best actor nominees included george clooney for "up in the air," jeremy renner -- [ scattered applause jeremy renner for "the hurt locker" and president obama for the state of the union. [ laughter and applause ] it's going great. it's going great, you guys. i read in "the new york times" that the obama administration is planning huge changes to president bush's "no child left behind" law. the new low will be called, "let's face it, some kids are just duds." [ laughter ] that doesn't seem right at all. listen to this, there's a goodwill store that's having an anti-valentine's day donation drive where people can give away clothes that belonged to their exes. [ laughter ] i swear. in fact, tonight, i'm wearing one of john edwards' old suits. [ audience ohs ] [ applause ] real cheap. meredith vieira is on the show tonight, you guys. i'm so psyched. i love her. [ cheers and applause ] i love her. i don't know if any of you saw the "today" show this morning. they showed a live c-section birth on the air. viewers called it the all-time weirdest installment of "where in the world is matt laue

. >> reporter: up in the air grabbed a slew of honors including anna kendrick and george clooney for best actor. he will go up against jeff grigs, colin fighter, morgan freeman and nominees -- when you look at him think of me. bullock is known for a sassy southern mom who change the life of a homeless black teenager. many predict she will win but could take home a razzie award also for the role in the movie all about speed.

an international news program, we would like to note that the world of movies goes well beyond george clooney and meryl streep, which brings us to today's oscar nominations for best foreign language film. among those getting an oscar nod was an israeli film set in the city of jaffa. the film features a cast of almost all nonprofessional actors. this is the third year in a row that an israeli film has received an oscar nomination for best foreign language film. twoilms from south america also got notes, "the secret in their eyes" from argentina follies testimony of detectives and prosecutors on their 25-year quest to solve a murder that's gone cold. and from peru, "the milk of sorrow"he story of an indigenous woman struggling to cope with an illness. the french film "the prophet" made the short list, the story of a young criminal sentenced to one of ance's toughest prisons. there he falls in with the loaders of a prison gang and rises in the ranks. [ speaking a foreign language ] >> and finally there is "the white ribbon" from germany. the story of a young man trying to overcome the tyranny of

the nominees for best actor, jeff bridges for "crazy heart," and george clooney and colin firth, andnvictus," and jeremy renner for "the hurt locker." and sandra bullock for "the blind side," and helen meren for "the last station," and carey mulligan for "an education," and gabourey sidibe for "precious," and meryl streep for "julie & julia." and "avatar" for the best picture, and then "the hurt locker" and "inglourious basterds," and others on the list including "the blind side," sci-fi thriller "district 9" and rounding out the list are "an education," seriousman, "precious," and "up" and george clooney for "up in the air." so, may the best picture win. >>> what do you think about expanding the best picture category for ten films? is it inclusive or way too many? let's go to my facebook page, because we are hearing from you. goose said it's a lot with ten of them, why pick five more if they don't even have a chance? we know who will win this year, "avatar," i don't know, is it a forgone conclusion. let's go to actually my twitter page right now, and keving says as much of a fan as

george clooney. and the man to beat is this guy, jeff bridges, for his portrayal as a down-and-out country singing. he won the golden globe and sag ag award for that portrayal. we'll have more on the oscar surprises tonight on "showbiz tonight." plus, j. lo's big battle, listen to this, jennifer lopez's ex-husband is launching a brand-new fight threatening to expose the star's private moments. you want to join us tonight on "showbiz tonight." tv's most provocative entertainment news show 11:00 p.m. eastern and spsk right here on hln. >> real quickly, that involved video, if i read correctly? >> reporter: yes, it does. >> just making sure we were on the same page here. brooke, thank you so much. >> reporter: thanks, christi. >>> some activists are suting a new color scheme for rebuilding the devastation in haiti. it's green. why they advocate remaking port-au-prince as an earth-friendly city. and can it happen with everything they're dealing with there? stay close. >>> a woman who wanted to adopt an a

snagged a slew of acting honors including anna kendrick and vera for best supporting actress and george clooneyor best actor. he'll go up against jeff bridges, colin fighter, morgan freeman and jeremy rinna. the best actress nominees include helen mirren, carey mulligan, sandra bullock. >> when you look at him you think of me. >> reporter: bullock is nominated for her role as a sassy southern mom who changes the life of a homeless black teenager. many predict she will win but she could also take home a razzie award for her role in another movie. >>> a look at the local buzz, we will have more on that tomorrow. we want to know what is going on in your neck of the woods. visit me at oh my goff.tv and submit stuff to share on air today. now over to bruce and andrea with more on the school closings and delays. >>> the big question for a lot of people this morning do i have to go to school. >> let's get the latest. start in maryland --

. >> jimmy: you're like, you're like "oh my god, i almost saw george clooney for a second!"h. uh, but it must have been fun just to be around there and all that stuff and i guess "damages" is off the charts, it's so good. >> aw, thank you. >> jimmy: and this season is going to be amazing as well. >> yeah, yeah, no. it's -- >> jimmy: do you live in new york or l.a. when you do that? >> i do, we shoot here in the city, yeah. yeah, in new york city! >> jimmy: all right, i love it. yeah! [ cheers and applause ] the "empire state of mind." >> the empire -- i know. that was the saying, that one --yeah. that didn't come through, yeah. >> jimmy: but uh, sorry. that's so bad, yeah, that's awful. do you like -- do you like living in new york? >> i do, i love it. it's fantastic. i've been having a few issues with my apartment recently, i woke up in the middle of the night with this kind of -- [ mimics mouse ] you know, weird noise, you know. and i went back to sleep and then got up in the morning and went to take the recycling out and a mouse poked his head up out of the thing and look

they include jeff bridges in "crazy heart" george clooney in "up in the air," colin firth in "a singlean" morgan free man "invictus" and jeremy rener in "the hurt locker" which we've talked about the performance already. jeff bridges, what was it about the performance that has everybody rooting for him? >> i'm with annette. i've given my heart to "crazy heart" completely. essentially now i refuse to see any flaws in that movie. i don't want to see it again and see what doesn't work. >> rose: do you normally watch movies twice or three times before you write about them? >> no, not before i write, whereof the chance. but if something's nominated for an award and i want to look at it again, likes "precious," i'll try to see it again. jeff bridges, i've never seen him give a dramatic performance like that. we've loved jeff bridges for 30, 40 years but he tends to play romantic leads when he was younger and comic roles, allah "big lebowski." it made me remember a movie called "fearless" about the plane crash, remember? fantastic. he's so good and it was maybe the first time i started to see

george clooney's "up in the air" is expected to be a live corn tender.m of the hour. so do stick around. >>> stay it again? got any bets? >> i'm,ing him. who's the guy on "crazy heart?" jeff bridges. i'm thinking -- who else? how about you, dear? >> i'm interesting to see if the hurt locker gets an arc ward. i really liked that. that was really cool. anyway. >> and there are more interesting notes that i'll make one day, i'll bring the nominations in a few minutes. more signs the economy may be turning the corner thank goodness. some factories seem to be buzzing with more activity and no one is being laid off of these. >> we'll take more signs that the economy is getting better. it's certainly got the stock market rallying yesterday. there were two signs here that helped stocks. that's good news in a bad economy. one was personal income and spending did well, too, and manufacturing rose in the latest month. plus, you just heard about the factories. some of those factories are considering hiring more. wouldn't that be great? that would help the job market

familiar names in the best actor category, including george clooney, and it would be his second oscar win. the man to beat is jeff bridges for "crazy heart," fresh off a sag win as well as a golden globe win. >> i saw "crazy heart" last week, and you just feel, he plays a down and out country singer. everybody has to see it. he is so good at just playing a really pathetic character. have you seen the movie? >> reporter: it's great, yes. a powerful performance from jeff bridges. he has been an under appreciated actor, but that will end. and sandra bullock, she has had a tremendous year. this is her first oscar nomination for "the blind side." that is an audience favorite. it grossed more than $200 million at the box office. so with movies like "the blind side" included, maybe more people tune in. >> good story of a true story. can't get enough of that for sure. >> can't go wrong. >>> opening up the military to openly gay groups. could lifting the ban save you tax dollars? what's around the corner is one of life's great questions. and while it can never be fully answered, it helps to ha

football drama based on a true story, "the blind side" and recession tear "up in the air" with george clooney. it will have ten contenders instead of the usual five. that is to get to you spend more money. martha: we have a lot of catching up to do. "avatar" doesn't have any $8 # 50 cents yet. i'd like to see that and "up in the air" and we'll make our pick. >>> there are new threats on a much more serious note out of iran, president ahmadinejad warning of a harsh blow, what does he mean by that, on a very specific date he's talking about, what we could be seeing in the next few weeks. bill: also in a moment, what happened on flight 37 in buffalo moments before it crashed, killing everyone on board. the 911 calls are chilling. we are live from that hearing, in only three minutes. >> we need the state police or sheriff's department, this aircraft was 5 miles out and all of the sudden, we have no response from that aircraft. martha: well, it was a tragedy for 50 people on a connector flight and now we may finally learn exactly what caused the kolgen airplane crash last year, you're looking at a

." >>> the nominees for actor in leading role, jeff bridges in "crazy heart," and george clooney "up>> and best achievement in practice director. ly daniels f >>> for best original screen play, the nominees are mark boal, and tarantino, and camon, and joel cohen and ethan cohen for "a serious man." >> and the nominees for adopted screen play are as follows: for best foreign language we have, ajami, and ojos, and from peru, "the milk of saur yoe," and "prophleth" that. >>> >>> and finally, i am pleased to announce that the ten films selected as best picture nominees for 2009 are "avatar," james cameron. "the blind side," nominees to be determined. district nine. "education," and "the hurt locker," nominees to be determined. " "ingloerious bas yards." "up." and "up in the air," and "precious. >>> please join us in a little more than a month when we find out who goes home with the oscar. it will be a night to remember. see you then. >>> everybody here excited. the culmination of the award season. what stands out to me, john and kiran, "avatar," nine nominations and "the hurt locker," ni

. >> you got like morgan freeman who is also nominated, george clooney is also nominated and now you'reh. >> i'm sorry, i don't care about those guys. i'm talking about the other guys. but in particular, but could you tell me about the mind set? because you're not just saying wow, can you imagine if there was a war in the middle east in iraq and there was a bomb squad and they have to take these i.e.d.'s down every day. can you talk about the mind set of somebody who stares death in the face, who sits there and has to snip wires with these -- if you hit the wrong wire, everything explodes, you die and so do your friends. >> it's pretty harrowing, isn't it? it's, you know, could be the world's most difficult job. i'm not sure. but i think, you know, these guys that are so brave, they're not really so afraid of the explosive itself or the i.e.d. itself, they know how it's built a lot of times before they walk up to the thing. it's being shot at. i don't think anybody likes to get shot at, do you? >> no. >> and finally, the good messages, we have to let you go, jeremy, is the adjustment ba

george clooney, "up in the air." of people betting on jeff bridges to take home the big prize. >> i thought morgan freeman was great. again, when i see a movie, i will support it. >> this year rather than nominating five best picture, they're doing ten. >> yeah. >> why? >> i think they didn't have great viewership last year, so they're hoping -- last year "the dark knight" was not nominated. tons of fans and all those fans didn't watch, because my favorite movie is not nominated. so this year, whatever movie you liked, it was nominated. >> how about this, two sports movies. if someone told you on paper, we have a story about a rugby team in africa and the story of an offensive lineman, they would have laughed at you. but yet, these two movies are up top. >> they're both up there. >> so there is some of them. we have "the hurt locker." "blind side" is a little of a surprise. >> i've only seen that one of the whole list. >> and "avatar" is not a big surprise. we expected that. "precious", "a serious man." "up" which is