Skip to main content

tv   Fareed Zakaria GPS  CNN  April 30, 2017 7:00am-8:01am PDT

7:00 am
this is gps, the global public square. welcome to all of you in the united states and around the world. i'm fareed zakaria. today on the show, susan rice, president obama's national security adviser on how the trump team is managing world affairs. north korea, russia and white house's extraordinary - accusations against her. also, the u.s. sets off what some call a trade war with canada. >> canada has been very rough on the united states. >> and the president pulling out of nafta and then decides to
7:01 am
stay in. i'll try to make sense of it all with canada's foreign minister. and forget the first 100 days. how about the next 265. to me the president's first year is the most important milestone. a great group of console lohrs join me about what we can expect. first here's my take. there are so many unusual aspects of president trump's first 100 days in office that it's hard to know where to begin. by his own yardstick of what he would do on day one, the number of promises unfulfilled is staggering. but more striking than the policies unfulfilled are those that have been reversed entirely. never in the annals of the presidency have there been so many flip-flops so fast with so little explanation. trump announced his many reversals cavalierly as if he surely could not have been expected to know the facts about
7:02 am
them six months ago when he was running for president. as he said in late february nobody knew health care would be so complicated. trump's proposals outlined this week are breathtakingly irresponsible. they would add trillions of dollars to the debt and are not even designed for maximum stimulus impact. abolishing the estate tax, for example, which is paid by 0.002% of americans each year, would not cause a rush to the stores, but it would cost the federal government $20 billion a year in lost revenues. the larger education of donald trump and education one would hope of his supporters is that government actually isn't easy. the appeal of trump for so many was that he was an outsider, a businessman who would bring his commercial skills and management acumen to the white house and get things done. washington's corrupt politicians
7:03 am
and feckless bureaucrats would see how a successful man from the real world cuts through the fog. instead we have watched the sheer incompetence of trump's first 100 days. executive orders that can't get through courts, bills that collapse in congress, agencies that remain understaffed, ceaseless in-fighting within the white house and the constant flip-flops. it turns out that running a family-owned real estate franchising operation is not really the same as presiding over the executive branch of the united states government. it turns out that government is hard and complicated. while there's plenty of corruption in washington, the real reason so little gets done these days is that the american people have wildly contradictory desires. for example, they want limited amounts of health care, don't want to be denied, and yet expect that costs should plummet. they want government out of
7:04 am
their lives but revolt at the prospect of any slight cuts to its largest programs, medicare, social security, or the removal of tax benefits or health care and home mortgages. this condition has been building for years. in a 1995 book, michael kinsly explained what he saw as the roots of the then populist anger at washington that newt gingrich had ex employed wiploited with with america. he wrote american voters make flagrantly income patable demands, then explode in self-righteous outrage when the politicians fail to deliver. he titled the book "big babies" in honor of the american people. the french under the old monarchy held it for a maxim that the king could do no wrong, and if he did do wrong, the blame was imputed to his
7:05 am
advisers. the americans entertain the same opinion with respect to the majority. let's hope that the greatest education of the trump presidency will be that americans come to realize that washington is dysfunctional not because of the venality of the politicians alone but rather because of the desires of the people they represent. for more, go to cnn.com/fareed and read my "washington post" column this week. and let's get started. ♪ let's get right into my conversation with susan rice. she was of course president obama's ambassador to the united nations before becoming his national security adviser. susan rice, welcome back to the show. >> it's good to be with you, fareed. thank you. >> let me ask you first, donald trump now says he thinks there is a chance of a major, major
7:06 am
military conflict with north korea. do you think this is a bluff, or is he signaling that the united states could actually go to war? >> well, what i hope he's doing, fareed, and it's hard to know exactly what he's doing, i hope he's just giving an assessment of the fact that that remains a risk, albeit hopefully not a high risk of direct conflict. he did say in the same statement that he very much hopes for a diplomatic solution. north korea is obviously one of the very toughest and most pressing problems we face, and we've seen a lot of bellicose rhetoric out of the administration, but after a considered policy review, it seems that their policy course that they've chosen is much the same as it has been for several years. we need to maintain the economic pressure and the sanctions on north korea and ratchet the sanctions regime up to the greatest extent possible, which
7:07 am
is what secretary tillerson i think was trying to convey in the security council on friday. we need to enlist the chinese to the greatest extent possible to exercise their leverage and influence. that's something we've been working on for many years, and it's something that president trump has, i think, correctly emphasized as an appropriate course. we need to reassure and secure our allies, particularly south korea and japan, who feel most directly threatened by north korea. and there, i'm concerned frankly that we're hearing very mixed messages. on the one hand, a message that south korea's security is something that we will stand up to defend, and on the other hand, the president in the same interview that you quoted from, said that we must renegotiate the free trade agreement with korea and that the south korea's must tay for the missile defense, the thad system, that we are installing, which was not the deal. the deal was they would provide the land and the installation
7:08 am
and we would provide the system and its operations. so this has created, along with the miscue on the aircraft carrier, a great deal of unease in south korea at a time when we ought to be providing reassurance. >> one of the elements of fallout from russia's attempt to influence the american election was that there was a certain amount of intelligence work being done on russia, our intelligence agencies were listening to what russian government officials or russian intelligence officials were saying. donald trump has accused you of trying to unmask the americans on the other end of those conversations in an attempt to implicate the trump campaign or people associated with trump in some kind of collusion with russia. what is your reaction to that? it's an extraordinary charge by the president of the united states. >> fareed, it's absolutely
7:09 am
false. i've addressed this previouly. i think now we've had subsequently members of congress on the intelligence committees on both sides of the aisle take a look at the information that apparently was the basis for chairman nunes's concern and say publicly that they didn't see anything that was unusual or untoward. i did my job which was to protect the american people and i did it faithfully and to the best of my ability. and never did i do anything that was untoward with respect to the intelligence i received. >> one more question about this. the administration now says that it is the obama administration's fault that michael flynn got through unveted or not vetted enough, that it was on your
7:10 am
watch that he wretained his top secret security clearance despite the fact that he received money from the russians. what are you saying? >> fareed, i'm smiling because that's rich. let me explain how the process works. first of all, a former military officer such as general flynn who wants to retain his security clearance would go through a process with his home agency, in this case, the defense intelligence agency, to have his clearance reviewed and renewed. that happens at a very routine level, never at a political level. but that's a very separate thing, the renewal of a clearance from the vetting that goes into the appointment of any senior white house official or any senior administration official. the trump administration, like every previous administration, had an expectation and an obligation to vet, to their satisfaction, those individuals that the president was appointing to high positions,
7:11 am
which is a separate and much more elaborate process than a security clearance. it gets into the financial information. it gets into your relationships and contacts. it gets into your behavior. it's a much deeper vet than what is done solely for the purpose of a security clearance. >> you do see the point of what they're doing, which is every time there is some accusation, there is a counter accusation which in a sense throws up a lot of smoke and seems to be effective. >> i noticed that. fareed, yes. much of this seems to be an effort to distract and deflect from perhaps their own short comings or from the larger issue that i think all americans are very concerned about which is what did russia do in its process of intervening and m manipulating the u.s. election in 2016, why did they do it, and
7:12 am
with whom did they do it. and was there any suggestion of or evidence of coordination or collusion. this has to be dealt with responsibly, thoroughly and on a bipartisan basis as a threat to our very institutions and democracy. and to the extent that we are not united and approaching this in a bipartisan fashion, we are enabling our adversaries like russia to exploit our divisions, and it's very, very dangerous. >> let me ask you a general question about trump foreign policy so far. how would you characterize it? >> i think obviously, fareed, it's only been just about 100 days, so it's early days, but i would say that in many respects it's been unsteady and rocky. and by that i would point particularly to the fact that a number of our closest friends and allies are feeling uncertain, off balance, unclear
7:13 am
as to where we stand and what we mean. the united states, fareed, is supposed to be the grownup at the dinner table. we're not supposed to be the crazy aunt in the attic that nobody knows what is going to do next. that unpredictability may be useful to somebody like kim jong-un in north korea. it's not the way the united states is supposed to act, and i think our allies have been off balance and uncertain in a way that doesn't serve our interests. we've also had very mixed signals sent. the words coming out of the administration, even on the same day by multiple officials on consequential issues, like our position on syria, for example, are often at odds, and i think it leaves the world uncertain as to what we mean. and then finally, i'd point to the fact that very unfortunately, many of the most important jobs in our national security apparatus remain
7:14 am
unfilled and not even just unfilled but no people selected to serve in those roles, whether in the state department or the defense department and many other places. and that means that we are dealing with a complex and complicated world with less than all of our cylinders firing. and that's unfortunate and it needs, too, to be rectified. so i think there are many aspects of what has transpired that we need to do better on. i hope we will do better on. i think some of the shifts in policy, as i suggested earlier, have moved us in a better direction. now we are recognizing and supporting our nato allies as critical, not obsolete. we haven't upended our very complex and important relationship with china by embracing taiwan and jettisoning the one china policy.
7:15 am
we are seeing some writing of some important policy courses, but in a very rocky and unsteady and i think unstable way. >> susan rice, always a pleasure >> good to be with you again. thanks so much. next on gps, the trump administration was accused this week of trying to start a trade war with canada, of all countries. i will talk to canada's foreign minister when we come back. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
7:16 am
sfx: engine revving ♪ (silence) ♪
7:17 am
of your brain can make it hard to lose weight? contrave is an fda-approved weight-loss medicine that may help adults who are overweight or struggle with obesity lose weight and keep it off. contrave is believed to work on two areas of the brain: your hunger center... (woman) i'm so hungry. (avo) to reduce hunger. and your reward system... (woman) ice cream. french fries. (avo) to help control cravings. across three long-term studies, contrave patients lost approximately 2-4x more weight than with diet and exercise alone. contrave is not for everyone. one ingredient in contrave may increase suicidal thoughts or actions in some children, teens, and young adults within the first few months. other serious side effects include seizures, increase in blood pressure or heart rate, liver damage, manic episodes, glaucoma and allergic reactions. do not take with opioids. reduce hunger, help control cravings. contrave. the #1 prescribed weight-loss brand. go to contrave.com.
7:18 am
the average family's new, but old, home: it stood up to 2 rookies, a one-coat wonder named "grams". and 3 staycations. behr. number one rated interior paint, exterior paint and stain. only at the home depot. nlike @squirrelgirl52, without thwho writes,ootball... "no football on sundays has left me with a lot of free time, so i've constructed a sanctuary for local squirrels." try watching the nfl draft. maybe watch with a friend. or doctor.
7:19 am
we believe in food that's anaturally beautiful,, fresh and nutritious. so there are no artificial colors, no artificial flavors, no artificial preservatives in any of the food we sell. we believe in real food. whole foods market. ray's always been different. last year, he said he was going to dig a hole to china. at&t is working with farmers to improve irrigation techniques. remote moisture sensors use a reliable network to tell them when and where to water. so that farmers like ray can compete in big ways. china. oh ... he got there. that's the power of and. it was a rather extraordinary week in north american relations. it all started on monday when the trump administration slapped its first tariffs on imports from another nation, canada.
7:20 am
commerce secretary will better ross accused canada of bad acts and said it's been a bad week for u.s./canada trade relations, but helpfully offered that he wouldn't regard the canada situation as being anything like the war with isis. oh good. then on wednesday morning sources told cnn that the white house was considering withdrawing from nafta. but thursday morning, trump tweeted, i received calls from the president of mexico and the prime minister of canada asking to renegotiate nafta rather than terminate. he said he had agreed, but if a fair deal wasn't reached, he would pull out. what's at stake and what's going on? oh, just $1.2 trillion in trade. joining me now is canada's foreign minister and in her prior life as a journalist, a frequent gps guest, chrystia freeland, welcome back to the show, madam foreign minister. >> great to be with you, fareed.
7:21 am
it's a real pleasure. >> so first, were you given any advanced notice of the decision to slap those tariffs on canada? >> yes, absolutely, we were. it's important, fareed, on the soft wood lumber dispute to get this in historical perspective and in perspective in terms of the overall trading relationship. soft wood lumber is something that canada and the united states have been talking about since the 1880s, so this is not a new discussion between canada and the united states. it's very familiar. it's also -- soft wood lumber is just 2% of canada's overall exports to the united states. now, in this particular issue, i have to respectfully say we think the administration is completely wrong. we think those duties are punitive and unfair. in all of the previous disputes, canada has won at every single
7:22 am
international tribunal. we've won at the wto. we've won at nafta. what's even more important, fareed, and here i'm going to quote the wall street journal, they called this a housing tax in an editorial this week and warned this these tariffs were going to hurt the very middle class voters that supported this administration. i couldn't agree more, and so i really hope that we can come to a quick and amicable resolution on this. you guys need our lumber to build houses, and we want to keep selling it to you. >> now on that phone call between justin trudeau and donald trump, what did prime minister trudeau say to donald trump to convince him not to pull out of nafta? >> well, the prime minister and the president have a really strong, mutually respectful relationship. i was there at our bilateral meeting in the white house in
7:23 am
february, and i have to say the two really got along. i think what the prime minister said is he really pointed out the extent to which the canada/u.s. economic relationship is one of the best economic relationships in the world. it's a real win/win relationship. what many americans don't always fully appreciate is canada is the single biggest customer of the united states. fareed, you devote a lot of time on your show to china, quite rightly, but the united states sells almost twice as much to canada as it does to china. i think the prime minister really pointed out to the president, we have a great relationship, let's not let a couple of irritants get in the way. what he also said which has been the position of our government from day one is we are ready to sit down at the nafta negotiating table any time. by our count, we've made nearly a dozen modifications to nafta since it first came into force, and we absolutely agree this
7:24 am
agreement could be modernized and made better, more appropriate for the 21st century, so let's roll up our sleeves and do it. the holdup actually right now is in the united states because the tpa process means we need to take -- the americans need to take a little bit of time before they join us at the table. but we're ready to go. and i do want to say to the president and to the u.s. administration, we're really glad you made the right decision. i was glad to see the president saying that he believes we can get a great deal. i believe that too. and we're ready to start talking. help defend against those digestive issues. take phillips' colon health probiotic caps daily with three types of good bacteria. 400 likes? wow! try phillips' colon health.
7:25 am
if you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, isn't it time to let the real you shine through? introducing otezla, apremilast. otezla is not an injection or a cream.
7:26 am
it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. some people who took otezla saw 75% clearer skin after 4 months. and otezla's prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't take otezla if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. otezla may increase the risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. side effects may include diarrhea, nausea, upper respiratory tract infection, and headache. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, and if you're pregnant or planning to be. ask your dermatologist about otezla today. otezla. show more of you. z286oz zwtz y286oy ywty
7:27 am
7:28 am
7:29 am
now for our "what in the world" assessment. on friday, taliban dressed as afghan soldiers, maneuvered their way onto a military base and killed as many as 140 unarmed soldiers who had been praying at a mosque. a few weeks earlier the top u.s. commander in afghanistan, general john w. nicholson, told congress that the u.s. needs a few thousand more troops in afghanistan. that's on top of the 8,400 american troops that are already there. haven't we heard this before? send more troops, drop bigger bombs? is that the answer? according to several studies, as of 2016 the united states has spent almost $800 billion in
7:30 am
afghanistan. and more than 2,200 americans have lost their lives fighting on afghan soil. and yet, there doesn't seem to be much to show for all that. according to the u.s. inspector general, the afghan government has been steadily losing ground to the taliban since 2015. by november of last year, the government controlled just 57% of afghanistan, while the taliban controlled or contested 43% of the country. afghanistan, nick named the graveyard of empires, has often bedevilled foreign military inventions. the british were exiled almost 100 years ago and the soviets saw many killed before they too would be defeated in 1989. in 2014 president obama declared that the combat mission in afghanistan would come to a responsible end.
7:31 am
american forces returned home with just a token force remaining behind. but since then, a revitalized taliban and al qaeda have found safe havens in neighboring pakistan where they've launched military and insurgency operations against the afghan government which is largely seen as corrupt and mired in tribal conflicts. the noted regional expert barnett ruben writes that the united states now faces three choices, american forces can leave afghanistan entirely. in all likelihood, the afghan government would quickly collapse and the taliban would once again seize power. or the united states can maintain an open military commitment in afghanistan. that seems to be what we're creeping toward now, with american troops engaged in a prolonged, unwinnable stalemate with the taliban. a third choice would have the trump administration focus not on sending in more troops and
7:32 am
dropping in huge bombs but rather on bringing peace to afghanistan through diplomacy with its neighbors. these regional players, china, russia, india, pakistan and even iran, are all developing strong economic and political ties with each other. each has reasons to see afghanistan stabilize and prosper. in this scenario, the united states supports the democratically elected governor, allowing him to negotiate from a position of strength with his neighbors and with the taliban which does find support from the majority of the country. the secretary of defense, james mattis, once remarked that if funding for diplomacy was cut, then i'll have to buy more ammunition. the truth is all the bullets in the world won't solve the problem in afghanistan, but some creative diplomacy just might. up next, everybody else has been talking about the first 100 days, but i think the thing to really talk about is the next
7:33 am
265 days. i have a great panel of scholars to talk about what trump will accomplish in his first year.
7:34 am
7:35 am
7:36 am
there's been a lot of ink spilled and a lot of hot air expelled this week over president trump's first 100 days. i do agree with the president on one thing, perhaps just one, that the 100-day marker is not that important. the more meaningful time period to look at is his or any president's first year. after a year, presidential power begins to wane. to help me look back at the first 100 days and ahead at the next 265, i have a great panel of scholars. joining me here in new york are tim naftale, former director of the nixon presidential library and someone who teaches at nyu. shirley ann worshor. tim snyder, professor of history
7:37 am
at yale. and in south bend, louisiana, matthew kranig joins us. shirley ann, let me ask you, we talk about 100 days of course because of franklin roosevelt. why? what is the importance of it? >> good question. franklin roosevelt thought that in that first few months of his administration he could -- and he saw that his role as the new executive would be to take the reigns and run with them but he would have to acraft the legislation that congress had been completely unable to do. it's that movement forward that we see that the administration has now its roots. >> tim, when you look at other than roosevelt, has anyone really had a powerfully
7:38 am
successful first 100 days? >> you know, if you think about the signature achievements of some of the more iconic presidents, they come after the 100 days. ronald reagan's tax cut, 206th day. barack obama's obamacare, 368th day. the stellar performance of john f. county, that came in the 206th day. i think the 100-day standard is not helpful at all. one thing i'd add is that roosevelt himself didn't think in terms of 100 days. he was ready to ask congress to leave after the fifth day, after he passed the banking legislation. people around him said, this is amazing, this momentum. we should just keep doing this. so congress stayed. he had called congress back for a special session. so even roosevelt didn't know he was in the midst of something remarkable for a president, and frankly, for the presidents that followed, the first 100 days haven't really mattered that
7:39 am
much. >> matthew, to me what's striking about this first 100 days is certainly historical terms does strike me, the number of reversals. i may be wrong but i cannot recall any president who has reversed himself so fast on so many fronts so effortlessly. is that good or bad? >> i guess i'm not sure if i see them as reversals. this is an unusual president, first president we've had without experience in political office or in the military. so he made some broad statements on the campaign and i think once he's come into office then it's been up to his team, really excellent team he's built, to kind of put details on that. he's talked about renegotiating nafta and now pence and others are talking about how they're going to update it to account for the internet and other things. he's talked about getting rid of the iran deal. some of his team has talked about how we can look to renegotiate the iran deal to extend the sunset provisions. i'm not sure if they're
7:40 am
reversals or ambiguous things that were said on the campaign trail and now we're starting to see some flesh on the bones. >> let me ask you directly, for example, china, china he said was going to be labeled a currency manipulator on day one. he said it had been raping the united states, that he was going to put a 45% tariff on it, and that perhaps taiwan should be recognized as a country. as far as i can tell he's reversed himself on all those things. no? these are just details? >> the currency lmanipulation, you're right. he also says north korea has become more of a priority. so rather than getting tough on trade, he wants to work with china to try to put pressure on north korea to try to solve the north korean issue. so you campaign on poetry and govern in prose, and so again i think we're starting to see some of these policies be filled out a little bit with these new
7:41 am
reviews and as the personnel falls into place. >> tim snyder, you wrote a book where you worried about trump implicitly as being somebody who was almost a threat to american democracy, not just the issue of changes in policy here or there. what have you learned in these 100 days? >> i've seen that a number of his challenges to american institutions seem to be rather close to core beliefs. he talks about the judiciary as president much the same way as he talked about it as a candidate, scornfully. he talks about the free press much the same way now as president as he talked about it as a candidate, with contempt. so we're looking at a situation who someone we have no good reason to believe cares about institutions is in charge of american institution. when i contemplate the first 100 days i think less about legislation. in a way that's both too much and too little to expect from
7:42 am
this team. i think more about the way in which this person has not adjusted himself to what we thought were the basic norms of the american political life. >> fascinatinfascinating. we have to take a break. panel please stay there. viewers, please stay there, too. we will be talk to talk about the next 265 days.
7:43 am
this is the schmidt's yard. and, oh schmidt, that's a lot of dirt. but there's plenty of time for scotts outdoor cleaner plus oxiclean to work it's magic. all while being safe to use around plants and grass. guaranteed. this is a scotts yard. hey ron! they're finally taking down that schwab billboard. oh, not so fast, carl. ♪ oh no. schwab, again? index investing for that low? that's three times less than fidelity... ...and four times less than vanguard.
7:44 am
what's next, no minimums? ...no minimums. schwab has lowered the cost of investing again. introducing the lowest cost index funds in the industry with no minimums. i bet they're calling about the schwab news. schwab. a modern approach to wealth management. time's up, insufficient we're on prenatal care.es. and administrative paperwork... your days of drowning people are numbered. same goes for you, budget overruns. and rising costs, wipe that smile off your face. we're coming for you, too. for those who won't rest until the world is healthier, neither will we. optum. how well gets done.
7:45 am
7:46 am
we are back talking about trump's first 100 days and next 260-some odd with tim, shirley ann, tim and matthew. when you look at the tax bill, what is striking is what trump does for all the populist rhetoric, he's governing more like a conventional republican. he appointed a very socially conservative supreme court justice and this tax bill is essentially kind of a classic
7:47 am
supply side tax bill. it will slash taxes, mostly help the rich, but it will trickle down and somehow growth will pay for it all. >> well you know, when you look at trump, you should compare him to other presidents who have had both houses of congress. it's not compare to compare. so if you do that, it's remarkable how little track he's getting in congress. the obamacare repeal and replace fiasco taught us about the inability of donald trump to fashion a governing coalition. you look at the tax cuts. yes, in some ways he is, but in some ways he is actually going to upset his base because a number of most of the core objectives of his tax cut policy will benefit wealthy americans, not the people who put him in power. what i'm looking to see in the next 100, 200, 300 days is the
7:48 am
extent to which the republican party, the party in washington, decides what party it is. is the freedom caucus going to have a veto power or not? what about the moderates? are they going to try to fashion themselves into a governing trump coalition. until the mid-term election should they change the control of congress, it's all up to the republican party. the republican congress is going to slide the legislative side of the trump years. >> matthew, when you look at this in foreign policy terms, do you think that trump is morphing into a traditional republican and in that sense a lot of the america first nationalism will adjust itself to the kind of foreign policy that clearly most of its key advisers seem to support based on their past statements? >> yes, when trump talked about america first, i never heard that as america only. i think there were many people who thought that the united states needed to do some things
7:49 am
to get its own house in order and if the united states isn't strong at home, it can't be strong abroad. richard haas, president of the council on foreign relations wrote a book along those lines a couple of years ago. so i guess i do see the united states under trump continuing to play the international leadership role that it has played, and i think we've seen it already do that since the inauguration. president trump was willing to use force to enforce the red line over syria, re-establish the norm against chemical weapons used. in the middle east more broadly he's been willing to increase the tempo of operations against isis after bipartisan calls to do that for many years. he's talked about supporting the allies. so i do think that many republicans are happy with the direction that president trump's foreign policy is heading. >> tim snyder, do you worry that this kind of talk is normalization? >> that's the problem with the whole 100 days, it's about
7:50 am
legislation, executive, storming ahead with ideas black and white on paper. i think this president has to be judged in a different way, by the fact that we now have family members in office and that seems normal. we now have advisers who are members of the extreme right. we take that as normal. we have an ongoing investigation, multiple ones, speaking of foreign policy, about the role of russia in getting this man elected. those things are not normal but they've become normal and in a way we need to have a daily asterisk by everything so we don't forget them. >> when you look at the kind of atmosphere -- this is a president for whom images are very important. i wonder, is the purpose of the trump presidency to create great policy, or is it to create a series of stories and images, the carrier deal and things like that, so that in three years he'll go back to the american people and say, look, i did all these amazing things, watch the
7:51 am
video. >> right. first of all, presidents really can do a lot with executive action. he can sign the executive order that wipes out nafta essentially, that overturns the iran nuclear deal, deals with climate change. he can sign executive actions that, to many of his base, do what they want him to do. to some extent, the legislation is secondary. to move forward a tax bill is absolutely the easiest thing that he can do. he has a republican house. he has a republican senate. tax cuts are the best thing for any republican congress, but that's about all that he's going to be able to do. so what you're going to see is these minor -- these changes by executive order with lots of flash which is exactly what you're saying. the image is very important to him. he is an image person. >> will these images work? >> right now what we're seeing
7:52 am
is a sta cat toe of presidency, where if he doesn't get what he wants on one side, he'll shift to another. look, he changed his words about china because he needed china for north korea because his advisers told him that. when he couldn't move -- when he couldn't do obamacare, he decided i'm going to push on nafta. i'm just going to pretend something big is going to happen and he scared the canadians and the mexicans, but nothing came of it. he promised the h 1 b visa, the whole system would change. he couldn't get it done, signs an executive order that really has very little effect. after a while, it's very possible that his base which loves him at the moment will start to see that nothing is actually happening. right now it's great tv. can you sustain great tv for four years enough to satisfy people who actually wanted real change? we'll see. but right now it's basically a lot of light and very little action. >> on that note, we are going to have to thank all of you,
7:53 am
fascinating conversation. we will definitely have you all back to see how it develops. enemy into an ally? microsoft and its partners are using smart traps to capture mosquitoes and sequence their dna to fight disease. there are over 100 million pieces of dna in every sample. with the microsoft cloud, we can analyze the data faster than ever before. if we can detect new viruses before they spread, we may someday prevent outbreaks before they begin. you know win control? be this guy. check it out! self-appendectomy! oh, that's really attached. that's why i rent from national. where i get the control to choose any car in the aisle i want, not some car they choose for me. which makes me one smooth operator. ah! still a little tender.
7:54 am
(vo) go national. go like a pro. the average family's new, but old, home: it stood up to 2 rookies, a one-coat wonder named "grams". and 3 staycations. behr. number one rated interior paint, exterior paint and stain.
7:55 am
only at the home depot. nlike @squirrelgirl52, without thwho writes,ootball... "no football on sundays has left me with a lot of free time, so i've constructed a sanctuary for local squirrels." try watching the nfl draft. maybe watch with a friend. or doctor. anyone ever have occasional constipation,diarrhea, gas or bloating? she does. she does. help defend against those digestive issues. take phillips' colon health probiotic caps daily with three types of good bacteria. 400 likes? wow!
7:56 am
try phillips' colon health.
7:57 am
applicants for the u.s. green card lottery officially known as the diversity immigrant visa program more than doubled between 2007 and 2017. the program provides up to 50,000 visas annually, drawn at random, to people from countries with generally low rates of recent immigration to the u.s. it brings me to my question. which nation had the most citizens apply for the green card lottery in fiscal year
7:58 am
2015, the year for which the most data is available. ethiopia, egypt, uzbekistan or ghana? stay tuned and we'll tell you the answer. instead of a book of the week, i want to recommend the podcast of this show. if you go to itunes or wherever you find your favorite podcast, search "fareed zakaria gps" and you'll find us. hit the subscribe button and you'll get us every week. that way if you missed a show, you can listen. better yet, recommend the gps podcast to a millennial who probably doesn't watch so much tv and already knows where to find podcasts. this week china launched its second aircraft carrier, but its first homemade one. the first was a rebuilt soviet era ship purchased from ukraine. this new one which is kmekexpec to enter active service in 2020
7:59 am
was designed in china and built in the country's shipyard. it is a great improvement but still has a ways to catch up with american technology. see that upward slope where the planes will take off? a military expert tells cnn it's to help the aircraft get into the air and stay there. we american ships have kacatapultso blast the planes off the carrier decks. america currently operates ten carriers with two more under construction. this new carrier is an important milestone in china's quest for military status and respect. the correct answer to the gps challenge question is d, ghana. 1.73 million applies for the american visa in fiscal 2015. that's more than 6% of the population of that country. just 3,381 of the more than 1.7
8:00 am
million actually won the lottery that year. all applicant's luck may run out. the visa program currently faces elimination under bills before both the house and the senate. thanks to all of you for being part of my program this week. i will see you next week. . welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. this is a look at how the media really works and how the news gets made. we are live in washington with one of the most powerful people in journalism, dean mckay standing by to join us. plus i'll have fresh reporting on the federal probe into fox news. is there a major management shakeup in the works? first, president trump playing attack the messenger again, lobbying an insult to the