Primaries test the Democratic Party and ‘red alert’ after Colombia earthquake: Morning Rundown

Progressive Democrats fight for primary wins in Wisconsin and Minnesota. A military intelligence assessment finds Iran’s priorities have shifted away from nuclear weapons and onto the Strait of Hormuz. And the U.S. experiences its hottest month ever recorded.

Progressives and Trump face major tests in Tuesday’s primaries

A week after a big win for progressive Democrats in Michigan’s Senate primary, the party’s ideological and generational divides are on full display again in another set of primaries, particularly in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

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In Wisconsin, state Rep. Francesca Hong’s campaign for governor is a major swing-state opportunity for the democratic socialist — and potentially a huge general election test for her movement and the broader Democratic Party. Hong, who has established a substantial polling lead, faces Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, whose candidacy intended to unite the establishment wing of the Democratic Party.

In Minnesota, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan faces moderate Rep. Angie Craig in the Democratic primary for the Senate. Flanagan has stressed her support for progressive policies while Craig has touted her 2018 win, which flipped the GOP-held House seat, as evidence that she can keep the seat in Democratic hands.

Meanwhile in South Carolina, Republicans will vote for a new Senate nominee after Sen. Lindsey Graham’s death. President Donald Trump threw his support behind appointed Sen. Darline Graham, the late senator’s sister, but it’s possible the crowded race will head to a runoff if no candidate wins a majority.

Primary races are also set for Vermont and Connecticut. And in Alabama, voters in a handful of House districts will pick their nominees now that a new congressional map is in effect, presenting a test of Trump’s endorsements.

NBC News’ chief data analyst Steve Kornacki dives deeper into the last-minute effort to thwart Francesca Hong in Wisconsin in The Data Dive, a new subscriber-exclusive newsletter on the numbers, trends and data shaping the biggest stories heading into the midterms. Read today’s edition here.

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Iran’s priority shifts to the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. assesses

A U.S. military intelligence assessment says Iran’s strategic priority has shifted from its nuclear program to the Strait of Hormuz, according to two U.S. officials. Trump has also been told by military officials that the U.S. could try to take the strait by force but that it would be long, deadly and very costly campaign, with no certainty the U.S. would win.

Iran and Oman have been negotiating the terms of a potential deal on the strait, with the U.S. on the sidelines. Trump insists that the U.S. Navy controls the strait, but negotiations to open the crucial waterway appear at an impasse, with Iran making new demands in recent days that seem to put a deal out of reach. Those demands include that the U.S. permanently end the war and compensate Iran for war damages, according to Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

More than 100 dead after Colombia earthquake

Search efforts are underway after a powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake shook western Colombia yesterday, killing at least 132 people, injuring at least 700 and leaving many trapped under the rubble. The worst-hit cities include Pereira, Cali, Quibdó, Manizales and Armenia, all of which remain under “red alert,” the nation’s highest-level disaster threat level. The quake’s epicenter was reported in the municipality of San José del Palmar.

Seven airports have suspended operations, and hospitals, roads, transportation, aqueducts, energy and telecommunications have been disrupted in the hardest-hit areas, Colombia’s nonprofit Association of Capital Cities said.

The U.S. just had its hottest month on record

July was a month chock-full of extreme weather events. Now, it has two more distinctions: the hottest July ever recorded and the hottest month in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 132 years of record-keeping, the agency said.

The average temperature in the contiguous U.S. was 76.9 degrees — 3.3 degrees above the 20th-century average — and almost every part of the country experienced heat waves. There was also widespread drought, wildfires and heavy rainfall in nearly every corner of the country.

Staff Pick: A ‘pattern’ that keeps repeating

Many will be familiar with the story of Renee Good, the Minneapolis woman whose killing by an ICE agent elicited fierce protests and reverberated nationally. But many may not know the story of Ruben Martinez, a young man in Texas who was also a U.S. citizen — and who was also killed in his car by an immigration officer a year earlier. Since then, there have been other similar shootings by immigration agents in Chicago, Houston and Maine.

We spoke to Martinez’s mom and other families’ advocates and officials, who described a “pattern” or “playbook” : the way the victims were described by ICE, the way the investigations were conducted and more importantly, what they saw as a lack of accountability over the fatal shootings. — Suzanne Gamboa , NBC News national reporter

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