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Tight Race in Michigan Senate Primary; Rep. Max Miller Remains Defiant; U.S. Forest Service' Tom Stokesberry is Interviewed about the Washington Fires. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired August 05, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION AND AEROSPACE ANALYST: Will be able to look at it and see how high it rises.

And this could have a lot of impact on, if you will, on decisions about building lunar bases in the future and rockets away from potential outposts there.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. And what to do with all this space junk?

Miles, it is great to see you. Thank you so much. I'm glad we're not going to have space junk hitting earth yet today.

It's good to see you, buddy. Thank you.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, despite accusations of violence and abuse from three women and growing pressure from his own party, Ohio Republican Max Miller vowing to stay in his re-election race. What the defiant congressman told our Jake Tapper in an extraordinary interview.

And tonight -- excuse me, and tight and getting even tighter, from last night to this morning, we just got an update on the vote count on Michigan's high-stakes Democratic Senate primary. And it's just too close to call. Getting even closer. The very latest on that race.

Also, a terrifying close call on a busy highway. A driver waiting for help ends up nearly getting hit, having to jump out of the way of a car that was out of control, just in time.

I'm Sara Sidner, with Kate Bolduan and John Berman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The breaking news this morning, it is getting closer. We are talking about the Michigan Senate Democratic primary. One of the most closely watched races in the country. Why? Because this could very much help determine control of the Senate in November. Abdul El-Sayed, who was considered the more progressive of the

candidates, is clinging on to a lead of just under -- just under 15,000 votes at this point over Congresswoman Haley Stevens, seen as the more establishment candidate. A 15,000-vote lead. About a half an hour ago, that was 19,000. And then it shrunk. We just saw the number change. That's how it works as they report more votes as they count through the night. You can see, 96 percent reporting at this point across the state.

So, where is the outstanding vote? We can tell. We can say, hey, where in the state has less than 90 percent of the vote counted at this point? There's only one county, and it's Wayne County. This is the most populous county in the state. This is where Detroit is. It represents about 18 percent of the vote. And as of now, you can see, 88 percent reporting. "The New York Times" estimates there might be 17,000, maybe more, votes left to count in Wayne County. So, there is vote left to count.

And you can see that Haley Stevens is leading in Wayne County by about 17,000 votes. And when those latest vote counts were reported about half an hour ago, her lead expanded in Wayne County from about 14,000 to 17,000. So, she's been able to grow her vote margin in Wayne County and close the margin statewide.

And as they count more of these votes in Wayne County, it's possible, it's possible it gets even closer. You can see, statewide, she's still got a ways to go. She still has to close this 15,000-vote gap. Maybe there is enough vote in Wayne County. That is what we're watching.

I can show you how it changed over the course of the night. I was on "AC360" last night as the first votes were coming in. You can see this light blue line is Abdul El-Sayed. The dark blue line is Haley Stevens. He was way up, Abdul El-Sayed, in terms of where the vote was being counted before 9:00. But ever since then, it's been getting closer and closer and closer to where these two lines are nearly touching right now at 9:04 a.m. Eastern Time. So, we are watching and waiting for more vote to be counted.

One other thing I want to point out here, there is a third candidate -- excuse me, there is a third candidate in this race, who was in this race, I should note, but who has since dropped out. That's Mallory McMorrow. She -- I can't get this pie chart out here. She actually has about 60,000 votes right now. Excuse me, I'm bopping around here. She has 60,000 votes. And you can see the margin is only 15,000 votes. So, even though Mallory McMorrow dropped out of the race, the number of votes she's getting is way higher, way higher than the margin of these two candidates. So, you can see how her name may still have an impact here.

Again, we're still counting, 15,000 votes.

Let's go to Detroit. Jeff Zeleny is there.

Give us a sense of what you're hearing from maybe the candidates and just from the scene this morning, Jeff.

[09:05:02]

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: John, good morning.

I mean, you have set the stage there for how all eyes in this very nationalized Senate contest are on Wayne County right here in Detroit. And the numbers have been changing this morning. And the reality is both campaigns, I've been talking to their advisers, are watching and waiting for these numbers to come in as we are. They do not have any more information, of course. The question is how many mail-in ballots were there here in Wayne County, in Detroit? And that is something that Haley Stevens did pretty well on.

So, this is a very narrow contest. It's -- 14,898 votes are separating them out of 1.5 million votes cast.

Well, there's no doubt that this race is much closer than both sides expected. Abdul El-Sayed was hoping to declare victory last night during prime time to give a speech, in his words, to sort of reframe this debate and reintroduce himself. That did not happen. Both candidates spoke in the very early morning hours.

Well, just a short time ago. I caught up with him and asked him about party unity, regardless of outcome.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDUL EL-SAYED (D), MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: This morning, waking up, we said, you know what, we need to -- we need to take all the time we have to start rebuilding this movement and mending fences. And so, we need to move forward and defeat Mike Rogers, build the coalition that will do that -- do that. Obviously, it's up to my opponent to do as she thinks is right for her campaign and her supporters. But I encourage all of us, all right, to recognize the facts on the ground here and move forward, because time is ticking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: And Haley Stevens, of course, a member of Congress from here in Michigan, has been very clear. She has said that if she is not the nominee, she will support her opponent and urge her voters and supporters to do the same. But everything is on hold for the moment as these votes are coming in. There is a path for her for victory. It's a narrower path. There's no question about that. Again, she was talking about Mike Rogers last night, or early this morning, I should say, in her speech as well.

And Mike Rogers, of course, the Republican nominee, also a former member of Congress here, he narrowly lost the Senate race just a couple of years ago when Donald Trump was on the ballot here. He, of course, won't be this year. He is watching all of this, wondering who his opponent is going to be.

So, John, we are going to just have to see and wait for these votes to be counted. But at this point, there is a path for Haley Stevens. It's narrower, but all Democrats' eyes are on Wayne County. And the big question, will Democrats come together? Does a closer race make that more difficult? And we'll find out the answer to that in the coming days, weeks and less than three months, John.

BERMAN: Meanwhile, I'm going to be glued to this number right here, 14,898. We will wait and see if that closes over the next few minutes. And just one thing I want to point out. The thing I was trying to show you here before was the number, the share of the vote here. You can see Stevens at 47.5, El-Sayed at 48.5. Other here at four percent. So, the people who voted for others at this point may be decisive in terms of figuring out who's going to win here.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you so much, John. We are all watching those numbers as they come in.

Now, this morning, Republican Congressman Max Miller refusing to drop his re-election bid despite mounting pressure. Members of his own party urging him to end his campaign after Miller's ex-wife and two other women accused him of domestic violence and abuse. Among the allegations, his ex-wife says Miller put a gun to her head, and another time threw hot water on her. The former White House communications director has a restraining order out on him, accusing him of abuse as well.

Now, he's denied all of these allegations. Here's what Max Miller told CNN's Jake Tapper in an exclusive interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MAX MILLER (R-OH): All they're trying to do is create rumor mills without evidence. It's all hearsay.

Every single one of these things that you're brought up, unlike other candidates throughout the country, I've already had investigations into.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: CNN's Jake Tapper joining us right now.

You laid out the most serious and important allegations that are out there. Give us some sense of how he responded to you on several fronts.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, you guys didn't run the part of the clip where I pointed out that individuals like his ex-wife and his ex-girlfriend saying that he did things to them in their own words on the record is not hearsay. That is testimony, for want of a better word.

But I think one of the, one of the things that's important for people to think about when they think about this case is one of the reasons it's getting so much attention is not just because Congressman Miller's ex-wife is the daughter of a Republican senator, Bernie Moreno of Ohio, and that Senator Moreno has now been willing to criticize publicly his former son-in-law, but because this is not the first time that a woman has accused Congressman Miller of violence.

[09:10:05]

And, in fact, there are stories that date back to his high school days.

And so, I asked him about that during our interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: There are now three women, three women who have accused you of violent behavior. "Politico" published a report in 2021 that says when you were in high school, you, quote, "pushed a girl out of the dorm of his room and she fell down some stairs after he became enraged when she resisted his attempts to touch her, according to three people who were there and many more who heard about the incident in the aftermath."

Now, you deny that, but the woman in question told "Mother Jones" reporter Abby Visalus, just days ago, that it happened and was, quote, "one of the more traumatic nights of her life." Now, that's --

REP. MAX MILLER (R-OH): I would love --

TAPPER: Now, hold on.

MILLER: For that individual to go on the record because that --

TAPPER: OK. Hold on --

MILLER: Jake, I was 13 -- Jake, I was 13 years --

TAPPER: Because I'm not done with the list of women that have accused you of violence. Then there is former White House press secretary --

MILLER: I know, but that's -- 13 years old.

TAPPER: OK, you were young. Then there's former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham, who was your ex-girlfriend. She accused you of being abusive and having a violent streak. She wrote in her book, quote, "I could do nothing right by him. I would wake up every morning shaking with anxiety about his mood that day. I had seen his temper before and it had scared me," unquote. She has recently filed a temporary restraining order against you in a defamation case.

And now there are these claims from your ex-wife, Emily Moreno. And I guess the question is, are all three of these women who don't know each other, or all three of them lying?

MILLER: Yes, it's very easy. And I can tell you why. Every single time -- and people have asked me, you know, what are you going to do? Are you going to drop out of this race? Are you going to resign? You know, are you going to get out before the deadline? And my answer to you, Jake, is, no. And I can tell you why.

In 2016, when President Donald J. Trump faced the most extreme allegations in the world that hit him day after day after day and people in the media, very much like yourself and others, said that he would have no shot at winning, that he should not be the president of the United States.

But guess what? He stayed in and he was resilient. And what the American people can see is that they can see that somebody is fighting who is resilient, and that is a quality that the American people cherish.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So, Sara, I mean, you see right there that Congressman Miller is following the Trump playbook, which is to deny any wrongdoing, to attack the accusers and to stay in the race. And it did work for Trump. Two out of three times. And I guess we'll see if it works for Congressman Miller.

SIDNER: Yes. I mean, in the end, it could be the voter who makes the decision as to whether or not he should be in office instead of him resigning. But we will see as this seems to be mounting over time.

Jake Tapper, great interview from you, as always. Really appreciate you coming on early this morning.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right, let's talk about all of this. Joining us now is CNN political commentator Alyssa Farah Griffin and CNN's chief political analyst David Axelrod.

Alyssa, add to this now Mike Johnson, the House speaker, has a new interview with "Politico" that is just being detailed this morning. And in it, he in part says, "I haven't spoken to Max about this in the last few days. Of course, I will. There's all sorts of domestic events going on with 435 members of Congress all the time, it's not my business to get engaged in it."

He also says in this conversation with Dasha Burns, "I think Max is taking them," the allegations, "seriously. I think our colleagues are. But, again, we have to allow this process to play out. It's just begun." Seeming to suggest when he's talking about this ethics investigation.

What do you think of Johnson's response to this here as we're now -- we've heard so much more from Max Miller?

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: This is a markedly different tone from Speaker Johnson than really any prior speakers before him. I worked under Speaker Boehner, under Speaker Ryan, and there was always a sense that it was the speaker's job to police the ranks and that when somebody was out of step and out of moral character, if they were doing something ethically flawed, that it could damage the entire conference, especially going into, you know, highly disputed midterms. So, this sort of, I can't keep up with everything that's going on, that's something so different that we don't really see a lot. But listen, I think Speaker Johnson's going to take his cues from the

White House here, as he often does. And since, as of now, the president's tone has essentially been, these are allegations, we'll let it play out, I suspect that that's where the speaker will be.

But notice, this is very different than senators who seem to be lining up behind Senator Moreno here. You know, John Thune basically came out and seemed to imply that Max Miller should get out of the race. So, you're seeing a lot more leadership, frankly, coming from the Senate on this issue than you are from Speaker Johnson.

BOLDUAN: And where things go from here now, Axe, I mean you have Chuck Edwards, different member of Congress, Republican from North Carolina, he, just this morning, abandoned his re-election bid after the ethics panel released an investigation into him that found, quote/unquote, substantial evidence that he had repeatedly made unwanted advances toward two female staffers.

[09:15:00]

I bring that up because we know that Max Miller asked and requested that House Ethics look into it. And I had some speculating when I -- in conversations last night to me that Miller knows just how long these ethics investigations can last.

DAVID AXELROD, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Exactly.

BOLDUAN: The unknowable, though, is, what impact this has on, well, on so -- on the human side of this, on his family and everything, but also, most immediate -- also immediately his re-election because he's clearly not stepping out.

AXELROD: Yes. Well, look, I think that this seat becomes very, very much in question for Republicans. And the -- I'm sure the other members of the House are saying to the speaker, what do you mean you haven't talked to him?

BOLDUAN: Yes.

AXELROD: Because we know that this is going to be a closely contested midterm. And every seat matters. So, that seems odd to me that he would say that.

I just want to make a larger point. And let's not gloss over the personal part of this.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

AXELROD: I heard Senator Moreno yesterday talking about the personal toll on his family. And I thought it was really, really compelling as a human being. You know, there are things that transcend politics. And it's unbelievable to me that he would put his child through this. And, you know, his lawyer apparently accidentally released photos of the child and so on.

But laying all that aside, let's just remember one thing, he went on Jake's show which -- and Jake pressed him appropriately and thoroughly.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

AXELROD: And it wasn't good. But he went on there for one reason, which was to appeal to the president of the United States' vanity and say, this is just like him and he, you know, I'm going to do what he does.

And it goes to a larger point. Wen you -- when your philosophy and you're the president and the leader of the party is deny, deny, deny, others take that to heart. And he is a protege of the presidents. So, it's kind of ironic that the House now may be affected and how the outcome of the midterms works out may be affected by the fact that people are following -- he's following the Trump dictum, never admit to anything, accused the accusers. It's almost, you know, Greek in its -- it's sort of a tale (ph).

BOLDUAN: I was going to say, are you going Greek or are you going Shakespearean on this one? Let's --

AXELROD: Let's say Shakespearian, I think.

BOLDUAN: Whichever one. Let's --

AXELROD: More contemporary. Let's do that.

BOLDUAN: On that one.

Also playing out in Shakespearean fashion, too close to call leaving --

AXELROD: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Let's talk about Michigan. This Michigan Senate race. Yes, there we are right now, where it stands. Berman's working at the wall. We're -- he's -- we're -- we've leashed him to the wall until this gets called, which shows what the difference is between the two. And all the focus right now, it's under 15,000 votes now separating the two.

AXELROD: Yes.

BOLDUAN: And the big focus is on Wayne County.

AXELROD: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Where they are slow to count, where mail-in ballots are a real big question and where we've seen, so far, Haley Stevens able to narrow. She has a lead in Wayne County and has been able to narrow that margin. How -- I mean, if this is decided by inches, what does this do, David?

AXELROD: Well, look, in some ways, in some ways I -- you know, look, we talked about Shakespeare before, but let's talk a little history.

In 1946, Churchill lost the prime ministership in Britain, and his wife, Lady Clementine, said, well, this is a blessing in disguise. And he said, well, if so, it's rather well disguised. I'm sure that's how they feel.

But in some ways this signifies to both factions of the party in Michigan that they need each other, that they -- they're not dominating each other here. And I thought the -- they both hit the appropriate note, which is one of unity. And now we'll see if everyone follows through on that.

But there's one great unifying factor, and that's Trump. And he's got a 35 percent approval rating in that state. He's a terribly heavy load for Mike Rogers to carry into this election. Rogers lost the last election by a hair when Trump was ascendant and winning the election. So, I think there's impetus to come together. Primaries are vituperative. And this one was particularly nasty.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

AXELROD: But they both seem to be focused on bringing the party together. Now, it's easier for the one who wins to say it than the one who loses. And we'll see what the loser does when this is over.

BOLDUAN: That's for sure. And they're definitely pushing talking of unity right now, Alyssa. But one thing that's also been a big part -- look, big campaign cash and outside money and influential political action groups, they've been a real focus in this race. They've -- they're a real focus in lots of races. But it seems particularly uniquely a player, an animating factor in this race.

Let me just play for -- what El-Sayed said just yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDUL EL-SAYED (D), MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: We all knew they were going to spend their money. We didn't know they were going to spend $70 million of their money.

[09:20:00]

We didn't know that they were going to outspend us $11 to $1. And yet we're still standing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: I don't know, what do you see in how this has become such an animating piece of what, you know, this contentious race and what you see now in this moment of it's so tight and too close to call?

GRIFFIN: Yes, I mean, look, what David Axelrod said, listen, this race is going to come down to a photo finish. Progressives are already spiking the football for El-Sayed, even though we've yet to call it at this point. But the reality is this. This, because it is such a close outcome or will ultimately be, these two factions have to unite. And my criticism of the progressive flank of the Democratic Party in this race and in others were seeing is they are focusing far too much on issues like the Israeli government coming, you know, criticizing AIPAC. And, of course, AIPAC did come in with a lot of money against El-Sayed.

But look at where the vote turnouts that we have so far are. You largely have white college educated voters turning out for El-Sayed. But if you look at how Haley Stevens performed, it is rural voters. It is white working-class voters. And it is more African American turnout. That is the core constituencies of the Democratic Party that you need to win in a general election.

So, you're going to need to hear, if it ends up being El-Sayed, more from his campaign about coffee table issues, kitchen table issues, getting people, you know, who feel like they don't have the help that they need, what they need, not focusing purely on Gaza, Gaza, Gaza. That cannot be the focus if you're trying to win statewide in Michigan, a state that Donald Trump won twice.

BOLDUAN: It's great to see you guys. Well, votes still being counted. The margin now less than 15,000 votes between the two. We're staying very close to this, this morning.

Sara.

SIDNER: It's a wild one.

All right, we're watching -- John is literally updating things as we speak.

All right, new details on the convicted felon now accused of setting one of the raging wildfires burning around Spokane, Washington. We'll speak with fire officials about the latest efforts there to try and get those fires -- and there are many -- under control.

Also, a pilot accused of flying under the influence and trying to smuggle in a huge amount of drugs. What investigators found in his bag when he was taken into custody.

Also, before he was a famous chef and reality TV star, he was just Tony. Coming up, we hear from the director behind the new Anthony Bourdain biopic.

Those stories and more ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:26:53]

SIDNER: Rising temperatures, dry conditions, these are a recipe for disaster in the Pacific Northwest that is threatening to make the wildfires that are burning there even worse now. In Washington state, several fires are still zero percent contained. And thousands of residents remain under evacuation orders. In the Spokane area, more than 10,000 acres have already been burned. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed. More than 200,000 acres across the state have been burned.

Joining me now is Tom Stokesberry. He is the public information officer for the U.S. Forest Service. Tom, let's start here. Give us some sense of where we are right now

with these fires and just how difficult things are being made, not just the fires kind of create their own weather, but the weather itself is making things hard.

TOM STOKESBERRY, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, U.S. FOREST SERVICE: Yes. Well, right now we had a great shift overnight. Our firefighters are out there working 24 hours a day. We had no movement on the fire last night. We were able to complete lines, fire lines, containment lines around all three of the fires that are making up the fires here in the Spokane area fires. So, a lot of great progress last night on the night shift and, of course, yesterday during the day shift.

We also had zero drone incursions yesterday, which enabled us to get our aerial assets up in the air and continue to work these fires. So, that was a tremendous help because of the incursions we had had the previous few days. So, a lot of good work over the last 24 hours here.

SIDNER: Look, you mentioned the drone incursions. And we should just mention again how dangerous that is and what a problem that is that people are putting drones up and making it hard for firefighters to try to put these dangerous fires out. People need to really watch that and stop doing it.

I do want to ask you, Tom, about the state of your firefighters who have multiple fires going on. They're enormous. How are they? How are they getting through this?

STOKESBERRY: Our firefighters are some of the best in the nation right now that are assigned here. Our management team, California incident management team seven, we're here to support them. The local community's been fantastic, coming by and supporting.

So, the morale is high. We're here to do a job and we're here to support this community. All three fires, we -- they're very complex, OK. This is not a normal wildland fire. We're in the urban interface. So, the complexities that come along with that are definitely challenging.

But the morale is good. We're here to support this community and try to get them some sense of normalcy back. And it's going to be a long time. This is a very devastating fire. But the morale is good.

SIDNER: Look, there is the other issue of funding and making sure that there are enough firefighters, enough equipment. The Trump administration has gone after, you know, several states kind of saying, look, we're not necessarily going to fund certain things. We want you to clear out your forests, clear out the brush. On that front, do you have what you need to try and deal with these enormous fires, some of which are zero percent contained?

[09:30:04]

STOKESBERRY: Absolutely. Right now we're a little over 1,300 firefighters on this fire, and we're expected to be over 2,000 by the