we have team coverage for you, we begin with heidi zhou castro who has more from san antonio you. >> reporter: 60% of families who live in this east side neighborhood fall below the poverty line. about 40% of adults do not have a high school degree, and the unemployment rate is about double that of the national average. facing those statistics and getting by day-to-day can be a struggle for many folks. earlier a single mother of three who works a hard time job at a department start to make ends meet, and supports her children, her parents and her sick aunt. >> it is difficult. there is the challenges of the bills and the challenge of putting the food on the table for the kids. anything they might need for school, it gets to be a little bit difficult. >> reporter: people say things have been improving, especially since 2011 when this community received a department of education grant. it remains to be seen how much of a difference this promise zone designation will make. it is notable that this does not offer any federal money directly, but rather it makes this neighborhood have a pri

heidi zhou castro. al jazeera dallas. >> and joe watkins, former aid to president george w. bush. joe, good to talk to you. >> thank you. >> let's stipulate that the shutdown hurt everybody across the board. >> it did. >> but how much did it hurt the republican brand. >> it didn't. it's the crisis of the moment that people remember. people were really upset for a moment about the government shutdown. then we had the roll out of the affordable care act, and americans suddenly forgot how angry they were about the government shutdown. >> it's true. there is no way around that. what are your thoughts about the president's speech tonight and the challenges in that address. >> reporter: i think the president is a talented speaker, so from the stand point of the way he gives his speech, i'm sure it will be very well delivered. he'll get the predictable applause from the democrats and even some of the republicans. but the question is at the end of the day will he be able to get his job done. will he be able to go it alone and build confidence in americans that he'll be able to do anything

citizens detained abroad. >> heidi zhou-castro in texas. thank you. >> now to the extreme weather and for 80 million americans, this long winter seems to be getting worse. the east coast is digging up from the latest blizzard. if it's not the snow, it's the arctic air. i asked kevin corriveau a while ago how cold it was, and you said -- >> i said it was 18. >> you said it would be colder tomorrow. >> my apologies. we are dealing with temperatures 15 degrees lower than average. all coming in behind the frontal system. we had the snow. we are dealing with the cold care. tomorrow morning we'll see a low of 6. this is not including the windchill that will take us to the minus single and double digits. boston, portland. tomorrow's high temperatures for new york. it will stay like that, as i said. for friday, lows of nine. even saturday and sunday - a bit of snow coming into the picture. still below average for the high temperatures. this is not the only problem. to the south, the same arctic air mass. look at the freeze warnings. florida, alabam

heidi zhou-castro has more on a case that could strain relations between the u.s.nd mexico. >> edgar tamayo was pronounced dead at 9:32 central time, wednesday evening. this came after the supreme court refused to grant a last-minute stay on the execution. the lawyers for edgar tamayo had argued that executing him would be a violation of international law and could endanger u.s. citizens abroad. >> edgar tamayo was 24 years owl when he shot a houston police officer three times in the back of the head. 20 years litre the mexican government says edgar tamayo's execution is a violation of international law. at the heart of mexico's claim is the vienna convention on consular relations a treaty that says a person arrested in a foreign country has a right to contact their consular for help. mexico said that didn't happen for edgar tamayo or 50 other nationals sentenced to die in the united states. two other mexican nationals have been executed in texas. in edgar tamayo's home town. protesters were marching the street, hoping to convince officials in texas to spare his li

heidi zhou castro gives us a tour. >> reporter: it's a library without books where instead of hushesthe librarian, the walls talk. it's 12-year-old [ inaudible ]'s favorite place to go after school. >> they don't have books, books. they really just have digital ipad books, they got. >> reporter: his family is among the 13,000 people who signed up for library cards here since it opened in south side san antonio you last september. the area is 88% economically disadvantaged. 17% of the population lacks basic reading skills. >> there are a lot of families that don't have access to wi-fy or even computers in their home. >> reporter: the new library has 20,000 ebook titles. >> but they are also good for those adults who may have difficulty with reading or maybe of a lower reading level because the devices will actually read to you. >> reporter: this is a nursing assistant and mother of three, like more than a third of adults in this area, she never graduated from high school. >> now that my daughter is in middle school, a lot of the words i couldn't understand. >> reporter: she says now h

heidi zhou-castro visited the promise zone in san antonioio and filed this report. >> the evening regiment in the kitchen of maxi valedez - dinner in the oven, and homework at the table. >> can i hear you spell the words. >> maxi valedez is a single mother of three, working part-time in a department store and getting government assistance. she also cares for her parents and for a sick aunt. >> the challenges of the bills and the challenges of putting food on the table for the kids. any necessities they need for school is difficult. >> most households in this san antonioio neighbourhood shares the struggles. east side is historically black, ethnically mixed and 65% latino. 58% here live in poverty. the unemployment rate is double the average. >> this side of san antonioio is low to moderate income. a lot of folks who live there, the schools need help. there's a great spirit there. >> the promise zone designation for east side san francisco means the communicatee has priority consideration for future federal grants, and businesses that hire and invest in the neighbourhood may qualify for tax

heidi zhou castro, what appeals are still available? >> well, tony, there is only one thing now standing between edgar tamayo and the lethal injection now, that is a supreme court. justice scalia now considering a last-minute petition for a stay on the execution even as protesters have gathered voicing their opposition. the death penalty and supporting edgar tamayo to live. not only is their client mentally retarded, but his life is protected by an order made by international court. edgar tamayo was 4 years old when he shot a houston police officer three times in the back of the head. now 20 years later the mexican government warns tamayo's execution would violate international law. >> we'll take every step necessary in order to preserve the life of mr. tamayo. >> reporter: at the heart of their claim is an international treaty that says a person arrested in a foreign country has a right to contact their consulate for help. mexico said that did not happen for tamayo nor for 50 other mexican nationals who were sentenced to die in the uni

heidi zhou-castro explains. >> it's a library without books. instead of hushes from the librarian the walls talk. this is a favourite place to go afterschool. >> they don't have books books. they really just have the digital ipad books, i guess. >> his family is among 13,000 people who signed up for library cards at bibliotech since opening in san antonio last september. the area is 88% economically disadvantaged. 17% of the population lacks basic reading circles. >> there's a lot of families that don't have access to wi-fis or computers. the libraries has 20,000 e-book titles. patrons can download their own device. >> they are good for those adults that have difficulty with reading or a lower reading level because the devices will read to you. >> this is a nursing assistant and a mother of three. more than a third of adults in the area, she never graduated from high school. now that my daughter is in middle school, i couldn't pronounce or read along. >> she said since discovering bibliotech her reading has jumped from sixth grade to ninth. >>