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CNN: Wasserman Schultz Wins Historically Black District; California Holds Special Election To Replace Eric Swalwell; Day 2 Of Trial Against Duane Davis Offers Jury New Evidence. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired August 19, 2026 - 04:30   ET

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

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[04:31:15]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: All right, let's check back on some of the big races in the latest round of primaries as those votes continue to be counted. CNN projecting that Trump-endorsed congressman Byron Donalds will easily win the Republican nomination in this for the Florida governor's race. Current governor Ron DeSantis is term-limited and is expected to leave office next year. Donalds will be facing former congressman David Jolly, a vocal critic of President Trump, who left the Republican Party to officially run as a Democrat.

And another notable win out of Florida, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who CNN projects will be the Democratic nominee for Florida's newly redrawn 20th House District. That district has a large black population and will not be represented by a black lawmaker for the first time in decades. CNN's Randi Kaye reports from Lauderhill, Florida.

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.

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REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D-FL): 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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. 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.

SANDOVAL: And results are still coming in from Alaska as we wait to find out who the top four candidates will be, the ones who will move on to the general Senate race later this year. CNN is now projecting that two of those spots will go to the incumbent Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan. He's seeking a third term in Congress, as well as former Democratic Congresswoman Mary Peltola.

CNN is projecting that Republican Congressman Nick Begich will advance to the general election as he seeks to retain Alaska's lone House seats against independent Bill Hill. Alaska uses an all-party primary system where the top four candidates advance regardless of their party affiliation. Let's just go south there now and head over to California and a special election in the state's 14th district.

[04:34:56]

Two Democrats facing off to serve the remainder of former Congressman Eric Swalwell's term. Progressive state Senator Aisha Wahab, she's up against former Mayor Melissa Hernandez. You see there Wahab just ahead, about 1,300 votes there, likely be some time, though, before we find out the full results there out of California.

So let's go to Los Angeles now. And joining me is Caroline Heldman. She's a Democratic strategist, political scientist and professor at Occidental College. Caroline, it's great to see you.

CAROLINE HELDMAN, POLITICAL SCIENTIST, OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE: Good to see you, Polo.

SANDOVAL: So let's start, actually, let's stay on California's district 14th runoff race as we just share some of those current results with our viewers, with only 60 some percent of the votes in. And Aisha Wahab, apparently the leader here over Melissa Hernandez. What are your thoughts as we expect the counting and the results to continue to come in in the coming hours?

HELDMAN: Well, what is so unique about this race is that Wahab was actually up 26 points and AIPAC, pro-Israel PAC, dumped money into this California, this small district in California, two Democrats obviously advancing to the finals. So it's not a competitive race, but they spent $4 million out of about 110 million they've spent so far in this election cycle.

And obviously, you know, it's a dramatic shift, but I think it's done its job, which is to send a message to existing sitting members of Congress that they need to be firmly pro-Israel, right? They need to be locked up. So this race, I think, has symbolic importance more so than deciding which party, because it's going to be a Democrat either way.

SANDOVAL: Let's go to Florida now, Caroline, and the win of Debbie Wasserman Schultz, former head of the DNC, Congresswoman, she will be representing one, a constituency that is largely African-American. But as you just heard a little while ago in some of the reporting, that there are many constituents there that do have confidence in this seasoned legislator's ability to serve their district. I mean, just curious what you make of some of the challenges that she could potentially face after that redistricting.

HELDMAN: Well, it's interesting, she was representing a district that had a high number of racial minorities prior to this, and she was accused of, you know, district shopping, which is likely the case. She wanted to keep her seat in Congress. And she's one of two members of the House who face redistricting challenges, both of whom were able to sustain that.

And it's important to note that there were four other candidates, all black in this race. They were going to coalesce around a candidate, but couldn't figure out who to coalesce behind. And the voters in that district ended up electing Wasserman Schultz, likely because she holds such seniority in Congress that she can essentially bring home the bacon. But it's a very interesting racial dynamic, and it's coming at a time where redistricting is actually causing the number of black representatives in Congress to decline.

Also, at the same time that the Voting Rights Act has been officially gutted now by the Supreme Court. So it's a very tricky time, I think, for Wasserman Schultz. She's really going to have to focus on representing a descriptive representation for the black constituents who dominate her district.

SANDOVAL: And the race will soon begin for a crucial Senate seat in the state of Alaska, as we just shared with our viewers right now, it seems that at least two of those four spots will be going to Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan, as well as former Democratic Congresswoman Mary Peltola. With at least this Democrat and this Republican now in the race, can you just help me emphasize the importance of what we will likely see in Alaska once we find out who the rest of the candidates will be?

HELDMAN: Well, this is one of those key Senate races. Democrats need to pick up four seats if they want to take control of the Senate and the path goes through North Carolina, through Texas, through Ohio and definitely through Alaska. Mary Peltola may be advantaged if Dan Sullivan, the other Dan Sullivan, Jr., with the exact same name as the Republican incumbent, is able to move to the general.

And of course, four candidates move to the general election in Alaska's primary system. And so it's likely that if, you know, if he does advance, he could take a point or two. And that's all that would be needed in this very tight race. So at the end of the day, it comes down to a naming game in Alaska, possibly in terms of the Democrats' path to winning the Senate.

SANDOVAL: Yes, it's about 12:40 a.m. there, so the counting still continues. Caroline, if you could just perhaps close on a few final thoughts on this latest round of primaries and what it tells you, especially with some of the wins of the Democratic primaries, including in Florida.

[04:40:00]

HELDMAN: Well, it's, you know, hard to say that there's a pattern of, you know, Democratic socialist candidates or more progressive candidates winning versus more moderates. It really does seem to be a mixed bag. But we did see the largest Democratic socialists win statewide, at least in a primary in Florida. And that's with Angie Nixon, who advanced in the Senate race. Now, she's not likely to win come the primary, I'm sorry, come the general election, because Florida has 1.5 million more Republican voters than Democratic voters.

But this was a major win for the Democratic socialists of America in this state. And we've seen this with progressive candidates. Dr. El- Sayed, he's not officially DSA, but we've seen a rash of these candidates do well in an unusual change election. I think this really does boil down to the animosity on the Democratic side for the Trump administration.`

SANDOVAL: Yes, it won't be easy for David Jolly either when it comes to the governor's race in Florida. But as always, Caroline Heldman, we are so glad you could join us and share your analysis.

HELDMAN: Great to see you. Thanks, Polo.

SANDOVAL: Thank you.

The Las Vegas jurors, they were shown never before seen photos of rapper Tupac Shakur's autopsy, the latest on day two of the trial against Duane Davis. We'll be right back.

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SANDOVAL: Prosecutors in Las Vegas are trying to shed new lights on the fatal drive by shooting of Tupac Shakur back in 1996. Duane Davis, accused of orchestrating that killing, denies the allegations and he's pleaded not guilty. CNN's Josh Campbell walks us through the latest round of evidence that's been heard by the jury.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Day two in the murder trial of Duane Davis, this is a man who is charged in connection with the murder of legendary rapper Tupac Shakur here in Las Vegas nearly three decades ago. [04:44:56]

Now, on the second day of the trial, the jury heard from a forensic pathologist, a member of the medical examiner's team who walked through the cause and the manner of Tupac's death. Looking at a series of photographs, very graphic photographs that were shown to the jury. Here's what the medical examiner said.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were you able to determine sort of the path of this particular bullet?

LISA GAVIN, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST & CLARK COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINER: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what was that?

GAVIN: It entered here in the right lateral aspect of the chest, just below the axilla of the armpit, and then went across the right chest space, went across the right lung. He died of gunshot wounds of chest and abdomen.

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

GAVIN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what is that?

GAVIN: Homicide.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now, jurors also heard from a series of law enforcement officers who were on duty that night near the Las Vegas Strip whenever Tupac Shakur was shot. One of them had described an incident that occurred just hours before the actual shooting. This was at the MGM Grand here in Las Vegas.

It was following a Mike Tyson fight. What prosecutors had alleged was that Orlando, who is the nephew of Duane Davis, the man on trial, that he was essentially beaten up by an entourage of Tupac Shakur. And you can actually see on surveillance footage that brawl taking place. Interestingly, one of the officers said that he interviewed Orlando after that incident.

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KENNETH RIOS, FORMER LAS VEGAS POLICE OFFICER: And he told me basically that a couple of guys that he didn't know jumped him. And once again, I asked him if he needed medical. He said no. I asked if he wanted to file a report and he said no.

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SANDOVAL: Now, him saying he didn't want to press charges is very interesting because this is something we've heard about throughout this trial, and that is this so-called code of secrecy among various gang factions. If you go back to day one of trial, the jurors had also heard from a law enforcement officer who is actually there with Tupac on the way to the hospital, tried to get information from the victim here.

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And did he ever respond?

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And of course, what that meant for law enforcement officers is that they had to rely on other evidence, other witness statements. And of course, we're talking about 30 years ago. One thing that the jurors aren't seeing is advanced technology such as security camera footages, which are now in this area, ubiquitous around Las Vegas and many major metropolitan areas around the world. They didn't have that three decades ago.

So there isn't actually video of the actual shooting itself, which, again, is why the jurors in this case are having to rely on the witnesses. Of course, one strategy of the defense here is to say that although Duane Davis made a series of statements in interviews, including to law enforcement in the years following the shooting, talking about him being there that day, his attorney now says he made all of that up. Don't believe him.

Again, a lot of this without the typical type of evidence that we're used to in the modern day trial. This jury will have to rely on the word of mouth, the people who were allegedly there, what they saw, what they heard. Back to you.

SANDOVAL: Meanwhile, in the state of Massachusetts, jurors are getting a deeper look inside the mind of Lindsay Clancy. She does not deny fatally strangling her three children in January 2023. But the defense argues that Clancy cannot be held criminally responsible, claiming that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and extreme mental illness.

A psychologist who visited Clancy while she was detained in a hospital after the killings, he says that Clancy was in the hospital and that Clancy revealed that she had heard a voice instructing her to kill her children and then kill herself, which she categorized as an auditory hallucination. Her former psychiatrist also testified that Clancy may have minimized her symptoms because she was afraid her children could be taken away. The defense pointed out that Clancy was denied critical help on several occasions while questioning Clancy's mother-in-law.

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KEVIN REDDINGTON, ATTORNEY FOR LINDSAY CLANCY: Women and infants program in Rhode Island that specializes in perinatal and postpartum, right

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

REDDINGTON: You know that she went there, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Correct.

REDDINGTON: You know she was turned away because she was overmedicated, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

REDDINGTON: You also know that they gave her numbers to call suicide hotlines, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

REDDINGTON: She called twice, not once, but twice. And again, was turned away. Isn't that right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:49:34]

SANDOVAL: And still on the way on CNN Newsroom, Meta is back in court this week, this time in a federal trial brought by a coalition of states over online child safety. We're going to have those details, the CNN Newsroom continues.

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SANDOVAL: And welcome back. As social media and A.I. companies face active lawsuits over child safety concerns, OpenAI is launching a new ChatGPT for teens. The chat box will have built-in age-appropriate tools for safeguards for users under the age of 18. It will include nudges to take breaks and options for teens or parents to set quiet or study hours. But the company also says that it improved protections to prevent ChatGPT from expressing personal feelings toward other users and also warns teens -- it warns teens against uploading private or sensitive images.

Meta's most consequential legal fight yet over child safety and addiction is officially underway, 29 states are suing, claiming that the tech giant intentionally designed its platforms to basically to hook young people in pursuit of profit. Colin Jeffery has more on the trial.

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COLIN JEFFERY, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): Opening statements began Tuesday in a trial that could reshape how social media platforms interact with children. Twenty-nine states filed suit three years ago, alleging that Meta designed its platforms to get young people addicted, harming the mental health of children as it boosted its profits. California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey are representing the bipartisan coalition and federal court. And those states are collectively seeking as much as $1.4 trillion in damages.

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JACOB WARD, TECHNOLOGY JOURNALIST & HOST, "THE RIP CURRENT" PODCAST: What sets this case apart is that this is actually these states asking a federal judge to reach into the company and make changes not just hit them with fines, but make fundamental changes.

JEFFERY (voice-over): The states claim that Meta designed features such as recommendation algorithms, infinitely scrolling feeds, likes, and notifications to be intentionally addictive, according to the complaint.

ROB BONTA, CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: They knew their product was dangerous and they lied to the public. They lied to Congress. They told the public, they told the world that their product was safe, that it wasn't dangerous.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can't say definitively that something will change, but I think what has changed is the whole world now knows what's really going on in Meta.

JEFFERY (voice-over): Meta denies the allegations and a spokesperson says the AG's offer no proof anyone was misled and are attempting to penalize Meta for industry-wide challenges like age verification. The trial is scheduled to last at least six weeks with testimony expected from top Meta executives, including founder Mark Zuckerberg.

I'm Colin Jeffery reporting.

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SANDOVAL: And Wednesday would have been Nolan Wells's 19th birthday. This comes more than six weeks after the teen's unexplained death during a July 4th boating trip to Mississippi's Horn Island. His parents, Christine and Elmore Wansley, they wrote a letter to their son marking this birthday and they shared it exclusively with CNN writing, "Thank you for bringing joy, laughter and real happiness to each and every day. You are truly our angel. Happy Heavenly 19th birthday Nono. Remember, don't eat too much Oreo cake and hug grandma for us." A message from his parents.

And with that, we want to thank you so much for joining me. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York. Our coverage continues with CNN Headline Express in a moment.

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