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Polls on Kamala Harris; President Trump to Address the U.N. Today; Trump Addresses Reporters at U.N. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired September 22, 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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[09:32:07]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: In a few hours, former Vice President Kamala Harris is going to be joining Democratic Senate Candidate Abdul El- Sayed in Michigan. The joint appearance is fueling speculation that she may run for president again in 2028, which, of course, raises questions, do Democrats want her at the top of the ticket? Here's what one Democratic congressman told John just this morning.

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REP. JAMES WALKINSHAW (D-VA): Anyone who wants to run should run. The vice president is an historic figure, would be a very strong candidate, probably the strongest at the starting gate. Personally, I'm going to be looking for someone who can kind of turn the page on the past and lead us forward. So, I'll probably be looking for a different candidate. But if she wants to run, she absolutely should run.

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BOLDUAN: Harry Enten is here with more on that.

Hey, Harry.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Hello, Kate.

BOLDUAN: So, where is polling for Kamala Harris right now?

ENTEN: Yes, I think that congressman speaks to a lot of what the Democratic base is feeling right now. They don't know what the heck they want. This field is historically messy. It's messier than an airport the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

I mean, just look at these numbers right here. Top choices to be the 2028 Democratic nominee. Yes, Kamala Harris is at 17 percent. But Pete Buttigieg at 16 percent. AOC, there was a "New York Times" thing going on there, 14 percent. How about Gavin Newsom, 14 percent. There are three folks within 17 percent. This -- four folks within 17 percent. I mean it's just completely messy. The clear thing to take away here is, there is no clear leader in this group. This is a field that is messier than any Democratic field in at least 20 years. I would argue, the messiest, least clear Democratic field since 1992.

BOLDUAN: How different is this from where she was?

ENTEN: Yes. OK. So, you see this 17 percent. You know, OK, so you're right up there near the top. But what we're seeing is decreasing support for Kamala Harris.

So, take a look here, Kate. Top choice for their party's nomination. You see the 17 percent now. Back in July of 2024, just as Joe Biden was getting out of the race, Kamala Harris was polling at 45 percent. You know, that's more than twice as much as the support that she has right now. So, her support is going down.

What you really want to be is more where Trump was at this point back in the 2024 cycle. He was at 49 percent. Forty-nine percent is not anything like 17 percent. This is a weak place for a front runner. Donald Trump was historically strong for a front runner who wasn't the incumbent president at the time. These are the types of numbers that would really make me think twice about running if I was Kamala Harris giving her universal name recognition.

BOLDUAN: But, of course, there's a lot of time to go. All of those caveats. But still, when you look at this number where it is now, put that in historical perspective of how often do people win when they have a number like that?

ENTEN: Yes, if you look historically, right, you go back since 1972 and you look at the historical lots. OK, polled at 10 to 25 percent in early primary polls. Just 10 percent of those folks went on to win the presidential nomination.

[09:35:00]

So, look, 10 percent ain't zero, but 10 percent says that you would be in for a real fight for the Democratic nomination. There's going to be a ton of folks likely running. And so, if Kamala Harris wants to get in, you know what, the water is going to be warm, but there's going to be a lot of people in that warm water. It will be quite the crowded hot tub.

BOLDUAN: Where do the prediction markets put her chances, Harry?

ENTEN: Yes, OK, so you see this 10 percent. What about the Kalshi prediction market? Very similar here. But if anything, her chances are going down. Chance Harris is the 2028 presidential -- Dem presidential nominee. Look at that, it's nine percent. Now it's down to six percent. I think there's an extra -- no that's right.

BOLDUAN: No, you're fine.

ENTEN: I got it right. Sometimes I wonder if I spell things correctly. No, I actually spell things correctly. Miss Haffenreffer (ph), I did it.

But this is basically telling you that her chances of, in fact, winning that 2028 Democratic presidential nomination have been slipping and sliding, especially as she's waffling back and forth. She's looking at the numbers. She knows that the Democratic base at this point, while they're not saying, you know what, no, we definitely don't want you, they're not definitely saying, hey, we definitely do want you.

BOLDUAN: We do. We want you, though, Harry.

ENTEN: Thank you so much, Kate. Finally, I feel the affection that I truly do need.

BOLDUAN: A lot of news. We'll be right back.

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[09:40:37]

BERMAN: All right, the breaking news this morning, President Trump will address world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly. And it comes at a time when his approval for handling of foreign affairs has never been lower. That's according to a new CNN poll.

Later today, he will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and also with gulf leaders. This is all on the sidelines. And it comes at a time with the war in Iran raging on and everyone looking for a way to end that.

With us now, Kurt Volker, the former U.S. ambassador to NATO, former U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations.

Ambassador, it's always great to see you.

And one bit of reporting we have is, of course, Iranian leaders are at the United Nations this week, including the Iranian foreign minister and the Iranian president. And the administration has not ruled out, perhaps, maybe meeting with an Iranian official on the sidelines, though they say nothing's scheduled yet and we've heard nothing from the Iranians. What would be the risk reward of something like that?

KURT VOLKER, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO NATO: (AUDIO GAP) coming up, probably after the midterms. Do we live with the situation, as we have today, where Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz, or do we launch another major military operation to take that away and to restore freedom of navigation and possibly having to change the regime in Iran? Very heavy lift. Not something anyone really wants to do, but might be necessary.

If President Trump can meet with the Iranians and get something in between, say, OK, you guys stay in power, but you give up trying to control the Strait. You allow freedom of navigation. If we could agree on that, that would obviate the need for a war like that. And that would be a good thing. That's the upside.

Now, the downside is, of course, the Iranians will take advantage of that meeting, promote themselves, promise to do things that they will later renege on and not do. So, it just is more of that pernicious behavior from the Iranians that we would see. But if it can prevent war and actually buy time so that we don't end up in a worse situation than we already are, then, worth it.

BERMAN: Care to put any odds on whether it might happen?

VOLKER: You know, the reason I think the administration is not giving an answer to that is because President Trump himself hasn't decided. It is entirely President Trump's call. It's the kind of thing he would normally do, just like writing love letters to Kim Jong-un. He looks for opportunities to engage directly with adversaries.

So, I, you know, I think 50/50, it's up to Trump.

BERMAN: So, the president has been talking occasionally on social media about the war between Russia and Ukraine. And the other day he put out a message that said, quote, "Russia has unfortunately lost control of its diesel oil industry due to its war with Iran. A large number of their diesel refineries have been blown up and are, at least temporarily, out of commission. This ridiculous and never ending war with Ukraine must be ended." And then he went on to say how many people are dying.

The language at the top there raised some eyebrows. Russia has unfortunately lost control of its diesel oil industry. Do you think Ukraine sees it as unfortunate that Russia has lost control?

VOLKER: Not at -- not at all. I think this is one of the great achievements of Ukraine now. After four and a half years of Russia pounding Ukraine, Ukraine has managed to develop an ability to strike inside Russia at strategic targets that are weakening the Kremlin's finances and their military efforts. So, I think Ukraine is quite pleased with that.

And I agree with President Trump that this war should end. But the only person who can end this war is Vladimir Putin. He's the one who continues to attack Ukraine and demand that it be subjugated to Moscow. And if President Trump wants to see this war end, the only way is to put pressure on Putin to stop it.

BERMAN: How concerned do you think the Ukrainians are about this coming winter? How concerned are you? Because we're seeing all kinds of reports that the Russians are bracing for some kind of new, major offensive.

VOLKER: Yes. Yes, well, I was just in Ukraine about a week ago and spoke with a lot of people about that. People are very apprehensive. They remember last year the power outages, the freezing cold weather. But first off, Ukrainians don't have a choice. It's their country, their homes. They're going to live through it.

Second, Ukraine has done a lot since last winter, last year, to prepare for this winter. So, when you look at electricity production, the distribution of electricity, people getting their own solar panels, people getting their own generators.

[09:45:06]

People have done a lot, particularly a couple of the companies there, Dtech (ph) and Aqunanago (ph). They have prepared for this winter in a way that they did not last year. So, I don't think it will be as extreme as we saw last year.

BERMAN: Ambassador Kurt Volker, always great to see you. Thank you so much for coming on.

All right, the major TV networks band together after the White House banned CNN and others from the grounds. The White House has until today to respond to a lawsuit filed by the three outlets.

And then breaking overnight, no charges in the death of a Mississippi teenager who went missing on a boating trip with friends. The grand jury said it found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

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[09:50:12]

BOLDUAN: All right, the breaking news, President Trump has just arrived at the United Nations here in New York ahead of his speech. And he spoke to reporters.

Kaitlan Collins was there, my colleague.

Kaitlan, what did he say?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, obviously this is where the president enters to go into the hall where he is going to address these other world leaders, his first address since starting the war with Iran, since there's been this major conversation about what world leaders should be doing to act responsibly when it comes to artificial intelligence.

But as the president entered here, and there's a slew of other reporters around me, I should note, all credentialed by the United Nations, which is why we have access to where we're standing right now, since technically CNN should be serving as the pool representatives with the president today, but given he removed us from our assignment and our ability to be able to do so, we are not traveling with the president here to the United Nations.

And as soon as he walked in, he began to address reporters. And as I was asking the president a question about that new CNN polling that shows that two-thirds of Americans do not believe the United States is winning the war with Iran, the president interjected and said this.

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COLLINS: Mr. President, two-thirds of Americans -- two-thirds of Americans don't think the U.S. is winning the war with Iran. When will it end?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, it's an honor to be here. I'm surprised that CNN is here covering me. You should --

COLLINS: The United Nations allowed us in, sir. TRUMP: You should not be here covering me. You said you weren't going

to cover me. You shouldn't be covering me.

COLLINS: Two-thirds of Americans don't think that the U.S. is winning the war with Iran. When will it end?

TRUMP: I will tell you, it is an honor to be at the United Nations and we're making a lot of progress. Our country is doing really, really well. Thank you very much.

COLLINS: Americans don't think the United States is winning the war --

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COLLINS: Now, I should note, Kate, CNN, of course, never said we were not going to cover the president. It was actually the president who tried to stop us from being able to cover him, certainly in the way that we were doing beforehand. Obviously, that's being fought in the courts.

We will continue to cover the president and his speech and as he meets with world leaders today, just not with a TV camera from one of the five major networks in the room as he's going back and forth with these meetings with world leaders. And there is certainly a slew of them on the agenda that could potentially be newsworthy, ranging from Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, who we just saw going up the escalator shortly before President Trump arrived, Delcy Rodriguez of Venezuela is also here, among with many other world leaders, including those gulf leaders that the president is going to be meeting with on the war in Iran later today. So, we'll be monitoring all of that and obviously covering it as it makes news.

BOLDUAN: Kaitlan, thank you so much for being there.

Let's bring in Brian Stelter, CNN's chief media analyst, on this.

And, Brian, you heard what the president just said to Kaitlan in the midst of this and the -- CNN, MS Now and "Politico" are about to be headed to court with regard to that ban from the White House tomorrow.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: The president's comment shows total ignorance about how the American news media actually operates, about how journalists are able to move about freely in the United States, about how, in a democracy, journalists are going to find ways to ask questions, even if the president doesn't like it.

But that quote, that is going to ring loud and clear throughout the day today. He said, "you should not be here covering me. You said you weren't going to cover me." Of course, CNN is going to continue to cover the Trump administration, just like it covers governments all around the world. But that idea the president thinks you should not be there is just a complete break with the spirit of the First Amendment.

And I know viewers aren't surprised by this. I know we've heard this rhetoric from him for a decade. But a remarkable moment there just now with Kaitlan. And I just want to express my admiration for all the reporters who

were there, who were able to shout those questions, who were able to get his attention, who were able to ask him probing questions because, look, notice about that Kate, Kaitlan was not asking about the ban. She was not asking about CNN. She was not asking about the media. She was asking about one of the most important issues in the world today, this war in Iran and how so many Americans are so angry and so fearful and so disapproving of the war. So, that's going to speak volumes that the president's reaction is to say, you shouldn't be here. I'm surprised that you're here at all.

But look, the headline is that CNN is going to continue to cover these events. You might not be seeing the president live on TV as often as you did in the past. And that's partly because the show of solidarity and the American media right now is like nothing I've seen before. The TV pool is not willing to fill in for CNN right now. Some of the still photographers withheld their photos yesterday. NPR is not airing audio of Trump. There are many different individual acts of solidarity going on.

And this might not last forever. This might be fleeting. It might be a moment in time. But it is still a significant moment. And so just for viewers to understand how this works, we will be seeing some action at the U.N. today because it is pooled or organized by a different group, by the U.N. television group.

[09:55:05]

So, reporters like Kaitlan Collins have access there. There are pooled feeds at the U.N. So, we're going to see some images throughout the day today. But this Trump ban does remain in place. And as you said, Kate, there is a hearing scheduled for tomorrow afternoon where a judge will begin to assess whether this is legal or not. Every First Amendment lawyer I know says it's blatantly illegal and it's not going to last long.

BOLDUAN: Brian Stelter. Thanks so much for jumping on, Brian. I really appreciate it.

So, now things begin to unfold at the U.N. General Assembly with, of course, CNN, unfortunately, we don't want to be a headline, and sometimes there's no way to avoid it.

BERMAN: It was very interesting to see the president didn't seem to want to avoid the cameras either.

BOLDUAN: That's right.

BERMAN: He was saying, you're not here, but let me talk to you, all at the same time.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

BERMAN: Irony.

Thank you all for joining us. This has been CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "THE SITUATION ROOM" is up next.

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