again. make sure to follow me on @jaketapper and go to cnn.com/thelead. we put videos and blogs and extra str extra stuff. that's it for "the lead." i'll send you over to wolf blitzer. happening now, olympic terror threats. new details of the ongoing investigation and we just learned the source of the latest threat. why is this one being taken so seriously? >> power to kill. an exclusive look at what explosives hidden inside a toothpaste tube can really do. and a top diplomat making a remark about a top u.s. ally. who was the target of her profane outburst? and militants release video of a military dog captured in

afghanistan. does it belong to the united states? i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we begin with the breaking news. the eyes of the world are on the russian city of sochi and the winter olympic games. but growing fear of terrorism is certainly looming over the competition as we learn the u.s. is investigating now multiple plots against the games, including the latest involving explosives hidden inside toothpaste and cosmetic tubes. our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto is joining us. jim, you're learning about new action being taken to counter some of these plots? >> that's right. this is the first skourt security measure in response to a new threat of bringing explosives on to airliners contained in toothpaste tubes and it came within 24 hours of the threat first being released to the public. this is what we are learning from the tsa. they have directed that no liquids, gels, aerosols be

allowed on flights to russia. so something unusual here that this check will take place at the gate of those flights rather than at the tsa checkpoints that serve many flights around the world and around the country. different from the 2006 bomb plot when all liquids were banned on all flights in the u.s. additionally, we're told that people traveling to the russian federation will personally need to check in. they won't be able to use online check-in. these measures showing how secu serious officials are taking this threat. u.s. authorities are tracking a number of terror threats related to the olympics and they are taking them all seriously but the threats have varying degrees. whether they are purely in the planning stages or something that the attackers have the means to carry out.

cnn has learned u.s. authorities are working with russia and other countries to try to disrupt several plots related to the olympics beyond the toothpaste tube terror threat, sparked a warning to airlines at the gates. >> there are specific threat leads that we have but at the same time it's difficult to ascertain whether they are aspirational, whether this is what the terrorists would like to do or whether it's operational, whether they would put this into effect and have the means to carry this out. >> reporter: u.s. officials are concerned that the threat of attackers using toothpaste or cosmetic tubes to hide explosives originated from the group led by this man, do doku omara. >> the plot itself originated from the leader of the chechen rebel extremist. that's where this plot actually hatched out of. >> reporter: while u.s. officials have increasing

confidence of security inside the olympic venue, transportation husbands leading to the games, including planes, trains, and automobiles are still seen as softer targets and more vulnerable. today, russia's prime minister deputy insists that sochi is safe. >> translator: i would like to repeat once again, that the level of security in the city of sochi is not worse than new york, london, washington, or boston. >> reporter: that is little reassurance to some. black widow bombers are believed to have brought down two jets in russia in 2004. however the intent, security focused by russian and international authorities now may make it more difficult for a similar plot to succeed again. >> i can't think of a case where there's been a serious warning publicly and something actually happened. none leap to mind. >> concerned about the toothpaste threat led french officials to arrest two chechen women this week in france.

however, they had no evidence that the women were a threat or had plans to travel to russia. what i'm told is when it comes to threats outside of russia, there's pretty good cooperation but inside russia, that's where u.s. officials have serious concerns about whether the russian share everything that they know and, of course, with the olympics inside russia, create major concern for americans traveling. >> in addition to the so-called toothpaste bombs, they are worried about suicide bombers going after softer targets, maybe outside of the ring of steel to embarrass putin, if you will. >> that's right. it would in effect be an embarrassment so that shows the seriousness of tamping down these threats. >> one source saying we'd be very lucky to get through this without an attack. that's a grave concern. jim sciutto, thanks. the u.s. is standing by to

respond by land, sea, and air. our pentagon correspondent barbara starr is working this part of the story for us. what are you picking up, barbara? >> wolf, it the worse does happen, it will be the state department that will be in charge. but behind the scenes, classified plans are being put in place across the government. if there is an attack at the olympics that kills or injures americans, the u.s. will activate an extensive response plan. >> if something does happen, you're going to see the information systems of the united states government light up. >> it begins here in sochi and at a u.s. operations center where dozens of security personnel are on the ground. agents will accompany american athletes to every venue. but if terrorists strike, they will shift gears. fbi agents will gather information and evidence, intelligence personnel will try to find out what the russians know. in any aftermath, communications

from sochi to the u.s. embassy in moscow will be around the clock. they will make arrangements helping any americans who need it. but the u.s. will have to defer to moscow. >> this is russia's show. this is russian sovereign territory and international coordination is going to be critical if there is a disaster or an attack on the ground. >> the pentagon emphasizes it would only move in if russia asks for help. >> we want them to know that if they need our help, we want to help. >> the major military job, evacuate american citizens if there is no commercial aviation. >> if we need to extract our citizens, we will have appropriate arrangements with the russians to do that. >> the u.s./european command in germany now has direct communication with russian military commanders in the sochi

region. the two navy warships, mt. whitney and "taylor" are now in the black sea off sochi could quickly evacuate government v.i.p.s and provide communications for other u.s. assets. in germany, transport aircraft stand by. with medical teams that could be in the air six hours after getting orders. u.s. officials say the russians have told them they will medically treat and stabilize any americans who are injured. and then they will call for an evacuation. wolf? >> barbara, thank you. with the new warnings of explosives possibly hidden inside a toothpaste tube, we wanted to see the damage that that could do. the results of our test are very disturbing. brian todd is here with an exclusive look. what are you finding out? >> wolf, it does not take much. 6.3 ounces of an explosive, not

much more than the amount of toothpaste in this carry-on. here's what the explosives did in the test that we commissioned. explosives hidden inside of a toothpaste tube can be powerful and potentially deadly. this bomb in a toothpaste container blew off a car door, sent parts of it across the quarry in southeastern england with the help of an expert that helps first responders understand explosives. what kind of damage could this bomb do? >> i wouldn't want to be in an airplane with that kind of an explosive, even a big one. >> reporter: he mixed this powder with an ingredient to create a paste. he filled three-quarters with his explosives concoction and the rest with toothpaste. >> it smells and looks like toothpaste. i have presented this in such a

way that somebody giving it a casual inspection will probably pass it. >> reporter: the size of the container alfred used is the size that you have to place in checked baggage at an airport but two smaller containers this size, which you can carry on a plane, can also be used. these tubes would have to be attached or near each other to create an explosion that can be detonated by a heat source. >> this is not a hypothetical development. there has been a reported case that's been well-documented where a toothpaste bomb exploded a plane? >> absolutely, there has, wolf. october 1976. anti-castro cuban operative hid explosives in a tube of colgate that brought down a flight over the caribbean. more than 70 people were killed in that. bombing. it didn't take much. >> i know you have more on the tests that we commissioned. thanks, brian todd reporting. up next, we're getting new

information out of the white house right now on the sochi threats. our senior white house correspondent brianna keilar is standing by live. we'll go to her in just a moment. also, it's not just the security fears that people are unprepared for. guests. construction is unfinished for them. you won't believe what happened to our own ivan watson at his hotel. we'll check in with him. we're going live to sochi. and a top american diplomat using very undiplomatic language speaking about europe. >> [ bleep ]. [ laughter ]

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the obama administration is closely following the threats to the winter olympic games in russia. the president has been briefed on the contingency plans. brianna keilar is joining us. in light of the new threats, how much concern, brianna, are you hearing that there is inside the white house? >> reporter: wolf, the white house is certainly concerned. they are closely monitoring these potential threats. but the white house and officials here still think that travel for americans so sochi, russia, is safe, just as president obama told our jake tapper last week before tonight's ban on all liquids in carry-ones on flights to russia and before that dhs warning that explosives could be concealed in toothpaste and cosmetics tubes. whouz press secretary jay carney

saying that this afternoon that this latest threat was announced out of abundance of caution. >> i would note certainly since 9/11 there have been many threats to aviation involved with sharing of airlines and our job and we're doing so again in this case. >> now, carney also said today that if the administration receives new information here in the coming days, the coming weeks that that assessment of security has changed. the state department stands ready to issue a travel alert. the president at this point, wolf, is receiving very regular briefings on the security at the games. he met with vice president joe biden, secretary of state john kerry and cia director as well as fbi officials directive to them was to make sure that they are cooperating to make sure that the games are secure.

>> brianna, thank you very much. let's bring in our senior national correspondent ivan watson. he's on the ground in sochi where the athletes are arriving. how concerned are they about the threats that are out there, their own personal security? >> reporter: well, i saw dozens of members of team usa arriving at the airport today. everybody said, yes, this has been on our minds but we're really going to focus on enjoying the olympics and enjoy competing to the upmost of our capabilities. i caught up with siblings that are going to be competing. >> there is possible explosive toothpaste. did that get to you? is does that stress you out? >> yesterday we were doing

practicing and then traveling all morning but i think our job is to fwoek kus on what we can do and what we can do and that's how we're going to perform at our first olympics. >> i also spoke to the ceo of sochi airport. he said, you know, we have taken security precautions. no pastes, liquids, or creams allow in carry-ones on planes coming in and flying around russia. special equipment to scan the luggage that's been checked in as well. he says he thinks it is safe. other officials say that sochi is just as safe as boston, london, new york. i have to add, while i was at that airport, there were american athletes coming in, the hockey team coming e in. i started to really feel that olympic spirit despite the security jitters. people were excited about getting here and looking forward

to competing. wolf? >> beyond the potential terror threats out there, we've heard some awful horror stories about hotels not being ready to handle the visitors. turn on the water and disgusting water comes out. what is going on at those hotels? >> reporter: i don't know if these are horror stories. this is kind of the conditions you experience when you travel around the developing world. what i'm surprised at is seeing it quite to this extent here in what is supposed to be an olympic city and we're experiencing this firsthand again and again, our cnn team. i experienced it firsthand again today. we've had a lot of trouble trying to get rooms that we had paid for long ahead of time that were booked. i was carrying around a key for three days to my room and returned from a trip to try to get into my room with my team, with their other two rooms and there were people staying there.

they had been brought into the room even though we booked them, we had the keys. it has taken hours for us just to get our own rooms. the olympic committee insists that this is just 3% of all of the tens and thousands of rooms in the olympic city but i talked to senior government officials who have been brought in to kind of deal with this emergency. they say this stems from hotels up in the mountain cluster that were not ready on time, that were supposed to be built by subcontractors and then guests who were supposed to stay up in the mountains have been brought down here to the coastal area and they have overrun the journalist dormitories down here and that has simply collapsed this system, this man told me, where we're seeing receptionists not using computers to check in people but writing on scratches of paper. that is part of the collapse that journalists are seeing. we'll have to see what happens to travelers, to families of the athletes. hopefully they get a better

reception. >> they've had seven years to get it ready. i was told my mike mccaul that maybe 10,000 americans are supposed to be in sochi right now and if you add up the athletes, coaches, trainers, all of their family members and all of the spectators, the fans who are coming, maybe 10,000 fans are going to be in sochi over the next couple of weeks. that's a lot. ivan watson in sochi for us. there's other important news we're following, including a california power station attacked by snipers exposing how vulnerable the entire u.s. power grid might be. plus, a top diplomatic diplomat with shocking remarks about europe. >> [ bleep ] the eu. ♪

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we're learning new details of the latest threat to the sochi winter olympic games, explosives hidden inside of toothpaste or cosmetic tubes. the airlines are warning russia about the threat and as cnn first reported, we now know where the threat originates.

and fareed zakaria is joining us. fareed, let's talk about security, sochi, the russians. i spoke earlier with the chairman of the house homeland security, mike mccaul, and he told me this. listen. >> i can tell you the plot itself originated from the leader of the chechen rebel extremist umaraf. that's where this plot actually hatched out of. there have been reports that he's been killed since then but the plot has been hatched and it's out there. you have the suicide bombers within russia and there's a high probability that one of those will go off again. >> either using some sort of explosives in a toothpaste or suicide bomber. he says internally the russians

are not cooperating much with u.s. intelligence. can the u.s. really trust putin right now? >> well, they can trust him certainly in the sense that he has to make sure that the games go off smoothly. it's very unlikely that he's going to do something that will in some way magnify -- the danger is that they won't ask for help when they could actually use a lot of the help, particularly the sophisticated technological help that u.s. intelligence agencies would provide. >> here's a clip from a russian official. this is the deputy prime minister, dmitry kozak. listen to what he says about sochi right now. >> translator: i would like to repeat once again that the level of security in the city of sochi is not worse than new york, london, washington, or boston. >> all right. those cities are, of course, new york, london, washington, or

boston, they were the scene of terrorist attacks, as all of us know. do you think he was deliberately mentioning those cities or just random on his part? >> i think the point he was trying to make is that they have not created that kind of police state in sochi that -- the level of security, what you would find in a major city, which is frankly deeply troubling. those cities, as you say, have had terrorist attacks but they are not adjacent to massive insurgencies and ongoing civil wars. the odd thing about sochi is this is the only town that i can think of where you've had a major international sporting event which is essentially next to a 20-year insurgency which has only gotten more radical and vicious. one would hope that sochi has a lot more security than new york, london, or paris because the russians chose to locate the winter olympics in what is really a war zone.

>> because what i've heard from experts here in washington repeatedly over the past several days, fareed, the ring of steel will probably be okay given the amount of security personnel that the russians have poured in but immediately outside, some of the softer potential target areas, there could very likely be some sort of terrorist attack. >> well, it's the point you made earlier, wolf, which is there are so many opportunities, whether it's toothpaste or, you know, all kinds of very simple technologies that can now create an incident. it probably wouldn't be something that would kill lots of people but it would be a place where the whole world is watching. so even a small attack would get magnified and with terrorism, you want a few people dead and a lot of people watching. sochi provides that opportunity and there is this huge cadray of

islamist terrorists suppressed by the army. so, yeah, i'm very worried, precisely because it doesn't need to be very elaborate. it could be something very simple but it will have seismic effects. >> certainly will. hope it doesn't happen, fareed. thanks very much. >> pleasure. we are going to have much more on the terror threats and the horror stories coming out of sochi in a special report, "trouble in sochi" that airs right at the top of the hour. a top u.s. diplomat's private phone call leaked to youtube is causing an international stir. elise labott is following this story. she's here in the situation with details. what is going on? >> we're talking about the top u.s. diplomat for europe, assistant secretary. this is about a phone call she was having with the u.s. ambassador of ukraine.

i have to say, for a diplomatic reporter like me, it was a fascinating conversation. there's been a lot of political turmoil in ukraine and we're talking about a power sharing deal that they are trying to broker behind the scenes between the opposition and the government and newland was very candidate about what candidates the u.s. wanted to see in the governor and expressed a lot of frustration with the european union who is putting pressure on the ukraine government. let's take a listen to a little clip of this phone call. >> he's now gotten both serry and ban ki-moon to agree that serry could come in monday or tuesday. >> okay. >> i think that would be great to help the u.n. glue it and, you know, [ bleep ] the eu. >> i think we've got to do

something to stick it together because if it gains altitude, the russians will be working behind the scenes to try to torpedo it. >> so not so such diplomatic language but if you know torey nuland, she's a plain-speaking and tough-talking diplomat. they are not denying that the conversation took place but she did apologize to her colleagues at the eu. >> how did this phone conversation get leaked? >> well, the u.s. is pretty clear that they think the russians did it. there's been a lot of tension between russia and the united states over ukraine. the u.s. is accusing russia of trying to use undue influence on the government here and the russians are accusing the u.s. of meddling. that makes clear that the u.s. was involved in some way and the state department is calling this a new low in russian trade craft, which is code for espionage. so it's really interesting. on one hand, the united states

is upset that the diplomats are being bugged but at the same time it doesn't really have a lot to say because of the nsa revelations. >> you would think that they would be using a secure line on a conversation like that one. clearly not so secure. elise, thanks very much. thanks for that report. when we come back, democratic donors unknowingly giving money to gop candidates because of fake campaign websites made up by a major republican group. this is an investigation you will see first right here on cnn. plus, he may be the first prisoner of war who isn't human. what the pentagon is saying about this military dog who ended up in taliban hands. you know how painful heartburn can be. for fast, long lasting relief, use doctor recommended gaviscon®. only gaviscon® forms a protective barrier that helps block stomach acid from splashing up- relieving the pain quickly. try fast, long lasting gaviscon®.

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cnn has learned about a shocking new political scheme. gop is making fake campaign websites where people think they are donating to democratic websites but the cash actually ends up in republican hands. drew griffin has been looking into these websites. drew, how could this possibly be legal? >> you know, that's a big question. when you see what happened, wolf, to a guy named randy frales, he's a very busy attorney we met in augusta, georgia, where during a very busy day in december, he went online, tried to make a quick donation to his democratic congressman, who is unaring fru for re-election and that's when he got tricked by one of these republican websites. >> i google his name and things of that nature and i'm thinking i'm at the right website. i see his lovely picture right

there. >> reporter: the site sure looked like the re-election campaign website for democrat john barrow. at least it did to frales. >> all i see is the blue. john barrow for congress, donate. >> reporter: and he did. $1,000, then the surprise. >> george bush's picture pops up and says congratulations, something to the effect that you donated to help defeat john barrow. and i tell my wife, oh, my god, you know, i just donated to the wrong website. >> reporter: frails believes he was tricked by a deceptive website. john barrow 2014 is one of at least 15 websites about democrats that the national republican congressional committee has built in what at least their spokesman thinks is a masterful stroke of online

ingenuity. use democrat candidates, democrat names and images to get the message out. >> democrats have made a big to do about it so we were pretty shocked, actually, that they had left a lot of urls sitting out there for their candidates. we figured, if they are not going to use them, we will. >> reporter: the n rchl krchl c boug nrcc bought up hundreds of urls. google searches looking for information goes to the fake url sites. deceptive? he says it's pure genius. >> we're very proud of this program. >> reporter: you don't think scooping up the url names of democrats, buying up all of this potential democratic access and then using the democrats' names

to -- and i will say, it's deceptive. deceptively deliver the republican message? is it sleazy? >> no, i think they dropped the ball. >> reporter: montana democrat congressional candidate john lewis, obviously, has a different opinion. he's one of the democrats the republicans built a website about. johnlewisforcongress.com. >> they are creating a website that at first blush is designed to look like your website. >> yeah. i mean, i've seen a lot of unfortunate uses of deception in the last few elections and it's just another in a long string of that. >> reporter: the nrcc insists the sites aren't meant to fool anyone and if you just read them, you'll quickly find out the truth about who produced the site and, more importantly, the nrcc says the truth about the democrats that they are trying

to defeat, like john lewis. >> montanans know who i stand for and they are going to see through a website that is based on deception. >> reporter: the republicans' response, democrats do it, too. >> they regularly attack candidates on our website. >> reporter: but they don't look like campaign websites of your candidate. >> but there's a lot of attacks on our candidates out there so i think that while the strategy might be a little different, i don't think either campaign committee has given up on getting information out there online. >> reporter: so wolf, do the democrats really do this? the republicans say yes and point to a state democratic site in florida that was really mocking a republican. the national democrats say it's not the same thing and it's not them. the democrat congressional campaign committee, the dccc gave us this statement.

it's not the dccc's practice to make websites that could be confused with the opponent's site and as for randy frails, he did get his $1,000 back but it took weeks. we asked if this is legal, is this under investigation? no comment. the republicans are expanding the program. wolf? >> thank god they've got a winner here but clearly this is why so many people all over the country just hate all of these politicians, especially these politicians in washington, because it is clearly deceptive. drew, good report. thanks very much. just ahead, fresh concerns about the vulnerability of the u.s. power grids. we're going to tell you about a power station right here in the united states that was attacked by snipers. and the taliban released a hostage video. they didn't capture a human, they captured a dog. we have all of the details. that's coming up. mine was earned in korea in 1953.

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new and escalating fears about the security of our nation's power grids. we now know that a group of skilled snipers attacked a power substation in california last year knocking out 17 transformers before disappearing into the night. dan simon is joining us with details. dan, clearly this was a very serious attack. >> reporter: and some are concerned, wolf, that this could be some kind of dress rehearsal for a very large attack. it was captured on surveillance video. you can see a brief streak of light.

perhaps a flashlight carried by an attacker. then come the sparks. they are bullets hitting the chain link fence that surrounds the pacific gas and electric or pg&e substation in san jose, a station that feeds power to silicon valley. california congressman henry waxman shows that our electrical grid is not protected from cyber and now physical attacks. >> this was an unprecedented attack on an electric grid substation using military style weapons. >> reporter: the april attack occurred just before 1:00 in the morning. the snipers first went into an underground vault and cut telephone cable. a half hour later they sprayed the substation with bullets for nearly 20 minutes knocking out 17 transformers, according to pg&e. when police arrived the shooters were gone but they found more than a hundred shell casings from a high powered assault rifle. no fingerprints. it seemed like a professional

job. energy energy workers rerouted power. but it took nearly a month to make repairs. >> under different conditions there could have been a serious power outage or worse. >> reporter: it was a little known attack and it's not clear what the motives were. but now months later some are trying to bring it to the forefront argue that if similar shootings happen throughout the nation at once collectively, they could take out a large chunk of the electrical grid leaving millions in the dark. the former chair of the federal energy regulatory commission. i spoke to him by phone. >> this is more about the larger issue of physical security of these high voltage substations nationwide and the need to ensure that some defensive measures start being put in place. >> reporter: he suggests measures such as opaque fences instead of open chain ones that you can see and shoot through. and more sophisticated surveillance cameras to help identify suspects.

now, the case of san jose, the fbi says at this point they have no connection to terrorism, but we should point out since they don't have any suspects is yet, it's not possible to discern a motive. wolf? >> all right, dan. dan simon reporting, thank you. new signs from house republicans that any action on the key issue of immigration reform may be unlikely this year. the house speaker john boehner is laying the blame squarely at president obama's feet. >> there's widespread doubt about whether this administration can be trusted to enforce our laws. and it's going to be difficult to move any immigration legislation until that changes. >> let's bring in our chief political analyst gloria borger to talk about this. pretty strong words. it looks potentially like comprehensive immigration reform not going to happen this year. >> it does and it probably won't. the use of the word "trust" wolf, is very deliberate by the house speaker. you don't say we don't trust the

president unless you know that he's vulnerable on that particular issue of trust. and if you look at the president's polls over the last six months, you see when people have been asked, do you believe the president is honest and trustworthy, his poll numbers have gone down by about a dozen points. a lot of that is due to the problems with obama care. if you like your health insurance, you can keep your health insurance. clearly what the speaker's trying to do is lay the blame at the president's feet somehow for what i believe is a real failure within the republican party to be able to come up with some kind of comprehensive plan. >> because if you look at our new cnn rnc poll that just came out, we asked should a bill allow some illegal immigrants to stay in the united states, eventually apply for citizenship, 81% of the american public say they favor that, 17% say they -- overwhelming support for such legislation. >> so there's a problem inside the republican party right now. there are some republicans who would like to have the more

comprehensive approach to immigration reform that would lead to a path to citizenship. there are other republicans who say absolutely not. you want to do smaller measure, you want to do it piecemeal. but there's a political calculation here, too, wolf. the republicans say, look, if you focus on immigration reform, you're taking the focus away from obama care. that's what they want to talk about in the 2014 midterms. and they also believe, look, if they get control of the senate, which is clearly a possibility, that they'd have a better shot if they control the house and control the senate of getting done what they want on immigration. so lots are saying put it off. i think you see the house speaker there gragreeing with that, at least saying no large approach. >> the republican congressman teaberry from ohio, patrick teaberry said this, right now jesus himself could be the speaker and get 218 republicans behind something. >> i think jesus night be able to get a majority of the

republicans. he's saying, look, they're all over the place. boehner, as you know, has talked about getting immigration reform done. he's hired people on his staff to get immigration reform done. i think what he said today is a tass cit acknowledgment that nothing that's a large plan is going to get done, maybe they do something on the dream act, for example, but nothing that's comprehensive. >> gloria, thanks very much. when we come back, wrenching video of what might be the first ever canine prisoner of war. what they're saying about this dog allegedly captured by the taliban. at the top of the hour, special report, trouble in sochi. you're going to see just how powerful and potentially deadly a toothpaste bomb could be. you're going to want to see the shocking video when we come back. momuments men? yes.

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the taliban in afghanistan have released video of what they say is a captured american, although their hostage is not a human, it's a military dog.

the taliban spokesman telling "the washington post" the dog was captured after a fire fight between u.s. forces and taliban fighters last december in afghanistan. he goes on to say the dog carried the rank of colonel, was of high significance to the americans. the pentagon says the dog belongs to another nato allied force, not the united states military. let's also remember that army sergeant bob bergdal has been held by the insurgents in the border region since june of 2009. he's the only american service member being held and his family is desperate to get him back. happening now, a "situation room" special report, trouble in sochi. we have breaking news on the olympic terror alert as american athletes and spectators fly to russia. they're facing a new emergency ban aimed at preventing a possible attack in flight. plus -- a toothpaste bomb.

how dangerous would it be? we have an exclusive look at how terrorists might put explosives in a tube and detonate it in a car or a crowded plane. and hotel horrors. we'll get firsthand accounts from journalists in sochi who say the accommodations deplorable if, if the rooms they booked are ready at all. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." just hours before the opening ceremony, the olympics in sochi, some u.s. officials i've talked to are sounding more worried than ever about a possible terror attack. we're told the united states is working with russia and other countries to try to disrupt several possible threats. that's in addition to the new warnings about explosives hidden in toothpaste tubes. and now we're also learning that airline security officials in this country are responding by ordering new flight rules for flights to russia. our correspondents are covering all the troubles in sochi, but

let's begin our coverage this hour with our aviation correspondent rene march. she's great the breaking news for us. >> reporter: this is the first visible security move that we've seen since we first learned about the toothpaste bomb threats. effective immediately, we can tell you the tsa will not allow any toothpaste, liquids, gels, aerosols or powdered in the cabin of any plane flying between the united states and russia. not even a 3 ounce tube is okay. these items will only be allowed in your checked luggage. now, today delta airlines posted an alert on its website. passengers on its one daily flight from jfk to moscow will not be allowed to carry liquids. they should expect tsa officers checking carry-on bags at the gate, tsa will not do these checks at the checkpoints. that's because this is a very targeted approach focusing only on flights between the united states and russia. we got a statement from the department of homeland security.

it says in part that they have been taking seen and unseen measures. they say that these measures include intelligence gathering as well as analysis deployment of cutting edge technology, random canine team searches at airports, federal air marshals. they also go on to say they'll be temporarily restricting certain items, again those items being toothpaste, for example, liquids, medications will be allowable. >> understandably they're taking major new precautions to deal with this potential threat out there. rene, thanks very much. let's get an exclusive look at how toothpaste tubes potentially could be turned into deadly bombs. brian todd is here. he's got the details. brian? >> reporter: wolf, it takes just a small amount of explosives which can fit into both of these small toothpaste containers to blast a hole in a passenger plane. here's a look at the exclusive test we commissioned today. explosives hiding inside a

toothpaste tube can be powerful and potentially deadly. this bomb in a toothpaste container blew off a car door, sent parts of it across the quarry in southwestern england where cnn commissioned this test with the help of sidney alford, a man who helps people understand explosives. >> i wouldn't like to be in an airplane in which that's exploded, not even a big one. >> reporter: for this test, alford used an explosive called rdx, a white crystalline powder. he mixed it with another ingredient to create a paste. he filled three-quarters with his explosive concoction, the rest with toothpaste. >> it smells and tastes like toothpaste. i have presented this in such a way that somebody giving it a casual inspection would probably pass it. >> reporter: the size of container alford used is the kind you have to place in checked baggage, but alford says two smaller containers this size, which you can carry on,

can also be used. those tubes have to be attached or placed near each other to create a similar explosion. they can be detonated by a heat source. bombs that were successfully smuggled aboard u.s.-bound airliners in recent years show just how great the threat can be. this is what prosecutors say the 2009 underwear bomb would have looked like if it had gone off. omar ma ruk ab dull ma tulle af concealed it in his pants. these are two bombs that were found before they exploded found aboard cargo planes. in a reconstruction for cnn this is what alford said one of the printer bombs could have done. >> if that had been passed through an airplane's fuselage, then heaven help the airplane. that would have been a terminal event, i'm afraid. >> reporter: his demonstration, then and now, used two different types of explosives which had

similar effects. a toothpaste bomb has brought down a plane before, in october 1976, anti-castro cuban operatives hid explosives in a tube and brought down a flight over the caribbean. more than 70 people were killed. as for the current threat, the concern about the use of toothpaste tubes has focused mostly on flights from europe and neighboring asian countries into russia. one u.s. official says the u.s. intelligence community is still assessing the overall credibility and scope of this threat, wolf. >> and beyond the u.s. ban on the -- taking some of these products on board with you into the cabin, i understand russian authorities are doing something along the same lines. >> they've done it as well. they did it just before the u.s. did it, as rene reported earlier, the russian authorities have banned liquids on all airline carry-on baggage ahead of the olympics according to a russian news agency reports. even now containers of this size, you can't carry on as far as a russian airliner or planes going into russia. >> better to be safe than sorry.

olympic officials in sochi are promising that the city will be the safest place on earth during the games, but with all these latest terror threats, russia has to be prepared for the worst. our senior international correspondent nick paton walsh is in sochi. he's joining us live. the question is russia ready? >> reporter: well, wolf, obviously everyone's hoping the weeks ahead will pass without incident at all, but in the unlikely but ghastly event of an attack the question many are asking is what kind of russian response can we expect. that will rain between efficiency and the heartlessness of the kgb that runs the government and its elite core, and then across russia's huge expanse of the law enforcement which is often corrupt, often inefficient. people wondering exactly what russia will in fact do in the event something does happen. this is all a drill.

well, the helicopters are for putin, but in russia's south, you can be sure that if there is an attack, the kremlin will respond as only it knows how. hard. >> translator: the job of the olympic host is to ensure security to the participants in the olympics and visitors. we will do whatever it takes. >> reporter: wolf what will that mean? watch for three things. the response to the theater hostage crisis in 2002 came after vladimir putin when talks failed ordered the use of a knockout gas against militants who had hundreds of muskovites surrounded with explosives. the fast brutal move killed the militants but also about 130 hostage, many through the gas itself, but showed the kremlin hit as unafraid and decisive. two years later militants took over a school. moscow stood back. and when the siege began 50 hours later, sent in a small number of special forces. it was chaotic and bloody.

dozens of children died. locals felt abandoned by the kremlin and now that's only likely if there's an attack far away twr the games. elsewhere in impoverished southern russia. if it happens expect not to see much of it. russia regulates press coverage heavily, particularly of militant activity in the south and will be infuriated by any attack on or near the games. then, of course, there may be u.s. criticism of russian intel sharing. like after the boston bombings when russian cooperation was still panned by u.s. officials. given this unsecertainty, u.s. officials will hope for calm but worrying which russian response they'll get if the worst does happen. >> there's so much mistrust in the tone of the relationship is rather negative that it may affect the cooperation or other lack of cooperation. >> reporter: now, really, the

talk of the last few days has been about toothpaste bombs, but that sophisticated technique isn't really what's going to be bothering people on the ground here for the past few months. this is a region of the world where explosives are pretty common when you're away from the ring of steel near here in sochi and there are concerns about how well you can implement a dagnet across this whole region given the state of the russian police force often seen by russians as being a net being corrupt and actually with brutal tactics that many accuse of having fueled the insurgency here in first place, wolf. >> nick paton walsh on the ground for us in sochi. nick, thanks very much. still ahead, cnn's rachel nichols is also in sochi right now. she's standing by to join us live. she'll tell us how the u.s. olympic team is responding to all these terror warnings out there and whether it's throwing them off their game. and we'll take you inside the hotels in sochi where so many of the rooms are simply unfinished at best and some of them are pretty disgusting.

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we're going inside the olympic ring of steel as we continue our special report on the trouble in sochi. the last american athletes have been arriving in russia today heading over to the olympic village only hours after learning of that possible toothpaste tube bomb threat. cnn's rachel nichols is also joining us from sochi. she made it there. so rachel, what are the americans athletes saying to you is all the concern about terror throwing them off their game? >> reporter: well, there's 230 american athletes. so of course you're going to have a pretty wide variance in

reactions. some of these athletes risk life and limb on a regular basis really in a way that most of the rest of us wouldn't, so it's not going to be that surprising that an athlete who is dealing with a specific threat of launching themselves down a 400-foot-high, 40-storen high ski jump is not going to be as concerned with the more general threat, nonspecific threat of terrorism. other athletes, they are expressing more concern, but most of them are also saying that, hey, this is a dream that they worked decades for. they're going to just focus on that and not any of the terror concerns, just put their trust in the officials who are supposed to take care of them. really the athletes are well protected. the russian military is involved in their protection, there's u.s. diplomatic officials involved in their protection. hey, nine of the u.s. team members are actually active members of the u.s. military. so they're trained. but it's their families that are actually causing greater concern because they're not as well protected as the athletes themselves. many of them have still made the journey over here, but one of

the american bobsledders actually changed his family's plans and decided that his mom should stay home. he said he just didn't want to be worrying about here while she was over here. >> which is totally understandable when you think about it. there may be as many as 10,000 americans in sochi, add up all the athletes, the trainers, the managers, the coaches of their family members, the spectators, the tourists, maybe 10,000 americans are with you in sochi right now. what was it like, i'm really curious, rachel, flying over to sochi from the united states with all these warnings out there, including these toothpaste bomb warnings. >> this is so interesting to listen to the official narrative, both from the american officials and the officials here in sochi versus my experience. i flew at 4:30 on wednesday afternoon from jfk in new york, and that was after cnn was already reporting about the toothpaste scare. it was after, of course, u.s. officials were aware of this

potential threat. i got to tell you, i happened to have two small tubes of travel-sized toothpaste in my bag. hey, that's how i roll. two whole tubes of toothpaste and neither one of them was questioned by u.s. officials. nobody at tsa asked me to take them out of my bag, nobody gave me any kind of extra check. took them right on to the plane. when i landed in moscow to make the transfer to sochi, the normal process is to have to recheck in, recheck your bags. we did that. then we went through moscow airport security to get on the flight to sochi, which is again the standard moscow security. and i have to say that was even more lax than what i had to get on the plane from jfk to moscow. nobody made me take my shoes off, nobody looked at the content of my bag, i didn't have to take my laptop or electronic devices out of my bag. none of my fellow passengers had to either. the head of the sochi airport was giving an interview to one of my colleagues here at cnn and telling him that no passenger

coming into sochi was allowed to have creams or liquids in their carry-on bags. meanwhile, neither me nor any of any fellow passengers had been checked for liquids or creams in our carry-on bags. we walked off of the plane into the sochi airport with no issue, no one checking anything. i will say that there were military police in the airport milling around when we got there, but as i said, definitely a different story for a traveler like me and some of my fellow passengers on my plane versus what we're hearing from officials in both countries. >> the things have changed over the past few hours. you took off more than 24 hours ago before this latest ban, the federal government saying all liquids, gels, aerosols, powders can no longer be taken carry-on luggage on any flights leaving the united states for russia. so only within the past few hours. you wouldn't have been able to take those two tubes of toothpaste if you left today as opposed to yesterday. we'll stay in close touch with you over the next several days.

because we obviously appreciate your firsthand accounts. thanks so much, rachel nichols is on the ground in sochi for cnn. we also have some firsthand accounts of the conditions in sochi. some other cnn staffers, other folks, journalists and others, they're saying the accommodations remain appalling if, if they can get a room at awe. listen to this. >> my hotel room, as a matter of fact, the window fell out on my head and i couldn't get it back in and had to sleep the first night in about 35 to 40 degree temperatures with the window sort of half open. as the days went by and more came in and the rest of our team came to come to the same hotel, the rooms weren't ready. and it got more and more chaotic. >> we've just landed from moscow about an hour ago now. we arrived at our hotel. and we've been told our rooms aren't ready. we've been sitting here for the last hour or so, there have been representatives of other media

who have been going up to the deck saying their rooms haven't been cleaned for a week, the raid yarts aren't working, there's no loo paper. >> we didn't have light bulbs in our lamp. but you use it and the bathtub isn't really there. it will probably fall apart. in our building it looks like everything's put together, but the other buildings in this hotel don't seem to be finished yet. >> the people involved are trying, but just seems that the infrastructure wasn't ready to accommodate the mass volume that came for the olympics. >> not the kind of publicity the russians wanted when they got these olympic games seven years ago. as if that weren't enough for the athletes in sochi to worry about, we're going to tell you how they're also now being caught up in a new yogurt war. stay with us.

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the u.s. is banning toothpaste tubes, gels, other liquids in all carry-ons to russia as fears of a possible terror attack at the sochi olympics grow. one substance that may not make it to russia anyway, chobani yogurt. because russia is blocking a huge u.s. shipment of this yogurt. our senior washington correspondent joe johns is joining us to explain. joe, what's going on? >> reporter: wolf, the cold war ended decades ago but teng ten between the u.s. and russia never seem to end, from nsa edward snowden who is camped out in moscow, to skirmishes over

human rights to always awkward relationship between putin and obama. now of all things the issue is yogurt. from the factory to the finish line, a load of chobani greek yogurt made in the u.s. is held up in customs waiting to get to sochi, held up in a long-running battle over trade rules for dairy exports between the u.s. and russia. chobani is an official sponsor of the u.s. olympic team and olympic athletes who have done tv commercials for the brand. >> chobani. >> senator chuck schumer from the state of new york where chobani is based is apparently a fan of the product. he's calling on the russian ambassador and the head of the olympic committee to remove the road block so the yogurt can be sent to the u.s. team. his statement sounding a bit like a pitchman. there is no time to waste in getting our olympic athletes a nutritious and delicious food. unfortunately this protein-packed new york-made food has met a serious roadblock in the russian government. so far the russian embassy

hasn't budged. when we got their spokesman on the phone, he referred us to a slightly mind-numbing statement on the embassy's webpage about how the u.s. department of agriculture, despite a long history of talks, has not negotiated an agreement to export dairy products to the territory. but when we contacted the department of agriculture, they sounded more optimistic. another written statement. since we've not yet reached a final agreement on the requirements for dairy products, we're working with our russian counterparts to reach an acceptable solution. so there may still be some hope that the yogurt will reach the olympic village before the olympics are over. the oddest result here is that the big winner so far is the yogurt. olympic sponsors may a lot of money for the right to connect their brands to the games, but this controversy is just creating the kind of buzz you don't get by purchasing 30-second ads. >> let the yogurt flow to russia. thanks very much, joe johns reporting. that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. "crossfire" starts right now.

tonight on "crossfire" -- terror fears at the olympics. can we trust the russians to keep our athletes safe? >> the level of security in the city of sochi is not worse than new york, london, washington or boston. >> on the left, sally kohn. on the right, newt gingrich. in the "crossfire" -- congressman adam schiff from the intelligence committee and u.s. senator ron johnson from the foreign relations committee. in a dangerous world, can we count on putin to protect americans? tonight on "crossfire." welcome to "crossfire." i'm newt gingrich on the right. >> i'm sally kohn on the left. in the "crossfire" tonight, a democratic congressman and a republican senator. holding the olympics in russia was already wrong, now it's scary and wrong. and getting scarier by the second. we just learned the u.s. is

banning carry-on liquids on airline flights to russia following warnings about toothpaste tube bombs. and if that sounds like a joke, watch what one of them does to this car. now listen to what senate intelligence committee chair dianne feinstein just told cnn's jake tapper. >> i think people going to the olympics should be careful. i think they should watch their backs. i think they should stay out of crowds if they can. >> like that's doable. the olympics is one giant crowd. if i were a ticket holder or an athlete, i'd be scared. wouldn't you be? >> well, i'd be sobered, but i do think senator feinstein sort of tried to get it both ways. if you shouldn't be in a crowd, you shouldn't go to the olympics. if you're in the olympics you're going to be in a crowd. the question is whether something terrible happens or happens somewhere else in the world. in the