joining us with reaction is kathleen flynn who's son died in the bombing. kathleen, first of all, it must be heart wrenching to hear this news. >> it's absolutely unbelievable. i mean, we're having a hard time facing this reality. it does not seem possible that any country or any scottish minister would even consider releasing a murder ter of 270 people. i mean, he was accused, he was convicted. he had two to three appeals. i mean, and all of a sudden on i guess compassionate grounds or i'm not sure which it is, compassionate grounds or is it a prisoner exchange? i don't think there are any british prisoners in libya. however, the point is that this is such a miscarriage of justice. it's just immoral. it's, you know, incredibly upsetting to all the families who lost loved ones on that flight. >> it does seem like it's humanitarian grounds at least what's what the scottish officials are suggesting because ma gri had i is essentially dying of prostate cancer ta they need to remove him in order to treat him. does that make any difference. >> sir, with all due r

kathleen flynn's son j.p.lying home for the holidays when flight 103 exploded over lockerbie. >> you don't allow someone who has murdered, you know, premeditated murder of 270 innocent people and let them walk away from their prison term. sorry, it's just not -- it's just not just, and it's not fair. >> reporter: u.s. officials agreed. >> we believe that he should spend the rest of his time in jail. >> reporter: but in britain, a dying prisoner can qualify for compassionate release. last week, the infamous great train robber ronnie biggs was freed, aged 80 and suffering from pneumonia. and some british relatives of the lockerbie dead believe megrahi should go free. they don't believe he was guilty in the first place. >> i think it would be inhumane, indeed, downright cruel, to keep the man in prison to die, away from his family and his country. >> reporter: scottish authorities believe megrahi has just months to live. the question, will he spend those last few months a free man or a prisoner? nick watt, abc ne

kathleen flynn's son j.p. was flying home for the holidays when flight 103 exploded over lockerbie. >> you don't allow someone who has murdered, you know, premeditated murder, of 270 innocent people and let them walk away from their prison term. sorry, it's just not just, and it's not fair. >> reporter: today, u.s. officials agreed. >> we believe that he should spend the rest of his time in jail. >> reporter: but in britain, a dying prisoner can qualify for compassionate release. last week, the infamous great train robber ronnie biggs was freed, aged 80 and suffering from pneumonia. and some british relatives of the lockerbie dead believe megrahi should go free. they don't believe he was guilty in the first place. >> i think it would be inhumane. indeed, downright cruel, to keep the man in prison to die, away from his family and his country. >> reporter: scottish authorities believe megrahi has just months to live. the question tonight, will he spend those last few months a free man or a prisoner? nick watt, a

jack and kathleen flynn lost their 21-year-old son, john patrick in the bombing. >> the word compassion should never be used in the same sentence with mr. megrahi. >> bert aberman lost his brother tom. scotland's justice secretary says he knows the bereaved will never forget let alone forgive. but scottish law allows terminally ill prisoners to be shown compassion and that's what he did with megrahi. >> no compassion was shown by him to them. but that alone is not the reason for us to deny compassion to him. >> reporter: the justice secretarysulted doctors. who said megrahi has less than three months to live. >> reporter: after boarding his flight home, megrahi who always maintained he is innocent and was appealing his conviction issued a statement. to those victims relatives who can bear to here me say this -- >> reporter: there are those who support megrahi's release, jim swire lost his daughter flora on the flight. >> i think there should always be a place in any nation's behavior for compassion. >> reporter: innocent dying man or mass murderer set free, megrahi's release leaves many

also with us, kathleen flynn. her son died in the attack some 20 years ago. een, this has to be a nightmare for you, to see this man free today. >> well, actually, it's more than that. it's also that we feel that scotland has betrayed us. you know, this incredible compassionate release has just absolutely thrown us, you know, for a loop. we just cannot believe it. and we're very saddened by it and angry, frankly. kathleen, did you see this coming? >> absolutely not. in a million years i did not see this. my husband and i went to the entire trial, the original trial in camp zeist in the netherlands. we waent to all of the appeals in scottland, the last one in edinburgh just this past year. so we have attended -- we understood all of the legal issues. we watched the court for every single minute it was in session. and you know, we saw the evidence unfold. clearly this man was guilty. clearly. and to have one man in scotland, mccaskill, you know, minister mccass kyl, who is the minister of justice? i guess they call him. and this man has the right to issue a comp

we'll be joined by jack and kathleen flynn, whose son was aboard that flight. of things here, but the possibility that this is a politically motivated decision to get access to energy resources in libya, that this is either an act of compassion for a terrorist for reasons we are -- hard to understand for the reasons you just said or it's an act of compassion for a terrorist for reasons that are understandable because it is a trade for energy. i say understandable in the sense that there is a trade here where it's a person for energy, both -- i don't know which one's more appalling. >> but, again, the judge is pointing out that scottish law requires that if inmates have terminal illnesses and they apply for compassionate release, that the judge considers this. the fact of the matter is he is a terrorist. >> considers this and does this are different things. >> it is -- it is true. it's appalling that someone who could be responsible for the deaths of so many people could now -- i mean, here you have moammar gadhafi sending his son to accompany him -- >> and a pr

kathleen flynn, jack flynn. >>> chris jansing with us. what else is going on? >> a lot's going on today, dylan. president obama taking the day off from the health care debate but fellow lawmakers are not. another full slate of town hall meetings is on tap for today after two dozen were held around the country wednesday. still plenty of outrage being vented, a lot of it from seniors. nearly all of it aimed at democratic lawmakers like maryland senator ben carden. zbla say it with me. $99 trillion that you did and your cohorts up there on capitol hill, how are you going to look at my children? >> we'll take a closer look at the generational divide in this debate in a couple of minutes. what's in this plan for seniors? could they get the short end of the stick? that's coming up. >>> some break economic numbers to share. first the nation's retailers, disappointing report for july. retail sales fell .1%, almost 1% lower than expected. one bright spot, car sales posted a 2.4% jump with some help from that cash for clunkers program. we're also getting a fresh snapshot

. >> reporter: kathleen flynn lost her son as the plane blew up just before christmas, 1988. the suitcase bomb killed everyone on board, including 189 americans. >> reporter: the bombing remains britain's worst-ever terrorist attack. but many british relatives believe the libyan convict is innocent. and they are happy to hear he may be set free. >> it's a very unfortunate position for me to be in, to make life even harder for those relatives in the united states. and i don't like having to do that. but i am determined to get to the truth. >> reporter: he and others believe there was never enough evidence to convict mcgrahi, who insists he is innocent. the justice will make the final call next week. >> his conviction is currently under a second appeal, after a review by the scottish case review commission in 2007. >>> a public wake is under way at this hour for eunice kennedy shriver. services are being held at the white and gray clap board church where shriver regularly attended services. thousands are expected to attend the public wake. the kennedys and shriver's family atte

. >> reporter: kathleen flynn's son was flying home for the holidays on pan am 103. >> you don't allowsomeone who has murdered... you know, pre- meditated murder of 270 innocent people and let them walk away. >> reporter: stephanie bernstein's husband died, too. >> the scottish people and the british people ought to be ashamed of themselves for allowing this to happen. why in god's name should we release the person found... the only person found guilty by a legitimate scottish court of the largest mass murder in british history? >> reporter: but some family members supported the release. jim swire lost his daughter. >> it is the right result, that it's compassionate, not prisoner transfer. this has been... the case of lockerbie has been laced with politics from beginning to end, and i think there should always be a place in any nation's behavior for some compassion. >> reporter: president obama reacted this afternoon on a radio program that was also broadcast on cable television. >> we have been in contact with the scottish government indicating that we objected to this, and we thought

kathleen flynn's son j.p. was flying home for the holidays when flight 103 exploded over lockerbie. >> you don't allow someone who has murdered, you know, premedicated murder of 270 innocent people and let them walk away from their prison term. sorry. it's just not -- it's just not just and it's not fair. >> reporter: the u.s. officials agreed. >> we believe that he should spend the rest of his time i jail. >> reporter: but in britain a dying prisoner can qualify for a compassionate release. last week the infamous great train robber ronnie bigs was freed age 80 and suffering from pneumonia. and some british relatives of the lockerbie dead believe he should go free. they don't believe he was guilty in the first place. >> i think it would be inhumane, indeed downright cruel, to keep the man in prison to die away from his family and his country. >> reporter: scottish authorities believe he has just months to live. the question is whether he spend those last few months a free man or a prisoner? nick watt, abc news

kathleen flynn whose son wasb killed in the bombing spoke to radgon about this. >> i kept thinking abouthe fact that on that plane is megrahi, the man who bombed our plane over lockerbie, scotland. and i'm thinking how ironic that i'm sitting here watching him take off in a plane and he murdered all these innocent people. >> you know, this guy, i haven't done the math, but i think this guy probably only stayed in jail a couple months for every person he murdered. it really is stunning to me and it's stunning to me that scotland would do this to an ally. >> what is the message that it sends? i mean, richard, you actually had an argument, maybe not an argument, but another side to this. >> it's not an argument, it's an explanation that they would have said that this guy in and of himself didn't make the decisions and he wasn't pulling the string and low-level operative. again, to me, this just shows to me the gap between where we are as a society and fighting terrorism and where some other governments and countries are. i think there is a big gap. >> all right. the government's cash for cl

abdel baset mohmed al megrahi -- >> jack and kathleen flynn couldn't believe what they were watching. and disgust on their faces as scotland announced the release of the terrorist who killed their son, 21-year-old j.p. >> terminally ill with prostate cancer was released on compassionate grounds and allowed to return to libya to die. >> i think it's totally, totally wrong. no matter if he only has three months to live or even a month to live, okay? he should not be released because he killed these people deliberately. >> to take a man who has done this heinous crime and let him go back home to his country, to a hero's welcome, and whether he has two weeks, three months or 20 years to live is irrelevant. >> the flynns were part of a group of american families that spoke by video conference with the scottish minister who was deciding whether to free al megrahi. they believe prior judicial and government rulings meant there was no way the prisoner was ever going to see the light of day. >> out of the blue comes this? makes no sense to me. it's very discouraging, and it's very immoral, rea

gretchen: jack and kathleen flynn. thank you. brian: moving straight ahead now.eplacing congress. 57% of americans say just do it like nike would say. what does the former white house press secretary dana perino think? she is joining us in three minutes. then? gretchen: incredible story of survival. three boaters eight bubble gethsemane gum to stay alive for a week lost at sea. those men tell their unbelievable story next hour. luke: moving my mind and my hands at world record speed. i'm luke myers. if you want to be incredible, eat incredible. announcer: eggs. incredible energy for body and mind. (guitar music) introducing listerine total care. everything you need... to strengthen teeth, help prevent cavities, and kill germs. introducing 6 in 1 listerine total care. the most complete mouthwash. so now we've turned her toffee into a business. my goal was to take an idea and make it happen. i'm janet long and i formed my toffee company through legalzoom. i never really thought i would make money doing what i love. robert shapiro: we created legalzoom to help peopl

flynn: i relive the crash. i think about it every day. i have nightmare's about it every night. and i live my life without my daughter because of it. >> kathleen rice: one of the compelling things about this case is that it really ripped the mask off drunk driving. >> simon: kathleen rice is the district attorney who prosecuted the case. >> rice: as a career prosecutor, i know that tough penalties for drunk driving save lives... >> simon: getting tough on drunk drivers has been the centerpiece of her platform since she was elected in 2005; this case showed why. >> rice: a seven-year-old girl is beheaded. the driver of the car is crushed to death. i think too many people think about drunk driving crashes-- or "accidents," as people like to call them-- as, you know, driving off the road or rolling through a red light. these crimes are incredibly violent. >> simon: katie flynn's funeral attracted more than a thousand people. her death, along with that of stanley rabbinowitz, became& rallying points for the campaign to crack down on drunk driving. martin heidgen was arrested and charged, not with manslaughter, meaning accidental killing, as is cus