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Three Major Storms Hit the Northeast, Hawaii And Mexico; Polls: Trump Far More Unpopular Before Midterms Than In 2018; Interview With Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-CA). Aired 6-6:45p ET

Aired September 26, 2026 - 18:45   ET

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

DR. GLADYS KALEMA-ZIKUSOKA, FOUNDER, CONSERVATION THROUGH PUBLIC HEALTH: You can make each other sick, but we're not making each other sick because you're cleaner.

Over time, we have seen huge changes, having a clean toilet, hand washing station, and a separate animal house. At the same time, we want to make sure that they're less dependent on the forest by finding them sustainable livelihoods.

You cannot keep the gorillas healthy when people next to them are poor, hungry. It just can't work. We found out that the coffee farmers were not getting a fair market price and were still entering the forest to poach.

So then we started to sell the coffee. We give them an above market price and a donation from every bag goes to support community health, gorilla health and conservation education. This is showing people that we care about not just the gorillas, but we also care about them.

Gorilla tourism has completely transformed the lives of the people here. And engaging local communities is a way of making sure that gorillas are being protected. I always get very excited when I hear that baby mountain gorilla has been born.

And as long as the communities see the gorillas as their future, the numbers are going to keep growing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: For the full story about Gladys' work and to see more of some of those adorable baby gorillas, you can go to cnn.com/heroes.

A new hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

[18:01:23]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: All right, folks, welcome to the CNN NEWSROOM. I am Omar Jimenez in New York.

Right now, we are following three major storms. First, an early season nor'easter slamming the northeast, unleashing heavy rain, wind and waves like that. You can see how high and powerful they are. Tens of thousands of customers are without power. Almost 2,000 flights are delayed, more than 420 cancelled. Meanwhile, heavy rain from Hurricane Nolo is ramping up, threatening all the way over in Hawaii with potentially life threatening flooding and mudslides.

Also, Category 5 Hurricane Polo is still roaring off the coast of Southern Mexico and is expected to make landfall in Baja, California Sur on Monday.

Danny Freeman is in New Jersey for us. And Danny, you ve been tracking the conditions over the course of today. Some rain, some flooding. What are you seeing now and what have you seen during your time there?

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Omar, over the course of the afternoon and now into the early evening hours, the weather really has worsened here in Atlantic City and across parts of the jersey shore, and that's all because the concern has always been about tidal flooding. And the high tide is now coming back.

There was a period of respite earlier in the day, Omar, where the flood waters actually subsided from some of its highs that happened early this morning. There were a lot of streets in the area that really were submerged. Cars were stuck. People were trapped at times. That remarkably came down as the tide went out.

But Omar, you remember us in the past couple of hours, there was not that much wind. There was not that much rain. There now is a tremendous amount of wind. There is also a tremendous amount of rain, and I will point you right here, the water is getting more and more intense.

This is one of the seawalls here in Atlantic City, Omar, and this is one of the spots that we've seen a lot of images of, of just this inlet and ocean water battering this seawall, just shooting into the air.

It was pretty calm over the past few hours. Now, it is coming back with a vengeance as this storm comes in. And this is what the governor of New Jersey, this is what city officials here in Atlantic City have been warning about that don t get complacent because of the lull, because now this tide is going to be coming in. They were saying that at 6:00, it was going to get bad, and that's certainly what we are seeing already.

Then they were saying that 8:00 is going to be around where that high tide comes back again, and that's really the concern for so many officials here.

Now, the one thing I will say, Omar, is that local officials here in this area, they've been preparing the locals out here. They've been saying if you have cars that are still out on the street, you had an opportunity to get them into a parking garage because this water, this flood water, it is going to come back strong and with a vengeance and that's exactly what we are seeing right here.

This whole area, again, has been built over the past several years to try and withstand exactly the kind of force from the ocean that were seeing right here. It has been holding up. Don t get me wrong. But again, you can see that as the ocean water continues to batter against the seawall, its bringing debris over the wall. And of course, it is bringing more threats of flood water.

So we are going to keep an eye on this. It is getting intense out here, Omar, no question about it.

JIMENEZ: Yes, we can see the waves splashing up behind you here and how powerful they are, just going up against that wall there.

Danny Freeman, really appreciate you monitoring the conditions there and keeping us updated.

Now, Allison Chinchar has been covering the forecast and has all the details on what we are seeing throughout the region, from the CNN Weather Center. Allison, what are you seeing?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Heavy rain and strong winds continue to batter much of the East Coast and that's mainly because of this low pressure system just does not want to seem to move.

[18:05:10]

And it is not likely to move all that much over the next 24 to 48 hours. So, all of these areas here you're looking at through Tuesday morning, widespread rainfall totals of four to six inches, but it is not out of the question for some of these areas to pick up seven, eight or even nine inches of rain before it is all said and done, which could in turn lead, especially in portions of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, to roughly a months' worth of rain in just a few short days.

Here is a look at the forecast. About 11:00 tonight, you've still got very heavy rain across areas of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Upstate New York and Pennsylvania, getting a little bit of a break, but that changes as we roll through the overnight hours and early tomorrow morning.

By 7:00 A.M., you still have the heavy rain across areas of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. But now you're starting to see more of it spread into New York and into New Jersey, and that will continue to slide off to the West as we go through the rest of the day on Sunday.

So this is going to be the off again on again pattern here with these heavy rain bands, mainly because again, the low pressure system just is not making much forward advancement in terms of where it is located.

By Monday morning, you're still looking at a very soggy commute for many northeastern cities. It is also not just that, the wind, too is another component. And yes, of course, it can bring down some trees. It can cause some power outages. But the other thing to note too that we've been dealing with this weekend is the full moon is today and that has a lot of impact on the high tides. For example, even without the nor'easter, we would be dealing with astronomically high tides today simply because of the full moon. Now we factor in the nor'easter on top of it, and it is making some of those tide cycles much, much higher. So, that is going to lead to some significant flooding up and down the East Coast.

We've got one more high tide for today. That's at 8:00 P.M. And we've got another one again around 8:00 A.M. Tomorrow morning for a lot of these areas, especially the low lying ones along the coastline, where you're going to see that coastal erosion and coastal flooding at its worst.

In addition to that, again, we talked about those wind gusts. They could be upwards of 50 to even 65 miles per hour. So that's why you have these wind advisories and high wind warnings, many of which will linger through the early morning hours on Monday.

JIMENEZ: All right, Allison Chinchar and Danny Freeman, a lot to watch for in the hours to come.

You can get precise insights and some expert coverage when you download the CNN Weather App on iOS today.

Still ahead, President Trump's approval rating slumps even lower as the midterms get closer. After the break, we are going to take a look at those new numbers.

And California Congressman Kevin Kiley joins us to discuss how it is all impacting candidates on the campaign trail. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:12:19]

JIMENEZ: Just over five weeks until the midterm elections and President Trump's approval ratings have dropped to new lows in the most recent CNN polling and other polls, but it is a further warning sign for Republicans who are fighting to maintain control of Congress.

CNN's chief data analyst, Harry Enten, takes a look at the dramatic declines in the President's approval since the 2018 midterms -- Harry.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Hey there, Omar.

Happy Saturday to you from a rainy New York City, and you know what? Talking about raining on parades, there is a lot of rain on Donald Trump's parade.

You know, in the last 24 hours, a "Wall Street Journal" poll came out, and the news for the President of the United States, well, it was just flat out awful.

Let's take a look at what "The Wall Street Journal" poll had to say. Take a look here.

Trump's net approval rating in "Wall Street Journal" polling. I want you to look at where the President stands right now. You know, we talk about rain in New York, talk about being underwater. That is Donald Trump. He is way underwater. He is under the Hudson River.

His net approval rating, that is approval rating minus disapproval rating. It is at minus-24 points, minus-24 points. That is 24 points of the American electorate disapproves than approves of the job that President Trump is doing and this makes Trump in a considerably worse position than he was going into his first midterm.

In term one, back in September of 2018, when he was underwater, but just by eight points, just by eight points. He is three times -- three times -- as unpopular now than he was going into his first midterm back in 2018. And more than that, he is more unpopular going into this midterm than any president has been going into a midterm on record.

I was looking back at "The Wall Street Journal" polling, that was true. I was looking back at basically every single president I could find and Trump's net approval rating now, if you look at the Average of Polls, which matches "The Wall Street Journal," he is in a worse position than any president on record. It is no wonder that we are seeing Republican candidates across the political map, at least some of them trying to distance themselves from the President of the United States.

Now, of course, when we are talking about distancing, right, of those Republican candidates, this is national polling, but the midterms are going to be won and lost in those key battlegrounds. But guess what? President Trump is also more unpopular there than he was going into the first midterm that he had back in 2018.

Look at this. Okay. Trump's net approval rating in that year's key House districts, look at this. Back in September of 2018, he was eight points underwater. Again, not too popular. But look at now, look at now, he is even more unpopular. He is even more unpopular. He is twice as unpopular in those key House districts. He is 16 points underwater. He is twice as unpopular.

[18:15:10]

Again, this is one of the reasons why the House very likely is going to go for the Democratic Party, because the driving force here is the President of the United States. You thought he was unpopular in term number one, you ain't seen nothing yet, look at term number two, 16 points underwater.

I think the question at this point really is not whether or not Democrats are going to take back the House. Of course, that is a question. It is more of how big is that majority going to be for the Democrats so they can gain ten seats, 15 seats, dare I say, 20 seats? That's a possibility with numbers like this.

But what about the Senate races, right? You go back to Trump's first midterm, Democrats were able to capture the House with a minus eight Trump net approval rating. But in the Senate, they couldn't do so. Republicans actually gained seats in Trump's first midterm, right, in Trump's first midterm when it came to the United States Senate. But a big reason for that was his net approval rating. Most of the states, or a lot of the states that were in play back in 2018, back in 2018, you see it right here, they were red states. And no wonder why in those key Senate races, those key Senate seats, Trump was actually above water. He was on the positive side of the ledger at plus four points. That is not the case this year. That is not the case this year.

His net approval rating in the average key Senate state is 19 points underwater. That makes President Trump 23 points more unpopular than he was going into the first midterm election in the Senate states -- the Senate races where the Senate is ultimately going to be decided, and that is why it is not just the House that's in play, now, I think I'd make the argument that Democrats are favored in the United States Senate as well, and it all comes from the man from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Well, Omar, my time is up. I am going to go grab an umbrella because as I said, it is a rainy day here in New York.

Back to you.

JIMENEZ: No one gets more fired up by numbers than you, Harry. Appreciate it. Stay dry out there.

All right, I want to bring in California Independent Congressman Kevin Kiley. He serves on the House Judiciary Committee. And Congressman Kiley, one, I appreciate you being here. But also, I just want to start with a little bit of what we heard there.

President Trump's numbers are at all-time lows in terms of polling, but he also has been encouraging voters to pretend he is on the ballot this election. Is that what Republicans who are actually on the ballot want the message to be?

REP. KEVIN KILEY (I-CA): I don't think that's what anyone should want the message to be. I mean, if you're a member of the United States House of Representatives, you should present your record to voters on its own merits, irrespective of whoever is in The White House at any given time, or even who the majority is at any given time.

I mean, in my case, you know, I've told my voters that I am going to be an Independent voice for our district, and I am going to hold folks in both Washington and Sacramento accountable for rising costs.

And so, for example, you know, I think one of the reasons why you see the approval rating so low is because people haven't seen the material improvements in their lives that they'd like to see. And, you know, the entire 2024 election was largely predicated on lowering costs, and yet, we have had policies like tariffs and now not having a strategy for bringing the Iran conflict to an end that have actually raised costs, which is why I voted to disapprove the tariffs and reclaim Congress' authority and I voted against the Iran funding bill, tens of billions of dollars, because there was not a clear way for involving Congress and bringing the conflict to an end. JIMENEZ: And look to your point about affordability, it is going to be on the top of voters' minds as they head to the polls this election. I mean, we knew that was going to be the case for a while now.

I want you to take just a quick look at this ad from Michigan's Senate candidate, former Congressman Mike Rogers really quickly. Just take a quick look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE ROGERS (R), MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: Michigan families are struggling with the price of everyday life. Groceries cost too much. We have to bring prices down. The war with Iran needs to end and end quickly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: So I play that because, you know, based on what you just told me a second ago, you are someone who you went Independent to focus more on yourself as a congressman and some of the issues that are directly affecting your district.

There are a lot of Republicans who are in this position of, are they going far enough to break with the President? And you hear Mike Rogers kind of dancing around it a little bit. I wonder how you see the dynamic right now between Independents, Republicans and the President.

KILEY: Well, I think that anyone who doesn't show that that they are going to hold, you know, any side responsible or accountable for rising costs, you know, they are going to get a lot of scrutiny from their voters.

You know, in my case, we have a lot of people who see that both Washington and Sacramento both, you know, some of the policies coming out of the administration, as well as Gavin Newsom, have done things that have raised costs.

And so I think there is just a broad sense of dissatisfaction, and I do think that voters are really tired of the two sides just trying to blame one another for these problems, and want to see folks who are willing to just roll up their sleeves and come together and find common sense solutions to solve those problems.

And undoubtedly, things like high gas taxes and regulations have led us in California to have over $6.00 a gallon in many places for gas, highest in the country.

[18:25:10]

But it is of course also true that not having Congress involved with a clear strategy for ending the conflict in Iran has raised gas prices across the country.

Voters are feeling all of that. It is cumulative, and they see that there is plenty of blame to go around. And so I think voters are looking for folks who are going to do things differently and are going to hold all sides accountable.

JIMENEZ: And I think one of the areas where people are looking to see where Congress gets involved as well is in A.I.

Chinese Leader Xi Jinping was in Washington this week, and he called on the U.S. to develop this technology responsibly. You ve already called on Congress to pass A.I. safety legislation. Are you satisfied with what you heard come out of these talks between Xi and President Trump on this issue? And where do you believe Congress needs to move next in terms of A.I.?

KILEY: Yes, we haven't heard a lot about what happened, but clearly, Congress has not been nearly focused enough as it should be for years now on the ways in which A.I. is transforming society, the potential benefits, but yes, also the really unfamiliar risks.

And by the way, back in 2018, when I was a legislator, I introduced a resolution on this topic on A.I. safety. My first year in the House, I introduced a bill, the Safe A.I. Act. And now, just this last week, Sam Liccardo and I actually came out with a framework governing how the United States and China can interact on this issue, trying to create channels for experts, technical experts to have a dialogue as to what they are seeing and the risks that this technology could potentially pose, not just to one country or the other, but all of humanity if we don t solve this question of keeping models aligned with human values and interests, and within human control.

And so I think that the framework that Sam Liccardo and I have proposed is a good start. I also think that we need to have a lot more investment and resources put towards assisting the researchers at the universities, the labs, with collaboration around solving this problem, the safety problem with keeping models aligned, that's what we might be able to do to for the Safe A.I. Act, and unfortunately, we haven't seen Congress do much in terms of moving that forward.

JIMENEZ: We will see if that changes post these midterms, even if the issue is incredibly urgent.

Congressman Kiley, really appreciate you taking the time. Thanks for being here.

KILEY: You bet. Thanks for having me.

JIMENEZ: All right, meanwhile, on the global scale, the United States has slashed its humanitarian aid to the United Nations and other countries are following suit, which has led to some devastating impacts for millions around the globe. The message to world leaders from the United Nations, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIMENEZ: One of the big conversations this week on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly is the growing shortage of humanitarian aid.

According to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United States has recently cut funding by more than half. For example, in 2024, it contributed more than $10 billion. But so far this year, it has pledged just over $3 billion. Other wealthy nations have also pulled back on global funding, prompting U.N. agencies to make some tough decisions about where to devote resources and critics say this is creating devastating effects for millions of the world's most vulnerable people.

So joining us now is U.N. Humanitarian Chief, Tom Fletcher. And, Tom, you've been at the General Assembly addressing the need for more humanitarian aid. What would you say is the principal message you are bringing directly to world leaders?

TOM FLETCHER, UNITED NATIONS HUMANITARIAN CHIEF: So what I am asking for at the moment is for the funding for us to go out and save 87 million lives this year. What an extraordinary thing that would be. And we've already, this year, let me give you a positive here, reached 40 million people with life-saving support -- with support from the U.S., from Europe, from our other backers.

You know, to do this we just need $23 billion and that is less than one percent of what the world is set to spend this year on defense and security.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, as I understand, you've actually been going around this week with a physical card, I believe, of humanitarian centered asks in places like Afghanistan, Colombia to Ukraine and Yemen. Why was that the method you chose as we are ending this week? And how were some of those priorities received?

FLETCHER: That's exactly right, and in fact, I've just come from a meeting with another Foreign Minister where I've pressed that card into his hand and asked for his help in securing -- these are basically places where we don t currently have access and where Foreign Ministers in particular, can help us reach people who are currently unreachable.

We reckon if we've got these ten agreements in place, we would reach 11 million people with life-saving aid before the end of the year that we can't currently reach. So you're right, we need to get the Adre Border Crossing open into Sudan so that we can carry on accessing Darfur.

We need to get our winter plan agreed by all the parties so we can support people in Gaza through a very, very tough winter. We have access asks for Colombia, for DRC. We want female humanitarians to be allowed to work in Afghanistan.

These are all, we think, straightforward things that people can help us deliver this week.

JIMENEZ: You know, we were laying out some of the general trends in declines in humanitarian investment from some major countries in terms of what it used to be, what kind of conversations did you have with American officials about the impact of shutting down USAID and what is needed moving forward in terms of framing their investment and humanitarian needs? FLETCHER: Look, of course, we wish there was more U.S. money flowing through the humanitarian system right now. They've been very clear with us that that isn't going to happen.

[18:30:10]

But the U.S. is back this year as our number one global donor. That's over $5 billion of U.S. funding coming through these country crises. And they've been big supporters as well of what we call the Humanitarian Reset, which is the reform plan that I've laid out for greater efficiency in the sector.

So, we have a very productive conversation with the U.S., as I say, of course we want more funding to flow. You'd expect me to say that, but we've come a long way in the last year.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, when you look over the past year and we can even expand over the past two years, one of the places where the need has been top of mind for many is Gaza, and I wonder how you view these aid cuts as hitting Gaza especially hard, and what would you say is the biggest need there now as compared to maybe when the fighting and devastation, in many cases was more prevalent on a daily basis.

FLETCHER: So the situation is still really grim in Gaza. The U.S. is one of our major donors, I've just come from a meeting with the UAE, who are our single biggest donor, to the work inside Gaza as the humanitarian community.

Look, again, in the last year since the President Trump plan, the 20- point plan, we went to Sharm El-Sheikh, we had a U.N. Security Council Resolution, which has opened up more humanitarian access for us. As a result, we've been getting a million meals in a day for example. We've got the hunger levels down, the starvation levels down, 100,000 kids back in school, including just 30,000 last week, and vaccination campaigns.

But all of this is just to start, you know, so in the last year, we've gone from 92 percent of people going to bed hungry to about half of that. But that's still a lot of people who are hungry.

And now we have winter coming. We've got to get 90,000 tents in in the next few weeks. Family-sized tents to support people through the winter. Many people in Gaza are living in the most appalling conditions, next to the rubble of their homes, where their loved ones are still buried underneath the rubble of their destroyed homes and many living by lakes of sewage because of the lack of sanitation. So there is a lot further to go.

JIMENEZ: U.N. Humanitarian Chief, Tom Fletcher, I really appreciate you taking the time. Thank you for being here.

FLETCHER: Many thanks indeed.

JIMENEZ: Meanwhile, we've been covering some of the powerful weather that a lot of the United States is facing right now in nor'easter, pounding the coastline from the state of New York to New England, flooding streets, bringing dangerous winds. We will talk about it all. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Tomorrow on CNN as well, Chef David Chang is on a cross country food journey with an all-new episode of "The Detour."

This week, Dave and comedian, Cristela Alonzo follow local leads in Texas and rediscover new twists on old classics. Here is a quick preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRISTELA ALONZO, COMEDIAN: That brisket is so good. (Bleep). The lime --

DAVID CHANG, CHEF: That's great.

ALONZO: -- and all the stuff she smothered all over it. Incredible.

CHANG: It tastes like -- this has been missing in the world, and now it exists, right? And it should have been around longer.

ALONZO: It is so good. It is so good. Steaming hot! Steaming hot. You've had a lot of barbecue.

CHANG: I have.

ALONZO: Are you constantly still fighting --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: I need some barbecue right now. Watch "The Detour" with David Chang tomorrow night at 9:00 Eastern.

More news coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:38:14]

JIMENEZ: Now back to one of our main stories tonight. The severe weather hitting the Northeast.

CNN meteorologist, Derek Van Dam is on the scene in Massachusetts and he joins us now.

So, Derek, you've been getting battered all day. What are the conditions like now?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Omar, the sun is setting on New England and the mid-Atlantic and on our monster nor'easter that's bearing down. I hate to say this, but I feel like the worst is still yet to come, especially when we go into the darkness of night. It is a weekend.

This has completely upended peoples plans. Forty million Americans have been impacted by this nor'easter, including here, where were located in Scituate, Massachusetts, an area that is no stranger to nor'easters.

But just to think about the level of cancellations, the level of delays and rescheduling of events, festivals, concerts, we are talking about over 2,000 flights delayed, hundreds of flights completely cancelled.

I mean, this has upended peoples entire weekend along the Eastern Seaboard. And unfortunately, the storm is moving in a way that it is still going to drive in the ocean on multiple high tide cycles with this powerful northeasterly wind that continues to push up the Atlantic.

So we are not out of the woods and just because there may be lulls in precipitation, depending on where you are exactly in relation to this storm, doesn't mean that the storm is gone, because it is basically stationary. It is moving very slow, and the fact that it has pocketed itself right in that tri-state area, Long Island Sound into the Coast of New Jersey, into Southern New England, these are the areas that I am concerned about as we head into these multiple high tide cycles tonight even here in Scituate, Massachusetts, this is an area that's getting battered by huge waves, battered by powerful winds and a lot of rain.

There will be more power outages tonight and likely more trees that will come down.

[18:40:10]

I mean, we saw already hundreds of trees have been reported down in and around the Greater New York City area.

Omar, the storm is big.

JIMENEZ: Yes! And you have been documenting it firsthand through a lot of this here. Derek Van Dam, appreciate it, throughout the day. Stay safe as the storm conditions continue.

VAN DAM: You got it!

JIMENEZ: And thank you all for joining me tonight. I am Omar Jimenez. You can stay with CNN though, because we've got a whole lot of fun coming up in just a few minutes, mainly Farm Aid. A music festival live hosted by Laura Coates and John Berman. I said a few minutes, but it is next. So see you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:45:44]