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Trump's Poll Numbers; Gen. David Petraeus is Interviewed about Iran. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired April 16, 2026 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:30:48]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: There's a new poll from Quinnipiac that shows the president's approval rating at 38 percent, which is low. And there have been other polls that show the same number, maybe even a little lower. But there have been other polls that show his underlying numbers are even worse. He's hemorrhaging support among independents, hemorrhaging support on some key issues like taxes and immigration and other things.

So, one question that I've asked our chief data analyst Harry Enten is, as bad as this number is, what's keeping it fairly stable at this number? Why hasn't it dropped even more?

Harry.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: I'll answer your question, Mr. Berman. And that is because President Trump is more than holding his own amongst a very large portion of the electorate, a very reliable voting bloc, and that is senior citizens.

Take a look here. OK, Trump's approval rating age 65 plus. In March of 2025, 46 percent. Look at where it is now. It's basically the same. Seniors have not moved. He's at 44 percent now. And the key nugget here is, for all this talk about young people in the electorate, such as myself, or at least I like to include myself in that bloc, it turns out that older voters, senior citizens, vote in far larger numbers.

So, Republicans look at this number and they say, hey, you know what? We can actually potentially do some real damage, or at least hold our own in the midterms, because President Trump is holding his own with this very important voting bloc.

BERMAN: So, how does that number, 44 percent, compare historically to other presidents?

ENTEN: OK, this is where it gets even more interesting. It turns out if you look at all the 21st century second term presidents, and you look at senior citizens, Trump actually has the best approval rating at this point in a second term of all of them. Donald Trump at 44 percent. Obama was under 40 percent at 39 percent. George W. Bush was way down there at 34 percent. So, Donald Trump is beating other presidents this century at this point in their second term, beating all of them. And therefore, as I said, holding his own amongst a very key voting bloc. The president of the United States and the White House should like this number, especially compared to Obama, who Trump, of course, always likes to be compared to.

BERMAN: And this was George W. Bush after he started talking about reforming Social Security.

ENTEN: That's a bad idea.

BERMAN: Among seniors it certainly is, the so-called third rail of politics.

All right, talk to me how his number may have moved a little bit, President Trump's, and what that might mean.

ENTEN: OK. So, you know, we spoke about the midterm election. So, you know, oftentimes I ask myself, OK, you know, the president isn't obviously up for election this November, but Republicans in the House are. And so I think just making this comparison, right, you know, we've seen a lot of folks saying, oh, Republicans doom when it comes to midterm elections.

But just take a look at this, choice for election among age 65 plus. Back in November of 2024, Trump won that group by one point. We've seen some movement, but really not that much movement. Democrats ahead by three in the race for Congress. And as John and I were talking about, this could cost Republicans the House. But a number like this suggests to me that Republicans very, very well and are likely to hold the Senate. This is what we've seen in the polling data when we look nationally. We see that the movement, simply put, isn't there. And when you get the most reliable voting bloc, basically Republicans holding their own with maybe some slight movement to Democrats, these are the types of numbers that I think Republicans have to be pleased with.

BERMAN: I will say, though, even this slight movement, probably enough at this stage, to think --

ENTEN: For the House, but not for the Senate.

BERMAN: All right, we're talking about the Senate here. There is a Senate race in a state that I'm told has a fair number of seniors. That's Florida. Republican Ashley Moody up for re-election there. What are the prediction markets saying about her chances?

ENTEN: Yes, I think there are a lot of people in New York City who may have some older relatives who live down on the Gulf Coast in southeast Florida. You think of the villages as well.

And take a look here, chance that the Republicans wins -- the Republicans hold on in the 2026 Florida Senate race. Look at this, an 83 percent chance. So, the bottom line is this. Florida, a state with a lot of seniors, looks like Republicans are holding their own there. Not a big surprise as we've seen nationally Republicans holding their own with seniors. Donald Trump holding his own with seniors. And that's a key reason why the bottom hasn't fallen out and Republicans have a fighting chance heading into this midterm election.

BERMAN: Harold Enten, thank you very much. I appreciate it.

ENTEN: Thank you.

BERMAN: We've got a lot of news this morning. We'll be right back.

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[09:39:29]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Choose wisely. That is the message this morning from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to Iran's leaders. He held his first briefing since the U.S. blockade on Iran's ports set in just about an hour ago.

And the chairman -- during that, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs reported that the blockade that has been in place has been successful, according to General Caine. And Hegseth suggests that it also won't end until there's a deal to end the war.

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PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: The world watched, and so did you, as the U.S. military moved seamlessly from major combat operations to a world class blockade.

[09:40:05]

We can make that transition again very quickly and even more powerfully than ever.

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BOLDUAN: Joining me now is retired General David Petraeus, the former commander of U.S. Central Command and former CIA director, of course.

General, you have raised the possibility that Iran could emerge from this all, this war, militarily weakened but potentially strategically strengthened, especially when we talk about the Strait of Hormuz. If Iran has proven that it can paralyze global shipping and thus gain leverage, has Iran effectively already won a strategic victory?

GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS (RET.), FORMER CIA DIRECTOR AND FORMER COMMANDER OF U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: No. I think that's why the blockade is so important. You could argue, in fact, that we should have done this even earlier. From the very beginning we might have said this is all or nothing. Everyone travels through freely or no one does, including your own vessels bearing oil and others of countries that you favor.

So, I think this is a very wise choice. It sounds as if it's being executed flawlessly. And it is very much putting pressure on Iran. They can ride this out for a while. They have reserves. They have over 100 million barrels of oil stashed out in the Asia region. But at the end of the day, this is going to show that they cannot use that lever. In fact, I said that they would be strategically strengthened if they could hang on to this particular source of leverage. And that can't be permitted. And I'm glad to see the blockade establish that.

Now, we're not done yet. There's a lot of tough work to be done on the seas. But you might even see, after they clear the area that Iran says they have mined, the possibility of actually convoys coming through, but not from Iran or countries favored by Iran, those coming out of ports on the western side of the gulf. And that would be a real breakthrough. It's very challenging. Lots of difficulties with that. But that is a possibility. And I'm sure that Admiral Cooper, only the second Navy officer to command Central Command, and a perfect time for a surface warfare officer to do it.

BOLDUAN: Yes, I'd say so.

You talk about the tough work that is needed ahead. There's all -- and with that we have seen a lot of tough talk coming from the Pentagon again today and from the president about the war effort. The president -- there's been a lot talked about in terms of the president insulting the pope and other Catholic -- and Catholic leaders in their opposition to the war. The defense secretary, again today, talked about the war in deeply religious terms, framing it as almost divinely supportive. So much so we saw on conservative media saying that it appeared that Pete Hegseth was trying to compare Donald Trump and the U.S. military to Jesus performing miracles.

You have commanded hundreds of thousands of troops in -- over the course of multiple wars. Should the defense secretary talk about war in this way, in your view? Does it help the troops?

PETRAEUS: Well, in fact, when I was commander of U.S. Central Command, we had 250,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and coast guardsmen at that time. And we tried to avoid that kind of thing, frankly. Again, I think -- I always listen to the chairman and also Admiral Cooper in this particular theater, to others elsewhere. They're sticking strictly to what it is that our young men and women in uniform are doing. Why we should be very proud of them indeed. And that kind of focus. And I think that's appropriate. Again, I'm a little bit uncomfortable with some of this, but I'll leave that for the theologian pundits.

BOLDUAN: Which there seem to be quite a few of.

PETRAEUS: There are.

BOLDUAN: General, the vice president said this week that President Trump doesn't want to make a small deal with Iran. He wants to make the grand bargain, is how he's talked about it. In your view, what does success look like now?

PETRAEUS: Well, you'd have to start by getting the Strait of Hormuz back to where it was before this all started, open to all. No tolls. No tariffs. Maybe you have some kind of body that oversees this and so forth. And the U.S. might be part of that because we're the country with the biggest force that could maintain the security of it.

But then, beyond that, I think it really comes down to the nuclear program. And the president has been very clear that he would not allow a deal that puts even a sunset clause of 20 years on enrichment. He does not want to allow them to have any enrichment, nor the tools to do it. And he also wants to get that stockpile of 440 kilograms of 60 percent enriched uranium out somehow. And we'll see what the mechanisms are for that. But if he could get those elements into a deal, it would be very, very substantial. And then Iran would emerge, not just militarily weakened, but strategically weakened as well, which is what we should obviously want to see.

[09:45:07]

BOLDUAN: General David Petraeus, thank you so much for coming in.

John.

BERMAN: All right, the hippos that are breeding beyond control. Why they are called "cocaine hippos," and why now they could face the death penalty.

And a new edition of the toughest assignment around. I have lunch with Eva Longoria and talk about "Searching for France." A look at this food. I mean, just tell me it's not delicious.

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[09:50:14]

BERMAN: This morning, a sneak peek at the next editions of the CNN original series "Eva Longoria: Searching for France." This week she traveled to Provence and Bordeaux. It sounds delicious, even to say. Even more delicious to eat and drink. I traveled with her to lunch.

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BERMAN: So, we're in Provence drinking rose.

EVA LONGORIA, HOST, "SEARCHING FOR FRANCE": Oh, yes, Provence, the capital of rose.

BERMAN: Provence is so beautiful and romantic and the lavender is --

LONGORIA: Yes. And it's so different than the rest of France. In Provence, they say their arms are open to the rest of the world. And, of course, rose comes from there, but so does the nicoise salad.

BERMAN: So, tell me about this.

LONGORIA: They're very particular about the ingredients in France and often say we don't do it right. They don't allow potatoes in the nicoise salad. It usually has the seasonal vegetables. So green beans, tomatoes.

BERMAN: I'm just going to eat every piece of food you say. I love it.

LONGORIA: OK. Great.

We were in Marseille with some really young chefs who are pushing against this old French system, the following, the five mother sauces from Escoffier, and they're really redefining what French cooking is in the south. So many of these chefs don't use an ingredient more than one kilometer away.

BERMAN: Like, one of my most romantic trips with my wife ever was to Provence. But I remember we went to Aix-en-Provence, which I love saying.

LONGORIA: Yes.

BERMAN: Paul Cezanne's from there.

LONGORIA: The famous painter.

So, we move on to Bordeaux.

BERMAN: Bordeaux.

LONGORIA: So, this is from Saint-Emilion. It's a Bordeaux wine. We obviously had to go to these heavy winery towns.

BERMAN: Had to.

LONGORIA: We had to. But there's so much cuisine. This is a beef bordelaise. So, it's beef with a red sauce that's made with Bordeaux.

BERMAN: And we're drinking a red here. But you actually -- you did something scandalous there, which is you had -- you had a white.

LONGORIA: I had a white wine in Bordeaux with cheese. And then we had red wine with fish. Quite scandalous.

BERMAN: I know. Different kind of scandal than we're used to.

LONGORIA: This beef is very famous. It's a -- this cow is called the Bazadaise.

BERMAN: You are a confirmed -- like a registered beef lover.

LONGORIA: Beef lover. Yes. Yes. In Spain we did the Galician Blondes. In Mexico they have the amazing beef in the north. So, I'm a beef lover.

BERMAN: How does -- excuse me while I ask a question through my beef. How did this compare, the Bordeaux, to the beef in Spain?

LONGORIA: It's literally spoiled cow versus spoiled cow.

BERMAN: It's pretty delicious.

LONGORIA: Also in Bordeaux was this restaurant called Le Prince Noir, the dark prince. And the chef at this restaurant is really breaking a lot of the traditional rules. He said, you can't break the rules of French cooking without having followed them.

BERMAN: You have to know the boundaries to push up against them. LONGORIA: Yes.

BERMAN: That's how I roll.

LONGORIA: He made me toast with butter and caviar. And he's like, this is my child's afternoon snack. I said, mine was peanut butter and jelly. That's a lucky kid.

BERMAN: I can drink to that.

LONGORIA: Yes.

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BERMAN: I drank to everything.

BOLDUAN: I was going to say, was there a point when you said, I can't drink to that?

BERMAN: You can see in all of the promos we do, as we see more and more of them, I'm a little bit more and more disheveled each time because we're on like the seventh or eighth. So, my hair is like out to here. Collar like --

BOLDUAN: Well, because it is a choice. It's like, do I continue chewing or do I ask my question?

BERMAN: Yes. Yes.

BOLDUAN: Which then just leads to more drinking.

BERMAN: And I just have a sip of wine.

All right, be sure to catch the latest episodes of the CNN original series "Eva Longoria: Searching for France," airs this Sunday at 9 p.m. on CNN and next day on the CNN app.

BOLDUAN: I love how -- don't you love his smile when he gets to talk about Eva Longoria in these segments?

BERMAN: Yes. It's just a ridiculous assignment.

BOLDUAN: I know. I am jelly.

BERMAN: Yes. Yes, I'll take it.

BOLDUAN: You're so cute.

OK, let's turn to this.

Allbirds, the shoe brand once known for its sustainable sneakers, even President Obama was known to have a pair or two, is now making an unexpected and serious shift. The company announced it's making a huge pivot to now completely abandon footwear. Instead, jumping into A.I. Their stock, which has been struggling to say the least, skyrocketed more than 600 percent Wednesday after they made the announcement. The new name for Allbirds is NewBird AI, and the company will essentially buy and rent out computing power to tech startups.

BERMAN: Yes, I'm shifting, by the way, to heart surgery. That's what I'm going to start doing tomorrow. That's -- like that was the shift.

BOLDUAN: It's slightly different. I mean, look, good on them if it works. OK.

BERMAN: All right. All right, sorry, I interrupt. Go ahead.

BOLDUAN: Exactly. Back to this.

The Trump administration has reportedly reached out to America's top automakers, asking them to play a larger role in the production of weapons and military supplies. "The Wall Street Journal" reports senior defense officials have met with top executives at companies like GM and Ford, and the Pentagon is interested in using their factories to ramp up production of military equipment and munitions that are being used in Ukraine and Iran. The talks are said to be preliminary and wide-ranging. During World War II it was common for automakers to produce items for the war effort.

[09:55:05]

Colombian officials have officially approved a plan to remove about 80 wild hippos that are roaming the country's central regions. The animals trace back to notorious cocaine lord, Pablo Escobar, who brought four of them to his private zoo in the 1980s. Because, of course, you do. Since then, officials say the hippo population in the region has exploded and is threatening villagers and native wildlife. The country's environment minister said the plan involves culling, sterilizing and relocation. Despite the challenges, the hippos have actually become a tourist attraction. Part of Escobar's estate now functions as a theme park, prominently featuring, yes, of course, hippos.

BERMAN: Yes, the locals don't like the hippos. Super dangerous. But, you know what, they didn't do anything wrong.

BOLDUAN: No.

BERMAN: So, sad for them.

BOLDUAN: Sorry for the hippos.

BERMAN: Yes.

BOLDUAN: I mean anytime you get to say "cocaine" and "hippos," everyone's like, I'm here for it.

BERMAN: "Cocaine Bear," by the way, good movie.

BOLDUAN: Was -- you know. Yes.

BERMAN: Good movie. Good movie.

All right, thank you all for joining us. This has been CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "THE SITUATION ROOM," up next.

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