new york. hello, ali. >> carol, have yourself a great afternoon. thank you so much. this state of the union you've been talking about is the biggest annual spectacle in american politics. the president's report to congress on the state of the union. now, the constitution, as you heard carol say, demands it, though not necessarily yearly and not necessarily in person. this year's address, now eight hours away, which will happen at the capitol that you just saw there, comes at a turning point. americans are more optimistic than we've been in almost four years. i've been having this discussion endlessly on twitter with some of you today who say absolutely not, it's not true. well, you know what, the polls say it is true. congress, however, is more divided than it's been in a very long time. the midterm elections put republicans in charge of the house and they created a tea party caucus that is a force unto itself. we'll talk about that. it's going to show itself this evening. well, a brand-new cnn poll shows that we the people still care most about the economy. that has not changed in about three years. it's still the number one issue. but check out this list of other

extremely important issues. that's the word that was used on the poll. unemployment, more than 54% of you think that's extremely important for the president and congress. health care, the deficit, they're all running above 50%. and almost there, 47%, social security. what are all those got in common? money, money, money and money. non-money issues fall lower on the list. education, 47%, terrorism, 45%, afghanistan, 36%, iraq, 34%, and gay marriage, 15%. for all the fury and the sound, gay marriage is seen as extremely important by only 15% of the population. well, i mentioned optimism. 43% of us say that things are going well in america. 56% feel the opposite. so, for those of you who say we are wrong, everybody isn't confident, look at the numbers, look at that just compared to december. it was just 29% who thought things were doing well. 71% thought things were going badly. that is a massive, massive

shift. now, there's a partisan slant to this, but not the slant that you would expect. democrats, in spite of the gop juggernaut in november, not only are the most optimistic political party by far, they say they're far happier than they were a month ago. look at that. democrats went from 41% in december to 65% now. republicans increased as well from 19% to 24%. independents have had a big gain as well, saying in december that 25% of them in december saying things were going well. now 41%. that's the big picture, okay? i've been asking on facebook and twitter for your take on the state of the union. what specifically do you want to hear from president obama? and i've collected some of those thoughts. i want to put them on tv for you. laura, the ex-pat says, "issue number one, jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs. and why so much of the u.s. population has not been part of the recovery." that is an astute observation.

and peno313 wants "legislation reform! the government should work for the people and end its perverse relationship with corporations and lobbyists." on facebook, rory lance wants "that social security is security for our society. that the greatness of a nation is measured by the quality of life experienced by the neediest of its citizens, not the accumulation acquired by its richest." again, nuanced. very, very smart. and franky goodman says "i would like to hear him say my family is coming home from afghanistan. my nephew is on his sixth tour of afghanistan and iraq. it's time to bring our boys home and let them enjoy some freedom." now i want to tap the views of three people with unique backgrounds and insights. gloria borger, cnn's senior political analyst, joins me from washington. mark spoda, founder and chairman of the memphis tea party in nashville, tennessee. i want to talk to you both about this. welcome. mark, i want to start with you. tonight's going to be unique in that there's going to be a

response to the state of the union, usually the opposition, the party that is not the party of the president, presents a response. today we're also going to get a response from the tea party. what is the tea party going to say about president obama's state of the union address? >> you know, looking at some of the initial reporting, it's very clear that the president's going to talk about this idea of investment. and we've changed the tone, obviously, in washington, but the problem we have is the tea party is recognizing that investment in this context is more spending. i think what you'll hear from, particularly michele bachmann in her response, and i think you'll hear also in the formal response by the republicans, is that this notion of changing the terminology is insufficient to really disguise what is essentially more spending, more stimulus, if you will, and indeed is going to be apathetical to what the tea party was looking for, and most people who want to see government reined in. >> gloria, the issue here is that we really are split on so many different levels. it's heartening to see that some people say the economy is doing better than it was, but

ultimately, this decision about more spending or less spending versus more job creation and stimulus and the economy, it really does split between party lines. how does the president walk that line? >> it does, and he's going to say to folks, look, you need to do some smart spending. you need to invest in competitiveness and innovation and research, development, education. those are kinds of things you cannot afford to cut right now because that will help make america great again. and i think we're going to see that as part of his theme tonight, which is talking to the american people about restoring america to a great position in the world in terms of what we produce. and there is a divergent few. he's going to say invest and grow, and republicans are going to say cut and grow. and i think the challenge for all of them is to see if they can find some way to decide that maybe they won't spend as much, but maybe they won't cut everything, so we'll just have to see. >> i'll come back to that in a minute, because at the end of

december, they did show some possibility of compromise. let's bring in pete dominick, cnn contributor, sirius xm host, joining me via skype. pete, this is an important speech, but the reality is, we've already been warned, it is not going to be big on specifics. specifics come later. they come in the budget. but americans are going to want to hear specifics in this speech and they're probably not going to get it. >> yeah, that's right. americans probably won't be getting specifics, and i hope that, number one, first and foremost, that americans will tune in. my concern, ali velshi, 8 million people tuned in to "the jersey shore" on mtv. i hope that americans tune in to the state of the union tonight right here on cnn, but you know, hopefully, people are feeling better. i think that, you know, the american people feel a little bit better because of what happened in the lame duck session. it seems that they compromised. then frankly, the president's speech in tucson really provided a lot of optimism. it started to heal and it made this president look like a leader. he really took advantage of that opportunity and did a good thing

for our nation, i think. >> all right. mark, let's go back to you for a second. what exactly -- when michele bachmann, by the way, who is a republican-elected member of congress and who's going to be delivering the tea party response -- when she gets up there, what are tea partiers going to say different from republicans that's going to actually mean something in this context? because as we've just discussed, the speech is going to be long on generalities and short on specifics. >> well, i think the truth of the matter is that michele bachmann is going to represent the aspirations of the tea party. i think the truth of the matter is that the formation of the tea party caucus in congress in conjunction with her fiscally conservative views will be helpful for giving voice to tea party people, and i think that's important point number one. you're right, the generalities we're going to see out of the president tonight are not going to fix this economy. and in that sense, i don't think you'll see antagonistic commentary. what you're going to see is giving voice to a movement which has, frankly, caused this nation to feel better about itself.

we, indeed, have a republican majority, we, indeed, got the tax rates extended, we, indeed, had some accommodation. at the end of the day, though, the agenda hasn't changed, and i believe michele bachmann will give voice to that agenda. >> but i can tell you, ali, that lots of republicans are not happy that michele bachmann's going to be out there giving her own version of a response of the state of the union, because they think that paul ryan in the official response is going to speak for the fiscal conservatism of the republican party. so, they're kind of scratching their heads saying, you know what, we're the official response. don't, you know, you shouldn't pay as much attention to michele bachmann as you do to paul ryan. so, there's a big split in that party right now. >> gives us that much more to talk about. got to take it away now, but thanks very much. good to see you. pete dominick, mark scoda and gloria borger. we'll have more discussion about the state of the union today and tonight starting at 7:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. our "sound effect" today is a lesson in human nature. sunday evening in palm beach

gardens, florida, a pair of girl scouts and one scout's mother were selling cookies outside a shopping center. well, all went well until a woman who posed as a customer grabbed all the scouts' money, 92 bucks, and sped away. an outrage, right? well, a local tv station came out yesterday to cover it and that's when the really unexpected thing happened. >> here's $100. >> are you serious? >> yes. >> thank you! thank you very much. >> we just thought it was so ridiculous that someone would come out here and do something like this to the girl scouts and we just felt like it was something, it was the right thing to do. >> i cannot believe he just did that. >> see, there are still good people, even though there are people who do bad things. >> who says people don't do the right thing? the scouts did call the cops about the robbery. they warned out troops to keep an eye on the cash box. good samaritans, not awithstanding. breaking news just in to cnn. after a big setback yesterday, rahm emanuel is back on the ballot in chicago. the state's supreme court, the illinois supreme court, stayed yesterday's lower court ruling

that he does not meet residency requirements required to participate in the mayor's race on february 22nd. emanuel moved back to chicago late last year after stepping down as president obama's chief of staff. well, it's being called a day of revolt in egypt. thousands and thousands of people pour into the streets of cairo, railing against the government and demanding president hosni mubarak resign. police fired back with tear gas and water cannons as the protests went on. these sprang from an online campaign inspired by the collapse of tunisia's government a week and a half ago. among the egyptian protesters' other demands, a higher minimum wage, a check on police powers and presidential term limits. prime minister mubarak, president mubarak has ruled for 30 years now. russia's president is blaming security officials atmos cow's airport for yesterday's deadly suicide bombing. 35 people were killed in the attack in the airport's

international arrival hall. the president said it was unbelievable that the bomber was able to get so much explosives into the area, and airport security "must be punished for their decisions." meanwhile, prime minister vladimir putin vowed retribution for the blast, but so far, there has been no claim of responsibility and no one identified. in last year's state of the union address, president obama promised to send more troops to afghanistan and bring troops home from iraq. did he keep that promise? we'll talk about it right after the break.

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also taking a look back at last year's address to see what promises were made and kept and broken. this hour we focus on afghanistan and iraq. here is tom foreman. >> president obama outlined a plan for afghanistan in last year's state of the union. >> and in afghanistan, we're increasing our troops and training afghan's security forces so they can begin to take the lead in july of 2011 and our troops can begin to come home. as we take the fight to al qaeda, we are responsibly leaving iraq to its people. as a candidate, i promised that i would end this war, and that is what i am doing as president. we will have all of our combat troops out of iraq by the end of this august. but make no mistake, this war is ending, and all of our troops are coming home. >> the president, indeed, put 30,000 additional troops into

afghanistan. and despite the shake-up that saw commanding general stanley mcchrystal replaced by general david petraeus, a recent military review says american troops likely can begin withdrawing this summer, and afghan troops may take complete control in 2014. give the president credit, too, for pulling all the combat troops out of iraq, as he said he would. that's why, even on this long road, we're calling this a promise kept. and we want to know what you think of the speech and report cards. head to cnn.com/ali. i'll also post the results to facebook and twitter throughout the day. we'll be looking for your "a" through "f" grades on the following categories -- the economy, energy, afghanistan and iraq, gay marriage, government spending, health care, don't ask don't tell, immigration, and the last one, which is interesting to some of you, civility. well, los angeles, you're better off renting a home than buying one. is that true in your city? in two minutes, i'm going to

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the housing bust was a disaster on many levels. it started this recession that we went through. but it did have a plus side -- more affordable homes. home prices dropped so severely in many markets that it completely changed the equation of whether or not to rent or buy in many cities, and that's according to a report by the real estate website trulia, although this data is something we sort of have been talking about for some years. trulia did the math and assigned a numerical value to u.s. cities. a low single-digit number makes the city a buy, meaning it makes more sense to buy than rent, while a higher double-digit number makes it a rent city.

of the 50 major cities covered in the report, 36 were better to buy in, 10 made more sense to rent in. here's a look at the six top cities to buy in. the six top cities to buy in were las vegas, miami, arlington, texas, phoenix, mesa, arizona, and jacksonville, florida. these are buying cities. now, let's take a look at the six top cities in which it made more sense to rent. i know, look at that. manhattan, seattle, kansas city, san francisco, memphis, tennessee, and los angeles. these are cities where it made more sense to rent. home prices, by the way, according to a new report, continue to drop. according to the latest s&p case-shiller home price index of 20 major markets, november home prices fell another 1% when compared to october. christine's here to join me about this. christine hosts "your bottom line." this is a topic that figures heavily on your show, on mine. >> yeah. >> and it is one of the biggest issues out there. >> and we talk about taxes as well. when you look at those

rent-to-own ratios. >> right. >> and you think about, if taxes are going to rise -- and in many places they could, in places like new jersey, places like connecticut and new york, in california, in places where u've got really big tax burdens and budget deficits, maybe taxes are going to rise, and that also factors into it. this most recent s&p case-shiller report from today really shows five months in a row of month-over-month price declines across the country. and i wanted to show you specifically the parts of the country that were doing the worst, because a lot of those really bad spots were still losing home values -- detroit, atlanta, chicago, minneapolis, portland. these are november home values compared to the prior month. so, i mean, think of that, losing another 2% in minneapolis, 2% in chicago. the only increase is in san diego, where home prices went up just a fraction. of course, you know that they're down a lot. >> right. >> and washington, d.c., was also a strong market. many people say, ali, that reflects the fact that the center of gravity has shifted, or for a while, shifted from

wall street to washington. >> possibly, but it's probably more the fact that they have a bigger tech sector and education sector, driving markets. >> and a lot of money is being spent lobbying congress, too, so never discount that. when you're watching the housing part of the equation, it's still really grim out there, the state of the industry is still weak. we have talked a lot about if you're in the right position, this is a great time to buy. >> right. >> but you look at those cities and all of us know somebody who has a spread sheet that says i have to ride this out. >> the numbers are interesting because it does the math for you on all of the things that you have to put into that equation. so it's worth looking at. but the realities are still some people for whom it makes sense to buy, because over time, the value of the property you buy might increase, interest rates you might lock into a good interest rate. so, it still becomes a personal decision. i wouldn't make my decision based on a numerical rating. >> yeah, and there are other things to keep in mind like the school district. >> that's right. >> right? how close you are to a commuter train, how close you are to, you know, where you go grocery

shopping, where you worship. all of these kinds of things people put into a formula, and it might not necessarily have a dollar sign on them. >> these are decisions we've struggled for for years in all the time we've known each other, do i buy, do i rent, do i wait? are the interest rates going to go down? it's a good starting point. but if you're in that spot, you should be actively thinking about one way or the other. >> and if the job market continues to improve, that means people will start moving for their job, and if they do, they'll be looking to buy a house and sell a house and you'll see activity again. right now, it's mostly investors and first-time home buyers. >> from a year ago, i think we think that one way or the other, in all of the key elements, the key points in the economy, there's going to be movement this year. >> yeah. i think 2011 is going to be a better year than 2010. i mean, that's what most people are forecasting, and that's just the slow improvement. i mean, it's too bad it's taken a year and a half to have a recovery starting to show its face on main street, but i think 2011 could be the year the recovery starts to show its face on main street. >> very good. christine, thanks. >> sure. >> tune in to "your bottom line"

with christine each saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. eastern. "your money" is saturday and sunday. three chances to watch on the weekend. and we always read your tweets and facebook posts. updating top stories, breaking news just in to cnn. after a big setback yesterday, rahm emanuel back on the ballot in chicago. the state supreme court stayed yesterday's lower court ruling which said that he does not meet residency requirements for the mayor's race. emanuel moved back to chicago late last year after stepping down as president obama's chief of staff. americans are more optimistic about jobs and the overall economy this month, according to the conference board's consumer confidence index. the index shot up to 60.6% this month from 53.3% in december. that's the highest level sincedg an overall reading above 90 indicates that the economy is solid. 100 or above indicates strong economic growth. demonstrations growing right now in egypt.

thousands of people pouring into the streets to protest corruption and falling economic policy -- failing economic policy. things are mostly peaceful, but cairo police did fire tear gas at one crowd of protesters. organizers say they hope to capture the momentum of protests that brought down the government in tunisia. this is something to watch very carefully. and behind the scenes of the state of the union, ever wonder what the president does to get ready on game day? ed henry knows what he does. he's got the secrets, plus a little trivia that you can use to stump your friends. there he is. we'll be right with him.

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i'm out with a stakeout! we do it every tiday at this ti with ed henry. the clock ticking down to the president's statement of the union speech. just as people are talking about the seating arrangements as the spe speech, but let's move beyond the message and the speech and who's buddying up with whom for the seating arrangements. we want some behind-the-scenes dirt, and that's why we go to senior white house correspondent ed henry. there he is. ed, tell me what's going on behind the scenes. what happens ahead of the state of the union, which is billed s as, generally speaking, the president's most important speech? >> reporter: one quick news nugget from dan lothian. he's broken this news that the president tonight is going to call for a five-year freeze on non-defense discretionary spending. now, what that means in layman's terms, instead of washington speak, is that basically, the president wants to freeze all

federal spending except at the pentagon, except veterans funding, security, homeland securi security, et cetera. so, across the board -- education, health, there's going to be a lot of cuts, essentially, because there's going to be some things that are frozen. then you're going to have republicans who are going to be pushing to bring some of that down. but it suggests that there's going to be some pain out there over the next five years, and the president's going to lay that out tonight. so, that's one thing to look for. >> okay. >> what's going on behind the scenes right now is the president is actually having lunch not with me and dan, but with some of the big-dog anchors from all the networks. they come in. you'll remember a year ago at this time we had just started the stakeout, and katie couric came out in the middle of our stakeout. >> that's right. >> and had fun with us and told us about the president's mood, what was going on. and about two minutes into my back-and-forth with her, she asked whether we were live on the air and i had to tell her we were, which was a little embarrassing, but we had fun with it. wolf blitzer didn't help me out with the dirt, walked by me, but they're behind closed doors right now, the president having lunch with the anchors. this is a tradition presidents

of both parties have done, where they get a chance to sort of lay out where their mood is, lay out some of the things they're going to announce later tonight. but it's interesting because it kind of puts a lot of us -- sort of the behind-the-scenes thing about the media and the white house is this is one of those days where we're all waiting, waiting, waiting for 9:00 p.m. eastern time, because the president will do that background briefing, at 3:00 there will be a background briefing with senior officials here that are going to tell us a lot of nuggets about what the president's going to say, but it's all embargoed until 9:00 p.m. eastern tonight when he actually says it. so we're doing the live shots saying this is what to expect, but we can't really give you all of the tidbits because they're trying to hold that back so they don't get ahead of the president. this is a funny game back and forth. the lunch is off the record with the anchors, but it at least gives them a flavor of where his head is at right now. >> wolf's in there, is in that lunch? >> reporter: i think he is. i didn't see him come in, but dan told me he saw wolf come in. so, wolf's here and brian williams, katie couric and others. so, they're here. they're doing -- it's funny, because one of my fellow colleagues from another network was teasing me about how we're always left out in the cold.

we're here every day doing the live shots and then the anchors breeze in for a little lunch with the president. it's one of those things that you would understand now, ali, because you're one of those big anchors. >> i'm just like you, ed. i don't get invited to lunch, either. when does the president head over to congress? >> reporter: he goes just a few minutes before. what's interesting in terms of you asked what else is going on behind the scenes. i'm told by his senior aides that his speech is basically cooked, in their words. he's going to tweak it on the margins, but he's not going to make any major changes. the last couple of days he's been practicing it. he'll do some more practice sessions today. and the other funny thing is the sort of cosmetics of the whole thing, is that a little while ago, i stopped by one of the president's tailors. he uses multiple people. but george de parise is right by the white house on 14th street -- >> i've met him. >> reporter: and i saw him before and i said you need to see george some time. he's made a suit for every president since lyndon johnson and he told me he made a black suit for the president, that the president indicated he was going

to wear it in the state of the union. whether or not he wears it or not, we'll see. he probably has multiple options, obviously. this is the president of the united states. but earlier, when he was walking to lunch with the anchors, we saw him wearing a purple tie, which would be different than what he's done the last couple years. he's worn a red tie. funny, because george w. bush as president used to wear traditionally blue ties, kind of opposite of the colors associated with each party, the red states being the republican states, george w. bush would wear a blue tie. just the opposite for president obama. he could change his tie between now and then. who knows? we'll see. maybe he's wearing a purple tie to be in the middle. >> let me ask you, you've got a great capacity for retention, so i wanted to ask you things about the state of the union, quiz facts that don't really matter, but they're interesting. do you know who the first president was to call it a state of the union? >> reporter: fdr, because he gave the most, which was 12 of them. >> what was it called before that? >> reporter: um, wasn't it just -- it's in the constitution that you have to give a report to congress every, you know, on occasion, but i don't know the official name.

was there a name? >> very close. annual report. >> reporter: annual report to congress, okay. but although it hasn't always been an annual report. it's sometimes been an occasional every other year thing, but -- >> this isn't "jeopardy!" >> reporter: i don't mean to be difficult. >> i'll give you a chance to redeem yourself. who was the first president to give a state of the union on tv? >> reporter: that was fvengdr, then lbj had the first one in prime time. >> harry truman, i'm told. >> reporter: truman, you're right. i messed up. truman tv, lbj first in prime time and truman had the longest one ever, over 25,000 words. >> you can just say you weren't born yet or weren't around for that. >> reporter: i wasn't. you may have been. you're a little older. >> and lbj, 1956, the first prime time. who was the first opposition response? who gave the first opposition response to a state union? >> reporter: i don't know. that's a great question. i don't know that. >> much later than i would have thought. michigan represent gerald ford in 1966. >> reporter: before he was president. it's interesting because i feel like i need the voice to help me

out. this is the quest segment, the stakeout. >> i like the quiz. maybe we'll do that more often, ed. >> reporter: i think you like it because you're stumping me a couple times. and i think you like that. >> you bring me the quiz questions and we'll reverse it. good to see you, my friend. you are what you eat and you are going to know it. so, why don't you -- we're going to show you something about labels when we come back. stay with us. in some of nature's best ingredients. that's how we created purina one with smartblend. nutritionally optimized with real salmon, wholesome grains, and essential antioxidants for strong muscles, vital energy, a healthy immune system, and a real difference in your cat. purina one with smartblend. discover what one can do. [ female announcer ] and now, winter skin can be too. discover relief from dry, uncomfortable skin with skin relief moisturizing lotion. only aveeno has an active naturals triple oat and shea butter formula that soothes,

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happening now, breaking news. after a big setback yesterday, rahm emanuel is back on the ballot in chicago. the state supreme court reversed yesterday's lower court ruling which knocked him out of the race due to residency issues. emanuel moved back to chicago late last year after stepping down as president obama's chief of staff. as president obama puts the finishing touches on tonight's state of the union speech, a top aide says he's focused on "winning the future and staying competitive in the global marketplace." as soon as he's done, we'll get a double dose of opposition response, the official republican rebuttal, plus reaction from tea party favorite, minnesota representative michele bachmann. you can see it all right here on cnn. and russian president dmitry medvedev is blaming a lack of airport security for the bombing atmos cow's busiest airport and says the officials responsible must be punished. video released today showed the actual explosion that killed 35 people yesterday.

investigators believe it was a suicide bombing, but so far, no group is claiming responsibility. a day of rage and violent antigovernment protests rocked the middle east today. across egypt, incredible scenes of thousands of people taking to the streets shouting "freedom, freedom" and calling on president hosni mubarak to step down. rocks and tear gas filled the air. cnn's ben wedeman has been in the streets and joins us now from our cairo bureau. ben, this is fascinating on a couple of levels -- a, because it's happening, and b, what this may mean for so much of the arab world as a result of what happened in tunisia. give us some context. >> reporter: well, certainly, you know, egypt is the biggest and most populous arab country, and when its people start to demonstrate in the numbers we saw today, which i have to tell you, i have never seen, it's really going to shake the foundations not just of this government which has been in power now since 1981, but across

the region. i mean, what we saw today was thousands of people pouring in from all sides of cairo with one single demand, ali, and that was an end to this government that has been in power for so long. and what is also interesting, ali, is that there were no religious overtones. i saw christians, i saw muslims, i saw men, i saw women, i saw secularists, i saw islamists, students, office workers, just sort of a huge spectrum of egyptian society, all of them united in that same call -- down, down with mubarak. so, certainly, it's going to send shock waves across the region. now, we don't know how far these protests are going to go. you have to keep in mind that unlike tunisia -- and i was in tunisia under the ben ali regime -- very repressive place. egypt is not near as repressive. you have a relatively free press. people can say what they want, but what the government doesn't like is to see people do what they did today. ali?

>> ben, a fascinating story. we'll stay on top of it with you. thanks very much for bringing it to us. ben wedeman in cairo. now to lebanon and what demonstrators are calling a day of rage. thousands of people filled the streets across the country burning tires and throwing rocks. their anger directed at the appointment of a new prime minister backed by the militant hezbollah group, which last week forced the collapse of the government of prime minister is a yed hariri. a different reason for protests in a nearby country. nick, what's the story there? >> reporter: well, the new prime minister designate has said that he wants to form a government of national unit. saed hariri says he won't be part of it. they feel they have been cheated, that hezbollah here, designated a terrorist organization by the united states, cheated them out of their leader because hezbollah collapsed the government here. so, this new prime minister

designate that hezbollah is proposing and the majority have proposed, that's meeting with these angry protests, so bad that one news organization here had their satellite truck set on fire by angry crowds, and the army is facing off here in beirut as well with rock-throwing and stun grenade throwing on the streets. it seems to be calming down this evening, but the upshot is, people here don't know what the next government's going to look like, worrying how much of an influence hezbollah's going to have in it and worrying if there's going to be any more violence on the streets, ali. >> all right, nic, we'll follow that story as well. lots going on in the arab world right now and we're on top of it all. now breaking news for you now coming into the newsroom. a federal judge has sentenced ahmad calf aan gilani to life without parole for his role in the u.s. embassy bombings in kenya and tanzania. 224 people died in that attack, including 12 americans. the 36-year-old as it niane is

the first guantanamo detainee tried in u.s. civilian court. he was convicted in november on a single conspiracy charge to destroy buildings and u.s. properties. right now, we're working on three big stories involving food. first, i want to talk to you about labels. let me show you these. i've got some food here. we see nutrition labels like the one you see over here on pretty much everything you buy, every kind of packaged food, you see these nutrition labels. and basically, you can calculate exactly what the calories are, the fat, the cholesterol, sodium, carb content, depending on what you are watching. some people say those labels are not enough, even though they go further than many countries do. they want labels on the front of packages, called front-of-package labelling. it's been a passion of first lady michelle obama to help us make informed decisions. last year, mrs. obama asked the food industry to design a new system to highlight nutritional information on the front of packaging. the grocery manufacturers association and the food

marketing institute are out with their pitch, and it's called nutrition keys. basically, it contains four basic icons for calories, saturated fat, sodium and sugars. on small food packages, one icon can be used for calorie count per serving. they also pitched this possible option. let me show it to you. it's a panel of six icons, the four original panels for calories, saturated fat, sodium and sugar, but add also called nutrients to encourage. they define those as potassium, fiber, protein, vitamin a, vitamin c, vitamin d, calcium and iron. these labels aren't out on food labels yet. you could start seeing them in the next few months. reminder, they are from the food industry. the government is also working on its own research in labelling. now, some people are worried that positive and negative nutrition labels are only going to confuse customers. the white house praised the companies for "the leadership that they've shown in advancing this initiative." but they're still going to have to evaluate -- they're going to have the fda look at it and

evaluate whether the label actually meets consumer needs. we'll, of course, stay on top of this and let you know how it proceeds. okay, you've probably all seen microsoft kinect. you may have seen it here or in somebody's house. what some people say is the biggest, bad yes gaming device out there, allowing your character on screen to do whatever you do, jump or wave without a controller, wires or handheld anything. well, what if you could control your pc or tv the same way? it's today's "big i," coming up after this break. [ male announcer ] introducing listerine® zero™. we removed the alcohol and made it less intense. ♪ now people everywhere are getting a deep clean and fresher mouth without the intensity that kept them away. it still kills bad breath germs for a whole mouth clean. but it's never felt so good. ♪ new listerine® zero™. deep clean. less intense.

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every day on "the big i," we bring you a big, new innovation or idea. how about this, a technology that allows you to manipulate your computer or television like this, with the wave of your hand? sound familiar? well, that's probably because you're thinking of microsoft kinect. it came out last year with hardware to allow you to go controller-free when playing on your xbox. you have to buy a unit to have that happen. the hardware was created by a company called prime sense. prime sense now wants to bring that same technology to your computer and to your tv. now, before kinect came out, we brought you a live, in-studio video of the technology and now prime sense is going to do the same. let's start with atlanta. ohad is there with me in

atlanta. tell me your last name -- >> schuelli. say that slowly. >> you are the vice president of sales and marketing. show me how this works. we've seen how kinect works. show he mow this works. >> the technology is all sensoring in there. there are cameras inside and the brains of this thing is a chip that prime sense developed. if you look at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, you'll see the depth map, which is really the output of what the sensor creates. you can really create a map of the space that the sensor is looking at, and that allows the whole technology to really work. >> all right. what kind of applications could you use this for? you're doing it right there. >> that's right. so, basically, as you can see, i'm hovering around. this could be your home media center and you could be sitting in the comfort of your couch. and how many times has it happened to you that you're scrambling around looking for the remote control and you don't exactly know where it is? so, we're trying to alleviate you from those concerns. here you have your home media center, and i'm doing nothing other than hovering with may hand. >> how do you make something happen, to click something, you sort of move your hand forward a little bit? >> exactly right.

it's a depth camera. what we're doing now is i'll take the tv. we're watching cnn -- actually, that's my music. so, let's choose some music. i can browse through whatever media i have. >> wow. >> i can go in there and select it by pushing forward, in this case, and it works. and here we go. you'll just hit "play," and we're running. now, i'm putting my hands down basically is the equivalent of putting down the remote control. if i want to regain control, here i go again. i can actually take the volume, increase it, decrease it and put my remote control back down again, right? if i want to go back to the home and choose some other application, i'll go back here. we have a shortcut. here you are back at the center control. >> all right. let me bring in uzi breyer, chief marketing officer from prime sense, joining us from israel via skype. the technology exists. we've seen it work on kinect. it's truly a fascinating technology. what happens next to it? so, now we know it works. who's going to adopt this and how am i going to interface with it? what kinds of things am i going

to be able to do with it? >> well, thank you for having me, and yes, it is a wonderful technology and a change of priority. in essence, instead of us having to learn the tv or the pc, the system is now learning us. so, as ohad is now demonstrating, you can sit on the sofa and control your tv, watch your favorite pictures, browse through websites, order your favorite music, watch a movie, turn the volume up and down, et cetera. and i think what you will see in the near future is that being embedded into tvs, pcs, gps, into the car industry, into the mobile industry. it will be all over the place. this is a real change in priority. instead of us having to learn the machine, the machine is now learning us. and with very small movement of the arm, i am now controlling my entire entertainment box. >> okay.

ohad, one thing i thought was neat about the kinect is it's really plug and play. you plug in this device and it sits in front of the tv and there's virtually no calibration. you just run with this. to make this applicable to other things in life, other than gaming, is it the same concept? is it a device camera that sits in front of my tv? >> that's exactly right. it could be any number of differentright. we require very little processing power. right now i'm running off a laptop. as mentioned earlier, you can find it in a variety of applications, run by different boxes. it can be an xbox, a laptop, any number of different setup boxes or home theater pcs coming out all the time really. >> when do you think i'm likely to encounter this very technology? when can i go in a store and buy a tv, laptop, different computer that uses this technology? >> before this calendar year is out, you'll be seeing different applications, new boxes coming out under a number of different

brands. >> i'm looking forward to that. what a great technology. you've helped us take eye leap into the future. something we just used to see in movies. good to see you both. thank we'll follow your company very closely. check out more on this technology from prime sense, head to my blog cnn.com/ali. interesting, interesting technology. here's something i love. i loved this movie "the king's speech," expected to be the big movie at the oscar nominations. did it live up to the hype? ♪ [ male announcer ] not all steel is created equal. not all manufacturing processes arereated equal. not all engineering standards are created equal.

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okay, it's 54 minutes after the hour. time to check some of the lightest stories we're following. a federal judge has sentenced galani to life without parole for his role in the 1998 u.s. embassy bombings in kenya and tanzania. the attack killed 224 people including 12 americans. the 36-year-old tanz neon is the first guantanamo detainee tried in u.s. civilian court, having been convicted in november on a single conspiracy charge to destroy building gdz and u.s. property. after a big upset yesterday,

rahm emanuel is back on the ballot in chicago. he was kicked out yesterday because of residency issues. russian president dmitry medvedev is blaming a lack of security at a bombing at the airported yesterday. he says the individuals responsible must be punished. video today shows the actual explosion that killed 35 people yesterday. investigators believe it was a suicide bombing but so far no group is claiming responsibility. are you ready for the academy awards? the 2011 nominations were announced this morning . the social network is up for eight awards, the movie about a stuttering british monarch "the king's speech" gathered 12 nominations, is a front-runner, and the cowboy remake "true grit," another i enjoyed, is nominated ten times. i get sports rivalries and how they get folks riled up. what i don't get is how they can

help get you fired. the odd explanation straight ahead.

well, sure, he use eded to run around in his skivvies flexing, but it doesn't mean the body is up for grabs. former minnesota governor and

pro wrestler jesse the ventura is suing the department of homeland security and tsa. he takes issue with all the new enhanced security procedures at the airport calling them unreasonable searches that violate his fourth amendment rights. apparently ventura's titanium hip replacement earns lots of pat-downs. the former governor has a show on trutv. now to chicago where this car salesman is suddenly looking for a new job. his grandma just died. since he was a huge green bay packers fan, he decided to honor her memory and maybe the team's nfc's win by wearing a green bay tie to work. sure the design is not for everybody, but it is bears country and who would have thought he'd get fired for it? i'm no football guy, but i believe they call this unnecessary rough necessary. they've been the fantastic four for 50 years, but now they're turning into a trio. the latest edition hit the shelves today after tossing fans

a big cliffhanger. marvel comics hinted one would meet their demise. we won't ruin it, but fans of the human torch might get fired up when they see the new issue. the biggest annual spectacle in america's politics, the president's report to congress on the state of the union. the constitution demands it though not necessarily yearly and not even in person. this year's address now seven hour as way comes at a turning point. we're more optimistic than we have been in almost four years and congress more divided. the midterm elections put republicans in charge ever the house and created a tea party caucus that is a force unto itself. a brand new cnn poll shows we the people still care most about the economy. check out this list of extremely important issues according to cnn opinion research corporation's polling. the economy by far the number one issue, followed by unemployment, health care, the deficit, and social security. all of those top five issues having to do with money. non-money issues fall lower on

the list, education, terrorism, afghanistan, iraq, and for all the sound and fury, gay marriage is seen as an extremely important issue by only 15% of americans. i mentioned optimism, 43% of us say things are going well in america, 56% feel the opposite. look at the increase from december, though. in december only 29% thought things were going well, it's up to 53%. 71% thought things were going badly, now down to 56. there is a partisan sled to this but not the one you'd expect. democrats in spite of the god juggernaut in november are most optimistic. december, 41% thought things were going well, now 65%. republicans have increased as well, so have independents. everybody is feeling a little better than they did in december. so much for the big picture. i've been asking ofrn facebook and twitter for your take on the state of of the union, what you want to hear from president obama. let me read you what i've seen. laura says, issue number one is jobs jobs jobs jobs. why so much of the u.s.

population has not been part of the recovery. this is an important point. another -- the government should work for the people and end its perverse relationship with corporations and lobbyists. on facebook, karen young soez, if you have a job without pay cuts, have savings and living within a budget you'll think things are getting better. probably true. somebody else says -- sad to hear people insisted on being negative and pessimistic. i truly think we have reason to be hopeful about the future. let me tap the views of two people with unique background and insights. mark the founder and chairman of the memphis tea party in nashvil nashville. pete dominick is host of his own show on sirius xm, via skype from new york. gentlemen, mark, let's start with you. very interesting day for all the milestones that we talk about with state of of the union, today is an interesting one because it will be the first time there's actually a response from the tea party, from michele bachmann, a conservative

republican from minnesota. what can we expect to hear from the tea party that is different than what we'll hear from the official republican response? >> well, you know, i think a lot has been made about michele bachmann giving this response and suting that paul ryan, the official republican response, it's somehow antagonistic. i would say that the tea party is a major force in republican politics. i think she'll be more aggressive in terms of cost cuts, regulatory reform. she'll expect the president to be specific. of course it won't happen in the state of the union speech. michele bachmann, more importantly, gives a voice to the tea party movement in a way that's not evident in a traditional response. in that sense it's complementary. she's also very astute that the tea party could begin to fragment. the win in november was as a result of this act voix and my hope is she by her response will give the tea party people a perspective that is not clearly shared in terms of the pair

positions in other parts of congress. >> the part about asking the president being specific is probably not going to happen because it tendses to be a non-specific speech. pete dominick, other than not being specific, what is the president's biggest challenge tonight? >> i think the president's biggest cham evening this evening is probably talking over the hecklers. i'm kidding. i hope no idiot yells anything out. seriously, his biggest challenge, he's going to ask us tonight, ask the american people, to help him, to help him think about what it's going to take to create jobs, the new jobs for the next 10 to 20 yeerz. he's going to ask the american people to not think about today, not tomorrow, but 10, 20 years. that's almost impossible for any leader to put into perspective. that's going to be tough for americans to hear, too, and to be realistic. lastly, i want the guy to use in props, charts. some say he's too much of a professor, too much of of a teacher. well, yeah, use graphics.

get him a giant ipad, ali velshi. can he borrow your wall? we need graphics and pictures. >> if the president uses that stuff, it puts me out of business. that's what we're going to be doing, pete. our coverage will explain what the state of things actually are in the united states. here's a problem, though, mark. our new polling pooks up a lot of polling we've seen in the last several weeks. something happened between the midterms and the end of 2010 that changed people's perceptions not only about congress and the president but about the future of this country. there is definitely a new optimism replacing the pessimism that we saw. how does that affect you on one level you guys were behind pushing the issues that got people pessimistic. now what happens if people are turning? >> well, i've said this before. look, it's time to govern now. the tea party has to be part of the solution. i think what you're seeing in independents as you saw in the numbers, it's surprising the democrat change is substantial,

but quite frankly there's a lot of good reason to be optimistic in we're seeing a check to the president's power, also a benefit of the republicans coming in and proposing cost cutting, not unreasonable. we're not throwing grandma out of the nursing home. what we are talking about is, as we've discussed earlier, the notion that we have to be responsible as citizens and this is not an easy problem to sox. i think in that sense the tea party is moving toward a relationship within the government's eyes as opposed to being an opposition voice only. >> pete, let's discuss that for a second. we have an issue here in that the people in this country are split on a lot of thick things. our polling indicate they're not split on the number one issue. it is the economy, but to some it's job creation and to some it's deficit reduction. we are quite split. what does this president do to live up to some of the expectations that were set at the end of of 2010 in terms of compromise and to live up to

expectations that he put forth in his civility speech in arizona? >> well, the president has a real challenge. if i had the answer for you, i ali, he'd probably have to hire me. but i think the president really has a tough time because he's got to combat what i would call these myths that are perpetuated the american public for years now with the trickle-down economics that government shouldn't invest in its own country, in the economy, to help create jobs and future industries and so on. and that, you know, he also has to -- i mean, i hope he has a line tonight about global warming. he has to have a sentence in there about that. he's got to warn, belinging the bell on that issue. and we actually are divided to some extent. i don't think the american population is but certainly among the parties on science, on science. science has become political. that is bizarreoland. that's hard to combat. but i think he has to come out strong with the statements, a

fact is a fact. >> mark, where is michele bachmann and the tea party going to stand on the issue of civility? we're going to see some people mixing it up in terms of where they sit. there's a sense and you have always been somebody who embraces civility. you've always been one to say, we can have this conversation without yelling, screaming, calling each other names, insulting each other. is there a tea party line on this? >> yeah. look, michele bachmann, i've met her a number of times. she's a good thinker, a genuine individual. she comes from the heartland of the of america. i think you'll see a person that responds with certainty, deliberateness but at the same time in a civil tone. she will be challenging to be sure. my hope is she gets people energized. i don't want to see just form. there ace got to be some substance here. i should also add we've been at these policies on education, jobs, regulation for 60 years. we've got to do something different. it's got to be pushed down to the local level. we are 18th in terms of high

school graduation. the chinese graduated more engineers last year who speak english than we did in this country. >> that's a great point. so let's not cut any tooeachers. can we degree to not cut teachers' jobs in. >> pete, i'm sitting here in memphis, tennessee. we are now embroilt broiled in a major controversy into consolidation of school districts. it's largely political we have one of the largest nongraduation rates in the state of tennessee. we are not addressing the leadership issues, what i call it. i agree with you. problematically we as a nation have to find out that the local solutions have to be driven by strong leadership. what i antagonist against is we can solve all problems by mandating more regulation. i'm not suggesting we lay off teachers. i know a lot of good teachers in the school district, we've got a great committee. but the problem is the leadership is failing us. >> i think we can probably agree

on both sides, that we don't need jing oweistic -- >> there's a reason the basketball game have a referee. >> that's why we have the two of you to illustrate that. pete, good to see you. i'll see you for the rest of the day, mark, always a pleasure to see you, a founding member of the memphis tea party. sunday evening in palm beach guard nz, florida, a pair of girl scouts and one scout's mother were selling kookies outside a shopping center. all went well until a woman posing as a customer grabbed the scouts' mother. it's an outrage. a tv commercial came over to cover it. >> here's $100. >> are you serious? thank you. thank you very much. >> it's so ridiculous, we just felt it was the right thing to do. >> i cannot -- >> see, there are good people even though some people do bad

things. >> now, the scouts did call the cops about the robbery. they warned other troops to keep a close eye on the cash box, good samaritans notwithstanding. breaking news, a federal judge has sentenced galani to life without parole for his role in the 1998 embassy bombings. 224 people died in that attack, including 12 americans. the 34-year-old is the first guantanamo detainee tried in u.s. civilian court. he was convicted in november on a single conspiracy charge to destroy buildings and u.s. property. rahm emanuel back on the ballot. the u.s. state supreme court has stayed the lower court ruling yesterday. that court said he didn't meet residency requirements for the mayor's race. remember emanuel moved back to chicago last week. this stay doesn't necessarily mean that the state supreme court will hear his appeal of yesterday's ruling, just that

hehe a he's got to be put on the ballot while it is pending much the vote is february 22nd. it's been called a day of revolt in egypt. thousands of people pour into the streets of cairo, demanding that the president resign. police have fired back with tear gas and water cannon as the protests have gone on and they've started swinging their batons, too. rare demonstrations springtion from an online campaign inspired by the collapse of the tunisian government a week and a half ago. among the protesters' other demand, a kmek check on completion powers and presidential term limits and higher minimum wage. the president has ruled egypt for 30 years now. last year president obama promised a green energy revolution in his state of the union address. did he keep that promise? the answer after the break. as a kid, i couldn't wait to skate on that ice.

what was i thinking? but i was still skating on thin ice with my cholesterol. anyone with high cholesterol may be at increased risk of heart attack. diet and exercise weren't enough for me. i stopped kidding myself. i've been eating healthier, exercising more and now i'm also taking lipitor. if you've been kidding yourself about high cholesterol, stop. lipitor is a cholesterol-lowering medication, fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. lipitor is backed by over 18 years of research. [ female announcer ] lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. let's go! [ laughs ] if you have high cholesterol you may be at increased risk of heart attack and stroke. don't kid yourself. talk to your doctor about your risk and about lipitor.

basic. preferred. at meineke i have options on oil changes. and now i get free roadside assistance with preferred or supreme. my money. my choice. my meineke. as we look ahead to president obama's state of the union address, we're also looking back at last year's address to see who promise kept and what promises he broke. this hour we focus on energy. >> president obama has talked a lot about a clean green energy revolution and he mentioned it in his last state of the union. >> but to create more of these clean energy jobs we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives. it means making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development. >> he made the tough decision in march to end the moratorium on

oil and natural gas exploration off the east coast. environmentalist howled and grew even louder when a month later the deepwater horizon oil rig blew up killing 11 men and releasing an estimated 205 million gallons of oil into the gulf of mexico over 85 dies. in december, the administration quietly reversed its decisions until regulations could be more thoroughly reviewed. clearly an embarrassment for the white house and for all practical purposes a promise broken. >> well, so much of the buzz for tonight's state of the union speech centers on seating. we've talked it about this. members are blurring the lines in an effort to be civil. jeanne moos breaks out the seating chart. >> reporter: forget standing up and sitting down. now it's who you're sitting with that counts. the state of the union is not only starting to sound like a

political prom but a gay prom. >> i've already asked tom coburn. >> mark kirk and i are going to sit together. i'm bringinged popcorn. he's bringing a coke with two straws. >> reporter: republicans and democrats are sending out joint press releases resembling engagement announcements. chuck grass le is tweeting his date-to-be. matchmaking live on tv. >> i don't have a date. >> i'm available. >> i just asked kay. >> all right. we'll see you two sitting together. >> reporter: even those who have really gotten on each other's nerves are getting into the act. >> i will not yield and the chairman -- >> reporter: now are going to observe both gentlemen sitting together. it was republican congressman peter king's wife's idea. >> she said, why not have the two biggest loud mouths always fighting sit together. i sid, who? she said, you and anthony wiener. ♪ let me hold you tight if only for one night ♪ >> reporter: the press is having

a field day nicknaming couples. >> there are the land of lincoln laddies, the southwest soul mates. >> reporter: a web site even dressed them up for their prom photo. the front-runners for prom king and queen? >> cutest republican might go to john thune and kirsten gillibrand. >> reporter: at politics daily they made out personal ads, cap and trade democrat seeks pro-life republican for one-nighter. >> it's getting icky. >> reporter: if one date isn't enough, how about a state of the union orgy, say, a soft ball game? >> reporter: even the south carolina republican who once yelled "you lie" will be sitting between two democratic congresswoman, no lie. not everyone's playing the state of the date. take republican senate minority

leader mitch mcconnell. >> i'm going to sit where i usually sit. >> reporter: now if only i could get somebody from fox news to sit with me while i watch the speech. ♪ if only for one night >> reporter: even a one-night stand beats all that standing. just keep your hands to yourself. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> she sure can tell a story. we want to know what think about the speech in report card style. head to my blog. i'm going to post it on my facebook and twitter accounts as well. we'll be looking for your a-f grades on the economy, energy, afghanistan/iraq, gay marriage, government spending, health care, don't ask, don't tell, immigration and civility. the front of food packages are changing. we're talking about nutritional information plastered on the front of packages, not the back. we'll show you the pictures right after the break. # your choice of entrees. and an appetizer or a dessert to share.

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right now we're working on three big stories involving food. the first one is about food labels. we see nutrition labels like these, all right? you see them on everything you buy, packaged food all across the country. we're able to see by looking at this, exact calories, fat, cholesterol, sodium, carb content. some say that's not enough. they want labels on the front of the package. it's called front of package labeling. it's been a passion of first lady michelle obama to help us make more informed decisions. last year mrs. obama asked the food industry to design a new system to highlight nutritional information on the front of a package. the grocery manufacturers association and the food marketing institute are out with their pitch called nutrition keys. contains four basic icons for calories, saturated fats sodium

and sugars. on small food packages one icon can be used for calorie count per serving. they pitched this option also, six panels, then nutrients to encourage. they define those as potassium, protein, vitamins, calcium and iron. these labels are not out on foods yet. you could start seeing them in the next few months. a reminder that these are suggestions from the food industry. the government is also working on its own research in labeling. some people are worried that positive and negative nutrition levels will only confuse customers. the white house praised the company but they'll still have the fda evaluate whether the label is meeting the needs of cop assumers. taco bell is under fire for its meat. taco bell calls the meat in question seasoned beef. last friday a lawsuit was filed against taco bell by a

california customer who calls the beef in the tacos "meat mixture" that contains less than 35% beef. the lawsuit claims that the other 65% is made up of the ingredients you see here on the screen, water, soy, et cetera. taco bell has the ingredients up for the beef tacos on the web site but doesn't mention how much actual meat is in the beef. a spokesman for taco bell had this to say, taco bell prides itself on serving high quality mexican inspired food with great value. we're happy that the millions of customers we serve every week agree. let's talk about mcdonald's. can't do without having a little mcdonald's on the set, french fries and big mac. they may cost more at the golden arches. they announced we can expect to pay 2% or 2.5% more. if you paid $1 for a soda, 0

you'll be charged 1.02 and 1.03. basically it costs them more to buy food. just so you're aware, mcdonald's posted a 2% increase in profits last quarter. breaking news on capitol hill. dana, what do you have? >> reporter: interest's nothing veiled in the symbolism of what house republicans did on the house floor. that's just hours before president obama will be in that very chamber addressing congress in the state of the union house republicans used their new majority to pass a resolution saying they are going to cut spending back to the levels before president obama was in office, back to 2008 levels. the official resolution is really short, ali. it effectively says that the house budget chairman, paul ryan, who is ironically going to give the republican response tonight, it is up to him to set the levels. not a lot of details. we're waiting for them. certainly a lot of symbolism in what republicans are doing.

clearly, the issue has been and will be for the next several months, spending spending spending, a fight over that. this is republicans saying to the president, we're ready to roll. >> we are going to ask you probably for the next two years now every time we see you. when something happens in the house, does that mean it's likely to become law because of the situation in the senate? >> reporter: well, in this particular case, this is just a house resolution, and it basically sets the terms for what the house budget chairman can do in the future. that's a good question to ask down the road. i think the first thing we'll have to look at is what exactly the house republicans are going to try to do with regard to cutting spending. we did learn today that the first official fight on that, the real meat on that, is going to be in a few weeks, the week of february 14th, the first time that the house republicans are going to try to pass a spending measure. that will be the place where they're going to try to cut. that's the question we'll ask,

whether whatever they do can pass the senate. >> dana, thanks very much. stay with us. we'll be right back after this break. i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, helps cover some of the medical expenses... not paid by medicare part b. that can save you from paying up to thousands of dollars... out of your own pocket. these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans... exclusively endorsed by aarp. when you call now, you'll get this free information kit... with all you need to enroll. put their trust in aarp medicare supplement insurance. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. the prices are competitive. i can keep my own doctor.

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and save up to thousands of dollars. call this toll-free number now. p. >> the story that keeps giving us news, a new development in the rahm emanuel bid to be mayor of chicago. the state supreme court stayed the decision, his name can go on the ballot until the matter is decided will hear the motion for

appeal. they'll go with an expedited ruling. no oral arguments in the case, the justices will use briefs that have lfr r already been filed in the appeals court. rahm emanuel's name goes back on the ballot. the election is february 22nd. they will hear the appeal of the court that turned him away yesterday. so for the moment rahm emanuel lives to fight another day. we'll continue to keep you updated on this very juicy and ongoing fast-developing story. another fast-developing story for ufr right now in weather. cnn meteorologist bonnie schneid her joins me. we've got a tornado warning going on? >> it's a tornado watch. for northern and central florida, this watch is in effect until 9:00 tonight. we're expecting very volatile weather to roll through northern florida, heavy thunderstorms hitting that region right now. then on the back side we have rain in memphis and nashville but it won't stick around. it will change over to snow. and also this just in, a winter storm warning has been expanded to include the city of nashville. we could see four inches of snow

starting this afternoon into tonight and even more than that as you head further to the south and west. even mississippi will see substantial snow with this system. now we're also watching the makings of a big storm that will impact the northeast, we're talking about a nor'easter. originally they were saying a sleet event, but everything changed. winter storm watches go into effect early tomorrow morning in the baltimore area, philadelphia later in the morning and by noon boston into providence looking for the threat of winter weather. this is going to be a huge snow-maker and the computer models are forecasting this storm to possibly produce six inches or more of snow especially as it advances further to the north and east and becomes a full-fledged nor'easter. the track is somewhat uncertain, but the watches will be posted starting tomorrow for substantial snow. when you look at the legend of snow expected, some areas possibly a foot. i'm talking about parts of condition connecticut and rhode

island. we'll monitor it very closely. he's been called everything from a saint to a criminal. he called in to fix what many consider to be ground zero of the country's education center.

p. 34 minutes after the hour. happening now, a federal judge has just sentenced ghalani to

life without parole in prison for his role in the 1998 embassy bombings in kenya and tanzania. 224 people died, including 12 americans. he is the first guantanamo detainee to be tried in u.s. civilian court. this just in moments ago, the illinois supreme court will take up the rahm emanuel appeal. they've agreed to the motion for an expedited ruling. that's important because the election is on february 22nd, and yesterday a court basically threw him off the ballot. so the supreme court, the illinois supreme court, has stayed that ruling. there will be no oral arguments in the case. this is going to speed it up. the justices will use briefs already filed to the appeals court. rahm emanuel moved back to chicago late last year after stepping down as president obama's chief of staff entirely to run as mayor. he had been a lifelong resident of chicago and a member of congress from chicago. the earlier court ruled that he had abandoned his residency and

therefore was not eligible to run for mayor. it's a view that a lot of other people disagree with, saying that he left chicago just to serve in national office. and as president obama puts the finishing touches on tonight's state of the union speech, a top aide says he's focusing on quote winning the future and staying competitive in the global market place. we'll get the official republican rebuttal and reaction from tea party favorite michele bachmann. you can see it all right here on cnn. since 2009, robert bob has taken on the tough task of cleaning up detroit's public school system. he's an emergency financial manager who's trying to get schools back on track while dealing with a dwindling budget and a shrinking student body. needless to say, this is not an easy job. poppy harlow went to detroit to check on the progress. >> reporter: sort of ground zero for the education crisis in this

country, isn't it? >> no question about it. >> reporter: some call robert bob a villain, others a hero. his task, fix perhaps the nation's most broken school system. >> if the school district does not succeed, the city of detroit will not succeed of. >> good morning. >> good morning. we cannot have individuals who are stealing precious dollars in a broke school system that should go to educate children. >> reporter: in 2009, bobb was brought in by michigan's governor to overhaul a system replete with waste, fraud and abu abuse. he left his consulting job in washington, assuming the role of emergency financial manager of detroit schools. and he's dead set on rooting out waste and corruption while boosting the graduation rate from 57% to 98% in just five years. >> i've been criticized because they say, well, why are you messing with the person who walked out of the school with a

bag of lunch money? that's a little criminal. my response to that is, if you steal a penny from -- that should go to the classroom, we'll do everything we can to prosecute you. >> reporter: he's prosecuting and he's shrinking the school system, as more and more families move out of detroit. enrollment this year is less than half it was a decade ago. >> closed 59 schools, more than a quarter of detroit's public schools, and that has angered parents and teachers. >> you know, we're going to anger more individuals in the next few months because i'm going to close somewhere between 20, maybe 40 schools within the next few months. >> reporter: so you're almost cutting the number of detroit public schools in half. and he's gotten millions in union concessions. but along with these deep cuts he's shaken up the economic academics making advanced placement courses available to everyone and greatly increasing the reading and math. got to get those scores up. >> reporter: this family applauds the drastic cuts but

say the problems extend far beyond the schools. >> it's not the building. it's not the principal. it's not the teachers. it's parents, stupid. it's really -- it really is the parents. and we've got to find a way to engage the parents. >> i get a little emotional because i've been doing this for 24 years and i love it. >> reporter: high school teacher edna reeves has mixed feelings about bobb's overhaul. she gives him a c. >> because he hasn't achieved what he came here for. >> reporter: rueducing the deficit. >> it's grown since he's been here. i have a problem with that. i cannot give you an excellent mark if you haven't accomplished your task. i have to hold him to the same standard i hold my students to. >> reporter: bobb argues the deficit he inherited was twice as large as previous live thought, most of it from borrowing hundreds of millions of dollars with no money to pay it back. what happened to bring this school system down? >> the economy. it's not an option to say, okay, i'm going to go into the

automotive industry if i'm not successful. you have to gear your mindset toward higher education. >> reporter: is this system stronger because of robert bobb? >> i would say it is better because he has been bold enough to make the moves that the community, you know, never really wanted to make. >> this is a criminal up here! this is a criminal! >> reporter: but those bold moves included major academic changes, some the school board wasn't consulted on. they sued bobb for academic control and won. >> reporter: did you expect taking this job that you would be sued by the school board? >> no. for every major change we've made we've taken a lawsuit. >> reporter: despite these challenges, the kids of detroit have clearly made their mark on bobb. >> tell me your a, b, cs just like last week. give me a big voice. >> a, b -- >> i grew up on a louisiana sugar plantation. the only way out was to get a public education. the and for these kids, the only way they're going to succeed in

the city of detroit and into the future is to get a solid public education. so it's not just professional for me, but it's personal. >> reporter: in detroit, poppy harlow reporting. unprecedented street demonstrations in egypt, rock an tear gas in the air.

43 minutes after the hour. a federal judge has sentenced ahmed ghalani to life without

parole for his role in the 1998 embassy bombings in kenya and tanzania. it killed 224 people and 12 americans. he is the first guantanamo detainee tried in u.s. civilian court having been convicted in november on a single conspiracy charge to destroy buildings and u.s. property. just in to the newsroom, the illinois supreme court will take up the rahm emanuel apile. he's agreed on an expedited ruling on his eligibility to run for mayor of chicago. a lower court knocked him out of the race because of residency issues. now the supreme court said there will be no oral arguments in the case. everybody has said what they need to say. the justices will use briefs already filed to the appeals court. emanuel will stay on the ballot. the election is on february 22nd. in exbript, thousands of anti-government protesters have taken to the streets, demanding that the president resign. they threw rocks at police who

fired tear gas, the dmon stlaigss the large eflt seen in egypt in 30 years. demonstrators say they were inspired by protests that brought down the government in tunisia. the clock is ticking down to the state of the union speech. now we have insight on one plan the president is ready to unveil. for that, let's bring in our senior white house correspondent, ed henry. >> reporter: what's going on, ali, is the fact that officials are confirming that the president will announce tonight a proposal -- it's not written in stone yet -- to freeze nondefense discretionary spending for five years. what does that mean? to break it down, it means that he wants to freeze at the current levels spending for health, education, you name it, across the board in the federal government at that level for five years. but he's going to exempt defense spending, veterans health care, et cetera, as well as homeland security. so you sort of take the security stuff out of it and just freeze all other federal spending.

mitch mcconnell, the republican leader, immediately said, no, not good enough. that basically that just keeps spending at its currently high levels for the next five years. republicans want to pare some of that back. this is going to be a centerpiece of the speech because that's where the battle is joined with the newly divided congress. we keep hearing the president is going to use the word "investment." you've got to freeze some of this and maybe increase spending in other areas to make sure the economy heals. you're going to have republicans saying, no, noshgs no. we're piling up more debt. let's not just freeze and increase on things. let's cut back. that's where the battle is. >> who are these people? we just had a whole crowd of people walking behind you. are those people leaving lunch? >> reporter: no. these are some of my colleague gsz. there's a briefing 3:00 eastern time. reporters going over to the old executive office building, part of the ritual. we mentioned the big dog anchors getting to lunch with the president around noon or so.

>> you guys get a briefing. >> reporter: we get to walk around the long walk around the construction and nonsense for a briefing with lower officials in a building next to the white house. the anchors get the red carpet rolled out there. they all came out of not just the regular white house working part, the west wing, they actually came out of the residence there because they were probably in the old family dining room with the president. you see the hierarchy, the pecking order, i'm obviously pretty low on the chain. >> do we need to let you go? we don't want you to miss the second-tier meeting. >> reporter: if i miss the second-tier meeting i'll even be lower down the food chain. it's fine. 0 think a second wave of people are going over there. we'll be fine. >> ed, i've asked a lot of people on facebook and twitter to tell me what they'd like to hear out of the state of the union. i've got specifics. they do tend to be what you think, jobs and the economy largely, afghanistan and lauk. but the reality is i think a lot of people may be disappointed,

maybe i set them up by asking them the wrong question. it's not typically a speech big on specifics. >> reporter: no. of course people want to hear some specifics but what white house aides say, the president doesn't want to get boxed in. politically, it would be great to lay out all the details for example of where he'll cut spending. i think a lot are frustrated by, we've got to rein in the debt and not get specific. the problem is, if the president lays out all the specifics tonight, the republicans will attack them and will get nowhere. both sides are sort of shadow boxing here. what you're going to hear is the president to do the big picture, details to come. we'll see if they ever to come. >> i hope they give you snacks or juice at that briefing. >> reporter: i think we have cheese and crackers. the anchors get a nice lunch. >> ed, nice to see you. we'll see you tonight as we cover the state of the union. be sure to tune in tonight, our special coverage begins 7:00 p.m. eastern with the best

political team on television. hollywood's love affair with british royalty on display again with the new oscar nominations. who could knock the king off its perch? here's a hint. it isn't ashten kutcher. [ male announcer ] while others are content to imitate, we'll continue to innovate. the lexus rx. why settle for a copy when you can own the original? see your lexus dealer.

p. >> the nominations are in for hollywood's biggest prize, of course i'm talking about the oscars. the big dog in this race is "the king's speech". >> i can cure your husband, but i need total trust. >> what was your earliest memory? >> i'm not here to discuss personal matters. >> well, why are you here, 10? >> because i bloody well stammer! >> do you know any jokes? timing isn't my strong suit. >> "the king's speech" led with 12 nominations, overawl including actor nods. the second most nominations went to "true grit," jeff grbridges for best actor. he won last year. ten films get nominated, along with the two we mentioned, the social network, the fighter, black swan, the kids are all right, inception, toy story 3127 hours and winter's bone. you can get the fill list on cnn.com. as we said, "the king's

speech" has the most nominations with 12. what's the real story behind the hollywood hit? cnn's nick glass introduces us to the man behind the hollywood character. >> reporter: it's some archive retrieved from storage after half a century and spread across the kitchen table in north london. old letters, documents, albums, photographs, and newspaper cuttings. here's the story of a friendship between a man who would be king and the australian speech therapist who helped him overcome his stammer. it was more deferential and rather shorter than his movie counterpart, but the key speech in the film is historically accurate, word for word, as it had to be. >> in this grave hour, perhaps the most -- >> reporter: these may well be the pages george vi held in his

hands when he spoke on radio in the outbreak of war in 1939. there were marks on where to stress word and pause. a grandson has pieced the story 0 together from documents he inherited. >> the content is incredibly friendly like you'd expect between friends. there is this ed i ket that lionel still abides by, your royal highness. the letters back to him from the king are, my dear logue. the first thing that really was startling was the appointment card. >> reporter: in teeny handwriting, logue assessed his new patient, albert duke of york, in 1926. >> has an acute nervous tension. >> reporter: the appointment card shows he saw him almost every day for the next two months in advance of a trip to australia. the frendzship lasted the rest

of their lives but it never seems that they were photographed together. at the correspond nation in 1937, logue is seated in the royal box with his wife myrtle. they're so high up she's using opera glasses. myrtle died suddenly of a heart attack just after the war ended. >> dear logue, i must send you one line to tell you how terribly sorry i was to hear of your bereavement. and i send you all my deepest sympathy in your great grief. i am, yours sincerely, george. i'm getting choked up reading this because i don't know, it's something about thinking -- kind of thinking about him being -- hurting after myrtle's death is kind of -- makes it kind of real. >> reporter: the producers of the movie approached him just a few weeks before filming began. the screen play was tweaked and from logue's diary a joke was

added. >> i went to windsor on sunday evening for the broadcast. only one mistake, w in weapons. after the broadcast i shook hands with the king and congratulated him and asked him why he stopped on the w. he replied with a grin, i did it on purpose. if i don't make a mistake, people might not know it was me. >> reporter: george vi died in 1952. the following year, his friend lionel logue, died, too. >> good movie. if you haven't seen it, check it out. hey, listen what do we really need to hear from the president tonight in his state of the union speech? expensive ss in the country! [ male announcer ] when stress gives you heartburn with headache... alka-seltzer gives you relief fast. [ low male ] plop, plop. [ high male ] fizz, fizz.

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logue. time now for the "xyz" of it. tonight president obama gives his state of the union address before members of congress. you all will be listening, too. what do you want to hear? i've done an informal survey on facebook and twitter. not surprisingly, different people will be listening for different things depending on their circumstances. a few of you will be listening for what the president has to say about the wars in afghanistan and iraq, mostly those who have relatives in the military. overwhelmingly i'm getting a sense that the economy is still froptd and center with most of you. and the number one issue as one posting labels it is jobs. another posting sums up the sentiment well, we warrant help for 9 niners and real job creation, not part-time jobs. i would like to hear mo