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Counting of Votes Ongoing in Wyoming, and California Hours After Polls Closed, Florida Candidates Win Primaries, Alaska Senatorial Primary Heads to a Runoff; Meta Begins Landmark Social Media Trial. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired August 19, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Hey everybody, I'm Polo Sandoval, live in New York, where we continue our coverage of election night in America, with another handful of states deciding who will secure spots on the ballot for the upcoming midterms in November.

We'll get to the results from Florida in just a moment, but first, let's start in Alaska. We're not one, but two Dan Sullivans who are running for U.S. Senate.

Dan S. Sullivan, the Republican incumbent, seems to be advancing to the November election along with Democrat Mary Peltola, who appears to be the top vote-getter there.

To California now, where two Democrats are vying to replace Congressman Eric Swalwell in the 14th Congressional District, who recalled that he resigned after sexual harassment allegations tanked his run for governor. In this race, the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, has spent millions of dollars campaigning against Aisha Wahab, who is a vocal critic of the Israeli military action in Gaza.

And in Wyoming, CNN projecting that Trump-endorsed Congresswoman Harriet Hageman has secured the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. She'll be facing Democratic nominee James Beard in November come the midterms.

To Florida now, CNN can project that Trump-endorsed Congressman Byron Donalds will easily win his party's nomination for governor, replacing the term-limited incumbent Ron DeSantis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BYRON DONALDS (R), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: My administration will be guided by three pillars, making Florida accountable, achievable, and most of all, affordable. An affordable Florida starts with a limited government that respects hard-working taxpayers who fund it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Donalds will be facing former Republican Congressman David Jolly, a vocal critic of President Trump, who actually left the party to officially run as a Democrat just a few years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID JOLLY (D), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I'm a former Republican. Some of my roots are in less government libertarianism. I spent five years, six years maybe, as an independent, really just tackling big problems that needed big solutions. I'm telling you, if the election were tonight in Florida.

Florida's voters would elect a Democratic governor for the first time in 30 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Florida also holding a slew of House races, and we're closely watching them. And among the most notable wins, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who CNN projects will be the Democratic nominee for the newly redrawn 20th House district there in Florida.

We'll begin our coverage now with CNN's Randi Kaye.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: With Debbie Wasserman Schultz's victory here in the primary in Congressional District 20 in Florida, voters are going to see big change, because this seat has been held for more than 30 years by a black lawmaker. She was the only white candidate in this primary in a historically black district.

So this is going to be a big change. But I did speak with voters. They said that this is a blessing, that she knows her way around Washington, and she will get it done.

I spoke with Wasserman Schultz after her win was declared, and she told me that she is going to make a big investment in this community, that she does know how to get it done. She was a little bit concerned about turnout, she said, but she hopes that will change come November.

She plans to work hard. And I asked her what that investment and what that hard work looks like, and here's what she told me.

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D-CA): Well, I'm a senior member of the Appropriations Committee. What that looks like is what it has looked like for the years that I have served our community. And that's delivering hundreds of millions of dollars for our infrastructure, taking care of the communities across District 20 that have needs, like making sure things like wastewater treatment and ensuring that there are body cameras on law enforcement when the city can't afford it, or making sure that we invest in affordable housing.

I'm bringing home dollars already that helped the United Way buy an apartment building for homeless veterans and the county to buy hotels to turn them into transitional housing for the homeless.

KAYE: When we were talking, she also said that the GOP tried to rig the Florida map in their favor by redrawing the congressional districts and all of that redistricting that took place, which is why she had to switch from District 25 and chose to run in District 20.

[03:05:05]

She said they tried to rig the map, but it didn't work, and they proved that with this win.

Randi Kaye, CNN, Lauderhill, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: All right, now to our live conversation, I'm bringing Democratic strategist and former New York State Senator David Carlucci. Also joining me is Mike Madrid. He's a co-founder of the Lincoln Project and founder of the Latino Working Class Project.

Gentlemen, thank you so much for joining me tonight.

DAVID CARLUCCI, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST, AND FORMER NEW YORK STATE SENATOR: Good to be with you.

MIKE MADRID, CO-FOUNDER, THE LINCOLN PROJECT, AND FOUNDER, LATINO WORKING CLASS PROJECT: Good to be with you.

SANDOVAL: It's great to have you. Let's start in Florida, where the race is set to replace term limited Ron DeSantis.

As we just mentioned, Representative Byron Donalds, who was endorsed by President Trump facing David Jolly, the Republican-turned-Democrat and outspoken Trump critic. What stands out to you both about this race? We'll begin with you, David. How much of an uphill climb is David Jolly facing in a state where Republicans have over a million and a half more registered voters than Democrats?

CARLUCCI: Yes, I mean, if you look at these results from Tuesday, it's showing that Democrats can compete anywhere.

You go to Florida and you have a candidate like Jolly. You can go up to Alaska and you have Mary Peltola, who is competing differently. They're not saying, look, this is a Democrat cookie-cutter candidate.

These are candidates that are competing in those states, in those districts, and it shows the depth and breadth of the Democratic Party that these candidates are not alike, but they're meeting the needs of the districts of the states. And I think for David Jolly, he's got a good opportunity. This race is going to be closer than many had expected a few months ago, where they thought Republicans would just be dominant.

Here, I believe that Jolly will run a really strong campaign because he's someone that's more to the middle, more to the center, and that, I think, is what people are looking for when they're looking for a governor. Someone that can be moderate, can see both sides, and do what's best for their residents.

SANDOVAL: Mike, to you, what are your thoughts on the governor's race there, specifically on Byron Donald's performance Tuesday night?

MADRID: Well, David Jolly's a friend, he's somebody I've worked with over the past few years, and I think he's an exceptional candidate.

Look, Florida's a tough state. I think it's going to be a much tougher state than states like Texas for a whole host of demographic reasons. You are seeing something kind of bifurcated in the Democratic primary tonight, where David Jolly does win quite commandingly, but Alex Vindman, you know, the more moderate choice in that primary, loses in an upset battle.

You've got to start looking at the fact that these states with closed primaries, including my colleague here from New York, you've got these closed primaries, you have very low turnout races, which are shutting out, frankly, they're suppressing people's right to vote. The vote of a large swath of Floridians, in this case, were not able to exercise their franchise, their right to vote. You would have had a very different outcome, a much more competitive ticket for Democrats heading into this.

So, look, Byron Daniels won very commandingly against a really extreme candidate in his primary, did quite well in his well-positioned, he's going to have a tough fight against David Jolly. The unfortunate part is, if Democrats had nominated somebody more reasonable on the Senate side, you would have less of a, frankly, candidly, a socialist anchor, which plays very poorly in South Florida, where a Democrat's going to need better margins than he would otherwise get from Cuban-American, Venezuelan, Puerto Rican communities. It's a lost opportunity for Democrats in an otherwise stellar year.

SANDOVAL: And on your thoughts there about the closed primaries, open primaries that we've seen, could perhaps rank-choice voting, like we've seen right now in Alaska, and as we've seen here in New York, perhaps be more of a way to go, you think?

MADRID: Look, I think it's a robust discussion to have. I'm not necessarily a fan of it. I'm just a fan of people who want to vote being able to vote.

And when you look again at states like New York and Florida, the evidence is very clear. You end up with these really small, very low- turnout races with more extreme candidates. You lose somebody like a congressman, Espaillat, the chair of the Hispanic Congressional Caucus.

If you look at Texas and California that have open primaries, you have historically high turnout with very competitive candidates, like Javier Becerra in California and James Talarico, who very well may win that Senate seat. That's the way democracy should work, allowing more people to vote.

Rank-choice voting, I think, is a consideration. But most of the solutions that rank-choice voting is trying to solve are solved by allowing people to vote in the first place. And this primary, this closed primary system is a real big cancer on our body politic.

[03:10:06]

We've got to stop allowing the dominance of these extreme voices to overtake our democratic system.

SANDOVAL: David, we also saw another win for Democratic Socialist candidates, in this case Representative Angie Nixon winning Florida's Senate primary. These were some of her remarks on Tuesday night. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGIE NIXON (D), FLORIDA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: It's not about people's labels for me. I'm a single mom.

I was a single mom for, you know, 12 years. I'm a mother now. I'm an organizer, I'm a community organizer.

But more importantly, it's about the needs of the people. And what people need is they need housing, right? They need universal health care, they want universal child care.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: So it's not about labels, she says, David. So what are your thoughts on how that message that we heard from her is likely to be received by voters in Florida?

CARLUCCI: I think it's going to be well-received, but I think this is a headwind that the Democrats have to face, that this label that they're allowing to be attached, this socialism label, the democratic socialism, is problematic. There's no question about that.

In a state like Florida, in any state, even New York, if you're talking about statewide, so you've got to be very concerned about that, and you have to work extra hard to really talk about what is this platform.

What does it mean that Angie Nixon is affiliated with democratic socialists? That is something that they're going to have to work extra hard.

That could be helpful in some ways. Yes, there's negatives, but it can juice up the excitement. It could get more people to the polls that might not have participated anyway.

So yes, this is a double-edged sword. Democrats are going to have to work extra hard. But it's about how do you deliver that message.

What's the lexicon you're using up in Tallahassee as opposed to South Florida? What does it mean to have access to housing, access to health care? What can you do as the Senate candidate, as the gubernatorial candidate?

They're going to have to work together and off of each other to make sure that that message is penetrating throughout Florida. It's going to be challenging. There's no question about it, but again, Republicans are heading into the headwinds.

Donald Trump is becoming less and less favorable. Florida, of course, is a hard state. However, the economics, the issue of a foreign war, how these issues relate to Florida residents and how the Democrats can talk about those issues is going to be extremely important.

But yes, they have work to do. They have doors to knock on, but they've got to work on that messaging.

SANDOVAL: Those are all such important issues, certainly for voters across the country. Mike Madrid, David Carlucci, thank you both so much for joining me tonight as a part of our ongoing coverage.

CARLUCCI: Great to be here.

MADRID: Thanks for having me.

SANDOVAL: Well President Trump says that the U.S. and Canada have struck a deal to avert new wide-ranging tariffs for at least three days. And the announcement comes after days of negotiations that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called very delicate and intense.

The U.S. President had threatened 50 percent tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods, that includes dairy, alcohol, and things like furniture. They would likely have faced legal challenges in the U.S. courts. And earlier this year, Carney denounced the tariffs as he described it as a direct violation of the existing trade pact between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

Global oil and U.S. gas prices are climbing as hopes of a resolution on the U.S.'s war with Iran begin to fade. Oil futures are up as traders anticipate the war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz will continue to keep those energy prices high. And a day after climbing, that administration officials were back-channeling with Iran's -- they were claiming, I should say, well, they were the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, President Trump writing this on social media, that "there are no talks or conversations going on or scheduled with the Islamic Republic of Iran."

Let's go to CNN's Paula Hancocks, who's following developments out of Abu Dhabi. So, Paula, what's the latest?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Polo, what we're seeing here and what we saw on Tuesday was the U.S. president disengaging effectively from this whole process. A U.S. official tells CNN that President Trump had told some of his administration envoys to cut all communication with Tehran.

It's worth pointing out that the Revolutionary Guard in Iran had claimed that there were no talks ongoing at this point. But we're hearing from a source familiar with the conversations the Trump administration is having with political allies that they have shifted their strategy from hammer Iran ASAP to strangle them over time. So really, President Trump seems to be putting this conflict at arm's length at this point, saying that he wants to see economic isolation of Iran.

[03:15:09]

In that Truth Social post, he also said the naval blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated.

Those claims, again, being negated by the Iranian officials and certainly by the shipping data that we're seeing coming from the Strait of Hormuz.

So we've heard from the Iranian chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Galibaf, and he has pushed back against much of what the U.S. is claiming at this point, saying that the Strait of Hormuz will not be open and functioning until the U.S. honors its commitments it has already made. Let's listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMAD BAGHER GHALIBAF, IRANIAN PARLIAMENT SPEAKER (through translator): And let me make it clear, until America implements its commitments under the Memorandum of Understanding, including lifting the blockade on the release of frozen assets, lifting the oil sanctions, ending threats and military operations on all fronts, and other conditions that America has agreed to under the understanding, the Strait will not be reopened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: So Iran doubling down on its demands from the United States before it will reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Now, this disengagement that we are seeing, effectively, from President Trump comes just a day after his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who was in the Middle East for discussions and meetings, had said some very positive things about the talks that were ongoing, saying that the talks between the U.S. and Iran were probably more robust than ever, very positive and active.

So this, once again, is a very swift shift in strategy from the Trump administration. Polo.

SANDOVAL: CNN's Paula Hancocks with that live report. Thank you, Paula.

And still to come in this hour of "CNN Newsroom," election night in Alaska. We're going to have some of the latest results coming out of that state. And what is really a unique primary, as elections continue, and what it could mean for control of some seats in Congress.

Stay with us. You're watching CNN Special Coverage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANDOVAL: Well, results are still coming in from the state of Alaska as we await the top four candidates who will move on to the general Senate race later this year. CNN is projecting that two of those spots will be going to the incumbent Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan, who is seeking a third term in Congress, and former Democratic Congresswoman Mary Otole. Alaska uses an all-party primary system, where the top four candidates get to advance regardless of their party affiliation, something we've seen in other states before.

And an interesting note about Senator Dan S. Sullivan, he wasn't the only Dan Sullivan in the race. There was a Daniel J. Sullivan that registered to run as a Republican just before the race's deadline.

Some Republicans claim that he just wanted to cause confusion. Even President Trump issued a warning to Alaska voters to choose the, quote, "real Dan Sullivan" on the ballot. And then there's this from late-night host Jimmy Fallon, he jumped in to poke fun at the two Dan's this way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY FALLON, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JIMMY FALLON": In Alaska, there are two candidates running for the Republican Senate nomination who are both named Dan Sullivan.

It's pretty confusing. Check out this political ad that's running.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Hi. I'm Dan Sullivan, and I'm a name Alaska can trust, unlike Dan Sullivan.

So on Election Day, don't vote for Dan Sullivan, listen to Dan Sullivan. Avoid Dan Sullivan, and vote for Dan Sullivan.

Let's make sure we don't get stuck with Dan Sullivan. No, wait. That's me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: But the stakes for the Senate are certainly nothing to laugh about. Let's talk more about that with James Brooks. He's a reporter for "The Alaska Beacon" and he joins us from the capital city of Juneau, where it's a little before 11:30 at night there. Thank you so much for joining us, James.

JAMES BROOKS, REPORTER, "THE ALASKA BEACON": Thanks for having me.

SANDOVAL: How about we start with just an update? What are the numbers showing you at this hour?

BROOKS: Yes, no big changes so far. We're still seeing Mary Peltola and incumbent Dan Sullivan looking to advance on. Still looking at Dan J. Sullivan, the challenger, finishing in the top four as well.

There's a possibility of a change in the bottom of the top four, but it's still too early to tell. There's lots of counting remaining. SANDOVAL: Talk to us about just what makes the election there in

Alaska just so intriguing, when we can talk about ranked choice voting and what voters have to say about that approach there in Alaska.

BROOKS: Yes. Actually, in November, for the third time, there'll be a referendum on whether to keep this system or repeal it and go back to the old closed system of primary elections and no ranked choice in November. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out because two years ago, it came down to just a few hundred votes.

And back in 2020, when the system was established, it was down to about half a percentage point of all votes cast. So it still remains a controversial system, but it's definitely got a lot of interest both in Alaska and across the United States.

SANDOVAL: It's controversial, but is it popular among some voters based on your conversation that you've had?

BROOKS: Yes, I think there's a broad base of support with it for among independents, people who are political moderates, and even some to the political left. Alaska doesn't have a strong far-left, so you see center-left, middle-left folks getting on board with it. Because a system like that tends to disadvantage people on the political extremes.

Since Alaska doesn't have a far-left, that tends to disadvantage people on the far-right here in the state. And that's where a lot of the opposition comes from, and why we see repeated referendums, repeated ballot measures to try and repeal this system.

[03:25:10]

SANDOVAL: And James, as we've discussed, there was no shortage of any Dan Sullivans on the ballot this year. Just curious, in your conversations with voters, did that actually lead to any confusion, which is what some Republicans were worried about?

BROOKS: No, not at all. And in fact, for evidence of that, I look up to Utqiagvik, the northernmost city in the United States. I saw some receipt tapes from one of the precincts there, looked down the list of candidates, the Dan J. Sullivan, the challenger, got exactly one vote there. Dan S. Sullivan, the incumbent, got the lion's share of the votes in that particular district.

That's about as far away as you can get from Petersburg, where the challenger is from. But voters there, in the farthest north city, clearly knew what they were doing.

SANDOVAL: When you speak to voters, too, James, is there really just a sense of the importance of this Senate race, and just how pivotal it is, with so much on the line, potentially, as we've discussed before, control of the Senate next year?

BROOKS: To be honest, I think a lot of voters are already feeling a bit of fatigue from the focus that's being put on the Alaska Senate race. If you go to the post offices, the garbage cans are absolutely stock full of political mailers. They've been coming sometimes three to five per day, and this is just for the primary, so I think things are just getting ramped up.

And we're going to see a fair amount of voter fatigue about the amount of advertising, the amount of mailers that people are going to receive here in the coming months.

SANDOVAL: That is absolutely fascinating, as you point out. The true race is really just getting started, so they're going to see no shortage of those flyers and no shortage of ads on television as well.

James Brooks, joining me live from Juneau, thank you so much for all your reporting. Good luck tonight.

BROOKS: Thank you.

SANDOVAL: Well, election night coverage continues in just a moment. We'll have the very latest results from key primary races in the state of California. We'll go back to Florida, we'll also talk Wyoming, and some of your other headlines as well.

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[03:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANDOVAL: All right, you're looking at some of the live results coming out of California for a special election in the state's 14th congressional district, two Democrats there facing off to serve the remainder of former Congressman Eric Swalwell's term. Progressive State Senator Aisha Wahab facing former Mayor Melissa Hernandez. You see there Wahab ahead about 1300 votes, that's only 62 percent of the estimated vote coming in, and it is California, so it's going to be some time before we do eventually find out who will be the winner out of that particular race.

We also understand that the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, APAC, has spent millions campaigning against Wahab, who is a vocal critic of the Israeli military action in Gaza.

Why don't we go to Florida now, where the governor's race is set for November after Tuesday's primaries there. As you can see here, we do have it there, Senate projecting that Congressman Byron Donalds will be winning the Republican nomination. He was endorsed by President Trump and also much of the state's Republican establishment, but notably not endorsed by term-limited Governor Ron DeSantis.

After all, his opponent was appointed by DeSantis to his role. Donalds will be facing David Jolly. He's a former Republican-turned-Democrat who has been a very vocal Trump critic.

Let's go to Wyoming now, where CNN has projected winners in three primary races in the Republican governor's primaries. CNN projecting State Senator Eric Barlow will be winning that nomination. He will defeat President Trump's pick in that race. For the Senate races, CNN projects that Congresswoman Harriet Hageman

will be winning the Republican nomination, she is a favorite heading into the general election.

And in the Democratic Senate primary, CNN is projecting former State Congressman James Beard will be taking the nomination. Wyoming last elected a Democrat to the Senate back in 1970.

Let's break all this down and speak to Richard Johnson. He's a senior lecturer in U.S. politics at Queen Mary University in London.

Richard, it's always great to see you, one primary after another. It's a lot to talk about.

RICHARD JOHNSON, SENIOR LECTURER IN U.S. POLITICS, QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON: It seemingly never ends. Good to be with you.

SANDOVAL: Richard, let's start with perhaps what the primary contest that stands out to you the most.

JOHNSON: Well, I guess the one that probably stands out the most is the Florida Senate contest where you had Angie Nixon, a Democratic Socialist, win the nomination against Alex Fynden, who had outspent her 16-1. I mean, the general theme of this year's primaries is between a left-wing Democrat, whether they call themselves the Democratic Socialist or just a progressive, versus a more middle-of- the-road Democrat. I wouldn't say conservative Democrat, but just more center-left Democrat.

And in this contest, in a red state like Florida, and I think we can call Florida a pretty red state at this stage, you have a Democratic Socialist win the nomination. And people might think that's a little strange, but I wonder here, because there's a dilemma for voters. Do I vote for the person I agree with the most, maybe a more left-wing person, or do I vote for the more electable person?

But if I'm in a state where I don't think the Democrats actually are going to win in the general election, I can just vote for the person I agree with.

And I wonder if that's what's happened in this Senate race. Basically, Democrats knew that it was a low chance that either candidate would defeat Ashley Moody. And so they just went out and thought, you know what, I'm actually going to vote for the person that I most agree with.

SANDOVAL: And what do you think that the takeaway message for the National Democratic Party would be with Nixon emerging as the winner in the Democratic primary?

[03:35:03]

JOHNSON: Well, I guess for the National Democratic Party, all of these Democratic Socialists who get nominated, whether they're in seats that Democrats think they have a chance of winning, like in Michigan, which is a must-win, or in Florida, where frankly, I think the probability of a Democrat winning that Florida seat is pretty low, the knock-on consequence is that Republicans across America might be watching very carefully what those Democratic Socialists are saying on the campaign trail, ready to clip their speeches and comments and sort of comb through their past history, and then to tie in more moderate Democrats with the Democratic Socialists in more moderate swing seats.

And so you've got to think this is not just about the Democrats' chances in that particular seat. What are the implications down-ballot in competitive House races? What are the implications laterally? I mean, I think it's quite interesting.

The Democrats nominated a former Republican for the governorship in Florida, where I think the Democrats do have a better chance. I think Byron Donalds, the Republican nominee, is a weaker candidate. That was shown by the lack of-he didn't win overwhelming support from Republican voters in the primary, and really that suggests there's probably a bit of a lack of enthusiasm to him.

Does Byron Donalds try to associate David Jolly with Angie Nixon, David Jolly being the Democratic nominee for governor, does he try to tie them together? And that might be an awkward thing for David Jolly. How does he disassociate himself from his fellow Democrat who is standing for the Senate but on a much more left-wing program? So it's the ripple effect of these candidates that I think National Democrats might be concerned about.

SANDOVAL: Yes, I mean, and to your earlier point, I mean, how much work will Donalds actually have to put into this campaign, given that the odds are certainly in his favor with registered Republicans outnumbering Democrats?

I have about 30 seconds with you, Richard. A closing thought on this latest round of primaries and the road to the midterms.

JOHNSON: It wasn't a clear sweep for either the left of the Democratic Party or the middle of the Democratic Party. You can look in some of these contests - you were just showing one of the California House races - on a knife edge.

In Florida, the same voters who voted for a Democratic Socialist Senate candidate voted for a former Republican to be their gubernatorial candidate. The party has not -- the Democrats have not fallen overwhelmingly to one side or the other. So that means the battle for the future of the Democratic Party will continue to rage, not just in this midterm elections, but the next set of elections as well.

SANDOVAL: I feel like that really is the theme of all of these primaries the last couple of weeks. Richard Johnson, as always, pleasure having you on. Thanks for your analysis.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

SANDOVAL: Well, Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff, he has been going after President Trump over the war with Iran, rising costs, and corruption. For months now, Ossoff has stuck to a clear playbook, holding campaign rallies where he criticizes his Republican opponents, Mike Collins and President Trump. Here's what Ossoff had to say about the president's treatments of Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, who's had his own disputes with the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JON OSSOFF (D-GA): I don't think anything illustrates the times more aptly than that the draft-dodging crook President, who has plunged our nation recklessly into a war he knows not how to end or to win, tried to imprison this man who embodies American heroism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And look at these numbers.

President Trump's approval rating, it is at its lowest level of his presidency. A new Reuters Ipsos poll finding that just 33 percent of Americans approve of his job performance, and that is down two points from earlier this month, in ties with its lowest rating during his first term. The drop comes as Americans express some concern about the ongoing war with Iran.

With the details of an alleged college drug ring, sound like a plot right out of a movie, but about a dozen fraternity pledges at Penn State University now facing real-life drug charges in this case. I'm going to break it down for you in a moment.

[03:40:07]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANDOVAL: Welcome back. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York, and these are today's top stories.

CNN can now project that Democrat Mary Peltola will be advancing in Alaska's U.S. Senate race. She'll face Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan in November. Sullivan fought off a challenge from another contender, who also happens to be named Dan Sullivan.

The U.S. President says that he has paused the 50 percent tariffs that he had threatened to impose on Canada. Posting on social media, Donald Trump announced a deal with Canada that appears to involve the Keystone X.L. pipeline. He says the pause will take place for three days, and that the deal is subject to the finalization of documents.

President Trump says no talks are underway or even scheduled with Iran. His latest statement comes after he said that his administration had established a backchannel with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, that's a claim that Tehran has denied. Meanwhile, Iran's parliament speaker and the country's top negotiator has accused the U.S. of, quote, "squeezing Tehran for concessions."

Dwayne Davis, the man accused of orchestrating the fatal drive-by shooting of Tupac Shakur, was back in court for day two of his trial. Davis has denied the allegations and has pleaded not guilty. The jury heard testimony from two men who previously worked security

for Marion Knight, he's the former CEO of Shakur's record label. When Knight was driving Shakur the evening that he was shot, the former head of security at Knight's Club 662 pointed to gang warfare, but admitted he did not initially realize how badly Shakur had been injured after leaving the night club.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES MCDONALD, WITNESS, FORMER HEAD OF SECURITY AT CLUB 662: The majority of the people was coming -- was leaving the den, coming back, because that night they said Tupac was going to be all right.

[03:45:03]

And even she'll came back with a little bandage on his head, and we thought everything was good. People kept partying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Prosecutors also showed jurors some graphic, never-before- seen photographs from Shakur's autopsy back in 1996, and those images included a bullet fragment removed from his body. Forensic pathologist Dr. Lisa Gavin, a Clark County medical examiner, shared this assessment of the evidence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. LISA GAVIN, CLARK COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINER: He died of gunshot wounds of chest and abdomen.

UNKNOWN: And do you have an opinion as to the manner of death?

GAVIN: Yes.

UNKNOWN: And what is that?

GAVIN: Homicide.

UNKNOWN: When a medical examiner uses the term homicide, what does that mean?

GAVIN: The simplest form is death at the hands of another.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Authorities in Pennsylvania say that fraternity brothers and pledges were required to cut and package cocaine as part of an alleged drug ring operating at Penn State University. Fourteen people, including current and former students, have already been charged in this case.

CNN's Danny Freeman with more.

(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 Abatiello 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. 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): Danny Freeman, CNN, Philadelphia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: What a story. Our coverage continues after a short break.

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[03:50:00]

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SANDOVAL: Meta's most consequential legal fight yet over child safety and addiction is officially underway. 29 states are currently suing. They're claiming that the tech giant intentionally addicted young people to its platforms in pursuit of profit.

Here's CNN's Clare Duffy to explain.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: We've seen this wave of thousands of cases filed against Meta and the other big social media platforms accusing them of intentionally addicting and harming young people. Meta has already lost two of those cases, putting it on the hook for nearly a billion dollars in damages.

But what sets this case apart is the scale of the potential consequences for Meta. These state attorneys general could seek as much as $1.4 trillion in damages. That is nearly what the company is worth on Wall Street.

They're also seeking changes to how Meta operates its platforms, which means that if Meta loses this case, we could see really significant changes to the experience that everyone has, but especially young people have on social media.

Now, opening statements kicked off in this federal courthouse in Oakland on Tuesday. We got to hear from both sides sort of the outlines of their argument.

A deputy attorney general for California, Megan O'Neill, she argued that Meta needs kids. It needs kids to spend a lot of time on its platforms to support its ad business. So it intentionally created these addictive features like the endlessly scrolling feeds and frequent notifications in order to hook them and keep them on its platforms.

She also claimed that Meta misled the public about the risks that it knew existed on its platforms because it needed parents and guardians to feel like their kids could safely spend time on these platforms. The attorneys general are also alleging that Meta illegally collected data from users under the age of 13.

On the flip side, Meta's lawyer, Paul Schmidt, argued that these claims misrepresent the company and its policies. He accused the attorneys general of cherry picking internal documents and statements that he said paint a false picture of the company, and he talked about efforts that Meta has made to protect young people like parental controls and teen content restrictions.

[03:54:49]

Right after opening statements wrapped up, these parties moved on to calling their first witness for the plaintiffs, that is, Meta whistleblower Arturo Behar, who previously served as an engineering director at the company, and says that he raised concerns to Meta leadership, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg, about the risks to minors from these platforms, and he claims that essentially they were shrugged off by the company's top brass.

So lots for the jury to consider here in this trial that is expected to last nearly seven weeks. The jury ultimately will be advising the judge who will be responsible for the final decision in this case. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Three-time Oscar-nominated actor Woody Harrelson was presented with an honorary award at the 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival. Harrelson received the Heart of Sarajevo Award on Tuesday, the ceremony marking his return to the Bosnian capital 30 years after he filmed the drama "Welcome to Sarajevo," and that was shot amid the ruins left by the Bosnian war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOODY HARRELSION, ACTOR: I can tell you now, from the depth of my being and with sincere humility, that this Heart of Sarajevo Award means more to me than any honor I've received. And I will put it on top of the mantelpiece in our living room to always remind me of you, the beautiful people of Sarajevo.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Shakira, pledging some funds in an effort to build some schools in parts of Colombia that were struck by this massive earthquake just a little over a week ago. The singer visited some locations in the quake zone on Tuesday, along with businessman Howard Buffett. He's the son of investor Warren Buffett.

He's helping her charity foundation with their rebuilding efforts right now. Colombia's President says that economic losses from the disaster could possibly reach more than $9 billion.

I appreciate you watching, I'm Polo Sandoval. I'll be back with more of your headlines and our continuing election coverage in a moment.

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