making news in america this morning. >> the state of the union. the president's plea for unity. and his plan for economic revival. and a speech overshadowed by the events in tucson. we have complete coverage and reaction. new riots in an important overseas ally, adding to instability in the middle east. we're live on the scene. and overnight storm damage. could it be a twister in the sunshine state? good morning, everyone.

thanks for being with us today. president obama delivered his state of the union address amid all of the usual pomp and ritual. but there was a tone of subdued urgency that we haven't seen very often. >> the president said we will lose the future unless we invest in innovation, education and research. but that will likely be a tough sell in these tough times. emily schmidt is joining us from washington with the details. good morning, emily. >> reporter: vinita and rob, good morning to you.this was this was president obama's first appearance before congress since what he had called that shellacking in the midterm elections. and with more republicans in the room, he said the future of this country will be determined not by if lawmakers can sit together last night. but if they can work together today. on a night when dozens of lawmakers sat together, to he divide across the aisle, president obama said the stakes are higher than who wins the next election. >> after all, we just had an election.

the stakes is if jobs and industry take root in this country or somewhere else. >> reporter: his main focus, the economy. >> i am proposing that starting this year, we freeze annual domestic spending for the next five years. >> reporter: he vowed to veto any bill with earmarks and offer compromise on the health care law the house voted to repeal. >> if you have ideas about how to improve this law by making care better or more affordable, i am eager to work with you. >> reporter: the speech drew more bipartisan applause than usual. but official responses were skeptical. >> for two years, president obama made promises, just like the ones we heard him make this evening. >> we hold to a couple of simple convictions. endless borrowing is not a strategy. spending cuts have to come first. >> reporter: one of the night's strongest statements came from an empty seat, reserved for wounded congresswoman, gabrielle giffords. her husband, mark kelly, with her in a hospital room. as president obama called for civility.

>> each of us is part of something greater. something more consequential than party or political preference. >> reporter: president obama and some members of his cabinet will spend the rest of the week traveling the country to pitch his economic plan. the president begins today with a trip to wisconsin. vinita and rob? >> emily, we heard the president talk about new spending to stay competitive in the world. but did international affairs show up anywhere else in his speech? >> reporter: abc news ran the numbers. found that 13% of his speech focused on foreign policy. compare that to his predecessor, george w. bush, who routinely spent about half of his time talking about issues abroad. now, mr. obama says the u.s. will finish the job of pulling troops out of iraq before the end of the year. he talked about some foreign, international trade deals. but by and large, his focus was on the economy here at home. that is certainly not a coincidence. you look at poll after poll. americans say the economy is their number one concern.

vinita and rob? >> emily schmidt, reporting. thanks, emily. and, of course, emily just talked about that empty seat left for congresswoman giffords. also in her honor last night, most lawmakers wore those black and white lapel ribbons. the white, symbolizing peace. the black, for those who died in the tucson shootings. she'll be moved to rehab later today. the serious topics even got a few laughs in the speech. we'll show you that in the next half hour. >> on top of that, george stephanopoulos anchors a special edition of "good morning america" coming up at 7:00. we'll have complete coverage of last night's state of the union. the president is also keeping an eye on the increasingly violent protests in egypt, a key, u.s. ally. the white house is calling for an end to the violence, who has erupted in cairo and other cities across the country. >> two protesters and a police officer have been killed so far, as tens of thousands have poured into the streets. alex marquardt joins us live, now from cairo with the latest. good morning, alex. >> reporter: good morning, rob and vinita. today is the day we'll start to

see whether this protest has legs.sking,estion everyone is a, is whether the protesters can keep up this massive momentum from yesterday, or whether police will be able to quash it. one opposition leader tells us they will be taking to the streets again. but for now, the streets of cairo are quiet. the tens of thousands who went out yesterday took everyone by surprise. the country hasn't seen anything like this for decades. and what started off as a fairly peaceful protest turned violent in the afternoon, with tear gas, rubber b being used.ons being used. now, tahrir square has become ground zero for the protest, which thousands of protesters staging a sit-in, saying they won't leave until president hosni mubarak steps down. but around 1:00 a.m., the police decided they had another idea. they went in and cleared the square with rubber bullets and tear gas. so, we're going to have to wait and see what happens today. >> alex, what role is tunisia

playing in the chaos there in egypt? >> reporter: it's playing a very large role. all of the protesters we spoke to said they were inspired by the events in tunisia. of course, tunisia and egypt are very different countries. but these protesters also want to see their president gone after decades in power. and they're also very angry about the rampant corruption, unemployment and poverty. >> abc's alex marquardt, live in cairo. thanks, alex. a government investigation has found that the bush administration illegally used federal money to help republican candidates during the 2006 midterm elections. the activity was organized by a special white house office, run by karl rove. but since the people involved have all left office, it is unlikely anyone will be punished. rahm emanuel's bid to be the mayor of chicago got a temporary boost from the illinois supreme court. the court ordered election officials to keep his name on ballots being printed this week, while they decide if he can run. absentee and early voting begins

over the next few days. a big cleanup job in florida this morning, after some strong storms battered neighborhoods from tampa all the way to miami. >> a tornado touched down in st. petersburg, sending a gas station awning crashing right on to a car. the driver had just gotten out of that car -- rather, gotten into that car. and it took rescuers nearly an hour to free her. heavy rain and 75-mile-per-hour winds swept through other areas. many trees toppled. and thousands of people lost their power. elsewhere around the nation, it will be a snowy morn from northern mississippi and alabama, to memphis and lexington, kentucky. that snow mixes with some light rain as it moves into washington, d.c., philadelphia, new york and boston. it will get a lot heavier later on tonight, leaving up to eight inches on the ground by thursday morning. light snow from the dakotas into minnesota. >> 27 degrees in fargo. 23 in minneapolis. and 31 degrees in kansas city. 40s from boise to albuquerque. and 54 in sacramento. 30s from boston to baltimore. 50s in dallas and in new orleans. and when we come back on this wednesday morning, grading the president's state of the

union address. abc news experts weigh in. plus, your business news. a new toyota recall announced overnight. and this one's big. nearly 2 million vehicles affected. and later on, a miami mystery. how a piano ended up in the middle of that harbor. experts from a leading consumer publication recently tested automatic dishwashing detergents. they rated finish quantum number one, beating the competition ! try finish quantum for amazing clean and shine. satisfaction guaranteed or your money back.

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today. hong kong's hang seng rose 0.25%. in london, the ftse opened higher. on wall street, the dow slipped three points yesterday. the nasdaq ticked up almost two points. a new report on the cause of the financial crisis claims the disaster was avoidable. the government commission blames the meltdown on failures in regu mismanagement and risk-taking on wall street. the report will be released tomorrow. but "the new york times" gotrly. google plans to hire more workers than any time in its history. the internet giant plans to add more than 6,200 jobs. and competition for those jobs is fierce. google gets more than 1 million applications a year. taco bell is fighting back against a lawsuit claiming its meat is not all-beef. the fast food chain is now threatening legal action against those who filed in a class-action suit. that suit claims the meat is actually about 65% fillers. and asked the court to order taco bell to be honest in its advertising. well, hockey fans in

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across tennessee has now changed over to all-snow. there should be up to four inches on the ground before it wraps up around noon. and with that, you should expect some snow-covered conditions on i-40, in much of tennessee. slippery on i-5, from the nation's capital to philly, new york and boston. also, slick on i-70, from pittsburgh to cincinnati. and icy on i-4, from fargo to minneapolis. >> expect airport delays in minneapolis, boston, new york, philadelphia, d.c. and charlotte. president obama's state of the union address was one of the most subdued in years. >> the president's message was one of economic urgency. and the shooting of congresswoman gabrielle giffords and the mixed party seating kept party outbursts to a minimum. >> but there were also some lighter moments, of course. like when mr. obama supported high-speed railways. >> this could get you somewhere half the time it takes to travel by c in some trips, it would be

faster than flying, without the pat-down. >> and for all the smiles, there were a few tears from the new speaker of the house, when the president praised his rise as proof of the american dream. >> that dream is why someone who began by sweeping the floors of his father's cincinnati bar can preside as speaker of the house, in the greatest nation on earth. >> that was the only time the speech was stopped for tears. but it was interrupted for other reasons. the president paused 79 times for applause. 25 times for sanding ovations. making for a 1:01 address. >> was that enough time to change some minds out there? on social media, the percentage of people who liked the speech was about the same as those who approved of the president in the latest polls. >> how about the pundits? abc's cokie roberts and matthew dowd graded the president on how the speech played to washington's new civility. >> cokie, how did he do, trying to inaugurate this new era? >> i give him another "a" on

civility. but the fact that the republicans and democrats sat together stymied them. they didn't know when to cheer or when to clap. they didn't know how to behave. and i think it made it hard to get any kind of electricity. >> what do you give him? >> i give him an "a." and i would, if i was giving out a-pluses. which i never do. i'll give him an "a" on it. i think cokie's totally right. i think every time he ventured into a little bit of partisanship, he immediately followed up with a republican initiative. so, he would say, don't ask, don't tell. and then, say we should recruit on college campuses. he would say something on health care. don't repeal the whole thing. but there's changes that can be made. >> and malpractice. >> and malpractice reform. every time he would reach across, he would propose a bipartisan solution. i think in civility, and a follow-up from the tucson speech, this was an "a," for

him. >> agreement on the abc analysts. we'll have more reaction on "gma," plus, a live interview from senator john mccain. the president talked about investing in education, hours, though, after releases that test results show american kids don't know much about science. only about one-third of fourth and eighth graders performed at the proficient level and above. a basketball team in utah is under fire for trouncing the competition by more than 100 points. christian heritage high apologized after defeating west ridge academy 108-3. the coach of the winning team said it wasn't about bad sportsmanship. he just didn't want to insult the competition by slowing the game down. for sports now, here's don bell at espn news. >> good morning. i'm don bell with your espn news update. a big night in college hoops. let's to right to it. jim boeheim and number ten, syracuse, taking on seton hall at home. pope with the jam. seton hall up 48-30, after the

free throw. later in the half, rick jackson misses. brandon triche, he can't get it to go. keyon lawrence, in transition. nice lay-in. seton hall up 62-41, and working on the upset. jordan theodore, the reverse lay-in and good. seton hall with a huge upset win. 90-68 is your final score. top-ranked ohio state, hosting number 12, purdue. it is a big ten matchup. first half, ohio state up by 18. jajuan johnson, can't guard aaron craft. ohio state up by 20 early. less than a minute left in the first half. jared sullinger, from outside. the big man had 17 points. in the second, now, william buford, he had 19. gets the three-pointer and the bucket right there. ohio state wins, 87-64. trey thompkins and georgia, hosting number 23, florida. what a game this was. final seconds of the game. georgia down by two.

the missed layup of thompkins is there, for the lay-in and the buzzer. we have overtime. under five seconds remaining. erving walker pulls up. bang. hits the big shot. we're tied at 85-85. how about double-o.t.? in the extra session. walker drives, misses. macklin, rebound and scoring. macklin had 23. florida up by four. ensuing florida possession, chandler parsons with the nail in the coffin. florida pulls away. they win it, 104-91. that is your espn news update. i'm don bell. now, back to you in the studio. a bizarre musical mystery is baffling beachgoers down in florida. >> look at this baby grand piano. it suddenly appeared perfectly upright on a sand bar. this came about ten days ago. and no one seems to know how the 650-pound instrument got there. florida officials say the piano is not a navigational hazard. so, they have no plan on moving it. there's plenty of theories. two of my favorites. could it have been a music video? could it have been a divorce?

>> it putting in for divorce. coming up next, more good news for gabrielle giffords. and it will be a day of cleanup, after a tornado touches down in florida. we'll be right back. a completely blocked artery,y another heart attack could be lurking, waiting to strike. a heart attack that's caused by a clot, one that could be fatal. but plavix helps save lives. plavix, taken with other heart medicines, goes beyond what other heart medicines do alone, to provide greater protection against heart attack or stroke and even death by helping to keep blood platelets from sticking together and forming dangerous clots. ask your doctor if plavix is right for you. protection that helps save lives. [ female announcer ] certain genetic factors and some medicines, such as prilosec, reduce the effect of plavix leaving you at greater risk for heart attack and stroke. your doctor may use genetic tests to determine treatment. don't stop taking plavix without talking to your doctor as your risk of heart attack or stroke may increase.

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during last night's speech, mr. obama announced new plans for the economy, education and innovation. and they're drying out and cleaning up in florida, after getting slammed by a string of severe storms. a tornado ripped through a gas station in st. petersburg. and winds were gusting up to 75 miles per hour, from tampa, down to miami. police in egypt try to regain control of the streets after several days of massive anti-government protests. the u.s. is urging all parties to avoid violence. the world economic forum begins in switzerland today. this year, business leaders, politicians and social activists will be discussing issues, including china's growing clout. and whether the worst of the financial crisis is really over. and another milestone in the recovery of congresswoman gabby giffords. her condition has been upgraded, from serious to good. and she is being moved to a rehab facility in houston today. well, for some of you, your local news is next. >> for everyone else, "america this morning" continues right after this. (jennifer garner) there's a lot of beautiful makeup out there

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and finally this morning, state of the union speeches are often full of pretty lofty language. >> and last night was no exception. here, now, some of the

highlights. >> it's no secret that those of us here tonight have had our differences over the last two years. the debates have been contentious. we have fought fiercely for our beliefs. and that's a good thing. what comes at this moment is up to us. what comes of this moment will be determined, not by whether we can sit together tonight, but whether we can work together tomorrow. [ applause ] the future is ours to win. to get there, we can't just stand still. we know what it takes to compete for the jobs and industries of our time. we need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world. [ applause ]

this is our generation's sputnik moment. and in a few weeks, i will be sending a budget to congress that helps us meet that goal. we'll invest in biomedical research, information technology, and especially clean energy technology. [ applause ] as contentious and frustrating and messy as our democracy can sometimes be, i know there isn't a person here who would trade places with any other nation on earth. [ applause ] thank you. god bless you. and may god bless the united states of america.he president, move forward together. or not at all. see if a new era of civility makes a difference. >> a very inspirational speech. we want to leave you with early morning snow in the nation's capital. we know the president's doing touring of