long time to cover. to have the complete editorial freedom to tell these stories and do so with the adequate resources is amazing. remacist >> the fatal shootings in kansas raise concerns about hate groups in the u.s. and violence. a pulitzer prize goes to coverage of the edward snowden's revelations. that's a backlash from congress. why would is a school turn a boy being bullied over to place because he was trying to gather proof? if you are late in filing taxes, why you might want to blame your ancestors. i'm antonio mora, welcome to "consider this" much here is more on what is ahead.

>> the justice department now saying it will investigate this weekend's shootings in kansas as a possible hate crime. >> it takes no cashing ter to do what was done, no backbone, morals, ethics. all it takes is an idiot with a gun. >> we are looking at a variety of ways to demonstrate support for ukraine. we do not see a military solution to the crisis. >> the credibility of the russian federation has been gravely undermined. >> "the washington post" and "the guardian" won the pulitzer prize with the grouped-breaking -- ground-breaking coverage of the spying matters. >> we begin with what has been labelled a hate crime. police in kansas arrested white supremicist fraser glen cross on sunday.

he used the last name miller, and has been expected to be charged with premeditated first degree murder and hate crimes for the deaths of three people outside two community center buildings. terry was shot and killed outside a retirement home where her mum was a res department. william and his grandson, 14, were in the parking lot where the grandson was going to try out for a singing competition. >> the mother and daughter described what she saw after the shooting, at a memorial sunday. >> i saw my dad's truck was there and the car doors were open. i wondered why dad was not standing there. as i pulled up i saw he was laying on the ground. my first thought was he had a heart attack. just lying there. quickly i realised that it wasn't that, and i knew my dad was in heaven, within seconds.

and i ran around the struck and there were two men with him, and they were holding him. i did not get a good look at him. >> i saw that he seemed a little lifeless. i did not get a significant look at him before someone named mickey, who i'm blessed, grabbed my and tightly and pulled me from the scene. >> i'm joined by criminalologist director of the center for hate and extremism at cal state university. i watched most of that mother's speech, and it was absolutely heart breaking. we have seen too often the defacing the jewish institutions with nazi symbols, when was the last time we had a matter like

this? >> we have had several. every jewish person on goodwill on this pass over evening has our sisters and brothers in our prayers. in 1994 there was a fatal shooting on the brooklyn bridge. we had a shooting in 1999 at a jewish center by a neo-naasry in the los angeles area. he killed a postal work are. we had a shooting at l.a. x. by loen extremist. most recently a fatal event as you know at the holocaust museum, along to neo-nazi killed a security guard there. there are plots that came up, these were the fatal ones over the last 20 years. we have seen repetition rare. this is certainly the one that

has produced the most bloodshed. this guy has a long record as a militant and a dangerous white supremicist. according to the law center, starting in the 1980s, he was the founder and grand founder of the caroliner knights, founded the white patriot party, convicted to create the southland. he game a fugitive, served three years in federal prison, ran for congress in 2006 and the senate in 2010 from his rural missouri home. >> he had seven votes. >> he was an important figure in the movement. >> he was, and arguably his - his allegiance to the movement could go back to the childhood. he was in the nazi group and was kicked out of the army where he

did two stints due to hate activities. he's been involved in the hate movement for some kind, and in a battle with communists in greens bro north carolina, that ended up leaving five dead. all were acquitted in a subsequent trial. where he got into trouble was in 1987 once he began a declaration of war. he went underground and was captured. he was facing life in prison, and became a state witness. that tarnished him. it tainted him for the rest of the his life throughout the hate movement. in recent years he posted thousands of times on the internet. but we have not seen this violence from him until now. >> according to a federal affidavit, before he was arrested and gaoled in the '80s, he wanted to carry out a war against federal judges and law enforcement systems and worked out a point system for those he

wanted killed most. jews were up there. after the oklahoma city bombing there was a lot of attention played to militias and white supremacists. after 9/11 is the fbi focussed on our own locally bread extremists. >> i think they are now. there was a period of time where salafist jihadists were the focus. now the fib and other law -- fbi and other law enforcement focussed on it. national conference where i made a preparation of the risk of this kind of action, particularly from lone wolves. they are the hardest to deter. and we see them across the spectrum, from animal liberation, to religious extremists to anti-government extremists, and this was a guy that wrote about how he wanted to start a christian army, have a declaration of war, and did it. i think he did it more as a swan

song. he laughed and whimmered to make himself relevant and rehabilitate in a most that once embraced but then abandoned him. >> according to the southern poverty law center that tracks the groups. there are over 900 american hate groups, including neo-nazis, white nationalists, neoconfreed rates, skin heads, black separatists. how dangerous are the groups? >> well, they are dangerous, but we have to remember, you know, during the 1920s, one in seven members of the electorate were members of the klu klux klan and african-americans were burnt alive in the streets of st. louis. there were four to 6,000 clan groups. here is where i think the problem is - the ability of small number of people,

autonomous cells, duos to commit mass murder is greater than it's been, even though the groups are - have increased in number. their stature and overall membership on the american landscape is a shadow of what it has been. if you are a jew in the united states, you are more likely to be killed in a motor vehicle accident than by an extremist. a lone wolf can kill many at once. and we have seen it. >> how do you monitor the people, how do you keep track of them and stop them. >> thank you for joining us and giving us your thoughts. >> switching topics to the crisis in ukraine. pro-russian separatists attacked and occupied a police station in an eastern city, one of as many as 10 buildings where separatists seized buildings and hoisted the russian flag.

president obama and vladimir putin discussed the increasing violence in a phone conversation requested by moscow late in the day monday. according to vladimir putin's office president obama expressed concern about russia's supposed meddling in south-eastern ukraine, though such speculations are based on inaccurate information. earlier white house press secretary jay carney condemned russian attempts to destabilize ukraine, buts said the u.s. was not planning to send tleethal aid to the country. >> the main focus is on supporting economic efforts, to de-escalate the sways. >> i'm joined by ambassador william taylor, serving as ambassador to ukraine. he coordinated u.s. assistance to the former soviet union, and servings as vice president at the united states institute of peace. ambassador, great to have you. looking at everything that has happened over the next couple of days. we have russian fighter jet

flying over an american warship numerous times in a provocative action. the russians warned the ukrainians not to take military abss in the east -- actions in the east. the ukrainians warned them but they did it anything. are things escalating and getting more dangerous? >> the russians are making it dangerous. they are sending in their people in eastern you crane. and you can see this as your report indicated in 10 or more cities. small towns, they do the same thing. these provocateurs, these russians, from their security services come into a town. they are dressed the same, they have the same uniforms, no insignia, have the same weapons from russia, and have the same

mode of operation. this is clearly organised by the russians. they are provoking the problem. >> it's similar to crime. jay carney said any moves by russia into ukraine will come at a cost. president obama is said to have told vladimir putin to withdraw the troops sitting on the ukrainian border. they've been there for weeks. the european union is threatening sanctions. vladimir putin asked for a phone call with president obama. do you think the threats are having an effect on him? >> i think the sanctions that have been put on him, and his - the people around him, and his economy are having an effect. now, whether those effects, whether the problem for the economy are getting through to him, it's not clear. and, therefore, i would certainly recommend that we increase those sanctions, broaden them on more people and sectors of the economy so it is clear that he's getting the message, and he will take the

actions that will reduce the pressure on him. >> beyond the sanctions, what should we do. the white house says it's not planning to send lethal aid to the ukraine, should the u.s. send military support? >>able so. i think we should consider it and grant the request that the ukrainians made. they are not asking for tanks and artillery and jet fighters, they are asking for fuel. they are asking for antitank weapons. they want to defend themselves. that's a right of sovereign chases to defend themselves. we ought to help them. >> peacekeeping troops to the eastern provinces has been asked for. is there a chance that will happen, because russia can block moves by veto in the security council. >> i think it's a very good

idea. it's a very good idea to have neutral parties in ukraine, the east and kiev for that matter, to see and tell the world and the russians that all of the stories that the russians are telling are not true. that is, there's no threat to russians in ukraine. there are no - there are no mobs in the streets in kiev. the only people that are providing the disag re gags and the problems in eastern part of ukraine are the russians, and these people from the u.n. would be able to make that case credibly. >> can russia just stop that from happening by vetoing it in the security council. >> sure they can, and that would be further indication that they don't want to solve this, that they are provoking intentionally the problems in eastern ukraine. >> and ukraine had gip the separatists an ultimatum to clear out of the government buildings. it was monday, and instead of

doing that they kept occupying other buildings. does ukraine have the forces it needs to do the job to get rid of all these people because there are reports ta some police officers and other troops in that area are defecting from ukraine and going over to the russian side. >> i am sure there could be intuffedual examples of that. but it's also the case that the - that the security forces that are in kiev, that are under the command of central government, are loyal, are well trained and can take action when necessary. there's a good number of well of train the army, military forces that could be pulled into action. no one wants to see a war between russia and ukraine. this would not be a civil war, this would be a war between russia and ukraine. the russians and ukrainians don't want to see it. if the russians provoke and send

troops across the border, there'll be fighting. >> 4-way talks between ukraine, e.u., russia or expected to get under way, are you hope. . >> i remain hopeful, the russians are coming in with demands that ukrainians will turn down. the russians want the ukrainians to dismember the ukraine. the europeans will not agree with that. the russians have to be prepared for disappoints. it's a good sign that they are talking, in that they, the russians are recognising the legitimate government in kiev. >> what about the constitution, giving provinces more independence. some of what russia has asked for. the danger and concern is that that would allow the provinces to be taken over by the russians. >> president oleksandr turchynov

indicated that he is willing to talk about some decentralisation. no one talks about federalization. but from decentralisation of decision making, would probably make sense. he's talked about that. the first thing on the agenda, of course, is the presidential election on may 25th. then they ought to be able to think through constitutional changes. there are parliamentary elections brought forward. constitutional changes could be in order, and decentralisation away from the current system to allow all the regions, not just the east, to make local decisions. there ought to be a single unified ukraine. >> they should be able to make the decisions without a russian gun to their heads. >> coming up, edward snowden's leaks lead to one of journalisms most prestigious prizes, but congress is offering backlash. a boy trying to prove he was

bullied is convicted of a crime, instead of bullies, that story infuriating countless online. harmeli aregawi, our social media producer is challenging webb. >> eating meet is expensive. details coming up. let us know what you think. join the conversation: [ grunting ]

i'm taking off, but, uh, don't worry. i'm gonna leave the tv on for you. and if anything happens, don't forget about the new xfinity my account app. you can troubleshoot technical issues here. if you make an appointment, you can check out the status here. you can pay the bill, too. but don't worry about that right now. okay. how do i look? ♪ thanks. [ male announcer ] troubleshoot, manage appointments, and bill pay from your phone. introducing the xfinity my account app. >> reporting on edward snowden's n.s.a. leaks have gone "the

guardian" u.s. and "the washington post" pulitzer prizes for public service journalism. it helped to spark the debate for security and privacy, and for the post letting us know how it fits into the national security. the awards are bound to be controversial given the charges edward snowden faces and the belief held by many that his revelations are the exact opposite of a public service. we are joined by washington d.c. by dylan byers, who writes the on media blog, and described it in a story. dylan byers, good of you to join us to talk about this. if you look at this in the simplest way, edward snowden's leaks were the most influential journalistic story. you didn't tip your hat in the - you didn't give your opinion in

your peace. did you have doubt despite the controversial nature of this that the edward snowden story would win the pulitzer prize. >> i had doubts. it's hard to see how the pulitzer prize board could look at the reporting, bar none, the most significant story of the year, if not the decade or the century, and not give the award to both papers who have down an enormous amount to sort of bring these revelations to light. now, there is always the possibility that the board would air on the side of caution. if you look historically what they have done, you look at awaring the pend gone, it would be hard to see how they wouldn't award the post and guardian. >> the controversial erupt. congressman peter king said: >> a series of leaders called edward snowden a traitor. you mentioned in your piece, i

believe, how barack obama referred to the people who helped edward snowden as accomplices. what do you think the reaction will be from political washington. >> you could anticipate this rehabilitation. i mean, there's no decision the board could make that was not going to elicit a reaction. if they didn't give the prize it will be a pull back from the journalistic community. if they did, there would be a blow back from edward snowden's critics, especially those in american government, and those on the right. also obama has said that we don't know yet the full ramifications of edward snowden's leaks. at the same time obama has gone ahead and proposed revisions to the n.s.a. surveillance practices. that was seep as a vind -- seen as a vindication of edward snowden's efforts, and this is seen as another vindication of his efforts. i wouldn't be surprised if we see more from peter king, dick

cheney who called edward snowden a traitor in the weeks or months ahead. >> on the journalistic side, you do a great job of laying out the pros and cons that the paul itser board had to take into consideration. one of the ones that you bring up is that no matter how strong the journal. >> may be or questioning how strong it is, bus in this case did the reporters serve as conduates, instead of doing the intensive investigative work that we normally associate with paul itsers? >> one thaping that the paul itser -- think that the paul itser board likes to honour is some local paper that spent years digging into a local corruption issue, they love to ward that stuff. at the same time i wouldn't estimate the amount of work that glenn greenwald, and barton put into this.

glenn greenwald went to hong kong, earn edward snowden's trust. both organizations spent a lot of time with the information, parsed it out, contextualized it. some said the documents fell in their lap, that's not the case. a lot of work was done. we saw two different propose as to how the information was presented. >> that's what the art from the paul itser board was, as to why they awarded the paul itser to two different organizations for technically the same story. >> absolutely. if you talk to the editors at the guardian and the post, they have a different view on how they contribute to the story. glenn greenwald worked hard with edward snowden, and should be credited for bringing a lot of this to light. the stories focussed more on the context and had an even bigger impact in tmps of exposing

certain revelations such as prison, and things like that. >> what kind of impact will the paul itser have on the conversation. >> you are seeing the editors from the papers being more outspoken in their willingness to credit edward snowden. we talked to martin baron, the executive editor of the "the washington post," who said it would not have been possible without edward snowden. alan at the gharde jan ag what edward snowden did was a public service. you did not see the level of support for edward snowden from the journalistic organizations ahead of the award, you see it now. >> there'll be a heavy i don't remember blow back from the political community from those that viewed this as a terrible decision. that will stoke the fires of the defenders of national security who champion it over privacy. >> we have been talking about this for a year. this will make us talk about it a lot more.

dylan byers, political, thank you for coming in. >> fair warping, this next starry my ipp feweriate -- story to my infuriate you. a school saw it fit not to punish the bullies, but the boy beingar harassed. the 15-year-old student tried to collect proof that he was tripped, shoved and slit on. he used his ipad to make a recording of his tormentors. instead of dealing with the bullying high school administrators reported the boy to police for a violation of wire tap laws and forced him to delete a recording before the police arrived. then a judge convicted the boy of disorderly conduct. we are joined from pittsburg, the attorney that represented the child.

the school refused to appear to give a statement. >> the boy has learning disabilities, including adhd. he's been in a special ed class with kids with behavioural problems. he has never been a problem in class. his mother testified that her son has been bullied. a fellow student tried to burn himway cigarette lighter. what is the school's excuse for not taking action before we got to this. >> honestly, i can't figure it out. i was at the hearing. the dean of students was there, the vice principal of the school was there, i did not hear an excuse that made sense to me. >> when asked about the boy hit with spit from other kids, the isn't principal testified saying: >> am i living in a twilight zone, in an alternate yup haves. how is being split -- universe. how is being split on not bullied

>>. >> twilight zone - that's the phrase the boy's mother used. i can't figure out how spit wads and has lipping the students is not -- hassling the student is not bullying. my definition - it does. >> ppz is one -- pennsylvania is one of 12 states that requires permission from all parties if you are taping something. aren't there exceptions. this boy was doing it in defense. >> that's right. there are certainly exceptions. one of the requirements is that the people recorded had a reasonable expectation that the conversation was not being recorded. and the fact that supreme court pennsylvania held that students in a public school setting have a limited expectation of privacy, and we showed at the hearing that the children were talking in a classroom at a normal tone of voice, the teacher heard, they didn't go in

a corner and whisper, they had no, in our opinion, reasonable inspection of privacy that the conversation was not recorded. i think it's shocking that the school thought that that was a wire tapping violation. >> if he did it to defend himself, basically to stop something going on. there are all sorts of exceptions in the how as to what you can do if someone is assaulting you, doing things to you that they shouldn't be doing? >> sure, i can't imagine the legislator ended the wire tap act to punish victims of a crime. anyone committing a crime has no expectation of privacy. >> it seems a lack of commonsense from the school to call police and turn it into a court ak because a 15-year-old taped kids that were allegedly abusing him. >> to play def ill's advocate, the judge said your client jumped to doing the taping instead of going to the school.

did he and his mother not bring up bullying? >> they did. there were several emails from the mother to the special education teach, the director of the school, the administrators in fact admitted at the hearing that they were aware of the previous reports, whether or not they classified them as bullying is a different story. we have talked about whether or not we think that's bullying, and certainly i think they were trying to escape some of the actions that they had taken. >> how in the world does the judge then say "hey, this should have been dealt with at the school level if there's evidence that the school was not dealing with it? >> it's a good question the the judges at the local level are loyal to the school district, the police department. the officer involved in this case has been on the force for a long time. been involved in the community for a long time, and, you know, i don't want to question the judge's decision, it's not my role, but there could have been some loyalty to that officer

that maybe the judge didn't want to embarrass him. >> the role could be to contest the decision if you appeal. did you appeal. >> we did. we have a hearing on 29 april. >> what do you hope will happen, and how is he doing? how is he dealing with school now? >> well, i think he's doing as well as can be expected. certainly he doesn't want to be considered a criminal. he feels a little embarrassed that the school has labelled him as a criminal. certainly in our talks, i think i have convinced him at some point we'll get this overturned. it's important to note that at the magistrate level, the fine was $25, and they were crossing their fingers that this would be something we'd appeal as a matter of principle. it's a bad precedent that we have victims of bullying

punished. >> i think you are under stating saying it's a bad precedent. it's terrible. please keep us posted. justin steele good to have you with us. >> time to see what is trepding on the website. >> pork prices has been on the rise because of a virus killing baby pigs. consumers are feeling sticker shock from beef prices, they are at the highest they've been for three decades. part of the reason is the number of cattle has been on decline. and there's a growing demand. >> the cost of fresh beef climbed to $5.28. up a quarter from the month before. analysts say that everything that has been produced is being consumed. and prices are likely to stay high as rangers in texas, california, and other parts of the country battle drought. dale spencer. from the cattle association says:

>> and it's not just pork and beef, poultry prices are on the rise. the retail price for chicken was $2 a pound. the highest in six months. read more at the website aljazeera.com and let us know if you feel the pinch, and how you are deal with it. tweet us. >> thank you. >> straight ahead - a half century after the civil rights act of 1964 a book highlights unexpected heroes, and says the law may not pass in today's congress. one out of five american taxpayers are filing with the irs at the last minute. is there procrastination genetic? later. space x. we have a problem. why the company had a case of the mondays, at the worst

>> the civil rights act of 1964 is hailed as the most important law of the past century. 50 years after its passing many doubt that the current political environment would allow for a bill like that. for more we are joined from washington d.c. todd purdum, oo author of:

>> he is a senior writer at politico and contributing editor at "vanity fair." >> this is terrific story telling bringing to life the intensity of the wheeling and dealing ending up with the civil rights act approved with the bipartisan report. the conventional wisdom, if you talk to most people is it involves around lyndon johnson, martin luther king and others. but there were congressman, some with no blacks in his district. >> william mccullough, was his name. his district in ohio is represented, part of it, his home down, by speaker john boehner, who is just as conservative as john boehner. he opposed gun control. sceptical about foreign aid. he was a fierce supporter of fierce rites. when president kennedy proposed

the bill in the summer of 1963 william mccullough made a deal saying if they promised not to water it down in the senate - which was the usual practice - and would give the republicans equal credit goings into the 1964 presidential election, he'd bring along the republican caucus, and that's what would happen. >> so many moving parts were involved in the negotiations. his importance was highlighted by jacqueline kennedy onassis, when he retired she sent a note saying: >> reading that it makes me wonder how with e write our

history booftenghts it was considered -- books. it was considered political suicide for him to do what he did. i suspect few know who he is. >> the republican party took seriously his herrage of the party of lincoln. he had a lot of support in the caucus in the house, he had no political self-interest. as the debate went on he came under pressure, he had a safe seat that he was not going to lose. he came under pressure by people wondering why he was sticking his neck out. it seems radically different from what we experienced today. >> j.f.k. was assassinated in the middle of the battle and lyndon johnson became president. he was a majority leader. i don't think you have told us where you stand on this. if kennedy had not been assassinated after all this research that you have done, do you think we would have had to wait longer for civil rights to

get passed? >> it's the great question asked in every appearance since the book came out. historians disagree. my sense is that the bill was so far down the track and john f. kennedy invested so much political prestige in it. he was a cautious politician and liked to win. i think he couldn't have walked away from the fight. it may have taken longer. he may have had to compromise in ways that l.b.j. was unused to. i'd like to thing he had it past after the 1964 election. i don't think he could have abandoned it. >> you brought to life what life was like on capitol hill, in the senate, how it was controlled pretty much by the southern delegations who were opposed to integration, you almost describe it has three different parties. the title of your book is two parties. you had the southern democrats, northern democrats and the republicans. >> you had at least three parties. the interesting reality was that the republicans were willing to

make common cause with the liberal northern democrats. the pro-civil rights democrats, and in the end it passed the senate 73 to 27, with 27 out of 33 republican votes. >> there was a higher percentage of republicans. >> far higher. >> and it was a different world on so many levels. one of the things you bring up is how they drank. they probably had better relationships, closer relationships than they do today. >> i have to think it couldn't have hurt. and the senator of aislean knew said it's -- illanois and he had a clock on the wall where it was set at five, so they could drink at any time of the day. >> given it was 50 years ago, it's astonishing and scary. >> it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

there was an exchange of the south carolina senator and another on whether to use cattle prods. senator thurman said he was chased by one during a college hazing. it mostly tickled. >> you write how he sold and said: >> in this world of politicians that seem to be slaves to the polls, do you think the law would have had a shot at getting past? >> it's hard to imagine how it would have. at the time of the founding we were lucky to have thomas jeffer don, ben franklin, james matheson. the country was bitterly divided. there were people in our public life willing to set aside self-interest and do the right

thing. it really is remarkable. >> one of the problems we have now is anyone votes or says anything in favour of something their constituents may not want and that gets back to them through 27 hour cable news through the internet. so do you think there's any hope for washington, that things will change, gip the circumstances? >> well, you know two things helped the bill get past. one hashed out in secret. it was negotiated behind closed doors. that's hard for something to happen because the pressures of 27/7. the other thing that happened was there was a grass roots campaign who brought pressure to bear as a moral issue. i wassederedway would -- wandered what would happen on immigration, if synagogues got together saying "this is a moral issue itself, it had a lot of effect on congrassman and

senators, especially on westerners, who did not have large black constit upsies. >> a lot of lessons that can be learnt. they are there in the book. it's an idea whose time has come "two presidents, two parties - and the battle for the civil rights act in 1964." >> coming up spacex does not have lift off. why the launch did not get off the ground. first, many of you may be rushing to get taxes in at the last minute. research says your genes may be to blame for the procraft jipation, we explain -- procrastination, we explain next in data dive.

>> today's data dive puts off until tomorrow what can be done today. we are up against the april 15th tax filing deadline and millions of americans are scrambling to get the taxes in. the irs reports one in five of us wait until the final week. h&r block says the rush leads to mistakes, and the average procrastinator will pay $400 more than they should have as a result. so why wait? recent research from the university of colorado found procrastination are linked and they both may be genetic. impulsivity served our ancestors well, when having a tomorrow was not all that certain,

procrastination is recent. both are hereditary, say researchers, and there's an overlap between the two. impulsive people are procrastinators. "time" magazine found people get away with missing deadlines all the time so are more likely to put things off. habitual procrastination could make you lose your job or fail at school. until then, people do not learn their lesson. using taxes as an example, once you have them in, in the nick of time by the end of april 15th, without glaring areas, you are likely to do it. perfectionists hold off because they want to avoid making a mag, because ironically that leads to errors. then there's a near yi developed by joseph ferrari, called arousal procrastination, people, especially extroverts are excited by doing things at the

last minute. college students were found in 2011 need looming deadlinls to kick start them in getting the work done. the irony when it comes to taxes is if the irs owes you money and you wait or file late, you won't face a penalty yip. you are letting the government earn the interest that could be going into your pocket. >> coming up, the future is not now for spacex. we tell you why a failure to launch put off plans that are out of this world.

>> spacex was supposed to have a long-delayed launch of the falcon 9 rocket, but it was called off because of a helium leak. it was tasked with carrying food, science experiments and a set of robotic legs to the astronauts on the international space station. the launch has been rescheduled for interested. for more we are joined from philadelphia by derrick pitts, from the franklin institute science museum. this is not the first time the launch was delayed. it was supposed to be in november. there was a pay load contamination issue, a fire. it seems like one set back after

another. >> it's unusual that there would be so many delays, and typically that is not what happened. most of the issues are straightened out. several are external, coming to the launch sequence, if you will, from internal problems. nonetheless, spacex has an excellent launch record, doing very well, considering what they have been asked to do. they have a 1.6 billion budget. 12 launches. this would be the third of those. and they expect to get a better offer on friday. all in all spacex has done well. >> and spacex is important because it's really one. only ways we have of getting things to the space station that need to get there. how serious is a helium leak? >> well, depends how deeply buried it is. spacex believe the issue can be taken care of. it's not that serious a situation. they will not have to do a major

disasemly of the craft. spacex is, of course, planning to bring their capability to the point where they can carry astro naughts up to space stations. it's an important proving point of what is happening with the missions right noum. >> how about the space stations and the astronauts there, do they need this sooner rather than later. >> no, i think they are in good shape. plenty of overlap is built in. if they had to delay the launch for a week or more, the astronauts on the international space station will be in good shape with the supplies of material needed to sustain them. these contingencies are planned for. in the launch schedule there is contingency time built in so in case there's a problem and something slips, they can come close to launching on time. >> the mission is important because they are trying to recover the falcon 9 rocket that

will couple of with the space station. >> this is a new idea that spacex brought to the table of ways in which to cut the cost of delivering koods to low-earth -- goods to low-earth orbit. they expect to get the price down if they can use this nod of reusing these first stage boosters. the idea is to land them back on the ground, refurbish them and reuse them. he figures if he can get 1,000 launches out of a booster, it can be knocked down to about $50,000, which is ridiculously low. >> that would be a huge transformation to what we see historically. that would be important if it happiness. >> as i said, it's taking - once the falcon x gets there, it's taking robot also. why legs? >> well, the legs actually two on the rest of the body of the

robot. it's on board - on orbit on international space station. the torso went up a year ago. astronauts on board have been working the torreso into on-board activities, seeing how they can use the tool to take over mundane chores and jobs that astronauts on board will do. the legs attach on and add to - extend the capability of a robot. astronaut time is valuable. you want the capability and dexterity along with the brains to be used on task. the more mundane things require the motor skills could probably be done by robots. >> i want to get to two other stories, one from earth. there's a lunar ecleanse coming. >> -- eclipse coming. >> yes, we do. tomorrow morning. the it north american continent. those with good weather will be

able to see total lunar eclipse, the first of four coming over the next two years, and should look nice, a nice deep red colour on the surface of the moon, because the moon will be passing through near the center portion of the darkest section of the earth's shadows, it should look good. >> why the red. why is it called a bloods moon? >> well, there are two parts to that. the first is the reason why the moon looks red is sunlight fitters through the earth's atmosphere, but the red light rays fall on to the surface of the moon. the blood term comes from a popularization, a great way to have a fantastic description of what the colour will look like. it can range anywhere from a coppery red colour to a deep red colour, we'll have to see what it looks like, but if you say it's blood red, it makes it more interesting. >> it does we'll see four of them in the next year and a

half. not only are we seeing that overnight on monday, but mars is going to be closer to the earth than it has been in six years. >> yes, that's true. mars has a close approach to the earth coming around. it will be 57.4 million miles from earth. that's nowhere near the closest approach that was had in 2004, i believe it is, when mars was 39 million miles from earth. it will enhance the view of mars, such an observers might be able to see the white polar caps of frozen carbon dioxide and they may see brown surface features. all tees will be in the evening sky. great viewing for clear skies. exciting times for space watchers. derrick pitts, great to have you on the show. >> "consider this" may be over, but our conversation continues

on the website, aljazeera.com/considerthis, googl google+, facebook or twitter. see you next time. good evening everyone. welcome to al jazeera america, i'm john siegenthaler. too close for comfort. a russian fighter jet buzzes an american ship. his triof hate. the story of a man accused of killing three people at jewish community centers in kansas city. the m