>> start with one issue ad guests on all sides of the debate. and a host willing to ask the tough questions and you'll get... the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5pm et / 2pm pt only on al jazeera america >> the state of the union is strong. >> his final two years a renewed focus on the middle class. >> nothing helps families make ends meet like higher wages. we need a tax code that truly helps working americans. >> as the u.s. economy rebounds. >> we have free tore write our own future. >> new threats arise overseas from foreign policy to

immigration, president obama has set his agenda. >> tonight we turn the page. >> can he work with a republican-controlled congress with an agenda of its own and an eye on capturing the white house in 2016? our special report, state of the union, 2015. >> hi, everyone. i'm john siegenthaler, welcome to al jazeera america special coverage of the state of the union. president obama has laid out his agenda for his final two years in office, and he laid down some challenges to the first republican-led congress of his presidency. his speech touched a range of issues from isil and threats overseas to stopping cyber attacks at home, but issue number one was the u.s. economy. the president said it's time to turn the page on the financial crisis. he wants to do that with a range of proposals to help strengthen the middle class. >> the president of the united

states! >> it's now up to us to choose who we want to be over the next 15 years and for decades to come. >> we've seen the fastest economic growth in over a decade our deficits cut by two thirds a stock market that has doubled and the lowest in plagues rate in 15 years. this is good news people. if you want the job done right hire a veteran. we stand united with people around the world from people attacked by terrorists, frock a school in pakistan to the streets of paris. we will hunt down terrorists and dismantle their networks and we reserve the right to act unilaterally. that's why we defendant free speech and condemn the persian accusation of women or religious minorities, people who are lesbian gay bisexual or

trapped againster because not only they are the right things to do, but ultimately will make us safer. >> i have no more campaigns to run. [ applause ] [ laughter ] >> i know, because i won both of them. [ applause ] >> we are still more than a collection of red states and blue states and we are the united states of america. [ applause ] >> thank you. god bless you. god bless this country we love. thank you. >> the republicans laid out their vision for america. this year's republican response was delivered by republican joniernst. >> moms and dads put their dreams on hold while growing fearful about the kind of future they'll leave to their children.

americans have been hurting but when we demanded solutions sue often washington responded with the same stale mindset that let a failed policies like obamacare. it's a mindset that gave us political talking points, not solutions. >> libby casey is at the u.s. capitol outside the house chamber with more on tonight's events. libby. >> good evening john, democrats milling about are applauding president obama. they are saying he got his groove back. they felt he owned his voice and owned his agenda, bringing change to middle class families. we talked to members here tonight who approve of the proposal president obama has made ranging from free community college to middle class tax breaks. there, however as to be expected republican pushback

critical of not only what president obama is doing but how he is doing it, everything from use of executive action to trying to pigeon hole republicans. we saw people like john boehner not standing up and applauding as president obama talked about bringing community college to every american. so they're pushing back against that. one thing democrats not so happy about, trade. it's an issue we are hearing about a lot tonight. they have grave concerns about how president obama plans to go forward with alliances an capitol hill. we are hearing from members of the congressional black caucus, democrats who like that president obama talked about race tonight but they feel those middle class issues will ultimately help african-american families their constituents. >> al jazeera's political correspondent michael shure was inside the house chamber tonight. he joins us with more.

>> i think one of the things that we need to talk about because it was so unusual this year is how much we knew about the state of the union before the speech was ever given. we knew a lot of the policy. ordinarily he's going to give the mar active and then the policy follows. tonight, it worked differently. the president so far, of course we're in the middle of it right now, so it's hard to say but it seems to have been the tactical move that helped the president tonight. he could have dispensed with things that may be divisive, but talked about how good it was for the country. i think that worked for the president. >> your favorite moment of the speech? >> the laugh line. i thought the laugh line was fantastic. that's an easy one to go for but i do think an interesting moment was when he talked about race ferguson and talked about not just a black father. he talked about a policemen's wife waiting for her husband to come home. that struck a chord for people.

it's everybody's issue is what he was saying. >> the president's speech was filled with optimism about the rebounds economy. he said the way to promote growth is concentrate on the middle class. >> class economics means helping working families feel more secure in a world of constant change. that means helping folks afford child care, college health care a home, retirement. my budget will address each issue, lowering the taxes of working families and putting thousands of dollars back into their pockets each year. >> let's bring in senior washington correspondent mike viqueira and jeannie zano. your reaction to what you saw tonight. >> i've been watching the speeches of many americans covering the white house and congress for a while now. it was probably the most at ease i've seen president obama.

you ever to go back to the 2004 speech at the boston convention that launched him into the national spotlight. he coined a phrase tonight really unrestrained optimism, i thought about the economy. that's something we're unused to seeing. the people will always throw in but people are hurting we've built thousands of jobs over the past years but have to do better. tonight, you heard that, but not as much of it. the president was throwing caution to the wind. since the election, it's as if a burden has been lifted from him. he is through with trying to play nice with republicans through with the charm offensive. he's just going for it and hoping that republicans come along. you heard him coin the phrase middle class economics, talked about child care tax credits about his initiative for a community college many of these things unusually rolled out beforehand raising the minimum wage an executive order for federal workers, a lot more

needs to be done. a comprehensive speech by the president, perhaps the most well delivered speech i've ever seen. >> even democrats have been saying that president obama hadn't been delivering as in inspirational leader in the last couple of years. what do you think happened tonight? >> it's fascinating. you look back and a lot of americans feel disenchant by what's been going on during the obama presidency and that he hasn't lived up to expectations. tonight, you saw him come through. i think it was the president obama a the democratic base are looking for at this point the progressive, populace message. it's not enough that president obama has been talking about it. you can see it with democratic leaders across the country as he talks about child care, paid sick leaf and education and really coining this phrase about the middle class economy and really giving us a jumping off point. i think it is a legacy-building speech because this is how he

warrants to define his last two years. >> all right guys, thanks. tony harris happen looking at the president's economic proposals. >> i wanted to bring in ray suarez and go back to where we started. we were talking about the president's economic proposal, but also talking about some new al jazeera polling. let's go to that again. the question was what is the biggest concern facing your family right now top three concerns. we go to the top 14 or 15 are all about the economy job security unemployment, health care costs every day bills college tuition school costs. you get to the proposals laid out tonight by the president. what are your thoughts on the president's proposals and how he delivered them tonight? >> there was a lot in that speech that is really going to resonate with the middle class and especially women too, when he talked about child care. he said this is not a woman's

issue, a side issue this is a national economic priority. that's really acknowledging the burden of child care, how many americans are out there working just to see their whole bay check go to -- >> cut to, is that the $500 tax credit. >> that would be crippling of the child care tax credit. >> yes yes yes. >> proposals like that are going to resonate with so many americans out there. other proposals he went back to the minimum wage again acknowledge that go wage stagnation is serious for middle class families. >> ray the president also talked about free community college, and that's to the question of mobility, right? being able to move up, to improve your station in life. >> we know that people who complete a four year degree and we've known it for decades do much better over the course of their lives on average than people who lack that credential. the gateway that is two year

degree. a lot of educators are looking at ways to fold in the community college experience into the last two years of high school, so that many high schoolers and their time in public school already with much of an associate's degree knocked out they understand that education is important. it's hard for a lot of americans to imagine that a $50 or $100 increase in tuition is enough to knock you off the rails. i was interviewing one of the heads of the large effort community colleges in the country. she said that she has to provide more and more tuition assistance every year, because the concentration of poverty among her students is so deep that even the most modest tuition increase will end their time at her school. >> patty, i don't want to lose you, before we talk about how this gets paid for and the proposals for the president to pay for this. we're hearing from some republican that is here we go again, this is this president

talking about taking from the wealthy in the society and redistributing wealth down to those who are poor or struggling in the middle class. >> he was talking about raising the capital gains tax and that's how the wealthy get most in comes from dividends and assets. he is talking about raising that closing certain loopholes. one thing that resonated with me in the republican response was that senator was talking about working the biscuit line at hard deto say make money for college. the one thing she didn't annual or follow that up with is that same fast food worker is probably not a teenager, it's most likely an adult trying to support a family on that. i was spiced that that was not mentioned in the same breath. >> patty appreciate it. ray, thank you. john back to you. >> the stream is tracking reaction to this speech on social media.

a lot of buzz coming in. on line communities were waiting to see if the president would talk about ferguson, and he did. >> we may go at it in campaign season but surely we can agree that the right to vote is sacred that it's being denied to too many and that on this 50th anniversary of the great march from selma to montgomery and passage of the voting rights act, we can come together, democrats and republican to say make voting easier for every single american. >> >> he got a standing ovation but on line, this is a very divisive topic. a lot of people said:

>> there was a lot of people in the middle who realize you ever to be political about this, saying:

>> anyone watching at home, tweet at me and you will be getting your twitter featured on the wall behind me. >> appreciate it, thank you. trisha rose is the director for the center of ethnicity at brown university. she is back with us. i'm going to sort of agree with the sentiments of those last two tweets i thought it was a terrific speech, the president was at ease. we talked about him throwing shade, i talked about him seeing his swagger back again but i will be honest with you, i was a little disappointed with the conversation on race, and i wanted more. what are your thoughts? >> i definitely not only wanted more but a slightly different story. it's not only the deeply sort of

shallow skim around thinking of these extreme few cases in ferguson, stanten island, cleveland, that really can't adequately stand in for what the prison industrial complex that done to black and brown communities. the evidence is outstanding. it is not just a question that it has destroyed generations of young people of color. that he is cases really to take a bigger stand on if you contextualize it. in other words, the meets are doing the dirty work for society. we can take responsibility. we needn't blame the police. we can take collective responsibility and speak about our higher goals and moral vision. he had to go to the civil rights era, which should be a gimme right? should be a gimme. >> by noting this for the first time in a long time, both the crime rate and prison population were coming down at the same

time and calling for a reexamination of the way we arrest try and sentence, didn't he do some of that? >> not at all. the language at the end of that paragraph was basically we want to improve these matters but he didn't say what was wrong with them. he didn't identify it. women should have equal rages. but black people or brown people or poor people, none of that constituency got the named clarity of recognition. again, you don't have to fix something if it's not broken. he never told us why it was broken. it was broken because of racism. >> if you go to our poll. we talked about it earlier and let's revisit a little bit. if you go to our poll, race relations in the united states during the obama presidency have race relations become better or worse since barack obama became president? take a look at the number here. 15%, better, 43% worse.

slide four, and ray this is one of your favorites racial and ethnic discrimination in the united states, 51% a big problem. you take a look at those two slides. if the numbers are as they appear to be, it just seems to me there is a deeper, more contextualize discussion to use your word that needs to be had about race than we got from the state of the union and maybe it's not the forum we walked away a bit from the laundry list in this speech, which means you create an opportunity to pick and choose what you really wanted to dive deep on. >> the president did talk about ferguson after the grand jury announced its verdict in the michael brown case and he that said black and brown communities know why they have the troubles they have with the police and they aren't making it up and it's not their imagination. he was acknowledging that

americans of different origins ever trouble talking to each other and it's rare to hear a national leader say that at all. is it just the whole conversation? no but it's a flick at it. we need more, obviously. >> i think that's not the only place that race was really missing. unfortunately, the opportunity to say show us how race matters in our society across the board was not taken up tonight. he had to do it, did it make the speech terrible? no. it's a big opportunity. he's got one more chance, right? this is a waning opportunity. he's not running anymore. why not say the g.i. dill excluded black people. social security the workers the kind of jobs black people had. john book to you. >> we'll get back to you in a moment. coming up next, the

communications director for the democratic national committee and our team of reporters oversea witness how the president's words are being received around the globe.

>> president obama laid out his agenda tonight. he'll be up against a republican-led congress and he is appealing to both sides of the ail to work together. >> imagine if we broke out of these tired old patterns. imagine if we did something different. understand a better politics isn't one where democrats abandon their agenda or republicans simply embrace mine. a better politics is one where we appeal to each other's basic decency instead of our basest fears. better politics is where we debate without demonizing each other, talk issues, values, principles and facts, rather than gotcha moments or fake controversies that have nothing to do with people's daily lives. >> communications director for the democratic national

committee joins us. mo it's good to have you on the program. >> thanks for having me on. >> by even some republicans' who say tonight that the president had a good night with his speech but it is one speech. how does it change politics in congress? >> well, look, watch ago speech tonight, i think there are obviously a lot of democrats who are very energized. i think people really energized or ought to be are either in the middle class or trying to get in the middle class. what the president did was articulate something we haven't seen from the other side yet and that's a vision for how to move the country forward and level the playing field to give everybody a shot. there's stuff in there that should not be controversial. there's stuff in there that if republicans are serious about what they campaigned on, if

they're serious about really trying to expand opportunity the way democrats have demonstrated we are then we should find common ground here. i don't know if that's going to happen or not. based on the initial reactions we've seen from the other side, i'm disheartened. i was feeling pumped at the end of the president's speech but the republican response seems to even recognize the fact that our economy is stronger today than it was six years ago. >> what is the president willing to compromise on? >> i think this president has demonstrated time and time again his willingness to work across the aisle with the other side. there are things in here that should not be controversial the fact of basic tax fairness should not be controversial if you believe that republican's want to expand opportunity if you believe that they want to

expand opportunity it should not be controversial to provide free community college to people. there are way that is we can find common ground on some of these issues. republicans don't seem interested in it, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't keep trying. >> the republicans don't want to raise taxes don't want to raise taxes on the wealthy saying it will stunt job growth. >> show me one experience -- >> free community college so i mean again i go back to my question, is there an issue where the president of the united states is willing to compromise? >> look, as i said repeatedly, first of all the republican party, show me one example where trickle down economics works where giving tax breaks to the wealthy has actually expanded the economy. that's a fantasy land that has been debunked time and time again over the last 30-40 years. under president clinton and

president obama we created a basic sense of tax fairness, giving tax relief to the middle class, asking the wealthiest americans to pay their fair share and we've seen economic growth. our economy is booming at a rate it has not since 1999, but republicans refuse to even accept that fact. they're out there talking about how terrible the economy is. that's just not true. it's hard to figure where they are actually going to be willing to work with us and work with the american people, and it's no surprise that congress' approval ratings is at an all time low. they are refuse to go acknowledge just basic fact. >> i have a question that -- two questions, one within the sizzle, one on the steak. the president seemed like he was not too concerned about republicans reaction, like he was trolling them almost, and letting out a zinger, he's not

running again and retorting to the derisive cheers, but i did win the last two elections. on the substance of i have the speaking of crowd reactions on trade, a lot of people talk about the commonality of the republican position and president's position in two major trade bills. democrats cheered the republicans sat on their hands. how much concern is there that the president is going to cut a deal on trade shove it through congress for the authority he needs to pass these bills? >> i think a basic tenet of the democratic agenda is going back at least a generation, is the notion of a fair trade. the president moving forward with trade deals is committed to doing it in a way that protects american workers and mazes the opportunity to grow the economy and help our workers.

that doesn't mean every democratic loves every one of these deals but the fact that we do have a common thread that ties us together in fair trade and protecting our workers is indisputable. i guess i reject your notion that the president in his rhetoric was trolling republicans. what i heard tonight was a president who was joining the american people. you cannot dispute the fact that consumer confidence is at an all time high, not an all time high, but certainly at the highest level that we've seen in years. the economy is growing in a way it hasn't in years. that's indisputable. i saw a president who was walking us through that journey that shared journey we have all experienced over the past six years, celebrating it and talking about what's next and how to make sure this success is applied to everybody and saying to congress, please come and work with us, please join us on this journey and when you don't

we're going to keep working on it. >> we're about to lose our satellite. good to have you on the program we appreciate it. >> reaction to the state of the union address from around the world. we'll be right back.

>> welcome back, everyone to aljazeera america coverage of the state of the union. president obama delivered his sixth state of the union address, a speech largely focused on the economy the fight against growing inequality but the president also said there is progress in the fight against isil. >> in iraq, in syria american

leadership including our military power is stopping isil's advance. instead of getting dragged into another ground war in the middle east, we are lead ago broad coalition to degrade and destroy this terrorist group. >> nick schiffron is in istanbul with more on the issue of international security and the president's speech. >> the president spent a third of his speech on foreign policy, which is a large number for state of the union. he started with isil as you pointed out saying that the u.s. wasn't overly invested by not having troops in iraq and syria, but many complain isil has been halted, but no troops on the ground to degrade isil in syria. u.s. officials basically saying their priority is not unseating

assad or start ago training that can change things on the ground. obama talking strongly about iran repeating his insistence that congress not jeopardize nuclear talks by pass ago in a sanctioning bill. >> i keep all the options on the table to prevent a nuclear iran, but new sanctions passed by this congress at this moment in time will all but guarantee that diplomacy fails. alienating america from its allies making it harder to maintain sanctions ensure that go iran starts up its nuclear program again. it doesn't make sense. that's why i will veto any new sanctions bill that threat to know undo this progress. >> a tweet just after that speech pointing out something that was right: he is talking

about 34, the number of senator that is obama needs and democratic senators to support him and not override his veto. it is not clear that he has that number. he didn't mention yemen on the verge of a coup, boko haram the abducted girls and no section of assad, clearly he is no longer enemy number one for the u.s. >> nick, thank you. >> let's turn to dana lewis in london. the headlines have been all about the attacks in paris many expected the president to address that at some length. what did we hear about it? >> one certainly can't accuse the president of boring his european audience on that subject tonight. he was obligated to say

something, especially after the criticism of america and the fact that they only sent an ambassador to the memorial march in paris. it is tense in europe, fears of more terror attacks in the wake of what happened in paris to the charlie hebdo newspaper and the hostage taking in the supermarket, but when he said on the threat of terror again took up very little of his speech. essentially said we stand united with people around the world that have been victimized by paris from a school in pakistan to the streets of paris. while the president spoke some waived pencils, a symbol of solidarity for journalists kid in paris. many intelligence experts in the united kingdom and france think the analyzing of intelligence has to change and there has to be great reflection on what's happened. they didn't hear that from president obama tonight but maybe will get that at independent security meetings taking place in europe and america in february.

the threat is difference, homegrown, but president obama didn't pay much attention to that as he took a victory lap i thought on most of his foreign policy issues. >> dane that, thank you. in iraq, the president focused on coalition building and keeping american combat troops out of the fight against isil. we have more on that from baghdad. >> iraq leaders will find remarkably little mention of the conflict consuming the region. president obama talked about the costly lessons of the last 13 years. one key lesson is that the u.s. will not be rushing under his watch into military engagement. one coalition he noted that there is a small fraction of the

u.s. troops here. perhaps most importantly he referenced the need for authorization from congress, something which will make much more clear officials hope the strategy of the u.s. in iraq and the region. >> jane, thank you. let's go to cuba now. the president said re. >>ed relations with that country could end the legacy of mistrust that has gone on far too long. we have more on that. david. >> president obama's speech today was something many cubans, if they were able to listen to the speech, would have wanted to hear. it's the type of speech may not have been waiting for for quite some time, the idea that a adjustment president would call for the end to the u.s. embargo something of a third railed u.s. politics for sometime now thinking that is such a political charged issue given the south florida community that

most politicians will stay away with it. obama speaking today, you can listen to what he said: >> our shift in cuba policy has the potential to end a legacy of mistrust in our hemisphere, remove as phony excuse for restrictions in cuba, stands up for democratic values and we extend a friend of hand dip to the cuban people. this year, congress should end the embargo. >> these are historic talks between top state department officials and to be cuban leaders in havana. there will be a two day meeting wednesday to thursday and all issues on the table travel, remittances, tourism. these two policies remove the united states requirement or having permission to have individuals travel through the island to go to the treasury office. that is done away with now and

it's a self reporting system. what's interesting is it came out on a state government website today saying that human rights issues, a long sticking point between south florida groups and groups that pressure washington and havana, those issues will be on the table, as well. >> you know you were there when a russian warship floated into port, the port of havana. what else do we know about that? >> as we were pulling in, ourselves, actually the center for this live shot, this russian ship pulled in, as well. this has been in the area for quite some time, so it's not new to the region hear, however the optics of this russian warship pulling into dock just one day ahead of these talks and with the state of the union address optics matter here. the united states and cuba,

these are two long cold war foes. russia has a history you remember the cuban missile crisis. as we see russia talk of a new cold war, sort of fomenting this russian warship pulls into port. >> david in havana, thank you. >> retired air force colonel cedric layton worked for the joint chiefs of staff. james jeffery is a former ambassador to turkey and iraq. both are in washington d.c. tonight. welcome, good to see you. president obama praised the withdrawal of troops in afghanistan and that we -- as he said have turned a new page. he ended suggesting congress authorized the use of force against isil. how do you balance those colonel? >> that's going to be very

interesting, because there were so many features in this speech that on the surface looked very good, but when you dig deeper, there is some contribution there is. i think it's going to be very hard to say that you've left iraq and then all of a sudden, you're going to ask for an authorization as to uses military force to go back to the seem region we just came from. this is a very difficult sell for the president at this point. it can be done, but has to be explained very well and clearly. i don't think he really did that at this time in this speech. >> ambassador jeffery the president didn't talk extensively about foreign policy in this speech. why do you think he didn't? >> despite the to him he devoted to it, this was a speech focused on domestic affairs.

my concern is he listed what i was doing around the world in a very almost curt way the iranian nuclear talks are threatening the people. >> what putin is doing in eastern europe and the rise of isis as a threat, even an al-qaeda we didn't hear much about that. he talked not doing unnecessary conflicts or getting dragged into wars. a rhetoric flourish that had our 10,000 troops in afghanistan are no longer "in combat," but this is all the america that was worried about this in 2006. right now in 2015, we have really serious risks and part of the response has to be military and we didn't hear that from him. >> as, the president mentioned

strengthening moderate opposition forces in syria to defeat isil. how feasible that is, colonel. >> it really depends on exactly how we do this. one of the big difficulties we have i guess figuring out whoo is really moderate. one of the great clips of this period is moderate is not somebody carrying a gun right now, they are too focused on exist 10 she will issues, focused on whether they live or die. these kinds of people are going to be very hard to vet properly. yes, there's going to be training of course in various countries in the middle east, but that is going to have a long-term -- it's going to be a long slog, a long term commitment that the u.s. will have to make. it's going to have to be beyond the tenure of this

administration. i think that the obama administration is setting itself up for putting themselves on the on ramp or the u.s. on the arm ramp. the next administration is going to have to carry out the policy. it's going to require a great deal of bipartisan support to make that work. >> i want to go to libby casey on capitol hill. libby. >> where the congressman he just got back from cuba last night. he went to see a prisoner freed. >> i did. i had the great on or to flying to cuba with judy growths alan's wife to pick him up after five years in a cuban prison.

it was good to look up and see him there with the first lady. >> last month ago, we had a special mission to bring alan home. that coincided with the president's decision to change policy toward cuba. the president raises that after 54 years of a failed policy, we should try a policy of engagement with the cuban people. one thing i noticed this time was when we walked around havana with our pins that have the american through and cuban flags, lots of ordinary citizens would come up and they were very excited about the possibility of a new relationship between the people of the united states and the people of cuba. >> you've been advocating middle class tax cuts. the republicans are not onboard.

what ground can you really gain over the next year? >> i heard speaker boehner the republican speaker of the house say opening day that he wanted to deal with this issue of wage stagnation. as the president indicated the economy has improved in lots of areas. we saw that job jobs numbers. one area we've seen chronic stagnation is on paychecks the size of paychecks. the president said ok, here's the plan, he wants to provide class target relieve and more opportunities for those looking to join the middle class. if you didn't like that, mates your proposal? so far all we've heard is they want to rerun the trickle down economic theory, which is you provide tax rate cuts to people at the very end millionaires.

that totally crashed and burned as an economic strategy in the early 2000s right? upper incomes went up. everybody else in the middle was stagnant. the deficit went up, so the president is saying let's deal with that, provide middle class tax relieve and we have to pay for it, how about changing our tax code, which today is skewed in favor of those who make money or money and people who make money off of hard work. if our colleagues don't like that give us your alternative. >> >> libby casey, thank you. coming up next, how the state of the union sets the stage for 2016. a look at the possible field of presidential candidates. we'll be it aright back.

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>> ray suarez is with me. dean joins us, a columnist at the daily beast and co director of "the muslims are coming." what was your reaction to the speech? >> a great speech, very inspirational. he said the word future nine times in this speech by my count. he was con as i will la atory understanding there is limited time to get things done. even if he doesn't he is framing things in a way that can help in 2015. >> he's gone through years of defeat tried failed, i can't get this other side to work with me at all. i'm just swinging for the fences. i keep going to tennis. >> he hopes things can get done. last year, priorities were

raising the minimum wage, closing gitmo i wish he gave a speech like this before the midterm elections. >> 42 minutes into the speech before we heard climate change for the first time. >> it's a policy that the change in management over on capitol hill may have a big impact on john mainer from ohio, mitch mcconnell from kentucky, two smoke stack states and the coal state, they oppose the president's moves to put a tax on carbon. he said, with a sort of poke at the ribs for those senators who said look, i don't know, i'm not a scientist, he said i'm not, either, but i know some over at nasa and noaa and they think it's really happening. we should get on this so america leads. he noted cline in a and the

united states being together has really set the table for the big paris climate talks. >> aspirational without a realistic chance of getting it done doesn't that leave you feeling empty? >> if his speech didn't have the emotional commitment it did or move people, i would say there was a connected speech, passionate speech. >> what did you see on social media? >> on other state of the union addresses, many people were critical like i don't think he even cares. this speech was not like that. this is a president fighting, fighting and putting a hand out to the republicans saying we so many tiles let's write our future together. i think he's little to live with the republican controlled congress if anything is going to get done, little by working with them. >> what dung of the president on foreign policy, acknowledging

what was going on, but with his comments were the measured tone and remarks about the threats posed by islamic terrorism. >> it's interesting. he didn't say what you just said. >> he did not say. >> even joniernst left out islam on purpose. if you use the term islamic radicals you're helping isil recruit. i think every word of the speech was gone over very closely. they're going to have a big conference in two weeks about combating the terrorism to the terrorist. some on the right want to say islamic terrorism but you are connecting islam. >> there was one mention in the speech and it got lost because have a previous applause line, he gave a shoutout to muslims

feeling overwhelmed by the violence and are victims of it. >> al-qaeda, 88% of victims are fellow victims the report came in, the victims of isis are muslim. they are dying every tingle day. in the must rim world isis, al-qaeda submit to them or die. it was a good point the president made on that. >> the next time president obama delivers a state of the union address, the 2016 presidential campaign. david shuster looks at the possible contenders. >> this studio is warmer than iowa and new hampshire. for all republicans the one thing to keep in mind about tonight is everything the president said about populism.

the republican primary it's passion and who can speak to the base. one surprise you may see ben carson a lot of americans don't trust the political system. he is a neurosurgeon, an outsider raising mine like crazy. this was a big night for bernie sanders, consider ago presidential run. president obama was speaking from the same hymn book in terms of populism, soaking the wealthy and going back to the middle class. then you've got andrew cuomo trying to side. a big question for hillary clinton. does she now embrace the populism that the president talked or get along with the republican establishment and fix problem in a way president obama has not been able to do yet. the former governor of maryland, he could be something of a

sleeper in the i'll, the caucus in a year from now. the person who will like the speech the most, elizabeth warren. progressive groups are urging her to follow the president's load and go to new hampshire with the same message the president has tonight. >> that i had shuster, thank you very much. let's go to libby casey on capitol hill and get some final thoughts as we approach the end of the program your final thoughts about what the president had to say. >> since your talking about 2016 i need to point out a member of congress we talked to tonight defend add controversial tweet he sent out calling an immigrant a deportable. republican potential candidates for president are visiting in iowa this weekend. watch for that to be a concern. we are very pleads except on the issue of trade.

some in the congressional black caucus wants him to do more in the coming weeks and months on the issue have racial equality. john. >> michael shure was inside the house chamber to watch the president's speech. what were your thoughts? >> my thoughts, the republicans came out of their retreat this weekend in pennsylvania, a sweet place with lots of high hopes coming in to talk about reconciliation ways that they might and ways that we won't. the president took that from him. they are now going to have to retreat in their own way to say come together themselves. this patch work as libby just talked to us with her conversation with steve king. the republican's need to assist what issues they are coming with a plan for and not just send him

things to veto. he seems keen to vote tee those things. >> where does he go from there. >> we can talk about the style potential. i don't think you can arc with the fact that the president made a good speech, well delivered and well received by everybody. the question is what's going on? is president obama laying down negotiating conditions to soak the rich and redistribute wealth? are republicans just satisfying their base putting together abortion bills and affordable care act bills and obamacare bills? that's the major question. will they ultimately be able to come before the presidential race heats up. >> where does it go after a nice speech to the president of the united states. >> this to me always seemed like a start up. what if somebody like mcthink

about this. she sent a nice tweet to the president. her kill lees he'll that she is too mod rot, too much to the center when it comes to liz we got warren. she has connections with big business in wall street and i warrant that kind of things she thinks about it and where she puts her passport. >> on this whole issue of what americans are really talking about, and they are really talking about john security, unemployment cost, every day bills. wage stagnation. >> the president said he didn't have any campaigns left. he does. tonight, he called this prolessal practical and said he is going to an auditorium near

you. >> we thank you. thank you for watching tonight. president obama and republicans made clear their goals for 2015. in the coming months, we'll be following it. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. thanks for watching. >> you know how they say that everybody has a purpose in life? well, at one time, i felt that selling cocaine was my purpose. >> we was starvin', just lookin' for a way to succeed. >> the first time i seen rock cocaine was 1980. >> the murder rate was sky-high. >> south of the 10 freeway, was kind of a "no-man's land". >> you know, we're selling it for the blacks. i said, you go into these neighborhoods, there's no cops you can sell it where you want and when they start killing each other, nobody cares. >> i was going through like a million dollars worth of drugs

just about every day. >> that's like gold! >> we can make a fortune! >> he was maybe the biggest guy in l.a. >> freeway rick was getting his dope from a very big operator. i think we're into something that's bigger than us. something we really can't deal with. >> they had been trafficking on behalf of the united states government. >> she could prove what she was saying. >> [rapping] crack in the system. >> [rapping] this is los angeles. >> august 25, 2014. michael brown is laid to rest by