>> it is midnight on the east

coast, 9 pm in the west. we are continuing our live special coverage right here on msnbc. i'm stephanie ruhle. here is my dear partner, and pal, ali velshi who is finishing off the job. that was the core at president by the state of the union. china's first speech before the biden congress, he not only talked with what his administration is already done but where he wants to take the country going forward. >> i stand here tonight, after the help of many people in this room after creating 12 million new jobs, more jobs created in two years than any president is created in four years, because if you. all because of the american people. [applause] we came together to pass the by partisan infrastructure. law the largest infrastructure law since president eisenhower 's highway system. a republican voted against it as well but i still get to fund the projects in those districts as well. don't worry, i promised i would

be a president for all americans. we will fund these projects. i will see you at the groundbreaking. [applause] instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some republicans what medicare and social security to sunset. i don't say the majority. as we all apparently agree, social security and medicare is off the books now. [applause] all right. we've got unanimity. i'm not gonna allow them to take away, to be taken away, not today, not tomorrow, not ever. but apparently it's not going to be a problem. i know most cops and their families are good, decent, honorable people, the vast majority. [applause] and they risk their lives every time they put that shield on. but what happened to tyre in memphis happens too often. we have to do better.

congress must restore the right that was taken away in roe v. wade and protect roe v. wade. [applause] make no mistake about it, if congress passes a national ban, i will veto it. [applause] i am committed to work with china where we can advance american interest to benefit the world. make no mistake, as we make clear last, week of china threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country, and we did. [applause] the last few years our democracy has been threatened and attacked, put it risk, put to the test. this very room on january 6th. and then just a few months ago, an unhinged big lie assailed and unleashed a political violence on the house of representatives. such a heinous act should never have happened. we must all speak out. there is no place for political violence in america.

we're facing the test of our time. we have to be the nation we have always been at our best, optimistic, hopeful, forward-looking. because the soul of this nation is strong, because the backbone of this nation is strong, because the people of this nation are strong, the state of the union is strong. [applause] >> the state of the union is strong. are you ready to break this out over the next two hours? >> i am ready. there are so much good analysis for the last couple of years, last couple of hours, we can talk about how that felt. the interesting thing about that, it was fun. and he seemed to be getting a lot of fun out of people heckling him in the feedback he was getting. >> you actually felt like the union is strong. well guess what, it's not just the two of us. we have got the insiders with this from the white house press secretary and msnbc nbc host symone sanders-townsend and jen

psaki host of simone on peacock and msnbc. and the man without an msnbc show, but with a phenomenal podcast, michael steele, former former chairman of the -- committee. since you're both part of the administration, senator michael steele. >> okay so i will admit straight-up, i was surprised. republicans for a long time have been talking about owning the libs. they got owned tonight by joe biden. he stood his ground, he laid out his agenda, he was very clear. he took the hecklers and he made america see what he has been trying to convey in a way that they probably have not seen or heard before. and i thought for him it was a very good night. i was watching and reading conservatives and margaret folds on my twitter feed just

lose their mind. >> over? what >> everything. the complete package. just the repertory back and forth, clarity of laying out what he did. the moment on social security is going to be in a loop. because everyone in the country in hours, at least those who follow social security policy, and that means your elderly and so forth, that republicans had a plan that they ran on in 2022 to abolish, to sunset all federal programs which, guess what, included social security, medicaid, and medicare. and that was senator rick scott's plan that the party signed on to. and mcconnell and others were like i don't know, that started the mcconnell scott loggerhead. and so it came home to roost

tonight in a way that i think biden now, getting on the trail tomorrow, and days afterwards, can really drive that message calmer. who is standing up for you? i am. who is shouting down the country? they are. >> symone, explain that shouting down the country. i didn't understand that moment where joe biden lays out, we're not gonna touch your social security. there are some members of the republican party who want to, and marjorie taylor greene starts calling him a liar. and what basis? any person who covers politics immediately says, let me lay out for you what rick scott proposed, in fact the president said, i got the papers in my office. i can send them to you. why would she do that? >> i don't know why she did looking up the real housewives of navy yard. i don't know if anybody was watching but we will have to go and -- >> [laughter] >> i don't know about marjorie taylor greene, they can't get inside her head.

but i do think that that moment was quite important. look, seniors are the most reliable voting bloc in america. they vote, they vote, the vote, which is why it was confusing to me why republicans did not vote, voted against the inflation reduction act which kept insulin for folks on medicare, i. e. seniors, it's only $5. every republican voted against. that it's not popular to be on the record in very public places where millions of people are watching saying you're getting rid of social security and medicare, which is why i think republican members of congress stood up to revolt on camera so they had the visual of them revolting, the visual of them saying we do not agree. whether that matches up with the policy. >> where they are in a few days

or, weeks who knows. i thought one of the weirdest moments of the night, there were some weird moments, where sarah huckabee sanders beginning of her speech. i mean, because you watch joe biden's speech and michael steele just laid this out, if you pull tested that speech, most of that 70, five 80% of the public would support it. that's the point. >> meat and potatoes. >> these are reasonable, these will make your lives better. maybe she listen to the speech, maybe she didn't. i mean you need to be adaptable in these moment, i think my gut is she didn't want to be because she speaking to a small section of the public. that's the strategy there. but that contrast could not be more helpful to joe biden in the democrat. he is saying, look at when a lawyer prescription drug costs, i want to make your life better. i want to make sure you have jobs. and she's like in this dark -- >> the woke mob. >> it's interesting because in the last administration these versions of these pieces, the

state of the union speeches, had a darkness to them. >> yeah. >> joe biden had a lightness to him tonight, which was unusual. the surprise to me was that there wasn't much you could've gained from a good speech tonight. but he seemed to have taken all the juice out of a relatively dry lemon and squeeze it. out >> i think it was important for him to do. though the state of the union speech, this was the biggest platform that president biden was gonna have, i think until he announces what we expect to be his reelection campaign. and there are people that will see this speech but usually don't tune into political speeches. they're gonna replay this on local news and places and spaces where they wouldn't really play this, in a local papers. this was an opportunity for folks to parse through maybe what they've seen on social media, what they've seen on fox news, and get it direct from joe biden. if you turn it to union in heard them today, you'd be like yeah, there is not a world leader that would like to trade places with xi jinping. all right, let's cap insulin at $35. oh, police reform? well, you're gonna have to show me because i'm skeptical. but it gave people something. >> she's going to roll the dice, sarah huckabee sanders, and dive into the woke mobs. because it's the only card she

has to play. over the likes two weeks water ali velshi and i do, inclined, emigrated figure out what are your economic plans, what are you gonna do about the debt ceiling? and i want to speak for the both of us, every republican we reached out to doesn't have a counter plan. or even if they have an opinion personally, the party has no consensus of what they want to do on the debt ceiling or any sort of economic policies to counter their narrative that the biden economy is in the toilet, which it isn't. so pivoting to the walk mob is just a new conversation this certain portion of the population bite into any can distract them. because there aren't policies. we want to put your charts up, state of the union aid, nobody called us back. >> i get why she did it. but what is strange is you're like, i'm gonna right now appeal to 11% of the country, whereas like joe biden is, like i will know what people to 80%. now that that's the population that watches it, it just seems strange to kind of narrow it into set, and to speak in such a way, and walk mob? i mean i live in arlington

virginia. people don't talk about that on mice street, and i live ten minutes from what she turned, easy. the language is so targeted to a very specific audience. >> my walk daughter keeps telling me nobody ever uses the word woke. >> in the sense of the country we're going to say, great let me get my pen out, what exactly are you proposing. >> it's a problem for. them >> to your point, there were a number of weird moments, but one of the ones that i thought was interesting, there wasn't so much weird as interesting was when sarah started, governor huckabee started talking about the military meeting, the meeting with the military. she never once mentioned trump 's name in that entire story. she never once mentioned the presidents, the former president's name. she talked about how soldiers, how he responded to the soldiers, and they stood up and there was usa, usa, usa. but she never mentioned the

man's name. that is going to be interesting to watch how it plays on the other side in the next few days, when trump sort of digests, oh so we are gonna play me like that? it's going to be very interesting, particularly with someone like sarah coming. it was her role tonight, it was a number of things, one was to go out and sort of give the safe speech because she wasn't the threat for vice president or president -- >> because she's the only republican that might not run against him? >> exactly. [laughter] and the other was to bring that base, that trump base, to keep them a little bit close so that there is no hard feelings. but in that moment, i'm like, wait a minute, we are talking about? because you didn't say the man

's name. so is that a sign that the established, the establishment within the party is trying to complete that pivot? and now in its public position, or forward facing will not talk about the president? that's going to be interesting. but i think to give him that kind of platform, in that moment, saying our military responded to him, and not tellers hooey's is very interesting. >> as you, said a lot of strange moments. joe biden gave mccarthy a warm welcome. he said, surprised i'm interested in working with you. but what was going on with mccarthy in the background there when biden was getting heckled? he seemed to be trying to convey, trying to tell him don't do that. i thought that was a strange thing, because the cameras were on him. you could see he was doing something with his lips. like we was >> like we won't see. him >> against everything he had instructed his caucus to do. in their conversations and in

trying to set the tone in the stage for tonight, no outbursts, no one is my mom would say don't be sure when you're behind. marjorie taylor greene looking like a palm marine looking for a coat. >> or these adversarial as you thought it was going to be. i thought would be more competitive. >> earlier in the speech it took a while to get to the heckling. and then it was like, liar, liar. >> toothless altogether. >> it's the trigger. and you look to see where all that began. it's those triggers that sort of, to the early point about how they want to frame these things for the model base. and you know you get to the social security piece, they don't want that stain on themselves, like no no no, but when you get on these other areas, these other topics, you find mccarthy sitting there in this moment going okay guys, no, no because it makes it harder on the back end of this to go and play being the legitimate governing power and certainly being a stronger speaker, and he showed he didn't have the strength to keep that caucus quiet. >> one of the moments were got

very contentions, where you saw the chaos playing out republican conference, was when the president's talking about fentanyl. there been multiple proposals in congress to permanently reschedule a framework about rescheduling fentanyl, and in that exchange, where the congresswoman mira taylor greene is saying you, and it's your you talked about a number of people, it's your fault. >> a wild accusation to. make >> a wild accusation and frankly it is what turns people off from tuning into politics, against what they feel like are being played on the night that is supposed to be serious with issues that are a real consequence with the american people. >> so you are the table and had great experience with engaging people who don't agree with you. and jen, you did this at the white house, where people try

to go and you, and you became well-known for the idea that allegation on the facts, i'm not going to be goaded. >> she was good at that, by the. way >>. i think he may have learned from you tonight. every time somebody heckled him, it seemed like a losing proposition. i get much more irritated someone hackles me. i might fight back. he got a smile on his face and had some sort of a bring it look. >> i think because it has become -- >> bring it. >> you know back when joe wilson had called president obama, during that moment? it was shocking. it was shameful, how could this happen in the hollowed halls of the house? and now it feels expected. it feels like, how many times will he be heckled? so you're in the white house and here in a moment like this, the last week, you're planning for that. and your practicing, how shall we prepare?

when they hack all, what are you gonna? do what's relying on a b? what are the moments when you can kind of back? sam the social security line where you had them stand up, that was written into the prepared speech. it took him delivering that, which he did very well, it could go either way for anyone, but you have to prepare and be ready for those moments, because if he gets into the kind of shouting match in there, he's a fellow irish person, as am i, we can get a little heated from time to time if you're not careful, you lose it. you lose the audience, you lose control. he kept control. but yes, you know it's going to happen, you practice. marjorie taylor greene, you can bet on her heckling. >> she didn't show back in her, at one point she shouting china's spying on us, what was he gonna? yeah we got it. we shy down the balloon. that's not a surprise to anyone. >> which is why, when you asked them how they felt about the outburst, the liars, the back and forth they said there was not a back-and-forth. he is the president. there's no back and forth. he's the president, and you clearly saw the contrast. i thought that was important takeaway, in the deaths how they are viewing it. >> that's a theme.

the theme of the speech was luck, and proposing rational things that you should all like out there in the country. they are chaotic and crazy. or not. or work with me and i'll be chaotic and crazy. it's your choice. and she's like screaming liar at him from the back of the room. >> and looking like a real housewife navy yard. >> and there is mccarthy sitting in the chair looking like -- he'd rather be anywhere else, when he was a kind of nodding. off >> and sleepy a bit. >> for me that social security moment though was so much fun to watch, how the president manipulated, golden them, guided them into an ovation for the very thing, against the very thing they have been trying to do, and that is killing social security, medicare, and medicaid. and they stood up no, not we're

not doing that. >> he was very careful in how things were scripted, even saying some republicans. he made a point. i was talking about capitalism, and free markets, he continuously said, i support capitalism, when i don't support is monopolies. and so just when you would think he is walking into something they could say he supereffective, he super to the left, he made sure every line was qualified and punctuated. >> same with policing. he walked an amazing line right down the middle talking about carbs and how most cups are good and they have a right to -- >> an every day they wake up put their lives on the line. >> and so it is every parent have a right to expect for their children. >> but you know what was good about that? you know what was good about that part though? he didn't did it using the story of tyre. he used it in the context of

that god awful situation and killing. and everybody got it. i think everybody in that room got it that yeah, we need to reform this system because of this it's killing young black man. and now we will see, as our two white house professionals over here now, where the administration can do on the backhand to turn that moment into a piece of legislation or at least a set of policy initiatives or executive orders they can move that agenda. >> and i will note and, i asked folks at this congressional police congress today. i asked what part what was on the. table they caution because nothing was on paper but there is active conversation between both chambers amongst both parties about what kind of policy prescriptions that congress can get on board with. i do not think they were going to see the full fledged george floyd justice and policing act. that's about qualified immunity and about lowering the standard of section 2:42 from recklessness to, from willing to what knowingly to willingly. i do believe. and i don't think we're gonna see. that but i think there are other pieces, like a national

database, if you will, there's just not currently exists when police officers do bad things. there's no database to look that police officers doing that things in omaha are doing bad things in texas. >> i want to take a quick break. symone sanders-townsend and michael steele. >> you are in thanking? john >> i've been here. >> he did. we are waiting for your bring in a moment. this is stephanie's time on the clock. coming up, congresswoman katie porter is here and what we heard for the president on the economy. taxing billionaires in the fight ahead on the debt ceiling. later president biden in saying our democracy is a lucky low in history. we're gonna talk to a historian about that and what this speech could mean for the next two years. our special state of the union post show continues. w continues. who's on it with jardiance? ♪ ♪ we're the ones getting it done. we're managing type 2 diabetes and heart risk. we're on it with jardiance. join the growing number of people who are on it

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down tonight's state of the union, congresswoman katie porter of california. congresswoman, we all watched with baited breath. you are in the room. tell us about it. >> i thought it was an incredible speech, and i thought it built momentum. i think i was thinking about the victory laps, talking about what we had when we had powers democrats, and what i think captivated the room and what should captivating american people is when the president switched pretty early on in the speech to talk about the future, to talk about the work that needs to be done and i think that's what we saw, the president is calling on asked to be partners with him in promoting a stronger economy. i think that's when you saw the room come alive. >> congresswoman, you as your guest to the state of the union, had the head of the california labor federation with you.

and the president was very direct in his call for ensuring that union workers across the country can organize, workers across the country can organize a union work is not something that is illegal and not allowed anywhere in this country. it sort of led to you talking about the fact that you thought this was a remarkably progressive speech, that sort of leans into the things that you talk about all the time, that a lot of the inflation we feel because of corporate profitability, not because of higher wages. >> no, absolutely. the president tonight really nate made the case to the american people that capitalism can and should be about lifting up workers and about making sure that the wealth that we create, the revenue that corporations generate goes to the benefit of the entire economy, including the workers who do the work. we heard her talk about competition, using the word anti-trust for the first time in the state of the union since 1979. he talked about getting ridding noncompete, stoked about consumer proof protection. he tried to both stock buybacks and why they are so harmful to

capitalism. so i think this is a speech about the economy that we need to have. what we need to do to put those guardrails back on so the economy can deliver for the american people. i think regardless of ideology, every american benefits from a strong economy, and that's with the president was offering tonight, starting by centering on workers. >> where some of those points that you just laid out a welcome surprise for you? i mean he got very specific. the fact that he's talking about stock buybacks, the fact that he's calling out big oil companies. the average person might not connect with a stock buyback, but at the heart of it that is about massive corporations taking their free cash flow and instead of reinvesting it in their business and their workers, they are simply satisfying their shareholders. and so why that might seem an abstract idea, it's taking notes from this shareholder capitalism to stakeholder capitalism, which is something that you talk about every day. >> that's why corporations are just illegal entity designed to make sure that capitalism is structured in a way that is delivering on its promise, and so capitalism and corporations,

corporations have duties. they are not free to cheat people willy-nilly. they're not free to take all their money and give it to an executive. that's called fraud. what the president did tonight was anchor the base ideas of capitalism that have guided the american economy when it has been at its strongest, most steve are stable, and most globally competitive, and reminded us that those are things we can have going forward. those are policy solutions, and we can deliver on them in congress. >> one of the things the president kept talking about was competitiveness, the idea that we can be competitive as long as the idea is that the system is fair. then you talked about noncompete's, and the number of workers in america who are subject to noncompete clauses. he got boos from republicans. i wasn't there so i didn't understand what they were booing, because i would imagine, generally speaking, republicans would not want not competes. it's anticompetitive. >> i think this goes to the

importance of standing up to be corporations and not having a congress that is run for and buy corporate cash, by corporate pacts. so what the president was saying, corporations are -- the employment economy and system, holding our economy back, holding workers back, holding workers back to from the jobs and the most productive use in the economy. the only reason that anyone would oppose that is it simply making it harder for corporations who want to keep employees down at lower wages, prevent them from moving up and onward. and so i simply read that is straight up naked willingness to back corporations ahead of american workers. it was disappointing to see that from across the aisle. >> do you think the president earn himself some credit in terms of how people feel about the economy will? while he is headed to novichok events, we talk about this all the time, the world is still really expensive.

people are struggling when they pay the rent or when they go to the grocery store. people don't necessarily feel good. but when he laid out many of those achievements and what he planned to do, do you think it made an impact? >> i do. i think the areas he focused on, including things like junk fees, about people being able to sit together on an airplane. some of these very every day frustrations that people have, feeling like, why can corporations do this? why doesn't somebody do something to make the economy a little bit more fair? i think those are things that the vast majority of americans are gonna relate to. when you pay for an airline ticket and they don't get you there, why can't you get your money back? i think this is sort of the president at his best, directly relating to the everyday frustrations and experiences of americans.

>> congresswoman, thanks for joining us. i was going to, say this morning, but it's actually still nighttime, where you are from, so for both of your sides of the country, thank you for joining us, congresswoman katie porter of california. >> when we come, back republicans were not happy when president biden put them on the spot when it came to social security and medicare. our political panel get into all of it when our special state of the union post show continues. out your wish? i wish that shaq was my real life big brother. awe. what's up little bro? ♪♪ i'm not touching you, i'm not touching you! ♪♪ turns out, some wishes do come true. and it turns out the general is a quality insurance company that's been saving people money for nearly 60 years. mom! for a great low rate, and nearly 60 years of quality coverage make the right call and go with the general. >> nearly 25% of the entire

national debt. that took over 200 years to accumulate was added by just one administration alone. the last one.

those are the facts, check it out. check it out. how did congress respond to that debt? did the right thing. the debt ceiling three times without conditions. they paid american bills. and advanced economic disaster in the country. tonight i urge congress to follow suit. >> but it is true, despite kevin mccarthy sitting behind the president going that is not true. we both know it's absolutely true. he gets ceiling, of course it did, it took center stage during the presidency. union address earlier this evening. he told republicans to do the same darn thing that they did not, once not, twice but three times during the trump administration. let the debt limit be raised without any conditions. that comes as house speaker kevin mccarthy is continuing to call on the white house to negotiate spending cuts. but here is the problem, he has

not given any specifics about what he actually wants cut. for agreeing to pay the bills that america has already incurred. what was the big news of the night? it's seem to president biden got a verbal commitment from the republican house that entitlement cuts are off the table. so let us discuss and bring in robert gibbs. former white house press secretary under president obama and david plouffe. former obama campaign manager and senior white house adviser. david to first. you've known joe biden for many years. how would you say his speech was tonight? >> that part in particular i think was skillfully design and executed. what is interesting, it's not like the republicans in the house tomorrow going to say, biden was lying about us, we are actually four sub security and medicare cuts. i sort of think he boxed the man. and basically unmask this entire thing as not serious. as being consistent. i still worry, i don't see an exit ramp. the last nine or a few hours ago.

that speech, i do think advances that president democrats in this debate. but i'm not going to breathe a sigh of relief stephanie. until the exit ramp is clear. how do we revert, basically economic global catastrophe. but i thought that in particular was when it was a designed play. but you've executed extremely well. >> it's all been a stagecraft. >> but wait, here's the exit ramp. mitch mcconnell watched all that go down tonight. the mess of the house. banging down kevin mccarthy's door and say getting your house in order. just like huge gop donors. huge gop backers who really understand how this works and are going to demand it happens. will that be the exit ramp? >> eventually, but not. now mcconnell is going to play quietly in the background. because if this gets to the last week. if you remember back in 2011, market dropped 20%. house skyrocketed. so the question is, when will

mcconnell pull the rip cord? i would love to see the record cold in the next 45 days. that's generally not how washington works. he is going to probably be the key work occurred to carry this out of this. but he will sit back for a while would be my guest. >> the interesting thing about robert is what it does show, mcconnell, biden seemed to imply he is willing to work with mccarthy. but that he is working with mcconnell. we saw that in the week of struggle for mccarthy getting his drop. that mcconnell and biden were out there cutting the ribbon on new bridges. in the end, what you saw of republicans in the house tonight was the chaos we saw a few weeks ago when mccarthy became speaker. and what you saw from biden's, i've got things to do, i've been getting stuff done, and i need more to get done. are you guys with me or not? >> yes. i think that contrast suits the president really well.

look, watching the state of the union now has been like watching the super bowl with the fan base is sitting on the couch together. with all due respect to plus eagles. it has just become a blood sport. and i think in many ways, that serves the president well. in an enormous way because he has started tonight talking about both the bipartisan accomplishments but also importantly the bipartisan things he wants to do. he gets credit for reaching his hand out and he gets stronger if the republicans knocked that hand away. and boy, i love hearing tonight a lot of talk about the middle class. about blue-collar jobs. the blue collar blueprint to rebuild america boy, i think that those are phrases that i hope and i know a lot of democrats would hear a lot of in the next two years. >> robert, did you see any, feel any glimmer of hope whatsoever that the republican

party that we knew from five, ten, 15 years ago could possibly emerge? even reportedly mitt romney, this likely saying george santos you don't belong here. >> yeah, i think that's going to be an interesting subplot of this whole thing. watching that replay again. ramy santos thing. but look, no, i don't have extraordinarily high hopes that we are going to see a lot of bipartisanship in this congress. i think that the republican house is going to steer its own course. and i don't think that is going to be one that joe biden wants to follow. i do think that he will get political credit for trying. and i do think that there are things that could get done if republicans would work with democrats. i think, again strong suit in his speech was finishing the job. continuing to do the things that the american people know make their lives more affordable. and look, for joe biden this economic argument is not going to be one tonight. there is still a ton of anxiety

out in the american public about it. and but inflation, high costs. this is a two-year argument but it was a good start for joe biden. >> but you saw collins, murkowski, sinema, manchin collins all sitting together and standing together in unison. when the president said that the union is strong. >> david, to the extent that i think you're right. republicans are going to come and say because we stood out for joe biden talking about social security, we are going to change policy on. this was there anything that joe biden said tonight that you think does move any needle other than being a good speech? >> first of all, i think that in terms of the debt ceiling, i think that maybe was not a checkmate move but maybe he definitely play chess tonight. and i think that it strengthened his hand. and that's an honest important. not just now getting the debt ceiling but obviously the country needs substantively he needs politically, a strong economy as possible. and if we actually default on our debt or close that it's going. so i think that was a big piece

of. this and i agree with robert, i think that if there is connective tissue between tonight and election day of 2024, and you know he is talking about the blue collar group. talking about people and focused on jobs for people that have college degrees. focused on rule areas. focused on blue-collar areas. that is home base for joe biden. and it's one of the reasons why he won in 2020. was that he outperformed a certainly what democrats didn't 16 and so i think that those were really important moments at the speech. listen, this speech in and of itself is not going -- accepted i do think that he played a big part tonight. skillfully again on the debt ceiling. but i think he laid out a blueprint for democrats. both himself and up and down the ballot. for how to talk about the economy. and you could not, robert he's going to get credit for continually every day despite

all odds. saying i want to work with republicans. he should not feel imprisoned by what can pass and congresswoman can't. and so there was a really robust agenda about the unfinished business for the country economically. and i hope to see that continuing day in and day yes i, want to work with republicans but this is my vision. this is what we need to do to lift the middle class to help those who are trying to get middle class. again, that's not just joe biden's home base and if it is he, speaks as authentically as any politician in modern times. but that is how you win elections in battleground states. >> did you hear he did make the point to say that creating jobs, many for people who do not require a college education, that they pay something like 101, and $30,000. and in your home state of pennsylvania, nearly enough to governor josh speier. his first order of business was to change the job requirements for thousands of jobs in that state. no college degree required. >> right. and my eagles on display. the on the bottom right corner.

his eagles okay. >> i thank my goes flat. guys thank you very much for being with us robert gibbs and david plouffe. thank you >> coming up -- >> how many eagles have you watch the season? boston? five >> i thought we were friends. you said my eagles. i'm all really going to call you. are we doing this? >> jalen hurts. his eagles. his eagles plan a didn't work out? get plan b one-step. plan b helps prevent pregnancy before it starts, and it won't impact your ability to get pregnant in the future. find it yourself in the family planning aisle no prescription, no id. i've got this. ♪♪ >> two years, ago democracy

faces the greatest and civil war. today, though bruised our democracy remains unbought an unbroken. >> we are back, with a little state of the union address. history lesson. don't, where we are not the ones giving. ali didn't even know the name of the quarterback, the easier eagles. we have none other than michael beschloss the historian. what was your biggest take away from the address? for years we are talking about how worried you were about the climate of the country, where we are headed, the way people are feeling. tonight i think you have a different observation. >> i thought it was a great speech. don't you think this guy was mr. smoot? he's been a national politics for 50 years. you don't always see the result of that, leisure site tonight.

he was elegant, he was civilized, he was conciliatory, he was reasonable, and maybe most of all, he sounded like a centrist, which is exactly where he wants to be, and after this performance tonight, and i don't know if everyone stayed on to listen to governor huckabee sanders, but after joe biden's speech, which was cry quite mild on almost lovable with a lot of proposals that a lot of people are going to like, governor huckabee sanders goes on and says, in two years the democrats have destroyed everything, and woke mobs are running all over the country. i'm here in washington d. c.. i look out the window for you, stephanie, and ali. i don't see any woke mobs tonight. i just don't know what speech she was listening to.

and i wonder if that speech probably was written before she had any idea what the president was going to say. if the president is as reported spend the next number of days going around the country and talking about the state of the union and his proposals, it would be great for him if he got marjorie taylor greene and governor huckabee sanders to be in the audience, and do the heckling, and talk about the democrats destroying everything. it's going to only make joe biden look more reasonable and centrist. >> the contrast is what is amazing there. because if you are writing a speech before you heard what joe biden is going to say, woke mobs is not what you would lead with, because it's not really his jam. >> he barely talked about social issues. >> and when he did talk about the policing stuff, which is front of mind for everybody, even that he did with a

remarkable warm embrace towards law enforcement officers. >> absolutely. >> and to parents who don't want their kids killed by cops. >> that's for sure. and if i could suggest a lesson, if you're going to heckle a president, the heckling has to have a connection to reality, which neither of those two hecklers really had tonight. the other thing this made me think of is, i'm not arguing with joe biden as harry truman, but truman at the beginning of 1947 had to give a state of the union, as you both know, and modestly say they are not gonna give a history lesson, but you could do this just as well. he had just lost congress to the republicans for the first time in 16 years. so faced a hostile congress. what did you do? he didn't say you're bad people. he said these are the things i want to do, but i would like to work together. sounded pretty much like biden tonight.

and you look at truman's record in 1947, 1948, he stood the line, rolling back the new deal, which a lot of republicans wanted to do. he tried to resist but at the same time, as you both know, those were the two years in which america decided what strategy would use to wage the cold war, stop the russians in europe, and stop them from taking over the world. republicans and democrats and harry truman worked together. and it sounded very much like the mood music tonight. >> all right, michael, he make a smarter every time. >> as he always says as you both, know i've never heard that my life. >> how smooth the president was, as he speaks to us, with roaring fire right behind him. >> always a pleasure to have you, on michael. thank you. >> love you both. thank you. >> we're gonna take a quick break, and we'll be right back right after this.

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i'm stephanie ruhle, and i'm still here with my dear friend ali velshi. >> continuing our special coverage of president biden's "state of the union" address the president made the case for his leadership over the past two years, and he did not shah iowa from taking on republicans in the house chamber who challenged him during the speech. among the guests in the house chamber the parents of tyre nichols who died last month after he was beaten by members of the memphis police department. tonight joe biden urged congress to pass police reform legislation. >> what happened to tyre in memphis happens too often. we have to do better, get law enforcement the real training they need, hold them to higher standards, help them succeed in keeping us safe. when police officers or a police department violates the public trust, they must be held accountable.

let's do what we know in our hearts we need to do. let's come together to finish the job on police reform. >> joining us now our colleague anatonia hilton live in memphis. we have to thank her for staying out there all this time to talk to us. thank you so much. john allen, and peter baker, chief correspondent for "the new york times." >> anatonia, joe biden was trying to capture the zeitgeist of the country, police violence and the killing of black or brown americans in this country polarized out there. he talked about why police need to be protected but at the same time what needs to happen so the parents of young black men don't need to die at the hands of police. i found that interesting when he said as a parent he never had to

have that talk. let's play this for a second, an anatonia. >> most of us in here have never had to have the talk, the talk that brown and black parents have had to have to have with their children. i've never had to tell them if police pulls you over, don't reach for your license, keep your hands on the steering wheel. imagine have to worry like that every single time your kid got in the car. >> anatonia, you've been in memphis a couple weeks now covering this story. i'm curious as to what you thought as you heard that. >> well, i can tell you this is a city full of parents, loved ones who have those conversations with their young black kids, young black women,

and young black men. the thing about it, though, it's not so simple as black communities, black children versus police officers. because the other thing you have to understand about memphis and so other working class black communities is that many of them have loved ones who are actually on the police force. they're city workers, work at ems, also in the fire department, and they see themselves reflected even in a city like memphis all the way up to the top of the leadership in the police department. and so it allows them to have a conversation that's more zeroed ipon the culture of policing more so than some of the black or white ways this conversation gets diluted or misunderstood often. i think one of the things biden did in his speech is speak to the people in the middle of road life experiences in this gray area, right? because he struck this tone in which he put some more of the onus on police officers to better earn the trust and build

relationships with communities like this one. and it stood in stark contrast, ali, to me what he said in the last "state of the union" where he said something to the effect of we need to actually fund the police, the solution isn't defunding the police. it wasn't countywide hard line this time. it was something a bit more tender, acknowledging trust critical here, the relationship that needs to be rebuilt potentially from scratch in communities like this one. and that's what i kept hearing today from residents ahead of the speech, that they want solutions but they didn't really demonize. they don't relate to many of the hashtags or the kind of stereotypes that often on the other side come out in conversations like this. they want a real legislative package, want actual solution. they don't think that gridlock is a good excuse here, and i think many of them, i'm excited to talk at the diner nearby again because he kind of touched on all the points they were giving to me this morning, that this community is exhausted, they're still in mourning and

now they want to hear what's actually going to be done in memory of tyre, in memory of this community so they're not made a mockery of at this point. so what's actually going to happen now, ali. >> peter, the president talked about finishing the job tonight. clearly police reform is high on his list of what he wants to get done. what do you think his theme was tonight? >> look, this is a steady as she goes speech for unsteady times, right? he came to this address not with a new policy direction, not with a new change in course. he said finish the job. in case you didn't get it the first time, he repeated the phrase a dozen times. the point was he's sticking with his program. he's challenging republicans to meet halfway or further halfway, and he's saying to the public i'm the reason -- if they don't

go along with me which of course they're not going to, then they're the problem and you should re-elect me to a second term. >> stephanie doesn't often like to talk about the economy, so i'll bring it up. the president did. how do you think he handled that, though, because this is a president as stephanie points us took some material from inflation, and now he went and sort of championed all the things he had done. >> why don't we actually share a lil bit of that? >> i stand here tonight more jobs created in two years than any president has created in four years because of you all, the american people. already we've funded over 20,000

projects, rebuilding our tunnels, ports, airports, plane, water, high-speed internet all across america. >> we like to fact check, fact check, fact check. those were all facts. >> yeah, in effect what you've got here is joe biden saying he's working. we talked about this recently, there couldn't be a better week for him to do this. he got this huge jobs report last week. we're seeing unemployment at 3.4%%, historically low level. he's been saying for a long time just trust me the economy is knowing to get better and and there are signs of that. so i think he's going to make the case for re-election, but to peter's point just a moment ago it's a steady as she goes. what i'm doing is working right now so why am i going to promise a bunch of other stuff? i think by the time he's running for re-election he's going to

have to make some promises forward looking and not just backward. >> we've got an economy working right now despite everyone warnings about it, don't derail this. >> yeah, he said republicans are threatening to hold hostage -- that was his term, hostage. he's making clear he does not plan to get in sernly at the beginning of the negotiation anyway to the extent there is negotiation. he's making clear to republicans he had some red lines. i think he used the veto threat occasion. i've never seen a "state of the union" where the president gets into an extended dialogue with members on the floor. usually you don't get heckled normally very much, but even when it has happened in the past the president may have one line or two and then move on, in this case biden chose to engage, and i think he enjoyed that. that's sort of where he's most

at home. and at the white house they said they were thrilled by this because it means he gave a back and forth on a subject they feel is politically advantageous to them. which is why republicans are mad because most of them would not support any cuts to the program and don't want to be positioned that way. >> how about that? peter said he just enjoyed that in the senate because he's at home. and john, you just said as steady as he goes. and what has the far-right or fox news narrative been since joe biden was elected, he's in decline, he's too old for the job, he's missed a step, he can't handle it. and what was fox news' immediate response after tonight's address all they had was the push notification for supreme court justices did not show for biden's address. they did not mention those four don't ever attend no matter what. but what does that say about what a strong performance he had

tonight. >> number one, they can't decide his critics whether he's too woke or half awake. >> look at you. that was clever. >> but if you watch him tonight i thought this exchange on social security and medicare but the real importance of that is here's a guy who's showing the dex tarry his critics say he doesn't have. he can't get through a teleprompter speech and sometimes he struggles with that. but in this moment he's sparring with republicans and women. and joe biden is showing exactly what he needed to do. he had the endurance, the energy for a long time and got into basically a scrap with the republicans and made them look bad and made himself look like he's got the agility of muhammad

ali. >> there have been hearings going between the white house and congressional senate republican and democrats about some police reform. it probably will not involve qualified immunity, which was the sticking point last time around. and the people involved in the senate including tim scott have suggested there might be some ability to talk about this. how is that playing out when you're talking to people, the idea that there may be some possibility of police reform, which has alluded us in the past? >> well, people here have said much of the same that they don't expect qualified immunity, you know, a pathway for people to be able to police -- excuse me, to sue police officers for their action on the scene. i've heard the same from my sources, too, these conversations are under way, that a legislative package of some kind is in the works,

though we haven't seen any of it yet. i think what people are shifting their attention to right now at least locally in tennessee is a number of training related and cultural reforms. you know, one thing i heard from a number of residents of many backgrounds today was that something simple like police being able to do stops in an unmarked car, they would like to see that changed. they would like to see additional training and resources on culture so that police officers who are, you know, so-called bad apples -- you know, one of the things parents said to me today was i understand every job has bad apples, people who maybe struggle from one day or the next to keep up with the standards of their work, but this is a line of work where that's not acceptable. there needs to be some kind of database and tools available for people to weed those people out as quickly as possible. also want to see a new culture and standard of the pace of investigations here. while the heart break and frustration is still very much here, people have been grateful for the pace at which things

moved here. these officers were quickly fired, they were quickly charged. additional investigations have been under way. it seems like every couple days now we find out about new people whether they're on the police force or ems here under investigation. so they're hoping that lawmakers on both sides can get to the table to look at some of these solutions that, you know, perhaps aren't qualified immunity at first but they can start to move the needle forward. there's just a level of exhaustion here. >> because you know this so well, you're our resident expert on this, unfortunately now, this issue of culture can you legislate it? in other words, the things joe biden talked about today were the things you can actually legislate, but the things you've been hearing about in the last few weeks is that culture eats training and policy for

breakfast. >> you know, that is the essential question here. when i talk to people they imagine it can be legislative in the sense if there are databases, ways in which you can find out about the records of police officers quickly, with much more ease, that then you can remove these people and set a tone and set an expectation this behavior is not tolerated and not going to be rewarded. one of the central questions here on the ground in memphis is when we look back at the administrative records of these officers, four out of five officers charged with second degree murder, there are a whole host of issues in their past ranging from failure to fill out important paperwork to use of force issues in the past to one officer who had himself engaged in reckless driving. you'll remember reckless driving is the whole reason allegedly tyre nichols was pulled over in the first place. when people see these things and know people in leadership must have been aware of these issues

that to them says it's bigger than just these five. they weren't necessarily things in place to force them to take action on that knowledge. and in fact those officers weren't just lowed to stay on the force but were rewarded by being put onto an elite unit called the scorpion unit that allowed them to do what they were supposed to do which is major crime reduction strategy on the street. that was supposed to be an award and an elite task. you're supposed to put people when you see these units around the country, supposed to be the best of the best. they're supposed to have a certain level of trust not just from the city but people they serve, so there's a question here how did we get to that point and they believe there are guardrails lawmakers could work on that make it so this isn't possible. >> that scorpion unit now disbanded, there's much more to come out in this story. anatonia, thank you for joining us so late. thank you for being down in

memphis. when we come back president biden's powerful message on the war in ukraine as it is nearing the one-year mark when our special "state of the union" post of show continues. of shows if you have diabetes, then getting on the dexcom g6 is the single most important thing you can do. it eliminates painful fingersticks, helps lower a1c, and it's covered by medicare. before dexcom g6, i was frustrated. all of that finger-pricking and all of that pain, my a1c was still stuck.

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putin's invasion has been a test for the ages, a test for america, a test for the world. when we stand for the most basic of principles, when we stand for sovereignty, we stand for the right of people to live free of tyranny, we stand for the defense of democracy. when such defense matters to us is because it keeps peace and prevents open season on would be

aggressors. one year later we know the answer. yes, we would and we did. >> tonight president biden promised america's continued support for ukraine nearly one-year since the war with russia began. john allen and peter baker still with us. john, we're about to hit the one-year wark. you're probably going back, aren't you? is the white house going to keep this situation, this support in focus? do they have the support from the american people that they had a year ago? >> there's a huge concern there's erosion on both sides. the erosion and the political right has been essentially driving that erosion and following it on his own base. and on the left you've seen some of that as well. he's committed to it. i still think there's a bipartisan majority in congress to support ukraine. you've seen evidence of that. but it is tenuous, and i think that's one of the reasons why you saw such a strong statement from biden tonight.

it shouldn't be hard it go before the house and senate and say russia's bad, democracy's good, and this protects the united states and its interests to be over there. and yet at the same time the question is that last part is it in the interest of the united states and that's going to be the tough one, it's going to be the point to make the argument making on the hill. >> peter, we've been covering this from the beginning, the war. to john's point is this in the interest of the united states, entirely a little bit crass about it, they get -- they continue to get more weapons many of which are u.s. built. and nato countries give them weapons, we back fill their weapons with more u.s. built weapons or tanks or patriot missiles or stinger missiles. it is a little bit -- it's a hard position for republicans to be in given the fact that this is working and it's -- it does

actually, sadly, benefit america. >> largely you're right. obviously defense companies right now are doing pretty well. they're getting a lot of business. and you're right. i think john is right. there is erosion obviously on both sides. more on the republican side than the democratic side. on both sides we've seen poll numbers inching up among people who are asked do you think it's worth the amount of money we're spending on ukraine. 20% of republicans and less than that of democrats say, yeah, we're doing too much of ukraine. broadly speaking the public is still there but i think it could slide. i think the worry is the white house will over time people will say is this money spent here at home versus abroad. i was struck by how little the president talked about foreign policy in the speech. aside from the illusion and not even a direct mention of the balloon incident i think that's a calculation this really is a

re-election speech. he's not talking about foreign policies because he doesn't think voters care much about it. he's trying to make the case for a second term and as a result you heard very little what he wants to do about it. the statements about ukraine and china were boilerplate, the things he said before. we have no new policy regarding those and the rest of the world wept unmentioned. >> we actually have that glancing mention of the rising tensions between us and china. let's play it. >> i'm committed to work with china where we can advance interests and benefit the world. but make no mistake about it as we made clear last week if china threatens our sovereignty we'll act to protect our country, and we did. >> john, republicans have been hammering the president all week about the chinese spy balloon. we did shoot it down. was the president's messaging strong enough regarding china? >> yeah, i think it was in terms of this is a guy who's going to

be running against somebody whether it's donald trump or someone else on the republican side going to be talking about so in terms of the limited amount of foreign policy i think it's important to talk about america, to the extent there's a balloon controversy it's really over the day it got shot down, not so much what the actual handling of this was. and i think there are some other pieces all the talk about buying in america. he's like we're going to buy american on all this stuff, but i think that's part of the fight with china. it's not just when he says china over there, he talks about a balloon in the air. what he's really doing is also talking about the competition between the united states and china. >> how are republicans going to be able to run on this america first principle? it's not a tag line that joe biden uses, but his policies have actually implemented it.

look at the chips act. >> i'd never put it past a political party or politician to be disingenuous. when you ask, i mean, look, biden as you can see from his speech he's focused on the united states first, yes, we're supporting a war in ukraine. first and foremost all united states presidents are. and so we're going to hear the arguments. the question is whether the american public believes. >> peter, what about things? stephanie can't resist talking about the chips act given i've been talking about food for the last hour. thanks for bringing that up. but it's a significant thing. i mean the chips -- and i made the point, joe biden i thought was interesting insofar as the things he succeeded in doing on a bipartisan basis he gave republicans creditt for. he said we did this together and we can do more together. >> yeah, he did. the problem is the things they could do together, they've done. right? and the obvious low hanging fruit for bipartisanship, that's

mostly taken care of at this point. the things he didn't get done and called for tonight, i think what did get done democrats did control the house. he called for an assault rifle ban. he's calling for, you know, more child care and community college access. again, if the democratic congress was going to do that it doesn't seem like the republican congress is going to do that, more taxing on stock buy backs, all things that are popular on the progressive left, not things the republican house under kevin mccarthy are going to do. he knows they're not going to pass these things. tonight he said words of consilliation and cooperation. he wasn't offering that. that doesn't mean he won't get there at some point. he is of course a 36-year

legislator. he didn't give any hint tonight of where if anywhere he's willing to make compromises toward the republican agenda. instead he's trying to call them out -- >> isn't that amazing, right, that hard core maga republicans wouldn't get behind a billionaires tax regulating stock buy backs? one would think that's right up their alley. >> one would think, but we've been doing this for a long time getting confused. thanks for being with us. coming up, i'll see you at the groundbreaking. president biden pokes fun of the republicans who voted against his infrastructure bill and later took credit for it. three congressmen join us to talk all about it when the special "state of the union" coverage continues. i wish that shaq was my real life big brother. what's up, little bro? turns out, some wishes do come true. and it turns out the general is a quality insurance company

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president biden -- >> no please go ahead. >> you clearly want to speak but you didn't have the words, but go do it, ali. >> how did you know i didn't get the words right? that's the united states capitol, ladies and gentlemen. president biden delivered his "state of the union" speech there this evening. he talked about a bunch of interesting things. the response we've been talking about this for a couple hours. the response has been a lot of people were actually surprised by it.

they were pleasantly surprised. some of the things he talked about were instruct. he talked about the bipartisan infrastructure bill that passeded the senate with 19 republican votes, and he saved one of his best lines for the republicans who voted against it. >> and folks, we're just getting started. we're just getting started. i want to thank my republican friends and my republican friends who voted against him as well, but i still get asked to fund the projects in those districts as well, but don't worry i promise i'll be a president for all americans. we'll fund these projects, and i'll see you at the groundbreaking. look -- >> i'll see you at the groundbreaking. >> that's what the kids call a

sick burn -- a sick burn. let's talk about this with former new york congressman max brose, former republican congressman david jolly also an msnbc political contributor and congressman car bellow who was a member of the republican congress for two years during the trump presidency. gentlemen, good to see you all. i remember i had a conversation a year ago, a couple years ago if democrats could hone in on the message that matters to people that would be quite successful. i always thought joe biden was listening in on that because you start talking about things like airline fares and junk fees that seemed not really "state of the union" stuff. >> right, this was middle class joe to a tee. there was this whole concern about the biden administration really for the last few years that it had been overtaken by

the left and staffers from bernie, this and that i'll tell you they are not the ones who wrote this speech tonight. this was about the concerns that old school democrats, old school americans have around the kitchen table. it was a speech for the next election. it was extraordinary. >> what do you think, david? >> perhaps the best sign of joe biden's political career. >> wow. >> i really mean that. so i've had the fortune of being in the chamber for maybe 15 of these speeches, and we've all watched the last couple of decades. one of the most memorable state of the union addresses you have to go back to bush 43 and tonight joe biden conjured up, i know it's a little controversial to say there's a bit of ronald reagan in joe biden tonight where he used his age and his wisdom and his maturity to deliver what the american people

first a foremost wanted to hear and then to box out his political opponents in a way that they couldn't get off the ropes, and it was brilliant. it was a ridiculous night for joe biden. there are not two opinions tonight. this was an incredible night for joe biden, and to max's point he also delivered what is the launchpad for his re-election. and i think there's a bit of a pretext here tomorrow in florida and if he goes to the rust belt. where he goes next, does he talk about social security and seniors, does he talk about the supply chain starts in america? the themes tonight resonated in a way that the national democrats should be handing out registration cards tomorrow and saying be a part of our coalition. >> carlos? >> well, steph, i really think that joe biden is now in his element. during the first two years of his presidency he had the burden of unified control of the government. and while democrats celebrated the fact that they controlled both chambers and the white

house, that set very high expectations for joe biden especially among more liberal democrats. now in divided government i mean this is kind of where joe biden is at his best. during his career in congress he was always a negotiator. he was always cutting deals. when he was president obama's vice president he was the guy that would get sent to the hill to negotiate with mitch mcconnell. that's what he enjoys. he has that opportunity now, and he offered republicans i don't think entirely sarcastic i think part of it was sincere, the opportunity to meet in the middle, to continue on some of these issues where they did make bipartisan issues last congress. >> interesting things were said and he definitely had -- as david said he had republicans who were heckening him on the ropes during this thing. does anything that happened tonight change anybody's mind?

does it move any needles? marjorie taylor greene was having a wild time tonight doing what she's doing, but does this amount to anything? >> that's the question in politics these days who actually can be moved and who's really stuck in their ways. what you saw here this evening is what politics will look like for the next two years which is both sides if they're being smart basically looking to establish the other side as crazy and themselves as normal. the only key here is that democrats successfully and republicans showed themselves at least some of them to truly be nuts, you know, to -- it used to be news making. it used to be international news when a sitting member of congress would interrupt a president of the united states and criticize him. and today what it also showed is just also how normal this has all become, the fact that's just run of the mill stuff.

but what democrats need to continue to do is be disciplined, be comfortable, be proud, be inspired by talking about what average americans are talking about and give republicans the space to either agree with them or to be nuts. tonight they chose to be nuts. >> to that quote-unquote crazy point in governor sarah huckabee sanders' speech she literally said it's not about the right and left, it's about normal versus crazy. given what we actually saw on the floor tonight, was that a misguided speech on her part? because the only one talking crazy to max's point were republican hecklers. >> yeah, so republicans are starting to rely on a broad innuendo to hit back on democrats. you can't hit back on biden on the economy where job numbers are good. you can hit on inflation, but the fed largely controls that. everything is kind of going along good and maybe thought great, right?

so what you see republicans -- so that's the behavior you see in the chamber on fentanyl and other issues you see them lash out. but it is the reason that republicans are reaching out for these culture war issues, which is what you saw in governor huckabee sanders' comments which is culture war, and this is one area i was a little surprised where we didn't see joe biden lean-in on this. you see desantis and other governors lean-in on attacking migrants in the lgbt community and the african american community, choose the marginalized community republican governors are pummeling it right now. and i was looking for joe biden to do something in that space. you don't have to condemn the governors. you certainly can if you want to, but draw the contrast and say i'm the president and we're in the party for americans. not only are we going to grow the economy and protect our national and economic security but also going to do that on behalf of every single american today where republicans refuse

to. >> but perhaps did he not address many of those things because many of those culture war issues are rooted in nonsensech and instead what he did address whether it's junk fees or kitchen table issues or inflation or jobs, those things that do impact millions of americans. >> i feel like the best advice i ever got is don't debate. instead go to what matters which i think is what max is going to get to which are the blue collars. >> yeah, i've still got hope for you, but you know i completely agree that democrats cannot take the bait on these culture issues. the truth of the matter is that the republican party right now particularly those who are running for president they're really doing two things. one, they're doing very loudly which is looking to divide the country, inflame their base. the other thing is they're rooting against the country. they don't want to see job numbers go up. they don't want to see inflation

go down because every time they do they realize it strengthens joe biden and the democratic party. and in the event of economic news continuing to be good, they'll continue to attempt to distract. and the fact that joe biden tonight did not bite on that, i think that was an act really of political four-degree chess. >> you stick around. we're coming back. our special coverage of the "state of the union" continues after this. rage of the "state of the union" continues after this i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program.

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most americans simply want to live their lives in freedom and peace. but we are under attack in a left-wing culture war we didn't start and never wanted to fight. >> by the way, we're back with carlos car bellow, david jolly, max rose, all folks who have spent some good time in congress. look, carlos, in fairness my argument is these responses to a "state of the union" never work. they're never good no matter who does them, but this seems unusually out of step. sarah huckabee sanders was talking about stuff that didn't happen in that speech. >> yeah, a couple things, ali. number one she really used a speech for self-promotion. it was really about her and her biography, which was nice but i don't think what republican leadership was looking for. secondly, her messaging sounded awfully similar to the messaging of the candidates who lost in a lot of swing districts and swing states last year that

republicans expected to win. so i didn't really see how she was reaching toward -- reaching out to those centrist voters who end up determining most elections and who certainly helped democrats overperform in this last election cycle. so i agree. i think the speech kind of fell flat. >> what happens there, david? because carlos, you, max is a centrist. is there some hunger on the part of republicans to hear a speech from somebody that sounds like, wow, this is normal, this is what the republican party used to be like? that's what i'd love to be. >> i mean, sarah sanders she's a trump surrogate. why do you think they chose her? >> well, she's not a presidential candidate. look, republicans always reach for diversity to try to prove something that they're really incapable of proving. here's the bigger contest i have with sarah huckabee sanders. i don't think kids and families

are under attack right now. and if sarah suggests that, it says to me she's insecure in parenting, to be honest. i don't mean that as a real inexecutive, but i'm comfortable to my kids being expose today a lot of diversity of thought and i want them to be because i want them to grow up having the opportunity to kind of distill competing theories and lifestyles and understand the broader world. and at home we can bring them to the values that my wife and i choose for them. so to suggest that somehow the government is stronger than parenting, which is at the root of the republican argument right now, that somehow sarah huckabee sanders and her husband are not capable of overpowering whatever her kids are exposed to in the classroom is a weakness in presenting, not a per version of government. and i think that message tonight is working in red states, but it doesn't work nationally. and you see the suburbs respond in critical races and say wait a minute we don't want to go to this nonsent we were hearing

tonight from republicans. >> but where does it even come from? we saw this after the grammys, right this notion these artists, these musicians are perverse and they're trying to twist your children up. it was basically like the same theme as the major motion picture "footloose" and we know that movie ends with everyone dancing. and i don't know where this comes from. and dancing, the entire town danced. do you not remember the farmer having -- >> because in the deep south in the '80s republicans made a deal with the evangelical movement that republicans in new york and other places never quite understood, and that's the disconnect. >> give me a real late night. i'm usually on tv in about two hours. i'm fascinated george santos is in the house. i remember the speaker and i were together and he was

chumming up with everybody and it was weird. now something else is going on here with mitt romney and george santos. he may be one of the nicest people in the world. you never see him stern. so you can read about that. >> supposedly mitt romney basically said -- we have the sound. excuse me. >> he's a sick puppy. he shouldn't be there. given the fact he's under ethics investigation he should be sitting in the back row and staying quiet instead of parading in front of the president. >> and how does george santos respond to this? he sends out a tweet @mittromney and says you'll never be president. what will he be? a successful businessman, a devoted husband, a father of five. >> you're a former new york congressman, what do you make of this situation? >> when mitt nominee is cursing

you out. first of all, i am a little suspicious here. i never thought i'd say this of mitt romney. i mean to -- there's an attention seeking element of what he did tonight. you know, george santos, i mean this is walking click bait. and it is the easiest way to make national tv. i would, you know, urge every single sitting member of congress just to ignore the guys. mitt romney is a smart guy and knew he'd make national news doing something like this. i would say here that this is the one thing making national news each and every night and politics is an entrepreneurial business and george santos is being entrepreneurial as well. they know there's no better way

to get social media praise, get on every single news network than to go over to george santos. >> damn, you just said inside baseball and it is -- >> save mitt romney. >> look, i know mitt romney well. i just know i don't know he's ever done something to draw attention to himself in such a way. i don't think that's what it is. i legitimately think and i know a lot of republicans are embarrassed by this guy. they want to see him go away. this is a major distraction. this is exactly what kevin mccarthy wants to avoid. the problem mccarthy has he's still relying on santos' votes. mitt romney, i can't agree with you there he did not do it to seek attention. the guy was standing right next to him, he felt the need to tell him something. >> he offended mitt romney's sensibilities possibly. >> and mitt romney gut the headline he wanted because every

day we're sasaying aren't republicans going to speak out against this guy and boom. >> he does step up often. guys, thanks a million. we appreciate that. and on that note stephanie wants to wish you good night. >> i wish you a good night. i'm so glad to do this with you. from all our colleagues across the networks of nbc news, thanks for staying up extra late. i can't say we'll see you at the end of tomorrow. we'll see you at the end of today. - i get headaches. a lot. but no way i'm gonna keep taking extra strength products. no way. it's vanquish for me. a special formula goes right to the pressure that causes the pain. no need for extra strength products. defeat headache pain. vanquish it.

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let's finish the job and close the loophole that allow the very wealthy to avoid paying their taxes. let's come together to finish it job on police reform. let's finish the job and ban these assault weapons