this together you have a direct megaphone to the american people is a big moment. it is a big moment because it is such a big stage and a vast audience. the coverage starts before the speech and lasts for quite a while afterward so it is a real opportunity. in cases i thought presidents did that well with him, looking back, 43 of these i have covered in one way or another i can only think of fewer than ten moments from 43 speeches, this one made an impression, always seems like a big deal on the night it happens but we will see how it plays out. his speechwriters did a good job making a speech that was not partisan, had a unifying theme to it, unifying moments within it and all of that does the president a little credit. he s not been a unifying figure as president but he reached for
it is a big moment because it is such a big stage. and it is a vast audience, and the coverage starts before the speech, and lasts for quite a while afterwards. so it is a real opportunity. i just can t think of too many cases where i thought presidents did that well with them. looking back over 43 of these, i think i ve covered, and one way or another, i can only think of fewer than ten moments from 43 speeches. this one, however, may leave an impression. it always seems like a big deal on the night it happens. we ll see how it plays out. i think is a speech writers did a good job of making a speech that was nonpartisan. it had a unifying theme to it, and certainly had unifying limits within it. all that does the president a little credit. he is not been a unifying figure as president but he reached for a unifying message tonight, andd one.
martha: and a couple of minutes, we ll go to the democratic response from the former georgia house minority leader and 2016 georgia gubernatorial candidate stacey abrams. but let s bring in our chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel, standing by and statuary hall. martha, bret. good evening to you. stacey abrams is seen as a rising star among the democrats. she received quite a bit of attention when she ran for governor last year, lost to republican brian kemp. she will talk about reaching across the aisle, doing the right thing for the constituents you serve, and making the case that the things happening here in the nation s capital. she s expected to talk about success not being guaranteed in this country, but we live in a nation of great opportunity. bottom line, democratic leaders think she is a rising star, that she ll deliver a great speech tonight. democratic leaders, by choosing her, also avoided any controversy as seen as playing
[applause] dagen: stealing hearts across the nation, special guest of the president, joshua trump, who couldn t help falling asleep during the big event. greg. greg: you see him napping through political speech, you know he truly is a trump. by the way, this is how i sleep. did you ever have a problem sleeping? always put on a speech or podcast and tried to stay awake and you will immediately trigger that thing from college when you just go like this. you are drooling. jesse: the reason he fell asleep was because it was one of those presidential speeches where he is boring and reads off a prompter. he wouldn t fall asleep like that at a rally. dana: he should go to el paso next week. jesse: he would be up all night. dagen: kirsten gillibrand rolled her eyes.
more defense spending, defense for the unborn, hard-line stance on russia and china, nato paying its fair share. if i didn t know any different, i would say there were something for everyone. trump did stress unity. president trump: we must reject the politics of revenge, resistance, and retribution, and embrace the boundless potential of cooperation, compromise, and the common good. we must choose between greatness or gridlock, results or resistance, vision or vengeance, incredible progress or pointless destruction. greg: sounds conciliatory. no wonder the media hated it. eyesight is a psychotically incoherent speech with cookies and dog poo. every leader should be talking about climate change. the president didn t mention