i'm fareed zakaria in istanbul, turkey. if you cross behind me and went a few hundred miles, you'd be in syria. if you went through the other way you would reach the mediterranean where u.s. warships are at the ready for possible orders to launch missiles at syria. and that's where we'll focus the show today on president obama's dual decisions announced saturday, that the united states should take military action, but that he would seek congress' approval first. we'll start the show with big minds in foreign policies. whether those decisions were right for america and the world. then to politics. the british parliament decided against military action in syria. will the u.s. congress do the same thing? and i'm in the region, so we'll take the pulse of it. what is actually going on inside syria? and is it now a regional war? but first here's my take. last march, president obama spoke off the cuff about how syria's use of chemical weapons would be a game changer. it has turned out to be, except not quite in the sense that he m

i want to bring in fareed zakaria host of "fareed zakaria gps." it can be cold and loan flee moscow and st. petersburg in the winter. it can be very cold and lonely if you're the united states president there right now. >> yeah, in a way the summit is probably a visual representation of a certain level of isolation that the united states feels. if you look through that list of countries, not a lot of them are right now supporting the united states in its bid to take military action against syria. >> so with that obviously looming large over the summit, there is just so much to be made about what we're dealing with in terms of the potential mission creep, about the mission itself, about how bashar al assad is moving assets around as we speak. therefore, whatever the military plans has to be moving in agile with him. how can we possibly know what we are getting into? >> well, at a military level, i wouldn't be surprised if we are actually still pretty well prepared because, yes, we have so many assets. so much capacity. we have the ability to see at

to bring in cnn's chief international correspondent christiane amanpour, who's in london, and fareed zakaria, the host of "from a reed zakaria gps," from istanbul. let me go to you, first, fareed. it certainly sounds like the secretary is saying that even if congress votes no, the president would use some type of military force against assad. do you think that's a wise decision? >> i think the decision-making has been so confused and muddled, that it's difficult to put the word wise in front of anything they're doing right now. the administration has hesitated between nonintervention and intervention, and it is caught between those two. for a long time, president obama had explained in a very disciplined way that this was a messy internal civil war and the united states couldn't do much to affect it. but now, all of a sudden, this is huge implications for american interests spanning north korea, iran, the entire credibility of the united states. so then, why are we talking about two days of strikes? and you see the same tension, the same confusion in this whole issue of congress. as you say.

fareed zakaria is the host of cnn's "fareed zakaria gps." fareed, thanks for being here.mer defense secretary, leon panetta wrote recently in an op-ed, "u.s. citizens will lose trust in our system of governing and the world will view the united states as less able to back its word with power." how much does this internal -- eternal/internal struggle in washington damage us in the eyes of the world? >> i think it does. right now, we don't have a competitor, and so it seems as though we can careen from crisis from crisis, and there doesn't seem to be much of a price to pay. the american economy, the recovery is continuing. but there are two areas. first is the credibility of american government. we benefit enormously from the fact that the dollar is the reserve currency of the world and our treasury bills are the reserve investments of the world. if that changes, if people start worrying about getting repaid, as they shouldn't, frankly, worry, given what we're doing, that would change things dramatically. it raises huge costs for the united states. the second is, in all thi

i'm fareed zakaria coming to you live from new york. we have an important show for you today starting with the syrian crisis. first up, two foreign policy legends. henry kissinger and zbigniew brzezinski on the latest diplomatic moves over syria. did putin play obama? what will assad do during this intermission and who will get the last word? >>> then richard butler, the man once tasked with getting saddam hussein to give up his chemical weapons on the way to make it work this time with assad. also, the three things you might want to know about syria before we bomb. or whether or not we bomb. and from civil war to homeless wars, anthony bourdain on a different kind of war in the middle east. who makes the most magic with chickpeas? >>> first, here's my take. whatever the twisted path by design or accident, the obama administration has ended up in a better place on syria than looked possible even days ago. the agreement forged by john kerry and the russian foreign minister is just the first step of course the syrian government has to coo

i'm fareed zakaria. we have a very special show for you today. an important exclusive interview with bill clinton on the plan to rid syria of its chemical weapons. >> who cares how it came up. >> on president obama asking congress to approve a syrian strike. >> i don't think he had to go. >> on america's duelling political parties. >> you got to give it to the republicans. >> and on his family's future in politics. >> i would never discourage her. i think it is still a noble calling. >> plus, a european country where unemployment is at a 20-year low and the stock market is hitting record highs. this is not fiction. it's not monaco. i will explain where this is. >>> and the symbolism of the one fingered salute is understood around the world but there's a powerful new sign of protests in egypt. the four fingered salute. i'll explain. >> when the obama administration was arguing syria it came up with everything from preserving international norms to preventing another holocaust. one could have dangerous consequences for american foreign policy. almo

i'm fareed zakaria. we'll start with an exclusive interview with president obama's national security adviser susan rice. on iran, syria, the middle east and more. then, the terror attack in kenya. a somalia based terror group carried it out. i'll talk to that country's president who says al shabab is a threat to the entire world. and then to syria. i will talk to one of the most concerned parties, president gul of turkey, which is of course syria's neighbor. and you might have heard that in iran's delegation to the new. was t was the only jewish member of parliament. we'll talk to him. here's my make it. for the past self-years, the president of iran has held a breakfast meeting with a small group of journalists during the u.n. general assembly. in recent years, that event was a depressing routine. mahmoud ahmadinejad dressed in his shabby suit would saunter in, ramble and rant about the dangers of america and deny the holocaust and taunt us, his invited guests. rouhani arrived eloquently attired and he

he's the host of "fareed zakaria gps" which airs sunday mornings here on cnn. etween a time line. john kerry says time is running out. >> the most important thing to think about is not so much the distinction between a time line and a deadline but what it really involves is is there a trigger? is there some kind of automatic trigger that says if the syrians do not comply, cooperate by a certain date, then it can get referred -- the issue can get referred to the security council. and that implies that the security council might authorize the use of force. that's the crucial issue. what kerry is trying to do is create some mechanism by which there is an automatic trigger. and what the russians are trying to do is ensure that there is none, there is no automatic trigger. so my guess is they're going to keep fighting about this. but the crucial issue is, at some point, do you cross a line of noncompliance, which sets off some kind of consequence? >> when all is said and done, the continues denials from the bashar al assad regime and from the russians that syria was

i'm fareed zakaria coming to you live from new york.arting with the syrian crisis. first up, two foreign policy legends. henry kissinger and zbigniew brzezinski on the latest diplomatic moves over syria. did putin play obama? what will assad do during this intermission and who will get the last word? >>> then richard butler, the man once tasked with getting saddam hussein to give up his chemical weapons on the way to make

so fareed zakaria, let me bring you in. you're host of "fareed zakaria, gps."n listening, hearing this moment. might this be the beginning of diplomacy for everyone involved? >> it could be, brooke, but it also could be a very clever russian/syrian ploy. after all, what it does when you look at it, it weakens the momentum the president has been trying to build. it weakens the case for the war. it's also going to create complications among the president's coalition. because there are many people who are supporting the president in his efforts here who want much more than just a signal about chemical weapons. people like john mccain and lindsey graham are doing this because they want to use this opportunity to decisively tilt the balance of power away from assad in favor of the rebels, really to get assad out of power. they're not going to want to miss this opportunity, so they're going to be frustrated. i think for a whole bunch of reasons, this is a very clever syrian/russian move that could lead to a negotiated outcome, but could also thwart the president's pl

fareed zakaria sat down with bill clinton.hop based on a fitness club. here's a preview of the next list. >> this week on the next list, putting ideas to work. jim newton is a lifelong do it yourselfer who is passionate about making. >> they were made to make things. that's why we have thumbs. we've gotten away from making so much. there's that instinctive drive for people to create. >> it's one of the reasons he started tech shop. an innovation work shop where members can have access to the tools they need to bring their ideas to life. >> you see them say, wow, i really can do this. this is stunning. they're stunned. >> and graham hill, the designer, entrepreneur, who believes people would be a lot happier with less. >> i love things and i love having great things, but i don't want too many and i don't want to be overwhelmed. >> he'll build his dream microapartment by crowd sourcing the design on the internet. he got some amazing designs. the best part of living with less, more freedom. i'm dr. sanjay gupta. join me this satu

fareed zakaria joining me from host, host of fareed zakaria gps.r of "the world's most dangerous places." robert, welcome back to you. and fareed, we have john kerry and he's saying, hey, listen, the threat we made. it's actually the thing that forced syria to agree to these talks to begin with. and then you have the russians saying, get the threat off the table right now. my question to you is, are these negotiating tactics or is this a disagreement that could end the talks really before they even get started? >> it's unlikely to end the talks before they get started. but i think that it reflects the very different way in which both sides are viewing this. i think the united states is viewing this as an opportunity to actually achieve what even missile strikes or air strikes would not have achieved, which is the destruction of some part of assad's chemical weapons arsenal. remember, air strikes would not actually destroy the chemical weapons because you don't strike the chemical weapons. you strike at various military targets as punishment for hav

i'm fareed zakaria. we have a very important show with two presidents and iran's only jewish member of parliament. we'll start with an exclusive interview with the national security adviser, susan rice, on iran, syria, the middle east and more. >>> then the terror attack in kenya, somalia terror-based group carried it out. i'll talk to that country's president who says al shabaab is not just a threat to somalia or kenya, but the entire world. i will talk to president ghoul of turkey, which is, of course, syria's neighbor. in iran's delegation to the u.n. was the only jewish member of parliament. we tracked him down and i talked to him. but before we get to all that, hew eris my take. hassan rowhani presents himself as a striking contrast to his predecessor. for the past year, the president of iran has held a breakfast meeting with a small group of journalists. in recent years that had become a depressing routine. mahmoud ahmadinejad would saunter in, deny the holocaust and taunt us, his invited guests. r

fareed zakaria is next. >>> this is gps, the global public square. welcome to you in the united states and around the world. i'm fareed zakaria. we're going to get you one step ahead on understanding the crisis in syria. we have put together our own war room, a national security council of senior officials from recent administrations that is assembled and ready to take us through the path ahead for president obama. we have general wesley clark, james steinberg, and nicholas burns. then, a critical question. can president obama take action without congress? should he have even asked it or did he weaken the powers of his office? we have a lively debate. >>> and is syria libya all over again? is assad another gadhafi? i'll talk to the man who was critical in convincing the world to get rid of the dictator. but first, here's my take. from the start of the syrian conflict, president obama has wanted to take two very different approaches to it. on the one hand he's been disciplined about the definition of american interests and the use of force. on the oth

i'm fareed zakaria. we have a very special show for you today.l clinton. on the plan to rid syria of its chemical weapons -- >> who cares how

president clinton sat down with our own fareed zakaria for an exclusive interview. covered a lot of stuff, including politics, the economy, the state of the democratic party. hillary clinton's future prospects as far as a presidential candidate is concerned. president obama calls the former secretary -- i should say the former president the secretary of explaining stuff, as you well remember. listen to him talking about president putin and who gets credit for any syria deal. >> president clinton, you've seen the agreement that the united states and russia have reached on syria. you've heard some of the criticisms. what do you think of it? >> first of all, i think if it is implemented, big if, it is a good thing. and i agree with the president, secretary kerry and everybody else that's been involved in this that the united states needs to stand strong against chemical weapons against the proliferation and use of them. now, there are some who say, well, you know, this gives the initiati initiative, and who cares how it came up. >> fareed is joining us now from new yor

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fareed zakaria is next. >>> this is gps, the global public square.e united states and around the world. i'm fareed zakaria. we're going to get you one step ahead on understanding the crisis in syria. we have put together our own war room, a national security council of senior officials from recent administrations that is assembled and ready to take us through the path ahead for president obama. we have general wesley clark, james steinberg, and nicholas burns. then, a critical question. can president obama take action without congress? should he hav

fareed zakaria is following it and joins us from new york.able, isn't it? you've got a new iranian president saying no nuclear weapons. take that as red. we'll help out in syria. this is getting warm and fuzzy here. do you take it seriously? how do you read this? could they meet in new york, obama and rouhani? >> yes, yes, and yes. michael, look, it's very serious. this is the newly elected president of iran. it's also important to note this is a guy who comes from the heart of the iranian establishment. he has been involved with iranian politics at the highest level for 25 years. he has known the supreme leader since 1980. so this is not like ahmadinejad, an outsider. he was a populist mayor of tehran who came to power. rouhani comes out of the heart of the establishment. and forever since his campaign, he's been talking about a more moderate foreign policy trying to find a deal on nuclear issues. he's been tweeting, as you know, very famously, twitter account maintained by him tweeted happy new year to all jews worldwide. the foreign minist

i'm fareed zakaria. we have a very special show for you today.nterview with bill clinton on the plan to rid syria of its chemical weapons. >> who cares how it came up. >> on president obama asking congress to approve a syrian strike. >> i don't think he had to go. >> on america's duelling political parties. >> you got to give it

let's bring in cnn's fareed zakaria, host of "fareed zakaria gps" which airs sundays here on cnn. this op-ed on syria, it's extraordinary when you think about it, that putin is directly anxious to speak to the american people. what's your take on what's going on? >> we've always known that putin has wanted to set himself up in some way in opposition to the idea of a kind of benign american leadership of the world. he's always viewed that as being part of his role to revive and restore russia to its position of power but also as kind of another poll. i'm not -- it's not the opposite poll, but he wants it to be another voice and another center of power in the world. and this is very much in keeping with that. you see it's very smart. it's well-argued. but it's relentless in its opposition to the united states and that part you picked up on, the dig about american exceptionalism was one part of it. >> could this be the best path, at least from his perspective, bashar al assad, to saying, you know what? i'm going to give up my chemical weapons, acknowledge i have chemical weapons, let

fareed zakaria is joining me now from new york. o do if, for example, the house of representatives says no to what he wants on syria? should the president go forward or should he just forget about it? >> it's a very tough question. i think this is the risk he ran when he took on this course. i would think that he should do something anyway, because he has kept stressing that he has the authority. he has said that he thinks this is in the vital national interests of the united states. whether you agree with it or not, at this point, for him to have to back down in a humiliating fashion because he faced a divided vote in congress would undermine the powers of the president of the united states, would undermine the president's ability to conduct these kind of operations with or without congressional approval. remember, for the last 30 years, the president of the united states has launched many military strikes against many targets around the world without congressional authorization. so, it would de facto change the rules of the game f

here with some perspective, fareed zakaria and douglas brinkley. fareed, let me start with you. heard the president bring up world war ii, the bombings on london that happened before the u.s. entered into the war. you heard secretary of state bring up hitler in much more direct ways, and nazi germany in much more direct ways. are these apt comparisons, do you think? >> no, they are not apt to begin with. let's just remember our history. adolf hitler controlled the largest army in the world in 1938 when the munich accord was signed, second richest or third richest country in the world and had a plan to conquer all of europe, perhaps all of the world. assad runs one of the poorest countries in the world, miserable conditions, is desperately trying to stay in charge of his own little misbegotten country but more importantly, the mistake here is that there is a vast divergence developing between the rhetoric the president is using, john kerry is using, and what we're proposing. so if indeed this is like world war ii, if this is like munich, if this is all about stopping adolf hitler

fareed zakaria, thanks for being here.eon panetta spelled out the price of governing from crisis to crisis. he wrote in an op-ed, u.s. citizens will lose truth and the world will view the united states as less able to back its word with power. >> how much does this struggle damages in the eyes of the world. >> i think it does. right now we don't have a competit competitor. there didn't seem to be much of a price to pay. the recovery is continuing, but there are two areas, first is the credibility of american government. our treasury bills are the reserve investments of the world. if that changes, if people start worrying about getting repaid, as they should frankly worry, given what we're doing, that would change things dramatically. it raises huge costs for the united states. the second is, in all this crisis management, nobody is talking about what we should be doing for the long term in this country. we are seriously underfunding investments in education, in infrastructure, in basic science. that's the seed capital that

christiane amanpour,'s, fareed zakaria, action anderson cooper. andrew sullivan. man: sometimes it's like we're still in college. but with a mortgage. and the furniture's a lot nicer. and suddenly, the most important person in my life is someone i haven't even met yet. who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. as you plan your next step, we'll help you get there. could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. yep, everybody knows that. well, did you know the ancient pyramids were actually a mistake? uh-oh. geico. fifteen minutes could save you...well, you know. we've always been on the forefront of innovation. when the world called for speed... ♪ ...when the world called for stealth... ♪ ...intelligence... endurance... affordability... adaptability... and when the world asked for the future. staying ahead in a constantly evolving world. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman. >>> we're back with the panel talking about the president's decision to explore russia's

i'm fareed zakaria.rice. on iran, syria, the middle east and more. then, the terror attack in kenya. a somalia based terror group carried it out. i'll talk to that country's president who says al shabab is a threat to the entire world. and then to syria. i will talk to one of the most concerned parties, president gul of turkey, which is of course syria's neighbor. and you might have heard that in

we're back with our panel anne-marie slaughter, christiane amanpour, fareed zakaria. will join us on our instant poll reaction. we'll talk to david kay weapons inspector. christiane has a question she really wants to ask. >> i really want to ask it. >> actually, john king is here, cnn commissioned an instant poll of americans who watched this speech. what are the highlights? >> the highlights are, anderson, based on this poll this speech was not a game changer for the president. he's not getting as much as he wanted from speaking directly to the american people. let me give you some of the numbers to back up that. we asked people remember this is only a poll of people who watched the speech. we asked them, did the president make a convincing case in his speech tonight for u.s. military action in syria? look at the numbers. 47% say yes, 50% say no. so half of the american people say no. >> huge shift. >> john, everybody here is saying that's a huge shift. >> huge gain. >> he was down around 10% before. >> let me continue here. here we go. does the united states have a

. >> i want to bring in fareed zakaria in new york. the good money is always on skepticism whenever we hear of two parties that have been at such loggerheads for so many decades, but this was a remarkable announcement by the president, whether or not it pans out of course is another matter. >> oh, of course. as you pointed out, this is the first time since 1979 that the leaders of the two countries have talked. i think part of what was going on here, of course, was president rouhani i would guess was trying to kind of reassure the administration that he has enough control over his government and his policy that he can actually make contact with the president of the united states without having to check back home with tehran with the hard liners and such. i think it was progress in that sense as well. maybe there's some -- some consternation back in tehran but it demonstrates that the president of iran does have the ability to make those kind of decisions, which is important, because ultimately, neither side is going to get exactly what

joining us now, fareed zakaria.junger, the author of the important book "war." sebastian, you wrote a very provocative, important article in the "washington post." let me read a sentence or two from it. referring to syria, at some point passivism becomes part of the machinery of death and isolationist becomes a form of genocide. it's not a matter of how we're going to explain this to the syrians. it's a matter of how we're going to explain this to our kids. you're saying that war actually may be the answer to what's going on in syria right now. explain. >> my first war was in bosnia and every war i've covered since then has been ended or drastically reduced by u.s. military action, by nato military action. i think a true anti-war position doesn't just mean ignoring a civil war like we did in rwanda. it means eventually after all diplomatic efforts have failed to use military threat and eventually military action. in bosnia, a two-week nato campaign ended a genocide. amazingly, in the united states, the only people i

clinton sat down with fareed zakaria. ersation. >>> how does get weapons into what is supposed to be a secure navy yard? we'll discuss this with our pentagon correspondent, barbara starr, coming up. i was made to work. make my mark with pride. create moments of value. build character through quality. and earn the right to be called a classic. the lands' end no iron dress shirt. starting at 49 dollars. i tthan probablycare moreanyone else.and we've had this farm for 30 years. we raise black and red angus cattle. we also produce natural gas. that's how we make our living and that's how we can pass the land and water back to future generations. people should make up their own mind what's best for them. all i can say is it has worked well for us. >>> welcome back to "new day." president obama calls him the secretary of explaining stuff. that's for sure. now president clinton is explaining the obama administration's policy on syria. fareed zakaria sat down for an interview with him. they cover aid lot of topics even including p

i'm fareed zakaria. we have a very special show for you today. an exclusive interview with bill clinton. on the plan to rid syria of its chemical weapons -- >> who cares how it came up? >> on president obama asking congress to approve a syrian strike. >> i don't think he had to go. >> on america's duelling political parties. >> i think it is still a noble calling. >> plus a european country where unemployment is at a 20-year low and the stock market is hitting reported highs. this is not fiction, this is not monaco, i will explain where this is. and the symbolism of the one fingered salute is understood around the world. but there's a new sign in egypt, the four fingered salute. >>> here's my take, when the obama was selling it's case for military action against syria, it used every argument it could come up with, from preserving international norms to preventing another holocaust. one could have dangerous consequences for american foreign policy. chuck hagel asserted in some way that we had to act militarily in syria to preserve u.s. credibility

newt gingrich, fareed zakaria, let us know what you think. a lot more to talk about including the inspector of the iraq war hanging over the syrian debate. the question is, will that legacy affect president obama's chances to get a resolution from congress? i'll speak to paul who is intimately involved in the iraq policy. also ahead, castro committing suicide in prison. he was sentenced to life plus 1,000 years for holding three women hostage. martin savidge's exclusive interview with the castro family coming up. the day we rescued riley was a truly amazing day. he was a matted mess in a small cage. so that was our first task, was getting him to wellness. without angie's list, i don't know if we could have found all the services we needed for our riley. from contractors and doctors to dog sitters and landscapers, you can find it all on angie's list. we found riley at the shelter, and found everything he needed at angie's list. join today at angieslist.com >>> as congress debates whether to authorize the use of military force in syria, everybo

we are also joined from -- with fareed zakaria of cnn's "fareed zakaria gps." the "new york times." i want to illustrate the problem one more way. you're going to hear from these two top american officials giving completely different estimates of the percentage of syrian rebels who are the quote, unquote, bad guys here. take a listen. >> we have adapted our approach based on what we know of the opposition. if you recall in the beginning of the year there was a period where it was pretty evident that the extremist groups were prevailing in the opposition. >> i just don't agree that a majority are al qaeda and the bad guys. that's not true. there are about 70,000 to 100,000 oppositionists. about -- somewhere, maybe, 15% to 25% might be in one group or another, who are what we would deem to be bad guys. >> so you hear these two men, joint chiefs chairmen, saying as recently as february the bad guys were prevailing among the opposition. then john kerry saying it's only 15% or 25%. elizabeth, you've been there. you've done all this research. what do you say? >> i th