Darline Graham’s primary challenge and Trump shifts to ‘low-keying’ it with Iran: Morning Rundown

Aug. 10, 2026, 7:01 AM EDT

Darline Graham faces an uphill battle in the race for her late brother Lindsey’s Senate seat. Trump signals a shift to economic pressure as the Iran war keeps drifting. And nearly 100 fires across the U.S. strain firefighting resources.

Here’s what to know today.

Trump’s endorsement may not be enough for Darline Graham to win her brother’s seat

A split composite of Ralph Norman and Darline Graham.

Despite President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Darline Graham, tomorrow’s Republican primary to replace her late brother Lindsey on the November ballot is likely headed to a runoff.

This is Morning Rundown, a weekday newsletter to start your day. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.

Multiple sources told NBC News they predict the runoff will be between Graham and Rep. Ralph Norman, who ran unsuccessfully for governor this year. The matchup could be an uphill climb for Graham, who has never held elected office before now and had a short window to introduce herself to voters.

The South Carolina race is also another test of the president’s power. He remains popular in the state, but the GOP base has shown an independent streak.

Trump’s endorsement could backfire in a runoff, one person said: “Norman just spent millions raising his name ID in the governor’s race. And South Carolinians are too independent to accept a coronation.”

Here’s what else to know.

More politics news:

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she hasn’t ruled out a potential run for president or the Senate in 2028. The New York representative also spoke about a personal milestone she revealed last week — freezing her eggs — and why she decided to publicly share the news.
Former President Joe Biden’s cancer is spreading, his son Hunter said, describing it as “very debilitating.”

GOP Sen. Jim Banks told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that embattled Rep. Max Miller should drop his re-election bid and resign if the abuse allegations are true.

Iran sets new demands over Hormuz as Israel rejects Gaza plan

A week ago Trump said he was calling off the biggest military attack since World War Two because a deal to end Iran war was imminent. Now he’s signaling the U.S. is in no rush to resolve the conflict, prepared instead to wait out Tehran by applying economic pressure.

And the Islamic Republic, determined to maintain its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, has issued a new list of demands it says Washington must meet before it allows ships to move freely through the crucial waterway.

In comments published by Axios on Sunday, Trump suggested he was counting on sustained economic pressure as a way to force concessions from Iran — a shift both from his threats of military escalation and his insistence that a peace deal was close.

“We are low-keying it,” Trump told the outlet in a phone call.

“We are only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money,” Trump said, according to Axios, without making any new military threats.

“It will work out. It always works out. It’s like a chess game,” Trump said of the negotiations.

It’s the latest shift in a monthslong back-and-forth that has seen the conflict between the U.S. and Iran drift without conclusion, destabilizing the Middle East and drawing domestic blowback over the mounting cost in American lives and consumer prices. Read the full story.

Elsewhere in the region, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country’s military will not withdraw from Gaza “until Hamas is disarmed,” adding that “as long as I am prime minister, there will be no Palestinian state.”

Nearly 100 large wildfires strain resources across the U.S.

A gif carousel of images showing wildfires, firefighters and fire damage

More than 30,400 personnel are battling 94 large blazes across the U.S., putting significant strain on the nation’s firefighting resources.

01:34

Inside the 1,000-tent base camp housing Spokane firefighters

00:0000:00

The blazes are concentrated in the Pacific Northwest and have collectively burned 3.6 million acres — an area slightly larger than the state of Connecticut — according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The demand has forced officials to balance positioning resources where new fires are likely to ignite against areas where major ones are already burning.

As a result, people and equipment are continuously shifting across the nation. Firefighters leaving one incident may only get “a couple days off and away they go to the next,” said one commander, and shifts are also grueling. Crews in Spokane, for example, commonly work 16-hours straight.

Here’s how the fires are taking a toll.

Meanwhile, British Columbia declared a state of emergency after a fast-moving wildfire destroyed homes and forced more than 20,000 people to flee.

Captain arrested after vessel capsizes near Statue of Liberty, killing mother and baby

01:03

Boat capsize kills woman and baby in New York Harbor

00:0000:00

A woman and her 5-month-old baby died after a boat capsized near Liberty Island in the New York Harbor. Others were rescued and had minor injuries, police said.

The boat’s captain, identified as Manuel Hernandez, 46, was arrested and initially charged with 13 counts of reckless endangerment, according to the New York Police Department and the Coast Guard. He was taken into federal custody and the New York Southern District Court will now take on the investigation, the NYPD confirmed to NBC News.

The NYPD identified the dead as Queens resident Sara Sanchez, 27, and her daughter, Antonella Garcia. A neighbor described Sanchez as “a beautiful person.”

Read the full story here.

Staff Pick: U.S. doctor leads team into one of the world’s most dangerous regions

American surgeon restores sight to thousands at war-torn border of South Sudan

02:43

I have covered Sudan and the region for several years. Usually, I report stories of conflict, displacement and civilians going hungry while trapped in a war they did not choose. But when our team heard about a local ceasefire that allowed a humanitarian mission to reach one of the most remote and volatile regions in the area to bring people critical eye care, we wanted to speak with these doctors.

In less than 10 days, Dr. Lloyd Williams from Duke University and his South Sudanese colleagues performed over 1,000 cataract operations and 7,000 consultations in the contested Abyei region, on the border between Sudan and South Sudan. Many of their patients had never visited an eye doctor.

This humanitarian mission was entirely privately funded. But South Sudan has been one of the countries most impacted by the USAID cuts as it relied heavily on U.S. funding, especially for healthcare and food assistance. With two thirds of that money now gone, aid workers in the country have told me that South Sudan is spiraling into one of the worst crises in the world, with over 10 million people in dire need of help.

— Sara Monetta, multimedia producer

Read All About It

An Indian national was arrested and charged with murder after fleeing the country as police investigated the death of his 19-year-old girlfriend in Tucson, Arizona.

Minnesota Lynx guard Kayla McBride broke the WNBA single-game record by making 10 3-pointers against the Dallas Wings.

Don Nelson, the second-winningest coach in NBA history who won five championships as a player with the Boston Celtics, died at 86.
Daniel Kinahan, the alleged leader of an Irish organized crime gang, was extradited to Ireland from Dubai to face allegations that he ran an international drug smuggling and money laundering empire with tentacles that stretched to Britain, the U.S. and Spain.

NBC Selected: Online Shopping, Simplified

Don’t have time for a 12-step skin care routine? Nor do we. That’s why we tested the most popular beauty brands to find the ones actually worth your time (and money). Recently, we ranked the 100 best moisturizers, hunted down the best dermatologist-approved products for rosacea and redness and spoke with experts to find the best hyaluronic acid serums of 2026.

Sign up to The Selection newsletter for hands-on product reviews, expert shopping tips and a look at the best deals and sales each week.

Thanks for reading today’s Morning Rundown. Today’s newsletter was curated for you by Kayla Hayempour. If you’re a fan, please send a link to your family and friends. They can sign up here.