i'm harris faulkner and you are in "the faulkner focus." those arrests were part of a multi-city sting operation. immigration and customs enforcement, or ice, with the help from f.b.i. and local law enforcement caught terrorists in new york city, philadelphia, and l.a. this piece is from a former assistant secretary of defense and former deputy director of the c.i.a. a quote. the terrorism warning lights are blinking red again. f.b.i. director christopher wray in front of congress eight days ago. >> when i sat here last year, i walked through how we were already in a heightened threat environment. and since then, we've seen the threat from foreign terrorists rise to a whole other level. >> harris: the number of terror watch listen counters at the southern border now is surging. all under president biden. look from 2017 to the moment he took office in 2021. look across the stream there. we had two in 17 under trump. you fast forward to the moment that biden flipped trump's policies and look how many times it was 15 and now it's gone from 98, 169, 80, it's early. it's only june. fox news correspondent now alexis mcadams with more. >> to others including some who live in new york they say it is just about time this happened. a source telling me a majority of those suspected terrorists were arrested here in new york city. so the question people have at home is how did these people get into the country in the first place? you look live in california there a busy crossing right now at our nation's southern border. that's a area or one of the areas that police believe that these people crossed in somewhere at the southern border. so we talked to a councilman from new york city who is a democrat who says this is a big mess at our country's border and says president biden has got to secure it. >> again, i've been critical of president biden the way he has handled this from the get go. i think he has been asleep at the wheel. so that's why i'm calling on people in my own party, let's get back to reality here. let's have a southern border and, you know, again, if people want to come to the border. before they come in we vet them. not after we let them loose and then have the f.b.i. and ice try to round up. we rounded up eight. there could be 8,000 out there. >> just the last few days a group of men from tajikistan what investigators believe have ties to isis were taken into custody but not charged with any crimes yet. sources say the group was, quote, fully vetted at the southern border but somehow nothing was flagged. it was only after they were already released into the u.s. that cbp was notified about a possible isis connection. according to "new york post," listen to this, the feds used a wiretap to listen on the phone calls hearing one of the people arrested talking about bombs. this was all part of an ice sting that took place in three major cities, new york, philadelphia and los angeles. back out live we can tell you these men have not been charged with any crimes at this time. athey are in ice custody waiting for removal. they might possibly be sent home. >> harris: i want to get to tom homan who ran ice under former president trump and a fox news contributor. tom, your first indications that we were in trouble even before these arrests, you alerted us to and a loud voice saying this is what's going to happen. what are we just not doing right? >> you are right, harris, for three years i've been screaming about this. fentanyl is killing 100,000 people. sex trafficking women and children up 600%. my biggest persons is this open southern border is creating the biggest national security vulnerability and this administration is doing nothing about it. they haven't slowed the flow. they still have catch and release. i just looked at the data this morning. in 2021 a little over 4,000 russians, 22023, 33,000. over 30,000 chinese nationals. they released people from russia, north korea, syria, turkey, iran. this happens by the thousands every month. and they keep releasing them. as far as the vetting they say we vet them before release. the vetting is poor because we can only vet with the information that is available to us. mostly that's ncic if they have when arrested before. you think russia, syria, iran is sharing security information on people from their countries? no. this isn't the first time it happened. it happened several times where someone released from the border and iced to find them later. it won't be the last. unless they take action to secure the border something is coming. christopher wray says it and i say. no way something isn't coming in this country because of this open border. >> harris: the current director of the f.b.i. christopher wray has been saying it as a drumbeat. when he first mentioned this it was a simple warning. and then he mentioned it again the threats were deepening. and then he mentioned it again in front of congress all of these times. it was a dire imminent situation that people be aware of. and now i don't even know where it is because now it seems like it is harder and maybe you can talk to this. it is harder to catch these guys for all the reasons that you gave plus we have sanctuary cities in this country. >> that was a point i was about to bring up. do you think it is a coincidence these eight were arrested in los angeles, philadelphia, and new york all sanctuary cities? the worst of the worst will go to sanctuary cities where they know they will be protected. local law enforcement is not allowed to work with ice. any of these eight people could have been arrested for a crime in new york or philadelphia and guess what, they will be released from jail. no one will call ice. this is why the sanctuary cities are sanctuary for criminals. sanctuary for terrorists. latest information this morning most of the residents in philadelphia with the remainder in new york. only one arrested in california. a shout-out to new york where the governor supports this mass illegal immigration. your mayor supports it and two senators, schumer and hildebrandt support it. philadelphia their governor and mayor supports it. the people listening to this broadcast need to call your elected officials and demand they secure the border and protect america. >> harris: where is the president on this? he needs to speak now. he put executive action into flow and signed it and said it would be the first step in solving the problem and it blew up. this time last week we had 10,000 people cross the border and on monday of this week we had 1,000 people cross in southern california. that 2500 number, is it likely we hit that on monday if 1,000 people on monday alone came across in one state? >> i can tell you this, harris, i see the reports every day and have my sources and see the reports every day. there has been 5,000 or more every day since he signed that proclamation. >> harris: pause one second. i can do the math and know what they are doing. they are hoping for later in the week it goes down and then they do the average, divide by seven and comes out close to 2500 or 2499. from the numbers you and i are talking about now, that is mathematically not really possible. >> it's not. look, bottom line is anybody can look at the videos that bill melugin and other people in the field. 4900 arrested yesterday crossing the border between cbp and border patrol. it runs around 5,000 every day. this administration has done nothing. not a single thing since he has been in the white house to slow the flow. they just send more resources to the border. border patrol can't do their job. these eight people released they can't do investigative interviews because they have such a mass of people coming in they take bio metrics and fingerprints and out the door. they don't have time to do interviews like they should be because they're overwhelmed. this administration did it on purpose. this isn't mismanagement. this isn't incompetence. he ran on it. he kept his promise, we have open borders and we're in the biggest national security vulnerability i've seen in my lifetime. >> harris: tom homan. thank you very much and thank you for the information on the russian nationals who have come. i didn't realize that it had quadrupled more than that in a short period of time. they aren't a friend, russia. tom, thank you. manhattan district attorney alvin bragg and one of the lead prosecutors in former president's new york criminal trial are set to publicly testify to congress. house republicans want answers on what they call politically motivated cases and hunter biden's legal troubles are far from over. he now has to get ready for his next federal trial in a few months. >> he faces very severe criminal penalties if convicted on the tax charges. if i were hunter biden's defense lawyers the first thing i would do is pick up the phone and see if i can negotiate a plea agreement with the prosecutors before this case goes to trial. >> harris: the reason people care about this is look at how compromised he was. what was it like, his relationships with people who were foreign dignitaries in leadership with the biden name? did that expose the country to anything because he would have made his father vulnerable for all sorts of things. hunter's lawyer says they're pursuing all potential challenges to his gun charges where he was just found guilty on all counts. jonathan turley in "focus" next. hi, i'm greg. i live in bloomington, illinois. i'm not an actor. i'm just a regular person. some people say, "why should i take prevagen? i don't have a problem with my memory." memory loss is, is not something that occurs overnight. i started noticing subtle lapses in memory. i want people to know that prevagen has worked for me. it's helped my memory. it's helped my cognitive qualities. give it a try. i want it to help you just like it has helped me. prevagen. at stores everywhere without a prescription. camilla tried the new scent of gain relax flings and it changed everything. (♪) (silence) (♪) (♪) hey dave, don't knock it till you smell it. try the new luxurious scent of gain relax flings. try new gain relax scent beads too... for twice the vibes . a test or approve a medication. we didn't have to worry about any of those things thanks to the donations. and our family is forever grateful because it's completely changed our lives. ♪ rise up this morning, ♪ ♪ smiled with the rising sun ♪ discover our newest resort, sandals st. vincent and the grenadines now open. visit sandals.com or call 1-800-sandals >> harris: now president biden's son convicted felon, hunter biden, faces nine charges in california in a federal tax fraud trial. it begins on september 5th. if his attorneys fail to get that delayed. president biden went to delaware last night to see hunter. the "new york post" cover shows the two hugging with the headline first felon. joe biden with this statement after the verdict. i will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process as hunter considers an appeal. biden said last week he would not pardon his son. one of the jurors talked with fox. >> -- [inaudible] focus more on what the defense is saying and what the prosecution is saying. nobody is above the law, you know, no matter who you are. so that did not play a factor in my decision. it was not politically motivated. politics played no part whatsoever. >> harris: nobody is above the law. president biden said that two weeks ago. david weiss also talked after the verdict. >> this case was about the illegal choices defendant made while in the throws of addiction. his choice to lie on a government form when he bought a gun and the choice to then possess that gun. it was these choices and the combination of guns and drugs that made his conduct dangerous. no one in this country is above the law. everyone must be accountable for their actions, even this defendant. >> harris: hunter biden's attorney says they will pursue all legal challenges, which likely would include an appeal. a sentencing date has not yet been set. welcome jonathan turley, fox news contributor, constitutional law attorney and great to see you. you and i were together and a bunch of people on the screen talking about it this when it happened. a few hours have passed since then. your top thought. >> well, what's fascinating about the decision to go forward with the trial is that it put at risk the chance that hunter biden could very well be sentenced to jail. i have said all along i believe there is a real possibility here of a prison sentence. the best shot he had to reduce that likelihood was to plead guilty, which is why all the way up to the beginning of this trial i was writing you need to plead guilty. this is a lead pipe cinch of a case. you can get a two level departure to plead guilty and make it easier for the court to give you probation. he decided to put on a nullification defense and it failed. he lost. the judge has sentenced people to jailed with this offense. >> harris: let's talk about the judge for a second and previous cases like this. you know, you might find a situation where you are a first-time offender, the charges are stacked against you, you didn't take the plea deal, however sweetheart it was. but one of the main factors in this from our coverage yesterday as this was breaking came from judge jeanine pirro. she said if he had pled guilty, you get points for that in the judge's mind in the scope of what happens with sentencing. was it bad judgment? was it up to him? what happens behind the scenes when you have a shot to not face a trial? >> well, there are reports out today that many of the biden family believe that a delaware jury would not convict hunter biden. this is after all biden town, their hometown. the son of the favorite son of delaware. so i think there were some people in the family that were shocked by the quick verdict. in my view, this was not worth the risk because this is not someone that defense counsel see given a prison stint. the best way to plead guilty and get the points with the judge. the judge watched the sweetheart deal fall apart in the courtroom. she triggered it and simply asked the prosecutor have you ever seen a deal like this and he said no. the whole thing burst into flames. then she sat there and watched them put on an obvious nullification defense trying to get the jury to ignore the evidence. none of that is going to play well with the judge in determining whether to sentence hunter to jail. the guidelines under the federal sentencing guidelines suggest that such a sentence is warranted. they are discretionary. the judge doesn't have to follow them. none of that helps when it comes to that decision by the judge. >> harris: now that the jurors are talking we're getting real insight on no one is above the law, for example. what things mattered and what things didn't. family members in the courtroom gave love and support and a blessing but not evidence. we heard the prosecution say. yeah, i mean, none of it worked as you said. manhattan district attorney alvin bragg in new york and prosecutor matthew colangelo have agreed to publicly testify before the house judiciary committee next month set on july 12th. one day after former president trump faces sentencing for those 34 charges in his new york criminal trial. house judiciary chairman jim jordan says, this is a quote, this hearing will examine actions by state and local prosecutors to engage politically-motivated prosecutions of federal officials. what do you make of this? and what could we get out of it? people are becoming numb to congress's hearings. is this one going to deliver something that we might not think of? >> well, these hearings have a habit of turning into a primal scream session between the two parties. there is a fear that will happen here. you won't have a perry mason moment or have colangelo saying i was dispatched to dispatch trump or bragg to say yeah, i know that there wasn't a crime here but i'm elected and i had to do something. none of that is going to happen. they'll deny having any direction and by the way, you didn't need to have direction in this case. the politics for bragg were all too obvious. he threw a flag on this case. his predecessor stopped the case going forward. so bragg had already expressed skepticism and then his lead prosecutor resigned and wrote in an unethical book while this case was still pending to pressure him and it worked. he caved. is he going to confess to that? of course not. he will say as the jury found there was a real crime here. so we will have to wait for the appellate process. trump will have a hard initial time, i expect, in the trump system. it has not garnered a lot of faith from any of us. i think ultimately it would be hard for this verdict to be sustained through state and federal appeal. >> harris: well, thank you for breaking that down. i think people will want to hear from these people because even in other blue cities you see district attorneys like them making some similar-type decision and soft on crime that alvin bragg is so known for. we'll cover it absolutely. jonathan turley, always a pleasure to have you on. >> thank you, harris. >> harris: the house could vote today to hold attorney general merrick garland in contempt of congress. republicans want the audio recording of the president east interview with robert hur. the transcript they got was changed and redacted reportedly to the point where really, is that the man that robert hur called, you know, a decent person who can't remember anything? i'm paraphrasing him there. well, we'll get to see if we get the tape. with a slim majority every vote counts. republicans in biden districts have signaled they'll play ball on this issue. plus a fresh explosion of anti-israel hate happening in this country. [chanting] >> intifada revolution. [shouting] >> harris: wow. one protestor even confronted president biden yesterday at husband gun violence speech and he is telling a really tough line politically as more voters on his side of the aisle say they are against him and his policies on israel. steve hilton in "focus" next. i'm admiral tom lynch chairman of newday usa. we hear from veterans all across the country. they worry a lot about being in debt and having the money they need for their families. big credit card balances can add up over time. and now just making the minimum payments can break the family budget. refinance and take control of your credit card debt. call newday usa and get the financial piece of mind that you and your family deserve reminder, bent finger appointment. i don't want to wait or have surgery for my dupuytren's contracture. i want a nonsurgical treatment. and if nonsurgical treatment isn't offered? i'll get a second opinion. take charge of your treatment. if you can't lay your hand flat, visit findahandspecialist.com to get started. ♪ with fastsigns, create factory grade visual solutions to perfect your process. ♪ fastsigns. make your statement™. >> harris: house vote is expected today on contempt of congress charges against attorney general merrick garland. why? because a.g. garland has refused to hand over subpoenaed audio recordings of special counsel robert hur's interview with president biden over the classified documents that biden took. since the time he was a senator. the department of justice did release an edited transcript of the interview. however, republicans say that's not enough especially since the interview led special counsel robert hur to call biden a, quote, elderly man with a poor memory. and he used that as a reason not to charge him. the gop only holds a thin majority in the house. so all of them will need to be behind the effort. one moderate republican from a biden district says bring on the vote. >> you comply with the subpoena. the way it works in this country. the framers were cl