john berman is there. >> reporter: so, welcome to the first-ever national tea party convention.hering from across the country. this is the first time people in the tea party movement have really gathered in one place to talk about their movement, their message and their methods. they want 2010 to be their year. i talked to the man in charge of this convention. he told me what he wants to do is win back congress in 2010. i asked him for whom, he said conservatives. now you'd be hard-pressed to meet anyone here who's really ever voted for a democrat. most of these people typically vote republican. however, they only will back certain republicans. republicans they like. the people here are very anti-government spending, anti-big government, they think the government has gotten out of control. and these people, many of them key in the movement are backing candidates who want to rein in government spending. a diverse group of people. a very diverse group of groups. there is no one tea party group but many groups from across the country and many people are upset. many of the other gro

john berman is in nashville. >> reporter: the business of this first ever national tea party convention is the numents and bolts of politics, like voter registration. >> we're gearing up for november 2010. >> reporter: but barely scratch the surface, and there's a tone of anger and confrontation. >> we know what we're here for. a little bit of r and r, revival and revolt. >> reporter: the convention's first speaker, former congressman tom tancredo, said that people who voted for barack obama could not pass a basic civics literacy test. >> people who could not even spell the word vote put a committed social iist ideology the white house. >> reporter: today, tancredo stood by those comments. >> these people different have the slightest idea about what america is all about. >> reporter: and the leader of the tea party convention had no problem with it, either. >> did a fantastic job. >> reporter: when we asked delegates what they thought, their feelings about the president were almost universal. >> i believe he is a socialist. >> hall's a marxist. >> reporter: all for calling the president

john berman, abc news, nashville, tennessee. >> certainly a different version of grass roots. >>> when we come back, ketchup in a cup. the replacement idea for those tough-to-open packets. >>> big banks, big trouble. charges filed against bank of america and its former chief. >>> and a homecoming of sorts this morning. former residents of america arrive in china. what makes a dollop of daisy so creamy and delicious? care and dedication. our family-owned company has focused on making... the best-tasting sour cream for over four generations. it's made with farm-fresh cream... that's 100% natural without any additives or preservatives. and no added hormones. so you can feel good knowing every creamy dollop... will bring all your favorite dishes to life. ♪ do a dollop, do-do a dollop of daisy ♪ it can go from a scratchy throat in the morning. to a cough. to a full body ache... at night. new tylenol cold rapid release gels day and night work fast too. they release medicine fast to relieve painful coughs, congestion and sore throats. so you can rest, day and night. feel better, tylenol cold.

now over to my colleague john berman who is in ft. lee, new jersey. john? >> reporter: ron, thank you. 20 inches here in ft. lee. i'm standing in front of firehouse company number four. this is a volunteer fire brigade made up of teachers, police officers. they've been on the clock since 11:00 a.m. yesterday, part of these people on the front lines of the battle against this snow. first thing's first. get your own house in order. they shovel, scoop and blast the snow away at the fire house, before they hit the truck for the first call. is this the worst ki of weather for yoguys? pretty much. >> reporter: doesn't get worse than this? >> no. the trucks don't handle well. slippery. >> reporter: they arrive on the scene. a tree down in a parking lot. the men from company four take care of the tree and take care of business. across town, jimmy curry is taking care of business, like he >> got a big snowplow, one of the biggest we have, and hitting the manholes, it's a lot less on your back. >> reporter: you ever feel like you're on the front lines of a battle her

>> john berman, knee-deep in snow.>> the near hurricane-force winds fueled a fire that nearly wiped out an entire block of buildings in new hampshire. no injuries were reported. >>> vice president biden is proposing new rules to prosect the retiment savings of millions of americans. it would crack down on financial adsers managing 401(k)s and i.r.a. accounts, many who may have conflicts of interest. the managers would not only be allowed to steer workers funds, into which they do not get commissions. >>> one of the most powerful members of congress has been blamed for violating ethics rules. a committee has ruled that charlie rangel accepted trips to the caribbean, funded by corporations. he claim hess was unaware of the corporate funding. >>> friends of andrew koenig have found his body in a park in vancouver. the child star of the sitcom "growing pains" went missing there two weeks ago. andrew's father, walter, says he took his own life. >>> now, on this friday morning, we look at what's coming up on "world news." go

john berman, abc new, new york. >>> sweet 16, meryl. good night to you. tomorrow night. we'll be here. this is the "jeopardy!" college championship.

. >> john berman has his oscar primer now by the numbers. >> reporter: oh, the plot lines. the price tag. oh, so many reasons to love oscar time. >> that i have a number in mind. >> reporter: number one, the number ten. >> good afternoon. >> reporter: ten best picture nominations for the first time since 1943. the academy wanted to reach a broader audience this year. they broadened something. covering everything from exploding aliens to jewish angst. >> it's more about myself. >> reporter: number two. a tale of two sandras. for sandra bullock it was the best of performances -- >> when you look at him you think of me. >>es, ma'am. >> reporter: it was the worst of performances. >> it's inspired. >> reporter: bullock was nominated for best actress for "the blind side." she also received a worst actress razzie nomination for "all about steve." number three, or should we say $300 million. the estimated cost of "avatar." that's enough to make five "up in the airs," three "blind sides," four "preciouses" and a half "inglourious basterds." number four, how about drama. james camero

john berman is there to see how many of them are coming, and how many stay. >>> reporter: the first everational tea party convention brought in delegates as diverse as the dams, who came in from indiana in a car -- >> we're really normal people. very middle class. >> reporter: -- to wliam temple, who came in a kilt. >> the government, for the last 50 years, has been moving away from the constitution and to governing as a tyranny. >> reporter: but they came together with one goal in mind. what do you want the tea party movement to do in 2010? >> win. >> reporter: win what? >> congress. >> reporter: for whom? >> well, conservatives. >> reporter: judson philli put together this convention to try to harness the political power of the tea party movement, a movement that helped fuel rallies and marches last summer and helped mobilize for scott brown last month in massachusetts. while these activists share a disdain of big government, and what they call out of control spending, there is no single tea party group. there's tea party nation, tea party patriots, tea party express, new american tea

and as john berman reports, they want to turn this year's midterm election upside down. >> you have - national tea party convention, brought in activists, ranging from the energized -- >> we as americans need to, y know, clean all of these people out. >> reporter: to, perhaps, the eclectic, angry at congress. >> it's a house of lords. not a house of the people. >> reporter: the goal, to turn the tea party's energy that was on the streets last year int results at the ballot box next fall. >> it is our -- take it back. >> reporter: 600 delegates here each paid $550 to get in. now, that has ruffled some feathers among tea party activists who say it goes against the grass roots nature of their movement. still, politicians from around the country are watching what happens he very closely. >> they would be smart not to deride the tea party movement. but yet, understand it. understand what's at the core of that anger? >> reporter: one person who clearly wants to tap into that anger, sarah palin. she will be the keynote speaker here saturday night, trying to get a sense of how tea party wave