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Trump Distances Himself from Voters' Anger at Republicans; New Film Centers on Anthony Bourdain's Early Career; Interview with Gov. Jenniffer Gonzalez, Puerto Rico: Puerto Rico Implements Water Rations in Major Cities Amid Drought. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired August 07, 2026 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: In a new interview with Punchbowl News, President Trump admits that getting Republican voters to the polls for the upcoming midterms could be a problem, but he says it's not his fault. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The question is, will they vote? Because a lot of them are very angry at Republicans, to be honest with you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why is that?

TRUMP: I don't know. I mean, they're angry at Republicans, but they're not angry at me. That's an interesting thing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why?

TRUMP: They're not angry at me, but they are angry at Republicans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Well, polls might differ there, but nonetheless, the president also declined to back Senate Majority Leader John Thune for a second -- for another term, saying, quote, "I don't want to get into that."

So we are joined by Mike Murphy. He is a former Republican strategist and co-host of the Hacks on Tap podcast. Appreciate you taking the time.

I just wonder, what do you make of President Trump distancing himself from voters' frustrations with Republicans?

MIKE MURPHY, FORMER REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, you know, the numbers don't lie and he knows it. The biggest problem the Republican Party has in this election is Donald J. Trump.

His numbers are terrible. I mean, what has changed for the president, because he's always been controversial and he's always had a base of people who really like him, but when he was elected, the deal with the voters was, you know, I'm kind of a jerk and weird, but I can run the economy. And as the polling showed on the economy, he was in the high 50s, almost 60 percent approval.

That's all collapsed now with the tariffs, with the economy slowing down, with prices going up, gasoline, groceries. Now he's in the low 30s on running the economy. It's like McDonald's not being able to make a hamburger.

So he is the problem. But Republicans are stuck with him.

[14:35:00]

And he can kind of wiggle, but the problem is most Republicans in tough districts where they're fighting to hang on to a House majority where they are behind, would love to not have Donald Trump in the middle of the debate this year.

JIMENEZ: You know, it seems like forever ago, I think back to Susie Wiles saying they were going to put him on the ballot because so many of those low propensity voters are Trump voters. And now, you know, as you talk about some of those Republicans in tough districts might be considering otherwise. And I just wonder for you, how do you see President Trump's influence in the primaries, for example, where he did have some wins, but a bit of a mixed record versus the general election, which is what we're obviously heading into now?

MURPHY: Well, I think that's a great question, because he's still some muscle in primaries, though not as much as he used to have. I mean, he was just in middle Michigan campaigning for somebody. His candidate lost and they elected somebody who dropped out of the race and didn't spend any money.

So it's not what it used to be, but it's still a factor in primaries. When you get to a general election in most places, he's an anchor now. People, you know, these midterm elections are not too complicated.

The voters like to send a message to whoever is in charge in the White House, which is why historically the incumbent president almost always has a pretty bad midterm election season. And the polls show the same pattern. People are mad about the economy, so they're blaming the Republicans.

So if you're in a tough district running as a Republican or even a close Senate race, you're kind of screwed because you can't get rid of Trump. There's no hiding him. He's such a ubiquitous presence.

He has such a need to be in the middle of the debate. But he's not helping you. He's costing you votes.

He might even be dulling turnout. So, you know, they're kind of paying the price now for their slavish devotion to him earlier. And a bunch of them are going to lose.

JIMENEZ: I mean, yes, the first place voters tend to turn when the economy might not be doing well are those in power. And you know, you talked about Michigan. That's a lot of low propensity voters there in some cases that may make a difference in 2026, in Michigan, in just a few months. But in the primary, now that we are past this process now, what do you make of Republican nominee Mike Rogers there, appealing to disappointed Democrats who they believe don't want to vote for Democratic nominee Abdul Al-Sayed.

Do you think that's a strategy that will actually pay dividends?

MURPHY: Well, you know, Michigan is interesting because generically the state is ready to throw out, you know -- to reject Rogers, who's just kind of a rank and file Trump supporter type and keep the seat Democratic. But the Democrats decided to get a little risky and try an experiment. So they had this primary.

And if you look at the primary results between Haley Stevens, who is the more moderate, and Al-Sayed, it was a very charismatic. He's a great political athlete, but more progressive. The primary is about a 50-50 split.

Al-Sayed won. You got to give it to him. So if you look at the where the regions of the state voted -- it's my home state. I've worked there a lot. Al-Sayed had the faculty lounges, the college towns. He had the wealthier, better educated Democrats, mostly liberals.

She had the factory towns. She had African-Americans in Detroit. She had the older lunch pail Democrats.

So what Rogers is going to try to do is go to them on cultural arguments that Al-Sayed's too liberal. Go with me. It is a viable strategy for him if it wasn't a wave election punishing Republicans.

But I think taking the chance on Al-Sayed, who might be very good as a candidate. So I wouldn't count him out. But it's given Rogers something to work with to make the debate of the election not about Donald Trump, which is the big loser for the Republicans, but try to distract them and make it about Al-Sayed.

So the whole thing will come down to how good Al-Sayed will be at getting those culturally more conservative Democrats and independents who are for Stevens to accept him as a way to punish the Republicans without being scary and left wing. So he's got some work cut out for him, but he has a wave election behind him.

JIMENEZ: To that point, it's likely why we saw Stevens and Sayed seem to be on the same page after the primary results had come through. Likely that process has already begun trying to get some of those Stevens voters over to Sayed's side. Mike Murphy, really appreciate the time and perspective.

Thanks for being here.

MURPHY: Thank you.

JIMENEZ: All right, still to come, the larger than life story of Anthony Bourdain now on the big screen.

[14:40:00] We're going to tell you what to expect in the new film based on his early years in the kitchen. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

The new film "Tony" shows a young Anthony Bourdain paying dues and in Provincetown, Massachusetts and learned the restaurant business from the ground up.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: That shows the man who would grow up to become one of the most famous voices on restaurants, and a cultural critic in his own right, and it's drawing rave reviews.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, I can cook, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Excuse me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It says he's a cook chef.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, wonderful.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not a cook. I'm a writer. I said I could cook.

[14:45:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't understand that. Shut the f*** up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My dads, like, one of the best chefs in new jersey.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh! Your dad? Why didn't you say so?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whatever.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know what? I'm sorry, brother. You're a cook. Help me plate these. You be helping me out. I'm behind, please.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jesus! Hey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Joining us to talk more about this new film and Anthony Bourdain is Laurie Woolever. She is the author of "Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography." She's also a former cook and worked for Bourdain for nearly a decade as his lieutenant. Thank you so much for being with us. And as someone who worked by his side for so long, what did you take away from this film that's focused on really this small part of his life?

LAURIE WOOLEVER, AUTHOR, BOURDAIN: THE DEFINITIVE ORAL BIOGRAPHY: Yes, this film is really a look at part of his life that's not as well known as the life that we saw on his show, "PARTS UNKNOWN." It's a lightly fictionalized account of the summer that kind of made him who he became for the next several decades. It's him starting from the bottom as a dishwasher, really falling in love with the culture of Provincetown, the food, the people, the Portuguese influences, and really falling in love with kitchen culture.

JIMENEZ: You know, we were just, obviously we just played a clip of the film, Anthony, and it was showing him in the kitchen. And to your point, I mean, this is really showing the part of Bourdain's life that we didn't really get to know, you know, before the book, before the show and that sort of thing. I wonder just from being in the kitchen, not so much on screen, in the kitchen himself, what was Anthony like?

WOOLEVER: So I never had the pleasure or privilege or whatever you might want to call it of working with him as a chef and as a cook. So I can't really say for sure, but if you read in "Kitchen Confidential," which was his breakthrough 2000 memoir, He positions himself as a bit of a pirate and kind of a terrorist. From what I've been told, he was actually much more empathetic and quite a good leader and someone who, as long as you were getting your work done, he was going to respect you and want you to be part of his crew.

My experience with him, when we did cook together, was that he was a great teacher. He was super organized. He referred to himself as a journeyman cook, a journeyman chef. He was not a Michelin three star restaurant chef. He was a very, very skilled guy who could put out 300 brunches in the course of an hour and do it perfectly.

KEILAR: Yes, when I met him, I think that was one of the things that just sort of tickled me about meeting him. He was like the nicest insurgent you would ever meet. You know, just someone who was subversive, but also just actually quite, you know, he just was kind and it wasn't overdone in the way his manner was.

And I know you recently sat down with Tony's brother Chris who told you he was actually troubled by the way in which some people misunderstood his late brother. Chris told you that Tony never thought he was the best chef -- you just kind of spoke to that. But he said that he was the modern Mark Twain, which I just love that description so much. Tell us a little bit about that.

WOOLEVER: You know, I was really pleased to hear Chris say that and it really kind of it put a point on something that a lot of people feel. It's that he was -- he was sure he was a cook and a chef. He was a brilliant writer, and he was someone who could just. out of nothing, do a brilliant social commentary on anything that you put in front of him. He just he had a quick joke. He had a very incisive analysis.

He had such a deep knowledge of American history and especially 20th century history. He was really interested in the Cold War, and he could just pull out these esoteric references that that really let you know that this was not just a guy who spent 28 years with his head down in a kitchen. He was a voracious reader. He was someone with lot of empathy for the world, for the struggles of the people all around the world.

KEILAR: Yes. Laurie, thank you so much for talking to us about this. It's just a reminder of how much Anthony Bourdain is missed for people who had the chance to get to know him, not as you did, but on the screen. And we really appreciate your time.

WOOLEVER: Absolutely. Thank you so much.

KEILAR: And for more on the life and legacy of Anthony Bourdain, be sure to also watch "BECOMING BOURDAIN: THE MAKING OF TONY," which is available on CNN All Access, on CNN.com, and it's also available on the CNN app.

[14:50:00]

Still to come, a worsening drought is leaving tens of thousands of families in Puerto Rico cut off from water for 48 hours at a time. We'll ask the governor what's being done to provide relief to these Americans and how long the crisis could last. She'll join us live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:55:00]

KEILAR: In Puerto Rico, tens of thousands of people are being forced to ration water because of the ongoing severe drought on the island. Right now, drought conditions cover over 2/3 of the American territory. The Associated Press reports that starting today, more than 180,000 people, including those in major cities, are going without water for 48 hours at a time on a rotating basis. San Juan just had its driest July on record and just east of San Juan, the town of Loiza has been experiencing water interruptions for more than six months.

Puerto Rico's governor says water rationing will continue indefinitely as the dry weather drags on. Governor Jenniffer Gonzalez is with us now to talk about this. Governor, thanks for making time for us today.

Can you talk to us a little bit about the health and the safety concerns that this water rationing is creating for Puerto Ricans and how sustainable this is? How long can you do this for?

JENNIFFER GONZALEZ, GOVERNOR OF PUERTO RICO: Yes, and thank you for the opportunity. This is a situation that we never expected to happen, but as the U.S. monitor for drought say it before us, this is happening because of the weather pattern of El Nino. It's not just happening in Puerto Rico, it's happening at the rocky areas in the Pacific Northwest and many other areas in the United States.

In the area of San Juan specifically, one of our reservoirs, which is Carraizo, which serves some areas of 67 towns, is getting the lower levels that can maintain the water for those areas. So that, literally, even the U.S. Monitor recommended to do this rationing for those residents. If we don't do this, then we may be without water to those areas. So that's the reason we are doing this.

In the past, this is not the first time this happened on the island. It happened the last time in 2014, in 2015, then in 2020 and in 2022. One of the worst situations is that the forecast that is from the National Weather Service that it's been with us in a weekly meeting since June of this year, is that we are not expecting precipitation and rain on the island in the near future. Actually, the next expected rain is going to be at the end of the month. So we literally prolonged --

KEILAR: You're facing serious drought conditions, no doubt about that. They're really, really bad right now. Is this affecting tourism there? That's so critical to Puerto Rico's economy.

GONZALEZ: Yes, it is critical. And this is in San Juan area. Thank God the San Juan area is not just served from this reservoir. We serve the area of San Juan for many areas. So this is affecting some areas, but not the whole municipality of San Juan. And that's the reason we are doing the rationing for 48 hours. We beginning with 48 hours. In the past, in 2015, it was 78, 72 hours at the beginning. What we what we're doing at this time is doing this to literally extend the life that --

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Yes, no, definitely. I understand. And Governor, I understand what you're saying there about extending the life of the reservoir. But I do just want to ask you because I do I hear what you're saying.

The situation is out of your hands. That's something you've said. You certainly don't control weather patterns.

But as you mentioned, this isn't the first time the island has had these water problems. And they've occurred periodically, at least over the last decade here. The AP is reporting that thousands of Puerto Ricans had water shortages for the last year for unknown reasons.

Could the government have done more to prepare Puerto Rico for these historic drought conditions?

GONZALEZ: Well, there are many factors. There's a situation, as you just said, there was the lack of maintenance in some of the systems, before us. And then the hurricanes in 2017 affected many of the systems.

And that's the reason there's an investment of almost $7 billion in federal dollars for the whole water system across the whole island. Most of them more than 2 billion in construction, more than 2.5 billion in design and so on. Most of the metropolitan area, but actually $128 million was done in a dredge in that reservoir that now has been affected.

If that dredging was not done at the beginning of this year, maybe that reserve was out in June of this year. So federal dollars have been working there. But yes, there are many situations that come before me, and we're trying to get things done during this year.

One of the things that I believe is so important is that this may happen in other reservoirs. So this is not just this one. So that's the reason we're telling the people that we don't want this to be expanded toward other ones. In the past, it was four reservoirs that were affected. So that means

many other towns were affected before. And ...

END