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CNN Poll Shows Trump Approval on Foreign Affairs Drops to 29 Percent, a New Low; Grand Jury Says, No Criminal Charges in Nolan Wells' Death; Lawyer Says, Man Shot by ICE Moved to Detention With Bullet in His Back. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired September 22, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Breaking just moments ago, new polling shows approval of the president on foreign policy has never been lower just as he is set to address the United Nations.

Breaking overnight, no charges in the death of Nolan Wells, the Mississippi teenager who died on a boating trip with friends. A grand jury says it finds no evidence of criminal conduct.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And we have dash cam capturing a moment that a car crosses a median and slams into a giant truck hauling gravel. How the drivers are doing now after this chaotic collision.

Sara is out this morning. I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman. This is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: Breaking news this morning, Americans have never thought the president was doing worse on foreign policy than they do this morning A brand new CNN poll finds that just 29 percent of Americans approve of how the president is handling foreign affairs. That's a new low across both of his terms, with a good deal of the recent slippage coming among Republicans.

On Iran, nearly two-thirds of Americans believe that the U.S. is not winning the war. That is a bleak political reality for him as he prepares to address the United Nations this morning, and meet with the leaders of Gulf nations to talk about next steps later.

With us now, CNN's Alayna Treene. One of the best parts about the United Nations, we get to see you here in person.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: In the flesh.

BERMAN: It's a big day for the president, but he's facing some serious, serious headwinds in terms of what the American people think.

No, absolutely. I actually wrote down these poll numbers because I think to see this on a day when he's about to address the U.N. General Assembly. Only 36 percent of Americans say that the U.S. is winning the war. That's compared to 64 percent who say were not, John. And then the other which you mentioned, is how is -- the question was how is Trump handling foreign affairs? Only 29 percent said they approve of that compared to 71 percent who disapprove. These are just abysmal poll numbers when it comes to foreign policy, and that's what we're going to really hear the president focus on, I'm told, in this address.

We heard from the U.N. Ambassador, Mike Waltz. He told other reporters and that this is going to be a big focus of the president's speech today, this idea that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. And I know, John, from my conversations with different people at the White House, that he wants to talk about trying to paint himself really as this -- a person who's bringing peace to the globe. But I think these poll numbers are showing a lot of people don't really agree with that assessment.

But I think even beyond what the president says this morning in his address, what I'm actually looking forward to more is what happens in those bilateral meetings later today, particularly that one you mentioned with the Gulf nations. It's going to be members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, you know, people from Saudi Arabia Bahrain, many of the people we know that the president has had in his ear, of course, throughout the war, but especially in recent days when we've seen these attacks from the Houthi rebels in Yemen, adding another complicating factor to this war.

One thing we know from our reporting is that the Saudis have been asking the president to help and get involved here. So I think that is going to be a very important part of this meeting, is to see what he says to them. And we know he's been influenced by them in the past on whether to move forward with attacks, to hold back on attacks, because these Gulf nations were afraid of retaliation. So, that's something to pay attention to.

The other thing that's going to be so interesting just talking about Iran right now, because, of course, it's hanging over this entire U.N. General Assembly, is the Iranians are actually going to be here.

BERMAN: Yes.

TREENE: They have a slimmed down delegation, and there's a question of could the president actually meet with them on the sidelines of this. Waltz last night actually told Kaitlan Collins, the president's open to it. And from my conversations, he would be open to like Waltz said, a potential pull aside with the Iranians. I think the question is whether or not they're open to it as well.

BERMAN: The president has done that kind of Hail Mary diplomacy before. We'll see if he thinks he needs to try something like that this time around.

Alayna Treene, great to see you here in person. Thanks so much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Let's talk more about this. White House correspondent for USA Today, Francesca Chambers, is also here with us. It's really good to see you in person. FRANCESCA CHAMBERS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, USA TODAY: No, it's so great to be here.

BOLDUAN: Yes, if you guys knew how long the two of us have known each other.

Let's talk about expectations today. What are you hearing in your reporting about expectations around the president's speech today?

CHAMBERS: Yes. If you've looked at everything that the president has said in the lead up to the United Nations, you could expect him to touch on some more of those grievances that we've been hearing from him.

[07:05:06]

Last year, if you remember, he was very focused on the escalator stopping, the teleprompter also not having his speech in it. Asked in the Oval Office what we could expect from him this year in his United Nations message, he brought up both of those issues again.

Last year, we also heard him very upset at Europe, talking about the number of migrants that are coming in, how it was overrun by windmills. I would expect that you'll hear some of that frustration with U.S. allies again. This year, probably more focused on the Iran war. As you recall, he's been very upset with allies for not helping, as he has said, enough with the Iran war.

BOLDUAN: Let's dig a little bit more into these polling numbers in two aspects. One, just on, as Alayna and John were talking about, the lack of support that he has a -- lack of approval that the American people have for the war. Much of the decline in the approval numbers that we're seeing in this data is among Republicans and how Republicans view his handling of it.

In March, 73 percent of Republicans approved of the way that Trump was handling the Iran war, and that's now down to 60 percent. It really -- the numbers show the reality that you've been hearing across the board in your reporting in the months of this war. It's just they don't view it as it's getting better. It's going to be ending soon. That's not what the American people see here.

CHAMBERS: Yes. As the polling showed this morning, Kate, Republicans are the ones who are seeing the biggest drop, because independents and Democrats already had negative views of the war, right? So, that drop is going to come from Republicans at this point. The polling also showed that was mainly from non-MAGA Republicans. So, the base is still with him largely on these foreign policy issues.

And as far as the White House is concerned, it's the base that they need to turn out in these midterm elections. So, there's -- you know, there's some good news in this poll for him as well as there's bad news in this polling that you see for President Trump this morning.

BOLDUAN: There's another aspect of this poll, is the view of Americans have on about U.S. allies, or traditional U.S. allies. And you were noting one of them, when you look at the views that Americans have of Canada now. Back in, I think you said March 25 polling, 51 percent of Americans polled then viewed Canada as a U.S. ally. That is now down to 38 percent. What do you see that?

CHAMBERS: So, he's been attacking Canada. He's been getting in these tit-for-tats with Mark Carney, the prime minister of Canada. And you can see there in that polling that you have seen a drop from Americans who see Canada as an ally. And so as the trade war between the two nations continues, it does seem that perhaps some of the president's messaging about Canada is having an effect on the American people.

Another one I thought was very interesting was Ukraine. The number of Americans who view Ukraine as an ally has also seen a slight tick down, but it was still at 70 percent. This matters as President Trump today meets with President Zelenskyy at the United Nations to talk about issues such as ending the war -- Russia's war against Ukraine, but as well as maybe giving Ukraine licenses to build some of those Patriot interceptors to help them defend their skies heading into the winter.

BOLDUAN: Yes, absolutely. It's great to see you, Francesca. Thank you so much for being here. John?

BERMAN: All right. Breaking overnight, no one will be charged in the death of Nolan Wells, the teenager who went missing at a 4th of July boating trip with friends.

Overnight, diesel prices set a new record. Some Republicans calling for major action. Experts warn if they try it, both coasts are screwed.

And then a six-year-old breaks the Rubik's Cube world record twice.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:10:00]

BOLDUAN: We've learned overnight that a Mississippi grand jury will not pursue charges in the death of Nolan Wells. Wells is the 18-year- old who was found dead after a trip with friends to a barrier island. This happened over July 4th.

The grand jury now saying that it did not find criminal or racially motivated wrongdoing, and that, quote, the position of, the condition of, time of discovery, and location of Mr. Wells' body is consistent with drowning.

This follows months, though, of speculation surrounding his death, big questions being raised, his family demanding answers, and they are now reacting this morning as well.

CNN's Omar Jimenez is following the very latest here. What are you hearing?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: So, look, this was a grand jury that unanimously found that there was no evidence to bring charges in the death of Nolan Wells. As you mentioned, he was found dead after a 4th of July trip with friends off the coast of Mississippi. His friends came back, and he didn't.

Now, since then, the case has gotten a lot of attention for a lot of different reasons. But let's talk about the grand jury report. You laid out some of it, which said, found no criminal or racially motivated wrongdoing after conducting an investigation involving witness testimony, physical and digital evidence, as well as GPS and cell phone data as well. And as you laid out, the position of, the condition of, time of discovery, and location of Mr. Wells' body is consistent with drowning.

Now, this report, this grand jury report was released by the Jackson County District Attorney's Office. I want you to actually listen to that district attorney who released a video statement alongside the grand jury report.

[07:15:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGEL MYERS MCILRATH, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, JACKSON COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI: The narrative that three white boys and a black boy went to an island and only three white friends returned spread like wildfire. This was false.

There is absolutely no evidence to support the allegations that Nolan's disappearance and death were racially motivated.

The family, the Crump team, and anyone close to Nolan knew that his disappearance and death were not the result of racial hate or violence. Yet the flames of that narrative set against the backdrop of Mississippi's terrible history were fanned by both people who knew the truth and those who didn't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: So, some pretty direct words there from the district attorney.

Now, Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump has been representing the Nolan Wells family, and he says the grand jury result leaves them with more questions than answers, citing specifically bruises on Wells' head and body that he said had not yet been explained. This was part of his statement saying, the State of Mississippi is attempting to close the chapter on Nolan Wells' death without getting to the truth. This grand jury result leaves us with more questions than answers. Nolan's family will not rest until we know what happened to him, and neither will we.

You talk about the bruising on his head and body that Crump had said had not yet been explained. Some of that was actually mentioned in the grand jury report, including that the cause was uncertain, but the report also said it wasn't a fatal injury. A county coroner's report said that when his body was found, there was no immediate sign of foul play, but Crump and the Wells family are pushing for the full state autopsy results to come out as well. And then, meanwhile, the attorneys representing the friends in this, as you might imagine, praising this grand jury result, saying -- with one of them even saying that they were always completely innocent. And then moving forward, the grand jury did acknowledge if new evidence comes into play that suggests Wells' death was non-accidental, it would be presented and considered, but that's not the result that we have here with this report.

BOLDUAN: That is not the result today. Thank you so much, Omar. I really appreciate it.

JIMENEZ: Of course.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, taken to a detention center with a bullet in his back. A lawyer for the DoorDash driver shot by ICE agents says that he may now be facing paralysis, that he's lost movement on his left side, and also still no word of what actually led to that shooting.

And a head-on crash in California, a car crossing the center line and crashing into a gravel truck. What happened here and how is the driver doing this morning.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BERMAN: We have new details this morning on the DoorDash driver who was shot by ICE in Austin, Texas. A lawyer for Wilber Rafael Garces Perez tells CNN he was moved out of the hospital with a bullet still lodged in his back and with no pain medication.

Let's go right to CNN's Ed Lavandera, who is live in Austin this morning with some new details, because we are hearing with some people associated with the victim

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Well, we know that Wilber Garces Perez has been moved from that South Texas immigration detention facility to a, another, another hospital. We don't know exactly where he is which hospital he is at this point. That information is not being shared publicly. But his lawyer says that she is on his way this morning to see him.

But there's mounting concern over his physical condition, and this started emerging yesterday afternoon after the family and his legal help was able to track down exactly where he was and have conversations with him. That's how they learned that the bullet was still lodged in his in his back according to the family and the attorney.

They also said that during this extraordinary press conference yesterday afternoon Wilber was put on the phone and took questions from journalists there at the scene. He was asked about what the doctors had told him about removing that bullet. They said that -- Wilber said that the -- one of the doctors said that the bullet was too close to his spine and that the ICE agents that were there at the hospital were very anxious to get him taken out of the hospital as quickly as possible, and that's why it wasn't removed.

CNN spoke with Wilber Garces Perez's lawyer last night. This is what she told us.

(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: Now, it's been almost two days since this shooting took place here on the streets of Austin Sunday afternoon. There's still not been any more clarity as for exactly what led up to the shooting from the Department of Homeland Security. They have simply just put out a statement saying that this man had a removal order, a deportation order.

His attorneys say that deportation order happened because his court paperwork, immigration paperwork, had been sent to an incorrect address, and because of that, Wilber Garces Perez missed a crucial court date, and that's when the deportation order was filed against him. But he also did say that he was in the process of trying to pull over with ICE agents when he was rammed by the ICE officer here on the streets of Austin, and then that's what led to the shooting.

But, again, really, John, at this point, there's just very little clarity on why this unfolded and whether or not this shooting was justified.

[07:25:02]

John?

BERMAN: Yes, questions about what led up to it, now questions about his condition, even his whereabouts.

Ed Lavandera for us in Austin this morning, thank you so much.

All right, campaign intrigue. Former Vice President Kamala Harris hits the trail, yes, for a Senate candidate but is it also for herself?

And a former American Idol contestant accused of killing his wife breaks down during his trial. What we are expecting in court today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:00]

BOLDUAN: In a few hours, former vice president and potential presidential candidate Kamala Harris hits.