-Republicans have spent
the last few days spreading the baseless claim
that mass cancelations and delays
by Southwest Airlines were due to President Biden's vaccine and testing
requirements. For more on this,
it's time for a closer look. ♪♪ There was a big milestone today
in the pandemic, 19 months after the U.S.
closed its borders to the north and south,
they're opening back up again. -The U.S. set to announce plans
to reopen the borders with Canada and Mexico,
but only to certain travelers. -This morning America is
signaling it's open for business from across the border again. The White House says
it will lift a 19 month ban for foreign travelers
crossing land borders from both Canada and Mexico, but only for visitors who can
prove they're fully vaccinated. -Huge news for tourists,
migrants, and the one guy who was on spring break
in Cancun in March 2020 and didn't make it
back out in time. "Hey, it's me, Brad. Hey, can you forward
my mail to Señor -- What was your last name again?
Frog's? No, it's not the bar!
It's also a popular last name! Just forward my mail! And I, for one,
miss Canadian tourists. They were so polite. If one was standing
in Times Square, takin' up the whole sidewalk with their giant ass
goose down coats. You could just give them
a big ol' shove and they'd apologize to you! "Oh, sorry for goosin'
the sidewalk, eh? I just never seen
so many Legos." So tourism is starting
to come back. Although I will say one of
the many strange things about lockdown life
is that after a year of not going anywhere,
I forgot how to travel. You know how, in the old days,
you'd be kind of bummed if your Uber driver wanted to
make small talk the whole time. Now it's the other way around -- the Uber driver is annoyed because I won't stop
talking to them. "So where are you from?!" "Uh, you know, around."
"You like driving?!" "Yeah. Sor-- I just can't hear
you with the mask on." "But the mask doesn't
cover your ears. We had audiences back
this week!" I've com-- [ Cheering and applause ] I've completely, completely
forgotten how to pack for vacations: the first time
I flew post-lockdown, TSA did a check
in my suitcase and found 10 pairs
of underpants, a monkey wrench and 100-ounce
container of mustard. The agent asked me,
"Where are you going?" And when I said LaGuardia,
he said, "This is JFK," to which I said, "I don't
remember how this works!" I used to get to the airport
by the skin of my teeth 45 minutes
before takeoff, just enough time to skate
through pre-check, chug a Bloody Mary at the bar
next to the Hudson News and then by the coldest
chef salad ever made at a Fridays To Go, you know,
ham chunks like ice cubes. Now I'm so desperate
to get out of the house, I show up four hours early
and get so bored I end up browsing those luggage
stores at the airport, which I've never understood,
who shows up to the airport needing luggage. "Hey, you got anything I can put
all these clothes in?" An airport
trying to sell you luggage is like Taco Bell
trying to sell you weed. "Oh, yeah, we're good,
Taco Bell. We, like,
already thought of that." I'm not the only one reacquainting myself
with travel etiquette. Remember when Rudy Giuliani got
caught shaving in an airport? -Rudy Giuliani was caught
using an electric shaver -- okay -- out in public
at the airport. But here's the thing, he was sitting at the table
eating while he did it! So Jeanne Moos shows you,
a guy who saw him, had to get it on video,
and now millions see it. -First, he had lobster bisque. Then he began grooming. -Stars -- they're just like
none of us. [ Light laughter ] Yeah, they really happened --
this dingus used to be the mayor of New York
and personal attorney to the president
of the United States. And now he's at Pat LaFrieda's
in Terminal B, getting chin hairs
all over his table. "Excuse me, waiter,
there's hair in my soup! I demand a refund!" "Well, you are shaving."
"Fair point; what do you say
we go halvsies?" And not only
have people forgotten how to act in airports, the same is true on airplanes because suffice it to say, it's been a rough year
for the friendly skies. -The newest problem facing
pent-up demand for travel is pent-up frustrations
in the sky, with federal agencies
citing a serious surge of in-flight fights. -The number of fights
between passengers and airline workers
are on the rise. -We've had to deal with
almost riot like incidences. -Fist fights, drinking, verbally
and physically assaulting flight attendants. 2,500 cases so far this year. -2,500 reports already from
the airlines of passengers engaging in fights, arguing over
the masks, drinking. -Damn. I mean, usually when
I get drunk on a plane, I just pass out watching a movie
I've never heard of, like "Naughty Grandpa"
or "Crazy Christmas," starring Owen Wilson
as a college dropout who gets hired to be
the real Santa Claus. "We got to make
all these toys ourselves? Gee whiz, man.
Wow! Wow!" And just to be clear,
now that an audience is back, I will not be doing
my Vince Vaughn impression. Truth be tro--
truth be told, I just don't have the confidence to do it
in front of people. Although, you know,
if Vince Vaughn were here... [ Laughter ] I feel like he'd probably
say something like, uh... [ Cheering and applause ] "Buddy, buddy, buddy,
what are you talking about? That impression is money!
Seriously, though..." Oh boy. "How'd it go?"
They applauded before. [ Laughter ] Seriously, though,
what is wrong with people? Flying is stressful enough
without drinking, fist fights and riots. Air travel is turning into
a soccer match at Wembley Stadium --
one time, I accidentally cut a dude in line
and he screamed, "You [bleep] wanker,"
and then head-butted me. Then he bought me a pint; point
in soccer's a weird sport. Things are getting
so out of hand, United just added a section
after first class and coach that's just an MMA style octagon and your boarding pass
looks like this. [ Laughter and applause ] [ Laughing ]
The point is... We should have gone with
the Old Scottish Detective -- we should call back
that gold! Once again, if you're watching
"A Closer Look" online, wait eight hours and then watch the monologue
that we post later, and then you'll get
that sweet callback to Old Scottish Detective. [ Laughter ] The point is, air travel has already been
bad enough this year, but over the weekend it got even
worse for thousands of travelers who are stranded thanks to a
meltdown at Southwest Airlines. -The travel nightmare
for thousands of passengers after Southwest Airlines canceled more than 2,200 flights
in just the past three days. Stranded passengers again today,
hours-long lines at the Denver airport
just to reschedule flights. -About 90 more flights
canceled today as Southwest Airlines struggles
to get back to normal after days of chaos
and cancelations. -Tonight, travel chaos
and confusion. Southwest Airlines
cancels thousands of flights, leaving passengers stranded. Lines were long and tempers
were short at airports in several cities as passengers
were forced to wait hours and in some cases, days -- yes, days --
to get on other flights. -Can you imagine waiting days
to reschedule a flight? That's not rescheduling anymore? You just live
in the airport now. "Welcome to Cinnabon.
What can I get you?" "I don't know,
a job application?" I'm just kidding. No one has ever said "Welcome
to Cinnabon" at an airport. The best you're going to get is,
"Let me guess -- 2?!" And it's especially bad
for Southwest because a lot
of their passengers are flying to places
like Florida on vacation. It'd be one thing
if you were stuck in the airport on your way to a business trip, but if you're going to Disney
with your family and you're three days late? "All right, everyone,
we made it. We got 45 minutes
inside the park, then we got to turn
around and go home. Why don't you kids go wait in
line at Space Mountain while your mother and I
go get divorced?" Now, the company, the pilots'
union and the FAA have all attributed
the chaos to various factors, from weather
to air traffic control to antiquated
scheduling technology. The airline and the president
of the Southwest Pilots' Union have said repeatedly
the meltdown has nothing, nothing to do
with vaccine mandates, but that hasn't stopped some
on the right from spreading
the baseless claim anyway. -Some congressional Republicans
said it's a sick-out in response
to the vaccine mandates. Arizona Congressman Andy Biggs tweeted, "I stand with Southwest
Airlines employees who are fighting
against these mandates." The union president
for Southwest pilots told Fox News
there is no sick-out. These issues are because
of poor management." -Senator Ted Cruz blaming
President Joe Biden's "illegal vaccine mandate"
for the shortage." -We can tell you that the
shutdown of Southwest Airlines over the weekend
was a direct consequence -- it was a reaction to Joe Biden's
vaccine mandates. There were more cancelations
at Southwest Airlines today; no doubt there'll be
more to come -- and not just of airline flights. At least two Amtrak train routes
in the Northeast were canceled over the weekend, and so is a regularly scheduled
car ferry in Washington state out to the San Juan Islands. In all cases, the employees
in question who have been told to get the shot did not show up. Were these also protests
against the Biden shot mandates? We can't say for certain. It certainly wouldn't
surprise us. -You can't say for certain?! Well, then, please,
by all means, put it on television. We all know
that's how journalism works. Who can forget the famous
Woodward and Bernstein headline "Did Nixon do Watergate? Seems like the kind of thing
he'd do! But who knows?" I'll just never, personally, I'll never tire of Tucker's
just-asking-questions routine. "Where are these protests
against Biden's vaccine mandate? Did Joe Biden secretly replace
all the real pilots with communists,
antifa woke-inistas? Or we're the delays caused
because the flight attendants refuse to give you a second bag
of Biscoff cookies when you ask for one, because, according to them,
the plane was taking off soon. And when they asked you
to put up your tray table, you said no because you still
had one Biscoff cookie left that you were saving for later,
and if you put it in your lap, you'd get crumbs on
your nicest travel slacks. And when they threatened
to remove you from the plane and you said it was your
God-given right under Article 67, sections C, of the
United States Constitution, part 9, to do what you wanted
with your Biscoff cookie, the guy next to you said loud enough for everyone
on the plane to hear, 'Biscoff? More like jerk off!'
and everyone laughed. Even the pilots laughed because you can hear them
chuckling over the intercom. And when you then lie down
in the aisle as means of protest and scream,
'I'm not moving until everyone on this plane
gets unvaccinated,' only to be told that wasn't
possible, then you yell, 'It is possible,
you can poop it out, I read it on Facebook,'
but before you could provide the link
for everyone to read, did a large man lift you up
and shove you into the overhead compartment
while everyone cheered? Could that be why the plane
was delayed? Well, we can tell you
that it is. Because it happened
to me yesterday." [ Cheering and applause ] And that wasn't
the only example -- another show on Fox found a way
to tie it all the way back to -- what else?
The war on Christmas. -The left's war on Christmas
could continue with delays and shortages of pilots
right around the holidays. -Yeah. Mayor Pete's going
to have his hands full. I mean, he is really in charge
of that. -Where is he, anyway?
-Where is Mayor Pete? If you have all
this labor action happening right before
the holidays, Christmas? -Okay, first of all,
it's October, you don't get to start with
the war on Christmas yet. We're still in the middle
of the war on Halloween. I'm talking to you,
people with the motion-sensor skeletons
on their porches. When I walk my children
to school, they shouldn't have to hear
their father yelp like a Chihuahua,
because he thinks an army of the undead
are coming for him. Plus, my kids
are still mad at me for using them as human shields. "Take the boys! I have no quarrel with you,
Skeleton King!" But seriously, Fox News,
take it one holiday at a time, at least come up with a fake
conspiracy theory about Halloween first --
"The left wants to cancel Jack-o-lanterns, faces are too
scary for their snowflakes, so now they've changed
the name of Halloween to All Gourds Day." Also -- true story -- I ordered
a pirate costume online for my son to trick or treat in,
and they emailed back saying, "Should be there by
October 28th. What's the date of your event?" [ Laughter ] What's the date? I need a pirate costume
for a three year old -- "Oh, uh, November 23,
we celebrate Swashbuckler Thanksgiving!" Again, both the airline and the president
of Southwest Pilots' Union have said repeatedly
that the Southwest meltdown had nothing to do
with the vaccine mandate. In fact, the president
of the Southwest Pilots' Union said it on Fox News. -Seeing a lot of people
invested in this idea that this is somehow related
to vaccine mandates. -There's just
no evidence of that. -You say it was not an issue,
but to what degree did it contribute
to this problem at all? -Zero.
-You're saying this was not
because of a sick-out. This was not an organized
job action, had nothing to do yet
with the vaccine mandate. -Absolutely not, the two
are mutually exclusive. What we've seen now
that we're at Monday and looking back at the data, our pilots' sick rates
were right in line with where
they were this summer. We also see our pilots picking
up even more than normal now. So our pilots are out there
serving our customers. They're out there
picking up extra time. So it is absolutely false
that our pilots are engaged in any sort of
job action. -That last clip was on Fox News. I mean, do you guys even watch
your own network? That'd be like
if I came out here and said, "Chicago doesn't have fires!" Or if I said, "In the criminal
justice system, the people aren't represented
by two separate but equally important groups."
[ Double tone ] Look --
[ Cheers and applause ] It's especially rich for Fox
hosts to applaud employees standing up against vaccine
or testing requirements when their own company
has much stricter requirements. -Fox's vaccine policy actually
goes further than Biden's. Remember, Biden is calling
for weekly testing of many private sector workers
who don't get vaccinated. In a newly revealed
internal memo, Fox outlining a vaccine policy
that is stricter, involving daily COVID testing. -Fox management is mandating
that employees disclose
their vaccination status. -Fox has a strict policy
of demanding all their workers be vaccinated
or face daily testing. 90 percent of the FOX workforce reports that they are now
fully vaccinated. -That's right,
they have to get that swab shoved up their nose once a day. I'm vaxed, but I still get
tested three times a week, and it sucks --
remember in the early days when they had to shove it
really far up and it made you cry? One time they shoved the swab
so far up my nose, I forgot three years of college
and I had to get my degree back. The only swabbing I like
is when I use a roll to soak up the remaining gravy
on my plate. during Swashbucklers
Thanksgiving -- we call it swabbing. And, yeah, when the first
Swashbucklers Thanksgiving joke didn't work great, I was aware... I was aware that a callback
was coming, and there was no way
to get out of it. This is this sort
of new gambling you do with an audience. [ Laughter and applause ] I hope it was worth it
for all you people at home! The hypocrisy here is brazen, and it's something
that President Biden seems to enjoy pointing out,
as he did last week. -Even -- this I always get
a kick out of -- Fox News! Fox News requires vaccinations
for all employees. Give me a break.
Fox News. -Oh, damn, he busted out
the Biden whisper. The one where he sounds
like he's doing ASMR. Next time he does that,
he should crinkle a bag of potato chips. [ Crinkling ]
"Even Fox News requires vaccination
of all their employees. Crisp, cringley crackers, crackling cranky crazies." Biden wasn't
entirely precise there. Fox requires employers to report
their vaccination status, and if they're not vaccinated,
they get tested daily. Biden's policy is to get
vaccinated or get tested weekly. So Fox's policy
is actually stricter. And yet Republican politicians
across the country have decided to rail
against vaccine mandates. You know what would really
ruin the holidays? Another COVID spike. Oh, my God, does that... Does that mean Republicans are
part of the -- -War on Christmas. -This has been
"A Closer Look." ♪♪ God's Love We Deliver
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