breaking tonight new drama in a fight over religious liberty that is churning through the 2016 race for the white house. as a small town clerk suggests she may defy the deal that got her released from jail just a few hours ago. welcome to "the kelly file." i'm megyn kelly. hours ago a judge unexpectedly ordered the release of kim davis, a county clerk in kentucky. she left the lockup flanked by her lawyer and presidential candidate mike huckabee. five days ago a federal judge ordered davis behind bars after she refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. today thousands of supporters

turned out at the carter county detention center where governor huckabee brought mrs. davis to the stage and for the first time in days we heard directly from the woman at the heart of a new political fire storm. >> maybe you would like to personally express your thanks to the person who had the courage to cause a lot of people to start standing up, a person whose courage exceeds that of 99.9% of the politicians in this country and exceeds a bunch of even the pastors of this country. i believe her act is going to people. the politicians, the would you please help me welcome kim davis?

♪ ♪ rising up back on the street ♪ ♪ went the distance now i'm back on my feet ♪ ♪ so many times it happens too fast ♪ [ cheers and applause ]

>> thank you all so much. i love you all so very much. [ cheers and applause ] >> i just want to give god the glory. his people have rallied. and you are a strong people! we serve a living god who knows exactly where each and everyone of us is at. just keep on pressing.

don't let down because he is here. i love you guys. thank you so much. >> joining us tonight on this new fight between faith and the supreme court, 2016 presidential candidate ben carson, family research council president tony perkins who was with mr. davis and richard fowler. we begin with richard. richard, eugene, one of the most respected first amendment scholars in the country came out today and said if muslim truck drivers can get an accommodation that allows them to refuse to transport alcohol as the obama administration is arguing they must have then kim davis gets an accommodation when it comes to issuing marriage licenses. what say you?

>> i disagree with that. the muslim truck driver is a private entity. under the law they would have religio religious exemption. >> the law actually is very clear. i refer you to title 7. under title 7 of the civil rights act both public and private employers have a duty to exempt religious employees from generally applicable work rules so long as it won't create undue hardship. >> here is the thing. as a public official acting as a public agent of the government she cannot put her religious belief above someone else's constitutional right. and the supreme court ruled gay and lesbian couples have the right to get married meaning by her sort of exposing her religion refusing to give licenses out she is violating their constitutional right to be

married. >> what about her right not to violate her religious belief if she said i need an accommodation and then my deputies can do what they want to do. >> the judge has ruled indicating she was in contempt for not issuing licenses. if she has a problem with that she can get another job. >> why does she have to quit? >> she is violating other people's individual constitutional rights. >> what about her right to exercise her religion? >> the first amendment, the right to religion she has. she can freely worship and go to church. in this instance she ran for office. the key function of her job. i looked up what the function of her job is, it's to issue marriage licenses. if she refuses to do that. >> where is the tolerance from

those who disagree with kim davis for her sincerely held religious belief? what we have been told in many corners is that to be a liberal means to stand for tolerance. what we heard about kim davis from certain corners today and i refer you in particular to the view and someone named michelle collins was this. listen. >> this is a woman who has been married more times than everyone at this table combined. >> four times, have you seen the lady? i'm serious. she's a monster. >> mocking her looks and calling her a monster. >> i disagree with that. i disagree with people calling anybody names. i'm sure when this segment is over twitter will call me a lot of names. >> they shouldn't. >> you're exactly right. i'm talking about the legality of this. on the legal side she is indeed in violation of the constitution which is why she was jailed by

the federal judge. >> i don't know about that. you are on the opposite side of eugene volic. it's good to see you. >> when kim davis left jail tony perkins was there to meet her. here she is holding his new book. now tony perkins is with me. he is the author of "no fear." soon to be amended to add kim davis chapter. >> chapter 13 says write the next chapter. she wrote it today. you have muslim truck drivers who don't want to transport alcohol. the obama administration said everyone has a right to observe his or her religious beliefs. employers don't get to pick and choose which religions they will accommodate. you heard the other side. gays and lesbians have a right, a constitutional right according to the supreme court to marry and kim davis can't stand in the way. >> they cannot force someone to participate. there is no undue harm done to

them in terms of the fact they can go to another county or what you said earlier, we have a long history of accommodation in this country. objectors can serve in the military but we don't force them to take up guns. >> in public this idea that it is only for private citizens and not those in public. what he is advocating is a reverse religious test. if you have an orthodox view about marriage you are barred from some offices. this could be settled very quickly if the governor would simply call the legislature into session as you pointed out in north carolina and they allowed for the religious beliefs of these clerks. it's very simple. we have a history of doing that. five lawyers on the supreme court created this dilemma. it is up to legislatures. >> you know the argument on the other side.

what if someone says my sincerely held religious beliefs says blacks and whites shouldn't get married. i object and therefore no. >> it's much different. you have a long standing orthodox view about marriage in the bible. the issue of interracial marriage is very difficult to point in to scripture. do some hold that view? >> yes. >> what about muslims who say a muslim man can't marry a christian woman? >> are you saying if there is a muslim clerk? >> how many accommodations can we grant? >> we have the voters of this district and this region of the country that elected her as the clerk. if they don't like what she is doing they can kick her out. it is not up to some unelected judge to hold her in contempt of basically whatever he wants. >> she may yet be if she interferes with future licenses to be issued although it doesn't

sound like she is going to do that. >> all she wants is her name off the license. she is not saying nobody in my office can issue it. >> don't do it in my name. the other side says don't be the county clerk. >> let me address that issue. we have the freedom of worship. the pilgrims didn't come here to change church membership. they wanted to live their lives according to their faith. that is all that kim davis wants to do and all that christians across the country want to do but it is becoming increasingly difficult. >> franklin graham calls the book a masterpiece. what is the message? >> it tells the story of young people who are serious about their faith. a lot of people treat religion as if it is a dial on your sterio. for many millions of americans it is like a gps and guides every step they take. we tell the stories of those who

stood up for their faith and didn't compromise. we capture the emotion and walk through it but they were true to their faith and the lord jesus christ. we want those stories to be out there. we are also hearing this tonight from a presidential candidate who says the first amendment must be protected. dr. ben carson is here next. president obama got a very angry message from one police group this labor day weekend. the executive director of that group is here live on the back lash after his members boycotted the president's big speech. just weeks before six baltimore cops head to trial for the arrest and murder of freddie gray or the allegation that it was a murder. he died in police custody, the city of baltimore proposes a multimillion dollar payout to the gray family. mark and arthur are here on how this very fast settlement could impact the criminal case. >> i heard your call for no

justice, no peace. your peace is sincerely needed as i work to deliver justice on behalf of this young man. oh, look. we have a bunch of...

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when a federal judge ordered kim davis to jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples almost the entire gop field weighed in. tonight we hear from dr. ben carson on kim davis's release and on a newly issued apology from hillary clinton when it comes to her e-mail scandal. it is great to see you again. what is your take on kim davis and whether it was appropriate to jail her in the first place? >> well, jail seems a little extreme. i think what we need to look at

is how do we stop this kind of thing from being a continuation? when the supreme court made its decision anyone should have known that this kind of thing was going to occur. it's going to continue to escalate. and congress now has a responsibility to step up to the plate and enact legislation that will protect the first amendment rights of all americans. that's the reason that we have divided government. when one branch does something that tilts the balance the other branches need to pitch in and correct the situation. this is a serious problem. >> the detractors say that is a slippery slope because next you have catholics who refuse to issue a marriage license to people who have been divorced or muslims who refuse to issue marriage licenses to muslims who want to marry christians and so on. where does it end? >> this is a very basic right.

this is a christian nation in the sense that a lot of our values and principles are based on our faith. when there are substantial numbers of people who actually believe in the traditional definition of marriage. i'm one of them. doesn't mean that i don't think other people can do whatever they want to do. i don't actually believe they have a right to force their way of life upon everybody else nor would i try to force my way of life on anybody else. this is where inteelect has to come to place. our legislators need to sit down and ask themselves how do we make sure that the rights of all americans are protected. it requires a little bit of effort. >> we haven't seen you since we saw the carson surge in the polls. there was a poll released that shows you are now tied in iowa

with donald trump for the number one position in the nation's first caucuses as of today. to what do you attribute your surge in the polls? >> actually, one of the things that helped tremendously was the debate on fox. when a lot of people who really didn't know who i was had an opportunity to see me and actually hear me speak myself as opposed to how i have been portrayed by many in the media who have their own agendas. and as i have been going around the country and talking to people i am in san francisco today and spoke to a large audience here. people are actually able to see that maybe there is some substance there and this is going to continue to make a difference as time goes on. i'm not competing with anybody. i'm not competing with mr. trump. i do have a vision for this

nation which i think is shared by a lot of americans and time will tell as we go on. >> a piece issued suggesting the reason why you are gaining such traction with republicans is as follows. i would argue that a good portion of carson's popularity stems from his ability as a black man to say things that conservative white audiences get attacked for especially along racial lines. what do you make of that? >> sounds like a pretty typical democratic response. everything is always cast in the light of race. why can't you actually look at the content of a person's character and see what they have to say? if they happen to be one race or another race so be it. that does not have to be the central issue. so many people on the other side see everything in racial terms

and they believe that you have to think a certain way if you have a certain skin tone. news flash, that is racism. >> dr. carson's surge in the polls means he is beating donald trump in one head to head matchup. he will talk about that next and respond to mr. trump's -- not full blown attack. you judge next. prosecutors are looking at assault charges for two high school football players who may have engaged in a little on field revenge. is that fair? we'll report. you decide. ahead. >> the incident is shameful to us. and yet in no way does it reflect what we stand for in our school district.

new reaction to dr. ben

carson's surge in the polls. the rising numbers could mean the front runner donald trump may be feeling the heat in the battle for the gop nomination. more now with dr. ben carson. i want to talk to you about donald trump because you are tied with him as i mentioned in iowa. and the head to head matchups that offered voters in those head to head matchups you were the only republican that beat donald trump at 53% to 36%. now, he kind of already attacked you in the wake of that, went after you a little bit. he said i like dr. carson. he's a nice guy but hasn't created jobs. he is a doctor in an operating room and i created over 10,000 jobs over the course of my career. it's just not the same. your response to that? >> well, my response to that is that interestingly enough and perhaps a lot of people don't

know this, i have actually done things in my life other than medicine. i have decades of experience on corporate boards, kellogg, cosco, started a national nonprofit and have been involved in a multitude of things. of all of the things that i have been involved in the one that i cherish most is being involved in saving the lives of young children, giving them longevity and quality of life, changing a dark situation into a situation of light for those families. i think that far exceeds anything i have ever done in the world of business. >> you know, you're a born again christian and have welcomed god into your life. mr. trump was asked if he wanted to share his favorite bible verse. he said it is too personal. do you care to do that? >> i do care to do it. i have several favorite versus.

number one would be proverbs 3, 5, 6. trust in the lord with all your heart. lean not to your own understanding and all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path. and proverbs 22 says that with humility and the fear of the lord that's where life and wealth come from. >> speaking of humility, hillary clinton came out and sort of apologized. a lot of qualifiers in it. i heard the words i am sorry which was new today. your thoughts on her plummeting in the polls and her i guess apology for what it was worth tonight on abc news. >> well, interestingly enough, she also sort of took responsibility for benghazi, but there were no consequences to

it. what difference does it make to quote her if you don't really have any consequences associated with saying i take responsibility? and she has become quite apparent to the people. as much as i would like her to be the democratic candidate i don't think she is going to be for that reason. >> who do you think it is going to be? >> i don't think it will be her. i think the democrats have more sense than to put somebody up as their candidate who really is not going to win no matter who is running. >> who is it going to be? >> there are a lot of possibilities that they can choose from. the obvious one is going to be biden. but there are a lot of people that they can pull from and they better get started doing it pretty quickly. >> always great to get your perspective. thank you for being here

tonight, sir. >> thank you, megyn. >> best to you. big news breaking in baltimore when the city announced a multimillion dollar settlement for the family of freddie gray who died in police custody. mark and arthur are next on how the deal got done in record time, what the mayor said in justifying it and what it means for the six cops facing criminal charges. one police group in boston decided to boycott president obama's labor day speech with the group's director saying the president, quote, has blood on his hands. the man who said that joins us live in a "the kelly file" exclusive. the fight between donald trump and jeb bush gets more vicious tonight and mark thesen is here on who is winning

from the world headquarters of fox news it's "the kelly file" with megyn kelly. >> president obama receiving an angry message from one police group this labor day weekend. the new england police union urging members to boycott the president's labor day address in boston for utter silence when it comes to anti-police rhetoric and attacks we have been seeing now for months. joining me now jerry flynn, executive director of the new england police benevolent association. thank you for being with us tonight. you said earlier you believe that president obama actually has blood on his hands.

why? >> thank you very much for having me. we have been dealing in the last month we had eight police officers killed in the line of duty in this country. and we have heard nothing from the president. this is a man who in 2004 went from an unknown state senator to the white house based on his epic speech at the dnc convention. quite frankly there is probably no better prolific speaker than the president of the united states himself. yet, when it has been time to talk and talk about the racial divide that is in this country he has done nothing. as far as we are concerned these are hate crimes against police officers. these are members of his administration, we can go back to his first term in office

invited along with 30 other people. >> i know you actually went to the white house. you met a while back with vice president biden and he made you a promise. what was it? >> joe biden was not only the thomas jefferson of the crime bill which was signed into law by president clinton in the 1994, but joe wrote that bill. i know joe and i worked with joe personally. i have respect and admiration. he told us in no uncertain terms when we told him we had concerns about this president he stated he would be the voice of law enforcement. well, that voice has been silent, as well. this isn't just an obama problem. this is an administration problem. going up so far as the attorney general holder. he has been nothing more than a puppet for this administration. in all due respect to joe his

silence has been a real hindrance. >> now he has been replaced by someone who has made statements on behalf of law enforcement. >> she has. >> i know law enforcement hasn't been satisfied. is this a partisan thing for you? do you dislike president obama for political reasons? >> that's funny you say that, megyn. most labor unions in this country, you have a d at the end of your name they endorse you. we have not had that rhetoric. we have endorsed both sides of the aisle. matter of fact in massachusetts we endorsed charlie baker and lieutenant governor karen polito who are both republicans. we endorsed the governor from new hampshire who happens to be a democrat. we have endorsed -- >> it's about police lives.

>> we endorse the people who are supportive of us. this isn't about personalities. this isn't about anything other than protecting those who protect and serve this country. quite frankly, we are appalled at what the massachusetts aflcio has said in response to our boycott. this is no place in today's society to have a president of the united states who is one of the most prolific speakers to remain silent. >> thank you for being here. we appreciate it. >> there was also big news from baltimore today. after the city announced a proposed settlement of $6.4 million to the freddie gray family. gray, of course, the man who died in police custody. the announcement weeks before the criminal trial for the six officers charged in his death.

according to the mayor the agreement should, quote, not be interpreted of guilt or innocence of the officers facing trial. she went on to say it's a voice at litigation that would only make it more difficult for our city to heal. >> i try cases for a living. jurors rarely believe in the presumption of innocence. they think they must have done something. this fact that they are going to hear that the city paid out 6.4 million which since 2011 there has been 120 police brutality lawsuits settled. the total amount if you add all of those settlements up you don't get to $6.4 million. these jurors heard about the

settlement. they are going to believe that they must have done something wrong. it is going to be a nightmare. >> this has to set a record for settlement of the civil suit in a case like this well before the criminal trial. >> first of all, no civil case was ever brought. they are settling before a case has been brought. that is insane. number two, in that particular state on these types of cases there is a cap. it used to be 200,000. it is 400,000. a similar case went to trial. the jury awarded 11 million and the court of appeal knocked it down to 400,000. and the last fact i want to point out is this past april an individual who got shot and killed by the police, his settlement was $175,000. so the message is if someone in your family gets hurt by the police start a riot, start chaos and your whole family will have generational wealth.

>> there is an allegation in the criminal case that freddie gray was a person who was trying to injure himself and had done so in the past allegedly possibly to get a civil settlement against the cops or an allegation that he didn't want to be seen as a snitch which they said he was so he tried to act out. what have you. the point is the city did have a leg to stand on when it came to its defense. >> apparently not. they gave in to this. it's only been six settlements over 200,000 since 2011. that's number one. number two, apparently the message to the jurors is that this wasn't a self-inflicted injury. why else would they pay? >> what about the testimony of allen who was in the van with freddie gray? you would think the city would want to argue that case before they paid it out. >> how about the fact how quickly this took place?

you know the civil system. cases never get settled in five months. there is an investigation. >> did this get brought into evidence? >> juries just know about it from media. did the city attorney sit down with the prosecutors? did they talk about the evidence? is the city really at fault? if i am a citizen of baltimore i'm going through the roof. you know how many kids you can feed lunch to with $6.4 million. maybe it is a million dollar case or $750,000 case. it is not a $6.4 million case. >> she wants the city to heal. >> unless there are six guilty verdicts the city is going to burn. that's the problem. they are not buying insurance right now. >> mark and arthur will be back on thursday night because we have big news. >> now i know what i'm doing thursday. how about you, mark? >> here along with our viewers.

two high school football players could face charges after a hit on a referee gets national attention. hillary clinton in tears tonight in the middle of her interview with abc news. we'll show you why. does it have anything to do with her campaign saying she will show more heart? a new battle breaks out between trump and jeb bush. and up next why the dust up reminds him of this. >> gambling is illegal and i never slide. >> you can owe me. >> i owe you nothing!

developing tonight an ugly new twist in the ad wars between donald trump and governor jeb bush. watch. >> we have an important choice to make about the direction of our country. if you want more d.c. politicians or more

self-promoters you have options. anybody can talk. i have delivered. and i hope to earn your support. >> having trouble sleeping at night? too much energy? need some low energy? >> i think the norm ought to be -- >> jeb , for all your sleeping needs. >> that one hurt. that had to hurt. former chief presidential speech writer for george w. bush. you tell me which was more effective? >> donald trump. donald trump is having a field day with jeb bush right now. shows a picture of a woman falling asleep at a bush rally and has an alternative for insomnia. >> she had a long day, a working mom and woke up at 5:00. that doesn't fix it. >> exactly. and then he had an ad showing bush's mother saying he

shouldn't run. we had enough bushes. and the tag line was mother knows best. he is like rodney dangerfield in caddie shack. it's just horrible. >> bush responds by doing this pre-produced ad where he looked presidential i am a serious candidate and not a self promoter. effective at all? >> no. not at all. number one, taking on donald trump for being a self-promoter. this is a guy who has buildings across america with his name lit up in gold. people know he is a self promoter and supporting him anyway. second of all, who advised jeb bush to say i'm offering something new when your name is bush you are not offering something new, you are offering a third bush term. >> what is jeb supposed to do? what can he do because he tried not fighting and now is trying fighting. what should he do differently?

>> he has to fight. we are in a situation where the poll showed 67% of republicans want someone with no government experience who is going to shake up washington. only 26% say they want somebody with government experience who can get things done. jeb bush's ad is called i deliver how he got things done, the opposite message of what the republican electorate want. when 67% want an outsider it is a hard year to be named bush. >> certainly is. this is from a man who used to work for president bush. >> i love jeb but it is hard here to be running as a bush. >> i love jeb bush however he sucks. great to see you, mark. that's trump. >> in order news hillary clinton spoke with abc news tonight and seemed to offer an apology for not using two e-mail accounts while secretary of state. that was one day after she said

she would not apologize. >> i should have used two accounts. one for personal and one for work-related e-mails. that was a mistake. i'm sorry about that. i take responsibility and i'm trying to be as transparent as i possibly can. >> dana perino is co-host of the five. so i will not apologize. i'm sorry. that was yesterday morning. >> there was a poll. i really do think the more they poll test this. they said in the "new york times" story they have been focus grouping and talking about hillary and what can be done. i think on the e-mail side of things and the broader strategy they poll tested it to death. now she will have scripted sp t spontanei spontaneity. just as preplanned as it can be. >> absolutely. including this. you tell me whether this is

authentic or not. we want her to show more heart. cue the violins. >> she told me every day you have to get up and fight for what you believe in no matter how hard it is. and i think about her a lot. i miss her a lot. i wish she were here with me. i remember that. >> totally unplanned. >> i don't think that those tears were absolutely planned. i think her team has been talking to her so much and saying you should be more like you are when you are behind closed doors with us and show more heart. it shouldn't have to be this way. she has $2 billion in the bank, all the grass roots support she can hope for. she has experience that she can fall back on. instead she is constantly churned up in the e-mail scandal. every six weeks like clockwork the "new york times" writes a piece about how the hillary campaign is going to reboot and she will be transparent. >> says her campaign is making

gasping and gurgling that iminates from a failing effort. is it that bad? >> a way with words. >> she is still the most likely person to be the nomination. >> she spent $13.8 million in the last month. her numbers are at a 23 year low. that's not going in the right direction. >> she cried and then won new hampshire. we'll see. it was a nice moment. >> up next, the two football

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developing tonight t. two texas high school football

players have been suspended after pommelling a ref. now the spensiuspension might b least of their troubles. >> there was a minute left in the game john j. high school in san antonio was trailing 15-9. during the game two players were ejected. john j. assistant coach was accused of saying the ref needs to pay for cheeping us. while he was on the ground the ref was speared by a second player. listen. >> the incident is shameful to us. and is deeply troubling to all of us who for many years have been associated with athletics in our school district. >> both players involved were ejected, suspended from school and can now be expelled as well as face criminal charges for assault. while the local police and school district conduct investigations the district is

filing complaint with texas association of sports officials accusing the referee who got hit of using racial slurs saying that's part of what led up to all of this. >> at this point, we can definitely say there was two, there may be more. we're still investigating that. >> today the referee denied football racial slurs telling liable and slander have already been committed against me. after he got hit the referee was apparently sore but not injured. the assistant coach accused of asking his players to go after the ref has been placed on administrative leave. the school is holding a hearing on the matter next week. >> thanks, we'll be right back.

tomorrow night we have brit hume, judge napolitano. carly fiorina, i could go on. bottom line, is don't miss. it go to facebook.com/thekellyfile. let me know what you think. was it a genuine moment with hillary clinton? i mean, it seemed she it is wednesday, september 9th. a fox news alert. an airline inferno. passengers scrambling down emergency slides when a jet explodes into flames on the runway. hear from the terrified people on board.

hillary clinton changing her tune on the e-mail scandal that is rocking her campaign. >> that was a mistake. i'm sorry about that. i take responsibility. >> is it too little too late? we're live in washington. >> and camping out to take a bite out of apple's announcement. we are live at the scene with a sneak peek of today's big unveiling. "fox & friends first" starts right now. ♪ we like it, we love it. bringing you the news from the 12th floor of that building right there. good morning to you. you're watching "fox & friends first." >> thank you for starting your

day very early with us. let's get right to that fox news alert. running for their lives, the terrifying moment a plane burst into flames. it was on a las vegas runway. our worst nightmare, right? panic passengers scrambling to get off the plane using the emergency slides. arthelle is here with what went wrong. >> it could have been disastrous. the british airways plane was just moments from taking off when the left engine suddenly burst into flames. witnesses recording video of the blaze, large clouds of smoke rising into the sky. 159 passengers and 13 crew members were on board the flight bound for london. seconds after the engine is gulfed in flames, the cabin fills with smoke.