DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: President Clinton has a full schedule, today. A few hours from now, he is scheduled to make an important education announcement. He also plans to meet with Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat. CNN White House correspondent Chris Black is at the White House. She has the details in snowy Washington. Chris, good morning.</s>CHRIS BLACK, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: There's a lot of snow in Washington, Daryn. With the State of the Union Address now just a week away, the president is continuing to roll out initiatives for his final year in office. Today he will be proposing a $30 billion plan to provide tax breaks to middle-income families so they can better afford the cost of college. The plan is called the College Opportunity Tax Cut, and, if approved by Congress, it would give families the option of taking either a deduction or a credit on up to $10,000 a year on fees and tuition for post-secondary-school education. The president is also proposing a $1-billion increase in Pell and work study grants over the next 10 years. Now, this is an issue with a lot of political appeal, and it is an election year, so the president's wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, an unannounced candidate for the New York Senate seat, will be joining him at this announcement, along with Senator Chuck Schumer of New York. And later today here at the White House, the president will be meeting with Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat. The White House is describing this as an important meeting. Mr. Arafat just arrived in the United States after midnight last night, and he requested this meeting a few weeks ago. White House officials say that the two leaders will be discussing the state of play in the Palestinian track of the Middle East peace talks. The Israeli have set a mid-February deadline for a framework for this discussion, and White House officials say they're not too concerned about that deadline so long as the two sides keep talking. And one last thing that they will be discussing today is bilateral issues, because they're concerned about strengthening the relationship between the Palestinian Authority and the United States, and at the top of that agenda: economic development. Chris Black, CNN, reporting live from the White House.
President Clinton to Announce Tax Breaks for College, Meet with Yasser Arafat