does the new mtv hit cross the line into child porn? how far is too far? and will the one-time all-music channel dial it down? good morning, everyone. i'm alex witt and welcome to "msnbc sunday." right now, another chapter in the brutal weather saga playing out across parts of the u.s. arctic air is gripping the midwest and the northeast, and temperatures will continue to plunge through tomorrow. windchills in philadelphia near zero. in boston, residents faced temperatures that were 15 degrees below average, hovering just in the teens. in wilmington, north carolina, not your usual day at the beach at all. a dusting of snow, look at that, covering the sand dunes there. forecasters warn more snow could be on the way. it turned deadly in bloomington, illinois. a truck slid into a school bus on an icy roadway, killing two people. on board that bus, a girl's high school basketball team. 15 girls were rushed to the hospital. fortunately, all are expected to recover. for more on the deep freeze, let's go to the weather channel's alex wallace. good, grief, what's ahead of us? >> oh, well, more cold and more snow to contend with out there. it's just been brutal and it's going to continue to be that way as we head through the coming days. we have a couple areas of precipitation, nothing too massive here across the country. a couple areas here. parts of the northwest seeing snow showers moving in. midwest as well. coming into this area, should be fairly light, swinging into the st. louis area as we progress into the afternoon. there's kansas city. north of you we have a little bit of snow in place. and right around the great lakes, also dealing with some snow showers at this time moving your way into and around the buffalo area. now, as we work our way on in to the next couple of days, the cold, that is going to be the story for us here. in the northeast we're going to get colder, in fact, as we work our way into monday. in new york city and boston, go from the lower 20s in boston to 12 for your afternoon high. these temperatures are running anywhere from 10 to 25 degrees below average. so, get ready to bundle up even more there. then we watch towards the southern tier, where we'll be looking for rain to develop along the gulf coast with cold air in place, though we may start to see some snow showers moving into portions of the tennessee valley as we get on in to tuesday. we'll have to keep a grid track on this thing because it's going to be working its way up the east coast by midweek. could be looking at more big snows in new york city and boston. alex? >> okay. we're getting ready already. thank you, alex wallace. a freak accident caught on camera in toronto, canada. a tractor-trailer loses control there after sliding on that slippery highway, and then it crashed through the median, as you saw. the driver taking this video then franticly swerves. can you imagine? he was trying to avoid this oncoming disaster. >> i literally missed the front of this truck as it was coming apart, and luckily, i missed it just in time and i pulled over. luckily, no one was hurt. >> luckily, yeah. amazingly, not only were the driver and passengers okay, no one was hurt in that incident. police have charged the driver of the tractor-trailer, though, with careless driving. president obama delivers his his state of the union address tuesday night, but we're looking at a preview in a video message to democratic supporters. the president laid out his top priority. >> so, my principal focus, my number one focus is going to be making sure that we are competitive, that we are growing and we are creating jobs not just now, but well into the future. >> let's bring in nbc news white house correspondent mike viqueira. good tuesday morning. >> good morning, alex. >> what's the message here? >> i think there's two or three things going on here. first of all, it's no secret that the economy is job number one for the second two years of the president's first term. the unemployment rate in december still 9.4%, unacceptably high for the 15 million people who are out of work and politically for the president and democrats. the message that you saw there, the president speaking directly to the camera, an internet message to an organization called organizing for america. this is a grassroots organization. a lot of young people, a lot of people brought into the process in 2008 who hadn't been involved in politics, very enthusiastic obama supporters, a lot of them have felt forsaken over the past two years, thinking the president has sort of taken them for granted. the third thing is that the president is perhaps not coincidentally right now laying the organizational groundwork for his re-election campaign in 2012. he'sot virsleing th wg oingo chicago. th hdqrters there.e establishing esis expectedto rmal dla hi idnd someimin t in p a ofn tong toth erer is confen lad io to tk al lot about the economy, you know. the state of the union is usual about an hour-long speech. sounds like 40 minutes or so are going to be strictly about the economy, what he's doing to improve it. there are signs of improvement and you've really seen the president in the last several days focusing on the economy. virtually every public event has something to do with the economy these days. and the new buzz word here in washington, or at least at of the white house, competitiveness, competing for markets abroad, alex. >> mike, in an economically related issue, another key issue, spending and the deficit. let's hear what the president said about that. >> we're also going to have to deal with our deficits and our debt in a responsible way and we've got to reform government so that it's leaner and smarter for the 21st century. >> so, the first couple years of his presidency have been these big government initiatives. >> right. >> is that now going to take a back seat? >> well, even from right here at the podium behind me, robert gibbs has said many times that first two years, the focus was on legislation. the second two years is going to be on implementation. and you see the president moving a lot closer to the business community. remember, alex, during that debate over health care, during the debate over financial reform, the president, his surrogates all attacking the financial sector, attacking business. the chamber of commerce, this city's largest business lobbying organization, really at odds with the president. the president now going to make a speech next month to that very same organization. he's brought in bill daley. he, seven years on wall street, the former commerce secretary. making overtures to business. a lot of people look at this cynically and say the president had a lot of big business and wall street donors in his 2008 campaign. of course, he's got to mend fences. and others say business is unsure of the climate right now. there is a hostile climate of the government towards business. the president recognizing that the economy has got to pick up is trying to improve that to give wall street a signal, to give business a signal that they can come forward now with all these billions of dollars that they have on the sidelines, start investing them into the economy, producing results, producing bigger growth, producing lower unemployment, and not incidentally, improving the president's political process. alex, a lot of people would argue that's the way it's supposed to work. >> well, we'll see what he says on tuesday. thanks for what you have to say, mike viqueira. see you next hour. nbc's coverage of the state of the union address is tuesday night, 9:00 p.m. eastern here on msnbc. sargent shriver has been laid to rest alongside his late wife of 56 years. the former peace corps director was buried yesterday in texas next to eunice kennedy shriver who passed away in 2009. family and friends gathered for a sundown service. sargent shriver tied on tuesday at age 95. we have more positive news from the hospital caring for congresswoman gabrielle giffords. one says she is more alert than when she arrived on friday. she is at that hospital for rehabilitation after she was shot in the head two weeks ago. in a few minutes, we'll take you live to houston for the latest. now look at this dash cam video released by the utah highway patrol on friday. it shows an officer breaking the driver's side window of a car, this during a traffic stop it happened in august. and punching a 59-year-old woman five times. officers say they stopped the driver because she was speeding and weaving in and out of traffic. now, the man seen throwing the punches says the woman refused to cooperate, she was revving her engine and he did what he had to do to keep her from possibly running her over. >> i remember a black glove just coming through and hitting me, you know, just smack. >> sergeant andrew davenport has been put on paid administrative leave, and right now there is a pending personnel matter. and so, because of that, i'm not able to really talk much about the incident. >> well, court records show the driver was charged with failing to stop for police. that charge was dismissed earlier this month. a new development in court for the american student trying to overturn her murder conviction in italy. are there signs the case may be going her way? another advertiser says so long to the "skins." why the outrage over the mtv show continues to grow. and does a big breakfast mean a big weight gain? why eating a lot in the morning may not rev up your metabolism after all. ♪ ready sensei. hey tough guy, that cold needs alka seltzer plus! it has the cold-fighting power of an effervescent packed in a liquid-gel for all over relief! hiyah! dude! >> ( party horn blowing ) >> ( speaking chinese ) >> ( speaking chinese ) >> ( laughing ) >> introducing cisco umi. be together in high def on your tv. exclusively at best buy's magnolia stores. cisco. to save me a boatload of money on my mortgage, that would be awesome! sure. like that will happen. don't just think about it. spend 10 minutes at lending tree and save up to $272 a month. okay, everyone, check out chicago right now, where it looks like snow's coming down pretty furiously. let's keep in mind what's happening in chicago today, shall we? it's the nfc championship game, the bears taking on the packers. and this looks like it's going to be this kind of conditions for that game. so, keep that in mind when you think about a score. we're going to take you live to chicago and show you more of what's going on coming up shortly. let's get more right now on the positive news from doctors treating congresswoman gabrielle giffords in texas. nbc's janet shamlian is live for us in houston. and with a good sunday morning to you, janet, i'm glad it's not snowing where you are. let's hear what the doctors are saying about her condition. >> reporter: well, you know what, there's been a little bit of a change, alex. doctors are saying that gabrielle giffords will stay in the intensive care unit here at methodist for at least the end of the week. here's the reason, she has fluid build-up on her brain, which is not unusual in an injury like this. what they've done is put in a catheter to drain it, but she can't be transferred to the rehab facility until they resolve that issue, and that would mean that either the drain, the fluid has resolved itself and they can take the drain out, or they've put something in called a shunt, which is just a more permanent and serious solution. so, this is not a critical development by any means, and the catheter was put in, actually, when she was in tucson. but they're monitoring it, and they can't transfer her to the full rehab facility until they get this issue settled. so, she is going through modified rehab. she did yesterday. doctors are going to be going back, meeting with her again today. yesterday she saw a speech pathologist, a physical therapist and an occupational therapist, and those teams are going to be meeting with her again today to do some modified exercises. yesterday, they discussed having her sit, having her stand, seeing how responsive she was to various commands that they asked, and they were really pleased with the progress that she made. they'll be doing that again today little by little. this is how progress is made, in incremental steps, alex. so, they'll be watching it and we'll be watching it as well reporting back to you. >> yeah. you know, janet, yesterday, we were talking. you said one benefit about her being in houston, in addition to the treatment she's getting, is the emotional support, her husband, a lot of great friends. is she able to have visitors? has mark been able to see her, her husband, or any close friends? >> reporter: mark is with her here in houston, as is her mother. she does have friends who are houstonians. in intensive care, as you know, they pretty much limit who is able to come and go and it's restricted generally to immediate family, but once she gets into the full rehab facility, visitors can come and go with notice and she's going to have a lot more social interaction. and again, that is such a significant part of recovery, alex. >> it is, indeed. all right, janet shamlian, thanks so much. new hampshire republicans are sizing up the field for 2012, and right now, mitt romney is out in front. the former massachusetts governor won yesterday's gop straw poll, the first of the next presidential cycle. romney beat ron paul by 24 points. former minnesota governor tim pawlenty came in third and sarah palin in fourth, the difference between them, just one point. lots of anticipation in washington this week as president obama lays out his priorities in tuesday's address to this nation. he's expected to strike a more centrist tone after two years of tough partisan debates. while the move may appeal to moderates, some supporters on the left are still pressing a more liberal agenda. karen finney is an msnbc political analyst and former communications director for the dnc. good sunday morning to you. >> good morning, alex. >> as you know, the state of the union really offers the president an opportunity to lay out some inspirational goals. in your opinion, is that what the country needs right now or just some hard and fast facts of here's what we're doing? >> i think a little bit of both, and i think we saw that in the response that the president got to his speech in tucson, which was, you know, kind of the vintage obama, practical, pragmatic, a little bit of inspiration, a little bit of sort of speaking to what people were feeling at the moment. so, i think what you're going to hear on tuesday is a little bit of that, because look, i think it's been a tough, you know, beyond two years, three years, four years, certainly, in the economy. we're starting to turn the corner a little bit, slower than we might like. but again, i think people need to hear from the commander in chief, you know. we're working our way out of it and being hopeful towards the future and laying out really the framework for what he's going to be doing over the next year, basically. >> what do liberals want to hear, karen, versus what the middle is concerned about? >> sure. you know, interestingly enough -- i mean, i think there's really common ground because it's all about jobs and the economy, but i think people will be listening for specific things. i think the middle really doesn't care about specific ideology, and i think that was a lot of the message of 2008 and 2010. they want job creation, they want investment, they want a stronger economy. what liberals are going to be listening for is, okay, how do we do that? what kinds of investments are we talking about? also, you know, one of the things i think the president will probably speak to very heavily, certainly on health care, is how to protect the things that the progressives have passed over the last couple of years. >> okay. liberals are a little bit upset, perhaps, but let's say the president does not get elected in 2012. won't the progressives have a lot more to complain about then as compared to now? >> yes. but you know, look, at the same time, politics is all about, you know, everybody pushes for what they want and then, hopefully, at the end of the day we come up with something that maybe doesn't make everybody happy but gives us, you know, a little bit of what everybody needs. i think liberals and progressives recognize that, you know, while there are things they would have liked to see go differently, the president has made a tremendous amount of progress. sure, it will be worse if there's a republican president, but that can't stop them from pushing for the things they think are important. >> okay. karen finney, you're getting a short coffee break and we'll see you later on. thank you very much. >> all right, sounds good. a royal out cast is about to score an invite to prince william's wedding, according to "the daily report." they say sarah ferguson is on the guest list at prince william's insistence. mind you, she was recently on video trying to sell access to prince andrew. keir simmons is live at buckingham palace with more for us. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. >> you know, she has really been on the outside of the royal inner circle since her divorce of prince andrew, but now scoring this invite. what's changed? >> reporter: yes, she really has, hasn't she? weddings, even royal weddings, are tense occasions, aren't they? and to say the least, sarah ferguson and the royal family have had tense past. you mentioned the divorce, you can mention, if you would think back, those toe-sucking pictures, if you remember, and then just recently, that scandal with the news of the world newspaper here where they saw her, allegedly, taking money for access to prince andrew. but i think one of the things that's changed is that prince william is his own man. he's going to have this wedding the way that he wants it. and i mentioned the issue with families there. of course, you know, her daughters are his cousins and he may well want them there. so, just as with any family, there are issues to think about, divisions to think about, and perhaps a case of trying to use a wedding to heal those divisions rather than to make them worse, if you'd like. >> yeah. you know, even through all of her embarrassments, "the daily mail" reports she has remained pretty tight-lipped about her divorce, appears to have kept all of the family secrets she may be privy to. how is he really viewed by the royal family and is that different than how she's viewed by the british public? >> reporter: i think there are members of the royal -- if i can put it this way, there are members of the royal family for whom sarah ferguson isn't perhaps to their taste. people who know her, though, say that, you know, she's a pretty sweet person, frankly. perhaps a little naive. and as you say, there are some crucial things that she hasn't done. she hasn't, if you like, kind of spread the secrets around. and she's had some tough times financially, she says, so she may well have -- she could have been tempted to do that. i mean, frankly, she could have made a lot of money, couldn't she? but again, you're talking about the fact that although this is a royal family, it's still a family. her children are related, her children, the queen is their grandmother. there are all these relations in there just as with any family. >> absolutely. keir simmons, thank you for joining us. appreciate that. the family of a new york city woman who died in a december blizzard gets ready to sue. how strong is their case? we're going to talk about it. plus, with so much going wrong with the economy, there are still reasons to be optimistic and we're going to show you why you might be better off than you think you are. ♪ winter can be beautiful. 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[ bat cracks ] that's a hit. one a day men's. general motors is planning to add hundreds of jobs in michigan and that tops our business headlines. a person close to the plan says gm will add more than 600 jobs to the flint assembly plant. gm expected to announce that plan on monday. later in the week, we'll get a look at the strength of the economy in the final quarter of last year. some economists are predicting as much as 4% growth in gross domestic product. and we're going to see more earnings reports. the winners could be caterpillar, netflix and a stream-lined yahoo! the u.s., though, is far from out of the woods on the economic front, but experts say there's plenty of data to suggest we are all a lot better off than we think. our silver lining guy, rick newman, chief business correspondent for u.s. news and world report" has more. >> i'm glad to be the silver lining guy because we've been talking about so much bad news the last few years. but you're right, now that the economy has ended the nose-dive and has leveled out, it's a reasonable time to say how much has changed and what is still the same? many of the things we regard as important types of progress in the ways we measure our living standards really are still intact, things like longevity, how long you live, the quality of life, health care, jobs, the types of jobs we have. >> education. >> job working conditions, education. many of these things, these are the ways we define progress and high quality of life. and many of these things are still intact at very, very high levels. so, it's definitely true that a lot of people are hurting and are not feeling all of those gains that have been put in place over many years, but if you compare where we are today to ten years ago, let's say, or twenty years ago, you see that that progress continues. now, compared to three or four years ago, obviously, that's not necessarily the case. >> but you think in a state like this, people take more pleasure in the simple things, the creature comforts over luxury, like sitting together as a family watching tv. you don't take it for granted. >> that's clearly one of the things that happened over the last few years. the question is will all that last? so, consumerism, we backed off from all that stuff a little bit, not borrowing so much. and people discovered, you're right, hanging out with the family, not so many lavish vacations, shorter trips closer to home, simple pleasures, coffee, things like that. will that last? and i think american consumers are having this battle right now between do they really want to save some money and build up a rainy day fund or do they want to get back -- >> and do they want to pay down sdmebt. >> and we are doing that. people are paying down debt, but one of the reasons is the banks are making us do that. they're simply not lending us the money anymore. credit lines on credit cards have come way down, people can't get loans and they realize, i've got to get my finances in order if i'm going to be able to borrow for a home, a car, things like that. >> this is a nice perspective. we'll have you back in a little while to talk about it. >> happy to be back. another advertiser pulls out of mtv's new show "skins." we'll show it on you. a unique sea salt added to over 40 campbell's condensed soups. helps us reduce sodium, but not flavor. so do a few lifts. campbell's.® it's amazing what soup can do.™ until the combination of three good probiotics in phillips' colon health defended against the bad gas, diarrhea and constipation. ...and? it helped balance her colon. oh, now that's the best part. i love your work. 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[ male announcer ] make the switch. take action. take advil®. temperatures are tumbling here in the northeast, creating some dangerously cold windchills. new york city could feel like zero degrees by tonight. along the new york/pennsylvania border, temperatures could call to 15 below. frigid weather is also blanketing the midwest. and we've got the weather channel's ke seidel right in the middle of it in chicago, illinois, of course, where the bears are taking on the packers today. usually, it's a plum assignment, you and your nfl games, mike. this morning, maybe not so much. >> reporter: it is cold this morning, too, 8 degrees here on the lakefront in chicago. we've got this snow band that's set up about three or four hours ago. we already have three inches of snow. we hadn't expected this, but this should be out of the way before kickoff at 3:00 p.m. eastern, 2:00 p.m. here in chicago. there's been a lot of trash talk, as you can imagine. that's all they're talking about in chicago. kickoff temperature behind me here at soldier field will be 10 degrees, about 10 degrees below average. the windchill at about 10. the late game is at heinz field in pittsburgh as the steelers host the new york jets, and temperatures there for kickoff, 14, windchills around zero. they'll slowly fall as that is played this evening in the dark at heinz field, but no snow over there. meanwhile, it's been cold in the midwest. friday morning, international falls woke up to their coldest morning in 100 years, since 1909, 46 below zero, and that heads east and south. in pensacola, florida, right now, 29 degrees. miami is in the low 40s right now. and there's even windchills in florida. so, it's another very cold morning. this is a third or fourth outbreak across the state of florida, depending on your location. but the panhandle down well below freezing. meanwhile, in the northeast, the coldest air coming in today and tonight. highs today in boston may get up to 20 degrees. the angverage is 36. tomorrow morning, providence, rhode island, will drop below zero for the first time in six years. windchills in northern maine, alex, tonight and tomorrow may go as low as 50 below zero. and up in saranac lake, new york, where we go in the summertime to escape the heat, well, don't go there tomorrow morning. 28 below zero without the windchill, so a very cold morning. then we await the next storm, do it on wednesday. right now, the track is not etched in stone, as it often is three days out. and we're not quite sure where it's going to track, and that will determine who gets the snow and who gets the rain. right now it could be kind of a slop storm for the big cities, meaning snow to rain. the interior gets the big snowfalls. but already, boston's had nearly 50 inches of snow, hartford's had up to 50 inches of snow this season. all of these cities have had more snow at this point in the season than they usually see in an average winter, and we're still about a little bit more than halfway to go through the snow season. so, there you go, alex. cold weather, another big storm. it will be action-packed this week along the east coast. >> yeah, mike, this storm coming in to the new york city area, at least, i know it's not specific yet, but you say lots of slop. do you think it's a lot of snow slop or rain slop? which way do you think it's going to go? because we've got to plan here. i'm not kidding. >> reporter: well, when i say slop, that means a mixed bag. right now, it seems like it may track so close, it will bring in warm air it may start as snow and then go to rain. one of the thing that's sure, there's going to be coastal issues, a lot of wind. but again, being the fact that it's three days out and the way we've seen the models handle these storms this season, we cannot say for certain that it's going to be all rain or all snow in new york or boston, anywhere along interstate 95. now, as you get back towards harrisburg, albany, maybe inland hartford, those locations may be a sure bet for all snow and some areas will get a lot of snow. >> indeed. thank you very much, mike seidel, for braving it for us. five americans lost at sea have been found safe on their boat after they became lost sailing from guam to the philippines. a rescuer says the 38-foot catamaran developed engine problems. all aboard are in fine health. rescuers are now escorting that boat to its original destination in the philippines. our "world view" this morning begins in pakistan with a deadly passenger bus crash. 30 people were killed when it crashed into an oil tanker. survivors say both vehicles caught fire so quickly that most passengers didn't have time to escape. in northern germany, a river is close to reaching record levels after weeks of snow and ice, rising temperatures and heavy rains triggered flood warnings in many regions. crews are using sandbags and pumps to push the water back into the river. another company has pulled its ads from the controversial, new mtv show "skins." h&r block told tmz.com its ads will no longer run during "skins," joining gm, taco bell and wrigley, who have also jumped ship. the show features teenage actors as young as 15 and depicts them doing drugs and having sex. a spokesman from "skins" tells mtv news "we're confident that the episodes not only comply with all applicable legal requirements but also with our responsibilities to our viewers." all right, we'll let you take a look. here we go. ♪ >> going to do it with michelle? >> so, we're going to do a lot of drugs. better buy an ounce, then. >> minimum. >> hold on. i have to buy an ounce of bud? >> sure, there's a guy downtown. >> steve adubato is a media analyst and authors of "what were they thinking" and the soon to be released "you are the brand." good morning. >> good morning, alex. >> you have to know, the season premiere, over 3 million, close to 3 1/2 million viewers, okay? there's a lot of controversy surrounding the show. how much do you think that is helping to generate viewers and what's that doing with the audience with the advertisers? >> you know, this is a fascinating question, alex, because on the one hand, what it's going to answer is how far can you go, particularly when you're talking about teenagers, okay? >> mm-hmm. >> and here's the problem right now -- you've got ratings that are through the roof, but you've got advertisers that are jumping out the door. >> right. >> and if you've got -- look at this, you've got taco bell, gm, you've got a whole bunch of others, but now foot locker and subway. if they go, it's over. i don't care if they have 5 million viewers. >> yeah. >> it's a question of ratings versus reputation. >> you know what, take this new microphone. just hold it. there we go. we're trying to fix it. is that better? all right. so, on the other hand, how much life can a program have if an audience is there but the major advertisers pull out? i mean, you're saying it's over, but can the audience do things like petition and say, hey, you know, we want this show? and then do you find advertisers that will say, all right, we know people are going to be watching, so we're going to put it on there? >> here's the problem -- if an advertiser feels that the show and being tied to the show is destroying its brand -- listen, i kept thinking the word that -- when i was researching on this book "you are the brand," i looked at mtv. and i'll tell you one thing that comes up over and over again -- child porn. i'm not accusing of them, but if the word child porn or in some way being connected to child porn, because the actors are so young -- if your brand is connected with the words child porn, it is over. i don't care who you are or what your ratings are. they can't survive that. >> okay. i'm curious how those who call this a dangerous show for children, how they're getting that. and this comes from the parents television council. the show, the most dangerous television show for children we have ever seen. >> ever. >> ever. how is it dangerous? >> i'll tell you what, my wife and i -- and we don't think we're prudes about these things, but we are parents of four kids, right? one of them's 18 in college, but the other one is a little baby girl, olivia. and i'm sitting there going, wait a minute -- and two in between them -- and saying time-out. this is out of control. >> yeah. >> this is crazy. >> mm-hmm. >> this is the worst thing i've ever seen. and again, you could look at "jersey shore," you could look at other shows, but they are not kids. they are not 15-year-old actors in here. >> that's the point. >> that's the key, alex. and you can appreciate this, too. >> i absolutely can, because you have kids playing these roles. not adults that look younger -- >> 15, 16, 17. that's it! >> their peers, kids out there saying that girl's my age and look what she's doing on tv or look what he's doing on tv. >> that's it. the line is, kids moving. in the cable world, it's out of control in terms of looking for ratings, but when you start using kids that are 15, 16, 17, involved in -- listen, that organization looked at this. there were 42 instances in the first couple of episodes of drugs, alcohol, and obviously, teen sex. and if you've got kids, teen actors involved in those activities -- again, simulated, if you will -- it sends all the wrong messages. and i'll tell you what, it's parents who give the kids the money to go to foot locker or buy l'oreal products or go to subway. >> right. >> and if the parents revolt on this, it's over. sure, can the kids find the tv? yes. can they get the money to buy the products? highly questionable. when an advertiser's brand believes they are being destroyed by being affiliated with a show, no matter what the ratings are, it is over. mtv is admitting it. they know they have a problem. >> yeah. people who are watching this are going to say, look, the kids don't have to watch this show and parents can suggest their kids don't watch it but it should be out there and available for those who want to. >> look, all true, and believe us, those who are parents, we're always looking. i have an 8-year-old who's poking around with our 18-year-old and i've seen them on mtv a couple times and i have to look at what he's doing, but you can't monitor it all the time. >> right. >> and i'll tell you something, i was blown away by what i saw here. and i'm telling you, you've got a situation that -- mtv knows -- when they say, by the way, the bbc is airing it. well, i don't know the uk. i believe that their attitudes about this issue may be very different than ours, and i'll tell you what, that's not the brand that you want to say it works there, it's going to work here. they're in big trouble, and i believe, my prediction, mtv's going to pull back, edit the series dramatically. it will look nothing like what you see today. they need the advertising money. their reputation is on the line. >> interesting to see if that happens. i have to say, i'm proud of my daughter who looked at this and said "that is skanky, mom." >> you've got a good kid. >> i do. thank you, steve. have fun with yours, too, today. pretty interesting. rising prices could we see $4 a gallon for gas, $5 a pound for coffee in the soon future? and what breakfast could mean for your waistline. why it may not make you eat less later in the day as we thought. 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>> reporter: hello, alex. well, we've noticed it. what a difference in tone and practice from the time that she was on trial to now. but now there may be even more at stake because at the same time she is appealing her conviction, prosecutors are trying to lengthen her prison term from 26 years to life. if amanda knox looked tired, upset returning to court, she melted into smiles seeing her supporters. for the first time in more than three years since her british roommate, meredith kercher, was found murdered in their hillside apartment in this ancient town, the court is tackling the case with fresh eyes, leaving amanda and her family guardedly elated. >> we've always said that if these bits of evidence are re-examined, that things will -- that the truth will be found out. >> reporter: now the judge has not only allowed the scant evidence, miniscule traces of dna on this knife prosecutors claim was the murder weapon, and on the victim's bra, to be examined by independent experts, they're going to retest it, may even dismantle the knife in case other evidence is hiding. the defense believes it's not the murder weapon it was found in amanda's then boyfriend's kitchen drawer. rafael sell seato was also convicted and this is his trial, too. prosecutors say traces of his dna was on meredith's bra clasp, but nowhere else on it or the scene. his experts don't even think it's his dna at all. >> no match. no match. i did a deep examination of the results obtained by the police, and i am sure there are two exclusions. >> reporter: could new analysis support their insistence that these two were not even there that night? the court also granted the defense the ability to call new witnesses, potentially presenting new evidence for this appeal. chances they didn't get the first time. >> it's been so long. it's cold in there right now. it's gray. she doesn't need to be in there. so, she's not doing the best. >> reporter: now these small victories carry enormous weight. all that is standing between decades, even life in prison and freedom. amanda's stepfather talked a lot about how the time has been wearing on her and how she's been trying to occupy her time. the prison just got a much-welcomed ping pong table. she listens to music. she has a new roommate from eastern europe, but they're able to communicate in english. in fact, amanda has been helping other inmates with their italian while she continues her studies remotely through the university of washington. alex? >> trying to be, i guess, a model prisoner, at this point, anyway. thank you, michelle kosinski. in business news, a major milestone. apple says it's app store has hit the 10 billion downloads mark. this milestone comes 2 1/2 years after the store was created. the app store has more than 300,000 different programs that can be used on the iphone and ipad. and next month, the iphone will add verizon wireless as a carrier. you know how people say a big breakfast is good for you? well, a new study claims that's not necessarily the case. a group of german scientists say more calories in the morning means more calories, period. and then by the end of the day, that big breakfast might have put you over the caloric edge. lisa is a health and nutrition expert. thanks for being here. >> good morning. >> you hear it all the time, eat a big breakfast, keeps you slim. >> exactly, but the key word here, alex, is big. so, in the study, when participants consumed a bigger breakfast, they did not cut back on calories for lunch and dinner, which is typically thought to be the case. you know, you eat a big meal, then your appetite -- >> fill you up. >> exactly. your appetite is not as great. but that didn't occur in this study. so, whether the participants consumed 100 or 600 calories at breakfast, the size of the lunch and dinner meals remained the same. so, eating a bigger breakfast simply meant more calories were consumed throughout the day and that increases the risk of weight gain. >> okay, so, are people saying you're supposed to skip breakfast to lose weight now, or no? >> exactly. you don't want to skip breakfast. you just want to break the fast. so don't eat a huge meal. and breakfast is important it increases our metabolism, keeps us energized and skipping breakfast can result in low blood sugar and increased cravings for sweets. so, you to want to have breakfast, but make it a healthy breakfast that is calorie-controlled. >> and you've got some ideas, what we're supposed to eat. >> exactly. >> let's bring up these options. take us through them. >> healthy options here. first, an egg white omelet with low-fat cheddar, spinach and mushrooms, along with a slice of cantaloupe. that's only 260 calories, but 30 grams of protein. >> that's going to fill you up. >> and also retain that. you like this one, oatmeal with low-fat millm with blueberries and sprinkled with flaxseed for omega-3s. this is 272 calories, also has 10 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber. if you like peanut butter, you could spread that on a slice of whole grain toast, add a banana and low-fat milk for a calcium boost. this registers at 385 calories, 19 grams of protein. >> that's going to fill you up. banana, peanut butter, sure. >> it's a nice, rounded meal. and if you want to grab breakfast on the go, starbucks and mcdonald's have great options. we have the starbucks dark cherry yogurt parfait, made with tasty coconut granola. it's 310 calories. and mcdonald's has a new fruit and maple oatmeal. yes, and here you're getting some dry cranberries, raisins, even ground sugar and also red and green apples, and this is under 300 calories. >> under 300, that's great. >> that's a pretty good option and also has the protein and fiber to give you the feeling of fullness throughout the morning. >> lisa, you came with good stuff. thank you. >> thanks for having me. new york city facing a lawsuit after an elderly woman dies while waiting for an ambulance during december's massive snowstorm. so, is the city to blame? that story and analysis next. hey guys. printer's out of ink. just shake it! [ rattling ] [ male announcer ] this week, go to staples.com/weeklyad for your coupon and save 15% off your entire in-store purchase, excluding all computers. that was easy. a new york city woman is planning to sue the city for $20 million stemming from last month's massive blizzard. laura freeman says her 75-year-old mother died because of the city's poor response to the snowstorm. she says it took 45 minutes just to get through to 911 as her mother lay dying. >> she just said, "laura, if i don't get to talk to you aga again --." >> she died from a heart attack on december 27th while waiting for an ambulance. to bring in our legal panel, we do this with susan filan, former state prosecutor, david schwartz, former brooklyn prosecutor. good morning, guys. >> good morning. >> this is a tough one, you know? susan, this woman and her attorney are claiming wrongful death here. let's talk about what that encompasses, and does this fall into that category? >> well, for wrongful death, the city has to be clearly negligent. they have to have done something wrong, and i'm not sure the city did anything wrong. a blizzard is an act of god, and if you look at the streets, they're completely impassable. and if there was something they could have done and they didn't do it, that's negligence and that's wrongful death. and i'm not sure this case falls to that. >> what do you think? >> what do i think? i think there are multiple acts of negligence here. i think it's what did the city do right in this situation? they had a duty. they breached their duty. they didn't declare a snow emergency. they didn't act reasonably under the circumstances, and what are the damages? somebody lost their life because of the negligence of this city. it is unconscionable, their actions on that day, their inability to remove the snow, their inability to declare a snow emergency. >> there are those that suggest because of the economy and trying to keep budgets under control, and it hasn't been proven, but it's certainly been out there, bantered about, that the city had cut back on those kinds of services, even during an emergency like this. if that were to be proven, susan, is it an entirely different ball game then? >> no. i still think that what we're talking about is what's possible, what's reasonable, what can human beings do in these situations? and if it's shown that the city acting within its scope of what's reasonable, what's possible within its budgets, within its existing manpower, did what it could reasonably do in the middle of an act of god like a blizzard, and somebody died, it's tragic and unfortunate, but we can't blame everything on everybody and we can't always be compensated for every wrong. and people die and people die sometimes for weather. >> we need to blame, there was nobody in town, nobody around to make a decision, nobody declared a snow emergency -- >> he'll say he was on the phone and in touch with everybody -- >> oh, please. >> but even if there's a snow emergency, it's not clear that the situation would have been different, or the outcome would have been different. >> any expert knows the outcome would have been much different as it has been through dozens of snowstorms that we've seen, blizzards, the worst kind of snowstorms. we know it would have been different. >> but let me ask you because i'm out of time, pretty much, $20 million, is that excessive, the amount that's being asked for? a woman died here. >> it sounds very high to me, but she's making a claim, getting the attention, trying bring attention to the issue. i think raising the issue, getting people to talk about it, what does the city do in a situation like this? that's fair enough -- >> does the city settle? >> absolutely, the city settles. they run to settle. such an embarrassment, a black eye -- >> you don't hold the city up with a mask and a gun. >> they're going to settle, trust me. >> well, we'll see what happens. we'll see. okay, kids? feel good? >> yep. >> susan filan, david schwartz, thanks so much. >> thank you, alex. arctic blast. bitter cold gripping the northeast. it's about to get colder. we have the latest from the weather channel next. needed to be a leader in this company. 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