jon: jenna, i miss you, i'll be back there tomorrow. jenna: we look forward to it jon. "america live" starts right now. megyn: fox news alert the death toll rising as tornadoes rip through america's heartland. up to nine people killed. in kansas, missouri and illinois. that number could go higher still as the news breaks all afternoon. welcome to "america live," everyone, i'm megyn kelly. in the last few minutes five new tornado warnings just went up. these are warnings, that means twisters on the ground or radar indications of a tornado. janice is with us moments away. wifeee got new video now of one of the areas hardest hit, harrisburg, illinois, look at these pictures. rescue crews desperately search the rubble for anyone who may still be alive. we have a confirmed death toll

now of at least six in illinois, another three in missouri. others critically injured, we are told. you can see the homes sliced right in half, ripped to shreds. piles of debris scattered everywhere. folks are trying to take in the devastation around them. >> it's unbelievable. i can't believe the measure of damage it did to this building. it's like there was no structure and it took it completely out. as you can tell it's total devastation. i've not ever seen anything like it all the way down through this whole area i'm glad that it happened at night, and no one was at work. this would be horrible for people to be in this building when that happened. megyn: trace gallagher watching satellite and the news conferences from our breaking news desk now. >> reporter: as the new pictures come in they are even more devastating than the old ones. this isn't even being close to being high tornado season in the midwest and look at what happened? also most of the storms hit between 1:00 and 4:00 in the morning where quite frankly most

people are defenseless. beginning back in harrisburg, illinois the hardest hit area where we have confirmed six people have died, including two children, that death toll there is likely to rise. you see the damage, at least 300 homes damaged or destroyed. witnesses say the tornado kind of hit and then it just raked whatever was in its path. along with the deaths we have a hundred people confirmed to be injured. many of those injuries are serious. power lines are down all over harrisburg, and gas lines are broken, and the authorities say those gas lines are leaking. the utility companies are out in force. look at that right there. that was a walmart store, and entire mall just ripped to shreds in harrisburg, illinois. the red cross is now setting up different locations, because you can imagine there will be many, many people homeless. on now to harveyville, kansas, about 30 miles southwest of topeka, kansas, where the county

sheriff says that the devastation there is unbelievable. he estimates, after driving around, that 40 to 60% of harveyville is either damaged or destroyed, imagine half the town. the officials say there say the tornado sirens never sounded because the national weather service never issued a tornado warning. the red cross setting up shelters all over harveyville. listen now to some residents. >> all of a sudden, boy windows went out, just like a big shotgun went off. and i told my wife, hit the floor. she says i'm down there already. >> i didn't think when i got in town that i would see what i was seeing. i thought i was going to come to the church and try to pick up pieces of the church and stuff. i didn't realize that it had actually hit the entire town. >> reporter: we're still getting live pictures coming in from both those places. branson, missouri, the entertainment hub in the midwest also had what apparently locks like tornado damage. the residents there say this thing kind of hopscotched down

main street and damaged hotels. it damaged a number of those music theaters that are famed in branson, missouri. so far 32 people in branson have been checked out for injuries at local hospitals. as you imagine, megyn the pictures continually come into us. we are getting daylight pictures coming out of branson. as we get them in and get death tolls and various states, we are eye talking four states now we'll bring them to you. megyn: the pictures are so disturbing, trace, thank you. five separate tornado warnings went up moments ago. we want to get right to janice dean who has more and a busy day in the fox weather center. >> reporter: unfortunately the threat is not over. it's going to continue throughout the afternoon and the overnight. so people need to be paying close attention to their local weather stations. right now tennessee and kentucky a new watch has been issued until 8:00pm local time. we'll see the watches probably issued across the ohio river

valley and in towards the southeast and mi mid-atlantic watch along. tornado warnings in kentucky and tennessee, northeast of richmond and heading down toward kentucky, bowling green currently under a tornado warning. doppler radar has indicated strong rotation or trained weather spotters on the ground have seen the tornadoes. very dangerous as some of these cells are hitting heavily populated areas. of course the pictures tell the story. people if you live across these areas that you see shaded in yellow, especially red where the national weather service has issued a more moderate risk where we think the severe weather could be more concentrated, not only tornadoes, large hail, damaging winds. nashville, memphis you need to watch out. i want to make mention that we are not over just yet. thursday a little bit of a reprieve but friday almost exactly the same set up that we saw overnight last night and into friday where we could see large, damaging, destructive tornadoes affecting more

residential regions as we head into friday. so not over yet as we get into the afternoon and the overnight, and then friday people need to be paying very close attention to the weather then. back to you. megyn: you have to have respect for mother nature. janice, thank you, and what it can do. you need to pay attention. obviously the story is extremely fluid right now. as we were combing through all the video coming into us from harrisburg and elsewhere, this really stood out. look at this. just look at this. as you can see this man digging through what appears to be left of his home. can you imagine this. looking through for personal belongings, who knows you always worry about folks looking for not only loved ones of course, but pets who can sometimes get lost in the rubble. the heartbreaking scene a glimpse of the shear devastation, shear devastation, look at that in the wide shot in harrisburg, illinois. there is nothing left. this is far from over as you heard janice say. trace showed us the devastation

in the town of harveyville county. joining me is the public information officer for the harveyville police department, sharon watson. ma'am, thank you very much for taking time out of your day to update us on the latest. can you give us a feel for the number of injured in harveyville today? >> yes, i'm with the state division of emergency management office working very closely with the local officials here in harveyville, and we have talked to the local hospitals, they had six individuals transported into those hospitals last night, one remains in the hospital in critical condition, and there were other people here in harveyville that suffered minor injuries that were treated by the local emergency response teams from mutual aid from several communities around harveyville last night. megyn: are you on the ground in harveyville. >> yes. megyn: can you give us a feeling for what it is like? being there firsthand, give us a feeling. >> obviously in some areas complete devastation, homes

completely destroyed in a pile of rubble. in other areas it's just roofs off of a building, in other areas buildings are standing just normal. it's amazing how it hits some and doesn't hit others, but there was one that went through town, quite a bit of destruction there, about 40% of the buildings in the community impacted in that hit, and one of those being a church that was destroyed as well as an apartment building. a lot of residents here in unbelief trying to figure out where to go next in terms of picking up the pieces of taking it in that their home has been completely demolished in some cases. megyn: were you there when the tornadoes hit. >> no i was not in this area at the time. megyn: our own trace gallagher told us moments ago that the sirens never sounded. do you know -- do you have any details on why that was, and whether some of this damage, or some of the injuries may have been avoided had they been

sounded? >> i don't have any additional information, other than that's what a local official is indicating as well that they did not sound. at the time that there was strong storms in the general area, but not enough warning time. but fortunately -- megyn: we have to run. i want to ask you quickly, where are the people whose homes have been destroyed? where are they now. >> there was a shelter temporarily set up alternate the high school last night. there wasn't anyone staying there. we believe they went onto stay with other family and friends. megyn: unbelievable. 40% of the town damaged or destroyed, and the pictures say it all. sharon all the best to you. good luck today. >> thank you. megyn: we are keeping an eye on the developing situation in the midwest. our coverage will continue as the tornado damage. we will be all over this story for the next two hours on "america live." there is important other news today on the political and other fronts and we want to bring that

to you. there is new backlash following comments from the secretary of energy about rising gas prices. the price has been ticking up for weeks. the national average for a gallon of regular is now $3.73. yesterday the energy secretary of this country steven ch eu says his department is not working on lowering prices directly, it is promoting energy alternatives like biofuel. >> the overall goal to get our price -- >> no the overall goal is to decrease our dependency on oil, to build and strengthen our economy and decrease our dependency on oil. we think that if you consider all these policies, including energy efficiency, you know, we think that we can go a long way to becoming less dependent on oil and diversing our supply and helping the economy and consumers he. megyn: joining me now is stu varney. is the overall goal to get our

price of gasoline down? that was the question. and the answer was no. that is raising some eyebrows today. >> absolutely. the man went straight at it. is the goal to get energy prices, gas prices down, the answer was unequivocally no. the president is stuck with an energy team that dates back to 2008. it's spearheaded by secretary chu. back in those days the goal was fighting global warming using less oil. actually in 2008 secretary chu said he wanted gas prices to go up to the european level. well the secretary, and the president are still in that mindset. useless oil as opposed to get the price of gas down. that's the priority. useless oil, not the priority of getting gas prices to move lower. megyn: i think a lot of our viewers would say, okay useless oil, become less dependent on countries that hate us, that kind of thing, but to not also get the price of gasoline down would raise eyebrows because the

president said that it was the all the above approach to fighting this. the secretary seems to be on a different page. >> $4 gas is wildly unpopular, but he needs the support of his environmental base, and the environmental base does not want to use more oil or build a pipeline to get canada's oil. election year trap. megyn: stu thank you. dozens of people are reported hurt today as we told you moments ago at least nine are reported dead, that number very likely to change as we hear of more critical injuries. a powerful storm system tears across the midwest, and it is not over yet. tornado warnings being issued just moments ago, and janice says we're in this until friday. one illinois town has practically been wiped off the map today. and we will check in with illinois emergency management in just a bit. plus, we have breaking news in moments on a new report suggesting israel is about to ask the united states to take a big and bold new step on iran, and in a very direct way.

that story is developing and ambassador john bolton is here right after this break. ok! who gets occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas or bloating? get ahead of it! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defend against digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. hit me! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'. that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8.

megyn: fox news alert on our breaking weather news, there is a tornado warning now in effect for parts of kentucky. that will be up we're told through 1:30pm eastern time. that is just about 14 minutes away. we've been getting some reports that at least one tornado caused significant damage in central kentucky earlier, but no updates on the number of injuries, or deaths from that storm. janice dean is tracking all of this. she will be back with us very shortly with more. another alert for you now. israel sending a dramatic message just days before a crucial meeting between president obama and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. a report out of israel suggesting now that benjamin netanyahu will urge the american president to publicly back an attack by israel on iran.

the prospective preemptive strike on iran's nuclear facilities has caused increased strain on the relationship between our two nations. we will are awaiting a daily white house press briefing. we will bring you any reaction to this report. we go live to leland vittert who is in jerusalem,. >> reporter: it's a pretty explosive headline on the front page of the major daily newspaper here, the equivalent of basically "the new york times." i'll translate the here boo. benjamin netanyahu to ask obama to publicly threaten and american strike on iran. that would be a huge departure in u.s. foreign policy here. the prime minister of israel wants the u.s. to go far beyond simply saying all options are on the table. as of the past two months you've had a lot of u.s. officials coming over here, asking israel, demanding that israel not attack iran. that has divided these two countries. we all remember the frosty meetings between prime minister benjamin netanyahu and president

obama. there is a thought here that this may backfire on the united states, because the less talkish the u.s. is the more israel needs to pound its chest to put that option on the table. and in this part of the world chest pounding as a very, very dangerous way of often leading to war, back to you. megyn: how does our president handle this? john bolton is a former u.s. ambassador to the united nations and a fox news contributor. they are going in opposite directions. we are trying to walk them back off the ledge, they are going to come over here to say, not only are they not off the ledge they want us out there with them. >> it's not surprising, really. i think prime minister benjamin netanyahu is going through some political steps of his own, and one of those is to say to the united states, look, we would much prefer that you undertake this preemptive military strike. you have capabilities far beyond anything that israel has, and since the iranian nuclear weapon

is a global problem it really deserves the kind of super power solution only the united states can provide. there is no doubt in my mind what obama's answer will be, but i certainly understand why benjamin netanyahu will put it to him. megyn: he's not even going to come and ask president obama to back israel in its plan. you know according to leland, he's going to come over here and ask president obama to publicly threaten that america is going to bomb iran in the wake of this news on its nuclear program. is there any chance that president obama is going to do that? let me ask you, ambassador, is there any chance president bush would have done that? >> well, look, the obama administration will continue to say all options are on the table. but benjamin netanyahu, and indeed many others believe that the administration doesn't even know where the table is, let alone what the options are. you know, the fact is if there is somebody a strike the less said about it the better. there is no strategic ambiguity

here. i think iran expects to be struck. the best that israel can achieve is tactical surprise. i think what he's looking for rhetorically is to have the united states brought a little bit closer to israel and the international eye. at the bottom line, though, i don't think this is a matter of political spin or hype, this is a matter of physics. every day that goes by those centrifuges in iran continue to spin and they get closer to a nuclear weapons capacity. that is what is driving this. megyn: is there any chance this meeting doesn't go forward? you've explained, and others have said, the way you work diplomacy is you send the top dignitaries over. the deal is supposed to be cemented before the two main guys are together. they are not there. they are on opposite ends of the earth right now. >> pretty much. i don't think they can avoid the meeting. i don't think benjamin netanyahu can come to washington and not meet with obama. if the slogan of the white house

is no drama obama let me tell you this will be a soap opera next week when they get together. megyn: unbelievable. this is not something you see every day with two allies this close. ambassador bolton thank you so much. we appreciate your expertise. >> thank you. megyn: we're keeping a close eye on the recovery efforts now following a string of tornadoes in parts of the midwest. the storm claiming at least nine lives so far, including one 70-year-old man in missouri who died after being thrown from his home by the powerful winds. look at the picture from our weather -- from our weather computers right now. unbelievable. you can see the red, and janice dean telling us about tornado warnings that are now up right now in parts of the country. we will go back live to her momentarily. law students at georgetown university pay more than $60,000 a year in to tuition, most of them. some of the women students are saying taxpayers should help the students cover the cost of contraception. does that seem fair? our panel weighs in. >> 40% of the female students at

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megyn: fox news alert, sad news to report today out of hollywood. we have got even word that davie jones the lead singer of the monkeys has died. at this point we don't know the circumstances surrounding his death. jones joined the monkeys in 1965 and churned out a number of hits, including "daydream believer" last train to khrarbgsville" and i'm a believer. he was just 66 years old. back now to our weather alert. janice dean watching at least six tornado warnings right now. she'll be back with us the minute we confirm any new

twisters on the ground. at least nine people have been killed between illinois and kansas and missouri where we just saw part of this report from branson. >> we've had confirmation now, governor nixon will be visiting down here and be at this location some time later this afternoon. we don't have a specific time, but we just learned from a representative that he will be on his way to tour the devastation. you can see it's very extreme down here. it may not be quite as bad as joplin but it had the potential to be a whole lot worse. when you take a look around this is the mall here, the branson mall, all of the rooftops shredded, laid off. you can see all the debris strewn across the parking lot. take a look at some of the video we shot earlier throughout this parking lot, as we were coming unto branson you can see a lot of damage here, damage from flying rocks, damage from flying debris, signs pummeled, ripped to shreds. megyn: joining me now on the phone, chris ma cloud, over to illinois now with the illinois

office of emergency management. chris, thank you very much for being here. illinois also facing devastation, in particular in harrisburg today. tell us what you know about the situation on the ground there. >> obviously, megyn you've seen pictures and video of the devastation there. it was certainly that town of harrisburg hit very hard, and celine county. our folks right now are doing everything we can on the state level to assist the local emergency management folks who are down there continuing to assess the situation from the storm that happened this morning. megyn: we were told at last count six people confirmed dead. that is the largest death toll so far in these storms right in harrisburg, illinois. is that the latest number as you know it. >> that is correct. we can confirm six fatalities. megyn: what is the number of injured as we know? >> i don't know that off the top of my head and i wouldn't want to speculate at this point. i would have to defer and get back with you on that. megyn: what time did the tornado or tornadoes hit skwraoeu don't know if the national weather service has confirmed it.

my understanding was the storm came through that area around 5:00 this morning, but i don't have an exact time for you. megyn: are you getting any reports on how quickly it happened? >> no, at this point we are again, just trying to react to what the locals are asking from us, and at this point they've asked us to -- for a critical piece of equipment, which is a communications trailer, which we have supplies, along with some staff down there to re-establish communication between emergency management folks down on the ground in harrisburg and in that area. megyn: chris, we are looking at these pictures of these folks in the middle of massive devastation, and when the camera pans out for the real wide shot you can see how widespread it is. where do you begin? where do you start? >> well, i mean where we begin and where we start is just making sure that everyone on the ground has the support that they need, and so our folks -- i'm currently in central illinois, in the state emergency operations center with a whole group of people from various

state agencies who have the ability to supply that -- you know, that help, and so, you know, we're continuing to at this point allow the locals, who know that area, and who are commanding that area right now to tell us what they need, and we'll make sure that we can supply that as soon as possible. megyn: has everyone been accounted for right now in the town of harrisburg, are or search and rescues underway? >> again, that is something that would probably be better answered by the local emergency management folks. i don't know that we have a number right now. i'm sure that, you know, i know there are people on the ground that are going through the devastated areas and trying to make sure that everybody is accounted for. but i'm not sure that that number is known at this point. megyn: any estimate on number of homes damaged or destroyed? >> no, no, we really don't have that yet. obviously that situation is still being analyzed. megyn: chris, thank you. >> you're welcome. megyn: again janice dean has new information on the path of this storm. right after this break we will

go to her. plus, the story, posted on the huffington post that is under fire over what the author called a joke article slamming stapbt r-r's faith. critics cal stapbtrick santorum's faith. a georgetown law student claims without help to fit the bill for continue september tiffs, sh contraceptives, she and her fellow students are going broke. >> i see this on the faces of the people affected by coverage. i hear more and more stories on a daily basis. i hear from another woman from georgetown or from another school or works for a religious lea fill kwraeuted employer and they tell me they have suffered, emotionally, financially and medically because of this lack of coverage. okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle --

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to march eastward. we still have a tornado warning just moving into west liberty, and the counties are powell, and southern montgomery. this is an ongoing situation, megyn we will continue to see the possibility for not only tornado watches but warnings throughout the afternoon, into the evening and even into the overnight which is the most dangerous time that you can see tornadoes because people can't see them coming. megyn: thank you. new reaction today on a story we first brought to you yesterday on this show. a student at georgetown law school testifying before congress at the invitation of former house speaker nancy pelosi, saying that without coverage for continue septembe contraceptives, she and her classmates at the georgetown law school are going broke. take a listen. >> when i look around my campus i see the faces of the women affected by this lack of contraceptive coverage, especially in the last week i have heard more and more of their stories on a daily basis i

hear from yet another woman from georgetown, or from another school, or who works for a religiously affiliated employer and they tell me they have suffered financially, emotionally and medically because of this lack of coverage. without insurance coverage, contraception as you know can cost a woman over $3,000 during law school. for a lot of students who like me are on public interest scholarships that is practically an entire summer's salary. 40% of the female students at georgetown law reported to us that they struggled financially as a result of this policy. one told us of how embarrassed and just powerless she felt when she was standing at the pharmacy counter and learned for the first time that contraception was not covered on her insurance and she had to turn and walk away. because she couldn't afford that prescription. woman like her have no choice but to go without contraception. megyn: joining knee now monica

crowley, and sally cohen, both fox news contributors. well -- >> this particular woman is at georgetown law school on aid. she is talking about the women suffering emotionally, monica as they pay 60 year a grand in law school, 20 for living expenses. 60 grand in law school and suffer this financial and emotional crisis of not having their contraceptives paid for. >> cry me a river. now we are supposed to be paying for somebody to have sex. megyn: georgetown law school needs to pay for it. >> the tuition is $63,000 total cost and you're telling me they can't afford $3 for a condom? i'm just saying. when she was testifying yesterday in front of nancy pelosi who was bleeding heart with her, oh i cannot believe you're incurring these costs because you want to have sex, she was saying it cost $3,000 a year to cover contraception. first of all that is completely

outrageous,. megyn: a big number. >> if you actually break down the average cost of contraception, condom, birth control pills, you name it according to her calculation these girls are having sex three times a day to get to $3,000 a year. megyn: i mean listen, all i'm going to say is i went to law school, so did you, so did sally. she is a graduate of nyu. >> as i recall there was very little time for anything other than law school. maybe things have changed, sally. >> okay. where to begin with this. so first of all, let's just be clear on the facts. georgetown law school, like georgetown university, have all embraced the compromise that obama put forward and said yes they do agree that insurers can provide. megyn: no-no the catholic bishops. megyn: right now they are saying it's not covered birth control. >> number two is that the employees of georgetown law school are provided contraception coverage.

megyn: it's not about the contraception, it's about -- megyn: does this woman have a sense of entitlement that is indicative of a larger attitude in the country now that if you don't have somebody else then it's supposed to be provided. >> she doesn't want anybody to provide anything for her. she like all the students at georgetown pay for the health insurance themselves. they are paying for it 94% of georgetown students say, hey private insurance company we want you to pay for your coverage. that's how the market should work when customers make a demand. the market should respond and butt out of their private lives. students are not supposed to be having sex and the faculty are? megyn: students can have sex all they want, law school, any place they want. do they have the right to play the victim and want all of their birth control covered. >> that's exactly the point, this expanding sense of entitlement. this somebody else owes me. it's not a right under the constitution to have sex, it's not a right to have your contra accepts covered or provided by

somebody else. i don't think the founding fathers sat down to write the declaration and said, life, liberty the pursuit of happiness and oh, yeah, condoms. >> the pursuit of happiness, i don't know how you're doing it money i can karbgs but if its not covered -- megyn: does this show, i mean just an out of touch, i mean she is at georgetown law school. do you know how much dough that woman will end up earning? it's one of the top law schools in america. you know how far ahead of the game she was versus average americans. we have emails from people digging ditches in the midwest saying, are you kidding me? this is what she is pitching about. >> framing it in terms of money is a lose, lose. framing it that they profiled it to their employees, the university does not subsidize it in full for the cost of it. the insurance companies want to provide contraception because it saves them money over unintended

pregnancies. megyn: why can't she get it some place else? i can speak for myself. back in the day we didn't have coverage until we were 26 on our parents, now we do, right, we as if i'm 26. but we didn't have it. you'd have to go and get it. you'd have to get it at a clinic or whatever. you could do that. i didn't go before congress and testify about how somebody needed to pay for my birth control pill. >> and beg for somebody else to cover it. if you wanted to go and have sex it was your responsibility to make sure you took care of yourselves and got protected and you paid for it. >> she wants the insurance plan that she is paying for to provide the coverage. megyn: it's when i go to my insurance plan they say we don't cover, hypoderm abrasion. >> the insurance company said, yeah we'd like to pay you that, it will lower money, if they

were stopped from doing it that would be a real head scratcher, why isn't the market responding to consumer demand. 60% of women who use contraception. and sandra fl u.k. e cited examples, had real medical issues for which oral contraceptives were the best, safest treatment was denied coverage. megyn: there is no doubt there are health issues that are legitimate that insurance companies don't cover and that people that don't have insurance need covered but don't get. is this a society where we have to pay for everything that is medically necessary? i'll give you the last word. >> including recreational sex. there is an alternative to this. if you can't afford the condom or the birth control pills, which is abstinence you just don't have sex. megyn: that is realistic. >> private markets should work. i'm just saying there are other alternatives. megyn: i've got to go panel. >> i love talking sex with you guys. >> always a blast.

megyn: a pleasure. we'll leave it at that. we have new information coming in today on the death of davie jones. everyone on this set remembered him, and felt sad to hear that the 66-year-old lead singer of the big 60's group the monkey has died. we'll give you the update. and up next a major website facing sharp criticism over a, quote, joke piece criticizing rick santorum's face. a column that critics charge is over the top and an attack on catholics everywhere. mitt romney the big win her in last night's primaries. but he may want to watch our focus group for tips on super tuesday and beyond. >> i think that republicans would be very foolish to not move away from the social issues, because they can win it on the economy. they are not going to win it on social issues. wake up!

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if you have a history of heart orlood vessel problems, tell your doctor if you have new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. my inspiration for quitting were my sons. they were my little cheering squad. [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. i want to fix up old houses. ♪ [ woman ] when i grow up, i want to take him on his first flight. i want to run a marathon. i'm going to own my own restaurant. when i grow up, i'm going to start a band. [ female announcer ] at aarp we believe you're ner done growing. thanks, mom. i just want to get my car back. [ female announcer ] discover what's next in your life. get this free travel bag when you join at aarp.org/jointoday. megyn: growing outrage today

over a column posted on a leading news website openly mocking republican candidate rick santorum and his roman catholic fay. it appears on the huffington post.com and refers to catholics as quote a jesus eating cult. it says unlike christians santorum and his fellow roman catholics participate in a barbaric ritual going back ma lien yeah, a mass in which a black robed cleric casts a spell over some bread and wine transfigure erring it into the actual living flesh and blood of their christ. followers then line up to eat the jesus meat and drink his holly blood in a can a ballistic reverie ... joining me is david silverman and sandy rios a fox news

contributor and vice president of family pac federal. sandy, let me start with you. the the author of the piece came out and said it's a ridiculously over the top broadside over catholicism. which he says tomorrow people on that side including santorum he believes have exercised intolerance towards other religions and people. he's trying to make a point with what is either a satire, or an over the top piece. do you accept that? >> no, satire is supposed to be a. [music playing] ing. this was far from a. [music playing] ing. this was really vitriol, a spewing of hatred. i felt like it was therapy for him as a former catholic. it was really a nasty piece. he talks about if rick santorum is elected we'll have the pope benedict as our president and he was a former natzi. this is not funny stuff. we all know humor when we hear it this is not satire or humor. this was a spewing of his hatred

for catholicism. megyn: david, there is a question about whether cat tho catholicism is one of the religions left that you can bash with impugn a tee. if something was written by islam or the muslim faith people would be up in arms but not so much as when the catholics are on the defense. >> we have to have pity for the catholic church, where there are six actual catholics on the supreme court and the entire congress is filled with christians. i'm not feel i too much pity for them. the piece was a little too much and over the top. he shouldn't have made the reference to hitler but it does make eight theists giggle when one religion just cult or organization bath mouths the other saying they are primitive or barbaric but the complainers have primitive and barbaric features that they back and have no better basis for their

mythology. we have pwheg georgia preachers fighting against gay marriage and stem celery search all because of reasons that have no more validity than the catholic churches. they are all fighting each other and this is why it's so important that the government stay neutral out of the picture. megyn: this isn't government. this is a private citizen on a private website. sandy, let me ask you. do you think there is a double standard? if something like this had been written about islam or muslims would there be a greater outcry even from the liberal press. >> of course. when the quran was burned accidentally, we saw our president apologize. we saw the art that's been funded by the government, pissed christ which is a crucifixion in urine. they roll over backwards, the left, especially towards islam.

megyn: we've got to carry the segment over. a hard break in ten seconds. i want to ask you whether an apology is in fact due. stay with me. when you have tough pain, do you want fast relief? try bayer advanced aspirin. it has microparticles so it enters the bloodstream fast and rushes relief to the site of your tough pain. it's proven to relieve pain twice as fast as before. bayer advanced aspirin. or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements.

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megyn: sandy i wanted to let you finish your point. i want to ask you if you think the huffington post which posted this should come out with an apology. some conservative groups are demanding that. >> they would be well served to do that. i'd like to say in closing that religious institutions and constructs are man made. when a piece like this comes up, larry is upset with the institutes. the christian god is very unique, he transforms lives radically. when you really know him not the institutions you're willing to lay down your life for him like

that arraign yan pastor who is under a death threat right now. the christian god is remarkable and wonderful, he's not represented in man's construct which always go arye. the left is mad at the construct because the god behind them demands a certain kind of behavior in terms of private behavior and your moral outlook. they want moral life and they hate god and aeu tact the construct. megyn: sh lar larry doyle is the writer and author of the simpson. >> no apology is necessary. everything is fair game, it's all fair game. the reason rally will be the largest atheist event in world history and it's free next month. reason rally.org. thank you very much for having us on your show. >> good luck david in believing in nothing. >> thank you for being snarky and have a nice day. megyn: we were doing so well there. thank you. see you. we're taking your thoughts on it too right now on twitter at megyn kelly.

an alert coming in now janice dean said and i quote, a whole bunch of new tornado warnings just went up. we have a massive outbreak right now of severe weather across half a dozen states. the scary new reports are immediately after this break. please stay with us. rick santorum got a helping hand in michigan last night from democratic voters. but who told them to do that, and why? and just how high did the directive go? new details when chris stirewalt joins us next.

megyn: fox news weather alert for you now, new tornado warnings as the midwest recovers from a series of deadly twisters and they are not out of danger. brand new hour of "america live ppg, i'm megyn kelly, # people are confirmed dead in

kansas, missouri and illinois, in illinois, all from the town of harrisburg, the area hardest hit, houses smashed, shopping centers completely flattened, the scenes, similar in kansas and missouri where several towns are in ruins. we saw more of the drama in a report from branson, missouri. >> look at this windshield, pummeled by rocks. look at these rocks. where did they come from? parts of tens of thousands of rocks that blew off the rooftop of the branson mall. you can see the department store, the walmart store, all of the rock becoming projectiles and riveting all of the buildings down the line there. megyn: meteorologist janice dean live in the fox weather center on a busy after that. j.d. >> reporter: i want to show you where we had the worst hit areas across the map overnight megyn across portions of kansas, as you mentioned, missouri, branson, missouri and illinois, harrisburg, where we saw that devastating

picture of the shopping mall being completely leveled. that is certainly damage from a tornado. probably an ef4, but we don't have confirmation on that and we'll give you that as soon as the weather service does their assessment. eight 8:00 p.m. local time, this just issued until 9:00 p.m. local time, if you live in these areas it means tornado conditions are favorable. we have several tornado warnings for the state of kentucky, just north of paintsville. as we go to the southwest, moving towards columbia, tornado warnings, meaning that we are seeing doppler radar indicated rotation, and weather spotters have seen tornadoes on the ground but because we have such heavy rain, megyn, the potential for rain-wrapped tornadoes, people may mot see them coming. if you see the sirens go off, make sure you're at the

lowest level of your home, away from interior windows. threats today across the ohio valley, there's the red section where we have the tornado watches in effect where we think the highest potential for tornado activity is, and if i could just mention heading into friday, megyn, it looks like almost an identical setup to what we saw overnight last night. and some of the hardest hit areas. so people are going to start to try to rebuild or clean up and unfortunately, we could see the potential for more tornadoes in the areas that were hit the hardest overnight last night. so we will of course bring our attention to this region throughout the work week and into the weekend. back to you. megyn: janice we'll be back to you often over the next hour, thank you very much. i want to tell our viewers, we will speak live with a representative from branson, missouri where three deaths have been confirmed and the devastation is just massive, in just a bit on "america live". another alert for you now, after evidence emerged last night that democrats tried to influence the tight finish in michigan's

republican primary. now, there are fresh signs that they could use the same strategy on supertuesday. specifically in the critical state of ohio. fox news digital politics editor chris stierwalt is also the host of power play on foxnews.com. chris, there is little question that democrats got to the polls in michigan and voted for rick santorum last night. there is now a worry by some of the republican party that they are unleashing ohio as well and will have an impact in this republican primary. let's start with last night. what evidence is there about their impact and how high do we believe this went within the democratic party? >> well, it's hard to say how high it went. it could been sort of a casual, incidental association where it was a good idea among democrats that caught on from labor groups. we heard from people overtly like michael moore, we heard from certain labor groups that they wanted to do this and force the republican primary onward and keep mitt

romney from locking up delegates and keep doing that. was this encouraging tacitly? we don't know. but we know that it was effective among democrats. they did get what they wanted. one in ten, almost one in ten, was a self-identified democrat in the exiting polling in michigan. the other thing that we saw, a lot of those folks, megyn, could have been sincere santorum voters. megyn: 53 percent for santorum. >> overwhelmingly for santorum, and a lot of them could have been the reagan democrats, we talked about, socially conservative democrats that liked santorum's message and certainly he encouraged those votes, there was a robo call, talking with romney's bailout of gm and chrysler, but then there are the mischief makers and not sincere voters and we have evidence they were not part of the picture because a voter in favor of no legal restrictions on abortion, essentially on demand, who then says they voted for

rick santorum in an exit poll, santorum who is known for his prolife stance, that seems very unusual, seems very unlikely. when you add it up you're looking at somewhere between 3 percent and 4 percent of the vote for santorum may have come from these mess chef makers. megyn: an santorum reached out to democrats, asking them to get to the polls and vote. it's an open primary, some states do that and it appears they d. although not in as great numbers as in 2000, back then, there were one in 17, this time, one in ten. ohio, this is an important vote on supertuesday, ohio is a big one and everyone last night on the panel was saying romney has got to win ohio, he's got to win that state, he was behind it to santorum in the recent polls, but that was before romney swept last night. now we learn that a huge, huge union asked me -- the american federation of county and municipal employees, has a half million dollars ad purchase

aimed at persuading votessers -- voters in the ohio republican primary to vote for not romney. >> exactly. this indicates -- when you look at asme this is arguably one of the most important groups in the democratic coalition, this is local, state, county workers, this is a core part of the democratic coalition on the national level. they're spending money to try to prolong the process and make sure that romney doesn't get those delegates in ohio and again, in ohio, you can change your registration at the polling place. a democrat can walk in, ask for a republican ballot, they can vote in the process. that's something that they want to see. megyn: quickly, chris, romney likes to take this as validation that he's the best candidate to go up against barack obama and the democrats know it. there is another theory that what they want to do is simply prolong this republican primary which they believe has been damaging to whoever is the nominee. >> the more the better is the democratic point of view. and in fact, with two close congressional districts that awarded four delegates in

total that could have been decided inside this margin of error by these mess chef makers, they look like they're succeeded. santorum will have more delegates in tampa than he would have without their help. megyn: mischief makers! takes me to october 30th. isn't that the night before halloween where you go out and do bad things? see you chris! >> we put the focus question to our group today, asking what they thought about the fact that democrats were trying to tilt the results in the primary in michigan. they were not shy about answering. here's a little bit of my interview with them moments before we started today's show. >> the gop, this was to nominate the gsm op candidate and rick santorum got in bed with the democrats and michael moore, which is disgusting. romney, he helped out the entire party. that was a bad move. >> wrong. if someone else could have done it and not gotten caught, they would have. politics are dirty. megyn: we'll hear from the rest of the group coming up here in just a bit.

well, we are learning new details about the death of monkeys singer davey jones. trace gallagher live in the west coast newsroom with more. error reporter apparently davey jones died this morning of a heart attack in his south florida home. he was rushed to the hospital but apparently pronounced dead at the scene. as you see there, davey jones was 66 years old, he was the lead singer of the monkeys. the monkeys was actually a television show that was cast to be a rock band, but of course, the show and the music became huge, spawning number one hits like "the last train to clarksville", "i'm a believer" and daydream believer" and of course davey jones as you may remember was a big time heartthrob, rivalling the likes of bobby sherman, david cassidy, even the beatles. in fact, marsha brady has not still washed the cheek that davey jones once kissed. in recent years he played on broadway, raised a lot of

horses, even had a monkeys reunion a few years back that was a big hit. he lived in pennsylvania, as well as south florida, originally from london, and the big trivia, megyn, davey jones was actually on stage during the ed sl sullivan show the night the beatles were on in 1964, he was along with a broadway gang and he looked at the beatles and said hi, want to do that and he ended up doing exactly that, davey jones dying in south florida at the age of 66. megyn: wow. you know, he brought us a lot of pleasure. he lot a lot of -- he brought a lot of us a lot of pleasures. he always seemed to young, didn't he? he always had that boyish face. our condolences to his family. trace, thank you. the reports coming now from the states that have been hit hardest by the tornadoes are really upsetting and the pictures, i mean, they tell the story, the death toll is confirmed so far at nine across three states. in minutes, we will speak with a hotel manager in

branson, missouri who described the furniture being sucked out of the windows at his hotel. and remember when president obama made closing gitmo a top priority of his administration? i mean, first day in office. that's what he signed, saying he would close gitmo within a clear. so why then is america building a soccer field for the terror suspects there to the tune of $750,000 of the taxpayers' money? a fair and balanced debate on that is next. >> we are going to lead by setting an example for other nations about how we observe civil rights and human right s. we're going to close guantanamo and restore habeas corpus. your doctor will say get smart about your weight. that's why there's new glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. [ male announcer ] new glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes.

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megyn: -- >> it is disgusting, our damn government is disgusting the twai bends over backwards to this sort of stuff. so afraid. so worried.

don't want to offend, apologize. you know what? i want to apologize. i want to apologize to the u.s. service personnel, you men and women in uniform, you men and women in combat, you men and women going into combat. i want to apologize to you. for this jerk who's the commander in chief. for this jerk who's the secretary of state. for this jerk who's the secretary of defense. for the whole damn bunch of them. i apologize to you. and your families. now, that's an apology that needs to be made. megyn: choice words from radio host mark levin, his fiery reaction to the president's apology for the accidental burning of korans in afghanistan by u.s. troops. triggering days of violent protests and costing four american soldiers their lives. the burning of the korans did. the president apologized, and that's been extremely controversial since then. christopher hahn is former

aide to chuck schumer and radio host chris plantt joins me of the chris plantt show. hearing mark levin is like hearing rush limbaugh, it's an eye into how conservatives are feeling about the issues of the day and you could hear, chris plantt, mark levin is incensed at this apology and so are many, not just on the right, though. not just on the right. some more moderate folks, too, think it was the wrong move. i want to ask you whether this is going to go away for the president as a political matter. >> well, certainly in the so called mainstream news media i think they're eager to put it to rest right now but this apology from the president to all of the potentially offended people of the world is something that we really ought to be paying attention to, and the response that the president got in afghanistan to his words of kindness and comfort were perhaps not what he expected. but there should be more words from the president at

this point about the americans that have been murdered as a result of this incident, and look, the president is famous for two things at this point, i think, right? apologizing and leading from behind. and mark levin is expressing the feelings that a lot of americans are feeling right now. the president can't stop apologize, he sent his defense department officials out to apologize in virginia. they can't stop apologizing. and you know, the reality is, as mark levin suggested, we should be carpet bombing the taliban in response to the attacks. megyn: christopher, i want to get your reaction, but i want to get it from you in the context of this as well, because it's the second point we want to hit on, the report that catherine herridge brought us yesterday, that at the same time we are apologizing for an accidental decision by our u.s. soldiers, we are paying $750,000 in taxpayer money so that suspected terrorists at gitmo can play soccer on a beautiful field with astroturf, and it does

raise questions about our priorities in terms of how we approach these battles. your thoughts. >> first, on mark levin, i think it's time for him to catch the last train to clarksville because the train has definitely left the station on his mind. he worked in the reagan administration, he should know better, okay? there are people in the middle east who are on fire right now because of what happened there, and the president is trying to calm the situation down to protect our men and women in the field, and he should know better. he is really out of line. you know, he sounds like rush limbaugh but really what he's trying to do is be rush limbaugh and if we have to be replace rush limbaugh it needs to be with chris plante! now, let me explain the other part -- >> megyn: chris would probably take that job in a heart beat! >> he probably would. on the gitmo situation, i've worked in government and i've worked on campaigns and you can say a whole lot of things on campaigns but then when you get faced with the reality of governing you've got to make decisions based

on that reality, and the reality is the president cannot on the this time close down gitmo. as for the astroturf there -- >> megyn: closing down and spending almost a million dollars in taxpayer money so they can play soccer on astroturf? >> it's kind of hard to grow grass there, i'm sure, so they're buying the turf to save money, but that said, listen, you're keeping people in a detention situation, you've got to exercise them so they stay healthy so you're spending less than health care at the end of the day. megyn: whoa! therefore, we have to have a walking trail, exercise equipment, three recreation facilities, and one indoor, one outdoor, new soccer field, and and on it goes. among those taking advantage , usama bin laden's cook and driver! these are suspected terrorists! >> they're not suspected anything. they're detainees. they're prisoners of war. they're unlawful enemy combatants. they're jihadis and they love two things: death and

soccer, apparently. i was going to make a joke about michelle obama wanting them to exercise and keep health care costs down but you went there with a straight face, and i find that -- i mind that amazing. the other day the president was talking about slashing health care for our troops and veterans while we're spending 3/4 of a million dollars for astroturf. look, chris, when you and i were kids we used to take four t-shirts in the field and throw them down and call it a baseball field. and these guys, jihadis, are serial mass murderer, can take a couple of t-shirts or something and throw them down and make soccer goals out of them as kids do all over the world, every day. >> we don't know the full story about the soccer fields and trails and i'm sure it's not just for the detainees. megyn: they say that it reduces behavioral problems, that they get out there, they exercise, it leads to following the rules, and you know, i don't know, chris, you tell me. christopher hahn, aren't those on the left going to have the objection to this? they want gitmo closed, now

they're getting the bells and whistles with soccer fields. >> obviously people on the left wanted it closed but they're not governing now. on the campaign can you talk whatever they want. >> really? >> an mark levin's radio program he can curse and cry and call the president names but it -- but when it comes to reality the president is winning on foreign policy. >> really? >> and as far as gitmo, it's more of a problem for the left than the right. the right wants to keep it open so if we're going to keep it open, we might as well make sure it's there for the long term. >> wow! it's like pepperdine university soccer field, 3/4 of a million dollars in astroturf. please, throw down a couple of t-shirts and a ball on the field. we're broke! i don't know if anybody mentioned -- mentioned that. megyn: is that necessary in the carribean? >> megyn -- >> megyn: guy, i got to -- >> they're not quite sure where they're from, to mow that lawn!

>> mission accomplished! it's a world soccer facility. megyn: why are we letting them have access to a soccer field at thaish leisure for 24 hours a day? i got to run. a story reported last friday about sears holding corporation, closing 1200 of its stores, in actuality, sears holding corporation simply intends to separate its sears home tuned outlet businesses, as well as certain hardware stores. these businesses and stores, sears says, will not be closing. we apologize for the confusion. most of all, i'll tell you what, nana is going to be very happy because when i told you that story on friday, she was going to be upset and i was right! nan, all is well. we have breaking news from egypt, reports coming out that the americans essentially held hostage there are about to be set free. but there's a new twist now from secretary of state hillary clinton. we will have that for you after the break. and as powerful

tornadoes slam the midwest we're hearing that a hospital was hit. we'll have that in three minutes, along with what's happening in bran son. >> i can't believe the measure of damage that was done to this building.

megyn: new tornado warnings are in effect for several states after a powerful storm system rips through the midwest. nine people confirmed dead in illinois and missouri, and this is a look at the destruction in the popular resort city of branson, missouri. witnesses say it looked like a twist of hop scotch down the strip, tearing off roofs of hotels and damaging some of the famed theaters just ahead of the tourist season there. here's a local reporter, describing what he saw: >> this is just one of many

vehicles that was struck by debris and pummeled by tornadoes. this life preserver didn't belong in this car. notice it says duck on it. let's take a look at what's across the street over here. that is one of those place necessary branson, one of those duck tourist places, it's kind of half truck, half car, half boat, those things go out on the water. well, that life preserver came blowing across the street with the tornado and hit right here and ended up inside the car. megyn: bill it. oroni is president of the hilton and branson convention center. thank you for being here. you were at your home when the tornado hit. what did you experience there and then we'll get to what happened at the hilton. >> i heard the storm, it woke me up in the middle of the night, and i just thought it was a very bad thunderstorm. i could hear the wind and i could hear hail, and then a friend texted and said that he had just gotten a report that four houses in my neighborhood were destroyed

by a tornado. which made me get up, start walking around, making sure my house was okay. and then i immediately called the hotel, and at the hotel, i found out that the hotel had received some pretty severe damage, so we assembled our team and came here, and the hotel -- we actually operate two hotels in branson, and the hotels had already been evacuated by the time we got here. we then started assessing the damage, and it -- the convention center, hotel really received the brunt of it. >> megyn: describe it for us. what does it look like today? >> well, it used to be a very sleek, 12-story glass tower, and it now is a -- you know, the windows are

pretty much broken out in probably 25 percent of the hotel, all the windows are smashed out, and with draperies pulled through and pieces of wood sticking out of the guest rooms. megyn: when you walk around the town now, bill, what are you seeing? >> i really haven't been out ash the -- around the town because we've been dealing with trying to take advantage -- or trying to get in contact with our advance reservations for the rest of this week and next week and trying to place them in other properties. but from what i've heard, the description of the storm hop scotching around the strip is pretty accurate because you'll have one theater on one side of the strip that didn't sustain any damage, then the next one is totally gone. megyn: as we so often see in these devastating twisters. bill, thank you, best of luck to you. >> well, thank you very much. megyn: coming up, the justice department now says it may review a key tool the

nypd uses to keep the city safe from terror attacks. are the new york police on the wrong side of the law on this one? eric holder is about to investigate. we think. that's in today's kelly's court. plus mitt romney and rick santorum tweaking their campaign strategies ahead of supertuesday. our group is back with interesting opinions on that. my entire interview with the focus group is three minutes away. >> do you think that santorum has now officially emerged as the nonromney, is gingrich no longer in contention for that role?

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megyn: on now supertuesday with arizona and michigan behind them, the candidates are today pushing ahead to next week's contest. mitt romney in ohio today, rick santorum making stops in tennessee. as we saw last night the two frontrunners are already reshaping their messages with an eye towards the states ahead. >> that's how america's freedom was won. leaders, believing in the people that they led. against those who just thought all the answers resided in those in charge. ladies and gentlemen, that is what made america free and that is what will make america free in the future. thank you. god bless. >> four years ago, we warned that the presidency was no

place for on the job training. well, today we have the economy to prove it, all right? this president, by by the way, he likes to remind us that he inherited an economy that was in crisis, but he doesn't like to remind us that he also inherited a democrat congress. he had majorities in both the house and senate. he was free to pursue any policy he pleased. did he fix the economy? no. did he tackle the housing crisis? >> no. >> did he get america back to work? >> no. megyn: and joining us once again, our focus group, a group of republican voters who are trying to decide who they are going to support in this contest. welcome back again, everybody! i want to ask you about that santorum clip, because on the set last night we were watching it live as he was delivering those remarks and there was talk about he clearly lost his voice a little bit in all the campaigning but he seemed to be working it a little bit, working the voice and the drama and channeling maybe a little of his inner clint

eastwood. i want to ask what your reaction was to the drama of the remarks as we saw it. didi. >> i don't think he channel ed clint eastwood, pretty sure about that! the thing with him, i felt bad because he asked the democrats to vote for him and he probably got hammered all day for that. in fact i know he did. he probably wasn't feeling good and trying to take all the prime time -- he had the best time versus a mitt romney. i think he's stretching out for a reason. megyn: did it jump out at anybody, the voice and delivery and tone as g. bad or unusual? go ahead, victoria. >> i feel that when he speaks that way, he's very inspiring and i would not use a movie star, i would actually use george washington, i think that he really inspires people and it really moves us to say yes, that's the man i want to lead me. megyn: interesting. tom. >> i think he was more of a libertarian tone, almost like the ron paul movement, going that way. >> [laughter] >> no, but trying to do that

, the good thing about santorum is he's passionate, the bad thing, sometimes he comes off as angry and that's his challenge. megyn: what about mitt romney? we saw him in that clip, he sees in his place when going after barack obama. he seems in the happiest place when going after president obama and he did last night. this on the same day that he admitted to reporters he's made mistakes in -- in this campaign and that he has himself to fault for that, not his campaign, his staff, but himself. are we seeing a different kind of mitt romney, are we seeing somebody who's getting better at connecting which has been his problem all along? >> tony. >> absolutely. the great thing about watching mitt romney, i didn't start off as a support he, i'm one now, is when he's challenged he rises to that occasion. he was challenged after south carolina, he came roaring back in florida, he was challenged when santorum won two states, three weeks ago. he came back with huge wins in arizona and a better win than people realize in michigan. santorum spent more time,

more money than in any other spent. he was outspent. >> megyn: heavily. >> he had romney one on one, more money than in any other state and he didn't win. romney is excellent when he talks about fixing the economy and obama, and fighting his record. megyn: because last night, the exit polls showed that the voters cared way more about having experience in business than they did about having experience in government. for those of you on the panel who are santorum supporters, like you, barbara, gonzalez, do you feel the same? or can you get over the fact that santorum has less experience in business than somebody like romney? >> now, the way i see it, that the business experience -- i see the way santorum has come from last place, and where he got and where i saw a different mitt romney, i saw a shaken mitt romney, and the reason i see that, he did not expect someone in last place to come to where he is and almost -- he came very close in his own back

yard, and i think that mitt romney is now saying i'm going to have to work. i mean, it's more than money. this grassroots movement means a lot. megyn: are the romney supporters the folks who are either for romney or not for santorum, do you feel shaken at all by the fact that it was a close margin of victory and that santorum came pretty close, even though it was romney's native state? go ahead, tracy davis. sorry. >> i think that myth is a -- mitt is a fragmented leader now and he has a very tough fight ahead of him. he put so much money into michigan, and it was -- whether it's his home or native state, it doesn't matter. it obviously mattered a lot to him, and for him to have it be that close in michigan, where he had twice as much money as santorum and santorum did come from nothing where he lived in iowa, you know, and got iowa barely. but what i'm saying is i think he has a lot of challenges, and those have been more -- have been more

harmed in the last couple of weeks. santorum was harmed with his comments and mitt, with his, with the cadillac and -- >> self-inflicted wounds. >> and gingrich is on the side, the way he was in south carolina, he won that state in five minutes when he did the second debate, and you know, he is going to take a lot of the southern states, and so what i'm just saying is it's going to be three-way race again. megyn: >> mary, your guy ron paul, you know what, he -- yesterday, the "rasmussen poll" came out, out of the top four candidates, he was the only one shown to be beating president obama. but when you look at the average of all polls he's still number four when it comes to the four republican candidates. >> but i think to go back to what he said originally about them moderating their message, i think that republicans have been very foolish to not move away from the social issues, because they can win it on the economy. they're not going to win it on social issues. so stick with the economy. that's what ron paul is doing. there are a lot of people

even on this panel who are not ron paul supporters who have said they like him because he's consistent, they like him because you know exactly what you're getting. they would be very smart to start to take some of what he's saying and bring it -- >> [interruption] >> megyn: newt gingrich says that's fine, i didn't compete in those states but i'm looking ahead to supertuesday, this upcoming tuesday and georgia has the most delegates of any state at issue so far and i'm going to win that state he says and he thinks it's going to be a southern sweep for him. do you think people are wrong to be counting gingrich out the way we counted so -- we counted so many out? >> most certainly. particularly if you look at the gingrich success strategm, all eyes will be on him, he will sweep through georgia and then proceed, and gingrich reminds me very much of a lincoln-type character, whereas our commander in chief has quite literally divided our house. so once we get through with

this momentary stripe of the candidates and put newt gingrich against barack obama, i imagine the decision will be very clear, and the republican party will fall in line behind him. megyn: so we talked to you, do you think that santorum has now officially emerged as the nonromney? is gingrich no longer in contention for that role? >> yeah, i think so. >> megyn: do you? and you're a santorum supporters. >> i am. you're happy to see this. >> i'm happy for santorum. he did so well last night in michigan, you know. however he got the votes, he did it. megyn: does that bother you? you say however he got them. does it bother you? because romney called it disgusting. romney called it disgusting that santorum was appealing to democrats in an open primary and they said wait -- >> finish your point. >> there are a lot of democrats i think that would actually support him in a general election. megyn: tony, go ahead. >> democrats were urged to support him.

it was an open primary. he was allowed to appeal tom. it was the fact that number one, michael moore came out urging the vote for santorum so obviously there was an operation there. number two, he attacked romney for not supporting the auto bailout which he didn't support himself. >> megyn: romney supported a bailout for wall street but not -- >> but will you listen to that robo call he almost insinuated it was wrong that he didn't support the auto bailout. >> [interruption] >> megyn: you are suggesting candidates were doing misleading things in a presidential contest? can you believe it, in politics? >> this was to nominate the gop candidate and rick santorum got in bed with the democrats and michael moore, which is disgusting, and it was very wrong and he helped out the entire party. that was a bad move. that was not smart. >> if someone else could have done it, they would have. it's politics. >> i'm starting to lose my flavor that o'reilly calls

little bo peep! panel, i got to run. she loved to have the last line! >> mitt whined about that, and i think it was -- the thing is, he's the one who has negative ads in all of the states so for him to cry unfair is a little bit, you know -- that was not attractive. megyn: panel, thank you all so much! a pleasure as always. what did you think? send me your thoughts on twitter. follow me now at megyn kelly, love you have you on board. lots of fun pictures from election night and otherwise as well. coming up, the justice department knew about the practice for months but attorney general eric holder just announced that he is going to review a key tool the new york city police department uses to keep the city safe from terror attacks. is the nypd on the wrong side of the law on this one? that's next, in kelly's court. >> we're going to continue

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and i only need to talk to one person abouter care. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. itedhealthcare. megyn: kelly's court is back in session. on the docket today, is it spying or good old fashioned due diligence to keep our country safe? new york city's police department, now could be facing review by the justice department for gathering information about muslims. the nypd has databases filled with information on where muslims in the new york area live, shop, pray, socialize. the justice department apparently knew about the practice for months. but just yesterday, attorney general eric holder told congress his department is now reviewing whether to investigate the police for civil rights violations. >> we have received letters from members of congress, from other sources, as well as we're in the process of

reviewing those letters to determine what action, if any, we should take. as a general matter, before one takes investigative action, there should be a predicate of some sort, some basis for belief that that action is necessary. megyn: joining me now, mercedes cohen, fox news analyst, and former prosecutor, now defense attorney, panel, so he's not saying they are investigating, he is saying that they are beginning a review to decide whether to investigate civil rights violations by the nypd. jonna, should the justice department do that? >> this is interesting. yes they should. clearly this is a fourth amendment issues and what the nypd is accused of doing is violating the fourth amendment rights of anybody who happens to be muslims. >> megyn: how? >> without any probable cause to suspect they're doing something wrong. megyn: wait. explain how. what is the nypd doing so

our viewers will know and -- >> they're conducting surveillance and compliesing dociers on people who are simply college students, who live in certain areas, who go to certain places of worship and that's the sole basis, not that they're accused of doing anything wrong or conspire to go do something wrong against people in the united states. just because they're muslim, so that violates the fourth amendment. but you look at the doj, it's like yeah, well, maybe we'll get around to it. almost as if they're condoneing it. that's the fascinating part. megyn: he's on dangerous ground politically either way, mercedes. you heard ray kelly, the police commissioner, not apologetic for this, saying look, the feds have to do what they have to do but my job is to keep the city safe and that's what i'm doing. >> exactly right. three thousand people died on 9/11, and this city by the grace of god has been saved ever since then. why? because the commissioners came forward and said we have to tighten this up, we have to have this type of

surveillance. by the way, these terror cell, where have they been? internet cafe, hos tells, motels. there is definitive proof that the nypd has found that these type of terror cells have existed, and it's not unlawful search and seizure. there is reasonable suspicion to go into these particular places. no one is busting into homes, wiretapping, they're going into public places, there is a reasonable expectation of privacy when it comes to that. megyn: is it clear to you jonna there is a constitutional violation in monitoring people at mosques andoes, in public places as opposed to in their homes? >> public place, in your homes, i see no difference. if you're not accused of doing a darn thing, megyn, if you're walking down the street i don't think anybody has the right to follow you around and monitor your every move if you've not been accused or engaged in activity that's whatsoever sus peshous. when are we going to put an x through the fourth amendment of the constitution and call it a day?

that's what's happening here. mig mig that's an interesting point. what rights does the government have to investigate you, listen to you, tape you, when you're in the public, whether or not you're muslim? mercedes, i'll get you to weigh in onio that, right after this break. obiotic cap a y helps defend against digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. hit me! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'. [ female announcer ] live the regular life. so i test... a lot. do you test with this? freestyle lite test strips? they need just a third the blood of onetouch ultra. wow! and the unique zipwik tab targets the blood and pulls it in. that'll make testing easy. and you can get these strips for a $15 monthly co-pay simply by joining the freestyle promise program. and i think i know exactly where those savings will go. call or click and join for free. test easy. wait.

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there's a security risk which of course there is. that's why they have these. megyn: there all muslims -- i mean, they're painting with an awfully broad brush. >> megyn, if they were hispanic americans that did 9/11, they would be the focus. it's not race, it's not

nationality, it has nothing to do with religion. megyn: how far can they take that jonna? i realize it was radical extremists who attacked us on 9/11 but you could find it among any race group or religious group, somebody who committed an attack in the past and could that be used to keep tabs on us, big brother, where we shop, go to church, keep files on it, say online, internet tag group. do we really want the feds dhoog or the locals i should say? >> according to the civil liberties union, there's a federal order in place that says you can not do that unless you have a reasonable suspicion, the fourth amendment says you can't do that unless you have a reasonable suspicion. there is a classic slippery slope argument, i don't want anybody knocking at my door because they have nothing to base anything on except they think something. >> security is at risk, jonna. megyn: but does it throw the constitution out the wind snow. >> but the individual rights are trumped when it comes to this type of security at

risk. megyn: less and less so, according to the court decision. now, all these years after 9/11, it's gotten a little more on the favor of the side of civil liberties. guys, got to go, but thank you very much. fox news alert on a story we've been following closely out of egypt. there were reports earlier today that the seven americans who worked for the prodemocracy groups over there who had been -- who had not been allowed to leave the country have just been granted permission to leave. they've been banned for traveling for weeks. this includes the son a cabinet member, ray la hood, but secretary of state hillary clinton says she has no confirmation this is the case, that they're going to be let out of egypt. we contacted charles dunn, one of the workers charged by the egyptians, he's with one of these groups, but he's here state side, been on the program many times, he says it does appear, his information is that the ban has been lifted, that they will be allowed to leave, but there's a wrinkle. we'll be right back.

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