President trump will enter and deliver his first state of the Union Address for joint session of congress. This is a moment of history and high drama here in washington, an embattled president under investigation, a congress mired in partisan conflict, a government that Many Americans believe is kregsincreasingly un to function for the common good. Donald trump has been in office for one year and ten days, and given the controversy his presidency has taken so far, there is high interest in what he has to say tonight on the economy, on immigration, on north korea and so many other issues. Here with me tonight are my nbc news colleagues, savannah guthrie, chuck todd, dreandrea mitchell, megyn kelly and tom brokaw. Savannah, a year ago it was a new administration addressing congress. There was so much looking president ial. That was a year ago. What are we looking at tonight . Now we have a year to talk about and what a year its been. It was substantively consequential, big ticket items being done and shocking at times. We saw that in the opening of the show just now. The president has a story to tell. Hes got some headwinds at his back. Hes got a good economy to talk about. He has the tax cuts he was able to get through. He has the Supreme Court justice sitting in that audience. That was incredibly important to his supporters. Yes he has an Approval Rating lower than any president in their tenure. Now people have had a year to get to know him and positions calcium calcify. This is one of the rare moments in a presidency where you get a chance to reintroduce yourself. And we had lunch with some other journalists today, but on the record he talked about what hes learned over the last year. As a businessman always trying to win, win, win, win, he knows theres a need for heart. When you heard that, did you think were going to see a different President Trump tonight . Im trying to figure out how he can make tonight seem different than any other night. President trump is constantly communicating with the American Public himself, on social media, on television all the time. Hes a very omnipresent person in a way weve never seen before. I think the difficulty for him is how does he make tonight special to make people that somehow it penetrates in a way other stuff doesnt. Part of it is the era we live in, that no single event lasts for a long time. I think if he uses this, and hes realistic about it. A lot of supporters will be watching, maybe some hate watchers. I dont know if the middle is watching, and if they are, ill use it to try to tout my tax bill. At the end of the day, if he gets more people to like his tax plan, then this is a good speech politically. Beyond that, i dont know how much big things he can accomplish tonight because i just think state of the unions havent been as special as they used to be and this president is so omnipresent. Were waiting for the president to enter the room. While we wait for that, megyn kelly, give us your thoughts. What do you expect from the president . I expect very little because these events tend to be utterly forgettable and i think this one will, too. The one thing he has going for him is hes donald trump and he makes things more exciting for good or bad. Well see if he can do what other president s fail to do, which is make it interesting and exciting and get people talking about it. You know the campaign slogan, let trump be trump . Will that happen tonight or will we get teleprompter trump who will just read and far less dynamic and memorable . Theyre talking about trump looking less conciliatory tonight. What does that look like . How can a man weve watched all this time come out there and be conciliatory and possibly disappoint his faithful. Exactly. Who is he going to be reaching out to . Here is the sergeant of arms paul irving. Please welcome the president of the United States. [ applause ] greeting those along the aisle which we know some people stake out for hours for a position where they can greet the president as he walks in the room. Savannah . Kasie hunt is our capitol hill correspondent who has the best seat in the house. Kasie, we cannot see you but we can hear you. What are you seeing . Reporter savannah, good evening. We are actually seeing right now that there are members of the Congressional Black Caucus who are remaining seated as the president walks into the house chamber. He is coming slowly up the aisle, which is a dramatic scene, im sure, that our viewers are able to look at even though i cant see the same thing they are seeing. But we were watching to see if there would be some sort of protest from democrats in what really is such a divided era. A year ago there were some democrats who came into this speech hopeful. It was, of course, not a state of the union, it was a joint address of congress, but they hoped he would talk about joint priorities and ways they might work together. Over the last year, they have been sorely disappointed, and its very difficult to overstate the emotional anger that some members of this house of representatives feel towards this president. And nancy pelosi, the House Minority leader, had urged her members not to walk out of this speech, not to make it about them instead of about what the president was going to say tonight, and it appears that they have found something of a middle ground in this sign of some level of disrespect, savannah. All right, kasie hunt on the hill for us. Thanks, kasie. We saw a picture a moment ago, some of the women democratic members wearing black, noting the me too movement. Youre going to see a lot of statements, some subtle, some not so subtle in this chamber tonight. Andrea mitchell, your thoughts as we await the president. This is a big moment, obviously, for the president , but its noteworthy that the democrats have been advised not to do anything that is rude. Maybe that joe wilson moment when he shouted out, you lie, at president obama which was so notable. You see Supreme CourtJustice Steven breyer who has attended most often these events. They dont have to attend. Its a matter of preference. Supreme court ginsberg is not here, shes in rhode island. This is a big question. Hes got Foreign Policy challenges and a domestic policy to sell the tax cuts in the economy. Yeah, four members of the Supreme Court attending tonight. Tom, as we await the president to take the podium, he will have a short amount of time in this laundry list of a year of midterm elections. Ive been watching him since he was 34 years old, and at the end of the day, he considered himself one of the greatest salesmen in the world, t. The fact that he sells sizzle rather than substance doesnt get in his way. Even during the ups and downs in all of this, he has not lost faith in himself. This speech tonight is expected to be different from what weve been hearing from him. Well see how he carries out that speech in the days to come. Thats the important part of it. Relishing the applause there, and a lot of invited guests here, each telling a story of their own. First Lady Melania Trump has a number of guests who will be referred to as we await the president s remarks. There is a lot of invited guests, and the gallery as i know where everybody talked about nancy pelosi warning House Democrats not to do anything, but the gallon rirergallery, th listen to leadership. Theyre not members of congress. Theyre there as political activists. I wouldnt be surprised and some have boycotted and are not attending. It feels like its a loud gallery. We just saw nancy pelosi quieting her troops. Lets not forget as we see general sessions this is a criminal under investigation right now on obstruction of justice with the russia investigation, so a lot going on in the backdrop. I have the high privilege and distinct honor of presenting to you the president of the United States. [ applause ] there is a missing major figure in this hall tonight that we ought not to forget about, and that is the special prosecutor of the United States, who is at this hour probably meeting with his team, deciding where they go now. He sort of hovers over the cha chamber, doesnt he . Thats an extraordinarily important part of whats going on in washington, d. C. Despite all the braggart of this setting and the television photos, members of the Supreme Court and members of the cabinet, out there is a highly regarded investigator who is looking into whether or not he broke the law. Mr. Vice president , members of congress, the first lady of the United States, and my fellow americans. Less than one year has passed since i first stood at this podium in this majestic chamber to speak on behalf of the American People and to address their concerns, their hopes, and their dreams. That night our new administration had already taken very swift action. A new tide of optimism was already sweeping across our land. Each day since, we have gone forward with a clear vision and a righteous mission. To make America Great again for all americans. [ applause ] over the last year, we have made incredible progress and achieved extraordinary success. We have faced challenges we expected and others we could never have imagined. We have shared in the heights of victory and the pains of hardship. We have endured floods and fires and storms. But through it all, we have seen the beauty of americas soul and the steel in americas spine. Each test has forged new american heroes to remind us who we are and show us what we can be. We saw the volunteers of the cajun navy racing to the rescue with their fishing boats to save people in the aftermath of a totally devastating hurricane. We saw strangers shielding strangers from the hail of gunfire on the las vegas strip. We heard tales of americans like coast guard petty officer Ashlee Leppert who is here tonight in the gallery with melania. [ applause ] ashlee was aboard one of the first helicopters in houston during hurricane harvey. Through 13 hours of wind and rain, ashlee braved live power lines and deep water to help save more than 40 lives. Ashlee, we all thank you. Thank you very much. [ applause ] we heard about americans like Firefighter David dahlberg. David faced down walls of flame to rescue almost 60 children trapped in a california summer camp threatened by those devastating wildfires. To everyone still recovering in texas, florida, louisiana, puerto rico and the virgin islands, everywhere we are with you, we love you, and we always will pull through together always. [ applause ] thank you to david and the brave people of california. Thank you very much, david. Great job. Some trials over the past year touched this chamber very personally. With us tonight is one of the toughest people ever to serve in this house, a guy who took a bullet, almost died and was back to work three and a half months later, the legend from louisiana, congressman steve scalise. [ applause ] i think they like you, steve. Were incredibly grateful for the heroic efforts of the Capitol Police officers, the alexandria police, and the doctors, nurses and paramedics who saved his life and the lives of many others, some in this room. And the aftermath yes. Yes. [ applause ] in the aftermath of that terrible shooting, we came together not as republicans or democrats but as representatives of the people. But it is not enough to come together only in times of tragedy. Tonight i call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out Common Ground and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people. This is really the key. These are the people we were elected to serve. [ applause ] over the last year, the world has seen what we always knew, that no people on earth are so fearless or daring or determined as americans. If there is a mountain, we climb it. If there is a frontier, we cross it. If there is a challenge, we tame it. If there is an opportunity, we seize it. So lets begin tonight by recognizing that the state of our union is strong, because our people are strong. [ applause ] and together we are building a safe, strong, and proud america. Since the election, we have created 2. 4 million new jobs, including [ applause ] including 200,000 new jobs in manufacturing alone. Tremendous number. [ applause ] after years and years of wage stagnation, we are finally seeing rising wages. [ applause ] unemployment claims have hit a 45year low. [ applause ] and something im very proud of, africanamerican unemployment stands at the lowest rate ever recorded. [ applause ]. And hispanicamerican unemployment has also reached the lowest levels in history. [ applause ] Small Business confidence is at an alltime high. The stock market has smashed one record after another, gaining 8 trillion and more in value in just this short period of time. The great news [ applause ] the great news for americans, 401 k retirement pension and College Savings accounts have gone through the roof. And just as i promised the American People from this podium 11 months ago, we enacted the biggest tax cuts and reforms in american history. [ applause ] our massive tax cuts provide tremendous relief for the middle class and Small Business. To lower tax rates for hardworking americans, we nearly doubled the standard deduction for everyone. [ applause ] now the first 24,000 earned by a married couple is completely tax free. [ applause ] we also doubled the child tax credit. [ applause ] a typical family of four making 75,000 will see their tax bill reduced by 2,000, slashing their tax bill in half. In april, this will be the last time you will ever file under the old and very broken system, and millions of americans will have more takehome pay starting next month, a lot more. [ applause ] we eliminated an especially cruel tax that fell mostly on americans making less than 50,000 a year, forcing them to pay tremendous penalties simply because they couldnt afford governmentordered health plans. We repeal the core of the disastrous obamacare, the individual mandate is now gone. Thank heaven. [ applause ] we slashed the business tax rate from 35 all the way down to 21 so American Companies can compete and win against anyone else anywhere in the world. [ applause ] these changes alone are estimated to increase average Family Income by more than 4,000. A lot of money. [ applause ] Small Businesses have also received a massive tax cut and can now deduct 20 of their business income. Here tonight are steve staub and sand y keplinger of a Small Business in ohio. They just finished their 20th year in business history. [ applause ] because of tax reform, they are handing out raises, hiring an additional 14 people and expanding into the building next door. [ applause ] good feeling. One of staubs employees, corey adams, is also with us tonight. Corey is an allamerican worker. He supported himself through high school, lost his job during the 2008 recession and was later hired by staub where he trained to become a welder. Like many hardworking americans, corey plans to invest his tax cut raise into his new home and his two daughters educations. Corey, please stand. [ applause ] and is hes a great welder. I was told that by the man that owns that company thats doing so well. Congratulations, corey. Since we passed tax cuts, roughly 3 million workers have already gotten tax cut bonuses, many of them thousands and thousands of dollars per worker, and its getting more every month, every week. Apple has Just Announced it plans to invest a total of 350 billion in america and hire another 20,000 workers. [ applause ] and just a little while ago, exxonmobil announced a 50 billion investment in the United States, just a little while ago. [ applause ] this, in fact, is our new american moment. There has never been a better time to start living the american dream. So to every citizen watching at home tonight, no matter where youve been or where youve come from, this is your time. If you work hard, if you believe in yourself, if you believe in america, then you can dream anything, you can be anything, and together we can achieve absolutely anything. [ applause ] tonight i want to talk about what kind of future were going to have and what kind of a nation were going to be. All of us together, as one team, one people, and one American Family can do anything. We all share the same home, the same heart, the same destiny and the same Great American flag. [ applause ] together we are rediscovering the american way. In america, we know that faith and family, not government and bureaucracy, are the center of American Life. The motto is in god we trust. [ applause ] and we celebrate our police, our military and our amazing veterans as heroes who deserve our total and unwavering support. Here tonight is preston sharp, a 12yearold boy from reading, california who noticed that american flags were not marked on veterans day. He decided by himself to change that and started a movement that has now placed 40,000 flags at the graves of our american heroes. Preston, a job well done. [ applause ] young people like preston teach all of us about our american civic duty. I met preston a while ago and he is something special, i can tell you. Great future. Thank you for all youve done, preston. Thank you very much. [ applause ] prestons reverence for those who have served our nation reminds us of why we salute our flag, why we put our hands on our hearts for the pledge of allegiance, and why we proudly stand for the national anthem. [ applause ] [ applause ] americans love their country and they deserve a government that shows them the same love and loyalty in return. For the last year, we have sought to restore the bonds of trust between our citizens and their gov