Of recession, and its the long, suffering middle class that will be the target of much of his message tonight. We should tell you at the same time, we are following a very tense news event, across the continent on the west coast in the san berardino mountains, gunfire and then a fire over an hour weve been watching this in a cabin in the woods believed to contain the sniper, excop, the military veteran that has terrorized Southern California for days. Another loss of life tonight. A Police Deputy there confirmed dead and if this situation is resolved, were keeping a close eye on it, we will let you know, following the conclusion of the president s remarks. Back inside the House Chamber we go, weve been watching arrivals tonight. First lady has taken her seat. Members of the supreme court. And now members of the cabinet. Outgoing, incoming and those who are saying on. Youre going to see a lot of ribbons and a lot of lapels tonight. The green ribbons are for the victims of the shooting v
Now, reporting from our nations capital, diane sawyer and george stephanopoulos. And a good evening to all of you. We welcome you, as we gather with you to watch president obamas state of the Union Address. As he challenges congress and tries to harness Public Opinion behind his plan of action for the first year of his second term. The focus will be on the economy, diane. Creating jobs. Thats been the struggle of his presidency. The president believes he has the public on his side on that issue. Most of the speech will be about that. But he has a new mission for his second term. Ending gun violence and so much emotion around that issue tonight. Emotion in that room and also this convergence with the drama we have seen unfolding today out in california. Just to bring you up to date right now, the gun battle that was under way in big bear lake, california, you can still see the flames at that cabin where Police Officers believe they had trapped Christopher Dorner, the excop who had been
Shields and New York Times columnist david brooks. Mark, what is different about a state of the union when its the first one of a second term . You dont have that many more to look forward to . The sand is running out of the glass. This is probably the best shot that most president s have in their second term is that first yearandahalf before you get into Congressional Elections and the lame duckness really sets in. The race to succeed him begins while hes just sitting there. So this is important. This is the teasing of the moment but the moment is left under most circumstances. Obviously a crisis can extend that. But generally speaking in the natural order of things, judy, a president has a yearandahalf to accomplish his greatest achievements in his second term. Woodruff as we watch the video live from the House Chamber, members of the president s cabinet making their way in greeting senators and house members. Were waiting for the president himself to come in that door. David, if any
If we sacrifice the future, do we really take care of all the past cleanup . We hardly do whats necessary, even with current funding. And so i think its a perfect example of where the sequestration process is so counterproductive and moves america backwards. We have very imperfect choices here, and actually very dangerous choices that we are being forced to make. I think the majority would be much better suited to come back to us with a budget that allows us to do the job that the energy and water subcommittee is charged with doing. We simply cant try to solve the problem internal through the resources weve been given. Its an impossibility, and so somebodys going to be going to lose. Im sure those that came up washington. Ies in the people who are getting water assistance, they just lost money. They got no lobby here. They got none of those people from the various Nuclear Sites to come in here and lobby for them, and yet they just lost out in a prior amendment. They have a right to an
Second term. He will focus jobs and the economy and lay out his agenda Immigration Reform and gun control and Climate Change. He will explain his plan to prevent 85 billion in automatic spending cuts due to kick in march 1st. For more on what the president will say tonight, wendall goller joins us. Tonights speech is all about the middleclass. President will say a rising middleclass is the true engine of Economic Growth. His aides will say inaugural and two acts in the same place. Is republicans didnt see much bipartisan in the first act. John boehner says he doesnt have the guts to stand up to his own party. That is preemptive strike likely the expected criticism of boehner not standing up to the tea party and agreeing to a balance of spending cuts and additional revenue to reduce the deficit. On international matters, half the 70,000 u. S. Troops now in afghanistan will be home by this time next year. We knew that. Hell criticize north Koreas Nuclear test saying that country will not