joining us now to discuss is the president of the brennan center for justice, michael waldman.e is panic out there among the electorate, and we bring you in as our panic expert. >> demographic panic. >> exactly. we hit the demographic panic button, and you appear in a cloud of smoke. i think jonathan raises -- it's an incredible piece. a really good analysis in "new york magazine." it puts this in a larger context as sort of republican maneuvers top cement more power for an increasingly smaller piece of the american electorate, which is to say almost the minority piece, and that not minority in the traditional sense, but minority in terms of white rural conservative voters who are no longer that representative of america. >> it really is the case. number one. the country is going through significant demographic changes, as it often has, but it's really happening in front of our eyes right now. and at the same time you see this sudden surge in new laws and new efforts to change the rules to make it harder for some people to vote, to entrench in a sense minority political power i

michael waldman, you're both michael so i have to do first and last names.see both of you. the president asking for a smaller package because a bigger deal can't get done. how is this moving the ball forward? there's blame to go on both sides here but it is pathetic. >> i think he probably would say that it's better to kick the can down the road than to kick the economy off the cliff. this is kind of a self-inflicted answer to a concocted crisis. the threat to default on the debt a few years ago to try to force a budget deal, and then oh, we're going to put these automatic cuts in, they're going to be so terrible that that will force our hand, and now the political market and everybody else is kind of priced in already the nonsense. so i think as an economic matter, it would be really bad to have this austerity go in effect right now but it's not a permanent solution, it's not a way to run a railroad or a government. >> you have a point. a lot of people agree with you. but michael medved, let me ask you about this. the president's 2013 budget was $3.8 trilli

michael waldman joins me.e has helped craft four state of the unions for president clinton, you would think this would be your super bowl, you get a twofer this year with an inaugural address and state of the union speech. here's my question, talking about the excitement of it, the rejigging of it. we got this massive news overnight about north korea testing for the third time a nuclear device, does that mean that the president and his team are furiously rewording something on a word document somewhere for tonight? >> i wouldn't be surprised if they were rewriting or writing a section on that, because it's a challenge to the united states, it's a challenge to the world. and that's the kind of thing not only that is important for a president to say, with he has this big audience, but it's something that will unite people from both political parties. >> is there any chance they just don't address it at all? >> it's always possible. it's always possible they might think they would be giving north korea the air ti

. >>> for an inside look at how much goes into the state-of-the-union address i'm joined by michael waldmanspeech writer and assistant to bill clinton and now president of nyu's law school's brennan center for justice. glad to have you here. >> good to be here. >> i love the behind the scenes. . for those of us who have watched "west wing" you think this what is happens when it goes into making a state-of-the-union speech. but give meet truth of it. what is it all about? >> people don't walk around the halls and talk quite as much as in "west wing." but the kind of chaotic all directions information coming in, that's pretty accurate. for any president, the state-of-the-union address, it's their big chance to talk to the whole country about their policy agenda. so every word matters. it's not just the speech, it's an agenda. now, president obama did just win re-election with a pretty clear case of what he wants to talk about. and he has a chance to lay some details out on the budget, on immigration, on voter reform. things he's talked about in recent weeks. >> so are you saying then that sec

. >> "outfront," cnn contributor david frahm and michael waldman. maybe president obama was hoping you both could help write his answers to the article. why do this? jay carney had to answer questions about this again. he told reporters the president made it clear, he grew up in hawaii, he spent time in california, chicago. this is not -- he never pretended to or suggested that he had grown up as a hunter. what is your reaction to that? it kind of brings it all back again. >> he was not hunting at harvard law. look, he kind of can't win or can't lose with this. he said, i think, very off the cuff, and honestly, yeah, we do skeet shooting. then people got hysterical, aha, he's lying, trying to pull a fast one. they released the photo. which is kind of funny, he looks really great doing the shooting, so that, of course, once again, he manages to look very cool in what he's doing. i don't think this is going to be -- >> he looks cool in everything he does. he's got that way about him. >> i don't think this is going to make that big of a difference. i t

michael waldman is executive director of the brennan center for justice at nyu. welcome. >> great to be with you. >> what's the strategy behind a more aggressive maybe antagonist kind of message that we might hear tomorrow night? >> well, one of the things is that it seems to be working. i think that his inaugural address, for example, was to me the best speech he's given as president. it didn't have some of the drabness and caution of some of his earlier speeches. it said something. and so, i think that if he keeps going with that approach of boldness and ambition it is not that everything he says is enacted in to law but he'll be able to make a case to the country and with some vivid colors and strong arguments. >> and the country wants to hear a lot about jobs which was relatively unmentioned in the inauguration. he mentioned jobs three times and not really in the context of job growth or creation. do you expect that to be a focal point tomorrow night? >> you are right one area he talked about in the inaugural was his theory of the role of government and didn'

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joining us now michael waldman who served as president clinton's chief speechwriter from 1995 until 1999ctor of nyu's brennan center for justice, and anita dunn, former white house communications director and former advisor to then senator obama. welcome to both. thank you very much. anita, first to you. have you talked to people in the white house. the president's focus is jobs and the economy and laying out some terms of the budget deal. you also have to sort of paint broad strokes. this isn't the inaugural address. this is when it gets specific. what is the real goal here? >> thank you for having me on. you know, the president has addressed a joint session of congress seven times in his presidency, and each time the underlying piece of this has always been about the economy and middle class families and how do we get this country moving again with an economy that helps middle class families, and that's the predicate. that's really the story of his presidency. the state of the union is the opportunity to speak to the entire country as well as congress and to really lay out what your pr

waldman. >> i have new information about the officer that was killed. this is for recite police officer, michaelneral will be tomorrow. and governor jerry brown will be in attendance. i will continue to provide you with information from social media. s and. san bernadino office we will continue to keep you updated. >> pam: this is video from earlier of the fire that was found earlier were he was believed to have been holed up. we want to bring you sound from an earlier situation and an earlier interview. >> this manhunt for future los angeles police officer on the phone, is the mayor of a big bear. thank you so much. >> we do not have any more current affirmation is that this is the section. nearly 20 mi. south of big bear. we are happy that our residents are safe. >> pam: are more road is open? since this area has been the focal point. >> yes. all areas were closed and high with 38 is still closed. however, the other two highways are open. >> pam: earlier, the schools were of lockdown. >> yes, that is standard operating procedure. we lock down the schools and we of done that earlier when the su