join us tomorrow. erin burnett "out front" starts erin burnett "out front" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com breaking news. terror warniterror warning ton air lines. what they believe terrorists are preparing. four people under arrest for the drugs found in philip seymour hoffman's apartment. the links linking them to his death. live happening right now in honor of hoffman. fans and fellow actors remembering an incredibly talented man. let's go "out front." good evening, everyone.

i'm erin burnett. we begin with the breaking news. u.s. intelligence warning airlines of a terror threat. toothpaste bombs. the games are two days away and officials say terrorists could try to hide explosives inside of toothpastes or cosmetic tubes. we'll have that sort of not totally a liquid but a soft substance. evan perez is following the story. evan, obviously it's incredibly specific. you've been working your sources. how serious is the threat? >> it's very specific and very serious threat. this is not every day you hear from the homeland security department asking airlines to be on the lookout for possible explosives in toothpaste or makeup containers. obviously for years we've been putting our toiletries in small

bags. in russia they've banned it. what has happened today is the homeland security department says this could be an issue so they've asked the airlines to be on the lookout for it, erin. >> to your point, we talked about liquids. i'm thinking people think that you realize that toothpaste, at least in most airports i've been in, you don't have to have it in the liquids bag. that might be one reason why they would target that. what flights are they the most worried about? >> one of the things i think they're most worried about is flights from europe and neighboring countries going into russia. there are not many flights coming from the united states except for some charter flights perhaps. what they're worried about is places where they don't have as much visibility, where u.s. intelligence doesn't know as much about what is going on before people get on these fligh flights. inside sochi they think it's safe and that the russians can

handle the security there. it's people outside. people trying to get to sochi. >> >> most people will say, if they're going to use it on the games, they'll use it on domestic flights or flights to the united states. that would be for a lot of these terrorists, the holy grail. is that a fear? >> the homeland security department says they don't know of any plots or threats to the u.s. again, one of the things that they're focused on and what they think the terrorists are focused on is on sochi and russia and in particular these are groups that are based in southern russia. dagistan region. they believe most of the terrorist activity is focused on the games and in disruptding around the games, not necessarily in sochi itself, erin. >> thank you very much, evan. evan perez reporting there.

and joining me now is congressman michael mchall, chairman of the house homeland security committee. chairman, thank you for coming on the show. potential toothpaste tube bombs. how much do you know about this? >> i've been briefed on this actually today, but the terror threat has been around for several days. i find it to be very specific and incredible. at 2:00 the department of homeland security issued a bulletin to airlines, particularly flights going out of europe into russia warning about this potential threat where explosives can be put in toothpaste containers and cosmetics on board either to detonate on the airline or to possibly smuggle into the olympic village. this is a serious threat. homeland security officials are taking a lot of precautions.

they're ensuring that these explosives, if they're on airplanes, they'll stop them. >> i know there's only so much you can talk about. have you been briefed on threats that are as specific as the toothpaste and cosmetics bomb threats? >> there are threats. the emirate caucuses, the more extreme faction of the chechnyian rebels that train in syria, for instance, there is a concern that with that kind of training and trade craft that they can travel from syria into the sochi area. that is of grave concern. so is the aviation. explosives. they may be trying to get these explosives on airlines. >> in terms of 57% of americans seem to think a terrorist attack is likely at the olympics. what about when we hear of

threats of toothpaste bombs, are you hearing or concerned in any way that this can have a domestic angle? >> i think the threat from syria is a homeland security angle to it. that's one of our greatest concerns. i know the secretary of homeland security feels that way as well. with respect to the three ounce, i don't think you're going o see that in the united states but i know these flights that are emanating out of russia you'll see a tightening up of those screening procedures with any liquid gels, cosmetics and toothpaste. >> are you confident that you have all the intelligence that you need? it seems like now you find out about toothpaste. maybe that was a specific credible threat. once you find out about it, you're likely to thwart it. the horse leaves that barn and we're looking in the wrong place. >> i think that's exactly right. you don't know what you don't know. these black which had does that they talk about, we don't know how many there are.

any slain chechnyian rebel can have black widows. we know two have been arrested and taken into custody in france. we know that six individuals were taken into custody in austria and were released so this is not some hypothetical thing. it's a real threat. >> thank you, chairman mccaul. is obamacare a deadly threat? some say no way. what allegedly happened when justin bieber was trying to board the plane? right now four people facing charges in connection with the drugs found in philip seymour hoffman's apartment. we have a special report. as we go to break, you're looking at a live vigil underway right now for hoffman here in new york city.

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million jobs in 2024 and as a result that lower work force participation rate, less labor supply lowers economic growth. >> yes, that's right, mr. chairman. >> so when you boost demand for labor in this kind of economy, you actually reduce the unemployment rate because those people who were looking for work can find more work, right? >> yes, that's right. >> both things are right. huh. joining me, congressman chris van holland. you saw him there. congressman, great to see you as always. i'm so excited you came on because i know you know so much about this. so obviously -- >> great to see you and welcome back. >> thank you. it's great to be back. great to talk about stuff like this. so, all right. you obviously heard, you know, paul ryan there asking the cbo director about lowering economic growth. he said it would lower economic growth. in that report the cbo says the amount of work done would drop 2%. that's not saying the same thing as economic output would drop

2%. it might drop less. just to make the point how significant that is, if you took 2% of the economic output of the united states, that's $325 billion a year. that is a lot of money. >> well, of course, erin, as dr. almendor pointed out, he wasn't putting a dollar value on the ability of somebody to spend a little bit more time at home with kids or ability of somebody to leave the job of the large employer and take the risk of starting up an entrepreneurial business of their own, number one. number two, if you look at the affordable care act in its full context, dr. almendor also said that because it reduces the deficit over the 10 year and 20-year window, that actually will help economic growth because if you lower the deficits in the out years on net, that actually spurs economic growth. so what was -- what was clear was the first thing you said, which is that right now if you were to repeal the affordable

care act, you get less demand for labor in the economy and that means higher unemployment today. >> it's interesting though because if you're going to lower the deficit with fewer equivalent people working, you're lowering the deficit without raising taxes, right? >> well, what the affordable care act does is reduce expenditures because we got rid of the some of the overpayments in the medicare program so we reduced the deficit by spending less on medicare while providing the same services because we're just ending those overpayments and, number two, there are some revenues that come in from the affordable care act. on net because of the revenues and the reduction in expenditures, that outweighs the additional expenditures from the tax credit. it reduces the long-term deficit. >> i hear the point you're making. my personal thought is i don't trust the cbo numbers when

you're looking out that number of years. economic projections ten years out are kind of superfluous, but could the to the content of what you're saying. the people who choose not to work according to the cbo. this is the supply of lower wage workers. my question to you is if lower wage workers stop working because of obama care, then, you know, they'll be getting government subsidies in the form of health care, right? where are they getting the money that they're going 20b spending in their lives? >> first of all, he was clear. he said the number was a compilation of reduced hours. he made the point that there's some people who would continue to work but they may take a little less time and work because they have now the ability to spend a little bit more time at home. so i want to make that point clear. he didn't say that people are just going to stop working. in fact, the sort of underlying

notion from our republican colleagues, americans are looking for ways not to work i think does not -- you know, not really reflect the attitudes of the american people. so i think when you're talking about these kind of questions, you're talking about economic incentives, and as you know, in our current system people can access that tax benefit only if they go to work for an employer because we provide a tax benefit there. what the affordable care act does is that allows people to take that tax benefit and go into the exchanges. >> right. i'm just making the point some people who aren't working theoretically need to be in other government programs to get other money. they get the health care benefit but you need other money. i wanted to ask what you just said is something that i think is interesting. maybe this is just semantics. you know, as a new mother i notice this. it's interesting to hear democrats like yourself talking about sort of the social value of women being able to stay home, which is a wonderful

choice that everybody should have if they can, but it's something especially with this whole war on women thing, it's a social value thing i would expect to hear from the other side of the aisle. >> we would love to have them join us. in fact, i'm glad you raised that because when senator mccain offered a similar -- a health care plan that also had tax credits that the individual could take with them to purchase health insurance, the heritage foundation and conservative groups heralded that as the ability to end job lock and allow people to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams or spend more times with their families. when senator mccain proposed a similar idea republicans and conservatives thought it was great. now that it's in the affordable care act or what they like to call obamacare, somehow the idea that was good in 2008 is somehow now bad. >> all right. thank you very much, congressman. i always enjoy talking to you about these issues. >> thanks for having me. good to be with you. still to come, much of the united states battered by

another powerful storm. nearly 1 million people without power at this moment. plus, new details about what went on in justin bieber's private plane. why the pilots allegedly told the pilot to stay away from the singer. and mcdonald's responding to accusations it uses pink slime. remember that story? and we have an answer on what's really in those chicken mcnuggets. [ male announcer ] this is betsy. her long day of pick ups and drop offs begins with arthritis pain... and a choice.

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international. was justin bieber flying high? law enforcement tells cnn that justin bieber and his father allegedly refused a pilot's warning to stop smoking pot on a flight from canada to new jersey. the pilot claims that bieber and his entourage were verbally abusive. susan candiotti have the story. what more can you tell us about bieber's behavior? >> well, apparently to say the least it wasn't smooth sailing for the pilots aboard this flight with justin bieber aboard. the pilots allegedly were upset, according to my source, not only that bieber and his father were verbally abusive and refusing to stop smoking marijuana, but apparently the flight attendant was so upset that the pilots had to sell her hang out near the cockpit, don't worry. get this, erin, not only that,

the pilots were supposedly so concerned about the amount of smoke permeating the plane that they actually put on their oxygen masks because they were worried they wanted to keep their lungs clear in case they were tested for drugs. they were worried that they might show positive. get a positive reading. >> there was so much pot swirling around? >> i'm told it was so pungent all the federal agents that have the that were inspecting the plane. >> then the plane lands because they search it because of the strong odor. what did the agents find? >> they didn't find anything. they had dogs alerting to the presence of marijuana, of drugs, but they searched the plane. they searched even some empty bags after everyone had gotten off the plane, bags with an indication that marijuana had been inside. because there was no proof about where it originated from and who it belonged to, not enough to charge anybody. no one will be held responsible.

>> but the pilots were wearing oxygen masks that they were worried that something it -- they might not be able to fly the plane. >> if they were tested they might get a positive reading. we got a no comment from bieber's representative and we got a no comment from the charter company. they said they didn't want to talk about any of this. >> susan candiotti, thank you very much. that brings me to this out take. obviously the story illustrates how pot in the safety of your own home can lead to pot in the office and pot in the sky. now you might think twice about having your pilots and co-workers get high whenever they want. we are here to talk about justin bieber who might be the worst passenger ever. you can't smoke even in the bathroom you go to jail. you have to use the oxygen masks in emergency situations. bieber likes to use that as a checklist. he's not just a menace up there. he's accused of being a bad

passenger down here. remember the assault charge in toronto where bieber slapped his limo driver in the head repeatedly allegedly because he refused to turn up the radio. that's why we are begging you, we're endorsing bieber, keep buying his albums and going to his concerts because we need to do everything we can to keep him off of public transportation. still to come, four arrests in the philip seymour hoffman case. how police are linking the suspects to his death and we will go inside one of the most exclusive celebrity rehabs in the country. a growing vigil happening now in new york for hoffman. actors and fans are gathering in lower manhattan tonight. hey guys! sorry we're late.

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and welcome back to the second half of "out front." tonight another harsh winter storm be battering the u.s. nearly 1 million customers without power as i speak. according to flight aware 2800 flights have already been canceled. don lemon is in boston. don, i've got to say, if you aren't warm in that get-up, i mean -- it looks great. >> only for you, aaron. only for you. listen, it's freezing out here. it's 27. my producer tells me it feels like 8. we've been checking the weather. it's really cold. you were reading all of those numbers. that happened in a different part of the northeast because

boston kind of got spared when it came to the ice so they didn't lose power. they got a lot of snow, probably almost a foot in most of the areas if not more than a foot. just to show you, don't believe me, there it is. that's a lot of snow in order to get to the bottom. look at that. in order to see grass you have to really get down in there. there's still some people out on the roads you can see working and also people just going to and from. they told everybody to stay off the roads today. nonessential government employees didn't have to go in. we borrowed this, erin, from some of the people around here. they eve they're not going sand, they're using straight salt. there you go, boston got about a foot of snow. much of the northeast. so as you said, a lot of people without power. they were spared here. it's pretty much over, but they could get a little bit more snow. we know the possibility of another storm coming this week end, erin.

>> i hope joe namath doesn't ask for his hat back. >> do i look like -- >> looks like you'll get the sochi beat. >> do i look like hartman. >> thank you very much to don lemon. when you get to cover the weather, have you to have fun. after his run ins with the law, you'd think the last thing george zimmerman would want to do is look for a fight. today they said he's going to fight singer dmx in a celebrity boxing match. this happened on the same day that trayvon martin would have turned 19 years old. a rep says the match is not confirmed. many are speaking out against any match that involves zimmerman including a petition to cancel the event. right now a candlelight vigil underway to pay tribute to philip seymour hoffman. matt damon is outside. meanwhile, four people have been arrested tonight on drug charges in connection with the death of philip seymour hoffman. one of them, a suspected dealer,

has been identified. he's been identified as 57-year-old robert avaynberg. he had the actor's number programmed into his cell phone. they picked them up and brought him in for questioning. as we now understand, about 50 packets of heroin. the medical examiner ruled hoffman's death inconclusive pending toxicology results. friends are remembering hoffman tonight with a prayer vigil. jason carroll was on the story for us. he's outside of hoffman's apartment. jason, i know you've been covering this investigation. what are you learning about the raid that happened? >> reporter: well, that raid happened last night as you said. basically police got a tip that someone at that apartment building located not far from where we are right now outside of hoffman's building was actually selling hoffman drugs. four people under arrest, but we're told that tonight that one of the -- one of those who was

arrested, a young woman, 22 years old, her attorney basically saying she was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and during her arraignment tonight she plans to plead not guilty. in fact, we're hearing that most likely that all four will end up pleading not guilty. police ended up finding 350 -- 350 small baggies of heroin at the apartment building. in question, though baggies labeled red bull and black list. now those baggies were labeled different from the bags of heroin found here at hoffman's apartment. those baggies were labeled ace of spades and ace of heart. i know you were talking about the one man, robert vineberg. apparently police found the most amount of drugs in his apartment. in addition to that, again, they found his cell phone which contained hoffman's phone number. vineberg is a man who is well known in downtown new york. he is's a jazz musician.

played with y club john on his facebook page. a number of people coming out and supporting him saying he's being used as a scapegoat for police wanting to find someone to arrest for this crime as soon as they could. one of his neighbors who we got a chance to speak to earlier today also coming to his defense. >> he's honestly one of the nicest people i've ever met. smart. yeah. goes out of his way to be nice. knows everything about film, music, art, literature. great guy honestly. >> reporter: but here in this neighborhood the focus is not on those arrested, the focus honestly is around the corner. the candlelight vigil is taking place. it wasn't even talked about who have hoffman the father, man, loving partner.

that is what is taking place here tonight in the west village, erin. >> jason, thank you very much. jason talking about the men who have been brought into custody here. i want to bring in a former new york city prosecutor. can these four men be charged with hoffman's murder? >> no, they won't be charged with that. as a matter of fact, i spoke this evening to approximately four former manhattan prosecutors about this very subject, many of them were involved in narcotics cases and homicide cases. none can remember a single case in the last 25 years where a drug dealer was charged with the death of an addict. now occasionally you might see charges if, say, a needle was actually used and the drug was administered by a drug dealer or if the drults were adulterated in some way, they mixed something in and the addict didn't expect that. for a straight sale you never see a prosecution of the seller. >> in this case let's just able to say that they're able to

ascertain the picture of him and the other man in the picture and they can identify the heroin, that still isn't enough snf it would seem if you're not able to charge people in those cases -- if you were able to charge them, you'd have a lot fewer people thinking it was worth it to deal drugs. >> well, i think that's very true, but the thought process is, number one, that jurors will look at these cases and say, hey, the addict knew what he was getting himself into when he was buying the drugs. is it fair to charge the dealer with homicide? but the second thing is a more subtle problem. it's causation. with an addict he's got a lot of drugs in his system. how do you prove that the drugs that were sold actually caused the death? maybe he shot up with somebody else's heroin in the morning? it's not as easy to prove as you might think even on the fact pattern you just outlined. >> do you think there will be any difference in this case because of the high profile nature of the deceased, of philip seymour hoffman. this isn't a regular person?

this is a celebrity. >> he is a regular person before the law. it irritates a lot of people, a lot of families out there with addicts in the family who died and there was no investigation of who sold them the drugs so there's a lot of public scrutiny in this case. we have arrests already. the cops will be more aggressive because they're under public scrutiny. i think these drug dealers will be punished -- >> punished what? >> it's a slap on the wrist. we've had all of this talk about drug laws being too severe, people going to jail for drug crimes. >> a lot of celebrities have been arguing about -- >> should have diminished sentences now. under new york laws now not the rockefeller laws, all of the drug dealers can get probation under the new laws. >> probation? >> yeah. >> that's interesting. makes you think twice about the recent debate. thanks to paul. the death of philip seymour hoffman has raised new awareness

to the growing heroin problem. nationwide heroin use has surged doubling -- more than doubling over the past ten years. our deborah feyerick is looking into it. >> the more you make the more you sell. it's more seizures, more arrests and more overdoses. one high level drug official described heroin as a monster you can't kill. it has always been lurking. the question, how did it get here? you have to go back to the 1990s when columbian drug traffickers began flooding the city with high purity, low priced heroin. instead of $100,000 a keel lilo. it went to $60,000 a kilo.

it really changed. it now costs between 6 and $10 a packet. >> wow. what you're getting is a lot stronger which is bmging more deadly than it used to be. deb, i feel like heroin had more of a stigma to it 10 to 15 years ago. it was too hard of a drug or too low class. that's changed, right? >> absolutely. that's because back in the day people thought of heroin being used by junkies, dark alleys, back in the '90s with this high purity heroin, they began snorting it. they created a different clientele. it moved out to the suburbs. one former narks official said they would be seizing up to 20 and 30 kilos.

last year dea agents confiscated 144 kilograms of heroin. that's $43 million worth. that's 20% of seize aurs nationwide. >> you talk about where they buy it, you now see with philip seymour hoffman but what we understand a very popular, hip, upper class part of heroin being able to do a drug deal like this. this is the situation in new york you would have thought about 20 years ago. it was who are we seeing with him. in those sorts of neighborhoods. a big change. >> yeah. there's definitely been a big change. they found 70 bags of heroin with him. when you think about it, an addict can use ten bags a day. somebody who's got the money to sustain that. >> wow! >> you put it in perspective, this could have been a week long bing even though to you and i, they're targeting younger hotel.

there are pack kelts labeled government shutdown. nfl, lady gaga. even obamacare. so it's people in the know who are educated. secondly, there are heroin mills. what's fascinating is these drug traffickers from latin america are taking the drugs from the south and they're moving them into locations that are ready to go. that's where they're cut. that's where the heroin is cut, processed and districted ast fast as possible not just in new york city but to other regions. it's a hub as you mentioned. >> that is just incredible. and those names i think really bring it home. >> yeah. all right, thanks so much. >> of course. a heroin named obamacare. is it that addictive? >> still to come, you are looking at the chance to continue. broadway will honor the actor. hoffman's struggles with heroin.

why he is not the only one in -- when i first heard of his death i was absolutely gutted because he's me and i'm him. [ laughter ]

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and i want to take a quick check in with anderson cooper with a look at what's coming up on "ac 360." live report from sochi. we'll speak with bob bare and peter burgin. and we'll ask jeffrey toobin if the people who sold it to him can be charged with a crime. and the street level fight of heroin. randi kaye spent the day with fbi agents. nonpartisan facts versus political spin. there's been a lot of political spin on whether the affordable care act. those stories and the ridiculist. >> we're looking forward to all of that. philip seymour hoffman checked himself into a detox center last may. obviously he had been fighting this problem for quite some time. like a lot of other stars including robert downey jr.,

lindsay lohan, charlie sheen, he did it in the privacy of a drug treatment facility. a lot of these are very cozy and very expensive. some might say more like spas, but what exactly happens in these places? why are they so popular. david mattingly went to malibu to find out. >> reporter: he was a beloved actor and to the public at large apparently acting as if nothing was wrong, but philip seymour hoffman's losing battle with heroin was not unusual. >> getting drugs if you were highly affluent and traveling in artistic circle is not hard. >> reporter: david sack is here at the treatment center in a center that treated lindsay lohan, charlie sheen. >> there are a lot of facilitators. if you're in a performing arts circle or artistic circle, there are many people who view drugs as part of the creative process,

as part of the lifestyle. they're not necessarily judged the way much of society looks at drugs. >> reporter: a month of rehab here can exceed $45,000 but look past all the spa-like pools, dard dense and gourmet meals and you'll see an alarming trend. they say the rate of opiate addiction here among clients is five times greater than it was a decade ago. a quarter of those patients are hooked on heroin. among addicts in show business hoffman was viewed as an exception, apparently kicking the habit as a young adult he claimed to be clean and sober for more than two decades. >> how unusual is it for someone to relapse after 23 zbleers. >> years? >> well, it's unusual. the longer someone is sober, clean, abstinent, the longer they're going to go. after the first year relapse rates drop significantly. >> reporter: what could have happened to send hoffman back into a deadly addiction so long is not known and deeply

disturbing to others walking the same path of recovery. >> when i first heard of his death i was absolutely gutted because he's me and i'm him. >> reporter: actress mackenzie phillips first tried heroin at age 16 and at one time kicked the habit for ten years. arrested for possession in 2008. >> helping clients to live and live well without drugs and alcohol is the goal. >> the problem is exacerbated by money and access and enablers as it is with any addict. i will never be able to have someone get me to say that this is a hollywood problem. what, every 19 minutes an addict dies from an overdose. it can't be a hollywood problem. we report on it. >> it's true that heroin is cheap and accessible in all walks of life. but hoffman's tragic exit where he performed so brilliantly gives audiences all over the

world a view of a growing problem in a personal way. david mattingly, cnn, los angeles. i want to bring in ken seely. you heard mackenzie phillips say the drug problem gets worse when you have access $45,000 a month. there are very few people in the world who can afford that sort of treatment. but how common is heroin? are these opiates in that celebrity cool scene? >> heroin is all over hollywood right now. it's all over the whole country as you've been talking about all week. and we have to start looking at it as a disease. this is a disease that's killing 100 people a day in this country, and we need to hold people accountable to their recovery. that's the key here. we have to hold people accountable. >> and why is it so popular in hollywood? you heard the statistics there,

that 25% of the people that go into these centers have heroin or other opiate addictions that. has increased five times. that is a stratospheric statistic. why is it so popular? >> it's so easy to get. the things they're lacing it with today with the fentanyl it's making it more fatal. it's really about once you know somebody that has an addiction, making sure that they are held accountable to their recovery process. and it's not a ten-day process. it's a long-term process. like doctor diversion programs are three to five years. that's what needs to happen. >> and what about the relapse situation? again we heard that talked about in the piece. philip seymour hoffman had apparently been clean for 23 years. obviously who knows if that's true if he'd had other periods of relapse that he just disguised very well. but when you hear people for example talk about going to rehab for alcohol, they talk

about how for the rest of their lives it's difficult to be in the room with it or they don't want to have it being served at the table they're at. for some people that's very hard. is it even harder when you're talking about recovering from heroin? >> absolutely. heroin's one of the most difficult drugs to detox and stay off of for long term. but once somebody is diagnosed with an addiction, that's the key component that's missing. hollywood isn't holding their people accountable to a long-term program. i mean, look at. we just lost many people in hollywood from overdosing. but the reality is that why isn't hollywood holding people accountable like the doctor diversion program, the drug courts program, the pilots program? people are dropping like flies. it's not fair. it's inhumane. >> well, i guess it's also something with a lot of these drugs unfortunately somehow hollywood thinks it's cool and makes it seem cool to a lot of other people, especially younger people around the country. but what about these facilities?

they have access to the gourmet meals, the spas, the gyms. it just seems those places are like a vacation in a sense when you look at the pictures of the facility david was at. $45,000 a month. that is better treatment than most americans can get somewhere else? or is that justan in pla an inf price tag? >> no. i think the treatment there is amazing. it's really great treatment. just because you're an addict doesn't mean you need to go to the salvation army to get treatment. you can get treatment in these high-end places and get the help you need. the most important part of that is that the addict has to hit a rock bottom as we all know. there needs to be a consequence that's going to be long term. so like the doctor diversion program, they lose their license. that's a long-term consequence. and that's what we need to develop for these people in hollywood. you cannot work if your not going to be compliant to your program or recovery. that's what we have to do it. we have to do that for them. >> ken, thank you very much. and still to come, mcdonald's has served billions

of meals as you know. anytime you drive into one. but what's the deal with the pink goop? yeah. special investigation courtesy of jeanne moos. she's next.

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mcdonald's has taken plenty of heat over what's really in their chicken. and now they're fighting back.

here's jeanne moos. >> we make a cut. >> reporter: how do we get from this to this? irresistible little as ter roids of bass terred chicken mysterious in their origin. >> they just throw a whole chick en in a blender and make an mcnugget. >> is there pink goop? >> reporter: a photograph that has snaked around the internet with a caption can you guess what mcdonald's food item this is? it's said to be the entire chicken. eye eyes, guts, bones, ground up into mechanically separated poultry. not us, says mcdonald's. photo hoax. but pink goo won't go away. for years mcdonald's has been trying to kill this photo. and now mcdonald's of canada has taken the goo by the horns directly addressing the question in super bowl commercials seen only in canada. >> what's actually in the

nuggets? >> is there any pink goop? >> reporter: nope, nada, none. mcdonald's wants you to see what's in their mcnuggets so they've released a video tour. starting with whole chigens, the breast meat is set aside to make mcnuggets. >> dumping it into the grinder and adding the ground chicken breast meat to the blender with some seasonings and chicken skin. >> reporter: that's pretty much it. ground up breast meat. >> here's the image and here's what we have. it's very different. >> reporter: yeah. beige goo, just kidding. two independent food science experts told cnn that mcdonald's seems to be giving the straight scoop. of course there's nothing healthy about all the fat and salt in mcnuggets. there is one other secret revealed on the tour. >> the mcnugget shapes. >> reporter: the ball, the bell, the boot, the bow tie? do you see any of those things? is this a ball? is this a bell? there's a boot. >> i am puzzled by the bow tie.

maybe that's a bow tie. no, that's a woo the. >> reporter: does this look like bow tie to you? one thing they're no not making mcdonald's into is the shape of a snake. >> turn night a bow tie. >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> somehow i don't feel much better. "ac 360" starts right now. good evening. we begin tonight with break news about the latest potential threat to the winter olympic games involving explosives in toothpaste tubes. new information namely that the concerns are specifically linked to the start of competition now just a few hours away. the usual qualifiers apply about still evaluating the threat's credibility. but it's clear official washington is not taking this lightly. >> i would just say this is the type of threat, though, that we're very concerned about. americans should take it very seriously. the airlines should take it seriously. obviously the people at the olympics should take it