Good evening, and the White House President Biden getting ready to face a newly divided

Congress and the American people at a pivotal moment in his presidency.

He will soon leave for the U.S. Capitol to report on the state of the Union and to make

an opening argument for his expected run for a second term.

Amanda Sincuper, this is a special edition of AC360.

And I'm Jake Tapper.

We are counting down to President Biden's big speech about an hour from now and his

entrance into the House Chamber where Republicans are now in charge for the first time since

Biden took office.

New House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will be seated behind the president, a visible reminder

of the political pressures on President Biden as the GOP-led House challenges his agenda

and launches a slew of investigations.

President Biden is expected to try to use his biggest national TV audience of the year to

test the waters for his 2024 campaign message.

New excerpts of the speech reveal that he will make and a direct appeal to Americans in

economic pain as he tries to make the case that the United States is better off under his

watch.

Among the most anticipated moments tonight, we're told that the president is planning to

address his order to shoot down that Chinese spy balloon after it's revealed the U.S.

four days.

We'll see how far he goes in discussing what actually happened as well as the increasingly

tense U.S. relationship with China.

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