Cause. Blowout . The new England Patriots are saying they intentionally let air out of the footballs on sunday night that sent them to the super bowl. A League Investigation is under way. What patriots Quarterback Tom Brady is saying about deflategate tuesday, january 20, 2015. From nbc news this is today with matt lauer and savannah guthrie. Live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Good morning to today. Are you ready for some football controversy . Well get to the bottom of this because that was such a close game. It could have gone either way. It all came down to the air and the balls. Well be hearing more about this, no question. Well get to the top story and the new threat from isis overnight to kill two japanese hostages. Japans Prime Minister calling that threat and their abduction unforgivable. Richard engel has the latest for us. Good morning. Good morning, savannah. First it was american journalists and then british aide workers. Now two japanese hostages being held in the familiar orange jump suit and the same person who has been on all of the other videos, a man speaking in a british accent holding a knife says he will kill these two japanese hostages unless japan pays 200 million in the next 72 hours. The way they came up with that enormous figure according to the kidnappers, japan has pledged 200 million in the fight against isis. In fact, japans Prime Minister just made that pledge this weekend and now the members of isis say unless japan pays that money to them they will kill these two japanese hostages. One of the hostages is a freelance journalist. He was last seen in october around the town of kobani. The other man had a security company, but he has been described as something of a lost soul who went into syria in an attempt to change his life. A sad story. Richard engel, thank you very much. Keep us posted. President obama will touch on terror and taxes tonight as he delivers his next to last state of the Union Address and hell be outlining his agenda for the first time before the Republicanled Congress. Nbc National CorrespondentPeter Alexander is at the white house. Good morning. Reporter good morning to you. We are hours away from president obamas sixth state of the Union Address, but this one will be different with republicans controlling congress. Still, the president has vowed to go on offense with showdowns looming over the Keystone Pipeline and immigration reform. My fellow americans reporter when president obama lays out his todo list tonight much of it will be Wishful Thinking facing a Republicanled Congress for the first time in his presidency. Hes previewed policy priorities. Around immigration, around cuba and climate change. Paid sick leave, Free CommunityCollege Tuition and cuts for the middle class and hell hit the familiar refrain. About the state of the union. The state of the union. Is stronger. Is getting stronger. The new nbc news wall street journal poll shows most americans are more satisfied with the economy than at any time in the last decade. The president s job approval has approved 46 approving of his handling of the economy, the first since his first year in office. If the president had a stiff wind in his face since 2014, pollsters say he has a slight breeze to his back. 52 million tuned in in 2009 and just 33 million last year which pay be why the president is turning to youtube stars for a series of postspeech interviews. President obama will have a little conversation. Including a teen style guru who danced her way to stardom and a comedian who is partial to the color green. Potus the president of the United States in case youre wondering her name is glozell. Another divisive issue will be on display. One of the president s guest will be alan gross, the maryland man who spent time in a cuban prison and john boehner who has invited cuban dissidents as their guests tonight, matt. Well be watching. Peter alexander at the white house. Dennis mcdonogh is the president s chief of staff. Good morning to you. Good morning, matt. Nice to see you. During the president s last conference in 2014 he was asked how he might be able to work with the new incoming Republicancontrolled Congress and he said, quote, the tax area is one area where we can get things done and now hes proposing a middleclass tax cut paid for with a tax hike on the healthiest americans that just about everyone says cannot pass this congress. Why is he going this route . Look, what the president is saying is that the middleclass economics that we pursued since 2009 have gotten us to where we are. You heard peter just talk about it that more and more americans are satisfied and feeling better about the economy. Theres still work yet to be done and thats what he wants to talk about tonight and we all want a series of middle class tax cuts and by the way dennis, it cant pass and nobody says it can pass. People say its dead on arrival. Isnt it a political man ufeuvermaneuver, to get republicans in a bad spot as the 2016 election approaches . Matt, the president s run his last campaign. What the president is saying that any tax reform ought to make sure that it benefits the middle class. We ought not avoid the working families of this country who have seen over the course of the last three decades not only are costs going up, College Costs and everything else, but their wages are stagnant. So the president has a proposal, very concrete to invest in the education anng that middle class families need to see those wages grow. You could do one of three thing, matt. You could either not do those policies and that may be the republicans goal or do the policies and not pay for them and add to the deficit. Weve reduced the deficit by twothirds since we took office. Or three, you could do those things and pay for them in a responsible way and thats what the president is proposing. If the republicans have other ideas to focus on the middle class, lets do that. We havent heard them, but we welcome that debate. There is a report in the New York Times that says the Administration May be subtly shifting its policy in syria given frustration of isis that the Administration May no longer feel that the immediate removal of president assad is the only way to move forward there. Has there been a shift in policy . Look, a lasting resolution in syria will require assad to leave. Hes lost legitimacy to leave as the president said numerous times. There in the region as well as other International Partners to make sure that that happens, but the timing of that will be something that will be worked out in a public resolution. Thats how things like this get resolved. Do you see any scenario under which president assad will remain a part of the Syrian Government for the long term . I do not. All right. Let me just ask you one final question about paris last week. The white house has admitted it made a mistake in not sending a highlevel representative. Can you just tell me what the thoughts were like and what was said in the oval office when these images were being broadcast across the world of 40 or so World Leaders arm in arm in the streets of paris and our president was not there . You know, matt, we said we regret we didnt send someone more senior than our ambassador. That rests on me. Thats my job. I regret it in particular because the melee that ensued after that has covered up and obfuscated the very Good Progress that our intelligence agencies, our law enforcement, fbi and doj and all of the cooperation theyre undertaking not only with our french counterparts, but with our european allies across the board to confront this threat. Thats what we ought to be focused on. Unfortunately, the decisions i made obfuscated that effort. Well continue to make sure that were focused on that and working with our friends to make sure Something Like this does not happen again. Dennis, thank you for your time this morning. I appreciate it. Well all be watching the speech tonight. You can see the state of the Union Address at 9 00 eastern, 6 00 pacific time right here on nbc. An investigation is under way into a devastating fire in annapolis, maryland. It destroyed a 16,000 square foot home and this morning six people inside it are feared dead. Kristen walker has the latest on all of it. Good morning, kristen. Reporter savannah, good morning. This Maryland Community is bracing for the worst, the grim possibility that six family members are still missing and they have perished in that fire. Those family members include a tech executive, his wife and four grandchildren. Fire officials working to determine what could have caused so much devastation. The fire was so powerful and destructive that federal atf agents are on the scene this morning investigating what caused the blaze that gutted this multimillion dollar waterfront mansion early monday. As these dramatic images show, the fire erupted just after 3 00 monday morning and flames quickly engulfed the home which some neighbors dubbed a castle, a 16,000 square foot mansion on eight acres outside annapolis, maryland. Neighbors were stunned. We heard two thuses and the shot of flame went shooting high in the sky, and we thought, my god, whats that . Reporter 85 firefighters battled the blaze for several hours. At daylight the home was still smoldering, complicating their efforts there was no fire hydrant in the area so fire official his to shuttle in water. Initially that was accomplished by using tankers and draft sites and then we transitioned to using a fire which was sitting out in the creek. The house was owned by don pyle, a philanthropist and chief operating officer of a Technology Company called sciencelogic. In a statement they confirmed the fire at pyles home saying the case is under investigation. We have no further comment as this Community Waits for answers, neighbors say pyle and his wife are thoughtful people who enjoyed spending time with their grandchildren. Really, really nice people. Outstanding. Reporter underscoring just how tragic this all is, there are still Christmas Decorations up at this home. Fire officials resuming their investigation today. They couldnt access the home yesterday because it was just too dangerous. There were too many hot spots. They say this fire does not appear to be suspicious, but the investigation could take days, if not longer. Savannah, back to you. Kristen walker, thank you. Natalie is here with a construction accident out in ohio. Thats right. A highway overpass collapsed in cincinnati killing one person and injuring another. The southbound lanes of interstate 75 are expected to remain closed until at least wednesday night. Police say crews were taking down the old bridge when something went terribly wrong. A construction worker was killed and a truck driver was injured. Police say he is lucky because in a matter of seconds they say his fate would have probably been different. After several delays the man accused in the 2012 shooting spree at a colorado Movie Theater goes on trial today. Defense attorneys acknowledge that james holmes shot and killed 12 people and injured 70 others in the attack, but holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. 9,000 prospective jurors will be interviewed. If holmes is found guilty he could be sentenced to death. Its official, tax Filing Season is under way. The irs will begin accepting 2014 tax returns starting today, 11 days earlier than last year. As for refunds, the irs says most refunds will be delivered in 21 days if filed electronically. If you file a paper return youll have to wait a little longer. Imagine being stopped in traffic on an icy highway when you turn around and you see a tractor trailer barreling down on you. One new jersey driver captured that terrifying moment on his cell phone. You can see the truck skid to the left and jump and over the median before jack knifing, avoiding the guy in the car. It appeared to another another car on the highway. Fortunately no one was seriously hurt. Nine people were killed on icy highways this holiday weekend. So scary seeing that video. And youve got to see this. A dunk to remember, but for all the wrong reasons. It happened during the chinese basketball associations dunk contest. A player attempting to leap over five young men. He came up short, slamming into them, instead crashing to the floor and even was okay and perhaps next time different shoes and perhaps less guys. Something we never have to worry about. Getting involved in dunk competitions. Unless it has to do with cookies or doughnuts. All right. Lets show you what weve got going on right now. A couple of clippers coming across speaking of basketball. [ laughter ] that was pretty weak, actually. You can see cleveland right now, no big problems although you will see snow showers and one to three inches out of these clippers and very fast moving as they zip through and another one coming back behind it early tomorrow morning on through tomorrow afternoon bringing light snow into the new york city. I mean, were talking maybe one to three inches. There could be locally up to five inches in some spots, but for the most part it will be a quick hitter and then out. Well get to your local forecast coming up in the next 30 secondses. 3. 66 percent and a 15 year fixed rate is at 2. 98 percent. So the question is is it time to buy or refinances or will waiting it out make a more reward . We have nbc personal corr p respondent and then mike. Good morning to the both of you. Good morning. So break it down. What do you mean that the market watching more foggy, misty skies around san jose over towards the Golden Gate Bridge. At 52 degrees and dublin 580 you got the fog there, too. Take some time for the low clouds to break up, more so probably after lunch time, hazy sunshine and highs in the low 60s around san jose upper 50s to near 60 for San Francisco into the north bay, mid60s around the trivalley but notice the fiveday trend, san jose and San Francisco approaching the weekend, High Pressure strengthens which puts us in the mid70s saturday and sunday. And thats your latest weather. Matt . Thank you very much. The super bowl less than two weeks away and the new England Patriots are at the center of a controversy heading into that big game. Did the team bend the rules in sundays blowout victory over the colts . Nbcs ron mott is at gillette stadium. Ron, good morning. Reporter hey, matt, good morning. Theyre calling this deflategate and it is blowing up on social media. Here is the central question, did the new England Patriots doctor the footballs they used over their big win over the colts this weekend. The nfl isnt saying very much. Its saying simply, were looking into it. Were on to seattle. Before the new England Patriots tackled the Seattle Seahawks in the super bowl theyre being grilled this morning about deflategate, whether they tampeled with footballs to make them easier to throw and catch. Star Quarterback Tom Brady laughed at the suggestion. [ laughter ] would you care to weigh in on that . I think i heard it all at this point. Wide receiver Julian Eddelman . Did you feel any difference in the balls youre playing with . I dont even know anything about this. Coach Bill Belichick considered a football genius by many is no stranger to controversy. In 2005 he was fined 500,000 for videotaping an opponents signals during a game. Spygate, as its become known. An allowable formation he used over the Baltimore Ravens raised eyebrows. So how could game balls be altered . According to league rules, both teams give a dozen balls to the referee who inspects them before the game. The balls are then given to runners on each side line. Theres no clear answer on who has answers to the ball once there. Bill belichick is always looking for that little bit of edge. No one knows the rules better than him. That said, theres nothing thats been proven at this point. Belichick down played deflate deflategate in a conference with reporters. That was the first i heard this morning. Whatever we need, well do. One analyst believes this scandal could have staying power. Its something that will be difficult for them to escape whether its in these next two weeks before the super bowl or long after that. Now if these allegations are proven, the nfl could fine anyone held responsible 25,000. It could also take away a draft pick with the patriots which it did in the way of spygate. Back to you. Ron, thank you very much. What do we think . A lot of people are saying dont they all use the same balls. We were just talking about that. Ron was showing they can have different balls on different side lines. And it was a very close game so i could see how it made a difference. Brady had his hands on the ball. Without social media the story is what it is, and now with social media people are having so much fun with it and it was hugely talked about in the way of memes. Come into the orange room and well tell you about. The deflategate trending most of the day on monday. Here are a couple of our favorites and jim rome put this up. This is what the patriots are playing for. Notice the lombardi trophy. Deflated on top. How about the cereal, cheaties. The breakfast of chu