worth of the virtual currency called bitcoin. it stopped trading abruptly. >> i'm trial date your in new york. you can get the latest news at aljazeera.com. up again after controversial comments from attorney general eric holder. also violence is still gripping venezuela, will a new attempt at reconciliation going go anywhere? plus children paralyzeed in a medical mystery scaring parents while doctors are scratching their heads, and why dutch parents could be setting a standard for families around the world. hello i am antonio mora, welcome to "consider this," here is more on what's ahead. ♪ ♪ attorney general eric holder says state attorneys generals do not have to defend same-sex marriage ban fist they don't believe in them.

>> i believe that we must be suspicious of legal classifications based solely on sexual orientation. >> independence in the territorial integrity of ukraine is extremely important. >> the winds of change are knocking again at ukraine's doors. the will of the people must be done. >> we have serious concerns about some issues in venezuela, include democracy and human rights. >> children in california strickenned with a polio will -like virus. >> more than children have not recovered the use of their are or leg. >> we know very little about what's going on. ♪ ♪ attorney general eric holder who told a conference of state attorneys general on tuesday that they do not have to defend their state's laws against game marriage if they think they discriminate in a way that's not constitutional. >> this is the extraordinary task with which the american

people have entrusted the leaders in this room and the challenge that all justice professionals are called for address. not merely to use our legal system to settle disputes and punish those who have done wrong but to answer the kind of really fundamental questions about fairness and about equality that have always determined who we are, and who we aspire to be both as a nation and as a people. >> mr. holder has said that he views marriage equality as an extension of the civil rights movement but now he's facing criticism from those who say his job is to defend the law, not to tell people which laws they can ignore. for more account we are joined by ilya shapiro a senior fellow of constitutional studys at the kato institute and editor-in-chief of the kato supreme court review, he has an address junction prefess or at the of the school of law. and from san francisco, christine pelosi and the attorney and chair of the california democratic women's caucus former district attorney

for the city of san francisco. good to have on you the show. ilya i want to start with you. holder says any decision not to defend laws must be exceedingly rare and exceptional circumstance but he says game marriage is an exception because he called it one of the defining civil rights challenges of our time. does he have a point? >> unfortunately, not. first of all there is something problematic about the u.s. attorney general telling state attorneys general how they are supposed to behave. there is something tissue about federal over reach in to state prerogatives. but moreover, when you are a lawyer you have to duty of zealous representation of your client. if there are any nonfrivolous arguments to be made to support the law at issue the state attorney general is bound to present those no court. if he hats an ethical problem beyond that he should recuse or resign. i think holder is way over the line on multiple levels. >> and christine, holder said the decisions should never be

political or based on policy objections. in effect isn't that what he's asking attorneys general to do to take a position based on policy or politics? >> no, he's not. in fact we live in in california in 2006, i chaired the california democratic party platform committee when we affirmed our support for marriage equality and at that time we were struggling with proposition 22. now the voters passed a ban on same-sex marriage our then attorney general jerry brown, refuse today defend it. he was successful as you know in becoming governor. when she was running for attorney general then san francisco da pamela harris said she wouldn't defend the constitution at of proposition 8. and both of them were overwhelmingly elected and supported by the voters. governor brown by a very large margin. and so i think what we have here is a fundamental responsibility to the constitution first. and in california, and just as recently as virginia attorneys general are

running on equality platforms and saying they are reading of their -- their reading of the united states constitution which is in their oath of offers says that fundamentally speaking marriage equality is constitutional and a ban on marriage equality is unconstitutional. >> but that hasn't been decided on a national basis yet, though. and ilya, holder -- but polledder, yo holdercited the brown versus board of education case that forced integration. he said he would have never defended that case had he been an attorney general back then in that state s that not a fair comparison? >> it's hard to do retroactive history. i mean, i am for gay marriage i am filing next week in fact a brief in the 10th circuit supporting the challenge to utah and oklahoma's restrictive marriage laws, but that's not the issue here. the issue is is there a nonfrivolous argument that can be made to support the law in question. and i think the answer is yes,

in these cases. until there is a definitive ruling one way or another by the supreme court, just your decision as an attorney general, as a lawyer, about who has the better of the case, is irrelevant to this consideration, it's whether you think there are nonfrivolous arguments to be made. >> christine, doesn't ilya have a point n colorado a republican who called holder's comments inning a front rat warned about making descensions about which laws to defend and which no to. this is something that he wrote in the washington post earlier this month, he said i personally oppose a anybody of colorado's laws as a matter of publicist policy and a few few are contrary for my religious beliefs but as may state's attorney general i have defend go ahead them all and will continue to do so. can attorneys general just pick and choose what they want to do? >> of course not. that's no the not what eric holder said. what aircraft holder said was, the constitution comes first.

it's a very rare extraordinary situation he absolutely said it shouldn't be based on policy as you mentioned and there are plenty of laws that eric holder has upheld that the united states justice department has upheld, in which he doesn't believe personally think so let's not take this as a stampede away from the courthouse. that's not what is happening here. holder is making a principled argument saying in a very, very rarefied instance, such as marriage equality, that an attorney general can make a determination that the law as written in their state, is unconstitutional. and if they make a finding that it is unconstitutional, they can further decide not to spends their public dollars and their office defending it. the house of representatives went through this very exercise when the house republicans claimed that they were for fiscal as tear at this and yet spent $3 million defending doma

long after all the public polls said people were against it. i think that it's interesting that some of the same people who made a political decision to go after eric holder today and made a political decision to keep defending doma, aren't listening to what he actually said. which is respect the constitution and do this in a very rare instance. >> that's rich coming from an administration that violates the constitution every chance it gets. it's the only -- >> it doesn't violate the constitution. [speaking at the same time] >> lets base the conversation in fact. >> the federal government ex-tease its powers on so many levels the executive branch and the president and attorney general holder -- >> according to you but not according to law. but according to the law they don't. >> let's not get in to a debate about the executive oughts and all of this right now let's stay on topic. we are seeing in arizona, kansas bills that may or may not make their way through the

legislatures or signed by the governors enshrining rights to discriminate against gaze. >> these are religious freedom rest raise act passed unanimously in congress . >> they go further never allowing businesses n to not provide services to game couples and so there is a certain -- most people do think these are discriminal that tory and seems like most of the legislatures ls and governors think that way. but my question to you is, aside from the issues in no particular cases is there not a point where an attorney general does have to say, something is discriminatory, i cannot argue for the enforcement of that discrimination, it's the question of, if -- if good people don't speak up that evil will thrive. >> it depends what you mean by

discrimination, i discrime made every day we deciding to act, not to act, call somebody or not. be a friends or not. the law chooses who it served and doesn't serve. >> that argument then restaurants in the south could continue to segregate if they were so inclined. >> jim crow is a different situation because that was enforced by the power of the state. here it's individual businesses that are being given the decision if i don't want to serve people in red t-shirts that should be my freedom we'll see how businesses thrive. i have a feeling that those businesses that advertise themselves being open to gays will be doing better off than those who say that we will not serve them. >> the fact ta of the matter tht law in arizona and missouri and georgia and kansas is completely unconstitutional by the kato argument if there was a state that passed a referendum allowing slavery you wouldn't let the government --

>> that would violate the 13th amendment. >> i see. and so by the same argument, you are violating the 14th amendment when you discriminate people based on race, based on gender, based on sexual orien station. [speaking at the same time] >> it's not a matter of red. >> reporter: shirts it's a matter of the color of their skin or being gay, lesbian -- >> this is a hot topic for all of us. >> there is a difference in state action and individuals and private businesses, states should not discriminate on any bases private individuals should be able do what that i want and the response to that is to shun and boycott and publicly oppose them. >> and also outlaw discrimination in all its forms and that will be the result by the supreme court. in the meantime lets remember eric holder didn't say anything radical today. >> sure, he did, disregard says eric holder. >> we have to being -- it's -- >> honor the constitution. >> we have to leave it there. i appreciate you both being onto discuss this important topic. look forward to having you both back on.

thank you. >> my flesh. >> you are thanks antonio. switching topics to ukraine . a any government was supposed to be announced tuesday but it's been put off until thursday ukraine is a fiscal basket case so a government needs to be in place before western nation including the u.s. will offer financial help that could stave off collapse, interim president who announced the day also warned the country faced a serious threat. that regions with large populations of ethnic rushing ans could tear the country apart apart. gave authorities five days to capture fugitive president victor january cove switch bring hiyanukovych and bring himto tr. for more on the possibilities of a split let's go to eastern ukraine and al jazerra correspondent nick schifrin.

nick you were in kiev now there in the east, you ever seen protests there. i am sure it's a completely different approach than what you saw in kiev. what is going on there? is there a sense that there is a government that there are city officials that anyone is in control? >> reporter: well, antonio, right behind me where city officials usually work. that's the administration building and for four days it's been occupied by the very same people who are in independence square kiev. so right now the local officials including the local governor is missing because they know that their office is being held right now . for lack of a better word by the opposition. throughout this city there is a well sense of divide. here we are only about 20 miles from the russian boarder and keif. they believe that yanukovych's out of ther is illegal and they are not accepting what's happening in kiev especially not accepting the new government. but i would say that they actually stopped short of calling for any kind of division or any kind of break up of the country.

as you just played out, they know it's imperative that the future begins quickly in terms of politics because the economics are so bad think the country is a couple of months away from default and needs the government in order to stave off that collapse. and these people know that, yes, they don't support the people in the building behind me, they don't support the new politicians who are running the show in kiev, but they do not think that the country should split and so they are trying to figure out a way to make sure that they are still counted as they have been for so many decades here. >> now, there were protests tuesday. pro russian ukrainians surrounded a statue of lennon and protests there with dozens of people speaking out about what they call the bandits in keif trying to form a new government. so there is a separatist feeling, it seems, in other parts of ukraine. i would imagine that people there are not cap i that president yanukovych was deposed?

>> that's an under statement. absolutely . >> reporter: there was a humor that he left his home and came here. after he left the presidency. that was never confirmed. and there is no sign of where he is now. but this city very much identifies itself with him, with that pro russian camp. and so now it's just trying to figure out what the future is, it's trying to figure out thousand push forward on this street. i am on a street right here and this divide really is a division between the people in that ahead pin straight i have building, the opposition and the pro russian group. we were about 100 feet that way the lennon statue is right there. it's within of the largest in all of europe and the last one in the ukraine that's still in a city center. and so it's extremely symbolic, lennon statue extremely symbolic that those pro russian, we can call them protesters i suppose,

are defend that go statue and believe that there was a resume their the statue was going to come down that's high they rushed to defend it and saying they are not leaving and making sure it stays up no matter what. >> very big divisions in ukraine. nick schifrin, good to have you on the show, thanks no your time. for more now on the ukraine efforts to launch a new government rejoined by skype from kiev from a member of ukraine's parliament from the father land party, the party of former mime minute year yulia tymoshenko who was just released from prison. good to have you on the show. the interim president warned about the serious threat of accept rah tim that ukraine might split apart. how serious do you see that threat? and is there anything parliament can do about it ? >> will, we are a little bit concerned about the movements in the eastern ukraine and we see people who -- and we see some

people who are trying to talk of breaking away from there to russia. in general, as we see you the new administration being being launched will bring the country together and keeping it's territorial integrity. >> the new administration, a delay on tuesday as to naming who will be a part of it. do you expect that to be announced on thursday? >> absolutely. and antonio, you should understand that the revolution raised politics so high. now it's extremely challenge to go put a new government together. it should be accepted by the people who are still in the streets. it should reflect the difficult political balance in the parliament and we need good professionals who are capable to take the country out of the economic crisis where it is. but we do hope to see it new government on thursday.

>> now how big i've problem are the people who are still on the streets, we saw some police go there to apologize to the people who are still out in the square. but it does seem like the people who are still in the streets are taking a pretty hard line. >> exactly. i think people demand real substantial changes. they are saying it's not enough just to change the names of the president and the prime minister, they want deep reforms and i think we are witnessing historical moments when this country is in a way being reestablished. >> will all of the opposition parties be represented in this new government . >> i hope so. i think the government will be real inclusive. and professionals, activists, good managers, good experts from no matter what party affiliation they have. really want to see a new quality

of government and new quality of administration. >> officials from the international monetary funneled, the european union and other interested parties say they want that they want to help the ukraine with the economic crisis it's going through, but they can't do that until the new government is formed. will a new government, though, once it is formed, be able to make commitments that ukraine will follow even i if that means an austerity program that might not be popular in ukraine and could push the economy in recession? >> we perfectly understand that we need to build trust to bring a government from scratch. but unfortunately ukraine has had the reputation of one the most corrupt countries around the world and i than the new administration and the people of ukraine are really committed to deep profound reforms, so when we are talking about the future it means fighting against corruption, respecting human rights and means trust from your friends around the world. >> we just saw a picture of vitale klischko on the floor of parliament there, he has

announced that he will run for president. he's a former heavyweight boxing champion of the world and one of the leaders of the opposition, we have also third that julia tymoshenko may or may not run for president. already people are positioning themselves for the future of ukraine. is all of this making things more complicated because you start seeing all of these different interested clashing with each other? >> i think this is what democracy is really about. we'll have the national election on may the 25th and it's quite right we'll see separate candidates who represent the democratics parties and i think it's probably a good time, usually with all the shows in between good and very bad, between bad and very bad, now is a good time to start choosing between good, better and the best. >> the big bear in the room of course is russia and vladimir putin met with his national security team today to discuss

russia and the foreign minister of russia, sergei lavrov is saying that russia will not interfere with ukraine, do you take him at his word? >> we hope so. we hear a lot of worrying things. we hear that russia has started issuing more russian passports to people living in the peninsula, there is also a lot of rumors that victor yanukovych that the former president is hiding at the black sea fleet base. but we think there is a good chance for the countries to start a new relationship. russia has to understand this is an independent country and russia has to respect it's territorial and political choice. >> if yanukovych goes to russia that will career out problems because they want him tried by the international criminal court in the haige for crimes against you man at this. but shouldn't he be tried in ukraine? >> this is what my he can specs takes is.

i really think that he should go through a ukrainian court when the ukrainian nation knows exactly what he has been doing in the last years i want him to go through trial in ukraine i can't, it's clear that his career is over and we will not see him as a political figure anymore. >> i think people around the world are rooting for the ukrainian nation to succeeds in this process being i know that you will be involved in it at my member of parliament and thank you very much for joining us today. >> thanks antonio. >> coming up, clashes rage on in venezuela but there is a small sign of hopeful we'll tell what you that is next. and our social media producer hermela is tracking the top stories on the web. >> a glimmer of hope in the fight against obesity. the details ahead. and what do you think? join the conversation on twitter at ajconsiderthis and on our

>> i'm ali velshi, the news has become this thing where you talk to experts about people, and al jazeera has really tried to talk to people, about their stories. we are not meant to be your first choice for entertainment. we are ment to be your first choice for the news.

after weeks of violent protests and a death toll that's reached at least 14.

venezuelan president nicholas maduro called for a peace conference on tuesday. he's also name an ambassador to the u.s. for the first time since 2010 as the u.s. announced it was expelling three venezuelan dip nats in the response to the same move by maduro last week, meanwhile protesters in caracas kept the appreciate you are on we december craigs and a protest at the cuban embassy in what they call is oppressive influences. joining us a blog that covers the country's political scene from the opposition perspective and pubbed a piece in the new york times on monday entitles rash rejenks in venezuela. good to have you with us . you wrote those these protest started three weeks ago, after rape. crime has been ram plant with a homicide rape large effort in the world. they were protesting the fact

that that student that was raped nothing was done to find the rape e. now that these previous tests have gone so far beyond the students, does that show that venture have swa* a wil venezuelans have had enough? >> i don't think we want to get too far out of ourselves right now . there is a longstanding concern that venezuelans have had about quality of democratic uninning tooks and the chavez government that has carried on under maduro. but there is also a government that has real support from a lot of people in venezuela. i think we are at the beginning of something and not in the middle and certainly not near the end. >> certainly maduro won the election last year, it was very tight but he won it. and then they won the government supporters won local elections in december. so it's a very divided nation and the government has that short that you

mentioned. you also write the protests have a lack of structure that might give them some resilience no leader is position today provide direction. without that are the frosts goinprotestsgoing to fadeaway ly before them or this time is it different? >> this is what's complicate billion dollar about venezuela you righcomplicatedabout venture opposition parties that stood against chaff and he is maduro they are sort of in the background. the people leading these protests is a diverse group of active shifts in many cities and even within the city they are not unified. there is an edge of anarchy to the way that the protests are organized and there is not a single political leadership. so for me, that's a subject of great concern. i am preop since but am mindful if you have a movement that can't be led because there is no

one in position to lead it that makes it very easy for the government to outmaneuver it. the challenge now for the students is to take this gusher of anger that we have seen in the streets over the last few weeks and mold it in fo to a powerful and cohesive movement that can stand up to the government and say our civil rights will be reported and you can't tram approximately over them and the government strategy is to draw it outlet them get tired out and go home. >> talking about that lack of leadership on the other side. the president called for a peace conference on wednesday. he invited opposition leader enrico who barely lost that election to him last year by little more than a percentage points, he hasn't said whether he's going or not. but meanwhile, on saturday, he stood at the massive demonstration in caracas and told protesters to stop blocking the streets with barricades, he was asking them to basically tone it down a little bit. to not have protests at night

and to try to avoid any kind of violence. but given the fact that the government isn't allowing the television station to his cover these protests most of the people that he was trying to reach never had a chance to hear what he said. and is that one of the big problems here, that the opposition can't really coalesce against or around any leader because they simply just -- the government simply controls the media and they don't have access to it? >> that's a major problem. but it also shows the fact that the government decided to take the one message that might have had a chance from a position of opposition credibility to look at these and say listen blocking streets, burning things on the streets is not the way to go. this is not a constructive way to protest. the government decided to not allow that message to get out. and that what tells you is that for all the talk of peace the government is calculating its in its interest to escalate. they have a very clear h escalation

strategy, they keep going at the students and protesting more and the conclusion that we draw from that is that maduro is trying a very sold strategy that chavez applied for years of allowing his opponents to over reach, goading them for take positions that are unpopular so that he can crack down. the difference is that chavez never used the levels of violence that maduro has been using. >> and maduro is blaming the u.s., that's something chavez would do and blamed cnn and saying it's flash i flas flash i haves behind this . the opposition has gone way beyond on gashings. that's never going to happen .

>> with social media we played viral video from a mother whose son had been shot. seeing her now she said she wasn't an on gashing or a fascist and we also have heard today we have seen a video gone viral of a farm worker, let's take a look at that . >> people are suffering, there is no milk for the kids no, diapers, we can't get sugar or food. >> and the crowd screamed out hunger as he was speaking he was trying to tell it to the soldier there . clearly not a fascist oligarch. is this become a broader popular movement or not?

>> the point is you saw that videos because you have youtube and a good inter next connection most people rely on the media. and it's very heavily controlled. yes, the same problems that hit the middle class mid everybody. but you have to understand the 10 or of the kind of or well vinnie propaganda machine that chavez created and maduro inherited. six tv indications, radio takes online and newspapers and they are very disciplined and good about taking this very simple message of their receival fascists everywhere, a conspiracy to destroy the revolution you have to fight them and creates this fevered pitch of these 2-minute hits. it's out right or well vinnie stuff but it's effective . we shouldn't under estimate the government .

the slogan is with hunger and without a nobody and still sticking by the government with the revolution . so it's important to not under estimate these things, people i have talked to this week are want to go make prema fewer comparisons with things that have happened recentl happened recently in ukraine this is not a sprint. this is a marathon. >> well and, there are develops in the united states senator marco rubio has called venezuela the new cuba and called for u.s. sanctions we'll stay top of the story. thank you very much for joining us tonight. time now to see what's trend on the ground al jazerra's website. >> the u.s. has come a long why when it comes to obesity, children between two and five years old dropped 43% in eight years.

it went from 14% in 2004 to 8% in 2012. but some obesity researchers say the new data offers little reason to celebrate. over 20% of kids 12-19 remain obese. as well as 18% of those six to 11 years old. the report comes on the same day first lady michelle obama announced new federal guidelines as parts of her let's move campaign a four-year-old campaign that combats childhood obesity. >> and as part of this effort we'll be eliminating advertisements for unhealthy food and beverages in our schools. >> that means ads in schools withville to comply with health standards that already apply to the food served by public schools. jan says glad for healthy options but hate, hate, hate government intrusion. and morgan says i think we reflect a growing consciousness about health in the usa new healthier products are becoming popular. you can read more at the website america.aljazerra.com. back to you.

>> thanks, hermela. straight ahead, a shocking pole your-like ill someones california. what impact did that have across the country. also why washington gridlock spreads far beyond congress, we'll have a look at the country's most dangerous drivers. and later the happiest kids in the world reportedly live in the

>> 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

a mystery illness with symptoms similar to polio has struck 25 children throughout it the state of california. while polio was irradicateed in the u.s. decades ago that subject help s sophia jar five o lost the use of her arm. health officials are sure it's not polio no one knows no sure what it is joining us is a professor of clinical neurology pediatrics and director of the pediatric march s. clinic and medical director for the race to erase m.s. good to have you with us, doctor. >> doctors and the california department of public health are not calling it a major public health concern, but as i said around tweet five kids throughout the state have come down with this mystery illness, shouldn't we be concerned? >> the exact number is still unclear. we have -- we have seen

personally between five children with these presentations . these have occurred over the past 18 months, probable cases reported to the department of public health in california, but the cases have not been reviewed for all of them so they are not all confirmed and they also have occurred over the past 18 no, eight months s18 monthsso it's more ts seen in the past tent or 20 years but these are still very low numbers. >> but doctors, again, are certain it's not polio. one of the possible culprits is some sort of virus which is the same general type of family virus as polio and also the common cold for that matter. could there be some stronger variation of that virus that is beginning to spread? >> so we are sure that this is not polio because we were able

to confirm that all the patients are been vaccinate forked polio. that they had mounted appropriate immune response to the vaccine and so there was no evidence for the polio virus. in only two of the five patients, we have evaluated in detail we were able to find virus 68 in the nasal swaps and whether it was related or not to the paralysis experience is unclear. in the other patients we were not able to identify any virus, but we suspect that the disease is very likely triggered by eye virus and the main thing is to identify the culprit. >> programs to the limbs is not notifiable to the cdc. could there be more cased around the country that haven't been reported? >> there could be a few more cases

especially if it happens -- i think our strength was to combine our efforts between two big medical centers and realize that each of us had seen one case so it was more than we would expect and then we saw a few more cases so getting five within 18 months, and we were able to really work together to identify the findings across these cases, now, if you are a practicing physician and you know, you have never seen that before, but you see one of these cases, if you are not connecting to other physicians who may actually encounter this kind of case or if actually you have not been able to make the diagnosis because it's not trivial, if not seen other cases before, then it's probably something that you would not report, so you are, indeed, right in saying that it's maybe under estimated. >> so you want people to know this is happening so that these things do get reported and the

question, of course, is there, you know, how -- what's the prognosis for some of these kids? because in some cases are much worse than jessica's where it's multiple limbs and even breathing problems. >> correct. so the idea here is to try to -- and that's why we actually submitted an abstract to a big convention occurring in april in philadelphia, gathering thousands of newerrologist newerologies from all over the world and the idea was when you have a few cases like that you so them . they may have cases they didn't pay attention to but suddenly realize, that, wow, their case was looking like yours. so in the patients that we have seen the severity of the illness has been variable as you said,

couple of our patients actually had only one arm paralysis, that occurred within a few days. >> reporter: the paralysis was pretty severe , beginning in the arm so the muscles in the hand were actually to some extent sprefrbepreserved so they coulde do a few things with their handsome of the patients we have seen have experienced more severe presentation because of the extent of the damage in the spinal cord was big are. and these patients have developed weakness in all four extreme aexec stream at thises and one had trouble breathing and had to be interim baite intubated for a few days. >> thank you very much for join

joining us tonight. thank you. from this mystery illness we turn to possible new causes for an increasingly common disorder could a medication women take when pregnant be causing behavior problems in their children. a study published said are said pregnant women who took accede minnesota fin were more than 30 percent likely to have their child develop adhd than mother who his took none and the risk increases with greater use, joining us here in new york now is a doctor an assistant professor of epidemiology at columbia university and focuses on disease prevention. good to have you back on the show. >> thank you. >> a seaacetaminophen used by at of people all over the world. the question rises to whether it has effects on the fetus. what is the study tell us? >> you are right, antonio. about 50% of american women report using acetaminophen during their pregnancy.

the study is quite surprising. and pretty scary if you think about it. >> reporter: what the study shows us is that there may be an association between using acetaminophen or products like tylenol or other cold and flu or pain medication that his contain acetaminophen during pregnancy, that may predict risk for adhd in children think now i use the word may very specifically, because this is one study and really important that we step back and make sure to understand that one study does not a cause make. >> but this is a fairly large stud. >> i it's a huge study. they studied 64,000 people from a danish birth study which is a very powerful way of trying to get at a question like this one. but it's really important, you know, the cannon of signs that we have to replicate the results. at this point this is a really important study. it puts the question on the table. it gives us a workable hypothesis. but it's really important to remember that this is one study and we need to think a little bit more critically. do more studies in particular to address some of the weaknesses in this particular

study. >> how significant are the weaknesses. this is a big deal, this is one of the few painkillers that was supposed to be safe for pregnant women to take. how surprising are the find somethings. >> they ar pretty surprising.re this is an observational study. this is for studying things that can be bad because we can't give them things too people on purpose. in this study they thought about of women who used tylenol aura seed minute fi acetaminophen what is the risk? part of that is you have to think about why are they using it to begin with? we know that having fevers, for example, or inflammation orin if he can is his associated with adhd in children as well think we don't know fits the tylenol order remember for which they were taking it . we need more research

. should women not take -- should they pretty much not take tylenol for regular pains and just avoid it as much as possible . and only take it in severe situations. >> that's the big question. you have to remember no medical intervention is without consequence. having an important new'sed conversation with a doctor about whether or not to take medicine, it's important to keep studying these things. i recommend they talk to their doctor and what are the consequences and counter posed with not treating the fever or some other medication they might choose. >> witone thing that surprised e as i read about this is the fact that it seems to have a stronger effect on the children, that more kids end up with adhd if the mothers took the tylenol later in he their pregnancy.

that raises another question. what about children . that i make for for children and toddlers. >> we know that children in the womb are susceptible to what the mother puts in her body. and not necessarily after they come out of the womb. so i would be cautious to over interpret the results of a study like this showing a very particular relationship about taking acetaminophen, a mother taking it in implications for his kids versus kids taking it for themselves. we have a lot of data about children taking acetaminophen and it might be worth looking at but at this point there is no data to substantiate that we wouldn't want to over interpret and risk kids not taking drugs that might save them and make them healthier. >> again, be caus cautious and k to your doctor. >> of course. >> great you have to back, good to see. >> you thank you. straight ahead, if you think la is the most dangerous city

for driving on the west coast, think again. our data dive is up next. and why are dutch kids apparently much happier than children elsewhere?

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on al jazeera america today's data dive proceeds with caution thursday marked 74 years since the first red and green traffic lights were installed in new york city. despite the sarcastic convention of wisdom that new york is a lawless city for drivers it's the safest big city in the country for drivers maybe it's helped by new yorkers' reliance on subways. the washington post once aren'ted about only 251st of new york residents everybody have a driver's license, what cities are dangerous? on last year's list from all start, of americas safest driver cities, washington, d.c. came in dead last for the sixth time. clearly gridlock doesn't stay in the halls of congress. it doesn't help that dc is a mess of one way streets and no left turns.

the average dc driver gets in to an accidents once every four and a half years or so. baltimore drivers came in a close second it must be something about that area. i if you thought los angeles would be close behind you would be wrong it's not even most scent prone city in california that honor belongs to nearby glendale followed by san francisco. la is 14th nationally. as for the safest? it's ft. collins, colorado. their drivers average an accident only once every 14 years. that's about a third of washington, d.c.'s rate. i suspect this is something where the nation's capitol would prefer fo not to be the countrys leader. coming up, uncief find kids in the netherlands are the happiest in the world. do the dutch know something about parent we don't? quick programming note. this weekend we'll bring you a special edition of "consider this." we are o the only tv program for fully profile all 10 oscar nominated feature length and short subject documentaries for

your consideration the 24 nominees will bring you in-depth looks with each filmmaker premiering saturday at 10:00 p.m. eastern and runs

is going dutch the new secret to parenting? kids in the netherlands are the happiest in the world according to a host of new research, including a recent uncief report that looked at children in 29 industrialized countries. so what are the dutch doing right? and what can we learn from them? rinne joins us from amsterdam, originally from san francisco and moved to th moved to the ned writes finding dutch lan a blog with inspirational and educational toerl fo material fn think rate to have you on i enjoyed reading your blog, happy parents are likely to have happy kids and the dutch are in

general the happiest in the world. why are this he so happen any. >> i am convinced that the dutch are the happiest people in the world, among the happiest people in the world simply because they have a lot of personal freedoms. and they are able to enjoy wonderful, balance. for them they are able to have careers, a family life and, go on vacations regularly. >> one thing you brought that up surprised me was that you talk about the gift of time. that it's the highest rates of part-time work exist in the netherlands more than anywhere else so that both parents, in many cases are working part time and have a lot more time with their children. >> the dutch realize that there is more to life than work. in fact, the netherlands is the part-time work champion of europe. and has essentially the world, they work on average about 29 hours a week. and so dutch parents are able to really share in the joy of parenting. i don't want to say burden but

the joy the parenting in which both moms and dads take sequel responsibility. the mom works four days, the dad works four days and they have oma contributing one of the days usually and so the child often just goes to day-care twice a week. and that is a great balance. >> by oma you are talking about their grandparent you bring up there is less depression amongst dutch parents than other places. one of the things that dutch parents, big benefit is that they have subsidies from the state. >> yes. a lot of subsidies. i was actually quite surprised for having a kid we are given a lot of help financially from the government. the government has also created an infrastructure to support the parents. they understand that having a family is really hard. and balancing it all having a work life, balker so they have implemented a lot of things, so

fofor example, each woman after birth is inning tight told their own private maternity nurse for eight days, they are allowed to be taken care of and the child. and i think that plays a big role in parents being less depressed. >> now, what are the reasons given by uncief about the happiness of the kids? is that there are lower expectations for them. and you address that too, there are fa are fewer precious in schools as an anal american here, that makes me worry. couldn't that hurt kids in the long run if there isn't more of a push to a chief in school? >> as an american, too, i was actually quite surprised because i had a fairly strict asian upbringing. my parents are filipino immigrants and came from the san francisco bay area school was a big emphasis. but what is incredible to see is that the dutch kids go to school to simply learn. versed trying to do well on tests. and i think that's two different things, learning isn't the same thing as really doing well in school. the dutch parents have finally

acknowledged and realized that being the best and the brightest doesn't equate to happiness. of course dutch parents want the best for their children and they, of course, they would be proud of the children if they became doctors or lawyers or concert pianists but in the end they realize that being the smartest and bright zest not going to necessarily make the children happy and in school there is a lot less pressure and they want them to learn and be more children of the world rather than being perfect robots or something like that. just to really live life and be children . you bring up less pressure on the food they eat than you see in the united states. you bring up that parents have more meals with their kids, breakfasts together all the times. there are all these things being done differently in the netherlands, do you sense a difference when you come home to the united states? do you sense a difference in the happiness of kids in the netherlands compared to here? >> dutch parents and parents

living in the netherlands have a lot more support than parents in the use. there is a lot less pressure to do it all, to be the very best parent that they can be. dutch parents are happy just being good enough parents. not that -- they try their very best but if that's the best they don't push themselves. they are happy being themselves. there is a dutch saying, do more [inaudible] that is [inaudible] which translates to just be normal. that's crazy enough. >> interestingly all these subsidies and all that there are higher taxes and some salaries are lower, but, again, the rate of happiness of the people in the netherlands seems to be very high, unemployment is comparable to the united states. so it seems like the country is doing just fine and if the kids are happy that's a good thing. it's good to see you. again, your blog is finding dutch land, it's a pressure to have you on the show. and the show may be over but the conversation continues on our website, aljazerra.com/considerthis or on

our facebook or google plus pages and on twitter at ajconsiderthis, we'll see you next time. >> >> president obama issues an ultimatum to afghan president hamid karzai - sign an agreement or u.s. troops will leave the country by the end of the year. >> i'm not from east, i'm not from west. imukraine. >> uniting a divided nation - a major city where ukraine's revolution is not welcomed by the soviet generation. >> plus, peril for the produce industry. why some healthy snacks may become forbidden fruit. >>