For a wednesday, way too early . Time for a live edition of morning joe from d. C. Scripts are wbr id wbr107 so important everybody. Have scripts at home. Dont let the children leave home without them. We are 15 wbr id wbr208 years into this new century. 15 years into the don of terror touching our shorts that unfolled with wbr id wbr307 a new generation fighting two long and costly wars that saw a vicious recession spread across our nation wbr id wbr402 wbr id wbr408 and the world. It has been and till is a hard time for many. But tonight we turn the page. Tonight, after a break through year for america, our economy is growing and creating jobs at the b fastest pace since 1999. Good morning. It is wednesday january 21st. With us on set in washington, d. C. We have senior Political Editor and White House Correspondent for the Huffington Post sam stein. Abc news political commentator and fpr Senior Analyst cokie roberts. White house correspondent for the host of daily news one now, roland martin. I saw you tweeting about there all being crazy and it will be because i asked cokie, what was your favorite thing about the president s speech last fight in cuba . She said snap my favorite thing . What favorite thing . You do have a favorite thing . Of course. My favorite thing is the whole scene. I love the hall of the house of representatives, the flag the Vice President , the speakers. George washington lafayette. Yes, i do love all of that. You are caught up in it. I love people who stand on the aisle like that for hour days i think, elliot engals stands there. And i find that hysterical. Well i have a lot of exciting thoughts on this. Were going to move on with our great panel an talk about what happened last night here in washington, d. C. The president has two years left in office. But last night, he addressed congress with bold proposals, he says will lift up the middle class, speaking to a packed cham ber t. President framed his agenda as practical, not partisan and patted his administration on the back for policies wbr id wbr1647 already in place. And every step we were wbr id wbr1684 told our goals were misguided, too ambitious. That we would crush jobs and explode deficits. Instead, weve seen the fastest Economic Growth in over a decade. Our deficits cut by twothirds. b a stock market that has doubled and Health Care Inflation at its lowest rate in 50 years. Thats good news people. So so the verdict is clear, middle class economics works. He definitely had some very confident fun moments. Oh yeah there was the president touted tow, a number of plans that had been leaked or slowly rolled out ecalled for shifting the burden away from piddle class families improved sick leave, Free Community college and a minimum wage increase. Nothing helps families make ends meet like higher wages. Thats why this Congress Still needs to pass a law that makes
sure a woman is paid the same as wbr id wbr2431 a wbr id wbr2439 man for doing the same work. This is 2015. Its time. We wbr id wbr2484 still need to make wbr id wbr2505 sure employees get the overtime theyve earned and everyone in this congress who still refuses to raise wbr id wbr2564 the minimum wage i say this few truly believe can you work full time and support a family wbr id wbr2639 on wbr id wbr2644 less than 15,000 a year try it. If not, vote to give millions of the hardest wbr id wbr2705 working people in america a raise. We just had a moment. You and i connected on that, i literally from my chair watch tack line saying thank you, thank you for saying that. If you can live wbr id wbr2844 on that wage go ahead and try it. All of you out there. Its not like they worked that much the last three or four years or so. They probably give some. Back. On sick leave, speaking of sick leave, joe, his entire b
family are out with the flu, by has us here in walk ourselves, at that time helm here. He is so, i actually im worried about them. Theyve had flu for weeks. Now its back and raging. Some critics are dismissing a rosy view. He touted his success with russia and americas progress if containing wbr id wbr3248 isis while calling for an authorization of use of force from congress. In iraq and 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 broad wbr id wbr3448 coles, including arab nations to degrade and ultimately destroy this terrorist group. So just as notable was, what wasnt in this speech. There was no mention of al qaeda t. President barely spent any b
time on the event if ferguson missouri and new york that have sparked mass protests across the country. He did little more than mention an Immigration Reform despite taking a broad and controversial action last year. But he did call for a less toxic air of politics, drawing in bipartisan applause and at times he found his swagger, especially during this off the cuff exchange with republicans. I have no more campaigns to run. [ applause ] my only agenda i know because i won both of them. Yes. That was cute. That was good. Every comedian i know see it dropped the mic, walk off the stage. Im done. They say perfect timing. No response. Right now lets go around the table, start with cokie, first of all, no mention of al qaeda and on Foreign Policy was the president Strong Enough given the fact that i think he is
still being held accountable on that jbd comment. He will be asking for a draw of force, manly among his own democrats it will be hard to come by. So i think he does need to make the case more strongly that this is a direct threat to the homeland and that he that this is something that Congress Needs to do. Overall the speech seemed like a speech you would give earlier on in a presidency. Or later. Okay. I saw this speech as the platform for the 2016 election. A lot of people thought the democrats should have run on these issues in 2014. A lot made the mistake of not doing it. He is now looking at his partisan legacy. Hes lost almost 70 member es of congress, scores of democrats around the country and hes setting the agenda for the Democratic Party going into the next election. Carole lee, what was the strategy . It seemed very positive at times. I looked it a lot, obviously, it seemed like he was trying to send a page like come on. Yeah. They were trying to much more on the optimistic than confrontational. That was the overall goal of the speech. He kind of undermined with ad libs here and there. This was a straight Democratic Party speech to a joint session of congress. But i think the tone in the sense that at the end of his sweech he went on this whole nostalgic rip about being one america and harkening back to working together and those themes were what they want to drive home. But you are right, it was a very in the president s ideal world, this is what he would do. What i found interesting is he declared the recession in the crisis over and pinpointed the one part that is not working, which is for the middle class and in that sense, the two parties seem to be coalescing around that idea and the question is not what the debate
is going to be about if 2016 and in the next year but what the prescriptions are going to be president the two sides. Roland. What sort of drives me crazy when you have a state of the union speech, the middle class the middle class, is there are no other americans. Thats kind of important. So you did not hear anything poor along those lines, but he started right off with the economy, whats interesting, he went right to the narrative. The woman, rebecca, sitting between first lady and jill biden. But that story was quite interesting when you talked about construction housing went down. She had to go back to Community College to get retrain and he did lay out in terms of the republicans, okay where can we agree . The Community College initiative, he used what happened, whats happening in tennessee, okay. A red statement he laid it out. Republican legislature. Prib governor. 90 of all High School Graduates said they wanted to do it. He brought about infrastructure. Same thing, another issue
traditionally both side said lets build america. He pinpointed where we can bring it together. He should have pinpointed criminal justice, on the fiscal side it makes no sense. He could have said people in the house and senate you cut citizen reform. You cut mandatory minimums then ill sign it. You bring up the things he is pushing forward, by the way, i love the nod to the cop. I to the that was important given the big picture. To the cop and the folks, the protesters. A lot of folks who voted for him. Exactly. Sam stein, though do you think there is there is a bit of there is what we didnt get done when he start bringing up the middle class and certain parts of the economy that are really well i think cokie actually got to a very interesting point, which is that there is a need and i think we satisfied some with there speech to restock the policy cover for democrats. Part of it has to do with the fact that there have been legislative successes from this
administration. No longer can the leading democrats say we need to pursue universal health care reform. Its happened. Whether you like it or not. Immigration reform we have been in this debate for two years ago it will be difficult to litigate that. So there was a need there for the party to restock its policy covered and i think this is what the speech was intended to do was to give them a blue print. To give them a set the of ideas, around which they can coalesce. They may not all agree with these ideas, surgeon lip, House Democrats have done variation of this idea. But i think thats what the goal was, to state, this is a modern view of how we can do family politics. How we do work politics and the question now is how do you pay for it . I think it was not just to give the democrats something as to run on but to put the republicans in the corner. Thats why i say its highly partisan. Its basically sake here im santa claus. I will give you all these wonderful presents and mean old
scrooge is going to take it away from you. I disagree this is the only place i disagree on that. I dont think thats actually 100 true. I think he has a point, a lot of the stuff hes talking about have community roots. Historically infrastructure et cetera. Where he is putting them in a corner is how he pays for these things. You need to take tax cuts from the wealthy and apply them to a middle class or these programs. Tlat the way to do it. Thats putting republicans in the corner saying you have to pay it this way. He knows it will be more popular but theyll never agree to do. They never have before. I dont think the idea is so therefore, its not a real proposal. Well no, no no why cant we actually demand of the people who we are paid to say, you know what, why dont you actually discuss it debate it and physical out how to actually pay for it. Because he was talking pocketbook issues. What he is saying is we are coming out of this recession. Look im tuquetalking to mothers, fathers, people with student loan debts thats a pie in the sky note. Get to work and figure it out. There was one big contradiction, obviously with the speech. He ends in this great oratory of coming together. It was right after all these veto plans. Right. Cokie, can you explain to me we will get to the republican response. There were so many. Like how do you, which one was the republic . What was the official one . Joni ernst. And there was an official one in spanish. Okay. And then . Then the rest were freelanceing. Why . Because thats where the Republican Party is right now. Doesnt that show a fracture there . Of course. But thats thats the way
democrats used to be. Okay. I to the it was strange. Anyhow, a flow of responses to the president s address, first of all Hillary Clinton tweeted her message. Of course she did. Her possible president ial foe democrat and mitt romney blasted the leadership. The main televised we responsibility came from senator joni ernst on the job just two weeks who told her personal story of growing up working at hardees, wearing bread bags over her shoes. She wasted little time in opposing the president. Well also keep keep fighting to repeal and replace a Health Care Law thats hurt so many hard working families. Well work to correct executive overreach. Well propose ideas that aim to cut wasteful spending and
balance the budget with meaningful reforms, not higher taxes like the president has proposed. All right. Republican congressman carlos krevalo highlighted a rift in the party remember likely president ial candidates faulted the president for disparity and racial unrest. My trips to ferguson detroit, atlanta and chicago have revealed what i call an under current of unease. There is a tension that has become visible in the protests in every American City as congressman john lewis put it, there is growing discontent in this country. What still, it wouldnt be a state of the union without some kind of gaffe. So thank you senator ted cruz
he had that his Office Actually did it. I feel bad for him. This happens, right . We all had making my texas look bad. Okay. So he had this Video Editing team. That video was eventually taken down from youtube. It came down i out a little wrong. Take a look. The president tried to say his policies are lifting the middle class and, yet, today, median incomes have stagnated for over a decade. Let start over. Tonight, america saw a powerful demonstration that it is time to move on beyond president barak obama. A staffer tweeted, yes, sometimes it takes him two takes, but fought often. What we deny is actually a
gifted oratore tor. He can go on and on and on without note. Come on guys put the right video up. Come on. It happens. Im furious. That texas. Joni ernst, the official republican response and i got to tell you, relative to other republicans responses ive seen. Or democratic. Or democratic ones. I think she was really good. Do i agree with everything she said. But, you know, its a hard its a terrible position to be in. Its a ridiculous position. Have you the hall of the house of representatives with all of his history and pomp and ceremony and everybody cheering and we go to some teleprompter and she was clearly quite nervous. She didnt do anything to embarrass herself which is a picture is there thats why when
governor bob odonnell, that was the best response he did it in the chambers there. They screw up or they go and drink watt. Yeah. There is no way to break through. The water thing is actually you know that was marco rubio. I fell for him. Because you really dont though what thats like. In the United States. Thank you. No. Until you have done it. And you think you know when you practiced, there is nothing. Right. Like sitting in a room with a live camera on you having to talk and it really does sometimes, its debilitating. After this big event, you know. The president. Yes. On top of it. What did she do before . She wasnt on television. She did fine. She did good. It was very smart of the republicans to put her out. Really smart. She delivered a fe pail
veteran. Shes young. She wore cam flanl shoes. He did. She wore cool shoes. These are, this is all groups of people that the party needs. All right. Were going to dig in deeper ahead. A big morning for us here in walk. Coming up we have Republican Rep paul ryan Governor Scott walker senator john thune and and hello, ryan. Good morning. I think i should moderate the debates debates. We should keep our mind about this. You are watching morning joe. Well be right back. Good to see you. So,as my personal financial psychic, im sure you know what this meeting is about. Yes, a raise. Im letting you go. I knew that. You see, this is my amerivest managed. Balances. No. Portfolio. And if doesnt perform
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a better politics is wbr id wbr13820 where we appeal to each others basic decency wbr id wbr13859 than fears. Better politics is where we debate without deuponizeing each other. Better politics are better than pulling us into the gutter. That a better politics. Thats how we start rebuilding trust. Thats wbr id wbr13999 how we move this country forward. Thats what the American People want. Wbr id wbr14059 thats what they deserve. Welcome back at 23 past the hour. Live in walk chairman other national committee, ryan its great to have you on set. Well discuss my negotiating debating position later. Okay. We