let me bring in nick paton walsh.which is feeling the effects of the war in syria. does anyone in the region really think that bashar al assad is going to walk away and accept some sort of transitional government move away from what he's done? >> reporter: he's made absolutely clear that's not on his agenda. the question mark is how much do they see him seeing in power as their ultimate goal? surely the administration in damascus and their goals and perhaps some think maybe by getting them in the same place minus iran with the exact influence on the outside, perhaps that might remind damascus there are larger issues at stake here. but very, very quickly, despite that kind of southern people had in getting the syrian opposition to attention very quickly people are going to recognize the opposition and supreme pulls apart the key area of transition. they can have their groups getting together perhaps the situation for millions of syrians suffering inside the country right now perhaps sooner or later they are going to re

. >> cnn's nick paton walsh is live in sochi. nick, less than two weeks to go.hat would an extraction like that look like? >> reporter: well, i think chuck hagel must be referring to the two warships in the sea. not far from where i'm standing now, that would involve taking people by land, by road to the coast. are americans particularly in danger? tourists have been warned to be carefully and americans are specifically a target as militants don't particularly loathe the u.s. they consider them indifferent in the broader fight against the state but it was from the state department to athletes not to wear too many u.s. logos explained by a spokesperson earlier today. when they leave and they venture out into a broader area. the pentagon, the state department says once you leave this protected area, the 37,000 security official ts providing security, you become a soft targets across the area. there's been an insurgency, volatility now for more than a decade. >> how serious are owe fitffici taking the chatter about a possible attack? >> i think it's getting a lot o

our nick paton walsh is in sochi with all the details and threats and what officials are saying about it as well. >> reporter: just over two weeks leading up to the sochi olympic games, mounting anticipation. not about who will win the gold, but instead concern about a possible chink in the game's trail. a letter sent to the organizing committee and several countries. the international olympic committee quelled the concerns telling cnn the e-mail contains no threat and appears to be a random message from a member of the public. the u.s. olympic committee is looking into it as well saying the safety and security of team usa is our top priority. as is always the case, we're working to ensure that our delegation and other americans traveling to sochi are safe. the white house, however, says american travelers should remain vigilant. >> we have seen an uptick in threat reporting prior to the olympics, which is of course of concern. although it is not unusual for a major international event. >> reporter: presidents and joint chiefs continue to offer counterterrorism expertise to russia wit

nick paton walsh for us on the ground in sochi. this will be such a big story over the next two weeks. thanks to you, nick. >>> now to israel and a terror plot disrupted. authorities stopping three men who they say planned to blow up the u.s. embassy in tel aviv and the jerusalem convention center. ben wedeman live in jerusalem with the latest for us this morning. ben, what can you tell us about this plot? >> reporter: yes, christine, this plot was announced by shin bet, israel's formidable domestic security agency, which says they arrested these three men, two in jerusalem, one in the northern west bank, who were recruited by a man in gaza. and apparently, the plan was for one of those three men to travel from here to turkey and then into northern syria where he would receive military training. in the meantime, the same men received instructions from his recruiter in gaza on how to manufacture explosive devices. when this man returns from syria, he was supposed to get in touch with what are described as foreign terrorists who would

our own nick paton walsh is on the ground right now, joining us on the phone. take us a little inside. what's it like? what are you seeing as far as security preparations on the ground, nick? >> reporter: it's quite remarkable, actually. i've been to this town before when it was embracing itself the way it is. quite a difference when i got off the plane this afternoon. a number of people in track suits there to greet those arriving for the olympics. but as you drive in towards the town, you notice the fact that some streets are emptied. there seem to be the occasional core don put up. it's still early days so all of the various dragnets and core donees in place. you do see eventually the olympic area. that is pretty extensively cordoned off. i tried to get my accreditation to go in today, but the computer system was down, therefore they weren't able to dish out badges to a whole number of people. this was the third attempt to try to get the accreditation badge. in terms of the visibility security on the streets, it's not palpably leaking out at this point. i did

our own nick paton walsh is on the ground for us there. ed the torch parade that took place inside a secure stadium. nick, was all that plan all along to hold that torch relay inside a stadium? was that the plan all along? >> reporter: absolutely. and it seems meticulously thought out. i mean, to the point -- in fact, where very few people in the town of dagestan would have seen the torch at all. it arrived in the airport in secre secrecy. we weren't allowed to see that. it was whisked to the stadium, a convoy accompanying it. and the first that the thousands of dagestanees who had been shipped to attend the ceremony actually saw of the torch was when it appeared on a tv screen inside the stadium and made its way in for the festivities that occurred in that maximum security environment. a bizarre scene, empty streets, police lockdown, police check points. we were shipped around in a bus. couldn't move around in our own car. maximum security, absolutely. and wolf, you know, you've got to bear in mind, this is a symbol. the kremlin have known

nick paton walsh is in dagestan for us this morning. >> reporter: the festive atmosphere here insidehat we've seen in the town itself. the torch came here in a maximum security convoy from the airport, nobody there to film it as it came in. and inside this stadium is where the parades happen. outside, checkpoints, the police locking down the city for one simple reason -- this is the hot bed of the islamic insurgency in southern russia and where the threats against the games have been made by militants. today we've seen an estimated 13,000 crowd gather inside here, but they were all bussed in on coaches as well from around the area. tightly organized, tightly controlled, high security. that gives you an idea of how seriously the threat is taken by the russian government itself. and ordinary people in the town around not involved, not the normal parade you would expect for an olympic torch people lining the streets and waving it through. everything inside here, everything under tight security. that's what people are worried about in sochi, the threat that emanates from here, even thoug

our senior international correspondent nick paton walsh is in dagestan.ugh that troubled republic. what did you see? >> reporter: when it passed without incident, wolf, but not short of the remarkable security laid out here. almost surreal sight. no crowds cheering it along. it arrived very much under secrecy at the airport, whisked to a stadium where the festivity happened under maximum security. in dagestan, this is the ticker tape parade for the rint winter olympic flame. these are the streets lined with cheering fans. a surreal chokehold of police where there should have been festivity monday as this is the heart of russia's islamist insurgency, the threats of sochi. no flag-waving children and no sight of the torch at all on its maximum security journey from the airport to the stadium. locals instead were herded on buss from the city by organizers who kept the whole party on lockdown on site here. the cheer from thousands, music loud enough to shake off the cold and the deaths of hundreds each year in police raids, militant attacks and suicide bombin

nick paton walsh reporting from sochi. barbara starr standing by.e you hearing about plans to rescue u.s. citizens if necessary? >> today defense secretary chuck hagel for the first time publicly acknowledged that they are working on that kind of plan, they've had that kind of discussion with the russians. have a listen to what he had to say. >> we've had conversations with the russian government on protection of our citizens, of course, if we need to extract our citizens, we will have appropriate arrangements with the russians to do that. >> reporter: appropriate arrangements to evacuate americans if it comes to that. hagel talking about that, the possibility, of course, exists, to use commercial aircraft but also military assets. wolf? >> any more specifics on what those other arrangements they're talking about? >> absolutely. the state department is looking at what kind of commercial aircraft they might have contracts with on stand-by if needed. for the pentagon, for the military, two warships will go into the black sea in the coming days. one of

nick paton walsh, cnn, sochi. >>> in this country, how does super bowl monday sound to you?n new jersey next week, we might be calling it just that. hey guys! sorry we're late. did you run into traffic? no, just had to stop by the house to grab a few things. you stopped by the house? uh-huh. yea. alright, whenever you get your stuff, run upstairs, get cleaned up for dinner. you leave the house in good shape? yea. yea, of course. ♪ [ sportscaster talking on tv ] last-second field go-- yea, sure ya did. [ male announcer ] introducing at&t digital life. personalized home security and automation. get professionally monitored security for just $29.99 a month. with limited availability in select markets. ♪ >>> how does super bowl monday sound to you? what about super bowl friday? this year we could see a schedule change for the big game if the weather plays too rough. the crews were busy removing snow from the stadium last week. cnn's pamela brown takes a look at the contingency plans for the big game. >> some people questioned the decision to have the super bowl in the cold north

. >> nick paton walsh joins us from sochi. 've heard concerned from volgograd, but specifically, don't look specifically too american outside his ring of steel. >> reporter: well, i think in many ways, the state department would like to put in a qualifier, they have issued this advice for other olympics. one person was telling me, they did similar around london. let's not forget, this is one of the most volatile regions near europe. it's been a ten-year long islamic insurgency happening here. not necessarily in sochi or adler, a beautiful day here where i have to say where the olympics go going to be held, across north caucasus, where we have chechnya and they will create flames to engulf these games. more specific in nearby towns. the state department says the militants behind this aren't specifically targeting americans, in many ways. that's the open advice they give to tourists, but they tell them to be careful as well. but the warning to american athletes, don't look too american when you leave the secured area here. that p

our nick paton walsh is in sochi on the ground for us. nick, once you get through that security perimeter around sochi, what's it like on the streets of the actual venues where these athletes will stay and so many visitors will come? >> reporter: well, at this point obviously the athletes and many of those who are going to watch haven't even begun arriving. but we're seeing right now this time of night deserted streets, in the day there aren't many people around. a sense of anxiety, but a lot of tension, people waiting to see what happens ahead. there are measures in place to reduce the threat now. when you fly inside russia you can't bring any kind of liquid on board inside the passenger cabin with you at all. that's obviously been russia's long history of having instance where liquids were to blame for explosions inside airplanes. and around here we see copious numbers of police officers often shipped in from other parts of the country, that means they don't have local contacts that could be abused during this. inside the inner corridor

. >> joining us more is nick paton walsh.latest terror threat made reference to the volgograd attacks. what more do we know about it? >> the video out of dagestan were behind this online warning and the reason that people are taking it seriously is it's the same group that claimed responsibility for the two suicide bombings in volgograd late last year and showing the men who most likely carried out the attack themselves. the warning is lengthy and rambling and not specific in mentioning the olympics at all. the title is russia has been warned. it mentioned the volgograd warnings. it targeted that town because of the rite police in dagestan hail from them. it's their response to what militants see as police brutal tactics in dagestan itself. and provides justice in the quran and goes on to say that they will punish russia. nothing specific about the games but comes in the frame of the broader threat and warning from the same group that did volgograd. that has people on edge even though this is just online, these people have a

our nick paton walsh is joining us live from sochi. nick, you and i talk about this every day. the games beginning just two weeks from today. team usa essentially being told, they could be walking targets. i mean, this seems pretty serious. and it seems like it's something that they are taking every detail to task. >> reporter: you know, this is important, the "wall street journal" the u.s. olympic committee doesn't have any on the record comment about this, other than to say quite simply that they are always doing what they can to ensure the safety of the american team here. some of this advice comes -- seems to collide with what's being said by pentagon officials. warning perhaps not only about the potential for threats within the olympic arena here within the kind of ring of steel from 37,000 russian security officers. the more concern is softer targets to wander into sochi nearby or to head out. that's potentially where security may lapse, where things may get necessarily less safe. and we have been talking for a few days now about how this whole region has been for the pas

nick paton walsh, thank you so much much. >>> so less take a look at your money, if you dare right now, because i know it was an ugly week on wall street. the dow got slammed. dropping nearly 600 points in its workweeks in years. inspectors were spooked, i guess, by less than stellar corporate earnings and fears that china may be slowing down its red hot growth. >>> screaming fans, you see them here going wild over justin bieber as he leaves miami after, you know, that arrest for dui and resisting arrest then. a live report from miami ahead. >>> plus, controversial arizona sheriff is back. this time feeding his inmates just bread and water for a week as punishment. he's joining us next to tell us why. so what's better, bigger or smaller? [ all ] bigger! now let's say a friend invites you over and they have a really big, really fun pool. and then another friend invites you over who has a much smaller, less fun pool. which pool would you rather go to? does the big pool have piranhas? i believe so. does it have a dinosaur that can turn into a robot and chop the water like a karate ninja?

. >> nick paton walsh, thank you so much. all these reports leave the world wondering as well as athletes traveling to compete in the olympics, is it safe to go to sochi? i want to bring in bob baer, cnn national security analyst and a former cia operative. bob, good to see you as always. for everything we've heard, do you think there's a real terror threat in sochi? should we be worried? >> oh, absolutely. i think american citizens are at risk in russia either in the north caucasus, sochi, moscow, st. petersburg. this group, mainly led by chechens, is formidable. they're militarily trained. they're able to hit. they've got access to explosives. they said they're going to hit and they usually follow through. >> one of the things we heard u.s. officials express concern about is the degree of cooperation between the u.s. and russia. members of congress in sochi, other officials saying russia is not sharing enough intelligence. that's also going to be a concern, i would think. >> absolutely, jake. i sat across the table with rus

our senior international correspondent, nick paton walsh is in sochi for us. are you hearing about these olympic threats? >> reporter: well, today, there was considerable alarm at what appears to be the same letter, it's vague in content. made a reference to blowing up some attendees here. and any threat from that was quickly extinguished by the international olympic committee saying there seemed to be a round random message from the public. but it feeds into a growing pattern of more information emerging, more threats. they are high on the lookout for them right now. people wondering how safe it will be two weeks from now when these games begin. 15 days out and already the threats, real or hoax, are piling up against what could be the most tense and guarded winter games in decades. the talk isn't of who will ski to gold but instead where are these three women, potential suicide bombers, one perhaps in sochi itself. known as black widows in southern russia because they're said to die to avenge the death of a loved one killed in the bitter decades of insurgency

cnn's nick paton walsh joining us now from sochi. rompted the state department to put out this very specific warning now? >> there are two real answers to that. the first is i think there's something more specific u.s. defense officials and the state department are concerned about. they have made suggestions that militants might hit, quote, soft targets. that will be when you leave this ring of steel area where the venues are protected by 37,000 russian police and military and you head out to the rest of russia. the insurgents have been raising on for a decade. when you do that you look american, you might find yourself a target. although the state department has been warning they don't believe the militants are, in fact, looking to hit americans. there's the broader answer to that question. why be concerned? well, as i say, this area, a hotbed of an insurgency. not particularly sochi here where i'm standing but everything to the east. as you keep going towards the caspian sea, it's raging hardest, shootings, bombings on almost a dail

he was referring to the olympic village you saw behind nick paton walsh.ys it will be safe too. we'll see. >>> still to come in the newsroom, the government is trying to keep your child safe in the car seat. r rene marsh is following that story. >>> the child seat may not protect your child in a certain crash. we'll tell you what you need to know and what the government is doing next. minimize my blood sugar spikes. then, a way to support heart health. ♪ and let's not forget immune support. ♪ but now i have new glucerna advance with three benefits in one. including carbsteady ultra to help minimize blood sugar spikes. it's the best from glucerna. [ male announcer ] new glucerna advance. from the brand doctors recommend most. advancing nutrition for diabetes. and our giant idaho potato truck is still missing. so my dog and i we're going to go find it. it's out there somewhere spreading the good word about idaho potatoes and raising money for meals on wheels. but we'd really like our truck back, so if you see it, let us know, would you? thanks. what? i took

. >> well, joining us now with more on the new left and other late developments, nick paton wal walshthreat, the group who posted it referenced the volgograd attacks. what more do we know about it? >> reporter: those in dagestan were behind this online warning and part of the reason people are taking it so seriously, is this is the same group which posted the video with responsibility for the bombings in volgograd late last year. in fact, showing the men who probably most likely carried out the suicide attacks themselves. this particular warning, it's lengthy, it's in many ways rambling. it's not specific in actually mentioning the olympics at all. its title is "russia has been warned." it mentions the volgograd bombings. it says that, in fact, one of the reasons that it targeted that town is because some of the kind of riot police who operate here in dagestan hail from there, so it's their response, perhaps to what militants see here as police brutal tactics in dagestan itself. it provides even justification, it says, from inside the koran for some of the violence they've used, parti

>> nick paton walsh in brut for us. thanks, nick. >>> this morning also a whole lot going on in this region, especially with iran. the landmark nuclear deal between iran and six world powers is now under way. this is an interim agreement under which tehran promises to limit uranium enrichment in exchange for economic sanctions being eased. so, it is, in effect, as of this morning, cnn's reza sayah is monitoring developments. reza, what is the latest? >> reporter: watershed day, john, for iran, washington and the world powers. remember, all sides agreed on an interim nuclear deal back in november. today that deal is put into action. all sides start doing what they promised they'd do on paper. for iran, that means halting 20% enriched uranium and diluting its current stockpile. according to state media, that process started within the past ho hour. with this, technically, iran will not be able to produce the fuel necessary to make a nuclear bomb. international inspectors arrived in iran a couple days ago. they will verify