ivan watson is following all of the angles from sochi. >> reporter: under heavy security monday morning, the olympic torch made its way through the city of dagestan. a region plagued by islamist insurgents. this amid a new warning from terrorists in that region over the weekend, promising more attacks like this recent bombing in russia, though not specifically mentioning the sochi games. as olympic athletes begin to arrive, the u.s. state department issued another warning last week, urging american athletes not to wear their uniforms outside the games' ring of steel. >> if we need to extract our citizens, we will have appropriate arrangements with the russians to do this. >> reporter: in the event of an attack, u.s. officials say they have contingency plans at the ready. helicopters on stand-by on two warships in the black sea, and c-17 transport aircraft in germany could be on the scene in two hours. but russian officials hope these emergency plans won't be needed. assuring their security forces will be vigilant. >> because we are doing everything that is needed in order to make sure i

our senior international correspondent ivan watson is live in sochi. tell us more, ivan. >> reporter: that's right. well, a massive russian security force presence here in sochi, the site of the upcoming games. i'll give you a little bit of a look around the area. we've seen russian navy ships patrolling right off the coast here in the waters of the black sea. very close to the olympic park that was just constructed at a cost of billions and billions of dollars by the russians for hosting these games, a show of force, perhaps in response to some of the terrorist threats that have come in recent days, in fact, to the olympic games, particularly from the troubled region of the caucasus. now the war ships have been patrolling here in the waters of the black sea as the sun is setting. now you can see we'll pan across the area of the olympic park the white dome of the fish stadium where topping and closing will be held and there you can see in the distance here the olympic torch, which is burning while athletes continue to carry the torch across russia, they

cnn's ivan watson is in sochi, russia, now to tell us more. ng, ivan. >> good morning, carol. that's right, the russian security forces say that they captured these two brothers on wednesday, that they claim were accomplices to those deadly twin suicide bombings that hit the city of volgograd at the end of december and killed more than 30 people. the two suspects were arrested in the russian republic of dagestan, which is about 600 miles east of sochi here where i am where the winter olympics are going to be held. and the russians say that they're continuing security operations. they insist that these are going to be the safest winter olympics ever. we've certainly seen massive amounts of russian security forces, very well-fortified olympic venues. but i have to add that the head of the u.s.'s national counterterrorism center, matthew olson, he briefed congress members yesterday. and he said, yes, he does think the olympic venues will be safe. but he fears that the city of sochi and districts beyond sochi that they are soft targets and "there i

ivan watson is in sochi this morning. and ivan, we understand there is a new threat from the same group that was behind those bombings in volgograd. >> reporter: there have been a number of threats that have come out, both videos and e-mail threats, some questions about whether they're hoaxes or not, and certainly, the russians have clamped down securitywise. i flew in last night here. i might add, john, that it's probably 30 degrees warmer here in sochi where the winter olympics are going to be held than over there in new york right now. i found that the russian bureaucracy traveling through russia far friendlier and more hospitable than i have encountered in the past. there is definitely a huge police presence on the ground in the olympic park area over my shoulder, in the resort town of sochi. police everywhere in uniform, some of them dressed up in, like, purple kind of sports winter outfits. there have been a number of precautions taken. for example, locals telling us that cars that are not registered in sochi have ef

ivan watson is live in sochi this morning. the athletes begin arriving there right now. they saying? >> reporter: well, it's a little tough to see some of them. there are very strict security measures around the olympic park over my shoulder here, so we're not getting much access to those athletes. yes, the nhl deputy commissioner said if something unexpected happens, the nhl would reconsider, but he said he doesn't anticipate that, john. meanwhile, the president of the international olympic committee said that he's sleeping very well these days, he trusts the russian security measures. and i've got to say, we just drove along the length of the brand-new, 25-mile-long highway and high-speed rail line between the olympic park down here and the caucasus mountains where the alpine activities will be, and i have to say, it looks like the russians have brought an army down here, quite literally. there are pup tents and bunkers along the route of that new, that will be linking the two venues, with soldiers in them in camouflage, roughly every couple hundred yards. tens of thou

senior international correspondent ivan watson is in sochi for us this morning with the very latest. how are things looking from the ground now, ivan? >> reporter: well, good morning from sochi where the weather is in the high 50s in the future home of the 2014 olympics. they have flooded the area with security forces, of course on j after deadly twin bombings in the nearby city of volgograd killed more than 30 people and a fresh threat over the weekend justifying that deadly bomb attack and threatening more bombing over what the wb site claims infidel's crimes. take a look. a new warning from terrorists in dagestan, promising more attacks like this recent bombing in russia. they're not specifically mentioning the sochi games. as olympic athletes begin to arrive, the u.s. state department issued another warning last week, urging american athletes not to wear their uniforms outside the game's ring of steel. >> if we need to extract our citizens, we will have appropriate arrangements with the russians to do that. >> reporter: in the event of an attack, u.s. officials say they have conti

senior correspondent, ivan watson is live to tell us more.orning, good night, carol. that's right. the olympic torch is still making its way through russia. for the past through days, it has been going through the turbulent caucuses, today, through that former war-torn region of chechnya. we have had reports that the route of the heavily guarded torch had to be shrunk somewhat there. we are waiting to find out more. here in sochi, the workers are putting the final touches, working overtime trying to put the final touches on the olympics before they start about ten days from now. the security forces are clearly tightening their so-called, ring of steel around the olympic park, which is behind me here. we have seen examples of the extreme lengths the russian security forces are going to to protect the area. there is a brand new very expensive parallel highway and high-speed rail line that runs from the olympic park over my shoulder up into the caucuses mountains, more than 25 miles to the location where the alpine sports will be held. we drove

ivan watson is live in sochi this morning. ivan, what are you seeing?actually coming to town? >> reporter: good morning, christine. today we're broadcasting to you from the port of sochi. now, many people may not know this, the city and port of sochi are actually about a half hour's drive away from the main olympic park where the ice skating's going to be taking place, the opening and close ceremonies and a lot of the events, the sports venues and the olympic village are. they're quite far apart. the russians are saying the sports, the winter olympics are going to be the safest ever, and this week, the head of the u.s.'s counterterrorism center, matthew olson, he also said that he believes these very well fortified olympic venues will be safe. his concern, he said, are softer targets, like the city of sochi itself, where i am, and the outlying areas where there simply aren't the same fortifications. he said to congress that "there is a substantial potential for a terrorist attack in some of these places." of course, the athletes are going to be very far

ivan watson in sochi with details on what's happening. >> reporter: kyra and michael, workers here on the ground in sochi are working overtime. they're putting a final touches on the venues, on the cities and towns here ahead of the opening of the olympics about ten it days away. we have also been seeing how the russian security forces are tightening their so-called ring of steel around the olympic venues. for example, there is a brand-new highway and high-speed rail line that have been built just for these olympics connecting the olympic park over my shoulder and running more than 25 miles up into the caucasus mountains to the venues where the alpine sports will be held. and along the route, which we drove along today, we can see russian soldiers in green camouflage uniforms. they are based there, every couple hundred yards, it seems, in tents and camouflage along the route of these two strategic -- this highway and this rail line. and we also saw entire bases where it's clear there are thousands of russian police officers and soldiers currently residing to provide security for the o