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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

Texas Senate Democratic Primary Too Early To Call; CNN: Cornyn And Paxton Headed To Republican Senate Runoff; Trump: U.S. & Israel Have Had "Very Powerful Impact" On Iran; Trump: U.S. & Israel Have Had "Very Powerful Impact" on Iran; Texas Senate Democratic Primary Too Early to Call; Qatar: Iran Strikes Largest U.S. Military Base in Middle East; Global Shipping costs Surge Due to war in Middle East. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired March 04, 2026 - 01:00   ET

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

JAMES TALARICO, TEXAS STATE REPRESENTATIVE: Crockett's home county underscores the gravity of this moment. This movement is about whether the people will hold the power in this state and in this country. We launched this underdog campaign six months ago in my hometown of Round Rock, Texas. And since then, and since then, tens of thousands of Texans have shown up to rally with us in every corner of the state from Beaumont to El Paso, from Amarillo to Brownsville and everywhere in between. We have recruited more than 28,000 volunteers who are organizing in every community across this state.

And we have shattered grassroots fundraising records all without taking a dime for from corporate PACs. This is a people powered movement to take on this broken, corrupt political system. This is truly a campaign of, by and for the people.

We are not, we are not just trying to win an election. We are trying to fundamentally change our politics. And it's working. The number of young people who showed up to vote in this election is unprecedented. The number, the number of Texans who have never voted before but showed up in this election is unprecedented.

The number of independents and Republicans who voted in this Democratic primary is unprecedented. This, this is proof that there is something happening in Texas tonight. Tonight, tonight the people of our state gave this country a little bit of hope and a little bit of hope is a dangerous thing.

I want to thank you all. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being in this fight. God bless you all. Thank you.

LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR: You just heard from James Talarico as his primary is too early to call. Saying that his election has -- or his campaign has shocked the country. Giving the country a little bit of hope, which is a very dangerous thing. And describe -- describing the voter suppression that he sees not only Dallas County but also a neighboring county as well. He recognizes that it is too early to call and they are waiting for a call but they are in fact confident, they say. I want to thank you all so much for watching. We'll now take you to Elex Michelson's breaking news coverage of the war in Iran.

[01:02:52]

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: War began on Saturday. CNN has team coverage. Brian Todd in Washington. But let's start with Ivan Watson in Hong Kong.

And Ivan, there's a new evacuation order that's at this hour.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. This is to from the Israeli military to Lebanon to the southern suburb of Beirut known as Haret Hreik. So typically after it issues these kind of warnings, you can expect some kind of airstrike or drone strike in the ensuing hours. So something to monitor.

The tempo of the fighting between Israel, the Israeli military and the Iran backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon has stepped up. Hezbollah announced that it was involved in at least 13 different kinds of engagements throughout the day on Tuesday, claiming to have targeted Israeli tanks, fired longer range projectiles into Israel and also claiming to have shot down a drone. The Israeli military has stepped up its bombardment of different parts of Lebanon as well as said that it has moved some ground units across the border into southern Lebanon while demanding that more of the south be evacuated of civilians.

The Lebanese government has declared for the first time this week that Hezbollah is illegal and it would not allow further launches onto Israel, but it has clearly not been able to enforce that ban and it is civilians as always, caught in the middle with more than 58,000 Lebanese civilians now displaced and a growing death toll, at least 50 people killed. The Lebanese state news agency is reporting that five people have been killed when a four story residential building in the city of Baalbek was demolished by a strike and that emergency teams are digging to try to rescue other people buried under the rubble.

[01:05:00]

Another warning that Israel issued was to Iranian officials in Lebanon, giving them only 24 hours to leave or they could be targeted. Presumably that would be to diplomats saying that they will no longer be safe in the country. Elex.

MICHAELSON: And Ivan, we're learning that Iran has hit U.S. assets including a consulate in Dubai, a CIA station in Saudi Arabia and a U.S. base station in Qatar. What more do you know on that?

WATSON: Yes, those are just the latest U.S. installations and facilities that we believe have been hit by Iran's barrage of missile and drone strikes. The Secretary of State of the U.S., Marco Rubio, confirmed that the U.S. consulate in Dubai was hit. No reports of injuries there. Al Udeid Base in Qatar was hit as well. The CIA station in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, hit on Monday as well. And you've had the U.S. State Department authorizing non-emergency personnel to leave from a number of consular facilities. And that just adds to other U.S. installations that have been repeatedly struck, the headquarters of the 5th Navy Fleet in Bahrain in the first days of this new conflict, the U.S. base in Erbil in northern Iraq. Meanwhile, we're seeing some moves by Gulf countries to crack down. For example, Qatar announcing that it had detained at least 10 people suspected of links to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, either accusing them of spying on Qatari military installations or carrying out acts of sabotage. With the Qatari news agency saying that they found maps and coordinates with Qatari defense installations in the possession of these individuals. Kuwait saying that an 11-year- old girl was killed by shrapnel following after some of these projectiles were intercepted.

Meanwhile, the death toll continues to rise inside Iran. More than a thousand people reported killed. The Iranian military says it has struck the headquarters of the Basij militia and other internal security headquarters. Those are some of the organs of the security forces that have used such deadly force to kill Iranian protesters that have dared to come out in the streets earlier in January and in previous uprisings in recent years. Elex.

MICHAELSON: See that the entire region is impacted in such a big way based off of your reporting. Ivan Watson, thank you.

To Brian Todd now live in Washington D.C. Brian, talk to us about the Americans who are stuck in the Middle East. What are they supposed to do?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Elex, that's what they're asking and they're not getting many answers frankly at this hour. It really is a state of kind of chaos, confusion, anxiety for so many Americans, thousands of them stranded in the Middle East. President Trump himself admitted earlier that they didn't have a plan to evacuate Americans before the strikes started. And the fallout from that is being felt right now in cities all over the Middle East among Americans stranded there. Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying that more than 1,500 U.S. citizens had requested assistance from the U.S. government in trying to relocate.

Rubio said he's confident that they're going to be able to get every American out who wants to get out. Administration officials looking at a military aircraft and charter flights to try to facilitate all that. But in a video message that Marco Rubio sent out earlier, he gave a number, a State Department number, 202 number for the state Department in Washington that people could call if they want assistance. Take a look at a recording of what some -- at least some callers got earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you are calling about the crisis in the Middle East, please press one. If not, press two. Please do not rely on the U.S. government for assisted departure or evacuation at this time. There are currently no United States evacuation points. Please continue to check the embassy's website for updated information in the event of ongoing military action.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: Now, it's not all automation that you're getting and that frustration that so many callers at customer service lines feel all over the world when they -- when they call some of these places, you do get a live person if you follow a couple of prompts, if you call that number. And I got a live person a short time ago and asking about possibly evacuating a person from and I picked a country that's affected by this from Saudi Arabia. And that person told me that there are, quote, "no evacuations going on right now." She told me to go to step.state.gov. STEP standing for Smart Traveler Enrollment Program.

So I went to that website and it gives general information on conditions in different countries. And I selected Saudi Arabia. It told Americans in Saudi Arabia you've got to shelter in place and avoid the U.S. embassy there because it had been attacked. You compare that to other countries like the U.K., France, Italy and Czechia, they are scrambling planes as we speak to try to get -- to try to get their citizens out of the region. It looks like U.S. officials, Elex, are playing catch up at this point.

[01:10:17]

And the fallout is just kind of some chaos and real confusion and anxiety for Americans who are stranded there. Elex.

MICHAELSON: And that cannot be what they want to hear as they are watching late tonight and thinking about where they're going to go or in the morning in the Middle East right now. Brian Todd, thank you so much.

The Pentagon has identified four of the six U.S. service members who were killed in an Iranian drone strike in Kuwait. They are 35-year-old Captain Cody Khork, 42-year-old Sergeant First Class Noah Tietjens, 39-year-old Sergeant First Class Nicole Amor and 20-year-old Sergeant Declan Coady. All four were assigned to an Army Reserve Sustainment, a unit out of Iowa. Two other soldiers were killed on Sunday. They have not yet been identified.

Our condolences, of course, go out to all of their families.

The big story in politics. It is election night in Texas where it is now election morning and a legal battle is brewing over the U.S. Senate Democratic primary. Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett and State House Representative James Talarico are locked in a close race. You see, Talarico is ahead, but there is confusion over where to vote in some places which prompted election officials to extend hours. Now the Texas Supreme Court has weighed in saying those provisional ballots may not count.

Meanwhile, the Republican candidates headed for a runoff. Neither incumbent Senator John Cornyn nor Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton got the required 50 percent of the vote. So they will go head to head in May. Let's go live to CNN's Jeff Zeleny who is live in Austin, Texas. Jeff is live at the Talarico campaign.

Jeff, we just heard from him. JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: We did, Elex. Just a few moments ago, James Talarico addressed it, his supporters who are now dwindling. But boy, did they stick this out for five or six hours here for him to appear on stage. And look James Talarico stopped short of declaring victory. However, his campaign is very confident of what they have been seeing all night long with these numbers. But instead, Talarico said that every vote should be counted.

He called out voter suppression, in his words, in his home county of Williamson County. And he said there were similar issues in Jasmine Crockett's hometown of Dallas. And he said those votes should be counted. But he also said that Texas sent an unmistakable nation or message to the nation. He called it a hopeful message.

So James Talarico clearly is looking forward to running a much longer race here, looking forward toward the fall. It is mathematically very difficult for Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett to make up that difference. But one of the reason this race has not been called is there's enough Election Day vote out there in Dallas County, also in counties in many areas of Texas, that the race is not yet being called projected. So James Talarico effectively splitting the difference, again expressing confidence, stopping short of declaring victory, even as he calls on his message of economic populism. He said politics is not about left and right.

It should be about top versus bottom. Clearly looking forward to trying to do something that Democrats have not done in Texas in a very long time that has win a U.S. Senate seat. He was not born the last time that happened. Lloyd Bentsen in 1988 was the last Democratic U.S. senator reelected here in Texas. He was born one year later.

But for now, at least, this race will have to go on at least one more day until there are more votes that come in. But there is no question that James Talarico believes he is on the verge of victory at least, and will take on one of the Republican candidates who are now going to be locked in a runoff battle. Senator John Cornyn, of course, in the fight of his political life seeking a fifth term versus Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

So, Elex, for now at least, this was the opening round of the midterm elections and Democrats are hoping to get some enthusiasm and perhaps some guidance as they go forward about what type of candidates could win this year. Elex.

MICHAELSON: And Jeff, it's interesting. We're now listening to Selena Quintanilla. Selena singing behind you recording which is a reminder that the Latino vote came in big for James Talarico, which was key to what appears to be a victory. We'll see.

But what happens next in terms of the legal challenge? Where do we go from here and when could we get a final result?

[01:15:00]

ZELENY: Well, that is a question that will likely be not resolved until the sun comes up. However, some votes are still being counted and other counties go home and count them in the morning. So more Election Day vote needs to be added to all of the early vote, an extraordinary number, a record -- setting number of early votes were cast here, some 1.4 million. So once more Election Day vote is counted, my guess is there will be a projection in this race, but that does not necessarily resolve all the legal issues. Congresswoman Crockett said that she is going to keep her options open.

This Texas Supreme Court stepped in as well. We will have to see where this legal battle goes. But a bigger political question, Elex, is does this affect party unity at all going forward?

MICHAELSON: Right.

ZELENY: If Democrats are going to have a -- even a chance at doing something that they have not done in a very long time, turn a seat blue, of course, they'll have to be unified. But for now at least, certainly a big night in Texas. And for James Talarico, a fairly unknown figure at the beginning of this race, certainly is a well- known one, at least in Texas now.

MICHAELSON: Yes. You're pointing out the fact that if Jasmine Crockett supporters, especially her black supporters, feel like they have been disenfranchised, do they then not show up in November and sit this one out, making it almost impossible for Talarico to win. We'll see potentially what happens in the next coming days. And the way the two of them talk about this could impact that.

Jeff Zeleny, thank you for staying up late for us. Great to have you live after midnight in Austin.

Let's bring in Jeremy Wallace, also staying up late for us, political writer for the Houston Chronicle. What a story for you, Jeremy. Your big takeaway in terms of what's going on right now and sort of breaking down what's happening.

JEREMY WALLACE, POLITICAL WRITER, HOUSTON CHRONICLE: Yes. Well, first of all, we've never seen turnout like this in a midterm election in a primary season ever in Texas. We're already breaking all kinds of records. And it's because of that Democratic, you know, primary, obviously, that Senate race really drew a lot of people.

Well, Republicans had a huge turnout, too. But combined, you see, we're breaking all these records. And look at what, you know, Talarico has done here. You know, Jasmine Crockett did really well in Houston, in Dallas, so far, places where we thought that she was going to do well and that was going to get her to the victory. But as you all pointed out earlier, it's like, look what Talarico did with the Latino vote.

If you looked at what's happening in the Rio Grande Valley, what's happened in San Antonio and even up into Austin, he's had just dominating performances there that really helped counterbalance everything that we thought were going to be Jasmine Crockett's strengths.

MICHAELSON: Well, it'll be interesting to see how messy the next few days gets, because earlier in the night, it seemed like Talarico might have had sort of the perfect storm where he could win. And you have a situation where on the Republican side, it would get messy between the two of them, months of them spending money, fighting each other, bringing each other down to give Talarico a potential lane. I mean, what would be necessary for a Democrat to win Texas, the white whale for the Democrats for such a long time now?

WALLACE: Yes, right. Look, the data tells us that it's a possibility. Look, I know people are looking at this last presidential race and saying, look, you know, it was even close. Trump easily won. But you have to really go back to that 2018 midterm cycle. Remember Beto O'Rourke lost by 215,000 votes.

Since that time, we added 2.8 million voters to the voter rolls in Texas. And a lot of those people, most of them have been along the i35 corridor, which I call the blue spine of Texas that has become Democratic as it's gotten more diverse and more urban. So what Talarico or Crockett, if she were somehow able to pull this off, what they have to do is look at this race as OK, if Beto O'Rourke get it, you know, within 215 and we have 2.8 million voters, the math tells you it's possible. You just have to have a good candidate. So what Tell Rico needs to do is get that Hispanic excitement to continue on to the fall.

But then he's going to have a reckoning with those supporters for Jasmine Crockett, as we all were talking about, it's like he has to make sure they stay on board and they come out to vote because that's the key. That's what made Jasmine Crockett such a good candidate for Democrats on the surface was that she was going to be able to get people in Houston and Dallas to vote that haven't voted in years because of who she is and where she comes from. And Talarico needs to figure out a way to get those people to stay on board.

MICHAELSON: And if it is, in fact, Talarico, does Jasmine Crockett help with that will be an interesting thing to watch as well.

Meanwhile, let's talk about what's going on with the Republicans. So you've got John Cornyn, this establishment leader in the Senate, who is being challenged by Ken Paxton, who has all sorts of legal problems, and yet it is really close. President Trump has not gotten involved so far. How do you see that going from here? And what side potentially do you think the president weighs in on if he does?

[01:20:18]

WALLACE: Well, if I'm John Cornyn, I'm liking what the numbers look like right now. If he looks like he's the leader coming out of this primary, that's going to be really important for him to go to Trump and say, look, I'm the leader. You want to back the winner, right? Because we know Trump, you know, doesn't want to endorse somebody who ends up losing. So if there's a chance to get a Trump endorsement in the runoff, Cornyn has to be ahead of Paxton.

There's no way he's getting it if he's behind it. So he's already checked that box off.

MICHAELSON: Right.

WALLACE: So that's a key component right there. But, you know -- and look, we're already hearing from the Cornyn camp, these people who are working with them, that they're going to bring even more negative attention to Ken Paxton. It's going to be a war. This is going to be, you know, throw your T.V. in the garbage because you can get so many T.V. ads in Texas, from Houston to Dallas, no matter where you are, you're going to get pounded, you know, when we get into this midterm, into the runoff.

MICHAELSON: And even if you don't live in Texas, the reason to care about this is there's basically no path for Democrats to win back the Senate if they don't win Texas, which is why this whole thing is so important, not only around the country, but around the world.

Jeremy Wallace, thank you for staying up late, although you would have already been up because what a crazy night in Texas politics.

WALLACE: Yes.

MICHAELSON: Thank you so much. Great to talk with you.

WALLACE: You betcha. Thanks a lot.

MICHAELSON: We will have more on the military conflict in Iran when we come back. Still ahead, how U.S. lawmakers are reacting after a briefing from Trump officials late tonight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:26:14]

MICHAELSON: A live picture from Beirut, Lebanon, where it's 8:25 in the morning right now and you see smoke rising over the Beirut suburbs. We just saw an attack there. It happened not long after Israel warned an urgent warning for residents to evacuate in the city's area. So the conflict continues throughout the Middle East right now.

We want to get some perspective from one of the smartest guys in all of politics. Live in Los Angeles is Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian and professor of history at Rice University. Welcome to The Story Is for the first time. Thanks so much for being with us.

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Thank you for having me.

MICHAELSON: What do we make of President Trump's decision to go to war with Iran? Put this moment in some historical context.

BRINKLEY: Well, the last time really is World War II, 1941, when a president went in front of the Congress, you know, when, you know, FDR after Pearl Harbor and we had a, a joint session that said, yes, we're in this war, but since then, presidents are supposed to obey the War Powers Act, certainly since Vietnam, when that passed in 1973. But alas, Donald Trump is sort of ignoring the Constitution, ignoring the War Powers Act and saying, I have presidential authority to do this. And so it's sort of a stark moment. But here in the United States, people want American men and women to succeed. But things are unraveling in a lot of different directions.

And we can't Forget World War I started with the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, you know, where things that seem small can grow. So hopefully this war, Operation Epic Fury, will be curtailed in days, weeks, hopefully not more than a month because it's deadly and it's killing -- many people in Iran are dying and people in Israel and elsewhere.

MICHAELSON: Certainly President Trump is not the first president to engage in combat without seeking congressional approval. Think about President Obama with Libya and plenty of other examples as well. But overall, not only just this, can you think of any other president certainly in our lifetime that has had this expansive a view of executive power and of what the job of the presidency is.

BRINKLEY: No, there's nothing like Donald Trump's use of presidential authority. We're in America 250. We're celebrating our three branches of government. And Congress has been really cut out of this process. There isn't a consultation.

It's what Donald Trump wants and does. You know, every president's been in the recent memory has had an opportunity to bomb Iran. I mean, we had the hostage crisis with Jimmy Carter, and we worked through an entire year, eventually got the hostages back, but we didn't go to war. And every time there are these moments, people have hesitated presence. But not Donald Trump.

He'd be the first to admit it. But this rings my 2003 bell with George W. Bush, because after 9/11, we debated in Congress, you know, what to do, how to do it. But we had a shock in awe in 2003, where went in and we're going to get rid of Saddam Hussein, we're going to bring democracy to Iraq. And in the end, we ended up having a long and historically unpopular engagement in the second Iraq War.

[01:29:48]

I think I miss, in some ways, George Herbert Walker Bush -- Bush 41, when Iraq had invaded Kuwait. They drew a line in the sand and built a coalition of NATO, coalition of the United Nations. And we went in with Operation Desert Storm and booted the Iraqi forces out of Kuwait and liberated it.

So there are many ways to deal with Middle East policy. But going it in a bilateral way, U.S. Israel just bombing Iran with no clear-cut way of putting the government back in and creating turmoil in the Middle East, it comes with a very high warning sticker on it because this is -- this is serious.

We're not in a -- this isn't Ronald Reagan in Grenada here. We're dealing with a tinderbox in the Middle East.

ELEX MICHALESON, CNN ANCHOR: And lastly, is there a way for the presidency to go back to what it was. Or is sort of the genie out of the bottle? Has the presidency itself been changed forever? BRINKLEY: I don't think the War Powers Act is relevant anymore. It

came in 1973 out of Vietnam. We have to remember that Richard Nixon invaded or did an incursion, as they used to call it, into Cambodia, that triggered Kent State and other domestic protests.

And there's this thought that the War Powers Act was going to rein a president in. But alas, it has not worked. It's almost irrelevant, the War Powers Act now.

So when we get out of this -- this situation, I think the United States has to consider how to make sure presidents don't act in a unilateral rogue fashion without consulting Congress in some way, shape or form.

Might be a new committee, new resolution, how to do this. But this isn't working right now. Donald Trump's just brushed the War Powers Act off his shoulders like it doesn't exist.

MICHAELSON: Douglas Brinkley, I am such a big fan of your writing, and it's an honor to have you on this broadcast for the first time. Thank you so much for sharing your perspective.

BRINKLEY: Thank you so much.

MICHAELSON: We are following the legal battle shaping up right now in Texas. Breaking news where confusion at the polls extended voting hours have thrown the Democratic senate primary into limbo. We've got a political panel joining us live to break down what's next. Right after this.

[01:32:34]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELSON: We continue to follow breaking news in Texas, where the Democratic senate primary appears to be in legal limbo. Election officials extended voting by two hours at some polling places after changes in the rules led to confusion about where to vote.

Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, state representative James Talarico locked in a tight race, but as you can see, Talarico has the upper hand. Now, the state Supreme Court says some of those late ballots may not be counted, which is not good news for Crockett.

Talarico addressed supporters a short time ago in Austin. He stopped short of declaring victory and said all votes need to be counted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STATE REP. JAMES TALARICO (D-TX), SENATE CANDIDATE: The number of Texans who have never voted before but showed up in this election is unprecedented. The number of Independents and Republicans who voted in this Democratic primary is unprecedented this.

This is proof that there is something happening in Texas. Tonight -- tonight, the people of our state gave this country a little bit of hope.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: On the Republican side, CNN projects incumbent Senator John Cornyn and state attorney general, Ken Paxton, are headed for a runoff. Neither candidate will reach the 50 percent threshold to win the race outright.

Let's bring in our panel. Elisha Krauss, conservative commentator and op-ed writer for "The Washington Examiner" joining us from our home base in Los Angeles. And Maria Cardona with us, Democratic strategist and CNN political commentator.

Ladies, welcome. Good to see both of you again.

Maria, let's start with you, because right now the real action is on the Democratic side. What do you make of what's happening right now? And the way that you read it and you know the numbers so well. Is it Talarico in the end?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, we have to wait until we have every vote counted, like he said. Everyone's voice must be heard. But you have shown the numbers. I do think it will be difficult for Jasmine Crockett to make up the difference. But let's wait and see until we see the final tally.

But Elex, I think what is so exciting no matter who wins, whether it's Talarico, whether it's Jasmine Crockett in the end, what this has proven tonight is the massive enthusiasm that exists on the Democratic side for this election and for this election, for change.

[01:39:49]

CARDONA: And it's not happening just in Texas. And the fact that we're even talking about this at 1:00 in the morning, Elex, as it's going to be huge news because it is, I think tells you that something is changing, something is shifting across the country.

Like Talarico said, this has been massive turnout, incredible numbers never seen before. 200,000 more people showed up to vote in the Texas primary than in the Republican primary in a red state like Texas.

We also had in Arkansas, a Democrat flip a red seat from red to blue. And that is the 27th flip of a red seat to blue across the country in a state legislature in the last year, Elex.

This shows you the kind of momentum that Democrats have because they are sick and tired of what Trump and Republicans have brought on the American people -- exploding costs, chaos and corruption.

MICHAELSON: You say that, but Democrats haven't actually won a Texas senate seat since -- for a generation or two.

Elisha, of the two potential finalists, Jasmine Crockett and James Talarico, who would be harder for you guys to run against? ELISHA KRAUSS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I really think that it would be

Talarico. I mean listen, as a conservative Christian who's from the Bible Belt myself, I think that he has said and done things that are blasphemous to say the least.

But I think that broadly, his style is more -- going to be more appealing to moderate and maybe like slightly right of center, not very engaged voters.

And I think that he understands that his base is very different than his potential broader constituency. And we'll see him pivot after it's official that he's won the primary to kind of moderate himself a little bit and become more appealing to those voters.

And I don't understand how Crockett can say that the election was stolen from her and threatened all these lawsuits when Texans have been voting for three weeks now, and like Talarico mentioned, more Democrats turned out in this primary than Republicans did.

If anything, she should be perturbed at her own party apparatus from the liberal podcasters to, you know, late night hosts and others who have been really trying to suppress her this entire time.

I mean, I've been in awe of the left eating their own, specifically in this race, and maybe they need to sit down and have a little chit chat and figure things out before we get into really contested primary (INAUDIBLE).

(CROSSTALKING)

MICHAELSON: Clearly there was some confusion and some problems with the voting, so much so that a judge granted them to keep the polls open for a couple of hours.

But let's not get into the weeds on that right now. Let's talk about what's happening on the Republican side, Elisha.

You've got John Cornyn going into a battle with Ken Paxton. Ken Paxton has all sorts of legal problems and scandals in his background. John Cornyn has been an establishment favor for years. The race is really close. How do you see it?

KRAUSS: It's fascinating to me because Cornyn seems like the safe bet, like you called him an establishment guy, but he votes with Donald Trump the majority of the time.

Ken Paxton is a lightning rod but not in a good way. I mean, the guy has been impeached. He's been investigated for fraud and bribery. One of the things was like bribing his mistress or bribing a donor to give money to his mistress. It's insane.

And I think that he kind of thinks that he's MAGA-lite or Trump-like. But we've seen time and time again, and I would warn the Republican voters in Texas that unfortunately, when we choose a kind of in persona, Trump-like candidate, it doesn't bear well for us in the general election. And I think if Paxton wins this runoff because they needed to meet the threshold of 50 percent plus one and obviously didn't, it's not going to be good for Republicans and we could lose that seat.

MICHAELSON: Do you agree with that, Maria? Is Cornyn a tougher opponent for Democrats?

CARDONA: You know what I actually don't because from everything that I have seen and folks that I have talked to in Texas, if Cornyn wins, the MAGA base is not going to turn out for him because they love Paxton.

And so if you want to look at a party who is eating their own, I think you can look at the Republican Party. The ads that were run from by Cornyn's team against Paxton were just brutal.

Yes, they were true. And the fact that Republicans are looking to nominate someone like Paxton, I think is gross and disgusting. And it will, I think, make it easier for Democrats to win.

But at the same time, even if it is Cornyn, like I mentioned before, Elex, people have had it. Texans have had it with Trump and Republicans.

CARDONA: Even those who voted for Trump in 2024 including some of black voters --

MICHAELSON: Yes.

[01:44:46]

CARDONA: -- including Latino voters who are now running back to the Democratic Party because Trump has betrayed them on issues of cost, immigration, the chaos, the corruption.

They have had it --

MICHAELSON: Yes.

CARDONA: -- and that they are making their voices heard through this election.

MICHAELSON: We will see. That was a message that Beto O'Rourke said, and Colin Allred said -- a whole lot of money was pumped into those campaigns. They were not able to get over the finish line. We'll see if it is James Talarico if this is going to be different this time around.

Maria, Elisha -- thank you for staying up late with us tonight. We really appreciate it.

What an interesting race. Again, Texas could determine the U.S. Senate control. The Democrats probably can't get there without flipping Texas.

Thank you ladies. We'll see -- we'll see you later. CARDONA: Thanks, Elex.

MICHAELSON: We're going to continue our breaking news from all around the world. And here is a live picture right now from Beirut. This just happened during our conversation. Another explosion in that region.

We will go back to the Middle East for more live coverage right after this.

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MICHAELSON: Iran has now targeted the largest U.S. military installation in the Middle East. That is the Al-Udeid Air Base, which Qatar says was struck by an Iranian ballistic missile on Tuesday. There were no casualties.

Let's bring in CNN senior producer Bijan Hosseini, who is standing by right now, live in Doha. Bijan, what are you seeing on the ground in Doha?

BIJAN HOSSEINI, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Hi, Elex. Yes, a lot of developments that happened overnight.

Let's start with that missile that you just referred to. It did, in fact get through. We got confirmation of that from Qatar's ministry of defense hitting Al-Udeid. As you said no injuries reported.

We know Al-Udeid is the largest U.S. base here in the region. Normally, it would house some 10,000 personnel.

About six weeks ago, when tensions started to flare up between Iran and the U.S., we saw some evacuations of nonessential military personnel taking place at that base.

But contrary to that, we also saw a military equipment buildup. We saw air refuelers and air transporters making their way into country over here.

But also overnight, we heard from Qatar's state-run news agency that authorities detained ten people, ten suspects, two separate cells that they say were acting on behalf of the IRGC. That's Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

They say that seven of them were given tasks on gathering information on key military facilities, on both government and national facilities. And also three of them were given what they say are sabotage tasks and that they were trained in the use of drones.

We also know that authorities, at least according to Qatar state-run agency, authorities found on these people key locations and coordinates of sensitive facilities as well as communication devices and technological equipment.

MICHAELSON: Bijan, thank you so much for your reporting in Doha. We'll see you with more in our next hour.

But we want to talk about the economy now. U.S. oil prices reached their highest level in more than a year on Tuesday, before retreating. Brent Crude, global Brent's mark (ph) gained more than 4.5 percent to top $81 a barrel. Now it's about $80.

Prices eventually cooled down after President Trump announced he has ordered insurance and other guarantees for oil for energy and other maritime trade in the Middle East.

We want to go now, live to Hong Kong. That's where CNN's Kristie Lu Stout is following the markets. Kristie, welcome back to THE STORY IS.

The global energy shock is battering the markets. How is global shipping caught in the crosshairs?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Elex, as the conflict in Iran widens, global shipping rates are absolutely surging. In fact, supertanker rates in the Middle East have reached all-time highs and that has prompted both the United States and China to step in to call for more protections and safeguarding of vessels and ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Of course, the strait is that very narrow channel right off the coast of Iran, through which 20 percent of the world's oil consumption flows through, as well as a significant amount of liquefied natural gas.

It was during this week, as reported, Iran issued that threat, warning that it would attack any vessel that would dare to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. And a number of vessels and ships in the area have been hit by strikes during this ongoing conflict.

In fact if you look at the real time mapping data on marinetraffic.com, you would see that the Strait of Hormuz is virtually empty.

And it's fears that this situation will persist, that is what's been moving the markets. It's sending share prices down. It's sending the cost and the price of oil up, the price of gas up, even safe haven investments, gold, the U.S. dollar surging as well.

And that's why the two world powers, the United States and China are stepping in trying to stabilize the markets.

We did hear recently from Beijing, China's ministry of foreign affairs, it's spokesperson, Mao Ning, addressed the conflict in the daily press briefing that took place on Tuesday afternoon.

And I think we have the statement for you. But she said this. Quote, "China urges all parties to stop the military operations at once to avoid further escalation to keep the shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz safe and prevent further impact on the global economy.

[01:54:50]

STOUT: And the U.S. President Donald Trump has gone one step further. Offering shipping insurance, offering shipping guarantees, and also offering quite the pledge.

He took to his social media platform of choice, of course, that's Truth Social, occasionally using all caps declaring this. "No matter what, the United States will ensure the free flow of energy to the world."

And Donald Trump also said that the U.S. Navy would escort oil tankers in the Gulf. Now, the details here are unclear, but China would have the most to gain here. China, of course, is the world's biggest importer of crude. China is the biggest buyer of Iranian oil. And China would certainly welcome U.S. Navy escorts of oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

Back to you, Elex.

MICHAELSON: Kristie, thank you.

We want to get to some breaking news in the world of politics. CNN, now projecting that James Talarico will win the Democratic primary and advance after a tough and close fight against Jasmine Crockett. But James Talarico will advance to the general election.

The Republican primary is now not at a place where there will now be a runoff in the Republican primary with John Cornyn or Ken Paxton. But whoever wins that will face James Talarico. The Texas representative is advancing.

That is the breaking news.

We will have more news here on THE STORY IS when we come back. The war with Iran and that breaking news out of Texas.

More of THE STORY IS -- a special extra hour, next.

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