sochi. ivan watson joins us live. certainly back here lots of talk about security. does it affect the atmosphere there? well, there s a massive deployment, there s no question about it. you see police and uniformed officers everywhere, and let me just give you some numbers. some of the russian published estimates of the number of security forces deployed goes into the tens of thousands, and according to the russian organizing committee, there were 30,000 spectators in the olympic venues on saturday. so you might have nearly a one security officer for every spectator if we can trust some of these russian figures that are coming out, but it is not overbearing. i have seen the less hospitable side of the russian security forces in my past assignments in russia, and here i m really surprised and impressed by how the russian police are quite friendly and they smile and they really do not hassle you at the
different venues. however, security behind the scenes is undoubtedly a massive concern. i just spoke with the u.s. ambassador to moscow, mike mcfaul, and he said that this is a massive effort. the u.s. team here, the olympic team, is the biggest of all of them, of course, and he described not only a sochi-based operation, but a much bigger u.s. effort to ensure that no tragedy, nothing terrible can happen here, and to give a sense of how the anxiety is big here. he did say that after the olympics, after the final ceremony when it s all over, if nothing terrible happens, all of the security teams will breathe an incredible sigh of relief. candy? as well i m sure all of the participants. ivan, you talk about sort of the warmer, fuzzier face of russian security forces, but they re still actively rooting out
i think fallon is a good talent, the right talent. jay has said the same thing. i do think he s the right guy. he has been very generous to jimmy in interviews. he was generous to conan. he s not going to say something foolish. i knew at the time jay was uncomfortable with that. i think he s more comfortable with this because of the timing. would he stay if he was asked? of course he would. he never wants to stop working. but i think he recognizes this makes sense, they ve done it the right way, he s supportive of fallon and i think fallon has a very good chance to be the number one guy. that s all for reliable sources. state of the union with candy crowley starts right now. safety, skiing, and politics. today, games on in russia. within the boundaries of sochi, within the so-called ring of steel, there s a lot of security. on the ground in sochi, the former secretary of homeland security and head of the u.s. delegation to the winter
a homeland security director here in the u.s. on the surface of it, as you have seen sochi and the area that surrounds it, does anything concern you vis-a-vis the security there? well, you know, i think a little context, anytime you have one of these big international events, and unfortunately that includes olympics, security is an issue. it was an issue leading up into the london games, for example, and here because of its geographic proximity to an area that s actually in a war, that creates some other special security concerns. within the boundaries of sochi, within the so-called ring of steel, there s a lot of security, but, you know, once you have your credential, once you have your i.d.s and so forth, you can move around and get into the venues. does from your perspective
since said this was a mistranslation of what he actually said. but talk to me about the surveillance inside sochi. can everyone who is there just assume it is complete in the sense that in your hotel room, wherever you are on the street. what is the level? as a diplomat when i used to go to the soviet union and then to russia after 1991, you always assumed that you were being monitored, and given the authoritarian nature of that country under a strong authoritarian leader putin, you have to assume the russians are looking at everything you do. i m sure our athletes are aware of that. the only safe assumption for not only diplomats but for anyone in russia and i don t know with i would say the techniques of the surveillance became more sophisticated. got better. because we ve learned. absolutely. one of the things we know is that doctor or one of the things the u.s. suspects is that a