mike tobin, stay safe at o'hare. with the new year almost here the surge of illegal migrants at the southern border showing no signs of letting up. customs and border patrol agents encountered an all-time high of more than 1.7 million migrants during the fiscal year 2021, which ended in september. that is an increase of nearly 279% over 2020. illegal crossings began rising last year but skyrocketed in the months after president biden took office and making bad headlines all year for the biden administration. leaders of border states are begging for help as the crisis ravages their communities, former acting ice director tom hoe man says don't expect any. >> we have a president sitting in office and a secretary of homeland security that did everything they could to keep the open borders. american lives are at stake. migrants are dying. we have record amounts of covid coming into the country. in 2021 it has been devastating for those who believe in the rule of law. this administration is not only ignoring the laws enac

mike tobin is live from chicago o'hare airport. mike?ines are trying to get back to normal. look where i am. terminal 3 at chicago's o'hare airport. that's where american airlines operates. americans are not having a rough go of it today with less than 20 flights cancelled. not so for some of them. some are really getting clobbered and weather is playing a significant factor as well as the omicron variant. things really starting to get bad on christmas eve. the staff for the airlines started to mim my knowledge what was going on in the general population with the spike with the omicron variant and covid cases. they started calling in sick. soon you didn't have enough staff to operate all of the flights. throw in bad weather, you have thousands stuck in the airports. >> yeah, my flight was cancelled yesterday. >> round two today. >> yeah, unfortunately. >> originally i had a five-hour layover, which turned in to a 11-hour layover and the flight got cancelled. >> they got down the runway and stopped. they stopped there for a second. the pi

>> so i came o'hare, from o'hare right away to the house they rented for us. it was apartment, not a house. so it was all the way in really like bad shape house, but [inaudible]. because i told you, we were so good in our country. my dad had everything for us, everything we want. but when the war started, we lose everything. my dad had two dealership. he lost them. after two weeks, right away they send me to sullivan high school. >> it's been a million years since i have been in school, but i know the most nerve-wracking moment is the night before your first day of school. that's for any kid, let alone someone who is coming to a new country and starting at a new school. what was going on in your mind the night before you -- >> before school? or the night when i get here? >> the night before your first day at sullivan? >> i mean i can't really remember. i can tell you i couldn't believe that i can make it. first thing is the language. when i came here, i only speak arabic. my country their second language is french. i didn't learn french that much. when i came

>> i came from o'hare and i went into the house they rented h for us. it was an apartment and not aus house. it was really a -- house. my dad always had everything for us. when thehe war started my dad hd two dealerships. when i get here after two weeks i go to sullivan high school. >> it's a been years since i've been in school. the most nerve-racking moment is the night before your first day of school. that's where any kid let alone someone coming from another new school.ting a what was going on in your mind the night before got here? when i i mean i can't really remember what was going on. i can tell you i couldn't believe that i could make it. the first thing was the language. when i came here i spoke only arabic. everybody was speaking english and someone spoke as daniel. before we talk about school we have to talk about the first two weeks i had in chicago. i'm going down the street just to find a card for my phone. i couldn't talk to the guy and he kept looking at me. i have my finger on the phone help youlike i can man.i i was like okay and i ju

>> bret: mike tobin live at o'hare, thanks. president biden is largely staying out of the public eye today despite growing criticism over his 180 on the federal government's role on controlling the pandemic. senior national correspondent rich he hadedson traveling with the president in rehoboth beach, delaware. >> a day after meeting with a grouch bipartisan governors president biden stressed quote my administration has the back of every governor fighting covid-19 in their state. we're going to get through this by working together. that tweet followed a day of relentless criticism from republicans over his message yesterday to governors. >> there is no federal solution. this gets solved. [clearing throat] at the state level. >> president biden campaigned last year promising a campaign response a day after taking office, he wrote in his national strategy, quote: for the past year we could not turn federal government for a national plan to answer prayers with action. until today. >> i think what changed his -- they had to actuall

this is the first day this lounge at o'hare has been open since march 2020. to have the full bar. if you come this would have a hot and cold buffet at all times of the day and in the back private showers and sleeping pods if you're tired after a long flight. this is exclusively for people flying business or first class on international flights and speaking of international flights, even with the omicron variant and neutral restrictions in place united says the outlook for international travel is strong. >> in the short term we might see a dip in international travel but long-term we are not anticipating any changes. the lounge and clubs are like an oasis at a bustling airport. it is more quiet and you can have your own private space. charging stations. >> with the reopening of this lounge four of the six united polaris lounges across the country are reopened, the other two in san francisco and lax. those will reopen in january but across airlines clubs and lounges are broadly reopening. another way they're trying to lure back travelers as we come back from th

what was your first impression of chicago and what is going on in your mind. >> and so i came from o'hare, to the house that they rented for us, his apartment, not a house and it was all the way and really like because like my country, likeut my dad voice and we have everything for us like everything we want within the war started, we lost everything i went dad had to dealerships and hee lost them so to get her, two weeks, right away they send me to roger c. sullivan high school. >> is been a million years is a bit of school i know the most nerve-racking him moment is the night before your first day of school, for any get let alone to be coming to a new country and starting at a new school, what was going on in your mind the night before too much the night before>> school my first day at roger c. sullivan high school, i cannot really remember was going on but i remember that i still believe that i can make it and first is the language. when i came here, i speak only arabic pretty might not speak french but i do not learn the prince of much. then again. ♪ airbase speaking english and some

in terms of backups at o'hare this is nothing. if you look to check-in at american airlines, you can see the ability to close part of the check-in and consolidate everything as things start to get back to normal to some extent. this particular backup started about christmas eve, when the omicron infections of staff mirrored the general population and spike. a number of people called in sick, they had problems with the staffing so much so they had to cancel with flights. combine that with bad weather yesterday. a lot of people got the news they were not making it to the holiday or were not making it home. >> we've been really lucky. we were on time leaving and we were so far on time going home. >> i had originally a five-hour layover which turned into 11 hour layover. then the flight got can sell, today to try to get another one out today. what can you do. youyou have to roll with the punches i guess. i feel the staff people because they're getting so much grief. reporter: flightaware.com says the numbers are improving. 1200 cancel

alex perez is live in chicago's o'hare airport with more.rning. >> reporter: hey, good morning, whit. it's been a rough few days at o'hare and airports across the country. as airlines continue to play catch-up the anxiety for a lot of passengers is growing. this morning, more people stranded after the holidays. airlines canceled about geas >>t's e hoda.ue. doesn't get delayed again.erse >> reporter: with the pandemic still raging, travelers' frustrations are boiling over with over 5,700 unruly passenger reports this year alone over the holiday on this atlanta bound delta flight a verbal altercation gets physical as a female passenger confronts and punches an older man. police arrested the woman and the fbi is now leading the investigation. >> stop, stop, stop. >> reporter: on this delta flight just before christmas, the video obtained by tmz, passengers scream as two men throw punches on a late night flight from l.a. to memphis crashing into the seats around them. the fight allegedly sparked over mask wearing until other passengers stepped i

. >> sunday busiest airports are hubs such as miami internationa and chicago o'hare.ad the added frustration of getting a test required in many different nations. >> if i didn't have the test within 72 hours of processing w went 72 hours advance enemy tel us we are not going to get our verification for another five days. rentals are in short supply we are down two cents in the last week and ten cents in the last month. prices are coming down. you may want to bring your patients. thank you very much. on the ground in certain places things should be rapidly proliferating with the variant. everybody is getting this and i is spreading like wildfire. have yet to see anybody getting upset about this.. >> they were told endlessly by cnn that if they got vaccinated they would not be infected. the vaccine would protect you and it did for a while. america is not ready for this. to the resigned this is the beginning of the end. he deserves criticism for waiting until now. everybody can get one if anyone now. it is spreading so rapidly. the mixed messages embedded in the nonstop

. >> alex perez joining us now from chicago's o'hare. and alex, want to go back to the travelers stuck at airports across the country. you're learning about some key ways people can actually get their money back. >> reporter: yeah, whit. if you're flight was canceled or severely delayed, the airlines will give you a refund. you just have to ask for it. as for vouchers, only take the voucher if that's the option you prefer. and a lot of credit cards have insurance when it comes to hotel and travel, so make sure to check with your cards, too. whit? >> patience but at least people have options. alex, thank you. >>> and that dangerous winter weather causing headaches for travelers, as we noted. more than 20 states on alert coast to coast. western storms now heading to the east. a rare heavy snow in seattle, as parts of the sierra nevada mountains in california set a new record for the snowiest december. a multicar pileup on i-94, this is in st. cloud, minnesota, after three to four inches of snow there. that storm now arriving in the northea

>> reporter: in chicago, 66-mile-per-hour winds reported at o'hare airport tearing limbs off trees anding them into car windows. more than 20 tornadoes reported in the upper midwest with minnesota's first december tornado, this after the five tornado rampage after haste were littered with overturned tractor-trailers. meteorologist jeff berardelli insists this is not normal. >> we should not see one to have the biggest tornado outbreaks we've ever seen happen in the month of december and then three or four days later another extraordinary weather event that is unprecedented. >> reporter: here in hartland, minnesota, the storm punched holes into solid brick buildings, overturned an r.v. and downed trees and power lines, not the holiday season the town had planned. >> it felt like someone ran into the side to have the house and it was over that quick. >> reporter: how quick are you talking? >> minutes, minutes: it was here and gone. nobody got hurt. that is the key. so this stuff can all be replaced. >> reporter: well, cleanup is well underway here in hartland, minnesota. the small town p

alex perez joining us now from chicagso' o'hare. d exal, want to go back to the trelavers stu acktir aports acro tsshe country. you're lrneaingbo aut some key wa pyseople can actuallgey t eithr money ckba. >> repteorr: yeah, whit. ifou y'reli fght wasan cceled or veserely delayed, their alines will geiv you a rendfu. u just have to ask for it. and as far as those voucrshe, on tlyake a vchouer if th'sat e thoptionou y preref. eyth say ifou y're comgin to the aiorrpt, of coseur, you have to prepear yourself for anything atth could psiosbly go wron sg,o a lot of patieenc needed if yoreu' coming ttohe apoirrt re, whit. >> patieenc but at least ppleoe have tiopons. exal, thank yo u. > and ttha dangerous winter weatr hecausing headachesor f avelers, as we noted. moreha tn 20 stetas on alert coast to coast. western stosrm nowea hding to the ea.st ar re heavyno sw in seate,tl as parts of the srriea nevaad mountains in california set a new record for the snowiest december. a multicar pileup in ayi-94, th'sat in nnmiesota. that stormow n aivr

make tobin's at chicago's o'hare airport. any relief in sight?esn't sell by the pilot in tsa at chicago's o'hare airport but the line piling up but it does that not necessarily due to the cancellations. there is not a lot of red on the board. a little bit of flight cancellations, use always in the days leading up to this, 1200 flights canceled due to the combination of coronavirus cases and bad weather in the pacific northwest. if you look at flightaware.com it looks like the bigger city the bigger the airport the more delays, more flight cancellations and you see that in the red. this particular backup started on christmas eve when the coronavirus cases among airline employees and mirrored that of the general population and started to spike with the omicron variance, they didn't have enough staff to operate the flights and that is where you saw the cancellation, combine that with bad weather, alaska airlines got sick hard, skywest airlines not hit hard. for the airline industry, for the guidance trying to get home or make it to work after the ho

. >> reporter: in chicago, 66-mile-per-hour winds reported at o'hare airport, tearing limbs off treesmashing them into car windows. more than 20 tornadoes were reported in the upper midwest with minnesota's first ever december tornado. this after friday night's five-state tornado rampage. after the storm, highways were littered with overturned tractor-trailers. cbs news meteorologist jeff berardelli insists this is not normal. >> we should not see one of the biggest tornado outbreaks we've ever seen happen in the month of december and then three or four days later another extraordinary weather event that is unprecedented. >> reporter: here in hartland, minnesota, the storm punched holes in the solid brick buildings, overturned an rv, and downed trees and power lines. not the holiday season the town had planned. >> it felt like someone ran into the side of the house and then it was over, just that quick. >> reporter: how quick are you talking? >> minutes, minutes. >> reporter: it was here and gone? >> nobody got hurt that is the key. so this stuff can all be replaced. >> reporter: well

some of the longest lines are at major hubs like miami international and o'hare.ays could be at airports in l.a., san francisco and salt lake city. here in la guardia, lines were relatively short most of the day and fast moving. as required by federal law, just about everyone we saw was wearing a mask and just in case airport workers were handing them out. passengers that we talked with took the risk of the coronavirus seriously. they said they wanted to see loved ones. >> yeah, i've had second thoughts. should i go or should i not? should i see my family? covid is really rising a lot. it's like 50/50 with me. >> i got boosted before i traveled for thanksgiving. i'm double masked and i received a pcr test and got a negative result yesterday. >> aaa says the vast majority of holiday travelers are driving and about a third more people on the road than last year. if you ned a rental car and you haven't booked it, it may be too late. there's a shortage. because of the cost and the handles of travelling this holiday season, aaa says it's estimated 110 million americans

alex perez is at chicago o'hare airport with the latest.ood morning. >> reporter: good morning, mary. the crowds and lines will not be going anywhere any time soon. some 14.5 million people expected to travel between now and the new year. more than a thousand flights a day have been canceled since christmas eve. a huge part of the problem, airlines scrambling to fill staff shortages as employees isolate for covid. airline execs hoping the cdc's new guidance will help with the problem. health officials cut the recommended isolation time down from ten days to five days. delta calling the new move a safe and science based and more practical approach based on what we know about the omicron variant and this rush will continue. the busiest travel days ahead expected to be january 2nd and the 3rd. janai? >> still facing long lines, delays and cancellations, thank you so much. >>> weather also a big factor in some of those. dangerous conditions threatening much of the country from western snow to possible tornadoes in the south so let's go to rob m

. >> some of the busiest airports this time of year are major hubs such as miami international o'harec in that reasoning. travelers leeching g leave the country added frustration covid test many locates such as canada. you had to have a pcr covid test 72 hours of crossing and then they tell us we are not going to get our verification for five days. >> according to aaa 90% of holiday travelers will get to destination by cars. rentals are in short supply and pricey. some good news, the recent spike in fuel prices has started to reglers we are averaging 3.50 per gallon that's two cents in the last week and ten cents in the last month. so prices are coming down. >> in total, about 110 million americans are expected to travel for the holidays. the top 3 destinations, orlando and anaheim both home to theme parks followed by las vegas. mike? >> mike: you might want to bring your parents, right? david lee miller live on the travel beat. thank you very much. take a look how the media are dealing with the omicron surge. here is fox news media analyst and host of fox news media buzz howard kurtz

busiest airports, chicago, o'hare, newark denver. >>> if you are hungry to add a slice, not just a slice're not sure which portion to take our "countdown" closer has a bite to take out of the entire index. we have david kudla joins us. david, i hope you don't have a flight on the 23rd like dummy me does? >> not on the 23rd, liz. liz: let's talk about the fact the s&p, people think you have to buy the whole thing. you an buy slices of it, specific sectors, correct? >> that's correct. you can buy the growth portion. you can buy the value portion. of course the s&p 500 is a blend of market capitalizations and styles but we have favored, and favor -- the growth component and that you can buy that through rpg as an etf or spyg which own the growth component of the s&p 500 which has gotten beat up a little bit here on news what the fed might do tomorrow but we still think has further to go. liz: what is specifically in the pure growth invesco s&p 500 part of this? >> well the reason we like it, you know the problem that we've seen, we've seen this rolling correction or stocks within the nasdaq

february 13th, chicago police pick up two brothers at chicago o'hare's airport empire were returningo chicago from nigeria and they searched their apartment. february 15th, they released the brothers without charges after arresting them on suspicion of assault and holding them for nearly 48 hours. a spokesman says there is no longer suspects. february 16th, 2019, police say the investigation has now shifted after detectives questioned the brothers and requests a follow-up interview with smollett. the 17th, they talked to smollett's attorney, still want to interview him. the 19th, the chief prosecutor cook county state's attorney kim foxx recuses herself from the investigation. february 20th, they charge, prosecutors do smollett with disorderly conduct for filing a false police report about the alleged attack. police say smollett surrenders on the 21st of february. and that starts this whole effort to move forward with this trial. matt, after that, a lot of things happened publicly, but that -- those are the basic facts of the case at the beginning. >> yeah. and a lot of attention on

but for whatever reason, people have attacked this restaurant online proffers, a man o'hare explains confusion started on social media. people referring to the restaurant. hilda and jesse as an north beach restaurant or the north beach restaurant. people didn't realize that was the description of the restaurant's location and not the restaurant's name. we're getting these random e-mails. all of a sudden i was like hey, team. what's going on? it was just like. >> hate filled and we will never come back again. and i'm like, whoa, this is not what we get. general manager of north beach restaurant marine don again says it took her some time to even piece together what was happening. i started picking up the phone today and some people very nice and understanding and listening and just voicing and other people screaming and lots of hate. the restaurant started receiving dozens of phone calls, emails and reviews. >> like this one from facebook saying cop hating owners to kick out the ones that protect them. she realized north beach restaurant was being confused with another restaurant in n

given your weather report, our flights could be canceled as we change planes at o'hare. >> one of theplan coordinator. donna says anxiously up anticipating the delivery of cookies for my brother. yes, brother. spoiled sister here. one more. ruben gomez, i'm awake because i'm 64 years old and just found out my 32-year-old girlfriend is pregnant. i guess i'll have to change my retirement plan. ruben, good luck with that. >>> the district of columbia is suing far right groups over the attack on the capitol. we'll report the details on "way too early" straight ahead. >>> then we'll talk to d.c.'s attorney general on "morning joe" a little later on. >>> also on "morning joe," former state department spokesman john kirby will join joe, mika, and willie in new york. a lot to discuss, including russia's potential invasion of ukraine. "morning joe" a few minutes away. gas, and bloating and it works fast. in as little as 7 days try fast acting biotic gummies from align. the #1 doctor recommended probiotic brand. there's a different way to treat hiv. it's once-monthly injectable cabenuva. cabenu

take a look at these crowds at chicago's o'hare airport.miller has more now on the rush for people to get to their holiday destinations. if you're heading out of town for the holidays buckle up because you are not alone today is expected to be one of the busiest days on the roads and at airports. we all want to get to our destination to spend time with friends and family, but it's the getting there that can sometimes be challenging. so just please allow yourself extra time to get to where you need to go since december 16th roughly two million people have passed through airport security checkpoints each day as they head out for the holidays. many say seeing family again is worth braving airport crowds will be really nice to see family again , especially my grandparents. i haven't seen my grandparents like two years. the majority of americans will be hitting the highways, authorities say being prepared can help make the roads safer for the more than 100 million americans traveling by car. especially during the holiday season. you always want

january 2nd, and it's not just here in the bay area, take a look at these crowds out at chicago's o'hare airport, david lee miller has more on the rush for people to get to those holiday destinations. if you're heading out of town for the holidays buckle up because you are not alone today is expected to be one of the busiest days on the roads and at airports. we all want to get to our destination to spend time with friends and family, but it's the getting there that can sometimes be challenging. so just please allow yourself extra time to get to where you need to go since december 16th roughly two million people have passed through airport security checkpoints each day as they head out for the holidays. many say seeing family again is worth braving airport crowds will be really nice to see family again, especially my grandparents. i haven't seen my grandparents like two years, the majority of americans will be hitting the highways, authorities say being prepared can help make the roads safer for the more than 100 million americans traveling by car. especially during the holiday season. y

the tsa line behind me by o'hare standards it is normal to light. as we walk over here and look at the board with the flights, not a whole lot of red up there. red being cancellations, yellow delayed. it just doesn't look that bad right now. we go to flight aware.com and the misery map. the number of domestic flights canceled is down to 716 from 1200 yesterday when bad weather and the spike in coronavirus cases caused all of those cancellations. also looking at the map the red are the delays or cancellations on that graphic. you can see that coronavirus doesn't really know any geographic boundaries. the bigger the cities, the more delay, the more cancellation. this particular round of trouble started christmas eve when the spike in coronavirus cases among airline employees mirrored that of people in the nation. they started calling in sick and airlines didn't have enough people to operate all the flights. bad weather yesterday. sky west and alaska got hit hard. for the industry this is a trouble spot. a bump in the road. for the guy trying to get ho

our phil lebeau joins us from chicago's o'hare. >> reporter: we just talked with john slatterly he's on a flight with scott kirby promoting the use of sustainable aviation fuel, but he talked with so many airline executives around the world about what concerns they have that omicron, this new variant, might slow down international travel here's what he had to say. >> a little bit too early to call that, but generally speaking, airlines continue to feel that narrow body departures will be back to 2019 levels at the start of and look, i've travelled extensively over the last few weeks. the airports are safe to travel through. and the aircraft themselves. it's one of the safest places. it's the safest place to travel, in my opinion and people want to travel >> obviously, ge aviation has a vested interest in the return of, not only domestic air travel but long-hall travel engine orders up 40% in the third quarter. but when it comes to cleaner burning jets, right now it is much more expensive than ventional jet fuel that cost has to come down for airlines to use saf, as it's referred to.

mike tobin's live from chicago's o'hare airport. >> hello, mike. we are here at terminal 3.p in the tsa lines like you did on sundays and on the letter gets bad. that has to do with the ebb and flow of air travel. one industry spokesperson says it's not business as usual. they are trying to get back to business as usual but they are not quite getting there and the weather isn't really helping. this particular round of cancellations and delays really started christmas eve, when the infection rate among flight crews and staffing with airlines cited to mirror that of the general population, as the omicron cases spiked. you had people coming in sick and ultimately not enough staff to put planes in the air. that is what caused this particular set of problems. for the people traveling over the holidays, they started getting the news that they weren't going to make it to their holiday destinations. >> my flight was canceled yesterday. >> today? >> unfortunately. i had a layover which turned into like an 11-hour layover, then the flight got canceled. so i'm going to try to get on an

alex perez joins us from chicago's o'hare airport. >> reporter: hey, good morning, mary. in fact, about a thousand flights a day since christmas eve have been canceled and with the final stretch of the holiday travel rush ahead, there seems to be no relief in sight. this morning, another tough travel day at airports as an omicron fueled wave of covid cases causes crew shortages forcing hundreds of flight cancellations and delays. >> we are seeing a lot of people who are out sick but also people whose anxiety is rising again. it's really adding a lot of stress and strain all the way around. >> reporter: just yesterday over a thousand flights were canceled nationwide according to tsa estimates. more than 12.5 million flyers are still expected to travel between now and january 3rd. >> we try to get here as early as we can about the delays, you know, but they're here and we're waiting. >> reporter: washington based alaska airlines sounding the alarm after wintry weather in the seattle area caused an avalanche of cancellations. they're now

lure back luxury premium international travelers, this is an exclusive and all-inclusive lounge at o'haree back for people have long-haul flights and need to rest a little bit. this is only for international travelers who fly business and first class. if there are lounges all across the country reopening trying to get people back to the skies, in terms of international travel united says omicron has not had a huge impact, they expected with the new restrictions that went in place international travel will remain strong this is a big part of the experience oasis in a bus wing airport, an outsider and you could have your own space, charging station. >> it's quite an experience in these polaris lounges there are four that are open across the country right now, to more than a reopening next month in san francisco and lax with all of this being included would you ever consider splurging on your airline ticket for your international flight to get access to this. ivan flown internationally in a very long time, if i do maybe i will check out the polaris. thank you very much indeed. time for trivi

a trip to italy in october, he said my wife and i were charged $150 each at o'hare airport in chicagothey were the most expensive q-tips we have ever purchased. this is anne in canyon lake, texas. you are next. caller: thank you. good morning. i just want to say that biden is talking about people who don't want to get tested or vaccinated. i think the problem is dr. fauci. i think that there are so many people that i know, including myself, who have lost all trust and confidence in him. he has contradicted himself so many times that people don't believe anything he says. he is the one out there who is speaking about this. people just don't trust him anymore and they don't believe in him. you can see how he has contradicted himself so much. there is so much information we are not able to get because it is getting blocked. i have a friend who has worked in a doctor's office for 15 years. her job is to set up appointments for referrals. she is seeing numbers like she has never seen. people who are younger than 50 years old, being referred to see specialists for example, kidney doctors. i