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Trump Approval on Foreign Affairs Drops to 29 Percent, a New Low; Rubio: Trump is Open to Meeting with Iranians at U.N.; Trump to Address U.N. Amid Iran War, Political Fights at Home; Norway's Foreign Minister on Potential Threats to NATO; Lawyer Says DoorDash Driver Shot by ICE Now Facing Paralysis; Mamdani on What He Has in Common with Trump: We Both Love New York City. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired September 22, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: A hot dog, hot dogs, diggity dog, and apparently, we have his son to thank for this masterpiece. John, most kids inherit their dad's dance moves. Isaiah Rogers said, nah, son, I'm taking yours.

His son's probably like, dad, I showed you that in confidence. You take it on national TV. Where's Kate?

Where's Sara? I want to see these, get these juices flowing in the morning.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: That is fantastic. What is his son wearing, water wings there? I always endorse water wings. Like a nice set of water wings there always adds to a great dance.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: John Berman should be the one doing that dance, not me.

BERMAN: I've been doing it offstage all morning long. Coy Wire, thank you very much for that.

WIRE: You got it.

BERMAN: A brand new hour of CNN News dancing starts right now.

All right, breaking this morning -- the President has never had lower approval on foreign policy. The new numbers just released as he is set to address the United Nations.

And a shot in the back by ICE, and his lawyer says denied care that he needs. The latest report on a DoorDash driver wounded in Texas, what he now says happened.

And then you can run, but you can't float. The high-speed chase that ends with a car going in a lake.

Sara is on the late shift. I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan, this is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. BOLDUAN: Let's get to the breaking news this morning. President Trump is about to appear before world leaders. At a moment when Americans, as John was laying out, are giving him the lowest marks yet on foreign policy.

The new CNN polling data just out finds 29 percent of Americans approve of how the president is handling foreign affairs, 29 percent. That is a new low for the president across both of his terms in office. Much of that decline is among Republicans.

And Iran is a major part of this picture, obviously. The new poll shows nearly two-thirds of Americans believe the United States is not winning the war. Tough backdrop for the president as he's preparing to address the United Nations this morning.

He'll be also meeting with leaders of the Gulf nations to talk about next steps on Iran. An Iranian delegation, including their president, is actually in New York this week. But will President Trump be meeting with them?

Secretary of State Marco Rubio seemed to be leaving the door open to that this morning. CNN's Alayna Treene is here with us in studio with more on that. What are you hearing about that possibility?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Look, I was talking with one of my sources last night who told me that the president does want to meet with them. I think it's a question of would it be the president, would it be some of his top officials who engage in a pull- aside. But there's also a question of whether or not they actually would want to do that either.

But, of course, this is an incredible opportunity. I mean, you have the officials -- and, I mean, I should say these are important officials. You have not only Iran's president, but also the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, someone who, of course, has been very involved in the negotiations behind the scenes around, you know, trying to find an off-ramp to the war between U.S. -- the U.S. and Iran, will be here as well. He arrived last night. And there is a question of whether this could happen.

Rubio this morning actually echoed what we heard from the U.N. Ambassador, Mike Waltz, who was on CNN last night. Both of them saying that the president is open to it. Listen to what Rubio said this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: This is a president that will meet with anybody, for the most part, because he believes that engaging with people is important if you're going to solve problems. It doesn't mean you're going to end up agreeing with them, but it's important. So we're open to that.

I don't think anything is scheduled at this point. But we're certainly open to something like that, especially if it has the prospects of leading to something positive and ultimately achieving the goal of what this is all about, and that is the fact that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. They just simply can't.

TREENE: So as you heard, the secretary stayed there. Nothing is scheduled. That is true.

I was chatting with people at the White House. Nothing is scheduled. But it could happen.

We know the president. He sometimes likes to have these surprise big meetings, particularly at this moment. But also to get at what you heard from Secretary Rubio there, just to talk about what the president is likely going to address this morning when he speaks at the U.N. General Assembly around 10 a.m., is just that, this idea that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. And with the backdrop of these pretty terrible poll numbers you pointed out, I mean, 64 percent of Americans saying the U.S. is not winning the war, 71 percent disapproving of how the president is handling foreign affairs. This is an opportunity for him to try and crystallize that message, not only for Americans, but of course this is the U.N., for world leaders who are all gathered here in New York. But I will say as well, it's not, you know -- the president's advisors recognize that this war isn't popular in the United States.

And so I think the president also, with this speech, is going to try and really justify some of this.

[08:05:00]

Now, again, what I think is going to be even more interesting is what we're going to see come later, not even his address, but in these meetings that he has later in the day, particularly that one that you mentioned, Kate, with Gulf leaders. Particularly the Saudis, who we know who have been, of course, in nonstop conversations with the administration. And, of course, there's a complicating factor right now as well with these Houthi rebels in Yemen, the attacks that we are seeing only further escalating the crisis that is happening in the Middle East, particularly for these Middle Eastern leaders who are very worried about what it means for retaliation for their countries.

The president in the past has listened to them. He's held off on attacks when the Saudis have called him before. He's also really been influenced by those conversations. So I think that will be a fascinating meeting.

One thing I will bring up, though, is because there is no pool, we were supposed to, I was actually supposed to be the one in the pool in some of these meetings with the president if he opened them. We won't actually see some of these questions being asked. So we have a lot of reporting to do throughout the day.

BOLDUAN: Yep, a lot to learn. It's great to see you. Thank you so much for being here.

TREENE: Great to be here.

BOLDUAN: John,

BERMAN: All right. Let's get over to the United Nations. CNN anchor and chief national security analyst Jim Sciutto is there.

And Jim, we've been talking about how the president has record low approval on foreign policy among the American people. But what about the people he will be addressing inside the United Nations General Assembly? How do world leaders view him and how has it changed?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: You know, John, the president will say that the world now respects America again. You've heard him say that many times. I've spoken to him about this and whether he believes it or not, he certainly says that.

The fact is, when you speak to world leaders and foreign ministers and defense ministers of America's allies, America's closest friends, they may not say this publicly because they don't want to get into a public spat with the U.S. president and all the consequences that that might involve. Privately, they have a very different view. And you can see that that in fact, they're not exceeding.

They have not been exceeding to the president's demands on many of his core issues. For instance, they did not go to war by and large with the U.S. against Iran. They said no definitively to President Trump's demands to take Greenland.

And now you have this agreement to be announced today, which seems to be some sort of compromise, but also on trade deals as well. You see a country like Canada saying, OK, if these are going to be the trade rules now, we're going to look to build our ties with Europe as opposed to the U.S. So in effect, the proof is in the pudding that many of America's closest allies are saying no to the president.

And one thing I'll add, John, because I spent the last year asking a whole host of officials and leaders from America's allies, do they trust the U.S.? Do they trust the U.S. to come to their defense in the event of an attack, a risk to national security? And that's where you see real erosion. Again, they may not say this publicly, but privately, the fact is that they often don't.

BERMAN: A lot of that trust obviously has been built and, in some cases, squandered by the U.S. relationship with Ukraine and Russia. How are the Europeans feeling about the threat from Russia at this moment, Jim?

SCIUTTO: Yes. Listen, they are extremely concerned because Russia is effectively bringing the war to Europe somewhat quietly, right? They haven't declared war.

They haven't rolled tanks across the border of a NATO ally. But listen, they're blowing up railroad tracks. There are a whole host of cases of sabotage.

They're flying drones into Ukrainian territory that are exploding on the ground and sometimes causing injuries. They're doing things like threatening to cut undersea cables. I mean, this is a big deal because you cut those cables, you know, there's no internet, right?

There's no communication among the financial markets. It's a hybrid war, but it's still a war. And I spoke -- and this is interesting -- I spoke to Norway's foreign minister yesterday about this, and he spoke about the difficulty Europe is having responding to it.

Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ESPEN BARTH EIDE, NORWEGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: If there's a physical, classical war against us, we will stand together and we will fight and we are very well prepared for that. The problem is the degree to which we are prepared for the sub-Article 5, meaning the more hybrid or type of threat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: And that's what they're experiencing right now. And a final thought, John, on that hybrid war, right? This is sort of semi-world, not quite cold war, maybe warm war against Europe by Russia.

Again, they notice that President Trump has said barely a word about it, right? He has not said, hey, Russia, stop these attacks. Don't blow up these railroad lines.

Stop flying those drones. And that matters to them because they believe that Putin listens to Trump. And if he's not saying anything, it kind of feels like a free pass to them.

BERMAN: They're kind of in the middle of the tepid war, as it might be, the silence. Jim Sciutto at the United Nations today. Great to have you there.

Thank you -- Kate.

[08:10:00]

BOLDUAN: We're getting new details about the DoorDash driver that was shot by ICE. His lawyer now saying that he was taken to an ICE detention center with, quote, a bullet in his back, the very latest on this still ahead.

And former Vice President Kamala Harris hitting the campaign trail ahead of midterms, where she's headed, who she's campaigning with, what it all means.

And a traffic jam led to a roadside delivery, a mom forced to give birth in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. How they're doing today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:15:00]

BOLDUAN: So this morning, the Venezuelan man who was shot by ICE in Austin, Texas, is back in the hospital after he reported not being able to feel the left side of his body. A lawyer for the 28 year old, who was a DoorDash driver, says that he was at a detention center with a bullet still lodged in his back. Video taken moments after the gunfire shows him handcuffed as law enforcement is kind of cutting through his shirt and it reveals a bullet wound on his back.

A lot of questions of what DHS is and isn't saying still about this whole thing. CNN's Ed Lavandera is following this. He's live in Austin once again.

What is the latest you're hearing, Ed?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, the principal concern for the family of 28-year-old Wilber Garces Perez is his well being this coming after we were learning yesterday afternoon, that the 28-year-old Venezuelan immigrant was sent away from the from the hospital here in Austin and turned over to ICE agents just hours of -- just a few hours after he had been admitted with the gunshot wound on Sunday afternoon. And in an extraordinary moment during this press conference yesterday, where Wilber Garces Perez actually called his wife, they actually put the him on speaker phone and he took questions from reporters. He was asked what the doctors told him about being dispatched from the hospital.

And Wilbur Garces Perez said that he asked if they were going to remove the bullet and that he says that he was told by a doctor that the bullet was too close to his spine and that the ICE agents there at the hospital were very eager and anxious to get him out of there as quickly as possible. And then shortly after that, he was turned over to ICE agents and taken to a detention facility in South Texas. And that's where his lawyer spoke with him.

And this is what she told us last night about his deteriorating condition.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATE LINCOLN-GOLDFINCH, LAWYER FOR WILBER RAFAEL GARCES PEREZ: He has lost movement on the entire left side of his body, which means that he is facing paralysis. So we have to consider this is a man who was shot in the back four hours later, was moved, was transferred, as you said, 100 miles away and is now facing transfer again to a hospital because he is being paralyzed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: So we're still awaiting word from the Department of Homeland Security offering more details as to why this shooting was happened, why they believe it might be justified in this case. They say that they're investigating. There are also local agencies that want to investigate this case.

But as we have seen in previous similar incidents, it becomes very difficult for local agencies like the district attorney's office or the local police departments to investigate these types of shootings, because very oftentimes it is the federal government, these federal law enforcement agencies that have all of the key evidence in these cases. So that's the latest from here as we wait to get more information and more word on Wilber Garces Perez's condition. His lawyer says that she is on his way to see him at the hospital, which is not being disclosed publicly where that is, but hopefully to get more information on his conditions here in the coming hours.

BOLDUAN: Yes, absolutely. Ed, thank you so much for your reporting on this. My goodness, really appreciate it.

All right, so there is also news coming in on the investigation into the death of Nolan Wells, the teenager who was found dead days after a boating trip with friends over the July 4th weekend. Why a grand jury now says there will be no charges, no criminal charges filed.

Plus, a Republican senator is now asking to subpoena Donald Trump Jr, the president's son, over the reporting that a Russian oligarch helped fund parts of his wedding.

[08:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, new this morning. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani sits down one-on-one with CNN just hours after he met with President Trump. Mamdani met with CNN's -- or spoke with, I should say -- CNN's Christiane Amanpour.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino, who's covered Mamdani since well before he was even mayor, is with us now. Look, the evolution of his relationship with Trump is so interesting, and this meeting yesterday was so interesting. So what do we learn from it, and what after?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think the ongoing question with these meetings is, one, are they going to keep happening? And from the beginning, we've been wondering, why is the mayor going to do this? Why will he continue to do this?

And why is it making political sense for him, considering how politically opposed Trump and Mamdani are, right? But when you talk to the mayor about that, he sees it as nothing but a win. And yet again yesterday, we saw another meeting that was surprisingly friendly.

We even got an impromptu press conference between the two of them sharing a podium at the end. We were not expecting that, but I think it gives you a sense of how Trump feels around the Mayor. You know, Trump is unlikely to resist the allure of the cameras.

So we saw them both taking questions yesterday, which, you know, was a bit of a surprise. But for the Mayor and for his people, they see these moments as opportunities. And I want you to listen to what Mayor Mamdani told our Christiane Amanpour last night about why this makes sense for him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: It looks like the president is on his best behavior when he's around you. He is dignified, polite, speaks gently and of substance. It seems like he quite likes you.

[08:25:00] It's quite a rare thing for a leader to have that kind of encounter with this president. So I just want to know whether you have a trick, whether you have a sort of a way of dealing with him. What do you talk about of substance behind closed doors?

MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI, (D) NEW YORK: Well, I think of the many differences of opinion the president and I have, we have one thing that brings us together, which is the love of New York City. And we are both New Yorkers. And what I focus on in those conversations with the president is how we can make life better for the people who call the city their home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: Now, John, he has said a version of this in the past, right? And I want to point out that yesterday, you know, what we are all really focused on is what does Zohran Mamdani get out of this meeting? And what we saw in the immediate aftermath when the president was speaking alongside the Mayor, he gets him to engage on things like affordable housing here in New York City, which may sound like small potatoes, but there's a housing crisis happening here and across much of the country.

And here you have President Trump talking about affordable housing, affordability, two things that when he's not standing next to Mamdani, he tries to dismiss, right, affordability. We've heard him dismiss it in the past, certainly an issue that Democrats are running on in the midterm elections. So it is very interesting to see even that sort of soft endorsement from the President about what New York City needs and hearing him say he wants to help New York.

BERMAN: Yes, look, I mean, he's talking about things that Republicans wish he would talk about more and it's Mamdani who's getting him to do it. I can see what Mamdani gets out of it. You hear from a lot of Republicans, though.

They're not quite so sure it helps the Republican brand heading into a midterm election where they're going after what they call socialism. Gloria Pazmino, fascinating to see. Thank you very much.

So diesel prices so high, some Republicans in key swing states are calling for a ban on selling it overseas, but some analysts warn that that could backfire.

And AI chatbots are now looking for work. Why? They need money to keep themselves alive.

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