Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Today, Critical Primary Races in Florida, Alaska, Wyoming; Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) Renews Attacks on Trump, Surrounded by Enablers; Soon, Day Two of Testimony in Tupac Shakur Murder Trial. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired August 18, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: It's Election Day again in America. This primary go-round happening in Florida, Wyoming, Alaska, crucial tests for the future of Democrats and Republicans alike as these races set the stage for the November midterms.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A gang war and a bitter plot for revenge. Prosecutors lay out their case against the man they say orchestrated the murder of Tupac Shakur.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Police are asking for help this morning to track down a creepy doll mask-wearing suspect terrorizing people in Philadelphia now.

I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman and Sara Sidner. This is CNN News Central.

SIDNER: Just a bit, three states holding primaries today, Election Day in America, and moments ago, the polls opened, and the one drawing the most attention, Florida. Several races there are putting President Trump's grip on his adopted home state to the test, chief among them, the Republican race to replace Governor Ron DeSantis.

Trump has endorsed Byron Donalds, but he faces a crowded GOP field, and there are several key Congressional races we're monitoring in Florida, including two prominent Democrats, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Jared Moskowitz, running in newly redrawn districts. Moskowitz faces his own test from the left, a Democratic socialist challenger hoping to ride this year's progressive wave to victory there. While in Alaska, voters have a wide field to choose from in the state Senate race, including not one but two candidates, both named Dan Sullivan. John?

BERMAN: All right. With us now, Margaret Talev, senior contributor for Axios. Margaret, let's just start with Alaska because it's the quirkiest in a day of very quirky races here. President Trump just put out on social media a short time ago, Alaska, be careful. Vote for the real Dan Sullivan. Of course, Dan Sullivan is the incumbent Republican in Alaska. There is another person named Dan Sullivan running, but that might not be the most interesting thing in Alaska is that it's in play for Democrats this year. What's going on? MARGARET TALEV, SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR AXIOS: It is a really interesting race, and, John, part of the reason it's interesting is because I think so many Americans are so kind of tired of the entrenched two- party system, and Alaska does offer a bit of a different twist because it ends up being kind of a non-partisan primary the way they do it. It's the top four advance to the general election. And so you've got you know, Democrats and Republicans, everybody jump in the pool.

And so you've got Mary Peltola, former congresswoman who's a Democrat, who's got a big following in the state and is popular. You've got Alaska's independent streak. It does have an independent streak among voters. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, but who has had to do the independent route as sort of testament to that.

And then you've got this race where you've got Dan S. Sullivan, follow closely if you're in Alaska and you're up early, Dan S. Sullivan, who's the incumbent Republican senator, and then Dan J. Sullivan, who's a retired teacher also running as a Republican also on this ballot. If you end up in a situation where you get two Dan Sullivans and a Mary Peltola emerging on that top four primary ballot, all of a sudden you have a general election contest where if voters aren't paying really close attention, which guess what, voters often aren't, do you remember the middle initial of your Senate candidate? It could end up with a really interesting general election.

And so it's that plus a lot of nationalized dissatisfaction with President Trump and the economy. And so, yes, people are watching Alaska.

BERMAN: Yes. And if you don't want to get into the minutiae of the J versus S initial, the important things to pay attention to might be, you know, oil prices today. We can take a live look at oil prices right now. I understand they did cross $90 a barrel again overnight. You can see Brent crude up over 90 for the first time since July. This is one number that might have an impact on the midterms, plus new Reuters/Ipsos polling showing with the president at his lowest approval rating since he's ever been president, like 33 percent approval, which is just very low. This is the environment Republicans are running in. J or S might not matter.

TALEV: That's exactly right.

[07:05:00]

And that 33 percent number in that Ipsos/Reuters poll is worth watching exactly for the reasons you said. It's the lowest number in this poll's tracking in term two, but also matches the lowest number of term one back from 2017, okay? So, this is historic problems, and it tracks with the decline of what was never a robust support for the war in Iran.

And what Americans are saying in this poll and others is number one, they're just concerned this war is going to drag on for months or more than a year, and number two, they're concerned about the economic implications, including affordability. So, you see this putting pressure in Alaska, but you also see it putting pressure in Florida, which is like a 12-ring circus. There are so many interesting races to follow in Florida.

Florida's been -- when I covered Florida first in the 1990s, it was actually controlled by Democrats, but it was becoming a swing state. Yes. It's been a Republican state for years, Florida's a red state. But in this election, some thought that may not be a given anymore.

BERMAN: Margaret Talev, or should I say Margaret X. Talev, I assigned you a middle initial to differentiate you -- between the other Margaret Talev we're going to have on at 8:00. Thank you so much for being with us.

BOLDUAN: What would her X middle name be?

BERMAN: Aloysius. I don't know.

BOLDUAN: That was like the hardest trivia question.

BERMAN: Yes, exactly.

BOLDUAN: Margaret's like, guys, seriously, move on.

Okay. A new political feud is exploding on the scene now. President Trump versus Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff kicked up to another notch last night. Last night, Ossoff, a potential 2028 contender, launched quite another attack on the president. This is hours after the president called him a Pee-Wee Herman lookalike.

This fight, though, starting off over the weekend as Ossoff took a jab at Donald Trump, and during that jab mentioned his close aide, Natalie Harp.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JON OSSOFF (D-GA): Well, I've heard this particular aide referred to as his security blanket, and I think we could say that about any number of the senior aides in the White House. They're not telling him what he needs to hear. They're telling him what he wants to hear. And the president, surrounded by enablers in the West Wing, is playing golf, is trading stock, and is decorating his ballroom. It's a disgrace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: CNN's Betsy Klein live this morning for us at the White House. You can see how both men could politically benefit from this fight, for sure. What are you hearing about this now?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Kate, this all started over the weekend when Senator Jon Ossoff, a Georgia Democrat, invoked the name of this little-known White House aide during a rally. Listen to his comments here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OSSOFF: He doesn't want to do the job. He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the emir of Qatar.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Now, he is referring there to Natalie Harp. That is President Trump's personal assistant. And it's unclear really if that message translated, it's very inside baseball, to that rally audience. However, Ossoff has subsequently come under fire for what some have said are sexist remarks and what he may have been insinuating there, and it clearly struck a nerve with this White House.

We first heard from Communications Director Steven Cheung who referred to Ossoff in personal terms as, quote, a biggest cuck loser in politics. And then Davis Ingle, a White House spokesman, also with his official statement calling him a feminine theater kid.

Our colleague, Kristen Holmes, asked the president directly about this. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yesterday, Jon Ossoff said he'd rather travel with your aide, Natalie Harp, and build the ballroom than do your job as president. What is your response to Jon Ossoff.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: You mean Pee-Wee Herman? Pee-Wee Herman lookalike? No, I would much rather do other things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Now, this name-calling really underscores just how closely the White House is watching Ossoff, who is running for his second term against Congressman Mike Collins, who is a very close Trump ally. Ossoff, for his part, has generated some 2028 presidential buzz, and this could have midterm reverberations. There was a Fox News poll out in June that showed Ossoff up about 13 points in this race, but strategists widely expect this race to tighten.

And what's unclear right now is whether President Trump could impact this race financially through his MAGA Inc. PAC, the possibility of that PAC potentially bolstering its spending due to this feud. Kate?

BOLDUAN: All right. Betsy Klein, let's see where this goes next. It's good to see you. Thank you so much. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Breaking this morning, the cost of oil, we are keeping an eye on it because it is going up, surging to its highest level since July.

And jurors heard the defendant's own words in the murder of Tupac Shakur, several prosecution witnesses detailing the night he was shot, with one even connecting the defendant to another famous murdered rapper.

[07:10:03]

What we can expect from witnesses on the stand in day two of the trial that is 30 years in the making.

And a huge fuel tank explosion rattles a neighborhood and sends flames and dark smoke shooting into the sky. The one in a million event that caused this scene to happen.

Those stories and more ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: Day two of testimony set to get underway soon in the Tupac Shakur murder trial in Vegas after a busy first day. Defendant Duane Davis accused of orchestrating the drive-by shooting that killed the hip-hop legend in Las Vegas in 1996.

Now, witnesses gave jurors a look into the chaotic hours right after the shooting.

[07:15:04]

A former Vegas police officer who rode in the ambulance with an injured Tupac Shakur took the stand Monday, and she said he was asked, Shakur, who shot him?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARRY DALE, FORMER LAS VEGAS METROPOLITAN POLICE OFFICER: He was still talking and I was trying to, I was trying to convince him to tell me the name of whoever his assailants were.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And did he ever respond?

DALE: Yes, he responded, no, we'll take care of it, so something like that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said, no, we'll take care of it?

DALE: We'll take care of it, something like that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that's the only thing you were able to gather from Mr. Shakur?

DALE: Yes I couldn't get him to talk to me any further than that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Joining me now, CNN Legal Analyst and Criminal Defense Attorney Joey Jackson. So, Tupac Shakur, in his own words according to the detective, no, I'm not going to say who it is, we'll take care of it, but we have the defendant saying that he was involved. Give us a sense of what stood out to you on day one, because there are quite a few things that jumped out from the very beginning of this trial.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Just a few things, Sara. Good morning to you. But I think the overarching picture in my view, is no identification, right? Because at the end of the day, prosecutors, no matter what you say -- and they said a lot, okay, let's jump into what they said that did stand out. They talked about this issue of retaliation, and I like that because prosecutors are establishing the motivation.

Now, to be clear, prosecutors never, as an element of murder, have to show why you did it, but I think inquiring minds always want to know. And when there's little evidence, as here, physical evidence, right, you want to lean into what would be the basis, the purpose, the reason of why Keffe D, the defendant on trial, Mr. Davis, would've done that.

So, I like that, and that stood out, the retaliation, but it doesn't stand out more than the no identification. And what do I mean by that? I mean that, yes, the second thing that stand out, of course, is the confession they played, what they're calling a confession that prosecutors played, when Keffe D met with law enforcement in 2008 and sung like a canary with respect to what he was doing, his involvement with the gun, securing the white Cadillac, handing the gun off to his nephew, all that big, right?

But at the end of the day, you got to place him there. And when you talk about the issue of chaos, and you have police, you know, testifying about what was what, there's a lot of smoke. I see smoke. That's the other thing that stood out to me. It was really smoky yesterday, Sara. But it wasn't blazing on fire with respect to a witness saying, you know what, like, Ms. Stokes, I was in the car behind Tupac. We were following him to a club. It was me and three of my girlfriends. And that would be a witness, the critical moment. And did you see Mr. Davis in that other car? Yes. And where is he? Right there. That didn't happen, and that would've been critical.

And, of course, what you just played was a big deal because this was the biker cop, right? He was the biker cop. So, he actually stopped the car, interestingly enough, Sara, a couple of minutes before that, and let them go because the -- I guess the license plate on the back wasn't there. And then later he saw that there was this shooting, went up, followed him in the ambulance, and that would've been the critical time for Tupac, and, again, I started on I.D., I'll end on I.D., to say, it was Davis and his crew. He said nothing.

So, what stood out, a lot of things going on yesterday, for sure, but the fact that there was not a specific identification notwithstanding prosecutor's whole theory, you could agree with Davis. He said it. He confessed to it. I want to see somebody tell me they saw him do it.

SIDNER: And that's going to be difficult because the detective who investigated the case said everybody scattered when it came to witnesses at the time, and you got to question whether or not they've been able to find any of those witnesses now.

Joey Jackson, it is a pleasure. Thank you for going through that. The drama is starting very early on in this trial.

Full coverage of the trial with Laura Coates starts today at 11:30 A.M. Eastern. You can scan the Q.R. code on the screen or watch on cnn.com/tupactrial or the CNN app. John?

BERMAN: All right, new data, radical shift in the number of kids in kindergarten opting out of vaccine. What does this mean for the growth of things like measles as they head back to school this fall?

And a terrifying warning from police, a masked suspect is chasing and attacking people, asking one, quote, are you ready to die?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BOLDUAN: More students than ever before in the U.S. are going without vaccines normally required to attend school. The CDC just published new data showing that 4.2 percent of kindergartners received an exemption for at least one vaccine last year, last school year. That's a record, even as vaccination rates among school-aged children have been on the decline for years. The share of students now with an exemption is twice as high as it was a decade ago.

CNN's Meg Tirrell has long been tracking this. She's here with me now. Meg, tell us more about what this data shows.

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And so what we really see here is there are two different kinds of exemptions. There are medical exemptions and non-medical exemptions for these vaccines that are required for school entry. And as you can see, this is medical exemptions. Those have really remained flat at about 0.2 percent over the last decade.

What we've seen rise are these non-medical exemptions, or in some states referred to as religious exemptions, for vaccines. So, now we're up to 4 percent. That's up from 3.4 percent last year. What that means is that kids are not getting that coverage for required vaccines, and you can see it really varies dramatically by state.

And what you really worry about, particularly for something like measles, where you want to keep vaccination rates at least 95 percent to prevent this very infectious virus from spreading is that these darker blue states are the ones that have at least 5 percent of kids opting out, or parents opting their children out, of at least one required vaccine for school.

And so you can see we have a real patchwork of what things look like, and this, of course, has resulted in a continuing decline in vaccination rates.

[07:25:00]

This is MMR, measles, mumps, and rubella, and you can see now we're down to 92.4 percent in the most recent school year's worth of data. And the last time we were above that 95 percent goal was before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, we heard from the CDC about these data yesterday, and they say that overall vaccination rates among kindergartners remain high, in their words. The latest data shows a 0.1 percent decline. It was a percentage point decline in vaccination coverage among children entering kindergarten. They say CDC continues to encourage parents to discuss vaccination options with their doctors. But, of course, what this has ended up in is a record high number of measles cases.

We're at above 2,500 for the year so far, surpassing last year's record, which, of course, was the highest year for measles cases in the U.S. in 35 years.

BOLDUAN: And the president issued another executive order just last week having to do with vaccines. How is that -- and this all has obviously came before that. How does that impact this?

TIRRELL: Right. And so it's important to note that while that is a federal executive order, vaccine policy for schools is set by the states.

BOLDUAN: Yes. And states have -- well, there's continuity between, but the states have their -- every state has different rules for what's required and what's required for exemptions as well.

TIRRELL: That's right, they do. And so you have heard from a number of states that have said, this doesn't change anything for us. And, increasingly, as the Trump administration has upended vaccine policy from the federal level, you've seen a number of states say that they're not going to rely on the CDC and its outside advisers for vaccines anymore for vaccine policy guidance.

So, all of these states and colors here are ones that are saying that they're breaking from the CDC. And some of them are breaking in different ways. That's why for the different colors. But what they're increasingly relying on are outside groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, which, of course, put out a statement on that executive order saying there's no new evidence to justify these significant changes to childhood immunization guidance.

Dozens of studies involving millions of people show there is no link between vaccines and autism. They go on to say delaying or skipping shots is risky, especially as measles continues to spread and children go back to school.

And that's really what the worry is with this executive order. Even if it doesn't change things from a policy standpoint, it's going to confuse people, maybe make them think that these are not available anymore, and that is what folks are really concerned about.

BOLDUAN: All right. Meg, thank you so much for your reporting on this.

TIRRELL: Thanks.

BOLDUAN: John?

BERMAN: All right, the breaking news. Check out the price of oil, up over $90 a barrel for the first time since July. Maybe the last thing Republican candidates are looking for as they race toward the midterms.

And the state trial of now admitted CEO killer Luigi Mangione is postponed. Could double jeopardy keep it from happening altogether? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:00]