by gunman in matamoros was a case of mistaken identity. u.s. official tells cnn a mexican cartel likely mistook the americans for haitian drug smugglers when in fact they were tourists there for medical procedures. at least three of the victims were from lake city, south carolina. the mother of one says there is not much to to ndo now but pray wait. the waiting is the worst part. it has its advantages and disadvantages. but however, no news is good news. that is the way i m staying with it. no news is good news. reporter joining me live from bogota. what are the governments doing to get the americans back? reporter: the authorities are conducting search and rescue operations across the border area in particular in matamoros. and you can see from the images that yesterday there was increased police presence especially from federal mexican police. and at the same time the fbi is conducting their investigation on the northern side of the border. and they visited the hotel
forces are close to encircling bakhmut. the u.s. is downplaying the strategic significance if russia wins this round of the war. also tonight, republicans are presented with the sharpest contrast yet between donald trump and ron desantis. we re breaking down dueling speeches by the former president and the current florida governor as they gear up for a potential 2024 primary showdown. and a series of new airline scares is raising serious questions about aviation safety here in the united states. from a bird strike that caused engine failure and smoke in the cabin to the wings of two commercial jets clipping on the many close cal? welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. we begin on the front lines of eastern ukraine right now, where the battle for bakhmut is growing more urgent by the hour. russian fighters making gains as they move to surround the city. cnn s alex marquardt is joining us live
turning into terror. four americans taken into mexico, the car crash and the confrontation and new images offering a glimpse of the frightening encounter. and plus in a twist, d.c. backtracks withdrawaling the crime bill but that is not stopping the u.s. senate charging ahead with the vote to override what the d.c. city council wants. plus, scary moments on a southwest flight when a cabin filled with smoke and forced an emergency landing. welcome to the lead, i m jake tapper and we start with the world lead. four u.s. citizens missing in mexico after they were likely targeted by armed criminals. mistakenly, the fbi said, the four drove from texas into the mexico city on friday where a gunman fired at their car. assaulted them and then abducted them. a u.s. official said the americans wither in mexico for medical procedures. video obtained by cnn appears to show individuals forcefully loaded into the back of a pickup truck on friday. the border city has been racked by
karl rove, kellyanne conway and mark penn rate these speeches and these men as candidates at this stage of the game. great discussion coming up with them. also, this unbelievable story. we re still trying to figure out what happened here. four americans were assaulted and then kidnapped just inside the mexico border. we expect an update soon on who are these americans that are involved here. now kidnapped, likely by cartel linked individuals on that side of the border. we ll get new information and bring it this hour. president biden hasn t said whether or not he is running for president but he s got two very big moves in the works here. one is a huge tax hike and the other is potentially new drilling for oil in the united states. something he said he would never do. drill he was going to cut back on that. why might he be changing his mind? former texas governor rick perry weighs in. first to the white house, peter doocy with us live on the north lawn. hi, peter. martha,
night. bret: jesse, i will wait around for the sloth. jesse: you will wait a long time. bret: good evening. welcome to washington. i m bret baier. breaking tonight, new attacks on u.s. forces in syria by iranian-backed terrorists. that is after the latest u.s. retaliatory strike on sunday. that now brings the total number of attacks on u.s. troops in the middle east to more than 50 since mid october. tonight, the fighting between israeli troops and hamas terrorists is centered around gaza s largest hospital. while fighting increases in northern israel as well against hezbollah fighters, correspondent alex hogan is in northern israel tonight with the latest. good evening, alex. good evening, bret. day 38 of the wariments idf releasing this photo. israeli soldiers say they managed to capture the parliamentary building in gaza city and raised the israeli flag. meanwhile here in the northern part of the country it is an entirely different situation. escalation on israel