this is al jazeera america, i'm richelle carey sh in new york with a look at the top stories. >> translation: this is a new spiral in russia's dissent into a fash. >> safe. >> questions follow the murder of one of vladimir putin's harshest critics gunned down on the streets of mouse coe. -- moscow. >> they burn women and children in their homes. why are they not helping us.

>> the winner of the c.p.a.c. 2015 straw paul is rand paul. >> conservatives in the united states choose the candidate they'd like to see run for president. and a deeper look at the conflict of the war in vietnam from the vietnamese and american veterans. russian opposition leaders are condemning what they say is a politically motivated murder of one of vladimir putin's critics. boris nemtsov was gunned down last night hours after calling for a protest against the kremlin. politicians say his death signs the light on russia's stuff stance on dissent. >> i would say this is not only a blow to the opposition, but the whole speedy. if political views are punished

in this way, there's no future. >> the deputy prime minister he was under boris yeltsin. years later he was a thorn in the side of vladimir putin. >> reporter: boris nemtsov received death threats before but he brushed them aside saying if he was afraid he wouldn't be leading the opposition party. friday even he was killed near the kremlin, shot four times from a passing car. >> he was big handsome bright and talented. the kind they kill. we needed them very much. >> translation: this is a new spiral in russia's does sent. the master mind of the crime is obvious, a political murder of a bright politician. >> he was killed two days before he was supposed to lead an opposition march. now there's anger within the movement and some call his death

an assassination. this was a man once considered to be a potential successor to former president boris yet sin. instead, he chose a little known spy chief called vladimir putin, and his future became one of opposition. but the opposition he fought hard for had found it harder and harder to make itself heard in an increasing patriotic anti-western russia. >> president vladimir putin offered his condolences and called the murder a provocation. he ordered a full investigation into boris nemtsov's death. those that knew the opposition leader say the government did nothing to protect him when he received threats. before he died boris nemtsov was working on a report that he believed proved russia was involved in the separatist rebellion in eastern ukraine, and criticized the government's inefficiency and corruption. the opposition wants a march

planned for monday to be a rally for someone they saw as someone who held the government accountable. >> a makeshift memorial to boris nemtsov appeared quickly. photos from flanked by flowers and candles were arranged at independence square. president vladimir putin calling him a russian pait -- president petro porashenko calling him a russian patriot and trend to ukraine. earlier an interview with michael eaves. >> i'm not sure if it was a vladimir putin-ordered murder. it was some one that vladimir putin probably would have liked killed like to see their position weakened. now we'll see what happens tomorrow when the opposition goes to the streets to remember boris nemtsov, and they'll see how many will come. now there's a fear that each and every one will be called even

if it's not the order of the president, the security forces russian pro-rebels. and others sick of the anti-rebel procranian anti-rebel argument. and therefore we are going to take him out. i think that is the knew era of russia when it is completely lawless, and it's the endless lawless beens. >> so many world leaders are calling for a fair thorough investigation, but vladimir putin and behind the investigation. if that's the case how impartial will it be. >> that is clever. vladimir putin is saying that he was a fan of boris nemtsov, even if he disagreed with him, he was a respected politician. vladimir putin says he's going to oversee the investigation. it's an interesting and clever way of saying we'll find somebody, but you would never prove that that somebody is indeed, behind the murder but

we are going to give all the western leaders whatever they want we will continue to follow the investigation into the murder of boris nemtsov the fate of 250 syrian christians abducted by i.s.i.l. is unknown. christians in beirut many in exile from syria and iraq are speaking out about threats to the minority community in the region. zeina khodr has more. >> reporter: some of these peep are refugees from -- people are refugees from iraq others syria. the arrest are lebanese host. all are syrian christians gathering in front of the office to speak in one voice. the message was clear. the minority believes the future is threatened. >> this is a conspiracy to prove the people in this region that they are serious. terrorists are taking our land. we'll fight back until our last

blood. we will not surrender. >> reporter: there is a heighteneded sense of concern after hundreds of syrian families were displaced in fighting in the nearby syria province of haas abbingy, and more than 200 -- hasaki. more and more than 200 were captured. some escaped. >> there was a massacre. they came to the village at night. they burnt people in the homes. they took women and children. why is not the world helping us. >> there's a feel of helplessness, anger and defiance. >> the syrian christian community says it's time to take up arms and it is asking the world for weapons. >> do the christians deserve to be protected, yes or no. it's clear for the christians to know the united states does defend them. and we as a christian want to

hold the arms with the lebanese army, the iraqi army the syrian and egyptian army. >> people fear the worst is yet to come. hundreds of thousands of christians fled from this region over the years. christians few the displacement of an episode of persecution. thousands of christians weres forced to flee mosul after it was -- christians were forced it flee mosul after it was captured. many had to flee. it's similar in syria. christians say they will no longer be forced out of their areas, they'll fight back. they want the international community to help them do that three members believed to be members of al qaeda were killed in yemen in a suspected drone strike. the nationalities of the men

have not been established. they attacked all in the arabian peninsula, which continued despite the stalemate. the 2015 conservative political action committee straw poll results are in. they are announced this afternoon at the c.p.a.c. conference in maryland. senator rand pal took first place for 26%, and second place was kot walker 21. ted cruz third. dr ben carson with 11% rounding out the top fivement florida governor -- top five. >> florida governor was next on tuesday, israeli prime minister binyamin netanyahu will be the second foreign leader history to address the u.s.

congress on three occasions. the first was winston churchill. a growing number of members plan to skip the speech. stephen hawking -- kimberley halkett reports. the conference is to promote u.s.-israel relationship one that is strained. recently because this man. john boehner, the top republican in the house of representatives invited israel's prime minister to address the u.s. congress without knowledge of the white house. >> the american people and both parties have stood with israel. >> the threats john boehner and other hard-line lawmakers face is a deal negotiated by six world powers with iran over its nuclear programme. the members of congress support the campaign, iran is working

towards a nuclear programme. binyamin netanyahu's speech will urge congress to improves tough sanctions. 30 members of congress say they'll boycott the season and that it undermines efforts. others resent an attempt to dictate foreign policy to iran. at the same time ignoring questions about israeli policies towards the palestinians. those that take issues with settlement expansion in violationful international law -- violation of international law and last summer have, until now, remained quiet. now a rare rift over israeli policies is exposed in congress and among the 6 million juice that live in the united states. >> what i see is that the bloc who says support for israel support for whoever the government is is shrinking. we are at the beginning of a

transition. i think what binyamin netanyahu is going to do on tuesday is rub salt in the wound. >> another jewish organization has taken out a full-page add in the newspaper, arguing that wading into partisan politics will harm the u.s. relationship. >> it's damage that may be surfacing. u.s. president will not address c.p.a.c. unless senior members of the obama administration attends. traditionally it's the vice president who presides. on tuesday, joe biden will be conspicuously absent joining us tomorrow night, we'll have an indepth discussion on binyamin netanyahu's speech to congress and the political divide it is causing in the week ahead tomorrow. >> an overnight storm in texas and oklahoma brought the area to a stand still.

2 inches of snow fell in dallas enough to stall traffic and cause accidents and crashes on the icy roads. 1,000 flight out of dallas had to be cancelled. the storm turned a one hour flight from dallas into oklahoma into a 10 hour ordeal. for those aboard american airlines flight 381. they had to deice the plane. there was a take off. american airlines quick to point out the passengers from not on the tarmac for more than three hours. the limit set forth in the passenger bill of ice. ice and snow are to blame for the collapse of this roof. the hockey team inside escaped injuries, the fire chief said had it happened two hours later, more than 200 people would have been inside. rebecca stevenson is here with more on weather. weather has been the story for much of the winter it's been a cold winter. >> six weeks that the north-east

has gotten slammed. chicago got their all of time - i shouldn't say all time. for february you are number three. boston has come in with the snowiest feb, and is challenging as we get the next storm moving through. likely could see their all of time seasonal snow fall broken. 5.6 inches. the boston area has a forecast of three to six numbers of to fall. just has to fall at the right measuring spot. here is the storm that brought the ice to texas, and now we have ice stretches across arkansas, over into not just - just to the north of kentucky. they look like they'll dodge a bullet. want to be careful. we are seeing the move across virgin, and peninsula, and new jersey will see ice accumulation as we get into tomorrow.

a tenth of an inch a quarter of an inch. we look at the suppose, you can see that that is impacting as far as north carolina and the northern part of south carolina. yes, this is a good storm. it will bring a few inches of snowfall from charlotte all the way up to richmond and washington d.c. it will development, it looks like anywhere between 7:00p.m. in 10:00 pm along the east coast. the snow fall highest accumulations around ohio into western peninsula, but even parts of manhattan. you'll get a couple of inches of snow and the wintry mix as we get into tomorrow night late four decades later there are consequences of the vietnam war for american vets and the vietnamese. next we look at the devastating affects of agent orange and the problem of unexploded bombs

after all this time on the landscape of vietnam next it's a type of wood used in construction of u.s. homes and it may be very dangerous - details ahead.

40 years ago the last american troops left a war-torn nation of vietnam leaving behind a contentious legacy that starred vietnam he is and north american. today we look at the lasting consequences. the magazine launches an investigation, black details the affects of agent orange and unexploded bombs and a vietnamese province devastated by war. we begin with a report on agent orange >> reporter: more than 350 years ago u.s. started a programme to spray agent orange across large parts of southern vietnam. the defoliation lasted a decade. the goal was to kill jungle vegetation so the u.s. troops

could move easily and deny coverage to vietnamese troops. many civilians were exposed to the chemical and mill jans sickened -- millions sickened. in 2012 the u.s. contractors began a 43 million effort to remove dioxins from one of the largest u.s. war-time bases at the denotwithstanding international airport. it's 49 acres of some of the most contaminated land in the world. comparatively little has been allocated for public health. the u.s. pledged 11.5 million to a programme to help vietnamese citizens with disabilities. it keeps the u.s. government off the hook by not linking it to agent orange. >> it took 20 years for congress to grand u.s. veterans compensation. over a million american veterans

have been paid out 18 billion since. the v.a. recognises 15 illnesses presumed to have been caused by exposure to agent orange and 18 birth detects in the children of female veterans. u.s. officials refused to recognise agent orange was the specific cause of the same diseases and birth defects in feet jam. >> -- in vietnam joining us now is new york based writer george black. his article for the nation magazine is the subject for a report hitting the news stands monday morning. thank you for coming in you have written a deeply researched peace for the nation about agent orange unexploded bombs, the effect on people in vietnam, but you use chuck as a vehicle to get there. tell me about him? >> he's an inspiring guy. he's one of a number of vets who went back after the war. i think with a sense that he went to vietnam as a loyal young

american grew up in georgia. came from a cove family everyone in the gamily went into the military. he was in military intelligence. he was part of on occupation that was passaging a lot of intelligence coming from the field, because the intelligence people were asked to report what washington would like the war to have been, rather than what it was. he was there in an offensive, the biggest outburst of violence nationwide in the whole war. he saw hit and run attacks by invite conk with a response that was completely disproportional. high-tech, heavy weaponry, aerial bombing, shelling artillery. >> you talk about the ratio of american deaths to the vietnamees. >> tragically 58-59,000 americans died there's never been a full accounting of how

many vietnamese died - 2 million, 3 million. the country was at war before the americans were there with the french. disproportionate which does not diminish the suffering or sacrifice that american troops made. >> of course not. let's introduce agent orange into the invitevietnam war, as you do. >> agent orange was introduced by a number of countries. it was a small manufacture scale thing, used to clear the perimeters, they cleared 100 metres around each side of the root. they found it was effective stripping away forests, exposing the enemy's hiding places and used agent orange and agent white, blue that were carcinogenic and they were used to destroy crops and forests. the thing escalated, 66 67. it rocketed up. what happened then was the

demand for production for the military was so great that the companies accelerated the manufacturing process. in the process of that they unintentionally introduced a lethal chemical dioxin. that is the problem. >> so at the height of the war i have numbers. between 196 is and 1971 u.s. war planes - 20 million poisonous chemicals were dumped. 60% was agent orange. 5 million people were exposed to the toxins. american and vooezar, and -- vietnamese, and how both were addressed is different. >> we are talking about 4.8 million being vooz civilians. -- vietnamese civilians. >> absolutely in addition to the 3 million americans. >> let's talk about how it came to be clear what the effect of agent orange were on people. >> the real scandal to me in

this whole story, as i reported it and talked to vietnamese families and officials and american vets that lived there is actually not that every single person with a birth defect was the victim of agent orange is we don't know no one paid for a study. it's almost worse. the entire process was so politicized and american reporters said, after many many years of fighting for justice, for the wave of diseases that swept through, even there there was not a serious medical study of the connections, it was a political process. in the end of the government had no alternative but to make a response to what the people had been through. on the vietnamese side there was never a desire to recognise the correction because it would have opened issues of liablility culpability, war crimes and so to prove the

connection, if you come down with a birth defect in vietnam, your parents may have been sprayed in the fields. no doctor can prove that's why you are sick. and it costs many millions to test for the quem call. they don't have the money, and america never put up the money. >> a little bit of money put forth is a drop in the bucket. >> it is at the humanitarian level. they are starting to clean up the hot spots, the air force bases used for the spraying particularly the one in the film. that cost is now up to about 84 million. most of that money, you have to remember is going to the american contractors who were cleaning it up. it's not staying in country. something else that you touch on in this wonderful piece - again, it's deeply researched and comes out monday is you talk about the unexploded bombs that litter

the landscape in vietnam. it's estimated that 40 thoz vietnamese -- 40,000 vietnamese have been killed and 65,000 others have been injured. talk about what the u.s. is doing about that. they seem to be more willing or eager to address that as opposed to agent orange. >> they are. the level of this is quite staggering. we went to a province where the american veteran works. every day teams go out and blow up unexploded bombs. three, four, five times a day. literally there's a hot line people call in. >> 50 years after the fact. >> absolutely, 50 years after the fighting began. 10% of bombs dropped in vietnam never exploded. the province is tiny barely the size of rhode island. more bombs from dropped on the province than in world war ii than the whole of germany.

giving you the scale. every day these things are blown up. grenades, shells rockets. all sorts of stuff. >> i'll bring someone else into the conversation. fred wilcox the author of two books on agent's orange. he's a veterans advocate. we appreciate your time. we are talking about the lingering effect of the war in vietnam, unexploded bombs, and agent orange and i know you are an advocate on behalf of veterans, can you tell me what it was like for veterans when they realised something was wrong with their health and connected the dots to what they thought was the cause. >> sure. these are guys that went to vietnam in great shape. some won several letters in high school. they were young, 18, 19 20. they were in perfect shape. they came back from vietnam and a few years later started to get ill. for example, one guys, ray clark, was urinating blood.

he went to the veteran's administration and told them he thought he had bladder cancer. they said "no, go home and bring in a sample", he did. they said "no, that's ketchup and water." i'm telling the story because it's typical of the young guise, what happened when they were -- young guys what happened when they were ill? they didn't understand it. when they got cancer tes tickular cancer and the veterans response was that they were malingerers, after money, psychotic, baby killers, the popular stereotype. >> on top of the fact that veterans were treated poorly. they had the symptoms you were talking about. go ahead. >> they were treated poorly because he this lost the war, and the united states does not lose wars. they were they hoped if they went to the veterans administration, the government they served might serve them.

that was untrue for men years. refuse to treat them and made their illnesses and sadness and depression worse than they might have been. >> what is the policy on agent orange? >> the official policy is the veterans administration had different ailments cancer and heart disease. that is presumptive. it means that they - veterans administration, the government is willing to compensate the veterans, but is not willing to say they were massively exposed to a toxic chemical called agent orange or blue or purple. and there's a direct correlation between the exposure and their illnesses. we have not done that. i doubt we will do that. if we do that we have to admit

we engaged in chemical war crimes. >> is that enough to give money, but not admit blame? >> what it would take to establish the direct responsibility as your other guest is saying is a study that would prove it and everyone in the united states government for 40 years as refused to carry out that kind of study. that is why his word presumptive it the point. the attitude is if you come back from vietnam, and you get a cancer, a disease, okay, we'll say it was agent orange. it's a political settlement of what is basically a scientific and, as said potentially a criminal project. but to expect i think, the u.s. government ever to stay yes, everyone is sick because of agent orange let alone the vietnamese, it opens up questions of liability for powerful corporations. >> in fact there was a report released last month that talked

about the effect of agent orange recently had on u.s. reservists. according to this more than 2,000 air force reservists were exposed to toxic chemicals in the u.s. over a 10 year period. the veterans came into contact with contaminated c-123 aircraft used to spray agent orange. after the war they were not cleaned thoroughly and as a result some servicemen got sick. for years, as mr black and wilcox were saying veterans have been lobbying for recognition. next week they hear from the department of veterans' affairs about benefits and compensation. we'll follow that. i want to go back to vietnam. what is it that the people in vietnam are asking for, and how big of a cap is that between what the u.s. is willing to do. >> it's a complicated question, i'll try to give you a simple answer. an extraordinary thing in

vietnam is an almost universal attitude of forgiveness for the war, which is hard to understand for a visitor, it's a reason american threats that go back find is a healing experience. >> many do go back. >> there are organised tours, they confront their demons. i heard of a vet, a member of the division, he was not present during the massacre. he culled up the courage -- summoned up the courage to go back. he wept bark and a survive -- went back, and a survivor came back and said we've forgiven you, you have to learn to experience yourself. these are extraordinary emotionally. in terms of what they want. there are sectors of the vietnamese government military veterans or those in the health

sector are asking for something they know they'll get an apology. >> others have been intent on building the relation to the u.s. they don't want to push this. they want to be part of the economic community, join the trade organization, and a thing that surprises people in vietnam, there was talk about losing the country to communism. it's a thriving market economy. you go to saigon or hoochy min city, it's full of mauls, luxury -- malls, luxury brands from the west. there's a let bygones be bygones approach. >> you have different a waufl job explaining what veterans have gone through. but i have you here do you see a difference in how vets are treated when they come home from the wars.

do you think the country is making progress? >> i don't think so not really. minor progress. to make the progress we have to admit what war does to human being. we don't want to do that. the united states not interested in telling people not through movies or books, but showing what happens to people that go off and fight in some land in some reason. what happens when they come home, the p.t.s.d. the confusion, ruined marriages, lives. we like to believe there's an anecdote. that you can get over a war. somehow you'll live to the age where you won't feel any more. that's not the case. i'd like to go back to something that george said about the vietnamese. we need to distinguish between the vietnamese government and people making money. in the year 2004, the vietnamese sued the chemical companies.

manufacturers of agent orange for war crimes not for something simply like we want a bit of money, we want an apology. but sued them for war crimes. the vietnamese people are forgiving, are kind are gentle. they still would like reparations, and deserve reppar eightses and i don't know if they'll -- repatriation and i don't know if they'll receive them. we need to distinguish between the suffering people in the countryside and the little hovels with the deformed children. and the people benefitting from denying, perhaps, or lessening the effect of the agent orange on the people. >> that is a wonderful point. we could talk about this for days actually it's that important. >> we could. >> fred and george thank you for joining us and the wonderful piece that george black wrote, the legacy of the vietnam war, you can read in the nation magazine.

>> thank you. >> coming up on al jazeera. putting india's new budget under the microscope while billions goes to infrastructure, health care is ignored.

venezuela's president said his government captured four americans accused of spying activities, the arrests were announced at a rally in carr abbing u and he called for restrictions on the number of diplomats allowed to work in the country as americans will have to pay for visas if they want to travel to venezuela. he accuses the u.s. working with opposition groups to overthrow the government. he upveiled a new budget. falling short of expectations of radical change. 290 million plan upgrades infrastructure and increases military spending and does not address the issues especially health care. health workers hoped for a 2% hike in spending. we have from new delhi on the

struggle of providing health care. >> reporter: for more than 20 years this person worked to connect people in her community to india's often confusing and complex public health care system. she says getting good medical treatment shouldn't be this hard. >> when we go to the hospital for help all the hospital do is give us prescriptions and tells us to buy medicine. no one checks us or asks us what is wrong. >> the community is home to some of india's poorest people lacking access to proper sanitation, food and shelter, and need to turn it the state-run health care system when they fall ill, a system on which the government spends 1% of g.d.p. >> if you want to do well by poor people we must enhance that by not providing necessary budgets. we are ensuring that there'll be

no expansion of the system no improvement of quality and poor people will continue not to access basic health care so far ass. budgets have long been a contentious issue. observers say often they are not able spend funds given because of challenges like bureaucracy. the result smaller health care budgets. >> some worry budget cuts will weaken india's health care system. people involved in encouraging the growth of the private medical sector say there's a need to refocus funds. >> one of india's well-known doctors says the government must purchase services from the private sector if it's to have a chance of providing health care to all indians. >> we should align all assets of health care services and providers on the ground, make

integrated services in the delivery to the last person standing on the ground. that is the villager in the village not getting help right now. >> that is what the public health care system is meant to do. those working to better it say that altering the budget may force india's poor into the hands of big business. joining us to discuss the expectations behind prime minister narendra modi's second budget is a senior programme associate for south and south-east asia at the woodrow wilson institute. we appreciate your time. the first budget did not dazzle economists. how about this one? >> well i think this one has been received more positively. the first one was seen as not really much of a budget at all. it was incomplete, and i thing that people had high expectations for the budget today, because it's the fes

opportunity for people to really know how prime minister narendra modi means to proceed with his plan to fix the economy. and that after all, when he won the election in a land fight last year he was given a huge mandate to fix the economic. that's what he said he would do on the campaign trail. until now there has been a lot of promises verbal assurances that things would be done. we had a quaza budget which didn't say anything, today he announced a lot of impressive things going from progrowth reforms to more pro-poor social we'll pair policies. i think he was... . >> let's break it down. you said a mouthful about what he's working on social programs and growth. how does the budget speak to growth? >> well there's several things that specifically were announced. one was an effort to cut taxes

for corporations. which is really meant to suggest that this government is really interested in getting the private sector on bored in getting the economy in shape. that was one thing. also there were various indications that this government really is interested in going to privatisation routes. now, that said many people think that the government should have gone further because it is a probusiness government. and the fact that there were social welfare reforms suggest the political need for a government regardless of how probusiness it is how important it is for a government to think about the need to focus on the social policies and the we'll surveyor policies. >> we are about out of time. but could you talk a little more about some of the social programs. i know that there's already a bunch of money allocated for

infrastructure and the rail roads. what about the average person? >> well i think one of the most important things we heard is that there'll be a fair amount of support to build up rural jobs programs. that is important. finally, there'll be a new social security system. now, you know for a g.s.t. that said it was going to break with the past government a social security system for the country, that is telling. that's all about social welfare. >> it's an undertaking for sure. >> we appreciate your insight michael, with the woodrow wilson center center. have a good night next a type of wood used in instruction appears to be an acceleratant. why is it popular, what could

make it safer?

a fire that destroyed an apartment complex in new jersey turned the focus on to lightweight wood construction, used in 60% of all new construction. it's cheaper, faster and perfectly legal to use it to build homes. there's concern the construction method left millions nationwide vulnerable to similar fires. >> reporter: fire roared through the apartment complex. >> it advanced into the hallways and ceilings. >> reporter: the flames lit up the night sky. >> it billowed and the roof blew off the place. >> reporter: the fire took more than 12 hours to control and drove more than 1,000 from their

homes, including this family. >> good girl. >> they couldn't put it out. i mean it took them so long. >> they couldn't put it out at all. >> they couldn't put it out at all. >> reporter: this is what is left of the apartment building that caught on fire in january. 240 units gone in a flash. since that night a lot of attention has been paid to and a lot of fingers pointed out what is inside the walls of this building, and others like it across the country. >> it's called lightweight wood and is a composite of smaller pieces of wood. chips pressed and glued together. lightweight wood the triangles are the trusses is used in homes throughout the country, including the avalon at edge water apartments. >> if it was made out of concrete and cinder block, we wouldn't have the apartment. this is a the problem you face.

the fire lieutenant battled the fire. >> light wait wood -- lightweight wood construction doesn't last long. >> reporter: how scared is the firefighting community of a fire in that structure? >> all are concerned. it's a matter of timing. >> reporter: tests showed that lightweight wood burns three times faster. >> it's been a problem for decades. glen is an associate professor of fire science at the college in new york. >> we talked to firefighters. their wary what of in particular? >> that, number one, that they won't be able to stop the fire and wary about the collapse potential, because they collapse, i've been to self where the floor collapse said on to the floor below. corbett said advantages are time and money. it's money saved in terms of material, and time saved in

terms of the amount of people required to put up a wood frame - large wood frame building like this. we bought engineered wood and some conventional wood at a lumber yard and brought the samples to justin mahalek, the president-elect of architects in new jersey. this is how we used to build in a lot of cases in residential construction and now the light weigh material we are seeing more and more today. good old mother earth. this is cut out of a log. as we see on the ends you see the rings. in this case the web is made up of a material made you have of oriented strand board. osb. which is basically compressed wood ships and done in oriented fashion, which is what gives it its strength. >> mahalek says lightweight wood is as strong as plywood. when it comes to fire because

it's solid and more dense than this material and the fact that there's no glue present in this it's going to burn b.a.f.t.a. >> and -- burn paster. that worries -- burn faster. >> it burns, and burns quick. if it gets going in the lightweight construction it will keep moving. >> reporter: avalon bay declined an interview saying in a statement: i think the solution going forward is a look at noncombustible instruction, but realising that wood is with us for a long time. a.p.a. the engineered wood association also declined an on-camera interview, and in a statement said the term light wait wood construction has been used and misused in recent

coverage. a large percentage of today's home construction uses a mix of structural wood building materials, including lumber lumber trusses, and engineered wood peoples. mahalek makes frequent use. >> for the new construction we are using the engineered wood. and i'd say 100%. time with the multifamily residential buildings, anything that is four storey and less you can pretty much believe that they are also built of lightweight wood instruction. again, within the last 10-15 years. >> reporter: is lightweight engineered wood safe for the public? >> it is safe if used in accordance with the code. i utilised engineered wood instruction when i renovated my hotel. >> not everyone is so confident. >> would you want to live in one of these? >> after that no. >> i'd prefer not to answer

that. >> i wouldn't. >> when we were looking for another apartment to move into it was between this place and another place. that was lightweight wood construction. and we chose this place. >> it gave us pause, definitely. >> it definitely gave us pause. >> reporter: a nersy law -- new jersey law-maker posed a bill to pause the development of lightweight wood in multifamily developments and as john reported a lou maker introduced a bill to impose a 2-year moratorium on using light-weight wood to build multifamily developments. >> 16 tonnes of marijuana, worth 19 million was seized from a mattress truck crossing the californian boarder on thursday. it happened at a border crossing at tijuana and san diego, the second largest since a bust in

2013 netting 17.5 tonnes of pot. still ahead on al jazeera america - long before its first launch the mars 1 dream of sending people to the red planet may be in

a consultant lead a spanish gang to create and sell their own - and the counterfeiters were arrested along with those that helped to sell fakes into galleries. all 271 works from seized and they were thought to trade in fake art since 2008. mars 1, the plan to send people to mars in 10 years may be in trouble long before the first launch of the the organization has a short list of candidates for a one-way trip to the red planet. it may not have the funding to get off the ground. >> it's the most audacious plan history. to make this inhospitable planet

a home for humans within 10 years. but that is exactly what mars 1, a private space exploration company intends to do. with all the glitz and glamor of a hollywood movie. tens of thousands applied for the mission, only 100 were short lifteded including this woman who volunteered to be the first earth mother. >> if we want to start a colony we'll have to reproduce or we'll die out. it's a huge adventure, i'm excited rather than scared. >> maggie and the others could be in for a long weight. critics say the proposed time line is unfeasible. >> in three years time mars 1 hopes to send a stationary

lander and communications satellite to the red planet followed by a rever in 2020, and cargo missions after that. and only a decade but 2025, it's hoped the first foreman crew will arrive and live in pods like these. all of this for a meagre $6 billion. >> it's unrealistic from every point of view from the experience of people organising it on the budget and time scale it's unrealistic. >> the crew will live in confined continues and need to support water, oxygen and food. mars one was hoping to gain sponsorship from endomoll. the makers of big brother, until they pulled out. spacex listed on the website,

providing rockets say no contract has been signed. the team behind mars 1 is optimistic. >> it's a misconception that mars 1 wants to finance through media. that's not the case. we'll finance from investments. it's not entertainment. it's inspiration. humans going to mars is the greatest storey of the 21st century. we need to share it with the world. >> the company say they have teamed up with the makers of the mission trailer to finance and document the project. as mars 1 races to meet ambitious goals, it's a mission they hope will be on your screens. >> car number 44 will not be seen in the n.a.s.c.a.r. race in atlanta because of this. thieves stealing it from a hotel parking lot. apparently there's not really a market for stock cars, because the thieves wound up abandoning it not far away. the car may be ready to race

next week in los angeles. >> thank you for joining us. i'm richelle carey in new york. i'll be back with another hour of news at 11:00 p.m. eastern. keep it here. just -- all i could do was just keep praying and keep praying that's all. >> a year since little relisha rudd vanished. what's been done to find her? >> we have exhausted a lot of resource he. we will continue to do so. >> what has been done to protect other