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Interview with Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA): Democratic Socialist Wave Put to the Test in Primary Elections; Trump Halts Talks with Iran Signaling New Approach; Trump Postpones 50 Percent Tariffs on Canadian Goods for 3 Days; 14 Charges in Pen State Fraternity Cocaine Trafficking Case; Nearly Half of Users Use AI Chatbots for Personal Reasons. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired August 19, 2026 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Right here this morning, a Democratic Socialist pulling off another stunning upset, this time in Florida's Democratic Senate primary. It's part of a wave of victories that have been building across the summer. CNN's Harry Enten joining me now. So how much has this Democratic Socialist movement really gained steam?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN DATA ANALYST: That was Johnny B. over there laughing at my entrance. You know what, you got to come in in the morning. You got to be hyped up. We're giving people coming in hot, coming in hot look.

Look, Democratic socialism is no longer just a polling phenomenon. It is in the real world. We are seeing actual candidates winning primaries. What are we talking about?

Well, we're talking about the DSA or DSA endorse congressional candidates currently in Congress, there is just one, two. Now we're talking about four times as many, eight candidates, eight candidates who have won 2026 primaries and seven of those are favorites to win in the fall, win in the general election. So the Democratic Socialists of America's ranks in Congress, they are definitely growing, getting larger.

SIDNER: All right, so where are these wins happening? Is there a specific area? Or what are you seeing with the numbers?

ENTEN: Yes, OK, you might just say, oh, this is just a phenomenon in the Northeast. This is part of the Acela corridor. This is just an urban phenomenon.

No, not really. I mean, take a look here where DSA candidates won primaries for Congress to all Democrats. Yes, you got three in New York, but you got two in Michigan, you got one in Colorado, you got one in Florida last night running for the Senate, and you got one in Pennsylvania. So this is not just a Northeast phenomenon in terms of this DSA candidates who winning primaries.

Yes, they are primarily in urban areas, but they are happening across the map from the Northeast to the Midwest, to the Mountain West, and then last night down in the South in Florida. So this is happening across the political map. We are seeing this DSA candidates winning in Democratic primaries.

As I said, they are becoming a larger part of the Democratic primary, not just in the polling data, but actual people casting their ballots, casting their votes for this for these DSA candidates.

SIDNER: Give us some idea what the percentages are here of the wins versus the loss because there are more DSA candidates out there, it appears.

ENTEN: Yes, OK. So the thing that I will note is even though the DSA is growing to be a larger part of Democratic Party, right? They are not the majority of the Democratic Party.

[08:35:09]

The Democratic Party is still primarily non-DSA members. You could see it here. DSA, DSA endorsed congressional candidates, won their primaries. Yes, we have eight. But look at this.

At least 17 have lost their primaries. So they're batting 33 percent, right, or a little bit there, which is pretty good for a baseball hitter, right? But not particularly good in terms of actually becoming a majority of the party.

So yes, the DSA is growing. It is becoming a larger phenomenon, but it is not yet one that has taken over the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party is still is still full of traditional Democrats, not those who are coming in and trying to implement DSA ideology?

SIDNER: And you have to note this is the primary. This is not the general election yet.

ENTEN: This is not the general election. And I know Angie Dixon, obviously Nixon had a good night last night, but she is an underdog in Florida. She is the one of the eight who have won who is most likely not going to win in the general election. The test of whether the DSA holds in a general election, that is one that we haven't really quite tested just yet.

SIDNER: It's going to be a huge test, and we will see it play out in just a couple of months here.

ENTEN: Is something happening?

SIDNER: Yes, just a couple of months. All right, thank you, Harry -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right with us now is Congressman James Walkenshaw from Virginia, a Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee and Oversight Committee. Congressman, great to see you this morning. So we were talking about the results in Florida last night, the surprising upset of Angie Nixon defeating Alex Vindman there. Democratic Socialists have had some success in the primaries this year. What parts of their messaging do you like? In what specific parts of

their messaging do you not like?

REP. JAMES WALKINSHAW (D-VA), OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM COMMITTEE: Well, I think the results last night in Florida were mixed, if you're looking at it on that continuum. Democrats also nominated Dave Jolly for governor, a former Republican moderate. My colleagues, Jared Moskowitz and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, won primaries against candidates who align themselves further left.

Look, I think right now, Democratic primary voters are looking for candidates who will A, fight and stand up to Trump, and B, fight for them and develop a real vision for the future. And I think anyone who wants to be part of our coalition to stand up to MAGA, to stand up to Trump, to fight to bring down the cost of living is welcome. And when we're in the majority in the House in January, we're going to have a handful of Democratic Socialists, perhaps, but we're going to have dozens of new members of Congress who are mainstream pragmatists like those who are going to win districts here in Virginia.

BERMAN: So that probably in the like column in the question I asked you, but I also asked you what part of the Democratic Socialist messaging are you perhaps more uncomfortable with?

WALKINSHAW: Well, I guess it depends how you define Democratic Socialist. Obviously, the national organization has a platform that I would reject, whether it's defending -- defunding the police or abolishing the Senate. I'll note a lot of those candidates, including those who are members of local DSA chapters, reject elements of that platform.

BERMAN: An important distinction between the national sort of slate and some of the localized candidates there. I do appreciate that. I want to ask you a couple foreign policy questions here.

CNN has been reporting that President Trump is telling people that his messaging on Iran is shifting. They've noticed a shift from wanting to, quote, hammer Iran as soon as possible to strangle them over time. What do you think about that apparent shift?

WALKINSHAW: Well, I'm not interested in a war of economic attrition with Iran, where the American people are the ones paying the price on our side of the equation, at the gas pump and at the grocery store. What we need the president to do is get to the negotiating table in a serious way and get the Strait of Hormuz open. I think that's going to be very difficult.

He's desperately looking for an off-ramp. He's driven into a cul-de- sac here. I don't know that there's going to be a good outcome from the American perspective, our choices might be between bad and less bad, but I'd like to see less bad for the American people bring our service members home, get the Strait of Hormuz, reopen, and bring gas prices and grocery prices down.

BERMAN: You said you'd like to see him negotiate. I will note that just yesterday he said he telling people not to talk to Iran. I don't know if that's changed in the last 20 to 24 hours.

And I'm not trying to be glib here. Sometimes these things do shift, but the last we did hear from them, he had said he should order his people not to talk. He does apparently, though, want to talk with Kim Jong Un of North Korea. The Wall Street Journal reporting today, yes, he ordered the United States to shorten its joint exercises with South Korea, reduced to about a week.

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But he also wants to talk, according to the Journal, to Kim Jong Un as soon as this fall. I will note, can North Korea a nuclear power? What do you think he wants to get out of that? How do you feel about this new apparent outreach to the North Korean leader?

WALKINSHAW: Well, look, when you look at Donald Trump's foreign policy and this kind of action, you have celebrations in Pyongyang, celebrations in Beijing. I mean, right now, China and Xi Jinping are welcoming this new posture from the United States where we attack our allies in the Asia Pacific region, and we buddy up to the brutal dictators.

And look, we know that North Korea has accelerated and expanded their nuclear weapons program, their missile program. They've been more provocative, more closely aligned with both China and Russia who don't have American interests in mind. I have no problem with talking even with your adversaries or your enemies. I have a lot of concerns about Donald Trump's infatuation with brutal dictators like Kim Jong Un and what kind of deal he might cut when and if those talks occur.

BERMAN: If the control arm is listening, if you guys can find the sound from Darline Graham last night and I'll explain the situation here. There was a Senate debate in South Carolina. You know, South Carolina is not border -- not a border state to Virginia, but you do share some similarities, right? A lot of military bases there.

You know, marine bases in South Carolina naval bases in Virginia and Darline Graham, who was appointed to fill the seat of the late Senator Lindsey Graham and is running in a runoff election there. She was asked about U.S. policy toward Taiwan, and this is how she answered.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DARLINE GRAHAM (R-SC): I'm just going to be honest here. I'm not on national security, that I'm not that informed on national security, so -- but I do support the military. I'm not a polished politician up here. National security is not my thing, not my area of expertise, but I do support the military.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Now, this isn't your race, but I'm asking you to put your political pundit hat on for a second there. You've been at a debate stage or two, I'm sure, in your time. What do you think of how she handled that? WALKINSHAW: I think it would be understandable if you were asked a detailed and specific question about one region or one conflict to say that I haven't had the opportunity to study that issue in great depth or detail. I think that's acceptable. To say that national security broadly is not my thing when you've been appointed to the United States Senate, you're running for a term in the United States Senate, I just don't think that's acceptable whether you're a Democrat or a Republican. It'll be interesting to see how voters in South Carolina respond to that.

BERMAN: You got a week to digest that. Congressman James Walkenshaw, great to talk to you this morning. Thank you so much -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So just before new tariffs on Canadian goods were scheduled to take effect 12:01 a.m. overnight, President Trump hit pause, saying on social media that the threatened tariff hit was pushed off for at least three days as he claimed the United States and Canada had reached a deal. The response from the Canadian Prime Minister slightly less confident, saying in his words that there is important work still to be done. The tariffs in Canada would have affected some $20 billion worth of goods, covering everything from dairy products to alcohol and furniture.

About 5 percent of Canadian exports to the U.S. And this morning, U.S. alcohol producers are sure hoping the progress in these talks is real. A Canadian boycott has hit the industry very hard. British Columbia's top official explained the thinking last year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID EBY, BRITISH COLUMBIA PREMIER: The feeling that many British Columbians have now when we look at American products, we don't even want to see them on the shelf anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: A leading U.S. spirits industry group noted overnight that the ban has meant exports of American spirits have dropped by more than 70 percent -- John.

BERMAN: All right, some really interesting new research being reported in a lot of different places about how wildly unpopular AI companies are. But I will say this, there are also studies saying that people are using it more than ever.

And then you've heard about oil slicks and stuff on the road, what about a squid slick? Thousands of pounds of squid spilled on a road.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, new this morning, a huge investigation out of Penn State University, uncovering an alleged cocaine ring. Fourteen people have been charged, CNN's Danny Freeman has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Disturbing allegations out of Happy Valley this week, as state prosecutors announce a sweeping cocaine trafficking bust at Penn State University.

DAVE SUNDAY, PENNSYLVANIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: This is very serious criminal conduct. There was nothing junior or childlike about this type of conduct.

FREEMAN (voice-over): A grand jury charging 14 people, 13 were students when the alleged drug trafficking occurred in 2023 and 2024. The 14th was a father of one defendant accused of tampering with evidence and hindering the investigation.

SUNDAY: This was an upper-level trafficking organization for this region in Pennsylvania.

FREEMAN (voice-over): According to Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday, the drug crimes centered at two off-campus fraternities at Penn State, Delta Upsilon and Sigma Chi. Accused ringleaders Agostino Abbatiello and Thomas Robinson would make regular trips to Philadelphia and New York to get large quantities of cocaine back to state college. Other fraternity brothers and pledges then would assist them in preparing and packaging the cocaine for resale.

SUNDAY: In fact, we found a pattern of events that showed cutting and bagging cocaine was, for some pledges, an indoctrination into the Delta Upsilon and Sigma Chi fraternities.

FREEMAN (voice-over): The cocaine was largely sold on campus to other students, according to prosecutors. In a statement, Penn State's Vice President for Student Affairs said quote, "We are horrified by these serious allegations against current and former students.

[08:50:00]

Criminal activity, including hazing such as this, has no place at our institution and we will cooperate with law enforcement any way we can."

The university said it put Delta Upsilon on interim suspension and noted Sigma Chi is not a recognized organization and operates outside of the university's support and oversight. CNN reached out to the local chapters and international headquarters for both fraternities.

Delta Upsilon International told the Associated Press it was aware of the allegations and those involved in the drug ring were expelled or suspended if they did not resign. Sigma Chi International told CNN this conduct is an egregious violation of its values and involved members have been suspended.

Agostino was denied bail after surrendering Tuesday. An attorney for Agostino had no comment when reached by CNN. Attorney information for Robinson was not immediately available, his bail was set at $1.5 million, according to court documents. SUNDAY: It's extremely serious. Law enforcement takes it extremely seriously and we will continue to investigate and prosecute individuals that decide to deal drugs on college campuses.

FREEMAN (voice-over): Now, I spoke with the Pennsylvania attorney general on Tuesday and asked him if he thinks that drug operations have basically stopped in and around Penn State. He told me that this investigation at this point is still ongoing.

Danny Freeman, CNN, Philadelphia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: All right, on our radar for you this morning, a Florida mom now under arrest after police say she let her 11 year old child drive the car. Police showed up after the car crashed into a traffic barrier at a Tampa area 7-11. Nobody was hurt, but police say the child mistook the gas pedal for the brake.

And that's why the crash happened. The mom is facing child abuse charges this morning.

All right, a trial against Meta is now underway, claiming its business strategy relies on getting young people addicted and then exploiting their data and attention. A group of state attorneys general are suing the platform. Their first witness, a former Facebook engineering director.

He's back on the stand today. He says Meta prioritized moving quickly over safety. Meta claims the state's case isn't supported by evidence.

But if they lose this case, it could have changing huge effects on how social media apps operate. And the proposed financial penalty is nearly 1.4 trillion. Yes, with a T, trillion dollars.

All right, you're looking at a disturbing scene here. Squid all over the road. Lots and lots of it spilled over a Rhode Island intersection.

Police say the tractor trailer hauling roughly 40,000 pounds of fresh squid overturned after taking a corner to make a messy situation even worse. The squid was sprawled out cooking on that hot pavement for hours. Could not have smelled good -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: I mean, tasty, tasty treat. Oh, my goodness.

All right, let's turn to this. A recent study from the Pew Research Center found that nearly 50 percent of Americans now use AI chatbots. That's a massive increase from just two years -- from just two years ago.

So we know people are using generative AI quite a lot. But one thing we really don't know still is how people are actually using it. A new research project called the AI Observatory is on a mission to find out and are just out now with some of their first findings, lessons from tracking over 23,000 real user AI conversations with users consent from over 25 models, including all the big names that you know, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok, and finding that people are turning to AI in a very personal way.

Forty eight percent of the conversations with chatbots had nothing to do with work but rather having to do with much more intimate aspects of our lives, like our health and our relationships. Joining me right now is Anka Reuel. She's the co-lead on this project at the AI Observatory.

Thank you so much for coming in. Let's start with, tell me more -- tell me more about what you found in terms of truly how people are actually using AI now.

ANKA REUEL, LEAD RESEARCHER, THE AI OBSERVATORY: Awesome. So first, I want to like preface this with like truly using here depends on the data you look at. Ours was from a source of basically seven different sources, but by far not enough to claim it's fully representative of all AI use.

But what we saw in the data that we had was essentially three things. One, what you already said, like people are bringing really, really personal like stuff to like chatbots from health care questions, uploading medical records, bank statements like money, like relationship questions, things you would have previously gone to maybe human experts to or friends and discuss that. And that's a really big share of like what we saw.

[08:55:00]

And we also saw that which AI model people are talking to changes what they ask about and like what they're actually doing with it. So someone on Grok is having a very different conversation about different topics than someone on Claude or Gemini.

So basically no one company's report can actually tell you what AI use like overall looks like. But that's kind of how they're being read right now.

BOLDUAN: And that's exactly what I was going to ask you. Like Anthropic and OpenAI they publish their own user research. But there seems to be -- and what you're laying out here is the gap.

Why aren't we getting a fuller picture from them? When you don't it leaves people to wonder are they hiding something.

REUEL: Yes. So in their defense so big companies like Anthropic and OpenAI they are publishing data when they're actually not required to do so by law or like anything else. And our work builds on some of the information that they actually publicly provided.

But what they publish is what their research teams are like curious about. And that's very reasonable. But it's just not public accountability.

And other people may might care about like very different like questions than these companies do. And I know the point of basic what I find like really important like with the kind of work that we do is that I want to make the point that it's it almost like shouldn't be just like one company's like sole responsibility to figure out what data to share. Like what's important here.

Because no one actually can do that based on like their own like employees or their perspective on the world. So they're only seeing kind of like their own slice of their use data what people ask changes depending on the model. And they're already going like well beyond what's legally required of them.

But like navigating this like broad like usage like discussion and conversation and how governance should look like on top of that kind of has to be like a shared responsibility. So policymakers, academia, civil society and the general public and like whoever is affected by it they should all be involved somehow in that conversation about like what AI use should look like, what we know about it, and how we handle like patterns that we may see as problematic.

BOLDUAN: Bottom line in order to make decisions on how something should be regulated, how something should -- or what you should put your money towards. You need a baseline. And what we're seeing is this has changed so much.

There's basically no baseline of what we know, like what is fact. What does usage even mean? And that's what you guys are getting at which is why this matters to so many.

But we just had yesterday on, Anka, a top executive with open AI. They were promoting the rollout of their new ChatGPT teen product. And what they said is that studying -- they say it's a studying helper for teenagers. Saying they've got new safety protections as they face, you know, more scrutiny and lawsuits.

They've got more safety protections involved but they focus is using it as a learning tool. Let me play what they told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAUREN JONAS, HEAD OF YOUTH WELL-BEING AND FAMILIES, OPENAI: This is a dedicated learning focused experience for teens with additional protections and safeguards. You know, nine of 10 teens are using ChatGPT today for learning. And the goal is for this to be a learning tool for teens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Do you have research on how teenagers specifically are using these tools?

REUEL: We don't put it -- like we don't have like explicit like user data on demographics and so on which is actually part of the problem. Because we have so limited data that like even -- you put it actually really well like when you input the study, we're on a mission. This is definitely not the end of this project. We also want to just like showcase how little data there actually is outside of any of those like companies like reports that they choose to share. Because, yes, right now, we're making those decisions on AI like basically half blind which is crazy to me especially in air policy without like knowing what's like actually happening beyond those like anecdotes and company narratives. And that's basically like how we like regulated it. Sorry.

BOLDUAN: It's no I'm just saying it. You just really are -- you pinpoint something that's just so critically important. We don't know -- there's so many we don't know. We don't know how people are using it.

Who's using it? We're only getting information coming when the companies want to release it because they're not legally required to right now. And we are so full steam ahead past even the beginning of this.

It's just another example of how fast things are evolving and how critically important your mission and your project is. Anka, thank you so much for coming in. I really appreciate it. Clearly much more to come from you and your team.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

Breaking this morning. Most of the primary results are in and we have seen some surprises overnight. At least one big upset with a major win for the progressive left and more Trump backed candidates discovering.

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