that third question, finding that person no one spoken to yet... >> you can't tell the stories of the people if you don't get their voices out there, and al jazeera america is doing just that. good afternoon to you, and welcome to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford live in new york city. a busy news day up ahead. coming up in this half hour, the frantic search for survivors is underway after a deadly mudslide in washington state. plus, a barge with 800,000 gallons of oil crashes right off the texas gulf coast. and a syrian jet shot down by the turkish military claiming it violated their air space.

topping our news, rescue crews are hoping to find survivors still trapped underneath debris. that's in snohomish county in northwest washington state, where a massive mudslide on saturday morning killed at least three people. a news conference with washington emergency officials starts in a few minutes, and we'll go live. first we have the latest. >> while at least eight others were taken to area hospitals including a 6-month-old infant listed in critical condition. it happened saturday morning just 30 miles north of seattle. rescue workers say they heard voices crying for help from beneath the debris. i spoke to the county sheriff's office. they say more than 100 crews of emergency responders are searching for possible survivors. they're using thermal imaging cameras to try to find people.

this all after a mountain of mudflowed into a nearby river blocking water from flowing downstream. the landslide was 135 feet wide and 180 feet deep. one eyewitness described the horrific scene. >> it was coming down the hill. i just saw the darkness like somebody wants to grab you from it. everything was gone. like in three seconds. to miles from here that way, it's pretty much everything is gone. >> saturday's weather was sunny and clear, but authorities believe that the wet winter season and groundwater saturation from a week of heavy rains is to blame. concern grows all along the river, which is completely blocked by debris in the area of the slide. the state's governor has issued a state of emergency, and there are fears that the dam could break. residents downstream, of course, at this point are told to

evacuate. rescue workers are expected to hold a news conference shortly where we hope to get more information on the search and rescue. we'll be in touch with them, morgan. >> in fact, let's take a listen to that news conference. it just started a moment ago. let's take a listen. >> so that we can get responders on the ground safely and continue looking for people. i'd like to go to this map that we have here on the wall here. this is about a square mile area. this area is on sr-530 and basically we have darrington up this way and otho this way. this hillside came down and blocked the river, and all this mud came down and took out these homes. all the homes in the steelhead drive neighborhood and the east steelhead drive nabl along with homes on sr-530.

state route 530 is totalably blocked with a big wall of mud and debris. we have to going all the way around. we've got a couple different operations going on here today. we've got emergency medical service units and operations managers that are on both sides of the slide. we'll be utilizing aviation assets to fly in here to see if we can't locate anybody that may be visible to us that we can get to. i'd like to now open it up to any questions that you may have. >> you just saw a live news conference where they said state route 530 is blocked and there are ems units involved and we will continue to monitor the situation as it unfolds and bring you the latest.

as always, follow us at twitter @ajam or our website at aljazeera.com for the latest updates. we have more on the mudslides. what exactly can we expect for that area? >> well, i'll tell you now it's a mostly cloudy day. we have some clouds working into the area and may bring rain tomorrow. let's look at the last 24 hours really, what happened during the time that the landslide actually occurred. there were mostly cloudy overcast skies, a little bit of rain did push across the area. i-5 is here. everett, which is 31 miles just to the north of otho close to the area where it occurred recorded 5.64 inches of rain early in the month. we don't attribute to what happened yesterday to the heavy rain that occurred, because the fact is that they saw the rain earlier on in the month. 261% above average for this time of the year, as a matter of fact. there are multiple reasons why landslides occur. groundwater pressure, erosion

and also earthquakes contribute to that. a heavy rain did occur earlier in month, and that could have something to do with these landslides. we definitely want to monitor the situation and continue to watch the investigation unfold. back to you, morgan. >> thanks so much. in texas crews are trying to contain an oil spill after an oil barge carrying nearly 1 million gallons of crude collided with another ship. the crash happened near the coast of galveston, and we have the details. >> reporter: >> we did send a couple of people to the hospital as a precautionary measure. the couple folks on the barge, it was a significant spill. we have close to 168,000 gallons that could have entered the water from the hull that was breached. so the barge was carrying a significant amount, but the part that was damaged to that, 168,000 was possible to have come out. we're not sure exactly how much has come out.

we're responding as if all has. the folks on board obviously inhaled quite a few fumes, but we wanted to get them checked out. we have no reports of any injuries. we're hitting it with everything we have got. fortunately, houston is one of the best places in the world as far as response equipment and capability, and we have great coordination and great relationships with all the folks here. so we have federal, state and local agencies and organizations all hitting this thing hard. we have containment boom around the barge itself about 600 feet there just to contain any oil that continues to seep out. right now we're checking the barge and looking at the operation to remove the product. we have crews out there pumping the oil on there off of the barges so we can take that barge in to get it fixed and check it out, you know, and survey the damage and also find out if there's still remaining oil in that hull that was built. that hull that was breached, we're not sure how much oil is

remaining in there. there may be a considerable amount. we may check it out to see what we have. >> for more let's spec to our correspondent in dallas for us. brandon, can you tell us exactly what happened? >> reporter: we know that you have this large barge carrying close to a million gallons of fuel, and it collided with another ship. this happened about 12:30, and ever since then crews -- you heard it mentioned. you have state, federal and even nonprofits that are all pitching in to basically with containment and making -- trying to put forth efforts to get the oil from out of the area. there's a specific bird species that's really common there. crews are also keeping an eye on them to make sure they don't find their way in harm's way, more or less. we're headed to a route there to the area. you're talking about the houston canal, which is basically 50

miles between houston and the gulf of mexico. that's the area that they're talking about. part of it is closed off to traffic as crews, again, work to basically get the fuel out of that area. >> okay. but, brandon, is there any health concerns we should be aware of? what about this hydrogen sulfide people are worried about to threaten the area now? >>. >> reporter: there really is not much of a threat, but again, crews are working trying to assess the damage. at the same time, others are working to contain the fuel and get it out of the area. >> okay. brandon truttling live from dallas. thank you. now we want to move to the crisis in ukraine where there's a warning from nato saying there are so many russian troops on the eastern ukrainian border they're a threat to moldova, which is on the opposite side of ukraine. the ukrainian security chief accuses putin of trying to take over the entire country, claims that russia denies. meanwhile, it's moving missiles

and has taken over most of the ukrainian military bases inside of crimea. let's go to phil who joins us live from kiev's independence square. phil, there's a lot of speculating as to what russia is up to. what can ukraine and the western allies do at this point? >> reporter: well, when it comes to crimea, morgan, not an awful lot. that's a done deal with those boots on the ground and the law now passed and signed by vladimir putin bringing the peninsula into the russian federation. this concern that is being expressed today about the troops that are massing, the russian troops massing or have massed along the ukrainian border being a real threat to the rest of the country, to mainland ukraine is really sending some alarm bells around the continent. we have heard a number of high-ranking officials on the political and on the military side saying that this

constitutes a significant threat. that if russia comes across the border, they could sweep down through the eastern part of the consent into the south along the coastal region and link up with an area called transnestra where russia has a military base and a population that expressed an sp in following crimea's example and rejoining with the russian federation. moscow says they have no intention of doing that, but the government here in kiev says the situation is significant and serious enough that it is edging them closer to war day by day. there's also concern being expressed here that even if the russian troops don't come across the border, there are agent pro provacateurs inside with communities pro--western or pro

hiech russian and they say that constitutes a real threat to the integrity of the country. a lot of anxiety here in kiev tonight. morgan. >> phil, beyond these military bases and these military moves, what other steps is putin taking now to align crimea with russia? >> reporter: well, he has, of course, signed the law that brings it into the russian federation proper. we are hearing there are a number of steps that are being taken to actually make those citizens in crimea legitimate russian citizens by giving them things like passports. we know that there are lining at passport offices on the crimean peninsula. we are hearing about planning to adopt the russian currency and to phase out the ukrainian currency. there are moves, very clear moves, morgan, to actually draw the peninsula now to just be basical another russian state.

one of the many states that could make up the federation. so there's clearly a feeling coming from moscow, the peninsula is a done deal. but the feel is, as i say, here in ukraine especially in the mainland, that it may not stop there, and that crimea may just be one phase in a larger plan that vladimir putin has to take back much of this country into a larger sphere of influence. morgan. >> all the way from that to the russian ruble. phil, thanks for being with us again this afternoon. in the eastern ukrainian city of damisk more than 5,000 people mark marched on saturday saying janning yanukovych is our president. when the crowd started pushing and shoving, riot police quickly

clamped down. >> translator: i think that everybody should be done in a peaful and legitimate way, because yanukovych is the legitimate president. he could somehow help and assist. that's why today for the fist time in the month we call not only for help from putin and russia but ask for hem from yanukovych. we hope and rely on him. >> yanukovych hasn't spoken publicly since russia's annexation of crimea. russian separatists say they want to hold their own election to decide whether to split from the ukraine. we'll bring you the latest on developments in ukraine throughout the afternoon. you can get up to the minute information on our website at aljazeera.com. president obama leaves for europe tonight for a long-planned four-country tour. the president will attend a nuclear summit in the netherlands on monday, and he'll called for a g-7 meeting on the sideline of the summit. he's expected to ask countries to step up their sanctions against moscow.

meanwhile, crews in australia wrapped up a few day of search operations for the missing malaysian airliner. eight planed scoured the ocean on sunday. several satellite images including new ones this morning from france show objects that are floating right there in the water. an impending tropical cyclone, however, does threaten to interrupt the search efforts this week. more on the mudslide in washington state coming up in just a few moments, and a new twist in syria's civil war. a jet plane shot down by turkey's military.

we're monitoring the live news conference in arlington, washington on that fatal mudslide that killed three people. first, let's go to turkey where the armed forces shot down a syrian jet on sunday after it crossed into turkish air space. it was in a border region of

syria and turkey where they have battled the government forces. turkey's prime minister says the jet was gunned down after violating his country's air space, and then he went on to war of a heavy response if that air space was violated again. omar is at an election rally in istanbul. omar, turkish prime minister erdogan gave a clear and hard warning to syria, and it's no coincidence that the prime minister is addressing an election rally where he'll not to, of course, send a message to potential voters that he's acting decisively. what is happening so far at that election rally? >> reporter: well, he's been speaking now behind me. this is the second rally addressing the crowds in istanbul. earlier in the day at a place just outside of istanbul he made that stark warning to searee. he said we shot town your plane.

if you do it again, the slap will be harder. another state came from the defense minister saying that erdog erdogan should discuss the will and determination of the turkish people. at this time the prime minister is greeting them all about the incident he's talking about local politics and calling on the supporters to go and get numbers for his ruling party. >> that's omar in istanbul. thank you so much for joining us. the plane was reportedly taken down in an area where syrian and government forces have been fighting for control of a border crossing. hundreds of thousands have fled syria to turkey to escape the three-year uprising against president assad. more than 100,000 people have been killed since the conflict began, and according to u.n. figures 6.5 million syrians have been displaced by the civil war.

2.5 million are registered as refugees. back to washington state where rescue workers are still frantically searching for survivors following the huge mudslide in washington state. they describe the magnitude of that disaster. >> it reminded me of the photographs you would see and the video that we saw when mount st. hem lens erupped trees lays over on their side and massive mud debris. >> we have chari with us who is the sdrektor of communications at the snohomish county sheriff's office. what's the latest on the search and rescue mission so far? >> for this morning at first light we resumed search from the air, which is really one of the only ways to get into the area due to the large debris field and water backing up from the river that was blocked by that landslide yesterday.

so we have probably over 20 agencies responding to that area, and probably at least 100 rescuers on the fwround. >> is there any concern so far that this area is not stable enough forrest could you workers to continue their mission? >> that was a concern and continues to be. that landslide came down across a fairly large river, which runs down for like the cascades mountains. that water has been pooling up and seeping into the landslide since that occurred yesterday, and so it makes the ground swhap like quicksand and filled with debris of trees and structures. so it's a very treacherous situation for our rescuers. so we're just taking it one step at a time and rescuing as many as we can. >> have you received calls from family members that believe their loved ones are trapped underneath all the mud? >> right now we know of at least

18 people who were still unaccounted for. we were able to rescue eight people yesterday, and we are confirming that twe still have three fatalities from the slide. >> all right. thank you so much for joining us on the phone right now. coming up, a style once popular in the 1960s goes on display. a trip to the velveteria up next. >> the brief warm-up is history. i'll tell you about the injection of arctic air right after the break. stay with al jazeera.

welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford. here are the hetd lines. a rescue mission is underway in northwest washington state following a massive landslide where crews say they heard cries for help coming from beneath the debris. the mudslide killed at least three people. cleanup is under way in galveston, texas after an oil barge collided with yet another ship. the bar barge was carrying almo1

million gallons of oil. around 160,000 gallons could have leaked into the ocean. meanwhile, crews in australia wrapped up a full day of search operations for that missing malaysia airliner. eight plane scoured the ocean on sunday covering moefrn 10,000 nautical miles. several news satellite images came from france showing objects floating right there in the water. it may never rival the louve but there's a unique museum in los angeles that is one of a kind. rob reynolds visited the collection of art. >> if creepy, crying clowns are the stuff your nightmares are made of, this museum might not be for you. >> welcome to velveteria. velvet paintings are at the center of art. >> it's the only museum dedicated to paintings on black

velvet. here's a glow in the dark satan and menacing richard nixon and velvety depictions of jesus ga leer. they have amassed 3,000 paintings on velvet. >>s this this is the art of the people. it's democratizing. it's not intimidating. >> that's not to say that nothing here is sacred. >> this is the hall of elvis. elvis never leaves the building, and this is our elvis tiki that we found. so elvis is the -- one of the greatest figures ever, the king of rock 'n roll and the king of velvet paintings. >> then there are the clowns. >> we're in the black light room. clowns are always part of velvet paintings, and the clowns are

always crying and sad. >> reporter: finding velvet art isn't easy. >> they're never in pristine condition. they're in the back of a closet somewhere or in a shed, and they have covered with cat hair and who knows what. >> reporter: museum co-owner karen anderson says this stuff has a rock bottom seven sincerity lapping in the hipster art culture. >> crying clowns and big-eyed kids and nudes, they're kind of cheesy, but i'll tell you, when they come in here they can't stop looking. maybe it's like a train wreck or something. people come in, and they're like, oh. >> it's open four days a week in l.a.'s chinatown, and the clowns are waiting for you. rob reynolds, al jazeera, los angeles. well, the clowns are waiting

for you and so is the cold air. it is on the way out of canada, and i tell you one thing, it will feel chillier across portions of the northeast than yesterday. we'll deal with the southeast currently right now. we look at heavy rain pushing across the i-10 corridor just to the east of mobile, alabama. that will continue to track towards the east along i-10. heavy rain on the way, some of these cells yesterday produced just a little bit of hail. small hail, but enough to take out a windshield so be careful if your car is parked outside. that cold air will continue to push in out of canada over the next couple of days. midwest feels it today, and then after that we're going to feel it on the east coast as we track towards tomorrow, and we could deal with a winter storm. look at the temperatures as kro the southeast. atlanta reaching a high of 58 degrees tomorrow. today they reached a high of -- they're going to reach a high of 63. yesterday they were in the 70s. so temperatures are definitely plummeting. 18-degree difference here right now over the last 24 hours.

back towards the northeast where currently temperatures are 40 degrees in new york city, 32 up in albany and portland at 35 after a little bit of snow yesterday. we'll continue to do so temperatures climb just a couple of degrees here through the day in albany they will fall, and new york city will climb to a high of 44. look at the temperatures across the nation. in minneapolis only at 22 today. typically at this time of year they're in the 50s. so it feels a lot more like january than it does in the middle, end of march. that cold air is marching towards chicago and right towards the i-95 corridor from new york city down towards washington, d.c. a couple degrees warmer across the southwest for your sunday. los angeles climbing to a high of 70, but unfortunately no wet weather on the way. it stays dry in southern california. clear up the west coast along i-5 towards seattle where today they climb to a high of 56. back to you, morgan. >> thanks so much.

thank you for watching al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford. more for you throughout the day on the fatal mudslide in washington state that killed three people. first, ""the stream"" is coming up. you're in "the stream." one of america's largest college fraternities is ending it's practice of hazing recruits. the fraternity was reportedly with the most reported hazing deaths. and others are following suit. the decades long practice.