RADIOJanuary 23, 2024

'INSANE': The Fed is TRYING TO HIDE this from you

The Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury recently made a big change to their banking rules: Big banks will now be forced to use the Fed's discount window (which was previously only used as a last resort by struggling banks) at least once a year. The Fed tried to argue that the last economic crisis was spurred by banks that didn't know how to use the window — so this new rule will act as a fire drill. But former investment banker Carol Roth sees through their "absolutely insane" spin. Carol joins Glenn to explain what's really going on here: The Fed wants to hide from YOU which banks are in trouble and grab even more control over the market. But Carol also brings some good news: This audience recently helped accomplish two "massive" wins in the fight against ESG.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: We have Carol Roth on with us.

Hello, Carol. How are you?

I can't hear, Carol. There you go.

CAROL: Oh, great. I was saying, what a better way to start with the week than with you and your fabulous community. So off to a fantastic start.

GLENN: So let me give some good news to this fantastic audience. Big news from Florida.

The law that we spoke about, the last time that Justin Haskins was in town, in Dallas, we were talking to a Florida representative. It is working.

More than 100 Florida banks, including some huge nationally chartered banks, have just signed an agreement with the state, that they will not incriminate on the basis of customer's political views.

This is one of the main reasons why we wanted this in the first place. You can see the legislation. I'm going to tweet it out here in just a minute or so.

The legislation behind this. Is the same that we've been promoting since The Great Reset book was released in January of 2022.

Same legislation that lawmakers learned about when they came to the summit. That we hosted at Mercury One in Dallas.

And it's the same one that I talked about when I was on the stage, at the pro-family legislation conference, in November of 2023.

This is a massive, massive win.

Donald Trump has also formerly committed on the campaign trail, of stopping banks from discriminating on the basis of politics.

The whole point of the bill that we were pushing in -- in Florida.

If other states pass bills like the one in Florida, we will win and destroy ESG.

We're getting an update. Hopefully, we will have one at the end of the show, on how many states are taking this up.

Florida, again, is leading the way. Donald Trump, says, he is right with this.

We need your state. To follow Florida's lead. The banks are jumping off. And they are actually signing promises, that they will not consider your politics. When looking at loans or anything else.

That is huge, Carol. Huge.

CAROL: That is huge. And I want to point out, Glenn. This is the second grassroots win, that we heard about, within the last seven days.

And I am so proud of you and everyone in your audience, who has been saying, I'm not sure that I can make a difference, but, you know, I'm going to try. I'm going to write a letter. I'm going to send some comments in, whether it's to my state representative or governor or to whoever it is. We're seeing that when enough people stand up, they can make a difference. And that should inspire and fire everybody else up, to continue this. Because it is working.

And so I -- by the way, I have to say -- participated in some good news on the program.

GLENN: I know. I know. I know. That will end soon. Your mood won't improve much.

But I do want to point out, what you just said. Talk about what happened last week, that was another massive win.

And it started with this audience.

CAROL: It 100 percent started with this audience. And it started with you, and Marlo Oaks, the Treasurer out of Utah, who brought to our attention these natural asset companies. And the fact that the New York Stock Exchange had gone to the NCC, and said, we want to list them. We want to list these companies who can control and manage natural resources.

And we said, no. This isn't going to happen.

And so you brought this to everyone's attention.

We came up with a template.

People from this audience. Hundreds of people from this audience came, emailed me personally for that template.

Sent it in.

And there was so much pressure. That the FCC didn't even get to rule. The New York Stock Exchange withdrew the role because of the pressure from patriots, from this audience.

It was an absolutely huge victory. So now we've got this -- we've got the ESG. We have the nondiscrimination.

We have momentum. So certainly, lots more work to being done.

But everybody should take that moment, to take a victory lap. It doesn't mean you have a party for the rest of the year.

But for a quick moment to say, I made a difference. If I participated. And you didn't do it the last time around, next time around, do it the next time.

Because the more people who do it, the more of a chance, we have to make that difference.

GLENN: So we will get into why this is so critical, that you understand the power that you have.

And really, know it. It's critical.

Make sure you're listening next hour. Because I will show you massive moves now being made, on silencing voices like ours, to alert people like you.

So you may have to be the replacement vote. Voice.

To currently others.

It is the digital ghettos are being made, right now.

And they're going to start putting people behind those walls, soon.

Okay. So, Carol. Let me explain the discount window. And see if I have it right.

Discount window, at the fed.

Think of a bunch of windows, at a bank. Where you walk up to a window.

The discount window is where banks, if they walked into the fed.

Which is the bank of banks.

So all those windows.

There are bankers at that window.

No people like you. And the discount window was the kind of shameful window at the end, that everyone could see.

And you could walk up to the discount window if your bank was if trouble.

And say with, I need to borrow some more money. I need it here.

Because we're getting dicey on the books. And all the bankers can look and see who is in line with that discount window.

And they say, bank of Georgia is in real trouble.

So it was shameful. And nobody wanted to go up to that discount window.

After 2008, they took all that shame away. And now you can walk up and go, yeah, man, right!

Are we all in trouble. You bet?

Can you give me some more money. Do I have that right?

CAROL: Pretty similar.

It's unfortunate.

Because the discount window does sound like a place at Nordstrom, where you maybe get a discount on some goods, right?

But you said, it is sort of -- has a stigma attached to it. Because within the banking system, within the plumbing, as you noted.

Banks lend to each other on a regular basis.

And if you're in good shape, you may go. And if you have a liquidity need, overnight or for short-term, you may go to another bank, and you may get a loan.

And that's actually what the fed funds rate sets that target rate of lending at, that we hear.

We hear, we will go up 50 basis points. We will go down. That set interbank lending rate.

The discount window, as you mentioned is at the fed. Funny enough, it's not even at a discount. It's actually at a premium to the fed's fund rate. Because banks who can't get the money elsewhere, have to go to the fed. We've heard the name -- the phrase, the fed is the lender of last resort.

And that's if you're in line at that discount window. It's because you've got nowhere else to go in order to get that money for your liquidity.

GLENN: Correct.

CAROL: So while that information isn't reported, usually on a case-by-case basis. For about two years.

You don't know specifically.

There's enough details that participants in the market can infer who is going to those windows.

And then also, it's a very important market signal.

Because in the aggregate.

If we're seeing a lot of loans being taken down, via the discount window.

Which is reported on a regular basis.

We can infer there is trouble in the banking system. So like we did last March, when there was a banking crisis, we saw this huge spike in discount window usage. So I think that that kind of pieces this all together.

GLENN: Okay. So now what has the fed done?

CAROL: So there is a new rule that is being worked on. This had been rumored to be happening for a long time.

And now it's finally come out. It's between the fed, the treasury. And the -- I believe it's the FDIC. And they are planning to say, well, because there's so much -- well, actually, they're not saying -- I'm getting ahead of myself.

They're basically saying, they will introduce a new rule. That if you are a bank over a certain size. I think that $100 billion is the assumed cut-off point. That we're going to force you, to use the fed discount window, every year on whether you need a loan.

Whether you don't need a loan. Whether you can borrow for another bank.

It doesn't matter. And they will make sure you do it.

And the reason is, they think you're so stupid.

They say, well, the reason why we had this crisis in March.

Wasn't because we had all of these underwater, you know, securities on bank balance sheets.

No, no, no. That wasn't the issue.

It was because they couldn't figure out how to use the discount window.

So this will be like a dress rehearsal, or a fire drill. So if you do it on a regular basis, now you know. And we can avoid the other crisis.

Which is absolutely insane. And if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you.

GLENN: That is like, that is like cops saying, yeah. Well, we -- we have to fire our guns. You know, at people. Once in a while, because otherwise, if something happens, we won't know how to fire guns at people.

I mean, that's crazy.

Of course they know how to use it. That's their job to learn how to use it.

It seems to me, they are forcing these banks to do it. So we don't know who is in trouble anymore.

CAROL: Bingo. So there's this great newsletter called FX Hedge.

And they brought this out into the open, and sort of surmised the different reasons why this is happening.

And I'll add my own flavor into it. But like I said, the obvious reason, is that they're trying to obfuscate the information. The signal. They're trying to hide what's about to go in the banking system. So that's the clear reason. The only reason why you would force everybody to do it. Because, of course, if you're part of the fed system, you will know how to use the discount window. Big, huge banks, and they can't figure out how to use the discount window. It's absolutely insane. But it's also kind of -- if you go down the line, they must think there is some reason for them to hide this information. Which is the various issues and weakness which we have known for a while, remains in the banking system.

On top of that, this FX Hedge newsletter, also talked about the idea of consolidation. Something that you and I have spoke about, a lot within the banking system and centralization. That if the banks are no longer lending it to each other, and they are now relying on the fed, this is shifting the banking system away from, you know, more of a quasi-free market. To more fed-controlled system.

Which we know is something that we've been concerned about with CBDC. And, you know, the fourth reason could be these liquidity issues that we're seeing in the Treasury market, and the need for the fed to find ways to increase its balance sheet without calling it QE.

So lots of possible different reasons. But certainly, that first hallmark reason. That they're trying to hide information, and issues.

Within the banking system. Is just -- it's not only a head scratcher. But it's a red neon sign.

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.