thanks for joining us. jenna: "america live" starts right now. megyn: fox news alert on a white house that is now, apparently, on the defensive as we see a new low for president obama's approval rating on the economy. welcome to "america live," everyone, i'm megyn kelly. soaring gas prices likely a contributing factor in the latest polls. the national average now $3.80 per gallon according to aaa. that is up three cents from last week and nearly 30 cents up from last month. this as new numbers from a washington post/abc news poll show a record number 50% of americans strongly disapprove of the president's handling of the economy. 50 saying they strongly disapprove. for now, the re-election message is all about gas prices. >> most of you have probably filled up your gas tank a time or two in the last week. and you've seen how quickly the price of gas is going up.

a lot of you may have to drive a distance to work. higher gas prices are like a tax straight out of your paycheck. and every year politicians start talking when gas prices go up. they get out on the campaign trail, and you and i both know there are no quick fixes to this problem. the recent spike in gas prices has been another painful reminder of why we have to invest in this technology. as usual, politicians have haven rolling out their three-point plans for $2 gas: drill, drill, and drill some more. well, my response is we have been drilling. under my administration oil production in america is at an eight-year high. we've quadrupled the number of operating oil rigs and opened up millions of acres for drilling. but you and i both know that with only 2% of the world's oil reserves we can't just drill our way to lower gas prices.

megyn: joining me now, chris stirewalt, host of "power play" on foxnews.com and stu varney, anchor of "varney & company" on the fox business network. chris, on the politics of this, the numbers are not good for the white house. you saw the strongly disapprove number, 50% saying they strongly disapprove now, and this couple with the the latest approval ratings for the president when it comes to his handling of gas prices, 65% saying they disapprove of how he's handling this, just 26% saying they approve of how he's handling it. what does that suggest to you about the president's messaging on this? >> well, it suggests that they knew this before we did because, certainly, you've seen the president on a very aggressive swing state campaign tour out there in states like florida, virginia, north carolina, new hampshire hammering away at this issue, he'll be out in ohio later this week. i don't know whether he'll bring it up then, but the whole point for the president is he knows that this is, as he pointed out,

a tax on middle class americans that hurts them. it's inescapable for most americans, and they feel like whatever we're doing now sure isn't working. megyn: stu, what the president and his advisers have said repeatedly, and they've come on and made these energy speeches during this program, so our viewers, i think, have seen a lot of this firsthand. there are no silver bullets, no magic solution, no quick fix, and the answer in large part is green energy. is that, is that true? >> flat out? no. it is not. i'd refer you to the state of north dakota. north dakota started drilling vigorously into the shale to produce more oil. it's about to become the number one oil-of drilling, oil production location in the united states edging out prudhoe bay in alaska. they have 3% unemployment, they're paying $18 an hour at mcdonald's because they're trying to get workers into the state. it is boom town, boom state because of drilling for oil.

you can get prosperity in a griffin location -- in a given location because of the oil boom there. had we done the same thing throughout america three years ago and gone to get every barrel of oil that we can from our own boundaries, we would not be in the situation we're in today. if we'd gone for oil as opposed to for solar and green energy, we would not be in the situation that we're in today. megyn: chris, you've seen -- take a look at the president's overall approval rating, we talked about on the economy and gas prices, look at the overall. 46 approve, 50 disapprove which is an exact reversal from where he was a month ago. so he is going in the wrong direction in the overall approval rating. that is almost certainly tied to what we're seeing on the gas prices. how closely do we believe the white house is watching this, and how much power do these presidents typically have to turn that around? when it comes to gas prices? >> short term they have some

power. they can tap the strategic oil reserve, they can effect the futures market, the speculators by changing the amount of expected supply. they can do all of those things. but, you know, when you get right down to it, the president, obviously, is making a point that all of his predecessors have tried to make in one way or another -- which is there is no quick fix. unfortunately for president obama, the republicans have very successfully saddled him with the political consequences of blocking the keystone pipeline, have successfully saddled him with restrictions on offshore drilling and a more aggressive environmental protection agency. so it's hard for him to say that he stands blameless, and they're going to continue to push it. megyn: stu, on those points, you know, the president, you heard him in the opening sound bite talk about how, you know, more drilling has gone on under his administration than in any other administration, and he is making the case that he is doing an all-of-the-above approach. do the facts bear that out? >> well, in fact, a lot of the extra drilling and the extra oil

production that we now have in america is the result of president bush opening up all kinds of properties to drilling that were closed down by president obama. so the oil production, the extra that we're now getting, is a direct result of president bush's policies and not president obama's policies. i just want to make the point, by the way, megyn, that we haven't yet seen the full economic impact of this spike. diesel has just gone to an average $4.11 a gallon. that hurts truckers and farmers. those costs have not yet been passed along. so the full impact of this energy price spike has not yet made itself apparent in the economy generally. megyn: yeah. and typically the prices only go up when you hit the summer months. guys, thank you both so much. >> you bet. megyn: some democratic lawmakers are using soaring gas prices to criticize wall street. lawmakers suggesting that speculators in the oil markets are to blame for the latest runup in prices, and they're calling for federal regulators

to crack down on speculation. republicans responding by pointing out that during the bush administration the very same democrats were blaming the president's policies for increases at the push and were not saying much about wall street at that point. well, u.s. troops in afghanistan are now on high alert after an american soldier is said to have shot and killed 16 afghan civilians. president hamid karzai calling the act, quote, unforgivable. taliban militants vowing revenge. the staff sergeant reportedly walked off of his base in the middle of the night on saturday, broke into three homes and started shooting. children and women among the victims. he is now in u.s. custody. coming up at the top of our next hour, we have an exclusive interview with ambassador ryan crocker. he will be here live, and we will ask him about america's response and about the situation going forward in afghanistan. so many americans want out now and have had it with what we've seen in afghanistan.

however, why did we go over there to begin with? you remember, it was in the wake of 9/11. have we succeeded in the mission of routeing the taliban there, and if we leave too early, are we endangering american lives right here on u.s. soil? i will go through all of that in theword in an -- with the ambassador. well, we also have new reports of brutality in syria. the bodies of 47 women and children found murdered in homs. the embattled city is under near-constant shelling, but human rights workers on the ground say these women and children either had their throats slit, they were stabbed to death or burned. syria's government acknowledged the deaths but blamed foreign terrorists, not the country's security forces. they've done that before, blamed those foreign forces. syrian civilians were running for their lives. the latest strikes coming just hours after the former u.n. secretary-general met with syria's president assad for talks of a cease fire.

annan left without an agreement in place. well, there are new questions today about how the u.s. might help israel take out iran's nuclear weapons program if administration decides on that course of action. over the weekend an air force commander talked about something called the massive ordnance penetrator. it is a massive bomb capable of damaging facilities built deep underground, and that is one of the big concerns now that israel has said to have about whether it can take out iran's nuclear facilities so deeply buried. trace gallagher has more on that from our west coast newsroom. >> reporter: and this could be the biggest conventional bomb ever used. we all remember moab, right? the mother of all bombs. that was 21,000 pounds. this is 30,000 pounds, 30% bigger. they call it the massive ordnance penetrator. they've tested it. this, by the way, these are traditional bunker busters. this bomb is much biggen than -- bigger than what you're seeing

on your screen. this bomb has been wildly successful. it can be flown on a b-52, right? it's gps controlled, therefore, it has pin i can't point accuracy. 20 feet long, and here's the big number, this thing can penetrate 200 feet of earth and concrete before it actually explodes. that's key because intelligence tells us that iran has buried many of its nuclear sites. but not nearly deep enough, those sites, to avoid the m.o.p.. and defense secretary leon panetta was asked about israel possibly attacking iran, and he said this, and i'm quoting: if they decide to do it, there's no question that it would have an impact, but i think it's also clear that if united states did it, we would have a hell of a bigger impact. that hell of a bigger impact he's talking about the m.o.p., 30,000-pound bomb, megyn. megyn: trace, thank you. well, a big announcement a couple of hours ago about a new

effort to bring rallies and protests to the front door of companies who make certain political donations. so are we going to see a lot more scenes like this in the future? lou dobbs on that, coming up. plus -- >> right there from the iron dome. each one of those interceptors is headed towards one of some 200 missiles that have come out of gaza here in the past little while. the sirens are continuing to go off here. megyn: israel retaliating against rocket attacks from the gaza strip. the arab league weighing in, and we are getting our first look now at the system that israel counts on for its defense. plus, why newt gingrich says the secretary of defense should resign. >> we spend our time worrying about the u.n., the arab league, nato and too little time, in my opinion, worried about the elected representatives of the united states. as you go forward, will you

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megyn: fox news alert, we got word in just the last couple of hours that the department of justice is now blocking a new voter id law from taking effect in texas. the head of the civil rights division says the state failed to demonstrate that its new voter id laws will not discriminate against hispanic voters. in texas hispanic voters, the registered voters, are up to 120% more likely to lack a form of photo id than the average voter, they say. that is a fact the doj claims will have an unfair impact on the hispanic community. we'll have a live report and a fair and be balanced debate on this coming up right here. >> get out the way! get out the way!

[cheers and applause] megyn: well, that was the service employees international union or seiu at work mobbing the front lawn of an executive of a bank back in 2010 as part of protests over foreclosures. foreclosures on people who weren't paying their bills. now the politically influential seiu is joining forces with other labor unions and liberal reform groups such as moveon.org, occupy wall street and others to attack corporations that make political donations. the groups claim the private sector has too much influence over elections even as they use their own political action committees. joining me now, lou dobbs, host of lou dobbs tonight on the fox business network. so, i mean, the unions, seiu and others, are upset that some corporations are going to headache donations to these pacs and super pacs, and they're allowed to do that, but the unions don't like it.

and they say they're going to apply boycotts and even calls for pension funds to die vest from these -- divest from these offending companies. >> they're going to community organize corporate america and work as hard as they can against the effects of a decision by the united states supreme court with which you're very familiar, and that is citizens united over two years ago now. it's really quite, quite funny to think about the irony in this. president obama in january, i think it was the 27th of 2010, in his state of the union, you know, lambasted the justices sitting there, you remember, and said this is terrible what you've done. you've let in foreign corporate money into the process, all of this nonsense. the fact is he was utterly and completely, devastatingly wrong. what he had done was open up the opportunity to unions to have precisely the same power as corporations which is the epitome of a balanced decision

which is what one would be looking for. megyn: so the unions don't like this, but they benefited from it, and the corporations as well. you know, they have the right to this free speech, in essence, is what the supreme court was looking at, and they said, they do. >> it also added one other power that's extraordinarily important to the unions because they have, they are a ground force. i mean, they work so hard for their candidates. for once they would go only to a union household, now they can canvas and solicit and campaign on every door in the that i could. megyn: they said with unions representing 11.8% of all workers, their volunteers canvassed in previous elections could only knock on one in ten doors. but now the unions spent $200 million in the 2008 election. >> right. megyn: they overwhelmingly supported president obama and the democrats. this time around they have said they expect to spend 400 million -- >> they're going to double it at least.

megyn: but they don't want these corporations to do the same, and they want people to boycott them. where's the, you know, why? why is it so objectionable? in their view, i know you don't agree -- >> how do you know? they're a wonderful group of people. megyn: i'm good that way. [laughter] why is it so objectionable in their view for corporations to do the same things unions are doing? >> because to their minds every advantage they can gain -- they've gained one in the citizens united decision, and that is the ability to go to every door and knock on it, why not continue to press? megyn: so it's okay for us, but it's not okay for you. >> exactly. the foundation is utter hypocrisy. megyn: what is the future going to hold? this coalition has been organized to apply this pressure on companies. the coalition, i mentioned some of them, moveon.org, occupy wall street, health care for america now and so on, sierra club, i mean, it's like a coalition of groups that support the democrats and president obama. but when we see them showing up

on people's lawns, you know, going to people's homes, is this what we expect to see now, occupy wall street's going the go on people's front lawns and try to make a point about corporate or political donations? >> if there's enough pushback, they'll go under their front porch. megyn: you may be first. >> you know, it's -- [laughter] megyn: after this interview, they're not going to like you. >> well, you're not helping me here. [laughter] it's the give and take of the public arena, and i like that, frankly. what i don't like is when people involve other's families as they did in that case, and that was the service employees' union, you know, taking on the -- megyn: going to a person's home. >> -- the b of a executive's home. that's silly, and it's wrong. megyn: and the guy's 9-year-old son was cowering inside the home, he was afraid, he didn't know why they were there on his property. >> and those people probably, for the most part, didn't know why they were there either. but it was also an embarrassing

piece of footage that they'll have to live down. megyn: i don't think they're embarrassed about it. they did it again. >> i think you'll find that they don't do it again because there is not that appetite to see people annoyed in that way. megyn: well, they say that what they're going to do now is boycott and call for divestiture s so we'll see -- >> think about the boycotts that can also be applied the other way though. and it starts to be a very big deal. megyn: how? because unions have all sorts of laws that protect them. >> right. megyn: and protect their ability to organize and so on. >> but if they continue to take unpopular steps as they do there because any american would hate that. that'll show up in state legislatures in the form of laws -- megyn: i guess we've seen some of that already in wisconsin. >> you bet. megyn: thank you. troops in afghanistan on high alert after a soldier allegedly shot 16 afghan civilians. we have an exclusive interview with the u.s. ambassador to afghanistan, ryan crocker.

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megyn: we are hearing growing fears now that a new round of israeli air strikes on gaza could enflame the middle east. at least 23 palestinians have died in cross-border violence including two militants and a schoolboy killed overnight. israel says more than 150 rockets have been fired from gaza into israel just since friday, seriously wounding two israelis. in the middle of all this, we today got a closer look at the anti-missile system that could mean the difference between life and death if israel decides to hit iran. lelandleland vittert is live in southern israel with the very latest. leland? >> reporter: right now, megyn,

the iron dome missile system is about 90% effective in intercepting those missiles fired out of gaza. however, late this afternoon one did sneak through and injury two people in the town here behind me. because of how random these rockets are when they rain down, school is thousand canceled for the second -- is now canceled for the second straight day in southern israel, and i can tell you it is awfully scary in the line of fire. that siren going off means there's a missile l headed here into the area we're at. you're looking at the iron dome battery. right now it is tracking a missile coming out of gaza. that's the iron dome that just went off, and the reason it fired is it calculated that the missile could conceivably hit some type of population area, and we'll know in a second whether it actually stops. another missile away right there from the iron dome. each one of those interceptors is headed towards one of some 200 missiles that have come out

of gaza here. we're now hearing the explosions of those interceptors that blew the missile out of the sky. this all began on friday with an airstrike against a well known militant down in gaza, it killed the militant, and this touched off this latest round of violence. it is impossible to figure out exactly where this missile from gaza is going to land. coming up, there's the missile that just hit no more than about 200 yards away from us, that black smoke. that was, certainly, a little too close for comfort, at least for our liking, and you get a sense of what the million people who live in southern israel are going through on a daily basis. it looks like it is going to continue into tomorrow at least as there is no sign of a ceasefire in sight. megyn, those missile interceptors are allly effective. they cost about $50,000 apiece, and if there is an uptick in the

amount of missiles coming out of gaza, it becomes much harder to intercept each and every one as that system can get overwhelmed. megyn: that was incredible to see, i can't imagine what it was like to experience firsthand. leland, thank you very much. good report. well, the president's re-election team today launched a new push to win over women voters by pushing his health care reform law. but is the unpopular law really the road to re-election? we'll show you the latest numbers on how people feel about it and then debate the white house strategy. and the real-life dirty laundry of the cast of "desperate housewives" on display in a california courtroom. we'll show you the scandals the cast and crew now wish had stayed locked up in the cupboard. wait until you hear the latest as this case now wraps up in today's kelly's court.

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that's afibstroke.com. megyn: fox news alert, a story just break on our news wires. two people have been arrested because of some sort of disturbance on a light from vegas to london. trace has more at the breaking news desk. >> reporter: we are actually on the sky news website now, and they are saying these are two israeli men who were apparently arrested on the flight from las vegas to london. the flight just arrived a short time ago and the two men were arrested, that means the flight left some time last night from las vegas. there is little information about this. this was a direct flight from vegas to london. we are checking to find out if this plane may have stopped

anywhere, what the process was, and we are also trying to find out exactly what they were wanted for. was alcohol a factor? it's very unclear at this point in time but we are watching sky news website. we've got producers looking at this. when we find out more information about this -- we have more on this. alex? yeah. these are israeli passport holders. they got off in heathrow. they are being questioned as we speak. threatening comments regarding iran. we are just reading this now coming in. threatening comments regarding iran on the flight from las vegas to london, two israeli passport holders are now being questioned at heathrow airport because of some disturbance that we now believe had something to do with iran. when we get more information about this. megyn we will clearly bring this back. megyn: we'll get back to you as

we get it. >> reporter: okay. megyn: president obama's re-election campaign going after women voters and how, now by capitalizing on the debate overt president's healthcare law, specifically the partisan battle over religious hreurbt and contraception coverage. mary catherine hamm is a fox news contributor, and a writer for a daily column. i don't even know if the voters, if the viewers have put it in their heads how women, women have been all over the news, right? we went from the susan g. komen foundation thing to the debate over religious liberty and that led to the contraception debate, and in same sandra fluke and now we have an outreach to woman by the white house. women, women, women, women, women. is this any accident, mary catherine? >> no it's not an accident. they are clearly a hugely

important voting block and that's just the bottom line. everybody is going to be trying to win them, obama is specifically taking these social issues discussions that we're having, a lot of the liberal groups helping out and turning this into the war on women discussions what they want to have. i would say it's over simplifying if you want to go into swing states and talk to women voters about the healthcare law which remains fairly unpopular, 53% or so wanting it repealed. the healthcare numbers go down. when you have the house parties, which i've attended sometimes, talking about the healthcare laws you get a lot of people very confused, a lot of liberals mad because he did all these deals with companies. i'm not sure it's the clean message he is looking for. megyn: people are having house parties to talk about the healthcare law, is that what you're saying? >> that's what he wants. they rock. megyn: leslie, are you going to a house party to talk about the healthcare law. >> maybe i should try those because i'm skipping the botox

parties they have out here ladies. that will be the opposite side of the healthcare issue. the healthcare plan does not cover botox u know i'm going to get an email on this later. megyn: you better get a bill before congress. >> the bottom line here is the president has done well and did in the 2008 election with female voters. it looks like precarious timing on this. the president, and clearly the administration has stated they've had this planned for a while. what's been going on in the media hasn't hurt the situation any, although, yes i agree with mary catherine regarding healthcare and some of the numbers overall. when we look at specifics of contraceptives and when we look at the numbers of women regardless of religion, catholic women included, who continue to use or have used contraceptives at one time this is something he is really taking a hold on. he has a double digit lead over mitt romney with women and romney does very well come faired tcompared to the other

republicans with women i. think it's smart to do to hold onto this especially now that gas prices have gone up 3-cents. megyn: hold onto the women. the numbers support that the president is doing better with women than he has been doing. i want to ask you about a point that i discussed with owe rile hraoet other night, which was, could making sandra fluke, i don't know how you pronounce it quite frankly, fluke, the face of his healthcare law right now, recently, right, that's how they have touted her out, could making her the face of that hurt not only the approval of this law, but the president's approval rating? look at this split screen. pwhe signed that law we saw the little boy who was going to get healthcare coverage who didn't have it. and i think americans look at the little boy and say, that is somebody i want to help. do they look at sandra fluke and say, wait a minute, what is the healthcare law about? >> right i think in the sort term it probably head because the conversation came about

sandra fluke personally and it should not have been out there. when you look at her testimony which is the part of the conversation you're getting to new you find out a month ago the left decided it was tantamount to a violation of human rights if a woman had to pay a $10 a month co-pay for birth control. if you talk to women on that level and explain that conversation they say well i've been paying a co-pay for longtime it's a predictable regular tivoli low expense regular healthcare thing, i'm not sure why it has to be man date. conservatives have won the fight over mandates. as long as the fight goes on you continue to explain, look this is the government forcing people to do this, taking away an economic and religious freedom to make this decision and americans tend to change their minds as they have on the healthcare mandate which is 72% against right now. megyn: sandra fluke is the average georgetown law school graduate makes $160,000 in her first year out of law school.

it's tough to look at her and say i want to help you out financially. the war on women even though it's resonating with voters right now does that withstand the test of time or do women go into the voting box in november and just say the economy is doing well, getting better, i'm going with the incumbent. or it's doing poorly, i don't believe it's getting better i'm going with the challenger. >> you know a week in politics is a lifetime. what is going to happen with syria, with iran. we just saw missiles in israel. certainly we as americans can be diverted and lose our attention on something fast. so i wouldn't doubt if this loses a bit of momentum, if the economy does really well, or really poorly between now and november, that is the number one issue, the economy on all americans' minds, but women are banding together as a gender, i believe, regardless of ideology on this issue, even if we don't agree a hundred percent on this issue. megyn: if you show up at a party and they start handing out

little pupaca pamphlets, isn't that the acronym? run, get out. >> you need several drinks for that party. >> it will be in a pickupper wear container, ladies. megyn: goodbye to goat of you. thank you both for being here. if i ever host a taouper wear party that's how i'm going to begin it. janice dean is in the studio mocking me right here. it's a live broadcast. all right. coming up it is the last thing you want to hear on a plane, take a listen to this. [screaming] megyn: oh, man. a flight attendant completely loses it on the tarmac. the new fallout just ahead. plus, the doj now says it is investigating the nypd over police department surveillance of some muslim groups in the wake of 9/11 still going on.

but new details on muslim -- on the muslim program show that it was legal, and mostly used public information. so what is the doj investigating exactly? phrap. >> i think at least what i read publicly, again what i've read in the newspapers is disturbing and things are things that are under review at the justice department.

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and jay allen sekulow is the chief council for the center for law and justice. thank you so much for being with me. i'll start with you on this. jay. eric holder has come under fire for saying that he is disturbed by this program, because he says it's based entirely on news reports, and the criticism has been, what is the attorney general doing reviewing news reports and nothing more about a tram and then publicly criticizing it? >> well he actually went even further. right he said it was under review by the department of justice. i made the comment that if he had questions he could have picked up the phone and talked to ray kelly the police commissioner. look, the nypd, i said this the other day, success speaks for itself. there were 14 known attempts on manhattan itself after 9/11, none of which were able to be implemented because the nypd's intelligence intelligence gathering capabilities are on par with any intelligence force in the world. the nwpd has operations and offices around the globe.

this idea that this is a new revelation that the department of justice is now shocked, that new york has even gauged in this activity is ridiculous. i think this is a political detphrebg shopb. the nypd has done a phenomenal job. there is a decision by the federal court which governs their surveillance activities in place since the 1908s, reviewed after 9/11. they followed those guidelines. no illegality, no one is accusing them of illegality, it's become a political firestorm and i think it's a political detphrebg shopb. megyn: consumer rights lawyers are suggesting that there is something illegal going on here. they are talking about whether police can keep files on you even if it's out in the public, your behavior, if they can keep files on you and surveil you without you having done anything wrong. >> i do say that jay over states the case. while some civil rights lawyers and the aclau may make that argument i think the obama administration has rejected that

argument. the obama administration has not said the nypd activities were illegal, have not said they were improper, have said they need to be reviewed. megyn: they are disturbing. >> well for reasons such as what the governor of new jersey said -- let me finish guys without the interruption. the governor of new jersey said when you have nypd officials conducting investigations in new jersey without new jersey officials knowing about it that become a problem from a law enforcement point of view that becomes a problem. that is the first issue the department of justice said needs to be reviewed. the second issue that they say needs to be reviewed is weather the coach the surveillance has been overly broad. if you go into an egyptian-american community in new york and you start conducting surveillance on everybody in that community you begin to alienate the community. having friendly sources inside those communities giving law enforcement information is

absolutely critical. that's how we foiled the christmas tree bomber, and foiled the subway bomber. trying to say the administration is where the aclu is on this is absolutely wrong. they are not there. >> number one you're making a policy argument there. with all due respect the poll seif the nypd has been pretty darn successful. it's clear from their absolute success in preventing things like the christmas bombing that would have taken place in manhatten. there has been muslim community groups that have actually supported, significantly suppo supported what the nypd is doing. this is publicly obtained information. this isn't private spying. this is publicly obtained information. there's been a little bit of a rush to judgment. the aclu had come out not surprisingly very strong on this in opposing what the nypd is doing without knowing the scope and details of their operations, which neither julian or i really know the details of. so that is an overstatement. the attorney general eric holder with due respect to the office

of the attorney general making a statement that he was disturbed by a newspaper account and it's under review at justice department puts the nypd under a spotlight, frankly they have other things to do. megyn: was it irresponsible -- julian was it irresponsible of eric holder to come out and criticize a program, president obama got in trouble tore taking the side, remember the whole beer summit before he knew all the facts. his attorney general comes out in a manner that is very significant to a lot of americans, how safe is a city like new york which was directly attacked on 9/11 and comments on the nypd's efforts to keep that city safe without -- on the basis of simply reading the newspaper? >> i think that that misstates the case, megyn and i think jay did as well. the attorney general did not just rely on newspaper accounts. megyn: wait, wait, i'll let you answer, i have the transcript in front of me. this is eric holder. i think at least what i have read publicly, just what i have read in the newspaper is disturbing, and these are things that are under review at the justice department.

>> okay now to respond to that, among the things that have been widely reported in the newspaper is that the republican governor of new jersey takes exception to the fact that you've got law enforcement investigators from another jurisdiction coming into his state without even informing his law enforcement authority that the tactics are taking place. that i think is primarily what the attorney general was raoeufrg to. that is point one. point two is, yes, jay may be right that some folks from the aclu may be objecting to this but the department of justice has in fact not only given its assent to many of its tactics it's provided funding to nypd for many of the tactics. megyn: i have to leave it at that. >> putting it under the microscope right now, new york police department has other things to do than having this under a microscope when there's been no allegation of law breaking here. megyn: i'll sigh you gentlemen later. thanks so much. coming up, newt gingrich calls for the defense secretary to resign, not once but twice this weekend after controversial

congressional testimony by mr. panetta last week. we'll show you why secretary panetta is drawing -- [ male announcer ] juice drink too watery? ♪ feel the power my young friend. mmm! [ male announcer ] for excellent fruit and veggie nutrition... v8 v-fusion, also refreshing plus tea. could've had a v8. 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. fight both fast with new tums freshers! concentrated relief that goes to work in seconds and freshens breath. new tums freshers. ♪ tum...tum...tum...tum... tums! ♪ [ male announcer ] fast relief, fresh breath,

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megyn: a follow-up now on the man accused of driving his suv onto a runway at the philadelphia interest national airport. let this be a lesson. kenneth mazick is facing federal charges for the march 5th incident which forced a partial shut down of the airport while police chased him down. authorities say the stunt was not terrorism related, instead they say this guy was originally charged with a dui by the local police. a minneapolis principal accuses a middle school student of bullying and demands the passwords to her facebook and email accounts. now the lawyers are getting involved. trace gallagher has more. trace. >> reporter: the girl is only

known as rs, megyn she apparently had a run in with a hall monitor. she went home and posted that he was mean and hated that hall monitor. the principal got word of that, brought her in, gave her detention and made her apologize to the hall monitor. rs wasn't happy about that, she went back on facebook, and she cursed the person who turned her into the principal to begin w. another mother called and said that rs and her son were using the computer to talk about sex. that's when the principal called in the sheriff and they sat there and they asked the girl for her password on facebook and email. well the aclu says that is not right, saying that the school violated the girl's right to free speech, and to unreasonable search and seizure. the school says the parent gave her permission for the girl to give them her password, saying, quote, the actions taken by the school district with regards to rs were intended to prevent suspected harm to selfor others, and to prevent disruption.

the school says it never accessed the girl's emails. the lawsuit, though is going forward, and the girl is back in the school right now, megyn. megyn: thank you. u.s. troops in afghanistan now on high alert after an american soldier allegedly shoots and kills 16 afghan civilians. and now in record numbers americans are saying, this isn't worth it. up next we have an exclusive interview with ambassador ryan crocker. we will ask about america's response and the situation going forward in afghanistan. this is a man very well respected by folks on both sides of the aisle. he is here live. plus breaking news on the justice department. blocking a knew law that would have required voters to show id at the polls in texas, why are they doing that? newt gingrich calls for the defense secretary to resign twice this weekend after some controversial congressional testimony last week. we'll show you why mr. panetta is drawing so much heat. >> we spend our time worrying about the u.n., the arab league,

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it's all about absorption. megyn: fox news alert, american troops in afghanistan are bracing themselves for violent reprisals after one of their own is said to have gone on a killing rampage shooting 16 afghan civilians. welcome to a brand new hour of "america live," i'm megyn kelly. the taliban is now threatening revenge on american soldiers after afghan villagers say a rogue u.s. soldier went on a door-to-door killing spree killing 16 afghan civilians. most of the victims women and children. the senseless murder spree comes just weeks after u.s. soldiers accidentally burned copies of the quran, the muslim holy book. that sparked days of violent protests killing scores of people including several american soldiers. in just the last hour, the white house took questions about what this means for our future in afghanistan.

>> this will not impact the timetable for withdrawal -- [inaudible] >> no, it will not, dan, because the strategy is focused on the object i haves -- objectives that i have laid out a couple of times today and, certainly, previous to today, and those objectives haven't changed. megyn: joining us now from the state department, the u.s. ambassador to afghanistan, ryan crocker. mr. crocker also served as ambassador to iraq and pakistan. he is the recipient of the presidential medal of freedom which is our highest civilian honor. ambassador, it's an honor to have you here, thank you so much for being with us. >> pleasure to be here, megyn. megyn: this is devastating news out of afghanistan. clearly, the u.s. military, the u.s. government and the american people are upset about what this one rogue soldier did, but it is adding to a growing sentiment in this country that we need to get out of there and get out soon. the latest numbers show that 60%

of the american people think the war was not worth its costs, and 54% of all americans want our troops out of afghanistan even if afghan army is not ready to carry on the fight. are they wrong? >> megyn, i think it's very important we maintain our commitment just as the president said a few minutes ago. the stakes are tremendously high here. 9/11 came to us out of afghanistan, and as we carry forward our campaign to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-qaeda, we've got to be sure that an environment never again exists where they can regroup, reorganize and plan other attacks on the homeland. so, again, we're moving as fast as we can to effect an orderly withdrawal, a drawdown of our troops while insuring that afghan national security forces are able to carry the load. and i think we're making substantial progress.

yesterday's event was horrific, but it was one soldier out of 100,000. in no way does he represent the ethics and the morality of the american serviceman and servicewoman. and i think afghans understand that. megyn: prior to 9/11 al-qaeda was provided a safe haven in afghanistan by the taliban. we went in and changed that situation dramatically. give our viewers -- many of whom are sick of this war and sick of seeing american blood and treasure spilled on the sands of afghanistan -- give them a feeling for what will happen if we do pull out of afghanistan early, earlier than the president has already scheduled us to pull out. >> well, first, megyn, i understand that people are tired of this war after a decade. you know, i'm tired too. i've been deployed to afghanistan, pakistan and iraq going on seven years now since

9/11, so believe me, i understand what feeling tired means. but these are the stakes. if we decide to, that we're tired of it, that we don't want to do it anymore, well, the taliban isn't that tired, and al-qaeda badly damaged would be able to regenerate if taliban took the country over again. and we would then have another pre-9/11 situation. megyn, i was in new york on 9/11 stuck in the traffic on the queens borrow bridge, and i watched those two towers come down. the reason i've been in this fight for seven years now is never again. we can never again run that risk. we can never again run that threat. we're just going to have to draw on our reserves of strategic patience and be sure we hand o over responsibilities in the coming few years to afghan national security forces that can carry the fight forward to

prevent a taliban resurgence and the inevitable return of al-qaeda. megyn: can you speak to hamid karzai's reaction to the latest events? i know you're in a difficult position, you're our ambassador to afghanistan. you've got to deal with this man. but i think a lot of americans were a little ticked off to hear his reaction to the act of one american soldier after all the good our american soldiers have done over in afghanistan saying, quote, this is an assassination, an intentional killing of innocent civilians and, quote, cannot be forgiven. a statement that is almost certain to incite more, not less violence in afghanistan. >> megyn, i'm not so sure. we have condemned, you know, these killings. they were horrible acts -- megyn: but cannot be forgiven, he says. >> well, we'll see. i mean, again, this is for him, for all afghans, for all americans a horrific moment. but at the same time we have seen senior afghan voices

calling for calm, noting that it was the act of a single soldier, not part of a, some barbaric policy. afghans understand these things. they've been at this along with us for a decade. and i'm, i'm not sure we're going to see that significant a reaction. again, i think afghan leaders, including the president, have gotten out in front of this. the ministry of defense issued a statement earlier today saying it was the act of a lone gunman. you know, afghans don't want to see a resurgence of violence such as occurred after the quran burning any more than we do, and we're working together to try and insure that doesn't happen. megyn: you say afghans understand this, that it's the act of one rogue soldier. is that true? because i hear from our viewers, and they were outraged to see the retaliation against our american soldiers in the wake of that accidental quran burning

and thought, these are the people we're helping? the afghan army in one instance shooting american soldiers in the wake of an accidental quran burning? what are we doing? have we won the hearts and minds of the afghan people? is it possible? be. >> megyn, i think it is. we have thousands of u.s. and allied soldiers embedded with afghan troops every single day. they're there now. these incidents are horrific, but they're also rare. and i'd also point out, again, when you're fighting an insurgency, it is very difficult to have a 100% assurance that the insurgents don't somehow creep through checks and wind up in an afghan army or police uniform. and in this connection i note that far more afghan troopers and policemen have died at the hands of taliban infiltrators in the uniforms of the police or

military than have american or allied soldiers. it's a problem for them, it's a problem for us. we've got to face it and overcome it together. megyn: yeah. 1900 american service members killed in the afghanistan, over 15,000 wounded since this war began, and there is a desire not to see anymore bloodshed, but also not to have those men and women to have died in vain. ambassador ryan crocker, thank you so much for coming on, sir. all the best to you. >> thank you, megyn. megyn: fox news alert now, new developments on a story breaking just moments ago. police are questioning two men in london accused of causing some sort of disturbance aboard a flight from las vegas. they were arrested as soon as the plane landed at heathrow airport, the men are believed to be israeli passport holders, and reports suggest some sort of angry remarks about iran may have triggered this. we will update you as soon as we learn more. well, we've also got breaking news on the white

house, the justice department blocking a texas law that requires folks to show a photo id before voting. why would they do that? the debate on it just three minutes away. plus, a courtroom drama becomes a real-life wisteria lane. the dirty laundry and scandals the stars of "desperate housewives" probably wish were fiction. you're not going to believe what they are testifying to in a california courtroom. that's in today's kelly's court. and the flight attendant nobody wants. crazy rant on the pa system about 9/11 and why the plane will crash. trace on what, apparently, led to this. >> oh, my god.

megyn: fox news alert for you now, new reaction to the justice department blocking a new texas voter id requirement over concerns by the doj that the photo id requirement would discriminate against hispanic

voters. gregg jarrett is live in our new york newsroom with more. >> almost 11% of hispanic voters in texas do not have a driver's license or state id and, thus, could not vote under its new voter id law, so the obama administration citing that data from the state intervened to block the law. now, supporters of this law say it's a minor inconvenience, it will eliminate voter fraud and impersonation, but democrats claim this is an attempt to disenfranchise minorities and the poor give canning republicans an edge in local elections. well, the department of justice under eric holder wrote this in issuing today's order. quote: according to the state's own data, the hispanic-registered voter is at least 46.5% and potentially 120% more likely than non-hispanic registered voters to lack this identification. but texas attorney general greg abbott, he beat eric holder to the courthouse asking a federal court to implement the law without delay. he said, quote: the u.s. supreme

court has already ruled that voter identification laws are constitutional, texas should be allowed the same authority as other states to protect the integrity of elections. and the chairman of the house judiciary committee said today that holder's actions are an abuse of executive authority because the texas voter id law is based on an indiana law which was upheld by the supreme court. it was back in 2009, 6-3 decision. john paul stevens wrote that one with. megyn? megyn: the most liberal member of the high court at the time. gregg, thank you. well, joining me now for more on this, julian epstein, you know who these guys are -- they were just with us. jay allen seculo as well. this is right in your wheelhouse, we thought we'd hold you over since we can't think of two guys we'd like to hear more on this. the supreme court upheld voter id laws in indiana, but now the doj has challenged those laws in

south carolina and, now, texas. jay, why, why -- no, let me start with julian. why is the doj doing this? >> let him defend, okay. >> yeah, okay, fine. [laughter] i think for two reasons. one is voter impersonation is a problem that just doesn't exist in this country. it's been studied in the kansas, ohio, all around the country. the advocates of voter identification laws have never put forward any evidence that voter impersonation occurs on any substantial scale whatsoever. section five of the voting rights act requires when the a state puts in place a law effecting voting rights, it has to be clear that it's not discriminatory. that law was passed overwhelm withingly with bipartisan support, and the data shows right now this would diso proportionately effect hispanics, many of them living in areas where dmvs are open very few hours a month. so the benefit is minimal because the problem of voter impersonation doesn't exist. the potential downside is you could have serious

discrimination. all department of justice is saying is show us this does not have a discriminatory effect. megyn: jay, in south carolina, if memory serves, they tried to make the obtaining of a voter id very easy. that's why a lot of people raise questions about why is the doj saying it's going to be so onerous to get ids? different story in texas where they say potential voters need to have two identification documents, nearly one-third of the counties in the state don't have offices where voters could obtain a driver's license, it sounds like the doj's saying it's going to be really hard for these folks in texas to get photo ids. >> of course, doj also went after south carolina, so they don't like any form of voter identification, and frankly, i just voted in super tuesday primaries, and i had to show a voter id. in my case, it was a driver's

license. here's a little known fact. you're actually allowed to vote under texas law if you do not have, in fact, the certificate, and you have up to six days to secure that certificate default. so there's even a remedy provision which i think should have cured any constitutional infirmities that department of justice had here. secondly, voter fraud has been an issue, but the reason it's not in most states is because voter identification is required. i've been voting since the 1970s, and since i've been voting, you've had to show some form of id in order to cast a ballot. for those people who don't have a driver's license, the state of texas provides the voter certificate absolutely free, and as i said, you get to vote even if you don't have it as long as you cure that defect in six days. megyn, for all this discussion about people can't get there to get the voter certificate, how do they get there to vote? somebody needs to ask that question. if it's that important for an american citizen -- which it is, we should all be voting -- you can get to the voter

certification provisions throughout the state of texas. an argument could be made that they should extend the hours, but that should not have been enough for the department of justice to stop this law, and any issues have received the objection of the holder department of justice. megyn: julian, there are those thinking i don't care about whether they have proven voter fraud in the past, i like the idea of an id. you need a photo id to get a beer -- for the viewers who feel that way, what is the argument that this is still wrong? >> well, i think the argument's a couple things. first of all, to just quickly push back on jay, voting places where you go to vote is different from where you go to get a dmv. you can vote someplace close to where you live. getting a driver's license is much different. the fact of the matter, megyn, is if you explain to people who think intuitively you should have some form of identification, for many people living in remote areas it is

difficult to get identification, one, two, you are not curing a problem that exists even in states that don't have voter id laws, there is no spike, no increase in voter fraud to follow on what jay pointed out. and, you know, three, last time we were on this show jay actually, i thought, made a suggestion that could bridge the differences. he spoke about fingerprinting. i think there are other mechanisms, the provision of a utility bill. there are other mechanisms that you can use to give people the reassurance that the ballot has integrity without resorting to measures that could have a discriminatory effect, and that could for many people living in remote areas create an enormous -- megyn: and i'll give the final question to you, jay. >> yeah. megyn: what can be done, because you can argue that this is political or not political, but let's assume it is political. that doesn't mean there isn't necessarily a valid point about disenfranchising some hispanic voters or old voters or low income voters who can't get the id. what can be done to help those people not be disenfranchised,

but also impose the photo id requirement? >> well, as julian pointed out, i did suggest simple fingerprints. when julian and i and when you, megyn, sat for the bar exam, you had to have fingerprints. and i think the same thing could be done on voter identification. but i need to point out that, you know, a lot of the states -- the few states that don't have voter id -- 34 states have it -- interestingly, they wouldn't know if they had fraud or not because they have no voter id. i think a thumbprint could do the job, others are talking about having the picture taken at the voting place and do some kind of reconciliation with records and computers, but i think states have a fundamental interest in making sure they know who's voting. megyn: i bet if they went with a fingerprint, you'd get a challenge from the aclu. all right, guys, i've got to run. thank you both so much. >> thanks. megyn: lots of folks getting jittery when their plane is about to take off, but you don't expect to hear this from the

crew. >> [inaudible] >> can you imagine? that frightening tirade and what may have sparked it right after this wreak. plus, leon panetta taking new heat for seeming to suggest that the u.s. needs some sort of international permission before taking military action. we'll show you who is now calling for him to resign. >> are you saying, and is the president taking the position he would not act, um, if it was in our interest to do so if u.n. security council did not agree? wake up!

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megyn: new fallout, now, from a scare onboard an american airlines plane while it still was on the tarmac. that's when a flight attendant took to the overhead.

passengers say -- listen. megyn: they say she started talking about 9/11, how she wouldn't be responsible if this plane crashes. her tirade even includes references to being bipolar. that's probably when they started to feel better. trace gallagher has more. t.g.? >> reporter: you know, pilots have very strict physical requirements, and flight attendants do not at all. the faa says flight attendants don't require any psychological testing even though many times they are put in very stressful identification ises. remember, the faa says the flight attendant is onboard first and foremost for your safety. as you said, the passengers were onboard this flight from dallas to chicago when the flight attendant took the overhead speaker, and she went off. as you said, she went on about 9/11 saying that she's not responsible for the plane crashing. listen to a little more of how high she was screaming.

yeah. the passengers all said that was very frightening. you can see they all whipped out their cell phones to dock ute it. that flight attendant acknowledged to many passengers that she was not under medication. we found more than a dozen recent examples of flight attendants having to jump into action including one who actually had to help a captain land the plane because the co-pilot got sick and another recently, remember, we did the story of the flight attendant who tackled the man who was in the aisleway saying allah is great? well, that's just one of many incidents. we should also point out that american airlines is in bankruptcy which may magnify the stress, but dr. ablow says one incident should not change an entire industry. listen. >> i don't think the faa needs to psychiatrically evaluate flight attendants because then we're going to get into evaluating teachers, police officers, doctors, anybody presumably entrusted with some

element of the public welfare would be psychiatrically evaluated. >> reporter: but at last check the flight attendant in question, megyn, is still being psychologically evaluated, not back on the job. megyn: unbelievable. i'd need a psychological evaluation until she got to the part about the bipolar. thank you, sir. [laughter] >> reporter: okay. megyn: to stay down, that is. well, breaking news in about three minutes on an infamous terror bust involving a man who had hoped to bomb the los angeles airport. wait until you see what a federal court you may know, the ninth circuit court of appeals, just said about this guy's jail sentence. plus, the cliffhanger many fans of "desperate housewives" are waiting for. not the finale, but what the jury will say in the lawsuit brought by nick let sheridan.

the dirty laundry and plot twists getting spilled in open court about who likes whom behind the scenes and what these women have been doing to each other. it's all in today's kelly's court. and secretary of defense leon panetta under fire again today, what he said about potential u.s. military action against syria and what we might have to do to authorize it that has some of his critics calling for him to step down. >> when secretary of defense leon pa panetta suggests that foreign, that international organizations supersede the congress, my view is that means that leon panetta should resign as secretary of defense. @=h how did we do it last time?

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megyn: fox news alert on a ruling from a federal appeals court with which you may be familiar, the ninth cut court of appeals. the judge there, the court -- the high court, i should say, it's the ninth circuit, a three-judge panel -- just overturned 22-year sentence for a convicted terrorist calling it too lenient. he was arrested in washington state in 1999 on his way to bomb lax. he was convicted of nine criminal counts. the government argued that sentencing guidelines called for 65 years to life. the 22-year-old sentence was twice imposed by a lower court judge. now the ninth circuit says this

man deserves a harsher penalty. >> i am told that the secretary of defense has suggested that international agreements override the congress -- >> no! >> if he believes that, he should resign tonight. [cheers and applause] megyn: republican presidential candidate newt gingrich not once, but twice in recent days calling on defense secretary leon panetta to step down, this after secretary panetta seemed to suggest last week that the u.s. needs to get some sort of international permission before we do anything militarily in syria. well, that led to a testy exchange last week between mr. panetta and senator jeff sessions. >> we spend our time worrying about the u.n., the arab league, nato and too little time, in my opinion, worrying about the elected representatives of the united states. now, as you go forward will you

consult with the united states congress, and do you think that you can act without congress to initiate a no-fly zone in syria? without congressional approval? >> you know, again, our goal would be to seek international permission, and we would, we would come to the congress and inform you and determine how best to approach this whether or not we would want to get permission from the congress -- >> i'm really baffled by the idea that somehow an international assembly provides a legal basis for the united states military to be deployed in combat. i don't believe it's close to being correct. they provide no legal authority. the only legal authority that's required to deploy the united states military is of the congress and the president and the law and the constitution. >> let me just for the record be clear again, senator, so there's

no misunderstanding. when it comes to the national defense of this country, the president of the united states has the authority under the constitution to act to defend this country, and we will. if it comes to an operation where we're trying to build a coalition of nations to work together to go in and operate as we did in libya or bosnia, for that matter afghanistan, we want to do it with permissions either by nato or by the international community. >> well, i'm troubled by that. i think that, um, it does weaken the ability of the united states to lead. if we believe something ought to be done, i'd be thinking we would be going more aggressively to nato and other allies seeking every ally that we can get, but i do think, ultimately, you need the legal authority from the united states of america, not from any other extraterritorial group that might assemble. megyn: joining me now, brad blakeman, former deputy

assistant to president bush, bernard whitman, former pollster for bill clinton, and joe she reasons kroneny, member of the international security advisory board and author of "bomb scare: the history and future of nuclear weapons." gentlemen, thank you all for being here. >> thank you. megyn: so the fallout continues over secretary panetta's remarks. the pentagon has since come out and said even though he used the word permission repeatedly, do you really mean permission x he stuck to that word, the pentagon came out later and said, well, what he really meant was we'd like to have some sort of international mandate before we went into a place like syria, you know, on a military mission. brad, do you buy it, or do you believe newt gingrich is right that the defense secretary has a real problem here and even his resignation may be in order? >> i think short of the resignation, i think the speaker is right. i think it's a skewed policy when this president abdicates not only his own authority to protect america, but then tells congress they're irrelevant and

that an international body will determine how we act in our best interests. look, the problem is not with secretary panetta, it's with the president of the united states, and i think that's what this election is all about. there's a clear distinction between where republicans would lead this country and how we would lead it and this president in abdicating presidential authority, disregarding congress time and time again and, basically, the president is pandering to those who absolutely have no authority to act in america's interests. megyn: bernard, does this play right into a theirtive that emerged about president obama in the wake of what we saw in libya where he did not seek permission from the u.s. congress, but said he had an international mandate and tried to justify the concerns of law make ors on the left and the right about why he didn't go to the u.s. congress by saying, you know, the international guys said i could do it? >> i don't believe it does at all and, apparently, no one has told newt gingrich his 15 minutes are up. leon panetta simply was stating the obvious which is in an

operation like this we have seen time and again, libya, bosnia, afghanistan, that seeking broad international support particularly there the arab nations is key to winning these efforts. you have a president here that helped lead the way to oust moammar gadhafi, you have a president who captured and killed osama bin laden. he does not need the authority of congress in order to protect the national interests of the united states. if necessary, he will go to congress, and he will seek to get permission from congress for an extended operation, but these short-term maneuvers, frankly, jeff sessions has no experience leading international coalitions -- megyn: but i think, bernard, i think a lot of americans would agree in certain circumstances the president of the united states does not need to go to congress at least immediately, but the controversial part of panetta's remarks, and i'll take this to you, joe, was the part of that he does have to go to some international body and get permission from them, and the defense secretary seemed to be doubling down on that a couple

of times. >> you're right, megyn. by the way, i serve on an international advisory board for the secretary of state, but my views are my own, and i don't represent the u.s. government in any way, so i can be very frank. the secretary of defense made a mistake. he used the wrong word. i bet he doesn't use that word again. megyn: permission. >> using that word, "permission." that isn't what he meant and, clearly, that's not the policy of the united states. this secretary of defense didn't ask anybody's permission before they sent trouped in to kill bin laden. clearly, the policy of the united states is guided by what's in the u.s.' best interests. what panetta was trying to say is that when we want, when we engage in a war like we might engage in with syria, we want to build an international coalition, we want help doing it. i agree with senator sessions, by the way, in his concern that he was voicing that the department of defense and the president have not come to congress to ask for permission

to conduct these combat operations like they should have in libya, like they should be doing if we're going to conduct operations in syria. only the congress has the power to declare war, not the president. megyn: brad s that so controversial? if what the secretary of defense meant to say is we are better off getting an international coalition and getting the blessing of nato or the u.n. or some international body before we go into syria and start bombing or whatever we're considering doing, arming folks militarily, we're better off as americans especially in the muslim world than we are going it alone? >> no, there's nothing wrong with consultation, but there's a big difference between consulting with allies and getting their permission. clearly, the secretary knew exactly what he was saying, and when senator sessions went back at him and asked him to explain himself, as you pointed out, he doubled down in telling the senator, no, he's wrong. that, actually, our policy in the obama administration is to seek their permission. that is not a good strategy, it's not right, it's not lawful, and we haven't had very good

luck going with international consensus before seeking congressional approval. let me say another thing. there's more consultation with our allies and in the international community than there is with congress. you saw that. you saw that play out at the, at the session before the senate, and that's wrong as well. megyn: bernard, i want to just touch on the political nature of this. newt gingrich has now called, by our count, for the resignation or firing of ben bernanke, tim geithner, ken salazar, eric holder, steven chu, ambassador howard gutman and now the defense secretary. do you think that this is political? be. [laughter] >> we have to view this not through a foreign policy lens or a military lens but, quite frankly, megyn, you're right, through a political lens. newt gingrich went from would-be king to pauper once again. in his effort to revive a campaign that has stalled and where he is in the basement with ron paul, his strategy seems to have been abandon attacking mitt

romney and let rick santorum tear down the moderate, and instead issue weekly calls for the resignations of various cabinet members. i think he might want to rethink that strategy. megyn: i'm going to give you the final word, joe, back to the heart of our debate which is, you know, do you think -- should americans be leaving this debate with the understanding that the policy of the united states is to get permission from some international body before we do what we think is right in the world? >> watch what we do, not what a secretary of defense may say in a mistaken testimony. clearly, what we're doing here is leading the world, leading coalitions of countries in libya, in iraq, in afghanistan, in the middle east, around the world. and when we go to places like the united nations, we're seeking their support, we're not seeking their permission. this is american leadership in the action, not subverting u.s. national security to some international body. megyn: all right, guys. thank you all so much,

gentlemen, for being here. we appreciate it. from the e-mails we've gotten even though bernard doesn't like newt gingrich, a lot of our viewers are agreeing with his calls for at least some of those gentlemen to resign. all right, guys, thank you. coming up, "desperate housewives," the hit show about the secrets of the women of wisteria lane. but now real-life dirty laundry airing inside a california courtroom. it's all courtesy of the former co-star, nicolette sheridan. the scandals the stars did not want you to know about next in kelly's court. ♪ okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle -- 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time.

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marc cherry of hitting her and then writing her character off of this popular show because she complained about the alleged assault. the jury hearing about all that, plus the scandals that rocked the cast and crew behind the scenes, and wait until you hear what they were. joining me now, kimberly guilfoyle, a former prosecutor, and david woll is a defense attorney. all right, david, so here's the deal. she was fired in september of 2008. she says she was struck by marc cherry -- no, no. that's when -- >> fire inside december of '08. megyn: she got hit by the guy in september. a couple months later, they fire her. his defense, kimberly, is he made the decision to fire her months earlier in may of 2008. >> right. megyn: so he struck her after he decided to fire her, so his firing had nothing to do with the fact this he struck her or that she complained about it, and in trying prove his case,

he's saying she was like a diva like no other, and he's got the other actresses who back him up. >> that is true, by the way. the other actresses do support the fact she was fighting from the beginning with terry hatcher who was originally cast as a series regular, then you also had testimony regarding eva longoria, felicity huffman saying they, in fact, were also so relieved when she was removed from the set because she felt she was a disruptive force, she had diva-like behavior when there was an argument over whether a scene should play a certain song, cherry cut it because he didn't want to pay the royalties, she got very upset, demanded infrastructures and apologies -- flowers and apologies. the tabloids were filled with problems about the set and her behavior. megyn, they kill everybody on that show. megyn: that's what marc cherry is saying, with all due respect,

we kill everybody off, and we killed her character off, we had a secret meeting -- mark cherry and two other former abc executives -- we approved killing off edie in may of 2008. they wanted to generate buzz for the show, cut costs, and we had an increasing concern about her unprofessional behavior. >> nown, none of which, megyn, by the way, is documented anywhere. her case is, basically, in september she's assaulted. it's a battery -- megyn: and why did he do that? >> she complains about it. well, he was trying to encourage her to engage in a certain scene, to show her how to hit her male counterpart, something like that. but it was an offensive touching. she then complains and says in december -- and this is true -- she was fired. this meeting going back to may, this executive meeting that cherry talks about, it doesn't make sense. you both have highly-rated, great shows, the fox news executives think about it and say why would we ever mess with

them? why would they take her off a show that had extraordinary ratings as of may 2008? it doesn't fly, megyn. it just does not make any sense, and that destroys the credibility of the comments in that meeting. megyn: kimberly, when you have a female lead in a very important show that gets great ratings, you should not kill her character off, right? >> no. [laughter] wrong. megyn: what? >> no, because everybody -- megyn: and, kimberly was never seen again on "the five." [laughter] >> yeah, that could happen. megyn: go with me, sister. >> look, she was one of the hosts of the show, one of the stars of the show, so here's the deal. she's somebody who is very popular and, in fact, when they killed her off, it was one of the highest-rated shows because they kind of kill canned her three ways until she ultimately died by electrocoalition. she was strangled, she survived. she was in a car accident, she survived, and then she steps out of the car, electrocuted -- megyn: right after the break

we're going to continue the debate was they just also revealed in the courtroom ohh somebody else is about to die on that program. [ speaking in japanese ] yeah, do you have anything for a headache... like excedrin, ohhh, bayer aspirin... ohh, no no no. i'm not having a heart attack, it's my head. no, bayer advanced aspirin, this is made for pain. [ male announcer ] bayer advanced aspirin has microparticles, enters the bloodstream fast, and safely rushes extra strength relief to the sight of your tough pain. feel better? yeah...thanks for the tip! [ male announcer ] for fast powerful pain relief, use bayer advanced aspirin. 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.

megyn: all right, so we'll get to the spoiler in a minute, so if you don't want to hear it, turn down the sound. they had a witness who took the stand to talk about his striking of her, marc cherry, that witness said it was, basically, a tap to the side of the head. is she blowing this up into more than it is to collect a paycheck for getting fired? >> yes, she is. her agent testified he hasn't been able to get her work since. it's a risky business in hollywood, so why should they pay out? in fact, he did apologize to her saying, sorry, i didn't mean anything by it. she hugged him in her trailer, everything was all good. next day she's like, oh, no, i want another apology and some flowers, maybe some long-stemmed

roses. that's not going to work, sister. you know, this is a tough business. three executives, by the way, testified may 2008 they had a secret meeting to fire her. megyn: before she got hit. >> megyn, that was the major blowup, and it's no doubt this was in retaliation for that blowup that embarrassed marc cherry, the creator of the show. so this has a lot more credibility than saying in may of 2008 that we decided in the heat of the most popular show -- megyn: because, david -- >> in prime time, why would they do that? megyn: the fact that two former writers testified that the decision was not made until december 2008, so after she got hit. so, wait, if you don't want to hear the spoiler for "desperate housewives," turn down the sound. it turns out somebody testified on the stand that a major character's about to get killed off. who is it? >> james denton, the hottie plumber guy. >> how convenient, to hill kim off now to prove to the ladies

and gentlemen of the jury, guess what? we fire people all the time. megyn: it's not just that character because they were asked, the executive producer was on the stand, and they asked him have you thought about of the other stars? and he said, do i have to answer that? eva longoria, felicity huffman are safe, but teri hatcher under discussion. >> not teri! >> six million bucks. megyn: guys, thank you. i told you it was going to be a spoiler. rising price of gas, will it have an impact on the president's approval rating? a portion of voters already affected by the price hikes.deve how will this effect theow n upcoming elections? that's coming up. r energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife.

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>>megyn: there was a spoiler that killed our spoiler. that character was killedff last night. last night. but you didn't know that about teri, did you? we hope it wasn't