jim acosta, cnn, the white house. >> thanks to jim acosta.joins us now with "the wall street journal" editorial page, and robert reich, author of "beyond outrage: what has gone wrong with our economy and democracy and how to fix it." robert, let me start with you. we're talking about scare tactics her. arne duncan, the education secretary today, was forced to backtrack, because this weekend he said, look, teachers are going to get laid off because of the sequester on friday. he was asked for an example. he talked about a school in west virginia. jim acosta, who you just heard reporting, called the school, and the school said the layoffs had absolutely nothing to do with the sequester. it does sound like a lot ofmongering. >> well, erin, something is going to happen, and we already see unemployment insurance is being suspended in some states. we see that people are being released from custody. airports are already making plans with regard to their inspectors, who are not going to be available. they're going to be on furlough. i don't think any

jim acosta is at the white house. what are you learning, jim?from a senior administration official that the administration is now going to have some conversations with members of congress about the issue -- two issues, really. one being the issue of materials that members of congress would like to see about those attacks in benghazi that occurred in september of last year and then also there have been some questions raised about the targeted drone strikes and members of congress would also like to see some materials, memos, really, that are offering legal guidance to the white house as to the legality of the targeted drone strikes. i have a comment from a senior administration official who says we are having conversations about that and we have learned from a congressional source earlier today that the white house has agreed to turn over to the senate intelligence committee, e-mails and intelligence reports related to that attack on benghazi. all of this is important, wolf, because next week we have -- we're expecting votes on two big confirmati

jim acosta, thanks. >>> nuew england is getting reay for its third straight weekend of snow. enough is enough now. two weeks after a blizzard buried this region. today's storm could bring as much as a foot and a half of snow to some places. this storm already pummelaled the northwest. look at this. from an ireporter. i shot this video of sheets of snow sliding off a roof. enough. >>> the world has never seen a black pope, but that could change in just a few weeks. from ghana, a top contender. turns out he has strong ties to upstate new york. as your life and career change, fidelity is there for your personal economy, helping you readjust your retirement plan along the way. rethink how you're invested. and refocus as your career moves forward. wherever you are today, a fidelity ira has a wide range of investment choices to help you fine-tune your personal economy. call today and we'll make it easy to move that old 401(k) to a fidelity no-fee ira. mommy's having a french fry. yes she is, yes she is. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. 100% vegetable juice, with three

jim acosta has the details. juror the senate ethics rules are clear when it comes to free flights menendez accepted. the senator did not, as required, report them on his financial disclosure form. the question is what, if anything, the ethics committee will do about it. it was another day of a very public senator keeping a very low profile. outside a dinner thursday night featuring new jersey's top political leaders, bob menendez offered only a few words in response to the questions flooding his office. >> i have comments i've already put through my office. >> nameless, faceless, anonymous allegations. >> reporter: just as menendez is officially becoming chairman of the senate foreign relations committee, a key member of the senate ethics committee is indicating the panel is looking into a raid on the offices of menendez' friend and doctor. in a statement, "we are aware of the news reports regarding the fbi raid on dr. melgen's office." one potential violation of ethics rules, the free flights menendez look on h

listen to jim acosta in for wolf in washington. hey, jim. >>> thanks, brooke. happening now, look up in the sky. a fireball and a shocking reminder that planet earth is spinning around in a very unpredictable neighborhood. back on dry land and already heading to court, we have details of the first lawsuit filed by a passenger who says the cruise line's negligence turned their vacation into a nightmare. >>> and the "blade runner" goes to court and cries uncontrollably. wolf blitzer is off today. i'm jim acosta. you're in the situation room. we are starting in chicago where right now president obama's about to take the stage to talk about two of the top priorities from his state of the union speech, jobs and guns. we expect him to connect the need for jobs as a way to get young people off the streets and out of trouble. right now you're looking at some video of cleopatra pendleton. she's the mother of the young girl struck down by gunmen in chicago a few weeks ago, right around the time of the inauguration after she performed at president obama's inaugural. she's

cnn's national political correspondent jim acosta has details for us. s is a major decision by the postal service. saturday delivery started in 1863? >> this is a big change, wolf. the unofficial motto is, neither senator nor rain nor heat of the night keeps the couriers from their rounds except you can add to that letters on saturday. you've got mail, but soon probably not on saturdays. starting in august, the u.s. postal service is holting delive holting letters. package delivery will continue. it posted a $16 billion loss last year. customers saw this one coming. >> five days a week is fine for me. i don't do a ton of business on the weekends. >> with more people using private companies like ups and federal express and shoppers browsing online, the post master general says the carriers just can't compete with convenience. >> since 2008, we've seen a steady decline in use of first-class mail. people pay their bills online. it's simple. it's easy. it's free. you cannot beat free. >> and while members of congress love naming post offices -- >> first lieu

jim acosta confronted the white house press secretary today with that question. m is joining us now. how did it go? >> reporter: wolf, here we go again. the white house and congress move one day closer to the massive forced spending cuts that go into effect at the end of next week. and even though they both agree it's a problem, they are both busy blaming each other to fix it. the white house sounding the alarm. poor children will be tossed out of classrooms, health services will be slashed, border security will be compromised and the economy will take a hit if forced budgets cuts begin to happen on march 1st and the obama administration says republicans will be to blame. >> the pleas that the republicans are making are throw these people out of work. it's just -- it makes no sense. >> reporter: but when pressed on whether the president has his own plan to stop the cuts, white house press secretary jay carney pointed to the grand bargain mr. obama failed to reach with house speaker john boehner two careers ago. >> when you ask where's the president's plan, it's be

what's going on, chief -- our cnn national political correspondent jim acosta is here.ou've been looking at the reaction since the speech. what's going on? >> wolf, this was a big moment last night. it may be moving votes. what was widely seen as an emotional high point, it may have also been a turn turning point in the debate over gun control. it was a moment carefully orchestrated for maximum emotional impact. as former congresswoman gabby giffords, the parents of slain teenager hideya pendleton and other victims of gun violence looked on, president obama called for a vote. >> they deserve a vote. gabby giffords deserves a vote. the families of newtown deserve a vote. the families of aurora deserve a vote. >> one day later there are indications on capitol hill that the president may get it. >> we don't need a cheer leader. >> even as mr. obama's top republican critics, senator lindsey graham made the case that the current background checks needs to be strengthened before expanded. answered the president's call. >> will you personally block a vote in the senate on gun

jim acosta reporting.hank you. >>> the former vice president al gore is defending his decision to sell his cable television network current tv to al jazeera. analysts estimate that gore is making roughly $100 million on the deal. gore spoke with fareed zakaria. >> current tv, a great business deal but you started it because you wanted to create a greater -- another liberal voice, a stronger one, an independent voice. is this an endorsement of al jazeera and you're saying al jazeera represents the same type of traditions that were trying to further when you founded current tv. >> well, i think that al jazeera has, in fact, established itself as a highly respected international news gathering organization. it's won awards all over the world. it has a reputation for integrity and excellent reporting. i'm sure you watch al jazeera english. >> you're talking about the english language channel, not the arabic language? >> yes. and al gentlemjazeera promises even better. it's viewed as a highly responsible organi

jim acosta, cnn, the white house. >>> social media is apparently more than what you're saying or doing same types of messages after you've passed. after you're dead. companies are popping up now that will manage your accounts after you go on. you can say hello or wish someone a happy birthday or say something mean and disrespectful from the grave. a little creepy, at least. who wants to hear from you after -- oh, well. >>> a woman's body is found in a hotel water tower. police have no idea how she got there or even how she died. is this a murder mystery or just a traffic accident? former fbi agent joins us to discuss this puzzling case. at 100 calories or less, there are plenty of reasons people are saying "progress-oh!" share your progress-oh! story on facebook. but we can still help you see your big picture. with the fidelity guided portfolio summary, you choose which accounts to track and use fidelity's analytics to spot trends, gain insights, and figure out what you want to do next. all in one place. i'm meredith stoddard and i helped create the fidelity guided portfolio summary. i

jim acosta reports. >> "welcome everybody." >> reporter: speaking to a meeting of the nation's governors forced spending cuts that start going into effect at the end of the week. lawmakers better do something about it. >> "these cuts do not have to happen. congress can turn them off any time with just a little bit of compromise." >> reporter: to get congress in the spirit of compromise. the white house is warning what's about to be cut. on a state by state level: 12 hundred teacher and aide jobs at risk in california. 74 hundred fewer children receiving vaccines in florida. and 52 thousand defense workers furloughed in texas. the president asked the press to leave a closed door meeting with the governors.so he could have a frank question and answer session. >> "what i want to do is clear out the press so we can take some questions." >> reporter: and candid. is what the president is getting. from louisiana's governor bobby jindal. >> "i think that the president needs to stop trying to scare the american people, that absolutely you can cut less than three percent without all these awful co

let's bring in our national political correspondent, jim acosta. he's walking into the situation room right now. it's a sensitive subject, i admit. what's the latest. >> this is a serious situation, wolf. he is taking it lightly. he may be able to take the punch lines about his waistline, but with him up for re-election and a potential candidate for 2016, the question is how long can he laugh it off. i talked to a former white house doctor today who warns that his health is like a ticking time bomb. >> reporter: sitting down with late night talk show host david letterman, chris christie made light of a difficult subject. >> i've made jokes about you, not just one or two, here or there, intermittent, but -- >> reporter: in a sign the popular new jersey governor may be weighing a bid in 2016, he tried to give himself a clean bill of health. >> basically the healthiest fat guy you've ever seen. >> reporter: it's no laughing matter to dr. connie mariano. >> i worry that he may have a stroke or a heart attack unless he addresses that before office. >> r

cnn's jim acosta explains. >> they talk about the cost of social programs. >> reporter: in one corner rubio, dubbed the republican savior on the cover of "time magazine." in the other corner kentucky senator rand paul with reaction from the tea party movement. for both men, the dueling speeches are a sudden sign of their star power. just three years ago rubio was a tea party favorite but a long shot for the senate when he sat down with cnn for one of his first interviews. a little more than two years later he had a prime speaking slot at the republican convention and now he's a leading voice on immigration reform. >> he did absolutely nothing on immigration. >> we're coming to take our government back. >> reporter: paul who also rode the tea party wave into the senate in 2010 says his response to the president will be different. >> i think really there are things i may emphasize that marco rubio doesn't. i don't always agree but this isn't about he and i. this is about the tea party. >> reporter: they tell skr nn tuesday night we have two tea party senators responding to the president

jim acosta, cnn, washington. >> you saw ted nugent in jim's piece.f the topics covered in last night's state of the union address. the president and members of congress personally invited people affected by gun violence. we'll speak with one member and her guest who came next. (push button tone)oon. c. this is stacy from springfield. oh whoa. hello? yes. i didn't realize i'd be talking to an actual person. you don't need to press "0," i'm here. reach a person, not a prompt whenever you call chase sapphire. why should saturday night have all the fun? get two times the points on dining in restaurants, with chase sapphire preferred. how did i know? well, i didn't really. see, i figured low testosterone would decrease my sex drive... but when i started losing energy and became moody... that's when i had an honest conversation with my doctor. we discussed all the symptoms... then he gave me some blood tests. showed it was low t. that's it. it was a number -- not just me. [ male announcer ] today, men with low t have androgel 1.62% (testosterone gel). the

jim acosta with us now. what can the president impose is it. >> reporter: he's applying a lot of pressure right now. you saw the comments he made with the prime minister of japan, shinzo 0 abe. he made interesting comments we need to highlight, fredricka. one thing that he said there is that unlike the debt ceiling that this fight over sequestration is not going to plunge the country and the world into some kind of financial crisis or cause global financial problems. that seems to be a message to congress that, hey, you can take just as long as you want with this. he did say this is not a smart way to go about doing this, that real people will be hurt, but in terms of how he's putting the pressure on congress, keep in mind he's only had one phone conversation or a few phone conversations that we know of with republican leaders on capitol hill, what he's been doing, fredricka, is going over the heads of congress. he was speaking in front of first responders, as you l recall earlier this week. he'll be going d

. >>> joining me around the table, cnn national correspondent jim acosta. jan shi jan schikowski. of the union, because it's coming, and it's an annual washington show. what do you expect to see? >> i -- i am told and hope that the president is going to pivot to the economy. i was disappointed in the inaugural speech that the number up with issue in america right now, jobs and the economy, was hardly mentioned. i think now we've got to talk about the debt, the deficit, getting america's fiscal house in order and create jobs for almost 8% of our population who don't have them. >> congressman, a preview in the retreat, where the democrats are. what's your sense of what the president tonally and substantively? >> i think it will be very optimistic. i hope he talks about the successes of the economy, creating nearly 6 million jobs, discretionary spending the lowest level since 1976 and we have reduced the deficit by half. that we need to do. but he's going to talk about the new initiatives to make the economy work for everybody, investments, growth. >> investments is also spending. th

mariano told cnn's jim acosta. >> i worry that he may have a heart attack, he may have a stroke.t's almost like a time bomb waiting to happen unless he addresses those issues before he runs for office. >> she's talking about the governor's obesity. she's worried that he could die in office. this is not the first time that chris christie's weight has been in the news. he's usually pretty good natured about the punch lines. last night on david letterman's show he made light of his weight again, even eating a doughnut while letterman apologized for the fat jokes about him in the past. then the governor said this. >> dave, my cholesterol's normal, believe it or not. >> that's pretty good. >> yeah. >> what about your blood sugar? >> blood sugar also normal. >> also normal. >> i'm like basically the healthiest fat guy you've ever seen in your life. >> well, fat guy, his words, who is also governor of new jersey with possible higher political ambitions. today christie kind of doubled down about his weight and his health. here's what he said. >> so far, up to 50 years old, i've been rema

. >>> joining me around the table, cnn national correspondent jim acosta.gresswoman jan schikowski. democrat from illinois, kay bailey hutchinson, former republican senator from texas and amy walter, national editor of the cook political report. thanks for being here. we have to start out with the state of the union because it's coming. it's an annual washington show. what do you expect to see? >> i am told and hope that the president is going to pivot to the economy. i was disappointed in the inaugural speech that the number one issue in america right now, jobs and the economy, was hardly mentioned. i think now we've got to talk about the debt, the deficit, getting america's fiscal house in order and create jobs for almost 8% of our population who don't have them. >> congresswoman, a little preview in the retreat where the democrats were. what's your sense of what the president tonally and substantively what we expect from him? >> first of all i think it's going to be very optimistic. i hope the president does talk about the successes of the economy, creat

cnn's national political correspondent, jim acosta is here with more details. sign that the president's health care law may be here to stay, kate and wolf. republican governors who once vowed to strike it down are now starting to say, sign me up for a big part of the law. this is one flip-flop you won't find on a florida beach. the state's republican governor, rick scott, has gone from trying to erase the president's health care law to embracing one of its key provisions, its massive expansion of the medicaid program for the poor. >> i want every florida family to have access to high-quality health care. so we have a choice, okay? and it's not an easy choice, okay? but my job is to worry about every florida family. >> reporter: even before president obama signed the bill into law, scott was tapping into anti-obama care outrage to advance his political career. >> you could end up with government bureaucrats taking away your choices. >> reporter: first as a health care executive, airing tv ads, warning of government rationing -- >> i've been pretty tough on the pr

jim acosta has been looking into this. what have you found out, jim?sed for answers white house officials say the idea didn't come from them. to prepare for those looming forced budget cuts, federal immigration authorities say they released what they are describing as several 100 detain e detainees. he was just sent on his way without any directions and without any monitoring. >> so they let you free and you still don't know what to do now? >> i don't know what to do. just wait for the mail to see what it is. >> reporter: the release is just the latest sign of the unintended consequences to come from the forced spending cuts that kick in as late as 11:59 prk m. eastern time friday night. lawmakers on capitol hill feel bli blindsided. >> it's a deliberate effort to try to pick high-profile ways to suggest that somehow instead of making the tough decisions about cutting spending, that they should force tax increases again on the american people. >> reporter: when asked whether the administration was notified ahead of time about the release, white house p

jim acosta is here in "the situation room" taking a closer look at what is going on.re coming from the man she may be taking on, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell himself. but one of the relatives is not sure it's smart for her to take it it on. >> i strongly nominate. >> for ashley judd, it's like a bad movie sequel. for the second time this month, the potential kentucky candidate is a target in a political attack ad. >> i can never anticipate what is going to push me over the edge. >> the ad from the man judd may be looking to unseat, mitch mcconnell, debuted days after the movie star met with democratic don nrs in kentucky. they say a judd candidacy could happen. >> she's smart. she knows the issues. i think she would be a great candidate. >> judd spent much of her childhood in kentucky. portraits of judd and her mother and sister, both country music stars, all hang in the museum. but judd's grandmother who can still be found in the home where she was raised questions the wisdom of her run. >> she is a hollywood liberal and i say that and that has different me

our national political correspondent jim acosta is here with this part of the story. 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 sudden star power. just three years ago, rubio was a tea party favorite but a long shot for the senate when he sat down with cnn for one of his first interviews. will you be the first tea party senator if elected? >> i'm running as a republican. >> little more than two years later, he had a prime speaking slot at the republican convention. >> i don't want unemployment to be that high and yet it has

so want to talk a little bit about that with jim acosta at the white house. talks between president and members of congress in front of the cam rasz, behind wi cameras, behind the cameras? >> reporter: we know the president has conversations with republican leaders on the hill yesterday. the white house is not providing any kind of insights into how they went. whether or not there is flexibility on the side of the white house or on the side of congress at this point. and so really at this point everybody is looking at this from a distance and wondering like everybody else what is going to happen one week from today. what we can tell is you that the administration seems to be ramp etdi ratcheting up the prech on congress. they're talking about the way these budget cuts will affect the folks watching this right now. earlier this week they were talking about cuts to the head start program, meat inspectors that might be furloughed, and then the secretary of transportation, ray lahood, a republican, he came to the podium at the white house briefing to warn of what

jim acosta, thanks. we will have complete coverage on cnn starting at 7:00 p.m. eastern.e is happening this morning. >>> we are learning pope benedict xvi had a pace makary justed three months ago, a vatican spokesman says the routine procedure had nothing to do with the resignation. the pontiff had been thinking about resigning for almost a year because of his age. and there's an interesting image to show you at the vatican had happened after the pope announced his resignation, isn't that erie, a bolt of lightning appears to strike the top of st. peter's basilica. i don't know what it means. but it was some kind of message from above. >>> looking at live pictures of the senate judiciary committee. it's holding a second hearing on gun control. today's meeting will focus on the constitutional of new gun laws and their possible effectiveness. new details from the retired navy s.e.a.l. who claims to have killed osama bin laden are coming out now. the former s.e.a.l. spoke to journalist phil bronstein who sat down with anderson cooper last night. here's part of the conversati