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State of the Union" Tonight; GOP's Cost Cutting Pledge; Man Wins Online Libel Case
Aired January 25, 2011 - 09:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: It is 10:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 7:00 a.m. on the West. I'm Martin Savidge sitting in for Kyra Phillips.
And here are some of the stories that have us talking this morning. Take a look at this new video. It shows the very moment of yesterday's suicide bombing in Moscow's busiest airport. You see people walking around and then a flash of light.
Russian authorities say 35 people were killed and more than 100 hurt. President Dimitri Medvedev promises to find whoever is responsible but he's also blasting the airport security.
Gas prices they have inched up yet again. The nation-wide average of $3.11 is the highest that we've seen since the financial meltdown in October of 2008. Many experts say don't expect a big spike in the immediate future.
And all across Hollywood, blurry-eyed stars rolling out of bed, can you picture it? To see if they will get a shot at an Oscar. Academy Award nominations are being announce "The King's Speech" leads with 12 nominations. We'll share some of the other big names.
The president's "State of the Union" and the nation's state of mind. Just hours before the president addresses the nation, there is a new poll that shows a surprising surge in national optimism, 43 percent now feel that things are going well in the country. That is compared to 29 percent just last month.
Lawmakers, they plan a show of unity tonight, many plan across the aisle and sit with members of the other political party. The so- called state dates are in response to the Tucson shooting rampage and concerns that constant party bickering may be creating dangerous divisions. But make no mistake, vast differences still remain.
For the first time in our history, there will be two responses to the president's speech. Besides the Republicans, of course, will also hear from the Tea Party. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota is a rising star of that movement, which has had a huge impact in the November elections.
So the stage is set and the speech is written. Let's get a preview with CNN's Jim Acosta in our Washington bureau. And Jim, what is going to be the president's main talking point tonight? JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, all we have at this point, Martin, are talking points because we don't really know what the president is going to say. But it looks like we'll see two big things tonight. The White House says one theme is something that officials are calling winning the future. The president is expected to offer some specifics on his agenda for getting the country on track to compete in the 21st century.
That means what the administration is calling targeted investments in education, innovation, and infrastructure. The other big theme it's national unity. This is an idea that came out of the wake of the Tucson tragedy, something you just mentioned a few moments ago, Martin. A group of roughly 60 Senate and House Democrats and Republicans, the state dates will be sitting together in a show of bipartisanship and civility. And we caught up with two of them, Pennsylvania Senators Republican Pat Toomey and Democrat Bob Casey.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
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's really shouldn't be part of our politics.
ACOSTA: Has the rhetoric gotten out of control, do you think, Senator Casey?
SEN. BOB CASEY (), PENNSYLVANIA: I think it has. I've been here four years and I know there are numerous times when that's occurred and I'm not saying I'm blameless. We've all at some point in time engaged in that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Something else that will catch your eye tonight, dueling responses to the president's "State of the Union" address. House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan will give the Republican response to the president's address. He is expected to say no to many of the president's new spending requests.
Then you will also see the Tea Party response. You mentioned this, Martin, delivered by another House Republican Michele Bachmann. Her remarks will also be carried on CNN, which sort of gives her equal billing on many of the news networks.
Republican leaders are saying publicly they don't mind the attention that Bachmann is getting with all of this but they are reminding reporters that there is one party Republican response and it's coming from Paul Ryan. Martin?
SAVIDGE: I'm wondering, Jim, just how much can the president accomplish with such a divided Congress?
ACOSTA: Yes, that is the big question because after tonight, after the show of national unity and bipartisanship, we will all go back to a House that is controlled by Republicans and a Senate that is controlled by Democrats. And so it's going to depend on what the president says tonight if he talks about only talking about spending in areas such as education, innovation, that sort of thing.
Republicans are going to listen to that and hear new government spending and they are basically going to say no. If he comes forward and says, along with this new spending we're going to have budget cuts, we're going to get serious about tackling the deficit and the national debt, then he may get some takers on the Republican side. We'll have to see.
SAVIDGE: Yes, we will, indeed. Thanks, Jim, very much.
ACOSTA: You bet.
SAVIDGE: There will be one seat conspicuously empty tonight, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords'. To honor her, black and white ribbons will be worn by members of Congress. Also being (INAUDIBLE) tonight, Daniel Hernandez. He is the congressional intern who helped stabilize the congresswoman in the moments after she was shot. He will be sitting in the first lady's box. Christina Green's family will also be at the first lady's side. Roxana and John Green's nine- year-old daughter was among the six people killed in that Tucson shooting.
And join us tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern for out special coverage of the best political team on television. The "State of the Union" address will be followed by the Republican and Tea Party response and then post speech analysis.
President Obama may have a lock on primetime but Republicans have the spotlight this hour. House GOP leaders are gathering on the steps of the U.S. capital to talk about the promise of cutting government spending. They are caught a bit in a numbers game over the pledge to shave $100 billion from the budget. They want to roll back spending to 2008 levels. But because of the glitch in the math, the plan cuts total only about $50 to $60 billion. Some House conservatives are demanding new cuts to make good on the originally promise of $100 billion.
In Lubbock, Texas, a 15-year-old girl leaves for a baby sitting job and then never comes home. That was two weeks ago. Now, police have discovered a young girl's body and the community is waiting to see if it's her. This is Elizabeth Ennen, who police say was abducted while babysitting at a motel on January 4. Umberto Maldonado Salinas is charged with the kidnapping. Ennen was baby sitting with his children. Police say they have evidence linking him to her disappearance but they won't say what it is.
Her parents reported her missing to police when she never came home that night but cops treated it as a runaway and yet her mom never believed that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VIRGINIA ENNEN, MOTHER: The last thing she told me when I talked to her a little after 8:00 on Tuesday night was that she loved me. (END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: It took two weeks to list her as missing, which has citizens outraged. One woman actually spotted Elizabeth with Salinas at a local dollar store and says that something seemed very wrong.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DENA BOWELL, WITNESS: It didn't look to me like she was a run away. Because a run away can come and go as they please. This child was almost hostage like. And he put her in the car like a bag of garbage. You know, he just like threw her in there. Like I said, I had no clue that this child was missing at all until the next day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So if the police put that picture out of her there sooner -
BOWELL: I would have grabbed the little girl and I would have kicked him, tried to do everything I could to keep him back from her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: We are also learning this morning there may be surveillance tape from the night that Elizabeth disappeared showing her with Salinas at the hotel where she was baby sitting. However, police have not yet released that tape.
We're going to send you live now back now to Capitol Hill where the GOP has begun their press conference. Let's listen in.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER, HOUSE SPEAKER: ... more stimulus spending and a bigger government here in Washington. So I'm looking forward to listening to what the president has to say tonight. We're excited about Paul Ryan giving his response. Paul is someone who has a lot of experience, well versed in our budget problem and someone who I think can outline pretty clearly to the American people that this amount of debt that we're dealing with and not only will create big problems for our kids and grandkids but it's hurting job creation in America today.
ERIC CANTOR (R), HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: Good morning, as the speaker just indicated we're going to have on the floor today a resolution which delivers on our commitment that we are going to reduce spending levels for the remainder of the fiscal year. Following up on that, I'm announcing today that the House will vote on the continuing resolution the week of February 14th.
I know it's a little bit out of the norm to announce this early the scheduling of a vote. But this is how serious we are in delivering on our commitment to cut spending. The speaker has continued to say, we're going to have an open process in this House and the House will work its will. Our intention is to allow every member on both sides of the political aisle to come forward and offer prescriptions for how we cut spending and reduce the size of government. And that will take place on the week of March 14th. I'm sorry. February 14th. That is a couple weeks from now. The other thing of note, I think around here is this morning we have seen many begin to attack somehow the Republican plan for how we take the country forward. In particular, leader Reid and Senator Schumer has been out hurling criticisms that Paul Ryan and his being the individual giving the Republican response tonight.
Well, just to sort of put all of these attacks and criticisms into context, you know, it was leader Reid who appeared on one of the Sunday shows a couple of weeks ago that said there were no fiscal problems with social security. Now, I think that is obviously an irresponsible statement. Clearly that puts leader Reid in opposition to statements made by the president and members of his party on this side of the capital.
And, again, I think it also brings us to the point, we have got to, you know, stop the criticisms and accusations and act in a responsible way to cut spending and to show the American people that we're going to take this country responsibly into the future. But first things first. We have got to cut spending because that has shown to be the largest impediment in the way of job creators and we need to pull government back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In eastern Washington and all across the country, people are concerned that the American dream is slipping away for their children, their grandchildren, and I share that concern. And tonight as we listen to the "State of the Union," it's really an opportunity for the president and the Congress to start anew and work together on the challenges that are facing America and the best way that we can restore the American dream is to get our economic engine going. That engine of ingenuity, of innovation, and giving small businesses that confidence to actually create jobs.
We also need to stop the out of control government spending and the debt that we have piled up. And so we asked the president to join us in committing, as in our pledge, to reducing spending to 2008 levels or less and to actually reforming the way Congress and the executive branch decides to spend money. Instead of focusing so much on spending, let's focus on spending less. That's our goal as we approach this evening's "State of the Union.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We look forward to tonight's "State of the Union" but if history is our guide, most Republicans will probably agree that they agree with 80 percent of what the president says, they just disagree with 80 percent of what he does. And so we look forward to finding ways to work with the president to create more jobs and less spending in Washington.
But the American people, every time they hear someone in Washington say investment, all they hear, is let's go out and borrow 40 cents on the dollar and send the bill to our children. And no one, no on believes that you can make a great nation more competitive by somehow bankrupting future generations. So again, House Republicans stand ready and eager to listen to the president and we hope that he will embrace what we are doing today and rolling spending back to pre- bailout, pre-stimulus levels. That would be a wonderful opportunity to work on a bipartisan basis. The American people, again, they want more jobs, they want less spending. What they don't want is more investments that simply saddle their children with greater debt.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Speaker, you say (INAUDIBLE) the American people on cutting spending but some of your - many of your fellow conservatives here are saying that they want you to, first of all, keep your promise, to cut $100 billion this year but also more importantly go even further than you're planning to go in and cut spending. Will you listen to them?
BOEHNER: Well, that's why I believe it's important as Speaker to allow for an open process here in the house, to allow members from both sides of the aisle to offer amendments and to allow the House to work its will. Gone are the days of the leadership dictating to the members what they will get the vote on and dictating the outcome of what the House does every day. So I'm fully prepared to allow all members to offer their amendments and, again, let's let the House work its will.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We sent you a letter yesterday saying -
SAVIDGE: You're listening to a news conference being held by the Republican leadership of the House there. Basically, what they are doing is using this opportunity of the day that is normally focused on the president's "State of the Union" address, talking about their concerns of the national debt. We'll take a break and be back with more in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: Talk about getting iced in, this is what some unlucky auto owners who parked in Manhattan's lower east side woke up to yesterday morning. A number of vehicles on east second street were encased in ice, the combination of a busted water main and some freezing temperatures during the (INAUDIBLE) leaving them literally frozen in their tracks. You know what I think you're going to need a bigger ice scraper. It should be pretty nice in the Big Apple but tomorrow that could be another story.
Jacqui Jeras joins us and fills us in.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, amazing pictures there, by the way, Martin. You need a steam blaster to get that off. The chisel didn't work so much. I might suggest a hair dryer by the way.
SAVIDGE: Good idea.
JERAS: (INAUDIBLE) it's the worse, right? All right. Here's a look at what the temperatures feel like to your body right now. So much better. I mean, we were subzero yesterday morning. So we've done, you know, over a 20-degree swing for you. So that's doing a lot better. But we have this weak system moving on through and it's kind of coated everything with a little bit of snowfall and it's going to be ending probably in the noon hours. And things are going to look a lot better. This will then turn to be our main focus and this storm system is really going to rip up the coast and in fact, a whole lot of people in the upcoming days. Right now, it's just relatively putting down rain showers, heavy at times but we are concerned about what's going to happen later on today and into the overnight hours across parts of Florida. Let's take a look at our live picture that we have for you.
Right now, from WPLG TV, this is out of Miami and there you can see the cloudy conditions there. 73 degrees, that doesn't feel too bad but you can see the shaking going on. Oh, yes, those are some gusty winds up to about 25 miles per hour. The thunderstorms could be severe and they could be overnight. So make sure you've got your NOAA weather radio on as we go to bed tonight. Because tornadoes are going to be a possibility across parts of Florida.
Now let's talk about where this storm system is going to be tracking here. Here's our are of low pressure into the Gulf of Mexico. It's going to be tracking off to the east, now cold air is going to mix in so we'll be watching the Tennessee Valley and then on up into the Appalachians, with sort of that rain changing over into some snowfall and then the storm will intensify and pulls into the northeast. So the models have really been inconsistent with this thing. I tell you, and it's really going to be a close call. Because a couple of miles on either side of this storm system means you're either going to get a foot of snow or you're going to get that mix which means very little accumulation.
Right now, best thinking is that the worst accumulation is going to be somewhere in this area and New York City, we think you'll have that mix and then change over to some snow. So this is going to be a powerful storm, certainly impacting your travel. Mostly a Wednesday, late into Thursday event for the northeast. But, boy, we're dealing with today and into tomorrow morning across many parts of the deep south. So it's going to be pretty interesting the next couple of days, Marty.
SAVIDGE: As if it hasn't been interesting enough.
JERAS: Haven't it been. You know, speaking of which, I'm going to use it as a quick tease, if you don't mind for tomorrow. We're coming up with some numbers. If you're sick of winter, you have the right to complain about it because the snowfall departure, how much more snow that we normally have for this time of the year is off the chain. We'll have the numbers for you tomorrow.
SAVIDGE: Well, we'll charge you for that. That's an extemporaneous (INAUDIBLE). Thank you very much.
JERAS: Thank you.
SAVIDGE: We want to get to Dana Bash right now. She's on Capitol Hill. We just finished that press conference from GOP. They're talking about the national debt on this, usually the day reserved for the president. Dana?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. It's no accident, Marty, that the House Republicans have been planning this symbolic vote, if nothing else, just hours before President Obama comes up here on spending and that vote is this resolution. It's really short.
It's only about five or six lines but the message is clear and that is that they want to roll back spending levels to 2008 levels, levels before President Obama went into office and before he started spending. That is what they talked about. And also they talked about the fact that there is dissent among conservatives about how far to go.
We've been reporting on the fact that a very large group of conservatives say what the leaders are doing isn't far enough and they want them to go even further.
Other interesting news that Eric Cantor, the House majority leader, may hear is that this is just a resolution. The really big fight is now set on spending. It will be in just about three weeks from now, the week of February 14th, ironically, Valentine's day, that the House will vote on the next budget resolution, or I should say, a resolution to keep the government running. That is the first big spending fight. That is where you're going to see Republicans trying to put their money where their mouth is and saying, we're going to cut spending. So that was a very interesting news conference we just heard.
SAVIDGE: And Dana, from political division now to unity, that being the black and white ribbons, explain that for us.
BASH: That's right. I have one right here. Some of our viewers may recognize these from the memorial service that they saw in Tucson for Gabrielle Giffords and, of course, the six people who were killed in the line of fire during that shooting. These ribbons, Marty, will be handed out with the help of Gabby Giffords' friend, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Shultz and her office here, to all members of Congress and my understanding is that the white represents peace and that the black, of course, commemorates and remembers people who were killed in that horrible shooting earlier this month. Marty.
SAVIDGE: Dana Bash, thanks very much.
We got some breaking news out of Egypt where demonstrations are boiling in the streets. The protesters are railing against corruption. We'll have more on that coming up, right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: As I lead before the break, we got some breaking news out of Egypt. Demonstrations are boiling out on the streets. Their protesters are rallying against corruption and the faltering economy. More importantly though, organizers say they are trying to seize on the unrest to topple that government in neighboring Tunisia. Lukas Jarubicka is a student in Egypt and he joins us on the telephone and you've been watching this unfold. Tell us what you've been seeing.
LUKAS JARUBICKA, INTERN IN CAIRO (ON THE PHONE): Hi there. Yes, I'm seeing basically a group of, a group of Egyptians going down the street, main street of Cairo and screaming words that I don't understand but basically it was very peaceful, no guns, no fire, nothing, controlled by police when they ran back and then I lost them.
SAVIDGE: And just give us a sense as to how unusual these kind of demonstrations are.
JARUBICKA: It's very unusual for Egypt. As far as I know, but the protests are happening in various locations in the city. Not just one (INAUDIBLE) but there are several groups in the city. The biggest one is in downtown, I guess, where a lot of people are protesting, hundreds and hundreds of people basically.
SAVIDGE: And what is it exactly people are asking for? What is it that people want?
JARUBICKA: I can't tell you clearly. As far as I know, from media as well as protests against government and corruption, but as far as I don't understand what they are screaming out.
SAVIDGE: And what's the attitude of the government there? Are they just standing by willing to watch? We see security officers that are there but we don't see them moving in.
JARUBICKA: It is basically officers controlling the crowd and they had everything under control. They had a crowd of a few hundred people controlled by approximately 67, 80 policemen leading the crowd and being behind the crowd, kind of pushing them.
SAVIDGE: And you're saying, from what you have seen so far, these demonstrations have been peaceful, correct? Nobody has been violent in any way, no arrests?
JARUBICKA: I see only one demonstration right here from my balcony and it's peaceful. I didn't see any, like I said, any guns. It looks really peaceful from the balcony's point of view.
SAVIDGE: All right. We've been speaking with Lucas Jarubicka. He is a student and he is joining us from Egypt where we have seen thousands of people protesting in the streets. This seems to be spreading from the public demonstration that took place in Tunisia a couple of weeks ago. There has been concern that this could spread to other government's within the region. Egypt apparently, is now the latest example of that.
Now we want to tell you how a Georgian man took on his cyber bully and won. It was tragic enough that Gene Cooley's fiancee was killed by her former husband. But to add insult to injury, a woman Cooley barely even knew went on the community web site and then proceeded to essentially assassinate Cooley's character. He said that he was a sex offender, that he got had a criminal record, that he was a drug addict. None of that was remotely true. Cooley sued the woman for libel and she won more than $4,000. But you can argue, it's a hell of beans compared to what he has lost. Gene Cooley is now with us. Thanks very much for being with us.
Thank you, Martin.
SAVIDGE: Let me ask you, do you have any idea why this woman targeted you?
GENE COOLEY, WON ONLINE LIBEL CASE: Apparently she targets just about anybody and everyone on the internet. After the court case I received numerous phone calls from individuals who she has already slandered on the internet. She basically doesn't matter if she knows you or not, she'll just get on there and talk about whatever she wants to.
SAVIDGE: did you know her at all?
COOLEY: Not really. I've met her in passing in (INAUDIBLE) and I've seen her in different stores around our area. It's a very small town.
SAVIDGE: I was saying that we should mention, that this really is a very small town.
COOLEY: It's a very small town, in Georgia.
SAVIDGE: And so everybody would know and word of mouth would quickly spread whatever the internet didn't?
COOLEY: Very quickly, yes, sir.
SAVIDGE: And this came out when you were attending the funeral of your former fiancee?
COOLEY: Yes, sir. I was down in Florida and all of a sudden her father, my fiancee's father was wanting to ask me about a drug addiction, asked me about rehab and I had no idea what he was talking about.
SAVIDGE: You were blind sided?
COOLEY: Totally blind sided. So I asked what can I do to prove my point and everything? Well, you want a background check? And he said yes. I went to the local sheriff's department, got a background check. It came back with a clean bill of health. In the meantime, after getting the background check, my sister called me from Blairsville and let me know that I was being targeted and slandered on the internet.
SAVIDGE: And all of this, we should just point out, is taking place while you're going through the grieving process, while her family is going through the grieving process.
COOLEY: Exactly.
SAVIDGE: They are beginning to look upon you on a whole different and very ugly way?
COOLEY: Yes, sir. They sure were. They had no idea of really who I was except for the fact that I had been dating their daughter for a little over two years. And -
SAVIDGE: How bad did it get?
COOLEY: It got horrible. It got to the point - they actually were wanting me out of the house nearly immediately. I had contacted a detective in Blairsville who called (INAUDIBLE) father and let him know that, no, none of the allegations were true and so forth.
So at that point it did kind of turn around a little bit. But due to the fact that all of the hurt and the pain was already there, I'm going to say it was irreparable.
SAVIDGE: And so you sued and got $400,000 from this woman. Have you seen any of it?
COOLEY: No, sir. Not yet.
SAVIDGE: Any chance you will see the money?
COOLEY: It's a possibility. We are working on it.
SAVIDGE: In the meantime, life is beginning to turn back to what it was?
COOLEY: It's beginning to. The past couple of weeks have been pretty hectic with the trial and everything and of course, with all the media and publication and everything.
SAVIDGE: Gene Cooley, thanks very much for sharing your story with us. It's a cautionary tale of what can happen with the internet?
COOLEY: Yes, it is. I would also like to thank Judge David Barrett for being so patient and trying this case. Judge Barrett, bless his heart, had he to brave the snow. We were having about ten inches of snow at that time --
SAVIDGE: Yes, we all remember that.
COOLEY: -- 16 degrees. I'd like to thank the jury for getting out there. Braving the weather also. I'd also like to thank Russell Stickey (ph) for all his wonderful work and all of the hard work that he did. This was not an easy case to go through. It's not like they just give you the information. It's a lot of --
SAVIDGE: We've got to go right there, Gene. Thanks very much for being with us.
COOLEY: I thank you very much.
SAVIDGE: Appreciate it.
COOLEY: Thank you.
SAVIDGE: Does a shrinking economy also shrink the size of your home? The American dream for some has always been a big car, a big yard, a big house. But those times are changing. Our homes are getting smaller. Coming up, we may all soon be living in little pink houses.
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: The stock market opening bell rang just about an hour ago. So, let's check the numbers as they stand. And there you see, looks like the Dow is down a little more than 33 points.
Size matters. Seemingly less these days for prospective new homeowners and builders, and they are building accordingly. CNN's business correspondent Stephanie Elam is in New York with more on the shrinking McMansion syndrome. So, cheap and small apparently is beating out being rich, is that right?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's exactly it when you talk about what's going on in this country, Marty. Things are getting a little smaller. I know America is a land of big, but we're doing things smaller here.
In fact, so much so that when you look at what the National Association of Home Builders say, they say by 2015, the average size of a house is going to be 2,100 feet. You see, back in 2007, it was at 2,500 feet. Everything is getting smaller as they're starting to build out.
Also, would you take a look at this? Even though things are getting smaller, the one thing I have to point out here is, as you take a look at homes now, they are still about 50 percent bigger than they were in the '70s. So, we're still living a little bit more comfortably, Marty.
SAVIDGE: Well, so what's behind the trend and why do so many people want smaller homes?
ELAM: Well, a lot of it has to do with the economy, which we know has been poor. So, a lot of people are like, let me buy what we can really use and not overextend ourselves. Also, we have theose baby boomers who are now hitting retirement age, so they are downsizing. The kids are out of the house, they need less house, not more. So, they're downsizing as well. And then, let's think about it. It takes a lot to heat a home. So, if you have less house, then there's less cost involved with that as well.
All of this is leading people to look at how they build their homes instead of having living rooms and dining rooms that just collect dust for most of the year, except for maybe Thanksgiving and the holidays. They are going to put in multipurpose rooms and actually get more value out of their homes at this point.
The buyers really want storage and they want to make sure that they are keeping their costs down and that they are environmentally friendly with the new homes that are out there, Marty.
SAVIDGE: Yes, all of those things occur to me, too. But it's not just the size of the house that is changing, right? I mean, even the reasons why or what we are buying are influx.
ELAM: Yes, that's actually really interesting here. If you take a look at the reason why people were buying in 2010, it was not about wanting a slice of the American dream, which is what so many of us have grown up thinking about.
Take a look at this. Because of the favorable financing in 2010, 28 percent of people said that's why they bought. Not the way it was back in 2005 before the recession. That wasn't it. The desire to own versus rent had nothing to do with it for these people who were surveyed by Wiker Realtors (ph). That was not the reason. In 2005, that's why more than a quarter of people said that. So, as you can see, the reason why people are getting into the market is very different than it was before.
And analysts look at this and say, that means people are having a more realistic view of what home ownership is. And besides, what we all know once you get into a house, there's a lot of costs of keeping that house up, too. Right, Marty?
SAVIDGE: Absolutely. Absolutely. Can't be stated more. Thank you, Stephanie, very much.
ELAM: Sure.
SAVIDGE: Checking top stories right now. Take a look at this new video. It shows the very moment of yesterday's suicide bombing at Moscow's busiest airport. You can see people walking around, and then a flash of light. Russian authorities say 35 people were killed, more than 100 hurt. President Dmitry Medvedev promises to find whoever is responsible, but he's also blasting airport security.
And the case against the man accused of pulling the trigger in Tucson. It moves forward. Yesterday, a federal judge entered not guilty pleas on Jared Loughner's behalf to the attempted murder charges of Congresswoman Giffords and two of her aides. Prosecutors plan to charge Loughner with murdering six people during that rampage.
An empty chair will represent Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords on the House floor during the State of the Union. Tonight, her husband Mark Kelly has a big decision in the meantime to make. Should he back out as leader of the April 19 space shuttle mission to remain at her side? His twin brother is also an astronaut. In fact, he is on board the international space station right now.
The president's theme for tonight's State of the Union address, winning the future and repairing the economy. President Obama is ready to lay out the blueprints to restore America's greatness. That's a pretty big task. So, we're taking a look back at the president's promises from the State of the Union in 2010. Tom Foreman takes stock on how he's faring on health care.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The president's signature item for his first two years, health care reform. And he highlighted his plan in the last State of the Union.
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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our approach would preserve the right of Americans who have insurance to keep their doctor and their plan. It would reduce costs and premiums for millions of families and businesses. And according to the Congressional Budget Office, the independent organization that both parties have cited as the official score keeper for Congress, our approach would bring down the deficit by over $1 trillion over the next two decades.
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FOREMAN: Two months after that speech, he signed the most sweeping overhaul of health care law since the 1960s. Once it is all in place, it should indeed reduce costs and premiums for many families, and, yes, the CBO says it will lower the deficit over time.
That said, polls show many voters remain skeptical that it will all play out that way. They gave the House back to the Republicans in the midterm election, and the Republican-controlled House voted a few days ago to repeal the reform law. The effort is expected to die in the Senate. But whatever happens, this is a promise kept by the president.
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SAVIDGE: Join us tonight at 7:00 Eastern for our special coverage with The Best Political Team on Television. The State of the Union address will be followed by the Republican and Tea Party responses and then post-speech analysis.
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SAVIDGE: This is a fascinating story. They may be better than a hot water bottle on an electric blanket on a cold winter night. But a new paper claims that by letting your pet sleep in your bed, you could be risking a case of cat-scratch fever or a heart or digestive system disorder or the plague. Yep, the bubonic variety. Two California researchers who wrote that paper, which appears in the Journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases says the risk is rare, but those with weak immune systems and the very young may be susceptible.
Well, it's not easy to make the queen of talk speechless, but Oprah Winfrey found herself at a loss for words when she learned about her half sister. Patricia was adopted at birth. Oprah never knew about her. She found out a few months ago, and the two met for the first time at Thanksgiving at their mother's house. Oprah brought her fans in on that big news during her show.
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OPRAH WINFREY, HOST, "THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW": My sister Patricia is here. Come on out, Patricia! PATRICIA, OPRAH'S HALF SISTER: One reason why I didn't give up is because I know that I need to get it out or get in touch with you so that no one else would put it out there.
WINFREY: Uh-huh.
PATRICIA: And then another reason is for my children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Patricia says she knows about her famous half sister - she's known about her, that is, since 2007, but she wanted to protect Oprah from the tabloids. Sometimes secrets are worth keeping.
And we're following breaking news out of Egypt, where demonstrations are boiling up in the streets. Protestors are railing against corruption and the faltering economy. More importantly, though, organizers say that they are ceasing on the unrest to topple the government, as may have happened in nearby Tunisia. We'll bring you more after the break.
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SAVIDGE: We're following breaking news out of Egypt, where demonstrations are boiling up in the streets. The protesters are railing against corruption and the faltering economy. Joining us on the telephone now, our own Ben Wedeman, who is there.
Ben, what have you seen and, first of all, how large are these demonstrations compared to demonstrations that you've seen in the past there?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Martin, these are the biggest demonstrations that I've seen in Egypt ever. There are literally thousands and thousands of people in what is known as (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE), the very middle of the (AUDIO GAP) next to the famous Egyptian museum and the old (INAUDIBLE) hotel. There are thousands and thousands of people here. And they're now chanting (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE), you should go. They were rocks at the police before. The police are responding with very intense tear gas.
This demonstration here, in this part of town, has been going on for at least three hours. But the demonstrations began around midday, another (INAUDIBLE) about six hours ago. (INAUDIBLE) Cairo, very filled pocket, which has spread and connected. And I've watched thousands of people, mostly university students, poured over one of the main bridges from Giza (ph), which is another part of Cairo, into the main part of the city.
And the police seem to be utterly overwhelmed. They don't seem to know how to deal with such a huge crowd, a crowd that seems persistent in challenging the police and actually pushing them back.
SAVIDGE: Do we have any idea, Ben, as you look at this crowd, the makeup? Are they all just students, or do they seem to represent all ages and all walks of life there in Egypt?
WEDEMAN: As far as I can tell, Martin, it's all walks of life. (INAUDIBLE) students, business men. One we met works in a marketing firm. He told me this is the first time he's ever come to a demonstration, and he said he wants to (INAUDIBLE). Like so many other Egyptians, fed up with economic decay, corruption, and (INAUDIBLE) totalitarian government. And so they want no part of it. They want this government to go.
Obviously, they watched events in Tunisia, and they want the same sort of thing to happen here. Marty?
SAVIDGE: Ben Wedeman is referring to the events in Tunisia. That's another North African nation, in which actually the president was overthrown and forced to flee to Saudi Arabia as a result of public protests there.
Ben, Egypt is such a strong ally of the United States there in the Mideast region. What is the real threat? How much of a threat is there to the government as a result of these demonstrations?
WEDEMAN: Well, obviously this is going to be a problem for the United States, which has invested so much politically, financially, militarily in Egypt. Egypt is the second-largest recipient of foreign aid for the (INAUDIBLE) after Israel, and this unrest is obviously going to have to constantly recalculate in political recalculations (ph).
Any way, right now (INAUDIBLE), tear gas. (COUGHS).
SAVIDGE: All right. Are you able to carry on, or do you want to get to a place of safety, Ben?
WEDEMAN: I'm going to do my best, Marty. I'll do my best, but I'm just going to have to keep my one eye open.
SAVIDGE: The tear gas that's being fired there, is that the only thing that's being used or has the police actually moved in on the crowd?
WEDEMAN: No, basically, it's tear gas, but before, demonstrators were firing - or rather, throwing rocks at the police, and the police were throwing rocks back. (INAUDIBLE) tear gas.
SAVIDGE: What you're watching and what you're listening to is our CNN reporter, Ben Wedeman, who is in Cairo, where he is reporting some of the largest if not the largest demonstrations he's ever witnessed there in the capital there. And what he is saying is that these are protests that seem to be mirroring protests that took place in Tunisia a number of weeks ago in which that government there fell as a result of public street protests.
Now it appears that the protests are spreading to other countries, and there was especially concern that those countries that had authoritarian regimes, such as Eqypt with President Hosni Mubarak, who has had a very tight grip on power, but he is also a strong ally of the United States. Ben, you don't think that this could actually bring the government down at this stage?
WEDEMAN: It's very early to tell, Martin. I mean, it took several weeks of demonstrations -- and bloody demonstrations to take down the regime in Tunisia. And as far as I know, and I don't have access to all the information where I am - as far as I know, there have been no fatalities. I've seen lots of people that have been injured with rocks and what not. But it hasn't really gotten to the point where, you know -- when people start getting killed in these demonstrations, then it can get very volatile.
At the moment, I'm just seeing lots of tear gas - no (INAUDIBLE) yet.
SAVIDGE: Has the government responded publicly on television in anyway to try to simmer the situation down?
WEDEMAN: As far as I know, not today. The government has been sending out some press releases to try to knock down the more wild stories that are coming out. After (INAUDIBLE) demonstrations, for instance, there was one rumor that a group of school girls participated in the demonstrations, and then were arrested by the police. So, the minister of the interior quickly stopped that rumor to the best of their abilities.
But my feeling is that the government simply did not anticipate that these demonstrations would get so big and so widespread. Because it's not just in Cairo. There are demonstrations in Alexandria, in cities in upper Egypt. Really in almost every major Egyptian city there is some sort of demonstration or protest going on along the same lines as this one.
SAVIDGE: And do we know, are these spontaneous demonstrations or were these called for and organized in some way?
WEDEMAN: Yes, they were organized. This is something that - sort of activists were well aware of this more than a week ago. There are two international groups, two Facebook groups. One organized (INAUDIBLE) youth. And another group that rallied around the young Egyptian who was killed in Alexandria by the police. These two groups have really been canvassing the country, sending SMSes, posting messages on Facebook and Twitter. And really through word of mouth, it's spread around.
So, it wasn't anything (AUDIO GAP) well aware that this was in the works. But I don't think they realized that there would be quite this many people who responded to the call.
SAVIDGE: All right. Ben Wedeman on the streets of Cairo, who is being tear gassed and in the middle of the demonstrations, the largest of which he says he's ever seen since he's been covering events there, and that says quite a bit.
Ben Wedeman, thanks very much. We'll continue to stay in touch.
In the meantime, we'll take a break. Be back with more after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: There will not be just one Republican response at tonight's State of the Union address, but two of them. Political producer Shannon Travis has the story from the CNNpoltics.com desk.
SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL PRODUER: Hey there, Martin. Well, we're getting ready here in the political unit for a very long night. I've got my coffee that I've been drinking already.
SAVIDGE: Good idea.
TRAVIS: It will be made even longer because after the president delivers his State of the Union address, we already know that House Budget chairman Paul Ryan will be delivering the official Republican response, but then something strange will happen. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, the Republican, she will deliver the Tea Party response. We've got that up on the ticker, actually.
She just got off the House floor a few moments ago, talking about what she expects and hopes to hear from the president tonight. She didn't mention her address. It'll be here at the National Press Club. She didn't talk about that. But we do expect for it to stick to very Tea Party type of things.
Dan Lothian at the top of the hour will have a little bit more on the State of the Union. Martin?
SAVIDGE: All right. A highly caffeinated team standing by. We'll have the next political update in one hour. And a reminder, for all of the latest political news, go to our Web site. That's CNNpolitics.com.
Well, that does it for me. Remember, you can find me on Facebook and Twitter. Carol Costello is going to join me right after the break.
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