closed doors with republican and conservative leaders in california right now. in that state taking part in several events today including a big speech tonight at the reagan library. be ever since last week's key gop debate in florida, a growing number of republicans have been urging christie to run for president. moments ago the fox news political unit learning the new jersey governor will not run. campaign carl cameron live with the breaking news now. carl? >> reporter: well, the new jersey governor's been saying for so many months that he wouldn't get in, and there has just been a steady barrage like waves crashing on a new jersey shore trying to drag him back into the race. and once again chris christie has begun telling associates, insiders, the very people who are trying to recruit him that he will not be persuaded. at one point he was driven to say, what do i gotta do, kill myself to show you i don't want to do this?

chris christie has been under immense pressure. the dissatisfaction amongst republicans with the debate performance by rick perry, as you mentioned, megyn, an ongoing sense of distrust that many conservatives have for mitt romney who's had a record of changing positions is only part of why so many republicans and conservatives are looking for chris christie. the accomplishments he's had, the way he's taken on unions, tried to balance the budget and his common sense, practical approach and plain spoken candor, frankly, made many believe he would be best suited to takon president obama and really deal with the nation's fiscal problems, the looming debt and deficit, the ongoing gridlock in washington, someone who had the guts to not take of political correctness but actually call things as he saw them. all of those pluses on the christie ledger were things that donors, strategists, field people appeal to every level. in the big states like florida and california, all of them brought out republican poobahs

from the woodwork to try to get chris christie into the race. he has now begun saying yet again, i just won't do it. so for all those republicans who were hoping that the new jersey governor would leap in at the last minute and perhaps be the new standard bearer and champion of the gop's cause, it's not going to be chris christie. a tough decision, one that he had constantly tried to push back and was repeatedly required to listen to attempts to recruit him. in every case, we're told, he was polite, he listened corning y'allly, he heard the advocacy, and in the end he's sticking with his original statement, he is not going to seek the presidency. and to be perfectly frank, megyn, it's so late in the game. the trials and tribulations that rick perry has experienced after just six weeks of getting into the field may well have been part of what chris christie recognized. it's very difficult to join an active campaign even with all the plaudits he's been receiving. chris christie out of the race. megyn: let me ask you before i

let you go because he's been denying it, and yet the reports have continued to bubble up including just yesterday the former new jersey governor coming out saying he's seriously considering it, how sure are we about this report today that he has officially made the decision now once and for all he's out? >> reporter: well, people who have been engaged in the attempts to recruit chris christie are now recognizing and in some cases sharing the idea that they will not prevail, that he's not going to change his mind. and realistically it's important to understand that there are an awful lot of republicans who are unsatisfied with the existing field, and they're hoping existence hope that christie might change his mind. it's not just an expression of their support for the new jersey governor, but also of their lack of satisfaction, their lack of confidence and enthusiasm in the rest of the field. so anything can perhaps happen, but when a candidate has been asked or a potential candidate has been asked as many times as chris christie has, a man who's known for his plain-spoken

responses to questions, sooner or later republicans are going to have to take no for an answer, and now it appears he's going to insist on it. megyn: carl, another question for you. any likely blowback to christie for this decision in the next go round? so if he doesn't want to run in 2012 despite the enormous pressure that was put on him by some heavyweights in the gop but decides to go at it four years from now, might there be, you know, some, some residual resentment for him not doing it now? >> reporter: well, i mean, of course anything's possible on that score as well, but when you have somebody like chris christie and the future vice presidential list topper, marco rubio, saying early on they're not sure they want to be picked for number two, they're not sure they want to run for number one, we all take that with a grain of salt because that's what candidates do when they're trying to build hype about their candidacies. it's different when there have been these pilgrimages to

trenton trying to get him into the race, and none of them have been successful. he understands that people are looking for another candidate. so in all likelihood four years from now, eight years from now if the time turns and it won't be christie's turn next time, it'll be because of the politics of that moment. the republican field as it stands without christie is going to change whether it's the addition of candidates or the elimination of some who drop out because of poor performances. each of those two events, the addition of a new one or the subtraction of a candidate, it changes the existing field. they adjust to win over the supporters of people who drop out and/or to compete against those who get in. megyn: well, i want to ask you about that. historically, because, you know, you've covered so many of these presidential campaigns. what happens now? paul ryan has said he's out, chris christie has said he's out, sarah palin hasn't said officially one way or the other, but in the polls she is way down

at the bottom. so now what happens with the gop field? with the big money donors who have been sitting on the sidelines waiting to see what the final field is going to be, do they get behind a more moderate candidate like mitt romney after what we've seen with the perry debate performances? do they say perry's the closest thing we have towards a conservative that's going to win or could win? what happens? how does it play out? is. >> reporter: well, in terms of the big money, we've been chasing the fund raising story because we're coming to the close of the third quarter, and a big measure of the confidence that donors have in candidates. and to the extent that there are some republicans who have kept their wallets and checkbooks closed, that's not -- christie's failure to enter the race will not change that. many, many big donors are keeping their money back, they want to see how the race plays out. there is some concern that perry hasn't lived up to his hype, there's some very real and lasting concern that mitt romney isn't a reliable conservative given his past record. and the big money, the really powerful, influential donors of

the gop in many cases are holding it back to see how the existing field evolves. not just in terms of who might join it, but how the candidates themselves might correct some of their flaws. there is no denying that the appeal of. chris christie or other new candidates is an expression of the displeasure of the existing field. if they can correct some of their weaknesses and turn them into strength, the wallets will open. megyn: yeah. and the displeasure they have with the existing field is nothing compared to the displeasure they have with the opposite party. so we'll see what happens -- >> reporter: that's the unififying, galvanizing war cry. on that there's no dispute, and that has energized the republican debate -- if not in all cases, the candidates themselves. megyn: yeah. once it is down to, you know, barack obama versus somebody from the gop side, we'll see what happens. carl cameron, thank you, sir. >> reporter: thanks, megyn. megyn: coming up, i will be speaking with michael reagan who will be meeting with governor christie within hours. we will ask him about the news

breaking about the new jersey governor. again, campaign carl cameron reporting governor christie is, as he has said repeatedly, not joining this presidential race. also in this washington today, new privacy concerns over a white house plan to gather up your medical records. that's exactly the proposal by the secretary of health and human services, kathleen sebelius. forcing insurance companies to collect private medical records and send them to washington. molly henneberg live in washington with the latest on this controversial story. molly? >> reporter: hi, megyn. this proposed rule relates to the health care act is part of the overall effort by the government to manage prices and health care options in the insurance exchange that the law seeks to set up. so the government, health and human services department, says it will need raw data from health insurance companies to see what an individual's health risk score is, what coverage plan he or she is under and state averages on costs.

hhs says either all of this information can be sent right to the federal government or to the state government, or health insurance companies can do the calculations and then pass along the information. and that alarms kansas republican congressman tim huelskamp who wrote an op-ed in the washington examiner last week saying, quote, what happens to the federal government if it loses a laptop full of patient data or business information? what recourse do individual citizens have against an inept bureaucrat who leaves the computer unlocked? imagine a wikileaks-sized disclosure of americans' health histories. in the proposed rule, health and human services -- led by secretary kathleen sebelius -- says it supports the option of turning over the health information to the states and goes on to say, quote, we recognize this approach may raise concerns related to consumer privacy and standards of mission formats.

>> reporter: congressman huelskamp, though, isn't convinced. he says whatever option is chosen, government bureaucrats will have access to the histories of every american including, quote, you, megyn. megyn: i feel so exposed. [laughter] >> reporter: and me too. all of us. megyn: those are private. i don't want uncle sam looking at those. molly, thank you. we're going to have much more on that at 2:30. i mean, think about it. things leak, people have political motivations. remember what happened to joe the plumber? and so there's a real question about how much access you want the feds having to your medical records. full fair and balanced debate coming up, 2:30. meantime, new fallout from a key moment in last thursday's debate as the ladies of "the view" go after the political panelists from fox news. >> what did you think of the booing that went on the other day about the gay soldier?

>> you know, i -- >> did you have a response to it? is. >> i did have a visceral response. >> can and no one spoke, that entire panel, not one person said anything. be. megyn: oh, joy. oh, joy. there'll be a response to joy behar just ahead and the rest of the story that, shockingly, the ladies of "the view" did not show you. also, chris christie deciding not to run for president. michael reagan react toss the breaking news and what it will mean for the party. first, however, listen to governor kris tee giving interesting advice to one of his youngest constituents regarding running for office. >> my name is zack, i'm from springfield, and i'm in sixth grade, and i'm thinking of running for student council of the school. [laughter] >> first thing is, make sure that you get a bunch of friends who think you'd be the best person for sixth grade to go out

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megyn: fox news alert, big news for the gop and its drive to win back the white house. after 48 hours at least of new speculation that new jersey governor chris christie may be pressured to join the gop race for the white house, today the fox news political team now confirming moments ago that governor christie has decided not to run for president. this is breaking news, folks. the new jersey governor is out of this race officially. michael reagan, chairman of the reagan group and political consultant, and my guest now. you are having lunch with the governor in just a few hours. does this surprise you? >> no, it really doesn't surprise me when you look at the time of year it is, it's almost october, might as well be october. you'd have to raise $50-$60 million by the end of the year to really be a serious contender in this race, you'd have to put

the ground team together in every state that has a primary or caucus to be ready, and i think he looks at what's going on with governor perry. you can't just jump into a race and everything's wonderful for you. you're going to start being attacked. and and i think right now he has to prove he can get reelected in new jersey. he gets reelected in new jersey and the republicans don't win in 2012, he's the heads-on favorite in 2016. megyn: but could he not have done that because organizing in all these states, getting the ground game going, it requires a lot of money. an able-bodied political types who know how to do it. given the reports we're hearing about how many high-powered republican donors were saying to him, please, do it, we'll make it happen, we'll get behind you, it sunlights that perhaps -- suggests that perhaps there really was something else behind his reasoning. a thought, perhaps, for his family, a thought that he himself does not think that he is ready to become president, something he has said on the record before. what do you make of it?

>> no, i think you might be right. not ready for prime time at this point. right now, again, it's all about new jersey. he needs to get the job done there. but i know all these people going to him, they've gone to a lot of people, try and get into the race because people don't seem to be happy with the group that is there at this point. i think that's partially because of the group at this point. you've got perry and you've got romney. you know, i think people are tired of hearing what's on page 177 of their books. they want to know what their vision is for america, and they want to see the infighting really stop within this party. they're looking for leadership at this point, somebody to step up and lead this party. and that's why you see people like herman cain with his 9-9-9 plan, you see newt gingrich coming back up in the polls, what have you, because they're actually coming through with the message, and neither mitt romney or governor perry at this point have a clear message unless it's against each other which means

they've thrown the 11th commandment under the bus. megyn: let me ask you about the reports on governor christie because new york magazine had an interesting piece titled five things conservative voters would hate about chris christie. and number one on the list is illegal immigration. they say, they go after chris christie's policies with respect to illegal immigration saying, look, you know, he talks about how america needs to come up with a clear path to citizenship. they talked about gun control, about how he told our own sean hannity how he favors some gun control measures in new jersey, how on climate change he said that he believes in climate change and that humans pay a contributing role, and they went on and on from there. it reminded me of what we saw a bit with rick perry where the republicans need to be looking for a white knight, he came in, there was a little love affair, and then the more they heard of him, the more they thought, oh, wait, he's not perfect for conservative republicans. might the same thing have happened to chris christie for those republicans out there now

who are feeling disappointed on this news? >> it would have happened to ronald reagan in this day and age if you really want to look at it, megyn, you're absolutely right. you know, there is no perfect candidate out there. we can't look for the perfect. and i think that's a big mistake that, in fact, we make at this point in time. if, indeed, barack obama is going to get beat by the republicans in november 2012, this is the party that needs to come together and be together at the end. there are and if they're looking for perfection and they're not going to support somebody unless they see that perfect candidate, then indeed barack obama will win the next four years of the presidency. but ronald reagan, if you look at my father and you just knew him as governor -- raised taxes, signed an abortion bill, no-fault divorce and a few other things -- today the argument against him would come from the right, not from the left. he would have trouble getting his own nomination, yet he ended up being the greatest president in our lifetimes. we need to look at the whole picture, everybody, and quit

nitpicking ourselves to death. megyn: where does the party go from here, quickly? where do you see this heading and what do you think, realistically, that the republican nomination's going to look like? who do you think has the best chance? >> right now mitt romney probably has the best chance at this point in time, but a lot can change as we have seen in the past. mitt romney in that last debate did a great job. and rick perry didn't understand that when he throws something at mitt romney who's been on the polls for a long time, he's going to return the serve, and returned it quite well against rick perry. so right now it's probably mitt romney's to lose, but you could always lose it. megyn: michael reagan, so interesting. thank you so much for coming on. we'll look forward to hearing the report after your big lunch. >> thank you. megyn: see ya, friend. well, your health care records are about to go online, and guess who wants to manage all of your private data? the folks in washington? our debate on that just ahead. plus, an actress booted off

a u.s. flight for reportedly getting frisky with her girlfriend. we'll tell you about the new backlash causing a firestorm online. and a stunning report of security along our southern border. why two former military commanders now say we are at war with the cartels, and so far america is losin >> this is not just about illegal aliens and border crossings. the activity of the cartels south of the border and their intentions constitute a narco-war. it's what they do.

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megyn: well, major backlash todaover a story getting a lot of attention online. former l-word star haleyen leashing a tirade on twitter

that she was kicked off a southwest airlines flight for kissing her girlfriend. trace gallagher has more live in l.a. >> reporter: apparently not just a peck on the cheek, megyn. this is on a flight from baltimore to st. louis, she was, as southwest says, excessively kissing her girlfriend. a flight attendant said she was making passengers uncomfortable, and could she stop? southwest says then a discussion followed and escalated to a level that was better resolved on the ground. haley says that someone actually recorded the whole thing, though we're not exactly sure who. but the plane landed, the actress was escorted off the plane, and then she immediately took to twitter, and she said, and i'm quoting here, i've been discriminated against by southwest air. the flight attendant said that it was a family airline, and kissing was not okay. she continues by saying, since when is showing affection towards someone you love illegal, i want to know what

southwest airlines considers as family. southwest then shot back, and i'm quoting, we received several passenger complaints characterizing the behavior as excessive. our crew, responsible for the comfort of all customers onboard, approached the passengers based solely on behavior, not gender. now, southwest says, by the way, it is also the official airline of the gay and lesbian alliance. southwest, apparently, takes buff from very few people. remember this? the lead singer of green day? his name is billy jo armstrong, a flit attendant told him to raise his pants, he wouldn't, boot, off you go. and then kevin smith the director, he was kicked off southwest airlines because they said he was too fat. he was taking up more than one space. the plane was on the ground, they walked up and said, can you, please, leave? southwest has reached out to haley saying, you know, we're going to try and work this out, but that's the last we heard. megyn: wow.

>> reporter: waiting for the video. megyn: they get their name in the news, i'll say that. trace, thank you. >> reporter: okay. megyn: left-wing critics have launched days of attacks on last week's fox news debate, but now one of the ladies has taken that attack to a new level. >> what did you think of the booing that went on the other day about the gay soldier? did you have a visceral response? >> i did have a visceral response. >> that spire panel, not one person said -- that entire panel, not one person said anything. megyn: just ahead, we'll show you what the vice president upset about, and what joy behar fail today point out in her attack. and a major score for talk show host ellen degeneres, rushed to the hospital with severe chest pains. what she's now saying today. and did a nursing strike lead to the death of a sick woman? a patient given a lethal dose by

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megyn: new thaefd terror networks operating out of pakistan may be targeting and killing americans in afghanistan. jennifer griffin, live at the pentagon with more. jennifer. >> reporter: megyn, the u.s. state department, still deciding whether to put the haqqani network based in pakistan on the u.s. state

of terror list, that decision they say will be coming in the next few days, as -- admiral mike mullen made quite a stir on capitol hill when he said that the haqqani network was a virtual arm of the pakistan's intelligence service, isi, the pakistani government is pushing back against those allegations. pakistan's prime minister warned the u.s. against sending in ground forces to pakistan's tribal territories and pakistani officials have reached out to the chinese to begin filling the vacuum, both financially since congress is talking of cutting back on funding to pakistan, but also, in intelligence sharing. a recent pew research poll found that 69 percent of pakistanis polled saw the u.s. as their enemy. u.s. defense officials tell us that they have presented evidence to the pakistanis that their intelligence service, the isi, was supporting the haqqani network, there were telephones found in the building from which insurgents attacked the u.s.

embassy on september 13th with information on the phones that proved the link to the isi, we're told. the double game goes back to 2007 when major larry baugess was killed by a pakistani assassin while brokering a meeting in pakistan's tribal areas at the time, the u.s. military didn't make an issue of it because it didn't want to embarrass the pakistan government and harm relations. >> for him not to be here on this earth is very painful. and it's painful personally for us, but it's a shame, really, because, you know, the 82nd lost a great leader and the army lost a great soldier and the world lost a great man. >>e'll be tpofrd scared by one event that occurred and that was the assassination, and i don't have a better expression for it, of major baugess, a fine officer of the 82 instead airborne division. >> the general was in

afghanistan at the time, he was speaking out in 2007 about the pakistani role in this attack. now we're hearing more and more public statements. but behind the skaoebs -- scenes, people at the pentagon have certainly had concerns about the haqqani network and the pakistani intelligence service's involvement in killing americans in afghanistan, megyn. megyn: jennifer, thank you. we are expecting live pictures any moment now as president obama leaves california after attending a campaign fund-raiser there last night. recent reports indicate the reelection campaign has had a successful run of fund-raisers, but now some are asking if the president is spending too much time campaigning. this is fox news contributor charles krauthamer giving his assessment last night on "special report with bret baier". >> he's gone 3000 miles to do a whole bunch of fund-raisers, he's focused entirely on the election, he gives a speech to a joint

session of congress, proposing legislation that he knows doesn't have a chance of being actually enacted into law, but it's only a premise for the upcoming election. and, a week later, he proposes a debt plan that he knows also is not going to be enacted. he's given up, he's essentially announced that the governance phase of the obama presidency is over. and he's now fully campaigning, with a year and two months to go. that's some kind of indoor record. mig joining me, christopher han, former aide to chuck schumer and chris phraupbte, host of the chris phraupbte show. what the man has said is the president is done, he's had one fund-raiser every 3 1/2 days since he announced his reelection bid on april 4th. that's a lot of campaigning. his goal is to raise a billion dollars. can we stick a fork in the governing at this point? >> absolutely not.

charles knows better. that's a red herring argument if i've ever heard one before. the president has got to take his message on the road because congress ain't going to do anything with it unless the people get involved. he's doing what reagan did in '# one when the congress wouldn't pass his tax plan, he's doing what truman did. this is not uncommon for a president to take his message on the road. is he going to raise money? absolutely. he's got a firestorm of corporate dollars going against him in the next election, thanks to citizens united, he needs a billion dollars to get his message out there to be on a level playing field for what is to come. megyn: charles seems to be speaking not just about fundraising but about the fu tality of the legislation proposed, so he's talking about how he, president obama, must know that neither his decifit plan nor his jobs plan has any chance of passing, since they're both rich with proposals that have been rejected by a democratic-controlled congress, and that he's doing this in a cynical way

to sort of boost his reelection chances. what say you? >> well, they don't have anything to run on so they're running against something. they're running against the republicans, they're runs against citizens, united, please, he's raised more money from wall street than anybody in history, barack obama has. of course he's campaigning. look, when was he governing? when the difficulty -- the difficulty here is trying to determine when the governing stopped and the campaigning began. since he became president, president obama has inflicted upon omabacare, a health care bill that the american people didn't want, he's repealed a clinton administration policy having to do with don't ask don't tell. >> as he should have. >> beyond that, you know, there's nothing to point to. they have nothing affirmative, nothing positive to campaign on. it's going to be a rolling gun fight between now and election day. >> i think that's what this is all about. we have to start having this conversation. i think this president has been backpedaling far too much and it's time for him to take this to the streets and start fighting for what he and the democratic party

believes in. megyn: isn't that exactly right? isn't that exactly what he's doing, christopher? because he, according to the white house, tried to reach out to the middle or at least attempted to look like he was reaching out to the middle and got chastised by his own base and now, even charles' point is now he's decided it's all about the base, so even if the legislation can't pass, he's going to go to that base, hence this argument about -- let me correct myself, the few tilt of it all. >> megyn, i think he hasn't been reaching out to the middle. i think he's been reaching out to the right. and what he's been doing with his hand, they've been smacking it down and -- it down and it's time to say you don't have it, what have you got. you don't like my vision, what is your vision and let the people get on his side. you think this bill day be -- may be dead. if this has enough people to pass it, it will be get -- it will get passed. >> megyn: tax hikes, rejected? >> i think the bush tax hikes -- the bush tax cuts

should be eliminated for all americans, not just the richest 1 percent but this president is saying hey, everyone who makes over $1 million, you're going to lose these bush tax cuts and it's going to help this economy. we all know that the government has to start priming the punt through infrastructure pend -- priming the pump through infrastructure spending or this economy is going nowhere. if republicans get control of the white house, that's exactly what they'll do. megyn: chris, is it cynical for the president to go with liberal orthodoxy on these plans, does it mean he's done governing and in full mode campaigning or does it mean this is what he believes is genuinely good for the country? >> it almost doesn't matter whether he believes this is good for the country or not. it's been tried and has failed. the president is running on failed polices so they've got to resort to attacks. harry reid just put the democrat, leader of the democrat-controlled senate, just today pushed this phony jobs bill off for -- they're going to take another vacation for more than another week, when they come back, they're going to take up china currency issues.

if this was so urgent, pass this bill now. no democrat in the house wants to put their name on t. nobody is sponsoring it, it's phony, it's a point of contention, it's about squaring off and fighting between now and election day and we're going to get really sick of it. >> chris, the needle has been moving in the right direction for the past two weeks with the president, especially for the base and when these guys come back, they're going to want to fight for his polices and the future of this country very hard. you might call it campaigning, i call it getting the people involved in their government and i think it's time they do it. megyn: got to leave it there. >> take it to the streets. i'd like to see the needle moving in favor of the american people. >> so do i. that's why this has to pass now. megyn: thanks guys. thanks guys. thank you both. >> thanks megyn. >> thanks. megyn: the view's joy behar used her time with the vice president of the united states today to go after the panelists at the fox news-google debate last week, including yours truly, ms. behar reported to be agast at how none of the

panel chastised the audience for some booing in response to a gay soldier's question: >> what did you think of the booing that went on the other day, about the gay soldier? >> you know, i -- >> do you have a response to it? >> i did have a visceral response and i'm not sure if it's because my son spent some time in iraq and i know my son and the kids with him -- kids, they're grown men -- i don't think they give a damn whether a guy firing to -- trying electroprotect him is gay or straight. this guy risked his life, he was there for a year and i, quite frankly, i thought it was reprehensible. >> the entire panel, not one person said anything. megyn: well, having actually been at the debate, i can tell you that there were perhaps a total of two boos in an auditorium of over 5000 people. moreover, were the boos, in fact, directed as ms. behar

contends at the gay soldier? or at his question? on the issue of gay rights in the military. which is very controversial. listen for yourselves, do they boo when they see that it is a gay soldier, or when he makes clear he wants gay rights protected? >> in 2010 when i was deployed to iraq i had to lie about who i was because i'm a gay soldier, i didn't want to lose my job. my question is, under your presidencies, do you intend to circumvent the rules against gay and lesbians in the military? >> i would say -- >> well, those attending these debates are entitled to their point of view, and in this anchor's view, it is not the panelists' role to correct those views or chastise them who hold them. if an audience is disruptive, that's one thing, but this audience was respectful with virtually no exceptions, to have suggested otherwise might have pleased some gop critics, but would not have been consistent with the

facts. well, security disaster, coming out of the civil war in libya. the u.s. government, raising some serious questions about 20,000 missing surface to air missiles. coming up, details on who may have them and the potential attack they can now carry out. plus, a new report on the war along the u.s. southern border. two retired generals say it is a war. we are lose -- a war we are losing and not taking it seriously enough. not just that but mexican drug cartels are gaining ground right now. we have the latest. >> we had dr. vehiclers pass out some photos that were randomly taken from his county's area with hundreds of people being murdered on u.s. soil. the one who -- why you would be in denial on this issue is beyond me.

megyn: an alarming new report out on security along

our southern border with mexico. a major investigation by two army generals who say america is at war with drug cartels and that washington is not taking it seriously. take a look at this map on your screen. the red arrows show the flow of gang crime and violence from mexico into texas. can you see that? just look at the amount of red ink. creating fears that cartels are trying to controller single county along the border. >> this is not just about illegal aliens and border crossings. the activity of the cartels south of the border and their intentions constitute a narco war. this is what we find. most of the time in brooks county, texas, when we see buzz arresteds, it may not be a dead cow or a dead dear. it more than likely is a dead human being. megyn: joining me now is todd staples, the texas department of agriculture

commissioner, who commissioned this study. commissioner, thank you very much for being here. >> megyn, it's good to be on your show, thank you. megyn: it's nothing short of alarming, the conclusions that this study reached, you commissioned it, retired generals major cac calf reand major general bob scales conduct thunderstorm and they concluded that washington policymakers are in denial about what's happening along the southern border, it is not criminal activity, it is a war. what did they find? well, texans are asking for washington to shed the cloak of denial and to admit the reality. we have transnational criminal organizations that essentially are based in a foreign country, and they're having daily and nightly incursio on texas soil. our administration has denied it, our pleas for greater help have been rebuffed, in fact, our president came to texas and made lame jokes about the situation when people are dying, and this report documents very clearly what

needs to be done. we need greater presence. they say the border is safer than ever. but texas farmers and ranchers know they're being intimidated, they're being assaulted, they're being chased off their land and we documented all this at protect your texas border.com. we're asking for the federal government to do its job and to help us in this fight, because it is a drug war on all america. police departments across the nation are fighting this. particulars just happens to be on the front line. we're needing our federal government to step up and do its job. megyn: the report concludes that these drug cartels and narco gangs are trying to expand into texas, they're noto they're not keeping it below the southern border in mexico, that their plan is to take over, quote, every county along the border, and they are trying to create safe zones for enhancing drug smuggling and human trafficking operations to actually use texas as a launch point into the heartland of america.

there has been some limited comfort in thinking that these narco gangs are keeping activity below the border. it's not the case any longer. >> well, if we went to two tired generals who have experience all across the globe, actually defending borders, to come in and make this strategic military assessment. and megyn, i will say that our local law enforcement, our department of public safety and texas rangers, along with our federal partners that are on the ground today, are going to do everything to prevent this from happening. but it's essential that we recognize the true intent of these terrorist organizations. megyn: you can't deny the problem. let me interrupt you, we're up against a hard break. we're going to continue this on this the other side and i want to ask you about the blowback you're already receiving from some people about this study. be right back.

mig the texas agriculture commissioner todd staples who is back with me on this stunning report he commissioned by two retired generals, retired army major general bob scales on one -- is one of them on what's happening on our southern border and he concludes the government is in denial, that there is a war on the southern border and drug cartels are trying to create, a so-called sanitary zone within the united states. let me show what sylvester reyes from el paso says, this report, commissioned by you and the texas legislature is sensationalistic, out of touch and politically motivated, and he says that he's a former border patrol chief, he says mexican drug cart hes know better than to let violence spill over into the united states because they don't want to draw the attention of the feds here. >> i would say that congressman reyes needs to

do what general scales suggested, put gas in his tank and drive the rest of the texas border. i acknowledge and appreciate the fantastic job that's being done in el paso. the work that's being done in mcallen. we've got some fine local law enforcement. but the reality is there's a rule runaround. el paso county has about 50 miles of the entire texas-mexico border. there is about 1200 miles that congressman reyes doesn't represent. we intend to not see 1 inch of texas soil. let me put it in perspective. the texas portion of -- of our southern border represents 64 percent, almost two-thirds of aur entire southern border, yet, we only have 44 percent of the border patrol assigned in texas. in other words, california, arizona and new mexico have over 14 border agents per border mile, texas has barely over six. governor perry and the

department of public safety have dedicated tremendous resources to the southern border. we just want our federal government to step up, to join us in an enhanced way in this fight, the ones that are there are doing a good job but we need greater help and congressman reyes needs to leave el paso and come to the rest of the border. megyn: all the best. >> thank you. megyn: a terrifying report out of the civil war in libya now raising red flags for international air security. thousands of shoulder-fired surface to air missile the are gone. in three minutes, the desperate effort to track them down and growing worry about where these things might turn up. >> and new questions about whether a massive nursing strike led to the death of a patient. a woman given the wrong dosage by a replacement worker while her nurse was picketing outside. [ man ] i worked hard. i paid into my medicare.

[ man ] and i earned my social security. [ woman ] now, instead of cutting waste and loopholes, washington wants to cut our benefits? that wasn't the agreement. [ male announcer ] join the members of aarp and tell washington to stop cuts to our medicare and social security benefits.

megyn: this is a fox news alert, recapping our news from the top of our 1:00 hour, fox news' political unit has now confirmed

that despite rampant speculation about whether new jersey governor chris christie would jump into the presidential race, he has decided not to seek the republican nomination for president. again, fox news' political unit confirming that the governor has decided not to join the political race. [applause] he has said for many be months that he would not, however, speculation had increased in particular in the last two days as he goes out to headline an event at the reagan library in california and as a top colleague of mr. christie's had suggested he was reconsidering his decision. nonetheless, the governor now saying he will not run for the presidency in 2012. that is the latest from our political unit. another fox news alert, major new security concerns in the wake of the war in libya. brand new hour here of "america live." welcome, everyone, i'm megyn kelly. we are getting reports that a desperate search is underway for thousands of shoulder-fired,

heat-seeking missiles from moammar gadhafi's arsenal. missing -- missing -- since the fall of the regime. now lawmakers in congress concerned those weapons could wind up in the hands of terrorists. history shows the missiles are capable of bringing down commercial airliners, so the administration is working to find and destroy the massive, massive amounts of heavy firepower. trace gallagher live in our west coast newsroom with more. trace? >> reporter: megyn, the reason these shoulder-fired missiles are so lethal to passenger planes is because they're heat-seeking, they actually lock in on the jet engine heat on passenger planes, and they are deadly accurate to within two miles, 11,000 feet. they also take almost no training to fire these things. defense officials tell fox news that moammar gadhafi had 20,000 of these shoulder-fired missiles in his arsenal. members of the house intelligence committee have voiced concerns that the missiles may, as they say, walk

away. but look at these pictures here. we have got eyewitness reports including the man who took this video that these things are not walking away, they're actually being loaded up by the truckloads and being driven away, moved across unsecured borders and sold on the black market. here's a member of human rights watch who witnessed warehouses of these shoulder-fired missiles. listen to him. >> literally, the first weapon that this appears from -- that disappears from all of these facilities is are the surface-to-air missiles which have no military use in the current conflict because gadhafi isn't flying any airplanes or helicopters. so the question really is why are people focusing on looting these very powerful weapons which can take down a civilian airplane? and who are these people who are taking away these as far as-to- surface-to-air missiles? >> reporter: did you hear him? who are these people? we know the reports say even members of the iranian

republican guard have been sent to libya to gather up some of these missiles. the fear is they'll wind up in the hands of al-qaeda which is very active in libya and in northern africa. here's the president's chief counterterrorism adviser recently on this very issue. here's john brennan. >> we've made a number of very clear point toss the tnc and those that we're working with in the libyan environment right now about the things that we are very concerned about. obviously, securing any type of materials or weapons that could be used by terrorist groups whether it be weapons of mass destruction or whether it be mat pads or arsenals of weapons. >> reporter: did you hear him say man pads? that's another name for these shoulder-fired missiles. the administration has now sent a team to libya to gather up as many of these as possible and destroy it. remember several years ago when barbara boxer said that she wanted every airline, every passenger plane to be equipped with anti-missile technology but

it turned out to be a million bucks a plane, too expensive? keep this in mind, since 1975 40 civil planes have been shot at by these shoulder rocket missiles, 28 have crashed, 800 people have died, megyn, and now tens of thousands of these things are unaccounted for in libya. megyn: wow. trace gallagher, thank you. well, brand new developments in the fast and furious gun trafficking scandal. fox news just obtained new documents showing your money was used to buy some of the weapons associated with that operation. an operation held partially responsible for the death of border patrol agent brian terry. william la jeunesse is live in our west coast bureau with more on this one. william? >> reporter: well, megyn, now we have not one, but two cases where guns were put into the hands of criminals deliberately. this tactic was not used in this fast and furious, but in another case where instead of just aiding the middleman, the u.s. government became the middleman using tax money to buy guns,

then sold to bad guys and letting those guns disappear. the atf presumed to mexico. >> the purchase was being done by a criminal organization -- >> reporter: so far federal officials claim operation fast and furious only allowed guns to be sold to criminals. however, new records show the atf actually bought weapons using taxpayer money, sold them to a suspected cartel buyer, then watched as the guns disappeared. >> it made no sense to us either. it's just what we were ordered to do. >> reporter: according to this may 2010 letter, supervisor david voss gave agent john dotson $850 in petty cash to buy two handguns from the lone wolf trading company in phoenix. he received another $1700 to buy four more at a second store. voss then instructed dotson to sell the guns, but instead of moving in and busting the buyer, the atf watched him drive away. sources say mexican police have never recovered the guns. after dotson went public,

another supervisor tried to discredit him by disclosing he sold guns to a criminal. >> remember the guns you gave him? that was dotson's. he purchased firearms as a straw purchaser. >> reporter: weapon sites like the examiner and clean up atf.org were among the first to report this scandal allowing current atf agents to go public without revealing their identities. >> it's a testament, really, to the power of the internet and the ability to network. >> reporter: now, this case involves the same agents, store, supervisors, framework, time frame as fast and furious, only the defendant is different. now, the agent claims he o oazed to operation, watched the stash house for a week and finally, megyn, when a car showed up to retrieve those weapons, he called for backup, and his supervisor refused and those guns disappeared. back to you. megyn: william, thank you. for a little more background on

operation fast and furious, it was originally designed by the atf to track the flow of weapons over the mexican border and find out where they were going. it allowed suspected traffickers to buy weapons in the united states and then smuggle them down to the cartels in mexico. the operation began in the atf's phoenix field division in the fall of '09. now the atf says it cannot account for nearly three-quters of the firearms sold to snugglers through the program. -- smugglers through the program. check out our web site, foxnews.com, there you can find the documents that detail the role the atf played in buying and selling these weapons as part of this program. well, on capitol hill lawmakers have narrowly dodged a government shutdown for now. congress reaching a deal on a stopgap spending bill before this friday's deadline. but with it set to expire in about six weeks, the next governmentunding crisis could be just around the corner. just when we were about to heave a sigh of relief. fox business network's peter

barnes joins us live now from washington. hey, peter. >> reporter: hey, megyn. this whole fight over avoiding a government shutdown focused on emergency disaster funding for fema which was supposed to run out of relief money by today, as you'll recall. but yesterday fema basically bailed itself out and wailed politicians out -- bailed politicians out of this fight for now. fema announced that, in fact, its projections were only estimates and that it would likely have enough money to get it through this friday, september 30th, the end of the fiscal year, the current fiscal year. officials say fema and omb also scrambled to safe cash, claw back unused funds for projects and shift funding around. so last night the senate approved a stopgap budget bill to keep the government running through november 18th with zero additional dollars for disaster relief. >> we're not looking at robust balance at the end of the year. we're managing to zero, it's trying to hit a bull's eye. i think fema has done an excellent job managing in very

difficult circumstances. >> reporter: now, that stopgap budget bill will automatically give fema $2.7 billion to replenish its emergency fund on this saturday, october 1st, the start of the government's new fiscal year. and that's a normal part of the budgets process, replenishing this fund at the beginning of every budget year. but this fight over disaster funding likely is not over, not by a long shot. as you recall, this battle really geared up after president obama asked congress three weeks ago for $5 billion in extra disaster money for fema after hurricane irene, and an omb spokesperson says today that the administration still wants that money from congress for the fiscal 2012 budget year because of the larger-than-expected number of natural disasters this year. megyn? megyn: peter barnes, thank you. your health care records are about to go to uncle sam. from the shots you got as a child, to your last x-ray, what could possibly go wrong?

we investigate those claims and have a fair and balanced debate just ahead. plus, the man accused of causing michael jackson's death finally getting his day in court. we're live outside a courthouse that looks more like a circus right now. we'll take you there. and 23,000 nurses walked off the job. what happened next may have cost one woman her life. that is in a very powerful kelly's court just ahead. >> it could have been prevented. i was there that day at 7 to work, ready to work, and they wouldn't let me in. i felt like i could have prevented this from occurring. ♪ [ female announce] something unexpected to the world of multigrain... taste. ♪ delicious pringles multigrain. with a variety of flavors, multigrain pops with pringles. all your important legal matters in just minutes. now it's quicker and easier for you to start your business...

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it goes wherever you go. get it free while supplies last. call the number on your screen to get your free video, brochure and your free hoveround collapsible grabber. call the number on your screen. megyn: fox news alert, opening statements now underway in the trial of the doctor accused in connection with the death of michael jackson. back in 2009. dr. conrad murray facing involuntary manslaughter charges. prosecutors say murray gave jackson a lethal dose of the powerful sedative propose fall,

along with other medications, and lacked the proper life-saving equipment to revive the famed singer. if convicted, murray could face four years behind bars and the has of his medical license. adam houseley is live outside the courthouse in los angeles. >> reporter: it's already begun, that prosecution laid out a pretty consistent case, an hour and 18 minutes long. but now the defense team with michael flanagan is getting their chance to respond, let's go into the courtroom and take a quick listen of the defense as they begin their opening statements. >> were so fast that a mere week after presales -- these are not the real sales, these are presales -- they had to increase the shows to 50. and michael jackson said he would do it, he would increase those shows to 50. on two conditions. one, that he had a house for him and his children with 16 acres

and horses they could play on, and two, that the guinness book of world records would be there to record what was an historical event. you see, 50 shows for a 50-year-old man in one arena that seats 25,000 people, over a million people would have come to see michael jackson. that has never been done before, and michael jackson knew it. this was it for him, and he named the tour himself, "this is it." and for him it was. in march of 2009, he made the announcement, the announcement was made at the o2 arena. at that announcement michael jackson was up on stage, and you'll hear about that from randy phillips as well. now, during this time, during

this entire process negotiations, contract signings, the meetings, all the conversations about this tour dr. murray was helping patients. you will learn in this trial about who dr. murray really is. you have heard what mr. walgren says, oh, he was greedy, it's all about money. but you'll hear in this trial who he really is. dr. murray is no celebrity doctor. he doesn't have a office in beverly hills dispensing pills to the rich and be famous. he's a cardiologist. he's an interventional cardiologist. he has two practices, you'll learn -- >> reporter: that was michael flanagan, he's part of the defense team for conrad murray, the defense just beginning their opening statements.

now, that follow,, again, an hour and 15-minute long opening statement by the prosecution and the deputy da, they're laying out quite a case, in part playing a phone message from may 10, 2009, roughly a month and a half before the deatof michael jackson where he sounds extremely drugged. during this message his sister, janet jackson, in the courtroom was shaking her head in disgust, i'm told, by our producers. take a listen to part of that phone message. >> i wan to say i've never seen nothing like this in my life, you know? >> reporter: once again, that was michael jackson leaving a message back on may 10, 2009, roughly a month and a half before he died here in los angeles. now, the family of michael jackson came here for this court hearing as well, i mentioned janet jackson, joe jackson, michael's mother and father, jermaine, tito in the courtroom.

we did not see michael jackson's children, we didn't see them go in. as part of that prosecution opening statement, megyn, they also claimed that michael jackson was medically abandoned by conrad murray, they say there was gross negligence in the standard of care administered by dr. murray, and they say there were no medical records whatsoever at all for any of the care being administered. that's claimed by the prosecution. they say it was an employer/employee relationship which is not standard and that dr. murray was being paid $155,000 a month. megyn? megyn: wow. that's a big number. and you heard the defense saying he wasn't motivated by greed, and they're going to get into that with the jury. adam houseley, great reporting. thank you very much. well, your health care records are about to go online thanks to the president's new health care law, and getz who now wants to manage all of your private data. big brother. is this a good idea? we'll have a full report. plus, incredible video of a terrified hiker -- look at this -- clinging to the side of a rock. she was there for hours.

her story three minutes away. and surveillance cameras cap which aring the moment the earthquake in d.c. hit the washington moment. tourists running in the elevator -- i'm sorry, running in terror, i should say. the story and why it may be a long time before this monument reopens.

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megyn: a harrowing rescue caught on tape. look at this. it is a look down the cliff known as eagle rock where a 24-year-old woman hiker was stuck for hours. the sheriff's department air rescue team arriving on the scene just before nightfall. we're told the girl was clinging to the side of the rock for nearly two hours. luckily, a paramedic on the team

hung from a hoist cable beneath the helicopter, whoa, and was able to make the rescue by putting a safety harness around the human hiker's waist. she was found to have multiple minor injuries but is expected to make a full recovery. well, one of the most recognizable monuments in washington closed indefinitely now after crews discover last month's earthquake did more damage than originally thought. these are live pictures of crews checking for damage. we are seeing some dramatic new surveillance video showing the moments the quake rocked the monument with tourists inside. trace has that story live from our west coast newsroom. >> reporter: just remember, the quake was a magnitude 5.8, and when you're up in the 558-foot-al washington monument, can you imagine being on tom when -- on top when the shaking starts? i want to show you this, it really is amazing. you can see there's some kind of

panic among the people who are inside. and if you look very closely, you can see pieces that are kind of falling off inside the washington monument. people are scrambling down the stairs. i mean, you're 50 stories up, that is a lot of stairs to go down when you have no idea what's going on. this saking lasted for 40 -- this shaking lasted for 40 seconds. here's a park ranger now, listen to him. he was actually inside when the quake happened. >> felt it shaking beneath me, i felt the walls moving, and then you have debris starting to hit your head. first thought was to just run, and then i realized i have to get these people out of of here. >> reporter: the cool thing there, those three pictures, this, by the way s a live look, and they're doing a little bit of engineering and a little bit of mountain climbing, kind of rappeling down the side of this thing. they've already found four of the stones on top have been cracked. we told you about the damage inside. they're going to scale the whole thing to find out exactly what the extent of the damage is here. you know it's closed for the foreseeable future. did you know the monument was

built between 1864 and 1884? and withstood another quake back in the 1800s, a stronger one? listen. >> it is a testament to the original builders that the monument has withstood not just this earthquake, but an even larger one in the late 1800s. they obviously knew what they were doing. >> reporter: yeah, built pretty well a couple of hundred years ago, right? this is some video of some of the debris inside. not only was the quake, but after they got irene coming through, lashed with high winds, they got some flooding because of the rains of irene. it's still closed. maybe closed for a while. but, apparently, it's solid, megyn. should be there for many years to come. megyn: can you imagine? that is scary. think about folks in the washington monument, folks on top of the empire state building, people on those high elevations, tourists in many cases just checking out some of our landmarks when the earth begins to shake, tiles are

falling on their head, they don't know what's happening. gosh, you've really got to wonder about the fear and panic. even the park ranger seemed to be feeling it. >> reporter: i was in a high-rise this a downtown l.a. like the whole building kind of shifted, and if you had no idea if it was going to go back. it was kind of like, oh, man, and then it shifted back. very, very scary. megyn: i'd like to believe that i'd be one of those people who would lead people to safety, but i feel more likely i'd be cowering under a desk. [laughter] i've got to be honest. i'd be like, abby -- my assistant -- get the fanny pack! it's got two tylenol, and you can kiss your you know what good-bye. i stole that line from somebody. very powerful here. trace, thank you. [laughter] well, nurses go on strike, and a patient dies. were replacement workers to blame? that's on the docket in kelly's court. wait until you hear what the nurses' union is saying about this disploo. plus, a republican

congressman says that nancy pelosi went kidding when she said we'd have to pass the health care law to find out what was in it. >> it's going to be very, very exciting. [applause] but we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it away from the fog of the controversy. looking good! you lost some weight. you noticed! these clothes are too big, so i'm donating them.

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megyn: well, defense lawyers in the appeals trial of amanda knox comparing her to a famous cartoon character, being compare today jessica rabbit from the 1980s film, "who framed roger rabbit." this proceeding, i don't know what to say about this. what a mess. a verdict in her appeals case is expected early next week. ellen degeneres assuring her fans that she is okay today after she experienced heart pains. those pains prompting a 911 call on sunday after she woke up with tightness in her chest. and new data showing home prices rising for the fourth straight month. but the housing market remains depressed, and many economists expect prices to fall again in the coming months. well, republican congressman is today raising concerns about the record-keeping part of president obama's new health care law. he says that health and human services is working on a plan to have insurance companies collect

your private medical records and send them to washington. what kind of problems might that raise? joining me now, fox news medical a-teamer dr. marc siegel who's professor of medicine at nyu, daily news columnist and co-host of "the five" right here on fox news, andrea tan tear row. all right, so he is claiming, it's congressman tim -- he's saying insurance companies need to submit detailed health information about their patients directly to washington or at least give to it the 50 states. and dr. siegel, the first thing that jumps out at me is what about, what about patient/doctor confidentiality? why does uncle sam get to see what my doctor knows about me?

>> absolutely right, megyn. this is exactly what hhs is planning, and i think it's going to add another layer of bureaucracy between the doctor and the patient, it's going to be a potential violation of patient privacy, and i'm even more concerned about this terminology that's in there, mitigate impact of potential adverse selection and stabilize premiums. do you know what that means? megyn: no, what does that mean? >> that means they're going to try to control premiums, prices, try to keep everything controlled. more bureaucracy, lower premiums. megyn: why do they want to keep everything controlled, andrea? >> that was the point of this whole law. and if you remember they had a fight over price controls when they were trying to pass obamacare, it didn't make it into the bill. they made this big mistake by not making the personality for not signing up greater than the premium. so what you have, megyn s a bunch of sick people signing up because they can. no preconditions, remember? but you don't have healthy people signing up. what this does is this inflates costs for everybody. so this, the administration's saying, now, let me see those

records in the exchange, and what they can do then, as i read this law, they can start to kick our money, taxpayer money, in the form of subsidies to prop up insurers to keep them in the game even when they have really shoddy exchanges. megyn: is that how you see it, john? >> yeah. we also have what's called the medal information bureau to really keep track of, you know, your medical, um, reports. so what you have here is you also have another layer of bureaucracy in the federal government -- megyn: but dumb it down for me. the folks at home care about the insurance and the money, but i think they really care about they don't want kathleen sebelius seeing their private health care information. >> you had better believe it. megyn: that's between me and my doctor. >> megyn, there was a harris poll that showed 80% of americans are worried about having their information available online. not even the government -- megyn: and they should be. because, listen, this is not a partisan issue. this isn't a rip on kathleen

sebelius, it's a rip on the government which has failed to keep records confidential thus far. these are just a few examples that we've covered here on fox news and elsewhere. government employee's laptop containing information about 26 million veterans stole treason the employee's home. an hhs contractor lost a laptop containing medical information about nearly 50,000 medicare beneficiaries, about 26,000 employees and others was potentially accessed, and then let's not forget about politically-motivated accessing look we saw with joe the plumber. remember that? when he suddenly confronted president obama on a rope line, and some democrat in ohio suddenly was letting his tax information out. >> they only tell me what's wrong with them because they think no one else is going to hear about it. people won't tell me what their problems are. >> not only that, you know, you have health, hhs that has already been breached 256 times in the past year. megyn: but right now they don't have our private information.

>> no, not right now they don't, but i'm concerned about my own personal medical information. megyn: right. >> if they're going to have access to it. once again, this is just putting a whole other layer of bureaucracy. megyn: but let me defend the government. it's still unfolding, but it seems like the government is saying we need to make sure that insurance companies are not jacking up the prices on the people with pre-existing conditions like they're not supposed to do, and how are we going to know that unless we access the medical records and know what's happening at the doctor/patient level? >> i don't think that's totally fair because the way the law is written, and you know i'm no fan of this law, they actually don't allow you to raise prices on anyone unless you're a smoker -- megyn: right, but they're concerned that they're going to make you take on these new patients, and they're going -- their knowing the information isn't going to help them prevent that. how are they going to prevent insurance companies from setting certain premiums? >> sebelius came out and said she was going to have a list of bad insurance companies, so what

she was going to do was going to be political. she was going to make statements, probably put out press releases, oh, health insurance commissioner in the pennsylvania so and so, and get legislators to put pressure on these insurance commissioners to shake their fists at these insurance companies. it's very sketchy, megyn. it's very sketchy. megyn: well, i don't know how else she's going to police the thing they're worried about policing. if they're worried about insurance companies, you're a broker in this industry. if they're worried about insurance companies disobeying the law, jacking up prices on the pre-existing condition folks against the law, how else are they supposed to monitor that if they don't have access to this information? >> you know, it's a good question, but, i mean, i'm really concerned about the level of care that we're going to be getting -- megyn: because doctors are going to try to avoid saying, having frank discussions with their patients? >> overall. >> and because, think about this, if they're mandating you need to cover all these people no preconditions, but you can't raise the sticker price, right? insurance companies are saying, fine, i won't offer everything that i used to offer. >> that's exactly right.

>> you're going to getreal shoddy care. >> and the other thing, megyn, to your other point, at the statewide level state commissioners are already looking to make sure that insurance companies don't have huge increases in premiums. >> absolutely. that's part of their job. >> right. >> you can see it collectively. >> exactly. megyn: let many ask you -- let me ask you this, c. siegel, was i have heard doctors say they are not going to comply with putting the medical records online, that they're just not going to do it, they're going to keep it confidential because they have the same concern you have which is my patients are going to stop being honest if they think this information is going to go online. are you hearing any of that? >> completely. and i also think that's related to the whole issue of being reimbursed from the stimulus bill for going online. a lot of doctors are still sticking with paper charts, and the ones that are going to electronic are trying to keep them in a certain system that isn't going to comply. i think that's going to go way past 2014. we have hipaa laws to follow.

megyn: i know. and so far it seem like they work. you can imagine there are people out there who would love to reveal the private information of angelina jolie and brad pitt, you know? there are people out there who would pay big be bucks for that and put it on the front page of a magazine. they haven't been able to do that, right? i presume. >> right. megyn: but you hear reports like this, and then you start to worry. >> you never know. and not only that, what about somebody going in there and breaching that information and changing your information. that's another concern. megyn: whoa. and the next thing you know you're getting the wrong drug. >> absolutely. >> that's right. that's a medical -- >> and i don't mean to scare, i know there's a lot of seniors watching now, but the independent panel that the president put together for medicare, they're going to have a lot of seniors' records anyway because this panel of 12 bureaucrats is going to be deciding what care medicare patients can get. it's already the law of the land. it should be a very big concern. >> that's a great point andrea's making now because the information, once they glean it, is going to be used to decide what treatment should be

approved, what tests should be approved. megyn: that is what you were saying before the law passed, we're going to start looking more like canada because bureaucrats are going to be making decisions on cost-effective treatment. megyn: well, we welcome comment from the health and human services secretary on this. love to hear it. so far it's this kansas, well, republican congressman tim huelskamp of kansas who says you need to worry, and you need to worry about what happens if, you know, a laptop gets stolen. suddenly it's real people's information that's out there forever online. and you know once they tell you to take it down, you can, but it's still there. it's out there. your private medical information? i don't know. panel, thank you. >> thanks, megyn. megyn: a brand new sympathy card from the folks at hallmark, but this one is a frightening sign of the times for america's economy. plus, dr. siegel should listen to this one. 23,000 nurses go on strike, and a patient dies because of a medical mistake. it was a nurse, it wasn't a

doctor, but still -- >> could have been. megyn: who responsible for her death? -- who is responsible for her death? an interesting kelly's court after this break. >> we took only experienced nurses, and we took nurses who were only experienced in the areas to which they were assigned. the decision about whether or not to walk off the job, that's up to the union. w

megyn: kelly's court is back in if session. on the docket today, a union walkout that may have led to the death of a cancer patient. more than 23,000 nurses in california picketing over their contracts and cuts in patient care. it only lasted a day, but hundreds of replacement nurses were brought in for the entire week. in that week a patient at this hospital in oakland died because of a medical mistake by a nurse. one of the temporary nurses putting a nutritional supplement into an iv that was meant for her medicine. 66-year-old judith ming was said

to be winning her battle against ovarian cancer. today she is gone. but the blame game is just starting. joining me now to discuss it, criminal defense attorney joey jackson and fox news legal analyst mercedes colon. you've got a lot of finger pointing going on already in this, so you've got the hospital is saying, look, the nurses are the ones who chose to be out. we covered with competent nurses. mistakes happen. the striking nurses are saying you knew that we were the best qualified, you didn't get the most competent substitutes. it was, we were willing to come back on days two, three, four and five, and you didn't let us in and, therefore, you, hospital, and the substitute nurses are to blame. joey, who's right? >> the unions are right, megyn, of course. listen, i think a hospital has an obligation to field its a-team at all times. now, the unions have the right, obviously, to go out, to picket and to get those things that they think are necessary and

important to their job. megyn: and they gave the appropriate notice. they gave the two weeks' notice saying this day we're going to be out, we're going to be striking. >> yes, they did. and the hospital then went out and entered into a contract to get replacement workers, which i understand. however, the excuse they are now doing is they needed to do it, meaning get the replacement workers, for a five-day contract, and as a result of that they couldn't otherwise have shortened it. megyn: so that's why, just to clarify, even though the nurses only wanted to strike for one day, the hospital said you're out for one, you're out for five because we have to hire replacements. >> that's right. and here's what i don't get. what i believe is you have to, you owe it to your patients to have the best people available at all times. thousand, the event -- now, in the event you entered into a five-day contract, number one, there could have been alternatives where you could have found someone to provide replacement nurses for one day. number two, it does not mean you need replacement workers for those five days. the nurses who were striking, they --

megyn: you just have to pay for it. but the hospital's not going to double pay nurses. mercedes, the nurses' union, they are saying that it's the hospital's fault here. why are they not right? >> shame on those employees that those nurses went on strike. first of all, it's not about patient services, it's about their health benefits, it's about their benefits, nothing to do with patient services. frankly, the one nurse who was with ms. ming for a period of time was one of the strikers. if she cared that much about ms. ming, she shouldn't have been on that strike. she volunteered -- megyn: so, in other words, there was a nurse who had been primarily responsible for this patient's care, she'd been in the hospital for maybe the summer dealing with cancer. and this nurse could have said i don't have to go join -- >> she can't have to, exactly right. she really cared. if the whole mission behind this union, this strike is that it was for patient services, well then really live that motto and

be there for the patients that you had been the primary provider of services for that entire time. and now she wants to go poo hoo to the family -- boohoo to the family, she's dead primarily because they had to get a replacement nurse. they had to get the replacement nurses, they went to a service to get it. there were 34,000 other nurses on strike as well. it was difficult to get someone. they went to a service -- megyn: let me ask you this because the liability comes in, i mean, there's very little question that there will be a lawsuit. do we all agree on that? [laughter] there we do. megyn: when a patient dies because of medical error, there's almost always a lawsuit, and be it'll probably settle because that's why hospitals have insurance. but, joey, who do ms. ming's family, who do they sue? they clearly will sue the hospital, that's the deep pocket. >> absolutely. megyn: but do they sue the nurse who gave the bad drug, and do they also have a shot at suing the union? >> no, i don't think the union gets into the lawsuit at all. i think, ultimately, it's the hospital's responsibility, and

anybody the hospital employs is an agent of that hospital and, therefore, as a result -- megyn: why wouldn't they sue the yoon on-- union? you say to yourself but for the striking purses, would ms. ming be alive? mercedes, won't there be some clever lawyer who would say nurses' union's in many? >> absolutely. especially since the primary nurse for this particular patient was one of the individuals that was striking. they absolutely can make that type of argument, carve that in to bring her in. >> but, ultimately, she had an obligation to the union and to her patients. and let's be clear about this, they were not only striking for individual benefits, but they were striking because of cuts in patient services that they viewed as very valuable to their mission as nurses that they were performing on behalf of the hospital. megyn: do you think there should be some rule that nurses sort of like air traffic controllers that they cannot strike, that this is such an important industry and job, you just can't make your point this way?

>> there has been a lot of talk about doing that, especially, there was empirical data that says your mortality rate rises 20% at a hospital. this is a national study. that's extraordinary when you think about it. 20% mortality raises just because you have these replacement nurses that have to come in. that's a very -- megyn: wow. >> you know, megyn -- megyn: you can choose shot to go there, you can go to another hospital, but if you're already in there for months, you've got to go. >> i'm not adverse to that. it's a good suggestion, and if that was a law, perhaps it could have prevented this. megyn: all right, guys. one final word, the key question is was it foreseeable that this substitute nurse would commit this error? that will depend on the nurse's background. morally, the striking nurses are in no position to criticize. legally, they're not to blame. [ male announcer ] it's a fact: your nutritional needs can go up when you're on the road to recovery. proper nutrition can help you get back on your feet.

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megyn: some ruffled feathers in charleston, south carolina. the state wants to replace the city's run-down cruise ship terminal with a new facility creating hundreds of new jobs, but here's the rub. some residents say the ships block views and clog the streets with tourists. jonathan serrie live in atlanta. there are jonathan? >> reporter: hey, megyn. there are two things going on here. charleston is this elegant town of centuries-old houses, but it is also a thriving port be. charleston, south carolina, draws tourists from around the world, but how those visitor get here is making waves in the community. >> i have nothing against cruising. i've been on a number of cruises, and i think that they're a great thing. i just think that charleston is a small city, and it all needs to be kept in balance. >> reporter: just steps from the historic district is the 65-acre cargo terminal. the state ports authority wants to redevelop the poland. >> the cruise business is an

extraordinarily positive force for the economy at a time when most communities are shedding jobs, we're adding jobs. it's really been a life preserver for this waterfront. >> by converting converting thid warehouse, the city and port hope to bring their tourist entry into the -- industry into the 21st century. but some residents feel it will jeopardize the flavor. >> i think this is something that can be resolved very easily by moving the cruise ship terminal to another location. >> reporter: only of those residents suggest moving the terminal to about a mile and a half north, but port officials say they don't want to disrupt industrial operations there. megyn? is. megyn: jonathan, thanks. well, the defense lawyer in the amanda knox appeals case comparing her to a famous cartoon character. will the bizarre presentation be enough to set her free? a live report just ahead. [inaudible conversations] there's a big reason to lower your high cholesterol...

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>>megyn: condolences on the loss of your job the latest sympathy cards from the folks at hallmark. scary sign. lay off greeting cards selling like hot cakes from coast to coast, no surprise with 9 percent unemployment. the card featuring a cute kitty. such a hit other card companies are following suit. it is not a bad idea when you have a friend who loses his jobs, it is awkward, you don't know what to say, maybe a card is a nice way to tell them you are thinking agout them without broaching the subject. thank you for watching, everyone, here is shephard smith in las vegas. the news begins anew, in box one, the g.o.p. candidates are