State of the Union: President Biden faced down Republican hecklers last night in a State of the Union address in which he invited the opposition party to help him finish the job of fixing the economy.

  Speaking of Republican desires to cut or alter Social Security, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene shouted “Liar!” When Biden called for ending the fentanyl drug crisis, another lawmaker shouted “It’s your fault.”

  But Biden took them on, even teasing in some moments. He talked about adding 12 million jobs to the economy and knocking down the Covid epidemic.

  But, encouraging the two parties to work together, he said, Fighting for the sake of fighting, power for the sake of power, conflict for the sake of conflict, gets us nowhere.”

Quake Zone: With temperatures below freezing, time is running out for saving thousands of people trapped in the rubble of Monday’s powerful earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. Turkey’s president has declared a three-month state of emergency.

  The two major quakes are considered to be the deadliest in Turkish history. As many as 11,000 people are dead and the number is still expected to rise. But about 8,000 people have been rescued. 

  The critical period is considered to be 72 hours and more than 48 have passed. Rescue workers are prying up slabs of concrete to reach people whose voices can be heard. One sad photo shows a father holding the hand of his daughter reaching out from under a slab as she died. 

  The rescue situation is different in Syria, where the quake zone crosses an area contested by the government and rebel forces. 

Up in the Air: The Pentagon says China declined a secure phone call ​between Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart, Wei Fenghe, after the US shot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon. China instead has protested the shootdown.

  The Chinese balloon shot down off South Carolina was part of a larger spy program, US officials are now telling the press. As if that was not already obvious. The balloons are reported to be operated out of the Chinese province of Hunan.

  Parts of the balloon recovered in the Atlantic are already under examination. Intelligence experts are looking to learn the balloon’s technical capabilities, including what kind of data it could gather, what satellites it might have been linked to, and whether the US could take advantage of its possible flaws.

The War Room:  Ukraine’s military claimed yesterday that it had killed 1,030 Russians in the previous 24 hours. They also claim to have killed a total of 133,190 of the enemy, but that is unverified. It is known that the numbers are big.

  Russia’s defense minister held a press conference touting his military’s successes.

Stop the Music!: The New York philharmonic has stolen the LA Phil’s conductor Gustavo Dudamel, who came to the home of Hollywood as a 26-year-old boy wonder in 2009. He taps the podium in New York in 2026.

  Dudamel is credited with reviving the LA Philharmonic and making it into a profitable venture once again. He was signed away by Deborah Borda, the New York Philharmonic’s president, and chief executive, who first contracted Dudamel when she ran the Los Angeles orchestra.

Hoop Dreams: With 10.9 seconds left in the third quarter against Oklahoma, Lebron James sank scored his 36th point of the game and 38,388^th point to break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s NBA career record of 38,387.

The Obit Page: David Harris, one of the most prominent anti-war activists of the Vietnam era who challenged young men to resist the military draft, died at home in Mill Valley, California at age 76. His wife said he had lung cancer.

  Once elected “boy of the year” at his Central valley California high school where he played football and was a debater, the Stanford graduate became a national figure encouraging draft age men to send their draft cards back to the government. 

  He wrote in a guest essay for The New York Times in 2017, “I courted arrest, speaking truth to power, and power responded with an order for me to report for military service.”

  Harris married the folk singer Joan Baez in 1968 and they went on the road, her singing, and him speaking against the war. He spent 20 months in prison and the couple divorced soon after he got out. Harris became a magazine journalist, at first for Rolling Stone, much of his work rooted in the Vietnam days.

The Spin Rack: One of the Memphis officers involved in the arrest of Tyre Nichols took pictures of him after the beating and sent it to five people in violation of department policies, the police department admitted yesterday. — In a move to punish Disney for its opposition to his state’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, a bill introduced to the legislature would allow Gov. Ron DeSantis to take control of the special governing board for the independent district Walt Disney World operates in Florida. The board would be named by the governor rather than Disney. — After proposing a constitutional amendment that would limit US senators to two terms, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is still running for a third. Asked why by CBS host Margaret Brennan, Cruz said, “”If and when it passes, I will happily, happily comply. I’ve never said I’m going to unilaterally comply.” — The AMC theater chain says it will start charging according to where you sit, less in the front row and more in the middle seats they will call “preferred sightline.” There’s no discount if a tall person is in front. 

Below the Fold: Appearing as a guest host on The Daily Show, comedian Chelsea handler noted that the truth-challenged New York Rep. George Santos has been accused of sexually groping a job applicant. She said, “I will say, this is the first thing about him that makes him sound like he does belong in Congress.”

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