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Northern Hemisphere's Best Spots to View Eclipse; Crowley Narrowly Defeats Democratic Socialist Hong in Wisconsin Governor Primary; Trump Speaks About Elaborate, Secret Plane Swap in Turkey; ICE Plans to Spend Up to $200 Million on Electrical Shock Gloves for Agents; State Department Asking Embassies to Operate with Reduced Staff in Gulf Region. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired August 12, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Allison Chinchar here with me now. She's got on her Eclipse outfit, which she doesn't get to wear all the time.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We do not get to wear this all the time. So this is a very special occasion. I'm excited.

And yes, I know a lot of the focus on this eclipse is really over Europe, but it doesn't mean that people in the U.S. won't get a chance to see at least something. So here's kind of the breakdown again. The farther north into the northeast you are, the better chance you have.

So places like, say, the Cape and Massachusetts, Maine, these are going to be the areas where you have the highest chance to see it if we don't have too much cloud cover or even some rain showers kind of hindering because there are going to be some of those out there across the Midwest and into the northeast today. We zoom in a little bit closer. You can see a lot of them in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York.

So that could in turn cause some issues as we go into the afternoon hours, which is when it should peak for those in the eastern time zone. Here's a look at what we're talking about. So the peak, the best that you're going to see is going to be in this black row here.

So say, for example, Halifax, Nova Scotia, about 3 p.m. is the peak time there. Boston, right about 1:55 p.m. local time. Philadelphia, about 1:53.

So again, there's still a chance that you could see something as long as we don't have too many showers or cloud cover there. Obviously going to be a much better shot at seeing this over portions of Spain, especially around Mallorca. Here are some of the key spots, Reykjavik in Iceland.

Yes, you're going to get that eclipse. However, we could be contending with a lot of cloud cover there. The much better conditions are going to be in Zaragoza and Valencia, but it is going to be hot there, Sara, very hot. SIDNER: You mean to tell me I came to Atlanta and now I'm going to miss the eclipse because I could have seen it better when I was in New York?

CHINCHAR: Could have seen just a little bit more.

SIDNER: All right, well, I'll just watch it on TV. Good times. Thank you so much, Allison.

All right, join Boris Sanchez and Brianna Keilar for special live coverage -- so you can see it on TV -- of the total solar eclipse today at 1 o'clock eastern on CNN and on the app. A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The breaking news this morning, the major upset in the Wisconsin governor's primary and the major setback for the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.

For the first time, President Trump confirms the operation that had him hiding in a catering truck because of a threat to Air Force One. CNN has new reporting on the senior officials he left behind on the plane.

And we're standing by for a brand new report on inflation. After that weak jobs report, what will we learn about the relative strength of the economy?

Kate is out today. I'm John Berman with Sara Sidner, and this is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

Breaking news. This wasn't settled until just a few hours ago. A big upset and maybe a sign of the limits for the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. CNN now projects that David Crowley has narrowly, oh, so narrowly defeated Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong in that state's race to be the nominee for governor there. The margin as of a few minutes ago was just about 3,200 votes.

Hong was hoping to capitalize on a string of progressive victories this summer. Still, she had been seen as more controversial than some other progressive candidates. She was not endorsed by Bernie Sanders or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

We are expecting to hear from the now nominee Crowley later this morning. So we are standing by for that. And he now faces Republican Tom Tiffany in the November general election.

Let's go to CNN's Jeff Zeleny, who has not slept much, live in Madison this morning. I will note, Dave, I mean, Jeff, I was on TV last night and the margin was like several hundred votes. And then just after I went off air, Francesca Hong actually went up by about a few hundred votes.

This thing was a nail-biter.

JEFF ZELENY, CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It certainly was, John. Good morning. And when she went up, really, for one of the only times in the evening, I was at her election night headquarters, the crowd went crazy.

They thought that this was the moment she was going to overturn things. But that did not happen. And boy, what a comeback this was for David Crowley.

He's the Milwaukee County executive who dropped out of the race on July 8th, got back into the race 10 days later, and went on for this narrow, narrow victory over Francesca Hong. Now, she is a 37-year-old Democratic Socialist. She's a member of the General Assembly right here in Madison.

And she was really trying to tap into this demand for change. And, John, as we talked to so many voters, they really liked her a lot. They thought she was inspiring.

But there were many questions about electability. That's often hanging over elections. But in this case, it seemed more acute.

There's no doubt about that. But when she addressed her supporters last evening, she said she's not going away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANCESCA HONG, (D) WISCONSIN GOV. CANDIDATE: We have built something that will change politics forever. The work we have done will be remembered forever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:05:00]

ZELENY: And there is no doubt that she built a progressive movement, but she also had many stumbles and many reversals. She had to walk back some previous statements about defunding the police, some other things about canceling Thanksgiving as well.

But at the end of the day here, I'm not sure that this race turned on any of that, except the electability argument more broadly here. So she vowed that she would campaign with her rival if he was to win. We have not yet heard from her this morning, but we have no reason to expect that she would not to do so.

She did talk about the Republican last evening in her speech. Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany, he won his primary last evening. Now, this race will, of course, become a one between Tiffany and David Crowley.

But, John, a remarkable comeback here and certainly an interesting data point in a long-running summer of progressive wins. Wisconsin, at least here, the establishment, fought back -- John.

BERMAN: Yes, bucking the trend there. I will note it's possible that there were a lot of people who either changed their minds or were late deciders here. People are going to talk about how the polls were off and they were, but it's possible there were a lot of late decisions made. You saw that.

ZELENY: Undecided for sure.

BERMAN: And then one other point I'll make. I think people had countered out David Crowley so much here. I've been mislabeling him as a Milwaukee City Councilman all morning long. He was a county executive.

I think people haven't even learned really about him yet. He was a relative unknown. Jeff Zeleny, you do amazing work.

ZELENY: He almost got Walker's seat.

BERMAN: There you go. And he served for several decades in Wisconsin. Jeff Zeleny, thank you very much. Sara.

SIDNER: Thanks so much, John Berman.

Breaking this morning, new details on the threat that prompted U.S. officials to concoct that elaborate, covert plane-switching operation to fly the president out of Ankara, Turkey last month. The source confirms to CNN that a specific threat to Air Force One from a shoulder-fired missile emerged on the final day of the NATO summit.

U.S. officials found it credible enough. They believe the president would be in danger if he flew out on either the old Air Force One or the new Qatari-donated jet. Here's what the president had to say about all this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's only up to the Secret Service. I just follow what they'd like to do. So I go by Secret Service and the military.

They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane, equal safety, but they wanted me to do it. So I do it. I do what they say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: CNN's Kevin Liptak has brand-new reporting for us this morning. What are you learning, Kevin?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, and it's interesting what we're learning about what led to this scramble to develop this very elaborate ruse. Officials detecting what they viewed to be as a very specific threat against Air Force One by a shoulder- fired missile while the president was on the ground there in Ankara. There was enormous risk in their view on the president's life.

If he departed the country in either the Qatar-donated jet that he flew there on or on the legacy Air Force One that was part of this deception plan that they put together. And behind-the-scenes officials from the military, from the Secret Service, all really scrambling to put together this deception that was carried out on the tarmac of the Ankara Airport. And it is interesting to listen to the president last night, both confirming at least the broad contours of what this plan looked like, but also in a lot of ways trying to downplay the subterfuge, the president kind of shrugging off the idea that this whole other plane that was filled with members of his staff, with military, with journalists, was put into the air to act essentially as a decoy.

And in fact, the president suggesting that it was the plane that he was on, even though no one knew he was on it, that was in fact the less safe of the two aircraft. Listen to what he said there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The plane that I flew on was a greater risk. I think it was a greater risk because that would be the plane I think that we -- that they would be more likely to go for.

I have a lot of threats. I have a lot of threats that you don't know about. Any consequential president has a lot of threats.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where you worried about a shoulder fired missile?

TRUMP: I don't worry about anything, to be honest. Whatever it is. You know my attitude? Whatever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: Now we do now know a little bit more about who is left behind on that old legacy Air Force One. It included two cabinet secretaries, the Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. There are other White House officials as well who flew on that plane without President Trump to that airbase in Britain where the president linked up with the Qatar plane.

At this point, we don't know exactly who joins the president, both in the catering truck and in the smaller plane that he used to get out of Turkey. The White House isn't disclosing those details -- Sara.

[08:10:00]

SIDNER: Some of those details will certainly be kept secret to keep the president safe. Kevin Liptak, though, there are a lot of questions about those who were on the plane that was the potential target and why they were told nothing and why it took off. Lots of questions that Congress also would like to ask -- John.

BERMAN: All right, brand new reporting this morning on how the government is shelling out tens of millions of dollars to equip ICE agents with electrical shock gloves.

And the U.S. embassies in the Middle East preparing to operate with reduced staff. This amid the ongoing war with Iran.

And a toddler strapped to a car seat, rescued from a smoke filled home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:15:00]

SIDNER: New this morning. ICE agents and officers may soon be using a new tool in encounters. Gloves that deliver electric shocks. The manufacturer says these gloves are meant to de-escalate situations.

You see them being demonstrated here. According to a notice published this week by the Department of Homeland Security, ICE is planning to spend an estimated $10 to $20 million to purchase these devices.

Compliant Technologies makes the gloves and in 2024 a distributor said the way the technology is used isn't capable of causing injury, adding, quote, we usually get compliance within three seconds. This news comes as ICE agents are facing scrutiny over what critics are calling aggressive and dangerous tactics. And as the Trump administration is pushing for a quota to make 2,000 arrests per day.

DHS did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment on this story. Joining me now, CNN senior national security analyst, Juliette Kayyem. I mean, the first and obvious question is what do you think about having this as another tool?

Obviously, we have seen, you know, police officers around the country using tasers. There have been some issues with those. But what do you think about these gloves and the possibility that ICE will be using these during detentions?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, the gloves, in theory, and G.L.O.V.E. is for Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter. So it's glove. The gloves generically are a tool.

So, like, you know, you put them on. There's sort of an on off switch. So you're so if you touch someone, they may not feel it.

When you turn it on, they're going to get a voltage that's described as sort of an intense bee sting. They're not supposed to do it for longer than 15 seconds. So this may be helpful.

And I will say that the devices have mostly been used, at least from the public record -- the company is not speaking now -- at least from the public record in confined situations, a jail. That may make sense because there's really no freedom of movement.

Go forward to ICE and where we are now. This is asking for intense trouble for the American public. ICE is not known for de-escalation.

The rules of engagement for ICE are not understood. And with this mandate from the White House of 200 -- 2,000 arrests a day, you now have sort of issued ICE to sort of go around, touch people and zap them and say that they're not compliant. We know ICE -- I'm going to be direct here.

We know ICE lies. They've been shown to lie.

SIDNER: They have.

KAYYEM: And so this could be a real danger for the American public.

SIDNER: They have been shown to lie in court. And so, you know, judges have made that very plain and clear.

I do want to ask you about, because we've talked about this before, but with this extra tool, when you consider the idea that there is a quota, most departments have gotten rid of these, right? I mean, this was a whole big thing with law enforcement many, many decades ago.

And now that it's back for ICE and ICE only, generally speaking, what does this do to law enforcement agents when they have this thing sitting over their head that, oh, we need to get 2,000 per day?

KAYYEM: And they have billions and billions of dollars authorized to do so. So it's the combination of the mandate with the resources that has become the sort of scary aspect of ICE for most of the American public. And Sara, I'm so glad that you raised this.

People often ask me, like, how do you reform ICE? We have to abolish it. Look, America needs an enforcement agency and one that's interior enforcement agency.

We have unlawful immigrants in the country. The White House promised that they would go after the worst of the worst. That is so clearly not true anymore.

If you ask me what is the one thing that needs to be done to reform ICE, to make it an effective and lawful law enforcement agency that has a mandate that is legitimate, it would be this quota. This quota is a political quota. It is not an operational quota.

It's coming from Stephen Miller and Donald Trump and says 2,000. We need 2000. What that means is that senior managers are then pushing that down to the operational level.

And then that means that these guys and women who have been onboarded with less training, less support, fewer rules of engagement are now deployed to satisfy a number. So giving them a new tool is dangerous with this mandate.

SIDNER: Juliette Kayyem, it is always a pleasure to talk through these issues with you. They are big issues and they're not going away. So we will be talking a lot more about this in the coming days.

Thank you so much.

All right. We're standing by this morning for the release of a key inflation report and what it might tell us about the state of our economy.

[08:20:00]

Plus, the White House journalists now pushing for safeguards after President Trump's secret plane swap in Turkey, which left them on a plane that was a potential target for Iran. We'll talk about it ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: New this morning, sources tell CNN that the State Department is asking U.S. embassies across the Middle East to make contingency plans to keep operating with a reduced staff. Now, non-emergency personnel and family members were ordered to leave nearly every diplomatic post in the region shortly after the war with Iran began in late February. But this latest development highlights the fact that the State Department doesn't seem to expect to return to normal operations anytime soon.

CNN senior reporter Jennifer Hansler at the State Department. What are you learning about this?

JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER, NATIONAL SECURITY: Well, that's right, John. According to my sources, the State Department has asked embassies that are already on what's called ordered departure, meaning only emergency personnel remained on the ground, to come up with plans for what's called restricted operations.

[08:25:00]

Which is that continued smaller footprint of personnel that are on the ground in each country. And now all this comes at the same time as the State Department has increasingly allowed diplomats who were displaced from the Middle East to do what's called a curtailment, which is ending their assignments a little early. Taken together, this does indicate that the State Department does not believe that it is likely to be able to return to its full normal staffing at a number of these embassies anytime in the near future.

Under State Department rules, they are required after six months to move from ordered departure to either restricted operations or back to normal functioning. Now, these plans have not been finalized yet, the sources said, but once they are, they may add a little bit of clarity to what has been nearly six months of uncertainty for diplomats and their family members. Ahead of the start of the war against Iran in late February, the State Department had not moved most of its embassies at all in terms of their staffing or presence there.

However, within weeks, as these embassies came under attack by Iran, they moved into what's called ordered departure for places like Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates, meaning that family members and non-emergency personnel had to leave the region and return to the United States.

But that's caused a lot of uncertainty because they didn't know when they would be coming back, meaning in terms of housing, schooling, things like this. They didn't know if they could make long-term commitments. And a number of them have now decided to just make those decisions now to stay.

With the school year coming up, they have to make these choices. As one diplomatic spouse told me, quote, "We've had evacuations in various parts of the world, but this is different in that there's such a large portion of people from one part of the world with so many people coming back to one spot. We had no idea when we walked out of our house in March that we not only wouldn't be returning in six months, but now the reality is we won't be returning at all."

Now, the State Department said they do not comment on specific contingency plans, but they said security of their personnel is paramount -- John.

BERMAN: A reminder we're dealing with real people with real lives here, but also a reminder that sometimes things just do not go as expected or planned. Jennifer Hansler, really interesting reporting. Thank you very much.

Also, I have new CNN reporting this morning on how the administration is using the Department of Homeland Security to pressure state and local election officials in the pursuit of evidence of voter fraud.

And this morning we are thinking of Bonnie Tyler. A total eclipse is coming where you will need to be to see it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:00]