Key Takeaways From This Week’s Primaries, and the Deportees Stuck in ‘No Man’s Land’

0:00Every day your business is late to AI, you fall two days behind, and the competition isn't slowing down. That's why there's NetSuite Next. NetSuite Next puts AI into everything you do. It surfaces custom insights automatically, deploys AI agents to handle routine work, and lets you ask questions conversationally, just like talking to a colleague. AI isn't coming, it's here. And your business needs to be too. If your revenues are seven figures or more, try NetSuite Next free at netsuite.ai.nyt. From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Wednesday, August 12th. Here's what we're covering.

0:46Last night was a very busy night for primary results, as votes came in in dozens of races across six states, setting up some of the final matchups for the midterms. A few key takeaways. For Democrats, this primary season has been defined by battles between its progressive and moderate wings. And that played out again last night in Minnesota. For months now, I have been telling you that this campaign was about the many versus the money. Well, guess what? The many just won. Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, a progressive, won the state's Democratic Senate primary, despite being heavily outspent by the centrist moderate candidate.

1:33Flanagan was backed by left-wing leaders like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, whereas Democratic establishment figures like Hakeem Jeffries and Nancy Pelosi backed her competitor. It was the latest progressive versus moderate showdown in the Midwest just this month after Dr. Abdul El-Sayed rallied the party's left flank to win Michigan's Democratic Senate primary. Meanwhile, in Wisconsin last night, the Democratic primary for governor came down to a nail-biting finish between a moderate and a Democratic socialist. David Crowley, a county executive who was embraced by the more centrist Democratic establishment, ultimately won, but the very close margin showed how much power progressives were able to leverage in a key swing state.

2:20Switching tracks now to the Republican Party. I've been accused of not being a politician. Guilty as charged. In South Carolina last night, Darlene Graham, the sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham, advanced to a Republican primary runoff. The race will be a test of President Trump's hold on the GOP. Trump pushed for her to take her brother's seat after he died suddenly last month, and the president has urged Republicans to back her in November. For the full results of last night's primaries, go to nytimes.com.

3:01Why don't you just introduce yourself to me? Who are you, Roberto? Well, I'm Roberto Mosquera de Peral. I came from Cuba to the United States back in 1980. And after 47 years, last year, I got arrested by ICE. They just locked me up and sent me to Africa. Where are you exactly? Right now, I'm in Swatini, Swatini, Africa. My colleague Nicholas Casey has been reporting on the growing number of people the Trump administration has deported to countries they have no connection to. For more than a year, it's been offering millions of dollars to foreign governments to take immigrants the U.S. was having trouble deporting to their countries of origin.

3:42And it has struck at least 35 of these kinds of deals, known as third-country agreements. Roberto, could you show me around where you are right now? Sure. This is myself. That's my roommate. He's sleeping. I'm going to wake him up. One of the people Nicholas has interviewed is Roberto Mequerra. He arrived in the U.S. from Cuba as a child. He ended up joining a gang in Miami as a teenager and eventually took a plea deal after being charged with attempted murder for a shooting. Authorities wanted to deport him, but Cuba wasn't cooperating with the U.S. So for decades, Mequerra was allowed to stay.

4:20He became a plumber, got married, had four daughters. Then last June, the 59-year-old was arrested by immigration agents and flown across the world to a maximum security prison in the kingdom of Eswatini, one of the countries the U.S. has made an agreement with. You know, I changed my way. I had a job, go to work, take care of my kids, pay bills. And they just took my life, man, you know. Now he's been stuck there for more than a year alongside other deportees from the U.S. in what his lawyer calls a legal black hole. There are no charges against him, no way to appeal his imprisonment, and no sign that he will ever be freed.

5:01He wasn't even allowed to collect his passport or other ID before being deported. How do you feel about that? I mean, how do you feel about this situation that you're in where you don't know if you're going to get out of this place? I don't know, man. I got faith. My daughter's name is Faith. And I got faith that I will see her again. I just want to just go home, man. I hope soon, because time passes, we're getting old. I'm not young anymore, you know? I'm not young anymore. Human rights lawyers Nicholas talked to said Mochera's case is not unique. They said at least two dozen other people have ended up stuck in long-term, potentially indefinite detention like this around the world.

5:42The government of Eswatini did not respond to questions from the Times about this arrangement. In a statement, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said, quote,

6:06Last year, the Food and Drug Administration approved two blood tests for Alzheimer's as a way to help diagnose people with the neurodegenerative disease. They are biomarker tests, meaning they measure levels of proteins that become dysfunctional in the brains of people who have Alzheimer's. They were approved as a tool to help get answers for people experiencing symptoms of cognitive decline. More and more, though, people without memory problems are taking the tests to try and get answers about whether they will develop Alzheimer's in the future. Some get the tests from a doctor, while others are buying them from direct-to-consumer lab testing sites.

6:47But the results are not a guarantee. So what do you do if they tell you you have elevated levels of one of those proteins? For some, it's been devastating, leaving them scared and helpless, because as of now, an effective preventative therapy for Alzheimer's doesn't exist, though clinical trials are in the works. For others, it's been confusing. There can be accuracy issues with the tests, and one neurologist told The Times he sees false positives every week. And then there are those who say the results have been motivating. Some research has suggested that healthy habits like exercising regularly, eating a nutritious diet, not smoking, are associated with a lower risk of cognitive decline.

7:31One woman who took one of the new blood tests after her father died of Alzheimer's told The Times that when she got elevated results, she started making an effort to exercise more and get her will up to date. She said she knows the test isn't a guarantee, but, quote, it gives you a kick in the butt.

7:58And finally, across Europe today, there is eclipse fever. Starting this evening, people in many countries will get a rare glimpse of the moon crossing in front of the sun. And in a swath of Portugal and northern Spain specifically, it will be a total solar eclipse, the first time that's happened on mainland Europe in nearly 30 years. Iceland is also on the so-called path of totality, where the moon will completely block out the sun for what could be up to two incredible minutes. Eclipse diehards, who are called umbraphiles, a word I didn't know until I started this reporting, have been prepping for this for years.

8:36I spoke with a hotel owner who got her first request to book a room for the eclipse 14 years ago. My colleague Amelia Nuremberg is in Iceland, reporting from a remote part of the country, which is not normally on any tourist route, but is expected to have one of the best views of the eclipse. When I arrived here late last week, I would go 15 minutes without seeing another car on the roads. My cell service was cutting in and out. And in the past couple of days, there's been just a hive of activity. I was stuck behind road crews who were re-graveling the main road out to the cliffs where the eclipse will be longest on land here in Iceland.

9:12Telecoms providers have been working to get mobile service up. Every restaurant I spoke to had ordered a ton of extra food. So Iceland is as ready as it can be, but everyone is going to be watching one big variable, the weather. Iceland famously has really fickle weather. and I've spoken to a lot of people who are basically planning to wake up here, check the forecast today and decide where they're going to go to try and see the eclipse without clouds or at minimum without rain. If you are lucky enough to be in the path of totality and you happen to be listening to this, don't forget your eclipse glasses.

9:46Do not look at the sun. It is a really bad idea to look at the sun. Have your glasses ready. Those are the headlines. Today on The Daily, Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman has an in-depth look at the secret plan to sneak President Trump out of Turkey last month and how the White House worked to keep it under wraps. You can listen to that in the New York Times app or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.