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ashley: as good as brian brenberg on the electric guitar there. [laughter] train kept a-rolling. midtown manhattan. good morning,s it's 1 11:00 a.m. on the east coast, i'm ashley webster filling in for stuart varney. straight to the market. red when we started the day but certainly green now, dow jones up 226, s&p up half a percent. same story for the nasdaq. take a look at the big tech names. they were all down initially but, guess what? we turned it around. i'll take credit. amazon, nvidia with, alphabet, microsoft, amazon the best performer, up 1.33%, and the 10-year treasury yield has been heading down. that continues, down 33.4 basis points -- 3.4, at 4.21%, well over that 4.3%. now this, later today president trump is expected to sign an executive order aimed at

eliminating the department of education. brian brenberg joins me now. brian, you're a former professor. you know, the department of education, i think, was created all the way back in -- >> way, way back in '79. ashley: under jimmy carter. >> yes. ashley: seems to be an unqualified nightmare, chaos, awful failure, in my opinion, because you look at the state of schools today and how they compare to students around the world, it's embarrassing for the united states. >> yeah. if you judge a department based on, i don't know, something like results, it hasn't been that great, okay? american education has tipped lower and lower globally. so what is president trump doing here? i just want to kind of recast this a little bit because, yes, he wants to eliminate the department of education. he knows, ultimately, you need the congress to do that, right? so he's saying to linda mcmahon, do everything you can to shrink it. but it is not about the department of education. it is the about parents, okay? what he's really doing here is

saying i want to give the authority that these guys have, the resources these guys have, i want to give that back to the people who rightfully should be in charge of a child's education. and i've got to tell you, that is music to parents' ears around this country who saw what happened during covid, who wanted to take education maybe their own direction, wanted to have the liberty to do that and felt like at every angle they were being targeted as the bad guy. what president trump is saying is parents who want a better education for their kids are the good guys, and we're going to help them. ashley: yeah. >> and if the federal government's standing in the way, and it is with the department of education, get rid of as much of it as you can, and have it done by somebody who can do do it well actually. maybe that's a different agency. ashley: what a concept. quickly, i think what kids in this country are learning in eighth grade they're learning at third grade level in singapore, just for an example. five grades, you know, five

years behind. that should not be happening in this country. >> yeah. well, department of education was built for unions, not kids, and you can see that in the results. ashley: amen to that. we'll move on to this, attorney the general pam bondi condemning the recent attacks on tesla dealerships and property. she says more arrests are come coming for those responsible. >> we have charged multiple people. get ready, more coming. and, yes, the funding is one thing we are looking at a among many others. i was personally in a meeting about it this morning. we are coming after you. we believe these are organized, these are not individuals out there throughout the country doing this on their own. they're targeting tesla owners, they're targeting tesla dealerships, they're targeting elon musk who is out there trying the save our country, and it will not be tolerated. we are coming after you, we will find you. and if you are an organized group who is funding this, we're going to find you too. ashley: one word for these people, pathetic. right, brian? i mean, come on. >> to me, it's the contrast

because you see burning cars, and that immediately makes me think of the summer of 2020 and the kind of non-response we got from all sorts of cities and locales and the fbi, whatever. a. ashley: yeah. >> now you've got an attorney general who's saying you can't do this, you're domestic terrorists. there's no two ways about it, we're going after you. and we're going to go after the people who pay for this, okay? ashley: yes. >> because it's not just the crazy whackos doing this, it's who they're tapped into -- ashley: coordinated. >> -- and who they're getting money from, these dockssters online are. pam bondi says all of it, not gonna happen. it's over. we're coming after you. thank goodness. ashley: yes. [laughter] >> that we're finally dealing with these morons the way they ought to be dealt with. >> law and order. ashley: law and order, what a concept. >> novel if concept, right? ashley: brian, thank you. take a deep breath because you've got a show coming up.

>> guitar solo. [laughter] ashley: we're going to catch you at 12 noon if on "the big money show." lou basenese joins me now -- brian never stops. lou are, thanks for being here. are there buy signals on this market right now? because there are a lot of people who say, there's got to be some good, cheap stocks -- >> everywhere i look there are buy with signals which sounds crazy if you go back a week ago when everyone was panicking, imminent recession. but with things move in extremes. from a buy signal standpoint, sentiment got too ec extreme. you look at valuations, hay got really cheap even in the big 7, the mag 7. so all across the mark we just had a correction that was healthy. the biggest buy signal today is insiders. they are buying. they bought this dip. so you're seeing a pick-up in the men and women who know best where we're headed into a recession. and as a peter lynch famously said, insiders buy for one reason, because they the -- they

think stocks are boeing up. ashley: powell says it's going to be hard to fight inflation with tariffs, but he also said whatever happens he believes is short-lived. >> i agree with the second half, i laugh at the first. [laughter] he hasn't had inflation truly under control, and now he has someone to blame if he still drops the ball a little bit in getting it under control. i do think the net impact is going to be a little inflationary, but not long term it's not going to impact -- ashley: what are the chance these go away, that the art of the deal -- >> what time is it today on thursday, by friday at 9:30 it could be next monday, april 1st, maybe the tariffs are gone and he puts them back on -- listen, there's not a policy wonk or nerd that can calculate the impact of these on-again, off-again tariffs, it's a negotiating tactic. ashley: thank you, lou. we lock the door, i always tell people that, yo can't get out.

[laughter] -- you can't get out. zillow is poised for growth, sounds positive particularly in the rental market. they highlighted zillow's robust traffic volume saying it has a significant advantage for the company. the stock, as you can see, up 3.755% today. also take a look at williams-sonoma, also rising today. jpmorgan just lifted the price target to $168 which is exactly where it is now. that's up from $153. they say the company continues to execute strongly and were able to effectively bracket the street with its guidance despite the ongoing talk about tariffs. williams-sonoma up 1.33%. all right, coming up, democrat boston mayor wu taking a swipe at president trump in her fiery state of the city speech. >> no one tells boston how to take care of our own. not kings and not presidents who think they are kings. [applause] boston was born facing down

bullies. ashley: yeah, but what about the illegal immigrants accused of horrific crimes that she apparently is turning a blind eye to? we'll get into that. meantime, the white house affirming the success of donald trump's calls with mr. putin and mr. zelenskyy. >> much of the discussion was based on the call made yesterday with president putin in order to align both russia and ukraine in terms of their requests and needs. we are very much on track. ashley: retired four-star general jack keane will take that on next. ♪ ♪ san: where am i headed? am i just gonna take what the markets gives me? no. i can do some research. ya know, that's backed by j.p. morgan's leading strategists like us. when you want to invest with more confidence... the answer is j.p. morgan wealth management ♪ ♪ you did this man. -i know. nice. is this yours?

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ashley: all right, take a look at the cryptos. bitcoin up slightly, etherium down slightly. guess what? president trump has just wrapped up his remarks at the digital

assets summit being held here in new york city, and our are own lauren simonetti is there covering it all. all right, lauren, take us through the highlights. >> reporter: first time a sitting president has addressed a cryptocurrency conference and, indeed, ashley, it was a go get 'em sort of speech. he called cryptocurrencies the technological revolution. he said he wants the u.s. to, a a, scale it, b, own it. here is a quote, invent the future of finance right here in the united states. and then he spoke about what what's called operation chokepoint if 2.0 which happened during the biden years. >> we're ending the last administration's regularring la story war on crypto and bitcoin, and that includes stopping the lawless operation chokepoint 2.0. operation chokepoint went beyond regulation, and i mean far beyond. it was a form of lawfare if through government weaponization. frankly, it was a disgrace. but as of january 20th, 2025,

all of that is over. >> reporter: the message is if you moved your crypto business overseas, bring it back here to the u.s., come back in, the water is just fine. jason organized the president coming here. he also mentioned stable coins, digital assets pegged to something like the u.s. dollar. you expect legislation like this happening not this summer as everybody is saying, but when? >> i think there are two big bill, the market structure bill and the stable coin bill. and if you look on the floor at this conference, everybody expects both of them to happen in august, right before the recess. i would guess it's a little more optimistic than that, i'd guess maybe 70-80% chance this actually happens in the next 30-45 days which is incredibly optimisticic for not just the crypto builders here, but the financial institutions of america. lahr. >> reporter: that is certainly trump time.

ashley, back to you. ashley: now this, president trump ramping up the pressure if campaign on iran-backed hue houthi rebels. he vows they will be completely annihilated, as he put it, as american airstrikes continue to pound locations under their control. retired four-tar general jack keane joins us -- four-star general jack keane joins us. great to see you, general. let me ask you this, do you think tehran will be deterred by trump's threats? >> well, i think it's his actions that are really making a difference here, ashley. this is the most consequential attacks on the houthis since they began to attack the ships in the red sea back on october the 19th, '23. let's face it, they have been successful. they have shut down 70, 80% of the suez a canal shipping, and -- suez canal shipping. for months no u.s. warship has dared go through the suez canal. think of of that.

even the united states navy has been impacted by this. so this is an air a campaign. they've done 89 strikes to date, and they're going to continue it. and the fact that he's going to hold iran accountable is really the issue, ashley. ashley: yeah. >> the centcom commander who is currently serving, during the biden administration he recommended when the houthis were attacking and app iran's proxies in iraq and syria were attacking our bases, he recommended over 120 targets inside of iran, ashley, all military targets. nothing to do with economics and oil, nothing to do with nuclear enterprise. ashley: right. >> just to punish iran and achieve deterrence. i think that's got to be on the table here with the president. he's implying it is when he says i'm going to hold you accountable if you continue to supply them. ashley: yeah. >> so, yes, i think we're going to see some deterrence aa chiefed here. it -- achieved here. it may take some time. the houthis were at war for

certain years with the kingdom of saudi arabia before a ceasefire -- ashley: that's right, yeah. >> and they were willing, they figured out how to sustain an air campaign that was aggressively conducted against them. they do a lot of their business underground, and we don't have people on the ground to figure out where everybody is. it's more challenging to target, but with i think we'll get there. ashley: very good. and talking of iran, president trump reportedly sent a letter to iran's supreme leader, that khamenei. it included, apparently, a two-month deadline for reaching a new nuclear deal. how likely, or general, do you think that is, and do you think iran will even come to the table on it? >> well, first of all, iran is back on their heels in a way they haven't been in 44 years. they've lost, you know, hezbollah and hamas are nearly decimated. they've lost their major strategic platform in syria. they don't have i any air defense systems to protect their leadership as well as their

nuclear enterprise and their remaining rockets and missiles. so they are very vulnerable, and they know it. what do they have left? the they have the pursuit of a nuclear weapon. if they can get it to aa chief deterrence -- achieve deterrence is what they're after. so i doubt if they're going to give it up voluntarily. this is coercive diplomacy. the president wants to try this first, give them the opportunity to voluntarily dismantle it by a date certain, verify it with independent inspectors, and he has mainly told them if -- plainly told them if you don't do that, or we'll take consequential action. what does that mean? israeli-led, u.s.-supported airstrike to destroy the nuclear enterprise as much as possible. is so those two options are on the table, diplomacy first, military action second. ashley: i've got to get your input on this, ukraine's president zelenskyy backing a ceasefire agreement on energy targets during what he called a friendly call with president trump yesterday. you know, general, are they close the a full ceasefire deal

with russia or, for that matter or, even an end to the war? >> well, certainly president putin said no to when you just suggested, a full ceasefire, 30-day, no conditions. but here's what i'm encouraged about a, there is a process, ashley. and it's, it is a peace process and it's moving. so our national security teams and negotiating teams are meeting with the russians in jeddah, they're also meeting with the ukrainians in a separate room, and they're both parties, ukraine and russia, are laying out their conditions, laying out their terms, laying out their expectations, and these negotiating teams will try to resolve those differences. that is a peace process by any definition. ashley: yes. >> i think all of us have a healthy skepticism, ashley, about whether putin is really in this to achieve a peace agreement without laying down some impossible conditions. that remains to be seen.

but we're going to find that out, because we're talking to his people. ashley: we are. >> so, yes, we have a peace process going forward and, hopefully, we're able to get to it, an end state where there is a peace agreement. we'll see. ashley: we will, indeed. one more for you with, general. china says -- canada says china executed four canadians on drug charges. all four people were dual citizens. china does not recognize dual citizenship. china pushing back on the criticism, urging canada to respect the rule of law. what do you make of all of that? >> well, china doesn't recognize dual citizenship, but you can understand prosecute canadians' perspective -- from the canadians' perspective. one, no capital punishment in canada whatsoever. two here, being executed for a drug-related charge is something that wouldn't happen in the united states, obviously, unless there was capital murder or some

other heinous crime associated with it. and then, of course, there's no due process in these court systems for those who are accused. what is beneficial if about this and other countries should join in is putting a spotlight on the oppression that exists in china. we don't do enough of this, ashley. the chinese are very sensitive to it, and we should expose it over and over again. i believe both administrations, republican and democrats and now another republican, can do push more of this because with it is their achilles heel. ashley: yeah. >> they feel -- they fear their own population rebelling against them than they do the united states. and that has been the history of the prc and the chinese communist party for years. ashley: as always, terrific stuff. we'll have to leave it there, or general jack keane. general, thank you so much. we covered a lot of ground. appreciate it. okay. >> great talking to you. ashley: thank you. republican senator murkowski says her peers are afraid of

challenging donald trump and elon musk. listen. >> they've got everybody just, like, zip lip, not saying a word because they're afraid they're going to be taken down, they're going to be primaried. you know what? we cannot be cowed into, into not speaking up. ashley: well, we're going to find out what tennessee senator marsha blackburn has to say about that. she's next. ♪ one thing i can tell you is you've got to be free. ♪ come together right now over me ♪ pronamel clinical enamel strength can help us to keep our enamel for a lifetime. it's backed by science it is clinically proven to strengthen our teeth. i would recommend this toothpaste to everybody. it's really an amazing product.

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where ya headed? susan: where am i headed? am i just gonna take what the markets gives me? no. i can do some research. ya know, that's backed by j.p. morgan's leading strategists like us. when you want to invest with more confidence... the answer is j.p. morgan wealth management ashley: let's take a look at these markets. the dow up 200 points, the s&p and the nasdaq also a up a third to a half percent. not bad when you consider we started the day all negative. come back in here, lou basenese. you're never negative. >> no, never. la. [laughter] ashley: you've got some stock picks for us, amplify cybersecurity etf appropriately named hack. >> that's right. this is the first cybersecurity etf ever launched, i think back in 2014. it's relevant now because google just made its biggest acquisitions ever, and every investor fancies says themselves the next one to pick a takeover

target. impossible. there's too much of of a digital surface attack area to be able to protect it all with one company. play it with an etf. you get exposure to 25 of the leading cybersecurity companies that are going to benefit if you look at the long-term trend, it's up and to the right. do it without all the single stock risk. ashley: very good. arm holding. >> everyone wants to buy nvidia on the dip, i like arm better, i've been buying more of it because it has a better business with model. it collects royalties. it doesn't have to come up with the next blackwell chip every 18 months. it has designs and pass -- patents, they're pivoting and getting more exposure to, go figure, a a.i. this is a business that has a lot of leg, it's a new hi public company, re-ipo'd in the past year. ashley: up 2% today. lou, thank you very much. later today the congresswoman aoc will be hosting her very first town hall since being

urged to primary senate minority leader chuck schumer. aishah hasnie joins us this morning. eastern shah, what can we expect from aoc today? >> reporter: so, ashley, she might talk about leader schumer. she will likely get a ton of questions about the future of the party and how they plan to fight president trump. ashley, the base is angry, and we're seeing some pretty wild scenes break out at these democratic town halls this week. for example, on tuesday a woman shouted down congressman glenn ivy screaming, you're too calm. another man scolded him and the party on not being unified on a strategy to fight president trump. this comes amid intense criticism of minority leader chuck schumer who, of course, supported that gop funding bill. and congressman ivy has suggested it's time for new leadership. now npr is reporting that democratic senator michael bennett of colorado came close to saying that too telling a town hall, quote, it's important

for people to know when it's teem to go. brand new fox news polling shows democrats' approval if rating dropped from 37% back in october of 2023 to now a mere 30% today. republicans' approval rating, though, rising from 30% to now 43% in that same time period. different story. but, to be fair, ashley, republicans also facing some testy town halls out there. we've seen congressman mike flood, congresswoman harriet hageman booed over their support for doge. ashley? ashley: outrageous. aishah, thank you very much. appreciate that. now this, boston mayor michelle wu went after president trump during her fiery state of the city speech. madison, what exactly did she say? >> yeah, the state of the city speech, and she focused a lot on the federal government. she i vowed that boston would

continue to protect migrants, and she praised city workers for their dedication at a time when public service workers at the federal level are being dismissed and discredited, her words with. wu vowed to fight for boston against president trump. >> we are a city where the irish coffee is strong, and our opinions are stronger. [cheers and applause] we may not always agree or see wry to eye, but at the end of the day we are a family. this is our city. [cheers and applause] no one tells boston how to take care of how own. not kings and not presidents who think they are kings. [applause] boston was born facing dun bullies. if -- down bullies. >> wu was one of the four big city mayors that testified over sanctuary city laws, and she has also been given a notice by the department of justice that there will be a visit by its federal

task force to look into incidents of anti-semitism at the schools and colleges in boston. ashley: interesting. all right. yeah, it was a fiery speech. not much about boston, was there? thank you very much, madison. coming up, donald trump's administration expected to add copper tariffs in the name of national security. >> donald trump has said there are five big industries that he wants to take care of, steel, aluminum and copper, automobiles, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and lumber. and those five are really important to us for our national security. ashley: copper miners are eyeing a major comeback, and our very own max gorden is at the largest open pit copper mine in the world. that's quite a claim. he's next. ♪ it really doesn't matter if i'm wrong or right -- ♪ where i belong, i'm right, where i belong ♪

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ashley: all right, now this, the white house calling out partisan activist federal judges for trying the stop president trump's agenda. listen to this. >> the judges in this country are acting erroneously. we have judges who are acting as a partisan activists from the bench they are trying to dictate policy from the president of the united states. they are trying to clearly slow-walk this administration's agenda, and it's unacceptable. in the only are they usurping the will of the president and the chief executive of our country, but they are undermining the will of the american public. tens of millions of americans who duly elected this president to implement the policies coming out of this white house. ashley: guess what? senator marsha blackburn, who i've known for many, many -- too many years, i knee her in -- knew her in nashville, joins me

now. is the administration right about these so-called activist judges? is that real thing? >> it is truly a real thing. you are seeing them. a federal district judge tried to put in place a nationwide injunction. and bear in mind that in the month of february alone are there were district judges that executed 15 nationwide injunctions. during joe biden's entire term, four years, there were only a total of 4 injunctions that were or -- 14 injunctions that were put pup against him. so in one month you have more. this is the democrats who have come completely unhinged with president donald trump. trump derangement syndrome is alive and well with them, ask they show no signs of recovery anytime soon. and now since they cannot get their way with the american people, the american people agree with president donald

trump and the republicans the -- ashley: it's what got him elected. >> and so the democrats are saying, well, let's call on the judiciary, and they're having these -- ashley: they've got nothing else. >> -- judges try to step in and halt the agenda. ashley: republican senator lisa murkowski claiming republicans are afraid of challenging president trump and elon musk. listen to this. >> it may be that elon musk has decided he's going to take the next billion dollars that he makes off of starlink and put it directly against lisa murkowski. and you know what? that pa may happen. that's why you've got everybody just, like, zipped lip. not saying a word. because they're afraid they're going to be taken down. you know what? we cannot be cowed into not speaking up. ashley: interesting. all right, senator. is that what you're hearing on capitol hill? >> ashley, as you said, you and i have known each other a long

time. when i was fighting waste, fraud and abuse when i was a state senator in tennessee and leading the fight against imposition of a state income tax. and i am a thrilled to have a president and vice president who are so focused on the sovereignty of this nation, on getting this country back on track, on the fiscal health of this nation. ashley: yeah. >> they are willing to root out waste, fraud and abuse and protect the taxpayer and protec- ashley: finally, yeah. >> -- our freedom. so i'm thrilled with everything that they are taking steps to do to put this country back on track and then to keep it on track so that our children and grandchildren know the fullness of the american dream. and they know that they have a country who is going to be solvent, is going to be sovereign and that they're going to have the opportunity to dream big dreams and is make them come

true. ashley: amen. >> that is what donald trump is doing, and that is what i support. ashley: great place to leave it. >> yes. ashley: senator marsha blackburn, thank you so much for being here, aisle -- can i'll see you in temperature. >> i'll see you there. ashley: "the big money show" taylor riggs is here with what's coming up. >> anthony pompliano, charlie gasparino at top of the 1:00, what are hi -- his thoughts on the tesla vandalism are. all of that coming up at noon. ashley: very good, taylor. thank you very much. always lots of news these days, we love it. now this, the trump administration expected to add a copper to its list of tariffs as part of the push to make the u.s. the leader in the metal. max gorden is in utah. all right, max, you've been to some interesting places. is that really the largest hole

in the world? >> reporter: it is the largest hole in the world. you can see this thing from outer space and, get this, the folks at rio tinto, they've made me par part of the team. they put my name on hi -- my hard hat here. this place is absolutely amazing. it is three-quarters of a mile deep. you can fit if 14 statues of liberty from end to end, from bottom to top. it's 4 mile manies wide -- miles wide. absolutely incredible. they have been digging on this pit for 120 years. everything here is massive including the trucks that they use to haul the copper ore out of the pit. when this thing is fully loaded up, it weighs 1 million pounds. each one of those tires, 50 grand. one of these units, between $4-5 million a pop. it is amazing. essentially, what they do is they haul the copper ore out of the pit. here it goes on this massive

conveyor belt, and it goes over to where they have the refinery as well as the smelter. they make this copper to be 99.99% pure. it's incredible, american-made cop here. it's beautiful to look at -- copper here. the issue is here in the united states we don't produce enough copper. we are going to be needing more copper in the future. take a listen. >> right now the demand in the u.s. is 2 million tons. we expect that to get up to close to 4, 4.5 over the next decade. what's driving that demand? a.i., data centers, energy grid components. we need to upgrade all of that infrastructure to make that work which all requires copper. >> reporter: and we've got the potential for 25% tariffs on foreign copper into the u.s. coming along. that's going to help out domestic copper mines like this one. but they're hoping with rio tin

de, they're hoping that the trump administration makes copper a critical mineral. that would ease regulations and help speed up the development of copper mines here in the united states. we've only got two smelters in the u.s., one of them being right here. so they're hoping that with copper being a critical mineral, being added to that critical minerals list, we can help increase that domestic copper production. ashley? ashley: great stuff, max. watch your footing, it's a long way down. [laughter] >> reporter: absolutely. ashley: very impressive. max gorden, thank you very much. let's are bring back in lou basenese. what do you think of a tariff on copper? >> i'm not a tariff guy, but you know what? a guy a long time ago, adam smith, the father of the free markets actually in the wealth of nations made four exceptions, and national security is one of those. as max was pointing out, there are certain issue, a. i., automobiles, defense, we need this critical base metal, so a temporary tariff, i think that all of these are going to end up

being short lived, but they'll be effective, so i'm okay with it. ashley: lou says it's okay in the short term. thank you. let's take a look at the dow 30 stocks, get a sense of where we are two and a half -- well, two and a quarter hours into the session. as you can see, more green than red on the dow 30. nvidia at the top. i believe that's ibm. my eyes are not the best these days. ibm i believe, is the laggard on the dow 30. now this, top education leaders are praising donald trump's move to dismantle the department of education. and is here's why. >> you have thousands of bureaucrats that are up there that are pushing a left-wing agenda, the most radical agenda the country's ever seen. ful they're teaching kids to hate the country, they're teaching kids to hate their faith. maria: moreen that coming up. -- ashley: also a, young conservative women are becoming more popular on social media and on tv. what it is their followers are finding so a appealing. campus reform reporter emily

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ashley: okay, take a look at this headline. it says, quote, young conservative women build an alternative to the man-osphere. quote, this ecosystem of young conservative voices fills space for a generation of women who are at least curious about some traditionally conservative views but are always interested in entering the digital man cave that is overwhelmingly male, right-wing podcast space. ooh. emily sturge, campus reform reporter, joins me now. emily, a, that's a great headline and observation. but the growth of young conservative women, it's real, i'm assuming, and what do you put that down to? >> there is such a remarkable shift among generation z with both young men and women, and it makes sense when you look at the cultural message that the left is giving us. the left tells young men they are foxically masculine --

toxically masculine, and they don't know what a woman is. they're erasing what it means to be a woman. we can't say mother, we have the say inseminated person. they're taking away our private spaces of bathrooms and locker rooms, and we're report proking that. it makes sense when this is the cultural message that the left is giving to young people. they're shifting to the right. ashley: if you are conservative, you kind of have to keep that to yourself, because it can get some extreme responses from the other side. >> the tides are turning, and i'm very proud to say that. yeah, back in 2016 if you wore a red hat, you would be canceled, but today, you will get fist bumps in the hallway. ashley: really? >> i'm ver conservativism among generation, and. they're happy -- generationz. we are looking at the economy, that's what many of us were

thinking about when we headed to the polls in november. we feel inspired as we're thinking about starting families, buying homes, starting careers, and we have a great a man in office to help us do so. ashley: you're very convincing, very, very well folken -- spoken. [laughter] i want to get to this one, department of education under joe biden spent more than $100 billion on grants for universities to teach about critical race theory, diversity, equity, inclusion, you name it. here's where some of that money went just for your viewing pleasure. georgia state university got $8 million for its master of social work program which required a class on social justice. university of alaska-anchorage got $1.2 million for programs that required dei courses and indiana received a grant worth $5.7 million to teach anti-oppression and white privilege in social work. i'm out of breath. what's your reaction to all of that? >> when money talks, it speaks loudly. and bigger than this, let's take

a step back. biden's department of education spent over $1 billion on dei grants. that includes $100 million to grant k-12 dei social workers. what a headache in itself. ashley: yeah. >> so while 70% of eighth graders or are not proficient in math and reading, biden's department of education was more worried about teaching kindergarteners how to be anti-racist, teaching fourth graders about pronouns, teaching eighth graders about sexual orientation. clearly, massive reform is need ifed, and is i'm excited to see what the trump administration brings to the table. ashley: well, i'm assuming you can't blame the president for wanting to disband this organization given where the money goes and the impact it has. >> yes. i'm very excited to see what the trump administration has in store. even -- we'll see what happens with the executive order today, but even before that we've already seen the trump administration massively dun size the department of educatioe

department of education with federal worker buyouts and slashing half the employees at the department. very positive changes. ashley: the failing department of education, as you point out. emily sturge, great stuff. lovely of the you here. >> thank you for having me. ashley: all right, now, some of the country's top education leaders are praising president trump's move to dismantle the department of education. come back in here, madison. what are they saying? >> yeah. we're with talking about the oklahoma education superintendent, ryan walters, and he is saying that president trump is going to save education. >> i think president trump is going to go down in history as the president that saved education and the future of the country. the disruption of education was the federalization of education and the unionization of education. that's what got us away from the concept of schools that valued the community, valued the family, valued the individual. you have thousands of bureaucrats that are up there that are pushing a left-wing agenda, the most radical agenda

the country's ever seen. they're teaching kids to hate the country, they're teaching kids to hate their faith. >> reporter: so he's the head of oklahoma's public school system, and he says rather than hoping to implement effective education systems, the department of education has been co-opt toed by radical teachers you unions and has been pushing dei, as you were just discussing. trump wants to shrink this. he's looking to cut the agency by 50% and, of course, we remember that trump in the past has said he would likely -- like to completely close the department of education. ashley: and now we know why. madison, thank you very much. now is the time, the ever popular thursday trivia question, and this is a doozy. we debate this all the time, when was the popsicle invented? 1890, 1895, 1900 or 1905? wasn't trying to give a clue, because i don't know. the answer, of course, went we return. think about it.

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ashley: i know you have been pondering of this, and ask the important question, when was the popsicle invented? 1890, 1895, 1900, 1905. madison? madison: turn of the century, new century, new ideas. number 3, 1900.

ashley: lou basensase. >> i will go 1905. ashley: the most important. than 1905, a popsicle affection otto. and 11-year-old frank everson invented the first ice pop and in the san francisco bay area. does it get that cold. quick check of the markets before we say goodbye, we start in the negative. i'm taking credit for, the dow up 159, nasdaq up 1/4 of 1%, the s&p up 1/4 of 1%. that is it for "varney and company". "the big money show" starts now.