"cnn newsroom" starts right now. have a good afternoon. "cnn newsroom" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com right now, using the words false and illogical, the lieutenant governor fiercely denying new charges of favoritism, among other things. mean time, christie tells a reporter what he is going through has been, in a word, awful. right now, president obama marks martin luther king's birthday in five years in office, opening up about how his own skin color both hurts and helps him. and right now, the olympic torch gets closer to sochi, as new terror threats emerge. can russia keep the world's athletes safe?

hello, i'm wolf blitzer reporting from washington. completely false and illogical. that's how chris christie's lieutenant governor describes the latest allegations dogging the administration, lieutenant governor kim gud ago know, support for a development from a development project. the allegation comes from the democratic mayor of hoboken, new jersey. >> the bottom line is, she came and she made a direct threat to me. she came and when the lieutenant governor comes, pulls you aside in a parking lot, and says that these two things are connected, i know it shouldn't be, but they are. and if you tell anyone, i'll deny it. i mean, she felt almost guilty about saying it. she knows it's wrong. but that is exactly what they're trying to do. >> our owner raerin mcpike is o the season, the mayor saying governor christie was, if you believe this, alleged threat

directly involved in that threat. lieutenant governor says there was no threat at all. give us her response. >> reporter: well, wolf, lieutenant governor said three times that zimmer's claims were false, and listen here to her describe why this bothered her personally. >> standing in union beach, as we are today, with some of the mayors whose towns were devastated by sandy and also being a sandy victim myself, makes the mayor's allegations particularly offensive to me. >> reporter: now, she also gave some details to describe their relationship, and why she thinks zimmer's story is dubious. zimmer did put out a statement shortly thereafter, to say she was standing by her story, wolf.

>> zimmer, the mayor of hoboken, says she has spoken to federal investigators, the u.s. attorney. she says she spent two hours answering questions yesterday about her allegations and also submitted to the u.s. attorney her own diary, which she said was contemporaneous notes of that alleged meeting in the parking lot. what do we know -- what else do we know about this investigation? >> reporter: well, wolf, at that point, this is it. this -- that was sunday of a holiday weekend, that two-hour meeting, and handing over the diary. we believe that the new jersey assembly might also start to launch their own investigation or hold hearings, something of that nature. but so far, this is the very beginning of that investigation. that journal may be the only evidence that we have. but it's really the hoboken mayor's words against the christie administration's words, wolf. >> the governor, chris christie, who is in florida raising money, chairman of the republican governor's association. as you know, some big fat cat republican donors.

was he able, really, to get away, though, from his political trouble and potential legal trouble back home? >> reporter: wolf, no. he was asked about it. and he said that he was disturbed by the bridge-gate controversy. he said he was hurt by it. of course, there were 750 very wealthy and influential republican donors there. and they were there to encourage him and say they wanted him to run for president. he, though, said he has too much on his plate and to come see him next year about this. but wolf, i also want to point you to a yahoo! interview that he did on friday. just posted to the internet this morning. we want to read part of that to you, because he explained -- i don't think anybody knows what it feels like to have the kind of attention that i've had in the last nine days until you go through it. it's awful. listen, it's awful. i can explain to you as vividly as you like, but you won't get it. he did, however, say he's ready -- readier to be president. but for a little bit of insight in how he thinks, he says you need to have sharp elbows

publicly to make deals privately, wolf. >> erin mcpike in trenton, thank you. the mayor not backing down, reacting to lieutenant governor's statement, among other things. she said this "i am genuinely disappointed the lieutenant governor gud ago know has lived up to her promise she would deny the mitigation funding with expediting a private development project. i stand by my word. remain willing to testify under oath, and i will continue to answer any questions asked of me by the u.s. attorney's office. let's bring in democratic congressman, frank pallone, of new jersey. joining us from union beach right now. congressman, thanks very much for coming in. >> thank you, wolf. >> sir, this is a she said versus a she said. she said, who do you believe? do you believe the mayor of hoboken or the lieutenant governor of your state? >> well, wolf, i wasn't party to

the conversations, but i do think the allegations of the mayor of hoboken are very serious, and the u.s. attorney needs to look into it. and i have said to you in the past, there's been so many allegations now about, you know, threats and bullying by the christie administration. you know, it does seem that that's the culture. and i think that this whole idea of abuse of power, you know, has to be looked into, both by these legislative committees and by -- and by the u.s. attorney's office. i believe that what happened with the tv commercials, that -- where the governor said, you know -- or his administration said you -- you know, you put me in the tv ads, and i'll take the higher bidder, essentially, which is what the asbury park press investigated, is just another example of this abuse of power. and these are serious allegations that have to be looked into. >> do you think that both of these women, the mayor of hoboken, lieutenant governor of new jersey, should be brought in

for questioning and questioned under oath with lie detectors, if you will? is that necessary? >> well, both of them don't seem to have a problem in testifying or cooperating thoroughly with the authorities. so i think, you know, that is what's going to happen. they're both going to be asked, and u.s. attorney and the legislative committees will have to look into it and determine what happened. and there may be additional facts that come forward, you know, as we proceed. >> you think it could have been just a simple misunderstanding in that parking lot? maybe the lieutenant governor said to the mayor, you know, we really want you to go ahead and approve this development project that's going to be taking place in hoboken, and there wasn't a direct linkage to receiving more superstorm sandy funds. do you think there may have simply been a misunderstanding between these two women as far as communicating what was going on? >> no.

i think that the mayor of hoboken has been very clear about what she said she heard. i saw her on "up with steve kornacki", saturday morning when she said this. and she was pretty clear that there was a direct link being made by the christie administration. i don't think there's any doubt of what she said she heard and what her allegations are. >> by the way, what's the status of that project, that huge development project, that they were talking about? >> again, i don't know. i just know what the mayor of hoboken said, was that, you know, it was still outstanding. but i don't know any details about it, wolf. >> you were on "new day" earlier today on cnn. there was a nice interview with you there, and you threw out the so-called "i" word, impeachment. explain precisely where you see this unfolding, this investigation of the governor? >> well, i want to stress that,

you know, i don't believe that when you -- if, in fact, it's true that the christie administration was linking this development project to sandy aid, that's a serious charge. and something that i think would be illegal. and would result in, you know, impeachment or resignation. i want to really correct this notion out there that somehow, you know, this is business as usual in new jersey or, you know, amongst politicians in general. we don't trade, you know, approval of developments for sandy aid. that's wrong. i mean, i worked very hard to get this money for sandy relief. and i'm in union beach, and we're here today working to try to rebuild homes that still haven't been rebuilt and a lot of people haven't gotten their checks to rebuild their home or raze their home. so this notion that somehow, you know, you're going to link sandy aid to development or to tv ads or whatever, is just not right. and that's not the way it is,

and that's not the way it should be. and, you know, if nothing else comes out of this, it prevents future politicians from making those kinds of links, if they occur. >> if they occurred. a spokesman for the governor, colin reid, put out a statement saying -- i'll put it up on the screen. it's very clear partisan politics are at play here as democratic mayors with a political axe to grind come out of the woodwork and dry to get their faces on television. i want you to react to that situation. democrats simply piling on against this republican governor of new jersey, recently re-elected in a significant -- with a significant majority. >> well, remember that the mayor of hoboken in new jersey, we have these may, nonpartisan elections. she may be a registered democrat, but she doesn't run as a democrat. she runs in a nonpartisan election. and, you know, she was not -- i

know she didn't endorse the governor. but, you know, she has been -- she has praised him when she thought it was necessary. so i think it would be wrong, you know, to say that those who are out there and speaking out are just, you know, partisans. and certainly, you know, the case with the mayor of hoboken, she doesn't even run as a democrat. so i think it's very unfair to say that. >> frank pallone, as democratic congressman from new jersey, and ft. lee is in your district, right, congressman? >> no, no. i'm in union beach. my district is along the jersey shore, and also in the central part of the state. i don't represent ft. lee. >> all right. and you don't represent hoboken either, right? >> no. >> okay. all right. but he does represent a nice district in new jersey along the jersey shore. it's a nice area, by the way, and i recommend it, especially summertime. hey, congressman -- >> thank you, wolf. >> thanks very much. >> thank you. it was five years ago today

that president obama was sworn in, and to mark that presidential anniversary, the president gave a wide-ranging interview with the "new yorker" magazine. as senior white house correspondent brianna keel arre explains. >> reporter: everything from the president's agenda for this new year to sports to, yes, marijuana. the president calling recent laws in washington and colorado important for decriminalizing a commonly used substance. but he also worried about the slippery slope that could lead other drugs to be legalized. president obama getting real in the pages of the "new yorker," about his battles in the white house, and opening up on a personal level. telling editor, david remnick, if he had a son, he wouldn't let them play football, for fear of concussions. he also revealed new details of his own views on marijuana. calling pot use a vice, but adding, "i don't think it is

more dangerous than alcohol." >> i, barack hussein obama, do solemnly swear. >> reporter: five years ago, vowing change. >> let us brave once more the icy currents and endure what storms may come. >> reporter: come those storms did. last year alone saw a controversy over nsa spying, a government shutdown, and the botched rollout of health care reform. and now battered by those struggles, a more realistic obama, did he say describing himself as swimming upstream, admitting he may end his second term without accomplishing some of his biggest goals. obama likens himself to a relay swimmer in a river full of rapids. he says at the end of the day, we're part of a long-running story. we just try to get our paragraph right, as he talks about reducing income inequality. it's a goal that he's recently made a hallmark of his second term. >> we want to restore the essential promise of opportunity and upward mobility that's at

the heart of america. >> reporter: obama also revealed that like other presidents, he will write a memoir of his time in the oh oval office, and that the first lady has already begun working on hers. and giving, perhaps, a preview of his state of the union address next week, president obama said in the end, he will judge his presidency in large part by whether he's able to begin the process of rebuilding the middle class, and ladders into the middle class, wolf. >> brianna keilar at the white house, thanks very much. it is martin luther king jr. day, as all of us know, the day the nation remembers dr. king's legacy. there was a brief ceremony at dr. king's memorial here in washington earlier this morning. that's the memorial that was dedicated to dr. king back in 2011. later this afternoon, the president and the first lady will also take part in a public service project here in the d.c. area. we're going to bring you tape of that event once we get it.

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fear of terrorism at the sochi olympic games has the united states military planning to evacuate americans if it does come down to that. cnn has learned the pentagon will have two warships, several planes on stand-by, an official with direct knowledge says the state department will take the least, if -- if -- any emergency operation is needed. our justice reporter, evan perez, is joining us now with more details. what can you tell us, evan, about this? >> reporter: well, wolf, as you know, there is a tremendous fear of security issues in this olympics that starts just in a couple of weeks. and our pentagon correspondent, barbara starr, has learned from sources that there are two navy warships that are under way, probably going to enter the black sea in the next few days. and will be there just off the coast of russia, just in case there is a need for any evacuations. they're also going to put some planes on standby in germany,

just about a two-hour flight away, in case there is a need for evacuations. as you know, wolf, there has been a lot of concern about whether or not the russians are able to secure these games with a lot of unrest in nearby regions and also, as you know, there are some threats that have been made against the games. and so this is just a -- just-in-case contingency plan they're working on right now, wolf. >> but for any of those u.s. troops or aircraft or warships that get within russian territorial waters or air space, the russian government would have to authorize that. you can't just send in a u.s. military personnel into russia without a formal grant of permission from the russian government. >> reporter: right. that's exactly right, wolf. i mean, is this a region where it's very hard to reach sochi from land, and so from the u.s. perspective, they just want to have some ships nearby with helicopters that in case you need to evacuate people very quickly, you can do that.

and so these chips are going to be in the black sea in international waters, just north of turkey and between turkey and russia to be able to reach that region. >> just out of an abundance of caution, and let's all hope it doesn't come down to any of that, evan perez, thanks very much. faced with this terror threat, though, what can the u.s. do to protect the american athletes, the american visitors, and there will be thousands and thousands of them there. we're going to talk more about that, our law enforcement analyst, tom fuentes, former assistant director of the fbi, is standing by. wow, this hotel is amazing. oh no. who are you? who are you? wrong answer. wait, daddy, this is blair, he booked this room with priceline express deals and saved a ton. yeah, i didn't have to bid i got everything i wanted. oh good i always do. oh good he seemed nice.

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terrorists are openly threatening the sochi olympic games of the russia president, vladimir putin, insists their safe. but one u.s. senator says, quote, terror is a very serious fear. so serious, he wouldn't go there. earlier today, runners carried the olympic torch through volograd. terrorists set off two explosions there last month at a bus and rail station. it's a major transit hub for the games. and this video supposedly shows terrorist making the actual threat, two many believed to be

the suicide bombers that carried out the volograd attacks. u.s. lawmakers are clearly concerned. >> so what we're finding is, they're not giving us the full story about what are the threat streams, who do we need to worry about. are those groups, the terrorist groups who have had some success, are they still plotting? you know, there's a missing gap. and you never want that when you go into something i think as important as the olympic games. >> i would not go. and i don't think i would send my family. i don't know how you put a percentage on it, but it's just such a rich target in an area of the world that has, you know -- you have know, they have almost broadcast they're going to try to do something there. >> let's bring in our cnn law enforcement analyst, tom fuentes. tom, what do you think? is this safe for americans, for american athletes, for american tourists, guests, to show up in sochi? >> reporter: hi, wolf. short answer, no.

it's not safe. you have a group that's already stated they're going to attack. they have already conducted two serious attacks, killing three dozen people in the last three weeks. this is very close to their home, so they don't have to cross international borders. they're already within the russian federation. they have been waging terror attacks against the russian government, going on more than 20 years from chechnya and dagestan. when you add this up and their promise to give us a present, if you will, at the olympic games, i think it's a pretty serious threat, and it's unprecedented. we have not had a threat of this nature and this strength in history for the olympics. >> but the russians say they have created this perimeter around sochi that in order to get through there, you need a special pass. you need special papers that it's going to be almost impossible to get to any of the venues of the games without going through enormous amounts

of checkpoints, magnetometers, metal detectors and all that stuff. and they say they have got tens of thousands of military and police personnel on the ground to protect their visitors. isn't that good enough? >> no. i mean, that's all well and good they've got that. but, you know, the terrorists have had many years from the announcement that sochi was going to be the venue for the games. they have had many years to already move all of the explosives and detonators and firearms and equipment, everything they need, they could have already put in safe houses years ago in sochi. so in that case, the terrorists that would go down and use that equipment can pretty much -- all they need to bring is a toothbrush, and they're ready to go, if the planning has been in place for these years. >> is there a good enough cooperation, let's say, between the russian authorities and united states to help ease these concerns? latelily, as you know, the u.s.-russian relationship, especially in these kinds of law enforcement related areas, has

been strained. >> i think the problem is not with how cooperative the russians are. i know the fbi has dozens of people there, and have had them there for a while, and been working for years with the russian authorities, as they work with governments from all over the world, getting ready to host an olympics. i don't think that's the problem. the problem is, even if the russians pledge to give us everything they have, do they have everything they need and we need? that's the problem. they didn't have enough information to stop the train station bombing in volograd. they didn't have enough to stop the boss bus bombing in volograd. and now i've heard they have issued wanted posters for so-called black widows, or women whose husbands were killed by russian authorities in earlier attacks by the russians. so i think that they realize that they are really in a difficult situation to identify everybody that may intend to carry out an attack, and not just in sochi, not just at the

athletic events, but also on all of the transportation hubs leading to sochi. >> very sober assessment from tom fuentes. tom, thank you very much for sharing your thoughts. appreciate it. >> thank you, wolf. another controversy swirling around the new jersey, chris christie's administration. christie's team is firing back against allegations they actually threatened to withhold hurricane sandy relief money. our chief washington correspondent, jake tapper, is standing by with more. he has been doing some serious reporting on what's going on. i took my son fishing every year. we had a great spot, not easy to find, but worth it. but with copd making it hard to breathe, i thought those days might be over. so my doctor prescribed symbicort. it helps significantly improve my lung function starting within five minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. with symbicort, today i'm breathing better. and that means...fish on! [ female announcer ] symbicort is for copd including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day.

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the new jersey governor, chris christie, says the controversy swirling around his administration represent a learning opportunity but waste no time firing back that they threatened to withhold superstorm sandy relief funds to push for a development project. >> any suggestion -- any suggestion that sandy funds were tied to the approval of any project in new jersey is completely false. >> joining us now, our chief washington correspondent, jake tapper. jake, very strong denial from the lieutenant governor. you heard it.

she went on to insist there was absolutely no truth whatsoever in these latest allegations. the mayor of hoboken, though, standing by her story. so how is all of this playing out? >> reporter: well, it's interesting. the mayor of hoboken met with the u.s. attorney yesterday. she described her take on the story, her version of events, and also provided copies of her journal in which she said she had contemporaneous descriptions of what was going on when she had the conversation with the lieutenant governor, and also with another official from the christie administration. the christie administration says none of this is true. and while the mayor, mayor zimmer, says she will testify under oath, everyone else involved in this story says they are excited to participate in the investigation, and have all the truth come out. the christie administration is going to hold a conference call within the next hour to talk specifically about sandy relief funds and describe what hoboken did receive and what the mayor was asking for. >> now, he's going to be having -- celebrating his

inauguration tomorrow, governor christie, in trenton, in the capital of new jersey. what do we expect to hear from him in light of these latest developments? >> i think the remarks that we'll hear from him will be largely what we heard from him in the state of the state, which is talking about working in a bipartisan way, moving forward. how no one side has a monopoly all of the answers. but i would not expect to hear him address this scandal or controversy in his inaugural address. he is holding a big reception for supporters and donors on ellis island tomorrow evening. he's hoping to put this behind him. but i think he knows, he and his stavinoha, that as long as there are democratic mayors out there with stories like mayor dawn zimmer's to tell, the scandal is not going away any time soon. >> it certainly isn't. i just spoke, by the way, with democratic congressman, frank pallone, of new jersey. and he says if -- and it's a

huge if -- if all of these allegations are proven true, governor christie he believes should resign or even being impeached. those are very, very strong words. >> they are. but so far there is no evidence of anything tying governor christie, even with these allegations, if you believe all of them, mayor zimmer says the lieutenant governor said something to her about tying this development project with sandy relief funds. she says that a different official in the christie administration made a similar statement about how relief funds will flow to her if she okays this development project. but although she said that the lieutenant governor said that message was from the governor, nobody has made the case that the governor said something specifically. it's all hearsay at this point. so i think talk of impeachment or resignation is premature. although every day there is a new charge, there are questions about the christie administration, i think there

will be more of a clamoring for him to address some of these issues himself and talk about his version of events and why he rejects mayor dawn zimmer's version of events. we should note that she was very supportive of governor christie last year, and, in fact, just slightly over a week ago when cnn was talking to mayor zimmer about her relationship with the christie administration, and whether or not her frustration with sandy funds, which she had spoken about before, whether that was tied at all to her refusal to endorse governor christie, she said she didn't think so, she hoped not. she did not think it was an act of political retribution. then a few days later, she goes on television and talks about a different act of political retributi retribution. there are different stories here, although she says she was intimidated before, now she's gotten the courage to come out and speak publicly about it. there are those questioning her version of events now, because of what she said then. >> jake is going to have a lot more at 4:00 p.m. eastern on

"the lead." see you then, jake. thanks very much. >> thanks, wolf. president obama gave a very candid interview to the "new yorker" magazine. talking about racism and the oval office. what he said, when we come back.

as i mentioned earlier,

president obama gave a wide-ranging interview to the "new yorker" magazine to mark this the fifth anniversary of his taking office. it's an interview where he talks very candidly about a whole bunch of issues. let's bring in van jones to talk more about one part of the interview. van is the host -- one of the hosts of "crossfire" here on cnn, former special adviser to president obama. van, thanks very much for coming in. let me read to you one of the quotes from this wide-ranging interview. there's no doubt that there's some folks who just really dislike me because they don't like the idea of a black president. now, the flip side of it is, there are some black folks and maybe some white folks, who really like me and give me the benefit of the doubt, precisely because i'm a black president. so when you heard that quote, what did you think? >> well, i thought that was actually a pretty honest and accurate assessment. i mean, one of the things that's very interesting here, you know, i'm a ninth generation american. i've been -- my family has been here for lit yael nine

generations, 300 years of enslavement, 1 hundr00 years of crow. i'm the first member born with free rights in my generation. it's not surprising to me race comes up when you have the first black president so quickly after the civil rights movement. one thing that's interesting to me, we have actually in some ways gone backwards. it's actually easier for us now to talk about lesbian and gay issues, thank goodness. it's easier for us to talk about immigration issues, thank goodness. even marijuana, thank goodness. but on issues of race when it comes to african-americans, there's still this discomfort. and i think president obama does bring that out in people. >> well, explain that. we're celebrating dr. martin luther king today, what he did for our country. >> absolutely. >> just elaborate on that point you're making. >> well, i mean, it's just an interesting situation, because the civil rights agenda has gotten browder, including more and more people. including lesbians and gays, latinos, asians. that's all good. and yet if you look at the

african-american community, a year ago the president was giving this great speech, everybody was happy. a year later, our numbers are very, very bad. i'm not talking about poor african-americans. the black middle class, the majority go to work every day, 85% of black americans are employed. but struggling. like much of the rest of the middle class. but nobody talks about the fact that the public sector jobs, black folks used to get, manufacturing jobs black folks used to get, the housing we invested in, all that has gone away and yet there is a discomfort to talk about that. you don't want to seem like you're playing the race cart card, so the black agenda has in some ways stopped. you see a reversal of progress for the middle class african-americans. the black president can't talk about it. civil rights community doesn't want to say anything, white folks don't know what to do. so in some ways, ironically, we're actually maybe moving backwards, even as we move forward on other civil rights issues. >> how do we fix that, from your perspective? >> i think what we need to do is

look at the african-american communities where there are assets, where people are trying, and recognize, we're wasting some genius here. i think the president should be using his bully pulpit. he has talked about stem education, science, technology. everybody knows the jobs of the future are going to be in technology and science and computing. let's have an initiative to get all low-opportunity kids, black, latino, appalachian, whatever, learning how to code and engineer. we can have a new conversation about a future that includes all kids, but doesn't leave ought those black kids we know are struggling and talk about building a future that works. the problem has been whenever this president mentions the word race, it becomes a headline, as opposed to a huddle to get together to figure out how we can make real progress. >> give me, if you were helping the president write his state of the union address, which is going to be coming up in only a few days when he addresses a joint session of congress, addresses the american people. on this sensitive issue, give me off the top of your head right

now a line or two you would like to hear from the president. >> i would like him to say, let's stop wasting genius. we have got this obstruction economy, not an obama economy, it's not a gop economy, it's an obstruction economy. we're at logger heads. so basic stuff we could be doing. roads and bridges that would put people back to work. investing education. we're not doing it because we are stuck. i would say stop wasting genius. and i would point to all the genius that's being wasted in black america, white america, latino, low-income rural. and talk about a way that we could put this next generation on track to succeed. fundamentally, i think the politics of the united states has become a politics of nostalgia and lament on both sides. everybody talks about their favorite decade, talk about the '60s as liberals. apparently the republicans before the new deal. but we need a politics of a future. dr. king gave us a future 50 years ago. he didn't say i have a complaint, critique, attack on

the other side. he said, i have a dream. if president obama would put forward a dream that includes all kids being able to succeed, but don't shy away from the black kids, i think the country could embrace him in a different way. >> van jones, one of the co hosts of "crossfire," which airs weeknights, 6:30 p.m. eastern right after "the situation room." thanks for coming in. >> thanks. today there is a new video showing an american -- an american captive, kenneth bae, in north korea. he makes a startling admission. was it coerced? i'm going to talk about that. the former u.s. ambassador to the u.n., bill richardson, has been to north korea, standing by to join us live.

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there's new video of the american captive, kenneth bae, prisoner in north korea. in it, he admits to committing what he calls a serious crime against north could yar, but the government there has a long history of owe coercing false fe confessions. bae at the time ran a company specializing in tours to north korea. bae is pleading with the u.s. government to, quote, stop worsening my situation by making vile rumors against north korea, adding, quote, i want to be pardoned. >> translator: i would like to ask the u.s. government, once again, now it's been 15 months, and there have been several efforts made.

but now i request for immediate help by taking actions, not just by making words, so that my problem can be solved. >> bill richardson is former u.s. ambassador to the united nations. he's joining us now from santa fe. what do you make of this latest development? i ask you, because you've been to north korea on several occasions. >> well, i'm going go out on a limb and say this is possibly a good sign. if you look at the pattern of merrill newman, released before christmas, the american -- the veteran, 85 years old, this is what happened with him. he had a video, he confessed, he said he had made a mistake. probably coerced. then he said it was coerced when he got home. possibly the north koreans are sending a signal, okay, we have had kenneth bae for 15 months. we're ready to negotiate. we're ready to deal.

what do you have in return? i think that's a signal pushing kenneth bae to say what he did. this man has suffered. i think the u.s. and other countries, possibly china, other relief organizations that might be helpful in securing this release, possibly interpret this as a sign that maybe the north koreans are ready to negotiate and let him go. >> they let merrill newman go without an emissary like you or bill clinton or jimmy carter going in to bring that american out. would you anticipate that if, in fact, it is -- and let us hope it is a good sign that they're ready to release kenneth bae, will they just let him leave, or do you think it would require someone of stature going back there and bringing him out? >> i believe that north koreans want something in return. and possibly the trip of this human rights coordinator, the

state department. i think his name is king. he was going to go get kenneth bae, but he was then told to get back some months ago. so i think they want something in return, some way to express a message that possibly they're ready to talk. not necessarily in our terms. what we want the north koreans to do is renew talks but talk about reducing or terminating their nuclear weapons program, and they have not been ready to do anything. >> as you know -- >> this new young leader -- yeah. >> finish your thought. >> go ahead. this new young leader, what is so uncertain, wolf, is this new young leader, we don't know where he is am can be from and what he wants to do. we don't know about his power base. seems he is being challenged dramatically within his own circles. maybe now he grabbed hold of the

situation and realized that this rodman intervention was a disaster for him pr-wise and every other way. maybe now he wants to get to more normal channels and initiate a possible dialogue with kenneth bay as a bargaining chip. >> that's my assessment as well. you and i were about three years ago, but my own sense is they were embarrassed. kim jung un, buzz dennis rodman is acknowledging he's an alcoholic and checking into rehab and becoming an embarrassment. not only to himself, but also to the north koreans who received him with open arms. made him look like a hero and such a great guy. my own sense and i wonder if you agree, kim jung un understands what an embarrassment it is and to resuscitate themselves a little bit, maybe they will release kenneth bay that would

help them as far as their image is concerned. let's hope they do. what do you think? >> i think that's a good assessment, wolf. you know these people too. you were there with me. my view is that they realize and did not send any signals and wrong signals that are worse in the relationship. it's good that rodman is getting the treatment and i hope he gets better. he should stay out of basketball diplomacy and they could reset the framework based on kenneth bay. that's a legitimate way to do that. it would be a humanitarian effort. they would get praise for doing this. then possibly that brings back kenneth bay is able to receive a

message. my sense is they are saying he's a bargaining chip. we want something in return, possibly a visit or a message sent. we will see. it's a good sign what just happened. >> for they ask to you do it, let us know. you will be happy to bring home kenneth bay. it would be a good deed if you can do that. thanks very much. >> absolutely. thank you. >> so if you were around way back in 1964, you know how far our country has come. just ahead, a filmmaker looks back at a time when the -- a time called the freedom summer when blacks in mississippi fought for the right to vote. >> into the community.

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chase sapphire preferred. so you can. . >> america was a different place in the summer of 1964. a documentary of the sundance film festival called freedom summer takes us back to a time when blacks struggled against the forces of segregation for the right to vote in mississippi. an army of volunteers imported from the north went door-to-door to register people. >> if we could get the entry

point to the black community, they will house and harbor them. >> the genius of the freedom summer is these volunteers were spread all over the state. >> the man that directed freedom summer is joining us from park city, utah. thanks for joining us. tell our viewers why you decided to tackle the subject. >> there is a couple of reasons. one of the main reason is it's the 50th anniversary of freedom summer this year. we forgot in large part how people struggled to vote and how hard it was to get the vote in mississippi. >> it's not the first time you dealt with the subjects. it's important for all of us to learn what was going on then. you bring a lot of passion to the subject. tell us why.

>> one of the things i try to do to make it is not for them to live in a bubble. we want to inform the present by telling the past. we can learn a lot about where we are by knowing where we've before. we want to do that in the film. you think about our lives and where we are going in the future. >> in the clip, robert moses said he's volunteers would be house and harbored, but a lot of us forget and we shouldn't that a lot of these volunteers who went down to fight for civil rights in mississippi, this was a dangerous enterprise. >> it was incredibly dangerous. the first day of freedom summer, three of the workers, cheney, warner and goodman disappeared. that was a shadow that was over the whole summer. it was incredibly dangerous.

it was church burnings and in some ways a terrible time. that summer of 1964. >> a lot of these young people who came down there, they were blacks and whites also. they came down to mississippi and just explain a little bit because you have done an enormous amount of research. what motivated them to leave new york or chicago or philadelphia and go down to mississippi? >> that's one of the hardest things to tell as a filmmaker. most of the people we ask say i just felt it was right? i felt it was right. as a filmmaker i'm pushing it. what does that mean? it was just in my heart. i think sometimes it was how they were raised. a lot of times, they just saw wrong in this country and wanted to try to make it right. >> it's an amazing film and amazing summer of 1964. you document it beautifully in freedom summer.

stanley nelson, thanks very much for what you have done. >> thank you so much. it's great. i feel like i have been given an opportunity to tell the story. i'm very fortunate. >> good that we talk about it on this very, very special day here in the united states. that's it for me. thanks for watching. i will be back at 5:00 eastern in "the situation room." newsroom continues right now with brooke baldwin. >> wolf blitzer, thank you so much. great to be with you all on a monday. i'm brooke baldwin. we begin with terror threats for the sochi olympics. coming from beyond the grave. these two men in this chilling new video are believed to be the bombers behind the deadly blast in the city last month that killed dozen of people. in this just released video, they are promising something similar for the and cnn just learned the u.s. i