>> glad to know we think alike on that one. if it's tuesday, comedy central. >> chuck todd here in new york. millio of people will watch tonigh state of the union should to be absurd theater. it wil be about bipartisanship

and unity and compromise. it will be a night of comity with a t. they are talking about how the presid will rise above partis tonight, the presid is tweeting about a human then, mocks chuck schumer and festiv us begins. tonigh was delayed when the presid himself decided to engine a 35-day shut down over a border wall he promised to his politi base. the address is his threat to end congre and declare a national emerge dividing republicans. we will have more on that in a moment the white house said president trump is going to call on congre to reject the politics of resistance and retribution tonigh that's absurd because if you have b paying attention for two years or four years or six years, you get my drift. nancy will be seated

behind tonight. a constant reminder of the failed mid-term message that pelosi party. the president is going to act like everything is normal, despit his ongoing feud with the intel community and countl investigations into the staff and campaign and busine and even no his inaugu the white house says it's going to be a traditional state of th union. how is that for comity with a t? the host of kasie d.c. and the chief correspondent for the new. carol lee, national political report msnbc contributor and msnbc analyst in a democratic pollst kasie hunt, let me start with you. there has been part of me that feels as if it is surreal. woo are acting as if we are

having a state of the union day and all the traditional lunche breakfasts and invita a response. and yet there is a fire going on outsid the city and we are all suppos not pay attention to it. >> it's actually pretty strange, i have to say. there little about covering this place. more normal than the white house, i think, just by virt ut of the traditions. just when you think it's resolv you are right that this every single time we do one of these. the red curtains and the cameras packed into statuary hall and people bringing guests and famili saving seats on the

aisles you're right that here we are surrou by the normalcies of what is this pomp and circum the president, president trump if he likes anything about governing, it's th this. he enjoys the guilded traditions like all of the things that make him feel like he's at the story. the reality is that we are a week plus away from another potent shut down. the democratic party is -- i could not be more interesting in resist in retribution than they are right now. >> peter baker, it seems to me, it's as if the white house pulled off the instruction manual and you promised bipart and do all the briefi and spent 72 hours doing this way. pay no attention to anything that happened in the previous 72 hours or the following. does the white house realize that unless they really put elbow grease into it, they

disapp in 24 hours? >> i think they understand. there a surreal quality to what's happening here. there something comforting about the ritual. this didn't happen. in a two-year presidency that busted all sorts of norms, the yet that there wouldn't be a state of the union delivered in person and the two parties are so far apart, they couldn't agree on standing before the assemb lawmakers and giving a pitch for his program that wouldn happen. that would have been a pretty big disruption on top of two years of other disruptions. there something important about the fact that this is happen tonight, even though it does, as you say, have a surrea quality. >> today, we got all these previe here's an excerpt from the presid togeth we can break decades of stalem and heal old wounds buiw

soluti unlock the promise of america's future. sounds great. here's what chuck schumer said in response to this. >> it seems every year the presid wakes up and discovers the desire for unity on the mornin of the state of the union. president spends the oth 364 days of the year dividing us in a state of disunion. the blatant hypocrisy of this presid calling for unity is that h of the chief reason americans feel so divide now. >> for what it's worth, we hear the sow iing certain instead of sewing >> schumer is already getting the state of the union speech. too bad we were not given more credit for the senate win by the media. what? this will help. comity

>> think part of what chuck schume said you can apply to every president that every presid wakes up and decide they want to have this mantle, this tradition bestowed upon them and give the traditional type of speech. it's interesting that of all of this i one president trump has decide he wants to stick with. >> he loves it. becaus of the applause. >> it's about him and applause and there is no realtime respon it's also just curious he didn't decide to go in the other direct which is what people who voted for him would have expect that's to get in there and shake things up a little bit and do somethdifferent. >> i can't stand teleprompte trump. nobody elected teleprompte trump. open the cameras. let pelosi and trump hash it out. you get an hour. go. that's may state of the union. go. >> i worked as a presidentia

speech righter. you know who takes state of the? there are months of memos about what should be in it. >> do you thin that happened in this administration? >> no. people upon complaining it's a laundry list. it does break norms. who even know who is setting policy these departments and if there were policy statements in the speech, wou the presiden held t they held a shot for cancer which is what obama did in 2016. the mo was "star wars. the president and reagan going with "star wars" in 1984. nothin will matter and the explan too fractured and leader for anybody to thing speech was one of the few that

the entire country watches will have any policy implications >> you can't show yourself to be too cynical. what's the line. there new democrat who is said they would work with the presid what is the line that democrats have to be careful of? >> when you saw that statement from the state of the union, i could sworn i saw that in one of obama's statements. >> you mean the president himsel year. i want to see our country united the year before that, i look forwar to what we can do to come together. state speech 101. >> democrats have to be careful as to not be partisan, but they hold all the cards. 60% of americans don't want this wall. the president's big thing is build a wall. nearly 60% of people think the countr is headed in the wrong direct immigr is not the top econom concern for most of

middle america, but it continues to be the focus of this presid the democrats from a policy standp the democrats have the policy advantage. the president can talk about unity and it falls on deaf ears. we know the day after he talks somebo >> casshould we get a sense fro the president which way he's headed this deal tonight in this speech? >> i don't think that the member of congress here are necess expecting to come away with something definitive unless perhaps he goes off script this i one of the things where everyb behind the scenes is trying desperately to convince the president not to light everyt is fire over this again. even mitch mcconnell came to the microp was asked, is he tries tell congress put togeth deal that we know the

presid is going to sign or encour them to come up with a deal? instea of saying i'm not puttin anything on the floor that the president won't sign. we need a deal here. i would like to see them come up with a bipartisan agreement and decide to sign it. it was so far from the guarantee that there wouldn't be a shut down. i think the other piece of this, if the president is in this mode where he thinks abou doing the tradit state of the union, do you your headline to be presid vows another shut down over the wall. we have seen him go off telepr before and he not only seems to be more compelling off the teleprompt enjoys it quite a bit more. from that perspective, who knows. >> your newspaper editorial board is from the new side.

by many mshs polls are thriving. they think the country is on the wrong track and expect the number get worse. congre is even more so. presid prepares his delaye state of the union addres he might want to ask people why they are so unsettled. we don't have an economic recess and we have a politi depression. we have been in a recession for a deca and now we might be in . does the white house realize how much t their ability to sell in a normal presidency a lay up? >> you are right about a politi recession. the only president who is came into the state of the union addres in recent times with number as low as president trump were ronald reagan in the throws of a real recession. econom people out of work. it was bad time. georgebush's last couple of

years when things were so bad with iraq. nobody ever has been at this level in modern times. it is a larger phenomenon to which he contributed. it has been three presidents since we saw a majority of the countr say they were on the right track. since bush's first term, the countr consistentl said most of the country said we don't believ the country is going in the right direction. bush's second term and all of obama and now so far a half term for trump. that's not his strategy. he is not building a larger coalit he is trying to feed it. it's minority, but it got him there and the one he thinks will get him there in 2020. >> bottom line, you have been chompi champi here.

they don't know how they stand. the new hope and arguments and you make a case. they go well, he's the president and he know what is he's talking about. we will give it a shot and if he doesn' well, numbers of suppor for those things go up. that is not trump seeks no to . the only people he wants to persua are people who already agree with him. it's a strange communication strate >> am i given this parade? >> more here, you know if you go back and look at it overti there is no three points of change overall between where a president is and where they are after an ark approval. they don't change the dynamics of your political trajectory one way or the other.

histor we are seeing that more part sans are watching their president than we had. democr can get more democrats watchi you are speaking t audien audien >> will there be persuadables it is partisan audiences. >> how do you persuade someone when you say something in one moment and something else in the next. part o people feel unsett they don't know what they are goin look at how he pulled out of syria. he keeps people on their toes and argued that that's benefi that's part of why we are seeing this. all of this pomp and circum for the state of the un feels like the string quarte titanic. why are you playing? keep playing. it sounds great. good luck. thank both. stick around.

coming up, how 2020 democrats are sending a message to the presid someon who himself may be eying a possible bid and we will beche guest.

reagan made this first twenty do it and now there nott doesn' have a guest. they will have to reach absurd levels when reagan did it, the guy who

jumped in to save people from the plane crash, it was a startl thing. now it's like here's the tear jerkin ordinary american. >> it's a busy day and democrat from oregon and somebody who is a presidentia candidate. welcom your state of the union day. my first question this way. the president is going to make this call for working together and how obligated do you feel to at least give him the benefit o? >> it's never too late, if the

presid a new leaf for the future of our country and abandons his effort to divide americans and wants to have a bipartisan plan on immigr i'm ready and willin to listen. he spent as much time as he did and assuming he does that, do you come out tomorrow semi enthus at take him at his word or do you assume or look at it skeptically and think i want to see a little bit more before. >> want to see more because we have heard him talk about loweri drug prices before. he never put forward a serious plan t do so. i would invite him to look at my bill for lowering drug prices

than the median price. major countries. >> let's tackle what he said about the issue of border securi and call for a wall and you have since the government reopen you said look, if there a case for new barrier, you are open to that. how should the president take that comment from someone like you. if you make your case for new barrie i will listen. >> i have been down to the border and border guards said there are places that would be helpfu to have a vehicle barrie or a fence. they said they do not need a wall. they do not need something they can't see through. they don't need a wall for a challe sensor border guards would mor. all the democrats have supported border security. not the wasting of our taxpayer money and not a wall that the

presid has turned into a racist symbol of division. >> so can you still work with him though if he gets barriers even though he tells supporters it's a wall or because of the rhetor makes it harder to that? you may gree semantics, you but he may way you descri thaw didn't like. >> i'll look at the substance of what we are talking about. someti the art of the deal is that people will describe it in differ ways. that's fine. border security is smart. i would like to see us go furthe

we had a bipartisan bill and addres most of the major issues regarding people overst visas and increasing needed for a high tech economy and worked to say let's end the broken immigration system and if the president came out and said i'm tired of this and i want to fix the immigration system instea preserving a broken system it's a conversatio to have. >> what is stacey abrams's job tonigh what viewers lea >> on health care and housing and on education and infrastructure and jobs. hopefu they will say we have to take on the corruption of our consti through

gerrym and the dark manny destroying we the people govern democr want and believe in the constitutio and we have the >> you have been a cosponsor of. there a bit of a debate poppin up in the party that is a big part of the primary and a health debate in the party. you may participate and you may not. you haven't decided yet. medica for all. realisgoal. is the party overselling it or think it's something the next presid can make happen? >> i think it is a vision that if we build enough of a movement toward it, it can happen. what we know is the current system is price as expensive of that of other developed countr producing far worse results in medical terms

and enormous stress for the americpeople. maybe we can't take that leap all at once, but if we don't lay out the vision, how will we take steps at all out of our current expens corporate profit system that is expensive and stress be so much better >> it sounds like in the meanti what we have before you go all the way? >> i would like to see us build the momentum to enable every americ to have the opportunity to par in medicare for all. this i what i presented is not only supporting bernie's bill, but a choose medicare bill where every said yes, i have choice medica i can carry it with me the rest of my life and get rid of the broken system we have right now. that would be an enormous step. >> you are considered a potent candidate. you said you were going to make a decision in november and backed off. you keep asking for more time. what's missing in this field

thaw are waiting to see before you decide? >> i want to see a field that is commit to three of the most diffic issues we face. one is restoring we the people democr and the second is rebuil foundations and health and th education and living jo taking on carbon pollution and climat chaos which we cannot wait for the next generation to tackle >> if you don't think a candidate is doingthat, you are jumpinin? fair enough. democr from oregon. we will be watching. >> thank you vmuch. >> state of chaos. virgin democrats are maying things difficult for democrats everyw these dpas appare we will talk about that. s appary we wil as apparentl we wil appare we wil

democr are proving you don't have to be on the stage to delive a message. >> tonight i want to take a few minute your time to respond to president trump's state of . >> for the third consecutive year, senator and possible presid candidate bernie sander will be president. 2020 hopefuls are sending a messag to voters with their state of the union guests.

senato gillibrand will be accomp by a transgender navy o >> is child is a transg child, you know how horrib it would be to be demoni by the president of uni. >> joined by government workers furloued by the shut down and senato booker will be bringing a former prisoner released by the recent bipartisan justice reformlaw. but the state of the union is not the only 2020 stage today after keeping a low profile. beto o is taping an interv with oprah today. it will air later this month. i think we will find out tonight if he says something inter trav. we will be back with "mtp daily" after

>> what do you make of the allega against justin fairfa >> allegations have to be taken seriou but it doesn't change the fact that the governor need. >> with the lieutenant governor, noef enough information. >> i w and we might have a comment at some point. >> a one-two punch. they force democrats not just t

allega of past sexual miscon with t richmond times impact. what do the democrats do now. there no plan c, is there? >> the clearly boxed themselves in and reached thi point where they have a governor and a lieute governor who qualify as damaged goods. they are clearly reaping the bitter fruit as you alluded of zero tolerance. this i another election year in virgin and the virginia senate and legislature up for grabs. the democrats need two seats in

the se in the house to take back the legislature, but more to the point, restore comple large democratic contro of state government. one can only imagine the pent up demand for certain policies that could satisfy ie assuming they are restored. >> there seems to be in an extrao way they seemed to at least imply that democrats were doing it for him or prevent him from being elevated. what is happening in the democr party. is there a leader who can they

is enough? >> i don't kno that i would quarrel with the m here. this i an orchestrate smear and a reflection of what happen in a state in which a single i. not as if there are differences among the characters and the differ tend to be am person slight with an actual take on significance this i when the system is out of balance. to set this right, i don't kno that there is anyone. keep in mind that all of the politi figures, mark warner

and tim kaine and the senior member of the delegation and the list goes on. everyo says that they have to go. maybe that's just good manners on his part and he doesn't wantr out the door. maybe that's the solution. i have to say, we have one person who admitted what happen there only one allegation and it's over. >> i am a virginian.

this has been a good story and it slowly moved. they got more votes than any govern ever in that state. what he has done and how he handle it, i think was poor. we have to have a way for healin and politics is a dirty game. it seems like a coincidence that they are coming up. you know what i'm doing? googli women to figure out who will be the next governor. >> is there a deteriorate case for a woman running for office than the men behaving badly. >> the national democrats said brett was not credible and should not be put on the suprem because of a

single allegation. a single allegation by a profes at a california univer justin fairfax's accuser is a profes at a california univer who has come out public as blasey ford said. >> as a democratic party. we should hear from her before he passe judgment. that's fair. >> part of the problems they have is they take the high road when it comes to president trump. that is race and assault on women. this i taking both of those things and they are having to answer the questions. from the clips they played, they are not having great answers. they are clear when it comes to other piece where to your point, they have been clear in other instan like this. >> the horror of social media. the picture comes out about

north um and north um gets confus and thinks it's the other face picture. the michael jackson black face pictur neithe these pictures is of him on his year book page. everyo responds before he has an idea. it's ridiculous. what you are saying is fairfax has a right to respond to his challe they do not admit for anyone to respon to anything. people say you should quit. this i crazy like it wouldn't have b like this. people had a day. here's the only national democr who can step in. the last word to you which is this. is ralph going to survive this by inertia? >> he's in the process of giving

this prayerful consideration. he's consulting with his closest friend and some of his closest spin meisters. i would point out that ralph was electe large part because he no. one of the characteristics of that is that he is an inartful politi here we have a situat in which a certain artful is necessary and clearl the governor can't summon it. he's a pediatricia and fixes broken kids and that should make him approachable but medicine and politics don't mix. >> here found out the hard way before this controversy came undone on him. always good to hav your wisdom on with us. the year of the big arrived. yes, it has. i'm obsessed with the nerat.

we'll

politi speaking the years of the rat has been incons 1972, richard nixon is reelected with the wide ep popular vote margin 1996, another year of the rat. bill c each of those years were years of the rat. what do those presidents have in common for it. impeac resigned. you got it right. but that's not all. oh, no. you want more year of the rat phenom harry truman wins the presidency in an upset. a chicago newspaper front page editor has a bad day at work. 1984, another rat year that serves as the backdrop of the orwell novel we still talk

about today. next up is 2020. the next year of the rat. boy, suddenly the term rat race takes on a differentnow. we'll

. let's support working families by supporting paid family leave. [ applause . [ applause ] >> ah, that was president trump last year soaking up the applause from both sides of the aisle. we know why he likes delivering this speech. he clearly likes the forced applause. >> that may be a big part of why we are going through tonight's exercise in political theater. peter alexander joins the panel that is still here. all right, peter, there seems to be two potential headlines that

can happen based on tonight's speech. i'm curious, what could be more likely, head line one, trump bucks the state of the union with a pretty burn presidency, trump kwauls calls your unity? >> they believe eighth call for unity headline? ro. the white house is claiming they will make a claim for unity. the president said a couple years ago the time for trivial fights is behind us, later he said the democrats that saturday on their hand are traesonnous. last year he called for common ground. here's what i will be watching, the president will realize it's a totally different environment, because the sergeant at arms is not going to say, mr. speaker. he's going to say, madam speaker. it's when the president addresss nancy pelosi that you may hear the biggest applause of all this evening. it is a different world for the president. you saw how frustrated he got at

times when the democrats didn't applaud along. there will be that much type of silence, i trust. >> nancy pelosi is like the emperor, yes, clap for him, they'll be watching her cues, carol. >> yes. the other thing we seen is she can get under trump's skin in ways that others haven't been able to. >> how many times does he directly address her toornt? >> and turn around. >> i betcha it's a few. >> it will be a constant reminder over his shoulder that he lost. how that plays out. >> what did he lose, john? he won the senate. once again, you clearly never give the president credit for winning the senate. >> i always found during the obama state of the unions after 2010 that the sight of john boehner sitting behind obama when obama would deliver a unity applause line. you can see boehner, a cynical guy, though, all right. i got to applaud. he and the facial expression would be, all right.

you know, touche, you got me to applaud. okay. and you wonder, is pelosi going to do that? or is she going to sit on her hands the entire speech and look very sour? >> that's, look, she's got a lot of power in her hands. she is writer's week, you want to have the metaphor, she is hovering over his shoulder. she is literally hovering the whole time. >> i don't think she will sit on her hand and look sour. i think he will offer us some things that, quite frankly, she can applaud to. will you get a standing ovation, infrastructure, remember that? that was a big deal. that's something that, quite frankly, could unify and get a bipartisan support. >> one thing i have not heard about, they are talking about prescription drugs. democrats won the house on healthcare. nobody seems to be making that the first priority right now. >> reporter: john, you are exactly right.

obviously. that's the issue the democrats are announcing. it's a focus going into 2020, remind you the president is not just facing a chamber that is no longer fully controlled by republicans, he's facing some of his potential a points a couple 82ers from now, corey booker, kirsten gillibrand, kamela harris, you know the cameras will focus on them as that shot that shows nancy pelosi behind them. the white house is claiming this is choosing american greatness, to troll the democrats, like this is a choice, you can choose something together or stick with your resistance. >> it should be interesting. i can't wait for the big shot of the new members of congress, will you have different -- you will not have everybody in suits. that's a fascinating image tonight. peter, carol, john, cornell, ted, alice, thank you all, up ahead, human resources. p ahead, human resources

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well, in case you missed it, the president wants a wall, he dstz does not care what it's made of. >> steal barrier. >> see through barrier. >> slats. >> concrete, sensors, monitors. >> barbed wire. >> natural structures are as good as anything that we can build. >> concrete, steel, slats, whatever. well, now you can add to the list people. that's right. the president tweeted this, this morning, we will build a human

wall, in necessary. a human wall. well, i guess it wouldn't be the first time. let me take you back to may 25ing, 1986, america's very first human wall. that's right. it was hands across america. yes, it was a nationwide effort to fight poverty. still, it was a human wall, maybe a human chain link. i say, why stop there? a human wall could be just the beginning. you will need some height. let's throw in a few human pyramids in there. you will need some fences, let's go get the rockettes involved. >> that will give you kick. done you worry about funding i know exactly where to get the funding for a human wall. >> a donation has to be made in your name to the human fund. >> the human fund? money, for people. >> there it is, so there you go, money for people. maybe a human wall might work after all. if you need a pink color for it.

might i suggest green? >> charlotte green is people. >> c'mon, it was right there for the taking. that's all for mp daily tonight. don't forget the coverage of the state of the union, the democratic response begins at 8:00 p.m. start with us all night. "the beat" with harry melbourne. >> what do you like to drink with your state of the union? >> well, i'm on air, so i like to drink a lot of black coffee. >> fair. >> and a lot of water in that front. look, i'm curious in all seriousness, is it -- how much does he spend on the wall? the more time he spends on the wall, the more it's about 2020. the less time he spends on the wall, the more about 2019, for me, it's as simple as that. >> yeah, that's something that comes into the fact the whole thing was delayed because of the wall, which didn't ultimately resolv y