on cw18. brett: an set of running away from the circus, we are bringing them into the newsroom. good morning. breaking news. a deadly explosion in istanbul's popular tourist district. the fireball captured on camera. at least 10 dead, 15 injured. reports it was a suicide bomber. nbc's richard engel is there live. nothing to hide. sean penn defends his controversial interview with the wanted el chapo as new images emerge of his secret journey to meet the elusive drug lord and

chapo back behind bars. crimson pride. alabama outlasts clemson to win college football's national championship. the school's fourth title in just seven years. >> reaches for it. and a morning show first. it is america's most famous address, 1600 pennsylvania avenue, home to every u.s. president but one, the center of power in america. >> the cost of freedom is always high but americans have always paid it. >> site of some of the most important events in history. as president obama gets set to deliver his last state of the union address to the nation tonight. we'll talk to him. >> you wanted to unite people, and they are not united. is it a failure? >> and the vice president as well, an unprecedented morning live at the white house today,

>> 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. we're 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. it's 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, it's cold out. >> i'm going to knock loudly. hope they are not late sleepers. >> welcome to the white house. the obamas have so graciously

invited you back to my old stomping grounds. >> jenna bush hager. >> seems like a time warp here. >> i'm going to shut the front door. >> that's good. there's 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. >> we're 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. >> we're told this is going to be unlike any state of the union that 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 we'll

a moment, and as we mentioned we'll hear from vice president joe biden as well. that will be a live interview. let's start this morning with the state of the union address. nbc national correspondent peter 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 won't be the president's last state of the union address, i'm told it will be his shortest and might be the shortest state of the union address that's 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 country's 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 he'll not run for the president of the

united states, of course. 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. we'll 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, it's very special to be inside this building. want to give you a better sense of where we're standing right now. here's 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 lady's office and staff and we're just a short walk away from there now in what's 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 lot of different things, where president obama was sworn in for his second term, that in 2013. it's home to some lighter moments as well, like the president introducing pope francis to sonny and b o, the dogs that live at the white house as well and the blue breen is joined by the red room and green room. we'll take you on a rare live tour of it all coming this up morning. but first let's talk about our wide-ranging conversation with president obama. we walked these halls with him on monday and talked about tonight's speech, his legacy as president and the campaign to take over the highest office in the land. you're 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? >> it's 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 see all of government gathered in one place. >> it's the one time of the night where even the opposing side stands and cheers you. >> that's not just the cheers. it's a sense of a celebration of democracy there. he's no doubt that i will always remember the ritual, whether i'm going to miss writing the speech leading up to it, i don't know. we'll 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 we've accomplished and sometimes we look at the past through rose-colored glasses. it's been pretty divided in the past. there's been times where people beat each other with canes and we had things like the civil war so there have been times where it's been pretty rough, but there's 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 address is to remind people, you know what. we've got a lot of good things going for us, and if we can get our politics right, it turns out that we're not as divided on the ideological spectrum as people make us out to be. >> i know in your speech it's 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 frustration. 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 we've 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

is, whoever is controlling the next congress there, he's no reason why we shouldn't own the 21st century. >> you shade there's no existential threat facing us. incredibly real. >> yeah. >> and in some ways it's driving the current presidential campaign. you've got a guy like donald recognized and identified that >> 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 you're 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 we'll have a conversation about how responsible i feel

confident that the overwhelming majority of americans are looking for the kind of politics that does feed our hopes and not our fears, that does work together and doesn't try to divide us, that isn't 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 the union address? >> well, i can imagine it in a saturday night skit. look, anything is possible, and i think, you know, we shouldn't be complacent. i think everybody's 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 the world, and step in here with 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 government's ability to really crack down on some of 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 you're 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.

i think even in philadelphia 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 don't 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 doesn't lead anywhere. >> you've got a lot on your plate, and you're 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

father and we'll talk more about that. as a matter of fact, in our next part of our conversation we're also going to have some talk about what he hopes that he can inject into the state of the union tonight that americans haven't heard before. >> look forward to in a. >> by the way, tomorrow, a little perspective from the other side of the aisle. we'll sit down with house speaker paul ryan. >> and in a few minutes from now we'll hear from vice president joe biden. he'll be here for a live interview. i'm going to step down to the navy mess and do that in a couple of moments and let's go to natalie now with the morning's 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. nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard 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 chapo's capture. the video shows marines firing

shots as they barged into el chapo's safe house. officials say el chapo made one last-ditch 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 football's national championship late monday night, heisman trophy winner derrick henry scored three touchdowns for the crimson tide on their way to a 45-40 win over clemson. it is alabama's 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. let's get a first check of the weather from the white house. al is outside what's 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 1 1951. just down the hall is the situation room. i can't show you this. i can show you the greatest to go cup in the world, look al that, the presidential 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. >> it's run by the navy so hence the term navy mess. down here is where the 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. it's a beehive of activity obviously. let's get you caught up on your weather and show you what's 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 windchill advisories.

we're going to get to your r you owned your car for four years, you named it brad. you loved brad. and then you totaled him. ryou two had been through everything together. two boyfriends, three jobs... t you're like nothing can replace brad. then liberty mutual calls, r and you break into your happy dance. if you sign up for better car replacement , we'll pay for a car that's a model year newer with 15,000 fewer miles than your old one. see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance. amy: good morning, another cold start for your tuesday. 30' s and 40' s today.

>> all right. thank you very much, sir. >> you're 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, savannah's going to talk to the vice president joe biden live in our next half hour, but right now we're really happy to have his wife dr. jill biden with us as she's 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, it's kind of bittersuite. it's been a great seven, eight years, and i've enjoyed -- it's

been a great journey for me, for joe, for our family. i have some regrets. >> for example, what? >> well, i guess i'll 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 wasn't as divided as it is now. thereto was a lot more civility, and it's 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 how he feels but, you know, i've always said joe would make a great president, and i still feel that way and it waust wasn't our time. >> well, it's a pleasure to have you here.

dr. biden. thank you. >> i don't want to make you late for school. i haven't had a chance to say that many times. thanks again for taking time. >> thanks, matt. coming up, savannah will have a live interview with vice president joe biden. he'll be with us for the whole half hour to share his thoughts on the time he spent and the time he has left here in the white house. plus, behind those closed doors a rarely seen view on television. we're going to take you inside, but, first, this is "today" on nbc. find your sweet spot today with dunkin's chicken apple sausage sandwich. enjoy sweet apple and savory sausage together for under 400 calories.

the new caramel macchiato from dunkin' donuts. let hand-crafted layers of espresso, milk, and a caramel-flavored swirl uplift your mood. indulge in a hot or iced macchiato today. america runs on dunkin'. coming up, carson is here. he'll take some questions, and this young lady is going to share some shouts thoughts. >> that's right. >> all morning long we're going to be here. you obviously have a rare inside look to this special place and on social media we'll tell you how you can be following along on our facebook, instagram and r you owned your car for four years,he right direction, it can be a burden. but what if you could wake up to lower blood sugar?

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>> local, live, latebreaking. this is wesh 2 news sunrise on cw18 in high definition. jazmin: good tuesday morning, everyone. i' m jazmin walker. brett: and i' m brett connolly. it is now 7:26. right now, orange county deputies are searching for three armed intruders. the masked thieves stormed into a home on broken pine circle in pine hills last night. one person was hurt but not seriously. the crooks got away in a car parked outside. jazmin: deputies in marion county are asking for your help to find a missing teen with autism. a deputy spotted 17-year-old margaret lehman walking away from belleview high school yesterday morning. he took her back, but she hasn' t been seen since. ted? ted: two situations on i-4 causing a slowdown in osceola county. you can see the screen grabs from thed.o.t. westbound right around the area approaching 535 in the median. westbound that world of drive,

boggy creek elementary the, blocking a crash. amy? amy: it is another cold start. flagler, marion county' s, we have just now dropped to 32, ocala is at 34, orlando 43, but i see look at marion county, there are a few places that are actually freezing, so dunnellon checking in at 32, 33 degrees in salt springs. inland flagler county getting close to freezing as well or could still drop briefly here to 32 degrees before 9:00 a.m., warning in effect. we will be mostly sunny as we have him today, and temperatures well below average. heading to 61 and daytona beach, 65 in melbourne, 64 degrees our high today in orlando. another cool start with mostly

we wil 7:30 now on a tuesday morning, 12th day of january, 2016. beautiful view of the white house from the outside on the morning that we're calling state of the union morning here on "today" as we've kind of taken over the white house. i don't mean that in a bad way. we've been granted incredible access, and we're very appreciative. i'm matt lauer back here in the blue room which is magnificent, but you want to see something else that's stunning. take a look back here and glance out this window.

south lawn with the fountain, the washington monument standing in the distance as the sun begins to rise here in washington. i'm alone in the blue room because savannah has made her way downstairs. savannah, good morning. >> good morning, matt. i thought you were going to say stunning view. this is the white house navy mess. this is a place where you mix and mingle if you're a member of the white house senior staff. i mean, even the plates are cool and official looking, seeing e plushus unum. of course, this is something that has been around since the 1800s, where you might see cabinet officials meet back in the kennedy administration. there was actually a surprise birthday party held for john f. kennedy, and it's a place where west wing staffers often come and get a great meal and talk business. might run into a senior administration official or perhaps the vice president of the united states. >> except we're not having breakfast. >> where are the eggs, got to put our omelette order in, sir, good morning. thanks for having us here. >> welcome to the white house. delight to have you here. >> what's it like at the white house on a day like this, state

>> it's a day of great anticipation. everybody is excited. it's always a new beginning, and everybody is excited this year. we've come so far and we've got one more year to push a lot over exciting. nostalgic, the last state of the union, the final year. >> no, not yet. we've got a whole year and a whole lot of work to do. >> what are your favorite places in the white house, such a pitch ledge to be in this building and work in this pilling. it's so steeped in history. >> my favorite place is the oval office and i'm not being a wiseguy saying that. you know, from the time i was a years old. i've been here for eight presidents, and no matter what. every time you walk into the white house you can feel the majesty of the oval office, and, i mean, it is -- and i'm in three three, four hours a day, every day with the president, and it is -- it just makes you feel privileged, privileged to be here. >> i was thinking about that because you have been in public

office for 40 something years. don't make me do the math, but starting next year, next year's state of the union you'll be a private citizen. >> maybe they will have me in the box. maybe i'll be the special guest. >> have you started to think about what the after life might be like for you? >> well, i've started thinking about how i can continue to do what i'm doing now in private life and particularly working on things i care a lot about, but i've just begun to think about that. >> well, we're just beginning our conversation with you, sir. i know you've invited us to your west wing office so we'll lead on our way and right now let's go over to al in another exciting location here at the white house. >> savannah, thank you so much. we're in the white house family theater. dfr converted this, this was basically a coat room and converted this during his presidency to make it a viewing room. well, obviously, as you can see, the tiered seats, these are the best seats in the house for the president, the first lady and their daughters, and it -- in fact, they just saw "star wars" here which is not too bad a

they watch sporting events. this is the big screen. now, tonight, there's a much more interesting reason for this room. this will be the room -- these seats will be actually filled up with the family members of the president. when you see those folks in the house chamber, when the president and first lady acknowledge those guests, their family members will be here watching all of that. it's really, really kind of a cool place to watch the state of the union, as you might imagine. let's show you what you're going the great lakes. we've got lake-effect snow to talk about, anywhere from 12 to 24 inches of snow. we're looking at 40 million people under some sort of winter weather watch or advisory. rest of the country, windy and wet in the pacific northwest and more heavy rain coming in. el nino fuel, plenty of sunshine through the gulf. more cold air coming into the upper great lakes and the plains and that air is going to be making its way to the east along with some snow showers.

amy: good morning, another cold start for your tuesday. 30' s and 40' s today. 58 by noon, we will climb to the lower 60' s. >> hey, matt and carson, i found the place to watch the rest of the show. you guys have a great afternoon. >> looks good, really looks good. we found kind of a cool spot as well, al. we're here on one of the landings of the grand staircase right below the private residence. >> pretty cool. coming up, savannah is now making her way to vice president biden's office. up next they will talk about the issues that he hopes to tackle next year, the presidential campaign and his decision not to run as our unprecedented access

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i never really gave much thought to the acidity in any foods. never thought about the coffee i was drinking having acids. it never dawned on me that it could hurt your teeth. he told me to use pronamel. it's going to help protect the enamel in your teeth. it allows me to continue to drink my coffee, r and it was a real easy tswitch to make. and welcome back to "today" on a very special morning. we're with vice president biden. this is your west wick office. >> yes. >> something rarely seen, if ever, by the public, but you're very close to the oval office which i guess is the point. >> that's the point. no vice president in here until mondale. we were across the street and the so-called executive office building.

>> i want to talk to you about a lot of issues of the day, but i want to start with the question that i think a lot of people want to know and seems strange to ask a public official this but there's such an outpouring after the loss of beau and people are wondering how are you doing, how is the family doing. >> we're doing well. we got through the holidays and every family's gone through it. we went through it and that's the hardest thing so we're focusing on the inspiration that beau was rather than the loss. >> one of the things the president is going to talk about tonight in the state of the union is this fight against cancer, something that you have taken the mantle of and have said is very, very personal. who are you hoping to accomplish? >> well, we're so close to so many breakthroughs in cancer. this is one of those infliction stove pipes. there's a lot of brilliant people doing a lot of important stuff but not enough integration, and i'm hoping and so far the response has been very positive from the leaders in the field to -- to let me be

move things along more quickly, so instead of the breakthroughs occurring in ten years or five years. i think we can change, change the face of cancer in the next five years. >> does it feel like your calling now? >> well, it feels like something that affects almost every american family, and i think i've worked very hard to increase the funding for cancer research. the president has as well here, and so -- we both feel strongly about it. >> you know i have to talk politics with you. >> sure. >> you made some headlines last week when you said that you regretted not running for president. what did you mean by that? do you mean you think you made the wrong decision or you're sorry that you're not running for president? explain. >> no, i made the right decision, i'm positive of that and the right decision for my family in terms of the timing that was available. what i meant was, and i was being directly honest was, that i care deeply about the plight. middle class and a whole range

of other issues, and it's the best forum in the world to have your views known hand try to convince the public of your views, but we have a full year left as president and vice president, and we have a lot more to do. >> is it hard to let that dream go? because it's one that you've held for a long time. >> well, everybody thinks i've dreamt of being president. i've not dreamt of being president. here's what's hard to let go. from the time i was 28 years old i've held public office, i was a senator at age 29. every morning i've gotten up and had some policy concerns on my mind and that i was able to work on to try to change things, and it's hard to figure what replaces that, that sense of purpose when you're not in this office. >> for you is there no scenario in which you could see yourself getting into this race in 2016? >> i've learned never to say no, but i can't imagine one. i can't imagine one. if i win the lottery made, $1.4 billion. everybody says i can retire. i'll run. that's a joke.

>> have you bought a powerball ticket? >> i've not bought a powerball ticket. >> i thought i'd do the natural let's talk about the race. you said something in the race yesterday that some are interpreting as a diss of hillary clinton that she only recently has come to talk about that bernie sanders is talking about. did you mean it that way? >> well, for the last five years she's been engaged in foreign policy. this has been person's mantra from the time he's gotten involved, even when income inequality wasn't as serious as it is today it was his drum beat and that's what i meant, and she's coming up with some very good ideas, but bernie is pushing the envelope on this, and for everyone, for everyone involved. >> let's talk about donald trump. the president said to matt a few moments ago talk to me if he wins, and there is this sense that people don't think donald trump will be or can be elected president of the united states. do you hold that view?

>> well, look, yes, go back -- yes. i think that's possible, and i hope that in we're -- if that were to occur, because it doesn't because i have fundamentally different views than he does, i hope he gets a lot more serious about the issues, a lot more serious about gaining knowledge about how this nation functions and foreign policy and domestic policy, but, look, that's a long way off. >> do you think he's been good for democracy, good for the process? >> well, look, i -- i think democracy -- the incredible thing about america is that it's so open. anyone can get engaged. anyone can make their case and the american people will listen, but this is just a very, very beginning. i think it's premature to make any judgments about who is going to do what. >> you've said he's been very divisive. >> oh, i think he is divisive, and i think he'd have to acknowledge that he's very divisive and that's not healthy. we always do best when we act as one america. we always do best when we appeal

to our better angels, and we always do poorly when we appeal to our fears and our -- and our differences. >> as we end, tell me how your relationship with president obama has evolved over these years. >> well, it's just -- look, we spent four to -- some days only four and some days seven hours a day together for the last seven years. we're friends, become close personal friends. we know each other's personal concerns. our families are friends. my grand daughters and his daughters are best friends. they vacation together and i'll call and ask my little granddaughter to come over and she says pop, i'm going to be at the white house tonight, i'm sorry, but all kidding aside. it's family, and he's become family, and i think probably no president and vice president on a personal basis that have been closer than he and i have been. >> as a private citizen next year you with catch the state of the union at home in your pjs

like the rest of us. >> maybe they will invite me in the box, up in the box is joe biden, i don't know. >> nice to have you here. i should say it's good to be here. i'm in your office. >> you're always welcome. >> we'll be back with a lot more from the white house coming up, including a couple special guests. we're ba earning unlimited cash back on purchases. that's a win. but imagine earning it twice. you can with the citi double cash card. it lets you earn cash back twice. once when you buy and again as you pay. it's cash back then cash back again.

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we are live at the white house, and when we said they welcomed up with open arms and you weren't kidding.

i saw a briefing book over here, but that's classified. we'll have much more straight ahead, including a couple of special guests, matt. >> he's making a very big mistake, savannah. he probably doesn't realize that. also, we'll have more of our exclusive interview with president obama. he opens up about one of the most difficult days of his presidency and why he says the chaos of the office has actually made him a better dad, but, first, your local news and weather. anna thinks you need a phd to do your own taxes. so we brought in dr. michael littman to help explain to anna the complexity behind her refund. so, you're getting this refund because your son is a qualifying dependent, and that makes you eligible for the child tax credit. ah...i can see that. good. excellent... i'm, i'm good now. ...good now. good...good...good! intuit turbotax.

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hello, nice to meet you. melda. i'm john. we invited you here today to get your honest opinion about this new car. to keep things unbiased, we removed all the badging and logos. so, what do you think it is? i would say lexus. maybe acura. feels like a bmw. let's look at the interior. reminds me of the inside of my friend's lexus. so, this car supports apple carplay siri, open maps. nice. wow. she gets me. someone really took their time laying this out. yeah. this car also has teen driver technology. it even mutes the radio until the seatbelts are buckled. wow. my husband could use that. i'm very curious what it is. what price range would you put this car in? fifty to sixty-five. the eighty-thousand dollar bracket. well, what if i told you this is the 2016 chevy malibu? this is a malibu? yeah, let's go check it out. no way, it's a chevy! oh, wow. and it sells for? it starts at twenty-two five. \ gasp! what? oh wow. p i'm very impressed. yeah. i mean with all this technology? that's a game changer, really. i want one.

i'll take the house, too. >> local, live, latebreaking. this is a wesh 2 news update. brett: good morning. i'

m brett connolly. jazmin: and i' m jazmin walker. time now is 7:56. the retrial for a convicted murderer could start as early as today in marion county. amber wright is accused of beating and killing 15-year-old seath jackson in 2011. she was found guilty, but a judge later ruled she could be retried because she was not read here is ted. approaching the hiawassee toll plaza, you can see behind me, there is a crash that is not really visible in shots, but it is racking up traffic going through that area. wheels of a crash on the 408 westbound. crews are not on seen yet, and everybody is looking at it. narcoossee, a crash blocking the turn lane. two crashes right now between 536 and 535, and another near world drive, amy. amy: freeze warnings for another hour, temperatures have been very close to freezing.

dropped to freezing of degrees. on coast 39, melbourne at 46. a couple of other spots around marion county, dunnellon at 31, close to freezing, a lot of areas in the low to mid 30' s. freeze going on as well. temperatures today will climb, although we will stay well of below average third we will

61 daytona it's 8:00 on "today." coming up as the clock counts down to his final state of the union address tonight president obama opens up to matt about his time in office, his future and the heated race to replace him in the oval office. >> a lot of the campaign rhetoric you realize has to give way to some very hard tough realities. >> then, rare access. we'll take you on an unprecedented live tour of the nation's most coveted address.

>> this is the heartbeat of the house. >> our very own jenna bush hager heads back to her former home to introduce us to some of his former friends that help keep the white house running, today, tuesday, january 12th, 2016. good morning, everybody. welcome back ton a really special day. we are here at the white house. we're facing the south lawn. we're looking at the washington monument. >> amazing. >> and we are pinching ourselves. this is state of the union day, a day of excitement and anticipation here in washington and especially in this building. >> i'm not leaving. >> no. always wanted to stand here. ways here not long ago when the pope came to visit. the ceremony was right there on the south lawn. this is your first time at the white house. >> absolutely incredible. >> smile and wave, boys. >> hi, mom. >> that's a postcard right there. >> one of those foemts for sure. >> you may not know it, but i'm a bit of a white house history buff. >> we're shocked. >> but i've got the cards right here. >> shall we take everybody on a tour.

>> come on, let's go inside. walk down off the south portico here and enter the green room, and that's when i go to the cheat sheets, okay. >> well, i'm not even looking down. i will tell you this is the first official family portrait that the observe mazz took was right in this root i think we have a shot of it. this is called the green room for obvious reasons. >> it's really beaute. >> by the way, john adams, the first president to live in the white house used this as a guest bedroom. >> that's right. >> thomas jefferson used it as a dining room and had a green kind of a cloth under the table and that's why they call it the green room. >> this was the sight of one of the nation's earliest dramatic moments. president james madison signed the nation's first declaration of war in this very room. that was, of course, the war of 1812. >> and do you recognize this coffee un? >> that's john adams. >> that's right. >> j.5i6789 a. >> john abigail adams. >> cool. >> there's more. >> come out here as john tries to gingerly back up.

>> they do a lot of entertaining in here at the white house. >> you know what it leads to? leads to one of the most beautiful spots to the white house, the main entrance hallway, and i've always wanted to do this. stop here for a second. >> okay. >> no a little further up. give me your hand. >> other hand out, like princess diana and john travolta. >> go to that picture. >> happened right here. >> john travolta and princess diana dancing here during a state dinner. speaking of state dinners, if you walk over here. >> this is what they call the grand staircase. >> this is where the president, the first lady and whoever the special dignitary they are entertaining, they come down and they stand on the landing here, and they take all kinds of photos. >> when you are at the white house, it goes without saying you're surrounded by history, are the chairs, the lights and most especially the portraits. there are presidential official portraits hanging everywhere. this, of course, was bill clinton, the first portrait commissioned and done by an african-american artist.

in this direction, bill clinton is looking straight across the entrance hallway at a portrait, i don't know, you guys will have to move. this might be hard to see here but president george w. bush. >> and i'm told actually that most of the portraits stay in their spots but they always have the two most recent administrations represented right here. >> lead the way as our game of trivia continues. >> so we go back into the cross hall. just about to go into the red room but don't miss this shot right here because this happens to be perhaps the most famous portrait of a president, president john f. kennedy, and this has found a home here, a place where people are able to look at it the and when they have visitors here people often take a self we it, as you might imagine. >> quickly walk past but here's a beautiful portrait of ronald reagan in the background here. this leads us now into the red room which, by the way, was not always red. it was turned red -- actually i think it was dolley madison, if you can look up on the wall there. >> it was yellow in dolley

>> and other great events here. margaret thatcher and ronald reagan held a meeting in this room. don't know what they talked about, but it was obviously an historic occasion. >> i have a picture from this room that i really like. it's the bush family, bush 41 and bush 43 and children. it was taken right here in the red room, and if you look closely, yes, you can spy our friend jenna bush hager in her younger days right there. >> want to continue. >> yes. >> if we now move over here to our left we're kind of going in a big circle coming in off the south portico. >> in fact, this is where we opened a few minutes ago looking out at the washington monument just to orient everybody. >> the blue room, where president obama was sworn in for his second term in 2013. it began on a sunday, so list first oath was taken here and a more public oath was then conducted the next day. >> the blue room was not always blue. it was once rerksd and can you name the president who was married in this very room, matt. >> no.

can you name who he married. >> mrs. cleveland. 1886. >> harry truman's staff notice that had this chandelier was actually swaying. you know what that meant, >> nothing good. >> exactly. they decided that this room and the entire area needed a renovation, so they shut down the white house, and a lot of structural work was done. >> well, it's very beautiful. the white house, again, has been so nice to grant us such access, and now i think we're about to meet some of the white house's most famous residents. come on, guys. we've got bo and sonny obama, bringing them in. >> good to see you. >> here we've got bo and sonny is the little one. sonny is a bit of rascal. >> she has a lot of energy. >> hello. >> hello. >> good to see you. >> bo is what 7. >> 4. >> 7 and 4, yeah.

>> and from my experience these dogs get -- they sort of have the run of the place. they can go where they want. they have great grounds and have fun out there. >> portuguese water dogs. >> beautiful dogs. >> remember the obamas promised the little girl they have earned a puppy because they went through the campaign as youngsters. >> these are great dogs. >> dale, thank you so much for bringing them in. i think we were more excited about this moment than anything else. >> it's really, really cool. >> we're going to have much, much more from the white house. more of exclusive conversation with president obama. why he says the white house can be very isolating and how it's changed him as a dad. >> we're back with much more on a very special tuesday morning, but, first, these messages. you' re unpacking already? yeah, help me find some mugs. sure.

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back now on a tuesday morning, more of our special edition of "today" live from the white house, and carson is here, and we don't have the original room but will the red room do? thank you. we asked you to send in some questions using the got a couple. let's get right to them. tons of questions coming in so thank you so much. let's get to marge's who writes

does anyone in the president's family, including the president, ever sneak downstairs at midnight to have a snack in the kitchen? the answer is absolutely yes. anything in the kitchen is fair game. first family can make a list, the staff will go out and get whatever they want. they can go down there and have that and, of course, enjoy it. there is a smaller kitchen on the floor where they sneak so at midnight if they want something quick they can go there. angela writes in who else besides the president actually lives, there it is, in the white house. the answer is no one. just the president and the first family are here. the house is obviously staffed 24/7, but everybody is on rotation so no one actually actually lives here. back in the 19th century some staff did live here, but tad's staff and workers have their own places. thanks for the questions. follow the conversation on all of the "today" show social accounts using the the #whitehousetoday. >> great. want to bring in a special guest, jason goldman the chief digital officer here at the white house. jason jason, good morning.

you have news to share in partnership with facebook and the state of the union. >> we recently launched the president's facebook page and tonight we'll be doing our first experiment with facebook live. see the president live and talk about what he's thinking about with the state of the union sometime in the afternoon. >> jason, twitter recently released a list of its most re-tweeted tweets of 2015. yeah, the first one was one direction. okay. >> all right. >> that's tough to compete with. >> second one also one direction, third one one direction and number four was one direction also you but from president obama we got in here on the list. his reaction to the supreme court's gay marriage ruling last year and another moment that went viral. the president surprised some tourists on his way to a meeting. why do you think moments like that get so much attention. >> i think fundamentally the internet is a platform for conversation and people are looking to connection and an opportunity is an opportunity to see people behind the lens. i think you do this really well with the "today" showers, the

stuff you've been doing morning such behinds-of-hind the scenes, a good example of that and the kind of things people look for. >> this is the new normal the way that the president and the white house staff are all using social media, whether it's twitter. i know the white house just opened up a snapchat account, officially make snapchat legit. >> we started that yesterday, and we've been posting some snaps here this morning, sneakily some of you guys, as you've been recording here on the white house, and it's a way of showing, you know, what's going on as the white house as we're getting red for sotu and snapchat is a great way to show that energy. >> he just went a little initial on us. >> we got, it we got if. >> jason, thank you. >> good to have you here. were in your house, have to remember that. al is on the move outside in the first lady's garden. hey, al. >> this is the white house kitchen garden. it was planted spring of 2009 by first lady michelle obama with the help of some local

it is a constant supply of fresh produce for the first family and also for events that they have here at the white house. we're going to be back here in the garden, and not too far from here is where the president court. guess what, i'll be coming back during the growing season as the weather gets a little bit better to check on the progress of the garden along with the first lady so pretty excited about that. all right. let's show you what's going on for today. we are looking at some snow showers. lakes. it's also going to reinforce some lake-effect snow so some areas may pick up two feet of snow. wet weather in the pacific northwest and windy conditions. plenty of sunshine through the gulf and back west and brutal cold temperatures in the plains with dangerous windchills that will be setting in and spreading east. that's what's going on around amy: good morning, another cold start for your tuesday. 30'

s and 40' s today. 58 by noon, we will climb to the lower 60' s. >> and that is your latest weather. matt and savannah. >> all right, al. thanks. now to more of our exclusive conversation with president obama as he prepares for tonight's state of the union address. >> we covered a lot of subjects and we cover a lot of ground. we actually toured the white house as we talked about how the office has changed him, both as a leader and as a father. this staircase here, where does this go? >> this goes up into the residence so if we have a state dinner or some very formal function michelle and i will go from the residence on the second floor and we will walk down. >> at the end of a long day, is

those stairs and ever leave the job completely downstairs? >> well, first of all, i never actually use these stairs. >> that's ceremonial. >> that's ceremonial. when they say they are a 24/7 job on this one they are not exaggerating. you take it with you. the one time that i can take it behind throughout my presidency i've been pretty religious about dinner at 6:30 with michelle and the girls and when i'm sitting around the dinner table then i'm a dad and we spend most of our time listening to the girls talk about their days and they are not interested in mine that much. >> teenage talk from personal experience can be more harrowing than what happens over in the oval office there. would your family ever say that that's the one part of the job that gets difficult, the fact that you're never 100% except for those dinners that you just talked about away from the job?

present father, a guy who is there and engaged, was maybe stronger once i got to the white house than before because when i was a senator i was commuting. the girls were still back in chicago. >> right. >> when i was campaigning for president i was gone all the time, and i don't have trouble switching off when it comes to listening to malia and sasha. that actually is a time when i can kind of block everything else out. >> the first time you and i sat down here was february 1st, 2009. had you been president 11 days. if 54-year-old barack obama could go back and talk to 47-year-old barack obama who had only been president 11 days, what would you tell him that he didn't know about being president? >> well, i would tell him, first of all, that your hair is going to go grayer a lot faster than you anticipated.

i think the most important thing i would say to an earlier version of myself would be to communicate constantly and with confidence to the american people because this place has a tendency to isolate you. you recognize that particularly during times of stress, the american people need to hear from their president in terms of what it is that we're trying to do and things i've done well during the campaign i've not always done well as president. >> you talk about the american people hearing from their president. obviously we all remember you stepping before the cameras and talking about your plans for executive action on gun control. >> yeah. >> and you became extremely emotional. >> yeah. >> i was surprised by that. i wasn't surprised about how i felt because the day that sandy hook happened remains one of the worst in my presidency and traveling up there for the

with the families just a couple of days after those children and those teachers had lost their lives was as hard as anything i've ever done, but i didn't expect that evoking that would trigger those kinds of emotions. part of it is that, you know, we had just come back from christmas break. i had just spent time with my daughters. one of them is about to go to college and seeing those parent who i've gotten to know now over the course of several years and thinking about how any parent feels with that loss, it felt very personal to me. >> i would think that at an earlier point of your presidency had that feeling started to well up in you -- >> i might have clamp it had down. >> you might have suppress it had. >> yeah. there's no doubt that i am leers now. there have been times during the course. presidency where i've tightened up. you know, as you go into your

that ultimately how well you've done here is going to be judged not by tomorrow's polls or today's headlines, they will be judged by, you know, people who are looking back at you 20, 30 years from now and say you better let it rip. >> you're starting to sound a little like george w. bush who told me one day, matt, i'm going to be dead when my legacy is decided. early next year, if tradition holds, you and mrs. obama are going to go to the main door of the white house, it will open and a motorcade will pull in, right, and the incoming president, whether it's a man or a woman going to get out of that car. how much jeopardy will your legacy be in if that person is not a democrat? >> well, i'm going to be working hard to make shower that it's a democrat and there's no doubt that given what the republican candidates have said that there are going to be some things that i think are really important that they are going to try to reverse.

in the republican party as obamacare. when something works or the evidence shows that it's helping people and you want to stop it just for ideological reasons, it turns out to be a little more difficult. you know, certainly when they start dealing with foreign policy and if they think that somehow by talking a little tougher they are going to somehow change the complexities of the middle east, for example, turns out that's not how it works, and so i think there is a really use ful ful awakening that thanks place when you walk into this office. a lot of the campaign rhetoric you realize has to give way to some very hard tough realities. >> just a little more of our exclusive conversation with the

at the white house, and look who else is here at the white house, nbc national correspondent peter alexander. hi, peter. >> not a bad spot. good to see you this morning. >> what have you got? >> we focused on the president's speech whiter, cody keenan, may have seen him and texted me at 3:50 a.m. and said finally wrapping up tonight and what's impress sieve the collaborative effort. he says he feels like he's a perpetual grad student but imagine that your professor is the president. he took us inside the preparations in his first ever television interview. >> we honor those who walked so we could run! we must run so our children soar! >> reporter: behind the president's celebrated speeches he's the man tasked with translating images into words. >> this is the land of hope and dreams. this is where the magic happens. >> reporter: this corner basement office. >> no windows. the white house doctors give me vitamin d. >> reporter: cody keenum takes his boss' hand scribbled notes

like these. >> what a soiled draft looks like. >> reporter: when you nail it. >> and turns it into powerful presidential prose. >> if prayer was made of sound, the skies over england that night would have deafened the world. >> reporter: ahead of president obama's last state of the union address we caught up with keenan in the midst of a coffee-fueled 48-hour writing binge. >> sir. >> reporter: including an oval office meeting with the president. the final days of a two-month marathon to perfect 6,000 words. where did you watch last year's state of the union? >> i watched it right here at this desk. >> reporter: with? >> chicken tenders and a budweiser. >> reporter: keenan first joined the obama campaign as an intern in 2007 becoming director of speech wright six years later. the moment you stare at a blank page what's going through your mind? >> equal mix of hope and fear, fear in that you want to know what to say and hope that you can make it into something nice. >> reporter: his speeches helped heal communities like new town

and tucson where so many people struggled to find words. >> if there are rain puddles in heaven, christina is jumping in them tailed. >> reporter: the president's last least speech writer john favro says keenan captures emotion. >> coldy is a big-hearted guy who writes from the heart. >> reporter: keenan met his fiancee kristen, a researcher who fact checks his speeches. >> so she literally gets paid to tell me i'm wrong. >> reporter: how does that go? >> it's tense around state of the union team. >> reporter: that beard back, a superstition formed after keenan's first state of the union. >> it worked, and the president said you have to do that again. >> reporter: but posing as pirate for a presidential punch line, that was a one-time deal. >> secret service was displeased because i had a big metal hook and the president loved it and cracked up laughing. >> reporter: >> to make opportunity real. >> reporter: be. >> reporter: with keenan's words etched into history the chicago native and northwestern grad still hopes to craft one speech more than a century in the making. >> chicago subs coming to the white house world champs, that's

why i'm still here. >> reporter: and with all the finishing touches on tonight's address complete, the state of this union has never been stronger. after pulling a couple of recent all-nighters, hoping that cody can stay awake through tonight's address. nbc will have live coverage at 9:00 eastern, 6:00 pacific. >> want to play a little one-on-one one-on-one.

he jazmin: good tuesday morning, i am jazmin walker. brett: i am brett connolly. orange county deputies are searching for three arms -- armed intruders. they storm into a home in pine hills last night. the crooks got away in a car parked outside. ted: crash on i-4 eastbound near 536, not blocking but a lot of people stopping in taking a peek. if you look in the lower right. if can see some of the delays approaching the accident scene. here' s the 408 eastbound on the right approaching the hiawassee toll plaza. boggy creek road in narcoossee blocking you turn lane. amy: temperatures of drop to the lower 30' s in some spots.

ocala is at 32. palm coast and the villages at 39 and orlando is at 43 degrees. parts of marion county aren' t freezing. 32 in citra and redick. low to mid 30' s there. we will climb to the lower 60' s were highs in most of the area. 64 in orlando and 65 melbourne. mostly sunny skies with just a couple of scattered clouds. seven-day forecast will start to

ra it's 8:30 now on a tuesday morning, 12th day of january, 2016. it's a really pretty morning in washington, d.c., and here at the white house as we are

bringing you the entire "today" show from 1600 pennsylvania avenue. >> and here's a part of 1600 pennsylvania avenue you almost never see which is the white house basketball court. this was a tennis court and when the obamas moved in they turned it into a full fledged basketball court and tennis court, you can use it for either. >> that's right, because president obama has his priorities in order and he knew we wanted some five-on-type. >> that's pretty impressive. >> they have brought college championship teams here and done games with wounded warriors. he's a big basketball fan. loves the chicago bulls. >> yeah. >> played basketball for a little bit in high school. >> can i mention that bo and sunny are so well behaved, just hanging out here with us, being adorable. >> i wish our kids were that well behaved. >> who wants to take a live shot here. >> carson. >> get in there. >> oh, come on. >> not going to get anywhere. >> natalie.

>> on the record, savannah sunk a shot. >> she did. >> good try. >> i know. anyway, you know, our access here at the white house has been extraordinary, but, of course, this isn't the first time that the "today" show has visited the nation he's most famous address. >> its address is 1600 pennsylvania avenue, known, of course, as the white house. >> good morning, mr. president. >> good morning, dave. >> i've dodged your question. >> certainly, you're on live television so say whatever you like. >> president clinton, nice to meet you. mate lauer. >> nice to see you again. >> welcome to the white house. thank you very much. >> how happy are you not to be running for anything? >> not as happy as michelle. >> for nearly 60 years "today" has brought the people's house into people's homes. >> beautiful mansion, is it not? >> all starting in 1960. >> i'm fascinated. and kind of proud, too, because, you know, i own a piece of that. i pay taxes. >> you own a piece of that, big

daddy, how come they won't let you in? >> just one year later "today" made history when dave garrowway interviewed president kennedy at the white house. >> i'm delighted to have this chance through dave garrowway who is the first television interview with any president on a regularly scheduled program. >> when "today" goes inside the doors of 1600 pennsylvania avenue, often its residents end up in the hot seat. >> you know, you wouldn't want me to have -- >> -- any problems. >> ear very hard on female reporters, mr. president. >> i'm hard on all reporters. >> there have been unscripted moments and unexpected visitor arriving during a live tour of the white house with first lady barbara bush. >> look who wandered in, president bush, and can you stick around and talk with us. >> katie stayed with president bush for an impromptu live interview that lasted 18 minutes, an iconic moment in "today" history. >> do you have any knowledge.

iran-contra arms for hostages iran-contra arms for hostages deal? >> absolutely no, and no one has suggested i did. >> and at times the pressures of the presidency have been on full display. >> were you made -- >> my job is to protect this country, matt, and i'm going to within the law, and i can get second guessed by people all the time by people who don't live in the united states. september 11 was a bad day. for us it was a change of attitude. >> haven't the forces of militant extremism, jihadism grown strong on your watch? >> we've been continually able to maintain pressure on al qaeda in that region. >> are we safer under your watch? >> i believe we're safer. >> and "today's" visit to the white house have offered a look at the first family at home. >> speaking of the very actist roosevelt children, i understand they used to roller skate in this room as did amy carter. >> that's right. >> your grandchildren? >> no, i do not. look at these beautiful floors, no, i do not. >> i taught them how to slide down the bannister so you can thank me later.

they have not broken any bones thanks to the lessons you made. >> taught them the proper way, safety first in this house. >> do you ever find it difficult to maintain that feeling of home in such a public place? >> very rarely. sometimes i like to come down here and there's one more reception and the house is open and i can't, but most of the time it shows very well as a home as america's place. >> and through the years each family has made us feel at home. >> i appreciate you appearing here this morning on my final day on the "today" program. >> i used to worry in the old days about maybe being responsible for closing a theater or two and here i am closing out your show. >> we are in the white house kitchen where, among other things, you brew beer, while we're having this beer. >> hey, bernie, you know al. this is al. >> he's not very impressed. >> 63% of the people admit to kissing their dog. >> we kiss ours. >> you're part that have group. >> >> i wouldn't say on a regular basis, but, yeah, i've been there.

at the white house, but i don't think anything like today ever. >> never. >> another history-making moment. >> you got a check of the weather. >> you bet you. what's happening for today, looking at a lot of snow making its way through the great lakes as a clipper moves through. we're also looking hat more wet weather and snow in the pacific northwest with windy conditions. southern tier of the country looking pretty good with plenty of sunshine. a few showers down in southern florida. and for tonight's state of the union address, we may actually see some snow here in the nation's capital in the afternoon with windy conditions. partly cloudy tonight as people are streaming into the capitol. it will make it feel like that's about 22 degrees outside. that's what's goingt' amy: good morning, another cold start for your tuesday. 30' s and 40' s today.

>> that's your latest weather. >> all right, al. thanks. coming up, matt and savannah head into the white house kitchen just to give you a sense of how big this place is. they are having to hustle just to get there in time. after they will have a lovely meal once they do get there as we're entertained by the marine band. we're back in a moment, but,

and we're back now on this tuesday morning with more of our unprecedented tour of the white house. >> and so wonderful to be here

be in the company of white house executive chef chris commerford, been the chef for ten years and worked in the white house kitchen for 20 years. thank you for having us. >> thank you for having us, into. >> anything special about the state of the union morning for the obamas. did they say, okay, we can have comfort food today. >> today, we're really stoked. everything is in place, so we're just getting ready for the lunch and for the reception as well tonight, but i'm going to show you a recipe later hon. >> do you tend to make predominantly healthy food for the obamas? >> we try to make predominantly healthy foods for the obamas and specially we have the kitchen garden out there which is basically like a few steps in the backyard so as a chef it's a great luxury for me to be able to go outside and grab the food. >> what are we makeing? >> a shaved broccoli and chive salad

it's very healthy. washington, d.c. weather has been great and we had broccoli and chive in the garden. real re, really simple regulars pea. at home it's something that you can even do like cold or hot, but it's actually a dish that i was accustomed to growing up as a child. it's with fresh, you know, vegetables, so we're starting with two eggs. >> okay. we have like half a cup of regular flour, half a cup of whole wheat flour. we try to put a lot of whole grains in our recipe. >> as you're cooking, you're from the philippines, came here in the '80s, i believe. >> yes. >> and your first culinary job was at the sheraton hotel at the o'hare airport in chicago. >> yes. >> you couldn't have possibly imagined that you'd end up here at the white house. >> no, i never would have imagined, but it was such a blessing to be able to cook for

what a great honor. so as this is working we're just going to add on our milk. >> got to be stressful at times though, this is the leader of the free world, after all. >> the cool thing about work here is even the stress that's around us, we're able to -- as a team, i have a very good team behind me that pretty much makes it so easy for the chef to do what we're able to do. >> we'll pretend through the magic of television. >> yes, that mixture is complete. >> savannah. >> i'll do a little cook considering and matt can help you do the filling while this one gets going. >> so let's get that going. >> you want to do the temperature over here. >> real quickly, what do we have here? >> let's start with the dressing first, real, real, quickly, rice vinegar and this is honey from the garden as well. >> wow. >> so this here, we did almost like 10 pounds of honey from our

wonderful garden. >> now you're just showing off. >> basically mix all the ingredients, it's an emulsified dressing, it works well and the lime juice as well and the good thing about the salad it could be a winter salad or just whatever. time of the day. >> savannah has done a great job over there. >> this is the dressing that goes on top of all of these ingredients. product. >> that's as healthy as it gets. >> you can try it. it's really delicious. >> chef comerford, thank you very much. >> coming up. jenna bush hager. >> she gets a nice welcome back

me you back,

everyone, to the white house on a very special edition of "today." the center of power in america. also though a real working home for the first family. >> hand who knows that better than "today's" jenna bush hager. good morning to you. >> hi, guys. >> feels like old times. >> it does it. feels like old times. i always love coming back here. this building is it steeped in history, and now one woman is making history of her own. angela reed is the first woman to be chief usher of the white house. she works with the dedicated tireless crew that my family came to adore. few have the privilege to walk these halls, but when my family is asked what we miss most about 1600 pennsylvania avenue, the answer is simple. it's not the house, it's the people. the people are who make this house a home. and chief usher angela reed is the person in charge of keeping this home running smoothly. >> i am just so grateful to the

taking a chance and bringing me on board. >> reed manages the president's home. more than 100 rooms and 90 people, including butlers, cooks and florists. she handles everything from state dinners to the annual easter egg roll. >> i heard that this job came serendipitously at a party of all places. >> yes, interesting story. so summer of 2011 i went to a party, it was a pool party. >> you were in your bikini. >> that's tmi, too much information so i met a young lady who told me that there was a position open at the white house for chief usher so i literally made a cold camp i goggled the white house and called and spoke to a young lady and left a message, and fortunately for me she took me seriously and passed this back. >> soon after history was made. angela reed became the first

female chief usher of the white house and only the ninth since 1885. >> it was less about breaking a gender barrier. it really was about the astonishing unbelievable opportunity of serving the president and the first lady and their family. >> reed's story is an unlikely one. she grew up in jamaica where she began a career in hospitality and now she takes on the daily task of ensuring the national treasure remains home sweet home for the first family. >> this is really the heartbeat of the house. >> miss reed took a walk with me to visit some of the friends i met. >> so good to see you. >> good to see you again. >> thanks for coming to say hi. >> any time. >> what's it like working. >> does seem like home. >> vaughn everett is a beloved white house butler. >> i started working here barttime back in the '80s when president reagan was here. >> but i knew you as a 7-year-old. >> yeah. >> so i don't want to make everybody feel old but it's been 25-plus years.

>> you're probably making him feel old. >> and myself. >> but, yeah, we've known you forever. >> can we smell this. yes, we can smell this. this is one of my favorite places. >> hi, guys, welcome home. >> on my grandfather's newsration day the white house flower shop was my first stop. my sister and i made bouquets for my grandparent's bedside. >> she is brings heart and support to tus and that's really important. she runs from me because i try to hug her too much. >> hi, dale. >> and a trip to the white house wouldn't be complete without a big hug from one of my favorites and beasley and barney's too. dale hayne sea legend. he has worked at the white house for more than 40 years and has a special way it its four-legged residents, both past and present. >> i actually dub dale the dog whisperer. he's phenomenal. >> barney and beasley loved us but who do they love the most,

>> barney and the president. >> returning here is like a dream. >> visiting old friends and appreciating this great house once again. >> and now the woman who runs it is living her dream. >> what would you say to that little girl from jamaica, do you think she would be believe you'd be sitting here right now? >> well, she would believe it because i am that little girl. however, for other little girls who may not think that's possible, i think it's really a combination of hard work, focus, desire and really opening that door when opportunities present itself. >> so i feel really lucky that whenever i come back here everybody is so warm and so welcoming. i was here in june, a couple summers ago, to interview president obama for father's day, and it's so fun to see these people since sigh of known since i was 7 years old. they came. there's buddy who i would go

chris, who y'all just interviewed who used to make me my favorite bean tacos, and you know what, i really miss that oatmeal and latte, too, but when people ask us, you know, what is it like to live in the magical place, it's a people that make it a home and i can't stress that enough. we miss them. >> you miss them and they miss. >> you and from you were just a little girl worked so hard to make you feel comfortable. >> barbara and i watched the inauguration, the parade, and we came over early because, of course, we were 7 years old, couldn't wait to get into the white house, and we got into this door and nancy clark, who was the head florist, met us and said come into the flower shop and make bouquets for your grandparents and we did, and what was really special, she's since passed away, but she did the flowers at my wedding. the fact that we got to be with these people for so many years. >> and we referred to it just briefly this morning, but when we all arrived here in a group at 5:15 in the morning and we came to the first security

who was checking our i.d.s did on his speaker say twinkle is back at the white house, and i thought it was real moving. >> my code word was twinkle, not to be confused with tinkle. >> but when you were naughty, it was. >> probably wanted to call me tinkle, but, you know, it's funny because to watch you guys come in here and the magic that you feel, you've done everything. you've interviewed everybody, but it feels like that for people that have lived here, too. to be able to return. >> takes the cake. >> feels magical. >> it does, thank you. >> thank you very much. we're back in a moment on a tuesday morning. this is "today," very special

find your sweet spot today with dunkin's chicken apple sausage sandwich. enjoy sweet apple and savory sausage together for under 400 calories.

from dunkin' donuts. let hand-crafted layers of espresso, milk, and a caramel-flavored swirl uplift your mood. indulge in a hot or iced macchiato today. america runs on dunkin'. goes without saying this is a morning we will not soon forget and we have to thank the white house, its incredible staff, the obamas for welcoming our show into their residence, and it's been incredible to kind of live the history and see these beautiful places. i covered the white house for all these years. i've never been to some. places we went this morning. >> what about our crew. >> yeah. >> such an amazing job of putting this all together. >> i've never heard the staff of the white house say on so many occasions you want to go where? they said that all morning long. by the way, we've mentioned several times today the president delivering his final state of the union address tonight.

nbc, 9:00 on the east coast, 6:00 out west. >> that's right. how many selfies were taken this morning? >> not enough. >> too many. >> i love the picture with you and matt as john travolta and lady di. >> couldn't resist. >> just been an absolutely beautiful morning and so thankful to be here and again want to thank the white house and our crew and our staff for this special day. we want to leave you with some beautiful sights and sounds of the morning that was. >> that's right. here's a little bit of our experience at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. we'll see you in a little while. >> we're on the steps of the white house. i have to say that qualifies as special. >> the cool scale this one is off the charts. >> shall we go inside. what do you do, just knock. >> welcome to the white house. >> we've kind of taken over the white house, a great view of the south lawn. let's get a first check of the weather from the white house. al is outside what's called the navy mess. >> the greatest to go cup in the world. can i get a large oatmeal. matt, can i get you anything?

>> this is called the green room for obvious reasons. >> into the red room, which, by the way, was not always red and the blue room where president obama was sworn in for his second term. you're greeting us on the final eve of the state of the union. >> got a lot of things going for us. turns out we're not as divided. >> might run into a senior administration official or perhaps the vice president of the united states. >> i think probably there's been no vice president and president closer than he and i. >> bo and sunny obama. >> more excited about this morning than anything else. >> smile and wave, >> this is a wesh 2 news update. brett: good morning, i am brett connolly.

jazmin: i' m jazmin walker. about the invictus games coming to disney. we will be at -- leaders will be at espn wide world of sports. the sports complex in may. ted: a disabled car on i-4 up. getting into downtown orlando and spots between the turnpike and colonial will cost to 16 minutes if you left right now. 408 eastbound newbie hiawassee toll plaza. looking much better. lake mary to lee, 12 minutes. amy: temperatures on the climb. we are at 39 in ocala after literally freezing earlier today. 46 and palm coast, 49 in orlando. 51 in melbourne. if you scattered clouds in a few spots.

orlando, 61 daytona beach. northwest. tomorrow morning will be pretty similar to this morning with those lows. we have a freeze watch for flagler in marion county. it will be a few isolated spots that hit 32. 42 is where we will be in melbourne. mostly sunny again tomorrow. notice how our temperatures climb gradually every day. back to the mid-70' s with dunkin's chicken apple sausage sandwich. enjoy sweet apple and savory sausage together for under 400 calories.