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Democratic Socialist Nixon Upsets Vindman In Florida Senate Primary; Trump Postpones 50 Percent Tariffs On Canadian Goods For Three Days; UAE Suspends All Trade, Financial Transactions With Iran. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired August 19, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:32:37]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The breaking news this morning, we have results from key primaries around the country.

The most stunning result easily is this. In the Senate primary in Florida, Democratic socialist Angie Nixon crushed Alex Vindman -- and you can see, you know, 56 to 43 percent. What's so stunning about this is that she was outspent substantially. You know, Alex Vindman outraised her by 16 times, outspent her on media by 37 times. This is seen as a huge upset for a Democratic socialist. Frankly, neither is seen as having much of a chance in the November election. Still, a result that may show some strength for progressives around the country.

With us now, Tia Mitchell, the Washington bureau chief for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. And David Weigel, a politics reporter for Semafor. And let me just say to both of you one of the great things about this job that I have isn't just the coffee, it's getting to speak to reporters who I've read for years, and that includes both of you. So great to see both of you.

And Dave, let me just start with you. You look at the results here and the spending, and I don't know if this is a question or an exclamation, but whoa.

DAVID WEIGEL, POLITICS REPORTER, SEMAFOR: I'll continue the punctuation, surprising!

Democrats did not think Vindman was running the best campaign. He was running a very defensive campaign. He was stocking a lot of money to spend it in the fall because Florida has become a big reach state for Democrats. They're all competitive in Florida in a midterm election. They're probably winning 54 Senate seats somewhere else.

But he did not want to engage much with Nixon. Nixon had progressive support. Some had flipped during the campaign because she was running so aggressively. And she has some credibility among local Democrats because Democrats have been really decimated in Florida by Ron DeSantis. She has been one of the loudest voices protesting redistricting, doing sit-ins, getting pulled out of the -- out of the House chamber in Tallahassee.

She was pretty well known but the assumption by most Democrats in D.C. was surely Vindman was running strategically and going to spend enough money to win the primary, then spend the rest when it's over. And now, he -- he's -- I think ending this primary with $9 million for a general election that he has to refund.

BERMAN: Yeah, $9 million right now in the bank that's going nowhere.

[07:35:00]

I will say -- and if we look at the House races for Democrats here, Tia, it wasn't like a clean sweep for Democratic socialists here because you look at Jared Moskowitz. The incumbent Democrat was able to fend off Oliver Larkin, Democratic socialist in the 25th District here. Still, I think that the progressive left will look at Florida, I imagine, and be pleased this morning.

TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE ATLANTA JOURNAL- CONSTITUTION (via Webex by Cisco): Yeah. I think the message from voters in Florida is less about, you know, are you a socialist versus a progressive versus a moderate? They want a fighter.

Moscowitz is someone who is a fighter. He is online. He is pushing back. He is getting his messaging out.

The same thing for Angie Nixon. Yes, she is aligned as of a few months ago with the Democratic socialists, but Democratic voters in Florida know of Angie Nixon. She's been in Democratic politics for quite some time. She is a former staffer. She's an organizer. She is an incumbent in the State House.

So, you know, I think the question for candidates going forward is how can you come across as an authentic fighter of Trump and the Trump administration? More specifically, that seems to be the key for Democrats in competitive primaries.

BERMAN: Now, on the Republican side, the Trump-endorsement has been seen as magic for years, if not through this primary season. But we're beginning to see a few cracks here.

Cory Mills, the Republican House member incumbent -- he lost. He has been accused of sexual misconduct. There was a House Ethics investigation. Trump endorsed him a while ago and hasn't been talking about him a lot lately.

And then in terms of other Trump endorsements, I'm going to pull this up here because there was a development overnight in the South Carolina Senate runoff pitting Darline Graham, the sister of the late Sen. Lindsay Graham, who was appointed to the seat. She's now running to fill it on a more permanent basis.

She was in a debate with Congressman Ralph Norman last night. I will note Donald Trump had backed her -- has backed her. There was a question and an answer which earned some boos, reportedly, from the audience. She was asked about U.S. policy toward Taiwan. Listen to how she answered.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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 --

(Boos)

But I do support the military. I'm not a polished politician up here. I'm -- national security is not my thing. Not my area of expertise, but I do support the military.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: There's a lot of military in South Carolina, Dave. It's an issue -- Taiwan is an issue. And an answer that gets boos in a debate is pretty unusual.

WEIGEL: It is, and there's just a week left of campaigning. I think that clip is going to be played a lot by Norman's campaign because he's trying, with some difficulty, to run as the true conservative, reliable choice against the president.

But you just -- you just mentioned in Florida. I had mentioned Wyoming too where the president made an endorsement in the race for governor and that candidate didn't win.

The president is making endorsements. He's not throwing his MAGA Inc. PAC money behind these candidates. He's rarely doing rallies for these candidates. So he can get attention and fixate a campaign on the fact that he endorsed somebody. Every candidate, as soon as they get that endorsement, make it what the campaign is about. But it's not coming with a lot of air cover from the president's -- from the president's PAC or from the president himself.

And that moment is, I think, the best thing that's happened to Norman in a two-week campaign where everyone else in the -- in Republican politics is trying to get on Trump's good side by endorsing Graham.

BERMAN: Yeah. Look, the Trump endorsement is a lot but maybe not everything. Maybe not anymore.

Tia Mitchell, Dave Weigel, great to see both of you. Thanks so much -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Just before new tariffs on Canadian goods were scheduled to take effect at 12:01 a.m. overnight, President Trump hit pause, saying on social media that the threatened tariff hit was pushed off for at least three days as he claimed the United States and Canada had reached a deal. The response from the Canadian prime minister slightly less confident that a deal was at hand saying, in part, "There is important work still to be done."

The tariffs on Canada would have been a 50 percent tariff on some $20 billion worth of goods covering everything from dairy products and alcohol to furniture and more -- about five percent of Canadian exports to the United States.

This morning U.S. alcohol producers, for one, are really hoping the progress of these talks is real. A Canadian boycott has hit the industry very hard. A leading industry group noted overnight these bans have caused exports of American spirits to drop by more than 70 percent.

Joining me right now is Justin Wolfers, an economics professor at the University of Michigan. It's good to see you again, Justin. Thanks for being here.

If this set of tariffs would go into effect, what do you think the impact would be? How would you rate the success of Trump's -- I guess we continue to call it a trade war or trade tension with Canada to this point?

[07:40:00]

JUSTIN WOLFERS, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMIC AND PUBLIC POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN (via Webex by Cisco): Oh my, calling it a trade tension. I've got a friend who is getting divorced right now and she calls that tensions.

Look, actually, I want to congratulate the president because we do have a deal. We have a deal with Canada. It was called NAFTA. The president ripped that up and he renegotiated it and called it the USMCA. The United States literally has a free trade deal with Canada. Both sides have signed it. It's existing law in both countries.

What's happened instead is that the president has decided that what he wants to do is up the ante and engage in a whole bunch of melodramatics, which doesn't look like it's going to achieve very much.

He's threatened our free trade partner, one of our closest trading partners and allies, with 50 percent across the board tariffs. They have come back and they've said no, we have a free trade agreement. We would like a free trade agreement.

And there's all these negotiations that are going on, which are basically how much closer to our existing agreement are we going to get back to?

BOLDUAN: Do you -- I mean, does this give him leverage over the renegotiations over NAFTA, USMCA or whatever we're going to call it now?

WOLFERS: I mean, we can give it a different name every week. It's terrific.

Not really. Here's the problem.

If I came to you, Kate, having been married seven times and been in seven different relationships and having cheated on each of those seven past wives, and I say Kate, will you marry me? How much would you be willing to give up of your current life to join that marriage with me? The answer is less because I had shown myself to be an unreliable partner. So you might say I'm willing to do the stuff with you, Justin, as long as it works for me. But if it doesn't work right away, you know what, I don't really trust your word anymore.

So he's narrowed the scope of things that we could possibly strike an agreement or strike a deal with. That's the first point.

There's actually a second point. The president declared early on that he wanted Canada to be the 51st state, whether they wanted it or not. To continue the analogy, he's not really that keen on consent. It turns out that's a terrible way to begin a relationship.

And the problem in Canada right now is not what the Canadian government is doing, it's what Canadians are doing. Canadians are going to the store and they're picking it up -- picking up products and they're saying, "Was this made in the United States or not?" And if it's made in the United States, they put it back down.

So Mark Carney and the Canadian government can sign any number of trade agreements, but you can't change what's in the heart of Canadians right now. They have an expression up there, "elbows up," which is they're sick of being bullied and they don't want to be part of this game anymore. And no matter what trade deals get signed, Canadians don't want to spend time in the United States, for instance.

BOLDUAN: I mean, Justin, you took me on journey. I also believe I will be calling my husband in this commercial break and -- but you brought -- you did it -- we did land a plane. I think we did at the end. And you're fascinating. Thank you so much.

WOLFERS: Sorry about that.

BOLDUAN: No, no, no. That was not a criticism. I just didn't know we were -- I was going to be proposed to this morning and I really enjoyed it -- with a little dash of a trade war at the same time.

It is great to see you. Thank you so much. Let us see what happens in the next three days. I really appreciate it, Justin -- John.

BERMAN: Nothing like the combination of trade policy and marriage counseling.

BOLDUAN: (Laughing).

BERMAN: This morning oil prices are hovering around $90 a barrel. Take my word for it. There we go. Up over $91. Brent Crude at almost $92.

And this has talks between the U.S. and Iran at an impasse. The White House is signaling it's shifting away from military strikes on Iran to a long-term, maybe policy of economic strangulation.

Iran's parliamentary speaker says the Strait of Hormuz will not reopen until the U.S. meets key conditions, including ending the naval blockade.

Let's get right to CNN Business senior reporter -- CNN senior business reporter --

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Sure.

BERMAN: CNN senior report of business, David Goldman. What do you got?

GOLDMAN: Well listen, not a marriage proposal yet but there is some really interesting stuff that's happening in the Strait of Hormuz right now. The thing that we've been talking about for a long time is that Iran controls the strait and we are trying in the United States to gain more control. It seems that there's been a little bit of a turning point over the last few weeks.

The thing that we are looking at right now is the 80 percent of traffic that's going along this Omani route or is dark, right. We don't know what it is. We don't know if it's going in or out. We can't see it because they've turned their transponders off.

[07:45:00]

This is really important because Iran had been for a long time controlling this route that's right along the Iranian coast. They said that we want a toll or you need to register with us. What we found though is that for the last two weeks an increasing amount of traffic is going around the Omani route.

BERMAN: Oh.

GOLDMAN: And this means that even though Iran says we are going to bombard these ships, which they have -- dozens of ships with attacks -- they're still willing to take the risk on that green route. And the reason is because the United States military is there and they're letting ships shuttle in and out.

This is key for a few important reasons. There were 20 million barrels of oil coming out of the Strait of Hormuz before the war started and around 100 ships. Not totally close to that yet but depending on who you ask there are a lot more tankers that are getting out of the Strait of Hormuz.

The official number from the data trackers is around four million barrels, plus around seven million that's being rerouted around 11. The U.S. government says we have eyes on it and there's actually nine million barrels per day coming out of the strait. It defies logic, right.

But actually, if you look at what's going on with the -- that's the 16 million. But if you look at what's going on in the strait, this route is the one that's protected and ships are actually able to come out through that route. And now we're starting to see a little bit more oil come out. That's really important for leverage.

BERMAN: It is worth watching. I will say the oil markets, with the prices still creeping up ever so slightly -- they don't seem convinced that it's wide open.

GOLDMAN: Well, here's the thing. So the oil market wants peace. They want peace more than anything --

BERMAN: Yeah.

GOLDMAN: -- that's achievable right now. What we are seeing though is that oil might be coming out but a resolution -- that seems farther away.

BERMAN: That's an important distinction. Thank you for making it.

David Goldman, thank you very much -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thank you.

Minutes ago we learned the United Arab Emirates said it is suspending all trade with Iran in light of regional escalations.

Joining me now is CNN global affairs analyst Kim Dozier.

This move by the UAE that we're just hearing about in the last few minutes fits right into President Trump's changing tactics to what they said would strangle Iran economically instead of bombarding it militarily.

Is this strategy going to be effective, do you think?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: It could definitely put enough pressure on Iran that Iran comes back to the negotiating table in some more public manner instead of the backroom sort of conversations that have been happening between various officials and interlocutors to the U.S.

But the question is can President Trump maintain that strategic patience because it gets boring just waiting for sanctions to bite? It took weeks, months, last time for Iran to get to the stage where it had so much oil pumped out of the ground but couldn't get it to market that it was running out of storage facilities. Now that's the kind of pressure that has to build that convinces the IRGC to allow the political leaders to make some sacrifices at the negotiating table.

Can President Trump maintain message discipline and withhold some sort of response while this happens, I'm not sure.

SIDNER: That is the big question I think is how long this strategy will actually last and how difficult it will be to sustain when you consider what we are seeing in the markets now. It is costing the U.S. and the world economy as well where we're seeing prices spike up there.

I do want to talk about what we heard from David just now that the Strait of Hormuz seems to be letting out more oil than initially thought. And, you know, Trump is saying look, it's completely open. There is obviously a lot of pushback against that. But you are seeing more oil come out.

How much control is the U.S. -- does the U.S. have here at this point? DOZIER: It's still a really dicey path for shipping to go through and they have to make that calculation is it worth the risk. It's also expensive to protect the Omani route. We've seen all the reporting out of what's happening with the USS Lincoln, though that ship is about to be relieved with a new vessel.

But it costs a lot of money to keep those patrols going in perpetuity, though perhaps what President Trump wants to do is just keep this going through the midterms so he doesn't have an active war, and he can tell his constituents that he has contained Iran and is protecting trade.

Will the markets believe it and some of those oil prices start coming back down? That is the question that might determine what people decide when they go to the polls.

[07:50:00]

SIDNER: Can you just give me a sense, Kim, of this switch out of the USS Abraham Lincoln where the president called it fake news that families and the sailors on that ship were complaining about how bad the conditions have been for them over time? Give us some sense of what that means to the region but also elsewhere because a ship is leaving from somewhere.

DOZIER: Yeah. Well, multiple families have spoken publicly about what their sailors are going through on the ship. So, you know, we know that they're stressed aboard that vessel. But, you know, it's going to be a pretty quick, smooth operation. But then the next ships will still have the same problem -- getting supplied during this long and dangerous patrol that doesn't look like it has any end in sight.

SIDNER: Kim Dozier, it is a pleasure to talk us through these complicated issues going on there with the Strait of Hormuz, Iran, and the regional allies of the United States. Thank you so much. Appreciate it -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Bodycam footage shows the moment that Atlanta police officers used bolt cutters to open a trailer, and they rescued two young girls who were inside, and they also then arrest their accused kidnapper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ATLANTA POLICE OFFICER: Using bolt cutters to open trailer. (Bleep)

Have you got bolt cutters? We've got bolt cutters. Give him cover. Give him cover.

(Children crying)

ATLANTA POLICE OFFICER: Don't move or I will shoot you.

LAKESHA BROWN, KIDNAPPER: I don't have anything.

ATLANTA POLICE OFFICER: I've got the baby.

ATLANTA POLICE OFFICER: Don't move. Stay back.

ATLANTA POLICE OFFICER: You got the baby?

ATLANTA POLICE OFFICER: All right. Stay where you are. Move your hands up like this.

ATLANTA POLICE OFFICER: You're alright. Here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Oh my goodness.

Police say that their babysitter kidnapped them Saturday. The 4-year- old and 11-month-old sisters -- they had been missing then for nearly two days. They are now safe, thankfully.

The girls' mother told police that the babysitter had gained her trust over about a year and was looking after her children though for the first time while she went out to dinner.

Now, 42-year-old Lakesha Brown is in custody. And get this -- police also say she was also charged with kidnapping a 4-day-old baby in Alabama in 2021 and had an outstanding warrant related to the case -- Sara.

SIDNER: Wow. That was so disturbing --

BOLDUAN: I know.

SIDNER: -- and a parent's nightmare. Thank God those children are OK.

All right. Ahead, strangers rush in and help an officer save a life, overturning a sedan almost like it was a paperweight. The harrowing ordeal caught on camera. The person under the car trapped.

Plus, new details this morning about the AI revolution and how women in the workplace are being left behind.

Those stories and more, next.

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[07:57:43]

BERMAN: New this morning, data is showing women are getting left behind in the AI revolution. According to LinkedIn research, only 26 percent of AI jobs are going to women. It is worse when it comes to leadership positions.

With us now, CNN's Matt Egan with the latest on this. What are you seeing here, Matt?

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well John, believe it or not, the AI revolution -- it has set off this jobs boom across the country. The number of AI job listings in the U.S. -- it has doubled since ChatGPT launched and these are often high-paying jobs, but unfortunately, women are being left behind.

LinkedIn research shows that just about one in four job postings in the U.S. for AI roles are going to women. Just one in four. That is far shy of the roughly 50-50 split for non-AI jobs. And as you mentioned, this gender divide -- it's even wider in some of the more lucrative roles in the AI field.

For example, when you look at technical staff, LinkedIn found that just 18 percent of the hires in that role are going to women. And this is a role where the median pay is north of $220,000 for the head of AI. Just about one in five of those jobs are going to women. Again, well above $200,00 there as well. Director of AI and AI engineer, again, one in four.

Now what's notable is that LinkedIn found that the role that's most gender balanced is the one that is the weakest paying, right? That's data, annotator -- 50-50 split there. But the median pay is $51,000. And LinkedIn said that those roles -- they tend to have fewer educational requirements, but they have greater flexibility when it comes to work-life balance.

Now, all of this is important because these AI jobs -- 1) they are growing rapidly, and 2) yes, they are lucrative. Look at this. The typical compensation for an AI job, according to LinkedIn, is $177,000. That is more than double the pay for the non-AI jobs.

Now this comes a few months after some interesting research out of MIT from the AI-driven Enterprise Institute that found that a lot of these AI jobs -- they are going to more senior-level people. They're really not open to newbies.

And I talked to MIT lecturer Paul Cheek who leads that institute, and he told me that if you combine these two reports it suggests that AI really has two problems, right? One is the seniority problem and two, it's a gender problem.