First Lady Michelle Obama and guests applaud as President Barack Obama delivers his 2014 State of the Union address. | John Shinkle/POLITICO STATE OF THE UNION 2015 Who’s sitting with Michelle Obama at State of the Union 
 
 First lady Michelle Obama’s guests for Tuesday’s State of the Union address include the man who was jailed in Cuba, an astronaut and an immigration reform advocate, the White House said Monday. 
 
 The guests are often hints at big applause lines the White House has planned, for the president’s speech, and one of the most enthusiastic responses could come when the president mentions Alan Gross, the U.S. Agency for International Development subcontractor released by the Cuban government late last year amid a shift in the Obama administration’s Cuba policy. Gross spent nearly five years jailed in Cuba, and his wife, Judy, who advocated for his release, will also be seated near the first lady. 
 
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 Scott Kelly, who is preparing for a yearlong mission aboard the International Space Station, is another guest. Kelly’s twin brother is retired astronaut Mark Kelly, husband of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), and scientists aim to compare medical data between the two men during the trip. The research will help “support the next generation of space exploration and President [Barack] Obama’s goal of sending humans to Mars by the 2030s,” the White House said. 
 
 Also on the list are Ana Zamora, an immigration advocate and DREAMer from Dallas, Ebola aid worker Pranav Shetty and Larry Merlo, the CEO of CVS Health, which last year became the first major retail pharmacy to stop selling tobacco products. 
 
 The guest list 
 
 Rebekah Erler (Minneapolis) Letter writer 
 
 Rebekah Erler, 36, is a working mother from Minneapolis. When her husband Ben’s construction business dried up amid the recession, she enrolled in community college and got work as an accountant to help keep her family afloat. 
 
 Victor Fugate (Kansas City, Mo.) Letter writer 
 
 Fugate went back to school after losing his job as a financial counselor and now works at the Missouri Department of Mental Health, where he helps low-income people obtain health care. 
 
 Staff Sgt. Jason Gibson, U.S. Army, Ret. (Westerville, Ohio) Letter writer, wounded warrior 
 
 Gibson, a veteran of Afghanistan, lost both his legs in the line of duty, but has since taken up surfing, skiing and flying. He first met Obama in 2012 while a patient at Walter Reed. 
 
 Alan and Judy Gross (Washington, D.C.) USAID subcontractor 
 
 Gross was imprisoned in Cuba for five years for crimes against the Cuban state. His Dec. 17 release paved the way for the administration to move toward normal relations with the island nation. 
 
 Nicole Hernandez Hammer (Southeast Florida) Mother and sea level rise researcher 
 
 Hernandez is an immigrant from Guatemala who researches the consequences of rising sea levels. She’s raised awareness of climate change’s implications for children’s health and its disproportionate impact on American Hispanics. 
 
 Scott Kelly (Houston) American astronaut 
 
 Kelly will blast off in March to become the first American astronaut to complete a year-long mission on the International Space Station. He has already spent more than 180 days in space. 
 
 Anthony Mendez (Bronx, N.Y.) Student, “Reach Higher” Initiative 
 
 Mendez is a freshman at the University of Hartford. He overcame hardship growing up in the South Bronx, where he lived for a time in a homeless shelter, to become the first member of his family to graduate high school. 
 
 Larry Merlo (East Greenwich, R.I.) President and CEO, CVS Health 
 
 Merlo leads CVS Health, formerly CVS, which last year became the first major retail pharmacy to stop selling tobacco products as part of its pivot toward the health care sector. 
 
 Katrice Mubiru (Woodland Heights, Calif.) Letter writer, career technical education teacher 
 
 Astrid Muhammad (Charlotte, N.C.) Letter writer 
 
 Muhammad, a 39-year-old mother from North Carolina, wrote to Obama about her experience obtaining insurance through the Affordable Care Act. In August, she had life-saving surgery to remove a brain tumor, a preexisting condition that would not have been covered by insurance before the law’s passage. 
 
 Hover over the dots to learn more about Michelle Obama's guests. | Getty Image 
 
 Capt. Phillip C. Tingirides (Irvine, Calif.) Los Angeles Police Department 
 
 Tingirides, a 35-year veteran of the LAPD, leads the department’s Community Safety Partnership, which encourages dialogue between police and community members in the Watts neighborhoods. The program has contributed to a 50 percent reduction in violent crime in part of the neighborhood. 
 
 Catherine Pugh (Baltimore City, Md.) Maryland Senate majority leader 
 
 As a state senator, Pugh worked on passage of Maryland’s $10.10 minimum wage and recently introduced a bill that would grant workers paid sick leave. 
 
 Pranav Shetty (Washington, D.C.) International Medical Corps 
 
 Shetty is the Global Emergency Health Coordinator for International Medical Corps, which is working to contain the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. He has also worked on public health crises in Haiti, Libya, South Sudan, Jordan, Iraq, and the Philippines. 
 
 Ana Zamora (Dallas) Letter writer, student, DREAMer 
 
 Zamora, a DREAMer from Dallas, came to the United States as an infant and has gained work authorization through the administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. She has siblings who are citizens, making her parents eligible for the administration’s Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents program, announced in November. 
 
 Malik Bryant (Chicago) Letter writer 
 
 Chelsey Davis (Knoxville, Tenn.) Student, Pellissippi State Community College 
 
 William Elder Jr. (Englewood, Colo.) Medical school student 
 
 LeDaya Epps (Compton, Calif.) Laborer apprentice 
 
 Kathy Pham (Washington, D.C.) United States Digital Service 
 
 Carolyn Reed (Denver) Letter writer, small-business owner 
 
 Prophet Walker (Carson, Calif.) Watts United Weekend, co-founder 
 
 Tiairris Woodward (Warren, Mich.) Chrysler auto worker 
 
 — Provided by the White House ||||| White House announces State of the Union guests 
 
 Take a look back at President Obama's last five State of the Union speeches to see the similarities and differences. VPC 
 
 First lady Michelle Obama and guests at the 2012 State of the Union Address. (Photo: H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY) 
 
 Former Cuba prisoner Alan Gross and astronaut Scott Kelly will be among first lady Michelle Obama's guests at Tuesday night's State of the Union Address, the White House announced Monday. 
 
 The 22 guests also include students and educators, health care officials and recipients, government officials, and a wounded veteran who fought in Afghanistan. Some of the guests wrote letters to Obama about various issues. 
 
 The invitees symbolize some of the themes of Obama's speech, such as his recent decision to normalize relations with Cuba following Gross' release. 
 
 The White House list, in alphabetical order: 
 
 Malik Bryant (Chicago), letter writer 
 
 The 13-year-old sent a letter to Santa over the holidays, but rather than request the usual gifts, Malik wrote: "All I ask for is for safety I just wanna be safe." 
 
 Chelsey Davis (Knoxville, Tenn.), student, Pellissippi State Community College 
 
 A native of Jefferson City, Davis decided that community college was the best path to re-enter her collegiate career with the ideal support and resources. 
 
 Chelsey Davis, a student at Pellissippi State Community College, will be a guest of the first lady for the State of the Union Address on Jan. 20, 2015. (Photo: Jessie Tipton, Pellissippie State Comm. College) 
 
 William Elder Jr. (Englewood, Colo), medical school student 
 
 Elder graduated from Stanford and is currently a third-year medical student at the Boonshoft School of Medicine at Wright State University in Ohio. He was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when he was 8 years old, at a time when most cystic fibrosis patients were only expected to live to early adulthood. 
 
 LeDaya Epps (Compton, Calif.), laborer apprentice 
 
 Epps never had things handed to her. Born in Compton and raised in the Los Angeles foster care system until she was a teenager, Epps graduated high school but found it difficult to secure a stable job, bouncing from job to job as a medical assistant for years. That changed when she was afforded the opportunity to complete a union apprenticeship in construction. 
 
 Rebekah Erler (Minneapolis), letter writer 
 
 Erler is a 36-year-old working wife and mother of two preschool-aged boys. Her family was hit hard by the downturn in the housing market when her husband's construction business went under. After relocating from Seattle to Minneapolis and a number of difficult jobs, Erler's husband is now back in the re-modeling industry, gets home in time for dinner each night with their family, and is enjoying continued professional growth. 
 
 President Obama has lunch with Rebekah Erler at Matt's Bar in Minneapolis on June 26, 2014. (Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP) 
 
 Victor Fugate (Kansas City, Mo.), letter writer 
 
 Fugate first wrote to the president three years ago, sharing how he went from being an unemployed new father continuing his education to obtaining his degree and working with low-income patients to obtain medical care. 
 
 Retired Army Staff Sgt. Jason Gibson (Westerville, Ohio), letter writer, wounded warrior 
 
 Gibson first met Obama in 2012 at Walter Reed while recovering from injuries he sustained serving his country in Afghanistan. In October, Gibson wrote a letter to thank the president for visiting him as he recuperated and to underscore that "there is life after a traumatic event and good can come of all things." 
 
 Alan and Judy Gross (Washington) 
 
 After five years of wrongful imprisonment in Cuba, USAID sub-contractor Alan Gross was reunited with his wife Judy and his family on Dec.17. That same day, Obama announced that the United States was changing its relationship with the people of Cuba. 
 
 Alan Gross holds his wife Judy's hand during a news conference at his lawyer's office in Washington, on Dec. 17, 2014. (Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP) 
 
 Nicole Hernandez Hammer (Southeast Florida), mother and sea level rise researcher 
 
 Growing up in South Florida, Hammer knows firsthand the impacts of climate change and sea level rise and is raising awareness to the disproportionate effects felt along the coast and beyond. As a sea level researcher, she has studied how cities and regions most vulnerable to the effects of climate change also have large concentrations of Hispanics. 
 
 Scott Kelly (Houston), astronaut 
 
 This March, Kelly will launch to the International Space Station and become the first American to live and work aboard the orbiting laboratory for a year-long mission. 
 
 NASA astronaut Scott Kelly gives a press conference on Dec. 18, 2014, in Paris. (Photo: Patrick Kovarik, AFP/Getty Images) 
 
 Anthony Mendez (Bronx, N.Y.), student, "Reach Higher" Initiative 
 
 Growing up in the South Bronx with his mother and three siblings, Mendez names two experiences from his formative high school years. In ninth-grade, his best friend was murdered in his neighborhood, and the next year his family was evicted from their home and moved into a homeless shelter. Living two hours away from school, for six months Mendez had to wake up at 4:30 a.m. to continue his education. Overcoming these experiences, he became the first high school graduate in his family – his story of perseverance represents the core of first lady Michelle Obama's Reach Higher initiative. 
 
 Larry J. Merlo (East Greenwich, R.I), president and CEO, CVS Health 
 
 Merlo, 59, is president and chief executive officer of CVS Health, which serves 100 million people each year through its 7,800 retail pharmacies, 900 walk-in medical clinics, and a pharmacy benefits manager with nearly 65 million plan members. 
 
 Katrice Mubiru (Woodland Heights, Calif.), letter writer, career technical education teacher 
 
 In January 2012, Mubiru, a career-technical education teacher for the Los Angeles unified school district, sent a letter to the president encouraging him to support K-12, adult and career technical education. 
 
 Astrid Muhammad (Charlotte, N.C.), letter writer 
 
 Muhammad, a wife and mother of 6- and 10-year-olds, was diagnosed with a brain tumor in May 2013, but at the time she didn't have health insurance and delayed treatment. Last year, she enrolled in the Marketplace and obtained health insurance. Prior to the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies could have refused treatment for her pre-existing tumor, but on Aug. 28 — now fully insured — she had surgery to remove the tumor. 
 
 Kathy Pham (Washington), United States Digital Service 
 
 Pham is a computer scientist with a passion for public service. Throughout her career, she has used technology to tackle pressing challenges. From Google to IBM to Harris Healthcare Solutions, she has designed health care interoperability software, studied disease trends with data analytics, and built data warehouses for hospitals. 
 
 Capt. Phillip C. Tingirides (Irvine, Calif.), Los Angeles Police Department 
 
 The south Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts has seen dramatic improvement in the crime rate since the area was tied to the eponymous race riots of 1965 and a spate of gang violence in the '90s — and Tingirides has worked toward and seen a continued decrease in crime since the start of the Community Safety Partnership program in late 2011. 
 
 Catherine Pugh (Baltimore City, Md.), Maryland Senate majority leader 
 
 State Sen. Pugh is a small-business owner who currently serves as the Maryland Senate majority leader and is also president-elect of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators. 
 
 Carolyn Reed (Denver), letter writer, small-business owner 
 
 Reed wrote to the president about how she was able to expand her small business and open an additional Silver Mine Subs shop in Denver thanks to a loan from the Small Business Administration. 
 
 Dr. Pranav Shetty (Washington), International Medical Corps 
 
 Dr. Shetty is the global emergency health coordinator for International Medical Corps, a critical partner in the U.S.-supported effort to bring the Ebola epidemic under control in West Africa. 
 
 Prophet Walker (Carson, Calif.), Watts United Weekend, co-founder 
 
 While serving a six-year prison sentence for robbery, Walker, now 27, vowed never to get caught in the revolving door of a life of crime and continued incarceration. He turned his focus to education, starting a program in prison that provides fellow inmates a chance to complete a two-year degree. 
 
 Prophet Walker, 27, is the co-founder of Watts United Weekend. (Photo: Donato Sardella, Getty Images for Coalition for E) 
 
 Tiairris Woodward (Warren, Mich.), Chrysler auto worker 
 
 Working for the local school system, Woodward, 43, wasn't making enough money to support herself and her three children, the youngest of whom has special needs. She started working for Chrysler in 2010 on the assembly line, and after doing both jobs full time, working 17 hours a day, Tiairris was in a position to move solely to Chrysler — a union job that makes her a member of United Auto Workers Local 7. 
 
 Ana Zamora (Dallas), letter writer, student, DREAMer 
 
 Zamora wrote to the president in September, "as with any other dreamer, my parents came to this country with a dream of a better future for their children." And through the Administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, Zamora is closer than ever to fulfilling those dreams. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1Bt58kS ||||| President Obama will deliver his State of the Union address Tuesday enjoying rising approval ratings that have been strengthened by rapidly improving perceptions of the economy and increased optimism about the overall direction of the country, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. 
 
 For the first time in his presidency, Obama will address a Congress fully in the hands of Republicans. And the divided government reflects a divided America. Along party lines, the public is sharply at odds about whether the country should go in the direction Obama wants to lead or where Republicans prefer to go. 
 
 Despite the partisan divisions on most issues, a substantial majority of Americans continue to see political dysfunction in Washington as a big problem. After years of political standoffs, there is considerable skepticism about whether the two sides can overcome their political differences to ease what has become a chronic problem. 
 
 Obama’s overall approval rating now stands at 50 percent, the highest in a Post-ABC poll since spring 2013. His standing is nine points higher than in December and seven points higher than in October, just before Republicans captured control of the Senate, increased their House majority to its highest level in eight decades and recorded advances in the states. 
 
 The Post-ABC survey puts the president’s approval rating slightly higher than some other recent public polls. But most have shown improvement since the November elections as the president has moved aggressively and unilaterally on issues such as immigration and climate change. 
 
 View Graphic Reviving economy pays dividends for Obama 
 
 The bigger factor helping to boost his standing is a series of economic indicators that have shown steadily improving conditions. 
 
 Sharply lower gasoline prices have contributed to the sense of better economic times. A Washington Post analysis estimates that those plummeting prices put an extra $7.50 into the wallets of average Americans during the first week of this year, compared with the same week last year. Consumer confidence is now at its highest level since the Great Recession began in 2008. 
 
 Americans see the state of the economy and the direction of the country in negative terms. Roughly 6 in 10 Americans describe the economy as “not so good” or “poor,” and about the same percentage say that things have gotten pretty seriously off-track when it comes to the overall direction of the nation. 
 
 A majority of Democrats are bullish; a bigger majority of Republicans are bearish. Independents are closer to Republicans than to Democrats in their assessment. 
 
 But evidence of an easing of pessimism is clear. The 41 percent who say they see the economy in positive terms compares with just 27 percent who expressed that view in October. Those saying the country is headed in the right direction, although still a minority overall, have increased by 11 points in that same time period. The last time public optimism about the direction of things was this high was in spring 2013. 
 
 Greater optimism also is reflected in Obama’s economic approval ratings, which now stand even, with 48 percent approving and 48 percent disapproving. It is the first time less than a majority of Americans have disapproved of his handling of the economy since summer 2013. 
 
 Obama enjoys other advantages as he and the new Congress begin the year. On some early confrontations between the White House and congressional Republicans, the president has the public on his side. 
 
 These include the issue of the Keystone XL pipeline, which Republicans want to build without the president’s approval. Obama, threatening a veto of their legislation, says he will await a review before making a decision. Six in 10 agree with the president’s position. 
 
 Congressional Republicans favor legislation that would change the new health-care law to say that companies with 50 or more employees must provide health insurance to anyone who works 40 hours or more, rather than the current 30-hour threshold. A slight majority favors leaving it at 30 hours. 
 
 Obama’s new proposal to provide free tuition for community college also enjoys majority support. 
 
 But on one big issue, Republicans have public opinion on their side. That is over the question of Obama’s executive action to shield millions of illegal immigrants from the threat of deportation. Many congressional Republicans want to block the move, with the House passing a bill last week that would do just that. The future of the legislation is uncertain, but a majority of Americans (56 percent) say Obama’s action should be blocked. 
 
 The new poll underscores the nation’s political divisions. Americans are almost evenly divided over who is taking a stronger leadership role in Washington, with 42 percent saying Obama and 40 percent citing congressional Republicans. Divisions are equally sharp over whether the country should follow Obama’s lead or that of the GOP. 
 
 Those closely divided results, however, are starkly different from those recorded eight years ago after Democrats took full control of Congress heading into the final two years of President George W. Bush’s administration. At that point, the public favored following the lead of congressional Democrats over Bush by more than 2 to 1. 
 
 But if the president takes some confidence from that, another set of findings signal the depth of the divisions that have led to gridlock in recent years. By narrow margins, Americans say both that the president is justified in taking executive action to achieve his goals if Congress doesn’t act and that congressional Republicans are justified in trying to block those actions in court or through legislation. 
 
 A plurality of Americans say they trust Obama over the Republicans to handle the nation’s biggest problems (40 percent to 36 percent). That represents a shift toward Obama in the past month. But compared with public sentiment right after he was reelected in 2012, Obama enjoys far less confidence from the public. At that time, the public said they trusted Obama over Republicans by 15 points. 
 
 On specific issues, Obama is seen as having better ideas for helping the middle class and creating jobs, and he holds big margins on dealing with climate change and helping students afford college. Republicans are seen as having better ideas on encouraging economic development. Neither side has an advantage on who has better ideas to increase homeownership. 
 
 Nine in 10 Americans say government dysfunction is a problem, with 2 in 3 calling it a major problem. Asked who is responsible, they blame both sides equally. Almost half say things will stay about the same in the next year, with about 3 in 10 saying things will get worse and 1 in 4 saying they will get better. 
 
 The previous Congress, with Republicans in control of the House and Democrats in control of the Senate, was one of the least productive in history. 
 
 Asked how they see the future with Republicans now in full control, a third of Americans say they believe the new Congress will do a better job. A fifth say it will be worse, and virtually all the rest say things will stay about the same. 
 
 Obama owes his rising approval ratings to better economic times, but the shifts among demographic groups also show that his greatest gains have come among those who are part of his coalition. 
 
 Since December, his numbers have increased by 10 points among Democrats and moderates, by 22 points among Hispanics and by 19 points among those ages 18 to 29. His approval rating is also higher by 11 points among conservatives. 
 
 Through most of last year, Obama’s approval ratings hovered in the mid- to low 40s, with suggestions that he was following a downward trajectory that was similar to that of Bush in his second term. 
 
 But the current poll moves him in a different direction, at least for now. Obama’s approval ratings at this point in his presidency are similar to those of Ronald Reagan’s as he began his final two years in office. They are lower, however, than those of Bill Clinton at the start of his second term. 
 
 One big difference between now and the time of Reagan’s presidency is the sharply polarized political environment and the partisan divisions it has engendered. Obama has a 71-point partisan gap (the difference between his approval among Democrats vs. Republicans) while Reagan’s was 52 points. 
 
 The Post-ABC poll was conducted Jan. 12 to 15 among a random national sample of 1,003 adults interviewed by telephone, including 311 cellphone-only respondents. The overall margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. 
 
 Peyton M. Craighill contributed to this report.
– President Obama goes into tomorrow's State of the Union address with some momentum: A Washington Post-ABC News poll finds his approval rating now stands at 50%, which is the highest since spring 2013; improving views on the economy are a big factor, the Post reports. Meanwhile, the White House has released a list of Michelle Obama's guests for the event—a list that likely offers a preview of some of the issues the president will address. Among those guests, per Politico and USA Today: Alan Gross, a US subcontractor, was recently freed from five years of detention in Cuba; he rejoined his wife, Judy, the day President Obama announced warming relations with Cuba. Larry Merlo is CEO of CVS Health, which recently stopped selling tobacco products. Pranav Shetty led a pair of Ebola treatment units in Liberia, the White House says. Ana Zamora is one of a number of guests who caught the president's attention through letters. She's a student who has benefited from Obama administration programs to ease restrictions on migrants who arrived in the US as kids. Scott Kelly is an astronaut who's about to spend a year aboard the International Space Station; the work is aimed at helping send people to Mars "by the 2030s," per the White House. Malik Bryant is another letter writer. For Christmas, the boy from Chicago wrote to Santa Claus: "All I ask for is for safety I just wanna be safe." His letter made it to the president. Click for the full list.