controversy. >> answers to the questions no one else will ask. >> real perspective, consider this on al jazeera america sony does an about-face on "the interview", and christmas day release, and great economic news for the white house, why is president obama not getting credit. america's effort to rein in ebola proving successful. i'll adam may in for antonio mora, welcome to "consider this", those stories and more ahead. intervi

interview. >> war in the cyber world is becoming a serious issue. >> there's an ongoing war of words between washington and pyongyang after the sony hacking scandal. >> we cannot give in to threats tore intimidation. >> the world health organisation says 1700 have died from ebola. >> as long as there's one case, there's the possibility of transmission. >> the u.s. economy grew. >> you may not know it if you listen to the people streaming. >> in france authorities deploy 300 security forces. >> a series of attacks leaving one dead and 30 injured. >> authorities don't see a section. connection. >> n.a.s.a. is thinking of building a city floating in the clouds above veep us. -- vine us. we begin with a series of cyber skirmishes. could it trigger a cyber war.

in south korea the president blames cyber terrorists for a leak of data from the firm that operates 23 nuclear pare plants. north korea is a suspect in that hack. thub rur booeds an aing -- they are rebooting after an outage. no one has taken responsibility. the u.s. state department is not confirming or denying anything. >> i don't have anything to share with you. separate and apart from the last 24 hours, what it might be, and i leave it to north koreans to talk about if the internet was up, if it was ment, and why. >> president obama threatened a proportional response to north korea, directly accusing that country in the massive hack of sony pictures. north korea threatened attacks against theatres, showing the comity, the interview.

the plot is based and a c.i.a. scheme to assassinate north korea's leader. after initially polling the interview sony says that that film will be screened in independent theatres on christmas day that could be a couple of hundred theatres around the u.s. joining us from massachusetts, jim walsh, a research associate at m.i.t.s technology programme, and from newton mass, paul roberts, a wish at the christian science monitor, posting his own blog called the security lemna. assuming that north korea was behind the hacking, will they retaliate in theatres across the u.s. >> that's a great question. clearly we are in a tit for tat situation here. we are playing a little bit of poker. presumably there is other information. i mean, we know we have not

released all the data stolen from sony, and presumably shows the interview in any form will be considered by anyone behind this as a hostile act. i am sure there'll be retaliation in the form of data leaks. it might have happened anyway. this is extortion, and we know how extortion meant. >> are you convinced that north korea was behind? >> if the fbi says that they did it, i think you have to go with that. if i have the data, no, i don't. there's a bit of trust and faith. someone that spent a lot of time in north korea, a lot of parts don't add up. there was zero% probability. they will not commit attacks on

the u.s., they don't want to risk a war. they want to keep it below the line leading to something big. yes, i guess it's north korea, but there are parts of the story that don't make sense to me. down the rooted it will be clear, not right now. was it north korea. was it possible that north korea will be set up, is that possible. cyber attribution is difficult, if not impossible. it's a huge waste of time for us to speculate. it's possible. it's north korea. it's possible that it's not. it's an act visit group, guardians of peace tore someone else. there's plausible denibilityy in online attacks. the proounls is if the u.s. government and north korea - it's based on classified intelligence. i know from sources that there's an aspect of this investigation that is classified. so i thing we have to take them

at their word. my sense is they probably do know it's north korea, but they can't tell us how they know that. the rest of us is left in the information out there in the public domain. you know, you can look at the malware, at the aspects of the attack, the techniques, and procedures that they used and say it looks like north korea or it doesn't. it doesn't matter, none of us are going to get confidence or secure. >> there's a debate. they called the sony hack america's first cyber war. president obama called it cyber anda limp. who is right. is there too much here. what do you ning? >> i'm a sceptic, i'm a bit of a traditionalist. this is a war. no one died. in the physical world that we operate in. a war is something where you have 1,000 battlefield deaths.

it's economically costly, it's not a war. people can say it's different. i did think it was different. the link are of extortion with threats - if that's what it was, it's different. i agree with that. it's not a war. there are scenarios that we'll talk about of things that can happen. i think there's a lot of overheated rhetoric. >> what does a cyber war. what do you think, what does it need to attain to reach that label? >> well, that's a really good question. one of the problems that this whole incident brought to light. we hadn't had a public conversation, and my sense is within policy circles, not a clear conversation about what the ground rules are. it's one of those things that people have been saying for

years. we need to get clearer on what cyber war is. >> paul, are the industries prepared for cyber attack or war. you wrote in october that homeland security is warping companies to look out for black energy. what is that. is it a legitimate warning. what does that mean? >> right, so there are - there have been a number of incidents, black energy being one of them. there's another piece of malicious software that has been targetting critical infrastructure. energy, grid operators and other utilities, it's unclear whether they are designed as skyped of to give people app foot healed that might be suicide in a cyber attack that might be part of cyber war. or whether they are designed to steel information used by competitors. with online attacks it's hard to

know for sure what the purpose is. in november, the n.s.a. chief warped of efforts to infiltrate critical infrastructure. is the power grid at risk. >> this is a problem we focussed on hard at the government level. back in the mid 1990s, when i was at lawrence livermore lab, they had a project on critical infrastructure. for dod and particular categories of government. they worked hard on the problem. it is a hard problem. people have been aware of it for more than a couple of decades. private business less so. i think there's more challenges for big private corporations. >> you make an excellent point. when you talk about cyber security, this is expensive to protect the infrastructure. we'll leave it at that. dr jim walsh joining us from massachusetts. thank you very much guys.

>> thank you for having me. >> switching topics to politics, starting with a big turn around for the u.s. economy. remember the great recession on employment numbers, topping 9% from 2009 to 2011. millions lost their homes and retirement funds. many lost hopes for a better future. what a difference a few years made. check out the numbers from the commerce department showing the economy grew 5% in the third quarter of 2014, up from 3.9%, the strongest growth we have seen in 11 years. hiring for the year reaches a new high. the best level since 1999. overall job growth is at a 15-year high, and corporate profits are rising as well as wall street. will president obama and the democrats get any credit for pulling the economy out of the great recession, should they? for more on that and political stories i'm joined by james war

in, washington bureau chief in the new york "daily news", michael shure, an al jazeera political correspondent. and a former senior advisor to new york governor pataki. i want to start with you as a g.o.p. strategist, will you say president obama and the democrats deserve credit for turning around the economy? >> of course i will. the president's problem is himself. he can't stay on message. for whatever reason the senate democrats did not discuss the economy. >> is the media reluctant to look at this and say they've done a good job? >> no, at the end, if you look back over the last couple of years on topics such as syria, iran, ukraine, et cetera, the president has a problem staying on message, and talking

about - going back to 1994, we talk about the death penalty. our colleagues - they are talking about it in buffalo, aubany. the senate democrats need to be on the same page as the president talking about the same issues. it's the only way in this fast-moving world. it's up to the president to deliver the message. should the president be getting more credit. thank you, should they turp it around, should they do that. >> let me apologise for the shabby last-minute christmas shoppers. sorry to look so scruffy in chicago. the answer to your question is yes, it should, all due respect to tom, members of the political class tend to be a little too absorbed in tactics and messaging. a lot of folks in the white

house thinking it's a communication and pointing the finger for not helping to get the message out correctly. very succinctly the problem is flat wages that most folks understand and are frustrated by despite the improving employment numbers, and i also think perhaps it would be a little politically incorrect, you have an african american who is president. there's a degree of partisan shop. when one looks at the figures, and the republicans, who are answering pol officers quefrs as opposed to coming out of the recession, where republican sentiment that the economy was getting better was clear and unimpeded. now it is stagnant. as stagnant as wages are, and a lot of folks giving them credit in a way i think they should. >> wages, race, are these big

factors, what about other issues facing the country. we learn about incoming equality, the middle american sh are we not feeling the impact of this on our wallets. >> i'm so distracted for what people look like it's hard to listen to what is being's. a messaging problem like the president. jame warren. i think it's a combibation of both of what they said. when you have sfag nant wages, you don't have people jumping up and down. there's a divide between the president as a campaigner, and the president who can get a message and be on the campaign trail we saw in 2008 and 2012. i don't think you can just say, dismiss the messaging problem we have. these are not the kind of - while the numbers are good, the wages are really what it comes down to the types of jobs found, and i think that even though the numbers are up. it's hard to sense the palpable

excitement that you can cite the years as they did. there was a facade there. a lot of that recovery was not as solid as we thought at that time and because of that, that shows that messaging worked and this messaging didn't working. you have to give a little bit of this to what is being said what, is communicated not just by the white house, but the democratic party. >> if i might add one thing. i would concede when it comes to obama, there seems to be in the last six years or so, in his mind, a differentiation between politicking or campaigning on one hand, and governing on the other. it's as if he might be slumming if he intertwips the two. i think that's high minded and at times impractical. >> what about the name obama. you tie it to things in this country, you see polarization. washington post.

abc news looked at what happened. >> it didn't take it. it adds the president's name. you look at the dins - the only difference is you add in the president's name. why is this, tom? >> i think that it's politics. because when you have a very divisive government. it's a simple process. if you throw in regan into something, clinton, the immediate people who - you know, who disappear of them overall will have that reaction. that's the nature of polling. you know, it's simple. >> mike? >> the other - you know, the other side of that, look at what happened in this 2012 midterm, when you called it connecticut

in kentucky, everyone thoughts it was great. this is a time and a - you know, in the history where you have one person who is a lightening rod. it happened with regan and clinton. it's not as pronounced. that's where race can enter the conversation in an honest way. >> let's jump ahead. i want to ask you about 20th 16 -- 2016. will the numbers help the democrats. they probably wish the election was around the corner. if you are mitch mac connel. you know about the politics for 2016 will put you on the defensive with all the comments that you have to defend. if you are a democrat, a good

solid candidate, quoining against the income bands that unemployment is better, it will not help you, ooep factoring in the local kartions that will play a part in a lot of key senate races. >> i want to ask how that will play out. you have the senate scheduled to convene. how will it play out with mitch mcconnell in charge. will they have to redefine themselves. they have been known as a party of no, saying no to a lot of things, will they have to stop saying yes. >> in a sense, but nell have to put the president -- but they'll have to put the president in a position to say no. they have to put them in a position where the president vetos it, or the president will have to fight it. you can either be the party of yes, people are talking about that. i don't see it as being part of travis konecny's d.n.a. -- mitch mcconnell's d.n.a. i see him as being crafty, to

put him on the spot, rejecting things saying he's been a president of no. with the ballot box, there's a lot of republicans up for election, they'll have to defend a record. i think mitch mcconnell will have to craft something where they have results. . >> what do you think we'll see? >> i think going. >> 2016 they'll need a record and stand for something. it's easy when you are not in charge and don't have the leadership to say no. with the house, they'll have to work together and put together programs that the american people like and want. come 2016 the economy moves in that destruction. it's always about the economy. we can talk about a lot of different things. republicans have to promote ideas and think the american people are buying. >> will mitch mcconnell face the problem that the smoker of the house is facing. you have ted cruz out there.

people with different ideas out there. >> we had that forever. it made mitch mcconnell clear that he fought back the tea party. john boehner spoke out again. i think they'll have the leadership and the people behind them to get stuff down. >> do you think the tent is good. can it hold the view points. >> this is a democracy after all. the bigger the tent, the better. mitch mcconnell does have the notion of yes in his d.n.a. at heart he has more institutionalist lover of the senate in his ways. the names mentioned, two of the names. paul, crews and rubio. it caused a whole lot of problems. i would add that some of the newer names, the people we don't know as well, tom cotton, and others, they'll be difficult for mitch mcconnell as well. >> there's a dipolitical situation facing this country involving the shooting of two

new york police officers and the protests operating around the country. let's talk about the politics of policing and what is happening in new york. former mayor rudy giuliani said that bill de blasio holder and horts contributed to the atmosphere of hate for police, for criticizing this. george pataki sent a tweet staying he was stickened by the acts that are an outcome of anti-cop rhetoric. of eric holder and mayor bill de blasio. rejecting all of this, one of the things, the concern at the moment is the issue is starting to go down bipartisan lines, this is something to bring together. >> we have seen everything in the country politicized. is it happening in this case? >> it is.

it is the may yore, and the police union. we have seen the pba go after every mayor, including mayor giuliani. the mayor freezes. it always becomes political when the police feel like they are not getting their due, and it's exaggerated now because of what happened over the past few months in ferguson and staten island. it's not surprising that it's political. the mayor has that paul pit. he gives a press conference. the mayor tends to live the battles. >> inappropriate for former mayor giuliani to say this? >> no, with giuliani and pataki, i was working for the governor, it's personal. they have seen and they said they have been to too many

police funerals. the atmosphere that was created, and the easier response after the eric garner case was to talk about the gar case, to say we saw what we saw, we are shocked and saddened. on a daily basis, what the officers of the n.y.p.d. do for the city - that should have been his messages, to remind people that every day they protect all of us. regardless of colour. in giuliani's case, the biggest drop in crime was in the neighbourhood of african-american community. the police felt they hung out there. i said when bill de blasio took offer, he'd have free rein of the city. he has a liberal council, he is a progressive. if he loses the police and if crime keeps up in the city, that would be his biggest problem. that is his biggest problem, dealing with the police.

>> will you chime in on that. do you think many of the politicians lost the police. what about the president, hoteled. -- holder. >> he has to keep crime down as the mayor, and convince key constituents glas he'll deliver reform, he has, but amid the rhetorical bombblast with people like giuliani suggesting that bill de blasio is to blame for protests getting out of control. i think bill de blasio stumbled a bit. said intexterate things, a rant about the media. that's unfortunate. the trickiest thing, as mentioned, crime has gone down. if you look at the level of confidence americans have.

one sees african-americans do not have more faith in the local police democrats. that is a problem for any mayor. >> james, michael and tom - thank you for joining us. >> thank you coming up, why america's fight against ebola is making huge progress overseas. and a personnel take on cuba's relations with the u.s. social media producer harmeli aregawi is tracking the top stories on the web now. what is trending? >> the fta is lifting restrictions on who can donate blood. a lot say the policy doesn't go far enough and perpetuates negative stereotypes. while you are watching let us know what you think, you can join the conversation on twitter and aj consider this and on our

facebook page.

the biggest ebola outbreak the world has seen continues its deadly march across west africa. according to new numbers from the world health organization, the death toll rose to more than 7,500. the total number of confirmed cases approaching 20,000. there is a little bit of good news. in liberia, the number of new cases shrunk dramatically from 52 during the height of the epidemic to three a day. researchers from the national institute of health announced a vaccine tested is showing promising results. for more we are joined from nashville which dr william schaffer, a professor of preventative medicine at vanderbilt university. back in september the c.d.c. projected the possibility of 1.4 million cases by january. we are looking at 20,000 cases.

why is this coming in short compared to some of the worst fears. >> those were the worst case scenarios. if we did absolutely nothing, ebola in the urban areas of west africa would sky rocket. we have not done nothing. we have done a lot. we have a lot of people over there, we have sent a lot of equipment. we are doing training, creating treatment centers, and look what can be done. it shows you doing all the right things, the straight forward things can turn the tide. we are starting to do that. we still have a long way to go. >> if we had acted sooner, would we look at fewer than 20,000 cases? >> undoubtedly. the sooner you start in an outbreak and get your arms around it, the fewer cases you

would have. that was then, this is now. we have to look ahead. we have a lot to do. the outbreak, confined to urban areas is sneaking out into remote rural areas. they are harder to get to. harder to control. season the local people don't like to go to the boon docks and do the work. that has to be done. we need to tonne it around to get to zero cases. >> there's no question there's expanded access health care for those affected by ebola. there's the attitude about people in the ground, how they are treating this. are we seeing a change in attitude among the people? >> it's changing slowly. these are politically um ult use

count -- tumultuous countries, they have quietened down. there was concern, fear, mistrust of the government. we had western people come in with new notions about disease. we interrupted their funeral and burial practices which are important in our society as well as theirs. a lot of education has tape place. some -- has taken placement we are moving into rural areas and we'll have to do all the same things in every village this we go to where there are no ebola cases. it's an ongoing struggle. doctors and nurses have died. there are patients that died sitting in the hospital entrance, why is this still

happening. >> sierra leone is the country that is having the most difficulty. that is the one where most of the problems continue to be. we just need to send more people there. we have spent most of our effort in liberia. we are now beginning to send more people were the u.s., from the c.d.c. into sierra leone so that they can learn the same lessons that were daughter in liberia, and put in place. >> is that because liberia politically for the united states, closer ally, close connections, a long-standing relationship made it easier for us to create the relationship. is that a big part of this? >> exactly. history. we had the relationship with liberia. the british had the relationship with sierra leone, and the french with guinea. and so the three countries divided things up along historical routes. >> 2400 service members in west

africa, and coming up in the middle of jan, they'll have to decide what they'll do. the options are to move another part of west africa, or pack up and go home. should u.s. boots stay on the ground in west africa? >> my presence would be that they would stay and move their of activity props more into sierra leone. there's a lot of do. they build things, they have provided logistical and managerial expertise. they are not taking care of patients directly. we need the management, coordination and the capacity to erect treatment centers. >> once the crisis is managed. we have to look back and find the successful vaccine, the fires trial showing promising results, isn't it?

>> it is. early days still. doing a vaccine trial in west africa, problems are not ipp sure mountain. you have to give informed concept, educate people to come back, have blood drawn, and monitor them over the long haul to make sure you know who gets sick and who doesn't. all of that - difficult, but it's on the way. my fingers are crossed. i would love to see an effective vaccine. >> why do we not have it. dr margaret tran, the director of world health organisation has been critical of this and said: talking about the pharmaceutical industry, and why we don't have a vaccine, because it's driven by capistic interests, is that a problem problem. >> i wouldn't prays it that way.

vaccines take an enormous financial investment in basic science, and to take it and develop it that works in people. not every vaccine developed works well. that's a lose leader. we have to create an environment that will invest in vaccines that will focus on the developing world. >> that will take diplomacy. >> that's what they need. it's not a matter of if, but when. there could be another ebola outbreak in the future. thank you for joining us here. >> my pleasure, happy holidays. >> a look at other stories from around the world. we begin in france - tensions are high after a series of attacks caused france's prime minister to announce up to 300 soldiers will be deployed across

the country. a man armed was arrested after footage showed him carrying two loaded shotguns and a knife. security is being beefed up following three attacks leading to one death and 30 injuries. the three incidents were unrelated, not linked to terrorism. the man drove into a crowded marketplace. >> next the office break room where you may want to watch out for hot water. plenty to recall. about 7.2 million coffee makers, after receiving 200 reports of hot water, including 90 reports of burn-related injuries, the effect occurring in 2009, and july 2014. it will ship a free repair kit to a consumer with the affected model. >> at new york's laguardia

airport. fighters were delayed after an on-the-ground collision. the south-west airlines collided with an american airlines plane texting on the tarmac. no injuries reported. 143 passengers and crew members were safely deplained and bussed back to the terminal. that is a look at some of what is happening around the world. >> ahead. the relation with u.s. and cuba - what it means. >> we talk about what the role of music will play. how far did your christmas tree travel before you decked the halls, it was probably a long roadtrip. and later - n.a.s.a.'s bold plans for venus. we'll fell you in on hopes to build a city in the clouds.

>> we talk about what the role cuba - what it means.

of music will play.

welcome back to "consider this", i'm adam may in for antonio mora. thawing relationships between the u.s. and cuba could have an impact on the arts. a personal journey for this man, his father a ledge endry jazz musician. he left cuba, he never went back. his son made it a quest to bring his family's music home. >> my father was heart broken that he never got to return to cuba. the only thing that could make him cry, that i could think of was the fact that he never had a chance to see his beloved cuba

again. [ ♪ music ] it's a pleasure to have with us grammy winning artruro. he got back from cuba, where he recorded an album with american and cuban musicians. i have to ask you - thank you for being here. >> what was it like this time going to cuba with the news of a thawing relationship. >> it's interesting. we orchestrated and and choreographed a bunch of music. we rehearsed in the synagogue, and there's a community center. i sat with a bunch of older cubans, watching raul castro give the speech.

it was amazing. it wasn't isolated, it was real. a lot of the older folks were crying and hooping and hollering. >> what was driving them to tears, what made them to emotional watching? >> i think the relationship between cuba and the united states is like a divorce. there's love there, there's betrayal, there's passion. it's not a good situation. cubans and men's are in love with each other. our culture, their culture is intertwined in ways that cannot be understood or unravelled. we have this situation that is it interesting. >> a love/hate relationship, controversial at times. >> yes. >> you worked hard to get the restrictions lifted. why. what is drying you? >> what drives me is the need a that the music we call jazz is interdined with cuban music. it's musical. artistic and an aesthetic

journey and a personal one, to find out our common roots, so the music can continue. >> you have been to cuba several times and been the subject of hate mail and nasty blog postings about your efforts there. why? why is there this division within the cuban american society? >> people like to appropriate personnel struggles with public ones. some of the folks that posted about me are people that lost their personnel belongings, their properties. there's a history of career activists as well with some folks. it's sad. if you can't separate yourself from justice for humanity, and what is good for the world and its people, it's sad. i feel sorry. what matters in the long run is community, the larger amounts of people getting the most good in

their lies, the most justice. cubans suffered because of the separation. they have suffered more than we have for sure. economically. i think dash in my opinion it's economic terror. >> americans say we are caving. people were thrown into gaol. we didn't cave. they are communist. we are going to do it for a while. what are we doing, what are we achieving. nothing. we are not making a point. president obama said it beautifully. his policy failed. if it's personal, take your business outside. >> what do you think your father would say. >> my father is gripping from year to year, he's crying and laughing. i think he loved his people, his nation and saw behind the ideology and governmental silliness. >> we are a ways off from the embargo lifted. when you go there and bring

instruments. >> sometimes we do, yes. >> can you leave them. >> we were able to work it out. leave a beautiful base. we brought a beautiful base for a wonderfully gifted base player. and the tears in our eyes, and the expression on our face was unbelievable. she was gifted. incredible. she had no instrument of her quality. >> do you think the new relationship will help individuals in cuba experience things they couldn't before? >> it will help us experience things we couldn't experience before. our lives will be enriched by seeing people whose main passion is to better themselves. they care about education, their craft. it's an inspirational people. sometimes in the united states we lost our way. we have everything we could want. we are starving. those people have nothing. yet they live rich lives, incredibly rich cultural aesthetics, educational and

social lives. >> it will be interesting to see music playing a role, bringing ideas together. >> it's very kind of you. >> thank you for joining us. we appreciate having you here on "consider this". time to see what is trending on the internet. >> i don't know if a lot of people know this. since 1983. the sta had a life-time ban. the agency announced easing the restrictions. donors must be celebrate for a year. it is getting a lot of criticism. a nonprofit in new york said some may believe it's a step forward. requiring it for a year is a de facto ban. it was tweeted: our viewers tended to agree:

only good if they put the same time limits an heterosexual women, and added: sh. >> the new r.e.m. saying better alliance the deferral with that of other men and women. according to the c.d.c. gay and environmental men are disproportionately impacted by h.i.v. all between the ages of 13 and 24 acted for 72% of new h.i.v. infections. the f.d.a. draft guidance on the policy, let us know what you think of the proposal on twitter. this change could increase the u.s.'s annual supply by up to 4%. >> we'll see if that happens. coming up, big news out of n.a.s.a. - far, far away on venus. first. what happens to the christmas

trees. the sad ones in the lots that will go unsold. our data dive is next. >> by the thousands, they're sending their government a message. >> ahead of 'em is a humanitarian crisis where tens of thousands of people are without food, water, shelter. >> a special one hour look at global attacks on free press. monday 9:00 eastern. on al jazeera america.

if you feel a little ba hum bug today's data dive may get you in the spirit. four in five households display a christmas tree, according to the american christmas tree association. listen to this. about 80% of americans are

faking it with artificial trees. you know who you are. if you happen to have a real one, odds are your tree may have come from oregon or north carolina. half of all the christmas trees harvested in the u.s., 2012, came from six counties in the two states. ash county, north carolina, tops the list with the most trees, what happiness to the trees in the lots now that are not sold? some of them are mulched. others are bundled up and submerges and fish habitat where they are home to marine life. others are snacks for elephants overseas, like these guys at the berlin so. probably fresh breath. a second light coming up, n.a.s.a. wants to create a floating city above the planet veep us. stellar details are up next. hi, i'm paul beban in new

york. after "consider this", "the interview" gets a limited release. why sony changed its mind about changing the comedy flick about north korea. >> wall street rallies to a record close after the economy gets a boost. and why a group of singers may file a lawsuit against youtube. and national geographic unveils winners from the photographic competition. all that after "consider this".

n.a.s.a. proposed an interplanetary intermission. despite the excitement over the red planet, the nest target is veep us. venus is too hot, and pretty inhospitable for the toughest equipment to survive on the surface. the new idea is to put a blimp into venus's atmosphere, and try to establish a floating city above the clouds. sounds like sci-fi. joining us from philadelphia, is a chief astronomer. and al jazeera contributor, derek. floating crowd cities. is this for reel, is it a reel idea? >> you know, every agency needs to have an office where people

can dream up all sorts of crazy ideas, and this might be one of them. this is, of course, dependent upon the technology that we have available now, and it seems as if it's a way in which a platform could be established in the venusian atmosphere to do close up studies in the atmosphere. this is a proposed venture where humans would travel to veep us, they'd stay for up to a year in the floating laboratories that could examine the atmosphere. i think, to tell you the truth, that this is a perfect opportunity for an unmanned remote reconnaissance mission using the same equipment. after all, we know what the atmosphere is like, it's not a good place to be. >> the atmosphere is different to what was there on the

surface. do we have the technology, to peace together and have something float above the atmosphere. we have the pieces of the puzzle. we understand that the atmosphere 30 miles above the surface is that we can float a blimp there. temperatures are a little higher, but doable. it's fine, and we are above the worst part of the atmosphere that is so as sidic. it could do wonderful work examining the surface, through the clouds of venus, and since we know so much about venus, the temperatures of 800 degrees farren hate. the pressure 100 times on earth. using all the other technologies that we have been able to employ to examine other plan et cetera in great distances, venus is the perfect place to do that. i'm not sure that it's making a

lot of sense to send humans there when we can send them to other places that could give us more advance. you have to wonder what would sending people to these places teach us. what will they learn? >> we want to understand how planets like veep us can exist. what is it about their development, relative to the sun that caused venus to spin out of control if terms of its environment, that so much different from earth. veep us is about the same size as earth, the same density. other similarities, but it's hotter, no liquid water, atmosphere is caustic. it's no that much closer to the sup, but that and something else about its early history turned it into a hellish place to be. if we understand that. >> to say the least. we'll understand how planets develop.

>> for people that don't understand veep us, it's not a -- venus, it's not a place you would want to take a vacation, is it? >> not at all. there's many other places i would rather go from there. >> we talked about privatisation with previous conversations with you, and how it is changes the way we talk about space, the way we think about space, private companies doing things, freeing up resources. can we expect to see more out of the box thinking, extreme ideas as a result of the change? >> it would be an interesting thing if n.a.s.a. were to take a step in that direction. one of the things that is very true is that the commercialisation or privatisation of some aspects of space exploration freed up n.a.s.a. resources, and they freed resources to pursue those things, and they are the big exploratory expeditions into the solar system.

it's easy for companies with the experience and no how to launch satellites into orbit, or to carry supplies up to international space station. even deliver astronauts to the low orbit. the big in additions of exploring mars or go to the outer planets of the solar system or the asteroids, they are the big nations that n.a.s.a. should pursue with the funds that it has. >> to take off in the direction of the cloud city, is not a good idea. >> you talked about funding. >> it has to be very judicious about what it does because of the way in which it is analysed for the proper path it takes to use the funds wisely. >> there was budget news coming out of n.a.s.a. that not a lot of people saw because people were tied up with other issues. n.a.s.a. got a boost in the budget. more money than they asked for,

half a billion more than the original request. this renewed interest in space, why. part of the reason why funding is increased, nasa has a lot on its plate, it has plans to continue the development of the orion capsule that will be the main way in way astronauts get from earth to low earth orbit, and on to other spacecraft systems carrying them on to the moon and mars. it has to fund the new launch system, the new rocketry system carrying the orion capsule, and n.a.s.a. wants to sustain and maintain international space station for another decade or so, and it has other missions that it is doing. it wants to keep all the things on track on time and on budget. >> thank you for joining us. have a good one. >> thank you so much, adam. >> that's all for now. the conversation continues on

the web site at aljazeera.com/considerthis. we are on facebook and twitter. good evening, everyone, this is al jazeera america. i'm paul beban in new york. john seigenthaler is off. showtime - you want us to kill the leader of north korea. >> despite threats against new york theatres, sony says it will release "the interview", the controversial film about north korea. >> on the rebound. economic growth faster than it's been in a decade. for men americans, it's not fast enough. >> beat down, the battle between the music industry and youtube. why a