>> i'm joie chen, i'm the host of america tonight, we're revolutionary because we're going back to doing best of storytelling. we have an ouportunity to really reach out and really talk to voices that we haven't heard before... i think al jazeera america is a watershed moment for american journalism >> this is al jazeera america from new york city. i'm richelle carey with today's top stories. from massive snow storms to a devastating drought in california, now the president offers help to struggling farmers. in colorado the government gives banks guidelines to deal with proceeds from pot. and a damning report from the miami dolphins bullying scandal.

>> relentless snow and ice storms have made this a wet winter in the eastern u.s. but lack of rain and snow has created a potential disaster on the west coast. temperatures in the eastern u.s. have been below normal this winter while much of the west have seen above normal or record temperatures, and that is hel helping to worsen the drought in california. president obama is on his way to the west coast to announce financial assistance to those affected by the drought. mike viqueira, i know people on the west coast, probably feel like as we talk so much about the snow in the east coast, but they're having a tough time out there. >> reporter: that's a great point. i was just studying up on this in preparation for the president's trip. do you know this is the worst drought on record in california, and those records go back to the mid 1,900th century, it is a

dire situation, and it's going into it's third year now. president obama will be there in a couple of hours from now. he'll be having a round table with farmers and ranchers, and he comes bearing some assistance to the farmers there in california san joaquin valley. where so much of this nation's produce and what is on family's tables around the world is produced. $15 million in conservation assistance, conserving water in california, and oklahoma and texas as well. he'll get help to farmers as quickly as possible. it is not just about the drought in california, the president willing working climate change initiatives into this as well.

in his budget that will be released in three weeks time $1 billion in so-called climate resistence fund he's going to be proposing that will require action from congress basically research and ways to get around the inevitable effects of global warming. jay carney is the president's spokesman, he spoke to the larger issue this morning. >> let's make clear no episode of weather, storm, drought, has been said to be caused by climate change, global climate change, but scientists agree that weather everywhere is being influenced by climate change. >> reporter: the new carbon initiative, constricting coal fire plants and this isn't the only thing that the president is going to be doing out there. he is a got a bi lateral meeting in sunny cal and then the president will stay on for a long weekend of rest and rela relaxation. >> so a jam packed agenda and

then relaxation. >> right california central valley is one of the most productive agriculture regions in the world. melissa chan looks how the drought is having an effect on the economy and it's people. >> reporter: diane inspects the wheat field passed down to her from her father. the drought has her worried. >> it grabs you from down decent, and you're making me cry, but when you see the soil and touch it, and you know that it may not be here for your next generation of families, that's big. >> reporter: she says she had hoped to plat this season, but without water she won't be following those plans. friend a director of the farm bureau and has spent many

averages assessing the drought. >> it will be dry like this all year. >> reporter: she takes us to stone land farms, the land is fallow because they don't have enough water. >> we're not going to spend the money growing the crops because we don't have the water to grow it. >> reporter: farms are taking on half the number of workers it usually hires this time of year. smallerrer harvest means fewer migrant workers in the field and higher unemployment in an already depressed region. >> if there is no water they don't have jobs. people are working the fields, they need water to have jobs. >> reporter: to properly understand the impact it's important to know that the central valley has had very dry conditions for a few years now so the drought has turned an already bad situation worse. we met dan short at a distribution center.

his organization expects to give away an extra ten million pounds of food. this year. california, one of the bread baskets of the world, is unable to feed itself. >> i'm feeding the guys that grow the food. >> reporter: according to the water coalition the central valley could lose $2.2 billion this year because of the drought. some farmers will go bankrupt. >> i heard the other day a farmer said to me, what will i do? what will i become? >> reporter: the people tell us that farming is not a job. it doesn't end at 5:00, it's not a small business that folds. melissa chan for al jazeera i in the san joaquin valley. >> authorities in pennsylvania say at least 30 people were hurt in a series of crashes on the

pennsylvania turnpike. look at these pictures. several tractor trailers and dozens of vehicles were involved in the crashes that which cause huge backups. officials say none of the injuries were life-threatening, but motorists say the turn bike was slick. police say a 36-year-old pregnant woman died after she was hit by a snowplow outside of a shopping center in brooklyn. she was rushed to the hospital where they delivered the baby. the baby is in critical condition. driving from rauling to west virginia when a crash on interstate 74 brought to a standstill. they were stuck for several hours. as the east coast cleans up from one storm to another stor,s

on the horizon. >> meteorologist: but it's nothing compared to what we had yesterday. look at the storm clearing out. we have the sunshine, the temperatures climbing barely above freezing but everything could refreeze overnight. there was that snow in ohio. that could be what we're dealing with tomorrow. the temperatures are still well would have freezing. we still see that melting, the skies are clear and the temperatures will drop quickly across the northeast. the storm moves out but there is snow, ice, and rain across the this will continue to push east and intensify but with this last storm it could intensify further east. not looking at a big significant major snowstorm. continuing throughout the late morning and then clearing out by tomorrow night. there is the storm intensifying off the northeast. a little more accumulating snow expected this weekend mainly saturday. storms developing with storms

developing out west. too much rain will lead to flooding in washington and oregon and helping the drought situation there. >> thank you so much. these storms made it really tough for airline passengers. more than 75,000 flights have been canceled since decembe december 1st including 14,000 this week alone. that means one in every 20 flights scheduled since december 1st has not taken off. we'll talk more about those cancellations that some say is made worse. todd, it is not new that weather can cause travel delays, air travel delays. why is it so much worse? >> well, it's worse for a bunch of reasons. versus a few years ago perhaps as far as 1987 when they started taking records the airline industry has radically changed. 25 years ago there were many more airlines. none of them were anywhere as

big as the airlines today. frankly if you have a large system and you have weather problems, it will cascade throughout that system. you may see delays and cancellations in cities that are perfectly clear. >> much more of a trickle down effect of what happens in one part of the country effects your airline, and another part of the country now. why more cancellations, and not just delays now? >> well, there are a couple of things that happened recently. one, there was a change in pilot rules where pilots have to have more rest between lights. which means that the airlines have to adjust their schedule accordingly. although the rules can change very quickly it takes a while for the pilot population to get used oh to those rules. airlines may be hirer more pilot, but it may take a while before they come on stream and

aircraft. also an airline has an airplane on the tarmac for three hours or more, they will be fined. this is another factor which causes airlines to think what is cheaper, delaying the flight or canceling it outright and rescheduling the passengers. >> these rules were to make flying a better/less frustrating experience for passengers, but in the long run it could still make it equally frustrating for passengers, right? >> absolutely. in the short term we see a situation like we have now. this is the first fuel winter when the two new major changes in the rules have been put into so make sure that this sort of thing does not happen as much. the other thing is the weather

itself. as those who live in the east coast, there have been major storms in the last few weeks. whereas in the winter there are one or none of those kinds of storms. you really can't predict what matters will come into play to conspire against passengers. >> sometimes we're all in this together, and there isn't anything that anybody can do about it. transportation contributor todd curtis. thanthank you for explaining ths from behind the scenes. >> the flooding won't let up in britain. more rain is in the forecast along with high winds and snow. people are still swamped from previous floods. simon mcgregor reports from the hard hit town of how people are coping. >> believe it or not flood levels along the river thames have stabilized yet more rain is on the way. the volume of water surging across roads like this will only

increase. right next to the thames the authorities are preparing for the worst. it's cold, but they will be on the wrong side of the damn. all they have are these sandbags delivered by the army. >> i've been up in shifts all night, and especially now the flood is gone a bit, it meant that i could let the sandbags, get it dry, get proper sheeting down an. >> and outside of this church local people helping each other, fresh wet sand arrived to fill sandbags for whoever needs them. a few kilometers away, a photo opportunity for the royal family. prince william and harry giving

a hand. in the next few days it will result in the dramatic increase in the river thames here. as a result of that, another 1,000 homes at least will be flooded. >> as people look to keep this from happening again they look at the causes. the five wettest winters in the u.k. happened since the yea year 2000. >> they tell us about science, which is quite strong, i must say. but what does it mean for people? and it means more of the same. it means extremes. >> if this is a sign of things to come huge infrastructure will be needed, and it will cost billions. the time of shrinking budgets finding the money will be a critical challenge.

al jazeera, on the river thames. >> the government has moved to ease major problem for marijuana sellers. today the treasury department released guidelines for banks that deal with legal pot businesses so they don't get into trouble. john, what does this mean for the cannabis industry? >> reporter: hey, richelle, you will recall that in the states of colorado and washington sta state, it is perfectly legal to use marriage and there are a few places where it's medical use only. we'll go to the full screen there, 20 states plus d.c. has some law change that allows for the buying and selling of pot. 13 states are considering changes to their state laws, and look at that figure at the

bottom, $1.4 billion in 2014. that's how much the projection that this is going to bring in nationwide. now here's the problem, all of this is at the state level. the federal level it's a no, no, it's illegal, banks can't interact with these mom and pop businesses which means they don't get checking accounts, savings accounts, they have to rely on cash only, that's a problem because they're vulnerable of being robbed, and authorities can't trace the business. the financial crimes enforcement network, a division of the treasury, has issued guidelines to help mom and pop cannabis businesses. but the kicker is that banks still have to do now report any

drug deal that they think is suspicious, richelle. >> i imagine some businesses might still be a little skittish as everybody tries to figure this out, what are the challenges that still remain? >> reporter: as you often do, you put your finger smack on the point. a lot of these banks may want to do direct business with these mom and pop marijuana businesses broughting up all over the country. jp morgan chase, one of the big clearing banks on wall street, they clear i think it's 9 the million dollars in tax from the sale of marriage in colorado. but there is no word from them or any other bank whether they wish to work directly with these companies. the other thing is the national cannabis association are delighted. for the law to change at the federal level would require an

oact congress and senate, and yu know how long that takes. >> three people are dead after a powerful volcano eruption accepting ash and debris 12 miles into the air. it rained down on towns and villages, and 200,000 people were forced to leave their homes. airports have been closed and the disaster agency said tremors are still being felt. scientists expect another eruption. representatives from north and south korea are sitting down for another set of talks. they're discussing plans of family reunions for families split by the korean war. we have more from seoul. >> reporter: the previous gap between high level north-south talks lasted seven years.

this time the delegation walked across the demarcation line for the second time in 48 hours. friday's talks were shorter and seemingly more productive. an agreement that reunion of families separated by the korean war slated for next week will go ahead as planned. >> first north korea and south korea agree to hold a reunion of separated families and relatives as scheduled. the north and south agree to keep from slander each other. third, the north and south agree to continue discussing issues of mutual concerns. >> the family meetings could not take place as the military exercises scheduled to begin during next week's reunion event. the south koreans insist they have made no concessions on that front and they'll continue as planned. >> the reunions of the separated families so we per situated the north that we should trust each

other and the north korean side agreed with you us. >> reporter: north korea secured a commitment by both sides not to slander one another. the problem for what it calls slander comes from south korea's media, not its government. south koreasouth korean negotiae government could not put a stop to such coverage. after two days of talks south korea has a confirmation of a deal it already made on family reunions, and north korea has less of an agreement on preventing slander. relations could always detearate again very quickly but at least the two sides are talking begin at this level, and they promise to continue doing so. al jazeera, seoul. >> the report on the miami dolphins' bullying scandal,

we'll have details coming up. >> reporter: it's the country's largest gathering of homeless veterans. we'll have a live report from the arizona stand down coming up.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. in phoenix veteran veterans areg helped, community organizations are all in one place offering everything from medical services tell us more about this event. >> reporter: i should mention that this event is a reminder the need that is out there. we're expecting 1500 veterans who are homeless or at risk to come through the doors here over the next three days.

>> this is really an one-stop shop, they can get their their cuts and driver's license. this is to eliminate chronic homelessness among veterans. thathey've done it through a . >> traditionalcally people need to be taking their medication and clean and sober before we consider housing, so people who have been on the streets for many, many years, we put them in

housing and then provide the wrap around services, a social worker will go to their home and provide those services to them and see how they you pull them in for that care. >> we should mention while you have all th the chronic illnesss out now, the work continues. >> absolutely. we have so many services going on here. we have courts, va benefits, the idea is if anyone is homeless, we can continue to work with them so they can improve the quality of their life and not return to the streets. >> we're wrapping up for the day out here. again this event goes for three days. organizers say it's important to mention while all the chronic homeless veterans have been housed there is still more than 1200 homeless veterans here in the state of arizona alone.

richelle, back to you. >> on wall street investors are in a buying mood ahead of the weekend. this is the best day for the clue chips and the dow is up 3% with markets closed monday, it is a holiday. joining me to discuss the top business stories of the exchange at yahoo finance, and we always welcome you, erik, good to see you. it seems to suggest that the winter weather will get people down not because it's cold and depressing, but it's impacting how they feel about the impact, these high energy bills are weighing in.

>> there is no surprise. consumer confidence basically stayed flat in january. we keep hearing from economists that the fundamentals of the economy are getting better. we've seen breaking the logjam in washington, and maybe washington is not messing it up this year, but the consumers are not buying it yet. the snow has put a crimp on the economy and people's attitudes, and people are just starting to get high lettin heating bills fe vortex that swept across the country in january. they're spending more to heat their homes and less to spend on other things. that bums people out. we have two weak job reports in a row. thiassuming that we don't have a

polar vortex in may or june. >> pinning a lot of it on the weather, people are not that optimistic going forward. >> these confidence surveys are pretty volatile. they can go up and down a lot in a month. they can be temporary such as gas prices. i mean when gas prices go up or down by surprising amount we see that right away in these confidence surveys, and then it bounces back. something like a very harsh winter in much of the country, including the south. the south is getting a lot of snow, and they rarely even see snow, and they're getting heating bills where they almost never turn on the heat. it's not surprising that that would affect confidence. what is surprising if these numbers stayed depressed for

several months after the weather gets better. >> thank you so much. >> sure thing. >> the report is in on richie incognito and the miami dolphins. and native americans fight back against the keystone ex-he will pipeline.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. here's a look at your top stories. president obama is expected to arrive in california in about an hour. he's going to get a first-hand look at the drought conditions, and he will speak to farmers that have been devastated by lack of rain. more snow is in the eastern forecast. and the federal government now

says banks can do business with marijuana sellers. and issued new guidelines today. banks avoided transactions with the pot industry for fear of prosecution. the sale of marijuana is against the law. the release of an independent report on the miami dolphin engaged in harassment. we've been waiting and waiting for this. the timing happen to come after the super bowl. >> at least they skipped that part. they named another player and trainer who were targets. confirming what dolphin

offensive linemen knew from day one, bullied and harassed in the workplace. the report refutes fellow offensive linemen richie incognito's claims that his stories were fabricated. he was described as the instigator of the bullying with tom jerry who followed the lead and taunting with remarks about his sister and his mother that included racial insures. and there was homophobic name calling and improper touching. in this case, incognito seemed

to be the judge. in a note book incognito kept track of fines usually for trivial offenses ranging from $10,000 to $5,000. but in plant's cases, one fine was for $10,000 because martin did not attend a trip to las vegas. he paid by check. incognito awarded player a $250 for not cracking first and then tallied a series of fines for martin using derogatory terms for his fellow linemen. the fine, $1 million. incognito fined himself for breaking j mark, the term used for causing martin to have an emotional reaction in result to taunting. knowing participant's departure would lead to himself. incognito went to his teammate to destroy the fine book first thing in the morning. >> to destroy evidence certainly

doesn't help incognito's case. and his future on the football field is in doubt. let's talk about richie incognito. did he give one interview a while ago. slowly he's been trying to defend himself in a way. last month he released some text that said, guys, you have it all wrong. we're friends. then he had a twitter meltdown, i don't know if if a thanksgiving is the right characterization this week. talk more about that. >> they're trying to say that they were friends, which i think they were for little bit but the reason they were friends and the way it was both sided is complicated because martin, too, had gone back and forth with the crazy text messages but the report said that martin, quote, participated in off-colored joking with incognito and others in attempt to fit in with the hopes that it would be reduced. he did that just to hope that they would let off a little bit.

but as you see he finely had enough and he left the team. >> i realize the report has just been released today, but have we heard anything from the miami dolphins or the league? >> yes, they said they haven't had a chancing to through the report. you see how thick it is. 144 pages. they'll go through it, seas it, and then have their reaction. right now they're not saying anything until they can go through this properly. >> jessica, thank you so much. native americans are speaking out against the keystone excel pipeline. the pipeline would carry crude from canada's oil to oil refineries, and many are worried that an accident would pollute the land they call home. >> on a sacred site in the black hills of south dakota, they pray to mother earth. >> we come and stand in the footsteps of our ancestors to make offerings to protect the

sacred water. >> reporter: to the lakota water is nature's medicine, but some fear it could become poisoned if transcanada keystone pipeline is built. the project begins in the canadian tar sappeds running 1100 miles from montana to nebraska. in south dakota it would cover seven native american reservations. >> the pipeline will be approximately four miles to the west. >> that's too close for 60-year-old. their aquifer is in the pipeline path. >> when the pipe breaks, which i know it will, it's not going to leak oil. it's going to leak oil and chemicals. >> for the l la cota, this is nt

just a battle over water, it's a battle over land. and the lakota fear the construction of the pipeline could unearth sacred native american artifacts. transcanada has met with the tribes and said it has protections in place to preserve the site. they encourage the involvement of indigenous cultures and strife to build long-term trust and with respect with tribal groups. but at this meeting tribe members prepared for a fight. some even threatening to physically block the pipelines' construction. >> we'll stand in front of transcanada. they'll have to run over us or put us in jail to play their

pipeline. [♪ singing ] >> reporter: a threat the lakota hope they won't have to carry out. diane estherbrook, al jazeera, black hills, south dakota. >> the president is holding two days of meetings to decide who will be the next prime minister after the old one was forced o out. if chosen, they will be the youngest prime minister in history. he will also be the third straight unelected italian leader trying to turn the stagnant economy around. japan is having one of the worst snow seasons on record. 13 people have died from storm-related sends. 100 flights have been grounded and transportation has been brought to a standstill. last week tokyo got more snow than it had seen in nearly half a century. the high alert for a tiger

who has killed nine villagers in search weeks. hunters have been sent in to try to find this liker. she has been tracked across 120 miles, but so far avoided capture. poachers in the area has forced tigers closer to human populations. in germany its been more than 70 years since the end of the second world war, but people are finding art work stolen by the nazis. the german government is trying to make it easier to return art to its owners. >> reporter: hollywood's hands are all over the subject. but in real life fining that art is a much harder process. hidden behind ordinary walls in ordinary homes across germany and beyond. this is a real live treasure hunt. and when items are discovered getting them back to the

original owners can be a legal nightmare. which is where germany's upper house comes in. a draft bill came in to make it easier and to speed it up. this is where the bill will end up, the german parliament, but where it lands is anybody's guess because it has been 70 years since the end of the world war ii, and when it comes to the issue of stolen art nothing happens quickly. the panels of time under german law once that person has held that art for 30 years it automatically becomes their property. and getting to that part of the law is one of the goals, and the other one is locating the art. >> reporter: the big question is stolen, what was given under intimidation and what was gifted to the nazis. it's a big legal gray area.

when the object is stolen, it's very necessary to have a law in germany. >> reporter: but that law may not be the big solution that many need. museums can afford big legal fees. individuals fighting them in many cases just can't. >> they have to sign a contract that it will be sold at auction because they don't have the money to pay the lawyer to get back the painting and to hold it in a family. it's impossible. >> as many as 60 works from monet and picasso was found in this home in austria. new law or not many more will probably never ever be found. al jazeera. >> and maria is here with stories making headlines across the country.

>> reporter: an actor best known as john walton sr. died yesterday at his home in palm springs, california. he was 85 years old. he had several recurring tv roles at the time of his death, but it was his performance on the walton that is made him a star, the hard working father during the great depression. in tennessee where the three-day vote ends today. now uaw and management are in favor of the union. if approved it will be the first foreign automaker to unionize but conservative groups are fighting against t they think it will start a trend and hurt tennessee's economy. in new york, a

1,900th century stamp that will command $10 million to $20 million. that is one expensive stamp. >> a little out of our price range, just a little? >> all right, thank you. when we come back on al jazeera america white hat hacking, teaching responsibility to the next generation of high tech computer hackers and russian president vladimir putin surprise olympians.

>> it's almost a check list of a million things you have to do right, and if the attacker finds one that you didn't quite do right then they hack your system. >> reporter: companies have launched bug bounties offering rewards for anyone who finds something wrong with their systems. on his free time, a student discovered a security flaw for a major online retailer. >> it was something that he now

leads hack nights sharing his knowledge with classmates. >> in the end it's up to them not to take what they've learned and do mean things with it, with great power comes responsibility. >> a great power that is especially in demand. >> reporter: jonathan betz, al jazeera new york. >> the olympic day with an exciting weekend. take it away. >> reporter: after a thre three-immediate thursda-medal thursday, america garnered one on friday. bodie miller was exciting in the very event he won four years ago, but he finished you sixth. and ted ligety finished 12th. and thursday the mighty u.s. alpine team has julia man could yomancuso'sbronze to show for tr

efforts. ligety said, i choked for sure, and miller said, bluntly, i was pretty lousy. in men's figure skating it was going to be difficult for any skater to come against the japanese skate. a skater crashing hard into the wall, i picked himself up without further incident. later the first skate for achieve a score of 100 or better. standing between gold, jason brown with an enthusiast tick effort, brown's finish assured that hanu would win japan's

first ever men's figure skating gold medal. and the 43-year-old cross country skier became the first peruvian to compete four years ago. he was back for his second and final try in the classic race. nearly a half hour later after the gold winner crossed the finish line, the peruvian finished. he suffered a broken rib. he did it to encourage other peruvian children to take up skiing. there is great news from the great under armor speed skating controversy. u.s. speed skating executive director said that while the

thersuits will be-- >> we got to do better. >> we got to do better, i think you're right. >> russian president vladimir putin made a surprise visit today in sochi. he met with the u.s. olympic committee ceo scott black man and sipped a little wine. the usa team is a place where the athletes and their families gather. some of them snapped selfies and tweeted about the visit. >> reporter: richelle, one of the first tweets came from patrick meek. he said, putin just walked into team usa house. this is not the start of a joke. athletes started tweeting selfies of themselves. these are all luge athletes,

this one says just hanging out with putin. no big deal, and there is putt innocent background, and you'll see here, you also have chris writing sochi selfie with putin, and then lauren took a selfie of himself with the president in the background. and he went to visit the canadian house. he is with the canadian curling team and standing side by side with them. we're trying to find these of selfies with the usa athletes. we don't know if putin didn't put himself along side with them, or if they didn't tweet them. but here is a speed skater from canada. i should have asked him to be my valentine, she says. and he also asked the canadian team, he challenged them to meet at the hockey finals. take a listen to the reaction

from the crowd. >> thank you. i would like to. >> some of the reaction online about all of this, let us know if he left ed snowden behind. and it says, can't really tell but i think putin is frowning. >> and this one says can someone explain to me why anyone would like to take a selfie with putin? >> love is in the air across the u.s. and around the world. how people are celebrating valentine's day in different nations. this should be interesting, tell us. >> reporter: many people view today as a very western holiday so not everyone is into red

roses in valentine's day. in kerr gas stan they are not celebrating valentine's day in school. and in saudi arabia selling roses and cards is banned. and in malaysia authorities sent out a message that valentine's day is a threat to muslim values. there was a mass wedding of 140 couples. in iran where the government has tried to ban the sell of typical gifts like roses and heart-shaped balloons, but they give other gifts and go out to

dinner. even in countries in conflict like iraq, here huge teddy bears, they look very cuddly, sasatin pajamas, and in the ukraine despite deadly protest this couple got married today in the same square where demonstrators battled with police. the two met there while protesting and fell in love. in syria we've got an opposition news website using valentine's day to send out a political statement. they put out this video with bombs and messages of love. that is valentine's day around the world. richelle, back to you.

experts about people, and al jazeera has really tried to talk to people, about their stories. we are not meant to be your first choice for entertainment. we are ment to be your first choice for the news.

>> this is al jazeera america live from new york city, i'm richelle carey. banks can do business with marijuana sellers. banks had rejected transactions with the pot industry fearing

prosecution. federal laws prohibit the use and sell of pot. president obama will go to california to see the effects of the drought there. he'll also deliver $116 billion in emergency drought funding. he's due to arrive in a half hour. volcano eruption in indonesia has claimed three lives and prompted people to evacuate their homes. the explosion ha was heard 125 miles away. peace talks are at a stand style. russia has accused western country of sabotaging the negotiations by pushing for regime change. a report today found pro football player jonathan martin was harassed by three of his miami dolphins teammates. the report was made one month after the left the team.

i'm richelle cary, and for updates from around the world go to www.aljazeera.com. >> an u.s. district court judge has ruled that virginia's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. it's only the latest case on the federal appeals court using the reasoning of the supreme court to up end state laws, and it is the inside story.