Rose welcome to the program. Were live this evening from new york, washington, iowa and florida. Tonight barack obama delivered the sixth state of the union address. The speech marks an opportune moment for the president and his Party Economic improvement and high Approval Ratings have produced a new wave of optimism since midterm elections in november. The president highlighted that progress, laid out a vision for his last two years in office. At this moment, with the growing economy shrinking deficits bustling industry, Booming Energy production, we have risen from recretion with the freedom to write our own future than any other nation on earth. Its now up to us to choose who we want to be over the next 15 years and for decades to come. Middle class economics works. Expanding opportunity works. And these policies will continue to work, as long as politics dont get in the way. In iraq, in syria American Leadership including our military power is stopping isils advance. Instead of getting dragged into another ground war in the middle east we are leading a broadcoalition including arab nations to degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist group. Tonight i call on this congress to show the world we are united in this mission, bypassing a resolution to authorize the use of force against isil. And tonight i urge this congress to finally pass the legislation we need to better meet the evolving threat of Cyber Attacks combat Identity Theft and protect our childrens information. That should be a bipartisan effort. Rose joining me from washington is david sanger, National Security correspondent of the new york times. Walter isaacson president of the Aspen Institute and from florida, president ial his attorney Doris Kearns Goodwin. From iowa, John Dickerson, the chief Political Correspondent for slate magazine and political director for cbs news. With me is al huntqnews and jon meacham author and historian. Joining is with all due respect john im pleased to have all of them here. Take a look at the assessment of this state of the union and what it says about what the president calls the final quarter of his presidency. And i begin with al hunt reaction to this state of the unit and what it said and what it means. Charlie, thisweeks ago who suffered a disastrous electoral defeat. Hes a lame duck president and terrible cycle yet tonight i think he gave one of the best speeches of his president z i thought he was compelling, he was appropriately assertive he was confident. He didnt give a laundry list of 28 different programs. But i think he struck a good balance when you know, a populist rhetoric that is in tune with the times as opposed to maybe five or ten years ago. Ten years ago at least. And also stressed values and i thought he did it remarkably, it was remarkably effective. Much more than i expected. Rose even if his intent to get things done. He wont get much things done. Thats always the case in this cycle. Bill clinton, georgeAndrew Jackson maybe. This is not a cycle where you get much. He may get stuff on trade. Rose to reassert the debate. The debate will lead up to the president ial election and i think he set the predicate that was advantageous for democrats. This is a 15 round fight this is round one. Rose Doris Kearns Goodwin, what did you think. Theres been a vacuum of leadership both sides of the hill in these last months and people have felt it. I think what the president did tonight was to reassert himself into that leader ship role and to take charge perhaps of that debate that youre just mentioning. He seems to have fun tonight which we havent seen him do for a while. He spoke not only with confidence but the cadence of his voice went up and down. He smiled a few times. He made those little spontaneous gestures. And he was at the center of attention. Thats what happens at the state of the union which is the best thing in the world for any president , everybodys there watching him. Like Teddy Roosevelt wanted to be the bribe at the wedding and courtrooms at the funeral and baby at the baptism. I think he filled that role more than he has other times and i think it means at least with that leadership exercise back. People were complaining where is the leader that he may have a greater chance to shape what happens at least retoreally for the 2016 campaign and his legacy and what actually gets down in the lame duck congress. Rose John Dickerson in high was. State of the union is kind of a perfect example of the constraint of the presidency on a president who thought hecome in and be a little bit more free wheeling, a little looser, a little lighter on his feet. And tonight was that vision of the president. If you just look at the speech he gave, he kind of took care of the compulsory stuff in the previous two weeks leading up to it. All the laundry list, the items that heqcnwas going his new programs. He mentioned them of course tonight but he didnt have to froift his speech with that or freight them in his speech. He had a narrative art to his speech. He returned to the storytelling of the 2008 campaign when he talked about the earlier family of minnesota. This is an attempt by the president the constraints of lame duck on him the style of the speech facing the congress for the first time republican in the house and senate. Through all the constraints that was him trying to show his kind of free wheeling side. And he probably did his best as he could. But of course, the republicans many of them in that house for the first time are there because they think the voters send them to repudiate the president s policy. The president was saying the verdict is in and the policies succeeded. That gives you a sense of how different the world are those two groups come from. Rose mitch. Well i think one reason he told stories and talks about values is because he cant get anything passed. So i think thats one thing we should think about. Rose first time his speech to Congress Full of republicans. Most of the republicans in the house think its a hoover situation much more like the first bush than anybody. Theres two visions of the presidency in play here. One is, as were talking about kind of communicator in chief, a leader of thought in the life of the nation. He very much played that role. It was an interesting conversation about a lot of of the issues that matter most to people. But then theres a legislator in chief role which is going to be incredibly difficult. So he spoke incredibly well. The question inevitably will be how much of that rhetoric becomes action itself. Rose walter. I think he confidently captured the historic narrative. And it was a clear and compelling narrative, which is where the country comes out of this devastating Great Recession. And an an astounding great way but its mainly benefited the top owners or the top people in this country so you got to help the middle class and we all have to share in this prosperity. Its very historic because you can go backano to what Doris Kearns Goodwin wrote about a century agoutf n going from an agriculture to an industrial economy and we made high school universal and free. Back to the time of lincoln when we made land grant colleges so that a middle class can make a transition in a growing economy. And thats what this speech was all about. Rose david. You know charlie what struck me is that the cadence of this speech was much more like what you heard on the campaign trail in 2008. About an optimistic view of america. And if you think back to the previous states of the Union Speeches that the president has given, many of them were to exhort the United States to get its Competitive Edge back. I was going back today and looked at the 2011 speech when he talked about our sputnik moments where he thought the United States had a moment now to compete with the chinese in rail and energy and so forth. And instead, this time, he said look, were out ahead. Were producing more oil and gas than we ever have before. Were free of foreign imports than weve ever been before. As6 dand so he was sort of saying this is the moment that youve been waiting for. And then how do you build on it. And he was a little bit short on the legislative proposals on how to do so. The only false note i thought i detected was in his description of the Islamic State. Where he portrayed the Islamic State as sort of on the run from the american attacks started last summer. And i think theres a fair bit of reason to question whether or not these attacks have been anywhere near as effective as you might have thought if you were just listening to this speech. Rose well come back to all of that. With all due respect Mark Halperin and john heilemann. Mark. Going back twoandahalf months ago charlie and the president coming off the midterm was eith sn liked enough in washington nor respected enough in washington to get anything done. The thought then was if youre going to get anything done you have to capitulate through republicans. Mostly lie by luck and design the president comes into tonight or out of tonight with an improved economy, higher approval rating, some executive action that showed Forward Momentum thats let led to some extent to his higher approval rate and the agenda with the people significantly more popular whether the Republican Senate is offering or republican candidates are offering. I thought some of the things he said tonight would not improve his relationship with republicans by any means. But hes more powerful hes got more Political Capital tonight than two andahalf months ago by a lot. That could lead i think im more optimistic than some, that could lead to republicans doing business with him in these last two years. Rose mark. Well, i just, look, i agree a lot of whats been said so far. To me the signal thing about the speech is how surprising it is. Ill say this slightly different way than others have. It was a triumphant speech in a lot of ways. The president heading into his seventh yearje after the rubbing he took several months ago is shocking. So much to do with the economy. This is the first time barack obama has been able to stand up at a state of the union and genuinely say the state of the economy is strong. It still has problems the wage growth is too slow and theres income ineconomic but the gdp growth is up. Corporate profits all of those things soaring right now. Hes able to come with the wind toes his back no one could have anticipated in november. You and i charlie talk about narrative and power of narrative. I saw more than anything here a guy, people wanted to write a story about barack obama in november and december. And he has moved with great alacrity and force to try to say i may not be the only author of my story, but i am still the author of my story and im going to try to write this thing in a way i want to see it ridden and im not going to become irrelevant or completely controlled by republicans in congress or by the Larger Forces around me. Im still here to play. Rose all right. Let me just all of you this. I mean how does this set up the debate we will see. The idea of asking for tax increases on the Financial Community tax increases on wealthiercn individuals and at the same time raising the Capital Gains tax and at the same time asking for some tax cuts that will benefit the middle income who have been suffering so much. Who is on what part of that debate. Charlie, i will be stunned if he gets any of that but i think hes put republicans on the defensive on that. I said earlier it was a more popular speech and more in tune with the times. Rose more in tune with Elizabeth Warren well it is but the focus groups in denver colorado, the populous outpoint. People think this economic recovery has been unfair. Theres an antiwall street sentiment out there far more than there was ten years ago. And he captured some of that today without really demonstrateyk gnawing demagoguing on it. The pay force will be very difficult but hes taking control of the debate. And i think that is rose he speaks this one voice let me tell you something. Hes not a popular figure among a lot of the senate democrats. People critical of him said he was a different barack obama. He was forceful they took him on a rant and they stuck it right back to it and really stuffed him if you will. They said they really thought the attitude and confidence was quite different. And i think he feels a little bit liberated. This is a culmination of the last 60 days where he has bell clinton kind of sulked after he lost. And this guy went was from the getgo. I think theres a period of kind of constrained populism right now. And harry truman once said of Andrew Jackson he looked after the little fellow who had no pole. And thats what a president is supposed to do. Its a pretty good definition. So that conversation about economics, democrats went. When its about culture republicans tend to win. So one question about all this to spin ahead almost exactly two years is to what extent will a Democratic Victory at 16 be attached to how the president conducts himself over this next 18 months or so. Rose anything that might happen other than war and peace that might happen in the remaining quarter as he characterizes it all for the possibility of enhancingj7klegacy as president. Charlie i think rose walter first and then doris. I think his legacy is going to depend on taking an economic recovery and saying i get up every morning and i care about people like you. Its a fundamental question in politics and if he can make that the game the fierplayed the court on which its played will help enormously. I think he can get a lot done not by persuading republicans but persuading most americans this is fair. We even do need, even to say that a guy or gal who earns a biweekly paycheck shouldnt pay higher tax rates than people who get it through dividends and Capital Gains. Thats something i think you can sell at a time of great growing prosperity where it shant been fairly shared. And secondly people always say hes best in the Fourth Quarter of his basketball game. The fact hes come out shooting is just wonderful. Rose doris, you were going to say. What i was going to say i think hes already feeling a sense that this is a marker for the beginning of the legacy. Churchill said history will teach me well becausegg i intend to ride it. I think to a certain extent he knows all throughout his presidency hes talked about economic justice. This is not a new theme. Its something he argued every time he looked at the past state of the unions but now with the economy strong he happens the chance really to make that argument about the fact the people who are not benefiting by it. If he can keep who wering hammering that whom, he can also say he brought around a recession almost the worst since the depression. And we ended up at a time when many more people were doing well. Economys not just a word, it means people wake up in the morning and they know theyve got a purpose to go a job, they know theyre paying their bills they have hope for their future their witnessed kid might be going to that Community College. People looking back at history are those we look upon as social justice. I dont think hes just feeling the economy per se hes feeling his sense of the future which hes always cared about and more engraved than these last couple years. Charlie if you talk about legacy, you have successful implementation of obamacare and2h 3the economy gets better the republicans lose their strongest argument against the Affordable Care act. Which is its ruining the economy. They cant make that argument. It would be harder to disman hull and it becomes more popular. The other thing hes on the offense on these tax issues. Hes proposing things i guarantee you his pollsters say 70 30 in favor. Hes on the offense on tax reform, offense on paying for Community College. As long as hes on the offense again harder for republicans to strategize and come up with a way to dismantle or undermine the Affordable Care act. Thats his legacy no matter what he does on trade or corporate tax. Charlie i will add one thing which is i think theres no question that who sceappedz him in 2016 is going to matter a lot. Its hard for a party to hold the presidency for three terms. This is his primary motivation advancing these economic proposals, i dont think thats his primary motivation but at least part of his motivation hes putting republicans in a terrible position where they have to in many cases theyre going yi to be voicing opposition to programs as mark said probably poll very much like 70 30 20 80 issues for Many Americans and its hard for any party to hold the whitehouse for a third term. He will advance the cause of his democratic potential successor in this way and getting that democratic successor would mean a lot to preserve whatever legacy he has. Rose david sanger on Foreign Policy, ron and the isis and isil, where is the public and where is he in wanting to do this because he made a point that he got us out of iraq and that hes slated to get us out of afghanistan and all of a sudden we have the president asking for permission to engage an authorization to engage in another middle east war. Charlie i thought one of the most artful parts of the speech was how he connected americas economic strength to its strength abroad. So, he made basically the case that america would naturally be in the league. Youou didnt hear any hint of leading from behind. And he built that in part on his a