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Establishment Strikes Back: Crowley Defeats Hong In Wisconsin; Graham, Norman Advance To GOP Senate Runoff In South Carolina; President Trump Crowns Patriot Games Winners. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired August 12, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: This breaking news. Now, the progressive wave falls in purple Wisconsin and the establishment strikes back.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish, and we're going to start with that Wisconsin Democratic primary for governor because the race was called just a short time ago.

CNN projects moderate David Crowley will defeat Democratic socialist Francesca Hong heading into this general election in November.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANCESCA HONG (D), FORMER WISCONSIN GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: No matter who wins this primary, were going to continue to fight for each other. We are going to collectively reject despair, and we are going to unite.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So Hong was hoping to ride the progressive wave. She did fall short. Was it the cancel Thanksgiving socialist thing? Was it all too far left for the Midwest?

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think northern Wisconsin is ready for it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My view is a centrist or a more centrist candidate can reach out more broadly. I don't think polarity at its extreme is good for our country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's really important that electability is part of it. But at the same time -- I mean, I want to vote for who I think is going to make change in our community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Joining me now in the group chat, Nicholas Wu, congressional reporter at "Semafor"; Carine Hajjar, "Washington Post" editorial board member; and Josh Orton, president for Demand Justice.

Now, I want to start with you, Nicholas. What did you see in this -- what do we call it? The Rust Belt, the blue wall. Like, what are we what are we learning from last night?

NICHOLAS WU, CONGRESSIONAL; REPORTER, SEMAFOR: You know, I'll put my Midwesterner hat on.

CORNISH: And they love when we do that, by the way.

WU: It defies easy characterization. Yeah, they're excited. They're excited.

CORNISH: They know you want this.

WU: Yeah.

I mean, I think like, what we saw last night was Democratic primary voters really picking electability when it mattered in the state. Like, you know, in Wisconsin, we saw them pick the candidate who by all accounts is the more centrist one, maybe would fare better in a general election.

But the counterpoint to that is Minnesota, where voters there pick the more progressive Senate candidate, Peggy Flanagan, over Angie Craig, the more centrist House member who was running for Senate. And -- but that's a much bluer state. So perhaps the electability argument just didn't work as well.

CORNISH: Exactly.

One of the things that I'm interested in, Josh, because you've worked for both Kamala Harris, a like a person who was known for being, maybe too cautious, right? Like not known necessarily for their retail politics and style. And then also, Bernie Sanders, who is still out there now at this point, trying to play kingmaker.

What do you make of how voters are talking about this?

JOSH ORTON, PRESIDENT, DEMAND JUSTICE: I think that what were seeing is progressive candidates winning when they are strong candidates, when they're running strong races, and when they take on power. And I think we saw that with Peggy Flanagan. I think we saw it in Michigan with Abdul El-Sayed.

And I think, frankly, were going to see it with Brian Poindexter in his race against Max Miller, because it's you know, when we run working people who are taking on the powers that be, they are taking on corporate greed -- I think Democrats and progressives do very well.

CORNISH: Yeah. And then Bernie Sanders didn't back Francesca Hong. And Democrats have been squawking left and right. One operative telling "Politico" she just doesn't have the ability to sort of laugh it off or pitch it effectively. The former chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party saying this is not the year to test a Democratic socialist. This isn't New York. And David Axelrod hitting her with El-Sayed is a serious person. She

is a font of zany liberal faculty lounge exotica. The word from David Axelrod.

Yeah, well, we were talking about this during the break, which is it's one thing to be talking within your activist community and in your primary, where this stuff actually you get a lot of nods and snaps, right? Like she wasn't just sitting on a bench yelling stuff, and suddenly ahead in the primary.

CARINE HAJJAR, STEAMBOAT INSTITUTE FELLOW: Yeah. And you saw, for example, in El-Sayed and just neighboring in the neighboring state that he was trying to seem more moderate. He was running what felt like a tighter, more serious race.

CORNISH: He's also run a bunch of times, so he's had a couple more practice.

HAJJAR: Ultimately, politics comes down to perception. So, I do think gauging someone less on the very specifics of their policy and more on the way that they interface with voters, more on the way that they're perceived. It didn't help that she had some tremendous gaffes going into the last week of the race. Not liking Thanksgiving is not quite a popular policy.

CORNISH: But you're right, the last week is what matters. That's when Democrats got their act together and said, hey, you who dropped out? You come back. You know what I mean? And there was this like, it was described as chaotic. No?

WU: Yeah. Extremely chaotic. Like, you know, we saw the number up on the screen this -- you know, despite all of the noise, this was a race that was separated by 3,000 votes, which is, you know, an incredibly close margin.

CORNISH: It's close, yeah.

WU: And speaks to how much this narrowed in the final days of the race, especially when polling, which by all accounts seems to have missed in a lot of Democratic primaries this season, had Hong ahead by double digits in some -- in some surveys.

CORNISH: There was this some of the centrists who, with the welcome pack, they told politico this. This week, many Democratic primary voters may want to touch the hot stove. But the independents who can vote in Democratic primaries can turn out in large enough numbers to slap their hand away.

Who did the slapping?

HAJJAR: Well, I just think generally in Wisconsin, races come down to often one percentage point, even less than one. So, you know, again, it's really hard to win. I mean, not only with zany policies like not liking Thanksgiving, but what does permanent affordability mean? This was a central claim, yes. CORNISH: Black voters, rural white voters, right? This is what

happens in Democratic primaries. This is how you get a Joe Biden coming out on top in South Carolina. Like I think that Michael Crowley did benefit from an energized Black vote. We'll see if the numbers bear that out. But there's been a lot of talk about whether this left flank is understanding who's in the coalition and how to expand it.

Does that -- well, can I let you finish? I don't mean to interrupt, but like, that's my theory that there's some people who are out there who are like, chill, we're not doing this.

HAJJAR: Absolutely. And when you have states with large rural populations, too. I just -- polling has floundered in so many places across the country. So I think that's another issue.

ORTON: Well, look, I think that there's some going to be some finger wagging from the centrists here claiming thinking that, you know, their theory of the case was right all along. I would not put a lot of credence to that. I think that the candidates that show that they're really willing, ready and able to take on power are doing very well.

And the ones that voters perceive as not ready, willing and able to take on power are not doing so well.

CORNISH: Well, here's what's different, I think. Who did you mention who won over Angie?

WU: Peggy Flanagan.

CORNISH: Peggy Flanagan.

One of the things she was dealing with is the person she was competing against was actually took some hit on immigration in a state that's very much dealing with the issue. So, it wasn't just saying like, oh, you're a moderate, we don't care about you. It was somebody who the voter had said, oh, you voted for the Lincoln Riley Act. As Democrats. We are not into that. And they were punished for it, right?

Is that different than the progressive winning more than the moderate being punished?

ORTON: Yeah, I think so. And also, I feel like too often, those of us in D.C. and those of us in politics think about these buckets or labels as centrist or lefty or Democrat or Republican. And I think people are much more in touch with how the political issues are touching their lives locally, and they go with a candidate who is more responsive to that.

And I think that was true with Peggy Flanagan and in Michigan, and I think also will be true in --

CORNISH: All right. We'll have more election results. They're coming in from overnight. For instance, in South Carolina, Senator Darline Graham headed to a runoff. That means now this political novice may take the debate stage.

Plus, their high gas prices and low approval ratings, embarrassed by Iran. Is Trump the new Jimmy Carter?

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DARLINE GRAHAM (R-SC): I'm hopeful that President Trump will come down, but we'll see. And there's a big distinction between myself and Ralph Norman.

REP. RALPH NORMAN (R), SOUTH CAROLINA SENATE CANDIDATE: The people of South Carolina need to know everything about where I stand and where she stands. And we will lay out those differences, which is a good thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, the race to replace the late Lindsey Graham in the U.S. Senate is heading to a runoff. Senator Darline Graham took the top spot in the Republican primary for her brother's old seat, followed by Congressman Ralph Norman. The runoff happens in two weeks.

Now, there are also plans to debate next week, depending on who you ask.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NORMAN: I know we're scheduled to debate for Monday. I look forward to getting in all the issues. I look forward to hearing what her plan is.

REPORTER: Are you participating in that debate? Have you agreed to that?

GRAHAM: Well, that's the first I've heard of it. So we'll see.

REPORTER: Will you be willing to debate --

GRAHAM: I'll be willing to debate him. Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Group chat is back. We're going to get to the race. But I was surprised to hear her being like, this is the first I've heard of a thing that's happening in a few days. No, if only because Graham was running right before he died. So, there's an infrastructure of people there who are supposed to be like to do list, debate.

HAJJAR: And debates are pretty standard practice in contested races. So --

CORNISH: Does this speak to her as a novice?

HAJJAR: Say that again?

CORNISH: Does it speak to her as a novice in terms of actually running herself?

HAJJAR: I mean, she is a novice. And so it is -- it's going to be a challenge for her, but she has, you know, the late Senator Graham's infrastructure around her. So hopefully, you know, she -- I'm sure she's getting the prep that he would have gotten, but it's going to be difficult. I mean, he had literally decades on the political stage to hone his own style, his policy points. And you're putting her up there after just mere a month or two. And that's going to be a challenge.

CORNISH: And it was a short time for the, like, trying to get the voters to understand who you are, you know, about short times coming from the Harris campaign. What more work does she have to do? I mean, if were looking at these numbers, I was looking at Aaron Blake, one of our writers, and he was saying that -- that Graham coming up well, shy of 50 percent, would seem to risk another situation where supporters of the other candidate coalesce, especially given that there's been some hard feelings about her seemingly being gifted a Senate seat.

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ORTON: Yeah, I think, you know, South Carolina probably has not seen a competitive debate in this particular seat for a long time. So I think people are probably like stretching and feeling, you know, getting their -- getting, you know, getting their muscles ready. And I think the question will be whether or not she can put out a competing vision to Norman. And I think voters deserve to have that contrast. And I think it's a healthy thing for that particular seat. And given that neither candidate got over 50 percent, I think voters are going to appreciate it. And I will also see it will be interesting to see what contrasts both candidates decide to highlight in that debate.

CORNISH: Here is what Ralph Norman said on Tuesday, because there is the coveted pursuit of President Trump's endorsement. It seems like Darline Graham has it. He encouraged her to be in the race.

But here's how Norman is talking about that on the campaign trail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NORMAN: Well, I asked for the president's endorsement and didn't get it, but anybody would want the endorsement. But he chose who he did, and that's fine. South Carolina is going to decide the next senator.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Norman has run before and come up short. He was able to take that same, you know, like infrastructure and put it to work here. But tell me about him. Is he in a position to overcome, you know, Trump's displeasure?

WU: Yeah. He has kind of the original sin in Trump's eyes of endorsing someone else in the 2024 presidential primary. And that was Nikki Haley, obviously, home state, you know, former governor there. But the question for this primary is whether that will matter in the

end, since as we've talked about, you know, that's two thirds of the primary electorate who did not vote for, you know, kind of the nominal incumbent, the person endorsed by Trump. So we're really seeing the limitations of that endorsement in what, by all accounts, was a very compressed but wide open primary.

CORNISH: How did they even show how they're different? I mean, he was in the House Freedom Caucus, which isn't exactly like in favor of the same way it once was under what is now Trumpism. I mean, are there meaningful differences between these two candidates?

WU: I mean, stylistically, you know, you know, Senator Graham doesn't really talk that much to reporters in the hall. She's not generating the same kinds of soundbites and moments that you might otherwise get as a candidate being in Congress. Whereas Ralph Norman, speaking as a Capitol Hill reporter, as someone who talks to a lot of folks, he's very quotable. He has been a fly in the ointment in the eyes of Republican leadership at times. And, you know, he gets himself in the mix and that could help.

CORNISH: So after the break on this morning, we're going to talk about one more thing. Trump's Patriot Games. Have you heard of this? Basically, we want to know whether this is a representation of America, this youth sports event, or maybe a kind of MAGA Olympics. We'll have more.

And then I want to say good morning to our viewers in Chicago, because this is your skyline by the river, as you are waking up.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think for me, representing a state is a little bit different. As I grew up in Belgium, I have a different view on America, and I think I'm just more noticeable of like the opportunities that we have here.

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CORNISH: Two winners now crowned in President Trump's Patriot Games. The president promised the best of the best student athletes.

I'm not sure that's what we got. But here's the president presenting the winners with their trophies. A slice of the $250,000 prize.

Now, a CNN analysis actually found that a specific demographic of kids got a shot to compete. Of the ones who were featured in the Freedom 250 Instagram page, many attend private Christian schools. They also appear to be overwhelmingly white, and the application for the games didn't specify race

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These are supposedly the best athletes from every state in the country, and they all happen to be white. I don't know about that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're going on right now. The dystopian Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen type events in the Hunger Games for our high school athletes to go and compete to do what?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They give backpacks and like red and blue outfits. And then they're jumping around, hopping around and doing sports. I --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're playing dodgeball. They're playing tug of war. How does one person win those games.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: As a person who has lost a dodgeball, so many painful times, I can tell you there's a way.

But the group chat is back. I don't want to make fun of these kids. The contestants range in age from 14 to 17, but here are the things people are raising questions about. Not selected through any qualifying events. They recorded video essays, just sort of describing why they should be included.

Some students were chosen to represent states where they don't even live. So, before we even get to the dodgeball and the tug of war of it all, help me understand who is this for?

HAJJAR: That's a great question. I mean, look, at the end of the day, this came across more as a Trump rally. I don't think that the idea of having some sort of sporting event for young American athletes is that crazy, especially around the 250th anniversary. I actually think it's a great idea.

But this comes down to both I think poor execution of the event itself, and also some of the outrage around it, has been a little silly too. I mean, at this point really, there's plenty of criticism to be made about it, but I think that this has become sort of a farce because of both sides. One, it was poorly planned, but two people were rooting for it to lose all along.

And then you end up with the crowd that is very much self-selected based on their allegiance to the president.

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CORNISH: Do you think that people felt this is something they could participate in, or did it feel like something that was for Trump and the community of voters that he feels supports him the most?

ORTON: I feel like Trump was previously the reigning master of distraction. You know, we've got a war raging in Iran. We have like, you know, sky-high debt. We see people, you know, not having the economy work for them. CORNISH: Yeah.

ORTON: And we have this kind of thing, which I think in previous Trump eras where he was a lot more popular, like UFC would have gotten a lot of attention. I do --

CORNISH: But, look, this is giving UFC vibes. I mean, you do have those weird sparkler things. You got to like a lot of light going on. Everyone's wearing a medal, which is giving participation trophies. I don't know why that feels not on brand ideologically.

But it feels like so many students, so many young people, they're on Instagram. They have brands to manage. They're athletes. There's name, image and likeness.

There were a ton of athletes who could have been participating in this and that -- just in terms of rooting for it to fail, I think people who are into sports were like, this doesn't seem like it's about sports.

HAJJAR: Well, I mean, when the events are not established sports that people usually go collegiate to go to a professional or collegiate level for, then yeah, it sort of becomes less about some type of, you know, lacrosse tournament --

(CROSSTALK)

CORNISH: -- with your tug of war.

HAJJAR: Yeah. College thing.

ORTON: I think -- I think this event will finally make sense when it's revealed in six months or so that every parent had to give half a million dollars to the ballroom for their kid to participate.

CORNISH: We can say, we do not know if that's the thing, but it's not --

ORTON: I'm saying that's what would make this make sense.

CORNISH: -- for things to be monetized politically, right?

WU: Yeah. I mean, like, this really speaks to the whole polarization of this moment. Like, had this been branded, as I say, the presidential fitness games.

CORNISH: Oh yeah, that would have been a good one.

WU: Right. Like we know that branding, that's nonpartisan.

CORNISH: Yeah. it's such a weird year. I feel like I don't see America 250 on things. Like if you think back to the '70s, it was like commemorative plates and Wheaties boxes and all this stuff. And I kind of feel like brands are like, aha, America seems nice and I just don't see it anywhere. It's really like in these kind of White House and America 250

sponsored things, but I don't think it's an accident that like corporate America is not embracing celebrations this year.

ORTON: Because it's been made about one man and corporate America gets involved in things when their audience and when their customer base can all find it -- can find it accessible and feels like it's for them.

This has been made about one man and one man who is the least popular president in modern American history. And so corporate, you know, I think corporate America and the reason that people can't sort of embrace it and share it is because he's made it not about them. He's made it about himself.

CORNISH: Yeah. And we should say it's going to be on ABC and ESPN. I'm not saying it doesn't exist. I mean, like the broader culture, there's not the sense of all everywhere you look we're in America's 250.

HAJJAR: Well, I totally agree that Trump has made a lot of America 250 about himself. But the polarization when it comes to -- we're talking about patriotism itself.

CORNISH: Yeah.

HAJJAR: That's happening on both sides. Trump is using this event and this momentous occasion. And frankly, in a lot of -- a lot of rally instances for himself. But you also have voices on the left that have more and more predominantly demonized the American experiment, American exceptionalism.

CORNISH: You mean the history part? Not this year's --

HAJJAR: Yeah, history part. Not necessarily this year. But, you know, I'm sure that there are plenty out there who don't care to celebrate at all.

CORNISH: Yeah, well, I think the real test will be when it's on TV, right? And we start seeing those comments roll in from the sports world because they love to comment on things. So --

HAJJAR: Ratings,

CORNISH: And ratings. Yeah. So, I'm very curious.

Straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, we are going to go back to the story of the whole switching of planes. Right? Did the president put American lives, including those of his secretary of state, at risk when he got away on a secret jet out of Turkey?

And today, watch as darkness descends on countries around the globe. Join Boris Sanchez and Brianna Keilar for special live coverage. The "Total Solar Eclipse" Wednesday at 1:00 eastern on CNN and also on the CNN app

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