[Barack Obama, Former U.s. President:] I have no more campaigns to run. My only agenda I know, because I won both of them.
[Bash:] A bit of off-the-cuff humor and maybe a reminder that if President Trump is, in his favorite word, braggadocios tonight, he won't be the first president to act that way. We are fewer than nine hours to go until President Trump delivers his first State of the Union Address, and the official theme is a safe, strong and proud America. And the White House is promising a bipartisan tone with a particular focus on immigration and infrastructure. And you can expect to hear the president tout what he sees as his economic accomplishments.
[Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House Press Secretary:] Certainly the economy will be front and center. We've had a historic year, record- breaking moments throughout the year, in large part due to the president's leadership on deregulation and a huge capstone at the end of the year with the tax cuts and jobs act which we have seen have immediate impact with several hundred companies stepping forward and giving pay raises, bonuses, because of that tax cut and that tax reform package.
[Bash:] Now, of course, the president is going to say things like you just heard. It would be political malpractice for him not to. In fact, a lot of people are questioning why he's not doing that kind of on a loop, talking about the economy. But the notion that Jeff is hearing, that I'm hearing, I'm sure you all are hearing as well, of this big bipartisan unity message, how is that going to go? What are you hearing about the realities between the rhetoric that he's planning tonight and what he's up against, and what Democrats are up against every single day?
[Talev:] I just remember that in the inaugural address, a little bit more than a year ago, in the buildup to that there was a lot of talk about how a bipartisanship and reaching out to all Americans. But then the imagery of the speech and the tone of the speech was quite stark in and of itself. And I think we need to wait actually to see the delivery of this to understand how it plays out. On the flip side, if he doesn't do enough of a nod to the base, or if he isn't sort of what's the right word
[Bash:] Strident?
[Talev:] Victorious enough, right, that that might turn off some of his base. So I think he does have a little bit of a negotiating act himself to do. But, really, this is not about reaching widely across the aisle to bring liberals in, so much as it is to see, I think, from the White House's perspective, whether he can reach some of that middle ground that may have been lost or teetering over the course of the last several months and to bring them back on that economic message. And that's the challenge.
[Bash:] On the economic message, but also on the 2018 agenda, which they are saying is after they sort of check the boxes, which are not so easy to check, the budget, raising military caps, and, most importantly, immigration, they do want to get to inherently bipartisan ideas, like infrastructure.
[Hulse:] Right.
[Bash:] The realistic result of that is what, Carl?
[Hulse:] Well, I think that the Democrats would love to see a big infrastructure bill, but they don't expect to see one that is set up the way that they want it. I think going into tonight, there will be bipartisanship, but Democrats are bringing in dreamers, right? They're getting people from their districts who could be deported if the president doesn't fix that. They're going to be dressed in black. I think they're going to be pretty somber out there. If I was at the White House, I would be trying to keep the phone away from the president because I do think he can probably deliver this address pretty well, but the fear is, is he going to tweet before it or after it and immediately take on some issue. I don't think anybody this is not going to mend what I think are actually increasingly toxic relationships on Capitol Hill. I think it's in a really bad place right now.
[Bash:] And, yes yes, no question. And to be fair, you talked about the Democrats bringing dreamers and making very clear political statements, especially those who are already thinking about running for president against Donald Trump. But bipartisanship is a two-way street. It just is. Listen to what Chuck Schumer said again on the Senate floor this morning.
[Sen. Chuck Schumer , Minority Leader:] The Republican majority in the White House have been content to craft legislation on their own, demand Democrats support it, and then label us obstructionists. And without consultation, without compromise, we don't. That dynamic is the root of the ineffectiveness and gridlock here in Congress.
[Bash:] Well, I mean, look, he does have a point, that Republicans feel they have control of Congress, and they can kind of go their own way. But they have reached out to Democrats, and Democrats are all about pleasing the resistance right now. And you could have taken that sound bite and put a picture up of a Republican talking about President Obama
[Talev:] Yes.
[Bash:] At the beginning of his term
[Talev:] Yes, you could have.
[Bash:] And it would have been exact same rhetoric.
[Lee:] Right. And the point about unity is that it can't just be a tone that comes directly from the president. There has to be some sort of appetite from the other side of the aisle for that kind of a unity message, right? And we literally have Democratic lawmakers refusing to show up, not just bringing guests that might be a little controversial, that might be poking at the president a little bit. There are members, a number of members, who are just not going to be there. And I think in terms of, you know, just talking broadly about whether the president will stay on message and sticking to issues like infrastructure. On the other side of that, I'm really curious if he ends up slipping in some mention of repealing Obamacare, for example. Both because that obviously is a very partisan issue, but also because it's not necessarily something that I think his Republican colleagues are going to be all thrilled to hear him talk about. If he uses this huge, national address to say, hey, that thing that didn't work for us last year, maybe let's revisit that, I do think that that is going to not sit well with
[Bash:] Is that going to happen?
[Green:] It's Trump. It could, right? I think he would be on much safer ground. I mean Trump really does have a good news story to tell that could possibly unite if not Democrats in Congress and certainly viewers, and that is the economy. As somebody who writes for "Businessweek," the big fear when Trump was elected was that he was going to cause a recession. Stock market futures plummeted on election night because people were so worried about this. Instead, here we are, you know, a year later, record stock market, manufacturing jobs are growing. You know, he can produce, you know, valid data that shows that the country and the economy in particular are doing well and claiming credit for that. And what Trump seems to want more than anything else is affirmation. I think that's the one safe place where he could go out and get it and maybe not engender the hostile and negative response he would from Democrats in the audience if he speaks about, for instance, immigration or more of a hot button issue like that.
[Bash:] Thinking
[Talev:] Or he starts talking about the losers or no collusion or some of these kind of like just almost instinctive one-off lines that are real distractions from that core message about the stock market.
[Bash:] Yes, and I have to say, that speaking of producing, you don't know it, but you're actually a really good television producer because you were talked about the stock market and how he's going to talk about it, and that's actually what I'm going to talk about, which is, a look at the stock market right now. The Dow is actually falling a little bit more than it has in the past. So take a look at that on the screen right now. But before we go to break, we also want to talk about what is going on with regard to the halls of Capitol Hill and how things are playing out in really the minutes and hours before the president comes and gives his first State of the Union Address. Stand by for more of that.