president i have so lyndon johnson. you'll hear about the 1964 civil rights act, the 1964 presidential campaign, the gulf of tonkin incident, the march on selma and the war in vietnam. notern knew they were being recorded. >> certainly johnson's secretaries knew. because they were tasked with transcribing many of those conversations. in fact they were the ones who made sure that the conversations were taped as johnson would signal to them through an open door between his office and theirs. >> you'll also hear some blunt talk. >> jim. >> yes, sir. >> i want a report of the number of people assigned to kennedy the day he died and the number assigned to me now. if mine are not less i want themless right quick. if i can't ever go to the bathroom i won't go. i won't go anywhere. i'll stale stai right behind these black gates. >> presidential recordings, find

it on the c-span now mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts. continues. host: you can make comments about the state of the union or russia's invasion of ukraine on our phone lines. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8002 for independents. you can post on facebook. twitter is available as well. or text 202-748-8003. we will talk to reporters about the state of the union. we have with us the white house correspondent on the phone. ms. cook, thank you for joining us. your story today is looking at tonight's speech, saying the president built's career around his foreign policy experience,

he will need to rediscover those traits on tuesday in his first state of the union speech. let's start there, what does he have to do tonight? guest: i think that what he has to do is really trying to connect with the american people. we have seen in the polls that his approval rating has really fallen in the last half of the year or so, so i think that the goal of the white house is to showcase his leadership, to portray him as a leader and a leader and to show he is on top of this war in ukraine, and that he is on top of rising prices, and those are really the challenges he will face tonight. host: i suppose the speech tonight started off one way in its preparation and has changed now because of the events in russia, how much of that change will we see tonight? guest: i think it has been a big change. originally, it was supposed to hinge on the economy and covid-19, so the president was

going to talk about what he was doing to bring down the crisis -- the prices and covid-19. now obviously he has to talk about ukraine, but i still think the economy will be in major thrust of the speech, but ukraine will come up too. i've been told he will talk about ukraine and russia as a fight for democracy and something that america needs to really be mindful, given the fact that russia invaded ukraine unprovoked. host: one of the themes he is expected to hammer home is american leadership in what is going on. guest: absolutely. foreign policy is a good area for president biden.he served on the foreign policy committee in the senate, this is an area where he feels comfortable. and the white house has done a good job of pulling together european allies against russia, so i think we will see him talk about that. i do not think it will be a long

foreign policy speech, i think it will focus on connecting it back to how you preserve democracy in the u.s. and abroad, and talk about it in that way. something that hopefully the white house hopes the voters will connect with. host: anything new about the united states efforts on this front, will be here anything new, do you know? -- hear anything new, do you know? guest: not that i know of. i spoke with several white house people yesterday and i think that the speech was in flux yesterday given how quickly things are changing in the world, but i think what he will be doing is trying to frame it. the american people, then asking congress for aid and mining. host: to the economy, as far as the president is concerned, how will he address the current economy and in the administration's role in improving the situation?

guest: one, he will try to talk about the bright spots in the economy like the labor market and how much of the unemployment rate has fallen. the white house has been frustrated because they feel like they have not gotten enough credit for the good things in the economy. two, he will address that overarching economic issue bothering americans, which is inflation and the rise of prices over the last year. we have not seen prices at this height in several decades, so he will try to express empathy and show that he is president -- and show that as president he understands the price increases and how they affect people, and so that -- he will use this opportunity to also tout his build back better agenda, hoping that congress can pass it at some point. host: let's start with inflation, do you think you will use the word directly or talk around it? guest: i think that president

biden does not like to use super technical terms, so i imagine he will use the word inflation once or twice. i think much more he will try to talk about it in terms of rising prices. he will talk about it whether he uses the word. i think that he will try to talk about how he understands that this is a problem for people and he understands that it has eaten into raises people may have gotten or wage gains, and that he sees that. host: will we see a specific plan on inflation or broad points on how the administration will deal with it? guest: the white house will talk about two things they are starting to do and they will cast of them as things they are doing to combat inflation. one is to try to bring down the cost of ocean shipping. they are saying it will help bring down the cost of goods.

and the second thing is moreover, -- is more overt. more on nursing homes. i think it is an open question whether or not having the department of health changed the rules around nursing homes is actually an inflationary measure or more and the health policy market. host: you talked about build back better as an overall plan, we understand it has not gone anywhere in congress, but what about the plans that he wants to revise? guest: the white house has decided, really decided over christmas, to rebrand it. it was not working the way that they wanted, the styling telling of it, so they are trying to talk about it differently. he will stall talk about elements of the plan, like lowering the cost of health care, lowering the price of prescription drugs, bringing

down the price of childcare. those are things that white house officials said yesterday will still come up. he will talk about elements of the plan even if the framing is different. host: we saw the administration and congress passed the infrastructure plan or in the infra structure a bill into law, will we hear more about its implementation tonight? guest: we will hear more about that and more about the american rescue plan, the $1.9 trillion plan that congress passed in marched to deal with covid. the president will also go to wisconsin tomorrow, the day after the state of the union, to tout the infrastructure plan. so we will probably hear about his success in passing those bills, and also how it will help the country as the money flows into communities. host: he mentioned his a supreme court nominee last week, so i suspect we will hear more about that tonight? guest: i think that that will come up as a data point and a

highlight that the white house wants to show that they have nominated the first black woman to the u.s. supreme court. that's a way that they have tried to distinguish themselves, get kudos with black voters and progressive groups, so i am sure it will come up. host: there's usually announcements ortiz is about the gets, anything from the white house as -- guests, anything from the white house as far as who they have invited? guest: they have been mum on the and they wanted to talk more about the ideas of president will talk about, so we are not sure who will be in the audience as a guest. host: nancy cook who reports for bloomberg news, here to preview the state of the union tonight. than

president biden addresses a giant session of congress and the nation tonight for the state of the union address. >> at least six presidents recorded conversations while in office. hear many of those conversations on c-span's new podcast, "presidential recordings." >> season one focus on the presidency of lirn don johnson. you'll hear about the 1964 civil rights act, the 1964 presidential campaign, the gulf of tonkin incident the march on selma and the war in vietnam. not everyone knew they were being recorded. >> certainly johnson's secretaries knew because they were tasked with transcribing many of those conversations. in fact they were the ones who made sure that the conversations were taped as johnson would cigna to them through an open door between his office and theirs. >> you'll also hear some blunt talk.

>> jim. >> yes, sir? >> i want a report of the number of people astiepped kennedy the day he died and the numb assigned to me now and if mine aren't less i want them less right quick. i promise i won't go anywhere, i'll just stay white behind these black gates. >> "presidential recordings," only on the -- find it on the c-span now mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts. >> c-span's new "american presidents" website is your one-stop guide to you are nation's commands for the chief from george washington to joe biden. find short biography, video resources, life facts and rich images that tell the story of their lives and presidencies. all in one easy to browse c-span website. visit c-span.org/presidents to begin exploring this rich catalog of c-span resources today.