yesterday and some people were taken away on stretchers. the cruise line says it s sanitizing the ship and passengers will get a 50% refund and a 50% discount on a future cruise. today an italian court could issue a new verdict in the case against amanda knox and her ex-boyfriend. they re accused of murdering british exchange student meredith kercher in italy in 2007. the pair was convicted in 2009, then acquitted two years later. knox is back home in seattle and insists she is innocent. today president obama heads to wisconsin where he ll tour a ge plant as he continues his post-state of the union push. when the president arrives, he will be greeted by the republican governor, scott walker, who has previously clashed with the president on everything from obama care to unions. but a propane shortage in wisconsin prompted governor walker to write directly to president obama, sending this letter, asking for federal help in dealing with the crisis. our chief national correspondent
are struggling to keep their customers warm. i m able to get a little bit to em, but the price is just outrageous. this is really hurting me because, you know, my son s fourth generation here, and we ve taken care of our customers for, you know, all these years, and now i can t. you know? and it just, this hurts. jenna: well, while many folks are hurting from the propane shortage, there are mixed reports about the overall effect of the brutal cold on fuel prices. check out these very different recent headlines from the wall street journal. one says icy chill sets energy prices on fire, ask then you have another one that says fracking boom keeps home heating bills in check. so what are we supposed to make of all of this? phil flynn joins us now. i mean, interesting headlines there, phil. what is just overall, if you could, what is the effect of this recent cold weather on our energy prices?
of snow, but the national weather service warned of difficult and dangerous conditions. a new warning for people snowed in by the latest blizzard to slam the midwest. the massive snowdrifts piling up against so many homes are putting families at risk. utility officials say the snow can clog your furnace vents and that means the exhaust can get pushed back into homes filling them with carbon monoxide. so gas meters should also be cleared to keep them from malfunctioning. people across the midwest are still scrambling to cope with the propane shortage as they remain locked in that deep freeze. the governor of indiana has asked farmers and anyone with unused propane to return it to their suppliers. he s also adding $5 million in heating assistance to help low-income residents cope with soaring propane prices. and target says the thieves stole credentials from one of the company s vendors to get inside company commuters and installed malware on credit card
the airport, you re about to see that greeting. he said he wanted to talk with the president about wisconsin s significant propane shortage. there the president shaking hands with the governor. on the other hand, walker s democratic challenger, there she is, mary burk, did not meet with the president. a spokesman saying burk is busy. she s campaigning in western wisconsin. republicans say it s a sign of how unpopular president obama is right now. from wisconsin it s onto national for the president he visits a high school to promote plans for new private-public partnership. but gun control will be front and center when he arrives in a few hours. brianna keilar explains. president obama is promoting his go-around congress economic message from the state of the union address. but as he pitches his plan, the issue of gun violence is following him to nashville where he s scheduled to tout new public-private partnerships today at a high school reeling after a student was killed by
the president. they have an opportunity to talk about the propane shortage that s going on in the midwest including in wisconsin, has a letter he s already written to the president. he does the right thing, he welcomes the president of the united states to his home state. he s being challenged by a democrat, mary burk, who is nowhere in sight. there s the president when he landed just a little while ago in wisconsin. you can see the governor is there to receive him. but mary burk, who s challenging scott walker, she s in the other part of the state today. she decides she s not going to be anywhere near the president of the united states, presumably because she thinks that kind of photo is not going to help her chances of beating scott walker. now, if this were just one isolated incident, that would be that. but it s happened a few times when he went to north carolina a few weeks ago, the incumbent democratic senator kay hagan, she was nowhere in the state. they always have an excuse of