fareed zakaria is back.now, the president had talked about nato funding on the campaign trail a lot, interesting to see him talking about it in front of the leaders there. >> something that's kind of a big misperception that he's propagating which is it's not as if -- if heez kthese countries their 2% marks it's not as if the u.s. would have to pay less. the united states pays what it wants because we want to have the world's most powerful military. we want to dominate in asia, we want to dominate in the seven seas and the arctic and the antarctic. if belgium were to build more border, you know, have more border troops, we're not going to spend less. in fact, you know, we can almost pose this question to donald trump, if they were to do it, would he cut the american defense budget? no, of course not. so, yes, the europeans should do more, but the united states spends what it wants to spend because it wants to be the global military power. >> it also sounds like the president is not only looking for them to p

let's get the bottom line with the host of "fareed zakaria gps" fareed zakaria joins us. as we were looking at the pictures moments ago the president of israel, reuven rivlin welcomed president trump by saying "america is back." america is back is an interesting notion, and one i think the obama administration would dispute, we never left but the perception there is this is a return to something that has been missing. >> clearly the trump administration and donald trump has decided what they're going to do is try to have a much more overtly pro-sunni/arab foreign policy, that means supporting countries like saudi arabia, the united arab emirates, egypt, and try to kind of help solidify the already emerging partnership between these sunni arab countries and israel. the big foe being iran. the sunni arab states, the saudi, the emirates and the israelis welcome this. they think it's a good idea. part of what's going on here is you know, we have to remember, countries like to flatter the incoming president. obama got a whole bunch of this when he was first president. the euro

trump white house trying to move past the president's firing of fbi director james comey, but our fareed zakarians of a bigger danger, and fareed joins me now the bottom line. great to have you here in studio. you have an op-ed for cnn.com in which you say president trump pose a danger to american democracy. what do you mean? >> i think that beyond some of the day-to-day antics what is noticeable about president trump is that he really attacks systematically relentlessly any institution, any group of people that stand in his way. and that's fundamentally corrosive of the american system, because our whole system is based on the idea of checks and balances. so the idea is, no one person is meant to have that much power, even if you were elected. the whole point of the bill of rights is it's a check on majority rule, and so what trump does, whether it's with independent agencies like the fbi, he weakens them. courts, he attacks them when they disagree with him. the media, he relentlessly attacks journalist, smears the media, calls it fake news. any one of it you can get into. as a totality is an e

let's discuss now, fareed zakaria, host of "fareed zakaria gps."y single night, what is your reaction to this breaking news? it's not funny but it's laughable. every single time i have you on, there is some breaking news. the president has done something outrageous. and here we are reacting to it. >> well, in this case, it seems to me it's, you know, you almost have to hope for incompetence because the alternative is so dark. and so let's go with the incompetence theory. >> do you think he's incompetent? >> i certainly think that he does not seem to either understand or care about the structures and processes of high government office. this is one of those cases where, again, the fact that you ran a pretty successful real estate franchising operation in new york city does not really translate into running the united states because this is a matter of kind of very, very sensitive intelligence. how you share it, who you share it with and you need to understand your government spends -- we spent $70 billion on intelligence. other countries spend billi

joining us is fareed zakaria, host of "fareed zakaria gps" here on cnn.ion becomes how permanent is this, how lasting is this, and how deep a divide is it? i mean, angela merkel and president trump traded barbs throughout the campaign, but they were personal. this seems fundamental based on policy and things like climate change. >> well, i think it could potentially be a very important shift. we'll have to see. but it seems as though the europeans are saying, look, we believe in the liberal international order, meaning open, free trade, rule-based, and the united states has created that order, brought us into it after world war ii, has been the upholder, the guarantor, but this administration seems to essentially not only just walk away from that, be indifferent to it, but is actively hostile to us, to nato, to the european union, to many of those institutions. we are going to continue to defend. we are going to continue to uphold it. and if we now need to become the lead players in upholding the liberal international order, we'll step up to the challenge

let's pull in our fareed zakaria, host of "fareed zakaria gps."ch more serious note than that concert that they're having, do you think that this could be a moment of reset for this president? and where is the bar for success? is it just no major screw-ups? >> i think it's difficult for it to be a reset, because the controversies that are embroiling the white house have to do with, you know, the issues of the comey firing, the investigation. that stuff has taken on a life of its own. no trip abroad will change that, as presidents from bill clinton to richard nixon know, you can try to do that. those stories aren't going to go away. they have their own independent life. but i think that the trip is important and should be judged on its own merits, and the key test i think is going to be how he handles the first stop, saudi arabia. unusual choice. most presidents really from fdr have gone to canada -- >> or mexico. >> -- britain or mexico. saudi arabia is, you know, basically the originator, the inventor of radical islamic terrorism. it is where osa

fareed zakaria, host of "fareed zakaria gps" joins me no u. fareed, it's an awful, awful story. you heard miss ford say, you know, happily she brings her baby home tonight but there are parents whose children won't be coming home. sadly. i want to get your take on this breaking news. >> well, first one has to just react as a human being and in my case, as a father of two girls, a 9-year-old and a 14-year-old, both are great ariana grande fans. my 9-year-old has a big poster of ariana grande above her bed and often asked if she can go to an ariana grande concert. i can so easily imagine myself one of those parents. it's devastating. it's heartbreaking. sadly, this is something that we might have expected, not this particular event, but for the last year, terrorism experts, officials, obama administration officials, others, have been saying that as isis is squeezed and loses territory and weapons and financing in the middle east, people are going to come back as some of your reporting have said, but also they have been -- isis has been calling on people. supporters, well wishers,

i'm fareed zakaria. today on the show, we'll tackle the president's whirlwind trip. saudi arabia, israel, rome, brussels. the highlights, low lights and the scandals awaiting him back home. i have a terrific panel. >>> also, it's commencement season. and once again, there is a diversity that's absent on college campuses, the diversity of thought. i'll tell you about the silencing of conservative voices. >>> and deep into the heart of africa with one of its great modern-day western chroniclers. jeff gettleman has put the continent on the front page of "the new york times." why does he say he loves this much-misunderstood continent? >>> then, is science under attack under the trump administration? that's what many of the president's critics say. but superscientist brian greene just wants to make science cool again. and he's doing just that. >>> but first, here's my take. this week's bombing in manchester was another gruesome reminder that the threat from radical islamic terrorism is ongoing. and president trump's journey to the middle east illustrated yet again how the

welcome to all of you in the united states and around the world, i'm fareed zakaria. there's much to talk about this week with lots of news emanating from washington and around the world. later in the show i'll give you my take on trump, comey, mueller and the russia investigation. and i'll have a terrific panel to dig into those same issues. first i want to bring in my colleague, jim sciutto, cnn's chief national security correspondent, who is monitoring president trump's trip to the middle east as well as the iranian elections. >> thank you. >> again, i'll be back in a bit, but jim, what is the latest? >> we are awaiting the first big moment of the president's trip. he is set to deliver any moment now a speech about islam. and this is not just any american president speaking on islam, this is the president who told anderson cooper during the campaign that he thought islam hated america. he will do so in saudi arabia, the country that is home to islam's two most sacred places, mecca and medina, sending a message that we believe will differ sharply from his previous s

. >> i'm going to bring in fareed zakaria, host of "gps." can you weigh in? and we're going to talk about russia, by the way. and vladimir putin. but then going back to his base as if he needs to be -- to bolster his base and to reinforce. but he is -- and going become to that same well. but that doesn't help him move anything forward. those people will believe anything he says, even if it's not accurate. >> so if you say to yourself the gel of a presidency is to actually accomplish a series of big policy initiatives that you assign, set the agenda, get them through congress, sign the bill, yeah, you're absolutely right. but at some level, i have come to wonder whether the trump presidency is being defined by can he maintain attention? can he -- it's almost like a television program. can he keep the camera on him and that means constantly changing the story and letting out these little explosions and many of them simply are untrue. even, you know, one that didn't get as much attention. but he said i stopped calling china currency manipulator because they stop

let's bring in fareed zakaria host of "fareed zakaria gps."ed to do and he can change his mind. this comes does this do damage to -- who cares about friendships but just relationships abroad. >> well, it damages i think importantly america's leadership role in the world, the idea that when there are common collective problems, it is the united states that sets the agenda. this is powerfully helped america over the last 70 years because it means these solutions are crafted with america's interests first and foremost with america's ideas first and foremost. two of trump's advisers said there is no such thing as a global community. there are only nations struggling for advantage. that's not actually true because there there are a lot of global problems. think about it. if china pollutes all our air and atmosphere gets spoiled, if china dumps oceans of plastic into the ocean, it affects the whole world. that's why with those kinds of common global problems, climate change, disease, we've tried to craft global efforts because you don't want any one

i'm fareed zakaria, coming to you live from new york.he extraordinary events in washington this week. the director of the fbi, the man in charge of getting to the bottom of russian collusion in the american election, fired. is this a new watergate? we'll bring you the latest news and the best analysis on this unraveling tale. >> he was not doing a good job. >> also, jared kushner's sister was in

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. >>> joining me are fareed zakariah host of "fareed zakaria gps," and richardhaus, president of the n foreign relations and author of "a world in disarray: american disarray and the crisis of the world order." fareed, what has president trump achieved by saying the things he said about angela merkel just in the last couple of days? >> a lot of the behavior toward nato strikes me as not strategic. trump has nursed these grievances element since the 1980s. if you look at trump's writings, the few things he talked about when he talked about politics, there were two things. one, he thought that the -- he wanted to be protectionist. the japanese were ripping us off. later the chinese. but the second was our nato allies had been ripping us off, not paying their fair share. so this feels as though it's a long-held greechb that lon long-held grievance that he just can't stop himself from constantly expressing. even though it serves no real purpose. it doesn't help the united states. it doesn't help our strategy. it makes the west look divided. it invites people like putin to try to further d

welcome to all of you in the united states and around the world, i'm fareed zakaria.out this week with lots of news emanating from washington and around the world. later in the show i'll give you my take on trump, comey, mueller and the russia investigation. and i'll have a terrific panel to dig into those same issues. first i want to bring in my colleague, jim sciutto,

now we'll call on fareed zakaria. your ten minutes will go on the clock now. >> thank you all.nk you, roger. a great pleasure to be here. i have to confess i was nervous when i was told i would be up against neil ferguson. you know, i do not have his erudition, i could not have his objection forwar oxford degrees or the british accent. i thought he would have these extraordinary moments of eloquence. he began by quoting voltair. i'm a simple guy, i can't do all of that. i'm going to tell you a story. i'm going to tell ah story of how this liberal international order began, and it is an interesting story because it involves a canadian. about a year after pearl harbor franklin roosevelt decided that he wanted the try to figure out what kind of world the united states wanted to build at the end of world war ii. he already could see, believe it or not, that the united states would decisively win this war, and he didn't have somebody he could talk to and really trusted, except mackenzie king who was a confideante of his an he asked him to come to washington. they sat down at dinner.

. >> i want to bring in fareed zakaria. the president is tweeting about possibly cancelling briefings. what do you think? >> he's not going to cancel briefings. he in some ways the president i think almost the metric by which he judges himself is is he dominating the airwaves. there is this constant search to dominate the airwaves. i think it was doug brinkley said on reality tv the person who wins, it is the guy or girl who has the camera on them all the time. the metric should be are you getting anything done? i would point out to all his supporters, how has this week been for you? got any jobs back in rural michigan, rural pennsylvania, how is that infrastructure investment going, where are the taxes going, where is the health care reform going? none of that happens but he does dominate the airwaves. >> imagine the press was to decide for one day we're not going to cover donald trump, i think he would have a mental breakdown. >> it's a distraction. is he trying to move us on to something else? >> it's a distraction but i

i'm fareed zakaria, coming to you live from new york.e'll begin today's show with the extraordinary events in washington this week. the director of the fbi, the man in charge of getting to the bottom of russian collusion in the american election, fired. is this a new watergate? we'll bring you the latest news and the best analysis on this unraveling tale. >> he was not doing a good job. >> also, jared kushner's sister was in beijing last weekend selling a path to american citizenship for wealthy chinese. the real scandal is it's perfectly legal. meanwhile once the richest country in latin america, venezuela is on the brink of collapse or civil war. how did this happen? we'll tell you. but first here's my take. as regular viewers know, i have tried to evaluate donald trump's presidency fairly. i have praised him when he has appointed competent people to high office -- and he has -- and expressed support for his policies when they seem serious and sensible, even though this has drawn criticism from some quarters. but there has always been

. >>> joining me are fareed zakaria and richard haas and author of a world in disarray, american foreignolicy and the crisis of the old order. what does president trump achieve by saying the things he said about angela merkel? >> a lot of the behavior toward nato strikes me as not strategic. trump has nursed these grievances since the 1980s. if you look at trump's writings, the few things he talked about, he thought that the -- he wanted to be protectionist. the japanese were ripping us off. later the chinese. the second was that our nato allies have been ripping us off, not paying their fair share. this feels as though toes a long held grievance that he can't stop himself from constantly expressing. even though it serves no real purpose. it doesn't help the united states. it doesn't help our strategy. it makes the west look divided. it invites people like putin to try to further divide it. i don't think he is thinking it through. i think this is emotional reflex more than foreign policy. >> ambassador, you tweeted about this this morning saying the president's anti-german rhetoric is sh

he dug into science as he made the case today on fareed zakaria gps. >> the chemistry and physics onts everywhere in the universe. these elements are on the moon, on the sun, on other galaxies, we're not made of special ingredients but the same ingredients. to some people that's depressing but to me that's enlightening, you're the same as the universe. >> do you think there's life outside -- >> once you look at the numbers and the carbon, carbon based life because you can make tremendously complex molecules stringing together carbon at oms such as our dna. carbon is everywhere in the universe. look at the latest planet tally, rising through 3,000 planets nearby relative to the size of the galaxy and universe has been around for 13 billion years. once you look at these numbers, there's no excuse thinking that we're the only life on earth. that would be ego talking if that's how you said it. anyone who studied the problem recognizes the high likelihood it would be somewhere. we haven't found it yet but we have top people working on it. >> fascinating, right? be sure to catch gps each s

take it from my mate fareed zakaria. >> you guessed it, zero. >> president trump's order compmizes american values at what couldn't be a worse time. as some muslims leave conflict riddled areas of the middle east and end up in america, many land not in major cities but in the more affordable suburbs. and nowhere has seen this happen more than the detroit metro area. motown meet more muslims town. small towns are home to over 300,000 americans with routes in the middle east. and in deerborn one out of every three people are arabs, many of whom are muslims. and that stat makes the suburban community the scariest place in america? although, when we got there people were maybe a little more -- than normal. the election had happened just days before we arrived. i didn't know what to expect from the muslims there especially after trump's acceptance speech i had received a text from a good friend of my mine. so tell me what was going through your mind when you decided to text me and felt like a signal flair. >> i am so devastated, and when i texted you i was worried. >> yeah, about what specifical

a few minutes later fareed zakaria said the task of the media and the courts is to, quote, quite simplyspirit of american democracy. from everything you have seen and read are journalists exceeding and doing that? >> journalists are trying. this is a mighty challenge. i think journalists are doing it because they are attacking it at several points. you know, lester holt did it. on the right they wanted to say, oh, lester holt was interrupting the president. he was badgering him. no, he wasn't. again, he was pushing for clarification for exact language. did comey tell you you are not under investigation. every time you push trump that way he starts fudging. he starts obfuscating. that's the problem. we are living in this environment and the -- with the white house doing this, journalists are trying. i think lester holt did great work. look at the headlines that came out of it. the reason for the firing contradicted. you know, some said, oh, he didn't fact check enough. you could have 57 people sitting across from trump and you couldn't fact check him in real time in that interview. we ar

take it from my label mate, fareed zakaria. >> the number of americans killed by citizens of the seven countries banned from 1975 to 2015, you guessed it, zero. >> president trump's order compromises american values at what couldn't be a worse time. as some muslims leave conflict-riddled areas of the middle east and end up in america, many land not in major cities, but in the more affordable suburbs. and nowhere has seen this happen more than the detroit metro area. there, immigrants can join a muslim community that has been established since the early factory days of the ford motor company. motown meet mo muslims town. small towns in and around detroit like dearborn and hamtramick, americans with roots to the middle east. many of whom are muslim and for some people in america, that simple stat makes this sleepily suburban community the scariest place in america? although when we got there, people were maybe a little more woke than normal. the election had happened just days before we arrived. i didn't know what to expect from the muslims there. especially because moments after trump's

left the white house in quite the tail spin, gps' fareed zakaria's take. >> people that were likely dreading 5:00 hour by tehe end of the week, it seemed a new blockbuster story would come out right about that time. joining me to discuss is an all republican panel. all conservatives. brett stevens in pulitzer prize winning columnist now with the "new york times." george frum, ron kessler, a long-time investigative journalist, now author and opinion writer. where does this -- where do we stand in the investigation? how should we think about this? >> you should be prepared to accept that even if the most heinous version of the facts proves to be true, there may not be any crimes committed or any laws broken. it is illegal for an american obviously to participate in any kind of hack. it is illegal for an american to entice a foreigner to spend money or substantial resources on a federal political campaign. if those two things haven't happened, anything else that donald trump is thought to have done will probably turn out to be legally permissible. whether you think it's american or democratic,

i'll see you next week, i'm fareed zakaria. >>> happening now in the news room. >> we're chasing our tails as a nation when it comes to the russians. >> the cloud of russia hanging over the white house grows with allegations about the president's son-in-law, jared kushner. >> i can't confirm or deny whether they're accurate but if they are it's obviously very concerning. >> i know jared, he is a great guy, a decent guy, lot of different ways to communicate back channel publicly with other countries. i don't see any big issue here. >> i think jared has said that he is more than willing to answer any and all questions. >> my dashboard warning light was clearly on and i think that was the case with all of us. and we were very concerned about the nature of these approaches to the russians. >> "cnn news room" starts now. >>> hello, everyone, thank you for joining us, i'm fredricka whitfield. the president is back at the white house after his first trip overseas strategizing on how to quell the russia lieaks dominating the white house. an official said that president trump is likely to mee

welcome to all of you in the united states and around the world, i'm fareed zakaria. we'll start today's show with the french election. will populism win or will the center hold? >>> also, trump's quest for middle east peace. will it work? all that and much more with a terrific panel. >>> also, from a major bust to a sustained but slow boom. the u.s. economy, former fed chair ben bernanke gives me his take on where things stand and what the trump effect really will be. then, donald trump wants to make america great again. but neil degrasse tyson is on a quest to make america smart again. >> innovation in science and technology, in this century are the engines of tomorrow's economy. >> america's favorite scientist will reveal just the secrets of the universe to all of you. but first here's my take. there has been much focus on donald trump's erratic foreign policy. the outlandish positions, the many flip-flops, the outright mistakes. but far more damaging in the long run might be what some have termed the trump effect. the impact of donald trump on the domestic politic

. >> i want to bring in fareed zakaria. the president is tweeting about possibly cancelling briefings. what do you think? >> he's not going to cancel briefings. he in some ways the president i think almost the metric by which he judges himself is is he dominating the airwaves? there is this constant search to dominate the airwaves. i think it was doug brinkley said on reality tv the person who wins, it is the guy or girl who has the camera on them all the time. the metric should be are you getting anything done? i would point out to all his supporters, how has this week been for you? got any jobs back in rural michigan, rural pennsylvania, how is that infrastructure investment going, where are the taxes going, where is the health care reform going? none of that happens but he does dominate the airwaves. >> imagine the press was to decide for one day we're not going to cover donald trump, i think he would have a mental breakdown. >> it's a distraction. is he trying to move us on to something else? >> it's a distraction but i

. >> final question, do you agree with former cia director james woolsey who said to fareed zakaria it's hard to find someone in comey's shoes willing to operate under the current circumstances? >> i'll tell you, it's not the norm for the fbi agents association to come out publicly in the press as much as we're doing, and we feel very strongly that this is a very important decision that needs to be made, and that's why we're putting a voice to this. we want people to know that the fbi agents and the fbi agents executive board took a vote and it was unanimous by that board that we would back mike rodgers for this position. he's someone as i said has agent experience and we believe he can be completely apolitical and swear allegiance to that constitution to support it. >> thomas o'connor, thank you so much for being with us. thank you for your service, and i think it's very interesting, we can read between the lines of what you are willing to say and not willing to say. >> and not answer, exactly. thank you. >> appreciate it, sir. >> thank you very much. >>> all kinds of reports this weeke

i'm fareed zakaria. today on the show, we'll tackle the president's whirlwind trip.rome, brussels. the highlights, low lights and the scandals awaiting him back home. i have a terrific panel. >>> also, it's commencement season. and once again, there is a diversity that's absent on college campuses, the diversity of thought. i'll tell you about the silencing of conservative voices. >>> and deep into the heart of africa with one

joining me is fareed zakaria and dave gergen.id, i want to get your reaction on this new reporting from cnn about michael flynn and the russians. >> anderson, it may be some innocent explanation. what we are seeing is pieces of a puzzle continue to fall into place. there's a pattern here that michael flynn right from the beginning has been -- been very close to the russians. we didn't know what those conversations were about. what we're learning tonight suggests that they were -- that our intelligence folks were really worried about what he was doing well before he became the national security adviser. suggests that's the reason -- i think i've been told this before -- that president obama warned off incoming president trump about hiring him. now he is central to trying to understand what the -- was there collusion? this suggests there was more collusion than we thought and there is more evidence building up. it's not dispositive. it doesn't settle things. it's still early. i will tell you this, that it also -- for a long time we

fareed zakaria will be back with you next week. "reliable sources" with brian stelter starts right now. >>> hello, everyone, i'm john berman in for brian stelter. it is time for "reliable sources." this is our weekly look at the story behind the story. how the media really works, how the news gets made. this hour maybe you're suffering from political whiplash or news fatigue after a relentless string of political bombshells kicked off an old-fashioned newspaper war. we'll explore why it's not only good for journalism, but also good for democracy. and how is conservative media responding? i'm going to ask one of the nation's top conservative editors if the trump white house is in crisis or under attack. but first, you've been watching president trump just gave his first major international speech moments ago in saudi arabia. he focused on islamic extremism. but the focus here at home has been on all the news leaking out of the white house the last week. and it was a dizzying week. joining me now to help put this in perspective, lege

and it -- as susan rice herself said to fareed zakaria, it was a separate and much more elaborate check than a security clearance. it gets into financial information, your relationships and it gets into your behavior. >> here's the thing. if just having a security clearance is all the vetting you need to be national security adviser, then today 1.5 million americans could be national security advisers. there are more than a million who has top secret security clearances. when you go into those senior administrations, they put you to a higher stand. keep in mine, flynn was not new to them. he'd been a very vocal spokes person for trump. but let's put that aside. because if obama came do him on november 10th and said you really shouldn't trust flynn, you may understand does trump trust obama's recommendation? that's fine. and sean spicer said there we didn't know what the background was, why they felt that. on january 26th, sally yates, the acting attorney general and the trump administration goes to the white house counsel and tells them why, exactly why she's concerned about flynn. beca

. >> fareed zakaria, thank you. time to hand things over to don lemon and "cnn tonight." >>> this is cnn breaking news. >> we have breaking news for you, two major stories. the polls, while they're just closing in a race that everybody is watching right now, the race that got a reporter body slammed and a candidate charged with assault. and there's a major new development in the russia investigation to tell you about as well. this is "cnn tonight." i'm don almostlemon. all eyes on montana and the special election in the state to fill its open seat in the u.s. house of representatives. democrat rob quist runni ning against republican greg gianforte charged with misdemeanor assault allegedly body slamming a "guardian" reporter just last night. >> speak with shane, please. >> but you -- >> sick and tired of you guys. the last guy who came in here did the same thing. get the hell out of here. >> jesus. >> get the hell out of here. >> we should tell you that the reporter is live with us in just a moment. you're going to

fareed zakaria, that filters through. that 16 for democrats becomes plus 20 if house republicans didn't wake up soon. >> that would fundamentally change politics of the country. democrats controlling branches of conditioning they are able to do investigations they want against this president up until 2020 on. using the phrase independent prosecutor and independent commission interchangeably, seems it me different. independent would put the focus on intelligence investigation, what was happening by russians. independent prosecutor, the legal action of the white house. >> the latest on the fired fbi director james comey. president trump insists he did not ask the man investigating his administration to pledge loyalty to him but it d not be out of bounds if he did. >> apparently "the new york times" is selling that you asked comey whether or not you had his loyalty was possibly inappropriate. could you see -- >> i read that article. i don't think it's inappropriate. >> did you ask that question? >> no. no, i didn't. i don't