[Jake Tapper, Cnn:] Welcome back to THE LEAD, live from beautiful, toasty Trenton, New Jersey. In our world lead, threats of terrorism hover over the Russian city of Sochi, just a little over two weeks away from the start of the Olympics there. Recent video posted on a well-known jihadi site show two young men taking the responsibility for two December suicide bombings in the Russian town of Volgograd. They make an ominous threat. Quote, "If you hold the Olympics, you'll get a present from us from the Muslim blood that's been spilled," the video said. U.S. law enforcement had been working with Russian officials in putting the emergency plans in place in case the evacuation of the U.S. citizens becomes necessary in the event of a terrorist attack. Two congressman on the House Homeland Security Committee are currently in Sochi right now examining Russian security protocol. I spoke today with one of them, Democratic Congressman Bill Keating, Democrat of Massachusetts. And Congressman William Keating joins me now from Sochi, Russia. Congressman, how capable do you believe the Russians are in tracking down these black widows and keeping the Olympics safe?
[Rep. William Keating , Massachusetts:] What is happening here is the greatest security effort ever implemented in the Olympics. There's 100,000 estimated law enforcement agents here, 40,000 police officers, 30,000 active military people. There are six different systems for military missiles guard
[Tapper:] Are you confident that the Russians have killed the black widow and other terrorist leaders that they say they have?
[Keating:] No, I think those insurgents are still tracked and still exist. I think that we learned a lesson in the United States with the Boston Marathon bombing where something that we never anticipated, terrorist activity with some linkages to the north caucuses will affect the U.S. on their homeland. Here, we're right next door. Here, we're in an area where the assimilation can be done more easily. But I'm must tell you, we've learned since we've been here how extraordinary the efforts have been. They have literally the Russians have gone in a way they could never do in the U.S., house to house through this area, knocking on doors and removing people that they think could be a problem. So they also do not have the constraints of human rights and civil rights that we have in the United States when they are doing these things.
[Tapper:] Congressman, the individuals whom Russian law enforcement is pursing, are these the kinds of people that Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev was talking to when he was in Dagestan?
[Keating:] He met with insurgents. He met with at some length he met with one person who was called a presenter or a recruiter, Mamoud Nidel. And, you know, he was, I think, exploring joining him. But you know, that's the process that
[Tapper:] All right, Congressman William Keating, Democrat from Massachusetts and a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, speaking to us from Sochi, Russia, thank you so much for your time, sir.
[Keating:] All right. Thank you, Jake.
[Tapper:] Coming up on THE LEAD, temperatures continue to drop drastically, something that my poor crew here can attest to as we stand here in Trenton, New Jersey. We'll get an update on this winter storm slamming the East Coast, next. Plus, new 2016 polls just released show Chris Christie has apparently taken a hit from the Bridgegate scandal. How far is Hillary Clinton ahead of him now in a hypothetical match-up?