this morning, on "early today," executive assessment. in his state of the union address, president obama warns the american dream is under siege. rough seas. some tense moments as a police boat cap sizes off the coast of australia. and stunning display. cameras are rolling as the northern lights illuminate the sky over norway. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello. good morning. i'm lynn berry. we begin with an impassion plea. millions watched last night as president obama delivered his third state of the union speech.

something democrats hope will be seen as a compelling appeal for his election to a second term. in it, the president called for national unity and laid out plans for the future. nbc's steve handelsman has more from capitol hill. good morning. >> good morning. >> reporter: even his harshest critics concede this is what barack obama does best. his democrats up here love this state of the union address. >> the president of the united states! >> reporter: barack obama came to congress pushing his reelection feed that republicans call class war fare. >> we cannot settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do very well while a growing number of americans barely get bit, where we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot and everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules. >> reporter: he demanded a new rule for the wealthy like him.

>> if you make more than a million dollars a year, you should not pay less than 30% in taxes. >> reporter: the president took credit for 3 million new jobs, cutting the deficit 2 trillion and saving gm and chrysler. >> and, tonight, the american auto industry is back. >> reporter: he promised fairer trade with china, mortgage refis at a lower rate and better policing of wall street. >> it's time to apply the same rules from top to bottom. no bailouts, no handouts and no copouts. >> reporter: the republican response came from indiana governor mitch daniels. >> the president did not cause the economic and fiscal crises that continue in america tonight but he was elected on a promise to fix them and he kcannot clai the last three years have made anything but worse. >> reporter: back in the capital retiring congresswoman gabby giffords was an inspiration. the president cited the

s.e.a.l.s that got osama bin laden. >> they work together. imagine what we would have accomplished if we follow their example. >> reporter: lower the temperature which could be tough in this election year. from capitol hill, i'm steve handelsman, nbc news. lynn, back to you. >> all right, steve. thanks so much. as president obama entered the capitol for his speech he was overheard congratulating defense secretary leon panetta apparently for the daring succeed into somalia this morning to free two hostages including an american woman. the navy american s.e.a.l.s and a helicopter flew into a pirate base in central somalia and exchanged gunfire with the kidnappers and rescued american jesse bachman and a coworker from denmark. the two hostages were taken hostage in october as they helped clear mines. the rescuers and the hostages are all safely from somalia. protesters in cairo are taking to the streets this

morning, marking the first anniversary of the start of the revolution in egypt on january 25th, 2011. demonstrators bloke through barriers to take over tahrir square in cairo. egypt's current military ruler to themselves are under increasing pressure saying they are lifting the long hated emergency laws and releasing almost 2,000 people who were tried in military courts. here is a look at the stories making news early today in america. surveillance video out of florida shows a 15-year-old boy crashing into the roof of an electronics store during a robbery. he can also be seen carrying a loaded handgun which he later fired inside the store. police say he snuck out the front door and even came back later with a friend to steal laptop computers. but one of the teens' mothers saw the video on the news and called police. now both suspects are under

arrest. massachusetts senator john kerry is sporting two black eyes after breaking his nose in an ice hockey game. you should see the puck. he found the right place to show off his injury, though, at monday's white house ceremony where president obama honored hockey's boston bruins for their stanley cup win. and speaking of sports. indianapolis is pulling out all of the stops to make sure you know they are hosting super bowl xlvi. giant roman numerals 30 feet high are going up in the city's monument circle. you can catch the big game right here on this nbc station, that will be one week from sunday. now for a look at your national and region weather, here is meteorologist bill karins with a look at the forecast. >> we are filling up the lakes in texas. >> there you go. >> it is pouring. >> unfortunately. >> yeah. it's good and bad in some ways. what we are dealing with is a flash flooding. that is the bad part of it. but the heavy rains continue.

san antonio under flash flood warnings and austin. 2 inches of rain overnight in dallas at executive airport. all of the big cities are getting a lot of heavy rain out of this situation and this is kind of what we have been needing for a long time. don't really have any other bad weather out there. just light snow up in minnesota. we do have a tornado watch, so far, for good. nothing devastating and nog like we dealt with in alabama. interstate 35 watch the storms in and around the greater san antonio area. you see the thunderstorms and color on the map indicates the heavy rainfall. we are thinking that by the time we are all said and done, much of this region is going to be between 2 and 3 inches and up in oklahoma 4 inches of rain. eventually throughout the night tonight and tomorrow some of the rain will move through louisiana, mississippi and alabama. i don't think too much severe storms. the worst threat of tornadoes is early today in south texas and where the wet weather. denver, a beautiful day today.

cooler in the east today but you can't complain. temperatures in the that's a look at the national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. we mentioned the flash flooding in austin, texas. your thunderstorm threat will continue all morning long. we could end up with 4 inches of rain today alone. other areas of alabama, cloudy skoos. your rain won't arrive until tonight and tomorrow. so, yeah, it's good and bad if you get a lot of heavy rain. we need the lakes to fill up but we don't want flash flooding. >> bill, thanks so much. stocks sputter and apple shines and how you can hobnob an english castle. your early morning headlines are straight ahead. plus, he has lots of admirers, present company included. they are mad as heck this morning that he didn't get any oscar nominations. i try. coming up, alex ovechkin sticks it to the nhl. detroit crowns a prince and a miracle shot you won't believe. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are your top headlines this morning. amateur video allegedly showing syrian troops cracking down on homes where reportedly 48 people were killed on tuesday appear syria rejected a plan for assad to surrender power. staff sergeant frank rutirich will not get any jail time for leaving a squad that killed 24 unarmed irks. he made a plea deal to a lesser charge six years ago. none of the other marines involved were punished. a police boat overturned in rough seas off the coast of australia. they were helping search for an 8-year-old boy who has been missing since monday. officers involved were not hurt. judge wesley brown, the nation's oldest federal judge,

has died at 104. he was appointed by president kennedy in 1962. judge brown said he was appointed for life or good behavior, whichever he lost first. and the northern lights have been putting on a spectacular show these last few days. the biggest solar storm in more than six years is boosting the aroar borealis and light up the skies with a dazzling display above northern europe. now here is another look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. the government reports an unusually mild flu season so far. less than 4% of lab samples through the second week of january came back positive for the flu and compared to 26% last year. we may not have hit the peak of flu activity. health officials recommend if you have not been vaccinated, you should get a flu shot. for more information on this, check out the health page at msnbc.com.

now here is an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,675 after losing 33 points yesterday. the s&p lost a point. but the nasdaq was up 2. take ago look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo, the nikkei climbed 98 points, while in hong kong, the hang sang rose 167. after a less than impressive tuesday, stocks could be in for a strong start today. after the bell, apple blew past analyst estimates for revenue and profit, thanks to staggering fourth quarter sales of iphones and ipads. late trade, apple shares swelled into record territory. earlier tuesday, worries about greece resurfaced as talks resurface that country's debt stalled once again. that compounded caution raised by a warning from the international monetary fund about the global impact of europe's recession. a slew of lack laster earnings reports at home didn't help stocks either.

verizon missed estimates by a penny as profits were cut into their profit margins. weak earnings from utah based zion bank made the biggest drag on the s&p. mcdonald's shares fell 2%. nvidai traded lower after late day report that -- on the flip side, disk drive maker western digital boosted the s&p after coming in well above earnings estimates. coach rose 6% thanks to strong holiday sales. in deal news, swiss drug giant roche made an offer for iluminia for $5.7 billion. keep an eye on boeing. a norwegian airline announced today it is buying 22 boeing

737s. fans of dalton abbey now can tour and lunch at the actual english castle where the popular series is shot for a cool 10 thousands bucks. people say it's great. coming up, big baseball signings and a big hockey suspension and the heat beat lebron's old team. trying to keep a ball from going out. a high school player makes a miracle shot. there was just one problem. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. we are seeing the heaviest rain in the drought stricken texas area we have seen in years. 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 american league has signed another hitting star through free agency away from the national league. here is fred roggin with an early look at all of your sports headlines. good morning. we will start with news out of detroit. the tigers open their wallets and sign the biggest free agent left on the market. agreed to a nine-year, $214 million deal with prince fielder. he finished third in bp voting last summer. he will fill the void left by victor martinez who could miss

the next year with a torn acl. giants got their man. avoided arbitration with tin lims couple and resigned him to a two-year, 4.5 million dollar deal. ovechkin stuck it to the league yesterday anoun is he won't play in sunday's all-star game because he is a suspended player. perrow first hat trick of his career. ovechkin wasn't there but he was there to give him a shaving cream pie. lebron james facing his former team the cavs. james with a step-back jumper, fans in cleveland now all about that shot. no surprise here. lebron disappeared in the fourth so chris bosh took over. an incredible shot that got one player high fives from the

other team. happened during a high school basketball game. the player in white hustled to the loose ball and before it went out of bounds tossed it up behind his back and through the net! that is absolutely incredible. you're not going to see a better three-pointer. one problem. it was in the wrong basket! chalk up three for the other team. after that, does it really matter which basket it goes in? >> that is your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >> poor kid! coming up, why demi moore is in the hospital. the latest showbiz couple that is denying breakup rumors. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. no matter how big they are now, they started small. we will show you a master in the making. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to erlts "early today." san antonio, a lot of heavy rain and thunderstorms in texas. as we go into tomorrow, we shift that to the southeast and eventually some of that rain will work its way up the eastern seaboard. if you're watching us on wbla tv in baltimore, maryland, discover over 80 objects used in daily life in africa at hand-held personal arts from africa at the baltimore museum of art. that is your "early today" event of the today. here is an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment.

tough times continue for actress demi moore who has hospitalized late monday night. moore who repeatedly split with husband ashton kutcher was admitted for what hearse spokesperson called exhaustion. however a source told tmz moore was rushed to the hospital for a substance abuse incident. she also bowed out of the upcoming film "loveless." her 14-year-old relationship with johnny depp is not over. a judge will rule next week on actress halle berry's attempt to keep the father of her child from contacting them until a child endangerment investigation is concluded. finally, first it was the sexiest man alive and now fans of ryan gosling are up in arms he is snubbed for a oscar nomination. bloggers buzz for either "drive"

or ides on march should have been recognized. the academy. from atlanta, georgia, in nearby peachtree city, one 7-year-old is a full-blown piano prodigy. he won first prize in an international child competition. ironically, he said being on one of the world's best known stages was the first time he wasn't nervous about playing. a fan of albert einstein, adrian has already jumped two grade levels and hopes to one day be as talented in science as he is in music. overachiever there. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," your first stop of the day on your nbc station.

4:28 is the time. 43 degrees here in the nation's capital. good morning to you, i'm joe krebs. >> i'm eun yang. welcome to "news4 today" for this wednesday, january 25, 2012. today president obama will begin selling the plans he laid out in last night's state of the union address. he heads to iowa where he'll speak at a factory about his vision for an economy based more on manufacturing. >> the president of the united states. [ applause ] >> the president focused heavily on the economy during his speech last night. he vowed to shrink the gap between the rich and poor,

promising to tax the wealthy more and help millions of unemployed americans find work. >> settle for a country where a shrinking number of people too really well while a growing number of americans barely get by. or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot and everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules. [ applause ] >> the president discussed plans to make college more affordable and help struggling homeowners refinance their mortgages. he also took credit for helping create three million jobs during his presidency. republicans attempted to counter many of president obama's claims. indiana governor mitch daniels delivered the republican response to the speech. he accused the president of making the nation's economy worse. >> the president's grand experiment in trickle-down government has held back rather than sped economic recovery. he seems to sincerely believe we can build a middle class out of rn