right now olympic terror threats, how credible are they and can the russians keep their promise that sochi for the next two weeks will be "the safest place on earth"? also right now president obama acknowledging his low approval ratings and telling senate democrats he's willing to help them by staying away. and right now john boehner says president obama has a seriou trust problem, that's what's holding up any progress on immigration reform. hello. i'm wolf blitzer reporting from washington. we start with immigration reform. president obama wants to get it done this year. and the white house press secretary jay carney struck a positive tone just moments ago

at today's white house briefing. >> first of all, we remain optimistic about the prospects for comprehensive immigration reform in 2014. we've seen significant movement among republicans on this issue. and it is heartening to see that republican leaders in congress, including speaker of the house and others, identify immigration reform as a necessary priority. that's a good thing. >> only minutes before jay carney said that the house speaker john boehner threw some serious cold water on the prospect of getting a bill passed this year. let's bring in our chief congressional correspondent dana bash. what is the speaker saying now, dana? >> well, we should preface this, wolf, by saying we had reported this was going to be a very heavy lift because there are so many republicans in the house, even those who like the idea of reform do not like the idea of doing it in this election year.

but the fact that the house speaker earlier came out and unsolicited in his opening remarks as you say poured cold water on the idea of doing it this year and trying to shift the blame to the president was fascinating and telling. listen to what he said. >> now he's running around the country telling everyone he's going to keep acting on his own. keeps talking about his phone and his pen. and he's feeding more distress about whether he's committed to the rule of law. listen, there's widespread doubt about whether this administration can be trusted tone force our laws. and it's going to be difficult to move any immigration legislation until that change. >> and, wolf, let me give you a little bit of context of what the speaker is talking about. first of all, at the house republican retreat last week we heard several sources tell us that part of the discussion when they had the major discussion about immigration reform was

concern among conservatives and just the people who do want some kind of reform that they can't trust the president on a couple of levels. first and foremost, to ensure that the border is secure, which would be on the substance of it the most important first step in immigration reform that the house republicans would push. but also more broadly what republicans did at that retreat was send a letter to the president saying that they want to start off with other issues, other smaller issues, maybe not as controversial, to set the stage and have a kind of a relationship, a working relationship, before they got to immigration. but back at the speaker came out today in his opening remarks, he was unasked a question and made this point and shifted this to the president certainly is very, very illustrative of the reality here, which is despite the fact that the speaker wants to get this done, he wanted to start the conversation this year but it is pretty clear it is not going to happen. or at least it's going to make

it very difficult to happen in this election year, wolf. >> i know. that would be a serious disappointment to the president who really thinks they might be able to work on a deal with the republican leadership. dana, thanks very much. we'll of course continue to follow this story, very important story. let's turn now to the winter olympic games getting underway. and a new security threat looming over the games. the department of homeland security is warning airlines, domestic and foreign, that terrorists may use toothpaste tubes to get explosives onto planes headed to sochi. nick paton walsh is on the ground for us in sochi. nick, is this warning primarily for american tourists, or is it less specific than that? >> well, it's interesting. it's from american officials, but it's not necessarily about threats to americans either in the united states or necessarily here in sochi. now, bearing in mind the kind of militants who might be involved in this don't necessarily consider their number one target to be americans, they're much more interested in a broader

fight against the russian federal state. it's not exactly clear if american citizens themselves should feel concerned. bear in mind also the u.s. state department did warn u.s. athletes arriving here in large numbers that maybe they shouldn't wear their uniforms when they venture out of the ring of steel. clearly risk of concern for americans about this specific threat is broader. it's about planes flying from europe into russia. there are only two direct flights from europe into sochi here that we know about from frankfurt and from istanbul. so particularly clear set of channels there where they might be concerned. the question too, wolf, as we know is whether these explosives are being smuggled onto an airliner for use toothpaste tube or if that's a way of delivering them from wherever they're coming to into the venue here for use later on, wolf. >> i assume the greatest security is around the immediate olympic village where the athletes are basically concentrated, less security outside that so-called ring of

steel. >> that's absolutely the case. while i think everybody has a consensus it's going to be pretty hard if not impossible for any militant if there is one out there with a plan and promised to reduce this to engulfed with flames at some point -- the biggest concern from u.s. officials i think people simply observing know the region softer targets further away from what's behind me. in vast expansive country all the way to the kcaspean sea, militants have struck that region almost at will for the past decade, deeply volatile, a state of undeclared war between small cells and extremists and very heavy handed russian state here. i think the real worry you may be find here, maybe in sochi, the nearby big city, is that going to be repeated across russia particularly in its delicate south in the two weeks

ahead. unclear, wolf. >> we know what the two tsarnaev brothers were able to do at the boston marathon last year. so there's obviously a lot of concern coming from that region. they were originally from dagestan themselves. thanks very much, nick. we'll get back to you. today, the ceo of the united states olympic committee took questions in sochi and talked about security for american athletes. >> the safety and security of our athletes and our whole delegation is always our primary concern as the team behind the team here on the ground. we, as we always do, work very closely with our state department, our state department is in very close contact with the local authorities. and, you know, we react to situations as they arise, but we also have a lot of planning exercises in advance. and these games are no different than any other games in that respect. >> he also spoke about the reasons for the earlier warnings from the u.s. olympic committee

about american athletes wearing their uniforms outside the venues. >> we just want the athletes to be aware of the fact that if they're not in an accredited area and they are wearing team usa apparel that it may create an increased risk for them. but we didn't say don't wear your team usa apparel. we want them to be aware of the fact that it does attract attention from time to time. >> let's dig a little deeper now. joining us congressman michael mccaul, chairman of the house homeland security committee. congressman, thanks very much for joining us. >> thanks for having me, wolf. >> as far as you know, are americans specifically being targeted in this so-called toothpaste explosives plot? >> i don't believe americans are targeted. the beef they have is really with the russians. however, if you blow up an airline, an airplane, you will have innocent civilians that could include americans. remember the leader of the northern caucuses who is leading this war against the russians that is radical islamist has called for attacks on civilians

including men and women. so i don't think they're really discriminating really between americans or russians, but i do think remain a target are the russians. >> you stated specific threats, what can you tell us about these threats specifically to americans? >> well, they are specific and credible to the aviation sector. the department of homeland security warned the airlines and foreign governments this explosive compound can be put in tubes of toothpaste and kcosme c cosmeti cosmetics. so they're banning those from being brought onboard any airplane flying into russia. that's i think the good procedure is the good news. i think this is the one area where the russians have really cooperated with our intelligence community to try to disrupt an active plot that's ongoing to disrupt the olympics. so that's the good news. internally the russians aren't really cooperating with us in terms of intelligence information sharing. but externally they have

uncovered this plot, we are working with them and we are taking steps to prevent this from happening. >> you mentioned yesterday that the arrests in france and austria, the so-called black widows, could be significant. what role would the department of homeland security have played in any of this? and specifically do the toothpaste warnings originate from the arrests of these so-called black widows? >> well, i have been briefed extensively. i can't go into all of the details regarding that, but our intelligence is good. there are two black widows in custody in france. there were six austrians detained and questioned and for lack of evidence let go. they are under surveillance. currently they are of concern, obviously. but i can't go any further than that. >> did the toothpaste threat though, and if you can't answer it you can't answer it, originate with the arrest of

these folks in paris and vienna? >> i can tell you the plot itself originated from the leader of the chechen rebel extremists. that's where the plot hatched out of. there have been reports he's been killed since then, but issues the plot has been hatched, it is out there. the good news again, wolf, is our intelligence community working with the sfv are very much on top of this. and it's my sincere hope that they -- they're starting to disrupt it and i hope they can stop it from happening. >> and if you can't answer this, don't answer it, but these so-called black widows, were they involved in possible airline bombing plots? >> well, remember black widows have blown up airplanes from moscow to sochi in 2004. this is nothing new. i can't make that specific link between the black widows and france and this aviation threat at this time given the briefings that i have had. but remember every chechen rebel

slain in dagestan has a widow attached to him. and they are all considered black widows. the russians are pretty heavy handed in their security have put most of them under house arrest. that is the other threat internally in russia over these suicide bombing black widows that could disrupt the olympics. so you have really two threats going on. one is the aviation sector and one would be the suicide bombers within russia, which i think there's a high probability that one of those will probably go off again. we've already seen two, as you know, explode in december blowing up a train station and a bus. >> in volgograd, which is a few hundred miles away. i've been told that the area where the athletes and venues are taking place, that's probably pretty secure. but if there are terrorist attacks, it would happen just outside that area where there's less security. is that your understanding as well? >> yeah, wolf, i think that's a correct analysis.

i was in sochi. i saw the ring of steel, although one of the black widows did penetrate it, it's very heavily fortified with 100,000 security officials including russian military. so it would be very difficult to get in. but they can score just as easy of a victory by hitting a softer target outside the ring of steel. what's an important point to make is that the eyes of the world will be on these olympic games. they've been fighting this war with the russians for over 100 years. and this is in their eyes their moment to make a very visible public statement. and that's why i think the percentage and probability's very high that something could happen at the games. but i would argue that most likely would happen outside the olympic village and outside the games. >> yeah, that's what i've been told repeatedly over these past few days as well. and one concern that u.s. intelligence has, and you know a lot more about this than i do, is that if there is some sort of soft target hit outside of the main venues, shall we say, putin and the russians, they will

pounce big time. there will be a harsh crackdown. and who knows what happens after that. is that a serious concern? >> very serious. they're cracking downright now in dagestan. and they don't have a constitution like we do in due process, so they can pretty much go into neighborhoods. they went into sochi and went door-to-door, you have to be registered in russia. if you're not, you get kicked out. so they kicked out a lot of residents in the sochi area that were not registered under the law. so in response to any attack will be very heavy handed by the russians. they will probably not want it to be very public because of the impact it will have on the olympics. but again, an attack outside the perimeter will probably have just as much of a political and terrorist impact as inside and probably get a lot of attention. i know putin's trying to balance the -- trying to be invisible versus visible in terms of security right now. >> and i know that these terrorists have been thinking about doing something for four,

five, six, almost seven years they've been plotting this moment because they hate putin so much. hopefully it won't happen, but we'll watch together with you. congressman mccaul, thanks so much for sharing some thoughts with us. >> thanks, wolf. thanks for having me. >> chairman of the house homeland security committee. later this hour i'll be speaking a little bit more on the security situation in sochi. i'll speak with the congressman dr. rupersberger, the ranking member of the house intelligence committee. he's a democrat. we'll get his thoughts about these threats to the olympic games that begin tomorrow in russia. it's early, but not too early to check the buzz on 2016. mitt romney says he's out. we'll take a closer look at who may be running for the republican nomination, gloria borger standing by. we'll discuss with her when we come back. hey linda!

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a lot of talk about who might be in, who's out for the race for the president of the united states. mitt romney told me he's definitely out. listen to what he said in "the situation room." >> would you consider running for president a third time in 2016? >> no. i've answered that question a number of times, as you know, the answer is no. i'm not running for president in 2016. it's the time for someone else to take that responsibility. and i'll be supporting our nominee. and there's some very good people who are taking a very good look at that race. >> now, let's bring in our chief political analyst gloria borger. were you surprised by what romney said? he was very definitive. >> he was very definitive. and i think he's gotten a bit of distance from the last presidential race. because what surprised me was

when i interviewed him in june, he was singing a little bit of a different tune. take a look. >> it was hard work. i said it was like a roller coaster. yeah, there are ups and there are downs, but you still pay to get on the roller coaster. it's a real thrill and experience that we will never forget. and, frankly, i'd do it again. >> you would? >> look -- >> again? >> i would do it again, but it's not my time. >> i'll go with that. >> i would love to do it again. are you kidding? i'd love to do it and win. but it's not my time. >> so, wolf, he's clearly singing the same generational song that he's had his shot at it and it was time to sort of move on, but you saw, i believe ann romney has had an awful lot of influence here. she was a little bit reluctant to do it the first time. she encouraged him to do it the second time. i think she's completely over it now. >> we'll see what happens. remember ronald reagan, he tried

three times, third time was a charm for him. romney has tried twice. we'll see if he really means it when he says he's not running. >> exactly. >> so who's looking good right now? it's obviously very early. >> well, i think obviously one of the reasons people are talking about mitt romney right now is because of the problems that chris christie is having. but as chris christie said like within the last year i think this time it's going to go to a governor. and i think i agree with him. and if you look at these governors, you've got christie of course, bobby jindal, scott walker, kasach. and we're hearing a lot of chatter about jeb bush. i think if chris christie were stronger, you wouldn't hear that chatter. but i think lots of donors, big donors, are looking for a governor they can go to. and they're taking another look at jeb bush. he has said as you know he would only do it if he could enter the race joyfully, whatever that means. but i think that he is giving it

another look whereas before i think he might not have wanted to get in the fray. so i think the christie thing really throws it all up in the air. >> ronald reagan was governor, george w. bush was a governor. and people really don't like washingtonians. >> look at congress's approval ratings in the single digits and as much as marco rubio and rand paul run against congress and ted cruz as well, they are still in the senate. >> gloria, thanks very much. >> sure. >> gloria borger reporting for us. by the way, president obama spent the morning over at the national prayer breakfast. you're going to hear what he said about religion changing his life. that's coming up. [ male announcer ] this is kevin. to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for him, he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. and now i've got to take more pills. ♪ yup. another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet?

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hundreds of thousands of people in the northeast are suffering through some bone chilling temperatures with no heat in their homes. their power was knocked out by a brutal winter storm that dumped heavy wet snow and ice all across the region. most of the outages are in pennsylvania where about half a million people are affected. officials say the vast majority of customers should get their power back by tomorrow. but it could be three more days before service is fully restored. let's go to wall street right now where investors are in a relatively optimistic mood. let's look at where things stand right now on the big board. the dow, take a look, up 131 points, stocks climbed quickly this morning largely because of new figures showing fewer americans than expected filed for first time unemployment benefits last week. president obama says religion strengthens america, but he also says religious

freedom is threatened around the world. the president spoke at the annual national prayer breakfast this morning. he says he's looking forward to meeting with pope francis at the vatican next month. the president also reflected on what he calls "god's guiding hand in his personal journey." >> in my life he directed my path to chicago and my work with churches who were intent on breaking the cycle of poverty and hard-hit communities there. and i'm grateful not only because i was broke and the church fed me, but because it led to everything else. it led me to embrace jesus christ as my lord and savior. led me to michelle, the love of my life. and it blessed us with two extraordinary daughters. it led me to public service. and the longer i serve, especially in moments of trial or doubt, the more thankful i am of god's guiding hand. >> the national prayer breakfast

that has been held since 1953, every president since dwight davidiz eisenhower has participated. the olympic games are underway in sochi, russia. but serious worries over possible terror attack, they are dominating the headlines. we'll have the latest security warning and russia's reaction when we come back. [ male announcer ] this is jim.

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but there are concerns over security. and they threaten to overshadow those events. the u.s. is warning airlines with direct flights to russia to be aware terrorists may try to conceal explosive material in tubes of toothpaste or makeup containers along those lines. amanda davis is joining us from sochi right now. amanda, you sat down with the russian official in charge of these games. tell us what he told you. >> hi. i did, wolf. and security has been an issue that has been ever-present in the build-up to these games, hasn't it? i first traveled here to sochi six months ago. and then spoke to the man who's in charge of sochi 2014. and he told me then that they were doing all they could liaison to make the games the safest it could possibly be. last month they banned all liquids and gels on internal

flights within russia. and when i caught up with him yesterday, wednesday, despite the recent volgograd bombings, despite the threats just this week to members of the austrian olympic team, he stood by his claim that there should be no safety concerns to anyone coming to sochi. how disappointing is it though you have athletes arriving to compete at an olympics fearing for their safety? >> sochi likely to be the most safe place in the world. and from the beginning of the project in preparation with international expert and security and supervision of the ice here russian do utmost to organize the safe and friendly environment here. >> wolf, as the opening ceremony gets closer and closer, more and more athletes and officials are

arriving. and these security measures in place will be put even further to the test. >> amanda daveys on the ground for us in sochi. we're going to check back with you. thanks very much. let's dig deeper about security, the role of the united states, what the intention community knows about these threats. joining us is congressman dutch ruppersberger, ranking member of the house intelligence committee, the top democrat on that committee. congressman, thanks very much for joining us. >> good to be here, wolf. >> how concerned should americans be right now who are in sochi, whether athletes, family members, other spectators? >> first thing, we have 10,000 americans we think will be in sochi. we have to be concerned. we always have to be concerned. this is a very dangerous part of the world with a lot of threats that have been out there. i think though that the best defense against terrorism is intelligence. that's what we're attempting to do. the united states, our allies, working with russia as much as we can to get information. a lot of what we heard about the toothpaste and trying -- the terrorists trying to find ways

to set off a bomb or an airplane, we got through chatter. and chatter is out there every day in the intelligence community. but when we have a situation like the olympics that we're focusing on, we're going to make sure that we follow through on every allegation, everything that we see, to protect athletes and to protect americans. >> can you tell us where that chatter originated? >> a lot of that's classified, but it's out there. the chatter has been out there. we get that information or our allies get it, we patch it through. >> is it the russian terrorists, islamic fundamental liist group caucuses or dagestan, or al qaeda affiliated groups outside? >> i think it's a combination. al qaeda will always focus on us, the united states. and they will take advantage of any situation. what's concerning about the toothpaste in the airplane, if you look at al qaeda's history, they like to focus on airplanes. that is an area they've been success. now, because our intelligence is

so good that normally we would get information about a larger attack, one of my concerns would be a suicide attack. not where the olympics are occurring, but people or americans have to be concerned they're staying in hotels and transportation and buses and those type of things because, you know, when a suicide bomber decides to kill somebody, and where they're trying to do whatever they can to make sure they identify that, that could be very serious. >> just outside that so-called ring of steel. >> that would be my concern more because there's so much security. i know our olympic committee has independent security. and they're working very closely. i think our -- the athletes will be protected. i think that it's going to be very difficult for a terrorist to penetrate the inside where the athletes are. i'd be more concerned on the outside. >> is there collaboration between the internal russian terrorist organizations who hate putin, want to embarrass him, humiliate him before the entire

world during this moment and al qae qaeda-related elements outside of russia? >> we don't care so much about putin's ego. he has one of the biggest egos in the world. we care about americans and protecting our allies and what's going on at the olympics too. russia is the host country, so they can control a lot of what we are doing. one of the things i've said to people, what would you recommend your family to go to russia? of course. because terrorists win if you don't. when we have olympics throughout the world, we need to continue to move on. and that's why intelligence is so important. we have a lot of issues here in the united states about nsa and privacy, and we care very much about privacy, but we need to make sure that we get the intelligence to protect us from people who want to kill us. >> so getting back to the collaboration. >> sure. >> is there collaboration between al qaeda elements outside of russia and these terrorist groups inside whether dagestan, some of the other caucuses? >> there is some collaboration,

but not as focused as say would be in pakistan. you have other parts of the world now getting very strong, there are collateral groups connected to al qaeda. there are extremists out there. you have issues in syria where you have probably more terrorists in one spot than anywhere in the world right now. americans gone to fight for extreme situations. so it's a dangerous world. and that's why i keep saying intelligence is the best defense against terrorism. >> i've spoken to people who are knowledgeable about what's happening in sochi right now. and i wonder if you would agree or disagree. several of them said they would be surprised if there weren't some sort of terrorist attack over the next two weeks. would you be -- we'd all be grateful and thrilled if there isn't, but would you be surprised if there's no terrorist attack over the next couple week sns. >> it depends on how extreme people are and whether or not they want to put a suicide bomber out there. i know just in the area of russia a lot of people are concerned and hate putin and what they feel russia stands for. they feel russians are taking away their territory.

so i would be concerned about the more local russian extremists. but i would never distrust -- never not trust, but never not focus on al qaeda. and al qaeda would take advantage of any situation handed to them. so that's why we have to be vigilant. that's why we're working with our allies. and we're working with russia, not as much as we want but we're working with them and closely with the locals. we've got to protect americans. >> obviously a very worrisome situation there. >> but there are brits there, allies there, australians, people from all over the world. it's a dangerous place. it's a challenge no question. >> looking back do you think this was a mistake to put the winter olympic games in sochi seven years ago when they announced it? >> i think we have to look at history and see what happens when it's over. you know, if russia was picked by the olympic committee for whatever reason, i'd rather have the united states in other parts. it is where it is. i just really hope putin's ego doesn't get in the way to make sure that we can work together and stop any threat and to get

intelligence and act on it immediately to protect first our priority americans and allies and anybody involved. >> dutch ruppersberger from maryland, representative of the house intelligence committee. >> good to be here, wolf. >> don't leave yet. >> okay. >> look at this video from a couple years ago. that's how much high explosives the underwear bomber was carrying on an airplane. but what if the explosives were hidden inside a tube of toothpaste? a closer look when we come back.

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terrorists have shown no shortage of imagination to try to smuggle explosives on airplanes. they've tried shoes, printer cartridges and even underwear. now terrorists may be trying to conceal explosives inside toothpaste or cosmetic tubes, common items certainly in carry-on baggages.

bryan todd is here looking at the possible terror threat. you're specifically looking at how much damage explosives inside some toothpaste container could do. >> right, wolf. and we have learned today that you can make a full explosive and place it in a tube of tooth paste like this, an expert in england did this for us today. placed some explosives called rdx inside a tube -- the tubes of toothpaste come a bit smaller in england. he filled about three quarters with explosives and the other part with toothpaste and oil, mixed it into a paste, you couldn't tell. he blew the door off a car with it and said this could easily put a hole in a plane's fuselage. it is possible to do it -- >> wait a second. hold on. let's say you have explosives inside a toothpaste container like that, right? >> right. >> how do you detonate it? you take it on a plane and then what do you do? >> well, you don't want to give away too much of that. i asked him that extensively. he says there are ways to detonate it with heat sources. >> going through metal detectors to get on the plane that wouldn't be detected?

>> some things like matches and maybe some lighters are often not detected. so you could conceivably get it through. it takes some kind of a detonation, possibly with a heat source, to get it to go off. and he was able to do that. you can do it in a tube this size or maybe several tubes this size. >> you can do a small one like that? >> possibly, yes. it is possible, not easy, but possible. you know, cnn also demonstrated two years ago, wolf, after that 2010 plot to put printer cartridge bombs on cargo planes, we demonstrated how powerful that could have been. that wasn't a whole lot bigger than one of these and that made a huge explosion. we've got some video of that right here. explosions easily enough to bring down a plane or cause massive casualties in a crowded situation. again, this was also -- the type of explosive used in that and this are fairly similar. the toothpaste explosive that we used today was substance called rdx. that substance in that video was petn, same substance used in the underwear bomb plot in 2009.

they're similar in effect. what's interesting, wolf, this has been done before, in 1976. october of 1976 a cubana airlines flight was brought down by anti-castro cuban operatives hidden in a tube of colgate toothpaste. so it has happened before a plane has been brought down with explosives hidden in a tube of toothpaste. >> are they going to start banning toothpaste on flights? >> there was talk about that. there was a plot in 2006 to bomb planes using liquid, gels, things like that. right after that the tsa did ban all liquids and gels on flights, some weeks after that they kind of eased the restrictions so what they call the 311 rule so you can bring limited amounts in small quantities. we're told tsa is always evaluating their procedures there. but right now after this news that we got yesterday and then we're talking about today, this could be re-evaluated. >> all very, very worrisome

indeed, brian. thanks. i know you'll have more in "the situation room" later today as well. the new jersey governor chris christie's on the road again. this time in texas. we're going to find out what kind of reception he's getting and the so-called bridgegate scandal. a report from the lone star state when we come back. ♪ ♪ nothing says, "you're my #1 copilot," like a milk-bone biscuit. ♪ say it with milk-bone.

>> new jersey governor chris christie is in texas today, raising money for fellow republican goff norse. but the political impact of the so-called bridge gate scandal may be painfully obvious to christie, even friendly gop territory. we are tofrg christie's trip from dallas. what kind of greeting is the governor geting for republican

leaders there in texas? >> reporter: wolf, we don't really know because the republican governor's association that crihristie chas is keiji about who he is meeting. he's having a series of on one meetings. texas is a huge donor state and he is not holding any big events here. we don't know where he s. we do know that the republican governor of the state, rick perry and the presumptive republican nominee for governor, greg abbott who presumably will rely on rg amony are not appearing with chris christie or attending meetings with him. some of that is understandable. there personal rivalries going on. greg abbott may not necessarily need rg ama money. they are keeping their distance

from governor christie here in texas. >> was he popular with fellow gop governors before the bridge gate scandal? >> reporter: it's interesting. democrats are try to make hay of the fact that the republicans are staying away from christie, but there long standing rivalries within the republican governor's association. it's a notoriously drama-free organization, but there different factions within the committee. this flair last year when bobby jindal, the louisiana governor and chris christie competed to be chairman this year and the committee split down different lips. rick perry supported bobby jindal and chris christie won with support from other governors, wolf. there personal rivalries going on. chris christie still has pretty strong support. as long as he is raising money for the rga, he is going to be okay, presuming no other shoes

drop. >> presuming that. the wisconsin governor, scott walker is also continuing a potential republican presidential kapd das y. >> texas has an atm for republicans. they come here all the time to raise money, specifically dallas and houston. he is raising money and met with harl an crow. rand paul is in the state doing donor meetings and giving speeches. texas is a huge state. democrats were trying to make hay of the fact that rick perry and greg abbott are not meeting with chris christie. they are not meeting with scott walker either. they come here all the time and that's what they're doing today. >> in dallas for us, watching the republicans. thanks vanish much. tv personality star jones calls herself the face of heart disease.

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wolf. the winter games in sochi just got more frightening. the latest is toothpaste bombs bound for this russian resort town. as olympic events begin and the last of team usa arrives in russia. intelligence officials are looking into this possible new terror plot involving toothpaste tubes. homeland security warning airlines with direct flights serving russia to be aware of the possibility that explosive materials could be concealed in toothpaste and cosmetic tubes coming into the country. live from sochi is our senior correspondent, nick walsh. do we know if the toothpaste