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The Situation Room

Trump Allies Celebrate Sen. Graham's Win in SC Runoff; Lindsay Clancy Trial Continues; Remembering Dolly Parton: Country Music Icon, Philanthropist. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired August 26, 2026 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, three Secret Service officials are on leave. That's part of a misconduct investigation. It's unclear what the alleged misconduct is. The source tells us all three work in the agency's communications office.

Federal authorities, meanwhile, say they've arrested a man accused of terrorizing people in Philadelphia while wearing a mask. U.S. Marshals tracked the 22-year-old all the way to Las Vegas. He was wanted for a series of very disturbing encounters, including chasing a jogger and asking her if she was ready to die.

[11:35:00]

Also happening now, Trump allies are celebrating Senator Darline Graham's win in South Carolina. She was the president's choice in the Republican runoff to fill her late brother's seat in the chamber for a full six years. Graham defeated conservative Congressman Ralph Norman and will face Democrat Annie Andrews in November. Graham is widely viewed as the favorite to win.

Joining us now is Nicholas Reynolds. He's a political reporter for The Post and Courier in Charleston. Nicholas, thanks so much for joining us. I understand you were there at Graham's victory party in Columbia last night. What was it like?

NICHOLAS REYNOLDS, POLITICAL REPORTER, THE POST AND COURLER: I was, yes. And at the beginning of it, walking into the room, you saw just a battery of television cameras. That was just the first thing that hits you right as you walk into the room. A fairly limited number of supporters. This was at a downtown Columbia law office, actually a meeting spot for the local Richland County Republican Party during the regular times.

And entering the evening, it really seemed like everyone was on eggshells about the results. I mean, coming into this, we hadn't really seen any public polling, but there were ample rumors of what numbers were actually out there. Most believed that the election was likely to go to Ralph Norman, honestly, and just narrowly. It was a really unique election. Honestly, we hadn't really seen anything like it before.

You know, Of course, Darline Graham was technically the incumbent, but, you know, was really running as more or less a political newcomer against a politician who was only a couple months removed from a statewide election. So, it was just really unique, and no one entering the evening really knew what to expect.

BLITZER: Going into this runoff, as you know, Senator Darline Graham's win over Congressman Ralph Norman certainly wasn't a given. How much did President Trump's endorsement and Lindsey Graham's legacy ultimately impact this race?

REYNOLDS: Yes. This is one thing that I think is really the most important takeaway from last night is, if you recall, the rally that Trump did the other night was in Horry County, particularly Myrtle Beach. It's a ruby-red conservative area. There's a large propensity of Republican voters there, and by and large, they're mostly transplants. They come from the northeastern United States. You would call them, you know, sort of blue-state refugees in a way, mostly retirees, very loyal to the president, and anyone who would tell you entering election night Horry County is a must-win county.

And if you look at the election results from last night, Darline Graham's margin of victory was about 18,000 votes. The margin of victory for her in Horry County was about 17,000. So, it was absolutely massive for Trump to be involved there. Certainly, the money assisted as well. They were able to outspend Ralph Norman by gargantuan margins, and that really does make a difference. South Carolinians were bombarded with texts and calls in the final days of the race, and you really can't underestimate the difference that made.

BLITZER: Nicholas, let's watch what the Democratic nominee Annie Andrews told my co-anchor Pamela Brown just ahead of the GOP primary earlier this month. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANNIE ANDREWS (D), SOUTH CAROLINA SENATE CANDIDATE: No matter who wins this primary tonight and advances to the next runoff on August 25th, it's going to be more of the same. When these candidates stood on the debate stage, all we heard from them was pledging allegiance to Donald Trump and slogans, not solutions. And that's the opposite of what I'm offering.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Realistically, does this Democratic nominee have a shot against Senator Darline Graham this fall in November?

REYNOLDS: The conventional thinking would be no. South Carolina really has never been a state that's been particularly in play. The last time red counties like this really saw, you know, competitive performance was, you know, in the early 2010s. And you'll recall a couple years ago in the large election that we had with former DNC chair Jamie Harrison versus Lindsey Graham, one of the most expensive campaigns ever run in U.S. history. That ultimately ended up being a blowout victory for Lindsey Graham.

And, you know, interestingly enough, last night during Darline's victory speech, we saw a little bit of vintage Lindsey up there. You know, she plugged her fundraising website in her victory speech as she was talking about her opponent in November. Certainly, a bit of a callback there.

But, you know, with the environment the way it is, and with the type of candidate that Darline Graham will be, I mean, obviously she's still a little bit of a political novice. Obviously, a couple months from now, she might be a much more polished candidate. But Annie Andrews has run races before. You know, she's run congressional races in the past. She's extremely well-funded. Republicans are going to need to be able to throw a lot in the pot to be able to match what Annie Andrews is going to be spending.

[11:40:00]

And, Wolf, I have seen some polling, at least internally from the Democrats, that shows their statewide candidates in this year's election, you know, pairing the quality of candidates they have with the national environment around Trump. You know, they could at least get within single digits of this race.

And I've been saying, you know, even to Democratic strategists, that, you know, a single-digit defeat would be a significant victory for them. That would ripple down ballot. It could impact voting in the low country, particularly around Charleston. There's a competitive congressional seat there. Even just, you know, high performance would mean quite a bit down the ballot here in South Carolina.

BLITZER: And as you know, Nicholas, Senator Darline Graham, she took a lot of heat in this race after that now-infamous debate moment. Let's watch that. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DARLINE GRAHAM (R-SC): I'm just going to be honest here. I'm not on national security. I'm not that informed on national security. But I do support the military. My brother was in the Air Force for 33 years. So, I will do everything I can to support the military. My dad was in the Army. I'm not a polished politician up here. National security is not my thing, not my area of expertise. But I do support the military.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Nicholas, what did you hear from South Carolina voters about that exchange? Did it ultimately not matter to them?

REYNOLDS: Yes, for some, it mattered a great deal. You know, I did talk to a number of voters yesterday at the polls who saw the answer. They might not have been as, you know, big on foreign policy as, you know, some might have thought. You know, Darline would regularly say on the campaign trail that she wasn't hearing about Taiwan from regular voters on the everyday, you know, of the campaign trail. They were mostly talking about issues of affordability. And, you know, to some degree, that was true. You know, I do think that really matters to voters.

What it was was more of the optics for people and, you know, the idea of what a U.S. senator should be. I think that was the real negative hit toward her. But, you know, counter to that, I talked to a lot of voters who were supporting Graham who saw the exact opposite. You know, they saw a lot of themselves in Darline Graham, someone who, you know, they might not be well-versed in every issue, but they're capable of learning. They were encouraged by her experience, you know, obviously knowing her brother.

And, you know, again, if you just, like, you know, meet with her on the campaign trail, you know, everyone, even her opponents, would say that she's a nice woman. And people do really feel that way. I mean, they liked her as a person. And, you know, once that started to come through and, you know, once she started to get, you know, more out in public, mixing it up with everyday voters, you know, I think that's the image that stuck more in people's head than what they saw in the debate stage. And, obviously, the numbers last night bore that out.

BLITZER: Nicholas Reynolds, thanks so much for joining us. Your expertise is appreciated. And up next, Dolly Parton was certainly a global icon, but she never forgot her roots after the break, her massive influence and impact on small-town Tennessee.

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[11:45:00]

BLITZER: Happening now. Testimony is continuing in the Lindsay Clancy trial. The Massachusetts mother is accused of murdering her three little kids. Her defense is that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and is not criminally responsible. CNN's Jean Cazares has more from just outside the courtroom.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I was in the courtroom to watch the jury during most of the day on Tuesday. And what I saw from beginning to end was, before the jury even comes into the courtroom, the defendant comes into the courtroom. And before the defendant comes into the courtroom, her nurses come into the courtroom.

Lindsay Clancy has two nurses that are seated in the first row of court. And I saw them. They walked in. And you can tell they are nurses by what they are wearing. They sit on the front row. And then Lindsay Clancy was wheeled in.

Now, the camera does not catch this. But she is wheeled in by a court officer. She is wheeled to the defense table. Her wheelchair is a larger wheelchair than what we normally see. She then took it on her own to wheel herself back a little bit and go into the defense area as she wanted to, the defense table. Then the jury entered. And they are middle-aged to older, conceivably parents, grandparents. They sat down. The expert witness then began to testify. And I saw notebooks come out. So, many notes being written by these jurors.

And predominantly the women are taking the notes. But I saw one man that was taking notes. But every juror completely focused on that expert. And there have been a lot of experts in this trial. And many times it gets so monotonous with the battle of the experts. But this jury focused the whole time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Jean Cazares, thank you very much for that update. We'll have more news right after this.

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[11:50:00]

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BLITZER: That was the King's Guard in London honoring Dolly Parton with a rendition of her classic "9 to 5" just outside Buckingham Palace today. Dolly's family announced she died peacefully in Nashville yesterday after a brief battle with cancer.

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BLITZER: From humble beginnings, Dolly Parton skyrocketed to startup, going on to be nominated for 55 Grammys and winning 10.

[11:55:00]

Interesting fact, Dolly could play about 20 instruments but she found a signature sound with her acrylic fingernails which she showed Patti LaBelle back in 1987.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATTI LABELLE, SINGER: See, we did plan this, but we didn't know how it was going to sound.

DOLLY PARTON, SINGER: Well, we were planning to see if we could do something like Mama's little children love shortening, shortening Mama's little children love shortening bread. Mama's little children love shortening, shortening. Mama's little children love shortening bread. Wait, Patti. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Dolly said her effort to help families affected by wildfires at East Tennessee a decade ago was among her proudest accomplishments. She established the My People Fund to give money directly to the victims and later donated $200,000 to eight volunteer fire departments in the area.

Tim Baker is the chief of one of those departments and I know, Tim, you called her a steadfast friend to the fire service and noted that her generosity helped replace gear, repair stations, and improve training after those wildfires in 2016 and 2022. How significant were her contributions to your community?

CHIEF TIM BAKER, WALDENS CREEK VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT AND FORMER PRESIDENT, SEVIER COUNTY FIRE CHIEF'S ASSOCIATION: It was a great contribution to a volunteer fire department. $20,000 is a lot of money. In our particular station, we were able to replace the roof and buy some much-needed gear. And most of the departments within the county used the money for varying things, but primarily for buying gear and updating the station.

BLITZER: Dolly would -- Dolly Parton's theme park, as you know, in Pigeon Forge, was spared from that 2016 fire, but she felt called upon to help others impacted. Her foundation gave some $10,000 to more than 900 families. How encouraging was it for the people in your community to know that Dolly never forgot about where she came from?

BAKER: She contributed to, as we go through this, you'll find out that she contributed in a bunch of different ways with the local hospitals, the Hospital of Knoxville. She tried to take care of her people in the area that she came from, and it's very much appreciated. And everybody in the area really loves Dolly.

BLITZER: Yes, that's true. So, Tim, how is the community now honoring Dolly Parton's memory?

BAKER: There's a statue in front of the courthouse at the county seat at Sevierville. There's a lot of people coming out and laying flowers and honoring Dolly for what she's done. And there's a lot of different things going on around the county honoring Dolly and her legacy.

BLITZER: As it should be taking place. You shared some photos that you took with Dolly. What will you most remember about meeting her?

BAKER: She was really down to earth. She came in being her normal self, joking with all the firefighters that were there that day. And she just felt humbled. It's just like meeting an old friend that you hadn't seen in a long time. She was just a down to earth person.

BLITZER: She was a wonderful, wonderful lady. The Country Music Hall of Fame released a statement saying, and I'm quoting now, "Dolly Parton's legacy is not celebrity, but humanity. She was a champion of equality and literacy. And that anyone who seeks to be more like Dolly is on the right track, but they'll never get to the finish line," end quote. What should people take away from the example that Dolly Parton led?

BAKER: Just be good to your fellow man and treat them as you would want to be treated. And I think she honored that through her entire life to take care and take care of her fellow man.

BLITZER: So, important. All right. What a wonderful woman indeed. Tim Baker, thanks so much for your thoughts. Appreciate it very much.

And to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning. We'll see you back here tomorrow morning 10:00 a.m. Eastern for two hours weekdays. Inside Politics with Dana Bash is coming up next. But first, my deepest condolences to the Dolly Parton family. As we say, may she rest in peace and may her memory be a blessing.

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