WEBVTT 00:02.100 --> 00:04.300 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% JUDY WOODRUFF: And now some perspective on the run-up to tonight's big address from opposite 00:04.300 --> 00:06.500 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% sides of the American political spectrum. 00:06.500 --> 00:10.400 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Karine Jean-Pierre is a senior adviser for MoveOn.org. 00:10.400 --> 00:14.533 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And Chris Buskirk is the editor of the conservative journal and Web site American Greatness. 00:14.533 --> 00:15.866 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% Hello to both of you. 00:15.866 --> 00:17.266 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% CHRIS BUSKIRK, AmericanGreatness.org: Hi. 00:17.266 --> 00:18.733 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, Democratic Strategist: Hi, Judy. 00:18.733 --> 00:19.900 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Great to have you back on the program. 00:19.900 --> 00:21.133 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Chris, to you first, Chris Buskirk. 00:21.133 --> 00:23.233 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% What do you expect the president to do tonight? 00:23.233 --> 00:25.933 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% CHRIS BUSKIRK: I think what the president is going to do tonight is, he is going to 00:25.933 --> 00:30.933 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% do what he's done I think pretty well in some speeches before, which is going back to promises 00:31.666 --> 00:33.800 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% made, promises kept. 00:33.800 --> 00:35.933 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Here's what I have talked about in my campaign, here's what I have accomplished so far, here's 00:35.933 --> 00:37.433 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% what I still need to do. 00:37.433 --> 00:40.533 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% I think that here we are halfway through first term, right? 00:40.533 --> 00:45.466 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% This has got to be the pivot to reelection, to try to start to set the tone and set the 00:45.466 --> 00:49.233 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% trajectory for a message that's going to carry him through November of 2020. 00:49.233 --> 00:54.200 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And I think that is -- I think that needs to be one big unifying theme that says, on 00:56.200 --> 00:58.600 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% immigration, on trade, on foreign policy, how are all these things linked together? 00:58.600 --> 01:00.666 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% What's that unifying theme? 01:00.666 --> 01:03.500 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And I think that that theme has to be, how do you rebuild the middle class? 01:03.500 --> 01:05.000 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% That's number one. 01:05.000 --> 01:07.033 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% And I think that that's what he is going to try and do. 01:07.033 --> 01:10.966 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% JUDY WOODRUFF: And if that's what he does, Karine Jean-Pierre, how is that received by 01:11.566 --> 01:13.633 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% Democrats? 01:13.633 --> 01:15.733 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: So, I know that it's been reported that -- from the administration, 01:15.733 --> 01:19.966 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% from the White House, that the president is going to give a speech on unity, on greatness, 01:19.966 --> 01:22.033 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% on bipartisanship. 01:22.033 --> 01:25.633 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And that would be great if he was able to do that, but we have not seen that from this 01:25.633 --> 01:28.966 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% president in the past now going on three years. 01:28.966 --> 01:33.966 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% And I just don't see this speech, only because of his history, of his record, being that 01:34.566 --> 01:36.633 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% impactful. 01:36.633 --> 01:39.766 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% So maybe, maybe he gets there and he makes a unity speech, but hours later, the moment 01:39.766 --> 01:43.000 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% he gets on Twitter, it all -- he steps on it. 01:43.000 --> 01:45.100 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% So I just -- it's hard to believe. 01:45.100 --> 01:49.666 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And let's not forget, a couple of weeks ago, he gave -- he addressed the country in the 01:51.566 --> 01:55.333 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Diplomatic Reception Room, where he talked about immigration, and that was filled with 01:55.333 --> 01:57.366 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% division. 01:57.366 --> 02:00.866 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And then he did it weeks prior to that in the Oval Office behind the Resolute Desk. 02:00.866 --> 02:03.366 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% And that was filled with division and hate. 02:03.366 --> 02:06.200 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% So I just don't see how that's possible coming from this president. 02:06.200 --> 02:09.766 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: And, in fact, Chris Buskirk, I had a chance today to spend a little bit 02:09.766 --> 02:13.833 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% of -- a few minutes with Speaker Pelosi and the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer. 02:13.833 --> 02:18.100 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And Mr. Schumer made a point, Senator Schumer made a point of saying: We hope the president 02:18.100 --> 02:23.100 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% is going to appeal the unity, but in the past, when he's spoken at a moment, whether it's 02:23.100 --> 02:27.933 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% a State of the Union address or another important speech, he's made promises or made declarations 02:27.933 --> 02:30.700 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% that he then turned around and didn't fulfill. 02:30.700 --> 02:34.366 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% So what makes you convinced that tonight is going to be different? 02:34.366 --> 02:37.733 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% CHRIS BUSKIRK: Well, I think part of that is in the eye of the beholder, right? 02:37.733 --> 02:39.766 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% What is unity. 02:39.766 --> 02:42.266 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% But there's part of it that is the art of persuasion, which is to talk about it and 02:42.266 --> 02:47.266 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% to use the rhetoric of unity and to talk about, how do we be -- how are we Americans together? 02:48.033 --> 02:49.766 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% What does that mean? 02:49.766 --> 02:52.433 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% And how do we build things together, make this a better society? 02:52.433 --> 02:56.266 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% How that translates into practice, I think, is where the president needs to be very concrete. 02:56.266 --> 02:59.633 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% He needs to use that rhetoric and then say, look, these are the policies we are going 02:59.633 --> 03:02.866 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% to pursue in my administration the try and make this a reality. 03:02.866 --> 03:05.000 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% And that's what everybody is really looking for. 03:05.000 --> 03:07.633 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% It's nice to hear the good speech, but then what are you going to do about it? 03:07.633 --> 03:11.733 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: But you have a sense that now, Chris Buskirk, the president is prepared to 03:11.733 --> 03:13.766 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% do that? 03:13.766 --> 03:16.066 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% CHRIS BUSKIRK: I think he has to, and I think that's what he's going to try and do. 03:16.066 --> 03:19.333 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: But, Karine, you're expressing doubt? 03:19.333 --> 03:21.000 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% (LAUGHTER) 03:21.000 --> 03:22.600 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: He just doesn't have a record of it, Judy. 03:22.600 --> 03:24.000 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% We have not seen that. 03:24.000 --> 03:25.866 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% A year ago, he talked about unity. 03:25.866 --> 03:27.900 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% What did we get months later? 03:27.900 --> 03:31.966 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% We got this the zero -- policy situation, where children were being ripped away from 03:33.933 --> 03:37.433 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% their parents, children of undocumented immigrants coming through the southern border. 03:37.433 --> 03:38.966 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% And that was devastating to see. 03:38.966 --> 03:42.200 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% And now we're hearing many of them will never be reunited. 03:42.200 --> 03:46.400 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And the year before that, in 2017, in the joint address, the same thing. 03:46.400 --> 03:47.400 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% And what did we see? 03:47.400 --> 03:48.900 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% We heard about Charlottesville. 03:48.900 --> 03:50.100 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% And what did he do there? 03:50.100 --> 03:52.633 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% He said, very fine people on both sides. 03:52.633 --> 03:54.633 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% I just don't see it. 03:54.633 --> 03:56.800 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: When you hear this, Chris Buskirk, what do you think? 03:56.800 --> 04:00.633 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% CHRIS BUSKIRK: I think that unity does not mean agreement on everything. 04:00.633 --> 04:01.600 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% And that's OK. 04:01.600 --> 04:03.933 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% That's what politics is for. 04:03.933 --> 04:08.933 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% I think what unity means is not that Donald Trump says, well, to Speaker Pelosi, well, 04:10.100 --> 04:12.133 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% OK, whatever you want, that's fine. 04:12.133 --> 04:16.333 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% I think what it means is, how do we identify the problems that the country faces, and then 04:16.333 --> 04:18.566 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% how do we work together where there's agreement? 04:18.566 --> 04:22.200 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And then we can disagree on other things too, but let's do that in a way where we at least 04:22.200 --> 04:24.500 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% try and set the table on common goals. 04:24.500 --> 04:29.500 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: And I guess the flip side of that question, Karine Jean-Pierre, is, are 04:31.366 --> 04:35.500 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Democrats, are people like you who work hard with organizations that oppose so much of 04:35.500 --> 04:38.533 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% the president's policies, are you willing to give the president the benefit of the doubt? 04:38.533 --> 04:41.366 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: There are things that we can work on that's bipartisanship, which 04:41.366 --> 04:42.800 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% is DACA, infrastructure, improving... 04:42.800 --> 04:44.000 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% (CROSSTALK) 04:44.000 --> 04:46.000 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% JUDY WOODRUFF: Which is immigration. 04:46.000 --> 04:50.000 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Immigration, right, right, for young undocumented folks who came here 04:51.200 --> 04:53.333 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% with their parents when they were really young. 04:53.333 --> 04:55.666 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% And there's also the criminal justice, right? 04:55.666 --> 04:57.133 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% That was done in a bipartisan way. 04:57.133 --> 04:58.366 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% It was a first step. 04:58.366 --> 05:00.466 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% And there's more to be done. 05:00.466 --> 05:04.366 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% The problem is, and what we said earlier, he declares things in his speech, but then 05:04.366 --> 05:06.366 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% he doesn't stick to them. 05:06.366 --> 05:10.433 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And I think Democrats are ready to work on those things I just mentioned, but he doesn't 05:10.433 --> 05:12.500 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% stick to it. 05:12.500 --> 05:14.833 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: I want to come -- I want to look at this, step back a little bit, Chris 05:14.833 --> 05:18.033 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Buskirk, because part of what's going on here is that some of the -- many of the people 05:18.033 --> 05:22.500 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% who support the president don't seem to want him to cooperate with the other side. 05:22.500 --> 05:26.200 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And, Karine, I think you could say that about a number of progressive liberal Democrats 05:26.200 --> 05:28.866 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% who don't want to see their party cooperate. 05:28.866 --> 05:30.933 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% What about that, Chris? 05:30.933 --> 05:33.000 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% CHRIS BUSKIRK: Well, let me give -- the best way, for me at least, to think about it is 05:33.000 --> 05:34.866 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% to use a concrete illustration. 05:34.866 --> 05:36.900 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% So you think about the immigration issue. 05:36.900 --> 05:41.100 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% I mean, this is a place where people like Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader Schumer, 05:41.100 --> 05:45.300 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% 10 years ago, 12 years ago, they were talking, yes, we need a wall, we need border security. 05:45.300 --> 05:49.433 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% I think what the president needs to do is explain why that's important and how that 05:49.433 --> 05:54.433 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% is something that protects -- how border security protects working families, American working 05:55.133 --> 05:56.133 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% families. 05:56.133 --> 05:58.700 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% Why? 05:58.700 --> 06:02.066 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% Because it protects their most valuable asset, which is their asymmetric access to the American 06:02.066 --> 06:03.300 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% labor market. 06:03.300 --> 06:04.933 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Make that argument, maybe in a more... 06:04.933 --> 06:07.766 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% JUDY WOODRUFF: In other words, immigrants take jobs away from you? 06:07.766 --> 06:08.966 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% Is that -- I mean... 06:08.966 --> 06:11.100 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% CHRIS BUSKIRK: Take jobs away, lower wages. 06:11.100 --> 06:14.866 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% I mean, more supply equals -- more supply lowers prices. 06:14.866 --> 06:16.866 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% That's basic. 06:16.866 --> 06:20.333 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% You explain that to people and say, look, this is why -- this is why immigration is 06:20.333 --> 06:24.233 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% important to me or this is why trade policy is important to me, because I want middle-income 06:24.233 --> 06:27.600 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% families to be secure economically and to be able to prosper. 06:27.600 --> 06:32.033 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Karine, the flip side of that, liberal Democrats don't want their 06:32.033 --> 06:35.433 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% party leaders to work together with the president. 06:35.433 --> 06:38.966 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Well, they want Democrats, in particular in the House, now that it's 06:38.966 --> 06:41.266 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% the majority, to hold this president accountable. 06:41.266 --> 06:44.433 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% And that's one of the reasons that we took back the House. 06:44.433 --> 06:45.700 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% And so that's really important. 06:45.700 --> 06:48.433 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% And that looks in very different ways, right? 06:48.433 --> 06:50.466 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% That's looking at this Mueller report. 06:50.466 --> 06:55.033 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% That's also looking at, as I mentioned, the children being separated at the border, Puerto 06:55.900 --> 06:57.566 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Rico, 3,000 people dying. 06:57.566 --> 07:00.333 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% But they also want to see Democrats moving the country forward. 07:00.333 --> 07:02.033 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% Right? 07:02.033 --> 07:04.500 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% And they have done that with voting rights and dealing with corruption. 07:04.500 --> 07:08.666 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% And so those are things that they actually want to see. 07:08.666 --> 07:12.733 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% But we need Republicans on the other side to do -- to also be in there with us too. 07:12.733 --> 07:16.100 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: All right, we're going to have a chance to talk about all of this again later 07:16.100 --> 07:18.433 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% tonight, when we have heard what the president has to say. 07:18.433 --> 07:19.600 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Thank you so much, Karine Jean-Pierre, Chris Buskirk. 07:19.600 --> 07:20.600 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% CHRIS BUSKIRK: Thank you. 07:20.600 --> 07:21.600 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Thank you. 07:21.600 --> 07:21.733 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Thank you.