the suspected master mind of december's bombings in volgograd russia has been killed.endered. let's get right to phil black in moscow. >> the volgograd bombings killed 34 people at the end of last year. these are the attacks that really drove home the threat posed to the sochi olympics. we are hearing that the alleged master mind behind the bombings has been killed. this is the hot bed of the on going insurgency there. they told russian state media there was an operation to surround a property. there was a shootout and in the process, one man, the suspected master mind was among those killed. this comes just one week after two others were arrested for transporting the bombers to volgograd. and now this breakthrough as well. police say that are continuing to work and investigate to find out precisely all the people involved in the operation. >> we know russia says it has worked hard to ensure that olympic athletes and visitors to sochi will be safe with a ring of steel in place. still, u.s. officials have identified a number of specific threats to the sochi games. the h

in december which is less than a thousand kilometers from here volgograd has been. the issue of family in the spotlight once more my colleague martin andrews now reports on the issue of security. defense missiles roads sophisticated so it was difficult to take some things at high speed trails but it's a vast array of high tech gear is being deployed to make searching look the safest places on earth with any global event security is the number one priority and the expense is being spared to achieve that end at the twenty fourteen winter olympics a ring of steel is in place around the city and no one from residents to work is to enter without an official pass but it's a case of high visibility and minimal fuss was that you did know many of the athletes have been saying that back home they saw very negative media coverage about the olympic village some are even afraid to come here but monday arrived this started wondering what all the bad press was about and were very impressed by what's going on here they say there is much less hassle and discomfort is specially when

recent threat to use chemical weapons made by the group that carried out the suicide bombings in volgograd you just raised. the specter of a terrorist using chemical weapons possibly those smuggled from the rebels in syria but in order to suggest such a scenario you have to first contemplate the possibility of the syrian rebels actually having access to chemical weapons which is something that the u.s. government and some other western governments flatly rule out how do you reconcile the two well fact of the matter is there have been some there was a journalistic report by a well known american investigative journalist in which he interviewed several people from the cia who claim that they reported to the obama administration last spring that the rebels could possibly have acquired some chemical agents so it is conceivable and i don't think we know everything that's going on on the ground in syria and given given the fog of war it's certainly possible that these groups would have gotten hold of chemical agents also there have been several reports of the turkish authorities detaining people

away in the in the jihad as have shown the capacity to strike moscow and more recently striking volgograd and. moscow petersburg trained back in november two thousand and nine so i think it's much easier for the caucasus emirate to hit sochi in theory of all these security measures hadn't been taken than it is for global jihad history even native jihadists in england who which are very few to attack a london so it's a bit more of a security risk but again as i said you know at the time it didn't look at the time the decision was being made it looked as though perhaps the what the time was a more chechen separatist movement was on the decline it would disappear now you already mentioned the caucasus emirate an obvious there it's later said already air war and they are going to take any opportunity to strike the games and if you look at the coverage of the caucasus emirate in the western media what strikes me is that many journalists ill used towards like rebels insurgents militants rather than there were terrorists and this is something that has made russia upset for very long time but i w

volgograd apparently was a suicide bomb we are a controlled presence on the ground and volgogrod was targeted three times. the police headquarters was hit and then there was a bus and i think a trolley bus. no, the central train station and a bus hit that made me very nervous because this is awfully ose, time-wise, to sochi and the m.o. would probably be very similar unless they go for something much more sophisticated and -- a nightmare scenario in my mind which i don't want to share in an open forum how they could hit. why didn't it happen so far, thank god? it didn't happen because for mr. putin this is very personal. it's the show of president putin. he did not save money, you've all seen the reports, whether you trust them or not, that the cost of sochi is equivalent of all the winter olympic games combined. there are reports by the russian opposition which clearly has a bone to pick here, claiming that about half of the money was stolen. i recall a conversation with the late retired colonel of the g.r.u. who became an advisor to now-deposed minister of defense, and i said, ther

but they've the ones behind the volgograd blast. they're not really a corporate structure.en very young, a lot younger than some of the militants we've seen in the past decade, often in their early 20s. the oldest ones get to 30 before they're killed by russian special forces, but they're the ones with the radical ideology, organization, and in cases the sheer will to die in cases like these. we've seen people who sought the culture, sought the fundamentalist underground that they provide and possibly if you see some of the more recent acts they've done, the bombmaking seems to be a little more sophisticated. possibly this may be with where the concerns are emfa naturing from. >> nick paton walsh on the ground in sochi. ivan watson watching what's going on as well. thanks to both of you for your excellent eyewitness accounts for what is going on. that's it for me. thanks very much for watch. "crossfire" starts right now. >> this is cnn

home to the suicide bombers who hit volgograd twice last year.il from here and also left widows. one is this woman, both whose husband and son-in-law police shot dead. these widows say police, in a bid to control those they fear are future suicide bombers, have ordered them not to leave town until the olympics are over. >> translator: it will be like house arrest. three times a week they will check us and ask where we are. then after the olympics, it will end. they think that we will make an explosion like our sisters who have blown themselves up for one reason or another. i don't know. i am not ready to do that. there is no point. it's just their fantasy. >> reporter: she teshows us her son-in-law and said nearly a hundred women had similar orders. we spoke to five of them off camera. she has this to say to olympic tourists. >> translator: if they need to be entertained, they should come here and be entertained, but for that, we are suffering. >> reporter: now police would not confirm that they had issued these restrictions, they wouldn't say an

including this man who authorities believe was the mastermind of the volgograd attacks.ow they say that they are determined to catch all the people involved in this attack. last week they arrested two people who they say were accomplices who transported the suicide bombers from dagestan to volgograd and determined to track down the rest because these people have shown, this particular group it's capable of staging large scale devastating attacks, more than that it has declared its intention to stage mover them. in a video claiming responsibility they said there will be more attacks with lots of people taking part especially during the sochi games. while authorities here insist sochi is secure that all security has got the city in lock down no one can get in without authorities being aware, what this group has shown is they do not need to strike sochi directly in order to score a win, make their point and embarrass the russian government during the games. while there may be a ring of steel around sochi it's not possible to maintain that same level of security across this

we had the attack in volgograd. there's a toothpaste tube threat. it's going to be so hard to attack something like the opening ceremonies. >> it's fair and sensible for us to say that is the biggest red zone out there, the idea that you could have people walking into and out of the area when they are not in as much of a protected zone. you see what is happening here, jake, the people tightest to the middle of the olympic games may very well be the safest. >> yes. >> and getting there and going home after ward, that may be the biggest challenge. >> that's right. soft targets. >> tom foreman, peter brooks, thanks for joining us. >>> there may be concerns about whether russia has their ducks in a row from a security standpoint but if any group dare try to embarrass the country on the grandest of the international stages, the reaction from the gremlin would be fast and fierce. nick paton walsh is live in sochi with more on that. might the country's reputation for retaliation actually help to thwart a possible attack? >> reporter: jake, some may argue t

. >> in volgograd, which is a few hundred miles away. i've been told that the area where the athletes and venues are taking place, that's probably pretty secure. but if there are terrorist attacks, it would happen just outside that area where there's less security. is that your understanding as well? >> yeah, wolf, i think that's a correct analysis. i was in sochi. i saw the ring of steel, although one of the black widows did penetrate it, it's very heavily fortified with 100,000 security officials including russian military. so it would be very difficult to get in. but they can score just as easy of a victory by hitting a softer target outside the ring of steel. what's an important point to make is that the eyes of the world will be on these olympic games. they've been fighting this war with the russians for over 100 years. and this is in their eyes their moment to make a very visible public statement. and that's why i think the percentage and probability's very high that something could happen at the games. but i would argue that most

there were three terrorist attacks in volgograd in the run-up to the games. took place intion the neighboring country in which russia is heavily involved. ,n isolation from those events in the kind of bubble that was created in sochi, everything went more or less as it ought to go. and in the case of the big international, sporting event. but is it really appropriate to have such an event in that kind of situation and against that kind of background? that is the question in my mind. >> putin himself has been singled out for praise by the ioc president. they really were putin's olympics. >> he lobbied for them in 2007 personally. the russians proposed a very large expenditure on infrastructure and preparations. that's one of the reasons why sochi was selected. but the reality is that an olympic event that is so organized, in order to boost the prestige of a country which is riddled with internal problems, will always ring false. a classic example is the 1936 berlin olympics. -- ust don't have it is a corrupt and authoritarian regime. in the tradition of author

. >> two suicide attacks on volgograd's transport system suggests that this was achievable. there are threats of a different nature. on tuesday, the austrian olympic committee says they received an alert saying two athletes will be kidnapped. several letters last month turned out to be a hoax. there's a huge multilayered security system, with drones, and 100,000 personnel. it will make sochi hard to attack. nothing can ever be 100% safe. of course. until all the competitors and spectators are back home, and sochi returned to normality, russia will not be able to boast that it put on a trouble free games. if it's achieved, there'll be immense satisfaction, and many russians will point to the worry, so much western-rusophobic scare-mongering. it's a big if. >> now to a story of survival, it may be that, a story. a man was lost at sea, drifting 6,000 miles across the pacific oce ocean. is the story true. richelle carey is there with that. >> i've been fascinating. >> it's an fromming sto interesg story. >> this man said he survived for 13 months adrift at sea, living on fish, t

terrorists carried out twin suicide bombs in volgograd not far from sochi in december and million tajtses have vowed more attacks during the games -- militants have vowed more attacks during the games. alfonso van marsh, russia. >> the u.s. department says it will not change travel guidelines for americans going to the games but officials are advising americans to remain vigilant about security while in sochi. >>> crews are working round the clock to restore power to thousands left in the dark after yesterday's ice storm. right now fewer than 20,000 pepco customers in frederick county, maryland are waiting for their power to be restored. the utility says it could be days before everyone has service again. a shelter along -- with a hand full of warming centers will remain open for residents gldz the governor of pennsylvania has declared a state of emergency. more than 100,000 are still without power. >> reporter: this was a paralyzing storm that hit pennsylvania hard. power outages here are widespread. it could be four to six days before power is completely restored. robert caigle is a dep

it didn't just happen and volgograd. what better than hosting a in a place close to chechnya and these different conflicts, but they are being held there. and my question is to further underscore the issue of global terrorism and not just the attack on sochi, if you remember in the summer at the height of the syrian crisis, crest from saudi arabia held a meeting with putin and said if you don't back off your support of assad we cannot guarantee they will not attack sochi and he said we've finance them. so, for the united states to have all of this discussion about security and the corruption of putin, for the united states to continue to call saudi arabia and ally i think is just a little bit hypocritical. so my question -- my direct question is how we raise the level of collaboration between the united states and russia and have a conversation about the saudis and other terrorism because if something happens in sochi, that isn't russia's problem, that's our problem as well. thanks. >> i am not sure that saudi arabia sai

then there were knows twin suicide attacks in volgograd. have they played a role in sochi? >> they certainly have, because the common thread from the boston marathon bombings and volgograd is the country of dagestan. the two brothers responsible or involved allegedly in the boston bombings came, the family came from dagestan. the volgograd bombing, they came from dagestan. it boils down to that militant caucus of dagestan. that's what president putin is talking about when he says that the boston bombings and volgograd all feed into the security framework around these games, because dagestan is only a few several hundred kilometers from here. it's very, very close. >> paul brennan in sochi, russia. paul thank you very much, let the games begin. >> it has been four weeks since the water was poised for hundred of thousands of west virginia. many are still avoiding the tap though they say it's good to drink again. >> nearly four weeks after a hazardous chemical spilled into the elk river, leaving 300,000 people unable to drink the water, west virginia's governor, members of the

volgograd blast. they're not really a corporate structure. they're separate cells, often very young, a lot younger than some of the militants we've seen in the past decade, often in their early 20s. the oldest ones get to 30 before they're killed by russian special forces, but they're the ones with the radical ideology, organization, and in cases the sheer will to die in cases like these. we've seen people who sought the culture, sought the fundamentalist underground that they provide and possibly if you see some of the more recent acts they've done, the bombmaking seems to be a little more sophisticated. possibly this may be with where the concerns are emfa naturing from. >> nick paton walsh on the ground in sochi. ivan watson watching what's going on as well. thanks to both of you for your excellent eyewitness accounts for what is going on. that's it for me. thanks very much for watch. "crossfire" starts right now. >> this is cnn breaking news. >> welcome to "crossfire." i'm sally kohn on the left. >> i'm s.e. cupp on the right. there's bre

security here is tight and of course it made the headlines after the the twin suicide attacks in volgograd between christmas and new year that's what really put the focus of the attention on security but at the moment touch wood as you say things are going smoothly last week a number of twitter users and others posted pictures supposedly showing poor condition additions in the a sochi hotels most all these of turned out to be phony pictures from other times and places but still so she's a newly constructed place i was in atlanta for the olympics in ninety six we had all kinds of problems with construction controversy over displaced people are these issues been resolved now and and so she was this a non-issue all along. well it depends who you talk to whether it was a non-issue i think mainly it was journalists arriving sort of a week or so before the official start of the games they were complaining about things that some may say a trivial lack of a shallow door knobs falling off that sort of thing but i do think it's fair to say that maybe in the week before they were made that there was

the games will be secure all that is a direct quote of course the recent twin suicide attacks in volgograd less than a thousand kilometers from here have heightened tensions but part went on to draw parallels with the two thousand and two winter olympics which were held in salt lake city just a few months after september eleventh and the other issue that of course has overshadowed really the buildup to these games is russia's adoption of the law banning the propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations to mine is now many critics feel that this is infringing gay rights on my colleague martin and very has been. and he's been finding out how if at all the new law is affecting the lives of gay people here in the city. thousands of athletes and businesses are expected to arrive this week and three billion people are also estimated to watch the winter olympics this month for some however the games aren't about spiritual progress they're about gay rights some controversy surrounding last year's legislation that restricts children being given information about nontraditional relationships a simil

league jack thought of one million dollars donating ten percent of that sum to an orphan home in volgograd four years later she became a representative in the city's parliament and helps boost sport in the hometown she shares with story on the scene by work and with the breath through of interests outside of led ics it seems certain the record breaking athlete will succeed in hell life after sport constantine by the above r t. let's change tack now with basketball and host spain face a tough encounter with the european champions france after being drawn in the challenging group a for the twenty fourteen world cup the door in barcelona also ensured the spanish must take on serbia and brazil as well as egypt and iran defending champions the usa will lead to twenty four teams in the fight for the title when the tournament gets underway on august the thirtieth. while in the n.b.a. george hill sang a career high of thirty seven points to lead the indiana pacers to a one hundred nineteen points to one hundred thirteen overtime victory at home to portland to stay top of the n.b.a. the trail blaze

horrible and we are grateful to our partners who would show their solidarity after the bombings in volgogradwhich was a grim reminder of the terrorist threat and the need to pull efforts to counter radicalization and extremism and let me quote helmut schmidt still at the patriarch of german politics he said nationalistic tendencies that emerge everywhere even in my country from which pointing.

to these games is the issue of security of course december's twin suicide attacks in the city of volgograd which is less than a thousand kilometers from here has heightened tensions and my colleague martin andrews now takes a look at the issue of security around sochi. defense missiles drones sophisticated suttles capable of detecting some of the rains and high speed patrol boats a vast array of high tech gear is being deployed to make such a foot of the safest places on earth with any global event security is the number one priority and no expense is being spared to achieve that end at the twenty fourteen winter olympics a ring of steel is in place around the city and no one from residents to work is to enter without an official pass but it's a case of high visibility and minimal fuss was that you did not measure the astronauts have been saying that about how long they saw very negative media coverage about the olympic village some are even afraid to come here but monday arrived this started wondering what all the bad press was about and were very impressed by what's going on here they sa

terrorist groups in the caucasus could launch attacks somewhere in southern russia like they did in volgogradnst a railway station, one against a trolley bus. real concern that rather than attack the very hard targets in sochi, they could launch attacks somewhere in southern russia. >> jane harmon, you've seen all the reports of all the fierce out there, the threats. are we exaggerating, are these overblown? because u.s. intelligence officials have told me they're deeply concerned and these are people who are not necessarily alarmists. >> i think we're prepared. these suicide bombers or whomever only have to be right once. we have to be right a hundred pr sent of the time, 100% is not achievable. we've prepositioned homeland security, fbi and military folks in sochi, we have naval warships in the black sea which abuts sochi, and we have others in the neighborhood in the mediterranean. and these are the right things to do. it's a hard message to hear. part of the message has to be what janet napolitano just said, pride in our athletes and the fact that the u.s. is, i think, likely to win a lot

on restive all the rest of the caucuses region is not far from here on the terrorist attacks in volgograd between christmas and new year of course but the issue of security firmly in the spotlight and i think there was sort of some upper hands in some tension perhaps in the buildup to the opening ceremony last week before the games out slowly started but now the games have begun the sports are starting to dominate the headlines i think people in or around here are starting to on wind in relax a little bit more r.t.s. paul scott bringing us the latest from sochi as a leg games of twenty four team thank you so much stay warm where all the athletes are also weighing in on the atmosphere in sochi from hotel rooms to the security situation take a look. so five are things going to mazing it's running like clockwork and everything's just going really really well there hasn't been any problems as of as of today my parents have been a little bit worried that if i just just be careful what you do and don't really buy the uniform when you have you know when you don't need to just be a big cattle but

recent threats and suicide bombings in the city of volgograd 400 miles from where the games will be held is a reason for the added anxiety, the u.s. state department telling americans traveling to the games to be vigilant about their security. russia's president vladimir putin says law-enforcement agencies are doing all they can to guarantee a safe olympics. california governor jerry brown says the golden state is in a serious drought, experiencing perhaps one of the worst dry spells in a century. wildfires in the southern part flee their homes. ranchers are selling cattle due to the little amount of grass growing, and farmers are choosing not to plant as many crops due to low water levels. 9 million baby boomers between the ages of 44 and 70 are changing careers for the greater good. encore.org, an organization that helps experienced professionals transition into the nonprofit sector, says many people are foregoing retirement and in favor of a new career. david klipper became a rabbi and hospital chaplain after spending nearly 25 years working on wall street. he says he felt a calling t

able to stage successful, increasingly more bloody violent terrorist acts not in sochi and nearby volgograd. this is one of the main problem any olympic faces, in the united states we faced the same problem in atlanta in 1996. the games themselves were buttoned down and enormously secure but of course the problem is securing the periphery, and periphery in ever widening concentric circles. the bombing claimed lives of one person and strategically injured three others in atlanta in 1996 did not occur at an olympic venue or within the olympic village but just outside. that is enormous problem russian security forces face not the least that terrorists struck at a nearby large city. of the terrorism is the more theater. the olympic games in my analysis is second act which is troubling its own the first act we've already seen. we're participants in it here today. the first act was drawing enormous attention to the potential of terrorism to disrupt those games and i think that has really been quite exceptional in this olympics. the fact that there is so much concern, so much attention being focus

horrible and we are grateful to our partners who would show their solidarity after the bombings in volgogradwhich was a grim reminder of the terrorist threat and the need to pull efforts to counter radicalization and extremism and let me quote helmut schmidt. patriarch of german politics he said nationalistic tendencies that emerge everywhere even in my country when it's pointing to the past not to the future nationalistic nostalgia can only weaken europe and the quote one cannot underestimate overestimate the importance of the. dialogue to form a democratic world governance system based on the international law to another when you're called usually of the structure of world peace cannot be the work of one man one party or one nation it must be a peace which rests on the cooperative efforts of the whole world proved it was said by franklin delano. roosevelt and the with the words. in stone you in your birth is that with the city and the morial in fairbanks alaska built on of the russian and american pilots who participated in the lend lease operation during the second world watches. in concl

there of particular concern to us was what was going on in volgograd in relation to the sochi olympics, those rely on mass transit. we rely on the dhs and fbi who are gateway to the federal intelligence community to keep and eye and brief us out on those events. >> is mass transit one of the areas? >> it's one of them. they've actually stepped up on the mass transit component. the thing that's important to mention is much of our safety our security y assets visible and also those that you are not seeing that have been dedicated to that area. there's a lots of technology that's being employed as well as manpower both visible and invisible. radio logical conditions. cabmbao,. >> let's hope everybody has a safe and fun super bowl weekend. >> i agree. >> thanks for coming back. >> coming up new ethics concerns arise over the military. we will run those down next. >>> and a surprising new look at gun control giving parents concern to worry. and our social media producer hermella erik. what's coming up? >> i'll tell you more coming up. what do you think? join the conversation atage at j cons

they killed a terror suspect who may have helped train bombers in recent twin attacks in nearby volgograde attacks hit a trolley bus last september killing 24 people and raising security fears ahead of the winter games. russian law enforcement announced among them iding suspected bombers and arresting two suspected accomplices. >>> from killing cuddly stray dogs to hotels with no water or creepy looking yellow water to tiny sized -- check out these beds. this is for staff and athletes. the russians are dealing with widespread results of mismanagement for olympics and corruption. remember, this is the most expensive olympic venue ever, costing around $50 billion. reportedly some $48 billion more than 1996 salt lake city venue and three times more than those of all other winter olympics combined. scary. >>> chief correspondent jonathan hunt with more on what some are calling an olympic-sized mess. what's going on here? look at those rooms. i saw one picture where they had three single beds lined up, smaller than single beds and athletes are supposed to be physically and mentally prepared. >

authorities say they have killed the suspected mastermind of the recent suicide bombings in volgogradchi. the suspect was apparently the leader of an islamist militant group who according to russian state media was killed in that shootout in dagestan this morning. >>> meantime, with the opening ceremonies just two days away there is more evidence sochi is not ready. hotels and roads as you see there still unfinished. athletes and reporters are saying and there we see it that the water in many hotel rooms is a goldish/brownish color and let's just say it's undrinkable and there are design problems as well with the snowboarding course blamed for injuring athletes. shaun white hurt his wrist and is now pulling out of the slopestyle event. >>> well, this morning roads are treacherous from texas all the way to new england as the second of three snowstorms this week barrels into the northeast. thousands of people in the midwest have lost power and thousands of flights at the nation's busiest airports are canceled or delayed. schools are closed in boston and in many other cities making thing

. >> there of particular concern to us was what was going on in volgograd in relation to the sochi olympics. as you know both of those bombings target mass transit. we rely on the dhs and fbi who are gateway to the federal intelligence community to keep an eye and brief us out on those events. >> is mass transit one of the areas? >> it's one of them. sits been reported today, they've actually stepped up on the mass transit component. the thing that's important to mention is much of our safety our security daily is predicated on the intelligence community that they provide on the agencies. >> new jersey state and local police, we've heard that, are you confident that that isn't the case here? >> interestingly enough, there still isn't enough dialogue but i will tell you that the agencies that are spearheading this have a very good handle on what's going on. their ultimate fear are home grown or rogue incidents, where they're not part of the mainstream of surveillance. in other words, you know there's been a lot of criticism of the nsa and some of their practices that they have employed. but

reportedly have killed a militant who may have trained suicide bombers responsible for killing 34 in volgograd in december. meanwhile, back in sochi, there are many complaints about unfinished hotel rooms, undrinkable water, and unreliable electricity. talking more about olympics and other items of interest with former republican nominee, ceo of the 2002 salt lake city organizing committee, mitt romney, thanks for being with us. >> happy to be with you. >> i want to talk about the serious threats in sochi. yesterday, we hurt two more threats against austrian olympic athletes there, threats they would be kidnapped. a lot of what has happened in many other countries having gotten similar threats has been downplayed, what is your take? >> you have to take any threat on a national stage like the olympics very seriously. the threats to athletes as well as the warning today about the department of homeland security to watch out for toothpaste tubes, these are a real concern. grave concern. and have to be considered thoroughly. i do believe the games will be safe, particularly in the hardened areas w

wednesday in that same republic the suspected mastermind of those deadly twin suicide bombings in volgograd at the end of the december, the russians have reported they killed that suspected militant. so the operations are clearly ongoing, and they're clearly claiming lives even as the sports and the festivities and the athletic competitions are continuing to take place here in a very different atmosphere behind me here in sochi. >> cnn's ivan watson. thanks so much, ivan. earlier i spoke with janet napolitano. she's heading up the u.s. delegation in sochi, and she's also, as you know, the former secretary of homeland security under president obama. janet, we appreciate your being here today. it has been noted, i'm sure it's been noted to you, that it's been 14 years since a president or a vice president or a member of their family has not gone and attended at least an event at the olympics. can you tell me as a practitioner of both policy and politics why sochi is different for the u.s.? >> i think the president chose delegations that represent leaders from various walks of life, former oly