Trump reacts to President Biden's address. Hear what he said

Later today, Donald Trump will consolidate his takeover, effectively a familiar takeover of the Republican National Committee. Soon, Ronna McDaniel and her co-

president

will officially resign. A move essentially forced by Trump and then by two candidates he has endorsed, one of whom is his daughter-in-law. They are expected to easily win the elections for the highest positions. CNN's Elaina TRENE is at that spring meeting in Houston and we'll see how Alina develops today. Yes, well, good morning, John. I want to start with some of the reactions to Joe Biden's speech last night. We saw Donald Trump. He watched the speech from his home in Mar a Lago and, as he promised, gave a live play-by-play on social media in response to Joe Biden's speech.

And it really was a conscious reaction on the part of Donald Trump. He harshly attacked Biden. She went after him over his positions on Ukraine and Social Security, but his attacks also became increasingly personal. We know that House Speaker Mike Johnson warned Republicans yesterday to maintain decorum in the chamber, but that was advice that didn't reach Donald Trump. He attacked Biden a lot. He made fun of his appearance. He made fun of his hair and his walk and also claimed that he was, quote, very angry and crazy. Now, Donald Trump also responded on social media with some video messages recorded in response to Biden's speech, one of which actually attempts to turn the tide on Joe Biden's argument that Donald Trump is a threat to democracy, as we've seen. seen Donald Trump do in the past.

He claimed that Biden is the real threat. Listen. Joe Biden is running from the record and lying about it like crazy to try to escape responsibility for the terrible devastation he and his party have created. Meanwhile, they continue with the same policies that are causing this horror show to disappear. We can't take it anymore as a country. Now, John, we've obviously

hear

d this kind of rhetoric from Donald Trump in the past as well, we've seen it live during these big events. But they take on new meaning now that he is the presumptive Republican nominee. And it also comes as his grip on the Republican Party is tightening some

what

.

We'll see how that plays out here in Houston today with that spring RNC meeting. We will see Ronna McDaniel resign from the position of

president

of it. It comes after Donald Trump and his relationship became really strained and had been a struggle for over a year. And we'll watch as Donald Trump handpicks her replacements for her on his way to the top of the committee leadership. And again, this comes as Donald Trump is very eager to use the weight of the RNC, to have his entire infrastructure of interests behind him, including his data operation, his ground game strategy, his polling of voters.

And of course, they are fundraising. But as it's been described to me, John, senior advisors, as you

said

, it's normal for a presumptive nominee or a candidate to have his own control over the RNC or a committee when he takes power. But it's been described to me more as a power grab by Donald Trump as he tries to sink his vision with the Republican National Committee. John and his family with the RNC. Atlanta train in Houston. Thank you so much. President Biden laid out

what

he believes is at stake right now—and with an eye toward November, of course—in a speech that The Atlantic called the most unusual State of the Union in living memory.

Let's try that with history right now. CNN Presidential Story and Tim Naftali joins us. It's good to see you, Jim. He's studied a lot of presidents and he's studied a lot of these important speeches. What did you see in this speech? Well, first of all, this is the first time in over a century that a president, an incumbent, is running against a former president. This is the first time in history that an 81-year-old man has delivered a State of the Union

address

. And this is the first time in history that an American president has faced a re-election challenge against an instigator of an insurrection.

So precisely there we are talking about an unprecedented historical discourse. President Biden, in many ways, had to give a State of the President

address

more than the State of the Union address. People watched to see his energy level, his vitality, his fight, his willingness to fight for re-election. And people saw it yesterday. They saw all that. It's a really interesting frame. No, I hadn't thought of it that way. People looked at how the message was not presented or not, how well crafted the policy was. That's interesting, but partly it was surprising how many times she mentioned Donald Trump, although not by name, talking about his predecessor to draw a contrast between then and now.

Let me play a little bit to remind people that my predecessor, a former Republican president, tells Putin, quote, "Do whatever you want." My predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth about January 6. Many of you in this chamber and my predecessor promise to pass a national ban on reproductive freedom. And looking. I had a couple of questions for you. Do you think that was effective? And do you think he did it because he wanted to? Or do you think he did it because he needed to? The Biden coalition is the old Democratic coalition of the 1990s, plus people who don't want to vote for Donald Trump.

There are independents and some former Republicans who will support Biden in 2024 as they did in 2020 just because they don't want to see Donald Trump in the White House again. It is very important for the president to remind those elements of his coalition that he fully understands the mandate they give him. So I guess I had to mention it. That can't be the only message he conveys because there are progressives in the Democratic coalition who want to

hear

a lot more and last night he spoke to them more about Gaza. And he also wants everyone to want a vision for the future.

They just don't want to elect someone because he wants to be president. They want to know if we re-elect you, sir, what do you plan to do in the next four years? So last night I had a very, very heavy burden on his shoulders. One thing we know about the State of the Union is a lot about tradition and a lot about what you see, like institutional Washington before your eyes. That's what we're seeing with the State of the Union. And if we look at this speech in historical context, Biden did what used to be considered unthinkable: criticized the Supreme Court and directly addressed the justices sitting before him in the chamber.

I want to play this for people. It was then when he was talking about the decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, the majority of the Supreme Court wrote the following. And with all due respect, justices, women are not without electoral power. Excuse me. Electoral or political power? You're about to realize how much variety. So what did you make of that moment and the fact that it nonetheless came from Joe Biden? Well, first of all, reproductive rights are a very important element of the president's message. And the vice president's message. It has to be a way to energize and mobilize people to go out and vote for the team for the ballot in 20, 20, 40.

He, of course, had to mention it. He believes it in terms of attacking the Supreme Court as well. Well, American culture changes. Our political culture does not remain the same. We're in a particularly divisive partisan moment where people expect their leader to show up, fight back, and show a willingness to basically express his disappointment with the status quo. So I think that just as Republicans expect a certain level of fight, obviously from Donald Trump and they get it, and more Democrats and independents expect the same level of fight from Joe Biden and he gave it to them yesterday.

It's good to see you, Tim. Thank you.