shows. >> the conversation is over, the conversation conditions on the website or facebook and google+. you can find us on twitter. see you next time. >> good evening everyone. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler reporting from washington, d.c. great expectations and pressure for president obama on the even of his state of the union address. fatal fix. the surge in hoirn deaths in hen pittsburgh in a week. america on ice. temperatures plunging, heat prices soaring as another brutal

cold blast hits the nation. we know the exact day in time monet made this priceless painting. >> here in washington, president obama will stand before congress and the country tomorrow night. he faces a second term saddled with setbacks. earlier this evening he was rat his desk working on his state of the union address. we know he will make promises, can he deliver on those promises? joining us is mike viqueria and richard norton-smith. gentlemen, good to see you. >> welcome to washington, d.c. >> talk about these expectations. >> the president walks into the state house for his sixth state

of the union a lame duck. we are already in an election year. most people aren't aware there is a congressional election this year, nervous democrats worried about losing control of the senate, the house of representatives expected to stay in control of the republicans. >> what is he going to say? >> talking about income and equality, talking about the congress's inability to pass an unemployment extension for the long term unemployed. talking about the desire to raise the minimum wage. going absolutely nowhere in congress. the center piece in his second term in the white house, immigration reform. there's a chance that could go somewhere in the house of representatives. >> richard let's talk about the history of the state of the union? how did we get start wednesday that? >> go to london, go to plairm,

parliament, when the queen delivers her address. that's the origin. >> how has it changed over the years? >> thomas jefferson, who may have been a good writer but hated giving speeches, ceased giving the speech in person. it was read by a clerk in front of each house until woodrow wilson, who was a great parliamentarian and public speaker, and calvin coolidge was the first radio state of the union and harry truman on television. the modern speech had its origination with lyndon johnson, who in the 1960s not only determined to televise it but to move it to the evening. >> modern day speech are these moments, the president has someone in, the first lady has someone in the gallery with her

as well. what do we know about that? >> the moments we see the ones we recommend are the unexpected moments, the yuli moments and the justice samuel alitto mouthing not true, when the president mentioned the citizens united. larry skutnik who dove into the icy water and helped rescue people in the potomac river. rushing to help a gentleman who had been grievously injured, jeff bauman, carlos aranando, they'll are together in the first lady's box to joe biden confident to both the first lady and the president. >> over the years has it gotten

longer? >> it seems to have gotten longer. what's gotten longer is the amount of time beforehand that we speculate. it's sort of washington's equivalent of oscar night without the fashion sense. it's just as stylized and scripted. the more attention that white houses pay towards the television audience, the smaller that audience becomes. tomorrow night, the president will speak to maybe 30, 40 million people. that is certainly the largeest single audience he has had, to begin to define his legacy but it is half what lyndon johnson would have addressed. >> how important is it to his legacy? >> i think it's important, but i don't think there's a laundry list. the president will take a more thematic bent --

>> the laundry list -- >> the things i'm going oproap. to propose. of the 40-some items on the laundry list last year i think two even came close to being enacted this year. there are certain things he has to say, he's got to talk about gun control, he's got to talk about things that his core constituency wants him to talk about. but i don't think he's going to emphasize the partisan nature of washington other than to urge people not to be so partisan. as much as you can see, i don't think there's partisan overtone quite as much as you seen. i think partisanship john dare i say it, could be going out of fashion. there was a farm bill for all things that was passed today. >> the applause, you know of course you get applause from both sides but then there is very partisan applause. >> right. again that's why i think the

audience watching this feels that this is -- it's very difficult for a lot of people watching this to connect it to their own lives. to them, this is just washington being washington, going through this annual ritual including the partisan. you know remember what was it a couple of years ago the idea was hatched let's have democrats and republicans sit together. which was a great idea. but it doesn't seem to have paid off in much bipartisan legislation. >> but you actually see republicans sit down and democrats get up and drets get up and -- democrats get up and republicans sit down throughout the speech. is that going on forever or about television? >> a lot of it is television, the internet. not just the numbers. 30 years ago the president had 80 million people and the only person that was commenting was eric severeid doing instant

analysis. tomorrow night, 30 million will be at which timering before the speech is over offering their on instance audience. it is hard for the president to command the kind of attention that once was the case. >> tomorrow we'll be doing a little analysis of our own. thank you, mike, if to have you on the program. we'll have coverage of the state of the union address 6:00 eastern and 3:00 pacific, and 9 o'clock is the actual speech. irhillary clinton watts a speaker at the national automobile association, and she talked about her greg while leading the state department. >> my biggest regret is what happened in bengd. benghazi. it was a terrible tragedy.

>> chris stevens, his death as ambassador in the middle east. 2016, she says i'll have to say i don't know. the bitter cold, extreme arctic weather, up and down the east coast, more than 100 million are realing from the deep freeze rebecca stevens is here with that. rebecca. >> john, a cold blast that may be colder in places than it was the last time we were talking about the polar vortex. this cold is bringing temperatures to 14 in mi min minneapolis. we've got 29° below zero in chicago. for a wind chill factor right now.

now, incidental it's been -- incidentally, top 20 coldest winters on record with an average temperature of 20.3°. 27 days out of 50 with snowfall, accumulating snowfall, only four times since records have been kept since 1872. remark guilty snowy winter in chicago, record breaking snow amounts for the month of january. now this arctic weather is moving so far to the south we've got big issues for the southeast, not only an ice storm warning in parts of south carolina but ice and snow that will develop across the southeast, see how temperatures are cooling 22 in memphis to just above freezing in atlanta. it does feel much colder than that because even the southeast is dealing with wind chill factors, john. >> rebecca thanks very much.

now information tonight about the data that the government is collecting from internet companies. according to the justice department internet companies can reveal publicly when they're forced to turn over customer information. however, the customers still won't know exactly what is being collected and there are new reports about how spy agencies are able to collect personal information from smartphones. jake ward reports. >> the documents that edward snowden turned over seemed to be revealing a whole newtrophy of information that the nsa is making use of, naiblg the apps s you and i use every day. the names of people in your photographs, the geotag and metadata that go along with those tags. thereby turning over your contact list to the app maker. all of that is suddenly

available to the nsa for scooping up. now, there are a couple of apps that are specifically mentioned in these documents, the 2008 document mentions google maps specifically because it is basically a great geolow geoloc. it can locate where you are standing and provide great information to any system. the app last been tremendously improved since then. at this point the map offers up the ability to identify where your home and your work are, which means that you'll be eventually handing that kind of information over. and it also tracks your history over time. such that you're not only understanding exactly where you are at that moment but where you have been in the last month or so. so your past searches are stored, all kinds of useful information. now keep in mind also, that there has really been almost no

sense yet of how exactly they're using the data, just that they're collecting enormous amounts of it. and certainly in the private sector a lot of data comes in but finding ways to make connections within that data, very, very difficult to do. it's unclear at this point just how much data they're actually able to make use of even though we know they are collecting incredible amounts of it. >> jake ward, thank you. now to the crisis of ukraine, a crisis divided by political and social factors, the crisis simmering for weeks escalated one more time as protestors tried to swarm government buildings. jennifer glasse is in kiev overlooking one of those protest sites tonight. so jennifer what is the mood there after today's negotiatio

negotiations? >> well, it's john and we're very quiet right now. a little bit of optimistic. president yanukovych under a lot of pressure. not only here in kiev but around the country have escalated. tens of thousands of people coming out in the west which is an opposition supported area but in the east, a presidential strong hold. vice president joseph biden calling him today and emphasizing that he should not call a state of emergency that there should be a dialogue. a dialogue there was this evening at the presidential headquarters as the president met with his opposition, three opposition leaders. a big development for him because, just over a week ago, he wasn't even speaking to them and the fact that he is making concessions, that is a new development. after a surprise negotiating session between president viktor yanukovych and the three

soiption leaders, a sign of progress. >> translator: the political decision was made to repeal the law adopted on january 16th which invoked numerous discussions. >> translator: negotiations are long and difficult. i would like to point out a couple of key issues that are being discussed and i think that tomorrow we will have a chance to review them in detail. they are releasing the arrested offering amnesty to the arrested, this issue was reviewed. another issue is a cancellation of the shameless antiprotest laws from the 16th of january adopted against the constitution. these issues will be revoted on according to the regulations. >> the president says parliament will repeal laws which ban freedom of speech. two months of civil actions that forced the government hands. outside ukraine's justice ministry opposition officers stand watch.

the opposition took over the building sunday but they're not occupying it because they don't want to further provoke the government. this was obviously the office they were using all the food they were eating last night 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 comarnlg says his job -- charge says his job is to make sure the people are safe. they don't want to talk about what it's like working for agovernment under siege. outside, one of the guards outlines what the opposition wants. >> the repeal of those laws that were enacted on the 16th of january that made this a dictatorship, all our people that have been in prison should be freed and the constitution of 2004 should be reinstated. >> reporter: what started as

pro-european demonstrations in november have become a wider expression of dissatisfaction with the government. limiting basic freedoms, protestors were killed in clashes with police. there is now civil unrest in most of the country. where the president has substantial support. in the western city of laviv where the opposition is largely in control demonstrators locked the local barracks to keep security forces being sent there. parliament tuesday will bring an end to the conflict it will be interesting to see. and that session of parliament is set to start just four hours from now, a little bit -- a little over a half mile away. the opposition has called on its followers to come out here in independence square in small numbers to keep the pressure up to make sure the parliament does what it wants. john. >> jennifer glasse in kiev for

us tonight, jennifer thank you. in geneva the syrian peace talks are hitting a road block over transitional government. our james bays has the lateliesn the economic tu -- diplomatic tg of war. >> this the first time the most difficult item of political transition has been on the agenda. their position remains uncompromising. >> translator: so-called opposition talking about president assad and talking about what they call the regime our country has been destroyed our factories our school our hospitals our people we have 6 million displaced syrians. >> why doesn't president assad should step aside.

maybe your 44 years is long enough. >> we are 10,000 years old, we know what's good for us. >> when the two sides met it was a stormy meeting. the syrian government presented this paper on transition, it is a new document but has nothing new in it. conditions rather than any concessions. it's not just on transition whether it's deadlocked. the opposition doesn't trust an offer from the government to let women and children leave the old city of homs. >> we have previous grievous experience, it was in magdamea, there were many boys and men they got kidnapped by the regime wins they are out of the city. we don't trust them. >> on sunday the media were told the human traine humanitarian ds

was one small break through. but that issue along with the others remains deadlocked. james bays, al jazeera, geneva. >> clearing the way for the interim leader of egypt to run for president. al-sisi led the military coup of mohamed morsi's government in july. has been in control since morsi was deposed. >> two dozen people dead after taking a deadly batch of heroin.

don't miss special state of the union coverage as only al jazeera america can deliver. right here on al jazeera america.

>> every sunday night, al jazeera america brings you conversations you won't find anywhere else... >> your'e listening because you wanna see what happen... >> get your damn education... >> talk to al jazeera only on al jazeera america >> oh my... >> tonight a developing story out of pittsburgh. the city is dealing with a sudden and very dramatic spike with drug overdoses. in just two days, two dozen people have died from an overdose of heroin. jonathan betz reports. >> deeply concerned about a batch of heroin that's problem

offing to be particularly deadly. not in 25 years has pittsburgh seeing so many dying at once from drugs. >> a couple of the tera flu here. >> people call it bud ice but it's thera flu laced with fentanil. overdoses, three times as many as normal. >> basically if you take it you're going to have cay. >> bags of heroin labeled as theraflu. nationally, the number of heroin users has soared to 620,000 people. across the u.s. drug overdose deaths have tripled since 1990.

>> heroin has proved especially popular in rural america because it's cheaper than pills and easier to get. >> we're joined by carl williams, al gai allegheny couny prosecutor. >> in allegehny county, there is a definite heroin problem here in pittsburgh. over the last week we've had a marked upsurge in that number. on friday there were three cases. on saturday there were four cases and in sunday there were another three cases.

that prompted me to see if i could test the drugs that were found at the scene. what i discovered on friday was the drug fentanil, a very powerful narcotic used legally by physicians as an analgesic for pain control. in this case i believe it's being manufactured illegally and sold as heroin. i'm not sure these are heroin overdoses yet, heroin mixed with fentanil or just pure fentanil. >> doctor, have you seen this before? >> as i say, we have seen fentanil before, fentanil sold as patched. i have never seen a mini epidemic of fentanil.

in 1988 a local chemist mixed up a batch of fentanil and sold it as heroin and there were 17 deaths of just pure fentanil. heroin users are instead getting a drug much more potent, so i guess that's why we're seeing such a prominent peak in what tend to be heroin overdoses but more associated with fentanil. i have one of the few death investigation units in the country that has its own laboratory. this is what is of a moving target. my laboratory is doing an analysis of not only the stamped bags came labeled at thera flu but also what is labeled as bud

ice. what is being sold as heroin but what drugs we are finding in the overdose victims. >> and we'll be following had story as well, dr. williams it's good to have you on the program. thank you very much. plus, bitcoin bust, a key figure in the business accused of funneling money for drugs. and mad dash for cash. why many in argentina are trading in their pesos for u.s. dollars.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in washington, d.c. tonight. and here's a look at the headlines. president obama will address the nation tonight in his fifth state of the union.

income and the economy are expected to be at the top of the agenda going into the state of the union address. u.s. and u.k. spy agencies are tapping into personal data in cell phones, according to edward snowden. the aleaked documents show how intelligence operations can take information from game apps. the three hour negotiations session led to some progress for trubd syria. the government will appeal some of the antiprotest laws set in place earlier this month. he is one of the main players in the bitcoin business and today he was placed in handcuffs. the co-founder of a bitcoin exchange company charged with laundering money. christian saloomi reports. >> bitcoins are a new form of

currency but the charges filed against one ceo of a coin exchange company are pretty old fashioned, money laundering. charlie shrem. also 52-year-old robert fayella, a bitcoin trader. conspired to sell to users of the silk road since shut down. allowed users to buy and sell illegal drugs anonymously. making it difficult to track the trades. those who track the law canned height behind their computers. >> when bitcoins like any traditional currency are laundered and used to fuel criminal activity we have no choice but to act. >> in october ross ulbrecht was arrested on charges of drug

dealing, money laundering computer hacking and murder for hire. that prompted a rush on bitcoin. monday's arrests are another sign of authorities growing concern that the privacy bitcoin offers makes it a haven for those that want to break the law. kristin saloomi, al jazeera flork. >> joining us is ariva martin. >> thank you, john. >> what is the definition of money laundering? >> it's when somebody takes illegally gained money, and tries to clean it up. selling illegal weapons and then you try oput that money into a clean situation such as maybe you know using a front as a store, or some other kind of

legitimate business. but it's taking illegal money and trying to make that money appear legitimate. >> so how does bitcoin exist in the framework of the law? >> you know what happened which is really interesting, around 2013 or so the u.s. treasury department decided that those that trade bitcoins are actually trading money. they're money transmitters and they are going to be governed by the same federal and state laws like any other money transmitter. think of western union, it is an entity that person a transmits money to person c. that is what these bitcoin entities are doing, transfer money to someone else. in this case it's digital currency bitcoins. they must become registered now, and they must comply with the same federal and state laws just

like a company like western union. >> is there a precedent for a case like this or not? >> well, lots of precedents for money laundering. you know that's a decade-old crime and just because we see these entrepreneurs using this innovative model of bitcoins doesn't mean you can go and engage in illegal activity. that's the message the u.s. attorney's office sent today, if you are using bitcoins to trade illegal drugs or guns, you will be treated like old fashioned money laundering. very old fashioned message about the u.s. justice department regulating this decentralized and deregulated. >> what do we know about this suspicious activity report as part of the story? >> again, once an entity becomes

a money launderers, they become foot soldiers for government. failing to report illegal or suspicious activity with respect to money laundering. so in addition to the conspiracy charges and some of the other charges, there is an obligation, if you are western union and you are taking money and there's suspicious activity that money is being laundered you have the obligation to report that to the federal government. >> some people who are in favor of the bitcoin or support that system, what do you think the message prosecutors are sending to them is tonight? >> i think the really strong message here john is that the government now is regulating this industry, which last seen no regulation. so you know it's not that bitcoins them sestles are inherently illegal, it is one of

the business models that will be even more problematic, even the securities and exchange commission steps up to start looking at the operations of some of these entrepreneurial companies that are trading bitcoins. this silk road that was taken down some months ago, the will be very strict in penalizing those engaged in bitcoin activities. >> riva thanks very much. congress reaches agreement on a highly rated farm bill, estimated to save an estimated $24 million in ten years. the bipartisan bill, about $9 billion over in food stamp benefits. the how is expected to vote on the pleadges wednesday. it is unclear when the senate

will take it up. troubled spots like afghanistan to the pacific. during tomorrow's state of the union speech many will be wondering how the president has handled this new strategy. melissa chan has that story. >> the u.s.s. george washington right out on the ocean. part of president obama's pivot to asia. by 2020, the plan is to switch 60% of the country's war ships to the mediterranean. this is one major reason some consider the only reason behind the asia pivot. china. its growth is a worry to not only the united states. >> everyone has the same

approach towards china. it includes if united states, britain. >> over disputed islands for japan any u.s. claims of an are asian pivot must be backed by action. in particular tokyo wants support on the islands issue from washington. so far the u.s. last demurred from taking sides although it put down its foof when china, south china see upsetting other american allies such as the philippines who now look tot u.s. for help. but many asian countries where the pivot pays only lip service. they see secretary of state john kerry spending more time in the middle east, and the much anticipated visit by president obama was cancelled.

a bashful kerry went in his place. opting for the more benign rebalance, some wondered whether president obama had changed his mind, opting for a softer approach. the u.s. and china are trading partners after all and u.s. has not considered the pivot creating the strategy impediment. >> they feel, whatever we do is an attempt to encircle them. we are not trying to encircle you. we are engaging you. >> in his visit to beijing last month vice president biden bluntly reminded the emerging power china that the superpower united states had never really left the region. >> the united states has a profound stake in what happens here. because we need and are and will remain a pacific power.

>> it's one thing to move ships to see, the hard part of the pivot will not be with military affairs but with trade. president obama would like to see an asia pacific free trade zone but those negotiations have taken and will take years. melissa chan, al jazeera san francisco. >> two big announcements from mexico tonight. security forces have captured one of the leaders of the knight tell particular drug cartel and the country is legalizing vigilante groups. the civilians have been fighting the drug cartel for almost a year. the administration polite help because -- might need their help because they have not been able to do it on their own. the value of the peso has taken a dive. >> it's not clear whether these

men are carrying dollars or pesos. whenever the country has economic problems, more and more people seek refuge in the green back. the currency argentines feel safer with. the dollar here is a social thermometer of confidence and no confidence in the government and in the currency. with inflation high some independent economists put the annual rate aat more than 25%, few save their money. they invest in new cars. last year saw record sales. and in property. the transactions are strict reply cash. u.s. dollars only. >> the bags were full of dollars, from our account. the bank cashiers brought the dollars in the bags. we counted them. and then proceeded to hand them over to the other side of the table, push them over and then

they counted them. >> dealing in dollars is legal but sometimes it doesn't feel like it. since the restrictions governing trades chairnlg constantly as the government -- change constantly as the government seeks to control the flow of u.s. currency. many with black market guevas or caves. these money changes are such a constant feature on the buenos aires landscape. >> in safety deposit boxes or in foreign bank accounts in uruguay, miami or the caman islands is not known. to restrict capital flight, control inflation and encourage greater investment in argentina. the uncertainty emanating from the financial district is spreading throughout the count

country. one of a few certainties here is the stability of the dollar. daniel schweiner al jazeera, buenos aires. >> sochi's mayor claims there are no gay people in the host city. he played the comments in an interview with the bbc when talking about how russia's homosexual law would affect the games. but according to russia's rt, lesbian gay, bisexual and tran transgender communities in the area. the mayor said gays are welcome at the games as long as they don't impose their habits onto others. the broncos and seahawks have arrived in new jersey. the count down to super bowl 48 is on the way.

off field news as the game gets very close. mark. >> the players and coaches from the super bowl teams will hold court at the annual media day tomorrow. health concerns may be brought up as well, concussions have obviously moved front and center in the discussion of football injuries at every level of play. youth leagues, high school, college and the nfl and recently nfl commissioner roger goodell has been asked for the use of medical marijuana to treat concussion he and head injuries. among his answers he said, we will determine, if this is proper use we will consider that. our medical experts are not saying that right now. today seattle seahawks head coach pete carroll weighed in on the subject. >> we have to explore and compete to find ways to make the game a better game and take care

of the players the best way possible. the fact that it is in the world of medicine the commissioner roifts and we need to follow the research regardless i'm in favor, because the world of medicine is trying to do this exact same thing and figure out and they are coming to conclusions. >> sports agent leestein birg who counts nfl players among his clients doesn't mince words in his new book. steinberg said he became aware of head trauma and its effects years ago. >> many years ago i called it a ticking time bomb and an undiagnosed e epidemic. made sure the players sat there and listened to what was going on. we suggested through a white paper that there be a nucialtion oneurologist on the sideline.

not much changed. we did it again in los angeles in 2 2007 and then we had to get three or more concussions neurologists said, premature senility, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, at the inception of every play it produces a low level subconcussive hit. that means that an offensive lineman can walk out of football playing in high school, college and pros with 10,000 subconcussionive hits. none of which have been diagnosed. but the aggregate of which is much more harmful to the brain than getting knocked out three times.

so think, if 30% of the mothers in this country are aware of this, and tell their kids you can play any sport but you cannot play tackle football, it won't kill football. it will just change the socioeconomics of it so the same type of people play football that box. they know that they're likely to suffer brain damage. but they use it as a way out of poverty. >> now, the concussion discussion has sowbl just begun and as far as -- has obviously just begun and removing marijuana from the banned suspects list, it's still illegal to transport it across state lines. john back to you. >> all right, the super bowl gets started with style along the skyline. the social media driven light show every night this week verizon is posting a question on

twitter with the super bowl with the hashtag, hrbt who's going to win. a -- #who's going to wifn. looks like denver is going to take the edge tonight. next, day and time, how astron% can tell when monet painted this picture. understanding where we are, taking a critical look where we're going. >> there is much progress to report. >> immediately after stay with us as we get your reactions live from around the country and across the globe. don't miss special state of the union coverage as only al jazeera america can deliver. right here on al jazeera america.

>> winter storm warnings and wind chill warnings are out. from the northern plains, dropping right out of canada. it's dense heavy and winds have been gusting very high. it's going to take your wind chill down to 40 to 50° below zero. we'll definitely have ha that around the great lakes overnight and into the morning hours but we're going to start to feel the chill in the air. mainly on the eastern end as we'll get heavier amounts but that cold wind is what's going to really bite and that cold wind is going to be sagging further south and it's going to be bringing a mix of icy weather, a glaze of ice 1 to 2 inches potentially for places in the southeast. so we will all be in this cold chill tuesday and wednesday. your low temperatures as you get going 20° below for minneapolis,

14 below and new york starting out at a cold 11. we start talking about highs, it's remarkable when you say atlanta, you're going to be just going over that freezing mark. headlines coming up next.

>> putting a date and time on historic pieces of artwork, that's what one astrophysicist was able to do. this monet painting was painted, plus or minus a minute, at 1853. studying weather and tides. a growing trend for television watchers, more and more consumers are cutting the cord for cable subscriptions and opting for less expensive alternatives. brian rooney has this story. >> the television is still there in the living room, it works but

not the way i.t. use it used to. matthew and his wife considered the cable bill and decided they could cut. they depend upon a roku distribution box. >> we can stream the latest shows. and you know we can see everything we want right there. and at a fraction of the price. and i think we're paying $8 a month for that. >> the a.c. neilsen ratings company say the people 18 to 49 that advertisers want to reach are watching an hour less of traditional television a week than they did a year ago. but like the sweats they can watch on a variety of different devices, on a tablet at the kitchen table if they like.

it's come a long way from the rabbit ears antenna. >> the family is not interested in showing up at 8:00 to watch a piece of television. if that is true, more and more content will sit on servers, offered up to you wherever you want on whatever device you want wherever you are. >> the television audience is apparently undergoing a major shift that determines how entertainment is delivered. a new york research firm says that twretion subscriptions have dropped six% in just the last two years and streaming services have grown by 4%. americans are abandoning their linear television for streaming services like hulu netflix amazon prime and of course youtube. a growing number of younger viewers have never paid for cable and satellite service and possibly never will.

>> they come out of college they finally get their first home and they decide they don't need cable and satellite services. they don't want to pay $120 a month. >> good, good. >> for matt sweat the down side is the lack of sports and news. but otherwise there's a hundred ways of watching. he only cut the cord. he didn't throw away the remote. brian rooney, new york. the supreme court approved a ballot initiative for november. republicans are against that measure saying almost anyone would be able to get marijuana for slightest complaint. there is a new deputy schaeffer, dan ackro yirvetiond, the 61-year-old actor who asked to join the reserve department. ak royd apparently served in

other reserve sheriff departments before making it in hollywood. a candid setting far from where he will be tomorrow night. of course i'll see you back here tomorrow night for special coverage of the state of the union address. 6:00 p.m. eastern, 3:00 pacific. we'll have the speech itself at 9:00 and your top stories are coming up in just a moment.

>> al jazeera's investigative unit has tonights

>> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm jonathan betz in new york. here are tonight's top stories. president obama will give his fifth state of the union speech tonight. the economy is expected to be

the top priorities. his approval ratings are the lowest ever going into the address. the city of pittsburgh, nearly two dozen have died from heroin laced with a morphine drug. it's prompted a warning from officials. collecting personal data from smartphone apps. that's what spice are doing, according to former nsa contractor edward snowden. taking information from popular apps like angry birds. the ceo of a bitcoin operation were arrested today, part of a federal probe against the underground black market website called silk road. in the u.s. more extreme arctic weather from the midwest to the south up and down the east coast more than 100 million people are reeling in this deep freeze and it is expected to get worse tomorrow. we'll see you back here tomorrow

night for special coverage of the state of the union address it starts at 6:00 p.m. eastern 3:00 p.m. pacific and the speech at 9:00. america tonight with joie chen starts right now. >> on "america tonight": promises promises. as the president prepares for his biggest annual address a reminder of how things went after the last one. >> it certainly says a lot about a president's effectiveness. people look back at presidents in history, you look back at what did they believe what did they do what did they accomplish. >> also tonight the fight for chicago. one year after the president highlighted her story to galvanize ameca