And president bush doesnt believe the report on climate change. How can that be . And Government Agencies being waged by the men and women who lead them. But first, heres my take. There is a fair amount of nostalgia for the establish meblt that bush was a prominent member. There is a heated debate about that establishment whose membership was determined largely by blood lines and connections. You had to be a white anglosaxon protestant to ascend to any power of position in america. Sure think is nothing good to say about a system that was so discriminatory toward everyone else. It was horribly bigoted and segregationist and exclusionariy at its best the old government did have a sense of modesty and humility and public spiritedness that seems absent in todays elite m of bushs greatest moments, the handling of fall of communism, the decision not to occupy iraq after the first gulf war, the acceptance of tax increases after the deficit were marked by restraint and ability to do the right thing despite enormous pressure to pander to public opinion. But and heres the problem, it is likely that these wasp virtues flowed from that era elite. The aristocracy was quite secure in its power and position so it could afford to think about the countrys fate in broad terms because its own interest was assured. If you think at this point im painting the fantasy of a world that never existed, let me give you one vivid example. On its Maiden Voyage the titanics first class cabins were filled with, as it became clear, something striking took place. The men in first class let women and children board the boats. About 95 of the women and children in first class were saved compared to about 30 of the men in first class. Why of course the first class passengers probably had easier access to the boats, the point remains some of the worlds most powerful men followed an unwritten code of conduct even though it meant certain death for them. Todays elites are chosen in a much more open democratic manner, largely through education. Those who do well on tests get into good colleges and good graduate schools, then they get the best jobs and so on. But their power flows from this treadmill of achievement so theyre constantly moving, looking out for their own survival and success. Their actions perhaps more selfinterested. Most damagingly, they believe their status is legitimate. They lack some of the sense of the old establishment that they were accidently privileged from birth. So the old constraints have vanished. At Donald Trumps rallies a common refrain is his attack on todays elites. They talk about the elite. Do you ever see the elite . Theyre not elite. Youre an elite. Trump has found a genuine vein of disgust at the way theyre perceived and treated by their more successful countrymen. Todays elites should be more aware of their privilege and at least live by one simple oldfashioned universal idea, rich or poor, talented or not, educated or uneducated every human being has equal moral worth. For more go to cnn. Com fareed and read my the Washington Post column this week. And lets get started. For weeks now france has been shaken by unrest. The yellow vests have been rioting, setting fires, drawing graffiti and more on the streets of paris. These are in protest of rising fuel prices. Among other demands, however, is the resignation of macron himself. We will get to next weeks big brexit vote in a moment. Joining me now the paris chief, john osborn, and Nicholas Burns who has had a 27year career in Foreign Service culminating in the role of under secretary of state for political affairs. Let me ask you to rate for us how serious is this crisis for Emmanuel Macron . I think its very serious. Its come from nowhere. Its proved incredibly difficult for him to handle and deal with thoprotests. Its difficult on two levels. Its a security issue. Weve seen scenes of violence, mob violence that have been not witnessed on the streets of central paris really since the may 68 rising. Theres no one who wants to talk to the government and its emerged very fast and has the backing of public opinion. Its very difficult for him. And i think so far the measures that have been announced havent gone far enough to kind of take the heat out of that silence and out of the sense of revolts which are now directed at the president himself. Some of the commentary here is quite stunning. It is really the most serious political crisis in his 18 months in office. George osborne, what strikes me about this protest is its very different from the kind of populism weve been hearing about for the most part, which tends to be motivated by a kind of antiimmigration or some of those kind of cultural identity issues. This is about raw economic selfinterest. This is about a group of rural french men and women who are on average poorer than the metropolitan elites and who feel as though they are being thrust you know, taxes are being thrust on them to achieve some kind of green goals, you know, they dont believe in because they need to drive and they have to use fuel. Does that mean, you know, that we now have this kind of populism from two sides, or how do you think about the politics of this . Well, you know, fareed, any finance minister will tell you increasing fuel taxes is really difficult. And people have tried it in britain and failed. I didnt dare do it in the six years i was in the treasury even though i was raising other taxes because its so visible. Its visible to people when they fill up their car. I think the question here is what happens next. If its confined to issues of taxation around energy then the government can deal with it. They can not go ahead with increases. Theyve already said that. They can even cut energy taxes. I think the challenge for president macron is going to be is this going to spill over into broader opposition into his reform package of labor laws, of the things that have stopped Foreign Investment coming into france. It looks like its beginning to do that, and thats when it does get dangerous for president macron and for indeed the attractiveness of france, which has been a beacon of light over the last couple of years in europe. I know president macron reasonably well. Im sure he will stick to his guns and i think indeed its in the whole interest of europe that he succeeds. Nick berns, one of the things emanual macron has been trying to do is really stick to the role of france. Freedom of press and take on the russians for meddling with elections and such. Does this crisis he faces, and, you know, what george and sophia have been describing is really it seems to me hes always had the right wing populists against him. Now he has left wing populists against him. Does this mean he will not be able to function . And youve watched leaders kind of weaken abroad while theyre at home. Can it work . Its going to be quite a challenge, fareed . Theres no question its going to be a consequential moment for Emmanuel Macron. And hes tried to be at a time when merkel has been weakening, when Prime Minister may is distracted obviously by the brexit situation, where President Trump is refusing to play the role of western leader, macrons tried to step into that void. Certainly in leading the European Union through its thicket of troubles, and this is ironic, to shore up nato and the base of support for nato and european defense, and very much the Global Leader in many ways in arguing for action on climate change. If macron is weakened, there arent a lot of candidates in the west who play this role. The other existential question were facing is a battle of ideas and you can see the selfconfidence that xi jinping has, that putin has. You dont see that selfconfidence in europe or north america. You certainly dont see it in donald trump whos siding with a lot of the antidemocratic in europe. I think this has major preprecushions if he is weakened in the short term the solidity of the west. We will be back in a moment to talk about the next crucial issue that comes up. Next weeks vote in the British Parliament. Will the mps vote against the Prime Minister and her brexit deal . If so what happens, when we come back. 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Prime minister may has negotiated a deal that for the hard brexiteers is not enough, and yet it does essentially take it United Kingdom out of its current position in the European Union. Is it going to be enough . Will it work, and will theresa may be able to stay on as Prime Minister . Well, this maine one was always coming, which was confronting those who wanted to leave the eu with the reality you cant have the benefits of eu membership such as access to the Single Market and the security arrangements of eu membership without paying the costs. And that means accepting that other people sometimes ride the rules and you have to pay money. And the deal that theresa may has done really exposes that price. Indeed in some ways its much worse than an eu membership because we are going to be following rules we ourselves do not have over. That has come in a crunch in a parliamentary vote had a is going to happen shortly. At the moment no one in britain thinks that that vote is going to pass because the traditional opposition, the labor party are against it but also 100 conservative mps are against it. So the math is just completely out. What happens next is very unclear. It seems to me that there isnt a majority of parliament to take britain out of the eu without a deal. It seems to me also theres not yet a majority to revisit the whole question of brexit. But at the same time theres not a majority for a deal, and thats why everyone here in britain is asking the question, what happens next because they dont know starting with ms. May. Sophy, does this hurt the European Union as well . Because britain was the champion of free market reform, a lot of things people like Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel used to think were valuable. Britain was valuable to have in a European Union that could sometimes get overly bureaucratic in status. Where i think president macron very seriously regrets the departure is in security issues. And i think his concern is to find mechanisms that bind britain postbrexit into those sort of substantive security arrangements is very strong. But it will be much more difficult with the u. K. Outside the European Union. So i think thats where he probably regrets britains departure most. Nick berns, let me come back to a point you were making about a crisis in the west. And it does seem to me the french example of whats going on now is part of this larger struggle which is in the west you really have these deep divisions between to kind of put it simply the metropolitan educated elites and people in rural areas, perhaps less educated who are participating less in the knowledge economy. And this is tearing the west apart, if you think about the United States, if you think about britain where that was the dynamic around brexit. If you think about france right now. Does it suggests a kind of dark future for the west where theres this kind of internal civil war that continues . I think theres solidity in the west and eventually the west will gather itself and move forward. But right now i think youre right that we have a crisis now of leadership. If the big existential issue is can we defeat the antidemocratic populous in europe and the United States, we have the president of the United States siding with them, not with the established governments. I interviewed the eu Foreign Policy chief here at harvard in a Public Session this past week and she said she felt the European Union had lost its selfconfidence. Ironically i interviewed condie rice a year ago, and she said the same thing. We lost our selfconfidence. What a striking thing for two Senior Leaders say. We need a thatcher or a reagan to emerge in this generation of western leaders to say this battle for human freedom, for democracy, for the rule of law very much different from what the authoritarian leaders are saying in europe and asia. This is a battle for our future. Right now there isnt a prominent spokesman. I must say, fareed, its going to damage the United States if britain leaves the eu. Britains been our channel, almost our interpreter to the europeans and interprets the europeans back to the United States. Second largest economy in the European Union has been britain. The largest and Strongest Military is britain. The most globally minded country in the eu has been britain. And so i think all of us will lose if the british people with if britain does go out. Europe will lose. I fear britain will be weakened and fractured, and certainly we in the United States will lose. So its a consequential time. Fareed, can i just jump sure, sophie. And just wanted to follow up what nick burns said in a sense theres no spokesman in the west but a different position. This is what Emmanuel Macron has tried to be and has succeeded in being. When you think at the end of the First World War when he gathered all those heads of state power right here it was a moment when he was precisely making that case. And i suppose thats why it feels like such a very dangerous moment for france. Because if the spokesman who has emerged to defend those values is under such threat then you have to wonder where is the defender of the liberalautic going to come from . Fascinating panel. Thank you all very much. You always pay your insurance on time. Tap one little bumper and up go your rates. What good is having insurance if you get punished for using it . News flash nobodys perfect. For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. Switch and you could save 782 on home and auto insurance. Call for a free quote today. Liberty mutual insurance. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. This is moving day with the best inhome wifi experience and millions of wifi hotspots to help you stay connected. And this is moving day with Reliable Service appointments in a twohour window so youre up and running in no time. Show me decorating shows. This is staying connected with xfinity to make moving. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Stay connected while you move with the best wifi experience and twohour appointment windows. Click, call or visit a store today. Silicon valley used to be viewed as the untouchable frontrunner in tech innovation. But no longer. Take a look at this graphic. The west still has the top five most valuable companies today. But broaden that lest out to the top 20 and you see china has nine of them. So who will win this war . Well, i had a conversation recently with a man who has one foot in asia and another in america. Taiwan born kai fu lee worked as apple, microsoft apple and headed google china. Hes now a venture capitalist who invests heavily in artificial intelligence. I want you to begin by explaining to us how america and the world in a way has not quite caught up to the reality of china. In your book you describe a china that is so innovative, so advanced. And so give me a couple of examples of chinese businesses operating in ways we need to learn from . Sure. A friend recently came to visit me from china and hes a professor at mit, and he said thats the future. No crash, no credit cards. All done by phone. Right. You even have beggars who hand up phones and say sign and give me some money. That shows you how the Tech Companies can come in so quickl