facing big backlash over their response to the brutal murders of six hostages held by Hamas terrorists some say they are both showing the world that America doesn't actually have Israel's back this is the fauler focus I'm John Roberts in for Harris the IDF found the bodies of those six hostages in a tunnel in Gaza over the weekend one of them 23-year-old Israeli American HH Goldberg Poland the deaths bringing fresh attention to the need for a deal to get those still in encap activity home but instead of blaming the Hamas terrorists President Biden said this Mr President if you think it's time for p prime minister Netanyahu to do more on this issue do you think he's doing enough no well Netanyahu heard that and fired back during his own news conference listen here it's it's really a outrage that people say that no one is no no one is more committ to release the hostages and fight more for them than I and I also served so please no one let no one teach me a lesson about about such actions the hostage death sparked massive protests across Israel and all out anti-israel chaos in New York City demonstrators also gathered outside of Vice President Harris's Michigan campaign event yesterday earlier in the day she was was in The Situation Room meeting with the president Harris called the hostage deaths quote brutal and barbaric and said that quote Hamas leaders will pay but critics point out that Harris has also been a tough critic of Israeli leadership Reports say the White House is putting her in the foreign policy Spotlight ahead of November our senior White House correspondent Peter duy has got more on this aspect of it Peter and John we just are not getting very much by way of an explanation as to why it is President B thinks uh that he should be tougher on Netanyahu at the negotiating table than on the leaders of Hamas can you explain why you think prime minister man is not doing enough to help just give a spee he was very defined and he said that he will stay in Philadelphia will this hold the agreement we're still in negotiation not with him with my colleagues from cter and from isra so those talks that he referred to with cutter and Egypt are according to the Washington post about a take it or leave it deal that the United States is hoping adds urgency to the process but is putting out the word basically that they could walk away from the talks alog together if it falls through Republican critics though quick to point out there would be no need for a ceasefire if there was no war and this war was started by Hamas truly Hamas is the one that has rejected every ceasefire proposal all the deaths in Gaza lay at hamas's feet Israel wouldn't be it Israel wouldn't be in Gaza right now if 1,400 of their citizens weren't murdered by Hamas of course they're going to respond and they have every right to not to be lost in the political considerations six more innocent hostages lost their lives Governor Tim Walls wasn't ready to say anything about that on Sunday what's your reaction to the six hostages being found dead um Ina right thanks everybody and we are going to be getting something that is becoming increasingly rare around here at the Biden White House that is remarks from President Biden they are telling us it's going to be about his investing in America agenda but that would be the first chance to hear a a stray comment uh from the president about the ceasefire today John and we're supposed to get a White House briefing as well uh schedule for 2:30 this afternoon we'll see what Karen jeampier has to say Peter thank you for the update now Ambassador Nathan sales former State Department Ambassador at large en counter terrorism coordinator also former acting under secretary for civilian security democracy and human rights as we dig deeper to this so Netanyahu points out that the White House had been very complimentary of him for agreeing to the terms of a ceasefire which Hamas repeatedly rejected and now Biden says that Netanyahu is not not doing enough but how do you decipher that well apparently nobody thought to put a teleprompter in front of the president before they let him answer the question look it it's clear who's responsible here it's Hamas they have said no again and again to every ceasefire proposal that the United States has put on the table and that Israel has said yes to just last week Israel said yes yet again Hamas picked up their ball and went home and it's easy to see why every time the White House publicly criticizes Netanyahu or publicly criticizes Israel Hamas thinks you know what why say yes now we're going to hold out we're going to hold out and try and get a better deal a deal that lets us stay in power to live to fight another day because that's exactly what they said they're going to do October 7th they're going to repeat it again and again and again we can't give them the opportunity to do that what the United States has to do what the White House has to do is stand resolutely behind Israel help him finish the job so the death of these 6 hostages over the weekend appears to be a new change in tactic by Hamas after the rescue of those three hostages some weeks ago that Israeli forces were closing in on them and they were executed by the H the Hamas terrorists so how could any of the blame possibly lie on Israel what are you going to blame them for trying to rescue their hostages exactly it's it's perverse it's victim blaming Israel has been the victim in this war from the very very beginning this war wouldn't happen at all if Hamas didn't invade Southern Israel and and butcher 1 12200 Israeli civilians um and and we know that Hamas has now put out orders we know this because they've actually bragged about it perversely that if Israeli Defense Forces are close to rescuing hostages kill them and that's exactly what happened and you know your hearts go out to the victims and their families what we need to do is make sure that every single hostage is either rescued or brought home um in a ceasefire deal that makes strategic sense for Israel and again the reason there isn't one has nothing to do with Benjamin Netanyahu it has nothing to do with Israel it has everything to do with Hamas sensing an opportunity to exploit divisions between Washington and Jerusalem so an opinion piece in the Washington examiner said the following Biden is wrong negotiation won't work with Hamas and the Wall Street Journal editorial board with this Hamas murderers six hostages Israel is blamed they were killed in Rafa where Biden and Harris delayed Israel's entry with threats and by withholding weapons they argue quote the choices are heavy and Israel's leaders don't need us pressure driven by an American election calendar Americans know right from wrong Israel is offering unprecedented strategic concessions and risking its soldiers lives to free hostages us pressure should be on Hamas which took the hostages and murders them why ask Israel for more concessions why not just say Okay this business with Hamas enough is enough you're going to be executing hostages we're going to come down with the full force and might of the Israeli milit milary on you with a full backing of the United States stop the equivocating support the hostages by saying Hamas you've got to let them go well that was the approach we took during the Trump Administration and you know voters will have a choice in November about what kind of foreign policy they want then it might be too late it might be um but let's let's keep in mind this is not just about Israel defending Israel's interests America needs to step up to protect American citizens too dozens of Americans were killed by Hamas on October 7th and just over the weekend we lost another hostage shot in the back of the head um H Goldberg Poland lost his life tragically along with five others along with five others like what are we going to do to protect Americans brien's talking a great game about Justice and accountability but I'm afraid we're going to see another abig gate type situation where the president writes checks that he doesn't actually deliver like when are we going to hold Isis accountable for killing 13 of our Bravest Warriors we're still waiting 3 years later we can't afford a repeat of that situation here uh on that point another Biden Administration foreign policy misstep back in the news August 26 marked 3 years since that botched Afghanistan withdrawal 13 of our nation's service members killed in that bombing at Cabell airports abig gate former president Trump marked the solemn occasion at Arlington National Cemetery with some of those gold star families Democrats including vice president Harris then accused Trump of playing politics with the tragedy the VP posting quote the former president disrespected sacred ground all for the for the sake of a political stun but those families invited the former president as for the current Administration Senator Tom Cotton had this to say where were they Joe Biden was sitting at a beach KLA Harris was sitting at her mansion in Washington DC she was four miles away 10 minutes she could have gone to the cemetery and and honored the sacrifice of those young men and women but she hasn't she never has spoken to them or taken a meeting with them because they did meet with them during the dignified because of with them at the dignified trans ah but there weren't and NBC News had to issue a correction on that vice president Harris was not at the dignified transfer of those service members Trump's campaign has released video of those gold star families blasting families he showed up helped the ler wreath vice president kamla Harris and President Biden were both invited by those same gold star families to come they didn't show up yet Harris complains about it this kind of blew up in her face it did and it it speaks volumes about the priorities of of this Administration and the priorities of former president Trump whether they will admit it or not Biden and Harris have to know that the Afghanistan withdrawal is a colossal black mark on their record as it's a colossal stain on America's reputation um and we're still dealing with the consequences The Fallout from that decision years ago um after the attack at abig gate where we lost 13 of our our finest Warriors you know the president went out in front of the cameras and said we're going to hunt you down we will not rest that was 3 years ago do you know how many drone strikes we've done in Afghanistan since then one and it wasn't against Isis it was against the new leader of al-Qaeda and good Bravo for taking out the new leader of al-Qaeda but we are in no position to actually do what is necessary to bring Justice to the families of these 13 members and it's not an accident this is a deliberate policy of this Administration to walk away from the battlefield and leave Isis in control of huge parts of Afghanistan this is that's not going to go away and ignoring it is not going to make it go away Nathan great to talk to you thanks for coming in thanks joh all right the fight over Free Speech Going Global Brazil Banning Elon musk's xplatform this after France arrested the CEO of telegram and Mark Zuckerberg admitted that the Biden Administration pressured Facebook to censor covid content plus the first son about to go on trial for the second time this year how Hunter Biden's lawyers plan to defend him against criminal tax charges the former attorney general Matt wh that he failed to pay over a million dollars in federal income tax between 2016 and 2019 his attorney expected to argue that the president's son's drug addiction affected his decision-making so much that he could not have intentionally committed the crimes H faces nine total charges three felonies and six misdemeanors including tax evasion and filing false tax returns he is pleaded not guilty to all of the charges he's already been convicted this year on gun charges in Delaware but some say the worst is yet to come it's not going to be pretty and it's going to cause he and his family a lot of pain he faces very severe criminal penalties if he's convicted on these tax charges for another thing this trial will put out all the dirty laundry that Hunter Biden was spending money on this guy has gotten more sweetheart deals than anybody in America if he were not Joe Biden's son he would be in prison as we speak the inves ation into Hunter taxes began almost four years ago he was finally charged at the end of 2023 earlier this year a judge denied a bid by Hunter's attorneys to dismiss those charges jury selection set to start on Thursday Matt Whitaker former acting attorney general with this now hard to believe Matt that just 13 months ago Hunter Biden thought that he was going to wash his hands of all of this with that mysteriously crafted plea deal that blew up no it's good to be with you John that plea deal remember would have taken these gun charges and these tax charges and given him uh probation and pay a fine and and and had a deferred um prosecution agreement with uh these gun charges that he was convicted of and now he's facing years in prison but remember we know so much about this case John because of the IRS whistleblowers that came forward and shared so much of the inside the room decision-making where charges were allowed to lapse because of the statute limitations has run the most serious charges the barisma money was allowed to just never be considered so that's not going to be part of this trial right uh but there will be a lot of other things that come to light interesting that it looks like his attorneys are again going to as they did in the gun trial Mount the defense that he was an addict and he was in such bad shape that he he didn't know what he was doing he couldn't have intentionally not paid his taxes because he's an upstand upstanding citizen and of course he would have paid his taxes uh that defense fell apart in the gun trial what do you think will happen this time yeah I have a feeling the jurors are going to look at this defense that is trying to be made and uh uh be a little quizzical as to why they're telling all of this uh drug uh and addiction of testimony and and why he still was coherent enough to file taxes and and the real problem John is not um that he was a drug addict the problem was that he tried to deduct things that aren't even close to being allowed under Federal law and I think at the end of the day it was those decisions uh that are what's going to get him in trouble so his father President Biden said a couple of times that he would not pardon his son but that was back when Biden thought that he was running for reelection do you think he could potentially change his mind before he walks out the door on January 20th or if KLA Harris were to win the president she could she maybe do it or or as a gesture of good faith if Trump won do you think he could pardon Hunter yeah I think that what President Biden said was politically expedient at the time to get him P that story and through an election now that he's not a candidate I would fully expect uh that he will pardon uh Hunter Biden after the election certainly that would be the timing I don't expect that President Trump I mean I haven't talked to him about it but I don't expect that he would pardon Hunter Biden uh and I and I can't imagine uh the the agreements that K haris made with Joe Biden in order to get him to move aside so I think there's a lot we don't have visibility to but certain I don't think Hunter Biden is going to go to four or five years in federal prison yep uh that's probably a safe bet we'll see Matt thank you for joining us appreciate it good to see you see JN all right the fight for free speech is expanding across the globe the latest front Brazil the country Supreme Court has just upheld a ban on X the platform formerly known as Twitter that blocks the social media site for tens of millions of users and provides fines for people who use it Fox Miss is Grady Trimble here with more great what's this all about John X's owner is not happy with the Court's ruling in Brazil to put it mildly Elon Musk has fired off several posts on the platform since the country's top judge banned X there and its Supreme Court unanimously upheld that ban in one post musk says free speech is the Bedrock of democracy and an unelected pseudo judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes musk also suggested he should be impeached and even locked up for imposing the ban Brazil's highest court ordered the country's telecoms regulator to shut down X accusing the company of violating court orders and allowing hate speech and misinformation to spread online any individual who's found to be using a VPN a virtual private Network to get around the ban could also face a fine of about $99,000 the ban will remain in place until X appoints a legal representative to work with the country's government and pays Millions of dollars in fines several Republican lawmakers have spoken out against the ban but some Democrats are seemingly praising it Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison posted on X with no context Obrigado thank you Brazil prompting musk to say the Democratic party wants to destroy the First Amendment the X band is the latest in a series of what conservatives argue are affronts to free speech you remember last week the owner of the social media platform telegram was charged in France for allowing illegal content on the platform and meta founder Mark Zuckerberg admitted to censoring content during covid under pressure by the Biden Harris Administration John Grady Trimble with the explanation for us Grady thank you Colorado's Democratic governor Accused by a migrant gang Plus classes begin today at Columbia University and students are nervous after the anti-semitic chaos last semester there is literally no plan that has been outlined by the Columbia Administration in order to restore order and safety to campus and I have zero reason to believe that anything will change going into this school year anti-israel protests are already escalating in Colombia and it's only day one of what might be a very long semester Ben Dominic in Focus coming up [Applause] next protesters back on Colombia's campus this morning as student headed back to school a group of about 70 people marched near the front gates with signs and masks chanting things like Colombia your hands are red it comes months after the campus descended into chaos and violence that forced the president of the university to step down on Friday Colombia's faculty-led anti-Semitism task force released a report that detailed the harrowing experience for Jewish students during that time it found that they were chased out of their dormatory spat on even got death threats one Columbia student said this the double standard is glaring it's hard to imagine that at this point 11 months later we could still be shocked Again by what we're reading and yet that's how I felt when I was reading it the university is failing to uphold its end of the Sacred Covenant between University and students which is namely to ensure a safe and healthy and productive learning environment for all students Alexis McAdams is at Columbia University Forest this morning Alexis how's it looking there now hey John well it feels like I never left right it's only a few months ago that we covered these campus protests at Columbia University every single day and it feels like deja vu because you can see over my shoulder here it's happening yet again and it's not just on the campuses here but it's also across the Big Apple I did check in with some of the protesters who would talk to me about what they're doing here watch ask you why you guys are out here today free free free we're here because there is still an ongoing genocide the United States is materially and politically responsible for are you a student uh are you a student here I I am a student um I just just wonder do you think it's going to be a lot of protests again this year I know last year right it was like a little bit people thought it was disruptive they were upset what do you think is going to happen this year we have been very clear that this will not stop until Colombia has divested from its complicity in Israel's genocide of the Palestinian people that's all I have to say and across Manhattan on a Sunday afternoon when people were getting back from their holiday weekend or on a Monday rather uh John we saw a lot of people who were out across the streets of New York City chanting that the United States is complicit in a genocide blaming both kamla Harris and Joe Biden this is some of what we saw yesterday watch one protester was seen carrying a Hamas flag there others yelling out long live Hamas as 5,000 Pro Palestinian protesters marched through the streets those chants erupting just hours up to the murders of six more Israeli hostages okay their families heartbroken speaking through tears including American citizen hsh Goldberg Poland's mom if that didn't break your heart yesterday I don't know what will their families had to say their final goodbyes back at your live on Columbia's campus we've been trying to check in with some of the protesters about what they're doing here they say as they're learning Gaza is burning calling on the university to completely divest from Israel and but I asked them hey are you going to have more protests throughout uh the campus as school is back in session they say they're not to stop until this University listens to them they thought they didn't listen to them at all last year and then Jewish students I talked to John said quite simply they don't feel safe and some of them don't know if they should have applied or even come to this school John uh Alexis mcadam's there great reporting and good on you for chasing after those folks and trying to find out what they really think in Focus now Ben Dominic Fox News contributor and The Spectator editor at large so I'd be curious to know Ben if any of those protesters out there yesterday or today are outraged about the murder Mur of six hostages at the hands of Hamas well they certainly don't sound like it John in fact they sound uh completely uh you know on the side openly of Hamas a terrorist organization one that deserves to be destroyed and it's in the interest not just of Israel but of America to see it destroyed look the the lesson I think we can take away from these most recent uh killings is that there really can be no negotiation there is no path to some some kind of deal that has existed for a long time as a fantasy from the Biden Administration uh and I think that these students are just a reminder that this faction within the left is not going to shut up or go away uh they're going to stay around and they're going to be an active problem in a thorn in the side of those who'd like to see democ the Democrats uh Prevail in the fall uh and uh be able to navigate these this coming Sprint toward the election without any kind of hiccups you know in Chicago this uh the protests were there I was among them for quite some time uh we heard similar uh things echoed there but I think that once people start coming out in this nice weather going back to campus uh they start to uh really start making a lot more noise it becomes even more aggressive and it's clearly not going away anytime soon yeah people shouldn't forget that Israel has agreed to the terms of a ceasefire it's Hamas who says oh no no no no we can't have Israeli forces along the border with Egypt preventing us from rearming ourselves the congresswoman at least stanic of uh of New York said that leaders need to do more listen to how she put it it's a disgrace and we continue to see higher education promote anti-semitic leaders and anti-Semitism and as we start the school year this year we need to see moral strong leadership from higher education and these universities to condemn anti-Semitism and actually enforce their own rules we saw the first day of classes at Cornell there were vile anti semetic graffiti on campus and yet you still have these universities not showing leadership this is why it's so important legislatively that we use our oversight capacity when it comes to taxpayer dollars accountable so uh Ben the these colleges and universities have had all summer to come up with a plan on how to deal with this uh is the plan working yes is there even a plan clearly it's not clearly they they are still caught in a mode where they are incapable of dealing with this and I'm glad that the Congress made this connection there's a taxpayer interest involved here these schools have their own rules and they're choosing not to enforce them and there should be ramifications for that it's appropriate when we have so much of our taxpayer dollars flowing to in many cases these extremely wealthy institutions uh that we uh take a clear examination at the kind of effect that they're having uh not just to American higher education but within these important communities if Jewish students don't feel comfortable if they don't feel safe if they don't feel like they can go to campus or go to uh attend their classes then what is the public interest being served here and why are we sending them so much of our taxpayer dollars and allowing them to exist taxfree all right well we'll see how these protests unfold today I want to get your thoughts on this Ben officials in Aurora Colorado are pushing dismissed Talk of the quote purported purported Invasion last week the New York Post editorial board says this quote polus can continue to try to sell the lie that Aurora's officials are imagining a gang takeover but the town's residents like Americans in demun cities across the country are living The Ugly Truth Republican Congressman Tony Gonzalez of Texas with this in many cases these criminal organizations these traga TDA they're growing in prominence this these Venezuelan gangs they're all over the country and they're they're seeping their their tentacles into our society we have to get ahead of this and we need real solutions that real solution is holding these people accountable you know the the governor of Colorado Jared polus and others are blaming this Council woman from Aurora Danielle jinsky saying oh she is Fanning the Flames here and she's saying things that are true toward the Border they're like they try to pretend right now that given the fact that there's been a shift in that policy uh that they can look at the border today and say oh things are things are just fine now uh you know we have we don't have the same problems that we used to except the problem is already here The Gangs activity is already here there already have been so many people who have crossed over saying oh there's nothing to see here but the gang uh members have from their leadership been given permission to attack the police so hopefully nothing will happen but we'll see Ben thank you for joining us appreciate it good to be with you all right vice president Harris and former president Trump playing the blame game on the economy attacking each other's records and policies we fact check those claims just ahead plus she's done one whole sitdown interview but still no news conference from the vice president this is her strategy it's questions about her record and refused to give answers to the American people she is doing every single thing that she can to make herself unavailable to the people right now 44 days in counting without a news conference and now she may have a new method of avoiding the press the power panel on that coming up next