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Establishment Strikes Back in Wisconsin Governor Democratic Primary; Source Says, Shoulder-Fired Missile Threat Prompted Trump Plane Ruse; Deadly, Relentless Storms Batter Midwest and Ohio Valley. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired August 12, 2026 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, dangerous storms expanding. Millions in the Midwest in the path this morning as flash flooding, damaging winds, and new threats are intensifying across the region.

Also, presidential threat, new CNN reporting revealing alarming new intelligence tied to a threat against Air Force One. What we're learning this morning.

Plus, electric shock gloves? Millions of taxpayer dollars, the controversial ICE purchase, and questions now swirling about whether this device goes too far.

And spectacle in the sky, an amazing show, the total solar eclipse. We are going global this morning with reporters and analysts positioned across the eclipse zone for a front row seat.

Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Pamela Brown. Wolf Blitzer is off, and you're in The Situation Room.

And we begin this hour with that breaking news. If Democrats wanted a clear vision for what their party's future looks like, well, they're going to need to wait until November after yesterday's primary elections delivered mixed results. In the Wisconsin gubernatorial race, CNN projects that the establishment-backed candidate, David Crowley, will defeat Democratic socialist Francesca Hong. He's delivering a victory speech right now. Crowley will face President Trump's Republican pick, Congressman Tom Tiffany, this fall.

Meanwhile, in the Minnesota Senate Democratic primary, CNN's decision desk projects that progressive lieutenant governor Peggy Flanagan will beat moderate Congresswoman Angie Craig. And on the Republican side, the South Carolina contest to replace the longtime late Senator Lindsey Graham advances to an August 25th runoff. Graham's sister, Darline Graham, and Congressman Ralph Norman will compete to take on Democrat Annie Andrews.

Plus, President Trump's choice for Minnesota governor election denier and MyPillow founder Mike Lindell lost his race as CNN projects that State House Speaker Lisa Demuth will win the GOP nod and face Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar in November's gubernatorial election.

So, let's go live now to CNN's Jeff Zeleny in Wisconsin. Jeff, David Crowley is speaking after his win in that key Democratic primary. Tell us more about his victory and, and the fact that it was a bit of a surprise.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Pamela, good morning. I mean, David Crowley is the Milwaukee County Executive, and just a month ago, he had ended his candidacy for governor. But then a few other top candidates got out, he got back in, and now he is accepting victory as the winner.

It was an extraordinary turn of events, really overcoming the rise of a Democratic socialist here, Francesca Hong, who many insiders and outsiders believe that she was on her way to winning the Democratic nomination last evening. That did not happen.

A very close race, there is no doubt about it. But I am told that all of the Democratic candidates are coming together for a unity breakfast this morning in the coming hours. But they're really going to test how big this Democratic tent actually is. Wisconsin was the latest example of this effectively a test for the vision of the party, the establishment versus this insurgent progressive wing.

I'm told Crowley is going to say in his speech in Milwaukee this morning. It's not about either lane here. It's about building a movement and focusing on Republicans in November. But there is no doubt here, as we've been watching these elections all summer long, there is a rising of progressive strain in the party.

But the Democratic socialist label here was obviously something that voters did not embrace at the end. There were a lot of undecided voters who clearly broke with David Crowley, who was backed by the Wisconsin governor, who warned Democrats to think of their choice very carefully here.

So, it's certainly one more data point, Pamela, but what is clear, this Democratic Party, they often talk about having room for everyone. We will see come November how this party unifies in one state after another. Pamela?

BROWN: All right. Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much.

[10:05:00]

Happening now, emergency responders are racing to find survivors in Colombia after that massive 7.4 magnitude earthquake rocked parts of the country. And we're getting this brand-new video showing the moments a group of rescuers pull a little baby from the rubble.

Wow, just wow, watching that video. One of the men who helped save that baby spoke to CNN.

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BRIAN OSORIO ZULUAGA, RESCUED BABY FROM QUAKE RUBBLE: It sounded like a whisper, Yes, I'm here. I'm with a baby. But it was like a very soft whisper. So, I said, silence, silence. And thanks to the cries of the person, the man who was shouting that he was with the baby, I was able to identify where he was, and that's when I started to act.

You can see the baby's little head, which at the time was kind of purple because he couldn't breathe. Once we started removing the rubble, the baby began to cry -- I mean, to breathe, and his color started to come back. So, we went to get him out, the baby.

Even when they got him out, they handed him to me. I handed him over to the police officer, and he was then taken away in the ambulance.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: CNN senior national correspondent David Culver is in Puraya, Colombia, and filed this report for us.

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DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A rush of first responders from here in Pereira trying to figure out how much closer they can get, and they were moving a lot of the vehicles off to the side and positioning themselves to be able to pull out anyone who potentially is stuck within that rubble. And you can see this is just one of the ambulances just behind us here that's backed in, and they're ready with stretchers closer towards the rubble to try to bring folks up.

And you can see also this has been a line that has just been extended. I mean, all of these folks are volunteers. And when we got here a couple of hours ago, this didn't exist at all. You had a drug store, you had a restaurant.

And we're told, at least by a couple of the locals here, that they believe that there's a young girl that's still trapped inside, an older woman that was described by one business owner just at the corner here. Others have said, you know, there's more people in there. And that's a totally exposed apartment. You can see bedding and a family's kitchen and all of that, of course, has crumbled down onto the street. A lot of that has landed on vehicles, so it's quite widespread within this city.

One of the reasons that they decided to bring in even more first responders is they say we're hearing yelling. At one point, that yelling, at least from where we stand, is no longer obvious.

She says as of last night, they had pulled out seven bodies, and five survivors from this collapse right here.

It's rare that you walk into a disaster zone like that and just like they're trying to welcome you to their space, and yet they're also expressing their frustration and the need to have more resources, heavy duty equipment to move this stuff. And you can see here some personal belongings of folks that's just end up in the street.

Oh, this is a little child's hat and some shoes. David Culvert, CNN.

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BROWN: Our thanks to David Culver for that report. Breaking news. An important measure of the economy is out this morning, and it shows prices are rising, and it also shows inflation has slowed for the second month in a row.

Let's go live now to CNN Business Senior Reporter David Goldman. So, what's going on here with inflation? And just tell us overall what this report suggests about the economy, David.

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes. Overall, this is basically what we had expected. We were at 3.5 percent in the previous month. We're now at 3.4 percent inflation. Not a huge change, but certainly some encouraging news. We gained, however, 0.1 percent month over month. Remember, we had fallen 0.4 percent the month before, so we've gone from falling inflation month over month to rising inflation. This is kind of more what we would have expected.

[10:10:00]

Now, if you strip out energy, and we'll get to energy, you get a pretty decent number here. We want this to be around 2 percent. We're at 2.5 percent inflation. Not great, not terrible either. We're kind of par for the course here. But we did have a significant gain month- over-month, which means that why is inflation falling? It's because of those falling energy prices over the past month.

One of the big problems with inflation, obviously, is that it can eat your pay raise, and it has done that the past several months, where we were for three years outpacing inflation. We are no longer doing that with our pay raises. So, Pam, this is why a lot of people are anxious about the economy.

BROWN: So, what does this all mean for interest rates and the Fed's next move, David?

GOLDMAN: Okay, this is the key question because before we were kind of at a coin flip, 50/50. Is the Fed going to hike rates? And that affects you because that's your credit card rates, your mortgage rates, right? All of those consumer loans are pegged to interest rates that the Fed can set.

Now, it seems that the Fed might not hike. Now, remember we got a not such great jobs report just a couple weeks ago, and now we have a decent inflation number. It looks like most people think that the Fed will not hike rates in the next meeting. Pam?

BROWN: So, what's really moving inflation right now? Is it energy? Is it housing, tariffs, wages, food prices, or something else? What's going on?

GOLDMAN: Yes, energy is the big factor. Now, we were up still 15 percent year-over-year because of the war in Iran, but we lost 1.5 percent in the previous month because we've seen some of those energy prices start to fall a little bit over the last couple months actually. That was a big, big factor.

But just forgetting that, remember, housing is an enormous, enormous problem for inflation. This is two-thirds of the overall inflation number is because housing prices rose 3 percent year-over-year. It's not just that, though. Airfares were up 25 and a half percent over the past year. Medical care is up almost 3 percent, and furniture, this is your tariffs working right there, up 2.2 percent. It's not just about one particular thing. There are a lot of different prices that are weighing on this number. Pam?

BROWN: David Goldman, as always, thanks so much.

GOLDMAN: Thank you.

BROWN: And happening now, we're learning more about the security fears that prompted President Trump to secretly abandon Air Force One in Turkey over a threat from Iran.

The president boarded Air Force One and then in an elaborate ruse secretly slipped out the back into the catering truck you see highlighted right here. He was then whisked to another military jet for safe travel to England.

Let's go live now to CNN's Kevin Liptak at the White House for us. So, Kevin, tell us more about this new reporting here.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. And the specific threat that prompted this entire sort of exercise in subterfuge was very specific in that what officials were looking at was a threat from Iran using a shoulder-based missile -- shoulder-fired missile to down essentially Air Force One. And the officials thought that the risks were so great to the president's life that they did not think it was safe for him to fly either on the blue and white Air Force One or on the Qatar-donated jet that he had flown to Turkey on.

And part of what the concerns were was the specificity of what the Iranians knew about the president's arrangements while he was on the ground there in Turkey. It did lead to a scramble on the last day of that NATO summit among military officials and Secret Service officials to try and come up with this shell game essentially for the president to depart Turkey undetected, and that's what led to the president getting into that catering truck, moving between planes, and flying out on that smaller version of Air Force One.

We're also learning about who exactly joined the president on that flight and who was left behind. So, who got onto that smaller plane with the president were the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the president's personal aides, Walt Nauta and Natalie Harp, as well as the deputy chief of staff, Dan Scavino. And actually in video from when the president landed at that base in the U.K., you can actually see them accompanying the president across the tarmac onto the Qatar jet that he flew back to Washington on.

Now, left behind on the larger version of Air Force One were two cabinet secretaries, the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent. Both of them were aware of this plan, but many others on that plane were not aware, including the press who were traveling with the president as well as other members of the White House staff, all of them put into the air on that version of the plane, essentially acting as a decoy.

[10:15:13]

Pamela?

BROWN: And sitting ducks potentially.

All right, Kevin Liptak, thank you so much.

And still ahead, deadly storms tear through the Midwest, and the danger is not over. Millions remain in the path of flooding, damaging winds, and new threats.

And then later, electric shock gloves for ICE agents? The controversial $20 million purchase now drawing scrutiny.

You're in The Situation Room, and we'll be right back.

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[10:20:00]

BROWN: Happening now, deadly, relentless storms are battering the Midwest and Ohio Valley, causing severe flooding across the region. At least one person has died, and hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses remain without power right now.

So, let's go live now to CNN meteorologist, Allison Chinchar. Allison, more heavy rain and severe thunderstorms are on their way. What are they seeing?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Well, they could end up being seeing or seeing scenes similar to this. This was yesterday in Chicago. Again, a time-lapse video just kind of showing you as the storm rolled through the arrow, dropping visibility down to practically nothing.

But they weren't the only area. This is video from Columbus, Ohio. Now, kind of focus your eyes on this general area of the screen. They had a very strong wind gust during this particular thunderstorm that actually rolled one of these cars. Again, just to show you it's not just the heavy rain component, but also the strong, very gusty winds.

Now, in total, just in the last 24 hours, we've had nearly 500 total severe storm reports. That includes tornadoes, damaging winds, and even hail, and it's been across a very widespread area. So, a lot of states have been impacted by these storms.

Now, this is a look at the live radar. This is where it's storming right now. You can see around Dayton and Cincinnati, Ohio, down through Lexington, Kentucky, and also farther out to the west, areas of Iowa and Illinois also getting some very strong to severe thunderstorms. You have two separate severe thunderstorm watches in effect for these areas for at least the next couple of hours.

This does include Chicago, though Chicago will be on the very far end of this strong line right through here that's moving through the area. But it has had off and on a tornado warning with it the last few minutes, though we don't have one right now, but we do have several severe thunderstorm warnings embedded within that line.

Farther down to the south, this is the concern here is all of the heavy rain. So, these are all flashflood warnings. The black ones indicate a considerable tag, just trying to emphasize how much rain, and the white one, that is a flash flood emergency. So, again, just talking about the sheer volume of water that has fallen across many of these areas in the last 48 hours, basically the last two days, just since Monday.

Look at some of these areas that have picked up 9, 10, 11 inches of rain. You're talking roughly a foot of rain in just two days. Again, so it's no wonder why a lot of these areas are still under flood watches, because we anticipate having additional rain showers continue to move through for the remainder of the day today.

BROWN: All right. Allison Chinchar, thank you.

And coming up here in The Situation Room, battle at Big Bend, protesting a major border security project at the national park.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is live at the demonstration where land is already being cleared. Ed?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Pamela. We are live in one of the most spectacular places in all of Big Bend National Park.

That is the entrance to Santa Elena Canyon. Protesters are gathering to protest against the Trump administration's plan to build border infrastructure through this delicate and beloved area.

We'll be back with that story in a moment.

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[10:25:00]

BROWN: Happening now, ICE is looking at spending up to $20 million on electrical shock gloves for agents. That's according to a notice published Monday. Compliant Technologies makes these gloves and says they're meant to deescalate situations. According to a DHS contract preview portal, the devices would be delivered in March 2027, but it's unclear how many will be purchased or when officers would actually begin using them. DHS did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment on this story.

A Marine veteran detained in Russia is back in the U.S. this morning. 32-year-old Robert Gilman was detained in Russia since 2022. Advocates and his family, they have feared he was, quote, near death. According to a U.S. official, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved Gilman's pardon. Gilman arrived at Joint Base Andrews yesterday and was presented with cheeseburgers and milkshakes.

BROWN: And tonight could be your lucky night. The Powerball jackpot is now at $1 billion after no one won Monday. The odds of winning the grand prize are 1 in about 292 million. Tonight's drawing is at 10:59 P.M. Eastern Time.

Well, happening now, a battle at Big Bend as crews move in and protesters push back. Federal contractors are clearing land in Texas's Big Bend National Park, but groups, including local sheriffs, tourism groups, and environmental activists are all questioning the administration's plans for this remote stretch of land.

So, let's go live now to CNN Senior National Correspondent Ed Lavandera, who is there in Big Bend National Park. Bring us there to the ground. What's going on, Ed?

LAVANDERA: Well, this is one of the more spectacular live backdrops you'll ever see. We're at the entrance to Santa Elena Canyon here in the heart of Big Bend National Park. This is considered the crown jewel, one of the crown jewels of this national park.

And there's a group of protesters coming out here this morning to push back on the Trump administration's plan for what is a multi-phased project that ultimately will cost more than $7 billion. There's five different projects that span the area of the Big Bend sector along the U.S. southern border.

And what is so troubling for so many of the people and the residents who live here is that the number of illegal crossings and apprehensions in this sector of the U.S. southern border is about 1 percent of the overall numbers that we're seeing at this point along the U.S. southern border.

[10:30:02]

And just to kind of give you a lay of the land of where we are here, that entire cliff, that sheer cliff you see on this side, that's the Mexican side of --