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Inside Politics
Trump-Backed Darline Graham Wins South Carolina GOP Senate Primary; Country Music Legend, Dolly Parton Dead at 80; New York Times Reports CIA Set Up Secret Cuba Task Force. Aired 12:30-1p ET
Aired August 26, 2026 - 12:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:30:00]
ADAM CANCRYN, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: -- And when you're talking about having to defend all of these other districts, trying to keep the Senate, some of these races in Georgia and North Carolina that don't seem to be trending super well for Republicans, it just adds another kind of target and now you have to kind of spread out the map.
So it'll be interesting to see, I think, as we get into the general, how quickly and how enthusiastically, I guess, Darline Graham is willing to kind of flesh out what her platform is, outside of, again, obviously, that strong support for Trump.
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR & WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: Not just what Republicans may have to spend there, but how much do Democratic donors all of a sudden believe there's a chance here and throw a lot of money -- we saw this movie before with Jaime Harrison --
MEG KINNARD, REPORTER, ASSOCIATED PRESS: We sure did in 2020.
(LAUGH)
(CROSSTALK)
CHALIAN: -- against Lindsey Graham.
(CROSSTALK)
CHALIAN: And there was a lot of liberal, low-dollar donor money that went to Jamie Harrison, who probably never really had a shot, but there was some polling that suggested it was close.
You know, Lindsey Graham won that race, going away, obviously.
KINNARD: 10 points.
CHALIAN: And I'm curious to see if something -- like, it is not beyond the realm, given the questions you raised. You know, is there a poll that comes out that all of a sudden shows it's competitive and gets liberal hearts all excited, and they start throwing money, which may be money down the drain, on that race? So I'm interested to see how that dynamic will play out in the fall. DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR OF 'INSIDE POLITICS': Real quick, you have a story out today about Republicans being furious that Trump revived the tariff drama just in time for the midterms.
CANCRYN: Yeah, I mean, this is -- trade wars are not something that we've really been thinking about for several months. We've been dealing with an actual war in the Middle East. But just in the last week or so, you know, the president reviving this kind of trade standoff with Canada, one that there's not really a constituency for. Nobody is super angry at Canada for anything in particular. And then also --
BASH: Except for Donald Trump.
CANCRYN: Except for Donald Trump. And then also, on the other end, saying that he's going to allow these foreign beef imports, which has really just enraged a lot of Republicans and ranchers in these Midwest and Southern states that rely a lot on, you know, their ranching and their cattle. Those two combined, I mean, we've seen now probably more than a dozen lawmakers at this point openly saying they disagree with the president.
BASH: Yeah.
CANCRYN: That's not something that we would have seen this time last year.
BASH: Real quick, how's it playing in South Carolina?
KINNARD: I mean, I think there's a lot of frustration, as is noted, that this is not something that Republicans want to be seeing happening right before what's going to be a very competitive midterm cycle. And certainly in the South, in agricultural areas, it's not something that folks want to see.
BASH: All right, guys. Thank you so much. Don't go anywhere.
Our next guest has written for presidents and celebrities, including the eulogy at Elvis Presley's funeral. He also spent decades working with Dolly Parton. Legendary television producer, Barry Adelman will be here next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:36:48]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STELLA PARTON, DOLLY PARTON'S SISTER: And the winner is Dolly Parton.
(APPLAUSE)
(CROWD CHEERING)
DOLLY PARTON, AMERICAN SINGER-SONGWRITER AND ACTRESS: I tell you, we were identical twins until I took the Mark Eden bust developer.
(LAUGH)
PARTON: I didn't expect to win this but it looks like it was rigged because Stella was out here presenting it. But I do think this is really a special treat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: That was Dolly Parton in 1978. Her very first self-produced album, "New Harvest... First Gathering." It won the American Music Awards Country Album of the Year, presented by her sister, Stella. That was signer Andy Gibb there as well.
It was a turning point as she took creative control of her career. Later, she won her first Grammy with the pop hit "Here You Come Again" and her transcendence beyond country music was official. Our next guest knew Dolly Parton then and worked with her through the decades since.
Legendary Producer, Barry Adelman, Executive Vice President of Television and Executive Producer for Dick Clark Productions. Thank you so much for being here, Barry. You did have the privilege of knowing Dolly Parton throughout the evolution that she had as an entertainer, a businesswoman, a humanitarian.
How do you describe that thing that Dolly Parton had that made her so one of a kind?
BARRY ADELMAN, VICE PRESIDENT OF TELEVISION, DICK CLARK PRODUCTIONS: She was. She was one in a billion, Dana. And you know, if she would only have been a singer, she would have been a star; an actress, a star; a songwriter, a star. She could do everything. And she remained authentic through the whole process.
I've never really seen anybody that had all that going for them. And she could produce as well. She knew exactly what was right, what was right for her. And she was amazing to work with. She made you feel part of her family and she could change your script and change every line of it. At the end of it, you thought you wrote the whole thing.
(LAUGH)
ADELMAN: She just made you feel wonderful all the time.
BASH: That's a great story there. I mean, and I want to get into some of the details of your relationship with her. And I want to actually play an example of the American Country Music Awards show. She was the co-host in 2023 with Garth Brooks. I'm going to play a moment from that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARTH BROOKS, AMERICAN SINGER-SONGWRITER: What makes up the GOAT, picking, singing, musicianship, awards, all that stuff. That list becomes less than a handful of people. Then you add the last category, time, length of career. People, I'm not so sure that last one doesn't make the king of country music a female.
(CROWD CHEERING)
BROOKS: That's right. And that female is in the house tonight. Texas! Give it up for the GOAT! Dolly Parton!
(CROWD CHEERING)
[12:40:00]
PARTON: Hello, everybody. Hey, did I hear you say you were looking for a goat?
(LAUGH)
PARTON: Well, I got you goat right here, Garth. Yeah.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: OK, Barry, whose idea was the goat?
ADELMAN: Here's the thing about Dolly. First of all, that sketch was written by a very good writer named David Wilde, who we work with on the Academy of Country Music Award show. And he was working on an idea with Garth because Garth wanted to honor Dolly as the GOAT. So he wrote a very funny piece for Garth to introduce Dolly, and it had no goat in it.
But Dolly said, well, if we're talking about the goat, why don't I come out there with a goat?
(LAUGH)
ADELMAN: It was her idea. And that's what made her so amazing. She just had this instinct of what would work, especially what would work for her. And it made her just -- the testament is how long she lasted and never wavered, never wavered. Her career never wavered. It just kept going. The trajectory was always upward.
BASH: You talked a little bit about how she made people around her, like you, feel like you were part of her family. Talk more about what she was like when the cameras weren't on.
ADELMAN: Well, when the cameras weren't on, she was very much like what you saw when the cameras were on. That's what I mean about being so authentic. She was warm. She was sweet. She would grasp your hand in both of her hands. She'd look you in the eye. She'd talk to everybody as an individual. She'd remember names. She was just amazing.
She never had -- she got what she wanted, always got what she wanted and what she needed. But she never acted like a diva. She acted like somebody that was very close to you and someone that she respected you. That's how she made you feel.
BASH: I mean, that is so rare in any business, but particularly show business. You mentioned how impeccable she was at just hitting you with a line. And it was almost always a win with the audience. I want to play a moment from -- I think it was her first time hosting the ACM Awards in 2000.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PARTON: It is a real thrill for me to be hosting the Academy of Country Music Awards.
(CROWD CHEERING).
PARTON: Yeah.
(CROWD CHEERING).
PARTON: Especially since we have so much in common, we both love and respect country music. We both enjoy a good party. And we're both 35- years-old.
(LAUGH)
(APPLAUSE)
PARTON: Well, parts of me are anyway.
(LAUGH)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: She was so self-deprecating.
ADELMAN: Yeah, she -- that was really part of what made her so indestructible. You couldn't put her down. She was already putting herself down.
I remember one of her great lines that I thought was so great because people were always making jokes about her. Everybody did. And she said once, you know, I don't mind those dumb blonde jokes because I know I'm not dumb. I also know I'm not blonde.
(LAUGH)
ADELMAN: You know, she really knew how to do that. She also said, you know, it takes a lot of time and money to look this cheap.
(LAUGH)
ADELMAN: So, you know, she knew what she was doing.
BASH: Yeah.
ADELMAN: And, you know, even towards the end there, when she was doing those videos where she would give us an update of her health, she always looked great. And she knew the camera angles. She knew the lighting. She never lost her glamour. It's so sad that it turned out to be what it was. But it was amazing how she handled it. Not many people could have done that. And she did it with such grace. And I was talking to somebody in the green room earlier.
[12:45:00]
We were talking about what other artist, what other performing artist ever has had an amusement park named after them.
(LAUGH)
BASH: I couldn't think of one.
(CROSSTALK)
ADELMAN: I mean Nate Bargatze, Nate Bargatze has got -- he wants to do that. But Dolly --
(LAUGH)
ADELMAN: She accomplished it and she -- and you know you're going to have fun at Dolly Land, right?
BASH: Yeah.
ADELMAN: It's because of what she stands for. I think I was telling you when we were talking earlier, when she walked into any place, it was like the carnival came to town.
You know, fancy colors and fun and rhinestones and she was just, it makes you smile --
BASH: It does.
ADELMAN: -- to think of her and I think that's her legacy, really.
BASH: It sure is. Barry Adelman, you are a legend and an icon, and I'm so grateful that you came and shared all of your memories with Dolly Parton. Thanks for being here.
ADELMAN: Thank you. Thank you, Dana.
BASH: And up next, going back "Inside Politics," can Republicans sell the American people on the Trump economy and keep control of Congress? A GOP Congressman on the ballot this year will be here next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:50:31]
BASH: Republicans are trying to craft an economic message that can win this November, and President Trump this morning was asked how the GOP could relate to people feeling the affordability crunch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I inherited affordability, I inherited high prices, I'll put it a different way. And we've really gotten them down. Now we have a little bit of an oil, don't forget, when I did this, people thought the oil would go to $10 a gallon, you know that.
But we had to do it. We had to stop them from having a nuclear weapon, and we did. And the prices are coming down very rapidly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Joining me now is Florida Congressman, Carlos Gimenez, who's running for re-election in South Florida. Thank you so much for being here, sir.
Is that an economic message you think you and other Republicans, perhaps in more vulnerable political situations, can win on?
REP. CARLOS GIMENEZ, (R-FL) ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Yeah, I think we can. I think we need to remind people exactly how we got into this situation. You recall, during the Biden administration, we had inflation up to 9 percent and higher. Gas prices were over $5 a gallon. And so the mess was created by the Democrats.
It's really funny, the Democrats, you know, you always got to listen to what they're saying, because what they're saying is what they're doing. And so affordability -- unaffordability was really created by the Democrats. We want to go back to 9 percent inflation and, you know, the gas prices to go over $5 a gallon. Because remember, they want to do the Green New Deal. They want to really, really hamper our oil and gas industry so that energy costs go skyrocket.
Then they want to do out-of-control spending like they did when they were in power. And so all of that, you know, we've got to remind people about that and that we're not about that.
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: Congressman, I just need to get in there because, certainly, the affordability crisis in 2024 was a big part of the reason President Trump won. But I don't need to remind you that since he has been in office, the economic troubles, never mind sort of the way that it looks on the statistics charts, but how people feel is not great.
And part of the reason is the president's policy on tariffs and also the president's policy in the war in Iran. So I understand that it's politically sort of, I guess, the imperative of Republicans to go back to the Biden administration, but he's been in office for almost two years.
GIMENEZ: I recall, look, I recall after Carter, I'm old enough to remember that, the disaster that President Carter was. It took a little while for Reagan to turn this country around. And it's going to take a little while for this -- our plan to turn around in other words.
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: But he didn't put tariffs in place.
GIMENEZ: No, I understand that. But you know what? Part of the problem is that we've lost all our manufacturing capacity. So you need to put tariffs in place in order to restore our manufacturing capacity, because that's putting us at risk as a nation. And so I understand exactly what the president is trying to do and bring those manufacturing jobs back to the United States.
BASH: So you're pro-tariff?
GIMENEZ: Because that's going to keep us secure. I am for tariffs that are fair. There have been -- there have been countries that have been taking advantage of us for years, you know, charging tariffs, you know, like crazy on any United States goods. And they have their own protectionism.
And we didn't -- we didn't do the same. All we're trying to do is trying to level the playing field, all right, so that you really have a fair -- it's fair trade policy. For years, the United States has been taken advantage of.
And for years, because of our trade policy and because of lack of tariffs, we've allowed thousands, maybe millions of manufacturing jobs to leave the United States. We're catching those jobs back, A, because it's the right thing to do for the American worker. But B, it's a national security issue for me.
And so, yeah, I'm good with some tariffs. I'm not good with all the tariffs, you know, I think that some of them should be relaxed a little bit. But a lot of the tariffs that he's implementing are just to balance things out between us and the rest of the world.
So, yeah, I'm OK with it.
BASH: On the other issue that is causing economic pain, the president even admits it, is the Iran War. It started six months ago. And I know you've emphasized that it's a conflict that won't last long. But what makes you think that, given where we are right now and also the reality, I'm just putting on the screen, is that eight in 10 Americans -- this is a Reuters-Ipsos poll, says Americans think that it's going to go on for an extended period of time. They're not optimistic that it's going to end soon.
[12:55:00]
And that certainly would mean that the prices aren't going to come down anytime soon, especially on energy and gas.
GIMENEZ: Well, the gas prices are coming down because once we effectively control the Straits of Hormuz, which we are effectively controlling the Straits of Hormuz, you're seeing more and more of those ships passing through the Straits, and denying Iran --
BASH: You think that the U.S. is effectively controlling the Strait of Hormuz?
GIMENEZ: Yeah, I do. Actually, we're controlling it more and more every single day, absolutely. You're seeing gas prices and oil prices coming down, and that's what we need to do with Iran. Strangle them economically which is, you know, "Economic D-Day" is fine with me. I think that's a very good strategy.
Analytically (ph) hit them every once in a while when you see they're trying to regain their capacity to build rockets and drones, and any time that they try to renew their nuclear program. Remember what we're trying to do here. We're trying to protect the Middle East. We're trying to protect ourselves and the world from a nuclear-armed Iran. That comes at a price. It's not going to be free.
And so, yeah, we need to do that. But the good thing is that, yeah, I think we are controlling -- every day, we are controlling more and more of that Strait. Every day, we see more and more ships going through. We just got indication that all the mines have been cleared, and more and more ships are going to pass through. Every day, it should get better.
Is it going to be painless? No. But remember, we're trying to keep Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
BASH: Before I let you go, I do want to ask about a New York Times report that earlier this month, Trump administration's CIA formed a secret task force to work towards overthrowing the current regime in Cuba.
I don't need to tell you, the U.S. tried and failed to overthrow the Cuban regime back in 1961, the Bay of Pigs.
GIMENEZ: Oh, wow. Yeah.
BASH: Do you -- do you think that it is time for another covert attempt at regime change? You as somebody who represents a lot of Cuban Americans and you're a Cuban refugee yourself.
GIMENEZ: Do I think a covert action, I think right now what the policy is, is trying to starve them, just like the same policy that we're trying to do with Iran. We're trying to do to Cuba economically, put the squeeze on Cuba. Eventually, what I think we need to do is leave all options on the table.
Would I want to see regime change? Absolutely. Do I want to see regime change in Cuba? It's a national security threat to the United States. And the people of Cuba have suffered long enough under this communist dictatorship that hasn't had a free election in over 60 years.
And so, yeah, I think that the only solution at the end will be regime change. By the way, I think the only solution at the end with Iran is regime change, too. But that's going to take a little bit longer.
BASH: Congressman Carlos Gimenez, thank you so much for being here. I appreciate it.
GIMENEZ: My pleasure. All right. Have a great one.
BASH: Thank you. Thank you. You, too. Thank you for joining "Inside Politics." "CNN News Central" starts after a quick break.
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