Fake pants bomb highlights problems with TSA security

>>> welcome back on a snowy friday here in new york. but we are not alone. from new jersey through new engla england, some places see more than a foot. spring is 11 days away according to the calendar. flight delays topping four hours in some places and that's just from the snow. the white house warning about sequester cuts to tauz tsa employees to be furloughed and the agency apparently needs all the help it can get because an undercover inspector managed to get through not one but two security check points with a fake bomb in the pants. then he boarded a commercial flight . this news coming at the same time that we find out that certain knives allowed back on planes so let's talk about i guess the state of airline safety and security these days. you know, i have always had issues with flying. i'm, you know -- i always said if i see somebody in the bathroom for more than 90 seconds i think shoe bomber . and so, you know, i think the article --

>> normal.

>> one of the articles i wrote about this, they had issues about newark airport in particular. one of the most heavily trafficked airports in the country. at least i think it is. i'm claiming that distinction for newark airport . maybe it isn't. i think it is.

>> for sake of argument, let's say it is.

>> they've had issues with i know there was a couple of years ago a woman went to hug a girlfriend and she was past security and nobody stopped him. went right through security. it was harmless but also showed how easy it was to get through and probably pick on newark too much because i get the feeling this could happen anywhere. he had a patdown and right on the plane and then it just --

>> don't beat up on newark. it could happen anywhere.

>> the lesson -- i hate to say it. this story got out because a source went public with this for whatever reason. maybe they think the provisions in place are not adequate. they don't want to publicize this. i think it's just -- where there's a will, there's a way. if somebody -- that to me is the lesson. if they're intent on doing this, i don't know. if the magnenometer doesn't pick it up?

>> they're not succeeding.

>> thank god.

>> it's not like they didn't follow procedure. it seems like at least from what we know of the story they did follow procedure. they did have a pat down. that didn't find it. you know, a lot of fun made of the sequester and, oh, you know, we can handle the cuts and not a big deal but you have to look at the fact 9% cut to tsa would have a real impact. i mean, it would have an impact. it might not be as big or as great as some have said but we can't underestimate the fact that would be -- that would really make a difference in airport security where we already obviously are not, you know, not totally foolproof there. the other thing i would say here in terms of the knives and i have no idea whether pocket knives really of the sort that they're going to be allowing on airplanes, whether this was the right call or the wrong call, do pocket knives really pose a threat of the sort that, like, my dad has a little swiss army knife? i doubt it. people are very upset about this and i feel like no matter what tsa does, whether they ban something, we complain about it. it's just a silly little pocket knife . it couldn't do any harm and then allowing it we complain about that, too. seems like a no-win situation. i partly think it comes back to the sense that we don't have real airport security . we have sort of an illusion of security that's there to make us feel safe so when we have the decisions they seem arbitrary.

>> i think if they said you don't have to take your shoes off anymore, no one would complain.

>> i think they would complain. shoe bomber . toure! i would complain.

>> nobody would complain. there's common sensical things they could do and nobody complains about golf clubs , lacrosse sticks , souvenir baseball bats but the little knives, seem like a bad idea. i'm not going to get too much in to it now but let's note that the tsa never caught anybody that ended up being arrested and prosecuted in terms of committing a terrorist plot or trying to commit a terrorist plot. now, we have had flight attendants and air marshals stop people but never the tsa. i don't say to beat up on the heart working, diligent people of the tsa. i think they're doing the best they can searching for needles in a gigantic haystack. i would rather beat up on the bosses making bad decisions and putting the people in bad situations. i just don't look at the tsa process and the way that these hard working people are the tools that they're given and think that we are being made safer when we're confiscating water and adults take off the shoes but not children and this -- it feels very kabuki theater .

>> apparently airline travel is safer than ever. we haven't had any major crashes in the united states , what, four years now. i think early 2009 . i believe this sets a record or close to a record for the longest period of time without a fatal crash. i mean, you know, to somebody like me with flying issues says we're pushing the luck.

>> we started to talk about this before, you were like, are you going to be able to take over the plane with -- no. of course not. but what if we get in to an argument and --

>> you stab me?

>> i have a knife. who -- who is clamoring, who's needing to have that --

>> swiss army knives on the plane. i don't remember a lot of rage-filled attacks on passengers.

>> true. but since 9/11, the flying experience gets worse and worse, more and more stressful. when i was younger, it was fun to get on the plane and go up and see the captain and in the front.

>> don't you want the days back when you don't have to worry about swiss army knife ?

>> can't go home again, those days are over. you sit in your little cell. buckle up. i love how they made you buckle up. have you ever needed a seat belt on a plane?

>> yes, i have.

>> have you ever crashed?

>> no. of course not.

>> i have needed it on a plane. massive turbulence to the point that some drinks hit the ceiling.

>> never.

>> yes. you needed the seat belt . i will say one change that i was very pleased about was the kids not having to take their shoes off. when my daughter was a year old and i was to take the shoes off in the asht, absurd. absurd.

>> absolutely.

>> i'm on the record. everybody take your shoes off.

>> you are irrationally paranoid about the whole thing.

>> no.

>> what you wanted to do was tell people to take the train but you're afraid to do that because they'll take the train and this is your thing.

>> i rode the bus and train to stay away from the plane. if everybody listens to me, then those -- you know?

>> you need to talk to somebody about your irrational fears.

>> did you see the story of amtrak if it's washington and new york because nobody takes -- i'm the guy that takes the bus in des moines .

>> be like -- wrap your head around it and take it.

>> '83 volvo back on the road.

>> i think you have made real progress this year.

>> this year i haven't flown yet.

>> regression.

>> two flights?

>> i did six in 2012 and i'm going to a wedding in miami in about a month.

>> so you take the kornacki cruiser?

>> volvo can make it.

>> a 16-year gap you didn't take a plane?

>> yeah. half my life.

>> how could you do that?

>> i wanted to live, toure and i did and it was wonderful.

>>> straight ahead, developing news from the vatican. a date is set for the conclave. hello.