these venues. they have put a lot of resources into it. we re in constant communications with them both at the law enforcement level, at the military level, at the intelligence levels. the president went onto say he decided not to attend the games because he didn t want to be a distraction. in syria, the government says it be participate in a new round of peace talks. this after rebels freed hundreds in a suicide attack on a prison. in the past week, more than 250 people have died there. both sides stepping up fighting ahead of a second round of peace talks next week. assad said he reached an agreement with the u.n. to help hundreds escape. video of the dogs going viral after the taliban posted it on twitter.
carry-on liquids to flights to russia, including apparently toothpaste. the opening ceremonies are now literally just hours away, and officials say that the u.s. is now investigating multiple plots against the games. officials tell cnn tonight the threat stream is credible, and the u.s. is now ready to respond to terror strikes at the games. now, in an interview which aired just moments ago on nbc nightly news, president obama was asked about the level of cooperation between russia and the united states when it comes to trying to keep the games safe. here s the president. i think the russians have an enormous stake, obviously, in preventing any kind of terrorist act or violence at these venues, and they have put a lot of resources into it. we re in constant communications with them, both at the law enforcement level, at the military level, at the intelligence levels. jim is in washington tonight. jim, you ve been working your sources. now we re hearing about multiple
assessment that s ongoing that any information that he might have that s unauthorized that he has not already provided publicly we would expect to be compromised. yes. jason [inaudible] disappointed in china s handling of this. what about the u.s. handling of it? who is actually sort of leading the efforts? is it the white house? is it the justice department? who s sort of quarterbacking the u.s. response here? well, there s a variety of people involved, the diplomatic level, the department of justice, at a law enforcement level, the white house as a coordinator of is there a point person given the complexity for what issue? tracking him down. the department of justice has, obviously, issued an indictment and has the lead in that matter. but there are other agencies involved in the effort to deal with the situation, and that involves diplomacy as well as
maybe the department of justice does, but i can tell that you it is safe to assume in the damage assessment that s ongoing that any information that he might have that s unauthorized, that he has not already provided publicly, we would expect to be compromised. jay, you said the president was disappointed in china s handling of this. what about the u.s. handling of it? who is actually sort of leading the efforts? is it the white house? is it the justice department? who s sort of quarterbacking the u.s. response here? there is a variety of people involved in issues like this. obviously state department, diplomatic level, department of justice at a law enforcement level. white house as a coordinator of is there a point, given the complexity depends on what issue. the department of justice has obviously issued an indictment and has a lead in that matter. but there are other agencies involved in the effort to deal
republicans. there s also a debate within the democrats. how do you feel about so many republicans from rand paul to mike lee to james sensenbrenner who was authors of patriotic act saying this program isic too intrusive? look, you can be a civil libertarian and they are in both parties but you have to be consistent. if you don t like this program which we now know was accessed 300 times last year. you have to be begins local law enforcement to routinely business records of the telephone company. you can t turn a cop drama where there is not somebody pining somebody s cellphone or taking a look at some land line or telephone booth to help solve a crime on television. it is rionlt done on a large scale at the local law enforcement level. the difference is apparently this program holds on to these records for five years.