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Smerconish
Why Young Americans Aren't Building Families The Way They Used To; Trump Speaks To Reporters From Oval Office. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired April 18, 2026 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Listen to our show as a podcast. And remember to check out an all new episode of "Kara Swisher Wants to Live Forever" tonight at 9:00 on CNN and next day on the CNN app. Thank you for joining me. I'll see you back here next Saturday at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Smerconish is next.
[09:00:30]
MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN ANCHOR: We're standing by for President Trump, who's expected to sign an executive order at the White House shortly. We'll bring that to you as it happens. But first, new developments in the Strait of Hormuz. A shipping advisory says Iranian Revolutionary Guard gunboats fired on a tanker transiting the strait today. The vessel and crew reported safe.
The incident comes as Iran reimposes restrictions on shipping and as U.S. forces step up enforcement of the blockade, with officials saying multiple vessels have already been turned back. And as talks continue, Iran is signaling it will not transfer its enriched uranium out of the country, a key point of contention in any potential deal. I'm Michael Smerconish in the Philly burbs.
To end this conflict. Let's reauthorize it. President Trump told Axios just yesterday that he expected a deal with Iran in a day or two and that he won't release the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz until it's done. The market shared his optimism. I hope they're both right.
But amid the volatility this morning, the status of the Strait of Hormuz is again uncertain, with Iran signaling new restrictions while negotiations continue. President Trump said last night that he may not extend the ceasefire if a deal is not reached.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Maybe I won't extend it --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
TRUMP: -- but the blockade is going to remain.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you know, sir, maybe --
TRUMP: But maybe I won't extend it. So you have a blockade and unfortunately we'll have to start dropping bombs again.
Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. I think it's going to happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMERCONISH: Even when there was potential peace, Trump was still on the attack against the press. As he put it yesterday on Truth, Social, "The failing New York Times, fake news CNN and others just don't know what to do. They're desperately looking for a reason to criticize President Donald J. Trump on the Iran situation, but just can't find it. Why don't they just say at the right time, job well done, Mr. President, and start to gain back their credibility?"
Mr. President, I can only answer for myself, it's not yet, I'll use your words, the right time. We're not there yet, and the clock is ticking. The cease fire expires on Tuesday. That's the 22nd. The war powers deadline hits on May 1st, May Day.
If there's no deal this weekend, Congress needs to stop hiding and to act. Because here's the situation, Operation Epic Fury launched on February 28. The joint U.S.-Israeli campaign killed Supreme Leader Khamenei and devastated Iran's military infrastructure. Trump notified the Congress on March 2, starting the 60-day clock. Under the War Powers Resolution, the president must either get congressional authorization or start withdrawing.
Republicans have blocked Democratic efforts to rein him in four times in the Senate. And Thursday the House rejected a similar measure, 214 to 213 by just one vote. There are cracks. Republican Senator Thom Tillis says that after May 1, it's time to, in his words, fisher cut bait. And meanwhile, Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski is quietly drafting an AUMF, an authorization for the use of military force that would let the operation continue with guardrails attached.
I think it's exactly the right instinct. Iran is watching this debate more closely than most Americans. The ticking clock in Washington may be providing exactly the sustenance that Tehran needs to hold out against an otherwise devastatingly effective military campaign. If they think that Congress will defund the war by May 1, why make a deal this weekend or anytime soon? The American military execution has been by most measures, superb.
Khamenei was killed in the opening salvo. Iran's navy, air force, air defenses, command and control have been largely dismantled. The principal blemish, a tragic one, was an errant strike that hit a girls elementary school, killing at least 175 civilians. That was grievous. It should not be minimized.
But the president, to his credit, seems to understand that continued bombing risks mass casualties on an Iranian civilization that likely has no love lost for its own theocratic rulers. The same rulers who massacred tens of thousands of their own people in the streets just months before this war began. So Trump pivoted. He played the madman card, threatening on Truth Social that Iran's whole civilization will die tonight. And then through Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbazz Sharif, a cease fire took hold.
And when that strained Trump one up Iran by blockading the Strait of Hormuz, seizing the very choke point that Iran had used as leverage against the world. Pretty audacious. Yes, that blockade is driving gas past $4 a gallon, which is real pain, but the United States is a net exporter of oil. Our exposure is far less than the rest of the globe. If we can hold, we can then hold the upper hand economically, militarily and strategically, which is why Congress should pass an authorization for military force specifically targeted at eliminating Iran's nuclear weapons capability.
[09:05:31]
We don't need a formal declaration of war. We haven't done that since World War II. Korea, Vietnam, both Iraq, in each case, Congress authorized the use of force. And there's a reason for that distinction. The core question is simple.
Do you believe it's essential that Iran not acquire a nuclear weapon? If that answer is yes, and I believe the answer is obviously yes, then authorize the military action necessary to achieve that specific objective. An authorization scoped to Iran's nuclear program gives the president the legal authority that he needs, gives Congress the accountability it owes to the American people, and gives Iran no clock to run out.
At this point, it shouldn't matter if you question how we got here. I still doubt the imminence of an Iranian threat before it all began, but I have zero reservations about whether Iran's government has spent half a century pursuing a nuclear capability while killing Americans. So stop using the war powers deadline as cover for indecision. Democrats, daily procedural votes are not a strategy, they're a press release. If you believe the war is wrong, then vote to end it.
If you believe Iran must not go nuclear, then say so and authorize it. Don't evaluate the decision based on what's best for Trump. Our only prism is what's best for America. It may seem paradoxical, but sometimes the surest way to end a conflict is to officially and lawfully commit to winning it.
Mr. President, I'll give you the accolades when the job is finished. When the Strait of Hormuz is open and Iran's nuclear material is in American hands, I'll be the first in line to say it out loud, job well done, but we're not there yet.
Joining me now, CNN political and Axios global affairs correspondent Barak Ravid. In his recent piece for Axios, "Trump tells Axios he expects Iran deal in a day or two."
Barak, thanks for being here. We're seeing Iranian gunboats firing on a tanker, ships turning around and the U.S. enforcing its blockade. Are we looking at a situation that's unraveling?
BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL & GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: I'm not sure. At least not yet. It could definitely happen, could definitely be the case. But I think there -- it could also be part of the negotiations. We are really in the last moments of this negotiation before the ceasefire expires on April 21st.
And I think a lot of what we see and hear is part of this. You know, both sides are trying to, you know, push and pull. And there are some of those things happen in the negotiations, some of those things happen on the ground, in the battlefield. And I think it's all connected. And I think we'll see in the next 24 hours whether there is a breakthrough in the negotiations that would allow reaching a deal because we'll know in the next 24 hours because negotiators will have to travel from the U.S. to Pakistan, which is 20 hour -- 20 hour travel.
So we will know, and if they don't travel, then we will know that this thing is unraveling.
SMERCONISH: You heard me say at the outset, one of the other recent developments is that Iran is now signaling it won't transfer its enriched uranium. How does that change the likelihood of a deal? And what does it tell us about where this now stands?
RAVID: I'm not sure this is true. You know, the Iranians say a lot of things. I don't see a scenario where the Iranians don't remove at least some of their highly enriched uranium out of the country. I will be very surprised because I think this is a core U.S. demand. I think there's room for negotiation over it.
Meaning if you have 2,000 kilograms of enriched uranium, you don't have to get all of it out of the country. You can get some of it out of the country, some of it you down blend inside the country. The end result is what matters, that at the end of the day, Iran will not have enriched uranium. Definitely not highly enriched uranium. But I think that everything that has to do with moving material out of the country, this is -- there's a lot of symbolism there, there's a lot of politics there on both sides.
[09:10:00]
The U.S. wants to be able to say, oh, you see, we got them to remove the uranium out of the country. The Iranians want to be able to say, you see, we didn't remove the uranium out of the country. So I think we will see some -- something -- if -- again, if there is a deal, we'll see a solution that both sides will be able to say that they want.
SMERCONISH: Barak, you've reported that to some extent President Trump has been directly in touch with the Iranians. What can you say about that?
RAVID: Well, that's something that Senator Lindsey Graham has been saying over the last two days. White House officials confirm that President Trump was involved, indeed in those negotiations directly. And I think this is connected to the visit that the commander of the Pakistani army, Field Marshal Asim Munir had in Iran. He was there for three whole days, and the sole purpose of this visit was to negotiate. And Munir was there with the Iranian negotiators.
And I think it would be a likely assumption that during those talks, obviously U.S. negotiators were on the line. And I think when the White House says President Trump was directly involved, I wouldn't surprise me if he was also on the line.
SMERCONISH: Can you give me the view from Israel? As you know, President Trump, quote, unquote, "prohibited Israel from further strikes against Lebanon." Are the Israelis, is Prime Minister Netanyahu on board with the path that this is taking, directed by President Trump?
RAVID: Well, first, he doesn't have a choice. You know, Netanyahu and Trump are joined at the hip. After everything Donald Trump did for Benjamin Netanyahu, there's not a lot that Benjamin Netanyahu can do. When Donald Trump tells him, I need you to do this for me. And I think this is what we see with the ceasefire in Lebanon.
Netanyahu tried to stall. He tried to play for time. He tried to drag his feet. At the end of the day, Donald Trump told them, listen, this needs to stop. And it did.
Yesterday, when President Trump posted this statement that Israel is prohibited by the United States to take any military action in Lebanon, I think Netanyahu and his team were quite shocked. They were caught off guard by this post because the understandings that -- I mean, the document with the understandings that the State Department itself published on Thursday said that Israel can take military action against imminent threats, which is not what the president said. And the Israelis asked for clarifications. The White House clarified that what is written in this document still stands. And by the way, today the IDF conducted strikes against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, which shows that, I think at the End of the day, the Israelis are still think that they are -- that they have a green light to conduct strikes against imminent threats in Lebanon.
SMERCONISH: Barak Ravid, we appreciate your reporting. Thank you for being with us.
What are your thoughts at home? Hit me up on social media. I'll read some responses throughout the course of the program.
From the world of Facebook. Michael says now that we're there, finish the job, i.e. get the uranium. But at what cost, lives and money?
Frank, that is what I say. At this stage, I'm trying to put out of my mind the predicate for how we got here. I questioned the imminence of whether there was a threaten of a strike by the Iranians against the United States. We've already, you know, trodden that path. But we're here now and I don't want us leaving with our tail between our legs because I think the objective is worthy and the objective is to preclude Iran from ever getting a nuclear weapon.
So we need to seize or at least put under international control the enriched uranium. And if the president can do that, you know that he hammered the Times and he hammered CNN on Truth Social last night, why won't they give me credit? I'll be the first to give him credit if there are never boots on the ground, if the Strait of Hormuz is open and if the enriched uranium is in safe hands. I'll be the first in line to say job well done, Mr. President.
The Wall Street Journal asked this week, did millennials or boomers have it harder? And had to add then a piece later, sorry, Gen X, we looked at the data and you had it rough, too. Which leads me to today's poll question @smerconish.com, which generation do you think had it the hardest? Baby boomers, Gen X, millennials, Gen Z? We're going to address that.
That's the poll question for you to vote on today.
[09:14:46]
Coming up, President Trump taking questions on Iran, we think, as new incidents in the Strait of Hormuz raise the stakes. We'll take you there right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SMERCONISH: Just this week the Wall Street Journal asked if millennials or boomers had it harder. And then after some pushback, they added, sorry, Gen X, we looked at the data and you had it rough too.
This sort of question of course goes way back. Every generation thinks they faced unprecedented problems. They also believe the generation after them and they'd had it easy. So let's look at the generational struggle with the baby boomers, Gen X, millennials and Gen Z, they each of course have distinct profiles. We'll start with the boomers.
Born from 1946 to 1964, which makes them 62 to 82 years old. They represent the promise, or represented the promise of a post-war world. Now they're the ones looking back. Their president Richard Nixon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD NIXON, 37TH U.S. PRESIDENT: Well, I'm not a crook.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMERCONISH: Their world event, Vietnam, economic milestone, the oil embargo and the gas lines. New technology that they had to confront. Copy machines and a movie they remember, "Jaws."
[09:20:07]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to need a bigger boat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMERCONISH: Hit TV show, "All in the Family." Big song, "Bohemian Rhapsody." Gen X came next, born from 1965 to 1980, which makes them 46 to 61 years old. Odd, but we haven't yet elected one of them to the White House. Their president, Bill Clinton. Their world event, of course, September 11th. Economic milestone, probably the rise of big tech, new technology, PCs. A movie they remember, "The Breakfast Club." Hit TV show, "Friends." Big song, Nirvana, "Smells Like Teen Spirit."
Millennials, born from 1981 to 1996, which makes them 30 to 40, 45 years old. Welcome to the second half of life. Their president, Barack Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, 44TH U.S. PRESIDENT: Yes we can.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMERCONISH: World event, the capture of Osama bin Laden, the killing of Osama bin Laden. Economic Milestone, 2008, the financial crisis and the Great Recession. New technology, smartphones. A movie they remember, "Harry Potter," all of them. Hit TV show, "American Idol." Big song, "Yeah."
And finally, for now, anyway, Gen Z, born from 1997 to 2012, which makes them 14 to 29 years old. You may think you had it rough, but all I can say is enjoy it while you can. Their president, Donald Trump. World event, the COVID pandemic. Economic milestone, the spike in home prices, new technology, AI and a movie they remember, probably "Barbie" so far.
Hit TV show, "Rick and Morty." Big song, "Old Town Road." So which generation has had it the best? Which has had it the worst? Most important, which has the best music?
Which leads me to today's poll question @smerconish.com. Make sure you go and vote, which generation has had it the hardest? Joining me now is Jean Twenge, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University, author of, of course, "iGen" and "Generations."
Professor, welcome back. Thanks so much for being here. With the concentration of wealth among boomers, the perception is, well, they had it the easiest. Is that necessarily true?
JEAN TWENGE, AUTHOR, "GENERATIONS": It is not. For one thing, when they were buying houses in the early 1980s, interest rates on mortgages were 18 percent. So many of them actually had a really hard time in the housing market around that time. The other thing that isn't recognized is how much the economy shifted when they were younger adults from manufacturing to service and white collar jobs. So those who started out in those blue collar and manufacturing jobs ended up having to switch Midstream in their 30s at a time.
It was really hard to do that.
SMERCONISH: I was surprised in the data to see that millennials net worth exceeds that of boomers at this age. Adjusted, of course, for inflation and so forth. Your thoughts? TWENGE: Everybody is surprised to hear that, but that's a conclusion of the Federal Reserve of the United States. They crunched the data. They looked at not just incomes, which actually are at all time highs for younger adults. Something else surprised by, but also at wealth. And what's meaningful about that is you do a wealth calculation that takes into account some of the things that millennials have had to struggle with, like college debt.
So that has that debt on the books, but then also their assets. And one of the biggest reasons why millennials have done so well at wealth building is those who bought houses in the 2010s got the deal of a lifetime. So that was right around the time people were saying, oh, millennials will never be able to buy houses. They'll never catch up to their parents, when actually housing prices were at a lower point than they were, say, like in the last couple of years. So those millennials who bought before about 2020, got a really good deal and now have a lot of home equity, which is one of the reasons why their wealth is higher than boomers at the same age.
SMERCONISH: Boomers and X seems hard to believe now, grew up without the Internet, right? I mean, the context for all four of these generations, I think most important is who had technology and who did not have technology. How does that shape your thought process, Dr. Twenge, as to who's had it the hardest?
[09:25:03]
TWENGE: Yes. So that's really the central premise of my book "Generations" is when you think about what makes generations, what makes living now so completely different than it was for previous generations. The answer to that really is technology. So not just smartphones and social media, but also things like with better medical care now and faster transportation and labor saving devices. And when you put that into the equation, it's interesting because on the one hand you could say especially the pre boomer generations where washing machines weren't even that common, it was really expensive to fly in a plane, commercial air travel barely existed, you know, and for a good amount of the 20th century and you had to, when you did a school project, go to the library, use the card catalog and then find the book.
I bet you remember that. I do. I -- and so --
SMERCONISH: The Dewey -- the Dewey Decimal System, I remember it.
TWENGE: Yes, the Dewey Decimal System, exactly. You know, even stuff like writing to a politician, you had to go look up the address at the library, type the letter, find a stamp in an envelope. So, you know, there's so much -- so many things that are much easier now. Finding information, contacting people.
On the other hand, most boomers and Gen Xers are extremely grateful that they did not grow up in the age of social media in the way that many of their kids did, with all of the pressures of that, with all of the time sink of that, because kids don't hang out anymore. They don't hang out with each other face to face in the way that boomers and Gen Xers did. And that's a real deficit. So in that way Gen Z absolutely has had it harder.
SMERCONISH: Yes. You know the word I'm looking for, they don't mingle. Thirty-second answer from you because that's all I have time for, there's an enormous wealth transfer right now taking place as boomers, as we lose boomers, how is that going to impact the shaping of worldview when many of the younger start to inherit?
TWENGE: Yes, you know, I've thought about this a lot and I think it's not going to have the impact that many people think it's going to because people live longer now. Boomers are the longest lived generation in American history. So when their kids inherit, they're not 30, they're 60. So --
SMERCONISH: Right.
TWENGE: -- yes, it has an impact, but only after they've already built their lives and built a lot of wealth themselves.
SMERCONISH: Dr. Twenge, great to see you. Thank you as always.
Checking in now on some social media reaction from folks who are watching at home. From the world of X -- follow me on X -- millennials. They dealt with nine -- OK, this is who had it the hardest. Millennials. Dealt with 9/11, Iraq, Afghanistan, wars, Great Recession, climate change, social media disinformation, Trump MAGA, pandemic, inflation, income inequality, unaffordable -- wow, this is a hell of a list you're putting together. Trump and MAGA again, now authoritarianism, AI, $39 trillion in debt.
Whoopee Boy, that's a pretty -- that's a pretty compelling case. My vote is for the youngest among us because of the societal -- you've heard me say this before, but it bears repeating, because of the societal disconnect that the Internet has brought upon us. I'm not a Luddite. The Internet's good, going to use Waze, going to use OpenTable tonight, you know, all that sort of stuff. But the lack of in person contact and human experience I think is the biggest problem that we face.
Robert Putnam, "Bowling Alone." You know the pitch. So those -- I feel as Dr. Twenge feels when she said that X and Boomers grew up without the, quote unquote, "benefit of technology," I'm thrilled to have grown up without the Internet. Yes. On balance, I think it was a better experience.
Go vote @smerconish.com. OK. More of your social media reaction lies ahead as well. Answer today's poll question which asks which generation had it the hardest. I can't believe we haven't asked this before.
Boomers, Xers, Millennials, or Gen Z? We'll take a look at what the data tells us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:33:41] SMERCONISH: Social media reaction to the program so far. Paul Johnson, if things remain the way they are now, someday Iran will use a nuclear device. I believe that. That fact worries me more than anything else.
Beautifully said, Paul. That's exactly why I said at the outset of the program that Congress should spend more of its time focused on giving the president an authorization of military use, then reining him in under the war powers. And what? We would leave today with the enriched uranium unaccounted for? No, that would be a mistake.
Forget how we got here. In my view, what's important now is what we do with the situation in which we find ourselves. And if the strait can be open and no boots are on the ground and we leave with some control over the enriched uranium, I will give the president credit for that achievement. Because Iran, the leadership, is dangerous. And their pursuit of a nuclear weapon is a red line.
That's it. That's how we get here and that's how we get home. New social media reaction. What else do we have?
My generation, Baby Boomers. We still have -- OK, this is an answer to the question of who had it the hardest. Of course, we all think we had it the hardest.
My generation, Baby Boomers. We still had the draft, Vietnam, many were welcomed back with hate.
[09:35:00]
That's true and unfortunate. It was also the time to fight for civil rights. We did, though, have the best music.
I agree with that prognostication. Every generation thinks they had it the hardest. I am voting for the youngest among us because of the influence of technology in a -- in a negative way. Make sure you're voting at Smerconish.com on today's poll question.
Up ahead, the U.S. just hit a record low birth rate. So, is this a short term dip or all about a life term shift in priorities?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW BAGLEY, BEHAVIORAL PSYCHOLOGY EXPERT: Most people aren't avoiding kids because they hate the idea of family. They're avoiding them because they're optimizing for the wrong version of happiness.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMERCONISH: We're going to discuss it all with the leading expert in the field. We'll do that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SMERCONISH: The United States just hit a new low. The fertility rate has fallen to its lowest level on record. It's about 1.6 children per female, well below the 2.1 that demographers say is needed to sustain the population.
[09:40:06]
About 3.6 million babies were born in the U.S. last year. That's down from about 4.3 million just 15 years ago. And it's not just a short term dip. It's part of a long term shift.
Survey data show that many young adults are delaying or forgoing parenthood, even as their stated preferences for children has not fallen that much. As you can see that in what young adults say matters to most of them. An NBC poll of young adults shows having children and getting married ranked far below career success, financial stability, and personal goals. So, it's not just that people don't want families, it's that they're making different choices about when or whether to build them.
Joining me now is Melissa Kearney, director of the Aspen Economic Strategy Group, economics professor at the University of Notre Dame, and author of "The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind."
Professor, people here, Notre Dame, they wonder if yours is going to be a moral or an economic view. Which is it and why?
MELISSA KEARNEY, DIRECTOR, ASPEN ECONOMIC STRATEGY GROUP: It's an economic view. I'm not here to pass judgment or, you know, talk about the values of people choosing to get married or have kids. What I do is I study the data about why people are making the choices they make, how government and economic policies can change those choices, and what the implications are for our economy and society.
SMERCONISH: From an economic standpoint, is this necessarily a bad thing that there's such a dip now in the birth rate? People think warming, they think war. Maybe it's -- maybe it's not a good time to bring kids into the world. And as an economist, you would say, what?
KEARNEY: People have been saying, maybe it's not a good time to bring kids into the world. When we started seeing birth rates dip right around the Great Recession, the thing is, it never recovered. The recovery from the Great Recession happened economically. Birth rates didn't cover.
This has been going on for 18 years. This isn't a timing story anymore. This is about the U.S. landing in a low fertility paradigm, much like many countries in Europe and East Asia.
We're now looking at, you know, being a society that's aging with fewer young people going to school, entering the workforce. This poses demographic headwinds for our economic growth and dynamism going forward.
SMERCONISH: Tell me if this is an illustration. I saw data this week that said that most Americans don't have retirement savings. We all know that there's a threat posed in terms of the sustainability for Social Security. So as things move forward, how do we fund that societal safety net? KEARNEY: Yes. Our social insurance system, that sort of taxes young people to pay for the benefits and health care, the consumption and health care of retirees, that whole system needs to be revisited with this inverted population pyramid, where we have aging population. Again, Europe's been dealing with this and the pressures on the social insurance, the health insurance for the elderly, those systems are very, very real.
Now, even if we turned around the birth rate tomorrow, that wouldn't solve the issue of Social Security. But all of the issues that make Social Security and Medicare fiscally unsustainable, those become worse in a population that's increasingly aging with fewer and fewer young people about to enter the workforce.
SMERCONISH: Dr. Kearney, some look at the data and they say, well, this is actually a reflection of women's autonomy, and that's a good thing. Your thought as to how that impacts the subject?
KEARNEY: I think if we're making comparisons about fertility today compared to fertility in the early 20th century or even in the mid- 20th century, that line of argument makes a lot of sense. But the changes we're really talking about are in the past 10 to 15 years.
So it's not that all of a sudden, in the past 10 to 15 years, women entered the workforce or obtained, you know, legal and institutional rights and autonomy they didn't have. This is why it's a bit more of a puzzle. And so, we really want to be asking, why are 20 and 30 year olds today having fewer children than 20 and 30 year olds in the U.S. 10 to 15 years ago? And they're -- you don't these stories about women entering the workforce or women's wages or women's financial autonomy, they don't -- they don't explain those differences.
What do we see has changed, sort of in the past 10 to 15 years, parenting has become ever more intense. Home ownership among young people has been harder to accomplish. Those are the kinds of sort of cohort or generational things that I think might be pushing more young people to delay family formation or to prioritize their leisure time or their career investments, other things in their 20s and 30s. So, we really want to be thinking about trying to understand these much more recent shifts and changes.
[09:45:00]
SMERCONISH: Give me the 30-second answer, unfair to you because it's so complicated. Is there anything that government can do to turn around the data?
KEARNEY: We are -- you know, the U.S. spends a disproportionate amount of money taking care of elderly in this country. If we want more young people to choose parenthood, to invest in forming families, then we need to change our society to be much more helpful to families. Help young people purchase homes, help young people combine career and parenthood. There's a lot we can do to be a more pro-family society.
I don't think that will turn around the birth rates immediately. And I also think that these changes, I say this based on what other countries have tried, these changes can't be incremental. They need to be very, very large and sustained.
SMERCONISH: Dr. Melissa Kearney, thank you for your expertise. Up ahead, continuing breaking news coverage. Another ship hit in the Strait of Hormuz hours after Iranian gunboats opened fire. We'll be getting a live report from Islamabad with the latest.
Also, you still have time to vote on today's poll question at Smerconish.com. Which generation has had it the hardest, Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z?
Sign up for the newsletter while you're there voting, you'll get the work of illustrator Eric Allie, he drew this for us this week, and Rob Rogers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SMERCONISH: President Trump has just signed an executive order at the White House and is now responding to media questions. Let's listen.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is regime change. You call the enforced regime change. But we're talking to them. They wanted to close up the strait again, you know, as they've been doing for years. And they can't blackmail us.
In fact, a lot of the ships are coming up to Texas. I don't know if you know, in Louisiana, the ships are coming up. They got used to it. Maybe they'll keep doing it. It's worked out pretty good.
But it's going actually along very well. And we'll see. But we'll have some information by the end of the day. We're talking to them. And, you know, we're taking a tough stand.
They've killed a lot of people. A lot of our people have been killed. A lot of your fellow soldiers have been killed over the years by Iran, the roadside bomb, Soleimani. I killed Soleimani.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was making these books called "Penetrators." They're making them in Iran, bringing them to Iraq and blasting through the vehicles.
TRUMP: He was the father of the roadside bomb, essentially, and he killed a lot of people. When you see soldiers or others, but soldiers generally walking around with no legs, with no arms, or face that's been smashed, that was Soleimani, it was Iran that did that.
So, we have a much different view on it than other presidents. They've gotten away with murder for 47 years. They're not getting away with it anymore. Does anybody have any questions with the great professionals? Please.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So I wanted to know, is this -- could this potentially ever be available through the V.A.? Because I was talking (INAUDIBLE) one of -- you guys went down to Mexico together. But it's really expensive. And this is another drug that's expensive.
TRUMP: We have the right guy. Oz, let's go. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of veterans need this.
TRUMP: What are you good for this question? They're taking about expense and availability.
MEHMET OZ, ADMINISTRATOR, CENTERS FOR MEDICARE AND MEDICAID SERVICES: So, it spoke to Doug Collins. Obviously, both he -- and he obviously pays for the V.A. and we pay for Medicare, Medicaid, children's health insurance, are very focused on the results that the NIH and FDA are going to offer us.
We have a mechanism of creating models, CMMI, that might be the wise way to go because we can continue to study the impact. This is such a massive shift in how you deliver care. Imagine instead of taking a pill a day for your depression, you go through one treatment, but you have to have few people watching you. It's a very different world so we're working that through. That's why the president -- I think this is the perfect step to get everything rolling to deliver on the promise he made.
TRUMP: What (ph) time (ph) would you say that before you know?
OZ: Well, we could have a CMMI model that we would announce by the end of this year. But the reason I'm not committing to that now is I want to make sure that the FDA and NIH have time, along with the great scientists, to give us a bit more information about how to deliver care.
I'll give you one concrete example for things like -- well, ibogaine is a different story, but you wouldn't want two people in the room during the treatment. That's true for many of these approaches. That's a very different way of delivering medicine.
And so the models that we -- Abe Sutton runs that group for us and has done a great job for the president, that would be probably the fastest way of moving forward and give the V.A. data so they can make wiser decisions, because Doug Collins is very focused on this.
[09:50:07]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's one thing I'd add. There is nothing more expensive right now than the mental health crisis in America. Twenty- one percent of Americans have a diagnosable mental health condition. The leading cause -- excuse me, the second leading cause of death for young adults today is suicide.
Mr. President, antidepressants right now are the most prescribed class of medications in the country. Over 20 percent of women are on an antidepressant.
TRUMP: And is that good in terms of do they work?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's highly problematic research on the fact that over 20 percent of U.S. women are on these drugs that are prescribed for life. We have a mental health crisis and --
TRUMP: Do they work?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, they don't. Me -- I'm on a couple of them and --
TRUMP: And I would not have --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was talking to (INAUDIBLE) when I said -- (INAUDIBLE) but no. It isn't that (INAUDIBLE) for women.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But Mr. President, what you and Secretary Kennedy unlocked is for the first time questioning this system where we spend three times more per capita than any other country in the world, and we are living six, seven years less. We have the highest rates of suicide and depression in the developed world. The incentives of our system --
TRUMP: And by the way, autism, which we're really working hard on, right, Bobby?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have the highest rates of pediatric --
TRUMP: And we're coming up with some pretty amazing findings.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pediatric cancer is the highest rates in the world. We are struggling and we're paying more than any other country. And the power of this executive order is really representative and gives validation to the cries of MAHA moms and the votes of MAHA moms because of the first time it's taking a therapy, that's one time. This is a one time, one time, not a lifetime drug that can change someone's life. And that's the power. And I think that's why the system --
TRUMP: So, the antidepressants, all that we read about and we prescribe to our military, they're not very effective?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a lifetime drug and --
TRUMP: Well, even if it's lifetime, but do they --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at what's happened as we prescribe them -- they're one of the most prescribed medicines --
TRUMP: The numbers are not great.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Perhaps I could jump in from the scientific side.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Mr. President. What's the timeline for those --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on. She wanted to say something.
TRUMP: I'm sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think what's really important about your order is you include -- we really want to understand why these rapid acting treatments work. We need that for every treatment in mental health illnesses. Standard antidepressants, in research, they do work for some people, but certainly not everyone. And if we think of cancer, all other conditions, we have a test to know which treatment --
TRUMP: Right. That's right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- is needed and we don't have that for mental illness. It's guesswork.
TRUMP: This is tough. With that, it either works or it doesn't work and you have the results. For this you don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And so as part of this order, I think, it's really important that we are able to have the investment to understand who does this work for and the test to accompany that. So, thank you for making that possible.
TRUMP: Do you think this could be a big step above antidepressants --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
TRUMP: -- what we're doing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it can be identifying who doesn't respond to an antidepressant straight away, rather than waiting for years, and being able to --
TRUMP: What percentage of people respond positively to antidepressants?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Twenty to 30 percent.
TRUMP: That's not great.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
TRUMP: That's not great. Well, thank you very much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, what's the timeline for those with mental health disorders, substance abuse disorders to readily take advantage of this treatment based upon the executive order that you're signing today?
TRUMP: So I'd like to ask maybe Marty that question.
MARTY MAKARY, FDA COMMISSIONER: Sure. So first of all, right, now it's available on clinical trials. We have not had applications in-house at the FDA. There was one that came in under the Biden administration. It was kicked out and not accepted. We now have three applications that are imminent, and we'll be issuing vouchers next week.
The fastest FDA approval was 42 days during the HIV epidemic. On our National Priority Voucher Program under President Trump, we're getting -- we are now down to that timeframe on a routine basis instead of a year. In my opinion, we need the same level of urgency we had with HIV for PTSD and depression and anxiety and our mental health disorder, and cancer, and heart disease and so many other conditions.
So, you're going to see decisions out from the FDA later this summer as soon as we get the applications. Thank you.
TRUMP: That's great. That's great.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, I like --
TRUMP: I really like that answer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Mr. President.
TRUMP: Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then in regards to the timing of the executive order, was there not enough known about this treatment a year ago or five years ago or eight years ago to sign the executive order that you signed?
TRUMP: So do you want to answer that question? Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll just add in 2016 --
[09:55:00]
SMERCONISH: President Trump, having just signed an executive order on a psychedelic drug that's used abroad to treat PTSD and commenting on the mental health crisis in the United States.
On our continuing coverage of the situation at the Strait of Hormuz, let's go to CNN's Nic Robertson. He's in Islamabad. Nic, what do we know as to what's happening right now in the strait?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, interesting as well, listening to the president saying that he's not going to be held hostage by Iran. He did say that he thought things were going along well. I think everyone thought about five or six hours ago.
Since then, the Iranians have appeared to attack two shipping vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. One tanker just off the coast of Oman, so very close to the Strait of Hormuz, said it was -- said two IRGC, Iranian gunboats, came at it and didn't talk to it on the radio, literally opened fire on this tanker. The crew and the vessel are reported safe.
And then about two hours later, in the same area, an unidentified projectile hit a container ship. Some of the containers damaged. No fire, no environmental damage. But this comes just hours, just hours after the Iranian said they were reversing their opening of the Strait of Hormuz.
We've heard a lot of pushback from hardliners in Iran saying that that move essentially was too soft and that they are not responding well to the fact that President Trump said that the U.S. blockade would remain in place. Iran accuses the United States here of not following through on its obligations on the ceasefire.
So we've gone from a point of early this morning where things looked like they were moving along well, talks getting close, people talking about potential of talks here in Islamabad in a couple of days, Iranians upping the ante. And I think perhaps that what -- that gets to what the president said he's not going to be held hostage. And he said he's expecting an update on the situation later today.
SMERCONISH: Nic, how much of this has to do with the situation in Lebanon, with Israel, or are these events concentrated based on concerns over the strait itself?
ROBERTSON: Absolutely. The Iranians opening the Strait of Hormuz was based on the fact that they saw President Trump and the Pakistani negotiators, the field marshal here, Munir, get this ceasefire in Lebanon. That was a big part of moving things forward.
But the Iranian they then did a quid pro quo and opened the Strait of Hormuz because, of course, they wanted that ceasefire in Lebanon. They thought there would be a positive response from the White House. That's what they're saying.
What we've witnessed is a negative response in Iran to President Trump's response. We've even seen internal tensions in Iran between the hardliners and the moderates. The moderates are the ones who are in the negotiations. The hardliners have been saying that -- had been threatening to reclose the Strait of Hormuz.
They've gone ahead and done that. Their gunboats appear to be attacking maritime vessels, tankers, container ships close to the Strait of Hormuz. So the two things are interlinked. But we're now back to the bigger issue here of U.S.-Iran tensions. Do we -- the talks or does this latest escalation at the Strait of Hormuz, does it scuttle all of that?
SMERCONISH: The president said that we'll know more later today, and I imagine that will be the case. Nic Robertson, in Islamabad, thank you for that report.
To everybody else, time to see how you responded to today's poll at Smerconish.com, on a much lighter subject, perhaps. Which generation had it the hardest, Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, or Gen Z?
We've had 30,679 votes so far, and Boomers are, quote, unquote, "winning." It's probably the Boomers who are voting. Here's my -- here's my theory. Boomers followed by Gen Zers. Can you put that back up? I just want to make a quick observation.
My theory is that most of those who voted so far, we'll leave the poll question up, are probably Boomers themselves. So they're saying, oh, we've had it the hardest, the 42 percent, followed by the Gen Zers. Guess who's voting for Gen Zers? Gen Zers are voting for Gen Zers, and so too are Boomers, because the Boomers who are not voting for their own generation are thinking about their kids and they're voting for them, but not in a good way. We'll leave it up, keep voting at Smerconish.com. Do I have time, Catherine, for a social media response? Good. What do we got? Yes. Come on.
I know I had it really easy. I'm a 65 late Boomer. I went to -- boy, you're verbose too, aren't you? I went to college when it was affordable and most of my friends took five years because they changed majors along the way. Health care was affordable. Government actually worked. Kids today are really struggling and it's only getting worse.
Well, look, it's -- Kenneth, it's been a busy hour of breaking news, but we dipped into the White House.
[10:00:00]
And what was the president talking about? He was talking about signing an executive order for a psychedelic to be used to treat PTSD. And while he was being briefed on that, his cabinet and health officials around him were explaining to him, based on data, the mental health crisis faced in the United States. And I agree with them. So, I think that's the explanation.
If you missed any of today's program, you can also listen wherever you get your podcasts. We thank you for watching and we'll see you next week.
