how to stop it takes courage not to turn away. >> i'm tony harris with a look at today's stories. will the move stop the violence demonstrations. tense syrian peace talks now deadlocked. to discuss a traditional government breaks up less than aan hour after it started. some areas headed for 40 below. and apps like angry birds on

your smartphone may be leaking private data about you to the nsa. are. >> four days into talks, aimed and ending syria's long and bloody siferl war, there appears to be no dps civility war, there appears to be no movement. u.n. mediator lakhdar brahimi says both sides are talking about how women and children can leave the besieged city of homs. in brahimi says the talks will go forward. >> there is apparently the will to continue this discussions. you know, once again, i l tell you, we never expected any miracle. there are no miracles here.

but we will continue and see if progress can be played, and when. >> nick shifrin is in geneva. nick, the two sides don't like one another. they have been battling with one another coming up on three years now. we get to this place where both sides are in a room looking at a communique from geneva 1 and both sides are saying that this is going nowhere. and now we are talking about beach steps and confidence-boosting moves. don't you do those kinds of things before you get to geneva? >> that's exactly the point tony that lakhdar brahimi said, he wished they had talked at all before getting here. the fate of syria will be decided but he said look, we

didn't get to that point before we got here. we need to get to that point now. and u.n. officials, russian officials even the analysts you speak to, tony, on set say, they have to get some kind of humanitarian resolution to the suffering. brahimi says no one can rush me, i've done this for decades and decades and decades. we have to take half steps, do something which announce women and children can leave from homs, even though one side didn't want that. they are talking in geneva tony, that's a good sign in his opinion. >> well and nick if we are talking about this attempt to get these sort of regional regie fires, that is fraught with danger. we know that there are snipers

all over the place in homs that i just don't understand how that even works. >> well, it actually doesn't, according to the coalition. just imagine this scenario. you are living in a city that the regime calls the cradle of the revolution. for eight months it has been besieged by the government, no food no water, no medicine, you can come out with your children, leave your husband behind, leave your brother behind, leave your uncle hidged. behind. you are leaving your husband or son or family member, who might still be fighting there, and the worry is that it's a real setup for a slaughter. and that's what people were talking about from the coalition with me. they mentioned srebriniza. they thought it was a setup. brahimi says nonetheless look,

let's keep talking about it, even though it's small, even though he's throwing something out there. the regime so far tony has not allowed it in. >> if you are talking about talks, i'm curious what you're hearing as far as the russian position on this. the russians are clearly backing the saud regime, the russians and the iranians are saying, let's see where we are after elections and i was reminded earlier that the assad family, bashar and his dad afez have never lost an election in syria. >> they not only didn't lose an election, they didn't lose an election by less than 2 or 3 percentage points on the other side. i think that's key, talking about the russia russians, it dt

necessarily support assad. these officials tell me they want an alternative. the russians are looking for the coalition, the opposition here to look good, to actually look like they're ready for the international stage. nobody thinks they're quite there yet but the hope from u.s. and u.n. officials as well, is that if the opposition can look good then russia might be able to support them long term but they are not quite yet willing to give up syria. tony. >> joining me is north carolina lasnicholas burns,the form he ui know you've been talking about syria a lot. in terms of what might be accomplished? >> well, tony any time you have both sides warring parties coming together in the middle of

a civil war that's at least a step a very small step in the right direction. the fact that they hadn't been talking, led to this incredibly catastrophic situation where there are over 9 million syrian who have lost their homes, over 130,000 syrians estimated who have been killed in this conflict. a lot of us myself included have tremendous admiration for lakhdar brahimi, one of the most skilled diplomats in the world. the fact he finally has them at the table is positive. we need so there pressure put often the syrian government but also the rebel coalition, to help the citizens of syria. if hif they are not going to dis thing being citizens, they have got to do something for the average people the poor people of syria who have been besieged by this civil war. the fact that they have been

speaking about homs and the humanitarian supplies, that at the least could be accomplished. >> the idea of that city besieged as it is essentially in regime control and women and children being allowed to leave, the men -- women and children being allowed to leave and the men left behind. that just look like a kind of potentially nightmarish scenario. do you see it in that kind of scenario or something positive can come out? >> i see it in that way as well. all the people of syria need to be helped, all the people of homs, men women and children need to be helped. you were just talking about srebrinitza in 1995. the u.n. enclave separated the men and boys from the women and

children. there they murdered 8,000 men and boys. the assad regime already has blood on its hand. it's acted in the most abhorrent way. very few people trust that regime. but in ambassador brahimi's hands, he has to get that accomplished. it's the worst and most urgent humanitarian crisis in the world today all over the world it's syria. >> is there anything possible in these talks in your estimation on the political side of the equation this idea of following up on geneva 1 and that communique about a transitional government in syria, is there anything that will come out of these talks that are a step in the right direction there? well, it remains to be seen. i would be skeptical. i think we have to have realistic expectations of what can be accomplished because we are at the very beginning of

communication. part of diplomacy is providing a space for warg parties to meet. and even if they can agree on minimal progress, even if they can agree on small steps at least that's a beginning and that's what ambassador brahimi is trying to do. he's right to argue in a way for patience but at the same time people are being slaughtered in syria so one would hope, if the syrian government would take up its responsibilities and allow the united nations and international relief organizations much better access to syria i think russia and iran has a special responsibility here because they both have influence with damascus, with the assad regime and they need to use that. it's particularly a test for iran. rawfn says it -- iran says it wants a seat at the table. we have not seen that from the iranian government. they are fueling and arming the

syrian government rather than trying to aid the poor unfortunate citizens who are taking the brunt of the fighting. >> former are under secretary of state for foreign affairs. from koran. the government has agreed to repeal some of the country's harsh antiprotest laws. giving into some of the demands of the opposition but both sides are still far from coming to an agreement to end demonstrations. jennifer glasse has been following this story from kiev. jennifer this is one of the demands. it looks like the president is giving into that demand. will it begin to calm the streets of kiev? >> well, i'm not sure are that that's the case actually. you know, the president made a statement after meeting with the opposition leaders, this evening, that statement said the laws would be repealed but then it goes on to say that parts of the law that weren't

objectionable will be repassed by parliament tomorrow and those will be also debated and brought into european norm. so very vague language. and that has been the problem all along in trying to meet the opposition demands that the language has been very vague, the commitments have been very loose. the opposition again refused president yanukovych's offer to become prime minister and deputy prime minister. so the negotiations are going ocontinue but that progress came -- to continue but that progress came after that surprise meeting tonight. back to the negotiating table. president yanukovych meets the three opposition leaders to try to resolve the country's standoff. outside the country's justice ministry opposition leaders stand watch. inside it's eerily quiet. they don't want to occupy because they don't want to further provoke the government. >> this is the office the

opposition was taking, all the food they were eating tonight and although they have left and it's quite peaceful here they're ready for battle. inside this backpack are fire bombs or molotov cocktails. >> no one here wants to use them. the commander in charge wants to make sure this building and ones in it are safe. people don't want to talk about what it's like working for a government under siege. outside one of the guards outlines what the government wants. >> translator: the repeal of those laws are enacted on the 16th of january that made this a dictatorship. all our people that are in prison should be freed and the constitution of 2004 should be reinstated. >> what started as pro-european demonstrations in november have become a wider expression of dissatisfaction with the government. after it passed a sweeping law last week limiting basic

freedoms and protestors were killed in clashes with police, there is now civil unrest in much of the country. where the president has substantial support, in the western sea of laviv where the opposition is largely in control, demonstrators locked the local barracks, and ukrainians wait to see whether an extraordinary session of parliament on tuesday will bring an end to the conflict. >> and what that parliament will be debating tomorrow is also amnesty for the dozens of people arrested over the last two months but they say the amnesty is conditional, after the demonstrators leave the streets. that is not likely. it may be a difficult session of parliament tomorrow as it tries to end the divide between the opposition and the government.

>> jennifer glasse in kiev. for the second time in less than a month, arctic air settles over the midwest and east. dangerous wind conditions. airlines cancelling flights and emergency teams are mobilize to dig out the roads. meteorologist rebecca stevens is here to look at the latest cold snap, rebecca. >> temperatures dropping down so fast we have already got a band of snow and a rain-snow mix including some freezing rain in parts of the south. we're seeing it develop in parts of texas but that will be coming together in parts of the southeast developing some very troubling spots when it comes to travel. we were just talking about chicago. this has been one of the harshest winters on record for chicago, where we're used to the

snow and the ice and the wind. so far we're in the top 20, number 13, with the average temperature of 20.3° in chicago and they've also got some other records going about how many days below zero they are, at last count it was at 13. wind chills going into effect as that cold air is sagging into the northeast. wind chill advisories all the way down to texas and kentucky and as we look at what it seems like outside. winds are gusting 15 to 30 to 40 miles an hour. it feels like 27 below in fargo. now this cold air making its way across the northeast, across the great lakes and headed to new york, it feels like 23 below for toronto, right now new york you feel like 13°, temperatures are plummeting. we expect our lows to start out way below zero for chicago, and minneapolis and new york. tony we are expecting a low of

11° in the morning. winter's not done. >> i don't know what you do for it, get up and show up for work the next day. all right rebecca thank you. the justice department says internet companies will be able to specifically talk about when they're forced to turn over customer data. google microsoft, yahoo and many rm the government still wouldn't know how much is being collected or howch. this after whis man after whistd snowdeblowishedward snowden reve

information. jacob. >> mobile market is trying to collect. so it's stuff like the metadata off the photos that you post to social networks. the geo-location that you give up when you are looking for a nearby comoins restaurant and the -- chinese restaurant and the contact list you have on your phone. almost any kind of data you give to an app. >> those leaky apps, what are those apps? the mapping kind of apps that you're talking about there? >> that's right, exactly. the documents here have mentioned a few apps in plash. google maps which many of us use, i use almost on a daily basis is specifically mentioned. the nsa's british counterpart, the ghcq mentions that anybody using google maps is in fact

feeding information and becomes kind of subject to a ghcq program, a surveillance program. so you know that's a extremely sophisticated tracking software that can find you within a few feet of when you're actually standing. obviously a structuretroph -- te for any information mapping program. who may have been a few blocks of you, who tells you when an old friend is in paris and you are also in paris. >> jacob ward san francisco for us. still to come, president obama ask gearing up for the state of the union address, what we expect to hear as the president faces the country after a very tough political year and a politician who jumped into the spotlight in the aftermath of hurricane katrina is now on corruption charges.

ray nagin next.

>> former new orleans mayor ray nagin in court today for jury selection. he was mayor much new orleans, accused of having lucrative building projects in exchange for $200,000 in cash, wire transfers and vacations. ben lemoine is in new orleans with the story. >> former ray nagin walked into court, all smiles and confident. 12 of these jurors will decide the former mayor's fate. all the world knew of new orleans mayor ray nagin. >> one shining moment when he went on wwl withdrew, saying mr. president, get your why sex down here. >> now on trial for corruption it appears the former mayor has

opted out of a plea deal. and wants to put his fate in the hands of a jury. >> a lot of people could not feel that the rebuilding was going as expeditiously and as smoothly as they liked. and it was a difficult process. >> with the city still in shambles, nagin shifted his reelection approach, to call for new orleans to return to a, quote, chocolate city. >> what did he in 2006 was certainly play the race card. the issue came about the right to return and that really resonated with african americans who had been displaced. >> the people have said: they like the direction we're going in. >> but by 2011, six people with city contracts from nagin had been convicted or pled guilty for bribery or corruption charges by the mayor. >> this corruption took hold, it

might have had its roots in the first four years but really took hold in the second four years when the shady contractors came in and started sleazing up to him. >> let contracts for the city, for a certain fee i'll give you this contract. >> last year a federal grand jury indicted nagin, alleging he took $200,000 in money and personal favors by city contractors who are now set to testify against him. >> what ray nagin is going to have to do is convince these 12 jurors that rough reply a half dozen of his former friends are now lying to help themselves. >> and that may prove tough in a town where wounds haven't healed. >> you're tired of ray nagin, you're tired of looking at a bad rug, you want to throw it out and see it taken away by the trash guy. the people are tired of ray nagin, they don't want him to

fade away, they want him to pay for what he did. >> if he does pay it, it won't be in dollars, it will be in days, months and years in prison. >> diverse in court today both in race and in age, jurors will be asked questions about their ability to be objective about the case which is expectedto last two to three weeks. >> ben lemoin reporting from new orleans. >> no mercy for the markets. the dow slipping 41 points. the man is back, "real money" ali velshi, back from davos switzerland, with a lot of swag i hope. why are the investors spooked? >> one is a 30% gain in the stock market, anything will spook investors. as interest rates were low in

the united states, people could borrow money in america and invest it somewhere else for a big return. now as the fed starts to pull out of the stock market and rates start to go up this whole transaction becomes a little less interesting so some emerging markets will suffer. when you combine that with a report we got out of china on friday, that shows china's mixed markets, they have been on a tear and then you look at china which last been keeping those emerging markets going by buying natural resources for them which then they produce and make into goods they sell to the west. so it's all this connected thing. if emerging markets has been the fastest part of the market and it's slowing up that's what's making investors nervous.

>> how series are these declines? >> we're going to talk about it on my show. it's worth investors understanding what's the connection around the world and what's going on in your 401(k). don't worry yet it's not serious yet. >> now the question i want to ask you, we have got the state of the union coming up by the president his fifth tomorrow. you are going to be with me here tomorrow which i'm really looking forward to. >> yes. >> but what are you looking for in the speech to the president? >> i am going to talk to you about what might be in the speech, i want to really concentrate with you tomorrow with you tony, i came back to the world economic forum, the growing inequality and the effect it has on our economy and the middle class going forward. i'm going to look into it, i don't know, the president may say a lot about it. that's what we're going to

discuss. >> it's "real money", the man is back. good to see you on al jazeera america. as sochi prepares for winter olympics, the mayor says there are no gay people there but a gay night club owner in sochi begs to differ. that's next. legalizing medical marijuana. the latest push for pot coming up.

unrestrained and uncompromising. >> are you going to resign if you're indicted? >> first, real money with ali velshi brings the big-money issues home where they effect

you the most. >> household debt has been slashed. >> then, what real people are talking about in real-time with the stream. >> all of our communities lightin' up twitter tonight. >> and stay with us for live, breaking and in-depth news. real reporting, this is what we do. al jazeera america. >> welcome back to al jazeera america. here are your top stories. the president of ukraine has agreed to withdraw some antiprotest laws. it is a potential concession from viktor yanukovych. talks in geneva appear to be

deadlocked over an apparent transitional government. this comes after both parities are still discussing how to get women and children out of a besieged city of homs. nsa and british spy agencies are tapping into information sent by smartphone apps, among many others can transmit data like your location and your gender. in washington lawmakers have reached a deal on the farm bill. it would cut millions annually from food stamps. mike viqueria joins us now from the white house. whoa, millions from food stamps. tell us about the deal mike. mike viqueria everything is relevant, tony. $800 million a year to be precise that's out of an $80 billion a year annual program food stamps administered by the agriculture department. far below what the legislators

wanted. doubling of the price of milk, doubling of commodity prices, evidently they have a deal here, the cuts to food stamps while they are significant they are far far more modest than what conservatives want to happen. something is happening tony, in washington, dare we say, items that number osme flummoxed membf congress. >> i'm wondering, is this going to be more of a thematic speech, state of the union or a laundry list? >> the pros and cons, every time the president lists the things he want to see accomplished, very few become accomplished.

you may hear the theme, he's got a pen and he's got a phone. there's a whole laundry list, a year before that and the year before that very few of those items have been accomplished. i think you'll see the president talk broadly about that theme that we've been talking about, the income disparity between rich and poor in this country, those lines solidifying complo employment insurance minimum ways there will be sort of a laundry list no doubt when it comes to foreign policy issues, many volatile issues overseas. but perhaps the marquee issue around the one that holds the highest hope for the president's second term is immigration. i think we'll hear a lot about that tomorrow night tony. >> we know many presidents will hit the road after the state of the union, will he be hitting the road? >> this will be an overnight.

he starts in suburban maryland, at a costco and then pittsburgh, the next day thursday in the morning he'll start his day in milwaukee with an event and nashville, tennessee. these are amplifying and punctuating the themes from his state of the union speech. president using the bully pulpit to get his point across. >> thank you sir. al jazeera has complete coverage of the state of the union starting tomorrow night at 6:30. the actual address gets started at 9:00. the mayor of sochi claims there are no gay people in the olympic host city. he told the bbc panorama, "it is in the accepted here in the caucasus because it is where we live. we do not have them in our city." and earlier i had a conversation with andre tenachev. he is the owner of one of

sochi's two gay night clubs and i asked him what he thought of the mayor's comments. >> translator: i was real surprised by this news because the first not much further and the may have met with gays in sochi, in my opinion something got lost in translation or the journalist missed something because the mayor is aware of the situation of the gays in sochi. is. >> so you're saying that the local mayor is aware of first of all gay people in sochi and even the existence of clubs close to his personal residents? >> furthermore some of high reps are visiting our clubs. i can't confirm that the mayor himself is a visitor but i can confirm that there are people

visiting our clubs. >> he is saying to me that there are city officials who have been seen in some of these gay clubs in sochi am i hearing this correctly? >> indeed it is so. and not just in the city administration but on the federal level as well. >> andre, let me ask you this question, has your club, your particular club ever been raided, harassed or shut down by the government? >> in the history of our club we own it for ten years. such instances haven't happened once. furthermore, initially the club was fully exposed, there were no windows, it was pretty much the summertime terrace. it was always open and residents of our city were generally more tolerant than is are residents of other russian cities. >> andre, why do you believe that president putin has taken this stand? the law says you can't promote a gay lifestyle to people under 18. practically speaking, house

difficult does that law make life for gay people? and again, why is the president taking this stand at this moment? >> translator: when this law was discussed there were a lot of talk about gaz gays. however, this doesn't prohibit anything from the homosexual environmental. current duma amendments to the law which permits not only traditional sexual relationship but any sexual relationship amongst children. personally i do not expect any changes in lives of gay people after this law passing because there was no instances when gay people got fined. the only difference is change in sexual education amongst teenagers in schools.

>> andre are you openly gay and if the answer to that question is yes, do you feel you have to hide it in putin's russia? >> i'm openly gay. i live with my boyfriend in a big house for 13 years. all my neighbors are aware of our lifestyle. all my friends who visit are the same jeernd a gender as me. it's pleasant i haven't experienced homophobia in this city. personally i've always experienced tolerant attitude. furthermore once i came out of the closets i have acquired more friends and acquaintances. >> last question andre.

if you are an olympic athlete heading over to sochi and you are a gay person, should you be concerned that you could face persecution for the month of the games? >> again, i live openly as a gay. and my boyfriend and i have no problem visiting different venues. i don't think the athletes have anything to fear unless section public, not only police, but local people don't like people going bathroom in streets. also fornication is prohibited. they might have a problem but just being a gay people should be okay. >> all right. a russian caves has launched a website said to reveal the true cost and possible corruption sofd in the sochi games. john terrett is here good to see

you. >> this game has produced more publicity, than any other games. not this time round. anyway this interactive website was launched only today, two weeks pretty much from the start of the games and it opens with a pretty bold statement, under the title champions of corruption raised there, athletes are not the only people who compete in sochi, officials and businessmen also took part in the games. and turned them into a source of income. now the site has been built by the prominent anticorruption caves called alexisei navalny and he paints a pretty vivid picture of the cost overruns and the conflict of interest in sochi. the russian government has spent $51 billion on the sochi games so far to deliver them as a complete package, making them

the most expensive games ever, even more than the summer games where more athletes turn up. navalny says that russia has spent five times more money than necessary, the bolshoi snow-ice palace, fish stadium, opening and closing ceremonies and this one here which is very attractive to me this is for the speed caiting. not surprisingly, president vladimir putin has rejected all claims of corruption out of hand. in a recent tv interview he said these worth, if anybody has got this information referring to the allegation corruption then please show this to us. but so far we haven't seen anything but speculation. now last year the russian

government's audit chamber which is like the general accounting office, found 15 billion rupels behind me when asked a spokesman for the international olympic committee said the ioc stands against any form of corruption. tony. >> john terrett, thank you. the man who led a coup of mohamed morsi, has been in control of the country since morsi was removed. abdel fattah al-sisi is expected to be the favorite to win once he officially announces his candidacy. he officially announced the elections for april. tunisia has ratified a new

constitution. the president signed the document during a ceremony on monday. considered to be one of the most aggressive constitutions in the area. tunisia's government pulled back on some religious inspired measures after a widespread opposition. poultry farms across three provinces in south korea are on a 12 hour lock down to prevent the spread of bird flu. more than 400,000 birds have been slaughtered so far. before people begin to travel for the lunar new year celebrations. harry fausett has the story. >> a growing threat as avian flu continues to spread. monday saw all poultry farms in three provinces observings a lock down in an attempt to

prevent any transfer of disease. but in this area they were settling in for an overnight shift. it is a sign how seriously the government is taking this. there have been traces found in migratory birds, thought to have begun by an infection in migratory birds. kim jay gong's business furnishes birds to restaurants. the effects are already being felt. >> initially the demand was down by 5%, a week later another 10% and now the news has emerged that chickens are also affected down 20 to 30%. >> farmers and officials now wait to see whether their action he have stemmed the growth of new infections, time pressure is

mounting before the lunar holiday begins at the end of this week making the outbreak all the harder to contain. harry fausett, al jazeera, jonghi province. robbers are believed to have entered the church and stolen a vial of blood of pope john paul ii. he will likely be named a saint nine years after his death. maria innees ferre has the story. >> prosecutors say the doctor who conducted first exam was biased, holmes has pled not

guilty by reason of insanity for the colorado shooting that left 12 people dead. a maryland mall reopened today, police say they increased security at the popular retail complex near baltimore. investigators are still trying to find a motivate for saturday's shooting, dairian marcus aguilar killed two people before turning the gun on himself. in florida the issue of medical marijuana will go on the ballot this year. state republicans oppose the measure saying almost anyone will be able to get marijuana for slightest complaint. and finally in new jersey roirl caribbean cruise lines "explorer of the sea" has returned to port. crew and passengers reported getting sick, noro virus.

the ship will be sanitized before any new passengers board, tony. >> gastrointestimony than virus. >> and surely a refund. >> we know what that means. maria, thank you. less than a week before the super bowl plans to reduce the number of concussions in the game. we will have details on the program. that's next. also more and more people are deciding they don't need to shell out money for cable anymore. we will show you how cord-cutters are changing the business of television.

every day,

>> a new initiative is underway to track and reduce concussions

for brain injuries in players for youth and other sports. the hit program, comes after an nfl season in which 152 concussions were reported. mark morgan joins us from new york and would you tell us a little bit more about this hit-count program. >> yes tony, i can. hit count is a program that's designed to prevent and minimize the effects of concussions and hits to the head in youth and high school sports with special emphasis on football. now sensors will be placed in football helmets to keep track of the number of hits to the head. and earlier tonight i spoke to former nfl player and hall of famer mike haynes. >> they will put an instrument in the headband and it will measure the force of a hit. anything greater than 20 gs i would imagine, that would measure and show up on a

computer. so at least for the start we'll start to see how many types of different hits, and how many different times a hit is hit. when the force is 20 gs or greater and just look down the road and see different things. maybe about that one specific person, as they maybe only play football one year, maybe they play football four years and over a four year period they have x amount of hits over 20 gs. what does he seem like as a kid, does he seem like a normal kid or does he seem a little slower than the other kids? we don't know what it's going oshow but to have a standard something we can use to start getting information and start drawing some conclusions after doing a review of that information. >> the only thing that was stressed it has to be a community type thing, the science community, the parents, the community, everyone

involved. >> you don't necessarily have to have a child. if you like sports and you warrant your sport to continue, you'll have to show some interest around sports that have hitting involved in it. my guess is in the football community it will be really looked at closely because we do a lot of hitting in practice and in games and a lot of sports you don't. even though we've diminished the amount of hitting that goes on in practice there's still you know not universal around the country, that some people are doing exactly the same thing. i think with information like this, maybe we're moving in that direction where we can get more people to say hey you know what? maybe they should only hit one day a week. and when they hit one day a week maybe they should only hit rat half-speed not a full-speed hitting practice. >> now, officials liken this program to a pitch count for the

head. pitch count obviously used in baseball. but they insist this is a community effort with coaches schools athletic directors and parents all weighing in to try to make sure the contact supports especially football are as safe as they can be for youth athletes. tony. >> mark morgan in new york city for us, mark thank you. a growing people who watch tv are getting rid of paying cable and satellite systems and turning to streaming services. called cord cutters. are you one? >> the television is still there in the living room, it works but not the way it used to. matthew sweat and his wife took a hard look at the cable bill and decided to cut the cord. >> i needed to save money and i felt like that was a cost that i could cut. >> the sweat family still watches television but they

depend on a roku streaming device. >> we can stream based on a sphwrips we can stream -- subscription we can stream the latest shows. we can see whatever we want at a fraction of the price. i think we're paying $8 a month for that. >> the a.c. neilsen company says that 18 to 49, are watching an hour less of traditional television than they did a year ago. like the sweats they can watch on a variety of devices, on a tablet at the kitchen table if they like. television has come a long ways from the days of the rabbit ear antenna. >> it is increasingly less likely that the family will watch an 8:00 television progr

program. serve up to you on whatever device you want wherever you are. >> the television audience appears to be undergoing a major shift how entertainment is delivered. more than 5 million cable subscribers have disappeared over the last five years. television subscriptions have dropped 6% in the last two years and streaming services have grown by 4%. americans are abandoning their linear television for streaming services like huli, netflix amazon prime and of course youtube. >> a gross number of television watchers have never watched traditional tv and never will. >> they get their own home and decide they don't need cable and satellite services. they don't want to pay $120 a month. >> for matt sweat the down side is the lack of live sports and news but otherwise there's a wide world of watching and

deliver ways of hooking it.. he only cut the cord. he didn't throw away the remote. brian rooney, al jazeera los los angeles. >> a new competition to its summer fare: marijuana it will the new crop will be judged alongside tomatoes and squash. no marijuana plants at the fair, all the judging will be done offsite and the judges will only look at the quality of the plant and not their potency. an update on the day's top stories straight ahead and it is "real money" with ali velshi. in fact, my staff has read the entire thing.

which is probably more than what most members of congress can claim. we'll separate politics from policy, and just prescribe the facts.

>> this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm tony harris. the country's president ukrain

ukraine's viktor yanukovych, agreed to scrap measures against the protestors. the opposition wants aid allowed into the city of homs, deadlocked over a transitional government. the midwest is being hit by arctic like conditions. airlines are cancelling flights and emergency teams are mobilizing to clear the roads. federal prosecutors have filed money laundering charges against two men operating a bitcoin operation, accused of selling over $1 million on the black market website silk road. at the time's fifth state of the union. top advisors say he will demand

lawmakers take action and is willing to use executive action to advance his agenda when necessary. you can watch the state of the union here on al jazeera america starting at 6 o'clock. "real money" with ali velshi is next. >> right now, your investments are taking a big hit over fears of a crisis half a world away. i'll help you make sense of emerging markets and how they're connected to the american economy. also, how you can bypass the bank and go right to your employer for your next loan. plus meet the guy who looks at your broken iphone and sees dollar signs. i'm ali velshi. this is "real money".