How Russia is tackling terror threats ahead of Sochi Olympics

Worldwide concern is growing over the safety of the Winter Olympics. President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin talked by phone about security for the Games. And now, some American athletes are telling their families to stay away from Sochi.

The Russian security services have waged a take-no-prisoners assault in Dagestan, just a few hundred miles from Sochi. Russian officials say soldiers shot dead a suspected militant leader and a handful of other terror suspects just days ago.

Dagestan, along with neighboring Chechnya, is home to an Islamic insurgency that has been battling Russian security forces for years.

It's where Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev lived for months before allegedly launching the attack on the Boston Marathon with his brother, and where he may have been radicalized.

Now, the Russians are hunting down suicide bombers from Dagestan intent on targeting the Olympics.

In a country desperate to reassure jittery athletes and audience members, there must have been an urgent reason driving authorities to hand out mug shots around Sochi of Ruzanna Ibragimova, who may already be in the region, ready to strike. She has been described as a "black widow," women whose husbands or relatives have been killed in clashes with Russian forces.

Black widows are among Russia's most-feared terrorists. They were connected to previous terror attacks including the 2002 Moscow theater siege, the school siege in Beslan in 2004, and the attack on Moscow's subway system in 2010.

Security concerns have meant many Americans are staying away. Shawn and Dan Fredricks won't be in Sochi to watch their triple-Olympian son Tucker Fredericks compete in speed skating.

"There are concerns out there for security and it seems like there is something new every day, and Tucker wants to be focused, so he asked us and his wife if we would stay home and watch on TV," explains Dan Fredricks.