[ as cosby ] i want to see the comedy programming with the children. [ british accent] watch bravo! yeah, i want to see the real housewives. rewind! yeah! jimmy? it s been hours. we told you the x1 entertainment operating system show me the tonight show starring jimmy fallon. that s what i m talking about right there. [ cheers and applause ] [ female announcer ] control your tv with your voice. the x1 entertainment operating system. only from xfinity. reporter: the khalifa family lives here in cairo s upscale neighborhood of heliopolis, where khalifa s father runs his construction, banking and finance consulting business. family lives in this apartment building owned by the father. nermeen khalifa has kept her
she, not pimm. not she that was the alcoholic but him. and not she that kept the family apart, it was him, and a not so unbiased way told us that an anti-arab, anti-muslim u.s. judicial system is the root of all her problems. i m looking at my kids on my own to protect myself and my sons. he s a manipulate he s a liar and i had to leave. i had to go. the system famed me. the system was against me. reporter: and you believe the system was against you because you re arab-american? i m an arab muslim. definitely, yes. reporter: nermeen khalifa illegally abducted her two sons and left country on august 25, 2001. in maryland, a court hearing was immediately scheduled. it would be held in two weeks. the date september 11, 2001. move it!
and i said, well, they re online right now. why would they be online at 3:00 a.m. in the morning? reporter: they weren t. nermeen s mother, afaf khalifa, and nermeen s father were in fact at the family-owned condominium north of san diego. they had flown there not knowing that afaf was the subject of an international arrest warrant for her part in aiding and abetting the kidnapping of adam and jason. we thought it was too good to be true. we didn t really think too much of it. but hey, what the heck? let s just go ahead and call out there. and sure enough, someone picked up the phone at their home in california. i called the fbi. i said they re in san diego at their house. i called the number. impossible. she s red-flagged. she can t get through customs. she can t get through i.n.s. i finally had the maryland state police call out there and a they were with pacific bell and electric company and ask for her. she picked up the phone. they got the san diego county sheriffs and they
move it! reporter: on the very morning terrorist planes were hitting the world trade towers, a maryland state court ruled michael shannon should be granted sole custody of his two abducted children, and the state issued a warrant for nermeen s arrest. to nermeen khalifa the coincidental date of the hearing and her absence from court proves she s a victim of discrimination. and that s the root of all this legal custody issues? the ruling happened on 9/11. so what more do you want? the judge granted him custody without even hearing me, or seeing me or knowing anything about me. he gave him immediately custody of both kids. and you don t feel that that court decision had anything to do with the i mean, what i saw on records of abuse by you, alcoholism by you, et cetera? this is all his side. this is all his talk.
that was told to the father as to when the children were going to be in new york, when they would be back. the fact that she was visiting was part of the impetus for the father allowing the children to visit and spend time with the grandmother. and she was actively involved in helping the children travel to egypt. it was well planned? it was well planned. reporter: it had to be. michael shannon held the passports for both of his boys in a safe at home. he had legal custody of adam, and jason was not allowed to leave maryland without the father s consent. but there was a loophole. early in 2001, one parent could simply call the state department and report a child s passport lost, apply for a new one, and it was granted. that is exactly what nermeen khalifa had done. the egypt air tickets were purchased in new york by a relative. the khalifa family arranged for