former intelligence official fred burton has been studying a turf war in mexico between two drug cartelsmer band of military guards called the zetas and the more traditional gulf coast cartel. >> what most people don't realize when you're looking at the border is that there are certain portions that are not controlled by the mexican government. and the area of falcon lake was directly controlled by the zetas, and this was a very strong smuggling corridor for them. >> reporter: so you believe this was mistaken identity? >> clearly, all evidence indicates that this was a case of mistaken identity based on the tactical intelligence i've seen surrounding the case. >> the most likely scenario is, david and tiffany hartley had wandered into a drug war and were mistaken as the enemy. >> reporter: zapata county sheriff siggy gonzalez believes the hartleys not only wandered into a war but had arrived on the mexican side of falcon lake at the exact moment a cartel was about to move a large amount of marijuana. up on a bluff, the spotters, his sources told him, caught the first glimpse of a possibl

former intelligence official fred burton has been studying a turf war in mexico between two drug cartelsand of military guards called the zetas and the more traditional gulf coast cartel. >> what most people don't realize when you're looking at the border is that there are certain portions that are not controlled by the mexican government. and the area of falcon lake was directly controlled by the zetas, and this was a very strong smuggling corridor for them. >> reporter: so you believe this was mistaken identity? >> clearly, all evidence indicates that this was a case of mistaken identity based on the tactical intelligence i've seen surrounding the case. >> the most likely scenario is, david and tiffany hartley had wandered into a drug war and were mistaken as the enemy. >> reporter: zapata county sheriff siggy gonzalez believes the hartleys not only wandered into a war but had arrived on the mexican side of falcon lake at the exact moment a cartel was about to move a large amount of marijuana. up on a bluff, the spotters, his sources told him, caught the first glimpse of a possible gli

. >> jim walsh and fred burton, thank you for joining us. >> coming up, with so many divisive issues, at the forefront of discussion, are we seeing a combination of two americans. what do you think? join us: many worry that the gains made in education will not stick in the future. aljazeera's jane ferguson takes us to a school in kandahar city that was long considered a success and is now facing closure. >> it's a place offering more than these girls know, a quality education in real tangible skills, a path away from positivity and early marriage and towards university and a career. since 2002, the modern stud has been teaching women languages, like management and computer skills. that they are skills that speak of ambition which in the heart of tallle ban country is remarkable. >> we are a unique school, preparing women to go to jobs. our school is preparing women to go to universities. real reporting that brings you the world. giving you a real global perspective like no other can. real reporting from around the world. this is what we do. al jazeera america. >> today's data dive che

fred burton is vice president of counterterrorism at stratford, a former diplomatic security agency and ken,ed from, you both describe in this book, you create this incredible atmosphere of this lawless city, it's a den of thieves and spies. where all sorts of danger was present. why was the state department still there and why was ambassador christopher stevens there on that same day? >> the mystery of why ambassador defense traveled from tripoli to benghazi on that day, was to open up a local event for a community. the decision to move ambassador secretary of defense to benghazi we really don't know the details surrounding that. for example as chief of mission the u.s. ambassador is the president's rep to that country. and in essence, that's where the buck stops. he is the commander in chief of all official americans in country. >> this mission was not very well secured. and there is, sam, a very long and tragic events, including the 1979 teheran hostage taking, 1983, bombings at our agencies in nairobi, kenya, given how many recommendations have again? >> in the book we speak to a fo

. >> jim walsh and fred burton, thank you for joining us. >> coming up, with so many divisive issues, at the forefront of discussion, are we seeing a combination of two americans. what do you think? join us: >> as we get ready to watch the ball drop and ring in the new year, the world of politics turns as congress enjoys a break from the gridlock of washington. is the affordable care act facing the dire straits predicted. over a million signed up in december said the government putting the goal of 7 million enrolments by march 2014 within reach. and with the 2014 midterms looming the democrats solidify their strategy. ted cruz doubles down on his attacks against obamacare. joining us from los angeles is bill schneider, senior scholar at george mason university, and michael shaw, and tom toerty, republican strategist and former advisor to governor pataki. >> ban balz wrote a piece in the wost about red states versus blue shats, how they're increasingly falling under one party control, on the one hand, lean limited government and on the other, government play essential roles in society.

is here, andin fred burton is vice president of intelligence at stratford. he helped arrest a man behind the trade center bombing back in 1993. thank you all for joining us. let's turn to you, fred. look at this situation, there has been a lot of talk about security, not just at the games but elsewhere in russia, surrounding the games. someone who has had experience securing an olympic games, what do you think russia can do our needs to do in this situation? >> it's going to be extraordinarily difficult to secure the transportation hub leading in and out of the olympic venue. having protected olympic athletes at these kinds of events before, the focus will gear down toward the olympic village to make sure that the athletes are safe. it really is a daunting challenge to try to just secure the perimeter and the infrastructure leading to and from sochi. >> let me bring in kimberly. russians, as opposed to what we have to deal with in our free country here, they can just throw people in prison whenever they want, accuse them of tax evasion's or get some punk rock