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maria: good friday morning, everyone. thanks so much for joining us this morning. tgif. i'm maria bartiromo. it is friday, march 1, your top stories right now, 6:00 a.m. on the east coast. one southern border, two very different visits. president biden arriving in brownsville, texas yesterday to speak with agents making a pitch to congress to pass the senate border bill which allows 5,000 foreigners in every day before anything can be done to shut it down. >> bipartisan border security deal is a win for the american people, the speaker of the house needs to put this bill on the floor. here's what i would say to mr. trump. i'll join you in telling the congress to pass this bipartisan border security bill. maria: meanwhile, president trump speaking in eagle pass, texas, highlighting the dangers of the open border policy. >> this is a joe biden invasion. this is a biden invasion over the past three years, it's allowing thousands and thousands of people to come in from china,

iran, yemen, the congo, syria, and a lot of other nations. maria: the fallout coming up, but first, markets this morning trading lower on this, the first trading day of the new month of march. dow industrials down 69, nasdaq down 16, s&p 500 lower by 7 and three quarters. the nasdaq has been on a tear hitting its first record close since 2021 as investors find confidence in the power and promise of a.i. as you can see, market higher across the board yesterday at 4:00 on wall street. plus, the house passing the deal to avoid a partial government shutdown. what you need to know about washington's economic impact and the next funding deadline now, three weeks away. european markets trading higher, take a look at the eurozone with the ft 100 higher by 35, dax higher by 60, cac quarante is a weak spot in paris, it's down 13 points. in asia overnight markets finished mostly higher there as

well. take a look at the asian indices with the one weak spot, korea, down a fraction, best performer was japan up almost 2%. back at home, the house oversight and judiciary committees releasing the transcript of the hunter biden deposition where he admits he did put his father on speaker phone and invited him to meetings with his business partners, but hunter denied joe biden had any involvement in his business. we're on it this morning. joining the conversation all morning long this morning, michael lee strategy founder, michael lee and former new york state homeland security advisor michael balboni. "mornings with maria" is live right now. ♪ maria: time for the hot topic of the hour.

president biden and former president trump making dueling trips to the southern border yesterday, biden traveling to brownsville, texas while trump was 300 miles away in eagle pass, texas. here's president trump speaking with fox news' sean hannity after the trip last night from the border. watch. >> you come to texas, this is now a war zone. and they view it as a war zone and mexico's doing nothing to help us, they have 28,000 from china, all fighting age. you don't see women and you don't see men much older than that, it's from 18 to 25, 26 years old. and there's something going on and they're coming from yemen that we're bombing, coming from the congo, prisons in the congo. the only good thing, it makes our prisoners look like very nice people. maria: trump also said he spoke with the parents of 22-year-old georgia student laken riley who was alleged killed by an illegal venezuelan migrant. he slammed the president for her death. that migrant came into america

in 2022 through the el paso border, biden walked away from any questions about laken riley yesterday. watch this. >> what he is doing is just unbelievable. joe biden will never say laken riley's name. but we will say it and we will remember her. we're not going to forget her. >> do you bear any responsibility for laken riley's death? maria: laken riley will be laid to rest this afternoon at a church outside of atlanta. michael, this is such a heart wrenching story, it's so sad. her memory will last a lifetime and they are celebrating her life today. >> such a horrible thing for the parents, obviously, for the nation to watch this. it's so hard to put a face on this whole issue. but yet this is one of the things that people take a look at saying wait a minute, this is happening in our communities. the irony, you reported so many

times before, texas has been suffering this invasion for years and years and years and now suddenly as a campaign begins, this is now the focus for this administration. and yet when you take a look at what happened in '21, '22, '23 and you see the increase from 1.3 million then going all the way up to 2, i mean, it's amazing what's happening here. we're on pace this year for 3.1 million but the president -- the former president said something that's very important. the nature of the people coming across the border, the fact that there are many military age men, a lot of them are chinese nationals, coming across the border. what is that about? that is something that needs more focus in our nation. maria: i've been to the el paso border and when i went to the el paso border that a was one of the first border areas that i visited. the river was completely dry, michael lee, and it was so easy

to walk right across from mexico and this is how that illegal got in, just walking right across, you're into the area in texas. you are then into the population. that's what happened here. >> maria, this is an insuited invasion by the biden -- invited invasion by the biden administration. there aren't enough actual americans to vote for them. they want as many illegal as they can get into big cities, give them amnesty so they get more electoral college votes, more congressional seats, more federal funding so they can rule by fiat. a new y chicago of people coming into the country every single year. it's just unbelievably disgusting. and it's no surprise that it's politically unpopular. if you remember, it was nine years ago trump came down the escalator and this was his number one issue and i don't -- and they can call all americans

that don't like illegal immigration racist all they want but we are a nation of rule followers, a nation of law followers. people hate to see other people breaking the law. no one is talking about legal immigration and the people that pay thousands of dollars and wait three, five, 10 years to get into the country legally when they can walk over the border and get a big, fat $10,000 debit card, free hotel room, cell phone, healthcare, all those things. if this isn't anything other than an invited invasion by this administration, i don't know what it is. maria: when trump first came on the scene and started saying we're going to ban this group and shut down this border and do this and not you allow venezuelans to unload their prisons and send them into america, he was mocked, he was attacked, he doesn't know what he was talking about. in fact, he knew what he was talking about. the biden campaign released this statement foll trump's border t, donald trump is weak on border

security and crime, that's why he directed maga republicans to kill the toughest reforms in decades and tried to defund the police every year he that was office. are they serious? the truth is, donald trump does not want to secure the border, they go on, he prefers chaos and cruelty because he's betting it helps him politically. this is absolutely outrageous to say that trump wanted to defund the police. this was democrats, particularly the progressives that wanted to he defund the police. what were they expecting to happen? did they expect crime was not going to spike the way it is now and now we are i'll the victims. >> next thing they're going to accuse trump of shooting bam bas mother in the disney movie. it's unbelievable the things they make up. it's intentional destruction of western civilization you're seeing play out in front of your face.

maria: the transcript of the hunter biden deposition has been released. he confirms what knew that his father, joe biden, is in fact the big guy. new york congressman nick langworthy was in the room. he'll tell us what else he took away from that testimony. don't miss it. you're watching "mornings with maria" live on fox business. j.p. morgan wealth management knows it's easy to get lost in investment research. get help with j.p morgan personal advisors. hey, david! ready to get started? work with advisors who create a plan with you, and help you find the right investments. so great getting to know you, let's take a look at your new investment plan. ok, great! this should have you moving in the right direction. thanks jen. get ongoing advice; and manage your investments in the chase mobile app.

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visit indeed.com/hire maria: welcome back. the house oversight and judiciary committees releasing the transcript of the hunter biden deposition which took place this week. hunter admitted he did in fact put his father on speaker phone and he did in fact invite him to meetings with his business partners but still he denied that joe biden had any involvement in his business. hunter confirmed that joe biden was in fact the big guy but he said he didn't know why his partner troaferred him that way and a -- referred to him that way and a chinese official once gifted him a diamond. hunter giving the excuse he was out of his mind when he messaged a chinese business partner that he was sitting next to his

father. joining us now, congressman nick langworthy. you were there, this is your committee. what can you tell us in terms of what you took away, what was most important for the testimony yesterday? >> well, i think my biggest take away is how someone can sit therend lie with a straight face for hours and hours and hours. in one vein he's this brilliant business strategist, he's someone that we should all be impressed with and his resume, and other times he's a sad and broken down figure that's caught in addiction. there's no explanation as to why the biden family members are receiving these funds from foreign entities. they don't make any legitimate argument as to what expertise they bring to the table. the only thing they bring to the table is the name and selling the brand. it's laughable the discussions about how his father wandered into these dinners.

dad, come have dinner with my oligarch friends i'm sitting here with. the father clearly knows nothing about his business along the way. i mean, i think what he's really done here is confirmed what most americans are thinking and what the evidence that we put forward with the banking records has shown. maria: well, it looks like he's trying to blame ja jamesgilyardr getting his father involved. he admits pretty much indirectly that his father is the big guy, talking about the infamous 10% equity held by h for the big guy e-mail. hunter said the person sent it was out of his mind for suggesting his father be involved. there you go, he's admitting the big guy is his father. you said he lied with a straight face. what else did ellie about? >> i think any discussion about

the chinese national business person, this was not meant to be payment, it was a rare token of appreciation, presenting that is reality, it just defies logic. here somebody hands you a diamond and then he gives it to his uncle because he doesn't know what to do with it. i mean, come on. that's not something that anyone does in business transactions when things are on the up and up. it shows this is a criminal business enterprise these people were run. maria: we'll never know where the diamond is. right? i know he actually accepted the tech vent of money -- the equivalent of money for a porsche are from kazhakstan. he got a porsche from kazhakstan and got two diamonds from china and we're supposed to believe that he gave it to james biden and james just threw it out. is that what he said, he threw the diamond down. we know diamonds are an easy way to hide wealth. you can hide it or give it to the next generation, don't put

it on the will with or taxes. is that what was going on here? >> that is where you certainly go when you have an item like that that's not trackable or traceable of. one of the other items that he said was all the wire transfers because he was cheap and he didn't want to pay for all of the wire transfer fees. these are things that just don't pass the smell test in any way, shape or form and i think hunter confirmed a lot of our suspicions in the hours that he sat there in the deposition. maria: i'm with michael balboni today. jump in here. >> congressman, good to see you again from the days of tom reynolds. the fbi has a very aggressive counter intelligence program. where were they on this? the son of the vice president getting involved in these types of discussions and receiving gifts from the chinese, where's the fbi in this? maria: great question. >> it's an incredible question and clearly asleep at the switch

or intentionally asleep at the switch. you can't really get your head around this. i mean, when we had a former new york governor go down for his transgressions with an international prostitution ring, they were right there but we have kazhakstany billionaires and oligarchs sitting there with the vice president of the united states and his son, business deals, they're nowhere to be found. doesn't pass the smell test to me. maria: let me get your take on the other order of business in the congress today. we know the senate and house passed the bipartisan government funding bill yesterday. the bill moves the funding deadlines for a total of 12 appropriation bills to march 8 and march 22 rather than today. and march 8th which was agreed upon in the last continuing resolution, the deal has a $1.6 trillion top line number, 866 billion for defense funding.

some lawmakers suggest suggesting to do another continuing resolution for the rest of the year and move onto next year's budget. what are you going to do, keep doing crs? is that the plan. >> we needed one more week and next week from what the speaker said and the play he called and we support it, we have six appropriation bills ready to go agreed to by the four corners of our government of. this is life in divided government. they have to bring republicans to the table to get the spending bills done and we have to get through this, 1% across the board spending cut is going to cripple our military. this is a time we can't afford to cut our military and put us into a he sequester. there's far too much uncertainty around the world for us to put intense spending measures on our military forces. maria: one of the biggest uncertainties is the wide open border. border patrol in the houlton

sector of maine revealed they arrested three chinese nationals trying to cross into america through the border in the dead of night. the sector's facebook account revealing the driver was a chinese national from new york. he was arrested nearby. what is going on with thousands and thousands of chinese nationals coming over the border, what are they planning? do you have any idea? what are you doing about it? >> we're reading more and more about this. the border is on the ballot in the 2024. unfortunately, the president goes down for a photo op in the southern border, the second time he's been down there. i think it's fairly embarrassing photo op for him. we have an increasing amount of chinese nationals coming across the southern border and the northern b border on a daily basis. china is the greatest threat to our country, domestically and internationally and we've got an illegal immigration crisis coming from china. not only are they importing their goods, they're now importing their people and doing

so now at the northern border where there's less detection. we have a northern border security caucus we created in the house republicans, elise stefanik, myself, mike telly and ryan zinc p,, we have to get serious about the northern border. maria: the northern border is weak. congressman, thank you. we'll be watching all of that, nick langworthy joining us this morning. we'll be right back. after last month's massive solar flare added a 25th hour to the day, businesses are wondering "what should we do with it?" i'm thinking company wide power nap. [ employees snoring ]

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maria: welcome back. take a look at futures this morning on this the first trading day of march. dow vills down 48, nasdaq down 4 points and s&p is lower by 5, fractional declines here. the nasdaq closed at a record high yesterday, first time since november 2021, the euphoria around tech continues. the nasdaq was up 144 at the close yesterday, 1%. 1%.stocks are up across the boad for the month of february, the major averages ending the month on the fourth monthly gain. so february was up 2%. nasdaq up 6% since -- as you can see, the end of january. s&p 500 up 5%. what a month. on top of great moves in 2023 and year-to-date. meanwhile, dell soaring,

reported a double beat, citing the rising demand for a.i. servers. dell shares are up 23% right now. we'll hear from target, ross stores, costco, nordstrom and bjs. here's a look at the three months for retail which have been positive for these stocks as well. joining me is commonwealth financial network chiefer brad f financial officer, brad mcmillan. your reaction. >> i think it's rational ex exuberance. when you look at the economy, when you look at the earnings results, companies are doing well. companies are making money and i think the market is responding what do you want to say about new york community bank corp. and the unsettled trading happening in the regional banks? look at the 10 year treasury yield this morning with interest rates staying pretty elevated.

you've got great moves. nasdaq is up 7% year-to-date. and of course it is largely on the idea that rate cuts are coming. this morning the 10 year is at 4.23%, that's down 1 and-a-half basis points. san francisco federal reserve president mary daily said fed officials are ready to lower interest rates as needed and will adjust as data demands them to do so. we've got jobs data on deck next week, we have the february adp and january jolts report on wednesday followed by the jobs report on friday, next friday, brad so you've got a lot of economic data to deal with. interest staying elevated but the expectation that rates are coming down. what's wrong with the regional banks p right now, brad. >> it's all about commercial real estate and you're 100% right. interest rates are the key here and commercial real estate is really what's getting hit hardest there. a lot of the regional banks have significant exposure. we've got a bunch of trends hitting the banks. we've got the commercial real estate, people aren't going to

work, people are working from home. companies in general are reducing their footprints and the thing is, this is the sector of financials that is most affected by that and in a sense you can look at the new york community bank and say the market is doing what it should. it's not this blind exuberance. it's rational. that's an important distinction. if things are hit because they should get hit that's a good sign. maria: the stock is getting killed, new york community bank corp., after the lender announced an immediate leader pship shakeup including a new ceo after booking a big hit to profits last year. the bank said it had material weaknesses in reporting protocols. the disportfolio closure happen -- disclosure happening last night, the latest drama for the bank. it struggled with exposure to the ailing real estate market

can as you correctly point out. i don't know what comes next, a takeover? what do you think -- and is this a specific story to just new york community bank corp. or do you think we're going to see more fallout from the commercial real estate issue? >> i do think we're going to see more fallout from the commercial real estate issue. what we're seeing in new york community bank seems to be company-specific but at the same time when you start to see cracks in these markets, it's not surprising to see other of problems start to surface. problems that didn't show up when times were good. so when you look at the banking industry, what we've seen is wewe've seen a huge interest rae shock and we had the banking, quote, crisis, unquote when silicon valley and first republic went down and then the feds took action, kind of postponed that. we're now seeing aftershocks work through and we're certainly going to see more takeovers. maria: well, mike lee, jump in here. because don't forget, new york community bank corp. picked up some of the leftovers from the

failed signature bank last year and so you've got more assets there, stock down 30% this morning. michael lee. >> so brad, inflation seems to be pretty sticky and every time we've seen inflation top 6% it's traveled -- it's fallen and then traveled back above 6%. i don't know if we're necessarily going to get that but it seems to me these hopes of fed rate cuts are a little bit overdone until we see better inflation data take. what are your thoughts on that? >> completely agree. everyone is saying when is the fed going to cut, how much is the fed going to cut. i think that's the wrong question. the right question is why would the fed cut. employment is still very strong. we'll see if that holds next week. inflation is still high. it seems to be stabilizing in the 3 to 4% range. the fed has no reason to cut. that said, the markets are down to about three expected rate

cuts which is what the fed has said. i think you're right, there's still more room to go there to adjust. maria: brad, great to talk with you this morning. thank you, sir. >> thank you, maria. maria: quick break and then a tale of dueling border trips, joe biden and donald trump. both touring very different sectors of the u.s. southern border. we're talking about it when we come back. then more troubles for new york city mayor eric adams, who else on his staff is getting a visit from the feds? we'll tell you all about it when we come back. ♪ (♪) is bad debt holding you back? ♪ the only limit is the sky ♪ ♪ it's our time ♪

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maria: welcome back. well, republicans choosing a

freshman senator to rebut president biden p's state of the union address next week. lauren simonetti with details now. >> good friday morning 689 the youngest woman in the senate, senator katie brit chosen to deliver the republicans' rebuttal on thursday. she said i'm grateful and honored to have the opportunity to speak to my fellow americans. we'll have a candid conversation about the future of our nation. joe biden expected to tout the infrastructure bill and chips and science act, claiming he saved democracy and united the country. alexei navalny is laid to rest in moscow today. the 47-year-old was a staunch critic of the kremlin and vladimir putin. he survived a poisoning attempt four years ago. the home of a top advisor for eric adams was raided by fbi agents yesterday they pulled up

to the resident's house. she was under investigation for using her position for personal benefits. she has been placed on administrative leave. greco is the second fundraiser for the mayor raided by the fbi. brianna scuz's home was invaded last year. a dream home turning into a nightmare. yes, a squatter disrupting a couple's plan to move into their newly purchased $2 million home in queens. the squatter claims to have a license from the previous deceased owner, allowing him to stay in the house but the couple says there was never any agreement for a tenant but new york squatters rights means police cannot evict him. the couple taking him to court. they hope for any vicks in april. march -- an eviction in april. maria: how is it possible someone can go into your house and you cannot remove them. >> this happened in los

angeles, a ritzy ai area. it became a party house. nobody could do anything about it. neighbors hired armed security guards to protect them. it happens in some cities and in nice places. maria: thank you. one southern border, two very different visits. president biden touring brownsville, texas yesterday, the former president trump was in eagle pass. trump highlighted the dangers of an open border policy and said he spoke with the parents of 22-year-old georgia student laken riley, she was allegedly killed by an illegal from venezuela. biden ignored questions about the death of the georgia nursing student. >> are you responsible, mr. president, do you bear any responsibility for laken riley's death? maria: national border patrol council president brandon judd blamed riley's death on president biden's ego. watch. >> when you look at the explosion of illegal immigration

under president biden, we have to understand that if we don't get this under control, we're going to continue to have the laken rileys of the worldnd a that's unfortunate because she paid her life for president biden's ego rather than what's best for the american people. maria: joining me right now is former fbi special agent and fox news contributor, nicole parker. nicole, good to see you this morning. just an incredible list of stories to talk with you about. your reaction? >> first of all, laken riley, this is absolutely tragic. a beautiful young woman with such a bright future. i believe that this current administration has blood on their hands. this individual was here illegally on two instances could have been deported. had committed crimes. and yet now there is a beautiful young woman who is dead. and their family and loved ones' lives will never be the same. as i watched the visit to the border, it was like night and day. the stark contrast between the two visits. you have biden that is at a

location and a building of total photo op opportunity. you have president trump who is there in the trenches walking through the dirt, shoulder of shoulder with border patrol and with governor abbott. he's in the trenches and he really cares. and it shows. the fact that president biden could not even acknowledge laken's name in this press conference is absolutely disgusting and disrespectful. maria: even more than that, they're trying to pin it on trump. incredible to me to actually -- one of the statements from biden and the administration was that trump has been trying to defund the police. i mean -- [laughter] maria: after all of those years of the democrats defunding the police and pushing to defund the police they have the nerve to say trump wants to do what they did already. >> let me just tell you something. i don't think americans are buying this at all. this lack of border security is causing problems for our nation. border security equals national security and as a former fbi

special agent this is dawning dangerousfor our country. what we're seeing with the violent crime across the nation, laken's death, little children being sexually assaulted and rapes by illegal immigrants, this is just the beginning. for biden to come in yesterday, at the border talking about climate change, president trump is there making difference. pie den is saying look -- biden is saying look, president trump, why don't we work together. if you'd like to cooperate texas is doing an outstanding job. governor abbott is enforcing things and putting wire up. why wouldn't you join and partner up with governor abbott instead of trying to fight them every step of the way. as a texan, it's dawning rise, it's -- dangerous. it's concerning. president biden, i recommend you shoulder with governor abbott and step in and cooperate with their steps that they're taking and let's make a difference here.

maria: instead, they the want to sue greg abbott for putting the razor wire in place and threaten to take it down. it's just incredible and we've got a spotlight on it and it's obviously not fooling anybody, this whole change in terms of trying to blame the border on trump and republicans. meanwhile, the house oversight committee released hunter biden's closed door deposition transcript yesterday. he testified that his father was not involved in his business deals. you're out with a new fox news op-ed, titled fbi failed to vet confidential sources in a timely way, you write sources have a plethora of information to assist law enforcement. we hope their motives are pure, but that's not always the case. what are you saying? what is your reaction to the smirnoff indictment? >> i have to tell you that again as a former agent, operating sources is one of the most important things you'll do. as an agent, the confidentiality of the information that's provided is very, very crucial

and to protect the sources crucial but very much important is to vet the information. the fbi sat on this information for years, maria. and then all of a sudden it's being vetted, fully vetted. it was partial vetted. now it's fully vetted and this sort is being indicted, a sort who had been with the fbi for over 10 years, paid substantial amounts of money. a special council comes in and he's being indicted. there is no one that will want to cooperate with the fbi anymore. all of the source's information was laid out on the table in this indictment and i think it does -- there's a lot of questions in my mind of the motive behind why this is suddenly happening now. you know what the fbi, you should have vetted that information first and foremost and democrats out there are saying oh, the impeachment inquiry it was based on the source's information. there's nothing to see. he lied to the fbi. there's nothing there. as an investigator, you never base an investigation on one source. there are probably multiple

witnesses corroborating evidence, bank records. just because one source's information and one piece of information they g is not accure and is a ellie doesn't mean the entire investigation is out the window. that's not the case. i think they should continue to press on. this is just a distraction. again for them suddenly charge this source, christopher steele wouldn't have been charged. hno charge for him. but this sources being indicted. i think it's very interesting. maria: well, it's very different. christopher steele of course had all this garbage about trump colluding with russia and he admitted well, we made it up, we were having beers with friends and embellished it all and you're right nothing happened to him. all of this is the reason that the chairman of the oversight committee james comer joined me this week and said he's lost trust in the fbi. listen to this. i want to get your reaction. >> they successfully used this informant to prosecute criminals

in the past and he's wi been wih the bureau for over a d decade. the fbi paid him to be a spy in russia. they indicted him because he was communicating with russia but that's what they paid him for over 10 years to do so i don't know anything about smirnoff but the circumstances around his indictment and his he rearrest and the changing of the original indictment by weiss is very concerning because everything that i've had to do with the fbi has been very suspicious light -- suspiciousthroughout this in. the trust level i have with the fbi is zero. maria: that's a pretty incredible comment, trust level at zero for the fbi, nicole. you were an fbi agent. i know you have lots of friends there. i know some fbi agents who i think are wonderful but i'm talking fbi leadership here.

why did you leave the fbi. tell us how you're reacting to what you heard from comer. >> i can't blame comer. there are many people within the fbi at this point that i don't know that they even trust the fbi. there's fbi one, those that came to the fbi to uphold the constitution, protect americans, keep us safe. fbi 2 are those that are in high level positions using their law enforcement power to push their political and social agendas which is entirely unacceptable. that's what's tearing down and ruining the fbi. they need to get back to being the number one law enforcement agency in the country. they need to restore the trust of the american people. but that's sadly i don't believe it's going to happen until there's new leadership starting at the very top and trickling down. there's a lot of changes and reform that must happen to regain the trust of the american people. right now, it's a problem. it's very problematic and i understand where comer is coming from. maria: nicole, we'll leave it

there. really well said. great to see you this morning, thank you. >> thank you much. maria: bitcoin has been soaring the last few days, hovering around $62,000. fox business' gerri willis with a live report on what's going on here. gerri. >> reporter: that's right. bitcoin, close to all-time highs. how you can get a piece of the action without breaking the bank p after the break. ♪ (luke) so... i hear some of you are concerned about the fact that i'm taking over the company. well, rest assured, company's in great hands. marci, hit the vid'. (both lukes) homes-dot-com. we've done your home work. (luke) now, that is worth celebrating!

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been putting staggering amounts of money, blackrock, fidelity, and a few others. >> the s.e.c.'s controversial decision to approve the etfs based on bitcoin on january 10 setting in motion the launch of nine new exchange traded funds based on the world's first cryptocurrency. as of wednesday, those etfs hitting $7.6 billion in volume. that according to bloomberg data. the y nethey're launching the mt popular entrants, opting for funds with the lowest fees ranging from 19 basis points to 39 basis points. fidelity is charging no fee at all right now until july 31. the average etf fee as a point of comparison, 54 basis points. also pushing bitcoin higher what insiders call the mandate of

bitcoin code to cut the reward mining bitcoin in half to reduce the supply of bitcoin and create scarceity. also pushing bitcoin higher is the as we said buying even a bitcoin etf isn't without risk. as you mentioned before, there is suggestions that the price may go down pretty dramatically and we've seen it happen in the past, that bitcoin's been in trouble with regulators, current estimations of where the price is going as high at 120,000, maybe just 42 you thousand. 42,000. we'll have to wait and see. maria, back to you. maria: thank you so much, gerri. michael, do you own any bitcoin? >> i recently took some profits andmoved it into other a.i. reld stocks that i think have more upside. that being said, the bull case

for bitcoin is playing out right in front of us. so a moment happened with silicon valley bank where in a massive risk off event bitcoin rallied substantially. after that, with all the government money printing, so the deficit came in much larger last year than was predicted. i suspect the same thing will happen this year. okay. new york community bank on the fritz. if there's more bank failures, more fed bailing out, people like janet yellen saying we can backstop every single depositors in the entire system, it just -- it goes to play on the thesis that fiat currency is worthless because they can print it forever and you change to the ease of use, now you can just buy an etf from a reputable company like fidelity orbit coin or bitcoin, it makes it easierr people to own. historically once you break

through the cycle high, you triple that previous cycle high so you could -- in my opinion i think you see north of 150,000. maria: it's unbelievable what's happening here. you do think it's going much higher, then. when? >> i don't know if it's going to take six months or two years. these cycles play out over time but the having is an important event and already now with the buying and a etfs and it got approved at bank of america and wells fargo so this is still being rolled out into the retail advisor industry, the best days are in front of it unless the government some d somehow runs t surplus. i don't think that's going to happen. maria: i think the belief is in block chain much more so than bitcoin but you're seeing you euphoria around it all. we'll get back to that. coming up. joe biden and donald trump facing out at the southern border with separate trips in the same day. we're talking about it if the hot topic of the hour.

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maria: good friday morning, thanks for joining us this morning. i am maria but aroma and