this is gps, the global public square. welcome to all of you in the united states and around the world. i'm fareed zakaria. we have a great show for you s today starting with russia's surprise move pulling out of syria without any warning saying the job is done. i'll talk about that and more with the counsel on foreign relations, richard haas. a man who donald trump says he trusts on foreign policy. >> i like him a lot. >> what does haas have to say about the donald? i'll ask him. and who is to blame or congratulate for the rise of donald trump? >> we're going to win, win, win and we're not stopping. >> many say it's his own party.

but political analyst and author thomas frank says perhaps we should look across the aisle at the democrats. he'll explain. then it's a $400 billion a year business -- drugs. it's illegal, lucrative and risky. it runs like a big business. "the economist's" tom wainwright will tell us about it. and astronaut pierce sellers has lived an amazing life. more than 30 days in space, three shuttle missions, six space walks. he's gazed down at the earth from 220 miles up in space. now he doesn't know how much more time he has on this planet and what he has decided to do with his last days will inspire you. >> i've got 500 days. i'm going to use them. >> first, here's my take.

the republican surrender has begun. having described donald trump as an unacceptable, unconservative dangerous demagogue, the party establishment appears to be making its peat with the man who keeps winning primaries. "wall street journal" editorial page argued vociferously against trump for months pointing out that he's a hubs terr and catastrophe, warning if donald trump becomes the voice of conservatives, conservatism implodes with him. yet this week it had a lead editorial urging republicans to continue to see if mr. trump can begin to act like a president and above all to decide who can prevent another progressive left presidency. marco rubio has called trump a con artist and compared him to third world strong men. he has said trump has no ideas of any substance, has spent a career sticking it to working people and trying to prey on people's

fears and encourages violence at his rallies. but he says at this moment he intends to support whomever emerges as the republican nominees. so do john mccain and house speaker paul ryan. who has taken the rare step of intervening in the campaign three times for reprimanding trump for his ideas and receipt ricks. lindsey graham has called trump the most unprepared person i have ever met to become commander in chief, will not explicitly say i will not vote for him. indeed, there's one republican senator has committed to not voting for donald trump. ironically -- ironically, conservatives today are in somewhat the same position republican moderates were in 1964, as bary goldwater

towards the republican nomination. it's difficult to understand today how dramatic a break that was for the republicans. as jeffrey documents in his illuminating book rule and ruin, the party had prided itself on its progressive stand on race from from abraham lincoln onward. goldwater other than the had opposed the supreme court as 1954 decision to integrate schools in brown v. board of education and the 1964 civil rights act. a hundred years of work would be thrown away. were they to nominate goldwater. trump marks in many ways a largest brace from the the modern republican party has been devoted to free markets, free trade, social conservatism and fiscal discipline on entitlements. remember, each launched ronald reagan's political career was an attack on medicare. >> to disguise a medical program

as a humanitarian project. >> on every one of these issues donald trump openly disagrees or has a fast track record of disagreement with conservatives. over the last decades support has already been collapsing. trump's nomination would transit form the party into a blue collar national movement. much like others in the western world. this would be a very different party from ronald reagan's or paul ryans. 2016 might well go down as a critical election. one that scrambles the old order and setting up a new one. in this respect, it looks like 1964.

also, an election that realigned politics shifting southern whites to the republican party ever since. then too there was enormous energy, new voters and a candidate that thrilled his supporters and then the establishment couldn't mustard the commune to push gold water. so instead the republican party went to the polls in november divided and lost 44 states. for more, go to cnn.com/fareed and read my washington post column this week. let's get started. after 9,000 authorities by russian jets, putin suddenly announced he was pulling his forces out. did he succeed? did he fail?

what explains the decision and what does it mean for the battered country and region? to discuss this, richard haas is the founder of relations. just back from a daring reported trip into syria. first i have to ask richard about something that made the news two weeks ago that concerns him personally. when asked who his foreign policy advisers are. richard, you know donald trump has been cage ji and said he consoles himself. one name he mentioned was ewe. it has everyone wondering what the nature of it was. you told npr you offer all the candidates briefings as part of

the counsel on foreign relations commission and he took you up on it. >> as you said, we offered briefings to all candidates. quiet a few took us up on it and quiet a few come to speak at the counsel. i don't go into details but as you would expect lots of questions are asked. i tried to explain what you see as the fundamental currents of the world. there was the back and forth and donald trump we spent about an hour together and it was the end of august. >> you know there is a petition that has been signed by a whole bunch of very senior republican foreign policy officials including, for example, robert, the former secretary of state denouncing trump and committing not to serve in a trump administration. in donald trump asks you to be secretary of state would you? us >> what you saw in that letter was in some ways a reflection of the tensions within the republican party on foreign policy. you had realist and i suppose i am one of those, who believe the purpose of american foreign policy all to be to influence the foreign policy of others, tend to be multilateral. you had people who are more neo conservative who see the purpose

of american foreign policy. more to transform from others two groups of peoplesh they tend to be more nationalist, more critical of allies, who are seen as not doing their fair share. so i thought that letter simply reflected again the debate within the party. we have a long ways to do. we're seven or eight month away from the election. let's see how things playous. >> that was a thoughtful answer, richard. it didn't answer my question. would you serve as a secretary of state? >> fareed, it's so premature. i'm not even considering that sort of thing yet. i have a great job, full time job. it's just speculation on steroids to start imagining who's going to be the nominee, who's going to be the president, who's going to serve. i think questions like that are simply way ahead of where we are. one thing we should have learned from this electoral cycle is nobody has

any idea how things are going to play out. >> all right. let's get to substance then. clarissa, give us a sense of the fundamental facts on the ground first. has the russian mission succeeded in what its effort was which was to secure assad's regime and his grip on power in syria? >> as you said, it was quiet clear spending time on ground. the real purpose of the russian military was to prop up the regime of bashar al assad, and certainly in the province of ataxia, and certainly in aleppo, there were significant gains made by the regime on the back of that russian air cover. at the same time i think a lot of people were surprised by the announcement it was mission accomplished. because there is still work to be done in terms of if the assad regime wants to take back aleppo entirely, for example, so i think a lot of people are trying to spec late what was the real

reason behind russia's decision. are they worried there's mission creep or are they worried they're hemorrhaging funds and their economy is hurting so much with the lower oil prices and sanctions? >> richard, what do you think? is this a success for putin? >> well, absolutely. i don't know if you want to call the powell doctrine-ski, but this was an attempt to use overwhelming military force for narrow limited political objectives succeeded. what's interesting is the russians were not trying to transform syrians into a jeffersonian democracy, for good reasons, because russia is not a jeffersonian democracy, and they weren't trying to expand the rid of the government over the entire country. it wasn't an attempt to try to it was limited and they propped up the government and now things can play out and i think it was good for russia's image in the region and on the world stage as a country that's willing and

able to do something on behalf of an ally or proxy. >> clarissa, there were reports isis lost an additional 20% of its territory and running out of cash. did you on the ground get the field that those reports are accurate? >> well, we had just been in a part of the country where isis had a strong presence just months ago. what was very clear to see, i think the main thing that has been hurting isis is this real focus on taking out the oil infrastructure. we visited several oil installations that back in the day would have been making isis a pretty penny. they had been taken out by coalition air strikes and definitely that lack of revenue has absolutely hurt isis. we know also they have lost significant amounts of territory particularly to the so-called syrian democratic forces, the kurdish forces sponsored by the u.s. they're being creative and looking for ways to expand elsewhere. we've seen a huge uptake in their activity.

they're striking deals with boko haram. it's fair to say they're trying to think on their feet and worry out strategic deals and work out other cost high profile opportunities adds well in the world. >> richard, this week secretary kerry said there was genocide taking place in syria. labeled it as such. does that help in the political resolution in syria? what are the consequences of labeling it in that way? >> it's not clear to me it helps unless you're prepared to act on it. i don't see that the united states or anyone else is, fareed. i think what we're heading toward is a version of syria we've seen now. essentially can tons. you've got the government controlling parts of country and the curtis, the drews, groups like eye siz. i would expect this is for the time being for the foreseeable future, this is the new syria. in some ways like libya and

some ways like iraq, the era of consolidated nation states in the middle east where governments hold sway over the entire territory is essentially coming to an end, and there's an increasing disconnect between what the maps look like and the realities are on the ground. >> fascinating conversation. thank you both very much. next on "gps," inevitably the rise and rise and rise of donald trump. where does it come from? what's behind it? my next guest says he can trace it to clinton, bill clinton that is. thomas frank will explain, when we come back. incentives, business and the lowest taxes in decades, attracting the talent and companies of tomorrow. like in buffalo, where the largest solar gigafactory in the western hemisphere will soon energize the world. and in syracuse, where imagination is in production. let us help grow your company's tomorrow - today - at business.ny.gov

whei just put in the namey, of my parents and my grandparents. and as soon as i did that, literally it was like you're getting 7, 9, 10, 15 leaves that are just popping up all over the place. yeah, it was amazing. just with a little bit of information, you can take leaps and bounds. it's an awesome experience. you've finally earned enough on your airline credit card. now you just book a seat, right? not quite. sometimes those seats are out of reach, costing an outrageous number of miles. it's time to switch... to the capital one venture card. with venture, you'll earn unlimited double miles on every purchase, every day. and when you're ready to travel, just book the flight you want, on any airline and use your miles to cover the cost. now that's more like it. what's in your wallet?

only glucerna has carbsteady, diabetes, steady is exciting. clinically proven to help minimize blood sugar spikes. so you stay steady ahead.

here's the plan. you're a financial company that cares, but your logo is old and a little pointy. so you evolve. you simplify. you haven't changed. you still help people live their best lives. and finally your new logo is ready, and you decide the perfect time to show the world is right... now. this woman... this cancer patient... christine... living her life... loving her family. moments made possible in part by the breakthrough science of advanced genomic testing. after christine exhausted the standard treatment options for her disease, doctors working with the center for advanced individual medicine at cancer treatment centers of america suggested advanced genomic testing. the test results revealed a finding that led to the use of a targeted therapy that was not

considered for christine before. now, they're helping fight her cancer on another, deeper level... the genetic level. this is precision cancer treatment, an approach to care that may help patients like christine enjoy the things that matter most in their lives while undergoing treatment. the evolution of cancer care is here. that's definitely something worth celebrating. learn more about precision cancer treatment at cancercenter.com. appointments are available now. digestive core.r so choose ultimate flora by renewlife. it has 30 billion probiotic cultures. feel lighter and more energized. ultimate flora. more power to your gut. two weeks ago i offered my

take on how the responsibility for the rise of donald trump fell flatly at the feet of republicans. i said the party's moderates had failed to confront and condemn the ugliness that was stirring in their party for decades. my next guest puts the blame or responsibility in a very different corner, on the democrats. thomas frank is a political analyst and the author of a brand-new book "listen liberal" or "whatever happened to the party of the people." welcome to the show. >> it is great to be here. >> so your argument is that both parties really have abandoned the sort of classic blue collar working class man or woman and have become the party of elites and you particularly talk about what happened to the democrats under clinton. explain what you mean. >> yeah, it goes back further than clinton. basically, my idea is we think of republicans as a party that

represent business, represents money. the democrats became -- went from being party that talked about the middle class and working people and labor to being a party very concerned with the upper reaches of the professional class. this is really who they care about now. >> sort of doctors, lawyers, journalists. >> people with advanced degrees -- you and me, you know, and the problem with this -- i mean, you know, so what's the big deal? what's the ram i have been of that? it's that at some point they stopped caring deeply about inequality issues. we're just coming off, coming to the end of the barack obama presidency. a man we thought was a great liberal in 2008 and a man who we thought was going to take on the challenges, or at least i thought this, and now we look at his legacy seven years later and inequality has actually worsened under his presidency. it's a horrifying and amazing

thing. to skip to trump, if i can, i think that working class voters or at least white working class voters have flocked to the republicans to the exact same degree as they've been abandoned by the democratic party. >> you've listened to trump's speeches and you say there's one thing that's striking about it, which is that he does in the midst of the carnival atmosphere, le talks repeatedly, consistently about one subject, what is it? >> it's trade. trade. he seems to be obsessed with it. he spends of lion's share of his time at the podium talking about trade and companies moving jobs overseas and american workers losing their jobs and what he'll do as president to stop this from happening. what's funny is this is not an outrageous or illegitimate issue. this is -- right -- this ought to be a mainstream issue. we should be talking about this subject.

none of this is to excuse what i think the intolerant things he says which are absolutely beyond the pale. but this is a legitimate subject. he talks about it in a powerful way. you want to understand why while working-class voters, anyway, are flocking to donald trump. this is it. >> isn't it ultimately a false hope that he's giving them? your life is bad. i get that, and it's all because of mexicans or chinese, or he even goes on about the japanese. >> yeah, but he also goes on about our own leaders who made bad deals. exactly. and also the ceos, this is the part that surprised me. there's a video on youtube you can watch of a room full of workers at a carrier air conditioning plant in indiana. the executive comes out on a stage and tells them they're moving the factory to mexico. this is people, actual humans

not actors losing their jobs, finding out their world is collapsing and trump talks about in his rallies talked about how he would phone the ceo of that company and how he would threaten the guy with tariffs and single him out with steep tariffs on his air conditioning units when he tries to bring them back in america and sell them. audiences love this. it's powerful. >> but my point is you can't do that. it's totally illegal and that's not -- >> yeah. that's right. but it was barack obama who said in 2008 when he was running for president he would renegotiate nafta. >> first of all renegotiating a treaty -- >> it would be tough. it would be hard. >> singling out the ceo. >> of course. you're right. it's emotional. >> he's emotionally powerful. >> it looks like the parties are sorting along class lines where the republican party is likely to become more of a blue

collar populist, nationalist party and the democrats are becoming the urban professionals and such. does that strike you as right? >> it's a little more complicated than that but yes, it's a broad picture of the last 40 years. and it's disturbing. >> pleasure to have you on. >> thank you so much. next on" gps," are you worried about north korea with its hand full of nuclear war heads? what about a country with a hundred of them and juhadis to boot i'll tell you when we come back. pet moments are beautiful,

unless you have allergies. then your eyes may see it differently. only flonase is approved to relieve both itchy, watery eyes and congestion. no other nasal allergy spray can say that. when we breathe in allergens our bodies react by over producing six key inflammatory substances that cause our symptoms. most allergy pills only control one substance. flonase controls six. and six is greater than one. complete allergy relief or incomplete. let your eyes decide. flonase. 6>1 changes everything. (bear growls) (burke) smash and grub. seen it. covered it. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ testing, testing... 1, 2, 3, 4... ♪ ♪look out honey... ♪because i'm using technology...♪ ♪

♪ain't got time to make no apologies...♪ ♪ ♪soul radiation in the dead of night...♪ ♪love in the middle of a fire fight...♪ ♪ ♪honey gotta strike me blind... ♪somebody gotta save my soul... ♪baby penetrates my mind... ♪ ♪ [cheering] ♪and i'm the world's forgotten boy...♪ ♪ ♪the one who's searchin'... ♪searchin' to destroy... ♪ ♪and honey i'm the world's forgotten boy...♪ ♪

now for our "what in the world?" segment. when we hear about nuclear threats these days, we think about north korea or iran. what about the country that has the fastest growing nuclear arsenal in the world? and also happens to be a hotbed of jihadist radicalism? that's pakistan. quietly without much fanfare, islamabad's nuclear arsenal has increased dramatically in the last four years by as much as 44% according to the federation

of american scientists. if pakistan continuing to produce nuclear weapons at its current pace, it could have 250 warheads by 2055, which would be the fifth largest stockpile in the world ahead of great britain. another estimate says the arsenal could rank third in the world in just five years from now. what really worries experts is pakistan's reg declaration that it has tactical nuclear weapons meant for the battlefield, meant to fend off attacks by india. that had an that's a dangerous scenario that could lower the threshold for using nuclear weapons and make a nuclear war more likely. remember, pakistan and india have fought three wars, and had a skirmish over kashmi as recently as 1999. what's more, tacked cal nuclear weapons, which are generally

smaller than most nuclear weapons could be easier to steal, experts say, raising the possibility that gee hattists might somehow get their hands on one. pakistan harbors plenty of radicals with nuclear intentions, radicals with a track record of targeting the nation's military. taliban militants have launched successful attacks all over against military all over the country including gaining access to an air force base in 2012. there have been attempts to kidnap technicians at the nuclear sites. the watch dahl group points out. the u.s. has been concerned enough about pakistan's warheads falling into others' hands, it has mapped out plans send in troops to secure them in the event that something goes wrong there. a snatch and grab investigation.

>> mr. prime minister, thank you for coming. >> president obama met with pakistanian prime minister urging him to avoid a risky path for his nation's program. before that meeting, talks were held to place limits on pakistan's arsenal. they don't appear to have made much progress. the obama administration spent years and much of its political capital to negotiate a nuclear deal with iran, which doesn't have a single nuclear weapon. pakistan already has over 100 nuclear warheads in its arsenal. maybe the world needs to pay more attention to this actual nuclear arsenal rather than an imaginary one. next on "gps," when you think of an illegal drug trade do you think of the guy selling loose joints. think again. it's a big business, huge, anywhere between $300 and $400 billion a year.

it is the key to understanding them. a fascinating conversation when we come back. simplify. you haven't changed. you still help people live their best lives. and finally your new logo is ready, and you decide the perfect time to show the world is right... now. ♪uh oh. oh. henry! oh my. good, you're good. back, back, back. (vo) according to kelley blue book, subaru has the highest resale value of any brand. again. you might find that comforting. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. what if we invented a paint that's not only in the top of its class but lets you breathe as deeply as this or this

or this. not guilty. if it doesn't upset your allergies like paint, is it still paint? natura is certified asthma and allergy friendly. and you can only find it at your benjamin moore retailer. how fast is it? plenty fast. but it's not how fast you mow, it's how well you mow fast. it's not how fast you mow, it's how well you mow fast. it's not how fast you mow, it's how well you mow fast. ...it's how well you mow fast! ...it's how well you mow fast. even if it doesn't catch on, doesn't mean it's not true. the john deere ztrak z535m with our reengineered deck to mow faster better. to find out more about the accel deep mower deck, go to johndeere.com/mowwellfast what's going on here? i'm val, the orange money retirement squirrel from voya. we're putting away acorns. you know, to show the importance of saving for the future. so you're sort of like a spokes person? more of a spokes metaphor. get organized at voya.com.

i've had moderate to severe plaque psoriasis most of my life. but that hasn't stopped me from modeling. my doctor told me about stelara® it helps keep my skin clearer. with only 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses... ...stelara® helps me be in season. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and increase your risk of infections. some serious infections require hospitalization. before starting stelara® your doctor should test for tuberculosis. stelara® may increase your risk of cancer. always tell your doctor if you have any sign of infection,

have had cancer, or if you develop any new skin growths. do not take stelara® if you are allergic to stelara® or any of its ingredients. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems including headaches, seizures, confusion and vision problems. these may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. serious allergic reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you or anyone in your house needs or has recently received a vaccine. in a medical study, most stelara® patients saw at least 75% clearer skin and the majority were rated as cleared or minimal at 12 weeks. stelara® helps keep my skin clearer. ask your doctor about stelara®. legalzoom has your back. for your business, our trusted network of attorneys has provided guidance to over 100,000 people just like you. visit legalzoom today. the legal help you can count on. legalzoom. legal help is here.

marijuana is now legal in a few states in america. don't let that fool you. the global drug trade is still largely illegal, lucrative and exceedingly violent. it's a $300 to $400 billion industry. the united states spends more than $30 million to fight the war on drugs in this fiscal year alone. my next guest says we should fight the car tells by using a tool they understand, economics. he's written a manual to explain how the drug cartels work. tom wainwright was "the economist's" mexico city correspondent. he's not the britain editor. he's the author of how to run a drug cartel.

welcome, tom. so why are drug cartels something you want to study as businesses? >> well, they do just the same things as ordinary businesses. in mexico there's cartels involved in franchising its brand. that's how it's grown so quickly, just like a restaurant chain like mcdonald's. they go into local areas and meet local groups of criminals and say, hey, guys, why don't we use your logos and our brand, we'll give you training and our weapons, and we would like to take a cut of your earnings. using that strategy, they've been able to spread all across mexico and down into central america. >> of course, for these local groups of thugs, it gives them something which is previously unheard of, unknown and now associated with this famous brand. >> absolutely. it makes them more powerful. imagine someone is trying to extort you, and you've never heard of them, you may not take the threat totally seriously, but if they say we're with the -- and

they're the ones who carried out that massacre you're going to take them more seriously. >> what are other examples? >> cartels take public relations surprisingly seriously. they're careful in how their image is used. one example i found on the when i was in suarez. on the border of the boarder of the united states and i was asking the guy who runs the local morgue if he has any safety tips and he said whatever you do be careful at a quarter till 6:00 in the afternoon and i said why? he said because the cartels times there are in coordination with the evening news and that's when they can make the headlines. that's how they manage their brands in this way. >> what i'm always struck by with the drug cartels is people say the leader was able to survive for so many years, because in their local communities, they have enormous support. they have social networks, they have, you know, police protecting them.

why is that? >> well, you're absolutely right. it's extraordinary to see, when someone like, for instance, el chapo, joaquin guzman, who runs the sinaloa cartel, the last time he was ace rested, there were protests in his home state. it's bizarre because this is someone responsible for thousands of murders. the reason they're able to get this popular local support is because they take corporate is responsibility seriously. it sounds strange. if you go to some parts of mexico you'll find they're invested in building sports facilities and housing and some cases have social security systems and all of this is designed to increase their level of public support and to stop them from being reported to the police. many times it works. >> these are parts of mexico where the state doesn't function well. so the government is dysfunctional but the cartel is providing social services. >> it doesn't provide much for the poor and this leaves a gap that the car tells can get into

it. they say, look, we're going to to give you money and small business loans and we're going to provide you with basic security and local people as a results are less hostile towards them than they might otherwise be. >> you have a business solution. you say economists would be better police officers than people trained in law enforcement. what do you mean? >> there are many elements to this, but one of the main findings to the book, i think, is we've been so far focussing on the supply side of the business and i think there's a good economic case on the demand side. what we have been doing so far is trying to eradicate and looking at dealers in the united states and europe. all of this succeeds in doing is reducing supply and pushing up price. if you push up price normally you would expect consumption to go down. because most of these drugs are addictive, you find that consumption actually remains about the same and all we

succeed in doing is inflating the size of this illegal market and enriching the car tells. >> you would legalize? >> i would, yeah. i think you can do one by one. the evidence so far from the united states is that legalizing marijuana has greatly reduced the size of the criminal economy in places like colorado. so taking that away, giving it to the legal sector is deceived stating for them. it's a huge blow against organized crime. in switzerland they've legalized heroin, which sounds extraordinary, but they've legalized it in a way that gives control to the doctors. it's a tightly controlled prescription model. it means those addicts no longer steal to feed their habit, and dealsers have stopped dealing. it seems to be working and policies that actually work are few and far between. >> fascinating prism to look at

the war on drugs through. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> up next, why this former astronaut decided to spend the rest of his life shouting from the rooftops about climate change and why he may not have very many days left to do so. a truly heartwarming, heartbreaking story when we come back. in lecithin. l-e-s (buzzer sound) your word is milk. m-i-l-k milk wins. ingredients you can spell. it's more than it's multi-layered security and flexibility. with centurylink you get advanced technology solutions. including cloud and hosting services - all from a trusted it partner. centurylink. your link to what's next.

for a limited time, great deal on this passat. wow, it looks really good... volkswagen believes safety is very important... so all eleven models come standard with an intelligent crash response system... hmm. ...seven stability-enhancing systems... hmmm... ...and equipment for two child seats. hmmm... for those who take safety seriously. like we do. the volkswagen safety in numbers event... is happening now! get a $1,250 volkswagen reward card and 0% apr on new 2016 passat models. you're an at&t small business expert? sure am. my staff could use your help staying in touch with customers. at&t can help you stay connected. am i seeing double? no ma'am. our at&t 'buy one get one free' makes it easier for your staff to send appointment reminders to your customers... ...and share promotions on social media? you know it! now i'm seeing dollar signs. you should probably get your eyes checked. good one babe. optometry humor. right now get up to $650 in credits to help you switch to at&t.

wenit gave me a leafput in the names almost right away. first. within a few days, i went from knowing almost nothing to holy crow, i'm related to george washington. i didn't know that using ancestry would be so easy.

fewer have spent 35 days in spate. he's blasted off in shuttles three different times and been walking in space on six different occasions. it is not space that he's worried about. it's the earth. he's recently decided to dedicate the rest of his life to saving it. sellers is currently the director of earth sciences at nasa and his great academic interest is climate change. he's been working on it for most of his life but it wasn't until he got some unexpected news that

he decided to devote his very life to the cause. pierce sellers, welcome to "gps." >> great to be here. >> first tell us about this unexpected medical news you got. >> right. well, last year i hadn't been feeling too well and late october i was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and it got to stage four at that point which means your life expectancy is in sort of in the 1 to 1 1/2 year time frank, and that's about it. i had to figure out what to do with the rest of the time. >> i think every one of us wonders what would i do in the situation like that after the panic and sense of sorrow and all these emotions swirling in your head. you ask yourself, well, what am i going to do? >> actually the emotions swirling in the head part took about ten minutes, to be honest, and then quickly became focused

on what do i need to do with the time? i figured out quickly the things i need to do in the back of my mind mind were not interesting. i didn't want to go hit all the tropical paradise destinations. i found out i wanted to spend more time with my family and get back to work soon as possible to carry on with the important work on climate change. >> you've had an incredible career. what is it like to walk in space? >> it's unbelievable. i know you in particular would enjoy it immensely. imagine you're outside the space station. if you lean forward in your helmet, you can't see edges of it. it's like being without anything else. the visor is crystal clear. you can see over a thousand miles in any direction and you're moving at five miles per second. so you're going around the world every hour and a half and day and night you see the whole world. you see the oceans and on the night side if you come around the night side of the earth you

see the cities. they're all sparkling away. you see what humans have done and the great cities we have created where all the creativity comes from. so at the end of all that, i became a a lot more fond of my planet and us humans who are part of the plan. >> and in a way, was that unique perspective of looking at the earth from space that has motivated you for climate change? >> not really. i understood intellectually the problem of climate change. i was the scientist. that was a field i worked in for most of my life. i really brought it home in space. i could see how thin the atmosphere is. it's like an onion skin around the world. it's no surprise that we can very easily affect it, and call something like global warming, which is something that we have. but the other perspective was that it's really one place. it's our home and we ought to take steps to take care of it.

>> what are you working on now? >> right now, we're working nowd as a whole on trying to consolidate the facts about how fast things are changing and the way they are changing. so, you know, because the atmosphere is warming. the ice is melting. sea level is rising. there are various other changes where precipitation bands move around which affects where the food grows and how people have access to water. so observing all of those things from space. >> do you think we are moving fast enough? >> i remain optimistic. i think we're going to be much later and probably overshoot the two-degree target. i think that's probably almost a certainty because just the ballistic momentum of the worlds economy pushes us towards that development. but i think that people will realize cost-benefit wise there is a lot of damage downstream if we don't start taking action, you know, sometime soon.

so the solutions will probably b implemented rather later than the scientists would like, but that's life. right in that's quite often the case. >> what do you make of the last holdout, which is the american -- you know, the american political system? you hear the republican candidates. i don't think one of them would agree with you that science is a done deal. >> well, i can't speak to specific politicians because i am a civil servant. my job is to provide public and private policy makers with the facts and the theories. the accepted theories are rock solid, by the way, the computer generations. so if you don't like the theories, you probably shouldn't get on a jet aircraft, because that is also built on theory. or get in a car. so i would say you can fool yourself but you can't fool mother nature. reality is reality. you may have a strong conviction

or personal opinion but if it conflicts with mother nature, she will win every time. >> you say we have time. i'm sure everyone watching this is wondering, is there any chance you might have more time than you think? >> well, am always hopeful and you're being looking around for solutions but they have to be realistic. my condition has a 1% chance of survival. so i've got 500 days. i'm going to use them. >> pleasure to have you on. >> you, too. thanks very much. next on "gps," the world worries about donald trump except for one country. can you guess which one? i'll tell you when we come back. w and what you don't know what if it's built with better ingredients given super powers and even a secret base to test those powers. since benjamin moore reinvented paint, it makes you wonder

is it still paint? find benjamin moore paint, only at one of our authorized retailers near you. only glucerna has carbsteady, diabetes, steady is exciting. clinically proven to help minimize blood sugar spikes. so you stay steady ahead. testing, testing... 1, 2, 3, 4... ♪ ♪look out honey... ♪because i'm using technology...♪ ♪ ♪ain't got time to make no apologies...♪ ♪ ♪soul radiation in the dead of night...♪ ♪love in the middle of a fire fight...♪ ♪ ♪honey gotta strike me blind... ♪somebody gotta save my soul...

♪baby penetrates my mind... ♪ ♪ [cheering] ♪and i'm the world's forgotten boy...♪ ♪ ♪the one who's searchin'... ♪searchin' to destroy... ♪ ♪and honey i'm the world's forgotten boy...♪ ♪ unless you have allergies., then your eyes may see it differently. only flonase is approved to relieve both itchy, watery eyes and congestion. no other nasal allergy spray can say that. when we breathe in allergens our bodies react by over producing six key inflammatory substances that cause our symptoms. most allergy pills only control one substance. flonase controls six. and six is greater than one. complete allergy relief or incomplete. let your eyes decide. flonase. 6>1 changes everything.

finally, some good news on the climate front. carbon emissions from energy production have leveled off for the past two years. this welcome update in the climate battle is being attributed to an increase in the use of solar wind and other renewable energy sources, according to the iea. what percentage of new

electricity generation in 2015 came from renewable sources? 20%, 50%, 70% or 90%? stay tuned and we'll tell you the correct answer. this week's book of the week is not a book but a television show. one of my guilty pleasures has been the spy thriller "the americans" except it's not such a guilty pleasure because it's really high-quality and a wonderful reconstruction of the last decade of the cold war, the 1980s. season 4 begins now, so set your dvrs. if you haven't seen previous seasons, i very much recommend binge watching over spring break. in recent months, donald trump has faced criticism from many angles. from democrats -- >> we should be breaking down barriers, not building walls. >> -- to republicans to rowdy protesters to governments to the global media.

they debated banning him from the country. german press called him the world's most dangerous man. in china, the reaction has been fairly muted but china's state-owned paper published an article that called trump a racist, a narcissist among many other choice words. it pointed out that trump's rise was part of a worrying trend. "mussolini and hitler came to power through elections. a heavy lesson for western democracy." donald trump, they argue, illustrates the case against democracy. but the news isn't all bad for the donald. on the whole, the media in russia has been portraying trump very positively in op-eds, news reports and television ads with the top anchor on the state-owned tv flatly endorsing him. of course, that's probably

because russia's president vladimir putin has called him a brilliant and talented man who is an absolute leader in the campaign. all i will say is it takes one to know one. last week, we teased to our last look by asking if the presidential candidates should be talking about legalizing marijuana. well, bernie sanders is in favor of decriminalizing pot and proposed a bill in the senate that would do just that but the bill has little support. we should have noted that. the correct answer to our "gps" challenge question is "d." according to statics released this week, roughly 90% of the generation in 2015 came from renewable sources. significantly, the report highlighted the efforts of one country in particular, china, the world's biggest carbon emitter has reduced the coal

usage by 10% in just four years. coal is now responsible for under 70% of china's total electricity. that's to all of you for being part of my program this week. i will see you next week. happening now in the "newsroom" -- >> we don't condone violence and i say it and we have very little violence. very, very little violence at the rallies. >> trump's response to violence breaking out at his rally this weekend. >> we had thousands and thousands of people wanting to come. they were delayed for an hour because of these protesters and, you know, at what point do people blame the protesters? >> at least one demonstrator punched and kicked. and trump's campaign manager appears to grab a protester by the collar. >> getting involved in confrontation, violence is not the