soon. the bigger we get the bigger they'll be. >> and so will the crowds will get bigger as well. thank you very much. i'm michael yves, "real money with ali velshi" is coming up next. . >> it is arit is a pillar of the american dream. i'll tell where you to go in america to get the biggest bang for your housing buck. i'll tell you how we're already doing business with havana, and giant leaps for mankind. a spaceship that can land just about anywhere, and maybe a transporter like the one on-star trek. i'm ali velshi, and this is

"real money." >> hey, this is real money. you are the most important part of the show. tell me what's on your mind by tweeting me eighth ali velsh me @ali velshi. it's the american dream, but finding an affordable home is getting harder to do. in a report put out by real estate data company trulia only 14% of the markets are now within reach of middle income buyers. a year ago this was 20%. only half the houses available in denver are now affordable to a median income earner, down from 67% a year ago. down from two-thirds. in atlanta, 72% are now within reach of the middle class.

that's down from 79% a year ago. predictbly the most affordable market for america's middle class are concentrated in the south and midwest. when we say a share of the market is affordable or within reach of middle class home buyers that means the total monthly payments on a home loan are no more than 31% of a metro area's median household income. more than 31% of the median income in a given metro area. metro areas in ohio, akron, toledo, columbus, all of them have markets that are now within reach of between 81% and 86% of local area middle income buyers. gary, indiana, detroit, michigan, rochester, new york, all of these markets close to 80% of the markets within reach of the middle class buyers. in the south, little rock, arkansas, have 88% and 83%

respectively within reach. and just as predictable is this is that the least affordable markets for america's middle class are concentrated on the coast. besides francisco, los angeles has only 31% of affordabilitying. san diego, 39%. san jose, 4%. new york city metro area has 28% of homes within reach of local area middle income buyers. fairfield, connecticut, 38%. all the way out in honolulu, over here, we put it here for convenience, only 47% of homes are within reach. yesterdayjed, we saw prices go up. over the last year we've watched interest rates go up.

this beautiful thing we had, the one good thing about the recession is that homes became more affordable for americans, and now that's moving in the other direction. >> we're seeing affordability worsen everywhere in the country that's because wages are sluggish. mortgage rates are moving off. last year mortgage rates hit an all-time low in the low 3s. now we're in the low 4s. rates have come down, but they're still up from that historic low. higher prices and higher rates means afford ability is getting worse. it's getting harder fo to buy a home. >> you calculate the monthly payment and affordable is 31% less of the median income in the given area. you're only comparing available homes in the metropolitan area to median incomes in that same

metro area. >> that's right. it's used to determine whether a borrower can afford the home that they're looking at. remember that incomes differ hugely across different markets. in places like san francisco and san jose have higher median incomes than in the southwest. even though incomes are higher, affordability is worse. that's because home prices and incomes are bigger differences. >> for those in san francisco and los angeles, we got the short end of the stick on that one. what are the implications. let's say that the patterns continue, home price gas up. what are the implications of having these markets where the spread between the median price of a house and the meetan income are so great? >> the first thing is that we see more renters.

in these least affordable markets the homeownership rate tends to be lower. they tend to live in smaller units. whereas the typical where there are more renters, people double up. they may have roommates, they may live with their parents. >> the futur failure to get more household formation-- >> i love how you use economist speak. household formation. we don't want the number of houses to get too far ahead of household formation then you of a lot of vacant homes. what happened in the recession lots of young people moved back

in with their parents or they never left. so we formed fewer new households during those years than normal. we didn't need as much construction, so construction suffered as well. we're now at a point in the recovery where household formation is picking up. young people are starting to go back to work, which means more are going to move out of their parents' homes and out of roommate situations. that's creating demand, but that demand is on the rental side. they'll move out from of parents basement to a rental. >> here in manhattan there is a lot of construction given that there is not a lot of space to build stuff. a lot of building are exclusiv exclusively rental buildings. they're starting with rental buildings, and the non-rental stock is nowhere near affordable. it doesn't come close to median income. it's all at the high end. it's a matter of supply and demand. rents and home prices are high in places like new york, but the supply that is coming online

doesn't fit the middle class. >> right now we are seeing a construction boom in new york, san francisco, boston, big cities that typically don't have a lot of new construction. as you said most of this is big buildings, most of it is rentals. but what effects affordability is construction over the long term. and over the long term places like san francisco and new york and boston build very little housing. they build less housing than most other mark markets in the country. if you look at where housing is built in parts of texas, parts of the south. every place that builds a lot of housing is affordable. if you build enough housing to keep up with demand prices don't rise as fast. >> no one is ever looking at new york and san francisco saying these cities are doomed, but are they doomed to be the home of rich people? >> without more construction it gets harder and harder for the middle class to afford to live

there. places are expensive if there is strong demand because they're pleasant and desirable places to live or places where you can find great jobs. and they are places with tight supply. strong demand, tight supply, that's the recipe for a long-term affordability crisis. that's what we see in places like san francisco and new york. >> jed, good to see you as always. thank you for joining us with your great statistics and analysis. yesterday from trulia. putting a roof over your head does not come cheap, and for some people it may get worse. >> we're fighting for everybody who lives here, and we're fighting for everybody who has affordable middle class housing in new york city. >> plus how america feeds cuba, literally. that story and more as rea "real money" continues. keep it right here.

>> if you live in new york this will be familiar to you. if you are not from new york this is just going to be interesting. peter cooper village is manhattan's largest apartment complex, and that is saying something. but it's significance goes well beyond it's size. it has become a powerful symbol of affordable housing for middle class americans. whether it will stay affordable is in doubt. analysts are seeing the first signs of potential sell of the property, and it's not just about them but about the middle class. >> we already have 32 regio 32 registe registerants. >> gathering up for a fight at stake, an 80-acre middle class apartment complex of more than

11,000 apartments along manhattan's river that is home to 25,000 residents. but with fears of a potential sale, steinberg and others worry that the affordable housing that has allowed them to live here for decades will be wiped out. >> we are fighting for everybody who has affordable housing in new york city. >> steinberg payed 1300 in monthly rent. the hallmark which opened in 1947 for world war ii veterans. it was deviled by metlife with the city's help. owners have changed hands over the years, deregulating rent for some units, and analysts say deregulating even more rents will be a priority. >> i think it's a certainty. it's just a question of how quickly they can do so.

>> reporter: back during the real estate boon, the buyers ran out of money and the lenders took control. the developers partnered in that deal that failed. the investment firm is now in control of the apartment. it did not respond to a question to comment on the first step of a potential sell. in the meantime reports fortress investment group is preparing a bid of 4.7. billion dollars. one urban development expert said stakes are high for peter cooper village. >> it would be catastrophic. i don't want to sound dramatic but it is dramatic. we've been losing middle class

housing for several years. >> as for designberg and other tenants their hopes hinge on mayor bill de blasio's push for affordable housing. >> this is the poster child. >> mary snow, al jazeera. >> the tenants say what is happening in their part of the town is far beyond the certain oconcern of affordability of housing in america. are they right? professor, good to see you. thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> that woman who we just heard said it could be catastrophic for new york if these apartments become less affordable. is she dramatic?

or is she on to something. >> no, i don't think it is. some areas have become very unaffordable. this was initially for returning veterans and younger people. if a younger person moves into new york they'll be forced to move away from downtown or they'll double or triple up. it's a very difficult situation, and there's been very, very little affordable housing generated by the federal government or by local governments for decades. >> it is 25,000 residents. high, high density occupancy for new york, and generally speaking that is usually related to low income housing. tell me about middle class housing. >> new york has very little middle class housing.

new york had tremendous housing shortage after world war ii, so rent stabilization came in and programs came forward to generate middle income housing for firefighters and teachers and others who live here. and that was really set up 40, 50, 60 years ago is now at risk. affordable housing loss is very real. and this same thing is carried out with smaller complexes. over 40% of people in new york who rent pay more than half their income for rent. this is not true of many parts of the country. >> you heard jed say the consequence means people don't buy. they become renters. you get a society of renters. what is the consequence of this? why is it when they built

petering cooper, it was important to bring middle class people into the city, now they say let it become market rent. >> when it was originally built there was some government money on the table to help it being built. but with the various capitol financial firms involved with peter cooper in 2006 when it was initially sold they are not in it to supply affordable housing. they're looking to make a profit. >> if you can represent that woman's unit that she pace $1,300 for twice that, they'll do it. >> they'll find ways to get those people out. even if she holds on. she's 67-year-old woman and retired, that's not atypical. before when it was developed it was younger people. she'll probably be able to hold on to her rent-stabilization, but the person who moves in after her probably will not. so matter what there will be a

continued decline of subsidize housing in new york and many other parts of the country unless there is money put on the table-- >> so little appetite for that in our economy. >> i know, i know, i know. >> what is the consequence in chicago, boston, new york, of diminishing stock of affordable housing. >> i think in san francisco there has been something like a riot around the google and facebook campuses. there is tension among young people who come into new york, and they don't know what to do. they move to what used to be considered slums. >> which has its own set of problems because those places are gentry flying, which we often think of good, but renters over there don't think good. they're pricing those people out of their own areas. >> exactly. i have worked in a number of

different situations where there was a displacement going on, and i would work generally for the tenants. what you would find is that the development can't go forward unless they displace the poor. >> thank you for being with us. andrew is a sociologist professor and an expert on these things from queens coming. we've been following three families across america. one of them is facing a sudden and unexpected challenge. later, a spaceship that can land like a helicopter. keep it right here.

>> tonight on al jazeera america, at 8, primetime news, >> what concerns you the most? bringing you the latest headlines from around the world >> you can really feel the tension here... then at 9, it's america tonight in depth reporting from coast to coast >> would it be dangerous for you go about three blocks that way? >> i wouldn't go by myself... >> at at 10, consider this >> it's the latest push for reform... >> antonio mora brings you unique perspectives on the news of the day >> tonight starting at 8, only on al jazeera america >> everybody was counting on this april thought to warm up the economy but numbers indicate the economy is going to need more time to recover. let's start with consumer spending. consumers took a breathe center april after going on a spending spree in march. spending fell one-tenth of 1% last month.

personal income row rose by three-tenths but the advance of wages and salaries was the weakest of the year. adding to the buzz kill the university of michigan's monthly gauge of consumer sentiment came in well below estimates for may. time for an update on one of the three families we're following as part of our ongoing series of america's middle class rebuilding the dream. we check back in with the boland family. a singe mother and owner of a company i. she recently was hurt and does not have insurance. >> i don't think people realize how physical retail is. there is a lot of lifting boxes and unpacking things, and because i had hip surgery on the

right side, now the left side is showing some signs of that. i timed the hip surgery so i could get through christmas and get through the move. as they put me under the told the doctor, i'm going to work tomorrow. he said, no you're not. i went to work the di the day after, and i had to. it was mother's day week. my $5,000 rent was due. i can't afford health insurance. i went to a clinic where they use your income tax and put you on a sliding scale. then they refer to you a specialist. because of my pay scale i paid 10%. i went in on december 12th because my entire left side of my body was numb

and tingling. i thought i was having a heart attack and stroke. i was under a lot of pressure at christmas. during christmastime i work seven days a week. i went down to the clinic, and they did an ekg. >> i'm just going to take the penalty this year, and open enrollment starts again in november. and i'm hoping that the store by november will be able to provide me with being able to pay the insurance each month. >> we'll stay with jody bowlin.

the average rate for unemployment rate is the lowest uninsured rate since gallop began tracking it in 2008. next week we'll get an update with the sabino family, they do have health insurance but their continued financial strains have sent them back into marriage counseling. just when you think it can't get more out of control, you can always count on someone to set a new standard of crazy. this time it's steve balmer, the former microsoft ceo. he's offering $2 billion for the los angeles clippers. it's three times the value according to forbes, and when balmer ran microsoft, he bought skype for three times what ebay would pay for it.

and donald sterling said he may sue for termination of his ownership. we'll tell you how we're doing business with havana despite the embargo. i'll tell you tiny toys that might help. don't go away.

>>tomorrow on tech know. >> we probably ought to put the goggles on now. >> visionary technology. >> these goggles will help surgeons detect tumors that are less than one millimeter in size. >> life changing.

>> these have the potential to revolutionize the way that we approach patients with mini cancers. >> tech know, every saturday go where science meets humanity. >> this is some of the best driving i've every done, even though i can't see. >> tech know. >> we're here in the vortex. >> tomorrow, 7:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america. you. >> the head of the u.n. chamber of congress visited cuba and urged that country to adopt economic reforms and more market-oriented policies. the chamber has long opposed the trade i a embargo with cuba.

many believe they are shut out of the market, but that's simply not the case. [♪ music ] >> reporter: for many americans this is the picture of cuba. a rhythm-infused culture known for its classic cars and cigars, mixed with a communist style government reminiscent of a bygone area. but with an embargo that dates back to the eisenhower days, the message is clear: cuba is for bi forbidden. >> there is a lot of interaction between the u.s. and cuba. since 2000, for 15 years nearly the u.s. has been free to sell agricultural commodities to cuba, and has. less in recent years but that trade still goes on. >> reporter: last year exports to cuba making the u.s. the

island's largest source of imported food. that means the beans and chicken eaten in places like havana come from ranchers and farmers in nebraska. >> cargill is probably the biggest exporter, soybean, corn. tyson's chicken. cuba buys a lot of chicken pieces. >> last year the u.s. sold $144 million in frozen chicken, an agri business in states like illinois, nebraska have sold beans, corn, soy and beef to the island. >> it's time to begin a new chapter in u.s. cuban relations. >> reporter: the 12 person team includes executives from cargill and amway. >> many congressmen and senators

have been trying for years to further liberalize, because the market could be much larger than it is. >> reporter: but that trade for now is an one-way street. cuba is not permitted to export back to the u.s. which discourages other countries from doing business there. u.s. law prohibits foreign flagships from docking in the united states six months after stopping in cuba. that means it has to find a route for a half year and that makes trade with cuba far more expensive. >> all these restrictions add costs and they add uncertainty and create risks. >> but cuba does not make foreign investment all that easy either. >> i think there are investment opportunities but remember, the cuban economy at this point is very chaotic. there are two currencies. there is very little internal

production going on. >> still with a market of 12 million people located roughly 90 miles off the coast of florida american investors see opportunities. >> cuba is very close buy. shipping costs are very low. it would be a steady market. >> reporter: the u.s. estimated $1.1 billion each year due to trade restrictions with cuba. that has trade routes for soybean and potato farmers lobbying for a more liberalized trade. >> one businessman whose already doing business with cuba is paul johnson. owner of chicago foods international, an exporter who has been selling oatmeal, canned fruit since 2008. he travels to trade expos in havana and goes to cuba to peddle his wares, paul, thank you for being with us. you know cuba. you've been going there for a long time.

you've been doing business there since 2008. most people in your position don't know they can do this. how did you get into doing business with cuba? >> well, it's certainly a challenge. i first went there 20 years ago. i went there on my father's advice to check out cuba, that was in 19 95. i returned to live there for a year. i did a master's thesis on the economic development of cuba. i went back every year and in 2008 i decided it was time to start a company and start exporting to cuba. >> is cuba the market that you export to the most? >> it is, yes. since 2008 that's been more than half of my export. i have an export management company, chicago foods international, and that's more than half of what we do. >> is it--are there other places that you export to as complicated as doing business with cuba? >> cuba is unique. it's a unique market and situation.

when i first stepped in there was not like you can google to find out who the trader partners are. it took a lot of time to get the lay of the land, to understand who the buyers were. it took a lot of time, like any exporting company, they need to understand the lay of the land and the people and the culture and their aspirations and ou outlook and understand who you're dealing with. then go to cuba. i try to get there every three months, making sure that my products are stored correctly, displayed correcting, the first year was tough, but ever since 2008 we've been exporting products every year. >> if the trade embargo is lifted. if there is more liberal trade between the united states and cuba do you gain or do you suffer? >> definitely gain. there will be more competition, but when cuba's economy rises there will be more economy for them to buy more product for myself. so i'm looking forward to that, for that time. >> what are the complexities of

doing business, trading and exporting to cuba that are different than other places that you do business. >> i touched on the first one. you have to find out who your buyers are. educating the people here in the united states, i can't tell you how many companies hung up the phone when i asked to sell my products in cuba because they didn't understand that they could be done. i tried to explain to them since 2008 with the trade sanction reform act we can export food products. the other is logistics, getting down to cuba, and getting the visa. >> which used to be a longer process than it is now. >> it's gotten better. that was one of the frustrations of trying to sell to cuba, getting a visa. but with this current administration things have changed 180 degrees. it used to take me months, but now it's a phone call and e-mail

and i can get a visa in two weeks. >> how do you get paid? >> great question. the regulations stipulate its cash. cash in advance. so when i sell my products, cuba wires money to a bank in paris. i get a letter of credit from them. i get the funds once the ship leaves miami. which is the biggest problem here. we have countries from all over the world who are engaged with cuba and experting products, and frankly my sales have been diminishing since 2009-10. that's because of credit. if we can't offer credit we can't compete with countries like china and russia. >> who are offering credit. fair to say that trade--u.s. trade with cuba has diminished since 2008, so you're part of a larger trend. >> yeah, i think back in 2001

they liked the idea of trade. we opened the door. cuba went along with the cash in advance idea. it was not necessarily to their advantage but they hoped that the business community would put pressure on d.c. to change the status quo. i don't think that has happened. i think you're finding countries like canada and brazil who are saying why are you still trading with the united states when we're offering trade terms. finally cuba said we're not going to be trading as much with the united states. we've heard that the last two years. we've seen that since 2009. we hit $350 million last year, i doubt we hit $200 million in exports. >> they drop off. paul, thank you for talking to us about this tonight. >> pleasure to be here. >> paul johnson, owner of chicago foods international. president obama and other countries in the g-7 will hold a meeting in brussels. originally a g-8 was to be held

in sochi, russia, but that has changed since russia's involvement with ukraine. mike viqueira joins us no washington. i suspect it will be the hottist topic, in fact. >> funny, this will be the third overseas requessea's trip the president has taken. they finally threw off the yoke of oppression in 1989 after result of ten years of upheaval and solidarity. they're worried now. they're looking at events in ukraine. they see the up tick of russian aggression and have historical reasons for nervous. now talking about l & g ports. they want more l & g from the united states. they're talking about loosening export restrictions.

then the president leaves that hotbed and goes to the g-7. this is a punishment for vladimir putin. it's no longer part of the g-8. putin is playing a sophisticated game. last week he said yeah, these sanctions are hurting us. we are very concerned about what's happening. we're going to pull our troops back from the board with ukraine. we're not going to be fomenting any unrest and we'll respect the election. clearly what's doing and any number of analysts will tell you that he's driving a wedge further between president obama and the european. putin giving those opponents and those who are reluctant ammunition to say look, there is no need for us in europe to go through this pain, this economic pain by imposing the sanctions. that's why you hear u.s. officials talking about using a scal scalpel instead of a meat

cleaver. >> a lot of work is technical. it's done by bureaucrats ahead of time and then there are these big meetings that happen where the leaders get together. but sometimes to close a deal or do something that you're talking about, it needs the leaders. the beau contracts can set the table for, but the leaders need to agree for it. is there a chance that president obama will move the needle of supporting tougher sanctions on russia. it's their economies. u.s. will not be touched by the further sanctions on russia but european countries will. >> reporter: right, two years ago do you recall when the president convened the meeting at the hague when he got them to commit to tougher sanctions if russia were to continue. they were talking about the inning sectorrer now they're talking abou the between tier

one and tier two sanctions and president obama will be talking tier three sanctions. >> thank you for joining us. reports that a bank could be on the hook for a huge fine. the bank is in negotiations with the justice department for allegedly violating sanctions against iran. the fine could be as large as $10 billion. the journal said that the bank could be temporarily prohibited transferring money into and out of the united states. analysts say that could be a big financial blow. more than the $10 billion, by the way. last week it was italy, now its britain. now sex and drugs will have proper or improper place in the british economy. it will start counting illegal count sales and prostitution in

its gross domestic product. it would boost gdp by $7 billion. while that's less than 1% every bit matters. the u.k. said six other european countries have already includes vice in gdp calculations. a computer more powerful than any other on the planet. a new scientific discovery that could change everything. plus what pop rocks, cool whip and tang have in common. keep it right here.

>> this, is what we do. >> al jazeera america. >> well, it looks like space tourism is one step closer to lifting off. we learned that richard branson's commercial space

company virgin galactic has signed a condition for the aviation and will launch from a new space port in new mexico. virgin galactic said that the first flight could start as early as this year. 580 people have put down deposits $70 million to take that trip. joining branson in the race to space is elon m usk. he has been reaching for the stars and musk unveiled a spacecraft that can dock itself at the space station. the unveiling of the new spacecraft comes at a profittal time. u.s. astronauts have been relying on the russians to get to the space station since nasa

retired the shuttle in 2007. now they're looking to fill that void. they have a contract with nasa for 12 cargo-carrying missions to the space station. for more on all this and other cool things tech in the news we turn to our own jake ward in san francisco. jake, you and i have both been space geeks. we've been watching this development over the years, but this is a big, big deal from the time that there was a first commercial spacecraft hit space during the 2004, now ten years later this is seeming very, very real. >> that's right. the news is coming fas fast and furious. we saw elon musk announce that one of his rockets managed to touchdown perfectly vertically. it landed in in the ocean and then they lost it, but what

makes it interesting here is the reusability of it. that will be extremely cost effective. they believe they'll be able to reuse this particular capsule ten times until you have to replace the heat shields but that's about it. that will bring the cost per astronaut down. currently it costs $71 millionfer astronaut per trips to buy services for the russians. musk believes with this cap actual it will be $20 million per person per trip. still a lot of money but incredible savings. >> and in fact, cheaper than the space shuttle program. a lot of controversy about the exact that nasa getting out of the space program really sets america back in terms of progress in space, but on the other hand it was losing support from being a tax-payer supported program, and that's what caused others to pick that you mantle.

>> and there are incredible efficiency when you don't need to design brand new things every time. now you have a handful of off the shelf components, and that's what elon musk's whole point is, by making it modular instead of this exquisite sculpture every time go into space, which is nasa's whole budget was about, now you have an easier time of it. >> i understand launching into space but i know no about teleporting. >> reporter: it's an extraordinary thing. it's called quantum telepourtation. if you take a tiny particle, you can--it turns out, separate two of them, which share information, share the same state, you can separate them an incredible distance in this case ten feet but other people have shown that you can move them

many miles apart. and if you change the condition of one the other one will instantaneously change to be the same way. they're getting to a same place where they think they can control in. it's teleporting the condition across space. it really is teleporetation, but it's just tiny particles and getting them to behave a certain way. it is really happening. what is cool about it, we're reliant on a system where you need things to be one or zero. all computing is designed on bits. one or zero. these tiny particles are referred to as q-bits because they can hold several items at the same time. it will make it easier to crunch numbers incredibly fast. because they're instantaneously reflecting its other condition,

you'll be able to create a computer, and it will be as fast as get out. >> it must have been horrible to play trivial pursuit with you. >> i do enjoy trivial pursuit. >> thank you. >> thanks, ali. >> our next guest teamed up with nasa to help get kids interested in stem, that i. the u.s. is i in a stem crisis. we last checked in with you six months ago. and since then you have--you've evolved this collaboration with nasa. what's the point first of all? >> so the goal is to put the power of electronics in everybody's hands and allow

anyone to be an inventor. we've been doing these partnerships where we take a field that is misunderstood where technology is very previous leapt, we break it down and put the power of creativity in the hands of people. we took on space which is very important but largely misunderstood, and turned it into these building blocks that allows a kid or adult to recreate nasa experiments to a high degree of accuracy as much as possible so they can experience what it's like to launch a mars rover, to use a satellite. >> you take these big ideas and turn them into little bits, as it were. are these for kids? i asked you this last time. are these for kids or adults? >> people always ask us this. this kit in particular is targeted to parents, teachers and kids. we have other kids that are targeted towards designers. so the idea is we crete these

building blocks and you can use them for prototyping, invention and in this case learning. it's more of a way of looking at the world. >> before i talk more about it, show me what this is, space or yenty little bit. >> each little bit is a circuit that is pre-engineered and pre-assembled. they're color coded and in this case this a snaps together with magnets, that cannot be put on the wrong way. then you can visualize sensor data. i can start to visualize how many light is going through. if you combine that with extra material you can create something like this, which is basically a mars rover. this allows you to turn back and forth.

what this robot is doing is gathering data on mars and transmitting it back to earth, and it's creating exercises, experiments. >> to do what? to help people conceptualize that they can get into a career to thanksgiving does this? >> to get a career, to understand why we fund nasa, to understand why we should become scientists. it comes with play, nation. it has blocklet all written by nasa engineers. some of them have anecdote da a neck dotal pieces. >> you're here to make it seem sexy and thee receipt cool, not

physics. >> we want to make it modern as well. it's using new digital devices, in this case speakers and wireless controls and remote controls, and infrared and recreate these technologies that are like the gadgets around us. >> do you get some sense of what people are using this for? do you get people who say my kids decided to pursue a stem career. >> more often than one would think. just recently a few months ago we get these love letters from parents and kids. one of them really touched me. it was a dad that said his daughter wanted to be a dentist. ever since she found out about little bit, she decided she wanted to be engineers. nothing against dentists, but we always want to see people go into science.

>> stem means science, technology, education, math. his concept is that art is not just another discipline that on the side. it's the same curiosity that requires you to be an engineer is the one that drives you to be an artist. we believe it's very important and cultivates the left and right brain, and we want kids to feel inspired to be engineers, artists, to be curious and to be makers. >> if i had met you when i was a kid i would want to be an engineer, i suspect. i would be wanting to go to space. thank you for keeping that deem alive. when astronauts get thirsty in space, they still reach for the same refreshment. we'll take a step back in time when we come back.

>> coming up on our primetime newscast at 8:00 eastern time the white house is days away from announcing historic regulations on gas emotions. what it means for the environment, jobs and the cost of energy in america. plus what happens next now that the veteran's affair secretary has resigned. the stories of veteran who is died waiting for appointments, and others who are pleased with their care. more coming up after "real money with ali velshi."

>> i'm joie chen, i'm the host of america tonight, we're revolutionary because we're going back to doing best of storytelling. we have an ouportunity to really reach out and really talk to voices that we haven't heard before... i think al jazeera america is a watershed moment for american journalism >> well, today's news about elon muks got me thinking about tank and the misconception about it. the powdered fruit drinks that has been on tables is not a nasa creation. it was created by william a. mitchell a chemist wit, who

also invited cool whip and pop rocks. it contained a lot of sugar but it had vitamins, a and c. still it was not a huge success. that changed in 1962 on board one of nasa's mercury missions. john glenn spent five hours in flight. tang was used to improve the poor taste of the water in the life support system. glenn orbited the earth three times becoming the first u.s. astronaut to do that. millions watched as he ate a beef dinner and then sipped tang from a bag. general foods was combined with kraft, but tang is still available, and it's still available on the international space station, and for some

reason that just feels right. i'm ali velshi. thanks for joining us. have a great weekend. >> hi everyone. this is al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. gone after the head of veterans affairs resigns, what's next and who can fix the problem? next a take on health care at va hospitals. suicide attack in syria. the man carrying the bomb is american. cleaner air. the obama administration is about to cut pollution at coal plants. what impact it will have on the price of electricity. plus: >> is that