surreal, and, look, she even has my mole. see? >> bailey growing emotional as her post was met with widespread celebration, even the iconic barbie brand commented they believed it was well-deserved. >> nice. >> look at that. "cnn newsroom" starts now. good morning, i'm erica hill. >> and i'm jim sciutto. this morning an urgent search in mexico for four american friends kidnapped at gunpoint in broad daylight. cnn is now learning new details such as why the friends were in mexico in the first place and why investigators think that what happened here is a mexican cartel mistakenly targeted the group thinking they were drug smugglers. plus, terrifying moments on board a flight from los angeles

to boston. >> tell them to shoot me because because we're going to have to shoot me down today. where are they diverting us because wherever it is there's going to be a blood bath everywhere. >> that man is in custody after attempt to go stab a flight attendant and opening a door mid flight. details on the incident coming up. china's foreign minister warning the u.s. of catastrophic consequences if washington does not change its tone on a number of incidents including u.s. support for taiwan. what we're learning from this key communist party meeting. we will get to that all of that. we want to begin this hour with the four americans kidnapped in mexico. rosa flores from houston, dianne gallagher is in south carolina where three of the missing people grew up. these are close friends we're told. what more do we know about them? i know you've been speaking with the families. >> reporter: you know, erica, these four families of these

americans who were abducted just absolutely terrified right now by what has happened, two of those families have identified the four americans as la dave i can't washington mcgee, woodard, brown and their friend eric. they are a tight-knit group of friends, three of the four grew up in the lake city, south carolina, area. we're told they traveled down to mexico together because one of those friends, tae mcgee, was set to have a medical procedure there. her mother says that on friday morning she never showed up for her doctor's appointment and then on sunday the fbi told her that her daughter had been abducted and was in danger. she says the fbi said if your daughter calls, you need to call us right away. now, mcgee's aunt says she actually saw a video on sunday where she recognized her niece being kidnapped, she said she recognized her blond hair, also recognized the clothes she was

wearing from a facebook live that they had done there on the trip down. now, look, the sister of zendel brown one of the americans kidnapped said she had a bad feeling. she talked to her brother while he was on the trip down, she had a bad feeling, told him about it. his mother is simply clinging to her faith and holding out hope. >> i felt a little uneasy because i told him i had a dream, you know, i said i'm just checking on you. that's what i told him thursday, and then, like i said, friday morning i texted and i didn't get anything. >> the waiting is the worst part. it has its advantages and disadvantages, but, however, no news is good news. that's the way i'm staying with it. no news is good news. >> that's probably -- that's probably the only way that she can stay with it right now. now, look, mcgee's family says that this is actually the second time, erica, that she has gone to mexico for a medical procedure, the first time was

two to three years ago. look, everybody here is holding out hope, hoping that they return safely. perhaps no one more than tae mcgee's six children, hoping that their mother comes home safely. >> rosa, officials in mexico are working to locate these americans. one, do we have a status update on the search and can you tell us more about the circumstances that investigators believe led to this here? >> reporter: well, mexican authorities are not saying much about their search other than saying that it's all hands on deck to try to find these americans. now, i want to take you to the video, jim, because that's what's going to show us the circumstances of this kidnapping. we have to warn you the video is very graphic. what we know from the fbi is that these americans crossed over to mat more rows mexico on friday with a white minivan with north carolina license plates. in the video you can see the white minivan, all the doors are open and you also see a woman next to that minivan, we're seeing the same also from photos

that cnn has obtained of the scene. according to the president of mexico, these americans were caught in a confrontation between two different groups in mata matamoros, mexico and in that video and in those pictures you also see that these individuals are dragged on to the bed of a pickup truck. according to a u.s. official with knowledge of the investigation, this official says that this is a terrible tragedy, this is a terrible case of mistaken identity. they say that the cartels likely confused these americans for haitian smugglers. as you look through this video you can see that there are armed men that are controlling this scene. later some photos also revealed that there was an ambulance on scene, but it's unclear when that ambulance arrived and if medical attention was provided to anybody there on scene. now, about matamoros, mexico, it is in the american state of tamaulipas and america has added

it to their do not travel list for a while now. the reason is because americans have fallen victim to crime and kidnapping in the past and of course they recommend that americans not travel to that location. jim and erica, i should mention that the fbi has announced a $50,000 reward for anybody who can bring information about these americans, to locate the americans and arrest those responsible. >> must be difficult for the families to see that video. thanks so much to both of you. joining us now to discuss cnn senior law enforcement analyst, former fbi deputy director andy mccabe. thanks for coming on today. i wonder in your experience here, investigators believe, as rosa was saying that these americans were mistaken for drug smugglers. a group that took them, groups like this, in your experience are they willing to negotiate under these circumstances? >> well, jim, i think these

circumstances are fairly unique, you know, these -- we are talking about highly organized, structured, organized criminal enterprises. these aren't -- this isn't random crime on the streets committed by a stranger. they don't typically snatch people that they are not looking for. so this is a bit of a one-off. i should say this is exactly why it is so important for the fbi to maintain their foreign offices which they refer to as l legat offices. they have the largest attaché fbi office of any embassy in the world and they enjoy they productive contacts with their law enforcement and intelligence colleagues across mexico. this is why you try to maintain those relationships in the most positive and productive way possible, even in a place like mexico where that can be very challenging because of the drug

trade, because of the organized crime activity which also invariably leads to corruption. despite those challenges you want an active present fbi presence in those countries for moments like this. >> so you lay out really well why it's so important to have those u.s. officials there, to have fbi agents in mexico. that being said, when you're dealing with a drug cartel, i mean, what's the handbook for that? >> so this is incredibly dangerous activity, right, there is a reason why mat more rows is on the do not travel list because of crimes like this. i can tell you what the fbi agents and their colleagues at the dea and across the embassy are doing is working not only their contacts in law enforcement but their en for plants. fbi and dea agents conduct investigative a tift in mexico and develop informants in these organizations. i can guarantee you they are working those networks right now

to try to identify the group, the subgroup, the street crew, whoever it is, affiliated with one of these cartels that's been involved in this activity and that's where the investigation really digs in and you start trying to locate those individuals. >> let me just ask you quickly because there are state department warnings about some of these areas but there are often state department warnings and it can be hard for travelers to figure out which ones they should completely stay away from. looking at these areas now for folks watching right now, would you say don't travel to these parts of mexico? >> absolutely. absolutely. i would follow the state department orders. this is not just an exercise caution or be aware of street crime. this is a do not travel. that is the highest level, the greatest degree of concern that the state department has. if i had a family member who was considering going to mexico i would tell them not to go to an area that was under a do not travel warning. >> understood. okay. andrew mccabe, thanks so much. we appreciate it. >> thank you. another story we're following, new this morning,

bloomberg is reporting that meta the owner of facebook and instagram will lay off thousands of workers this week. that comes on top of 11,000 employees the company laid off just last november. >> cnn's chief business correspondent christine romans joining us now. so we see this latest round. is this expected to be the final round or could there be more cuts to come at meta this year. >> it's unclear but last month mark zuckerberg said they were going to start getting rid of divisions that they didn't need anymore, that they were going to be cutting projects that weren't succeeding the way they wanted and they would be getting rid of middle management so they could make decisions faster. zuckerberg had said that 2023 would be the year of efficiency. so that means rolling back a lot of these jobs that had been added in the go-go days the last couple of years for tech. that's been the story in tech and in so many different companies. they really grew with no restriction and no breaks over the past two, two and a half years and now as they head into 2023 and the economy is changing

a little bit, they are course correcting, if you will. so you're seeing some layoffs across the board there. broadly, though, more broadly, outside of tech and a little bit of banking and some in media, the job market does remain pretty strong. the trend seems to be that bosses want to keep their employees, they're afraid of laying off workers in general because they are' having such a hard time finding workers. >> the question for meta is this cyclical or something more to their core business? all right. other news, jerome powell will speak today, they will be asking him questions about direction on interest rates. what do we expect to hear? >> the last time we heard from him back in june, the last time he testified before these two hearings, these two committees, you had inflation rate about 9%, now you've got it about 6.4%. you have inflation moving in the right direction but they will probably gill him on why it's not moving down more quickly. i suspect you will hear from

democrats and progressives who are concerned that the fed might throw the u.s. economy into a recession and hurt the people who could least afford it by trying to get inflation under control. i will be listening very closely to what he says about the job market, a big jobs report on friday. last month it was a blockbuster. those higher interest rates have not been cooling the job market and there is a feeling the fed needs to see the job market cool or it will continue to crank up interest rates and that could be overall longer term dangerous for the economy. >> goodness, we had jason furman on last week talking about signs that inflation will stick around for a while. thanks so much. this hour nearly two dozen people will be arraigned on domestic terrorism charges for violent protests in atlanta. we will be live at the site of the proposed police training facility known as cop city that sparked those protests. terrifying moments on board a flight from l.a. to boston, a passenger arrested after trying to stab a flight attendant in the neck. that's not all that happened.

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and most reliable network of service dealers. always moving forward. we lead. others follow. right now 23 people are in an atlanta courtroom facing domestic terrorism charges on the heels of these violent protests at the site of a proposed police training facility, it's the one you've heard about a lot, it's been dubbed cop city in atlanta. >> authorities say that dozens of what they're calling agitators went to the construction site on sunday, attacked officers with fireworks, you can see them there, rocks, even molotov cocktails. cnn's nick valencia joins us live from the edge of cop city. nick, tell us what we know about the folks facing charges and how serious those charges are. >> reporter: yeah, good morning. they're facing very serious charges, domestic terrorism charges. these activists here really take

exception with what police say are outside agitators that came in here to cause the events that we saw happen this weekend. the fact, though, is of those 23, just two of them are from georgia. we're here on the edge where many of those individuals are now calling this home, this forest home, they're camping out here in opposition to this proposed police and fire training facility. you can see around me some of their items, makeshift -- or a tent, rather, left behind, they have a camp site here and even have a free store where we've seen individuals come this morning to get new changes of clothes. we've talked to some of the activists this morning and some are upset. it's really a robust coalition of activists, some are upset by what they perceive as the militarization of police. they think that cop city is further going to militarize police not just in atlanta but beyond and they are also environmental activists who say that this 85-acre proposed facility will have a detrimental impact on the environment. the bottom line and what is clear is this has become a ground zero for activists across

the country to come in here and confront police and at the very least air grievances against police, what we saw happen here in on sunday, where some of those protesters started to throw large rocks, bricks, fireworks, even molotov cocktails at police. we are, i believe, showing you new video, aerial video of when those agitators or protesters turned into agitators. tensions have ratcheted up since january when a climate activist was shot and killed by police. police state he opened fire on them first and they returned fire killing him, but that's only fueled the tensions between the activists and police. earlier this morning they took exception with our presence here and started throwing canned goods at our cars and started throwing rocks at us. they really have, you know, different sort of perspectives here and they say that it is not just one group here, but really a coalition of people that have come here to protest. they did say that they are having a press conference later today so it really just sort of matters when you catch them when they want the media here.

this morning they didn't want us here and they made that known to us. one thing s though, very clear here is that the tension here, as i mentioned, is ratcheting up with the fate of this proposed facility still hanging in the balance. erica, jim? >> nick, really appreciate it. thank you. all right. truly frightening incident in the air. united airlines passenger now facing charges after authorities say he tried to open an emergency door and attempted to stab a flight attendant. there's video of this. >> and it's tough to watch that video. this was on a flight yesterday from l.a. to boston. cnn's pete muntean has more. >> reporter: united airlines flight 2609 from los angeles to boston, it was a smooth flight for the first five hours on sunday, until -- >> so where is the homeland security with the gun because i'm waiting for them to point the gun at me so i can show everybody that i will die when i take every bullet in that clip to wherever in my body they shoot it and then i will kill

every man on this plane. >> reporter: the agitated passenger is identified as francisco severo torres of massachusetts. the video obtained by cnn was recorded by a passenger, it shows torres having violent outbursts towards other passengers and flight attendants. >> i love you, bianca. i'm coming for you. i'm coming for you, bianca. >> reporter: four minutes nervous passengers sat down and listened. >> nobody cares. nobody cares. where is homeland security? there should be homeland security. where are they diverting us? wherever it is there's going to be a blood bath. >> reporter: torres pulls what appears to be a makeshift weapon out of his pocket and says what no airline passenger ever wants to hear. >> i'm taking over this plane. >> oh, my god. oh, no. >> i'm telling you right now -- >> reporter: while united airlines says there were no reported injuries the justice department says torres pushed towards one of the flight

attendants in a stabbing motion with a broken metal spoon hitting the attendant on the neck three times. they also said he tried to open the emergency door to jump out of the plane. he claimed he was defending himself because he believed the flight crew was trying to kill him. video shows passengers and crew members tackling and restraining torres. a passenger told cnn torres remains restrained for 30 minutes before the plane landed safely at boston logan international airport where torres was arrested. this is the second high profile case of an unruly passenger in as many weeks. torres has been banned from flying on american airlines again, he is being detained pending a hearing before a judge on thursday. >> banned, that seems to be the least that they could do. that's frightening. thanks so much. still ahead, dramatic scenes playing out in ukraine in the ongoing and fierce battle for the city of bakhmut in the east.

the fatal mistake russia could be taking there. and the disturbing story, truly frightening of a ukrainian soldier captured near bakhmut, his apparent execution caught on camera used as propaganda by the russian military. age is just a number, and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health versus 16 grams in enre® high protein. boost® high protein. now available in cinnabo® bakery-inspired flavor. learn more at boost.com/tv

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today some fairly alarming words coming from senior chinese officials. china's new foreign minister held his first press conference on the job, took very district aim at the u.s. >> that official striking a combative tone, saying if america does not change course, conflict and confrontational --

confrontation, rather, are inevitable. cnn's mark stuard is with us live from tokyo. as you're following this the foreign minister who had previously served as china's ambassador to the u.s., this messaging is really something, mark. >> reporter: it's interesting because when he was a diplomate he was known as be very careful, being very accomplished, thoughtful, yet now that he has this new role with the foreign ministry he is embracing this often stern, sharp and pointed language that we are so used to hearing recently from beijing, in particular some comments about the future of the u.s./china relationship, a bit of a warning included. take a listen. >> translator: if the united states does not hit the brake but continue to speed down the wrong path, no amount of guardrails can prevent derailing, and there will surely be conflict and confrontation.

>> reporter: something else that we're hearing that is -- from xi jinping himself, chinese leader xi jinping, he made some remarks to a group of entrepreneurs saying that the u.s. and it's rare for him to single out the u.s. in particular, but that the u.s. and western allies are basically getting in the way of chinese development, going so far as to tell the heads of chinese firms, chinese companies, to basically get side-by-side with the communist party. all of this happening, we should point out, as a new legislative session begins in beijing, this is in many ways an indication of perhaps the known to come. >> marc stuewart, appreciate th reporting. taking a closer look at the situation in ukraine, over the last 24 hours ukrainian soldiers, you see like those seen running in this video here, they have repelled more than 140

enemy attacks as they fight to hold on to that eastern city of bakhmut. >> also look at the big mixture there, look at how that city has been decimated, destroyed. incredible new images of ukrainian combat inside that embattled city. all this as ukraine's president, volodymyr zelenskyy, is now vowing, quote, to find the murderers, this on another topic, seen executing a prisoner of war. a ukrainian soldier who disappeared near bakhmut just last month. video of what appears to be a war crime is now circulating online. we are not going to show the moment that the soldier is shot. a warning, this is disturbing, but it's important to see. >> just before those gunshots he said slava ukraine, it means glory to ukraine. joins us now retired u.s.

general mark hertling. are there any circumstances, general, under the laws of war where one military force can summarily execute a soldier from another? >> none whatsoever, jim. this is certainly a war crime, it's firing on an unarmed prisoner who has basically given up to the enemy forces because he was either out of ammunition or couldn't fight any longer or whatever, but it is not just a war crime, i think i need to emphasize this is a war crime publicized by the war criminals. it was russians who took that film and i've seen the whole film and it is just horrific, but then they published it online, just because an individual said glory to ukraine, glory to the country he was fighting for. it's just unfathomable and it's criminal in nature.

>> and add that to the list of despicable moments that have sadly been captured on video and other war crimes that have been documented. of course, the real question is when and if they will be held responsible. i do have to ask you, though, about what is actually happening in ukraine. what is happening in bakhmut. as jim pointed out in that video that we saw, i mean, the city itself is decimated in terms of what's left and we're hearing that from the few remaining people there who are getting out now. i understand why ukraine wants to hold on to it. when you look at how this battle is playing out, what is the calculus there in terms of how long they keep up this fight, how long they can keep up the fight? >> erica, what i suggest is ukraine is trying to hold the russians by the throat in this area. the russians continue to attack, they lack, by the way -- i've often talked about principles of war and in this case they are lacking -- they, the russians --

are lacking unity of command. they have the russian military criminals, chechens all fighting on this. that breeds confusion, who is in charge, what are the objectives, what are they trying to achieve and how. the russians are seeing bodies thrown into this -- excuse me, the ukrainians are seeing russian bodies thrown into this fight and whereas i'm not one that often relies on body counts. when you are talking about a killing field that this has become and how desperate russia is to achieve a victory here, ukraine is holding on to this fight so they can do things in other places and get ready for offenses in other regions. >> general hertling i want to turn to china because those words from china's top diplomate there are alarming, saying that on current trend lines in his description, conflict becomes, in fact, inevitable. this is not isolated. you hear from the cia director that china has instructed its

military to be ready to invade taiwan by 2027, you have a u.s. air force general preparing for war with china by 2025. is this where we are heading in your view? >> you probably know more about china than any of the three of us, having spent a lot of time there yourselves. but the u.s. -- you know, the chinese are confused about what the u.s. is doing in many cases. they have read our u.s. indo-pacific strategy that states specifically that that region faces mounting challenges from the prc. china knows that they are washington's primary strategic focus. even beyond ukraine, as we were talking about before. secondly, china is learning from the russian ukraine conflict and they are learning what they need to fix not only in their military but just as importantly what they need to message and signal to the world. you mentioned in your earlier comments about how this was really about a part of chinese

development, the kmooes have always been interested in competition, what they call competition, which sometimes leads to conflict, but in this case what we are talking about is, i believe, they're seeing their military strength be used in the south china sea, the east china sea and the himalayan border and they want to message that. this is not development, this is imperialism as you well know. >> it's alarming to watch. >> lieutenant general mark hertling, always appreciate your expertise and insight. thank you. >> thank you, erica and jim. a programming note for you, wolf blitzer sitting don for an exclusive interview with volodymyr zelenskyy, ukraine's president, that will air tomorrow night 9:00 eastern on cnn on prime time. with republicans firmly in control of florida governor ron desantis' conservative agenda really taking top priority. we will take a closer look at some of the controversial bills in the spotlight as this new legislative session begins in the state. t me tell you about te greatest roster ever assembled. the monster, the outlaw...

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florida's legislature back in session today, those are live pictures there as they are taking the oath. one major item on the agenda, a complete overhaul of the education system led by the republican governor ron desantis. half a dozen proposed laws target everything from pronouns to efforts at diversity to a ban on teaching students about gender and sexuality. >> this session pro sides an opportunity to build on his conservative agenda as he weighs a 2024 run for president. maybe you've heard there's speculation. leyla santiago is live in tallahassee for us this morning. give us a sense here. we've heard a little bit about what are the proposals that republicans have out there and

given their majority there in florida, is there any chance that democrats stand in their way? >> reporter: well, listen, democrats have obviously voiced opposition and push back to some of the bills that are on the table, but reminder here, republicans are the super majority, they had control of the house as well as the senate, so they will likely be able to push through governor ron desantis sort of wish list, his agenda, the priorities that have really stoked culture wars here in florida for years. the timing is interesting, right, because we've heard him talk a lot over the last few days as he has been talking about his priorities given his release of his book, his newly released book and also the timing of what is expected to be him embarking on an expected presidential campaign. we will have to wait and see officially for that. but let's talk about the bills on the table because much of this revolves around education and the parental rights movement as he has called t let's take a look at four of them real quick.

i will highlight two specifically, house bill 999 eliminates diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, it also prohibits gender studies and crt. that's a big one. also house bill 1223 bans any requirement to use preferred pronouns in school and also bans instruction related to sexual identity and orientation all the way up until grade 9. that's an expansion of what republicans passed last year here. let me listen to both sides on this. >> and i believe parents in the state of florida should be able to send their kids to elementary school without having an agenda jammed down their throats. >> i believe firmly that public education is the ultimate equalizer and if we erode and restrict access to that, then we are -- we are shifting the trajectory of the future of this state. >> reporter: so education for governor ron desantis and republicans here a big priority as it has been seen across the

country in campaigns. you know, lawmakers are now in the chambers, i know you showed that earlier today, so session getting under way and then in a few hours we will hear from governor ron desantis himself and the state of the state address. jim, erica? >> leyla santiago, thanks so much. joining us now to share their reporting and insights, ron brownstein, senior editor at the atlantic and seung min kim white house reporter for the associated press. ron, big picture, we just had a mids term cycle where many of the further right candidates and positions were rejected by voters, crucially in swing states. as desantis clearly considers a run for the gop nomination, is this a smart national strategy for him, or do you see it more as a primary strategy rather than a general election strategy? what's your view? >> it's really -- it's really the key question. i mean, he is putting so many chips on the idea that he is fighting what he calls the woke mind virus. under that banner there's no doubt that red states are

engaged in a systematic effort to roll back many aspects of the right's revolution of the past six decades. what we are seeing is truly extraordinary and spreading throughout the red states with desantis at the front of the line on issues like limiting what teachers can say about race and gender and sexual orientation, rolling back lgbtq rights, making it tougher to vote, eliminating requirements for gun control, touching penalties for public protests. you talk to groups like pan america, a free speech group, what's happening in terms of political control over education in florida is unprecedented. as you point out that agenda while it did very well in the red states in the midterm election none of the states other than arizona that rolled back abortion rights, saw a backlash against republicans, that same agenda was pretty clearly and unequivocally rejected in not only blue states, but the key purple states, michigan, wisconsin, pennsylvania, arizona. so that is the question. certainly desantis thinks he's

touching a nerve with primary voters but there is an open question whether this will prove as popular with the white collar suburbs outside pennsylvania, phoenix, for the republicans to get the white house in 2024. >> the other open question is how democrats plan to respond here and how much that is a focus within the biden team as they prepare for what everyone is anticipating will be the announcement that reelection bid. how much is a counter message to this push for outrage stoking culture wars, how much is that going to be part of the messaging? >> well, to the extent that the biden white house has responded to questions about 2024 and questions about potential challengers, they're actually focusing a lot on the former president, donald trump. as we know, you know, president biden, people around him thinking that he is the one because he is the one who beat -- who defeated donald trump in 2020 that he will be the one again to defeat him in 2024 if he is the nominee. there is that aspect, but when you talk about desantis and, you

know, the white house has been asked several times before what they think about the different policies that are being pushed in florida by governor desantis, they don't actually gauge, but you do see the white house and president biden himself pushing back in subtle ways. you had last month a black history celebration at the white house where both president biden and vice president kamala harris were pretty forceful in pushing back against the notion of erasing history. now, that is a not so subtle reference to -- to the efforts to ban certain textbooks from being used in florida schools by governor desantis. it will be really interesting to see as the focus turns to the florida legislature's activities over the next several months and potentially potential announcement by governor desantis for a national run, how much the white house engages and see desantis as a real threat as an opponent in 2024. >> ron, president biden published an op-ed in the "new york times" just this morning sharing his plan to keep medicare alive, slamming the

gop, as he does, quoting from that piece now. if the maga republicans get their way seniors will pay higher out-of-pocket costs on prescription drugs and insulin, the deficit will be bigger, medicare will be weaker. going back to the state of the union this is clearly a line of attack that the president aims to stick with, particularly as he contemplates a run in 2024. is that a winning message? >> it's the answer to erica's question from a moment ago. the way president biden wants to respond to the culture war offensives from desantis and trump is primarily by fighting on economic grounds. i mean, he wants to engage as little as possible directly with them on these fights -- these fights that they are igniting and basically shift the focus of the campaign to who can deliver more kitchen table benefits to working families. you know, when he went down to florida last month the president didn't talk about education or lgbtq rights, he talked about social security and medicare, and his blue collar blueprint to

rebuild america and bringing down drug prices. clearly he believes that the way to deal with it is not to be drawn into these culture war confrontations that republicans view as key to maintaining their hold over working class voters but to appeal on them on a separate set of grounds. that is a risky strategy, democrats frustrated that he is not doing more to push back. it is clear that biden at his score is something like a pre 1970s democrat, most comfortable talking about delivering economic benefits to struggling families and trying to stay out of -- as far as possible with the exception of abortion. >> let's be fair, that message seemed to have worked in the 2020 and 2022 cycles to some degree. >> see what happens in 2024. real quickly, seung min, there is increasing chatter i would say is the easiest way to put it about whether there could be a third party candidate here. how much is that chatter being entertained privately within the white house? >> i think that it's the general calculus that, you know -- that

it has been discussed that a third party challenger, depending on who it is, if it's a third party challenger who is, for example, focused on ensuring that donald trump does not make his way back to the white house, that that could actually hurt democrats more than republicans in the long run. i know that when we were talking about liz cheney's political future over the last year -- over the last several months when we talked about her after her primary loss in wyoming and she hasn't necessarily ruled out a national bid, there is a lot of discussion that she could actually end up benefitting the republican party by taking away people who would have otherwise voted for democrats. it's not a topic -- it's not a real major topic of discussion right now and even the thought of a primary challenger obviously to president biden is not much of a focus, either. we saw one nominal challenger get into the race over the weekend, but not much on that front until president biden announces his reelection bid.

>> here we go again. ron brownstein, seung min kim, thanks so much. >> does it feel familiar? >> it does just a little bit, i can't remember why. please do check out ron's analysis on cnn.com about the divide inside the republican party. still ahead this hour, have lawmakers found an issue that republicans and democrats can agree on? up next how how a new bipartisan bill could ban tiktok in all of the u.s. in the nutritional drink you choose. try boost glucose control®. it's clinically shown to help manage blood sugar levels anand contains high quality protein to help manage hunger and supppport muscle health. try boost® today. >> does it feel familiar? up next how how a new bipartisan ♪3, 4♪ ♪ ♪hey♪ ♪ ♪are you ready for me♪ ♪are you ready♪ ♪are yoready♪ ah, these bills are crazy. she has no idea she's sitting on a goldmine. well she doesn't

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there is a new push particularly a bipartisan one to regulate tiktok, and today, virginia senator mark warner is going to unveil a bipartisan bill to extend the president biden's bill to extend the bill to regulate tiktok. >> how would this bill further regulate the ban of tiktok? >> yes, this is a national ban

on tiktok. and this is the legislation in the early stages, erica, but it would give the authority to the commerce department to take steps including up to and including ban of tiktok. the bill doesn't specifically target tiktok, but rather kind of talks about an overall category of technologies that might be deemed to be national security risks whether it is tiktok or the huawei or other companies that might raise national security concerns. the whole intent behind the bill according to senator warn ser i to prevent a whack-a-mole situation to come up with bills to target individual companies and give them a bigger and more flexible tool. >> but based on the reporting is that heading to a complete ban and how the tiktok ceo responds to the criticism and accusations

to the ties of the chinese government. >> yes, they have recognized that it is a real and will it will take time to address it and the ultimate goal is to have the u.s. user data accessible to the u.s. employees. and the ceo of tiktok spoke to a harvard business conference and this is more of what he said. >> i think that the first thing that i would say is that we take these concerns very seriously, and the chinese government has never asked us for u.s. user data and we have said it on the record and even if we were asked for it, we would not provide it. >> we are seeing that the tiktok ceo is going to say that it is going to taking time to earn trust, and we are taking the voluntary steps to improve security and safeguards, but on the other hand, you senators like warner who say, no, we have action that we need right now where you actions of tiktok on

one hand that says, take time right here and others who say, no, we need action right this moment. >> remarkable. >> brian, we appreciate the report, thank you. just ahead here, the urgent search for four americans kidnapped in mexico, and the families are speaking out, and talking more about what led up to the encounter with the mexican drug cartel. i love my rings but i'll cherish that lunch... forerever. the subway series. the greatest menu of all time. ♪ ♪ start your day th nature made. the #1 pharmacist recommended vitamin and suppleme brand. ( ♪ ) the future is here. we've been creating it for more than 100 years, putting the most advanced technology into people's hands.

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