-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com right now, not going it alone. president obama says he's willing to work on immigration reform. cnn has the interview. also new questions about amanda knox's future. what are the rules of extradition and what are the

prices the u.s. could pay if they don't send her back to italy. and dennis rodman changes his tune. he said he'd do anything to help kenneth bae, he'd even trade places. hello. i'm wolf blitzer reporting from washington. it's a main sticking point in the effort to pass comprehensive immigration reform. what to do about the 11 million undocumented workers already living in the united states. house republican leaders have unveiled their outline for the immigration bill, but it does not include an immediate path to citizenship for people in the country illegally. immigration was one of the issues president obama discussed in an exclusive interview with our own jake tapper. jake is here with us. excellent work. the whole issue of a path to citizenship, is it a make-or-break issue for the president? >> it's a make-or-break issue

for a lot of advocates, people on the left who want a clear path to citizenship for the esty matesed 11 million undocumented workers. but the house has made it clear that's a non-starter. so that was the question for the president, would he be willing to sign a bill that does not include a path to citizenship, instead including some other legal status or would he veto it. here's what he said. >> let's talk about areas where you might be able to make some progress. >> yeah. >> i know that a pathway to citizen ship and immigration reform is very important to you and very point to democrats and others. it's possible that you might be able to get an immigration reform bill on your desk that has legal status for the millions of undocumented workers in this country but not citizenship. would you veto that? >> well, you know, i'm not going to prejudge what gets to my desk. >> but what's the principlesome. >> i think the principle is we

don't want two classes of people in america is a principle this a lot of people agree with, not just me and not just democrats, but i am encouraged by what speaker boehner has said. obviously i was encouraged by the bipartisan bill that passed out of the senate. i genuinely believe that speaker boehner and a number of house republicans folks like paul ryan really do want to get a serious immigration reform bill done. if the speaker proposes something that says right away folks aren't being deported, families aren't being separated, we're able to track top young students to provide the skills or start businesses here and then there's a regular process of citizenship, i'm not sure how wide the divide ends up being. that's why i don't want to prejudge it. >> i just wonder if you see this at all in terms of especially the pathway to citizenship in the way that you seem to when you were passing health care

reform and i was covering it, the public option. in other words, it would be a great in your view if you could do it. it's not going to happen and there might be some expectation use have to do because i, having reported on this, i don't think house republicans can pass anything that has a pathway to citizenship. >> well, here's the good news though. number one, there is a desire to get it done, there, particularly in this congress is a huge business. they haven't done it in the last couple of years out of the house caucus. they've been able to say what they' they're against, not what they're for. the fact that i a're for something is progress. i know for a lot of families, deportation is big. that's why we took those actions giving my prosecutorial discretion to make sure we're not deporting kids who grew up here and are americans for all practical purposes and we need

to get that codified. e question is there more we can do in this legislation that gets both democratic and republican support but sofrls these broader problems including strengthening support and that we have a legal system that works greater than it currently does. >> wolf, i think it's fair to say there are a lot of people on the left, progressives pushing for immigration reform who were disapointed by the president's answer. i gave him several opportunities to say he would veto anything that didn't contain a path to citizenship, didn't contain legislation. he did not take it. he said there needed to be a principle in the bill that we're not creating two classes of people and heal said if the republicans present something br there's a regular process of citizenship, that would be a process for him for those who want, for want of a better term, a special path citizenship, a distinct path to citizenship so individuals who have been in this country for years are able to pursue citizenship and not

just get in the back of the line, and i think that that willingness to work with the republicans on this issue might rub a lot of them the wrong way. on the other hand, wolf, it might mean there's actually legislation that can be passed. >> i know the president wants to speak with illegal immigrants directly. not necessarily the organizations that are pushing hard for this pathway to citizenship to try to get a direct sense of where they stand on this notion of at least getting some legal status in the united states so they can work, they can travel, they don't have to be afraid of deportation. jake, hold on for a moment. dana bash is with us, our chief congressional correspondent. dana, explain where the republican leadership in congress is right now because even though they're open to a pathway to citizenship, i understand for the so-called dreamers, the children of these illegal immigrants, they're not readily accepted yet for the parents yet, the adults, but there is a way that eventually they from a legal status they can move on for citizenship, by

what, going to the end of the line. >> exactly. so here's what the house republican leadership laid tout the range and file yesterday at a retreat. i was there in cambridge, maryland. it is as jake was reporting with the president, legal status, not a path to citizenship as the senate passed last year. but it also doesn't preclude citizenship for people who get legal status and are eligible through the existing channels. for example, if somebody has legal status right now, they are eligible for citizenship because of family relations, because of employment. those would be possible ult patly. so that's what we're talking about here in terms of this substance. but i'm going to give you the big but here. when it comes to process and politics, that's the big open question. on process, house republicans have said and the house speaker has said publicly, i want to do this. i don't care that it's an election year. i want to start moving this now. i'm told that in this meeting

that they had, you sort of heard the -- what you would expect. you had a lot of people who said that they don't think the policy of this is the right way to go, even if it's just legal status. but you also heard some -- apparently some republicans who want immigration reform, who don't think it is the right thing to do this year, an election year. so the reality check that i'm going to give to you based on our reporting at this retreat yesterday is that i wouldn't hold my breath that you're going to see this legislation move this election year because the focus politically for republicans is on getting out their base this midterm election year. they understand broadly in a national election, which is 2016, they're going have to reach out to hispanics, so it wouldn't surprise me if it gets punted to next year. >> it does surprise me, jake, that both the president and boehner indicate they both would like to reach a deal. there's a pathway to a compromise, if you will, jake, but it's not there yet.

>> it isn't there yet but i do have to say president obama, even though he's on this tour and his "state of the union" message was one he's willing to go it alone and republicans are complaining about him subverting the constitution, at the end of this issue he showed a willingness -- it depends on your perspective, i suppose -- compromise, cave if you're an immigration advocate reform on the left and work with republicans. did not know he was going to be willing to not draw a line in the sand. politically i think it's probably wise in terms of gettinging? in the past but in terms of principle and having a path to citizenship, there are those on the president's -- in the president's base who are very disappointed that he did not draw that line in the sand. >> and that's just -- quickly wolf speaks to an important thing that we shouldn't forget here, which is that the president is reaching out. house speaker boehner and many

of his rank-and-file republicans are reaching out. the second the republicans formally put out their principles that we reported on yesterday that i just described, you had democrats in the senate, chuck schumer and others for whom this was clearly no surprise. it was precooked. they immediately put out a statement we welcome this. this is a different tone we receive for the past three years since the republicans have been in charge of the house for three years and that is worth noting. >> one other thing, wolf, if i can just say. >> go ahead. >> when i interviewed paul ryan who's really leading the charge in many ways on this issue in the republican caucus along with other republicans as well, they're concerned about the president's taking executive action not so much with what he's been doing this week but with other things he's done in the past, especially with regard to the health care law previsions that he's delayed, provisions that have been waived. they have expressed concern that immigration reform cannot be subject to the whims of this president or any president when

it comes to what to enforce, especially when it comes to the border and border control issues, which are very important, of course, for conservatives. so that's something you should expect to hear a lot more in the coming months, if they are working toward something here. >> dana, you know, very quickly. the president has drawn a line in the sand as far as making concessions on raising the nation's debt ceiling at the end of this month, at the end of february or the beginning of march saying the u.s. -- the administration is not going to pay ransom to do what the country needs to do, make sure the country doesn't neglect its international commitment, its national debt, if you will. but you're getting some new information on what the republican position is. >> that's right. house republicans just wrapped up their retreat and their last meeting was about how to deal with the debt ceiling. and it sounds as though, acco according to multiple sources that the consensus is they're going to try to get some consensus for raising the debt ceiling. the most likely is to try to get rid of what's known as risk

corridor, which is effectively as part of obama care, allowing the government for people who don't like it, bail out insurance companies who aren't getting their money back. however, john boehner knows this. he has said this publicly that that is something that ultimately the president won't accept. so he is really trying to push his members to just get this over with, increase the debt ceiling, and move on. you have a lot of people in his caucus who agree with that, but it sounds like they're going through the motions to try to figure out how they get to that point. the other concern is just the political dynamics here that we were told about at this meeting is that even if they want to try to extract a concession and they put that bill on the floor of the house, they might even get republican support. it might not even pass. and the reason is there may be enough republicans who won't vote for any increase in the debt creel nothing matter what is attached to it.

so those are the kinds of things they're grappling with. the key point is the house speaker does not want a fight on this. he's made it very clear to his members. he wants to get it done and move on. >> nobody wants a downgrading. >> that's right. >> dana, thanks to you. good work. both of you doing excellent work. by the way, jake's full interview of president obama will air later today. it's a wide ranging interview. 4:00 p.m. eastern. you're going to want to watch it. dennis rodman opens up to our own chris cuomo. you're going to hear what the former nba star now says about his trip to north korea and his friendship with kim jong-un. the exclusive interview with chris cuomo. chris is also standing by. that's when we come back. they lived. ♪ they lived. ♪

they lived. ♪ (dad) we lived... thanks to our subaru. ♪ (announcer) love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

the former ba basketball star dennis rodman spoke candidly and exclusively about his battle with alcoholism, the fate of an american being held in north korea, and his friendship with kim junk un. the exclusive interview was with our own chris quo know. dennis rodman says he doesn't consider north korean president as a dictator. >> i call him a friend. he gave me the opportunity to come in, in the country in north korea to bring a basketball team over there to show the world, just show the world that we can actually get along, americans

and north korea. i wasn't trying to look back in the history book of what he did or his grand fore. i didn't -- >> that wasn't your job. >> that wasn't my job. it wasn't, hey, kim jong-un, can i come over here and ask you why you're such a bad guy? that wasn't my job. it's political. it wasn't my job. i said from day one. i'm not an ambassador. i'm not, you know, a diplomat. >> in an earlier interview with chris, rodman seemed to suggest he knew why the american kenneth bae is being held in north korea. he said ken next bae must have done something to be sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. today chris asked if he wanted to apologize to bae's family. >> i don't even know the bae family. i keep trying to tell you. i have sympathy with the fact that i don't want anyone to go in any country and be hostage

for something maybe they did or did not do. like i say, i'm not in government. i don't know how that works. but with the bae family, you know, like i said, i feel for them. i people for them deeply. let me tell you this. i would do anything. this is dennis rodman talking. if they say we'll take dennis rodman and let bae go, i would do it. straight ahead, i would say, take me. >> chris cuomo is joining us now for a little more analysis. good work. we were all watching. i was riveted at 8:00 a.m. eastern on "new day" when you were doing the interview at the clinic rehab. you spoke about his struggles with alcohol. tell our viewer as what he said. >> yeah. i mean, wolf, that really was the motivation to go and speak to dennis. yes, there's a lot of wattage in him, he creates controversy. but unlike the north korea situation where he's clearly suffering from a little bit of ignorance is bliss in terms of how he chooses to see the man he

calls a friend and sees the situation. of course, he's not an ambassador or politician but there's still something in terms of how you depict the man. the issue, wolf, as you well know is something that's much more relatable to americans and i felt that dennis showcasing the journey of recovering how difficult it is, speaks to what a lot of families and a lot of individuals understand, and he is suffering. he is sick. he is losing the battle right now. he's in a rehab facility, but he's not working the program. he says he hops around the 12 steps. it doesn't work like that, as anybody knows. but i feel for him and i wish him well and i was happy to give him this opportunity which is unusual, wolf, as you know. you don't usually talk to someone in the midst of rehab, but we've both done documentary work where we follow someone through it. however, his doctor and he felt he needed to do this to get this healing process off his chest. i think the addiction is the most real thing he's dealing with right now in terms of where his head is. >> it's pretty amazing. he said the reason he drinks is

because he's bored. i'm right, right? >> he definitely says that. the question is what does he mean? i'm not a psychologist. you know, we've had a lot of experience over the years covering addiction, recovery, the process, man fegs stations. i think what's going on here, obviously it's not about partying. it's about masking. not everybody drinks to abuse alcohol, of course, but he does, and it's not that he's bored. i think that when he's left alone with himself, when he is in those moments, there are things that he doesn't want to deal with, and that's where the booze comes in. that doesn't make him unusual. it makes him all too usual. his denial of it right now is dangerous and i hope today he did get things off his chest and it allows him to clear the table so to speak and move forward in a more productive way, wolf. i'm not sure he will. he talked about doing a press conference next week, getting back into rehab, getting back to

his large self that he believes is his kind of cult and personality that he is. i think he gets some real work do. >> he also invited you to join him on his next trip to north korea. >> yes. >> are you going? >> i would certainly accept the invitation. i think it would be better if you came with me. at least we have somebody in there who knows the situation well and would be of more journal is tick value. obviously, wolf, i would take the invitation in a second. there's zero chance of me being used by any type of propaganda machine there. i think it would be very important to get a journalist in there in a noncontrolled environment. i don't know that it's possible. i understand his gesture and i was willing to accept it. >> i was there three years ago. i would highly recommend it. it's an eye-opening experience. as a journalist you would want to see it up close. it's not every day you get to see what's going on in pyongyang and areas around the north korean capital. excellent work, chris.

thanks for doing this. thanks for everything you do every morning. as a regular viewer of "new day," i appreciate it. >> high praise, wolf. i appreciate it. thank you for the opportunity, sir. >> thank you. chris cuomo doing amazing work for us. there's a disturbing story going on right now. security scare at several hotels near the site of the super bowl. what's going on, susan? >> hi, wolf. it shows you the kind of thing security is worrying about and they're investigating it. they tell us that a white powdery substance was found at three hotels, three hotels located near the super bowl at the site of east rutherford, new jersey. obviously they've got hazmat and squads out there. but apparently six letters are involved in this, were received in new jersey and one in new york city. the one in new york city evidently went to and was

addressed to former mayor -- new york mayor rudy giuliani and was sent to his midtown office. however, it never got to him. it was opened in the mail room. the letter that contained a powdery substance. it didn't go any further. they called authorities and they're checking it out. the same goes for the additional letters that were found in new jersey. at this time no one is sounding an alarm, wolf. at this time they're doing what they normally do. they're responding to these. they're checking out the letters. they're obviously going to test this white powdery substance to see exactly what it is and, of course, who sent these letters, and then we'll have more information. wolf? >> how long will it take to determine if this white powdery substance is really dangerous or this is simply someone's idea of a hoax? >> well, you know, hoax, as we receive in the past, you're right. oftentimes these matters can be a hoax and there is a test that the fbi and other hazardous materials teams are used to

doing right on site that can give them an initial read on something. however, it oftentimes is another conclusive, so it's usually sent for additional testing, which can take a few days to thoroughly check out. but it's something they don't want to, of course, take any chances as you've seen in many other cases in the past. they will examine the substance and see exactly what it is, and they certainly are looking at where these letters came from and who may have sent them. >> was the substance the same substance in the letter that was sent to the former new york city mayor rudy giuliani and the substance they found at the hotels near the site of the super bowl? >> they're not saying exactly ore than a white powdery substance that they're concerned about. they're talking about six letters again in new jersey, one to former mayor giuliani at his office. of course, he's now a private citizen. so we're not sure how similar they are as details are just now

becoming available. >> and in the letters that were sent or at least that one letter that was sent to giuliani, do we know if there was a threat in that letter, what it said, or any of the details of that letter? >> that's what we're still trying to pin down right now. of course, that is something you'd want to look at and see if there was a threat. it would not be uncommon if that were the case as we've seen many, many times in the past. as we know through the anthrax scare following 9/11 that was quite priv lent. we've often seen over the years, as you know, wolf, people sending things that look or appears to be a substance that could be a chemical, that could bring harm such as anthrax, such as ricin. but it's far, far too early to wonder or suggest that this might be the case here too. we'll have to wait bait longer to see. >> we're showing our viewers, susan, in a live picture,

courtesy of our affiliate news 12 new jersey. i can see some vehicles in front of the hotel. i think it's a renaissance hotel not far away from the super bowl site. describe what's going on. i guess they've got hazmat units on the scene. they're taking a look at this. assume th i assume they're interviewing guests at the hotel? >> that would be routine. i don't have the pictures you're seeing right now, but that would be standard operating procedure, to cordon off any area that they would be concerned about. so at this point we don't know, for example, in the hotels were these letters discovering in the mail room there, how far did these letters get. but, of course, they'd want to secure any particular scene that they think warrants that kind of attention, and, of course, interview the staff as to who touched it, who saw it, did you see anyone coming in with any kind of mail, look for delivery trucks where it might have been

received. there's a lot of tracing back to see what would happen. but you can imagine if you were staying at one of these hotels and you're attending the super bowl or for that matter are there for any other reason, it's unnerving to say the least. >> to put it mildly. hold on for a moment, susan. tom flint, former assistant fbi is on the phone. tom, you're listening to the news that's developing. to the viewers just tuning in, they found six areas of unknown white powder at hotels near the site of the super bowl and they sent a letter to former mayor rudy giuliani. they found a white substance as well. they're trying to determine if it's dangerous, a hoax, what's going on. just quickly walk us through if this is a real threat or someone thinks it's a fun idea to make people a little crazy right now.

>> unfortunately, wolf, it might take a while to know if it's a real threat. right now what they'll be trying to do is isolate the material, safely remove it and prepare it to be transported so it can be analyzed but sometimes the analysis can take several days depending on what type of material it is. so the only way that you could really expedite determining that it's safe is if they find out who put that there or if somebody claims credit for it as a hoax just to do it, just to get attention. but at this point, it's going to be a little bit of a while to see. and i'll be anxious to hear what the different laboratories say about how long it would take them to examine and verify the content. >> so if a hazmat unit is on the scene and we're showing the viewers these live pictures coming in from the renaissance hotel, that's not far from the site of the super bowl. the hazmat vehicles.

assume anyone getting near that substance is going to be wearing protective geerl. >> hopefully they're trained. they'll make themselves dressed appropriately and safely in order to gather up the material and secure it. so, yes, you would suspect -- that's why they call a hazmat team, they're professionals at doing this and securing the material. >> we're watching the breaking news here on cnn. i also want to welcome in our viewers on cnn international viewers not only here in the united states but around the world and just to recap what we know right now, there are six areas at these three hotels not far from the site of the super bowl in new jersey right outside of new york city where they found some suspicious white powder, separately -- a separate letter was sent to the former mayor of new york city, rudy giulia giuliani, now a private citizen. that letter was intercepted in the mail room. they found some white powdery -- suspicious powder in that letter as well. so they're investigating that. we don't know if there's a connection for the powder sent

to rudy giuliani and the powder in six separate incidents found at the three hotels found not far from the site of the super bowl which is sunday night. but, tom, walk us through how law enforcement, local, state, federal law enforcement is going to have to deal with this. >> well, they're do the investigation to see if they can identify when the material arrived and how it arrived at the locations. so that will involve interviewing employees at the hotel, people that work at the door and the front counters and at the concierge desk as well as then reviewing all of the security cameras to see who entered and how the material entered. it would be the same thing for the post office, if they can be doing a review of the mail handling, of videotapes, of security cameras showing if possible when that latter arrived or how it arrived, post

mark, and if they'll turn it over to examination. not just powder but examination of the envelopes for fingerprints or fibers or other forensic material on the envelopes themselves that and they would clearly look to see if there was some sort of letter that may have contained some sort of threat that. would be very significant as well. >> yes, it would. they would want to see if there's some written message or threat or some other indicator of the person and the motion for sending it. >> susan candiotti is making her way over to the hotels not far from the super bowl. susan, we know that local, state, federal authorities, they've been spending a lot of time gearing up for the super bowl and security precautions not only around the site of the super bowl and new york and the whole area of northern new jersey and new york city. the security cautions have been intense, haven't they?

>> they've been enormous. this is what happens really at every super bowl. i've seen them, covered many of them. of course, however, this is the largest metropolitan area you can imagine with really so many wide-ranging venues. you've gotten a venue 12, 15 miles away from times square in new york where so many activities are going on and you have a well ordained team of federal, state, and local agencies who have gone through this drill before but now on a much broader scale, so they are well equipped. they have said repeatedly to respond to this kind of thing. and at this moment, wolf, no one is raising any alarms. they're doing what they're supposed to do as things come up. at this point, they're calling it, in their words, a routine matter as they respond to this. it doesn't mean they another concerned about it. it doesn't mean they're throwing all their effort into it. but they're obviously responding as they would to any kind of

scare like this as tom fuentes pointed out. is this someone drawing attention to theps or the real thing? they are calmly pursuing this and checking to see exactly what the substance is. is it someone just trying to scare everyone? well, you know, they're being cautious. they're approaching this cautiously. >> as they should. six letters discovered at these hotels not far from the super bowl. we're showing our viewers some live pictures from east rutherford, new jersey. that's the site of the super bowl and a second letter addressed to the former mayor rudy giuliani. he never got close to the letter. it was intercepted in the mail room but it did contain some sort of suspicious white powder. and tom fuentes, our former law enforcement analyst and former fbi director, to determine that it's actually a dangerous substance like anthrax or ricin or something like that, you say it could take a few days, but

could they determine immediately whether it's something other than just some normal powder? >> i think the answer's probable no, wolf, and i'm not an expert. >> these materials. they could be anthrax or ricin or any of the other materials that have been mailed in the past or threatened to have been mailed are probably going to require a laboratory to verify what exactly the material is and how dangerous it my be. >> all right. tom, hold on. susan, hold on. lou column beau is joining us, a former police officer in new york who's an expert on these kinds of matters. lou, what do you make of what's going on outside new york city, the six separate letters sent to these three hotels not far from the super bowl and a seventh letter sent to the former mayor rudy giuliani, all apparently containing some sort of white

powder. >> i think we can say it's a sign of the times. and tom twen fuentes spoke to t very well. let me tell you, wolf. came back from my third time at the stadium. it's intense. teen the extent of having black hawk helicopters surveying the skies. ite going to be an ongoing investigation. the fbi will be involved. there's no better investigative organization to take the point on this and they're going to be able to develop some information on this as to who was responsibility. i'm confident of that. in fact, the one thing they're going to establish meetly is the common analyst of all these substances as well as the one to the former mayor. >> you've been ding with this,

lou, your entire career. how marriage superior an event like this and it doesn't get any more major than the super bowl to have this kind of incident occur only a couple of days before? >> it's too commonplace, to be very candid with you, wolf. i think it's happening more and more frequently. but what's brought this to such attention is the fact that it's around the super bowl. i mean this is far more commonplace than the general public or the media realize. i mean this is a fairly common occurrence. substances are frequently sent to business establishments, sent to individuals at times, and they go through the process they're going through right now. hazmat teams, four enic investigations, it goes on and on from there. >> those of us who covered the anthrax letter threat more than a decade ago in washington and new york, we remember that very, very vividly. stand by. evan paris is joining us right

now. he's our gist it is reporter. justice didn't reporter. what are you picking up about super bowl security in general? i know you've been picking up that? right now the fbi and all the federal agencies assigned to look at around the super bowl have a huge presence in new york and new jersey. one of the things that we know of is that the fbi has brought up additional analysts and wmd specialists, people who are experts is at being able to analyze things like this and so those people are now probably being put to work to try to figure everything out. they're stationed up there in northern new jersey and just outside of new york city. new york already has a lot of the capabilities on this, but, you know, with a big event like this, the fbi was -- made sure they brought in some extra support just to be able to handle something like this. and as you know, as lou mention,

these things happen. hangings out in d.c., going with the fbi, you hear how often they respond to these types of threatening letters and suspicious packages that come in. it's all too common. they have a procedure they go through. they don't freak out in the beginning. they make sure they know exactly what it is they're dealing with before trying to decide whether or not it's of imminent danger. obviously they had to evacuate the hotels. you never know if it's something that gets into the air system of the hotel, that could make people sick, if, in deed, it is something bad, they have a procedure to go through and right now you can't -- you can't imagine a place that has more feds, more local authorities that are experts in handling these types of scenes than the new york/northern new jersey area, wolf. >> you're looking at live pictures of the site of the super bowl there in east rutherford, new jersey. once again, three hotels

receiving -- apparently receiving letter, six letters with some suspicious white powder. a seventh letter sent to the former new york city mayor rudy giuliani. it was intercepted, opened in the mail room near his office. he was not near there. we're watching this story very, very carefully. we're going to take a quick break and resume the coverage of this when we come back. [ sneezes, coughs ] i've got a big date, but my sinuses are acting up. it's time for advil cold and sinus. [ male announcer ] truth is that won't relieve all your symptoms. new alka seltzer plus-d relieves more symptoms than any other behind the counter liquid gel. oh what a relief it is.

if your denture moves, it can irritate your gums. try fixodent plus gum care. it helps stop denture movement and prevents gum irritation. fixodent. and forget it.

the breaking news out of northern new jersey right outside of new york city. there have been several incidents of a suspicious powder being found at three separate hotels not far from the site of the super bowl sunday night, the stadium of the super owl in east rutherford, new jersey. a seventh letter was discovered in the mail room at the office ofthe former new york city mayor rudy giuliani. you're looking at a live picture. hazmat units around the scene of these three separate hotels as well as the office of former mayor rudy giuliani in midtown manhattan. we received a statement from the new jersey police. quote, the joint sources have surrounded the area that has received the substance. the locations are being secured. this situation is being thoroughly investigated. more information will be provided when it becomes

available. susan candiotti has been reporting on this story for us. what's the latest, susan? what else are you hearing? >> well, of course, as you indicated, they'd be doing field tests right now. that's normally what would be happening at this time once they have the letters in hand. as you said, we're talking about six letters that were sent to various locations in new jersey including three hotels near the super bowl, and as you said, an additional litter sent to the office of former mayor rudy giuliani in midtown manhattan. so at this time we're talking about a suspicious white powdery substance. that's how it's being described to us. a younld have the joint terrorism task force responding, of course, to the scene at this time. they're calling this a routine matter that they would be looking into under any circumstance but especially now with heightened attention, let's say to put it mildly, around the super bowl that's happening on

sunday, just days away. therefore, they're going to be testing the substance to see what it is, try to determine whether there's anything to be worried about, whether this is actually a hoax, and, of course, track down the source of the letters, who sent them. that is a part of what they're looking at. wolf? >> susan, hold on a minute. tom fuentes is with us. if someone thinks this is cute fun and does this, sends sort of a powder, let's say not a dangerous powder, in these kinds of lit irs to the hotels near the site of the super bowl and to rudy giuliani, that's major crime, isn't it? >> yes, it is, wolf. whether it's dangerous or not dangerous, they consider it a federal crime. authorities do not take it lightly just because ow whatever you're seeing. the tremendous response that has to go into effect, the fear that it raises with the public and

with the individuals that have handled the material, the postal workers, the hotel workers, the mail room workers at mr. giuliani's office. all of these people will be in fear. and the field tests are highly, you know, they're speculative at best oftentimes, so you really need a laboratory to verify the content and whether it's harmless or not and that may take some time. in the interim, if you've been exposed to this, you're going to be very fearful in the meantime. >> and when you say it could take some time, it could take a few days to determine if it is something dangerous like anthrax or ricin or something like that or if it's something like a nonharmful powder. >> right. you remember when ricin or supposed ricin was mailed to the capitol about a year or so ago, it took about a week for the laboratory at ft. dietrich to verify what it was. it may take a while to have the definitive tests that are

necessary to determine that. again, as susan mentioned, they'll be doing field testing at each of these sites, but that's often not reliable. >> fran thompson is joining us. you're a former homeland security adviser to former president bush. there's always after 9/11 enormous security surrounding a major sporting event, especially around the super bowl, right? >> that's right, wolf. in fact, an event like this will be designated what we call a national security special event, and nsse. there'll be a designated lead agency, and, you know, we know because we've been inside it, that there's a command center where all these agencies coordinate threat information, coordinate lead information, and follow up on any threat. you know, we've talked -- you know, tom and susan have talked about the field testing. the there's a whole protocol now because we've got all this experience with the white powder

incidents. they'll do the field test and while it's true we don't want to rely on them, you're going to get the definitive test. if the field test is triggered, there's a whole protocol for treating people early on as soon as you get that, depending on what the agent is, whether it's anthrax or ricin. so you won't wait for the definitive test. people who could have been exposed should know. there's a protocol to get them very quickly evaluated, treated, and make sure they're observed for any sign of exposure regardless of the outcome of the field test. >> but if you are exposed, correct me if i'm wrong, fran, it could take days to see if there's any reaction to that kind of dangerous powder. >> that's right. you won't manifest the signs right away if it's an anthrax. you know what i mean. it depends on -- you should be careful, wolf. it depends on what the agent you're exposed to is, how quickly you're likely to manifest any of that. my point here is you'll be

observed, and if the field test tests positive, they're likely to begin treatment as a prophylactic. they'll then know later on when they get the definitive lab results, but they won't wait for the definitive lab results if there's a positive hit on the field test. >> stand by. everyone stand by. we're going to continue our special coverage of what's going on. once again, six letters sent to these hotels. three hotels near the super bowl. at least six. another letter sent to the former new york city mayor rudy giuliani, all contained an unknown white powdery substance. our coverage resumes right after this.

following breaking news out of northern new jersey, not far from the site of sunday night's super bowl, east rutherford, new

jersey. at least six letters containing some suspicious white powder have been found at three hotels near the stadium in east rutherford, new jersey, the site of the super bowl sunday night. a seventh letter with suspicious white powder was found in the mailroom at the office in mid-town, manhattan. rudy giuliani, the former mayor, hazmat units and fbi units there on the scenes of the renaissance hotel in east rutherford, new jersey. other hotels in the area are watching what's going on. they are trying to determine if the powder is dangerous and a hoax. at issue is a statement saying other things like the joint terrorism task force and hazardous materials units have responded to several locations after receiving the suspicious letter and substance. we will continue to monitor that story, but another important story we are watching right now

including a rocky week on wall street with ups and downs. zane asher is joining us. give us where the stock stands. >> the dow was down about 200 points and now it's down about 76 points. we had a rocky week on wall street and the investors are saying if it weren't for the swings this week, they would have been wilder. this is the perfect storm. a lot of money and out of emerging markets. as the fed continues to see the rise, they won't chase yields in developing nations. you had a slow down in china for quite sometime. manufacturing certainly contracting over there and the fed this week deciding to take another $10 billion off the table as well. in terms of today, you are seeing investors rebalance the portfolio at the end of the month. >> we will continue the breaking news coverage after this. i take prilosec otc each morning for my frequent heartburn.

because you can't beat zero heartburn. woo hoo! [ male announcer ] prilosec otc is the number one doctor recommended frequent heartburn medicine for 8 straight years. one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn.

>> getting back to the latest developments on the scare not far from the site of the super bowl sunday night in a moment, but another story i want to turn to right now. iran and the former u.s. embassy in tehran has become what the iranians call a museum. not many westerners get a chance

to see it, but we are given an exclusive tour and gives us a fascinating look inside. >> for years this is as close as the reporters could come to the embassy in tehran. a rare glimpse inside. >> was this is where the marine guards were? >> for 444 days this was a prison to some 50 american hostages. 1979 take over dramatized the oscar-winning film, argo. they took us to the secure part of the embassy. >> is it a secure combination? >> [inaudible]. . >> it's the same, he said. it's a propaganda museum run by the government. many have become disillusioned, the anger against america survives. >> do you still believe it was justified to hold the americans as hostages? >> translator: yes, definitely. >> every room and every piece of

equipment is an exhibit. >> this is a walk back inside. >> a sound proof meeting room with dusty mannequins and teleexmachine marked as belonging to the nsa and the shredder used to destroy secret documents as students took over. captured in argo. >> this is pressure sensitive here. inside, all the ways they would communicate back home. a teletype machine and ancient fax machine. this looks like coding equipment. all the prized possessions of the iranian revolutionary guard. >> equally prized is more modern. the experience theory claims the u.s. was behind 9/11. >> why would we do that to our own people. >> they wanted to make their people believe they were in

danger, he said, to attack other countries. >> what is yet to penetrate the walls is optimism about the new diplomacy between iran and the u.s. >> could you imagine american diplomats opening the embassy again? you cannot trust america, he said. cnn, tehran. >> that's it for me this hour. breaking news continues though right now with brooke baldwin. live on super bowl boulevard here in time square. excitement for the game is palpable. breaking news. two days before the super bowl, an envelope containing a suspicious white powder has been discovered at not just one or two, but three hotels near met life stadium in new jersey. cnn national correspondent susan canned lotiy is joining me on