The Evening Brief: CIA director's Moscow visit, inflation stays hot, primary results narrow the field

CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow on August 25 in an unannounced visit whose substance remains entirely opaque. A C-17 military transport plane departed Riga at 05:50 GMT, landed at Vnukovo airport around 07:04 GMT, and returned before 17:00 GMT, per flight tracking data reported by the desk. Neither Washington nor Moscow disclosed who Ratcliffe met or what was discussed. British military analysts cited by the desk suggested the visit could signal escalation management, concern over U.S. detainee releases, or Ukraine negotiations, all plausible but unconfirmed. The trip's unannounced nature and high-level designation point to either a genuine shift in diplomatic channels or messaging that normal protocols no longer constrain U.S.-Russia contact.

Economic data released this week offered no relief to consumer sentiment. The Conference Board reported consumer confidence fell to 89.4 in August from 90.2 in July, the lowest level in seven months. Gasoline prices above $4 per gallon tied to the Iran conflict and five years of elevated inflation drive the decline. Separately, the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure, held flat at 3.7% annually in July, matching June and exceeding the 3.6% forecast. Core PCE rose to 3.3%, also above the 3.2% expected. Both remain well above the Fed's 2% target. The dual signals, weakening consumer confidence paired with sticky inflation, leave unclear which pressure will dominate Fed thinking in coming weeks.

August primary elections on Tuesday produced outcomes that clarify some races and tighten others. In South Carolina, voters selected between Darline Graham, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham's sister and current interim senator, and Congressman Ralph Norman in a Republican runoff. Trump attended a rally Friday endorsing Graham; Norman questioned her national security expertise after Graham said during debate she is "not that informed on national security." The winner advances to face Democrat Annie Andrews in a solidly Republican state. In Oklahoma, N'Kiyla Jasmine Thomas, a 31-year-old democratic socialist and Chickasaw Nation member, won the Democratic Senate primary runoff over attorney Jim Priest, spending $57,000 to Priest's $315,000. Thomas will face Republican Rep. Kevin Hern in a state Trump won by 34 points in 2024. In Georgia's 13th Congressional District, former school board chair Everton Blair Jr. won a special election runoff to serve the final months of Rep. David Scott's term before the November general election between state Rep. Jasmine Clark and Republican Jonathan Chavez. In Oklahoma's gubernatorial race, Trump-endorsed Mike Mazzei, a former state senator, defeated Attorney General Gentner Drummond in the Republican runoff. In Alaska, incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan, retired teacher Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., and Democrat Mary Peltola advanced to the general election; federal prosecutors are investigating whether Daniel J. Sullivan's candidacy is part of a conspiracy to confuse voters, though the candidate denies it.

Other developments included the FDA's approval Wednesday of daraxonrasib (Rasonque), the first drug targeting KRAS mutations in pancreatic cancer, which extended median survival to 13.2 months versus 6.6-6.7 months on chemotherapy in a 500-patient trial. A military judge set June 5, 2028, as the trial date for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged architect of the September 11 attacks, rejecting prosecutors' January 2027 proposal and allowing 18 months for pretrial procedure. Three non-law enforcement personnel in the Secret Service's communications office, including communications chief Anthony Guglielmi, were placed on administrative leave pending investigation into alleged misconduct, though the specific nature was not disclosed. Federal Judge Paul Engelmayer rejected Ghislaine Maxwell's bid to overturn her conviction and 20-year sentence, describing her claims as meritless and warning against further appeals.

In memoriam: Dolly Parton, the country music legend who sold over 100 million records and won 11 Grammys, died Tuesday at age 80 after a brief cancer battle at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. Tim Curry, who created Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, died August 2 at age 80 in Los Angeles. Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, whose polka-dot works became a global phenomenon, died August 14 at age 97 in Tokyo. Sean Grayson, convicted of second-degree murder in the 2024 shooting death of Sonya Massey, died Sunday in prison at age 32 after undergoing treatment for colon cancer.