♪ i have... ♪ we have just passed the top of the hour. we want to welcome our viewers, and this is part of our ongoing post state of the union, post response coverage. what was, i think, properly billed as a unique evening at the top of the night. >> it was a unique evening. it was quite a night. the president gave one of the longest "state of the union" addresses ever. he also last year gave one of the longest "state of the union" addresses ever. the word count is going to end up being somewhere similar, we don't have an exact word count now because the president had lots of ad-libs. but for me the take away is the president's almost odd but we

know scripted aside about how there cannot be investigations. if there's going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation. criticizing ridiculous partisan investigations that's sticking out from the speech in a way that i think will be remembered beyond anything else that he got to tonight. but i want to bring into the conversation now a very important u.s. senator, a very influential senator, senator amy klobuchar. thank you so much for being with us. we saw your reactions, but now you have to tell us what you were thinking beyond what we could see. >> first of all, i thought stacey abrams in response was incredible. the warmth, you could just see the positive optimistic agenda that she has, that all of us have that we want to bring forward. but when i was in the room today of course the president took a different tone, than he does say at his political rallies. but what i kept thinking is he

was honoring these incredible heroes rightfully so, but each of these heroes had risen to the occasion in their own time. whether they were soldiers, whether they were officers, they rose to the occasion. and he hasn't done that. you think about the challenges in front of us right now, the challenges of law and order when it comes to those investigations and that he was calling them partisan, and our republican colleagues were clapping while the mueller investigation is coming to a head. you think about climate change, our work force, immigration reform, the things that we should be truly dealing with instead of the chaos that we're in. and so that's what really bothered me about it. i thought it was wonderful to honor those heroes, but those heroes were heroes for their time, and we need someone in the white house that's a hero for their time. >> we had thought, senator, heading into tonight's speech there might pea considerable kind of substantive olive branch

offered by the president, and partisanship aside except for those partisan investigations, we thought might be some substantive policies from him on health care, on infrastructure, where there might be potentially room on moving ahead in a bipartisan way or sort of a post partisan way. we didn't hear much from the president at all on infrastructure, and his comments on health care were in some ways skewed. the fact checkers are having a field day already with his as assertions we need to protect people with health conditions. i wonder if you expected more than you got on that front or if this was what you wanted and what you expected to hear from the president. >> no, it was not what i wanted because i kept thinking and in these days barack obama's speeches of substantive policy proposal thatz are put out there. and we should be governing from

opportunity right now. so prescription drugs, remember the proposal he put out there? prescription drug prices and the stock went up. and today he claimed people were benefitting from his policies when we still have doubling, tripling of our prescription drug prices. no specific infrastructure proposal, no working together when it comes to immigration reform. and you can just march through these issues that we're dealing with, privacy issues. he goes after every regulatory issue you can find and then we still have got big facebook and tech companies, you know, being able to basically run all over us and we don't have any privacy policies in place. and so that's what really bothered me is he had some beautiful ret rrk in there and he honored some wonderful people, but he wasn't moving us forward and rising to the challenges of the day. >> senator, in terms of rising to the challenges of the day, you have said that you're considering or thinking about a run for president.

today politico.com reported that you are headed to iowa later this month, and home state paper in minnesota has also reported that a staffer of yours has applied for an event permit this weekend. >> you just called it investigative reporting. so you're asking me this -- you have been asking me this forever. so sunday come to boom island ipminneapolis. as in boom island, drop the mic, and then you'll find out. it's going to be a little cold, 20 degrees. wear warm clothes. maybe have, you know, little heat warmers with you, but then you'll find out my decision. >> on sunday boom island in minneapolis you are going to announce your decision? >> i am. we've had so many discussions about this, i thought, well, here you go. now's the moment. >> thank you. senator klobuchar -- >> we'll have hot chocolate,

camp fires. be there. >> okay, we will be there. senator amy klobuchar, thank you for letting us know. appreciate you being here tonight. >> thanks, rachel. thank you, everyone. joining us now is congresswoman alexandria cortez, a first term congresswoman. she's among the highest profile members of this freshman class. i should mention with her tonight is her guest, an activist who confronted former senator jeff flake last year in an elevator. she asked him to vote against brett kavanaugh for the u.s. supreme court at the time in emotional terms telling senator flake about her own experience with sexual assaults. welcome you both here tonight. thanks for making so much time to be with us. congresswoman, let me ask you first with your response from what you heard from the president. obviously this is the first "state of the union" of you've ever attended as a member of congress.

what was your experience tonight and what did you think with what you heard? >> i think the president was unprepared. i don't think he's done his homework. we've seen states of union addresses delivered by many democrats and republican. almost always have substance offered. i agree with senator klobuchar there, there was no plan. there was no plan to address our opioid crisis, the cost of health care. no plan to increase wages. it was -- you know, i had to ask myself is this a campaign stop or is this a "state of the union." >> can i also ask about your decision to bring your guest with you here tonight? obviously you have the choice about how to attend in your own right but also who to bring with you and why and what message you were trying to send. i'd ask you to talk us through that as well. oh, we've lost them.

>> yeah, audio is becoming an issue tonight. but apparently they could hear us right up until the second question. so we'll try to get that squared away on capitol hill. they are back. >> wait, they're back. >> yes, we're back. >> i am very sorry ability that. we've been having little gremlins like that all evening, but i appreciate you sticking with us. i was asking you about your decision to be there tonight. i wonder if you could both talk to us ability this decision, how you came to it together? >> well, i was very honored when my congresswoman asked me to join her. and i understood it as an invitation that was not just for me but really was an invitation for people across the country to tell their stories, to join in protest, to make democracy come alive, to breathe life into it by making sure that their demands, their aspirations are at the center of our debates. and i understood that was the message that you wanted to send,

that you cannot do this alone, that you have this bold vision but you actually need everyone outside making a forceful demand of our members of congress. >> absolutely. and i think that ana maria represents something so special about american democracy, which is that any normal person in any one moment has this courage inside them to step up in a critical moment that could change the course of our country. and i think that's what ana maria did in that moment in the elevator. and it did change the proceedings of the vote. senator flake as a result of her testimony and the way that she expressed her story asked for a further fbi investigation before the vote proceeded. >> it's brian williams in new york. i have to ask you because i was wondering this in realtime, what it was like to be in the same chamber tonight as now justice kavanaugh. because we all came to know you in that videotape moment as emotional as it was in the

argument in realtime. >> it was sad. i am sad that the supreme court is tanlted inted by a process t puts someone accused of sexual assault in the highest court in the land. i think he represents in many ways the inability of many politician tuesday actually understand that their role is to govern by listening and to actually allow themselves to be moved by the experiences of people that are different from them. who are trying to with their stories educate them. and in many ways i feel sad for the many decisions that kavanaugh is going to make that are going to impact many, many people, millions of people. my children probably. and women, lgbtq families, workers. all of us, and that those decisions are only going to be tan tanlted by a process i continue

to believe was irresponsible and the people deserve better. >> congresswoman, thank you. and congratulations, by the way by your upset victory in the primary. what did you make of the president's side, a pretty aggressive statement about venezuela tonight. and he talked about being a socialist country and we're never going to be a socialist country. it tied the notion of socialism to that particular regime. what do you think about the president and why he did that? >> well, i think, that he needs to do it because he feels like -- he feels himself losing on the issues. every single policy proposal that we have adopted and presented to the american public has been overwhelmingly popular. even some with a majority of republican voters spoerupportin what we're talking about whch when we talk about 70% marginal tax rate on incomes over $10 million, 60% of americans approve it. 70% of americans believe in

expanded medicare for all. i think he sees himself losing on the issues, he sees himself losing on the wall in the southern border and he needs to grasp and this is his way of doing it. this is an issue of authoritarian regime versus democracy. and in order for him to try to, you know, dissuade or throw people off the scent of the trail he has to really make and confuse the public. and i think that that's exactly what he's trying to do. >> congresswoman cortez and ana maria, thank you both very much. congresswoman, thank you for sharing your guest with us here tonight on the broadcast. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> yeah, great to have you both here. that was great. and we should not let the moment pass. that just before we brought on congresswoman cortez and her guest -- boom island in

minnesota -- in minneapolis became a very important place for this upcoming weekend. it sounds like senator klobuchar is going to jump. >> we've gone from having a handful of women senors to having four women senators running for president at the same time. this is remarkable moment in history. >> the first three democrats to declare from -- who are already holding federal office were all three women senators, warren, gillibrand, and kamala harris. now we've got -- cory booker has also announced in the interim. but now we've got senator klobuchar saying she's going to take the plunge too. are you surprised? >> no. i think she's been working on this for a long time. i assumed all four of them were going to run for probably a year or more. and it's going to be very interesting. it's very hard for me because, you know, it's like when one of your kids go who do you love

more, come on? and you go no, no, no i love you all the same. this is going to be -- i have so many former colleagues running that it's going to be tough particularly for women that are going to be going. >> these are all progressive senators of different stripes. >> of course they are. >> and that's an interesting prospect in its own rite. this is not a year when the claire mccalves and joe mcmantions are considered to be in the field. and there will be others who are look lag potentially at candidacy, but we are seeing more progressive striped democrats immediately form that top tier. >> it will pea interesting to see what all of the candidates veer hard to the left lane of our party. it'll be interesting to see if amy decides she's going to lead

with some of more progressive ideas or stick to a pragmatic agenda. so that's what i think we can really watch for is how many segments of a democratic party that is left of center or and how many will be going towards a more centrist position with an idea that history has shown that centrist positions have sometimes more success in general elections. >> this is the lesson of barack obama's legacy you can do both. >> absolutely. you can do progressive, and by the way amy is a good example. frankly my voting record was pretty darn good on the environment and all the issues that the congresswoman likes to talk about. but it's what you emphasize and what you lead with and whether or not you talk about what we can get done as opposed to let's go with the ultimate at the beginning like free college. as opposed to let's figure out a

way to make college more affordable for most families. >> manner and tone i think are very important. we watched all three of them on the senate judiciary committee. cory booker, of course, and kamala and amy. and amy came off as much more mild-mannered. a lot of people like that more. maybe anger is important, passion is important. but i do think you've got a real choice among the progressives in tone and manner. >> well, range and capacity, being able to do more than one thing, being able to speak more than one language, being able to compete on a playing field. >> so the republican primary had 17. you may end up having twice that many in the democratic primary. but one of the ways trump beat all 16 was that no one settled on a way to beat him. so jeb bush started out talking about policy and was branded low energy and was done with him. how much is the toughness and

the ability to not get in the gutter but take the fight to donald trump in ways that wound him, in ways that step him off his game the way he steps opponents off the game. how important is that to democratic voters? >> the hard thing about this is i think the successful candidate is going to have to inspire, is also going to have to take it to donald trump. which means you're going to have to uplift people and make them feel optimistic and hopeful at the same time you're trying to land a punch as hard as you possibly can. >> pelosi has done it better than anyone i've seen so far. >> she's a very experienced w warrior. >> she's going to boom island. i don't think you do that if you're going to end just with a wimper. >> and she knows it's funny. >> don't underestimate the importance of a sense of humor. >> another break for us. our thanks to our panel. we'll be back with continuing coverage right after this. l.

we'll be back with continuing coverage right after this. >> if there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation. it just doesn't work that way. it just doesn't work that way. ♪ ♪ i can do more to lower my a1c. because my body can still make its own insulin. and i take trulicity once a week to activate my body to release it, like it's supposed to. trulicity is not insulin. it starts acting in my body from the first dose and continues to work when i need it, 24/7. trulicity is an injection to improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes when used with diet and exercise. don't use it as the first medicine to treat diabetes, or if you have type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. don't take trulicity if you or your family have medullary thyroid cancer, you're allergic to trulicity, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. stop trulicity and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of a serious allergic reaction,

a lump or swelling in your neck, or severe stomach pain. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. taking trulicity with a sulfonylurea or insulin increases your low blood sugar risk. common side effects include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and decreased appetite. these can lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. i choose once-weekly trulicity to activate my within. if you need help lowering your a1c, ask your doctor about once-weekly trulicity.

welcome back. our live coverage continues on a lot of the peach tonight dealt with america and our place in the world. and that made us think of our msnbc national security analyst and former director of the cia john brennen who was here with us and watched the speech along with us. and director brennen, in that area, in your area of dominant influence where this speech intersected with all of it, what

was your leading reaction to what you heard from the president tonight? >> good evening, brian. let me just say as an american citizen, one of the things that i noticed was looking out at that house chamber how white and male the left side was and how diverse, inclusive and representative of 2019 the right side was. that contrast was stark. it was stark in terms of the same thing that i saw with donald trump and stacey abrams in terms of the look, the style, the vision. but i think all presidents use the state of the union address to score political points and to bring to mind our history, a lot of our experiences and that was certainly true tonight. but i think donald trump raised to a new level the demagoguery, the hyperbole, the chauvinism and even the national security on a policy front. he said if it wasn't for his election, we would be at war with north korea today. well, nothing could be further from the truth. he, in fact, helped to increase

the tension between the two countries last year when exchanging the rhetorical broadsides with kim jong-un. one thing to be sure since his election is kim jong-un continues to have the arsenal that he had when he entered office. now that this photo op has come up in vietnam, i don't think there's been any meaningful change in north korea's disposition as far as its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. >> i was going to ask you in follow up, also, as an american citizen, how did you take to the showstopper part of the speech that is getting all the attention that was something less than the showstopper in the chamber that what's stopping us from peace and prosperity is this partisan divisiveness in the senate? >> that was very trumpian. what is coming down the pike implicates everyone near him and that's why he keeps denigrating the investigation that's underway. we need to have these

investigations move forward, while at the same time taking care of our domestic needs and challenges as well as the international challenges. donald trump continues to be consumed by what is affecting and threatening him personally which is why he continues to focus on the investigations. >> my colleagues want to jump in here, but one more from me, and it's about optics and housekeeping. we saw director haspel and dan coats on more than one occasion tonight applauding something in the speech. is that something you did, would you make a game time decision on whatever it was you were applauding, or did you choose, like joint chiefs, like members of the court, to not applaud at all?

>> the cia director and the director of intelligence were not members of the cabinet during the obama administration, so we didn't attend the state of the union address. but i look to the joint chiefs of staff, all of those generals and admirals that were there, who remained stoic when there are any type of policy pronouncements made by the president. and i think that if the intelligence chiefs are going to be in that forum that they should basically do the same. >> mr. brennan, it's nicolle wallace. i believe the line of investigations standing in front of prosperity was quite a line. while you saw the sanctity of robert mueller's work, what do you think happened? you have an a.g. that could stymie robert mueller's work, you saw them stand and applaud

when he said what stands in our way is the investigations. where are we as a country in terms of doing something about whatever mueller finds and ever finding out about it if that investigation and that evidence exists? >> i think that's one of the most disappointing aspects of what we've seen over the last two years is how the republican members of congress, many of whom i work with and know and even respected have stooped to such a level of craven politics that supports donald trump and his continued trampling of our democratic institutions and institutions of government. and they have just, you know, kowtowed to him. and i think history will show that they have been complicit in what donald trump has been involved in. they have not stood up. and those that have stood up, i

think unfortunately they have left the halls of congress. but at some point i am very much hoping that they are going to come to their senses and realize that mr. trump's, again, demagoguery as well as his continued denigration of our democratic system and institutions needs to come to a halt. >> a man hawho has never held back beus and we appreciate you taking our questions this night of the "state of the union." former cia director brennen. thank you very much. >> i want to bring into the conversation now another first year member of congress. katey hill is a democrat from southern california. she is the first democrat to represent her district in congress in a quarter century. she's the first woman ever from that district and just named vice chair of the powerful house oversight committee. thank you for joining us tonight. really appreciate you having the time. this is change that we're seeing

from democratic leadership, that freshman members of congress are being named subcommittee chairs and vice chairs of committees. the over sight committee itself is very important heading into the next couple of years for this democratic congress and this scandal riddled administration. i just wanted to ask how that came to be, how you positioned yourself for this kind of leadership role, and what you anticipate helping into your first year in congress with this big responsibility that you've been given. >> yeah, it's a great question. in terms of how i position myself, i mean i just went into congress with a plan of being as effective as i possibly could, and i end up getting the freshman leadership representative role, and so i've gotten to spend a fair amount of time with some of the other members of leadership and oversight was one of my priority committees because of the broad range of issues that you could

focus on. and i met with chairman comings, and he ended up suggesting this is possible opportunity. he nominated me, i guess, and it went through and i was really excited for the opportunity. he is an incredible person to learn from. and i'm just -- you know, it's going to be a lot of work. it's kind of, i don't know if intimidating is the right word but i certainly have my work cut out for me and i'm really looking forward to it. >> given the president's remarks in his "state of the union" address tonight where he said that the partisan investigations must end and we can have peace and legislation or war and investigation, obviously part of that is about what you and chairman comings will be doing on the oversight committee. we also saw a great reaction shot of chairman schiff from the intelligence committee tonight where he appeared to be quite taken aback to the president's response to a point where he laughed a little bit. was that an important money or

did you see it as a par for the course moment for this president tonight? >> that a moment i actually got my notebook out of my purse and started writing things down like, wait, did he really just say that, that we can't have investigations? it's just so blatant. i guess it is par for the course in terms of the other things he's said. but to me it's just scary, right. this is the kind of dangerous rhetoric that we've been hearing over and over again. and you touched on it with the director previously that this is -- this is -- the complicity from the republicans that we've seen over the last two years and among those who are still in the house and in the senate, it's frankly a national security crisis as far as i'm concerned. and i think that's the way we need to be looking at this. we need to be asking the tough questions about where his foreign policy decisions are

actually taking us, how that factors into our place in the world. and frankly what his ties are to these foreign entities and where that leaves us. and i think that it's really something that we need to be paying more and more attention to from the real risks standpoint. so i'd work on armed services too and we're going to have more hearings. >> up until recently we'd bip expecting the president's long time personal lawyer michael cohen to give public open on door testimony before your committee in a couple of days. mr. cohen then expressed concerns he or his family might be in danger if he proceeded with that. can you give us any update whether or not mr. cohen is expect today testify before your km committee? >> i share the belief that it does need to happen in an open setting. the american people deserve to

hear it directly, and i know he's going before the intelligence committee, but that's going to be behind closed doors, and just think this is something that our job on the oversight committee is to find the truth and share it with the american people. that's how we're going to be able to move the needle on really bringing all this out into the light and making sure people understand the risks we're supposed to because of this president and do ultimately what needs to be done. >> congresswoman katey hill, freshman democrat from california. is now the vice chair of the oversight committee as a freshman. congresswoman hill, really appreciate you being with us. thanks a lot. as we said the night we were covering the mid-term election, the winds of change. speaking of which, people come and go so quickly around here. our family has contracted and now expanded by two. lawrence o'donald and michael

steel have joined our family. we promise to have four freshman members of congress at the start of the evening. our fourth is coming up. please stay with us. we're back after this. s coming . please stay with us. we're back after this.

as we mentioned our fourth member of the democratic freshman class is awaiting to talk to us.

but first as we also mentioned two more members of our family have joind us. lawrence o'donnell and michael steel. out of difference because your title is mr. chairman. which outranks mr. anchorman. the great senator from massachusetts. mr. chairman, what did you make of your fellow republican president's "state of the union"? >> to be honest i came at this from a slightly different perspective. i mean i think a lot of what's been said was basically true. the speech struck me in two quarters. the first was an absence of any reference to the shutdown and the idea you had so many federal workers and their families impacted, that there was no sort of, you know, smoothing over that moment with them and with the american people who had been impacted. so it was completely forgotten and set aside. >> that might be because we

might be between two shutdowns. >> particularly with that fact looming a week from now. and i thought the president would have a moment there where he could just say i felt your pain, okay, and then move onto something else. but that struck me. the other part i thought was very interesting was the faktd that he laid out a social agenda that i know made the hearts of a lot of conservatives in this country leap. when he talked about drugs, drug prices, hiv, childhood cancer, and school choice, and of course the abortion section of the speech was probably the most impactful for that base. what struck me about the way the president delivered the speech was he talked largely to his republican audience, all right represented pie the republican members there with an occasional reference to the democrats. this speech was more to them. those republicans around the country and those independent center right leaning individuals, that was to the american people. so that struck me the most about

this speech. >> i thought the hiv plan was going to be a substantive thing and it was just a line with no explanation or details. doesn't make any sense. i really like was expecting there was going to be something there and there's not. >> why did you think there was going to be -- >> because they were hyping it. >> he did a press conference today and, you know, attacked the late john mccain. i wasn't surprised there wasn't any substance. i think the last point to what you're saying is because he's so weak, the reason he was pandering to the republicans in the room is because he's so politically weakened. most "state of the union" addresses has something for everyone because you're trying to grow your coalition. >> to your point his goal was not to grow the coalition, it was to hold on because the numbers have been showing since the shutdown, those folks have been peeling off or at least

softening their support for him. so the president in that sense dud what he had to do tonight. i think you're going to particular run this abortion question. he boxed that point in extremely well with the governor of virginia, and he made it as graphic as you could in that moment. and i thought it was a very powerful -- one of the most powerful points in the speech. >> as graphic as i remember in any kind of setting like this. lawrence, since the chairman invoked bill clinton, i'll do it again. bill clinton couldn't stand newt gingrich, and yet when he gave his "state of the union" he did the right thing, turned and saluted the new speaker of the house. no such grace tonight. >> well, every previous president thought the norms really mattered and thought the culture of the interaction between the presidency in that body mattered a great deal. this president doesn't know any of that history. he doesn't respect it, doesn't

care. it is a speech with so many hugely extraordinary lines that it's hard to isolate them. you've isolated a bunch, and i'm really glad you and brennen brought up the one where he said if hillary clinton had been elected president, didn't use her name but said if i had not been elected president, we would have, quote, a major war with north korea with peopmillions killed. that would be the most outrageous statement of the night, had he not asserted that it is impossible to have investigations -- he didn't say investigations of the president. but investigations of the president while we are waging a war anywhere. you're going to have to explain that to richard nixon because the helicopter he got onto fly him away from the white house forever was exactly the kind of

helicopters being used in the vietnam war the exact same day. that's another extraordinary line that has -- is an a historical reference by him. these things go on and on. really to michael's point about the shutdown, the shutdown was about the wall. what was the wall in this speech? it was less than it's ever been. first it's see through, and in the end the final line on the wall was i will get it built. and then he says -- after that he says let's work together to a congress who has said we are not building the wall. and there's no ultimatum in that spot. there's nothing he said in this speech about how this wall will be built other than asking congress to work with him and they've already refused to work with him.

>> having this see through steel barrier erected where the need was -- >> very limited locations. >> let us bring in our next guest because she has been very patient waiting for us. she is freshman member of congress rasheeda tuleave. congresswoman, you are our fourth and final freshman member of congress. all of them women, all of them democrats who have been kind enough to join us tonight. we saw some snippets of you reacting during the speech. we saw how especially the democratic women hijacket jacked the president's congratulations of the new members of congress, as you did the number of women in the work force. very basic question to start off. what was it like witnessing your first state of the union? >> it was a bit surreal, actually being present in the room when it actually happened is pretty surreal. i'm still always i can't believe i'm a congresswoman.

i think a lot of people don't realize just how incredible this is for me and many of the women, for many of us that ran for office. even at one point did you ever think you'd be sitting in this chamber looking at him and he's currently the president and sitting in congress, and i said never. it was a moment to pause and say it just sunk in a bit more i'm a member of congress now. >> i want to read you the line that brian's talking about because i don't think donald trump intemdnded it to be receid this way, and i think the moment was lost on him. so he said no one has benefitted more from our thriving economy than women who filled 58% of the new jobs created in the last year. all americans can be proud we have more women in the work force than ever before. and then you all stood up and

started clapping. yes, there are more women in congress largely in reaction to i think a lot of passions that were stirred when a man who said things on the "access hollywood" ascended to the most powerful office in the land. is that how you felt? did you get the sense it was lost on him? >> absolutely. i think a couple of my ca colleagues turned around and said i don't think he gets it. even though we obviously look differently as members of gr congress, we hope he honors this diversity. not just say that he's, you know, acknowledging this new incredible wave of new women in congress but actually put us at the table when you think about the issue around our bodies, you know when you talk about pay equity, women, let's actually have us at the table. so honoring anderment respect t there are so many women members of congress and let us make decisions as much as anybody

else. >> i think joy reid has a question for you. >> hi, congresswoman, thanks very much. i know it's something personal to you and your family. i wonder what you made of the fact typically in these speeches there are at least some p perfunctory nods, what did you make of that. >> when you have a president talking about unity or saying that's what he wanted to talk about during the "state of the union," and of course there were words there. understand we've seen a high rise of hate crimes against african-americans, the lgbtq kmunlt, the latino, immigrant community. there's so many of us actually feeling this increase in discrimination and targeting our communities of color across this country. so much what he was saying

didn't translate into his actions. even when he talks about the wall he talks about criminalizing so many people who are immigrants, many of them my neighbors at home. i think interest us at that moment we felt it. we felt that's great, you want unity, bipartisanship, but let's not shutdown the government again. let's talk about fixing the immigration smg immigration system, make it more humane. we were talking about, you know, pathway to citizenship, dreamers. we were talking about unifying families. now we're talking about criminalization of immigrants, separation of family, children in detainment camps. i mean, it has drastically changed. and under this leadership it's actually translated to see much hate rhetoric coming out of the the white house. and it's causing so much fear and anxiety. >> congresswoman, thank you so much. and thanks for your patience as we were trying to get to you,

congresswoman rasheeda tuleave of michigan. when we come back, a fact check from the border in el paso, texas, since their name was invoked tonight. l paso, texas, since their name was invoked tonight. ♪

did you know you can save money by using dish soap to clean grease on more than dishes? try dawn ultra. dawn is for more than just dishes. with 3x more grease cleaning power per drop, it tackles tough grease on a variety of surfaces. try dawn ultra.

the one with the designer dog collar.(sashimi) psst. hey, you! wondering how i upgraded to this sweet pad? a 1,200-square-foot bathroom, and my very own spa. all i had to do was give my human "the look". with wells fargo's 3% down payment on a fixed-rate loan and a simpler online application, getting into my dream home was easier than ever. get your human to visit wellsfargo.com/woof. what would she do without me?

we are back, and we have a segment with fact check said in three separate areas prepared for you. first we go to our southwestern bor border to el paso, texas. cal, of course you predicted we would hear el paso mentioned, and it was. and talk about context. >> reporter: so donald trump says that el paso has become a safe sit a after the wall. here's what we got from sheriff richard wiles directly after the speech, quote, it is sad to hear president trump's fake falsehoods about el paso, texas. the facts are clear while it is that el paso is one of the safest cities in the nation, it has never been considered one of it nation's most dangerous cities. and it was a safe city before the wall was built. he continues by saying president

trump continues to give a false n narrative. the facts and statistics on this are clear. crime was falling in the years before the wall went up in this part of texas in el paso in 2008. what you hear there from the sheriff of el paso county has been echoed by sheriffs all across texas. he said one of the president's biggest problems is when he visits down here he is not meeting with sheriffs on the counties, those 31 counties in southern texas that border mexico. the sheriff said when he came down here for his meeting he simply did not speak to any of them. >> the state and local politicians who have been forced to mastatements during this era vehemently disagreeing with the president of the united states. we've never seen it before. stephanie ruhle, way off her shift in the morning is with us tonight to talk about some of the other fact checks based on

some of what the president said tonight. steph? >> we've got to talk about the economy and jobs. the president has said he has unleashed jobs, created the most beautiful economy. here's the thing, he walked into a presidency in the eighth year of an economic expansion. while the picture is pretty, it's not quite what he painted. in terms of jobs he said he created 5.3 million jobs. that's not the case. the number's 4.9 million. in terms of manufacturing jobs he said people said he could never create -- and he didn't. the number is 454,000. he's right we've got more women in the work force than ever, but that number went up with the u.s. population. something else he said that didn't make any sense is that we are the number one oil and gas producer in the world. it has been a revolution. well, that happened seven years ago. in 2015 president obama talked about it in his "state of the

union" address. so, yes, the u.s. economy is strong. it is not stronger than ever, but it is pretty good. he just didn't have his numbers right. >> stephanie ruhle, thank you for that. we also want to go to nbc presidential historian michael beschloss who has been watching along with us tonight. and we wanted to ask you particularly about the strange way this started tonight. nancy pelosi was supposed to introduce the president. she did not. she looked briefly bewildered, he then did not acknowledge her as new pre-s do. does that strike you as an anomaly? >> it knocked me out of my chair. i'm used to these historic traditions. and you know the speaker says i have the distinct honor and great pleasure of introducing the president. so what was going on here was donald trump startled and sort of forgot that that was supposed

to happen. well, that did happen with harry truman, his first speech to congress in april of 1945 after franklin roosevelt died and the speaker actually interrupted him and said, harry, i've got to introduce you. or was this something intentional from donald trump, he did this sort of deliberately as sort of a power play against nancy pelosi. >> michael, we're also interested in the president having made those sort of jarring remarks there can be no investigations. i think obviously everybody thought of nixon in 1974 saying one year of watergate is enough. is that the right parallel here? >> although nixon showed a little bit more self-restraint. he didn't say that until late in his speech. and he just said, you know, one year of watergate is enough and called on congress to close down the investigations. donald trump, as he has before went richard nixon one further

and came up with what i think is one of the weirdest things i have ever heard in a "state of the union" address which is if there's going to be peace and legislation, we can't have war and ridiculous partisan investigations. number one, that's sort of a threat, which nixon never did to try to get out of watergate. and the other thing is you're linking about four different things that normally do not connect. so not something that i think should fill us with a great sense of reassurance. >> since we think of you all during these speeches, it's such a tremendous luxury to have michael beschloss to talk to. >> and whenever beschloss uses the word weirdest. >> our live coverage continues throughout the evening tonight. please stay with us. nues throughout the evening tonight please stay with us.

> good evening. i'm chris matthews in new york. president trump billed tonight's state of the union speech as a call for unity, but after touting his own accomplishments, the president quickly turned calls to work together in a warning to democrats who now control the house. >> an economic miracle is taking place in the united states, and the only thing that can stop it are foolish wars, politics or ridiculous partisan investigations. [ applause ]