. >> let's bring in our political analyst larry gerston. very presidential, straightforward, kind of like a state of the union that we're used to seeing. >> he's given three speeches, once when he received the republican nomination, the second speech a year ago to congress, and this one, the state of the union. and yes, this one almost sounded presidential, some would say did sound presidential. why did that happen? he changed his approach. he went from the idea of himself to others. he said the word "we" 135 times in that speech. he said "i" 35 times. and most important, he stayed on script. >> so what about the actual -- let's talk about the script itself, the substance and the key policies that he was talking about. were those delivered in a way that the american people can understand? >> well, they might understand it but i'm not so sure everybody was happy about it. he begins with this grandiose theme, let's put our differences aside, come together and find common ground. i think that point, a lot of people perked up. then he went ahea

nbc bay area political analyst is here to sort things out, larry gerston.s some people were shocked by what they saw, some people were underwhelmed. what did we learn from the memo. >> like all things in politics it depends on your perspective. let's take this one step at a time. fisa we have heard this word a lot lately stands for foreign intelligence surveillance act. that allows the federal agents to secretly get special court warrants. this memo drafted only by house intelligence committee republican -- republican staff members concluded that the justice department used shoddy information gathering techniques and they were referring to mostly the steele dossier it is called to obtain a fisa warrant to tap conversations of carter paige, a trump adviser. now, former british intelligence officer christopher steele had been hired by a democratic group to research trump for the clinton campaign. much of his findings have been corroborated others have not. republican staffers complained that when justice officials requested the fisa warrant the judge was not

larry gerston joins us live this morning with more details.art with how serious these accusations are. >> it is serious. it's quite the document, i encourage everybody to read it. >> you read it three times. >> read it thoroughly. at the heart of this document the indictment charges russians with attempting to help donald trump win by staging rallies on trump's behalf and rallies against hillary clinton. by running ads during the primary season harmful to marco to clear the republican field forxihí trump. by running ads on the internet after the trump nomination favorable to donald trump and harmful to hillary clinton. donald wants to defeat terrorism, hillary wants to support it. how about, we can't trust hillary to take care of our veterans. how about this one, vote republican, vote trump and support the second amendment. and also by inciting groups to vote against hillary with provocative rallies, one example, support hillary, save american muslims. and how about by focusing particular attention to purple states like florida, ohio and virgi

larry gerston joins us live to discuss why lawmakers are unlikely to adopt any major changes.your home and save at ross. ross has all the home trends for kitchen, living room and bedroom for a fraction of what you'd pay elsewhere. for the latest home trends, at big savings - you've gotta go to ross. they'd tell you to go to ross. because there's so much to choose from. listen to your pets. they're your best friends, so they don't want you to spend more than you have to. if you want to save big on pet accessories, you gotta go to ross. douglas high sc >>> it has been 11 days since the mass shooting at marjory stoneman douglas high school in parkland, florida. the assault was the 18th school shooting in 2018. since that event congressional republicans have been quiet, that same silence that existed in 2009 and 2010 when democrats held majorities in both congressional chambers and did nothing about gun control. president trump has identified several possible steps none of which would make it harder to buy an assault weapon but he is speaking out on that matter. nbc bay area polit

nbc political analyst larry gerston is here this morning with some answers.e first time there has been a delay or shutdown when it comes to the budget but talks about the issues that stalled the process. >> anytime you talk about the "b" word. >> budget, folks. budget. >> the "b" word, it's tough. by definition budgets are difficult, they're difficult to craft because various needs exceed the funds available. sounds familiar. so congress has to prioritize, much like you or i would do with our own budgets. two factors made it exceedingly difficult for congress to pass a budget this time. first, the very organization of congress, what a shock, right? even though the republicans control both chambers, about three dozen members of the very conservative freedom caucus made it difficult for the house leadership to gain enough republican support because of their opposition to increase federal spending. second, democrats were in no mood to help pass a budget without the attention to the deferred action on childhood arrivals program, you know, daca, now scheduled to e

nbc bay area political analyst larry gerston says this all leads back to the russia investigation. >> it's a crapshoot. the president is taking a shot. he thinks it's going to help him stave off the investigation. >> reporter: members of the president's own administration have voiced serious concerns about the memo. >> if the president releases this, he is basically telling the director of the fbi, the deputy attorney general, the person at the justice department who is overseeing this thing that you don't matter. >> reporter: sergio quintana, "today in the bay." >>> at 4:35, union city police are looking for this man who they say has a diminished mental capacity. 35-year-old eric aiken is 6 feet tall, he was last seen wearing cutoff jeans without a shirt. he has been reported missing several times before. >>> people who say corporate buses in san francisco do not mix plan to air their frustration in the morning commute today. a protest is planned in san francisco against the growing tech and bus phenomenon. those buses transport workers to and from silicon valley. even though the cit