i'm fareed zakaria. we have a wonderful show for you today. some of our best interviews of the year. we'll start off with one of the great historyonsiaians of our a. david mccullough will talk about the present and the past. why in the world is a not tooey isla -- a tiny nation about to skip over a date entirely? i'll explain. >>> next up, a fascinating look inside spy games. both the fictional and nonfictional varieties with columnist and novelist david ignatius. then a look at innovation with the master architect frank gehry. >>> finally, why president bush might have offended some italians onnationrati inaugurat. >>> first here's my take. many talk about the absence of leadership, especially those who oppose president obama. many democrats believe that president obama head doneas bee leader. the conventional wisdom is that he doesn't have the leadership he needs to be the leader that we need, the leader that we have had in the past. such as bill clinton, a gifted leader, a legendary player. now, i have a huge admiration for clinton. i think

welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world, i'm fareed zakaria. we have an important show for you today. the u.s. might have exited one war this week, but it is very much in the midst of another. i will have an exclusive conversation with the leader of afghanistan, hamid karzai, on the ongoing violence in his country and how that affects the u.s. plan to draw down. >>> then, a true all-star "gps" panel including peggy noonan and david remnick on the ever-shifting gop field, vladimir putin and the protests in russia, and the euro's chances of survival. >>> finally, what are we bringing back from iraq? you'll be amazed. >>> but first, here's my take. "time" magazine announced its person of the year this week -- "the protester." from the arab spring to athens, from new delhi to new york, people power is stronger than it's ever been. and now it's reached moscow with the protests there last week. the great drama of russian history has been between its state and society. put simply, russia has always had too much state and not enough society. historians

i'm fareed zakaria. we have a wonderful show for you today. some of our best interviews of the year. we'll start off with one of the great historians of our age. difd mccullough will give us perspective on the present through the lens of the past. >>> why in the world is not a tiny nation about to skip over a date entirely? i'll explain. >>> next up, a fascinating look inside spy games. both the fictional and nonfictional varieties with columnist and novelist david ignatius. >>> then a look at innovation with the master architect frank gehry. >>> finally, why president bush might have offended some italians on inauguration day. >>> first, here's my take. we hear a lot about leadership these days, mostly in the sense of the failure of leadership, the absence of leadership. certainly that's the view of many people who oppose president obama. but there are also many democrats who believe that president obama has been a disappointment, a bad manager, an ineffectual leader. the conventional wisdom is that obama just doesn't have what it takes to be

i'm fareed zakaria. we've got a great show today. >>> first up, the candidate for the gop nomination with the most extensive foreign policy experience, jon huntsman. i'll talk to the former u.s. ambassador to china about his world view and his domestic policy plans. >>> then what if the americas threw a party but didn't invite us? it happened, and i'll explain. >>> next, more than 60% of the vote in egypt this week went to islamists. how worried should we be? >>> then, is shale gas the answer to all america's troubles or at least to many of them? you've heard about fracking, what is it, is it safe? find out. >>> first, here's my take. president obama gave an important speech in kansas last week. whether you agree with all of it or not, he has begun a national conversation about the economy and the role of government. that's what this election should be about. and in presenting his view, obama shifted the economic conversation from deficits alone to the crucial issue of growth. after all, deficits matter

welcome to all of you in the united states and around the world, i'm fareed zakaria. we have a terrific show for you today. first up, the man who might have saved greece and the euro in the process. george papandreou led that troubled nation until just three weeks ago. did he do the right thing? what does he think is going to happen next in europe? an exclusive. >>> then, the man who set off a firestorm between pakistan and the united states. relations are now at an all-time low, and this pakistani american is at the center of it. hear his story for the first time. >>> next up, lots to talk about with our "gps" panel this week. from to egypt, iran to iraq, and of course asia. >>> finally, why egypt went way retro this week, back to the age of the pharaohs. i'll explain. >>> first, here's my take. you wouldn't have thought anti-americanism in pakistan could get any worse, but last week, nato attacked a pakistani army post, killing 24 pakistani soldiers. even before this episode for which nato expressed deep regret, you couldn't have found a country on the planet that w

also fareed zakaria, editor-at-large at time.com and cnn correspondent of "gps." >> do you think the drone shown on iranian tv is the real thing? >> i think it absolutely is. i mean it's not something that they could imitate and fake this thing. i think what happened is it was either forced down by hacking or in fact landed. these drones have a programmable to land on flat ground. there is no evidence of damage though. that's my question. >> so you think the iranians actually hacked into the system? >> there's a possibility they did. you know, washington has denied it thus far. they can hack into these things and order them to land. they can override american controls. >> this is kind of a glimpse of, if in fact this is a real drone and they did hack it or bring it down somehow, this is just a glimpse into what is basically a stealth war, covert war between the u.s. and iran, isn't it? >> absolutely. this is something we sometimes forget. the united states is very actively engaged in cohort operations against iran. the drones are one part of it. they are also funding some groups that

also fareed zakaria. >> do you think the drone shown on iranian tv is the real thing? think it absolutely is. i mean it's not something that they could imitate and fake this thing. i think what happened is it was either forced down by hacking or in fact landed these drones have a programmable to land on flat ground. there is no evidence of damage though. that's my question. >> so you think the iranians actually hacked into the system? >> there's a possibility they did. you know, washington has denied it thus far. they can hack into these things and order them to land. they can override american controls. >> this is kind of a glimpse of if in fact this is a real drone and they did hack it or bring it down somehow. this is just a glimpse into what is basically a stealth war, covert war between the u.s. and iran, isn't it? >> absolutely. this is something we sometimes forget. the united states is very actively engaged in cohort operations against iran. the drones are one part of it. they are also funding some groups that operate on iran's borders. the other sense in which

and i believe him. >> fareed zakaria, host of gps joins me from new york. to iran in a moment. first, after united kingdom left iraq 80 years ago things crumbled pretty quickly. if iraq can remain strong, fareed in the coming years, something mr. obama says he is hoping for, could the united states and iraq end up in an adverse sarial situation? >> i don't think so. i think if iraq were able to stay strong, build greater stability, the singest most important thing that would happen is iraq would start exporting more oil. remember, iraq has the second largist oil reserves in the world. if it were able to produce anything near the amount it is capable of, this will have a huge impact on the world of oil and therefore have a huge impact on u.s./iraqi relations because the iraqis would be doing us a big favor, diversifying the sources of oil and increasing supply. the united states and iraq did not have fundamentally add ver sarial interests, we're not adversaries by interest. saddam hussein was a weird dictator and we found ourselves on the other side of the s

he's been telling fareed zakaria the wider situation is uncertain. >> i think we're at a crossroads.t is the mrilg will that is necessary to decide on whether we will move forward to a deeper union and therefore not only protect the euro-zone but i would say everything we have accomplished in europe which is peace and greater prosperity, very different cultures and languages and people living together in cooperation. we are a model aftof a global s and these are huge accomplishments and very important i think with what's going on around in our neighborhood with the arab spring, with our neighbors to the east also, we are a model. we will lose this if we don't move into deeper union and the crossroads is that if we don't is that political will i think we will be seeing maybe slow, maybe quick breakup of the euro-zone. >> george papandreou and words of caution from a man who knows about struggles involved in trying to secure political unity, andrew. >> still ahead here on "world business today," china's economic engine is losing steam and that's fueling fears of potential unrest. beiji

. >>> up next for our viewers in the united states, a check of the top stories and then "fareed zakariad a 556 horsepower luxury car with a manual transmission? because there are those who still believe in the power of a firm handshake. the cadillac cts-v. manual or automatic, that's entirely up to you. we don't just make luxury cars, we make cadillacs. but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ deep breath] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! quaker oatmeal is a super grain. ♪ it gives me warmth. ♪ [ boy ] it gives me energy to help me be my best. quaker oatmeal has whole grains for heart health. and it has fiber that helps fill me up. ♪ [ male announcer ] great days start with quaker oatmeal. energy. fiber. heart health. quaker oatmeal. a super grain breakfast. >>> i'm at the cnn world headquarters in atlanta. merry christmas. here are your top stories this hour -- two christian churches in two cities in

he talked about it with cnn's fareed zakaria. >> when i came to office and upon coming to the officened a judicial meeting in which the issue was discussed in detail and the right inquiries made. we on advice from the chief justice and the minister of justice decided that this was a case perhaps of misjudgment and that it has to be resolved and dissolved by giving her a pardon immediately. that's what i did. >> the woman's plight attracted international attention when she reportedly agreed to marry the man she says raped her. president karzai tells cnn that she has the right to do that if she does decide. >>> the iraq war produced more wounded women service members than any military conflict in u.s. history. kyra phillip has one woman's story. ♪ >> reporter: june and her 15-year-old daughter brianna are tight. laughing, dancing, healthy competition. but just five years ago, this almost ended. when you attempted suicide by cutting your wrists. >> yes. >> reporter: and what you told me about your kids and what they said to you. >> the ambulance came and my kids asked me, mommy, why did

then "fareed zakaria: gps." >>> now time for today's "sound of sunday."sion of payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits is not a done deal yet. house speaker john boehner seems inclined to hammer out a deal, not rubber stamp the senate's bill. >> what i'm suggesting is is this -- the house has passed its bill, now senate has passed its bill. you know, under the constitution, when we have these disagreements, there could be a formal conference between the house and senate to resolve our differences. but our members really do believe we have to do our work. the president said we shouldn't be going on vacation without getting our work done. let's get our work done. let's do this for a year. >> the house meets tomorrow. republican candidate mitt romney wrapped up his week of appearances on fox with yet another appearance on fox. he told "fox news sunday's" chris wallace he's prepared to go the distance if there's a long primary season. >> i hope we don't have that, but my guess is that's certainly a possibility. we are prepared, if we go on for months and mo

up next for our viewers here in the united states, a check of the top stories, then "fareed zakaria:] everyone deserves the gift of a pain free holiday. ♪ this season, discover aleve. all day pain relief with just two pills. my high school science teacher made me what i am today. our science teacher helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers. it has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller. over the last three years we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learning to love science. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. ♪ multi-policy discount. paperless discount. paid-in-full discount. [yawning] homeowner's discount. safe driver discount. chipmunk family reunion. someone stole the nuts. squirrel jail. justice! countless discounts. now that's progressive. call or click today. >>> i'm alina cho at the cnn world headquarters in atlanta. merry christmas. at least three churches in nigeria have been bombed during christmas day services. the first took place in madella, west of the coun

next for our viewers here in the united states, "fareed zakaria gps."er and blue-collar quits who are quite rant to the kinds of entitlement form, which means it will be difficult to hold the whole party together and do this on a party-line vote, in other words, as always, compromise and bipartisan, bringing both parties together, is probably the only way to deal with a big-budget program. which means that it may be much more difficult to hold the party together and do this on a party line vote. number three, the president will definitely be engaged 100% from word go. the next president has to solve the problem or they'll never see two terms. >> we're talking politics here, and not economics. any group of bipartisan folks, like simpson bowles or domenici-rif vin, that look at this problem, as doug just said, has got to have a bipartisan solution. and the bipartisan solution is obvious. you have to slow the growth of medicare and medicaid. you have to fix social security. and you have to raise revenues by reforming the tax system. >> and that is as polit

we want to go to "fareed zakaria gps" at the top of the hour.nterview with former greek prime minister george papandreou. >>> time for a check of today's top stories. islamist parties have won the first round of egypt's parliamentary elections, the muslim brotherhood party, appears to be one of the major winner. the front-runner tells reuters that the strong islamic showing is democracy in action. >>> more than a dozen protesters in the occupy movement were arrested in portland, oregon, as police cleared a city park of demonstrators overnight. protesters rallied in the streets as park employees tore down tents. a portland police spokesman described the situation as hostile, but occupy demonstrators called the protests peaceful. >>> this just in to cnn. iran's state-run tv is reporting that a u.s. drone was shot down in eastern iran. they cite a military source. press tv reported that the drone was seized by authorities after "minimum damage." cnn is reaching out to u.s. authorities for possible confirmation. >>> and expect it to take longer to r