the speech, an international crisis. iran is holding 10 american sailors in the persian gulf. michael: and the clemson tigers are back home from the desert tonight. they may not be champions, but they were welcomed back by the tiger family. for the last time tonight, president obama stood before a joint gathering of congress to deliver his state of the union speech. gabrielle: the president has just one year left in office, but he says there is still a lot to do before he leaves. wyff news 4's aixa diaz has more from our exclusive washington newsroom. aixa: the president centered the speech around four points, the economy, climate change, national security, and politics. >> the president of the united states. aixa: president obama entered the house chamber to deliver his final state of the union address. >> we live in a time of extraordinary change, change that's reshaping the way we live, the way we work, our

world. aixa: president obama touched on domestic issues, like making college affordable, and strengthening social security and medicare. he also touted the state of the economy. >> anyone claiming that america's economy is in decline is peddling fiction. aixa: the president talked about climate change, >> now, we've got to accelerate the transition away from dirty , old energy sources. aixa: called on congress to take action on the fight against terror, >> if this congress is serious about winning this war, and wants to send a message to our troops and the world, authorize the use of military force against isil. take a vote. aixa: and urged americans to engage in rational constructive debates, and fix our politics. >> democracy grinds to a halt without a willingness to compromise, or when even basic facts are contested, and we listen only to those who

aixa: president obama ended the speech with an optimistic tone, asking people to vote, speak out, and stand up for the weak and vulnerable. in washington, i'm aixa diaz. wyff news 4. michael: as you might have heard, for the time, south -- for the first time south , carolina governor nikki haley delivered the republican response to the state of the union. gabrielle: the governor criticized president obama's record on the economy, and she turned to foreign policy, as well. >> even worse, we are facing the most dangerous terrorist threat our nation has seen since september 11th, and this president appears unwilling or unable to deal with it. soon, the obama presidency will end, and america will have the chance to turn in a new direction. gabrielle: the governor went on to imagine a white house in republican hands, vowing that the country would pay less in taxes, and have a government with less debt and spending. michael: but she also spoke of the killings of the emanuel nine in charleston last june.

down the noise of division, and not just in politics. >> what happened after the tragedy is worth pausing to think about. our state was struck with shock, pain, and fear. but our people would not allow hate to win. we didn't have violence, we had vigils. we didn't have riots, we had hugs. we didn't turn against each other's race or religion. we turned toward god, and to the values that have long made our country the freest and greatest in the world. michael: governor haley will appear live on the "today" show tomorrow morning. you can watch it right here on wyff news 4, starting at 7:00 a.m. gabrielle: south carolina's u.s. senators are weighing in the president's final state of the union address. michael: lindsey graham and kids got -- tim scott said this. >> a majority of americans believe that our country is headed in the wrong direction. unfortunately, i believe they're right, and i heard nothing tonight to suggest that we're going to change course. at home, our economy is

is very much at risk. i heard nothing from the president tonight to suggest that we're actually going to destroy isil. no change in economic policy. i fear 2016 will be a very dangerous year abroad, and a challenging year here at home. i hope and pray i'm wrong. >> unfortunately, the president continues to talk about going it alone as opposed to working in a bipartisan fashion to move the country forward. that does not engender confidence within the american people or allow us to accomplish great things with the most amazing people in the world.e nice, to look for a partner in making this country of better place and making the world a safer place. gabrielle: and stay with wyff news 4 on-air and online, for the latest on the state of the union. political analyst chip felkel will be live at wyff news 4 today, beginning at 6:00 a.m.tomorrow, with reaction to governor

-- or hayley's -- governor haley's state of the union response. again, that is tomorrow at 6:00 a.m. michael: to commitment 2016 now. the stage is set for thursday's republican presidential debate. seven candidates will be on the main stage, donald trump, ben carson, ted cruz, marco rubio, chris christie, john kasich, and jeb bush. the other competitors will be in the under card debate. the debate will happen at the thursday night. on wyff news 4 thursday. gabrielle: and following the republican debate, democrats will face off on sunday, again in charleston. lester holt will moderate, and you can watch here on wyff news 4, beginning at 9:00 p.m. on sunday. we'll have live coverage and reaction following the debate. michael: major news developing overseas right now, iran has detained ten american sailors in the persian gulf, nine men and one woman. one of the two vessels broke down during a patrol in the gulf. the vessels drifted and were moving between kuwait and bahrain when it happened. iran claims the crew is safe, and is being treated well. officials expect crew members to

gabrielle: back here at home , new legislative session for south carolina lawmakers. members of the house and senate say the top priorities include improving education, repairing flood damaged areas, and securing funds to repair roads and bridges. >> well, we were looking at our gas tax, and the fact that we have not raised that since 1987. and to put that in perspective, that's the year i graduated from college, and that's a long, long time ago. >> we've got to have a wholesale debate on how the money is being spent before we can obligate ourselves to additional revenue. gabrielle: a special tribute took place in both the senate and house to remember upstate senator billy o'dell, who died from heart problems last thursday. michael: let's talk about the weather now. it is cold out there tonight. gabrielle: sure is. look at those numbers. john cessarich is tracking at

john: look at all these. not good numbers. 26 in boone, 33 in asheville. 34 and franklin. he nine in spartanburg and greenwood. cold temperatures, the winds are breezy in certain areas. it will continue -- the winds will diminish overnight. early in the day, snow showers north and west of asheville, especially close to the tennessee line. that is where we had snow showers, just a dusting him a west facing slopes of the mountains along the tennessee -north carolina line. sunrise at 7:37, 26 in the upstate, 18 with a cold breeze in the mountains. sunshine across the area. it will be a chilly day tomorrow. then, change is possible towards the weekend. more about that a little bit later on. now back to you. gabrielle: greenville's police chief is responding to a threat made by a local community activist group to block woodruff road as a protest. the group "fighting injustice

was used when police arrested 21-year-old jaquan williams last month. here's the dash cam video. he was arrested on a charge of possesion of marijuana. the group says, if they do not see positive action in the coming days, they will purposely disrupt woodruff road at an unspecified time. here is chief ken miller's response. >> it would be unlawful behavior to do that, and it would require and it would promote, really, direct conflict with authorities, with police, and with the public. gabrielle: jaquan williams says he was slammed to the ground while in handcuffs, and the excessive force caused him to lose a tooth. chief miller says he was forced to the car, not slammed. michael: in greenville county, new details in the investigation into the death of a toddler. the sheriff's office has charged michael latimer, jr. with homicide by child abuse. he's the child's mother's boyfriend. the coroner has ruled the death of 26-month-old destiny jackson a homicide. he says the little girl was

janaury 4th, and died yesterday. the coroner says the cause of death was non-accidental head injury. gabrielle: naturally stunning transportation -- transformation in omaha. an historic building goes up in flames and hours later, look at this. it's covered in icicles. firefighters had to battle below-zero temperatures to fight the fire. that caused the water to freeze, leaving the building encased in a foot of ice. the fire damage, along with the weight of the ice, now has the building on the verge of collapse. michael: the clemson tigers are back home from arizona. they were playing atlanta. they arrived at gsp earlier. gabrielle: no trophy, but fans are proud. wyff news 4's tim waller was there for the welcome home. tim: never mind that it's a cold and windy night, or that the tigers are returning from a disappointing loss. the fans we spoke to said they had to be here to welcome their beloved tigers home.

fight, top -- tigers! tim: long before the team arrived, >> go tigers! tim: clemson fans were getting their spirit on. >> c-l-e-m-s-o-n! find, tigers! tim: people like jean kohlmayer, here to be a smiling face in the crowd when the team arrives. >> they did a fantastic job last night, fantastic. so i'm just here to support them, and hopefully we'll have a better year next year. >> clemson tigers! tim: the tigers, weary from the trip out west and wishing the outcome of the game was different, had their spirits lifted by this sea of orange. >> it means a lot. we've got fans that support us, whether we win or lose. that's the great thing about clemson. we got a family here. tim: a family deserving of a few autographs and handshakes, and

through an unforgettable season. and, talk about optimism, the fans out here say they look forward to next year's championship game. tim waller, wyff news 4, in clemson. michael: welcome home, gentlemen. coming up, the largest transportation project in the upstate. the gateway project promises to cut down on traffic jams. gabrielle: some people believe and -- a small-town makeover needs a makeover. john: this saturday is the greenville news 5k starting at 9:00 a.m..

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in late january... the south michael: later this month the , south carolina department of transportation will begin the first phase of the gateway project at the interchange of i-85 and 385. $231 million worth, making it the second largest dot project in state history. it's scheduled to finish in the summer of 2019. we are told the new design should cut down on traffic tieups. >> the biggest benefit is, we're gonna add collector distributor routes that will parallel

and also interstate 385. it'll separate the traffic that's merging and entering the interstate from that traffic that's going straight through. michael: the d.o.t. says on average, nearly 200,000 vehicles each day. by the way, to stay up to date construction details the d.o.t. , encourages people to check @scdotpiedmont on twitter. gabrielle: downtown inman is getting a $500,000 mini makeover. the money comes from a state grant. the downtown area will get wider sidewalks, planters, trees, and brick-paved crosswalks. they'll also remove overhead wires, and improve traffic signals. the work is set to begin in the middle or end of the summer. it could last six months to a year. some longtime business owners say they are concerned about the construction. >> i feel like the city has lost sight of the fact that the businesses that are here cannot withstand several weeks being closed. >> whatever construction company

that they understand that the businesses downtown is priority, keeping them open and keeping a space for them to have the public come in and out. gabrielle: the city is planning two public input sessions to discuss the work. dates have not yet been set. michael: remember the song? lions, tigers and bears? they can go together. a siberian tiger cub and an african lion cub are becoming fast friends. this is not supposed to happen. the two cubs are from very different parts of the world, but the pair are being raised as sisters in a park in central new jersey. the cubs' mothers were not caring for them, so the six flags park is raising them together. gabrielle: they are so cute. well, the powerball jackpot just keeps climbing, lottery officials say the jackpot total keeps adjusting because people keep buying more tickets. billboards are stuck at $999

never climbed this high before. the drawing is tomorrow night. >> now, your live super doppler 4 hd weather forecast. john: cold front continues to push through. the winds have shifted to to the northwest across most areas, especially the mountains. behind the front. across the area. i will show you the current temperatures any moment. we started off at 27 this morning at the gsp airport. i'm degrees below average. the high this afternoon of 51, close to where it should be. far from the record high, that would be nice, it just looks warm. 73 set three years ago in 2013. 19 this morning, a bitterly cold start at the asheville airport. below average for this time of year. 48 the high this afternoon, close to where it should be.

clear right now, a live shot from town square in laurens, 41 degrees there. 41 in toccoa, 43 in clemson and greenville, 43 in anderson, 3070 in spartanburg, 3090 green woods, 40 and abbeville, 45 in elberton. colburn north carolina. temperatures dropping into the 20's, 29 in marshall, 26 in spruce pine and boone. 40 in rutherfordton, at the freezing mark in columbus. 31 in sylva. 33 in bryson city. seasonably cold temperatures across the area. breezy conditions in certain areas, the front is passing through downtown greenville because we have a west wind at 13 miles per hour, northwest at 13 come also in anderson the northwest wind at 16 in hendersonville. a sustained northwest wind at 31 miles per hour in boone. is.

boone right now. feels like 15 in hendersonville, 36 in greenville, not much as far as wind chills through most of the upstate. humidity will drop. 38% in greenville, going down. so was the temperature. 44 in columbia and florence, 44 in charleston. low 40's in atlanta. cold temperatures, chilly temperatures through the peninsula of florida. 51 in orlando, 63 in miami. they had a couple showers today. he chilly for them. they are probably bundled up in florida. 15 in cincinnati. 21 in st. louis. snow showers in the ohio river valley of the great lakes earlier. on average, 1-3 inches of snow. the lake effect snows downwind from lake ontario and lake erie could produce a brief foot of snow over the next 24 hours as extremely cold arctic air sweeps across the great lakes, picks up moisture, and don't sit downstream.

in minneapolis. a piece of the arctic cold will be with us tomorrow in the mountains with the northwest wind at 5-15 miles per hour. clear and cold tonight, breezy in certain areas, low 26 in the upstate. a cold wind out of the northwest in the mountains, low 18. tomorrow in the upstate, even with bright sunshine, chilly. a light and variable wind, high 47. we start of it anyone at 9:00 a.m., warming into the low 40's by lunchtime. in the mountains, a cold breeze out of the northwest. high 39. 24 at 9:00 a.m., 35 a lunchtime. maybe 41 at 3:00 in the afternoon. the four-day plus, we are talking rain on friday into friday night, saturday looks dry. maybe interesting weather, light frozen precipitation possible sunday morning across the area. we will watch the computer

that. i will keep you up to date as we get closer. michael: what is that on sunday? john: looks like snow showers in the mountains. some of it could get into the upstate. gabrielle: the cold weather did not keep tiger fans at home. ricardo: a great crowd at home. everybody is proud of the team, particularly deshaun watson's record-breaking performance. he is most likely the heisman front-runner next season. gamecocks baseball starts the

marco rubio. he ran for senate saying he opposed amnesty... then he flipped, and worked with liberal chuck schumer to co-author the path to citizenship bill. he threatened to vote against it. and then voted for it. he supported his own dream act and then he abandoned it. marco rubio. just another washington politician you can't trust. jeb bush. he's a leader, so you always know where he stands. right to rise usa

>> now, wyff news 4 sports. >> oh, that means a lot. it brightens me back up. we were down from the game. we knew we had a tough loss, but seeing these people care so much about us, it just means a lot to us, to have this support. >> when you come home and you have a reception like this, just shows we have the best fans in the country, best university in the country, best team in the country. it just warms your heart to come home to a reception like this. ricardo: thousands of tiger fans greeted the football team at death valley tonight. a great welcome home for the national runners-up. clemson has plenty to be proud

pushing the crimson tide of the brick -- to the brink thanks to deshaun watson. alabama's coach compared him to cam newton. watson said a national championship record, passing vince young's performance in 2006. he became the first fcs quarterback to pass for 4000 yards and rushed for 1000 yards in the season. watson, certainly becoming an early heisman favorite for 2016. >> at the end of the day, i wanted the w, so the stats don't matter to me. i just wanted the win, and do something we haven't done in 34 years. >> he's special. he's got great toughness, heart, mind for the game. just made some huge plays all the way to the end. glad he's on our team and i am glad he will be back next year. where is this thing next year? cap but?

do it again. ricardo: the trip to tampa isn't out of the question. they w we announced -- dabo swinney announced for a coach of the year award. congratulations. a school record 14 wins, a final number two ranking, their highest ranking since 1981. next season, watson returns. to seniors graduate. other underclassmen maybe follow shaq lawson and declare for the draft. more expected to declare for the draft over the next few weeks. south carolina defensive back chris moody has decided to transfer. moody will be a graduate transfer, and have one year left of eligibility. moody played in all 12 games this season, recording four tackles and a pass breakup. kirby smart departs alabama for georgia, with a championship ring and an assistant coach. smart, grabbing defensive backs coach mel tucker from the tide. tucker coached under nick saban at multiple stops, and also was a defensive coordinator in the nfl.

tonight, miami visiting virginia. to john paul jones arena we go. 2nd half, cavaliers down 1. michael brogdon with the cut to the basket. he led uva with 20 points. cavs back in front. just over a minute to go, london perrantes with the floater, pushes the lead to 5. perrantes chipped in 13 points. cavs halt the 'canes 8-game winning streak, winning 66-58. we have more acc hoops tomorrow, clemson hosts 9th ranked duke at the well tomorrow at 7:00. the tigers off to a 3-1 start in conference play. in the s.e.c., 19th ranked south carolina looks to move to 16-0 if they travel to tuscaloosa to battle alabama at 9:00.0. over to the diamond, and the gamecocks check in at number 17 in the preseason d1baseball top 25 poll released today. usc, one of 7 s.e.c. teams in the rankings. florida tops the presason poll. the gamecocks open the season february 19th, hosting albany.

in the way college football is, it is year round. before we know it, we will be in spring ball.

gabrielle: we have been grateful to see the sunshine. but. michael: however. john: it is still cold, even with the sunshine. not as windy yesterday, 47 the high tomorrow, we should only be in the low 50's in the upstate. below average temperatures. 39 with a cold breeze, especially in the morning, in the mountains. then we warm up nicely, milder thursday afternono. rain comes in friday. the weekend looks iffy. we could see our first light frozen stuff saturday night and sunday morning. i will keep you updated. very light, though. gabrielle: thanks for being with us. michael: we appreciate the

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