Moderate Democrat Projected to Win Wisconsin Primary; Trump Claims Hormuz Control

**SPEAKER_1** (0:02)
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio, News.

**Nathan Hager** (0:10)
Good morning, I'm Nathan Hager.

**Karen Moskow** (0:11)
And I'm Karen Moskow. Here are the stories we're following today.

**Nathan Hager** (0:16)
Karen, we'll begin with results from the latest key primary races, starting in Wisconsin, where an upset in the Democratic governor's race could check the momentum of the party's progressive wing, with 98% of votes counted moderate. David Crowley is projected to defeat Democratic socialist Francesca Hong, 39.8 to 39.4 percent. Hong addressed her supporters last night.

**Francesca Hong** (0:40)
To people in every corner of this state, it is an honor of my lifetime to be your candidate for governor.

**Nathan Hager** (0:50)
But this morning, Francesca is projected not to be the candidate for governor by a narrow margin. Now that highlights the strength of the Democrats' progressive flank, but Crowley's win may offer a path for establishment Democrats to reassert power in primaries over the next month.

**Karen Moskow** (1:05)
Well Nathan, in other notable primaries overnight, Senator Darlene Graham will advance to a runoff to replace her late brother Lindsay as the Republican nominee in South Carolina. With 33 percent of the vote, Graham will face Congressman Ralph Norman in the August 25th runoff. Norman took 25 percent. The eventual winner will face off against Democrat Annie Andrews in November.

**Nathan Hager** (1:27)
And in Minnesota, Karen, MyPillow founder and 2020 election denier Mike Lindell is projected to lose Minnesota's Republican primary for governor to state House Speaker Lisa DeMuth. With 99 percent of votes counted there, DeMuth has 43 percent compared to 33 percent for Lindell. He questioned those numbers in remarks to supporters last night.

**Mike Lindell** (1:46)
I'm not going to sit by until these numbers are explained. Someone's going to have to explain to me why we were pulling seven and nine and these numbers came in.

**Nathan Hager** (1:56)
Lindell's projected loss follows an endorsement from President Trump. The result sets up a general election clash between Lisa DeMuth and Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar for governor. Klobuchar won her primary with 90 percent of the vote.

**Karen Moskow** (2:11)
Let's turn now, Nathan, to escalating rhetoric with the war in Iran. President Trump said the US has total control over the Strait of Hormuz and that Iran would get blown away if it took action. The president says he has no trust for Iran.

**Donald Trump** (2:27)
Iran is going fine, going just absolutely fine. We totally control the Strait of Hormuz. We have control over it. Nobody else, only us. Our Navy is unbelievable and things are going great for our country.

**Karen Moskow** (2:41)
President Trump spoke to reporters outside Air Force One. Pakistan's defense minister says the two sides are close to some sort of arrangement over Hormuz, but he isn't offering details.

**Nathan Hager** (2:52)
Karen, oil prices are grinding higher mid-skepticism over an Iran deal. Brent is now trading right around $89 a barrel after jumping around 12% over the past five sessions. This morning, the International Energy Agency says global crude inventories will tumble this quarter at more than twice the previously estimated rate. Noam Radin is Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

**Noam Radin** (3:14)
It is unlikely that we're going to go back to the maritime arrangement that existed in the Strait of Hormuz before the Iran War. Iran has gained immense influence in the Strait. It will not let go of this leverage it has obtained easily.

**Nathan Hager** (3:30)
Noam Radin with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and Bloomberg Intelligence says a frozen US-Iran conflict is now the most plausible scenario and that could push oil into a range of $100 to $150 a barrel.

**Karen Moskow** (3:43)
Nathan, President Trump said security officials ordered him to secretly switch planes after a NATO summit in Turkey because of a threat to his safety. The elaborate maneuver first reported by the Washington Post was prompted by an Iranian assassination threat against Trump. The deception was carried out as journalists, White House staff members, and other government officials aboard Air Force One were given the impression that the president was flying with them back to the US from a NATO summit in Ankara. President Trump was asked about the incident by reporters.

**Donald Trump** (4:14)
I go by Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane, equal safety, but they wanted me to do it, so I do it. I do what they say.

**Karen Moskow** (4:26)
The incident has raised questions about the White House misleading the public over the president's whereabouts.

**Nathan Hager** (4:31)
Let's turn to the markets now, Karen, with a focus on tech. You're watching shares of CoreWeave in the pre-market. They are up 18% following earnings. Booming AI demand helped the company's second quarter revenue more than double, and it raised its full year outlook as well. Gil Lurie is head of tech research at DA Davidson. He says CoreWeave's results are an encouraging step.