so i've followed the law and the public knows of my past relationship with duke energy company. ionship has not caused any special treatment to duke. and i'm the first governor to ever take legal action against duke on coal ash pods. >> on that last point, that his administration has never provided any special treatment to duke energy, it's not exactly as open and shut as the governor would suggest there. that very question, in fact, is now the subject of a federal investigation. last week, federal prosecutors in north carolina sent a subpoena to north carolina's environmental agency and to duke energy seeking documents and testimony from the state and the company about the coal ash spill. the u.s. attorney's office described that subpoena as part of, quote, an official criminal investigation of a suspected felony. that subpoena went out at the beginning of last week. this week we learned of more subpoenas which seemed to inquiry into governor mcrory's administration. federal prosecutors this week sent a subpoena seeking information about the state's regulation about every duke e

a spokesman for mccrory told us, duke energy is not receiving any special treatment.s administration took more action on coal ash during its first 75 days than any previous administration in north carolina history. mccrory has now called for a committee to look at what to do with coal ash in north carolina. and while his administration and duke energy both pledge a full cleanup of the spill environmentalists like general i edwards are frustrated. >> i saw ducks swimming in coal ash pleadly after the spill. i saw a bald eagle flying over a riverral coal arc, so that baldiris eagle is relying on fish in the river and the fish are relying on the macro invertebrates that are know suffocating and dieing or certainly bathe in a toxic bath. a criminal investigation is also underway. state environment the officials and leaders of duke energy have already been subpoenaed to appear before a grants jury next month, robert pray, al jazerra, eden, north carolina. >> coming up next on al jazerra america as the sochi winter games come to a close we'll take a look at how just they'll

a spokesman told us duke energy is not receiving any special treatment.stration took more action on coal ash during any administration in north carolina history. mccrory has called for a committee to look at what to do with coal ash in north carolina. while his administration and duke energy both pledge a full clean up of the spill, environment theists like general i edwards are frustrated. >> i saw ducks swimming in coal ashmeadely after the spill. i saw a balanced eagle flying over a river of dole ash. so that balanced eagle is relying on fish in the river for its sus at that nexts and the fish in the river are relying on the macro invertebrates or now either suffocating or dieing and certainly bayinging in a toxic bath. >> reporter: a criminal information is also under way. stateen and sraoeurpltal officials and leaders are duke energy have already been subpoenaed to appear next month. robert ray, eden north carolina. >>> ice jams are sending flood waters in to towns in eerie county, iowa, the overflowing river has flooded several times and it's an off

another plant owned by duke energy. very last day before that lawsuit could go forward, state regulators, again, stepped in and intervened. we have the right to step in here, we're the new plaintiffs here, you're off the case. this past june, the same environmental group sent another notice saying they intended to sue, again, over coal ash. allegedly contaminating a public fishing lake and local drinking water at a duke energy plant near wilmington, north carolina, and once again, just like before, state regulators stepped in on the very last day before the suit could go forward and said actually, you know what, we got this. we have the right to step in here. we're the new plaintiffs. you citizens group can no longer sue, we're taking over your case. after blocking those three potential lawsuits from that environmental group, in the past year, the state announced that their big action, the reason that they decided to step in, block this group from doing it, they were going to do it, was so they could settle. on their ow

, how has the governor from duke energy handled the matter? well, the spill began on super bowl sunday, february 2nd with tons of coal ash gunk just glunking out from the 48 inch storm water pipe at the downriver power plant. the sludge contain lead and arsenic and mercury and all of that stuff flowed out of the pipe for nearly a week. the people of north carolina were not told anything was wrong until a day after the pipe had ruptured and then both the company the and the state failed to relay accurately just how big the leak was. governor pat mccrory did not make any public statement about this disaster until four days after it happened. it happened on sunday. he didn't say anything on sunday. didn't say anything on monday. didn't say anything on tuesday. didn't say anything on wednesday. thursday, oh, there's the governor. finally. on day four, he showed up at the spill site and talked about how tough he's been on the industry. and how they're going to have to clean this mess up. he put out a press release that day, governor mccrory directs

a spokesman for mccrory told us, duke energy is not receiving any specific treatment.s administration took more action on coal ash during its first 75 days than any previous administration in north carolina history. mccrory has now called for a committee to look at what do do with coal ash in north carolina. and while his administration and duke energy both pledge a full clean up of the spill, environmenenvironmentalists liki edwards are frustrated. >> i saw talks swimming in coal arc i saw a bald eagle flying over a riverral coal arc, that balanced eagle is relying on fish in the river and they are relying on the macro invert bats that are suffer everything and dieing or batheing in a toxic bath. >> reporter: a criminal investigation is underway. state leaders have already been subpoenaed to appear. >>> coming up next on al jazerra, as the sochi winter games come to a close, we'll take a live look at how they will be remembered. plus a return to our top story, the crisis in ukraine. al jazerra is live right here in new york city. >> reporter: absolutely. behind me her

so he's talking about his state dealing with duke energy and coal ash and these spills.ade those remarks his administration had already gotten that federal subpoena and although the governor was talking about it publicly he didn't mention they received the subpoena. he skipped the part about his administration receiving a federal criminal subpoena. his administration had just gotten it. federal authorities investigating a potential criminal felony on that issue, the governor doesn't say beat. now that reporters are covering the news of that federal criminal investigation the governor would like for his press conferences about the weather to be just about the weather. even if he had been willing to talk about the coal ash thing before. ap reporters today pressed the governor about his financial stake in duke energy where he worked for 28 years in his financial disclosure forms he does report owning stock in duke energy worth at minimum $10,000 but we have no idea how much stock exactly he still owns. we do not know and the governor is not saying. the dan river spill itsel

the pipes belong to duke energy where north carolina's governor worked for 28 years before he went to federal prosecutors had sent a subpoena to north carolina's environmental agency. testimony from the state about duke's coal ash spill into the dan river. the u.s. attorney's office described the subpoena as part of an official criminal investigation of a suspected felony. that subpoena landed on february 10th, last week, now, tonight we have news of a fresh round of federal grand jury subpoenas for the governor pat mccrory investigation in north carolina. they sent north carolina regulators a new and broader demand for documents, the new subpoena is seeking information about every duke energy coal ash dump in the state. more than 30 of them across 14 dinner sites across north carolina. specifically they want to know about a settlement that the mccrory administration proposed and then backed out of with duke energy over some of its coal ash dumps. that settlement happened after environmental groups tried three times to sue duke energy last year. each time the mccrory administration st

heard from environmental groups in duke energy the owners of the mant where the spill occurred. -- plant where the spill occurred. supplies drinking water to the area. an expert in industrial spills theafd this one will have -- testified that this one will have long lasting effects. >> frankly it is a bad spill. it is a problem. it will have long term major environmental impacts in addition to the short impact where we see ash coming down the river. things like that. but long term it is going to be very hard for duke to ever get all that ash out of the river. >> a representative from duke energy the owner of the plant where the spill occurred apologized and said the company will clean up the river. >>> a west virginia school

that during his campaign. >> john frank is a political reporter, saying pat mccorrey's ties to duke energy raised eyebrows. >> state energy commission regulates duke energy, and pat mccorrey filled his administration with a number of former duke executives. >> a cause for concern after 30,000 tonnes of coal ash spilled into the dan river, leading to warnings about swimming in the river or eating the fish. we wanted a closer look and found signs of the dark ash sticking to foam, placed in the river. >> the coal ash is not at the bottom of all places of the river, you can find it on many banks. 70 miles downstream. if we tip it down a foot or two feet and pull up the muck and get through the leaves and sticks and empty the water, you can see the black sediment. that is some of the coal ash that made its way into the river. >> we have had serious harm to a major river of the state. we say we had 14 disasters waiting to happenen. >> frank made the claims. in three lawsuits the southern environmental law center filed against duke energy seeking the clean up of its pits and sites. they used a pr

history the duke energy the company responsible for the spill it isn't being held accountable and it might have something to do with the fact that government bori worked for duke energy for almost thirty years and remains a stockholder in the company or the fact that over the course of two political campaigns duke energy and its political action committee donated at least one point one million dollars to mccrory all this cold hard cold cash is probably why at least three occasions over the last year the state has blocked attempts to sue duke energy sea environmental groups trying to sue one of the federal clean water act to force the company to clean up its leaky coal ash. hons but on three separate instances the state's department of environment and natural resources stepped in as plaintiffs themselves and blocked the lawsuits it's worth noting that mccrory appointed the head of that agency has referred to duke energy as a partner and customer you know what do you did end up shelling out to have to collective settlement a whopping ninety nine thousand dollars you tell me if that's e

he has met with duke energy. he has publicly stated that duke energy must clean this up.e state, sued duke energy last year, not to just clean up this coal site but the 30 some coal ash ponds that are acrass thoss this state. many are pointing to the cozy relationship he has had with duke energy as possible concern. there is no real evidence yet but the u.s. attorney has opened a criminal investigation, asking for all the memos and all the communications between duke energy and the state's department of environment and natural resources to see if there was anything foul going on between these two company and state agencies to see if somehow or another, as i have said, duke energy, quote, got away with something. >> i know you will get to the bottom. drew griffin reporting this morning. thanks so much. still to come in the "newsroom," sizing up the new galaxy s-5 smartphone. it has just been unveiled with lots and lots of new features. is it the worth the price tag. the day we rescued riley was a truly amazing day. he was a matted mess in a small cage. so that was our firs

beyond his work for duke energy, governor's campaign and affiliated groups have received more than $1n in recent years from duke, its political action committee, executives, and their immediate families. the state agency has also admitted it wrongly declared arsenic levels in the dane -- dan river safe after the spill. arsenic in one sample was actually four times higher than maximum levels for prolonged contact. the governor recently visited the site of the accident. some of our side sampling at this point in time are pretty confident the water is very safe and we are just finalizing some further tests. >> governor mccrory's former employer duke energy has apologized for the spill, pledged to clean dust clean up its toxic waste. showdeclined to be on the citing weather difficulties and outage concerns that have tied up in north carolina staff. for more we are joined by amy adams. she was a regional supervisor at the state environmental agencyr! what this feel it's to happen and why you quit. left partlysaid, i in protest. there were some significant changes that happened in 2013 in t

north carolina governor pat mccrory worked at duke energy for nearly 30 years. >> currently it is safe to drink the water. >> reporter: meanwhile, federal prosecutors are investigating the ties between the state and duke energy. at least 20 environmental agency employees have been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury. have you been served a subpoena? or anyone in your office? >> no, i have not been served a subpoena. and no one i appointed or no one in my office has been served a subpoena. >> reporter: but with miles of sludge still coating the area, residents are worried. >> i want to be able to live here safely and be able to fish the dan river like i fished it all of my life. and with my parents. >> reporter: gripped by fear for their health and the future of this community, kristin welker, nbc news, along the dan river. >>> still ahead tonight, caught on camera. the dramatic rescue of a 5 month-old baby boy. pleas for help along the highway and strangers answer the call. >>> later, more from here in sochi. and an american olympic champion whose new look on life is inspiring ot

duke energy said more than 50,000 tons of coal ash had leaked from a containment pond into the river. as seen in these photos taken by the waterkeeper alliance, parts of the river look like a gray sludge. the ash, which contains arsenic and other dangerous metals, is produced from burning coal. today at a state hearing, duke officials apologized for the spill and said they would clean it up. but big questions remain, including about coal ash containment ponds elsewhere. michael bisecker has been covering this for the a.p. and joins us from raleigh. michael bisecker, first of all, tell us what caused this spill. what is known about that? >> duke energy says that a stormwater pipe from its cole-fired power plant went under the cole ash pond, the sunday before last february 2-7d. that pipe collapsed without warning and the coal ash drained into the river. they estimated it anywhere between about 73 olympic size swimming pools of coal ash into the river. it was clearly one of the largest spill in the nation's history of its kind. >> woodruff: is the spill stabilized. >> they have managed

duke energy was accused of getting a pass on pollution.pocksman toiled us -- spokesman told us: >> mccorrey called for a committee on what to do with coal ash on north carolina. his administration and duke energy pledged is a clean-up of the still, environmentalists like geppy ed -- jenny edwards are frustrated. >> i saw a duck swimming in coal ash, and a bald eagle flying over the river. it is relying on fish in the river, if the fish in the river are relying on macroinvertebrates that are dying or bathed in a toxic bath. >> state and environmental officials and leaders of duke energy have been subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury next month. >> the coal-fired plant in eden where the lake was coming from was built in the 1940s. strategists from both sides of the aisles join us from our weekly politic segment. including why chris christie boycotted a dinner tonight. >> and i'm mark morgan, i'll fill you in on the latest from sochi. sna good morning to you. welcome back. you are watching al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford. in thaila

he says mccorrey's ties to duke energy raised eyebrows. the ute ilties commission regulates duke energy, and mccorrey filled his administration with former duke executives. >> a cause for concern after 30,000 tonnes of coal ash filled into the dan river, leading to warnings about swimming in the river or eating the fish. we wanted to get a closer look and found signs of the dark ash sticking to foam, placed in the river to collect the contam nants. >> the coal ash is not at the bottom of all places, you can't find it on many banks, 70 miles downstream from eden. if we dip down a foot or two feet and pum the muck and pull up the leaves and the sticks, you can see the black sediment in here. that is some of the coal ash that made its way into the dan river. >> we had serious harm to a maimer river of this state. we have been saying that we had 14 disasters waiting to happen. >> frank made those claims. in three lawsuits the southern environmental law center filed against duke energy, seeking the clean-up of the pits at 14 north carolina site

protesters demanding answers from duke energy, the company responsible for this. gnatures demanding all coal ash ponds being removed. >> duke has plenty of money to not only pay to clean up the spill but all the other toxic coal ash sites that are threatening other communities. >> duke energy says the drinking water is safe. the federal government has launched a criminal investigation into that spill. general motors is recalling nearly 1.4 million cars over a deadly safety problem that can cause cars to abruptly shut off while they are being driven. a total of 13 deaths have been linked to faulty ignitions that can be jarred into the off position. the automaker is adding four models including the saturn ion and the chevrolet hhr and t pontiac solstice. >>> the delta frequent fliers program will base on how much you pay for your ticket instead of how far you have traveled. the change has some fliers saying it prefers the high-profit corporate travelers over the rest of us. christine romans is here with the story. >> this is about dollars, not distance. meaning how m

do you want to know how duke energy shut down the spill at the dan river? the third largest spill in american history. it started on super bowl sunday. it flooded that river with all that toxic sludge all day super bowl sunday, all day monday, all day tuesday. they couldn't figure out how to stop the flow of these thousands of tons of toxic sludge into the river. they couldn't stop it. it was not that they couldn't clean up what they had already dumped into the river, they'd barely even started that now. they couldn't stop the spill from continuing for days. they couldn't figure out how to stop it. you want to know how they actually finally stopped it? the spill was of a pipe that flowed under a big pit of coal ash. here's the pipe. all the coal ash is on top of it, right? they couldn't get into the coal ash to go fix the pipe. hey, you know, it's really toxic stuff. we don't want to be touching that. so they built themselves a platform over the coal ash pit so they could sort of stage themselves on that platform and work from that platform to get at the pi

heard from environmental groups in duke energy the owners of the mant where the spill occurred. -- plant where the spill occurred. supplies drinking water to the area. an expert in industrial spills theafd this one will have -- testified that this one will have long lasting effects. >> frankly it is a bad spill. it is a problem. it will have long term major environmental impacts in addition to the short impact where we see ash coming down the river. things like that. but long term it is going to be very hard for duke to ever get all that ash out of the river. >> a representative from duke energy the owner of the plant where the spill occurred apologized and said the company will clean up the river. >>> a west virginia school closed early after a smell in the water and individuals suffering from headaches. a water sample was taken at grandview elementary school and the building closed earl as a precaution. on january 9th, chemicals leaked into the river. >>> visiting the state, president obama has been offering federal assistance. california is in its third straight year of severe drought

pat mccrory worked for duke energy for nearly three decades before he took public office today federal authorities are launching a criminal investigation into the north carolina department of environment and resources an investigative report by the associated press found that state regulators are shielded the company from lawsuits filed by environmental groups warning of this very kind of disaster instead of demanding for the energy company to clean up its act the state settling with the company for less than one hundred thousand dollars meanwhile in one known in minnesota a canadian pacific train lead twelve thousand gallons of crude oil while traveling over seventy miles on february third it was caused by either a valve or a count problem with one of the tankers cleanup is still underway and on february tenth the navy reported that it accidentally leaks two thousand gallons of oil e. waste into the hood canal it was moving oily water off of a submarine at the bangor naval base in washington by the next day the spill traveled ten miles north but that is not the navy's only leak in hon

fact well above the exceeded limit for human exposure but not to worry everyone a spokesperson for duke energy the company responsible for the spill has pledged to clean the river and by clean they probably mean abdicate responsibility to state environmental groups have cited at least three instances over the last year where duke energy has avoided its duty. and to similar coal ash leaks that have dumped thousands of talks into the dan river this latest spill underscores the dangers of toxic fossil fuel by products and the difficulties that exist in containing them you may remember the ten thousand gallon chemical spill that infected the water supply of three hundred thousand people in west virginia just over a month ago since then the city of charleston is closed at least three schools after detecting the black licorice scent of the chemical and c h m and get this although there has been no credible churns by authorities that the water is safe to drink residents are still getting water bills you heard that right charleston residents are actually being billed for potentially poisonous water ne

on friday, duke energy apologize for the spill and pledged to clean up its toxic waste. the u.s. justice department is expanding protections for same-sex couples in every program with federal jurisdiction. under the new policies, married same-sex partners will have expanded rights in areas from courthouses to prisons to pensions. these include the right to avoid testimony that would incriminate a spouse, conjugal visits and prisons, and survivors benefits for spouses. attorney general eric holder announced the change in a speech on saturday night. >> this means in every courthouse, in every proceeding, and in every place where a member of the department of justice stance on behalf of the united states, they will strive to ensure that same-sex marriages receive the same privileges, the same protections, in the same rights as opposite sex marriages under federal law. administration has eased immigration rules for people fleeing war-torn countries. the move would exempt refugees from antiterrorism provisions if they provided only minor material support to militants not officially de

. >>> north carolina, the governor faces sharp scrutiny to power giant duke energy which is accused ofping 80,000 tons of toxic ash into the river there last month. he had briefed the governor about a minor penalty against duke, critics claim it is a sweetheart deal for duke energy which promoted the governor for 20 years. >>> toxic communities that don't have the power to fight back. michael okwu has the story, richmond, california, called a toxic city. citizens refuse to be held hostage to industry. >> there was a big boom! and i got scared. i got really scared. and then i saw the fire, this big fire ball, go in the air. and we all took off running into the house. >> on august 6th, 2012, courtney cummings and her family were in the front yard when a massive fire erupted at the chevron refinery just six blocks away. the smoke and toxic fallout sent more than 15,000 residents of richmond, california to area hospitals with respiratory problems. investigators later discovered a severe pipe corrosion caused a rupture that expark -- sparkz se blaze. chevron's own inspectors had repeatedly

on monday, duke energy estimated up to 82,000 tons of coal ash had spilled, but the flow has continued all week, despite efforts to staunch it. in news from syria, an operation to evacuate trapped civilians from the besieged city of homs is underway after government forces and rebels agreed to a ceasefire. u.n. spokesperson farhan haq said the pause would also allow the delivery of aid. a top state department official -- has apologized to her that they the report had pre-positioned food on the outskirts of homes ready for immediate delivery as soon as the green i was given by the party for safe passage. >> a top state department official has apologized to her european counterparts after she was caught cursing the european union in a leaked audio recording that was posted to youtube. the recording captured an intercepted phone conversation between the u.s. ambassador to ukraine and victoria nuland, the top u.s. diplomat for europe. nuland expresses frustration over europe's response to the political crisis in ukraine. >> it would be great to help them glue this thing. >> assistant secre

state regulators in north carolina are facing claims they intentionally blocked lawsuits against duke energy, the company behind one of the worst coal ash spills in u.s. history. they did so in order to shield duke ottowa republican governor patrick rory work for 28 years. earlier this month, the duke coal ash pits build enough toxic sludge to fill more than 70 olympic summing polls. the associated press reports over the last year, following the election of the governor, north carolina's environmental agency blocked lawsuits over dukes pits three times, initially shielding all 31 pits from potential lawsuits. the agency proposed settlements for a fraction of duke's work that did not require duke to clean up the pits. beyond his work for duke, the governor's campaign and affiliated groups have received more than $1 million in recent years from duke and related groups and individuals. the state agency has also admitted it wrongly declared arsenic levels in the dan river safe after the spill. arsenic is one sample was actually four times higher than maximum levels for prolonged content. virgini

warning:fficials are ash from a spell by duke energy has blanketed the bottom of north carolina's danriver. the u.s. fish and wildlife service says it had discovered a mound of toxic sludge in the river that stretched about 75 feet long and up to five feet deep. coal ash was found up to 70 miles away from the spill site. report came a day after state environment regulators in a duke energy executive told north carolina state lawmakers that the spill does not pose an immediate threat to public health. president obama has announced a new round of steps to develop tighter fuel efficiency standards for trucks. on tuesday,maryland obama said he has instructed federal agencies to develop higher standards for medium and heavy trucks by 2016. >> heavy-duty trucks account for just 4% of all the vehicles on the highway. i know when you're driving sometimes, it feels like it is more him a but they're only 4% of all the vehicles. but they're responsible for about 20% of carbon pollution in the transportation sector. improving gas mileage for these trucks are going to drive down our oil imports ev

duke energy is the largest electricity provider in the nation and on tuesday a second pipe leaked spewingsenic laced groundwater into the river. they said 90% of that was clean and they did not know that was faulty at the time. officials are saying don't eat the fish, they're not sure of the long term consequences. much of it is down on the river at the banks. if we go down a foot or so bring it up you can see clearly we have sediment, leaves, we'll let this out but you can see the dark coal that is here in the mud mixed together. and just this week, federal prosecutors demanded documents and ordered nearly 20 state environmental agency employees to testify before a grand jury coming up. coal ash is currently not deemed hazardous by the epa. it's used to make cinder block drywall. the long term hazard or effects on the water system and people are just simply not known. >> robert ray following the situation in eden north carolina. two men have pleaded guilty to the 2011 beating of a fan at dodgers stadium in los angeles. louie sanchez and marvin norwood were given jail time. a lawsuit agai

. >>> coming up next on al jazeera america, unsafe levels of arsenic from duke energy, as coal ash continueso pour into the north carolina river. >>> and outrage over this controversial photo posted online. >>> and as we go to break we leave you with some very dramatic images from ukraine. and a warning some of these could be a little difficult to watch. ♪ >>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. the owner of a shuttered power mranth in north carolina have now been ordered to plug a second leak. the wastewater contains arsenic levels considered to be 14 times higher than what is considered to be safe. prosecutors are investigating the first leak which leaked into the same river. >>> a national guardsman has been suspended after posting controversial photos onsocial media. thomas drayton reports on the image that is outraging so many >> reporter: this photo has been described as distasteful and showing a lack of respect. it has cost the woman who took the snapshot her job for now. the soldier has been suspended after posting this picture of soldiers smiling and striking poses.