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New Polls on Trump's Approval Rating; Ukraine Sees Starlink Disruptions; Wholesale Inflation for September; Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA) is Interviewed about Wholesale Inflation; Officer goes Beyond the Call for Delivery; Actor Rufus Sewell is Interviewed about "The Diplomat." Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired October 15, 2026 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:29]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, a brand-new poll shows President Trump with his worst approval ratings in that poll ever. Fox News shows the president's approval at 36 percent. They've never had a lower reading. And if you think that's bad, dot, dot, dot.

With us now, CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten.

If you think that bad, 36 percent is bad, you dig a little deeper, things get even worse.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: You ain't seen nothing yet. We're talking about the youths of America.

Take a look here. OK, voters under the age of 30, they no longer think that Trump is groovy. He's no longer jiggy with it.

Look at this. Back in October of 2024, he was three points above water. They liked him more than they disliked him when looking back at how he was doing in term number one. Look at this. Look at this. He's now 50 points underwater with a group he was positive with. He's now 50 points underwater. That's approval minus disapproval. That's a shift, Johnny B., this is math we can all do. Fifty-three points in the wrong direction amongst a group he was once positive with. It's absolutely stunning.

BERMAN: Two years, 53 points.

ENTEN: Two years, 53 points. The promise of Trump did not actually come, and the reality of Trump for those under the age of 30.

BERMAN: OK, this is overall. How do they feel about some of the bigger issues?

ENTEN: Yes, what's driving this? What's driving this 53-point drop? Well, you think a 53-point drop is something. Let's take a look at the economy. Hello. OK. The economy and voters under the age of 30. Back in 2024,

look at this. What do we see? We saw that Trump was more trust on the economy than Kamala Harris by two points. One. Two. But still more trusted than Kamala Harris was.

Look at his net approval rating now, 64 points underwater, 64 points underwater. Johnny B., that's a change of a very unlucky 66 points in the wrong direction for the president of the United States on one of the key issues of the day, the economy. It was the reason why he put up a historically strong performance with youth voters for a Republican presidential nominee back in 2024, and is the big reason why, at this point, these same exact young voters are turning against him. And now he is 64 points underwater on the issue that got him re- elected in the first place with them.

BERMAN: A 66-point shift for voters under 30. That's double their age.

ENTEN: That is --

BERMAN: Double their age.

ENTEN: It's more than double their age.

BERMAN: All right, how about inflation?

ENTEN: How about inflation? What is driving these low economic numbers? You know, we don't actually have a trend line on inflation with Trump, but sometimes the numbers are just so eye-popping, just so eye-popping that you go --

BERMAN: It pops your earpiece right out.

ENTEN: It literally popped my earpiece right out. And we're going to pop that earpiece right back in.

And you can see this. I mean, just take a look at this. Voters under the age of 30 on Trump and inflation. Whenever I can put a number on the screen on two hands, nine, nine, that is the percentage who approve of the job that Trump is doing on inflation for voters under the age of 30. Ninety-one percent, 91 percent disapprove. There are more Americans who think that we fake the moon landing than the percentage of young voters who actually approve of the job that Trump is doing on inflation. These numbers are some of the worst I have ever seen in any poll, on any issue for any president.

BERMAN: If you ask the question in German, is this a good number, the answer would be --

ENTEN: Nein.

BERMAN: Exactly.

ENTEN: Nein, nein, nein.

BERMAN: Harry Enten, thank you very much.

ENTEN: Thank you, Johnny B.

BERMAN: Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, so new this morning, Ukraine says that some services of Starshield, the military-grade version of Elon Musk's Starlink satellite system that have been vital to efforts in the war against Russia that some have -- are being restricted, significantly impacting their ability to operate combat drones in the region. And a Ukrainian defense ministry source tells CNN today that, here's the quote, "as of now, Starshield's operations have resumed and are continuing."

But President Zelenskyy is demanding to know what happened here. This all comes as President Trump has told Ukraine to pull back on attacking Russian oil refineries. Ukraine complied. But today a clearly angry President Zelenskyy says he's actually going to resume those strikes they had agreed to halt.

Here he is in a new interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: It's a pity that we are losing. We are losing strong partner. So, this is my opinion and --

PIERS MORGAN, HOST, "PIERS MORGAN UNCENSORED": You think you're losing America?

ZELENSKYY: Yes. But not because of us. We -- I mean, this -- we can't be weak, otherwise we can't survive.

[08:35:04]

That's why it's painful when President Trump chooses one side, not -- not our sides. But we are OK that he's in the middle. But if you're in the middle, you have to stay in the middle, not on the wrong side.

This is not the right side of history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining me now is defense and space reporter for "Axios," Thomas Novelly, for more on this.

Thomas, thanks for being here.

On this Starshield situation that has unfolded over the past day, what is -- what actually is known that happened here?

THOMAS NOVELLY, DEFENSE AND SPACE REPORTER, "AXIOS": Thanks so much for having me.

Yes, this is a situation where we're seeing Ukraine's use of Starlink and Starshield, both of which they operate. being degraded. Now, this is a capability that Ukraine has used that's integral to their warfare. So, whether it's communications, whether it's surveillance and operating its unmanned systems, it's vital to all of that. So, we've seen that as they were operating their drones, that they were speed limited in part or speed restricted, allegedly, by, you know, this terminal issue that we're seeing right now with the connection.

So, right now there is a lot that still is unanswered. My really talented colleague, Barak Ravid, reported that, you know, service was partially restored yesterday. You know, there was more service that was restored. But Ukrainian officials still want answers. You know, Barak's reporting showed that U.S. officials with the Trump admin said they had nothing to do with the alleged Starlink constraints. But, you know, officials, they still remain suspicious.

BOLDUAN: Yes, it does seem that out of Ukraine they're not buying it when it comes to that. And the motivation of what led to it seems to continue to be in question. I mean and it's not just out of Ukraine. I mean, reaction from Washington, as it started unfolding, was exasperation from both sides of the aisle.

I noted -- I saw yesterday Thom Tillis tweeted out on X, "Elon Musk, please tell me that these overnight disruptions to Starlink terminals in Ukraine were unintended, that SpaceX is doing everything it can to fix a temporary glitch."

And then the top Democrat on House Intel, Jim Himes, put out a statement that said, "Donald Trump announced a likely illegal deal to buy an inconsequential amount of Russian diesel from Russia. Those decisions are bad enough, but if they were to be accompanied by any pullback in the assistance that U.S. provides to our Ukrainian partners, it would be a cowardly betrayal that makes our nation and the world less safe."

What questions -- they clearly are dissatisfied with the information they've gotten about what happened here. Do you expect that the administration is going to be offering more information or giving any detail if the Trump administration was involved in decision making here? Because Elon Musk seems to be suggesting that it's the U.S. government that makes these calls.

NOVELLY: Great point. And I think that right now some of the clearest explanation we got was from Elon Musk in terms of maybe how this unfolded. So, he pointed out that Starshield systems are owned and they're controlled by the U.S. government. So, limits on that would ultimately come down to the military and the president of the United States, whereas Starlink, which is that commercial service that's owned and controlled by SpaceX, that's limited to civilian, usually defensive activities in some way. So, it can't be used for offensive military action. So, it would be inappropriate for a commercial company to engage with that.

So, I think what's interesting there is that we're seeing this kind of mix, right, that we're seeing a mix of commercial and military assets being discussed here, both of which have their own kind of governing authorities. Now we're in an era of warfare where those two things are being woven together, where those commercial systems and those military systems are both crucial to the future of warfare there. So, in both ways, there's a little bit of finger pointing going on. BOLDUAN: It does seem to do that. And as Nick Paton Walsh pointed out,

even in -- even a temporary pause, a temporary slowdown or change in settings, while it might sound inconsequential, it is the difference between life and death in the war -- in the -- Ukraine's war with Russia right now.

It's good to see you, Thomas. Thanks so much for bringing your reporting on. I appreciate it.

John.

BERMAN: And the breaking news, we have new numbers on inflation. Yesterday we saw consumer prices heating up more than expected. Today, Producer Prices, the wholesale side.

With us now, CNN's Matt Egan.

If yesterday was bad, is it possible today was even worse?

MATT EGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, John. Look, we were bracing for a hot inflation report, but, wow, this was sizzling.

So, we now have back-to-back days that show inflation is not just uncomfortably high, it's actually broadening out here. Let's go through some of the numbers here.

This is the Producer Price Index. This measures what businesses charge for their goods and services.

Now, the monthly rate, 1.3 percent. That is almost triple the forecast.

[08:40:00]

This is a big step in the wrong direction from about 0.5 percent the month before. And, in fact, this is the biggest monthly increase for this metric since March of 2022. Annual rate was expected to come in at 5.3 percent. It's nowhere near that. A full percentage point above that at 6.3 percent. This is the biggest annual increase also since 2022. By the way, that was, of course, the year when inflation in the United States hit a four-decade high.

Let's look at the trend for monthly inflation. So, you can see this is roughly when the war started. You see that it picked up. Inflation cooled off as gas prices, energy prices came down. Their were hope for a ceasefire with Iran.

And now look at this, moving dramatically in the wrong direction. Look at the annual trend. It's absolutely true that we're not in as bad of a spot as four years ago when producer prices were going up at almost 12 percent. But also, look at this, it came dramatically down. By the time the president started his second term, roughly here, this metric was around three, 3.5 percent, close to four. But look at this, it's significantly higher. And again, moving in the wrong direction.

So, why did this happen? Well, obviously, the war is a big factor. Look at diesel. Diesel prices more than doubling year over year. This is a big deal. I mean this is the fuel that powers the trucks and tractors and trains, construction vehicles at the heart of --

BERMAN: You don't see triple digit increases like this normally.

EGAN: Normally. But, unfortunately, we've seen a few of them lately because of the war with Iran. Gasoline, no surprise there, dramatically higher.

Truck-based freight, that's something that we're all going to experience eventually, right, because of all the stuff that gets bought online, significantly higher. Animal feed, that's going to go into grocery prices. Again, fertilizer significantly higher, also going to impact what you pay at the supermarket. And then some more evidence of the A.I. boom and all the demand for computer chips with 23 percent annual increase for computers and for equipment.

So, why do we follow this trend? This particular inflation metric? Because they tend to move in tandem, right? The red line here, this is wholesale inflation, what we just got today. The blue line is consumer prices. And you can see, they often move together because businesses often pass along at least some of these costs to all of us consumers.

So, you put it all together. This is another disappointing report that signals that the cost of living problem, not only has it not been solved, it's getting worse.

BERMAN: Yes, and you got to believe the Fed's looking at this. You've got to believe investors are looking at this. And you know that home buyers and car buyers, they know this. They know all this already.

Matt Egan, thank you very much.

EGAN: Thank you, John.

BERMAN: Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thank you so much, gentlemen.

Joining me now is Congressman Ami Bera, a Democrat from California.

Thank you for being here.

Let's just start with these numbers. We saw inflation numbers yesterday. Now we're seeing the Producer Price Index numbers showing things like diesel more than 100 percent increase in costs. If Democrats do regain power in Congress, what is the first thing you would do to bring these prices down?

REP. AMI BERA (D-CA): I mean I think we've got to bring this war in Iran to a quick close here. At least get to a ceasefire. So, I would hope we can work with the White House, our allies in Europe, in the Middle East to get to a ceasefire shortly after the midterms. That won't immediately bring things down. We've got to address the tariffs that, you know, it's not foreign countries that are paying these tariffs for corporations. It's the American family that is paying these tariffs. And we've got to do something on that.

SIDNER: Look, I do have to ask you about the state you represent. California has some of the highest cost of living numbers. Housing prices more than double the U.S. national average. Why should voters trust you to bring these costs down when they are so incredibly high in the state that you represent?

BERA: Yes, because we're going to have to build more houses. We're going to have to address these things. They've seen what President Trump has done from day one in terms of raising the tariffs that consumers are paying, taking us to an illegal war in the Middle East with Iran. They feel it every day when they try to fill up their gas tanks.

I talked to folks in my district as I'm going around campaigning. You know, they're paying $100 to fill up their gas tank. That is unaffordable. We've got to come together as Democrats and Republicans, build more houses, you know, work with our farmers to get food to the table that is more affordable, address food prices, roll back the cuts to health care that H.R.-1, you know, President Trump's big, beautiful bill, it's an ugly bill that the consumers are paying for.

I hope, after the midterms, Republicans will work with us to address what I know they're hearing in their districts as well.

SIDNER: I do want to go now to Ukraine because of some of the committees that you are on. Ukrainian authorities say that the military version of Elon Musk's Starlink, called Starshield, restricted internet services, which ended up disrupting operations in Ukraine as Russia was sending in a barrage of drone attacks.

Elon Musk has responded to who was responsible for this. And he said that Starshield systems, which he put on X, "are owned and controlled by the U.S. government."

[08:45:01]

And "any limits on speed or usage are decided by the U.S. military and ultimately the president of the United States."

What do you think happened here, and should it be investigated where you have Ukraine saying, this is life or death for us?

BERA: Absolutely. But I'm on the Intelligence Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee. I'm back here in Washington, D.C., to try to get some classified briefings on what exactly is going on in Russia right now.

It does seem like President Trump is choosing Vladimir Putin's side, you know, by lifting the sanctions on buying Russian diesel. That doesn't help Ukraine win this war. What it does is it gives billions of dollars to Russia for Vladimir Putin to continue the war. If, in fact, they're turning off Starlink, that is a dangerous situation. If he's withholding intelligence sharing with Ukrainians, that is a dangerous situation. Ukraine is fighting admirably to protect their own country. We have to do everything to support the Ukrainian people. SIDNER: Look, President Zelenskyy told "The Financial Times" today

that he is done and he's going back to striking Russian refineries. And as you mentioned, look, we talked about the star shield communications being restricted. But you also mentioned President Trump threatening to stop sharing intelligence with Ukraine if it doesn't stop hitting Russian energy targets. And President Trump making this deal to buy diesel from Russia, which could mean hundreds of millions added to its coffers. Putting all this together, do you think that the Trump administration is simply abandoning Ukraine now?

BERA: I mean, it certainly looks like they're starting to side with Vladimir Putin. I would hope they at least maintain a neutral position. I know my Republican colleagues who overwhelmingly pushed to pass the Lindsey Graham Russian Sanctions Bill before we left, they ought to be standing up and screaming at the top of their lungs that we don't side with Russia here. We side with the Ukrainian people. We have to continue to support the people of Ukraine who have fought so courageously in helping end this war.

Now, we could look for a negotiated peace, but he should not side with Vladimir Putin and his illegal war.

SIDNER: When it comes to the war in Iran, CNN's reporting this morning that the Trump administration is considering using the Mother of All Bombs, or MOAB, to possibly strike Iran's nuclear facilities. First, what do you think about that course of action? And second, what are Democrats thinking about how they would try to end this war if in power?

BERA: Yes. So, I don't think escalating this war by further attacks in Iran is the way to go. This war is going poorly. President Trump is not working with Congress, giving us the information. If we were in charge, we would quickly bring in our allies from Europe, our allies in the Middle East, our allies from Asia, and start a negotiation here.

I, you know, again, I'm not the president of United States. We're the United States Congress. But I think you have to get to a negotiated ceasefire. You have to deescalate tensions. It's got to involve our allies in the region. You know, you're watching this war spread to Saudi Arabia, to the Emirates, to other parts. You know, the Houthi rebels are now going towards the Red Sea.

This is a catastrophe that President Trump made. He doesn't know how to get out of it. He needs to work with Congress. And we need to figure out how to get to a ceasefire.

SIDNER: Congressman Ami Bera, it is good to have you. Thank you for coming on early this morning for us. Appreciate it.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, a car pulls up to a TV station and opens fire. And this is not the first time this has happened in the past week. What we are learning this morning about the scary incidents. And several thousand dollars worth of watermelons allegedly stolen from local farms. How the suspect did -- how the suspected thieves were revealed and caught.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:53:11]

BERMAN: This morning, a New Jersey police officer, a Wawa parking lot, and a baby that would not wait to be delivered.

CNN's Brynn Gingras on how that officer went beyond the call.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a story you'll never forget.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This was the moment Taylor Durham met her newborn son. By her side, her husband, Philip, and the police officer who is now forever part of this family moment.

TAYLOR DURHAM, MOTHER: I could not have delivered that baby alone. There's no way.

GINGRAS (voice over): On the evening of July 6th, Dominic Hodson of Berlin, New Jersey Police Department was on routine shift when he was called to a job a few officers ever face.

911 DISPATCHER: Do you see the baby? Is she on her back?

PHILIP DURHAM, FATHER: I can see the baby.

911 DISPATCHER: OK. All right, tell her, don't stop. Just keep going, OK?

GINGRAS (voice over): Philip and Taylor were driving to the hospital when it became clear they wouldn't make it in time.

P. DURHAM: I'm pulling in Wawa in Berlin.

GINGRAS (voice over): Within minutes of Officer Hodson arriving, it was clear there wasn't much time left.

DOMINIC HODSON, OFFICER, BERLIN POLICE: I had to keep myself calm first. I didn't know really what I was walking into. But we have a job to do.

P. DURHAM: The baby's coming.

D. HODSON: OK.

P. DURHAM: Yes. Yes.

GINGRAS (voice over): And with one last push, Officer Hodson was there to deliver the baby.

P. DURHAM: He's out. He's out.

GINGRAS (voice over): At 8:22 p.m., Henderson Lee Durham was born.

P. DURHAM: I was relieved because it was just very stressful. So, just happy that somebody was there in case something did happen to her or to the baby.

HODSON: It's definitely an amazing feeling. Just, you know, being able to say that I was able to assist them and help them deliver a healthy baby boy into this world.

GINGRAS (voice over): For Taylor, Officer Hodson's unexpected help is now part of her story of becoming a mother of two.

T. DURHAM: I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love -- sorry -- I love being a mom.

[08:55:07]

And they're great. They're really great kids. We're really lucky.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: Conspiracy, a looming global war and crumbling, high-profile marriages take center stage in the upcoming season of Netflix's political thriller "The Diplomat." Keri Russell returns as Kate Wyler, the U.S. ambassador to the U.K., alongside Rufus Sewell, as her husband and vice president, How Wyler. The two navigate what it means to balance power and marriage. The hit series fourth season is debuting this week. Here's a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUFUS SEWELL, ACTOR, "THE DIPLOMAT": We need to press on given our late start.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was an issue?

SEWELL: There always is. Frankly, neither of us should be in this room. This is a trivial misunderstanding. Way out in the weeds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Perhaps this isn't the time.

SEWELL: I'm sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To discuss it. Not today.

KARI RUSSELL, ACTRESS, "THE DIPLOMAT": Not today?

SEWELL: This is not good cop.

RUSSELL: No.

SEWELL: Prime minister, I flew here to speak to you. I'm not spending the week. We agree on aims, means and funding structure. The only point of contention is accounting. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does it mean to say the number's unchanged?

SEWELL: I do.

RUSSELL: We reran the numbers, and while we initially believe there may have been a conversion error, we ultimately found that --

SEWELL: Sir --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely not. You pulled this for the president. It was rude then, and it still is.

By the way, also rude not to shake my wife's hand, but maybe that's a challenge for another day. Please, take a seat.

RUSSELL: High road.

SEWELL: Well, that ship sailed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Joining me now, Emmy-nominated star of the diplomat, Rufus Sewell.

I heard you take a deep breath as you were listening to that, as you were watching yourself on screen. Is it hard watching yourself?

RUFUS SEWELL, PLAYS HAL WYLER IN NETFLIX'S "THE DIPLOMAT": It can be. It can be quite hard.

SIDNER: Is that what that was or were you stressed?

SEWELL: Yes, I take a preparatory -- no, I'm going to -- I'm going to need to relax at the sight of myself. But that's a fun scene.

SIDNER: Yes, it is. It's -- it is so -- there are so many different details, so many different storylines. But you play this vice president in a series where at the time we're living in right now, it really kind of mirrors some of what is happening in the world that we live in right now. What is that like for you?

Plus, you do happen to be British. And you're up against the British prime minister.

SEWELL: Yes, I know. It's very strange pretending to be American whilst acting with British actors. They give me less of a hard time than I was expecting.

But, you know, they write these scripts so ahead of time that it's very -- it would be a fool's errand to try to actually guess what's going to happen in the world.

SIDNER: Yes.

SEWELL: So, what we are -- what we are kind of portraying as a -- is a dysfunction that is slightly different enough from our own to be comfortable and exciting to watch, rather than just horrifying.

SIDNER: Yes.

SEWELL: But every once in a while it kind of rhymes with reality. And that's because I think we're writing about themes that are current, even if the characters and the situations have changed.

SIDNER: Absolutely.

Look, you play a guy that's smart, handsome. Those are the nice ones. You double cross. You --

SEWELL: Yes the (INAUDIBLE) list.

SIDNER: You charm You're conniving. Did you base this on anyone?

SEWELL: Not really. I based it on a lot of -- a lot of different people.

But, you know, the funny thing about Hal is, when he's conniving, he's very often conniving on the side of good, which is what's quite interesting about him is, he's someone who's prepared to use dirty tricks to do good things. And sometimes that gets a little more complicated than that but, you know.

SIDNER: It's -- it really is. It really draws you in. It's like you want to keep watching. I stay up late at night, you know, watching, watching, watching.

SEWELL: Yes.

SIDNER: What do you think you attribute sort of the secret sauce to why this drama has really drawn us in?

SEWELL: Well, a lot of the -- well, I think because it's about this incredibly complex world that is fascinating. But at the center of it, you've got these incredible relationships. I mean, Kate, and how they have something about them that there's -- I think it just reminds you of your own, anyone who's been in a long term relationship, you might not go to the same extremes. It might not be on the world stage. You might not actually have had a fight in the bushes, but very similar, you know, I think it reminds people of their own relationships.

SIDNER: Can you give us a hint about season four and what you're excited about for season four?

SEWELL: Well, I mean, anyone who's followed this series so far knows that at the end of season three something possibly -- a bit of a betrayal may or may not have happened, depending on your perspective. You'll find out more about that.

And just as you're in the middle of finding out more about that, something else happens that makes you forget. In fact, I would say that, you know, in the early episodes, things happen that would normally happen at the end of a season, you know, in terms of --

SIDNER: Yes, the plot twist.

SEWELL: Plot twists and stuff like that.

SIDNER: Yes.

SEWELL: It's very exciting.

SIDNER: Keri and Allison Janney and, I mean, you have such an incredible cast.

SEWELL: (INAUDIBLE). Huge. huge amazing cast.

SIDNER: It's so good.

[09:00:00]

And thank you for sharing the character with us that somehow we can't hate you because, as you said --

SEWELL: Well, that's nice. I don't think he's a bad guy.

SIDNER: No, as you said, there's so much