potential criminal issue in new jersey. all of that broke today. but something different on this story is going to break tomorrow. from long time new jersey reporter and now msnbc anchor steve kornacki. 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. weekends with alex witt starts now. what did he know and when did he know it? new questions today about new jersey governor, chris christie and the lane closures with the george washington bridge. amanda knox and another guilty verdict overseas. will the u.s. government send her back to italy? who might be behind a series of false alarms days before the super bowl. why would schools take away kids lunches? i will talk to a parent whose child went through that. good morning, welcome to

weekends with alex witt. here's what's happening. let's go to the new allegations against governor chris christie. the apiano tee at the center of the scandal says there's evidence showing governor christie knew about the lane closures while they were going on. katy tur has the story. >> david wildstein. >> reporter: the lawyer for david wildstein involved in the bridge lane closure skal dan disputing chris christie didn't know anything about it. >> i was blind sided. >> he said the governor not only knew about the closures, but described them as the christie administration order saying evidence tied mr. christie to having knowledge of the lane closures during the period when the lanes were closed contrary to what the governor stated publicly in a two-hour conference. >> this is a direct challenge to

the credibility of governor christie. until we see the evidence that david wildstein is talking about, it's hard to know how to evaluate it. >> reporter: on january 9th, in that press conference, christie denied knowing about and okaying a political vendetta. >> i am humiliated by the fact that i did not know this and i was deceived. it's an awful way to feel. >> reporter: wildstein already resigned when he appeared at a hearing before the new jersey assembly, but wouldn't answer questions. >> on the advice of my counsel, i assert my right to remain silent. >> reporter: what did the governor know and when did he know it. an e-mail to wildstein saying "time for traffic problems in ft. lee." wildstein replied, "got it." new jersey issued 20 subpoenas

seeking documents from current and former t eer aides and his team. >> i don't know what documents he's referring to. we subpoenaed documents from him. i'm frustrated as committee chair that we asked for documents from him through a valid subpoena. he provided us over 900 pages. >> joining me now with more is heather. thank you very much. let's get to a statement released by the christie administration. here is how it reads. mr. wildstein's lawyer confirms what he said. no prior knowledge of the lane closures before they happened. whatever the motivations for closing them to begin with. as the governor said in a press conference, he first learned lanes were closed when reported by the press and had no

notification it was anything other than a traffic study. it's different than what mr. wildstein's lawyers are claiming, right? >> it's very carefully worded. they are saying he first learned about it in press accounts. which account it is, we are wondering about that. there was the original traffic call about this lane closures on friday, september 13th. then there was the story we had on october 1st. the governor mentioned both stories in terms of when he learned about it. we are trying to gain clarity about which it is. again, it brings questions about when did they learn. >> in these two press conferences, the governor said he knew nothing until after. the word nothing and the word after. >> right. here in this letter from david wildstein's lawyer, he has indication from his client that the governor knew during. this is directly a contradiction to what the governor said and

what the governor's staff has said. it's really changed the equation. he is really sort of a low period for this investigation. he really threw a bombshell. >> i was reading through wildstein's lawyer's letter here. it's kind of vague, don't you think? he doesn't get to that until the middle or the end of the letter. >> it's the second page, lower down. the bulk of the letter is him asking for port authority to recoop his fees. it's asking republicans and democrats to question the letter to a degree. he has an agenda. he's looking for money for the legal costs, which they have denied him and he sneaks this paragraph in here. >> in the paragraph, he says we have evidence, but it's not clear what it is. >> doesn't say it. it's a tease. again, he's asking prosecutors all along for immunity. this, again, would point to the fact he wants immunity and he's

putting out an offering, this is something his client could deliver if he's not charged. >> the one leading the investigation, who made an interesting point there, why was this evidence not turned over after having issued the subpoenas for the evidence? >> the evidence david wildstein delivered were carefully crafted. there were a lot of redaxs in there. he's pointing to a particular path. what did he leave out? lawyers are disputing ing redactions. >> wildstein's lawyer says he has a story to tell. is this that story? >> one would think. again, when i interviewed him earlier in the month, he did not say what it was. he said it would be in the public's interest to put the story out. again, this is very unusual. it's common for lawyers to ask for immunity, but they usually do it behind closed doors.

he's taken a very aggressive and particular approach to representing his client. that's what he's looking for, immunity to tell the story. >> heather, what you want to bet you are on next weekend again. thank you so much. appreciate it. let's go from there to the weather. residents in chicago are bracing for more snow. up to ten inches expected by tonight. we are seeing new pictures of the snow left behind by a storm in, get this, hawaii. yeah, this is the summit of the volcano. a new york hiker became stranded near the summit during the storm. he was eventually rescued. in the new york area, it's practically balmy for the super bowl. dylan is here with the forecast. good morning, dylan. >> good morning, alex. actually mild up and down the east coast as the northeast prepares for the super bowl. 35 in boston. 36 in new york city. 31 in washington, d.c. much different story through

minneapolis and chicago where we are much colder, 23 in chicago with heavy snow south of city center chicago and into the metro areas. we are seeing freezing rain through parts of central illinois and missouri. this is actually going to accumulate quite a bit. winds will be gusty, too. we'll see blowing snow. visibility reduced. you can see in the darker shades of blue, south of chicago, the heavier snow. that is going to stay falling throughout most of the day today into tonight. we'll see six to 12 inches in pink, just south of the city itself. in and around chicago, it extends to detroit and southern michigan and indiana. this is going to be a big event, especially for northern areas. the cold front is actually going to slide through on the east coast. it's mostly rain as warm air surges in ahead of it. by game time tomorrow, 42 degrees. still a spotty shower or two. windchills 30 or 35. even that feels nice considering

how cold it's been lately. we top out in the mid-40s. 45 in washington, d.c. 51 in atlanta. getting rid of the snow that's left over down there. 62 in atlanta tomorrow. we drop to 14 in chicago. behind the cold front, a high around 50 in new york city. dallas could see a wintry mix especially moving into parts of arkansas as we go into monday with temperatures hovering in the 30s. alex? >> thanks so much. california's crippling drought has some 25 million people bracing for the worst this morning. water cutbacks. come spring, they will no longer be sending water to local agencies. around 1 million acres of farmland will be affected by the cuts. this unprecedented move in california comes after residents were told to reduce their water usage by at least 20%. the cdc has confirmed know

noro virus was to blame for the sickness on the cruises. they may never be able to identify the source. nasa just released incredible video of a partial solar eclipse that took place on thursday for two and a half hours. it's the longest recording of the lunar transit, which is not visible from the earth. this was captured by nasa's solar dynamics conservatory. my conversation with rachel maddow in the meeting of the president's state of the union address. the top five company that is will spend the most on super bowl ads. itis not what you would expect. then we gave each person a ribbon to show how many years that amount might last. i was trying to, like, pull it a little further. [ woman ] got me to 70 years old. i'm going to have to rethink this thing. it's hard to imagine how much we'll need for a retirement that could last 30 years or more. so maybe we need to approach things differently,

if we want to be ready for a longer retirement. ♪ if you have a business idea, we have a personalized legal solution that's right for you. with easy step-by-step guidance, we're here to help you turn your dream into a reality. start your business today with legalzoom. the recent increase in cafeteria prices is not cool. when you vote for flo, we'll have discounts. ice-cream discounts. multi-cookie discounts. pizza loyalty discounts! [ kids chanting "flo!" ] i also have some great ideas on car insurance. [ silence ] finding you discounts since back in the day. call or click today. i like her. 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.

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unexpected drama on the run up to the super bowl with several false security alarms.

meanwhile, 700 state troopers, several thousand uniformed police, snipers, bomb sniffing dogs are all part of the security in new york and nnlg on the water, air and ground. including the super bowl boulevard that runs through the heart of manhattan. good morning to you, ron. what about the false alarms and what is the investigation on that. >> reporter: hey, there, alex, good morning to you. the authorities said there was a low risk associated with the threats. we had six packages/letters sent to addresses in new jersey, one in manhattan that was addressed to the office or former mayor juliany. the material tested was cornstarch. someone thought it would be a good idea to get on the news and they did. the threat level was low in the end. here in times square, they rebranded 13 blocks as super bowl boulevard. it's pretty sleepy right now.

i thought we were going break the news that new york went to sleep last night. a lot of people are going to be down here. they are allowing people to walk around and enjoy what is going on here. jim brown is expected to be here signing autographs. i'm hoping to get in that line and former players and current players here. it's a great event. tens of thousands of people excited and part of this game tomorrow. the security is very present. police are alawing people to mill about as they can and will. they say there is any sort of real threat to this area, they will step up the screening, allowing people to bring in bags and that sort of thing. a good time right now. opens at 12:00 noon eastern. we are waiting for folks to get out here. >> i was walking yesterday, nobody was around. i wanted to go on the slide behind you, nobody was there at 5:00 in the morning. i know you feel safe, there's a

huge security presence. there's no specific threats to the city, correct? >> reporter: correct. no threat to the city or metlife stadium. again, a lot of packages sent to new jersey. some of the hotels in the area near metlife stadium. authorities were quick to say this was a low threat when they saw the packages and did a quick assessment of what was in the packages. they want everyone to come out and enjoy the week in new jersey where the game is going to be played tomorrow night. >> get your autograph, that would be great. thank you. >> reporter: thank you. president obama is outlining plans in his year of action highlighting it to four states this week and stressing the need for new jobs and job training opportunities. >> these ideas will strengthen the middle class and help more work their way into the middle class. some require congress. wherever i can take steps to

expand opportunity on my own, i will. i'm going to ask business leaders, education leaders to partner with us to advance these goals. >> republicans are focusing their weekly address on creating new jobs. they have identified four areas that president obama outlined in the state of the union address. they include pediatric research, paid time off for workers, more job training and all of the above energy policy, including pipelines for increased natural gas production. as they push for the all of the above policy, an oil pipeline cleared a hurdle. they say it's no major environmental objections to completing a pipeline that runs from canada to nebraska that would connection to other pipelines carrying crude oil every day to refineries in texas. joining me now is lynne sweet. good morning. >> good morning, alex.

>> now that we have the report, how quickly do you think the obama administration is going to make a decision on this? are they in a hurry? >> no. it's difficult. this is the major concern of canada. we think of canada as our friendly neighbor to the north and it's great relations. this has been a major, major push by the canadian government. one of the problems for president obama on this one, alex, is that it divides the democratic family. the democratic environmentisalis have a lot against it. the house of labor is for it, for the ofious reason, it's a lot of jobs. these are two base groups in the democratic family. obama is going to have a hard time making both of them happy, probably not possible. >> should the president approve this, what are some of the pros for doing so? >> well, you could say that the development of these fuel sources in canada were going to

happen anyway, with or without the pipeline so the environmental consequence is going to be there no matter what and you might as well get the benefit economic and fuel wise in the united states. now the con is that the government and our consumer habits have been weaning us off fossil fuel. we are fracking, which is a whole other topic, we have other fuel sources being developed in the united states. there's giant wind and solar developments in the pipeline. there's a concern if the u.s. is addicted to oil, we have been trying to wean ourselves if we get another source of oil to keep the price down, it might make it harder to progress to other sources. >> yeah. all right, let's take a look back at the state of the union. it's been four days. what is going to get accomplished because of the 2014 midterms? >> i think the bite sized

chunks, common ground and the few executive actions the president was talking about in his weekly address. i think job skills, that's something that doesn't have a lot of ideological problem with it, both sides could find common ground. alex, i don't see major initiatives coming through. the republicans, a few days ago came out with their standards or principals of how they want to approach immigration. it's progress, something on the table. it gives you something to work with. executive actions can only go so far. sometimes they can have a lot of impact, for example, abraham lincolns proclamation was an executive order. >> good reminder, you are right. i want to get your reaction in the development to the chris christie situation. david wildstein oversaw the lane closures on the george washington bridge. he says there's evidence that

contradicts what the governor said about the closures. the governor's office denied the claims and we read it here on msnbc. do you think there's going to be a smoking gun that emerges? >> i don't know that, but i know that there's still smoke over or a cloud over christie because i think there's a sense people were giving him the benefit of the doubt. i said, others have said, well, he could maybe weather this if there's no sign he knew about it, had information, was in on it. if it didn't get to him. well, this is the first suggestion that he was informed or somehow knew. this is what makes this development far more significant than some of the others. this comes at a time where he does have more of a national role as head of the republican governor's association. >> okay, lynne sweet, always good to talk to you. >> thank you. school lunches thrown out

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isn't it beautiful? your sweet peppers aren't next to your hot peppers. [ gasps ] [ sarah ] that's my tide. what's yours? super big spenders. joining me now is regina lewis, good morning to you. bye bye must mean sfending, right? >> yeah. it's been up. is it sustainable? unless we have job growth and wage growth, very importantly, it's a zero sum gain. if you look at 2009, people pulled back on spending and were saving more. two years later, 2011-2012, they bought automobiles. you can't do both. unless you have a job or are getting a raise, it's difficult to make month to month ends meet and save for bigger ticket items like automobiles, dental work,

college. literally, that's where the buck stops. >> let's go to clip art here and the new survey on coupons. what are we learning? >> consumer behavior is difficult to change, especially in the grocery category, we default to what we know. you do this, go to the grocery store because you know where stuff is. once you are there, you buy generic products or the brands the store is offering. maybe you are part of their loyalty program where you get cash off or gas points. what's happened is manufacturers like the procter & gambles of the world trying to sample things and get you to buy their products say you still go to the newspaper. when you thought it was dead, 78% of people are clipping coupons from newspapers. online, so much money, so much effort put into having that take off. unless it's a specific store, it doesn't work. you are used to doing what you have done for years.

it's kind of interesting to see this. that's why you see snack products high on the list. itis sampling, the procter & gambles of the world. >> what about the super big spenders, i'm assuming for the super bowl tomorrow? >> it is. what's interest is the big guns spend the most money. busch is the biggest of all. they have five events, advertising events per game, far and away bigger than number two, pepsi. what's interesting here is only 1-5 ads sell a specific product. it's brand advertising. no wonder because the 30-second advertising rate is high. pretty high threshold. >> pretty high, for sure. the puppy love commercial for budweiser. >> you like it? >> the best.

it's so cute. you have to look at it, after the show. thanks, appreciate it. there's puppy love there. >> jimmy fallon weighs in on the tough job tomorrow for the umpires or super bowl. >> the even referees calling the game combined 110 years of experience in the league. that's right. 110 years of experience, all leading up to that one special day where 80,000 fans yell, "you suck"! thank you very much. real difficult. pretty obvious to me. i'm going to have to say verizon. verizon. the choice is obvious. verizon is america's largest and most reliable 4g lte network, with data plans starting as low as $45 monthly access including unlimited talk and text. plus free world messaging unlimited for three months. that's powerful. verizon. the samsung galaxy note 3 in limited edition rose-gold just $149.99. i took medicine but i still have symptoms. [ sneeze ]

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delicious, but say i press a few out flat, add some beef, sloppy joe sauce and cheese, fold it all up and boom! delicious unsloppy joes perfect for a school night. pillsbury grands biscuits. make dinner pop. welcome back to weekends with alex witt. it's 31 minutes past the hour. time for the headlines. new support for the antigovernment protesters in ewe rain. the u.s. and europeans support the protests. a 16-year-old girl who nearly died in a sky diving accident fell 3500 feet when her

parachute failed to open. justin bieber was freed. sources say the jet was being searched for drugs, but nothing was found. >> two men toppling sand formations have been charged with felony charges of criminal mischief. they could be charged with five years in jail, if convicted. a landslide in northern italy. a boulder wiped out a barn and another feet from a farmhouse. the picture shows the path carved out by the rolling boulders. no reports of injuries. those are the fast five headlines. a twist this morning involving governor chris christie and the george washington bridge scandal. kelly, good morning to you. what is the new development. >> this involves a key figure in the bridge traffic scandal. this was supposed to be a big weekend for chris christie, his state is hosting the super bowl with not only the game, but all the festivities around.

the governor has been out and about. now, there's a figure coming forward through his lawyer making new allegations about what might have been known by the governor related to the bridge traffic scandal. amid controversy, governor chris christie hit the party scene friday night and posted this photo of himself off stage at a birthday bash for radio host howard stern. this former associate of the governor is dangling new allegations. former port authority official, david wildstein. he carried out the lane closures last fall and took the fifth before lawmakers in january. >> i assert my right to remain silent. >> evidence exists tieing mr. christie to having knowledge of the lane closures during the period of when they were closed, contrary to what the governor said publicly. he does not say wildstein

possesses evidence. governor christie maintains this position. >> i had no knowledge of this, the planning, the execution or anything about it. i first found out about it after it was over. >> reporter: christie's office said it confirmed he had no prior knowledge of the lane closures before they happened. the wildstein letter also goes in christie's personal credibility. mr. wildstein contests the accuracy of statements the governor made about him and can prove the inaccuracy of some. the main focus of the three-page letter argues his former employer, the port authority should pay all his legal fees. >> he's making a bid for immunity. he's saying i got a story to tell, a story to implicate governor christie if you give me immunity from prosecution. >> if you look at the context, it's important.

the port authority was david wildstein's lawyer. it is paying for legal fees for other people subpoenaed. it rejected wildstein's request to pay his. he did resign in december. this letter is about trying to compel them to reverse that decision. it's almost incidental in the letter, alex, the claims about what the governor may have known. what makes it hard to evaluate is we don't know what the evidence is, is it something wildstein knows himself or the lawyer making claims on other things they may be aware of. we don't know enough yet. wildstein is so critical because the e-mail that is blew this whole thing open last month, they were from wildstein last month. he produced them to a committee before he took the fifth. he gave us with first clues that broke open the story and maybe another clue today. alex? >> it's interesting where this information is placed, it's the bottom third of the letter. we are reading through going okay, okay, oh, there it is.

>> it's interesting where he talks about the governor said things about wildstein himself and he can disprove some of them. how well did they know each other or not, had they been in touch. it's tantalizing. the governor's office says it doesn't change anything, yet. we have to see if other shoes drop. >> we'll see. thank you for your help, collie o'donnell. my conversation with rachel maddow. we spoke in her office the morning after the president's state of the union speech. i asked about the tribute to the army sergeant corey after being wouned in afghanistan on his tenth deployment. >> the thing that made it so powerful is how moved everybody was by it. we have this weird dichotomy in our country. the 13th year of war, the longest war in american history.

most of the war, we fought it simultaneously. less than 1% of the population fought it. it's not a news story. we never debate it other than when they start and when they might end. there's been an immense sacrifice by such a small number of people and i think when you saw 1:44 of bipartisan emotional standing ovation for that staff sergeant last night -- you saw a little bit of what is really real, which is we, the american people and our political leaders really do care. we have an emotion about it and our disconnect from that sacrifice isn't right, doesn't feel right about us. >> don't you think it also highlighted this sort of permanent war footing we are on right now? clearly, it's something the president has been wanting to get away from, but it's taking a long time. >> he put that -- he said that

explicitly in the speech. he said i will not hesitate to use force, but i will not put our men and women in open ended conflicts. we will end the war in afghanistan and we will get off a permanent war footing and moved on to issues about iran and came back to the staff sergeant. you are right. that idea of a permanent war footing, his tenth deployment, that's the human cost of this policy matter he's discussing. the drone strike issue is a way to keep us on permanent footing. he's talking about getting us off a permanent war footing. part of the reason we have been able to do that is because we don't feel the ways we are at war. the president proposed this year that drone strikes be moveed from the cia who, by definition, is operating them oz covert action and they are not public

policymakers have the option to lie about them. he proposed moving them from the cia to the military. at least there's oversight and accountability for what they do. congress tried to stop that ship. they would rather keep the drone strikes covert and secret than put them under the military where we have some understanding and oversight. >> how do you define the obama doctrine? >> he did it explicitly last night. if you send me something to screw up the chance for a diplomatic action with iran, i will veto it. i will be strong in keeping us from a military solution is the only way out. it's a hard thing. it's been hard for presidents to define peace and acts toward peace and acts toward diplomatic solutions as strong, presidential actions. it's easy to look like a tough guy when you order in bombers. we came to a diplomatic

arrangement with syria to get rid of the stockpiles of chemical weapons in the world. the president seemed to be on the preface of launching missile strikes into syria. he made the decision after threatening acts of war against that country, that he would take it to congress and then congress, which had been beating their chests, right, and saying oh, you are such a wuss, you crossed a line. once congress got the chance to decide whether they wanted to pass the use of force, authorization to use force in syria, we ended up not using force against syria. >> today at noon, we talk about income and equality, the growing divide between the haves and have notes. rachel shows how she deals with stress writing madly in the minutes leading up to the

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amanda knox is facing the prospect of being sent back to an italian prison for decades after being found guilty for the murder of her roommate. pete? >> if the italian government sought to have amanda knox sent back for murder charges, that would evoke the extradition process. a request goes to the state department on whether it fits it treaty between the u.s. and italy and whether it's in america's foreign policy interests to see it through. if so, it is sent on to a federal prosecutor in seattle where she lives. she could be arrested and brought before a federal judge who could determine if it's in order and there's reason to think she committed a crime. the hearing would be limited. it would not be a minitrial.

if a judge rules she could be extradited, it goes to the secretary of state, who makes the final decision weighing the facts and law and the best foreign policy interests of the u.s. >> thank you for that. meantime, in italy, a day after being found guilty, her ex-boyfriend is speaking out. >> i was a completely free man and i just planned to do education of freeing the unguilty verdict. i was expecting freedom completely and i was programming to do a nice trip. >> we are in italy. chapman, a good morning to you. you spoke with rafael. i'm curious how he came across to you. is he nervous? does he seem terribly upset by the developments? >> reporter: well, alex, in his

voice, he was really down. he sounded like a very tired young man. you know, to hear that you are free and then two years later, be told you could potentially be going back to prison for a sentence of 25 years, it is very difficult. like i said, he seemed very tired and stressed out over all this. however, he's confident that he can fight this on in the courts and hopefully get an appeal to try to gain his freedom back. >> yeah. >> yesterday, he was picked up by italian police on the border with austria. he was staying at a hotel. they took him to a police station to take away his passport and other travel documents so he could not travel outside italy. this was ruled by the judge the night before. he had proven he had means to travel. he traveled as a free man and wanted to impose the

restrictions on him so he didn't try to flee justice. alex? >> okay, let's get to amanda knox and her reaction yesterday. let's roll that. >> this really has hit me like a train. i did not expect this to happen. i really expected so much better from the italian justice system. i will never go willing back to the place where i -- i'm going to fight this until the very end. >> do you think italy will want to get her back? do you get any sense now, a day after, of where they are going with this? >> reporter: well, they still need to wait for the 90 day period for the judge to deposit his motivation for coming to this verdict, then that will go to the supreme court where they will either confirm it or accept an appeal for her and rafael. it's a step away at this point.

however, they have said that they would like to extradite her and the kercher family said they hope italy would ask to extradite her and bring her back to italy to serve the crime for the crime she committed. >> it's been so sensational. is it still t media coverage of that story? >> it is. it's in a different city. being in florence for the appeal, it's not like being where the crime occurred. it's a smaller town. more people interested in the case, however, the courtroom here was filled with the public and with press. as the verdict was read, there were actually riot police in the back of the courtroom if anything got out of hand or people to be unhappy with whatever way the judge and jury went with the verdict. it is still popular. it's big on the news. it's also across the papers,

still. >> chapman bell in florence. thank you. cafeteria workers threw out the lunches of several children because of money. the mother of one of those children joins me next. olay presents the new regenerist luminous collection. renews surface cells to even skin tone. in just two weeks, see pearlescent, luminous skin. new regenerist luminous. from olay. yeah... try new alka seltzer fruit chews. they work fast on heartburn and taste awesome. these are good. told ya! i'm feeling better already. [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer fruits chews. enjoy the relief! this is the creamy chicken corn chowder. i mean, look at it. so indulgent. did i tell you i am on the... [ both ] chicken pot pie diet! me too! [ male announcer ] so indulgent, you'll never believe they're light. 100-calorie progresso light soups.

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you can't get lunch. >> there were lots of tears and it was pretty upsetting. >> the kids were given milk and fruit. joining me now, lisa shanker and sarah turley. sarah's 8-year-old third grade daughter, kate, is one of the

students who had her lunch taken from her. what happened to kate at the cafeteria that day? >> it started out fairly typical. she went through the line with her friends and her class, got up to the register with the lunch lady who has been very kind to my kids in general. the woman informed her that the balance was negative and that she could not eat. she then had to put her tray to the side and it was taken and thrown in the trash in front of her. >> lisa, how can something like this happen? what in the world is the school saying about this? >> the district has since apologized and said that this should never have happened. the meals should not have been taken out of the children's hands and thrown away. though it is standard when children are behind on their balances to instead of giving them a full lunch, give them milk and a piece of fruit.

>> the district has explained we should say what they say happen. here is what they have issued in part, it says, quote, we understand the feelings of upset parents and students who say this was an embarrassing and humiliating situation. we can apologize and commit to working with children to rectify the situation and to ensure students are never treated in this man ter again. sarah, how do you respond to that? >> i have to be really honest. we are how many days past this event happening. we still have not had an apology. the district, if you notice, the way that the language has gone, this has been a nonapology in my view. it has been -- it's unfortunate that children were humiliated. that was not our intention. to me, what we should teach kids is when you the hurt somebody, whether it is intentional or not, you apologize.

there has been no contact from the district to the kids. >> i'm a mom. i have a couple of kids. were my kids have gone through the cafeteria and had their lunches taken away when they are hungry and thrown out and wasted in front of them, come on. lisa, to that point, just below the district's page, face back page, there is also a post about fighting child hunter. i'm looking athe this right now. that was posted on january 29th. on super bowl of caring. how do you respond to that? >> that's something other people have pointed out as well to me. >> okay. the school says nothing about that. there seems to be sort of a disconnect, wouldn't you say? >> yeah, i think it is one of the things that they are having to deal with as part of the fallout from all of this on the comments on their facebook page and the many calls i know they are getting. >> so, sarah, what do you say to kate when she heads back to school? does kate say, mom, can you just

pack my lunch, i don't want to go to the cafeteria? >> kate is absolutely mortified. i have to be honest. for an eight-year-old to feel responsible, that is the harm in this. as a parent, i have a responsibility. salt lake city school district, take note. the first thing we did, both my husband and myself, was look my daughter in the eye and apologize as her parents to her but i've got to be really honest. when i asked her -- she just wishes this whole thing would just go away. she has seen her lunch lady no longer be there. she is sad. she is embarrassed but i just said, you know, what do you make about all this? she just said, you know, mom, this is about not getting food and this is about being kind of sad. >> kate is well aware, she is

not the only one that had this happen to her. i am sure there is some comfort there. sarah, lisa, thank you so much. best of luck getting through this. that's a wrap of this hour of "week ends with alex witt." straight ahead, we have "up" with steve kornacki. we have more on the chris christii scandal. and more on where the new jersey sandy funds are going. then we gave each person a ribbon to show how many years that amount might last. i was trying to, like, pull it a little further. [ woman ] got me to 70 years old. i'm going to have to rethink this thing. it's hard to imagine how much we'll need for a retirement that could last 30 years or more. so maybe we need to approach things differently, if we want to be ready for a longer retirement. ♪

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i had to quit smoking to keep up with this guy. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much... i told her it was homemade. everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. is it sandy money or a slush fund? you know the headlines by now. there were some major developments late yesterday afternoon in the chris christie george washington bridge scandal. the news that the lawyer for bill stepien, his former campaign manager, he said his client would be invoking the fifth amendment fighting a