border of the united states and mexico the president did sort of characterize this is a moral issue saying that he felt that many democrats simply were not taking reflecting the priorities of the american people in terms of safety talking about how this was an increase in crime as a result of illegal immigration and really being very productive in the language essentially pointing out a fact that is true in the past many democrats have voted for a wall along the southern border of the united states and mexico but he the way he characterized again was not perhaps very unifying he said that wealthy of political donors push for open borders while living lives behind walls gates and guards is so on that was very provocative i think the last part that we sort of need to look at in all of this is the issue of national security or how he characterized his foreign policy i think that was pretty significant not only did he tell what he believes were some of his successes particularly when it comes to north korea

saying that had he not been elected president he believes the united states would break now be at war with north korea but also donald trump likes the big announcements in the big moments the state saved the state of the union address to announce there would be a second summit with north korean leader kim jong un talking about this being in vietnam at the end of this month fund every twenty seventh and twenty eighth. in terms of a couple of other moments where notable i think when we talk about divided government in the united states the one thing that did seem to unite the men and women in that chamber was the issue where women now not only do they have a right to vote as of one hundred years ago but there are now more women in congress this is where we saw many of the women who have been protesting donald talks policies dressed in white sort of as a nod to women's empowerment the suffrage movement of historical movement they stood up chanting usa usa so in does show. that there is opportunity for unity

but still for the most part throughout the speech we saw a very divided congress where one side was cheering while the other sat stoically stone faced to much of what the president had to say there were moments commitment as you'd expect with a state of the union address that there are moments when when members of congress get to their feet and applaud the president the sort of standing ovation as you said a lot of the time it was it was just republican members of congress doing that there were times when more as everyone was on their feet the president done enough do you think to have one of democrats as far as the government funding bill is concerned with the case did he make the case soundly enough for his wars when the mobile. i think that there were a couple of interesting things in that the president a lot of it we had heard before in many ways what it seemed to me was a campaign speech that donald trump was kind of kind of do a couple of things. reframe for frame if you will his reelection effort to try and

win the white house get a twenty twenty but also to reassure those that supported him and twenty sixteen there were a number of things not just on the issue of the wall but also when he spoke out about the need for legislation to prevent late term abortion that was definitely a message to the even jellicoe voters that have supported him and are very opposed to late term abortion but with respect to the issue of the southern border did he win people over it doesn't appear that there was any sort of new argument in all of that to try and break what essentially is an impasse in ten days the united states could be facing another government shutdown unless the sides can work together but we didn't always see a lot of standing up for some of the arguments the president was making from the other side in other words acknowledging that. they agreed with him on the points he

was making i think what i did find most interesting though was that the republicans tend to be now using language we've seen from democrats with respect to what he called when he was making this case for greater border security he called it a common place where common sense i should say policy and that's something we've seen on the left in terms of the gun debate calling it commonsense gun control or gun reform we now see the president calling it commonsense proposals to end the crisis on the southern border i'm not sure that's going to play well but certainly this was some notables shift in the messaging from this president. very many thanks will be back with you well a little later that supreme steve clemons who is the washington blotch for the atlantic he joins us now live from washington d.c. . steve what do you make of it. well i thought there were a number of things first on the cosmetics of it i think this is the gets right up

there with one of the longest state of the union speeches ever given where it was given by bill clinton in ninety minutes and i think this one pretty you know clocked in pretty close to that also president trump isn't known to be a good reader of teleprompter speeches and it was known all week that he spent a lot of time doing exactly that and i think he did a better job but on the substance of the speech of what i think he really tried to do of reaching out to the democrats and the opposition he certainly toned down his language he certainly as i think he really did a wonderful round up of you know even even cheering on the many new women mostly on the democratic side and basically celebrating them. with chants of usa and others i think that was there nancy pelosi certainly clapped much more than people thought when you get to the subs of this speech the thing that was most interesting to me is we've been waiting to see whether the president would lay down the track to declare a national emergency in building the wall and there was none of that language in that speech so he has clearly stepped back from that and while he remains firmly

committed to a wall he talked about a see through wall that perhaps was a part of the you know part of the border not necessarily all of the border where it was needed so i think he has been trying to demonstrate a more flexible position on that but still gave the deadline of ten days ahead as kimberly said on you know some of the issues related to foreign policy which didn't get a lot of attention he sort of went through a check box of you know israel iran venezuela and then and then announced the north korea summit in vietnam on february twenty seventh twenty eight not many of these got a lot of attention in his speech but but nonetheless heat he went through and checked off a lot of boxes but what i really do find interesting is we had a very different president you might have imagine this speech along something that a normal president might have given an inaugural address. that's not what he did he give a much darker darker speech at his inauguration this lighten it up

a lot and i think everyone is going to wait to see what is he like tomorrow will he maintain his demeanor or will he go back to you know what is considered to be blunt and somewhat bombastic demands of the democrats ok steve welcome back to end of the while but listening now to former genesis georgia state house minority leader stacy abrams democratic response to president trump's state of the union address tatis to love learning my father a shipyard worker put in overtime in extra shifts and they made sure we volunteered to help others later they both became united methodist ministers an expression of the faith that guides us these were our family values faith service education and responsibility now we only had one car so sometimes my dad had to hitchhike and walk long stretches during the thirty mile trip home from the shipyards one rainy night my mom got worried we piled in the car and went out looking for him and

we have been found my dad making his way along the road soaked and shivering in his shirtsleeves when he got in the car my mom asked if he'd left his coat at work he explained that he'd given it to a homeless man he met on the highway when we asked why he'd given away his only jacket my dad turned to us and said i knew when i left that man he'd still be alone but i could give him my coat because i knew you were coming for me. our power and strength as americans lives in our hard work and our belief in more my family understood first hand the ball success is not guaranteed we live in a nation where opportunity is possible but we do not succeed alone in these united states when times are tough we can persevered because our friends and neighbors will come for us our first responders will come for us it is this mantra

this uncommon grace of community that has driven me to become an attorney a small business owner a writer and most recently the democratic nominee for governor of georgia my reason for running was simple i love our country and its promise of opportunity for all and i stand here tonight because i hold fast to my father's credo together we are coming for america for a better america just a few weeks ago i joined volunteers to distribute meals to furloughed federal workers they waited in line for a box of food and a sliver of hope since they hadn't received paychecks in weeks making livelihoods of our federal workers upon for political games is a disk race the shutdown was a stunt engineered by the president of the united states one that defied every

tenet of fairness and abandon not just our people but our values. for seven years i led the democratic party in the georgia house of representatives i didn't always agree with the republican speaker or governor but i understood that our constituents didn't care about our political parties they cared about their lives so when we had to negotiate criminal justice reform or transportation or foster care improvements the leaders of our state didn't shut down we came together and we kept our word it should be no different in our nation's capital we may come from different sides of the political aisle but our joint commitment to the ideals of this nation cannot be negotiable our most urgent work is to realize americans dreams of today and tomorrow to carve a path to independence and prosperity that can last a lifetime children deserve an excellent education from cradle to career we owe

them safe schools and the highest standards regardless of zip code yet this white house response to middle well first graders practice active shooter drills and the price of higher education grows ever steeper from now on our leaders must be willing to tackle gun safety measures and face the crippling effect of educational loans to support educators and invest what is necessary to unleash the power of america's greatest minds in georgia and around the country people are striving for a middle class where a salary truly equals economic security but instead families hopes are being crushed by republican leadership that ignores real life or just doesn't understand that under the current administration far too many hard working americans are falling behind living paycheck to paycheck most without labor unions to protect

them from even worse harm. the republican tax bill rigged the system against working people rather than bringing back jobs plants are closing layoffs are looming and wages struggle to keep pace with the actual cost of living we owe more to the millions of everyday folks who keep our economy running like truck drivers forced to by their own rigs farmers caught in a trade war small business owners in search of capital and domestic workers serving without labor protections women and men who could thrive if only they had the support and freedom to do so we know bipartisanship could craft a twenty first century immigration plan but this it ministration chooses to cage children and tear families apart compassionate treatment at the border is not the same as open borders president reagan understood this president obama understood

this americans understand this and democrats stand ready to effectively secure our ports and borders but we must all embrace that from agriculture to health care to entrepreneurship america is made stronger by the presence of immigrants not walls and rather than suing to dismantle the affordable care act as a republican attorneys general have our leaders must protect the progress we've made and commit to expanding health care and lowering costs for everyone my father has battled prostate cancer for years to help cover the cost i found myself sinking deeper into debt because while you can defer some payments you can't deferred cancer treatment and this great nation americans are skipping blood pressure pills forced to choose between buying medicine or paying rent. maternal mortality rates show that mothers especially black mothers risk death to give birth and in fourteen

states including my home state where a majority want it our leaders refused to expand medicaid which could save rural hospitals save a condom and save lives we can do so much more take action on climate change defend individual liberties with fair minded judges but none of these ambitions are possible without the bedrock guarantee of our right to vote let's be clear voter suppression is real for making it harder to register and stay on the rolls to moving and closing polling places to rejecting lawful ballots we can no longer exist ignore these threats to democracy while i acknowledge the results of the twenty eight thousand election here in georgia i did not and we cannot accept efforts to undermine our right to vote that's why i started

a nonpartisan organization called fair fight to advocate for voting rights this is the next battle for our democracy one where all eligible citizens can have their say about the vision we want for our country we must reject the cynicism that says allowing every eligible vote to be cast and counted is a power grab americans understand that these are the values our brave men and women in uniform and our veterans risked their lives to defend the foundation of our moral leadership around the globe is free and fair elections where voters pick their leaders not where politicians pick their voters in this time of division and crisis we must come together and stand for and with one another. america has stumbled time and again on its quest towards justice and equality but with each generation we have revisited our fundamental truths and where we falter

we make amends we fought jim crow with the civil rights act and the voting rights act yet we continue to confront racism from our past and our present which is why we must hold everyone from the highest offices to our own families accountable for racist words and deeds and co racism what it is wrong america cheve the measure of reproductive justice and roe v wade but we must never forget it is immoral to allow politicians to harm women and families to advance a political agenda we affirmed marriage equality and yet the l.g.b. t.q. community remains under attack so even as i am very disappointed by the president's approach to our problems i still don't want him to fail but we need him to tell the truth and to respect his duties and respect the extraordinary diversity that

defines america our progress has always been found in the refuge in the basic instinct of the american experiment to do right by our people and with a renewed commitment to social and economic justice we will create a stronger america together because america wins by fighting for our shared values against all enemies foreign and domestic that is who we are and when we do so never wavering the state of our union will always be strong. thank you and may god bless the united states of america. that was former georgia state house minority leader stacy abrams that with the democratic response to president trumps state of the union address the shutdown she said was a stunt engineered by the president of the united states one that defied every tenet of fairness and abandon not just all people but let's get back to white house

correspondent kimberly how cook's who's on capitol hill could be on are you going to guess with the which we'll hear from in just a moment but what do you make of that. on certainly it is proves that the challenge that the president has in terms of trying to get across his legislative agenda that there is a large portion of the united states. exemplified by that democratic response simply may agree on the end state in terms of the goals but the how to get there is where the two parties have vastly different approaches you know we heard there from stacy abrams that hardworking americans are falling behind that's exactly the opposite of what donald trump just said in his state of the union address she also made a very strong point that compassionate treatment at the border is not the same as open borders essential donald trump made the argument that open borders are hurting

hardworking americans so you see there that many people in the united states feel that there is a need for some type of border security but in terms of how to approach that. feelings are very different in fact we have someone who was watching the state of the union speech with us who also is a representative of new mexico a state that is on the american southern border when traduced college she is one of two native american members of congress recently elected to this new congress of welcome to al-jazeera and here. wanted to ask you. a little bit about. what you thought first of all the president's speech you know he appealed sure and unity did he achieve you know he appeals for unity but his actions his words don't match his actions we just came off over a month of a government shutdown where workers were stripped of their ability to work or earn

a living and even if they were working they were getting a paycheck that harm so many americans that shutdown did that's not something that will unify our country he's already threatening to essentially shut the government down again if he doesn't get his wall that's not that's not his his actions matching his words so let's talk about that a little bit the president is saying that he made the case for the wall that americans are paying the price of illegal immigration burdened schools hospitals that illegal immigrants many times are causing crime against arab native born americans and give your reaction to some of that case and that argument right well of course he has to say those things he has to instill fear in his base so that they will support the wall. in reality and new mexico's border states texas is a border state my one of my colleagues who lives right on the border now past so will

will absolutely beg to differ with the president and so ally the border is not a big scary place the wall is not going to fix the issues really that that we need to fix on the border we have offered the president. my name for technology my need for increased numbers of immigration judges to process the cases that come across the border we've offered my mean to increase. the work work to let you know the employees on the border so that they will have more. folks to process this i don't i just don't it's not a big scary place the only way he can get people to rally to his side is if you if he scares the living daylights out of them and that's not where we are with this the president said you know if you don't support his legislative agenda in order in other words given the five point seven billion that is looking for for this one he

said i'll get it built and talk to me about how that played inside that room as you listen to that speech well i mean a lot of us want to shake our heads and say no you won't he's he's threatening to use. you know claim that it's a national emergency so he can get the funds to build the wall it's not a national emergency i think that if he tries to do that he'll get a lot of opposition to that. we well we need to look in my district people need jobs we need to fight climate change we need to move our country into a renewable energy economy the wall to solve any of those things we have people in this country who need health care we need people you know all our students need to have a quality public education and that's another thing i disagree with we're not going to school choices is a death sentence for public schools so those are the things that that i want for my

district in my state that will help people to live the lives of success that they deserve the wall is not going to solve any of those things how optimistic are you that there's not going to be another government shutdown in ten days i mean i am i'm not altogether optimistic he he he ever met you know he was going to agree we had an agreement and then he started getting some flak from the right eye and i really don't i mean i'm not altogether optimistic that there won't be a shutdown we'll see what happens if he truly wants unity and. truly puts the american people first he will not shut the government down quickly was there anything in that speech that you did like oh absolutely he gave a shout out essentially gave a shout out to all the women who won you know we have more women in the congress than ever before they're all in the democratic side issue as you notice we're all wearing white tonight so sure we're happy about that we're happy that there's more

women and you have to think about this it's it's the president's policies it's his rhetoric it's you know everything that he has stood for since he started campaigning because so many women to come out so many women to run and so many voters to elect to sit into office all right to follow him going to leave it there thank you so much for joining us here on al-jazeera as you can hear there out the president did call for an end to kind of the resistance movement but it appears that it's still very much entrenched because what many in congress opposes the president's policies and some of the rhetoric used to deliver it to many many thanks white house correspondent kelly how get back on capitol hill you know with his era we're continuing our coverage of president trump's second states of the union address the one hundred sixteenth congress i've got lots more to talk about and we'll be back with some other continuing coverage in just

a couple of minutes here on this. slide cats are ways to experience the world like never before cats are always going to places together february on al-jazeera we investigate the toxic legacy of south africa's mining industry and examine exactly what is hiding beneath all of his toxic waste africa's largest democracy heads to the polls join us for live coverage

as nigeria votes out as their world showcases the best of the networks documentaries with powerful untold stories from the middle east and north africa as cubans are set to vote on the possible changes to the constitution what impact will be outcome have on the country the world sunny day witness visits ghana and sweden where a community polarized by mining towns questions the heritage february on al-jazeera . tongan from many members and hundred on. the wall has passed and all the people in power i mean it's the women heading an eighteen man militia. and dispensing justice with an unforgiving hand in the unit and i friend of mine in iraq on al-jazeera.

we must reject. the politics of revenge resistance and retribution and embrace the boundless potential of cooperation compromise and the common good. you can see from the u.s. president's state of the union as he outlines his plan for the next year. i get angry and something of this is out as the.