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critics. i'm anderson cooper in washington. we are now about an hour away from the president's big entrance for his state-of-the-union address. he'll leave the white house very soon, head to the capitol where many of the nation's most powerful people are arriving right now. it is a rare moment when washington comes together. the president may invite a bit of confrontation with republicans tonight just months before the critical mid-term election. let's bring in wolf blitzer with more. >> we're told the president will threaten to use his executive powers more often when he feels blocked by republicans in congress. he'll also make a new push to close the income gap of the country. look for the republican response by congresswoman kathy mcmorris rogers to be heavy on criticism of obama care. that's the main talking point that the gop has in terms of their battle for congress. we'll also get reaction from two outspoken republicans and possible 2016 presidential contenders, senators ted cruz and rand paul. they'll join us after the president's speech. and we'll have the first
and that is now continuing unofficially. for example, i'm looking down and i see john mccain, senator from arizona, republican, who walked in with kirsten gillibrand, democrat from new york. so they're sort of doing it on their own even though there's no real form decision to do this in a bipartisan way. historically what we had seen is democrats sitting on one side, republicans on the other. so you saw when the president said a democratic president said something democrats liked, one side stood up and vice versa. that i think will look different now. >> will jake tarp be announcing the arrival of the president of the united states tonight? has he now taken on that role as well? >> reporter: i would not put anything past our jake tapper. it's entirely possible, anderson. >> it's interesting dana also for those people who don't know, we mentioned this a little bit earlier, there are members of congress who spend five, six, seven hours just trying to reserve a seat on the aisle so they can kind of grip and grin
chief political analyst and john fabro, former barack obama speech writer and karen hughes former bush campaigner adviser former white house communications director as well. john, you just came from the white house. you were kind of looking over the speech. there are a lot of different audiences for the speech. there's progressives within the president's party, there are republicans who he has to try to work with particularly on immigration reform the there's a lot of different audiences for this. >> i think the president's main audience is the american people. this will be as state of the unions tend to be a unifying speech where he will lay out his vision for the country. as he said, wherever he can work with republicans and democrats in congress he certainly will. >> last year there was a laundry list of items that he wanted progress on. we did the checklist. not a lot of them were actually accomplished. do you see that happening tonight as well? >> i think he's going to show tonight a flurry of action. there are going to be plenty of ideas he has that he can do on his own through executive authority. ideas he believes he can still work with congress on like immigration reform.
them on immigration. we got word today there might be an agreement on a farm bill. a month and a half ago, we got word that there was agreement on a budget. so it strikes me as odd, the democrats on the panel can't even lament the fact the republicans have been slow to the table. but it strikes me as odd that tonight in light of all of that congressional action, the president's going to take a defiant tone and say, you haven't done enough. i'm going out there on my own. i'm working around congress. when we have those three pieces of real progress just in the last month and a half. >> on that molotov cocktail hate to have to pass -- >> saved by the bell. >> we'll leave that flaming here for awhile. we'll come back to it, wolf and john? >> anderson, good discussion. john king is here with the magic wall. the house of representatives, is it in play. >> less likely than right after the government shutdown. remember the conversations then when republicans were take the blame for the republican shutdown, everyone thought perhaps the democrats would get the majority back.
critics in congress and said some of the criticism had been constructive and it helped. we've not heard that kind of rhetoric from president obama. we certainly didn't hear anytime second inaugural. >> i think he's spent many speeches calling for civility. as president bush knew calling for it doesn't make it so. >> you expect tonight to hear him reaching out? >> i think he'll definitely reach out. i know he will. reach out to both parties and real will he urge members of congress to work with him wherever he can. he'll cite republican ideas as models of working together in cooperation. i think it will be very similar -- >> john does that matter reaching out in a speech like this? >> i'm sure in part because they're about to run campaign ads beating up the president, beating up his agenda. if he can position himself swom way you seem more real like the person in the middle it can help. i'm fascinated moments like this john and karen can give insights, these guys whether they're democrats of republicans they're competitive people. you don't get to be president of
>> i don't think he's limiting. but i think when you compare him to the transformational president obama who came into office versus the president now -- >> will his ideas tonight be big enough to address the big issues. >> then there's reality. >> how much do you think, john that, he will try to kind of go for a theme rather than individual actions? talking about income inequality, trying to grow middle class as opposed to point a, b and c? >> i think point a, b and c will be in service of the larger theme, expanding opportunity for the middle class. i think the white house has been talking about that team. i think the president's going to be talk about how to create more jobs, good jobs and make sure those jobs pay. so if you're working hard you can succeed in this country. the ideas there, some he's going to be able to take on his own and some he'll need congress for. >> i think he's got to convince the american public not to be so pessimistic. for the last ten years, more people have thought we're on the wrong track in this country than on the right track in this country. >> is he pessimistic?
the cameras can pick up. that is what is happening in the gallery where gwen stefawhere g members of congress are sitting. members of the military and so forth. but pop culture has arrived in the congress on this day. one of the stars -- >> members of the supreme court are walking by right now for those watching at home and seeing these august individuals. here is supreme court justin ruth bader ginsburg. good to see you. we saw the chief justice john roberts walk by just a few minutes ago. here is stephen breyer and elena kagan walking by. they tend to not react, stand up and applaud and cheer. in fact, justice antonin scalia has voiced concern about going to these speeches in the past because he says it feels more like a pep rally. >> it makes what i'm about to describe even more surreal and bizarre. who i'm looking at right now is
forward. that's what the president is talking about tonight. if congress won't act, i will. but we can be stronger when we're together in making these actions come together. >> i don't object to presidents being presidential. ronald reagan came, in and he did a whole bunch of executive orders the first year. i just think it's amazing that in the fifth year, suddenly obama jumps up and goes, i have a pen. what did he think he had the first four years? >> there have been plenty of executive actions. over the last five years. this is how we fixed the dream act so that young kids who came here -- >> by executive order. but look, i love you, van. you know i do. but are you serious? >> yes. >> remember the state-of-the-union where the president scolded the supreme court in front of them? this president has not gone above and beyond to harmoniously bring the congress or the country together. he has taken opportunities to divide the country. he's going to do it again tonight. and polling shows -- >> let me bring in the other
in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on september 11th, when president bush went before the congress in 2002, he defined the axis of evil, meaning iran, iraq and north korea. >> states like these and their terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world. >> axis was such a loaded word, however, because the axis powers in world war ii had been italy and germany and japan. the idea that the world was now divided into axis powers and allied powers seemed to suggest a war coming on, which indeed was the truth. >> it is both our responsibility and our privilege to fight freedom's fight. [ applause ] >> looking at live pictures at the white house. the president and first lady are getting ready to least white house. they'll be driving down pennsylvania avenue, getting up to capitol hill momentarily.
or in one bill almost everything he wants but it's a path to status not citizenship, does he veto that because he wants the political issue or does he take it and then say i want more and we're going to campaign on that. but i'm going to take this great compromise that people have put in front of me. >> i think every president develops at a certain point a certain amount of disdain for congress. whether you have it when you come in or you vet have it on t way out. the relationship gets frayed. there's no doubt about it. >> even when you were one of them before. >> but i think with president obama, the pros than been that lots of members of congress believe that he had it when he was in congress and that's why he left the senate because he wanted to be president. and the senate wasn't good enough. and there's a sense he never liked them very much. >> -- written a huge numbers of speeches for this president and looked over the speech tonight, what do you watch when you watch the speech tonight? what is going to be in your mind for things to look for maybe our