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Secret Service Aware of Iran Video Threatening Life of Barron Trump; Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC), Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) Face Off in South Carolina Senate GOP Primary Runoff; Firefighters Gain Ground in Nevada, High Winds Could Worsen Situation. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired August 25, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, a threat from Iran against the president's youngest son. The Secret Service confirming its investigation after a video appears to place a $10 million bounty on Barron Trump.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Fire crews near Reno racing against the clock to contain this wildfire as dangerous weather conditions are about to move back in.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And this is not supposed to be the sleeping car, new video that appears to show a train operator dozing off just before a crash.

I'm John Berman with Sara Sidner and Kate Baldwin. This is CNN News Central.

SIDNER: Breaking overnight, Iran is threatening the life of the president's youngest child. A video aired by Iranian state TV appears to place a $10 million bounty on Barron Trump, showing locations where he's known to spend time, including Trump Tower. The Secret Service says in a statement that it is, quote, Aware of the video and investigates anything that can be perceived as a threat towards our protectees. Out of concern for operational security, we do not discuss matters of protective intelligence.

Now, a federal law enforcement source, though, tells CNN the video is part of a broader Iranian campaign to target the Trump family, the threat one of many, especially after the U.S.-Israel strikes, killing Iran's supreme leader and other senior members of leadership.

CNN's Alayna Treene is live at the White House this morning. What are you learning about this latest threat, one that we have not seen Iran make against Barron Trump specifically?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, that's right, Sara. We've seen hard-line Iranian state media and others really from the hard-liners in the Iranian regime repeatedly make threats against President Donald Trump's life and those of his family members.

As you mentioned, specifically an uptick in those threats after the killing of the former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and many of his family members at the outset of the war. We've seen other threats in the past as well against people like the first lady, Melania Trump. But as you point out, we've not yet seen a specific threat to Barron Trump's life, the president and Melania Trump's youngest son.

Now, you mentioned and you read that a statement from Secret Service that says they are aware of this, there were concerns about this, and they're investigating it. We've also reached out to the White House, but have not yet received comment.

I do want to walk you through what exactly this video threatening Barron Trump's life showed. The nearly three-minute video began with an English language graphic that read, where to kill Barron Trump, and also featured stylized graphics showing locations where Barron Trump is known to frequent, places like Trump Tower.

I remind you Barron Trump is 20 years old, and he is currently a student at the Stern Business School at NYU. He spends a lot of time in New York. But unlike a lot of the president's other older children, the president and Melania Trump have both really worked hard to shield Barron Trump from public view, and he lives a very private life. So, part of this, I think, is extra concerning if when you consider all of that context.

Now, we know that the video was broadcast over the weekend by Iranian broadcaster IRIB. That is a state media outlet considered to be aligned with the hard-line Iranian regime. And, again, a lot of questions about the credibility of such a threat. A federal law enforcement source told CNN the video is part of this broader campaign to threaten the president and his family. So, I think a lot of work looking into all of this.

And I'd remind you just how serious some of these threats have been. You know, just back in July, the president, when he was leaving the NATO summit, had that whole switching of the planes, took a third plane because of a threat of a shoulder-fired missile on the president.

So, a lot of this has reached the level of incredibly concerning in the past, so a lot of investigation into the credibility of this specific one. Sara?

SIDNER: Alayna Treene, thank you so much for your reporting there for us from the White House this morning. Kate?

BOLDUAN: So, it is Election Day in South Carolina. Again, the polls are just now opening in the closely watched special Senate primary runoff between Republicans Congressman Ralph Norman and Senator Darline Graham.

Graham just entered the world of politics. We've covered that quite a bit. She is the sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham, is now hoping, though, to lock in her spot as the Republican nominee after being appointed interim senator six weeks ago following her brother's death. [07:05:09]

President Trump is backing Senator Graham and standing by his endorsement despite some of the questions being raised about her lack of experience. She's faced criticism last week when, during a debate, she admitted that she was, quote, not informed about national security.

CNN's Dianne Gallagher is live in Lexington County, South Carolina, for us this morning. What is going to happen today?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate. Polls are officially open, and I know it sounds cliche, but this being a runoff for a special primary here in late August now, it likely really will come down to turnout.

I swear that there were three voters who were lined up to cast their ballots, two of them actually just walking out, so it was a very quick process here for today. And that is what these campaigns in the final days have been trying to do. Senator Darline Graham trying to hold onto her late brother's seat and stave off Congressman Ralph Norman, the vice chair of the Freedom Caucus. They're trying to get voters to show up, get out the vote here.

Now, look, we are talking about two candidates who in the primary, though they were the top two vote getters, did not get anywhere close to a majority. There were a lot of votes out there to earn from those other candidates who were in that first initial primary race.

And while Republicans are wanting to see who is going to be on the ballot for them in November to take on Democrat Annie Andrews, a lot of people outside of the state of South Carolina are watching to see what happens with Darline Graham and view it as a reflection on President Trump himself.

Now, even here in the Palmetto State, GOP sources have told me, look, they view him as basically creating Darline Graham, the candidate. And at his second tele-rally of this season for Darline Graham last night, the president essentially said as much, saying, quote, that -- not quote, I'm sorry. Saying that basically he got Graham in, he got her to run, he got her into this whole thing, so he has to make sure that she gets in.

And, look, President Trump has done more for Graham than we've seen him do for a lot of primary candidates this season. Two tele-rallies, he came here to South Carolina and held a rally in Myrtle Beach in person on Friday for her. And in an even rarer move, MAGA Inc, Trump's super PAC, has dropped about $830,000 in the final days of this runoff on get out the vote efforts.

Now, both candidates have crisscrossed the state in these final days. They've had healthy turnout at their events, both Norman and Graham themselves. A lot of that effort from the president, the governor has now endorsed Darline Graham, seemingly has come after that now much lampooned debate performance from her where she said, national security is not my thing. Norman says he is a supporter of the president, though he did endorse Nikki Haley in the 2024 presidential primary, a good friend of his, but has said that he would work with the president if he were a senator, of course, and had even asked for his endorsement several times this season.

Again, Kate, we will see what happens. It's cliche, but everybody here believes this will all come down to how many people actually show up at the polls today.

BOLDUAN: Yes. A big question when they've been asked to vote, show up so many times already. How many will? We will see. Very important day. Dianne, thank you so much. John?

BERMAN: All right. What happens if you want to vote by mail in the midterms? What a new Supreme Court ruling means and does not mean for the next 70 days.

Devastating wildfires in Nevada and dangerous weather today could make the situation even worse.

And new overnight, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries defends his meeting with Jared Kushner. Jeffries promises to, quote, hold every single member of the Trump cartel accountable.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:10:00]

BERMAN: New this morning, fire crews have gained ground battling blazes in Nevada. The fire just outside Reno is now 27 percent contained with the size of the fire holding at about 15,000 acres, though you can see a lot of the damage left behind, and weather conditions today could make things even worse. Wind gusts could reach up to 40 miles per hour and there are still tens of thousands of people under evacuation orders.

CNN's Maribel Gonzalez is in Reno this morning with the latest. Maribel, what are you seeing?

MARIBEL GONZALEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John. Yes, we're precisely at one of those evacuation points. You can see right behind me members of the National Guard, the Department of Transportation, law enforcement, they are patrolling these areas. They have roadblocks in place.

Now, the good thing is that right next to us is Highway 395. This is the major highway that connects California and Nevada. It was closed yesterday to traffic because of the fire threat. It is now reopened. But that threat is not over because just on the other side of this checkpoint, there are neighborhoods where homes have been severely damaged and even destroyed from these fires. They're not letting residents go in with their cars. They have to go on foot if they want to go back to their homes to collect any medications or any essentials. But the homes that are still standing right back in those neighborhoods, those are without power and it's very difficult for people to get back and really assess what their homes look like. Many of the folks don't even know in what condition their home still stands.

Now, at least 32 homes were destroyed, but we know that number is expected to rise in the coming days.

[07:15:03]

And officials say they believe that this fire was human-caused, but they have not said whether it was intentionally set or how it started.

Now, here is the mayor of Reno talking about where that investigation stands.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR HILLARY SCHIEVE, RENO, NEVADA: I was born and raised here in Reno, and I have never seen anything of this magnitude.

We don't know the cause yet. It's still under investigation, but we will turn over every rock to find whoever is responsible for this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GONZALEZ: Now, of course, that officials are keeping a close eye on today are areas where the brush and grass are dense, and breezy conditions throughout the day could definitely pose a challenge to their firefighting combat efforts. John?

BERMAN: Yes, the conditions today could be tough. Maribel Gonzalez for us in Reno this morning, Maribel, thanks so much for sharing your reporting on this. Sarah?

SIDNER: All right, ahead, stunning moments in the Lindsey Clancy trial when a controversial witness sparks calls for a mistrial. We'll tell you what happened there.

And President Trump ramping up his attacks on Canada, posting moments ago on social media he's thinking of changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America. That story ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

SIDNER: First on CNN, some good news on the financial health of millions of younger Americans. New research from FICO shows that Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 have higher credit scores today than they did before the pandemic.

CNN Senior Reporter Matt Egan is joining me now. This is interesting. What explains this at a time when people are frustrated with the economy and having a difficult time? MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, Sara. I was surprised by these findings, right? Because we know that high student debt, low hiring, high inflation, all of that has been especially painful to younger Americans. And yet, FICO says that when you look at the youngest group of people, 18 to 29, the youngest group of borrowers, their credit scores are up since 2019. And they're not up by a little bit, they're up by 17 points. This suggests that their finances, they're holding up a little bit better than you might expect in this environment.

And when you look across age groups, it's -- again, it's that younger group all the way on the left side of this chart that have the biggest increase in credit scores since 2019. The second-biggest increase, millennials ages 30 to 44, they've had a ten-point increase in their FICO score. The older age groups, they're also up by, but not by quite as much.

So, why is this happening? Well, a few different things. First of all, there were all those COVID-era pauses in payments and stimulus checks. And that was helpful for everyone, including those younger borrowers, and that's actually when we saw the biggest increase in their FICO scores.

It's not just that, though. It's the fact that younger people, they're still at the beginning of their credit journey, right? So, that gives them more time, more opportunity to show that they are in fact a reliable borrower, and a borrower who can handle more than one kind of debt.

And then there's also the fact that a lot of people believe that younger generations have better access to information now than they did in the past. I talked to a 31-year-old from Nashville who told me that she graduated from college with $100,000 in student debt. She thought it would haunt her forever.

SIDNER: Yes.

EGAN: Flash-forward ten years, she's debt-free, her retirement account is flush, her credit score is excellent, and she credits in part access to information, including online, social media, from people who helped guide her through investing, through tax strategies. And she says that she thought a lot of that information was gate-kept in the past, especially from women, but now it's very available.

However, we also know that a lot of people are struggling today. And so what's interesting is that FICO said that when you look at 18 to 29-year-olds, there's a pretty big divide. You have 27 percent have very strong credit scores above 750, but you also have almost one in four who are below 600.

So, that does get to that K-shaped economy, right, where high-income people who have money in the market, maybe they own some real estate, they're doing okay, but other people, their paychecks are just not keeping up with inflation, and so they are hurting right now. And I think both things can be true at the same time.

SIDNER: Yes, it is interesting, and that tells a real story there where you're seeing those two numbers that are starkly opposites.

Matt Egan, interesting.

EGAN: Thank you, Sara.

SIDNER: Thank you so much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: The Supreme Court hands President Trump a big win in his battle against mail-in voting for now. What could it mean for the midterms? We've got a look at that coming up.

Plus, Target is apologizing after a children's Halloween costume that people saw as racist.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

BOLDUAN: Big questions this morning surrounding mail-in voting. With little more than two months to go until midterm Election Day, the Supreme Court Monday gave President Trump a win in his effort to restrict mail-in voting access across the country. Though part of his plan involving ballot tracking, it still is blocked by -- blocked in lower courts.

There is a lot going on here. At the high court, the court's three liberal justices dissented, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson warning that this move, this -- that this, quote, needlessly injects chaos and uncertainty into the upcoming midterm elections. The White House calls it a major win for the security of American elections.

Let's get to CNN's Supreme Court Reporter John Fritze with much more on this. What does this mean, John, what we've heard from the Supreme Court, for Trump's effort here through his executive order?

JOHN FRITZE, CNN SUPREME COURT REPORTER: Yes. I think this is a symbolic victory for President Trump. It's certainly an important procedural win for the president. But in terms of on-the-ground, real- world impact, the significance is far, far less.

It's important to note that any voter who intended to cast a mail ballot in this year's midterm election, nothing changes for that voter at this point because of this decision. And that's because the Supreme Court wasn't really ruling on the legality of President Trump's order. It was really dealing with a question of timing. The question for the Court was whether these 23 Democratic-led states who sued to challenge the order did so at the right time, and the Supreme Court said, no, they didn't, they sued too soon.

So, now voting rights groups are going to seek a do-over on timing, and they're going to ask for a far more on-point decision from the Supreme Court about whether President Trump can actually implement this executive order.

BOLDUAN: And so, John, that does mean more legal challenges to come then, right? FRITZE: Yes. This is a big, messy, complicated case with a lot of moving parts, and I think because of that, this case is likely to get back to the Supreme Court very, very quickly, potentially by the end of this week, maybe next week.

[07:30:07]

As we sit here, a federal court in Massachusetts,