• John Fugelsang joins Steph in the NYC Bureau at 6am Pacific for all three hours of “Fridays With Fugelsang.”
• Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) calls in at 6:30am Pacific to talk about her recent trip to Haiti.
• Economist Christian Weller calls in at 7:05am Pacific to break down the President’s proposals in his State of the Union address.
• As a jazz band played, President Barack Obama Thursday told Floridians that they were due to get $1.25 billion to construct a high-speed train line between Tampa and Orlando — a hefty share of an $8 billion pot of federal money to create jobs for the struggling American economy.
• Trying to bury a year of polarization, President Barack Obama on Thursday escalated his appeal for politicians and voters alike to settle differences without tearing each other apart. His plea: “Let’s start thinking of each other as Americans first.”
• Former Prime Minister Tony Blair acknowledged Friday that Saddam Hussein didn’t become a bigger threat after Sept. 11, but said his perception of the risk posed by terrorists acquiring weapons of mass destruction was dramatically changed by the attacks. Blair told Britain’s Iraq Inquiry that his contentious decision to back the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was inspired by fears of another, even deadlier, terror attack.
• At the end of last year, the economy likely grew for the second straight quarter — possibly at the fastest pace in nearly four years.
