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Soon: Trump, Biden Hold Dueling Rallies In Battleground Georgia: Time Running Out For Ceasefire Deal Before Ramadan Tomorrow; United Airlines Has Fourth Emergency Incident In Five Days; Families Mark First "Hostage And Wrongful Detainee Day"; Trump Posts $91M Bond As He Appeals E. Jean Carroll Case With Another $454M Due March 25; 10 Years After Flight M.H.370's Disappearance. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired March 09, 2024 - 17:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:01:00]

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Alex Marquardt in Washington. Thank you so much for joining us.

The 2024 general election is now in full swing. And tonight President Joe Biden and Donald Trump are set to hold dueling rallies in the crucial battleground state of Georgia.

Any moment now, Trump is expected to take the stage in the city of Rome -- that's in northwest Georgia. That's his first campaign event since becoming the presumptive Republican nominee following the dropping out of Nikki Haley.

And soon after, we expect to hear from President Joe Biden. He's in Atlanta picking off a monthlong push to deliver his message to swing state voters. The Biden campaign hoping to capitalize on the momentum after Biden's fiery and political State of the Union address on Thursday night.

Now fewer states will be watched more closely than Georgia this coming November, a state that Joe Biden won by fewer than 12,000 votes just four years ago and which helped deliver him to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

I want to bring in CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten. Harry, so how did people react to the president's State of the Union address two nights ago. And do you think this is going to be giving the president a boost in the campaign?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: I guess it's one of those things where you wonder glass half full, glass half empty. If you're the type of person who's a glass half full type of individual you'll say, look at this question. Biden's policies put us on the right direction. This is among speech-watchers.

Pre-speech, it was just 45 percent; post-speech 62 percent. That's a 17-point jump. Hey, that's not too bad, right, Alex? But look through history, look at the last few addresses that Biden

has given -- 2023, 2022. What you see is very similar bumps in sort of the way that speech viewers think that Biden's policies will put us in the right direction.

A 19-point jump last year, 15-point jump in 2022. So the 17-point jump is pretty much right in line with that. And of course, after those speeches, we didn't really see much of a boost in Biden's approval rating overall, including all Americans, not just those who watched the speech.

So yes, there was a boost that is good news. I think that's part of the reason why Biden wants to take this message out on the road. But if you look at it through the lens of the last few years, it's more of a glass half empty type of approach where we've seen those (INAUDIBLE) before and it really didn't result in higher approval ratings for Biden among the wider electorate.

MARQUARDT: So it could be a bit of a sugar high, but it's certainly something that the Biden campaign is liking right now.

Now, Harry, I think you more than anybody will tell us that the national polls, of course, are not nearly as important as state polls.

We have President Biden and former president Trump in Georgia tonight for these dueling events. Georgia, of course, an incredibly important swing state in this upcoming election.

So how is the race looking there now.

ENTEN: Yes. You know, as someone who grew up in 2000 remembers, my mother forcing me to go to bet on election night 2000 and then Al Gore winning that national vote. It didn't mean anything, right? It was Florida, Florida, Florida.

We look forward to the 2024 election. It might be Georgia, Georgia, Georgia. And you said in your opening, right? How close Georgia was last time around.

It was decided by 0.2 percentage points. That's a very close win for Joe Biden in 2020. You look at the polling right now and it's a completely different universe. Donald Trump leading by six points. So in a very, very different place where we were.

And this sort of mirrors what we see nationally, where Joe Biden's in a considerably worse position than he was back in 2020. And it also mirrors what we're seeing in the Sunbelt States -- Georgia, Arizona, Nevada -- where we're seeing Donald Trump leading Joe Biden in places that, simply put Alex, four years ago, Joe Biden was able to win.

MARQUARDT: So why the change? Well, why do you think Biden's slipped so much in Georgia?

[17:04:51]

ENTEN: Yes. There are probably a lot of reasons why. But let's dig deep into the cross tabs, right? If you know anything about the swing states as they're currently constructed, the one that has the highest proportion of black voters is the state of Georgia.

Black voters are the backbone of the Democratic Party in Georgia. What is going on with black voters right now in Georgia?

Look, Joe Biden is still winning with them. He's winning among them by 53 percentage points. But that is a drop of 24 points from where we were in 2020.

This type of margin, to be perfectly honest with you Alex, I've looked through polls throughout the years. This is the smallest margin for a Democratic candidate in the state of Georgia that I can frankly find on the presidential level. This is a very worrying sign for Joe Biden heading into the fall.

MARQUARDT: And this is exactly why we're paying such close attention to what is going on in Georgia tonight with both those rallies.

Harry Enten, thanks as always for breaking down those numbers for us. Appreciate it. We appreciate it.

Let's discuss now with my panel: "New York Times" journalist and podcast host Lulu Garcia-Navarro and Tia Mitchell, Washington correspondent for "The Atlanta Journal Constitution".

Thank you both so much for joining us this evening.

Tia, to you as a Georgia expert, is Georgia still a purple state or do you think it has started leaning more towards one party since the last presidential election in 2020?

TIA MITCHELL, "THE ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION": I think Georgia is still a purple state. It's still a battleground state. But Georgia is definitely a mixed bag and I think the successes that Democrats saw in Georgia in 2020 with Biden carrying the state then Ossoff and Warnock winning both the Senate seats, it showed that there it is possible Democrats can win statewide in Georgia.

And then we can't forget in 2022 where every, every Republican, except for the Republican running against Warnock won statewide on the ballot so it's still a state where Republicans run the government in the state level. So it's going to be difficult for Democrats to win statewide.

But what makes Georgia a battleground state is that it's possible for Democrats to win.

MARQUARDT: And then Lulu, ahead of Donald Trump's rally tonight, there were signs with the photos of Laken Riley. She's the 22-year-old nursing student who was killed last month and an undocumented migrant has been arrested in that case.

What does that tell you about the role that immigration and you know, securing the border are going to play in this campaign over the next eight months. LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": It's been really

interesting to see what a shift we've seen in the polls in terms of immigration. It's now the number one issue by voters. And it really is because the border is seen as a problem.

And it is a problem. I mean, you know, we've seen Republicans talk about this and call over and over again the situation there a crisis. But this time it really is.

Under President Biden, it has been exponentially -- we've seen just exponential numbers of increase of migrants coming here.

And so there is a sense that there is a problem right now, and that is worrying Democrats, that is worrying Republicans. But the fact of the matter is that what Biden is facing in Georgia isn't really to do with immigration. It's to do with the black vote. It's also to do with the uncommitted vote.

I mean, we're about to have the primary in Georgia and we have the same thing that we've seen elsewhere where a coalition of different types of voters, young voters, voters of color, are saying actually we want to vote uncommitted to send a message that we do not like the war in Gaza. So you know, Biden is facing headwinds in a lot of different directions.

MARQUARDT: We just heard from President Biden addressing something that stirred up some controversy after the State of the Union.

He just spoke with MSNBC. He says regrets using the word illegal to describe Laken Riley's alleged killer. Let's take a listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I shouldn't have used illegal, I should have used undocumented.

And look, when I spoke about the difference between Trump and me, one of the things I talked about in the border was his -- the way he talks about vermin, the way he talks about these people polluting the blood.

I talked about what I'm not going to do. What I won't do. I'm not going to treat any of these people with disrespect.

Look, they built the country. The reason our economy is growing, we have to control the border and more orderly slow, but I don't share his view at all.

JONATHAN CAPEHART, MSNBC HOST: So you regret using that word?

BIDEN: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: Lulu, what do you make of that response by Biden?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I mean it was overdue. It caused a huge amount of consternation, specifically in the Latino community. You know, the words that people use are very important. You know, we've seen over and over again, Trump uses words -- you know, poisoning the blood of the nation, harkening back to things that Hitler used to say.

[17:09:50]

GARCIA-NAVARRO: And so it has been very clear that the GOP under Donald Trump has become anti-immigrant, has become xenophobic. And so when we saw President Biden use the word "illegals", which is a word that is used on the right, it was very disconcerting.

People are not illegal. Their actions might be illegal, and that is a very key difference that it was very important for him to hammer home.

MARQUARDT: When it comes to immigration Tia, the Democratic National Committee put up a number of billboards near the Trump rally site in northwest Georgia, blaming Trump and Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene for killing the bipartisan border deal. Do you think ads like this can be effective?

MITCHELL: Well, I think ads like this can be effective for people who are open to the messaging. I mean, the people going to the Trump rally today, they've already heard from Marjorie Taylor Greene, a lot of them have probably already made up their minds. There's not going to be a lot to shift them.

But at the end of the day, there are always persuadable voters that's how a state like Georgia becomes a swing state is those voters in the middle who could go either way.

And I think what the Democrats are trying to do is blunt a little bit of that message. They know that Republicans right now are going all in on immigration. We've already talked about the Laken Riley killing, which has been a big rallying cry, not just in Georgia, but across the nation.

Democrats want to say, look, we care about this issue too, we've actually tried to solve it. It's Trump, and of course, Marjorie Taylor Greene being a very effective boogeymen as well they lumped her in.

It's Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene, who yes, both of them did oppose that bipartisan border legislation -- border security legislation in the Senate.

Democrats want to make sure that again persuadable voters know that. So if they perhaps were giving low marks to Biden or Democrats on immigration maybe they'll rethink why they would believe that Republicans would be better on the issue.

MARQUARDT: Right. Tia, Lulu -- thank you both very much for joining me tonight.

And still ahead, the massive mission happening now to get life-saving aid into Gaza. This as time is running out to strike a deal for a ceasefire before the start of Ramadan. That's tomorrow night.

Plus United's very bad week. The airline racks up four emergency incidents in just five days. Hear what United is saying about it.

And frustrated and ignored. That's the feeling shared by some of the families of Americans who have been wrongfully detained overseas. Why they are demanding to speak with the president.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[17:12:33]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARQUARDT: New tonight, at least eight people have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on buildings in central Gaza, that's according to Palestinian health officials. And this comes as American officials had been hoping to broker a ceasefire deal that would include the return of hostages held by Hamas before Ramadan begins on Sunday night. But so far President Joe Biden says that is unlikely.

In Gaza, the United Nations is now warning that four out of five households do not have safe drinking water. The White House says the U.S. will join other nations to send humanitarian aid now from Cyprus into Gaza by barge through a maritime corridor.

The U.S. is going to be building a floating pier and a causeway along the Mediterranean coast of Gaza.

Mark Esper is here with me now. He is the former defense secretary under Donald Trump. So Mark, thanks so much for joining us.

The U.S. is now airdropping aid into Gaza. They've announced that they're going to be building this pier. That could take as long as two months and as many as a thousand U.S. troops could be involved in building that.

To what extent do you think this reflects that the United States actually doesn't have all that much sway over Israel since Israels essentially ignoring U.S. calls to open more border crossings.

MARK ESPER, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: Sure, Alex, it says a lot about that. Look, airdrops are better than nothing. Doing logistics over the shore which is being proposed by the president's plan to build a causeway up here then offloading shipping is better than airdrops. But nothing beats ground convoys going in to relieve the suffering. And you're talking about on a daily basis, 500 trucks a day are needed if you will.

But it's interesting because when you think about how this is going to happen with building the pier and the causeway, which I have known that the U.S. military will do expertly. The issue then becomes well, then how do you move the food and you start talking about moving from a bigger ship to a smaller ship. And then from a smaller ship to the floating pier and then somehow the pier has to get it -- the items onto trucks and it's unclear who's going to drive the trucks. And then the trucks have to get to the shore and then it had to be distributed.

It just seems like a lot of steps and complication as compared to just figuring out a way to accelerate the clearance process at the borders and make sure that there is no contraband going into Gaza. And then open more sites and get the aid in expeditiously en masse, which is what you need. You need volume to really address the problems on the ground in Gaza.

MARQUARDT: And all kinds of security questions once that aid arrives and we've seen the swarming of those aid convoys, because people are so desperate and there's a criminal element well.

[17:19:48]

MARQUARDT: But Mark, in terms of, you know, U.S. boots on the ground, that is something that the administration has said will not happen in Gaza.

And we, my colleagues and I, have reported that the U.S. could use a contracting company called Fogbow (ph). Its run by former senior military and intelligence officials. They would spearhead this maritime corridor.

So is that how the U.S. prevents putting American boots on the ground?

ESPER: Well, there's boots on the ground and then there's putting Americans at risk. And I think in this case -- look when you, when you build a causeway, an artificial causeway that we're talking about, it gets hundreds of feet long to 1,800 or so feet long. Eventually it has to be anchored to the shore and somebody's going to have to do that anchoring.

And of course, assembling the causeway means American soldiers will be working nonstop to assemble piece by piece by piece to make sure you link it all the way up to the pier.

So somebody has to anchor it. Somebody's going. soldiers will be working on that pier at all times. They will be exposed to enemy fire, indirect, direct fire, and they have to be secured. And that's unclear as to who will provide that.

There has been talk that the IDF will provide some security, but I'm sure were not going allow American service members to go unprotected. So were going to have to provide some type of local security as well.

We've got to protect the pier and the causeway, which means well have to have a warship out there doing the same. So look, Americans, I suspect will be vulnerable while this is happening, not just the building of the causeway, but also its functioning.

MARQUARDT: Yes. An extraordinarily complex operation.

Secretary Esper, I want to ask you about Donald Trump. He is now the presumptive Republican nominee and there are questions about whether he should be getting classified intelligence briefings which he is entitled to once he officially becomes the nominee -- that's after the nominating conventions.

He's also of course, being tried for mishandling classified documents. So do you think he should get those intelligence briefings?

ESPER: Well, at the risk of, you know, inflaming his base and trying to beach remain apolitical in some ways, if you will. My sense is, yes, he's innocent until proven guilty. I think he should be extended the courtesy of having the intelligence briefings.

But let me step back and say and I was on a presidential campaign once. There is really no need for any candidate to have detailed information, to have any classified information briefings, frankly, because it just doesn't impact the race. It won't impact how they run.

So my sense is, you know, allow him briefings. I wouldn't go into top secret material. I wouldn't leave paper behind given his track record and given the allegations against him.

But look, it becomes -- if he becomes -- gets elected in November, then of course, from the time he's, you know, elected in November until sworn into office in January, then certainly he should be given access to all the proper intelligence as he as he prepares to take office in January of 2025.

MARQUARDT: And that of course, is the point. So that the candidates are prepared if and when they take office.

Trump had --

ESPER: Yes, I just don't see the need. I don't see the need for access to that intelligence now for any candidate, frankly.

MARQUARDT: And it's something that President Biden has clearly indicated he would prefer the former president not get.

The former president met with a known autocrat last night, the primary minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, they met at Mar-a-Lago. They spoke -- president Trump spoke about Orban on stage. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's nobody that's better, smarter or a better leader than Viktor Orban. He's fantastic. As you know, he's (INAUDIBLE) and does a great job.

He's a controversial figure because he said this is the way it's going to be and he had done. He's the boss and now, he's a great leader, fantastic leader of Europe and all over the world, respected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: Mark, the former president there admitting that Orban is a controversial figure he has gone after the judiciary in Hungary, gone after journalist in Hungary, essentially dismantling democracy.

How concerning is it to you when you hear the former president praising someone like that?

ESPER: Well look from my perspective, it's not -- it's not a good image. It's not a good message. You know, Viktor Orban is clearly the odd man out in the European Union and NATO. In both cases, he's bucked the institutions. He's currently blocking aid from going to Ukraine from the E.U. He's been a thorn in the side of NATO on various issues. Hungary was the last country to just approve Sweden's admission to NATO. So -- and he has clearly autocratic tendencies.

So I don't think it's a good thing, but look, Trump likes him, he likes Trump. I think Orban believes that Trump's going to be elected president in November. He's leaning into, into reinforcing that relationship and making sure that if/when Trump's elected, that he's on good terms with the former president.

MARQUARDT: Making clear that he would prefer that Trump win over Biden in this upcoming election.

Former defense secretary Mark Esper, thanks very much.

ESPER: Thanks, Alex.

MARQUARDT: And coming up, President Biden, poking fun at his age in a new campaign ad as he hits the battleground state of Georgia today.

[17:24:51]

MARQUARDT: His strategy to win over swing state voters ahead of the November elections.

We'll will be discussing with Maryland's Governor Wes Moore. That's next.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARQUARDT: Tonight, we are learning of another scary situation on a United Airlines flight. This one took place on Friday when a United jet bound for Mexico had to make an emergency landing in Los Angeles because of an issue with the plane's hydraulic system. This is the airline's fourth emergency incident since Monday.

CNN's Camila Bernal joins us now live from Los Angeles. So Camila, what happened here and what's going on with United?

[17:29:49]

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well look, four separate incidents that they say are unrelated, but nonetheless terrifying for a lot of these passengers. United saying, they take safety very seriously. But again, it's been difficult for these passengers.

The latest one was a flight from San Francisco headed to Mexico City. And as you mentioned, the problem there was the hydraulic system. There's three of them and one of them failed.

And so you're talking about 105 passengers, five crew members on this Airbus 320. They get diverted to Los Angeles. They have to de-plane here and eventually get on another plane to Mexico.

But this was not the only incident. On Friday, there was enough other one. This was a plane going from Memphis to Houston. And this was a Boeing 737 with 160 people on board, six crew members.

And what happened there is that it was raining. And so when the plan lands and it's taxiing, it slipped over into the grass. So that was very weird and different deplaning for a lot of the passengers on board. Again, just scary for many on that flight.

And then, of course, on Thursday, a lot of us saw the video of that incident. That was a Boeing 777. And that was going from San Francisco to Japan. Had to also divert to LAX.

And this was because it lost the tire after takeoff. We saw the video of the tire destroying a car. Again, just so many people that we're terrified once they landed here at LAX.

And then you also have that incident on Monday. That was a Boeing 737 with 161 passengers, six crew members.

And it was going from Houston to Fort Myers. And what happened there was that the engine ingested some of the bubble wrap and so it went up in flames. Passengers saw those flames.

You know, one of those passengers spoke to CNN saying they wrote a letter or an email to his wife saying he loved her because he thought it was the end.

So Boeing saying that safety is their top priority, that they're investigating. But this will take some time to figure out exactly what happened here -- Alex?

MARQUARDT: Just extraordinary scenes there.

Camila Bernal, thanks very much for that report.

Bringing it now back to Washington, where families are marking the first "Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day." That was on -- that is on March 9th. It'll be partly a memorial and partly to put pressure on the federal government to bring home detained Americans from around the world.

CNN State Department reporter, Jennifer Hansler, is here with us.

So, Jennifer, you report so much on wrongfully detained Americans around the world. We saw a flag raised at the State Department. How did this day come about?

JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT REPORTER: Well, Alex, it really came about because of this persistent effort by the families, by groups like the Foley Foundation to raise awareness about this cause and to say this needs to be recognized nationally.

So we saw that finally enacted into bipartisan legislature last year, passed into law and signed into law by the president at the end of the year.

And yesterday, at the State Department, there was this very solemn -- was the word we heard used a lot -- flag raising to commemorate today's events.

And we heard Kurt Campbell saying that this is a solemn recognition of those who have returned home, those who regretfully never will well, and those who are still being held captive abroad.

And he said this flag will be raised every year on March 9th, as well as anytime a hostage or wrongful detainee is returned home and anytime someone unfortunately passes while they are still being detained abroad.

MARQUARDT: When we talk about wrongfully detained Americans, especially the ones you're reporting on, we talk about Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich a lot. There was a bit too Americans being held in Russia.

Of course, hostages are front and center now because you have at least half a dozen Americans who are still being held in Gaza, most likely by Hamas.

And we know that President Biden has met with, certainly, the Israeli- American hostage families. The admissions tradition has been in regular contact with those -- those higher-profile families and families of the prisoners.

But what is the reaction to a lot of those families who don't get that kind of attention from the administration?

HANSLER: Well, Alex, there's a real sense that there's an inequity here about the way that their cases are treated, the way that they are handled.

We see them saying, you know, we're -- we're very happy anytime one of these families does get to meet with the president. But why isn't this happening for us?

And so we saw a number of these families who haven't been able to meet with the president gather in front of the White House in Lafayette Park yesterday to, again, make that request, to say to President Biden, hey, can you come meet with us and hear our loved one's families and stories as well?

Harrison Li, whose father, Lai Li, has been detained in China since 2016, he is perhaps one of the most vocal of this group.

And here's what he had to say yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRISON LI, SON OF KAI LI, DETAINED IN CHINA SINCE 2016: Look, I want to tell my dad that I'm not going to give up.

Because as exhausting as this process is, flying across the country every few months, commenting, begging and begging for meetings, not getting meetings, putting in meeting requests, getting rejected, getting ghosted, getting turned down, whatnot, hitting a brick wall. I'm not giving up. I can't give up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:35:00]

HANSLER: So they say, Alex, they are still going to continue to demonstrate in front of the White House, make these requests. But they are asking President Biden to sit down with them if even for five minutes.

And now, the way White House says that it's not necessary to meet with the president for these cases to be worked on. This is a top priority, regardless of the president sits down with them.

MARQUARDT: And so often we hear from Secretary Blinken and -- and President Biden and others that their biggest priority is American safety around the world. And clearly these families are trying to take him up on that and get their message across.

Jennifer, we just saw the death of Alexei Navalny in a Russian prison. He's, of course not American, but that has fueled fear among another American, Paul Whelan, an American who is being held by the Russians.

And you've spoken directly to him. What did he have to say?

HANSLER: Well, he said, Alex, that he is incredibly concerned by the death of Navalny in a Russian prison. And he said, if this happens to someone as high profile as Navalny, it could happen to just about everybody.

He said this is incredibly worrying to him. And he said this -- when he has said, this is you signing my death sentence that you are not bringing me home, this is what he means.

He fears that unless the us is able to bring him home, similar circumstances could have happened to him.

At the same time, in our conversation, he did seem to think that work was being done on his case. He felt a lot more confident that the U.S. was doing whatever it could to bring home both him and Evan Gershkovich from Russian detention.

MARQUARDT: And he has reached out to you on a number of occasions, and it's always remarkable to read those reports that are released. It takes you inside the life that this American citizen is living inside this very tough and austere Russian prison.

So always remarkable reporting. Jennifer Hansler, thanks very much. Appreciate it.

(CROSSTALK)

MARQUARDT: Now, stay with us in the CNN NEWSROOM. We will be right back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:41:31]

MARQUARDT: 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 as well as a Border Patrol agent. Another soldier is in critical condition.

But the team was following migrants near the Rio Grande -- near Rio Grande City -- that's in Texas -- at the time. The cause of the crash remains unclear.

Names of the deceased are being withheld until their families are notified.

Former President Trump is facing a cash crunch as he keeps on losing in court.

Trump just had to host a $91 million bond against what he owes writer. E. Jean Carroll. And he still needs to put up hundreds of millions of dollars more in a different civil case.

Brian Todd has a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They attacked my business. I built a great business.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The former president's projection of himself as a star businessman with deep pockets facing a stern challenge.

Donald Trump on Friday posted bond of nearly $92 million to cover the damages in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case as he appeals the judgment against him in that case.

An insurance company called Chubb underwrote the bond he posted on Friday. But Trump still owes damages of $454 million for a separate judgment against him in the New York attorney general's civil fraud case.

And while he's appealing the case, he's only got until March 25th to pay that off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That isn't really big buying up, particularly because there's a clock ticking on it. It's a very tight timetable. Someone with that wealth might be able to raise cash if you give them enough time. But with this kind of situation it's very hard.

TODD: Another hit, he's been ordered to pay $385,000 in legal fees to a company he sued in the Christopher Steele dossier case. And he's got other mounting legal fees that he owes for litigation in

the four criminal trials he's facing.

All of this raising questions about Trump's ability to pay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This has got to be really straining his finances. Donald has always had a house-of-cards financial structure.

TODD: The former president's finances are an opaque, complicated tangle. Forbes estimates his net worth at about $2.6 billion. But most of it is tied up in real estate.

Could he sell one or more of his famous properties to cover it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's hard to sell real estate very quickly unless you're doing a fire sale on the assets, which you wouldn't want to be doing.

TODD: Could he spend campaign money to pay the New York civil judgment?

"The New York Times" recently reported that one of Trump's political action committees spent about $50 million in donor money last year to pay legal expenses for him.

But because that New York civil case was not related to his campaign or his conduct as president, he likely wouldn't be able to use his PACs to pay that judgment.

He could sell his stake in his social media platform, Truth Social. A pending merger between the parent company of Truth Social and another firm could make Trump's stake worth about $4 billion. But --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If this company can even merge to go public, he would have to wait six months to be able to sell anything.

TODD: That raises another possibility.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think Donald may file personal bankruptcy as a strategic move to delay collection of these cases. His goal would be to get past November 5th, the day of the presidential election.

TODD (on camera): Another hurdle Trump is facing is that some of the world's biggest banks stopped lending to him a while ago. Deutsche Bank, which often lended07 money to Trump for his property deals, ended its relationship with him after the January 6th attack on the Capital.

[17:45:07]

Axos Bank from California did give Trump a $100 million loan in 2022 but it's not clear if that bank would lend to him again. CNN's calls to Axos and its chief executive were not returned.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUARDT: Our thanks to Brian Todd for that report.

And up next, renewed hope that we may finally find out what happened to flight M.H.370 10 years after it mysteriously disappeared.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:50:12]

MARQUARDT: It has now been 10 years since one of the world's greatest mysteries, the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight 370. The Boeing plane was carrying 239 passengers when it disappeared.

Families and friends of those onboard want Malaysia's government to start a new search.

CNN's Richard Quest has a look back at the moment the plane vanished and what we've learned since.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: And we have breaking news right now. Malaysia Airlines confirms it has lost contact with the plane carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE (voice-over): And so began one of aviation's greatest mysteries.

NAJIB RAZAK, MALAYSIAN PRIME MINISTER: The plane just vanished from the radar screen. You know, we went -- we went totally dark.

QUEST: The Boeing 777 took off from Kuala Lumpur on its way to Beijing. It was less than an hour into the flight when the captain said --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good night, Malaysia 370.

QUEST: Minutes later, the transponder stopped transmitting identification and position.

Military radar and data from the pilot's cell phone revealed that the plane had changed course, was now flying back across Malaysia.

And the satellite data revealed MH370 continued flying for around seven hours when the plane likely went down off the western coast of Australia.

RAZAK: Flight MH370 ended in a southern Indian Ocean.

QUEST: That statement extinguished whatever hope the families still had.

(SHOUTING)

QUEST: Those families are still hoping for closure. (SHOUTING)

QUEST: When the plane went missing, planes, ships and submarines from dozens of countries took part in the most expensive search in aviation history. And despite all these efforts, nothing was immediately found.

It would be more than a year before a piece of the wing washed up on the coast of a Reunion Island near Madagascar.

What happened to the plane remains unclear.

Some observers believe Captain Zaharie deliberately crashed the plane, as part of a murder-suicide.

The families of the pilots harshly reject that idea. And truth is there's little hard evidence to support it.

Other nefarious theories say someone entered the cockpit and hijack the plane.

Then, there are mechanical issues. Or then perhaps some kind of far in the cargo hold or a sudden decompression that forced the pilots to change course before they were no longer able to control the plane or became unconscious.

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: At this point, the only thing we do know is that it did hit the water, that there are pieces of the airplane that washed ashore. Other than that, we have no other clues as to what actually happened.

QUEST: Now a decade on, the Malaysia government says it's considering a new search.

An American firm, Ocean Infinity, says new technology may allow it to find the missing aircraft after two previous searches failed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've spent a lot of time talking to a lot of different people. It's a question that deserves to be the answered, not least just for the families but for everybody.

QUEST: Ten years on, finding the plane remains crucial --

(SINGING)

QUEST: -- to bringing closure to the families of the victims.

K.S. NARENDRAN, HUSBAND OF PASSENGER CHANDRIKA SHARMA: I would have a sense of relief, I guess, that, at least we know now they found something.

QUEST: Richard Quest, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUARDT: Our thanks to Richard Quest for that story. It is official. The U.S. has now hit its warmest winter on record.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, this season brought a cascade of record-breaking temperatures, including the hottest February to date.

Weather impacts are now being felt all across the country, especially in the northeast and the Midwest, with local economies and ski towns suffering from a lack of snow and, with that, a lack of tourists.

Tonight, Joe Biden and Donald Trump are nearly crossing paths in Georgia as they both hit the campaign trail, holding dueling rallies in the key battleground state.

Plus, gang violence in Haiti is spiraling -- spiraling out of control. Armed men attacking police stations near the national palace. How authorities are trying to get control back.

[17:54:49]

That's in the CNN NEWSROOM. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARQUARDT: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Alex Marquardt, in Washington. Thanks very much for joining us.

The Trump-Biden rematch is now set. And tonight, it is Georgia on their minds. Right now, you're looking at live pictures there.

[17:59:49]

President Biden addressing supporters in Atlanta. President Trump, taking the stage. This is the second day in a row that President Biden has visited a swing state that helped deliver him the presidency in 2020.

You can see both of them there now speaking to crowds as this campaign is fully underway for the election in 2024.