thanks for watching! have a good night! hope to see you tomorrow! [ cheers and applause ] ♪ this morning on "early today," state of the union. president obama addresses congress and the nation, calling on lawmakers to show cooperation and bipartisanship. exit strategy, an arrested utah man tries to make a break for it from a moving police car. and miami mystery, how did this 650 pound grand piano end up on a sandbar? captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry.

today, we begin with the president's plan. in his second state of the union address, president obama emphasized the need to work together to put america back on the competitive track with innovation and education.ç nbc's tracie potts joins us live with more on that. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. good morning, everyone. the focus of this message everythings invasion, encouraging american businesses to grow and children to learn. >> what comes of this moment will be determined want by whether we can sit together tonight, but whether we can work together tomorrow. >> reporter: president obama told congress that speeding up america's recovery will require government investigating in the american dream. >> we need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world. >> reporter: shifting oil subsidies to education. >> i'm replacing no child left behind with a law that's more flexible and focus odd what's best for our kids.

>> reporter: fixing the tax code. >> simplify the system. get rid of the loopholes. level the playing field. >> reporter: on health care president obama challenged lawmakers not to start over. >> battles the last two years, let's fix what needs fix and let's move forward. >> reporter: the biggest problem? the nation's massive debt. republicans want deep budget cuts. the president proposes a five-year, as he put it, painful spending freeze. >> i'm willing to eliminate whatever we can honestly afford to do without. let's make sure that we're not doing it on the backs of our most vulnerable citizens. >> reporter: in the republican response, paul ryan called some of the president's words reassuring, but insisted he would back off what he calls a two-year spending spree. >> endless borrowing is not a strategy. spending cuts have to come first. >> reporter: what's cut and how much? that's where they disagree. today on the road president

obama heads to the midwest to a tech company in wisconsin to talk more about the economy. lynn. >> tracie, thanks so much. congresswoman gabrielle giffords continues to make steady progress in her miraculous recovery in a gunshot wound from the head. her condition has been upgraded from serious to good. doctors say she's ready to move from the texas hospital she's now in to a rehabilitation center. that could happen this morning. giffords has been in intensive care since friday due to build-up of brain fluid. that's a common problem associated with brain injuries. meanwhile, with the tucson shooting raising questions about gun control in the u.s., there's new evidence mexico's drug cartels are exploiting american gun laws. yesterday in arizona law enforcement agents arrested 20 people accused of illegally buying 700 guns bound for mexico's drug war. the case involves what's known as straw purchasers, legal residents who buy guns, certify they're for their own use, and

then sell them to the cartels. the alleged straw purchasers managed to pass background checks without raising any red flags, even though some paid large sums of cash for multiple guns. now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. in utah adairing escape attempt was caught on tape when a handcuffed suspect jumped from the back seat of a moving patrol car. at the time of the suspect's jump, the officer was driving about 30 miles an hour. he was quickly taken into custody after suffering minor injuries. in new york another crazy morning commute in the big apple. cell phone video shows a metro north train roaring down the track with one of the doors wide open. fortunately, no one was hurt on the train's trip to grand central station. officials say they are alarmed and investigating. in michigan firefighters had a tough time putting out a massive blaze that destroyed a flint supermarket. the predawn fire produced flames that reach enormous heights and

a loud explosion. the cause of the fire is under investigation. in florida a sandbar in biscayne bay is the location of quite a mystery. a grand piano was recently discovered by nearby residents who have no idea how it got there. it's not clear if the piano works, but it's giving a whole new meaning to the term piano bar. there are no plans to haul it away just yet.ç now for a look at the national and regional weather. here's nbc meteorologist bill karin s with your weather channel forecast. i was waiting for the chimes to come if with my little joke will. did you hear that? >> i did get it. i was looking closely to see if there was a tip jar on top. >> i'll be here all week. >> let's chat about what's happening around the country because another big storm is now heading to the east coast, and what has been an endless series of winter storms is actually snowing this morning in tennessee. areas like nashville. that snow is going to arrive later on during the day for areas up there in the northeast and mid-atlantic. now, middle of the country, a little chilly and cold.

on the west coast, no problems at all. i mean, this has just been a fantastic stretch of weather, and it's like a broken record. a ridge of high pressure is protecting the west. a downward flow is coming out of the mountains. the only area that has clouds is in the pacific northwest. we're mild. 41 in seattle. cool in medford this morning. san diego, all the way to phoenix, temperatures in the 40s to near 50. now we're starting to wrap up the month of january. we haven't had much in the way of rainfall. sometimes we can get a lot of rain in these la nina years in southern california, but in january so far less than one inch. most of the state. the only areas that have gotten significant rainfall is portland, north wards, so far this month and going back the last. as far as the forecast for today goes, we're going to see plenty of sunshine. 71 today in phoenix. 79 in unfortunately,

kind of cloudy there. we could have some spotty drizzle. 53. eugene, also mostly cloudy. only 49. one of the cooler spots, pascoe, washington, 42. it's kind of getting hard for me not to be jealous because it's just been so nice in california lately. >> i know. you just congratulated the west coast on having nice weather. i mean -- >> i like to congratulate other people too, but we're not as fortunate. >> bill, thanks so much. well, consumer confidence is up. google is hiring, and the fate of the fan fired for his tie. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, there's no way you're going to guess the top earning on screen couple from "forbes'" latest list. coming up, a double o.t. thrill ner college hoops. even the comebacks are bigger in

texas. you're watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. illinois supreme court has agreed to decide whether rahm emanuel can run for mayor of chicago, handing at least a temporary lifeline to the former white house chief of staff who was thrown off the ballot earlier this week over a residency dispute. in addition, the court ruled yesterday that no ballots may be printed without emanuel's name at least until justices have dealt with his appeal. calm is returning to the streets of cairo today calling for egypt's president mubarak to end his 30-year utilitarian rule. overnight, protesters were disbursed who had occupied a square in the captain

approximately. mass cow is holding a die of mourning for victims of a suicide bombing at the city's busiest airport which killed at least 35 people. police are focusing their investigation on islamic militants from the north caucuses region and russian prime minister vladimir putin has vowed revenge for the attack. and divers in florida are touting the extremely rare discovery of a roughly 200-year-old ship's bell off the coast of st. augustine. traditionally known as a diver's holy grail, archaeologists say only two bells have ever been recovered off the state's northern coast. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,977 after dipping three points yet. the s&p was up a fraction. the nasdaq inched up a point. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei lost 62 points.

in hong kong, the hang seng added 54. stocks made a late day come back tuesday to offset losses from a less than impressive share of ç corporate earnings. 3m slipped 3% after eeking out earnings that barely beat estimates. a multitude of recent recalls took a chunk out of johnson & johnson's bottom line. verizon missed the streets' forecast, but a health injury rise in providers gave a share its 1% boost. home prices fell in 19 out of the 20 cities tracked by the case-shiller index in november. on the bright side, consumer confidence hit an eight-month high in january. toyota is recalling nearly 1.7 million vehicles worldwide this morning for potentially leaky fuel pipes and fuel pumps. the lexus is and ex models are among those being recalled in the u.s. fundamental failures on the part

of the federal reserve are just a few of the findings due to be released tomorrow in a 576-page book from the financial crisis inquiry commission. disturbingly, the panel determined the that the epic meltdown was, quote, avoidable. looking for a job? try google. the web giant plans to add more than 6,000 workers this year. meanwhile, rival yahoo! announced more layoffs before earnings after the bell. shares fell after hours on weaker than expected forecasts. finally, you may have heard about the illinois car salesman fired for wearing a green bay packers tie at work. good news for you, he says he's had several job offers, including one from his former employer, probably regretting that. the orange men sour, the boilermakers bubble and the gators gobble. plus, nick young performs magic against the nuggets. your early morning sports headlines are just ahead. the latest winter storm is moving towards the east coast. west coast, you look beautiful once again. your forecast is coming up.

you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, the much improved los angeles clippers are making some noise this year. but last night, they were drown out by the dallas mavericks. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports

headlines. good morning. for three quarters, it looked like the clippers were going to pull off a huge upset, but then again, they're still the clippers. the mavs caught fire in the fourth and cruised to victory. to dallas, j.j.bererra took it over in the second half, combined for 53 points. mavs had a 14-0 run in the fourth. that was that. they rallied from 15 down to beat the clips 112-105. wizard fans haven't had much to cheer about. a 360 layup. unfortunately, those cheers quickly turned to jeers. carmelo anthony had a team high 26 and denver won that one. shaq has the mask. can't mask the way paul pierce played against the cavs. he had 24 all in the first half including this buzzer beeter at the end of the first. kendrick perkins made a season debut.

celts handed the cavs their loss. 122-105. purdue and ohio state, six players scored in double digits for ohio state. the buckeyes brought the boilermakers to a simmer. what's up with syracuse>ç they dropped after losing three in a row. seton hall took advantage of the slumping orange. they routed number 10 syracuse. 90-68. finally, great game between number 23 florida and georgia bulldogs down two in the pooilg final seconds. trey thompson is there for the tip at the buzzer to force overtime. georgia up 3 in o.t. seconds away from an upset. irving walker had other ideas. drilled the long three and forced a second o.t. from there, it was all gators. chandler parson hit a three that sent everybody to the exits. florida with the upset, 104-91 in double o.t. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin.

rumors fly about scarlet johansson and key anna reeves. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, they're not just any women's team. they're about to take on some impressive opponents. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. here's a look at your wednesday

forecast. mild conditions continue. our january thaw, it's been more like a month-long thaw. temperatures in the 80s in l.a. 71 in phoenix. cooler in the mountainous areas as you would expect. even in the pacific northwest, mostly a dry day. meanwhile, we take breaks of sunshine. temperatures in the 50s. then we do it all over again tomorrow. doesn't look like any rainfall moves in until friday into areas of especially northwestern sections of washington state. other than that, enjoy. if you are watching us on kobi tv 5 medford, oregon, take a tour through a collection of free-hanging painting that is echo the ocean in the installation sea curtains at the rogue gallery and art center. that's your pacific event of the day. >> bill, thanks. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. scarlett johannson's reps have shot down reports she has a new boyfriend. life and style reported the former mrs. ryan reynolds was spotted in santa monica on a date with saturday night live's

jason sedacus, who just end aid relationship with january jones. another bogus rumor, warner brothers and keanu reeves deny a rash of reports of both a fourth and fifth "matrix" film are in the works. festival fallout from sun dance. the hollywood reporter says despite al pachino, katie holmes, with a screening of the thriller "the son of no one" saw everyone walking out in droves. forbes went too far with its top grossing on screen couples. rupert grim and epa watson, known from the "harry potter" movies haven't even kissed yet, but $6.3 billion earned them a technical win over more grown-up pairings like leonardo decap row and kate winslet in titanic. >> now i have to go see the song

of no one. if you were walking out of the theater, i need to know how bad this movie is. >> are you really going to waste, like, $14.50 to come out on this movie? >> maybe it will come out on video. >> sounds like it will be soon. a few grandmothers had to show a few young fellows they had game. the granny globe-trotters had a face-off with the formidable globe when they stopped by practice. %ur(s& business on the court playing in two senior olympic games and win aing state championship, but they took it easy on special k. and glinda, showing their moves and making it a fun day for everyone involved. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

why so serious? because these amateur actors hope to land a role in the upcoming batman live in london. lining two city blocks, the superhero wannabes put their best cape forward, but only a few made it to the next round. batman wasn't the only one from the famed comedy series. the joker made quite a splash, as well. it was a smart car that took some thinking. just in time for valentine's day, one company in japan unveiled a chocolate inexpired ride. brown and patterned like a candy bar.

in gentleman pap, it's traditional for women to give men chocolate during the valentine's day soap. so it's the perfect if not pricey gift. the sweet car will set you back nearly $30,000. curiosity might have killed the cat, but it might have saved one penguin. after wandering away from its group, a penguin in peru found its way into police custody. the flightless bird became a minor celebrity after landing at the local police station. he posed for photos and played with a few fans. officers are caring for the penguin until he can be safely returned to the wild.ç he's not the only person that's running to turn themselves into police. >> he is cute, though. he already has the stripes on, though, the white and black. >> i know. it fits him perfectly, doesn't it? >> time for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. exciting news expected from nasa today. the space agency says it will announce a new discovery made by the hubble space telescope. in washington, the federal reserve wraps up its first

policy meeting of the year. the fed will assess the economy and make it clear that things have not improved enough to end its controversial bond buying plan. in california, actor donald sutherland will receive a star on hollywood's walk of fame. he will be receiving the 2,430th star on the hollywood's walk of fame. all day long, you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with nbc "nightly news." and, finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. an in-depth analysis of the president's state of the union address. plus, following up on claims that taco bell's meat is more filler than beef. find out what's really in your fast food. now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com