why is the u.s. failing to stop isi? general wesley clark joins us, also the cdc director makes a stunning comparison between ebola and aids. and every 67 seconds an american develops alzheimer's, the devastating affect on families. hello, i am antonio mora and welcome to "consider this." we'll have those stories and much more straight ahead. ♪ ♪ the bat for the control of kobane is growing more urgent by the hour. >> another day of co since air strikes. intensive street battles. >> co ban is a a tragedy but not the did he have tpheufrpbgts full measure of what is happening. >> official in yemen said 70

peel were killed. >> a series of attacks across the country. >> it's some of the worse violence the country has seen in two years. >> we are confident that we have ability to be able to contain ebola. >> we have to work now so that this is not the world's next aids. >> the potential economic damage from the out break would be catastrophic for the people of the west african region. >> awarded to the french author for the art of memory. >> 69-year-old -- >> explored life under nazi occupation. >> wash, post says the white house is involved in a cover up. new information about the secret service prostitution scandal. >> the practice is be that a scandal that is by part san and the outrage is very partisan. we begin with the desperate fight against extremeism in syria. america's barrage on carson last month did not cripple the group. the u.s. fired 46 cruise missiles at eight of khorasan's

locations. the attacks only killed 12 key militants because many of fled tipped off by growing news reports about the group in the days leading you want to air strikes. meanwhile inks isil has overran the eastern part of the syrian city of kobane. but coalition air strikes may have pushed back the terrorists who earlier thursday had reportedly taken control of the a full third of the city. turkey has tanked other other vehicles positioned across the border from kobane but continues do nothing. a day after the u.s. publicly called for more turkish involvement. turkey's foreign minister said a ubunilateral ground involvement from turkey would not be enough to stop isil. >> translator: it's not realistic to think that turkey will lead this on its own. we are negotiating. after coming to an agreement with our allies turkey willing not hesitate to take the necessary steps.

>> turkey is negotiating with the u.s. to get more support for syrian rebels, a no-fly zone against syrian's air force and a buffer zone for syrian refugees. joining us now is retired four star u.s. general wesley clark, a senior fellow at the ucla berkal center which focuses on international affairs and he is the author of a new book don't wait not frequent war, a strategy for american growth and global leadership. general, always good to have you with us, thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> we'll get to the book nay moment but. let's start with isil reportedly taking over a third of kobane. turkey has forces ready to go. tanks right there on the border. there's than a mile away from where isil may be fighting. but they seem to be going nowhere fast any time soon. so what happens? do we just let isil get stronger? >> well, what i hope we'll do is we'll use this as a motivating factor to pull the coalition more closely together. i think you need several

elements here. you need u.s. air power, you need the moderate syrian opposition. you need the turkish ground forces and, of course, you need the free syrian army in there. but the freer is queen army right now is not capable of standing up against isis, so i would like to see us work on a three-way arrangement to be able to bring the turkish ground force in. >> you have argued that we need to know who we are helping. now, that's obviously a big question in syria, because on an immediate micro level with kobane we would be helping the kurds there, but on a bigger level, and a macro level who would we be -- we be helping? because as you said, the moderato syrian rebels are nowhere to be found. would we just be helping assad? >> this is always the problem. that's why when you are doing an operation like this, you have to think from the desired instate. the desired instate is to leave in place in syria a moderate government that will not use syria as a basis for terrorism and is not bashar al-assad.

so we have to pull together the moderate syrian political opposition and give them the past to govern this space. you know, when people say you have to have boots on the ground, they are right. having boots on the ground is a necessary condition, but it's not a sufficient condition for success. to be successful you have to be able to govern that space. and so u.s. troops can't do that. we know they can't do it. but we could empower the syrian moderate opposition political leadership. we could work in conjunction with the turkish ground forces and provide u.s. air cover and a temporary no fly zone over the area to make sure there is no ii want convenience from bashar assad. that's probably under discussion right now at the pentagon. >> you have also organize argued sunnis have funded terrorist to his get at@assad.

you said they created a monster and don't trust their troops and are looking for us to save them. those are pretty strong words. in fact, they echo what vice president just got criticized for and had to go off and apologize for. >> well, i don't know what the relationship is with vice president biden, but i'll tell you, what this is my assessment from having looked at the situation. and talked to people in the region. and it has nothing do with the diplomacy of the u.s. government and it's not a part of that. it's just my private assessment. but i am concerned. because unfortunately, this got out of control in isis movement. and it does espouse sharia law that is espoused by some sunni nations in the region. and so it makes it difficult for them, with their forces. i think, i think it makes it difficult. now, if they say it doesn't, then i am happy. and if that's the case, put those forward -- those forces

forward and let's get to work. >> you said also that what the pentagon. repeated this week, that we cannot win the war with air power alone and as you just were telling me, you argued that u.s. combat forces would be a huge mistake. especially because you think that if we did that, we would be playing in to isil's hands. >> absolutely. it would be a big recruiting draw for isis. what they would like to be able to say is they are the only power that can, you know, fight the united states, the great infidels over there. they would like that moniker. that's what they are tried do is sucker the united states in. it will make it worse if we put u.s. troops on the ground. we have to find a way to do this together with our friends and allies in the region. but we have to do it without u.s. troops on the ground. >> so in the meantime, then, what is the air power mission? because if we all agree that air power alone won't defeat isil, then what can we at least use it to stop isil? because it sure seems like we weren't able to stop isil here in kobane despite the fact that

they were moving troops and tanks and armored vehicles through open fields. >> well, you can't attack moving forces like that unless you have eyes on on a continuous basis. you can't have those eyes on unless you have people on the ground with communications to the a aircraft. this is what we are doing now we used to call it battlefield air interdiction. we are flying deep over enemy territory we are doing it without friendly forces on the ground. doing it from the air, doing pre-planned strikes in most cases and it is of course tiff in degrading and disorganizing and causing the isil forces to react and take precautionary measures. it does slow them down operationally. it just doesn't get at the exact point of the battle. can't do that without forces on the ground. that have contact with the air. now, if we had the turkish forces in there, if we could bring the iraqi forces forward, yes, those forces have the

connectivity or could be given the connectivity we need. we don't have that yet. that's why i say a lot of these things are coming together. we didn't wait until we had every piece organized to go forward, we went forward with the sense of urgency with what we had. and we are assembling this coalition on the fly. >> in that context, you have it still got a lot of contacts at the pentagon i know. what about all this talk that's beginning to -- all this rumbling that there is a split between the defense department and the white house? because, you know, going back to when this effort first started the pentagon called our action a war before the white house did. we now have seen secretary, former secretary of defense penetta's very strong negative comments about the obamae obama. >> look, there will always be different opinions from different branches and components of the government.

because what you see and how you feel depends in partn where you sit. it's the president's responsibility to see the big picture. and it's the department's responsibility of defense to bring to him the military options and the considerations. so he's not bound to accept every military option. or every military assessment. if he tries do military operations that contravene military best judgment he may run in to troubling but the military is loyal they will do what the commander-in-chief tells them. they will give him their best advise, we don't neat port son politics bickering in here, this is normal give and take within the he can executive branch as decision are being made. >> you address partisan politics in your book and thousand they can be problematic for what the u.s. needs do in the world going forward. and you know, the book is entitled "don't wait for the next war." and you say foreign policy, american foreign policy has been far too reactive for the past century not just recently. and not proactive enough and you

say that war is a poor substitute for strategic vision. so what should our strategic vision be now moving forward in the middle east and around the world? >> we need a national strategy first and a way to regrow, reinvigorate the american economy, create jobs at home and increase our growth rate, so that we are strong enough to do what we need to do in the world. so that's job number one, i you think we need to focus on hydro carbons, bio fuels and become more energy independent. there is no reason why we couldn't become completely energy independent if we follow through with the technology and resources and financial support that is available right now in the united states. the we just have to -- we just have to turn it lose and it will go. it's all private sector. it will double the u.s. gdp growth rate. we have to strengthen our relationships with europe and then have to handle the

terrorist challenges and the crisis in the middle east and help guide the ascent of china has ass it grows to become a larger and more responsible player in the world. >> it sounds like economic muscle that we need to focus domestically a bit and strengthen our economy so we can project that strength that you believe that we need to project. >> yes. >> you say we need to stay engaged globallingly. there are lots of great quotes in your book. you say there is neither safety nor security in retreat. but americans every poll certainly until these horrible beheadings, every poll was that americans wanted retreat. we were becoming more isolationist. >> well, sure, but you can't guide foreign policy over long period by the vagaries of public opinion, public opinion comes and goes, americans were quite happy to turn their backs on the middle east, isil beheads two americanamericans and suddenly e public wants to jump in and kill them all.

it's useful to have public support. you can only do so much without public support. but generally in foreign policy the executive branch has to lead and shape public opinion, it has to educate, it has to figure out out thousand gain and maintain support of the public rather than simply react to it. >> talking about the extensive branch, you have run for president before. this book would seem putting out this grand vision it would seem like a perfect launching point for a presidential campaign but you have endorsed or at least last year talked about how hillary clinton should be the democratic candidate. any chance you will run again? >> known. absolutely not. this is a not a launch the pad. what i am trying do is get out of the partisan politics, because partisan politics is part of the reason why we don't have this vision, we need democrats and republican to his come together. we need environmental assists and energy, people, oil company

to his come together and submerge their own private and selfish interests in the larger good of america. we need a national strategy to deal with the big problems we'll face in this century, problems like take orism and cyber threats, climate change, financial systems stability and guiding china, as it comes forward to be a larger and larger influence and wor world a face. >> again, the book is "don't wait for the next war chet great flesh you to have you back, good to see you. >> thank you so much. while isil's siege of kobane has captured much of the world's attention, the fight and bombing in iraq rages on, earlier this week coalition air strikes targeted isil vehicles around sinjar home to the i can't seat. where peshmerga fighters are battle. the the peshmerga say they are still out gunned and much of the long promised u.s. weaponry has

yet to a i have room. joining us now from washington, d.c. is the director with the kurdistan regional government's representation to the united states. good to have you back on the show. as you know the coalition air strikes continue across much of iraq, there have been continuous strikes in recent days in fallujah, ramadi, mosul. what is the current situation as we have been so focused on syria syria, what is the current situation in iraq? >> good to be back, antonio thank you for having me. as mentioned we are focused on syria but there is a lot of action in iraq. isis as an organization or army has the capability to mobilize quickly and rapidly differen ben different companying are yous and ring us, there is active fighting in the north, peshmerga forces have been carrying the fight to isis. recently we captured the city or

the town which is a strategic town on the border of iraq and syria. also ongoing fight in fallujah outside of row mad row mad ro . >> how significant has the progress begin? >> peshmerga forces are still outgunned. web, isis has captured a lot american-made heavily artillery tanks, armored humvees but we are still on the offensive and have been taking some of the towns and villages away from isis. so now they have -- they are primarily focused in kobane, mobilizing some of their tactics. >> you bring up the issue you of the arming of the kurdish peshmerga forces. the u.s. promised to do that two months ago. what he is going on there? are are you get the weapons you need for fight the very well armed isil? >> this is the frustrating part

for the peshmerga forces, while we are grateful for the air strikes, the u.s. coalition air strikes, they are effective to a certain extent, some of the equipment, light to medium equipment has been received by the peshmerga forces. the requested heavy artillery, heavy equipment that has been requested has not been received. yet the peshmerga is on the defense despite being outgunned by the isis. >> i know they have been getting training from different western countries, to fight isil. but, again, if you don't have the weapons, you need to be trained on, i am not sure how much that will do for you. there are some questions being raised, though, even if you do get the arms, everybody if the peshmerga get the arms whether they will be a match for isil because especially at some point a lot of the fighting will be urban warfare. something the peshmerga don't have that much experience in. >> well, you are absolutely right about that. the per herring are are an expeditionary force.

there is a loyalty, professionalism in doing this. and certainly loyalty. they are determined to taking back this land. they are determined to putting these people back to the residents of these towns, yet what will happen is because the peshmerga is is not an expeditionary force, they will do the fight, take the fight to isis and take back the cities but unfortunately what will happen is a lot of casualties as a result of the offensive. >> now, how about the change in the iraqi government's leadership? as you know, of course, the peshmerga were not getting armed by the iraqi government because of sectarianism there, maliki was using the armed forces basically as an extension of his own power and really became a mostly shia organization, so the kurds were being ignored. have things improved when it comes to cooperation between the iraqi government, iraqi army forces and the peshmerga? >> you are absolutely right on that, antonio. maliki highjacked the political process, consumed military

power, alienated the kurds, marginalized the sunnis and unfortunately we are here base of the mismanagement and miss government under the leadership of prime minister maliki. since the knew government has been sworn in and the new prime minister, he has taken some steps by getting rid of some of these corrupt military commanders. and bringing in new ones. he has extended his hand to the sunni community, the kurdish community. yet it's still new. this government is fairly new. it hasn't even got over its honeymoon but we hope -- and the kurdish leadership, political parties have joined baghdad under certain conditions we will join, if the same mistakes maliki are not repeated and certain demands are met. such as the budget for the krg which has not been paid in the past nine months and the payment for the peshmerga force to his take this fight isis. >> you are not even -- it's not just weapons you weren't getting you weren't getting money you were owed.

can you provide any update on the situation with the yazidis, it's been almost two months since the u.s. used air strikes against isil to try to save so many lives, and i know many of those refugees have gone further never to kurdistan. >> it's one of the areas unfortunately that has been overlooked, antonio, some 1.4 million refugees and i.d. ps, now taking ref juice inside the kurdistan region some of the towns and cities between the residents and i.d. it is d.s some restless subsequent 123. the yazidis continue to occupy the community. the christians psychs, are in schools, government buildings, backyards, skeleton buildings and delayed the academic year by as much as two months and counting. >> the persecution of relidge us minorities by isil is one of the many atrocities we are seeing.

thank you for joining us and bringing as an update on what's going on in iraq and kurdistan. >> glad to you with you, tony. now for some more stories around the world. we begin in yemen, nearly 70 people were a killed in a pair of attacks, a warning some of the images we are about to show may be disturn, at least 40 people were killed in the country's capital when a suicide bomber detonated in the middle of a crowded market. shortly after that attack, a bomber rammed a car in toy security post in southern yemen kill at least 20 sole stkwrerz, all of this comes a day after militants stormed government buildings killing at least 29 people. sunni militants link today al qaeda are we hand the latest round of violence after shia rebels took control of the capital more than two weeks ago. next we head to washington, d.c., where the washington post says the white house tried to cover up the columbian secret

service scandal in 2012 that saw nine agents lose their jobs. 12 agents reportedly brought prostitutes back to their room. a white house volunteer. jonathan damage took a prostitute back to his room but he was never punishes and you know works in the office of global women's issue. staffers say anyone that raised questions on the white house's involvement were put on administrative leave as punishment and were told that the report on the investigation should be held back, quote, until after the 2012 election. damage insists he did not hire a prostitute and the white house says it conducted an internal review that did not identify any inappropriate behavior. we end in space where nasa astronaut read weismann tweeted out this photo of the super typhoon taken from the international space station with

an ominous caption. i have seen many from here, but none like this. with wind gusts of more than 200 miles an hour, the 25-mile wide storm is the strongest hurricane to appear this year. sustained winds have decreased slight but still more than 150 p-ls mile an hour it still poses a tremendous threat to american military base on his japanese islands which are expected to get hit on saturday. and to the mainland of japan, which should see the typhoon arrive early sunday. and that's some of what's happening arounded world. coming up a frightening comparison the cdcs director scares ebola to aids. also the most expensive ailment in the united states, is reportedly not cancer or heart disease, it's dementia. and with the number of alzheimer's patients expected to double in the next few deck ailed, the financial impacts could cripple countless american families. and our social media producer is tracking the top stories on the web. >> young iranians want to show a happier side of iran that people

don't see. but instead ended up making a lot of people angry, more on that coming you feel and if you missed an episode of "consider this," check out our social media pages for clips from the show. we are on twitter, at ajconsider this and facebook.com/ajconsiderthis. >> i did not see that one coming... >> tech know's team of experts show you how the miracles of science... >> this is my selfie, what can you tell me about my future? >> can affect and surprise us... >> sharks like affection... >> tech know, where technology meets humanity only on al jazeera america

. the director of the cdc tom frieden offered a terrifying analogy thursday with the three west african countries most impact by the ebola epidemic.

>> the only thing i know of like that is aids, we have to work now so this is not the next aids. >> with an estimated five new cases respected every hour, just in sierra leone, united nations chief ban ki-moon called for a 20 fold increase this resource to his fight the out break. sierra leone's president pleaded for help. >> a general international response has up to this moment been slower than the rate of transmission of the disease. >> and world bank president jim i don't think kim said more money and resources are desperately needed. he outlined the exploding costs of not contain being ebola quickly. >> the two-year regional financial impact could each u.s. $32.6 billion by the end of 2015. that would be catastrophic for the people of the west africa region. >> joining us now from washington, d.c. to discuss the moble impact of ebola if it is

not contained and whether the international community is prepared for a wider out break is steven morrison from the center of strategic and international studies. steven very good of you to join us. the head of the cdcs comments this is the worst epidemic he has seen since aids is obviously alarming. do you think it was a little bit of hyperbole or is it possible that ebola could become an everyone more massive international problem? >> i don't think that tom frieden is engaging in hyperbole. i think what he is doing is speaking from the data that we have had collected now in the last six or eight weeks which shows exponential growth in these three countries. and the modeling that has been done shows projects of upwards of 1.4 million cases by the end of january if that currents trajectory is not somehow broken. what we have seeing right now is

every person that is infected and contagious is infecting one to two other people and so the actual base of infected population is doubling every 20 days. and that is very real. that is happening. that is no exaggeration, and so when tom frieden says this is a potentially world-altering epidemic, the second one we have seen in our lifetime, next to h.i.v. aids, that's a very serious statement and i think it's a reflection of what the professional public health epidemiologists are telling the world. >> to frieden's points there was a very slow response to the aids crisis, and the sentiment that the world bank meeting was similar. we just heard the president of sear a ali own sigh the international response has been slower than the tran transmission otransmission of t.

have we waid too long? >> i wouldn't conclude that we have waited so long that the response underway today, which is a massive mobil sayin mobilie are costs that will be born in west calf wha of ca and africa s that will be born in the future, we can go in to the reasons why it happened. i think the challenge today and the current emergency is to focus upon what needs to happen immediately on an urgent basis. i think jim kim, head of the world bank, tom frieden, the president of sierra leone, i think the common theme that comes out of their statements is that there is no time to waste, this is an out break on an exponential that correct ar trat

requires something far bet her than inning criminallal and slow response. and the epidemic got way out ahead of the public health response in the period june, jewel, august, september. >> and your point about the costs, was made very clear, that if there had been earlier intervention the cost would be a fraction of what they will be now in order to stop this this spread. how confident that the international committee will get this together? >> the u.s. has put over a billion dollars over the next six months, that's very substantial commitment. the even u. is coming forward. the u.k. is coming forward with rising commitments both on the military and civilian side in the u.k. case, the u.n. secretary general has come forward after a pretty miserable performance by the world health

organization. ban ki-moon came forward and declared that would be a new operation created a u.n. insurgent raisal for ebola relief. thathat is getting put in places we speak. things are happening on the ground. facilities are be constructioned. troops are being deployed. aircraft are flying. there is one critical gap that everyone is very, very concerned about, which is in order to break the transmission, the chain of transmission requires the deployment in the field of thousands of skilled, trained and protected health workers. that was a huge gap there and in order to recruit those requires building their confidence and trust that they can go in and they will be safe in carrying out this dangerous work. and if they get exposed orin frequented that they can be evacuated on an expedited bases

so their chances of survival are maximized. >> what about here at home, is enough being done? we have the revelation now that the deputy sheriff in dallas who does not have ebola, he has tested negative now, but that he had gone in to thomas eric duncan's apartment to deliver a quarantine notice without any protective clothing. we saw the disinfectioning process at that apartment, spraying mist all around the apartment complexion, duncan had vomited outside the apartment when he was being taken to the hospital, finally the guy who cleaned it up had no protective clothing. so are you confident that the u.s. health system will take quick and effective control of the problem here at home? >> we need to operate on the assumption that there will continue to be cases like thomas duncan who come through undetected because they are not yet symptomatic and contagious and then arrive and become ill and report to facilities and in

the process, set in train some of the events that we have seen. i think the lessons from dallas are profound. the pressure upon public health officials, hospital authorities and the like are to really sharpen up their skills, be much more vigilant and alert. and aware of the threat. and i am hopeful, i think that there is considerable capacity in the united states, there has been a lot of training, a lot of briefing across the federal to the state and the municipal level with respect to ebola. we are seeing practices going on today in new york city and municipalities all across the country. >> let's hope the lessons are learned. steven morrison from the center for strategic and international studies. appreciate you joining us, thank you. >> thank you, antonio.

time now to see what's trend on this web. let's check back in with hermela. >> social media page created by effluent iranian news is getting a lot of heat and shedding a light on the wealth gap in the islamic republic. rid kids of teheran features photos of the country's economic elite driving fancy cars and wearing expensive clothing and jewelry. started on instagram last month and since spread to facebook and twitter. the creator of the page says the objective is to, quote, show the good side of teheran to the world watch they don't show in the news. but the page has received a lot of criticism for its flashiness. one person tweeted annoyed with rich kids of terrain mania. it's screwing what life really is like in iran. the vast majority don't own luxury cars or 500-dollar watches. because of the iranian government's secrecy, economic statistics are hard to come by, but according to the most recent c.i. civil statistics available. over 18 person of the country lives below the poverty line. in response to the rich kids

page, an iranian man created the poor kids of teheran to show what he calls the rely ranch the page juxtaposes the luck ourist rich with the plight of the poverty string. its creator says you can't show the world that iran is witch because it isn't. recently the iranian government has censored the instagram page and on wednesday the page administrators shut it down because of the quote, high amount of false publi publicity. let us know what you think the debate the page has sparked you can tweet us at ajcan arethis. >> those rich kids might be careful who knows what the government will do. >> that's true. also mimeers is destroys millions of dollars not just of lies of those that have the disease, how the stagger is costs have put those afflicted in to bankruptc to bankruptcy ad the surprising number of older americans getting divorced. later was meet the press

seriously going to put a comedian in charge. how nbc news was reportedly courting jon stewart to take over. "haiti in a time of cholera". saturday, 7:00 eastern. only on al jazeera america.

>> edge of eighteen, >> your entire life has brought you up to this point, right now! american teens, making a difference >> we wanna fight for our education >> choosing a path... >> if i'm not sharing the gospel, then i feel empty inside because that's the gift that god has given me >> deciding their own future... >> i'm petty burnt out... if i said that i was perfectly fine, i would be lying >> oscar winner alex gibney's edge of eighteen the powerful conclusion...

only on al jazeera america dementia mostly caused by alzheimer's has quickly become the most expensive ale think in the united states. the cost ranges from $159 billion to 215 billion annually. making the disease more costly than heart disease or cancer according to a new ran corporation sid. the staggering costs are are only expected to get worse because by 2050 the number of americans diagnosed with alzheimer's is expected to double to more than 10 million people. with a national infrastructure that is currently failing to address these huge costs, it

appears we are on the path not only toward a healthcare crisis, but an economic one as well. tiffany stanley just wrote a powerful first person account for national journal magazine about how she became an alzheimers caregiver when she was just 29 called jackie's goodbye what i learned about the our alzheimer's debacle when i became responsible for my aunt. tiffany joins us from washington, d.c. i can only imagine what these past couple of years have been like, let's start with your story. your dad became ill and he was the primary caregiver for your aunt so all of a sudden found yourself having to care for both of them, specially her. and what you realized that she needed full-time attention and that medicare was virtually no help. >> that's correct. i think like a lot of americans when i realized she needed more help than we could provide at home, i thought, well, we'll just have to find a good facility and i assumed that it

would be subsidized by medicare since she was over 65. and i met with a social worker she told me that medicare doesn't pay for custodial care, oathing, bathing and the support that dementia patients need most. medicare pays for short-term stays ahead nursing home or past 100 days. so that burr really falls to families. >> and right. so with no help from medicare it's something that you have to pay for out of pocket at some nursing home or you have to care for them at home, which brings with it all sorts of issues. either circumstance there is huge costs in what you are spending for their care or losing in not being able to work and make money. so the costs for families are phenomenal. >> it's huge. and i think you know, a lot of well, especially become care can caregivers and studies show if they leave the workforce to care for a family member they are giving up, at least $300,000 in

lifetime earnings. and as a young person, i thought, well, what will this do to me if i leave the workforce to care for her and moreover, you know, how are we going to make end meet if i can't provide for her. so then on the opposite end you are looking at a facility and nursing homes on average cost $80,000 a year out of pocket. >> right. who can afford that? >> yeah. >> it becomes -- it bankruptcy families but aside from the financial costs the psychological costs are tremendous too. >> absolutely. like a lot of people i was grieving my father who was ill and later died so i was grieving him while i was trying to care for her and i thoughts was grieving the aunt that i love that i was losing. that's something psychologically that we don't give enough credence too is people are trying to make difficult decisions and do really difficult, time consumer strenuous care giving while they are also dealing with so many emotional issues. >> and you also found there is a real lack of information, that

there was just no way of you going to some centralized place that could help you figure out what you needed to do, what kinds of money you could get for for -- from the government. you just felt adrift. >> exactly. i like i was going from person to person and getting different information and i really just wanted a care coordinate are a social worker, nurse, doctor somebody that could manage everything that jackie needed and could point me in the direction of what resources actually were available. because they were out there, we just often found out about them too late or weren't taking advantage of them. and then frankly there aren't enough resoars but the ones out there it's really hard to figure out what they are. >> and as i mentioned earlier. the costs are absolutely staggering for the country as a whole. so what is the government doing? it was originally part of the affordable care act but then it was taken out fairly early in the process. >> that's right. there was something in the affordable care act called the

class act which was supposed to put in place public government-backed long-term care insurance being but the program was unfortunately canceled before it ever got started because it wasn't deemed financially fuse feasible. and so that was pulled. there was long-term care that they put in plows but they threw their hands up and made recommendations they couldn't figure out how for pay for long-term care insurance and the products that people need. and knowing both the public support and private market fail families. >> this will be a double whammy, it's not just caring for alzheimer's patience we have what's happening with autism, so we have on both end the baby boomers getting older so we have a massive amount of increase in the number of people who need alzheimer's care, we'll have a huge increase in need for autism care, so this is really going to be a very, you know, an enormous healthcare challenge moving forward. so do you think there is enough

going on on the government front, enough of a comprehensive approach to looking at the long-term care all these people will need? >> i really think there isn't. i mean, i think there is some good things being done on has hypers, we have the nation al plan to address alzheimer's disease since 2012. but a lot of the experts i talked to said that doesn't foe far enough and for children that need long-term carat home we don't have appropriate systems in place, medicare and even medicaid which is designed to help the poorest americans and really does cover some long-term care they are not adequate. and what a lot of people don't realize is you need to spend down, you know, all your assets. so to qualify for medicaid. medicate doesn't prevent financial catastrophe only comes in place after that happens. >> it's a tremendous problem that's affecting not just the people who have alzheimer's but

all their families, so 10s of millions of americans are already afternooned by this and that number will just grow. the article again is available in the national journal, it's available online, it's called jackie's goodbye, what i learned about our national alzheimer's debacle when i became responsible for my aunt. toughly stanley really appreciate you joining us. thank you very much. >> thank you. coming up, no joke the daily show host jon stewart was approached about taking over as the host of meet the press. we'll look at the growing influence of comedy shows like the daily show on serious issues. first why are so many older americans getting divorced? our data dive is next.

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next. today's data dive looks at the alarming rate of older americans going through a break up. gray divorces the name given to break ups among americans who are baby boomers or old are are on the rise, researchers from bowling green university fountain nearly one in four americans who are 50 plus are splitting from their spouses. we have seen a marked increase in the past couple of decades, sisince 1990 divorce rates among americans has doubled. it's even more dramatic for senior citizens. what may be even more surprising it's happening at the times when rates of divorce in younger groups have stabilized and in some cases gone down. also surprising, more are more than half of all gray divorces are among couples in first marriages that have been together for more than 20 years, the researchers were inspired to do the research after former vice president a al gore split from his wife tipper. the study says women initiate

the divorces more than men, the study find one women get autonomy and more money they can afford to split. they grow apart once their children are living a their own and they reach retimer. there is a financial downside. the researchers found older divorced americans only have 20% as much wealth as older couples who are still married. also the net wealth of widows over than 50 is more than double that of older americans who got divorced. coming up, is sounds like a joke, but nbc was reportedly very serious about courting jon stewart to host meet the press. the growing impact of comedy shows on news is next. after "consider this", the c.d.c.

the colbert report on comedy the coa colbert has an expiration date. did we almost lose the daily shot too. nba reported by wanted john true art to be the host of meet the press, but stewart turned out the offer so chuck todd got the job instead. the network was willing to give stewart anything to bring him aboard, one source says they were ready to back up the brink truck, joining us now from phoenix arizona, is al jazerra america's culture critic bill why man.

good to see you, i am a jon stewart fan, i watch every night. he makes me laugh but i think he's a very important voice on all sorts of levels, but what does it say about the state of the sunday morning news shows when one of the main networks considers placing their host by a man whose career was built by mocking them? >> it's such a great appointmen. it shows how the sands are shifting in the news business. i think it's a bad idea i don't think it would have worked, meet the press has dissolved to the point where they allowed political people to come on and get their talking points with a minimum of fuss. >> i think chuck todd would disagree with you. they certainly feel they push back and don't let them get way with anything. >> i realize that stewart really asks unusual questions and sometimes gets people to say things they wouldn't say in

other environments. >> in a few cases. i think that he -- his ability in this area is slightly overvalued as well. but the thing about limb is he is a very smart guy and what he says is he'll ask "a" and get the answer "b" and ask "c" and get the answer "d" and gets to "e" that rarely happens on meet the press, it lets them do their talking point and asks a question and another talking point, there is rarely the context that is stewart gives, i don't think stewart could have gone through the having to go through the incremental political advances week by week that drive the rest of us crazy in american politics and talk that limited way. i don't know if it would have worked at all it's great fantasy. >> he's not a traditional journalist. he sort of bridges the gap between a hard news and parity. he's a very smart guy and he would be capable of hosting meet the press as it exists today i think for him it would have an

straightjacket unless they totally transform the show. >> exactly. you can see it becoming a charlie rose type thing. but then again, a the lot of those people wouldn't come on. you wouldn't see high administration figures, certain people like john mccain, or lindsey graham who, would be uncomfortably reminded of past political positions that they have take next past. they contradict their current ones in a much more powerful way, i think that ultimately show would have lost its power because the power brokers wouldn't have come on anymore. >> that's an interesting point. although he does get his share of power brokers on the show. in fact, he's arguably hurt some of their careers because of some of the things he's asked. but i do wonder if he would be as effective if he didn't have the license to do what he does on the daily show. and on the other hand, the sunday morning shows get about twice the total viewers almost as many younger viewers as the didaily show gets so you would t

would that would be a little tempting. >> those possible but those sho*euz shows are talking to the inside the belt way world. i don't think it's general people it's a much different audience than the daily show, he has a nightly platform and there is also pure writing and almost editorial comment on the daily show, often quite powerful. often laced with obscenity, let's be honest as well. and, of course, he's a comedian, he's a stands-up comedian it's hard to see him giving up the he can sill rating hume their we often see that i as you really love. >> he does a lot of editorial on the show and it's fun to watch. let's change topic goes of the nobel prize for literature was awarded on thursday to patrick a french writer who is very known in france but hasn't published much in english. his books sounds interesting, mainly about the nazi occupation of franz, again the nobel folks are honoring an author with a limited international following. >> exactly.

this is a perennial debate that comes up. he is specifically thinking about memory and the haunting memories about trying to unearth them and obviously in europe. we are still your honor the chad most second world war and those have a lot are power play powern american hasn't won in 23 years. cements like an interesting guy and maybe the nobel prize is doing this we're what it should be is bringing deserve the writers to the national attention. >> is always brings up the attention is there a by as among the nobel committee against authors from the united states. or are we just being too -- i don't know what the right word, is you know, are we over estimating our overvaluing our own literature. >> right. narcissistic is the word their looking for. and i would say, yes, and yes.

some of the academy members have been on the record saying criticizing the american literary establishment for being so ins lahr and too obsessed with american things and not going out word. the nobel prize in literature goes to the greatest work in an ideal direction. okay, so there is a sense of idealism and great ideas in the literature award. a lot of english-speaking writers have got 10 over the years, we are a little bit self important but it wouldn't be too surprising to a. [ inaudible ] on the on the other hand. it doesn't go to everyone and a lot of famous people didn't get that over the years and the nobel prize people say we don't have enough to go around and that's the way the nobel prize bounces. >> bill always good to have you with us, thanks. >> thank you. that's all for now, but coming up friday on "consider this", the controversy over long-term contraceptives being called the solution to teen

pregnancy but may be major negatives. and the conversation continues on our website. we are also on facebook and twitter at ajconsiderthis and you can tweet me at amoratv. we'll see you next time. >> the crowd chanting for democracy... >> this is another significant development... >> we have an exclusive story tonight, and we go live... >> 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. volatility is back with a vengeance after months of relevant calm. the stock market we'll look at what drove the big drop just one day after the biggest alist year. also fear over ebola. it's a disease that not only threatens lives it puts livelihoods at risk too. we'll look at how the travel industry hopes to head off disaster. plus while the spending and saving habits of the rich have been hurting rest of american, i am jen rodgers in to ali velshi and this is "real money." ♪