Tuesday, january 12th, 2016. Announcer from nbc news, this is a special edition of today at the white house with matt lauer and Savannah Guthrie live from washington, d. C. And good morning, everybody. Welcome to a special edition of today on this Tuesday Morning. Were on the steps of the white house. I have to say that qualifies as special. We are on the north portico, a moment of history for us, for this show and where so much history has been made. On the cool scale this one is off the charts. We want to luis alicea thank you to the obamas and everyone here at the white house for the access they have granted us. Its unbelievable. They have rolled out the red carpet, the blue carpet and green carpet and so much to show you. Shall we go inside, shall we knock. Just for you, ladies, its cold out. Im going to knock loudly. Hope they are n n late sleepers. Welcome to the white house. The obamas have so graciously stomping grounds. Jenna bush hager. Seems like a time warp here. Im goingo shuthe front door. Thats good. Theres a little bit of a chill. When jenna walked in they said hey, twinkle. Her old secret service name. Because of the twinkle in the eye. Were here on a very big day for the guy who lives here. Later tonight president obama will travel a short distance to the capitol and deliver his final state of the Union Address. The white house shared some exclusive photos with us. Take a look, the president working on the address in the oval office with top advisers just in the past couple of days. In fact, we were given an inside look into how this speech comes together. Were told this is going to be unlike any state of the union at the president has delivered. Not going to be a laundry list of agenda items but a big view picture of the country future and in this heated Election Year it will be closely watched. I spoke with the president about this speech and a lot of other topics on monday and well a moment, and as we mentioned well hear from Vice President joe biden as well. That will be a live interview. Lets start this morning with the state of the Union Address. Nbc National CorrespondentPeter Alexander is over on capitol hill. Peter, good morning to you. Reporter matt, good morning to you. What a special day here on the today show. This wont be the president s last state of the Union Address, im told it will be his shortest and might be the shortest state of the Union Address thats been delivered in more than 25 years. The president and lead speech writer exchanging drafts of this address early this morning after midnight. President obama, even as seven in ten americans think the country is headed in the wrong direction, will focus on upbeat optimistic vision of the future, even as he has less control over this countrys political agenda than ever before. Behind him tonight for the first time will be the House Speaker paul ryan and also perhaps for his last time in the chamber the Vice President joe biden. After more than 40 years in Public Service he says hell not run for the president of the Democrat Members of congress have been encouraged to bring Muslim Americans with them to show open mindedness in the face of some of the republicans campaigning, including that of donald trump. The first lady will leave a seat empty for victims of gun violence who do not have a voice and will also be joined by a syrian refugee. Well see you moments from now. Peter alexander from capitol hill. Nbc will bring you the state of the Union Address at 9 00 eastern, 6 00 out on the west coast. As we said, its very special to be inside this building. Want to give you a better sense of where were standing right now. Heres an overview of the white house complex that sits on 18 acres. On either end you have the west wing and the west wing. The west wing is where the oval office is and the east wing contains the first ladys office and staff and were just a short walk away f fm there now in whats known acts executive residence, the Central Building in this complex, and specifically we are in the blue room on the residence state floor. The blue room is used for a president obama was sworn in for his second term, that in 2013. Its home to some lighter moments as well, like the president introducing pope francis to sonny and bo, the dogs that live at the white house as well and the blue breen is joined by the red room and green room. Well take you on a rare live tour of it all coming this up morning. But first lets talk about our wideranging conversation with president obama. We walked these halls with him on monday and talked about tonights speech, his legacy as president and the campaign to take over the highest office in the land. Youre greeting us on the eve of the state of the union, your final state of the union. Are you going to miss the ritual of walking into that room and looking out over a joint session of congress and members of the cabinet, Supreme Court, dignitaries up above, are you going to miss that ritual . Its a wonderful spectacle. I remember the first time i did the door, and mr. Speaker, the president of the United States, and you walk down that row and members of both parties are on either side and they will shake your hands, and as you said, you sese all of government gathered in one place. Its the one time of the night where even the Opposing Side stands and cheers you. Thats not just the cheers. Its a sense of a celebration of democracy there. Hes no doubt that i will always remember the ritual, whether im going to miss writing the speech leading up to it, i dont know. Well see how this one goes. Us a stand in that room, you will be looking out over a room that arguably is as divided as it has ever been. Do you see that as a failure of your presidency . You came to town saying it was about hope and change. Right. You were going to change the tone in washington. You wanted to unite people. Right. And they are not united. Is it a failure . I could not be prouder of what weve accomplished and sometimes we look at the past through rosecolored glasses. Its been pretty divided in the past. Theres been times where people beat each other with canes and we had things like the civil war so there have been times where its been pretty rough, but theres no doubt that politics in washington are so much more divided than the American People are, and part of what i want to do in this last addrere is to remind people, you know what. Weve got a lot of good things going for us, and if we can get our politics right, it turns out that were not as divided on the ideological spectrum as people make us out to be. I know in your speech its traditional to say the state of the union is strong. When it comes to the emotional state of our union and when i go out and talk to people the words i hear them most often in terms of how they are feeling right now. Right. They talk about fear. They talk about fatigue. Right. Any of those words surprise you . No. I think, you know, we went through a lot over these last ten years. We went through katrina. We went through the iraq war. We went through the worst financial crisis in our lifetimes. We are still battling terrorism. People are still recovering from some of the economic blows that hit, and it is sometimes important for us to step back and take measure of how far weve come. The economy right now is doing better than any other economy in the world by a significant margin. We remain the strongest nation on earth by far and there are no existential threats facing us, but if we make some good choices now, whoever the next president next congress there, hes no reason why we shouldnt own the 21st century. You shade theres no existential threat facing us. That fear though is still incredibly real. Yeah. And in some ways its driving the current president ial campaign. Youve got a guy like donald trump and others who have recognized and identified that fear. Right. And in some ways they are running on it. Yeah. Do you take responsibility for that, and the reason i ask it is people said after eight years of george w. Bush in the white house the American People were hungry for your message of hope and change. Right. So after seven years of the Obama Presidency do you feel youre responsible for a certain hunger out there for the message that donald trump is putting out . The message that donald trump is putting out has had adherence a lot of times during the course of our history. You know, talk to me if he wins, then well have a conversation about how respoible i feel about it, but im pretty majority of americans are looking for the kind of politics that does feed our hopes and notot our fears, that does Work Together and doesnt try to divide us, that isnt looking for sim police tinge solutions and scapegoating but looks for us, you know, buckling down and figuring out how to do we make things work for the next generation. So when you stabbed and deliver that state of the Union Address in no part of your mind or brain can you imagine donald trump standing up one day and delivering a state of f e Union Address . Well, i can imagine it in a saturday night skit. Look, anything is possible, and i think, you know, we shouldnt be complacent. I think erybodys got to work hard. Our tour ended in the oval office. I would never have guessed in a million years that i would step into the oval office, probably the most recognizable office in you and say this. What did you make of sean penn and el chapo . Seriously, when you saw that picture of him shaking hands and know that he spent seven hours interviewing him, what did you make that have . First of all, i want to compliment the Mexican Government because, you know, them capturing him and as we go through an extradition process potentially, he is disabled and that affects their ability to the Mexican Governments ability to really crack down on some of f the terrible crimes that are committed by these narco traffickers that i think is important. Now in, terms of how an interview like that gets set up and journalistic ethics, i figure youre probably in a better position to opine on that. Last question. Isis is such a huge concern for people. Right. Not only are they carrying attacks out in the middle east anymore but they are inspiring attacks in europe and here in places like san bernardino. Over the weekend. Your daughters are young ladies. When they get to be your age, president obama, do you believe in your heart that they will be living in a world that is dealing with the threat of radical islam on a daily basis . I am absolutely confident we will have defeated isil. I dont think we have to wait until they are 54 for that to happen. Ultimately what isil represents is a blind alley for the region, and people will recognize that, the same way that over time they turned on al qaeda because they saw that this doesnt lead anywhere. Youve got a lot on your plate, and youre nice to spend time with me. Really appreciate it the. Okay. Mr. President , thank you. Happy new year. You, too. Something cool about standing with the president in the oval office. Not an everyday occurrence for you or me. And not the only time that he spoke about his family. He spoke about the balancing act of being president of the United States and being a husband and as a matter of fact, in our next part of our conversation were also going to have some talk about what he hopes that he can inject into the state of the Union Tonight that americans havent heard before. Look forward to in a. By the way, tomorrow, a little perspective from the other side of the aisle. Well sit down with House Speaker paul ryan. And in a few minutes from now well hear from Vice President joe biden. Hell be here for a live interview. Im going to step down to the navy mess and do that in a couple of moments and lets go to natalie now with the mornings other top stories. Good morning. Breaking news, an explosion in a popular istanbul tourist areas has killed at least 10 people and injured 15 others. State run television has reported it was likely caused by a suicide bomber. Nbcs chief Foreign Correspondent r rhard engel is in istanbul with us with the latest. Richard, good morning. Reporter good morning. That explosion took place just about 30, 40 yards behind me. There was not a tourist in the world who does not know this location. Istanbul right between the blue mosque and iai sophia. A witness said he heard an explosion, came out and saw bodies on the ground. You tour groups that were here, the School Groups that were here ran away. The tourists went back to their hotels. Though they closed the doors. All the shops in the area pulled down their shutters. The turkish president says that a syrian suicide bomber is believed responsible. Natalie, back to you. Richard engel in istanbul, thank you, richard. Actor sean penn is defending himself over a meeting with mexican drug lord Joaquin El Chapo gudman who has since been captured. Penn said he has nothing to hide after photos indicate he was under surveillance when we met with the mexican actress that led him to guzman. Mexico released this video of the government siege that ended with el chapos capture. The video shows marines firing shots as they barged into el Officials Say el chapo made one lastditch effort to try to escape through an underground tunnel. Mexico is formally starting extradition paroledings to send guzman to the United States. And the party in tuscaloosa probably still going on this morning. After alabama won College FootballsNational Championship late monday night, Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry scored three touchdowns for the crimson tide on their way to a 4540 win over clemson. It is alabamas Fourth National title in seven years, and for head Coach Nick Saban it the his fifth. Congratulations. Some good football all year round. An awesome team. Congratulations to clemson, too, on a fantastic year. Definitely. Natalie, thank you very much. Lets get a first check of the weather from the white house. Al is outside whats called the navy mess. Al, good morning. Hey, good morning, guys. This is here on the ground floor in the west wing. By harry truman back in 1951 11951. Just down the hall is the situation room. I cant show you this. I can show you the grereest to go cup in the world, look al that, the president ial seal. This is where junior staffers order breakfast. For example, could i get a large oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar, absolutely. Thank you very much, sir. Its run by the navy so hence the term navy mess. Down here is where thehe senior staffers eat. This is actually inside of the navy mess so kind of cool. A lot going on. People all working on the state of the Union Address tonight. Its a beehive of activity obviously. Lets get you caught up on your weather and show you whats going on. This cold, brutal blast of air. Look at some of these temperatures with the windchills. It feels brutal out there. Chicago 6 below. Feels like 15 in pittsburgh, 27, new york city feels like 7 in burlington and windchill advisories up until noon today. 7 Million People under those were going to get to youou you owned your car for four years, you named it brad. You loved brad. And then you totaled him. You two had been through everything together. Two boyfriends, three jobs. Youre like nothing can replace brad. Then Liberty Mutual calls, and you break into your happy dance. If you sign up for better car replacement , well pay for a car thats a model year newer with 15,000 fewer miles than your old one. See Car Insurance in a whole new light. All right. Thank you very much, sir. Youre welcome. Hey, you know what. Savannah is coming down, and she is going right in there behind those beautiful doors. She will be here in just a little bit. Matt, can i get you anything . Yeah. In one of those cups just to go, thank you very much. Al. Appreciate it. As we mention, savannahs going to talk to the Vice President joe biden live in our next half hour, but right now were really happy to have his wife dr. Jill biden with us as shes getting ready, by the way, to head off to work. Doctor, thank you. Nice to be here. What time . 8 00 class. This is the first day of the new semester. Busy day for you . Exciting day for me. I go to school and then come back here for the state of the union. This is going to be your last state of the union in this capacity. What are your thoughts about that . Well, you know, its kind of bittersuite. Its been a great seven, eight years, and ive enjoyed its joe, for our family. I have some regrets. For example, what . Well, i guess ill miss the excitement, i mean, look at this, on my way to school i get to come to the white house to have an interview. Is it ever a little bit frustrating to sit in that box and watch that speech and see the room so divided i . Just talked to the president about it. I think it is sometimes. You know, when joe and i first came into government, it wasnt as divided as it is now. Thereto was a lot more civility, and its a big difference. Your husband made news last week. He was doing an interview and he said he regrets every day his decision not to run for president in this campaign. Was it hard to hear him say that . It was because i know h