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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 u ....
all right. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world, i m christine romans. this is early start. we begin with ukrainian forces struggling to hold on in the eastern city of bakhmut, as russian troops close in from three sides. ukrainian officials say the situation in bakhmut has grown much tougher. they say their forces may need to retreat to avoid being trapped by encircling russians. cnn s scott mclean is tracking this story for us from london. and, scott, what are the chances the ukrainians will be able to turn this around? and if they can t, does that mean russia is back on the offensive. so, christine, good morning. it really depends on who you ask. because last week there were plenty of indications that the ukrainians may in fact be forced to withdraw from that area. a drone reconnaissance university has been ordered to retreat from the area. you also had a key bridge by the russians kiting off the ukrainians final supply routes in and ....
Disasters. brian todd is working the story for us. brian, what are the experts saying about this very troubling trend? reporter: well, wolf, with the recent incidents of turbulence, experts say that could be a result of weather patterns in the winter and features of the jet stream. but there was another frightening incident just yesterday that was simply random bad luck. passengers scream. smoke fills the cabin aboard a southwestern airlines flight from havana to ft. lauderdale. southwest says the plane experienced bird strikes shortly after takeoff yesterday. smoke seen here coming out of one of the engines. the plane forced to return to havana, where passengers had to evacuate. some people were on the wing. some people jumped down the slides. it was really hard to know how long we were going to s survive trying to breathe. reporter: on friday, a private business jet traveling from new hampshire to northern virginia experienced severe turbulence. a woman on board killed. the p ....
Nice to see you this morning, scott. a scare in the air for passengers on a southwest airlines flight from havana to ft. lauderdale after a reported bird strike caused engine failure. the passenger who took this video here says three or four minutes after take off sunday there was an explosion. and dark smoke began filling that plane. southwest says the pilot immediately turned back to havana. and passengers exited through the emergency slides. no word of any injuries. the ntsb is sending investigators to another train derailment over the weekend in ohio. this one also a norfolk southern train. cnn s polo sandoval has the latest. the general manager of the norfolk southern the owner and operator of the train derailment on saturday they had there were hazard us materials included on this train including ethanol and propane but they were not in the train cars that actually left ....