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Democratic Socialists Celebrate Win in Florida Senate Primary; Feud Between White House, Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) Escalates; Trump Tries a New Approach in Iran War, Disengage. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired August 19, 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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PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, overnight surprises, stunning upsets in Florida. A governor's race is set. What voters are telling President Trump and Washington this morning.

Also, the A.I. land rush. Communities pushing back as data centers move in. We're going to talk with one woman who turned down a $26 million offer to keep a data center off her land.

And dramatic testimony, the Lindsay Clancy trial, her story captivating America, and this morning, what she told a psychologist in the days before the tragedy.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, tariff timeout, a last-minute pause in the Canada tariff fight. Is a deal really going to happen?

Also, President Trump's new FDA pick, the woman who could help decide everything from vaccines to prescription drugs. Who is Dr. Heidi Overton?

And surrogate fight, a baby's life-saving care, a judge's order, and a bitter battle. The case now raising very tough questions about parents' rights and medical decisions.

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

Happening now, in November's midterm election matchups are taking shape after voters made their voices heard in yesterday's primaries. In Florida, CNN projects that President Trump's pick for governor, Republican Congressman Byron Donalds, wins his primary. He will face Democrat David Jolly in the fall.

And Democratic socialists showed off their growing influence with State Representative Angie Nixon's surprise victory in Florida's Senate primary. Meanwhile, two of the party's House incumbents, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Congressman Jared Moskowitz, survived challenges from their left in newly redrawn districts. Scandal-plagued Republican Congressman Cory Mills lost his primary. BROWN: And in Alaska, CNN's decision desk projects that GOP incumbent Dan S. Sullivan and former Democratic Congresswoman Mary Peltola are among the four candidates to advance in November's closely watched Senate race. The question is whether a second Dan Sullivan will also make the ballot.

And over in Wyoming, President Trump's pick in the Republican primary for governor faltered, with voters choosing State Senator Eric Barlow over Megan Degenfelder.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to dissect all these election results with strategists from both sides of the aisle. Joining us now in The Situation Room is CNN Chief Political Analyst David Axelrod. David, thanks for joining us.

I know you previously served as a senior adviser to President Obama. I remember those days well. Let's start in the Florida primaries. Democratic socialist Angie Nixon surprised a lot of people by defeating Alex Vindman in the Senate Democratic primary. Vindman vastly outraised and outspent Nixon in this contest, and he had the name recognition advantage for his role in President Trump's first impeachment inquiry. What does Nixon's win say about your party?

DAVID AXELROD, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, look, I don't know that the -- I don't know that it says everything that people are assigning to it other than that good candidates and vigorous campaigns win. You know, Alex Vindman was, and I think is a, a national hero for his military service, but also for the courageous thing he did in being a whistleblower in the first Trump administration.

But he was new to Florida, he's relatively new to politics and he didn't run a very aggressive campaign because I think he assumed that he was going to win the primary and he was looking forward to the general. So, he raised $16 million. He had $7 million left by the time the vote was taken or thereabouts that he didn't spend.

And Florida's a big state to penetrate. Angie Nixon has been active in politics there for a long time. She's been in the legislature. She led the fight against the redistricting that they did in Florida that shrunk Democratic representation, or was designed to. So, there's that.

The second thing is, Wolf the message that people should derive from this, and should derive from many of the elections around the country, is that people are deeply concerned about costs and affordability.

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She campaigned vigorously on issues like healthcare and on housing costs, which are very high in Florida, 47th in the nation in terms of housing affordability. You know, you have insurance -- an insurance crisis down there and all kinds of affordability issues. She spoke to the lives that people were leading in Florida, working people in Florida, and was able to stir a little bit of a grassroots movement there.

There is a lesson in that, not just for Democrats, but for all candidates. The main thing is still the main thing.

BLITZER: As you well know David, a Democratic presidential candidate has not won Florida since 2012 when Barack Obama defeated Mitt Romney. In your view, does the Democratic nominee for governor right now, the former Republican congressman, David Jolly, really have a shot against the GOP's nominee, Byron Donalds?

AXELROD: Well, look there are a lot of barriers there. You know, this is a different state in many ways than it was back in the days when Obama won the state twice. We had a voter registration advantage back then in Florida. Now, Republicans have like a million and a half voter advantage in registration. Byron Donalds has raised an enormous amount of money already. He will have all the resources that he needs. David Jolly will be challenged in terms of raising money.

That said you know, you look at the environment and it's not good for Democrats -- I mean, for Republicans. Donald Trump, who was -- who won the state by 13 points, is now underwater in terms of his popularity. Donalds is closely tied to him. The governor of the state did not endorse Donalds in the primary, Ron DeSantis. We'll see if they can patch their differences.

And, look, there's a real question an ugly question, but a real question about racism. Byron Donalds would be the first African American governor of the state. He didn't do particularly well in North Florida, particularly in that panhandle area. And a candidate who was sort of avowed kind of white nationalist got 10 percent of the vote in the primary.

So, all of these things combine to raise questions about that, and David Jolly may appeal to those independent and Republican-leaning independents who have questions about Trump and about the direction in which Republicans are leading the country.

So, I think it could be a closer race than people think, and a lot of it will depend on whether Jolly can raise the resources to actually compete.

BLITZER: And, David Jolly, a former Republican, now a Democrat, are running in that race.

All right, one final question. One Democrat capturing a lot of attention right now is the Georgia senator, Jon Ossoff, as his feud with President Trump, and the White House for that matter, clearly escalates. Let's watch what he said only yesterday. Listen to this.

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SEN. JON OSSOFF (D-GA): The draft-dodging crook president, who has plunged our nation recklessly into a war he knows not how to end or to win.

I've got two little girls at home, and I do not want Eva and Lila to grow up in a world defined by the values of Donald J. Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: Several political observers, as you know, are now comparing Senator Ossoff to your former boss, Barack Obama. Do you think that's a fair comparison ahead of 2028?

AXELROD: I think these comparisons are always difficult. But I'll say this, he has really captured the attention of a lot of Democrats, not just in the last few days, but in the last many months because he has been probably the most incisive and eloquent challenger in terms of his speeches to the direction that Donald Trump is leading and the values of Trump, and particularly on the issue of corruption, Wolf, which I think is going to be a big issue in 2028.

Now, he's 39 years old. I think that is probably an advantage in a country where we've had two presidents who were in their 80s. But he's also said that he's got a young family, and he's not interested in running for president. We'll see.

I will tell you this. If Jon Ossoff should win the state of Georgia, which was considered an up-for-grab state in this election, if he can win re-election by any margin of significance, he will be under enormous pressure to reconsider this notion of running for president. And how far he goes, the process would test that.

But as an eloquent spokesperson for Democrats and a guy who can bring a lot of Democrats together, I think he has a great potential.

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BLITZER: We'll see what happens. David Axelrod, thank you very much for your analysis. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf. Let's go across the aisle and discuss last night's primary elections with CNN Political Commentator and Republican Strategist Shermichael Singleton.

So, let's start where Wolf and Ax began in Florida. President Trump's pick for governor, Congressman Byron Donalds, won the Republican primary, but he fell short of gaining 50 percent among GOP voters. Is that a problem for November's general election?

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't think it is, and I have great admiration for David Axelrod. I respect him immensely, but I think he's wrong. You look at the numbers in the state of Florida, and, again, it always comes back to the numbers. Republicans have about a 1.4, 1.5 million registered voter advantage.

Now, primaries, as we all know, depending on the election cycle, they can deter a little bit. Sometimes you have significant turnout if it's the right environment. Sometimes the turnout is a little lower. Those numbers alone, despite Byron Donalds not crossing over that 50 percent threshold, still suggests that he is absolutely going to win this race come November.

BROWN: So, you don't see it as a warning sign at all?

SINGLETON: Absolutely not at all. BROWN: All right. Let's talk about the Senate race in Florida. GOP incumbent, Ashley Moody, will now face Democratic socialist Angie Nixon, after her surprise victory over Alex Vindman. You just heard the conversation Wolf had. How are Republicans feeling about that?

SINGLETON: I'm not worried at all. I think for my Democratic friends, they really are going to have to wrestle with this, Pamela, going forward 90 less plus days to go until midterms, going up to 2028. I know a lot of my Democratic friends will say they are a big tent party. I understand why.

But how big of a tent do you want to be, and what are the implications of being such a big tent party once you get into a general election and have to target independents, where some of those policy pr- positions may turn some of those voters off who may lean to be more centrist and more moderate in, in their politics?

That said, she's a single mom. I congratulate her on running that race. That's not a difficult job. You've covered a lot of things about being a woman and a mom, and that's been a part of some of the things that you've covered on our network brilliantly, I might add. And so I give her credit in that regard. That is certainly not easy.

But I think the policy prescription's just going to turn off a lot of people in a very red state like Florida, where a Democrat will need a lot of independents and maybe even some of those moderate Rs who used to be reliable Republican voters, who sort of crossed over a little bit because maybe they dislike Trump. We've seen that in a first term. We've seen it in a second term. I don't think she's going to be the candidate to accomplish that.

BROWN: It is remarkable what she pulled off in terms of just looking at fundraising alone, right?

SINGLETON: I mean, she didn't raise really any money.

BROWN: Just around a million compared to his $16 million.

SINGLETON: When you look at Vindman's $16 million, Pamela, I mean, I give my -- tip my hat to the political consultants. They made a lot of money. It clearly didn't work.

BROWN: All right. Let's talk about another candidate, another race. Republican Congressman Cory Mills lost his House primary to a former news anchor, Ryan Elijah, amid the series of scandals and an Ethics Committee probe. President Trump previously endorsed Mills back in February. And this morning, he posted that he told Mills to get out of the race and is now supporting Elijah.

Given what happened here, do you think Trump should now encourage Ohio Republican representative Max Miller to drop out of his race? As you know, he is embroiled in domestic assault allegations, which he denies. What do you think?

SINGLETON: Yes. Look, Cory Mills doesn't surprise me at all, and, look I'm glad that the guy lost. We should be clear about the types of ethics and morals we want in our party and, and from our elected officials. Senator Bernie Moreno has talked exhaustively about what his daughter has experienced, his concern about his daughter and his granddaughter. I have no reason at all to doubt a Republican senator, a father, a husband, about allegations of her former spouse against her. That, for me, as a husband, as a father, is enough to say, this guy has to get out of the race.

He refuses to get out of the race, so what does that ultimately mean? You may indeed make a strong plus R district now competitive to a Democrat because there are going to be a lot of voters there that are going to look at this guy and say, look, I'm a Republican, I'm a conservative, or I lean to the right but I don't want to support someone who's alleged to have abused their spouse. That is problematic for a lot of voters, and understandably so.

BROWN: So, you think that what happened to Cory Mills could be a warning sign for Max Miller?

SINGLETON: Oh, absolutely.

BROWN: I want to talk about something else that a lot of people are buzzing about today. There was a debate last night between Republican South Carolina Senate Candidates --

SINGLETON: I know where you're going

BROWN: -- Darline Graham and Ralph Norman. Let's watch some of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

SEN. DARLINE GRAHAM (R-SC): 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.

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My brother was in the Air Force for 33 years, so I will do everything I can to support the military. My my dad was in the Army. I'm not a polished politician up here. National security is not my thing, not my area of expertise, but I do support the military.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So, what is your read of that moment? Is that a gaffe, or do you think it's a refreshingly honest moment that could resonate with voters?

SINGLETON: Sometimes it can be refreshing. In this particular case, where we have conflicts with Iran Russia-Ukraine is ongoing, China continues to expand in the South Chinese Sea. They're spending significant amounts of dollars to modernize their military, their navy, their hyper-missile capabilities, other A.I. technology capabilities. You want members of Congress to be aware of the ongoing threats to our country. The international community is becoming more of an unpredictable and threatening environment than it was just 10, 15 years ago.

That said, she talked a lot about affordability. To me, if I were preparing her for this debate, I would've said, look, if this question comes up, this is a great moment for you to pivot, to say, look, the American people are worried about the billions of dollars we're spending across the globe when they're struggling here at home. The American people care about cost of living, affordability, childcare, making sure that their children and grandchildren are in a stronger position economically than they are. That would've been a brilliant pivot, but instead we got what we saw, which I thought was a terrible mistake.

BROWN: But wouldn't that also potentially been a knock against Trump for spending this money on this Iran war and --

SINGLETON: Hey, you know what? All politics, Pamela, is local. I would've brought it back to the issues of South Carolinians. It was a real mistake.

And Ralph Norman, literally within minutes, his campaign on, were posting clips talking about it. There was another error where she said there were 50 million South Carolinians who were struggling, and Ralph Norman said, let me remind you, it's 5.5 million.

I mean, these types of things I think for the average voter, Republican voter, says, look, this is why we don't want to coordinate someone. As you recall, we were very critical of Democrats, alleging that they coordinated former Vice President Kamala Harris. Here we are, someone who's never run for political office before, I think she's a very fine woman, I'm sorry for what happened to Senator Graham, but that doesn't necessarily mean that someone should be elevated to represent an entire state. And as we've seen, I think Ralph Norman is going to make that case to the voters in South Carolina, and we'll see what ultimately happens.

BROWN: We shall see. Shermichael Singleton, always great to have you on.

SINGLETON: Thank you, Pamela.

BROWN: Thank you.

And still ahead, shifting strategy. After weeks of mixed messaging, President Trump says he is stopping talks with Iran. So, what's next for the war?

BLITZER: And inside the mind of Lindsay Clancy. Her psychologist details the thoughts she was having months before killing her children.

Stay with us. You're in The Situation Room.

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BROWN: Happening now, President Trump launches a new strategy with Iran, backing away from any negotiations. A U.S. official tells CNN that the president told his top envoys to halt their conversations with Tehran, and a source tells us that the White House has told its political allies that the new goal is shifting away from those crushing military strikes to strangling Iran economically over time.

As the U.S.-Iran talks remain at an impasse, global oil and gas prices are climbing again. This morning, Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, crept above $92. It's the highest level in almost a month. And traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains at a trickle, and Iran continues to fire on ships transiting the waterway.

CNN's Betsy Klein is at the White House for us. So, Betsy, what are you hearing from this administration this morning?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Pamela, there might be an effort here to shake something loose as this conflict is heading into its seventh month soon. Their memorandum of understanding has effectively collapsed. There is no nuclear deal. There is no clear strategy to end this conflict. And as you said, the traffic in the Strait of Hormuz remains severely restricted.

So, there appears to be a shift in approach here. President Trump telling top officials, including Vice President J.D. Vance, Special Envoy Steven Witkoff, as well as his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to halt those negotiations with the Iranians for now.

We heard yesterday President Trump in that social media post say that there were no talks or discussions happening or scheduled with the Iranians. A U.S. official then telling CNN, quote, there have been positive discussions, but President Trump has decided to wait and asked his team to not engage until Iran is ready to make a deal.

Meanwhile, White House officials have recently been communicating to their political allies that there is a shift underway here in that strategy, away from the very quick hammer Iran ASAP to strangle them over time with a more economic approach. And President Trump's view is that he wants to wait to have a signal from Iran's leaders that they are willing to have fresh willingness come to the table before those talks can resume. Pamela?

BROWN: All right. Betsy Klein, live for us from the White House, thanks so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Let's continue this conversation. Joining us now is Sabrina Singh, CNN global affairs commentator, the former deputy press secretary at the Pentagon. Sabrina, thanks for joining us.

What do you make of this apparent shift from the president in terms of strategy away from military strikes and focusing more on the economic pressure from its naval blockade?

SABRINA SINGH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: I think this administration is reading the room right now. They have exhausted the military options, and military might and those endless, you know, two weeks of strikes ultimately did not bring Iran back to the negotiating table.

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I do think they see a stronger argument to be made with choking Iran economically. Right now, oil in Iran, the cost of- to buy just cooking oil is up over 100 percent inflation. Some other goods are like, you know, upwards more of that, 300 to 400 percent. So, they see an avenue to strangle Iran, but you have to remember, this is a regime that has had sanctions upon itself since 1979, and they are willing to withstand a lot of pain and pain to their people in order to wait this game out.

BLITZER: The Washington Post, as you know, is now reporting that the Pentagon is considering a smaller presence in the Gulf after the war ends. The agency's comptroller told reporters in April that no formal decisions had yet been made on rebuilding U.S. military facilities damaged by the Iranian strikes, and a lot of those facilities, whether in the UAE or Qatar or Oman or elsewhere, have been damaged, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia as well.

Have Iran's missiles and drones exposed the vulnerability of U.S. bases, those bases I'm talking about within striking distance of Iran?

SINGH: Absolutely. I think two things here. One, the U.S. was already withdrawing some of its presence within the region. I mean, we are withdrawing from Iraq completely. We've certainly lessened our footprint within Syria.

I think now it is a choice of do you rebuild some of the infrastructure that was badly, badly damaged? And one of the places that was the most hard hit was Bahrain's Fifth Fleet, which is centered in Bahrain, and, of course, supports U.S. Central Command in all operations in the Middle East. And so I think it is going to have to be a calculation.

But there's no question that Iran has figured out two things. It's figured out how to adapt its strategy and hit our defensive targets in the region, and it's also gone after critical infrastructure that does not have those defensive, like a Patriot battery or a THAAD battery in place, and it's hitting its, our Gulf allies, like our oil fields, you know, all around the region.

BLITZER: You're right. The Navy's Fifth Fleet is based right there, not too far away from Iran at Bahrain. And the U.S. military Central Command regional headquarters is in Qatar right now, the Al Udeid Air Base, Camp As Sayliyah, I've been to all those facilities.

SINGH: Yes.

BLITZER: They're pretty sophisticated, and they're being attacked by the Iranians.

The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, is reporting that President Trump is pushing for a meeting with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, sometime this year, and this comes after the president ordered the Pentagon to substantially reduce military drills with key U.S. ally, South Korea. Do you think these two Trump moves are connected?

SINGH: Yes. I do think him -- the president attacking our very longstanding ally South Korea was really a head-scratching moment. I mean, that was an exercise that we conduct with South Korea. It's an annual exercise. It's to test our interoperability, and it's to project power to North Korea and to China.

I do think President Trump wants a meeting on the books with President Kim Jong-un. He has made extreme overtures both in rhetoric and, you know, obviously pulling back some of our presence on these exercises. He likes strong men, and it's just a very interesting tactic that we've seen this administration time and again take when it comes to cozying up with our adversaries and really, you know, going against our strongest allies, whether it's European or Asian allies in the region.

BLITZER: Good point. Sabrina Singh, thanks, as usual. I appreciate it very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf. Coming up, a mother says she gained her trust only to be betrayed a year later. After the break, new video of police rescuing two children they say were abducted by their babysitter, any mom's worst nightmare. That story coming up.

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