we begin with breaking news, a secret mission by navy s.e.a.l.s. >> dropp >> dropping into one of the most dangerous places on earth to rescue an american held by pirates. details still coming in. >> the president knew about this mission last night at the state of the union address. he mentioned a very strong message to congress and the nation. and a tense time for the vehicle receipt service. an armed man shows up at the home of former president bush. good morning, everyone. i'm rob nelson. >> and i'm paula faris.

we begin with the breaking news overnight. a daring nighttime raid by navy s.e.a.l.s has freed an american and a danish aid worker held hostage. >> the s.e.a.l.s have done it again. they choppered into the east african nation of somalia. there was a shootout that left at least nine pirates dead. >> jessica buchanan and poul thlsted were kidnapped in october and were held until now. the american worked for the danish aid group starting in 2010. >> an interesting sight. the president may have tipped his hand last night in the state of the union. as he entered the house chamber, he pointed to defense secretary leon panetta, standing in the crowd and said this -- >> leon, good job tonight. good job tonight. >> in case you didn't catch that, he said good job tonight. our pentagon team, of course, is

working to learn more about the raid. we'll have the latest coming up on "good morning america." our other major story is the state of the union address. after laying out his vision to congress, the president gives it a real-world test later today on a stop in iowa. >> he's hitting the road. before the speech, a rare moment of unity in the house chamber. abc's karen travers breaks it all down from capitol hill. >> reporter: good morning, rob and paula. last night, the president declared that washington is broken. he called for a bipartisan effort to keep the economy growing.ats and republican democrats and republicans may not agree on the policies he laid out in the state of the union, but before the address began, a poignant moment drew thunderous bipartisan applause. as the president walked into the house chamber, she shared a long hug with congresswoman gabrielle giffords. she will step down from her

position to focus on her recovery. >> we can settle for a country while a shrinking number of americans do well while a growing number of americans get by. or we can lay out an economy where everyone gets a shot. >> reporter: he laid out his road map for how to get there. >> and economy built on american manufacturing. american energy. skills for american workers. and a renewal of american values. >> reporter: the speech centered around the call for economic fairness, an america where everyone pays their fair share. but in mr. obama's view, the rich pay more. >> if you make more than $1 million a year, you should not pay less than 30% in taxes. >> reporter: for months, the president has railed against what he calls a do-nothing congress. he says lawmakers cannot stand in the way of the economy's momentum. >> i will return t return to the very same policies that brought on this economic crisis in the first place. >> reporter: republicans said it was more of the same failed partisan politics from the president. >> do not accept that ours will

ever be nation of haves and have-nots. we must always be a nation of haves and soon to haves. >> reporter: his message was aimed at the independents he's going to need to win a second term. rob and paula? >> thanks, karen. we'll talk to vice president biden later on "good morning america." tomorrow, diane sawyer conducts the first post-speech interview with the president from las vegas. >> should be a good one. many experts thought that last night's speech would be the first re-election pitch to american voters. so how did it all go over? >> well, abc's partner, yahoo! polled voters immediately after this speech. in a nonscientific survey, 63% said that the president deserves a second tern. and karen touched on it, but here it is again. the president's long hug for gabby giffords. she was sitting with jeff flake, a republican, who stood with

giffords every time the democrats gave a standing ovation. raising eyebrows from some of the republicans in the room. he was helping her stand. he said he's sure people would understand. john kerry sporting quite a look at the speech last night. turns out the senator and former presidential candidate got roughed up at a pickup hockey game over the holidays. he suffered a broken nose and two black eyes after being hit in the face with a stick. i think we were all wondering what happened to him. one-time presidential candidate herman cain delivered the tea party response to the speech. cain dismissed the speech as a hodgepodge of old ideas. he slipped into some of his old lines from his campaign days, zeroing in on the fairer tax code. he did stop short of mentioning the 9-9-9 tax plan. the president's challengers said his speech presented no new ideas. campaigning in florida, mitt romney says mr. obama borrowed many of his ideas.

and newt gingrich said the president didn't share the same planet as most people. gingrich drew an estimated 5,000 people at his fourth and final event in naples. he told the audience at his last stop of the day he had seen nor than 10,000 floridians in one day. secret service agents guarding the home of former president bush had quite a scare last night. they n unidentified man approached the home saying he wanted to deliver a spiritual message to the president. he did have a gun with a valid permit. they don't know how he got inside the gated community. the bush family was not at home at the time. yemen's outgoing president is on the way to the u.s. to be treated for burns that he suffered at a bomb blast at his palace last year. president saleh agreed to step down. he apoll yized to the yemeni

people. a woman underwent heart transplant surgery. she was not told that her new heart was dropped on the street on its way to the hospital. the heart was wrapped in plastic when a medic tripped and, oops, it tumbled out of the cooler. that heart literally skipped a beat. >> further proof it's a strong heart. time for the weather across the country. stormy in texas and louisiana with hail, gusty winds and isolated tornadoes. around corpus christi, houston, and shreveport. rain and thunderstorms from dallas to little rock. late-day showers from louisville around cincinnati and indianapolis. snow in the cascades. and rain from seattle to northern california. >> 62 in sacramento. 51 in salt lake city. 48 in boise. 30s from fargo to detroit. new york gets up to 43. miami, 81. 65 in atlanta. and 75 in new orleans. coming up next, we'll update

the breaking news this morning. the daring raid by navy s.e.a.l.s in somalia. and the landing of a lifetime. imagine being a passenger or the pilot of one of these planes. >> look at that. also this morning, a brazilian beauty and a billionaire. gisele bunch when doing what no supermodel has done before.

welcome back, everyone. sales of the iphone and ipad have helped push apple's

earnings into record territory. the company earned just over $13 billion in the last quarter of 2011. revenue was up 73% from a year ago. apple said it sold 37 million iphones in the last three months of 2011 alone, vastly exceeding what analysts predicted. >> i think we got into the wrong business, paula. asian markets are higher today and remained calm. despite fears of a possible default by greece. tokyo's nikkei average was up 98 point today. hong kong's hang seng was closed for the chinese new year. in london, the ftse opened higher but headed downward. on wall street, the dow lost 33 points. the nasdaq index rose 2. the ceo of general motors will testify today before a house subcommittee about a battery fire in the chevy volt electric cars. why did regulators wait five months before telling the public about a low battery that caught fire in a safety test?

american workers beware. the average employee spends about 1,000 bucks a year on coffee and 2,000 a year on lunches. younger workers and men are more likely to indulge. according to a recent survey. and gisele bundchen has been the top earning model. for seven years in a row, reportedly earning $45 million in each of the past two years. she launched a lingerie line this past may. she's well on her way to becoming the first billionaire supermodel. and the first brazilian self-made billionaire woman. and she's married to tom brady. some girls have >> some guys ha. >> some guys have all the luck i would say. i'm drinking my coffee. let's do this next thing. next on this wednesday morning, amanda knox is back in the news this morning. for some surprising comments. does she really want to go back to italy? and the health scare for demi moore. rushed to an l.a. hospital. we're right back.

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all right. so this is what happens when the wind beneath your wings gets a little out of hand. these are planes struggling to land at an airport in germany. the flights approached at odd angles. passengers had nothing to worry about. had to be some scary moments. >> if you're flying here in the u.s. today, weather-related airport delays possible in houston, dallas, and memphis. >> and your morning road conditions, wet on i-5 from seattle to portland. rain drenches i-10 and 20 from san antonio to abilene. well, at least for this week, the penn state campus isc focusing on coaching legend joe paterno's accomplishments,

rather than the child sex abuse scandal that ended his career. >> mourners will line up again this morning. in an interview with espn, the family says they're moved by the outpouring of support. he says the tamhis father's dyi wishes focused on sue, his wife. >> him just saying, you just take care of your mother. >> paterno will be buried this afternoon in a private service. amanda knox apparently has no hard feelings at italy. her lawyer says she loves italy and would like to go back to perugia. she may go back in the fall to testify at the trooil of her parents. they're charged with slandering the police. there's word this morning that actress demi moore was rushed to the hospital in los angeles. she's under stress and seeking

professional help for exhaustion. there are also reports that she's entering rehab for substance abuse. moore, of course, split from ashton kucher in november after six years of marriage.years of we'll have lots more on this coming up on "gma." and a big legal victory today for garth brooks. a jury in oklahoma ruled a local hospital must pay the country singer $1 million for failing to build a women's center named after his late mother. he donated $500,000 for naming rights but sued when the hospital used the money for different projects. now time for sports. this is your espn news update. let's start with the nba. dwight howard and the magic taking on the pick it up pick it up first quarter. jameer nelson. howard working the pick and

roll. we're knotted up at 9-9. howard, doing what he do with the big slam. that makes him the magic's all-time leading scorer. we're tied at 49-49. richardson with the three on the buzzer. magic lead by 12 after three. fourth quarter now. richardson.lay-in,reverse lay-i. it's all magic. later in the fourth, j.j. redick, the magic go on the win, 102-83. college hoops, michigan taking on purdue. second half, trey burke. the layin. michigan up six. over 6:00 to go, pay attention now. kids. learn like this. pick and roll. morgan to douglas for the three. michigan up one. just under 4:00 left. smith with the three-pointer. purdue regaining the lead.

61-59. less than 2:00 to go. morgan and t and and michigan up 65-64. 22 seconds left. robby hummel, desperation three won't go. michigan wins, 66-64. that's your espn news update. i'm jorge andres. for more, tune into espn news. >> michigan won. i'm just saying. >> you're happy girl today. up next "the pulse." another moment from last night's speech getting the buzz this morning. and spectacular sights from the skies of the northern hemisphere. [ laughs ]

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♪ [ gong ] strawberry banana! [ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new v8 v-fusion smoothie. could've had a v8. welcome back, everybody. in this morning's "pulse" a potpourri of the stories that everybody will be talking about. beginning with a solar storm. >> the blast of radiation in charged plasma from the sun peaked last night. that's amazing. the flare show cased over canada, northern new england. >> as a caution, some flights over the north pole were

rerouted. there were no reports of any problems. just something cool to look at.u >> i would imagine if you didn't know it was coming, it would be a little eerie though. we can't let the state of the union speech go by without commenting on the first lady's beautiful dress. she added a bit of bling the neckline as well. >> she wore a dress by the same designer in a meeting with prince william and kate middleton earlier in year. >> i imagine the designer's name and label just went up a little bit. >> she's very happy this morning. more politics. what would happen if you blended the latest gop debate with the hit movie "the artist." >> i can only imagine. enjoy. ♪

[ laughter ] ♪ >> that was good. that was -- >> nice. >> a little bit of editing in there. >> well done, jimmy. good stuff. that ought to get an oscar, too. oh, you're not going the talk. for some of you, your local news is coming up next. for everyone else, releas released recordings from the kennedy white use. "america this morning" continues right after this. paula's vow of silence will be over after the commercial break. stay with us.

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you quit? i'm trying nicoderm cq. [ male announcer ] nicoderm cq, the patch with 24-hour smart control technology, lets you celebrate a little win every time you say no to a cigarette. nicoderm cq. quit one day at a time. u.s. navy seals raid a pirate camp that freed two international aid workers being held hostage in somalia. >> new call to break up one of the biggest banks in america. >> meteorologist mike nicco will have our forecast. >> clouds have broke up some of our fog. >> sue will look at traffic

up breaking news. an american aid worker is safe this morning after being rescued in somalia by a team of navy s.e.a.l.s. jessica buchanan and another worker were rescued after being kidnaps nine months ago. the president begins a three-day visit to key battleground states. first stop in cedar rapids iowa. then on to a speech in phoenix and a stop in las vegas. lookinged a today's weather, late day showers in louisville, cincinnati, and indianapolis. rain and mountain snow in the forth west. and finally from us, voices from camelot. the country is hearing some of president kennedy's final words. >> the kennedy library just

released 45 hours of white house taped recordings. they capture him in day mode in the days and weeks leading up to his death. >> reporter: the last few daps in the last few months, everything was future for him. campaign. he was thinking color tv for the re-election. >> and it would have an effect. i don't know how much more expensive is it. do it right. >> reporter: also future, his children, who apparently peeked th day door one day when the soviet foreign minister was there. >> you can just open the door there. just say hello to my daughter and son. come in a minute. you want to say hello to the u t you want to say hello to john. >> reporter: then he brings up the dog. >> his chief is the one who sent you pushinka. >> reporter: we know another

par part of it first heard of the news. she had met mr. khrushchev and talked about dogs in space. s >> i said, i saw one of your space dogs had puppies. he laughed. we were back in washington about two months later and jack said to me, how did this dog get here? >> reporter: those tapes much more audible than a secret recording system that kennedy last used on november 20, 1963. making plans for the following week with an aide. >> i will be here monday? well that's a tough day. >> reporter: for jfk, it would be a monday that never came. john donvan, abc news, washington. >> so haunting to hear the voices from the past like that. >> that's what's making news