Republicans blast Dems' massive COVID-19 relief bill as pork-filled wish list

close

Video

Gutfeld on Wuhan lab possibly getting three more years of US funding

China lab at heart of COVID outbreak expected to get taxpayer money; reaction on 'The Five'

This is a rush transcript from "The Five," February 22, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

DANA PERINO, FOX NEWS HOST (on camera): Hello, everyone. I'm Dana Perino along with Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters, Dagen McDowell, and Juan Williams. It's five o'clock in New York City, and this THE FIVE. 

Democrats ready to go it alone on President Biden's massive nearly $2 trillion COVID relief bill, but Republicans are blasting it as pork filled liberal wish list. Here are some of the proposals and spending the GOP has taken issue with. 

Raising the minimum wage of $15 an hour over one billion for socially disadvantaged farmers, 270 million for arts and humanities endowments, and 200 million for museums and libraries. The bill also contains $350 billion to bail out states, the money for Obamacare and almost 130 billion for schools whether they reopen or not. Republican lawmakers are sounding off.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. STEVE SCALISE (R-LA): Less than 10 percent of the money in this massive $1.9 trillion bill is for health-related items. 

REP. BYRON DONALDS (R-FL): The cornerstone of the bill is wasteful spending. It is pork and it's buying off members of Congress just so they can get their liberal wish list using coronavirus pandemic as an excuse. 

SEN. MARSHA BLACKBURN (R-TN): The Democrats are using this as a cash cow. They are going to keep printing money until they solve their problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

PERINO (on camera): But President Biden is defending his plan and trying to attack Republicans for opposing it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Critics say the plan is too big. Let me ask the rhetorical question, what would you have me cut? What would you leave out? It's a rescue plan for America's small businesses and America's mainstream businesses. And we need Congress to pass it right away. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERINO (on camera): All right, Greg. Do you remember back in the fall when we talked about Nancy Pelosi before she as -- I'm sorry -- before the election saying that she -- they didn't want to move it forward because they wanted to get something, basically she said something bigger after the election, let's wait to see if President Joe Biden was going to be the president. And it now seems to make sense. Because I don't think they ever could have passed this type of a bill under President Trump. 

GREG GUTFELD, FOX NEWS HOST: Yes. I mean, you know me, normally I like things that are pork filled. I actually consider myself pork filled as we speak. I ate like almost a pound of bacon this morning, but I'm going to point out something that is so obvious, it's idiotic or so obvious it's brilliant.

The stimulus is the device for the government to give itself more money. Think about it. We are watching an entity writing a check to itself, sure, we are getting some money out of it, which was, you know, by the way, our money to begin with, but this is now a political version of money laundering. Right? 

You know, it's like when Walter White in "Breaking Bad" purchase the A1A car wash as money laundering facility for his ill-gotten gain from his glorious crystal met business, our government is laundering our money to indulge their constituencies and their causes, they see the pandemic as their car wash, they are pushing billions through it, through programs, through pork and bailouts using people suffering as their cover and they are actually doing pretty good by it. 

So, it's like the stimulus is the government restaurant, the government car wash, shell company travel agency, casino import/ export organization all rolled into one. 

PERINO: I'll just say that I was -- you know, even when I watch "Ozark," I never quite understood money laundering and why it works. Now I get it. 

GUTFELD: Yes.

PERINO: And I think that was quite brilliant I have to say.

GUTFELD: Thank you.

PERINO: Jesse, this bill is referred to as the COVID relief bill, but its name is actually the American rescue plan. And I have noticed today that the administration started making that distinction to be very clear that this is not just about COVID relief in an emergency, this is about overall every place, everywhere in the economy, every sector needing a little bit of a boost from the government. 

JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS HOST: Who are they are rescuing, Dana, they have PPP loans for country clubs in here like the squash courts and the putting greens were in such disrepair they needed immediate injection of money. They have PPP loans in here for fraternities and sororities, Dana. Like, do you really think they are struggling right now? 

They had PPP loans in here for sex offenders, so you rape a child here, here's a loan. Take it. They honestly have a $100 million to build an underground train from San Francisco to Facebook's headquarters. Isn't everybody working remotely? Where are we taking a train to? 

Chuck Schumer has 1.5 for a train to nowhere, no offense, Canada. I mean, they have stimulus checks for illegals, health care for illegals, tax care funded for abortion, Planned Parenthood, it's all in there. Money for schools that won't open and money for teachers unions that refused to teach, $350 billion to bail out states that shut down unscientifically. And now, we make them whole pay offs for pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies. 

It's all in there. And there is a big equity play too if you notice --

PERINO: Yes. Yes.

WATTERS: -- race is prioritized, so it really discounts a lot of the rural community. So no one is going to read it and they'll pass it and all the Democrats, the things they say they hate most about government, the special interests, the lack of transparency, the pork, all that stuff, it's all, it's an orgy of it and Democrats are right in the thick of it. And we do this every couple of times a year, Dana. 

We talk about they steal the money, they send it to a group, it helps them get reelected, and if you raise an objection, the media smears you as callous and you won't hear about any of this pork on any other network, you're going to be blind to it. And then next year America has the same problems and then they just raise our taxes and they do this all over again while the middle class gets hammered. 

PERINO (on camera): And Juan, the chief of staff to the president, Ron Klain, had said that this bill needs to pass so that schools can get reopen, but here is White House press secretary Jen Psaki and what she said today about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: They want to be able to know understandably just like any business or company that they will be able to employ teachers next year and the year ahead. So that's why this funding is so essential is because they need to be able to plan ahead so that they can make the improvements now and do the hiring later. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERINO (on camera): And the reason she was asked that, Juan, is because most of this money won't even get spent until 2022 or all the way through 2028. And yet, it does seem that the politics of this seems to be on the president's side for now, but it looks like that could slip, but is that one of the reasons they want to push it so quickly? 

JUAN WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS HOST & POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think that the poll numbers are exactly on the president's side as you said, Dana. And I think those numbers are going to get even stronger. Today obviously is kind of a grim marker with 500,000 --

PERINO: Yes.

WILLIAMS: -- Americans now dead from the coronavirus. So, I think people understand that there is a need for strong resolute action from every corner. And you know, when we talk about the public support that you referenced, you know, it's overwhelming. It's like close, I think 68 percent in the last Quinnipiac poll support for this package, and that overwhelming numbers of Democrats and independents, but you are close to half of Republicans. 

It's like 48, 49 percent of Republican support this package. So, you know, if you boil it down, I don't see --

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: They don't even know what's in it.

WILLIAMS: -- no differently than -- OK. Can I just speak for a second? I think that if you boil it down, you have to keep in mind that the stimulus check in specific has support from just about every corner of the political spectrum Republican, Democrat, independent. And over half of the money, the 1.9 trillion is for the stimulus extending unemployment benefits and child care tax credits. Another chunk to keep small businesses open so that they can employ people, another big chunk for vaccinations buying more vaccines, testing --

(CROSSTALK) 

PERINO: That's great stuff. But what about the bridge that Jesse mentioned to Canada? 

WILLIAMS: Well, this is interesting. Because you know, it's less than one- tenth of 1 percent of this money goes to things like the arts, farmers, the bridge, music programs, libraries, but it does open the door to critics who say there is a lot of pork in here, but it's a very small amount of money and it's of course it seems to me that we should pay attention to the idea. Our economy needs help at this moment, hardworking people, unemployed people --

(CROSSTALK) 

PERINO: Great segue.

WILLIAMS: -- small business deserve our help.

PERINO: Great segue to Dagen.

WILLIAMS: I'm sorry?

PERINO: I was -- it's a great segue to get Dagen in. Does the economy needed as -- I know that there are people in the country who need it, small business owners, restaurants especially, people who have been unemployed and they need some help. But does, overall, does the economy need it and what are the market saying, Dagen? 

DAGEN MCDOWELL, FOX NEWS BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: No, the economy does need it. You realize that, Juan, that Congress allocated about $4 trillion in rescue money last year, the economy is expected to grow at 9.5 percent that annualized rate in the first quarter. The unemployment rate is at 6.3 percent. So, it's falling. 

The markets are worried about, guess what? Inflation. People have been selling treasuries and bonds and longer-term interest rates have gone higher, that's because that's the only asset class that does horribly when there is inflation. You get a fixed payment from a bond, well that fixed payment becomes worthless when there is inflation. 

But this is why the Biden administration and the Democrats are trying to hide, downplay, and slow walk the good news that we are getting on the coronavirus pandemic. I'm not talking about half a million Americans who are dead, that's horrific. 

But I am talking about a 44 percent drop in new cases in just 14 days, a 30 percent drop in hospitalizations in just two weeks in 14 days. So, there is this good news out there, but the positive developments about the virus don't help the Democrats ram through this partisan pork-alicious goody bag the size of Jupiter. 

You know who does need money? The (Inaudible) stimulus to the individuals and the small businesses damaged by the bad political decisions in humorous lockdowns because of idiots, blue idiots in government. 

So, I'll end with this. In the panic peddling world of Democrats who are addicted to the government grief, good news is actually bad news if you are trying to shove this stimulus down people's throats. 

PERINO: I thought you are going to go the other direction, Dagen. 

GUTFELD: Shoving it up.

PERINO: Down throats. All right. Coming up, a big warning for Andrew Cuomo why the New York governor may soon face criminal charges. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WATTERS (on camera): It sounds like New York Governor Andrew Cuomo may want to call his lawyer, a former top Trump DOJ official who started looking into Cuomo's nursing home cover up says the governor should be worried. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN DAUKAS, FORMER ACTING U.S. ASSISTANT A.G.: What Governor Cuomo's chief aide secretary DeRosa admitted was that the Cuomo administration froze and decided not to produce any information. There are federal criminal offenses for obstruction for providing false data to the government and for concealing data from the government and conspiring to block a federal investigation. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS (on camera): Cuomo is facing increased bipartisan backlash and calls to be investigated. But the White House is not giving a clear answer on whether President Biden still stands by this praise of the governor. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Your governor in New York has done one hell of a job. He, I think, he is the sort of the gold standard. 

JONATHAN KARL, CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, ABC NEWS: My question was does President Biden still believe that Andrew Cuomo is the gold standard, represents the gold standard on leadership during the pandemic? Just a yes or no. Just --

(CROSSTALK)

PSAKI: Well, Jon, the president -- the president -- well, it doesn't always have to be a yes or no answer, Jon.

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

WATTERS (on camera): It's so nice when Democrats interview other Democrats. 

All right, Dana, so you are looking at possible charges here, obstruction of justice, defrauding the government or conspiracy and maybe even a separate obstruction charge when he threatened to destroy the career of the Democrat lawmaker who wouldn't lie for him. How bad does this get? 

PERINO: Well, I think, like, for example, I think Jonathan Karl from ABC asking the right question which is, Joe Biden said one thing in April 2020, he needed Andrew Cuomo's support in order to get the nomination and then ultimately hopefully, you know, for the general election and got it, and now all the Democrats are coming after Cuomo. 

And even though Jen Psaki didn't give some sort of full-throated defense of him, basically what she was saying is that they were giving themselves some wiggle room. So, if Andrew Cuomo, I would imagine, feels a little lonely today, there is no port in a storm when everybody is coming after you. He has been very powerful for a long time. He wants another term as governor, it will be his fourth. 

And you even have somebody like Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York City arguably the worse mayor in the history, being able to shelter under the storm because he is now taking hot shots at Cuomo while the rest of the city here is like excuse me, could you work on stuff that we have to deal with here? But that's how big this scandal is. 

And to the point of the lawyer made, obstruction of justice, I think we all agree is a serious crime. And I hope that they follow up on it. 

WATTERS: Yes. Greg was very upset last week that this actually made Bill de Blasio --

(CROSSTALK)

PERINO: Yes.

GUTFELD: I'm still upset.

WATTERS: -- better in comparison. All right, Greg. 

GUTFELD: I'm still upset. 

WATTERS: He is still upset by this. Go ahead. 

GUTFELD: You know what it is, I realize that in a way I am like batman and every now and then you have to team up with the penguin because the joker is that much worse and if De Blasio is the joker. No, De Blasio is the penguin, and Cuomo is the joker and I'm either batman or Robin or batgirl, I haven't made up my mind yet. 

PERINO: You could be both.

GUTFELD: It depends how I look in tights. 

WATTERS: Robin size.

GUTFELD: Yes, I do.

WATTERS: All right, Juan. Juan, you heard what we laid out the possible charges at the top at least three. Do you think that they are going to bring charges? It looks like the FBI and I guess the Department of Justice, the prosecutor in Brooklyn is looking into this. 

WILLIAMS: Yes, I think it's going to be fully investigated, Jesse. The problem is it's not clear what crime was committed, those crimes that were listed by that former, I guess he was the D.A. or a former assistant, I'm not sure, but it's not clear that he broke any of those laws. 

What is clear here is he did cover-up the number of deaths at nursing homes but he didn't cover up the number of total deaths. And to me, if you are a prosecutor you would say, what was your intent in terms of what you are doing, and he would say my intent was about policy, I thought I was pursuing good intentions for the people of my state.

Clearly, he was wrong. But that's not a crime. If then was a crime, then you know, like people saying I think this thing being over by Easter would be a crime. It's not a crime. So, right now, we've got two governors in this country in big trouble. One is Cuomo because I think he is going to be investigated on this, but the other is Greg Abbott who is trying to struggle with what's going on in Texas with people who have been freezing, people who don't have drinking water. 

And right now, if you look at the numbers, I think I'd rather be Cuomo than Abbott, because I think people are going to hold a bitter pill for a governor who didn't perform in the middle of crisis. 

WATTERS: Yes, I would strongly disagree. Greg, did I rudely cut you off when you had more brilliant things to say? 

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: I'm glad you did. 

WATTERS: I saw you are getting a little upset with me. 

GUTFELD: I'm glad you did, because I mean to listen to Juan and watch him once again do another lap on that old canard about it's not the cover-up of total deaths. We know that. We've been talking about that forever, it's the cover-up of the attribution, OK? 

So now we are six months into this and the tide is turning, you're seeing Saturday Night Live jumping in because they smell blood, and it's now Democrat approved, right?

PERINO: Yes.

GUTFELD: Where were these brave wits and columnist when it mattered? When it was happening? Think about THE FIVE six or seven months ago when we were talking about the Javits Center, when we talking about the hospital ship that, you know, we saw every day on the west side empty, no one cared about that because you couldn't say, you couldn't link that to the phrase Trump has blood on his hands. If you couldn't say Trump has blood on his hands after that, then you wouldn't mention it at all. 

So, it was purely political to let Cuomo get away with this until it's now -- no longer politically feasible. So now when you look back at this period, history will not be kind to Cuomo or his brother or everybody else who felt the only kind of -- I spit. The only criticism could only be hip on Trump. 

(CROSSTALK)

PERINO: That's why you're --

GUTFELD: I'm so angry. 

WATTERS: It's OK, I spit earlier. Dagen, you heard Juan saying it wasn't clear that Cuomo obstructed justice, but his assistant went out and said it, she said we held back the numbers on purpose. 

MCDOWELL: Yes.

WATTERS: That's obstruction.

MCDOWELL: Yes, admitting a cover-up --

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: That's not obstruction.

MCDOWELL: -- that's not a good look. 

WATTERS: It sure is, Juan.

MCDOWELL: But you know what is a crime? 

WATTERS: It's an act of federal investigation.

MCDOWELL: Yes. The Justice Department in October -- 

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: I'm all for it but it's not obstruction. 

MCDOWELL: Can I finish?

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: Juan, that's more obstruction than what Trump did. But go ahead.

MCDOWELL: The Justice Department asked New York for detailed data in October about from hundreds of private nursing homes. They put drag. They did not provide that information until the very last days of the Trump administration. Janice Dean reported on this that a Justice Department official told her in December that New York state had failed to provide any data as of their October request. 

So, New York, this is what their lawyer was talking about, writing about, the former DOJ worker that the willful failure to provide information may itself constitute a criminal offense. That is a cover-up, that's the crime. 

But I'll add this, that I think that just watching Cuomo even with the sound off, you can see this ogre spiraling, floundering, sweating desperation, saying things like no one has the right to spread lies or misinformation that causes pain to families. You listen to him and it's like he is talking into a mirror like Travis Bickle, the psychopath. 

WATTERS: All right. Up next, rewarding China's COVID cover-up, why the controversial Wuhan lab tied to the outbreak is about to get more of your money. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GUTFELD: The Wuhan Institute of Virology is expected to receive American taxpayer dollars for the next three years, and yes, to fund more animal research. Given that the place could be the source of what killed two and a half million people you would think may be giving more cash to them would be seen as nuts. 

That's like handing a tornado to the key to the city after it blew the roof off every house or giving Governor Cuomo an Emmy for his senior citizen outreach. Wait, that happened. 

The fact is, China has obscured the pandemic's origin, even pushing fake news about it being made in the U.S. Still, the World Health Organization delegation has concluded a leak from Wuhan was unlikely. 

But as biologist Bret Weinstein points out, we've reached a crucial fork in this road. If the virus came from the lab, we should shut all these labs down. But if the virus came from nature, then we need the labs to figure out which animal it was and how. 

So, you see the problem. It's one or the other. Yet the media treats it like it's math and science, it's just too hard. Instead, we have reporters chasing race and gender angles to the pandemic, calling COVID-19. a disaster for feminism. And that behind every attempt to vaccinate is a secret bigoted attempt not to vaccinate others. 

You have our press genius is accusing the Florida Governor of giving vaccines to Holocaust survivors for political reasons when no reason would be reason enough you -- because if you did the math, you could see that Holocaust survivors are old, and also Holocaust survivors, probably a priority even the white males. 

So, that's our press. Why seek the cause of a true outrage when fake outrage will do, especially when the real villain isn't a Republican? 

So, Dagen, it seems to me that aside from the -- finding the vaccines, which was an amazing feat in itself, there's one question that remains. And if I were an investigative journalist, instead of a lazy talking head, that would be my goal in life.

MCDOWELL: Can I just start by saying China virus, China virus, China virus, China virus? Why is it more pressure being put on the Biden administration, for Joe -- on Joe Biden who has not strongly called out China for the role it played in unleashing this virus on the world? It's killed two and a half million people worldwide. 

The virus started in China, in Wu Han, probably the virology lab. But that World Health Organization team, they dismiss the lab, but they're going to investigate frozen fish being the root of the virus. China hit it, lied about it. They disappeared or kill people who were trying to speak out about it. And the net result is, guess what, China's economy was the only major economy to grow last year in the entire world. 

China gets stronger, we get weaker. Weaker, even because we've got a feckless president in the White House.

GUTFELD: You know, to Dagen's, Jesse, Trump was the only politician in the world who actually cared about the origins of the disease, which then made the origins of the disease unpopular or uninteresting to our media. So, when -- him being concerned about the only thing you should be concerned about, was what drove them away.

WATTERS: And Biden had that two-hour phone call with the leader of China. And we got the readout, and our president did not confront their president about the mishandling of this virus that killed a half a million Americans. It just was not brought up by our president, and that's a shame. 

I mean, if Greg -- if you were to ask 10 people right now on the street corner, do you think we should be sending a lot of money to China, especially to a lab that a lot of people believe was the source for this pandemic, and are still experimenting today with bat coronaviruses? You'd get 10 hell nos. It would be like sending the Iranians money after they killed all of our soldiers in Iraq. Oh, wait, the Democrats actually did that. 

GUTFELD: Yes.

So, Juan, I mean, you see the paradox here. If we don't find out the answer, well, we either -- we either have these labs, or we don't because - - if we don't find out the origin, so why aren't we doing more?

WILLIAMS: Wait a second. I thought you hit it on the head, Greg, I think you said, on the one hand, if the source was the lab, you wouldn't want to give them any more money. But on the other hand, if in fact, it comes out in nature, you want to support kind of research.

GUTFELD: Exactly. 

WILLIAMS: I think -- I think I'm saying what you said. So, I understand. I mean, that made sense to me. I mean, what I disagreed with was your thing about the Florida Governor, though. I mean, to me, you know, I think it's like he's getting criticized. The Miami Herald reported that the area of Florida that got the highest rate of vaccinations was Fisher Island, like the richest place in the whole state. 

And, you know, the lowest was Opa-locka where 40 percent of the people live in poverty. So, you know, Blacks die from the virus two times the rate of white people. 

WATTERS: Juan, look at the Hamptons right now. 

WILLIAMS: You know, so to me, he should focus -- and I think this is what the criticism is -- make an effort to go to where people are vulnerable, dying at a higher rate. But instead, he's going to the Republican counties, and he's going to the rich. It looks very political. 

WATTERS: All right.

GUTFELD: So, the Holocaust victims is elderly -- 

WATTERS: The Hamptons is all vaccinated, Juan. 

GUTFELD: It's all political. I'm never going to get a vaccine at this rate and I'm not complaining, Dana, because I never complain about things.

PERINO: You don't complain at all. I would just mention one quick thing that for a long time, the idea that this came -- that it originated, the virus, in a lab. It was kind of considered a conspiracy theory. But now you actually have the National Security Adviser under the Biden administration say, well, look, let's -- not so fast. Let's check it out. And I think that that was a responsible thing for him to say. Hopefully, he can continue to push and make sure we get some answers.

GUTFELD: Yes, I do, too. I concur with you Ms. Perino. 

PERINO: Thank you. 

GUTFELD: Excellent book, by the way. I read it over the weekend. Yes. 

PERINO: Did you really? 

GUTFELD: Yes, I did. I did. 

PERINO: Thank you. 

GUTFELD: A lot of -- a lot of jokes directed at me for no apparent reason.

PERINO: You did read it.

GUTFELD: Coming up, new fallout and reaction after an airplane engine explodes. Hear from one of the passengers on board next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WILLIAMS: We now know what it's -- what it was like onboard that United flight when the engine exploded. The plane forced to make an emergency landing after spewing debris all over neighborhoods outside of Denver. Here's how one passenger reacted to that terrifying scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID DELUCIA, PASSENGER, UNITED AIRLINES FLIGHT 328: The plane just started shaking and vibrating from there on out. My wife told me -- yes, she's like, you know, put your ID in your pants. And I was like, why are we doing that? And she said, just in case we do go down, they can ID our bodies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: Wow. And new fallout four Boeing. The company telling all airlines to ground its 777 plane with that particular engine, and the FAA and other federal agencies now investigating. Dana, has Boeing lost both the industry and the public's trust?

PERINO: Well, I've certainly not had a good couple of years. And, you know, I think it's good that they, one, took that action today or last night to say, ground all those planes. It's not an easy thing to do in your business. But it's the right thing to do when you are concerned about the safety of people. 

And also, there's just so many things that happened yesterday that made this less drastic and traumatic than it might have otherwise been. This plane was headed to Hawaii. Thankfully, the part that fell down to the Broomfield, which is a great little neighborhood just outside of Denver, didn't hurt anybody, and didn't even hit the house and didn't hit that beautiful tree that was in the front yard. And then the pilot was able to land it. 

So mercifully, nobody was injured, so I think we have to be grateful to the big guy in the sky for helping make this not a horrible, tragic event.

WILLIAMS: Yes, that's right. So, Dagen, do you think that the airline and cruise ship industries are just in crisis after this?

MCDOWELL: No. I think that this is an incident that can get handled. And it's a Pratt and Whitney engine, we should point that out. They're going to develop an inspection protocol for this engine. There's only one us airline that's affected by it. It's United. So, these industries are hurt by the pandemic. I just want to say the United States has the best pilots.

PERINO: Yes.

MCDOWELL: The best. And so, I think that they were very lucky with this flight, but it'll get -- it'll get taken care of. I'm optimistic.

WILLIAMS: Hey, Greg, this weekend, I saw reports that the travel industry won't get back to normal this year. It won't even approach normal until sometime in 2022. What do you say?

GUTFELD: Well, I think the real outrage when you look at that engine right there is that it's not wearing a mask. I think that's deeply offensive. I think the reason why this is so alarming to people is because it's rare. And to Dagen's point, we have great pilots. We have -- we have not had a major airline disaster, at least -- I might be wrong, but in a long time. 

Now, there are two issues that we've avoided because of the pandemic regarding travel. We've been focusing on masks and meltdowns on airplanes, but it's the inactivity of planes and pilots both require regular maintenance. You know, you got to get up there, you got to fly, and the planes got to be used. 

And I'm ignorant on this, so I should shut up. But I would assume that you service planes even when they're not being flown, but I would -- I would -- who knows? Maybe just sitting around, these things happen. And this could be part of -- one of the consequences of a pandemic. Again, I'm saying that knowing that I have no expertise in this.

WILLIAMS: Jesse, would you have held hands if you were on that flight?

WATTERS: It depends if -- who I was sitting next to. I would have handled it probably pretty well with -- you know, if you compare the people here on THE FIVE. I probably would -- we would have landed, I probably would have rebooked the flight to Hawaii, gotten to Honolulu, and probably forgot about it over a nice tasty drink an hour later.

Gutfeld, on the other hand, he would have been a disaster. He would have never stopped talking about this for a year. He would have sued everybody, had panic attacks. He would have been the worst. I'm just so glad that Gutfeld was not on this flight because we never would have heard the end of it.

GUTFELD: That's why you're glad I'm not on it. 

WILLIAMS: We're all glad. Well, we're glad you're safe. Ahead, is canceled culture coming for Kermit the Frog and the Muppets? Why the iconic TV show now comes with a warning label next for you on THE FIVE.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MCDOWELL: Nothing seems to be immune from the left's cancel culture including The Muppets. Disney streaming service slapping an offensive content warning on some episodes of the classic show. This disclaimer says quote, this program includes negative depictions and or mistreatment of people or cultures. These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now.

Greg, I don't even think the show should exist. What's with this Miss Piggy? It's Miss. And what about this messaging that women are pigs?

GUTFELD: Oh, it's disgusting. And what if you're Muslim or Jewish? So, here's the deal. Question -- I have a question before I go completely insane. We're not owned by Disney? We're not like this. There's nothing -- 

PERINO: No, nothing. 

GUTFELD: OK. Disney sucks, OK. I hope this bites them in the butt. Think about the characters at Disneyland, Pirates of the Caribbean. They rape in pillage. That's what pirates do. Mickey Mouse. Mice are rodents that carry disease. Goofy, oh, you're making fun of an animal that's mentally deficient? Donald Duck and Porky Pig, they don't even wear any pants. That's perverse at a place where children frolic animals that aren't wearing pants. 

So, we're living in a world where a handful of lonely people on Twitter have corporate lawyers paying attention to them. And no one else -- no one -- rest assured. No one is pathetic enough to be offended by The Muppets. We are not that weak. But now, we live in a world where we're at the mercy of troubled shut-ins who then get to the lawyers and goes, we better be careful, we better get -- it the most pathetic -- Disneyland just -- Disney just insulted every American who -- to think that we would be offended by this crap. 

MCDOWELL: Indeed. Dana, on Greg's show a couple of weeks ago, I made a joke that Elmo should be canceled because he's red. That means he's mega MAGA. So, how I was close?

PERINO: I think that this next generation just might want to pre-cancel themselves.

GUTFELD: Yes. 

PERINO: Because every -- you can look back at anything and say, oh my gosh, I can't believe they said that then. You don't know what it will be necessarily 30 years from now. But I will tell you this. I would do anything, when I was a kid, to make sure I was in front of the TV as soon as The Muppets because I could not miss the opening. I loved everything about it. And maybe what Disney has done is given The Muppets a new lease on life.

MCDOWELL: Juan?

WILLIAMS: Well, I think this is less cancel culture, Dagen, and more label culture. Because, you know, they're -- they didn't take anything out. They're not pulling it. It's going to be aired. Anybody can watch it. And it's the children who watch it, and children are very impressionable. And so if you have caricatures about people of other cultures, about, you know, people of a certain age, it does -- it's harmful. 

And I think that what you're getting here is that people at Disney and elsewhere are saying, you know, we are aware of how we made this back then. We wouldn't do it now. But here it is. If you enjoy it, enjoy it. But be aware it's, you know, times have changed and they have changed. 

MCDOWELL: Jesse.

GUTFELD: Terrible, terrible.

WATTERS: Kids are watching this, Juan. Adults are watching this and they don't need a warning label not to be offended. They're grownups. I did a deep dive into Muppet's history today. And there used to be a Black Muppet. His name was Frank -- Roosevelt Franklin. And he was one of the big stars from 71 to 75. 

But then he became so controversial in the racially charged politics at the time, he was either too white or too black, so they canceled the Black Muppets. And now there are no black Muppets. So, I mean, what are you supposed to do? If you have all White Muppets, you can't introduce another character because that's stereotyping. That's insane and you have no diversity.

PERINO: Wow. Jesse did his homework. 

GUTFELD: Wow. 

MCDOWELL: Yes, he did. 

WATTERS: Yes, the one segment. 

MCDOWELL: So did I. "ONE MORE THING" is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PERINO: It's time now for "ONE MORE THING" on a Monday. Hey, Jesse, kick us off.

WATTERS: Well, Greg's rubbing off on me and not in a good way, Dana. I'm doing my "ONE MORE THING" about robots. We have Jessie's robot news right here. There's a new robot. It's called The Ghosts Minitaur. And this thing is -- it can climb fences. This is a four-legged robot. It can run, it can climb stairs, and it can actually open the door. 

So, you could really just throw this thing at anything. There's the door open. I mean, that's pretty amazing. It can open the door and then it can lock it behind it. So, I'm thinking this is a whole new era that we could really exploit these robots to do whatever we want or in even -- and even commit crimes if we wanted to. Legal crimes, of course. But there you go, Ghost Robotics.

PERINO: Yes. I don't know. He looks a little hyper for my tastes, a little hyper. Well, I'm going to talk about dogs. Let's get back to that. Dogs are not only man's best friends, they're also creative geniuses. 

So, this is a golden retriever, 85 pounds. His name is Maverick. He's 10 months old. And he's got a boy named Nolan. And he can figure out a way to pull them all across the yard on his sled, and then maybe have a little turn himself if you can see him there. There's Maverick. Hopefully, he gave Maverick a ride after that. But that's a good dog right there. Right, Greg? You're next. 

GUTFELD: Yes, it is Dana. Yes, it is.

PERINO: You're next.

GUTFELD: All right, let's do this. Greg's get me the heck out of here news. Well, no, Dana, talk about a mobile home. Would you take a look at this $5 million Victorian house being moved out of its San Francisco neighborhood just a few blocks so it can preserve the house rather than getting it torn down. 

It costs over $400,000, Dana, to move this beautiful structure, and it was only a few blocks. Although it was hard to maneuver around the plentiful human feces.

PERINO: And the needle, don't forget the needles. 

GUTFELD: Don't forget the needles.

PERINO: All right, Juan. 

GUTFELD: Dad used to say that.

WILLIAMS: All right, baby, it's cold outside. And if you have any doubt about how cold it is, take a look at Niagara Falls. Yes, it's partially frozen. Temperatures in Niagara, New York dropped to as low as minus two over the weekend. That froze the top layer of water. But some of the water underneath the ice kept flowing. That formed rainbows. 

So, much of the country remains covered in snow and ice. So, stay warm and know this. Springs got to come.

PERINO: It's going to. Dagen, you got 20 seconds.

MCDOWELL: I adopted my Dale dog one year ago from North Shore Animal League. He's a Jack Russell mix. I met him here at work. He was on "FOX AND FRIENDS." 

PERINO: I remember that. 

MCDOWELL: So, happy anniversary. That's Charlie too. They both pooping in the house. 

WATTERS: "FOX AND FRIENDS" brings people together. 

PERINO: Dale and Charlie, the best. All right, everyone, that's it for us. "SPECIAL REPORT" is up next. Hey, Bret. Happy Monday.

Content and Programming Copyright 2021 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL  RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2021 ASC Services II Media, LLC. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of ASC Services II Media, LLC. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.