If it's Tuesday, it's one of the biggest stages in American politics, the state of the Union,

as President Biden braces for a fight with Congress over the fate of the country and the future of his presidency.

Plus, the death toll surpasses 7,000 in Turkey and Syria, as emergency services and international aid groups

rush to save lives in the aftermath of

that catastrophic earthquake. And the Pentagon admits to surveillance blind spots that allowed

spy balloons to fly undetected over U.S. airspace as officials combed through what remains

of the Chinese spy balloon.

Thank you. home through what remains of the Chinese spy balloon. Welcome to meet the press now. I'm Kristen Welker in Washington, where we are just hours away from

President Biden's State of the Union

addressed tonight in front of a joint session of Congress and the American people.

It comes at a pivotal moment in his presidency as he addresses a divided Congress for the first time

while laying the groundwork for his own re-election bid.

Two senior officials tell NBC News the president will seek to reaffirm a core promise of his

2020 campaign, restoring the soul of the nation. He will also unveil a new message,

finish the job. And one White House official tells us the president will talk about the progress

the country has made in recovering from the pandemic since he took office. The president himself

says he views his objective tonight

in fairly straightforward terms. Here's some of what he told reporters yesterday ahead of the address.

I want to talk to the American people and let them know the state of affairs, what's going on,

what I'm looking forward to working on from this point on, what we done and just have a conversation with American people.

The president will be having that conversation with a nation that, according to recent polling,

is unhappy with the current state of affairs and his handling of the economy.

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