July 18 - Media Shills For Mitt; Is Assad Circling The Drain?; The Future Plans of China's "Princelings"

Full Program	LISTEN TO FULL PROGRAM
Part 1	We begin with the revelation that CNN’s Senior Political Analyst, the highly respected former White House insider David Gergen, had ties to Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital while commenting on the firm to the media. Veteran financial investigative reporter William Cohan joins us. A former Wall Street banker who had dealings with Bain Capital, Cohan found Bain not to be the sterling company that David Gergen describes as having a positive reputation within the business community of Boston and beyond.
Part 2	Then, following the suicide bombing inside the national security headquarters in Damascus that killed three Generals at the heart of Assad’s military, and with the White House statement that “it’s clear that the Assad regime is losing control of Syria”, a specialist on Syria James Gelvin joins us to examine whether these latest victories for the Free Syrian Army are a setback for the regime or a death blow.
Part 3	Then finally the former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Susan Shirk joins us to discuss a front page story in Wednesday’s New York Times about how the children of China’s elite, the so-called “princelings”, who represent the next generation of Communist Party leaders, have met at private gatherings to urge deeper political and economic change. We look into whether the new privileged elite will want to hold onto power or share their wealth with more of China’s citizens.
	MUSIC: Kurt Vile - Puppet To The Man; The Doors - The End; Major Lazer - Get Free; Madonna - Material Girl (Chinese Version)