>> tonight let's declare in the , wealthiest nation on earth, no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty. [applause] >> welcome to the program. we are live from boston and

florida. president obama delivered his fifth state of the union address at a critical moment for the president. his approval is among the lowest it has been. congress is opposed to his agenda and public attention is starting to wander to midterm elections. and beyond. this was his opportunity to seize back the initiative, to do so he had some themes he hoped would resonate with the american people. >> what i offer is a set of concrete proposals to speed up growth, strengthen the middle class, and build new ladders of opportunity into the middle class. some require congressional action. i am eager to work with all of you. but america does not stand still and neither will i. so wherever and whenever i can take steps without a legislation to expand opportunity for more american families, that is what i'm going to do. [applause] the shift to a cleaner energy economy will not happen overnight.

and it will require some tough choices along the way. but the debate is settled. climate change is a fact and when our children's children look up in the eye and ask if we did all we could to leave them a safer world, with new sources of energy, i want us to be able to say, yes, we did. if we're serious about economic growth, it is time to heed the call of his and leaders, labor -- business leaders, labor leaders faith leaders, law , enforcement, and fix our broken immigration system. it is time to do away with workplace policies that belong in a "mad men" episode. this year, let's all come together, congress, the white house, businesses, from wall street to main street to give , every woman the opportunity she deserves because i believe when women succeed, america succeeds. [no audio] [applause] >> joining me now from boston, larry summers.

he was the treasury secretary under clinton. in a few minutes, doris kearns goodwin from florida, and with me in new york, glenn humbert of columbia university. he served as a top economic adviser to both bush presidents. al hunt of bloomberg. mark halperin of time magazine will join us shortly. i am pleased to have all of them this evening. let me go around and in the remote locations and get an assessment. al. >> i would give it an a or a minus. i found the context was not a good one for him. he had a dreadful 2013. his job approval ratings are down, political polarization. and yet he weaved together some different messages. he roused the faithful with a minimum wage and with women, pay equity, but he did not cut off any opportunities and he held out some branches, to glenn

hubbard, and the two things that really struck me were on immigration, one paragraph, that was all. he knows very chance to get that done. he did not want to antagonize republicans. on the economic populism, it was not as many had forecast, a red meat, you know, income inequality. it was much more measured than that. it was not what republicans would call class warfare. i thought it was -- and the extraordinary ending. i don't know if you did, i teared up. when i saw that sergeant up there. it is one of the most powerful stories i have ever seen. so i think that was a hand well played, superbly, well done. >> i agree without. the president did what you need to do, framing his agenda and i think he gave a good speech. still, on the economics, the president said very little about how he would actually create work. how he would prepare people for work and how he would support work. things like the earned income

credit. those are good things. he has not talked about it much before. his opposition to tax reform has blocked that. some interesting ideas, like the my ira an intriguing new idea. , interesting to talk about. in terms of economics, not many big things. not a lot that is new. >> i thought it was a good speech. the state of the union are never that coherent as rhetoric because they have to bring in 25 different themes. things are getting better. that is not usually a theme in american discourse now. saying things are getting better, don't get in the way of them. i've got that was impressive. also, i think his tone was reagan-esque. the clips we showed were kind of the hard edge once, but there was joking with john boehner, i

mean he was confident about america, confident in american values, seem to have, the clips . i thought it was that sort of confidence here and it was interesting that several times in the last half of the speech he was calling on business leaders to do things voluntarily. give america a raise. not saying i'm going to use this or that regulation. i am calling on u.s. business leaders to take the steps. >> larry summers in boston. >> i thought it was a good speech. the president found the right line on inclusive prosperity. he recognized we were not going to succeed in doing anything if we did not grow the economy faster than we have and proposed a great deal to do that. at the same time, he recognized that issues of fairness and opportunity had to be very important after a period when a disproportionate share of the gains have gone to a very small fraction of the population. he spoke about those issues without invoking the politics of envy. he spoke about those issues in a way that was not explicitly redistributionist. ishought he found on what

going to be the crucial economic policy going forward, just the right aggressive ways, and while there wasn't a big, overarching policy in this speech, if all the things he described happened , early childhood education, immigration reform, significantly increased public investment, tax reform that from abroad,home and much more, if all of that happened, the growth rate in the united states would get faster. we would have tens of thousands of poor people getting jobs and it would make a very big difference. so i give the president high marks for talking about economic issues in a thoughtful way. i thought he did a very good job of wrapping it in a rubric of american, america's role in the

world, a sense american is in exceptional country and the best days can be in the future. it was a positive speech and i think he is entitled to that, as he looks toward a year when quite likely economic growth will accelerate. >> let me come to what has been advertised all week, the president is prepared to use executive orders. what can he do and do you have a deeper understanding of how much that can contribute to the overall goals of the administration? >> i would probably differ to all three of my colleagues on some of this. i think it is small ball. it is symbolically important. at least when it comes to the economy and jobs, there's not much you can do. he is going to give a minimum wage to federal workers.

there is some food service workers. it does not affect many people. there is some environmental stuff that is important and some public lands stuff. what i really do not think it as much to do with economic growth and the sort of issues they were talking about. >> i agree. i think he has showed he is prepared to act but there's not a lot -- >> regardless of what comes. >> there are things he could do to engage the congress that that larry raised again some of his rhetoric around the edges frustrates that. >> it is worth recognizing -- >> you know -- >> one second. i know you can see me. >> recognizing he is beginning his sixth year of his presidency. he does not have that much effect of leverage. he can pretend there is a new agenda. that is why it is important to stress the health care plan. there was a woman in the audience, she said if she had been sick a week earlier, she

would be bankrupted. i think he is trying to make the best case for the things he can do. and again, calling on americans as a private community and employers to do things he thinks they should do. >> larry. >> i would say two things -- first, big things sometimes happen in this country without huge pieces of legislation and the president is right to invoke that. we are, the president has done this, but i do not think he highlighted it as importantly as historians are going to, we are on the road to energy independence. by 2020, north america's going to be an energy exporter. that is a huge source of job creation. that is a change in the geopolitical environment and it is something that happened through a combination of public action, private initiative, and the technology the president

talked about. the health care cost curve, which looked intractable a generation ago, five years ago, now appears to have shifted and bent substantially. that is taken a trillion dollars off the 10-year budget forecast and i would guess it is going to take more off when the forecasts are recalculated. some of that is obamacare. some of that comes from a greater focus on health care. so big things happen. not just through big lots, they happen through focus, they have been through a combination of initiatives and government and private sector levels and i think the president was right to invoke that. i also heard one specific the president touched on twice that could be a big deal. he talked about accelerating permitting and review, to facilitate infrastructure investments to facilitate other investments.

that, in sectors from power, two roads, could be a very big deal and could be something that has a substantial effect on business confidence and that is something where executive discretion is where it is and can make a big difference in the idea that things should not be mired in bureaucratic delay for years and years, that is something on which i suspect there will be substantial bipartisan agreement. i think there is more promise in the executive actions that were discussed and that approach. >> glenn is going to respond to that. before that, your assessment of the speech. >> more engaged and energized i thought he would be. he sometimes has trouble in these situations where things look like they will be hard to unstick.

he does not shy away from performance for performance's sake. i found his energy was good and his arguments were clear. i don't always like to compare him to clinton but bill clinton was the master of explaining and then adding prescriptions. he did as well as i have seen him do on that score and he reached out on some issues. i thought he was strong on health care and very strong on immigration. >> can you hear me in florida? yes, you can. >> most definitely. >> how are you? your assessment of the speech. >> i thought the most important thing was he did show vitality and animation and that he was still president against the characters of people thinking he was already halfway out. i think that is so important for his leadership, for his democratic followers and the people who are going to be running in the midterms. as important as the thing he said was the way he projected himself tonight. i thought it is good as i have seen him.

in a long time. somehow he wove a lot of laundry , list things. they did not seem like a laundry list because they had a theme about access for economic opportunity and of course the symbolism of the end made you feel like he is right, america has stumbled but if you put your shoulder to the wheel, you really can move forward. so i think it worked. i think he was forceful without being combative. he did not say a lot of things that are going to make the republicans really mad but he gave some of the things out to the people who needed it on immigration and the government shutdown. the executive order something all presidents have done. it is nuts to say it is king- like. jfk did it with housing. they all need to act when they can't get any other way. it is part of the power of the presidency he is trying to use right now. ♪

>> this is sergeant remsburg,

who was standing and sitting next to the first lady and the president at the end of his speech recognized him for his spirit and his service and for the fact he did not quit. here is that clip. >> let me tell you about one of those families i have come to know. i first met cory ramsburg, a proud army ranger, at omaha beach, the 65th anniversary of d-day. along with some of his fellow rangers, he walked me through the program the ceremony, he was , a strong, impressive young man. he had a easy manner. he was sharp as a tack. we joked around and took pictures. i told him to stay in touch. a few months later, on his 10th deployment, cory was almost killed by a massive roadside bomb in afghanistan.

his comrades found him in a canal facedown. underwater, shrapnel in his brain. for months, he lay in a coma. the next time i met him, in the hospital, he could not speak. he could barely move. over the years, he has endured dozens of surgeries and procedures. hours of grueling rehab every day. even now, he is blind in one eye. he still struggles on his left side. but slowly, steadily, with a dash the support of caregivers like his dad and the community around him, cory has grown stronger, and day by day, he has learned to speak again and stand again and walk again.

and he is working towards the day where he can serve his country again. my recovery has not been easy, he says. nothing in life that is worth anything is easy. cory is here tonight. and like the army he loves, like the america he serves, sergeant first class cory remsburg never gives up and he does not quit. [applause] cory. >> my guess is that what will be remembered. his state of the union speech. >> incredible. >> and handled with grace and of the same time, the powerful image of this young man and of the same time, the theme of his life, never giving up. fighting back which is why the , president had been saying was necessary.

>> let me register a modest dissent. >> ok. about this piece? >> about the ending of the speech. the heroism of that young man, nobody can say enough. his 10th deployment. i have no doubt the president, like his successor, is torn up by the young men and women who he sees in harms way. there is something uncomfortable about a nation that is not involved in these wars at all, just having the ceremony of rolling out somebody who has been suffered so badly so i thought it was powerful and it does not necessarily say something good about the country. as a whole. >> unless it reminds you that country has not, at-large, it is the families who have had someone in harm's way that have suffered while the country did not, at-large, suffer. >> i thought it was the most

powerful moment but i think jim has a valid point. a fellow wrote a book, andrew -- we go to fenway park. right. we go to fenway park, and we bring out these great heroes. we connect them back to people. and then you know what, when the first pitch is thrown out, we forget about them. i do not blame obama. i thought it was a powerful moment. it was a metaphor for coming back. we can be strong. a societal question. >> obama deals with these people every day. for the rest of us, most people are not involved. >> i think that is why it was important, the other line he said in foreign policy, which could become important, he said i will not send troops into harm's way unless necessary. -- absolutely necessary. some of the people feel that some of the places we have been in recent times have not been necessary. that is the kind of line that could be a standard for him when he is being pushed, or somebody

wants him to go into some other place right now. that fits well with the fact we have to understand the impact these wars have on the soldiers coming home. there are hundreds and thousands like that young man. because luckily we can keep people alive but at a terrible cost and we need to remember what it is like. >> what i want to talk about his foreign policy as well because it seemed in some speeches are has not been a lot voted to foreign policy. and here the president did talk about foreign policy and in that instance he did. but we stay with the economics, there's a lot of talk, and i want glenn and larry to speak to this, about income inequality. there is a risk of people criticizing its because of class warfare. how did the president, and did he say enough about income inequality, in your judgment? glenn? and did he express it well, and is he on the right track? >> i think he did that better tonight than he has. there are two topics, one is inequality of outcomes, which is what people generally think of

as inequality. then there is inequality of opportunity. in a society that had a lot of economic mobility, unequal outcomes would not be a big deal. we have had evidence suggesting that while mobility is not getting worse in america, it is also not getting better. that is something we need to lean against. so i think the president was right to highlight it as an issue. i don't think the policies he is pursuing have much to do with mobility. i fail to see why a higher minimum wage or extending benefits has much to do with that. but i give him credit for raising the issue. click that goes to the heart of it. >> is it, larry? unemployment benefits and raising the minimum wage are the two primary arsenals, other than growth, the president has. larry. >> well, charlie, i think he has more.

he does have those things and i do think they make a big difference. i think it makes a big difference what we do over time in education and that was something the president emphasized. i think it makes a difference what we do in retraining and training workers. this has to be the first time that training and the transition between jobs has been elevated to an issue where the vice president is given major responsibility. the president touched on the questions of the tax code, bringing that money home. the basic research the president was talking about it was not an , abstraction but a contribution to strengthening the economy. so i actually thought he had a lot to say about policies that would create an inclusive prosperity and that is what i think is important. i also think some of this was not something the president talked about, the research that has been written up in the new

york times and other places by my harvard colleague. a stunning demonstration that these patterns of mobility and immobility are not the same all over the country. that in some cities and states, there is actually tremendous mobility and in others, there is very little. and the geographic pattern is pretty interesting. because if you look at the map, it is a red states where there is very little opportunity. that the chances a kid born in the lowest fifth of the income distribution will get to the top fifth are almost 50% lower in many of the states of the deep south than they are in new england or in the upper midwest or in large parts of california. so i think we are seeing an increasing body of evidence that suggests a commitment to public responsibility for creating

opportunity where it is more present and where there is a greater values commitment to that makes a difference. >> let me bring glenn back in. >> it is important to get something done. i was skeptical of the vice president sharing a training review. we have way too many training programs. the evidence is quite skeptical for economists. a bolder reform would be actually get these moneys to individuals and two states. and on tax reform, the president has consistently frustrated torpor tax reform by holding it hostage to raising individual tax rates. while these are interesting subjects and i agree they are important, his leadership is not there. >> holding them hostage to eliminated actions. >> charlie?

>> he said he could take separate tax reform, he really has. >> you can do that. by broadening the base, you raise taxes on individuals. >> you can do it. it is harder, but you can do it. >> there is no reason why, there is no reason why you can't do corporate tax reform on its own. the president does think you have to do a lot of things about corporate tax shelters that many in the business community do not like. look, the way to frame that issue is to recognize the foreign places where american corporations get the greatest prophets are not china or japan or germany or any of the big countries. they are the netherlands, ireland, and the cayman islands. that our tax havens. >> exactly. doris had something she wanted to say. >> even by defining this issue as the most important or one of the most important of our age, that is an important thing.

because the mobility, the lack of mobility undermines the promise of what america stood for. he talked about that. we really believe if you came here and you used to discipline and your talent, you really could move up the ladder. the fact for some the people born in the lower fifth, they are not going to get out of that. that is a terrible scar on what america is. the problem is, he has to remind people that we did have a giant middle class after world war ii. we know in the 20th century we , know we have this gap between the rich and the poor. we have it now. it may seem like it is inevitable but there were reasons why it was there. unions were a lot stronger. there were government programs. that helped. there was -- some of that has to be talked about to figure out what we can do to bring that back. it is tough, it seems difficult, but it can be done. human problems are created by men and they can be solved by men, and women, of course. >> there was a charming way the president made the point. it is the land where a son of a

barkeep can be speaker of the house. the whole chamber stood up. >> he had to smile. >> and the son of a single mother can become president. >> it was better to do the john boehner one first, but this was part of the logical presentation saying things are getting better. america is prevailing. >> the president did a good job in asking republicans to say what they are for. he did it in the context of health care. i think republicans have a lot of plans but on mobility, republicans need to be bolder in their own proposals. you have seen some of that from senator rubio but the president is right to say you have to tell me your philosophy. >> other insurgents have highlighted it on twitter. >> great point. >> this speech reflects three realities, and opportunity is key to all of them. we are going to be a nation at

war. during his entire presidency. two, republicans are going to control the house and three, even if the best cased of the economy, people are going to be hurting. a large number people on food stamps, struggling to pay for college. large numbers of people working in jobs that keep them below the poverty line. all of those realities, if he can switch talking about opportunity and he can maybe find common cause, he sat with paul ryan 20 minutes. they could come up with an opportunity agenda they could both agree on. it is where the hope is, given those realities. >> the president did talk about proposals he made last year. there is a good reason because he offered 41 proposals in the 2013 state of the union and congress enacted two, but the debt ceiling and violence against women. 39 and nothing, so we had to bring them up again. the the conventional wisdom if it were spent last it will be worse than an election year. i do not think that is necessarily true.

ronald reagan got through tax reform. we talked about immigration. i think there is a 40% chance of major immigration bill. on issues like early childhood education, he and paul ryan absolutely could cut a deal sometime this year. it is not huge to stuff but i think you could have a much more productive -- >> what is the deal on immigration? because i have not brought that up yet. in terms of both the citizenship and legal status. >> you have to have legalization to start with. you can get citizenship for the dreamers, the kids and the , democrats are only going to buy off if you change it so you get citizenship for a large number of those people. it gets complicated but you're not going to -- >> where is the common ground? >> john boehner's trying to get a common ground. he has hired john mccain's immigration person, and he is really trying to force his caucus, which is not an easy

thing to do to pass an , immigration bill, which they could go to the congress with eventually. >> in the week or so they have keys to this out, there has been ferocious reaction from some strategists who say this is a horrible thing to do where we can pick up a lot of seats in congress. and the tea party is anti- immigration. but i have been surprised at how relatively muted those voices have been. the republican leadership has shown no signs -- >> because they can read election results? >> not just that. the business community wants it. it is good public policy. >> john boehner does not want to go down in history as the guy who blocked immigration reform. >> people are going to say texture, i think it is this year or nothing. if harry reid wants this done, and is willing to compromise, it can be done. >> nancy pelosi is the key. they need democratic votes and

they have to go far enough. >> where do they have to go to get her? >> they have to create not just legalization. that is not sufficient to have a two-tier system. they have to create some kind of expedited citizenship opportunities for at least a sizable number. >> so what's the president should get immigration reform and health care, whatever state that is in, what does that say about his legacy? >> it says that he -- i remember interviewing secretary summers about the things, and an economic adviser summers, about things that would make a difference. achieving health care reform, i remember one of your mentors bill moyers used to say, he talked about when medicare passed in 1965, that was more embattled than this.

johnson had the sense if he got it in a couple of years, everybody would assume it would be that way forever. in terms of domestic policy, the health-care bill is the most important thing and avoiding the carnage of the great recession. he has brought troops back from these two wars that have been going on for almost a decade and any of the things in the texture in american life for improving. i think that is big case to make. >> the president said he wanted make a difference when he was first running in 2007, he wanted to make a difference. he did not want to be another photograph, another portrait on the wall. what does he have to do to become that kind of president? >> i think it is the right impulse, first of all. you do not want to be a president dreaming of becoming millard fillmore. that is what he was talking about. when you have that power, you want to use it to make lives better for people. i think the health-care law, if things work well, it will be

like social security was. it will be like medicare. moments historians look back upon that really changed the course of people's lives. the economy has recovered under his watch, as was said. wars have come to an end and if you can add onto that immigration reform, which is a reform for the future, i think is well situated for the future and he will not be millard fillmore. >> larry in terms of this , president, whom you worked presidency, his what makes a successful presidency for him? >> i think health care will be the most important legislative achievement in 40 years, if this works, and i think the odds are it will work. well there have been a set of negative surprises on the implementation, which has been a mess, there has also been a huge positive surprise on what was the biggest concern, which is

the growth of health care costs in the country. don't forget that he is not just saved us from depression, but the dodd frank legislation is probably the most important bit of regulatory reform since the second world war, in the hole financial area. don't forget also that presidents get credit for what they preside over. and what happened in the energy area, as i was saying before, is immense. every president since richard nixon has vowed u.s. energy dependence and basically that is going to happen during president obama's watch. the country has changed. the country is in a different place on gay marriage than it was when president obama took office.

my guess is that we are seeing a sea change. you saw the reaction on women in the workplace. i think there is a great deal that will be part of his legacy. >> we have to say, he is a nonwhite president who was reelected. and what that means for the country is part of the legacy we can't ignore. >> on health care, this year will bring to reckoning. one is, there are losers in this. the president was not clear about that. those stories of people who are losers in a variety of ways are going to get a lot of attention, as they should. the second thing is the midterms. if they are a referendum on the president and obamacare, even if it goes well, public opinion is not going to catch up on that. it will be harder to argue it is a success in november if the republicans take control of the senate.

>> i would argue we are grading on a curve. there will be a lot of losers. i also think we have to be careful with the argument we have seen a decline in health care costs. we do not know. there's a lot of uncertainty. in terms of the recovery, the federal reserve deserves more credit than the obama administration. dodd frank has some positives but to my mind it has not put us in a safe spot and on energy, i agree 100% this is important that this administration has frustrated the development of america's new energy assets. >> but it happened on his watch. in terms of when it came on stream. and he will get credit, will he not? >> and the sun rose each day as well. >> and they grade on a curve at columbia. [laughter] >> columbia business school. >> eight years are not a long

enough time, and you can say the sun rose but it is a one-year , presidency, the first george bush was unfriendly company timing of an economic cycle. somebody is in their eight years, you can say the shape of the nation, for better or worse, the energy progress, all of these things. the only mention of china in this was saying people used to think china was so great and now they think this is the place to invest. which was interesting in itself. >> no mention of russia. >> in this sense of the olympics. >> the relationship with russia was not mentioned. >> and the place he was most forceful, he said i would veto any new sanctions. that was the most forceful moment.

>> and unusual for the president. but also, to celebrate and to champion diplomacy and talk about the role of diplomacy has played, not just the sanctions but also diplomacy. his poll suggests it is not popular. i suggest that frustrates him a little bit but he has a chance to have a breakthrough. >> you are much more of a publix -- a poll expert than i but am, everything i've seen suggest people are wary of another military showdown with iran. so i thought it was a significant moment. he said he would have the veto threat but also made a positive case for iran. if it can be brought back from this 35 year estrangement, it will be a real step forward for the world. >> there is this question, the president has made references, you serve your time, almost as if he is a part of a moment in history when they are defining limits as to what can happen during this time, partly because of the differences in the world. do we have any sense of his own

frame of mind, mark? >> he is more optimistic than a lot of people around him. i hear that all the time from people who say we present him how this is going to go and he thinks it is possible to pick things up. he is very cognizant of these legacy issues, immigration being a big one. very hard to see him getting climate change legislation. >> what can he do with the executive -- >> not enough to save the planet. but i think part of why the speech was so good is because when he writes it in his voice, this is the closest he has gotten to a theory of the case about how to, he is in a place now where if he has to deal with republicans, i do not think it is the null set people have said. i think there are ways for him to revitalize his presidency, if he has a bad midterm.

i don't think it is the null set. which people have said. i think there are ways for him to revitalize his presidency, if he has a bad midterm. >> i think he did revitalize it. i think he revitalized it tonight. >> his presidency, by, in your own words -- >> by projecting a sense of leadership and strength and will and desire and vitality. because we have been saying that so many people have been saying he is not there anymore. where is he? the shrinking president. he was anything but that tonight. as difficult as the second term is, they'll get into trouble, very few of them are remembered by history. you have eight years, foreign policy, some huge things could happen. so he is still there. that is really important to

know. >> larry. >> i think he showed himself to be a strong optimistic leader. he has a record of significant legislative actions that stacks up pretty well, even against the rest of the two-term presidents since the second world war. everybody in this conversation is focusing on the midterm elections and what he will or won't be able to -- >> no, they are not. >> on the midterm elections but what he's going to be able to do with congress. that is hugely important. i was going to make the point doris touched on a moment ago, my guess is that in terms of how he is remembered in history, what happens with respect to iran in the next two years, and what happens in north asia, where the situation between china and japan is very complex,

where china's evolution is uncertain as a rising power, that those events where he is obviously not in control, because it depends on choices other countries make, and have the united states response come and that is clearly up to the president, not the congress. he is going to have a great deal to do with how he is remembered by history. he has a very strong base with what happened in health care, and with an economic recovery that is not as strong as we would like it to be, but is very different than the depression, that looked like a possibility on the day he came into office.

>> with iran there is the , potential for a smaller scale version of nixon and china, to improve things in the entire world. so the second thing, this sentence, which is like the obama 2008, with the afghan war ending, this needs to be the year congress lifts the prison detainee transfers and we close guantanamo bay. we are still going to try this. >> go ahead. tonight of what you saw was 2008, in terms of emphasis and style. he was a genial fighter tonight. >> those two things have been missing. >> genial has been missing, but so has fighter. he has not seemed ready to fight. genial but fighter. >> but not angry. >> my concern -- >> that is nice. >> the president did a great job laying out his themes, but nothing i heard suggest the

execution is going to improve. it is not 2008, it is 2014. and we really have not had the solid -- >> al? >> >> me talking about his historical legacy is like -- with like going one on one durant. asking about the george w. bush legacy, and it was said that if he could rewrite the magna carta, it would not help iraq. from five years from now, it is medicare, as doris alluded to kinder, and barring some of other thing we cannot foresee, those are two extraordinary accomplishments. i hope doris approves of that. >> i completely approve. you have done great. and genial fighter is brilliant. >> the point that you have most often, doris, what do you take away more than anything else, he has revitalized his presidency

and found his footing and found, if not his theory of the case, found the narrative again. >> and if that is true, one of the reasons i think the democrats love the speeches they want their leader to be their leader. i think there was a sense of his leading them and the country. and as was said, in a forceful way, but not competitive, this was the most authentic voice to him. it is the one a long time ago he started out with it but all the context made things difficult. now it is back. there is still time. it seems like we are on the top of the next election but that is our fault, because we talk about it already. 2016 is a long time away. >> the real surprise would be bipartisan action on opportunity. if he could find two or three areas where there is bipartisan agreement --

and lead those -- >> a fertile area. >> it is, actually. both sides have to think freshly. if you had that conversation, it is good for him and the country. >> the republicans have to change their policy of defining success as thwarting him. >> what is the likelihood of that? >> who knows. >> and i have permission from larry for mentioning the midterms? with the exception of immigration, there is very little they can do. and particularly, if they do immigration, they do not want to year where thee obama washington works. that is counter to their message. i believe that it will be difficult for the white house to get a lot of accomplishments this year, except immigration. i am a little bit more skeptical than al is in terms of that, but but he has to be more of a centrist.

>> we have four minutes. larry, much was said reading up to the state of the union about how the white house team looked at 2013 as such a terrible year. and felt like they really needed to have a revitalized president, they needed to make this inaction year. -- an action year. can you speak to that? you know, and you still have contact in terms of how they look at, i assume they call on you, in a sense, for counsel about big themes. >> they had a tough 2013, both in political terms and in domestic policy terms, in foreign-policy terms. i think there was a strong sense on the part of the president and everyone else they needed to turn the page on that and i think there have been some important personnel changes in the white house. but much more important was the

president was positive. he was not bitter and chastising. he was embracing the idea of progress that was not just through the passage of laws, his discussion on a number of issues of partnerships with business. i think he was also laying the groundwork for his being a strong leader going forward because i think he senses after five years in the presidency there will be events none of us can imagine that will take place in the next three years to which he will lead the nation in reacting and that will actually be an important part of the next three years as well as the questions of progress on the agenda that was laid out

tonight. >> doris, i am thinking of teddy roosevelt, your current book and what might we learn from his lessons. >> he was somebody who used executive orders more than almost everybody else. he understood he could not get certain things through congress so he decided i will issue an order. i am the steward of the people, he said. he made the presidency the center at a time when congress was much more important and all of those national parks, a lot of those monuments were executive orders that were issued. so i think he can use teddy roosevelt as an example of someone who did understand when you're stymied by congress, you still have powers as president, not just with executive orders but with mobilizing other people, getting the business community. no matter what, you are the steward of the people. >> i have less than a minute. one quick question, republicans, does the tea party have the same power that it had and does it depend on the midterm elections?

>> no, it does not matter. don't forget, not only did cathy mcmorris rodgers give a rejoinder to barack obama, and so did rand paul and mike lee. >> exactly. >> so let's not think this is a unified republican party. because it is not. when it comes to the midterm, i will yield to larry summers. [laughter] >> thank you very much. al, great to have you here. mark, thank you. glenn. larry, thank you for joining us. doris, from florida. tank you very much. >> thank you, charlie. >> as they often say, it is going to be exciting to watch and see what happens as the president tries to redefine where he was the country to go and how. thank you for joining us. we will see you next time. ♪

>> live from pier 3 in san francisco, welcome to the late edition of "bloomberg west" where we cover the global technology and media companies reshaping our world. i'm emily chang. our focus is on energy, technology and future of business. i want to get straight to the lead, google is selling its motorola handset business less than two years after buying it. they agreed to sell it to lenovo for just unders about 3 billion. remember, google bought motorola mobility in 2012 for $12.4 billion. it already sold the set top box