quality of life those jobs offer. by the prospects of a small business owner who dreams of turning a good idea into a thriving enterprise. by the opportunities for a better life that we pass on to our children. that's the project the american people want us to work on. together. >> good morning, it's wednesday, january 26th. we're here in washington, d.c. obviously, to talk about the state of the union address. fascinating on so many fronts. with us msnbc political analyst pat buchanan and nbc news chief foreign affairs correspondent and host of msnbc's "andrea mitchell reports," andrea mitchell. the former governor of vermont and the former chairman of the democratic national committee, howard dean and willie geist is with us up in new york. willie, i have a quick question for you. >> yes, sir. >> what was your take last night on all of the speeches? and let's start with michele bachmann's. >> we could talk about the content of it, the staging of it was a little odd. >> what was she doing looking at the wrong camera? who looks at the wrong camera? who looks at the wrong camera? >> she had two cameras. i'm going to defend her for a minute. she had two cameras. the tea party camera and the pool camera which was fox. no one told her she was supposed to be looking at the pull camera. it was a little distracting. >> it's the producer's fault. she's going to blame her version of t.j. and we're good with that. it was fascinating, the speech was fascinating. enough for the levity, willie. speech was fascinating and you were watching it at home. i was watching it on the floor and i was -- i'll be honest with you -- i loved the theme, the words were pretty good but it was one of the flattest speeches i've seen. i've sat on the floor watching 10 or 11 of them. i was wondering if it was me or the people around me. you watched it at home. what was your impression? >> it didn't come across on television, i have to say, as terribly inspiring. maybe it was the -- i'm not talking about the content here. maybe it was the room, the fact we didn't have people jumping up in applause or the fact that people were sitting next to each other or the fact that pat buchanan set this up as the greatest thing since gettysburg. i'm not sure it was a speech that will be remembered forever by historians. >> he did say it was going to be the next gettysburg. >> he did, he did. >> barack obama, what's so interesting, barack obama said i'm lebron, baby. it was -- dr. dean, it was flat as far as the theatrics went. the substance, the theme win the future? that's a winning theme, isn't it? >> i have defenot defended the president a whole lot in the last two years. but i thought it was a great speech, a great night. i'll tell you why. i wasn't looking for the big speech that inspired everybody. this was an outside the beltway speech. i thought the sitting together stuff was great. you didn't have blocks of people jumping up going, hoo-ha, hoo-ha! >> in fact, you had nobody jumping up. let's talk about substance. >> i thought it was nonpartisan. that's what the country needs. >> i was taken when i got on the floor that all these congressmen and senators did what they said they were going to do. it was like nothing i had seen in a decade. and i found the event it theself to be very inspiring, andrea. maybe it's good we didn't have hooray for our side all night. >> the president place off of crowds. as much as i like civility and don't want to be the person signature here and saying let's have a raucous state of the unijob. it did love passion. he seemed to be channel jeffrey canada and some of the people, michelle rhee who we'll talk to later today, people who have been arguing that let's really champion science fair winners, not super bowl winners. let's tell these kids -- >> you bring up science fair, though. that's fascinating. we were about 30 minutes into it. other than the introduction which i found to be very inspiring, him talking about bringing america together. i noticed 15 minutes are gone by, pat buchanan without a standing ovation. you usually get those every three or four minutes, they throw the meat out, everybody jumps up. it took science fair, the president talking about science fairs to get people to their feet. again, this is not a criticism of the president. this is just an, and andrea is saying the same thing as me, we're never seen a state of the union like this. the response was tepid and the president was working a very difficult crowd. >> even in tucson with those kids started responding, you can see this president responds to an audience. he draws from it, energy, but there seemed to be no energy, no inspiration. frankly, i thought is it me watching this thing? what came to minute, the army of p pompus marching across. at the end when he talked about the fellow with that business that got together and built that thing and sent to chile and came out of there without taking any credit, that was very american. i expected it to be much more uplifting and it simply wasn't. it seemed endless. >> talk to us about that. >> you know i've been a critic. here's the deal. i read the speech ahead of time, thanks to the national journal leaking it. i thought it was very good on paper. you wait and see. here's what i liked about it. every state of the union i've ever seen except for this one was an inside the beltway affair. i don't think he was playing to the room. i think that was good. it was bipartisan. did he not back away from the stuff he said he was going to do. all the media leading up to this, he was going to triangulate. he didn't. he basically went in and said these are the things i came here to do two years ago and we're going to do them. he talked about education. he did say we have to deal with the deficit. >> he talked about education, he talked about health care, raising taxes on the wealthy. >> jobs. >> spending programs. 4. >> yep and he also -- >> it was not a conservative speech. >> it was not. he also said to the republicans, i get the deficit but we'll have to do this together. one of the things that is important for democrats to hear, we're not going to give tax breaks to a million dollars a year while we're cutting things like social security. that was important. he said what he had to say. said it in a bipartisan way and the room was set up so it was a lot more civil than it's been in 15 years. i thought that was great. >> the problem i have is the flip side of that, is that it doesn't add up, the dollars and cents doesn't add up. when you fact check it, when he talks about increasing exports, he's recycling something he talked about last year. >> it's still important this year. >> he's not explaining how to do it. how is that going to happen? nor is he explaining how he's going to take away the subsidies from the oil companies. that's something he proposed in the past. >> that's a great thing to say. >> there's no path from "a" to "b." >> hard to deliver, state of the unions you don't often have the path. >> the numbers don't add up. >> as a democrat i gave him a lot of credit for saying that. a lost people would run away from it if he were going to triangulate. >> just words, really. we got the test scores, still falling. he's going to double exports in five years? how's he going do that? >> that's what we have to see. >> we're going to innovate. >> that's how he's talking about paying for things. how do you pay for the other programs. >> they're just words, joe. >> let's talk about it. most of the time, i think we'd agree whether it's a republican president speaking or democratic president speaking, it looks like everybody throws words into a blender, they spit it out on this goop comes out on the other side. as a speech writer, i thought the first five minutes were inspiring. i was sitting there in the hall looking at him, i said this man is about to find his sweet spot politically and this is going to be one for the ages. about ten moingz lainutes later started talking about the specifics, i said this is a speech by committee just like the rest. >> politically, i agree with you. i think it's a winner politically. i agree with howard on that. >> i think it will work politically. >> he's a positive guy. he has a good disposition. he's a likable guy. he's saying, look, we'll have to deal with this deficit and debt. we have no innovate and move forward, sort of that kennedy-esque thing. that's what the american people like to hear. to me, the substance of it, the reality of it, is frankly what paul ryan talked about in -- he was not inspired. >> the numbers never add up, do they? >> the numbers -- >> it didn't add newspaper this speech but it hadn't added up for 25 years. >> neither did paul ryan's numbers add up. nobody is explaining how you get there. >> that's the hard part of governing. >> we will now explain to you how you take care of america's long-term structural debt. >> look at the wrong retirement. >> you raise the retirement age for social security were for people under 50, slow down massively the rate of growth for medicare and cut the pentagon budget big time. now that we've taken care of that, let's go to willie geist. i'm looking at the right camera. willie, walk us through parts of the speech. >> i'll paraphrase lawrence o'donnell. he said this speech was a math problem with no solution. you're proposing all these freezing cuts yet you're going to spend money on other things. obama did begin by noting the presence of an empty chair set aside last night for congresswoman gabrielle giffords. >> as we mark this occasion, we're also mindful of the empty chair in this chamber, and we pray for the health of our colleague and our friend, gabby giffords. amid all the noise and passion and rancor of our public debate, tucson reminded us that no matter who we are or where we come from, each of us is a part of something greater. something more consequential than party or political preference. we are part of the american family. >> yeah, yeah, i think -- >> by the way, willie, chris wanted me to chime in. news out this morning, gabby giffords has actually been upgraded to good condition. that's great news. >> good from serious condition. she sent out a tweet last night congratulating daniel hernandez on his trip to the state of the union on his 21st birthday. a lot of people were not impressed last night, in particular, gun control advocates. the president did not mention guns at all. despite that he had the heroes from tucson and the family of christina taylor green. >> the first step in winning the future is encouraging american innovation. what america does better than anyone else is spark the creativity and imagination of our people. we're the nation that put cars in driveways and computers in offices. the nation of edison and the wright brothers, of google and facebook. in america, innovation doesn't just change our lives, it is how we make our living. >> joe, that was the idea, winning the century, winning the global fight. and laying out how to do it. >> you know, willie, it's what pat was talking about. while the theatrics may not have been good last night, while it may have been an uninspiring speech, the themes are great. here you have the headline "win the future." i suspect as does pat, this is going to be a political winner. this is a theme, i think, americans are going to cling to and they're not really going to care about the theatrics of it. let's talk about gun control for a second. andrea mitchell, a lot of people very angry -- progressives and one mayor of new york city, very angry that the president didn't seize on this moment to talk about gun control. >> i think you'll hear that from a lot of the big city mayors, mayor bloomberg was putting out statements last night, carolyn mccarthy who got into politics because her husband was among those gunned down on the commuter train in long island. >> right. >> and people felt very much that with -- especially with the empty chair, gabrielle giffords, with the parents of christina taylor green in the balcony with the first lady, what we're hearing from the white house is that the president plans a subsequent speech on gun control. >> was it a mistake not to bring up gun control? >> i think it was the right thing to do. that's a very tough, divisive issue. he didn't mention abortion either. >> but abortion doesn't relate to tucson. >> you're right. the point of the whole speech and the point of what's happened and what we're trying to do in tribute to gabrielle giffords is bring the country together. i agree with the president's strategy. if his strategy is to bring this up later, fine. >> i'll ask you, pat, same thing before we go. >> if i were communications director i'd say don't put in the magazines and things like that. you'll get a big headline, it will be a distraction. they'll ask all the guys leaving about it. i would do exactly what the president is going to do it, if he's going to do it, do it in a separate speech. >> that separate speech is coming, right andrea? >> that's what they tell us. senator pat toomey will be with us today. he's, of course, senator from pennsylvania. ohio senator sherrod brown, congressman james clyburn and debbie wasserman schultz. zbigniew brzezinski as well as others. first, bill karins will talk about another winter storm. will we be able to get out of washington and back up to new york to our families today? >> d.c., late afternoon it will snow pretty good from the dinner hour to about 10:00 p.m. time that accordingly. here's a look at it this morning. two parts of the storm. the first is going from new york to d.c. with rain, sleet and snow. this isn't the accumulating snows we'll get later on today into tonight. this is part one going through. temperatures are warm enough that the main roads should be just find. the second part of the storm, the snowstorm is in nashville, up through kentucky. that will kick through later on today. as far as snowfall accumulations, this is by this time tomorrow morning we will see 4 to 8 from boston, 4 to 8 in philadelphia. somewhere around d.c. and new york, we could get up to 6. more or less 4:00 to 5:00. virginia and down into areas of kentucky is where we're see the snow. later on going home tonight is when the heavy snow starts, from d.c. up to new york. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. [ tires squeal ] an accident doesn't have to slow you down. introducing "better car replacement," available only with liberty mutual auto insurance -- if your car's totaled, we give you the money for a car one model year newer. to learn more, visit us today. responsibility. what's your policy? [ male announcer ] in the event of a collision, the smartest thing you could do is cut the fuel supply... ♪ ...unlock the doors, and turn on the hazard lights. or better yet, get a car that automatically does it for you. ♪ ♪ - boy: go down! down. down. - boy #2: whoa. straight, go straight. no, to the right! kids: to the right! to the right! go to the right! boy: go to the right! - boy #1: whoa! - boy #2: whoa! boy #3: what is that? well, that's a... i don't know. whoa. can we call him blinky? - announcer: expert teaching. - kids: whoa! deeper learning. together, we are the human network. cisco. after the $700 billion bailout, the trillion dollar stimulus and the massive budget bill with over 9,000 earmarks, many of you implored washington to please stop spending money that we don't have. but instead of cutting we saw an unprecedented explosion of government spending and debt. it was unlike anything we've ever seen before in the history of the country. >> joining me now, president obama's senior adviser, david axelrod. thank you very much for making the time to join us tonight. >> am i looking at the right camera. >> you are. we only have one. you can't get that wrong. >> let's take a look at the morning papers. "the new york times," thousands of egyptians took to the streets demanding an end to the 30-year rule of president mubarak's regime. this is big news. opposition groups used twitter to spread word of the protest which turned violent at times. by wednesday morning, police use rubber bullets and tear gas to drive away the crowds that were obviously inspired by tunisia. the first gitmo detainee to be trained was sentenced to life in prison for his role in 1998 bombings of u.s. embassies in africa. the "usa today," this coming friday mark 25z years since the loss of the space shuttle "challenger." this year, nass is plans to retire its fleet of shuttles with no plans to replace them. gm brian cashman suggested that long-time shortstop derek jeter may eventually be moved to center field when the time is right. willie, what is that about? that's surprising. >> it makes sense, actually. he has a good arm. he can play center field. >> can he move? >> his range is limited at this point in his career. >> you put him in center field and you're hoping they hit it straight to him. >> ask him to cover more ground as he gets older. i don't quite get it. >> let's move him to center field. >> i shall not speak ill of derek jeter. let's go to politico, mike allen. >> good morning. >> let's get your take on the state of the union last night, the tone was civil as we've been saying. you say the president's speech was laced with proposals meant to smoke out republicans. what do you mean? >> yeah, presidential advisers tell us they tried to use these meaty proposals which didn't get a lot of the coverage but were clear to people in the room to get -- force republicans to show their hand a little bit, to say that -- to force them to come up with some of their own plans and maybe try and figure out where the axis of cooperation, if you will, is going to be. the senate republican leader, mitch mcconnell told us yesterday at the inaugural playbook breakfast that he believes that the next six to nine months are the window to get things done. now, the president threw out a number of proposals that will be heavily fought. the big one is, he's talking about restructuring corporate income taxes. business loves that idea. he says he wants to lower corporate taxes but do it by closing loop holes. he says he wants to reform social security without cutting benefits for current recipients. at a briefing yesterday, the president's economic adviser, gene sperling says they don't see this as a deficit-cutting exercise. the president is going to have a bunch of fights with congress even though he's doing it with a big smile on his face. >> another one you have on your list, earmark ban. he said he would veto any bill that came to his desk with earmarks in it. >> hasn't john boehner said he won't send a bill with earmarks to his desk? >> that's exactly right. the president a year ago said earmarks can be a good thing. that's part of the rhetoric. this is where we see the president really moving abruptly centrist, doing a full clinton, much faster than president bill clinton himself did. the president's already re-oriented himself. clinton aides tell us after their shellacking back in '94 in the spring they were scratching their heads finding a plan. this white house is proving to be very politically nimble. >> you mentioned mitch mcconnell. you had a tidbit, the senate minority leader pushing one of his colleagues to run for president. who are we talking about? >> i was surprised how much leg senator mcconnell showed, he said senator john thune of south dakota would be an excellent candidate. senator thune has been thinking about it. we hear he's going to have a decision very soon. senator mcconnell said he was pushing him to run, would be strongly behind him. the fact that he knocked off senator daschle showed he'd be strong. he didn't have any opponent. this year kept him out. he said he showed good leadership in the senate. if he goes, senator thune would be certainly the only senator challenging president obama and if mike pence of indiana decides to run for governor instead, thune would be the only member of congress running against the president. >> howard dean, it is a wide open republican field in 2012. john thune an interesting name. >> he is an interesting name. i think nobody knows a lot about him. the republicans have such a huge field. they've changed their primary system a little bit. if a couple front-runners stumble, somebody like a thune or daniels could come to the fore. >> i kind of like howard dune. nice sound to that. it sounds scottish. >> excuse me, governor dean. >> governor -- >> where's mika when i need her. >> i want to talk about your state. i love your state. it's just beautiful. >> it is. that's one place where winter is great. it is gorgeous. >> i have family there. >> where? >> that's beautiful. >> mika and i keep invading it. >> i'm the last man. i have to get up there. coming up, rahm emanuel gets a life line in his effort to become the next mayor of chicago. his name is back on the ballot at least for now. plus, much more with pat, andrea and joe in washington. keep it on "morning joe." [ male announcer ] montgomery and abigail haggins had a tree that bore the most rare and magical fruit, which provided for their every financial need. [ thunder rumbling ] [ thunder crashing ] and then, in one blinding blink of an eye, their tree had given its last. but with their raymond james financial advisor, they had prepared for even the unthinkable. ♪ and they danced. see what a raymond james advisor can do for you. just shake it! [ rattling ] [ male announcer ] this week, go to staples.com/weeklyad for your coupon and save 15% off your entire in-store purchase, excluding all computers. that was easy. ♪my country, tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee i sing; ohhhhh, land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims' pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring! ♪ it's true. you never forget your first subaru. [ man ] ♪ trouble ♪ trouble, trouble trouble, trouble ♪ ♪ trouble been doggin' my soul ♪ since the day i was born ♪ worry ♪ oh, worry, worry worry, worry ♪ [ announcer ] when it comes to things you care about, leave nothing to chance. travelers. take the scary out of life. welcome back to "morning joe." it's 6:30 in the morning here in new york city. live picture, sun not quite yet up here. a look at rockefeller plaza. moscow holding a day of mourning for victims of monday's suicide bombing at the city's busiest airport which killed at least 35 people. police are focusing their investigation on islamic militants from the violence-plagued north caucus region. according to this morning's daily telegraph, the bombers may have been part of a people trained in afghanistan. according to the court spokesman supreme court justices will review legal briefs but not hold oral arguments. a sign they want the case decided quickly. early voting is scheduled to begin on monday. the court ruled yesterday that no ballots may be printed without emanuel's name at least, at least not until justices have dealt with his appeal. a federal panel investigating the financial kris that is broke out in 2008 has reportedly concluded that the meltdown could have been avoided and was the result of poor decisionmaking in washington and among top wall street firms. according to "the new york times," the report which is due to be released tomorrow says risk taking triggered the crisis. they fault former fed chairman alan greenspan and ben bernanke for failing to foresee the crisis even if bernanke had a crucial role in responding to it. education leaders are alarmed by the results of a national science exam. only 1% or 2% displayed a level of mattery in the subject. the test defined as advanced. arnie du arnie duncan said the next class will not be ready to be world-class doctors and engineers if the results do not improve. the bears quarterback has been criticized by the media and nfl players for not attempting to play through an mcl knee sprain in the bears' loss to the packers on sunday. cutler did find a new ally yesterday chuck barkley, the outspoken former nba player defended the quarterback against those other nfl players who accused cutler of lacking heart. >> i was mad. i was mad at the players, to be honest with you. because i think it's inappropriate and wrong to question a guy's heart. it's fair to criticize guys that don't play well. i think it's 100% unfair to criticize guys -- if a guy says he's hurt, you have to respect that. >> there you go. >> what's happening in cutler-gate, day three? are the winds shifting back to cutler. >> i think we've turned the page. there are whispers he should have at least given it a try. he was sitting there with his jacket on the sidelines. didn't look like he was involved with the team. barkley brought that up, too. >> he's still a great quarterback. what a basketball game last night. s.e.c. basketball. >> did you see that? 23rd ranked florida visiting georgia in athens. four seconds left, down by two. dustin ware drive to the basket, throws up an air ball. but a teammate is there to put it in. a desperation heave. bang. long three, ties the game with one second left. georgia is stunned. it showed. because in the second overtime, florida blew out the bulldogs. the final score in double o.t., 104-91. >> how are your vanderbilt commodores doing? >> they look pretty good. they look pretty good. they had a big win over the weekend. i think they got four or five losses. looking like they might be a five or four seed in the tournament. they look good this year. >> it's a bizarre gem there. is that an advantage where you have the fans going deep down and then the floor is elevated? >> the floor is elevated like a stage. the benches unlike any other gym in the country are at the end of the court. for opposing coaches they have to scream 94 feet to get the attention of their players. that can be discombobulated. >> the visitors' locker room painted pink. quite a tactic. >> it's lame, actually but whatever you have to do. >> we have a new poll to talk about. put the rest the debate about america's favorite pastime. this is from harris interactive. professional football by far america's favorite game by 31%. >> i don't see english premiere league football. >> this must be a misprint. baseball in second at 17%, college football is third. interesting, college basketball for as much as people like march madness, way down the list, only 2% of people said that was their favorite sport. >> wow. >> there you go. still ahead, two congressmen who were in the chamber, democrat elijah cummings. and representative jeb hensarling. keep it on "morning joe." client comes in and they have a box. and inside that box is their financial life. people wake up and realize. "i better start doing something." we open up that box. we organize it. and we make decisions. we really are here to help you. they look back and think "wow. i never thought i could do this." but we've actually done it. [ male announcer ] visit ameriprise.com and put a confident retirement more within reach. now, i have heard rumors that a few of you still have concerns about our new health care law. so let me be the first to say, that anything can be improved. if you have ideas about how to improve this law by making care better or more affordable, i am eager to work with you. instead of refighting the battles of the last two years, let's fix what needs fixing and let's move forward. >> let's bring in democratic congressman from maryland and the ranking member of the oversight committee, representative elijah cummings and from capitol hill, republican congressman from texas, jeb hensarling. when you sit in that seat giving a response, it's a friend, you're crossing your fingers and going, god, please, no bobby jindal moments. i think paul did okay. how was his message different than the president's? >> it was substantially different. i mean the two pressing questions at our time is how are we going to create more jobs, what are we going to do about the huge fiscal gap, which is spending driven. paul ryan put a solution the table. you may not like his solution. but at least he's led. we all know america is frankly in a spending trajectory that will bankrupt the next generation, that will harm the american dream and unfortunately last night we didn't hear leadership from him. >> were you not though, jeb, were you not at least a bit relieved that president talked about freezing discretionary nondefense spending for five years and cutting pentagon spendsing? that's a step in the right direction, right? >> well, perhaps, but what i also heard was investment, investment, investment, which the american people know is doubling down on the stimulus every time we hear investment, what the american people know is, well, that's going out to borrow another 40 cents on the dollar, mainly from the chinese and send the bill to our children and grandchildren. joe, i did a rough back of the envelope calculation. what the president is saying, after inflating nondefense discretionary, that's a different of 0.3%. instead of spending $100, i'll spend $99.70. that's not going to save the country from brupgs. we cannot be competitive with the chinese if all we're going to do is borrow their money. >> elijah, andrea was talking about the fact that these numbers the president was talking about last night, they just don't add up. he didn't talk about going after social security in a meaningful way or curbing the rise of medicare, our defense spending and this phrase, as jeb points out, comes after increasing spending in these areas by 84%. >> yes. >> how do we get to a balanced budget. >> the president was very broad. i didn't expect him to go line by line. >> you didn't expect a calculator? >> no, did i not. >> okay. >> let me be clear. what the republicans are now doing according to zandy, cutting $60 billion in the next few months from the budge set going to cause us to lose quite a few jobs, 600,000 jobs. you don't do that, joe, when you're trying to create jobs. we were able to create a million last year. so they're talking about cut, cut, cut. i thought what the president did was responsible. he was broad. what he was trying to say was, look, come on, guys, you don't cut off our future. i mean, you just had a report a moment ago where 1% of our kids are efficient in science. >> right. >> we can't -- we cannot go into the future and be competitive against anybody if we don't invest in certain things. >> right now, in 1995, we get pounded when we talked about cutting certain programs but elij elijah, in 2011, don't you sense that jeb's going to win this argument over you if you are debating whether to spend more money on new programs or cutting money from programs? >> i don't think it's all about new programs. keep in mind, what he's talking about is innovation. he's talking about education. and he's trying -- that by the way, that innovation leads to new jobs. that was basically the subject of what he was trying to say. i think he helped to shape the spending debate. >> right. >> he's saying, look, we have to do some cutting but let's cut responsibly an let's not hurt the people that are already suffering. let's create jobs and, again win didn't expect him to have a blue print of every little thing he was going to be able to do. i thought it was good. i thought it was a good start. >> okay. >> he came in, keep in mind, we're talking about reaching out to the republicans and saying, okay, let's try to work this out. they have their point, we have our point. >> congressman, let's respond to some of the criticisms of the republican position. we're competing with china. they're moving ahead on infrastructure, they're moving ahead obviously in some areas on education. is now the time to cut in these vital areas if it's really not going to be those cuts that will get us to a balanced budget? >> again, joe, we've tried the president's plan. it was called the stimulus with interest, $1.2 trillion. that was all investment. and look what it brought us. with the exception of, i think, three months, unemployment has now hovered in the obama administration near 10%. we haven't seen anything like this from the great depression. we tried that method. so with a couple of notable exceptions, i mean, the president, although he had some great patriotic themes in his speech, it was combined with some very small, old, recycled ideas. one of the greatest threats we have to job creation today is, frankly, the uncertainly that job creators face because they know sooner or later this has to be paid for. it's going to be paid for in huge taxes or huge inflation. that's harming job creation and you can't help the job seeker by punishing the job creator and unfortunately that's what the policies of the president has done. >> let's expend this out to broad themes. i was heartened as a small government conservative that believes the government can't create long-term job, that growth comes from the private sector. i was heartened by the president's tone, because for the first time in a speech like this, he talked about job creators. he talked about helping small business owners. will you give the president credit for that? that he seem to now understand that it's small business that drives this economy? >> well, i don't know what he understands, yeah, there was a lot of the rhetoric i was heartened by. at least i don't hear the rhetorical attacks on job creators anymore. i find myself in an unusual position of agreeing with 80% of what he says. i just disagree with 80% of what he does. >> who did you sit with last night? >> i was supposed to sit with arizona. the arizona seats were all taken. >> i don't believe that. >> it's true. >> were you not surprised like i was -- you probably sat through 10 of these. >> 15. >> weren't you surprised by -- >> it was different. >> the comedy was great. republicans and democrats, this is say changed place. we can have tough debates but real respect. look at that, king and anthony weiner sitting together. this is out of ghostbusters. dogs and cats living together. >> i hope we do this forever. that up and down, up and down, look, elijah white, republican sitting. >> and jeb, did you sit with a democrat, jeb? >> my date was jim clyburn. he's not the pretty gist date i've ever had but he was good company. >> jeb, you were in very good company. >> great date. >> i was in great company. >> jeb, thank you so much for being with us. we will not tell anybody in your district that you agreed with 80% of what the president said. not going to help in the primary. >> he said i still don't like him, i sat with him but i still don't like him. >> new yorkers would say that. >> yes. >> well, thanks for being with us, elijah. great to talk to you. still ahead, pat toomey and sherrod brown, also, dr. zbigniew brzezinski. [ female announcer ] when you look 10 years younger, you're proud to admit your age. i'm 43. [ female announcer ] only roc® retinol correxion deep wrinkle night cream is clinically proven to give 10 years back to the look of skin, diminishing the look of even deep wrinkles. roc® was over 4 times more effective on wrinkles than another leading brand, and even 7 times more effective on crow's feet. 10 years? i'll take that! [ female announcer ] roc® we keep our promises. and try roc deep wrinkle filler with hyaluronic acid to instantly smooth your deep wrinkles. ♪ executor of efficiency. you can spot an amateur from a mile away... while going shoeless and metal-free in seconds. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle...and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. now this...will work. [ male announcer ] just like you, business pro. just like you. go national. go like a pro. [ male announcer ] in the event of a collision, the smartest thing you could do is cut the fuel supply... ♪ ...unlock the doors, and turn on the hazard lights. or better yet, get a car that automatically does it for you. ♪ ♪ i'm friend, secret-keeper and playmate. do you think i'd let osteoporosis slow me down? so i asked my doctor about reclast because i heard it's the only once-a-year iv osteoporosis treatment. he told me all about it and i said that's the one for nana. he said reclast can help restrengthen my bones to help make them resistant to fracture for twelve months. and reclast is approved to help protect from fracture in many places: hip, spine, even other bones. [ male announcer ] you should not take reclast if you're on zometa, have low blood calcium, kidney problems. or you're pregnant, plan to become pregnant or nursing. take calcium and vitamin d daily. tell your doctor if you develop severe muscle, bone or joint pain, of if you have dental problems, as rarely jaw problems have been reported. the most common side effects include flu like symptoms, fever, muscle or joint pain and headache. share the world with the ones you love! and ask your doctor about reclast. or call 1-866-51-reclast. year-long protection for on-the-go women. oh, yes, is it time to be on the air? >> good morning, mika. mika's back. >> i'm here. >> how you doing? >> thought i'd come to work. >> i have good stuff. you'll enjoy this. there weren't a ton of jokes in the speech, not a lot of yucks. it was the state of the union, after all. the one that got the biggest laugh was when president obama started talking about excessive bureaucracy in the federal government, pointing out the salmon problem. >> we live and do business in the information age. but the last major re-organization of the government happened in the age of black and white tv. there are 12 different agencies that deal with exports. there are at least five different agencies that deal with housing policy. then there's my favorite example. the interior department is in charge of salmon while they're in fresh water but the commerce department handles them when they're in salt water. i hear it gets even more complicated once they're smoked. >> there you go. breaking it up a little bit. >> that's good. yeah, yeah. >> tiger mom has been at the center of the american conversation. >> love this story. >> she has the new book out, "battle hymn of the tiger mother." she talks about how she raised her children. she was out promoting the book with stephen colbert. let's take a look. >> the chinese way of raising a child, what chinese mothers do is superior to what western mothers do, true or false? >> false. false. >> so you raised your children in an inferior way, it was your choice? >> no, no. >> can i get you a bicycle to back pedal any faster here? >> do i not believe chinese mothers are superior. >> it's not a how to? >> no. >> you know people are going to take itçó as such. >> why? >> it says on the cover how i was humbled by 13-year-olds. >> look, that comes off. that's gone. >> you like the tiger mom? >> we're kind of conflicted about it. i'm inge treeged. there's obvious extreme examples there but we could use a little strength in our parenting, i think. >> the president was talking about it last night. but burning the stuffed animals? don't do that. >> maybe it goes too far. one more story, andrea, i want you to weigh in on this. this say diplomatic problem in myize anyway. jersey shore, the crazy hit reality show on mtv, the last episode had 9 million viewers if you can believe it. just announced that season four of the show will take place in italy. they're leaving the united states. went to the shore, they went to miami last season, back to the shore now. they're going to italy. some italian-american groups are not pleased by this. one saying people used to go to the circus to see the freak show. that's what this will be. it will not only hurt italians but all americans. they're outrageous reprehensible behavior will make us look like buffoons and bimbos. what are our diplomatic implications. >> it might improve relations considering what is happening in italy with berlusconi in trouble with the ruby sweetheart prostitution scandal. snooki would raise the live. >> snooki and j-wow are a little old for berlusconi. thank you for that insight. who do you yo you have on "andrea mitchell" today? >> we have michelle reef and elijah cummings, among others. >> it's going to be a great show. we'll see you at 1:00 eastern on msnbc. just a few minutes, ari fleischer will join the conversation. and up next, debbie wasserman schultz of florida and jack kingston of georgia, when "morning joe" continues. impressive resume. thank you. you know what, tell me, what makes peter, peter ? well, i'm an avid catamaran sailor. i can my own homemade jam, apricot. and i really love my bank's raise your rate cd. i'm sorry, did you say you'd love a pay raise asap ? uh, actually, i said i love my bank's raise your rate cd. you spent 8 days lost at sea ? no, uh... you love watching your neighbors watch tv ? at ally, you'll love our raise your rate cd that offers a one-time rate increase if our current rates go up. ally. do you love your bank ? >> woman: good night, gluttony-- a farewell long awaited. good night, stuffy. >> ( yawning ) >> good night, outdated. >> ( click ) >> good night, old luxury and all of your wares. good night, bygones everywhere. >> ( engine revs ) >> good morning, illumination. good morning, innovation. good morning, unequaled inspiration. >> ( heartbeats ) ooh, a brainteaser. how can expedia now save me even more on my hotel? well, hotels know they can't fill every room every day. like this one. and this one. and oops, my bad. so, they give expedia ginormous discounts with these: unpublished rates. which means i get an even more rockin' hotel, for less. my brain didn't even break a sweat. where you book matters. expedia. save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance?really was abe lincoln honest? mary: does this dress make my backside look big? abe: perhaps... save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance?really host: is having a snowball fight with pitching great randy johnson a bad idea? man: yeah, i'm thinking maybe this was a bad idea. we believe that in a country where every race and faith and point of view can be found we are still bound together as one people. we share common hopes in a common creed that the dreams of a little girl in tucson are not so different than those of our own children. and that they actual deserve the chance to be fulfilled. that, too, is what sets us apart as a nation. welcome to "morning joe." the morning after the state of the union that we're talking about. we're still hire at the nbc news washington bureau. pat buchanan is here with us as well in washington. joining the table, representative jack kingston and democratic congresswoman from florida, representative debbie wasserman schultz. and willie, of course, standing by in new york. >> mika, yesterday, pat buchanan set this up. >> yes, did he. >> as willie said, the second coming of the gettysburg address. >> of course he was. >> so pat buchanan this morning could sniff and go, i wasn't that impressed. t. was a very good speech. >> you say it was a very good speech t. was a very good speech. >> come on, you were bord. >> stop it. >> you were bored. >> look in the camera and tell the truth. were you surprised by how flat that speech was last night? you were sitting in there. were surprised as were democrats and republicans alike? >> a couple of things. i don't think it's about me or whether i was bored or not. >> i'm asking your opinion. >> it was a tough crowd. he garners a lost energy and stamina in the speech from the crowd. it was a very tough crowd. >> pat buchanan, it was a tough crowd. you and i give a lost speeches as do congressmen, congresswomen. there's a lot of times and you know this one's going to score. you get three minutes into a speech and your best joke goes flat. you're like, god, it's over. >> you start sweating. >> last night's crowd was one of the toughest the president had to deal with. >> for a state of the union it was tepid, light applause almost. they used to have the energy. obama really gets strength and energy from that. >> like tucson. >> he wasn't getting it. >> like tucson. >> it was incredible. >> he wasn't getting it last night. i thought the president was flat. i was expecting a far more inspirational speech. >> debbie, you were inspired? >> yes with. >> i was inspired. i said he's going to find his political sweet spot tonight. then he started going through the laundry list and it sound like every other speech. >> the way i heard it, the dynamic in the chamber was completely transformed by the fact that democrats and republicans were sitting together. >> wasn't that remarkable? >> it really was. we listened in a more unified way. as a result, i don't think the speech was bring or tepid, i think it's that we were so much more actively listening. i sat between to conservative republicans. we were all going out of our way, i think, to be considerate of not hopping up and down at every other word. >> i want to make sure that everybody listening and watching gets this. we're not criticizing the president. it was a completely different situation. jack, how manufacture these have you sat through? >> this is my 19th one. >> you're an expert on these things. it was unlike any other state of the union. >> it was. i've actually sat in the democrat section before. there's no question about it, the partisanship of jumping up or down, the right or the left aisle. i think all of us were on better behavior and maybe on the edge of our seat. you couldn't turn to the person next to you and whisper something cynical and snide. i was sitting next to sam ford bishop, enthusiasm big the president. jumped up a lot of times himself and started the applause. but joe, i didn't think he had in any risk. i think a state of the union should have risk in it. say i really want tax simplification, i want immigration reform. to offer nothing, come on, you've been in town a while now. >> what was the great idea in this speech? what was the big risk? >> for a democratic president like him who came in on a wave, particularly that has liberal support, to propose a five-year domestic spending freeze, to propose reduction in the corporate -- >> unified there. three people clapped. that was it. republicans wanted more. democrats wanted less. that was a risky proposal. >> absolutely. >> also, i was struck, sitting here for two years saying that he sounded anti-business for the first two years, to me, he sounded like a guy out of the nfib. >> tossing out -- >> he kept talking about small business driving the economy. >> absolutably. >> and malpractice which was good. >> he was even talking about malpractice. >> there might have been more in the speech for republicans than democrats. >> the repeal of the 1099s. there were a lot of business things. i want to get back to what jeb hensarling said a little while ago. will there be action? >> the pot calling the kettle black there a little bit. >> oh, boy. >> i do think we need to underline this fact, not only stylistically but also receipt orically, this is such a big difference from his last state of the union address, because there were so many -- so many pro-business proposals that were out there that you can't say, as robert gibbs suggested a few days ago, that this president is the same today as he was over the past two years. >> he's not, is he? >> he's moved clearly away from nancy pelosi and harry reid. a lot of what he said, moderate conservatives could applaud what he was saying. he didn't come off to me as a liberal president of the united states at all. i tell you what was missing. if you believe we're in a fiscal and financial crisis, did you get that sense from the president? it was positive and uplifting. >> that's not true. he wasn't just positive and uplifting. what i really liked, i'm probably going to be the only one at the table who liked this, he was self-aware about where we are in the world and what we need to do to catch up. and instead of being completely all about, you know, american exceptionalism, it was like let's take a look at our kids and our students and where we lag behind and where we need to move forward. and we will do that. i will inspire you. but i will do it in a realistic way. did i like that. >> he did speak like, i don't think a national politician has spoken in a while where he said, we have challenges. but we're going to win. >> real ones. >> remember he called for this generation's sputnik moment. in light of president hu's visit in the last week talking about how far china has come, making sure that we outcompete and outeducate our american children and also making sure that we can stay on top, roydsing how far come and that we've turned the corner on the economy. >> jack kingston, you look at the headline of "the washington post," "win the future." a more optimistic message? >> it was but he kept it in the middle of the road. he was safe about it. by the way, i believe newt gingrich has a book called "winning the future." it certainly wasn't an original line. >> chris christie also talked about in his state of the state address, we do big things. somebody lifted that line straight from chris christie. >> he talked about togetherness and there was a patriotic tone to it, no question about it. but on that sputnik moment, which was supposed to be pivotal in the speech, he didn't build the case. he didn't say here's where we're falling behind india and china on innovation and jobs. i did agree with him on the education. that's music to your ears, talking about race to the top and so forth. however -- >> he was channeling jeffrey canada. that's a pretty great guy to channel. >> you've had specials where you go to the schools themselves. we're all together on education, however, i was looking at some statistics. we spent something like the second highest rate per child of all the industrial countries. we spend a third more finland who outscores us in math consistently. >> that's the one thing you will find progressive educators as well as conservatives saying it's not about money. even though i don't want a cut. >> the president said it wasn't about money. the president said we need to make sure we put out science and math teachers and make sure we're on the cutting edge of technology and make sure our kids are graduating, period and that they're graduating ready to compete with the other students across the world. >> why do we spend more per capita than any other country but luxembourg, 1% are proficient in science, why are the schools failing? why are the test scores going down? >> i think the president has agreed with conservatives over the past two years that we have a horrible, inefficient system that's broken that actually leaves the most disadvantaged children behind. >> right. he said it's a sputnik moment. did that speech like the russians that put that thing in space? >> fill the drama. there's a little bit more of a drum roll. this is a sputnik moment and this is what we're going to do. that's where the risk should have come in, the vision. there was no vision. >> you have to comb through it with a fine tooth comb to find things you didn't like. >> debbie, i'll tell you what i did like, when he said to children, if you want to make a difference, become a teacher. i thought that was worth a five-minute applause. i thought that was a great line. >> mika, let's follow up on this. because the president did talk about this sputnik moment. i will, i guess, sound like my republican brethren here. when you bring up sputnik, i talked about it for years and transforming the economy through green energy. >> we both have. >> when you talk about the sputnik moment, you expect a payoff. i heard sputnik moment and for the life of me i can't tell you what he called americans to do, which reminds me of george w. bush after 2001 saying -- hold on. saying go back into the malls. we once again have a president that takes the stage and doesn't ask americans to sacrifice. your social security retirement age if you're in your 40s will not be 65. it's beginning to be 67. medicare is not going to grow at 20%. it's going to grow at 4%. the pentagon, republicans, we're going to cut pentagon. there were noough choices. he said we're going to tax millionaires. >> i spoke to leading democrats about the speech right after and they came that close to saying that, i thought it was a good speech and it lacked -- literally would cut themselves off. i said, specifics? i tried to talk to mitch mcconnell as well. >> mitch mcconnell was rude to mika brzezinski, mitch mcconnell. >> i don't get it. >> can you believe that? >> i am offended also. >> write a letter. >> i loved my seat. it was a wonderful vantage point. >> debbie, let me give you the final word. what did you find most inspiring about last night? >> what i thought was most inspiring was when he called for making sure by 2025, 80% of america will have access to high-speed rails and high-speed internet and making sure that -- the sputnik moment was the portion of the speech where he talked about innovation and energy, insecentivizing entrepreneurs to make energy our next sputnik. >> did you hear the news this morning? your dear friend gabby -- >> upgraded. she's going to the rehabilitation hospital today. i'm going to see her in a week and a half. >> what a long road. congratulations. >> thank you. >> we'll talk. i'll tell you what happened. much more still ahead, including bob woodward, dr. zbigniew brzezinski and t. boone pickens. up next, savannah guthrie live at the white house and ari fleischer. plus senator sherrod brown. first, another winter storm, another one taking aim at the northeast. here's bill karins. we have two parts of the storm. the first part is around philadelphia, hearing reports of 1 to 2 inches of snow. a quick-moving system early today. be careful traveling from new york city down through jersey, outside of philly to baltimore. winter storm warnings are in the pink. it goes up to hartford, providence and boston. does include new york city this morning. the radar, the first batch is coming from d.c. to new york. snow will change to light rain during the middle of the day. by the time that comes through, that's when we'll see the problems. as far as snowfall totals go, this isn't a huge blockbuster event but we're going to add to that snow pack. new york, somewhere up to 6 inches. boston 4 to 8, philadelphia 4 to 8 for you. that includes the inch or two you had this morning. in d.c., you should pick up 3 to 6 inches of heavy snow. that will start after 6:00 p.m. or so. it's just raining there and wet at reagan national art. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. a half century ago when the soviets beat us into space with the launch of a satellite called sputnik, we had no idea how we'd beat them to the moon. the science wasn't even there yet. nasa didn't exist. but after investing in research and education, we didn't just surpass the soviets, we unleashed a wave of innovation that created new industries and millions of new jobs. this is our generation's sputnik moment. [ steam hissing ] an accident doesn't have to slow you down. from accident forgiveness and 24-hour claims assistance to a lifetime repair guarantee, we help you move on. to learn more, visit us today. liberty mutual auto insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? ♪ one for the money, and a-two for the show ♪ i like it. i do too. ♪ even if i'm poor ♪ i ain't chasing nothing ♪ you're gonna have to catch me ♪ ♪ and if you want to dance ♪ you're gonna have to pay a fee ♪ ♪ i'm the bomb and about to blow up ♪ ♪ yeah, i'm the bomb ♪ and about to blow up ♪ yeah ♪ whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh ♪ whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh ♪ everybody, sing it now ♪ whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh ♪ whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh ♪ everybody, sing it now we may have different back grounds but we believe in the same dream that says, this is a country where anything is possible. no matter who you are. no matter where you come from. that dream is why i can stand here before you tonight. that dream is why a working class kid from scranton can sit behind me. that dream is why someone who began by sweeping the floors of his father's cincinnati bar can preside as speaker of the house in the greatest nation on earth. >> welcome back to "morning joe." that was a nice moment. a nice look at the capital. the morning after. it was nice to be there. we were both there last night. in the spirit of the evening, the democrats and the republicans sitting together, joe and i sat separately. >> yes. >> joining us now from capitol hill, democratic senator from ohio, senator sherrod brown and new york, former white house press secretary for president george w. bush, ari fleischer and from the white house, nbc news white house correspondent and co-host of msnbc's "daily rundown," savannah guthrie. >> savannah, how's the white house feeling about last night? >> they're feeling good. i think, especially reading the coverage today in the papers, they feel like the message they were trying to convey, this notion of america lifting its aspirations, trying to be competitive on the global stage, making targeted investments as they call them, but also getting serious about the budget deficit, they feel like they're top lines came through. i just talked to a senior aide this morning who acknowledged, it felt different standing there in the room with republicans and democrats side by side. i know you have been talking about it this morning, that there was a different feel. they didn't have that partisan atmosphere. they're not sure that it was necessarily a negative. it just made for a different kind of atmosphere. i'll say one thing, it's clear that the president tends to feed off the room. we saw it most recently in tucson. when there was a lot of applause and people were really getting into the speech, he almost rises to that. >> right. >> you kind of saw that unfold toward the end of the speech when he started talking about the american dream. the american ideal, that moment you just played with speaker boehner but also vice president biden. you saw the president, we are more used to seeing. he seemed to loosen up toward the end. >> it was really something. sherrod, it was something that the seating arrangements, where republicans and democrats were together, really did tamp down a lot of the partisan excitement. it wasn't really until we got about an hour into the speech where he said, hey, i will choose to be an american but we have our problems but there's no other country i'd rather be in. the first time the whole room exploded. how different was this speech from every other state of the union you've sat through? >> it was different in a couple of ways. one is, the seating arrangement. it may have been overblown and talked to death but it was a good thing. i sat between conservative congressman jim jordan who represents my old hometown of mansfield, ohio even rob portman, the other senator from ohio, who was newly elected in november. there was a lighter feeling and a joking back and forth among us. kind of during some of the applause lines and all of that. the other thing, i think the president when he said, we do big things in america, did something presidents haven't done in a while in a state of the union, that is called to us our better selves. we can compete with anybody in the world in terms of tech knowledge and education. i think that spirit will carry over into this session. >> what was the big thing, specifically the big sacrifice that this president kcalled on americans to undertake? >> i think the president, first he wants the congress to put aside partisanship and really focus on job creation. that's what he's calling on us to do. i think he's calling the american people to understand we're not out of this terrible economy. people don't really need to be reminded of that but we really are in this together. there's going to be a lot of spread sacrifice. it doesn't mean that social security should be cut. but it does mean that the military spending's on the table, it does mean education, health care, other things are on the table. and we've got to get through this in a way that we perhaps haven't in the past. >> ari fleischer, i was surprised that the response in the room was flat. it seemed a bit tepid. you and i both remember back in the '90s when bill clinton would deliver speeches, it didn't go over well in the chamber, actually they ended up being very popular with american people. could this be one of those speeches? >> i suppose it could be. it's too early to know. i'll tell you this, i have an e-mail this morning from barack obama and it says we do big things. that was a nice e-mail to me. but that's what i'm afraid of. he did a lost big things and the question is, did the big things work or did they make our economy and our deficit get worse? that's what speeches are ultimately all about, the policies that are followed up with. let me back to his 2009 state of the union in which he said, referring to a summit meeting he held, i pledge to cut the deficit in half by the end of my first term in office. this is the problem. we have so much uncontrolled spending. we have a stimulus of $800 billion that should have kept the unemployment rate under 8%. it did not. my fear the big things he's doing are making things worse. >> wow. >> sherrod brown, the president didn't bring a calculator last night. he didn't get specific. and a lot of people last night analyzing the speech in the media said the numbers don't add up. is this more a thematic and we worry about the specifics later? >> they usually are in the state of the union. it's not really an "a," "b," "c," "d." the bush administration left us with 700,000 lost jobs the first month. and a downward spiraling economy with huge budget deaf sits. ten years ago we had a surplus. the bush administration left us with the biggest deficit in american history. he's blaming barack obama for doing big things? >> senator, let me ask you this. >> at least barack obama is doing big good things, not driving us down in this budge zblbudget. >> do you think he'll be able to cut the deficit in half in his first term? >> probably not. >> he said he could. >> we didn't know how big the deficit was in 2009. we didn't know how bad the fundamentals were and how bad the economy was. for one of the major players in the bush administration to lay that on barack obama, i didn't want to be partisan this morning but i hear him out of the gate talking like that, ari, let's figure out how to work together, not just throw stones at the other side. >> after that, what are you going to do? my point is, three speeches the president' given. every one of them he said jobs is our number one priority. we've had the highest unemployment. it's never been this high for this long since the 1930s. my point is at a certain point in time you have to say are the things we're doing working? my point is, i don't think it is working. what we did not hear last night was a real emotional emphasis on the threat and danger of the deficit and the debt. most of it was on more stimulus, more spending. not how urgent it is to reduce the spending and the debt. as you though, senator, only a president can get congress to move on these things. you need presidential leadership and investment. i question whether that investment is there. >> i think the emotion the president showed was for people who are suffering in this country. it's all about jobs. i care about the deficit, the budget deficit, i care about the trade deficit. i care about the infrastructure deficit in this country. i think the president's addressing those mostly in the right way but it's all about job creation. if we follow the republican 30% cut in all these federal agencies, it's going to hurt people and it's going to send the economy down, making the bush years look like a good economy at the end. we can't do that. >> senator, we know you have to go. >> that's a good conversation. >> a really good conversation. thanks for being with us. >> my pleasure. >> back to savannah guthrie at the white house. let's talk about gun control. a lost people last night reviewing it. the brady campaign, a lot of left wing bloggers and some people in the media were concerned the president didn't talk about gun control. now, the white house assured them we'll talk about it, we'll get to it later. when is the speech on gun control coming. >> i don't know if it will be a full speech. i just had an exchange with somebody here. i did not get the feeling that was the plan as of now. the president, they say, will address the issue in some way. he doesn't plan to ignore it. a lot of people look at that as one of the lost opportunities of this state of the union, particularly when you had such an emotional backdrop here. you had the parents of little christina taylor green sitting in the first lady's box, daniel hernandez. and the president obviously could have pointed to that terrible shooting in tucson as a way of saying it's time to get sensible gun control laws. he chose not to. i thought it was interesting, actually, having incited some of those folks, including dr. rhee, the trauma surgeon for gabrielle giffords and the president did not single them out or make a big show of it. my sense is that this is a white house that was trying to walk the line there, wanting to acknowledge what had just happened a few weeks ago, wanting to honor those people with a visit to the state of the union but also not wanting to be seen as exploiting that. >> to wallow in it. >> yes. >> maybe this was an opportunity missed to be specific. even though state of the union addresses are themattic. you have mitch mcconnell on the show? >> that's exciting. >> we do. we do. he's going to be on our show exclusively and tell us what he thinks about the speech. >> i'm sure we're all in suspense. >> i asked him last night and he walked away with a scowl on his face. maybe you'll do better. >> i hope so. >> he was very rude, very rude indeed. >> i said leader mcconnell, i'm mika brzezinski, nice to meet you. >> it was a wonderful moment. >> what did you think of the speech, sir? >> then he walked away. >> we'll confront him, mika, find out what that was all about. >> i think that's what he thought i was doing. >> ari, stick around if you can. i want to ask you a quick follow-up question on the speech and the challenges for any administration going into one of these things. coming up, we have representatives eric cantor. he will be here, the majority leader, james clyburn plus senator pat toomey. don't forget to tune in tomorrow, tom brokaw and senator richard blumenthal, the new senator from connecticut will be with us. keep it right here on "morning joe." [ gasps ] [ rattling ] [ laughing ] [ announcer ] close enough just isn't good enough. - if your car is in an accident, - [ laughing continues ] make sure it's repaired with the right replacement parts. take the scary out of life with travelers. call or click now for an agent or quote. including your skin. [ female announcer ] now aveeno reinvents positively ageless. with shiitake complex, it's shown to visibly transform skin, helping repair the look of past damage and prevent future damage. positively ageless. only from aveeno. i was living on welfare and supporting a family of four. after i got the job at walmart, things started changing immediately. then i wrote a letter to the food stamp office. "thank you very much, i don't need your help any more." you know now, i can actually say i bought my home. i knew that the more i dedicated... the harder i worked, the more it was going to benefit my family. this my son, mario and he now works at walmart. i believe mario is following in my footsteps. my name is noemi, and i work at walmart. ♪ i'm friend, secret-keeper and playmate. do you think i'd let osteoporosis slow me down? so i asked my doctor about reclast because i heard it's the only once-a-year iv osteoporosis treatment. he told me all about it and i said that's the one for nana. he said reclast can help restrengthen my bones to help make them resistant to fracture for twelve months. and reclast is approved to help protect from fracture in many places: hip, spine, even other bones. [ male announcer ] you should not take reclast if you're on zometa, have low blood calcium, kidney problems. or you're pregnant, plan to become pregnant or nursing. take calcium and vitamin d daily. tell your doctor if you develop severe muscle, bone or joint pain, of if you have dental problems, as rarely jaw problems have been reported. the most common side effects include flu like symptoms, fever, muscle or joint pain and headache. share the world with the ones you love! and ask your doctor about reclast. or call 1-866-51-reclast. year-long protection for on-the-go women. welcome back to "morning joe." we just have a couple minutes here. we thought we'd finish up with ari fleischer because he has to go. >> you come off the state of the union address, you've done this before with president bush. how do you build on that. >> through policy. that's why it's going to be harder for president obama this time because he lost the democrat-controlled house. you need to have a string of successes now, i sid this in the state of the union, congress has started to move the legislation and then you fight over what's moving. then you have a consistent theme and some controversy, which deepz it alive. a little harder for him now because he has to position against republicans. that's what you can expect now. >> if you were inside the white house, what would you say this president needed to do to pick up a small to moderate win, to keep the momentum going. >> i'd try to pick a fight over what he calls investments, i might make it education and call on republicans they have continue crease education as part of the mix. you let republicans fight over the mix and be negative about no spending increases, put him on the positive side as something that is largely popular. that's what i would do if i'm barack obama. but i'm not barack obama. >> i think you're exactly right. you pick a fight on investment, education, i.t. yeah. you have the president being positive. ari's pretty good at this. he ought to go into business. >> i'm a happily retired man. >> ari fleischer, thank you very much. back soon. still ahead, t. boone pickens and norah o'donnell. first, senator pat toomey and representative james clyburn. we'll be right back. hey guys. printer's out of ink. just shake it! [ rattling ] [ male announcer ] this week, go to staples.com/weeklyad for your coupon and save 15% off your entire in-store purchase, excluding all computers. that was easy. [ chuckles ] you think that is some information i would have liked to know? i like tacos. you invited eric? i thought eric gave you the creeps. [ phone buzzes ] oh. [ chuckles ] yeah. hey. [ male announcer ] don't be left behind. at&t. the nation's fastest mobile broadband network is getting faster with 4g. the nation's fastest mobile broadband network but you can still refinance to a fixed rate as low as 4.5% at lendingtree.com, where customers save an average of $293 a month. call lendingtree today. after the $700 billion bailout, the trillion dollar stimulus and the massive budget bill with over 9,000 earmarks, many of you implored washington to please stop spending money that we don't have. but instead of cutting, we saw an unprecedented explosion of government spending and debt. it was unlike anything we've ever seen before in the history of the country. >> all right. that's the second republican response, michele bachmann last night. >> pat toomey did you try to make a third? >> i didn't. >> were you standing by camera waiting to go. >> i was not. >> it wasn't about pat toomey last night. joining us now, republican senator from pennsylvania, senator pat toomey and democratic representative from south carolina and assistant democratic leader, congressman jim clyburn. good to have you with us. >> jim clyburn, you had a date with a guy named jeb. how did that work out for you. >> very well. i have been sort of advising that we ought to be a little more civil on the floor. >> yes, you have. >> i wasn't doing much standing up last night. i think jeb may not have liked that too much. >> it was, pat toomey, you've been through a few of these as well. the mood was different, sort of flat. another way to put that, respectful, civil, decent. actually i was very heartened by what i saw in there. >> i thought, you know, this president gives a great speech. did he last night. i thought his tone was good. i thought it was a good thing that people were sitting with members of the other party. i said to jim earlier, there was a little less of the jack in the box stuff that we've become accustomed to. i'm in favor of that. >> why do you do that? you look so stupid. it may have been tougher for the president to deliver a speech. it was actually good for congress. congress looked good last night. you can't say that often, can you? >> it's a very hard thing to say. >> let's talk about specifics. we heard jim clyburn last night, coverage an nbc news talking about how the numbers may not have added up. >> well, i don't think this speech was intended for that. that's what the budget is for. that will be coming up. he made it very clear, in this budget he will be laying out exactly how he thinks we ought to move on the things we talked about last night. i think he laid out parameters for to us look at. he made it very clear that we've got to cut spending but we must not do it on the backs of the vulnerable. a lost people don't want to hear the word poor. the fact is he did use the word vulnerable. it means the same thing to me. i look forward to working with my friends on the other side to get that done. >> senator, i was struck by a president who too often sounded like he just doesn't get it when it comes to economic growth, small business. >> right. >> the importance of empowering small business people. last night, for about 80% of that speech he sounded like somebody that was a local representative for the nfib. i mean that in the most positive way. sounded like he got it. >> it did. i will say there were a lot of specifics in his speech that give openings for republicans to work with. >> give some good examples. >> consolidating government, tort reform. streamlining and simplifying the tax code. new trade agreements. banning earmarks. these are things that republicans have championed for a long time. so if the president's willing to follow through on this, i think you'll find cooperation. >> in that, pat subisn't that politically a good -- weren't there some effective chess moves made in this speech? >> i think the president is politically positioning himself away from pelosi and reed, what appears to be the left wing of the democratic party and he sounds like a moderate republican, quite frankly, a rhino. >> you said you know. that can't make you feel good. >> no. >> is he a moderate -- so is he sounding like a moderate republican? a moderate pro-business republican? >> sounds like a pro-business democrat to me. moderate republicans, moderate democrat, who knows what the difference may be. who was it, george wallace said not a dime's worth of difference. >> yes, not a dime's worth of difference. >> when jim clyburn is quoting george wallace to quocompare bak obama. >> he came into office reacting to a crisis. and you really can't be a creator yourself when you have to respond to a crisis. that's now behind us. >> we have the big crisis in front of us. that's the next question. >> that's what the creativity is about. >> pat toomey, i was excited. i don't say i'm really excited about people getting elected but i said i was excited about you getting elected. then of course you came on afterwards and attacked me. >> not true. not true. >> pat toomey, will you prove my faith in you was well positioned by telling me now, social security retirement age is going to have to go up? if you're under 50 you're not beginning to get it when you're 6 a. that medicare is spending has to slow down, maybe flatten out at 4% or 5% per year. pentagon spending going to have to be cut. >> leave it there. >> that we're not going to balance the budget by cutting education, i.t. and infrastructure. >> those categories are not big enough to get the job done, it's true. i have always said the pentagon cannot be sacrosanct. on social security, i dedicated a whole chapter in the book to the book i published a year ago calling for profound reform of this program for young people. that puts us on a sustainable fiscal path. >> that includes retirement age going up. >> it doesn't have to, no. that's one of the things you can put in the mix. but you don't have to. you do have to address the fundamentals, the health care side of things, absolutely. states have to have more flexibility with medicaid, for instance. the president does worry me that he still wants to spend a lot of money. he's calling it an investment now but that means spending. that's what they called the stimulus bill. >> we republicans know, investment means bigger bureaucracy. >> i think i might agree with pat toomey on this social security business. >> yes. >> that's the first time i've heard a republican say that we did not have to increase the retirement age to get it done. i think that's true. i'm going to read his book. >> i want personal accounts for young people. >> i'm going to read that chapter. >> so does the president leave stronger? >> absolutely. >> than he was when he went in before he gave his republican moderate speech? >> he is in a much better position. i think he was getting there just before. everybody say it happened in tucson. the week before tucson, his numbers started to go up. >> he took the bush tax cuts. that's what drove him up. >> those were the obama tax cuts. >> pat toomey, what should he do next? >> let's get the trade agreements done, that would be good, bipartisan. it creates jobs and shows him as not being captive by a small subset of his party. that would be a good start. >> senator pat toomey and representative james clyburn. thank you. eric cantor up next. >> oh, great! [ male announcer ] in the event of a collision, the smartest thing you could do is cut the fuel supply... ♪ ...unlock the doors, and turn on the hazard lights. or better yet, get a car that automatically does it for you. ♪ ♪ ♪ usa prime credit. you have question?. ok...peggy. yes, i have 100,000 reward points. what are my options? ooh, many options. ooh. one keychain. b, trucker cap. look good for ladies. uh ok, how 'bout cash? cash? he want cash! want better rewards? peggy? switch to discover. america's number 1 cash rewards program. it pays to discover. but when i was diagnosed with prostate cancer... i needed a coach. our doctor was great, but with so many tough decisions i felt lost. unitedhealthcare offered us a specially trained rn who helped us weigh and understand all our options. for me cancer was as scary as a fastball is to some of these kids. but my coach had hit that pitch before. turning data into useful answers. we're 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. et? exchange traded funds? don't just give me ten or twenty to choose from. come on. td ameritrade introduces commission-free etfs with a difference-- more choice. over a hundred etfs.... ...chosen by the unbiased experts at morningstar associates. let me pick what works for me. for me. for me. the etf market center at td ameritrade. before investing, carefully consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. contact td ameritrade for a prospectus containing this and other information. read it carefully before investing. it was a nice idea, not sure it worked out the way they hoped it would. >> it's no secret that those of us here tonight have had our differences over the last two years. the debates have been contentio contentious. what comes of this moment will be determined not by whether we can sit together tonight, but whether we can work together tomorrow. >> let's bring in right now to get his reaction to the president's state of the union address, republican house majority leader, eric cantor. we've talked to republicans and democrats alike. it seems to be a lot of common ground. what was your take away from the president's speech last night? what did he get right? >> well, he can give a good speech and last night was no exception. you know, he talked about a better future. and as a father of three teenagers, that's certainly top priority more me. he got right the fact we have got to work together. there are things i disagree with him on, cutting spending. i disagree with him on how to get to a better place in health care, but he talked about how we can work together on trade bills, lowering the corporate tax rate. these are all things that are really helpful if we can do this, to get people back to work. >> disagreements on spending and cuts that need to be made, eric, congressman cantor, what would have to go nrd to really make headway in terms of the deficit. >> mika, eric is fine. the republicans in the house, we put out a plan to say x for the remainder of this fiscal year, we have to bring down spending to '08 levels. we have to. and we have to admit everything's going to be on the table. i don't think the american people think we could defend every dollar this town is spending. we've got to stop spending the money we don't have and get serious about sending signals that america's going to get its fiscal house in order. we will have in the next couple of weeks, the spending bill on the floor to begin the process to look at specific programs and put the cuts up there. >> majority leader cantor -- let me ask you this question. right now, there's a standoff. the white house doesn't want to talk about entitlement reform, republicans don't want to be burned hike we were in 2005 when we put entitlement programs on the table. how does this stalemate get broken? because everybody knows you're not going to fix debt until you take care of social security and medicare. >> you're right, joe, and if you listen to what folks are saying, we republicans in the house have to put everything on the table. the president, although last night didn't speak to specifics, has said that in the past. referred to his debt commission. you've got leader reid in the senate that says there aren't any fiscal problems with social security. we need to come together and say for those 55 and older, we're not going to reduce their entitlement benefits as far as social security and medicare, but folks 50 and younger, if you're not going to get the benefits you're expecting, or this country will go bankrupt if we don't do something. >> i really do believe this year that's a winning message. americans will understand, we've got to -- >> are they ready to hear that? >> i think they are, the question is whether they're ready to do it. this is a lot of pain. congressman cantor, even the how cans are talking about taking the cuts from 80 to $100 billion. you're only talking about 8% of deficit. can you get this done and do you think the president appreciates the urgency of the fiscal and financial crisis? >> i'm hopeful he does and as far as what the president will do, it's actions speak louder than words, but we are going to bring forward a spending bill the next couple of weeks. it is going to be in accord with the resolution we passed yesterday, which is we want to bring spending down to '08 levels or less. and so it is a matter of urgency. first things first. let's go after the discretionary spending. let's prove to the people that elected us that we are going to get serious about tightening the belt and then we can look into the broader questions so that we can get our country back on track and get people back to work. >> congressman, majority leader, eric, i understand we have something in common. >> what's that? >> we were spurned by a member of the other party. i was spurned by mitch mcconnell and you reached out to nancy pelosi. >> i'm sure you were always told by your parents, you don't ever fipd out unless you ask. obviously, i was stood up by rosco, he's a great date. >> oh, my lord. so nancy pelosi said no to you and went with rosco. >> absolutely. >> oh, my goodness. >> okay. >> thank you so much. there's the picture of the happy couple. majority leader eric cantor, thank you so much. coming up next, doctor brzezinski and bob woodward. hi, dad. >> we've got a lot to talk about. how you doing? >> come here. [ male announcer ] you know that old floor that's been lying around? let's tear it up. and take it on. let's get a lot of style... for a lot less. get everything we need -- and everything we need to know then get to work making more rooms work for us. with guaranteed low prices on every square foot, the home depot is lowering the cost of a fresh new look. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. we've made a special buy on porcelain tile. get this tile now for just 98 cents per square foot. that's why there's lubriderm® daily moisture. it contains the same nutrients naturally found in healthy skin. skin absorbs it better and it lasts for 24 hours. later gator. lubriderm. your moisture matched. later gator. somewhere in america, there's a doctor who can peer into the future. there's a nurse who can access in an instant every patient's past. and because the whole hospital's working together, there's a family who can breathe easy, right now. somewhere in america, we've already answered some of the nation's toughest healthcare questions. and the over 60,000 people of siemens are ready to do it again. siemens. answers. in pakistan, al-qaeda's leadership is under more pressure than at any point since 2001. their leaders and operatives are being removed from the battlefield. their safe havens are shrinking and we've sent a message to all parts of the globe. we will not relent, we will not waiver and we will defeat you. we are strengthening the capacity of the aftghan people and building an enduring partnership with them. this year, we will work with nearly 50 countries to begin a transition to an afghan lead and this july, we will begin to bring our troops home. >> welcome back to "morning joe." a live look at times square. the snow and slush. another storm on the way. still coming down right now. pat buchanan is still with us and joining the table, dr. brzezinski, dad, and pulitzer prize winning editor of "the washington post," bob woodward and willie geist with us from new york. >> bob, i've sat through over ten of these state of the unions and i must admit, even after ten or 11 inside the chamber, i'm still trying to get my arms around it. what it's not, what it means for a president and what it does not. >> having seen so many of them, decades worth, it is a psychiatric hour for the president. he gets to go stand there, free associating. there's no one asking any questions. imagine going to your shrink and you go in and he starts appla applauding. you get out two sentences and he applauds again. in this case, what obama is saying, i'm an optimist. i get it. i'm no longer antibusiness. i'm quite serious about that. and i'm projecting all of this to you. here is the problem. there is no therapist in the room asking the questions like when obama says, let's simplify the tax code. i do think they were strains and real isra realism, too. i thought i liked. i found it refreshing. i may be the only one. >> the speech in a way was also a foreign policy speech because it had a central message. it was to the world. the united states is going to make it. the united states is going to remain pure. we have the energy, the determination, the innovation to do it and was said with conviction and support and with credibility. so that was a very important central message to the world. but there was something mystifying secondly about the speech when referring to foreign policy. notice he ranged around the world. talked about korea, pakistan, he talked about afghanistan. he talked about iran, tunusia, sudan. never did he mention the israeli palestinian peace process, which was a major part of his foreign policy plan. what does that mean? >> it's not going well. >> don't jump to conclusions. it could mean he's giving up on it totally or that something east going to happen. and he's waiting for some political development which is being anticipated which he's getting ready to react, but it is mystifying because if nothing happens, then you're right. it's a message to the hard liners in israel, you have joy. it's a message to the extremists of the palestinians, you can go your way and the whole place will begin to go to pot. together with egypt on a shrines and we're going to have a middle east crisis that ranges through egypt to gaza through israel police through lebanon. >> follow up on that. the president talked about the dictator was deposed in tunisa last night. is president mubarak a dictator and does he face the same fate? >> i cannot tell you whether he faces the same fate. that's unpredictable. if a lot of people get killed and emotions get out of hand, but in the long run, the prospects are similar. that is to say millions of young -- probably average age in the 20s, a president way over 80, long time in power. probably, probably with suspicions of special privilege. mubarak had been a good guy. most of the world is not democratic. the united states is a very blessed country because we have been isolated for decades and decades, secure and rich. it's easier to have a flourishing democracy. >> bob, first of all, i want you to respond to dr. brzezinski talking about this being a foreign policy speech. secondly, i'm fascinated to hear what a state of the union is not. >> it wasn't a foreign policy speech. it was a speech with a very important foreign policy -- >> that's right because the theme is we're going win the feature. what the therapist would say if this was a real therapeutic hour, it was longer than an hour, would say, well, how are you going to do that? and the how is not answered and you know, it's complex and we'll see, but i think there is a -- if you have to take this for what it is, it's an advertisement for himself. he talked about afghanistan. the war we are in very, very seriously and he reemphasized, said i'm going start taking the troops out. now just last month, the white house released a report about afghanistan and it said we've made progress, but it is fragile and reversible. he did not that last night. he knows that. if you look at the american economy, the condition of the country, this war for the future, it's fragile and reversible. we don't yet know the issues. >> the moment was this a courageous speech. >> he said look, this is who i am. people like to see an optimistic president. he falls in the line of reagan and clinton, saying, hey, look, i get it. i'm happy. i'm untop of the job. >> bob -- >> he said, is it a sputnik speech? i would say no. because a sputnik speech had something very concrete in response. we will be first on the moon. >> it was aspirational. it had fiction in our future, but you talk about the how and with states of the union addresses, you don't necessarily go deep in the weeds as to how, but yet, there are serious cuts that need to be made. serious things that need to happen that could be very difficult for our society to embrace, so the how, it wasn't like a one that connects to another in terms of how are we going to get there. >> that's right. he said, we can't win the future with the government of the past. great line. lots of republicans agree. okay, how are we going to change the government of the past and from the nex 22 months when we runs again, that's going to be the debate, that's going to be the contest and so take this for what it was, but i think the public reaction when they see this or snippets of it, they like to see a president who is happy. he is a happy man. found his voice. the voice of civility in tucson. he's making his accommodation with the business community, which is critical to the future of this economy. it's not where's the beef, as karl rove used to say, this is all going to be measure d by outcomes. >> if you want to get the country out of its lett ji, if you want to get the country out of its complacency, you can't just say, we have all these wonderful objectives we're going to accomplish. you need at the same time, one central objective that dramatizes it and captivates the imagination. this is what kennedy did. that was missing. was a great speech. it had wonderful components in it. many components. too many. >> it's fascinating and that puts it in the category with so many state of the union addresses where they throw a lot of words into a blender and itd comes out. you're right, when kennedy talked about the moon shot, he didn't talk about walking on the moon. he talked about all the positive benefits that would come to science, engineering, math, american ingenuity. what is that thing? >> i'm not saying we're going to do it all and -- >> too much. >> again, i hate to keep doing this, what with the therapist say? mr. president, what do you really think of speaker boehner? what is, how are you two going to work together that is the critical relationship, is it just going to be deadlock, which is quite possible. are they going to find the things that they can work together on? there was a inconsistency in the speech last night where the president praised the tax cuts and the agreement on the tax cuts and then he says, oh, by the way, we can't continue the tax cuts for the 2% of the wealthiest. well, that's a difference with the republicans. >> the problem with the speech is that it's happy and positive and it's innovative and a nice guy, but what we're going to have to go through is an awful lot of pain and slashing and cutting and everybody knows it. we're going into surgery and that's what we've got to do to get out of this crisis and people know it. i didn't get a last night that he realizes we are in a fiscal and financial crisis in this coun country. i don't know where greece and ireland are, but they're not that far ahead of us. it's going to involve sacrifice and hardship. inspired to take it on. >> pat was asking about sacrifice, bush didn't call for sacrifice. for the most part, clinton never called for sacrifice. >> mika was absolutely right. sacrifice. speech by churchill in 1940 when he offers the british people blood, sweat and tears. >> in fairness to president obama in this speech, he said we have no illusions. there are hard things to do. then immediately, he pivoted to the line, we do big things. >> like give tax cuts and spending. a trillion more dollars to the debt. >> this could get real ugly. and you know, we're going to see and the question is how and who's going to do it and who's going to take the hit for cutting some of these things and who's going to take the credit. >> wasn't there an opportunity there not only to ib spire a sense of natural unity in the form of sacrifice given what was going to have to happen in order to get our books in order and balance them, but also moving forward politically. couldn't he have positioned himself against the republicans on cuts in a beautiful way by getting specific? i'm not saying that i would have agreed with it. >> i think he could have been a lot more specific. he could have said at the very time, when people like dr. brzezinski come back from china and realizes that china is so far ahead of us now when it comes to infrastructure and yet, republicans are talking about cutting infrastructure at a time when we're in crisis trying to figure out who teaches their children better, the chinese or the united states. the republicans want to cut education. at the same time the chinese are laying down tens of thousands of miles of track for high speed rail, republicans would cut that, too. he could have done that. >> could i ask dr. brzezinski a question. you've spent your life in all of the -- it really is a dangerous world we're in and you look at something that's been kind of moved off the front the pages. the terrorist attack in moscow. unfortunately, that could have been in the yit. it was not. should that happen, then all bets are off and everything turns in that direction. >> absolutely. >> and the number of hot spots in the world grows. >> a little bit of that polley ann quality to the speech. but you're quite right. internationally. we're being overwhelmed by complexity. there is a strange quality to obama's speech, which i have been captivated by. they're very general. they engage you, but they don't point you in a specific way and then he doesn't follow up. look for example, the middle east. he started off great. peace, initiative a. >> by the way, so many foreign policy leaders will quietly complain and you know this better than anybody else. will quietly complain that he comes, gives the speech, he acts as if that is the end instead of theeans and then there's not the follow up. >> you're right about -- i mean, there's a kind of gloss of optimism here. the unemployed, the struggling middle class, the millions of people who are under water in their mortgages and so forth. there is a lot of pain out there and that didn't come up. >> no. our certain national short come x and i'll mention two. the kind of cultural complacency and the second one, unbelievable ignorance about the rest of the world, which the mass media don't overcome because the mass media now when they give news, they cater to trivia. >> except for us, of course. >> you're not the news. you're a discussion. >> let's talk about news though for a second. dr. brzezinski yesterday, mika and i were spoking to you and you expressed kshd about what happened in tunisa could spread to egypt. that morning, it did. talk about the middle east talks broken down. talk about the scenario that could move forward here. this could spread across the middle east to our moderate allies. it's going to be a very dark time for the united states. >> could be quite dangerous in terms of egypt itself. the democratic revolution has to have democratic leadership. one of the reasons the revolution in poland has success was that there was a solidarity movement of intellectuals and leaders who are prepared to bargain, takeover and institutionalize a democracy. anything can come out of it. maybe democracy if the country's ready for it. brotherhood in charge. then egypt is no longer a peaceful neighbor of israel. it becomes part of the militant wing and we're back where we were 20, 30 years ago. >> let's talk a about the middle east. if you bring democracy to saudi arabia or egypt or into jordan b and bring down the monarchs, don't the adversaries of the united states become much stronger? win it in egypt. >> osama bin laden versus the princess in saudi arabia. >> i love talking about democracy in saudi arabia. i think not in our lifetime. >> you see what's happening in egypt -- >> they technically have a democracy, don't they? >> to some extent, they do. a parliament and the semifree press and the muslim brotherhood kind of controlled, but it's breaking down. >> bob, would you suggest this would not spread to saudi arabia? >> he says it could get worse. look, you look at the history of the last 50 years and you say, what's the theme? the theme is surprise. when you were in the white house as national security adviser, when you started, if somebody had said iran was going to be your big issue, you would say maybe not yet. it defined somewhat the presidency. so it could be egypt. i think pakistan is one of those powder kegs. it could be north korea. that, should it happen, derails everything. >> if the country is inactive, we could end up with the entire muslim world against us. a devastating consequence. yet, what are we doing? the speech given in gaza? had we had guidance? >> let me ask you about russia. you've got to get a second partition of the soviet empire because of what's going on in the north caucuses? >> i think massive resctributio. it's not going to solve the problem. it's going to accentuate the hatred. >> so, bob, the president gets off the couch. and as he's walking out, what is the therapist telling him about last night's speech? >> good question. >> who was your real audience and the president would sit back down and say, i need another hour. and his real audience is the persuadable voter in america and in the congress. it's not the undecided. people are not undecided, but there are a group of people as you know in the middle who are persuadable, who will listen and you know, you get a swaying and you get a mood and obama's looking for that. you know, again, that's the problem with the state of the union speech. he left and everyone again stood up and applauded and so -- a feel good evening. >> dr. brzezinski, dad, thank you very much. bob, thanks. up next, t. boone pickens is here, also, norah o'donnell. first, an update on the snow. >> snow has started in new york city, times square, light snou fallinging. the roads are going to be okay until later tonight. that's when the heavier snow will start after dark. right now, one-hour delays at laguardia, philadelphia's had moderate snow. 45-minute delays. d.c., you're at 36. you're just fine. your snow will come after the evening rush hour. it's very cold in new england, so we don't have to worry about any rain or sleet there. the radar, the green shows the rain and d.c. and marmd maryland. secondary roads could get a slushy coating on them. there's storm one, storm two, the one for tonight is over tennessee and kye. we're calling for as much as three to six in new york, three to six in d.c. philly and boston, upwards of eight inches of snow. you're watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. ♪ i have clients say it's really hard to save for the future and they've come to a point where it's overwhelming. oh gee, i'm scared to tell you i've got this amount of credit card debt or i've got a 15-year-old and we never got around to saving for their college. that's when i go to work. we talk, we start planning. we can fix this. when clients walk out of my office they feel confident about their retirement. [ male announcer ] visit ameriprise.com and put a confident retirement more within reach. i'm 43. [ female announcer ] only roc® retinol correxion deep wrinkle night cream is clinically proven to give 10 years back to the look of skin, diminishing the look of even deep wrinkles. roc® was over 4 times more effective on wrinkles than another leading brand, and even 7 times more effective on crow's feet. 10 years? i'll take that! [ female announcer ] roc® we keep our promises. and try roc deep wrinkle filler with hyaluronic acid to instantly smooth your deep wrinkles. ♪ ( laughter ) all: yeah-hh. ( cheering, laughter ) all: no-oo. no-oo. ( screaming ) dirty water is bad water. isn't that right? announcer: healthcare that goes everywhere. together, we are the human network. cisco. [ male announcer ] in the event of a collision, the smartest thing you could do is cut the fuel supply... ♪ ...unlock the doors, and turn on the hazard lights. or better yet, get a car that automatically does it for you. ♪ ♪ we need to get to behind this innovation to help pay for it, i'm asking congress to eliminate the billions in taxpayer dollars we currently give. i don't know if you've noticed, but they're doing just fine on their own. so, instead of subsidizing yesterday's energy, let's invest in tomorrows. so tonight, i challenge you to join me in setting a new goal. by 2035, 80% of america's electricity will come from clean energy sources. >> with us now, let's bring in the founder and chairman of bp capital management, t. boone pickens also with us. norah o'donnell and of course, bob woodward still around talking about the president's psychiatrists bill. so, boone, by my calculations, by 2035 -- >> i'll be 107. >> you'll be about 72. how does that work for you? >> i got to do it faster. we've got the resources. we've got the resources. and you know, i was glad he was talking about energy though. hadn't had much energy talk, so maybe this opens the dialogue. we're overwhelmed with natural gas. it's cheap. it's cleaner and all and then to take a swipe at the energy companies, let them pay, the energy companies have done a job for us. we have more natural gas now than any other country in the world. we've passed russia, passed the ra iranian. we're number one. it's 30% cleaner than diesel. >> how do we get there faster than 2035 because as you know, oil still works. it is more portable. cheaper. >> it's not cheaper. >> okay. >> no, natural gas is one mc of natural gas does exactly the same amount of work as seven gallons of diesel. >> all right. so why aren't we there? >> i always fall back on the issue. remember, it's a lack of leadership. the leadership has not taken us in the right direction. >> norah? >> the president what he did last night, for the third time, has talked about repeals subsidies for oil companies. he's failed to do that because the oil industry is one of the biggest money contributors in politics. 18 million to federal candidates last year. $175 million they spend in lobbying to candidates, but the question i think what people were happy about is finally this emphasis on clean energy and i think that's also a nod, the fact that the climate bill didn't get passed in congress, so this is a shift towards clean energy. when you say there's not leadership, government or private? you would not espouse the government on this. >> the leadership has not been in government. they haven't said, let's get on our own resources. that we continue to be totally addicted to foreign oil. and of the 13 million barrels of oil we import every day, 5 million of it i consider to come from the enemy, which is opec. >> why are there more private companies, people like you who have been in the oil industry that say, we can make a killing on the oil industry without the president and entrepreneurs that got stimulus money in order to help them. why aren't there businesses out there saying, yeah, i can make a killing. >> okay, just focus a minute on wind. you consider that renewable, clean? >> yeah. >> wind, you cannot finance a wind deal unless you have $6 natural gas. natural gas is $4. so, you can't, i can't finance a wind deal. i'm trying to do one in minnesota. three in ontario, canada. so, i'm in the wind deal. i know wh i'm talking about and today, i haven't made a dime. >> but there comes a turning point when it will become profitable. you have to develop the technology. the question is, when will we know we've turned the corner on this or broken the back on it or failed to turn the corner? >> if you look at what the chi needs are are doing, they're doing everything. they're trying to export all energy sources in china. so, are they going to wind? they are, but everything else works, too, for them. but if you flip over to germany, germany is the biggest producer of wind in the world. you know why? they do not want to be dependent too much on natural gas from russia. some of these people still remember world war ii and stahlen and len engrad. some hard feelings there. germany has more wind than they need and they have paid a price greater than what gas would have cost. >> i'm so glad you have boone on this morning because when the president talked about the sputnik moment, a lot of people were tweeting, has he been reading tom freeman. what it is is china's sputnik moment is going green in all these areas where the united states should be leading the way so we're not dependent on foreign oil and we should be leading the way. that's where we're so far behind. >> has been pounding on this quite passionate. >> it was kind of a sputnik moment where we let the russians get ahead. the question i have is do we have the will as a people -- >> and the focus. >> to say we're going to transform ourselves economically the way eisenhower said let's get the federal government investing in science. that led to kennedy being able to say, we're going to the man. >> we're not ahead of china on in. is that correct? >> we're not ahead of what? >> of china on the renewable, clean energies, the alternative, solar and wind. >> no, we just kind of peck around the head. >> no, that's -- >> but the chinese, so you look at what they're doing. in the last three years, they spent over $200 billion and they're buying oil, loaning money to be repaid with oil. well, you wonder what were the deals made when i owe you $40 billion and you're going to pay me back with oil. what is the price of oil? i don't see anywhere. i think those deals are made at a reduced price for oil and i think the chinese have made a huge deal and it's just, it's amazing that when you look at what happened in iraq, we lost a trillion 500 billion. we spent a trillion 500 billion. lost 5,000 people, had 30,000 injured and who gets the oil? the chinese. >> the same thing's happening in afghanistan there. >> there's no oil there. valuable rocks and we're going to find there for two decades. lose billions of dollars, trillions of dollars. a lot of good men and women and it will be the chinese. >> do you want us out of afghanistan? >> damn straight i do. >> i do, too. >> listen, you talk -- >> so does obama, but his plan is to do it with honor. >> not fast enough. the dates keep moving. if you want to win the future, you don't win the future, you don't transform your economy by spending $2 billion a week in a war where we still don't have an exit strategy after 11 years and two presidents. i read your books, bob. >> affaired critiques, i tried to explain what happened and what was secret and hidden and obama's struggling with this and if there's anyone if we had that psychiatric moment again with him on this, he'd say, iant out. >> i will tell you this right now though. i would like that $2 billion a week to invest in what you're talking about, boone, and that is transforming our economy and breaking our dependence on foreign oil from opec. >> we are using 21 million barrels of oil a day. there's 86 million produced in the world. so we're using 25% of it with 4% of the population. now tharks not sustainable. in fact, it's not even fair. okay, so get on your own resources in the deal, but you are payinging for the taliban when you buy opec oil, you've got money going back into the taliban. and so, get smart. 2/3 of your trade deficit comes from the purchase of fortune oil. >> i'm with you. >> thank you so much. business before the bell with erin burnett, next. ♪ [ folk pop ] [ man ] ♪ if you got worries then you're like me ♪ ♪ don't worry now i won't hurt you ♪ ♪ and if you got worries then you're like me ♪ ♪ don't worry now i won't desert you ♪ ♪ [ continues ] [ announcer ] when it comes to the things you care about, leave nothing to chance. travelers. insurance for auto and home. call or click now for an agent or quote. but you can still refinance to a fixed rate as low as 4.5% at lendingtree.com, where customers save an average of $293 a month. call lendingtree today. erin, what did wall street think of the president's speech? >> i think from wall street's perspective, this was pretty great. he sort of dodged the social security issue, but talked about medicare and cuts in one sentence. three highlights that i wanted to throw up and some fact checks we did. we were talking to boone about getting 30% of electricity reminded me of president carter saying we didn't import more foreign oil. will this president be mo successful? they think it's going to be difficult unless you count things like natural gas and clean coal. one million electric cars, phil lebeau says you have to keep subsidies incredibly high and have gas go bananas for that to happen. corporate tax reform, standing ovation on that. wall street focused on that and the beautiful analogy, i thought his thing about when you want the plane to lighten its load, you don't necessarily throw the engine off first. i think it was a pretty fantastic one. all in, b plus from business for the president's speech last night. >> all right. good to hear and i guess the market will probably reflect that and i've been hearing you talk about america's high corporate tax rates for some time, so after three years, the president list. thanks so much erin burnett. we will see you next hour on cnbc and then again this afternoon. when we come back, grading the president's speech, the republican response and what michele bachmann was looking at. hey, we're over here. >> stop it. man: everybody knows you should save for retirement, but what happens when you're about to retire? woman: how do you go from saving to spending? fidelity helped us get to this point, and now we're talking about what comes next. man: we worked together to create a plan to help our money last. woman: so we can have the kind of retirement we want. now, you know how this works. just stay on the line. oh, yeah. fidelity investments. turn here. [ female announcer ] and now, winter skin can be too. discover relief from dry, uncomfortable skin with skin relief moisturizing lotion. only aveeno has an active naturals triple oat and shea butter formula that soothes, nourishes and restores moisture. women saw improvement in all five symptoms of winter skin in just one day. beauty you can see and feel. that's being comfortable in your own skin. aveeno skin relief. and now get dermatologist recommended relief from severely dry skin with eczema therapy. new from aveeno. discover the power of active naturals thanks to you, there's reason for all of us to have hope that al spending cuts are coming because last november, you went to the polls and you voted out the big spending politicians and you put in their place great men and women with a commitment to follow our constitution and cut the size of government. >> joining me now, president obama's senior adviser, david axelrod. thank you very much. >> am i looking at the right camera. >> you are. we only have one, so you can't get that wrong. >> making fun of michele bachma bachmann. we -- there are two cameras in there. let's clear this thing up. there are two cameras in there. one was the tea party express camera and was one the feed. she was looking at the tea party express camera. >> i guess she had full camera. >> fox was pool and someone should have told her to look at the pool camera because the networks, we take from the pool, not from the tea party express. >> obviously t.j. was freelancing. pat, you were saying laste bachd her to be a compelling speaker. >> i think she's a very interesting person. for everything, the brilliance of paul ryan, he's not in her league. >> what do you mean by that? come on, man. do you have michele bachmann calendars next to your sarah palin calendars? >> i'm talking about communication skills. if i got to get a speaker for a convention, i ain't going to get paul ryan, brilliant as he might be. >> he was earnest. >> bob woodward. >> first of all, the good news in that is that everyone gets their say. people were saying, why is she giving a speech. why are some treating it seriously? fine, let her have her say. but pat's an expert in this area because he had that great communicator, richard nixon. >> nixon had difficulty. but this woman has natural ability. >> you got into the point where he was credible as a communicator. >> he got himself that point in his case and i wasn't involved. >> but you know, he was not a natural. >> okay. so you know, paul ryan, maybe he'll become a natural. there are people who said bill clinton very in his famous inaugural inaugural speech before the democratic convention. yeah, and you know, he was a total dud and he learned so maybe he went to the buchanan school of communication. >> norah, michele bachmann loved having this opportunity. the white house loved it. they were giddy. and told us as much. but republican leadership was really upset this happened. >> yes -- >> it just shows michele bachmann is out there, she's a wild card and doing her own thing. >> and it didn't help the republican party that she made this unfortunate slip in iowa when she said slavery had ended with the founding fathers. paul ryan had the job of giving the rebuttle. it guarantees you a spot on "saturday night live." i think that for being in an efforty committee room, i thought he did a good job. it's difficult to communicate to a camera and he sort of delivered, which was the republican scenario, without getting into speskts about what he wants to do with social security and medicare. he was able to lay out, which has a lot of independents agreeing with. >> i thought ryan did pretty well. what do you think, bob? >> he made the best arguments, but pat's right. he's not a natural communicator, but when you listen to it, it was easy to say what else is on and that's -- >> you're channel surfing bob? >> wait, i just want to say about michele bachmann, which i agree with your point it was about her, but everybody in this room has probably looked at the wrong camera. it can happen. >> come on. let me go to willie. willie, so let me ask you -- paul ryan or michele bachmann -- >> right there. >> i guess would be the question. i would, i will say that if anyone watched "hardball" last night, he had a very interesting dissection of michele bachmann's statements. i believe he used the word balloon head more than anyone. >> oh, my gosh. >> i was watching, too. >> i didn't know that. in the end though, the tea party, this component of the tea party got what they wanted. like you said. they may have been better off with rand paul or marco rubio, but we've said this and talked about this before. the question is who gets the mantle of government reform. republicans or obama? >> who's winning that? >> obama's two steps ahead. [ male announcer ] in the event of a collision, the smartest thing you could do is cut the fuel supply... ♪ ...unlock the doors, and turn on the hazard lights. or better yet, get a car that automatically does it for you. ♪ ♪ ♪ work, work all week long ♪ punching that clock from dusk till dawn ♪ ♪ countin' the days till friday night ♪ ♪ that's when all the conditions are right for a good time ♪ [ male announcer ] advanced technology that helps provide cleaner air, cleaner water, and helps make all of us more energy efficient is something the whole world can get in step with. [ static ] ♪ i need a good time [ male announcer ] ecomagination from ge. it's technology that makes the world work. ♪ nah. we have something else. but if you're hurt and miss work does it pay cash like aflac does? nah. or let you spendt in any way you want like for gas and groceries? nah. or help with everyday bills like aflac does? nah nah nah. [ male announcer ] there's aflac and there's everything else. visit aflac.com for an agent or quote. aflac! our points from chase sapphire preferred are worth 25% more on travel. we're like forget florida, we're going on a safari. so we're on the serengeti, and seth finds a really big bone. we're talking huge. they dig it up, put it in the natural history museum and we get to name it. sethasauraus. really. your points from chase sapphire preferred are worth 25% more on travel? means better vacations. that's incredible. believe it...with chase sapphire preferred your points are worth 25% more on travel when booked through ultimate rewards. >> ( baby crying ) >> grandfather: our first grandson. >> father: he sees you. >> ( "imagine" by john lennon playing ) >> ( laughing softly ) >> ( woman speaking korean ) >> ( child speaking korean ) >> ( children chattering ) >> dwight d. eisenhower: in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed... >> john lennon: ♪ you may say ♪ i'm a dreamer ♪ but i'm not the only one >> ( blowing whistle ) >> ♪ i hope someday... >> good night, baby. >> ♪ ...you'll join us ♪ and the world ♪ will be as one >> woman: together, we are the human network. cisco. the applaud after almost every sentence as these state of the union addresses, but watch biden in the background. it's just as important clapping as it is to know when not to clap. >> race to the top is the most meaningful reform of our public schools in a generation, for less than 1% -- >> we'll tuck that back into my pocket and get a mint. lawmakers from opposing parties paired up and they sat next to each other. it was a nice idea. not sure it worked out how they hoped. >> it's no secret that those of us here tonight have had our differences over the last two years. the debates have been contentious. we have fought fiercely. what comes of this moment will be determined not by whether we can sit together tonight, but whether we can work together tomorrow. >> it's terrible. up next, what, if anything, did we learn today? here's your business travel forecast on this busy weather day. winter storm heading up the east coast. mix of rain, sleet and snow. temperatures will be warming up at the airports and roads should be okay until tonight. that's when it will get colder and the snow will start to accumulate. but during the daylight, new york city, washington, d.c., baltimore should be okay. 't fill every room every day. like this one. and this one. and oops, my bad. so, they give expedia ginormous discounts with these: unpublished rates. which means i get an even more rockin' hotel, for less. my brain didn't even break a sweat. where you book matters. expedia. all right. time to talk about what we've learned today. >> i leshed what i thought i learned. pat oversold on purpose yesterday. >> the next gettysburg address, not so sure. norah? >> boone pickens americans used 20 million barrels of oil a day. that's a fourth of it and with only 4% of the world's population. >> pat? >> state of the union will be forgotten in five days. let the games begin. >> it's actually going to be forgotten in three days. i learned that serious foreign policy analysts like your father