with me at cnn.com/sanjay. send me a tweet from time to time @dr.sanjaygupta. but now it's time to get you back into the "cnn newsroom" with fredricka whitfield. you are in the "cnn newsroom." i'm martin savidge. welcome. it is good to be with you today. there's a lot to talk about, so let's go. 2014, not even 4 days old but already the new year means one major thing to millions of americans, unbelievable cold. nor'easters and dangerous blizzards. in minnesota, no school monday. anywhere in the state. the governor already making that call. philadelphia, single-digit temperatures and ice are on the way as the cold wave moves eastward from the midwest. the 9 inches of snow that fell in the city yesterday froze solid overnight. and we'll see what real football

fans are made of tomorrow afternoon at lambeau field in green bay, wisconsin, as the packers will play the san francisco 49ers in that open-air stadium where the forecast is calling for temperatures that will feel around 20 below zero at game time. could go down in the books as the coldest pro football game ever to be played. more than 15 inches of snow fell on boston in the city. nearly 2 feet accumulated in the suburbs. margaret conley is there, and, margaret, everything actually looks wonderful now, sunny and bright, but it's about to get very, very cold. "the boston globe" reporter called the last few days insultingly cold. how are people looking forward to this next punch? >> reporter: that about sums it up, martin. right now it's about 20 degrees warmer than it was this morning. it was 2 degrees and overnight we had near record low temperatures. you can see people out now. we're standing in a church parking lot. there's a mass at 4:00. people were coming in and out. but the biggest obstacle seems

to be the snow. you can see the snow plowed up and pushed aside here. people have been trying to traipse through it throughout the day. statewide over the last few days 3,400 snowplows were sent out to deal with all the snow. the capacity is 4,000. you know the state was putting everything out on these plows. but, martin, the thing is we've made it through the snow and we've made it through the wind, but up next is rain. they're expecting heavy rainfall tomorrow and into monday. so, we're already getting warnings from emergency workers about rooftops. people are saying the snow is packed on rooftops. the heavy rain's going to come and people need to really be clearing off the rooftops for safety and for security of those buildings. martin? >> all right, margaret, it's just astounding you go from so much cold and snow now to a deluge of rain. the harsh winter storm is not finished. tom murphy was in nova scotia, canada, as the wind and rain created whiteout conditions.

>> reporter: by midday the storm was really in full swing, there's lots of snow. but that wasn't the real issue, the traffic has been the problem here. trying to get through the city on streets that have not been fully plowed, yes, it's been a concern, but it's the high winds that are blowing the snow around that is causing whiteout conditions in the province certainly in the city of halifax. those whiteouts have been leading to the closures of many institutions around the city including the university, the offices around town. the real problem has been the snow on the streets, building up, and where the streets have been cleared and there have not been that many of them the salt because it's so cold is just not working so it's making for slippery driving conditions and officials are telling people unless you really absolutely have to be driving and on the streets of halifax, stay off them. what is your chosen mode of transportation here, skis? >> we thought it would be a good day to do it. a lot of snow on the ground and i thought i would give it a shot. >> reporter: not much traffic.

>> no, it's like a snow day everywhere. it's fun to get out. >> reporter: how would you describe the walk with the dogs today? >> a bit rough. wasn't it? >> yeah. >> icy. very cold. very blustery. but still fun. >> reporter: how do the dogs do? >> they love it. they're like little bunny rabbits jumping around in the snow, they love it. >> reporter: mail carriers are out and getting about the streets of halifax. but it's not easygoing. we've had more winter weather this last season than we had all of last season. the snow clearing budgets are being stretched. they have the snow removal crews out around the city trying to keep up but it's been a real challenge today, tom murphy cbc, halifax. >> there you see how the friends in the north are suffering from the same weather. january is typically cold but not like this cnn meteorologist alexandra steele explains what's behind the frigid temperatures. >> we talked last week about how cold it was, right? this week we've taken cold to a new level. what we're going to see is

actually a piece of the polar vortex had is the coldest air in the northern hemisphere come in. so it's very rarefied air, we haven't seen temperatures like this in 20 years for some. windchills tomorrow, duluth will feel like 34 below, and, of course, the game tomorrow 14 below is what it will feel at lambeau. then we continue and look at 55 below. really the heart of this cold is monday, tuesday time frame. but unlike what we saw last week it gets colder, but it will make its way farther south. look at this, give you a little perspective, anchorage temperature 32 degrees. international falls 15 below. so it will be colder in international falls than in anchorage. on average temperature in anchorage is about 6. so, st. louis and chicago, 11 below, it will be colder in chicago than anchorage. it will be colder in st. louis than anchorage. colder inn't there, georgia, than anchorage. so you can see this cold air

dropping south and east. we've got the cold air in place. we've got a new snowstorm developing. this will just be a midwestern affair. the moisture is coming in, bringing snow, quite a bit, milwaukee, chicago, flint, detroit. but as this moisture moves eastward it's going to move eastward on monday when temperatures in the northeast will still be about 40 or 50. so it will be a rainmaker for the northeast. so, the timing in the northeast, the moisture comes in, but the cold air comes in a day later. it could have been a snowstorm but it will just be a rainstorm and then the cold air comes in. forecast delays, of course, tomorrow, chicago, denver, los angeles and even the northeast will see airport delays. new york because of the low clouds and the rain. d.c. and atlanta because of low clouds as well. look at chicago, chicago's forecast one interesting thing will be the dramatic temperature drop here. monday the temperature will be 12 below for the high temperature. straight air temperature, not even the windchill. look what happens to new york. monday when the rain comes in it's a rain game because the

temperatures almost 50. if that moisture were to have come in the next day on tuesday, it certainly would have been a snow affair. 14 degrees. so, 30- to 40-degree temperature drop from new york to nashville. nashville drops from 50 on sunday to 7. these are the high temperatures. can you imagine how low it's all going to go. martin, really cold air, no question about that. we're going to see an incredible amount of moisture, but the timing on it's a little off for the northeast. >> forget miami. i think i'm booking my vacation for anchorage. >> i'm going to get there, too, even to new orleans. >> all right, alexandra, thanks very much. >> sure. stay right here we'll go live to long island in a few minutes. the snow has stopped. that's one shoe. but the next one that's about to drop, yeah, bitter cold. stay with us. and australia is getting the ice breaking might of the u.s. coast guard now coming to the rescue of those ships that have been stuck in antarctica. this has now become a four-nation operation. australia, of course, is taking the lead in the effort and the is now getting another

icebreaker the u.s. icebreaker named "the polar star" to join the mission. the two ships stuck in the ice are a russian research ship with a crew and the chinese icebreaker which became stranded trying to help, you got it, the russian vessel. 52 passengers on the russian ship were flown off earlier in the week but 22 crew members remained on board. they've still got plenty of food, they're all right. in new york city three people were lucky to survive after their small plane made an emergency landing on a new york thruway. authorities said the plane had engine trouble when it was forced to set down on a busy highway in the bronx. fire officials say three people were taken to the hospital, but they were not in serious or not nonlife threatening injuries. the national security agency once nearly invisible and unknown today founds itself in the glare of a growing congressional discontent. senator rand paul has invited everyone in the united states with a cell phone to join his class action suit to stop the nsa from collecting phone records.

and another senator bernie sanders of vermont recently asked the nsa point-blank are you spying on members of congress? sun li, the nsa is attracting a lot of unwanted attention. what has been the reaction from them? >> well, first and foremost, martin, senator bernie sanders the independent from vermont, he's been outspoken in the past on this issue, but in a letter on friday he really does get personal. he calls the data collection by the nsa, quote, spying and he asked specifically of the nsa, quote, has the nsa spied or is the nsa currently spying on members of congress or other american elect the officials? now, today the senator got a response from the nsa, sort of, the spokesperson for the nsa wrote back, basically not saying yes or no, saying that members of congress, well, they're just like everyone else. here's what they said -- nsa's authority to collect

signal intelligence data include procedures that protect the privacy of u.s. persons. such protections are built into and cut across the entire process they say and members of congress have the same privacy protections as all u.s. persons. the nsa tells the senators that they will continue to review the questions. sanders has already, of course, introduced legislation in congress to put some limits on the nsa and we'll, of course, hear more about what reforms president obama will propose when we hear from him later this month. he's been reviewing these recommendations while he's on vacation in highway hawaii. he said he'll speak on it definitively very soon. a member of a church is heartbroken after their priest was found dead on new year's day. but now they're outraged to learn that he was in police custody just hours before. that story just ahead. plus, a coroner has now issued a death certificate for a young california girl who was declared brain dead.

but jahi mcmath's family is working to have her transferred to a new hospital and they don't have much time.

a pair of tragic medical cases have brought the conversation of life and death to the forefront and they touch on the way we talk about what happens when someone suffers a severe brain injury and whether the phrase brain dead has created a misperception that a loved one could somehow come back to life. finley boyle a 3-year-old hawaiian girl who suffered massive brain damage after undergoing a dental procedure last month died friday night. her neurologist said the mri showed that the girl suffered severe brain damage and she was in a, quote, persistive veget e vegetative state, unquote. and jed the family of jahi mcmath who had been declared dead by doctors reached an agreement with the hospital for the release of the girl to

another facility. this came the same day the coroner's office issued her death certificate. joining me now to talk about all of this is the author of "five days at memorial" cheryl fink, and holly hughes and psychologist dr. jeff gardere. e e ethicists say it's not the same thing as cardiac death. dr. gardere, do you agree with that? >> i think when we look at the issue of being brain dead, at this point

accommodation of the patient's or the family member's moral or religious wishes. that's kind of interesting.

california doesn't have that but it does become a question of does society pay for this, does the hospital or the family in this case. >> right. and it's a very interesting point. dr. gardere, who do you think should be ultimately responsible for making the decision to cut off life support? >> well, again, holly's correct. when we look at the dnr, do not resuscitate, that's one of the ways that the patient actually gives the executive decision to someone who they trust. but at the end of the day all the ethicists have said if the patient is brain dead, the physician does have the right to say that the patient is dead and we don't have to give any more help. but if the patient is not going to get better and they continue to live and they continue to have a beating heart, then the family are the other ones who can give the executive decision as to what happens. you can keep treating, treating,

treating, treating even though the patient is not getting better. so, we have to figure out a better way to take care of the needs of the patient which is what it comes down to at the end of the day whether they're alive or dead. >> sherrie, let me ask you this real quick. brain dead versus coma, does it make a difference in these situations? >> it does make a difference because we have these laws now, the laws actually go back historically. we didn't used to have this. it used to be that somebody's brain stopped functioning irreversibly, their heart and lungs would stop. now we have life support and we have transplant medicine and the laws actually trace back to the need for, you know, if doctors wanted to take organs from a patient whose brain had irreversibly stopped functioning, they were afraid they could be accused of murder so we have laws in place that say that brain death is equivalent to death. but, you know, this is why -- this is a special case versus these cases of persistent vegetative states where we have a long processes of decision in

terms of whether that patient should or should not be removed from a ventilator and whether or not that was or was not the wishes. so, this is a specific case when it is brain death, when that is, you know, an accepted definition of death in this country. >> and it's, of course, made even worse by the fact that we're dealing with children. holly, i want to ask you this. what happened before and during and after all of these. these were surgeries, and i suppose the surgery is a separate issue. but what recourse does the family have? >> well, what you're looking at is a medical negligence case, martin, and they will, in fact, file against the doctor, the hospitals, the anestitist, i have problems with that one like you do with ethicist. if there was negligence of any kind they'll sue in their particular state looking for damages not just for the medical negligence but for the emotional distress that the family is also

going through and as a preventive measure to sort of send a message to these medical institutions that if you mess up this badly, there has to be a punitive measure as well and that's what we call punitive damages, so you're going to see the families seeking all of these different recourse. and it's not, you know, money can't bring a child back but, again, you do want to send the message that you have to be so careful when you enter into these surgeries to make sure that everything's done properly. >> yeah. you know, naturally we would never wish any of this on anyone. >> right. >> but these are kind of the lessons we learn from these sort of tragedies that we all can apply. thank you to all of my guests, sherrie, thanks, holly, jeff as well. we're not done with you yet because in a moment we'll talk about a couple of other cases. a world war ii veteran in kansas he can't afford to make repairs to his business, so he's been thrown in jail. it sounds like debtor's prison. the details next.

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you should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. make the most of every moment. ask your dermatologist about humira, today. clearer skin is possible. this next story i worked on during the week it was a brutal murder of a catholic priest in california and things might have turned out differently if police officers had held the suspect just a little bit longer. that was on wednesday morning. the staff at st. bernard church in humboldt county called police after finding reverend eric freid's body. he was allegedly killed at the hands of gary lee bulloch.

but he was released from jail just hours before the crime allegedly happened. so, let's talk about it and joining me to do that again criminal defense attorney holly hughes and psychologist dr. jeff gardere, and, holly, first, to the court and other records that were obtained by cnn. they did not see any violent crimes in bullock's history. is there any way police could have held him longer to keep him from what he did? >> no, absolutely not. if they'd have held him longer they would have been looking at a lawsuit for violating his civil liberties. he was picked up because being a little bit out of control. >> public intoxication. >> they held him as long as they could and then they had to release him. you can't hold on to someone indefinitely because of a future crime, something they might do in the future. there's no way to predict that, martin. they did what they were legally bound to do under the law and if you think about it, if this had gone the other way, if they'd have held on to him, we'd be up

in arms about that. oh, he was drunk and you held him for this many hours and how dare you do that. >> how about finding him a place to go. they released him on the street, getting him into a shelter and making sure he had a place to go, they don't have a responsibility to do that? >> you can argue there's a moral responsibility to do it but legally no. this is an adult. we're not talking about they picked up a juvenile and turned him out when he sobered up with his little ticket and say come back and answer for the charges later. this is a fully grown adult man. >> let's get jeff in on this conversation, too. i should add that cnn failed to reach the lawyer that represented bullock in this case. dr. gardere, police are, of course, desperate to find a motive in this case, but they do say that this man was acting erratic hours earlier. do you think they're going to be digging in to his mental state as part of this? >> certainly they will be i guess when we look at 20/20 hindsight, that's a great thing. but holly, again, is correct that there was no legal

responsibility on the part of the police. but, martin, you're absolutely correct. i think there was a moral responsibility for the police officers to say, look, we have this adult. this guy's been acting erratically. severe intoxation. let's take some responsibility here. we know that mental health is the number one issue of our times right now. that a lot of horrible things have happened when people have not been in their right mind and certainly this person wasn't. and certainly now where we see being charged with this crime of allegedly killing this priest. now we know that something more should have been done, and this is where we need to get social workers and psychologists involved much more in working in the police department because the police are the first ones, the first responders, to a lot of mental health and drug abuse issues. >> i got to jump in here for just a second. you can't commit an adult. i mean, there was no diagnosis

here on record. this man was picked up for public intoxication, just because he's acting weird, the police officers aren't psychiatrists or psychologists. you can't detain somebody because you think they're a little loopy. this is something that would have had to have been done in a court of law. they would have had to have found him incompetent. dr. jeff is right, mental illness is the number one problem -- >> so many of our stories we've talked about. >> in the criminal justice system and how many mass shootings do we look at and we trace it back to it is gun control issue but it is largely a mental health issue. >> holly -- >> joe ahead, jeff. >> holly, i agree with you, certainly you cannot go ahead and commit someone who if we don't know they're a danger to themselves or others but we do have social workers and psychologists that can perhaps offer counseling and direction and maybe put them on the trail to getting into a homeless

shelter that has some sort of aftercare i think that's what we'll be needing to do more and more because we know people with mental health issues are landing in jail and not getting the help that they need. >> yeah. we're all in agreement on that. i want to go to this other story real quickly. and it's switching gears dramatically, but it's out of kansas and a world war ii veteran faced city code violations because his office building has a cracked exterior bricks and he's been arrested. it sounds like a debtor's prison. can they do that? >> technically, yes, they can. it's what we called code violation and you can be called before the court for not keeping your building up to par. again, let's flip this, martin, right? being a lawyer that's what i do being on both sides, what if the bricks fell and hurt somebody, a child or something like that? i will say i think the judge went too far. the judge has discretion. if you want to find the elderly gentleman -- he's 88 years old, martin, 88, and you're going to

throw him in prison for the first time in his life. that's a little bit ridiculous. you have discretion. make him pay the $100 fine and say you have 30 days i want you to report to me in 30 days. bring it up to code. >> jeff, shouldn't some kind of compassion have been shown? >> i think burt bach ka rack said it best, anyone that had a heart, right? i feel the vet that should have been given a break perhaps got into some sort of a contest that starts with a "p" with the judge and being that they all know one another, this person perhaps being cantankerous was trying to make an example and teach him a lesson about being humble. but i really do believe something better could have been done. they should have made some sort of a better offer to help him to pay his taxes and to do these repairs. >> hopefully they will now. jeff, thanks. holly, as well. these have been very difficult topics but you make them so interesting and important. thanks.

okay. moving on. on the heels of a massive snowstorm now comes this fierce arctic cold front. it's sweeping across the country. it's threatening to push low temperatures even lower. and possibly shatter records across the u.s. we'll talk more about that next. we still run into problems. that's why liberty mutual insurance offers accident forgiveness if you qualify, and new car replacement, standard with our auto policies.

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we've been through in some areas and what we are headed to which is the basement when it comes to the temperature in some places. cnn viewers have been feeding us some great photos of that nor'easter and the blizzard and what's been happening in their neighborhoods and jennifer has been digging through the photos, found some gems. and found some from family, too, i hear. >> absolutely. we found a lot of great pictures out there people having fun in the snow and we've been talking about the cold temperatures coming for the football game tomorrow in green bay and a fan got creative with how she decided to give her team some support on twitter. do you see that? katherine curry she wrote who-dat in the snow and what weather? who-dat loves a chilly breeze and certainly saints fans will know what she's talking about there. giving some love there. the next photo takes us to chicago and that's where there is a nearly frozen lake michigan. you can see there's just chunks of ice there in the lake and that's looking towards navy pier. definitely cold temperatures

coming to chicago. and the next photo we're looking at fire island, new york, that's a place a lot of people like to vacation in the summer. this time of year, frozen over. there's a lot of wind in that area blowing that water right onto that bench there freezing it over completely. it kind of looks like a cold seat there. lots of icicles. and the next picture we're looking at it's a little closer to home for me. it's a place that i recognize. take a look. there's a snow man in the yard and it says, yeah, no school on monday. we know that governor dayton canceled class on monday for all schools in minnesota. all around the state because of the expected cold temperatures. my dad tom took that picture. that's in our neighborhood. i grew up in a suburb of minneapolis, and yeah, they got kind of creative with the snow man there. >> you have to enjoy it and make your way through it with a sense of humor and a smile if you can. >> yeah. the kids will be having a snow day there on monday and maybe some of the parents as well. >> they will be thrilled. >> we want to see what you have

out there so send your pictures to cnn.com/i-report. >> it makes a nice change from all the serious stuff. absolutely. a tv host breaks down in tears. she was apologizing about mitt romney and his family. we'll explain. [ female announcer ] who are we? we are the thinkers. the job jugglers. the up all-nighters. and the ones who turn ideas into action. we've made our passions our life's work. we strive for the moments where we can say, "i did it!" ♪ we are entrepreneurs who started it all... with a signature. legalzoom has helped start over 1 million businesses, turning dreamers into business owners. and we're here to help start yours. over the pizza place on chestnut street the modest first floor bedroom in tallinn, estonia and the southbound bus barreling down i-95. ♪ this magic moment it is the story of where every great idea begins. and of those who believed they had the power to do more.

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back to the hour's top story on cnn. brutal winter weather, has already dumped heavy snow on the midwest and new england but that is just the first of a one-two

punch unfortunately. our rosa flores is on long island in sayreville, new york, very picturesque and winter is about to pound long island once more. how are people there getting ready? >> reporter: well, you know, it's cold, martin. the sun is down and so are the temperatures. and it's been quite the roller coaster. just to give you an idea, i talked to a resident earlier who said she was out at about 5:30 this morning. it was about 2 degrees. well, throughout the day those temperatures were rising. probably rose to 29. right now it's about 26 degrees here in sayreville. just to give you an idea, sayreville is in the south shore of long island. lots of great people here. but probably from what you can see around me, you can tell that there was about a foot of snow here. the good news is the streets were plowed. they were sanded. they were salted. and so folks were able to get around. they were not worried about that situation because all of those

services were out and about. i've got to introduce you to someone that i just met here in town. this is brian. a man of a wonderful spirit. he was just walking by, playing the harmonica. you've got this great spirit. it is cold. it is frigid. it is quite miserable. yet you're smiling and you're playing the harmonica out here. what's your high? >> natural life. i'm feeling good. good food. good conversation. and people like you. >> reporter: now, were you singing the blues? can you play your harmonica for us? >> most certainly. >> reporter: that's right. let me give you some inspirat n inspiration, plowing, snow, and cold temperatures. ♪ it's cold out here you all ♪ ♪ yeah i said it's cold out here ♪ ♪ ♪ we need a snow >> reporter: with that i'll toss it back to you.

♪ snowplow you all >> that's wonderful, rosa flores, and friend in the cold on long island. thanks very much for cheering us up. we'll have a story coming up about the woes of msnb host melissa harris perry and her apology. c explore what's new. for 575 calories or less on our lighter fare menu. enjoy fresh tossed. go fish. and try our new rosemary garlic chicken at olive garden.

msnbc host melissa harris perry teared up on national television today. it happened during an apology to mitt romney's family after comments about his recently adopted african-american grandson, listen. >> my intention was not malicious but i broke the ground rule that families are off limits and for that i am sorry. also allow me to apologize to other families formed through transracial adoption because i am deeply sorry that we suggested that interracial families are in any way funny or deserving of ridicule. on this program we are dedicated to advocating for a wide diversity of families. it is one of our core principles and i am reminded that when we are doing so, it must always be with the utmost respect, appr

appreciative of everyone who offered serious criticisms of last sunday's program and our fiercest critics can sometimes be our best teachers. >> you may remember the outrage that erupted earlier this week after harris perry on a panel joked about this photo that was featuring the former gop presidential candidate holding his grandson kiernin. so, let's bring in our panel. cnn political commentator ben ferguson that joining us from dallas and mark lamt hill joins us from new york. i think the is this on-air apology from harris perry enough? mark, you first? >> i absolutely think it was enough. earlier in the week people blasted her for not offering a public apology on television. they say she only did it through twitter. people had to be reminded it was a weekend show and we needed to give her until saturday to do so, as soon as the show opened she gave a contrite apology, it was elegant and dignified and principled, it was uncompromising and it was unqualified. i think she did all she could do

to honor the romney family, to speak to where she feels she went wrong and to move forward. >> ben? >> i think she certainly knew that her job was probably on the line and that's probably the reason why you saw a lot of this desperation compared to last week. but last week this was a preplanned, in the teleprompter. picture was produced on screen live. this was something that was well thought out for a year-end show that was supposed to be funny, and there's nothing funny about a stereotype that somehow people only of one race can adopt a child of one race and that put the stigma out there that certainly was laughed, it was mocked about. there are millions of kids around the world that need to be adopted, hundred of thousands in the u.s. and the last thing we need is a stereotype that only the race of the child that needs adoption is what can adopt that child. so for me, i'm not sure this was as much about her saving her job

as it was about her really saying she was sorry for what she did. last week she loved it and laughed at it and produced it. that's a problem. >> that's a bit unfair, ben. first of all in the teleprompter last week there wasn't racist or racial humor. what she asked was can someone caption the picture. we're beginning with the premises that was a bad idea but let's not say she went into the segment with the mindset of saying something offensive. once it starred people said things that were inappropriate and hurt feelings and she acknowledged it and apologized and there's absolutely no reason to think she was insincere or she was anything less than contrite. the question you were asked was this enough. the question you haven't answered. do you think it was enough? >> i think -- >> let me ask you this. do you think she should have been fired? >> i think there certainly should have been a leave of absence for some time at a bare minimum and i think the reality is this picture, the only reason why it was used, last week on

screen, was to make fun of a white family that had adopted an african-american child. that was the whole premise of putting the picture up was that there was a -- there was this african-american kid sitting on a white grandfather's lap and they made fun of that. that is a problem. >> ben, you're making points as if someone is arguing to the contrary. you're arguing like a straw man right now. no one is disputing what you are saying about the conversation we're having. the question is was this enough. what i find fascinating just last week you were defending phil robertson, just last week you were defending the first amendment and just last week you said people had the right to say whatever they want and even if we disagree with it and he shouldn't be answered and right now you are asking her to be punished in the same reason that you didn't want phil robertson fired. >> i see no problem with phil robertson if you listen to what i said. i had no problem with him being suspended to send a message and then for the reinstatement. i do think he should be fired. i don't think she should have

been fired. i think she should have been suspended and i think the apology was more about saving her career and jonathan it was about what she did last week when it was celebrated and laughed. if you look at the segment. it wasn't awkward. they were living it up around this picture. >> that's why she's apologizing, ben. that's why she's apologizing. something happened that was untoward and now she's apologized for it. of course, if she had -- >> let me interrupt. we've covered this a lot. let's just push this conversation forward. and include "duck dynasty" let's include that in the conversation we're talking about now. it seems a lot of what is based on what is appropriate or not appropriate to say in the public, in the public arena, and i'm wondering, do you think that, you know, any of this politically is correct sentiment? you know, the old pc thing, are we suddenly saying it's very difficult to talk about anything controversial? and go ahead, ben, you can start it off. >> well, there's a difference between being, you know, blunt about your moral beliefs. as phil robertson was in his article. he was not eloquent in the way

he said it. he does believe in the bible. he does believe that there are many sins. he listed 12 of those to there's a difference between that and taking a family picture and mocking it based on the fact there's an african-american child with white people. those are different circumstances. one is not funny. the other is not funny. they are both serious. if you want race relations to get better, don't mock or tell a white family they can't adopt someone that is african-american or vice versa. >> she never said white people couldn't adopt. that is a false being promoted by ben. >> the picture dealt with that. let's not pc it. >> if you are saying it's an argument about adoption, she

simply didn't say that. she said plenty of stuff worth apologizing for. to the question i was asked about pc, i think it's envoked in a way to protect people from saying things that are offensive. i think people need to be challenged for what they say. melissa was challenged for what she said. everyone has a right to free speech and the obligation to free speech whether you are democrat, whether you are republican, whether i agree with you or whether i don't. >> you need to be civil in the conversation and careful in the words you choose. you can talk about a controversial subject. you cannot be partial or insensitive. >> here is the thing. the picture was not an issue of sensitivity training on race relations. the picture was brought out to imply there is something wrong,

awkward or weird with a white family adopting an african-american child. that should never, ever be weird in this country, especially when you are talking about it on national tv. we should have anyone who wants to adopt to adopt them. if you know someone who's adopted. >> you are pushing this too hard. none of us disagree with what you have to say. that is absolutely correct. i believe she's apologized for it. what i'm asking is, whether it is difficult for anyone to talk in public in the arena of what television without getting people upset on one side or another or in some way. >> i think we are entering a dangerous realm. ben says things i think are absurd. he thinks i say crazy things all the time. we both think the other says crazy stuff all the time. i want to reserve the right to do that without being threatened. certain things should be off

limits. kids should be off limits, mocking is off limits. you have a right to say things, but be challenged on them. i want civility and boundaries. >> we are going to come back after the break and continue with you on a football wager. >> mark is going to like this. >> no civility in football. >> there is an asterisk there. >> don't lose this during the break. there's a new form of innovation taking shape.

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now my hands look great. [ female announcer ] gold bond intensive hand cream. this stuff really works! all right, i waited an hour with this and we are back with the results of a football wager. political commentator versus political commentator. ben ferguson hoped his team would take victory without tony romo and the other corner, philadelphia eagles. confident in his team's ability to ban quish it. we look at the trash talking before that game. >> i think the cowboys are due. i think philly is going to come in, they are going to be in jerry's world, they are going to be terrified of this other quarterback. they have not been planning for. i think the team is playing for tony romo. he had serious surgery.

i'm saying, if i'm a philly fan, i'm not sure i would watch the entire game. >> by halftime, we'll be up by five touchdowns. i wish tony romo would play. he has remarkable ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. he always loses the game. i'm sending him get well cards. >> when my team beats your team, i'm going to ship you this jersey, fedex to it you and you have to wear it on tv next time we are on. >> for the next segment. >> i'm going to send you a jersey. you are going to wear this jersey on tv. we are going to win and win big in dallas. there are two things we do in philadelphia, we boo santa and beat cowboys. that's what's going to happen. >> isn't it fun to look back on that. the philadelphia eagles beat the dallas cowboys. the final score, 24-22, very close. ben ferguson, it's time to pay

up. >> i tried this week to find a philly jersey because mark is too cheab to u.p.s. or snail mail the jersey to me. he couldn't handle that. the only thing i could find, and i'm a man of my word, i will relentlessly -- >> stop filibustering, put the hat on. >> it's on there. >> oh. you look great in green, man. >> the tags may not be taken off. i'm not going to crease the bill because i'm definitely going to return this. >> of course you are. >> at least i bought it for this afternoon. can we move on to the super bowl? >> let's do that. maybe double down here? >> you can only go to super bowl if you buy a ticket to it. my eagles will be playing in the super bowl. let's move week by week here. we'll beat new orleans this week, then whoever we play we

are going win. chen an nfc championship. it's going to happen. >> i'm not sure we are going bet every weekend. you tell me, double or nothing for the super bowl. >> i'm picking the cowboys to win it all. no, just kidding. i'm going to go with the broncos. my boy manning is going to take care of all this. he's going to get a second ring so he cannot have to deal with the trash talking from eli manning. he has two rings from ole miss. i'm going all the way with the broncos. >> i'm going with my heart, the dream hollywood scenario, the eagles against the chiefs. andy reid against chuck kelly, the current coach. eagles beat the chiefs by one point in the super bowl. that's what i'm talking about. >> can i take this stupid hat off, by the way? >> no, no, no, to the end of the segment, brother.

end of the segment. >> this is the end of the segment. good-bye to both of you. >> eagles! >> with that, the next hour of the cnn news room begins right now. you are in the cnn news room, i'm martin savidge, very glad to be with you. this is one of those weekends where the weather becomes the news. before you say hey, it's january, it's supposed to be cold, hold on. this is like none we have seen in a long time. that deep freezing is going to affect nearly half of the nation. it is exceptionally cold and even cold weather veterans say in the polar bear states that haven't seen conditions as brutal as this in many years. in parts of minnesota, famous for the tough winters, the temperature will not get above 20 below in the coming