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United Airlines Has Fourth Emergency Incident In Five Days; Biden And Trump To Hold Dueling Campaign Events In Georgia Today; Hopes Dim For Ceasefire Before Tomorrow's Start Of Ramadan; 10 Years Later And Still No Answers To Fate Of Flight MH370. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired March 09, 2024 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:00:02]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN HOST: And welcome and thanks for joining me. I'm Rahel Solomon in New York. I'm in today for Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin this hour with breaking news. That's as the United Airlines now investigates its fourth emergency incidents in five days.

On Friday, a flight from San Francisco to Mexico City had to divert Los Angeles because of an issue with the hydraulic systems.

CNN's Camila Bernal joins us live from the Los Angeles International Airport.

Camila, this is just really the latest in a series of incidents for the airline. What's going on here?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I mean, and passengers are terrified all of these incidents are unrelated and the airline says they're investigating them individually, but nonetheless, as it's concerning for a lot of the passengers especially the ones on these slides. You mentioned the latest one that was yesterday. It was a flight from San Francisco to Mexico City and the airline saying, you know, there are three hydraulic systems and one of them had the issues. So they diverted that flight, landed here at LAX at around 4:30 local full-time. And eventually, these passengers were put on another plane and went off to Mexico City.

But there was another incident also yesterday that was a plane from Memphis to Houston and then they said that part of it was because of the rain. So, this plane is landing, it's taxiing and it skids off the runway and goes into a grassy areas. So, passengers had a very three different deplaning experience here. This was a Boeing 737 with 160 passengers, six crew members.

But again, it wasn't the only one this week. There was another incident that happened on Thursday and that was a flight from San Francisco to Osaka. This was a Boeing 777 with 235 passengers, 14 crew members, and a lot of us saw the video here. This was a tire that fell off the plane and it fell into a car. So that flight had to also be diverted to LAX and again, these passengers were put onto another plane and eventually went off to Japan. No one was injured, but nonetheless, enough other very scary situation.

And then on Monday, another problem, this was with the Boeing 737, and this was a flight that was going from Houston to Fort Myers. And what happened here was that the engine ingested some of the bubble wrap, all of that one up in flames some of the passengers on the plight and then -- on the plane, they were able to see the fire. You know, CNN spoke to one of those passengers who said he essentially wrote a goodbye email to his wife, saying that, you know, he loved her and terrifying moments for him, even though he said he tried to stay calm.

So, overall, just very scary situations for a lot of these passengers in different parts of the country. And United saying that this is something that they're going to look into with the manufacturers, with the FAA, with the NTSB. And again, they're saying that all of these incidents were separate, but they are looking and trying to figure out exactly what happened in each one of them. And it will take time to figure out what the problem was or how it can be fixed. They keep saying that safety is their top priority, Rahel.

SOLOMON: Hmm. All right. Really scary stuff. Keep us posted -- Camila, thank you.

All right. Well, the state of Georgia is the focus of the 2024 presidential race today as the Biden-Trump rematch take center stage in that critical battleground state. So, a short time ago, Biden landed in Atlanta. He's going to be appearing at a campaign event that a couple of hours.

And around the same time, his presumptive Republican rival Donald Trump, will be holding a rally in Rome. That's north of Atlanta. Georgia is a key swing state that Biden won in 2020 by less than a percentage point, and it's the only swing state among primary contests happening on today, happening Tuesday rather.

We have team coverage of these dueling campaign events. Steve Contorno is covering a Trump rally, but lets begin with Priscilla Alvarez. She is in Atlanta.

Priscilla, let's start with you. Help us understand why Biden is Atlanta today and why Georgia seems to be so important this year.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, a couple of reasons, Rahel. He's clearly trying to build off the momentum from the state of the union. We saw some of what he may say today when he was in Pennsylvania yesterday, using forceful language about his rival, former President Donald Trump.

But also, it's an opportunity for him to engage directly with the voters that he's going to need. This is a crucial state for him going into November. It's one he only narrowly won in 2020, as you laid out. And this is going to be a say that doesn't have a lot of those key statewide races that we saw in the previous election cycle that turned out voters to also, for example, help carry the Senate for Democrats.

So, enthusiasm here is going to have to be built up over time to get voters to turn out to the polls that according to the Democratic strategists that I spoke with. And this is a state with a diverse coalition and that is something that the president is going to want to capitalize on. And it's already going to do some of that today by accepting three endorsements from political action committees that represent Asian-Americans, Black Americans, and Latino Americans.

[15:05:04]

And so again, this is a week that the campaign has been preparing for. It's a week that really crystallized the rematches between President Biden and Donald Trump. And one that they're going to be leaning in now that they see the campaign in full swing.

And so, the president today when he speaks at the warehouse behind me, will be talking about his domestic accomplishments, will be talking about his predecessor and really trying to build the argument for voters and shore up support, which all -- which is necessary, particularly what early polls show that Donald Trump is in the lead in the state.

SOLOMON: Priscilla, before heading to Atlanta, the president did sign several funding bills to avoid a government shutdown. What can you tell us there?

ALVAREZ: Yeah, Rahel, this was a major breakthrough for lawmakers that up until this point he'd really been relying on those stopgap spending bills. Now this again, as you mentioned, the president signed that after the House and the Senate pass those bills this week. But the work is certainly not done. There's still another deadline fast approaching on March 22nd for another tranche of federal agencies.

So the hope is that they will also be able to pass the bills so that the president can sign those before any type of shut down. For now, at least, there's no concern about a shutdown but this could all change very quickly depending on what happens in Congress. And if any of these bills gets stalled.

And remember, Rahel, there's only one part of what the president is asking for. He also wants Congress to pass that national security supplemental request that includes those $60 billion for Ukraine, as well as aid for Israel, and billions of dollars for border security. So, the president also keeping up the pressure on Congress to get that request passed -- Rahel.

SOLOMON: Yeah. And that portion of funding could be even testier, even trickier to negotiate.

Priscilla, thank you.

Let's bring in Steve Contorno, who's covering the Trump campaign in Rome, Georgia.

Steve, in 2020, Trump became the first GOP presidential candidate to lose Georgia in 24 years.

How was he hoping to change that in 2024? STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Well, Rahel, yeah. As you mentioned, not only lose in 2020, but it's been a challenging state for him and for Republicans since that. Those two U.S. Senate runoff races, right after Trump's defeat here, they've lost -- but he lost some time to defeat the Republican governor here, Brian Kemp, in a primary challenge later on. And then his handpick candidate for Senate in 2022, Herschel Walker, he lost his election here. So this has been a challenging state for him.

Plus, he has also been indicted here for his efforts to attempt to overturn the election in 2020. So that is recent electoral and political history here. What the recent suggests that Donald Trump remains very competitive here, that he is actually in the lead according to some polls. But you talked to Republican pollster here and strategists and they said that is, quote, polling mirage, and they said is very dangerous for us to count those polls in our favor at this point.

And that, look, the Trump team acknowledged that this is going to be very close state. But I will tell you, he's not going to win it by changing hearts and minds in the room. This is a very Trump audience or even in this part of the state, this is a part of the state that is representative in Congress by Marjorie Taylor Greene. So, it's very conservative.

She has been here all day, sort of amping up the crowd. She will speak later today. She's, of course, coming off as appearance at the State of the Union where she clashed with President Biden repeatedly. And I think you're going to see her and Donald Trump both lean in to the immigration debate. It is something that he has been making a focal point of his campaign ever since he became the presumptive nominee. I think you'll see more of that in just a few moments -- Rahel.

SOLOMON: All right. Steve Contorno, really early in the thick of things there in the middle of the action. Steve, thank you. Priscilla Alvarez, thank you

All right. Joining me now to talk more about this rematch is Patrick T. Brown. He's a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a conservative think tank and advocacy group in Washington, D.C.

Patrick, good to have you.

You wrote an opinion piece this week for CNN.com. The headline is after Super Tuesday, the dreaded rematch is real. So what does that, what does that headline, the dreaded rematch? What does that say about the challenge ahead for both of these candidates as they try to motivate their bases and pull in undecided or unenthusiastic voters?

PATRICK T. BROWN, FELLOW, ETHICS AND PUBLIC POLICY CENTER: Well, we've seen this movie before. It's the 2020 election rematch that I think so many voters, especially those in the middle, college-educated Republicans who maybe were soft on Trump and Democrats who came to vote, not necessarily for Joe Biden, but against former President Trump. We -- they're going to be -- faced with that twice again. And now, four years after President Biden's management of the administration, we have a chance to see what is going to look like again, and I think a lot of voters were who were kind of tired of Trump after four years, are now looking for another change.

SOLOMON: And as you say, I mean, Democrats may end up turning out to vote less, less for Biden and more so against his opponent Donald Trump.

[15:10:07]

But do you think that anti-Trump vote is strong enough for Biden to rely on are his aides to rely on?

BROWN: Well, I think in 2020, there were a lot of Trump skeptical moderate, center, right. Folks, folks like myself for example, who were kind of tired of Trumps aggressive tweets and rhetoric and certainly his denialism when it came to things like the election. But now, after having seen four years of Biden's mismanagement of the economy, everybody has the aftertaste of high inflation, foreign policy misadventures and the whole nine yards, they're recognizing that. you know, there were a lot of things that we can put up with Trump, put up the good with the bad.

And I think a lot of those voters who may have given President Biden a chance four years ago are now recognizing look, this guy's too old. His vision for the country doesn't match what predominantly center -- centrist, center right country wants.

SOLOMON: And, Patrick, when you say his mismanagement of the economy, walk me through more sort of what the concerns are there because certainly his aides would say GDP is strong, unemployment is low, has been low, inflation is cooling. Wages are higher.

What's the economic perspective here?

BROWN: Well, yeah, inflation is back down to back within normal range now, but it wasn't that long ago was at 9 percent and people remember that. They remember the price of groceries going up, seemed like every week. And so -- and as few on that fire, President Brian and his team are pushing bills like the ill-fated Build Back Better Act, which would have increased inflationary spending, get increased the federal deficit, so in a time when we need to be thinking more about bringing the deficit down and helping the Federal Reserve lower interest rates.

We heard at the State of the Union the other night, that President Biden has an even bigger vision for what we should be spending on and more transformation of the American social safety net. That's something that voters are not interested in. And I think that's going to be very clear as we head these long next nine months.

SOLOMON: What about the age issue? The president seems to be addressing that a little bit more head on. I mean, he addressed it during his State of the Union speech by making the case that he knows how to get things done and fight for Americans. He also released this new ad. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look, I'm not a young guy. That's no secret. But here's the deal, I understand how to get things done for the American people. Donald Trump believes the job of the president is to take care of Donald Trump. I believe the job, of the president is to fight for you, the American people. And that's what I'm doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Do you think that's an effective way to sort of spin the issue? I mean, we have seen other candidates sort of turn -- turn around the age issue by saying, look, it means I'm experienced.

BROWN: Yeah, the Reagan line about not holding their agent's youth -- agent's age -- opponent's age against them.

I -- look, it's the best attack the White House can make, the best dodge they can make. We all know the attacks they're going to make on democracy and the aftermath of Dobbs. Those are baked in the cake.

And the thing is neither can and it has much new to offer. They've run the opposition ads already back in 2020. And so, I think a lot of voters are kind of dreading the slog, gritting their teeth about two old white gentlemen who have served their country in various ways, but don't really have a vision for -- a positive vision for America. I think President Trump has also to blame a little bit here, focusing so much on retribution and his adversaries, and less on positive steps like talking about a baby bonus, giving parents money after having a child.

But he talked about that in a CPAC speech last year. I'd love to hear him talk more about that and advance a positive vision for Americans.

SOLOMON: Uh-huh. What about Nikki Haley voters? Where do they go? I mean, Nikki Haley, she obviously couldn't beat Trump in the primaries, but she did attract a big chunk of Republican voters in several states. What is Trump do you think need to do to try to pull in some of those more moderate voters that maybe would have gone for Haley and are now sort of wondering what do I do now? Where do I go now?

BROWN: Yeah, they certainly don't love Trump. And again, I live in Columbia, South Carolina. I know a lot of people who pulled the lever for former Governor Haley in our primary a couple of weeks ago, and they're not part of the MAGA movement. They don't love the tweets and the rhetoric and all that kind of stuff that we all know is the baggage that comes along with former President Trump.

But a lot of them made a transactional deal with Trump in 2016, and a few more, few others in 2020 saying, look, you're going to deliver conservative policy victory and a lot of them care very deeply about foreign policy and are concerned about the shambolic withdrawal from Afghanistan. Obviously, the unrest in Ukraine and Israel, they want America to take that role.

I don't know if Biden can convince them that he is a steady pair of hands at the wheel. This didn't happen under President Trump clearly. And so, you know, obviously, it's a little bit of a -- a little bit of an unknown what Trump's foreign policy is going to be, just like its unknown what is domestic priorities will be. But there's a strong case to be made that he can bring those voters home by focusing on the mismanagement that Biden's performing the last four years.

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SOLOMON: Patrick T. Brown, good to have you today. Thank you

BROWN: Anytime, Rahel. Thank you.

SOLOMON: All right. Coming up, the urgent push for ceasefire in Gaza before the start of Ramadan as a humanitarian crisis worsens.

And renewed hope that we finally find out what happened to Flight MH370 10 years after it mysteriously disappeared.

We'll be right back.

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SOLOMON: Welcome back.

Hopes for an imminent ceasefire deal in Gaza appear to be fading. U.S. official said that they wanted to see a deal for temporary ceasefire and the release of hostages before the beginning of Ramadan tomorrow evening. And time is running out for that to happen. The U.S. is continuing to conduct humanitarian airdrop into Gaza with another round coming just hours ago. The Hamas-run health ministry meantime, says that 25 people have now died in Gaza due to malnutrition and dehydration.

Let's go to CNN's Clarissa Ward, who is live for us in Jerusalem.

Clarissa, is -- is your sense that there is still a lot of optimism or much optimism that more aid will soon start getting through?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I don't think there's a lot of optimism. I do think there are a lot of people working very hard to try to work out what to do about this spiraling humanitarian catastrophe inside Gaza.

Obviously, the hopes had been that some kind of a ceasefire hostage release deal would be agreed upon by Ramadan. That hasn't happened and it doesn't appear likely to happen. So now you see this kind of frantic attempt to improvise other potential solutions, whether that is airdrops which you mentioned. The U.S. today, dropping tens of thousands of meals and tens of thousands of bottles of water onto northern Gaza.

But, Rahel, if you talk to any humanitarian aid worker on the ground or who has spent time in these types of environments, they will tell you that these air -- airdrops make a nice photograph or a nice picture? But they are not effective or efficient. And that the only way to really effectively distribute aid during a huge catastrophe like this one, is to do it on the ground. But in order to do that safely and efficiently, you need to have some kind of a ceasefire in place, at the very least, aid workers say, you need to have multiple entry points for that aid to go in.

And one of the big issues right now, Rahel, as we've been discussing is that even if you can get that aid into the south of Gaza, into Rafah getting it up into the north, to hundreds of thousands of people who in the words of the U.N. are one step away from famine, that is extremely plead challenging. It's actually very dangerous at the moment as well.

And so, the sort of, you know, bargaining goes on to try to get to some agreement with the Israelis towards opening another crossing from the north that would allow aid to get into the north of Gaza.

SOLOMON: Clarissa, what about this announcement from the U.S. that it's working to create a sea corridor, a maritime pier, if you will, to get aid into Gaza. What's the reaction been to that?

WARD: It depends who you talk to. I think there's a sense from some people that it's too little too late. There are complaints already about the logistics of that. This requires some thing like 1,000 U.S. military personnel will be required to construct it. It could take up to two months to put together.

And when you're talking in the dire language that we're hearing the U.N. and other aid organizations talking and at the moment, two months seems like a very distant prospect even in a best-case scenario of getting it up and running three to four weeks that is still quite some time away. And again, when you spoke to one aid worker and what you hear is this is a glaring distraction from the obvious reality to anyone who does this kind of work which is that there needs to be more aid getting in on the ground.

And that is the easiest, most sensible and efficient way to distribute it. We just need the political will of all the various different parties who would be involved, but primarily obviously of the Israelis who have control of all the borders going in and out -- obviously the Rafah crossing with Egypt. But even then, they have the final say as to what can go in into the Gaza Strip.

SOLOMON: OK. Clarissa Ward live for is there in Jerusalem, Clarissa, thanks so much

Well, it was one of the world's biggest aviation mysteries. Why families are hopeful that we may finally figure out what happened to Flight MH370, 10 years after it vanished.

We'll be right back.

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[15:28:56]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. In the wake of last year's deadly Lahaina Fire, Hawaii is now adding dozens of wildfire detection sensors across the island. Governor Josh Green made the announcement yesterday saying that the devices will give first responders a leg up whenever wildfires break out. About 80 sensors are being installed around Aloha state which can alert fire officials to smoke and other potential issues the first wave of the devices are expected to roll out by April 8.

Well, what happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370? That has been the question for the last decade. And now, on the tenth anniversary of the plane's disappearance over the Indian Ocean, families of those who were onboard may have renewed hope for answers.

CNN's Anna Coren has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Somewhere in the depths of this vast, seemingly endless Indian Ocean is believed to be the resting place for the 239 souls onboard MH370, the Boeing airliner that vanished a decade ago.

Multiple searches spanning hundreds of thousands of square kilometers found nothing.

[15:30:04]

Dozens of pieces of floating in washed up debris, the only evidence of the 777.

For the families and loved ones of those who made that fateful flight on the 8th of March 2014 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, it has been an agonizing ten years.

At a memorial in Malaysia, time has not eased their anguish and pain.

SARAH BAJC, PARTNER PHILIP WAS ONBOARD MH370: Families need closure. The world needs closure, and somebody needs to be held accountable.

COREN: Sara Bajc hasn't spoken to the media for many years.

So lovely to meet you.

Her partner Philip was onboard MH370, and the search for answers consumed her life as it did for so many others who shared in the collective anger, frustration, and grief.

BAJC: Waking up in the middle of the night and expecting him to be there. That still happened for a while, and maybe that's because of the lack of closure.

COREN: She believes closure only comes once MH370 is found and there's now renewed pressure from the families and a verbal commitment by the Malaysian government to reactivate the search.

ANTHONY LOKE, MALAYSIAN TRANSPORT MINISTER: This is the biggest mystery of the aviation in the whole world, and we must solve this mystery. It is a commitment and a promise that the search will go on.

COREN: Malaysia has agreed to speak to Ocean Infinity. The U.S. marine robotics company that ended its last search in 2018.

But world renowned aviation expert Richard Godfrey believes they'd be looking in the wrong place again.

Armed with new information nation from the latest technology, he believes he knows the coordinates of the crash site and the area they need to search, 1,500 kilometers off the coast of Perth.

RICHARD GODFREY, AVIATION ENGINEER: I think it will only take one more search. And search technology has improved. The crash location has been more narrowly defined. It will take them I think just a few weeks to find MH370.

COREN: A bold statement yet one families cling to.

Jiang Hui, who lost his mother on MH370, has taken Malaysia Airlines to court on behalf of the Chinese families that represent nearly two- thirds of the victims.

He says he knows his hard working mother who instilled the same ethos in him is driving her son to find the truth.

I can find her shadow in me, he says. Whatever I am doing now is what my mother wants me to do.

As for Sarah, the trauma has forced her to rebuild her life, running an eco-tourism resort in Panama with her new husband. But she says, on this day, her thoughts are always with Philip.

BAJC: I make my coffee exactly like Philip used to drink it, and I sit I think about him and maybe look at some pictures. And then I put it away. You know, I don't think that you can effectively walk forward -- you can't walk forward with positivity and confidence if you're always looking backwards.

COREN: Anna Coren, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: And our thanks to Anna Coren for that report.

Well, coming up, Alabama Senator Katie Britt criticized President Biden's border policies and the GOP's rebuttal to the State of the Union Address. But it turns out that one of her claims is simply not true. The details straight ahead.

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SOLOMON: Welcome back.

Alabama Republican Senator Katie Britt is facing criticism for her State of the Union response from both sides of the aisle.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty has more now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. KATIE BRITT (R-AL): Our commander in chief is not in command.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Senator Katie Britt's State of the Union response --

BRITT: It's been a minute since Joe Biden pumped gas.

SERFATY: -- setting off a flurry of opinions, even some within her own party, saying her delivery was distracting, overshadowing the message. Critics calling it too theatrical, too dramatic.

BRITT: To think about what the American dream can do across just one generation and just one lifetime, it's truly breathtaking

SERFATY: With her kitchen location projecting the wrong optics.

TOM NICHOLS, STAFF WRITER, THE ATLANTIC: If I may paraphrase President George W. Bush, that was some weird stuff, man.

The whole kitchen setting and that kind of the very labored and breathy, you know, and quivering voice.

SERFATY: Even as some came to her defense.

SEN. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-AL): I thought she did very well. And, you know, she's a mom. She's a housewife. She's around people in a young age.

SERFATY: Senator Britt won office only two years ago, becoming the first woman elected to represent Alabama in the Senate.

BRITT: This race has never been about me. It is always been about Alabama.

SERFATY: She previously worked on Capitol Hill for years, rising to chief of staff for Alabama Senator Richard Shelby.

BRITT: I am a mama on a mission. And the two reasons that Wesley and I chose to jump in this race are standing right beside us.

[15:40:02]

SERFATY: Her husband is a former NFL football player, and they have two kids, a lifelong Alabamian, once Alabama's Junior Miss.

BRITT: (INAUDIBLE) and I love it.

SERFATY: The performative nature of giving the State of the Union rebuttal is notoriously tricky. After the energy of the president's big speech, the immediate alternative can come off as hollow, stayed and has led to some politically devastating moments that can haunt the political futures of those politicians for years.

Like Senator Marco Rubio's sudden thirst and his 2013 rebuttal speech.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL): Nothing has frustrated me more then false choices like the one that president laid out tonight.

SERFATY: Parodied and mocked

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you not see?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Further?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's never that far away, right in front of you.

SERFATY: So too was then Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.

BOBBY JINDAL, FORMER LOUISIANA GOVERNOR: Good evening and happy Mardi gras.

SERFATY: Then Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius mocked for her bla stare.

Congressman Joe Kennedy for what looked like drool later had to clarify as just too much chopstick.

And Congresswoman Michele Bachmann's speech remembered for her off- putting focus off camera.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two years ago, when Barack Obama became president.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SERFATY (on camera): And asked one of Senator Britt's aides about all this criticism coming from the speech, and they immediately juxtaposed her giving what they said was a passionate speech with Joe Biden saying, quote, Joe Biden angrily screamed for an hour and was roundly praised for a fiery speech. Katie Britt, passionately made the case on the need for a new direction and is being criticized by the liberal media. Color me surprised.

And, of course, it goes without saying that giving the rebuttal to the State of the Union is a huge stage oftentimes, these are considered rising stars within their party so people are watching each and every move, meaning sometimes its the mistakes and missteps is what endures hear oftentimes over the message -- Victor and Isabel.

SOLOMON: Sunlen, thank you.

All right. Still to come for us, Miami Beach is breaking up with spring breakers. We'll explain to.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:47:07]

SOLOMON: Welcome back.

U.S. military officials are investigating following a deadly helicopter crash near the southern border. The chopper crashed into an open field claiming the lives of two National Guard soldiers and a Border Patrol agent. Another soldier is in critical condition.

The team was following migrants near Rio Grande City, Texas, at the time. The cause of the crash remains unclear and the names of the deceased are being withheld until their families are notified.

SOLOMON: But Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is urging spring breakers to mind their manners, saying that his state will not tolerate any mayhem this year. DeSantis just announced new security measures, which includes about 140 troopers heading to Miami Beach and other cities.

Now officials are hoping to avoid the violence from last year. Miami Beach also launched us a breakup campaign that includes hefty fines and parking fees and curfews and DUI, checkpoints. Governor DeSantis also dispatched 140 state troopers across Florida for assistance.

Well, around the world, March 8 serves as a reminder of the long- standing movement for women's rights and a recognition of the achievements of women everywhere.

But even in 2024, there are challenges facing women both here and abroad. Women are rallying for issues like wage gaps, reproductive rights, and longer maternity leave.

I want to discuss all of this now with two special guests who were part of a recent panel speaking about International Women's Day this week. Kerri Murray, she is the president of the international disaster relief group, Shelter Box.

And also Catherine Reitman, you might recognize producer, writer and star of the Emmy-nominated series "Workin' Moms" on Netflix.

Good to have you both, ladies.

Kerri, let me start with you. You've been on the front lines of global conflicts. You've been on the frontlines of natural disasters. Talk to us about from your perspective, the issues that women around the world are experiencing

KERRI MURRAY, PRESIDENT, SHELTER BOX: Well, as a global humanitarian relief organization, Shelter Box is working on the front lines of the world's worst disaster and conflict situations. And one thing we know for sure is that disasters disproportionately affect women.

And we see it from higher death rates, lack of livelihoods, also more likely to be out of schools, especially young girls and conflict settings, as well as high rates of sexual violence. So, women are disproportionately affected. However, women are at the core of community recovery and that's why at Shelter Box, we worked to empower women with the tools and the resources they need to help rebuild their lives, but also their communities. SOLOMON: And talk to me, just let me stick with you for a moment longer. Kerri, talk to me about the gender gap issues that you see and that's an issue that impacts not just the immediate family, but generations to come.

It does. I see it on the front lines. I was deployed late last year and it was heartbreaking.

[15:50:01]

I was on the front lines. Lots of women organizing and galvanizing and mobilizing the response, putting up tents and the Shelter Box relief packages. But I saw a lot of girls and I inquire to our female aid worker and translator.

And I said, where are all the boys? And she said they're in school. And I said, what about the girls? And she said, we're just girls.

And so, you're still seeing massive gaps across our world in education, also, health care, and the biggest drivers when you see the global gender gap is really in political empowerment and economic participation.

SOLOMON: Catherine, let me bring you into the conversation now. Your show, your Netflix show, "Workin' Moms", it exposes the daily struggle for work-life balance for a lot of mothers here in the U.S.

Let's watch a scene together.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS, NETFLIX/WORKIN' MOMS)

SOLOMON: And so, it's interesting because it's obviously comedic, but there's something obviously really serious happening there. What's the response to the show been like, I imagine you must hear from a lot of women just on the street.

CATHERINE REITMAN, WRITER, ACTRESS AND PRODUCER: I would have never known going into making the show that it would connect with the amount of people, let alone women. You go into this hoping to tell a specific story, talk, speaking to the challenges of, you know, personally my postpartum depression, but also, you the struggle of trying to have it all and how impossible that is.

And so when, you know, whether I walk into an airport or restaurants, seeing the amount of people who come up to me and it's not like when you do a sitcom, which I've been lucky enough to do, or someone goes, oh God, that was so funny. When a fan of working moms approaches me, they feel seen and it is a different -- a different fan interaction than anything I've ever experienced

SOLOMON: You know, yesterday, Catherine, we heard from again, Meghan, the duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, of course. And she talked about the online abuse she experienced, especially while pregnant and with her newborns. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MEGHAN, DUCHESS OF SUSSEX: But the bulk of the bullying and abuse that I was experiencing in social media and online was when I was pregnant with Archie and with Lily and with a newborn, with each of them. And you just think about that, and you -- it's really wrap your head around why people would be so hateful. Its not caddy, it's cruel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: So I'm just wondering how you think, Kate or pay you think yourselves character, and other working moms might relate to this.

REITMAN: I mean, look, it's an impossible task, isn't it, to be a woman, to be an aging woman, to be a woman at 16, to be a woman at 26, to be a woman at 46 and so on. I think it's, you know, where we're in an impossible battle of words were meant to be mothers being a mother is so important to so many people if you choose not to clearly, what were being told is there's something wrong with us.

And then if you are a mother, you're never getting it right. Look, the movie "Barbie", I think that monologue tapped into what so many of us are feeling, which is that the challenge is real, that were all judging each other and it's not just people online. And I think as women and generally -- generationally, I'm feeling this, I'm feeling older women having experienced trauma from when they were growing up, what they had to overcome, women my age, she, these younger women who are coming up and we all are trying to connect, trying to quote unquote, lift each other up and be cheerleaders for each other. But the truth is that the landscape is made that impossible.

SOLOMON: Let me ask it and I'm not asking either of you to get into politics necessarily, but I am curious. What you think in terms of moving forward, how animating you think women's issues are going to be here in the U.S. moving forward. I mean, it certainly seems front and center in the campaigns,

Kerri, let me start with you.

MURRAY: Well, I absolutely feel as women, we have to be our own advocates. I think we have to take up space. I think we have to have a seat at the table.

And as Melinda Gates says, a strong woman is a woman with a voice. And by definition, that is a strong woman, but we have to have a voice.

And it is so crucial that we continue to rally around causes that effect women.

[15:55:05]

And we have to come together especially in the upcoming election.

SOLOMON: And, Catherine, to you?

REITMAN: I think I'll add to that, then also, we can't be afraid to make mistakes. Look as the mother of two young kids, I'm constantly encouraging them to take up space, use their voice, not be afraid to fail. And I think as women, we're so terrified of looking stupid.

I mean, look at what the duchess just said, so terrified of looking flawed, of looking not perfect. And we're not perfect. And we have to embrace that and go out there and try to make some mistakes. It's the only way we're going to grow.

SOLOMON: And take up space. I love that message. Great conversation. So good to have you both, Kerri Murray and Catherine Reitman, thank you.

MURRAY: Thank you.

REITMAN: Thank you.

SOLOMON: And thank you for joining me today. I'm Rahel Solomon.

"CNN NEWSROOM" with Alex Marquardt is up after a quick break.

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