Imprisoned US Marine update

Congressman Matt Salmon with the latest on the Marine arrested after taking a wrong turn on the border

This is a RUSH transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," June 13, 2014. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

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In "Back of the Book" segment tonight, an update on 25-year-old Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi, a Marine who was arrested in Mexico on April 1st after taking a wrong turn on the border.

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You know the case. The sergeant had three weapons in his vehicle, so he's now in prison. The Mexican Attorney General saying he violated their laws. So far, efforts to get the sergeant out of prison have failed.

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Joining us now from Phoenix is Matt Salmon, the congressman who visited the sergeant in prison. What's the latest on this. Is he going to get out or what.

REP. MATT SALMON (R), ARIZONA: s And, yesterday, I met with Vice President Biden and there were two other people with me that made the same plea, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen from Florida and also --

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-- Debbie Wasserman Schultz who's actually -- the mother is a constituent of hers. And we all made an impassioned plea to President Biden to get the White House get directly involved in this and get this young man out because --

O'REILLY: All right. So, what did Biden say. I mean -- and you said "President Biden," he's Vice President. If he's president, we have a big, big problem right now.

SALMON: That was a bad slip.

O'REILLY: What did he say to you.

SALMON: What he said was that he would personally bring it up to the President, that he is concerned as well. And so, -- you know, --

O'REILLY: But wait, wait. Let me stop you. Let me stop you. This has been going on for three months. So, come on.

SALMON: They haven't done a thing.

O'REILLY: OK.

SALMON: And pointed out that this young man is an honorable person that has had zero questions about his --

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-- commitment to his country. And he actually served two tours of duty in Afghanistan. He's a hero and he needs to be out.

He has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. I believe that's part and parcel of one of the reasons that he made the mistake he did in getting into Mexico. And he needs to be out --

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-- getting his treatment.

SALMON: Darrell Issa, myself and Ed Royce, the Chairman of the Foreign Relations -- Foreign Affairs Committee are going to be going to Mexico, to the prison, again next Saturday to meet with him to try to do everything that we can.

O'REILLY: And am glad. I'm glad. But, you know, the Obama administration has got to start engaging on some of the stuff. Now, you went down there already to see the sergeant.

Can you describe the prison. And he said he's being roughed up. Is that true.

SALMON: Well, the first prison that he was in, I understand -- and I didn't visit the first prison that he was in. But the first prison that he was in, I understand that conditions were not very good at all.

In fact, pretty bad. And I understand that he was roughed up there. And I also understand that they forepointed him for about 30 days while he was in the infirmary.

So, they have transferred him, subsequently, to a prison called El Hongo.

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It is a much nicer prison. When I visited with him, he was in very good spirits. He looked as though he was in good shape, great condition. And I was very, very impressed with him.

O'REILLY: Do you know why he hid three weapons in his car. Do you know.

SALMON: Absolutely. Yes, he's got all of his belongings in his car. He had recently moved from Florida to San Diego to start his treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

O'REILLY: OK, so this was a moving situation. But why, you know, he had been in Mexico earlier in the day, I understand. And then he came back to get his car and he made a wrong turn.

I just want to make sure that when we throw away THE FACTOR, you, the Vice President, that we really know that this is a trumped up thing and he should be out of there. You're a hundred percent convinced, right.

SALMON: I'm a hundred percent convinced. And I believe that the post- traumatic stress disorder, -- this kid, you know, he tried to escape when he was placed in the first prison. That's why they claim they treated him so badly.

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O'REILLY: Yes.

SALMON: But he does not feel comfortable at all when he's thrown in with a bunch of thugs. Now, who would.

O'REILLY: That's right.

SALMON: This kid is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and they ought to take that into consideration.

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There is precedent for that. There was a man, an older man in his 80s that crossed the border about two, three months ago, with a gun. And he has Alzheimer's.

They let him go. They did incarcerate him for a while but they let him go. I believe that this young man should be given the same accord.

O'REILLY: Absolutely. And, I think, the President of the United States and the Vice President have to walk out and tell everybody -- everybody that we believe that the sergeant should be released on humanitarian grounds. And then he will be.

SALMON: Absolutely. The President needs to -- absolutely, the President needs to call the President of Mexico and say, "This is a priority for me. You are our allies. We give you a ton of money in foreign aid and we have people in Congress that are going to get very, very angry if this doesn't have a good resolution."

O'REILLY: All right, I don't think though we will need the threat. I think that the President and Vice President, next week, have to do this.

We'll encourage them here, Congressman, and you know what that means to do it. And we expect they will. And we appreciate it -

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