it has been concerned about what may be a new virus. those are the headlines, "consider this" is coming up next, i am thomas trade en in new york, you can always get the latest news online at aljazerra.com. a major kingpin in mexico. the catholic church's major scandals. >> he is like the osama bip laden of drug trafficking the

most powerful drug trafficker in the world. >> the ukraine president has been impeached. he has fled with suit cases. interim government has issued an arrest warrant. the protesters aren't convinced the revolution is over. >> francis is the first pope not to have studied in europe. we begin with the arrest of joaquin guzman, known as el chapo, possibly the most notorious kingpin who has in a restauranted his power since his legendary escape from a laundry basket in 2001. what does his arrest really mean for the drug war and for the flow of drugs into the u.s.? his arrest comes just as mexican president enrique was featured

on the cover of "time magazine." is this really mexico's osama bin laden moment? we are joined from the from the los angeles times who covers drug trafficking and immigration, currently writing a book on the heroin surge in the u.s. good to have you back on the show. you wrote you don't believe in coincidences when it comes to mexican politics. a mexican president is on the cover of "time magazine" and el chapo is arrested. any connection? >> i suspect perhaps. >> a long time. you don't ever believe in coincidences. that's it. i can say this is absolutely. >> this guy was huge. he is an organized -- got a huge organization.

he is also kind of the poster child for mexican impunity, the fact that he could flout this for 13 years, get away with this, sneak out of a prison in a laundry basket of all things and then be on the run for 13 years during which time he got married very publically. his wife had two, los angeles. the end of el chapo, we are now seeing, is kind of like the end of, you know, the end of it time occasion, or do you think there will be some more aggressive pleasing?

throughout the areases where the drug cartels operate. >> the parties that ran the country have these very strict rules. they were unwritten rules but one of them is that, you know, each president gets to topple some important powerful figure. sometimes, it was a union leader. maybe it would be a cartel, drug trafficker, but it was not a real campaign to rid the country of these folks. it was more like an -- i always thought -- took it as kind of a symbolic thing more than anything else. >> began to change once the preloss power, vicente fox, you begin to see these unwritten rules of the pri regime of the mexican state being thrown out. you begin to see other people -- being arrested.

vincente fox arrested, cien, who is the leader of the gulf cartel. there were others. he either had killed or imprisoned. so, i suspect that this is kind of convinces to rewrite -- begin to rewrite the rules of mexican politics and presidential add miles per hourstrations, which is only -- only a good thing. i would also say, though, that this is showing now what we are beginning to see, i think, is a real change in a capacity, an ability by the mexican state to be able to go oafter these guys when this war started, what it showed us the complete inability of the mexican state, rogue actors running around their country beheading people, with fights, gun fights on the mexican streets seemed incompetent and incapable. now, little by little with

calderon, kind of a capacity building thing, an infrastructure building the m e moral boost of getting some of these guys, particularly of course chapo now. this is a really important step in the maturation of the mexican state. >> as you set, brutality has been just absolutely horrific. he they are considered to be the biggest source of drugs. do you think this might not embolden the other cartels? >> no. no. no. i think that may very well happen. remember this war kicked off when he was arrested in 2003. chapo had just been out of prison having escaped for two years by that point. he decides, hey, he is gone. i am going to take over. he goes after that area thinking that it is vulnerable, incorrectly, it turns out.

ever since they have then, we have had the war. >> will the war get worse? i am not sure if it will get worse. it's likely certain areas that once were kind of settled issues, if you like, may now be in play again. and because of the departure of chapo. >> will his depart fewer hurt the cartel already people take over his roll. >> people will take over his lowe roll. look. i really think that kingpins are king pins for a reason. i think these drug organizations are kind of meritocracies. where the people who rise a good at their job. there are a few qualities they bring to the job. one is the willingness to kill at a moment's notice, almost anybody who gets in their way. it's a ruthlessness. but at the same time, they are great at logistics and great at organizational capacity. think of what chapo achieved.

it's a remarkable logistical achievement sending tongs of drugs across a very heavily guarded border using criminals and drug addicts and other unreliable actors, he was able to do this for years. i think a lot of times, you go after these guys. they are not as easily replaced, i don't believe, as some people may think. everybody can kill ruthlessly. but the others, logistics are really not so easy to find. i think one case in point, if you want a cartel. throughout the '90s and then they ran for the tijuana cartel. those guys are arrested. issue mayel and roberto. >> -- their ability, the

organizational ability and their logistic ability were not so easily replaced. >> whole cartel, the king of all cartels for many years just eventually just disintgrated and it's a shadow of its former self today, largely starting then. >> that's the case here. it's always good to have you on the show. thank you. >> my pleasure. thank you. >> it will changes the pentagon. s secretary of defense chuck hagel is recommending steep budget cuts for the military, they include 13inging active duty troops to levels not seen since before world war ii. he says the reduction in troops is a trade-off for building up technological superiority. special operations forces and cyber resources but the proposal is drawing criticism that the drastic changes will hurt u.s. security. >> the assumption that's being made in the pentagon, it's almost laughable if it wasn't so serious is they don't believe that the united states will involve itself in a ground war of any consequence again.

the fact of the matter is, those assumptions have been made after world war ii. korea, vietnam and the cold war and everyswing time, they have been proven wrong. here we are making that same assumption again. joining us from washington it kevin barron, the executive of defense one that focuses on u.s. defense and national security. he has covered the military, the pentagon, congress and politics for foreign monthpolicy nationa stars and stripes. secretary hagel insists the plan will not jeopardize the security but as we saw with general keen, not everyone is buying that. what do you think is the bottom line? are they making a choice of going for a more technological force rather than person he will? >> yes. more technological. i don't think rather than personnel. i think this is just the cost of doing business today. you know, while bluster,y.

the idea this phrase that the penta goodeon is no longer going to get involved in a land war, you know, goes back to go a speech at west point by defense secretary bob gates, two defense secretaries ago and was really a comment to, you know, to project the future coming out of afghanistan and iraq. of course, it's possible the united states is going to be involved in a land war eventually. a decade or two decades away. but i think what a lot of people have learned in the last decade was that if a -- not to worry that this penta goodeon and especially the army knows how to do something like that. hagel presented obama. the first post war budget request really. you will see. it's not just a question of replacing personnel costs with te technology or replacing people

with technology. it's the cost per person as well. inside the budget. the third year in a row begging congress to reduce some of those, pay races for troops, the healthcare costs for troops. congress has refused to do. something has to give. >> i will get to that in a minute. history shows u.s. gets involved in a substantial conflict every 20 years, smaller ones every five years. so we are going to have a smaller force. what some people in the military are saying is this is going to stop us from dealing with if we have to get in two significant wards at the same time, that will be impossible and that it might just prevent us from being as aggressive as we might need to be in certain circumstances. >> well, again, the idea of two wars at once, that's the cold war. can we handle china on one side and soviet union on the other. >> or afghanistan and iraq. >> afghanistan and iraq, we did take care of those two wars at

the same time and it was done with an all-volunteer army. the real worry the last decade wasn't could we fight two gigantic peer to peer land wars or giant wars. it was could we continue iraq and afghanistan or swiss afghanistan with the all volume up tear force we have. >> this didn't come close to a draft or to the mobilization that the country was able to do in the last one 00 years with those other previous wars you mentioned. >> that kind of a fear is such -- such a nice think tanky strategy room fear. it's not the reality. >> that's another word, too from secretary gates through secretary panett and now to secretary haggel has been the calling card to deal with the reality that we are likely to face now. it can be in the future. but, you know, questions, can

the fight, two wars. >> that's one question. the other question is: should we need -- should we keep the forces ready to do that? >> as we said, they are going to have the air forces, eight 10 attack aircraft. retiring the spy plain. generals and admiral get a pay freeze. cuts to come isaries. some will pay more for healthcare. here is something else secretary hagle said on monday. >> all those these recommendation do not cut anyone's pay, i realize they will be controversial. congress has taken some important snaps recent years to control the growth and compensation spedding, but we must do more. so how does the military really feel about all of this? you said you have written about it. more grumbling in the military behind the scenes about preparedness and readiness and about how much harder life is.

now, this will make life more expensive for the area member of our military. >> true, you know, there is different things you listed there. the 810 war hog is a beloved plane and it's been talked about for a couple of years now that it's going to have to go. it's an old plane. problem is, to replace it, the f-35, another troubled program, you know, new plane that isn't even ready yet. >> will go on for several years. what happens now, we will see. it's the first time they are going to faceoff over for that. when it comes to the pay raises, that always is trouble. this is congress in a mid-term year. 1% pay raise. i think the pentagon, you know, cutting into the officers more than was projected.

not going to be anywhere near what they thought. the pentagon is asking the navy to basically go back to the drawing board. good news for planners and -- >> right. >> bad news for military basis that might be cut. >> chunks of this will. brack will not. i think it probably will not. i think the lcs by the number of those ships is still to be determined. and, you know, got to give credit to the pentagon for putting a lot of items on the table when people kind of thought, well, the big ticket items have a cut are there. they really neutralize one argument when they said they are not going to cut one of the 11

aircraft-carrier strike groups this year but if congress tries to sec quester into next year, that's a big ticket high profile fight, members of congress this year. the question is how much of this can happen under the radar and how much could congress stomach or make it into the news in a year when there are old assumptions about members of congress and what they are willing to do or not versus how much the american public carries about anything you just talked about, you know. this is some pretty nitpicky stuff. obviously they've got to deal with new international realities and budgetary realities. it's certainly important to all of us as taxpayers. kevin bairn, always great to have you on the show. thanks for joining us. ukraine's president packs up and flees. so how is he still claiming to hold on to power? and could the venzuelan uprising leave the country in ukraine-like chaos. tracking the top stories on the web. what's trending?

>> we will test the conventional wisdom on the u.s. drinking aiming and whether it should be lowered. i have the details coming up. while you are watching, join the conversation. tweet us at aj consider this or leave a comment on our facebook and google+ pages. >> al jazeera america brings you controversial: >> ..entertaining >> it's fun to play with ideas. >> ...thought provoking >> get your damn education. >> ...surprising >> oh, absolutely! >> ...exclusive one-on-one interviews with the most interesting people of our time. >> you're listening because you want to see what's going to happen. >> i want to know what works what do you know works? >> conversations you won't find anywhere else. >> talk to al jazeera. >> only on al jazeera america. >> oh my!

is. over the course after weekend, the disposed ukrainian president victor yanukovich went to a fugitive for mass murder as the country begins to recover from months that turned violent in the last week, the former prime miles per hour sister remains on the run. the former opposition is left to create a new government. he is global post editor and former bureau chief in moscow

and the author of "russians, the people behind the power." great to have you with us. to end the violence, to reduce husband power and set new e elections for december to reinstate the 2004 constitution that would limit the president's power and then on saturday, all of the sudden, he is deposed on sunday. nobody knows where he is. on monday, he is facing charges, wanted for mass murder. how did this happen so quickly? >> he lost, obviously he lost control of the situation. what happened is that whether it was yanukovich who ordered the use of force, the riot police were essentially shooting civilians. some of them armed but most of them unarmed. so much outrage in ukraine that it essentially was the end for yanukovi yanukovich. i think it was a matter of time. >> where do you think he is? does he have anywhere to run?

>> i mean, i think he could go to russia. he suspect that he is in the russian port. the home of the black sea fleet. he disappeared in a town on the black sea that's very close. i suspect he's been whisked away. if they set for may, we saw in those latter days of the protest that the opposition was pretty divided. in fact, some of the opposition leaders were booed on friday for even agree to go that deal that led to yankee yankee leaving. >> that's right. there are a lot of radicalized protesters who would rick their lives and their health to essentially protest and counter the riot police and get rid of yanukovich. it is a very tricky situation. nevertheless, i think ukraine has just had a very momentous

occasion. they got rid of an essentially criminal leader. i think the new interim has been acting good. parliament has been acting quickly. looking forward. tomorrow, on tuesday, they are supposed to form, we will see what happens. the big question was whether the new interim president would be able to exert authority over stat institutions. a pretty corrupt force. i think even on the streets, you see a lot of these self -- so-called self defense forces, the protesters, guarding prisons, conducting traffic, the police coming back, picking up

barrels sidelines. talking about a criminal leader, protesters. walking points just incredible corruption of private golf courses, a massive car collection. it just doze on and on and on. how big of an issue is corruption in ukraine? >> one of the things that surprises me is the western surprise -- the west are separates by this. the presidential election, yankee yankee was elected. i remember him giving his victory speech. just by a hair but he won and wanted to establish it, himself and act very quickly. so, he called a news conference. a lot of reporters were there. it was in the oppulent ritz carltop.

some of the politicians. al round tables large banquet hall. they just had a criminal rook about them. this was from the very start a criminal -- a criminal group essentially, i think, and the mansion, the boat, the car collection now shows us. the case, over the weekend, a former prime minister was also in prison for alleged -- or for corruption she was convicted on. corruption he will look forward. the division has so often been painted in a battle. ukraine between the western side, pro-western and the eastern side more probe russian. do you see this as a wind for the west?

>> it is -- it's a conflict that's been going on for a lock time on lots of levels. ukraine is split geographically and in population essentially 50/50 between, as you say, the russia looking predominantly russian-speaking east and the western looking ukrainian-speaking west. so, it definitely is that. it was more than that. administration and regime was corrupt, cracks down against free speech, oversaw corruption, gaoled julia tymoschenko, and it i think it is. more black and white on that level. >> a final question for you. the prime mer sister said will not deal with mutineers.

the big fear is russia would used some kind of force in some way to try to flew events. why would president vladimir putin try to push the country on russia's southern border to the verge of civil war? now, i write in my book that a lot of russian actions that seem confusing to us really are based upon practical reasons according to their own logic. i think the logic here is that putin makes decisions that are not in russia's interests, not in the interest of his people but in his interest. he didn't want ukraine to join the west, and he was willing to do everything possible to do that. he's not apparentlies using force now, but the russian prime minister has called new leaders t they are coming to power, the result of an armed mutiny. they are trying to undermine the new pro-western leaders.

i think they are going to act according to their old playbook but hopefully, there is a window for the new authorities to try to change what's been going on ukraine. the book is russians, the people behind the power, gregory pfeiffer, great to have you on the show. thank you. switching topics, protests continued on monday after calls from opiniposition lead tory ke the protests peaceful at least 13 people have died since the widespread, crime, corruption, the world's highest inflation and major shortages of basic goods. hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters filled the streets on saturday in the biggest demonstration so far. meanwhile, opposition leader is calling on protest not to give up. lopez's family says the government has offered into exile but the deal was resulted. venzuela, a country with the

world's larmingest petroleum reserves. continuing to build or will the government of the maduro succeed in riding out the demonstrationss? for more, i am joined by the senior director of policy and editor of "america's quarterly." we just saw people, power you, a phenomenal victory in ukraine. in fact, overthrowing a government. do you think there is any chance that will happen in venzuela? >> two things i think are different here first of all, is in ukraine, you had a series of european diplomats who he went to u crepe, president with the then president, tried to negotiate some sort of compromise, put some pressure on them internationally. there is no such courage right now. the u.s. has spoken out, about its concern, for whether it's brazil, argentina, colombia, they haven't spoken out. you don't see that level of engagement looking for some sort of democratic solution.

>> for what little speaking out there is is split in latin america. some support maduro. some the opposition. >> it's split hand raising concerns about freedom of expressi expression, there is that. the second is that this is an opposition that has been asking for this for a lock time. i am sure maduro has not shown any inclination whatsoever to compromise. if anything, if there will be any sort of change, it's probably going to be within the government, itself, because this is every time when there has been protest or opposition, this government has given more rhetoric and repress. >> i want to get to the internals in a minute. let's stick to ukraine. is there any chance -- yanukovich wasn't willing to protest. and they ended up pushing and forcing his hand. do you think there is that kind of will within the opposition in venzuela? >> i think that's in part their desire. it's unclear what exactly

their -- their end game is. certainly in the past, early in the chavez, when it was the chavez government, they did attempt to stage some sort of mass protests, agree to a crumbling of the government. got it briefly in 2002 when the coup government over reached. >> that's what they want to see. already heard them talk about not stepping down, not negotiating with the government while this repress lasts. >> how unified is the opinionstruction in venzuela? it does seem to be more unified than ukraine's, but at the same time, there have been some who were more moderate. the former presidential candidate came close last year with maduro. you think there are in the opposition? a lot of the divisions, but different strategies of the

opposition, itself, when was the electoral strategy committed to. increasingly, that became much more difficult because you did need some sort of popular ex regulation on the streets to express the very legitimate real economic frustrations and elections weren't sufficient for that. you just heard the government, lopez remains in prison. >> that's leading. the cracks in the government because now, we've got the governor where the protests began a couple of weeks ago who has now started backing off. this is a loyal chavista, a chavez associate for decades who has come out and said that he doesn't believe that he is opposed to the way the government has had peaceful. no one is authorized to use

violence. released. the government -- similar, beginning the governor was actually with hugo chavez. the question will be of what happens with the military as the repress increases and the protests are sustained, which i am sure they will be. whether they decide to go along with this government and whether they decide enough is enough. >> how about the role of cuba. making a big deal. >> cuba needs it as well. >>ships of millions of dollars in oil. without this, they will be in trouble. cubans can't afford to lose

maduro. they represent 15% of cuba's gdp. 100,000. $40,000, various trainers of the sort and advisors. military, spies, a lot of that. so a lot of the strategy, even the those that we saw crack down, the government thugs that have been violent? >> were based upon the committees of the defense of the revolution in cuba. they very much advised this government how to do the repressive strategy. cuba has been basically twisting in the wind comically. >> is there a danger there that that might increase the violence? >> i think the cubans are going to try to remain there as long as they can and try to prop up this government. maduro is their man. there are other people within the government. they are less pro-cuban. >> he has made noises about trying to meet with president obama. any chance that will happen?

>> time to see what's trend okay al jazeera's website. check back in with lermella. >> one of the arguments we hear from people saying the u.s. drinking age should be lowered is it would teach yuk people how to drink responsibly since it would no longer be forbidden fruit and they sight europe as an example. a new report says keeping the minimum drinking anal to 21 actually saves lives. a 2011 study cited in the boston university report shows 36% of high school sophomores in the u.s. said they had been drunk in their lifetimes compared with 47% in europe. and heavy colorado chews was more prev leapt in 35 european nations than in the u.s. other studies showed there were 5 to 9% drivers 18 to 20 after the national drinking age in the u.s. was raised from 18 to 21 years old in 1988.

now, to your reaction. damon is skeptical. he says, i doubt 21 saves lives. many drink illegally before then if they want. moreover, illegal drug use is still high. kyle thinks pot is the answer. he says, herb is the healing of the nation. alcohol is a destruction. you can read more at the website. america.aljazeera.com. back to you thanks, hermella. >> straight ahead, pope benedict struggled to control church skimmingss. what you are by working through their flu. a crushing blow. innovation changes our lives. taking the impossible from lab to light on it.

echknow, our scientists bring awe sneak peek. techknow - ideas, invention, life. on al jazeera america

while you were asleep news was happening. >> here are the stories we're following. >> find out what happened and what to expect. >> international outrage. >> a day of political posturing. >> every morning from 5 to 9 am al jazeera america brings you more us and global news than any other american news channel. >> tell us exactly what is behind this story. >> from more sources around the world. >> the situation has intensified here at the border. >> start every morning, every day 5am to 9 eastern. >> with al jazeera america. other nations with power struggles within the catholic church pope francis has his hands. now pbs front line, the secrets of the vatican who looks at the

scandals within the church that francis has had to try and manage since he took the job. expectations could not be higher. francis is studied in rome. he is an outsider. >> the man that seems to be able to touch people or to draw them out or give them a sense of hope. >> back to the legacy. >> we can remember. i am joined by anthony thomas, director of the upcoming "secrets of the vatican." anthony, great to have you with us. some alarming things that you raise in this documentary. as i said, high hopes. when benedict became pope, his predecessor, weren't there expectations he would clean up

the church. just as much now as we are seeing with francis. >> absolutely. the pope died. a promise to clean. i have no doubt in my mind that other people think he was thinking specifically. r that was the promise he made but unfortunately, he couldn't -- he couldn't do the things he wanted to do. >> rafael was the head and he had a very long history as you expose in this documentary where do you think have been sent. >> a score of children,

biological children. you tell. pope benedict, pope john paul and pope paul before him, too. >> that's true. >> first complaints against him were brought in the late '50s. the fact that to individuals and the church. all of these problems were overlooked. it is a very full story. >> pope benedict, was the problem because he was seen as a bulldog as a tough man, a very doctorineaire cardinal as cardinal ratsinger? was he a weak administrator? >> he was a poor administrator. he was, as you a, he never had

ne real priest. it was that lacking in him, lacking of understanding of how to deal with people, that lacking of the great charisma that pope francis has that was a problem. >> so much of the administration. and the hope, of course, is that francis, as we saw, a big outsider will have the strength to deal with some of this great number of church scandals which you deal with including the child abuse scandals in the u.s. you also address one specifically at the arch diocese of milwaukee. let's play part of a horrific story you helped expose. the raped by a priest at a

chumming. immediately after. >> i didn't know what i should do, eventually, i realized, you know, there was blood on the new purple shorts my grabbed mother had given to me for my birthday. when i got to the end of the aisle of the compel, wiped the blood off with some of the holy water. and i went and i stayed outside under this big tree. because i was in pain and i didn't understand what happened to me. as a kid who went to catholic school, we were taught that the priests was basically the closest you will ever get to god, and for me when i was raped by the priest, it pulled my entire foundation out from under me.

everything was just taken away on that day. >> ratsinger was convicted of sexual assault on another child and died in prison. monica never got her day in court because of the statute of limitations. but the diocese of milwaukee sued her to recover $14,000 in legal expenses. >> she gets raped as a child and then the arch ddiocese ends up suing her. she believes that that was meant to intimidate her for speaking, to not speak out because you are reporting -- does your reporting support that. >> absolutely. >> to intame date that and one wonders how many people who had that experience when they were very young. he didn't want to drag it up. >> something like this happens

when they are 8, 9, 10, it takes years even to confront their abuser. it's not something that could be dealt with. i think the important point, we know that this kind of thing exists in almost every organization. there is some somewhere. when it's >> your priest, as monica expressed so beautiful there, that makes it something terrible because you and god. it is a shattering thing to happen. >> you address the cuia, the bureaucracy in rome and some of the hypocracy there because of a strong gay culture that exists there. you also exist the batty leaks scandal, the butler for pope benedict who gave out a whole series of documents, and you talk about it. we learned the pope developed

the sec start of the economy to provide oversight for the add miles per hour strative affairs. it will include cardinals but it will also include lay people. the schematize is tremendous. money disappearing and money lau laundering. >> he has taken other steps as well. we see in the film. seeking to close 900 accounts. >> he appointed a commission in the early days election to the papacy. >> pope francis, he has done what he set outdo. again, he is named secrets tuesday night. >> now, a sad update.

we recently profiled alice hurst summer, the subject of the oscar nominated "the lady in number 6" believed to be the oldest living holocaust survivor. she survived the nazis because as a world renowned pianist, but she lost much of our family to the nazis. she found a silver lining at the camp in music. >> i knew some day. the music. music is the first place of art, brings us on an island, beauty. music. dreams.

music is a dream. >> alice will be missed. this weekend, we will bring you film makers, "lady in number 6" along with documentaries. consider this as the only t.v. outlet to bring you all. it's part of a special edition of "consider this" called "for your consideration" documents saturday 10:00 p.m. eastern. straight ahead, why so many of our co-workers are making the rest of us sick. our datadive is next.

>> today's data dive tries to tough it out. todd's data dive tries to tough it out. more than 1 out of 4 americans polled said they always go to work when they are sick, even though they could make their co-workers sick. the news comes from a recent survey of more than a thousand people by the national sanitation foundation, a public health group. so why do the infected risk infecting others? many claim deadline, fearing the bigger workload after they take a sick day, that that pushes them to show up for work even though it risks the rest of the office's wiellbeing. free lancers have an incentive. if they don't work, they don't get paid. all of this going to work while sick. california's disability management employer coalition finds workers who come in with the flu create a big domi in. o effect increasing the total

amount of the company's lost face. >> that's despite the fact that the vast majority of workers take precautions before approaching clogs. half will avoid sitting next to them. sick workers are being with every way. >> two-thirds of their colleagues. less than 1 in 5 think sick co-workers. sometimes the most selfless thing you can do is be selfish with your help and get some rest. the big after the road smashes into the side of the moon. should we be worried here on earth? >> heavily armed, combat tactics >> every little podunk wants their tank and their bazooka... >> with s.w.a.t. raids on the rise... >> when it goes wrong, it goes extremely wrong... >> what's the price for militarizing our police >> they killed evan dead

>> faul lines, al jazeera america's hard hitting... >> there blocking the door... >> ground breaking... >> we have to get out of here... >> truth seeking... break though investigative documentary series... new episode, deadly force only on al jazeera america

al jazeera america. >> a big collision put a crater a big collision has put a

new crater on the moon. we have gotten footage of what happened. an 880 pound after the road blasted a hole in the moon in september. it caused a bright and lasting explosion that could be seen from the earth. but do question need to be concerned about something similar happening here? let's bring in dr. derek pitts from the franklin stint tut science muse science mu semi. >> it's exciting to see things like this, antonio. it reminds us as comet hunter david lfshing said, the col solar system is under construction. every once in a while we will see one of these collisions and we have the capability on the basis so we can record the events. 38,000 miles an hour and the force of the impact is believed to have been the equivalent of exploding 16 tons of dynamite,

triple the sues of the biggest collision. managed to make it through our atmosphere. >> if we can eliminate the falling into the ocean, we see a large crater. larmingly heavily populated area. >> it could cause widespread destruction. it's a kind of ent we really don't want to see happen. there aren't as many of these taking place. any more in the solar system as they were in the early history, so we haven't seen anything. the history of what was going on back in 1908, the tunguska effect. last year, a large item exploded over the city. >> both of those happened in

russia. what else can we learn about potential collisions here on earth. >> the force of such an impact can be. to check to see how wellbeing able to track objects like that. others have done a great job of being able to identify the very largest items of these. we know we don't expect it's going to be struck by something very large over the next hundred years or so. we need to keep track of them. what we need to be able to do is to identify them early enough that we can do something to present them from striking earth. >> that raises the question we always ask under these circumstances is, do we have anything we can do? >> we are coming up with all sorts of interesting ideas for things we can do.

there are a couple of mitigation possibilities that range everywhere from dropping a nuclear warhead to break it up into smaller pieces, maybe small enough pieces we can minimize the kind of damage that could be done out to something else as interesting as sprinkling a white material like sugar or flour or one side of an asteroid so that differential heating will move it off course, but a number of these possibilities all require that we can identify the object early enough that we can take action, the best defense is a good offense. we need to do more to find these objects. >> we actually get there. >> let's switch topics. california has been suffering through what's called the worst drought in its history. it's got epso bad, you can see the brown parched lapped from space. now, nasa can help how? >> one the ways that nasa can

help is it can bring to bear the assets it has to allow us to look down on the surface and see the extent of the effects of the drought around other places. those satellites can help us understand what the potential is for snow melt coming up in the spring that might help to some degree to aswaim the droug-- as the drought. coming over some other ideas on how the climate is changing, how we can better act. >> talking about that water needed. nasa technology can create fresh water in places like california in and other places that are prone to drought? >> we can -- renal ons trying to figure outweighs in which we can

trying to identify what -- might become available. >> there are some nasa technologies, recycling water that will be able to help create more fresh water. >> yes, i see what you mean. there are technologies that can be used. using various kinds of technologies already on board international space station and has done so on space shuttle in the past, and these technologies can certainly help recycle some of the water usage. >> that's one of the best things to do is to begin to recycle what we already have rather than finding new sources. so, yes, nasa has a number of technologies. it's a great way to spend tax dollars. only 10 seconds but that's one of the reasons you believe we need to keep funding nasa? >> the benefits we get from nasa we get at a cheap price, about a penny per person across the country every year. it's a really good deal sdmrfrp dr. derek, it's great to have

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