Wednesday morning news: August 5, 2026

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Elections: Michigan Dem Senate primary » Voters went to the polls in five states Tuesday, including for a Senate primary in Michigan:

SOUND: (Haley chants)

Where Democrat Haley Stevens faced off against Abdul El-Sayed:

SOUND: (Abdul chants)

In a race that some had billed as a battle for the soul of the Democratic party.

Stevens was backed by most establishment Democrats, while the party’s hard-left and socialist wing boosted El-Sayed.

Haley told supporters gathered late last night for what they hoped would be a victory party:

HALEY: We might not know the results until early in the morning, maybe even later tomorrow.

El-Sayed said much the same, but struck a more confident tone.

EL-SAYED: Right now we are on track to vastly outvote the historical numbers that we should have expected.

As of early this morning, with about four-fifths of the votes counted, El-Sayed was leading by about 2 percentage points.

Elections: Other races - partial roundup » Michigan voters also cast ballots to decide both the Democratic and GOP nominees for governor.

Democrats picked Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. Republicans went with Congressman John James, who had President Trump's endorsement.

In Missouri, Congressman Wesley Bell beat former Congresswoman Cori Bush in a Democratic primary rematch. Bush was a member of the left-wing progressive group known as the Squad. Bell unseated her two years ago.

And Kansas voters rejected a Republican push to start electing state Supreme Court justices. 62% said no. Conservatives wanted elections after the court blocked pro-life laws.

Todd Blanche » Acting Attorney General Tod Blanche is one step closer to Senate confirmation after a key vote on Tuesday. WORLD’s Harrison Watters has more.

HARRISON WATTERS: The Senate Judiciary Committee met Tuesday after two Republican holdouts agreed to approve Blanche’s nomination. With John Cornyn and Thom Tillis on board, Blanche’s nomination passed out of committee on a party-line vote, 12 to 10.

It’s now up to the full Senate to vote later this week. But even with Cornyn and Tillis now on board, his confirmation is no sure bet.

Two Republicans have not yet said how they will vote: Lisa Murkowski, and Bill Cassidy. And Susan Collins has said she will vote “no.”

And with a thin GOP majority, and Sen. Mitch McConnell still absent due to medical concerns, Blanche can afford to lose no more than 1 or 2 Republican votes.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Harrison Watters.

Fauci contempt » Senator Rand Paul filed a resolution Tuesday to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate at a hearing last week.

Paul chairs the Homeland Security Committee, which will vote on the resolution tomorrow.

Fauci appeared at that hearing only after being subpoenaed. He then pleaded the Fifth to every question asked.

Paul argued that Fauci's early pardon from former President Joe Biden canceled his Fifth Amendment protection.

Contempt referrals normally go to the full Senate, needing 60 votes to beat a filibuster. Republicans don't have them.

So Paul says he'll send it to the Department of Justice himself. The DOJ then decides whether to prosecute.

Ukraine latest » Russian attacks continue in Ukraine.

SOUND: Sumy attack

Ukrainian authorities say a strike on the city Sumy Tuesday killed an elderly woman and two children. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted amateur video that he said captured a bizarre and frightening Russian drone attack. WORLD's Travis Kircher reports.

SOUND: Drone attack

TRAVIS KIRCHER: The video shows a street vendor selling vegetables in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson when he was hunted down by a drone. The footage appears to show it chasing him around his vehicle, before it strikes his car, wounding him.

SOUND: Drone explosion

VEGETABLE VENDOR: (Speaking in Ukrainian)

The man later calls the encounter terrifying. He says he tried to show the drone that he only had vegetables but it wouldn't terminate its pursuit.

Meantime in Russia, authorities there claim five people are dead after a Ukrainian drone strike Tuesday hit three warehouses just outside of Moscow.

SOUND: Amateur video

Video footage appeared to show flames and black smoke pouring from a warehouse near St. Petersburg. The building belongs to Wildberries, which is Russia's largest online retailer. But Ukraine says it has been providing logistical support to the Russian military.

Reporting for WORLD I'm Travis Kircher.

Ebola update » Ebola has now killed more than 1,700 people in eastern Congo.

Health officials say no outbreak has ever killed people this fast. The West Africa epidemic took eight months to reach a thousand deaths. This one isn't yet three months old.

The outbreak is driven by a strain with no approved vaccine or treatment.

Eighty percent of new cases are turning up outside the contacts health workers are tracking.

The virus has infected more than a hundred health workers. Some are threatening to walk out over unpaid wages.

I'm Kent Covington.

Coming up, cleaning up long-buried munitions. Plus, the last album of an optimistic rocker.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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