didn't want you to see and supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg gave the president the big bear hug right before the speech. what happened once he actually started to speak? this is "way too early." hi everybody. good morning. i'm thomas roberts. it's wednesday, january 21st. welcome to wait wait the show with the state of the union hang ever. we stayed up well past our bed times and we can commiserate with justice ginsburg. we'll talk about that coming up. the president has two years left in office. last night it was a very confident president obama addressing congress with proposals he says will lift the middle class. speaking to a packed chamber, the president claimed his and dane as practical, not partisan and patted his administration on the back for policies that are already in place. >> at every step we were told

our goals were misguided or too ambitious, that we would crush jobs and explode deficits. instead we've seen the fastest economic growth in over a decade. our deficits cut by two-thirds, a stock market that has doubled and health care inflation at its lowest rate in 50 years. this is good news people. [ cheers and applause ] so the verdict is clear. middle class economics works. >> the president touted a number of plans that had been leaked or slowly rolled out on the weeks prior of this speech. he called for shifting the tax burden away from middle class families better chk, improved sick leave, equal wages for men and women, free community college and a national minimum wage increase.

>> nothing helps families make ends meet like higher wages. that's why this congress still needs to pass a law that makes sure a woman is paid the same as a man for doing the same work. >> it's 2015. it's time. we still need to make sure employees get the over time they've earned. and every one in this congress who still refuses to raise the minimum wage i say this. if you truly believe you can work full time and support a family on less than $15,000 a year, try it. if not, vote to give millions of the hardest working people in america a raise. [ cheers and applause ] the president took what some critics are dismissing as a rosie few of foreign policy touted the success of america's sanctions and russia's advance,

cited america's progress in containing isis while calling for authorization for a use of force in congress. >> in iraq and syria, american leadership including our military power is stopping isil's advance. instead of getting dragged into another ground war in the middle east, we are leading a broad coalition, including arab nations, to degrade and ultimately destroy this terrorist group. we talked about what was in this speech. what wasn't in the speech. no mention of al qaeda. the president spent virtually no time on the events in ferguson and new york that sparked mass protests. he did call for a less toxic air of politics drawing bipartisan applause. at times he found his swagger, especially during this off-the-cuff exchange with republicans. >> i have no campaigns to run. my only agenda --

[ applause ] [ laughter ] i know because i won both of them. >> as he didn't put on sunglasses. there were a slew of responses to the president's address. hillary clinton tweeted her support for the president's middle class message, but her possible presidential foe jim webb said he wasn't a big fan. though president called for better politics mitt romney blasted him for choosing politics over leadership. the main response came from senator joni ernst, on the job just two weeks, talked about her story of growing up working at hardee's wearing bread bags over her shoes. she wasted little time in opposing the president. >> we'll also keep fighting to repeal and replace a health care law that's hurt so many hard working families. we'll work to correct executive

overreach. we'll propose ideas that aim to cut wasteful spending and balance the budget with meaningful reforms, not higher taxes like the president has proposed. >> republican congressman carlos cabell low gave the republican response in spanish and he discussed immigration reform where ernst did not highlighting a rift in the party. hand paul highlighted growing racial unrest. >> my trips to ferguson detroit, atlanta and chicago have revealed what i call an undercurrent of unease. there's a tension that has become visible in the protests in every american city. as congressman john lewis put it there is growing discontent in this country. >> still it wouldn't be a state of the union without some kind of gaff. texas senator's lewis had this

post that was eventually taken down from youtube. >> the president tried to say his policies are lifting the middle class, and yet today median incomes have stagnated for over a decade. -- let me start over. >> tonight america saw a powerful demonstration that it is time to move on beyond president barack obama. two takes. that's not bad. there are a lot of people that have to take more takes. a cruz staffer stated yes, sometimes it takes him two takes, but not often. as always social media and the internet played a large role in the state of the union experience. the white house posted the text on the blogging side medium ahead of his speech allowing viewers at home to follow along. search joe biden on twitter and

you'll see this reaction shot of the vice president, another instant classic in the long list of biden state of the union moments. not sharing biden's excitement was justice ruth bader ginsburg who appeared to nod off. overall 2.6 million tweets were sent related to the state of the union with obama easy won both of them comment getting the most tweets per minute. the most searched topics were related to middle class income gas prices and how much money the president makes. much like a hollywood red carpet fashion was on everybody's mind. white house aide dan pfeiffer used twitter to tease one of the president's possible suit choices with the #yeswetan. they certainly didn't. senator joni ernst had twitter budsing sporting heels with a camouflage print. first lady michelle obama's suit designed by michael kohrs was deemed flawless by some and looked familiar to fans of the

hit show "the good wooif." alicia floor rick on the right. michelle obama on the left. let's look at some of the other state of the union stats. the spooech 59 minutes and 57 seconds, six seconds shy of the shortest address in 2013. below the average. president obama's speeches are the second longest in history behind bill clinton. he also received 87 applause breaks, the most interruptions on record is 128 for president clinton's 2000 address. since 1991 an average of around 80. for the first time since 2001 al qaeda failed to get a mention in the state of the union. the president also became the first in u.s. history to use the words transgender or bisexual in a state of the union address. now we want to hear your thoughts on the president's state of the union. how did he do? what was your favorite moment? tweet us your responses

@waytooearly. the president told congress to set their sights higher than the keystone pipeline. the battle continues in nebraska with the canadian company taking legal action against residents in that state. eminent domain proceedings started yesterday. over the last couple years some landowners nebraska have stole their land. 90 others have refused. under a 2012 law the company had until last week to file eminent domain actions against the remaining holdouts. this would allow the transcanada corp the right to construct the pipeline on land that is privately owned. last night president obama encouraged them to set aside the keystone pipeline and focus on infrastructure bills. we turn our attention to other news around the world. in yemen violence and unrest are

on the rise. they stormed and seized controlled of the presidential palace. yemen's president was believed to be in the capital at the time but his exact whereabouts were unknown. later the day a rebel gave a speech saying the advances were a warning for the government to meet the group's political demands. the country's current leadership is a crucial american ally in the fight against al qaeda in that region. u.s. officials say the up rising is a threat to those efforts. president hadi is apparently still clinging to power at this time. the governor of montana declared a state of emergency after an oil spill in the yellowstone river. residents are being told not to use the tap water because of contamination. high levels of benzine which can cause cancer have been found in water samples. the advisory comes two days after the pipeline ruptured spilling some 50,000 gallons of oil. the company which owns the pipeline has apologized. the river is covered in ice.

officials say they're still not sure how to remove the oil that's now trapped beneath that sur fashion. still ahead on "way too early," new reports on what some are calling deflate-gate. the big question did the patriots cheat their way into the super bowl? wait until you hear this. more reaction to the state of the union. "morning joe" has congressman paul ryan wisconsin governor scott walker independent senator bernie senators john thune, joaquin castro and potential gop presidential candidate carly fiorina as guests. you don't want to miss it. candidate carly fiorina as guests. you don't want to miss it. presidential candidate carly fiorina as guests. you don't want to miss it. otential gop presidential candidate carly fiorina as guests. you don't want to miss it. president carter kept a campaign promise today, pardoned all vietnam draft evaders.

about 10,000 people will be immediately affected by the president's action including 1600 draft resisters living in foreign countries. they can now come home. what's in a can of del monte green beans? ( ♪ )

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is gentle enough for them. we give you relief from your cold and flu. you give them everything you've got. tylenol®. time now for sports. claims of early findings in the nfl's investigation into the new england patriots' deflation situation. get this. according to espn 11 out of 12 of the patriots' balls taken during sunday's afc championship were underinflated by two pounds per square inch. that could make the balls easier to grip and catch, especially in the rainy weather they had. so far the league is not publicly commenting and the investigation could take several more days. espn says it's unclear what penalties, if any, may be imposed on the team which says it's cooperating with the investigation. nbc news has not confirmed the reporting from espn. the nfl will be

experimenting with some new rules for extra point attempts during sunday's pro bowl game. goal posts will be narrowed by more than four feet, and similar to the first two preseason games, kick also be moved back to the 15 yard line instead of the 2. want to switch gears and get you filled in on tennis. day three of the australian open. roger federer fighting back after dropping the first set to italy to win it in four. sixth seeded andy murray. as for the women, two-seed maria sharapova advances to the third round after narrowly beating alexandra panova. thank you jen. i got a hand on the hip for jen from that. thank you. that's how you do hard names. college hoops, top ranked kentucky hosting vandy. briefly leading by double digits

in the second half. vanderbilt gets within four points. but the harrison brothers remain clutch for kentucky aaron harrison hitting a big late three. yeah. look at that to keep things out of reach for the commodores. kentucky remains undefeated streaking to 18 wins after a 65-57 victory. let's get a check on weather, nbc meteorologist bill karins is standing by. what do you think ability deflate-gate? >> it's way overblown. what are you going to talk about for two weeks before the super bowl? it's filling the void. >> overblown? >> you like that? >> yeah. >> i'm going to be here all week for better or worse. this morning people will be driving in the snow. once again, just a little coating of snow making it very slippery on the roads. careful in chicago where we have light snow. in cleveland the snow is now moving in in time for the morning rush hour.

pittsburgh, same for you. those are two of the worst for the big cities. for d.c. baltimore and philadelphia, it will be more of a problem towards midday into the late afternoon. winter weather advisories for coastal jersey. a light snow event, but a little coating with the busy rush hour on the highways. we've seen what's happened this winter with numerous multicar accidents. a few inches through the chesapeake bay. new york city may see a little snow or a coating not a big impact on the evening commute. so that's one good piece of news. richmond, you're too far south and too warm. the story that's going to develop the next couple days is a real return to winter. we had our january thaw. we'll see a snowstorm developing today in new mexico and northern texas. we are going to watch that storm over the next four days to go through the southeast and up the east coast. saturday still looks like a chance for a nor'easter for new england. this has a chance of being the biggest snowfall of the season for many areas in eastern new england and southern new

england. even new york city has a clans of guesting significant snow out of this. >> on saturday? >> this will be during the day saturday, into saturday night. if all goes well we can all play in the snow on sunday. better than during the week. >> excellent, or be trapped in your house sunday night to watch miss universe sunday night with me co-hosting with natalie morales. coming up on "morning joe," exclusive reaction to the president's state of the union address. why one columnist said the president threatened to derail his message by quote, oozing so much confidence. we were addicted over the holidays what the only person who could prove the possible innocence is now saying about that investigation. we're back after this.

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season, but surely we can agree that the right to vote is sacred, that it's being denied to too many and that on this 50th anniversary of the great march from selma to montgomery and the passage of the voting rights act, we can come together democrats and republicans, to make voting easier for every single american. >> welcome back everybody.

president obama talking voting rights at last night's state of the union. he's going to travel to selma in march to honor the 50th anniversary of the historic mafs that led from selma to montgomery. they were organized to combat the disenfranchisement of black voters. marches were portrayed in the movie "selma" up for academy award for best picture. president obama hosted a screening of that film last week at the bhous along with oprah winfrey and director ava do you have nay. there is new information on the air that -- excuse me. there's new information on the airasia flight that crashed into the java sea last month. officials say the plane pushed well beyond its limits before going down. radar data is showing it climbed

above 6,000 feet per minute behaving more like a fighter jet than a passenger plane. it's unclear why the aircraft ascended so quickly. officials say more analysis is needed because bad weather at that time could have produced an inaccurate reading. now we have this new twist in the baltimore murder case that has gotten the attention of millions all over the world thanks to the hid podcast "serial." if you follow it you know adnan syed was convicted of murdering his former high school girlfriend. he's now trying to appeal that case claiming ineffective counsel in part because the only person that could confirm his alibi was never asked to actually testify. the podcast features a claim from fellow student asia mclean that she saw and spoke with syed in the library during the time when the murder was supposed to have happened. prosecutors say she later recanted her story. in a new interview mcclaine says

that is not true. she says prosecutors discouraged her from taking part in the appeals process. the website published new information in which she -- the takeaway is mclean stands by her original story of being with syed at the time of the murder t. other takeaway download this podcast, it is addictive. in response to your twitter question, we asked your thoughts on the president's state of the union. >> so matthew says in 1998 stella got her groove back. last night during the state of the union speech barack obama got his swag back. our friend aiden tweets the introduction of ben and rebecca into the national spotlight and the idea of free community college are his favorite things. and then pierre says he just loves this picture of ruth bader ginsburg in mesh gloves. >> i did not get that image

originally. >> it's pretty awesome. >> timeless classic. one last thing for you, if you want to sound smart, tell your friends attendance among the supreme court justices has significantly declined over the last 50 years, from 1965 to 1980, the attendance rate was 84%. since the year 2000 it dropped all the way to 32% including years when justice stephen brier was the sole member of the court in attendance. up next on "way too early," a look at the stories straight ahead and "morning joe" live from d.c., moments away.

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request soup lets you hear it in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. great taste. [ m'm... ] [ tapping ] sounds good. campbell's healthy request. m'm! m'm! good.® welcome back everybody. still ahead right here on the show this morning is an update on stories we're following this morning. all i'm seeing is myself right now. so -- cory what are we following this morning? >> president obama goes to boise state university. >> what else? >> historic talks between the u.s. and cuba. >> historic talks between u.s. and cuba. and what else? that's it. we're done for a wednesday, "way

too early"? >> time for a live edition of "morning joe" from d.c. scripts are so important everybody. have scripts at home. don't let the children leave home without them. we are 15 years into this new century. 15 years into the don of terror touching our shorts that unfolled with a new generation fighting two long and costly wars that saw a vicious recession spread across our nation and the world. it has been and till is a hard time for many. but tonight we turn the page. tonight, after a break through year for america, our economy is grow