be a mooncalf when writing to "the factor." again, thanks for watching tonight. ms. megyn is up next. i am bill o'reilly. please remember the spin stops here cause we're definitely looking out for you. breaking tonight ugly new fallout in the obama administration's release of five taliban generals just 24 hours after we learned one of these men attempted to return to terror. with some folks high up in this administration tonight sounding very much like they are looking for some cover. welcome to "the kelly file" everyone. i'm megyn kelly. fox news confirming yesterday that at least one of these five taliban generals has attempted to return to terror. late last year the obama administration released them from guantanamo bay. and it was roundly criticized for doing that even by top democrats like dianne feinstein. the administration returned them to the gulf nation of qatar in exchange for the release of captured american soldier bowe

bergdahl, a sergeant now under investigation by the army who is accused by his squad of deserting them. just in the last couple of hours a top democratic lawmaker has now come forward to say not everyone in the administration signed off on this deal. while the outgoing secretary of defense, chuck hagel just admitted on camera tonight that the white house wanted detainees freed from gitmo faster than he was comfortable with. >> not everyone at the white house has agreed with me. >> on what part of this? >> probably on the pace of releases. >> have you had pressure? >> we've had a lot of conversations. >> with the white house? >> yes. and congress. and the press. >> i don't think it was thoroughly vetted who the five guys were. i think the five guys turn out to be problematic -- i do know this. a number of key people in the

administration were not consulted before the trade was made. >> uh-huh. earlier tonight i spoke with pentagon press secretary rear admiral john kirby about the controversy behind this deal. great to see you, admiral kirby. thank you so much for being here. can you assure the american people that these five guys do not pose any threat to the united states? >> what i can assure the american people is that we are working closely with the government of qatar to mitigate any potential threat to the maximum degree possible. and we are aware of some re-engagement activity as you've pointed out. they have not returned to the battlefield. they're still in qatar. we're working closely with that government to mitigate this threat as much as possible. another thing i say we worked hard with the government of qatar to develop these security assurances and we are comfortable that they are the appropriate measures that the assurances will work. >> then how did they make contact with terrorists or with the taliban? what we're being told is they make contact with the haqqani network. if our protocols are so great how did they make contact? >> i'm not at liberty to

describe exactly what the re-engagement activity was. so i'm not going to confirm that piece of it. >> but there was re-engagement. that's my point. so obviously there's a flaw in the system. >> actually, no, megyn it was the system in place. it was the assurances and security measures we put in place that allowed us to discover the re-engagement activity. and so the assurances actually are working the way they're supposed to work. >> so we don't shut down the opportunity for these five guys to make contact with other terrorists. we just have a system in place to know about it. but that's a little disconcert disconcerting. should they be allowed to have this communication in the first place? >> well, obviously we don't want them to have communication with former taliban whether they did or didn't let's not get into that. but we don't want that. of course the system worked. we were allowed to rediscover the re-engagement activity and working with qatar to shut it down. >> just around back to my first question though, i hear you're

unwilling to say explicitly these guys are not a threat to the united states. we're doing our best to mitigate the threat. we're solid. we're working with the qataris, but can you say definitively they're not a threat? >> nobody said these individuals didn't have a dangerous past and could potentially have interest in a dangerous future. >> here's the problem. one of the problems. qatar's only going to watch them for a year and that year is up in may and clearly they're interested in returning to terror. so what are we going to do after may? >> i can't talk again about the specifics of the security arrangements with qatar. what i will tell you, and it's not just qatar and other countries where detainees have been transferred. we work very very closely with our partners to mitigate these threats to the maximum extent possible. >> can they go back to afghanistan? >> they are not free to travel. >> even after the year? >> right now. >> after the year in qatar are they free to travel? >> i can't go into the details -- >> why don't we get to know? with all due respect why don't we get to know? these are five taliban generals

that our soldiers captured. one guy directly linked to osama bin laden. >> i do understand the curiosity and concern. we exist to help defend the american people. sometimes the best way to do that is to not talk about the specifics of security operations. >> i know you're aware that over at the white house they were questioned about the taliban and whether this is a terrorist group. they refuse to label it as such. do you think the taliban is a terrorist group? >> from a military perspective we consider the taliban and afghanistan as an armed insurgency. now, as i understand it the state department has not designated them as a foreign terrorist organization. yes, they use terror tactics and have use them and will probably continue to use them. they're not designated as such. >> right, but the commander in chief george w. bush back in 2002 did designate them as a terrorist group. so do you follow what the state department says, or do you follow what the commander in chief says? >> the state department is the

agency in charge of designating these organizations as such. >> as foreign terrorist organizations, right? ftos. but the president in july of 2002 president bush issued an executive order that specially designated global terrorists and included the taliban as a terrorist group. i don't understand why the pentagon wouldn't come out and say, yeah they're terrorists. >> megyn, let's not stand on too much of the rhetoric here. they're an armed insurgency, they remain a dangerous group. we're aware of that. that's why we have troops in afghanistan now. >> the bottom line is should we have been negotiating with them on prisoner swaps. should we be doing that with the taliban? >> in this case sergeant bergdahl was being held in prisoner of war like status and we were negotiating with an armed insurgent group to get sergeant bergdahl back. we absolutely standby that decision. >> if they'd been a terrorist group, would it have been okay to do that? >> we do not negotiate with terrorist organizations.

>> see, so that's why the distinction actually does matter. so you're asking the american people to say this was okay because the state department hadn't labeled them a foreign terrorist organization even though the president of the united states and the commander in chief did label them a terrorist organization. and that designation stands. >> and from a military perspective we consider them an armed insurgency. we can go around and around about the history here. >> but don't you see the aggravation saying wait i thought we didn't negotiate with terrorist groups and look at that designation isn't there and the american people say come on, you did it you negotiated with terrorists. admit. tell us why it was worth it. >> we've been talking about them being an armed insurgency from the very begin even before sergeant bergdahl was involved. we believe it sends a strong message to our troops and families we will not leave a troop behind. >> we saw earlier this week, three four-star generals before the senate armed services

committee that followed up on earlier statements we had heard from the now recently retired head of the dia, the defense intelligence agency. all of which said we don't have a strategy for winning what they all consider to be a war against radical islam. that that's the enemy. that it needs to be identified as such. and that we need to come up with a strategy. do you agree with that assessment? >> what i would say is we do have a strategy to go after groups like al qaeda. we do have a strategy to go after isil. we're executing -- >> that's -- i'll give you the floor. but this is what they were saying. they were saying this is what we shouldn't be doing. cherry picking groups trying to do whack-a-mole, that's al qaeda, that's this one. they're saying admit the truth as they say it is we're at war with radical islam. and we need a global strategy for dealing with that. do you agree with that?

>> from the pentagon's perspective we do have a strategy to go after al qaeda and we are prosecuting them. and we have a strategy to go after isil. and i'm very open and honest about who these people are, the ideology they aspouse. these guys have an extremist view of the muslim faith and they are perpetrating barbaric a atrocityies on people in the name of faith. we're also mindful however good we are and powerful we are from a military perspective, it's never going to be enough to completely eradicate this wicked ideology. >> it's not about eradication. general jack keane laid out the facts that al qaeda, that that group and its followers and its factions has grown fourfold over the past few years and isis grown tenfold. it's not about eradication. it's about stopping the cancerous growth. the metastasis. these jebgenerals are saying we're

not doing it. we're failing. >> isil they do want to spread this radical ideology. that's why we've been saying again here at the pentagon that what really has to happen is governments and security and civility and options for people so they're not attracted to this ideology. and you can't get there at the barrel of a gun. no bomb is going to completely eradicate this kind of ideology. you've got to have political solutions. >> they said that too. they agreed with you on that last point. before i let you go do you agree with the one point that we're at war with radical islam? >> we are at war with groups like al qaeda -- >> you won't say it. >> we're at war with a group like isil. you have to understand, megyn, i'm talking from a military perspective. when you say we're at war, we mean we're in a kinetic fight. >> general -- former head of centcom, these are four-star generals they say we're at war with radical islam. and you're here representing them in part and you won't say

it either, correct? you won't go that far? >> i'm representing the pentagon and defense department. and we are at war with isil in the same way we are at war with al qaeda. >> okay. listen, i appreciate you coming on the program. thank you. and thank you for your service. >> thank you. well you just heard the pentagon spokesman refusing to call the taliban a terror group and refusing to say that we are at war with radical islam. and wait until you see who else took heat on that today. plus, this sergeant was released by the terrorists more than six months ago. and we still don't know if he is actually a deserter. general jack keane was listening to the rear admiral, and he is here next. and then mitt romney said he is not running, or did he? so what happens next? chris stirewalt, rich lowry and the big question for 2016 still ahead. >> 40 on rubio? he's my underestimated dark horse candidate who threads his

way. young, energetic, he's got a program. and i think if he runs against hillary, the contrast say the vigor, the energy, the kennedy-esque idea will be a major one. (woman) caring for someone with alzheimer's means i am a lot of things.

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[bassist] two late nights in tucson. blew an amp.but good nights. sure,music's why we do this,but it's still our business. we spend days booking gigs then we've gotta put in the miles to get there. but it's not without its perks. like seeing our album sales go through the roof enough to finally start paying meg's little brother- i mean,our new tour manager-with real,actual money. we run on quickbooks.tha t's how we own it. back now to the big news breaking tonight in the controversy over the release of five top taliban commanders. you just heard the pentagon defending the deal. but in just the last couple hours the top dog at the pentagon, the outgoing defense

secretary, talked about the pressure he was under from the white house to release terror suspects from gitmo. of course that's what we got i exchange for bowe bergdahl we released those five top taliban generals. at the very same time that chuck hagel is saying that tonight a top democrat went on tv to underscore how some administration officials did not sign-off on this bergdahl swap deal. and the white house about an hour and a half ago sent out a note about the policy on the trades are under review. general jack keane four-star general and fox news military analyst. general, what do you think we are seeing tonight? >> well, i think we're seeing finally a public policy that we've had beginning to unravel where we have people trying to defend the indefensible. and admiral kirby who you had on here, reputation as a straight shooter, good guy. but he's defending bad policy.

he knows it. you can see it in all of his body language. and that's his job, megyn. he has to stand up there and advocate the policy and why we have it. but he knows full well that releasing those five was bad policy. the governance for that is inadequate as well. we're going to say good-bye to them in may. he's advocating that we may have some mitigating to be able to track them and follow them. i'm highly suspicious of that. i think we can keep them under control until may. but beyond that the likelihood they will get back in and have influence in the taliban leadership again i think is pretty high. >> uh-huh. he knows that. he just had to come on and spin about that because he's representing this administration. does he also know we're at war with radical islam? because he was doing the exact thing you said this administration continues to do which is the whack-a-mole isis, it's justice is here al qaeda there, it's not this global conflict against radical islam.

>> yeah. i've never had a conversation with him about it but i think it's inescapable. i've spoken to many senior leaders who wore a uniform in the pentagon. and we do not take a comprehensive approach to what is now obviously a global radical islamic jihad that's unfolding in front of our eyes in the middle east and north and west africa and south asia. until you look at the whole of it and begin to deal with the comprehensive, with all of those nations, with not just the kinetic approach, i would suggest we do would do less of the kinetic, the other countries would do the heavy lifting but we'd help train them share intelligence, share technology. and i'm not the only one that feels that way. there's many others out there who feel the same way about it. but he is defending an inadequate policy and it's tough to watch it. >> i asked him about the math, the institute the study of war put out that shows the growth of

radical islam over the past few years, the growth of one, al qaeda, isis, which you put together. he's talking about how they're going to eradicate. i'm asking him where's just the stopping of the growth. we'll get to eradication much, much later apparently. >> yeah. the red on that map you have up right now, that has grown fourfold in five years. isis, which is in the center is hard to see. they started out a little under 3,000 and when we began the conflict against them they were well over 30,000. and obviously iran and what they're doing in increasing their domination over countries in the region, all of this is on the rise. and we have to deal with it comprehensively. >> in the meantime the reason this all ties together is because we let bergdahl out. we got bergdahl out in exchange for these prisoners. because at the time the president said we leave no man behind. but now more and more people are saying it's starting to look like this was part of president

obama's plan to empty gitmo. the reason that's controversial is because we're still at war. even though he says the war in afghanistan is over, they still want to kill us. and so it's not like you're typical end of war like where the japanese surrendered and we exchange prisoners. i mean this is very controversial to return five taliban generals out into the battlefield battlefield. >> absolutely. you know, i didn't come to that view initially when we were releasing the five the view i have now, i do think it was bad policy at the time. but now that i realize what the president is doing is emptying gitmo because the congress won't close it. and those five when you look at their portfolio, they would never be released under any condition whatsoever other than the one that was positive and that is to exchange him with bergdahl. but that wasn't the case. these five are there to the very, very bitter end because of the leadership roles they'd enjoyed in a conflict that is

still ongoing. >> right. so is the question about whether we were misled. and we've seen the tape tonight and last night and before of them getting their heroes welcome when they were released. imagine what will happen when they return to the taliban proper in afghanistan, which was not ruled out tonight by the pentagon. i got to run general. >> okay. >> quickly, go ahead. >> listen. the treasury department holds a list called the specially designated global terrorist list. the state department holds a list called the foreign terrorist organization. why we have two lists most government officials don't agree with. but we do. the taliban have been on that specially designated global terrorist list of the united states government since 2002. they are on it today. >> right. >> and it's absolutely astounding that government officials will say that they're not designated a terrorist organization. they absolutely are. >> i asked him about that. i mean how does the pentagon not follow the directive, the executive order of the commander

in chief. we'll pick that debate up right after this break. general jack keane great to see you, sir. >> good talking to you, megyn ncht we've seen the white house and pentagon refusing to call the taliban a terror group. you saw that exchange. wait until you see who else took heat on that today. plus, did mitt romney really say there's no way he's running for president? we'll review and you will decide just ahead. welcome back to showdown! jerry rice here with 8 year old andrew hunter debating who will win the big race between the tortoise and the hare. what do you think andrew? rabbits are faster. it's not a rabbit, it's a hare. what's the difference? maybe figure that out before debating the best wide reciever of all time. wait, are you odell beckham jr.? know that chasing performance can mean lower returns and fewer choices in retirement.

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breaking tonight, after the white house and then the pentagon refused to call the taliban a terror group, the question today went to the state department. >> i'm just not sure why you wouldn't just say, of course it's a terrorist attack. >> obviously any attack that kills contractors, that kills individuals who are working there in harm's way is a horrific and tragedy, but i'm

not going to put new labels on it today. >> republican senator ron johnson is chairman of the senate homeland security committee. senator, good to see you tonight. so do you believe -- >> hello, megyn. >> -- that this is intentional? why don't they want to call the taliban a terror group? >> because they negotiated with the taliban. they negotiated to release sergeant bergdahl. and they're going to want to negotiate with them in the future. and you can't negotiate -- we don't negotiate with terrorists but we will negotiate with armed insurgents. i think it's just that simple and that obvious. >> why shouldn't they negotiate with the taliban given that they say we've been at war with them. they say the conflict's coming to an end. and they say at the end of these conflicts you negotiate full prisoner exchange. >> because they say we should be defeating terrorist. and that's what president obama hasn't ever been committed to victory. he was basically coming in with two goals, end the war whether it was over or not and close

guantanamo. he's not acknowledging reality. islamic terrorists are at war with us. and unless we kill them, unless we defeat them, they'll continue to be at war with us. they'll continue to grow. that is what this president refuses to acknowledge and it puts america in peril. >> chuck hagel tonight to cnn coming out saying i felt under pressure to release gitmo detainees. and another top democrat saying not everybody in the administration agreed with that bergdahl terror swap. and then the white house coming out saying our prisoner swap situation is under review. some are suggesting we're about to get news possibly on bowe bergdahl, possibly news the american people will find objectionable. >> because these people are realizing this policy is not working. and they are finally starting to acknowledge reality themselves when they realize what president obama won't. bottom line here, megyn is we

need a strategy to defeat isis and islamic terrorists. president obama does not have that strategy because he's not committed to the defeat of isis. sure he's willing to play whack-a-mole. he's willing to hit drone strikes, he's willing to attack in syria and iraq but he's not willing to engage in the worldwide war against these islamic terrorists because it is a worldwide war because they are spreading, they are me tast sizing. the problem is there are a lot more needles and the haystack is growing. >> mr. chairman, thank you for being here. >> have a good night. my next guest thinks the mainstream media is remarkably uninterested in all of this. in particular this news the taliban terror suspect released by the united states just months ago is now trying to return to terror. howie kurts the mainstream network, cbs abc, been covering that story? >> they did not cover the story tonight, you'll be shocked to

hear megyn. they did not cover it yesterday when josh earnest at the white house did very much what admiral kirby did earlier saying it's not a terror organization because it's only in afghanistan. but most incredibly the day before abc's world news along with the other newscasts did not cover it when its own reporter started this whole controversy by e lisilliciting -- >> he asked eric schultz about it and said the taliban's an armed insurgency. those have not covered the white house saying the taliban is not a terror group and they have not covered the fact that this taliban general has returned to terror or attempted to? they haven't covered that last night or tonight? >> not that i have seen. some people out there may be saying, well this is just a linguistic debate, but words matter in journalism as well as diplomacy. like when al jazeera bans the word terrorist saying we should call them fighters or militants.

we're talking about mass murderers here. hard to understand in which americans fought and some lost their lives and some were wounded why this isn't a more front burner issue. >> it doesn't feed their world view? they also like the whack-a-mole strategy and don't want to acknowledge a general still wants to be a terrorist after a lifetime of terror. >> the media seem to be going along with the administration narrative that afghanistan is over, we're out it's done it's a regional problem. and this happens to dovetail nicely with the natural media instinct not to cover foreign affairs countries like afghanistan unless u.s. troops are involved or americans are directly threatened. but that is short sided because the more powerful the taliban come, no matter how these officials want to dance around what we call it whether we use the t word, that makes afghanistan more of a threat potentially to americans because more terror attacks could be launched from there just in the days when osama bin laden was

using it as a base. >> exactly. that would be taking us back to 9-10-2001 when we didn't know about a direct threat, but the environment and those in favor of it were breeding. and we found that out the hard way. howie kurts good to see you. >> thanks, megyn. mitt romney today said he is not running for president. but some folks listened very carefully and heard something a little different. chris stirewalt rich lowry and what's next for 2016 right after this break. plus, after weeks of attacking the film "american sniper," michael moore says director clint eastwood once threatened to kill him. that story just ahead. here at fidelity we give you the most free research reports, customizable charts, powerful screening tools and guaranteed 1-second trades. and at the center of it all is a surprisingly low price -- just $7.95. in fact, fidelity gives you lower trade commissions than schwab, td ameritrade and e-trade. i'm monica santiago of fidelity investments, and low fees and commissions

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party the opportunity to run for the nomination" but some folks wondered if the wording of the announcement left a little opening. listen. >> after putting considerable thought into making another run for president, i've decided it's best to give other leaders in the party the opportunity to become our next nominee. i'm convinced that with the help of the people in this call we could win the nomination. i will win the best chance of beating the democrat eventual nominee, but that's before the other opportunities have had their opportunity to take their message to the voters and believe one of the next generation of republican leaders, one who may not be as well known as i am today one who has not yet taken their message across the country, one who is just getting started may well emerge as being better able to defeat the democrat nominee. i've been asked and will certainly be asked again if there are any circumstances whatsoever that might develop that could change my mind.

that seems unlikely. >> joining me now chris stirewalt fox news digital politics editor and rich lowry, editor for the national review and fox news contributor. chris, it seems unlikely. what does that mean? >> that is one of the most romney-statements ever. it was not exactly shermanesque. basically what he said he thought it would be sporting to let the rest of the party to have a chance to win the nomination. but if no one else does part of the younger generation, aka not you jeb bush, if somebody else doesn't come along that he thinks is doing the job correctly, he might feel obliged to step back in and be the nominee again. >> why did he do this? >> well, he did it -- i mean look, nobody wants to be the guy who got forced out of the race. and if you heard what he said in the rest of the at the same time he goes onto say i could have won, i'm the guy, i'm up in the

polls, i'm all of these things, i'm awesome, we're great we're doing it all. so he wants to leave on a high note. he wants to leave and say i could have had it all if i wanted to but it's cool you gis go ahead. he doesn't want to feel like jeb bush jammed him and forced him out of the race. >> is that what happened rich? >> i don't think this was a contrivance. i think he really wanted to run for president. and at the end of the day he just couldn't quite convince himself that it was right for him, his family or his party so he stood down. but you can see that he's torn right at the end because what we've been focusing on he doesn't completely close the door. there's no way he's getting back in the race. he seemed like a complete flake -- >> and gave donors permission to support the other people. that's what boils down, the money people go you're not running. >> it will be like a geological age in politics passing between this moment and the iowa caucuses

caucuses. mitt romney will be in those terms old news by the time people are voting. >> so stirewalt says it was ie not jeb bush when he was talking about the next generation of republican leaders they may not be as well-known as i am, they may not have yet taken their message across the country, the ones who are just getting started. who exactly does he mean? >> well, this is either a shot at jeb bush or the more benign interpretation is just what most people would come up for as the qualifications of republican candidate and what should be a turn the page election. >> all right chris, something's wrong with rich. i'm not sure what they gave him in the green room but even i can see that's utter nonsense. >> they switched out for decaf. look, the reality is this is about jeb bush. there's one guy -- i guess he also is talking about mike huckabee -- >> what about -- >> well, they were to have supper tonight. >> i know. >> it was reported in the "new york times." their relationship stank on ice.

they had a famously difficult time being together. now, a guy mitt romney had a good relationship with and who was very obliging and helpful to mitt romney who is part of a younger generation who is less well-known is marco rubio. he's one guy who worked his tail off for mitt romney in 2012 unlike chris christie. and another one that obviously mitt romney has some good feelings about and who has already talked to mitt romney is scott walker. >> all right. so now i put the question to you, gentlemen, it's like the mafia, who then is it? >> it's jeb first. >> number one? >> this makes it marginally more likely that jeb will be the dominant establishment candidate. and usually for better or worse that guy wins. but also with tremendous upside scott walker and marco rubio both of whom can potentially bridge that gap between the establishment and the grass roots. and even though people have been discounting rubio since the immigration debacle. if you're looking for the fresh face, if you're looking for the fresh feel for republicans, he is the guy most represents that.

>> is christie going to go after jeb bush hammer and tongs now, chris? does chris christie think it's between him and jeb bush for sort of that more moderate wing? >> you know i think christie has to make a case for why he needs to be in the race. i think he has to deal with walker. i think he has to deal with rubio. i think that jeb bush is the front runner. i think you will see jeb bush's numbers bump up pretty dramatically. i think you'll see his ability to raise that money go up dramatically. i think he is the front runner. however, because mitt romney is gone now after three weeks of toying, all of the focus and all of the energy and attention of the media and the rest of the candidates is going to fall upon front runner jeb bush now. and i don't know that his campaign is in good enough shape to take the heat. >> i got to go. i want to ask you quickly, bret baier is doing a fun segment called candidate casino and bet chips on that candidate who has the most likely chance of becoming nominee. stirewalt, who's your number

one? >> jeb bush, fifty bucks on jeb. >> how about you, rich? >> i think that's about right. but he's not the front runner yet. polls have been soft. he's been rusty. we've got to see how he's going to run. >> drinks on the house. still to come michael moore just won't quit with his attacks on "american sniper." he now claims director clint eastwood once threatened to kill him. plus, this week yours truly had a little fun at the expense of the deputy white house spokesman. now he's responding. we'll tell you what he's saying. and the big game is just a couple days away and brian is there. we'll ask him about the recent nfl scandals but we'll also have to ask him about this. >> why is it necessary to label one of those chickens, those whole chicken a young chicken? i mean put like boy owes there, like bobbys chicken, beloved son.

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but when i started having back pain my sister had to come help. i don't like asking for help. i took tylenol but i had to take six pills to get through the day. so my daughter brought over some aleve. it's just two pills, all day! and now, i'm back! aleve. two pills. all day strong, all day long. and now introducing aleve pm for a better am. developing tonight, filmmaker michael moore claims 84-year-old clint eastwood threatened to kill him. on his facebook page moore said the incident happened at a 2005 national board review awards winner. he claims the director would kill him if he ever came to his house for an interview. he caused a fire storm saying

"american sniper" saying sniepers aren't heroes referring to chris kyle about whom the movie was made. nfl commissioner roger goodell came before cameras saying he has no plans to quit. brian, this is it. the patriots are going. everyone i know that. they're playing against seattle. here's my question before we get to goodell. is there any chance they're going to win despite the fact about deflategate and their hotel having fire alarms going off this week. >> yes. i would say new england is a one-point favorite. i personally can't see a scenario where seattle doesn't. the reason why tickets are going so high and everyone's so excited -- >> ten thousand bucks. >> i think up to $10,000 if you're scalping because i think this is one of the best matchups in years i can truly remember. you have the truly most talented teams. >> the balls have their own

security. the footballs have their own security guard. that's what it's come to. that's why you're there. here's my next question. roger goodell, they believe everything that happens in the nfl they blame everything on him. a lot of ire toward him. >> you know, megyn, i've covered 17 super bowls. and i've covered eight state of the league addresses from the commission commissioner from tagliabue to goodell, i've never seen anything like it. they're losing a lot of respect from the players. maybe five every two years. now he's getting it from the reporters. asking him why are you still there? why did you let this happen? i think it in a way unjustly you combine that with the fact football is getting a lot of grief because it's a contact sport and some kids are getting hurt. and suddenly i feel like football is getting attacked from all sides. and people are forgetting the fact that just because you don't go pro it doesn't mean you're not benefitting tremendously from the sport.

it's truly an american sport. this country is not wavered. the sponsors are not going anywhere. but i think there's an attack on the nfl. and for roger goodell he said hey, i'll be humble. i've been humbled this year but i'm not quitting. and i'll tell you what he's definitely changed a lot when it comes to punishment. i cannot wait to see what happens when it comes to this football game next week when the spotlight's off. >> brian's held a lot of job. fox & friend's co-host and now in charge of guarding footballs at the super bowl. back when he was a babe he was also a standup comic i learned earlier this week. we have this clip. >> i have a few questions -- it's a rhetorical thing. why is it necessary to label one of those whole chickens a young chicken? like i don't feel bad enough eating something, it was like a living breathing and now i feel

twice as bad knowing it was struck down in its prime of its life. so i can have one meaningless meal. i mean, why don't they just -- i feel like bobby the chicken, beloved son. friend to all. until his untimely decapitation. >> how old were you there? and why didn't you stick with it? >> i was sticking with it. i did it to be better as a broadcaster. a lot of people went and did this law school thing. they wanted to become a lawyer to become a better broadcaster. i went the less expensive way. i thought the stage is open, why don't i try to get better at memorizing, be better on stage and better on camera. it was fun. but you can't do the morning show and go up at 10:30 at night on stage. so i said i'll let seinfeld have the mantle. >> you were great. and co-hosting with o'reilly let me tell you it was very obvious who was funny and who was just trying and failing. leave it at that.

>> you were great. >> you're a gentleman so you won't comment. >> thanks megyn. have a great weekend. >> that's him being funny again. find out what happens when a white house spokesman finds out that yours truly has been poking a little fun at him. uture. thank you for being my hero and my dad. military families are thankful for many things. the legacy of usaa auto insurance could be one of them. our world-class service earned usaa the top spot in a study of the most recommended large companies in america. if you're current or former military, or their family, see if you're eligible to get an auto insurance quote. ♪ i am totally blind. i lost my sight in afghanistan but it doesn't hold me back. i go through periods where it's hard to sleep at night and stay awake during the day. non-24 is a circadian rhythm disorder that affects up to 70% of people who are totally blind.

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well, this week we had a unique opportunity to ride along as many disabled veterans reached extraordinary new heights. trace gallagher reports. >> megyn wounded veterans have often told me they don't want sympathy or special treatment. they simply want a fighting chance. and now many are getting it thanks to one california mountain town. in august of 2013 matthew lost both of his legs when he stepped on an ied. he went to afghanistan to fight for our freedom.

now he's in mammoth to fight for his own. >> i haven't been going that fast since i've been injured. a lot of speed and momentum and freedom as well. >> because on the mountain there is no misery just company. very good company. wounded warriors from battles in iraq afghanistan, vietnam, even korea. >> i think it's a marvelous, marvelous experience to see all of these young guys. when i see what they have gone through compared to what i had, no comparison. >> i'm getting a lot of confidence. sometimes i forget i have any kind of injury. >> it's confidence curtesy of some people who vowed to never forget how much our military members have sacrificed. kathi copeland has been welcoming wounded warriors to mammoth for nearly a decade. >> we know that we can work our

magic here. and the mountains are healing. the community is warm and welcoming. >> and soon when the snow is gone the warriors will stay. mammoth is building the nation's biggest wounded warrior center with zero help from the federal government. the 28,000-square-foot facility will include physical therapy, mental therapy on-site college, job training, even internships. and then there's the outdoors. they say time heals all wounds. it doesn't but time on the mountain certainly helps. >> it is going to be an absolutely unique facility in that it's going to be the perfect place for these men and women who've come back from war to really reboot their lives to restart their lives. >> a lot of illnesses like ptsd, gets them out. i never thought i would hit the snow board again, now i'm skiing. >> the arch of honor reminding

military members who cross that someone is looking over them. >> don't get that kind of love. almost teared up. >> i should mention mammoth is my hometown and has a very long history of helping disabled veterans. again, the national wounded warrior center is being built solely with private funding. if you'd like to help, check out the website on the screen or on "the kelly file" facebook page. >> let's try to crash their web page and go back and back and back time and again. there it is. earlier this week i had a little fun at the white house spokesman's expense and now he's responding. that's right after this break. and fewer choices in retirement. know that proper allocation could help increase returns so you can enjoy that second home sooner. know the right financial planning can help you save for college and retirement. know where you stand with pnc total insight. a new investing and banking experience

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the report rs wanted to follow-up with schultz, but he had to go off to his junior prom. i take back all the teasing because it turns out i think he's from syracuse, new york. which is where i lived for the first ten years and only good peeps come out of there. and they do ascend powerful positions at a very very young age. that was me earlier this week having a little fun with deputy white house press secretary schultz remarking on how youthful he looks. look at him. turns out mr. schultz was apparently watching because we noticed this tweet. megyn kelly i've always said the water in the cuse is the real fountain of youth. #, let's not relive my junior prom. cuse natives also have very healthy senses of humor.

well-played, mr. schultz. by the way, i'll be going to the duke-syracuse basketball game at the dome with my husband who's a duke alum. see you there, schultz. go orange! mitt romney drops a 2016 bombshell. >> i decided it's best to give other leaders in the party the opportunity to become our next nominee. >> so how does this effect republicans running for the white house? comprehensive analysis. speaking of 2016, will bill clinton's association with a convicted pedophile come back to haunt his wife hillary? >> some of what people have described as his racist tendencies towards iraqis and muslims and he was going on some of these killing sprees. >> and a "hannity" exclusive the brother of