>>a> compañado de funcionarios estadounidenses, salió del penal de matamoros el exmarine de estados unidosto de libertad para ... >>> eso es definitivo, este suceso no de debió haber dado, es una aberración jurídica. >>> el convoy se dirigió al puenter internacional zaragoza, donde lo esperaban sus familiares y amigos las autoridades mexicanas dicen que john estaba en buen estado de salud. >>> en un principio como quería que se la diera un trato, no tato especial, sino que se le separara de la población general, no tenemos celdas para darle un trato retirado de la población general, entonces había un posible traslado a otro centro. >>> para no ver afectado la imagen de los turistas en matamoros, la cámara de comercio pidió la liberación del exmarine. >>> bueno, nosotros queremos que este estadounidense se sepa que es un turista y que nosotros como empresarios queremos que haya más turismo para nuestro país. >>>e l departamento de estado de méxico dijo que los estadounidense no trajeran armas a méxico, porque pueden enfrentar la aju. la justicia. >>> familiares amigos y compañeros de los 14

when he did check in with the mexicans in matamoros, he was promptly arrested and charged with carrying a deadly weapon. that was last august. despite many attempts by the u.s. government to get him released, mexico will not do it. so he sits in a filthy prison ten days before christmas. that's simply unacceptable. everybody knows corporal hammer did nothing wrong. so why doesn't mexico just release him in the name of goodwill? for years talking points has been telling you that mexico does not act like a friend to the usa. i've stopped going to the country 'cause they do not -- i do not believe they're looking out for us. the jon hammer case proves this. mexico's new president should release hammer immediately. right now. we understand high level negotiations are taking place and there is some optimism the corporal will soon be free. but why is it taking so long? and how did it ever happen in the first place? we will stay on the story. that's a memo. nor for reaction, joining us from washington, congresswoman who is deeply involved in the case. i don't understand this. i really don't un

he walked into the matamoros customs office with it. so this is bogus. which politicians helped you the most? >> certainly iliana ross. >> bill: your congresswoman? >> right. and marco rubio and bill nelson has also been very outspoken about johnny's plight. >> bill: okay. but you haven't heard from hillary clinton, secretary of state, or president obama as we just heard, president's spokesman doesn't know anything about it. does that discourage you? >> it sort of is shocking at this point. >> it's more discouraging the feedback we get from the actual state department. >> bill: they say they told us they visited your son four times and they're monitoring his case. but they haven't come out and asked for his release and secretary of state clinton hasn't said anything. >> no. >> they've told us they can't do anything. >> bill: is that right? they can't do anything? >> over and over. >> bill: that's bunch of bull. certainly they can do something. certainly president obama can do something. let's hope that's not necessary. let's hope at the end of the week y

hammar was arrested in matamoros mexico. he was following directions by declaring the gun to it mexican authorities. bill o'reilly who has been aggressively pursuing justifiable for this young marine joins us now by telephone and bill this was great news. i knew you would want to come on to discuss it given your role and making sure everyone knew about this and the pressure was on. what's your reaction? >> well, i think that this shows the power of the fox news channel. not just the factor. you know, a lot of us here thought that this story had to become front and center. yet did it. hannity, me, we did it in the day hours with maccallum and hemmer and megyn kelly. we all banned together and we basically said this could not stand. this could not stand. so, i'm real proud of the network and i want everybody to understand that that's what we're in business to do. all right? we are going to look out for individual americans and when bad things happen we're going to try to correct them. >> and, bill, what about your reaction to

this is a picture recently taken in the matamoros prison. as you can see he's in solitary confinement and like back in the old days chained to his bed because so he won't go anywhere all because of a mixup of what the law is and what should have happened to him at the border. so he's being held as a criminal because the size of the barrel of that rifle was apparently too long. even though u.s. customs told him he was not violating any mexican or american law in having the rifle. hammer had no criminal intent when he took that old rifle into mexico. john hammer should not have to spend another holiday away from his family. holidays he spent while he served as a marine and certainly he shouldn't spend a holiday away from his family in a mexican jail where he is illegally being detained. obviously there appears to be a misunderstanding between u.s. and mexican officials with hammer literally caught in the middle of this. so the mexican president, enrique nieto, should intervene and have hammer released. it is the power of the mexican president

hammar was arrested in matamoros mexico. he was following directions by declaring the gun to it mexican authorities. bill o'reilly who has been aggressively pursuing justifiable for this young marine joins us now by telephone and bill this was great news. i knew you would want to come on to discuss it given your role and making sure everyone knew about this and the pressure was on. what's your reaction? >> well, i think that this shows the power of the fox news channel. not just the factor. you know, a lot of us here thought that this story had to become front and center. yet did it. hannity, me, we did it in the day hours with maccallum and hemmer and megyn kelly. we all banned together and we basically said this could not stand. this could not stand. so, i'm real proud of the network and i want everybody to understand that that's what we're in business to do. all right? we are going to look out for individual americans and when bad things happen we're going to try to correct them. >> and, bill, what about your reaction to

that prison across the texas border in matamoros where his surfing trip to costa rica was interruptednd twitter are asking thousands of followers to help free jon hammer. >> you know, we're trying not to get our hopes up or john's hopes up because it's just so deflating when nothing happens. but at this point, we're just begging the mexican government. >> hammer is charged with a felony for allegedly bringing in a weapon across the border without any permits right into violence-plagued mexico. his trial date is scheduled for next month. >> john: we've got christmas coming up if a week. what are the chances he could be back in florida by then? >> his mexican attorney believes there is a good chance he has filed two federal injunctions and he hopes a court will rule in their favor, perhaps by thursday. meanwhile, the mexican ambassador to the united states sent this letter to miami congresswoman which reads, quote: i must underscore that introducing to and/or possessing weapons of this kind of mexico, regardless of intent, is considered a serious offense. he was caught at the bordered w

but mexican officers still arrested him when he tried to cross from brownsville, texas, into matamorosents say that's when some of these phone calls, these calls started coming in from drug cartels, apparently began. >> we get calls from inside the prison saying, you know, this is not about the police, this is about us, and this is our house, and if you don't do -- send money, we're going to kill your son. here's your son on the phone. >> a marine, jon hammar, had survived iraq, afghanistan, he was discharged, suffering from ptsd, post traumatic stress disorder. and to help deal with it, he just wanted to go surfing. and he wanted to do it in costa rica. that's where he and a friend were headed when this whole nightmare began. >> we keep telling him, you know, what we're doing and we think it is going to end soon, but you can only say that for so long. we're afraid. we're afraid. >> joining me now, live, is senator bill nelson of florida. senator nelson, welcome, thank you so much. i know you have gotten involved at the family's request. you in fact recently spoke with the mexican amba

there is news that a matamoros city judge might today, this very day hear his case. >> alisyn: he could in many u.s. jurisdictions, there is a mandatory minimum of 15 with no possibility of parole. if that happens, it will destroy bilateral relations between mexico and the united states. it will screw up any hopes of immigration reform and worst of all, it will victimize a marine combat mirror row who did no -- hero who did no wrong other than to be dumb and naive. >> brian: and wring his grandfather's gun. >> i used that same gun o kill squirrel once in a park in 1960 and i shot him out of a nest. that same gun from a sears row buck catalog, and it so traumatized in me that i never hunted again. >> steve: you can always tell that it's the christmas season here at the fox news channel because every year it says happy holidays, peace and love, geraldo and erica. this is on every door in this building. >> 11 years. i love my colleagues. i honor you for christmas, hanukkah or eid and it's our way of saying we love you. >> steve: the great thing, inside mine there was a $50 bill. >> thank y

senators on both sides of the i'll say there is no reason that man should be in this infamous prison in matamorose. he services in afghanistan. he serves in iraq, then he goes on vacation with a gun that might be a little different than the laws allow in mexico and now he's got to go to jail and sit there since august with no one even reaching out in the state department saying hey, mexico, you want to be our friend? let go of the marine. >> gretchen: it's our understanding, he was on his way to costa rica of the he also suffers from posttraumatic stress syndrome. it's my understanding he got clearance on the united states side of things for this gun. it's like off bay half inch or something like that. the bottom line is that he does have the full support of the members of congress who are in his home state of florida. they've been on our show talking about it. allen west will be talking about it. shear what bill o'reilly thinks about it. >> this is a failure of leadership. this year the usa is sending more than $300 million to mexico and they have the gall to imprison an american combat veteran

released and they put corporal johnny hammer, who is now age 27, in the general prison population in matamoros, mexico. this case came to my attention last august and i immediately responded. and as a result of me contacting the mexican government, they moved him from the general population of the jail into an individual jail cell. as they have gone in to interrogate him, they manacle him, shackle him. at one point they had him chained to the bed. now, mr. president, this has gone on long enough. and so, naturally, i decided since finding out that he's still in jail in mexico -- i mean, the mexican authorities, if it is against the law to take a gun in, even though he was openly -- he had already declared it at u.s. customs, the mexican authorities could have when they released his fellow marine to go back into the united states, they could have sent him back into the united states and told him, don't bring your great-grandfather's shotgun into mexico. if that's against mexican law. but they didn't. they have put a united states marine who has honorably served his country and he has been in a