many months that he won't get in. there has 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 begin telling associates, insiders, the very people who are trying to recruit him that he will not be persuaded. megyn: since then governor christie has been pressured from all corners to jump in. eric shawn is live in trenton, new jersey where this news conference is about to get underway, eric. >> reporter: megyn, bowing out the message we are hearing that is expected from governor chris christie moments now from the state house. expected to say that he is not running for president of the united states despite all the intense pressure he's received especially over the past few weeks. he's earned a national reputation as a pugnacious chief executive who has really taken on the public unions here in new jersey, specifically the teachers union dealing with some

of the benefits that public employees have received. he had to close an $11 billion deficit here and has centered his campaign here in new jersey and his administration on dealing with the severe financial and budget issues that this government faces. that has earned him national headlines across the country. just last week he spoke in person at the ronald reagan presidential library in california. >> i've been adamant about the fact that i would not run for president. my language was clear and direct, no matter how many times i was asked the question. for me the answer was never anything but no. my job here in new jersey is my passion. i've always meant that when i said i feel like the luckiest guy if the world to have this job, i'm doing a job i love in the state i grew up in on behalf of some of the toughest and greatest people in this country. it wasn't until recently that i paused to really reflect on my decision. when you ask serious people from across the spectrum, not to

mention from all across the country passionately calling on you to do something as consequential as running for president of the united states, i felt an obligation to earnestly consider their advice. today with mary pat and our children i believe i had an obligation to seriously consider what people were asking me to do. i'll always be grateful for their confidence in me. over the last few weeks i've thought long and hard about this decision, i've explored the options, i've listened to so many people, and considered whether this was something that i needed to take on. but in the end, what i've always felt was the right decision remains the right decision today. now is not my time. i have a commitment to new jersey that i simply will not abandon. that's the promise i made to the people of this state when i took office 20 months ago to fix a broken new jersey. and when i look at what we've

accomplished so far i'm proud, but i know we are not nearly done. i've made this commitment to my state first and foremost. the people sent me to trenton to get a job done, and i'm just not prepared to walk away. i know not everyone agrees with my decision, but my loyalty to this state is what it is. abraham lincoln said, i'd like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives, i like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him. that's how i feel in my heart about new jersey. i'm proud of this state and its people and i know there is still much more we need to do together to insure the future we want for all of our children. so this is not the time to leave unfinished business for me. the stakes are too high and the consequences are too real. so, new jersey, whether you like

it or not you're stuck with me. let me say this. i'm grateful, i'm grateful to the many people, both in new jersey and around the country who have spoken to me over these last weeks and months. i'm grateful for their confidence in me. i'm grateful for the faith that they place in me. it's been unbelievably humbling and inspiring. i can only hope that i'm able to live up to this confidence and to do the job i need to do here at home. questions. >> governor, you have never really closed the door -- [inaudible] do you still have some interest? >> i have interest in being employed in the future. and i'm not going to preclude any employment in the future, you know, whether that be president, or working at nbc, brian, so i'm not going to preclude any chances.

josh. [inaudible] >> i didn't want to. but, you know, when you have as many both really serious people come to you and tell you that you really needed to reconsider, and then all kinds of regular folks. i mean, we got fedex over the weekend at home from a farmer in nebraska some my children asking my children to sit me down and tell me that it was okay to miss their games, and their concerts, and their events because our country needed me more, and if they did that, that they would be remembered in the history books as the people who changed the course of our country's history. we got literally dozens of letters like that at home to our home address from people all over the country. and i think as this all started to accumulate over the past

couple of months mary p*t and i thought we better really rethink this. and we did. in the end my commitment to the state is what overrode everything else. i asked for this job, i fought hard to get this job, and my job here isn't done. and it just never felt right to me to leave now. so i rethought it because when as many serious people really earnestly come to you and ask you to do it i think you have an obligation to rethink it. so we did, but we came out in the same stop. >> another topic? >> no, sorry. you screwed around, and now you're out, next. charlie? [inaudible]

>> no, none of them were a factor. i mean, i have a great political team and they were ready to do whatever i wanted them to do. i have complete confidence in them. none of that was a factor. in the end the factor, the deciding factor was it did not feel right to me, in my gut to leave now when the job here is not finished. and i could never get by that, charlie. and i had lots of people talking to me trying to get me by it, i could never get by it. that's why i made the decision i did. now i'll go back to kevin, since i had fun with him, kevin. [inaudible] >> obviously they weren't that good.

no, it really isn't. i wouldn't single anybody out. there were a lot of extraordinary people. extraordinarily accomplished people and a lot of really great regular americans who wrote and called and tweeted and, you know, all kinds of stuff. no, there isn't one particular person, kevin. in the end, you know, this decision is my decision, it's not anybody else's decisi and there was no one who could convince me of it. it's got to be your decision, and today this decision is my decision. >> governor, how much of this decision is based on your commitment to your family as opposed to your commitment to the people. >> let me dispel that. i've seen some real wild reporting about this. mary pat and the kids were completely behind me running if that's what i wanted to do. and u know, three weeks ago mary pat woke me up at 6:00 in the

morning and said, if you want to run, go for it. go for it. don't worry about me and the kids, we'll be fine. so, mary pat, you know, in the last number of weeks has not been an issue at all, nor my children, they were all great. i talked to all of them about it. obviously we talked a lot about it together as a family, and they were -- they were always like, listen, dad, if that's what you want to do, it will be fun. you know my son said it would be a grit adventure for us if you decide to do it. so, they were all great. it really was not a family decision. in the end they laid it all on me. and told me i had to decide, so i did. [inaudible] >> oh, no, listen, what i care most about is that the country is better. i think the country will be

better by making sure president obama is a one-termer. i don't worry about that at all. i don't think you can worry about that stuff. in the end i have a great job that i'm really committed to, and where we've made great progress, and i'm going to continue to do that job. whatever the future holds the future holds. i don't think any of you, you've covered me during the campaign in 09 probably didn't think two years later in october of 11 you'd be sitting here asking me if i thought i missed my one chance to run for president of the united states. life takes you in different directions. marsha, marsha. [inaudible] >> no, i mean you can't make these decisions with any regret, marsha. how could i be regretful being governor of the state of new jersey? i have a great job, and i love

doing it, and i'm doing some great things here, and there is a lot of great things still to accomplish. and so i don't feel any sense of regret at all. you know, i felt like it was my obligation, ace said before, given the seriousness, and the amount of people who were coming to me and asking me to reconsider to reconsider, and i did, and i thought a lot about this. i spent a lot of time. but in the end i came back to the same place that i was in the whole last year when everyone was asking me, which was, i don't want to leave this job, i made a commitment to the people of new jersey to fix the state and do this job, and it just never felt right to me to leave. and so i didn't. mark. [inaudible] >> listen, any advice i have for the people who are running i'll give directly to the people who

are running. i know i like me to use you as a conduit but i'll resist the temptation. the reason it's so important is because the president has failed. if you want to know why it's so important, you were there, read the speech i gave at reagan library. i think this is, you know, just an example of somebody who has failed the leadership test. and more than anything else in these jobs, what i've learned is, there is no substitute for knowing how to lead. everything else you can be taught. you can't be taught how to lead and how to make decisions. and unfortunately, even though there are areas, as you know, that i support this president in, overall he's failed the american people, because he's failed that absolute litmus test to be president of the united states and that's to know how to lead and decide an hasn't done that. >> you said there is still work to be done ...

[inaudible] >> nothing has changed. listen it's just all you people have shown up today and i get to have to press conference. nothing has changed. education reform is still my number one priority for the lame-duck session. whatever we can't get done there will be a top priority for the next session of the legislature. so, you know, all the things that i've talked about over time, nothing has changed in that regard. and, you know, this has been, you know, a really interesting time for me. and i continue -- i will continue to speak out when i feel compelled to on issues that matter for the country, and the only thing i feel -- you know, you asked if there was any regret, marsha, the only regret i have is that, you know, i've given such great tv exposure to some of the local reporters, who is going to have cats on tv now that i'm out of this race, nobody is going to have cats on tv. you won't be able to get on news 12 for gods sakes. that's about the only regret i have is that. max.

max. [inaudible] >> i'm not prepared to make any endorsement today. you know, as i said before i'm not a halfway kind of guy. if i feel like there is someone in the field who is -- gives us the best chance to defeat the president, i'll endorse that person and i'll work hard for that person, but i'm not in a position today to make that judgment. >> governor, people are going to ask you -- [inaudible] >> first off, why did the drumbeats get louder? i don't know you have to ask the people beating the drums. obviously i noticed they got a lot louder. that's why i decided to reconsider the decision. as far as mrs. reagan i had a great time with her last tuesday at the reagan library.

it was one of the great honors of my life to be invited by her to speak there. and we had a great dinner together. whatever conversation i had with nancy reagan is between me and nancy reagan. that's why i think all the reporting about this has been a little bit careless, because i know who was at the table that might. maybe some of them over heard things that she was saying to me, i don't know, but whatever occurred between me and mrs. reagan is between me and mrs. reagan and nobody else. steve in the back. [inaudible] >> listen, you know, my view on that is that is not even a relevant question any more. because i've made the decision not to run. and i made the decision not to run because i believe in my heart that this is where i belong, that i made a commitment here to the people of this

state. i tell you, mary pat and andrew and i were out to dinner on friday night and i had a whole bunch of people come up to me and say, you know, i really hope you run for president, if that's what you want to do, but i'll really miss you here. and that did a lot to reinforce what i was already feeling myself, because when you get into this whirlwind a little bit you begin to, you know, not lose your bearings a little bit and people in new jersey got me back on course over the time that this has been publicly considered. >> governor christie you have an election coming up in 2011. to what degree is this an opportunity for you to advance your agenda for what you've done in the state so far. >> i don't see this as a referendum, bob, i really don't. this is a race by race thing, we have some good candidates on the ballot from our side that i'm

trying to help as much as i can. to the extent they get elected they will help me to move our agenda forward more rapidly than it's moving now. on the other hand, you know, i've found a way to get some things done, even though we don't have the legislature. so, you know, we have some tools. we'll see how we do. in the back. [inaudible] >> as i said in the statement, i explored a lot of options and i listened to a lot of people. i made the final decision last night. [inaudible] >> neither. you know, i didn't really take a lot of time thinking about it that way. i am who i am. i think, you know, there is not a lot of artists here.

people would have judged me based upon what they see. what they see is what they get. new jersey has learned that. to the extent that we had some appeal for people around the country i think it was probably based on that. jonathan. [inaudible] >> on the first part of that, i don't think it says anything in particular about the field. i'd like to think it says something about me. and, you know, there are folks who feel like what we've done here in new jersey in a blue state, bringing people together and getting things done is something that they'd like to see in the country. and i think that's what it was really all about, jon. it wasn't my charm and good looks, you know that. so i think it was the accomplishments that we have here in new jersey that made people excited that maybe

divided government could work, maybe leading in a very bold and direct way could forge compromise, and i think that's what that was all about. and i've answered about vice president a bunch of times and the fact is i don't think there is anybody in america who would, you know, necessarily think my personality is best suited to being number two. [inaudible] >> sure it was. sure it was. listen, it's a no. lisa, it's a no until it's a yes. [laughter] >> i mean it's a no until it's a yes. i mean what i said was i'd reconsider my no, and i did, but the no never changed, as you can tell from standing right here today, and i'm saying no. so it's the same kind of answer. you know, listen, i know it's

your guys job to ask me this question like, you know, a dozen different ways, and i'll answer it almost a dozen different ways, which inc ifuriates my staff, but in the answer is the same as it always has been. [inaudible] >> we were in the mid st of the reconsideration when we went to the reagan library. those are things i felt for some time and i thought it was an appropriate forum to speak out about them. the speech itself or the reaction to the speech really didn't have any effect on my decision-making process. it was great to be there. i enjoyed the evening tremendously. i thought i had some important things to say, which is why i said them, but in the end, you know, it didn't have any effect on my decision of how i was

going to do things. >> how do you know we won't be here three months from now, six months from now on the eve of the republican national convention with people from the republican party coming back to you once again to reconsider? >> because i said no. and i've spoken to a lot of people this morning and told them the answer is no. so they could hear it from me personally. a lot of people have encouraged me, and the people were serious, and i think they understand that this was a than long shot for them to change my mind in the first place, but that i felt an obligation, given ace said before both the seriousness and the amount of people that were asking me to reconsider, to reconsider. but in the end they didn't change my mind because i feel in my heart what i'm doing is right and that is to stay in new jersey, to stay committed to the job that the people of this state gave me, and, again, i can't emphasize this enough. if you're looking for something else, it's not there.

it just didn't feel right to me to leave before the job was done. [inaudible] >> i don't know. i think in response to jonathan's question it's the same thing i -- [inaudible] >> you've got to let me answer first u know, you're new here you don't know the rules. people in the front will tell you that is not allowed here. the fact is i think it's about what we accomplished here in the state. that's why. they weren't searching. they came right to one target, and it was me, and it's been me for a longtime. i think it's because of what we've accomplished here. and i'm proud of that. but there is a lot more to do here. the state was pretty messed up when i took it over. and we are making great progress towards fixing it, but we are not there yet. and so i think that's what it was about. i don't think it's a reflection on other folks. monica. [inaudible]

>> well, you know, i found that the advice i got from other people to run for president was very dependent upon whether they won or lost. the ones who lost typically called it something like a nightmare, and the ones who won typically said it was really awful. so it was a slight difference, but not a significant one in terms of making your decision. no one to me endorsed the joy of running for president, in my experience. nobody really talked about that. everyone talked about the sense of duty and obligation and honor, and excitement about it, but, you know, nobody said, hey, this would be a really good thing to do if you have nothing else to do. it was not characterized that way. [inaudible]

>> i think candidates wouldn't say something like that, i think they want me to think kindly of them. i think if they were annoyed they would have held their fire. none of them said that to me. i don't think it was that kind of sense. the the people who objectively looked at me saw this was not something that i stoked. this was something that i pushed off, but it became more than i could push off without giving those folks a real serious reconsideration, which is which i did. and now i've made the judgment and that is that. [inaudible] >> look at the reagan speech. i mean, the reagan speech is my

statement on the state of our country both at home and around the world, and the things we need to do to fix it. i thought long and hard about that speech. i wrote most of it myself. and it's how i feel about where our country is and the challenges that we face right now and what we need to change it. so i'll continue to speak out, as i said before i think, i'll continue to speak out on issues that really matter to me, and where i think my voice can be useful. so i'm going to continue to play a role in these things to the extent that i can be helpful. i'm vice chairman much the rga, i'll be looking for republican gubernatorial candidates around the country over the next year and a kw-rts or so, and so there will be a lot for me to do, and if there are other things that people want me to do, i'll consider doing them as long as they are not inconsistent with me being able to really perform my duties here at home. charlie.

[inaudible] >> you worry a lot more than i do, charlie. really, we've got to get you some help. you're obviously over wrought. it's so great to know charlie is so worried about me and my future. couldn't tell it from reading his columns. that's hr-frplt i always thought you had one kind of idea about what my future should be, charlie. matt. [inaudible] >> matt, you know, i didn't mark

it down in my diary, okay. it's an evolving thing, i had lots of people as you all know. you know about lots of the different contacts i had and folks that approached me. i can't say there was a moment. mary pat and i at one point, i don't remember when it was, had a conversation where we said, you know, we better start really thinking about whether we need to reconsider this decision. it certainly was within the last few weeks but i can't point to a particular date. yes, sir. [inaudible] >> that is such a shock to people in new jersey, right? i don't even know how to address that, that's crazy, that's crazy it really is. listen, that's when i knew that i could actually win, when they started -- when all these people started shooting at me before i even got in the race. so, that's when you really know you've got something special is when they start shooting at you

before you get in. but listen i've said all along i am am a principled conservative. but as ronald reagan said you have to compromise to get things done. that doesn't mean compromise your principles, that means not getting everything you want. if somebody calls that liberal, bein compromising, then they are dead wrong. in the end, you know, you look at ronald reagan's record, that's what i talked about at the library, ronald reagan had a record that was replete with principled compromises in order to move our country forward. someone wants to accuse me of that, more than happy to wear that mantle like ronald reagan did. josh. [inaudible]

>> no, that's all stuff to be seen in the future. i think it's very important for the republican party in new jersey to play and important role in determining who the nominee of our party is going to be. and i'll continue to give advice -- advice to folks in my party in the state about how we should conduct ourselves in the presidential process, and hopefully by advice will be followed and we'll see how it goes. let's go. terry. [inaudible] >> no i can't say that. i have no idea. i haven't begun to think about that. i'm not yet midway through my term, and u know, there will come a time when i have to make that decision. one of the things i've learned, you know, is that you don't make any decision before you absolutely feel like you have

to. i don't feel like i have to make that decision now, so i'm not going to make that decision now, no. ginger. [inaudible] >> sure, not to respond -- listen -- i think you guys know this. i'm not particularly self-conscious about this. it's not news flash to me that i'm overweight, you know, and so i saw letterman's top 10 list. i thought probably eight out of the ten were really funny. i saw that, i saw some of the stuff that some of the other folks did. you know, listen, you've got to know who you are in this life, you know, and i think for me their job is to be funny, and if one of the things they want to make fun of is my weight, then it's fair game, i'm a public figure, so they can make fun of it. all i care about is that they

actually are funny so that i can at least laugh about it while they are mocking me, you know. i thought letterman said some funny stuff. the guy that was sent off to go and come up with jokes that weren't about me being fat, that guy was really good, you know, and so there was a lot of good spots that they did that i found funny. i watched them. some of the stuff i didn't see it initially and andrew would come to me with his computer saying, hey, dad, did you see this one? so he's been grounded but -- [laughter] >> but, you know, ginger, it's really -- it's not something that is -- that bothers me. i'm not self-conscious about it. i'm selfaware. it is what it is. hopefully they just -- they continue to be funny. you know, that's the most important thing. if they are going to poke fun at you, let's make sure you laugh in the process. brian. >> you're advisers put together a scenario of how you --

[inaudible] >> i made the decision last night. i made the decision last night, and i called my folks this morning and told them, and told them i wanted to announce it this afternoon. you know, i went to -- i went to bed last night for the first time in a few days knowing exactly what i wanted to do. and then i called everybody this morning and let them know what we were doing and that was it. not a very complicated process. as for the politics, again it was never a consideration. it was about me getting to the point where i believed it was okay for me to leave. and i never got there, brian. i mean, it's just -- i never could justify the idea of leaving the state early.

and -- before the job was done. that's kind of where it's at. the rest of it is kind of irrelevant. [inaudible] >> listen, i don't imagine i'm going to be asked. i just don't think i have the personality to be asked. seriously. can you imagine? the guy would ro probably want to get a fruit taste tere, i mean i don't know. seriously. i don't see it, again it's not relevant, it really isn't. and i don't see it happening, you don't run for that job. i'm not looking for that job. after everything i've said today, you know, this is the job i want. thinks the job i want to do. and i'm going to keep doing it as best a guy can do it over the course of the time the people the state give me the opportunity to do so. that's what i'm focused on.

i'm not focused on the rest of it. lisa. [inaudible] >> how could i have government even in? [inaudible] >> see, i have to point out to all of you who are new here that lisa is getting very, very good, because she anticipated my answer when i began to interrupt her and she's now lost the moment for us. so, i have no other answer, lisa, that was my answer, i would just get in. this isn't hard. i've run campaigns before, i've run lots of campaigns before. if you wanted to get in you'd get in. and any time you get into a race there are pluses and minuses to your candidacy. i have never seen for any candidate a pro and con list put together where there were all pros and no cons. it never happens. you decide to get in it's something you get in. that's the way it works. matt. [inaudible]

>> not an issue. i have complete confidence in all those folks. i'm the guy that got elected. this isn't abouthis is about the commitment i made to the people of the state. it's not lack of confidence in anybody else. i'm the one who made the commitment. i'm the one who asked for the job and campaigned for it and asked for it and that's in the end what it was all about was my commit tomorrow them. it does not reflect any lack of confidence in any of the people that i work with at all. it's just about my commitment to the folks who voted for me and who elected me and even to the folks who didn't vote for me but who now u know, have me as governor. it's my commitment to them, that's what it's really all about. it's not about any lack of confidence in them. marsha. [inaudible]

>> nah, you know i'm not a political analyst. i don't get paid to be one on tv. halpern does that all the time. it's not my job to do that. if i have particular advice for any of the republican candidates the appropriate way for me to convey that advice toys get on the phone with them and talk to them directly and not through all the cameras. if i have advice, if i have observations on that stuff i'll give it to them directly but i'm not going to do it out here. >> governor -- [inaudible] >> taking you out of the equation. [laughter] >> taking you out of the equation is that a fair question put to any candidate, are you too overweight to be president? is that a fair question to ask?

>> no, it's not. ginger asked me before about the comedians, and i think that they've been great, and they have free reign to do what they want to do. the people who pretend to be serious commentators who wrote about this are among the most ignorant people i've ever heard in my life. to say that because you're overweight you are therefore undisciplined, you know, i don't think undisciplined people get to achieve great pions in our society, and, so, that kind of stuff is just ignorant. and the people who wrote it are ignorant people. and, you know, at least the comedians don't try to pretend to be serious. they are comedians, making fun of it, that's fine. some of these folks who have written that stuff in what pretend to be serious columns, you know, they are just jokes. and what they do is they further

stigma tize people in a way that is really irrelevant to people's ability to do a particular job. and, so, you know, those are the people that we should really look down upon are those folks. the comedians, they get paid to do that stuff. like i said, as long as they are funny what the hell do i care. [inaudible] >> i still think that -- let me say it this way. i still think that the debate has to get onto the really important issues. and i think that, you know, the public to an extent is really hung errinh u.n. gering for that. to get to the issues we all know are the really important issues. how do we deal with our short term deficit, our long term debt. how do we reform a tax code that

is putting a wet blanket over our economy. how do we improve america's standing in the world if we don't have our house in order at home. how do you intend to do all that? and telling people the truth about, you know, moving us from an entitlement society to an opportunity society. trying to make sure that those things are available for our kids. i don't hear a lot of conversation about that. i hope to hear it. and one of the reasons that i gave the speech that i gave at the reagan library and i think i said this at the time was to try to conspiracy more of that discussion, try to -- i said that in the q and a is try to spur discussion on this stuff, to try to nudge people along to do that. and that's what i will continue to try to do, because i think that's what's in the best interests of our country. and that is my, you know, first obligation as a citizen is to speak out on the things that i think are in the best interests of our country. that's kind of u know you know,

where i sit on that one. it's up to the candidates themselves to decide their campaign. they get to decide what they think they want to convey and what they wanted to communicate. in my view they should be communicating -- i'm freaking you out, aren't i -- in my view we should be communicating and conveying things on the really important issues, and i don't think they've done that yet to a large extent. josh. megyn: it is tuesday, october 4th, and governor chris christie of new jersey is officially not running for president. he had made it clear time and time again that he did not intend to run for president, did not want to run for president, didn't think he was ready to run for president. now he has admitted that he did give it reconsideration, that he went back and considered it again and again after all these heavy weights in the republican party, big money donors, regular american citizens urged him, pleaded with him, begged him in some instances to reconsider,

something he said he did, that he did reconsider it seriously with his family, but saying he has a commitment to new jersey, saying the people sent me to trenton to get a job done, and i'm just not prepared to walk away. and putting it this way in terms of the timing of all of this. listen to the governor moments ago. >> i've thought long and hard about this decision. i've explored the options, i've listened to so many people and considered whether this was something that i needed to take on. but in the end what i've always felt was the right decision remains the right decision today. now is not my time. i have a commitment to new jersey that i simply will not abandon. megyn: the governor saying he did not feel it was right to leave before his job in new jersey was finished. so what does all of this mean for governor christie and for the republican race for president going forward?

bret baier is the anchor of special report. he is with me now. it was dramatic political theater. even the governor admitted in recent days heed given it reconsideration. there was a bit of a question mark as to what he would do. what does it mean now for those who are in this race, have declared they are in this race and have spent millions of dollars and time, efforts and time of their own in trying to persuade americans to vote for them. >> megyn a couple of interesting things. one was that governor christie said he made the decision last night after this reconsideration. i thought that was a very interesting point. the big donors, the big pushers in the republican party had talked to him, but there hadn't been an outreach in new hampshire or iowa, or south carolina, so that was an indication that this was going to happen. what does it mean? it means that big money could be on the move, that some of the big dollars that have been on the side lines frozen, waiting for this official decision may actually move into this gop race. and i think it also means that

everything accelerates a little bit faster. as the calendar compresses we start getting into, you know, late october, november, republican consultant mark ma kin on was quoted as saying, dream dating is over with this decision, quote, time to love the one you're with. and i think that that is really indicative of where the party is. while there are some people who are still calling on governor palin to get in. that is less and less likely to happen. and now it's time to love the one you're with. megyn: tell that to the farmer in nebraska who has governor christie recounted in an extraordinary story did the following, listen to the governor. >> i mean, we got fedex over the weekend at home from a farmer in nebraska some my children asking my children to sit me down and tell me that it was okay to miss their games, and their concerts, and their events because our country needed me more, and that if they did that that they would

be remembered in the history books as the people who changed the course of our country's history. we got literally dozens of letters like that at home, to our home address from people all over the country. megyn: the pressure he was under, bret was incredible. it's not so much about governor christie at this point. what does it say about the farmer in nebraska, perhaps mrs. reagan, perhaps other top republican feelings about the field as it now stands? >> reporter: one that they had some concerns, and they ultimately in the republican party want to find someone who can beat president obama. that is the ultimate goal. and they saw in governor christie that person. now that he's out they'll have to look at the people who are in the field. as we've talked about governor romney has had a ceiling from 22 to 26% an hasn't really broken through in many polls. herman cain is surging. he may see some more activity since he's kind of plain spoken,

similar to governor christie in that way in his delivery and answer to questions. but the big question is, money and support. and when that all starts to move it could move quickly. whether governor romney -- he is well positioned to take most advantage, perhaps, of the chris christie phenomena and all of the focus. megyn: let me ask you one quick question before i let you go. one of the things that people love about chris christie is that he's blunt, he's plain spoken and he doesn't take a lot of guff from anybody. check out this one moment he had with this one reporter at that press conference. and i want to ask you about it. >> if you're looking for something else it's not there. it just didn't feel right to me to leave before the job was done and -- >> again, i think in response to jonathan's question it's the same thing. megyn: that wasn't it. it was the one where somebody

said, can i ask you something that is off topic an turned to that reporter and said, no. and then he said, you screwed around and now you're out. and he went back and gave the guy his chance later. honestly, isn't it moments like that, just straight talk, and a sense of humor that makes people connect with him. is there anybody else in this gop field that has that? >> reporter: well i mean herman cain has tapped into some of that with some of his answers, some of his straight talk, some of his humor and people have been attracted to it. i think chris christie is unique in the way that he does it, as he's a governor, and is governing while he's doing that. i also thought his answers about weight, and his weight issue were really poignant and ones that i think a lot -- he definitely won over the plus-size americans. megyn: that's the majority of our country. the majority of our country has a little weight problem. >> reporter: who would say, hey, listen, he's right. and so he pushed back hard on the folks who were very serious and said he was out of control

and continue get himself in control with his weight, and therefore couldn't lead the country. i think those answers, those types of answers are what has been very attractive about governor christie. megyn: yeah, bret baier thanks for standing by. feel better my friend. >> reporter: voice is gone. megyn: it's in a saucy place, it hasn't crossed over to disgusting yet. >> reporter: okay thanks for that. megyn: see you on tonight. 6:00pm monday through friday eastern time. we'll have to hold these guys over. christopher hahn is a former aid to chuck schumer and chris plant is host of the chris plant show. thank you for watching that. let me get general impression and we'll talk about specific items, in particular his message about press. let me start with you chris hahn. >> clearly the guy takes his job as governor very, very seriously which is very refreshing considering some of the other flavors of the week in the

republican party like sarah palin who thought it was okay to walk away in two years when the state had lots of problems. i think chris christie getting in the race would have changed the map. he would have been a serious threat to president obama. he would have put new jersey and new york in play. he would have played well in pennsylvania as well. seeing him walk away is a sigh of relief to some democrats. republicans are looking to who should be the nominee. john mccain wasn't leading in the polls until december 31st in the year before his selection as the republican nominee. we may not yet see who the frontrunner is. i any rick perry is fading fast. he will not survive this primary season. i think, you know, it just keeps piling on for him. i think republicans missed and opportunity for alexis christoforous me. you only get one shot as m & m says. chris christie is young and he'll have another chance.

megyn: he took two noted shots at president obama. here is the first one. this is the one about how he wants president obama to be a one termer. >> i think this is, you know, just an example of somebody who has failed the leadership test. and more than anything else in these jobs what i've learned is, there is no substitute for knowing how to lead. everything else you can be taught. you can't be taught how to lead and how to make decisions. and unfortunately even though there are areas, as you know, that i support this president in, overall he's failed the american people, because he's failed that absolute litmus test to be president of the united states, and that's how to know how to lead and decide, and he hasn't done that. terry. oh, no, listen what i care most about is that the country is better. i think the country will be better by making sure that president obama is a one termer.

megyn: chris plant does he now become the spokesman if you will, the noncandidate spokesman for the republican party? >> well it's certainly a role that he can play. i'm happy to have him play that role. he's a very articulate guy. no holds barred, he just speaks the plain truth as we all know it to be in this particular case, and i love having his voice as a part of the chorus. you know, there is a lot to like about the guy. he's obviously very charming, he's great on his feet. you've got to love the way he slaps around the press. i think almost everyone appreciates that. but he was not the second coming of reagan, he's got a lot of problems that he was going to have to face if he did get into the race on some very important issues for the republican party and for conservatives in particular, starting with illegal immigration. megyn: hold that thought, chris. we're going to pick that up. i want to speak about the attack on president obama's leadership and whether that was legitimate. we'll do that right after this break. and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. [ woman ] lower cholesterol. [ man 2 ] yummy.

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megyn: fox news alert governor chris christie of new jersey confirming on camera once and for all he will not seek the republican nomination for president in 2012 saying now is not my time, i have a commitment to new jersey, making it absolutely clear in an address this morning that for now he is out and does not plan on reconsidering on a go forward basis. also making clear he's not interested in a vice presidental role saying no one in their right mind would think that my personality is best suited for number two, saying he made the final decision last night. and declining to offer an endorsement for any other candidate today. rejoining me now christopher hahn who is a former aid to senator chuck schumer and chris plant, host of the chris plant show. chris plant i want to pick up with you on appointed attack to by christie on president obama's leadership. something we heard from him at the reagan like hroeub last week

and honing it in today saying he has failed that litmus test, he has failed the leadership test saying everything else he can be taught but you can't be taught how to load and make decisions. do you expect to hear more than that going forward now? >> i would certainly think so. the president doesn't have anything positive to run on. he doesn't have any results that he can point to with pride that will get more people to vote for him. and his failure of leadership is everywhere. it's in evidence everywhere. the attacks on republicans that, you know, he had control of both houses of congress for the first two years of his presidency. in the end it's going to boil down to results. and the president fails to lead, he doesn't bring people together, he's very, see devisive, he divides not only republican, democrat, conservative and liberal. along lines of race and class in particular, gender, sexual preference, you name it this president divides us and it's just their way of doing politics. i don't think he can ride this tee vice euf wave all the way to election day and expect to win.

megyn: the bottom line is this. this president has reached out across the aisle many times only to have his hand slapped back. he was very accomplished in the first two years with his legislative package, probably more so than any other president in a two-year span since roosevelt. >> oh, please. >> some of the things he's going to accomplish would save us from what would be aggression in this country. we've seen the economy grow in 2009 and it's growing in 2010. if the republicans would give in and compromise we would have real movement still. that's why chris christie can't run for president right now, because the republicans are so uncompromising, had he chose to run my friend chris plant who i love would have rejected him. megyn: i have to leave it at that chris squared. thank you both. the perry campaign reacts live as well as ron paul. republicans want a special investigator on eric holder, an update. my doctor told me calcium

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jersey governor chris christie has made it official, saying after giving it careful reconsideration, he will not be running for president. not now. welcome to "america live", i'm megyn kelly. he spoke for 40 minutes but he had one central message. >> over the last few weeks, i've thought long and hard about this decision, i've explored the option, listened to so many people and considered whether this was something i needed to take on, but in the end, what i've always felt was the right decision remains the right decision today. now is not my time. megyn: so what does this mean for the rest of the republican field? ray sullivan communications director for the rick perry campaign and my guest now. ray, thank you very much for being here. your reaction to the news about governor chris christie. >> governor christie is a great governor, governor perry actually helped get him elected at the republican governor's association, he's a star,

he'll be a major player going forward and a big ally to the nominee here this fall. megyn: the conventional wisdom, take it for what its worth because it comes from the pundits, is that he's likely to endorse romney, not perry, that he's more of a new england moderate, northeast moderate, less so along the stripes of rick perry. do you think that's likely, are you seeking his endorsement? >> we would love to have his support, they've been friends for quite some time. fact of the matter is, if you're looking for a blunt spoken governor who has a balanced budget, cut spending, set forth a clear path for getting america working again, governor perry is the guy. we look forward to having support from all over the country going forward here through the primary and in the general election next year. megyn: so many folks talked about how this is a -- this is a "washington post" poll, about 42 percent of republicans and republican leaning independents said they would like to see christie join the race.

does that suggest to you, ray, there is a dissatisfaction with the current field which would include your guy? >> i think it suggests we're 90 days away at least from the first vote to be cast in a caucus or primary, and that there's a lot of work to do. governor perry is traveling the country, talking about his record as having the best job climate in the country, balancings six budgets, we're going to be rolling out economic and other plans for the future. there's plenty of time before the voters decide, and we feel like we're in a good position. the governor entered the race strong, we've got work to do and we'll roll up our sleeves and get that done. keep in mind that rick perry has never lost an election, he's always underestimated, and is the most accomplished, solid conservative in the race for president. megyn: well, he is talking, but the polls seem to be suggesting that he's fading. the more he talks, the more he goes down. i want to get your reaction. i mentioned this "washington

post" poll. it reports dramatic decline for rick perry in the last month, saying he's lost about half of his support. romney now leads at 25 percent, which is identical to his support from a month ago. rick perry is now tied with herman cain for second with just 16 percent. and that's a 13-point drop for perry and a 12-point gain for herman cain. your reaction, ray. >> these polls move around. governor perry continues to talk about job creation, to talk about balancing budgets, talking about securing that southern border, which is manager that we've worked hard to do, and there's a lot of time left. the electorate is clearly fluid, governor romney has been in this race for six or seven years and seems to have a cap on his support. we plan on taking advantage of that, working hard in iowa, new hampshire, south carolina, and those early states, talking about job crearks talking about a bright, optimistic strong future for this country which we have not had the

last four years. megyn: perry was attacked by "the washington post" this week which released a report citing unnamed sources about an offensive name for a hunting camp that he used, that begins with the letter n. and there was a report -- there had been some pushback from the campaign, saying that the governor also found that name offensive, pined over the rock that that name appeared on and so on. nonetheless, herman cain has come out this week and called that name insensitive , essentially taking a shot at governor perry for it. your reaction to mr. cain weighing in. >> well, governor perry and his family took care of that almost 30 years ago, as soon as they entered that hunting lease. important to remember that that was not their property. they didn't own it. they didn't control it. but took strong action at the time. we agree, that is an offensive, outdated word, the governor and his family covered that up, it was not

on any of the documents that the perry -- that governor perry signed on that lease. and this is a thing of the past. the governor has a strong record of being exclusive, of being pro jobs for everybody in our state, and we've seen in the last 24 hours, a lot of folks on both sides of the aisle stand up and say rick perry is a solid, honorable, fair guy who has been -- has done a good job in the state of texas representing the whole state. megyn: even the white house dame out, jay carney was given the opportunity to comment on it and he said the hunting camp nail was clearly offensive and it was clear to him that governor perry also believed that. what i also was -- also was interested in is what you thought of h. man cain wearing in on it. >> this is the season where the candidates try to take advantage of little openings here. i think mr. cain has since

changed his remarks a little bit. this is something that occurred and was properly resolved almost 30 years ago we're going to go forward talking about job creation, balancing budgets, and getting the country back on track and not get distracted with 30-year-old issues that were properly and quickly addressed at that time. megyn: well ray, it looks like you will have perhaps one less person on the stage at the next debate. governor christie hasn't actually been there but the threat of governor christie has been there. that has now been removed and we appreciate your time. all the best to you ray. >> thanks megyn, take care. >> you too. want to mention that we're going to have ron paul to react to the breaking news on governor christie and some news that he made this week as well, ron paul, coming up in about ten minutes. another fox news alert, this time on call for a special counsel to investigate whether the attorney general of the united states lied to congress. house republicans, sending a letter to president obama, telling him that attorney

general eric holder cannot investigate himself. this all started back in may, when eric holder testified before congress about operation fast & furious. now, that's the botched federal gun running sting that may have led to the death of an american border agent, where we were letting people take guns down to mexico, we were going to track them to track down drug cartels. it didn't work out. we wound up basically giving guns away in a lethal way. in any event, eric holder told a story to congress about when he knew about this operation, and now, congress is firing back, suggesting he may have directly misled them in this exchange. >> as attorney general, we have two border patrol agents who are dead, who were killed by guns that were allowed, as far as we can tell, to deliberately walk out of gun shops under the program often called fast & furious.

this program, as you know, and the president has been asked about it, you've been asked about it, allowed for weapons to be sold to straw purchasers and ultimately, many of those weapons are today in the hands of drug cartels and other criminals. when did you first know about the program officially i believe called fast & furious, to the best of your knowledge, what date? >> i'm not sure of the exact date because i probably heard about fast & furious for the first time over the last few weeks. megyn: over the last few weeks. the problem is, a memo to eric holder dated about a year before that exchange referred to operation fast & furious, saying, quote, this investigation involves a phoenix-based firearms trafficking ring responsible for the purchase of 1500 firearms that were supplied to the mexican drug trafficking cartel. william la jeunesse has more, he's live in washington now. william. >> reporter: megyn, it's not just that document. remember attorney general holder basically claims he did not know about fast &

furious until sometime in april of this year, but take a look at this document from october of last year. holder's close aide, lanny breuer, chief the criminal division, tells holder they are ready to issue indictment necessary fast & furious, a take down, if you will, then the document you're talking about that, earlier than that, in july of last year, the director of the national drug intelligence center, which is part of the department of justice, told holder that fast & furious was responsible for the purchase of those 1500 firearms than then supplied to the mexican trafficking cartels, yet less than a month ago the attorney general denied that fast & furious involved justice department officials in washington. >> the notion that somehow or other that this thing reaches into the upper levels of the justice department is something that at this point i don't think is supported by the facts. >> in october of last year, a deputy assistant to the attorney general here in

washington mentions them by name and calls it a tricky case because of the number of guns as significant. another attorney general writes him back and says it's not going to be any surprise that a bunch of u.s. guns are being used in mexico, so i'm not sure how much grief we'll get for gun walking. why is that significant? because just a month ago, another deputy attorney general said and told the congress that the doj does not knowingly allow gun walking, something that documents now show as we have seen do appear to be a false statement. as for the special counsel, megyn, if the president does prove it, we are told by our capitol hill producer that someone in the attorney general would still, however, appoint who that individual would be, that they would not, however, report to the attorney general, but would basically report to no one, and of course, that could offer some benefit to the president politically because right now, with

these headlines, he's getting beat up pretty much every week and this could end that at least for the time being. back to you. megyn: william la jeunesse, thank you. the department of justice speaking to this in a paper statement saying essentially that when eric holder gave that testimony to darrell issa, he was speaking generally, he was speaking about having learned about the problems with fast & furious, he only learned that a few weeks ago. of course, he knew about the greater operation well prior to that. so we'll get into the department of justice's statement and to this claim now that a special prosecutor, special counsel, needs to be appointed when we are joined by congressman darrell is in just a bit. he is leading the inquiry into fast & furious, he is the man behind this investigation, and he will be my guest, live, straight ahead. federal alert coming in, police are holding a news conference right now on the man hunt for whoever opened fire on drivers trying to drive on a california

freeway. we are watching that, we will have the news from it for you in ten minutes. and, president ronald reagan famously asked are you better off today than you were four years ago. president obama was asked yesterday how america would answer. michael reagan is next on this surprise response. next tuesday is election day. next tuesday, a lot of you will go to the polls and stand there in the polling place and make a decision. i think when you make that decision, it might be well if you would ask yourself, are you better off than you were four years ago?

>> next tuesday is election day. next tuesday, a lot of lu go to the polls and stand there in the polls place and make a decision. i think when you make that decision, it might be well if you would ask yourself, are you better off than you were four years ago? is it easier for you to go and buy things in the store than it was four years ago? is theremo or less unemployment in the country than there was four years ago? is america as respected throughout the world as it was? >> megyn: well, that question, are you better off than you were four years ago from a candidate, ronald reagan, back in 1980, when the economy was in tatters, it forever set a benchmark for how we judge our. s, and abc news yesterday asked president obama how america might answer. here is his response:

>> i don't think they're better off than they were four years ago. they're not better off than they were before lehman's collapsed, before the financial crisis, before this extraordinary recession that we're going through. i think that what we've seen is that we've been able to make steady progress to stabilize the economy, but the unemployment rate is still way too high. megyn: michael reagan is a political consultant and chairman of the reagan group. michael, this is already making the rounds as likely to be front and center in a p ad against the president, fairly or unfairly? what say you? >> well, fairly. fairly in the fact that george stephanopoulos is asking the question, not the republican nominee, basically the president of the united states teed it up and he's allowing everybody else to hit it out of the park with his answer he gave yesterday, no, we're not better off than we were four years ago, three years ago, two years a. last week, if you look at the market, and the tanking of the market. here's a president who, in

fact, wants to play from behind, and has set himself up in that position. megyn: but you know, isn't it true? like, it's true, and i think everybody would acknowledge it's true -- i mean, four years ago was before the collapse, it was still back in the glory days, before we hit the 2008 market collapse and so on, and everything started happening while they were running for president. so he had to answer it that way, didn't he? >> well, you know, he had to answer it that way but he's setting everything up for a 2012 election, trying to set things up t. really wasn't his fault, things he's going through now, he's trying to fix what george bush did to the economy and if it wasn't for him it would be worse, so yes, are they worse off than they were four years ago, but look, things are getting progressively better. but as people wake up in the morning and open up the newspaper, turn on fox news, turn on whatever it might be, they fight the market crashing, jobs aren't available, unemployment is up to 9 percent and he's unwilling to accept any responsibility for where we

are now. he keeps on telling us things are great. people wake up in the morning and they got pink slips saying they don't have a job. so he answered it in a political way, even though he might feel that that's the only answer he could give. the reality of it is that's the answer he gave only for the political side of it, not the other side. megyn: the interesting thing, it was coupled with another message, of course they're not better off than four years ago, and talked about other things, look how bad it's been, collapse of lehman, but he said i'm used to be being -- to being an underdog and called also an underdog in item of getting his own reelection, the incumbent president in the white house. is that fair, or is that also a tack take? >> that's also a tactic, the fact that he ran as an underdog the last time, but this time is different than it was when he was a senator from illinois. he has now set himself up. he is an underdog because of the policy he has put in place, he is the underdog because those people waking

up that don't have jobs and what have you, in fact, are not happy with the president of the united states, the vice president of the united states, bernanke or anybody else in washington, d.c. and now with the problems and solyndra and fast & furious and what have you, people are saying we don't want this man out here. look at the polls. any republican today would get the nomination, would beat him in a general election, so he becomes the underdog because of his polices and he's unwilling to listen to -- as bill clinton listened to newt gingrich, ronald reagan listened to tip o'neill, he refuses to listen to john boehner. you may not think of him as the commander in chief, but as the arrogant in chief. megyn: not is fan is where i'm getting! gleaning from your comments. thank you michael. we want to tell the world about your tweet, told you so about christie. i don't have to vote for obama, republicans, quit your whining and vote for your candidate. we'll leave it there. >> thank you.

megyn: we have breaking news coming in on a sniper on the loose, targeting cars on a california freeway. just ahead, new details from a police briefing. that is just chilling. plus, did the attorney general lie to congress about a gun running sting gone wrong? the justice department now says congress misunderstood his answer. we will lay out the evidence and let you decide who's telling the truth. >> did you first know about the program officially i believe called fast & furious? >> i'm not sure of the exact date but i probably heard about fast & furious for the first time over the last few weeks.

than him staying out because he would have diluted the votes of all the other candidates. megyn: so many have speculated about whether he'd get in and a lot of folks wanted him to get in, "the washington post" poll put him at 42 percent said they'd like to see him join

the race, 42 percent of republicans and right leaning independents. why? are they sis cafdo dissatisfied with you and the other members in the field? >> i tell you what, the supporters i have aren't the most dissatisfied, they're the most solid of the supporters, they don't come and go, and the numbers keep going up. yes, i think the others, where the supporters come and go, they should be concerned but obviously, it has not been settled. we haven't had a primary yet and that's a couple mons off yet, it will be january before we know, and we just have to -- from our viewpoint, measure what we're getting and whether we're getting the support and the money that we raised and so far we're doing quite well. megyn: this latest poll shows that you're in the fourth position, rom in at number one, 25 percent, perry and cain are basically tied at second with 16 percent and you're third at 11 percent, you're still in the double digits, and the post report is about p.y's fall, he's fallen one # points, down to 16 percent. it's almost exactly the same number that herman cain has

risen. what do you make of perry's fall since he's entered this race? >> well, i think it's just a matter of people getting to know about the candidate. there was a lot of fanfare when he entered it, a lot of enthusiasm, but after asking a lot of questions, they looked at his record, and it didn't satisfy a lot of people so they reassessed it and i guess they've changed their minds. >> megyn: you made news at a town hall yesterday where you suggested that president obama, in connection with this -- he basically took out this terrorist anwar al-awlaki and you came out and said you believe it might have been an impeachable offense for him to order this guy's death. he's an american citizen, but he hooked up with al-qaeda and of course, a few officials said he was a terrorist plotter with many plots on the homeland. do you believe that that was an impeachable offense by our president? >> again, it's interesting, how the media brings out -- or creates their own news. i never brought up the subject as a casual -- there was a question thrown out to

me, and i answered it honestly, and they said i floated the issue of possible impeachment. that's so far removed. yes, i answered the question. when i think seriously about it the ramifications of this is very, very serious and i said almost owl our presidents have committed unconstitutional offenses in my lifetime, and some of them have been pretty bad, and i think -- quite frankly, issuing the killing of an american citizen without any charges -- just remember, adolph eichman, how can you be worse off, they thought enough of the rule of law they took him into courts and tried him and then they executed him. i like that respect for law, that they exem plified at that time. i don't know why we're incapable of doing that and emphasizing our constitution. the fifth amendment is rather clear, you cannot take life without due process of law, so if you throw that out casually, i

think it's a very serious matter. megyn: but apparently, you can under certain circumstances, if it's an enemy combatant and there was a famous case from the united states supreme court heard in 194245 involved involved -- that involved hitler sending spies on the united states soil and they got caught and those guys by order of fdr were tried, they was declared enemy combatants, tried by a military commission and ordered to be electrocuted, which they were seven weeks later in the american chair, including an american citizen, the united states supreme court when asked to intervene said we have no problem with t. unanimously. >> well, i think what you're failing to include in your statement is the fact that there was a legitimately declared war against a country that declared war against us. there is no declared war. we we haven't declared war since 1941. so there is a big difference of that. i mean, just now to say that awlaki was an enemy combatant, no -- the

government hasn't presented any evidence. they deny -- we don't have it. they don't even have proof that he belonged to al-qaeda. i'm not defending the guy. he's probably a very bad guy. but what i'm doing is defending the process, i'm defending innocent american people who someday could possibly be treated this way. this is the way we lose our liberty, incrementally. when i see what's happening at our airports and the loss of our privacy and the invasion of searches and seizures without a search warrant, i think that people should realize this, and they should be very concerned. megyn: congressman ron paul, thank you very much for being here. >> you're welcome. megyn: all the best, sir. right now, she may be on a flight to her home town of seattle. but why amanda knox's legal troubles are not yet over. plus, we're getting reports of big news from the manslaughter trial of michael jackson's doctor, a key piece of evidence that could seriously hurt the defense. wait until you hear what just came out. we will have that for you,

momentarily. and did america's top law enforcer lie to congress about a botched gun tracking sting? or was there just a communications failure in a house hearing room? the question, the answer, and congressman darrell issa, next. >> when did you first know about the program, officially i believe called fast & furious? to the best of your knowledge, what date? >> i don't recall the exact date but i probably heard about fast & furious for the first time over the last few weeks.

mig fox news alert on call for a special counsel to probe whether attorney general eric holder lied to congress. back in may, eric holder testified about operation fast & furious, that's the botched federal gun running sting that inadvertently armed some of mexico's most dangerous criminals. we were trying to track them, instead, we armed them. the issue now is the question the attorney general was asked and his response in this exchange before congress in may of 2011: >> mr. attorney general, we have two border patrol agents who are dead, who were killed by guns that were allowed as far as we can tell were allowed to deliberately walk out of gun shops due to a program called fast & furious.

this program as you know and the president has been asked about it, you've been asked about it, allowed for weapons to be sold to straw purchasers and ultimately, many of those weapons are today in the hands of drug cartels and other criminals. when did you first know about the program officially i believe called fast & furious to the best of your knowledge, what date? >> i'm not sure of the exact date but i probably heard about fast & furious the last time over the last few weeks. hig mig that was may third, 2011. but now a memo has surfaced to eric holder from about a year prior to that testimony that refers to operation fast & furious, specifically saying, quote, this investigation involves a phoenix-based firearms trafficking ring responsible for the purchase of 1500 firearms that were then supplied to the mexicoan drug trafficking cartel. and that's not the only evidence. california republican darrell issa is chairman of the house oversight government reform committee and the man you saw

questioning the attorney general in that exchange. sir, thank you very much for being here, back with us on the program. >> thank you megyn. megyn: let me start with this. now house republicans are asking for a special counsel. do you believe that the attorney general lied to congress? >> well, certainly, megyn, the statement made by the attorney general is not supported. he cannot tell us that he misunderstood that question in a way in which even though he knew about fast & furious, he was getting weekly briefings, somehow he thought it was something different. megyn: why not? >> well, because we've read the memos. because it's very clear that if he looked -- look, he has two choices, he can be incompetent at the point which weekly briefings and memos don't mean anything, or at least knew something and chose to say he didn't in hopes we would go away. the challenge that chairman lamar smith of ju lishrary and i have is to hold him accountable, to come before us, to, in fact, explain what he knew and when he knew it and this time, get it accurate. but more importantly, the

people on both sides of the border who have seen loved ones die, they deserve to know who authorized this program, who allowed it to go on, who funded it, and how we're going to prevent anything this stupid from happening again in the future. megyn: let me jump in, because the department of justice gave a statement, and they said with respect to those weekly briefings, they say they provided general overviews and status updates. none reference the tactics that allowed guns to cross the border. they say when you asked eric holder about the controversial aspects of fast & furious, that's when he waso what he was speaking to when he said i learned of them a few weeks ago, the controversial aspect, not operation fast & furious itself. >> look f. that's the case, then he deliberately misled congress. he answered in a fashion that was not truthful, because he swore to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. his statement by definition would have been like bill clinton defining the meaning of is is. megyn: well, why couldn't he

have just been confused by the we -- question, seeing whether you were trying to get to the controversial stuff about fast & furious and accurately understanding that's what you were interested in versus the entire operation? >> very good point. i know eric holder. i've watched him for a long time. he loves to pick on the nuances, he loves to come back to you and say that, you know, what about this, what about this. he's very capable of restating an answer if that was the case, of making it clear if it was true, that he didn't know about the details, or what details he knew about it. he said something that was not responsive to the question. i believe he did that deliberately. i believe that we, the congress, have to investigate why he would say that, and put him on the record. but understand, megyn, there's something more important. these weekly memos were going to him. in march 2009, he promised the mexican people an increased program, lanny breuer, and others that worked for him, number two and three at justice clearly knew about the details of

this program, yet he wants us to believe he didn't know and he answered truthfully. this is becoming less and less supported, it's the reason that chairman lamar smith has called for a special prosecutor. quite frankly, i think the investigation at least for the foreseeable future needs to be handled in an open and transparent way. we need to have people come and speak on the record publicly, because i don't believe we want to have six months of somebody setting up a shop to investigate and more importantly, how are we going to get somebody who truly can investigate the head of justice? we can't get a u.s. attorney, as we usually would to do an investigation. they basically all work for airig holder. megyn: why would eric holder, the attorney general of the united states, the chief law enforcement officer of the united states, come before congress and i assume he was under oath at the time -- >> he was. >> megyn: -- and perjure himself and lie under oath to the u.s. congress about what role he had or what knowledge he had about such a controversial information?

i mean, doesn't it make sense that he would know that there are memos, that there were weekly briefings, that were people within justice who would contradict this? i mean, it would be incredibly reckless for him to take such a step. why would he do that? >> well, the only thing i can say is why indeed would he not correct the record when his people looked at this the day after, two days after, five days after, ten days after? megyn, it wasn't just my question. jason chaffetz, who like myself is on both committee, followed up with another round of questioning. he had two chances that day and he had every day since then to correct the record, to refine it, to restate it. you understand, he sent eric holder and the justice department sent their legislative affairs individual to tell us we never let guns walk. included in these discoveries from yesterday is their concern that they were letting too many guns walk. so we've been misled by the legislative affairs person,

who may not have known the facts, but who should have known the facts when he was sent to testify before congress. we've been misled by eric holder, when he testified before congress. if these people are so incompetent that they come to give sworn testimony before the congress in our oversight role, and they don't come with the facts, then i think the president should question their competence. if on the other hand they knew or approved these programs, then we have to question their judgment, because anyone who has seen the effects of fast & furious understands reckless programs that killed people on both sides of the border. megyn: congressman darrell issa, thank you very much for being here, sir. >> thank you megyn. megyn: it is a scene you would expect to find only in afghanistan or iraq, but it was made foos steps from a military base in mexicoful the frightening warning from a ruthless mexican drug cartel, just ahead. plus we are getting reports of big news from the manslaughter trial of michael jackson's daughter, a key piece of evidence that could seriously, seriously

impact this trial and that's next.

megyn: kelly's court is back in session, on the docket today, the michael jackson case and a stunning report just coming out now, a source to abc news, that suggests that none of the vials of medication that were recovered in michael jackson's bedroom have michael jackson's fingerprints on them. well, how can that be, if it is, as dr. conrad murray, his physician, claims the case that jackson injected himself on the night of his death? and that murray refused to do it? so why aren't michael jackson's fingerprints on the vials of medication if that is true? joining me now, fox news legal analyst lis wheel and mike arglarsh, panel, thank

you for being here, so why? let's just set the scenario. set the scain area -- scenario, mark. the dense claims michael jackson injected himself or somehow ingested propofol that night. the prosecution claims it's not true. dr. murray did it. from the witness testimony we've seen so far, when the paramedics walked in and saw on michael jackson, around michael jackson, the condition of his body and now this evidence and how the sprtion going to build that case. >> listen, i'll defending the guy for purposes of kelly's court today. so i will say that i'm not bothered at all by this latest revelation, even though deep down inside i'm going oh my god this is horrible. let me say this. the defense knows that there are no michael jackson fingerprints on the propofol when they gave the opening statement so they're not freaking out. they would explain to you all you've been watching too much csi and the concept there is that you erroneously believe that merely because somebody is touching something like a cell phone that you would then always see fingerprints

on that cell phone or propofol bottle that, is not the case and either their experts or the state's experts will explain how you don't always get fingerprints on something when someone touches it. megyn: if this abc news reports turns out to be true how can they continue with that theory? >> absolutely devastating. march is partially right in that sometimes there are only partial fingerprints on something like that but there would be -- >> or none. >> there would be a partial fingerprint. we're not talking about something that would be casually held, we're talking about propofol that he supposedly was injecting on to himself and putting his mask on. i don't know how that works. megyn: let me ask you something that you may not know the answer to. michael jackson was said to have suffered from a skin dees. >> -- disease right. >> which -- which is why his skin color changed so dramatically. might they argue it did something to the print? >> no megyn, i'm sorry. i've been involved in hundreds of case -- >> yes! >> there you go, mark!

>> thank you. megyn: you're welcome! >> that ain't going to fly, absolutely not. your fingerprint is the one thing really on yourself that is distinct and unique from anything else and no, that cannot be changed short of -- yeah, you've heard of crooks lopping off their finger, but other than that, no. megyn: let me set the scene, okay? here's what we learned. michael jackson had on a surgery cap like you have when you go in for surgery, he had an i.v. hooked up to him, he had an external catheter hooked up to him, he was laying in the hospital bed. they want us to believe that he did all of that to himself, right? put the i.v., the catheter, the surgical cath, he did all that to himself and even though he had a doctor outside who he was paying $150,000 a month to, that he gave himself the propofol, even though he had somebody on retainer to do that. >> objection! objection! is that what the defense is

claiming, that he put all those things on? i don't think so. megyn: why would dr. murray do that only to give him no medication or a muscle relaxer? >> no, he's conceding he gave him a tiny amount of propofol is my understanding, but that amount was not enough to cause his death. that the cause of death, which is the only relevant issue here, not how many women he slept with, which apparently seems to be the relevant issue of today, based on today's testimony, but specifically, how he died. that was michael jackson apparently, according to the defense. >> but mark, what the prosecution is putting together today and has been for a while now is a timeline of negligence, absolutely, that he was on the phone with the girlfriend, that what is his reaction when he finds michael jackson, you know, basically dying, almost dead, is to resuscitate him with one hand, not call 911, then lie about the propofol, lie and lie and lie again. megyn: thanks panel. we'll be right back. look, every day we're using more and more energy.

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released today from the commerce department, shedding new light on the health of the struggling u.s. economy. >> megyn: new light on the first order phos capital goods up nearly a percent in august, the most in three months, which means business are investing a little more in things like computers. communications gear. and other big ticket items. fox news alert on the man nt for the gunman who fired on vehicles driving along a california freeway. police believe they have found the car belonging to the person of interest. they say he opened fire yesterday, hitting two cars and an ambulance, injuring one person. trace has that story live from our west coast newsroom. trace. >> reporter: this was big breaking news all over southern california, megyn. in fact this guy was wanted for three shooting on two san diego freeways, yet a short time ago, we had helicopters and we had police cars converging on a scene in los angeles, up in the san fernando valley, and that's the car they were

looking for and found, a white chevy malibu, 100 miles away from the various crime scenes, and now police are reporting they do believe they have the suspect they want in custody. his name is e sphvment wi ask. ui ion. they say he's the man they are looking for. police say yesterday he was on a san diego freeway, pull up next to a car and opened fire. the driver was not hit but sped away. a short time later he sped up to another car and opened fire, that driver was hit and wounded in the leg. again, the suspect fled away, went to a different freeway, pulled up next to an ambulance and again, he opened fire and then fled the scene, the freeways were shut down, the suspect, clearly got away yesterday. here's one of those who was shot. listen: >> when i looked over, i saw the person, i heard the pop. it was like only one shot. i'm thinking number one, i'm glad i didn't have my daughter with me. i dropped her off at school.

so i was happy about that. >> reporter: we should note the man who was shot in the leg is thought to be okay. he's on the mend. police believe they have the man who's behind those three frea way shootings in san diego yesterday. megyn: all right trace, thank you. we'll be right back. almost tastes like one of jack's als. h, forgot jack cereal. fiber one. [ jack ] what's for breakfast? um... try the number one! [ jack ] yeah, ts is pretty good. [ male announcer ]alf a day's worth of fiber. fiber one. your nutritional needs can go up when you're on the road to recovery. proper nutrition can help you get back on your feet. three out of four doctors recommend the ensure brand for extra nutrition. ensure clinical strength

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>> a small factory in japan is preparing for the worst case scenario. check out this. a tsunami pod. they say the floating capsule is made of enhanced fiberglass to withstand natural disasters. about four feet in diameter, it's designed to protect up to four adults from drowning and debris. there's also ventilation and a lookout window. the price tag? about $4,000. wow. hey, thanks for watching. what a couple of hours, folks. it's been a pleasure being with you. i'm exhausted. >> the american,