from everywhere. >> lester holt joins us next with washington, d.c. with the state of the union. . tonight, from washington, high drama for president trump's first state of the union address. what will he say? and will he strike a new tone? nbc news getting a first look at the speech. also tonight as the president touts the wall street boom, a different view for many on main street. >> i see the stock market going up and i see more millionaires and billionaires being made, but i'm not feeling the effects of that. >> a lot of middle class families waiting for the boom to reach them. officials say the worker who triggered widespread panic thought a real attack was imminent. a dangerous close call caught on camera. a russian fighter jet gets within five feet of a u.s. navy plane.

and amazon makes a big move about the future of health care. this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. the capitol our backdrop. donald trump will tell congress and the american people tonight how he thinks we're doing as a country and by extension how he is doing as its leader. in his first state of the union speech, count on the president to take a victory lap on the economy that has continued to grow. but he also comes to this end of pennsylvania avenue tonight saddled with remarkably low approval ratings and a country deeply polarized. at a luncheon, he acknowledged the divide, telling us he would consider it a great achievement if we could make our country united.

hallie jackson has more. >> reporter: tonight, the most traditional of speeches for a president who's anything but. white house officials tell nbc news president trump has been working on the remarks since december, scrawling notes by hand on each draft. he'll pay special attention to economic progress in the last year, even after questioning the accuracy of some of those same economic numbers during his campaign. >> the numbers they put out are phony, as far as i'm concerned. >> the president thinks our economic recovery is all thanks to him, when reality is he owes a lot of it to barack obama. >> reporter: overall, expect more optimism. >> this american carnage stops right here. >> reporter: and more bipartisanship, too. >> the time for trivial fights is behind us. >> reporter: since then, the president has personally insulted almost 20 of the people

who will be in the audience tonight. that crowd, composed of lawmakers. some wearing all black in solidarity with the me too movement. guests in the first lady's box include hurricane heroes, business owners and a police officer who adopted a baby whose mother was addicted to opioids. dozens of dreamers will be there too, like some we met today, watching from home, wondering about their future. what do you want to hear from president trump? >> a clear and consistent message. >> we won't stand for be being pawns in political games. >> if you really love this country, do what is right and support us. because we would like to support this country as well. >> reporter: and keep in mind, the backdrop for all of this for donald trump, record low approval ratings for this point in a presidency, the shad over the russia investigations and the threat of a government shutdown nine days from now. >> we'll see you shortly.

with the president expected to tout the state of the economy, a boom on wall street, the dow up 30% since his inauguration and unemployment falling for several years now at a 17-year low, but in cities and counties across the country, people are waiting for that boom to hit them and their wages. >> reporter: carolyn and adrian richardson live paycheck to paycheck. >> we're digging into savings and making it work. >> reporter: she recently quit her job in the music industry because child care for her son cost more than her salary. >> i've been there 12 years. my salary had mostly been the same. you get the little small raises that everybody gets but nothing substantial. >> reporter: wages for americans are flat, growing just 2.5% in the last year. and the number of americans working part time but who want a full-time job is about 5 million, just slightly better than at the start of the great

recession. >> i see the stock market going up, and i see a lot more millionaires and billionaires being made, but i'm not feeling the effects of that. >> reporter: but in a tale of two americas, some sectors like professional services, health care and construction are booming. >> if i could hire 50 guys tomorrow i would. >> reporter: he now hires more people at his plumbing business in phoenix. >> we've had a wage growth over the last three year. >> reporter: but experts say if wages don't start to grow across all industries americans could be facing another down turn. >> wages at the high end are increasing, but for the bulk of the middle there's not much improvement. >> reporter: carolyn richardson isn't giving up, now starting her own business. >> i take life once a week, once a month and hope for the best. >> reporter: and taking it into your own hands. >> yeah. >> reporter: jolene kent, encino, california. and the state of the union

comes amid the firestorm over that document dating back to the early days of the trump campaign. here's peter alexander. >> reporter: the release of that deeply-divisive document would be unprecedented. relying on a never-before-used house rule. aides say the president hasn't seen the memo but is expecting to green light it within days. speaker paul ryan endorsing it. >> there may have been malfeasance at the fbi by certain individuals. sunshine is the best disinfectant. >> reporter: democrats accuse devin nunes of trying to undermine the russia investigation. >> the fundamental problem remains. he is a proxy for the white house. >> nunes today dismissing questions. and tonight even as the cia director warns russia will try

to interfere in this fall's midterms, the trump administration is not ordering any new sanctions now, instead, ahead of a deadline mandated by congress, publishing a name of russian oligarchs, largely lifted from forbes magazine. >> they have no beef with the russians about what they did in 2016. and they need to know if they do that again there'll be consequences. >> reporter: peter alexander, nbc news, the white house. >> let's bring in two members of our state of the union team. savannah guthrie and chuck todd. chuck will have a narrow calendar with the mid term elections to get it done. >> the big challenge is how does he make tonight seem special. we hear from this president all the time. so unlike previous state of the unions where this is an opportunity, in some ways this is just another night. so he almost needs to realize that going in and realize this is a night at best he can maybe just whip up his supporters.

>> savannah, presidents typically do a speech, they hop on air force one with the next day and sell it, how will the president sell his plans? >> the white house says he will sell it, but as i understand it, there are no travel plans on the books right now. for him, if he has a good night and the state of the union gives him a potential to have a good night, for him, it's state out of your own way, don't tweet the next day and start another firestorm. he think it was five days after the address last year that he made those comments about president obama wire tapping him. so he had a big night and stepped on his own message. so he has to avoid that. >> thanks to both of you. for now, there is new fallout tonight after that frightening false alarm in hawaii. the message that warned people to take cover from an incoming missile attack. federal investigators now say the person who triggered that alert really believed an attack was imminent. nbc news national correspondent miguel almaguer on how it all went wrong. >> this is not a drill.

>> reporter: the alert that sent a wave of fear across hawaii was sent by an employee who thought the threat was real, warning of an incoming ballistic missile, the message triggered panic. >> a missile may impact on land or sea within minutes. >> reporter: the false alarm came from this civil defense bunker on january 13, bunker on january 13, 8:05 a.m., a routine drill by the overnight shift. a phone recording starts exercise, exercise, exercise but concludes this is not a drill. 8:07:00 a.m. warns the public. and a drop down menu asks are you sure you want to send this alert. he says yes. tonight that employee has been fired. >> he had a performance issue and throughout the ten years he has confused drills at least two times. >> reporter: it take 38 minutes to issue a new alert. no threat.

tonight, verne miyagi has resigned taking full responsibility. they say they didn't have reasonable safeguards in place and didn't have a plan for what to do if a false alert was transmitted. >> that's life and death. really unprofessional. >> reporter: tonight testing inside this bunker has been suspended, and so has public's faith in the warning system. miguel almaguer, nbc news. there was big news from three corporate giants who announced plans to drive down health care costs. amazon, j.p. morgan chase and berkshire hathaway offered few specifics how they will do it. all three and their ceos have reputations for driving innovation and change. here's tom costello. >> reporter: across the country, we've met the people struggling with skyrocketing health care

costs. the sullivan family with an autistic son and so many more. now three mega companies and their influential ceos say they're forming a partnership to drive down health care costs for their combined 1 million employees. billionaire warren buffett saying the ballooning costs of health care act as a hungry tape worm on the american economy. >> health care in america is a a big mess and it comes with a big cost. >> health care makes up a staggering part of the american economy. it cost each american roughly $10,000 a year, more than any country in the year. the new partnership says it will be free from profit-making incentives and use technology solutions to provide high-quality health care at a reasonable cost. how? by using their combined buying power or by cutting out middle men like pharmacy benefit managers. amazon is already preparing to sell prescription drugs. today's announcement so big it

drove down stock prices for big health care providers. >> we spend way too much and we're getting far too little. they're going to try to make the system more efficient. what they can do, we'll have to see. >> reporter: while today's announcement was light on specifics, experts say it has the potential to be a health care game changer. tom costello, nbc news, washington. tonight, the head of the national institutes of health says his top priority is developing a better flu vaccine. public officials are hoping this current epidemic will change people's minds and save lives. kerry sanders is on the front lines tonight. >> reporter: in las vegas, 12 year old carlos, fun-loving and full of life, died in his mother's arms from the flu. >> he goes, mom, i feel so dizzy. he was literally, like he stopped breathing. >> reporter: hospitals

overwhelmed. today atlanta's grady memorial put up a mobile e.r. and in tampa today, nurses prepped flu shots for a free vaccine clinic tomorrow. what is it that causes somebody to die from the flu? >> it really has to relate to someone developing pneumonia or other complications related to the flu, so not necessarily the flu itself. >> reporter: one bit of good news? 6 month old elia is now back at home. >> she's been a miracle the whole time. >> reporter: a survivor in a brutal flu season. kerry sanders, tampa. he sparked a big backlash about what he said about women in music, now the grammys president is changing his tune. our richard engle shares his own, opening up about his 2-year-old son's harrowing

medical battle.

at at&t, we believe in access. the opportunity for everyone to explore a digital world. connecting with the things that matter most. and because nothing keeps us more connected than the internet, we've created access from at&t. california households with at least one resident who receives snap or ssi benefits may qualify for home internet at a discounted rate of $10 a month. no commitment, deposit, or installation fee. visit att.com/accessnow to learn more.

we're back now with something that hits very close to home for our nbc news family. we all know richard engel from his fearless reporting in some of the most dangerous places, but tonight richard and his wife mary are sharing their own personal story about their 2-year-old son henry, the surprising diagnosis they received and the challenge they're facing as a family with courage and hope. >> reporter: when henry was born, just over two years ago he was sweet and beautiful. but quickly, things didn't seem quite right. the problem was henry wasn't really progressing. he wasn't sitting up when he should. he wasn't clapping his hands when he should. we went to every doctor we could find. >> cardiologists. >> reporter: sight, blood tests. >> gastroenterologists. >> reporter: we decided to do a full genetic scan.

the results came in last september while i was with u.s. troops in south korea. i called you and said we have a result, and i said it's not good. it's not just delay. it means life-long, permanent, untreatable, physical and intellectual impairment. >> and i just said no, no, no, no. >> reporter: doctors told us henry has a serious genetic disorder. in girls, it's called rett syndrome. in boys it's very rare. he'll likely never walk, talk, dress himself or have the mental capacity beyond a toddler. >> with this mutation, they tend to have epilepsy or seizures. >> reporter: no matter what's coming, we want henry to know he's loved. to stimulate and give him exercise we do physiotherapy at home or at a hospital every day. but now there's hope henry could

hold the key to a treatment. >> henry's mutation is unique in the world. but it, because it's unique is what makes it so valuable. sometimes from the rarest thing you can learn the most. >> reporter: he doesn't produce enough of a protein essential for brain function. the lab has collected henry's cells. >> these are henry's cells. we're using them to monitor the level of protein. >> reporter: she says if she can find a way to boost the protein safely, it would be a break through for henry and potentially many children with genetic disorders. we first told our story this morning on the "today" show to raise awareness of special needs children and genetic disorders. we've since had an outpouring of support. now we hope the next step will be a treatment and maybe henry

can take us there. >> and richard, you guys are all family, and we are all deeply touched by your strength here. what i found interesting is, if they can find the key for henry, potentially, they can unlock a door that's going to change a lot of lives. >> and that's what this research lab in texas is focussing on. they think his mutation is one of a kind. and if they can figure out a way to fix henry it can open the doors for lots and lots of kinds of genetic treatments. so they're working on it and working on it with henry's cells. and there's a lot more specific scientific information for families who want to know more. >> we're rooting for you. we'll take a break and be right back.

caught on camera. a close call. a russian fighter jet veering into the path of a

reconnaissance plane over the black sea coming within five feet at one moment. they call it an unsafe intercept, but russian officials say the u.s. plane was getting close to their airspace. that sound you hear is the president of the recording academy backtracking amid a backlash of only one woman winning in one of the categories at the grammys. he says women need to step up. now he says the words were taken out of context. he clarifies, our industry must realize that women who dream of a career in music face barriers men have never faced. we must actively work to eliminate these barriers and encourage women to live their dreams and express their passion and creativity through music. a super blue blood moon, a super moon, a blue moon and blood moon happen at once. there hasn't been one visible in the u.s. for 152 years. those in the west have the best chance to see it.

when we come back. the former reporter who's gone from writing about crime to fighting it.

finally tonight, the story of a police officer with an unusual resume. before joining the force she had an entire other career as reporter. now she's gone from informing the public to protecting it. gabe gutierrez has her story. >> reporter: this is not the lifestyle taylor dungeon ever imagined. >> people are like you're nuts. >> reporter: she's now a toledo police officer. but it's her previous job that's so unusual. so this is your old desk? >> yeah. >> as a crime reporter for the

toledo blade, she wanted to help people understand why parts of the city were descending into violence, so she started making a detailed map of gang activity. >> it's all about people. >> reporter: but listening to scanner traffic wasn't enough. >> honestly, it may be super cliche, but i wanted to help people. >> reporter: secretly at first, the single mom signed up to take the police test. she traded her pen for her badge. >> you're willing to jump into that. if that's what she wants to do, she'll go after it. >> reporter: she took that leap seven months ago. do you miss being in the newsroom? >> no. >> reporter: and she's now giving back more than she ever thought possible. >> i've come to realize from a police officer perspective is that people are more way alike and similar than they think. >> reporter: insight from a cop with an eye for a good story.

gabe gutierrez, nbc news, toledo, ohio. thanks for being with us tonight. that is nightly news for tuesday. i'm lester holt. stay tuned for ourthis is at "sa scrapyard in richmond. a shelter in place order has been issued in the area. we're following breaking news on the east bay. this is sims metal. a scrapyard in richmond. you can follow our twitter and facebook feed for the latest on this fire. we're also just moments away from president trump's state of the union address. this is a live look inside the capitol building as we await his arrival just moments away. thanks for joining us. i'm raj mathai. >> and i'm jessica aguirre. we expect to hear about the

economy and state of security. you can see there the first lady. we're now looking inside the house chamber. we now join lester holt for coverage of the state of the union. >> i have been very active in overturning a number of executive actions by my predecessors. >> i believe that real and positive immigration reform is possible. >> believe me, we have to close down our government with building that wall. i call it the russian hoax. rocket man should have been handled a long time ago. it's the economy, stupid. >> the biggest tax cut in the history of our country. >> he history of our country. hey, a president, can you . >> announcer: from nbc news, the state of the union. live from washington, here's lester holt. good evening, everyone. you're looking at a live picture of the house chamber in the