moments ago fox spoke with ray lahood.herine 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 this travel ban should be lifted. the president

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

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

among the trapped americans is sam lahood, the son of transportation secretary ray lahood. p 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 territory

meantime, the son of the transportation secretary ray lahood is being barred from leaving there.and the situation in egypt. charles? >> puzzling. the only explanation is the military thinks the future is in alliance with the islamist who won huge majorities in the parliament. the pesky liberal urbanites who started the revolution that get less than 10% of the vote are an irritant because those guys go after the street and demonstrate for a quicker process whereas the islamists are patient and willing to share power with the military so they are trying to crack down on the liberals and the americans and others who help them. otherwise it makes no sense at all. >> bret: liz, thousands converged on tahrir square to mark the one-year anniversary of that day of rage that pushed hosni mubarak out. >> yeah. i mean, i think all of this just emphasizes the fact that this is still an ongoing story. we have don't know yet where the arab spring is taking us. what kind of future it's going to unfold there. i would just say that this particular story i think has just highlighted for many ameri

. >> heather: the fate of the son of ray lahood remains uncertain. m lahood says he may face five years in egyptian prison. >> gregg: while you cannot get away from mother nature one state rocked by deadly tornadoes, that is next. [ male announcer ] drinking a smoothie with no vegetable nutrition? ♪ [ gong ] strawberry banana! [ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new v8 v-fusion smoothie. could've had a v8. and it hasn't been going exactly as planned. cut. cut! [ monica ] i thought we'd be on location for 3 ys -- it's been 3 weeks. so i had to pick up some more things. good thing i've got the citi simplicity card. i don't get hit with a fee if i'm late with a payment... which is good because on this job, no! bigger! [ monica ] i may not be home for a while. [ male announcer ] the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. [ 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

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

about americans being held in egypt that includes sam lahood, the son of transportation secretary ray lahood. the secretary saying in an interview they are preparing for the worst, that is the likelihood of his arrest. peter doocy has more now from washington. >> reporter: sam lahood says it is kind of scary to be facing charges in egypt working for an unregister thed nongovernmental organization and the transportation secretary son now says he might be stuck in egypt for a long time. >> if it it does go to trial and a trial could last up to one year in a case as wide ranging as this one is but the penalty for that is six months to five years in jail so these are serious charges. >> reporter: republican congressman frank wolf has been calling for the u.s. to halt aid to egypt since early january because he says they are not laying the groundwork for a freer se society which congress said they have to do in the recent appropriations bill. they said it as clear violation of the conditions that congress laid out and as such should have a direct bearing on aid to egypt. if similar assaults occur

the group includes the son of transportation secretary ray lahood and others who work for u.s. organizations promoting democracy. the travel ban is tied to political events that led to the overthrow of hosni mubarak. the generals who now lead egypt accused foreigners of being behind the anti-government protests. >>> so if you tweet, you will be interested in this story. twitter can now censor messages on a country by country basis. the new technology is raising free speech concerns. here's how it works. the tweeting containing material that breaks a law in one country can be taken down there. but seen elsewhere. twitter will post a notice whenever a tweet is removed. >>> coming up on the morning news, the government is owed billions in back taxes by its own employees. plus, a disaster caught on tape. people are seen fleeing a massive building collapse. this is the "cbs morning news." this is the "cbs morning news." 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

secretary ray lahood offered basic details. >> i talked to them two or three times today. doing? >> just fine. thank you. >> any word when he might come home? >> there are a lot of people working on that. see how it works out. >> the director for the washington based international republican institute, iri, a group that promotes democracy. the no agent list became public after lahood went to the cairo airport on saturday and told by immigration officers he could not leave. in e-mail exchange with fox lahood said there was no explanation. after an 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 f

one of those americans include sam lahood, the son of transportation secretary ray lahood. nd 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 tou

the son of ray lahood is there.it is not clear if he son is at the embassy but he sounded optimistic today. >> my comment is my son safe. and the administration and the state department and national security team is working very hard so he can leave. >> the obama administration is urging them to lift the travel restrictions immediately. >>> the white house unveiled a plan to give military families more job protection. it would give families more time off of work to care for their loved ones. >> you get the call -- i dropped everything i had to take care of him. got to start over. >> his son lost his legs in afghanistan. he said care givers need more help. especially those with a family member wounded. first lady michelle obama said changes to the family medical leave act will give care givers more time with their wounded family members. >> help them make the transition back home and they can do it all without worrying whether they will lose their job. >> the plan would let service members relatives take 12 weeks of

plus, sam lahood who is the son of transportation secretary ray lahood one of the americans trapped in egypt. they are not being let out by the country. a bigger issue may be shaping up with that country now. former u.n. ambassador john bolton will join me live on the future of a critical mideast peace treaty. and snakes, big ones, running wild in florida. these former pets are deadly to anything that moves. would you look at this picture. now new warnings about what could happen if they are not stopped. ♪ 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. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge! the two trains and a bus rider. the "i'll sleep when it's done" academic. for 80 years, we've been i

ultimately, could be a serious issue as far as the amount of aid we extend to them. >> heather: ray lahoodheads an organization with ties to republican congressional leaders. he was in egypt to oversee the recent 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 u

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

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

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

issue came to a head because at least six americans including the son of transportation secretary ray lahood barred from leaving the country. in a phone interview, sam lahood told fox news they're safe, but -- >> my mind set has kind of changed since the travel ban was put in place, where we're kind of expecting the worst. there hasn't been a lot of movement. something has really changed. >> the state department confirmed that. >> we are continuing to work on this collection of issues as we discussed yesterday. we do not have progress since yesterday. sorry to report. >> in a phone call last friday, president obama warned egypt de facto leader that the month-long criminal investigation of sam lahood'srii and other democracy building organizations would need congressional requirements were unmet and the aid would be blocked. since 1979 in the peace treaty with israel, the u.s. has given egypt an average of $2 billion a year in economic and military aid. roughly 80% of the total aid going to egypt is in the form of military grants and other help. under new legislation, secretary of state clint

. >>> 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

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

transportation secretary ray lahood. he heads a group that has been targeted for their activities. on while egypt gets $1 billion a greer you the u.s. taxpayer. former ambassador to the united nations john bolton joins me now. he's also a fox news contributor. we fork over $1 billion and they tell 10 of our american citizens you are not going anywhere. >> this is different than the way the egyptian government has treated these groups before. they harassed them. they was they are doing. if they were really irritated with the groups they would expel the people from the country. refusing them exit is the step before they get arrested and tried. i do record this as very serious. it's possible it was just an effort commander in the military -- just an errant commander in the military. but if that's the case they need to fix it. megyn: this is on the heels of these offices getting raided last month. they ransacked 17 offices of 10 organizations around the country. and so this is if anything an escalation in their focus on these pro-democracy groups. didn't we fight this battle? didn't we

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

ray lahood announced virginia's going to get $19 million. 12.6 million of it will go toward destruction from irene. and 6.5 million will go to fixing roads affected by lee. >> system a lot of cleanup work to be done. >> they were big storms, that's for sure. >> no more big snowstorms for us? >>> we saw an inch, inch and a half in some locations yesterday. we were talking about, by 11:00 today, it would be a memory. sure enough, that's exactly what happened. temperatures made their way into the 50s today. any snow we saw quickly melted across the area today. a very nice afternoon on our tuesday. wouldn't it be great if we could put a couple of these together? yes, it would. that's not going to happen. over the next couple days, expect rain and the cold will move in. the roller coaster, it's going to continue over the next few days. temperatures today got up to 54 degrees after a low this morning of 32. the average high is 33 degrees and the average low is 29. we were above average once again during the day today and so far in january, we've been above average eight out of ten days. if yo

transportation secretary ray lahood's son is among them.tary elections there. >>> ohio born student detained by syrian authorities three weeks ago has been reliesed now. according to his family 21-year-old boy was handed over to his father last night in damascus. he's a dual american and syrian citizen. he was studying engineering at a private university in damascus. >>> if you are waiting for a quick economic recovery, don't hold your breath. the federal reserve is announcing the economy will need help for years to come. rock bottom interest rates will remain in effect for another 18 months to spur growth. >>> president obama is on a whirlwind tour to five battleground states. he's called for a 30% tax on people who make $1 million a year. he'll be in arizona and colorado today. he'll spend a night in detroit. >>> a multi-billion lawsuit may be filed as early as today in miami. according to information obtained by cnn, that lawsuit will ask the parent company, carnival, for $160,000 per passenger. >>> starting today the price you see is th

this is a strange one, being barred from leaving egypt, the son of our transportation secretary ray lahood. that group stopped while trying to board a plain out of cairo last weekend. he's in egypt to monitor that country's elections. >>> more drones. that is the pen gone plan that will be presented by leon panetta. he's proposing a 30% expansion of its global network of grown drones and special operations bases while cutting back on conventional forces. >> wow, all at the same time. there is a major black-ops raid at that, a successful black-ops raid at that. >> wow, all at the same time. >> it's not the pose a president wants to strike. jan brewer doing one of these, shaking her finger at him at the phoenix airport on the tarmac as the two kind of got in each other's face. i don't know if we can say that. that's what people are calling it anyway. why was she shaking her finger and why the tense exchange? she's telling the press that the president was up set with her about how he was portrayed in her book. >> bottom line is, i wanted to be there to welcome him, to come and see firsthand w

reporter: egypt bard several americans including the son of transportation secretary ray lahood from country. sam lahood, the head of the international republican group in egypt was stopped by immigration officials saturday at the airport. >> they are currently not allowed to depart egypt in connection with the government's investigation of ngos. reporter: secretary lahood commenting on the situation. >> i'm very pratt tied by all the work that's going on -- gratified by all the work that's going on by the administration and our ambassador in egypt. so i appreciate the work they're doing. reporter: this comes as egypt military rulers try to restrict the work of international rights organizations blending what they call foreign element -- blaming what they call foreign elements for the recent unrest in the country. sam lahood's group was raided by authorities last month and u.s. officials say 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

. >>> transportation secretary ray lahood. the sun is be -- son is being prevented from leaving egypt. working for an international organization teaching egyptians about democracy. the military rulers are restricts rights organizations blaming them for the unrest there. the u.s. said the action raises concerns about egypt's transition to the democracy after hosni now barak's ouster. -- hosni mubarak's ouster. >> reporter: coming up next on fox 5 morning news. >> i want to talk to you. >> we don't know. >> and we're going to tell you why they gathered outside and demanded to speak with the utility company's president. >>> and checking weather and traffic. stay with us. the time is 5:12. introducing the new flip & fresh from air wick with 100% fragrance oil. it's something new to brighten your home with two scent levels to choose from for when you want something light or something more. it's the new flip & fresh from air wick. the lasting fresh fragrance that brightens your world with a flip. something in the air wick. . >> now,

the son of ray lahood.ook has started switching over its users to a new layout called timeline. the feature shows your facebook experience since you joined the site. one tells users that they should use the period to preview their timeline and take that opportunity, young people, to remove the picture of you doing a keg stand or something else, rig right? get rid of it while you can. the other option would be not join facebook. it is been 178 days since the u.s. lost its top credit rating. new data shows spending was flat in december, but incomes rose by the most in nine months. the savings rate rose to 4%. less than 24 hours from now, we could be learning which candidate won the florida primary. 7:32 eastern, we might be able to give you an indication. more than 632,000 people in florida have already voted. that's more than the total number of people who voted in south carolina's primary. florida is a much different state. it is a huge state. but in ways that might surprise you, it's sort of different. joh

transportation secretary ray lahood was in detroit and says this year's auto show has a different feeling than just a few years ago. >> when i was there at this show three years ago, this place was like a funeral home. today, it is like a wedding celebration. >> the auto show hosts industry days today and tomorrow. that's usually when carmakers show off their new vehicles for the upcoming year. >> just about 6:40. there are some slick areas out there on the roads this morning so be careful. of course, nothing like the karma geddon we had nearly a year ago. monika takes us inside a new command center which is trying to prevent another highway mess this winter. >> no snow in the forecast today for today. what about the rest of the week? your 7-day forecast is next here on 9news now. thanks, mom. who are you calling "mom"? dunkin' sausage pancake bites, delicious like mom's, only easier to carry -- get three for $1.59. >>> we're back at 6:44 with your weather first. did you enjoy our first snowfall of the year? calling this a snowfall. look at that. pretty generous. strong flurries. might be

egypt's transition to democracy after authorities there detained the son of transportation secretary ray lahood along with several other u.s. citizens. police stopped sam lahood as he tried to board a flight out of egypt telling them he was on a no fly 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 t