favro's writing career began with another democratic campaign for president. within five months of his college graduation, he was named deputy speech writer for john kerry. my car in d.c. and drove back home to boston because i had no money left. such little money that when i hit the last toll on the mass pike in boston, i had no money for the toll. i blew the toll. absolutely. >> during that presidential campaign, he met state senator barack obama back stage when he delivered the news that the senator's speech needed changing. >> there was a sick 23-year-old speech writer. i went and found senator obama as he was practicing the speech. i sheepishly asked if i could take out the line. he lookeda the me as if i was playing a practical joke. >> he calls him his mind reader. they navigated a campaign that ended at the white house. >> you get to the white house at 27 years old. >> i started looking back. that's from the very beginning. he was sent to the personal secretary. >> favro hit the ground running. >> the time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit. >> making the case for health care reform. >> i'm not the first president to take up the cause, but

. >> and john favro. >> obama's speechwriter who's a handsome smart dude. >> you got tim tebow on thew, so maybe he can find a different kind. >> do you know what's nice about this magazine, unlike others that we have on the show -- "gq" -- people are dressed. >> never heard of it. >> and nicely. >> well, thank you very much. there's no "g" strings in there either. >> no. huh-uh. >> no. >> except on the guys. >> he does have an article about the sexiest island on earth. maybe you could tell us, what is the sexiest island on earth. >> what would your guess be, joe? >> well, donny deutsch would say it's st. parts. >> yeah. >> mystique? >> no. it's capri. >> capri. >> ah, there you go. >> by far the sexiest. speaking of people who know how to dress well, if you go to capri, you're in the midst of it. >> talk about it. >> so, we did a piece. it's a fashion shoot that's also half travel, so, you know, we went there. we did an amazing shoot. went to the beautiful restaurants, the old world shoe makers. that made the sandals for jackie kennedy and, yeah, the beach clubs. >> beautiful. >> it'

. >> it's favro and his co-writing partner, john lovett from "saturday night live"?he white house last year, is now in l.a. and writes an executive producer for "1600 penn" on nbc. >> they want to go to hollywood. natalie, what else you got for us this morning? >> let's get right to the news this morning, because a lot of news. the reign of pope benedict comes to an end today as he officially retires. today he met with cardinals of the vatican, one of whom will be named to secede him. after leaving, he goes to castel gandolfo. they'll begin meeting next to month to pick a new pope. and this morning pope benedict promised his obedience to his successor. >>> also in rome this morning, secretary of state john kerry announced a shift on the summit. he said they will for the first time send nonlethal aid toll rebel fighters. officials at the summit called on the syrian government to stop indiscriminate bombings in populated areas, calling the bombings crimes against humanity. >>> president obama meets tomorrow with congressional leaders, but not before the across-the-boar

john write the speech tomorrow night? >> this was overseen by cody keenan. but favroa lot of his own speeches too. >> yes, of course he does. >>> tomorrow is a big night for the president. it's also a huge moment for two rising republican stars and possible presidential contenders who will deliver, shall we say, dueling state of the union responses. our national political correspondent jim acosta is here with this part of the story. what are you picking up? >> rubio and paul say the the two responses don't mean the gop is divided going into tomorrow night. one party official is calling the twin speeches a victory for the conservative movement. after the state of the union, it's the matchup washington will be watching. in one corner, florida senator marco rubio, dubbed the republican savior on the cover of "time" magazine. giving the gop response to president obama. >> had someone been aware of these things -- >> in the other corner, kentucky senator rand paul with the reaction from the tea party movement. for both men, the duels speeches with another sign of their sud