this is gps. welcome to all of you in the yieds a united states and around the world. i'm fareed zakaria. today on the show, the tension between the united states and

china gets thicker by the morning. hong kong major points of tension. will this become a new cold war. i will talk first to the chinese ambassador to washington and the deputy secretary of state. a big fire at a port. an explosion, a major chlorine leak. what going on in iran? billions of people confined to their homes. what thathas this pandemic done world and humanity? i'll talk to the french philosophy. from question president obama's place of birth to declaring dead people were voting for hillary clinton. donald trump's conspiracy theories are the subject of my

new special airing monday night at 9:00 p.m. i will give you a sneak preview. first, here is my take. with the pandemic over shadowing everything, one can forget there is a presidential campaign going on that helps to explain why the media paid so little attention over the past few weeks when joe biden released plans the fight climate change and the economy. it's forward thinking but more interesting is the economic plan which promises the quote ensure the future is made in all of america, unquote. that sounds like an america first agenda and sure enough, president trump accuse biden of stealing his ideas. in fact, while the plan is politically clever in moving directly onto trump's turf of economic nationalism it's much better than the president's approach. first and most important is what the plan does not do. it is not a call for tariffs and

trade wars, the hallmark of the trump presidency. these policies have failed by my measure. when biden released a fiery ad saying trump lost the trade war, the only quibble with the claim was it should have been in the present tense, losing. they pointed to the following studies from 2019. federal reserve report that determined the tariffs have not boosted manufacturing employment or output even as they have increased producer prices. a moody's analyalysis said the trade war cost the united states 300,000 jobs. a federal study saassessing the costs to the average american household is about $800 per year wiping out the gains from the trump tax cut. oxford economics estimated the trade war shaved .3% off american gdp growth last year. the biden plan's boldest idea is

the massively ramp up i venvestt in research and development. biden plans to raise spending over four years which represents a 60% increase. this would reverse the steady decline in federal investment and science and technology since its hay day in the 1950s and '60s. it led to a host of other technologies that have transformed the economy. the biden plan proposes investment in 5g, electric cars, lightweight materials and artificial intelligence. some of this money will be wasted and happens to investment from venture capital firms but all you need for some like tesla to succeed big.

the plan also has a $400 billion buy american component. the theory behind this is senszabsens sensible. the danger is it can become industrial policy with the government trying to revive bygone like steel. more generally, the track record of most rich countries in practicing this kind of industrial policy has been pretty bad. experts used to point to japan as the country that had mastered government directed investment except it turned out japan's best companies all came out of its fiercely competitive private sector. the state sponsor ones mostly to poorly. china is different because it's biggest advantage is not smart government i venvestment but lo wagers. to let the market know it will buy certain kinds of innovative

products which gives the private sector an incentury tifr secent them. the united states government was responsible for purchasing 100% of all semiconductor chips produced in the country, which is what allowed that industry to become viable. similarly nasa orders powerly helped the computer industry in the 1960s. biden wants to simulate this approach. it was much for efficient and operated with far greater insulation from special interest and lobbyists. buy american has been around for a long time. in fact, it was initiated in 1933 on the last day of herbert hoover term in office responding to a buy british plan announced in london. the result of these moves sent the world in a downward spiral

of protectionism and nationalism, impoverrishing people. let's keep that history in mind as we implement this next ver version of buy american. let's get started. it's been a dizzying week in relations between the united states and china. on monday the secretary of state said the u.s. rejects most of china's claims over the south china sea. on tuesday president trump issued an executive order removing favorite status from hong kong. on wednesday the new york times was first to report that the white house is considering a broad ban on members of the chinese communist party from

coming to the u.s. on thursday the chinese ministry of foreign affairs accused the u.s. of bullying and oppressing china. i'm joined by china's ambassador to the united states for an basic cl exclusive interview. pleasure to have you on, sir. >> good morning. nice to talk to you again. >> let me ask you a broad question first which is when i watched the debate that is taking place in washington, what i notice is that on both sides of the spectrum, republicans and democrats, there is a feeling and they are making this argument that they face a new chi china. a china that's become more assertive, expansionist and

repressive. this require a very different american response than the previous policy of many decades. how do you react to that? why do you think this is happening? >> i think the people have to fully recognize the realities of today's world. it's been there for about 5,000 years. much longer than the united states and the strong continued for the chinese zifciviluation. the ongoing efforts by the chinese people to modernize our own country. this has never changed whether the the last 70 years or the last 7 years. this is a continuing process. we have the right to build our country into a strong country like every country in the world. the fundamental question for the

united states is very simple. is the united states ready or willing to live with another country with very different culture, very different political and economic system whether the united states is ready to live with it in peace and still growing. this is real choice people have to make. >> you saw mike pompeo statement. you had an international ruling that what china is doing in the south china seas is a violation of international law. will china change course and accept that it has been violating international law in terms of activities in the south china sea? >> let me tell you this. that ruling was a unilateral action. we reject it from the very

beginning. we don't say this is a right thing to do. whether he not participate in such a group. it's not based on very solid legal ground. at the same time, we have very strong position on the sovrpty on the territory claim in the region. our claims have very strong historic and legal foundation. still, we want tosoever all the disputes with other countries, with other countries through the negotiations. you see i myself some years ago took part in the work on the decoration of conduct between china. now we're working on the code of conduct and the we are making

good progress. theuation was cooling down. countries particularly the united states is trying very hard to intervene. the intensity is frequency is so high. ironically the united states is not yet a contracting party to the convention on the law of the sea. i don't know how many people is aware of this. >> let me you about hong kong. the chinese government is imposed main land law on hong kong with the national security law. the concern i heard from many western businessmen is that they worried if they were to go to

hong kong they could be picked up under this law by the chinese government and held in very much the way two ka nad krans have been picked up and being held postage. will they use this law to arrest people regard as having defamed china which is what the law allows it to do if they are in hong kong? >> let me say this to you p it's still one country, two system. this will not chapg in the future. hong kong is now part of china. we have to defend our own country unity, sovereignty and integrity. this is what is meant by one country. within the frame work of one country on the basis of secure

and stable one country, two systems can prosper together. that's what is meant by one country, two system. the new law is intended just for that purpose to maintain safe country to make hong kong more stable, more secure for everybody. for the hong kong residents as well as for foreign investors. people could have more predictable, safer environment to do their business in hong kong. that a real purpose of this law. according to the basic law of hong kong, some of the national laws do apply to hong kong when they are concerned with national sovereignty and territory integrated unity of the country. they have to apply. otherwise there's no one coun y

country. if people try to undermine or even destroy this very basis of k one country then there's no place for the two system to operate. if people try to undermine one country, they are undermining the two systems as well. >> let me ask you about the situation with the weigars. elizabeth warren has said based on the report, there's come credible reports that china is engaging in forced population control including sterilizations and abortion. china's actions constitute the legal definition of genocide. how do you respond to that? >> i think it's very unfortunate people are basing their judgment on reports of questionable

sources. the population has more than doubled in the last 40 years. the growth is much bigger than the population growth all over the country. and much bigger than the hand of the group. i do not know how people get all these wrong numbers. the real number is the population has more than doubled in the last four years. >> do you cat gor click deny there's been any mechanisms such as sterilization. any attempt of forced population control? >> i don't know how absurd these can go. >> that means you deny it? >> of course. >> that was the chinese

ambassador to washington. we appreciate his time. to see more of this important interview on china's covid response and its view of donald trump, go to cnn.com/fareed. how these relations look to the former deputy secretary of the united states. t-mobile and sprint have merged. and t-mobile has a bigger and better network than ever before... with more towers, more engineers, and more coverage. welcome to t-mobile. america's largest 5g network. - i'm szasz. [norm] and we live in columbia, missouri. we do consulting, but we also write. [szasz] we take care of ourselves constantly; it's important. we walk three to five times a week, a couple miles at a time. - we've both been taking prevagen for a little more than 11 years now. after about 30 days of taking it, we noticed clarity that we didn't notice before.

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let's keep the conversation on china going. joining me is anthony blinken. he is now a senior foreign policy adviser to joe biden's presidential campaign. let me start by asking you what do you make of donald trump's rhetoric about china? is this politics or is there a sub stanti -- sub stastantive i that required the ramping up of

that? >> it's rhetoric. we're engaged in a serious competition with china. competition can be a good thing but we want to make it a race to the top. not race to the bottom. that's a race we'll win if we start from a position of strength. here is the problem. right now, by virtually every key metric, china's strategic position is stronger and ours with weaker as a result of president trump's leadership. think about this, president trump has helped china advance key strategic goals. weakening our alliances, check. leaving a vacuum in the world for china to fill. check. abandoning our values and giving beijing a green light to trample human rights and democracy. check. worst of all, debasing our own democracy by attacking its institutions, people, values every single day and reducing our appeal. that's kmcheck mate. the way i'm thinking about it s

is -- it's about our own democracy and political system. all of which, unfortunately, president trump has done so much to undermine. all of that is fully within our control. if we invest in ourselves, if we renew our democracy and work with our partners then we can engage china from a position of strength and we'll do just fine. >> how would you handle something like the issue of the w.h.o. the argument being that china deceived the w.h.o. the w.h.o. didn't push back and we need to have a reckoning. the trump administration has withdrawn from the w.h.o. to put pressure on it. >> as you know, the story doesn't start there. the story starts with prooefevi administrations, especially the obama-biden administration that

saw viruses as a growing threat, include ng china. we had a strong cdc presence, a dedicated white house office within the national security counsel. a program literally called predict. when president trump came in, he dismantled or defunded all of that. when the virus struck and the chinese government was with holding critical information, denying access to american and international expert, president trump repeatedly praised their transparency and cooperation instead of insisting they live up to their responsibilities. now, walking away from the w.h.o. in midst of a pandemic instead of working within it to reform it, that cedes our leader slip to ch leadership to china. >> the united states is accusing china of violating international law on the basis of this law of this treaty but the united states is not a party to it. it's not a signatory to it.

>> i've had these conversations in the past and yeah, i noted irony that we were not a party to the law. we were insisting on its application. china is a party but it's ignoring its application and its rules. we need to get back to actually following the rules. looikds to see us be part of the law. our military had come out advocating it to congress. the other thing is when you face with a situation like this, you have to in matter of fact way, project strength and resoluteness. some years ago during the obama-biden administration, the chinese government declared an air defense identification zone in international skies near china saying any aircraft that came in had to identify itself. then vice president biden went to xi jingping and without putting in a corner said we're not going to respect the defense zone. we're going to ignore it and fly

our planes through it. that's exactly ha lly what we . >> the difficulty issue, this is happening within china and seems matter of deep concern to anybody concerned about human rights. what can the united states do about something like this? >> we have to start by putting values back at the center of our foreign policy and stand up for democracy and human rights. it starts there. when the president of the united states, as has been reported give a green light for concentration camps or when protests start against the repress isive hand of the beiji government and the president of the united states says he stands with xi jingping and not with the protesters we have a problem. >> always a pleasure to have you on. thank you. >> great to be with you. next, it's the most

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in the early hours of july 2nd, an apparent explosion called significant damage at the nuclear plant in iran. just a week earlier, major explosion hit the outskirts of tehran where a missile production facility is located. this past wednesday a fire blazed through iran's key port

setting multiple ships aflame. these are just three of a string of fires, explosions and unexplained incidents in iran these past few weeks. here to explain, hopefully, is the director for the center for middle east public policy of the rand corporation and published a piece in the washington post about this mystery. at the very simplest level, who is behind all this stuff? >> the short answer is we don't know. given the targets that you just noted, the nuclear facile tiiti that are quite sensitive, a will the of analysis are suggesting that the israelis are implicat implicated. they have not been shy about their concern about iran resuming nuclear activities. in recent years it's been worry about iran's missile production

and israel has a record of targeting nuclear facile tiliti the region and has been reported to be involved in cyber attacks and other covert activities in iran itself. i don't think this is completely out of context or it fits a pattern that we seen of the past. most critically, it's coming of the context of rising u.s. iran escalation and there are many who think the timing, the israelis might look at the timing as good. i think there's a lot of signals of the israelis having some involvement in there. >> explain the importance of it. >> it produces advanced

centrifuges. this is a site that's been attacked in the past because if iran advanced production to a certain level, the concern is it would be able to take civilian nuclear program and weaponize it. this is what the agreement wads about. it was about ensuring that iran would be prevented from being able to weaponize its nuclear program and since the american withdrawal from the nuclear deal in 2018 this is when we have seen the iranians begin to violate a lot of the restrictions that were in the agreement. they are not sprinting to a bomb by any means. they took measured actions. this facility is a target. it's been a target in the past because it would allow iran to advance production to worrying levels in terms of the break out times. it's not -- it's a site that would be expected to be targeted

if israel or others are behind and would like to see a set back in the iranian nuclear program. >> when i look at this, it's it strikes me we have gone back ten years. the iran nuclear deal was meant to prevent all this. they were adhering to it. we are now back to the point ten years ago where they were building up nuclear capacity that would be weaponized. the israelis or americans engaged in massive cyber attack on iran centrifuges. here we are doing it again. are we just back to where we were ten years ago in. >> i don't want to be that alarmist yet. we are going backwards. thankfully the agreement is still hanging by a thread. there are nuclear inspectors still in iran. they are getting challenged more frequently now. they are still there. we don't have enrichment levels and capacity for iran to be able to break out within weeks which

is what the concern by some accounts were before the nuclear agreement was negotiated. we're not quite there yet. we are at a dangerous moment and i think what is particularly different now is the context. as i said, it's not just concern that the israelis are reports that the united states may even been coordinating these covert attacks in iran itself under the cover of the trump administration's maximum pressure campaign. what's a little different is it's not just a targeting tactical targeting of nuclear sites and other military sites and iran to set back programs that are worrying to its neighbors for good reasons. the difference now is that there's a will the of confusion about what the ultimate aims of maximum pressure are. i think there's some perception in iran and abroad that these activities may be aimed at going beyond just grading iranian nuclear other military capabilities to actually

destabilizing the country itself and given the tempo of these attacks over the course of a few weeks as well as the broader escalation we have seen especially in the past year with iran starting to lash out, attacking oil tankers, attacking the u.s. drone, culminating in the u.s. attack which led to direct u.s. iranian conflict, a missile attack in american bases in iraq. this is move fing from a shadowr to a direct war. this is moving from an escalation we have not seen in is no longer about the program. it's about what are broader ob j j objections. >> is there something going on where they feel like they have this last window of opportunity because donald trump is president and will support any move taken by them? >> well, as i said, they have --

what they per sooeceive is a gr light from washington. if the reports are correct, it may be a koorcoordinated campai. i think the israelis and americans see iran as incredibly vulnerable now. the sanctions have taken a toll. the pandemic unrest within the country. societal unrest ongoing. i think the israelis may think this is a window, an opportune time to act and degrade iran. >> i got to cut you off there. we are out of time. it was fascinating. thank you so much. >> thank you. next on gps, bernard.

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coronavirus has taken a terrible toll on this planet. we'll see it surpass 15 million cases. we have already lost about

600,000 lives. for decades if not century, historians will be writing about the effect of there pa pandemic, the good, the bad and the ugly. the french philosopher has been thinking about this in realtime. he as a new book called "the virus in the age of madness." he joins me now. welcome. first explain why you call this an age of madness. >> because we are living in an age of madness. you have some people, the president in a mad way by de denying the reality. trump refuses to wear a mask. he puts a mask on reality. masks the real state of the country. on the other side you have people who overreact and who are ready to completely renounce

their civil rights and civil liberty if they can extend them against a guarantee of safety which is also mad. i have the feeling that we are surrounded in this affair by competition of madnesses. >> do you agree with the irish columnist who said the world has had many reactions to america over the decades, anger, fear, but we are now seeing a new one which is pity. the world is pitying america. >> the world is expecting now nothing from america. this is the most sad situation ever. the rest of the world expect nearly nothing. we are back. this is one of the things we should pair with this pandemic.

we are back to a sort of world pre-christopher columbus. we're in a world where it is as if america did not exist no longer. this is so weird. when you see the world from europe or again from india or again from hong kong or from ukraine where i was recently. you are under the impression that america withdrew so much that she's no longer an actor anymore. the result is that those bad guys, those human rights offenders who are putting leadership and isis and others move forward. where are they? moving forward more and more.

>> personally, when you look at it as somebody taught a lot about philosophy and moral philosophy, has this pandemic brought out the best in human beings, the worst in human beings? has it made us more selfish, more aware of the plight of other others? how do you see it? >> i would say selfishness has increased. it's evident for those who deny the pandemic. they don't care about the deaths which is the biggest selfishness possible. they don't care. on the other side, i see in these safe bubbles which are built here and there, where the biggest concern is not to be

offended by their opinion or the other. there is a sort of new blindness and new deafness which rises and which cuts us from the rest of the world. to really get rid of it. this is also what is happening if we don't care. the confine m was inevitable. we were right to be confined but we have to be anxious and eager to step out of that and to go back to the world and to care again about our world. brothers if humanity who have nothing. who have no house to shelter inside and even in america who

have no access to health care. confinement is necessary but cannot be the last world of ethics and humanity. if not, we will live in a world of generalized selfishness. >> always a pleasure to talk to you. >> thank you. thanks a lot. next, i'll bring you a preview of my new special, donald trump's conspiracy theories, which will air here on cnn at 9:00 p.m. on monday night.

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we're still fighting with dedication and devotion. california law gives survivors a chance to take legal action, but only for a limited time. if you were sexually abused by a priest, scout leader, coach or teacher contact us confidentially today. it's time. president trump has loved conspiracy theories since long before he was president. he was, after all, one of the key proponents of the theory his predecessor, barack obama, was actually born in kenya. he's also used conspiracy

theories to discount election results in 2012 and 2016, leading many people to wonder what we can expect from the white house and its allies this november. >> it's going to be fraud all over the place. >> here is a preview of my latest special called "donald trump's conspiracy theories." you can catch it monday night at 9:00 p.m. eastern on cnn and cnn international. >> all right. tell me when you're ready. >> a few days after the 2016 election -- >> well, i just had the opportunity to have an excellent conversation with president-elect trump. >> an obscure right wing operative named greg phillips tweeted a bombshell, number of noncitizen votes exceeds 3 million. >> can you prove right now that 3 million people voted illegally? >> yes. >> but phillips, a voter fraud

watchdog, was cagey about showing any evidence. >> do you have the proof? >> yes. >> will you provide it? >> yes. >> can i have it? >> no. >> why? >> we're going to release everything to the public. >> when? >> as soon as we get done with the checks. >> hold on. so you're not done checking it yet? >> questions about a possible recount -- >> in fact, when phillips made his outrageous claim -- >> we count votes in michigan, pennsylvania and wisconsin. >> states had not even certified their election results. >> we're not going to make a mistake. >> but that's on you. >> we're doing it. >> but you already accused them. >> look. i'm not a politician. i'm just a guy. >> millions of dead people voting, millions of illegals voting. >> then alex jones, the notorious conspiracy theorist, who said the u.s. government staged 9/11, picked up the story. >> donald j. trump didn't just win the electoral college, he also clearly won the popular vote.

>> and after that story ran, president-elect trump tweeted for the first time that he won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally. greg phillips still won't show us any evidence. >> illegal immigrants voting. >> just like that -- >> we don't want noncitizen voters. >> a voter fraud conspiracy theory was born. >> voter fraud. voter fraud. here's the evidence. it's a lie. >> trump has made an astounding number of completely unsubstantiated voter fraud claims over the years. >> again, don't miss my new special "donald trump's conspiracy theories" monday night at 9:00 p.m. thanks to all of you for being part of my program this week. i will see you next week. lexus v at the golden opportunity sales event. lease the 2020 nx 300 for $339 a month for 36 months.

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well the names have all changed since you hung around but those dreams have remained and they've turned around who'd have thought they'd lead ya back here where we need ya welcome back, america. it sure is good to see you.

hello, everyone. thank you so much for joining me this sunday. i'm fredericka whitfield. we begin with a n escalating battle. there are more than 600,000 coronavirus deaths globally. a new grim milestone. 140,000 of those happening right here in the united states. the startling spikes happening in two states in particular that have become the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. yet the president is downplaying the extent of the crisis. here are the facts. first, florida reporting another 12,478 new cases today. this as the state says