russia. could the increasingly urgent situation in ukraine explode into war? also, inside enemy territory. what happens when a reporter for a jewish publication goes to iran? the answer might surprise you. i will talk to that reporter about what he learned. and, the future of work. will computers take over for lawyers and doctors and all of us? will robots replace most workers? i'll talk to the author of an eye-opening cover essay in the atlantic. finally, the long hot summer is almost over, but the heat may be here to stay. i'll explain. but first here is my take. while we have been watching isis and discussing iran, something much bigger is happening in the world. we are witnessing a historic fall in the price of oil. down more than 50% in less than a year. when a similar drop happened in the 1980s, the soviet union collapsed. what will it mean now? nick butler, the former head of strategy for bp, told me we are in for a longer and more sustained period of low oil prices than in the late 1980s. why? he points to a perfect storm. supply is up substantially because a decade of high oil prices encouraged producers throughout the world to invest vast amounts of money in finding new sources. those investments are made and will keep supply flowing for years. the former head of strategy for the italian energy giant says there is no way to stop this phenomenon. he predicts that prices could actually drop down to $35 a barrel next year. a primary reason that the price decline has accelerated is that saudi arabia, the world's swing supplier, that is, the one that can most easily increase or decrease production, has decided to keep pumping. the saudis know it hurts them, but they hope it will hurt everyone else more. one of saudi arabia's main aims is to put american producers of shale and tight oil out of business. so far it's not worked. though battered by plunging prices american firms have used technology and smart business practices to stay afloat. major oil-producing countries everywhere are facing a fiscal reckoning like nothing they've seen in decades, perhaps ever. let's take a brief tour of this new world. venezuela. hugo chavez's popularity, 20th century socialism and mismanagement of the country's economy were made possible by one factor, a prolonged oil boom. oil makes up 96% of venezuela's exports. its economy is estimated to shrink by 7% this year, having already contracted by 4% last year. russia. like chavez, vladimir putin's popularity coincided perfectly with the steep rise in oil prices, which meant higher russian gdp, government revenues and subsidies to the people. all that is reversing. russia economy is predicted to shrink by 3.4% this year. revenues for the national gas giant are estimated to fall by almost 30% this year. remember, gas prom is the machine that provides finances for putin's clique that runs the country said butler, a visiting professor now at kings college, london. iraq. oil makes up around 90% of the bagdad government's revenue. and despite the fact that it is pumping out as much as possible, it faces a massive drop in available funds. this is the backdrop behind the fragility of the government and the rising levels of sectarian strife which have paved the way for isis. with limited resources the shiite government in bagdad is hard-pressed to make patronage payments to the sunnis. iran. despite the initial windfall that iran will get from the relaxation of sanctions it is, like most petro states, dysfunctional. the imf estimates that iran needs prices to be at almost $100 a barrel to balance its budget. so in the medium term it will face pressures just like the others. many american experts and commentators have hoped for low oil prices as a way to deprive unsavory regimes around the globe of easy money. well, now it's happening, but at a speed that might produce enormous turmoil and uncertainty in an already anxious world. for more go to cnn.com/fareed and read my washington post column this week. and let's get started. ♪ last week the outgoing army chief of staff general ray odierno told reporters that russia was the most dangerous threat that the united states faced because of the trouble moscow was causing in ukraine. that trouble has been, by all reports, ins tentensifying in r weeks. odierno closed by saying we should pay a lot of attention to russia and its actions there. that's what we'll do today. my two guests dealt with russia politically and militarily. wesley clark was a four-star general and nato's supreme allied commander in europe. and radek sikorski is defense minister of poland. you visited the area and have a pretty bleak assessment. first tell us, what is happening on the ground. >> what's happening on the ground is there is about a 450-kilometer zone of contact. and along that zone the separatists under russian command and control are probing and bleeding the ukrainian military. behind the separatists forces 50,000 russian main force units are staged on the border between ukraine and russia and could intervene if vladimir putin pulls the trigger. >> what would you say to somebody like henry kissinger who has argued consistently that you cannot stabilize ukraine without the cooperation of russia. russia has to be involved in this policy of confrontation is fundamentally the wrong way to go? >> well, because this is all about lincoln. and it's a question of interests. and so, what putin has done is has played linkage against us. what he's done is he has said to the american administration that, if you want my cooperation on iran, don't push me too hard on ukraine. we have to play linkages right back. russia has a lot of interests in the world. and ukraine is one of them. but we have to make it clear to him that the territorial integrity of ukraine, that's non-negotiable. you can't invade a country, you can't give to russia the right to interfere and intervene in the internal affairs of these states in its area. i was with the president of bulgaria. he said, this is just crazy. he said, we're acting like putin has the right to come in and tell us what to do. just because he is a bigger country. that's what the 20th century was all about. we said borders were sacrosanct. we pledged during the cold war that we have prevent this kind of thing. we set up nato to prevent that. we brought new members into nato. we have to stand on our commitments. that's essential to the rule of law worldwide. >> radek sikorski, how did we get here? i think there was a sense that putin had annexed crimea, which triggered reaction in the west. the west imposed sanctions on russia. we thought this would deter putin and some putin from more adven tourism. what happened? >> president putin spoke of ukraine as an artificial country already at the nato summit in bucharest in 2008. and as we know, some of those plans in georgia for crimea, for ukraine, had been laid down before. president putin has had largely misspent the oil boom's money, but he has invested heavily in his armed forces. and we are now seeing the results of that. >> what does this tell you about his intentions? is he -- i mean, what does he want to do? what is the goal here? >> well, it's very difficult to gauge anybody's intentions. what we can determine are the outcome of their actions. and what i think we should do is, first of all, convince president putin that the nato area is out of bounds for russian military adven tourism. secondly, i would try to convince president putin that, if he moves further into ukraine, he will face a prolonged conflict that he cannot win. and then thirdly i think we should persuade him that time is not working in his favor, that ukraine is reforming itself. whereas, the conflict is costing russia too much. then i believe he might be willing to make a deal and withdraw from the occupation of ukraine. ideally we need a process in which the european union and the united states should participate. that would fix all of the frozen conflicts on the former soviet periphery. >> wes, you would like us to do -- you would like the united states to do a lot more to support ukraine. you would like to arm ukraine more. do you think that's -- is that a viable strategy given that russia, i think the last number i saw, outspends ukraine 20 to 1 in terms of defense dollars? >> you have to drive up the cost to russia of aggression. you have to convince them there is no quick and easy military option. so the russians have a lot of modern technology. long-range missiles. they've got unmanned ariel vehicles. a lot of electronic warfare. what the ukrainians have been seeking are some very simple, basic, updated anti-tank gear. we have it and have refused to supply it. i think it should be supplied. >> radek, should there be a nato base in poland. >> there are nato bases in britain, in germany, in spain, in portugal, in italy, in turkey, and your generals are saying one after another that the actual threat is from the east. so where do you think nato bases should be? i guess where they are needed, huh? >> general clark, would you agree? >> i do. >> that would be a major change in policy on that point of agreement. >> it would, but you have to adapt the policy to changing circumstances. and the key here is that mr. putin can't believe that he can bully these countries and the united states in particular will look aside. you know, nato was our creation. we've always been the leader of this alliance. we haven't relied on germany or britain or france to say, you lead us, boys, and we'll be there with logistics. we were the leaders. they came to us after world war ii. we saw it through the cold war. now nations in eastern europe -- are coming to the united states and asking for leadership. we should provide it. >> general wesley clark, radek sikorski, pleasure to have you on. next up. iranian leaders have repeatedly called for the elimination of israel. they utterly and completely reject zionism but invited a jewish journalist to report in iran. the first allowed in since the revolution of 1979. what did he find in that country? we'll ask him when we come back. that's where at&t can help. at&t has the tools and the network you need, to make working as one easier than ever. virtually anywhere. leaving you free to focus on what matters most. it's more than it's multi-layered security and flexibility. with centurylink you get advanced technology solutions. including cloud and hosting services - all from a trusted it partner. centurylink. your link to what's next. dad: yeah, 20 something years now. thinking about what you want to do with your money? daughter: looking at options. what do you guys pay in fees? dad: i don't know exactly. daughter: if you're not happy do they have to pay you back? dad: it doesn't really work that way. daughter: you sure? vo: are you asking enough questions about the way your wealth is managed? wealth management at charles schwab. hello. if i want to go up... if i want to go down... nooo... but, then if i want to come back again... yes. it's perfect. and there you have it. (vo) and now through september 13th save hundreds on select tempur-pedic mattresses and adjustable bases. change to tempur-pedic. i take prilosec otc each morning for my frequent heartburn. because it gives me... zero heartburn! prilosec otc. the number 1 doctor-recommended frequent heartburn medicine for 9 straight years. one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. later he posted a listcal of sorts. nine key questions about the elimination of israel. iran's former president was infamous for his denial of the holocaust. how would you like to be a pro israeli jewish reporter for a jewish publication and get off the plane in iran? my next guest did just that. larry koehler. editor at the forward has said to have been the first reporter from the jewish media to be credentialed to report in the islamic republic of iran since the 1979-revolution. larry, a pleasure to have you on. >> thank you very much. >> give me your dominant, you know, reaction. what was the thing that struck you the most? that surprised you the most. >> well, the first thing to make clear is that i specified to everybody i met, both ordinary iranians, ayatollahs and a couple government officials, who i recommended. i identified myself as a reporter for the forward, which a prominent american jewish newspaper. from the most hard-line politicians who are very much in line with that ayatollah khamenei said or who opposed him. nobody batted an eye lash about representing a jewish media outlet. the hard-liners make a compartmentalization against jews who they consider people of the book under muslim and zionists who are a maligned international force that has nothing to do with jews or judaism. >> you talked about how jewish life in iran can be rich. you point out that there are 13 active synagogues. five jewish schools. two kindergartens and a 100-bed jewish hospital. did that surprise you? >> no. because i had done research earlier. i know it is surprising to other people. but yes. they do have a community there. it is much smaller than the community that existed before khomeini came to power and the shah was over thrown. there are estimates between 9,000 and 20,000 jews. before the revolution in 1989 there were 87,000 to 100,000. life is possible there. everything you said is correct. many jews have chosen to make their lives elsewhere since the revolution. >> is it your sense that the jews of iran are living fulfilled lives, or are they embattled and miserable, i guess would be the simplest way to put it? >> they're not miserable, but they have discriminations. one of the leaders who i quoted in my story said, we're not oppressed, but there are limitations. and that's true, and it has many specific, multiple meanings. if an -- under shariah, if a muslim murders a jew, i was told by this jewish leader the price is blood money. that's the penalty. but if a jew marries -- if a jew murders a muslim the price is execution. they were very proud because they are pushing back against these limitations if their own way, but they do not challenge in any way the legitimacy of shariah. that gives them many disadvantages which they then try to figure out ways around and ways to fight. >> the american foreign policy writer peter barnard who happens to be jewish posits that if the at tehran regime had homicidal leanings to the jews they would have taken it out against them. do you buy that? no. i don't agree with that. i certainly agree with the fact that the jews in iran are not being harmed or actively oppressed notwithstanding the discrimination i mentioned. but there are 6 million jews living in israel. as you mentioned, there are statements by leaders such as the supreme leader that talk about eliminating that state which would involve eliminating many lives to make it happen. they have 9,000 and 20,000 jews in iran who are accommodated within their civilian, within their society. they do that for many reasons. it may be a political asset for them to have a community of jews even though a shrinking one, that they can point to and say, look, these are our jews in our country, and we're not doing anything to them, while maintaining a position towards israel which, of necessity, would involve a military war that could kill many people including civilians to get rid of the idea of a jewish state. >> fascinating report, larry. >> thank you. pleasure to be here. next on "gps" my case for why the united states military should allow women in all combat roles. seems to me a no-brainer. when we come back. purse is staro look more like a tissue box... you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® for powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin®. because it starts working faster on the first day you take it. zyrtec®. muddle no more™ . ...to cook healthy meals... yet up to 90% fall short in getting key nutrients from food alone. let's do more... ...add one a day men's 50+. complete with key nutrients we may need. plus it helps support healthy blood pressure with vitamin d and magnesium. yup, we're constantly making thinkorswim better. here at td ameritrade, they're always working. like a custom screener on your desktop, that updates to all your devices. and you can share it with one click. wow. how do you find the time to do all this? 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(different holidays being shouted) back to work, guys! i love this times of year. for all the confidence you need. td ameritrade. you got this. you now for our what in the world seg am. earlier this month at the republican presidential debate former governor mike huckabee was asked how he felt with transgender soldiers serving openly in the military. >> as commander in chief, how would you handle that? >> the military is not a social experiment. the purpose of the military is kill people and break things. it's not to transform the culture by trying out some ideas that some people think would make us a different country and more diverse. >> actually, america's military has always eventually reflected the country it protects, evolving and becoming more inclusive over time. it de-segregated the races in 1948. it allowed gays to serve openly in 2011. and just this week, two soldiers became the first women to graduate from the elite u.s. army ranger course. one of the most challenging feats in the military. they endured a 62-day test of wills, participating in grueling evaluations and mock combat patrols on very little food and sleep, just like the men. but despite their publishmeaccot which only a tiny number of soldiers can claim they can't actually fight as army rangers because the u.s. military currently prohibits women from participating in certain combat roles. the military's ban on having women in combat roles was rebealed a few years ago. it hasn't gone into effect yet. it's time to fully lift the ban. if you look at other countries women have been fighting in direct combat roles with great success for decades. several european nations allow women to fight in combat according to the "washington post." in israel where preparedness and war fighting are absolutely critical, women are required to serve in the military, as are all men. well over half the soldiers in the israeli defense forces are female as of 2014. one combat battalion that grdz israel's border with egypt is 60% female. canada has been allowing women to fight in all combat roles except submarine duty since 1989. since 2000 they've been allowed to fight on subs as well. canadian women fought on the front lines in afghanistan for over a decade, like captain ashley colette, who commanded a platoon and received the nation's third highest military honor. even north korea's military has women in combat roles according to "the post." when you're more behind the times than kim jong-un, you know you have a problem. the arguments against women serving in combat have been raised time and again, that they lack the physical strength, that they'll threaten troop morale. countries like israel have reportedly experienced challenges integrating women. that's to be expected. big changes are hard. that's an argument to do them carefully and well, not to resist them. there is a chance to the next commander in chief will be a woman. next on "gps" are robots and machines going to take over all our jobs? >> you look at sort of the fleet of automative technologies that exists right now, and it's rather frightening to see to think about how many jobs can be replaced by technologies that we understand to be right on the horizon. >> i'll talk to the atlantic's derek thompson about the future of work. terrific cover story when we come back. but it is not the device that is mobile, it is you. real madrid have about 450 million fans. we're trying to give them all the feeling of being at the stadium. the microsoft cloud gives us the scalability to communicate exactly the content that people want to see. it will help people connect to their passion of living real madrid. wi noticed benny right away. , i just had to adopt him. he's older so he needs my help all day. when my back pain flared up we both felt it i took tylenol at first but i had to take 6 pills to get through the day. then my friend said "try aleve". just two pills, all day. and now, i'm back for my best bud! aleve. all day strong and try aleve pm, now with an easy open cap. htake care of what makes you,e. you. right down to your skin. aveeno® daily moisturizing lotion with 5 vital nutrients for healthier looking skin in just one day. aveeno®. naturally beautiful results® so we switched... to charmin. charmin ultra mega roll is 75% more absorbent so you can use less. which means charmin ultra mega roll last longer than even the leading thousand sheet brand. enjoy the go with charmin. the great economist john maynard canes looked at his crystal ball in 1930 and imaged life in 2030. in a piece entitled "economic possibilities for our grandchildren" he envisioned the descendants of his working only 15 hours a week yet producing enough to live happy and fulfilled life with lots of leisure time. it's not 2030 yet but a not so surprising survey by gallup last year found that only 8% of american full-time workers work less than 40 hours a week. 42% work the standard 40 hours, and the other 50%, well, they work more than 40 hours a week. but are we at a turning point? will the huge advances in robotics and artificial intelligence strip away more and more jobs from us humans? until we are all working about 15 hours a week. and will that be the fulfillment of canes' dream or a nightmare of part-time work, low wages and job insecurity. derek thompson wrote a long read about this. you start with youngstown, ohio. explain why. >> it was in many ways the american dream of the 20th century. it had one of the highest typical incomes for young people, perhaps the highest rate of home ownership in any state of the u.s. then the steel industry started to collapse. globalization and technology. in 1977 an enormous steel mill in youngstown shut down. while the rest of america thinks about the end of work as a futuristic concept youngstown has experienced something very much like the end of work. i went there to see how have they dealt with it in the decade since. >> what did you find? >> in many ways people -- people are still leaving youngstown. the effects are still rippling through this community. what i found, as people have found fewer opportunities of full-time work in the labor force that exicssts in youngsto, they've found ways to make do. people work as t-shirt designers, bartenders and they do urban agriculture and fix cars and write poetry. what's interesting is when most people go to say a social gathering, the question is what do you do? what's the one thing you do? in youngstown the question isn't what's the one thing. it's what can you do, the four or five things. what struck me as fascinating about youngstown is, if this is a glimpse of the future and the pillar of work that was steel there collapses for more of us, will it be replaced with despondency or something like resiliency. >> the traditional answer to your question, your puzzle about youngstown would have been, yes, derek, of course they're leaving and of course the people who stay behind are having sticky or difficult lives but you're not looking at all the places in the southwest that are growing, there are new industries and communities that are thriving and bulk. and that in aggregate what's happened is that new industries and new jobs have come along. you say in the article that this time it may be different. >> there is no question that the grand narrative of technological change is creative. we are doing jobs we couldn't have done 200 years ago as an agrarian economy. we're now a services economy and what comes next. you look at sort of the fleet of automative technologies, of software that exists right now, and it's rather frightening to me to think about how many jobs can be replaced by technologies that we understand to be right on the horizon. two examples. the first example is driving. driving is the most common occupation among american men. >> you said that in the article. i was surprised by that. cab drivers, limo drivers? >> cab and truck drivers. put together, it's the single biggest thing that american men do. we are talking about google self-driving cars and uber. this is a serious threat to employment in the u.s. if you begin to have self-driving automobiles. then you look at the four most common occupations in the u.s. economy. they are retail sales person, cashier, food and beverage worker, office clerk. all of these jobs, according to oxford university, which has looked at the auto meitiv ability of these in the u.s. see them as extremely automative. better check out kiosks or machines or with technology that's on the horizon. i do think that this time is different. we are not back in 1920 or 1950. this is a new horizon. >> that comes back to the youngstown model, which is this collection of part-time jobs and some leisure, poetry and such. is that good? is that progress? >> this is perhaps the essential question of the piece. do we need to work to be happy. this is a very difficult question to answer because right now everybody -- most people need to work in order to have money, and they need money in order to buy the essentials of life. so it's sort of like asking would we be less anxious without gravity. it's difficult to find a control group for this question. there is something about busyness, something about losing yourself in the flow of a job and the flow of a good challenge that does really feed the human soul. and so, when i look at this piece, when i look at this future, i think leisure is a possibility. you could have a lot of people who just don't do anything. but i don't see that as even scraping utopia. i hope that we can find ways to push people into jobs that are more creative, that allow for more of this flow, less of the anxiety, more of the positive feelings, that we can use technological change to allow people to perhaps find their passions. >> do you end up hopeful or worried? >> i am hopeful about people and extremely worried about government. i don't think that the government that we have today can enact a law like a universe basic income, a social security for everyone, a government check for everybody, which i think is absolutely essential for people to use technological change, to use technological unemployment to push toward a better future. i don't see that in the capacity of 2015's u.s. federal government. at the same time i think people themselves are resilient and want to be happy. you can imagine all sorts of community solutions to the problem, even technological solutions to the problem of technological unemployment by which people can come together and do things we can't imagine right now which would make them feel more fulfilled. >> now that we know we'll all be working for a few more years, what would make us happiest at work? more pay probably. more empowerment. watch the next segment. turns out what's good for employees is also good for the bottom line for employers. and m. it's how you stay connected to each other and to your customers. with centurylink you get advanced technology solutions, including an industry leading broadband network, and cloud and hosting services - all with dedicated, responsive support. with centurylink as your trusted technology partner, you're free to focus on growing your business. centurylink. your link to what's next. dad: he's our broker. he helps looks after all our money. kid: do you pay him? 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(vo) and now through september 13th save hundreds on select tempur-pedic mattresses and adjustable bases. change to tempur-pedic. do you want a raise? would you like more benefits? perhaps you'd like to be treated better at your work place. if you answered yes to these questions, you'll want to listen to my next guest and tell your boss about her. she has a contrarian view of what helps the bottom line. while many in correspondent america like to use the axe to improve the balance sheet by cutting staff, salaries and benefits, she says they should do just the opposite. sounds good, right? she has come up with what she calls the good jobs strategy for business success. she is an adjunct associate professor at m.i.t.'s sloan school of management. the theory comes out of ten years of research studying retail operations. welcome. >> thank you. >> what i am struck by is what you're describing seems too good to be true. for so long the mantra has been that we are in a fierce global competition, companies are facing all this competition from all over the world. they have to cut costs, cut costs and cut costs and as a result that's one of the forces that has kept median wages in america and in the western world pretty flat. you're saying that companies are actually making the wrong decision. >> yes. so the conventional wisdom in business is, if you want to offer the lowest prices to our customers, then we must pay our employees as little as possible and treat them as interchangeable parts. what i found in my research is that the tradeoff between low prices and good jobs is forced tradeoffs. if the companies run the operations well, they can have low prices, good jobs and great shareholders' returns at the same time. >> give me an example of the kind of company -- >> the types of companies i studied are supermarkets, warehouse clubs. convenience stores with gas stations. >> low-margin -- >> that's companies are fighting in low-margin industries, and they need their costs to be as low as possible. the way they do that is through investing in their workers and making some very smart choices. the thing is, when i looked at companies like spain's largest supermarket chain, i found that they weren't just paying their people more, they were actually designing a whole system that improved people's productivity and enabled their employees to play a big role in the company's success. >> does one piece of this, you're saying paying higher wages. what are they getting in return? >> we have to think about higher wages in a broader context of a company's strategy. let me give you an example. the companies that i observed -- if you go to a low-cost supermarket, chances are you won't be able to find people to help you. most companies see labor as a cost so they try to have as few people as possible on the selling floor. the companies i studied deliberately have more people than the expected workload. how can this be good for them, you might say. this is great for them because, when a store is understaffed there are lots of problems. the checkout lines are too long, products are in the wrong place, the prices are inaccurate. and these increase costs and lower service. so the companies that i studied recognizes, so they ensure that these costs are not observed and they realize that if they give their employees enough time, they could identify improvement opportunities so that they can reduce costs everywhere else in the system. >> in a way, the western capitalist model seemed to be moving away from this because it used to be, you know, that when you made products, the human being was involved in making all parts of that product. it was almost like a craft. and then you get the assembly line and henry ford says, no, i'm going to break these jobs up into very discrete tasks and you just have to turn the screw, and you just have to hit the hammer, and we're a going to make it so that it becomes very mechanical. are you saying we need to return to the 19th century artisnal model? >> i'm saying after henry ford toyota came along and said that model is not right. we want the standardization but we also want an empowered assembly line worker to identify problems and be part of the improvements. through investing in people toyota showed us that it can lower costs and increase quality at the same time. i'm saying that the type of evolution that we saw in the auto industry, the toyota revolution. we can see it in industries like retail through a good jobs revolution. >> in a sense the toyota example suggests that, even though your research is mostly in retail, it could be applicable everywhere. >> absolutely. in fact, i stand on the shoulders of other academics who have argued for a long time that investing in workers and making smart decisions drive great value for companies and their investors. >> what does it say about capitalism that so many capitalists are doing this wrong? is it a focus on short-term that's wrong? how would you describe it? you're saying all these companies are not understanding their own enlightened self-interest. >> i'm all for capitalism. but a lot of good jobs strategy requires a long-term view. and people are wired to emphasize the short term at the expense of the long term. people still smoke, they still don't exercise. we know that. in addition, good jobs strategy is a holistic strategy. it requires a systems view. it's not about just raising wages. it's not just about training. a lot of companies are stuck in silos. they work in silos. they don't see the whole picture. achieving excellence is always harder than achieving mediocrity. >> thank you so much. >> my pleasure. next on "gps," has it been a hot summer where you are? how about 165 degrees fahrenheit? i'll tell you about real heat when we come back. about a biologic, this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain and protect my joints from further damage. this is humira helping me reach for more. doctors have been prescribing humira for more than 10 years. humira works for many adults. it targets and helps to block a specific source of inflammation that contrubutes to ra symptoms. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. talk to your doctor and visit humira.com this is humira at work. big day? ah, the usual. moved some new cars. hauled a bunch of steel. kept the supermarket shelves stocked. made sure everyone got their latest gadgets. what's up for the next shift? ah, nothing much. just keeping the lights on. (laugh) nice. doing the big things that move an economy. see you tomorrow, mac. see you tomorrow, sam. just another day at norfolk southern. the uncertainties i don't wantof hep c.with or wonder... ...whether i should seek treatment. i am ready. because today there's harvoni. a revolutionary treatment for the most common type of chronic hepatitis c. harvoni is proven to cure up to 99% of patients... ...who've had no prior treatment. it's the one and only cure that's... ...one pill, once a day for 12 weeks. certain patients... ...can be cured with just 8 weeks of harvoni. with harvoni, there's no interferon and there are no complex regimens. tell your doctor if you have other liver or kidney problems, or other medical conditions. and about all the medicines you take including herbal supplements. harvoni should not be taken with any medicines containing amiodarone, rifampin, or st. john's wort. it also should not be taken with any other medicine that contains sovaldi. side effects may include tiredness and headache. i am ready to put hep c behind me. i am ready to be cured. are you ready? ask your hep c specialist if harvoni is right for you. hand apparently, they also lovee stickers.ing. what's up with these things, victor? we decided to give ourselves stickers for each feature we release. we read about 10,000 suggestions a week to create features that as traders we'd want to use, like social signals, a tool that uses social media to help with research. 10,000 suggestions. who reads all those? he does. for all the confidence you need. td ameritrade. you got this. i'm a senior field technician for pg&e here in san jose. pg&e is using new technology to improve our system, replacing pipelines throughout the city of san jose, to provide safe and reliable services. raising a family here in the city of san jose has been a wonderful experience. my oldest son now works for pg&e. when i do get a chance, an opportunity to work with him, it's always a pleasure. i love my job and i care about the work i do. i know how hard our crews work for our customers. i want them to know that they do have a safe and reliable system. together, we're building a better california. this week the libertarian institute released its index on human freedom which presents the state of human freedom in the world based on 76 indicators that measure civil, economic and personal freedom. what country does cato rank as freer than the united states? chile, sweden, canada, or germany? stay tuned and we will tell you the correct answer. this week's book of the week is "the magic of reality." how we know what's really true by richard dawkins. this book was given to my 16-year-old son but i got hooked reading it. the great scientist and writer sets out to explain very simply some of the fundamental realities of the world like who was the first person. why are there so many species, how and why did everything begin, it's brilliantly conceived and loosely written, one of the great books to make sense of the world around us. everyone including my son should read it. now for the last look. it's not your imagination. it has been swelteringly hot out there. according to noaa, the first half of 2015 ranked as the warmest period on record. additionally, nasa found this july was the hottest ever recorded on planet earth. records were broken all over the planet, but none as extreme as the middle east. in this city of iran the heat index neared a world record reaching 165 degrees fahrenheit. in neighboring iraq, it's been reported the heat has eclipsed war with the islamic state. protests about the lack of air-conditioning have brought something miraculous from the government in bagdad. responsiveness. officials have been fired and as we discussed on last week's show, major reforms have been proposed. the leaders of the world would be wise to witness and pay heed to what happened in iraq. if they don't do something to mitigate the effects of climate change now, protests will be coming to their capitals soon enough. the correction answer to the challenge question is a bit of a trick. chile, canada, sweden and germany all rank higher than the united states in terms of freedom. the united states which was ranked as the 17th most free country in 2008 found its ranking drop three spots to the 20th most free country in the world now. the report's author says the main factors for the u.s.'s low ranking included long-term declines in economic freedom and a drop in rule of law indicators as a result of the war on terror and drugs. perhaps such rankings will be a nudge for leaders of the land of the free. thanks to all of you for being part of my program this week. i will see you next week. good morning. i'm brian stelter. it's time for "reliable sources" with a fantastic lineup of stories this hour including a follow-up to this dramatic exchange between donald trump and news reporter. >> that's an offensive term. people find it hurtful. >> you mean it's politically incorrect and nobody uses it. excuse me. i'll use the word "anchor baby." >> we'll talk about politically charged phrase plus journalistic lessons from