>> on the broadcast tonight, high stakes with the president speaking tonight, coming off last night's contentious gop debate. mitt romney chooses today to release his tack returns and show the world how much he made and what he paid. now voters get to take a good long look at the numbers. vaccine worries. a link between some common household chemicals and childhood vaccines. an incredible light show. an outburst of the energy that's so unusual, it's affecting air travel. and we hear president kennedy as never before. we hear his children and we hear him in his final days. "nightly news" begins now.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television >> good evening. while our focus in prime time will be the president's state of the union address, to be fair, the attention hasn't been on president, not for months. it's been on the gop race and the republican candidates. and one of them, mitt romney, chose today to release his tax returns from the year 2010. he did it to help stop the questions about his wealth, but in releasing his taxes, he reveals what most americans will regard as unimaginable wealth, and vast investments after a successful career in business, much of it spent buying and selling companies. the numbers in these returns will likely get talked about for the rest of the way in this campaign. it's against this backdrop that we begin tonight with nbc's andrea mitchell.

>> reporter: mitt romney wasn't talking about his taxes today, but the numbers tell the story. in 2010, the romneys paid $3 million in taxes on an adjusted gross income of $21.6 million, an effective rate of 13.9%. that compares to the obamas who paid 26% of their income in taxes. and the gingrichs who paid 31.6%. the big difference -- almost all of the romney's income is from investment, not salary or other income. and the irs taxes investments at a much lower rate. >> you can't get much more in terms of capital gains and qualified dividends. >> reporter: in 2011, romt knees estimate they'll play an effect i have rate of 15.4% on an adjusted gross income of $29 million. over both year, the romneys gave $7 million to charity, including $4.1 million to the mormon church.

they earn $12.9 million over two years in so-called carried interes interest, retirement payments of bain capital, taxed at the lower rate. that part of the tax law is hugely controversial. if those rates had been paid at higher rate, they would have owed $2.6 million more to the irs. >> as a practical matter there are not many people in the country who payed a a higher rate than they are supposed to under the law. >> reporter: with growing income inequality and anger rising, romney dragged his heels for weeks about releasing his returns. even if elected president>> it's a little bit premature to be talking about it at this stage. >> is there some secret? people know you're wealthy. >> i understand. >> there's nothing to hide. >> i agree. there's nothing to hide. >> reporter: the romney campaign now says it's been completely transparent about its taxes, but that won't settle the issue for the obama campaign and tax codes that favor the rich. andrea mitchell, nbc news,

washington. >> and a word about our last night at times contentious nbc news republican debate from tampa, propelled gop candidates into the ground ward today into the fight for the state of florida. and after going after newt gingrich last night, today as his finances were detailed, mitt romney chose to go after the president. nbc's peter alexander has our report tonight from tampa. >> reporter: mitt romney tried to upstage tonight's state of the union address with obama's economic record. >> three years ago, we measured canada obama by his hopeful promises and his slogan ps. today, president obama has amassed an actual record of debt, decline and disappointment. >> reporter: last night romney abandoned what had been his above the fray style, instead aggressively challenging his republican rival, newt gingrich. >> i think it's about leadership and the speaker was given the opportunity to be the leader of our party in 1994 and at the end

of four years he had to resign in disgrace. >> i'm not going to spend the evening trying to chase governor romney's misinformation. >> reporter: this morning, the rule rules limiting outburst affected his performance. >> people should be allowed to applaud if they want to. >> governor, the speaker said no more debates without audience participation. does that matter? >> as i recall, the presidential commission doesn't have audience participation, so he better learn how to debate in all settings. >> reporter: rick santorum tried to capitalize as the front-runners hammered away at one another. >> when push came to shove, they got pushed. they didn't stand tall for the conservative principles they argued they are for. >> reporter: back on the campaign trail in sarasota today, gingrich was greeted by a large crowd of supporters, and earlier in an attempt to blunt criticism about his three marriages, gingrich told the christian broadcasting network, he's learned from his experiences.

>> i have not hidden from the facts of my life. i have confessed my weaknesses and i had to go to god for forgiveness and reconciliation. >> also tonight, newt gingrich's supporters tell nbc news that they have just bought $6 million worth of new ads to air in this state. and for his part, ron paul's campaign says that paul will focus his resources elsewhere on upcoming contests like nevada, maine and colorado. brian, all this is more evidence it's shaping up to be one long campaign primary season. >> boy, that it is. peter alexander in florida for us tonight. thanks. now to the high-stakes speech the president has to give tonight. the annual state of the union address. this year, of course, an election year, our political director, chief white house correspondent chuck todd has more tonight from the white house. and chuck, this is supposed to be a pretty lofty occasion. but let me ask it this way. how does what has been happening

on the republican campaign trail, almost one a day we' been seeing, how does that affect the tone, tenor and content of tonight? >> what's interesting about this speech and everything we've learned about it is that there's a little bit of a tone. you're going to here a populist president obama deliver a populist state of the union. aides tell me it's not necessarily a campaign speech, but it's certainly a setting of the political agenda. here's one excerpt. i will oppose any effort to return to the very same policies that brought on this economic crisis in the first place. no, we will not go back to an economy weakened by outsourcing, bad debt and phony financial profits. tonight, i want to speak about how we move forward and lay out a blueprint for an economy that's built to last, an economy built on american manufacturing, american energy, skills for the american workers and a renewal of american values. perhaps, brian tonight the most interesting thing is the president is going to lay out the idea of the buffet rule -- a minimum tax for mul multimillionaires. it may actually double what mitt romney actually paid in taxes.

that's going to be interesting fireworks. >> all right, warren buffett, the famous businessman whose secretary is supposed to be in the gallery tonight as a guest of the first lady. chuck todd at the white house, thanks. now let's go over to capitol hill. nbc's kelly o'donnell who will be in the house chamber tonight as usual for tonight's speech. and kelly, what are you expecting in the room? >> well, we heard in a small meeting with house speaker john boehner he's hoping for an olive branch to work with congress on jobs and not just run against congress. boehner got very tough saying the campaign wrote the president's speech and accusing the president of using tactics like the politics of envy that boehner said were, quote, almost un-american. if you're longing for some harmony, we will have that, too. congresswoman gabrielle giffords

will be here, one of the last things she does before giving up her seat. and also an open seat left by a member of congress who suffered a stroke. >> we'll be seeing you tonight as part of our coverage. in his studio in washington as moderator of "meet the press" david gregory. while there's been state of the union addresses with greater interest going in, it's still fraught and it's a big platform for the president. it's a huge platform. you don't pass up this opportunity to lay out what is effectively a philosophical campaign blueprint for a huge audience tonight. he's going to use that. so yeah, the stage is set. but i talk to republicans today who say they're not expecting very much. they're pretty cynical about it. there's no shared sense in what america's national purpose should be right now. that's the reality this president confronts. he's going to go out there and make a populist pitch.

you're going to hear a lot about fairness, noew rules of the roa that benefit everyone. all the tea party energy and anger on the republican side in this campaign, the president wants to offer that competing vision tonight. >> boy, you do see how the media spotlight shifts to the other side and he's going to try to bring it back tonight. david gregory will be part of our viewing gathering here tonight in our washington bureau. thanks. and a reminder, nbc news conch of the state of the union address begins right here, 9:00 eastern, 6:00 pacific time on this nbc station. in other news tonight, an update on the january tornado outbreak in jefferson county, alabama, as we showed you here last evening. there's still so much damage. the death toll stands at two with two dozen people hospitalized tonight, 200 homes destroyed in all and another 200 damaged. the twisters also destroyed an elementary school and some folks are worried about qualifying for

the money they need to rebuild the school because that county filed for bankruptcy protection back in november. if you live in the northern u.s. or canada, you're in for what could be a heck of a light show tonight if you can stand the cold temperatures outside. northern lights are expected to be visible as far south as montana, maine, upstate new york, perhaps the edges of pennsylvania. the lights will be one by-product of a massive solar flare that has triggered the strongest solar storm in more than six years. waves of energy and radiation, because this happened a few days ago, they're just now getting here, are bombarding planet earth at 4 million miles an hour. that could cause minor disruptions to satellites and power grids and communications here. some airlines have rerouted a handful of flights that normally fly over the north pole because of the increased radiation. but the folks who are watching all of this closely aren't

expressing urgent concern. >> this radiation storm, it's hitting the astronauts. they're certainly getting a few extra x-rays from their dentists and their doctor. we're getting none of that down here. the earth is protected by a magnetic bubble. that magnetic bubble keeps that radiation out of the earth's atmosphere. >> or so we hope. physicists also tell us the sun is entering a new active period, so this type of solar activity is leakly ikely to last, they least another 18 months. something to look forward to. up next, do everyday things in our homes prevent children's vaccinations from working as they're intended? the interesting in thank you research tonight that's raising a lot of questions among parents. and later, a big day in hollywood, what's old is new again. but is it gold? that's the question.

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as we mentioned health news tonight that's going to be a great interest to a lot of parents. it's about children's vaccines and a new study raising new questions about common chemicals in all of our household products from microwave poprn bags to water resistant clothing and whether they are somehow making these vaccinesless effective for our children than they should be. our chief science correspondent robert bazell with more. >> reporter: children who have a high level of pfcs, common vaccines were up to 40% less effective. >> what we found was astonishing. we found that for these

compounds, the higher the exposure, the lower the antibody concentration in the child. >> reporter: pfcs are found in food container, nonstick cook ware, beauty products and cleaning solutions. the epa is already planning to phase them out by 2015. the problem is, they stay around for years. despite these early results, experts say parents need not worry about the effectiveness of vaccines. >> there's absolutely no indication that the vaccines are in any way not working in the united states. >> reporter: and the industry association representing chemical manufacturerers said in a statement, this study should be replicated. still, some parents are taking no chances. with chemicals in her home that could hurt her children. . >> these are perfect materials to cook with. >> reporter: she hired ron and lisa who run a business helping

people remove dangers. >> i'm trying to eliminate dangers at home. i know it's hard to eliminate out in the environment. >> reporter: many experts say such precautions aren't necessary, but they do agree pfcs do need far more study. robert bazell, nbc news, new york. apple's revenues were up a staggering 73% from last year at the same time, and its profit more than doubled to $13.1 billion. sales of the new iphone 4s and ipads drove those massive gains. think about how many people you know that received them as christmas gifts, perhaps. it was the first modern day earnings periods without founder steve jobs at the head of the company. he died october 5. that blockbuster apple news came after the closing bell on wall street, though, on a mixed day. dow and s&p 500 lost a little

ground. nasdaq was up slightly. up next here tonight, president kennedy in his own words as tapes made public for the first time tell us about his last days. forty years ago, he wasn't looking for financial advice. back then he had something more important to do. he wasn't focused on his future. but fortunately, somebody else was. at usaa we provide retirement planning for our military, veterans and their families. now more than ever, it's important to get financial advice from people who share your military values. for our free usaa retirement guide, call 877-242-usaa. [ slap! slap! ] [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium rich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. ♪ tum tum tum tum tums

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>> when you mention white house tape, richard nixon comes to mind, but he wasn't the first to have a secret taping system in the white house in the oval office. there was lyndon johnson before him, but the practice was started by president john f. kennedy. and today, his presidential library released 45 hours of audio recordings, a kind of narrative of his last weeks of his life. >> reporter: at one point we hear a confident president on the tapes thinking about reelection and the best way to sell himself to younger voters. >> kennedy was very well aware

of the power of the image. he can be heard pushing the idea, quite revolutionary at the time of producing films for the '64 democratic convention in color for the first time. >> jfk was one of several presidents who got conflicting advice on vietnam and in one conversation, you can hear his frustration with two separate aides just back from there giving him contradictory advice. >> you both went to the same country? >> john and caroline are on the tapes. we can hear the president introduce them to soviet foreign minister. . >> come in a minute. say hello. do you want to say hello to john? you know the ambassador.

>> and then there's a scheduling meeting right before the president and the first lady leave on a trip to texas. they talk about a visiting dignitary and the busy monday he has planned when he gets home from dallas. it turned out to be the day of the president's funeral. >> the voice of john f. kennedy, just days before dallas. you can hear more of these tapes. we've posted a link on our website tonight and on our facebook page as well. when we come back, after a break, the stage is set in hollywood for something that hasn't happened in almost a century. how do you know which ones to follow? the equity summary score consolidates the ratings of up to 10 independent research providers into a single score that's weighted based on how accurate they've been in the past. i'm howard spielberg of fidelity investments. the equity summary score is one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity.

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get your first full prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd.com. finally on this big day in the nation's capital,ing it's also a big day on the other coast in hollywood where this year's oscar nominations were announced. not since the first year of the oscars in the late '20s as a silent film won for best picture, but that could change this year as "the artist" is among the nine movies nominated for the top award. our man in hollywood, george lewis tells us what's old is new again. ♪ >> reporter: and the oscar goes

to nostalgia. in "hugo" nominated 11 times, one of america's most celebrated directors -- >> action! >> martin scorsese conjures up a breathtaking fantasy about a boy living in a paris train station. >> i had to be here for some reason. >> reporter: in "the artist" nominated for ten oscars, a contemporary filmmaker brought his crew to l.a. to remember the end of the silent film era in hollywood. >> the two movies who got the most nominations are both odes to cinema of the past. >> hey! >> reporter: the nominations for best actor include george clooney in "the decendents." >> i'm a dope. i'm just kidding you. >> and brad pitt in "money ball." for best actress, meryl streep picks up her 17th oscar nomination, playing british prime minister margaret thatcher in "the iron lady." >> that's the term that we want

to strike. >> reporter: streep is competing against her friend viola davis, nominated for her role as a housemaid in "the help." >> breathtaking. >> so pretty it makes my stomach hurts. >> reporter: and while the academy did not nominate the smash hit "bridesmaid" for best picture, melissa mccarthy's hilarious performance earned her a best supporting actress nomination. in spite of an online campaign to create a special category for ugi, but he was not nominated. the human contenders get the oscars february 26. george lewis, nbc news, los angeles. >> and that's our broadcast for this tuesday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. one more reminder, we're back on the air, 9:00 eastern time, 6:00 on the west coast for coverage of the state of the union. for now from washington and for

all of us, good night.