>> todd: a fox news alert, our banking system is sound is the message from treasury secretary janet yellen as the biggest banks in america jump in to rescue first republic bank. you're watching "fox and friends first" on friday morning, i'm todd piro. >> ashley: and i'm ashley strohmier. "wall street journal" says yellen's testimony contradicts what happened yesterday with banks invested $30 billion of their own money to calm panic. janet yellen offered more assurance u.s. banks are safe and sound and we doubt the treasury secretary believes it, no one else does. the economy and banking system are a okay when they are not, the more markets get nervous. >> todd: that is concerning from

the editorial board. alexandria hoff joins us live. >> alexandria: u.s. regulators are applauding the deal saying the lifeline given to first republic bank demonstrates the resilience of the american banking system. all of this to pull first republic bank from the spiral met by silicon valley, signature and silver gate. join statement reads action of the largest banks reflect confidence in the banking system, we are deploying strength and liquidity to the largest system where it is needed most. the banks are supporting the economy and those around us. secretary yellen was among the architects of the deal. her testimony game days after emergency action to contain collapse of silicon valley bank. listen. >> i can reassure the members of the committee that our banking system is sound.

americans can feel confident that their deposits will be there when they need them. this week's actions demonstrate resolute commitment to ensure that our financial system remains strong and that depositors savings remain safe. no taxpayer money is being used or put at risk with this action. >> alexandria: a financial attorney feels the fdic under president biden is ignoring other stability roots. >> the irony, they are making the big banks bigger by refusing to do normal things you do in this situation. the most normal thing is you would arrange for a shotgun wedding, a merger of a stronger partner. but hostility of the far extremist left to bank mergers is off the charts. >> alexandria: off the charts in the continental u.s., where you

will find silicon valley bank ceo becker, he is in hawaii after cashing out 3.5 million in stocks weeks before the president biden will head to the capitol for friends of ireland lunch. kevin mccarthy will be there, too, discussing how to avert debt ceiling crisis. >> todd: we have been busy with other things, that is a big one. senate republicans pressing secretary yellen at finance committee hearing over president biden's lack of social security plan in his recent budget. listen. >> why doesn't the president care? >> he cares deeply. >> where is his plan? >> he stands ready to work with -- >> that's a lie because when bipartisan group of senators has repeatedly requested to meet with him about social, we have not heard anything on our request and we've made multiple requests to meet with the president. that is a fact and if you have

been told to say he understand stas ready to meet, i will tell you there is absolutely no evidence because we have not gotten our meeting. >> todd: joe biden proposed 6.8 trillion budget plan is considered dead on arrival among republicans. >> ashley: president obama's transportation secretary is praising the transportation secretary pete buttigieg. listen. >> i give him an a, he's done a good job, been a good secretary. traveling the country, doing what president biden wanted. he was in the community after the train wreck occurred and met with people there. >> ashley: residentses with east palestine are struggling with health concern and questions since the disaster. sgll in my opinion, i think catastrophe happened, i would like to see him take action and

implement safety regulations to avoid this happening in the future. >> ashley: that woman, jolynn pasqualucci went viral on social media, when she described how she wanted to get toxins tested in her blood and this is what happened. >> i went in to get bloodwork done and the gentleman that does the bloodwork said, i'm sorry to tell you this, for some weird reason, it's been discontinued within the last month, they are not doing it. i smell something fishy and i think anyone that hears this is hearing something fishy, too. >> ashley: president biden has not visited east palestine, but says he plans to at some point. state attorney's office -- jar ed brightebegan. mario fernandez was arrested, former landlord of the first person charged in january for the slaying.

brightegan's ex is a suspect at this time, the 33 year old was gunned down last year in front of his two-year-old dire while moving a tire strategically blocking the road. >> todd: and brothers admit to being paid by act or smollett ae explaining why they helped the actor carry out the hoax. watch. >> i want to apologize to everyone in the audience, the country and anyone affected by this directly. when we were asked to partake in this, we really didn't foresee the ramifications of what something like this could do to the country. >> jussie smollett was in a position to help us, us helping him out would have helped us out. >> todd: smollett insists he was attacked despite being attacked

of five felony accounts of lying to chicago pd. you will hear more from the brothers, osundairo brothers on "fox and friends," don't miss that. house republicans are following the money to joe biden's daughter-in law, she is tied to the payout from china. >> ashley: congressman greg murphy will talk about that and his investigation into the penn biden center. cut! another health insurance commercial, another aqua-aerobics scene. yup. most health insurance companies see us all the same: smiley seniors golfing, hiking... don't forget antiquing. that's why i chose humana. they see me, not a stereotypical senior. i'm pre-diabetic, so i talked one-on-one with a humana health educator who really helped me. now i'm taking free cooking and meditation classes. not aqua-aerobics? better care begins with listening. humana. a more human way to healthcare.

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energy hk limited. hunter's team defending the payout saying hunter biden has every right to do a business endefer, this is a joint venture in china. comer says the transfers from walker to the bidens had one detail missing. listen. >> one thing i noticed that was unique about the wire transfer, each transfer is like a check. you have the name, address, date, dollar amount and memo, which is what it is for. every wire transfer from robinson walker had something listed in the memo, except the bidens. if they had put in the memo, wee would know what the money was for. >> brooke: comer wants to know what services were for that kind of money. >> they said this is a business

deal, there is no business. they were influence pedalling, it looks like they were getting money for some type of service. i don't think hunter can provide the type of service that could generate millions of dollars from the chinese communist party, but i believe his father could. >> brooke: the white house slammed comer. after disgusting attack lamenting the president's deceased son was never prosecuted after he was alive, they are going after his widow. here is miranda devine's response. >> the white house is saying there is nothing about this, why was this money so laloruously doled out in small increments to various members of the family. why was it given to hallie biden, who was primary school

teacher? did they pay taxes on? why was walker the middle man? >> brooke: the payment came in 2015, after her husband's death and while she was romantically involved with hunter biden. >> todd: you just heard miranda devine, who works for the "new york post" and i think the "new york post" editorial post says it best, they say it is corruption. new records cast how co-mingled biden family life is with larger business operations of the clan. there is no possible legit reason why hallie biden should have gotten a slice of the payout, but this is tradition for the bidens. your thoughts, congressman? >> amen, todd. what we're seeing now, with every layer of the onion, the biden family stinks more and more.

i say that because what we're doing is finding information now, going back to the penn biden center, going back to hallie biden and seeing moneys have been transferred from china. if you step back and look and say why is biden so weak on china? what is he afraid of? we're finding out now, they have been pouring money into certain entities and into his family, i'm sure the president is reluctant to be strong on our greatest adversary, as we're finding out now. they poured money into this biden entity and now we're finding out about it and it is not looking good for them. >> todd: you are demanding answers from the university of pennsylvania over funding from china or other foreign adversaries toward the center. look at links to china. upenn receiving donations from china between 2014 and 2019.

30.3 million in donations came in 2018 and 2019, the time immediately following the penn biden center's opening and 23.1 million in donations from anonymous chinese donors since 2016. what does this say about joe biden's willingness to be tough on china? >> well, it shows he's not. this is where he's been financed. the upenn center, the penn biden center, once they got going, the number and explosion of chinese money that came to that institution is outstanding, unbelievable. the fact biden got paid $900,000 from the biden center, again, you peel the onion back, it doesn't smell right. something is upon haing here, influence pedalling most likely. it is a tragedy the president of the united states is mixed up in

this. >> todd: from the white house down, will the u.s. be able to fully counter china to survive in the 21st century if colleges and universities continue accepting payments from the ccp? >> this is a difficult time. i sent a letter last year asking about the top 15 endowments of this country, how much are they invested in china and institutions? university of pennsylvania was $3 million in endowments, some higher, some lower. they said it is not illegal, we will take foreign money and once we take foreign money, we are compromised. these are colleges and universities where our young students are learning temperature is a difficult nut to crack, china has infiltrated this country. they have police departments within the country. we saw a balloon wasn't attacked

when it went across this country. it is difficult if the leader of the free world is not fighting back. >> todd: the ccp is not giving money because they like the sports teams, they are doing it for a sinister reason. congressman, thank you for your time and happy st. patrick's day. a seven year old girl and her grandmother killed in a crash with a human smuggler near the border. 69 people on the terror watch list have been caught by border patrol just this year. >> ashley: what is our dhs secretary doing? rubbing shoulders with famous friendings to celebrate jen psaki's new msnbc show. we have joe concha here to react next. someone who thinks with their hands. who can shape raw materials into something meaningful. and who wants to serve in their own way. if you're out there.

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that picture of them there smiling and you have laing. 71-year-old maria and seven-year-old emilia, it happened in small town of ozona sunday night. the suspect was fleeing police while smuggling migrants into the country. the driver of the car is in the hospital. funeral services for the grandmother and granddaughter held yesterday. >> ashley: sad story. cpb data reveals migrants trying to enter the united states are on the terror watch list. 182 since the last couple of years, even top democrats sounding the alarm on the issue at the border. >> the border is a crisis, been crisis entire time in office. it is real challenge for border patrol and cbp to do our job to

secure the southern border. it is not secure. listen to the professionals, listen to border patrol agents, guys who deal with this every single day. >> ashley: since october 1, 900,000 have been apprehended at the border. 385,000 known gotaways. all that chaos is happening at the border, border agents are begging dhs secretary mayorkas to show up and do something. instead he just attended a fancy dinner party with msnbc host celebrating jen psaki's new show. >> todd: joe concha joins us now, how bad does this look that mayorkas was hob-knobbing with msnbc after his border patrol chief testified on capitol hill at the border on capitol hill that the federal government does not have operational control of the border.

>> joe: it looks elite, out of touch, apathetic toward what is a crisis to many democrats saying those who have lawmaking ability in arizona and texas are saying it is catastrophe and crisis. what we got was preview of what jen psaki's new show will look like. and if she were to have secretary mayorkas on her show, why do we get the feeling he won't be asked one fair or tough question regarding f minus failure at the u.s. southern border. msnbc does not care how this looks, this was celebration dinner for jen psaki's new show in public with plenty of photos being taken. what i've seen, she is utterly uninteresting and inauthentic. you take peter doocy or jacqui heinrich out of her life and put her in an echo chamber, you will

see how low the ratings are next week, save the tape, ashley. >> ashley: it looks bad to america, think about cbp agents. i was talking to tom homan yesterday, he says it is so bad agents are taking their own life. to see him going to posh parties, what a slap in the face when they just want him to come do something, anything, joe. we have to get to this. second gentleman doug inhofe. listen. >> i met one woman who settled in ukraine and is refugee again. this stuff is so important, hate is interconnected. you see it in the discourse in the country and in the divide we have and just going to the

school meeting, you see that hate that is out there. >> ashley: your reaction to what you just heard? >> joe: wow, last check, i think doug inhoffe and kamala harris don't have kids and that is fine. if the second gentleman did have children and learned his first grader was being taught about gender identification, he may show up at the school board meeting and demand transparent, this is why we have governor youngkin in virginia, which was blue state until he ran on education issue. it is a reason we have ron desantis being re-elected in florida, their simple stance and logical, i don't think it is conservative, it is common sense that parents have a right to know what their children are being taught and emhoff does not

get that. he says things that bring divide in this country. >> todd: he has i believe a child from a previous child, it is older, you are not going through what children this day and age are going through. as far as kamala harris, howard alum, delivering locker room speech to the team after march madness loss. watch, joe. >> played to the very last second. you made all of us so, so proud. i mean it. you literally what you have done is historic proportion. i was at howard back in the day, we were just happy there was a game. much less getting to this place. >> todd: joe, isn't it time for howard basketball to do what they have been doing and that time is everyday.

>> joe: passage of time included time running out on howard and losing, but was tough loss admittedly. if i'm a player there, last thing i want to see is a pep talk from somebody talking about how we the bison did things of historic proportions when you lost the game. i just want to go home and think about playing next year if i'm a junior, sophomore or freshman. historic proportion is baltimore county five years ago beating virginia as 16 seed beating a one seed, that is historic. when you lose, you don't want to hear you almost got there. she is so awkward, only term or word i can think of. prince princeton has blown up my pool. >> ashley: you don't need to hear from her. >> todd: joe concha thank you, happy st. patrick's day.

where is your tie? >> todd: this is green, it is not maroon. wrap up highlights from the game, first big bracket buster furman university, the school had not been to the tournament in 43 years, paladins pulling off an upset 68-67 over university of virginia hitting game-winning shot with two seconds, watch. >> the best free-throw shooter. >> in a straight jacket. >> he threw it away. [cheering] >> a little bit of time. it is petman. good if it goes and fur dollar the man has won. >> todd: who is better harland the surprises did not stop there, the fighting pete hegseth, princeton university tigers shattered the bracket beating the number two seed,

university of arizona wildcats 59-55. >> no good. and they win this thing. >> princeton will keep dancing. and the tigers of princeton into round two. >> todd: 60 to 100 million brackets filled out each year, after day one, 787 remain perfect, i am ashley strohmier's is perfect. joe, you're in good company, a lot of people did, don't be so down. maine lobstermen fighting for their livelihood after a green group from california threatens to put them out of business. >> ashley: one liberal city plans to crack down on gas appliances, cheryl casone is here to break down these stories, don't go anywhere.

i was thinking, i should probably set up that 90 day refill. walgreens is all about making life easier. i can help set that up right now for you. i'll be honest, there are days i forget what she's supposed to be taking. hey, i get it... and you're not alone in this, ok? so james, all these prescriptions. are they covered? that's right. with your medicare plan you get low-cost copays. thank you. let's talk about making things easier.

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basis point jump from original prediction about recession, the recession debate aside, what is happening with republic is a push and pull. you have major banks, you have j.p. morgan, morgan stanley, wells fargo, goldman sachs bailing out first republic bank. depositing $30 billion to the bank trying to shore it up. what is interesting, there is criticism with janet yellen, of course she is going to go in front of congress and say the banking system is stable, of course she will do that, that is her job. you have to remember, j.b. diamond, said he would never do a bailout again. i would argue with the editorial board, this is not 2008, i've been saying that all week.

this is different. this is silicon valley bank, signature bank, signature bank was a crypto-story. silicon valley bank was high interest rate startup and bad behavior end of the day. the ceo is in hawaii now. first republic bank has similar banking structure and client base to silicon valley bank, that is why there was pressure. there is fever-pitch panic i don't like to see because this is not 2008. this is not. there is so much rhetoric and media coverage people are getting nervous and i understand that, but i cover 2008. i was here at fox in this building during the banking crisis, this is not the same thing. >> todd: that is good perspective, that is needed. you have people talking, it is important we have that business sense. that is helpful. >> cheryl: we'll see, i just

think the rhetoric needs to die down. i can't ding janet yellen for trying to defend the banking system. >> todd: blue collar maine lobstermen trying to sue for defamation. this is not right. >> cheryl: their defense is very real. this is the monterey bay aquarium foundation, they have this meter they put out and grocery stores like whole foods and consumer companies say if they get a red rating on a group, we are not going to buy. they did that to the maine fishermen and the maine fishermen group is fighting back. quote from monterey bay foundation, these fisheries endanger the north atlantic white whale. this institution educates about importance of healthy ocean. they are upset because maine

fishermen are fighting them. the attorney for the maine lobstermen say they are being defamed by monterey bay and that group. >> the foundation runs seafood watch and they said they engaged in a science-based analysis investigating all available scientific data and engaged in rigorous transparent science-based process to arrive at conclusion that maine lobster fishing harmed, threatened lives of the northern white whale and that is factually inaccurate. >> cheryl: there are facts to back up this case by maine lobstermen. there has not been a whale death in decades and they have changed. it is to their benefit that the ocean is clean and we get lobster. 90% of lobster comes from maine,

so think about that. >> todd: we want american lobster, not foreign. >> ashley: san francisco is latest dem city to crack down on gas appliances. >> cheryl: 2027, san francisco will phase out natural-gas-powered appliances. they claim the 1.8 million water heaters impact air quality resulting in early deaths and wide range of health impact, particularly in communities of color. they will phase out gas appliances, not going after stoves, that is interesting. >> todd: happy st. patrick's day. >> cheryl: i did wear green. ashley and i got the memo, todd did not. >> ashley: one of president biden top health officials says it is only matter of time before gender procedures for kids become mainstream. >> gender affirming care is

medical care, it will be challenging, i'm hopeful that the wheel will turn. >> todd: unpacking that and checking in with tom shillue, look at tom celebrating sant patrick's day in savannah, georgia. keep it here on "fox and friends first." ♪ ♪ get $1500 purchase allowance on a 2023 cadillac xt5 and xt6. ♪ visit your local cadillac dealer today.

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>> janice: good morning, happy st. patrick's day, we are wearing green today, very exciting. take a look at temperatures. not exciting with information i'm going to deliver. we have a cold front, ahead of it southerly flow, bring temperatures up for eastern third of the country. rain and snow behind the cold front. we had storm damage in terms of wind gusts toward oklahoma and risk for severe storms today. keep that in mind if you are doing st. patrick's day outside, we could see nature fireworks in new orleans and tallahassee, florida, with heavy rain. a lot of green and that means rain. snow in the forecast for upper midwest and great lakes, michigan could get upward of a foot of snow today.

here is st. patrick's day outlook. green on the map means potential for rain in the forecast for the st. patrick's day parade, good-looking forecast. warmer temperatures, could see showers after the parade, the parade starts 11 a.m. on fifth avenue. cold front sweeping across the country next couple days. freezad visery for southeast. good news story, we have dry conditions for california. we have a new storm system moving in this week. look at the drought. in some cases, extreme drought completely wiped out in california. that is a really good news story, we're going to track another storm system next week. to see that, that is pretty rare. >> ashley: that is great, your out fit is great. >> janice: i have a hat, i thought it was too much, i will

wear it during "fox and friends." actually several hats. todd is not wearing green. >> todd: it is a wardrobe malfunction. with that, bring in fox news contributor tom shillue live in savannah, georgia, having breakfast with friends. tom, what are you talking about with the fine folks in savannah? >> i am so happy to be in savannah, i grew up in boston and i heard savannah is number three st. patrick's day celebration in the country after new york and chicago. i was thinking, where is boston? are we fourth behind savannah? i couldn't believe it, when i got here, it is off the charts. everyone is going crazy, they have the green beads, like in mardi gras, green down here. we are here at jay christopher's

restaurant, open and ready for people to come in. the breakfast customers are not people who just woke up like me, they are people who have been up all night. >> ashley: my question, looks like you are having more fun than we are, you are having breakfast with everyone this morning. are you going to participate in festivities? what are you going to do today? >> you want me to get out and march in the parade? wow, it is not enough i wake up at 4 in the morning and come down to this diner and talk to people? no, we're talking to people in this restaurant and during "fox and friends" we'll be meeting people celebrating down here in savannah. i would love to get in the parade, i heard a tradition where girls come out with lipstick and kiss you on the cheek, i would like to get in on that. >> ashley: they do. >> todd: what? >> ashley: people go crazy in savannah, like the place to be, that is where he is.

>> todd: savannah dyes the river green. at the end of your segment, will you jump in said green river? >> my gosh. todd, you are trying to get me to do things against my nature. it is chilly right now, i have a sweater under my green jacket. i will not get into green fountain, todd, that is something i expect from you. >> ashley: obviously you said you are talking to people in the diner and restaurant today. there is a lot of news in this news cycle this week, what was your favorite story this week? sglp favorite story is closing out the week with st. patrick's day, we have goofy storiesic loo the last story about rachel levine and stuff we're dealing with the gender surgery and stuff like that, it makes it hard to get on gutfeld and joke around when you have war and

health policy and things like that. we're supposed to be joking around, i've had a difficult week. >> ashley: i'll bet it has been difficult for you. >> todd: you are surrounded by booze to make the week go better. have a great time and happy st. patrick's day to you and yours. enjoy. with that, fox news alert, we know chinese president xi jinping will head to moscow to meet with putin on monday. russia has been acting more aggressively toward u.s. military bases in syria. >> ashley: general anthony talla is here next. or enbrel, rinvoq is different and may help. stand up to your symptoms with rinvoq. rinvoq is a once-daily pill that tackles pain, stiffness, swelling. for some, rinvoq significantly reduces ra and psa fatigue.

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labor union marching through the city slamming the move as unjust and brutal for the world of workers. 64 is brutal allegedly. the white house says the video of a russian jet clipping a u.s. drone completely debunks recent rhetoric from the kremlin. >> those videos pretty darn conclusive about what happened. and it absolutely just desmates the russian lie about what they said happened or what they said didn't happen. it's pretty darn obvious when you look at that video that that fighter jet hit our drone. >> retired army brigadier general and author of the new book "total empire" general an anthony tatum joins us now. you heard just there john kirby said that it, quote, desmates the russian lie. so, if that's the case and russia is lying on the world stage then why is president biden and his administration not pushing back harder? >> hey, ashley, todd, great to be with you all this morning.

yeah, of course, russia is lying about the drone. you know, it's war. they are an adversary, they see us as an adversary. they are trying to shape world opinion in their favor, paint us as some kind of aggressor. you know, they are the aggressor in violation of international law and, yes, true, we are tasking intelligence assets to try to help out and protect, first of all, protect nato nations and then share that intelligence with ukraine. and the observe some kind of response to your question, be ashley. yeah, we have got bear in mind at the bottom of this slippery slope are the bulk of the world's nuclear weapons in russia and the united states. so, if you recall, we had a drone incident where it was actually shot down over the persian gulf by iran and -- with surface to air missiles and we kept our powder dry.

so i think the administration is thinking through a response, how to respond to it, what to do. and we have got to balance this, you know, nuclear armageddon with some kind of reasonable response that continues to maintain the stability in nato and shore up our logistical roads into ukraine. and the provision of intelligence that helps ukraine continuing to fight this war. >> joe biden wants foreign policy creating a void on the world stage. xi jinping filling that void. we just broke the news. chinese president will meet with vladimir putin of russia now on monday. how concerned are you about that? >> highly concerned, todd, thanks. the soft alliance that's forming here between china, the iran, russia, what you are see something a formation of these

that -- some small incident could lead us into a global war. it's really concerning. and the biden administration, one of the things that has been anemic here when you think about the levers of national power, diplomatic information, military, economic, you know, information has been okay, military, i think, has been goodbye sending rotational brigades to europe and they tried sanctions, sanctionly rarely work but diplomacy has been anemic. where is secretary blinken? you can't even -- todd, you can't even have a serbia invasion there, that was just as brutal as this and heavy tanks and artillery and president clinton and wes clark found a solution. that solution worked. and they stopped the war. so we have got start thinking

what is the end state here. >> ashley: poland is sending fighter jets to ukraine this changes the war are from the ground to the air. how much pressure does this put on russia. >> it puts some pressure on russia. air superiority is a big deal. it allow the ukrainian forces to have some kind of joint operation between air and ground, which is a key to being able to fight. at the same time, it ramps up our nato support of ukraine and putin will view this as nato being involved in the war. and it could, in his mind, green light him to do other things in the ball particulars or against poland or romania or other areas. that's part of the previous question about ramping up into soft alliance, hardening the

alliances between china, iran, north korea and russia. and it's actually what i write about in my book "total empire." yeah, it's exactly the same stuff. >> ashley: be sure to check out general tata's up coming book out this tuesday. thank you. we appreciate it. "fox & friends" starts right now. happy saint patrick's day. ♪ >> they can do external operations in under six months. >> head of u.s. central command telling major isis military groups could potentially attack the u.s., isis and al-qaeda. >> they smell weakness in this white house. >> 69 people on the texas it? >> woman and are granddaughter killed in a crash. >> that extra step not to be a texan. >> several members of the family received payments from a chinese energy company. >>