United States State Department . Also, the republicans say they are simplifying the tax code. Really . Well show you some countries where taxes are as easy as 1, 2, 3. Global lessons on taxes. We will give the American People a big, beautiful christmas present. And muslims and mexicans. Trump has repeatedly demeaned both groups, but now other americans are feeling uncomfortable. Conservative Foreign Policy scholar, max boothe tells us, why he feels he doesnt belong any more. Donald trump is making me feel like a foreigner for the first time in my life. But first, heres my take. Watching the republican tax plan race through congress, one is reminded of a big apparent difference between Donald Trumps program and other populist movements in the western world. In america, trump is leading something that is best described as pluto accuratic populism. A mixture of traditional populist causes with extreme libertarian ones. Congress own think tanks, the joint committee on taxation and Congressional Budget Office calculate that in ten years people making between 50,000 and 75,000 a year around the Median Income in america would effectively pay a whopping 4 billion more in taxes. While people making 1 million or more would pay 5. 8 billion less, according to an analysis of the senate bill before its lastminute changes. And that doesnt take into account the massive cuts in services, health care and other benefits that would likely result. Martin wolf, the sober and factbased chief economics commentator for the Financial Times concludes, this is a determined effort to shift resources from the bottom, middle and even upper middle of the u. S. Income distribution toward the very top. Combined with big increases in economic insecurity for the great majority. Wolfe says the real puzzle is why this is a politically successful strategy. The Republican Party is pursuing an economic agenda afor the. 1 , but needs to win the votes of the majority. Berkeley political scientist, paul pearson, argues that trump entered office with a set of ideas and no real organization. Thus his administration was ripe for takeover by the most ardent, organized party, the libertarian wing. Nurtured and built up, this group of conservatives decided to ally with the Trump Administration to enact its longstanding agenda. So is it that the Republican Party is cleverly and successfully hoodwinking its supporters, promising them populism and then enacting pluto accuratic capitalism . Many argued republicans have been able to work this by tangling social issues in front of workingclass voters who fall for the bait and lose sight of the fact they are voting against their own interests. But what if people are not being fooled . What if people are actually motivated far more deeply by issues surrounding religion, race and culture than they are by economics . Theres increasing evidence that trumps base support, because it feels a deep, emotional, cultural and class affinity for him. And while the tax bill is being analyzed by economists, trump picks fights with black athletes, retweets misleading anti Muslim Videos and promises never to yield on immigration. Perhaps he knows his base better than we do. In fact, trumps populism might not be as unique as its made out to be. Polling from europe suggests the core issues motivating people to support brexit or the far right parties in france and germany and even the populist parties of Eastern Europe are cultural and social. The most important revolution in economics in the last generation has been the rise of the behavioral scientists trained in psychology who are finding that people systematically make decisions that are against their own interests. This might be the tip of the iceberg in understanding human motivation. The real story might be that people see their own interests in much more emotional and tribal way than scholars understand. What if in the eyes of a large group of americans, these other issues are the ones for which they will stand up, protest, support politicians, vote and even pay an economic price . What if, for many people in america, and around the world, these are their true interests . For more, go to cnn. Com fareed and read my Washington Post column this week. And lets get started. Mome from Michael Flynns guilty plea to big question marks at the state department, lots to talk about this morning on gps, well get right to it. David stanger National Security correspondent for New York Times. And a columnist at time and julia yoffe, staff writer at the lan tibatlantic. David, where do we stand now . If you looked in february, the white house said basically, we had no contact with the russians. Where are we now . Well, fareed, since february, weve discovered at least nine members of the Trump Transition Team, or their the campaign who did have contact with the russians. We found probably more than 30 contacts. So the initial story has sort of fallen apart. The early story about michael flynn, the former director of the Defense Intelligence agency, who then moved into the inner circle of the Trump Campaign and became National Security adviser for 25 days, his contacts are particularly fascinating. We were told initially that his conversations with ambassador kislyak, the Russian Ambassador at the time to the United States, amounted to holiday greetings. That seemed improbable, since they took place the day of and the day after president obama put sanctions on russia for the election meddling. We now know from the guilty plea that, in fact, they discussed the sanctions and the suggestion seems to be though we dont know the details of that discussion yet, that what he was doing was essentially saying, hold on. Dont retaliate. Well take care of this once we come into office. Now, the question is, why would he lie about this . And why would you actually make promises to a Foreign Government before you are in office . The right answer would have been, we hear your concerns, mr. Ambassador, and were happy to take it up with you at 12 30 p. M. On january 20th, but we cant until that time. And so now the question is, who else knows, and as we reported in the times today, my colleagues reported that, in fact, there were many others who were consulted about these interactions with ambassador kislyak. And as you said, you know, why does everybody keep lying about this if its all very harmless. Julia, again, big picture. Remind us, why is it that the Trump Administration seems to have been trying to be nice to the russians . Isnt that sort of the question is, all these moves seem to be moves to tell the russians, you know, hold off, were going to try and relax sanctions on you, were going to try and have a different relationship with you. And presumably, at least, many people have said, this is all because trump was in some way being assisted by the russians. We dont have any proof yet on that first piece of the story. Thats right. I think that is the however, you know, 100 million question, 64,000 question. That is the question. And there is still a lot we dont know. We know why the russians were reaching out to the Trump Campaign repeatedly and in many different ways, which is also very classic, right . You have lots of different kind of efforts going out, lots of tentacles reaching toward the Trump Campaign. Which is totally understandable. Because you had trump talking about how he wanted to respect russia and get along with russia, how he thought putin was a great and strong leader. That he wanted to pull the u. S. Back off the world stage, which is great for russia, because russia wants to expand its presence on the world stage. So the more of a vacuum the u. S. Creates for it in places like the middle east, the better. So its its understandable why the russians were reaching out. The question we dont know the answer to yet is why the Trump Campaign seems so eager to or the Trump Transition Team seems so eager to reach back out. What were the russians offering to them . And, you know, other things we have no explanation for yet is why jared kushner, for example, was asking the Russian Ambassador to set up a secret secure channel from the Russian Embassy in washington to moscow. And it was the Russian Ambassador that said no. Our equipment is a little too sensitive. What is your reaction to the flynn business . First of all, we know one reason why the Trump Administration the Trump Campaign, was so interested in trying to work with the russians. Thats because Paul Manafort was actually on the payroll of the oligarchs close to the kremlin. Leaving that aside, i think jared is in real trouble here. At the time these conversations were happening between flynn and the Russian Ambassador, jared was in charge of Foreign Policy for the Trump Administration. For the trump team. He was the one that was approving every meeting that trump would or would not have with a head of state. He was the one that was determining Foreign Policy direction. So it begs credulity he would not have been aware of what he was discussing with kislyak. And if flynn was saying, hey, were going to make sure these sanctions come off, i think jared was absolutely a part of that. Theres no way were not going to find that out. Now, i dont think thats collusion. For me, you know, collusion implies that trump and putin were actually in some way working together to try to swing the election an illegitimate way. I dont see that. But i do see breath taking, staggering incompetencies. I think jared had no idea what he was doing was potentially problematic for awhat an administration would look like and there were no adults around them in the room. The carter pages, the papadopouloss. The people advising donald trump were the d list, because nobody thought they had a chance. So as a consequence, a whole bunch of things that would have raised the antennas of richard haass, who would say, wait a second, this just isnt done, those people werent around trump. And then you see his lying about it. The coverup is whats going to get them in an enormous amount of trouble. Weve got to take a break. Stay right here. We will be back to talk about everything else. Secretary tillerson, north korea, everything we can fit in. Hi. Im the one clocking in when youre clocking out. Sensing your every move and automatically adjusting to help you stay effortlessly comfortable. I can even help with a silent night. Does your bed do that . I dont actually talk but i can tell you how you slept. Im the new sleep number 360 smart bed. Lets meet at a sleep number store. toots but you know its you. So know this. The activated charcoal in charco caps adsorbs gas for fast gas relief without passing the gas. Charco caps put less boom in the room. [ click ] [ keyboard clacking ] [ clacking continues ] good questions lead to good answers. Our advisors can help you find both. Talk to one today and see why were bullish on the future. Yours. Talk to one today and see why were bullish on the future. Our recent online sales success seems a little. Strange . Nk na. Ever since we switched to fedex ground business has been great. Theyre affordable and fast. Maybe too affordable and fast. What if. People arent buying these books online, but they are buying them to protect their secrets . . hi bill. If that is your real name. Its william actually. Hmph affordable, fast fedex ground. Gives skin the moisture it needs and keeps it there longer with lockin Moisture Technology skin is petal smooth after all, a cleansers just a cleanser unless its olay. And we are back with david sanger, ian bremer and julia yoffe. We could talk about flynn forever, but lets get to real substance, by which i mean, north korea, Foreign Policy substance. Tell me what the significance of this missile test was . Because what i i looked at it, and it seemed like an old soviet ss18. And its not entirely clear that the rocket was able to reenter. You know, these things often burn out in reentry. So given all that, and given that the soviet the ss18 is what is it, 35, 40 years old. Thats right. Why is this a big deal . Well, the first thing, fareed, is we didnt really see this big almost ss18 coming. The pace of the north Korean Missile capability has been so rapid over the past year, that it raises the question, why didnt we see more of this, why wasnt there more warning . But also, are they getting help or are they doing this entirely indigenously. Presumably has to be from the russians, right . Nobody else could do this. Certainly, the design of the engine that we saw there appeared to be a russian design. Came initially from a ukrainian factory that was active when the soviet union was still around. Hasnt made those in a long time. There are a lot of questions about how the North Koreans got that engine. So the rocket itself went off in a relatively successful test. There are a lot of questions about whether or not the warhead burned up on reentry. That wouldnt be strange. Because the United States had a lot of warheads burn up on reentry when we were first getting into this business in the 1950s. But what it does tell you, fareed, is theyll figure this out. You know, we often say, this isnt rocket science. This is rocket science. But its wellknown rocket science. So i think that theyll get there. The bigger significance, though, i think is this, fareed. There are nu their Nuclear Capability and ability to reach the United States is just about there. So this game is pretty much over. And that really changes and limits the choices the president has, including whether or not he wants to try to shoot one of these down, if its approaching american territory, whether he wants to go do a preemptive strike, or whether, as i suspect, well just end up living with it. Julia, at a time like this where you have this huge crisis, it seems an odd thing to have a changeover at state to sideline or fire rex tillerson, and in any case, tillerson doesnt seem to be able to function. And he doesnt have a point man for east asia or point woman for east asia. He seems intent on getting the state department, driving out the most senior, most experienced diplomats, who will take decades to replace to get people up to snuff. If we ever get another chance to restaff these positions. But i think also, its a weird time to keep knocking the iran nuclear agreement. Because if youre north korea, and you see that, okay, one country decided to put a halt on its Nuclear Capabilities or developing their Nuclear Capabilities, to what end . To constantly have that agreement undermined, rattled. You look atlibya and moammar gadhafi, gave up his nukes and was essentially lynched. If im north korea, im not going to come to the table. Im not going to agree to give up anything. Because i have no guarantees, because this administration is completely untrustworthy. Tillerson at state. Do you think hes out . What happens next . I think he will be out. I think perhaps he would have been out already, if it wasnt for the flynn revelations. But after that occurred, be i think trump wanted to in a fit, say no, no, you guys are fake news. Clearly, he doesnt have a functional relationship. Not only with President Trump himself, but at this point even secretary of defense mattis, even National Security adviser master have been calling for his ouster. I think on the north korea issue, the fact is, we cant take trump seriously or literally at this point. He said that the North Koreans would be stopped before they had the opportunity to develop a Ballistic Missile that could hit the continental United States. They now have one that clearly could hit washington, d. C. Not credible. And thats okay. He used to say that the mexicans were going to pay for a wall. Said it every day. He doesnt say that any more. I think we should take comfort in the fact that he says stuff, but the reality is that there are now engaged diplomacy between the chinese that are relatively highlevel in the North Koreans. The south koreaens are looking for a freeze for test, freeze for exercise with the United States. And i think which would be a complete reversal of trumps rhetoric, as you say, which was unyielding, denukization of north korea or nothing. If there is any president we have seen in modern times that can do a 180 on National Security, its President Trump. And he may not have much of a choice if the chinese, south koreans and North Koreans are. And end up right where he started. David sanger, we have 30 seconds. And i just want to ask you about the move of the u. S. Embassy to jerusalem. For now what we have is splitting the difference, hes going to recognize jerusalem, but not move the embassy. Does it change anything . Well, it wont change much on the ground, fareed. But it could end up being another huge provocation. And one in a region that has seen a lot of those and a lot of instability. And the question is, what do you buy from making this statement, other than making your base happy . If, in fact, it does lead to protests, attacks, or even the presumption of anent fatta. So a base policy that extended into a Foreign Policy where you have a piece of Foreign Policy that has no practical effect other than a symbolic reassurance to the base. Thank you all very much. Fascinating conversation. We will have to do it again soon. Next on gps another big thing in washington this week. The Senate Passed a tax bill instead of simplifying things in many ways it complex mys the tax code. We will get global lessons on how to really simplify taxes. There is a lot for america to learn from many countries, which have much simpler tax codes. Remember how the economic crash was supposed to be a wake up call for our government . People all across the country lost their savings, their pensions and their jobs. Im tom steyer and it turned out that the system that had benefited people like me who are well off, was, in fact, stacked against everyone else. Its why i left my Investment Firm and resolved to use my savings for the public good. But here we are nine years later and this president and the Republican Congress are making a bad situation even worse. They wont tell you that their so called tax reform plan is really for the wealthy and big corporations, while hurting the middle class. It blows up the deficit and that means fewer investments in education, health care and job creation. Its up to all of us to stand up to this president. Not just for impeachable offenses, but also to demand a country where everyone has a real chance to succeed. Join us. Your voice matters. [narrator] custom ink tshirts have this incredible power to bring people together for families, school groups, reunions, and Companies Big and small. So for your next gathering or event, visit customink. Com. Our design lab has tons of fonts, colors, and amazing artwork to choose from. You can even upload your own logo, and well help make it perfect. Check out our huge selection of custom tshirts and more. Youll even get free shipping. Get started today at customink. Com. Youll even get free shipping. When sundown pales the sky i want to hide a while behind your smile ah, but i may as well try and catch the wind our mission is to make offshore wind one of the principle new sources of energy. Not every bank is willing to get involved in a first of its kind project. Citi saw the promise of clean energy. Were polluting the air less. Businesses and homes can rely on a steady source of power. This will be the first of many offshore wind farms in the u. S. For standing in your heart is where i want to be and long to be ah, but i may as well try and catch the wind wifiso if you cant live without it. T it. Why arent you using this guy . It makes your wifi awesomely fast. No. Still nope. Now were talking it gets you wifi here, here, and here. It even lets you take a time out. No no yes yes, indeed. Amazing speed, coverage and control. All with an xfi gateway. Find your awesome, and change the way you wifi. Now for our what in the world segment. In the early 1980s, the United States dispatched two officials to new zealand on a crucial informationgathering mission. What they learned there paved the way for one of Ronald Reagans crowning achievements. Tax reform. But as republicans strive for tax reform once again, they are missing most of the key tax lessons from that reform and other countries. So we at gps thought we would do our own informationgathering mission, but then we found someone who had already done it and just wrote a fun, terrific book on the subject, if you can believe it. So we decided to bring him on instead. T. R. Reid is the author of a fine mess about taxes around the world. So the big takeaway i got from your book is, in most countries, in many, many countries in the advanced industrial world, paying your taxes is very simple, easy and does not take a lot of time. Absolutely. So the irs says an average family in america spends about 30 hours gathering the data and filling out the forms. They pay on average 260 bucks to somebody to do their tax return. Get this, in neglecter hands, 15 minutes to do your federal and state taxes. In britain and japan, it takes one minute. The government sends you a card, says we think you owe this much, if it looks right, youre done. My friend togo i went to japan to research this book, and i said, geez, togo, in america, people spend hours gathering data and filling out forms. And he said to me, why would anybody want to do that . And what was it you noticed about these places . For one thing, their versions of the irs are respected, very competent, right . Absolutely. You know, the irs tells its employees, dont tell people where you work at a cocktail party. Just say im a government employee. In other countries, the irs, they have blazers with badges. They have baseball caps. In chile, the irs has a mascot. His name is evo, which means valueadded tax in spanish. And evo goes around to schools and shopping malls, and he says, [ speaking in spanish ] theyre awesome, these taxes. They build hospitals. They build schools. In japan, the best movie, best director, best actress, was won by a film called Audit Bureau Woman in which this very cute woman, kind of the meg ryan of japan, plays an audit bureau tax auditor who chases a famous tax evader and nails him. And when she nails him, everybody cheers. Now, the key to being able to do this kind of very simple taxes, it seems to me, looking at these places and looking at your book, is you have simple rates, not too many. Yes. Very few deductions, credits. Very little of the kind of the special gizmos, giveaways to special interests. And you can see that in the fact that the tax code in most of these countries is much shorter than in the United States. The United States tax code, with irs rulings, is 75,000 pages long. Yeah. Ive seen european tax codes that are a few hundred pages. I asked if anybody at the irs has read the whole tax code. He laughed at me. The very idea. In other countries, heres what they say. They say, hey, you want to get a mortgage on your house, thats fine. But were not giving you a tax break for it. You want to give a contribution to charity, great, were all for it. Were not giving you a tax break. You want to put a solar array on your roof, go for it. But you dont get a tax break. If you do that, fareed, you get a much simpler return, and you can make the rates much lower. You can collect the same revenue with much lower rates if the rates are lower, two things happen. Compliance goes up. People are more willing to pay. And its not in your interest to hire a lawyer and a accountant to dodge the tax. Just pay it. Ive always thought one of the reasons our tax code is so complicated is that Congress Raises money for its reelection. Congressmen. And what they have they have to sell something. And what theyre giving their contributors are special favors in the tax code. You know, it feels like so many of these are so specific. For example, commercial real estate has this bonanza of specific tax breaks designed only for commercial real estate. Yeah. And you know, they never tell you who really gets it. There is a giveaway in the tax code for any Manufacturing Company incorporated in delaware on june 16th of 1913. That would be general motors. But they dont tell you who got the benefit. And the congressman from michigan put that one in. When i look at this tax reform bill, it seems to violate almost all of the lessons in your book, because it actually complexifies the code. So many distinctions between partnerships and passthrough entities. It doesnt really get rid of many deductions. It doesnt seem to move us toward that kind of simpler, fairer system. Well, thats true. But there is some good stuff in this bill. They do get rid of some really some of the really stupid exemptions and credits. I make fun of in my book. For example, if you buy 138,000 bmw, hybrid, made in germany, the government gives you 7500 tax credit. They got rid of that. Doubling the standard deduction for ordinary taxpaying families, that will simplify the taxes. So i think there is some good stuff in this bill. But if you buy an office building, then then you can deduct 90 of the interest. You can depreciate it. When you sell it, you never have to pay taxes. And since the state taxes go away, your children never pay. So the main takeaway i get from this tax bill is go into commercial real estate like donald trump. Yeah. Donald trump is going to make out great on this bill. Just eliminating the estate tax will save the trump family about 1 billion. Not bad deal. Pleasure to have you on. Great to be on. Thanks. Next on gps, President Trumps antiiran rhetoric and actions have united the Islamic Republic in a way not seen in many years. That is according to a striking report by the New York Times. Were joined from tehran when we come back. Senior european diplomats spent time in the American Capital this week working to convince congress the u. S. Should not try to order the nuclear deal with iran. Meanwhile, at the white house, President Trump has fully endorsed a saudiled strategy to oppose iran at every turn, supporting riyadhs war in yemen and isolation of qatar for that countrys ties with iran. What has been the effect of trumps strategy in iran . The New York Times joins us with some startling reporting. Pleasure to have you on. You talked to people in iran to try to understand what the mood is like, and describe what you found. Well, fareed, thanks for having me. Ive been reporting from iran for the last 16 years. And in that period, iran and iranians have always been cynical about their leaders, if you will. A lot of people will remember the green revolution here in 2009, when millions of people took to the streets and this has left their mark on iranians. But this has all changed. In the last months. And this has particularly changed, because of President Trump, and also because of the Saudi Crown Prince and his moves against iran. Iranians are feeling increasingly nationalistic. They are suddenly viewing the hard liners that they saw as a destabilizing force for a long time almost as protectors of the country. Then the other thing what is happening is, of course, President Trumps remarks about nuclear agreement. A lot of middle class iranians have supported the United States, have supported iran in making this nuclear compromise, because they want what all people across the world want. Peace, stability and prosperity. Now they see President Trump talking about cancelling this agreement. And they listen to their hard liners. And their hard liners say, weve always told you, america cannot be trusted. And a lot of people are now saying, hmmm, maybe these hard liners are right. Do you when you look at this scenario, do you think that there is a danger of some kind of hot war between iran and saudi arabia . Can this all spiral out of control, or are the iranians being fairly cautious . Well, the iranian leaders have been really cautious. You might have noticed it. While there have been missile tests from north korea, in iran in the recent months, there hasnt been a single missile test. So its clearly decisions have been taken not to put more fuel on the fire. At the same time, the iranians are seeing the saudis spending a lot of money in towards loving groups in the United States, working on media. Making reforms back home, even. In order to also improve their image abroad, if you will, and also make iran look bad in some cases. So there is a growing worry that there might be an escalation with the saudis. At the same time, a lot of people are saying, saudis, yes, they buy a lot of american weapons. But they havent been able to achieve very much with those weapons in yemen. So people arent very impressed with the saudi military machine. But at the same time, this could lead to more sanctions, especially if the United States and saudi continue to grow more closer to each other. And more sanctions will, of course, mean more economic problems for iran and more problems for irans leaders. How does the iranian media in your conversations with iranians, how do they respond to donald trump . Well, overall, many people view President Trump as an instable person, someone who is out there to destabilize the United States. But also as someone who is potentially very dangerous. Because he is very erratic. And that is another characteristic, the difference the current u. S. President from irans leaders the way iranians view it. Because for a long time, iran was the unpredictable country in the region. Now iranians, at least, feel as if the United States is the unpredictable country. And you never know what an unpredictable country and an unpredictable leader might do. So they they make jokes of donald trump. As you will see in many places. Also in the United States. But at the same time, they are afraid of what he can do. Pleasure to have you on, as always. Thanks, fareed. Up next from ending protections for d. R. E. A. M. Ers to this weeks retweets of virulently anti Muslim Videos, donald trump is clearly trying to make muslims and mexicans uncomfortable. But hes making others quite nervous, as well. A fascinating human story, up next. President trumps retweets this week, instilling fear in the hearts of muslims and america, his anti muslim rhetoric troubling to those south of the border. His decision to terminate the daca program, which protected as many as 800,000 undocumented immigrants brought to america as minors is disturbing to socalled d. R. E. A. M. Ers who face deportation. But those affected are far from the only ones who are chilled by the president s language and actions. For instance, americans like my next guest, max boot. Hes one of to dos most celebrated scholars of military afirst. He has a book about the vietnam war called the road not taken, a staunch conservative, he advised john mccain during h200 president ial campaign and David Petraeus during the surge in iraq. But it was a personal essay that he wrote recently that inspired me to ask him to come on gps again and talk about it. So, max, i listed your very impressive credentials. Thanks for the nice buildup. And your very americansounding name. Yes. Because you began that essay by saying people who know you professionally and know your books, know your writing, know your appearances, they think of you as a regular allamerican guy. But, in fact, you came to america when you were 6 years old as a russian immigrant who couldnt speak a word of english. Correct. And i thought i had done a reasonably good job of assimilating. I dont have an accent. Theres no obvious tipoff that i wasnt born around these parts. But the essay that i wrote was really about the fact that donald trump is making me feel like a foreigner for the first time in my life. And what i have always thought of as my very own country. But hes making me feel like an outsider, a russian, a jew, an immigrant, anything but kind of a normal mainstream american, because of the way that he is dividing us and seems to be catering to this White Nationalist agenda. I dont think ive ever seen a sentence of yours that started as saying, as a russian, a jew. You have never used your identity to advance yourself or in some way color your commentary. But now you feel like you know, you feel that identity more acutely, because youre suddenly being told. Thats how i wanted to find you. Well, thats very much the message im getting from trump. You know, when he is refusing to unequivocally condemn the White Supremacists in charlottesville. When hes pardoning the racist former sheriff joe arpaio. And when hes deporting potentially 800,000 d. R. E. A. M. Ers from this country, it feels like there is an us and a them. And im not a part of the us any more, somehow, even though i always thought i was. You know, its i think that is one of the most pernicious consequences of these trump policies. Just to give you one data point. I mean, ive lived in this country for more than 40 years now. And i have never really been exposed to any kind of sustained antisemitism until last year when all of a sudden simply because im opposing donald trump, im getting deluged with antisemitic filth online. And i was hardly alone in this. Almost anybody who had any vaguely jewishsounding name was on the receiving end of this hatred. Which presumably has been out there in the past, but it just feels like trump has given a license for these people to come out of the woodwork and to express their views more openly in a way they did not do before. When you came here, you didnt speak english. Do you have memories of at that very young age trying to assimilate what it felt like . I was somebody who was eager to assimilate i, you know, wanted to shed my foreign identity and become an american. And as a result of that, you know, for better for worse, i dont speak russian today. I dont have any real ties to russia. I mean, i feel very american. I feel this is the only country ive ever known. And yet at the same time, im just taken aback by understanding that theres 800,000 d. R. E. A. M. Ers out there, and for them its also the only country they have ever known. And it just you know, its very chilling for me to try to put myself into their shoes and think about what would happen in my case. I mean, im 48 years old. What happens if i get deported to russia, a land i dont know, a language i dont speak, people i have never met, and forced to survive there . And especially with the threat, presumably, of political persecution, since i have been less than a fan of Vladimir Putin and his government. But for me, thats a theoretical concern, because my parents received refugee status, and i became a citizen. So im not worried in my case that im actually going to get kicked out of this country. But for 800,000 individuals, its just its a terrifying prospect. And now they have to wait and see if republicans in congress will somehow resist the sentiments in their own party to give some protection. Which i certainly hope would happen. But its something that they would have to be extremely worried about right now. And i think we should all be worried about that, the larger point youre making. What does it do to the character of the country, to not just the 800,000, but to the other 300 odd million of us . Exactly. And its especially chilling to hear people like steve bannon and steve miller with bannon having been one of the most influential people in the white house, and miller still there, and theyre saying, were not a nation of immigrants. I mean, miller is saying repudiating the poem about giving me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses. Theyre saying, no, thats not what were about. I beg to differ. This is the country ive another, this is the country most of us have known, and this is what america has been about for well over 200 years. And it seems to me that these guys, with Donald Trumps acquiescence and sometimes act of support are bent on this radical project of redefining american idolty in these White Nationalist terms, which i think are very threatening to everybody. It should be threatening to everybody, even if youre actually a wasp, you should be threatening but doubly threatening if youre not a wasp. Pleasure to have you on. Thank you. And we will be back. Remember how the economic crash was supposed to be a wake up call for our government . People all across the country lost their savings, their pensions and their jobs. Im tom steyer and it turned out that the system that had benefited people like me who are well off, was, in fact, stacked against everyone else. Its why i left my Investment Firm and resolved to use my savings for the public good. But here we are nine years later and this president and the Republican Congress are making a bad situation even worse. They wont tell you that their so called tax reform plan is really for the wealthy and big corporations, while hurting the middle class. It blows up the deficit and that means fewer investments in education, health care and job creation. Its up to all of us to stand up to this president. Not just for impeachable offenses, but also to demand a country where everyone has a real chance to succeed. Join us. Your voice matters. Allow you to take advantage of growth opportunities. With a level of protection in down markets. So you can head into retirement with confidence. Brighthouse financial established by metlife. After feasting on turkey during thanksgiving last week, millions of americans feasted on steep discounts at stores and online. And it brings me to my question. Which shopping holiday has the highest online sales worldwide in 2017. Black friday, cybermonday, amazon prime day or singles day . Stay tuned and well tell you the correct answer. This weeks book of the week is tina browns vanity fairs diaries. We all know that tina brown is a great editor. It turns out she is also a great writer. Vividly describing what it was like to live at the center of the roaring 80s. She writes honestly about her ambitions, fears, hopes, loves and losses. I found these diaries compulsively readable. The answer to my gps challenge question this week is, d. , singles day. That is the unusual holiday that china celebrates every november. It is chinas version of black friday. And on that day, a single chinese online retailer, alibaba, blew its competition away with 25 billion in sales. Compare that to these figures from all online retailers on other capitalist holidays. 6. 6 billion on cybermonday, for example, and 5 billion on black friday in 2017. Singles day is celebrated on november 11th. 11 11 or 1111. And it took on special significance in 2011. That was, of course, 11 11 11. Lots of singles. Athanks for being part of my program this week. Hey, im brian stelter. Its time for reliable sources. Is this is our weekly look at the story behind the story. How the media really works. And how the news gets made. Right now, the news is overwhelming. Confusing. And sometimes frightening. Four of President Trumps associates have now been charged by special counsel, robert mueller. Michael flynn, as of friday, has admitted to committing a crime while working in the white house. Meantime, the president is attacking the fbi, and trying to discredit the mueller probe. His media allies working
vimarsana.com © 2020. All Rights Reserved.