Tell me about this plea deal thats being filed apparently today. Well, the sun times is reporting at suntimes. Com that the plea deal is going to be made public today. We have a statement from the jackson lawyers where jackson says that he says he offers no excuses and takes responsibility for the improper decisions and mistakes ive made. We expect this document to be filed in the u. S. Attorney in washington d. C. And it has to do with the allegation over misuse of campaign funds. The investigation also takes in his wife sandy in chicago who served as his campaign manager. Lynn sweet, thank you very much. Much more coming up. Also, well hear from the president in chicago. Im brooke baldwin. Listen to jim acosta in for wolf in washington. Hey, jim. Thanks, brooke. Happening now, look up in the sky. A fireball and a shocking reminder that planet earth is spinning around in a very unpredictable neighborhood. Back on dry land and already heading to court, we have details of the first lawsuit filed by a passenger who says the cruise lines negligence turned their vacation into a nightmare. And the blade runner goes to court and cries uncontrollably. Wolf blitzer is off today. Im jim acosta. Youre in the situation room. We are starting in chicago where right now president obamas about to take the stage to talk about two of the Top Priorities from his state of the union speech, jobs and guns. We expect him to connect the need for jobs as a way to get young people off the streets and out of trouble. Right now youre looking at some video of cleopatra pendleton. Shes the mother of the young girl struck down by gunmen in chicago a few weeks ago, right around the time of the inauguration after she performed at president obamas inaugural. Shes one of the guests there for president obamas visit. Well be going there to chicago as soon as mr. Obama starts speaking. But first i want to bring in our chris cuomo who was in chicago right now. Hes going to tell us a little bit about what we should expect from the president and what hell be talking about. Obviously, chris, gun violence has been a major issue in chicago for many, many months now and the president has been called to this question, why hasnt he dealt with more forcibly in his remarks in a few moments, chris . Reporter thats right. It sets off in the 80s where he began his career as a community organizer. He would become a state legislator and u. S. Senator. The connection is great. He still has a home here. The 15yearold Hadiya Pendleton was killed a mile from where his job is. The connection is very real for him. The gun violence rate is one of the highest in the country. The poverty rate in the south side of chicago where he will be speaking today, where he was once a community organizer, one of the highest in the country. Weve been here a couple of days, talking to community organizers. They say the need has never been greater. So when the president comes here, politically the main thing is to give his message from the state of the union and put it on the ground where the people are and where the situations require it and, of course, south side of chicago is a place where urban violence is very much a foot. However, theres going to be the looming question, are you just giving your speech or are you going to make good on the promises here where you call home . A lot of people are so happy to see the president but they will be even more happy if these words turn into actions and help create opportunities for the kids they say will wind up killing themselves and others if theres no better way for them provided. Thats right, chris. And also joining us is our chief political analyst gloria borger. We heard the president on tuesday night, those words, they deserve a vote, talking about the parents of Hadiya Pendleton and talking about the people of nourn. And now were seeing the president make this plea in chicago. I guess realistically speaking from a political standpoint, how much do events like this accomplish . Does it help him make this point . As weve seen, and youve watched it up close, the president s strategy is to go directly to the American People. You cant go to the city of chicago, even though you want to talk about opportunities, social programs, Mental Health services, increase in the minimum wage and all of the rest, you cant go to a place like chicago and not talk about gun violence. So what hes trying to do, i think, is say, look, this is not a rural issue versus an urban issue. This is an american issue. Its just one more way that he understands what the political odds are in congress for a ban on assault weapons. He gets that. But this is just one way for him to make the case to the American People to pressure members of congress and lots of them, by the way, as you know are democrats who are in districts where it might not be so popular. Or states. Or states. Pressure members of congress with him at least in part of his gun proposals. Dan lothian is also taking a look at this. This has been a manl juror problem in the city of chicago. President obamas hometown. Heres dan with more on that. Reporter jim, the president is addressing some of the big problems plaguing distressed neighborhoods and talking about the struggle to get into the middle class. But in a city familiar with crime, the president is also focusing on gun violence. On the streets of chicago, another potential crime in progress. Its an all too familiar call. Last year, almost 2500 shootings in the windy city and more than 500 murders. Thats the backdrop as the president returned to his backyard. The president wants universal background checks and a ban on high capacity magazines but it was also about creating better conditions in tough neighborhoods to address high unemployment and crime. The spotlight on gun violence isnt fading in the wake of the newtown, connecticut massacre. Six sandy hook teachers and staff were honored with citizens medals. The president getting emotional during the ceremony. The courageous heart, the selfless spirit, the Inspiring Actions of extraordinary americans, extraordinary citizens. Reporter and theres the highprofile case of 15yearold Hadiya Pendleton gunned down near the president s home. Something is better than nothing, i will say. They need to do something. Reporter but the voices for tighter restrictions, like in this new tv ad. We need to stop guns from getting into the wrong hands. Reporter are being fiercely fought by nra. The president has taken the art of public deception and manipulation to a whole new level on this one. Reporter the group is launching a fullcourt press, aimed at protecting its Second Amendment rights, even as their defenders argue for the existing laws, not the creation of new ones. I do wish the cheerleading would stop eight prosecutions begin. Reporter lapierre with the nra is vowing to stand and fight, be accusing the white house of trying to ban every gun, tax every gun sold and register every gun owner. Jim . Dan lot thrhian at the white house, thank you. I want to go back to chris cuomo in the loop in chicago. You heard dan lothians report there. Obviously this is a subject on the minds of chicagoans on a daily basis. Have you run into that today on the ground in chicago . Reporter very much so, jim. I think dans piece was spot on with what were hearing here. When you talk about gun control and would a law help . Many of them are very reluctant. They say enforcement of laws when criminals use handguns, they are not punished the way that they are in new york city which has a comparably lower homicide rate. They dont know about gun laws. Know more about enforcement. So they have to figure out how to reprioritize. But one thing is for sure, this is the place, chicago, that is a real template for a place where we need to do better. You need to do better with poverty. You need to do better with opportunities for young people. You need to do better to do those things to stem the violence and theres a very strong feeling that a gun control law will not be the remedy. Opportunity, which is harder to provide than a gun control law, will what they think will really help. But, again, very tough. Easy to say. Tough to do. Right, jim . Thats right. Gloria, what conservatives say is that chicago has some of the strongest gun laws in the kousht. Pro gun advocates say if you go to northwest indiana, its not so difficult to buy firearms. Right. They said that universal background checks would not help because they are obtained illegally. But what you have mayor emanuel talking about is mandatory sentences, truth in sentencing which is that if youre convicted and serve for two years, sentenced to two years, you actually serve for two years. You dont get off after a bunch of months. Hes looking at it from the other end of the spectrum. But what the president is going to say is that its all the same puzzle. Its all part of a hole. You have to start with social programs and opportunity and Mental Health services and then youve got to look at it on the other end of the funnel when it comes to sentencing and being tough. It is a puzzle, indeed. A policy puzzle and a political puzzle. Were going to get back to chicago in just a few moments. Were expecting the president to start speaking very soon. He was supposed to start speaking almost a half an hour ago. So well get to that as soon as it gets started. In the meantime, today brought a scary, unprecedented event. A meteor exploded over a highly populated area. Least 1,000 people were hurt. Well have the amazing pictures coming up next. Hi. Hi. Im here to pick up some cacti. It should be under stephens. The verizon share everything plan for small business. Get a shareable pool of data. Got enough joshua trees . On up to 25 devices. So you can spend less time. Yea, the golden barrels. Managing wireless costs and technology and more time driving your business potential. Looks like were going to need to order more agaves. Ah oh ow . And more bandages. Thats powerful. Shareable data plus unlimited talk and text. Now save 50 on a droid razr maxx hd by motorola. Your soups are so awesomely delicious my husband and i cant stop eating em whats. That. On your head . Can curlers tomato basil, potato with bacon. Weve got a lot of empty cans. [ male announcer ] progresso. You gotta taste this soup. Weve got a lot of empty cans. music throughout why turbo . Trust us. Its just better to be in front. The sonata turbo. From hyundai. So i used my Citi Thankyou card to pick up some accessories. A new belt. Some nylons. And what girl wouldnt need new shoes . And with all the points ive been earning, i was able to get us a flight to our favorite climbing spot even on a holiday weekend. Things are definitely looking up. [ male announcer ] with no blackout dates, you can use your Citi Thankyou points to travel whenever you want. Visit citi. Com thankyoucards to apply. All right. In just a few moments were going to be bripging you live coverage. President obama in chicago talking about two of his Top Priorities, jobs and guns. Obviously the subject of guns will be a big priority there. We are expecting the mayor of that city to introduce the president. Well be bringing that to all of you shortly. But in the meantime, theres news on the cruise ship carnival triumph. Already a passenger casey terry is describing the ship as a floating hell. The suit says she had to wade through human feces in order to receive food and only to receive rations of spoiled food. The suit continues that the plaintiff was forced to subcyst for days in a floating toilet, a pete tree dish, that is a direct quote and calls exemplary damages. The ship docked shortly before midnight. Most of the ships power and plumbing was wiped out. Most of the passengers are headed home, thank goodness. Buses took them to new orleans, galveston, and houston. From there theycattered to airports and their lawyers offices, apparently. Lets bring in legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin who is joining us live from new york. It was only a matter of time. Yes. And not a lot of time. Its been less than 24 hours since they docked and we can be sure there will be lot of lawsuits. This all starts, from a legal perspective, with the fine print on the back of the ticket which absolutely no one reads but it does define at least the broad outlines of what these lawsuits will look like. In other words, stuff happens . Is that maybe the legal cover that carnival has here . I would say its a little more elaborate than that but thats sort of the gist of it. The idea that carnival limits its damages. They dont you dont get punitive damages. All of the lawsuits have to be tried in miami, which is the hometown of carnival. Carnival has already made an offer to all of the passengers involving free tickets, 500, of course all of their money back. That is probably just a starting point for negotiations. But you can be sure carnival wants to i void reliving this experience in court because its of course, its been a Public Relations disaster for them. Could the cumulative effect of these lawsuits that are coming, could that endanger the company, do you think . Are we talking about that astronomical amount of money that might be sought in a variety of damages . I doubt it. Most lawsuits deal with people who have been seriously injured or died. This has been an unpleasant experience for these passengers and surely they deserve compensation but i cant see a court sustaining millions of dollars to individuals here. Yes, it was very inconvenient but not where people were paralyzed or died. Thats where the big money tends to be in lawsuits. This is a mostly a Public Relations problem for carnival. Who is going to want to go on one of these cruises. The lawsuits will do, as they do, drag on for some time and most of them will settle but i dont think the money is going to be something that endangers carnival as a business. All right. Our Jeffrey Toobin in new york for us. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. Our brian todd was in mobile, alabama, where hes been listening to some of the other passengers stories of these terrible conditions and their praise for the hardworking cruise. Lets listen to what brian todd has picked up from those passengers in just a few moments. First of all, we want to keep you posted on what is happening in chicago right now. We are waiting on president obama to start speaking. That is something were expecting in just a few moments. Lets take a quick break and hopefully well hear from the president on the other side of this break. With so much competition, finding the right job is never easy. But with the nations largest alumni network, including those in key hiring positions, university of phoenix can help connect you to a world of opportunity. Music make someone happy music make someone happy its so important to make someone happy. Its so important to make meone happy. Make just one someone happy and you will be happy too. Now to the days dramatic news. Cosmic earth dodged a bullet. This is actually a football fieldsized rock. It zipped past us and missed us by a whisker. Casey wian is tracking this. I guess the force was with us, casey. Is that right . Reporter thats right, jim. They have been tracking this asteroid for about a year now and just about two hours ago it came oh so close to planet earth. It may not look like much, a tinly blip screaming across the screen but it packs a powerful punch. Fortunately the punch missed. Scientists say an asteroid with a similar 1 50foot diameter. Its very rare. We think an asteroid of this size doesnt come close to the earth more than 40 years on average. This time it raced past the hemisphere missing earth by 17,000 miles. It came close enough to threaten satellites orbiting the earth but fears of a loss of telecommunication and cell phone signals apparently unfounded. Nasa is using radar and other technology to study how the asteroid behaves, including its rotation rate, its composition and how its impacted by the earths gravity. The idea is to learn enough to prevent cat as it sfroe fee from it threatening in the future. Were going to get a lot of information about the asteroid. Were interested in its future motion, whether or not it could come back, whether it threatens the earth. Reporter the odds are either this one or another will be back. An asteroid impact the earth about every 120 years on average. It will be visible in the rthernemisphere this evening if you have access to a telescope. For now its on its way away from the earth out into outer space harmlessly rotating or resolving excuse me. Harmlessly rotating i cant even think of the right word. Orbiting the sun. Harmlessly at least for now, jim. Casey, thanks very much. We appreciate it. . Or gal lat particular news, a meteor lit up the skies over eastern russia. The blinding light was followed by a series of deafening explosions. Listen to this. An expert tells cnn that the debt nation appears to be the equivalent of roughly 300 kilotons of tnt. That is about the same magnitude of a nuclear blast. The impact on Populated Areas is widespread and historic. The concussion shattered windows. At least 1,000 people are hurt and cnns mary snow is keeping track of it and theres a lot to keep track of. This is unbelievable, isnt it . It is. And frightening. You showed incredible video. More continues to come in. The scene was surreal has the meteor struck sending off mass confusion. Meteors scattered over three regions of russia with reports of damage to about 3,000 buildings. It came out of nowhere. The bright streak long enough to capture on camera as it lurched towards earth and exploded. A deafening boom followed over russia. The sonic boom shattered glass. At least 1,000 people in the bulls eye of the falling meteor were injured. Its a bombing, says this man. There were reports that a large chunk of it was found in a lake. As frightening as it was, Scientists Say its not all that rare to have meteors falling out of the sky. Whats not common is when they hit largely Populated Areas. Small bodies like that hit the earth regularly. Every year theres probably several, mostly over oceans. The curator of meteor rights at the American Museum of national history. His attention had been focused on the asteroid passing the earth and was stunned the meteor and asteroid both occurred within 24 hours of each other. Are they related in any way . As far as we know, they are not related. The gap in time between the two events was too wide to be related and then theres a matter of size. The size difference between the big one, 45 meters, and this little guy, which was maybe 3 meters that air bursted over russia is so l