jenna: "america live" starts right now. megyn: fox news alert, we have got a stunning new national poll on the republican presidential field and one that reveals the widest spread we have seen yet between the front runner and everyone else. take a look at this rasmussen reports poll released moments ago, this is the first look anyone's gotting at this -- getting at this, showing newt gingrich with a commanding lead over his next competitor. gingrich at 38% compared to romney at 17%. romney 17, cain is this third with 8, and no candidate other than those top two breaks double digits. rasmussen also polled on what would happen if herman cain decides to drop out of this race given the latest accusations against him of a consensual affair. did you see the latest on cavuto yesterday? cain seemed to be saying a decision was coming soon. the stunning results on what

happens if cain goes will be here in a moment when scott is here as well. chris stirewalt and scott rasmussen join us in moments. huge news for the gingrich campaign. for the romney campaign, not so much. stay tuned. another fox news alert, a new and dire warning over europe's debt crisis. a top banker there says that there are just seven working days left right now to prevent the collapse of that continent's common currency known as the euro. and now there are new calls for the international monetary fund to come to the rescue with fistfuls of your money. that's where we begin this show today. welcome to "america live," everybody, i'm megyn kelly. these latest developments come as the french president gave a critical speech on the crisis that began just moments ago, the remarks did. we'll bring that news to you as it happens, we're monoto having -- monitoring it.

but we are now hearing new worries about europe's ability to head off a financial meltdown that would seriously impact the united states and world economies. the white house says it is busy working the phones, and president obama last night said he is, quote, cautiously optimistic that european leaders will, quote, do the right thing. well, what is that? some are saying that's a bailout of their fellow countries, but there are real arguments against a bailout here, and one does not know how it's going to go at this point. not so reassuring right now, the french foreign minister who last night told journalist that is the euro's failure -- which is a very real possibility right now -- could trigger a possible revolution or more across the continent. joining me now, stu varney, host of "varney & company". stu, the warnings get more and more dire every day. you're talking the french foreign minister predicting revolution or war if they don't reach a deal to save this currency and, what?

save the countries that are now looking at the series of bailouts like italy? >> yes, that's what you're talking about. first of all, let's bring this one home, megyn. if there is a collapse of the euro, europe goes into a depression, and we get hurt seriously here in america. you have a depression over there, you have a clear slowdown over here. now, you've got seven working days left to get some kind of a deal. personally, i think that a compromise still looks likely. not possible or probable, but likely. why? because germany would have to okay any internal bailout. for them to okay the printing of money within germany and a bailout the european continent, they have to agree to german dominance of the continent. that means germany will be telling the italians how much they've got to pay in tax, telling the greeks when they can retire, telling the spaniards how much they can earn on unemployment benefits, telling the french how much they can

stay in a hospital. that is not likely to be popular in europe, that's why you've got the french foreign minister talking about war and revolution. i dare say that a collapse is still likely. it's still very much on the cards. megyn: all right. so if that happens and europe doesn't bail itself out, essentially, because you've got germany imposing these conditions and the rest of the countries saying, wait a minute, we want your dough, germany, but we want our national sovereignty, then europe looks to the imf, among others, and that's us. we're the biggest stakeholder in the imf, the international monetary fund. so what does that mean for the united states and the american taxpayer? >> that would mean a direct american taxpayer bailout of europe. as you say, we provide 17% of the imf's budget. so if imf comes up with, say, a trillion dollars -- that's $170 billion u.s. dollars in there, and that is taxpayer dollars. that's not printed dollars from the federal reserve, that's not

created money, that is taxpayer dollars going through the treasury into the imf, a direct u.s. bailout of the europeans. now, that is what president obama wants. he wants to bail out the your peens to -- europeans to prevent that depression, but it will have a very tough political sell. how would we explain, how would the president explain that he is bailing out the europeans when they won't do it themselves? megyn: it's tough to know what americans should be rooting for. we don't want to see europe collapse since we're so tied to europe, but i'm sure american taxpayers are reluctant to bail out the likes of greece when, you know, americans here are struggling more than ever. >> i guess what we in america would most like to see is that the germans agree to a bailout internally of europe. where our money is not involved, but europe is bailed out, and a depression prevented. that's not the likely outcome here. megyn: wow. stu, thank you. >> sure. megyn: we're going to have much

more on this developing story next hour. how likely is it that your tax dollars could actually help bail out europe? that is, as you heard stu suggest, what will happen if international monetary fund steps in to help solve this crisis. 40 cents, actually, of each dollar the imf spends comes from the u.s. government. do we want to help? should we? do we have any chose? in our next hour. well, republicans in washington today making a new push for a project with some big stakes in just the last six weeks. oil up more than 20% to more than $100 a barrel with high heating oil and climbing gas prices on the horizon. republicans are pushing for the obama administration to make a decision now on the keystone pipeline. that project we've been covering extensively here an "america live" that would carry hundreds of thousands of crude oil a day from canada to the u.s. and create thousands of jobs in the process. the whole thing is currently on hold.

the administration says they'll decide after the next election. shannon bream covering the story from washington. >> reporter: well, megyn, you'll remember, of course, a decision was due on that pipeline december 31st. it had already passed at least one environmental impact study by the state department. when the timeline suddenly changed after environmental activists staged a massive protest at the white house calling out the president saying he was waffling on his commitment to their agenda. now the state department says a whole new study is needed, and the earliest it could possibly be finished is the first quarter of 2013, as mentioned, after the presidential election. supporters of the pipeline including some officials from the afl-cio say the project could create tens of thousands of jobs. so senate republicans have put together a bill that would force the administration to permit the pipeline within 60 days or explain refusal to do so. >> we think the people who want to start hiring deserve an answer or a straightforward

explanation from the president himself as to why he opposes it. get this pipeline going right now. or get out of the way. >> reporter: the white house says, quote, there are people in washington, d.c. who want to apply a political label to every single thing that the president or other members of this administration do, but at the end of the day this is a decision that falls cleanly in line with the priorities the president laid out. for now, all the bill sponsors are republicans, but they say they're confident democrats will sign onto the effort, quote, very shortly. megyn? megyn: all right. shannon bream, thank you. well, disturbing new details in the case of this missing mother in florida. michelle parker vanished two weeks ago after appearing on the "people's court" with her ex-fiance. that ex dale smith jr., is the prime suspect in connection with her disappearance. they have searched his house, his participants' house and say

that he has refused to take a lee detuck to have test. -- detector test. this as we learn more about his history of domestic violence. trace gallagher has the details from our west coast newsroom. trace? >> reporter: and, megyn, a court has now ruled that the twins of michelle parker and dale smith will stay with dale smith, so the kids stay with the prime suspect. even the state of florida tried to point out that dale smith has a very long history of violence. remember, he was dishonorably discharged from the marines after twoconvictions, one on drug charges, the other on domestic violence. and in orange county, florida, he has been arrested no fewer than six times, twice on felony battery charges. in 1990 a man died after getting into a fight with dale smith and one of his friends. smith was not charge inside the stabbing but did serve time on the felony battery charge, and also there are now reports that he may have beaten another one

of his wives back in 2000. there is no conviction on record in that case. michelle parker, that woman, also claimed that he abused her a number of times. she tried to get a restraining order against him, she failed in doing that. here's the parker family attorney after the hearing. listen. >> ultimately, they love their kids, and they just want to see the kids as much as they possibly can. and so in regards to their concerns in particular to dale smith, that's secondary. um, they want to, they want to remain hopeful that he had nothing to do with this, and they want to remain hopeful that michelle will be found soon. >> reporter: and that same group, ec question search, was involved in searching that lake about a mile and a half from the home of dale smith's father. the reason this is critical is because this is the area where michelle parker's cell phone was last used. again, a mile and a half from dale smith's father's home. that's key because if you go back to last weekend, remember, that home was searched by the

authorities. in fact, it was a bigtime raid. they used tear gas, they went in and took all the people including the kids. they found nothing, but michelle parker's family believes the police were going in that house looking for her. dale smith, as we know, the last person to see michelle parker alive. he's now the prime suspect, megyn. megyn: trace gallagher, thank you very much. and yesterday you heard trace mention a judge awarded custody of the children that michelle parker had with her ex-fiance to him, the ex-fiance, who is the prime suspect in the case. right after that hearing ended, michelle's mom whispered something in dale smith jr.'s ear. coming up, we'll speak with michelle's brother, the one who received that mysterious text from michelle. or was it michelle? about an hour and 15 minutes after she disappeared. you do not want to miss this interview, it's about a half hour away right here. she used to be one of

country music's biggest talents. now mindy mccreedty may go to jail after hiding her 5-year-old child from the courts and her family. the developing details five minutes away. and a bombshell discovery, a software program inside your smartphone, your blackberry, etc., recording every key stroke you've ever made and a company you've never heard of has all of the information. what are they doing with it? plus, we have a stunning new poll in three minutes showing which candidate benefits the most if herman cain decides to quit this race over a new allegation about an extramarital affair. did you see him on cavuto? >> i've got to think about my family first, and this is why i'm taking my time to do this reassessment and this reevaluation. this is why we are reassessing, and the answer is, yes, it is constantly weighing on me and my family, especially my family. this is a direct character assassination, pure and simple.

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megyn: back to our fox news alert on these dramatic new national polls from rasmussen reports. newt gingrich now post ago dramatic lead with more than double the support of his next nearest rifle. gingrich at -- rival. gingrich at 38, romney 21 points behind him at 17%. no one else even in the double digits. intent pollster scott rasmussen is president of rasmussen reports.com, and fox news digital politics editor, chris stirewalt, host of "power play" on foxnews.com live. this is big news, scott, this is the first time you've shown anybody in the gop field that much ahead of the next closest contender, correct? >> that's correct. and what's really startling is the trend. two months ago gingrich was at ten points and then 14 a month ago and now all the way to 38%.

romney's numbers heading from the opposite direction, from 29% in november, to 23% and now down to 17. what's really amazing about this is those two have become the only candidates people are looking at right now. megyn: this is emerging, according to your polling, as a two-man race. and these are polls of likely gop primary voters, scott? >> that's correct, which includes independents who might vote in a primary, many states do allow that, and it's a national poll. the nervousness the gingrich campaign should feel comes from the fact that only one out of three of these voters is absolutely certain that they won't change their mind before the voting starts, and that means newt gingrich is right now in the same place that we've seen rick perry and herman cain. the question is, will he be there a week from now or two weeks from now or, most importantly, on january 3rd in iowa? megyn: romney's camp seems to believe that slow and steady

wins the race. i want to talk to you, chris, and scott as well, about herman cain and, you know, we've seen such erosion in his poll numbers. it looks just anecdotally like newt gingrich has been the beneficiary of that, but cain has still got some percentage, eight according to scott's latest poll, of folks who sport him. and there's a question about who would get the cain voters if cain drops out. there's such speculation about that. the conventional wisdom had been, oh, he'll stick in this race until iowa or new hampshire. on cavuto last night, boy, he seemed to be telegraphing he could have a decision even before that. here's a sampling. >> i'm reasissing, and that's -- reassessing, and that's the same as the terminology reevaluating. and i'm looking at four factors. first, the impact on my family. i have denied these charges, but it hurts my family when these facts are distorted and twisted in to the media. the american people are starting

to see through this character assassination on me, so those are the things i am reassessing, and i will make the decision over the course of the next several days starting with the assessment with my family. megyn: he said reassessing like 11 times, chris. is he likely to go and before iowa? >> it, ultimately, may not matter because the more he says he's reais thing, the more uncertainty he gives about this, the more excuse he gives to people supporting him, okay, it's time to move on because that's the deadliest thing. and it's totally understandable that herman cain would be there right now because if you don't have a shot at the nomination, if you've fallen out of the running in dramatic fashion, he doesn't want to have trouble at home and basically see, you know, 9/9/9 turn into 4.5/4.5/4.5 if mrs. cain has had enough of him talking about their business on television. [laughter] megyn: scott, you asked republican voters who are you likely to switch to if cain drops out of the race.

who did you find? >> in that case newt gingrich rose a little bit. mitt romney gets two, so 42% for gingrich, 19% for romney. nobody else picks up more than a point, and nobody reaches double digits. so, again, in this moment if herman cain were to drop out, it helps newt gingrich a little more than anybody else, but it doesn't dramatically alter the race. megyn: all right, chris, even if you're seeing newt gingrich with 38% or 43 -- 42% if caib dropped out, it doesn't mean he's got this nomination locked up. >> people are still widely open to changing again, and in this election a month is an eternity, but christmas is going to be very good to newt gingrich, quite possibly. remember, we've got two more debates, the fox news debate on the 5th of december, then it's christmas time and people unplug from politics, that's where it

pushes pause on the race. if gingrich can survive these two debates in which his opponent will be attacking him and he's got to weather the storm in a way he hasn't before, he has a chance to go into the 3rd of january when iowans caucus as the real front runner. megyn: scott, historically before we went to iowa last time around what were we seeing? >> well, before we went to iowa last time around we were wondering about mike huckabee, could he possibly survive in the iowa race? he had come out of nowhere. he, obviously, did very well in iowa but then fell short as the campaign went on on the democratic side four years ago. we were wondering who was going to be the alternative to hillary clinton, john edwards or barack obama? megyn: wow. guys, thank you both so much. >> you bet. megyn: she vanished without a trace. the prime suspect awarded the custody of their children, and now we are learning more about his history. michelle parker's family joins me live. plus, chris christie raising

questions about the president's leadership. that debate in five minutes. [inaudible conversations] knox so who ordered the cereal that can help lower olesterol

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megyn: well, the prognosis appears to be pretty good this afternoon for a michigan state cheerleader who took a fall at a basketball game. we warn you, this is disturbing. fans watching in horror as a cheerleader takes an awful fall. yikes, down she goes. then they wait hopelessly as the young woman lays motion less on the floor for several minutes. finally, the cheerleader gives two thumbs up as emergency crews take her out on a stretcher. a hospital releasing her this morning. that is very scary. a custody battle over a 5-year-old boy pits mother against grandmother. but in this case the mother also happens to be a country music

star who is several months pregnant with twins. membershipty mccready order to turn over her son by 5 p.m. today or face arrest. mccready lost custody of her son back in 2007, and she has made numerous headlines for drug and dui arrests and a suicide attempt. trace gallagher has more in our west coast newsroom. what's going on here? >> reporter: i want to remind you, megyn, that mindy mccready's first album sold more than two million copies. she's had at least a dozen songs on the billboard charts, but she has been finding trouble for years. she's been arrested four times by our count, sentenced to jail twice for drug offense as well as driving under the influence. she has reportedly tried the kill herself three times, had an alleged affair with baseball great roger clemens, a sex tape went public and lost custody of her son back in 2007. now, if she does not return her son to florida in, by the clock

three hours and 33 minutes, a judge could have her arrested. but mccready reportedly is still in nashville. she's been posting on facebook that she's not going to make the deadline because she's in nashville. she's seven months pregnant, she also claims that her son is physically and mentally in danger if he goes back to live with her mother. but the florida child services department disagrees. listen. >> our job in the community is child safety. and xander is supposed to be in placement here in lee county, and he's not. until he's home safely, we will continue to work with law enforcement in order to bring him home. >> reporter: yeah, mccready, by the way, had the boy for 30 days. they just found out she had him because he was supposed to be with his father. right now he's in nashville. by the way, the biological father was tossed in jail for assaulting mccready. what kind of country song would

this be? megyn: what a mess. all right, trace, thank you. >> reporter: okay. megyn: well, a celebrity with a history of arrests and suicide attempts now saying her son is better off with her than with his grandmother. lots of serious questions in this case, and at the heart of it all is an innocent 5-year-old boy. we'll have much more when kelly's court cakes up the case in about an hour. we've got a fox extreme weather alert where hurricane-strength winds causing serious problems across big parts of l. a.m. plus, imagine having to give up your grandkids to the man considered the chief suspect in your daughter's disappearance? the mother, sister and brother of michelle parker join us live in moments. and chris christie seem toss the republican -- seems to the republican -- well, seems to be the republican governors' go-to guy when it comes to blasting president obama on his leadership. is he on target or not? we'll have the fair and balanced debate coming up. >> the best way that we can help

our party to move forward and our country to move forward is for us to go back to our states and do our jobs. and do our jobs and set an example of what real leadership looks like. and real leadership is not what you see in the white house right now. [ male announcer ] how do you trade? with scottrader streaming quotes, any way you want. fully customize it for your trading process -- from thought to trade, on every screen. and all in real time. which makes it just like having your own trading floor, right at your fingertips. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. try our easy-to-use scottrader streaming quotes. it's another reason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade.

megyn: fox news alert, breaking news on the european debt crisis. french president nicolas sarkozy wrapping up a critical speech moments ago saying he and the

german chancellor will meet in paris on monday to unveil proposals that will, quote, guarantee the future of europe. as we mentioned at the top of the show, the white house has been in frequent contact with european leaders trying to head off an economic meltdown that could hurt the u.s. economy, the global economy. more on all of us at the top of our 2 p.m. hour. a rising star in the republican party raising new questions about president obama's leadership for the second time in a week. new jersey governor chris christie said this yesterday at the annual republican governors' association conference down in florida. >> the fact is, we have a president now who ordered a commission from simpson-bowles and then ignored it and punted on it. you know, agreed to having a supercommittee in congress and sign that deal and walked away are from it and played no

meaningful role. that every time he has an opportunity to provide real leadership where it's not a guaranteed layup or photo op, he walks. you don't see republican governors doing that. the best way that we can help our party to move forward and our country to move forward is for us to go back to our states and do our jobs, and set an example of what real leadership looks like. and real leadership is not what you see in the white house right now. as i said before, i think it's a sad day in our country's history to have a bystander in the oval office, and that's what we have. megyn: joining me now, former clinton campaign adviser simon rosenberg, the founder of ndn, and kate, former chairwoman of the republican party of virginia and vice president of young americas foundation. simon, let me start with you. >> sure. megyn: does it cause you to feel indignant, angry or otherwise to

hear chris christie call the president a bystander and suggesting he needs an example of what real leadership is? >> oh, i just think it's kind of silly, megyn. i mean, if you really look at what obama's done in the last three years, i mean, the health care system was broken, he's put forward a powerful fix. the financial industry was collapsing, it's now getting much better. the auto industry was failing, we now have a healthy auto industry in the united states. al-qaeda was a threat, it's being dismantled. bin laden was killed. wicked go on and on and on. barack obama's been a strong and vigorous leader, and i think this is not going to be a fruitful area of attack by the republicans republicans in 2012. [laughter] megyn: and yet chris christie feels differently because this is the second time in a week that we've heard him say he lacks leadership, he's a bystander in the oval office. earlier he said what the hell are we paying you for? >> yeah. megyn: does simon have some good points or are you on christie's side? >> i'm afraid simon doesn't on this particular point. i love that bob donnell

introduced christie as the shy and retiring governor from new jersey. christie has a way of crystallizing what others are feeling. it's not just the simpson-bowles and the supercommittee, but it was back, um, introducing a budget late last year that died 97-0 because it was late and so ridiculous, he sort of abdicated that whole debate. it's been issue after issue that he has -- the jobs proposal didn't come out until september, and he didn't even have an actual bill to present at ha time. even the health care debate he let nancy pelosi take care of that. but it's not just republicans that are saying this. dennis cardoza, the congressman from california, has said he's out because of obama's inability to deal with the mortgage crisis, chris matthews who's disillusioned. all of these folks are saying that obama is not taking an active role at a time when the nation is in a serious crisis, and you see it in his numbers across the board. even young voters who supported

him overwhelmingly in the 60s are down to 48% approval rating right now, and i think that's because obama is so removed from the debate that's going on. megyn: simon, i know, obviously, you're a supporter of barack obama's. do you think he is perceived as a strong leader by most people in this country? >> well, i think, first of all, in most polls he's beating all the republicans by substantial margins, so if you look at the head to heads the way the voters view it right now, the country is comfortable with reelecting him, and when you position him against the existing republican field and, look, i think he's been dealt a very tough happened. i think it would have been hard for anybody to have been president -- >> he has, i'm curious as to your belief whether -- >> yeah. megyn: whether you think he's perceived as a strong leader. >> i'm answering. yeah, i know, my view on this, megyn, is that barack obama has tried very hard. there's some things he's done very well, there's some other things, like the mortgage crisis, that he needs to do a

better job at in the next year, but i think he's been a good president. i don't think he's been the best president in history, he's certainly not a failure. and i think next year this debate is going to be increasingly about what we're going to do now, not about what happened, and on those grounds the president is standing very strong and is going to take the republicans because he's got better ideas about what to do going forward. [laughter] megyn: kate, do you think there is a thirst in this country for strong leadership? some theorize that was one of the reasons people wanted to see chris christie get in so badly because he seems like a leader. he declined to do so, but is there a perception that we don't have that right now? >> well, of course there is, and you're right, it's a hunger when 14 million americans are unemployed, many of those for six months or more, there is almost a desperation for strong leadership. and that's why you see romney, gingrich -- while there's still, um, vigorous debate over which person it's going to be, you see

this hunger for that candidate who can express bold ideas. nobody's interesting in tinkering around the edges. but how do we fundamentally turn back the clock on what has happened over this three-year, massive expansion of the size and scope of the federal government and the federal debt. and how do we fundamentally reform and go back to a more individualized liberty approach to our federal government? so, yeah, they're looking for big ideas and not somebody who, as dianne feinstein has said, is going to have a chicago-based approach and a hands-off, but rather somebody who's going to use the office of the presidency to articulate a hopeful, a genuinely hopeful message for america about how we can put americans back to work. megyn: simon, kate, good debate. thank you so much. >> thanks, megyn. >> thank you. megyn: coming up, europe's debt crisis, we're hearing new calls for the international monetary fund to put more money into the game. now, the u.s. contributes billions to the imf, that's taxpayer dollars, so are

american taxpayers about to bail out europe? plus, presidential candidates rick perry and rick santorum both have some tough stances on some key issues facing in the country, and both will be here live to defend them next hour. and her ex-fiance is the prime suspect in her disappearance, but dale smith got a big hug from michelle parker's mother after a major decision in court. this is new details of a history of domestic violence reach the surface. her family is here immediately after this break. >> it breaks my heart somebody would throw my daughter's body in the lake, and i would hate to have that man be in a witch hunt. if he is guilty, i'm going to deal with that when i get to it. medicare. it doesn't cover everything.

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megyn: a dramatic turn in the case of a missing florida mom. the man considered the prime suspect in his ex-fiancee's

disappearance gets custody of their two young twins. this as we learn new details about dale smith jr.'s checkered past including a history of domestic violence. but it is what happened after mr. smith got custody in court that has some scratching their heads today. the missing woman's mother walks over and gives the man who, again, is the prime suspect in her disappearance a hug. why did she do that? what did she say to him? michelle parker's family is with me now. yvonne stewart is michelle's mother,, thank you so much for being here at such a troubling time. my heart goes out to all of you. ny von -- yvonne, what did you say to dale smith jr., and why did you hug him? >> i just had an overwhelming emotional moment, you know? that i want to be able to be part of my grandchildrens' life, and i asked him that we could

maybe work something out so that i could be a grandma to those babies. megyn: yvonne, do you think he did something to your daughter? >> i honestly don't know who did what, when or where yet. megyn: what is it like going over, and i know this is a man who, you know, has a history with your daughter, who you know very well, but what is it like going over and hugging the man who, yes, is the father of your grandchildren, but also according to the police, you know, may possibly have harmed or even killed your daughter? >> i can tell you with all my heart that i am a very forgiving soul, and i don't know that he did those things. he has not been charged. megyn: that's right. and, you know, the police are just saying he's the prime suspect, but that doesn't make him guilty of anything. lauren, i know that, you know, we're learning more in the past days about a history of domestic

violence on dale smith's part not just with your sister as she testified to at the "people's court" talking about how malicious and vindictive he could be, especially when he was drunk, but also with a prior wife who he beat up pretty badly and, perhaps, others. as you learn more details about his violent past, do you have more doubts about him? >> i mean, everything that i've, you know, read has been in reports and everything like that, and, i mean, obviously, with a past like that this it is definitely scary that my sister was around somebody like that, but, i mean, i just, i don't know. it's just such an emotional time right now. my head is going in the so many different places. i just, it's kind of hard to focus on one thing other than finding my sister right now. megyn: lauren, i know that his lawyer, dale smith jr.'s lawyer came out yesterday and said he could not have done it because there's videotape performance showing your sister about to drop off the twins at his house

around 3 p.m. two weeks ago, and within an hour and 15 minutes or so they say he was at his participants' house. he took the twins, drove over to his parents' house. he can't commit a crime, move her car to the other side of town, get back in your car and drive over to his parents' house in that amount of time. is that persuasive to you? >> well, that information is incorrect, to start off with. um, the vehicle was seen in that video. i've seen that video myself. um, the vehicle, it is shown going into, um, driving into the neighborhood past where that camera is, but the vehicle that's leaving that neighborhood is not the same vehicle, and that's not the path she would have taken in the neighborhood. myself, i've been this that neighborhood before, so you just wouldn't take that same path that you came in. second of all, the time on that video is incorrect. they were taking the time off the bottom of that video camera, but the person who owned that camera didn't have the time set on it. um, dale himself said that

michelle dropped the kids off around four, hung out for about ten minutes, we talked about stuff with kids, and she left and said she was going to go shopping. megyn: so, and he's saying that his parents confirm he was at their house by 4:30. do you believe that's possible? >> at this point i don't really know what to believe. um, i think that anything is possible. i never thought that my life would be this right now, so, i mean, something that i never thought could be possible is now my life and a nightmare and the dream that i'm living in, so i don't know. megyn: yvonne, how is your family functioning right now? because i know michelle's father is also in the picture. how do you get through the days? we saw videotape of you talking about searching dumpsters for her, and i think mother out there thought, oh, my god, how on earth? >> well, i guess until it happens to you, you just really -- i know that every mother in the world who's ever

been touched by this story, you understand you're going to do whatever you can to find your child if it's within your means. and i believe in all the prayers that we're getting, all the love and support. our family is closer than probably a lot of families are, and i'm sure people are envious of it. but, you know, the love and support we get from you, the media, and we can't thank everybody enough for everything that they've done. megyn: yvonne, do you believe these reports that maybe she was distraught after the airing of the people's court episode and did something to herself? >> no, absolutely not. michelle didn't even care about that. it wasn't -- she didn't even know it was airing that day. she was in my salon. she didn't even know. megyn: so you have no doubt that she was a person of good mental health who was in a good place meantly. >> absolutely. she worked out at the gym, she loved those babies, she just got out of beauty school, she was on

the internet that morning looking to buy a house because -- absolutely she would not disappear. megyn: matt, let me ask you -- >> the fact that she -- megyn: matt, i just want to get you in quickly as well as the family's attorney. the police are telling us that he refused to take a lie detector test. what say you? >> as far as the investigation goes, we're trying to stay out of that and just let the police do their job. um, the role that i'm taking at this point in time is just making sure that they get the visitation that they want with those grand babies. at this point in time, i spent the morning with defense counsel working out a deal, and i think we're getting close to one. so we're happy about that. megyn: and i know you'll continue to work to protect. there are grandparents' rights, there is such a thing especially when the mother has disappeared as she has here, so good for you. listen, thank you all so much, yvonne, lauren and matt, hope to have you back and hope for a good outcome for you. >> yeah. you say your prayers, okay?

megyn: that we will. and our viewers will as well. coming up, software that tracks your every move. you'll never look at your blackberry the same again. the afternoon tour begins with more pain and more pills. the evening guests arrive. back to sore knees. back to more pills. the day is done but hang on... her doctor recommended aleve. just 2 pills can keep arthritis pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is lara who chose 2 aleve and fewer pills for a day free of pain. [ female announcer ] get an aleve coupon in this sunday's paper.

megyn: every little text you make, it will track you. a researcher signing light on -- shining light on a hidden cell phone program that he says is spying on many be of us, and when he went public with his findings, he disappeared. no, just kidding. [laughter] the software company reportedly denied his allegations and did try to shut him up. trace gallagher life in our west coast newsroom. >> reporter: they took his knees out, megyn. [laughter] megyn: he was never heard from him again. >> reporter: you've got to be careful what you text. carrier iq says that they use this tool which is embedded in 140 million phones including

your blackberries and androids, they take the information, and they diagnose things like, you know, dropped calls and battery drain that helps the servers better serve you. well, it does not track your key strokes, says the company, but a software security expert did a demonstration that, apparently, seems to disprove that. the demonstration shows that the carrier actually tracks your text messages, your phone calls, the web sites that you visit, and then carrier iq tried to force that security expert to take down his demonstration, but a digital rights group came to his rescue, and it is still up there. it's very unclear exactly what this information is being used for. is it being saved in the server? the big fear is that it's saved and sold off to marketing firms because you know the more information they have about you, the better they can target exactly what you need. here's the kicker, the software in your phone is very, very difficult to find, and if you should happen to find it, it's impossible to turn it off.

carrier iq says there's nothing nefarious going on, they're not doing anything with your personal information. i the question a lot of tech experts have is why in the world, then, are they recording your key strokes, megyn? be very careful. megyn: oh, boy. thank you for that warning. >> reporter: sure. megyn: see ya, trace. delete, delete, delete. doesn't work, that's the point. it's on there. coming up, breaking news on the european economic crisis. in just the last hour hour as the threats to america's finances grow with each new report. that's in moments. plus, a big new poll from rasmussen reports on the republican field. more fallout on that in our next hour. and in just moments both rick perry and rick santorum will join us live. and this scene nine months ago in egypt, and amid all the chaos, a fox news reporter and his photographer. they nearly lost their lives in a brutal beating. now greg talcott returns to cairo and reunites with the egyptian who risked everything

to save them. a story you will see only here. >> thank you very much. >> thank you.

megyn: welcome back, folks. more on our top story from last hour. that is a stunning new national poll and the republican presidential field and one that reveals the widest spread we have seen yet between the frontrunner and everyone else. look at this from rasmussen reports, released about 60 minutes ago. showing newt gingrich with a commanding lead over his closes competitor. he stands at 38% according to a poll of likely gop primary voters. compare that with mitt romney who is in second-place with 17%. 38 for gingrich, 17 for romney. the next closist is cain at 8, paul at 8, perry at 4, and the numbers go down from there. well you saw republican presidential candidate rick perry tied for fourth place in

that poll. in recent days he's been taking a tough stand on immigration, promising if he is elected president he would immediately deport anyone who came into this country illegally. that's about 11 million people. but rival newt gingrich has been arguing for a more moderate approach. take a listen to mr. gingrich on hannity last night. >> you do the border first, you do the specific reforms, english is the official language, easier deportation rules, easier legal visa rules, which are also important. guest worker program. then you get to the question of what do you do about folks, the vast majority who have no ties to the u.s. will go home. starting with the selective service from world war ii where local citizens made a decision, create a citizenry view board, one suggestion that's been made to us is you may want to actually have a situation where families in effect sponsor somebody. so if there is somebody in your

local church you might have one or two families that say look, we are going to sponsor them. they don't get citizenship or the right to vote but they do get legality, and they are allowed to be residents. megyn: joining me now is texas governor and republican presidential candidate rick perry. thank you so much for being here. >> good morning, megyn. megyn: gingrich came out with something like that at the last debate. and i know you called it amnesty after the fact. how does your approach differ? >> obviously we are talking about securing the border. that is the issue that has to be addressed first, megyn. that's one of the reasons that sheriff arpio came in and endorsed me. he's one of the strongest sheriff's when it comes to immigration. in new hampshire, having someone like him stand up and say this is the person who has had the

experience with putting that border issue, secure the border with boots on the ground, the aviation assets, he knows that i've been dealing with it for ten years. until we get the border secure all these conversations about how we're going to deal with the 11-plus million people that are here is just that, it's an intellectual engagement, it's a conversation. everyone understands that you've got to secure that border first, and i'm the only person that has the experience of the people running on the republican side of securing the border. we have a president who says the border is safer than its ever been. we all know that is nonsense. hezbollah, iran. they are all using the border. megyn: you have spoken about this issue, and you've said just this week in new hampshire, my policy will be to detain and

deport every illegal i will lee analien who is apprehended in this country. back in november you said something different in an interview with cnn, it appears you tell me. you said the following. the idea that we are going to round up 12 or however million people and ship them back to the country of origin is not reality. you went onto say, i disagree with the concept that somehow or other we are going to pack up 10 to 12 to 15 million people and ship them back to the country of origin. that is not going to happen. which is it? we detain and deport every illegal alien here or we are not going to ship them back to their country of origin. >> what i was talking about yesterday is the catch and release policy that this president is dealing with now, is that an individual who is a nonviolent that is apprehended, they are released back into the general population what court date, and that's what i'm talking about, is as individuals who are apprehended currently.

the idea that we're going to round up 11 million individuals who are here in this country is not going to happen. we've had that conversation. that is a debate, and a discussion that this country is going to have, but it's only going to happen after we secure the border. and it's going to take a new president with a new idea of how you secure the border, and truly put the boots on the ground and the aviation assets in place, and i know how to do that. so i'm still very much in the same position i was in november from the standpoint of saying we are not going to round up 11 million people and doe port them, we are not going to do that. megyn: what about mr. gingrich's plan, you referred to that as amnesty after the debate. >> i think that is amnesty. the idea that you're going to allow for someone to say to 11 million people that you've broken the laws of this country and you're here now, and we are going to make you -- we're going

to make you legal citizens, that is the issue that people -- megyn: he said, no he's not talking about making them legal in that clip we just played, and he said it before. >> well, i think it's time for us to have the conversation, after we get this border secured. there are a lot of different ideas about how to deal with the individuals who are in this country. i understand those. the issue is we have to secure the border first, megyn. all these different ideas about dealing with the individuals who have come into this country, whether it's as young children, or whether it's adults that have come across, we have to secure the border first. and to have these other discussions, as you said, they are just intellectual academic exercises. megyn: governor perry what do you make of the poll we showed before you game on. gingrich has 38%, romney is down at 17%, he's no longer the frontrunner according to that poll, and you're at, you know,

in the single -- low single digits in that poll. how do you turn around, and do you believe that newt gingrich is the frontrunner now in the republican race? >> there wa is a poll every week. there's been four front run tphers this campaign. here is what i do know, is that the american people are absolutely incensed with the idea that washington d.c. is still the status quo place it was three years ago, that $7.7 trillion of secret loans went to these banks and nobody knew about it, that we've got $15 trillion worth of national debt, and everyone on that stage, except myself, is either an establishment individual or an insider, and that is what americans are looking for is an outsider. and i'm the only outsider on that stage that is willing to shakeup washington d.c. in a big way. when i called for a part-time congress this last week, there are a lot of americans shaking their heads and going, you know

what, you're absolutely correct. cut their salaries and staff in half, cut after the time they spend in washington d.c., send them back to their home states to have a regular job like everybody else does. these part-time legislatures work in places like texas. i'm out in california, they have a full time legislature out here and it's not working too well for him. megyn: governor, what are we going to cover here on fox news if we have a part-time congress? there is only so much news of the day. you want to take it away from us? i'll have to talk to the journalists in texas. >> you're going to be covering how many jobs are being created and how fast the economy is going upward and all the good news that americans are looking for. that's what will happen. i can diagram the problem in this country today, on a map, and it is a direct line between washington d.c. and wall street. that is the problem in this country, and the status quo, and you've got to have an outsider that will come in and absolutely blow up that old status quo. i know how to do that.

balance this budget, take the veto pen out, kill the earmarks, send a clear message to congress that we're going to get this country become to where it's working for the people, not the other way around. megyn: governor rick perry, thanks so much for being here. >> good to be with you, megyn thank you. megyn: we'll see you again. we heard governor perry talking about concerns over border security. if you want to see a good example of what he is talking about, look at this. investigators discovering an elaborate drug-smuggling tunnel that runs under the border in california, that tunnel equipped with an elevator and rail car and it straoefp stretches from san diego to tijuana. when they found the tunnel they also made one of the largest pot busts in l.a. history. trace gallagher has the story. >> reporter: a point of interest, the entrance to this tunnel in tijuana was right next to a federal police station and right next to the international airport's major runway.

it's 600 yards long, 4x 4, it has a stairwell as you see there, train tracks, train cars, lighting, ventilation, even as you mentioned a hydraulic elevator, which according to authorities could move massive amounts of narcotics into mexico into the united states. along with the tunnel drug agents found 32 tons of marijuana. as you mentioned, the largest pot bust in u.s. history. here is the drug agent, listen. >> we've discovered the tunnel, we've shut it down, we've seized the narcotics associated with it. now the real work begins to really link the tunnel with an organization, and then systematically, you know, through the investigative process to dismantle those organizations. >> reporter: you know, it's very interesting, because this is the third year in a row they have found a major tunnel before christmas in that same area. the agents believe the cartels are trying to take advantage of the fall marijuana harvest in

mexico, the idea, you don't move it you lose it. they also believe the cartels, believe it or not like to take the holidays off. they have found 70 of these tunnels in the past 30 years and they believe they are popular in california for two reasons, one because clay soil is very soft to dig through and two because there are a lot of nondisscript warehouses in both tijuana and san diego that can conceal these things, megyn. megyn: trace gallagher, wow, thank you. breaking news on weather from the west coast. where meteorologist janice dean says wind gusts are topping 120 miles an hour right now. she is next. the european union set to slap new sanctions on iran over its nuclear program, days after hard line protestors attack the british embassy there. is iran lurching towards war with the west. iran came out and said, they were very hasty to shut down this embassy. really? rick santorum joins us live.

i'll ask him about the situation in iran and the latest poll numbers we talked about with mr. perry as well. nine months ago our fox news reporter greg palkot and his photographer were at massive protests in cairo,egypt when a mob attacks him. gregory unites with the young man who saves their lives. that powerful television moment you will see for the first time right here on "america live." >> the main street was a total war zone. there was smoke, rocks being thrown. there was molotov cocktails, it was flames, live fire, people are all over him. within about 30 seconds people are all over us and that's when our life or death struggle began. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

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at one point knocking out power to more than a quarter million homes. meteorologist janice dean is in the fox weather center. janice, we are talking more than a hundred miles an hour, that is like hurricane-force winds. >> reporter: absolutely. wind gusts in excess of 140 miles per hour on the sierra crest mountains. okay. that's really dangerous, obviously in the mountains. over a hundred miles per hour in parts of the city areas across utah and california. listen to this. pasadena under a state of emergency, structures damaged, power lines down, blocking roads. damaged buildings. lax we are getting reports of flights canceled or diverted. centerville, utah where we have a hundred mile per hour winds, you see the video right here of trees down into businesses, into homes, sparking fires, power lines are down as well. people are urged to really be careful. centerville, utah, this is not just a southern california story. state of emergency there, winds toppling, trucks, trees, power lines. closures of schools.

ten semitrucks blown onto their sides on i-15. this is a big story, one that they -- they haven't seen winds like this in southern california in at least ten years. so obviously the wind gusts tell the story and it's not letting up. this will be an ongoing story into the weekend. the peak winds will continue today and tomorrow because of a low pressure system and a high pressure system working together and those winds are being funneled through those canyons and passes, compressing and heating things up. this is a major story and we will follow it from the fox weather center. back to you. megyn: j.d. thank you. >> reporter: okay. megyn: we also have new developments on the european debt crisis. french president nicholas sarkozy wrapping up a critical speech a short time ago saying he and the german chancellor will meet in paris on monday to unveil new proposals that will, quote, save europe. we'll look forward to that. we are also hearing that european officials are going to ask the international monetary fund to dole out more money. are american taxpayers about to bail out europe?

dan henninger is deputy director at the "wall street journal." is that what it means we're going to bail out europe? >> no it's impossible for us to bail out europe. we once helped the imf bail out a police like argentine a maybe we could bail out greece. we are not going to bail out the entire continent of europe. megyn: a little expensive? >> it's a little too expensive. the only way we could do that is if the european central bank were to literally print money. start running the printing press, send it out there and payoff all the debts. megyn: they want us to be the guarantor for what they do. we are not going to guarantee anything like that. if they issue some big loan or bail out to european they want the imf to back it up are we going to do that? >> i don't think we're going to do it. i think the burden of this is on the europeans and ultimately on the european central bank. they have to stand in the middle

of this crisis and take some action. i think it's possible that president nicholas sarkozy hopefully was pointing at an idea that has begun to perk la percolate over there. bragi said he would be willing to buy some bonds under certain conditions. and those conditions are if the woupbt trees in trouble start abiding by the rules that were established -- megyn: he said we'll help you if you get your fiscal house in order and stopover spending like a drunken college student with the family credit card. there's been some push back to that. some of these countries are saying, you can't tell us what to to do, we are independent nations, what about sovereignty? european france are saying, don't ask us for money, yes we can tell you what to do. >> that's right. they will have to try to impose some fiscal discipline on those countries. now, people all over the united states are watching this closely now. why are they watching something

that involves the euro and something that involves the european central bank? i think the reason for that, megyn, they have noticed -- what do all americans have? they have 401k's tied to the stock market. one day the stock market goes up 300 points and another day it goes down 200. the last two days it went up 700 points in toto and it's down today. anyone who tries to see what is going on sees that it's tied to the crisis in europe. that is why people are paying attention to this. megyn: i think americans also care about, you know, what critics allege as the moral hazard of bail outs, right? they objected when we saved the banks here because they said too big to fail. but americans on main street said i don't care about that, you're teaching them a lesson that you can over spend. and i, m a&p a in the middle of america many going to bail them out. are we teaching greece and italy a lesson, that they can do that, and that we'll have to step in,

because once again the whole world economy depends on it? >> well, the world economy is integrated. but there simply is no short term easy fix for this. megyn. this is a problem that's been building for the last 40 years in europe. the welfare state has simply hit the wall. there is nowhere else to hide. and when you get to the point where you're bonds, your sovereign debt, no one will buy it, as it will not buy italys or greece's unless the interest rates are tremendously high, you have no alternatives other than to simply roll over and default. if the euro broke up what would happen is the deutche mark would gain in strength and italy, spain and greece would basically turn into cheap kind of disney lands supported by tourists. they would have no economic growth whatsoever. i do not see the united states taxpayer paying in on the bail out of europe.

megyn: i think that will come as good news to many of our viewers. coming up rick santorum on the looming war with iran, five minutes away.

megyn: update on the health of evangelist billy graham. he is regs comfortably in a hospital waiting to hear if he has pneumonia. he was admitted yesterday suffering from congestion and a slight fever. a spokesman says he is stable and in good spirits. he was treated for pneumonia back in may and mid a full recovery. we are awaiting the start of the first major hearing right now into accusations of insider trading or something close to it on capitol hill. now a new law is in the pipeline after a firestorm of questions about lawmakers allegedly using information they are privy to to make money in the stock market, actions that could potentially land other folks in prison.

chief washington correspondent james rosen live in washington. this all started with a 60 minutes report that went after some in congress and it revived focused on a law that had been stalled in the pipeline for quite some time, james. >> reporter: that's right, megyn. we've seen then a virtual spam peed on the part of lawmakers to begin policing themselves in this heretofore murky area of the law even as our lawmakers profess not to know how widespread the problem is. minutes from now joseph lieberman will chair a commission looking at these two bills. one would ban lawmakers from the first time from using inside intel from staff members, lobbyists to trade stocks. if enacted they and their top staffers would be required to report securities transactions worth more and thousand dollars within three months time instead of once a year. >> we don't know how big a problem it is, honestly, and i want to make clear my committee today is not about finding

whether there was guilt or in sense on any of the legislators that have been accused of using insider information to make stock trades and make money. >> reporter: that was already handled by the cbs news program 60 minutes which earlier this month alleged that both house speaker john boehner republican of ohio and minority leader nancy pelosi the california democrat, among others, enriched themselves by purchasing stocks or ipo shares at times when they were preparing to tackle legislation covering the very industry in which they were trading. both leaders denied any wong doing and rejected any appearance of impropriety in their transactions, megyn. megyn: thank you, sir. days after iranian students attacked the british embassy in tehran, a new move today t guaranteed to make the west unhappy. is iran trying to start something here? rick santorum is next. a country superstar could land

in jail today after a custody battle over her son. how do you say thanks to the man who saved your life in a mob attack? greg palkot reuniting with that man, and you'll see it here right after this break. >> egyptian soldiers standing there with guns, egyptian soldiers watching, watching as the two of us are being pummeled, pummeled close to our death, doing absolutely nothing.

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megyn: just three days after some so-called iranian students ransacked the british embassy in tehran, and today all those rounded up for the attack were released. the u.k., france, germany and the netherlands pulling their ambassadors out of iran as worries grow as iran is trying to intentionally provoke the west. is iran doing that? and is it trying to lurch closer to war? and are we paying close enough attention? rick santorum is a republican presidential candidate, former senator from the commonwealth of pennsylvania. thank you so much for being here. >> pleasure, megyn, thank you. megyn: what do you make of that last question? >> iran has declared war with us since 1979. they haven't rescinded that. if you look at what iran has been doing in the middle east during the last few years they have been the biggest supplier of the weapon of choice for the terrorists who have been killing

american troops, and those are the ied's. they are manufactured this iran, they are getting training and funding from iran much. both under the present administration and the previous administration we've done nothing to call them out on this. we've done nothing to try to slow down and stop the development of missile technology, as well as nuclear technology, to build a nuclear weapon. iran continues to be to do this. and again, without any push back. so it's not surprising to me that you're now seeing them ratchet it up again as talk of sanctions being imposed, they are pushing back and they are pushing back on the west that is talking about the sanctions. megyn: what specifically would a president santorum do differently? >> first off what i would be doing is supporting not those folks in the street but two years ago i'd have been supporting those people in the street and continue to support the prodemocracy movement. the vast majority of iranians hate their government, they hate their oppression, they want to

be free. if you looked at the green revolution that occurred two years ago they were pleading for barack obama to come and help and to support them, and we didn't. what i was in the united states senate i actually authored a bill that was eventually signed but not implemented by either administration to fund these groups, to help to try to stir a revolution that would accomplish what actually happened in egypt, what happened in libya, what happened in tunisia. it could have happened in iran first but we passed. that is number one. i would continue to provide money for strike funds, for telecommunications, to be able to help these groups, be able to rallynd to take on this government, one. number two, i would be working with israel. you've own some explosions, you've seen some missile facilities blow up. you've seen some problems if their nuclear plants with respect to cyber attacks. everything seems to indicate that that is the israelis doing it. we should be doing it with them. we should be engaged in covert activity. we should be engaged in

sanctioning. sanctioning their central bank so they cannot be exporting oil. that doesn't mean that they won't be exporting oil, they'd send to it china but china would pay a lot less on the world market if they are the only one that is buying the oil. finally, this is the last point, that is we need to say to iran, you either open up these facilities for inspection, you start to dismantle them or we will engage in working with the israelis for a strike package, an air assault to takeout these facilities. we need to get dead serious about making sure that iran does not get this nuclear potential. megyn: let me shift gears with you now to politics, because we started the show with the latest poll from rasmussen reports showing newt gingrich considerably ahead on the gop leadership with 38%. mitt romney second with 17%. you are in the single digits, but that's sort of where you've been for a while. i want to ask you, though, about newt gingrich, because, you know, if it's not you who wind up with this nomination, i know you care very much who it is, and you've raised some

criticisms about newt gingrich and whether in particular he is conservative enough on social issues, including abortion and stem celery search. what say you? >> well, i think if you look back at the record of most of the people in this field and pair witness mine i've been the most conservative. and that goes with newt. whether it's healthcare, global warming, cap and trade, and his position on embryonic stem celery search to me, i took the position that we should have no federal funding of embryonic stem celery search, none whatsoever. that has not been the position of others in this race. we have shown that embryonic stem celery search destroys a human life number one and is not the way to go from the standpoint of developing human therapies for cures. also on the issue of abortion i'm someone that actually wants to see abortion ended in this country and has actually done things in congress to do so. newt gingrich has taken the

position that we should de-emphasize these issues, we should keep them out of contracts with america. we should keep them out of any policy or platforms of the republican party. i think that is just a big difference between someone who believes that life is to be respected and it's a central and core value of our country and someone who sees it as more of a political issue. megyn: herman cain has found himself in the news for the wrong reasons lately, this week, a woman coming forth to claim a 13-year a fair with them. he says he's reassessing his campaign. do you believe that given what we have seen in the news about herman cain over the past couple of weeks, which he has denied, that he could still be the gop nominee, or do you believe he should drop out of this race? >> well, i'm in the going to make any suggestions what people should do in their race. what karen and i have done from the very beginning of this race is we pray for everybody, everybody in this race, and we of course pray for the president. we understand how difficult it is and accusations thrown at people, and, you know, a lot of nasty things are said about me and said about my family, on the

internet and it's very disturbing, but you just pray for everybody and let the chips fallout, and the american public are going to assess all this and make the decision for themselves. my job is not to be distracted by that, stay focused on what i'm trying to do, which is convince the people of iowa that you've got a reliable, strong, conservative who can win election tph-s stuff states, that you nominate me to be the canned tate to take on barack obama and change this country. megyn: and you will get to hear from them in just about a month now. senator rick santorum, thank you so much, sir. >> thank you very much, megyn. megyn: good advice, stay off the internet and say a little prayer. new word out of egypt today. the results of that nation's new election tph-s decades now delayed as poll watchers say hard line islamic parties are likely to grab a large majority in parliament. remember how we got here, more than nine months the egyptians rose up to overthrow hosni mubarak. chaos and violence ripped tahrir

square. our journalist, greg palkot and his cameraman were covering it all when they found themselves the subject of a brutal attack. on that day an egyptian man risked his own life to rescue them. they were strangers at the time. now greg is back in cairo to say thank you to the man who saved his life. greg palkot, live in cairo, greg. >> reporter: hey, megyn, it's rare you get a chance to say something like that, but we had that chance today. we managed to survive back in february thanks to a lot of people, both in the states and in egypt. in egypt one of those was usef gaze galiese, when all hell was breaking loose in tahrir square he sheltered us in his apartment at great risk to his own life. x had a little bit of a break today waiting for voting results, so we went over to his apartment and for the first time since february i had a chance to

meet and to talk with this man. take a look. how are you? we wanted very much to say thank you for saving our lives. you have to understand, guys, we are inside here with our very good friend. these doors are closed, and outside they are lighting molotov cocktails. we were huddled basically over here, our whole team. this was sort of the safest place until the molotov cocktails started to come through those windows. people were coming up causing problems at the other end of the hallway. our good host told us to hide. so we went down here into the kitchen, and basically used this as kind of a bit of a bomb shelter. all the while screaming, smashing, action going on outside, down in the front of

the building. >> usef was talking about you today. >> reporter: today? >> in the morning. >> reporter: wow. >> he said you recording the memories of this. >> reporter: e shala, things get better. >> and he would hope to see you always. >> reporter: thank you so much my friend. thank you very much. thank you from all of us for saving our lives. like usef said he later fled that apartment an had his own run in with the mob, and when we were together he provided food, he provided water and he provided appraiser. he is a coptic christian. considering the islamist party's strength right now and that they might have a say in a future government here i asked him as a minority whether he was worried. no he told me, he had hope.

megyn, he certainly gave us hope that night. back to you. megyn: we are very grateful for that, greg. thank you so much, incredible report. things get better. once a country music star, she is now struggling to keep her life together. now mindy mccready has about two hours left before she becomes a wanted woman. "kelly's court" next on the court fight that could land her behind bars. >> our job in the community is child safety, and zander is supposed to be in an approved placement here in lee county and he's not, and until he's home safely we will continue to work with law enforcement in order to bring him home. ♪

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and one in oregon. my parents would not believe how popular it is now.

megyn: "kelly's court" is back in session. on the docket today, a country star, her custody battle and a missing five-year-old that could land her behind bars.

mindy mccready the twangy voice behind guys do it all the time and 10,000 angels. peeking in the 1980s, and falling into a life of drugs and domestic abuse there after. she has two hours to return her five-year-old son to her mother's house, i think it is or be arrested. her mother was granted custody back in 2007, but the singer says the child was allegedly being abused, so she is hiding him. now nearly seven months pregnant with twins mindy mccready has no plans apparently of bringing this boy back. so, will she go to jail? should she? joining me me now defense attorney mark eiglarsh. and julia morrow: mindy

mccready is a hot mess, the father is a hot mess, the court gave custody of the boy to the grandma. she is visiting her dad, her own dad who is with the boy and she takes him, she takes the boy. what is her defense julia to doing this? >> well, you know, her only defense, as i can see it, and what is so unfortunate about this. megyn, is that the court is on the brink of ruling on her final bid to get her kid back. they had an evidentiary hearing in late october. the court took it under advisement, it's on the brink of ruling, and she went and did this. i'm going to say her defense is, you know, quite frankly, this grandmother who was awarded guardianship, you know, we've got to take a closer look at her. and i think the defense that the child is potentially experiencing abuse at the hands of the grandmother is a legitimate defense. i mean, look at mindy's life, megyn. she dropped out of wh-s when she was 16, she was jet setting around on a plane with roger

clemens when she was 15. she left home at 16. abusive relationships, drugs, throw times tried to commit suicide. where was her mother in all this. her mother was an unfit parent. >> objection, objection. megyn: objection overruled, mark. let me get him to weigh in, because, you know, you know the parents are bad, mark when neither one gets custody, neither of the biological parents gets cuffed the boy. nonetheless this mindy mccready is coming forward now and saying, i'm telling you my son is being abused by my mother and you're not getting him back. >> yeah. well, i don't like to be judgmental about anyone, especially mindy mccready. wait for it. however, four arrests, three suicide attempts, one affair with roger clemens, one sex tape, a history of drug addiction, megyn, that's why the

court gave parental custody to the grandparents. she took her son without authority. so if you get over the credibility hurdle, which i'm not willing to do, you then bring these factors into court and let the court decide whether there is any credibility at all. megyn: given her history, can we believe her? and by the way one of the suicide attempts was when she was pregnant with this boy zander. can we believe her when she makes an abuse allegation against her mother sth it's like one of those things, even if it's true, even if it's true you have to ask yourself if she is a better alternative. >> i hear you, megyn and quite frankly this could potentially be the lesser of two evils. this is why she has credibility. she's been clean for three years. yes, she has this horrible past with the drugs and everything else. clean for three years. for someone to be in recovery and clean for three years what sorted past like that, that is quite an accomplishment. megyn: that does change things considerably, mark. >> on that point i would agree.

>> she is not just hot off the streets with the drugs. she's been clean for three years. she is pregnant, megyn as you said with twins. she has a stable relationship with a music producer in new york, two years she's been with this guy. her life has been turned around and she is entitled to have her kid back. megyn: go ahead, mark. >> first of all i'm not conceding that she is three years clean because julia says so. she has no firsthand knowledge so we don't know. relapse is part of recovery. i don't know what she is up to right now. her judgment is really off if she took her kid. secondly, i've got a problem with her not letting the courts decide what is in the best interests of the child. and then to say, i can't bring the child back because i'm pregnant absolutely smack the judge in the face and i absolutely think he should issue an order for her arrest unless she makes arrangements for the child to come back. megyn: that is one of the questions. if you think your child is being abused by the person would you turn your child back over to that person, or would you as she's doing just refuse. it doesn't make it legal. i have to leave it there, we are out of time. thank you both so much.

coming up after the break the battle to save a tree house against the mean zoning board people. [ man 2 ] yummy. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste and whole gin oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios.

great tree house controversy involving a u.s. soldier on leave from iraq who built a tree house for his kids on his own property in virginia, and then the zoning board ruled it had to go, saying it violated a county law. but wait, a new development. trace. >> reporter: they might just call this the megyn kelly tree house, really a lot of the national attention focused on this. the fairfax county council made

a reversal and said okay the tree house can be allowed. they said, rules are rules you cannot have this tree house, it must come down. now they are saying, as long as it's screened by some trees the tree house can stay. this is the military man who built this for his kids before he had to go become for another tour of duty in iraq, the neighbors complained. the county counsel came out and said, well you're on a corner lot, really your two yards are both front yards, you can't build a tree house in your front yard, so tear it down. they spent a ton of money tr trying to fight this thing. they fought the good fight. who says you can't beat city hall. mark grapen, their dad is back safely from the tour in iraq. he's got the kids, the tree house, the whole even kh enchilada in fairfax, virginia.

megyn: good for them. he is the loan suspect of the disappearance of a woman in aruba. now the american businessman speaks out for the first time since getting out of jail. what gary giordano is saying.

♪ santa claus is coming to town, coming on town ♪ >>megyn: new video of santa hitting a snag during the entrance to a florida mall when the beard is stuck in the line as he went down a hall. an elf comes to help, and unable to free himselfs the elves sing "we wish you a merry christmas," but, kids this is not the real san that, the real santa goes down the chimney, but, wait, did you see the elf up there? like all good