and the big switch away from old-fashioned light bulbs, a staple in american homes for well over a century. could history be changing sooner than a lot of people may think? i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." let's get right to the breaking news. new anger in the streets of egypt and attempts by the government to beat back the protests. our reporters on the ground say egypt is in a state of revolt. it's all an enormous concern for the obama straight right now. we're told violent clashes are taking place in suez this evening as we speak, this after police in cairo turned water cannons and tear gas on demonstrators demanding the ouster of the longtime president hosni mubarak. at least four people were killed during the height of the protests yesterday. egyptian officials are banning demonstrations and warning citizens not to open the door to chaos like the unrest that toppled the tunisian government a couple weeks ago. now, the united states is very anxious about the fate of a critical alley in the middle east and the prospect of the arab world unraveling. you're senior white house correspondent ed henry is watching all of this unfold. i know officials at the white house are deeply worried about what's happened in tunisia, in lebanon, but now most important in egypt, ed, what are administration officials saying? >> reporter: well, wolf, they are saying they are deeply concerned because this is a key moderate alley obviously in the arab world in hosni mubarak, and the fact of the matter is he's so critical, that's why president obama brought him to the white house just last fall to help and try and broker middle east peace here with the israeli and palestinian leaders. critical ally, and that's why the white house is monitoring this situation, extremely closely bus of that intense situation on the ground. obviously president mubarak feels threatened enough right now that his government has arrested hundreds of protesters, i should say, and for the second time in two days, top administration officials today urged calm saying that there should be no violence on all sides. the protesters should not be using violence, that the government should not be cracking down, and the protesters should allow them, as long as they are demonstrating peacefully, let them move forward, but perhaps most important of all, both robs gibbs, the white house spokesman and secretary of state hillary clinton today said all of this should be a real opportunity for the egyptian government to enact some political, economic reforms that would help the egyptian people. take a listen to the secretary of state putting it on the line. >> there are a lot of very well-informed, active, civil society leaders in egypt who have put forward specific ideas for reform, and we are encouraging and urging the egyptian government to be responsive to that. >> reporter: and to give you a sign of how delicate the situation, is twice today robert gibbs was asked directly by reporters on air force one as the president went to wisconsin whether or not the white house still backs hosni mubarak. the first time robert gibbs said, close, we have a close and important ally in egypt. asked a second time do you back president mubarak specifically and he said, quote, again, egypt is a strong ally, perhaps significant, he's not directly backing president mubarak. to be clear though, he is saying egypt is still a strong ally. gives you an idea of how delicate this is for the white house now, wolf. >> well, egypt is the most important arab ally that the united states has. it's been in the forefront, ed, as you know in the peace process with israel establishing a peace treat we israel, back during the jimmy carter administration. it's potentially one of the greatest threats to israel if, if it should go in the other direction, for example, if the muslim brotherhood or others would take over in egypt, the suez canal is a strategic point, there are so many critical issues right now that the u.s. has to deal with, and i know they are deeply concerned over at the white house, but they sort of feel helpless right now, don't they, these demonstrations could escalate? >> absolutely, and they don't want toes calculate the situation in any way. that's why they are monitoring it very closely, and that's why you heard secretary of state clinton choosing her words very carefully, just trying to calm the situation down, by think it's significant as well that -- that this administration is being direct with the government of hosni mubarak and saying you need to enact some reforms here in order to give the protesters something, number one, but number two, improve the lives of egyptians so that they feel that the situation can calm down. so, the administration prodding ever so gently here, wolf. >> all right. thanks very much. ed henry is at the white house. ben wedeman, by the way, in cairo in the midst of these demonstrations. we're going to be joining ben live later here in "the situation room." he's been tweeting about what's going on. he's concluded there's a revolt under way right now. ben wedeman will be standing by. let's get to some other important news right now. the president returning to the white house after the traditional day after the state of the union trip outside the d.c. beltway. he went to wisconsin to promote the themes from his speech last night. he chose that backdrop for some very clear reasons, both historical and political. our white house correspondent dan lothian is traveling with the president. >> reporter: wolf, president obama took his message to main street yet again in a state where the unemployment rate is about 7%, much less than the national average. he said new manufacturing plants and tax incentives have helped to improve the economic climate, but even here the economic recovery is far from over. president obama is reaching into the past to set the country's course for the future, seizing on what he calls this generation's sputnik moment, to spur innovation and job creation. >> in this new and challenging time, when america is facing tougher competition from countries around the world than ever before, we've got to up our game. we're going to need to go all in. >> reporter: and what better place to make that pitch than in wisconsin, a town where a piece of sputnik crashed to earth almost 50 years ago. >> i couldn't have made this up. it wasn't until i was on my way here that i found out that a chunk of metal came crashing down to the earth right here. i promise you. we did not plan this originally. press won't believe me. >> reporter: white house aides say the real reason for the visit was to highlight three companies that are investing in new technology and creating jobs. the president toured facilities that make energy-efficient lighting, aluminum and wind turbine towers, but there's politics at play here, too. wisconsin gave president obama a double-digit victory in 2008. then pushed democrats out of virtually all statewide offices in the mid-term shellacking. >> it seems that he would pick a state that would be in play in 2012. >> reporter: as in other parts of country, some voters here were unhappy with the administration's handling of the economy or had deep concerns about the federal deficit. president obama will continue making his pitch on main street, pushing for more jobs and trying to change the minds of skeptical americans. wolf? >> dan lothian in wisconsin traveling with the president. less than 24 hours after the president spoke to the house chamber, sweeping talk of the future and bipartisanship is being drawn out by republicans who are challenging his agenda head-on. let's bring in our senior congressional correspondent dana bash. what's going on, dana? >> reporter: well, you know, the president did try to appeal to republicans in his speech last night, wolf, but the sound was barely up this morning when republicans in the senate formally introduced their legislation to repeal his top priorities that has been apparently the health care law and in the house republicans were full steam ahead, too. the morning after the president asked republicans to come together and move on when it comes to health care, anything but. >> why is this the budget committee's first hearing, and why is it focused on health care? let's just put it very simply. our fiscal problem is a health care problem. >> reporter: that message from two new powerful house gop chairmen. >> with unemployment rates stuck above 9% for the last 20 months and with my home state's unemployment at nearly 12%, i have one simple question today. how is it that congress passed a health care bill that is, quote, counterproductive to american employers. >> reporter: it's a new staggering report on the nation's deficit that's further entrenching both parties. the non-partisan congressional budget office says this year's deficit will grow to an eye-popping $1.5 trillion, up from the last two years of the observe pra straight where deficits were already the largest since world war ii. >> the national debt threatiens not only our security, our sovereignty, but the economic prosperity of our country. >> reporter: president obama used his address to plead with republicans not to slash too much spending but invest. >> cutting the deficit by gutting our investments in innovation and education is like lightening an overloaded airplane by removing its engine. it may make you feel like you're flying high at first, but it won't take long before you feel the impact. >> reporter: his fellow democrats are more blunt. >> when i heard from the republican side was ki disconcerting. they want a fire sale and sell off our country. >> reporter: republicans call new sky high deficit numbers prove that investing is the wrong way to go. >> he called it investment which as we all know is code in washington as spending more money, and we've been doing that at an enormously accelerating pace. >> the democratic senate budget chairman suggested the president missed an opportunity in his speech. >> i would have liked very much if the president would have spent a bit more time helping the american people understand how really big this problem is. we are borrowing 40 cents of every dollar that we spend. >> reporter: the congressional budget office blamed the jump in the deficit this year largely on that huge tax cut deal that passed in december, and, wolf, you'll remember, this is ironic, that that passed with far more bipartisan votes than any other major piece of legislation since the president has been in office. >> date night on capitol hill didn't last very long, i have to say that. all right, dana, thanks very much. republicans are taking the next step in the attempt to repeal what they call obamacare. i'll ask senator jim mint about his new deal and whether it has a chance of passing in the senate. guns disappear every single day. we're looking into the figure. we're looking into the danger. . use pre-defined screeners. work smarter. not harder. depend on yourself to take charge of your financial future. e-trade. investing unleashed. a lot of pundits predicted that the republican drive to repeal health care reform would likely die in the democratic-controlled senate, but that's not stopping gop lawmakers from trying. today senator jim mint introduced a bill virtually identical to the appeal legislation approved by the house of representatives. senator dmint is a republican from south carolina. certainly a tea party favorite. he's joining us now. senator demint, thanks very much for coming in. >> wolf, thanks for having me. >> you have 47 republicans in the senate. 47 republicans. assuming all of them agree with you, all 46 of your colleagues agree with you, you still need four democrats to get 51 votes. >> right. >> do you have four democrats who are likely to join you? >> wolf, we don't know yet. the important thing for republicans is to do what we promised during the last electi election, and just about all of us ran on repealing this health care takeover as we refer to it, and the longer it's been out there, the more states are asking for waivers, states are asking for waivers. it's going to cost a lot more money that's been estimated and there's a lot more things we can do to fix the current health care system and replace it so we're going to continue as republicans to show americans that we want to throw out this government model and move back to more of a free market model where we create the right safety nets to help those people who can't get insurance now. >> but even if you got four democrats to join you, it's unlikely if the democrats decided to fluster that you would get 60 that you would need to break a filibuster, and certainly even if you did, the president would veto it. you would then need 67 senators to override a presidential veto, so the question is why bother right now in the midst of all the other issues that are out there, the economic issues, jobs, why are you trying to do something that you know is not going to go anywhere? >> well, it will. it will make a big difference, and it will all be on record to tell americans whether we support a government takeover of health care or do we want to move back and fix the best system in the world, and voters need to know that for the next election. now, we may not be able to pass it with obama in the white house, but i think it's going to be a very important issue in 2012 because most parts of this health care bill will not be implemented by the next election, and so americans will be deciding at that point do they want a president who will repeal this health care bill, and do they want representatives in congress who will repeal it, or do they want it to stand? so the important thing right now, wolf, is for americans to know where republicans and democrats stand on repealing this bill. >> well, obviously you -- you want to repeal it, but you've acknowledged it's unlikely in the next two years to be repealed, so why not take the president up on his offer last night to fix it, to make some improvements. are you willing to work with him on that? >> well, no, because you can't fix a system that's built on the wrong foundation. the health care bill that we've got now that the president passed is built on a government control model, collective or socialist-type health care system, and what we need to do is return to the system that we had between patients and physicians and fix that system. there were a lot of problems with it. a lot of people couldn't get health insurance. it was teams pensive, but a lot of the problems were caused by bad government laws and regulations that we could fix, so going back and fixing part of the health care bill is only going to make it harder to replace it with the right model, so there's going to be disagreement obviously, wolf, and there's some parts of this that affects small businesses that we need to fix, but the best way to do it is to throw out obamacare and move in a step-by-step approach to make the current health care system work better. >> the -- the point that you're making about collectivist, socialist health care. they dropped the so-called public option. there's no public option in the public law so how does it become collectivist or socialist? >> well, wolf, the government is basically deciding that every american has to have a government-approved insurance policy. they are going to decide the criteria of what meets that standard of what you can buy, and it's going to limit the choices, and what you're going to see fewer and fewer insurance companies in the private sector, and as the president is on record as saying the whole idea of this is to move us towards a single-payer government system like they have in europe, so there's no question that anyone who understands health insurance and how it works, that this will destroy the private sector health insurance system and we will have a government system within a few years. >> so when the president says he wants to try to improve, it get rid of, for example, the requirement for small businesses to file these 1099 forms whenever they pay someone $600 or when he says he's open to tort reform or medical malpractice reform, you don't even want to take him up on those offers? >> well, when he was in the senate we tried to pass tort reform, wolf, and he would not help us on that. if he's serious about that and other things he mentioned in the state of the union such as tax reform, lowering our corporate tax rate, we're going to work with him wherever we can, but so far he has not been sincere during the health care debate on doing anything that would make the current health care system better. everything he wanted implemented in his plan would eventually destroy the private health insurance market, and that's just not the america i know, and so i for one want to fight for free market health care system that really is a model to the world, not one that copies the government models that we see in europe. >> one final question. are you going to run for the republican presidential nomination? >> no. >> in the next year? >> no, i'm not. >> that's a pretty precise answer. senator, thanks very much for coming in. we hope to have you back. >> thanks, wolf. good to be with you. >> thank you. privacy concerns about facebook stoked again after the founder of facebook gets his fan page hacked. we have the story and details coming up. plus, we'll have an update on the hawk that's been trapped inside the library of congress in washington for a week. you're going to want to see this. introducing listerine® zero™. we removed the alcohol and made it less intense. ♪ now people everywhere are getting a deep clean and fresher mouth without the intensity that kept them away. it still kills bad breath germs for a whole mouth clean. but it's never felt so good. ♪ new listerine® zero™. deep clean. less intense. the #1 dentist recommended mouthwash brand, listerine®. basic. preferred. at meineke i have options on oil changes. and now i get free roadside assistance with preferred or supreme. my money. my choice. my meineke. a colorful change for homeland security. kate balduan is monitoring that and some other top stories in "the situation room" right now. kate, what's going on here? >> reporter: hey, wolf, lots going on. let's get right to t.cnn confirms the government will drop the color-coded terror alert system in april. instead, they will use a system that focuses on specific threats and grow graphicical areas. it will be called the national terror advisory system. department of homeland security secretary janetno is expected to announce the change tomorrow. israeli police have arrested four palestinian men in connection with the december murder of christine liukin. they will be charged with killing liukin and an israeli woman. the men have admitted to the crime. they told police their motive was revenge for the killing of a hamas leader. and a high-profile hacking on facebook. founder mark zuckerberg's fan page was hacked, of all fan pages. the social networking site hasn't commented yet, but the breach raises questions about the company's security and privacy. french president nicolas sarkozy's facebook page was also hacked this week. good luck with that. and the library of congress has lost a patron, but don't worry, everyone. she was probably happy to leave. wildlife officials safely captured the hawk that was living in the main reading room for a week. they laid a trap for the so-called jefferson the hawk with two birds as bait. they say jefferson was in generally good health but had lost some weight. she headed for rehab before her release. i think we now have to come up with a new name for jefferson, the female hawk. i don't think it's an appropriate name for her. >> yeah. jeffy. >> that's more manly. how about jeffersonia, i don't know. >> brian todd did a whole piece on that last week, excellent piece. mission accomplished. thanks very much. the nation is on alert right now on gun violence after the tucson shooting, but get this. dozens of guns apparently vanishing every single day. what's going on? and another move for congresswoman gabrielle giffords. we just received an update on her condition. ♪ trouble, trouble trouble, trouble ♪ ♪ trouble been doggin' my soul ♪ since the day i was born ♪ worry ♪ oh, worry, worry worry, worry ♪ [ announcer ] when it comes to things you care about, leave nothing to chance. travelers. take the scary out of life. president obama mentioned the tucson shootings in the state of the union address last night, but he chose not to bring up the hot button issue of gun control, and that'sagering a top gun control group. the president of the brady campaign to prevent gun violence sorry that the president didn't grab an important opportunity and the brady group released a shocking report on the number of guns out there. jeanne meserve has that report. >> reporter: tens of thousands of guns are disappearing from the nation's gun shops. guns, thousands of them, are disappearing from gun dealers without a record of being sold. according to the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms, more than 21,000 guns went missing last year. more than 62,000 disappeared over the past three years. >> air lot more guns are missing than i think anyone would like to have. i believe that it's very important for us to have accountability of firearms, to know where the firearms are. >> reporter: but the atf numbers, as large as they are, don't reflect the full extent of the problem because the agency only has enough staff and resources inspect about one in ten gun dealers each year that does try to target known or suspected bad actors. 67 dealers had their licenses revoked last year for not reporting or misreporting missing firearms, but in many cases dealers tell authorities the guns were lost or stollen. the brady center to prevent gun violence maintains that some dealers are corrupt, selling guns under the table, off the books, without background checks of the buyers. >> these are the guns that are prized by the gang bangers because they know it's not easily traced back to them or the place they got the gun. >> reporter: we were unable to reach a trade group representing gun sellers and the national rifle association said it had no comment because it isn't involved in gun sales. the atf says it would be easier to keep track of guns if dealers were required to do annual inventories to account for every firearm. under current federal law they do not. it might also be easier to keep track of guns if the atf had additional resources and clout, but it has been almost five years since the agency had a permanent director to effectively make its case for money, manpower and additional authori authority. wolf, back for you. >> all right, jeanne, thank you. tucson shooting survivor gabrielle giffords now very covering in a houston rehab facility. she was moved there from a nearby hospital today. doctors gave an update on her condition just a little while ago, and our senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohn is watching all of this in houston. elizabeth what, did we learn? >> what we learned is her condition has been upgraded from serious to good, and here's what her neurosurgeon had to say this afternoon. >> since gabby arrived last friday, we have noticed daily improvements in her neurological condition. we're very pleased with that, and in terms of recovery for brain issues, this is really at lightning speed. >> reporter: now while they are pleased with her progress, wolf, they are saying that she still is not sitting up or standing up on her own, and she still is not able to speak. wolf? >> we also heard a lot about the fluid in her brain creating a potentially dangerous situation. what's the latest on that? >> reporter: right. when she arrived from houston last week, she had a drain in her brain because she was accumulating all this fluid which can really be a problem, but over the next couple of days that problem resolved. the fluid went down. they were able to take out the drain. they did a cat scan, and they say she's doing just fine without it. wolf? >> so what's the latest, elizabeth? how long is she going to be in rehabilitation? >> reporter: you know, we were told by doctors here to sort of expect a four to six-month recovery, but we know from talking with other patients with this kind of a brain injury that physical therapy can go on for years. i mean, some people are doing physical therapy for the rest of their life, not in a hospital, of course, but the recovery for this kind of an injury, wolf, is a marathon. it is not a sprint. >> elizabeth cohen on the scene for us in houston, thanks very much. a plan to honor the judge killed in the tucson shooting is moving forward today. senator john mccain introduced a bill to name a soon-to-be constructed federal courthouse in yuma, arizona, after judge john roll. some republicans say tea party favorite michele bachmann has gone rogue. was that the message of her unusual response to the president's state of the union address last night? donna brazile and mary matalin, they are both standing by live for our strategy session. and this was no margaritaville for the singer jimmy buffet. stand by for the story behind this video from tmz. 3q if you have osteoporosis, and you take once-monthly boniva, check out the myboniva program. it's free to join, and it shows you lots of ways to help improve your bone strength. like bone-healthy exercises that are easy to do. boniva works with your body to help stop and reverse bone loss. and myboniva gives you calcium-rich recipes... monthly reminders... and even a month of boniva, free. so call or go to myboniva.com and sign up now. ( announcer ) don't take boniva if you problems with your esophagus, low blood calcium, severe kidney disease, or can't sit or stand for at least one hour. follow dosing instructions carefully. stop taking boniva and tell your doctor if you have difficult or painful swallowing, chest pain or severe or continuing heartburn, as these may be signs of serious upper digestive problems. if jaw problems or severe bone, joint, and/or muscle pain develop, tell your doctor. ask your doctor if boniva can help you stop losing and start reversing. and join the myboniva program. to get one month free, plus more tips and recipes, visit boniva.com, or call 1-800-4-boniva. russia is pointing fingers in that deadly airport blast in moscow. kate balduan is monitoring that from the other top stories in "the situation room." what's the update on that. >> reporter: let's get right to it, wolf. russia's president has fired top airport security officials in light of this week's deadly bombings. in davos, switzerland, dmitry medvedev said the transport police were absolutely passive, he said. he's blamed security violations on monday's bombing at moscow's busiest airport that killed 35 people. as many as 180 others were wounded. moscow is observing a day of mourning today. and more from davos which still looks a lot like an old boys club, it seems. in a quota to boost female participation hasn't done much. the world economic forum is requiring many larger companies to include at least one woman among their five delegates. they say this has doubled the number of women, but that means only 16% of the 2,500 participants are women at this point. and some alarming health statistics we want to tell you about. the cdc says almost 26 million people have diabetes and about 7 million of them don't even know it. in addition, more than one-third of adults have something called pre-diabetes that. means their blood sugar levels are higher than normal, and people with diabetes are at a higher risk for many illnesses, including heart disease, stroke, blindness and amputations. and take a look at this. that was poor jimmy buffet in the video from tmz. he was -- he's in an australian hospital after you see him right there falling off a concert stage. the hospital says the singer is in stable condition. there are no further details on his injuries at this point. buffet has been singing to sold out crowds in sydney for the past week. he's 64 years old. some of my favorite songs are jimmy buffet songs, wolf. a little "margaritaville" never hurt anybody. >> jimmy buffet, hope he's okay. keep us informed. i hope he's going to be just fine. thanks very much. what a talent jimmy buffet is. not one but two republican responses to the president's state of the union speech. does that signal duelling agendas within the gop? today's strategy session just ahead. and later, egypt right now. in a state of revolt. massive violent protests are sweeping the country. we're taking you live to cairo right at the top of the hour. let's get right to our strategy session. joining us, the democratic strategist and cnn political contributor donna brazile, and the republican strategist and cnn political contributor mary matalin. mary what, did you think of congresswoman michele bachmann's response last night to the president's state of the union address? she was speaking not as necessarily a republican but as a representative of the tea party express movement, and it was a little awkward because you saw she was looking at the wrong camera. >> well, honestly, wolf, i did not watch it and i read it and the substance of it comports with what a fair number of republicans believe and fair number of democrats believe and a fair number of democrats attended the tea party gnawing raul address. she laid out the substance very well and it was at a response from the tea party, not in competition to paul ryan who was the official republican responder of last night. >> i just want to be precise. she was looking at the camera that was streaming her response online as opposed to the tv -- the network tv pool camera. we were taking that live. that's why it looked a little awkward. what did you think of her response to the president, donna? >> well, first of all, i thought it was unnecessary to have a rebuttal to the rebuttal. she was not consistent with mr. ryan's approach which was to pretty much lecture us on how we've spent so much over the last two years and not looking at the complete picture which i thought the president laid out in a very good fashion. look, wolf, i -- i didn't get distracted by miss bachmann looking off to the side. i got distracted by the pitch, the charts, it didn't seem like she had her act together, and as you know, politifact and others said what she presented was erroneous. i don't know what the republicans are still dealing with these divisions. the tea party members are now part of the republican caucus. they are in the leadership in the house of representatives, and i think in the future they should perhaps just settle on one person to deliver the rebuttal. >> you know, mary, she recently the other day was in iowa. going back in march, going back to iowa. a lot of speculation she may seek the republican presidential nomination, especially if sarah palin decides not to seek the republican presidential nomination. did her response last night help or hurt her if she wants to run for president? >> first of all, the notion that there would be competition in a republican primary in a very fertile 2012 territory does not mean that there's divisions in the republican party any more than competition in the competition democratic primary did last time around. people know that, particularly republicans, conservatives and independents know, that obama is vulnerable. we're way far out from there. there's no division and no light between fiscal conservatives who are the heart and the soul of tea party caucus or the tea party express or whatever they want to call themselves, and it is a notion in essence with which many democrats, including former speaker nancy pelosi said she agrees, which the president also said last night. we must cut spending. >> mary, did she help herself last night or hurt herself last night, if she wants to run for president? >> i can't -- one instance doesn't hurt anybody, and thanks to cnn for covering her. maybe she didn't expect to be covered the way she was, but i can't believe that anybody who cares about what she has articulate would think that looking in the wrong camera has anything to do with her philosophy of government and her ability to execute on that philosophy. >> and we should just be precise. she was told to look into that camera which was streaming the teleprompter was in that camera, that was streaming it online. there was a separate network pool camera that didn't have the prompter. she didn't look at that, but that's the one we were taking. fox news, by the way, was the pool representative for all the networks shooting that separate pool camera. i want to be precise on that. >> wolf, we're talking today about michele bachmann. we're not talking about paul ryan. we're not talking about john boehner. we're talking about michele bachmann and her presidential aspirations. again, it's about message, and if you want to have a united message so that you can show the american people that you're ready to lead and ready to govern, then you put one person out there and you try to stick to the script. >> you know what, wolf -- >> the argument is maybe she's not yet ready for primetime if they have these problems making sure she's looking into a camera that will show live what she's saying to the american people. i guess that's one of the arguments that's being made right now. but let's move on. enough about michele bachmann. we'll have plenty of opportunities to talk about her down the road, and we've, of course, invited her to join us. i hope she joins us in "the situation room" in the coming days. we would love to talk to her about all of this and a lot more. let's talk about budgets and deficit spending and what's going on. 1.5 trillion they now estimate or budget deficit will be this year alone. a huge, huge number. when we ask the american people though what do they want to cut, because you've got to start cutting important stuff, what's more important, reducing the deficit or preventing cuts in veterans benefits? nobody wants to cut veterans benefits. preventing cuts in medicare. nobody wants to cut medicare. preventing cuts in social security. nobody wants to cut social security. preventing cuts in roads and mass transit. 61% say don't cut roads and mass transit. you know, donna people want to cut, but they want to keep all the popular programs going. >> and, wolf, we have a spending problem. everyone agrees, but we also have a revenue problem, and as you know, we have to pay for those tax cuts. we're borrowing money -- >> are you saying raise taxes? >> i agree with some portions. not all. items from the deficit commission, but i believe we've got to put it all on the table. we've got to look at revenue shortfalls but also have to look at spending and get rid of programs that are no longer functioning. the president laid out his plan. the republicans need to lay out their plans and we need to come to the table, and it's going to require us to -- to make some very difficult and painful choices. >> can you do this without raising taxes on the wealthy, matter? >> absolutely, and even if you did, that would barely put a dent in the deficit and the problem is not deficit as a percentage of gdp which have grown exponentially under this president. it is the reform of long-term entitlements which are unsustainable, unaffordable and the consensus in the last election is that something must be done about them. there is no alternative. the way that data was put out with respect to our pollsters, and i'm sure they know that, but when you say let's cut this or that and people presume that's to the exclusion of everything else. of course they are going to be against it but 2-1 in every poll across the board, people say the number one priority because it's a job killer is to reduce the deficit and reform these entitlement programs that are causing us structural debt. >> donna, very quickly. >> i don't think the -- the deficit is a problem, mary, but we cannot cut our way back to economic growth. we also have to have a sustainable set of resources and revenue coming in as well to the government to help pay for these expensive programs. >> all right. to be continued. >> there's plenty of revenue coming in, donna, out of your check, too. >> yours, too, marry. >> mary and donna. >> i know it. >> one republican is calling it the light bulb socialism. taking a closer look at the law that's helping to sweep the old-fashioned light bulbs out and put them in the dust bin. president obama took a big part of the speech last night from the state of the union on the road today. the president visited a wisconsin company that makes high-efficiency lighting a day after expressing the importance in clean energy. the government is phasing out the production of some light bulbs in favor of more energy-efficient lighting, and that apparently doesn't sit well with congresswoman michele bachmann. the minnesota republican mentioned the phase out during her tea party response to the president last night. she brought the issue with a conversation about government spending. what did we buy? instead of a leaner, smarter government, we bought a bureaucracy that now tells us which light bulbs to buy. >> joining us with details on when we'll no longer be able to buy the old fashioned light bulbs, kate bolduan once again. >> well, a lot of talk about the light bulb. the light bulb was an absolute essential in our lives that has changed much when you think about it. relatively speaking since it was invented in the 1800s. now it's really changing. things are achanging and the government estimates these changes could save nearly $6 billion in electrical bills every year. but not everyone is happy about that. this month furniture giant ikea pulled traditional incandescent light bulbs from its shelves. ikea says it's the first of what will be thousands of companies that will no longer sell the incon desceincandescent bulbs. now they are being traded in favor for more efficient bulbs. but this may come with unintended consequences. higher prices for consumers and some say the loss ov jobs in the u.s. >> kill it. all right. obviously we're having some technical problems with kate's piece. kate, you still there with us? >> i'm right here, wolf. >> all right. let's just talk about this for a moment. give us the gist of what is happening now. >> i'm not sure how much the viewers were able to hear. there's a 2007 act. the energy independence and security act. the whole goal was to move the country towards more energy-efficient light bulbs because it would save billions of dollars in electrical costs as well as helping the country move a little greener and save money for people. well, that's causing some controversy. some congressmen saying it's potentially hurting job creation in the company. it's also offering too few choices in light bulb options for some people. that's led some people to probably a little jokingly call it light bulb socialism. in the end what's going on here is this 2000 act is in place. by 2014 the traditional incandescent bulb will be phased out for more energy-efficient options. this is a compact fluorescent light bulb. this is the best alternative of when they're phased out. that's what people really move towards when all occurs. getting a lot of people talking f you will, wolf. >> apologize to the viewers we didn't have that piece finely tuned. the nation of egypt is now in revolt. we're watching breaking news on the streets of cairo and elsewhere. we're going live. and the u.s. soldier accused in the wikileaks case, is he being treated unfairly? 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[ announcer ] healthy green tea, tasty black tea, zero calories. i love this stuff! snapple. the best diet stuff on earth. >> woman: good night, gluttony-- a farewell long awaited. good night, stuffy. >> ( yawning ) >> good night, outdated. >> ( click ) >> good night, old luxury and all of your wares. good night, bygones everywhere. >> ( engine revs ) >> good morning, illumination. good morning, innovation. good morning, unequaled inspiration. >> ( heartbeats ) dramatic new twist in the case of the wikileaks suspect. his attorney now says he's being unfairly treated in detention. chris lawrence has the latest. chris? >> his attorney is pinning hopes on a new development in the case chrks is a new commander has taken over where he's being held just this week. now his attorney says he's become in custody under a special prevention of injury watch for over five months now. that means basically he's confined to his cell by himself for 23 hours a day, allowed out for an hour to exercise. at night he has to strip down to his underwear and hand in his clothes, although he does get a padded mattress and a few blankets. last week his status was on suicide watch for a few days, which put more restrictions on it. the complaint says he abused his authority by keeping him confined like this. his attorney says the forensic psychologists have examined him and found no medical reason to be kept under this prevention of injury watch. the military says yes, but also looks at what his physicians says and what manning's guards say as well. his attorney has written there's no real reason to protectmanning the from himself. but the pentagon defends the commander's position. >> that may be. there are reasons that he think it is for his own benefit that he be held so. but it can also be he's being held behind bars because he's deem ad threat. that he has been alleged to have committed a serious crime that potentially undermines our nation's security. therefore he needs to be confined during the course of a trial. >> a new commander just took over on monday. military says the old commander was scheduled to leave several monts before this all came through. so the attorney is now pinning his hopes on the new commander taking another look at his case and lift the restrictions. >> thank you, chris lawrence. and you're in "the situation room." happening now, breaking news. a state of revolt in egypt. what happens there could have dire consequences for the u.s. indeed for the entire middle east. and less than 24 hours later, is it over? we're talking with two senators on opposite ends of the political spectrum. rand paul and bernie sanders. and assassinations and lethal injections. a couple of things jared loughner looked up on the internet before the shooting spree. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we begin with breaking news as thousands of protesters take to the streets of cairo. in a stunning explosion of rage against the egyptian regime, reporters on the scene are calling it a state of revolt. police used clubs, water and tear gas against the crowds who are demanding the ousting of the president. he's been a key american ally. egypt has been a source of relative stability in a volatile region. the consequences for the united states, indeed for the reach, could be extraordinary. gets go live to ben weideman. you tweet ad while ago that egypt is in a state of revolt. how bad is the ichgs right now? >> right now it's relatively calm outside. earlier this morning the egyptian ministry put out a statement saying they would tolerate no protests whatsoever. what we saw is that they tried all day to put down demonstrations, but every time they dispersed one crowd of people, another one went out to the streets and started to demonstrate. we've seen just up the street from here clashes outside the foreign min stre. there are hundreds, possibly thousands of rite police employed around the city. they don't seem to be able to quell the protests. hearing from the city of suez on the suez canal, about a half hour from here that in that city protesters have taken down parts of the downtown area and have torched government buildings. the government doesn't know how to react to this. the president has made no statements about the protests. his only public appearance was at a meet iing where they discussed the situation in palestine. >> is the unrest in cairo spreading to other parts of the country? >> reporter: oh, yes. very much so. in alexandria, in other cities in upper egypt, they've had demonstrations in many of the major population centers. kay row, in almost every part of the city, some small, this in a city where we've seen demonstrations here on a regular basis, but they're always small, wolf. 100 people. 150, people. 10,000 people is something this city has not seen since 1997 when you had the bread riots. >> officials in egypt are blocking twitter, facebook, internet traffic. what roles are the social network sites playing in all of this? >> reporter: a massive role, really. two facebook groups came up with the idea yesterday. word spread through twitter and text messaging. we were expecting limited demonstrations in various parts of town. i can tell you that sort of my moment of profound realization was i was driving in a taxi underneath one of the main bridges over the nile and i looked up and the bridge was completely full of people thousands of people who had apparently come from cairo university pouring over the nile. this social networking has really helped mobilize and organize people in a way that most people never expected. wolf? >> we're following you on twitter at ben cnn. we'll stay in close touch with ben weideman. tunisia may have set a spark. but a violent upheaval could be dangerous for the middle east and the united states. certainly for israel as well. brian todd has been looking into this for us. brian, what's going on? >> well, we're watching the situation in egypt closely and with a lot of concern. violent protests have reached a critical point with the biggest arab state experiencing real upheaval. like their counter parts in tunisia, they're calling for the ouster of a long time heavy handed ruler. as in tunisia, they're frustrated by no job prospects and a higher cost of living. >> if massive street demonstrations in response to violence and counter violence on the regime, you could see changes happening quickly in other areas. aaron david miller had six. he doesn't think the regime will fall soon. but miller and other analysts point out that egypt is a crucial u.s. ally, the largest and most powerful arab country. instability in egypt could cause real problems along the border with israel, right? >> no doubt. they could break the blockade and bring in missiles that could target israel again. he worries about the rise of power of hezbollah, which the u.s. considers a terrorist group. they say those groups could stir violence that would disrupt something else near and dear to the midwest. >> oil could be in the balance here. not only because of egypt's production of oil, but because of the suez canal. >> absolutely. geography is everything. you could also see a rise in prices if you have serious instability in egypt. >> other big oil producers nearby, like saudi arabia are also servous about egypt's problems. but analysts say saudi arabia is more able to preempt that because the government gives its people more financial support and social services than egypt does. wolf? >> brian, there are also alarming parallels here with iran. i don't want to go overboard, but there seemed to be some similarities. >> absolutely. here in egypt you have a key player in oil production. a huge population. dp entire equation in the middle east changed. that's something american leaders are watching closely in egypt. >> and they're watching closely because they don't know how important or significant these demonstrations, the muslim brotherhood, which has been banned although tolerated to a certain degree, really is. brian, thanks very much. in his state of the union address, president obama offer ad message of determination, suggesting the country should gather itself and push forward. today he took the message to the heart land. he toured businesses in wisconsin, offering a version of the old refrain that when the going gets tough the tough get going. here in america we play to win. we don't play not to lose. having gone through a tough time and having gone through a recession, having seen so many jobs lost. having seen the financial markets take a swoon. you get a sense a lot of folks are playing like we got to not lose. we can't take that attitude. somebody else is going to lap us. president obama may have called for bell tightening, but one upcoming republican wants to go way beyond that. joining us from kentucky, senator rand paul. thanks for coming in. >> good to be with you, wolf. >> let's talk about your $500 billion proposal to cut all the spending, including basically restructuring the departments of housing, energy, education, a lot of people are saying it's not going to go anywhere. give us the bottom line. what's going to happen to all these people who are going to lose their jobs? >> here's the amazing thing. i'm talking about $500 billion in cuts. but that's only a third of the problem for one year. i figure i'm being modest. i'm only going to tackle a third of the problem. to people who say we can only go 50 billion because it will dislocate people. what are you going to do when we have no money left to pay for bills? can we continue to borrow from china to pay for operating costs? it's unsustainable. a lot of smart people are starting to wake up and say we can't sustain this level of debt. >> have you done a study how many people would lose their jobs? >> i look at it the opposite. if you shrink the government inspector you expand the private sector. the government sector is spending one out of four gdp dollars. 25% of our gross domestic product is spent by government. >> our little ballpark estimate based on your proposals, about 100,000 people would be out of work if these programs you recommend be killed were approved. that's a lot of people to lose their jobs. >> $500 billion being borrowed from china wouldn't have to be borrowed from china. i'm admit it won't be easy. but what i'm concerned about, if we do nothing, if we coast along as we have, entitlement will consume the twhol debt within a dekat. my fear is we can have a precipitous calamity where nobody gets any checks from governments. social security fails, medicare fails. unless we make the tough decisions now and where i'm different than some in washington is i'm willing to stand up and say these are tough decisions. they're not easy. i'm going to poe pose a solution before we have a calamity. you're not touching much. >> we do cut military spending by 6% out of the 2011 budget. that is the only compromise that will ever balance the budget or get us out of our debt problems, is conservatives have to be willing to give up military spending and liberals have to be willing to give up some welfare spending. when those two get together, we can cut spending enough to have a serious impact. >> you want to end foreign aid, is that right? >> yeah. rueters did a poll. 71% of american people agree with me. when we're short of money, we certainly shouldn't be shipping the money overseas. >> what of my human tear aide in africa? >> i have great sympathy for people in africa struggling with the aids and various diseases. but foreign aid has been estimated that 70% is stolen off the top by corrupt dictators in africa and various other places. look at haiti. i have a great deal of sympathy. you don't want to keep throwing money to corrupt leader who is steal it from their people. look at zimbabwe where the money is stolen by the leader. they have leaders who live in mansions bigger than anyone in the world. >> what about the 2 billion or 3 billion dollars that goes to israel? >> islamic nations around israel get quite a bit of foreign aid, too. >> egypt gets almost the same amount. >> so really you have to ask yourself, are we funding an arms race on both sides? i have a lot of sympathy and respect for israel as a fountain of piece and a fountain of democracy within the middle east. i don't think funding both sides of the arm race, particularly when we have to borrow the money to send to someone else, we can't do it anymore. the debt is all consuming. it threatens our well being as a country. >> end all foreign aid. including the aid to israel. >> yes. >> senator rand paul, thank you for coming? >> we're going to talk to independent senator bernie sanders in just a moment. we'll get his take on cutting the deficit and more. and rahm emanuel's future in the hands of the illinois supreme court. why the focus is turning to one judge in particular. and why is dennis kucinich taking a capitol hill cafeteria to court? ♪ i hate suburbia and the bourgeoi-sie ♪ ♪ but i really love my bank ♪ i hate-- didn't quite catch that last bit. i said i really love my bank. right... is there a problem ? it's not really raging, man. uh, we were hoping for more raging ? well, you said write from the heart. yeah... don't do that. at ally, you'll love our online savings account. named the best of 2010 by money magazine. ally. do you love your bank ? it could come down to one of the justices on the court making the final decision. our national political correspondent jessica yellin has been looking at all this for us. it's a little complicates, jessica. but what's going on now? >> this time will are especially odd plot twists. emanuel is running for mayor of chicago. his critics take him to court because they claim since he lived in washington working as chief of staff to president obama, he's not a chicago resident and therefore not eligible to run. right now his fate in the hands of the illinois supreme court. and one of the crucial voices is justice ann burke. that's interesting. anne burke is married to alderman ed burke. wait for it. yes, he's a political nemesis of rahm emanuel. who is gary chico? gary chico is running for mayor. they think he'll rin the mayor's race. one said to me it was like an episode of boardwalk empire. now it's up to justice burke to decide if she wants to get out of the case. she said aren't we beyond that? women have minds of their own. we have spouses in every kind of business. but many people there are scratching their heads and asking shouldn't she be refusing herself offices both declined our request for comments. >> what's the status of the case right now? >> the supreme court could decide this any time. likely tomorrow or friday. the manual campaign says he's participating in an oral campaign. >> his name is on the ballots at the print shop. boardwalk empire a very good show on the sister network, hbo. a lawmakers takes on a capitol hill cafeteria in court. why dennis kucinich is suing. and drama on the hudson river. !e!e!e!e!e!e!e!e!e!e!e!e!e big square for ferry riders cruising on a rigid snowy river. >> interesting stories to you about. check out this dramatic rescue video. 27 people evacuated from the smokey ferry after a fire broke out in the engine room. the ferry company disputes that claiming there were no flames, just an overheated engine. nelson mandela is in a hospital for what's being called routine tests. his foundation says he's in good spirits and no danger, but the archbishop described nelsonman dell as, quote, frail. we hope everything is okay there. owe could call this dennis kucinich ver stsus the olive. quite a battle. he's suing one of the congress's cafeteria for $150,000. he crack ad tooth in 2008 after biting into a wrap with unpitted olives. the legal complaint says he had serious and permanent dental injuries. significant pain, suffering and the loss of enjoyment. tost definitely true. >> it's piainful, i'm sure. stunning comments from the medical chief about health care reform and what it may mean to you. also, he mentioned it last night and again today. why does president obama keep talking about an old soviet satellite from the 1950s? 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"thank you very much, i don't need your help any more." you know now, i can actually say i bought my home. i knew that the more i dedicated... the harder i worked, the more it was going to benefit my family. this my son, mario and he now works at walmart. i believe mario is following in my footsteps. my name is noemi, and i work at walmart. ♪ there are two kinds of heroes. heroes who travel thousands of miles to face the unknown... and those who stay behind to do the same. for every warrior who charges into the fight... is another who fights to keep moving forward until their return. military lives are different. at usaa we've been there. we understand. that's why our commitment to serve military, veterans and their families is without equal. usaa. for insurance, banking, investments, retirement and advice... we know what it means to serve. let us serve you. at purinso we set out toour dog to be discover the sciencele. in some of nature's best ingredients. we created purina one with smartblend. delicious shredded morsels and crunchy bites with real meat, wholesome grains and antioxidants for strong muscles, vital energy, a healthy immune system, and a real difference in your dog. purina one with smartblend. discover what one can do. house republicans are getting new fuel to repeal president obama's reform law. let's talk about that with bernie sanders. he's an independent who caucuses with the democrats. i want to play a clip. just today. medicare's chief actuary told the house budget committee people won't necessarily be able to keep their insurance if they like it. as the president promised they would. and that the new law won't necessarily hold down costs. listen to this exchange. that he had with congress. >> thank you, mr. chairman. two quick questions. true or false? the two principle promises immediate in support of obama care were, one, that it would hold costs down. true or false? >> i would say false more so than true. >> the other promise that dr. price just touched on is promise that if you like you plan you can keep it. true or false? >> not true in all cases. >> i want to give you a chance to respond. this is the professional. this is the actuary. i heard what he said, having to give one word answers. i voted for health care reform under no ill ligs that it would solve our country's health issues. the reality the republicans and president obama had an opportunity to do something. they did nothing. the number of ininsured soared. today we have 50 million americans without health care insurance we are the only nation in the industrialized world that doesn't guarantee health care to all of our people. we spend twice as much as most other nations. the republican strategy is let's do nothing. that's ob surd. i hope vermont will lead the nation in this direction. my own view is we should go forward with a medicare for all single payer program, the most cost-effective way to provide health care to every man, woman, and child in this country. i should also tell you that in arizona and in other states right now people who are on medicaid are being thrown off of that program and god only knows what is going to happen. 45,000 americans the die every year because they don't have access to health care. until we address the issue, the problem will only get worse. >> you support the public option. the president could have fought for that. he abandoned that. >> i support more than the public option. i did support the public option. i support a medicare for all single payer program, which eliminates private health insurance companies whose function in life is only to make money, which provides medicare coverage for all americans. i hope vermont will lead the nation in that direction. we'll eliminate a huge amount of waste and provide cost-effective care to all the people. >> there are 47 republicans in the senate. most democrats in the senate would reject your proposal as wel well. >> i'm sure that's right. i but i hope they have the flexibility to go forward in ways they think best. that's what the federal system is about. we have 50 states. vermont will ask for the flexibility to use the federal funds for a single payer program. we heard from jim demint. he says he has 47 republicans to vote to repeal. even if he did, are there four democrats in the senate who would join the republicans in getting to 51 to repeal the health care law? >> well, i haven't the vaguest clue. if they did t president would veto it. the idea when we are the only nation in the industrialized world that doesn't guarantee health care for all people, 45,000 people dying because they don't have access to say the solution is let's do nothing, let's go back to where we were doesn't make sense. >> $1.5 billion budget deficit is estimated for this year. what would you do to eliminate the deficit? >> for a start, we lose about $100 billion every single year by corporate interests and wealthy people who don't pay their fair share of taxes. it's insane and hypocritical. they fought for the tax breaks for the top 2%. they want to eliminate the estate tax. a trillion dollars in tax breaks over a ten-year period going to the top three-tenths of 1%. we are also spending too much on the military. a lot of weapon systems are geared towards fighting the soviet union and the cold war. soviet union doesn't exist anymore. we can make cuts there. we cannot balance the budget on lower income people who are hurting. the rich are getting much richer while the middle class is shrinking. those folks need shared sacrifice to contribute with us dealing with this very serious deficit problem. >> all right. some specific proposals from senator bernie sanders of vermont. appreciate it very much. >> good to be with you, wolf. >> the historic reference that fell flat for president obama. we're digging deeper into his sputnik line and whether it's really the answer for the job. and [ male announcer ] we gave it more horsepower than any of its german competitors. but it isn't real performance unless it's wielded with precision. the new 2011 lexus is 350. see your lexus dealer. it's becoming a familiar if not winning theme for president obama, the old soviet satellite "sputnik" and the space race it launched with the united states. he mentioned it in last night's state of the union and once again today. a chunk of metal came crashing down to the earth right here. i prom you. we did not plan this originally. the press won't believe me. it was part of a satellite called "sputnik" that landed right here and that set the space race into motion. so i want to say to you today that it is here more than 50 years later that the race for the 21st century will be won. >> let's talk about this and more with our senior political analyst why do you think he's talking so much about "sputnik"? it doesn't seem to be resonating with people. >> it resonates with me. it led eisenhower to propose all sorts of things. such as creating a highway system. it was the grounding for president wendy's daring call to go to the moon. nobody thought we could do it. he said let's do it in ten years. and people didn't think america had the capacity. we were down on ourselves at that time. we did it in less than ten years. unless you're over 60, you don't remember it very well. >> it resonates with people of a certain age. >> way too young. but obama is young. and he's using this metaphor. what they want to do is sort of bring it up a much. we can't kick the can down the road. we have to get to another gear and do something. whether it's about research, development education, whatever, that this is a moment for us to realize we're suffering from deficits but we have to look in the long term and realize what we need to do to make sure we thrive well into the next century, right? so it's a met fore, better or worse. >> the president had to go back over 60 year to find an example whn american rallied in that way. that says something about why americans are anxious and discouraged about what we can do. you know, there have been timed when we rallied. but it's been less well known in the last few years. the japanese seemed to be ten feet tall. there was a swens they would get swept away with all the technology. but we have had other examples. nothing as dra mat nick the last 60 years. >> here's the interesting thing to me. the president talks about the "sputnik" moment. i think he may have missed a sput nix moment. if we are going to confront the problems we have head on and get ahead. i think for political reasons because they understand they have republicans dominated the house, et cetera, they didn't take that issue head on. that would have been a "sputnik" moment to say i'm going to be the president who will deal with this. >> good point. i am encouraged to a certain degree. we are beginning to hear specifics. we heard rand paul with a $500 billion plan with specific cuts that we just heard. senator bernie sanders with very different specifics on where he would cut spending as well. we'll continue this conversation. thank you, gloria and david. new reports on what jared loughner did allegedly before the tucson tragedy. and good news for congresswoman gabrielle giffords. what doctors announced just a while ago. hey boss! do we have aflac? nah. we have something else. but if you're hurt and miss work does it pay cash like aflac does? nah. or let you spend it in any way you want like for gas and groceries? nah. or help with everyday bills like aflac does? nah nah nah. [ male announcer ] there's aflac and there's everything else. visit aflac.com for an agent or quote. aflac! ♪ my country ♪ 'tis of thee ♪ sweet land ♪ of liberty ♪ of thee i sing [ laughs ] ♪ oh, land ♪ where my fathers died ♪ land of the pilgrims' pride ♪ from every mountainside ♪ let freedom ring ♪ congress woman gabrielle giffords has been moved from intensive care to a rehabilitation facility at a hospital in houston with her condition up graded from serious to good. 18 days after she was shot in the head at a forum with constituents, doctors are optimistic about her recovery. >> at this point i think we can say that her speech function hay long with everything else has been improving. quite a bit. and as i said, we're seeing daily progress. and will have to assess that over time. since gabbi arrived we have noticed daily improvements in her neurological condition. we're very pleased with that. in terms of recovery for brain issues, this is lightning speed. a law enforcement source tells cnn there are chilling clues on suspect jared loughner's computer. jeanne meserve has been working this part of the story for us. what are you finding out? >> we know that jared loughner spent time online. we have seen some of his postings. but susan candiotti has received confirmation from a law enforcement source of something first reported in the online edition of the "washington post". jared loughner spent time searching for information about people who committed political assassinations. the source would not say who he had researched but said it took place in the weeks and days leading up to the shootings. this was from the forensic examination of loughner's personal computer, which was seized after the tucson shootings, wolf. >> what impact could this have on the prosecution? >> it would appear to undermine a possible insanity defense. he was aware of the possible consequences but one attorney burst in the insanity defense that is not necessarily true. what people are going to automatically conclude is that obviously he knew what he was doing. he planned this. and he wasn't insane. that's the conclusion the people will reach and the prosecutors may reach when they hear this. that conclusion is premature because you don't know the reason he was looking at those things. you are coming at it from the perspective of a rational, sane person. and you're drawing conclusions. those are not reliable when it comes to drawing conclusions from an irrational person. >> he was prepared to use an insanity defense in the case of russell weston who killed two police officers in 1998, but the case never went to trial because of weston's mental issues. we do not know that loughner's attorney is going to use an insanity defense. she has not yet asked for a mental evaluation of her client. he's the newest member of the best political team on television. we're talking about piers morgan. he's standing by to join us live for a unique perspective on u.s. politics. and michele bachmann, standby. and a piano in the sand bar. piers morgan is joining us right now in "the situation room." pi piers, you were around the president's state of the union address. how did it feel? >> it was incredibly exciting to be at cnn and part of that title which is one of the great titheles in news and watching you, the machine, careering away through this chaotic thing in such a sublime way. very exciting. very interesting, i think, to watch live unfold the reaction to the speech. to me the most fascinating thing that remains you had two responses and for american politics right now this is the big story. the big story is when it comes and push comes to shove as we say back home who is going to stand against president obama? will we see a tea party candidate, sarah palin, mainstream -- >> like mitt romney. >> it's fascinating. >> michele bachmann, we're getting grief for carrying her response live here on cnn. be honest. did we do the right thing? >> completely because it is the main story. when i hear rachel maddow say you shouldn't have aired it on cnn and yet at the same time she's saying this brian williams is interviewing the tea party spokesman, the speaker at that precise moment, then i think nbc and msnbc should swap stories because to me it's the most fascinating aspect of this whole thing because it will determine in the end, i think, who wins the next election. if they don't sort their act out, the republicans, they've got real problems and last night you had it there laid back, polarized, two different speeches, two different representative, if i'm a voter who votes republican i'm confused. for rael to say that's not news, completely crackers. >> both of us are doing a lot of tweeting at twit ter at wolf blitzer, at piers morgan. should piers morgan interview michele bachmann on your new show and i said i would ask if you want to interview her. >> definitely. i think she would be a gait interview. i find the tea party phenomenon intriguely and right now as i say i will repeat it i think it's a very important story and think it's the most important political story developing in america now and msnbc, if you don't want to run the stuff we will at cnn proudly and correctly. this is news. >> i totally agree. let's talk about your show tonight. you've got two special guests for the hour, right? >> yeah. >> tell us. >> it's joel and victoria osteen. he's obviously america's number one tv pastor and we've seen the state of the union. if you want to see what the state of faith in the union is like watch this interview tonight. there are some i think really electric moments between joel and myself where i challenge him really about great issues in the church, you know, does he think that homosexual is a sin? he answers that question in a provocative manner. would he forgive the shooter in arizona? so there are really fundamental questions here which i think right now this guy is the face of the church to millions of americans. tune in. it's fascinating. >> he is a very smart guy. >> ka ras mat tick and says god wants me to be wealthy. >> very good on tv. >> very good on tv. >> you're very good on tv. >> so are you, wolf blitzer. >> you can follow him at wolf blitz ir, cnn. florida already has the keys but our jeanne moos found 88 new ones thanks to a mysterious appearance. there's a nurse who can access in an instant every patient's past. and because the whole hospital's working together, there's a family who can breathe easy, right now. somewhere in america, we've already answered some of the nation's toughest healthcare questions. and the over 60,000 people of siemens are ready to do it again. siemens. answers. save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance?really was abe lincoln honest? mary: does this dress make my backside look big? abe: perhaps... save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance?really host: is having a snowball fight with pitching great randy johnson a bad idea? man: yeah, i'm thinking maybe this was a bad idea. >> man: diving to 4,000 meters. >> boy: go down, down, down. down. straight. go straight. no, to the right. to the right. >> go to the right, go to the right. >> whoa! >> whoa! >> what is that? >> man: well, that's a, uh... i don't know. >> whoa. >> can we call him blinky? >> woman: expert teaching. deeper learning. together, we are the human network. cisco. a most unusual castaway off the coast of miami. we're talking about a piano. cnn's jeanne moos may have the answer. >> reporter: it's not your usual piano bar, a piano on a sandbar that appeared 200 yards from shore in miami's biscayne bay. >> it's too funny. >> reporter: leaving boat captains scratching their heads. >> it's probably the weirdest thing i've seen out here. >> reporter: in the words of the local press. >> how the heck did this happen? >> reporter: well, we think it may involve these two, but first a few theories and jokes. it's from "titanic." payback in a nasty divorce. so unexpected, so charming you could almost imagine a mermaid tickling the ivories ♪ under the sea >> reporter: strikes a nice chord if we could tell you the piano is still playable but reporters who have made it out there say no. >> the piano is so banged up you can't bang any tunes on it. >> reporter: suzanne took 225 photos and "national geographic" included one in its features of the week. when the piano first appeared residents saw what some thought were a music video shoot. >> there was a bench and the piano sitting there. >> reporter: some spotted a woman with long hair on the piano which conjures images of michelle pfeiffer singing. instead, try picturing these two lugging an old piano out into biscayne bay. william jagr called cnn saying he and fellow filmmaker anihis jagr did the deed. a claim we can't confirm making a film called "jesus of malibu" about a spirit cal journey across america. >> i want to you help me to change the world. >> reporter: jagr told "the miami new times" it took them six hours to get the piano out to the sandbar. they pulled a homemade barge behind a boat and left pianos in other places from malibu to death valley and calls this highly symbolic and profound. less profound is the caption contest, the entries range from you can tune a piano but you can't tuna fish to our favorite, play it again, sand. >> play it, sam. ♪ you must