up bankrupting the ussr. does she have her facts straight? we're keeping them honest tonight. also, the u.s. congressman who says president obama is practicing socialism. does he have the facts to back it up? we're keeping them honest and getting his take. so you can decide for your several. and then later tonight, a mom does what lots of parents do, trying to give her daughters a shot at a better education. most parts though, don't go to jail for it. we'll tell you about her crime and the punishment and ask if justice was done or if it was distorted. we begin, though, as always, keeping them honest. tonight, sarah palin causing a storm for taking exception with president obama's state of the union address. but getting on our radar for kind of mangling history. listen. >> his theme last night in the state of the union was the wtf, you know, winning the future. i thought, okay, that acronym, spot on. there are a lot of wtf moments throughout that speech.

>> wtf, in case you're wondering what that is for, it's wtf. parents, ask your children. governor palin is taking heat for that. but it's a matter of taste and opinion. but keeping them honest, we're interested in the hard facts. and what she said about this. >> half a century ago when the soviets beat us into space with the launch of the satellite called sputnik, we had no idea how we would beat them to the moon. the science wasn't even there yet. nasa didn't exist. but after investing in better research and education, we didn't just surpass the soviets, we unleashed a wave of innovation that created new industries and millions of new jobs. this is our generation's sputnik moment. >> so that was president obama on tuesday night.

now here was the palin reaction. >> that was another one of those wtf moments when -- the sputnik moment, that he would aspire americans to celebrate. he needs to remember that what happened back then with the former communist ussr and their victory in that race to space, yeah, they won, but they also incurred so much debt at the time that it resulted in inevitable collapse of the soviet union. >> okay, a little hard to make much of that statement because it's not exactly very clear what she's talking about. if she literally means that sputnik bankrupted the soviet union and led to the collapse, it makes no sense, because it went up october 4th, 1957, and the soviet union dissolved in september of 1991. that couldn't have bankrupted them. they still had money for a manned space program. so maybe she's talking about the race into orbit.

>> good lord ride all the way. >> god speed, john glenn. >> john glenn, the second to orbit the earth. that was 30 years before the ussr collapsed. that did not bankrupt them. they still had more money for more space flights. so maybe she's talking about this. >> we choose to go to the moon and do the other thing. not because they are easy, but because they are hard. >> that was a great speech. lunar program, that could be a budget buster, of course. hard numbers are hard to come by, because the soviet program was cloaked in secrecy. but according to nasa, our own space program cost about $23 billion, and soviet spending was about half that amount. it's hard to see how space spending would be a major burden, especially when you

consider all of the other things they were spending money on, occupying eastern europe, invading afghanistan, building the berlin wall. >> mr. gorbachev, tear down this wall! >> that was president ronald reagan, of course, six presidents, three decades after sputnik went into orbit. she writes in "usa today," we won the cold war without firing a single shot, or apparently launching a single rocket. more now on the facts and the politics of what sarah palin said with democratic strategist maria cardona and steven cohen and ed rollands. nice to see you all. let's begin with you, steven. i want to start with the history thing. >> i do know what wtf means.

>> i knew you did. >> i asked my 19-year-old daughter and she told me. so i'm informed. >> glad to hear that. history 101, there's a big span of time, 34 years, between sputnik and the collapse of the soviet union. so when sarah palin says, in fact, one was linked to the other, is that true? >> i'm not a palin fan. >> i'm not ask you whether or not you are, i want to know if it's true. >> it's not the dumbest thing that's been said about the end of the soviet union. what she wanted to say is the soviet union spent so much money that it bank resulted itself and ended. and investments in sputnik were the beginning of that. that's wrong on two counts. 1957, which ed and i remember very well, it was a scary moment. >> i was 50. >> we remember it because when it happened they made all american schoolchildren study more math and science. >> beginning my downfall.

>> that's how we ended up here. what governor palin said is wrong in two respects. in 1957 when sputnik went up, and for about the next ten years was the high point of the strength of the soviet economy, in terms of economic growth, i grew at 6%, 7% a year and its technological development. that's why the united states had such an allergic reaction. the reaction was, oh, my god, the communist can do it, we can't. so she's wrong on that count. it didn't lead to bankruptcy. the other thing she's wrong about but it's not crazy, because a lot of people think this, is that the failure of the soviet economy ended the soviet union. that too is not correct, but that's a different story. so what i would say is, she's wrong on both accounts, but this is the 20th anniversary of the end of the soviet union, 2011. and you're going to hear a lot of foolish things said in the united states this year.

she's the first out of the paddock. >> that's sort of a dubious honor. when you hear these remarks, what do you think? is it building the brand that sarah palin may be -- >> no, no, clearly it's showing she has a lack of knowledge, which i think is unfortunate in a candidate, no matter how effective she may think she is. in this case, we did lose the space race. it was an extraordinary time for the soviet union and us. it was one of the greatest times of research and development for the united states and all the side bar things that came, the computers, the lasers, all the rest of it, it was an extraordinary investment of resources and created a great engineering. if anything destroyed the soviet union, it was their attempt to expand throughout the world and their tremendous amount of resources devoted to the military. >> maria, a question about the brill yanls of sarah palin, which is you can be wrong but people devote segments talking about what you're saying even though she should be running a disclaimer.

>> that's exactly right, soledad. a lot of people like to think she's crazy. i often say she's crazy like a fox in terms of she knows that exactly what she's doing in terms of marketing her own brand. the question is whether she actually really wants to use that brand to run for president. i never thought that she really did, because these things that she says, which are completely wtf moments for us, don't help that brand in terms of having people take her more seriously for running for president. but you said it, look at what we're doing, we're devoting a whole panel talking about what she said. to her supporters, that actually i think makes them love her more. >> you have said, maria, that you would love to see a palin/bauchmann ticket.

it's so wrong in history, it's just craziness. >> yeah, that's exactly right. i think that the two together, again, make us talk more about them than it does about the seriousness of conservative republican ideas. i think in that sense, and i think maybe ed would agree with me here, and i know that other serious conservatives, republicans agree that she does not do the party any good. >> let's ask the man who knows about conservative republican ideas. >> the president gave a speech that obviously was a very bipartisan speech, a lot of things that republicans can agree on. and sort of a new star of the republican party, paul ryan gave the counter speech. he's the one we should be talking about tonight, yet we're talking about sarah palin saying something very stupid. i think the key thing here, his message is lost and she's not part of the process today, she's part of the side bar.

michele bachmann is a representative of the tea party, but at the end of the day, we have to get our serious players out front and talk about the things that matter. >> ultimately, professor cohen, historians love -- everybody is researching sputnik. that has to be exciting for you. >> well, it's more auto biographical, and i when it went up. in 1961, i think, the soviet union sent up the first man in space. that was actually considered more sensational than sputnik, which ed reminded me before the broadcast weighed 20 pounds and was the size of a volleyball. but when they sent a human being, that really brought it home that they put a man in space. there's one other thing i would say, what television has done in

the united states and probably in other countries is confuse celebrity with political leadership. when you become famous and celebrate it for something, in politics, it's confused with leadership. >> we're out of time. maria, i want to thank you. >> thank you, soledad. >> thank you. let us know what you think at ac360.com. another critic of president obama, this time he says he's a socialist. we'll check in with nic robertson, live in egypt where the largest anti-government protest this week are expected to begin within hours. first, we check in with isha. >> for months, it's been a case of can he run or can't he? i'm talking about rahm emanuel and his bid to become chicago's next mayor. well, the illinois supreme court has made a decision. and i'll have the details.

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sarah palin isn't president obama's only critic on the state of the union. she's not the only one causing a fuss, either. must be congressman paul brown of georgia didn't attend the speech. he says out of respect, though she didn't exactly explain what he meant by that. she watched it from his office and tweeted about it, first saying good speech, but long on hope, short on reality. then this, mr. president, you don't believe in the constitution, you believe in socialism. as the matter of opinion, there's no arguing with that. but keeping them honest, as a matter of fact, it doesn't hold water when we asked him to justify his statement, here's how he answered. >> mr. obama believes in a big central government where the federal government controls everything in our lives. that's socialism. so i stick by that tweet. >> and then taking it a step beyond. listen. >> when i was sworn in the morn

corps in 1964, when i was sworn into congress, i swore to uphold the constitution against enemies both foreign and domestic. we have a lot of domestic enemies of the constitution. those who want to pervert it. those who want to change it. >> so then according to the congressman, not only does the president believe in socialism, by implication, he's also a domestic enemy, the president we're talking about. again, that's his opinion. hey, that's his opinion. kind of hard to find the facts to back it up. socialism, according to webster's, is any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and strapgs of a means and production and distribution of goods. critics point to the bank and auto bailout as an obama government takeover. they began during the bush administration, and neither president bush nor president obama thought any long-term stake in a american business. president obama said about gm

and chrysler -- >> these companies and this industry must ultimately stand on their own. not as wards of the state. >> and today, gm is a publicly owned company. chrysler is a privately owned company, both paying back their loans. so are the banks. here's president obama this summer talking about the government's role in the economy. >> government cannot and should not replace businesses as the true engine of growth and job creation. >> as for the president's belief in the constitution, well, he used to teach it at the university of chicago. a hot bed of conservatives, not radical thought. and even though professor obama was no conservative himself, his curriculum included readings from former jous 'tis robert work. congressman brown also takes issue, a lot, with health care reform. he spoke to us about that, and much more a little earlier tonight. congressman, you clearly did not love the state of the union address.

you were tweeting, good speech, but long on hope and short on reality. and then at one point, you tweeted, mr. president, you don't believe in the constitution, you believe in socialism. do you really believe that the president does not support the constitution? >> he absolutely does not support the constitution. he has promoted a socialistic type of governance ever since he's been in office. a good example is obama care. in fact, just before obama care was passed into law, he said he wanted everybody in this country on socialized medicine. we've had a greater nationalization of the private sector. >> in the speech, he mentioned small business several times. more than several times. so if they were really a socialist, he wouldn't be talking about hoping for the success of small business. that would be exactly the opposite of what a socialist would do, right? >> well, frankly the policies that have been put forth by this administration and the democratic leadership in

congress are destroying small businesses, and obama care is a good example. >> you're saying that the health care bill is evidence of the president being a socialist, roughly if you look at the polls, half of the people in the united states support it. so are 50% of americans secretly socialist? >> no, they just don't understand. the bible says, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. we have a tremendous lack of knowledge by how far we've gotten from the constitution of the united states. you see, i believe in this document as our founding fathers intended it. we should have a very -- >> wait a minute, wait a minute, you know in the last 200 years has been changed like 27 times, right? so the original document actually has been amended and changed. >> in fact, i've introduced a constitutional amendment for a balanced budget. that's what we're supposed to do

when we change it, not by fiat or executive order. in fact, republicans and democrats alike have been doing that. we've got to go back to a solid foundation of governance and the constitution, as it was intended by our founding fathers, is what we need to go back to. >> but the constitution -- sir, as you know, the constitution as it was intended by our founding fathers, and i have read the constitution numerous times, 3/5ths of a person is what some americans counted for and women didn't have the right to vote under the original intent of the constitution, air go the numerous amendments. so why would you think anybody that would try to change the constitution is an enemy somehow. i don't get it. >> i did not say that, because i've tried to amend the constitution with my own balanced budget amendment. but you see, the thing is, article i, section viii lists the things the federal

government is supposed to be doing. it's only about 18 or 19, some people say 20. the size and scope of the federal government has grown way beyond the original intent. >> i was looking at this poll, it says 47% of these americans who were polled said they have a negative view of the gop. and guess what that number is for democrats? the same exact number, 47% of americans. also, dislike democrats. i'm curious to know, in a way i thought, they dislike both of you, on both sides of the aisle. they're kind of sick of politicians and maybe the lack of civility is part of that. what is your strategy for turning that around? because with the tweets not so civil doesn't sound like aiming for more civility is your strategy. >> i was just stating the truth, this president has a socialistic agenda. i believe that very firmly. so it's not uncivil.

i was just stating the truth. and i think we can do -- i think we can work together and i have worked with democrats on many issues and i will continue to do so. >> maybe the one light at the end of the tunnel is you did have one tweet which said, i agree. it was i guess somewhere in the top 20 minutes. you said, i agree. maybe that is a little hopeful sign for civility and getting along among our elected officials. thank you, sir, i appreciate it. thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> you bet. still ahead tonight, a mom who says she just wanted to enroll her kids in a better school district lands behind bars. sit a case of simple fraud or did raise play a role? new reporting from egypt where unrest in the streets is gaining momentum. nic robertson is there with a first hand look at the crisis facing a key u.s. ally. ♪

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tonight, egypt, a nation on the brink, is bracing for possibly the largest protest that it has seen all week. just hours from now, after friday prayers, demonstrators are expected to fill the streets of cairo. the first time the muslim brotherhood has called its followers to join the anti-government protests that erupted. the aim, to topple the president, a key u.s. ally. today, president obama was careful not to take sides. >> my main hope right now is that violence is not the answer

in solving these problems in egypt. so the government has to be careful about not resorting to violence. and the people on the streets have to be careful not resorting to violence. >> the protests have already turned deadly. at least six people have been killed in clashes with riot police. i want to show you a video shot. this is very disturbing to watch. it shows a man who was shot, you can see him on the left of your screen. he picks up a rock and then -- walks several steps and then shot by security services right there. then someone goes in to try to help him. it comes on the heel of mass uprisings in tunisia and yemen. today, muhammad elbaradei returned to cairo to join the demonstrations. the egyptian government has shut down social networking sites and

text messaging capabilities and the clampdown means we cannot broadcast from the streets there tonight. so nic robertson is going to join me by phone from alexandria. friday morning, early where you are right now, protests are expected as we said after the friday prayers. what exactly are you expecting? >> a lot of people to be on the streets, soledad. a lot more than have been seen over the past few days. with the muslim brotherhood joining, the expectation is they will bring a large number of their supporters on the streets. they're generally known to be very well organized. they will likely be able to have a much stronger idea of where they want to go, central squares, close to where we're standing now here in alexandria. so it's the numbers people expect to be bigger and the organization to be better. it's been a lot of youth and mixed population, if you will, without extensive leadership or direction other than to face-off against the security forces.

that may be the difference we see friday. but the numbers is the main thing. soledad? >> we talked about muhammad elbaradei coming back into the country today what kind of legitimacy does he have right now? >> he called a few months ago for changes in the constitution. that went online and more than a million people have signed up for it. the young people are looking for a new hope and a chance of a different leadership, say that's a mandate. that is more of a mandate, they say, than the president has. many people feeling that he is a man that they canning respect, that they can follow. remember, this so far hasn't seem to have had a clear leadership. whether he will be that man, no one can say. he said that the regime doesn't listen, and the barrier of fear

has been broken. that is perhaps the biggest thing. that barrier of fear people have, that's perhaps the biggest thing. but the challenge will be to use that energy. >> nic robertson for us, in alexandria reporting because we cannot get a live shot out of there today. thank you for that. stay safe, of course. lots happening around the country and the word. isha? >> soledad, rahm emanuel's name will stay on the mayoral ballot in chicago. the former white house chief of staff won a court ruling on his chicago regs den si. he took part in the debate tonight with his top two opponents in the february 22 and election. nelson mandela is in a hospital where doctors are conducting tests. a source told cnn he was flown there yesterday from cape town where he was on vatation. the 92-year-old former south african president was last seen in public at last summer's world cup.

the major snowstorm that pummelled the eastern seaboard dumped 19 inches of snow in new york's central park. boston is under snow emergency. officials say the city has had to clear more than 60 inches of snow in the last 31 days. soledad, listen up. a mystery has been involved. last night, we told our viewers about a piano that mysteriously appeared on a sand bar in florida's biscayne bay. well, now 16-year-old has admitted to hauling the piano out with some help from friends. he said he viewed it as art for a portfolio in his future college application. i should tell you that dumping things in the bay is illegal. but authorities have no immediate plans to charge the teenager. >> so he was going to put it on his application and say, mr. professor, i dumped it on the sand bar? >> it was art. you just don't understand it. i'm going to guess he doesn't get in.

that's just me. isha, thank you very much. tonight's shot, a gorilla walking like a person. look at that. not dragging the knuckles for him. looks like he's moving along. kind of cute. and it's got us thinking. anderson spent some time at the great apes trust recently. look at this. >> he's not struggling like that gorilla, i have to say. he needs to work on his strut, mr. cooper there. >> i wonder how much he would have paid me to keep that video off the air tonight. >> he loves it. >> isha, thanks. up next, we've got this story, people are outraged about it. it's blowing up twitter. a single mom sent to jail for using her father's address because she wanted her daughter to go to a bitter school that was in a safer neighborhood. many people say sending the

woman to jail does not fit the crime. we're going to talk about that. later, a lawsuit that asks where's the beef in taco bell's beef? now taco bell is threatening its own lawsuit and we are putting the whole sloppily mess on the "ridicu-list." [instrumental music]

tonight, a story of how far one mother went to make sure her children would get a good education and how she ended up in jail for it. some people say it's simply a

case of fraud. prosecutors in ohio say kelly williams lied on official records so that her two daughters could go to a better school. she used her father's address to get her kids enrolled. williams and her father maintained that the girls lived with their grandfather part of the time. but after the school district investigated, she was arrested, convicted of two counts of tampering with records, sentenced to ten days in jail. she left jail yesterday after serving nine days and was shaken up to say the least. >> it's overwhelming. i'm exhausted. my primary residency was both places. i stayed at both places. when my home got broken into, i felt it was my duty. i don't think they wanted money. they wanted me to be an example. >> the big question tonight is, does the punishment fit the

crime? during the trial, school officials said during the little over two years, there were dozens of other residency questions came up but nobody else was prosecuted. so why, according to local news reports, did the school district spend $6,000 to investigate this case? they even hired a private investigator to follow her kids and her to school. and why the extraordinary measure of sending her to jail? today, the superintendent of the school told cnn on the phone the correct tried for years to resolve the situation but she would not cooperate. >> we worked from 2006 to 2008 over a two-year period in terms of communicating and sending information. and we didn't have the cooperation from this situation that we had with our other cases.

our district could actually be subject to criticism that we tried to work with the situation for two years. we are educators. we do have the student's best interests at heart. and therefore, that's why we try and work with the parents and leave the children out of it. >> so another part of the story, williams is going to college to become a teacher. now she has a felony record, so the hope for the better future for her could be in jeopardy. people point out all this could have been avoided. there are ten so-called open enrollment districts in akron where she could have applied. eight were rated excellent or excellent with distinction ratings. the same rating that the school district where she ended up sending her schools and ended up in jail. unfortunately the one she sent the kids to does not have open enrollment. is this a clear case of breaking the law and suffering the consequences or is this something unjust going on? joining us live from syracuse, new york, is dr. watkins,

professor at syracuse university and founder of your black world.com. in new orleans, we have dr. perry, an assistant professor of higher education. and here in new york, former federal prosecutor, sonny hoskins, a legal contributor from "in session" from trutv. nice to have you all. sonny, to me the whole most interesting part of what the superintendent said was, we are educators. we have the children's best interest at heart when we're kicking them out. is this a legally clear case in your mind? >> i don't think so. for me i'm not buying what he's selling. you don't have to refer something for prosecution. so i think the system failed her there. >> two years they were negotiating. >> we don't know what he was doing throughout the two years. i listened to his statement when he spoke on cnn today and i wasn't clear what was going on. the other part that's important

to note is prosecutors have discretion, soledad. why prosecute this case? why not plead out to a misdemeanor? i think the system certainly failed her there. and the real crime here is that her school system failed and so she has to seek another school for her children. this is not a clear cut case at all. >> you know what's interesting about this? as i was reading this story without seeing any of the pictures, you didn't have to tell me, i knew the mother in this story is black. we are talking about black kids and talking about a school system which is majority white. i knew that already. why did i know that? >> well, the reason you knew that is because this case connected to millions of people across the country, primarily because it was a microcosm of everything that's racially wrong with america. if you look at the holy trinity of racial equality, the economic, education and criminal justice systems, you see all those elements come into play. so when i talked to reverend sharpton about the rally we're

going to hold in ohio, we both agreed that the issue is not what kelly did or did not do. it is the fact that there were millions of parents across america who related to her story. there are so many parts across the country, women in my family that have had to break the law a little bit to get their kids access to a quality education. so why is it the case that there are some schools where the kids are not being taught what they need to know, the kids are not as safe as they would be in the suburbs, yet there are other schools that have everything they need? that's what the issue needs to be. >> if you go to the internet, you can pull up the results of these two different schools. let's look at the school she wanted to go to. it's amazing to me. third grade achievement above state standards, fourth, fifth grade, sixth grade, seventh grade above state standards. then shall we turn to the akron

public schools. third grade, below state standards, fifth, sixth, below, seventh below. below, below, below on everything except for four of the 24 things they measure on. dr. perry, ultimately what is this saying about our state educational system? i mean, is this woman someone who should have been sitting in jail as she tried to do not what most people complain about parents which is they're not involved at all, but was sort of overinvolved in her kid's education. >> certainly she should not have been jailed for any time. this spikes to how desperate parents are to put their kids in a quality school. and it also shows how desperate other school districts are from preventing other students from going into their institutions. certainly there are taxing issues. there are real costs associated with enrolling a kid and meeting

the cost associated with the kids being in school. >> the father that lives there is paying taxes. >> that's right. but still there is estimates about how many kids are in a district, and how many -- and there's a match to those potential schools. but with that said, the reason why we have counties and parishes across the country saying we're going to have open enrollment counties is because they understand that if you have limited options in your county, you have to go somewhere else. the cost of not educating those children are enormous. and that's what we're involved with in this country. we have to make the mechanism, if they don't have access to a quality school, to go somewhere else, to cross county lines or we'll see the types of devastations we're seeing throughout the country.

>> take us back to brown versus board of education. ultimately, wasn't it found that access to a quality education is a basic and constitutionally protected human right, which the court then would remedy if they found it wasn't true with whatever. >> absolutely. >> how then can someone argue legally and put this woman in jail for ten days if she's clearly -- the documents show she's got one school that is a good one, one that is a bad one. >> there were other schools available to her that were as good as this one. the other schools had open enrollment. she's saying she lived there. but the other interesting thing is the sort of selective prosecution issue. why prosecute this case? you had 40 something other issues in your school district, but you prosecuted this case.

>> the superintendent would say because the other ones were resolved. to what degree is this really about race at its core, or is it about education and poverty? >> it's certainly about all of those things. one of the things we have to remember as the president was talking about education in the state of the union address is that this unequality in the educational system is a fundamental human rights violation. the united nations has cited america as a consistent violator of human rights when it comes to people's color. when you look at the economic situation and the education situation, the criminal justice system, you have a serious problem. so we don't confront that directly, we're always going to have this problem. this case is just the perfect storm of what we need to look forward to as a country. >> thanks, guys. i appreciate it. a special programming note

about a "black in america" special, the story of earnest withers. three years after his death, his legacy is in question, because there are claims that he led a double life as a paid informant for the fbi. caught in the middle are his children disputing the charges. it is a remarkable story. it's called "pictures don't lie." it's a "black in america" special, february 20th, 8:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. much more news ahead, including actor charlie sheen, admitted to the hospital today. and taco bell wants you to think outside the bun, but a group suing taco bell wants you to think about what's inside that tortilla. we'll explain. and we're adding the mess to our "ridicu-list." [ slap! slap! slap! slap! ] ow, ow! [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium rich tums

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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. still to come tonight, the beef over taco bell, the fast food chain facing a class action lawsuit claiming its meat doesn't have enough meat. we're going to add the uproar to our "ridicu-list." but first, isha joins us again with a "360" news and business bulletin. isha? >> soledad, the so-called dating game killer is facing new charges tonight. this time in new york. in the 1970s and before he appeared on the dating game, prosecutors say he killed two women in new york. he's currently on death row in california for killing four

women and a 12-year-old girl there. a "360" followup now. a new report gives answers what caused 5,000 birds to fall out of the sky in arkansas on new year's eve. the birds died of blunt force trauma, which indicates they may have hit something, like trees or a house. and kindle sales helped the company record sales of $13 billion. that is up 36% compared to last year. and more people are buying e-books than paperbooks on the website. charlie sheen was rushed to a los angeles hospital today. his publicist says sheen is suffering from a hernia. it is his second trip to a hospital in three months. i'm just going to say it, soledad. charlie sheen, enough with the drama already. >> i know, really. out of the news for a little while, go away.

>> we wish him better. >> yes, yes, our thoughts and prayers are with you. isha, now time for the "ridicu-list." we are adding to the list the beef with taco bell. have you heard about this? there's a law firm in alabama that filed a class action lawsuit against taco bell saying that the meat isn't very meaty. it claims that taco bell's seasoned beef is less than 35% beef, in fact. and that it's advertising is misleading. an attorney at the firm reportedly says that taco bell adds fillers, giving them a competitive edge over other companies that sell "mexican style food." it's taco bell, people, 99 cents for a taco. there's no organic corn fed veal. so taco bell says the law firm has it all wrong and its meat is quite meaty. this is what the company says in a statement. our beef is 100% usda inspected, just like the quality beef you would buy at a supermarket and prepared in your home.

it then is slow cooked and simmered with proprietary seasonings and spices. we want some guidance on this so you don't have to look further than the wisdom of that taco bell chihuahua. >> i want taco bell. >> but i don't want every last thing that is in a taco. there's a way why they say you don't want to see how sausage is made. >> after the meat is ground up, the broth used to boil the liver is added to the sausage mix for flavor. all of the ingredients must be terrorly mixed. >> yummy. okay, not that hungry. but the point remains, we're not talking about a five-star restaurant, but a five-layer burrito that cost 99 cents. taco bell customers, are they picky about their food?

i think the core customer is people who currently or pretty much, you know, taco bell is 100% there's 88% beef. they say this, our seasoned beef recipe contains 88% quality usda inspected beef, 12% seasonings, spices, water and other ingredients that provide taste and texture and moisture. i hate when they write about food having texture and moisture. taco bell is threatening to countersue over these claims. in conclusion, let us not ask for whom the taco bell tolls. it tolls for anyone who has ever been hungry at 3:00 in the morning and said what's open now? that is for whom the taco bell tolls. the taco bell tolls for us all. anyone who has a beef with that can go to some other fast food restaurant. that's on the "ridicu-list" tonight. we're starting with sarah

palin taking aim at president obama's sputnik moment in the state of the union address and weighing in on russian history. but can she see the facts? we're keeping them honest tonight. host: could switching to geico really save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance? was abe lincoln honest? mary: does this dress make my backside look big? abe: perhaps... save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance?really host: is having a snowball fight with pitching great randy johnson a bad idea? man: yeah, i'm thinking maybe this was a bad idea.

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