Tuesday morning news: March 7, 2023

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: FBI involved in search for Americans abducted in Mexico »
The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward the return of several citizens kidnapped in a Mexican border town and for the arrest of those responsible.

State Dept. spokesman Ned Price:

PRICE: The FBI is working very closely with other federal partners and Mexican law environments agencies to investigate this.

The bureau says four Americans were traveling in a white minivan with North Carolina license plates … when they unknowingly drove into the middle of a drug-related gun battle. They were abducted moments later.

A video posted to social media showed men with assault rifles and body armor loading the four people into the bed of a white pickup in broad daylight. One was alive and sitting up, but the others seemed either dead or wounded.

Republican Senator John Cornyn the city of Matamoros, just over the border from Brownsville, Texas has effectively become a warzone.

CORNYN: Everybody knows that the cartels control the plazas, which is all of the area along the northern border. And so, as shocking is, as this is, it's not completely surprising.

Three Americans accompanied a fourth who drove to Mexico to receive cosmetic surgery.

The U.S. Consulate in Mexico had issued a warning just days ago cautioning Americans to steer clear of the area due to violence.

NTSB on rail safety » Railway giant Norfolk Southern is announcing plans to to make its rails safer after two trains derailed in Ohio in a month's time.

NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy Washington Post Live that there are multiple ways to make rails safer, including:

HOMENDY: Realtime monitoring of temperatures and data trending from the control center.

Investigators tied last month’s accident near East Palistine to an overheated wheel bearing.

And Norfolk Southern says it expects to add roughly 200 hot bearing detectors to its network. It will install the first of those near East Palestine.

Spokesman said Connor Spielmaker told reporters:

SPIELMAKER: We’re investigating all these incidents. We’re cooperating with the NTSB. We’re cooperating with the local, state, federal resources to make sure that we investigated them fully, understand what can be done better, and make Norfolk Southern an even safer railroad.

The announcement comes as Congress readies legislation to tighten safety regulations and increase fines for violations.

3. Ukraine/Bakhmut »

ZELENSKYY: [Ukrainian]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine’s forces will not retreat from the city of Bakhmut.

The president’s declaration comes less than a week after an adviser to Zelenskyy said defenders might give up on Bakhmut and fall back to nearby positions.

That after Russia made recent gains in the area.

But Ukraine’s top military brass favor strengthening positions in Bakhmut and holding out.

Defense Sec. Austin on Iran » Speaking in Amman, Jordan on Monday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the Pentagon remains concerned about the military alliance between Russia and Iran. Iran has been providing weaponized drones to Moscow.

AUSTIN: We also expect that Russia will provide technology back to Iran in return for some of the help that they’ve gotten. And of course, if you’re a country in this region, you’d be very concerned about that.

And any technology Russia might share with Tehran is troubling. UN nuclear watchdogs say Iran is now extremely close to developing a nuclear weapon.

White House jumps into states' abortion battles » The White House is reportedly wading into state-level fights over abortion and the right to life ahead of next year’s election. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more:

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: Reuters reports that the White House will lend legal and messaging advice to Democrats at the state level and lean on local lawmakers to back pro-abortion policies.

White House officials say the Biden administration has divided the states into three categories: battleground states, proactive states, and what it reportedly calls extremist states. Those are states with strong pro-life protections.

The White House's Gender Policy Council is spearheading the effort.

It’s part of a Democratic Party plan to largely build its 2024 platform around abortion rights.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

GA riot charges » Twenty three protesters are facing charges of felony domestic terrorism after a an attack on the planned site of a Georgia police training center.

Officials say the demonstrators broke into the site of the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center near Atlanta, set construction equipment on fire, and threw explosives at police.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr called the attack anarchy.

CARR: It may be something that they don't like but they are putting together a plan here in Atlanta to undermine the rule of law and destabilize the system. But it isn't going to stand here.

Police say at least 21 of those charged were from out of state. Two were from outside the country, from France and Canada.

Domestic terrorism carries a maximum 35-year prison sentence in Georgia.

I'm Kent Covington. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org.

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