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Video Shows Moment of Deadly Blast at Moscow Airport; What to Expect with Tonight's SOTU Address; Oprah Reveals She has a Half- Sister; Suspect Admitted to Stealing Baby; Not Your Typical "State of the Nation" Address; Interview with Congresswoman Giffords' Brother- in-Law; Oscar Nominations to be Announced this Morning

Aired January 25, 2011 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Airport terror, amazing video from Russia showing the moment of the deadly blast at Moscow's busiest airport.

Also the State of the Union response, it's Republican Paul Ryan versus Republican Michele Bachmann on who represents the GOP on this AMERICAN MORNING.

And good morning to you, it's 7:00 here in New York this morning, Tuesday, January 25th. Glad you're with us. I'm Kiran Chetry.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes. Also ahead for you this hour, he would like to be there for his family in their time of need but he's at work on the International Space Station. We will be talking live this morning to the brother-in-law of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

CHETRY: Also, a shocker from the queen of talk, Oprah, telling the world she has a secret sister. Alina Cho will be here on how they found each other and the reunion years in the making.

HOLMES: As you know, this is State of the Union day coming up tonight, just a few hours from now. The president is likely putting finishing touches on that speech. We have an idea of what the president is going to say. You can probably guess what it's going to be about. Let me give you an indication of what Americans think going into this speech, how optimistic are they about how things are going in this country.

Here's the results of the CNN Opinion Research Corporation poll. People were asked how well are things going in this country? And 43 percent say "Well." That's up significantly from last month. Our Jim Acosta is live for us this morning in Washington. Jim, good morning to you. Anybody could guess, well, pretty much you can be sure what the president is going to focus on this evening.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: T.J., it looks like it will be two big themes, the first, the president is expected to offer specifics on his agenda for getting the country on track to compete in the 21st century. That means new investments in education, innovation, and infrastructure.

The president wants the nation to get away from Republicans versus Democrats and move towards America versus the rest of the world.

The other big theme tonight, national unity. A group of roughly 60 Senate and House Democrats and Republicans, the so called "state dates" as we've been calling them, will be sitting together in a show of bipartisanship. And we caught up with two of them, Pennsylvania Senators Republican Pat Toomey and Democrat Bob Casey.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. PAT TOOMEY, (R) PENNSYLVANIA: I personally do think that the level of discourse has not been nearly at the level it should be. I think it's been harsh and often shrill, and often personal. And that really shouldn't be part of our politics.

ACOSTA: Has the rhetoric gotten out of control, Senator Casey?

SEN. BOB CASEY, (D) PENNSYLVANIA: I think it has. I've been here four years. I'm not saying I'm blameless. We all at some point in time engage in that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: This idea came about in the wake of the Tucson shootings. The president and Congress will pay tribute to the victims of Tucson. Daniel Hernandez will be in the first lady's box at the speech. He's of course the Congressional intern who helped save the life of the congresswoman in that attack, Gabrielle Giffords. Expected to join Hernandez the parents of nine-year-old Christina Taylor Green. She was killed in that tragedy.

HOLMES: Jim, we are used to seeing competing messages on State of the Union nights from Democrats and Republicans. But it seems as we're getting two competing messages from Republicans, two different GOP responses tonight. Why?

ACOSTA: That's right. We don't see this very often or probably haven't ever seen it before. The Republican response will be delivered by the House budget committee chairman, Paul Ryan. He is expected to lay out a stout defense of Republican principles that basically they don't want any new spending.

So when the president talks about new investments tonight, expect to see the Republicans holding their hands in their laps and not applauding at that point even though many of them will be sitting next to Democrats.

On the other hand you're going to have Michele Bachmann, the Republican congresswoman from Minnesota. She is going to be delivering the Tea Party response. We have not seen this before. It has taken some Republicans by surprise. They're not really happy about this.

But before you think that this is a big civil war between Republicans, keep in mind, the Republicans will basically get two responses instead of one. That's not a bad thing for them, T.J.

HOLMES: All right, Jim Acosta for us in Washington. Jim, we appreciate it. We'll talk to you throughout the day.

ACOSTA: You got it.

CHETRY: For more than five dozen members of the House and Senate, tonight's State of the Union address is turning into a love-fest. A bipartisan date list is expanding now. Republicans and Democrats spending the weekend working the phone, sending out texts and looking for someone from the other party to sit next to tonight.

Even Republican Joe Wilson hooked up. You may remember when he heckled the president during the health care speech, shouting "You Lie!" Wilson has two dates tonight, Democrat Susan Davis of California and Madeleine Bordallo of Guam.

We're also hearing tonight's speech will be different from previous State of the Union addresses. We'll get insight on that coming up in the next half hour when we're joined by senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett.

And also a reminder to join the best political team on television tonight. CNN's special coverage of the State of the Union address starts at 7:00 eastern. That's followed by the State of the Union address at 9:00. Then it's the Republican response, the Tea Party response, and more live coverage right here on CNN.

HOLMES: The accused Tucson shooter Jared Loughner was in federal court to enter a plea of not guilty, entered on his behalf to the charges of attempted murder of the Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and two of her aides. He didn't speak at all in court but he did have what has become a familiar smile on his face while he was in court.

Again, the charges he's accused of right now, he's been charged with are attempted murder. But we do expect more charges to follow on the six deaths.

CHETRY: Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords remains in intensive care a Houston hospital. She's not been able to move to a nearby rehabilitation facility because of the fluid on her brain that doctors are still wanting to drain. Giffords' husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, says he hopes she can start the full rehab program as early as tomorrow.

HOLMES: As you know, her husband Mark Kelly is set to be commander of the last shuttle Endeavor mission coming up in a couple of months. But he will have to decide whether or not he will in fact command the shuttle mission because the training starts up on February 7th and he'll have to make a decision whether or not she is doing well enough to leave his wife's side.

Meanwhile, his twin brother, Scott, also an astronaut, will be talking to us later this hour. He is dealing with the really impossible situation of not being able to be there for his family at this time of need because, of course, he is in space right now at the International Space Station. But we will talk to him later this hour, live.

CHETRY: We also have new pictures of a suicide bomb blast that killed at least 35 people in Moscow's busiest airport yesterday. Here's some closed-circuit video that actually shows the exact moment that the fireball tore through the international arrivals section. You can see people turning and running, those that could get out of the way.

Russia says many people were injured, many critically, some people deafened by the explosion. Matthew Chance is live on the phone for us from Moscow this morning. We heard some pretty critical comments from President Dmitry Medvedev, saying that airport security is to blame for this.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Yes, that's right. The Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, is being sharply critical of the management of this airport, particularly the security system. He described the procedure as "like anarchy." He's trying to blame them for the shortcomings in the security and the fact that a suicide bomber was able to get to a very crowded area of the airport, of course, detonate explosives and kill 35 people, the casualty figures that have been confirmed. Another 150 or so injured, some of them very critically.

And so that's one of the ways that the president of Russia is trying to reassure a very concerned Russian public that he's going to do more, he's going to increase the legislation, tighten the security around airports to make sure that very nervous Russians can have much safer journeys in the future.

CHETRY: In the meantime, also the question of responsibility. Are they getting any closer to figuring out who is behind this?

CHANCE: Well, there's been no formal claim, Kiran, yet of responsibility. And the forensic teams that are working inside this building behind me, the police teams have not yet gathered enough evidence to draw conclusions to which particular group may have carried out this attack.

But clearly the finger of blame, the suspicion is falling on groups from the very volatile north Caucuses region. They've been responsible for numerous suicide bomb attacks in the Russian capital and elsewhere in the past that have caused countless deaths and injuries. And so I think it's reasonable to assume that it's some kind of North Caucuses group.

CHETRY: Matthew Chance for us this morning outside the airport in Moscow, thanks so much.

(WEATHER BREAK)

HOLMES: Coming up, your credit card could be a thing of the past. We'll tell you what might be replacing it.

CHETRY: Also, you have to see it to believe it. It's an amazing half-court short caught on tape. You're watching "AMERICAN MORNING."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: So where are you going to drop off your mail next year? The postal service is announcing a big round of cuts, pretty huge, actually. And 2,000 stations and branches in 2011 will be closing, 500 are already underway. The post office blames the Internet and also companies sending out less junk mail because of the recession.

HOLMES: And a happy meal might cost you a little most coming up this year. McDonald is announcing it will have to raise its prices at many of the fast food restaurants because, yes, of rising costs of some of the products they have to use to get you all that delicious food.

You know, food prices are going up, but they say about two percent, two-and-a-half percent is what they anticipate now. Depending on how much you eat McDonald's will depend on how much you feel this in your wallet.

CHETRY: If you get your groceries from Amazon, the online store is trying out a new delivery service starting out in Seattle for everyday household stuff. There is no minimum price on order. One analyst says it could be like creating a virtual Wal-Mart.

HOLMES: Christine Romans joining us now, talking about the credit card at some point being obsolete. It can get in the way. Now, what's going to replace it?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Imagine plastic going away in a year, maybe two years, maybe three years, and having a mobile phone wallet. Your wallet will be your phone.






CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Imagine plastic going away in a year, maybe two years, maybe three years and having a mobile phone wallet. Your wallet will be your phone.

You're already seeing this. You can already bump phones with people and transfer money over. Right? You can buy Starbucks. You can buy other things with your mobile phone. And you can get on an airplane. I just did this for the first time on Friday. I got on an airplane just with my BlackBerry, you know, with the scanner there. But imagine the things that you're going to be able to do with mobile payments. In fact, this is -- they're looking maybe by the year 2015, some $214 billion in mobile phone payments. And look at how this market is expected to explode.

I can tell you, the financial services folks and technology folks right now are trying to figure out how they are completely going to re-jigger how you pay for things. And it's all going to be here in your mobile wallet.

A couple of things to consider here. Imagine waving your phone in front of an ATM and an amount of cash comes out. Imagine waving your phone, walking by a store and you get an e-mail that says, by the way, your size in this thing that you wanted is 30 percent off. Just come right on in. Boom, and it will automatically deduct -- I know you're still old fashioned.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: No, I'm not doing it.

ROMANS: It could be dangerous. Privacy people are already concerned about how dangerous your smartphone could be and all the information that's out there.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And if you lose it.

ROMANS: Some of the people who are looking at this are looking for security ways to make sure that your stuff is kept secure. But your insurance information, your medical information, your financial information, literally your wallet becomes your phone. The projections are just amazing for how much this is going to explode over the next few years.

CNNMoney.com has a great story on this. Blake Ellis wrote this yesterday. Of course, anybody is interested in this so take a look. But you just look at the trajectory of what they're expecting. The amount of payments are expected to be done with your phone. Not with a plastic credit card, with your phone. And it's really amazing.

HOLMES: Well, in that way, I mean, you're always scared to lose two things. I'm scared to lose my wallet or I'm scared to lose my cell phone. Now if I lose one, I lose them both is what you're telling me.

ROMANS: No, maybe you have to keep your old-fashioned vinyl records in the bottom drawer -- I mean, we have credit cards in the bottom drawer. And I'll listen to those --

HOLMES: I do have vinyl records, by the way.

ROMANS: I know, I have vinyl records too. I actually have big bands. That's even how bad it is for me. But, yes, so there you go.

HOLMES: Right.

ROMANS: End of the credit card as we know it perhaps? Maybe not. We'll see.

HOLMES: Christine, appreciate you as always.

CHETRY: Times, they are changing. Thanks. HOLMES: All right. Stick around for this. You've all been to maybe a basketball game and then at halftime they'll have some kind of a competition where someone used to come down and take a half-court shot. Take a look at this guy being pulled out at halftime.

CHETRY: That's amazing.

HOLMES: This is at UC Riverside. The guy is the head of basketball operations at UC Riverside. He happened to be at the women's game. His name was randomly drawn out of a hat to do this. And he went down. He wasn't going to face the basket. He actually turned around, tossed it over his head and made the shot. He said he's practiced it like this a few times, so he was more comfortable doing it this way. What does he win for that shot?

Anybody have a guess? What sounds good?

CHETRY: He should get thousands of dollars. Maybe a new car, maybe a million dollars, maybe a house.

HOLMES: Four tires.

CHETRY: All right. That was going to be my next choice.

HOLMES: Four new tires.

CHETRY: You know, you have to drive around in the inclement weather, he's covered.

HOLMES: In California.

CHETRY: God bless him, if he travels to Utah.

Up next on AMERICAN MORNING, Oprah revealing a family secret that she says shook her to the core. We'll have details on that coming up.

HOLMES: Also this morning, we've got a live signal from space. We'll be talking to the brother-in-law of Gabrielle Giffords. Stay with us.

It's 18 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Twenty-two minutes past the hour right now. Less than two weeks after checking himself into rehab for drug and alcohol dependency, Ted Williams, the once homeless man with the golden voice, has now checked out of rehab against the advice of his doctors. Williams' rehab was voluntary, so he was free to leave. He went there after an appearance on the "Dr. Phil" show. Williams became an Internet sensation after a reporter in Columbus, Ohio videotaped him. And, of course, his famous voice. He since then, of course, dealt with a deluge of media appearances and offers for work. And again, we wish him the best. But he left rehab against the advice of the doctors.

HOLMES: All right. Well, it was all the buzz there for a little while.

President Clinton was seen on the set of "The Hangover II" in Thailand. Everyone thought, what, the president is going to make a cameo in the sequel?

Not true, though. At least according to Stu. We're talking about Ed Helms who plays Stu in the popular movie, "The Hangover." He said, no, the president just showed up to visit the set. But he is not going to be in the sequel. However, you know who will be back? Mike Tyson. He will -- it won't be the biggest cameo. Most of you familiar with that movie "Hangover."

CHETRY: Mike Tyson and his tiger?

HOLMES: And the tiger. We don't know about the tiger. But yes, Mike Tyson on a memorable role in that movie.

CHETRY: Well, Oprah Winfrey over the years has shared much of her private life, her personal life and many people thought maybe they knew everything about Oprah.

Well, the queen of talk revealing a big family secret that she herself didn't know either. Yesterday, Oprah revealed that she has a half- sister. At one point, there she is getting very emotional about how moved she was that her half-sister didn't try to exploit the situation in the press.

Our Alina Cho joins us now with the story and how all of this happened. Pretty amazing.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is incredible. I have to tell you it was a riveting hour. I don't often sit in front of the television for one hour straight but I could not stop watching this. Oprah herself said she thought she had seen everything until this.

You know, it's a secret that's been hidden in Oprah Winfrey's family for more than four decades. And it's something she revealed in a way only she can, on her show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OPRAH WINFREY, HOST, "THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW": Just before Thanksgiving, I was given some news that literally shook me to my core. A bombshell family secret that left me speechless.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: That secret, a sister she never knew she had. Oprah's half- sister, Patricia, there she is as a child, was adopted at birth and always wanted to be reunited with her birth mother. So she searched and searched. And when she finally found out who her mother was, she got heartbreaking news. The adoption agency told her her mother was not ready to meet her. But incredibly, the very same day that she was rejected, Patricia saw a local news story about Oprah's mother. And as she listened and watched, she began to notice that much of Oprah's story matched her own. It was right there in her birth documents. So Patricia soon realized that Oprah's mom was her mom. Which meant Oprah was her half-sister. Imagine finding that out.

Now, Patricia has known since 2007 but she wanted to protect her new famous relative from the tabloids. So outside of her immediate family, Patricia didn't tell a soul.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OPRAH WINFREY, HOST, "THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW": What is so extraordinary about Patricia and Andre and Aquarius is that they have known this secret since 2007. She never once thought to go to the press. She never once thought to sell this story. She never once.

PATRICIA, OPRAH'S HALF SISTER: It's family business. And family business needs to be handled by family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: Incredible character. And actually when Oprah found out about that story, she said I've got to meet this woman. And that's exactly what happened.

The two met face to face for the first time at Thanksgiving dinner at Oprah's mom's house, incredibly just 10 minutes away from where Patricia lives in the Milwaukee area. Now this is actually home video of the reunion there, which, you know, just happened a couple of months ago. And you know, a lot of people have said to me, why did Oprah decide to go public?

Well, as you mentioned earlier, of course, she's talked about details of her family in the past but she also made it clear that she knew this would eventually get out. And she wanted to do it her way. And again, it was just incredible to see. And really, really emotional.

CHETRY: It really was.

CHO: They've got a lot of catching up to do.

CHETRY: They do. So good for them.

Alina, thanks so much.

HOLMES: Well, as you know, the State of the Union coming up tonight. One of the president's top advisers will join us after the break. See if we can get any bit of a preview of that speech.

CHETRY: Also, Rahm Emanuel, he left the White House to make a run for Chicago city hall. Well, now he may be left with neither. The court ruling that could derail his campaign for mayor.

It's 27 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, hello there, everybody. Good morning to you, Washington, D.C., a lot happening in that town. Tonight's "State of the Union" for the president tonight. Everybody wants to know what he's going to say but everybody wants to know who's sitting with whom as well. We're at the bottom of the hour here, I'm T.J. Holmes.

CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry. That's right. The yellow in the middle is expanding. Those who are going to sit with the member of the opposite party. We also want to let you know what's going on in Moscow right now. They are on high alert after an incredible suicide bombing was caught on videotape. A bomber blowing himself up yesterday inside of Moscow's busiest airport. Russia says that blast killed at least 35 people and that dozens are seriously hurt.

HOLMES: Also we're finding out more about the incredible story of a reunion between a mother and daughter some 23 years in the making. You're seeing the suspect there, Ann Pettway. She has been charged with kidnapping Carlina White when she was just 19 days old from a Harlem hospital. The reunion between the real mom and baby took place just over the past several weeks. But now we're giving more through court documents that Ann Pettway, the suspect, according to these documents admitted to stealing the baby because she was not able to have children of her own.

CHETRY: And Rahm Emanuel may not be able to run for Chicago mayor. The president's former chief of staff left the White House to make a run at city hall at home. Then Illinois Appellate Court ruled that he cannot be on the ballot because he has not lived in his Chicago home long enough to meet the one-year residency requirement.

Emanuel did file an immediate appeal but he is cutting it close. The Board of Elections plans to start printing ballot today and early voting starts Monday.

HOLMES: Let's turn to the White House now and senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett for a preview of tonight's "State of the Union" address. Miss Jarrett, we appreciate you spending some time with us this morning. You just heard that story. You know it well about Rahm Emanuel. So tell me is the president keeping a job open at the White House for Rahm Emanuel just in case he doesn't get his dream job in Chicago?

VALERIE JARRETT, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: Well, as you know, Rahm, as he said yesterday, he's going to vigorously defend and take it to the Illinois Supreme Court. So we'll see what happens there.

HOLMES: We'll see. What do you hope? In some ways, are you hoping he comes back or do you all believe that the courts are making a mistake right now and he is eligible to run for mayor of Chicago?

JARRETT: You know, we leave all that to the court system. The president said when Rahm decided to run, he'd make a terrific mayor. And so, of course, we wish him well.

HOLMES: All right. Then, let's turn now to the speech tonight. Is it done yet and how much of it is the president actually writing himself?

JARRETT: Well, he spent a great deal of time working on this speech. It is the most important speech he gives every year, an opportunity to speak directly to the American people and chart the course for our future. It's going to be all about America winning, winning for the future and what we have to do to be competitive in this global marketplace. And so he may still be tweaking it a little bit but I would say that it is mostly finished. And he did spend a great deal of time himself working on it.

HOLMES: And some people are often fascinated by this and we know there are speech writers and whatnot out there but by the president's own hand, how much of this is going to be his?

JARRETT: Well, I'd say probably the majority of it. He has a terrific speech writing team. But this is one where it was important that he spend the time and get it exactly right and so it reflects exactly who he is. As I said, the most important speech he gives this year. It will be all about what we have to do to be competitive, focusing on innovation.

You know, we're the country that's known for creativity and ingenuity, and entrepreneurship. It will be about education, making sure that our children are going to be prepared for the jobs of tomorrow, that our innovators are going to create and be able to compete in this global marketplace. It will be about focusing on infrastructure and investing our country so that we can get businesses to invest right here at home.

HOLMES: Well, Miss Jarrett, on that note, and we know, you all, and this is tradition. You all come out oftentimes and give a preview of the speech, but just don't us a whole lot about the speech, you don't want to step on the president. I understand.

JARRETT: Of course not.

HOLMES: He's going to give us these, yes, these themes and tell us what the country needs to do. But can we anticipate him giving us specifics about actually how to do it tonight or will he put the onus on Congress to get it done?

JARRETT: No. Tonight will be a framework and then in three weeks he will release his budget. When the budget comes out, T.J., you'll see a great degree of specificity about how we're going to get the job done.

HOLMES: But not tonight?

JARRETT: Tonight is his opportunity to lay out for the country his priorities. The last two that I didn't get to that are very important, we have to figure out how to make government more efficient. We have to streamline government. We have to make sure that we're creating an environment where companies want to invest in growth and very importantly, we have to tackle our fiscal deficit in a very responsible way and bring that down.

At the end of this evening's speech, that message will be loud and clear to the American people.

HOLMES: Well, ma'am, of course, so much attention will be paid to the president's words. But the theatrics of tonight have kind of taken over some of the coverage. What does the president think about the idea of Republicans and Democrats sitting together? Does he find this thing symbolic in a major way or has it gotten silly in some way, does the president think, with each individual member having to call up and literally find a date to the event tonight?

JARRETT: Well, like prom night. Listen, I think it's symbolic but I think also what the president is most concerned about is tomorrow and will we be able to work together tomorrow. So sitting together is one thing. Working together and moving our country forward on behalf of the citizens of our country is what the president's first priority is.

HOLMES: And ma'am, there's been so much talk about civility, certainly since the shooting out in Tucson but Americans have been talking about it for a while now, things seem to be so nasty. The president has spoken on it as well and has even taken a bit of a blame for that. Tell me again here, this morning, how much responsibility does the president himself personally think he bears for the tone we have seen in Washington over the past year or so?

JARRETT: Well, I think the president would say there's always room for improvement. I actually believe his tone has been consistently very civil and he's always been willing to reach out and work together with all parties, with everybody in Washington. And obviously that's his priority as president. Because that's what's necessary in order to improve our country for the American people.

But I think what he said in Tucson, what he said consistently, is we all have a responsibility to do this together. One person setting an important tone is an important step but everybody has to come together. And I think the fact that we're going to have an empty seat in the chamber this evening for Congresswoman Giffords is a reminder to us all about the importance of civility.

HOLMES: And you said you think he has been consistent and civil in his tone. But again, the president has admitted himself at times that he hasn't been. So what is the president prepared to do besides just words over the next year as a real sign that he has gotten the message and his tone is going to change as well?

JARRETT: Well, I think you need to look no further than the lame duck session that we just came through where we saw enormous bipartisan support, where the president didn't get everything he wanted but yet he was willing to work with the Republicans and the Democrats and put together a very important package that's going to protect middle-class Americans. It's going to provide a safety net for Americans who have lost their jobs, that's going to create an incentive for businesses to invest and create jobs right now here in the United States, pass the START treaty, pass don't repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," the 9/11 fund for the victims.

An enormous amount was accomplished in that lame duck session. And T.J., I think that sets a very important framework and tone for how we should work, how the American people expect us to work, going forward.

HOLMES: All right. Well, Ms. Jarrett, we appreciate the non-preview preview you just gave us this morning. Now, we know - JARRETT: I did my best, T.J..

HOLMES: We'll wait on the details from the president tonight. We appreciate your time this morning.

JARRETT: Everybody tune in, I hope.

HOLMES: All right. We absolutely will. Thank you so much. Good luck to you all there this evening. CNN will have special coverage of this evening starting at 7:00 Eastern with our political team. The president's address will be at 9:00 Eastern. And then you'll see the Republican response and then there will be another response from the Tea Party. All that, live on CNN this evening.

CHETRY: And we're also going to be joined by Kentucky Senator Rand Paul. He has been in office for less than a month. He is a Republican in Kentucky and he already has a plan to cut government spending by $500 trillion. Senator Rand Paul is going to be joining us, coming up in half hour right here on AMERICAN MORNING.

HOLMES: Also, Taco Bell, the last time you went there and you ordered a beef taco, what were you really getting? Well, some want an answer to that question. They're going to the courts to figure it out.

CHETRY: Also coming up an hour from now, they'll be announcing the nominations for the 83rd Annual Academy Awards. Natalie Portman on the Oscar shortlist for her performance in "Black Swan." We're going to bring you those nominations live, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: 42 minutes past the hour right now. An "A.M. House Call," medical bills for heart disease expected to triple in the next two decades to almost a trillion dollars by 2030. The American Heart Association says that heart disease now costs $273 billion a year to treat in the U.S.. That's a fifth of the nation's medical spending. It already is the number one killer in America.

HOLMES: Is that beef taco at Taco Bell really a beef taco? Well, some want to find out. Whether or not this is just some mystery meat or the real thing. Taco Bell now being sued for saying it's real beef. A class-action lawsuit is out there accusing the chain of false advertising by calling the stuff seasoned ground beef or seasoned beef. They say that the advertising is misleading. They're not necessarily going after money from the chain. They just want them to be honest in what they are serving up. Some say it's just a mixture of all kinds of things.

CHETRY: There's some wheat oats in there, some soy lecithin, I love the test of anti-dusting agents, don't you?

HOLMES: Do you love Taco Bell tacos?

CHETRY: Yes. A lot. I'm not going to push that away off the table. Don't worry. Well, how about this for a soft drink, a California man says he developed a line of marijuana sodas. That's right, Cana-Cola. He has compared it to light beer because of the marijuana taste. It has THC in hit. He tells the "Santa Cruz Sentinel" that there are other varieties too as you saw there. There's Doc-Weed like Dr. Pepper. There's Sour Diesel, which is the lemon lime flavor. There's the Grape Ape, which is the grape flavor. So if he gets legal approval, they will be sold in medical marijuana dispensaries.

HOLMES: So there is actually marijuana in them? Correct?

CHETRY: Yes, there is marijuana in them.

HOLMES: All right. We'll see how that work out.

We do know how this worked out over the weekend. In Las Vegas. I don't know if you're a big bowling fan but you know a perfect game is 300. Well, there was a professional bowler in this tournament. He was on the verge, he had one more roll for a perfect 300. Watch and listen to what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For perfection. Come on, messenger, come on!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, no!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No! No! That didn't happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Look at the drama of this. That was the last pin. I believe that was the 10th pin, do I have that right, guys? It was the last one standing.

CHETRY: Would he have gotten a million bucks if he had gotten a perfect game?

HOLMES: I don't know. I mean, there's some that think that the PBA actually gives a price if anybody rolls a perfect game. I don't know if it's fairly rare or common now, the guys are so good these days. But he went on -- this was a semi-final match. He did he go on to win the tournament which netted him $250,000. But you can't get better than that drama of bowling. If you don't like bowling maybe that'll give you a reason to stay tuned.

CHETRY: I like it anyway, but yes.

HOLMES: Well, coming up here next, we are going to be talking to the brother-in-law of Gabrielle Giffords. This is not just any satellite interview we do. We'll be talking to him as he is live on the International Space Station right now.

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HOLMES: Well, at about 10 minutes till the top of the hour now. So manufacture us have been following the Tucson tragedy. But there's one man who has had to follow the tragedy of his family members from the International Space Station.

CHETRY: That's right. Commander Scott Kelly. He's been there since October. He is Mark Kelly's twin brother and the brother-in-law to Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

And Commander Kelly joins us this morning. He is live from space on board the International Space Station. We just want to tell our viewers we will have a little delay, obviously, because we're talking to you and you're in space.

But as we understand it, you've been able to talk to your brother a lot, up to five or six times a day. You can e-mail, you can Skype. But I imagine it must be difficult for you, hearing this news and trying to get the latest updates on Gabby from space.

What's it been like for you?

SCOTT KELLY, COMMANDER, INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION: Well, it's certainly a horrible tragedy on so many levels, you know, not just with Gabby, but the other victims, you know, a nine-year-old girl, are Christina. It's been tough.

But, you know, I'm able to follow the news and talk to my brother and other and family members via the telephone we have on board and communicate with e-mail and actually watch the news. Actually CNN is the way I've been following the news as it unfolds. And so I'm able to keep in touch and I'm doing well with it.

And I understand that in this type of, you know, situation, we all -- all the people involved need to be strong and, you know, continue to do their best and kind of the situation they're in. And mine's here on the Space Station and I understand that.

HOLMES: Commander Kelly, if NASA had a way to send a vehicle up quickly, grab you, and bring you back to earth to be with your family, would you want to do that? Or do you think that Gabrielle Giffords and your brother would prefer you to stay there and do your duty up on the International Space Station?

KELLY: Well, you know, I would prefer to be, you know, able to support my brother and my family members in person. But, you know, at the same time, I have a responsibility here and I recognize that.

We actually have a vehicle that we can bring, you know, take bath to earth in an emergency, meaning an emergency on the Space Station with, you know, some serious things such as a fire or a depressurization or a sick crew member. But that's not something we would ever use in a situation like this.

So, you know, I think they would want me to continue to do my duty and that's here as the Commander of the Space Station. That's what I'm prepared to do.

CHETRY: Hats off to you, I imagine. I mean, just knowing you're up there until mid-March and knowing what is going on down here with your family, you know, hats off to you for you to do what you're doing up there.

It's also interesting that your twin brother is going to have to make a decision like this about his own fate when it comes to commanding that April 19th shuttle mission. As we heard, maybe in the next two weeks he's going to be making a call as to whether or not he's going to command that or whether or not he's going to choose to stay back with Gabby.

How hard is it going to be for your brother to make that call?

KELLY: I'm not sure. You know, it's certainly, a very serious decision. There's a lot of considerations, you know? He won't do it alone. He'll certainly, you know, discuss this with, you know, our leadership at NASA, with Gabby's family. I mean, he'll certainly consider what Gabby would want in the situation.

And whichever way -- whatever he chooses, you know, I'll certainly support him. You know, with Gabby being in Houston, he could still be with her, you know, while he trains during, you know, in the mornings and in the evenings. So if he does choose to fly it's not like -- it would be different if she was treated somewhere else. But she is in Houston, so he could still be there to support her. Certainly not 24 hours a day, seven days a week like he's been doing. But as she continues to progress, you know, a different level of support on his part might be acceptable.

HOLMES: All right. Commander Kelly, we appreciate you taking the time out here with us. Certainly, this is fascinating that we are able to even talk to you. But, a lot of people have been itching to hear from you, as well. I know you'd like to be here, but congratulations on what you are doing up there. Your duty up there and our best to you and the rest of the crew up there on the International Space Station.

Sir, you take care.

KELLY: Thank you very much.

CHETRY: Commander Scott Kelly from the International Space Station. Still amazing that can happen and that he can talk five to six times a day with his brother.

Well it's 54 minutes past the hour. Time to get a check of the weather headlines this morning.

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HOLMES: Well, coming up, it's only a half hour away. The most important day in Hollywood or one of, I should say. The nominations for the Oscars will be announced. You will see that live right here on AMERICAN MORNING.

CHETRY: Also coming up, you never have a moment without mom and dad again. There is new software that lets parents spy on their kids, tracking their cell phones, tracking the text messages without the kids even knowing.

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