January 24th, 2014

CNN to Provide Comprehensive Coverage of the State of the Union Address and the GOP Response

Guests include Obama biographer David Maraniss, former speechwriter Jon Favreau, Bush adviser Karen Hughes, and Nobel winner Paul Krugman

CNN anchors Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper and Jake Tapper will lead the network’s live, comprehensive coverage of President Barack Obama’s fifth State of the Union Address on Tuesday, Jan. 28, beginning at 7 p.m. ET. Guests joining the network’s special coverage will include Obama biographer and journalist David Maraniss, former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau, former George W. Bush adviser Karen Hughes, and Nobel Prize winner and The New York Times op-ed columnist Paul Krugman.

CNN’s Chris Cuomo will kick off the day’s coverage on New Day beginning at 6 a.m. live from Capitol Hill on the morning of Jan. 28. Cuomo will continue to report from the nation’s capital on Wednesday morning.

Throughout the evening, news and commentary will be provided by chief political correspondent Candy Crowley, chief political analyst Gloria Borger; and Crossfire hosts Newt Gingrich, Stephanie Cutter, S. E. Cupp and Van Jones. On the magic wall, chief national correspondent John King will illustrate how the balance of power could shift with the 2014 midterm and gubernatorial elections. Senior White House correspondents Jim Acosta and Brianna Keilar join the coverage from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., along with chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash from the halls of the U.S. Capitol.

CNN’s chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto will also have live, exclusive reports from Tehran as Iran begins to implement the U.S. nuclear agreement. Correspondent Tom Foreman, live from the virtual studio, will put the president’s claims on income inequality to a Reality Check using advanced statistical analysis and state-of-the-art data visualization. Furthermore, national correspondent Suzanne Malveaux will moderate a focus group from Des Moines, IA, where registered voters provide real-time reaction during the speech.

In addition, a CNN/ORC International instant poll of American speech watchers and their reactions to the president’s address will be released during the 11 p.m. hour.

Late night coverage will continue with State of the Union: Postgame with Jake Tapper providing perspective from the evening’s address and response. After that, King puts the final touches on the network’s coverage as he and top political reporters from news organizations discuss how the President’s priorities will be impacted by the midterm elections.

CNN Digital will provide users multiple ways to access the president’s speech along with the network’s analysis.  In addition to streaming the speech live and unauthenticated on CNN.com and CNN’s mobile apps, digital correspondent Peter Hamby and guests will give real-time analysis of the address in a companion stream, called the “Politi-cast.” The running commentary will tap into live reaction of the speech and the immediate impact it is having on social media.

CNN en Español will also broadcast the presidential address. Correspondent Juan Carlos López will offer post-analysis with a team of experts and anchor Fernando del Rincón will host a special presentation of Conclusiones.

CNN Worldwide is a portfolio of two dozen news and information services across cable, satellite, radio, wireless devices and the Internet in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. Domestically, CNN reaches more individuals on television, the web and mobile devices than any other cable TV news organization in the United States; internationally, CNN is the most widely distributed news channel reaching more than 271 million households abroad; and CNN Digital is a top network for online news, mobile news and social media. Additionally, CNN Newsource is the world’s most extensively utilized news service partnering with hundreds of local and international news organizations around the world. CNN is division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company.

All Times Eastern

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For more information, visit www.CNNPressroom.com.

CONTACT:

Edie Emery                    Washington        202.898.7657     edie.emery@cnn.com

Jennifer Scoggins             Washington        202.515.2947     jennifer.scoggins@cnn.com