a large city that is some ways away from sochi. so, it was of course a terrorist act could happen. it could happen in sochi, but it's less likely to happen there than for example to happen in volgegrad in the train station. >> we have seen similar attacks by this group. is the russian government doing enough to crack down on these attacks? i point out an article that and in james defense weekly that said in october, soft targets would be hit and transportation would be vulnerable. >> well, you know, everything is always vulnerable to terrorism. this is a very difficult problem. all governments that have a problem with terrorism face it. the russian government certainly does. the russian government has invested enormously in trying to prevent this kind of thing. certainly they have deployed the resources, human resources and t thetol to try to present these things. they can happen. i think it's you know likely it would happen it in sorbi. the attacks of this type have been going on russia for many years for a decade and a half, almo

it's hard to do anything in sochi.ans say the safest games ever but in sochi. >> reporter: it's in the caucus and in the region, are you concerned about its proximity? >> sure, it's nearby and it's on the black sea coast and it's but it is heavily fortified because of russian security presence so they will have the safest games in history and maybe they will, let's hope they do. >> reporter: tourists just don't go to sochi and go to moscow and visit the cities around the games as well. >> that is part of the problem and people will do that and makes sense to do it and they will look to shit soft targets between sochi and moscow so it's a little bit different situations. >> reporter: and thank you for joining us with the insight this morning. and vowing violence in south sudan has returned home. the group known as the white army is no longer planning what he calls a vicious military confrontation and it's made up of nearly 25,000 people who are loyal to the vice president and accuses him of attempting a coup against the

what was the rationale for hosting the games in sochi? >> putin has a dacha in sochi. he thinks it could be a year- round resort. they have high mountains 15 miles from sochi. he found an opportunity to turn sochi into a resort. not many people believed this was a good idea, including some of his oligarch buddies who have been making the investment to build up the ski area. they are calling for subsidies from the government and asking the government to buy them out. it is a very large question mark. they stored up enough snow under thermal blankets so if it does not snow at the time of the x they will be able to use artificial snow. only time will tell what happens. i do think that a $60 billion investment for this is something that has already not paid off and has only brought bad pr and bad publicity for the area as a touristy venue. there has been a lot of corruption -- a lot of pollution in the black sea. local residents are complaining they cannot swim anymore. >> are investors concerned yet to russia's index is up after the attacks. stocks are a bigry in the u.s.

it's one of the big cities that that's close to sochi. it's also at a very important transportation hub. if you needed to take a train, for instance, or a bus, for that matter, to and from sochi, you would go through volgograd, so it's the proximity, i think, of the series of attacks so close to sochi that sends out this really frightening signal to russians that these militants can really strike anywhere and at will. back to you, richard. >> jim maceda as always, thank you so much for that. i want to bring in msnbc counterterrorism expert michael leiter, who joins me on the phone right now. michael, you heard probably what jim maceda was telling you there, if this indeed is an effort to disrupt the sochi games, can it be stopped? and if so, how? >> richard, i think it's very, very hard to stop these sorts of attacks. i think what is easier for the russians to do and i think they likely will is secure the sites around sochi. so i think the venues, the athletes, even the spectators once they're in sochi should be relatively safe. it's an e

and he found out that sochi is actually considered a gay haven in russia. and apparently has been for years. watch this tonight as he takes us inside a world into the heart of olympic territory that few outsiders have ever seen. ♪ >> reporter: in russia, this is an extraordinary sight. not the man dressed as a woman pretending to sing, but the mixed crowd of people cheering for him. beneath the wig, makeup and that spectacular costume is a young man named erman. he says sochi has always been more tolerant than other russian cities and famous for its gay culture. during the soviet air remarks when being in a gay relationship was illegal and international travel almost impossible, this sunny city by the black sea became the ussr's favorite getaway for gay people. the only place where members of a secret community could really be themselves. the people here know the atmosphere in sochi is very different to other provincial russian cities and that makes them luck equipment even more so recently. gay people across russia say there's been a surge of intolerance,

there are thousands of americans traveling to the games in sochi. but what help can u.s. intelligence officials offer? >> lester, the u.s. is not a cure-all for the threats. there are some things that the u.s. could do. first, the u.s. could be very helpful in identifying militants who may have traveled to pakistan or syria and are returning to engage in terrorism in russia. second, as we saw in boston, every thread of information might lead to uncovering threats. so any bolder and broader sharing with the u.s. would really be critical to giving us an opportunity to help with russians. >> i think a lot of minds went back to the boston bombings. the alleged attackers there had connections to northern caucuses in northern russia. should u.s. officials have even deeper terrorism concerns based on what we're seeing overseas? >> people around the u.s. will undoubtedly sees cities like new york and los angeles take heightened precautions because of these threats. but i really don't think in this case we see a homeland nexus. the groups that attacked here are very focused on rus

plus competing is nice but winning trumps it all say athletes as they ready themselves for the sochi winter olympics stay with us as we report on one paralympic contender was using bad gold fever to turn tragedy into purpose. my from our studios in moscow you're watching r t international with me and he said no way. our top story iranian lawmakers have proposed a bill on boosting uranium enrichment to sixty percent if new sanctions are imposed on the country the motion is apparently countering u.s. legislation authorizing to tougher reprisals if you're on breach as a historic deal reached in geneva last month well that agreement raised hopes of mom between tehran and foreign powers and marked a significant milestone of the year twenty thirteen. let's have a look at what exactly that deal was about iran agreed to reduce iranian enrichment from twenty percent seen as too close to bomb making capability to five percent for the next six months well it also deactivated its advanced centrifuges inspectors would monitor this on a daily basis and sanctions would begin to ease more on what le

some are suggesting that time related to the upcoming winter games in sochi investigates the security situation that while the international olympic committee says it has no concerns about safety. it will train all she international life from moscow and with start with the breaking news this hour. and for the second time in just three days the russian city of volgograd has been targeted by terrorists today fourteen people have been killed after a suicide bomber blew up on a trolley bus and twenty four hours earlier a similar assault on the city's railway station claimed at least sixteen lives also has moderate howell is following developments in volgograd for us i am here in the marketplace where that troll a bus exploded this morning at eight thirty in the morning causing a massive death bodies everywhere a lot of information that is still coming out about the stroller the attack that happened this morning it has been confirmed that there was a suicide bomber on that troll the bus that claimed these lives we have an eyewitness account of this event. i was in my way from work to the u

it is not far from sochi but it's not that close either. so you know, certainly they're trying to send a message. it's very hard to know whether there's going to be another attack. the russians are going to increase security even more around the area of sochi which they have done already. so more likely is that softer targets might become you know, might be targeted. so you know, areas where there is less protection actually than the area of sochi. >> professor, is there anything aside from security, is there anything that the russian president vladimir putin can doing to appease these groups even if it's a temporary gesture before the olympics? >> well, i think president beauty tin has always been very, very determined no the to negotiate with these groups. they have conducted terrorist attacks, and therefore, they have been classified as terrorists. and despite the calls from fighters in the region to negotiate with russia, this has never really happened. so i don't think this is going to be a moment where putin is going to sit downen an

as we know, russian security forces have locked down sochi. they have put an enormous amount of resources into that and in downtown movening our as well. those are the likeliest places for terrorists to strike. they have probably not given nearly so much attention to places like bolgegrad. >> that's why twice in recent months it has been hit. they have got to be worried about this because there are scores of russian cities citizens that are vulnerable in this way. >> fred, when -- allow me to interrupt you just for a second because people keep saying this is not -- this is not sochi. this is bolgegrad, not the site of the games but imagine, if you will, that something happened in chicago, which is just a little bit further from new york than, for instance, russia or bolgegrad is to moscow. people would be saying: is the u.s. safe? >> yeah. i think that's right. it's the opinion of some security experts these might be diversionary. it has happened before. terrorists use these tactics. they their goal would be to sew uncertainty to force execute

now this latest wave of bombings is getting close to sochi. volgograd is only about 400 miles from the olympic venue. and another car bombing which took place on friday and killed three was only 170 miles from sochi. so russian people, brian, are worried. putin and his security forces are worried as well. now, pute tip's deployed some 40,000 special forces, police, agents, around sochi. it's going to be a massive lockdown just to make those games safe. but the militants have shown that they can strike elsewhere and often in russia and at will. >> all right, jim, thank you very much. jim maceda reporting live for us from moscow. this is not the first time volgograd has been a terror target. october another bus was attacked by a suicide bomber killing six and injuring at least 2 dozen people. >>> other news, this was a huge story out of the "new york times" over the weekend. the article is casting doubt on much of what we knew about the benghazi attacks in september of 2012. the 7,000-word article claims al qaeda had nothing to do with coordinat

the sochi olympics are a major prestige project for president vladimir putin. no one has claimed responsibility for it a of these attacks but earlier, chechin leader, claimed responsibility. organizers have promised to make the games, "the safes olympics in history." peter sharpe al jazeera in volgograd. >>> kimberly martin is a proaferred aprofessor at barnar. >>> what can we expect? >> there's no question that it's connected to the upcoming olympic games and it is a message to putin that things are not as secure has he would like. >> the ioc issued a statement: "we offer our sincere condolences to those affected by the bombings and that we are always concerned about the safety of our delegation, the sochi games are no different in that regard. we will continue to work closely with the local organizing committee. what are we to make of that statement? >>> well, of course it isn't the first time that the olympics have been threatened by a security concern. we had terrible circumstances at the munich olympics so it makes sense for the ioc and the united states t

the sochi olympics are a major prestige project for vladimir putin. none is claiming responsibility for either of these attacks but earlier this hebre year chechen leaders wanted to carve out a section. organizers are claiming to make the games, quote, the safest in olympics history. >> volgograd also the scene of a suicide-bombing isuicide-bombinn killing herself and six others. >>> there have been warnings going back to july that we would be seeing these types of attacks is moscow powerless to stop this, and how concerned are you that this is leading up to something even larger? >> reporter: well, russia is a very big country, and the overwhelming majority of russian security efforts and security forces are focusing on sochi. it is difficult to provide this blanket coverage across the country and lock down every potential target for a terrorist organization. it is going to be very difficult to get into sochi, moscow as the capitol is also very difficult to penetrate from a security perspective, that's why we're seeing softer targets like volgograd b

who will be deployed here in sochi come the olympics the olympic committee has already said that they trust that the russia will provide a safe haven come at the winter olympics in february so we're all hoping that this what's happening in vocal. officials will be looking out to see how they can if they want to extend some of those numbers to more match or to stop buying might say lara for us in sochi thank you very much for that update from the. well more reaction is time from the british capital let's bring on the host of our team show going underground our sheraton see you have some reaction from london so how is the news from russia being received in the u.k. at this point well i wonder how it will be received in the foreign office here because of course as being the case as we've heard on our t.v. the reasons behind this tragic tragic bombing have their roots in the middle east and of course it is british policy in the middle east and specifically british policy misa v v saudi arabia that is important here quite ironic to hear the secretary general of nato so quick to condemn wha

we are planning to attack something near sochi if not sochi but they're making a statement just by the timing of this, right. >> i think the timing is dreadful. the russian public are on their way to the biggest holiday of the year which is new years, to create an atmosphere of panic throughout the russian body politic is a big deal. if you went to moscow would you have seen strations being evacuated, random searches, it created a sense to people there is a real threat, a live threat and authorities will be struggling to head it off. >> so brian jenkins considering that the eyes of the world are going to be on sochi, what sorts of measures have the russians taken? there have been reports that they have essentially almost sealed off the city or they will seal off the city almost a month before the games. >> well, that is certainly their goal. they are going to try to turn the entire city of sochi into the security equivalent of ben gurin airport in tel aviv. and so there will be multiple checks, something that's new at this olympics that we haven't seen before are the credentialingly of

>> reporter: sochi is a limited area. we have done in our reporting, we have seen how many techs that will be there. you won't be able to bring your car unless it's registered in advance and metal detectors everywhere and you will be frisked and difficult to get near the olympic games for terrorists and possibly why they are targeting other cities in southern russia which are much easier. it may be an attack that authorities are focused on this. will the terrorist plan something either bigger in the games or in moscow, for example? >> diana, thank you. another blast you said on friday and two deadly blasts and fierce there a month before the olympics. thanks, diana. >>> down south, severe weather conditions forcing an australian ship to stop the search. 74 people on board this vessel and stuck in the bottom of the earth now for a whole week. ice breaking ship from australia is miles away but can't move ahead because of heavy snow and poor visibility. cnn's matthew chance is joining us live from london. these poor guys jus

days the winter olympics in sochi, russia will be celebrated. but a cloud of fear and unease has covered the upcoming event. a suicide bomber has killed more than 30 people on a bus. have raised this the great threat before the olympics begin. here to discuss the modification -- the motivation behind the , glen howard. first of all, tommy who was behind these attacks? they have made statements and the lie that there were nothing but they would be targeting the olympics, and so this is the primary suspect behind that. >> these attacks today, do they follow other attacks by the same group and other regions of russia? wax yes. there have -- >> yes. in the last three days there have been three attacks inside of russia. there has been a whole history of suicide bombings inside of russia. but this is really symbolic because it comes on the eve of the olympics and they're trying to make a statement because the olympic torch is actually going to be passing through their. on june or a 30th. that by itself will be interesting. >> give us an idea of where

in sochi. two deadly bombings have rocked that country. muslim separatists have launched a new wave of attacks. the city of volgograd, 400 miles north of sochi, people were killed and hurt on a suicide bombing on a bus. and yesterday, 17 people died at a train attack at a station. there are possible suspects, and we'll start in volgograd, with more reaction this. >> talk to the people of volgograd, and you pick up a sense of anger, a sense of fear and a sense of frustration. in the past 24 hours, this city of 1 million people has lost more than 30 people killed and more than 100 injured. many of them seriously. some of them children. people are angry. they feel let down by the social servants, by the police, by the security forces. they feel not enough has been done to protect them, to protect their families. the city is all but closed down. there's no longer any faith in local transportation serves, the trollies still run, and they wrap around this whole city, virtually empty. and today, on mo

athletes who will come here to sochi. the u.s. will be sending small teams of armed security people to sochi to protect american athletes, but today the white house said there was a need for closer cooperation which is diplomatic language for stop being so difficult, mr. russia. >> all right, brian ross, pressing the mayor of sochi. brian, thank you. >>> now to the delicate operation playing out in antarctica tonight. it's looking more and more likely that they're going to have to launch an air evacuation to rescue dozens of passengers trapped. abc's gio benitez in contact with the ship tonight. >> reporter: tonight eyes in the sky over that trapped ship in the antarctic. 74 passengers now told they may have to abandon ship by air. >> the chinese have just launched a helicopter to check out the water and sky and see how far the sea ice edge really is. >> reporter: this is the australian icebreaker trying to tear through miles of thick ice just listen. but, overnight with just 10 miles to go the rescuers were forced to turn back. >

not just in terms of money, a lot of money has been invest in the sochi olympics, and a lot of of it has been corruptly embezzled as well, evidently, but he sees this as a way to put russia forward internationally and remind everyone that russia is back and wants to be on top. i think with respect to ukraine, this is another part of the plan. not necessarily to reconstruct the soviet union in terms of economic and political system, but to re-establish russia's preeminence over an area that it considers part of its natural domain, and the stakes in russia are very high in keeping the ukraine in the fold. this is why evidently $15 billion is the price russia is willing to pay to keep ukraine. >> anything else you wanted to say? >> i think that he's very good on public relations. that's what we're talking about today. khodorkovsky, the pussy riot girls, the greenpeace activists, and all this is done before the sochi winter olympics. it's very important for russia. russia expects to win them. but putin is a character who is a little bit of nationalist, a little bit of orthodox church, a

this latest wave of bombings is getting very close to sochi.ad 400 miles from the venue and another car bombing which took place on friday and killed three, only 170 miles from sochi. russian people are worried. vladimir putin and his security forces are extremely worried as well. he's deployed some 40,000 special forces, police and agents around sochi to make it as safe as possible, but the militants have shown that they can strike elsewhere, they can strike often and at will. back to you. >> that's jim aceda with his report. >>> joining us is lil lila gevordian. thanks for joining us. no one has come forward to claim responsibilities as jim says, but you say this has all the hallmarks of the black widow group. why? and who are they? >> well, these are the mostly north caucasian women, initially chechnyian and these are women who have lost husbands, brothers, fathers who have been part of an islamist militancy in the past decade or so. and in some ways it is -- they have become sort of recruited by the islamist militants to take part in milita

official suspects have been named but chechen separatists have promised violence at the time of the sochi winter games. >>> there is separating in gaza. while palestinians were celebrating there was anger in israel among victims' families. >> helicopters will now evacuate 73 passengers who have been stranded off the coast of antarctica. they were hoping that an australian ice breaker could rescue them on monday but can couldn't plow through the ice. >> michael schumacher remains in a medically induced coma. he was injured in a skiing accident in the alps. those are the headlines. fear and anger across the world as two deadly explosions rock russia. "consider this" with less than two months until the world safe? >> a highly detailed new investigation claims there is no indication al qaeda was involved in the 2012 attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. >> hope of an assess fire is fading in south sudan. we'll break down the conflict and get an assessment on the ground. n.a.s.a.'s superrobot may look like child's play but could lead to more in space consideration. >> we begin with two bom

i think sochi itself will probably be safe. just remember, this happened quite a ways away. >> peter, in july, the leader of the chechen group, we don't know that they're responsible, but they vowed to use maximum force to disrupt the sochi games. how big a threat is this group? >> a big threat. they are on the terrorist list. they have been involved, the chechen islamist militants have been involved in everything from taking theaters to schools. attacks on train stations, aircraft, airports. this is a very, very dangerous group and is led by someone who is very dangerous and is public enemy number one in russia today. we have to take the threats very seriously and volgograd is proof of the pudding here. what we see after this is anybody's speculation. >> the state department, as peter referenced, considers it a terrorist group. the leader says they are certain to eliminate the group's leader before the games start. that's quite a promise. how realistic is that? >> i don't think that's realistic. he's been hiding, umarov has be

i hear it's a lot of security in sochi. >> in fact, the head of sochi said they're not increasing securitye update. gave a lot of it there. we are particularly interested in it and we've seen bombings in russia in the past, but we know olympics are six weeks away in sochi. think roughly boston to washington, d.c., san francisco to l.a., roughly, that's the kind of distance. certainly drivable, i guess, is one way to think about it. 14 dead today, 28 hospitalized, more than 30 dead in two days. putin has ordered tightened security. and as i said, the head of the sochi committee said security was already maxed out. we now have a statement coming out from the russian federation saying this was a male suicide bomber, the remains of whom have been collected. they're going to send it for genetic examination. there was an explosive device that was filled with shrapnel similar to the one that happened yesterday. they are suspicious it's the same group of people. and there is a militia leader out in what we call the restive caucuses, that'll be the phrase you'll hear every single reporter use which

today's blast happening six weeks before the winter games in sochi.harp has the details. >> reporter: the chaotic aftermath of the attack on a railway station. a body lies on the ground as the emergency services scramble to treat survivors. regional officials say a women set off explosives near metal detectors near an entrance to the main train station. the blast captured on camera. the station was packed with thousands of people leaving on their chris mat holidays. inevitably the attack killed and injured dozens of people. inning. >> according to preliminary investigation the power of this explosion was the he whiff lent 10 rounds of tnt. there would have been many more victims if it weren't for the so-called guarding at the train take, preventing the suicide bombing from getting in where at the time there were lots of people because three trains were late. >> reporter: in the same southern city in october 7 people died in a suicide bomb on the ground a bus, the woman behind that attack was a muslim convert from kazakhstan, the latest killings raise

police and agents around sochi to make it safe. but why volgograd? why is that such an important target? it is a huge transportation hub in southern and central russia. if you drive to or from sochi you're likely to pass through volgograd, a major city, population of a million plus and only 400 miles from the olympic venue. the other car bombing that happened on friday, which killed three, was only 170 miles from sochi. it's the proximity to sochi, so close to the games that's sending out now a very disconcerting message to say the least to russian people and to the government here that the militants can strike really anywhere and at will. brian, back to you. >> we appreciate it. long day for you. we want to bring in nbc news terrorism analyst evan coleman joining us via skype. >> good afternoon. >> jim touched on the efforts russia has gone through to try to secure sochi and thousands of cameras and security perimeter is huge. snipers in the mountains and a lot of people are very nervous. put it in perspective from your view how nervous people shoul

i winter gales in 2014 are awarded to the city of sochi. in the last two days, suspicion is falling. sochi is 400 miles from the volgograd blasts, the olympic site near the border with russian is that's troubled region and within that, the so-called chechnyaen conflict. the hallmark of the struggle so far has been two wars with moscow in the 1990s and numerous separatist attacks on people in buildings. one of the most notorious, the school hostage taking carried out, but airports have been bombed too. the leader has called for attacks to increase including on the sochi games. the latest bombings are a looming p.r. disaster for president putin who has a huge stake in making the games a display of just how far russia has come since the fall of the soviet empire. >> they have a huge concentration of security forces in sochi. people have to go through inconvenient metal detectors. they are only going to allow people into the area who have official government passes and are prehe approved. it will be impossible for anybody who is not on that lis

the russian chechen separatist promised violence and the sochi olympic games. >> palestine president mahmoud abbas greeted dozens of inmate released from an israeli prison. part of those released are part of a deal to broker peace between israelis and palestinians. >> 13-year-old girl will get another week on life support. her family issued an injunction to keep her on life support. >> one train collided, carrying grain, and another carrying crude oil crashed on tracks. nearby residents have been urged to evacuate. >> a setback for passengers stranded on a ship in antarctica. they were on a scientific expedition and have been stranded since christmas eve. an australian ship was on the way but could not plough through the ice 13 miles from the ship as it was too thick. those are the headlines. >> fear and anger across the world as two deadly explosions rock russia. "consider this" with less than two months until the world descends on sochi - is russia safe? >> a highly detailed new investigation claims there is no indication al qaeda was involved in the 2012 attack on the u.s. consula

and almost everyone wants the games to be a success for sochi and russia.hletes -- >> this man says he'd like athletes to stand up for the gay community with a colorful protest against the propaganda law. vilari is excited and hopes athletes will support them publicly and come to this club. no doubt, olympians would be welcome here because everyone is. phil black, cnn, sochi. >> oh, pope francis has another person of the year honor under his belt by the way. last week, of course, it was "time" magazine. >> this week it's the advocate, the oldest gay rights magazine in the united states. pope francis has not expressed support for same-sex marriage, but the advocate says he has shown "a stark change in rhetoric from his two bred sezers." editors also mentioned something the pope said last summer this, "if a person is gay and seeks the lord with good will, who am i to judge?" this next one looks like something out of weird science, but techie teens and their computer had nothing to do with this. there is no photo shop here. we're going to show you how doctors

including the host city of sochi. there has been 15 attacks since 1995, many involving check nian fighters, leaving 1300 dead, including hundreds of children. >> al jazeera's correspondent takes a look at check nian violence. >> violence is no stranger to vladimir putin's russia, stemming from decades of conflict. in 1999 the russian army invaded chechnya under orders that vladimir putin described as an anti-terrorism operation. the conflict lasted nine years. 50,000 civilians died and 5,000 russians. in 2001 a pro-moscow regime was installed, the conflict declared over. separatist groups spread through the northern caucasus, still the center of an islamist insurgency. >> before large events, and the sochi winter olympics is the biggest, but prior to federal elections and large events there has been these sorts of attacks. i think what they want to do, first and foremost is remind the kremlin that they are here and are a force to be reckoned with. >> doku umarov called on people to strike russia. >> there is a questio

volgograd is 400 miles away from sochi.eping the number one spot, bringing the total to 400s are to $6 million -- $436 million. "frozen" came in second. the philadelphia eagles scored a late touchdown and held up the dallas cowboys to secure the last playoff spot in the nfl. that clinched the nfc east title. games, they're scheduled for the opening weekend of postseason play. those are your top headlines. >> who are you rooting for? >> i'm from new york is so of course the giants, but my entire household is for the 49ers. >> that's bill gross' team. >> 49ers did great. >> and green bay won. that was exciting. do you have a team? >> do i have a team? >> she is a new yorker. >> know quite own of a football team. i have a hockey team. -- no, i don't have a football team. i have a hockey team. >> who is your hockey teams? >> the rangers. >> high-five. >> are you clicking the little leaguers or whatever they're called -- pee-wees? >> "little leaguers." >> i tried! i get burned every time. ,> sports with cristina it can be ugly a

well, there's going to be a 1500-mile security zone around sochi. no vehicles will be allowed inside. and nor will you unless you have a special sochi olympics passport, just like a new country. but will it be enough? lester? >> jim meseda in moscow tonight. let's bring in nbc counterterrorism analyst michael leiter. if this was related to the olympics, it would be an a-symmetric attack. is that the kind of thing security experts have been concerned about? >> it really is, lester. since these games were first awarded to russia several years back, people were worried because of the long-standing conflicts in the north caucasus. and this type of mass transit is what officials are most concerned with. >> given the nature of the olympics, the international nature, would the russians be working with their counterparts, for example, in the u.s., intelligence experts here? >> lester, i ran for the u.s. intelligence community coordination with other nations on the olympics, and it's always a very lengthy process. but frankly, the u.s.-russian relationship h

for us in sochi thank you very much for that update or bringing more updates from volgograd in a few minutes stay with us. on their way to antarctica the crew of the i can to make sure that if face many challenges. here you have to look out for yourself crashing onto rocks trapped in pack ice in extreme conditions anything can happen antarctica always comes up with surprises you have to keep your eyes open because there's always something going wrong the ship carries huge reserves of water food fuel as well as helicopters and people able to survive extreme conditions they're ready for anything even an apocalypse she's really an incredible ship calling all antarctica stations this is academic a field of radio check please respond. unexplored antarctica what is it in this icy expanse that attracts the people who come here. now i only go to the dock. and enter into. a new generation of polar explorers is coming. we have a new group of specialists here now all of them are young how are they going to get along with each other and i don't know. who. i used to be a bureaucrat. seriously. wh

it's largely an effort by the authorities to boost russia's image in the run up to the olympics in sochi in which are just a few weeks away possibly the g eight summit which is also learned in sochi in another few months so yes indeed i would actually agree with me how you how they're costly himself. it is a public relations project does it make of what's less well new not at all because indeed it means quite a lot for harder for his family it means quite a lot from those prisoners of bollocks if i may call them out there is protestant is in charge for most. individuals individual victims of abuses means that it means religion but done for the state of the rule of law in russia i'm afraid it doesn't mean much while you just mention several other high profile cases that are part of the amnesty and again as i mentioned holocaust case is a bit different because it was totally up to put into whether to release him or not it was his prerogative as president that he could have chosen not to exercise it so if amnesty was going on anyway of twenty thousand people were going to be released includ

now there are just over six weeks to go before russia hosts their maiden winter olympics in sochi and prime minister the medium inventive says all the venue is almost ready for the games mr medvedev visited the black sea resort to post new see the arenas as well as the olympic village which is due to accommodate around three thousand i think cheering the games while also providing head from home for seven hundred paralympians twenty five thousand volunteers will help make it all happen with the opening ceremony shout you'll for february the seventh while sochi also drew praise from an unexpected quarter as american extreme and man with a mohawk hairstyle plake glowing terms about the city's progress. and the poor who are watching all the venue built literally as you see it from scratch it's unbelievably impressive what's been which been done there in a very short amount of time considering. the screen there is wonderful it was a dream of mine to stay in that area from a friend of mine actually on the russian t.v. used to speak about scheme in that area when i finally got there i was n

with two bombing attacks within 24 hours in russia that raised questions about security at february's sochi olympics , and following a "new york times" report on 2012 attacks in benghazi raising questions again about what happened that night. we'll start with the attacks in volgograd. 15 were killed, dozens injured when a male suicide bomber detonated shrapnel-laced explosives on a bus, following a blast at volgograd's main train station, where 17 died and dozens hurt by two suicide bombers. what do the attacks mean for the winter olympics scheduled to start february 7th. i'm joined by dr jim walsh, from watertown, an international security expert at mit's security studies program and fred burtan, vice president of intelligence at stratford, a global intelligence company, and author of, "untold fire." the untold attack on benghazi, and served as a counteragent and involved in security issues for the 1996 atlanta olympics. we'll get to benghazi in a moment. first, jim, do you have doubt that the bombing attacks are connected with the winter olympics ? no one has taken responsibility yet. in

the sochi winter olympics is a prestige project for president vladimir putin. no one claimed either attack. earlier this year chechen leader called for maximum force to prevent the olympics from being held. the chechens want to sort of an islamic state out of russia much tens of thousands of police have been deployed to protect the olympics. organizers promised to make the games the safest olympics in history. >> well, let's speak to fred weir a journalist with the christian science monitor, joining us from moscow, via skype. little doubt that the people behind the bombers are the islamist fighters in the north caucasus region. explain why volgograd is being targeted. not only the attacks today and yesterday, but in october, on a bus. >> yes, this is the third attack in volgograd. it certainly demonstrated or demonstrates a concerted ability by this terrorist organization to hit repeatedly in a single place. it should be a well-protected city, as these things go. it's clear that volgograd has been chosen for some reason. whether or not it's because the main tar

around sochi, i'm sure the security will be extremely high. officials are being, as you can understand, fairly cagey exactly what their security measures are but they say each if nthe wake of these bombings they have do change them but the terrorists don't have to attack sochi. as in volgograd, they can attack other targets and they have to travel through certain areas so that is the danger here. terrorists know in this gigantic country, not everything can be secure. often the metal detectors are not working and security guards are not on ball. it's a huge country to police and it doesn't have to be the tiny area around sochi that nets nooee needs to be morned. >> thanks, diana. >>> fiery explosions after a train crash forcing evacuations in a north dakota town at this hour. the train carrying crude oil slamming into a derailed train yesterday setting off a whole series of explosions causing a huge fireball. it happened outside of castleton, 25 miles west of fargo. >> people living want five-mile radius now being told to leave their homes beca

both cities in the same region sochi involved regret as you can see on the map the distance between them is about six hundred fifty kilometers here or so quite a ways away we spoke with a former member of the alpha special forces unit who says there is confidence in the massive security apparatus in place in sochi. all the attacks in volgograd are part of the same chain the terrorists are trying to incite fear ahead of the winter olympics so that people become scared to go to saatchi no wonder they've chosen the holiday season for this to make it even more painful for the people and to draw plenty of world attention but i believe this won't have any effect on the olympics and the people who are planning to come will still do so they can be sure of their safety because almost two billion dollars have been allocated to security measures that's even more than the sum for the london olympics earlier my colleague spoke with a security expert at moscow state university marks the bota about developments in volgograd. mass transport has always been a target of these islamic terrorist attack

what does it mean for the sochi olympics. should americans feel service about heading over there. >> as your reporter pointed out, the security is elaborate and extensi extensive. they are taking every precaution. that opens up to terrorist attacks. inspired or directed by or trying to disrupt the security and sense of security in russia. it is related to the olympics and anyone going to russia has to be mindful and it will be intense. the attempts could be made to try to do something in sochi or anywhere else in russia. i want to get to benefits and i know you working on a bipartisan deal. are you confident this could pass through the house? >> i hope it will pass. we are working hard. is the senator and i have a-month extension and we hope to secure a procedural vote on january 6th when we return so we can move and take up the measure and pass it. >> do you think you have the votes right now if you had to take a vote right now? do you have enough votes? we think we have a running start. it reflects a phenomenon you have sta

intelligence and assets that we could add to sochi. are we going to? we will be looking to protect our athletes and those of the international community. the problem is twofold. russia has not always been willing, open, receptive to getting u.s. or even international assistance on these times of manners -- of matters. direct there are not threats to the u.s. or the u.s. interest, we do not have the depth of intelligence as we would with other targets. , ifimberly, very quickly this scenario unfolds like you described in the wake of the gains, international pressure has not historically made a big international pressure. >> there's not much the international community can do at this point because putin has made it clear he is interested in only limited cooperation with the west. russia has nuclear weapons and a veto at the un security council. in themits what anyone outside world can do inside russian territory. it aswill keep an eye on we get closer to the gains. up, the best performance of this record-breaking year are next. plus, high-tech on the hig

he deployed 40,000 special forces, police and agents, around sochi to make it as safe as possible. but the militants have shown that they can strike elsewhere, they can strike often and at will. back to you. >> jim maceda reporting. congressional republicans defending their claim that al qaeda was involved in last year ace attack in benghazi. this disputes a "new york times" report released over the weekend. claiming the attack was fueled by an american made anti-muslim video. new york times reporter david kirkpatrick who spent several months interviewing libyans on the ground says there is no evidence that al qaeda had any role in that attack. he says that while the attack was not meticulously planned there were warning signs. >> the people who attacked the compound were members of the militias the u.s. expected to help protect the same mission. >> four americans including u.s. ambassador and bay area native christopher stevens died during the raid. >> time is running out at 5:00 p.m. tonight, children's hospital oakland will be allowed to take off a young teen from a ventilator.

it is 400 miles from sochi where the world will converge for the winter olympic games. the white house says the u.s. has agreed to cooperate with russia on counterterrorism efforts leading up to the games. and president putin has given orders to russia's national anti-terrorism committee to strengthen security throughout russia and volgograd. jim, good morning to you, what more can you tell us? >> reporter: good morning, ver veronica. investigators in volgograd, a major rail and bus hub for southern russia, a city you'd pass through on your way to or from sochi, vest conveyors have issued a statement saying this morning the bus bomb was carried out, they believe now, by a male suicide bomber. no one or group has yet claimed responsibility for either today's or sunday's attacks, which as you say have now left at least 30 wounded -- 30 dead, more than 60 wounded. but the strong suspicion is that this was the work of an islamist insurgent group from the north caucasus. you're right, people are terrified in volgograd, a city of over 1 million. there are reports residents ar

now the sochi olympics are five weeks away, 400 miles away. >> it's pretty bad. >> reporter: a right wing u.s. fanatic bombed the atlantic olympics in 1996. >> a successful terrorist attack on sochi itself during the games, that's the holy grail. >> reporter: russian officials say they are ready. vladimir putin rose to power fighting islamic terrorists. he sees sochi has his crowning achievement. >> this could wipe that out. >> this could wipe that out. >> reporter: putin is ordering tighter security all across russia. nbc bay area news. >>> our coverage of the terrorist attacks in russia continues on "nightly news" at 5:30. >>> the faa chose six sites to test commercial drones. california wasn't one of them. folks in alaska, texas, virginia, and north dakota will soon see unmanned drones in the ski. the faa chose these locations based on geography, climate, use of air space, and safety. we could see commercial drones in the sky by 2015. they can be used from everything to filming moves to helping farmers monitoring fields for disease. >>> still to come, is it the work of aliens or p

explain what goes into security around something like that the sochi games? >> yes, the bilateral discussions regarding the games began a year ago. they have been to venues and talked to russian officials. there is a standard list of things you offer them in terms of assistance if they want it. you can't force it on them. it is a sovereign country, but you offer them things, it is an intelligence operation. but in athens we passed information back and forth and helped the greeks resolve threats. after these sort of attacks you would go back and say we have this capability. are you sure we can't help you? well heres the problem, a lot of these bilateral discussions goes on behind the scenes. much of them they wouldn't accept. bob knows as much as anybody, the intelligence relationship here where you really would like there to be sharing of information has been scratchy during the best of times. >> well, bob, if the idea of terrorism is to make a political statement or to make a dramatic statement, obviously targeting something like that the sochi games would h

it's 400 miles away from sochi. why there? >> it does seem a strange target but one thing that makes it unique is that is it a very major rail hub for this area. so security will be very, very tight as the games approach and targeting regional cities and transportation hubs where people may be copping through especially at the peak holiday season is the way to create maximum fear and panic ahead of the games. >> and what about security? what are russian officials saying about security in advance of and during the olympics? >> well, they're saying that they're not going to change the security measures that they have in place in sochi, that they're tough enough. irrespective of the bombings that they have, and they continue to promise the maximum security at these games. but that is a very big call given the proximity of the northern caucasus region, if you consider the size of russia, that's spitting distance. particular measures that they're putting in place, they're very cagey about for obvious reasons. but there will be a ma