>> it's digging deeper it's asking that second, 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. >> >> this is al jazeera america. i'm jonathan betz, live in new york. >> several dead in a mud slide, many missing. >> a large oil spill in the gulf coast. two ships collide near bird sanctuaries. >> protests and tensions in ukraine. n.a.t.o. fears another country could be at risk. >> president obama heads to europe for a summit - we take an

indepth look in "the week ahead". >> total devastation - that's how the governor of washington describes the scope of a mud slide. the death toll has risen to four. 18 are missing. the frantic search to find the victims is in full force. conditions were too dangerous for rescuers to rescue. firefighters have gone into the debris and found someone dead. it hit north western washington. allen schauffler is there. what is the latest? >> it's not unusual in this part of the country, at this time of year to have massive mudslides like this, especially in the foothills of the north cascades. what is unusual is the human

cost east of i-5, in oso in washington. four dead. 18 more missing. take a look at the latest video. news crews were allowed in. it was complete devastation. half a mile of a state highway alongside the river, north fork, inundated. and in the mud and the trees mixed in you see the remains of houses. there's reports of as many as 30 different structures wipeded out. a dramatic scope, devastation. the governor called it that as he flew over it with other officials. we see these things, but not like this, with this sort of effect. people in the area trying to come to grips with it all today. >> it's been rough for the community. a lot of lives lost.

it's tough. >> it's been surreal. the tragedy is unthinkable. the community, as stated before many times, comes together. friend helps friend and family helps family, and even people you don't know. >> people had put up a stand saying "if you want to help out give cash, goods, whatever. come here, we'll find a way to get it to people in need." there was a stream of cars coming in. someone drove around a pick-up truck and a van. it was loaded up to take it upstream to the people in the community center. upstream and downstream people are working toot to make a horrible situation a little less bad. >> so many are missing tonight. update the rescue efforts. are crews making progress

getting into the debris field? >> well, we understand they've been able to get in late this afternoon. we don't note the extent to which they've been able to survey the debris field. we are talking about a square mile or so, and it's not stuff like the sandbag, it's soupy, it's quick sandy. we hear reports of people sinking up to their chest in that material. it's dangerous. it's soupy, there's a river coming out of the mountains, so it's socked, moving around and dangerous. >> at this point we don't know the full extent to which they've been able to survey the scope. they did find one person dead this afternoon. concerns a flooding from the mud slide. how much concern is there downstream? > downstream they are a little less worried. there's a flood watch in effect.

they are telling everyone downstream of the squamish river to keep an eye on the river, be aware of where they are, and not remain in the floodplain if they don't have to. if the debris breaks loose, they expect it to be a gradual, rather than an instant and dramatic expulsion. people should have time to get to safety. up stream the water is rising. there has been a lot of evacuations east upriver of where the slide hit. >> allen schauffler reporting live from royal washington state. >> the governor, james insly gave us an overview of how the search is going. >> it's very complicated because the ground is - if you can call it ground, is unstable. it's difficult to move within the slide area. i flew over about 45 minutes

ago. there are personnel around the periphery of the slide. there are helicopters looking for survivors. there are helicopters scouring the area at low level that have good visual. there was a person visible. that's not so much an issue. the scope of the slide is monumental. i have never seen anything like it, and you have to recognise that mother nature got a very dangerous thought here. the river now is floating through the debris, which is good news that appears to have reduced a kata staffic relief from what was previously a dam. it's good news, but you want people to be on heightened

awareness. still, given the circumstances. >> later in the show we'll look at how more storms headed ta washington could impact search rescue effort. >> the houston shipp canal, one of the busiest in the nation is closed after an oil spill. crews have been working around the clock to clean up the sticky oil that leaked when a barge collided with a ship. the bass for containment effort, brandon - how is the clean-up going? >> well, let me tell you, it's around the clock. you have hundreds of people behind me. we are half a mile or so away. again, they've been working around the clock. there's an uphill task on their hands so you're talking 168,000 gallons of fuel. now, it started around 1:30 eastern yesterday. we had a large barge and a ship

basically collided. there you have the leak that started. now, the houston channel, the ship channel, was about 50 mools between houston and the gulf of mexico. there's a good amount of territory that they are working with. in the gallons, they are working with 90 feet of boom. which is used to guide the possibling et cetera of oil so -- pockets of oil so the skimming vessels can scoop it up. the traffic - because of fear, traffic had to be cut off because it would cause the oil pockets to spread. you have state, federal and non-profits working together as part of the clean-up. there's also some concern

amongst environmentalists and others, because the area is a popular bird habitat. people are monitoring is to make sure or do anything they can to keep the many birds in the area out of harm's way. >> okay. live from the texas coast. thank you. >> we move to ukraine where thousands of demonstrators took over streets in odessa. that's the sworn part of the country. many called for russia to seize the region, as it did with crimea. last week the peps voted to breakaway and -- peninsula voted to breakaway and join with russia. >> 3,000 people were in independence square, and the defence minister told them that the whole world supports ukraine. >> they are worried about russian troops on the border. they are sizeable and ready.

this comes as american lawmakers visit and call for help. >> all day in kiev there has been concern about a massing of russian troops along the awe cranian border. the government believes the russians have grander designs than the crimean peninsula. there has been a statement from the deputy foreign minister that say they believe day by day this is getting closer to an open conflict. it's escalating, not subsiding. there's a u.s. delegation in town, a bipartisan group of senator that met with the ukrainian government, and following that meeting they had a press conference. strong language was used, including someone from the new hampshire senator, and a member of armed services. when he returns to washington, she'll carry is a message that

the united states should beef up the support. we can prouffed military assistance, not only humanitarian, but assistance involving small arms, basic fuel, issues that we need uniform issues. things that the ukrainian military will need as it rebuilds the damage that was done by president viktor yanukovych. >> this comes an a day where the four-star general has been making statements about what n.a.t.o. is seeing. and n.a.t.o. believes that the size and scale and readiness of the russian army is so significant, that if it wanted to, it could role through mainland ukraine, out to the boarder, where there's a russian

base in a proethnic russian community there in transnestor. it will most likely be met by russian authorities as hawkish and a dangerous language. the russians don't have intentions of coming into mainland ukraine. crimea is, as far as they want to the go, but here in kiev, the government is convinced because of agent prove okay tours that are hout in the east of the country stirring up tensions to provide a pretext for an envision, the ukrainians believe they have to get their army ready, that they are looking at more crisis and not at deescalation of the situation. >> there are fears russia may try to annex more parts of russia, they say the international community needs to

threaten vladimir putin. >> the kremlin started the strings to be pulled. once you start the nationalistic movement, it gets out of control. >> i'm not saying that the ukrainians scream russia, russia, russia. i'm not saying it is ready to bite off half of ukraine. by now, effectively they decided creme lines' decision to get out of international organizations. that's what basically happened. in some ways the diplomatic posturing is if we believe russia is part of the international community, it's shown it is willing to be part of the international community on its own terms. you can't be that, you have to uphold to some laws. putin showed he's willing not to be part of it.

he partly was drunk on success in sochi. the olympics went well. he feels he did it all. he shows the power. he's overestimated was a regular. he's no longer the regular politician that the world has been looking for until now. >> he needs to be threatened. what he has done, whatever he said he would do, he did. he's laughing at the sanctions. >> if you talk about military build up on n.a.t.o. part. do the build up. he's a bully, and that's the only thing to take the bully out - bully him back. >> he may be turning into a leader of the rogue state. >> russia has been put in a difficult position. >> the young cadets of the naval academy show their loyalty to ukraine.

military drills are held under the ukrainian flag. this is not a regular parade ground. it's the military high school and academy grounds. they have not altered their routine, including the ukrainian anthem. [ singing ] >> inside the school nothing has been removed. it says "glory to ukraine." these are no ordinary times. there's room for compassion. there are choices to make, and fast - join the russians and stay, or remain with ukrainian force and leave crimea. >> this man has been with the crimean navy four years ago, when he was 15. >> we are not going to the russian side. we are with ukraine. not everybody, but half of us still are going to ukraine and

want to serve. a wrenching choice - most of the cadets staying are from crimea. if he moves to yukraine, the russians may not let him come back. >> i want to come back to my parents, but if they won't let me, that's my destiny. >> a big price to pay. >> a big price to pay, but what can i do. i'm military person. i should go this way. >> he's worried there won't be a navy for him to serve in. the russians have taken it. >> we can't serve in our ships. >> the ships of our company. they can't do this. >> they have. taking the final vessel saturday night. ukraine's only submarine captured has been moved between russian subs. the two navies used to work together. at the academy there's optimism.

>> translation: we hope we can stay as before. and work together. >> the gate bears the ukrainian emblem and this says it's the academy of the ukrainian fleet. the cadets know that soon that will change. >> they pose for voters by the gate, before this becomes russian too. >> they expect the commander to be replaced, perhaps tomorrow. for now they are without ships. not much of a ukrainian navy to serve here. futures uncertain. >> a promise the united states made to ukraine 20 years ago is now being tested. it would protect ukraine after it gave up its nuclear weapons. president obama will discuss it with world leaders at a summit in europe. mike viqueira has more. >> with russia and the united states at odds over ukraine, efforts to rid the world of

stockpiles could be in danger. >> it's a troubling situation. we still have deep interest, national interests in working with russia to make sure nuclear material is secure. there are warning signs. cooperation has broken down at the working level because the ukraine crisis. a program that guided effort to secure nuclear materials has expired. as the standoff escalates russian officials threaten to halt. >> past summits have yielded results. >> it is because of the first summit in 2010 ukraine made a commitment to remove the remaining material. and it is because of u.s. and russian cooperation that that happened. >> at this summit no ukraine, and no russia.

its president vladimir putin is taking a pass. >> in the wake of the soviet union's collapse, the world was awatch with loose nukes. 52 countries possessed nuclear materials. that number is down to 25. russia and the u.s. worked together reducing stockpiles. ukraine was left with 1900 weapons. in 1994 they agreed to send them to russia in exchange for a pledge from russia, united states and others to honour the borders. sips the russian invasion of crimea, officials made it clear. they expected more from the west to defend their country. a concern - other nuclear states are watching. it's a question of trust. >> russia, united states and britain pledged to respect ukraine's sovereignty and tert interest and help to protect it

if it was threatened, and that's obviously been breached. >> the united states has its own challenges. a commitment to a safer tomorrow. >> a facility in south carolina was designed to get rid of weapons grave plutonium. work has been halted and that send a wrong message. >> they want to make sure russia does not get a symbol that they should be stopping on their side. they have a similar commitment >> since the last summit two years ago, seven countries god rid of most or all of their nuclear weapons. >> the first lady numbered sight seeing in china. michelle obama and her daughters visited the great wall. the focus has been cultural rather than split cam, with

visits to landparks in three major cities. it's the first time a u.s. president's wife travelled to china on her own. >> still to come - a new crew and what they'll focus on for missing flight mh370. >> the clock is ticking for uninsured americans to get health coverage. for some, it's still out of reach.

>> another day of intensive searching for any sign of flight mh370 ended in disappointment. crews you are back on the water. it's monday down under. randall pinkston follows the latest developments and has more from washington. >> it's difficult to know how significant the latest sighting by the satellite is until some kind of debris is found, retrieved and matched to flight mh370. what is promising is we have all three of those satellites

finding debris roughly in the same area. as planes return from the same search plane, it was announced that potential objects of interests were described by the french. they were transferred to australian officials, australia being in charge of the search in the southern indian ocean. it has been three weeks since the plane disappeared with no sign of it yet. one republican official is blaming malaysia. >> we are invited in a little bit. across the board people are looking for more in the way of openness from the malaysian government in terms of sharing the information in a timely matter. >> he is a member of the homeland security committee. he's a different perspective for the obama administration

advisor. >> you have countries working together in ways they haven't before - not just the malaysians, but the chinese, australians, united states, canada, new zealand, working toot. >> eight planes flue in the search on sunday. there would have been more if weather was better. randall pinkston in washington. there are only a few days left for everyone to have health insurance. for some, the promise of affordable health care is just that. >> poring over bills is worrisome for melinda anderson. she earns $600 a week and struggles. >> i think how am i going to pay them, how many hours i need to work. and is going to get paid this

month. >> diagnosed with endomeetriosis her treatment is expensive. she doesn't have health insurance, missing the deadline to get a group policy. i need insurance so i can proceed with having the tumours removed. with the march 31st deadline looming she went to an enrolment center. >> you went into the marketplace. >> the best coach was nearly $300 a month. >> for a single parent like myself, with the expenses i have, it's not affordable. >> she earns too much to qualify for a cheaper policy. >> i'm stuck. >> for others, the uninsured poor, the health department is urging them to sign up. >> we had a citizen tell us insurance may be $25 to $50. >> for all the problems that

many experienced trying to get health insurance, some say after years of being denied, they cap afford it. wade, who is unemployed, got a policy for $100 a month. it's a saving grace for his daughter. >> i have a 5-year-old. i have to get her in it. me in the job status i'm in now, we have to have it, for her. >> we'd love everyone who is eligible to take advantage of the opportunity, and if you don't, there's a period of time you will not have access. >> after march 31st, there won't be access until next fam. >> i wonder how i pay the bills and get medicine. >> until she has a better option, melinda will have to rely on an emergency room for

care. >> still ahead - world leaders, including president obama meet to discussion stopping the spread of nuclear weapons. we go in depth in our "the week ahead" segment next.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. here are the top stories this half hour. four are confirmed dead in a mud slide in washington state. 18 others though are unaccounted for. the number is expected to rise. recent heavy rains are believed to have triggered the disaster. >> n.a.t.o.'s top commando in europe say russian troops may be getting ready to move into ukraine and deeper into europe. russia denies the claims. >> it will be a topic at a summit. president obama will talk about the promise to protect ukraine

since it agreed to get rid of nuclear weapons two decades ago. now to "the week ahead". 53 countries focussing on how to reduce the stockpile of phuoc leer weapons. >> thanking all of you for your participation. >> since the first nuclear summit hosted by president obama in washington d.c. in 2010, 13 countries have given up nuclear material. 25 countries have enough enriched uranium to make nuclear weapons. >> the problem is that material exists in nuclear weapons and states. many states used highly enriched ukrainium. >> the issue is how to prevent the material falling into hands.

>> you have one subcritical piece of enriched ukrainian. another subcritical piece at the other end of the cylinder and conventional explosives. you detonate the explosives shooting the uranium down the cylinder into the other piece. if something like this wept off in washington d.c. or new york you'd look at hundreds of thousands of casualties, a lot of economic destruction, radiation poisoning. it would make september 11th look minor. >> some countries, the focus of proliferation, are not invited to the summit. >> then there's israel, which maintained a policy of nuclear ambiguity, partly because of pressure. the u.s. was concerned if israel announced a program, but it

would lead to an arm's race. if the iranians have a program, rival countries like turkey, saudi arabia, and egypt will have their own. >> nuclear powers fought three conventional wars. their status makes the stakes in any future war higher. in 1999 the crisis between the neighbours brought the world closer to a nuclear war than the 1962 cuban missile crisis. tensions still exist. >> the countries are next to each other. things could escalate quickly. they don't have the same protocols and history. north korea conducted three nuclear tests, raising temperatures with neighbouring south korea. >> we are a dead fisherman away from a small incident ta could

escalate. in which case you could have a big war or the use of nuclear weapons. >> nuclear powers are either expanding, upgrading or modernizing and the global throat will likely grow in the coming years. >> leaders struggled to contain nuclear weapons since they were invented. it was a concern for john f. kennedy 50 years ago. >> every man, woman and child lives under a nuclear sword of damocles hanging by the slenderest of threat, capable of being cut by accident or miscalculation or madness. the weapons of war must be abolished before they abolish us. >> eight countries have nuclear weapons. there are fears that terrorists could get a bomb. that'll be the focus this week.

>> events in ukraine put them at center stage. they once had nuclear weapons. some ask if ukraine would be better off if it had the capability. robert rooerdon, did a project at kennedy's school. let's talk about president kennedy's words. are they relevant from 50 years ago. >> very relevant. this is something that we have been concerned about for a long time. we forget that. this is something that gained momentum, in particular after 9/11. the united states, from the beginning of the nuclear age has been concerned to not just other countries, but territory matters. >> no country has indicated that it's willing to use it.

>> i think when you talk about nuclear terrorism, the issue is it's a low probability event with high consequences. thing of how we handle aviation. a plane crash is rare, but we make sure we take a number of steps to prevent it happening. if it were to, it would have grave consequences. when you talk about something like nuclear terrorism, the consequences are beyond anything that we have experienced in decades. >> when you look at nuclear terrorism, how realistic is it for the idea that a small group of people could somehow get or build a bomb? >> i think that we have a misconception. when we look at countries that develop nuclear weapons. it took years, billions of clashes, and we think how could

something like al qaeda, or a terrorist organization do something like that. if you look at the manhattan project, where the united states developed a nuclear bombs, almost all of the work we did was getting the material. the become itself was easy, rely difl speaking. >> -- relatively speaking. we didn't need to test the design before using an iranian bomb. if a terrorist organization were to get the material, that's something they do do. they couldn't make it. if they got the material, it would be easier for them to make a weapon than it would be to do a program. >> how easy would it be for a terrorist to get material. >> that'st there's a tremendous amount of material from around the world. including highly enriched material. some is stormed in places

without armed guards. >> say that. >> don't even have armed guards. >> what countries have this? where? >> you know, there is htu in lightly guarded places in the united states. there's research reactors operating in heu. >> a lot of people forget - there's a difference between a country that has a nuclear bomb and a country with enough nuclear material to make a bomb. the numbers are different. >> yes. the vast majority of the children and the weapons - they are in a couple of countries. the united states and russia have the majority of the world. you have material used in programs around the world that could be used to make a weapon. and you have it stored in some cases in a single site, enough material. in other words, if you raided the one site.

if terrorists got their hands on material in the one building, it would be enough to build the weapon. >> let's talk about the countries with a nuclear weapon. there are several. close to nine. israel has a nuclear weapon, but has not admitted to having one. a lot of countries signed a nonproliferation treaty. on a country with nuclear weapons, it's striking. there are many countries with the material to make a bomb, but haven't made a weapon. is there a concern that more countries will join the lift and try to build a weapon. >> this is the issue for iran. >> we'll talk about iran in a minute. >> i don't think there are countries at there with the aim to have a nuclear weapon. we are talking about intent.

a lot of the things that a country like iran is doing, we are concerned about, because we don't trust them. other kunt ris have plenty of material. we don't worry about that. we figure the good guys are on our side. they are trusts worthy. >> is that responsible. >> from our. it makes sense we'd worry about concern. it's hypocritical. this is a pager point of contention with countries around the world. >> the concern is "listen, germany may have nuclear material and terror efforts could steal it from germany than pakistan." >> that's right, or the united states. there was an incident where protesters made it into a facility at oakridge.

>> when we talk about the summit and look an at countries with few nuclear weapons, is the summit relevant. >> i think it is relevant. one of things we need to worry about is improving security culture and conditions at places all around the world where the material is secured. uranium is what it's likely to be used by a terrorist to make a weapon, and it remains in poorly guarded or places, with insufficient security around the world. we need to come up with a better way of coordinating the way we approach security on something that can be used to catastrophic ends. >> let's talk about iran. there has been talks between west and iran. there was a letter that 83

members of congress wrote to president obama saying: >> that's critical, because the concern that iran has had is listen, we only want nuclear material to have nuclear power plants, peaceful uses. and congress is saying "you don't deserve is it at all.". do you worry about politics and getting iran to scale back its program? >> this is my biggest concern, this is the most likely source of failure. >> is congress stepping in.

>> domestic politics is constraining. and domestic politics in iran is constraining. it's keeping the sides so far apart in their positions. i cannot say how we'll bridge the gap in the time available. >> you don't think they'll reach a deal despite the movement that iran offered. >> both sides are motivated to get a deal. that is what we are seeing. that's horses for courses. i'm not saying the underlying positions of the two sides get closer together or seeing a route to a sustainable deal. i hope that i'll be proven wrong. >> a lot of people are hoping um be wrong. >> thank you for your time tonight, robert riordan. >> before wrapping up the segment.

here or some more events: >> rebecca has weather next. >> coming up, i'll show you how we have water changing conditions - where the mud slide occurred in western washington. i show you why the concern will go away. >> how a 2-time gold medal lift is doing it on the ice. that story ahead in

appear >> into turkey shot down a fighter jet. it came down along the border. turkey's prime minister congratulated them. the pilot said he was op a mission well within syrian borders when the fire hit him. >> syria has been fighting for control of the border crossing. millions have been impacted by the civil war. 100,000 have been killed since it began. three al jazeera journalists have been held for 85 days in egypt will appear in court. mohamed fadel fahmy, peter greste, and mohammed badr were arrested in december for reporting on mohamed morsi's removal. they were accused of spreading false news and belonging to a

terrorist group. al jazeera denies the charges and calls for their staff's release. >> four men and four women have been named as members of a pan they will that pope francis is putting together. the commission is seen by some as a step forward. >> pope francis is making a model to the whole world. society needs the good example of the church in this area. that's what people have a right to expect. >> the commission will advise the vatican on how to protect children and keep abusers out of the clergy. it's not clear if they'll handle the abuse and cover ups. >> rebecca here with storms on the west. particularly for searchers trying to find the people trapped in the mud slide. >> the good news is weather will

cooperate and we'll have a dry day. today dry, tomorrow dry but then a storm tracking in. >> this particular area is north-north-east of the seattle area, it's up into the cascade foothills. they are watching as water is channelling around the mud block. it's evening itself out from where the flooding is upstream of the block, and where the water is trickling down to where it used to be. this video is of the mud slide blocking off both directions of the highway, westpacing out 6-8 houses. they are doing searches for people. it's an amazing picture. if you see on the internet where that large hill just released all the dirt, mud, trees, rocks - that's what came down -

and locating this, that's where this went into, the squamish river, creating a warning along the river, downstream, if it pours out, would impact places like arlington. we are telling people to be careful and not go near the river's edge. as we talk about the rain fall, the mountains increasing the rainfall compared to the seattle area. it is protected by the olympic mountains, sitting to the west of it. as the rain moves in over land, lower near sea level, it hits the cascade mountains that go up by 4,000 to 5,000 feet. when it lifts that high, that fast, it brings in heavier rain to the foothills and the rivers. when we talk about seattle have

five inches of rainfall, we know we had more than that. we'll have more details on what rain will move through, coming up. >> still not encouraging. >> from weather to sport. jessica is here with an inspiring story. >> professional men and women, the gender gap is changing. meet the woman making it happen on the ice. >> what makes is a good goalie. >> mentally strong. >> able to bounce back. >> the cotton mouths introduced a player, a history-picking moment as a crowd of 4,000 fans watched shannon become the first woman in the southern professional hockey league. >> it's special. i've been here a couple of days, but something i was looking forward to and you dream of awes

a kid. >> i have been in the game for a while and seen a lot of things. i was proud that it happened with my team. >> it's not the first time she played with the men - she always has. the edmonton native was the first to play in the league and in college at northern alberta institute of technology. >> what is different playing the men versus the women mented imented it's a different game. the guys are bigger, stronger smarter, and i think the girls play a lit the smarter >> she was part of a team that won the medal in 2010 and 2014. her former team-mate was instrumental. >> i wanted her here, because i want to win. i'm the captain of the team.

my goal is to win a championship. >> his philosophy - if you can't beat them, join them. >> she played against me in junior. here team beat me. we scored two goals on her in four games. >> as soon as kyle came here, he was telling me how awesome i was. >> i would be lying if i said i wouldn't get publicity, it would help to put people in the building. talking with kyle and the guys that play, she's legit. >> i have another friend at home that played with her in junior in alberta. she won goalie of the year, which is impressive. then you see her on tv. she's like a celebrity, it's kind of cool. >> that's for an autograph. >> no, a picture. >> the biggest challenge is just

the reception into the league. she's a pecial player. at the end of the day, she's a hockey player. >> what's the ultimate goal? >> play the highest level possible. that's what you dream of. my first progame was a step towards that. enjoy every moment and work at it. >> she has a great resume. >> maybe we'll see her in the n.h.l. >> it may not rival the louvre, but there's a museum in los angeles that's one of a kind. >> if creepy cries clowns are the stup your nightmares are made of, this may not be for you. >> welcome to the museum of paintings, at the center of art. >> it's the only museum dedicated to paintings on black velvet. here is a glow in the dark sate jip, a velvety richard nixon and

more. >> 3 nouz paintings have been amanufactured. >> this is the art of the people. democratizing - it's not intimidating. >> nothing here is sacred. >> this is the hall of elvis. elvis never leaves the building. this is our elvis tisi that we found. elvis is one of the greatest figures ever, the king of rock'n'roll. >> then there are the clowns. we are in the black light room, the piece deresistance of the museum. clowns have been a part of velvet painting and they are all crying and sad. >> finding velvet art is never easy. >> they are piled around a bunch of junk in the back of a closet,

in a shed. they are covered with cat hair and who knows what. >> museum co-oper karen anderson says it has a rock-bottom sincerity that is lacking. >> crying clown, big-eyed kids. voluptuous nudes. they are cheesy, when they come in they can't stop looking. people come in and are like "oh." >> it's open four days a week in l.a.'s choun , and the clowns are waiting for you. >> after a while it grows on you, that's our show. see you at 11:00 p.m. eastern.

>> you're watching al jazeera america. i'm jonathan betz in new york with the top stories. 18 people are still missing after a mud slide in washington statement. it swallowed dozens of homes, killing four.

emergency crews are using helicopters to look for survivors. the ground search had to be called off because the terrain is dangerous. i spoke to washington's governor about the resist cue effort. >> the area is unstable. it's difficult to move in it. i don't know the number of tonnes, but it's an incredible sight, how much land has moved over the slide. >> crews are working around the clock to clean up a spill. traces of oil are lining up on shower. >> 158,000 gallons of fuel may have leaked when a barge and ship collided. >> n.a.t.o.'s top commander said russian troops could be getting ready to move into ukraine and deeper into europe. russia denies the claim. >> turkey shot down a plane.

the military was cop gratulated. >> those are the headlines - al jazeera america presents "toughest place to be a firefighter", starts now. >> neil fairhall is leaving his west sussex, england station to fight fires in the amazon. >> you don't get that down my high street, driving to a call. >> he'll be joining a small and dedicated team, battling massive fires that threaten the rainforest... >> it's absolutely brutal. >> and training the local warriors to fight fire. >> i've seen nothing like this be i