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welcome to msnbc state of the union covers. tonight, president joe biden gave a rousing speech a few feet from where we are now. in the country is that an inflection point with democracy at threat at home and abroad. here's how he opened his speech, invoking fdr in 1941, telling him congress, hitler was on the march. >> this was no ordinary time. freedom and democracy, were under assault in the world. tonight, i come to the same chamber to address the nation. now it is weak who face in a president at moment.

yes, my present tonight is a wake-up congress and let the american people know this is no ordinary moment either. not since president lincoln and the civil war, have freedom and democracy, at home as it is safe. what makes it rare, they are under attack at home and overseas. >> that was just the beginning. president biden drew a sharp contrast for former president trump from democracy, tax cuts, to reproductive rights. >> the american people support the right to choose, i promise you i will restore roe v wade as the law of the land again. >> the president also joked several times about his age to applause and laughter. he ended his speech laying out his vision for the future.

>> i see a future where defending democracy, you don't diminish it. i see a future where restoring the right to choose and protect our freedoms, not take them away. i see a future for the middle class who finally has a fair shot and the wealthy have to pay their fair share in taxes. i see a future where we save the planet from the climate crisis and our country from gun violence. above all, i see a future for all americans. >> simone, was this the speech we were expecting? >> i think that i was expecting the president to go out there and make his case. take a step back, this will be the largest stage he will have between now and when folks start voting.

it will not be as large as this one. the convention. people watch sports a lot, football, basketball, the oscars, and then it is the state of the union. this is a nonpartisan arena, if you will, where the president of the united states speaks directly to the american people prebuilt. people will not see him on feathered. not see him in viral limited ways on different social media sites or through the lens of someone pontificating about his interview. i think that he got the job done. i have seen a lot of state of the union address is, at everything, inspiration, hope, a direct per available molly whopping, if you will. using the words of a former justice while they are sitting in the front row.

somebody give the camera operator enemy. from the time he came down the aisle shaking hands, what you saw tonight was president joe biden at his best. he likes being around people. he is a good retail politician and he understood the stage he was on. he was comfortable. he was inviting the hackle. he was to the point, what did you say? you don't like that? sometimes the crowd took the bait. members of congress did and sometimes i didn't. the image of the vice president, harris standing and clapping it was like she was getting exercise. speaker mike johnson, not demoting much. there were some things in previous years everyone would stand and clap. everyone would stand and clap for education for children >> you should be able to stay in and clap for democracy. >> low, i came away from this

godsmack. i tell you why, out of the gate, the president was not formally introduced to the congress. the president ascended the podium and began his speech. the speaker did not get a chance to say, ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. it told me in that moment that the president intended to own the room. his goal tonight was to make it very clear, you think i'm old, i've got something for you. you think i am slow, i've got something for you. you don't like my policies, i will talk about the ones you voted for. right? i thought he really contextualized in a real way the conversation that has been long overdue between joe biden and the american people.

not joe biden and republicans in congress. not joe biden and the progresses in his party. joe biden and the american people. folks watching this got a smile on their face and go, uncle joe. okay. okay. i hear you, i see you. that was a good solid moment for him. there were different vignettes and scenes which we want get into. the reality of it is, he owned the moment from the moment he walked into the room. again, he was the last to leave. he was the first president to do that. he stays around. if you watch him afterwards, he is senator biden on the floor with those members. they had to pull him off. folks, you keep underestimating joe biden. every turn, he finds a way to remind you of why he has been successful in american politics. why regardless of the missteps

and misspoken word occasionally, people still gravitate towards him. i think it will set him up well to start the conversation. >> this is what the president said when the camera panned to the supreme court justices. the supreme court majority wrote that with, those bragging about overturning roe v wade have no clue about the power of women in america. he goes on to talk about reproductive alyssa >> in the same moment he looked at them and said, with all due respect -- that was not in the script. he made it a personal moment to connect with them. that is a part of joe, symone, i have heard you say it, i have set it, a lot of us have said it, let the man go out and be the man to connect with the people. when he does, it is a good day for the country and a good day for his efforts to convince and

win them over. >> i said before it would be about performance on delivery, he definitely performed and delivered. the policy was sensitive, and i think we will see the implication of that policy. folks going out and talking about it. >> we have a lot to unpack. luckily we have two hours. let's bring correspondent and senior white house correspondent, gabe. how does the white house feel tonight went? >> reporter: i have been speaking with several sources and one told me that it was a feisty speech and president biden clearly met the bar. we have been talking about it, it was a speech that was heavy on policy. you might remember by the performance of this. he spoke about reproductive rights early on. he talked about raising taxes

on billionaires and large companies. helping out the middle class. he also talked a lot about a foreign policy. some of the speech that got most of the attention is when he took on republicans over the issue of immigration. this is something that the white house has been ramping up in the last few weeks, calling up republicans for what they see as obstructionism when they talk about the bipartisan security border bill. marjorie taylor greene saying the name of the young woman in georgia who was murdered by an undocumented immigrant. the president said her name, although he did say the wrong first name. he said he's not afraid to take on republicans on this issue. they feel this will be an extremely winnable issue in the coming months. flipping the script on republicans who sought to dominate the immigration issue before.

something else he brought up, he announced a new policy in gaza, the u.s. military will have an emergency mission to try to get more humanitarian aid into the gaza strip by constructing the temporary ports. before the speech got started there were protesters outside the white house and outside the capitol who were upset about his handling of the war. he's letting people know that he's trying to get humanitarian aid inside the strip. this is a kickoff to the general election season where the white house announcing the president will be traveling to several underground states in the several weeks. hence any, tomorrow, georgia, over the weekend. cabinet secretaries will be fanning out over the coming weeks to try to sell the president's agenda. president biden's allies think that he delivered on this

feature there was a fiery speech and it really sold his agenda to a wide swath of america here. >> on gaza, the president saying in his speech tonight, they have been working on establishing an immediate cease- fire that will last for six weeks. some critics immediately noted they were looking for a permanent cease-fire. everyone still not happy. julie, you were there at the capitol. coming out of the president's state of the union address, when the vice president and sigurd johnson dissented and came out, you were in the hallway. what did you ask speech at -- >> reporter: he told me he thought the speech was overtly partisan. republicans are unified saying it was a divisive speech, a campaign speech, no unity in anything he said. they thought the immigration moment, that marjorie taylor

greene, it was scripted as a senator told me. i heard from democrats, a border state democrat that told me that he thought the moment was everything. he thought that biden was able to flip the script on republicans when it comes to the immigration issue. one in which republicans have capitalized on for the last several years. i want to talk quickly about the moment on gaza. i spoke to jamaal and progressives before the speech tonight, including congresswoman corey busch, who was wearing a palestinian scarf in the chamber, she told me she did not know how she would react depending on the president said at the moment. her guest was a palestinian woman who is a student here, after the speech she told me that they president went further in criticizing israel than any president he had heard from. he wish he would've had specific

examples, but democrats appeared happy with this feature democrats only it was a slamdunk. they believe that biden was funny when it came to his age. was angry about injustice. those were some of the words that senator richard blumenthal described the speech to me. they feel very positive about how he performed here. on the flipside, you have republicans speaking to that campaign style that biden used. johnson, a couple moments ago told my colleague, frank, that he was practicing his poker face behind biden. you saw him making certain expressions as it came to that. all in all, johnson's first moment in that game, on the stage behind the president. democrats and republicans coming away with completely different views of how the speech went. that's expected. >> all right, thank you so much. you heard the commentary from

republicans. the idea that somehow the speech was more partisan than expected. >> please, spare me. these guys are whining about -- there was no unity. marjorie taylor greene was on the house floor wearing a maga hat, confronting the president of the united states. spare me the unity crowd. they don't give a about unity. this offense that the president was partisan or the president sounded more political or he didn't unify -- what are you trying to unify? you had a chance for you had legislation. you saw senator langford sitting there agreeing with the president when he said, i had a bill and repository's wrote it and you tore it up. >> i think that we have some sound from the president talking about vladimir putin. this might be what they are

talking about? >> my predecessor, a former republican president tells putin, quote, do whatever the you want. that is a quote. the former president actually said that. bowing down to the russian leader. it is outrageous, dangerous, and unacceptable. >> that was unifying moment for me. >> i would agree. it speaks volumes to where republicans and the house of representatives, apparently joe biden talking about vladimir putin trampling on the sovereignty of the democratic nations abroad, our allies, members of nato, that it is somehow partisan. >> you expect them to be

triggered. that is the whole point, to be triggered. >> that is part of it. when you're talking about the partisan peace, there were a number of times, over a dozen, there is a sharp contrast from the president with his predecessor on a range of issues. from democracy, to reproductive rights. it was a contrast being drawn same. part of what was articulated by the president, at the top of the speech, right out of the gate, the stakes are extraordinarily high. i cannot begin this with pleasantries. he didn't. most of the time as you both know, the speeches tend to begin with the state of the economy. that is what voters are motivated by and care about. he did not start there. they made a deliberate choice to say that the stakes are very high. at home and abroad. that set the tone for the rest of the speech. to say, we're talking about a choice here. i want to draw that choice out

for you. >> that's an interesting point. i wrote down at the beginning that the president has gone straight for the gun. he walked up to that podium and he's looking everyone in the eyes and he was like, let me help you understand what we are confronting here. he set up the two freedoms. the freedoms globally and the freedom of individual rights and liberties. personal freedom. personal choices. they are very important and salient here and abroad. i thought the contrast was very compelling as he kept pounding at the gusts. he was relentless in the beginning of that speech. it was almost -- i found myself going, i'm getting the vapors. it was one after the other. >> i really think that folks should go back and look at what joe biden said when he first

announced he wanted to run for president in 2019. what he said throughout 2019 and into 2020, at the state of the union, after he took the oath of the office, what he said in his first address to congress, and the tablet this year, he has been consistent. the reason he started the speech the way he did, because that's what he truly believes. when i talked to him in 2019, i was like, why do you want to run for president? he said, i really do -- is not just a talking point. i do believe that he believes it. he feels that this early. we saw that at the top of his remarks tonight. >> so much to dig into with this speech. republican congress in his sights tonight. he was not afraid to demand action and call them out in front of the audience of millions for overturning roe versus wade. giving tax cuts to billionaires

and so much more. next. i'm leading the u.s. military to establish the coast of gaza so they can receive large shipments of water, food, a temporary massive increase humanitarian assistance. israel must do its part. his room also allow more aid in tech gaza and make sure they're not caught in the crossfire. to have a crossing in northern gaza. humanitarian assistance cannot

be a secondary consideration. protecting and saving innocent lives has to be a priority.

president biden came out of the gate tonight going after do- nothing republicans in congress, by calling out those walking critical aid to ukraine. >> i say this to congress, we

have to stand up to putin. send me a bipartisan national security bill. history is literally watching. history is watching. if united states walks away, it will put ukraine at risk. the free world will be at risk emboldening others to do what they wish to do us harm. i have known it is simple, we will not walk away. we will not bow down. i will not bow down. >> joining us is democratic congressman of nevada. he is a member of the house armed services committee. thank you for coming in with us

to the studio today. we appreciate it. you were just at the capitol around the corner. you were in the chamber tonight, obviously. the congressional black caucus members were there. how do you all think the president did tonight? did he meet your expectations? >> he met the moment. he centered the american people as the reason that we have this incredible comeback from the pandemic. the economic downturn. he talked about the historic job creation that has occurred. the fact that we have historic unemployment in black and latino communities. we have created more than 40 million new small businesses in the last three years. they were led by black women and latinos. this is a historic comeback. he centered the people. that is what i have been asking the administration and this president and vice president to do.

we did this. the american people did this. he also talked about the possibilities of what more we can do. i was so pleased that he focused on housing. the fact that it is important to building equity, building wealth. closing the racial wealth gap. he talked specifically about ways that we could have pathways to homeownership. reducing the cost of rent. addressing homelessness in communities. he also challenged the american people that we have to come together. there was a clear contrast between those who want to build up our country versus those who want to tear down. those who want to build up communities, those who want to tear down. those who want to bring us together to solve problems, versus those who want to tear us apart. now the american people have a

clear contrast in november. >> one of the contrasts that he thought to draw was he and his predecessor. let's listen to what he had to say and talk about it on the other side. >> folks, the affordable care act, obamacare, it is still a very big deal. over 100 million of you can no longer be denied health insurance because of a pre- existing condition. my predecessor, many in this chamber, want to take prescription drugs away by repealing the affordable care act. i am not going to let that happen. we stopped you 50 times before and we will stop you again. >> i appreciate the call back reference to president obama.

i appreciate the fact that it is firm ground for democrats and that puts republicans in an untenable clinical position. obamacare has proven to be very successful. people like you. it is my understanding that this is part of what we will see the president leaning in him. the question of obama care and reproductive rights in the next weeks and months. >> it should be. we have a choice between president biden and vice president harris, who are fighting to give access to healthcare. expand coverage. reduce healthcare costs. cap insulin as $35 a month. cap out-of-pocket money for seniors. he talked about expending benefits for more americans, versus, donald trump and the republicans in the house who want to take those benefits away. we're talking about protecting a woman's right to make her own health care decisions about her body. or a family's ability to

have a child through ivf. the other side wants to take that away. they want to deny women the freedom to make decisions about when to start a family or whether to start a family, and that is going to be center. i love the fact that the president said to the supreme court justices, you will find out how powerful women are at the ballot box. >> best o'malley whop i was talking about. >> that was a good one. i want to focus a little bit more about an internal problem coming into tonight. he president had some issues with progressives in this party. hundred thousand michiganders had a different perspective on his leadership around the middle east. he came in and he started punching in the gut. he took some well-deserved shots at my party. also, i think he had some

clarifying moments for some in his own party. do you think he started to scratch the itch for some of the more progressive members in the house who have been at odds with his leadership on a number of fronts? even beyond the house, out across the country, democrats, particularly young voters look at his leadership and was like, i do not want a piece of that -- do you think he started to scratch that itch? to say, maybe i missed something about this guy? that i underestimated him or didn't understand? >> he clearly talked about the fact that he is on the side of the american people. he is fighting for them every single day, despite the obstruction from republicans in congress. we have a conservative ideologically driven supreme court who has taken away fundamental freedoms and rights. now they are trying to take away economic opportunity from

everything from being able to have access to capitol, to eliminating student debt. despite that obstruction, the president has found ways to still deliver for the american people. more than 3 1/2 million families and students have student relief debt. over $140 million. that is central to the issue. yes, there are difficult issues particularly around international affairs. what i appreciate it, he spoke to the israeli government. to benjamin netanyahu, to say you have a right to defend yourself, but you also have a responsibility to protect innocent people in gaza. and the palestinian area. that's an important issue that people care about. we are seeing the images of the destruction of lives and people. that is something that we have to hold israel accountable to

as they defend their right to exist. >> definitely not a conversation that is going away. mr. chairman, darrell george, a young man out of texas, he's been suspended because of the way in which he has his hair corn world, he was suspended because his hair violated a policy, he was a guest of the caucus tonight. we heard a lot of nods to civil rights, voting rights, yesterday was the anniversary of the actual bloody sunday. the day on the bridge. you commemorated that this past weekend. do you feel as though the pieces of the speech about -- i do not think i heard the word, ddi.

do you feel that the president effectively spoke to those pieces tonight and what more do you want to see that will be launched from the president, vice president, cabinet secretary, on down? >> i was honored to have darrell george and his mother in the gallery tonight as the guest as the congressional black caucus. this is the 11th grader attending high school in texas who is not being permitted to attend a school. he's on in-house suspension because of the style of his hair. they're more concerned with what is on his head than what is in his head. we spoke to him and members, him and his mother, it was a very emotional meeting. it really goes to the essence of, they're trying to break this young man's spirit. they are trying to break him down. we talked a lot about the school to prison pipeline and

the need to disrupt that. really what is happening here is unconscionable. i am calling on the department of education to intervene on this situation. to make sure this young man returns to school. that he receives the education that he is entitled to under the law. we will do everything within our power. yes, there are other issues. they want to ban books. they want to ban bodies. they want to know ban locks. they are more concerned with controlling people than they are with giving people freedom. we do have more work to do on protecting issues on diversity and equity. we have more work to do to ensure that the economic tools that have helped create wealth, particularly in the black community in business are upheld. that's why i called on corporate america to affirm their commitments. i am pleased at the work the

administration is doing, but, we have more work to do. we are not going back. i'm going to be absolutely clear, the predecessor to this administration, donald trump, wants to take us back. back, 50 years. we just commemorated the 59th anniversary of bloody sunday. as you walk over that bridge and you remember our late congressman, john lewis, and the other foot soldiers who marched with him, they marched for voting rights. they marched for freedom and opportunity. those are the very things that are now under attack. they are under assault and there are certain people who want to take us back. we want to move forward. some people want to tear down our communities. we want to build them up. certain people want to divide us, we want to bring people together. that is the choice that is on the ballot in november.

i thought the president did a great job of laying that out. now the american people have a clear choice and we have got work to do to make sure they understand the importance of their voice and being heard at the ballot box. >> the chairman of the congressional black congress, thank you for coming in tonight. coming up, folks, 241 days, 241 days, the countdown is to election a. president biden put maga republicans on notice tonight about exactly how he plans to run for reelection this year. here is what i have done and here is what the other side has done an offer, and the offer is nothing. >> this moment in history, 59 years ago today, in alabama -- hundreds of foot soldiers marched across the bridge named after the grand dragon of the ku klux klan. they were beaten, bloodied, and

left for dead. john lewis was on that march.

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thanks to our infrastructure load, thousands of projects have been announced across your committees. some of you strongly voted against that but you are cheering on that money coming in. i am with you.

i am with you. if you do not want that money in your district, let me know. >> if you don't want the cash, we can desperate that was president biden, congressional republicans were happy to take the money from the infrastructure bill brought to their districts. one of his biggest success stories, indeed. joining our conversation now, congressman robert garcia. he's a biden campaign surrogate. how about those projects that all of the republicans are taking credit for? >> they have been taking credit on twitter, on social media, for all of these projects in their districts. the president delivered huge tonight. just the energy, the vision,

looking forward, you can feel it in the room. all of my colleagues, the democrats were excited for him to lay out a vision for the future. not just to talk about the infrastructure projects, lowering the price of insulin, actually focus on the future. for us, that was important today. >> when he talked about on housing, alicia talks about this all the time, it's right in front of the american people. brent is too high. if you have money you can buy a house, you fill broke. the president talking about the cost of housing. >> the cost of housing is so important to you. inflation keeps coming down, mortgage rates will come down, as well. the fed acknowledges that. i am not waiting. i want to provide an annual tax credit that will give americans $400 a month for the next two years as mortgage rates come

down to put toward their mortgages when they buy their first home. or to trade up for a little more space. >> one americans expressed the dissatisfaction with the economy they are talking about affordability and housing is a key pillar. we talked about eggs, gas, we do not talk about one of the baselines, which is your housing. one of the things i have heard by experts, this is about feeling secure. if you cannot put a roof over your families had, if you cannot guarantee your families housing, you feel personally like a failure. you feel insecure at the most basic level. >> for me, this was a highlight of the speech. folks across the country know they are talking about the housing costs. he is addressing ownership which is the key to the american dream. he talked about renters.

about how expensive it is to buy or for families to pay the rent. people wanted to hear the president talk about housing, the rent being high, he did that tonight. that will be a home run part of the speech for working families across the country. the fact that he talked about the kitchen table issues, housing, healthcare, iselen, you would hear a lot of working families to be satisfied with his speech. >> they are hearing the policy. there were some other things in the speech that were not written down. we talked about marjorie taylor greene, and the buttons she had and the outfit that was in violation. when the president came, i'll and was greeting folks, she gave him a button. there was a part where he pulls out the button -- he had props. he pulls out a button and says

the name of the young man who was killed in georgia. i think marjorie was going to use that as a foil, he was killed by an undocumented woman. the president used the term, illegal, when he was responding. i heard the word illegal. there were people in my text messages who heard that word. what did you think about that? >> marjorie taylor greene is a disgrace. the fact that she pulled that stunt, war that had, she was so disrespectful she should not of been allowed to do it. it was shameful and gross. >> let's be clear, it was a woman who was killed. >> i would not have used the word illegal. he shifted and started talking about immigrants right after that. as an immigrant myself, i was heartened to hear him talk

about the importance of immigrants and the pushback on donald trump for his rhetoric for causing. he shifted off that. it's not a word anyone should use to describe anybody. it's unfortunate that republicans are trying to create wedges around immigration. the president wants to help secure and fix the border. he wants an immigration proposal and that's what they should focus on. >> the congressman has spoken. thank you for joining us. i appreciate you. we will be right back with msnbc's coverage for the state of the union address. do not go anywhere.

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michael steele. >> i thought it was interesting. we were talking all fair about that moment when the president used the term, illegal. what was interesting was for me, just the politics of that moment. you know republicans will grab that clip and try to make a lot of it. people just need to cool their jets about that. it is not something that was a take away from the speech. it speaks for the difference from the various cultures that exist out there. the way people perceive certain things. for the president it was a moment in the heat of it, it

just alyssa >> what's more complicated, immigrants rights advocates have done for years. it is about humanizing immigrants to have a place for shared humanity. rather than somebody who is defined by a single act or law. there are a lot of folks that feel there was ground lost tonight. some of the core messages around a system that is fair. >> i can bet you that somewhere there is a senior advisor who may or may not work at the white house, on the phone with reporters now, or holding court at one of the bars as we speak -- they are saying he is beholden to the regresses, he used the term, illegal. i think it will be all right. words matter. words do matter.

the feedback is also very important. in my experience, michael steele, you used to be a principal. when you say stuff you have to get feedback. >> you cannot lose sight of the fact that there are a lot of americans the language resonates with. >> we will continue to discuss us. after a quick break we will be back. stick around. >> we need to circle back chris >> the core value of america, our diversity. banning books, is wrong. let's make history.