sam lahood, the son of transportation secretary ray lahood, is banned from leaving the country and nowface up to five years in prison. peter doocy has the story for us from washington. >> sam lahood says it's kind of scary to be facing charges in egypt working for an unregistered nongovernmental organization and the transportation secretary's son now says that he might be stuck in egypt for a long time. >> if it does go to trial and the trial could last up to one year in a case that's as wide ranged as this one is, but the penalty for that is six months to five years in jail. so these are very serious charges. >> republican congressman frank wolp has been calling for the u.s. to halt aid to egypt because he says they are not laying the ground work for a freer society which congress said they had to do in their most recent appropriations bill. wolf says he's recent actions by the egyptian government are a clear violation of the conditions that congress laid out and as such, should have a direct bearing on aid to egypt until the situation is rectified. further, if similar assaults on rel

among the trapped americans is sam lahood, the son of transportation secretary ray lahood.op this comment from secretary lahood this afternoon. >> he is safe. thank god. >> last week fox news obtained an e-mail from one of the americans who asked to remain anonymous. it nexted the -- mentioned the possibility of the move to the embassy, this is the nuclear option. doing this would raise this to fall blown crisis if it isn't already, and the united states has threatened to caught off egypt from more than a bill dollars in annual aid. katherine, this move to the embassy, when they called it the nuclear option, a lot of heads up and around here. this is a little disturbing. >> it's highly unusual. a briefing at the state department, they said the americans are not in danger but are being persecuted by egyptian authorities because they work for groups called ngos that promote democrats good skillful -- >> we're not where we want to be in terms of resolving this situation and the conversations are continuing. >> what is key here is the u.s. embassy in cairo is sovereign territor

sam lahood's group was raided by authorities last month and u.s.ay the action raises questions about egypt's transition to democracy after hosni mubarak's ouster. >> we are greatly concerned that organizations like iri and freedom house which have long worked in this country and around the world ought to be able to operate as they do in many place says in the world. reporter: just yesterday egyptians celebrated the first anniversary of the uprising, the toppling of the mubarak regime. in this e-mail to fox news sam lahood confirms his computer was confiscated and given to egyptian authorities to be downloaded. lahood also added he has no idea when he'll be allowed to leave with the other americans. >>> we are continuing to follow breaking news in the district, a teenager stabbed several times near the kennedy center, the latest details. >>> also a body found in a well in maryland, is it connected to a high profile missing persons case? >>> also ahead. reporter: there are a lot of people that get angry at pepco. these folks are mad enough to actuall

lahood said charges in the trial if it came to that could last a year. >> bret: thank you.ivist in syria say government violence against dissenters is spiking. correspondent reena ninan tells us there are also issues of foreign involvement. >> reporter: they were greeted like war heroes, although the battle isn't close to being over. this is a syrian 3 army, a group of activists looking to overthrow syria's president bashar assad. of them have even defected from the army. >> today the group released a video showing what it claims are members of the iran revolutionary guard, captured at home. to aid president assad's crackdown on prodemocracy protesters. the men are speaking farsy. the i.d. and passports were displayed. iran contends they were just engineers working on a power plant in syria. also, protesters say dozen of people including children were killed in the past two days. protesters call a terrifying massacre. >> residential neighborhoods were mortared and hit with machine gun fire. the city has faced some of the most severe fighting in the ten-month uprising. bodie

sam lahood is son of ray lahood and he's not allowed to leave the country and may face up to five years in prison. peter doocy is live in washington following this story. tell us, sam lahood targeted because he's the son of a cabinet secretary? does he think that's the reason? >> he says he has no reason to think that but he is the transportation secretary's son and he says he might be stuck in egypt for a long, long time. >> if it does go to trial and a trial could last up to one year in a case that's as wide ranging as this one, but the penalty is six months to five years in jail so these are serious charges. >> lahood says at this point he doesn't think there's a physical threat because cairo is a safe city but his family is concerned for his safety and everyone else that works for has organization, the international republican institute. >> that ngo works toward democracy, we give a lot of money to egypt to see that come to fruition. will we pull back? >> congress specifically laid out in the most recent bill that egypt needs to make clear they're moving toward making their people f

cabinet member held against his will in egypt and sam lahood, son of transportation secretary ray lahood is not the only american not allowed to leave that country tonight. fresh concerns that their plight could get a whole lot worse. >>> and turning out for our heros whose service has ended in iraq. our country's first big welcome home parade for the servicemen and women who put their lives on the line for us. this is not the only place grateful americans are paying tribute to those in uniform. there is more to the story. stay close. [ jody ] four course feast. man it's great. the guests love it. [ male aouncer ] red lobster's ur course seafood feast is back. get soup, salad, cheddar bay biscuits, dessert and choose one of 7 entrees. four courses for only $15. offer ends soon. i'm jody gonzalez, ed lobster manager and i sea food differently. i touched the ball before it went out, coach. come on, alex, the ref did not call that! i touched, it's their ball. team! alex. alex, good call. the thinnest 4g lte smartphone. all the power and strength of droid, now in colors. built with a scratch

in e-mail exchange with fox lahood said there was no explanation.hour, a woman from the immigration department emerged with my passport and told me i was denied exit from egypt. i asked her why and he is told me i did not know. i asked what i needed to do to fix the issue and he is said he is did not no. >> this suggests they may give arrest warrants for those on the list. >> file were confiscated, computer records were confiscated and staff were called in for questioning which obviously sends a chilling effect. >> in a separate e-mail, one of the americans who asked not to be identified told fox they have been offered refuge at the u.s. ambassador's residence if it's not resolved be i friday. >> bret: thank you. >> you're welcome. >> bret: pentagon officials today announce specifics of the proposal to cut a half central from pentagon budget in the next decade. jennifer griffin looks at part of the plan. >> at the pentagon, winners and losers. no branch of the armed services went untouched as the defense chief announced $259 billion in cuts over the

there is no word yet if sam lahood who is the southern of transportation secretary ray lahood is amongm. moments ago fox spoke with ray lahood. catherine herridge is live in washington with an update. >> reporter: confirmation the u.s. embassy in cairo has taken the highly unusual step of offering these americans shelter because there has been no progress on lifting this no exit list. >> we do not feel they are in physical danger at the moment. that's a different matter than whether they are being persecuted in the egyptian judicial system. we have confirmed that we have not been able to resolve this situation. megyn: the defense secretary urged them to lift the no exit stlis which includes the son of transportation secretary ray lahood. what's key here is that theo -- the u.s. embassy limits the egyptian authority to arrest americans at that site. weep believe sam lahood is among this group. we heard from ray lahood as he left an event in new york city. >> he's safe, thank god. >> reporter: we were told the egyptian delegation in washington will be told in the strongest terms that thi

list but lahood heads the institute of egypt raided in september. sam lahood worked as press rep for republican in arizona john mccain saying, quote, i deeply regret that this crisis has escalated to the point that it now endangers the lives of american citizens and could setback the long-standing partnership between the united states and egypt. is the right in a panic over a potential newt gingrich nomination? it's a big question a lot of people are asking. and one of politico's top stories this morning is on an onslaught of conservative criticism against the former house speaker. it reads, it's as if the conservative media over the past 24 hours has decided gingrich is for real and they need to come clean about the man they know before it's too late. but is this enough for the right to finally unite behind mitt romney? joining me this morning to talk about m snrks bc crann, i'll st with you and politico and let's talk about that. ann coulter, tom delay, among gingrich's critic here's. and kouis the right starting to take newt gingrich more serious

>>jonathan: the transportation secretary lahood, sam lahood 's father was at the auto show in washington and asked about his son's situation. here is his reaction. >> i'm very gratified by all the work going on by the administration and our ambassador in egypt and i appreciate the work they are doing on that. >> everybody seemed to be choosing their words very carefully here. obviously there is great concern. >>shepard: is there a sense for what egypt might be trying to achieve? >>jonathan: remember what they are trying to do, many including the i.r.i. are promoting democracy teaching people in egypt who have had no democratic tradition for the last four decades, how democracy works. and what a lot of middle east experts think is happening now is that the military, the egyptian military, the rueing military are showing their real view on the promotion of democrat accuracy in egypt. >> this regime is sending a message to washington and europe, sending a no more revolt, no more democracy in egypt we are 9 regime and we will head association with each other so remove the i.r.i. from our soi

included in the list of those detained is sam lahood, he's the son of transportation secretary ray lahoodief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge is live in washington with much more on this. >> reporter: thank you, megyn good afternoon. a short time ago a spokesman for iri told me that they have no new evidence or information to suggest this no exit list will be lifted and the matter resolved quickly. this issue is being worked at the highest levels of the administration. the president, the secretary of state, and a top's human rights officer telling reporters that congress is likely to withhold aid from egypt if there is no democratic transition in that country. as you mentioned sam lahood is the local director for the washington-based international republican institute a group that promotes democracy. iri was one of 17 organizations raided and investigated by egyptian authorities last month. >> we have been attempting since the 29th to try and regain access to our offices, to have the intimidation and harassment of our staff end and those things just haven't happened. thus far

take a look at this image of sam lahood on left of your screen sitting next to his father, ray lahood of transportation. now, sam lahood, would fur a republican-linked group that promotes democracy in foreign countries. just this past saturday he tried to fly out of the cairo airport only to learn that he's on egypt's no exit list and the state department says several other u.s. citizens are now on that list, as well. i want to bring in foreign affairs correspondent jill dougherty. you actually got sam on the phone just a short time ago. how is he doing? >> yeah, well we got him on the phone when he went to the airport, he tried to get out. they looked at his passport and essentially sent him back to his apartment in cairo where he is right now. we went over to iri headquarters. and talked to him by phone and here's what he said. >> sam, do you feel safe where you are at this point? >> yeah, i feel safe physically. you know, obviously, the fact that the investigative judge chose to prevent some of us from traveling is something that our lawyer tells us indicates that you know, this in

sam lahood is the son of our transportation secretary ray louisian lahood.ld when he went to leave the country in cairo that he could not leave the country. catherine herridge joins me live in washington. catherine, obviously this is a tense situation, and it may put -- leave the u.s. to put some financial pressure, we're understanding on egypt as well. >> reporter: that's right, good morning. this is being worked at the high he levels of the administration, the president obama, and secretary of state and her top human rights officer who is in kai re. it is the prerogative of congress that aid in excess of $1.2 billion annually will be linked to the democratic transition in that country. right now there are six americans being blocked from leaving egypt. >> i'm very gratified by all the work that is going on by the administration and our ambassador in egypt, and so i appreciate the work they are doing on that. >> reporter: sam lahood is a local director for a group called the international republican institute or iri, this is a group that promotes tkepl krae

one of those americans include sam lahood, the son of transportation secretary ray lahood.and the five other americans are part of the international republican institute, or iri. it is a washington based group focused on building democracies overseas. egypt's ruling military is cracking down on the iri and other similar groups. >> my mindset has changed since the travel ban was put in place where we're kind of expecting the worst because there hasn't been a lot of movement. there's 300 organizations reportedly involved in this investigation. this is much bigger than just iri or myself. >> sam lahood says he is safe now and not allowed to leave the one trip but they still have their passports and have not been arrested. >>> immigration remains a hot topic as republican presidential candidates look towards tuesday's florida primary. the two leading candidates, mitt romney 3 newt gingrich, are staying focused on the sunshine state voters this weekend. president obama is also on the road after his state of the union speech. >> reporter: president obama wrapped up a three-day to

sam lahood who is the son of transportation secretary ray lahood is on a list of people barred from leavingpt. he is a member of of an advocacy group. receive centanni is live in washington with more. >> reporter: at least four americans have been barred from leaving egypt, including the son of transportation secretary ray lahood. sam lahood is the head of the national republican institute. he's seen here at his father's swearing in ceremony. he tried to leave egypt and was stopped by authorities. their offices were raided last month by egyptian authorities, computers and other files confiscated, staff members questioned. the state department is working to get the rights of these workers restored. >> we are urging the government of egypt to lift the restrictions immediately and allow folks to come home as soon as possible and we are hopeful this issue will be resolved. >> reporter: it marks the one-year anniversary of the uprising that ousted hosni mubarak. the future of u.s. aid to egypt hangs in the balance, too. the ranking member of the senate armed services committee john mccain it out

lahood? you, or anyone at general motors, talked to mr. lahood about this issue? >> no, sir. >> now i yield to the chairman of the full committee, mr. issa. >> thank you mr. chairman, welcome. i'll be brief. the question here is not about whether general motors is making good cars. whether or not general motors is coming back. i think those are undeniable and i'm very happy for that. and i think the president took great pride in that last night. the question here is, is this in your history recognition, and as far as you know, a typical response to a typical catastrophic event? is this less aggressive or more aggressive by nhtsa? in their response to a mysterious fire on a brand-new automobile when there are only a few thousand in the field? >> as we speak, there are about, excuse me, mr. chairman, about 8,000 -- >> right, and i was correct, there were about 4,000 when this occurred. you've sold -- you may be making 400 a day, but you're selling far less than that. 4,000 or less, in june/july. 8,000 or so now. the question is, when this occurred, the director has

and in this one, if you look in the upper left hand corner, there secretary lahood with epa administrator lisa jackson. in the mid sl president obama himself. on the right side is secretary chu of the energy. down in the left hand corner is labor secretary and hen yny sto. so this is an unusual launch. the reason bring that up is because the disconnect between what's your agency does because you're mission statement in 1970 when the agency came into existence was to save lives, prevent injuries and reduce fic other economic costs. so i look at this. i say you know what? the stake holders are all in this launch. this is a hail yoe car, not so much for general motors, but for this administration. this has nothing to do with the chevy volt or the nissan leaf or anything elimination. for me, it comes down to taxpayer dollars being used to subsidize a product. that this administration has decided should go forward. believe me, if general motors thought this was a good investment, they would have launched it many years ago and say we can make money with this. their real commit sment to the shar

she's over at the state department and spoke with the transportation secretary ray lahood's son justgoing on? >> this really is the last chapter, only the last chapter in this ongoing crackdown. >> sam lahood tells cnn he tried to get out last saturday for a short trip to see a friend, but was turned back by egyptian authorities. we reached him by phone at his apartment in cairo. sam, do you feel air where you are at this point? >> i feel safe physically. you know, obviously the fact that the investigative judge chose to prevent some of us from traveling is something that our lawyer tells us indicates this investigation has taken on more serious nature. and the next step from here would either be arrest or go to trial. >> reporter: the 37-year-old is egypt director for the influential nongovernmental organization the international republican institute. he was one of five iri that the on the no-fly list. his offices, along with of other ngos were raided last month. his father, transportation secretary ray lahood, tells cnn he's in constant contact with his son. >> there are a lot of p

. >>> americans have been banned from leaving egypt, including the transport secretary ray lahood.erson familiar with the case said sam lahood, who -- was recently kept from boarding a flight out of the country. the hood's organization was raided last month. the egyptian government said they were working without the right legislation and put several employees on a do-not- fly-list. >> a new study commissioned by d.c. mayor vincent gray recommends the school system make major improvents and close 3 dozen underimproving schools. the study found more than 40% of the city attend 10 charter schools. win a few years, a majority could be enrolled in charter schools. dr. barber research director of research for iff, the non- profit that conducted the study joins us. thank you very much for being here. >> thank you very much. >> we know the findings re- enforce what people are saying for years, especially the school's what stuck out is how with well the charter school is working in the district. if it's the wave of the future? >> i couldn't answer that in terms of the local district. what t

sam lahood heads an organization with ties to republican congressional leaders.cent parliamentary elections. >> gregg: turning to iran, inspection from the united nations nuclear watchdog getting underway. the six-member team begin ago crucial three-day visit trying to find out if the real purpose of iran's nuclear program is to build an atomic bomb. the tensions are still rising. their visit met by a new threat from top iranian officials. steve has more. >> this visit comes amid tighter sanctions against iran and threats by tehran to choke off world oil shipments through the strait of hormuz. the inspection team for the international atomic energy agency, seen here leaving, has now arrived in tehran for the first day of their three-day visit. the iaea issued a report citing evidence that iran does have nuclear ambitions. the organization says their trip will help clarify matters and the chief negotiator expressed optimism. >> we told that iran will engage with us on the concerns regarding the program. so we are looking forward to start of a dialogue. >> iranian

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among the americans now taking refuge is sam lahood son of ray lahood. >>> scientists are looking intoillness in teenagers. the teenagers are experiencing ticks. >> reporter: in a small town in up state new york, a group of high school girls are making national headlines for what many are calling a medical mystery. tara's mom said she brought her daughter to the hospital after she started involuntary ticking when she woke up from an afternoon nap. since then the numbers have grown to 15 and all of them accept ones are girl. over the weekend the media craze surrounding the mystery grew when famous environmental activist sent a crew to look for evidence. both school and state health officials had already concluded a three month investigation that determined no environmental or infectious agents could have caused the students ticks. instead local doctors who have examined 11 of the teens have determined the girls have a stress induced conversion disorder that starts as a mental or emotional crisis. a scary or stressful incident of some kind and converts to a physical problem. but some par

sam lahood is the son of transportation secretary ray lahood.everal other americans are part of a washington-backed organization banned from leaving egypt because it is under investigation. egypt's ruling military council has accused the u.s. of funding groups with the intent of destabilizing the country. >>> now to the race for the white and gingrich are neck and neck in florida, five days before the state primary. romney leads gingrich by 2 percentage points in the latest poll with rick santorum and ron paul third and fourth in that poll. the candidates will scare off tonight in jacksonville. >>> gingrich is aiming high in his effort to win in florida, literally. he told voters near the kennedy space center last night that the united states will have the first permanent base on the moon by the end of his second term if he's elected. gingrich said he wants to spend part of nasa's budget on prize money for competitions to encourage the private sector to to develop space technology. mitt romney also said he wants to make space a priority. >>> tod

sam lahood and at least two other americans have been banned from leaving egypt. lahood says he hasn't been told why he is on the no fly list. >> my son is safe and the administration through the state department and national security team is working very hard so he can leave. >> sam lahood is the head of a nongovernmental organization with ties to congressional leaders. he was one of 7 that were barred from leaving cairo. the younger lahood and other americans were in egypt to oversee the recent parliamentary elections there. for a second day rough waters are delaying efforts to remove fuel from the cruise ship that ran aground two weeks ago. if there is a big leak it could damage a marine sanctuary off the coast of tuscany. the choppy waters radio are hindering recover reef forts. 15 people are still missing. a 17th person was taken from the ship. rick santorum on the campaign trail. tell you what happened next. you have seen many negative ads. many are asked to pull them. what do potential voters really think? what do you hear what frank luntz's famed focus gro

i have been there at least twice with secretary lahood, jose, and many representatives of our congressionaland senatorial bodies. they are seismically retrofitted. it will be even more beautiful. you will see a lot of scenery and around that. we're excited about completing phase one and look forward to starting phase two. for the trans-bay terminal, one of the most important projects we're building downtown, we have had the program since the bay bridge was built. the trans bay terminal houses different transportation modes. we already have under construction the rebuilding of that terminal as a transportation hub. there will also be a brand new neighborhood of offices where people live and work. there will be a beautiful series of buildings where designing in the most sustainable and environmentally friendly way to make sure we keep our status of as being the greatest city in north america. we anticipate there will be 27,000 permanent jobs created as a result of that terminal. we are building the north terminal hub for high-speed rail. we're going ahead and building it. we're building it in

transportation secretary, ray lahood. the u.s. warning it could jeopardize u.s. aid to egypt.st in new york. a mail processing center intercepting 35 pounds of copane cane, worth $2 mill million. the u.n. insisting none of its staff implicated and believing that the drugs were sent by accident. >> penn state basketball arena was flooded to pay tribute to head coach joe paterno. players and studented recalled the impact on the school. paterno was 85 years old. >> greta: tonight, chilling pictures, life boat, spilling out of the wrecked cruiseship, moments after it ran aground. we will have a close look at the horror of passengers. it was absolute chaos off the coast of italy. the photos show life boats sailing away from the partly submerged ship. not everyone could escape. in the first hours after the crash, 3 bodies were found. so far, 16 deaths have been confirmed and another 16 people are missing, including two americans. and today, salvage crews made preprician to attempt to pump the one half million gallons of fuel from theship. on saturday, they will try to begin removing

lahood is the head of the cairo-based branch of the national institute. the national democratic institute. this is troubling coming from a government from authorities that receives billions of dollars in aid from washington. martha: you know, during the whole arab spring period there was so much discussion about what it would mean when these dictators, many of whom people really wanted to see out of power, but what that vacuum would leave behind. what does it tell us about what is going on in the ground in egypt now. >> reporter: that is precisely the measurement with which we should look at egypt in particular. we see a surging coalition between the military council which is very concerned about its own future, about its own power, but also future allies they may have, those who have now a majority in the parliament, the muslim brotherhood. it seems that both have an interest in not seeing any more in cairo or inee keupt in egypt, ngo's training egyptians for the next elections. that could be one of the reasons the raids took place. martha: before i let