the foods we eat, both are blazing trails to a healthier, and perhaps more informed, future. and that's what earns them a spot on "the next list." i'm dr. sanjay gupta. thanks so much for watching. hope to see you back here next week. hello, everyone. i'm fredricka whitfield. welcome to the cnn newsroom. travelers are under a global alert on fears about terrorist attacks. embassies will be closing their doors tomorrow. we'll have responses from washington next. > aaron hernandez has written a letter from jail. the letter wasn't supposed to be made public, but it has. living under the sea is not just for fish anymore. the grandson of jacque cousteau

has a unique new experiment. he's going to tell us all about it. a global travel alert is in effect right now for all americans around the world. that's after sources say there is growing intelligence that al qaeda is planning an attack possibly in the middle east or north africa. as a precaution, the u.s. is closing 22 embassies and consulates tomorrow across the region. we're covering every angle of this story. emily schmidt is tracking the latest out of washington, nick valencia is at the world's busiest airport to see how this is impacting travelers. emily, let's get started with you. this is a serious step to close so many embassies. what's the response out of washington? >> fredricka, we are really waiting to see what happens. you think about the timeline here, 3:00 in washington. it is getting to be sunday or very close to sunday in some of these areas that are being affected by the embassy and consulate closures. a white house official says

today the president was update about the threat. he's going to continue to be updated throughout the weekend. we're told the white house also says that it will not comment on specific intelligence when it comes to this story, particularly as it relates to a "new york times" report since some of this chatter about threats came from operatives. recently al qaeda seemed to appoint a number 2 to the organization, and he's based in yemen where officials say much of this chatter has originated. >> here in the united states it's not been a top, top priority for this terrorist group in yemen which still has significant resources. now that he's got this potentially new position in the al qaeda global network, is he now going to reprioritize hitting the united states? that would be a very warning scenario for officials.

>> of course, yemen is one of the embassies that will be shut down tomorrow. in yemen, at least 12 tanks reported to be within a few hundred yards of the building. we also know that britain, france and germany have said they are closing their embassies in yemen tomorrow and monday, all as a direct result of these threats. >> and emily, all of this taking place just a month shy of the one-year marker, the one-year anniversary of that deadly attack on benghazi. is there any way of knowing how security has changed overall in the region or even as it pertains to u.s. embassies and consulates? >> we don't know the cause and effect of this threat. it comes in the first week of that attack. the obama administration was severely criticized for not responding strongly to the threat. this time officials are using this phrase. they say they're acting out of an abundance of caution. here's something we do know that affects benghazi.

basically there are roughly 1500 marines on ships in the red sea, 500 marines split between italy and spain. they are posted there full-time for the sole purpose of responding if there is an attack in the area. these are marines who could go in the event that these threats turned into actual attacks and be there quicker than they were able to be there at this time last year. >> emily, thanks so much in washington. a travel alert coming out of this really could impact americans for the next month or so. now we go to nick valencia a at atlanta's hart field -- hartsfield-jackson airport. >> lines shouldn't be longer, no more delays because of this travel alert, though the state department does say we should not see any visible changes in

security due to this travel warning. i spoke to passengers. we got some mixed reaction. while some were completely oblivious to the travel alert, others were well aware of it and are taking precautions because of it. >> we heard stay away from the embassies right now and you'll be okay. we are aware of it, but i still have to make a living. >> with the travel alert, does it make it pause to get on a plane today? >> it gives me a little pause, i guess you could say. it makes me think about it. >> i think they can handle it. >> does it change at all how you travel or what you might do when you're if a foreign country? >> no, sir. no, sir. we trust that they've got everything under control. >> reporter: those airlines that do travel internationally, they have not canceled flights, they have not changed flights. for those wondering, what if i don't want to travel this weekend because of this alert? do i get a refund? right now those airlines are saying no, though that policy could change based on the information they receive from

the state department and tsa. fred? >> nick valencia, thank you so much. so as the u.s. worries about the possibility of an al qaeda attack in the middle east and north africa, britain, france and germany are closing their offices in yemen as well. peter king joining me now on the phone from seaford, new york. mr. king, glad you could make the time to be with us. >> thank you, fredricka. >> you said the evidence is very specific. without jeopardizing intelligence, how specific is this threatening material? >> well, the numbers are so big that i can't go into it other than the fact it definitely is planned a very enormous attack, a catastrophic type attack. that's probably the best way to describe it. and i can't really go any furt ir than thfurt further than that. >> as chairman of the committho

security committee, how real is this attack? >> i've been aware of this threat probably since tuesday or wednesday of this week, but we have to keep in mind that especially when you're talking about al qaeda and the arabian peninsula they, for a number of years, have been very aggressive wanting to attack america, wanting to attack the west, and it was really, i think, only a matter of time before something like this would happen. now because it's out in the open, people are talking about it. but i can assure you the intelligence committee is confident the cia, dia, homeland security, all of them, are constantly on the lookout for planned attacks such as this because this is what ultimately motivates al qaeda and its affiliates. so while i was not expecting this plan in particular, anyone who is involved in this can't be surprised that an attack like this could be planned. >> and so given that, you mentioned that there is so much material that comes across your

purview all the time and the intelligence committee all the time, but certain decisions are made about what to make public and what to keep quiet. do you worry that informing possible terrorists of the closures on this sunday of the embassies and consulates really could provide too much information to assist these potential extremists or terroris terrorists? >> it's a balance. and a decision had to be made, i assume by the state department, by the white house and by the cia, and by the director of national intelligence as to when to go public with this. that's always the balance you have to try to strike, because when you do go public like this, you do give the enemy an indication of what we know and perhaps how we know it. on the other hand, also, though, once it's out there, that often can causal kid to ba al qaeda ty and it gives us more time to anticipate the next attack. you can wait too long and the

attack can go ahead and innocent people get killed. or you could disclose it and perhaps stop the attack, but at the same time you're tipping off al qaeda as to some of the abilities we have. but these decisions are not easy and i'm not in any way second-guessing the administration on this. >> congressman peter king, thanks so much for your time. appreciate it. again, 22 u.s. embassies and consulates will be closed tomorrow as a result of the threats. all right, back in this country now. a giant sinkhole opening up. take a look at this, it's pretty remarkable. hard to believe. 90 feet deep, 200 feet across and local residents are wondering what in the world made this happen. and the eyes of the world are on russia and its anti-gay law. will that impact the games taking place there? in just six months, some people are talking about a boycott. gold medallist greg louganis joins me to talk about it. another victim came forward

and said the mayor of san diego sexually assaulted her. >> hugged me a little too closely and then put his arm around me like this, and then he proceeded to slide his arm down and then give a little grab to my derriere.

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aaron hernandez allegedly says in a letter to a fan he is innocent. the former nfl player is in jail accused of killing a 27-year-old friend of his who is also the boyfriend of his fiancee's sister. the fan sold this letter to a sports memorabilia store owner, who in turn sold it to tmz. alena cho has details. >> reporter: aaron hernandez essentially declares his innocence in this letter. here's how it happened. basically a fan who we're calling carl wrote the letter to hernandez about two weeks ago. apparently this fan was also incarcerated in the same prison as hernandez about 15 years ago. he wanted to show hernandez support. he never dreamed the ex-football star would write him back, but according to tmz, that's exactly what happened. now, the letter is exactly a page long. among the highlights, hernandez writes, i know there is a reason i'm going through this, and i

will figure it out through my relationship with the lord. i fell off especially after making all that money, but when it's all said and done, god put me in the situation for a reason! so how did this letter get into the public's hands? it was never meant to, obviously. the fan sold the letter to a sports memorabilia store in massachusetts for an undisclosed sum. that store, sports world, in turn sold the letter to tmz for $18,000. what's incredible, though, is if you look at the letter, and i have, i've seen a copy of it, hernandez explicitly says, keep this off social media, please! so much for that. hernandez also signed the letter with his new england patriots number, number 81, and said, i can't wait to sign this again when i'm playing again. hernandez remains in prison, you'll recall, charged with murder in the june 17 killing of a 27-year-old man named odon lloyd. so the chances of hernandez

playing professional football again, at least for now, are pretty slim. alena cho, cnn, new york. and in six months, the winter olympic games begin in russia, but now with nsa leaker edward snowden finding asylum there and russia's anti-gay laws, the word boycott is emerging. we'll ask olympic medallist greg louganis what he thinks trussia should do. there are only two doctors for every 100 people, and most can't afford to pay for it. we have a surgeon who is devoted to bringing surgery to the remote junk egles of his countr. >> we like people to dance and enjoy their life.

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>> in bars people are dumping perfectly good russian vodka, meaning perfectly good to consume. they are protesting russia's anti-gay rules that prohibit anythiany gay relationships. edward snowden has created quite a controversy ahead of the russian winter olympic games just six months away. greg louganis is an olympic gold medallist diver and author of a book entitled "breaking the surface." good to see you, greg. >> good to see you. >> there have been so many discussions as of late about boycotting the games, whether it was because of snowden or the anti-gay laws. they're calling it the gay propaganda law in russia. what would a boycott do? how would it benefit, i guess, the cause, if it were to go in that direction? >> well, you know, i lived -- i

can only speak as an athlete, my own personal experience. i was able to compete in the '76 olympic games in montreal before any boycott, and in 1980 we boycotted the russian olympics, the olympics in moscow, because of the soviet union's invasion of afghanistan, and then i was a part of that. and in 1984, the black countries boycotted those olympic games because they were in los angeles. but then i was able to continue on and compete in the '88 olympic games, so i was on both sides of two boycotts. >> so you're one of the lucky ones, though, because -- lucky in that you were able to -- it was very unfortunate, but at the same time you were lucky in that you were able to go on a continuum with your olympic pursuits. that doesn't happen for everybody. for many olympians, it's one shot, one olympic games if they're even lucky to get that.

and, you know, you hear from skater johnny weir and many others who say you spend all this time preparing yourself for olympic games, and if you do qualify, you want to be able to carry on with that pursuit. but if you boycott the games, that may have been your only shot. so who benefits from it, ultimately? >> yeah, it could have been your only shot. boycotts hurt the wrong people, it hurts the athletes. but there again, we can't ignore what's going on in sochi. that's the reason i joined up with athlete allies and all-out sports because, you know, love is love. i mean, love -- everybody -- it's a birthright to pursue love and not be incarcerated for loving and wanting to find love. >> do you feel like it will be difficult if there is no organized boycott, will it be difficult for some olympians to

feel comfortable, to feel at home in sochi, to concentrate on their game knowing that there are these anti-gay laws in place, knowing that there have been discussions about whether american olympians should go to sochi at all. >> well, you know, when you're an olympic athlete, when the competition starts, then you have to be on. no matter what's going on around you. so the focus is on your own performance. you know, but here again, it's -- what happens in russia, we'll see. it's horrific what's happening there, and i think a light has been shown on what's been going on there, and as a gay man, you

know, all i can do is just be who i am. god made me this way. i am a child of god, as we all are. and it's not -- you know, we aren't god, and we shouldn't be playing god. and that's what seems to be happening here. >> and how troublesome is it to you that, you know, rather casually the word boycott is used as it applies to the winter games in this case, whether it be because of edward snowden, the nsa leaker finding asylum there, or whether it be because of the anti-gay laws. the olympic games are supposed to be nonpolitical. it's one of the greatest peace events for the world to embrace. does it bother you that that word "boycott" is just so casually used when there is a conflict or when there is an

issue that people, you know, say maybe american athletes shouldn't go to these olympic games. >> well, you know, boycott, you know, i'm totally in support of boycotting, you know, russian vodka or commerce and business. but when it comes to the olympics, the olympics are supposed to be a pure athletic event where we all come together and see where we stand. i mean, once you reach a certain level of competition like the olympic competition, world championships, we all know who the top athletes are. so then it's whoever puts it together on that day. all of these things are going on around it. we can't turn a blind eye to it, either. so it's really -- it's a very difficult situation.

>> okay. greg louganis, always a pleasure talking to you and seeing you. i used the word lucky earlier. no, it's not that you're lucky, you were just purely a talented athlete, and that's why you repeated so many olympic games. i stand corrected. >> oh, thank you. thanks. >> good to see you. >> it was a lot of work. >> yes, a lot of work! you are a great inspiration on so many levels. greg louganis, thanks so much. good to see you. all right, folks, a ninth woman now has come forward accusing the mayor of san diego of sexual harassment. she'll tell us exactly what happened in her view and why she is coming forward now. a health alert. are you getting the best care at the hospital? new rankings of america's hospitals are out. dr. sanjay gupta is here to let you know what you need to know.

right now let's turn to the sexual allegations against the san diego mayor. mayor bob filner will undergo two weeks of what he calls intensive therapy. he admits he needs help. take a listen. >> let me be absolutely clear. the behavior i have engaged in over many years is wrong. my failure to respect women and

the intimidating conduct i engage in at times is inexcusable. >> well now a ninth woman has come forward claiming she was harassed by filner. she and her husband are joining me now. good to see both of you. >> thank you. >> emily, you are a marilyn monroe impersonator. you were invited to sing at an event but not as marilyn monroe in december, and you say the mayor grabbed you. what exactly happened? what was your interaction like before you allege he touched you inappropriately? >> well, i had a regular interaction with him. we posed for a faphoto when he arrived at the event. we went inside, he made a speech and then pulled me to the side and proceeded to touch my arm inappropriately and hold me

close, closer than any mayor should, and then he grabbed my derriere. >> jason, were you there? >> i was. >> did you see that? >> no. i was -- i saw a lot of friendly, maybe a little beyond friendly, embracing going on and smiling and words being exchanged, but i heard about the crossing the line afterwards on the way home. that's when she broke it to me. >> so you both were clearly very uncomfortable with what took place, and then what happened? did you report it? did you confront him later with it? did anyone learn of this encounter? >> i told my close friends and family members, but he's the mayor, and, you know, that's a scary thing to come out and try

to say. >> so you felt like simply by virtue of his title, you felt intimidated or you felt like no one would be supportive of your story? >> absolutely. >> and so now what? i mean, there have been a number of women, at least now before you, who have come out and talked about what they said was inappropriate behavior. he now admitting that his behavior was wrong. first off, you know, what do you say to the mayor taking to the microphone in that press conference and saying, my behavior is wrong? >> well, i'm glad that he's able to admit it, that it's wrong. i just -- i want to encourage other women to come out and tell their story, because there probably are more women out there. and i think that the mayor should really take a good look at himself and possibly step down. that's how i feel about it. no mayor should behave that way.

>> i'm sorry to cut you off. so because eight women have come out before you and said that he acted inappropriately, is that what made you feel comfortable with coming out now? or why is it you're sharing publicly your story? >> yes, that's why i'm coming out now. because as an entertainer, i felt at the time had i been the first woman to come out and talk about his inappropriate behavior, you know, maybe they wouldn't believe me and that might have a negative effect on my career. >> and you did say that you want him to no longer be mayor. what else would you want out of this? are you planning to sue? have you obtained an attorney? are you building a case? >> no, i don't plan on building any sort of suit, but my husband can tell you about what we feel is the appropriate thing for the mayor to do. >> all right, jason?

>> yeah, this isn't about us or emily so much as it's about him and about the state of politics today. and, you know, for him to come out and, on the one hand, stop denying the allegations and admit them, but then on the other hand to refuse to resign. that was the final straw for us. and when that happened, i call it the filner finger. he gave everyone the filner finger and said, i'm staying in power, and, you know, a time-out is not enough. there's got to be a consequence to these sort of actions. we're seeing it all over the place. there's no consequences, there's no accountability. a good leader sets a good example, and this is just a horrible example. not stepping down -- >> are you hoping to sue him? >> we don't want any money at all. but there needs to be consequences, and i think what i would recommend and what i would encourage him to do is make a sizeable, generous donation to a

sexual trauma women's group such as maybe the one that emily was singing at when she was -- when that happened. so i don't think that's unreasonable. but right now, he's just refusing to step down, and in a way, he's imposing himself on the city in the way he imposed himself on these women. and he's asking us, emily and me, to pay for it, to pay for his legal defense. and that -- that's why we had to come out. that's really -- >> his attorney is saying the city is in large part at fault because it didn't provide him any sexual harassment training. so, jason and emily gilbert, i can tell how you're feeling about that one. okay. please keep us posted, you know, on your situation and what you plan to do and the results of your pursuit. thanks so much for your time. i appreciate it. >> thank you. and, of course, we have reached out to mayor filner for

comment on this accusation. he has not responded. you see that he did release comments during that press conference earlier and also, apparently, releasing a statement early this month saying he did not fully respect the women who worked for him and with him. the mayor is planning to enter a behavior counseling clinic starting this monday. before your next trip to the hospital, do your homework. that's the advice after a new report on the care given at the nation's hospitals. doctor sanjay gupta weighs in on the results. ♪ ♪

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some hospitals regarded as the nation's best are not faring too well in a new report.

consumer reports rated hospitals on how many people died or who recovered after a procedure. some are quite foul, calling it a major simplification of a complex issue. dr. sanjay gupta has a closer look at the report. >> well, fred,ing i think the thing that will stick out to most people is that 30% patients -- according to this report -- 30% of patients suffered some sort of postoperative problems, infections, heart attacks, stroke or other sorts of fli complications. the other thing is we look for teaching hospitals. they often have the best doctors, but if you look at these numbers, they don't always perform better than other hospitals. according to consumer reports, there are still lots of complications at major hospitals, not just small ones. and that's even if you account for more patients being more sick at those big hospitals.

i think the message overall for people is pretty strong that if you're going to have an operation, you need to do research and find the very best hospital for that specific operation. you want to make sure the doctors are doing a lot of these operations but also the nurses and the ancillary staff. everybody else does these types of procedures so they can all take care of the patient after the operation. some hospitals scored very high in heart procedures but maybe didn't score so high in knee replacements. so look for the specific procedure. don't just trust the name of the hospital or a city that it's in. there is another easy method. you can go to a website such as u.s. news and look for the survival rate and patient scores in your area. if there is not a standardized safety checklist for all operating rooms, but in many hospitals, including the operating room where i operate, we do use checklists in

procedures. these checklists are similar to what an airline pilot might use, for example, before taking off. i'm going to have some crucial tips to keep in mind for keeping you safe. we have that coming up at 4:30 eastern. fred? >> thank you, sanjay. look forward to that. could you spend a whole month living under water? the grandson of famed oceanographer jacque cousteau is planning to do it. we'll tell you how. thousands more are hired byve, hundreds of top companies. each expanding the influence of our proud university of phoenix network. that's right, university of phoenix. enroll now. we've got a frame waiting for you.

we're thrilled to bring you this new segment that we'll bring you every weekend now called "the science behind" where we hope to teach you the why behind the what. in this week's installment chad meyers talks to xavier cousteau about living under the sea. the famed grandson of jacque cousteau is getting ready to spend a month under water. could you do that? our chad meyers spoke to him. >> 51 da31 days, never done bef. what do you hope to find? >> the unknown. this is what it's all about, pushing through the box and hopefully bringing new discoveries back. >> you have some kind of underwater vehicle. >> we have a lot of modern day technology, including underwater

motorcycles which is the modern day scooter. you can sit on top like aand it point a to point b. >> now you don't find any fish. does that concern you at all? >> it used to be a fireworks display of life as a child. i go to those places that used to be full and teaming with life, and it's changed drastically. one thing that worries me even more is that today's youth doesn't know what it's supposed to be like and figures that what it is today is what it's supposed to be. >> do you think it's ocean acidification, overfishing, climate change? what do you think? >> i think you hit it on the head. it's climate change, acidification and it's pollution.

all those things not only affects our planets and oceans, but it affects us and that's what we really have to worry about. >> let's talk about the people that will be with you. >> they're just as crazy as i am if they're going with me. we're going to be diving to depths of up to 150 feet or maybe even more. we'll be looking at the f phosporescence and bioluminosity, and we'll be able to reach students around the world for 31 days live, in realtime, with things like skyping in the classroom. >> and we'll see you pop up, an aquarius will be full of air, but you'll be in a bus-type

thing. >> inside full of equipment and full of people, six people. it is -- you can get in and out of the habitat for down belows in what we call the moon pool. inside it's air. it's at pressure depth, so to speak, so we'll be saturation diving as opposed to diving from the surface. and once we're down there, we are committed to being down there for the full 31 days before coming back up. >> oh, my gosh. as much as i love that idea, i'm a diver, love the idea of being down under like that for so long, chad meyers >> one tank dive and you're back up. >> yeah. >> they're going to be down there at a deep depth, 31 days, much farther than the grandfather did at 30 feet 30 days. this is going to be an jord thaer event. think about it this way. you go on a dive being you take a picture. if you go down there for 31 days, you take a movie.

you're going to see more than what you would see in just one dive. >> oh, sure. that's exciting. but there might be a little change now for when this would actually happen. does it have to do with wa the weather, the conditions? >> because atlantic hurricane season is forecast to have 20 named storms they don't want to be down there when there's a storm. the boats have to be up on top for support. they want the water to be clear. so they pushed it back one month. >> oh, my goodness. this is very exciting but at the same time they should have checked with you on the whole danl calendar. you don't want to do this during the atlantic hurricane season. >> you know, when i talked to faib yen yesterday, i said, hey, can i come down? can i take a dive? he goes, we'd love to have you diech. >> wait a minute. do you need an assistant? >> yes, i do. >> i'll do the equipment for you. oh, that's fantastic. well, tell us all about it, especially if you get a chance to do that. >> sure. >> i'll take the pictures. how's that? >> are you union? >> i can be. i am actually s.a.g.

maybe not a photography union but a writers' union. thanks, chad. thanks for bringing that to us, the science behind. so to follow fabian cousteau's under water adventure and maybe chad's, he could be part of the adventure, go to mission 31.com. from the depths of the sea to the bottom of a giant sinkhole. you saw this, right? >> yes. >> isn't it extraordinary? this is not your average sinkhole, given we've had quite a few late lay. this one 90 feet deep, 200 yards across. and a kansas farmer has no idea why this happened.

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some new video just in to cnn. something went terribly wrong with a planned implosion of a power plant today. take a look. everything on the surface at least, basically, appeared to

happen as expected, as engineers set off the explosives in bakersfield, california. but then three people were injured, one seriously. a man standing a thousand feet away was hit by shrapnel, partially severing his leg. he had to be air lifted to a hospital. in this week's "human factor," a doctor living with cystic fibrosis defies the odds and lives his dream. >> hey, babe. >> reporter: every day now chuck fox is beating the odds. >> when i was born, the average life expectancy for someone with cystic fibrosis was 18 years old. currently, it's estimated to be 38 years old. last year i passed that threshold. >> reporter: when he was born, chuck's parents were determined to see him thrive, even though doctors warned he may not survive. >> i have to wear this mechanical vest every day to help keep my lungs clear and

help me breathe. i get hooked up to that, and it's basically like doing physical therapy for your chest and for your lungs. >> reporter: and like his parents, chuck didn't allow the skepticism he encountered of discouraging his dreams of becoming a doctor himself and having a family. >> if anything, it just sort of made me want to do it more and just prove that i could do it. >> reporter: that's exactly what he did. dr. fox graduate from harvard medical school, and he's been a practicing gastro enterologist now nor eight years. he and his wife amy just celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary, and they're proud parents of 11-year-old twins sydney and ben. >> i would say i'm the luckiest person i know. >> reporter: dr. sanjay gupta, cnn reporting. >> announcer: "the human factor" is brought to you by the one and only cheerios. and by cancer treatments of america, care that never quits.

go to cnn.com/humanfactor for more stories of people who have overcome life's stuffest obstacles. is that true? says here that cheerios has whole grain oats that can help remove some cholesterol, and that's heart healthy. ♪ [ dad ] jan?

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♪ every day, more people enjoy their music on the iphone than any other phone. it's as if something took a bite out of the kansas prairie. take a look at this giant sinkhole in wallace county in the western part of the state. 200 feet across, 90 feet deep, and, guess what, it's still growing. folks on the prairie say it's hard to believe until you actually see it up close and personal.

the good news here, no homes nearby. that will do it for me. i'm fredricka whitfield. much more of the "newsroom" is coming up. thank you, fredricka. hello, welcome to the "cnn newsroom." i'm anna correspoen sitting in don lemon. nearly two dozen u.s. embassies will be locked up tight tomorrow while the one in yemen is circled by tanks and road blocks. only time will tell if the threat was real or just chatter. cnn's emily schmidt joins me from washington with much more. emily, is there a clearer picture of what the real threat here is? >> in some way there's's a little bit of a clearer picture. we've now seen the number of embassies and consulates that will be closed increase. we were talking 21 yesterday,

now we're talking about 22. this is a sign, very much viewed as a threat that officials say they are taking very seriously, stretching from the middle east in north africa to south asia. but as saturday begins to turn to sunday now in this affected region, we're also seeing security increased. a number of officials have said the chatter seems to register from al qaeda in yemen. the u.s. embassy in yemen that where one of the embassies will be closed has greater security, at least 12 tanks within a few hundred yards of the building. congressman peter king has been briefed on the threat as a member of the house intelligence committee. here's how he describes it. we don't have that sound bite, but basically what he said is the numbers are so big he can't get into it, he said, other than the fact that it is definitely planned as a very enormous attack. he continued to say a catastrophic type attack. he said the best way to describe it but he can't go any further than that. important to note that

congressman king is a republican. he said he believes the administration is doing all the right things when you're talking about its reaction to this particular threat. >> emily, officials must hear rumors of plots all the time so what makes this time any different? >> they do all the time, and officials have said they have been tracking this one for weeks. but over the past few days they say that's when the chatter increased. they really believe that yemen-based al qaeda in the arabian peninsula could be in the final stages of planning that attack. that's why officials are particularly concerned about the next few days. that's why we are seeing all of these embassies closed on sunday. they also say, anna, that they could be extending that by more days as this situation moves forward. >> emily, what's to say that the militants don't just wait out to then launch their attack? obviously we're looking at the next couple of days, the next week. but what's to say they won't just wait? >> that's one of the questions everybody is asking.

if it doesn't happen sunday, does that mean it could happen monday or in three weeks? but that's one reason the closings could be extended. the travel alert goes through the end of the month. you know, i talked with the cnn terrorism analyst paul kirk shaw today. i said, what if there is no attack? he says, in some ways al qaeda may still be able to claim a win to supporters on this because, no matter what happens, they have been pushed to the headlines. everyone is talking about them. everyone is watching them. and they can say that their threat has caused the closing of embassies, proving that they are a threat, that indeed u.s. intelligence does not take lightly. an anna? >> emily schmidt following this story very closely from washington. thank you very much. turning our attention now to california, the demolition of a california power plant turns dangerous. flying shrapnel injured three people.

shrapnel hit a man standing nor than a thousand feet from the site in bakersfield. police say one of the legs was partially amputated an other leg severely injured. he was air-lifted to a nearby hospital. two others were treated for minor injuries. well, time warner cable and cbs television are starring in their own reality show. the media companies are at odds over a transmission fee so time warner cable has dropped cbs stations in some of its biggest cities. that's obviously bad news for fans of many popular cbs shows. well, our alino cho joins us fromalina, has there been any progress? >> anna, no, i'm sad to report. the latest we're hearing is negotiations have stalled for a moment. they'll pick up again monday. essentially, what that means is, if you turn on cbs right now in new york, dallas, boston, chicago, denver, los angeles,

detroit, pittsburgh, eight cities in all, you will see something that you have likely never seen before. no programming. no sound. just a slate with a time warner logo and a scathing open letter, at least earlier there was a letter that you could see, that read in part, cbs has made outrageous demands for the programming that it delivers free over the air and online, requiring us to remove their stations from your lineup while we continue to negotiate for fair and reasonable terms. cbs called it a first. in case you're wondering, this whole fight is over something called retransmission fees. these are the fees that cable companies pay to broadcasters like cbs in order to get that content that they so desire and the content that viewers love. remember, too, it's not just cbs that's dark right now. cbs-owned premium networks like showtime and the movie channel are dark as well. today we are on the streets of

new york, tv's number one market, to see how viewers are responding. take a look. >> i only heard about it because i went to watch "wet therapy" this morning on showtime and there was a page on the cable thing saying, due to out raijs behavior or something like that they said from cbs they are not -- they don't have showtime right now. >> it's annoying, you know? there's a ton of stuff i watch on cbs. that's the main annoying thing. david letterman, i'm about ready to lose my mind. i don't know what i'm going to do next week. >> annoying and unprecedented. remember, cbs is the most-watched network in the country. this weekend for golf fans, anna, it means no pga tour, it means no "big brother," no "csi: miami" and tomorrow no "60 minutes." i know you live in hong kong and you may not be familiar with these shows, but i nose you are familiar with "60 minutes."

tomorrow night you will not be able to watch it. >> i do know all those programs. we do get them in hong kong as well. both parties, alina, saying the other is unreasonable. very interesting to see how this all plays out. alino cho, thank you. >> you bet. a former fbi agent is behind bars in salt lake city accused of conspiring to sell confidential information. robert lass tick is seen here in photos from his legal defense fund web site. a criminal complaint states lus tick and others accepted money from a bangladeshy man who wanted information on a rival. the men were planning additional bribes for other confidential information. lust yik worked in counter intelligence and retired last september. he said he did nothing wrong. speaking out, a neighbor of the cleveland man who kidnapped and tortured three women speaks out about what she saw happening inside the house. that's coming up next.

and alex rodriguez is back on the baseball field tonight, but could it be the last game he ever plays? we'll go live. sno . the age old question. what do women want?

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>> ariel castro was sentenced to life in prison on friday, plus 1,000 years. the kidnapping, raping and beating three women for more than a decade. during his rambling speech, castro blamed the fbi for failing the women and now we're learning castro's neighbor may have had the opportunity to report the crime if she'd only known what was happening inside the home. well, martin savidge sat down with the woman for an interview. she told him she saw michelle knight inside the house several times but she didn't realize she was being held captive. let's take a listen. >> she says when she saw her those one or two times across the street in the screen door she had her hands up against the window, pressing against the glass. she had longer hair. she just looked like a child. she was young. she looked like a child. [ speaking foreign language ]

>> she says that when seeing her she wouldn't even imagine the things that were going on in that house. she would never think that that was her. and when had she came by today she asked her if the person that she saw standing in the screen door, if it was her, and she said yes, it was her. >> how frightening. knight for her part isn't holding any grudges. yesterday she returned to the house where she was held captive and thanked all the neighbors for their support. amazingly brave. syria's violent civil war is spilling across the border into lebanon. syria launched a deadly launch in an area home to rebel sympathizers. nine people were killed or displaced syrian refugees. syrian jets also struck lebanese territory in march, but today's attack marks the first time lebanon has been hit since the militant group hezbollah openly

announced it was siding with the syrian regime. well, nine children were killed in afghanistan during a botched attack on the indian consulate in gentleman lal abad. the children were studying at a nearby mosque when three suicide bombers detonated their explosives. at least 23 others, including many children, were also injured. ja lal abad is a border region near pakistan that is frequently a target for militant aattacks. after more than a month of protests in egypt, international powers are taking a closer look at the political standoff. envoys from the u.s. and europe are in cairo trying to find a way out of the crisis. but even as they talk, tens of thousands of supporters of ousted president mohammed morgsmorgs morsi are gathered. they say they won't leave until morsi is reinstated. an impending crackdown was hinted at and urge the

demonstrators to go home. the leader of al qaeda is speaking out about the crisis in egypt. a 14-minute audio message posted online is thought to be from aman al zawahiri. in it, he vows for muslims to step together to keep ejicht from becoming divided and he accuses washington of plotting mohamed morsi's overthrow. >> the crusaders, the seculars, the americanized army, mow bark's thugs and member of islamic parties with the support of americans plotting and money all agreed to topple mohamed morsi's government. >> cnn cannot verify the authenticity of that message. he's been in power for monthan three decades and robert mu gaub by has been elected to serve another term in zimbabwe. the country's election commission says the 89-year-old leader passed his rival by a 61-33 percent margin.

mr. mu gaub be's party will run parliament as well. u.s. is casting doubt on the outcome. secretary of state john kerry has just issued a statement saying the results are not credible. well, an outbreak that has made hundreds sick across america, two restaurant chains now identified as having served bad lettuce to customers. that's coming up after the breck. ♪ [ woman ] destination assist. this is ann. where would you like to go toni ♪ [ male announcer ] it's a golden opportunity . to where you're going. ♪ come to the golden opportunity sales event and experience the connectivity of lexus enform, available on all lexus models, including the es and rx. ♪ this is the pursuit of perfection.

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dr. gauupta's show in ten minut time. first, a an update on the outbreak that's made hundreds of people ill in at least 16 states. the fda says illnesses has been linked to a salad provider in mexico who provided lettuce to two chains, olive garden and red lobster. as dr. gupta explains thsh s th proving to be a difficult bug to figure out. >> there are things we don't know and things we know about this outbreak. first of all, in iowa and anebraska they narrowed it down to prepackaged salad mixtures in most people, about 80% of people, but they also say, look, the product is no longer in story stores, highly unlikely people have it in refridge rairlts. part of the reason they aren't naming the product. that may seem strange or unsatisfying but they say there's no imminent public health risk so they don't

necessarily need to name a company. as far as the other state go, the fda said, we don't have the evidence to say it's one specific brand of product that's making people sick. they're still sorting it out. i can tell you having covered these types of stories it's a tough challenge. you're asking people to remember what they ate three to six weeks ago. a lot of people can barely remember what they had for breakfast yesterday. also, if they do narrow it down to the salad, there are multiple ingredients to the salad. there's iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, carrots, red cabbage. they could have come from different farms and the contamination from the farms could have come from irrigation water, something the woshers did or in the washing process itself. they simply don't know. the good news is it seems we're not seeing new infections. while the numbers are going up, these are possibly people who got infected a few weeks ak. it can take weeks to get sick and then you can have symptoms that last even months. now, in iowa and nebraska i think it's safe to say the product is no longer on the shelves, again, regardless will it's a good rule of thumb to

wash your produce, wash it well, but also dry it. that helps get the pesky parasite residue off. it's not absolute protection. some contaminates remain. you can try peeling the skin off if it's eye fruit. that can help reduce your chance of infection. anna, hope that keeps you safe. back to you. >> thank you. sanjay gupta reporting. next hour we'll be sfeeking with the doctor about a threat from one of the most common pain medications around, something you probably have in your medicine cabinet. that's next hour here in the "newsroom". in garland county, arkansas, police have arrested the mother of an inmate who broke out of jail. the escaped inmate is still on the loose, his daring getaway all caught on surveillance tape. watch as derek estelle talks on a phone. he sees a chance to escape through a reception wind doed and takes off. while another inmate distracts a deputy, estelle clears the jail. the officer gives chase but

can't catch estelle. his mother glenda is charged with helping her son. he was facing charges, including aggravated robbery and breaking in and entering. two florida inmates went fishging for marijuana. the inmates allegedly lowered a line down six stories to a waiting accomplice standing outside the jail. the splis reportedly hooked a flimsy bag containing marijuana to the line and the inmates tried to reel in the contraband. well, something went wrong, surprise, surprise. authorities found the pot-filled bag hanging outside the jail's fourth floor on monday. authorities quickly installed a new fence to discourage future fishing expeditions. well, the best courtroom drama not on television, mobster whitey bulger's life is on the line, but this week it seems like the fbi was on trial. we'll talk exclusively with a former agent who took the stand. that's coming up at 6:00

eastern. but next, alex rodriguez is back on the baseball field tonight, but could it be the last game he ever plays?

pegmatite. tonight could be alex rodriguez's last professional baseball game. the new york yankees slugger is expected to play a rehab game in the minor leagues before joining the big league club on monday, but that's only if major league baseball doesn't suspend him first. cnn's joe carter has more from trenton, new jersey. >> reporter: alex rodriguez has not played a baseball game or spoken directly to the media in weeks. but on friday night, alex rodriguez did both, and he came out swinging both on and off the field. on the field, he only took three at-bats but hit what looked like an effortless home run. off the field, after the game, he addressed a number of topics, including those that want to keep him off a big league diamond. >> there's more than one party

that benefits from me not ever stepping back on the field, and that's not my teammates and it's not the yankee fans. >> who is it? who benefits? >> i can't tell you that right now, and i hope i never have to. andrew? [ inaudible ] i asked that, and he didn't answer that. he was under the mike. i'm not sure. i mean, i think it's pretty self explanatory. i think that's the pinkel fant in the room. i think we all agree that we want to get rid of p.e.d.s. that's a must. i think all the players, we feel that way, but when all this stuff is going on in the background and people are finding creative ways to cancel your contract and stuff like that, i think that's concerning for me, it's concerning for present and future players as well. there is a process, i'm excited about the way i feel tonight. i'm going to keep fighting. >> >> reporter: there's been

plenty of speculation that the new york yankees front office wouldn't mind if alex rodriguez were to be suspended rather than rejoin the team. see, if you're suspended in major league baseball for performance enhancing drugs, you do not get paid a salary. the yankees are on the hook to pay alex rodriguez a guaranteed $100 million plus up to the 2017 season. now, major league baseball it's believed is going to be make an announcement on its entire suspension related to alex rodriguez and a number of other players on monday. now, alex rodriguez told us on friday night that he plans to play with the trenton thunder on saturday night and then take a short workout sunday before heading to join his had new york yankees in chicago to play the white sox on monday. joe carter, cnn, trenton, new jersey. meantime, back on the field, fans in los angeles may have witnessed the catch of the year if not the catch of the decade last night. take a look as outfielder j.b.

shuck of the l.a. angels chases down this long fly ball against the toronto blue jays. well, he leaps into the air, over the fence. he comes down with the ball in the front row. what an incredible catch. earning a well-deserved standing ovation from the crowd. well, it's as if something took a big bite oust the kansas prairie. look at this giant sinkhole that opened up in willis county in the western part of the state. well, it's 200 feet across, 90 feet deep and still growing. welk folks on the prairie say it's hard to believe until you see it up close. the good news is there are no homes nearby. we're going to leave you with a rather sad but very touching story. a dying toddler played a key role in his parents' wedding today. 2-year-old logan stevenson was born with a rare genetic disorder. doctors say he only has weeks left to live. well, his parents moved up their

wedding date so logan could be his father's best man today. his mother planned to carry him down the aisle. the parents got married a few hours ago in pennsylvania, and they say they wanted to make sure their little boy saw them get married. certainly mixed emotions there. well, an interesting twist in an attempted murder trial. the would-be victim begging for forgiveness from the woman who tried to have him murdered. how unusual is that? that's coming up at the top of the hour. but first, sex addition, is it real or not? sanjay gau sanjay gupta md starts right now. >> welcome to sgmd. there are new hospital ratings out there, and i'll tell you i get this question all the time. what's the best hospital for me? for you? i'm going to explain how to find the best care. also, some renewed concerns over energy drinks. you know, if you need that kick, i'm going to show you a healthy aur alternative.