely asked him to to move from the seats to the back so that current members would have a seat and that he uh much too uh one person surprised that he politely complied with that and he's now standing in the back but it's there is just no end with George Sant thirsty George Santa you know Jake in in listening to our colleagues in New York with Anderson and listening to everyone here the list of what Joe Biden apparently has to accomplish tonight is nev
er ending I mean that is that to me is the the toughest task for him yes everyone's going to want to see the performance but if you take what the White House sort of put out today and listen to what we all have been saying he needs to tout his achievements to date he needs uh to express like that he feels America's pain on high cost he needs to set forth a vision of a second term and focus on that economic pop po ISM he has to draw a sharp contrast with Trump and the Maga Republicans on things l
ike uh democracy yet he also has to tout his ability to work across the aisle and rallying his base that has some appealed to the middle as well on things like abortion rights all while in total command so like the it is it is a very tall order of all the things on his checklist good thing super long that he's trying to accomplish he has all the Time in the World to do it there's no doubt about that I last year he went for 80 minutes so the measure is to what end if he does all of that you know
we've seen presidents be able to get a little bit of bump out of a state of the union but it it seems to me that there's much more risk here if somehow there's a disastrous performance of him doing damage then there is the upside of really catapulting and instantly changing his fortunes one of the reasons that Casey and everyone else that we're talking to our sources are nervous it's not just about his age it's about the fact that he's behind in this R against Donald Trump one thing just to say
who was getting in the car with him you saw the senior staff come out before him Steve rete Bruce Reed the others who've been preparing with him those were his grandkids who got in the car with him Naomi INF finigan and Naomi Biden's husband who are often always with the president on really big moments and something that you've SE covering the White House he's often surrounded by his family when he does have such a high stakes moment as this and and I'll say one thing that the White House that y
ou hear from his advisers and his allies as this moment you know expectations were also High last year and they belied President Biden overd delivered when he sparred with the Republicans when he had those quick responses on Social Security and Medicare so kind of they see him as a victim of his own success of last year that he's going up against that this year so we see the motorcade making its way through Capitol Hill apparently Secret Service was able to plan an alternate route uh there are b
ig protests in uh Washington DC tonight uh people who are demanding a ceasefire uh which the president has by the way been trying to get done the hurdle so far has been Hamas has refused to the terms uh but John King uh you were going to say just to follow up on Caitlyn's point and David's Point there's a huge debate in the Democratic party the Biden team is convinced that the having the Democracy element at the top they know they have to deal with the other issues but that having the Democracy
element Trump is a threat to democracy speaker Johnson over my shoulders a threat to democracy the Republicans are a threat to democracy they believe that that's their lead right that that should be the first punch they throw and they believe that's the umbrella under which everything else Falls there are a lot of Democrats are saying no especially Democrats from the midwestern Battleground States saying no the economic part has to be first you have to come with the cost of living first to David
Axel Rod's point you have to go back to Joe Biden the scrappy kid from Scranton who struggled through life uh and it's a huge debate the team around Biden remember most of the people around Biden have been with him for a long time they've been with him through the defeats and they've been with him through the huge comeback in the 2020 primaries and what they always say is that you're the same people who keep telling us we're going to lose president we're right you're wrong we find out in 8 mont
hs who's right who's wrong this time or we'll see if the president you know modulates and moderates over the course of the campaign but it's a big debate the the the more populist Elizabeth Warren ber they want economy first it's where the president himself is right and to a certain extent a campaign any successful campaign has to reflect the heart of the candidate at its Center and this is clearly what what animates President Biden I mean he has talked about it explicitly even saying you know h
e wouldn't probably be running if Trump wasn't running much to the chrin have said long time staffers for whatever that's worth I just the one thing I do want to touch on Jake as we kind of watch this motorcade try to wind its way I mean having covered a number of these you know back going back to the George W Bush Administration I've never seen pictures like the ones were sitting a protest in the streets I do think it is worth noting them and I also think it's worth noting that we expect Rashid
a to leave who is the only Palestinian American member of Congress to be there on the floor today um and you'll remember she made a video Standing in Michigan urging people to vote uncommitted in the Michigan primary I think it's worth watching what she does tonight and 100,000 of the more than 100,000 Michigan Democrats voted uncommitted a huge uh number numerically we are used to 20,000 or so Michigan Democrats voting uncommitted in primaries but not a 100,000 uh are we listening into the hous
e chamber now what are we what are let's listen of the United States into the house chamber the senator from New York Mr Schumer the the senator from Illinois Mr Durban the senator from Washington Mrs Murray so there Michigan procedural motions going on right now uh that the the vice president uh who is the president of the Senate uh is uh is calling the Senate uh leadership uh to order uh Abby Phillip when you talk to a Democrats on Capitol Hill when you talk to uh uh Democrats in the Biden Adm
inistration what are they telling you about how they think the president who has really been experiencing very low approval ratings from the American people and in polling is trailing Donald Trump in many key Battleground States how do they think he's going to turn it around look especially in the president's orbit and inside of the the campaign they don't see this as any one uh you know one solution going to turn the whole thing around they see that they have multiple things that they have to d
o simultaneously one of them is about turnout among Democrats which uh I think they believe the Democracy element is is a super potent argument for tried andrue uh people on the left who are very concerned about that but the reason he is talking about the economic issues is for the reason that Bob Casey who stopped and talked to Dana earlier today said that's what his constituents in Pennsylvania want to hear about because they know that for the voters who are going to decide this election in St
ates like Pennsylvania and in in the the Midwestern states and elsewhere in this country it's going to be those pocketbook issues and and they understand they they've got to do them simultaneously on President Biden's age which is a continuous problem of the Diplomatic their view is that it is what it is they have to work around it they don't expect that that's going to be something that they can just turn around by flipping a switch and suddenly people think about him as not old can I and this
is this is the The Diplomatic cor walking in right now Caitlyn Collins uh speaker Johnson Mike Johnson uh who is from Louisiana this is his first state of the union uh he was not trying to become speaker of the house he kind of was like after five or six different attempts after the the coup against M Kevin McCarthy became speaker uh tell us more about him well just one interesting thing about what you're going to see tonight with presid him standing over President Biden's shoulder this is the t
hird house Speaker as President Biden has addressed joint a joint session of Congress that has been there it was first Nancy Pelosi then Kevin McCarthy and now Mike Johnson and I mean that's obviously not a typical thing uh one thing Jake as you will remember when Nancy Pelosi R ripped up Donald Trump's speech that is not likely to happen tonight is that from speaker Mike Johnson he actually wrote a memo back in 2020 uh alleging that it was a felony for her for her to rip up that speech legal ex
perts later doubted that and said it wasn't likely but it is just remarkable to the sense of what has happened in that house the fact that President Biden in his third address is now on his third house speaker to stand behind him as he delivers and addresses Congress and we talk about Trump as a foil tonight just quickly the house of Republicans will be a foil for the president tonight too just the idea and this is how he tries to swing back on immigration I was about to do something I cut a bip
artisan deal to do something very tough at the border and Donald Trump told you guys to walk away from it and you put Donald Trump ahead of the country I mean if the White House could have written that script they would have written that script of a house unable to do things that was a gift to them in this last year all right and we still seeing images of the motorcade making its way through Washington as various dignitaries uh are welcomed into the house chamber Casey hunt remind our viewers uh
as we watch the US Supreme Court Justices walk in yeah and there are six uh justices that are here tonight they are the Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts uh Sonia Soto mayor Elena Kagan and katangi brown Jackson who are the three Democratic appointees on the bench uh and then in addition to them uh Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh who were two of Donald Trump's uh three uh justices appointed to the Supreme Court uh it is obviously typical for the Supreme Court to come not every Ju
stice is there Amy con Barrett Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alo are not there Clarence Thomas has not been there uh has not attended the State of the Union since 2006 um Casey remind our viewers who see the sea of white uh of congressional um women yes Democrats in the House and Senate why they are all wearing white it's about Reproductive Rights uh and that of course uh has become uh the central issue frankly uh the Democrats want to promote for all of the uh discussions that we're having around
this table about the president's challenges on immigration and the economy Democrats are going to plan to answer uh those challenges uh with abortion I mean that is going to be something uh that we are going to be hearing over and over over again throughout this election and frankly um you know it's exploded into uh IVF right this big part of why uh what's going on with inv vitro fertilization in Alabama is so uh important to this election is because uh it really casts the do's decision uh as on
e that has an incredible range of unintended consequences uh in many cases you're seeing Republicans have to scramble uh to say uh no no actually that's not what we meant we didn't mean to get in the way of you actually starting your family so uh this is one way way particularly uh you know when I I used to sit up in that balcony with Manu on these big nights and I always noticed when you wear a little color you kind of stand out it's the thing we we get to do is women right that that the men do
n't have as much of an advantage on so uh especially when we see these overhead shots you're going to be able to see uh that kind of spread out and not just IVF uh but also uh contraception right that's that's a major issue the Democrats are starting to talk about how Republicans will be coming for contraception right and that that was a warning in the dobs decision right from the denters from the liberal justices they said look uh this is a slippery slope um Republicans dispute this of course w
e should know but there are they do legislators here and there who have I mean when you believe that fertilization that that life begins a conception that there are some consequences there and when you start to talk about the Technologies I mean it's entirely you know we're seeing unintended consequences let's just put it that way just to to note I mean how important this issue is dozens of Democrats have brought guests related to IVF and and including the first including the first lady so that'
s another way that they show uh you know their priorities for this address that's from what we've gathered from the president's excerpts of his speech it's going to be a big part of his remarks it's also the most I mean maybe second to democracy if you're talking about base Democratic voters probably the most important issue for them is Reproductive Rights in this election kind of surprising by the way that none of the none of the Democrats as far as I know brought anyone related to oh there's t
he uh first lady and President Biden they have made it to the capital let's listen in Mr President how are you feeling great that's the second how are you feeling and great of the evening we went from good to great right from good to great well he got reinvigorated reinvigorated in the car with his grandchildren um but it's kind of surprising that nobody brought a a guest related at all to the prosecution of Donald Trump because you could say I would not put it above any politician to bring say
egene Carroll or anyone like that maybe they are in there uh but that's something else that's a a cloud over all of this is the fact that Donald Trump who uh President Biden will be facing in November uh has all these legal problems Caitlin absolutely and you know as MJ Lee reported earlier that Joe Joe Biden President Biden is not expected to say Donald Trump's name but he won't have to I mean it's going to loom over this entire situation House Republicans know that as well and that's why you k
now when you talk to the White House they say the headline from tonight though he will be talking about those other issues democracy is going to be the takeaway and so when you see the Supreme Court Justices and think about what a big role they are playing in this election that we are about to see in when President former president Trump is going to potentially face his trial for his attempts to overturn the election it's hard to ignore what a presence the Supreme Court is in this room and what
dynamic and impact they are going to have on this election and if you if you you've seen a couple familiar faces uh flashed in the last minute one of them was George Santos another one in between right there in between John Roberts and chief justice in Sonia store behind them that's Justice Kennedy Anthony Kennedy who resigned uh from uh the Supreme Court I believe he was replaced uh by by was it Brett Kavanaugh who took his place and uh so that that is it's interesting I suppose as with George
Santos he still enjoys privileges not to compare Justice Kennedy and Congressman Santos but they are both forers uh there we see uh Lisa marowski and Susan Collins both of whom in the last couple weeks uh endorsed uh Nikki Haley talking to uh Lindsey Graham yes who did not endorse Nikki Haley he is still with with Donald Trump I ju Just to go back to something that John King was mentioning earlier about the debate and things that are important a number of Centrist uh Democratic sources and frank
ly moderate Republican sources who want Biden to win over Trump uh said to me this afternoon he better talk about crime he better talk talk about immigration and the Border they see these as just along with Reproductive Rights a critical and again this is where you get this debate among Democrats because overall violent crime statistics are down nationally they are down so Democrats bristle they say no you're playing into the Fox News argument no you're playing into the Republican argument but i
n major cities the democratic government of New York just mobilized the National Guard uh to deal with Subway crime in New York City and so this is again a debate in the party about you know do you if you talk about it are you playing their game but you're absolutely right if you talk to democratic pollsters and the people who run the numbers among swing voters Suburban voters the people who decide close presidential elections they are very disappointed in the president's performance on crime an
d immigration well he's clearly going to try to flip the script on immigration as he's been doing for the last several weeks and to aby's point about Reproductive Rights earlier it does totally energize and mobilize the base but the reason it's been so successful for Democrats is because because it goes far beyond the base it actually we the that issue when it is on the ballot abortion rights in a post-dbs world performs better than the generic Democrat because it's bringing in Independence and
some Republicans to that issue as well so it's a double whammy it's a base mobilizer and it actually adds to the Coalition and and if you talk to Democrats about the bad polling for for President Biden the thing they will say is you can look at polls all you want we're looking at elections uh and they they're talking about the fact that since uh the dobs decision since Roby Wade was overturned in the special elections and a referenda in States whether red States like Kansas and Ohio and Montana
or the special election in New York the Democrats uh have won and the pro-choice or pro-abortion right side has won there's Congressman Matt Gates uh and uh and and they're they're hopeful that that will help Joe Biden um it will and can we just talk for a second we've seen a lot of the Supreme Court Justices who are down on the floor tonight and how what a what a a unique uh position they occupy this time I mean yes they always uh there's always a cadra of them at uh these speeches it has becom
e increasingly political over the years I mean I was sitting in the gallery when uh Samuel Leo Mount that President Obama that what he was saying about a Supreme Court decision about election funding was not true um and that was seen at the time as something that was you know very uh remarkably a remarkably political statement from one of these justices but they literally sit at the very heart of the election that Joe Biden President Biden is up there tonight fighting for um in a way that they h
ave not been certainly since 2000 uh in Bush versus Gore and possibly ever uh in terms of having to decide whether or not President Biden's opponent is going to be able to be charged uh in the uh you know for basically sending a mob to this very building uh on January 6th of 2021 it's it's important to point that out but one thing I will say about the view from the Biden campaign and and from the White House is that they are not looking to these criminal cases against Trump to uh play the role i
n this election they do not think that that is going to be what this is going to turn on and there are a lot of people out there talking about how it is obviously important for democracy for the country but they understand the the prospects of these cases being concluded before the election not great the prospect of them being definitive and and going in any particular way and moving voters in any particular way is is too uncertain and what they do know though and I think to Jake's earlier point
they're not wrong when they say that voters have been voting in a way that sometimes differs from what they say to pollsters about how H happy or unhappy they are about Joe Biden or or even the direction of the country the reason for that is abortion but the reason for that is also because of choices that they have at The Ballot Box and when Republicans put up candidates who are on the far right and and they don't choose their candidates properly that has made a huge difference in these races a
nd they think that's how they see November at the top of the ticket as well let me bring in Evan Osos right now who is uh who has been President Biden's uh biographer uh just did an interview with him for the New Yorker uh magazine Evan do you think this is the most important speech of President Biden's career you know he's had a very long career Jake as you know but I I think it is a credible case to make look this is an unusual moment because it is both a chance for him to try to talk about wh
at he's done and then he is also making his biggest pitch to the largest audience he's going to have before November you know I was talking to somebody who's very close to him and I said how do you think he handles the pressure of A Moment Like This and they said look to be honest he's been dealing with pressure like this his entire adult life the weirdest moment for him was when he was wasn't under pressure when he was in that period after his first uh after the let me just interrupt for one se
cond I'm sorry I'll come right back to you but there we see the second gentleman Doug mhof the the husband of the vice president kamla Harris who you see there on stage Doug Doug mhof uh who has become one of the administration's leading voices uh on the rise of anti-Semitism in the United States uh Doug is Jewish there he just waved at his wife and she's seems to be smiling at her at her goofy husband uh in in an affectionate way Evan back to you well you know I was just saying that I think in
some ways a lot of us look at what a president is going through at A Moment Like This the pressures they're under we've been talking tonight all about the many issues he has to cover and in some ways you saw him get into that car and he is projecting the spirit of a guy who is relishing this moment I I don't think that is fake I will tell you my impression from being in the Oval Office with him recently was this guy guy doesn't have a whole lot of doubts about what he's doing you know we're havi
ng a big National conversation about this and there's a lot of people who wonder whether he should have done this he's not wondering that you don't come away from a conversation with him saying is he you know staring at the ceiling at night he's that's not the moment he's in Jake and it could be hard to capture that I think from far away there is the first lady of the United States Dr Jill Biden taking her seat uh next to the second gentleman or near the second gentleman surrounded by uh what ar
e called scutniks uh that is special guests of the president of the United States there to illustrate various policy points and ways uh that uh what the administration has been doing uh has affected them there's the former house Speaker Nancy Pelosi President Biden is running late we should note uh he is in a holding room right now uh and he is there is the the speaker gaving in the session um should we listen in Mr Speaker let listen in the president's cabinet the president's cabinet walking in
right now obviously uh there is the Secretary of State Anthony blinkin who has been rather uh busy these days what with all sorts of crises in Ukraine in the Middle East followed by the Secretary of the Treasury uh Janet Yellen Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin uh whose health issues became something of a problem for the administration when he failed to disclose them even though he had been hospitalized thankfully his health uh is good uh Evan Osos um it is quite a balancing act uh for uh Presi
dent Biden as we David chalion outlined all the things all the things he needs to achieve uh with this uh speech um you see other members of the president's cabinet there the secretary of agriculture Tom vilac the Secretary of Commerce Gina Rond and on and on I is it Deb Holland who is the uh designated no or we do not know yet I just saw a picture of her I just saw a picture of Deb Holland she just posted a picture with the many members of the cabinet oh so it's not the one we don't see is Gina
Rondo I'm not saying it's her no we just saw her on the floor we just saw Gina we are try sorry folks at home we're trying to figure out a a a nerdy DC parlor game which is uh the Secretary of the Interior Dev Holland so not her who is the designated Survivor kind of a dark uh uh thing a dark tradition in this in this country about who will maintain the continuity of government should the worst possible thing in the history of the known universe happen to this building that we're looking at rig
ht now there is always somebody from the cabinet who does not attend there's the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Alejandro mayorcas who was uh uh impeached uh by the House of Representatives for in their view the Republicans in the house not carrying out his duties at the border the Border obviously a huge issue their Secretary of Transportation I believe it's the education secretary Miguel Cardona Miguel Cardona is the Secretary of Education we believe is his designated Survivo
r uh but but uh John King um the issue of the Border uh you see Alejandra marus right there the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security who was impeached although the Senate is not going to take up that that issue so he will not be uh removed from office and even if they were to take it up the votes would not be there um how much like what what to say if you were President Biden and this is such a huge issue immigration and and the and the problems at the border uh and uh obviously Repu
blicans have been talking about the Border problems for quite some time Republicans gave him the perfect framing by walking away from the bipartisan deal a deal that had many border security pieces in it that the president personally does not favor and that many in his party don't like even more than him the progressives in the party don't like even more uh so he is going to say tonight I was about to do something big something you Republicans have been asking for for two decades or more and Don
ald Trump told you to walk away and you're putting Donald Trump ahead of the Urgent needs of the country uh it's a strong political argument because it happens to be true uh you know that could have been passed and it could have been done and Trump called speaker Johnson and other Republicans and said do not do this don't help Joe Biden it might help in the campaign do not do this it's a powerful argument the flip side where Republicans is going to be you've been president for 1142 days uh so yo
u were president for about you know more than a thousand days before you started these negotiations where were you for the first three years uh and that's a perfectly valid argument too uh because the in terms of the illegal Crossings and the apprehensions at the border and issues they're way way up so this is a it's a giant policy divide about what Biden was unwilling to do in his first three years but Trump has given him potentially if they can craft it and play it right a gift in essentially
telling Republicans you know don't do what you have tried to do for years because it might hurt my campaign and uh if you're wondering who gets those great seats uh in the by the aisle so that they can shake hands with for instance the United Nations Ambassador uh the those seats are are coveted quite a bit people come early Manu Raju is in Congress right now uh Manu like how did Joe Mansion get that sweet spot he probably he had someone saving him for him Jake in fact a lot of these members thi
s is that's actually kind of unusual in the past people had been here for hours and hours and hours holding the seats this time they had people saving them but I want you to to key in on when Joe Biden enters the room he'll be greeted by some of his fiercest critics in the House GOP some Republican hardliners who are sitting right as he enters Congressman Lauren bobbert sitting uh near the entrance of next to Congressman Matt Gates uh and is Congressman margerie Taylor green also sitting very cl
ose to the aisle both bobbert and margerie tayor green told me earlier today that they would not be afraid to yell back at Joe Biden if they feel like that you know in their view he is saying something uh untruthful or something that they don't like and Marg till green of course was someone who said that Joe Biden was a liar during last year's seat of the Union Address something that speaker Mike Johnson absolutely does not want to see so how will they aget the president when he enters that's a
question when Joe Biden was just introduced the first lady Margie Taylor green was seated while the rest of the chamber was have giving a standing ovation Jake yeah we should point out just for fairness sake that uh Joe Biden was not lying about what he brought up when congresswoman Marg Taylor green yelled liar uh he had been saying that there were Republicans proposing sunsetting services like uh Medicare and Social Security and there in fact were uh but that was a deaf moment uh for President
Biden concerns about his uh Acumen and alacrity notwithstanding he was able to take that moment uh and add Li and say oh so members of the Republican party you you agree with me let's listen in for this big big big moment for president speaker the president of the United States w you to look this keep looking this way look over here Mr good to see you Mr President this is about you this is about the soul of the nation bless get how are you doing today is the 59th anniversary all right Mr Presid
ent here we go oh no got it about this guy has completed all right thank you for everything when you look out and see all this light you know we I'm your last Member First you're going to do great going to be yell too take how are you to see you all right I'm going this way yes sir so President Biden making his way down the aisle uh greeting uh all sorts of members of Congress you saw uh some people trying to say hi affectionately some people challenging him uh for various reasons he's greetings
uh greeting his uh The Joint Chiefs of Staff now uh this is one of the great moment moments in American politics watching the President whoever he is come down you see all the branches of government you see people in both major political parties uh there is uh a common purpose no matter what the nastiness that has been said there is some degree even during harsh political times of fellowship and camaraderie Jamie Gango so Casey was just talking earlier and we've all been watching all of these p
eople on the floor reading him and Casey made the comment that even in these polarized times you see that kind of enthusiasm I was just told that many House Republicans on the escort committee those are the people who come in with the president declin to have their photo taken in the traditional photo line yeah know this obviously very harsh times and look you saw him walk in and uh one of the more um uh loud members of the Republican Party margerie Taylor green congresswoman from Georgia put on
a Maga hat which is not allowed which is not allowed you're not allowed to do that and and I mean according to the rules of the of the house senate and um she was wearing a a pin referring to Biden's border crisis quote unquote uh and challenging him to say the name of lakan Riley the University of Georgia student killed recently uh in a tragic accident a tragic incident rather a Murder By An undocumented Venezuelan here he is presenting copies of his State of the Union Address uh to the vice p
resident and of course to the Speaker of the House let's listen thank you good evening good evening if I were smart I'd go home now Mr Speaker Madame vice president members of Congress my fellow Americans in January 1941 Franklin Roosevelt came to this chamber to speak to the nation and he said I address you at a moment unprecedented in history of of the Union Hitler was on the March war was raging in Europe President Roosevelt's purpose was to wake up Congress and alert the American people that
this was no ordinary time freedom and democracy were under assault in the world tonight I come to this same chamber to address the nation now it's we who face unprecedent moment in the history of the union and yes my purpose tonight is to wake up the Congress and alert the American people that this is no ordinary moment either not since President Lincoln and the Civil War have freedom and democracy been underall at home as they are today what makes our moment rare is the freedom and democracy a
re under attack at both at home and overseas at the very same time overseas Putin of Russia is on the March invading Ukraine and sowing chaos throughout Europe Europe and Beyond if anybody in this room thinks Putin will stop at Ukraine I assure you he will not but you train Ukraine can stop Putin Ukraine can stop Putin if we stand with Ukraine and provide the weapons that needs to defend itself that is all that is all Ukraine is asking they're not asking for American soldiers in fact there are n
o American soldiers war in Ukraine and I'm determined to keep it that way but now assistance Ukraine is being blocked by those who want to walk walk away from our world leadership wasn't long ago when a Republican president named Ronald Reagan thundered Mr gorbachov tear down this wall now now my predecessor a former Republican president tells Putin quote do whatever the hell you want that's a quote a former president actually said that bowing down to a Russian leader I think it's outrageous it'
s dangerous and it's unacceptable America is a founding member of NATO the military Alliance of democratic nations created after World War II prevent to prevent war and keep the peace and today we've made NATO stronger than ever welcome Finland to the alliance last year and just this morning Sweden officially joined and their ministers here tonight stand up welcome welcome welcome welcome and they know how to fight Mr Prime Minister welcome to Nato the strongest military Alliance the world has e
ver seen I say this to Congress we have to stand up to Putin send me a bipartisan National Security Bill history is literally watching history is watching the United States walks away it will put you Ukraine at risk Europe is at risk the Free World be at risk and Bolding others to do what they wish to do us harm my message to President Putin who I've known for a long time is simple we will not walk away we will not bow down I will not bow down in a literal sense history is watching history is wa
tching just like history watched three years ago on January 6th when Insurrection stormed this very capital and placed a dager at the throat of American democracy many of you are here on that darkest of days we all saw with our own eyes the insurrectionist were were not Patriots they' come to stop the peaceful transfer of power to over Stern the will of the people January 6 lies about the 2020 election and the plots that steal the election posed a great gravest threat to US democracy since a civ
il war but they failed America stood America stood strong and democracy prevailed we must be honest the threat to democracy must be defended my predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth about January 6th I will not do that this is the moment to speak the truth and to bury the lies here's the simple truth you can't love your country only when you win as I've done ever since being elected to office I ask all of you without regard to party to join together and defend democracy remembe
r your oath of officers defend against all threats foreign and domestic respect respect free and fair elections restore trust in our institutions and make clear political violence has absolutely no place no place in America zero place again it's not it's not hyperbole to suggest history is watching or watching your children and grandchildren will read about about this day and what we do history is watching another assault on freedom join us to light is Lor Beasley a social worker from Birmingham
Alabama 14 months ago 14 months ago she and her husband welcomed a baby girl thanks to the miracle of IVF she scheduled treatments to have that second child but the Alabama Supreme Court shut down IVF treatments across the state Unleashed by a Supreme Court decision overturning roie Wade she was told her dream would have to wait what her family had got through should never have happened unless Congress acts it could happen again so tonight let's stand up for families like hers to my friends acr
oss the aisle don't keep this waiting any longer guarantee the right to AB guarantee and Nationwide like most Americans I believe row we raid got it right I thank vice president Harris for being incredible leader defending reproductive freedom and so much more thank my predecessor came to office determined to see roie Wade overturned he's the reason was overturned and he brags about it look at the chaos that has resulted joining us tonight is Kate Cox the wife and mother from Dallas she's become
pregnant again and had a fetus of a fatal condition her doctor told Kate that her own life and her ability to have children children in the future were at risk if she didn't act because Texas law banned her ability to act Kate and her husband had to leave the state to get what she needed what her family got through should have never happened as well but it's happening in too many others there are state laws Banning the freedom to choose criminalizing doctors forcing survivors of rape and incest
to leave their states to get the treatment they need many of you in this chamber and my predecessor are promising to pass a national ban on reproductive Freedom my God what Freedom else would you take away look it's a decision to overturn Ro v Wade the Supreme Court majority wrote The Following and with all due respect justices women are not without electoral electoral power excuse me electoral or political power you're about to realize just how much you about clearly clearly those bragging abo
ut overturning riewe have no clue about the power of women but they found out when reproductive Freedom was on the ballot we won in 2022 and 2020 and we're will again in 2024 if you if you the American people send me a Congress that supports the right to choose I promise you I'll restore roie Wade as the law of the land again folks America cannot go back I'm here to tonight to show what I believe the way forward because I know know how far we come four years ago next week before I came to office
the country was hit by the worst pandemic and the worst economic crisis in a century remember the fear record losses remember the spikes and crime and the murder rate raging virus it took more than 1 million American lives of loved ones Millions left behind a mental health crisis of isolation and loneliness a president my predecessor fail the most basic presidential Duty that he owes to American people the duty to care I think that's unforgivable I came to office determined to get us through on
e of the toughest periods in the nation's history we have it doesn't make new but news in a thousand cities and towns the American people are writing the greatest comeback story never told so let's tell the story here tell it here and now America's comeback is building the future of American possibilities building an economy from the middle out and the bottom up not to top down investing in all America and all Americans to make every sure everyone has a fair shot we leave no one no one behind th
e pandemic no longer controls Our Lives the vaccines that saved us from Co are now being us us to beat cancer turning setback into comeback that's what America does that's what America does folks my inherited economy is on the brink now our economy is literally the Envy of the world 15 million new jobs in just three years a record a record unemployment at 50-year loads record 16 million Americans are starting small businesses and each one is a literal Act of Hope with historic job growth and sma
ll business growth for black and Hispanics and asian-americans 800,000 new manufacturing jobs in America and cting where is it written we can't be the manufacturing capital of the world we are we will more people have health insurance today more people have health insurance today than ever before the racial wealth Gap is as small as it's been in 20 years wages keep going up inflation keeps coming down inflation has dropped from 9% to 3% the lowest in the world and tending lower the landing is an
d will be soft and now instead of importing importing foreign products and exporting American jobs we're exporting American Products andin creating American jobs right here in America where they belong and it takes time but the American people are beginning to feel it consumer studies show consumer confidence is soaring by America has been the law the land since the 1930s past administrations including my predecessor including some Democrats as well in the past failed to buy American not anymore
on my watch Federal projects that you fund like helping build American roads Bridges and highways will be made with American products and built by American workers creating good paying American jobs and thanks to our chips and science act the United States is investing more in research and development than ever before during the pandemic a shortage of semiconductors chips that drove up the price of everything from cell phones to Automobiles and by the way we invented those chips right here in A
merica well instead of having to import them instead of we private companies are now investing billions of dollars to build new chip factories here in America creating tens of thousands of jobs many of those jobs paying $100,000 a year and don't require a college degree in fact my policies have attracted $650 billion in private sector investment in clean energy Advanced manufacturing creating tens of thousands of jobs here in America and thanks and thanks to our bipartisan infrastructure law 46,
000 new projects have announced all across your communities and by the way I notice some of you strongly voted against it or they're cheering on that money coming in I like it I'm with you I'm with you if any of you don't want that money in your District just let me know modernize that roads and bridges ports and airports public transit systems removing po poisonous lead pipes so every child can drink clean water without risk of brain damage providing affordable affordable high-speed internet fo
r every American no matter where you live Urban Suburban or rural communities in red States and blue States record investments in tribal communities because of my investment in Family Farm because my investment in Family Farm led by my secret of Agriculture knows more about this than anybody I know we're better able to stay in the family for the those farms for the and their children and grandchildren want have to leave leave home to make a living it's transformative the great comeback story is
Bader Illinois home to an auto plant for nearly 60 years before I came to office the plant was on its way to shutting down thousands of workers feared for their livelihoods Hope was fading then I was elected to the office and we raised the beler repeatedly with auto companies knowing Unions would make all the difference the UAW worked like hell to keep the plan open and get these jobs back and together we succeeded instead of Auto Factory shutting down Auto factories reopening the new state-ofth
e-art battery factories being built to power those cars there at the same folks the folks of belor I say instead of your town being left behind your community is moving forward again because I'm sit and watching Auto JB jobs of the future go overseas 4,000 union jobs with higher wages are building the future in Bader right here in America here tonight is UAW president Shan Fain a great fan and a great labor leader Shawn where are you stand up and and Dawn and Dawn Sim the third generation worker
UAW worker at beler Sean I was proud to be the first president to stand in the picket line and today dawn has a good job in her hometown providing stability for her family and pride and dignity as well showing once again Wall Street didn't build America they're not bad guys they didn't build it though the middle class bu bu the country and unions built the middle class I say to the American people when America gets knocked down we get back up we keep going that's America that's you the American
people it's because of you America's coming back it's because of you our future is brigher because of you that tonight we can proudly say the state of our Union is strong and getting stronger tonight tonight I want to talk about the future of possibilities that we can build together a future where the days of trickle down economics are over and the wealthy and the biggest corporations no longer get to all the tax breaks and by the way I understand corporations I come from a state that has more
corporations invested than every one of your states in the state United States combined and I represent resented for 36 years I'm not anti-corporation but I grew up in a home where trickle down economics didn't put much in my Dad's kitchen table that's why I determin to turn things around so middle class does well when they do well the poor were way up and the wealthy still do very well we all do well and there's more to do to make sure you're feeling the benefits of all we're doing Americans pa
y more for prescription drugs than anywhere in the world it's wrong and I'm ending it for the law that I propos and sign not one of you Republican buddies work voted for it we finally beat big Pharma instead of paying $400 a month or thereabouts for insulin with diabetes and it only cost 10 bucks to make they only get paid 35 a month now and still make a healthy profit and I want to but what to do next I want to cap the cost of insul $35 a month for every American who needs it everyone for years
people have talked about it but finally we got it done gave Medicare the power to negotiate lower prices and prescription and drugs just like the VA is able to do for veterans that's not just saving seniors money it's saving taxpayers money we cut the federal deficit by a $160 billion because Medicare will no longer have to pay those exorbitant prices to big farm this year Medicare is negotiating lower prices for some of the costliest drugs on the market to treat everything from heart disease t
o arthritis it's now time to go further and give Medicare the power to negotiate lower prices for 500 different drugs over the next decade they're making a lot of money guys and they'll still be extremely profitable will not only save lives it will save taxpayers another $200 billion starting next year the same law caps total prescription drug cost for seniors on Medicare at2 200 $2,000 a year even for expensive Cancer drugs that cost 10 12 $15,000 I want a cap prescription drug cost of $2,000 a
year for everyone folks I'm going to get in trouble for saying that but any you want to get an Air Force woman and fly to Toronto Berlin Moscow I mean excuse me and well even Moscow probably and bring your prescription with you and I promise you I'll get it for you for 40% the cost you're paying now same company same drug same place folks the Affordable Care Act the old Obamacare it's still a very big deal over 100 million of you can no longer be denied health insurance because of pre-existing
condition but my predecessor and many in this chamber want to take the prescription drug Away by repealing Affordable Care Act I'm not going to let that happen we stopped you 50 times before and we'll stop you again in fact I'm not only protecting it I'm expanding it the we the enacted tax credits of $800 per person per year reduce health care costs for millions of working families that tax credit expires next year I want to make that savings permanent to State the obvious women are more than ha
lf our population but research on women's health has always been underfunded that's why we're launching the first ever White House initiative on women's health research led by Jill doing an incredible job as first lady to pass my plan for $12 billion to transfer women's health research and benefit millions of lives all across America I know the cost of housing is so important to you if inflation keeps coming down mortgage rates will come down as well and the FED acknowledges that but I'm not wai
ting I want to provide an annual tax credit that will give Americans $400 a month for the next two years as mortgage rates come down to put toward their mortgagees when they buy their first home or trade up for a little more space just for two years and my Administration is also eliminating Title Insurance on federally backed mortgages when you refinance your home you can save $11,000 or more a consequence for millions of renters we're cracking down on big landlords who use anti trust a lot usin
g anti who break antitrust laws by price fixing and driving up rents we've cut red tape so Builders can get federally financing which is already helping build a record 1.7 million new house housing units Nationwide now pass now pass and build and renovate 2 million affordable homes and bring those rents down to remain the strongest economy in the world we need to have the best education system in the world and I like I suspect all of you want to give a child every child a good start by providing
access to preschool for three and four years old you know I think I pointed out last year I think I pointed out last year that children coming from broken homes where there's no books and not read to not spoken to very often start school kindergarten or first grade hearing having heard a million fewer words spoken well studies show that children who go to preschool are nearly 50% more likely to finish High School go on to earn a two and four year degree no matter what their background is I met
a year and a half ago with the leaders of the business Round Table they were mad that I they were angry I said well they were discussing why I wanted to spend money on education I pointed out to them as vice president I met with over 0 I think it was 182 of those folks don't hold me the exact number and uh I asked them what they need most the CEOs and you've had the same experience to both sides D they say better educated Workforce right so I looked at them and I say I come from Delaware the Pon
t used to be the eighth largest corporation in the world and every new Enterprise they bought they educated the workforce to that Enterprise but none of you do that anymore why are you angry with me providing you the opportunity be the best educated Workforce in the world they all looked at me and said I think you're right I want to expand high quality tutoring and summer learning to see that every child learns to read by third grade I'm also connecting local businesses and high schools so stude
nts get hands-on experience in the path the good paying job whether or not they go to college and I want to make sure the college is more affordable let's continue increasing the pel grants to working in Middle Class families and increase record investments in HBCU a minority serving institutions including Hispanic institutions and I was told I couldn't universally just change the way in which we did deal with student loans I fixed two student loan programs that already existed to reduce the bur
den of student debt for nearly four million Americans including nurses firefighters and others in public service by Keenan Jones the public educator from Minnesota who's here with us tonight Keenan where are you Dan thank you he's educated hundreds of students so they can go to college now he's able to help after debt forgiveness get his own daughter to college and folks look such relief as good for the economy because folks are now able to buy a home start a business start a family while we're
at it I want to give Public School teachers a raise by the way the first couple years we cut the deficit now let me speak to the question of fundamental fairness for all Americans I've been delivering Real Results and fiscally responsible ways we've already cut the federal deficit we've already cut the federal def over a trillion dollars I signed the bipartisan deal to cut another trillion dollars in the next decade it's my goal to cut the federal dep another three trillion by making big corpora
tions very wealthy finally beginning to pay their fair share look I'm a capitalist you want to make or can make a million or millions of bucks that's great just pay your fair share in taxes a fair tax code is how we invest things to make this country great healthc care education defense and so much more but here's the deal the last Administration enacted a $2 trillion tax cut overwhelmingly benefit the toping 1% the very wealthy and the biggest corporation and exploded the federal deficit they a
dded more to the national debt in any presidential term in American history check the numbers Folks at home does anybody really think the tax code is fair do you really think the wealthy and big corporations need another $2 trillion tax break I sure don't I'm going to keep fighting like hell to make it fair under my plan nobody earning less than $400,000 a year will pay additional penny in federal taxes nobody not one penny and they haven't yet in fact the child tax credit I passed during the pa
ndemic cut taxes for millions of working families and cut child poverty in half restore that child PX credit no child should go hungry in this country the way to make the tax code fair is to make big Corporation the very wealthy began to pay their fair share remember in 2020 55 of the biggest companies in America made $40 billion and paid zero in federal income tax zero not anymore thanks to the law I wrote when we signed big companies have to pay a minimum 15% but that's still less than working
people paying federal taxes it's time to raise corporate minimum tax to at least 21% so every big Corporation finally begins to pay their fair share I also want to end tax breaks for big farmer Big Oil private jets massive executive pay when it's only supposed to a million a million dollars it could be deducted they can pay him 20 million if they want but deduct a million end it now you know there are 1,000 billionaires in America you know what the average federal tax is for those billionaires
no they're making great sacrifices 8.2% that's far less than the vast majority of Americans pay no billionaire should pay a lower federal tax rate than a teacher a sanitation worker or a nurse I propose a minimum tax for billionaires of 25% just 25% you know what that would raise that would raise $500 billion dollar over the next 10 years and imagine what that could do for America imagine the future with affordable child care millions of families can get they need to go to work to help grow the
economy imagine the future with paid Le because no one should have to choose between working and taking care of their sick family member imagine imagine the future of Home Care and elder care and people living with disabilities so they can stay in their homes and family caregivers can finally get the pay they deserve tonight let's all agree once again to stand up for seniors many my friends on the other side of I want to put Social Security on The Chopping Block if anyone here tries to cut Socia
l Security Medicare or raise your retirement age I will stop you the working people the working people who built this country pay more into Social Security than Millionaires and billionaires do it's not fair we have two ways to go Republicans can cut Social Security and give more tax breaks to the wealthy I will that's the proposal oh no you guys don't want another $2 trillion tax cut I kind of thought that's what your plan was well that's good to hear you're not going to cut another $2 trillion
for the super wealth that's good to here I'll protect and strengthen Social Security and make the wealthy pay their fair share look too many corporations raise prices to pad their profits charging more and more for less and less that's why we're cracking down on corporations engag in price gouging and deceptive pricing from from food to healthcare to housing in fact the snack companies think you won't notice if they change the size of the bag and put a hell of a lot fewer same same siiz bag put
fewer chips in it no I'm not joking it's called shrinkflation pass Bobby Casey's Bill and stop this I really mean it you probably all saw that commercial on Snickers bars you get you get charge the same amount and you got about I don't know 10% fewer Snickers in it look I'm also getting rid of junk fees those hidden fees at the end of your bill that are there without your knowledge my Administration announced we're cutting credit card late fees from $32 to $8 Banks and credit card companies are
allowed to charge what would cost them to in to instigate the the collection and that's more a hell of a lot like $8 and 30 some dollars they don't like it credit card companies don't like it but I'm saving American families $0 billion a year with all the junk fees I'm eliminated Folks at home that's why the banks are so mad it's $20 billion in profit I'm not stopping there my Administration proposed rules to make cable travel utilities and online ticket sellers tell you the total price upfront
so they're no surprises it matters it matters and so does this in November my team began serious negotiation with a bipartisan group of senators the result was a bipartisan bill with the toughest set of border security reforms we've ever seen oh you don't think so oh you don't like that bill huh that conservatives got together and said was a good bill I'll be darn that's amazing that bipartisan B would hire $1,000 500 more security agents and officers 100 more immigration judges helped tackle t
he backload of 2 million cases 4,300 more Asylum officers and new policies so they can resolve cases in 6 months instead of six years now what are you against 100 more Hightech drug detection machines to significantly increase ability to screen and stop Vehicles smuggling fentanyl into America that's killing thousands of children this bill would save lives and bring order to the Border it also give me and any new president new emergency Authority temporarily shut down the Border when the number
of migrants at the border is overwhelming the border patrol Union has endorsed this bill the federal Chamber of Commerce is yeah yeah you're saying L look at the facts I know I know you know how to read I believe that giving the opportunity for majority in the House and Senate would endorse the bill as well the majority right now but unfortunately politics is derail this bill so far I'm told my predecessor called members of Congress and the Senate to demand they block the bill he feels political
win he view as be a political win for me and a political loser for him it's not about him it's not about me I'd be a winner not really I Lincoln Lincoln Riley an innocent young woman who was K killed by an illegal that's right but how many are thousands of people being killed by legals to her parents I say my heart goes out to you having lost children myself I understand but look if we change the dynamic at the border people pay people people pay these Smugglers 8,000 bucks to get across the bo
rder because they know if they get by if they get by and let into the country it's 6 to eight years before they to have a hearing and it's worth the taking the chance of the $8,000 but but if it's only 6 month six weeks the idea is is highly unlikely that people will pay that money and come all that way knowing that they'll be able to be kicked out quickly folks I would respectfully say to suggest my refri my Republican friends ow to the American people get this bill done we need to act now and
if my predecessor is watching instead of paying politics and pressuring members of Congress to block the bill join me and telling the Congress to pass it we can do it together but that's what he apparently hears what he will not do you I will not demonize immigrants saying they are poisoned in the blood of our country I will not separate families I will not ban people because of their faith unlike my predecessor on my first day in office I introduced a comprehensive Bill to fix our immigration s
ystem take a look at it as all these and more secure the Border provide a pathway to Citi for dreamers and so much more but unlike my predecessor I know who we are as Americans we're the only nation in the world with a heart and soul that draws from old and new home to Native Americans whose ancestors have been here for thousands of years home to people of every PL from every place on Earth they came freely some came in Chains some came when famine struck like my ancestral family in Ireland some
the flea persecution to chase dreams that are impossible Anywhere But Here in America that's America and we all come from somewhere but we're all Americans look folks we a simple choice we can fight about fixing the Border or we can fix it I'm ready to fix it send me the Border bill now a transformational his moment in history happened 58 59 years ago today in Selma Alabama hundreds of foot solders for justice marched across the Edmund Pettis Bridge named after the Grand Dragon of the kcus clan
to claim their fundamental right to vote they were beaten they were bloody and left for dead our late friend in former colleague John Lewis was on that March we miss him but joining us tonight our other marches both in the gallery on the floor including Betty May Fikes known as the voice of Selma the daughter of gospel singers and preachers she sang songs of prayer and protest on that Bloody Sunday to help shake the nation's conscience five months later the Voting Rights Act passed and was sign
ing the law thank you thank you thank you thank you but 59 years later their forces taking us back in time voter suppression election subversion unlimited dark money extreme Jerry manering John Lewis is a great friend to many of us here but if you truly want to honor him and all the heroes of March with him then it's time to do more than talk pass the freedom to vote act the John Lewis voting right at and stop stop denying another core value of America our diversity across American Life Banning
books it's wrong instead of erasing history let make history I want to protect fundamental rights pass the equality act and i m a transgender American I have your back pass the pro act the workers rights raise the federal min minum wage because every worker has a right to a decent living more than a seven bucks an hour we're also making history by confronting the climate crisis not denying it I don't think any of you think there's no longer climate crisis at least I hope you don't I'm taking the
most significant action ever on climate in the history of the world I'm cutting our carbon emissions in half by 2030 creating 10 tens of thousands of clean energy jobs like the ibw work is building installing 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations conserving 30% of America's lands and Waters by 2030 and taking action on environmental justice fence line communities smothered by the legacy of pollution and pattern after the Peace Corp and America Corp I launched the climate Corp to put 20,000
young people to work in the Forefront of our Clean Energy Future I'll triple that number in a decade to State the obvious all Americans deserve the freedom to be safe and America is safer today than when I took office year before I took off office murder rates went up 30% 30% they went up the biggest increase in history it was then through no through my American Rescue plan which every American voted against I'm mad at we made the largest investment in public safety ever last year the murder ra
te saw the sest decrease in history violent crime fell to one of its lowest levels in more than 50 years but we have more to do we have to help cities invest in more Community police officers more mental health workers more Community violence in V give communities the tool to crack down on gun crime retail crime and car jacking keep building trust as they been doing by taking executive action on police reform and calling for it to be the law of the land directing my cabinet to revie the federal
classification of marijuana expunging thousands of convictions for the mere possession because no one should be jailed for simply using or having on their record take on crimes of domestic violence I'm ramping up the Federal enforcement of the violence against women act that I proudly wrote when I was a Senator so we can finally finally end the scourge against women in America there are other kinds of violence I want to stop with us tonight is Jasmine whose nine-year-old sister Jackie was murder
ed with 21 classmates and teachers in elementary school in Uvaldi Texas very soon after that happened Jill and I went to Uvaldi for a couple days we spent hours and hours with each of the families we heard their message so everyone in this room in this chamber could hear the same message the constant ref train and I was there for hours meeting with every family they said do something do something well I did do something by establishing the first ever office of gun violence prevention in the Whit
e House that the vice president is leading a charge thank you for doing it meanwhile Meanwhile my predecessor told the NRA he's proud he did nothing on guns when he was president after another shooting in Iowa recently he said when asked what to do about he said just get over it there is his quote just get over it I say stop it stop it stop it stop it I'm proud we beat the NRA when I signed most significant gun safety law in nearly 30 years because of this Congress we now must beat the NRA again
I'm demanding to ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazine pass Universal background checks none of this none of this I taught the Second Amendment for 12 years none of this violates the Second Amendment or vilifies responsible gun owners you know as we managed challenges at home we're also managing crisis abroad including in the Middle East I know the last five months have been gut-wrenching for so many people for the Israeli people for the Palestinian people and so many here in Americ
a this Crisis began on October 7th with a massacre by a terrorist group called Hamas as you all know one 1,200 innocent people women and girls men and boys slaughtered after enduring sexual violence the deadliest day of the for the Jewish people since the Holocaust and 250 hostages taken here in this chamber tonight our families whose loved ones are still being held by Hamas I pledge to all the families that we will not rest until we bring every one of your loved ones home we also there also wor
k around the clock to bring home Evan and Paul Americans being unjustly detained by the Russians and others around the world Israel has the right to go after Hamas Hamas Ed the this conflict by releasing hostages laying down arms could end it by by releasing the hostages laying down arms and surrendering those responsible for October 7th but Israel has a excuse me Israel has a added burden because Hamas hides and operates among the civilian population like cowards under hospitals daycare centers
and all the like Israel also has a fundamental responsibility though to protect innocent civilians in Gaza this war has taken a greater toll on innocent villain than all previous Wars and Gaza combined more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed most of whom are not Hamas thousands and thousands of Innocents women and children girls and boys also orphaned nearly 2 million more Palestinians under bombardment or displacement homes destroyed neighborhoods and Rubble cities in ruin families with
out food water medicine it's heartbreaking I've been working non-stop to establish immediate ceasefire that would last for 6 weeks to get all the prisoners released all the hostage released to get the hostages home and ease the Intolerable and humanitarian crisis and build toward an enduring and more something more enduring the United States have been leading international efforts to get more humanitarian assistance to Gaza tonight I'm directing the US military to lead an emergency mission to es
tablish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the coast of Gaza that can receive large shipments carrying food water medicine and temporary shelters no us boots will be on the ground a temporary Pier will enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting in Gaza every day and Israel must do its part Israel must allow more Aid in God who ensure humanitarian workers aren't caught in the crossfire they're announcing they're going to they're going to C have a Crossing in
Northern Gaza for the leadership of Israelites say this humanitarian cens cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip protecting and saving innocent lives has to be a priority as we look to the Future the only real solution to the situation is a two-state solution over time and I say this as a lifelong supporter of Israel my entire career no one has a stronger record with Israel than I do I challenge any of you here I'm the only American president of is Israel in Wartime but there i
s no other path that guarantees Israel security and democracy there is no other path that guarantees Palestinian can live in peace with PO with peace and dignity there's no other path that guarantees peace between Israel and all of its neighbors including Saudi Arabia with whom I'm talking creating stability in the Middle East also means containing the threat posed by Iran that's why I build a coalition of more than a dozen countries to defend international shipping and freedom of navigation in
the Red Sea I've ordered strikes to degrade the houthi capability and defend US forces in the region as commander and chief I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and our military personnel for years I've heard many of my Republican and Democratic friends say that China is on the rise and America's falling behind they've got it backwards I've been saying it for over four years even when I wasn't president America is rising we have the best economy in the world and s
ince I've come to office rgtp is up our trade deficit of China is down to the lowest point in over a decade and we're standing up against China's unfair economic practices we're standing up for peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits are revitalized our partnership and Alliance in the Pacific India Australia Japan South Korea Pacific Islands I've made sure that the most advanced American Technologies can't be used in China not allowing to trade them there frankly for all this tough talk on
China never occurred to my predecessor to do any of that I want competition with China not conflict and we're in a stronger position to win the conflict of the 21st century against China than anyone else for that matter than any time as well here at home I've signed over 400 bipartisan bills but there's more to pass my Unity agenda strength and penalties on fentanyl trafficking you don't want to do that huh pass by partisan privacy say to protect our children online harness harness the promise
of AI to protect us from Peril ban AI voice impersonations and more and keep our truly sacred obligation to train and equip those we send in the Harm's Way and care for them and their families when they come home and when they don't that's why the song support and help of Dennis the VA I signed the Packa one of the most significant laws ever helping millions of veterans expose to toxin who now are battling more than one 100 different cashes many of them don't come home but we owe them and their
families support we owe it to ourselves to keep supporting our new health research agency called arpa and remind us remind us that we can do big things like end cancer as we know it and we will let me close with this y I know you don't want to hear any more Lindsay but I got to say a few more things I know it may not look like it but I've been around a while when you get to be my age certain things become clearer than ever I know the American story again and again I've seen the contest between c
ompeting forces in the battle for the soul of our nation between those who want to pull America back to the past those who want to move America into the future my lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy a future based on core values that have defined America honesty decency dignity equality to respect everyone to give everyone a fair shop to give hate no Safe Harbor now other people my age see it differently the American story of resentment revenge and retribution that's not me I
was born in mid World War II when America stood for the freedom of the world I grew up in scran Pennsylvania in Claymont Delaware among workingclass people who built this country I watched in horror as two of my heroes like many of you did Dr King and Bobby cned were assassinated and they're inspired me to pursue a care a career in service I left the law firm became a public defender because my city of Wilmington was the only city in America occupied by the National Guard after Dr King was assa
ssinated because of the riots and I became a county councilman almost by accident I got elected to the United States Senate when I had no intention of running at age 29 then vice president our first black president now president to the first women vice president in my career I've been told I was too young by the way they didn't let me on the Senate elevators for vote sometimes not a joke I've been told I'm too old whether young or old I've always been known I've always known what endures I've kn
own our Northstar the very idea of America is that we're all created equal deserves to be treated equally throughout our lives we've never fully lived up to that idea but we've never walked away from it either and I won't walk away from it now I'm optimistic I really am I'm optimistic NY my fellow Americans the issue facing our nation isn't how old we are it's how old are our ideas hate anger Revenge retribution are the oldest of ideas but you can't lead America with ancient ideas will only take
us back you lead America the land of possibilities you need a vision for the future and what can and should be done tonight you've heard mine I see a future where defending democracy you don't diminish it I see a future where restore the right to choose and protect our freedoms not take them away I see a future F where the middle class has finally has a fair shot and the wealthy have to pay their fair share and taxes I see a future where we save the planet from the climate crisis and our countr
y from gun violence above all I see a future for all Americans I see a country for all Americans now always be president for all Americans because I believe in America I believe in you the American people you're the reason we've never been more optimistic about our future than I am now so let's build the future together let's remember who we are we are the United States of America and there is nothing nothing beyond our capacity and we act together God bless you all and may God protect our troop
s thank you thank you thank you all right a very forcefully delivered speech by President Biden only a few hundred words into it when he made his first of at least dozen references to Donald Trump they're not by name he referred to him as quote my predecessor which he did over and over and like it or not I have never heard a State of the Union Address that had so many references to the man the political opponent President Biden the president will face on the bout this November he he started in f
act with two issues that can be quite awkward for Republicans to talk about issues that separate Trump from much of his party the middle of his party for sure such as the need to support Ukraine versus Putin the need to oppose the January 6 insurrectionists uh he himself was the one who to invoke Reagan's Quest into the country in 1980 are you better off than you were four years ago he brought up the economic and Health crisis of Co in 2020 he accused Trump of failing what he called the duty to
care about the American people of course uh much of the speech was you know other issues uh such as is the norm for such a speech areas where polls show real weakness for him he offered a new proposal to help Americans with high housing costs he talked about the need for humanitarian relief in Gaza there was a discussion of his record of course infrastructure projects prescription drug benefits um his presentation his Annunciation of course is not as clear as it once was a decade or two ago his
mind did seem fairly sharp he had lived a response to a pretty harsh moment and some heckling about the tragic murder of ug student Lincoln Riley he got her name wrong he called her Lincoln Riley but as a general note he he condemned her murder which was something that people were talking about Dana Bash uh what what did you think you've been to a lot of State of the Union addresses do you think that President Biden met the moment he certainly met the moment that his uh member members of his par
ty uh those who are really upset and worried about this coming election year and frankly what would happen if he didn't win another term because of uh their concerns about who's on the other side uh of of the ticket they wanted him to be a fighter and boy fight did he deliver now there is some criticism already that we're hearing from some Republicans that it was too political and the retort already is compared to what I mean you saw Mar Marjorie Taylor green sitting there wearing a Maga hat uh
one of the things that you mentioned that he used the word predecessor by our account in the prepared remarks you use the word predecessor Jake thir 1 times and that is not only uh important because I don't remember that ever happening in this kind of speech but because of what predecessor um denotes and that's in the past what's so striking to me is that Republicans I think because they um their whole thing right now is that Joe Biden is slow that he's too old that he can't do this they walk in
to this trap every time that the White House sets for them their speaker Mike Johnson tried to to counsel them not to Heckle not to react in this way and they did it and it creates an opening an opportunity for Joe Biden to react he he said to them I know you know how to read he had he had a lot of moments where he was kind of trolling them and that worked for him in this speech because that's essentially at the end of the day this was a speech about all the things the presidents make speeches a
bout but the question before for Joe Biden today that he needed to answer the most was how does he present to the American public Republicans it seemed to me really handed him a golden opportunity on multiple occasions during the speech to do exactly what his AIDS wanted him to do which was show some fight show his ability to react in the moment um he likes to ad lib it's not always it doesn't always work out well for him he did it a few times tonight uh without any major gaffs and I think that
was ultimately the bar that his AIDS wanted him to clear the American people settled this in 244 days but it was clear to me from the beginning and the end that he and his team uh whether you like that or not at home understand the challenge uh I this is the 36 of these for me state of the unions or presidential addresses at the beginning first one being 1989 never heard one so political never heard one that is such a campaign speech but what do Republicans say about Joe Biden he is weak and he
is weak in America and he doesn't have the vit ality the alacrity the Vigor to be the president of the United States he came out hitting on Ukraine stand up to Russia be strong Republicans don't be weak right at the weakness argument that he's weak into America that he's personally weak then went right after January 6th said I'm going to bury the lies uh and took the heckling for it and then turned to an issue that Democrats think is absolutely critical for them IVF reproductive Freedom the broa
der issue and he did it all with fight uh he did it with punches he came out punching and Came Out Swinging right from the beginning then he did the traditional state of the Union laundry list and then he came back at the end and took on the age issue does it work who knows but he tried a little humor uh he took he took the back and forth from the floor it was clear to me that they they understand what the Republicans have done and are going to try to do to him by saying he's personally not up t
o it he's not strong and he's weak into America they came out to fight well and I think one of his weakest issues that he pulls on is immigration in the Border obviously he knows that it came up later in the speech but Senator James lenford might have delivered him one of the strongest of the entire speech where they were talking about that bipartisan border deal he went into the specifics of what was in that agreement being formed by one of the most conservative senators in the Senate he was ne
gotiating that and Senator lingford mouth that's true as President Biden was speaking and then the other talking about the details of what was in the bill talking about the details of what was in the bill and the other moment where at the beginning we watched congresswoman Marjorie Taylor green hand President Biden that button that they had made that uh talks about his border crisis as you Ed what it said on the button earlier Jake and she said asked him to say Lake and Riley's name and then he
he pulled held the button up he seemed to be relishing those moments that he had last year the back and forth of the Republicans and was trying to recreate that and kind of take it head on relishing and prepared for them right I mean there were some that were clearly understood on immigration you're going to get some feedback I mean you could see how it was playing out as they rehearsed it in Camp David and the like John to your point about it being a political speech there's no doubt about it i
t's the it is it was was a reelection speech wrapped in a state of the union but I found it was also a speech Just reflective of our times nothing is as it once was in American politics and I think this speech the demeanor from the folks in the house the president going into raw politics it him calling on his calling out his predecessor all these times yes that's unprecedented it's also unprecedented to be running against a guy who once served as president who you defeated who's trying to come b
ack it's also unprecedented you know that he's facing all these trials and what occurred in this in this very chamber on January 6 all these things are and I just think if we apply our sense of what state of the union addresses have been it's not that's just not where our politics are anymore and so while I know the Republicans will criticize him for criticize him for being political here it seems to me he actually gave a speech that that is of this I when I compared to what yeah but it's often
Joe Biden in the past who has tried to go back to those moments I remember those moments Mitch McConnell's my friend we can do bipartisanship deals uh Joe Biden tonight realizes we don't live in that world anymore in the past he has tried to pull go back to that world he's realized that world doesn't exist yeah I I think what's really interesting Jamie gengel is is what David touched on on the preparedness um he wanted he wanted uh and was prepared for the lake and Riley moment again Lake and Ri
ley the ug student tragically murdered by a Venezuelan undocumented immigrant who should not have been in this country and should not have been free uh he obviously had been told they're going to bring this up that this wasn't news by the way I mean like we you know we all learned a few hours ago that the margrey Taylor green was going to have these pin and also obviously this has been a horrible story in the news and one that a lot of people have been talking about including Republicans and he
not only did he did he say her name he mentioned that he had lost children too he lost his daughter when he was in his 30s and he lost his son bo uh a few years ago talked about their misery repeated something Margery Taylor green said about like killed by an illegal although he's already getting some blowback from from the immigration Advocates about using the term illegal uh to talk about undenting him against and then he talked about how the compromise on the border would have disincentivized
people crossing illegally because instead of stay staying around for five or six years until they hearing it would be 6 weeks and so it would stop the incentivization of crossing the border talk them immediately about it and then said do you want to debate the Border or do you want to fix the Border I I think this is a critical point because Jake you're absolutely right there is no question they prepared for those moments in the white house there is also no question that Congress the Senate thi
s is Joe Biden's home and he likes to spar in moments like this we have seen that that is classic Joe Biden yes he was prepared on specific topics but from the from the very beginning where he said funny if I I if I was smart I would go home now and everyone laughed to the end where he said I'm almost wrapping up that's what we see with Joe Biden I I want to point to a couple of things I I heard from a democratic Source who like we've been told many in the White House was worried about how Joe B
iden would do today and the source said he under promised and overd delivered the two things that we never like to talk about high energy and his age he addressed his age he came across with high energy all the Republicans I have a phone full of Republicans saying that was a campaign speech but even they admit that he delivered so let me just let me just say I I misspoke I said something about Lake and Riley she was found on the University of Georgia campus she is a nursing student but she's not
a University of Georgia student per se and I apologize for forgetting that for confusing that detail uh Anderson Jake thanks very much for the team here in New York van Jones you were watching this closely what you um man um very proud very proud look strong at the beginning uh strong on Ukraine strong about uh January uh 7 January 6th um strong in the middle um he was will he he put his chest out f Republicans he ain't scared of the Republicans uh he said hey let's let's let's fight right now
about the Border let's fight right now about these tax cuts for gazillionaires strong at the end um owning his age issue um I thought that was a remarkable fiery powerful vigorous guy and I think it gives people a lot of confidence that this guy might be able to go distance and by the way he's still standing there talking to people um he he he came in slow he talked to everybody he was strong at the beginning strong at the middle strong at the end Ashley what did you think cuz before the speech
a lot of folks on this panel were saying that there were two missions not only about his agenda and what his second ter would look like but perhaps even more importantly is he all there is he vigorous yeah I mean we said it was also about performance right and I think tonight he showed that he could give a very long speech and if you come for me you know don't come for me unless I send for you you know it was one of those moments and so I was getting text throughout the speech from Progressive l
eaders um from folks who do are during the speech talking with black men in Michigan and they were saying I I can get behind this agenda I will say I did hear from some voters on the Gaza issue who didn't who were unsatisfied but there is still eight more eight more weeks and I think that there is an opportunity but tonight I think Joe Biden did what he was supposed to do he he talked about snickers and snack chips before he ever got to the Border he was obsessed with his political rival more th
an he was obsessed with the condition of the American people it was so weird this guy lectures us all on Unity the soul of the nation and he gives the most partisan convention speech in place of a state of a union that I've ever heard it's the literal opposite of unity it's so partisan he's obsessed with taunting Republicans it's not statesmanlike let me say one more thing on Israel a little too much got to hear both sides on Israel and Hamas for me no you don't have to hear both both sides Isra
el's our Ally Hamas is the enemy he lied about our Ally and implied that they are not delivering humanitarian Aid they are delivering humanitarian Aid I do not like every week this Administration is going back on our commitment to Israel and it was in this speech and it's going to get worse I I I I would just say this too you know whoever his a whoever helping coach the speech right loudness doesn't equal energy right it was the loudest State of the Union I had to turn my ifb down because my ear
s were bleeding right he seemed like to me he seemed like what's interesting is both both of you guys who are Republicans are not talking about God he see he didn't seem comp like he knew where he was no no Noone of that he seemed like no let me just finish he seemed like Walt Kowalski you talked about this early he seemed like Walt Kowalski and gr terino screaming at kids get off my lawn like an old guy screaming at kidss my guess is that uh when he got into the heart of his agenda the things t
hat you ridicule uh about the cost of food and you know price gouging and so on I bet you that's scored with a lot of people I think that the uh the populist economic agenda uh is is a powerful powerful thing for him look there are parts of it I'm not sure that the attacks all landed exactly they may have landed well in that room for sure and they landed well with base voters for sure I'm not sure with those swing voters uh that they landed as well but I do think that the agenda he out I also by
the way think that probably would doesn't landwell is his Proclamation that our economy is the Envy of the world and that you know we've you know we inflation and uh you know is under control David you would also raise the question of his performance and and the importance of that I'm wondering what you oh I listen I think that he passed the the first test which was he was he did command the room he was in the moment he did respond uh you know I think marjerie Taylor green walked right into a t
rap there was kind of fun to see uh no I think this this was his this was his uh this was his setting and he did very well and I think his people will be really pleased with listen Donald Trump did Joe Biden a huge favor he set the expectations on the floor Joe Biden basically had to show up and not kill over on the dis tonight and he massively outperformed that just objectively there was some stumbling there was some the coughing and there's he's prone to sometimes a stutter but he did show ene
rgy he showed the ability to get through a long speech now I think he was smart to start with setting the stakes very high at the top to talk about Ukraine to talk about uh the the threat to democracy where he starts to wne as in the middle when he's talking about the economy it was like patting himself on the back sort of it's actually better than you feel that it is the Border um the substance of it was quite good that should have been at the front end of the speech the number one issue for a
plurality of Voters but overall I think most people are going to say that looks like a man who's up to the job let's go back to Aon on capit Hill Aon all right thanks Anderson all right you both know him so well you you've been here preparing for three state of the union speeches with him what did you just see I thought that was terrific that was vintage Joe Biden he gave an incredibly forceful performance which as as everyone's been discussing was what he needed to do tonight he needed to show
that Vitality he showed how comfortable he is uh in this environment we were talking about that before he started to speak he loves the Congress he loves the Senate he loves the opportunity to go back and forth loves the house um and so this was really a moment for him to show command uh what you saw him do as he was going back and forth on immigration and a couple of other issues you know he really likes to engage and so him having the moment having the opportunity to do that you really saw kin
d of the best of him you saw somebody who was on top of his game and very comfortable and I think that was probably the single most important thing you know the other thing I thought was interesting is that he really he used a lot of language that really painted Trump and the Republicans as weak I mean he said you know right at the top you know we're not going to bow down uh in talking about supporting Ukraine like in all caps we're not going to it was really he did a lot to sort of frame the Re
publican position on a lot of issues as weaky obviously you know he talked about you can't only love your country when you win um and so I thought it was interesting that he kind of wo that uh you know narrative through the speech because that's obviously uh you know that's an important piece of kind of the case that he's making and and and you Evan having chronicled his his career and spent so much time with him him in recent days uh back to your description in that time right that you felt his
mind was there but his voice was clotted his voice was not clotted tonight no this is a guy who came out with a very clear intention to show Americans what he thinks people around him see and this is what you often hear described from people whove spent time with him behind the scenes look he got out there and from the very beginning he was comfortable in that chamber he wanted to get up there on the lect he was not rushing he spending time with people and then he gets up there and he begins to
speak and what you heard I think this is very important was a kind of uh comfort with the issues and a level of emphasis that the clear thing was if you turned off the sound on that speech and you just watched that person at the lecturn you wouldn't have had a lot of questions about whether they were in command of that chamber whether they were in command of the material and very many people out there are going to be seeing that speech in that they're looking to see am I reassured you know the
number of people who said to me in the days before this speech I'm nervous I'm nervous because any moment could become fodder on social media there was no moment tonight that becomes uh you know a dayong story uh this is that and ad libs Kate were frequent but yet would you know Circle back purposefully exactly exactly and and you you asked earlier if he was nervous absolutely not all right Jake thanks Aaron and we're watching uh President Biden make his way out of uh Statuary Hall uh and it is
um definitely a moment uh where he seems to be uh I'm sorry making his way out of the house chamber is definitely a moment uh where he seems to be relishing uh what he uh just did he he seems to be enjoying it a lot of congratulations from Democrats SC you know speaking of Democrats I uh while this speech was going on I was getting texts from a couple of senior Democratic Leadership AIDS saying you know what Republicans did was okay expectations let's interrupt right now we are going to listen t
o the Republican response uh Senator Katie Brit of Alabama good evening America my name is Katie Britt and I have the honor of serving the people of the great state of Alabama and the United States Senate however that's not the job that matters most I am a proud wife and mom of two schoolage kids my daughter Bennett and my son Ridgeway are why I ran for the Senate I'm worried about their future and the future of children in every corner of our nation and that's why I invited you into our home to
night like so many families Across America my husband Wesley and I just watched President Biden's State of the Union Address from our living room and uh what we saw was the performance of a permanent politician who has actually been in office office for longer than I've been alive one thing was quite clear though President Biden just doesn't get it he's out of touch under his administration families are worse off our communities are less safe and our country is less secure I just wish he underst
ood what real families are facing around kitchen tables just like this one you know this is where our family has tough conversations it's where we make hard decisions it's where we share The Good the Bad and the Ugly of our days it's where we laugh together and it's where we hold each other's hands and pray for God's guidance and many nights to be honest it's where Wesley and I worry I know we're not alone and so tonight the American family needs to have a tough conversation because the truth is
we're all worried about the future of our nation the country we know and love seems to be slipping away and it feels like the next generation will have fewer opportunities and less freedoms than we did I worry my own children may not even get a shot at Living their American Dreams my American Dream allowed me the daughter of two small business owners from rural Enterprise Alabama to be elected to the United States Senate at the age of 40 growing up sweeping the floor at my dad's hardware store
and cleaning the bathroom at my mom's dance studio I never could have imagined what my story would entail to think about what the American dream can do across just one generation in just one lifetime it's truly breathtaking but right now the American am dream has turned into a nightmare for so many families the true unvarnished state of our Union begins and ends with this our families are hurting our country can do better and you don't have to look any further than the crisis at our Southern bor
der to see it president Biden inherited the most secure border of all time but minutes after taking office he suspended all deportations he halted construction of the border wall and he announced a plan to give amnesty to Millions we know that President Biden didn't just create this border crisis he invited it with 94 executive actions in his first 100 days when I took office I took a different approach I traveled to the Del Rio sector of Texas that's where I spoke to a woman who shared her stor
y with me she had been sex trafficked by the cartels starting at the age of 12 she told me not just that she was raped every day but how how many times a day she was raped the cartels put her on a mattress in a shoe box of a room and they sent men through that door over and over again for hours and hours on end we wouldn't be okay with this happening in a third world country this is the United States of America and it is pastime in my opinion that we start acting like it President Biden's border
policies are a disgrace this crisis is Despicable and the truth is it is almost entirely preventable from fental poisonings to horrific murders there are empty chairs tonight at kitchen tables just like this one because of President Biden's senseless border policies just think about Lake and Riley in my neighboring state of Georgia this beautiful 22-year-old nursing student went out on a jog one morning but she never got the opportunity to return home she was brutally murdered by one of the mil
lions of illegal border crossers President Biden chose to release into our homeland y'all as a mom I can't quit thinking about this I mean this could have been my daughter this could have been yours and tonight President Biden finally said her name but he refused to take responsibility for his own actions Mr President enough is enough innocent Americans are dying and you only have yourself to blame fulfill your oath of office reverse your policies end this crisis and stop the suffering sadly we
know that President Biden's failures don't stop there his Reckless spending dug our economy into a hole and sent the cost of living through the roof we have the worst inflation in 40 years and the highest credit card debt in our nation's history let that sink in hardworking families are struggling to make ends meet today and with soaring mortgage rates and Sky High child care cost they're also struggling to how a plan for tomorrow the American people are scraping by while President Biden proudly
proclaims that Biden nomics is working goodness y'all bless his heart we know better I'll never forget stopping at a gas station in Chilton County one evening the gentleman working the counter told me that after retiring he had to pick up a job in his 70s so that he didn't have to choose between going hungry or going without his medication he said I I did everything right I did everything I was told to do I worked hard I saved I was responsible he's not alone I hear similar concerns from fellow
parents whether I am walking with my friends or whether I'm at my kids' games but let's be honest it's been a minute since Joe Biden pumped gas uh ran a carpo or even push to G grocery cart meanwhile the rest of us see our dollar and we know it doesn't go as far we see it every day and despite what he tells you our communities are not safer for years the left has coddled criminals and defunded the police all while letting repeat offenders walk free the result is tragic but foreseeable from our
small towns to America's most iconic city streets life is getting more and more dangerous and unfortunately President Biden's weakness isn't just hurting families here at home he is making us a punchline on the world's stage look where I'm from your word is your bond but for three years the president has demonstrated that America's word doesn't mean what it used to from abandoned ing our allies in his disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan to desperately pushing another dangerous deal with Iran
President Biden has failed we've become a nation in Retreat and the enemies of Freedom they see an opportunity Putin's brutal aggression in Europe has put our allies on the brink Iran's terrorist proxies have slaughtered Israel chws and American citizens they've targeted commercial shipping and they've attacked our troops nearly 200 times since October killing three US soldiers and two Navy Seals meanwhile the Chinese Communist party is undercutting America's workers China is buying up our Farml
and spying on our military installations and spreading propaganda through the likes of Tik Tock you see the CCP knows that if it conquers the minds of our next Generation it conquers America and what does President Biden do well he bans Tik Tock for government employees but creates an account for his own campaign y'all you can't make this stuff up look we all recall when presidents faced National Security threats with strength and resolve that seems like ancient history right now our commander a
nd chief is not in command the Free World deserves better than a dithering and diminished leader America deserves leaders who recognize that secure borders stable prices Safe Streets and a strong defense are actually the cornerstones of a great nation just ask yourself are you better off now than you were 3 years ago there's no doubt we're at a Crossroads and it doesn't have to be this way we all feel it but here's the good news we the people are still in the driver's seat we get to decide wheth
er our future will grow brighter or whether we'll settle for an America in Decline well I know which Choice our children deserve and I know the choice the Republican party is fighting for we are the party of hardworking parents and families and we want to give you and your children the opportunities to thrive and we want want families to grow it's why we strongly support continued Nationwide access to invitro fertilization we want to help loving moms and dads bring precious life into this world
Wesley and I believe there is no greater blessing in life than our children and that's why tonight I want to make a direct appeal to the parents out there and in particular to my fellow moms many of whom I know will be up tossing and turning at 2 a.m. wondering how you're going to be in three places at once and then somehow still get dinner on the table first of all we see you we hear you and we stand with you I know you're frustrated I know you're probably disgusted by most of what you see goin
g on in Washington and I'll be really honest with you you're not wrong for feeling that way look I get it the task in front of us isn't an easy one but I can promise you one thing it is worth it so I am asking you for the sake of your kids and your grandkids get into the arena every generation has been called to do hard things American greatness rests in the fact that we always answer that call it's who we are never forget we are steeped in the blood of patriots who overthrew the most powerful E
mpire in the world we walk in the footsteps of pioneers who tamed the wild we now carry forward the same flame of Freedom as the liberators of an oppressed Europe we continue to draw Courage from those who bent the moral Arc of the universe and when we gaze upon the heavens never forget that our DNA contains the same Ingenuity that put man on the moon America has been tested before and every single time we've emerged unbowed and unbroken our history has been written with the grit of men and wome
n who got knocked down but we know their stories because they did not stay down we are here because they stood back up so now it's our turn our moment to stand up and prove ourselves worthy of protecting the American dream together we can reawaken the heroic Spirit of a great nation because America we don't just have a Rendevous with Destiny we take Destiny's hand and we lead it our future starts around kitchen tables just like this with moms and dads just like you and you are why I believe with
every fiber of my being that despite the current state of our Union our best days are still ahead may God bless you and may God continue to bless these United States of America all right the Republican response from Junior senator from Alabama Katie Britt uh she is 42 years old she is a former Chief of Staff for one of the previous senators from Alabama Richard Shelby uh and this is uh the job that the senators from the Republican Party have have given her uh Caitlyn Collins uh fellow Universit
y of Alabama graduate uate uh what can you tell us about Miss Brit and what do you think of her response I I'll tell you why Republicans picked her they they picked her because she is the youngest woman elected youngest Republican woman elected to the Senate they believed that the fact that she's half Biden's age would be an effective response to have her also at her kitchen table talking about kitchen table issues which they feel like President Biden is the weakest on a and also the moment in A
labama of course that no one could ignore Republicans there have been since scrambling to to protect IVF to let clinics there open I I think a question also is she's on Trump's VP short list I think after that the question is going to be if Republicans felt like she met the moment in responding to a very fiery Biden speech and forceful delivery that he had where he addressed issues like the border and crime which she mentioned there uh I think that's going to be the big question of whether Repub
licans feel that she met the moment I'll tell you I talked to multiple Republicans on the hill today who were looking forward to this um and obviously also I should note it's always a thankless task it is indeed a thankless task and also very difficult to give a speech uh basically by yourself uh in your kitchen much easier for politicians to do it in a room where they can play off the crowd uh Anderson Jake thanks very much here with the penel in New York Ash Alissa what do you think so listen
Katie Brit a rising star um no doubt among among Republicans I think it was a smart choice she's somebody who's an incredibly impressive person she ran a smart race in Alabama but I've got to say the staging this was bizarre to me um women can be both wives and mothers and also States women so to put her in a kitchen um not in front of a Podium or in the Senate chamber where she was elected after running a hard hardfought race I think fell very flat and was confusing to some women watching it um
I think that was a missed opportunity I think her her focus on the border on the economy that's what Republicans wanted to hear the substance of her remarks great the staging just very very bizarre I want to play two uh sound bites from President Biden's address uh where I think some of the key moments was and and we talked about this he had done this in the last state of the union where he was sort of trying to elicit a response from Republicans uh one is on tax hat to one's on immigration let
's play those back to back January 6 lies about the 2020 election and the plots that steal the election posed a great gravest threat to US democracy since a civil war but they failed America stood America stood strong and democracy prevailed we must be honest the threat to democracy must be defended my predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth about January 6th I will not do that political violence has absolutely no place no place in America zero place in November my team began ser
ious negotiation with a bipartisan group of senators the result was a bipartisan bill with the toughest set of border security reforms we've ever seen oh you don't think so oh you don't like that bill huh that conservatives got together and said was a good bill I'll be darn that's amazing that was some we played the wrong side for the first but then uh that was some of his his do you think that was effective David uh yeah I do look first of all I think he knew that was going to happen and he was
ready to do it and he did it because there's a tremendous amount of hypocrisy associated with what happened James Langford uh is in fact one of the most conservative members of Congress he spent months assiduously negotiating what would have been the strictest border Bill uh in in decades and then it was tanked and it was tanked as the president said because Donald Trump wanted it tanked so he knew this moment was going to elicit a response and he wanted to say exactly what he said but it has n
othing to do with the current problem and how we got here over the last three years on day one y reversing all of Donald Trump's immigration policies by executive action in the idea that after three years of telling the American people the Border was Secure after having Unleashed this on the American people on the ex and then saying well we didn't pass the bill so it's all there it's not no I understand that you feel like it you you feel and you're probably right this is a good issue for Republi
cans but the public actually wants answers to it this was an answer and trunk tanked it do you think do you think the public believes Joe Biden has the answers I think the public believes that the bill I I think if they saw the details of the bill and its particulars they would would say yeah those are good things and we ought to do that and in fact you would have said that too if you were on if if you were asked about this before it became uh an issue that that Trump pulled the the the the rip
court on Scott the whole time Joe Biden has been president people have been saying he's cowering to the left he's too Progressive on an issue that Republicans say they care about he presented one of the most conservative bills possible in the chamber tonight one of your to Anderson's Point most conservative Senators says that's true yes which took some courage because he I'm sure he knew the camera was going to be on him so he's really count discounting what you're saying right now is that that
bill would have solved the problem and if you want to be the pro the the party who says you want to take the future forward then you have to solve problems but that's not what's happening and the person on the top of your wait let me finish the person on the top of your ticket doesn't solve problems he creates chaos he tells people not to do their job and that is what happened on that immigration bill and the President Joe Biden is allowed to call it out so so the president President Biden creat
ed the crisis only went to the Border because Governor Abbott dis gave some immigrants options to go to democratic cities and Elevate this issue to be a national issue and now at the last minute and right before the fourth quarter right before the end of the game fellas there's a there's a there's a thing there's a bill there's a bill on the table on the table there's a bill on the table Dave that would would solve it or at least help address it everybody agreed on it until Trump came in and sai
d no I see it I see it somewhat differently in that um there's there there is a problem there and there's been a problem there for a while it has gotten worse every everybody's got a a number that's too many um we hit our numbers Democrats and we couldn't find a partner and I think that's not good you wouldn't take yes for an answer and I'm glad that Biden called you out on it let's go back to Jake and D youc Jake uh we are joined Now by a very special guest who was in the house chamber for toni
ght's State of the Union Address speaker amerita and democratic congresswoman from California uh Nancy Pelosi uh speaker Pelosi thank you so much for joining us we appreciate it so I have to say this was this may have been the highest Stakes speech of President Biden's long career in politics it may have been the highest Stakes State of the Union Address that I've ever seen do you think he met the moment oh I think he did definitely actually I should quote him and just say maybe I should go home
right now because I think what he did was spectacular he did it with Vigor he did it with vision with patriotism and I think it was one of the finest State of the Union addresses I have seen and I've seen many so obviously a lot of Republicans are critical of it one of the things that they're criticizing it for is for being political and it was a very political State of the Union Address well it had some political aspect to it mostly generated by the audience saying four more years but the uh p
erhaps Amnesia has set in on the disgraceful speech that Donald Trump gave to the chamber the one you ripped up well there were so many disgraceful ones I'm getting them but this is the one where he gave a um presidential medal to somebody who was oh Russ Rush limbo yeah all that stuff and all he talked about was the election and the rest and as Speaker I was offended because it is not a a a political rally and by the way he had what the convention at the White House right so okay let's get to w
hat's important to America's Working Families instead of uh some of this so so he did mention you by name President Biden did yeah do we can we roll that little clip miss that you think I would the very idea of America is they were all created equal and his Z to be treated equally throughout our lives we've never fully lived up to that idea but we've never walked away from it either and I won't walk away from it now I'm optimistic I really am I'm optimistic NY you didn't hear it that he said I'm
optimistic I'm op I'm I'm optimistic Nancy you didn't catch that the first time I guess there's a lot of noise going on lot of noise why do you think he said that to you is do you do you do you disagree with him privately about his optimism like no no I I think he was saying I I hope you agree that I delivered the message tonight this was You' said it's high stakes one of the reasons it's high stakes is because the opposition the person that he's running against is such a low form I always say
he's doing a limbo contest with himself to see how low he can go so this really important for the Democratic candidate who is the incumbent president to be president itial to show a path and I think quite frankly while I missed the Nancy part I did love what he said at the end about two paths you have a path that takes us to the Past narrowing our freedom in the history of our country we have always expanded freedom from a Constitution which uh thank God our Founders made it amendable ending sla
very expanding the right to vote black men women as time goes by roie Wade and the rest until this court narrowed Freedom with the the do's decision and threatening to say because privacy is not guaranteed in the Constitution and we are ignoring president of the Court everything else is at stake whether it's um marriage equality or whatever else so this was a path to go back or a path to go to the Future and I think that he very clearly laid out a vision for the future BAS based on values and re
ally centered around America's Working Families which has always been his commitment and quite frankly I think tonight was a clear definition between the Democrats and the Republicans is what we St we stand for and he has faced down big money big money in guns and one big money in Pharma and one big money in fossil fuel industry and one with legislation in the Congress and a path with more to come making wealthy people pay their fair share Dan Madam speaker one of the uh clearly ad lived moments
was during the section about immigration and uh I'm sure you saw the buttons that your colleagues across the aisle had and he had one of those buttons we believe it was given to him by Marjorie Taylor green and when she said something to him uh during his speech he responded I think we have that let's listen to it I I didn't see any Republican but Lincoln Lincoln Riley an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal that's right but how many thousands of people being killed by legals to he
r parents I say my heart goes out to you having lost children myself I understand now you should have said undocumented but I it's not a big thing okay what what's the big thing about no I was I actually wasn't even going to ask about that I was just going to ask more about the moment but you do think that he should have said undocumented that wasn't going to be my question well we usually say undocumented he said illegal I don't think it's a big deal okay I don't think it's a big deal but but m
ore broadly because I think the his Focus was on the sympathy for the family yeah it's a terrible tragedy that was going to be the sort of the basis of my question about it which is as you well know maybe you didn't know about the buttons uh we there's been a lot of talk a lot of news news about this this young woman who was a student at University of Georgia and she died and apparently was an undocumented immigrant and and the fact that he was ready with that with the button with the response u
m what do you make of that when it comes to not just the substance but also the performance well I think that it was if that's spontaneous see I don't know about the buttons and you're telling me that they had buttons I didn't see I I didn't do too much smoing with the Republicans usually we do and we had some conversations but none of the ones that came over to converse with us had those buttons on so I didn't see the buttons so we want make a thing of the button the president I think handled i
t very well and I think I think he handled it very well it's a terrible situation that anybody losing a child or a family member it's a terrible situation but I think he handled it well and you well know that one of the questions that uh people were looking at they were wanting to see how he formed uh when it comes to his age yeah you think do you think he put it to rest at least for a short time well I thought he I thought he showed great Vigor in the speech sustained a level of of strength in
his speech for a long time which would be hard for anyone at any age to give that performance and uh I think that uh his enthusiasm for all of it was demonstrated he's old he said it you know I've been around but I have wisdom and I think it's important for him to embrace his age says one who is older than the president myself with age comes wisdom judgment knowledge and this president when he was speaking I was thinking at last people are seeing the way we see him which is when you go in there
you don't have to speak short a long hand to him on subjects he's informed he's knowledgeable he's been around he knows the territory he has a great vision for the country he has great knowledge of the issue issues he has great judgment therefore because he has knowledge and he thinks in a strategic way about how to get things done and his record as a president when we had the majority was equal well on a par with lynon Johnson and compared to uh Franklin Roosevelt for a two-year period of their
term in office so I think that his kind of making some humor about his age was okay uh I I I thought I thought it was great what what are you going to do you can't make yourself younger but you have to show what you bring to the table at whatever your age is and I think that it was important for him to embrace it Madam speaker you can't erase it Madam speaker thank you so much for uh for being here we really appreciate thank you for your insights I just want to say the best speeches ever one of
the best speeches ever okay Aaron to you Jake you know it's interesting hearing the the former speaker there um talk about how this would have been a hard speech for for anyone to deliver and I'm going to admit when right when he started you know they hand they send you the full speech so print it out and I and I go okay I knew this was long but this was long and then you looked at it and you saw lots of exclamation points which was really just a symbol of how much he had um oops how much he ha
d worked on for practice it how much he he knew this performance matter yeah this was a this was a a demonstration project really it was about demonstrating to Americans that from the moment he walks in that room that he's got the energy to stay through to the end and you know by the end he's still shmoozing afterwards that's very important because that's what people wanted to see and exclamation points you know he also puts tick marks next to the words where he needs to take a breath he's been
doing this ever since he started giving speeches 50 years ago because he did you hear that now that you've know you knew that it's part of his practice it's part of the reason it's as Kate knows better than I do it's part of the reason why he starts early and needs to rehearse cuz he knows he's got a this stutter never goes away it's been a part of his life forever and um he mastered it at an early age but it comes back and so when you hear him trip up in a speech like that this is something tha
t he's dealt with for you know all of his life and and and even in it with all the clear you know the short sentences and and the and the you know plethora of exclamation points to to where he wanted to put emphasis there was a lot of ADL and we started noticing that you started noticing that earlier just play a couple for anybody who just joining us now couple of examples of when that happened Republicans can cut Social Security and give more tax breaks to the wealthy I will that's the proposal
oh no you guys don't want another $2 trillion tax cut I kind of thought that's what your plan was well that's good to hear you're not going to cut another $2 trillion for the super wealth that's good to hear in November my team began serious negotiation with a bipartisan group of senators the result was a bipartisan bill with the toughest set of border security reforms we've ever seen oh you don't think so oh you don't like that bill huh you know that was the reparte that he clearly was seeking
out yes and then and but there was also these were just moments that he was creating and there were many other moments that he just added some much more extensively than others yes because he was very comfortable and I think one thing that was great about this and I imagine this was probably some of the calculation here is you know there's been a lot of um you know as people have talked about what he's like behind closed doors and have said you know his mental acuity is strong you know the crit
icism has been well then let's see it you know then let's see some of these things that go on behind closed doors that that's a great example I mean that I can tell you that's how he is in meetings you know if you're going back and forth with him you raise an issue and he says now wait a minute no actually that's not it and you know he's very uh he's very on top of that back and forth and so I think it was great uh for them to to be able to kind of for him to be able to manufacture those kinds o
f moments to show people that uh you know he's he is more than capable of that back it was a moment when Wall Street came up in a pejorative sense in the speech and then he said well they're not bad guys and and we're sitting here right and Kate interjects to us oh you know then he's going to tell this thing about how in Delaware it's okay because of corporate tax laws I'm not against corporations and capitalism that was not in the speech but then there it came almost word for word I mean you yo
u knew what was coming because he knows who he is and so when he's talking about these issues he talks about things from a place of his own experience and every uh you know as he's explaining where he stands on things he really he takes the time to talk about why he feels that way why his why he you know why has he's been shaped that way that's that's a perfect example I mean and and you saw that frequently throughout the speech again because he was comfortable and what struck me something that
was very new was the way he talked about age at the end you know six months ago he wasn't talking about it that way he wasn't really comfortable addressing it head on he would make an off-hand comment but I think what you heard tonight was the beginning of a strategy for how he's going to talk about it which is it's not the age of how old you are it's about the age of your ideas are they fresh are they forward-looking that's something that as you know at one point you said young or old I've had
a sense of our North Star I think there is a way in which we're going to hear about age for the next eight months it's a reality but the as much as you perform and you show people look judge this performance for yourself but also talk about it and uh acknowledge it and say that this is a big issue for this country and I take it seriously and and and on it knowing that remember that not trying to bury it all right of course staying with us as our special coverage continues coming up the big quest
ion tonight is how the president's speech played with actual voters so we are now getting the first results of CNN's exclusive flash poll of Americans who watched the state of the union and we will have that for you after a quick break I'm Dr Sanjay Gupta in New York and this is CNN and we are back with our state of the union coverage breaking down President Biden's politically charged speech we are moments away from the first results from CNN's exclusive flash pole of Voters who watched uh the
president tonight we'll talk to David chellan about that shortly but first I want to get reaction from the biding team MJ Lee is at the White House what are you here well Anderson we knew heading into the e evening the major issues and the themes that the president wanted to hit on what we didn't know was how he was going to land the delivery you know there was a moment where he got into the chamber and when he got to the podium he joked uh if I were smart I'd go home now after getting that warm
reception uh from a lot of the lawmakers in the room you can easily imagine that some of the AIDS that were watching uh had that sort of joke in the back of their minds as he started speaking uh well the White House and campaign AIDs that I've been speaking tonight they are very very happy with the way that the speech was delivered uh they said that there were Applause and cheers both here at the White House and also at the Wilmington Campaign Headquarters where AIDS were spending the evening u
h watching the speech unfold on their television sets you know they felt like he was high energy he landed his major lines uh they appreciated the banter that he had with Republicans as he was trying to call them out uh for inaction and some of their policies obviously there were no major mistakes so all in all they were incredibly happy with the way that the speech was delivered uh one campaign official I was speaking to was saying they also liked the split screen of moments when the president
was talking about some of the day-to-day issues uh the work that the Administration has done on issues like removing uh lead pipes or fighting big Pharma and those moments where Republican lawmakers in the house chamber did not stand up obviously gets to sort of that contrast that the president wanted to make uh between himself and his vision versus the Republican vision for the country and in a speech where the delivery was just as important as the actual words that he said I think that's proba
bly one of the biggest reasons that aids that I've been speaking to have been so pleased with how the speech went Anderson all right MJ the White House thank you we now have the first results from our exclusive flash poll from people who watch president bid State of the Union addressing and political director David challan is here to break it all down so David how are viewers reacting to the speech yeah Anderson I should just remind everyone this is a poll of speech Watchers so it's not a poll t
hat is representative of the electorate overall the way people are used to watching polls in fact in this sample of speech Watchers which is normal it's a little more democratic than the public is at large because we find this when a Democrat is President more Democrats tend to over represent and tune into the speech same thing happens on the Republican side when a republican is President the our makeup here is about 37% Democratic 30% Republican 33% independent so about eight points more Democr
at uh than the country is as a whole with that in mind take a look at these results here reaction to Biden's speech among those watching it tonight 35% said they had a very positive reaction 29% somewhat positive reaction that's 64% there uh total and 35% had a negative reaction take a look at that very positive number how does that compare with Biden's speeches uh to joint sessions of Congress passed here well you can see 35% this year 34% in 2023 41% in 2022 and 51% 2021 his poll numbers go do
wn here with reviews of his speech kind of like they have overall with his job approval ratings Biden's policies will they move the United States in the right direction or wrong direction 62% said they're going to move in the right direction 38% said they're going to move the country in the wrong direction but keep that an eye on that 6 2% because we also asked how people felt that way prior to the speech and if you compare here before the speech started these speech Watchers only 45% said Biden
's policy would move the US in the right direction with watching the speech that went up from 45% to 62% again sort of within the norm of what we've seen in the last couple years for him this kind of increase in support with people watching the speech Anderson fascinating to see that that change is that um well let's talk about it with the panel I I I think I I'm seeing that uh in my text message to people I think people went into speech I'm talking about people who are you know friendly to Bide
n probably going to vote for Biden but feeling depressed uh feeling distressed uh not sure if Biden was up to it uh not sure if his policies were going to help them at all and I think he that those numbers that you go from 45% to 62% % that's as much you can do in a speech and I think people feeling reassured that we've got a fighter in this race and that we've got an agenda we can get behind you know I I was thinking before the speech there are a couple audiences here if I was on the campaign s
taff right there are people who are in Biden's corner to Vance point and then there are people perhaps like me who are I'm going to vote for Biden but I needed something tonight to now go and tell other people to V vote for Biden and that's what happened tonight and these numbers prove it and I think you know if I'm a camp cign uh worker that job is hard and and working on this campaign right now I have on firstand account it's hard this gives them the steam they need and I'm I heard last night
um from Top White House officials and now he is going to get on the road his cabinet's going to get on the road and they are going to take this to the people let me ask you what was it tonight that gave you something to tell other people about I think when he talked about uh tax credits to buy homes that talks to like a lot of people you know the thing that was funny about Katie britz respons says I'm not married and I'm not a mom so what about me Katie who are you talking like and there a lot o
f black women fall into that that category so it felt like I didn't have a place in her party of the Republican party but Joe Biden was saying I want kids to be able to read I want to fund HBCU I want to fund uh minority serving institutions Republicans didn't stand I cut student loan debt and so I can now say to people this is what he some he has already done and some he will continue to do yeah but he's been doing that for three years three years none of this is new tonight this is what Joe Bi
den's been doing for three years and the numbers suck so I don't know what he's going to do to effectually you know U communicate well he's got Tove he's going to have to first of all I mean assume that don't assum don't don't assume that um you know these these proposals some of which are new and some of which are are are uh recycled proposals are known widely to Americans I I don't think they are he you know but the second thing is it's going to be a comp erative process so it's not just about
what he's proposing but what is on the other side on all of these things and that's why he brought up uh brought up the tax SC let me just make a couple of points I think he had a strong night and I think he had a strong night uh in part because of the economic agenda that he outl outlined but mainly because as these guys said he had a you know a very strong pulse and he had a fighting Instinct and Democrats needed to see his base uh needed to see that but what you point out is really important
going on the just let me just finish one point just he's going to hit the road now in any state of the union speech the audience is limited what you want to do is then take it out on the road he's going to swing States he's going to take hopefully he'll emphasize the economic piece and the only thing that I would say is I still think that if you ask people who watch the speech the triumphalism about where the economy is today is probably not matching not matching their was there enough I feel y
our pain right like the Bill Clinton there there's a lot of numbers but was there or not I feel I understand that that you still feel it at home I didn't I didn't get that sense I I think they had a clear Mission I mean I'll I'll concur with you Democrats are going to love it it was a speech only for Democrats there was nothing in there for I didn't hear anything in there much for Nikki Haley supporters truthfully I didn't hear anything I didn't I didn't hear anything much in there for Swing Vot
e Independents who have anxiety I about different things I you you don't think his stuff on Ukraine and abortion rights and so on would appeal to inally I heard I heard a partisan president who is was jumping from soft constituency one to the other they're looking at polling every day we gota it's like whack-a-mole I gotta Shore up these guys who are worried about Palestinians I got to shore up these people who are worried about and it but they're all Democratic and so the speech was built to ju
mp from those lily pads but it it was built to unify despite his rhetoric about Unity that's not what it was for so I'm I'm not surprised Democrats are telling you it was great because that's who it was for and no one else well and at the end of the day elections are about contrast and while this speech was being given the former president who he's running against uh spent his time posting commenting on how old Biden looks how his hair is thinning out and just like Mindless critiques throughout
not policy not substance it was an opportunity for a campaign that I've actually praised that this is Trump's best campaign yet to be putting out policy contrasts and instead he was giving it to his worst instincts which you're only going to see more of on the campaign Trail but I did think that Biden actually threw a couple of little lines to the Nicki voters out there within the first three minutes of the speech he quot quoted Ronald Reagan and then went into this generation defining issue of
supporting Ukraine there are American voters old school Republican voters who will not be with a Republican party if they do not get Aid to Ukraine yeah um and I I I do see it differently in that um it was partisan and it and it's unusually so for State of the Union but you know regular working folks health care costs too much right and he had an answer for that grocer cost too much he had an answer for that uh you can't buy a house you can't buy a car rents too high he really was giving people
like me something go out and say this dude is going to go out here and fight to get these prices down and he's already fought to get uh you know certain medicines cheaper then somebody tells me well he hadn't done anything for us he's not going to do anything it doesn't matter he is going to fight for an agenda that is very different than Donald Trump can I ask you a question do you think people want answers on those difficult issues that you mentioned from someone who refuses to take responsibi
lity for any of it that to me is the most maddening thing about this presidency this guy has repeatedly said the buck stops here I'm in charge I I'm gonna I'm gonna own I'm going to be responsible for this he takes no responsibility how do you when they won't take responsibility compared to Trump I the president no no but what on these on these economic issues what are you talking about he's been working on this prescription drug issue he's been working on because you've been working on these th
ings inflation R 18% of people think the bid helped I just feel like we're not being honest about the state of our government right now Joe Biden cannot do it all and we have people Don Donald Trump do didn't do anything really in my opinion but definitely couldn't do it all neither does Joe Biden and that's not how our government works we have a house we have a senate we have Governors he said in the speech oh you want my money that I got you in the infrastructure Bill Republican states didn't
vote for it but then they take it that's the stuff that I think will resonate with voters we're going to get another read on the Public's response to President Biden's speech stay with us for more results from our exclusive flash poll we also getting reaction from members of Congress and from voters in the Battleground state of Michigan that's all ahead stay with us President Biden delivering a forceful and often fiery State of the Union Address tonight repeatedly attacking Donald Trump not by n
ame though Democrats often cheering Republicans sometimes cheering during this unusually political and very interactive uh Speech before Congress let's go to Manu Raju he's on Capitol Hill he was in the house chamber during the State of the Union Address so mono you know you were there you were watching uh the interjections in the back and forth uh and now having a chance to talk to some of the people involved in those exchanges yeah that's right in fact it got pretty tense inside the house cham
ber Republicans in particular W some of them heckling the president including one congressman Derek van Orton of Wisconsin the Republican yelled out Lies when Joe Biden criticized Donald Trump during the speech and I just caught up with Van Orton and I asked him whether it was appropriate for a member of the House to push back like he did and he defended his remarks why did you allow the president was lying the President should have started and an end as his State of the Union Address by apologi
zing to the American people he's let 8 million illegal immigrants in to the country he opened the border and you know he can close it so what he said there in the State of the Union a tremendous amount of it was just Flatout fabrication you're obviously a member of the house is it appropriate for you to yell out Lies when the president is addressing you guys is it appropriate to tell the truth so it went back and forth like that for some time so as you can see they U very clearly defending his r
emarks but I just caught I've caught up with a lot of members of the house and the Senate Democrats and republ Republicans most of the remarks are mostly coming on around party lines most Democrats saying this is a great speech Republicans sharply criticizing it some members of the on the on the left though Aaron not happy with how the president talked about Israel wanted to calls for an immediate ceasefire and one important member who I just caught up with too the Speaker of the House Mike John
son I asked him about whether or not it alleviated any of his concerns about the president's mental acuity and he indicated that it did not very very interesting and watching him uh early on standing uh when the president talked about NATO and then uh you know just watching his facial expressions throughout all right Manu thank you very much and I want to go to Jeff zelony now because he's joining us from Michigan which obviously is a crucial Battleground state in this year's presidential electi
on and in the context uh Jeff of what Manu just mentioned right uh Israel and Gaza and how the president handled those two issues in his address tonight how are voters where you are reacting to that and the rest of the speech well Aon as the president takes his State of the Union message on the road of course one stop not surprisingly will be here in Battleground Michigan you're right the economy and foreign policy front and center on the minds of Voters but I can tell you I was at a watch party
tonight with Biden supporters and there were a feelings of anxiety and apprehension among his own supporters going into the speech that quickly changed as the speech wore on we caught up with one small business owner here Rihanna nolles who said she was impressed and surprised by the president overall it was a different side of him that came out he was like I said very confident very um reassuring of the things that he has done for our country and I didn't get a glimpse of anything involving ag
e or the lack thereof of being able to deliver and be the president of the United States and not just the performance but the policy as well particularly that populist message there much Applause in uh terms of the high housing cost and the rest eron one question mark of course is the situation in Israel and Gaza there is much concern and anger here among the Muslim American community of course that did not go away tonight but there were many people who were pleased that the president addressed
it getting humanitarian Aid into Gaza that of course is something that will play out over the next eight months but the president comes here next week certainly a bounce in his step and a sign of relief from his supporters Ain Jeff zelony thank you and more reaction to the president's speech ahead View ERS and now voters are actually sounding off in our exclusive flash poll so we'll get you a very early poll here and we're joined by a key member of Congress stay with us this is CNN more people g
et their news from CNN than any other news source hello and welcome everyone I'm Michael Holmes appreciate your company coming up here on CNN Newsroom us
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