Obama: Bolstering middle class must be policy 'North Star'


I will cover this tomorrow I have been [sic] all day. Sorry for the inconvenience. Enjoy the speech ..
By Michael O'Brien, Political Reporter, NBC News

Updated 6 p.m. ET -- President Barack Obama was set to announce broad goal of reinvigorating America's middle class during his second term at Tuesday's State of the Union address, calling it the "North Star" that guides policy making in Washington in the immediate future.

"A growing economy that creates good, middle-class jobs - that must be the North Star that guides our efforts," Obama would tell lawmakers in tonight's speech to a joint session of Congress, according to excerpts released by the White House. "Every day, we should ask ourselves three questions as a nation: How do we attract more jobs to our shores? How do we equip our people with the skills needed to do those jobs? And how do we make sure that hard work leads to a decent living?"

The top issues for Americans – jobs and the economy – were expected to be the central focus of Obama’s speech, the fourth formal State of the Union address he’s delivered since being elected in 2008. If the country’s struggles to emerge from a severe recession defined Obama’s first term, then the task of returning to the U.S. to a robust pace of growth was arguably the most urgent facing Obama as he enters his second term.

Obama’s remarks are expected to focus on how to best help the middle class, particularly through investments in programs. The president was set to tell lawmakers these new plans were "fully consistent" with their past budget agreements and that, more importantly, they would not worsen a ballooned federal deficit.

"Let me repeat - nothing I'm proposing tonight should increase our deficit by a single dime," Obama would say. "It's not a bigger government we need, but a smarter government that sets priorities and invests in broad-based growth."



The Cycle hosts and NBC's Luke Russert spin on the state of the union, what they expect to hear from the president, and their predictions on Rubio's rebuttal.

That emphasis comes against a spring budget battle between Obama and Republicans on Capitol Hill amid the looming threat of “sequester,” the automatic and swift spending cuts that the administration warns would cripple the economy and harm the national defense. The Jan. 1 fiscal cliff deal put off those cuts for two months, but Democrats and Republicans appear nowhere near a deal to avert the onset of those spending cuts in a few weeks.

“It's pretty clear to me that the sequester's going to go into effect,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday on Capitol Hill. “I have seen no evidence that the House plans to act on this matter before the end of the month.”

Related: At least four members of Congress already in seats for State of the Union

With the specter of sequestration hanging over tonight’s speech, Obama’s arguments on taxes, spending and entitlement reform will shape the contours of the fiscal fights in the weeks ahead. Perhaps the biggest open question heading into Tuesday’s speech was whether the president would be as forceful in making his case as he was during his second inaugural address. That speech – a liberal call to arms on the size of government, gay rights, immigration and beyond – was said by the administration to be intended to be paired with this State of the Union address.

Saul Loeb / AFP - Getty Images

President Barack Obama speaks during an Armed Forces Farewell Tribute in honor of outgoing Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta at Joint Base Myer-Henderson in Arlington, Va., Feb. 8, 2013.

Indeed, elements of that inaugural address are sure to feature prominently in tonight’s speech before a joint session of Congress. Obama has made a comprehensive immigration reform law that provides a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants a centerpiece of his second term agenda. The administration has also pushed for tighter regulations on firearms as part of a broader effort to curb gun violence. The fate of those measures is less certain.

Foreign policy will receive its due time, too, in Obama’s speech. The president is expected to announce that about half of the troops currently remaining in Afghanistan would return to the U.S. within the next year. Obama will almost certainly address Tuesday’s nuclear weapon test by North Korea during tonight’s speech, as well.

Senate panel OK's Hagel nomination; GOP senators could delay floor vote

The Senate Armed Services Committee votes in favor of the nomination of Chuck Hagel as defense secretary.

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By Tom Curry, National Affairs Writer, NBC News

After an angry two-hour debate, the Senate Armed Services Committee voted to approve the nomination of former Sen. Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense Tuesday, setting the stage for a Senate floor vote on his confirmation, possibly later this week.

The vote was along party lines, 14 to 11, with another likely “no” vote from Sen. David Vitter, R-La. to be added later.

Recommended: Senate renews Violence Against Women Act, sending to House for action

Armed Services Committee chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said although some Republican senators strongly oppose Obama’s policies, the vote on Hagel nomination “will not change those policies.”

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images


Former Senator Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing to become the next secretary of defense on Capitol Hill Jan. 31, 2013.

Levin added that he saw a risk that the defeat of Hagel’s nomination would leave the Defense Department “leaderless” at a time of budget pressures and when “our military is engaged in combat operations overseas.”

Levin said that especially on the day that North Korea had detonated a nuclear device, a delay in approving the nomination would “send the exact wrong message to North Korea.”

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., cited Hagel’s service as an Army soldier in the Vietnam War as a prime reason to vote for him. “That told me right there everything I needed to know – that he would not hesitate to defend this country,” said Manchin.

But a leading Hagel opponent, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said confirming the former Nebraska senator as defense secretary “will make military conflict in the next four years substantially more likely” because it would encourage the Tehran regime to accelerate its nuclear weapons development program.

Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee engage in a sharp discussion regarding Chuck Hagel's nomination as defense secretary and his disclosure of personal income.

Cruz also insinuated that Hagel might have given as-yet undisclosed speeches to “extreme or radical groups” or received money from foreign sources or from defense contractors in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Senate rules require a cabinet nominee to disclose fees and payments he received in excess of $5,000 in the two years prior to the nomination. Hagel complied with that rule, but Cruz sought information about payments he’d gotten in the five years prior to his nomination.

Coming to Hagel’s defense, Levin countered that the nominee had told the committee that in the past ten years he has not received any compensation from foreign governments or entities controlled by a foreign government.

Following Cruz’s harsh criticism of Hagel, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., charged that “Sen. Cruz has gone over the line” by implying Hagel was too cozy with Tehran regime. “He basically has impugned the patriotism of the nominee."

Cruz then answered Nelson, denying that he’d impugned Hagel’s patriotism and said that instead he had questioned his firmness in dealing with Iran.

Levin told Cruz if he had uncovered evidence that Hagel had not truthfully answered the panel’s questions or requests for financial information, he should provide it to the committee.

Two weeks ago, Hagel delivered an often stumbling and awkward performance in his confirmation hearing before the committee, repeatedly having to retract, clarify, apologize for, or amend his views or the manner in which he phrased them.

Recommended: Amid partisan wrangling, Obama to lay out agenda in State of the Union

The low point came when Levin had to correct Hagel’s clarification on President Barack Obama’s position on Iran’s efforts to build a nuclear weapon.

It was the most unimpressive performance that I have seen in watching many nominees who came before the committee,” said Sen. John McCain, R- Ariz., at Tuesday’s committee meeting, later adding that Hagel’s testimony was “the worst I have seen of any nominee for office.”

McCain said it was “very disturbing” that Hagel had not answered McCain’s question about the success of the U.S. troop surge in Iraq in 2007.

The Arizona Republican also condemned what he called Hagel’s “gratuitous” rhetorical attacks on President George W. Bush.

Another Hagel foe, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said “there’s the left lane in politics, the right lane, and the middle lane – and when it comes to some of the Iranian-Israeli issues, there’s the Chuck Hagel lane … There are very few people who have been this wrong about so many different things.”

Senate Republican leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R- Ky., indicated in comments to reporters a few hours before the committee Tuesday that Republican senators might insist on extended floor debate on the nomination, perhaps requiring a cloture vote, needing 60 senators, to end debate.

“I wouldn't be surprised if we do have a cloture vote on the Hagel nomination,” McConnell said.

He added that “Every time the (the Democratic) majority files cloture, they call it a filibuster. Cloture vote actually is designed to end debate and to go to a vote.”

He explained that, “Sometimes cloture is not invoked because there has not been adequate information that been requested, yet received. Sometimes cloture is not invoked because you want to kill a nomination. There are a number of members on the committee who feel the requests for information have not yet been met.”

There are 55 senators in the Democratic caucus so if the Republicans insist on a cloture vote, then five GOP senators would need to join the Democrats in ending the debate and moving to a confirmation vote.

NBC News Capitol Hill Correspondent Kelly O’Donnell contributed to this story

North Korea crisis: China speaks softly to avoid alienating nuclear-armed neighbor

Early readings of North Korea's nuclear test Monday show it was three to six times more powerful than any tests from that country before. President Obama is calling it "a highly provocative act." NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports.

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By Ed Flanagan, Producer, NBC News

News analysis
SEOUL, South Korea — As North Korea's biggest political ally and benefactor, China would appear to hold all the cards when it comes to reining in Kim Jong Un's regime.
However, its response to Pyongyang's latest nuclear test was rather muted Tuesday.
Beijing's foreign minister summoned North Korea's ambassador for a dressing down and sternly expressed "strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition" to the test.
As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Beijing will also join in a meeting set for later this week to discuss how best to respond to the nuclear test. But it remains unclear if Beijing will support tougher new sanctions, or that any new round of UN sanctions or resolutions will have much impact on the reclusive nation's actions.
Since the 1950-1953 Korean War, North Korea has been subjected to an array of multinational and unilateral sanctions by the international community. The country's leaders have responded to the isolation by focusing even more intently on developing sophisticated weapons and rocket programs that have simultaneously infuriated regional neighbors and drawn them to the negotiating table.

White House: North Korea nuclear test 'highly provocative'

Many regional observers have suggested that international sanctions are doomed to failure as long as Beijing continues to prop up and sustain its neighbor through aid and investment.

Chinatopix via AP

North Korean soldiers stand guard on the river bank of the North Korean town of Sinuiju, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong on Tuesday.

Indeed, over the years China has staunchly supported North Korea on the international field, arguing that individual countries have the right to develop rocket programs that were scientific in nature and helping to derail stiffer sanctions against North Korea by the UN.
Last month's surprise announcement that China had joined in with the rest of the UN Security Council in condemning North Korea's latest rocket test seemed to represent a shift in its way of engaging with its neighbor, and long-time Communist comrade. However, it later emerged that China had worked hard to block any new sanctions.
The Associated Press noted:

Despite being the North's biggest source of aid and diplomatic support, Beijing has been reluctant to back more severe measures that could destabilize the North's hardline regime, which serves as a buffer between China and democratic South Korea backed by U.S. forces.

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday's nuclear test, it has been widely reported that China had been working behind the scenes with North Korea to halt the test and suspend their nuclear program.
Officially, China's Foreign Ministry has maintained steady support for North Korea by lamely calling for peace on the Korean peninsula and greater engagement by all parties.

Ambassador Susan Rice tells reporters at the United Nations that North Korea's latest, "highly-provocative" and "regrettable" act of testing a nuclear weapon "directly violates" security council resolution and threatens international peace, "vowing a swift, credible and strong response."

But in China's state-run media, the frustration towards North Korea has become obvious.
A strongly worded opinion piece last week in the typically nationalistic Chinese newspaper, Global Times, called on China's ruling Communist Party to take a tougher stance on North Korea provocations.
"If North Korea insists on a third nuclear test despite attempts to dissuade it, it must pay a heavy price," the paper said, effectively calling for an end to Chinese economic aid to the struggling country as punishment.
The Global Times certainly does not reflect official Chinese policy; state censors tend to give greater latitude to papers like the Global Times, using such media as a spigot from which to turn nationalist sentiment on and off while also gauging popular opinion. But it could indicate the direction China may be prepared to go to ensure stability on its borders.
Although tougher economic sanctions backed by China might cause Kim and his generals to reconsider their drive for more sophisticated nuclear devices, the move could also alienate Pyongyang and create a nuclear-armed rival on its doorstep.

Ed Jones / AFP-Getty Images

A North Korean flag flies above the North Korean Embassy in Beijing on Tuesday.

It is for this reason — and the fact that China's leadership transition is not yet complete, with Xi Jinping still not formally president until June —that Beijing's reaction to North Korea transgressions will likely remain subdued.
It appears likely that China will join the Security Council this week in condemning the North Koreans for this nuclear test, but it remains unclear which way Beijing will fall on stronger sanctions.
Their decision could finally shed some light on the opaque political calculus that Beijing uses in dealing with its wayward old ally North Korea.
Related:
North Korea propaganda video shows US city in flames
China state media: N. Korea would pay 'heavy price' for nuclear test
Show of force: US, South Korea hold naval drills

LAPD manhunt: cops in stand-off after one officer killed, one hurt in shootout during search for Dorner

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By Tracy Connor, Staff Writer, NBC News

Police were surrounding the flaming mountainside cabin where former LAPD cop Christopher Dorner barricaded himself Tuesday after killing one sheriff’s deputy and wounding a second, law enforcement sources said.

Black smoke and flames could be seen coming from the rental cabin in the late afternoon, but it was unknown how the raging fire started or even whether Dorner was still trapped inside.

A shootout and standoff began after police received a report around 12:22 p.m. local time that someone fitting Dorner’s description had stolen a car from a home near the ski resort area of Big Bear, police said.

A ground and air search ensued, and authorities located the pickup on Highway 38.

A spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Game said one of its wardens was the “very first person to spot Mr. Dorner … They both got out of the vehicles and exchanged gunfire.”

The warden was not hurt and Dorner, who was already wanted for three slayings linked to a revenge-fueled rampage, was not captured, agency spokesman Andrew Hughan told NBCLosAngeles.com.

Gunfire erupted during the hunt for former LAPD officer Christopher Dorner, who was charged with murder on Monday. The unfolding drama brought officers to a cabin in the mountains where the suspect was barricaded inside. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.

“The suspect fled into the forest and barricaded himself inside a cabin,” said a statement from the San Bernardino Sheriff’s office.

 “A short time later there was an exchange of gunfire between law enforcement and the suspect ... Two law enforcement officers are being airlifted to a local hospital with unknown injuries.”

The wounded officers were taken to Loma Linda University Medical Center, where Sheriff John McMahon later confirmed one had died and one was in surgery. Their names were not released.

No more shots were fired from inside the cabin in Angelus Oaks, but sheriff’s spokeswoman Cindy Bachman said there was no indication that the suspect had been wounded.

Bachman said there was no timetable for when police would try to enter the captain where the gunman — identified as Dorner by high-ranking LAPD sources – holed up after abandoning the stolen truck.

“When it’s safe to do so,” she said, declining to answer questions about whether it was possible that Dorner had somehow escaped and was on the loose in the woods as nightfall approached.

In the largest manhunt in LAPD history, hundreds of investigators have spent a week searching for Dorner, who is accused of killing a retired captain’s daughter and her fiancé on Feb. 3 and a police officer on Feb. 7.

Dorner’s burned-out truck, a Nissan Titan, was found in Big Bear last week and scores of officers have been combing the mountain, going door-to-door to see if they could find signs of forced entry.

At an afternoon press conference, LAPD commander Andy Smith wouldn't confirm the ex-LAPD officer was holed-up in the cabin, but said he had a message for Dorner: “Enough is enough. It’s time to turn yourself in.”

“Everyone is very hopeful that this thing ends without any further bloodshed,” Smith said. “The best thing for him now would be to surrender … and he can face the criminal justice system.”

LAPD officers rushed to the scene to assist San Bernardino deputies and were also sifting through hundreds of clues about Dorner’s activities in recent days.

“Until this guy is in handcuffs … none of the people in our department are going to rest,” Smith said.

Dorner, an ex-cop and Navy reservist detailed his plans and hit list in an online manifesto — a 11,000-word declaration of war against the LAPD in which he makes it clear he would not be taken alive.

“Self Preservation is no longer important to me,” he wrote. “I do not fear death as I died long ago on 1/2/09.”

That’s the date that Dorner got his walking papers from the LAPD after being fired for making a false statement about an officer he accused of brutalizing a suspect.

Police say Dorner exacted revenge on the lawyer who represented him at the internal review, retired captain Randy Quan, by gunning down his daughter, Monica Quan, 28, and her boyfriend, Keith Lawrence, 27, in their car as they returned home to Irvine, Calif., after the Super Bowl.

Four days later, authorities said, Dorner ambushed police officers who were guarding other potential targets in Riverside and Corona, Calif., killing one of them.

LAPD officials said earlier Tuesday they were sifting through 1,000 clues and, including a video that may show the suspect stocking up on scuba gear before the killing spree.

"With a thousand clues or tips, you have to prioritize," LAPD Lt. Andy Neiman said.

Police confirmed they were even looking into the possibility Dorner had fled to Mexico — the destination he mentioned when he tried to steal a boat in San Diego last Wednesday.

"It is frustrating," Neiman said. "We are hopeful that these investigative leads will lead to a conclusion."

Among the newest leads, a video that was posted on TMZ that appears to show Dorner purchasing scuba equipment at Sport Chalet in Torrance, Calif., on Feb. 1. Neiman said police had not nailed down if it was Dorner and could not say why he would be buying underwater gear.

A criminal complaint filed in federal court last week also revealed that investigators have been tracking an associate of Dorner — someone with the initials J.Y. — whose family has property not far from where Dorner's vehicle was abandoned and torched.

Ex-LAPD cop Dorner remains a mystery in killing rampage

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Gunfire erupted during the hunt for former LAPD officer Christopher Dorner, who was charged with murder on Monday. The unfolding drama brought officers to a cabin in the mountains where the suspect was barricaded inside. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.

 

 

By Matthew DeLuca, Staff Writer, NBC News

The man sought after releasing a threatening manifesto and wanted for killing three people remains a mystery even after spurring a massive, week-long manhunt that has involved hundreds of officers.

Apart from the rambling manifesto, court filings and the word of former bosses, clues remain scarce as to what is going on in the mind of Christopher Dorner, who sent teams of police swarming through the area of Big Bear. Officers engaged in an exchange of gunfire on Tuesday afternoon after sheriff’s deputies received a report of someone matching Dorner’s description who had stolen a car, according to police.
Two deputies were shot, and one later died.
What does emerge is the profile of an ex-LAPD officer and former Navy reservist who may have allowed years of grievances to fester before erupting into violence.
Southern Utah University confirmed that Dorner is a 2001 graduate of the school, where he majored in political science, minored in psychology and played football. He was a lieutenant in the Navy Reserves from 2002 until the week he went on his alleged killing spree, earning awards for his rifle and pistol marksmanship.
Police trap ex-cop wanted in killing spree, 2 officers shot
In the Feb. 4 manifesto supplied by the Los Angeles Police Department to the media, the 6-foot, 270-pound Dorner wrote that killing was “a necessary evil.” Dorner also allegedly threatened law enforcement officers and their families.
“Self Preservation is no longer important to me,” Christopher Dorner, 33, wrote in the 11,400-word document, which he allegedly posted on Facebook. “I do not fear death as I died long ago on 1/2/09.” Dorner served in the LAPD from 2005 to 2008 before being fired after allegedly making false statements after accusing an officer of beating up a man in training.
Police say that Dorner killed a retired police captain’s daughter and her fiancée on Feb. 3 in Irvine, Calif. He allegedly killed another police officer and wounded two more in shootings last Thursday.
“I never had the opportunity to have a family of my own, I’m terminating yours,” Dorner wrote.
It was Dorner’s four-year-old spat with the LAPD that appears to have been foremost in the suspect’s mind as he took off on his rage-fueled flight. His first two victims, police say, were 28-year-old Monica Quan and her fiancé Keith Lawrence, 27, as they parked their car on their way to a Super Bowl party.
Quan’s father, retired police chief Randal Quan, represented Dorner during an internal police department review.
“Four years ago he received his discharge papers, if you will, his dismissal papers on Feb. 9, 2009,”  former L.A. police chief William Bratton, who was Dorner’s boss from 2002 until he was dismissed, said on Saturday. “A day of significance in his mind that inasmuch as his grievances all seem to center on his dismissal.”
“He collects injustices and never lets them go, and evidently they finally reached a tipping point that led to the series of violent acts the last several days,” Bratton said. “The last thing that he would want would be to be arrested by the LAPD and do a perp walk. That would be the last injustice, the most significant one.”
"The attacks will stop when the department states the truth about my innocence, PUBLICLY!!!" Dorner wrote in his manifesto.
On Saturday, LAPD officials said that the department would take another look at how Dorner's case was handled.
The details that emerged about Dorner only became stranger as the hunt intensified. The LAPD said Tuesday that they were going through as many as a thousand tips on where the suspect may have been.
Police search mountains for LAPD murder suspect Christopher Dorner, release new image
The Associated Press reported that 2006 court papers showed that, after dating a woman for six weeks, he had requested a restraining order against her. Dorner said the girlfriend had posted his LAPD badge number on a website called dontdatehimgirl.com, according to the AP.
A video posted on the celebrity gossip website TMZ appeared to show Dorner purchasing scuba gear on Feb. 1 at Sport Chalet in Torrance, Calif. Police said Tuesday that they were not certain whether or not that man was Dorner. They said they were not sure why the man appeared to be buying underwater gear.
The possibility that Dorner might have fled to Mexico arose in a criminal complaint filed in Feb. 7 in California’s Central District Court. Early that morning, a San Diego boat captain said, Dorner had tried to steal his boat to flee south across the border, according to the complaint.
Dorner’s wallet and identification cards were found near the border with Mexico, according to the complaint.
NBC News' Tracy Connor, Daniel Arkin, Kari Huus and Andrew Mach, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

From rock stars, to CEOs and gun victims – a diverse guest list for State of the Union

By Amanda Grace Johnson and Kara Kearns, Staff Writers, NBC News

Published 3:25 p.m. ET -- What do rocker Ted Nugent, Apple CEO Tim Cook, singer Tony Bennett, Mohawk-coiffed NASA staffer Bobak Ferdowski, and a 103-year old Florida woman have in common? They’re all going to be among the members of Congress and other Washington dignitaries for tonight’s State of the Union address. They, and many other related guests, may seem like an eclectic bunch but they’re all invited for a purpose.

Together, those guests form a diverse group of Americans who together paint a portrait of a nation in flux: victims of gun violence, undocumented immigrants, veterans of the war in Afghanistan, and the corporate executives and small-business owners who represent the strong economic future the president must outline in his speech.








Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images


Singer Tony Bennett will attend the State of the Union as a guest of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Twenty members of Congress have organized an effort to include almost two dozen victims of gun violence and their families at the Capitol for President Obama’s annual address. Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, who was shot in January 2011 during a constituent meeting in her district, and her husband, Mark Kelly, also will attend the speech as guests of Rep. Ron Barber, D-Ariz., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. The parents of slain Chicago teen Hadiya Pendleton will attend the State of Union as guests of first lady Michelle Obama.

RELATED: Two charged with murder in Hadiya Pendleton shooting

Curbing gun violence sprang to the top of the administration’s agenda following a string of mass shootings. There was the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., the movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colo., and the attack on a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisc., among others. The president has pushed for new gun control measures, including universal background checks and an assault weapons ban. The latter faces a particularly steep uphill fight in Congress, though Obama has maintained his resolve. Such a ban "deserves a vote in Congress because weapons of war have no place on our streets or in our schools or threatening our law enforcement officers,” he told an audience in Minneapolis earlier this month.

Sitting in likely opposition to this gun control push: Nugent. The rocker will be the guest of Texas Congressman Steve Stockman. Nugent landed in hot water with the Secret Service in April 2012 when he declared at a national NRA meeting that if Obama was re-elected, “I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year.”





Kevin Tighe / Getty Images Contributor


Ted Nugent performs at Ruth Eckerd Hall on August 6, 2012 in Tampa, Florida.

RELATED: Gun control advocates use State of the Union to highlight their cause

Sweeping immigration reform, a promise of Obama’s in his 2008 campaign, eluded the president in his first term, culminating in the Senate’s late 2010 failure to pass the DREAM Act. A year and a half later, the Obama administration made waves in announcing an executive order to halt the deportation of illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States as children. The president renewed his focus on reform earlier this year following the Senate’s construction of new legislative framework for an immigration policy overhaul.


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Sitting in the audience tonight will be 20-year-old Alan Aleman, a DREAM Act activist and student at the College of Southern Nevada who was one of his state’s first undocumented immigrants to receive a work permit under deferred action. Several congressional leaders including Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Texas and Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., have also extended invitations to those who have been touched by the immigration issue.

RELATED: State of the Union’s special guests: undocumented immigrants

But one of Obama’s top priorities is economic growth. More than seven in 10 Americans remain dissatisfied with the current state of the economy, according to a recent NBC News/WSJ poll. But in attendance tonight will be examples of prosperity from across the socio-economic spectrum: small-business owners like brewery owner Deb Carey of Wisconsin, and corporate executives like Apple’s Cook and ECCO Select CEO Jeanette Hernandez-Prenger, an invitee of House Speaker John Boehner.

Also in attendance tonight will be those who have argued for increased civil rights and protections. Guests include Amanda McMillan, who won a gender discrimination case she filed against her former employer; Desiline Victor, the 103-year old Florida woman who waited in line for hours to vote; and Tracy Hepner, the co-founder of a group that supports LGBT military partners and their families.




Damian Dovarganes / AP file


Bobak Ferdowsi, a flight director for the Mars rover Curiosity, works at his computer at the Surface Mission Support Area, at NASA's JPL in Pasadena, Calif. Known to the Twitterverse and the president of the United States as "Mohawk Guy," Bobak Ferdowski could be the changing face of NASA and all of geekdom.

From rock stars, to CEOs and gun victims – a diverse guest list for State of the Union

By Amanda Grace Johnson and Kara Kearns, Staff Writers, NBC News

Published 3:25 p.m. ET -- What do rocker Ted Nugent, Apple CEO Tim Cook, singer Tony Bennett, Mohawk-coiffed NASA staffer Bobak Ferdowski, and a 103-year old Florida woman have in common? They’re all going to be among the members of Congress and other Washington dignitaries for tonight’s State of the Union address. They, and many other related guests, may seem like an eclectic bunch but they’re all invited for a purpose.

Together, those guests form a diverse group of Americans who together paint a portrait of a nation in flux: victims of gun violence, undocumented immigrants, veterans of the war in Afghanistan, and the corporate executives and small-business owners who represent the strong economic future the president must outline in his speech.

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Singer Tony Bennett will attend the State of the Union as a guest of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Twenty members of Congress have organized an effort to include almost two dozen victims of gun violence and their families at the Capitol for President Obama’s annual address. Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, who was shot in January 2011 during a constituent meeting in her district, and her husband, Mark Kelly, also will attend the speech as guests of Rep. Ron Barber, D-Ariz., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. The parents of slain Chicago teen Hadiya Pendleton will attend the State of Union as guests of first lady Michelle Obama.

RELATED: Two charged with murder in Hadiya Pendleton shooting

Curbing gun violence sprang to the top of the administration’s agenda following a string of mass shootings. There was the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., the movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colo., and the attack on a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisc., among others. The president has pushed for new gun control measures, including universal background checks and an assault weapons ban. The latter faces a particularly steep uphill fight in Congress, though Obama has maintained his resolve. Such a ban "deserves a vote in Congress because weapons of war have no place on our streets or in our schools or threatening our law enforcement officers,” he told an audience in Minneapolis earlier this month.

Sitting in likely opposition to this gun control push: Nugent. The rocker will be the guest of Texas Congressman Steve Stockman. Nugent landed in hot water with the Secret Service in April 2012 when he declared at a national NRA meeting that if Obama was re-elected, “I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year.”

Kevin Tighe / Getty Images Contributor

Ted Nugent performs at Ruth Eckerd Hall on August 6, 2012 in Tampa, Florida.

RELATED: Gun control advocates use State of the Union to highlight their cause

Sweeping immigration reform, a promise of Obama’s in his 2008 campaign, eluded the president in his first term, culminating in the Senate’s late 2010 failure to pass the DREAM Act. A year and a half later, the Obama administration made waves in announcing an executive order to halt the deportation of illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States as children. The president renewed his focus on reform earlier this year following the Senate’s construction of new legislative framework for an immigration policy overhaul.

Sitting in the audience tonight will be 20-year-old Alan Aleman, a DREAM Act activist and student at the College of Southern Nevada who was one of his state’s first undocumented immigrants to receive a work permit under deferred action. Several congressional leaders including Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Texas and Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., have also extended invitations to those who have been touched by the immigration issue.

RELATED: State of the Union’s special guests: undocumented immigrants

But one of Obama’s top priorities is economic growth. More than seven in 10 Americans remain dissatisfied with the current state of the economy, according to a recent NBC News/WSJ poll. But in attendance tonight will be examples of prosperity from across the socio-economic spectrum: small-business owners like brewery owner Deb Carey of Wisconsin, and corporate executives like Apple’s Cook and ECCO Select CEO Jeanette Hernandez-Prenger, an invitee of House Speaker John Boehner.

Also in attendance tonight will be those who have argued for increased civil rights and protections. Guests include Amanda McMillan, who won a gender discrimination case she filed against her former employer; Desiline Victor, the 103-year old Florida woman who waited in line for hours to vote; and Tracy Hepner, the co-founder of a group that supports LGBT military partners and their families

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Damian Dovarganes / AP file

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Senate panel OK's Hagel nomination; GOP senators could delay floor vote

The Senate Armed Services Committee votes in favor of the nomination of Chuck Hagel as defense secretary.

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By Tom Curry, National Affairs Writer, NBC News

After an angry two-hour debate, the Senate Armed Services Committee voted to approve the nomination of former Sen. Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense Tuesday, setting the stage for a Senate floor vote on his confirmation, possibly later this week.

The vote was along party lines, 14 to 11, with another likely “no” vote from Sen. David Vitter, R-La. to be added later.

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Armed Services Committee chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said although some Republican senators strongly oppose Obama’s policies, the vote on Hagel nomination “will not change those policies.”

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images


Former Senator Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing to become the next secretary of defense on Capitol Hill Jan. 31, 2013.

Levin added that he saw a risk that the defeat of Hagel’s nomination would leave the Defense Department “leaderless” at a time of budget pressures and when “our military is engaged in combat operations overseas.”

Levin said that especially on the day that North Korea had detonated a nuclear device, a delay in approving the nomination would “send the exact wrong message to North Korea.”

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., cited Hagel’s service as an Army soldier in the Vietnam War as a prime reason to vote for him. “That told me right there everything I needed to know – that he would not hesitate to defend this country,” said Manchin.

But a leading Hagel opponent, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said confirming the former Nebraska senator as defense secretary “will make military conflict in the next four years substantially more likely” because it would encourage the Tehran regime to accelerate its nuclear weapons development program.

Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee engage in a sharp discussion regarding Chuck Hagel's nomination as defense secretary and his disclosure of personal income.

Cruz also insinuated that Hagel might have given as-yet undisclosed speeches to “extreme or radical groups” or received money from foreign sources or from defense contractors in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Senate rules require a cabinet nominee to disclose fees and payments he received in excess of $5,000 in the two years prior to the nomination. Hagel complied with that rule, but Cruz sought information about payments he’d gotten in the five years prior to his nomination.

Coming to Hagel’s defense, Levin countered that the nominee had told the committee that in the past ten years he has not received any compensation from foreign governments or entities controlled by a foreign government.

Following Cruz’s harsh criticism of Hagel, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., charged that “Sen. Cruz has gone over the line” by implying Hagel was too cozy with Tehran regime. “He basically has impugned the patriotism of the nominee."

Cruz then answered Nelson, denying that he’d impugned Hagel’s patriotism and said that instead he had questioned his firmness in dealing with Iran.

Levin told Cruz if he had uncovered evidence that Hagel had not truthfully answered the panel’s questions or requests for financial information, he should provide it to the committee.

Two weeks ago, Hagel delivered an often stumbling and awkward performance in his confirmation hearing before the committee, repeatedly having to retract, clarify, apologize for, or amend his views or the manner in which he phrased them.

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The low point came when Levin had to correct Hagel’s clarification on President Barack Obama’s position on Iran’s efforts to build a nuclear weapon.

It was the most unimpressive performance that I have seen in watching many nominees who came before the committee,” said Sen. John McCain, R- Ariz., at Tuesday’s committee meeting, later adding that Hagel’s testimony was “the worst I have seen of any nominee for office.”

McCain said it was “very disturbing” that Hagel had not answered McCain’s question about the success of the U.S. troop surge in Iraq in 2007.

The Arizona Republican also condemned what he called Hagel’s “gratuitous” rhetorical attacks on President George W. Bush.

Another Hagel foe, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said “there’s the left lane in politics, the right lane, and the middle lane – and when it comes to some of the Iranian-Israeli issues, there’s the Chuck Hagel lane … There are very few people who have been this wrong about so many different things.”

Senate Republican leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R- Ky., indicated in comments to reporters a few hours before the committee Tuesday that Republican senators might insist on extended floor debate on the nomination, perhaps requiring a cloture vote, needing 60 senators, to end debate.

“I wouldn't be surprised if we do have a cloture vote on the Hagel nomination,” McConnell said.

He added that “Every time the (the Democratic) majority files cloture, they call it a filibuster. Cloture vote actually is designed to end debate and to go to a vote.”

He explained that, “Sometimes cloture is not invoked because there has not been adequate information that been requested, yet received. Sometimes cloture is not invoked because you want to kill a nomination. There are a number of members on the committee who feel the requests for information have not yet been met.”

There are 55 senators in the Democratic caucus so if the Republicans insist on a cloture vote, then five GOP senators would need to join the Democrats in ending the debate and moving to a confirmation vote.

NBC News Capitol Hill Correspondent Kelly O’Donnell contributed to this story