Ah, theyll be like this for hours. Hello dad, hello dad, hello da. Uhoh. Good bunnies. Ahh the plans the biden and trump campaigns have to woo them to their side. Ivf protection signed into law in alabama, why the political fight over reproductive rights is still far from over. And later a new midair scare, what caused flames to shoot from a united planes engine just moments after takeoff. It is 10 00 a. M. Eastern, 7 00 a. M. Pacific, im jose diazbalart in for ana cabrera. We begin with one of the most important speeches President Biden will give this year, the state of the Union Address set for 9 00 p. M. Eastern, 6 00 p. M. Pacific tonight. We expect the president to highlight his administrations accomplishments so far and what he still hopes to do and lay out the stakes of the upcoming election. With his general election rematch with donald trump now set. Joining us is nbcs monica alba from the white house and sahil kapur from capitol hill. Monica, good morning, what r we hearing from the white house about this evenings speech . Reporter of course it is very high stakes, jose, and its a speech that the president has been working on for days. Thematically hes been working on it for months, so youre going to be hearing a lot of familiar themes in terms of what the white house views as its major accomplishments of the first three years of this term and the president s pitch for what he argues he could do with another four years in office. This is the latest ever State Of The Union in terms of the calendar, and thats actually something that the white house and the Biden Campaign are welcoming because they feel like they can build on some of the momentum they argue from Super Tuesday earlier in the week in terms of framing this as a real general election choice, and this contrast with a republican vision, which youre certainly going to hear on a lot of different topics including on immigration, on the economy, on taxes in particular, and on this larger overall theme of freedom and choice and on having that ability to really defend democracy, which the president is going to be speaking to as well, when it comes to things like Reproductive Health care and abortion access, you can expect to hear a lot of that in the speech tonight, and of course, jose, theres always these moments that are a little bit unscripted that are more spontaneous. The white house is ready for that. A year ago that was one of the standout moments they felt when there was a little bit of back and forth with those in the chamber on entitlement and social security. Could there be another moment like that, thats possible. Something else we also watch for are the guests of the state of union. The first lady always likes to come with a list of people who are coming from various different backgrounds that represent different priorities. Youre going to be seeing a woman, Latoya Beasley whose Embryo Transfer was canceled as a result of that Alabama Supreme Court decision recently. Theyre going to be highlighting Reproductive Health care. Youre going to be seeing a Middle School educator, something thats important to the first lady and her work in office. Youre going to be seeing people who represent important aspects on Gun Violence Prevention in addition to someone named shawn fain who is the president of the united autoworkers, a key union that recently backed the president. And on the Foreign Policy stage, the Prime Minister of sweden will be there, which is significant given their recent addition to nato. Of course there are the domestic issues i just laid out, and then theres plenty we also expect from the Foreign Policy perspective when it comes to the continued war in ukraine and the israelhamas war and highlighting those remaining hostages who are still in gaza. And sahil, i mean, monica is talking about those unexpected moments like we saw last year during the state of union then, but House Speaker is now warning lawmakers about their behavior during the speech this year. Whats he telling them . Reporter thats right, jose. This will be speaker Mike Johnsons first time on the lectern at a State Of The Union with the president , and the speaker is asking his republican members to exercise restraint, to be respectful, and to show restraint. Thats according to a source that spoke to kristen welker. Last year republicans had a series of outbursts during the president s speech. Marjorie Taylor Greene was among several republicans who yelled, interrupted, heckled the president. Johnson is urging them not this time. Were eight months before a election, and he would like to show voters that republicans are a Serious Party worthy of their trust ahead of the election. The other more unique dynamic for President Biden is that he might potentially be facing some of this from the left this time given that prominent democrats keep getting protests, especially over the issue of u. S. Policy in israel during this war in gaza right now. Thats been a fixture of democratic events. Thats not to say thats necessarily going to happen, pu its certainly a possibility. Members can invite their own guests who can say what they want. And of course eight months before the election, democrats want to see this president make a forceful case for his achievements. They believe he has a great story to tell about economic recovery, and that this will be a huge part of trying to convince voters that the last four years were a success and that he deserves another four years. Take a listen to what House Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries said in this space recently. I think the president will also make clear that we know we have to finish the job, that there are still affordability challenges that we have to address on behalf of everyday americanss. Were willing to do that in a bipartisan way, but that President Biden has a vision to grow the middle class. Reporter and lastly, theres the intangible, jose. Everyone knows the president s age is a concern for many voters. Democrats want him to go out there, deliver a vigorous speech and make them feel like hes still got this and can do this for another four years. The republicans have chosen senator katie britt from alabama to deliver the response. Republicans are particularly excited about the visual contrast here between President Biden, the oldest sitting president and senator katie britt, a freshman senator. She is 42 years old. She hasnt telegraphed a lot about what she is going to say. She has issued some fundraising emails that give us a hint here. She was first elected in 2022. Katie britt likes to talk about her story, her family, you know, being a mom of school aged children. She tends to call herself a momma on a mission. She likes to talk about republicans as the party of families. Shes mentioned in these fundraising emails the America First agenda. She has endorsed donald trump for president like most republicans have. One interesting thing to watch will be how she navigate this is need to throw red meat to the conservative base with appealing to these suburban moderate independent voters who have moved away from republicans in these last several years. That is not an easy balance to strike. Republican leaders made clear yesterday they hope this State Of The Union will be President Bidens last. Monica alba and sahil kapur, thank you both so very much. And for more on this, we are joined by former florida Congressman David Jollies and julian castro, former secretary of housing and urban development. Both are msnbc political analysts. Julian, what do you think are the stakes tonight for the president at this so important event . Last year on lineal, Traditional Television about 27 Million People watched this speech. If you add in all the people who watched clips or watch it online on some other platform, this is far more people that are going to watch any other speech that hes going to give this year, probably until the debates perhaps. This is a super important moment for him. I think three things. First of all, this is the last point that sahil made. For President Biden, its as much about how he comes out, whether hes energetic and optimistic. He seems robust as what he says. So i think he needs to beat the expectations game today and maybe take a page out of reagans playbook. You know, the other day i watched the 1982 state of the Union Address, and this is when inflation was sky high in less than a year after reagan had been shot, and a lot of worries about the 82 election, which they didnt do well in, the republicans. But there was reagan optimistic, and smiling and giving people confidence that he was with it. Joe biden can do that tonight. Hes done it before. Secondly, i think he needs to shore up his base, particularly on this issue of the israelhamas war. Its clear that the administration wants to make a pivot. Tonight is the opportunity to make a stronger pivot toward calling for a cease fire, putting more pressure on netanyahu, and then i think he has the chance as he always does in a contrast with donald trump to be the adult in the room. Thats why people elected him in 2020. He was the adult in the room. He was the steady hand. Thats still important, especially for people that are not super partisan. He has a chance to show that again tonight. David, what are you watching for in tonights speech . Look, i think joe biden is actually made for these moments. He always over performs in these moments. We saw it last year when he went impromptu and played rope a dope with rick scott, and i think he has a good message to tell, so we will see a very confident joe biden. Look, the partisanship sin ev inevitable in these rooms. The two parties see the world differently. I think what joe biden always bridges which ultimately meets americans right where they are is the ability to turn partisanship on its head and say tonight for instance to republicans, join me, work with me for the economy. Dont root against the economy. Work with me to secure the border. Dont try to defeat legislation when we have a solution in front of us. Joe biden has a good story to tell on his legislative agenda thus far and what he wants to do, and i think he will highlight that the obstructionism is by the do nothing republican conference in congress, and he always did tuz does it with a certain gentility. These are the moments for which joe biden is made, and i think well see a very strong president tonight. Julian, do you think that the president should take on the former president somehow in this evenings speech directly . I mean, thats not really the venue for it, but there is some very real important issues that the president has versus the former president. Well, i think he does that by speaking about whats been accomplished. One of the lines that hes used very well during the trump administration, it was infrastructure week for four years, but they never got anything done. They got infrastructure done. So by pointing out those accomplishments, thats an understated contrast to trump. I think his style, as i said, in coming off as steady and as president ial, what we always have thought of as president ial until trump came along is a contrast, and i would imagine that his Speech Writing Team will find a couple of ways that are not over the top to contrast with trump as well. Now especially that the race is clarified, its going to be biden versus trump. There is no more mystery about the primary process, so this is the time to do it in a big setting, but to do it without coming off as somehow being beneath the president in that moment. And you have to strike that balance. Yeah, i mean, david, trump has said hes going to be watching the speech closely. Trump posted on his social pages that hell be doing a live playbyplay of the speech, and hes challenging President Biden to a debate, quote, anytime, anywhere, anyplace. What should the president do about this . Ignore it. Donald trumps just upset the cameras not on him tonight, and thats okay. Thats the way the rules work. Look, im a bit of an institutionalist who believes not just in the congress but also on the import of the state of the Union Address and the ability of a president to connect with the american people. Tonight is not a campaign speech. Joe biden will have that opportunity. I believe he hits the road after this speech and will certainly lean in to campaign themes. But as julian said, the vision for the future of the country is a contrast that will isolate donald trump without ever having to mention him. Joe biden is working for an economy for all people. Fair border laws and respect for those who are currently here in the country without documentation. Access to health care, access to education, a more balanced tax code. Hes going to talk about balancing and going after some of the loopholes for the very wealthy and billionaires. So that contrast will draw itself, and on the fundamental theme that bidens so strong about protecting democracy, it will really isolate donald trump without ever having to mention the former president s name. Tonight is a night about representing the presidency, representing the country. You can do that if youre joe biden without having to point a finger at donald trump. Julian, how does the president , you think, best deal with and explain the humanitarian crisis that is a humanitarian crisis at the border but its now a humanitarian crisis throughout our country. How does the president define and explain that . I think he has to define it as an issue, as he has, of maintaining order at the border and recognizing the very real concerns that especially communities along the border whether theyre in arizona or texas or even in california have, and even in these big cities, the concerns that mayors have voiced. So to do that, to show that he had a plan, they had a plan to do something about it, that hes being proactive, we can agree or disagree about what was in that plan. But now, he can argue, look, i tried to do something, and republicans didnt go along. They did not meet us in the middle. They really just want this as a political talking point. And then he does, i think, for the base of the Democratic Party that cares about compassion and humanity toward migrants, he needs to assure them that he also does have that heart. That he is trying to make sure that people are respected and that we have an Asylum Process that still maintains its standing as respectful of the aspirations of people who are coming here for refuge from around the world, but recognizes that, you know, a limited number of people are going to be able to receive that. That, i think, is the tight rope that he has to walk. Because in this election for joe biden, he needs to address. Haleys voters. Very importantly, the haley voter is not a monolithic group, and so i think republicans are trying to bring back into the fold those voters that they know are traditional kind of jeb bush Chamber Of Commerce republicans. They preferred haley over trump, but what we also know is that a number of haley voters voted for nikki haley because they simply see donald trump as unfit. And for those voters, joe biden represents a normalcy and a stability, a defense of freedom and a western alliance, a fairness and a respect for our institutions, the protection of democracy, and so joe biden is going to those voters saying, listen, patriotism ahead of partisanship. We can restore stability in the country by defeating donald trump once and for all. I think those voters will respond very well. Former congressman david jolly and julian castro, thanks so much for being with us this morning. 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