[MUSIC]
President Trump has claimed several times that a deal to reopen the state of her moves is close. >> Now Iran is saying it too, but in a deal that is being negotiated directly with Olaan.
>> I'm Michelle Martin, this lady of Faddle, and this is up first from NPR News.
[MUSIC] Progressive Abdul El-Sayed, he got a primary victory for a Michigan Senate seat. He now faces former GOP Congresswoman Mike Rogers in November. What does El-Sayed need to do to win a state that voted for President Trump two years ago? >> And President Trump traveled to Las Vegas where he claimed the economy was fine and blamed
Democrats for high prices. >> The economy is the greatest economy we've ever had by far.
“>> What do voters say, stay with us, we'll give you the news you need to start your day.”
[MUSIC] >> This week on the NPR Politics podcast, another progressive Democrat, Edges out an establishment candidate, Abdul El-Sayed, one Michigan Senate primary, campaigning on affordability, health care, and ending U.S. military aid to Israel.
Join us as we break down his victory and what it could signal for November's midterms
on the NPR Politics podcast. Listen, on the NPR app or wherever you get podcasts. >> While it seems like everything is being called a recession indicator these days. >> Yeah, like the box of hamburger hell for in my pantry. >> Or the new Apple Neo book?
Or the resurgence of press on nails, or lipstick, or no lipstick, I've lost track. >> There is only one way to know if these are actual economic warning signs, though. Listen to the indicator from planet money on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. >> Zendaya and Tom Holland are back in Spider-Man brand new day. And the movie has a more grounded tone than we've seen from the franchise.
“But does it strike the right balance of fun and darkness?”
We'll talk about it on NPR's pop culture happy hour. Listen via the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. >> Iran's deputy foreign minister says his country is close to a deal to allow ships to pass through the straight of harm moves. >> The deal may not even involve the U.S. instead it's being hammered out between Iran and
Oman, which is located on the southern edge of the straight.
One of the most important waterways for oil and gas exports.
>> To discuss what the deal might entail. We're joined now by reporter Samir Hashmi in Dubai. Good morning, Samir. >> Good morning. So what do we know about this potential agreement?
>> Iran says that the deal with Oman is in its final stages. But hasn't shared the precise details. What the country's deputy foreign minister, Kazim Uri Babadi said is that the talks with Oman have covered technical arrangements, the security details, and a proposed joint coordination center between the two countries to manage maritime traffic.
Now, he was also speaking to Iran's state media and in an interview, he said that under the proposed arrangement, temporary routes would allow ships to pass through Iran's waters and exit through Oman's waters. Now, Iranian officials have also stated that this would not be the complete reopening of the straight and according to Iran's foreign minister's spokesperson, Ismail Baray.
When he was speaking to the press, he said that the deal with Oman would not guarantee safe navigation due to a US blockade of Iran's ports. Now, these negotiations have been on for the last three weeks, and they're hoping to they're on the verge of finalizing it is what these officials are saying. >> Is the US involved at all in these talks?
>> Well, Iran denies it. Iran says it's directly negotiating with Oman, and it's not talking to the United States. However, we heard from press in Trump earlier this week saying that the US was in talks with Iran, and they were also discussing the reopening of the straight of Hormuz, and he also threatened that this was Iran's last chance for a deal, otherwise the US would strike
them again. And he also said yesterday that he expects the reopening of the straight of Hormuz to be announced soon in the next few days, and the talks have made progress. >> Yeah, and we should point out, this was all open to shipping before the US and Israel attacked Iran more than five months ago.
“Will the deal give Iran defector control in the straight?”
>> It's tough to say at this stage, because we don't know the exact details of this deal that has been hammered between Iran and Oman, but if you see the statements that have come out from Iran over the past few months, since the war started, and even during the ceasefire, which is announced in June, Iranian officials have insisted that they need to have some sort of control over the straight, whether it's taking permission from Iranian officials,
ship-staking permission from them, or paying a toll. So they have made those statements consistently. >> So there are talks to open the straight of Hormuz again, but that hasn't stopped the attacks. There were attacks on another key shipping route on the Red Sea. What can you tell us about that?
>> Yeah, on Wednesday the Houthis, which is the Yemeni group backed by Iran, Iran backed militia.
They said that they had struck two Saudi oil tankers on Wednesday on the Red ...
and they also threatened to intensify these attacks in an effort to close all access routes
to saw the oil shipments.
“Now this is a critical route to export oil for the Saudis, especially since the”
state of Hormuz's trap. So the Saudis are relying on this route to send shipments carrying oil, since the war started. So if this is also blocked, it would add more uncertainty for oil supplies coming out from this region and add to the oil volatility that we have been seeing. That's a reporter similar hash me in Dubai.
Thank you so much for your reporting. >> Thank you very much. [MUSIC] >> The general election contest for Michigan's open U.S. Senate seat is underway. >> Former local health official, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed,
one Tuesday's Democratic primary, he now faces former Republican congressmen Mike Rogers,
and what is sure to be an expensive and hard-fought battle. Colin Jackson of the Michigan Public Radio Network joins us to discuss what's next now that the primary election is over. Good morning, Colin. >> Good morning.
>> So let's start with why this race is so competitive. Michigan is a swing state. What does that mean for the Senate race? >> Well, President Trump won Michigan in 2024, but a Republican hasn't won a U.S. Senate race here since the 90s.
You have Democratic strongholds and Saudis to Michigan think Detroit or Ann Arbor and pockets around college towns and population centers like Grand Rapids and Lansing, but West Michigan, Northern Michigan, you know, minus a few places here and there, are generally redder. And to borrow a term, El-Sayed will have to lose by less in those rural areas to win the state.
>> Tell us how El-Sayed will try to go about doing that. >> During the primary El-Sayed push to Paco's platform that he often boil boundary of three slogans. Money out of politics and Medicare for all in money in your pocket. He built a younger coalition campaigning alongside Bernie Sanders,
Alexandria Cocazio Cortez, and other progressive voices. And he beat Congressman Haley Stevens a moderate in the primary, and, you know, she relied on a traditional coalition of black working class and Jewish voters. Now El-Sayed is going to have to appeal to those voters. And he's already calling for Democrats to unite behind them to defeat my Rogers.
He said that I'm warning addition on Tuesday. >> We also know that what reunites us is way bigger than what divides us. We know that Trumpism has been just a colossal failure. We know that the defeat Trumpism will have to defeat Trump's handpicked candidate for U.S. Senate.
“>> What messaging are we hearing from Mike Rogers, the Republican?”
>> Mike Rogers is an establishment Republican with a long track record in office. But he can also appeal to the mega base. And Rogers is already trying to paint El-Sayed who is Muslim as a communist and an extremist. You know, Rogers' reaction statement to the win included some dog whistles referencing terrorism. And basically linking El-Sayed to the Muslim Brotherhood, you know, El-Sayed, who is the son of
Egyptian immigrants, you know, he said he's dealt with his whole life. And he considers it based this fear-mongering. >> We need a senator to fight for these jobs, to fight for these defense industrial-based jobs. I mean, only in the race that actually worked on a car assembly line, Chrysler of a baron convertible, who doesn't want one of those.
>> I will tell you that we're feeling pretty good about where we're going. >> El-Sayed does have the UAW endorsement, but blue collar workers are still pretty much a big factor here. >> Okay, so a lot of fear-mongering around El-Sayed's faith. What are some of the main challenges for each campaign to win in November?
>> Rogers will have to balance a million to mega Republicans,
but also not turning off the independence who are largely against Trump here. Meanwhile, El-Sayed is going to need to bring in people that he may have turned off back to his side, you know, think some Oakland County Jewish voters are measured at Troy, who have issues with his criticisms as real. There's establishment voters and moderate Dems, who do think he's too extreme.
And who also need to contend with the big fundraising gap in the primary race, APAC, and other outside groups spent over $60 million against him. Republicans are pledging a lot of money against him too. And APAC says it's committed to keeping El-Sayed out of office. >> That's Michigan Public Radio Network's Colin Jackson, and Detroit, thank you, Colin.
>> Thank you. [MUSIC] >> President Trump traveled back to Las Vegas to try and pitch voters that his economic agenda is working.
“>> I saw polls today in television, I say a Donald Trump polls on the economy, aren't it?”
The economy's the greatest economy we've ever had by far. >> In a city that relies heavily on tourism, though, tipped workers say trust policies are not helping. >> And PR White House correspondent, Deepa Shiveram, is in Las Vegas and joins us now. Good morning, Deepa.
>> Good morning. >> So polling does show Trump's approval rating on the economy is dipping.
Even among his own supporters, what was his message yesterday in Las Vegas?
>> Yeah, Trump is really struggling when it comes to trying to sell his economic agenda as
“prices of goods have gotten higher since the US and Israel started war with Iran.”
And new Reuters' episodes poll shows that for the first time in almost 10 years,
more Americans prefer Democrats to Republicans on handling the economy. And that's bad news for Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections. But in the last few months, I will say Trump's message hasn't really changed much. He continues to insist that the economy is great. He says any high prices are there because he inherited it from Democrats.
And he says people are making money thanks to his policies, including no taxes on tips. Now you spoke with some workers in Vegas. Are policies like no tax on tips popular? >> Yeah, I kind of had several workers in Vegas. Some of whom said they did see higher tax refunds this year.
But I also spoke to workers who said there are economic factors, other ones that are making things difficult.
Mario Sandevall is one of those workers.
He's been a server at Binion Steakhouse in downtown Las Vegas for 40 years. And he referred to himself as a tipped worker. But he put the tipped part in air quotes and I asked him why. >> I've experienced 9/11, 2008, the pandemic. And I have to tell you, there are income right now is that the level of 9/11.
It's bad. >> He says people aren't eating out and tipping the way they used to. So he's getting tips, but not as much. Now any worker in Vegas will point out that June July end August. Are the slower months for tourists he's in here.
But Sandevall says his restaurants started seeing a decline last year. According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, tourism did decline more than 7% in 2025. And there was a noticeable drop in visitors from Canada, which is a nationwide trend after Trump's sourd relations with Canada over tariffs.
And you know, saying that he wants to make them the 51st state. So Trump is here plugging no tax on tips as a way to put money back in people's pockets, but there are a lot of folks in Vegas. I spoke with who say that with declining tourism and higher prices, it's not enough.
“How are Republican candidates they're trying to message around Trump's policies?”
>> Yeah, the interesting thing I noticed while spending time here is that while Trump is on stage saying his economy is a success. And at times mocking the idea of affordability, Republicans like Mario Donald who's running for Congress in this area are taking a little bit of a different approach. He's trying to argue that life should be more affordable.
That one job should be enough to get by. It's actually kind of a similar argument to what Democratic candidates are saying here too. So I found that really striking that someone like O'Donnell, who supports President Trump, is making a pitch on stage that sounds really different than how the President talks about the economy. >> Did Trump talk at all about some of the latest primary results?
>> Yeah, for a speech that was billed as talking about his economic agenda. Trump's been a lot of time talking about a lot of other things, including some of the races from Tuesday night. He specifically railed against Dr. Abdullah Sayed, a progressive candidate who won the Democratic Senate primary in Michigan.
And he criticized Wisconsin's Francesca Hong, who's running for governor. And Trump brought up some he's been talking about more recently, which is how the direction of the Democratic Party he says is trending toward communism, which Trump says is a threat. But in his remarks, he also implied that Republicans would face off better against more left-wing Democratic candidates.
And he said he thinks he's "happy" that else I would want. >> That's NPR's Deepa Shiver, I'm thank you, Deepa. Thank you.
And that's a first for Thursday, August 6th.
I'm Le LaFaudin. >> And I'm a show martin. Today's episode of First was edited by Pad Marama, Tina Crya, Rebecca Metzler, H.J. M. and Alice Wolfley, who was produced by Ziyah Bunch and the Adhumas, are directors Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Nisha Heines and Patrick Murray, our technical directors currently strange and our deputy executive producer is Kelly Dickens. We hope you'll join us again tomorrow. [MUSIC]
“>> Have you ever been so upset that you can't even think straight?”
>> When we're distressed and in high anxiety, we tend to breathe from our chest, which is actually more hyperventilating and is the opposite of relaxing. So we want to breathe from our belly area. >> This week on the LifeKit podcast, tips for those painful, stressful moments, listen to LifeKit on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
[MUSIC] >> Hey there, I'm Brittany Loose and I don't know. Maybe this is a little out of pockets to say, but I think you should listen to my podcast.
[MUSIC]
It's called It's been a Minute and I love it and I think you will too.
“Over the past couple of months, over 100,000 new listeners started tuning in.”
Find out why.
Listen to the It's been a Minute Podcast from NPR today.
“The day's top headlines, local stories from your community,”
your next podcast binge-listen, you can have it all in one place, your pocket,
download the NPR app today. [MUSIC]
