RADIOMarch 31, 2025

France Goes Full Lawfare, JAILS Right Wing Leader Marine Le Pen

A French judge has just sentenced right wing leader Marine Le Pen to jail for 4 years and barred her from running for president in 2027. How convenient, since she has been leading in the polls. Glenn takes a look at the case, in which she was found guilty of embezzling EU funds, and compares it to the Biden administration’s prosecution of Donald Trump during the 2024 election. Maybe the French should have learned a lesson from America: people don't like it when you try and take their choice away.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: This story just caught my eye. This morning, just breaking that the French far right leader, Marine Le Pen has been barred for running for president in 2027 after a court found her guilty of a vast system of embezzlement of European parliament funds, banned her for running for public office with immediate effect.

Now, that seems pretty convenient, doesn't it? Really convenient.

STU: Really convenient. Luckily, all the people that were going to be running against her, where she was the actual favorite, they now don't have to worry about that because of her crimes!

GLENN: Yeah. But it had nothing to do with that. It was all crimes. It was all crimes.

STU: No, it's just incredibly convenient for them. You would think, it's really hard to win against a particular -- it's like, I don't know if you know this, the Super Bowl champions. Philadelphia Eagles. They ran the Super Bowl this past year.

And now they're trying to ban the play, that they do better than every other year.

It's kind of like that! It's kind of like, hey. What if we stop them from doing something they're doing at? What if we stop the candidates that are running against, and accuse them of crimes. Then throw them out. So we don't have to run against them.

GLENN: Now, wait a minute, to be fair. With France, Nicolas Sarkozy was convicted in 2021 of corruption and influence peddling. Remember that? Yeah. Yeah. He could still run, however.

STU: He can. He's not a threat though at all to win again.

GLENN: No. No, no, no. The former Prime Minister in 2017, presidential candidate was convicted in 2020.

This is Francois Feldman, he was convicted in 2020 of embezzlement and creating fake jobs for his wife.

STU: Did he get banned from --

GLENN: Well, he was five years. Three years suspended. But yeah. He could still run.

He could still run. He could still run. But not Le Pen. She somehow or another is different.

You know, this is serious crimes. Even though, the other two were serious crimes as well.
But she can't -- she can't run.

So we've got that. Well, it seems to be happening a lot in Europe.

Where they just seem to be finding these crimes. Or they just have found some elections. They're like, you know what, we just don't think that's right. We don't think that's what the people really meant to do.

Let's overthrow that election!

You know, Stu. You know, I'm not a historian, but I am a thinker.

And it doesn't seem like these things ever work out well. Yeah.

I mean, I don't have to go back to Nazi Germany. Which I could. Where they threw Adolf Hitler into the clinic.

Which made him a hero. I mean, I could go there, but I don't have to.

Did anybody notice the election of Donald Trump?

STU: Hmm. When did that happen?

Is that recent?

GLENN: I'm not sure. I'm not sure.

But I think there was some funny business there. Where they were trying to throw him in jail and trying --

STU: You know why that doesn't work?

I honestly believe this.

Is because the people get pissed off that you're trying to make the decision for them. It has nothing to do with whether the person who got thrown in jail or threatened to be thrown in jail is a good he person.

I don't know if Marine Le Pen is a good person or whether she should be president of France. No rooting interest. I heard her Dad was pretty bad. But I don't know. Who knows.

GLENN: Not French. Don't really care.

STU: Not French. Don't really care, and not following all that closely.

But the French people get annoyed by that, I think.

At least I know the American people do.

GLENN: I think all people do.

STU: I think so too.

GLENN: The number one I put on the list on don't do this too.

Germans. I don't know why I think that. You know, let's not have them, you know, recently. What you know they're doing now?

They've decided, you know what, we need to build an army. Okay.

I mean, let's not piss the people off, while they're building an army. What do you say? What do you say?

STU: Yes.

GLENN: It will be a bad thing.

STU: It will be a double-edged sword on building the army thing.

GLENN: What happens is you're exactly right. It galvanizes people. Because they no longer trust the system. They're like, what the hell? Why are you taking my choice away?

STU: Yeah, don't take it away. Let me make the choice. I think the American people, certainly, and I think the French people probably say. I can look at these allegations.

I can look at what's going on here. And make the decision myself.

People, by the way, did that. With all the allegations against Donald Trump. And they said, you know what, I don't see anything here. Right?

They were just like, no. I don't think this is going to happen. We're going to make this instigation. We talked about it all the time.

The largest jury in the world was just around the corner. There was no reason to try to throw them prison. Let the American people decide whether what they think, whatever he did with Stormy Daniels was big enough for him not to be president. They made a decision.

GLENN: No, no, no. We know better. Well, we don't know better. The judges know better.

The judges always know better. You know, they did this Erewhon. Does anybody remember?

Aren't they like a spooky state now, with Erewhon? Isn't he somebody that we should keep our eye on?

What happened? I think he either recited a poem, or published a poem deemed to be anti-secular. That's against the Constitution. So he was imprisoned. And what happened?

Because he was anti-secular in a largely Muslim country, everybody was like, he's my man.

The ban was lifted on him. And he became, you know, the Prime Minister again. And look at what happened.

Look at turkey now. Friendly nation. I don't think so.

Good news, it's in NATO. So something happens with them. We need to send our boys to protect them.

That's -- good news.

This is not going to work out well.

I mean, they just keep -- they just keep poking and poking and poking the bear.

Have you seen. Did you see what happened in Sweden this weekend. With all of the protests.

All of the things going on. It's becoming an Islamic state.

The whole place is becoming an Islamic state.

Look at what happened in England alone.

They're what, ten years away? Just from birthrates. Ten years away of being the -- the major population? Twenty years.

And that's if everybody stays cool. And wait a minute. How come you're throwing all of the people standing up going, hey. I don't have a problem with Islam.

I do have a problem with -- you know, they're banning -- not machetes. The -- the Japanese knives. Sword. Yeah. Samurai sword.

Why?

People are being beheaded. Why?

I don't know. I mean, it's just a -- it's not going to -- again, I just -- France, I know insular speak your language.

STU: You do, I have heard you.

You have done that before.

GLENN: Yeah. You wake up now, huh.

STU: That's perfect French.

GLENN: You should probably wake up. Because hmm. I'm just saying. I'm just saying.

Oh, by the way, there's another story out today, that is in our show prep, that is kind of reminiscent of this.

You know, the -- the judge that is -- is banning, you know, Trump from doing everything he wants to do.

STU: He was the judge that wanted the Venezuela flights to turn around midair. Mid-flight.

GLENN: Yeah. Boasberg.

Okay. I don't know. I mean, you know, he has been instrumental in a lot of things.

For instance, he was the guy who was like, you know, what do you mean?

What do you mean the FBI lawyer, Kevin Clinesmith? Falsified information to get the -- to get the FBI wiretap going for Donald Trump.

Sure, he -- yeah. Okay.

So what?

He falsified information. What's the big deal then?

So he's the guy that let him off without any prison time for falsing information without a FISA court.

Not a problem.

I mean, this is just. It's comical.

It's absolutely comical.

He also is the guy who happened to hear the case of Ray Epps. And was like, oh, well. No.

He didn't do anything wrong.

You have him on tape. Saying, you know what, you should riot. You should go in there, and storm the Capitol.

He didn't mean that! He's the guy that let Ray Epps off the hook.

I don't know. I don't know. Maybe -- maybe we should talk about impeaching.

You can't do that! Yes, you can. Yeah, that's what's in the Constitution. Why is it that Justice Roberts, and all of these politicians just don't want to use things that are actually in the Constitution?

Well, it's never been done before. Yeah. You know what, I've never used the life vest on an airplane as a flotation device.

It doesn't mean if we're in the water, we shouldn't try it. Oh, you've -- we've never done this before. This has never been done before.

Well, wait. We've never been in the ocean. Floating around, needing a flotation device. I don't know.

Maybe that's an emergency thing that you use. That's why impeachment is there for the justices, in case things go badly!

STU: And the Founders actually thought it was going to be more useful and more common.

GLENN: Yes!

STU: They didn't see it as -- that's what it's turned into with the president, unless you could be Donald Trump. Which is a weekly occurrence.

When it's supposed to be -- it wasn't always supposed to be only this gigantic thing that happened every 15 years. It's something that was utilized a little bit more than it was.

GLENN: They thought people would be like, I don't know, that one was really bad, maybe we should get rid of that guy. Instead, we were passive.

We were, no. That's not so bad.

And in some ways, that's good.

In others, if you live that way, you then are in such bad trouble. By the time you pull that out, that it is an emergency crash landing.

It is the little wait, I have to blow into this little red hoes. And blow it up myself. Okay. This doesn't sound like it will keep me up above water.

But okay.

That's what those things are there for.

And I don't know, I think we should start. This guy, Boasberg.

Ray Epps.

All I need to say.

Ray Epps. Let me show you the video.

Here he is. Hey, everybody. You should go into the Capitol.

Get him. And nothing?

Because of that judge?

Hmm. Hmm. I can't wait until he has to hear a case on somebody with a burning up of a Tesla. Or rioting in the streets. Or beating up an old lady.

I'll bet. I'll bet he has examples there up his sleeve. Where he says, that really doesn't count. That doesn't count.

But I would love to weigh in on Marine Le Pen. I say, if she ever comes here, we execute her!

Okay. Judge. Thank you.

Secret Docs Reveal the ENTIRE Deep State Network | Glenn TV | Ep 451

The recent declassifications from Tulsi Gabbard’s ODNI and the Durham annex give us a rare glimpse into something much bigger and deeper than the Russiagate hoax against President Trump. Glenn Beck heads to the chalkboard to connect the dots and map out how the entire deep state operation works. We reveal who the players are, where the funding comes from, and how they exert their influence. From international color revolutions to the Ukraine impeachment and the Russiagate hoax, everything is finally starting to make sense. John Solomon, CEO and editor in chief of Just the News, gives Glenn a sneak peek into a bombshell investigation that exposes how the deep state provided cover for Clinton Foundation corruption.

Former CIA Officer EXPOSES John Brennan's Massive Web of Corruption

Bryan Dean Wright, a former CIA Operations Officer, tells Glenn Beck why he believes his former boss John Brennan belongs in prison and what must happen to prevent a full-blown trust implosion in American institutions.

Watch This FULL Episode of 'Glenn TV' HERE

Why Trump is RIGHT to take back DC

President Trump is cracking down on crime in Washington, DC, and Glenn Beck believes it’s a “brilliant” move. Glenn explains why Trump is taking action, whether it’s legal, and what he believes it says to the world.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: So the president yesterday, taking control of our Capitol back. And he said this, cut three. Listen.

DONALD: My father always used to tell me. I had a wonderful father. Very smart. And he used to say: Son, when you walk into a restaurant and you see a dirty front door, don't go in. Because if the front door is dirty, the kitchen is dirty also. Same thing with the Capitol. If our Capitol is dirty, our whole country is dirty, and they don't respect us.

GLENN: It's absolutely true.

This is the broken windows theory. You know what that is? The broken windows theory is something that Rudy Giuliani used to turn the country around. And that theory is, no one, no one, picks up a rock or can or bottle or anything, that's in a nice neighborhood that's clean and everything else.

You don't pick up a rock and break a window. However, if you're in a neighborhood where there is a lot of broken windows and everything is broken down, the average person is much more likely to pick up a rock and throw it through a window.

Why? Because the entire neighborhood says, we don't care.

So what Rudy Giuliani did, was he used this theory, and he cleaned up the -- he cleaned up the subways by doing a couple of things.

First thing he did, was he made sure, that if you were jumping the turnstile, for the -- for the subway, you were stopped right there.

Before, people just weren't paying a fair, they were just jumping a turnstile.

And nobody was doing anything about it.

He says, no one was crossing that turnstile. Now, what is it?

Is it a dollar to ride the subway? No one rides it for free. And so he put police, right there.

And they stopped you, and arrested you, if you were jumping the turnstile.

The second thing is, was he stopped the graffiti. He said, I don't care if they have to be repainted every single day.

When those things pull into the station, at night. If we get there in the morning, and they've been spray-painted, I want them all painted again, and then they go out.

Everything had been covered in graffiti.

And when he changed those two things, all of a sudden, the attitude, of the subway, it became safe again.

Because it was sending a signal to the bad guys and to the good guys, we care. We're not going to let this happen, anymore.

So what he's saying here, about dirty doorstep, means a dirty kitchen. It's absolutely true.

You ever gone into a restaurant. Gone into their bathroom. And you're like, oh, boy.

Oh, God.

I can't eat now.

Because if the -- the bathroom for the customer is like that. What is their kitchen like, where the customer never sees it. That's what he's doing, and he has the absolute right to do it. He's got 30 days, before he has to bring Congress into it.

This is the -- back in 1973, Congress passed this Home Rule Act. And they didn't have a mayor. They didn't have a city council. They didn't have any of these things.

This has been from the beginning of our country, the Founders wanted the District of Columbia, to be a district that is a federal district, run by the federal government. Not by local rile.

And in 1973, they started that. And it was all just to get them to be declared a state. First a city with a mayor. Then we should have power to elect the president of the United States.

Yada. Yada. Yada.

This has not been worked. This has been an experiment that has not worked at all. So he can deploy the National Guard for law enforcement, because there is no governor of DC. He can use it for emergencies, crowd control, and to execute federal laws. However, he just declared an emergency.

Now, under the Home Rule Act, he can assume control of the Metro PD, which he didn't, for up to 48 hours, during special conditions of emergency.
And that time period can be extended.

But he -- what he's doing here, is he's using these 30 days, hoping that the home rules act is going to be revealed. Only Congress can reveal that. But there's movement to reveal it now. And if Congress appeals the home rule act.

Then this nonsense in the District of Columbia is over. And if anyone tells you, you know what, the crime status are going down.

To what?

To what?

Even if they went down to 2019 standards, is that good enough?

I mean, it is still more dangerous than walking around in Bogota, Colombia.

It is twice as dangerous as walking around in Islamabad!

I don't know. I don't think that's really a good thing.

And, by the way, they changed the way -- you're a stat person. Did you read this about the stats.

PAT: Playing with them.

GLENN: Oh, my God. Playing with them.

Felony assault is not considered a violent crime now in their crime stats. Not assault. Felony assault. Felony means usually prison is -- is tied to that.

STU: Yeah. Not just some easy misdemeanor, where you get your hand slapped.

GLENN: Felony assault.

STU: Yeah. If you're not going to include that, it's hard to even take that seriously.

But your point is more crucial to this, than even the statistical games.

GLENN: Yeah.

STU: Because they keep -- they keep bragging they're getting it back to 2019 levels, or maybe a tick below. That's not good.

GLENN: No. It's not.

STU: What you're saying is acceptable is not acceptable.

That's the message from the White House.

I would love to see it.

And we're seeing it so far. I would love to see the Democrats try to win that battle those rules.

If what you're trying to tell me, because we were there for the inauguration.

GLENN: Police everywhere.

STU: Of course that was -- police everywhere -- it's a totally different --

GLENN: But I had a guy threaten my life, and not for political reasons. Just because I think he was batcrap crazy.

STU: Yeah. Yeah. Right. I mean, a lot of sane people threatened your life on a regular basis. Crazy.

GLENN: This is a nutjob.

STU: Yeah. But, like, unless you're at the mall, during the day, it's -- and even there, can get sketchy at times.

GLENN: Oh, yeah.

STU: You feel it.

GLENN: You feel it. You feel it.

STU: You want to stay inside your hotel room.

GLENN: And, you know what, everybody knows this. Washington Post. There -- this is a story on how safe the city is.

This is a safe city, but overhearing witness game threats and then watching the camera footage of the thuggery is disturbing, said one resident.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, over --

STU: Anonymity, over concerns of personal safety.

GLENN: Yes. Anonymity, over concerns of personal safety. So I don't want my name in the paper, because I'm afraid of the thugs finding out who I am, and killing me. But it's perfectly safe. Oh, my gosh!

STU: Everyone knows this! Anyone who has ever been to DC. You know it, by walking around.
Weird crap happens to you. People approach you, in threatening ways.

GLENN: You know, Rikki told me just a few minutes ago, our executive producer. She said, last time I was in DC. And she lived in DC for many, many years. She said, I was in my old neighborhood.
She said, I used to walk at 2 o'clock in the morning.
I never had a problem with that. She said, I went to this restaurant. And I was there with a friend.

And I had gone there a million times.

She says, it's in the middle of the day. Within just a few minutes, she's sitting on a patio outside, some huge guy, she said, 300 pounds, at least 6 feet, comes up and says, I'm going to kill you. And starts threatening her and her life.

They call the cops. It takes them 15 minutes. She's not far from the Capitol. Fifteen minutes to get there. And then they don't do anything about it.

He -- she's like, anybody who says, this isn't happening, has just never been there. Here's an ABC anchor. Now, remember, their whole spin is, this was fascism.

There's no -- it's a safe city. Listen to this ABC anchor. Listen to this. Cut one.

We've been talking so much about the numbers, and usually that's how you play devil's advocate. You talk about, oh, well, stats say crime is down.

However, I can tell you firsthand here in downtown DC, where we were, right here around our bureau, just in the past six months, you know, there were two people shot. One person died. Literally two blocks down here from the bureau.

It was within the last two years, that I actually was jumped, walking just two blocks down from here. And then just this morning, one of my coworkers said her car was stolen, a block away from the bureau. So we can talk about the numbers, going down. But crime is happening every single day, because we're all experiencing it firsthand while working and listing down here.

GLENN: Hmm. Hmm.

STU: You know.

GLENN: Go ahead.

STU: I was just going to say, I was on vacation last week. You know, it's like saying I'm cutting my calories from vacation levels to normal levels.

It's still not healthy. Right?

It's just -- even if there is an improvement from 2023, which some numbers do show, although the numbers are questionable.

2023 was just absolute catastrophe. And this is just terrible. Right?

Like, that -- there's no reason to embrace this norm.

As the norm.

GLENN: So let me give you -- I want to show you the response. The response on the left.

Here is -- show the full screen here of the free DC.

This came out yesterday.

Free DC. Like it's under some fascistic.

Look at this deal. And what it says is it is encouraging residents to protest Trump's federalizing of the city's police force. And what it wants to do is starting tonight at 8:00 p.m. And then every night, go out to stop this occupation.

Go out and bring pots and pans. And bang on them. And then when you're -- your neighbors go, what the hell is wrong with you!

Say, don't you care about the fascistic government.

STU: People will love that.

GLENN: This is crazy. This is crazy.

Now, if Donald Trump and I think with Jeanine Pirro.

I think some things are going to be happening quickly there.

STU: Hmm.

GLENN: He actually has a chance. And I don't think he's doing it this way, for this reason.

But he actually has a chance of turning DC Republican.

Because you're living in that. Imagine --

STU: It's hard to imagine.

GLENN: It's hard to imagine. But imagine living there. And now you're seeing your side, that you've always voted for. Say, it's not so bad. And you know it's bad.

You can't have your wife go out to the grocery store at night.

You've had your carjacked. Maybe crazy people on the streets.

And then he's doing something. And if it works, if it works, people will be like, you know what, I'm sorry.

But that is a better solution.

He is -- this is very brilliant of him. He's very good at this.

He knows where people live.

You know, spiritually. And physically. He knows right where they live.

And where they're living in Washington it can't. Is a hellhole.

And everybody there knows it. And if he can actually change their lives, he changes everything.

Are these MAJOR PROBLEMS with our airlines widespread?

What is going on at our airports?! Glenn Beck has noticed an increase in flight issues – delays, technical problems, understaffing. So, he speaks with aviation expert Mike Boyd, who explains where he believes these issues are coming from. Are they widespread? Or is it just one airline? And can the FAA fix these issues under President Trump?

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Mike Boyd. Welcome to the program, Mike, how are you?

MIKE: I'm doing fine. It's an honor to be here.

GLENN: Thank you. So thank you for coming on. I've been asking for an interview with Secretary Duffy, and we haven't been able to align the schedules yet.

But I am very concerned about our airlines. I was on a plane. These were all American Airlines, by the way. I was on the plane. The pilot, we got on. It was like two hours, three hours later late. We got on. And the pilot was standing in the aisle. And he said, everybody, I don't want you to blame the airlines. I want you to blame me.

And we're like, oh, okay.

And he said, because I wouldn't accept the plane, that they wanted to us fly because I have flown it before. And it has problems. And they haven't fixed those problems. And the only way it's going to be fixed is if we reject it. And say, I can't fly.

I don't know if that's true or not. Or what this guy -- you know, what the story was. But that didn't fill me with confidence. I'm like, wait a minute. Wait a minute. So you're actually saying, the airline is not repairing a plane.

And I don't think -- I mean, I don't think our airplanes are in trouble, and going to start falling out of the sky. But that has been happening lately.

What is happening with our airlines?

MIKE: Well, I think the experience you had, that one specific one. We've done a lot from -- I come from an American Airlines background. Nevertheless, we've done a lot of work with American pilots unions. These are very professional people. The fact that guy stood up there and said, I'm not confident with this airplane. That's a safety -- that's a safety plus.

GLENN: Oh, I appreciated that. We thanked him for that. Thank you. Thank you.

MIKE: But we have a major problem with American Airlines. If you have pilots saying, I don't trust you. These are not yo-yos. These are not good consumer men's. These are professionals. If they say that, we have a problem in America. If that happens in America, and I think you might want to call the folks down there in Fort Worth, their brand-new American Way headquarters. They spent billions on them and asked questions.

But overall, I haven't seen that. Are there big problems with air traffic control?

Yes. No question about that. And we finally have somebody that the FAA and the DOT, who has a clue. And that will be addressed.

But overall, if it's just one airline, you're on the right track, as far as looking at it.

GLENN: Okay.

So this is -- but are you seeing this kind of stuff happening with other airlines.

MIKE: No. No.

GLENN: I'm flying out of Dallas all the time. So I generally fly American. And I occasionally will fly Delta. But, you know, it's mainly American. So I just assume this is happening on other airlines as well.

Because I'm reading the comments from people. And they're like, I can't trust that I can get there the next day anymore.

And that's a real problem.

MIKE: Well, because air travel is. I have to get there times certain.

This is not a game. I have to get to the bar mitzvah, whatever I'm going.

So if they can't get there, I'm not going to go. And the reason I'm not going to go, is you can't get me there. Now, if you look at reliability.
And again, we've had some issues, like Frontier Airlines, if you want to see Saturday Night Lights, go to YouTube. You'll see a gated -- a gated net, Frontier Airlines. It's really bad. But if you look at others, like our friends at United Airlines -- and I don't work for those guys. They have a system where if you book at United, very often, they're with you the whole damn trip.

If you don't like a lot of text messages, don't book them. They're with you, the whole time. And their CEO is functionally age, about making sure, whatever went on. Whatever it is. Take it or leave it.

From that point, I think you may have stumbled over something that affects the metroplex, more than anything else.

GLENN: So how's -- because I've been on the plane. And everybody is like, we're going to have missing.

You know, you will miss your connections.

And everybody is like -- is this kind of -- is the airline system set up almost like the Just In Time supply line? That if it did ever go into catastrophic failure, it would be a real problem.

Because, I mean, it's just one plane arrives, just in time for everyone to unload and reload and take off again.

MIKE: Well, yeah. That's just the issue. In ancient times, our friends at Southwest could come in and go in ten minutes.

Today, you can't get ten seats emptied in that amount of time. So they're really trying to cut down the amount of time, on the ground. That makes sense.

The question is, they have to have systems they can't be allow them to do that.

Now, delta has put in a very comprehensive system that only works for Delta, where they have been able to coordinate all those things, and do a better job of it.

But you're right. If you're coming in and going out, and that airplane has to do a go-around, coming into Atlanta. That could be 15 minutes.

That 15 minutes could mean, you can't get across the terminal to get your connection. That's going to happen.

GLENN: Tell me about the situation.

Because, Stu, you did a documentary on how bad the air traffic control system was. Right?

STU: Yes, I did.

GLENN: And is that on YouTube still? What was the name of it?

STU: It is. Countdown to the next Aviation Disaster. Unfortunately the countdown was not as long as you would have hoped it would have been.

GLENN: Yeah, it is. I mean, what's going on in our air traffic control.

And I would never want to be an air traffic controller. The stress these guys are under.

And that's not -- I'm not even calculating the stress on how close these planes are flying in and out now.

I mean, I'm just thinking, back in the good old days, where it was very stressful.

Now they're still passing paper to each other. And these planes are one on top of the other one.

When are we going to change this system and update it?

MIKE: Duffy is doing that. Duffy is not -- and finally, we have an FAA administrator who has a clue. Brian Bedford. He's been around. No, I've known him for 40 years. This man knows the business, and he's all business.

And, you know -- and, you know, I know he's good because Chuck Schumer doesn't like him. So that underlines everything right there.

GLENN: Good.

MIKE: So that's starting right now. Look, we testified to Congress in 1994 on this. On a free flight system, that you could make it far more efficient. The FAA blew it off. The FAA has always been a repository of some really great people at the operational level.

But at the top, these are just political appointees. Take a look at the FAA administrator that the -- the last president wanted. Phil Washington. Nice guy. Clueless. But he was a good appointee.

We can't do that anymore. I think we're going to see some major changes right now.

GLENN: Now, can -- how long is it going to take us to fix this?

MIKE: Well, you know, one of the things.

It's sort of -- what Duffy said, well, we have a -- there was a program in place to fix it over the next five years. And that's ridiculous.

So he's on it. I mean, he just went up to Wisconsin. He found the oldest, I think the oldest control tower in the nation. We're going to fix this. He's really making a point of trying to get it done.

And I think he's doing it incrementally. Where like Newark. What a disaster. I don't mean this city, necessarily. I do.
(laughter)
But at the airport, you know.

He's trying to make that work better.

This guy is on it. So I'm thinking 18 months.

It's going to be incremental. But we will start to see this happen.

GLENN: In Newark, or in the country?

MIKE: In the country. Because we can't have a free flight system that is far more efficient --

GLENN: What does it mean, a free flight system?

MIKE: There's a free flight system -- they want to ignore this, where every airplane takes off, and it finds its own ways. Keep in mind, the skies aren't crowded.

You can put 250,000, count them, 737s in a cubit mile of airspace, parked, not moving.

But that's a quarter million of them. And any time in America, today, in the sky, you might have just 14,000 -- 14,000 airplanes in the sky.

GLENN: Wow.

MIKE: But that's like 11 million cubic miles of airspace. So we can use our airspace better.

But what we've had is quite frankly, an FAA that hasn't wanted to think about it. It's more worried about itself. I am convinced that is going to change over the next two years.

GLENN: And are we close to having AI do all of this free flight stuff?

I mean, I would imagine that you don't -- I mean, you don't need to check in with tower, if AI is assisting finding it.

MIKE: Oh, exactly. We've got to use that. And a lot of it -- it's -- the head of the FAA has always been the clown of the Titanic. He says, slow down.

And by the time, it gets back to the engine room, you know, we've hit the iceberg. I think it's one of those things that we have to recognize, a lot of stuff has to change organizationally at the FAA, and at the department of transportation. I think finally we have people that can actually address that.

GLENN: Wow!

That is -- I mean, this is wildly optimistic, but I am happy to hear that. I like Secretary Duffy.

I don't know much about him.

Not enough to say enough like you're talking. That makes me feel really good. I'm very concerned about our air travel.

It's not good. Not good.

Not going in the right direction.

MIKE: It's not going in the right direction.

I find out, if I treat the customer right, they might come back and fly me, and what's happening now, people are getting away from some of these really low fair airlines, where the seat is like, a bucket seat in a C-119.

They don't want to fly those things anymore. And people like United and Delta and other carriers are saying, we'll take your business.

And they are.

GLENN: I have to tell you, at times, I'll be on a plane. And I think we're like one scruffy dog with one blue eye, just walking down the aisle, creepily away from third world airlines. I mean, it's like, there are times I'm like, is there a chicken going to run down the aisle too? What country do we live in?

It's beyond. It really is the greyhound of the sky now.

MIKE: It is. There's no question. My mother was a stewardess in the 1930s. Everybody dressed up.

GLENN: Yes.

MIKE: Today, you're lucky if everybody is dressed.
(laughter)

GLENN: I don't know why we haven't had you on before, Mike. You're very funny.

Mike, thank you so much. For an inside look on this. I appreciate it. Mike Boyd, aviation expert. From the Boyd group international. He's the president and CEO.

MIKE: Me pleasure. Thank you.

GLENN: He's the guy who consults all these airlines and tries to help fix them.

And is also, you know, testifying in front of Congress all the time.