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Critical Primary Races IN Florida, Alaska, Wyoming; Crowded GOP Primaries Test Trump's Grip On Florida; Prosecutors Show Jury Graphic Autopsy Photos Of Tupac Shakur; Day 2 of Testimony In Trial Of Man Accused In Tupac Shakur Slaying; American's Debt Nears Record $40 Trillion. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired August 18, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: It costs about $100 million or more a year per big box retailer just for these recalls. So there is certainly incentive for them to get it right. And if they start to get this right, then it could mean a much safer product for you at home, with all the caveats that you mentioned, Erica.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: All right. We'll be watching for it, David. Thank you.

GOLDMAN: Okay. Thank you.

HILL: A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: It's election day in America: Polls are open in three states, including in Florida, where critical races could set the stage for the November midterms.

Plus, the ever-growing federal debt nearing a record-high milestone. The country will soon owe $40 trillion, 40 followed by 12 zeros, the consequences that will have for Americans, businesses, and the government for years to come.

And later, Meta is back in court for a landmark trial over youth safety and social media addiction, the enormous amount of money the company says is at stake.

We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

President Trump's primary power is being put to the test in more key states today, including his adopted home state of Florida. But as he's handing out endorsements, his approval just slipped even lower. According to a new Reuters survey, it's now at 33 percent, a new low for his second term. A big question now, will the President's policies and his widely unpopular war with Iran help Democrats break through Florida's new congressional map, designed to give Republicans more seats on Capitol Hill?

Let's go live to Lauderhill, Florida, with CNN's Randi Kaye, who is at a polling place for us. This is just west of Fort Lauderdale.

So, Randi, walk us through the key races to watch. RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Boris, so many races here

in Florida, one more interesting than the next. Let's start with the governor's race. You have Byron Donalds, Republican. He has been endorsed by Donald Trump. If he wins, he would become Florida's first black governor. He is running in the primary against several candidates, but one being Jay Collins, who is Florida's lieutenant governor, and he is backed by the current governor, Ron DeSantis. So, you have a little bit of a -- the old Trump-DeSantis dynamic taking place there.

And then, whoever wins in that primary very likely will take on David Jolly. He is a Democratic congressman who -- he's a Democrat who is a former Republican congressman, and he will likely be the Democratic candidate. Now, what's at play here is Donald Trump's endorsement, because as I said, he endorsed Donald -- he endorsed Byron Donalds. So, we'll see how much weight that actually carries given those poll numbers you were just talking about.

He did give quite a boost to Ron DeSantis when he was lagging in the polls in 2018. He went on to become governor. So, we'll see what he can do for Byron Donalds.

This -- moving on, though, to the race here in Lauderhill. This is the Congressional District 20, where I am. And all eyes are on Debbie Wasserman Schultz. She is running for the 12th time. What's interesting about this is she was -- she used to run in Congressional District 25. That was dismantled because of all the redistricting that took place here in Florida. Many people say that was done to favor the Republicans. So, she's now running in this district, which is a historically black district. She's the only white candidate running in the primary against four black candidates.

Now, those candidates did get together, and they tried to consolidate the vote. They tried to back one of them. They couldn't agree on which one to back. So, that effort failed. They have accused her of district shopping, trying to find a safer district, a strong Democratic district to run in. She has denied all of that.

Very quickly, let me tell you who she's running against. Luther Campbell. He's a former rapper from 2 Live Crew, rapper turned activist. Also, Dale Holness. He is a Democrat. He's the former Broward County mayor. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick. She's a Democrat. She was a congresswoman who resigned because of this ethics investigation she's facing. She says she did nothing wrong, but she has been accused of funneling millions of dollars -- federal dollars -- into her campaign. And then finally, Elijah Manley. He's 27 years old. He's a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist.

We did speak to many voters here. They have mixed opinions about Debbie Wasserman Schultz running in this district. But here's some -- some of what one told me, who does support her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've known her for many years, and she has experience. And I think she can beat a Republican. KAYE: What do you think about her running as the only white candidate

in this historically black district?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't have a problem, because she's the most qualified. And I think she can beat the rest of the Republican candidates.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: And it's interesting. We talk a lot about what's happening in this district with the four black candidates facing Debbie Wasserman Schultz. But when you talk to the voters here, they don't think that's an issue. They really say that they've -- almost all of them told me they're voting for the best candidate. They think there is the strongest candidate, they think, who will take on the Republican candidate in the general election in November, Boris?

[15:05:05]

SANCHEZ: Randi Kaye, live for us in South Florida. Thank you so much, Randi. Erica?

HILL: All right. Let's dig a little deeper now when we look at what is happening today. Former Republican strategist Mike Murphy joining us now. He co-hosts the Hacks on Tap podcast with our good friend, David Axelrod.

Good to see you.

When we look at -- let's pick up where Randi left off, looking at Florida, what are you most intrigued by in this moment, especially as we're seeing, you know, people really waiting to see how Democrats will fail -- fail -- fair is what I'm trying to say, after the statewide redistricting that we saw.

MIKE MURPHY, FORMER REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yes, so you've got some interesting primaries. Your last report kind of got into it. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, former National Democratic Committee chair, is fighting for her life. She is originally from kind of the Broward County area north of Miami, which was a real kind of center of Democratic voters in Florida district. So, she -- still mostly in Broward, but she moved in the new district, which has been redrawn as heavily African-American.

So, she represented about a quarter of the voters in the new district back in her old district. So, can she grow or somebody with deeper roots in this part of Broward County beat her? I think it's going to be there are a lot of candidates running. It's also interesting because there is a regular Democrat versus progressive fight there, like we've seen in Wisconsin and Michigan in the Democratic Senate primaries, particularly of Manley, who's a young progressive, I believe, DSA sort of activist. So, she's favored, but not by much. So, you got a real -- real battle there.

On the Republican side, there's not too much going on. I think the story is more the Congressionals led by the -- Schultz. Can she survive?

HILL: When it comes to Republicans, you are not a big fan of this president, I should say. Do you see a lane, realistically, for a Republican to get elected if they oppose the President?

MURPHY: Yes, I mean, the -- no doubt the President is still very powerful in Republican primaries. Remember, that's not all Republicans voting. Primary voters, smaller number, more activist, often more populist, conservative, more MAGA. That said, you know, the President used to bat about 950 on picking candidates to where his endorsement would deliver. But as recently in the Michigan primary and (INAUDIBLE) congressionals, his candidate (INAUDIBLE) in the mid-Michigan candidacy. I'm forgetting the district number, but where the President actually campaigned for his candidate, another Republican who had dropped out of the race actually beat the President's guy in the primary.

So, this is all a function of what you see in the approval numbers nationally on Donald Trump, which is he's down to the mid-30s now, particularly on running the economy, which used to be his stronger thing. So, you're -- you're seeing Republicans on the ballot this year, and primary voters are still with Trump. But in the old days, he might lose 10 percent, now maybe 25 percent are falling off.

And in the general election, that means something. You can't have your own party numbers underperform. And these economy issues are working everywhere. If you're a Republican farmer in Iowa, Democrats are in the hunt there for Senate and governor because there are a lot of disaffected Republicans.

HILL: When we look at the messaging that's out there, I do want to ask you about some recent comments from Jon Ossoff. So, he's had a lot of eyeballs on his campaign, as we know, for re-election. He has cast these midterms also as a referendum on corruption, on costs, on failed global leadership. And he just said, a short time ago, he was appearing in an event. Senator Mark Kelly was there with him. I just want you to listen to something that he said at that event.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JON OSSOFF (D-GA): I don't think anything illustrates the times more aptly than that the draft-dodging crook president, who has plunged our nation recklessly into a war he knows not how to end or to win. Tried to imprison this man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: He's pointing to -- to Mark Kelly there, of course, talking about the clash with the administration involving that video that he was a part of, right? This messaging from John Ossoff, corruption, that the President is a crook. Is that a message that you think will resonate with independents and moderate Republicans?

MURPHY: I think to some extent. I mean, there's a huge appetite in the Democratic voter world for Democratic candidates to take it to Trump.

[15:10:07]

You know, last year, Governor Newsom of California -- Gavin Newsom -- did a lot of that and he skyrocketed in Democratic polling of Democratic potential presidential, you know, primary voters. So, now Ossoff, who makes a good presentation, is feeding them the same kind of thing they really like. And I think it does resonate with others, particularly now that Trump's numbers are down.

That said, this is not a complicated election for most gettable voters, who were not locked into one side or another. And the topic is the economy and the coast of living, the price of gasoline, the price of things you buy every week. The economic squeeze are under. We have a long history in midterm elections of the President's party getting punished particularly when voters think they need to send a though message on economic performance and that's right where Donald Trump is and it's a very, very bad place to be in a midterm election.

That is the number one issue. I think Trump's incompetence in world affairs, and we're now seeing these terrible stories about the -- our aircraft carrier there that's been on patrol so long, is -- is bungling with North Korea. All this stuff helps, but the key thing is economic disenchantment.

HILL: Mike Murphy, good to have you with us. Thank you.

MURPHY: Thank you.

HILL: Still to come here, the murder trial of rap icon Tupac Shakur back in session. Prosecutors today showing the jury graphic autopsy photos following his death. We'll bring you the very latest from court.

Plus, the US national debt now quickly approaching a sobering milestone. Why it has been ballooning at such a record pace.

Plus, the head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection now on the ground in West Texas, where he is set to hold a meeting as outrage is growing over border security construction in Big Bend National Park. You may recall, yesterday during the show, we told you it had been paused. Well, that and much more ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:16:25]

SANCHEZ: It's now day two of testimony in the Tupac Shakur murder trial, and jurors saw graphic autopsy photos of the rap icon. Prosecutors showed the body bag that held Shakur's remains, the medical examiner's tag, and a bullet fragment that was removed from Shakur's body during the autopsy.

Jurors also viewed the full casino surveillance video of the fight between Shakur's entourage and the nephew of murder defendant Duane Davis. A retired Las Vegas police sergeant who responded to the brawl was asked about the police response by one of the jurors. The judge read the question aloud. Watch this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE CARLI KIERNY, CLARK COUNTY JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT: After an incident like that, is it customary to not follow the people who did the assault? Is it common for everyone to stay with who you thought was the victim?

SGT. KENNETH RIOS (RET.), LAS VEGAS METROPOLITAN POLICE: My position at that time, yes, it would be to stay with the victim because we had already radioed two other officers that were on scene.

KIERNY: Okay.

RIOS: And as well as the MGM security had radioed to their officers up front. So, it would have been my responsibility to stay with the victim to make sure that he wasn't in dire need of medical assistance or still wanted to file a report.

SANCHEZ: Member, Davis is the only person who's ever been charged in Shakur's 1996 murder. He's accused of orchestrating the killing and has pleaded not guilty.

Let's discuss with legal analyst and trial attorney Mercedes Colwin.

Mercedes, great to see you, as always.

What is the prosecution trying to achieve by showing these autopsy photos to the jury?

MERCEDES COLWIN, LEGAL ANALYST AND TRIAL ATTORNEY: Well, without question, Boris, whenever you have a crime of this magnitude, when you show such disturbing pictures, it personifies what you're doing as a prosecutor. There's a death here. There's a murder. Let's turn this and focus on the real victim here, Tupac Shakur. Not any of the other issues, not the memoir, not the proffer deal, not the tour -- the book tour that Duane Davis did. No, we need to focus on this individual who lost his life on 9/7/96.

And by showing those graphic pictures, it stirs emotion. And of course, a jury is going to be told, you can't let sympathy step into deliberations. You can't let emotion step in. But you would have to have no blood in your system to look at this and not have some visceral reaction. And that's what the prosecution is going to really lean into at the closing, the death of this young star.

SANCHEZ: That visceral reaction paired with some of the footage that -- that is glaring from the MGM Grand and that huge brawl that sort of sprawled across that room, they're trying to paint this as a revenge killing. And yet, the prosecution doesn't have physical evidence tying Duane Davis to the scene, let alone to Las Vegas that night, at least according to his defense attorney.

COLWIN: But that's a great point. But it -- this is a classic example of loose lips sink ships. Duane Davis had a sweetheart deal in 2008, a proper deal with the prosecutors so he could provide information and have immunity. But what does he do? He writes a memoir in 2019 describing what he knew of the death of Tupac Shakur, including this brawl.

So, of course, now the prosecutors have a motive, which very -- rings very true when it comes to jurors. Jurors are wondering with why would this death occur? Why would anybody want to kill Tupac Shakur? Well, now you have an explanation that the prosecutors can proffer to that jury.

[15:20:01]

And secondly, you have Duane Davis' own words in his book. You have his statements when he went on the book tour. You -- the prosecution, even during opening, starts reading from the memoir itself when it talks about what Duane Davis says that he literally handed the gun to the -- in the back of the car. And then, of course, the shooting ensues.

SANCHEZ: It's notable he also speaks in the book about this sort of code among gang members to not talk about what happens. It's known as omerta, right? It goes back to mafia days. Talk about how complicated this becomes, this first claim that he was involved in this, and then his defense attorney saying, oh, he was just saying that to make money.

COLWIN: Well, it's very interesting. I mean, sure. I mean, they have to explain why their client would write this in their memoir, go on this book tour and make these statements that are so incriminating. So, they have to offer some alternate explanation. But this thing about omerta and keeping quiet, even when the officer that testified yesterday, and he talked about being there after the -- the shooting of Tupac Shakur, and Tupac Shakur, we know, survived for a period of time before he succumbed to his injuries. He was asked directly by the law enforcement officer, who shot you? And all Tupac said was, we'll take care of this. He didn't identify who the shooter was, and obviously, maybe he didn't see him or so, but certainly, he was kept quiet. And obviously, we know that it remained with him.

SANCHEZ: Lastly, Mercedes, trials in the state of Nevada allow jurors to ask questions after a cross-examination wraps up. What did you think of that question that a juror posed to that officer?

COLWIN: Well, I think the jurors really grappling with, there's -- these are gangs. I mean, these are -- these are individuals who have gang ties. So, who's the victim here? Is this just gang violence between two separate gangs? Is this some sort of retribution? So, what they were trying to do is align the officer with who the true victim was. And obviously, according to the officer, it was the -- it was Tupac Shakur who suffered, ultimately, a deadly wound.

SANCHEZ: Mercedes Colwin, thanks so much for the expertise. Appreciate your time.

Coming up, the U.S. federal debt is rising fast and on track to surpass $40 trillion. What is causing that record-setting surge when we come back?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [15:27:04]

HILL: New data shows America is on the verge of an ominous debt milestone. So, according to the Treasury Department, the federal debt is quickly approaching a record $40 trillion. CNN's Matt Egan with us now.

I mean, that's such a large number, it's almost impossible to wrap your head around. But what we can wrap our head around is this is growing way too quickly.

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, Erica, absolutely. Look, this is another sobering moment for America's mountain of debt. And it's one that's arriving years earlier than expected. As recently as May of 2023, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said that this $40 trillion milestone wasn't going to happen until fiscal 2028. But here we are.

Now, the most recent estimate from Treasury is that the national debt as of Friday stands at $39.9 trillion. As you mentioned, this is a really hard number to wrap your head around. Just to translate it a little bit, if this was spread across the entire U.S. population, it would equate to each citizen owing $120,000. Yes, each.

And when we look at the trend for the national debt, going back to the beginning of the century, in the year 2000, the national debt was at about $6 trillion. But it's really just exploded since then. It's been driven up by government spending, by massive tax cuts, by the war after war, also by the once-in-a-century 2008 financial crisis, followed by a once-in-a-century pandemic in 2020, now on the verge of $40 trillion.

Now, one of the drivers here has been America's aging demographic, right? Every single day, about 10,000 baby boomers retire. And that has forced the federal government to spend more and more on Medicare and on Social Security. However, what's notable is Social Security is not the fastest-growing spending item for the federal government. What it is, is the net interest. Every -- so far this fiscal year, the government has spent $931 billion just on interest. That is well ahead of the $804 billion spent on the national defense.

So, more money going to creditors than all the money combined spent on stealth bombers, on military paychecks, and on equipment for the war. It's really just stunning here.

Now, anytime we get close to one of these milestones, Erica, you know that there's plenty of finger-pointing that goes around between Republicans and Democrats blaming each other. But I think the reality is there's plenty of blame to go around, right? We've had high budget deficits under Republicans and under Democrats. We've had it under -- during good times and also during bad times. But the reality is also that this is a problem that's going to require bipartisan compromise to clean up, right? This is just too big of a mess for any one party to clean up by itself. Back to you.

HILL: Good luck with that, a little bipartisan compromise. And there will continue to be plenty of finger-pointing, I think we can predict.

[15:30:02]

Realistically, when -- when we pull back from this, right, just -- I am stuck on that $931 billion just in interest.