00:00This morning, the loss of a legend.
00:03Dolly Parton dies at 80, the country music star who became something so much bigger.
00:08Plus, a big win for President Trump in South Carolina.
00:12Darlene Graham beats Ralph Norman for the Republican Senate nomination after Trump put his political weight behind her.
00:18And could the Kennedy Center actually come down?
00:22The Trump administration raises the possibility of demolition as its fight over the building heads back to court.
00:31The stories that matter, clear and credible, from across the country to around the world.
00:36These are your unbiased updates from Straight Arrow.
00:42Good morning, everyone. I'm Simone del Rosario.
00:45For more than 60 years, Dolly Parton built a career that reached well beyond country music.
00:50Her fans crossed generations, politics, and just about every other divide, something few entertainers ever managed to do.
00:59Well, this morning, we're remembering a woman who became a global superstar without ever taking herself too seriously.
01:06She died peacefully Tuesday in Nashville.
01:09Her publicist says Parton died after a brief battle with cancer.
01:14She grew up one of 12 children in the Tennessee mountains, then went on to sell more than 100 million
01:20records, build a business empire, and write some of country music's most enduring songs.
01:26She was always in on the jokes, too.
01:29That big hair, the rhinestones, the figure.
01:32As Dolly once put it, it costs a lot of money to look this cheap.
01:36Parton openly supported the LGBTQ community and marriage equality, but she mostly stayed out of partisan politics.
01:43I have too many fans on both sides of the fence, she once said.
01:47She had also been offered the Presidential Medal of Freedom by both Presidents Biden and Trump.
01:52Her husband, Carl Dean, died in 2025 after nearly 60 years of marriage.
01:58Dolly spoke openly about how difficult it was without him.
02:02But just last week, she was still talking about what's next, telling People magazine,
02:08Even though I'm still healing, I'm still working, I still have so many things I want to achieve, so I'm
02:14going to keep on working as long as I can to see everything come to life.
02:19Less than 10 days ago, Dolly accepted the Academy of Country Music's Poets Award and talked about what songwriting had
02:25meant to her.
02:26I've been able to do many things throughout my life, but at my core, songwriting has always been the most
02:33important part of who I am creatively.
02:37Every dream I ever had, and all the dreams that I've been able to see come true in life, well,
02:43they all started with a song.
02:45Songwriting has been my therapy.
02:48Songwriting has been my release, my joy.
02:52Songwriting has been a gift from God that has allowed me to touch people with words and music.
02:59On Tuesday, people lined up in Nashville to sign a book of condolences.
03:04Others left flowers at her star in Hollywood.
03:07Dolly Parton was 80 years old, and right to the end, she was still writing, still working, still giving, and
03:14still looking ahead.
03:16Now to some of the other stories making the news this morning.
03:19U.S. Senator Darlene Graham has won the Republican nomination to keep her late brother's South Carolina Senate seat.
03:26Graham defeated Congressman Ralph Norman in Tuesday's runoff after neither one the 50% needed to take the nod outright
03:33earlier this month.
03:35Graham had never held political office before Governor Henry McMaster appointed her to serve out the remainder of her brother
03:42Lindsey Graham's term following his death last month.
03:45She's won the backing of President Trump, who campaigned for her in South Carolina last week.
03:50Now with Norman conceding, Graham quickly turns her attention to November.
03:55We cannot and must not allow Democratic Socialists to gain a foothold in our conservative state like South Carolina.
04:05Liberals believe if they can defeat conservatives in South Carolina, then they can defeat us anywhere.
04:12Once again, they're coming for us, and the South Carolina values we hold dear.
04:17Graham will face Democratic nominee Annie Andrews in the general, and Trump's endorsement paid off in another runoff Tuesday night.
04:25Former state senator and Tulsa businessman Mike Mazai narrowly won the Republican nomination for Oklahoma governor.
04:31Trump backed Mazai and attacked his opponent, State Attorney General Gettner Drummond, in the closing days of the race.
04:39Mazai also poured millions of his own money into his campaign.
04:43He'll face Democratic State Representative Cindy Munson in November.
04:47And in Alaska, yes, there will be two Dan Sullivans in the November Senate ballot.
04:53Former teacher Dan J. Sullivan has advanced to face Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan, Democrat Mary Peltola, and one other
05:02candidate not named Dan in the general election.
05:05Now some news out of the strait.
05:07Oman's foreign minister said Tuesday he's, quote, hopeful a temporary route will be announced soon after a meeting with Iran.
05:15In a joint statement, Iran and Oman said the potential agreement would cover a specific shipping route with a plan
05:21to clear dangerous mines.
05:23But Iran's deputy foreign minister said Wednesday the U.S. must lift its blockade, quote, before any action is taken
05:31to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
05:33President Trump, meanwhile, is warning Iran against putting down any new mines.
05:38He says the U.S. will immediately and systematically destroy any Iranian ships caught doing it.
05:45Trump says the U.S. has cleared the mines already there and that Space Force is now watching the Strait
05:51for any attempt to put down more.
05:54The Trump administration is now warning the Kennedy Center could eventually have to be demolished.
06:00That's if it can't move forward with a two-year closure for extensive renovations.
06:04The warning came in a new court filing with Justice Department lawyers describing the building as dangerously dilapidated and caught
06:12in what they call a financial and structural death spiral.
06:15The administration argues the two-year closure is needed to complete the fixes.
06:20Quote, without those efforts, the center will deteriorate further into an unsafe, decrepit structure that will be required to be
06:29taken down.
06:29Now, there are no official plans to demolish the Kennedy Center.
06:34The filing is part of an ongoing court fight over the center, including the board's latest effort to put Trump's
06:40name back on the building.
06:42Democratic Congresswoman Joyce Beattie, who's challenging those changes, calls the filing a not-so-subtle threat to tear down the
06:50center if Trump doesn't get his way.
06:52A federal judge is set to hear arguments in the case Thursday.
06:55For now, the administration has agreed to pause its latest plan changes to the building until September 8th.
07:02Well, three Secret Service employees are off the job this morning, but the agency isn't saying what they're accused of
07:08doing.
07:08One of them is the agency's chief of communications, Anthony Guglielmi.
07:13The other two also work in the communications office.
07:16All three have been placed on administrative leave while the Secret Service investigates what it calls potential misconduct.
07:23Their security clearances and access to work devices have also been revoked, standard practice, during an internal investigation.
07:31The agency has not said what triggered the probe, but it comes weeks after a separate investigation into a member
07:38of Vice President J.D. Vance's security detail over allegations of leaking sensitive information.
07:44Well, finally this morning, one week after becoming the first French woman to walk in space, Sophie Adeno was back
07:51outside the International Space Station, this time to finish the job.
07:55Adeno and NASA astronaut Anil Minan spent six and a half hours outside the station Tuesday, replacing a failed communications
08:04antenna.
08:05The dish provides a high-speed data link between the station and mission control in Houston.
08:11Now, the pair tried to finish the job during Adeno's first spacewalk last week, but stubborn bolts and connectors slowed
08:18them down.
08:19They managed to remove the failed antenna, but ran out of time before they could install the new one.
08:24So Tuesday, they went back out.
08:26This time, Minan and Adeno retrieved the spare antenna, installed it, and hooked it up to the station's power and
08:33data systems.
08:34They also moved the failed unit to a storage platform, and early checks show the new antenna is working, restoring
08:41the backup the station lost when the old one failed.
08:44Tuesday's spacewalk was Adeno's second and Minan's third.
08:49Well, Unbiased Updates is the fastest, fairest few minutes of news.
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09:03Well, those are your Unbiased Updates for this Wednesday.
09:06For all of us here at Straight Arrow, I'm Simone Del Rosario, wearing rhinestones today to remember Dolly.
09:11Have a great day, and we'll see you back here tomorrow.
