Progressives in Midwest Primaries, Trump and Iran Stalemate, Columbia Earthquake

>> A progressive is up against a moderate in Minnesota. How much of an appetite do voters have for these non-mainstream candidates? >> Primary races in six states today will offer clues.

I mean, Martinez has laid a follow and this is a first from NPR news.

>> Iran's demand for war reparations has prompted President Trump to make a demand of his own. >> Well, we're going to ask for money for the damage ain't done over a 50-up period. Whether you go SS call or whether you go all of the people that were so badly hurt, so badly wounded or killed. >> Can Trump afford a stalemate with Iran that will keep the straight of harm is closed? >> And we get the view from Colombia where rescue workers and volunteers are digging through rubble for survivors of a major earthquakes.

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>> It is primary day in six states. >> President Trump may not be on the ballot, but he's a big factor in several of today's races in Minnesota. Trump endorsed Mike Lindell for governor.

He's the my pillow guy who echo Trump's false denials about the 2020 election results.

And Trump is backing the sister of Lindsey Graham Darlene for Senate in South Carolina. Alabama, Connecticut, and Vermont are also holding primaries today. But the most watch races might be where Democrats are deciding whether they want progressives or more centrist candidates to oppose Trump's policies. Now that's the question in Wisconsin, where we've called up Wisconsin, public radios, onya, van, wagton, dunk. So on your so self-described Democratic socialist has really shaken up the Democratic primary for governor, tell us about her.

>> Yeah, so that would be for in Jessica Hong, and she is running a very grassroots volunteer driven campaign. So alongside the normal forums and meet and greets, there's been dance parties and live streams and cookouts. Like, we're hung herself cooks. She comes out of the restaurant industry, but at the same time, she has said some controversial things over the years, especially on social media several years ago, like calling to defund the police and abolish prisons, which she's taken different positions on more recently.

So there are also a lot of Democrats who are worried that she cannot win a general election here in Wisconsin, where winning statewide usually hinges on just a few thousand moderate and independent voters. >> So, you know, we've seen progressives do pretty well lately. I'm thinking about Abdul Elsayed, who won the Democratic primary, right across from where you're at in Michigan, that's another Midwestern swing state.

“So how do mainstream Democrats where you are in Wisconsin, how are they gearing up?”

>> Here they are responding by backing a more traditional kind of Democrat, and that would be Milwaukee's county executive David Crowley. And Crowley had actually dropped out of the race and supported a different moderate candidate that candidates campaign imploded. And so then Crowley got back in, but this time with a coveted endorsement from outgoing governor Tony Evers in an effort to counter-hong. And that has helped him raise a ton of money in just a few weeks. >> Yeah, next door to you and Minnesota, similar dynamic has taken shape.

>> Mm-hmm. >> Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan is running for Senate against Representative Angie Craig. Flanagan there is the progressive option, although they are not so far apart on the issues. Flanagan wants Medicare for all, while Craig has backed a public option that competes with private insurance. Israel has also been in dividing line there, Flanagan speaks out much more strongly against the Israeli government.

And Flanagan is endorsed by Senator Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren, while Craig is backed more by centrist and has raised more money.

“>> All right, so what about some of the Republicans that have a President Trump backing?”

>> Yeah, so here in Wisconsin, the Trump backed candidate for governor is Congressman Tom Tiffany, and he is the very likely opponent for whoever wins that Democratic primary that hong is in. Over in Minnesota, as you mentioned, Mike Lindell has Trump's endorsement, but the state GOP chairman there has questioned his electability and even his presidency. He faces Speaker of the State House Lisa Dameth and Army veteran Kendall Qualls, and in South Carolina, Lindsey Graham's sister, Darlene, is in his Senate seat and running to keep it, as you said, Trump backs her.

>> That's on your van, Wagton Donk, of Wisconsin Public Radio in Madison, thanks a lot. >> Thank you. [MUSIC] >> President Trump wants Iran to pay the U.S. reparations for all the payments inflicted on the U.S. over decades. Trump's request comes after Iran demanded the U.S. commit to quote compensation for violations of the framework agreement both country signed in June, that's meant to end the war.

Here's what Trump told reporters at the White House Monday.

>> Well, we're going to ask for money for the damage and down over a 50-year period, whether you go SS call or whether you go all of the people that were so badly hurt, so badly wounded or killed, many thousands of people. In response, Iran now says it's completely ruling out many future negotiations declaring it will wait out Trump's remaining time in office. >> MPR's Franco or Donkens is here to tell us about all of this.

“So, Frank, it sounds like both sides are pretty dug in, so what does it say about the status of negotiations?”

>> Yeah, I mean, you think it reflects how quickly these talks can turn sour. And in this case, how it can all happen in a very public fashion, I mean, it was just a week ago that Trump was touting great progress, as he has. Before and even boasted that he would soon be announcing an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, that's obviously not happening now. Instead, he's signaling a change in tactics saying he's going to be low-king negotiations calling it a chess match and saying he's going to focus on economic pressure and also getting into this public's bad about compensation.

It all just does not project a terrible amount of confidence that a deal is around the corner as he was suggesting last week. So, President Trump got very defensive when he was asked for a timeline to reopen the Strait. Let's listen to that. >> The only one that has control of the Strait of Hormuz right now is the United States Navy. We have a blockade that's been infallible. It's a steel wall. And we let people in that we want to let in, and those people come in, they've been coming in and they're going out.

>> So, Trump said this on Monday, he keeps repeating this, Frank. I mean, it sounds like nothing more that it's not tethered to reality. >> Right, I mean, very few ships are going in and out of the Strait. That is very clear.

“I think it really speaks to how desperate the President is to not only end the war,”

but to also present the U.S. as strong and not caving to pressure from Iran, a much smaller and weaker nation. I mean, Iran has already survived so much that the U.S. and Israel has waged on them militarily, short of ground troops. Corey Shaki served in the National Security Council in the George W. Bush White House. She told me that Iran has rightly assessed the President's desperation, the shortage of munitions, and that they understand the political pressure that Trump faces ahead of the midterms.

And she says they're using all that leverage to make maximalist demands, which also stretch out this process and continue to hurt the President politically. She likens it to the political pressure around the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis that helped take down another president. >> It looks to me like the Iranian regime wants to turn President Trump into Jimmy Carter, wants to impose the kind of humiliation on President Trump that they imposed on President Carter.

“And I think they're pretty much succeeding at that.”

The one difference there is that Carter was running for reelection, lost to Ronald Reagan, President Trump is not running for reelection. So it seems like a pattern here though, Trump talked up a imminent deal with Iran that still has not happened. He also talked about a deal with Israel geared toward disarming Hamas that Prime Minister Benjamin and Yahoo is now rejected. So what does that mean for the peace process? >> Yeah, I mean, it means no peace yet.

I mean, it's a significant setback for Trump. It was less than two weeks ago that Trump was touting the plan as a major breakthrough. The idea was for Hamas to disarm and Israeli forces to withdraw from Gaza.

The problem is neither side is willing to go first.

But so far, Trump is kind of downplaying it all. He was also asked about this yesterday and said that the relationship with Netanyahu is good. That's White House correspondent, Franco or Donious, Franco thanks. Thanks, eh. [MUSIC]

>> Rescue teams in Western Columbia are working to find people trapped after a powerful 7.4 earthquake cause widespread destruction. >> More than 130 people were killed by the Quake on Monday. Authorities say that number is likely to rise. Thousands of people were killed in an earthquake in neighboring Venezuela a little more than a month ago.

>> Reporter Manuel Dureta is in Bogotá. Manuel, how widespread is the damage from this earthquake?

>> Yeah, so the damage is basically along four cities in the west of Colombia and some small towns

The hardest places have been Cali, Pereira, Manuel Salis and keep dough in the Chocola region.

“And these are places with very different landscapes.”

So Chocola is sparsely populated. There's a lot of rainforests, there are a few roads. And then towards the south, it gets more mountainous. It's the area known as the coffee axis and the mountains also present the risk of landslides. So that's where the city of Pereira is located.

The mayor there said that there's at least 15 buildings where people could still be trapped under the rubble.

He said that 55 people, at least 55 people were killed in that city.

And the biggest of the cities has been affected is Cali where the mayor said that 40 buildings were destroyed and confirmed the deaths of at least 15 people. >> Okay, how are rescue efforts going? >> Well, they're already going on around the clock. And Cali, the mayor said they managed to pull 37 people out of the rubble on Monday.

They still have teams working there. However, Cali, you can get eight quickly because there's a major airport there. Some areas, it's going to take more time to get eight. For example, in the Choco region where the roads are in bad shape and where there's many small towns that don't have an airport or that might even be tough to get to with the helicopters.

So they're going to have to wait for trucks to bring aid. That's the case in San Jose del Palmar, which is the town closest to the epicenter. And it's just located in a very remote area on top of a mountain ridge with no airport access whatsoever.

“>> So, given how many Colombians have lost their homes, I mean, how are the survivors coping and dealing with what they have to deal with now?”

>> Yeah, you have many people sleeping outdoors because they're afraid of going back into their buildings because the structures have been seriously damaged. Also, in Cali, they turned the baseball stadium into a shelter, as well as a smaller arena. In Manisales, a basketball arena is now a shelter. And one thing that's particular to Colombia, perhaps, is that in some of the cities, they've declared curfews because they're afraid of the activities of criminals and possible looting.

So in Cali and Pereta, for instance, there are curfews from around 8pm to 6am, which is when the sun comes back up in Colombia. And the president of Colombia has been visiting some of these areas, and also offering some solutions, like, for example, in Chocohi offered a rent subsidy to families that have been affected by the earthquake and have lost their homes, which just in Chocohi, they estimated it's 1,400 families. >> All right, that's reporter Manuela, Reza in Bogota, thank you very much. >> Thanks.

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>> And that's up first for Tuesday, August 11th, every Martinez.

>> And I'm Leila Faldin. Today's episode of up first was edited by Olivia Hampton, R. Zurazhani, Larry Camelo, Rebecca Metzler, and Miguel Miceus. It was produced by Ziyad Buch and Milton Gavada. Our director is Christopher Thomas, we get engineering support for Misha Heines. Our technical director is Zach Coleman, and our supervising senior producer is Vince Pearson. Join us again tomorrow. [ Music ]

>> Attention, a PSA from SureWave and PR Science Podcast.

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>> I really do think that this deep stigma we have about talking about pooping is tied to these early onset chloractylcancer cases. What to watch out for and how to decode the secret messages hidden in your poop. On SureWave. Listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. >> This week on sources and methods is Iran trying to hack US water systems. >> What is it that you can do to potentially quote unquote scare the American people?

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