>> sam fieldman peter shankman. great to have you back. have a good weekend, the show may be over but the conversation continues find us on twitter @ajconsiderthis see you next time. have a great weekend. >> the chris christie scandal after an old friend tells a different story about the bridge controversy. >> recovering from his wounds, an activist tells how he was beaten and tortured after a week in the ukraine. >> and the keystone project and its affect on the environment.

>> hello to you. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford, live from new york city. >> now allegations have emerged that new jersey governor chris christie is directly linked to the george washington bridge scandal. he attended a celebrity gala in new york, denying the accusations that he knew about the disclosure of two lanes leading to the george washington bridge. a lawyer is make the the accusation. chris christie says he knew nothing, many of whom believe it was political retribution against political enemies. >> it's a scandal surrounding chris christie, the lane closures, creating a commuter nightmare, caused not by a traffic study, but as the alleged payback against a democratic mayor who refused to back chris christie for his re-election.

chris christie has been considered a contender for the president in 2016. he's popular in new jersey and was asked if he knew about the plans of lane closures. >> i had no knowledge or involvement in this issue, in its planning or execution. i am stunned by the abject stupidity that was shown here. >> now a sharp rebuttal from a former official at the port authority who owned his job to christie. in a letter his lawyer said: >> and the letter described the lane closing decision as: >> the timing of the letters released raises questions, coming two days before the super bowl hosted by new jersey.

in a statement the governor's office says: >> responses to 20 subpoenas issued by a joint panel investigating the scandal are due on monday. >> and new video surfaced relating to the leak of n.s.a. documents by former security contractor edward snowden. it shows editors of "the guardian" destroying computers containing top-secret documents. the british paper ordered him to turn over the documents. they threatened legal action if they didn't stop publishing the edward snowden leaks. they watched the journalist destroy the computer in their basement. >> the u.s. is calling for

investigation into claims of torture in ukraine. disturbing images emerge of a leading opposition activist who said he was abducted and tortured for more than a week. a prom nent figure accuses the government of being behind the attack. >> he was beaten and left for dead in a ukrainian forest. he says he's lucky to be alive. >> translation: i was crucified. i have holes in my hands. part of my ear is cut off. there's not a spot in my body that has not been beaten. i couldn't tell who they were. it was dark where they kept me. the accent was russian. i will tell you later, now i can't see well because i have been in darkness for so long. >> he was a thorn in the side of the opposition.

he vanished. he was the only one that disappeared. 30 others are still missing. relatives don't want to talk about them, because they are afraid of making the situation worse. they want to see their loved ones come home alive. every night volunteers record what they have learnt each day for on online radio station, sharing what they know about -- >> the most notorious cases of abuses, missing appearance, arrested persons and god forbid, if there any persons that lost their life. >> their hot line helps to keep track of the missing and there's a list of lawyers helping ukrainians who have been arrested or detained. >> it's important to know what they can do, what they are not to do, what they are entitled to do.

the legal position of the ukrainian people is not high. >> human rights accuses the ukrainian police of attacking journalists and medics. it's a pattern of abuse seen before, and calls for investigation. as he left to meet the u.s. secretary of state in germany, an opposition leader called for the same. >> in munich we insist on an international investigation of all the cases of killing, torture and kidnapping of people, and the fact that journalists are targeted and shot at. today's event represent proof that in ukraine, like in latin america, death squads have appeared. >> in independence square at the heart of the opposition demonstrations they read names of the missing in the hope that someone might know something, and ensuring those out of sight are not out of mind. >> negotiations between the

government and opposition are at a standstill, and the president took a sick leave earlier this week. >> president obama is reportededly planning on travelling to saudi arabia in march, a trip designed to mend relations with a long-time u.s. ally. officials say the president will seek to allay saudi concern over the nuclear deal that the u.s. and other powers struck with iran. saudi arabia expressed frustration that the u.s. is not doing more to support the rebel forces. >> eight were killed in violence in nigeria, including a christian family of seven. it's the latest violence to hit the region. earlier this week more than 40 were killed when gunmen stormed a church. it was suspected that boko haram was behind the attack. >> this is all that's left of the church that was attacked. the attackers came through the door, some on motorcycles, and some jumping out of vehicles,

and attacked the parishioners on both sides of the church. the violence was so intense the roof of the church practically caved in. many of the parishioners tried to escape through the windows, but they are basically barricaded because of fears and concerns about security in this area. some of the parishioners dashed to the back of the church. you can see there's a window there. we understand some people did manage to escape and fled into the bush. many met their death here in the church. those that survived, that got out alive, are being treated in hospital. >> boko haram is known for attacking christians, and their name means western education is forbidden. >> the controversial keystone pipeline may have come a step closer to getting approved. the proposed pipeline to canada will have little impact on the

environment. >> state department officials are keen to stress that the release of this supplemental impact statement or feic is a report, it's not the final decision on whether transcanada will be allowed to build the keystone xl pipeline from the canadian border to the gulf of mexico. after a push in the past year, now it's forwarded to the u.s. government agencies to figure out what other impacts could be created if the pipeline is constructed. then it will be up to the secretary of state john kerry to decide whether the economic benefit ou weighs the diplomatic political and environmental concerns. the report released on friday indicated there would not be many negative impacts in terms of wetland, environmental facilities or the local economy. there's pressure to build the

pipeline, and the administration is hearing the pressure from particularly republican members of congress. >> over the next 90 days federal authorities will died if the project is in the nation's best interest, and if it's aligned with the climate strategy. >> it's been three weeks since the toxic chemical spill left thousands high and dry. there's fears that the water is not safe. this is no recent issue. jonathan martin reports. >> the gentle trickle of a mountain spring was the tranquility maria sought when she moved to the rural west virginia enclave 14 years ago. >> so the kids could play in the creek. we wanted the grandkids to play the way we played. >> as it would turn out the water flowing from the tap was less than pure. harmed by what locals say is the coal which fuels their economy. by 2007 maria says people were

getting sick, including six on a single street who developed brain tumours. high levels of arsenic and other toxins were found in the water. when cole is refined, it's washed by chemicals. the waste is pumped behind urban dams or underground. state officials refuted that the groundwater was contaminated. researchers found otherwise. >> they were dumping that stuff underground by the billions of gal jobs, and we had no idea. or that there was a permit issued for it. we didn't know any of that. >> in 2008 residents filed suit against two mining companies. massey energy aand patriot coal. it alleged coal slurry leached through the earth contaminating the drinking waters.

the company cited a confidential no-fault settlement and neither company would comment. residents believes it was publicity that led them to be connected to the municipal water supply. many would not drink the water. >> there she is as a little girl, and when she passed away. >> pamela believes years of exposure claimed her mother's life and refuses to take chances. >> the lines were not changed, the hot water was never changed. it's still coming through. i don't trust it. >> after what the town has been through, maria lamb letter has little thought that the recent spill in west virginia will change things.

>> then you find the keepers of the land are allowing this to happen. you get mad. >> she is using her voice, advocating change in a place where the economy and the environment depend on each other for better and for worse. >> across the country the drought situation is getting worse. on friday officials announced the state water project will not deliver water. it affects drinking water and irrigation from silicon valley to the los angeles basin. 25 million residents and 750,000 acres of farmland will have to rely on other sources. >> we are seeing snow showers pushing across the great lakes

causing problems at the airports, chicago, indiana and colombus ohio. it will sway towards the east. some of the places to the west will improve. last night we saw delays in denver. if you came out for the game in new york, you may have been delayed until saturday morning. i want to take you here to the north-west. there's showers. notice over the last 12 hours the snow showers began to die down. the ridge of high pressure that was responsible for the dry weather - i won't say good weather, because you needed the rain. the drier weather - though broke down, allowing the moisture in, it's coming up and unfortunately we are looking at a situation where it's going to be very dry, sunny for many elections. seattle - your high will be 44 degrees, as you look at the forecast, we are not seeing any rain over the next five days. down to the south-west, your

snow showers are ending. we got snow up here towards the sierra nevadas, it was good for the snow pack, but putting you behind average. temperatures, 66 degrees. a high in los angeles 55. in l.a. below 70. 66 on tuesday. overnight lows of 45-46. cloud coming into the northern part of texas. temperatures are not looking bad. we'll see a big change on sunday, going down to 39, with rain showers forecast. >> thank you so much, kevin. >> next, a deadly dose. two dozen dead in a week. the toll heroin is having an american families. >> the budding business of marijuana, look at what is making it harder for legal sellers to run their shops.

>> now to an update on a story we brought to you this week. the heath crisis in pittsburg from heroin overdoses. this less than a week 20 have died after overdicing on a bad batch. officials say it's getting worse. >> authorities in pittsburg of calling it an epidemic. heroin laced with a powerful pain-killer is being sold on the streets. the high is deadly. it comes in different names: last week four people within 24 hours died after overdosing. from there the death toll continued to climb. >> when i had four, and sunday when i had three, i knew that i was hitting a major part of an overdose crisis. health officials issued an

alert. 20 similar deaths were reported through the region on monday. >> it contains a synthetic open identified falled phentanol. it's very potent, 70 to 100 times stronger than morphine. >> this doctor says if warned of the dangers, some drug abusers take the chance. >> if people are dying from something, you would think commonsense would tell you stay away. because of the nature of addiction, they believe that is the good stuff, that's the strong stuff. >> a little over 1 million people live here. the medical examiner says in the past couple of years more people have died here from drug overdoses than homicide and traffic accidents combined. >> carr min understands the dangers of heroin. he lost his 21-year-old son to the drug two years ago. >> we were devastated.

i couldn't imagine, i didn't know what heroin looked like. >> today he shares the story of his heartbreaking lose with others. >> what i hope to accomplish is creating awareness, compassion and access. those are three words. >> pittsburg police say they are working closely with local, federal and county law enforcement to find where the deadly batch of heroin is coming from. some arrests have been made. 6,000 have joined the army, a foundation created to help others struggling from addiction, before it's too late. >> it's been a month since colorado legalized recreational marijuana. business is soring, but pot is illegal under federal law. it's causing a lot of budding

legal problems. >> after a month of legal marijuana sales, the results of colorado's green rush are in - long lines, short supplies and an unhealthy dose of chaos. >> i'm looking for an upper. irkth stimulating? >> yes. for the two dozen dispense ris business is growing faster than the stocks in their greenhouses. >> we have a line out the door, a constant flow of customers and revenue. previously we'd have 15 to 20 patients, now we are see 100 to 150 a day. >> some sellers ran out of stock. with 100 dispense ris to open next month, the problem is not supply, it's a legal system that has not caught up with a drug that is illegal under u.s. federal store. >> this shop changed bank accounts several times. banks are afraid of running afoul of federal law.

as soon as they discover who they are dealing with, they shut the accounts, but take credit. >> we are on the 7th or eighth act. it's terrible and dangerous because i'm walking around with a large amount of cash in my pocket. we have a tight system to hold the cash on different premises of our operations. but it doesn't stop someone who is desperate to put a gun to my head or kidnap my wife or family. >> the green rush is fuelling a new industry - bud tenders, trimmers and temp workers. critics citing drivers and health problems are working on a new law to take marijuana off the colorado menu. >> we have marijuana gummy bear, soda and cupcakes. they want to regulate it like alcohol. >> workplace law is unsettled. you can't be fired for using

cigarettes or alcohol, but brandon coates has been fired or using legal medical marijuana. as the colorado business continues its move from the legal shadows to the right of day, the new industrialists can only hope the laws governing them can move with it. >> attorney-general eric holder says the u.s. treasury will open banks services to state-sanctioned pot dealers. >> president obama is shaking hands with big business leaders to help the long-termed unemployed to find jobs. some of the top ceos are agreeing to hiring policies and shouldn't discriminate against people out of work, and nor should the government. >> we engaged employers of all sizes to commit to a set of inclusive hiring policies, for making sure recruiting practices don't disadvantage folks that have been out of work to

establish an out of door policy to qualify all applicants. it's only right that the federal government lead by example. >> he announced that the labour department help the workers develop skills they need. >> paying homage to a nominee. a former congresses woman gets the stamp of approval.

>> an apparent hoax days before the super bowl. several letters filled with white powder turned up at hotels near the new jersey stadium where the sunday super bowl will be played. the powder was not toxic or dangerous. one turned out to be baking powder, another korn starch. form new york major rudy julie

arny received one. >> the denver broncos are 40 hours away from the game. >> all the preparations for super bowl 48 are for the host part down. both the seattle seahawks and the den very broncos will have walk throughs. both teams move the workouts indoor on friday. the seahawks practised indoors all week in the giants' facility. seattle went through 77 plays, accompanied by loud hip hop muk, one of the things the players said this week they love about a pete carol practice. the coaches love that - the coach, pete carol loves it. his players are healthy, including dynamic receiver percy harmon, scheduled to play for

the third time this season. the broncos practised inside, spending much of the week practicing outdoors getting use to the gold. like seattle they have a healthy roster. only one has missed practice time and is doubtful with a calf injury. much has been made about this being the first cold weather super bowl. if forecasts for sunday are correct. it may be the coldest super bowl ever played, it will not be, that belongs to super bowl six in new orleans, where the kick-off temperatures was 39 degrees. the national weather service forecast the kick-off of 40 degrees with low winds and a 30% chance of rain or snow. the weather is so not an issue that roger, the n.f.l. commissioner was in a mood to

joke about it. >> a focus for the super bowl is on the weather. we cannot control the weather. [ clapping ] >> i told you we were going to embrace the weather. here we go. we appreciate the magnificent job done by new york and new jersey. the forecast, despite what you see behind me is terrific, is football ready, and just to confirm, we will kick off at 6:30. >> by the way, both teams will have their families present during the walk throughs in met life stadium. in the secretive world of n.f.l. it's an indication that the intense game planning has already been done. >> saturday marks the beginning of black history month and come monday anyone with $0.49 can by a shirley chisolm postage stamp.

she's being honoured by the postal stamp. in 1968 she became the first black woman elected to congress. thank you for watching. i'm morgan radford. the "the stream" is coming up next. >> hi, i'm lisa fletcher and you're in "the stream." ever send an annoying email, forget to return a library book - you have committed a crime. are these rules going too far? >> digital producer is with us,