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Inside Politics

Florida Dem, GOP Primaries Show - All Politics Is Local; Mixed Results For Trump Backed Candidates In Florida; Sen. Darline Graham In Debate - National Security Is Not My Thing; Trump To Campaign With Graham In Myrtle Beach Friday; Trump Gathers Press To Show Up White House Helipad Project; Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired August 19, 2026 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DANA BASH, ANCHOR AND CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Florida voters deliver a powerful reminder of one of politics most enduring lessons. I'm Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines and Inside Politics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS O'NEILL, JR., FORMER SPEAKER OF THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: All politics are local. Whether you call it international politics, world politics, national politics, everything starts at your backyard. Everything is local.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Had voice from politics past, of course, the late house speaker, Tip O'Neill, who made all politics is local famous after learning it the hard way almost a century ago. Last night, Florida voters in both parties showed why O'Neill's political mantra really still holds up. Big names and big money collided with something even more powerful, home turf credibility. We saw it in the senate Democratic primary where state representative, former organizer, and Democratic socialist Angie Nixon beat Alexander Vindman who moved to Florida just three years ago. That race was not even close.

Decades of South Florida political connections also paid off in two new house districts, helping Jared Moskowitz fend off a young Democratic socialist in the newly redrawn 25th District. And Debbie Wasserman Schultz weathered questions about racial representation in the new heavily black 20th Congressional District. We also saw all politics is local on the Republican side, nowhere more literally than in Florida's 19th where several high profile candidates moved into the district from Illinois, from North Carolina, from New York, ran there, but they didn't win. Voters chose a candidate with actual ties to that district.

And then over in Florida's 7th, Republican Congressman Cory Mills learned another version of that same lesson. Even the biggest national endorsement cannot run years of damaging headlines back home. Primary voters rejected Mills and handed the nomination to a familiar face from local TV news. Congressman Jared Moskowitz, who again easily defeated his challenge from the left, told me after his victory what he thinks voters are looking for.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JARED MOSKOWITZ, (D) FLORIDA: People want normalcy. They want to stop this, left extreme, right extreme. They want Washington to work for them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And I'm joined by a terrific group of reporters starting with our Political Director, David Chalian.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yeah. I mean, you went through a bunch of really fascinating races, and it is true that all politics is local. But I also think there were some major national trends that we've been observing this entire midterm season that were on display throughout the country last night in these primaries. One, as you were just getting at there with that Moskowitz soundbite, this divide inside the Democratic Party and the rise of the DSA, Democratic Socialist aligned left proved once again in that senate primary is alive and well. And that is exactly, as what President Trump and the Republicans plan to spend millions upon millions of dollars advertising about this fall to paint, use a really broad brush, and paint Democrats broadly as outside the mainstream and too far, to the left.

Whether or not that is going to be a successful counterweight to Donald Trump's unpopularity, which was also on display last night. We saw it in his endorsement record in white.

BASH: And let's put -- while you're talking about that, let's put up the Trump endorsements and those who didn't -- he wasn't successful with last night as you continue talking, we're showing them.

CHALIAN: This is not just last night, right? I can't see.

BASH: It's all right. Last night and since the beginning the --

CHALIAN: Yeah, exactly. But yesterday alone, three Trump backed candidates lost primary. So, like, it and I think it's up to 10 now this year. This is again, we are seeing in his poll numbers not only is he historically unpopular for his own record setting, across his two terms, but also with his party among Republicans. And I think this was another data point that he's lost some sway with them.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: And I think also so interesting, it also shows the limits of Trump on the other side. I mean, overall, there is this Trump fatigue that is so clear. And I was talking to a Republican official the other day in a swing state who said, look. This is not just any midterm. This is like the sixth year of a presidency in office. That's what it feels like. The 2006, if you will, of the Bush administration or the 2014 of Obama. And the idea that that Vindman was going to effectively win the senate race, arriving in Florida just a short time ago because of his big act was standing up against the President.

[12:05:00]

This is a change electorate. People are hungry for change. So on the Democratic side, it's perhaps not as potent. But on the Republican side, it's also clear. I mean, environmental is not clearing 50 percent. It was actually fairly extraordinary, but the graphic there of the people. In governor's races in particular, the President's track record has not been that great. And next week, it'll be tested again in Oklahoma in the runoff there. So that will also be interesting. So the limits of Trump, I think, writ large are really pretty clear at this point after a long summer of primaries.

BASH: Yeah. And then we're putting up what you were just discussing that Donald's obviously won handily, but in that four way race did not did not clear 50 percent. Just going back to the question of sort of national trends, another that I know, David, you talk about a lot is the question of incumbency. And it was mixed last night. I mean, I challenged Jared Moskowitz about the idea that people want to throw everybody out and like, OK. He's an incumbent, and he's -- he won at least in the primary, and he argues well, but it's in a different district fair.

Same goes for Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who's been in office for almost 35 years in various forms in Florida. But then Cory Mills, the incumbent Republican, who has allegations against him of misconduct, he lost. And he's what, David, the 11th?

CHALIAN: The 11th house member.

BASH: House member to lose a primary. And first of all, Kate, welcome to Inside Politics. It's great to have you here.

KATE SANTALIZ, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, AXIOS: Thanks for having me.

BASH: Kate Santaliz of Axios. What is your sense of kind of the lesson of Cory Mills? Is -- can we draw on it because of his issues, or is it, yes, just another data point on the anti-incumbent fever?

SANTALIZ: Well, first of all, I think Republicans are really relieved here that Mills actually ended up losing his race. And Mills is one of four Republicans who had these ethical issues going on that were making their districts that used to be safe red seats a little bit more competitive. That included Chuck Edwards, Max Miller, and Andy Ogles. And now three out of those four won't be on the ballot in November, and Republicans are happy about that. Of course, Max Miller is staying in, but Mills was making this race competitive because of his issues, and Democrats honestly don't have as great of a chance of flipping that seat now because of this so.

BASH: Yeah. No. It's really, really interesting. I do want to talk about a race that we haven't discussed, and that's probably because it's a Pennsylvania state race, a special election. But David Chalian pointed it out, and I want to show up on the screen why it matters. And I'm going to have you take it away, David. We're talking about an election in Butler County, Pennsylvania, one of the really important collar counties of Philadelphia, the suburbs of Philadelphia. And you see there -- excuse me.

CHALIAN: Yeah. Butler County's out west.

BASH: Butler County, Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.

CHALIAN: Yes.

BASH: It's a collar county of Pittsburgh. It's been a long week guys. The other side of Pennsylvania. In any event, if we put back the election results so far, Brandon Dukes, the Democrat, is now at 50.3 percent, and the Republican is at 49.7 percent. Talk about why that matters.

CHALIAN: So this is a special election in a state house race.

BASH: Correct.

CHALIAN: There's a vacancy there, right? And so this is a special election. And since Trump took office in January 2025 we have seen dramatic democratic overperformance in these special elections in the congressional level, at the state legislative level. Here is -- this district is not just in Butler County, but it has a portion of Butler County that where Trump had the assassination attempt in 2024, we'll all remember. Trump won this state legislative district by 18 points. 88 Trump plus 18 district. And you just showed where the vote is in this special election. Now this isn't projected yet. It's still too narrow.

I don't know which candidate will end up the winner here. But the fact that an 18 -- Trump plus 18 district is even this close.

BASH: Yeah.

CHALIAN: Again, this to me speaks to the underlying fundamentals of where Trump stands with the American public right now heading into this fall midterm campaign.

BASH: Right. And just to kind of talk a little bit more about it, when Donald Trump won in 2016, a big part of why he won Pennsylvania, which was a huge win for him, was because he found voters that nobody even knew existed in places like Butler County. And the fact that the -- and this is the point you're making, that the energy, at least this illustration, is that the energy has turned on its head right now.

ZELENY: There's no doubt. And he's also not on the ballot. So it's a blessing and a curse for them. But every time and not just Trump. When a President is not on the ballot, their supporters who they uniquely found, who they uniquely love, don't often turn out, particularly on a special election, in the middle of August.

[12:10:00]

But the fact remains, as David was saying, the underlying challenges and headwinds for Republicans are so clear. And, again, I go back to -- it's not just a midterm, which we know the results of the first midterm for the President in 2018. It was disastrous for him. And if this is really being seen as the second midterm, if you were, year six of his presidency, it's also not likely to be good. But the quality of candidates obviously matters here. But without Trump on the ballot and I'm thinking back again to what does Susie Wiles said last of December. We're going to put him on the ballot. We're going to send him out there. Well, we'll see about that.

BASH: Kate.

SANTALIZ: I mean, I'd have to agree. A lot of Republicans are very privately worried about results like these in special elections and have been for many months now. So it's not a great sign for them heading into November. But a lot of them are still feeling very confident with the changes that we've seen through redistricting and picking up seats there. So that's another positive sign for them too.

BASH: Yeah. I mean and we saw the results of redistricting in Florida in a big way. All right. Everybody stand by. Up next to Twist in South Carolina, why Darline Graham's choice to "Just be honest turned into a major debate miss." And forget about gas prices, affordable housing, I don't know, the Iran war. What you're seeing now is the President very eager, very excited to show all of us about grass and granite and stone and the helipad that he's building. This just happened at the White House. Stay with us.

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[12:15:00]

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BASH: In less than a week, South Carolina votes again in a Republican primary. This time in a runoff, Senator Darline Graham, who has the President's endorsement, debated Congressman Ralph Norman last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Senator, are Taiwan and the South China Sea national security issues for the United States? If so, why?

SEN. DARLINE GRAHAM, (R) SOUTH CAROLINA SENATE CANDIDATE: I'm sorry. Could you repeat the question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are Taiwan and the South China Sea national security issues for the United States? And if so, why or how?

GRAHAM: 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.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Congressman, I'll give you a chance to respond, and I'm sure you recognizes that --

REP. RALPH NORMAN, (R) SOUTH CAROLINA SENATE CANDIDATE: Taiwan's a definite ally, and, we have a trading relationship with them that is beneficial to the United States, chips being one of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Kate, look this is one of those moments. And in fact, I was, talking to somebody who's worked on a lot of debates, last night trying to see if there was any charitable way to look at this from the point of view of voters, and maybe there is. But what she said to me is Debate 101 is you never want to create a moment or be a part of a moment that makes people watching cringe.

SANTALIZ: Right. And I think it also highlights one of her vulnerabilities, which is that she doesn't have a career in politics. She's kind of this unknown quantity, and that's a sentiment that we've been hearing from a lot of Republicans. I was even hearing from Republicans a couple weeks ago who were saying maybe she's a closeted liberal. Like, that's how little we know about this person. So this race is really boiling down to Norman coming out and saying, I have a proven track record. I'm a conservative. But Graham is saying that she's not a career politician, but she has President Trump's backing, and she can be a new face in this race. But that moment is one that's probably going to stick around for a little while here.

BASH: And Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina Governor, she, of course maybe not of course, but people who watch Inside Politics might know this. She got an endorsement from Ralph Norman, who's Darline Graham's opponent, at a time when that was -- he was sticking his neck out to do that and not support Donald Trump. She was pretty vicious, frankly, and direct, I should say, is probably a better word. Lindsey Graham was well informed on the United States National Security. Darline Graham admits she's not. This is not something you inherit, and it's critical in the senate.

ZELENY: I think Nikki Haley is saying right there are things that it's probably a little bit more difficult for Ralph Norman to say. I mean, that she's not her brother, and she's not up to speed on these issues. I mean, I think over the next week, less than a week, how the Norman campaign sort of uses this, I think, will be fascinating because you don't want to beat her up over it if you're them, because I think she does have some sympathy votes, and I think people are inclined to probably, I think, the best of her. But I think what Nikki Haley has said right there was definitely the message of the Norman campaign. I'm curious to see if they make that a television ad or how much they really try and use this.

This is still a Republican primary as we're talking about, and there are many objectors to the Graham family. And mean like, Lindsey Graham was obviously beloved in South Carolina, but there were many conservatives and MAGA faithful who did not believe that he was on their side, largely on immigration. I think had this been on immigration or something, that would have been just a deal breaker. On Taiwan, I'm not sure, but, boy, it was just cringe to watch, as you said.

BASH: Let's listen to a little bit more of what Darline Graham said in this debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. DARLINE GRAHAM, (R) SOUTH CAROLINA SENATE CANDIDATE: I've done more in 20 days than you have done in 20 years. I did a lot of research to try to find out exactly what you have done.

[12:20:00]

You named a post office, so good job. I've got the Russia sanctions bill passed. I've cosponsored the SAVE America Act. I've cosigned seven anti-abortion bills. I was the deciding vote in, President Trump's AG pick, Todd Blanche.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHALIAN: To your point, Jeff, that it's a Republican primary. I mean, you see her there just trying to shore up her conservative credentials to try and answer the questions that you said you've heard from some Republicans about where she really stands. She also clearly seems to have similar desire as her brother had to be comfortable mixing it up on a on a debate stage and getting engaged.

I don't know if that moment will erase the other moment or not. And to Jeff's point, it'll depend on how much the Norman campaign wants to prosecute. I'm also curious to hear, Donald Trump's going down to South Carolina, on Friday of this week to the Myrtle Beach area. And I'm really curious to hear if that is ignored or if Trump tries to, like, deal with that moment head on in some way to buck her up. Because to me, that'll be telling about how much damage they think it has caused.

ZELENY: She also said that South Carolina had 50 million people in it, which, of course, it does not. It has 5 million people in it. So there are just some basic things there. She's lucky there's only a week left and not a long period of time to have a string of these sort of gaffes.

BASH: We talked about Trump endorsements, and the President obviously has endorsed and is going to see and campaign with her on Friday. Before this debate, he sounded like he was hedging a little bit. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I mean, just so you understand, I like the other people of the race also. They're all Trump. I mean, they're all Trumpers, but, I endorsed her. I think she's great. It's really an honor of her brother, and she's really a very smart woman.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Kate.

SANTALIZ: Yeah. I mean, I think this race is going to prove whether or not how powerful his endorsement is here. But if you remember a couple years ago, Ralph Norman did end up backing Nikki Haley when she was running for President, and that's something that's kind of stuck with Trump. Norman didn't get Trump's endorsement in the Governor's race that he was running for either. So it's interesting to hear him say there that both of these candidates are Trump backed. And Ralph Norman, it's definitely one that supports President Trump's agenda in Congress.

BASH: So All right. Everybody stand by. Coming up, how President Trump spent his morning. He invited cameras to follow him around and look at his project, one of his projects, talking about granite, lots of it, and grass, and talking about how the granite pairs really well with cocktails. That's just part of it. We're going to show you more after a break.

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[12:25:00]

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BASH: Moments ago, President Trump unexpectedly gathered the White House pool and gave them a tour. Why? Where did he give that tour? Well, it's to show off his new helipad. Here's just part of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Every stone is two degrees rounded. So then I put a instead of putting straight pieces down, we have the stone is absolutely perfectly rounded. It's a white granite. It's a flaw -- it's called a flawless granite. It's we get the best stuff. One thing I know how to do is build. The granite top says the seal of The United States of America.

That's the exact term. If you look at the C house of the presidents, the C a love of the President of The United States of America, meaning the president is in the White House. They can have events on it. They can have people go there for cocktails and then walk to the ballroom after that's finished. We can have really incredible this is unbelievable for state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And you saw that helipad behind him. It's the first time we're seeing it. That used to be, or I guess it still is on the South Lawn.

ZELENY: Exactly. I mean and he is at his happiest, I think, when he is playing the role of host, if it's at Mar A Lago or Bedminster or on the South Lawn of the White House. But we're seeing images of there, of him walking onto that. And the reason that this is interesting because the marine one, when it arrives to take the President to a Joint Base Andrews or any place else, has always. That's shocking that his name is there. Parked on shocking. Has always landed on the grass, and it has damaged the grass over the years. But this is a giant, slab, basically, of the seal as he was repeating several times the seal of the president of the United States as if we'd be confused about what seal would be.

But he's standing out there just very pleased with this. So for all the renovations we've seen around Washington, this is 1 that is actually not as controversial even though it's going to significantly change the South Lawn because it's not a big building. It is a helipad that actually many people have said is needed.

BASH: OK. Not to be a skunk at the helipad party here, but is this what the American people are eager to see and hear? We know how much he loves it. He -- this is his happy place. This is what he loves to do. He talks about it nonstop publicly and privately. Yeah. No. I mean, we see in poll after poll that majorities of Americans believe he is not focused on the right priorities.

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