RADIOFebruary 25, 2022

Is THIS Putin’s long-term goal for Russia by invading Ukraine?

President Vladimir Putin took both Glenn and his head researcher, Jason Buttrill, ‘by surprise’ when he invaded Ukraine on Thursday — just as U.S. intelligence had predicted. So, where do we go from here? What kind of US sanctions on Russia should we expect from President Biden? What is Ukraine’s strategy militarily, will this escalate into a full ground war, and WHAT could Putin possibly gain from this? Jason and Glenn break down Putin’s possible, long-term goal & more…

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

I want to bring in Jason Buttrill who is with us now.

Hi, Jason.

JASON: Hi, Glenn.

GLENN: You and I have been talking about this for a long time.

We have spent a year on Ukraine. And this takes both of us by surprise. I have to hand it to the intelligence community. Although, I don't feel comfortable. Something is not right here.

But the intelligence community and the Biden administration said, this is what he was going to do.

And he's done it.

JASON: Yeah. I agree.

It's really crazy. Because when you study geopolitics. You learn to analyze and look at these things from that lens.

You're taught that, you know, geopolitics is a study of maps. Its demographic numbers. You know, it's interest. Hard-lined interest.

When someone starts acting emotionally, like Putin has been doing for the past year plus, you learn to put that away. And you say, okay. Well, he's obviously after something else.

Which I still think there's something else involved, just like you said. So when the Biden administration was kind of saying, this is happening. Full-scale invasion. All of that.

I didn't think anything was happening. I didn't. I was looking for something behind what was going on. Because this all seemed so irrational. But I think the intelligence community was spot-on.

I've seen reports they can't be it actually, the intelligence community coming out that false flag attacks would happen. That would be the preempt to them doing a full-on invasion.

They were exactly right. And the reports that said it delayed Putin's invasion by possibly a week. Like, they wanted to do this last week, not this week.

So the intelligence community and Biden administration were exactly right on this. Now, there's ways to criticize other things, which we can get through later. What they've done.

Just a quick recap. The media sort of reporting last night, that the invasion was going to commence around 4:00 a.m. Kyiv time.

And pretty much, that was spot-on. It happened around 4:10, 4:15 Kyiv time.

And it's very, very conventional from what I've been noticing all night. This is not like Crimea in 2014 with unconventional warfare. This is a very conventional invasion. What we saw commencing around 4:00 a.m. Kyiv time.

Was airstrikes that tried to command systems. That went as far as Kyiv. And it's a three-pronged attack, coming from Belarus. Coming from Crimea in the South, and from mainland Russia in the East.

Now, we do not bank how far they want to push this, but it is a conventional invasion. It looks as if they will probably go further than eastern Ukraine. Question in you is how far they will go. And how far tensions will rise, especially with NATO gathering troops all along the border with Ukraine.

GLENN: Okay. So let's -- it looks as though he was using conventional warfare.

To cut off the troops, as they were kind of gathered, at the borders of -- of the two districts, that President Putin said he was going to take. They went behind those lines. And kind of cut them off. So they can't fall back. To -- to defend could he have. Correct? is

JASON: Yes, that's correct. Because they know Ukraine's strategy here is they will get overwhelmed. Their main strategy is in the east, guarding those two territories, as you said.

Their strategy is to do a tactical retreat back into the urban areas of Ukraine. Then it turns into both a hybrid guerilla warfare, and heavy urban warfare in the large Ukrainian cities. That is very, very bloody. That is very, very dangerous to the Russian military. As well as civilians. Russia is does not want to kill too many Ukrainian civilians.

Because that will be very, very unpopular in mainland Russia. Ukraine strategy here, as I said, is get into the cities, and to turn it into an urban conference, draw it out for as long as possible. Russia wants to stop that. That explains why they dropped in behind the troops there.

GLENN: Can they take the whole country just by air, and cutting it all off?

JASON: They absolutely can take the whole country in the short-term. It depends on how effective their air assets are, and that's what we're seeing right now is the bomb from the air.

We're seeing cruise missile strikes. So cutting off command and control, all over the country, and crippling Ukraine. So they can eventually roll into the capitol.

That will happen, is my guess. Unless somebody else intervenes. Which I kind of highly doubt.

But a short-term victory is really all Russia can hope for here. And that's a really puzzling thing.

Because I can't imagine they will win in the long-term.

In the long-term, it will be too damaging politically for Russia. It's catastrophic in the short-term.

In the long-term, I don't see how they win in this, unless there's some other grander strategy, that we just don't even know about. Which would be scarier, actually

GLENN: Yeah, I think so too.

All right. Let me take a one-minute break. And then we will come back and discuss this.

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(music)
So we have some -- some puzzling things. First of all, Putin said, he wants to de-Nazify Ukraine.

Any idea what's that about?

JASON: Same writer since he's been using since 2014. And it's directed more to the people of Russia, not anyone else in the world, or Ukraine.

But he's been using that World War II sentiment. To get public support, to do what he's now doing.

But that will continue. And no doubt, he will provide some air quote evidence, you know, that they're taking out some Nazi -- but he's drawing on World War II nationalism.

GLENN: Well, he said that there's been an ongoing genocide in Ukraine.

That he's trying to stop.

I mean, this is crazy.

JASON: And that's what makes it so hard for me, when I was looking at this before. To really think that he was going to go through with it. Putin is not a crazy guy. He may be now, but in the past, he's not been.

He's been very cold and calculating. Geopolitical and interests has always been forefront in his mind.

GLENN: He's not a -- he's not a psychopath. I mean, well, he might be. But he doesn't -- he's not somebody driven by rage.

He is cold and calculating.

JASON: Yeah.

GLENN: And when -- I mean, he's out and out evil. He is a bloodthirsty killer, who has spent a lifetime killing people.

But he's logical in it. He's very calculated in it.

And the rhetoric, I mean, I think the Nazi stuff, the religious stuff. That's all -- that's -- that's Dugin kind of language.

JASON: Yeah. And that's a very, very powerful weapon for Russians. Because they're very much willing to suffer, and to -- you know, to -- to basically take it, on the chin.

If they have to. If that means that their country, you know, will eventually reign supreme.

It's interesting, if you go and take a tour of the Kremlin, the red tour in Russia, which I've done many times. You'll be very surprised, to see that the former Soviet Union, the capital, in their red square. Probably 80 percent churches. There's multiple churches.

There weren't religious during the Soviet Union. But historically, during the Russian empire, they were very religious. Orthodoxy is very, very pivotal to Russian nationalism.

And even the Soviets would turn that up, when they needed to. But that's exactly what Putin has done under Dugin, especially in that speech he gave last week. That was very, very telling, to a lot of us that had been looking at this. People like you and me, Glenn.

That okay. Now we know exactly what he's doing.

He's turning up that dial of nationalism, to justify doing, you know, what he's doing. And possibly even more. Which is scary.

GLENN: Okay. Would you agree with me -- and I would like you to explore this a minute.

There is no real obvious win for Putin. His stock market has crashed. This is going to be horrible. They are in the oil business.

They just made a deal with China. But that's years down the road. They're going to shut down all the oil exports into any western country. Because of this.

So his oil is going to crash, which funds his government, and his country. The stock market is down. Business is going to be cut off.

It's already in shambles, in Russia.

What does he have to gain here? Can you think of anything, that he has to gain?

JASON: I've always thought from the beginning of this, especially when I didn't think invasion would happen. I thought he was playing a game, to divide and conquer NATO. That's what I thought. And I still think that's a major part of his plan. Taking Ukraine is also very, very important, strategically for Russia. To get a strategic death.

It's always been their plan, was to have some buffer, so they could have their capital in Moscow.

GLENN: Yeah, but also the warm water port.

JASON: Exactly. When he's talking about heart of Russia, that's true. I don't think that really guides him. I think that's the excuse he uses to get support from home.

GLENN: Right.

JASON: But I think -- and it's very irritating I think that -- we're talked about, Putin is not a psychopath. I think he's very spiteful. I think that the Russian election interference, which I don't think did anything. I don't want to say it did. But their election interference thing is a direct response to Hillary Clinton, and what they did to his election.

I think that a lot of what we're doing now, is a direct response to how the Obama administration and all his foreign policy elites handled 2014 Ukrainian revolution.

I think he responded to these people, directly in kind. That's also the reason why he was willing to back off of this when Trump was there. He knew that's not how they operated. And they weren't the ones directly responsible for what happened. And I think it's ridiculous, that NATO wouldn't respond. Wouldn't say, hey, we will not admit Ukraine into NATO. Why couldn't they say that?

NATO was irrelevant. And the irony of this is now that Putin is responding to that, it's making NATO relevant again. I think eventually his goal is to play the long game.

Eventually, there will be NATO countries. Like Germany will not want to attack. They won't want to send troops. That will cause a divide in NATO. That's going to cause a divide between the UK and France. They won't want to attack either.

And, eventually, this will play out, where NATO will do what he wanted. He wanted NATO to do a draw. That benefits China and everybody else on Russia's side.

His ultimate goal is the long game. Divide NATO. Possibly the end of NATO. And get strategic deaths with Ukraine.

GLENN: Okay. Thank you very much, Jason. I appreciate it.

I will give you another perspective, when we come back.

Because I -- I just don't think -- I mean, I agreed with, he's trying to break up NATO. But not anymore.

This is costing him too high of a price at home.

What could he be angling for?

I'll throw a couple of ideas your way, next.

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.

Did Adam Schiff leak CLASSIFIED info to harm Trump?

A Democratic career intelligence officer has been warning the FBI for years that now-Senator Adam Schiff approved the leak of classified information to smear President Trump, according to a Just The News report. Glenn Beck warns that Schiff CAN’T get away with this because if he can do this to a president, what can the government do to you?

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Let's see. So John Solomon broke some news yesterday on justthenews.com, which if you don't -- if you don't check that every day, you should.

He is a real, God's honest journalist, an investigative journalist. He's worked for the Washington Post, until he wasn't welcomed there.
He worked for the -- I think he worked for the New York Times, but definitely the Wall Street Journal, until he wasn't welcomed there. And he was like, I -- you know what, I speak my mind. I let the chips fall where they may.

So he started his own thing.

And it's really, really good. But he's been breaking a lot of the stories that are coming, about Russiagate.

Listen to this story. A career intelligence officer who worked for the Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee. For more than a decade, repeatedly warned the FBI, beginning in 2017, that then representative Adam Schiff had approved leaking classified information to smear Donald Trump.

The FBI 302 interview, reports obtained by just The News. State the intelligence staffer, a Democrat by party affiliation. Who described himself as a friend to both Schiff and now California senator and former Republican House Intelligence chairman Devin Nunes, considered the classified leaking to be unethical, illegal, and treasonous.

But was told not to worry about it, because Schiff believed he would be spared prosecution under the Constitution's speech and debate clause. So do you know what that clause is?

It's a really -- it's an amazing clause. Do you know what it is?

STU: This is the one where they can -- where Harry Reid can go on and say, hey. Mitt Romney lied about not paying his taxes.

GLENN: Yeah. He never paid his taxes.

He can't say that, without Mitt Romney not being able to sue him.

If it's not true, you can sue him. Unless you say it on the floor of the House or the Senate. Because then it's -- then it's free speech that they have, that you don't even have.

STU: Yeah. It's like they're extra -- they're extra free.

GLENN: Yeah. They're extra free. They can say whatever they want. And they can't get sued by it.

So he is -- he is leaking this information. But he's leaking it on the floor of the House.

And that way, he can say, I'm covered by the Constitution.

STU: Hmm. He's such a dirtbag. It's unreal.

GLENN: Just a dirtbag. Okay. So this whistle-blower. Again, a Democrat by -- by registration. He has been blowing the whistle on Adam Schiff, and no one would listen to have. The DOJ officials, according to Just the News, showed little interest in pursuing Schiff when the allegations were brought to them years ago, citing the very same excuse the lawmaker had offered in his -- isn't that interesting? So he says, I'm covered by this. And the DOJ says, no, no, no. He's covered by this.

In his most recent interview with the bureau in 2023, the whistle-blower, whose name is redacted, told agents from the FBI's St. Louis office, said that he personally attended a meeting in which Schiff authorized leaking classified information.

Quote, when working in this capacity, redacted staffer's name, was called to an all-staff meeting by Schiff.

In this meeting, Schiff stated, the group would leak classified information, which was derogatory to the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.

Schiff stated, that the information would be used to indict Donald Trump. The whistle-blower told investigations that he stated that this would be illegal.

And upon hearing his concerns, unnamed members of the meeting reassured him, they would not be caught leaking classified information.

The staffer made similar claims to agents in the FBI's Washington field office, as early as 2017. Shortly after Trump took office in his first term.

Officials also said, some of the DOJ officials who declined to prosecute a rash of classified leaks during the Russiagate affair remained employed and in positions of power.

A matter that they may be of interest to lawmakers in Congress. This thing is so deep and so nasty.

I mean, if -- if we don't get the people like Adam Schiff, this will happen, if they get away with it. You may, as a Democrat. You may be fine!

Donald Trump, he's -- you cannot allow them to get away with leaking classified information. To destroy another person. Okay.

They knew these were lies. But they needed it to get out.

And it was classified. No one was supposed to know that.

So here, a Congress congressman, and now a senator, a US senator said, don't worry about it.

You're not going to get caught.

Nobody is going to pay for this.

If they do that, and they set this precedent.

And they do get away with it, what is the regulating rule of law?

When they want to do it to somebody else.

And maybe it's somebody you like. What is the regulating rule of law. When the Republicans go, oh, well. You're going to pray that way.

Well, we can do that too. This is where critical thinking comes in.

This is where -- this is what Americans are missing right now.

And it's -- it's not that we're not capable of it.

It's that we're all living in our lizard brains. We're all so freaked out by, Nazi! Nazi!

It's a Nazi!

We're so freaked out by the names that we've all called each other.

We no longer can stop and think

The left is now moving towards no rule of law.

I mean, they're -- Beto is now saying, to the uber, uber left, rules don't matter at all.

It doesn't matter.

We'll do whatever it takes to stop them, and win next time!

Well, to me, that doesn't sound like they're going to do anything new! Except, that's their message to people.

That's not good!

Unethical, illegal, and treasonous.

From somebody who describes Adam Schiff as a friend, and nobody seemed to care.

The -- the stakes just keep getting higher and higher and higher on this particular story. And I'm wondering, I mean, one thing that is not trending. Let me see if I can find the trends here.

Okay. On Google trends, right now, what's trending on Google trends is marshal law.

Marshal law, in Washington, DC. Well, that's -- that's not what's happening in Washington, DC. That's not marshal law.

It is the president's right, because the district of Columbia, is supposed to be a federal district. And it's out of control!

What was the stats on a thousand times. What is it?

STU: I have that here for you. Give me one second. I'll pull it up.

GLENN: There's some crazy amount. More dangerous than Philadelphia. I don't go walk the streets of Philadelphia at night. I don't send my kids, hey, go get a gallon of milk, down the street.

What are the stats, do you have it?

STU: I do. It's just loading as we speak.

Okay. This is from -- and it's from -- this is from the Atlantic.

DC's homicide rate in 2024, roughly 26.4 homicides for every 100,000 residents, is lower than both in 2023 and its peak in the '90s.

But according to data compiled by the council of criminal justice, it's still nearly seven times higher than New York City's rate, which is 3.8 per 100,000.

DC's rate is also worse than that of Philadelphia, Atlanta, and even Chicago.

In fact, it's closer to that of infamously crime ridden cities like Memphis and Detroit, than it is to some other important city areas.

The problem looks even worse, in the most violence-plagued parts of the city. The finding of my report, 2023. Fifty-seven percent of the state's homicides took place in wards seven and eight.

The city's poorest and largest percentage of black residents. In fact, just ten blocks of DC were home to 14 percent of all homicides.

Can you imagine what that area -- 14 percent of entire cities!

GLENN: Yeah. Everybody -- everybody knows somebody that has been killed.

STU: Right. It has to be.

GLENN: Has to be. Has to be.

STU: As in many cities, violence is also hyper concentrated among tight social networks. According to a 2021 report, National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform. Any given city, about 500 people are responsible for 60 to 70 percent of all gun violence in the city.

And this is from -- this is from -- this is from an article that's saying -- it's the Atlantic, former left-leaning situation saying, hey, guys. Like, sure, we can all say it's down.

But are we communicating the real problem here?

Because, I mean, look, from a political perspective, Trump is going to win here. Forget that, for example. All the sideline stuff that everyone is talking about.

When you boil it down to politics. Which is what a lot of people are talking about.

If you are stuck on the side of the debate that says, actually, DC is Disneyland, you're going to lose.

GLENN: And you are going to lose, in a city that has voted for you, time and time and time again. Because somebody is making the killing stop.

I mean, you know, what do they say about Mussolini?

STU: I -- I remember, was it your uncle?

GLENN: My -- let's be very careful. My wife's uncle. Okay. Her great uncle, I think.

He was born here in America. But the family -- they lived in -- in Italy.

And when Mussolini took over, and the war started, they were afraid the entire family would be wiped out.

So he was an American citizen, because he was born during a vacation in New York City. So he -- they sent him all by himself, to America.

He didn't have a job or anything. So he joined the military. And he started fighting on our side.

And we were talking. And nobody on the family had -- nobody knew his war record.

No one. No one. And we're sitting at a -- at a wedding, and it's just the two of us.

And I'm like, so Uncle Leo, how did you get here?

Tell me your story. And he's like, let me tell you my story. And he starts in, telling the story.

And I said, so you -- do you remember Mussolini at the time?

Mussolini was a good man!

And I'm like, okay. Can you keep your voice down on that one. He's not my uncle.

He's not my uncle.

STU: My wife's uncle.

GLENN: My wife's uncle, which I'm questioning now my wife and my relationship there, said that.

Anyway, and I said, okay. Keep your voice down. What do you mean by that?

And he said, at first, before he joined with the Nazis, he said, our country was so out of control.

And he made, quote, you've heard this before.

He made the trains run on time.

What he was saying, he brought order to a very disordered society.

It was not functioning, okay?

And what Mussolini did at first.

I'm just going to bring. I'll bring some law and order here.

STU: This is why the progressive left had an argument with some, at the very beginning, saying, this is the new wave of the future.

It will make your country better, fascism. Which was their argument at the beginning.

GLENN: Mussolini and Hitler.

To an why -- you know, the swastika. If you flip it around, it's actually an American native, and an Indian symbol, of peace.

Did you know that?

STU: Yes, I did. I did know that, yes.

GLENN: Okay. But if you flip it around, then it becomes the Nazi swastika. But that's not all: When you look at a Native American, you will always know that it's Native American or Indian, because the bottom of the -- I don't know what you call it. The swastika, is flat.

Okay?

STU: Okay.

GLENN: What Hitler did, is he pitched it up 45 degrees.

Okay?

So he moved that symbol, that was just like a square. And he put it instead, on the -- on like a corner of the square.

So it's now pitched up.

Does that make sense. Do you know what I'm saying?

Do you know why he did that?

STU: No.

GLENN: Because this is a system, of progress!

We are progressives. We are moving and racing towards the future.

STU: Hmm.

GLENN: So any of this crap, that this was, you know, concerning. No. No. No. No. No.

It wasn't. This is all progressive socialist nonsense. And dangerous.

But back to the story of what Trump is doing.

Trump is using the Constitution.

And he is doing it within the -- the rule of law. He has 30 days.

And then Congress has to either revoke home rule, or it goes back. Or they can extend it for another 30 days. But Congress has to do it. So he's not becoming a fascist or dictator or anything else.

This is not marshal law. This is all within the law. But if he makes that change. In those two districts, where everybody knows somebody who has been murdered.

And most likely kids, that have been murdered.

And that goes down, and they feel safe on their streets.

And their kids are not. They're not saying to their kids. Just don't fall in to that gang.

That will change.

People will -- they may still vote the same way. Because they don't get it, maybe.

But they will not be on board, with dismissing.

I can guarantee you. They are not on board with dismissing this with, oh, no.

Washington, DC, is a safe safety.

Everything the media is doing right now. Everything the tells me are doing by trying to excuse this, and trying to make everybody. The people who are living it, know it's a lie first.

And they've got to be looking at those people going, wait a minute. Wait a minute.

I thought you were on our side.

I thought you were trying to protect us.

You're not.