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CNN Live Event/Special

President Trump Calls for Unity. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired February 05, 2019 - 22:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[22:00:00]

Thank you very much, Grace. You are a great inspiration to everyone in this room -- thank you very much.

Many childhood cancers have not seen new therapies in decades. My budget will ask Congress for $500 million over the next 10 years to fund this critical, life-saving research to help support working parents, the time has come to pass school choice for American's children.

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I am also proud to be the first president to include in my budget a plan for nationwide paid family leave, so that every new parent has the chance to bond with their newborn child.

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There could be no greater contrast to the beautiful image of a mother holding her infant child, then the chilling displays our nation saw in recent days. Lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother's womb moments from birth.

These are living, feeling, beautiful babies who will never get the chance to share their love and their dreams with the world. And then, we had the case of the Governor of Virginia -- where he stated he would execute a baby after birth, to defend the dignity of every person I am asking Congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late term abortion of children who can feel pain in the mother's womb.

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Let us work together to build a culture that cherishes innocent life.

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And let us reaffirm a fundamental truth, all children born and unborn are made in the holy image of God, the final part of my agenda is to protect American security. Over the last two years we have begun to fully rebuild the United States Military with $700 billion last year and $716 billion this year. We are also getting other nations to pay their fair share, finally -- finally.

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For years the United States was being treated very unfairly. By friends of ours, members of NATO. But now we have secured, over the last couple of years more than $100 billion of increase in defense spending from our NATO allies. They said it couldn't be done.

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As part of our military build-up, the United States is developing a state-of-the-art Missile Defense System. Under my administration, we will never apologize for advancing America's interests.

For example, decades ago, the United States entered into a treaty with Russia in which we agreed to limit and reduce our missile capability. While we followed the agreement and the rules to the letter; Russia repeatedly violated its terms. It's been going on for many years. That is why I announced that the United States is officially withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or INF Treaty.

Perhaps...

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We really have no choice. Perhaps we can negotiate a different agreement, adding China and others, or perhaps we can't, in which case, we will outspend and out-innovate all others by far.

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As part of a bold new diplomacy, we continue our historic push for peace on the Korean Peninsula. Our hostages have come home, nuclear testing has stopped, and there has not been a missile launch in more than 15 months.

If I had not been elected President of the United States, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea...

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Much work remains to be done, but my relationship with Kim Jong-un is a good one. Chairman Kim and I will meet again on February 27th and 28th in Vietnam.

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Two weeks ago, the United States officially recognized the legitimate government of Venezuela, and its new president...

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...Juan Guaido. We stand with the Venezuelan people in their noble quest for freedom, and we condemn the brutality of the Maduro regime, whose socialist policies have turned that nation from being the wealthiest in South America into a state of abject poverty and despair.

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Here in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country.

(BOOING)

America was founded on liberty and independence, and not government coercion, domination, and control. We are born free, and we will stay free.

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CROWD: USA! USA! USA!

TRUMP: Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country.

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CROWD: USA! USA! USA!

TRUMP: One of the most complex set of challenges we face -- and have for many years -- is in the Middle East. Our approach is based on principled realism, not discredited theories that have failed for decades to yield progress. For this reason, my administration recognized the true capital of Israel and proudly opened the American embassy in Jerusalem.

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Our brave troops have now been fighting in the Middle East for almost 19 years. In Afghanistan and Iraq, nearly 7,000 American heroes have given their lives. More than 52,000 Americans have been badly wounded. We have spent more than $7 trillion in fighting wars in the Middle East. As a candidate for President, loudly I pledged a new approach. Great nations do not fight endless wars.

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When I took office, ISIS controlled more than 20,000 square miles in Iraq and Syria. Just two years ago. Today, we have liberated virtually all of that territory from the grip of these bloodthirsty monsters. Now, as we work with our allies to destroy the remnants of ISIS, it is time to give our brave warriors in Syria a warm welcome home.

I have also accelerated our negotiations to reach, if possible, a political settlement in Afghanistan. The opposing side is also very happy to be negotiating. Our troops have fought with unmatched valor. And thanks to their bravery, we are now able to pursue a political solution to this long and bloody conflict.

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In Afghanistan my Administration is holding constructive talks with a number of Afghan groups, including the Taliban. As we make progress in these negotiations, we will be able to reduce our troop presence and focus on counter-terrorism. And we will indeed focus on counter- terrorism. We do not know whether we'll achieve an agreement but we do know that after two decades of war the hour has come to at least try for peace. And the other side would like to do the same thing. It's time.

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Above all, friend and foe alike must never doubt this nation's power and will to defend our people.

TRUMP: Eighteen years ago, violent terrorists attacked the USS Cole and last month American forces killed one of the leaders of that attack.

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We are honored to be joined tonight by Tom Wibberley, whose son, Navy Seaman Craig Wibberley, was one of the 17 sailors we tragically lost. Tom, we vow to always remember the heroes of the USS Cole.

Thank you, guys.

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My Administration has acted decisively to confront the world's leading state sponsor of terror, the radical regime in Iran. It is a radical regime; they do bad, bad things. To ensure this corrupt dictatorship never acquires nuclear weapons, I withdrew the United States from the disastrous Iran nuclear deal.

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And last fall, we put in place the toughest sanctions ever imposed by us on a country. We will not avert our eyes from a regime that chants death to America and threatens genocide against the Jewish people.

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We must never ignore the vile poison of anti-Semitism, or those who spread its venomous creed. With one voice, we must confront this hatred anywhere and everywhere it occurs.

Just months ago, 11 Jewish-Americans were viciously murdered in an anti-Semitic attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. SWAT Officer Timothy Matson raced into the gunfire and was shot seven times chasing down the killer, and he was very successful. Timothy has just had his 12th surgery, and he's going in for many more, but he made the trip to be here with us tonight.

Officer Matson, please.

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Thank you. We are forever grateful. Thank you very much.

TRUMP: Tonight, we are also joined by Pittsburgh survivor Judah Samet. He arrived at the synagogue as the massacre began. But not only did Judah narrowly escape death last fall -- more than seven decades ago, he narrowly survived the Nazi concentration camps. Today is Judah's 81st birthday.

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(SINGING "HAPPY BIRTHDAY")

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(UNKNOWN): Thank you.

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TRUMP: They wouldn't do that for me, Judah.

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Judah says he can still remember the exact moment, nearly 75 years ago, after 10 months in a concentration camp, when he and his family were put on a train and told they were going to another camp. Suddenly, the train screeched to a very strong halt. A soldier appeared. Judah's family braced for the absolute worst, then his father cried out with joy, "It's the Americans! It's the Americans!"

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Thank you. A second holocaust survivor who is here tonight, Joshua Kaufman, was a prisoner at Dachau. He remembers watching through a hole in the wall of a cattle car as American soldiers rolled in with tanks. "To me," Joshua recalls, "the American soldiers were proof that God exists. And they came down from the sky, they came down from heaven." I began this evening by honoring three soldiers who fought on D-Day in the Second World War.

One of them was Herman Zeitchik. But there is more to Herman's story. A year after he stormed the beaches of Normandy, Herman was one of the American soldiers who helped liberate Dachau.

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He was one of the Americans who helped rescue Joshua from that hell on Earth. Almost 75 years later, Herman and Joshua are both together in the gallery tonight, seated side by side, here in the home of American freedom. Herman and Joshua, your presence this evening is very much appreciated. Thank you very much.

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Thank you. When American soldiers set out beneath the dark skies over the English Channel in the early hours of D-Day, 1944, they were just young men of 18 and 19, hurtling on fragile landing craft toward the most momentous battle in the history of war. They did not know if they would survive the hour. They did not know if they would grow old. But they knew that America had to prevail. Their cause was this nation and generations yet unborn. Why did they do it? They did it for America, they did it for us. Everything that has come since; our triumph over communism, our giant leaps of science and discovery, our unrivaled progress toward equality and justice all of it is possible thanks to the blood and tears and courage and vision of the Americans who came before.

Think of this Capitol, think of this very chamber where lawmakers before you voted to end slavery, to build the railroads and the highways and defeat fascism, to secure civil rights, to face down evil empires.

Here tonight, we have legislators from across this magnificent republic. You have come from the rocky shores of Maine and the volcanic peaks of Hawaii; from the snowy woods of Wisconsin and the red deserts of Arizona; from the green farms of Kentucky and the golden beaches of California. Together, we represent the most extraordinary nation in all of history.

What will we do with this moment? How will we be remembered? I ask the men and women of this Congress; look at the opportunities before us. Our most thrilling achievements are still ahead. Our most exciting journeys still await. Our biggest victories are still to come. We have not yet begun to dream.

We must choose whether we are defined by our differences or whether we dare to transcend them. We must choose whether we squander our inheritance or whether we will proudly declare that we are Americans. We do the incredible. We defy the impossible. We conquer the unknown.

This is the time to re-ignite the American imagination. This is the time to search for the tallest summit and set our sights on the brightest star. This is the time to rekindle the bonds of love and loyalty and memory that link us together as citizens, as neighbors, as patriots.

This is our future, our fate, and our choice to make. I am asking you to choose greatness. No matter the trials we face, no matter the challenges to come, we must go forward together.

We must keep America first in our hearts. We must keep freedom alive in our souls. And we must always keep faith in America's destiny that one Nation, under God, must be the hope and the promise and the light and the glory among all the nations of the world! Thank you. God bless you and God bless America. Thank you very much.

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: President of the United States getting a standing ovation there in the House chamber. Some very powerful, moving moments by the president, also some very controversial moments by the president, as well.

Jake, he wanted to try to get some unity, an appeal for unity in the House and in the Senate, Democrats and Republicans. Did he succeed?

[22:30:06] JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Well, he did at times during the speech. Obviously , the moments with Grace Eline, the young girl battling cancer, the moment at the end with the soldier who helped liberate Dachau and the old man who had once been a little boy who was a prisoner at Dachau, obviously, these are wonderful moments, stirring moments.

You know, we heard different reports about what kind of speech the president wants to give tonight. We heard that he was going to give one that was unifying, and we also heard that he was going to give one that was more combative. And I think ultimately, what they did was try to deliver both. We had a speech that was for the most part unifying.

For the most part, a lot of the items that President Trump talked about were items that you could have heard a Democratic president talk about in a speech when it comes to infrastructure, when it comes to reducing drug prices, criminal justice reform. But then there were moments of whiplash, where he would talk about things that he knew would sit poorly with Democrats.

Obviously, talking about an onslaught of undocumented immigrants coming in caravans was going to be something that people were very unhappy with. His discussion of the abortion laws in Virginia and New York, and obviously, referring to the Intelligence Committee and other investigations going on about the Russian interference in the election, calling them partisan investigations. Those were more combative.

So at the end of the day, I think largely, it was the attempt to be unifying. But it was more like a hodgepodge of both unifying and combative, and you saw the results in the chamber.

BLITZER: Yeah. When he said walls work, walls save lives, and when he went after what he called the ridiculous partisan investigation. Dana?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Those were obviously some of the moments. The other moment that was really remarkable was looking at a sea of white, all of these women, most of whom are newly elected to the House of Representatives.

Just the image -- in the first place, I've seen them over and over again, but then when the president starts talking about his appeal to women, talking about the jobs that he has created, 58 percent of new jobs created in the last year were women, the Democrats who were sitting in the audience, who were some of those new jobs, but not the jobs maybe he intended because they took the seats of Republicans, kind of stole the moment from him and stood up, and he had to make a joke about the fact that that wasn't exactly his intention.

But then, right afterwards, he did have something that was scripted, a very nice olive branch to the women and applause for the women for the accomplishments of the history that they have made. You know, unfortunately, for the president and his party, only 13 of the women in the House are Republicans. The rest of them are Democrats.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: There are 102 women in the Congress, in the House and Senate, and -- or is it just the House?

BASH: In the House.

TAPPER: And 102 women in the House. And of those 102, 13 are Republican, 89 are Democrats. And to be completely candid, I mean, President Trump is responsible for a lot of those House Democratic women having their jobs --

BASH: Which is why they owned it. But it was a very nice moment. There's no question about it. And he owned the moment, even though it wasn't how he expected.

BLITZER: And he said we must reject the politics of revenge, resistance, and retribution. And Anderson, the president is walking out of the House Chamber right now. After he leaves, there'll be a five-minute break before we hear the Democratic response.

COOPER: That's right. And there are certainly a lot of facts to check, which we'll be doing over the course of the next several hours, and probably in several days. A lot of statements that were made that were viewed as misleading, some outright false, some quite accurate. We'll take a look at those. Gloria, overall, what did you hear?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I heard a lot of history in the speech, sort of World War II history that makes us feel great about ourselves as a nation. And there were quite compelling moments. But in terms of current, what's going on now, the most interesting thing to me was the -- his discussion of immigration. And I am having a hard time figuring out exactly what he meant.

Because while he was talking about the urgent national crisis, which seems to be paving the way for some kind of emergency plan, he -- and the caravans and everything else we've heard. Later on in the speech, he did talk about let's work together toward compromise at some point. And he said that the wall will be deployed in the areas identified by border agents as having the greatest need.

[22:34:59] In other words, not just a solid wall or slat or whatever, but it seemed to me to be some kind of proposal. I am not clear on that, but I am sort of reading between the lines here.

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: I mean that certainly -- that certainly seems to in terms of an area of compromise, whether you call it a wall or not.

DAVID AXELROD, FORMER OBAMA SENIOR ADVISER: That is the obvious compromise. And the question is whether he can set himself up to claim victory. He needs a way out of this thing that doesn't burn him with his base. I mean this language that he used, and this sort of -- again this is -- we're back to before the election, you know, the threat of the caravan, this overheated language, this mythology that, you know, there's massive amounts of crime being committed by undocumented immigrants as compared to people who live here.

That was for the base. At the end, as Gloria suggests, he left an opening that could be a pivot to a solution.

RICK SANTORUM, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I think this was an incredibly conciliatory speech. This was -- I just looked at the issues that he covered. There's no -- other than the wall, there's not a single -- and the bill -- on the pro-life bill, which in the face of what Democrats are now proposing, which is the Virginia governor infanticide, which is was mentioned in the speech --

BASH: Oh, my God.

(CROSSTALK)

SANTORUM: -- that's a modest thing, and used to be supported by Democrats, by the way. There's no red meat for the base --

(CROSSTALK)

JENNIFER GRANHOLM, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Prescription drug benefits, for example.

SANTORUM: That's not red meat for the base.

GRANHOLM: Yes. No. Not at all.

SANTORUM: You can go down this list. This was a very much -- OK, I am willing to work here. This was not a Republican speech. Rick Santorum isn't cheering -- I mean, I am cheering the images and you feel good about it. And I think that was his outreach to America, but particularly, to conservative --

(CROSSTALK)

AXELROD: What were you cheering -- I am interested in. A lot of the things he said were the things that you suggested he should say before the speech. What is it that you found unacceptable to you as someone in the president's base?

SANTORUM: All I am saying is there's nothing here that has -- if you look at infrastructure --

COOPER: Which he barely touched.

SANTORUM: He barely touched infrastructure. He talks about aids. Look, I helped write the Global Aids Proposal in PEPFAR. So all in.

(CROSSTALK)

SANTORUM: -- it's not something conservatives are going to be cheering about tomorrow. So I am just saying that if you look at what the president -- the concrete proposals he put forward, there is not a lot of conservative -- there's a lot of about Nancy Pelosi Democrats.

(CROSSTALK)

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I see it very, very differently. I saw this as a psychotically-incoherent speech with cookies and dog poop. He tries to put together in the same speech these warm, kind things about humanitarianism, and caring about children. At the same time, he is demonizing people who are immigrants in a way that was appalling.

SANTORUM: Demonizing child trafficking --

JONES: No, no, hold on a second. Hold on a second. There were people in that gallery who were children, who have been torn away from their mothers at the border. He did not mention them. There were soldiers who were transgender, who have been thrown out of the military. He didn't mention them.

There are people who -- there are veterans -- he talked about veterans. There are veterans who he has thrown out of this country who are dreamers. He did not mention them. And he didn't say one positive thing. Listen, if you want to talk about the people he could have mentioned --

SANTORUM: So he's supposed to mention everyone you want him to mention.

(CROSSTALK)

JONES: Hold on a second. No, no, no. Listen. If you're going to talk about immigration, and you're going to talk about undocumented people --

SANTORUM: And make his case --

JONES: No. Hold on a second -- then talk about the one who drowned saving people in Houston after the storm. Talk about the people who have given their lives to this country. You guys see this very differently. You're looking at it from the point of view of --

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: I have got to just toss it to Wolf because we have to set up the Democratic response. But we'll come back and we'll continue this discussion. It's an important one. Wolf?

BLITZER: Yeah. Anderson, the president spoke for about an hour and 20 minutes. And Jake, we're going to get the Democratic response now from the former Georgia House Minority Leader, Stacey Abrams, who ran for the gubernatorial contest in George and lost, not by a lot, but she did lose.

TAPPER: She did. And it was a very disappointing loss for Democrats. They really thought they had a chance of capturing that governor's mansion with Stacey Abrams. They had a lot of hopes invested in her. Barack Obama campaigned for her. Oprah Winfrey campaigned for her. But ultimately, she didn't win, but she still is considered a shining star in the Democratic Party, people really looking forward to her address.

BLITZER: And her carefully-prepared remarks will be a lot shorter than the president's. Here's Stacey Abrams delivering the Democratic response.

[22:39:40] ABRAMS: Good evening, my fellow Americans, and happy Lunar New Year. I'm Stacey Abrams, and I am honored to join the conversation about the state of our union.

Growing up, my family went back and forth between lower middle class and working class. Yet even when they came home weary and bone-tired, my parents found a way to show us all who we could be.

My librarian mother taught us to love learning, my father, a shipyard worker, put in overtime and extra shifts, and they made sure we volunteered to help others. Later, they both became United Methodist ministers, an expression of the faith that guides us.

ABRAMS: These were our family values -- faith, service, education and responsibility.

Now we only had one car, so sometimes my dad had to hitchhike and walk long stretches during the 30 mile trip home from the shipyards. One rainy night my mom got worried, we piled in the car and went out looking for him.

And we eventually found my dad making his way along the road, soaked and shivering in his shirtsleeves. When he got in the car my mom asked if he'd left his coat at work? He explained that he'd given it to a homeless man he'd met on the highway.

When we asked why he'd given away his only jacket, my dad turned to us and said, "I knew when I left that man he'd still be alone, but I could give him my coat because I knew you were coming for me."

Our power and strength as Americans lives in our hard work, in our belief in more. My family understood firsthand that while success is not guaranteed, we live in a nation where opportunity is possible. But we do not succeed alone. In these United States, when times are tough, we can persevere because our friends and neighbors will come of us.

Our first responders will come for us. It is this mantra, this uncommon grace of community that has driven me to become an attorney, a small business owner, a writer and most recently the Democratic nominee for Governor of Georgia. My reason for running was simple, I love our country and it's promise of opportunity for all. And I stand here tonight because I hold fast to my father's credo, together we are coming for America -- for a better America.

Just a few weeks ago I joined volunteers to distribute meals to furloughed federal workers, they waited in line for a box of food, and a sliver of hope since they hadn't received paychecks in weeks. Making livelihoods of our federal workers upon for political games is a disgrace. The shutdown was a stunt, engineered by the President of the United States, one that defied every tenant a fairness and abandoned not just our people but our values.

For seven years I lead the Democratic party and the Georgia House of Representatives -- I didn't always agree with the Republican speaker or Governor, but I understood that our constituents didn't care about our political parties, they cared about their lives.

So when we had to negotiate criminal justice reform, or transportation, or foster care improvements -- the leaders of our state didn't shut down, we came together and we kept our word. It should be no different in our nation's capital. We may come from different sides of the political aisle, but our joint commitment to the ideas of this nation cannot be negotiable.

Our most urgent work is to realize American's dreams of today and tomorrow. To carve a path to independence and prosperity that can last a lifetime. Children deserve an excellent education from cradle to career, we owe them safe schools and the highest standards regardless of zip code. Yet this White House responds timidly while first graders practice active shooter drills, and the price of higher education grows ever-steeper.

From now on, our leaders much be willing to tackle gun safety measures and face the crippling effect of educational loans. To support educators, and invest what is necessary to unleash the power of America's greatest minds. In Georgia and around the country, people are striving for middle class where a salary truly equals economic security. But instead families hopes are being crushed by Republican leadership that ignores real life, or just doesn't understand it.

Under the current administration far too many hardworking Americans are falling behind, living paycheck to paycheck -- most without labor unions to protect them from even worse harm. The Republican tax bill rigged the system against working people. Rather than bringing back jobs, plants are closing -- layoffs are looming, and wages struggle to keep pace with the actual cost of living.

We owe more to the millions of everyday folks who keep our economy running. Like truck drivers forced to buy their own rigs, farmers caught in a trade war, small business owners in search of capital and domestic workers serving without labor protections. Women and men who could thrive if only they had the support and freedom to do so. We know bipartisan bipartisanship could craft a 21st century immigration plan but this administration chooses to cage children and tear families apart. Compassionate treatment at the border is not the same as open borders. President Reagan understood this. President Obama understood this. Americans understand this. And Democrats stand ready to effectively secure our ports and borders.

But we must all embrace that from agriculture to health care to entrepreneurship, America is made stronger by the presence of immigrants, not walls. And rather than suing to dismantle the Affordable Care Act as Republican Attorneys General have, our leaders must protect the progress we've made and commit to expanding health care and lowering costs for everyone.

My father has battled prostate cancer for years. To help cover the cost, I found myself sinking deeper into debt. Because while you can defer some payments, you can't defer cancer treatment. In this great nation, Americans are skipping blood pressure pills; forced to choose between buying medicine or paying rent. Maternal mortality rates show that mothers, especially Black mothers, risk death to give birth. And in 14 states including my home state, where a majority want it, our leaders refuse to expand Medicaid which could save rural hospitals, save economies, and save lives.

We can do so much more; take action on climate change, defend individual liberties with fair-minded judges. But none of these ambitions are possible without the bedrock guarantee of our right to vote. Let's be clear. Voter suppression is real. From making it harder to register and stay on the rolls, to moving and closing polling places, to rejecting lawful ballots, we can no longer ignore these threats to democracy.

ABRAMS: While I acknowledge the results of the 2018 election here in Georgia, I did not and we cannot accept efforts to undermine our right to vote. That's why I started a nonpartisan organization called Fair Fight to advocate for voting rights. This is the next battle for our democracy; one where all eligible citizens can have their say about the vision we want for our country. We must reject the cynicism that says allowing every eligible vote to be cast and counted is a power grab.

Americans understand that these are the values our brave men and women in uniform and our veterans risk their lives to defend. The foundation of our moral leadership around the globe is free and fair elections where voters pick their leaders, not where politicians pick their voters. In this time of division and crisis, we must come together and stand for and with one another. America has stumbled time and again on its quest towards justice and equality.

But with each generation, we have revisited our fundamental truth. And where we falter, we make amends. We fought Jim Crow with the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. Yet we continue to confront racism from our past and in our present, which is why we must hold everyone, from the highest offices to our own families, accountable for racist words and deeds, and call racism what it is; wrong.

America achieved a measure of reproductive justice in Roe v. Wade, but we must never forget; it is immoral to allow politicians to harm women and families to advance a political agenda. We affirmed marriage equality and yet the LGBTQ community remains under attack. So even as I am very disappointed by the president's approach to our problems, I still don't want him to fail. But we need him to tell the truth and to respect his duties and respect the extraordinary diversity that defines America.

Our progress has always been found in the refuge, in the basic instinct of the American experiment; to do right by our people. And with a renewed commitment to social and economic justice, we will create a stronger America together. Because America wins by fighting for our shared values against all enemies; foreign and domestic. That is who we are. And when we do so, never wavering, the state of our union will always be strong. Thank you and may God bless the United States of America.

(APPLAUSE)

COOPER: The Democratic response being given by Stacey Abrams, a former gubernatorial candidate in the state of Georgia. I like that one better.

(CROSSTALK)

AXELROD: I'll say this. Brevity is the soul of wit.

HENDERSON: It was very conversational, right? I mean I think one of the problems often with these speeches is there is sort of an airless quality to them. They're sitting in a room by themselves.

AXELROD: Or gasping for water or something.

HENDERSON: Gasping for -- l;ike Rubio, I think, standing there at a podium.

COOPER: Right.

HENDERSON: Speech style was really good. And there she is, essentially saying what the Democratic Party stands for, right, talking about values. Go ahead.

COOPER: In terms of what the president said, I am wondering what you made of it. Because right before we went to Stacey Abrams, we had a disagreement from over here on exactly how bipartisan it was. How did you see it?

HENDERSON: I think there are some areas he talks about that we've been talking about for a while that could possibly be bipartisan areas of agreement, paid family leave, infrastructure, drug prices. I think, again, the devil is in the details. How do you pay for infrastructure? Is it going to be private money? Is it going to be money from the government?

So I think there were notes in there where Democrats can obviously agree. I think one troublesome spot that he is going to have with a lot of Republicans, particularly conservative Republicans on immigration, is when he says that he wants people to come to our country in the largest numbers ever, and that was an adlib. That was not in original --

(CROSSTALK)

ANDERSON: That's just not -- I mean is that really -- that's not the case. I mean --

AXELROD: It's not in his program --

(CROSSTALK)

JOHN KASICH, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Anderson, here is the way I see this. It's sort of what I thought would come. First of all, there was a lot of signals to the base. Let me tell you what I think they were. First of all, the economy, talking about cutting all the regulations, what they did to cut taxes, the fact that the economy is doing well.

That was aimed not just at the base but Republicans who don't like some of the things he does but they feel like, well, the economy is doing OK. When he talked about caravans, the wall and used a lot of rhetoric there, that's right at the base.

JONES: It will break the fact check machine, some of it.

KASICH: Yeah. When he attacked socialism, we're not socialism, conservative. Yeah, yeah, he is right about that.

JONES: That tumor plug (phj).

KASICH: I got you. But -- and abortion, that language was geared at the evangelical community, which is one of his strongest bases. Now -- but there was an outreach. I mean when he talked about criminal justice reform. He talked about infrastructure, cancer research for children. That was pretty significant, taking on the drug issue.

But here's really what it comes down to. For any political leader, whether they're a president, a governor, an executive, you have to compromise. And the question is, what is his definition of compromise? It can't be it's my way or you're all a bunch of knuckleheads.

(CROSSTALK)

KASICH: One thing to watch is what are the -- are we going to see an end to the ad hominem tweets?

HERNANDEZ: No. No. Of course, not.

(CROSSTALK)

KASICH: But here's the point. I mean if he says I want to work with you, I want to get along with you, I want to compromise. If those things continue, you see that takes away from everything that he tried to say in a unifying way. Do I think he is going to stop doing it? I hope not. Would I bet on it? Of course, not.

GRANHOLM: This speech was gas-lighting the American people by starting out with this sort of unifying stuff about veterans, et cetera, the pre -- you know, salting of the ground, saying it's going to be a unifying speech. He is going to ask for compromise. So he starts that way. And then he goes into abortion. He goes into immigration. He talks about open borders. No Democrat is talking about open borders.3

He -- you know, he -- it was a divisive speech in the middle, starting with the military, and ending with the military. But let me just say one word about the delivery. He had such -- to me, low energy. He is not a great speech-giver when he is on a teleprompter. It was not well delivered.

Stacey Abrams on the other hand, starting with an anecdote about her family, it was totally -- it brought us in immediately. She had energy. She smiled. Even when delivering some tough stuff, the contrast between these I think two was striking.

SANTORUM: I have to speak next because I am going to agree with Jennifer Granholm.

GRANHOLM: What? What is happening here?

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: This whole unity thing is taking hold here.

SANTORUM: Your career is finished.

GRANHOLM: I know. I am just thinking. What did I say?

(CROSSTALK)

SANTORUM: Stacey Abrams gave a great speech. She delivered it well. This was probably the worst delivered speech I have heard Donald Trump give. He ran over his lines. He mixed up the -- he didn't deliver his punch lines.

[22:55:01] He would deliver a line and go to the next issue. And I don't think he even realized he was moving on to the next issue.

GRANHOLM: There wasn't a paragraph.

SANTORUM: They -- someone didn't do a good job of breaking his speech so he knew what to do. That was the problem. Now, what -- now, where I don't agree with Jennifer is the president -- 333you know how many things the president proposed on domestic policy tonight? Bill Clinton, I would sit through this speech, and it would be an encyclopedia of proposals.

Stacey Abrams in four minutes proposed 40 things. In an hour and a half, Donald Trump proposed eight domestic policies, eight the entire night.

JONES: But you saw the --

(CROSSTALK)

SANTORUM: And two of those eight were child cancer and aids. So -- I mean this was not a big speech. This was not a we're going to change everything. This was, I have got my targeted things --

JONES: Let me tell you what I --

SANTORUM: -- a couple for the base, a couple for the other side. And this is what I want to do. 3333

JONES: Let me tell you what my heartbreak in this speech was simply this. Those beautiful moments where he recognized Ms. Alice Johnson, where he recognized the -- you saw a hunger in that crowd. I felt it in myself people want to come together. People wanted to feel that sense of unity. And then he would go right into something else that would just pull people apart.

So when I say -- there is some struggle happening in that building. I don't know if it's happening in his heart. But there is some struggle happening in that building, that's where two completely -- if you could literally take out those positive inspirational moments and nobody could criticize that speech, but the parts of that speech that were divisive were so divisive.

(CROSSTALK)

SANTORUM: John and I -- you've been to 18. I have been to 16. I have sat on my hands for a lot of Democratic speeches that just -- you know, they were punching me in the nose sitting there in the Congress. So don't say that a State of the Union speech is not all flowers to try to get everybody to join.

(CROSSTALK)

GRANHOLM: I agree about one thing, which is that the moment with the women was great.

SANTORUM: That was a great moment.

GRANHOLM: It was an awesome moment.

SANTORUM: He didn't get it right away, but he eventually got it.

(CROSSTALK)

GRANHOLM: I am not sure he still gets it because the irony about it is that they all are there, because they ran --

(CROSSTALK)

SANTORUM: He didn't get it right away but he definitely --

(CROSSTALK)

AXELROD: Can I just say something on the issue of body language? Because, you know, Governor, you raised an important point. Whatever the words in the speech, and we can argue, and I think there were some unbelievably divisive pieces there and some unifying pieces there. The question is what is credible and what is not. What does he believe and what does he not believe.

And part of what I noticed was he oriented his body the entire speech toward the Republicans. He wasn't speaking to the Democrats. He sort of turned himself in that moment that you spoke of and about -- with the women, I didn't know quite how to deal with it.

And, you know, on this point of unity and what it takes to compromise and so on, it was just two days ago that he said people are dying all over the country because of people like Nancy Pelosi. That's not unifying language.

(CROSSTALK)

BORGER: And she spent most of her time biting her lip. I would say --

(CROSSTALK)

HENDERSON: He has a good poker face.

BORGER: Can I just say one thing about divisiveness here that really struck me, and it was on the immigration issue, which we've spoken about. And I'm wondering whether if it's a theme he is going to strike in 2020, if nothing really significant happens.

But he described the divide on immigration in class terms, that it was a division between the working class and America's political class, and started talking about, you know, the political class lives behind walls because they're rich, but the working class are losing jobs. They're getting lower wages, etcetera, etcetera. And to me, of course, that's divisive. It's not the way the immigration debate is being handled by Democrats. But I can see this as a 2020 talking point for Donald Trump.

AXELROD: That's Santorum politics.

SANTORUM: That's exactly right. This is what I was talking about back in 2012 when I talked about the Republicans.

BORGER: You're so prescient.

SANTORUM: The Republicans don't care -- the Republicans didn't care. George Bush was all for more immigration, why? Because he was worried about the business community having enough labor to take care of the needs of the business community, and the Democrats didn't care because they just want all the people they can because they're going to vote for them.

And the working men and women, that's what Donald Trump tapped into. And he is trying to tap into it here.

(CROSSTALK)

HENDERSON: And partially, there is a racial component to that, too, right? I mean if you think about where immigrants are in some of these inner cities and African-American --

SANTORUM: And that's an appeal.

(CROSSTALK)

HENDERSON: Yes. I think that's an appeal.

KASICH: We're going to know very soon.

HENDERSON: I mean it's a divisive appeal but I think it's --

(CROSSTALK)

KASICH: We're going to now very soon whether he really is interested in some compromise. And if he's not, then we're going to know it very soon. Then it will be base politics. And he will double down on the base and double down on the base. SANTORUM: You're assuming Nancy Pelosi is going to give money for a wall.

KASICH: Well, I mean, there's got to be -- that's called compromise.

JONES: I agree with you.

KASICH: And -- but I am saying to you is that he is going to have to move, and if he doesn't move --

(CROSSTALK)

JONES: So does she.