. >>> from washington, the mclaughlin group, the american original for over three decades, the sharpest minds, best sources, hardest talk. >>> issue 1, state of the union, a forecast. this coming tuesday, january 28, president obama will deliver his fifth state of the union address. in it he'll lay out to both houses of congress and the public his plan of objection for the coming year. the speech comes as mr. obama weathers storms over his presidency including the glitch ridden rollout of his signature affordable care act web site and the revelations of widespread surveillance of the american public by the national security agency, the nsa. polls show our president with higher disapproval marks than approval. 54% disapprove of the way he's handling his job. 40% approve. the president nevertheless seems unbooted as he addressed his remaining three years in office in an engrossing interview with the editor of the new yorker magazine.. quote president obama, the conventional wisdom is that the president's second term is a matter of minimizing damage and playing defense rather than offense

. >>> from washington, the mclaughlin group,ed american original for over three decades, the sharpestinds, best sources, hardest talk. >> issue 1, everybody must get stoned. ♪ well, i would not be so all alone, everybody must get stoned. ♪ >> sales have taken place in our country for decades and all that money goes into the hands of the underground market and cartels. that stops today. >> on january 1st, new year's day, colorado became the first state in the country to legalize the sale of recreational marijuana. those over 21 can purchase pot at 24 stores around the state. colorado residents can legally possess 1 ounce of the drug, and each adult has the right to grow 6 cannabis plants. non-residents can possess one quarter of an ounce, but they can't legally take it across state lines. this decriminalization of marijuana in colorado is the result of a citizen referendum and so on opening day for pot sales, people in denver waited in line for up to three hours. later this year another state, washington will follow suit with colorado's pot legalization. but under a more restrictive re

>>> from washington, the mclaughlin group. the american original. for over three decades, the sharpest minds, best sources, hardest talk. issue one, cristie's -- >> i apologize to the people of fort lee and i apologize to the members of the state legislature. i am embarrassed and humiliated by the conduct of some of the people on my team. >> for four days last september, traffic on the busiest bridge in the united states connecting fort lee, new jersey, to new york city was paralyzed. not by terrorists, not by decaying infrastructure, not by a natural disaster, the gridlock was engineered by chris christie's deputy chief of staff for legislative affairs, bridge et and kelly, the alleged motive, political retribution against fort lee mayor. for refusing to endorse governor cristie's reelection. to demonstrate bipartisan support. in order to build the momentum for a 2016 presidential bid. quote, time for traffic problems in fort lee, unquote. kelly wrote via e-mail to david wilstein, a cristie appointee in new jersey. wilstein answered, gut it. three

. >>> from washington, the mclaughlin group, the american original. for over three decades, the sharpest minds, best sources, hardest talk. . >>> issue 1, let the debate begin. >> the nation that developed the internet, the world expects us to ensure that the digital revolution works as a tool for individual empowerment, not government control. >>> in a speech addressing the national security agency's surveillance programs, the challenges to individual privacy posed by technological change, and the nature of intelligence in a post 9/11 world, president obama on friday made several concrete announcements. name one, pat buchanan. >> one, there's the possibility that all this metta data that is out there with the national security agency may be left with aol and the other telecommunications operations. but john, the national security state is alive and well. the president has responded to mr. snowden in the sense that we've got to find a greater balance between rights of privacy and national security. he's recommending that there be an advocate before th

the big challenges ahead, continuing vatican reforms, fredricka. >> erin mclaughlin, thank you so much, from rome. >>> also starting today, boy scouts of america will allow openly gay members. the groupts longstanding ban in may, the new policy went into effect this morning. the group still bans openly gay adult leaders, some church groups ended their partnerships with the scout in retaliation of the new policy but a scout spokesman says fewer than 2% of troops were dropped by their up sponsors. >>> 2013 was full of hurdles for the president. coming up ahead looking to 2014 and whether the new year could mean smoother sailing for the white house? if yand you're talking toevere rheuyour rheumatologistike me, about trying or adding a biologic. this is humira, adalimumab. this is humira working to help relieve my pain. this is humira helping me through the twists and turns. this is humira helping to protect my joints from further damage. doctors have been prescribing humira for over ten years. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. for many adults, humira is proven to help relieve pain and stop further joint dama

group of people, and it's unfair, of course, the more attention you will call to it. and eventually you will lose, because you're on the wrong side of history. >> reporter: erin mclaughlintories making news around the world on this monday. >>> molotov cocktails flying in ukraine's capital. people hurled them as they rallied in this freezing cold against the government and police here. more than 100 protesters and police officers reportedly were hurt. the tensions now have grown since ukraine passed new laws last week that limit the right to protests. the white house is calling on both sides to tone it down, urging the government to repeal the protest laws and negotiate with the opposition. >>> and the president of france says that the first lady is better now, and resting in an official residence outside paris. francois hollande made comments after meeting with the dutch prime minister in the hague but said nothing more about it. valer valer valerie temporary waller was in the hospital after the affair. he has not confirmed or denied the reports. >>> and the mysterious death of a beautiful socialite has now rocked india. she was found hours after a twitter war in which