definitely would not want to go with katy perry and gayle kink. -- gayle king. maria: i like that one. i'm going to wait for you, john. who do you want to go to space with? >> putin and zelenskyy -- the. [laughter] see whether or not they can iron things out. maria: putin and zelenskyy? [laughter] if i were to to go to pace, i want to go with my baby girl, dusty. i think dusty would love it, to be in the rocket with me, and if we can do it together and if actually get there, then i would be happy to have dusty with me. i don't know how she would react, but that would be my favorite -- >> that'd be the ultimate car ride, maria, for dusty. maria: it sure would. guys, great show, thank you so much for being here. have a fantastic weekend, everybody. i don't know lonski, samantha and cheryl cheryl ca a sony, we will see you again on monday, and join me tonight and sunday. "varney & company" picks it up, stu, take it away. stuart: good morning, everyone.

ukraine's zelenskyy will arrive at the white house, meet the president and put the finishing touches on the deal that gives america access to ukraine's natural resources. they have titanium, lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt. we get back a lot of money, and with a lot of americans operating over there, ukraine gets security. the deal is expected to be signed this morning. now, this is all part of the larger negotiations for a peace deal with russia. trump is putting pressure on moscow. he says that deal either gets done quickly or it count get done at all. -- doesn't get done at all. in a moment you're going to hear from star columnist mark tease marc thiessen concern marc thiessen. let's get to the markets. a key inflation indicator released about a half hour ago, up 2.5% in the last year. but the headline this morning in the financial markets is bitcoin. a sharp decline. it is hovering just -- $81,600 right now.

it had been down below $80,000 earlier. here's another headline, another decline in interest rates. the 10-year now trading right, just below 4.25%. last week it was 4.5%. for the bond market, that is a very big move. the 2-year, well that yields just above 4%, 4.04 to be precise. as a for stocks, the dow is going to open with a solid gain, ab 180 points. s&p, which is down 4.5% from its recent high, only a tiny gain at the opening bell. as for the nasdaq, well, it's just slipped into the red, down 3 points. special attention on teslad today. it's dropped 30% in four weeks. elon musk's political activity the worries some investors. down again in premarket trading this morning. watch slid vid ya. it dropped over 8% yesterday alone, $200 billion worth of value wiped out, it's down again now at 117.

a federal judge has held up the mass firing of federal workers. he says the office of personnel if management doesn't have the authority. if so another e-mail expected to go out other the weekend from department heads who do have the authority to fire people the if their work force. 29 cartel bosses can if drug dealers will appear in court in new york city today. they've been ex, there that dieted from mexico -- extradited. this is a big trump win. it shows mexico will take action on fentanyl. well, the mob is back at an elite college campus, and the authorities failed to take action. at a barnard, so-called demonstrators shut things down for six hours. they damagedded property and injured a college worker. no arrest. there are some bright pots, however. a possible trade deal with britain and the trump show, it rolls on odded the. you'll' the president sign -- on today. the president answering

any and all questions. it really is very entertaining. it is friday, february the 28th, 2025. "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪ ♪ ♪ you can't hurry love are, no, you'll just have to wait ♪ stuart: you can't hurry love. so true, isn't it? all right. president trump welcomed u.k.'s prls keir starmer to the white house. -- prime minister keir starmer. listen to what the two two had to to say about their discussions. >> i think there's a very good case that in the -- chance that in the case of these two friendly countries, we could very well end up with a real trade deal where the tariffs wouldn't be necessary. >> we'll also a work together to level some big economic wins that can benefit us both. we have a $1.5 trillion invested in each other's economies

creating over 2.5 a million jobs across both economies. our trading relationship is not just strong, it's fair, balanced and and resip proare call. reciprocal. stuart: -- is a breakthrough. it suggest ises president trump's stress on tariffs, this pressure on the brits with tariffs is working. looks like they could have a trade deal. no tariffs. later this morning president trump will welcome ukraine's president, volodymyr zelenskyy, to the white house. zelenskyy is expected to sign trump's new rare earth minerals deal. and look who's here now, marc thiessen is back with us. marc says this deal is a huge blow to the russia and putin and a massive win for trump. that's quite a story you've got there, marc. make your case. >> well, first of all, people need to understand that donald trump is the best friend ukraine has. he wants the end the war, he wants to end the killing. he said he wants to help ukraine

get its territory back, so he's not just freezing the lines where they are right now. he wants to negotiate a deal that that gets ukraine some of its land back, and he wants u.s. taxpayers to get a return on their investment that they made in defending ukraine. and that's what this deal is about. if you think, this is a huge blow to russia, because what did putin want? putin wanted to conquer ukraine. instead three years later, donald trump is informing in ukraine, going into business -- investing if ukraine with. we are now invested literally, not figuratively, literally, in the future of a sovereign and free ukraine. if ukraine stays a free and independent state, the american people get hundreds of billions of dollars in profit from joint ventures if in pin if walls. -- min rahals. if putin takes over ukraine with, we get nothing because putin is not going to repay us for the weapons we gave zelenskyy the fight his troops. we only get those weapons if ukraine survive ises. so in this deal -- survives.

people are say, oh, it's a terrible deal for ukraine because they didn't get security guarantees. the deal is a security guarantee because we're invested in their sovereignty and independence now in a way we never if were before, so is this is a genius move by donald trump. stuart: the president says so himself, look, with all these americans going over there, russia's not going to walk across the border and invade, and if they did, all a hell breaks loose. that's the security angle, isn't it? >> exactly. we're never going to send u.s. troops and nobody in the political -- democrats, republicans, nobody wants to send u.s. troops the ukraine. what trump is doing, he's sending something better, he's sending u.s. workers. stuart: yes. >> he's sending u.s. direct invest investment, bulldozers and earth movers to dig those minerals up. and, again, this is why also the peace deal is now about -- do the minerals deal is in place, the peace deal is now about a securing america's investment, making sure that a we have a stable situation on the ground

so that american businesses have the confidence to go in and dig up those minerals and send those people in. we all have -- that's what the peace deal is going to be about, curing the investment, and that's going -- got to make sure it's a deal that's going to last beyond trump. nobody's going to invest if ukraine if they think as soon as trump's out of to the oval office, war's going to tart again. stuart: listen to what karoline leavitt had to say about the media and trump. you'll like this. watch it. >> i think that's manager the press are having -- something the press are having a hard time with. we are genuinely having so much fun, and this is why you're seeing them obsess over elon musk and president trump. and and they're trying to saturday -- so hard but failing the drive a wedge in that relationship, because hay love those sensational stories of trying to pit people against each other. and as staff and the president

himself is having the time of his life. i mean, he loves doing these oval office press conferences. stuart: it's true, didn't it, marc? -- isn't it, marc in it's very interesting and entertaining to watch. >> well, think about the difference between now and and eight years ago when he first came into the oval office. when he came in eight a years ago a, they were trying to destroy him. they were saying he was not my president, he was illegitimate, he was put in place by vladimir putin, russia conspiracy theory, they impeached him twice, 91 indictments. he defeated it all. you know, they literally threw everything they had at him, and he defeated them all. donald trump has a mandate from the american people with a popular vote victory or swing state sweep can and unified control of government, and now he's governing with joy. because the campaign to destroy him is over, and he's getting a chance at a normal presidency. except it's not a moral presidency in the sense that he's -- norm if presidency.

he's getting the honeymoon that he never got before, that he was denied in his first term, and that's why he's happy. he should be happy, it's great. stuart very entertaining. marc thiessen, you're all right. see you again soon. >> thank you. stuart: i want to get to the latest read on inflation, the pce report, the fed's preferred indicator. what do we have, lauren in if. lauren: all these numbers came in in line. so the personal consumption expenditures price index rose 2.5 percent year-over-year in january and at the core level, .6%. my if opinion, the concerning number as part of this report is that surprise drop this in spending in january. consumption fell if .2% last month. christmas hangover, the freezing cold weather that we saw in january or the consumer just getting nervous? stocks are up, and the bet is that there will be a rate cut in june. stuart: or all right. spending went down. that's interesting. thanks, lauren. check futures, please.

plenty of green out there. dow up 160. small gain for the s&p and the nasdaq. kenny polcari with me this morning. kenny, i really want to talk about nvidia with. year to date the stock's down about 10. it's down again this morning -- 10%. you're back to $117. they've lost a ton of value. are you buying the dip? and if not, why not? >> yes. so i think, i actually think we could see nvidia trade down at 110 level just because the momentum feels like it's going to take it there. yes, on the way down we would be a buyer. i'm waiting for it to get closer to 112, 110, because i think that's where are it's going to go. but i think this reaction to to invid -- nvidia is way overdone. they blew the roof off the house, and he gave robust forward guidance, so i think this well reaction, it's almost confusing to me. while i understand maybe they stretched it, maybe the algos had taken it to a stretch

position, i think this pullback is a little bit overdone. so, yes, absolutely would be a buyer. stuart: can you help me out on microsoft? it's dropped below $40400 a share. -- 400. what have you got to say? and it's at 393. >> again, microsoft's another name we love. you certainly own it, although you own it at much, much, much better prices so you shouldn't get too nervous because you're till in the money. you're way in the money. one way or the other, it's caught up in that whole tech space, right in there's this nervousness around tech, so tech is getting sold. names like microsoft, nvidia, amazon, apple, ibm, those names are going to get sold, and those are going to be the first ones to rally back once this ridiculousness stops. stuart: i'm waiting for the rally, and if i'm depending on you to set is it on fire. see you again soon. >> you as well. stuart: mexico is extraditing 29 drug lords to the u.s.

they include the one who, apparently, murdered a de, a a -- dea agent 40 years ago. lawrence jones has pent a good amount of time at the board. sounds like trump's approach is paying off. lawrence also got to see the first cabinet meeting with elon musk. and and look who's here, lawrence jones, the man himself. oh, he's behind me, creeping up behind me. [laughter] ♪ ♪ i'm thinking of updating my kitchen... ...thinking of redoing our kitchen. ...we are finally updating our kitchen. for all those people who never seem to get around to it... —...a breakfast nook. —chase has financial guidance. let's see how you can start saving... —really? —really? at home or in-person. that's guidance from chase.

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that's the department i work in. alright, enough of that.

stuart: well, he crept up behind me, and now we've seated him on the set. lawrence jones is paying attention to lauren -- lauren: sorry, i'm bothering

him. [laughter] sorry. stuart: it's okay, don't worry about it. >> live television. lauren: man of the people. stuart: it's a wonderful thing. you had an extremely busy week. you were at that cabinet meeting. i gotta tell you, it looked to me like you're all having a blast. >> i don't know if the press at large was having a blast, but definitely the president and his cabinet. look, in the the last administration if you add a lot of back biting, a lot of leaks, a lot of people with their own agenda. in this cabinet you have a president that has a pan if date you said -- mandate. but the cabinet likes him, supports the agenda, and they all love even other and they're working together -- each other and they're working together. stuart: karoline leavitt made the comment if just a moment ago that -- not you, but the cabinet is having fun. >> it looks like it. stuart: -- and having fun with mix. >> i think they're having fun because they're excited about the agenda, and there used to be this pressure of the coverage.

it looks like the public at large right now, it's not listening to the mainstream media. i mean, we at fox have had a surge in ratings, but it's because we've been covering the same thing for years. the pulse of of the people. right now the democrats have become the resistance party, and they're not offering anything new. they're still the campaign that lost the election. stuart: they're overwhelmed. trump comes at them with something new almost every day. >> we were talking off air, and the president's making an appointment at one. amy:. joe biden was in bed by 4, 5:00 p.m -- stuart: you're terrible. [laughter] >> it's totally different now. stuart: let's get serious. mexico has extradited 29 drug bosses to the united states. today include a drug lord accused in the murder of a dea agent back in 1985. now, you personally toured the border area. you've been covering it for many years. is this extradition of these

guys, is that a sign that trump's pressure on mexico is really working? >> well, the pressure is working, but this is where my job and your job comes together. of course i've been covering the border, but you've been covering the tariff policy. and i think this was the mexican president's way of saying, mr. president, just hold on for a second. we know you like leverage. let me offer you a gift. i'm sure many people in the country are, like, this guy killed a cop years ago, why in the world did no president before him negotiate a deal of thissing magnitude if that's the trump effect. and i think as a result maybe the tariff may be delayed because you offer the president something. the cartels on the run now, i was on the border, the tunnels are being filled with concrete. the criminal enterprises are being disrupted because the people aren't allowed to now across the border. they're returning the children back to their families, and there was a time when the border patrol would just accept the illegal migrants coming across the country, now they're saying -- across the border, now

they're saying, turn around. stuart: fox had a one-on-one with defense secretary pete hegseth is at gitmo. listen the what he had to say about running the defense department. roll that tape. >> i kind of look in the faces of these men and women, they're so -- many of them so young, and i in some ways see my face from 20 years ago. i think about the anxieties, the uncertainty, the questions that we had, the things that were important to me then, and that's why we always do lots of troop engagements with large groups and small groups, and we ask any question, whatever you want, what do you want to know, what are you feeling, because i had a lot of those same feelings when i was here. i'm just proud. stuart: hegseth brings a personal touch to it. that's good for morale. >> it is. i did the secretary's first trip to the military base, and he's doing something that no other secretary of defense has probably done before. not only is he working out with the soldiers there, but there's moment where is he's doing these meetings with the brass, right

in these are the four stars, these are people that are going to be briefing him, and then he kicks them out, and if you're e-7 or below, you can stay. and he says, what's rial going on? what -- really going on? what do you need. and i think that a boosts the confidence and the morale of our pen and women. and they know they're going back to what they signed up to do -- men and women. to kill bad guys and go against the threats to our country, foreign and domestic. stuart: good for recruitment, for sure. >> we need it. stuart: thanks, lawrence. >> thanks, brother. stuart: a democrat judge has given a $3 million bond to a pan accused of murdering a texas sheriff's deputy. another murderer was released after posting $1 million bail. what's the sheriff's office saying about this? lauren: they are outraged. they call it a disgrace and call the judge, hillary ung a ar, a -- ungarre, a rogue activist.

two pen were accused of killing -- two men were accused of killing a texas deputy last year. the second suspect just had his bond set at a $3 million. this is for a charge including capital murder, capital murder of a police officer. ronald palmer, the second suspect, had been in jail on no bond since july until now. next court appearance is the end of may. stuart: lawrence, you want to comment if -- if this guy's indigent, where did he get -- >> how did he get the money? stuart: 10%, where'd he get it? >> because he's in the drug business. this is what the officer was sitting on the house to begin with. today unloaded 40 bullets into the car, today found those casings on the scene. if he was surveying the area. this is the first time this has a happened where someone shot a cop in 20 years, this is the first time this has happened, and it's back out on the street. they said this ankle monitor is

going to surveil him. there have been a ton of reports on ankle monitor, they don't work. it's a private company, sometimes they don't know the the monitor's off until days later. being in law enforcement, i understand what the men and women do on a day-to-day basis. this kid was 28 years old just trying to protect his community, and we send the message to the cops all across harris county that that if you kill a cop, it's okay, essentially, because we put you on the street. this guy is going to run or he may offend before they get him again. stuart: it is outrageous. lawrence, thanks for your contribution today. good to see you. >> good to see you, lauren. lauren: good to see you. stuart: we like the cover finance as well as other things. the dow's up 183. the market opens in about six and a half minutes and we'll take you there. ♪ if everybody knows i like to have a good time. ♪ i just gotta a stay above the poverty line ♪

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stuart: friday morning, closing out the week. by the way, we've had five consecutive fridays where stock price, the s&p 500, came down. s&p up maybe 3, the dow is up about 100.

mark mahaney joining us. i want to talk about booking holdings. you just boosted your price target, your looking at $5500 a share that. why the increase in the price expectation? >> you know, we had three travel companies just report, expedia, airbnb and booking, and they all showed accelerating growth when it's booking's revenue, room nights, tear most important metric. so it looks like the consumer is remarkably resilient and healthy, the demand for travel. and i think booking is probably the best executing company in there. they have a track record that's, i think, the envy of its peer ifs. valuation is highly attractive, reasonable. it trades close to the market multiple, 211, 22 times -- 21, 22 times earnings. they're great with capital allocation. pay a dividend, they buy back at rot of their stock. really -- a lot of their stock. a very good garp stock, growth at a reasonable price stock.

stuart: you've consistently been a supporter of amazon, and you got it right, the stock has gone up nicely. what do you make of the new a.i.-powered alexa? >> i'm very intrigued by the opportunity here. i refer the these devices as kind of trojan horses in a lot of consumers' homes. they've so far though been kind of dumb speakers, you know, what's the weather, play bruce spring steven, etc. i think -- springsteen. to the extent they can be rejuvenated and more specialized, they could become real tools for voice-activated services. i've got to see the product and experiment with it. i just think it's one of those hidden assets, noted hidden assets that amazon -- not hidden assets. stuart: mark mahaney, have a great weekend. see you again soon. the market is now, bang with, it's open. finish off we go. it's friday morning. let's see where we start out today. i'm expecting a win for the dow,

at least a gain for the dow, put it like that, and in the early going that's what we've got. it's up 67 points. not a huge gain. the s&p 500, that's on the upside, .9 -- no, dead flat. let's call it dead flat. that's what it is, dead flat. as for the nasdaq composite is, that is up, again, a tiny fraction. i'd call that -- now it's down, just missed that. yeah, down one-third of 1%. nasdaq down today. how about big tech across the board, where are we? alphabet is up. amazon, microsoft, apple, meta down. look at microsoft, $391. it's killing me. where's nvidia today in the very early going? nvidia is down another 1.8%. you're at $117 as we speak. now, here's an interesting movement. chinese companies mostly, indeed, all of them sharply lower this morning. taylor, that's got to be because of the extra that tariffs that

trump has a imposed on china, right? >> you got it. we're getting the additional 10% next week on top of the 10% that was already announced earlier this month. so, again, you're seeing all of these chinese-related stocks, even the china etf shares down anywhere from 2-3, almost 8% as china tries the navigate what these tariffs peen for these companies -- mean for these companies. stuart: gives trump some leverage, doesn't it? >> maybe. stuart: that means something. i saw bitcoin below $800,000 -- 80,000 earlier today to. i saw is it at 79 and change, now it's 81,3. what's going on in. >> this is a shaky market. i think we've talked a lot about the equity market right now trying to find its footing. bitcoin, of course, is one of the higher risk,tive areas -- sensitive areas of the market. we talked earlier this week that maybe some of the momentum was coming out from policy decisions from the white house. we haven't gotten, you know, any

new rules, with but overall this is a classic risk-off trade that is happening today. stuart: aye got to look at tesla. i know that they're adding the ride-hair service to a new state. okay, i got that. >> yeah. stuart: that's your story. but that's not going to get them out of this hole. >> no. stuart: they're at 276 now. >> yeah. they're going to need a little bit more than this. especially because this news isn't is actually definitive. we are hearing they've applied for a charter carrier permit with the california public utilities commission but, again, we don't know if it has been approvedded or when. we've peeves ifly heard they do -- previously heard they want to be able to do this by the end of of the year, austin by june. but, again, it's a hong way off and -- long way off. i mean, it certainly gets close ore to how people want to think about the company about being more of an a.i., autonomous driving company, not a car company, so it's the in the right direction, but you're going to to need more than that. stuart: i think investors are

worried about musk's involvement in politics on a day-to-day a basis with the president. not altogether popular with investors. down another 2% today. all right, microsoft. here's some news, shutting down skype. ouch. i guess -- did zoom put them out of business? >> sort of. this is the end of an era, right? if i mean, think about -- stuart: it's the end of my retirement. [laughter] >> well, i wasn't going to go that far, but if you want to say it, sure. look, skype was so popular in the 2000s. it ended up under microsoft's control in 2011. and the rise of smartphones, zoom, facetime really just sort of, to your point, put them out of business, made it a little bit less popular. microsoft is saying that if you do have your skype account, they're going to roll it up in microsoft's teams platforms. but, yes, for now it looks like it's over. stuart: yeah. okay. now, then what's the latest on meta's plans for a.i. in.

>> they came out and said hay want to create a stand-alone app for a.i. for meta, and they want to do sort of a month ifly subscription service the way chatgpt does. sam altman joked he then is going to create a stand-alone social media a app to take on meta. again, the racehorse continues, as you know, with meta really wanting to be a leader in a.i. stuart: interesting, they've got a new app on a. a i., and the stock goes down 2%. >> i know. stuart: what does that tell you? you've got to tell me about the palantir plunge. down again to today -- >> i know. stuart: 6.5%. good heavens. why are investors jumping ship? >> you were well above 100 just a few weeks ago. the why is this has been such a momentum trade particularly from retail investors. we are hearing are that retail investors are pulling out of this stock, some of the most we haven't seen throughout the month of february. we've hit record highs, down 3 2% from the record high just a

few weeks ago -- 3 2%. again, i don't know if this is a palantir-specific story, but more just that broader market when momentum starts to shift, when the risk-off a trade starts to go, palantir was certainly one that was going to get caught up if this. stuart: yum brands. they own a series of chain restaurants, tack woe -- tack quo bell, for example -- taco bell. 155, that is close to an all-time high. >> it is. taco bell has been such a success story for them. stuart: really in this. >> they reported earnings a week or two ago, and they said, one analyst said that taco bell has been such a kicker for the u.s. they're up 17% in the last month if relative to competitors like restaurant brands and mcdonald's that are only up 5%. stuart: okay. last one, i think, gold miners. down mostly -- yeah, they're all down. i guess the price of gold falls below $2900 an ounce. >> yeah. hook, gold had been at a record. now that we're coming off of

that with pce coming in line with expectations, gold takes a little bit of a hit and gold miners do too. again, i would caution the price of gold still very close to those record highs of just a few weeks ago. stuart: and we'll take it. we will see you on "the big money show," starts at 12 noon. thanks or or taylor. let's check the big board, 43,300. as for dow winners, there are some headed by her win williams, home depot, procter & gamble and travelers. all on the upsite -- upside. the s&p 500 winners, aes corporation, monster beverage, edison, j.m. snucker. as for the nasdaq winners or, where are we? monster beverage, xl energy, ross stores, synopsis, careerway energy -- can clearway energy. no big names up there. coming up, yep, it's friday,

and that means we want feedback. send in your questions and comments to varneyviewersfox.com. keep the messages short and pithy, if you can. but first, president trump says the minerals deal with ukraine will also serve as a security arrangement. watch. >> there's sort of automatic security because nobody's going to be messing around with ore pupil when we're there -- with our people went we're there. stuart: energy experts say what america needs if right now is less regulation. roll it. >> when you have overregulation, it increases costs. get away with that to ensure there's stability and certainty going forward. stuart: that was the epa's chief of staff, former chief of staff, i should say. she's going to be here telling us how we can bring prices down, especially electricity prices. she's next. ♪ ♪ taking all of my if energy ♪

military decoration awarded by the united states government. the tunnel to towers foundation and the congressional medal of honor society recognizes valor beyond the call of duty. britt slabinski, a recipient of the medal of honor himself, sat down with fellow recipients to hear their stories from their military service to their transition into the veteran community.

it■s nothing we won, right? we're pretty vocal on that, saying, look, i didn't win anything like we're a recipient of this. you're going to highlight me for the day. we're four guys get killed. never crossed my mind about receiving the medal of honor. never. i was told i was being put in for it the day after the battle. the highest level of valor. you want to understand, why did these people lose their lives? why aren't they in my place? can't refuse it. we don't have the wear if you don't want to. they feel you earned it. people think war ends the moment you get home. no. war sticks with you. for me, it was like i was in a fog. really? for. for several months. you're literally on the edge of life and death at any moment. and then 12 hours later, you're at home and you're going to birthday parties and you have to go back to assimilating that life. it's fascinating how many of our brothers and sisters. it■s a significant problem. end up on the streets. tunnel to towers is taking a leadership role. and specifically when i think about

the veteran homeless population. we as an organization, we have gaps and it takes partnerships to come in and help us fill those gaps to ensure that nobody is left behind. and that's what tunnel to towers does. we just recently gave them our citizen honors award, recognizing all the great work that they have done. it's a fulfilling a promise to this nation, saying that, tunnel towers is gonna give you smart homes, pay mortgages. there's no level of recognition that rises to what is being done on behalf of those gold star families. and we're not forgetting you. never forget. go to t2t.org and donate $11 a month. thank you.

hey, grab more delectables. you know, that lickable cat treat? de-lick-able delectables? yes, just hurry. hmm. it must be delicious. delectables lickable treat.

stuart: president trump has promised to make the united states the crypto capital of the world. okay, lauren -- [laughter] you went to, what's it called, pub key -- lauren: the bitcoin bar. stuart: -- in nietz. what do investors want from trump, but before you answer that, can i buy a beer with crypto? lauren lauren absolutely. but i don't think they'd charge you. stuart: is it easy or difficult? lauren: if you have the app, you can do it. they're showing a use case for bitcoin and crypto. they're all all enthusiasts, that go there. and they said a bitcoin strategic reserve and major tax and energy policy changes are coming from d.c. that's the catalyst that bitcoin prices need p. but all this is taking time. you're going to hear first from

senator cynthia lummis and the ceo of the nation's second biggest miner. >> we're also seeing bitcoin being taxed twice, essentially, when it's being mined and when it's being sold. bitcoin is a commodity, and commodities are only taxed when they're sold with the exception of bitcoin. and so that is either ignorance of what bitcoin is or deliberate attempts to destroy digital assets. >> we need more natural gas reserves and more natural gas production. i think if that happens, the united states, you know, that is going to be the baseload power. and i think we then need the invest in nuclear power. lauren: nuclear power. biden wanted to tax the miners 25% on the energy that they used. the message now from the industry is if you've taken your

mining operation overseas, come back to the u.s. we're not going to tax you. then there's talk of the strategic bitcoin reserve at a federal level and also the state level, at least 20 the states pushing their own legislation are. it boosts buying of bitcoin, and the price goes up. as you've been mentioning, earlier this morning bitcoin broke $80,000, using one-quarter of its value if one month's time. look, push of the decline has to do with what's going on with tariffs set to take effect on tuesday, but right now what are the cat a lists that can get the price back up -- catalysts? charles payne will be live this afternoon from bitcoin investor week, and he will have much more. stuart: okay, got it. thanks very much, lauren. epa administrator lee zeldin says he wants to cut 65% from the department's budget. former epa chief of staff joins me now. a 65% cut, wouldn't that gut the agency? if i mean, has climate been

taken out of the epa a completely? >> no, not exactly. you can actually continue to fulfill the agency's mission which is to protect public health and the environment with a significantly reduced budget and work force. they would actually work much better, and you have the look at the a baseline, stu. the baseline over the past four years was grossly expanding epa, sabotaging its mission for political purposes and literally pouring billions of dollars not towards vulnerable communities to improve if their issues with pollution, really giving this to third party groups to expand the power of the political left. so we can cut back and and get back to the true business of the agency which is cutting pollution in the if air, the water and addressing legacy pollution issues in our soil. stuart: you testified before the house oversight committee. they had a hearing on energy reform. can you just bring this all down to earth and, in a put shell, tell us -- nutshell, tell us how

you think we could get electricity prices down. >> yeah. it's as simple as calling for significant regulatory reforms. and specifically, permitting reform. it's not the sexiest issue to talk about, but it's a big deal. it is hold toking up the connection of -- holding up the connection of transmission lines and and upgrading outdated infrastructure. and when that is outdated, it degrades over time, and it means that there's more cost delays and, ultimately, those costs trickle down to the consumer, the everyday consumer. i was actually with one of my fellow witnesses that said if we can fix permitting delay, the cost of projects will be reduced by 30-40%. so you see how that would actually impact consumers all over while restoring energy reliability. so cut regulations, specifically address permitting issues, the delays, and you're going to see cost savings across the board. stuart: i want to to know when we will see that. it's not just in a couple of months, is it if you've got to

to be looking a year down the road, surely. >> yeah. yeah, can exactly. i would say six is months to a year is about the time frame that we can get some of these regulatory reforms in place, but it's a much better trajectory we were on. we saw four years of just massive cost increases, so it's a much better place to be for the average a consumer. stuart: come and see us again soon, please. you've got a good story there. good stuff. thanks, mandy. elon musk and if doge have found their next target. uh-oh, what agency? lauren: n if oaa. responsible for earthquakes, tsunamis and other dangerous conditions. they're laying off 5% of their 12,000 staff. critical staff have been spared. most national weather service is meteorologists get to to keep their jobs. look, noaa says these cost cuts will cost american lives. stuart: that's what a noaa says. lauren: right. does 5% of an agency, is that a matter of life or death? stuart: well, or musk says, probably not. lauren: that's not what they

say. stuart: all right, lauren, thank you. coming up, they're back. masked pro-hamas so-called demonstrators disrupting an elite university. however, college authorities how old remember there's a new sheriff in town -- should remember. his name is donald trump. he has no problem holding universities accountable for anti-semitism, and so he should. that's my take at the top of of the hour. attorney general pam bondi had been teasing the release of the epstein files. the initial release was a dud. she gave an 8 a.m. deadline today for new fuels to be -- more files to be turned over. nothing new came out this morning. we're going to break it all down for you next. ♪ ♪ if you're like most americans, the concern about not having enough money to retire the way you want to. or worse yet, running low on money during your retirement is a genuine concern. safe money iq is dedicated to helping you retire forever.

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stuart: attorney general pam bondi waned the fbi to to deliver the full and complete epstein files by 8 a.m. today. david spunt joining us from the justice department. they missedded the deadline, right? what's going on? if. >> reporter: stuart, we reached out to doj official, have not heard yet if the deadline was meted to. on wednesday night the attorney general said the epstein files would likely to be released thursday, and to be fair, they were, but these were the epstein

files we've seen before, nothing new here at all. a.g. bondi says there were previously unreleased files sitting with the fbi in the new york field office. despite requests for all of those documents, she specifically said she doesn't get them. she wrote director patel, i'm conducting you to direct an immediate investigation on why the order was not followed, deliver to me a comprehensive report within 14 days. she told patel i wanted them delivered here at doj. patel said in a statement there will be no cover-up, no missing documents and no stone left unturned and anyone who undermines this will be swiftly pursued. if records have been hid, we will uncover them. the rollout yesterday was unique. the white house invade violated pro-trump social media influencers or to meet with the fbi director, and they were given a binder that said epstein files on the front. the influencers teased the big release with new information, but it turned up largely dry.

anna if paulina luna did not are time for the stunt posting on social media, this is not what we or the american people asked for and a complete disappointment. get us the information we asked for. once the documents do arrive, they'll have to be redacted to protect victim identities and also a remember ghislaine max welshing epstein's former girlfriend, she is appealing for a retrial of her case, that's an act active appeal, so a lot of this may not be released until those options are exhaustedded. stuart: this is a story of high viewer interest. stay on it, please, david. see you again soon. check those markets, it's a friday morning, coming to the end -- it is the end of the week. dow's up 100, nasdaq's down 40, got it. how about big tech? they've been taking it on the chin recently, and so far this morning most of them, all of them are down, alphabet, amazon, apple, microsoft, slipped y'all down. bitcoin -- nvidia all down. bitcoin, it's up -- no, it's down.

back down to $82,000. i saw it below 80 grand earlier in this morning. how about the 10-year treasury yield? that's down to 4.24. still ahead, retired four-star general jack keane on president trump's insistence that our minerals deal with ukraine will also serve as a security guarantee. dave portnoy on the recent drop in bitcoin. is he buying more? leo terrell on getting dei out of our education department. he's all in favor of that. and "bar rescue" guy jon taffer on more restaurantses facing bankruptcy this year with. why is that happening? the the 10:00 hour is next. ♪ -- in sunshine, warm fires if summertime ♪

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