featuring the same characters was published 55 years later in july of last year. she died in alabama just a few miles from where she grew up. aljazeera.com for a great deal more on all of the world's news. aljazeera.com. remembering a supreme court justice, antonin scalia lies in repose at the highest court in the land. new attacks, american aircraft strike isil posts in libya. the final push, the g.o.p. storms south carolina while the democrats try their luck in nevada and a driving danger, the tens of thousands of failing bridges across the country. ♪

this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm richelle carey. and it is a somber day at the supreme court. the cat ket of justice scalia is now in the court's great hall. live pictures for you here. the public is allowed in today to pay their respects. and this morning justice scalia's fellow justices joined his family for a private ceremony, lead by justice scalia's son, father paul scalia. libby casey tell us more about the ceremony. >> reporter: it was brief this morning, but an opportunity for justice scalia's fellow supreme court justices as well as two retired members of the court to pay some respects to have a moment of community and also of course for antonin scalia's family to gather as well. we also saw on hand, clerks and

people who work in the court. this intimate court family. now the public is allowed in. so we see lines. they started early this morning. the public looking for the opportunity to go by and pay their respects to the casket as well as view a portrait of justice scalia. the cassette is sitting on the same pedestal that the body of abraham lincoln once sat on. and the funeral is here in washington tomorrow, richelle. >> and the president is not attending that funeral, libby. why is that? what is the custom when it comes to something like this. >> reporter: white house officials said it was best to pay their respects to go today. tomorrow vice president joe biden will be there, representing the administration. the white house says the vice president had a relationship with justice scalia, and his

family, and he has a lighter security footprint, so there won't be quite as much interference with the catholic servings. but there has been criticism of president obama for opting not to go tomorrow tomorrow. only four just advertises have died sitting on the bench in the last 65 years, and presidents have made a range of choices about whether or not to attend funerals or not. so this isn't a breach of protocol by any means, it's a personal decision. one of those critical of president obama is ted cruz, senator from texas and pattal candidate himsz. he will be leaving the trail in south carolina tomorrow to come to the funeral here in washington, d.c. but that's not entirely a surprise. he was a clerk for the supreme court, and also the attorney general of texas, so he has had a lot of dealing with the court in the past. and even though today and tomorrow is an opportunity to look back on the life of antonin scalia, and all he did in the

past 30 years as a supreme court justice to mold the laws of the nation, this is still a political moment, richelle. >> libby thing you. conservatives are pushing to block president obama's potential nominee with tv ads. >> you choose the next president. the next president chooses the next justice. >> these ads were created by the conservative group judicial crisis network. they are spending more than a million dollars to run these ads on line in key swing states. on the election front, senator ted cruz is facing a legal battle over whether he is qualified to be president. a chicago judge will hear arguments today on whether the republican hopeful is a natural-born citizen, and if he should be disqualified for the party's nomination. right now cruz is in south

carolina hoping to rake in votes in tomorrow's primary. cruz is gaining on the front runner, donald trump ahead of that primary. a wall street journal poll shows trump with 28%. down from 36% last month. three of the g.o.p. candidates took part in a cnn townhall meeting last night. trump was asked about the pope's comments yesterday, apparently questioning his christianity. here is what they had to say. >> i think he said something much softer than was originally reported by the media. i think he heard one side of the story, which was probably by the mexican government. he didn't see the tremendous strain that the border is causing us. >> i don't question people's christianity.

i think that's a relationship they with have with their lord and savior and themselves. he knows what his faith is, and he has -- if he has a relationship with the lord, fantastic. if he doesn't, it's none of my business. >> we have a right to build a wall, but we need bridges between us if we're going to fix the problems in washington, because all they do is have walls. the vatican has issued a statement clarifying the comments made by the pope regarding trump's policies. it says the comment about trump being unchristian, wasn't a personal attack, but rather a message that migrants should be helped rather than shut off behind walls. as for the democrats there are conflicting result theres the latest national polls. a new nbc wall street journal survey shows bernie sanders with 42%. but a fox news national poll shows an even closer race with

sanders slightly ahead of clinton for the first time. clinton and sanders both took questions thursday night at a townhall in las vegas. >> maybe it's that senator sanders wasn't really a democrat until he decided to run for president. he doesn't even know what the last two democratic presidents did. [ cheers and applause ] [ booing ] >> it's true. it's true. you know it's true. >> if anybody thinks that a member of the united states senate or the united states house has to agree with somebody in his own party who is president, well, you know, all of the time, that is not my understanding of the democracy. >> the latest polls in nevada show the two in a statistic call tie. the pentagon says it is investigating the results of air strikes that hit libya this morning. two american aircraft carried out the attack on an isil training camp. the pentagon says the strikes likely killed their target, a

senior isil member. jamie mcintyre has the details. >> reporter: pentagon sources say that two u.s. air force f-15s flying out of england conducted the strike in the early-morning hours, the target was a tunisian national who the pentagon says was a key isil facilitator facilitating attacks against targets in neighboring tunisia from the base in libya. the pentagon said the f-15s destroyed this training camp, killing dozens of people, including the intended target, whom the pentagon says was responsible for a number of attacks in tunisia, including one last march, a year ago, when a museum was attacked and then another later in the summer at a

seaside resort in which dozens of people were killed. the pentagon says this shows the u.s. us retains the ability to strike against isil wherever it sees a target of opportunity. for months u.s. planes have been conducting surveillance over libya to look for potential ilz targets as well as social forces on the ground gathering intelligence. this comes as there's a debate about whether the pebt gone should be expanding its bombing campaign against isil from just iraq and syria and into libya as well. president obama indicated this week that he is not in favor of a wider campaign, but he did say the u.s. would continue to conduct these kinds of targeted strikes against high-value targets. meanwhile the u.s. is hoping that a fledgling unity government will come together in libya, providing a framework to unite fighters in libya to take on isil, but until that point, the u.s. feels it doesn't have a

partner on the ground that can go against isil, so it is limited to these sorts of high-value, high-profile strikes. well, president obama has signed off on an expanded sanctions for north korea over its nuclear program. this is weeks after they launched a long-range rocket. sanctions attempt to cut off money getting to the country and freezes assetsover anyone connected to the nuclear program or human rights abuses. david cameron is holding talks today with european union members about changes to keep britain in the block. no country has ever voted to leave the european union before. britain is the second largest economy in that block after germany. 50,000 u.s. bridges are in

desperate need of repair. up next the possible solution that is falling billions of dollars short. and another u.s. city is facing a lawsuit related to the safety of its water.

the city of chicago is facing a class action lawsuit over possible lead contamination in the water. the suit filed on thursday, claims the city knowingly did construction work that disturbed the city's aging water pipes. it claims the brittle pipes can

leach lead into the water when disturbed. this morning officials in california say a methane leak that forced hundreds of people from their homes has finally been sealed. southern california gas says it will do all it can to fix the damage caused by that leak. but as jennifer london reports, that process could take years. >> reporter: it's the long-awaited news of thousands of families have been waiting to hear. >> we have good news. the division of oil and gas has confirmed that the leak in the storage field, is permanently sealed. >> reporter: for nearly four months methane has been fouling the air above the neighborhood. two schools were shut down, residents say the stench made them sick. >> reporter: this is for my older boy, and this is the medicine he is taking for

migraines. this is my younger son's inhaler, because he has been having asthma attacks. >> gas emissions are controlled, and air quality has returned to typical levels. >> reporter: now comes the job of moving families back home. under an agreement, thoselying in hotels will have a week to return home. residents who moved into rental housing can stay until their lease ends. for these people who were forced to move 30 minutes away has taken its toll. >> it's very difficult when your three year old turns to you and says mommy i want to go home. it's hard. >> reporter: four lawsuits have been filed against the company for the disaster, including waiting three days before reporting the leak.

and the company is also facing dozens of lawsuits by residents. >> shut it all down! >> reporter: they want the entire storage facility shuttered for good. >> i will not be happy until that entire facility is shut down and those wells are either moved to some other place where it's not around a community like anybody should ever be subjected to this. >> reporter: the leak is being called the worst environmental disaster since the bp oil spill. after visiting the site tuesday, u.s. energy secretary earnest moniz said new preventative regulations are needed. >> we really have to push on what the president put into his climate action plan in 2013, looking at and reducing dramatically methane leaks across the entire system. >> reporter: as investigators work to figure out what caused the blowout, lawmakers are calling for 24-7 monitoring of

the site. one well has been capped but there are 114 more potentially dangerous wells in the neighborhood. a new warning today over the safety of america's bridges. an industry association says many have major structural problems and are in need of repair, and those repairs are not coming fast enough. as john henry smith reports some of america's most famous structures are on that list. >> reporter: the iconic brooklyn bridge and other famous spans like missouri's popular state bridge, and the arlington memorial bridge in washington, d.c. are among the 250 most travelled in the united states, and they are just three of nearly 59,000 american bridges that an industry group says are structurally deficient. the american road and transportation builders' association analyzed government data and found nearly 10% of american bridges are structurally defish ebt. lined up, they would stretch

more than 1300 miles, roughly the distance between miami and new york city. those bridges aren't necessarily unsafe right now, but could become dangerous if deteriorating parts aren't fixed soon. >> the whole bridge fell down. >> reporter: the i-35w bridge in minneapolis was deemed structurally inefficient 17 years before it collapsed. 13 people died when that bridge came down during rush hour in 2007. the collapse injured 155. last july al jazeera's adam may asked an engineer why so many bridges are in such bad shape. >> like many categories of infrastructure, we have tended to take these things for granted. perhaps we think they are going to last forever, we can defer maintenance a little bit, but the highway trust fund -- there's a federal

highway trust fund that supports bridges and transit systems. >> reporter: president obama reauthorized an 18.4 cent gas tax to pay into that fund. but the fund is billions short of the money for the repairs. at the rate repairs are going, the report says it would take 21 years to fix or replace all of america's decaying bridges. john henry smith, al jazeera. the ntsb is investigating a helicopter crash that has left a teenage boy in critical condition. the crash was caught on camera. this is a tourist that caught this. four other people were on board. two are okay. the status of the other two, non-known. once that helicopter crashed, bystanders jumped into the water to help pull the passenger's out.

pulitzer prize winning author harper lee has died. she is best known for her awarding-winning novel "to kill a mocking bird." the film adaptation was also a huge success. in 2007 she was awarded the presidential medal of freedom. she released a surprise sequel just last year. she was 89 years old. up next on al jazeera america, washington is now stepping in as apple refuses to help the fbi unlock the san bernardino shooter's iphone.

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live picture right now inside the supreme court. members of the public are being allowed into the great hall to view the casket of justice antonin scalia. politicians including president obama and first lady mitchell are also respected to come through today. a funeral will be held tomorrow in washington, d.c. new developments in this the investigation into the san bernardino shootings. fbi agents on thursday spent several hours at their house in california. he is a decorated navy veteran and the brother the shooter. it's not clear what they were looking for. an anti virus creator says

he will break the encryption on the iphone longing to farook. apple says the ruling is an overreach and it will not comply. and washington is also responding. the chairman of the senate intelligence committee, plans to introduce a bill for criminal charges for companies that will not comply with unscrambling encryption software. the fcc has signed off on the first steps towards cuts fees in cable bills. it approved a plan that allows subscribers to choose where they rent or buy their cable boxes. that means customers could get a

box and services from alternative providers like apple, google, or tivo. >> the issue is whether you are forced to rent that box every month after month after month, or whether you are forced to rent that app every month after month after month. congress was clear. they said there should be competition. >> reporter: a constructional study found subscribers pay an average of $231 a year to rent cable boxes that gives the industry some $20 billion annually. supporters say the plan would reduce costs for customers. >> costs are high, innovation is slow, and competition is too limited. >> reporter: but two of the commissioners, both republicans voted no. >> it doubles down on the necessity of having a box, substituting one intrusive regulatory regime for another. it would introduce an entirely new set of boxes into consumers

homes. >> reporter: he previously suggested getting rid of the boxes all together. cable and content companies have formed an alliance to fight the position. several tv execs say: the proposal comes as more consumers are doing away with cable and cutting the chord. more than 80% of u.s. homes pay for brood bard internet. and more than half of those homes subscribe to streaming service. sir richard branson will unveil the new virgin galactic spaceship today. >> when we -- when we had the accident, you know, for about 24 hours, we were wondering, you

know, whether it was worth continuing, whether we should call it a day, and it was blatantly obvious to us that everybody wanted us to continue, and that space is too important not to continue with. >> the new craft will have a two-person crew and can take up to six passengers on a high-speed flight to the fringes of space. >> reporter: you might never have considered taking in the view from the cloud nine observatory on venus, traveling to jupiter, on board a balloon, or exploring the possibility of life under the ice of its moon. nasa hopes these new travel posters will get us thinking about talking about the idea of taking a trip into space. a number of private companies have been working on the first step. virgin galactic's new modified spaceship two craft replaces an

earlier model that broke apart and killed a pilot in 2014. virgin proms a ride that will take them beyond the boundary of space. once there, they will get a few minutes of weightlessness. u.s. company [ inaudible ] is also selling tickets for flights on board its space plane. it has made advances on engine technology. another company blue origin recently tested its rocket technology in texas. ♪ >> another con tender is world view. it's developing balloon trips which will take passengers 26 kilometers above the earthed. but it fight be the cost of the ticket that holds you back. while one businessman paid about $20 million for his stay in space in 2001, virgin's tickets are quartering for a quarter of

a million each, excore is charging $150,000, and world view's balloon ride costs $75,000. there is plenty of testing to be done by all of these companies, so you might also want to hold off until the technology has actually been proven before you book your next holiday in space. >> that's probably good advice. while the posters are fan taste call, there is also some truth to them. for example, this is a kept lar 186-f. it features red foliage, because nasa things its cool red star might give any planet a red huge. a dallas based auction house says a comic book hold for $450,000. the 1962 copy features the first appearance by spiderman. the previous owner bought it in 1980 for $1,200. thank you for watching.

i'm richelle carey in new york. let's go to london now for more news. ♪ >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ welcome along. this is the news hour, live from london, with me david foster. let's take a look at some of the stories we're covering in detail. the u.s. bombs isil targets in western libya, killing as many as 40 people. [ explosion ] russia calls a u.n. security council meeting says it is worried that turkey could launch a ground invasion of syria. the day after a policeman killed a taxi driver bringing angry protes across egypt. the president