Transportation Sec. LaHood: Son Feels 'Safe' Despite Being Detained in Egypt

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Friday his son feels "safe" despite being barred from leaving Egypt earlier this week.

Sam LaHood is among a group of several U.S. citizens who were blocked from leaving the country after Egyptian forces raided the offices of Washington-backed groups monitoring parliamentary elections there. When he tried to catch a flight out of Cairo Saturday he was told he'd been placed on a "no-fly list."

"He's in no danger, he feels completely safe and we hope it will be cleared up pretty quickly," Ray LaHood said in a radio interview on Tampa Bay's WFLA (and hosts Jack and Ted) in some of his first public remarks about his son's situation.

LaHood, a former Illinois congressman, is the only Republican in President Barack Obama's Cabinet. He said his son, the director of the Washington-based International Republican Institute's Egyptian program, has been working in Egypt for the last 18 months.

"We have our colleagues from the State Department and the National Security Council and others trying to figure out what's going on," he said.

Listen to the interview below, via WFLA: