>> can you see that car that just went past me is now going on the on-ramp. you can see it's quickly disappearing into the blowing snow. >> ron mott, stephanie abrams there. this was the first big test for new mayor bill de blasio. he was out with a shovel this morning hitting his own walkway. >> it would have been nice to have talked about how to handle a snowstorm in an abstract exercise, but we didn't get to do that, we got the real thing. >> no, trial by fire on this one. at this point the worst of the snow is over and out, but here's what's moving in, subzero temperatures, the coldest some have seen in years. >> it is very cold. >> i'm layered up. i have like four pairs of pants on and four sweatshirts, so i'm cold. >> we've got you covered. team coverage all over the map. we have richard lui in boston, craig melvin in new york city, bill karins is monitoring the storm right here in the studio. i want to start with richard lui

where we've seen record-breaking snowfall not just in boston but some mind-blowing snow totals all around the state. fill us in. >> all around the state, thomas, good morning touch you. the national weather service saying 8 to 23 inches here in the state of massachusetts. just short of that two-foot mark. of course those near-blizzard conditions, although we have not hit the technical definition of it, it sure has felt that way as we've had negative 20 windchill degrees here. what is different at this hour is we finally have some sun. much different than it was earlier in the morning around 4:00 a.m. you know the real difference here is if we were to walk out into the street here, we now have some cookie dough. what i mean is we've got this snow that's starting to get dirty and a little bit more wet. this was not the case about four hours ago. four hours ago, we had snow that was lighter, like this. what you would see probably up in colorado.

see, that's the difference right now. we may see them start to put down some ice. but what we are seeing before they do that are folks out and about. these taxicabs have been working all night, people have been walking by me going to work. and of course there's all of those crew members across the state, over 3300, that have been working so hard. believe it or not here, thomas, the ferries have been working throughout all of this this morning with only maybe 15 to 25-minute delays. how about that? >> so it's boston strong, we know that. we see the sun out there, how about the winds, richard? we know the temps are freezing, but have the winds calmed down? >> you know, thomas, at around 3:00 a.m. when we walked out here, i would face the harbor here, i would face the ocean and i could feel the snow. it was just sort of like needles into the face. i'm facing it right now and, first of all, there's no snow. number two, it's not nearly as brisk. we were seeing high 20s, now

probably around 15. >> arll right, richard lui in boston. we want to go to craig melvin in new york's central park. we know that the city schools are shut down. craig, what are the reviews on mayor de blasio so far? >> you know what, thomas, it's going to depend on who you ask. again, as you indicated there, a million kids out of school today. and you know, as i'm talking to you, by the way, you can see this has become a familiar sight here in central park throughout the morning, snow plows. some 450 plows have been -- trucks have been outfitted with plows here in the city. 2500 other trucks. but this is what they have been doing all morning here in central park. but going back to new york city's new mayor, bill de blasio sworn in just a few moments after midnight on new year's day, already his first major test. and it's very interesting because you might remember when he was city advocate back in 2010, he was highly critical of

then mayor bloomberg, of his response to a storm then, saying that the plows did not get to some of the outer boroughs quickly enough, some of the outer suburbs quickly enough. lots of folks keeping a close eye on de blasio's response to this major snowstorm. he held a news conference just a few moments ago. take a listen. >> if you want safe, clear streets, stay home and let these good folks at sanitation do their job to clear the streets. obviously the other reason to stay home is for safety. it's very slick out there. it's hard to drive out there. the wind, the ice, there's a lot of blowing snow still. >> the winds have died down considerably over the past two or three hours, but we still get the occasional gusts. the temperature, though, i heard from richard there a few moments ago, it's pretty much the same here. it's about 20 degrees.

this is going to be the high today in new york city we're told, and again this is the high before that wind blows, thomas. that's the very latest from here in central park. i'll send it back to you. >> craig, thanks so much. we see a lot of people walking behind you. we just got this picture in through twitter and it is of dante de blasio helping to clean up the snow, shoveling the walkway there. we saw his dad out earlier. there you go, putting the kids to work. a travel nightmare for hundreds of people in chicago. passengers say that some of them were trapped at the tarmac at midway airport up to four hours with as many as 30 planes stacked up in line. southwest and this backup began late last night from earlier in the day and the airline is cancelling arriving flights at airports across the upper midwest and the northeast until 1:00 p.m. to recover. passengers say, you know what, they're angry about it. >> while we were on the plane, we were just lied to. we were told it's only going to be an hour and a half, it's

going to be this, it's going to be -- you know. and they said -- we were 24th in line. >> so no fun if you had to be out there. here's a look at flare aware's misery map. more than 5,000 flights have been delayed, 2,000 cancelled altogether. joining me now is sara dollof. what's the status of airports for that area? >> we actually have a little good news for you right now and that is that jfk has reopened as of about an hour ago. now, that doesn't mean that things are flowing smoothly. in fact they're dealing with a big backlog of passengers from those delays and cancelled flights when the airport was shut down. newark and la guardia did stay open, however they are not without problems themselves. more delayed flights and cancellations there. as you said, about 2,000 flights cancelled nationwide. we saw boston logan shut down. their last flight went out about 8:30 last night. now, here on the roads, getting to the airport itself can be a

problem. the long island expressway shut down overnight. it reopened about 8:00 a.m. and things are actually looking pretty good. instead of snow-packed roads, we're actually beginning to see some of the asphalt, see some of the pavement. traffic definitely picking up, although officials still say if you can avoid driving on the roads, do so. stay inside and stay warm at that. thomas, back to you. >> good advice as we lead into the weekend. sarah, great to see you. we want to turn to nbc meteorologist bill karins. bill has been one of the busiest men in the building tracking all of this for us. explain these large amounts of snow that we've seen, bill. everybody being able to reflect and count up but it's about the cold temps coming in behind them. >> that's the big story. everyone is wondering what's next. what's next is a little mini snowstorm and a huge blast of cold air that's going to make this one look like nothing. let me show you what windchills are currently. the sun is out and makes things feel a little better so now is the time to shovel before this evening, especially when everything refreezes. we're at windchills in negative numbers. the lowest total, minus 29 in

burlington, vermont. they didn't get much snow at all but those areas that did get the snow. we still have wind gusts of 40 out on cape cod but they have really died off over the interior of new england so that's why it's a little more bearable outside. so what is going to be next? the next big storm is coming right through the middle of the country. as the timing of it looks like saturday night and then during the day on sunday, this pink shading shows the possibility of 6 plus inches, indianapolis, toledo, detroit, maybe a little bit here into st. louis too, kansas city, maybe clipping chicago. those are the cities at risk of another shovelable, plowable snowfall. this is going to be one of the coldest outbreaks we've seen since 1996, almost 20 years since we've seen something this cold. we're going to be talking windchill values much lower than right now. right now we have windchills about minus 15 in this region. by the time we get through sunday night into monday morning, areas like minneapolis and other places, thomas, will

go down to about minus 45. minus 60. temperatures with chicago, for a high on monday, maybe minus 10. that's a high temperature. >> wow. >> no wind. >> this is also the time you don't want to make assumptions about your neighbors or loved ones and thinking they're okay. call, check on them, make sure they're aware what's going to happen. >> it's not often the wording of the government comes out it's the possibility of a killer cold outbreak but that's exactly what they said in minnesota, this next one that's coming. >> bill karins, thank you, sir. thousands of sand and salt trucks have been out across new england trying to keep things safe. joining me is peter judge. good to have you with us. give us an update. how are the roads so far? >> good morning, thomas. things are progressing very well. most of theo snow has stopped for most of the state. the southeast part of the state, cape cod and the islands, wee still going to see snow into the afternoon, but we've got 3300 pieces of equipment out there right now and slowly but surely

we're getting back to normalcy. >> so, peter, what is the big worry now? because it seems as if the storm system itself and the threat of it is over, but it's these brutal cold temperatures. bill was just talking about that is the concern for most people. especially if we look at what could happen if the power goes out for people. >> absolutely. that can be brutal. fortunately, the snow itself is so light and fluffy, we literally only have 69 customers without power around the entire state, which is unprecedented for an event like this. so that is the least of our worries at this point. we are very fortunate with the power staying on. but with the very cold temperatures, we might see people having a lot of pipes burst and that's part of their heating system as well so we have to monitor those things very carefully over the next 24 hours. >> as we talk about the people that do have to be outside, if they do want to go out, what are the recommendations you're telling people, especially for those who have jobs where they

need to be outdoors during this? >> basically we try to minimize the time out there. obviously you want to dress for the event, minimize your exposed skin. if you can, do it in shifts. if you have a three-hour job to do, do it in 20 minutes out, 5, 10 minutes in. but don't keep yourself out there. we don't want to see the emergency rooms full of folks dealing with frostbite and hypotherm hypothermia, so it's unusually cold. something we're not used to here, generally speaking. and so we want people to really use a little common sense. >> we see there's fun to be had too. some of those pictures from fenway look fantastic where they're going tubing. the massachusetts emergency management agency, peter judge, thank you. we want to ask you to stick with us, for continuing coverage of this winter storm. in just a few minutes we'll speak by phone with the mayor of philadelphia. again, that's still ahead. they have already made millions off their television show and they sell a host of products from t-shirts to stuffed dolls and even chia pets.

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after weeks of backlash for controversial comments made by one of its stars, the company owned by the "duck dynasty" family is coming out with a new line of guns. the company called duck commander has partnered with the gun maker mossberg to shell

shotgu shotguns, a rifle and a pistol. take a listen to one of the commercial's from the gun maker's website featuring the staurds of "duck dynasty." >> the blue wings are on the move. the grand passage has begun. brush your blinds. grab your gun. let's go kill some ducks, boys. >> joining me right now is len everett, director of communications for the coalition to stop gun violence. it's good to have you here. so here's what we're hearing about the guns so far, that they're going to come as we saw in the commercial in this camouflage design. the pistol and one of the rifles have military-style designs with large capacity magazines included, holding at least 25 rounds. what's your reaction to this news? obviously this family is looking to capitalize on what its company has already established, which is the successful commercial success it has, and now the fame that they get from

the show. so isn't this just smart of them to partner this way? >> well, i think it might be. i think the thing that really shocks me about this, thomas, is the fact that mossberg is willing to go ahead with this business agreement and distribute these firearms in the wake of some of the really, quite frankly, heinous comments that phil robertson has made. you know, both the comments that everyone is now well aware of against the lgbt community and against african-americans, but also now we're having revelations about comments he's made about men marrying 15 and 16-year-old girls. so i think the fact that mossberg is willing to move forward with this is very revealing. and i think what it's telling us is they feel that their bottom line will not be affected by essentially moving forward, you know, with the robertson family and marketing these firearms. i think what that tells us is that the gun industry is now dealing with an ever-decreasing consumer base that's prenaum dantley made up of conservative

middle-age white males who they're trying to sell their fifth, sixth or seventh gun. the question moving forward is how long will that business model remain viable. >> as we look at that, because look at this, the duck commander company itself, it's worth a reported $400 million through the sale of duck calls, other items that they produce. we've got 11.8 million viewers tuning in for the premiere of season 4. so this family earned $200,000 per episode that season and they represent and they speak to a large swath of the country. primarily the stereotype almost that you just pointed out. but how do you try to combat that? obviously they're within their rights to go ahead and do this. this is all legal. >> well, look, i mean i think the robertson family is banking on being able to market firearms, you know, by issuing some of these very extreme political comments and hoping that it appeals to basically a swath of far right-wing

americans that they assume are their main customer base. i'm hoping that back fires. when you poll gun owners in this country, the fact is that the overwhelming majority of them are very moderate in their views. and i think many of them will not embrace the type of, you know, massage nis, racist, anti-gay comments that phil robertson is making. and my hope here is that this strategy, if it is indeed a strategy, will backfire on them. >> as we look at the tragedy of mass shootings in this country, we've got yahoo! news is going to reveal that mass shootings are becoming a lot more frequent and it found 40% of shootings take place at businesses, 29% at our schools. handguns are the most often weapon used, and that's in 59% of mass shootings. and shooters are 94% male. so when you hear numbers like that and see the stats adding up, do reports like that move the needle in the message that

you're trying to put out there and get people's attention about what it means to have a gun control and gun reform conversation in this country? >> well, i mean i think to some degree it does. we tend to focus on mass shootings, thomas, but the fact is that more than 80 americans, their lives are lost to gun violence every day in this country. you know, so many families and communities across this country are being destroyed by gun violence. so, you know, i think sadly every day more people are being pulled into this conversation because they're losing loved ones or they're being injured and their lives are being catastrophically affected. in terms of the dynamics of mass shootings, you mentioned semiautomatic firearms being used. the other very common element here obviously is high capacity ammunition magazines, and of course that ties into the "duck dynasty in the story where they have decided in addition to

traditional hunting firearms, to market firearms that accept magazines that are not needed around your house. >> or for taking down a duck. ladd, thanks for making time, i appreciate it. congress will be back in session on the hill next week with a big to do list, while the topic of extending unemployment benefits is going to be high on the list. but what will happen about it? coming up i'll talk to maryland democratic congressman chris van hollen about it. and we'll check back in on how new york city is faring after this whopper of a storm straight ahead. [ male announcer ] bob's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen.

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legislation to temporarily restore those but republicans say the three-month extension would add to the deficit is not offset by cuts elsewhere in the budget. thomas perez says historically that hasn't always been the case. >> when ronald reagan extended emergency unemployment benefits in the recession of '81, you know, the republicans in congress weren't demanding an offset. when george bush did this in 2008, that wasn't the demand. the people who are getting this money, they're not investing in some offshore bank account, they're spending it on the basic necessities of life. >> i'm joined now by congressman chris van hollen from maryland, the top democrat on the house budget committee. sir, it's great to see you. as we start out with the words of harry reid calling the house a black hole of legislation, first he's got the uphill climb of getting it passed on the senate side but do you think there's the appetite in the house to get this done? >> well, happy new year, thomas.

i hope 2014 will be a better year in congress than 2013, which was certainly in the house of representatives a black hole. look, if the senate can get this passed in the senate and harry reid has made this priority number one, that will create some momentum in the house and speaker boehner, i think, will be under more pressure to do something. however, sandy levin, congressman levin and i tried before we took a break to get the house to vote on an amendment that would have extended unemployment compensation and paid for, frankly, by reducing agriculture subsidies, overpayments, and the speaker refused to allow a vote at that time. so our hope is that a push from the senate will get things moving in the house. but the jury is still out. >> so there is some room to work out potential for the extended benefits there, but another item on the congressional agenda is the proposition of minimum wage and raising it in this country.

we have this new study from the university of massachusetts finding that if passed, the democrats' proposal would lift 4.6 million out of poverty. is there a real potential to get our current minimum wage, which across the board is $7.25, higher and closer to that $10 mark? >> well, thomas, i think if the speaker of the house will make his new year's resolution allowing democracy to work its will in the house, then we can get things like a minimum wage increase passed, because i'm confident that we have a majority of votes in the house to do it. we have virtually every democrat, if not every democrat, and i'm confident we would be able to pick up enough republicans in the house to get to the 218 majority. but the problem in 2013 was that the speaker refused to allow democracy to work its will until, until the bipartisan agreement in december. so if that's a sign of things to come, that the speaker will allow the house to actually have

votes on these issues, then we can move forward on things like the minimum wage. if he's going to revert to form, for example, that caused the government shutdown, then we're in trouble. so i think the question is, again, what's the speaker's new year's resolution. will he allow democracy to work its will in the house? if he does, we can make progress on some important issues. >> we all hope you come back refreshed and ready, because the 6th is coming quickly. happy new year, sir. thanks for joining us. still ahead, a big hearing for the family of a little girl on life support after tonsil surgery went wrong, and it could impact whether she gets to receive long-term care. i'll speak to the brother of terri schiavo. now her family is involved in jahi mcmath's case. then we'll go back to the breaking news of the day, our breaking news coverage and the aftermath of this whopper winter storm. michael nutter will join me to talk about how the city of

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i want to go back, more on the breaking news that we've been following for you. more than 100 million people, 22 different states, feeling the icy grip from this powerful winter storm that has slammed the northeast. some in massachusetts waking up to two feet of snow along with gusty winds and that brings in windchills below zero. hundreds of flights cancelled, 1600 flights cancelled and delaying with nor than 2,000 delays. new york city, 1700 schools are shut down today due to the storm. the city got 7 inches of snow, and the new mayor, bill de blasio, has a clear message for residents. >> if you do not need to travel today, please stay home. if you do have to travel, take mass transit. yes, there will be some delays, but it will be safe. and it will help us to get the city 100% back in full running order. >> all right, so the new mayor

really being put to the test, only 72 hours into the job. now, parts of pennsylvania were blanketed as well. philadelphia got several inches of snow. joining me by phone is mayor michael nutter. mayor, explain how conditions are for you down there? >> we got about 6 inches of snow overnight. it stopped sometime this morning. but we've had pretty significant winds here so we've got a lot of snow blowing around the temperatures are, unfortunately, fairly low so that limits the impact salt can have, although we have plenty of salt, about 50,000 tons. but we've got 300 plus pieces of equipment out, over 500 folks working to fight this storm, and many of our streets are passable and clear. we're just expressing, much like i heard the clip that you ran of the mayor, use caution. if you're in your car, if you're walking, take your time but we'll get through this. >> we're looking at a shot from our affiliate wcau, i believe that's the schuylkill river and some people are driving slowly

along there. i don't want to make any assumptions about what is expected for specific philadelphia weather but i know bill karins was on earlier talking about the fact there's another wintry pop that's going to come along and the temperatures are just going to continue to drop. so what's the city and your recommendation for residents and people that have to get through the weekend? >> first of all, again, use extreme caution. to some extent, you know, if you don't necessarily have to be out, then don't be out. the fewer cars and other vehicles that are out there, it helps our snow crews. the plummeting temperatures, obviously not much we can do about that. as i said, when it gets into the teens, you can put as much salt out there as you want. unfortunately, the chemistry just doesn't work for you. but, you know, we're used to fighting these storms down here. we have a plan in effect. it's fully operational. and so have patience, take your time. watch the game saturday night,

philadelphia eagles and the new orleans saints if you're in philly. go eagles. and we'll get through the weekend. >> in all fairness to saints fans, we've got to be kind to them as well. >> you have to be kind to them. i don't have to be kind. >> i'm trying to be impartial here, mayor. >> i wish my friend, mary landrieu, the best down there. >> any advice to the new mayor in new york and how he's doing so far? this is not your first time at the snow rodeo in a big city. but it is for mayor de blasio. >> that's funny. i talked to mayor de blasio this morning and i said welcome to the nfl. you know, i got sworn in on wednesday, 10 inches of snow in new york on friday. but he's got a game plan in place. we chatted briefly. it's about communication and being out there with folks, letting them know what you're doing and that you understand the challenges that you face. but mayor de blasio is all over it and i wish him well up there. look forward to working with him. i've known him for some time. so new york, great, great city.

they have had some crime reduction plans and strategies in place for a long time. we've mirrored some of those and we have a pretty decent year in 2013 ourselves. but still much more work to do. >> nothing but trial by mother nature right out of the gate for the new member of new york city but great to have you on, philadelphia's mayor, michael nutter. thank you, sir, for making time for me, i appreciate it. >> no problem, thank you. we are going to have word from the governor of massachusetts coming up within the hour, we're waiting on that to come out and talk about what massachusetts is doing. we know that it's cold and snowy in new york. and these predictions for the new york mayor, bill de blasio's progressive vision, they are heating up. these are the topics for our agenda panel today. we've got james peterson, msnbc contributor, director of africana studies, viviana hurtado and bill scher, a senior

wrier writer at campaign for america's future. bill has the upper leg because he is right in front of me. this never happens that we get him physically in the building so he's got a little advantage. jam james, i'll start with you. this snowstorm is the first big test for new york city's mayor. we saw him shoveling and then saw his son out doing a little shoveling as well so putting the kids to work. here is a clip of the mayor talking about it. take a listen. >> will we be seeing you shovel outside of gracie maximnsion as well? >> let's not get crazy here. i am keeping this house no matter what so i have to make sure it's shoveled whenever there's snow. >> some may calling shoveling progressive but the bigger question target the teeth of the mayor's agenda when it comes to education. it reads when mayor bloomberg became mayor in 2001, fewer than half of new york city's high school students graduated in four years. that figure is now 61%.

school reform in new york is still a work in progress, but mr. de blasio seems to side with those who want to scrap mr. bloomberg's efforts rather than build on them. and we did see in that inauguration speech that the new mayor committed to this progressive vision. is that a fair, i guess, a fair criticism, james, of him and also of the benchmark that he needs to live up to? >> i think that mayor de blasio has laid down the gauntlet and i think the reason why progressives and liberals are excited is because he seems committed to that vision, even through his inauguration process. you know, he has to find a way, though, to concede the fact that mayor bloomberg has done some things right, even though he wants to address education reform in a different way. i think long term what de blasio wants to do in terms of education, especially focusing on pre-k, reducing the sort of privatization and the move towards charter schools long term, that's what new york city needs in terms of educational reform. >> viviana, bill de blasio has a

long list of campaign policies to follow through on. pre-k, expanding after-school programs, affordable housing and paid employee sick leave. and of course he campaigned on stop and frisk and getting a fair police force in place in the city. what do you make of how aggressive this agenda is? >> i think it's certainly promising for the progressive agenda, but behind that progressive agenda are millions of new yorkers that need a level playing field, that really do need to live in one new york. and with new york being a real trend setter for the rest of the country, i think it's going to resonate in the rest of the country of having this level playing field, one america. just remember though, thomas, there's a big difference between campaigning and governing. and if you think about it, elections are won, i'm a firm believer, by coalitions. mayor de blasio will be very well served as he's able to build that coalition, keep that going as he governs, not just

the usual suspect union bosses and power brokers, but community members. speaking of that universal pre-k, you've got to get the families on board, the people in the community centers, the boys and girls club to teach the parents that not only is universal pre-k important and your kids will be enrolled but that you've got to read to your kids 20 minutes a day and check their homework every single night. >> so this is certainly a big social lift that he's been pushing and that's what got him into office, bill, but as we look at this first test, mother nature putting it to the new mayor. right now it's just a day-to-day approach because he's going to be graded on this and evaluated hour by hour. as we know coming from the public advocate's office where he was overseeing 20 people and now he's overseeing hundreds of thousands, this is a big test. but luckily he has holdovers from bloomberg helping see him through. >> it seems like he's touching the right notes off the bat. shoveling the snow himself is a nice touch. but it's a reminder for him that as viviana said, campaigning is different than governing. you might have a big reform

agenda, but you have to do basic mayoring when the snow comes. you can't do it all. he's got to find a way to pick his spots. he doesn't have the unilateral power to tax and spend. he has to figure out what can i achieve and what's going to look good when i'm done and how can i channel the aggressive energy that i have established to get things done. >> politicians are always shoveling but in this instance he's really shoveling snow so it's good for him. our friday agenda panel, thanks so much, james peterson, viviana hurtado and bill scher, liberal oasis right here in front of me in studio. you can find more at thomasroberts.msnbc.com. on a more serious note, the family of a little girl left on life support after tonsil surgery goes horribly wrong gets a really powerful ally. i'm going to speak to terri schiavo's brother about how he hopes to help in the case of jahi mcmath. that's next.

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in california, a magistrate will try to help the family of 13-year-old jahi mcmath and the oakland children's hospital come to an agreement about this child's care. the latest court proceedings come at a time when the family is fighting to keep their daughter alive by having her transferred to a facility in new york. although hospital doctors in oakland have declared her legally dead, jahi is being kept on a ventilator after a court order. the story has reignited the right to life debate since the hospital appears to have reneged on an agreement to perform two surgeries needed before she can be transferred to that facility in new york. joining me now is bobby schindler, the brother of the late terri schiavo and a member of the terri schiavo life and hope network. she was the face of the right to die. the family is advising the family of jahi mcmath. bobby, thank you for joining us. we know your sister was ultimately taken off life support in 2005 by her husband

and that was much to your family's objection to this. president george w. bush at the time even signed legislation to try to keep her alive. so as someone whose family has dealt with this on a similar level, what kind of counsel have you been able to provide the mcmaths? >> well, we're helping this family as best we can. we have a team put together and we're doing everything we can to get jahi out of the situation with the hospital. i've got to tell you, from what we're experiencing, this hospital is doing everything in their power to prevent this from happening, to prevent jahi from being transferred to a facility that she can be -- we believe that she can be helped. and any family that's watching this case, particularly in the oakland area, i would be very troubled by the language and the rhetoric and what this hospital is doing to this family. >> when we talk about that type of rhetoric, what concerns you the most about this particular ordeal that this family is now enduring? again, we remind everybody that this is the damage or the outlook of jahi mcmath's life

after going in for tonsil surgery, something that's normally pretty routine for young kids. >> well, there's facilities that will accept this young girl. and this hospital is preventing simple procedures to take place to be able to transfer jahi to these facilities. the family is asking the hospital to do this so this young girl can be transferred to this facility. and i don't understand why they're not allowing these procedures to take place in order to do this. jahi -- i just spoke with the father a few minutes ago. jahi is responding. she seems to be responding more each day. and she needs help. this brain death diagnosis was made very quickly, just days after this surgery took place, and we believe the brain and her condition she needs help and she needs an opportunity to be helped. and we have this help available to her and i don't understand why the hospital isn't doing everything in their power to help this young girl. >> bobby, when you say she's

responding, how did jahi's father talk about that type of physical response that you're referencing? >> she's making more and more movements. and i'm not a physician, but it seems to me that if someone is brain dead, they wouldn't be -- particularly -- particularly with the manner in which the hospital is treating her, they're not doing anything to try to help this girl recover from her brain injury, but yet she's still responding. she's making movements. and the family is encouraged by how she is continuing to respond despite the hospital's efforts not to help this young girl. >> we're going to watch and see how this all plays out. obviously it's a tragic situation all around for the mcmath family. and certainly for jahi, this little girl who's just 13 years old. bobby schindler, thanks for making time for me. i appreciate it. again, this hearing coming up for jahi mcmath is at 2:00 p.m. eastern today. we'll keep an eye on that and keep you updated on her situation as this moves forward. we're back after this.

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. so we continue to follow today's break news, this is video from early, today on massachusetts cape cod, the flooding is a concern because of the winter storm and the winds. we are expecting a news conference with the governor of massachusetts and connecticut coming up in the next hour. and we will have live reports on msnbc. it's friday, time for go and do. the spotlight on those who try to improve the lives of others. and it's a blog aiming to show kids their awkward years won't last forever. it features pictures of adults, like dr. travis stork holding snapshots from their childhood showing the advancement. joining me now is mary lee, the salt lake city web designer who posted this picture of herself as an 11-year-old with the glasses and everything. really, it's great to have you here.

it reminds me of the it gets better campaign, which helped lgbt youth who were feeling ostracized and talk about the future. what inspired the awkward years pron project? >> it started with conversation talking about the awkward past. she didn't believe me that i had awkward years and needed proof. i don't show the pictures to anybody. i needed to hold my 11-year-old self's hand through it. and that sparked the idea. >> as we think about that, we can go back to the feelings we had as kids and know what made us feel less than. but the pictures that accompany this highlight the person's brief story with the awkward years and what made them feel. are there any that stick out to

you? >> oh, yeah, so many stories i wish i could share. a friend of mine who's teacher made fun of her, she had sloel owe sis and couldn't walk right. then another girl who didn't have any friends, and what made me really feel for her, bauds i feel the same way, even though i wednesday through a terrible time, i wouldn't change anything because it shaped me to who i am today and to have compassion for other people. i love hearing stories like that. >> you make great points. we loved the story, we contributed our pictures to expose ourselves today. that's me as a 10-year-old coming back with chickenpox scars and bad hair. i was a big fan of heart to heart. this awkwardness doesn't last forever. our executive producer, no awkward years,amanda. we had such a good time. there's molly.

such a good time trying to match up with where we go today. that's the director. we've all come a long way. jenny who's pregnant, about to have a baby. but how do you want people to feel after they get involved with this? kids that get involved with this knowing that we all went through this time, those wonder years, awkward years? >> exactly. we all went through this. we had times in our lives where we didn't feel we fit in. or maybe our hair didn't look right, not many friends, it's a short time and we get through it and we are being shaped into the great we become. just hang in there. >> honestly, this was really fun for us here on our team to do this. we all go through those awkward years. we need to admit it, embrace it and help others. do you know someone with a goo

and do spirit. use the hashtag go and do. that's going to wrap things up for maine me. see you on monday. now with alex wagner is coming up. and janet is filling in. she's going to have more on the winter storm that pummelled the northeast. stick around. are you guys doin? having some fiber! with new phillips' fiber good gummies. they're fruity delicious! just two gummies have 4 grams of fiber! to help support regularity! i want some... [ woman ] hop on over! [ marge ] fiber the fun way, from phillips'. i needed a new laptop for my pre-med classes, something that runs office and has a keyboard. but i wanted a tablet for me, for stuff like twitter and xbox, so my downtime can be more like uptime. that's why i got a windows 2 in 1 which does both -- works as a laptop and a tablet. so i can manage my crazy life, and also have a life. [ beep ] gotta go.

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liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? i have a big meeting when we land, but i am so stuffed up, i can't rest. [ male announcer ] nyquil cold and flu liquid gels don't unstuff your nose. they don't? alka seltzer plus night fights your worst cold symptoms, plus has a decongestant. [ inhales deeply ] oh. what a relief it is. . millions of americans brave the snow and cold, and millions brave unemployment without federal assistance. it's friday, january 3rd, and this is now. i'm joy reed in for alex wagner. with record snow and bone chilling cold, the first major winter storm of 2013 blanketed the northeast overnight, dropping as much as two feet

north of boston. while the snow was tapering off, frigid temperatures aren't going anywhere, they're just getting worse. dangerous wind chills are knee and below zero from philadelphia up to maine, and boston schools and new york city were closed. and while bill said that roads were treacherous. >> don't be on the roads today if you can help it. if you do not need to travel today, please stay home. >> the storm created a travel night mire. jfk airport halted flights this morning, and 4,000 flights cancelled today and today. and the new york governor closed the highways with the blizzard conditions. and a cold front could bring the coldest temperatures ever reported to chicago. we'll get live reports on both