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maria: good tuesday morning, everyone. thanks so much for joining us this morning. i'm maria bartiromo, and it is tuesday, april 30th. 8 a.m. on the button on the east coast. time for the hot topic of the hour. education secretary miguel car gone that -- cardona set to testify this morning, indiana-israel protests -- anti-israel protests i grow on american campuses. take a looked at new york city if earlier today at columbia university. fox business' madison alworth is live this morning at columbia where students broke into the academic building, hamilton hall, late last night, and they are currently occupying the building. madison. >> reporter: good morning, maria. that's exactly connect, just after midnight, hundreds of protesters went onto campus taking over an academic building used by the dean and other senior officers. the group moved metal gates on

the campus to barricade the doors and formed a human shield. the student newspaper, columbia spectator, reports students broke glass to get inside and covered internal cameras with trash bags. the student newspaper reporting they occupied the building within minutes. as of this morning, the building is still occupied by protesters, the morningside campus behind me is limiting to only essential students and staff at this time. all of this, the backdrop as education secretary miguel cardona is set to testify on capitol hill this morning. pro-palestine protests are raging on campuses across the country just a few months after the education department reminded schools they were legally obligated to address incidences of discrimination if or lose federal funding. now lawmakers, mostly republicans, are demanding that taxpayer cash be cut off unless the schools get the demonstrations under control. others disagree.

>> what we're seeing here is, is just a history, we have a history in this country of student activism and student protest. to see a university call police enforce inspect on the very students whose safety they are in charge of, i think, is, extremely alarming. >> reporter: and when it comes to federal funding of the ivy league, we are talking about billions of dollars in federal funds that are given out each and every year. now back here at a columbia, again, hamilton hall currently occupied. the campus behind me here is closed down to only students that live there and essential staff. protests yesterday really kicked up, maria, around 2 p.m. when the encampment on campus was told to be evacuated or those students would face suspension. as of right now, those suspensions are being processed. maria? maria: all right, madison, thanks very much. madison alworth at columbia. white house press secretary

karine jean-pierre is repeatedly dodging questions on where president biden stands on these protests. watch this. >> the president has always been clear that while americans have the right to peacefully protest, that's something that we believe here in the administration, he stands squarely, squarely against any, any rhetoric e, violent rhetoric, any hate threats and physical intimidation and hate speech. we have said anti-semitism is dangerous, it is hate speech, and it is abhorrent, and there is no place for anti-semitism on campuses or any, anywhere if else. maria: cheryl, your reaction. to that response. >> well, to kjp, i think it's interesting because the white house does have a difficult issue right now in the fact that a it's an election year, and those progressive younger e voters, as i mentioned earlier in the program, are going against joe biden on this issue. aoc is not helping him. rashida tlaib is not helping him.

elle hand omar is not helping him -- ilhan omar. they are creating an anti-joe biden feeling, and that is a voting issue. this is politics at the end of the day. but going back to what a madison reported about the endowment fund at columbia, i think what is so interesting about these students and these protests is they're saying take that $13.7 billion fund that columbia has, you know, they want them to ban block rock -- back rock, ban cat or pill or lahr, ban airbnb because of their business dealing in the middle east. you know, let's talk about what these protesters are saying. one of them was on another network last night x she said, we, the students, are being brutalized by the university. we're being brutalized by the police. you know who was brutalized? those girls at the supernova music festival on october 7th. they were brutalized, you are not being brutalized. you are breaking the the law. maria: yeah. and i think, you know, the

universities that are calling in the nypd, arresting people, putting consequences in place have actually seen a slowdown in some of this behavior, in some of this activity. i got a text from andy puzder who's a regular guest on this program, he say, maria, i thought you might like to see how washington university's handling the situation. the chancellor is a first amendment expert and a good guy. the last sentence is you will not do this here. by the way, he says one of the people arrested at the washington university was jill stein, a groan party nominee, jill stein. remember e her, joe? >> yeah. look, this is crazy. i mean, i'm old enough to remember when this president, joseph biden, said that the greatest threat to the homeland was white supremacy. i'm old enough to remember e when the department of jus with disunder merrick garland decided we were going to put parents from the pta on terrorist watch lists for not wanting their children to be taught about

explicit material and when we have moms for liberty being labeled a hate group by the southern poverty law center. so if we can, apparently on the left, agree on all of that, then how is it possible that they can recognize that not liberalism, but illiberalism has run over on these college campuses and has turned to violence and looking like a scene out of some type of, you know, ether where glass is being brokennen and people are literally yelling kill the jews. maria: yeah. here is harvard emeritus adam -- alan dershowitz, rather, with me on sunday. watch this. >> there's no question about that. and russia does too. and there's no question that organizations funded by george soros and the rockefeller brothers -- take, for example, an organization called jewish voice for peace. it has been behind many of these demonstrations. they're not view and they don't want peace. it's a fake organization. it's an old line group of communists and an around keyses that want to overthrow the

united states government. these are people who support iran. these are people who support china. these are people who support america's enemy, and they are funding much of this. maria: mark, your thoughts. we're trying to understand how it's possible that many of these people have the same tent, a lot of the same clothing. someone is organizing it and funding it. >> without a doubt, yeah. it's organized. i was just boeing to make the tent comment it's super curious that everyone has the same exact tent as we look at these colleges and as you know i'm starting to do these college visitations for my oldest daughter who's a junior in high school f we want to see sustainable change at these college, we need a trifecta to happen. number one, the parents should begin suing for few tuition refunds. number two, donors need to scale back or autocuff d -- cut off donations which we've already seen happen from individuals like robert kraft as an example, and then the federal government has to pull back on taxpayer

support for these institutions. when you do that stuff, maybe we'll have some lasting change. but i've got to tell you, what's going on at these college campuses, i think one of the reasons this is happening is because we allow lawless. s throughout broader society right now. i mean, you look at all these criminals running amok on the streets of new york city, all of that stuff is now starting to flow through into the college because there's no consequences at all. maria: that's exactly e right. we're just getting started this hour. got at lot coming up. president biden working with mexico, he says, to significantly reduce border crossings as secretary mayorkas admits he's not sure if gotaway monitoring technology has actually been fully working. kansas senator roger marshall with all of that coming up. you're watching "mornings with maria" live on fox business. ♪ ♪

maria: welcome back. president biden and mexican president own rah or door claiming that they will take action on illegal migration.

in a joint statement, both presidents say they are ordering their national security or officials to, quote, work together to immediately implement concrete measures to significantly reduce irregular border crossings while also protecting human rights. politico, meanwhile, out with a new report, quote, biden said he'd take another stab at a border bill, but nothing appears in the works, according to politico. joining me now is kansas senator roger marshall. senator, thanks very much for being here this morning. i want to, first, begin on this claim from joe biden and the president of mexico that they're working on plans here to secure the border. the last time we heard president obrador, he demanded that the u.s. send latin american countries $20 billion. he said that's the only way it's going to stop. >> right. so mexican president amlo wants $20 the billion, he wants us the stop sanctions on cook baa as well as venezuela -- cuba as

well as venezuela. it's interesting, joe biden has the policy changes that could fix this right now, and he has the leverage over mexico to fix this as well. simple policy changes like remain in mexico probably take care of half, 50% of the problem. and then we do almost $9000 billion -- 900 billion of trade with mexico thanks to president trump's usmca trade agreement, mexico our number one trade partner. so he has the leverage already. he could fix this with with policy. his polling numbers are so low now that joe biden's going to pretend like he wants to fix this, but we know joe biden's words are as cheap as the fentanyl tablets that will kill 2300 young americans -- 300 young americans today. more. maria: but whoo -- why? we're just talking about laken riley getting murdered by an illegal, migrant crime, all of these illegals taking precedence over american citizens whether it be

kids in school or homes. why would president biden ignore all of that and not do anything to secure the border? i don't understand. >> well, i'm afraid that no one can explain this, maria. but, shul, joe biden wants these 11 million people that have crossed the border illegally. we see now if municipalities, counties across the country are going to let these illegal aliens vote, and they're trying to figure out a way they can easily vote in the federal, national elections as well. so he doesn't really want to solve this problem. he's there for theater. he already has the tools to fix the problem in his tool chest; simple policy changes, use that usmca trade agreement. that's what would fix the problem. this is political theater. maria: really, what a stunning, incredible moment in time. i mean, senator, you yesterday homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas about this last week and the administration tracking el legal migrant gotaways. let's listen to that. i want to get more on that from

you. watch. >> under oath today i'm asking you, has this technology been operational since you took the post? >> i would like to get back to you if there's any deficit in this operational capability, senator. i'd be pleased to get back to you -- >> has the system ever gone down under your tenure. >> he'd be very pleased to provide you with that subsequent to this hearing. >> how can you not know that? how can you not know has it been down once or twice, weeks at a time, months at a time if. maria: senator, it sounds like you know that the technology isn't work, as well as it should. what do you want to tell us. >> well, you and i have both been to the border multiple times, maria, and that technology is set up to help count the known if gotaways. we're probably at well over 2 million known gotaways that have been in this country that the border patrol officers are seeing or this technology equipment is seeing as well. and what i'm concerned is that for hours, for days, for weeks at a time this technology's not working, that our border patrol

officers are so busy being nurses, being social workers, delivering meals that they cannot do their job. so we had this technology to help at least count the number of known gotaways coming into the country, but we know it's been down whether it's just a simple battery issue as a well. so we really have no idea how many gotaways are in this country, but it's well over 2 million people. maria: that's incredible that we don't even know, and we know already that it's 2 million buzz we've seen those 2 million on camera. who knows how many we haven't seen. >> yeah, that's exactly right. and these are the people that have never been vetted. and, of course, the gotaways are the people that are the professional criminals that are bringing across the fentanyl, doing the human trafficking the. those are who the gotaways are. and i'm sure they're a big with part of this crime uptick we're seeing in crime as well. maria: so tell me about that. once they get here to america, they're starting up their own businesses, and that business largely is, what, human trafficking? >> yeah.

so it's kind of all the above. of course, what's really growing now are the illegal marijuana farms. unfortunately, next to my home tate of kansas in oklahoma and colorado i'm seeing it all the way in maine as well, so this 40,000 chinese -- 140 chinese nationals, a lot of those are employed at those weed-growing, marijuana-growing farm as well. they're involved in the human trafficking and don't forget the money laundering for both the cartel as well as the human trafficking. so there's plenty of illegal jobs, unfortunately, in america because it all goes back to this open border, maria. you know that. it all goes back to the open border. and as one of the police officers told me at a crime round table, we're not going to be able to arrest ousts out of this -- ourselves out of this particular problem. maria: wow. it's just incredible, the crime and the position that this country has become in as a result of this open border. this morning, meanwhile, we're watching the happenings at columbia with. columbia officials have asked students and professors not to

come in today after a group of anti-israel protesters broke into the hamilton hall building at columbia. this is an academic building in new york city. protesters smashed windows and say they are occupying the hall and are renaming it now hims hall. they are renaming the hall. this morning protests broke out at unc-chapel hill campus. senator, your reaction the what's taking place. and, by the way, chuck schumer's silence on this issues has become deafennenning. >> yeah, absolutely deafening. where where's joe biden on this, where's the university president? look, these roy yacht orers -- rioters are breaking the law. but in addition, the university presidents need to be held accountable as a well. it is time for the police to ten n. it's time for the national guard to step n. i go back and always look at what did president reagan do when he was governor? he stepped in on situation. what did president eisenhower do in a similar situation in 1954? you have to stop the illegal

crimes. we are not a land of lawlessness, and that's what we're seeing right now. if you are not a student and you're on campus, you're trespassing, throw 'em in jail. if you're an illegal alien and you're there on that campus, you need to be deported, and then let's hold the university presidents accountable as well. maria: really, what a moment in time. senator, thank you. senator roger marshall this morning in d.c. quick break and then the federal reserve's 2-day policy meeting kicks off this morning. jay powell says inflation will come down over time, but what does that mean for the timing of rate cuts? piper sandler's nancy lazar is here next with expectations and her assessment of the macro story. you're watching "mornings with maria" live on fox business. ♪

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maria: what are you expecting from jay powell today given that we've seen three straight month of inflation staying elevated and or worries that, in fact, rate cuts may be off the table? >> they'll simply take out the interest rate cuts expected this year or early next year. what that'll do is it'll raise e interest rates across the treasury curve. that'll tighten financial conditions. it's really the same effect that you would get from an interest rate increase. so i don't with see a lot of ap a -- an tighten right now if

most fed official toss raise interest rates. i think what it would taxer, maria, to put actual interest rate increases back on the table, you need to see evidence of wages reaccelerating. that would cause some aea a lance armstrong at the fed or -- alarm at the fed or inflation rising. wages accelerating, we're not seeing that yet, but there will be a report at a 8:30 this morning, and so that'll be an important sign of whether, you know, wages continue to cool in line with what we've been seeing. maria: and that was "the wall street journal"'s chief economics correspondent nick timiraos and what he's expecting from the fed. the employment cost index out in about 5 minutes' time. it's expected to be up 1. we'll see if that moves markets when it hits the happy. -- tape. futures indicating a decline on the final trading day of april. the dow down traction -- fractionally, down 12 points. the treasury yield on the 10-year trading up .4 of a basie e point, 4.61%.

this on day one as the federal reserve kicks off a 32-day policy -- 2-day policy meeting today. we'll hear from jay powell tomorrow. investors anticipating the the decision tomorrow setting the taupe for potential rate cuts down the line but when and if, we're not sure. joining me now is piper sandler's chief global economist, nancy lazar. nancy, great to see you. >> good morning. maria: by the way, nick timiraos is out with a piece this morn if or,s -- morning, and the title is the fed will signal it has the stomach to keep rates high for longer. your expectations from the federal reserve in this 2-day meeting, today and and tomorrow? >> i'm very glad to hear him say that. this is not a time to be cutting interest rates. i have also indicated financial conditions right now too easy suggesting, if anything, the rate structure could be too low. and so the question is why, and that's because as we've called it, legacy liquidity is still in the hands of the private sector. that is the lag effects of the

massive monetary stimulus and the still ongoing, huge budget deficit is supporting corporate revenue which is keeping the unemployment rate low, which is giving consumers spending power to pay these higher prices and keep inflation stick the key. so we would, we would, quite frankly, be relieved to see the fed keeping rates higher for longer to insure that we get a sustained shift down in inflation which as of now is not at all clear. maria: yeah. i mean, or we had three troubling months creating in-- indicating inflation remains elevated, january, february and march. but we get good numbers when with it comes to jobs. i want to get your take on the jobs data that week, the adp national employment report tomorrow and the march jolts report out tomorrow ahead of the april jobs report out on friday. economists expect 243,000 jobs added to the economy for the month with the unemployment rate holding steady at 3.8% for the month of april, nancy. what are you expecting in terms of jobs, and then the i want to

get your take on the gdp. because what i've noticed, the economy is slowing pretty considerably, down from 4.9% in the third quarter of last year to 1.6% in the first quarter of this year. stephanie pomboy makes a good point. she says of the 1.6% growth in the nurse quarter, a full 1.2% was consumer spending on housing, health care and insurance. so i look at that and i'm saying, wait a second, if 1.2% was spendingen on housing, health care and insurance out of the 1.6%, well, that's just inflation, right in what are your assessments here? >> so, first f on the job market it egos back to corporate revenues being very, very elevated, growing about 5.5, 6%. that's what drives the employment spike. we actually have a higher reading than consensus for friday. we have about 260,000 increase in payrolls, 55-260 in payroll, so a little bit more of a on census. unemployment claims would

suggest the rate stays about 3.8, and i agree wage inflation is going to be really important from the eci we're going to get any minute now to as the early earnings data we see on friday. on the jolts report, i think the quit rate will be the most important reading there. do individuals feel comfortable quitting their jobs. does that rate go upper or does it go down. if it continues to go down, it means consumers are seeing fringes of -- early signs of maybe the labor market is starting to weaken, and so the quit rate will be the most important thing in that jolt ises report. and i think unemployment claims are are going to be key, i think more so than the adp report. adp, quite frankly, hasn't had a good track record, but claims as we move through the second quarter should be starting to increase. we saw i layoff announcements increase in the first quarter. it takes time for those announcements to show up, actually, in unemployment. and so we're watching that really closely, may, june do you start to see that increase in

claims suggesting as headline gdp report that, indeed, the economy is slowing. i'm not quite as bearish on that one gdp report perhaps as stephanie suggested. because some of that drag was also due to trade deteriorating, inventories down, real final domestic demand was about 3%. that's still the an okay print. i agree with the theme that the economy is slowing, but i would highlight the bifurcation in the economy. s and i'm surprised the popular press hasn't picked up more on this. consumer confidence rooks okay -- looks okay, but you pull it apart and you see low income consumers in recession territory. you see high-end consumers benefiting from the rising stock market, high house prices and the middle consumer is really what needs to crack to pull this economy down. they themselves, on one hand, have too much credit card debt. on the other hand, also have some net worth, and they are really the backbone of the

economy right now supporting spending, and i don't think they're going to really crack until you see the unemployment rate go up. so the economy has stayed stronger longer than i expected. i've been wrong on a recession unfolding, but we've been right in that we thought if the economy i doesn't go into recession, you're going to have stickier inflation for longer, therefore, you need a higher interest rate structure. and i would, to be sure, blame massive amount of monetary fiscal stimulus and we call it stealth fiscal stimulus right now sporting -- supporting the economy i have via -- via the chips act. it's boosted construction spending, and that has created a lot of inflation in the industrial side of the economy. so higher for longer because of of massive stimulus keeping inflation stickier for longer and we think the only way you're going to see a sustained shift down in inflation is through the a higher unemployment rate, not just 4%, something over 4%. we're talking about 5 to really see a decline in inflation. and if we're wrong on that

happening, then we do think inflation stays stickier throughout the year. maria: well, i'm glad you mentioned all that because i've been talking about all of this stimulus and all of this money but, nancy, as you were talking, the employment cost index came out hotter than expected. stocks are plummeting and yields are surging. the eci, employment cost index, for the first quarter coming in up 1.2%, nancy. as you know, the expectation was for a gain of is %. if -- 1%. with that, the market went from down a fraction to down 150 to. the dow is down now 156, the nasdaq is down so 103. yields are surging, up about 6 basis e points on the 10-year. so you've got stocks plummeting, interest rates surging on a hotter than expected employment if cost index for the first quarter, 1.2% versus an estimate the of 1 percent. your reaction, nancy. >> yeah. that annualized run rate is obviously over 4%, that is sticky wage inflation, and we think that is a reflexion of a sub-4% unemployment rate.

historically, when you've had an inflation cycle like we've just had, you have needed an increase in the unemployment rate to get wage inflation down to truly see a sustained -- and i use that word -- sustained shift down, not just temporary shift down. it's not shelter keeping inflation sticky, it's not auto insurance rates that are keeping inflation sticky, it's high nominal growth giving consumers purchasing power because they still have jobs, and they're getting big wage increases. so i would rather take short-term pain, get the unemployment rate up to is a period where we can move back to low inflation if their environment versus risking what we've talked about in the 1970 scenario, things going on on college campuses today. the economy is fragile, and i think a big part of it is cost of living is way too high and, unfortunately, you need to crack the unemployment rate to get that down. maria: yeah. does the dollar worry you here as the dollar strengthens in the

face of the yep's weakness? real quick -- yen's weakness in real quick, nancy. >> bifurcation of global monetary policies is, for sure, creating strength in the dollar. yes, we're worried when japan has stayed too easy too long. it's on their back to raise rates. maria: yeah. nancy, i fear that we're going to hear from corporate america the dollar was a problem. that's high we missed estimates. it's all connected once we start seeing the dollar get impacted by the yen's weakness, right? if that's going to be the new story for corporate guidance -- >> multi-nationals are very vulnerable right now. maria: exactly. nancy, great to see you, thank you. nancy lazar. piper sandler research. thank you so much. we'll be right back with, stay with us. ♪

maria: welcome back. breaking news this morning, columbia university administrators closing campus entry points, limiting access indefinitely to student residents and essential workers. this after what happened overnight, columbia protesters took over hamilton hall, an academic hall at columbia, barricading themselves inside just hours after of the university suspended students who refused to leave. also a happening this morning, police breaking up anti-israel protest it is at unc-chapel hill. and then in texas at ut-austin, law enforcement dismantling a large encampment, arresting at least 43 protesters who ignored ore orders to disperse if. if school administrators promising discipline after students refuse to leave by monday. joining me now is guardian group ceo ray kelly. ray, oring thank you so much for being here. and i know you have studied anti-semitism quite a bit in your career. give us your reaction to all this.

>> well, tease are the chickens coming home to roost. these universities, marley columbia, knew about anti-semitism really running rampant on the campus for a long time. i did my study three years ago. is and what was clear were that students for justice in palestine, which is a major organization with 200 college units throughout the country, their only reason for being was to harass view students on columbia campus. the administration knew all about it, did nothing about it. and this is what has developed. their vacillation and, ultimately, the police are probably going to have to go back in there and, of course, it e increases the potential for injury to police officer froms. police officers. so just an awful lot of v.a.slation and lack of -- vacillation and lack of decision making that has brought this about. maria: so what do you think is going on in terms of who's organizing this? i mean, clearly, we've been

noting that the tents are the same, a lot of people have the same tent, they have similar clothing -- >> yeah, i think the major culprit here, suspect, is the students for justice's in palestine. they've been around sense the '90s, and they've changed their name. but as i say, they have 2000 college campus -- 200 college campus organizations. so i think it's cleary coordinated -- clearly coordinated most likely by them. through r but there are these other murky organizations out there too. they keep changing their name, so it's hard to get a bead on. this is what they want. this is why this is not going to end quickly, unfortunately, in my view. throughout the united states, this is what they've been looking for, and they have a cause celebre as far as hamas is concern concerned, andthey're going to keep going. and even if people are arrested, you know, arrest is not what it used to be. people say, well, let's spend the night in jail. no.

what happens these days if you get arrested for these types of violations, you get a summons that tells you to come back in 50 days. it doesn't have the effect of squelching these types of demonstrations that it had, say, 40, 50 years ago. maria: so what should be done at the top, i mean, in terms of the white house, in terms of congressional leadership? how do you stop this and is it outside groups like george soros, liberal groups organizing this or is it the chinese communist party which i know follows all of our political conversations and piles on? >> probably both, quite frankly. but i think the fbi -- now we see crimes that are being committed. and this is clearly, at least in my view, a conspiracy that should be addressed with federal law enforcement taking a very hard look at it. but this has been going on, as i say, it's been going on for quite a while. this is not new news, indiana

semitism on college campuses -- anti-semitism on college campuses. and a lo of people, a lot of organizations have turned a grind eye. maria: you're absolutely right. the nypd has been excellent. they're ramping up security in central park after at least four random muggings in one week. so i want to take a look at crime now separate and apart from what we're seeing at these universities. each victim in central park approached by one or more attackers before being assaulted. they had items like phones, cameras stolen. one man was held at gun point. luckily, none of the victims were seriously injured, but no arrests have been made, ray. here we go again. no consequences for bad behavior. how concerned should new yorkers be about their safety, and is this a policy problem? >> yeah. well, it is a problem in several ways, still aren't enough cops in the nypd. they're leaving in large numbers consistently since the george floyd riots of 2020.

i think what they need in central park though, quite frankly, is more camera as. there's been a reluctance through the year, and i've been around a long time, of putting cameras in the park because it was an invasion of privacy. but i think now one of the ways you address it is having a lot more visibility on the park, the park itself. maria: yeah. >> you know, it is a big area, as you know, and very difficult9 for police to cover. the staffing in the precinct that covers central park is low as it is in all precincts. so i think technology may be one of the answers here. maria: all right. we will leave it there. ray kelly are, or it's always a pleasure to see you. thanks so much for weighing in. we appreciate it. >> god to be with you -- good to be with you, maria. maria: quick break with, and then the u.s. urging hamas to accept israel's ceasefire deal as iran celebrates pro-palestinian protests breaking out on american college

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maria: welcome back. secretary of state antony blinken is in jordan today meeting with the jordanian king to discuss a potential israel-a

hamas cease fever deal. yesterday in saudi arabia blinken met with crown prince mohamed bin salman at the world economic forum happening in riyadh. watch. finish. >> hamas has before it a proposal that is extraordinarily, extraordinarily generous on the part of israel. and in this moment, the only thing standing between the people of gaza and a ceasefire is hamas. they have to decide, and they have to decide quick ally. i'm hopeful that they will make the right decision. maria: we don't know if they will. of the proposal would reportedly mean 33 hostages freed from a hamas if in exchange for a 40-day pause many fighting. israel releasing potentially thousands of palestinian prisoners. joining me now is edison alpha founder and ceo and israel hi-iranian alliance cofounder. thanks very much for being here. i know you've been thinking about this a lot.

give us your reaction to what we're seeing on college campuses across america if right now. >> i never thought that in america we would have up young people flying the nag ifs of terrorist organizations like hezbollah and hamas at i our universities, at columbia and beyond. and then to have the islamic regime, which is terrorist government, islamo-fascist government, the supreme leader khamenei tweeting to those students and encouraging them and saying how happy he is that he's seeing that they're flying the hezbollah flag and the hamas flag -- maria: right. >> -- this is, it's from some kind of dark nightmare that, you know, we've been, our country has been infiltrated by, you know, agents of the islamic regime. maria: right. >> we have to realize what's happening here.

this has been funded. you've got to follow the money and see where this is all a coming from, but this took years and years of infiltrating our universities and having woke professors who are, you know, socialist professors who are brawn washing -- brainwashing the youth, have tiktok out there with its algorithm brainwashing our youth. we've been attacked already. this is a war. it's a war of ideas, and soon it's a war of bombs and missiles to follow because this is the beginning of something that is absolutely terrifying. the reason i started the israeli-iranian alliance on october 8th was because that was israel's 9/11. i said it the next day -- maria: yeah. >> every jew in the world is not safe. anti-semitism has spread everywhere. people are completely comfortable saying that they want to kill jews as we saw with

the columbia student in his interview saying that all zionists should be killed. maria: yeah. >> we're living in this bizarre world -- maria: yeah. >> we have to wake up from this nightmare and deal with it. and until we deal with the islamic regime of iran, there is not going to be safe a city for america -- safety for america, israel, any jew, any iranian. maria: yeah. >> and the alliance is about uniting all of us because there's 88 million iranians in iran who are not flying hezbollah flags, hamas flags. maria: right. >> there are freedom fighters. they're sacrificing themselves like this rapper, iranian rapper tunaj who's the tupac of iran and is so courageous, and he's been sentenced to death by hanging on a crane for musical lyrics. maria: yeah. >> this is a medieval, you know,

world that the iranian people having to suffer through. and we we need to liberate them. we need -- they want to be free. maria: yeah. >> and the best way to stop all of this is to top the islamic regime -- stop the islamic regime. they're just as dangerous as the nazis and hitler was. maria: yeah. we're looking for solutions this morning because, as you say, the leadership in iran is celebrating the anti-israel protests across the u.s. the supreme leader of iran posted on x sunday: in states across the u.s. itself, people are coming out in huge numbers to chant slogans against israel and america. u.s. and israel's reputation has been ruined. they truly have no solution. scherrman, i want to get your take on the solutions and how you think the u.s. leadership could try to tame iran. you also mentioned the rap or e, and we see people holding up signs for this rapper who has been sentenced to death. what are the solutions here?

>> the key solution is this idealistic idea that the biden administration and the democrats have been pursuing of engaging with the islamic regime thinking that they're going to delay them from becoming a nuclear power, god forbid, and then releasing billions of dollars to the islamic regime even after october 7th, it's insanity. you know, what kind of policy is that? we need to be united with other nations and do the appropriate amount of sanctions. we need to work with incredible leaders like the crown prince reza pahlavi, and we've been organizing meetings with with the persian jewish community with the crown prince, and he has a plan for iran. and people are chanting his name in the streets of iran. we need to support an interim

government that is legitimized by being recognized by western countries. and we need to give the iranian people the support and the arms that they require to fight for their freedom. maria: okay. yeah. shervin, i won't even go into your other hat that you wear, and that is as a major investor in tech. i hope you'll come back, and and we'll talk about innovation another time. thanks very much for being here. >> my dream is -- absolutely. my dream is when the iranian people are free. maria: okay. we've got to jump. >> there are so many incredible companies coming out of there that'll change the world. maria: thank you. we'll be right back. >> thank you. ♪

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maria: welcome back. we are 30 minutes away from the hoping -- opening bell, markets now at the lows of the marketin. dow down 16, the nasdaq down 80 points and the s&p lower by 20 points, the employment cost index came in up 1.2% versus an estimate of 1. thank you mark, joe and cheryl, great show this morning. final comments real quick, cheryl. >> well, obviously that employment cost index is going to be a market negative today. i'll be watching that. maria: all right. have a great day. "varney & company" begins right now. stu, take it away. stuart: all right, good morning, maria. across the country police are moving in and making arrests at college campuses. pro-hamas if demonstrators are being removed, but