reality. israel's war against hamas terrorists increases our risk of getting hit but not all that leaves us vulnerable. president biden has the left southern border wide open. they've reached a whole other level. i'm harris faulkner and you are in "the faulkner focus." the f.b.i. is now investigating direct and indirect ties between hamas terrorists in particular but also others living in america. remember, in recent months border patrol has stopped 169 people on the terror watch list and those are the ones they know about. because we're seeing more than a million and a half gotaways already in our country. >> the reality is that the terrorism threat has been elevated throughout 2023. the ongoing war in the middle east has raised the threat of an attack against americans in the united states to a whole other level. it will serve as an inspiration the likes of which we haven't seen since isis launched its caliphate several years ago. >> harris: he also took a pause for almost ten seconds, don't know if he was deep in thought or what was going on. he had been asked if our nation is safer than it was before president biden took office. when president trump was in office, was it safer then or now? he finally spoke and said that the terror threats are elevated but we are better prepared. republican lawmakers agree the risks are greater and blaming biden's policies. >> you combine war in the middle east with an open border on our southern border that is an invitation from the biden white house. >> that is a form of domestic insecurity, national insecurity. the biden administration has done a terrible job. >> we are at risk. we need to wake up. >> harris: mike waltz and counter terrorism expert nathan sales in focus. let's go to team fox coverage. mike tobin is on the ground in israel. first david spunt at the justice department. david. >> f.b.i. director christopher wray has access to an incredible amount of intelligence. things that you, i and people watching don't know. the rhetoric ramped up over the last few weeks and clearly he is choosing his words carefully. watch this. >> we also cannot and do not discount the possibility that hamas or another foreign terrorist organization may exploit the current conflict to conduct attacks here on our own soil. >> some of those cases with ties to hamas they are indirect people that are inspired. i interviewed him on october 18th a couple of weeks ago in california where he warned about lone wolf attacks. >> we're particularly vigilant to the possibility that lone actors here in the united states could in some way out of inspiration misguided inspiration that they draw from the conflict in the middle east. >> the director of the national counter terrorism center warned that other terrorist organizations are watching and waiting. >> they are seeking to capitalize on this moment to galvanize supporters and organize for attacks. >> regarding a rise in anti-semitism across the united states, the f.b.i. director told senators the jewish community is uniquely targeted by most terrorist organizations really across the spectrum. >> when you look at a group that makes up 2.4% of the american population, it should be jarring to everyone that same population accounts for 60% of all religious-based hate crimes. so they need our help. >> anti-semitism was increasing before hamas attacked israel on october 7th. clearly his rhetoric has ramped up an increase with a sense of urgency since we spoke two weeks ago. >> harris: david spunt, you are blunt but i got it right this time. ambassador nathan sales. former counter terrorism coordinator at the state department. ambassador, just to begin here, when you see what is going on here in the united states, what is the conversation like at your level, at the diplomat level? >> what we're seeing in america since october 7th is sickening. let me be frank, unamerican. america is the world's bastion of religious freedom. that guarantee of religious freedom extends to everybody regardless of your faith. so to see a massive surge in anti-semitism and to see it concentrated on our mostly -- elite universities undermines the moral standing on our universities and calls on state and federal officials to make sure there are no follow-on attacks on jewish communities in america. >> harris: you bring that up first. are you concerned that that group might be where we would find some of these already on the terror watch living among us type lone wolves? >> i think the main concern that we have to be worried about is so-called inspired attacks. that's not to say hamas or hezbollah or other terrorist groups might send operatives here with specific instructions or carry out attacks. that might well happen. but i think the greater risk is people who are inspired by the violence committed by hamas against israelis and jews to carry out something similar here in the u.s. we're starting to seeing worrying signs of that. anti-defamation league has indicated that hate crimes against jews are up 400% this month over where the levels were last year. clearly the anti-seamites feel emboldened to act. >> harris: why won't another arab nation take the refugees from the palestinian area now? >> they've gone further and said they are willing to sacrifice millions of lives in order to prevent their territory from becoming a haven for the palestinians. it is a very good question to ask and i think at least part of the answer is because the surrounding countries, egypt and jordan and others, have their own security concerns. they are concerned that hamas operatives might try to exploit refugee flows and destabilize their own countries. i have to say if arab countries, if muslim countries are allowed to worry about security risks america is allowed to worry about that, too. >> harris: absolutely as we watch the flow come across our border. thank you for getting us started. for the very first time since the israel/hamas war began october 7th when hamas terrorists breached the border and went over and killed civilians in israel, tortured them and set them on fire and raped them. since then some people are being allowed to leave the war zone at the rafah crossing that goes into egypt. i was just describing that. if you are injured they may take a few but don't want anybody else. americans are not among the evacuees. not allowed to make their way into egypt because of hamas. secretary blinken testified hamas is stopping 1,000 american citizens from escaping. that's more hostages, i would think. israel is continuing its campaign to crush the hamas terrorists pushing farther into the gaza strip with its ground offensive now. senior correspondent mike tobin is there. mike. >> we're in ashkelon off the northern end of the gaza strip. i want to talk about the border with egypt. as you mentioned foreign passport holders crowded the rafah area hoping they would get across the rafah crossing there and make it into egypt. ambulances showed up on the egyptian side this morning with a promise they would be able to take some of the sick and wounded out. we know some of them got out. we hear from palestinians that 110 foreign passport holders got out of the rafah confrontation and made it to egypt and escaped the disaster that's shaping up in the gaza strip. however, there was a note that was -- a list circulating around in the palestinian population today. we don't know how official it was. american passport holders and british passport holders were not on the list. the british consulate put out a statement hopeful to get people out tomorrow. we haven't heard anything from the americans. some of the americans we're tracking inside the gaza strip are not hopeful they'll get out. there is blood shed in the gaza strip. a great crater that formed up in the refugee camp after an israeli air strike. israel said it was formed by a hamas tunnel that collapsed when the air strike came in. hamas said some of the hostages were killed in that strike. an advisor to prime minister benjamin netanyahu told me today that's a hamas lie. one of the things i can give you a look at today is one of the iron dome batteries. you have seen the missile intercepts. this town has been preserved because of this. this is what the batteries looked like. i talked with a general who operates the air defense for the whole country. they provide some comfort to the soldiers in the ground knowing there is a layer of protection for their families while they are engaged in combat. israel is paying a price. over the past 24 hours 15 israeli soldiers have been killed in combat. >> harris: everybody pays a price in war. war should always be the last result of anything. hamas went after citizens and started this one. mike tobin, thank you. i want to go straight to congressman mike waltz of the great state of florida who serves on the house armed services foreign affairs and intelligence committees. he is a former green beret commander. we'll lean on his acumen there. i want to start with the americans blocked by hamas from leaving the war zone and getting to safety in egypt. i have no reason to believe why egypt wouldn't take our americans. they have to be able to get there. hamas is blocking. i ask the question, wouldn't that technically make them hostages or could they become that? are they in danger? >> they are in danger, harris. i agree with you. they are essentially de facto hostages. hamas is not letting them leave. they are not letting american citizens leave, on top of the ones that they took out of israel. but i think we need to take a step back here. i think the administration's policy is completely inverted and backwards. we need to be sending a very clear message to hamas's backers whether it's turkey or qatar or others that are backing them that if the hair on an american's head is touched, they will all feel the ramifications, not just hamas leadership themselves. my question is, if we supposedly share in israel's objectives that hamas is going to be destroyed, then why are hamas's leaders freely moving and living in these countries around the world from the international standpoint? why aren't we treating them like we did the leaders of al qaeda and isis and putting them all under massive amounts of pressure. if they are worried where they will sleep at night and these countries are worried about their relationship with the united states going forward, that changes the dynamic for american citizens that are being held hostage. instead it is what can we give, what can we concede, and it is more of an appeasement approach. >> harris: what you just framed there is what i've been wondering since the day after the attack october 7th on israel and their citizens. i've been wondering why are these countries allowing even a former commander, a former leader of hamas to live there, qatar, the leader who called for all of the protesting and quote, unquote, do something on your own, which if you are a lone wolf it sounds like a command and control issue, he told the world on that friday three weeks ago get out, go, do what you can, carry the message. he clearly has a voice and he is parked right there at the offices for hamas in qatar. >> harris, after 9/11, we told a number of countries, we told the world you are either with us or against us. we made it very clear and we turned that dynamic on its head. instead we have others saying you need us more than we need you and you need us to get these hostages out. and that is basically give hamas all the leverage. >> harris: and time. those conversations have been very slow. >> that's right. >> harris: let's get to this and we can go back. overnight a u.s. military base in iraq was attacked by a drone. you mentioned what it was like for our people to be there. can you look at all the places where we are in the middle east right now? first of all we have the map up, congressman. i don't know if you can see it. the 28th attack on our u.s. men and women in the military by iran-backed terrorists since october 17th. it creeps up every day. no injuries or damage in the latest facility that was hit reported on a u.s. base. the pentagon is now sending 300 additional active duty military personnel to the region on top of the 900 announced last week. bringing the total number of people deployed there to 1,200. first of all, what are all those missions? i have had two colonels, a general, ambassador tell me they need to pull those people out. what is your take on it? why do we have so many people that can be hit at this point? >> well, the majority of those forces, these aren't massive bases, they are very small bases with special operators, intelligence professionals and keeping a lid on isis. we have still been hitting much of isis's leadership in syria. those drones, those helicopters, special operators can't parachute in from the space shuttle. they have to be there in theater. the problem is iran has been hitting them because they can get away with it. we've let them get away with it. this administration has allowed over 100 attacks in the last two years and iran will trade the lives of its proxies in iraq or syria or lebanon for american/israelis lives all day long. that's a good deal for the ayatollah. only when they feel the pain will they stop. and that's what this administration has a policy problem. they have this massive funding bill, supplemental bill before congress. my issue with it it's throwing a lot more money after bad policy whether it's bad policy on the border or bad policy with iran. we in congress have to drive policy changes, not just keep signing more checks. >> harris: let's keep it there. the white house is going after some of you over this new bill to aid israel. it would give the jewish state more than $14 billion, which it would get from taking that same amount from all of the money that was added for those 87,000 people at the i.r.s. who will knock on our doors personally, i guess, there will be so many of them. fox has obtained a white house memo titled house republicans set an unprecedented bar for helping israel defend itself. it reads this way. this is a time for all of us to come together and not undermine our national security that is internal point scoring over safety in the world. it sounds like they are writing it to themselves. what is your response? >> well, again, it's bad policy, not money. we have to pay for these -- we have to pay for this aid. and i certainly support pulling it from the waste that we've seen in the last several years. but again whether it is biden backing us into a stalemate, a war of attrition because he didn't give ukraine what he needed up front. dithered us into this stalemate. a wide open border. he is asking for more money to process more people rather than putting title 42, remain in mexico and policies in place that would deter these migrants from coming and finally, iran is flush with cash, yet they just want a blank check to basically fight against both sides of the same issue. how about we cut off the cash and force the sanctions, stop the waivers, and stop paying a billion dollars per head per hostage? that's how you cut off the money to terrorism, not just let them have more money and demand more money from the american taxpayer. it is horrible policy and they have to do a 180 on their middle east policy. >> harris: it was bad enough when we thought it was north of 230 hostages. i take the conversation to where we began, the 1,000 americans that hamas is not letting leave the country. if you couple all of that with no more money to that region because the aid for gaza strip now is also something that democrats want to fight about at this point. we have to get our people back before we keep paying money. your last thought. >> that's absolutely right. we need to start imposing consequences on the people behind this. but let's even take a step back further, harris. we also have a terrorist super state in afghanistan. there are reports of the taliban giving passports to al qaeda and other groups so bin laden has realized his dream as a massive caliphate to fund terror all over the world. it is in iran and self-imposed in kabul as well and under this administration. >> harris: a terrorist super state in afghanistan. wow. congressman, thank you very much. appreciate your time. as you can see in gaza right now, the sun is setting and we know that's when much of what happens in the war between israel and hamas terrorists happens after dark. so about this time each day we start to see that in our live pictures. right now we are keeping our eye on a situation that you know i focus on every day, it's the people who are captured and we hope are still alive, the hostages. in cities across america protestors are taking down continuing to vandalize the posters of those hostages. how posters of kidnapped israelis ignited a firestorm on american sidewalks. one woman is tearing down the posters in the middle of new york city. >> i think the people who are putting this up and formeanting this kind of ugliness should be ashamed of themselves. >> harris: look in the mirror, lady. these instances have caused altercations as some people are trying to protect those posters. >> don't touch me, don't touch me. no, don't touch me. no, don't touch me. get out of here. >> harris: nypd arrested a 21-year-old man for ripping down the posters, giving information about hostages and keeping them on the minds of americans. police say it is being investigated as a hate crime but the task form as possible bias incident. we want to keep the hostages always in focus here. here are just three more. we do this every day. the faces of children today held by hamas terrorists. and you can help the activists who created these. we had the artists on last week who were doing this. they're israeli and working with people back home in their country to put together all the information so that we know who has been taken. download and print from their website and post them in your community. kidnapped from israel.com. we'll read their names. an 8-year-old. a 15-year-old israeli. five years old, israeli. we'll keep them in our prayers. all right. the cornell college student who is accused of threatening a mass shooting of jewish americans and other anti-semitic violence on campus is due in a federal courtroom today. investigators say he is 21-year-old patrick dye, a junior at cornell, an elite college, ivy league. he posted violent messages online targeting jewish students and the building which houses a kosher dining hall. this kind of anti-semitic rhetoric is ramping up on college campuses across america creating a culture of fear for so many. alexis mcadams is on the campus of cornell, university. alexis. >> that building you are talking about with the kosher dining hall and has a heavy police presence as the junior here at cornell is no longer on campus after investigators say he posted a series of threatening messages saying he would kill jewish students at cornell university. the f.b.i. got involved. found the i.p. address and now in custody. i talked to the sheriff a short time ago at the jail where he was booked under 24 hour surveillance here. look at his mug shot. we got it a short time ago from the sheriff's department in new york. this comes as patrick dye faces federal charges after investigators tell us he posted the online threats to shoot up the kosher dining hall and writing he would slit the throats of jewish students on campus. people were up in arms. investigators on high alert. according to the complaint we looked at the f.b.i. and new york state police used dye's i.p. address to track him down finding a dozen hateful posts linked to that computer. students i talked to say the rise in anti-semitism across the country is jarring. >> i definitely new anti-seam adve anti-seamtism existed. >> the posts were found over the weekend. adding police