mark kirk is caller for a vote. we're going it see a growing number supporting fairness.me for the vote and time for the president to sign the executive order. >> john: allowing citizens to marry who they want is a liberal and conservative point of few. tico almeda. thank you for your time on the show tonight. >> thank you, it's great to be here. >> john: you probably know that sugar is bad for you. you might not know that sugar is extremely bad for you. that's ahead. septic disasters are disgusting and costly, but avoidable. the rid-x septic subscriber program helps prevent backups by sending you monthly doses right to your door so you will never forget to maintain your system. sign up at rid-x.com. the natural energy of peanuts and delicious, soft caramel. to fill you up and keep you moving, payday. fill up and go! >> john: tonight in our continuing wtf america series we look at one of the southern states that most epitomizes wtf in america. mississippi. now, i'm not here to disparage mississippi. this are many intelligent people from mississippi. they all share one thi

i was sitting next to mark kirk, senator kirk's occupational therapist on one side. >> sounds like a >> very conservative fellow. in front of him was ted nugent. to the left was an lbgt activist. >> everybody is to his immediate left. >> everybody but ted nugent stood up and applauded at times. for all the hype, people were behaved, they understood that this is a very serious moment in the time of our country and people were owe he oh in fact, the the one person who got in trouble from security was actually a fellow doing raise the roof when the president was doing things he liked. he said who knew, in this section. >> was somebody actually escorted out. >> well, he was encouraged to keep quiet. >> talked to. ok good, good. i will get into the nitty gritty of the speech in a second, but the idea of i saw two different speeches first the typical regular state of the union address we're accustomed to hearing, and then it moved into the gun conversation. it seemed as if it was a sort of a sacred moment. it was hushed, nobody was talking, and then he got everybody going when he started s

one example is senator mark kirk.an is a leading voice for new june legislation following the newtown massacre, he and the president have never spoken about it. one senate aide said the president's repeated call for gun reform during the state of the union speech didn't make it easier for republicans like senator tom coburn who are interested in finding common ground. on fiscal issues, portman says his interaction with the administration is limited to treasury secretary nominee jack lew. and narrate marco rubio, who has been working on immigration reform, was clearly frustrated when white house legislation on the issue was leaked before congress had its own version ready. republicans have never done that, by the way. a white house spokeswoman told politico, quote, the entire obama administration is in regular contact with members of congress and their staffs, and the president has been very clear he is happy to work with anyone who wants to build the middle class. >> what do you think? >> i think some of it's fair. i

don't bank on seeing at the state of the union address, president obama's fist pump exploding with mark kirkhe podium to deliver his address. he has swagger. >> he does. mark just came back from near collapse and paralysis. >> by the way, mark kirk replaced a person in the senate. he is a cool as a cucumber, i'm your buddy, high five, the stories are like that when the cameras are on. >> give a problem with them when he is gone from the camera. speak it when you have vice president biden in the background, fidgeting and do anything he can. i think he was trying to stay awake. speaker boehner refused to move even a cheap muscle. he wasn't going to blink, nothing. tell me the truth. to do with the president even once with those two doing their own shows in the background? >> i love joe biden. i have spent time on camera with him. [talking over each other] [talking over each other] melissa: is fighting off sleep. >> joe biden reminds me what i look like in my cousin's wedding video when i was 12 years old. [laughter] [talking over each other] >> the poor guy can't catch a break. melissa: i thou

. >> reporter: the president congratulating illinois senator mark kirk for returning to the senate aftern a shock. vice president joe biden in glasses, unable to wear his contacts because of a scratched cornea. but for many, the speech itself failed to get really interesting until the final seven minutes, when president obama rode the emotion of ribbons, green, black, and white, worn by more than 40 victims of gun violence, including former arizona congresswoman gabby giffords, emphatically calling on congress to at least call a vote on gun control. >> gabby giffords deserves a vote. the families of newtown deserve a vote. the families of aurora deserve a vote. the families of oak creek and tuscan and blacksburg and the countless other communities ripped open by gun violence, they deserve a simple vote. >> reporter: but this was a president who heard whispers that he forgot the economy in his second inaugural, emphasizing that despite all the issues that have been thrust upon him, from north korea testing nuclear weapons -- >> provocations of the sort we saw last night will only further

one of them is senator mark kirk, although the republican is a leading voice for new gun legislation, he and the president have never spoken about it. according to politico, the only thing that took place was this moment at the address. one senate aide said the reform, throughout the speech, didn't make it interesting for some who are interested in finding common ground. and rob portman says he is open to working with democrats. but he says the inter action with the administration is limited to jack lew, and senator marco rubio who was been working on immigration reform was frustrated with the white house. all that issue was leaked before congress had its own version ready. he said if it ever went through. it would be "dead on arrival." one spokesperson said that the entire obama administration is making contact with their staff. and will work with anyone who wants to build the middle class. helping us now is politico's executive editor. do they have a legitimate group here? >> i think they do, this is the group for four years, there is this block of senators in the republican party,

. >> and the president also shared a bipartisan fist-bump with senator mark kirk.s republican just returned to congress last month, a year after suffering a major stroke. >>> and surprising news out of hollywood. funnyman steve martin has reportedly taken on a new role. becoming a first-time dad at the age of 67. >> first time. i didn't know that. "the new york post" says martin and his 41-year-old wife were spotted near their l.a. home with their new baby. they've been so secretive, we don't know if it's a boy or girl. a source tells "the post," the couple worked hard to have the baby. and they are absolutely thrilled. >> nice. >>> finally, as you all may know, tomorrow is valentine's day. and a chance to express your love to that special someone. >> in honor of the day, we present these classic lovebird photos, thanks to the website awkwardfamilyphotos.com. you're going to learn, real quick, why we're laughing. what could be more lovely, than a man, his chain saw and his gal? >> and then, who knows what they're thinking. the banana they're sharing. >> something t

illinois senator mark kirk released a video statement today. urging president obama and congress to take a serious look at legislation to protect americans from gun violence. lukens and democrats in a way that is practical legislation. that actually passes the house and senate and actually save lives. kirk suffered a stroke the week before last year's state of the union address but plans to be there tonight. he returned to congress last month after a long rehabilitation. triumphantly walking up the steps of the capitol. cltv and wgn-tv dot com will carry the "state of the union" address tonight, and then senator marco rubio's g-o-p response. and the tea party's senator rand paul's response. political analyst paul lisnek will host a special edition of 'politics tonight' immediately afterward on cltv. the list is expected to come out this week. as another round of committee meetings began. the district has put out a list of 330 schools they say are under enrolled. i could top 100 based on criteria. the district faces a $1 billion deficit next yea

there was one moment where the president did a fist bump, and i like this, with senator mark kirk fromemember him, because he had a serious stroke several months back, and finally was able to come back to congress. there was a famous scene of him walking up the steps. so that was a cool moment between the senator and the president. >> and another moment, this probably caught the president off guard, she came over and gave the president a big kiss on the cheek and you can probably see it there, she left her red lipstick right on his cheek. give me some sugar. it was wiped off by the time he went on the stage. >> more from abc next. >>> this morning on "world news now," a violent rampage, a violent end. the man hunt for a suspected killer leads to a shootout and a fire. >> this morning, investigators believe the man they've been searching for may have been inside. it's wednesday, february 13th. >> from abc news, this is "world news now." >> good morning, i'm diana perez. >> and i'm rob nelson. we'll have the latest on the dangerous event that unfolded in california as police surrounded a

switching gears to current politics and chicago gun violence being in the news, we know that senator mark kirkey're sponsoring a bipartisan bull to -- named after the 15-year-old girl killed in chicago a week after performing at the inauguration. this after another teen was gund down. her sister attended the president's speech on gun violence in chicago. such a weird coincidence of events here. do you feel that urban gun violence in the wake of newtown is finally getting the attention it deserves? >> she was an unfortunate victim, and one of several victims in chicago. guns flew in and they're trafficked. gun fly into what legitimately becomes legitimate purchases, and home foreclosures. you have this impact of 45% poverty. so you really need a more comprehensive program. it's the -- and so i think the president is on the right track, because in many ways, the message is national security. we lose more americans to gun violence at home than in iraq and afghanistan combined. >> again i just remind everybody, the vice president will be delivering remarks on gun violence today in dan bury, connec

you can see here as the president made his way to the podium, he ran into mark kirk, the republican senator, and gave him the exploding fist bump. [ laughter ] it's funny to see our first black president doing the most white thing that could ever be done. [ laughter ] i'm always curious as to what the president is saying to people as he's walking to the stage. luckily, this year cbs had a microphone pointed at him like they do at the nfl games. they were able to pick up everything he said. i've seen presidents do this many times, but it was fascinating to actually hear. >> let's listen in as the president comes into the house chamber. >> how are you, mr. president? >> i'm going to give a speech. i'm giving a speech. >> that's why we're here. >> how you doing? i'm going go give a speech. you ready for a speech? >> yeah, yeah. >> it's gonna be good. got a speech to make. speech, speech. >> okay. >> speech. speech. speech. it's that simple. speech, speech. speech. speech. big speech to make. you fired up? you look it. got a speech to make. [ laughter ] >> jimmy: all right. so maybe it wasn't t

last night, president obama did an exploding fist bump -- [ laughter ] -- with republican senator, mark kirkn exploding fist bump. [ light laughter ] which really goes to show, you it doesn't matter if they're black or white, republican or democrat, politicians are really awkward. [ laughter ] "hey, man. oh, we're going to explode it?" [ applause ] "we're going to blow up the fist bump. cool." president obama also gave house speaker, john boehner, a thumbs up before the start of his address. or as boehner put it, "not the finger i usually get." [ laughter ] he's always crying, that guy. [ light laughter ] last night, president obama proposed a college scorecard to make the college process easier on families. not to be confused with my college scorecard, which just says, "held hands with a girl senior year." [ laughter ] score. [ applause ] you can do it at home. do it at home. ready? [ laughter ] a very interactive, 3-d episode of "late night with jimmy fallon." [ laughter ] get this, you guys. a college student in pennsylvania is suing her school for the c-plus she got in a class. she was l

something that would have bipartisan support from joe manchin, democrat from west virginia, and mark kirky moderate bipartisan senators bringing toward a bill. i would look for that after this week -- long recess is over. and also i would look to colorado today where you have the house of representatives who are putting a sweeping background check on the floor for a final vote. and a cap on magazine rounds, 15 rounds per magazine. that's a very moderate, you know, kind of purple state. i cover colorado politics for five or six years. and it's interesting to me to watch democrats who are essentially out there very much like east coast republicans pushing this forward. joe biden called four moderate state lawmakers on a democratic side to say please vote for this. so you have the white house involved there, too. trying to create some pressure to move this inside washington game outside. >> and susan pedro, i wanted to ask you as a long-time washington house correspondent and the bureau chief for "usa today," your take on the total blackout of any kind of photos of the president golfing this

far as some of us would like, but the senatorial quartet consisting of chuck schumer, joe manchin, mark kirkcoburn are working on a deal that could expand background checks on gun sales. this comes during the same week when a bipartisan group of house members came forward to announce they, too, are working along similar lines. could this be the start of something big? let's bring in msnbc contributor goldie taylor and democratic strategist julian epstein. there's a lot more to curbing gun violence than background checks. but here you have got these two democrats, two republicans, even two nra members in senators manchin and coburn. isn't this a sign that things that are possible -- that we should be optimistic that things are going to happen? >> you know, martin, forgive me for being a bit cynical but i think it's the start of something small. this is cowardice on its face when we can't talk honestly about banning assault weapons, about banning clips with multiple rounds, 30, 40 rounds in a clip. when we can't talk about cracking down on the illegal gun trade happening on our streets every d

of senators, chuck schumer of new york, joe manchin of west virginia, tom coburn of oklahoma, and mark kirkillinois are huddling together in hopes of finding a compromise on gun safety legislation. the associated press reports now, quote, the senators' talks have included discussions about ways to encourage states to make more mental health records available to the national system and the types of transactions that might be exempted from background checks, such as sales among relatives or to those who have permits to carry concealed weapons, said people who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to describe the negotiations publicly. for that and other campaign politics we have our "hardball" strategist here tonight, democrat steve mcmahon and republican john feehery. john, let's talk about your party and the way it wants to position itself on the whole issue of what happened in newtown. i don't mean necessarily gun laws particularly but the issues of background checks, the issues of mental health records. is there a role for the republican party in gun safety? strategically spe

folks like tom co-burn, mark kirk who is said to be prepared to receive an invite from the president and get into that building and start negotiating. what is the next likely step here that may not actually include speaker boehner? >> the question is, does the next step occur before march 1 or after? it may be that a backlash from the public alan simpson and erskine bowles were talking about the party lines getting out there. and the bipartisan group of senators, if they could make a deal tomorrow, if they were empowered to do so, but they're not. but i'm thinking it's more likely if we get a deal to undo the sequester, it will be after it takes in effect, sometime after march, perhaps associated with that march 27th deadline when funding for all the government is scheduled to run out. >> joining me now michael smerconish and a bill boykin and lois romano from politico. forgive me with the cold here. i'm going to hang in here. michael, i want to show you some of the headlines out. the boston globe has head line "massachusetts will lose 60,000 jobs if congress enacts sequestration." w

there was one moment where the president did a fist bump, and i like this, with it was with senator mark kirkemember him, because he had a serious stroke several months back, and finally was able to come back to congress. there was a famous scene of him walking up the steps with the vice president's help a few months ago. so that was a cool moment between the senator and the president. >> and another moment, this probably caught the president off guard because he had no idea it happened, as well. virginia wilson of florida came over and gave the president a big ole kiss on the cheek and you can probably see it there, she left her red lipstick right on his cheek. oh, yeah. give me some sugar. it was wiped off by the time he went on the stage. >> more from abc next. >> more from abc next. we used to thinkll lulung cancer was the same but t now several different molecular types of lung cancer have been identified. by performing g molecular testg on a lung cancer tumor, doctors can try to determine what's causing the cancer to o grow. knowing the molecular profile of my tumor helped deteine my tr

there was one moment where the president did a fist bump, and i like this, with it was with senator mark kirkemember him, because he had a serious stroke several months back, and finally was able to come back to congress. there was a famous scene of him walking up the steps with the vice president's help a few months ago. so that was a cool moment between the senator and the president. >> and another moment, this probably caught the president off guard because he had no idea it happened, as well. virginia wilson of florida came over and gave the president a big ole kiss on the cheek and you can probably see it there, she left her red lipstick right on his cheek. oh, yeah. give me some sugar. it was wiped off by the time he went on the stage. >> more from abc next. >> more from abc next.

mark kirk of illinois.ra says expanding background checks would do little good because criminals largely get their po-215th new secretary of state john kerry is easing into his new job. this is a photo of president barack obama listening to kerry during a meeting today on immigration with cabinet roosevelt room of the white house. >> we are following the situation of the northeast live pictures of new york. it is snowing. they will be a measure of the snowfall in feet. how that is impacting the bay area air travel. >> taking a live look is coming down but it could become even more as this weekend progresses. not to just about the new england, the entire eastern seaboard we will keep this monitoring and erica? >> most locations are going to see nearly 2 ft. but the boston area could be even break records. with 3 ft. of snowfall expected. i have been watching some of these totals with 3 in. per hour. here is a live look at satellite and radar impacting the northeast. i guess it is fortunate that this is happe

. >> chris: that fellow he hugged is mark kirk the senator that suffered a severe stroke and has just returned very moving that he has been able to make it all the way back to this session of congress. >> it's inspirational to see him climb the steps. one thing we'll be looking for what effort the president makes to reach out to the other side, to show some bipartisan spirit, this is a president that campaigned that he would do that and he hasn't been able to do that. 14 1/2 minutes we have the president ready to deliver his state of the union address. [ applause ] >> chris: i can tell you, no love lost between the president and speaker of the house. as opposed to the president and first lady. [ applause ] >> thank you. thank you. >> members of congress, i have the high privilege and distinct honor to present to you the president of the united states. >> thank you. thank you. [ applause ] you're welcome. thank you very much. thank you so much. thank you. thank you very much. thank you. >> mr. speaker, mr. vice president, members of congress, fellow americans, 51 years ago, john f. ken

. >> we just saw the president giving a hug to senator mark kirk. suffered a stroke earlier this year. this has been a long struggle back for him but he's there with the president. >> we also saw how speaker john boehner waiting. he indicated today that they are going to be streaming on the republican website live fact checks of the president as he speaks and some said, are you going to be tweeting behind him tonight? and he laughed and said, well, that might be something to do. >> george, one thing that speaker john boehner, also the senate republican leader mitch mcconnell seems to have given up on is any hope of reaching agreement with the president on the big deficit issues early this year. >> be interesting to see what the president says about the sequester tonight. it was, of course, his idea, 15 months ago to create the sequester, the doomsday machine, too horrible for republicans to take because of the defense cuts. >> signed onto -- >> by everybody, but this seemed to have been originated in his house and we will see tonight whether or not

. >> let me just interrupt you, this is senator mark kirk who had a stroke, from illinois. senator obama -- president obama, obviously senator obama from illinois, going over and giving him a hug. >> i was going to say in 2011 after he -- after the republicans won in the mid term and took over the house, he made a great case that we had to move forward together or not at all and even in 2012 at the start of the presidential campaign he said we need to lower the temperature and he talked about sitting next to his friend bob gates, george bush's defense secretary during the capture of usama bin laden. whether he does any of that now will be interesting to watch. . >> bret: charles, you may be happy or not to know that dan pfeiffer, communication director in terms of word cap, this is the president's second shortest state of the union address. the shortest in 2009. i don't know how you feel about that. >> in gratitude. (laughter) . >> bret: final word before we hear from the president. >> one thing, it's a grand owe hecation, all the branches are together. the congress, judges

mark kirk, the director, will join me to talk about that live. >> a republic i hboth a republi democrat in north korea a reason to avoid the sequester. >> zoraida. >>> thousands of people in the northeast are stuck in their homes. three days later and they are waiting for someone to dig them out. on long island, plows struggling to reach neighborhoods buried in 2 1/2 feet of snow in massachusetts, where three feet of snow fell in some places, over 100,000 customers still without power, those were the numbers last night. one of the hardest hit areas in the region is hamden, connecticut, where 40 inches fell, and much of it still plowed this morning. that's where we find george howell. with all of the snow out there, how are residents managing? >> reporter: well, zoraida, fair to say, people are getting around a little easier today i can say than in the past few days. in fact, we're starting to see daylight overhere, something we haven't seen in a while. a lot of snow starting to melt. you still see snow plows and payloaders doing the job of clearing the roads. it's when you get into the