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The Situation Room

Impact of Space Travel; U.S. Military Blockades Strait of Hormuz; Investigation Into Missing Sailor in Bahamas Continues; Trump Attacks Pope Leo. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired April 13, 2026 - 11:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[11:30:02]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's a very liberal person, and he's a man that doesn't believe in stopping crime. He's a man that doesn't think that we should be toying with a country that wants a nuclear weapon so they can blow up the world.

I'm not a fan of Pope Leo.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: All right, let's go live now to CNN Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb, who is traveling with the pope in Algeria.

Christopher, how is the Vatican responding to Trump's comments?

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pope Leo came out during the papal trip on board the plane this morning to journalists, and he said that -- in response to the President Trump's criticism, that he's not going to be intimidated, he's not fearful of the Trump administration and he will keep on speaking out.

But, at the same time, he doesn't want to get into a kind of back-and- forth with President Trump, and nor does he see himself as a politician. He sees his role as a church leader to be a voice of peace, of reconciliation, to try and build bridges.

He's here in Algeria. He's the first pope ever to visit this Muslim- majority country. He's just been at the mosque here in Algiers for a meeting with the leaders of the mosque there.

So, really, what we have seen from Leo, I think, is the emergence of the pope, the first American pope, of course, as a diplomatic and spiritual counterweight to President Trump. And Leo, he has a very different leadership style to the president.

He's softly spoken. He's not kind of teaching headlines at the time. But, clearly, what the pope has been saying has gotten under the skin of the president. And Leo has been, in recent weeks, very outspoken on war, and particularly the war in Iran. And he has -- we have seen over Easter and recently a kind of step

change in how this pope is leading. He is obviously very concerned about the conflict in the Middle East. And he said on the plane today he is continuing to speak, to speak up. And this is what he has to say on board.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE LEO XIV, LEADER OF CATHOLIC CHURCH: I have no fear of the Trump administration, nor speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am called to do, what the church is called to do.

We're not politicians. We don't deal with foreign policy with the same perspective he might understand it, but I do believe in the message of the Gospel, as a peacemaker.

The things that I say are certainly not meant to be attacks on anyone. And the message of the Gospel is very clear. Blessed are the peacemakers. I will not shy away from announcing the message of the Gospel.

I'm inviting all people to look for ways of building bridges of peace and reconciliation, of looking for ways to avoid war at any time that's possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAMB: And, Pamela, I don't think Pope Leo is going to be stopping speaking out.

And I think we can expect to hear more of the messages that we have heard from him recently during this trip to Africa, which is going to span four countries and 11 cities, a major trip for Pope Leo, the longest since his election almost a year ago.

BROWN: Trump also shared, Christopher, this A.I. image online depicting himself as a Christlike figure. You see it right here, healing a sick person with American flags and eagles in the background.

Now, he has since deleted this image, but it's not the first time combining his likeness with religious imagery. What are you hearing from the Vatican about posts like this?

LAMB: Well, I think the Vatican will be not quite sure how to respond. And I can't imagine they're going to sort of directly issue a statement on that.

But I imagine it just played into this, I think -- the difficult relationship between the U.S. president and the Holy See and the pope at this moment in time.

BROWN: All right, Christopher Lamb, traveling with the pope, thank you so much. And just ahead here in THE SITUATION ROOM: An American man is still

in custody in the Bahamas a week after he told authorities there his wife fell off a boat and disappeared -- the crucial decision that could come in the investigation today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:39:39]

BROWN: Breaking news.

President Trump's legal team is responding after a federal judge threw out his defamation lawsuit against "The Wall Street Journal." Last summer, the Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper reported on this lewd birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein bearing Trump's name.

Now, the judge said Trump failed to plausibly allege the newspaper acted with actual malice, but he's giving Trump's team until April 27 to file an amended complaint. And, in a statement, Trump's legal team indicated it plans to do so, saying "Trump will follow the judge's ruling and guidance to refile this powerhouse lawsuit against 'The Wall Street Journal' and all of the other defendants."

[11:40:20]

Well, missing for over a week now, an American woman vanished at sea, and now the clock is ticking for police to continue holding her husband in custody. Brian Hooker told investigators that his wife, Lynette, an experienced sailor, fell overboard and disappeared into rough waters on April 4.

His attorney says he was taken into custody for questioning on Wednesday. And, today, police could decide whether to charge him or set him free.

Let's go live now to CNN national correspondent Dianne Gallagher with the very latest.

Dianne, investigators requested another interview with him today. What comes next?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

And, Pamela, we got confirmation this morning that police have already started interviewing Brian Hooker again today. Now, it does seem like the hours ahead are critical, but I want to be frank with you. There is still a lot that we do not know here.

He has been in custody since Wednesday of last week. This is in connection with his wife Lynette's disappearance, of course. And he has not been charged with anything. Hooker has maintained his innocence the entire time and continues to do so through his attorney.

But, by this evening, authorities could decide that they are going to either release him or charge him. Now, it is still unclear if there is something else under Bahamian law that they could do to keep him longer without charging him with something in this situation.

Officials didn't specify exactly what led them to take Brian Hooker into custody in connection with her disappearance, but a Royal Bahamian Police Force official did tell Reuters that they -- quote -- "had some probable cause."

Now, his attorney has said back on Friday that questioning at that point has only focused on the couple's personal life and not so much on evidence or their devices or anything found on the boat. Again, her family has said that all they want is the truth. They would just like some answers and they would like for Lynette to be found.

Pamela, the U.S. Coast Guard is still conducting a criminal investigation that remains ongoing.

BROWN: All right, Dianne Gallagher, bringing us the latest, thanks so much.

And we're following breaking news this morning. The U.S. military is blocking ships from accessing Iranian ports.

With us now is CNN national security analyst Beth Sanner.

Good morning to you.

So, according to Iran's Fars News, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned Sunday that any military vessels attempting to approach the Strait of Hormuz -- quote -- "will be dealt with harshly and decisively."

How do you see this playing out now that the blockade is in effect?

BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, it didn't happen. We did have two U.S. Naval ships that briefly went through the strait and then turned around and appeared to have gone back to the Gulf of Oman.

So the IRGC threatened them. We shot down a drone, and that was that. But now we're at a totally new phase of the war. We're at a phase of the war where this -- these huge kinds of bombing runs and everything are over. And now we're focused on this blockade.

And so this is going to be a complicated mission. And it certainly is not without the risk that Iran will retaliate. It depends on how we carry it out and what this looks like.

BROWN: Who has more leverage right now when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz, which is really at the center of this?

SANNER: Absolutely.

I mean, I think this is -- I feel like this is a game of chicken between the United States and Iran over who is going to blink first in terms of opening the strait. And, to me, I think that Iran has an enormous amount of leverage here because, in terms of just what are they going to do? If this is a game of chicken that is designed to create more leverage

on Iran so they will capitulate on the nuclear program, I think we're barking up the wrong tree. If this is a game of chicken that eventually turns into an international coalition that establishes, based on international law, that there needs to be freedom of navigation in the strait, then, that, we might be able to win.

But we're going to lose, I think, in terms of, do oil prices hurt us more or does Iran feel hurt more by not being able to export more oil at this stage? I think we're going to feel that pain faster.

BROWN: And if there are attacks against the U.S. given this blockade, I mean, what would you expect from NATO, given just all the sensitivities with this war in NATO?

SANNER: Yes, I mean, I think that if there are Iranian attacks, it's going to be in retaliation for something that we do. I don't really believe that Iran will necessarily do a preemptive strike, any kind of attack on an American ship or facility.

[11:45:10]

I could be wrong about that. But NATO at this point, I think, is in a position where they are putting together some kind of coalition that would be put in place after hostilities end. And I don't think that just another strike, which many have occurred -- I mean, we lost six U.S. service members in Kuwait.

BROWN: Right.

SANNER: And so another round of that is not probably going to change NATO's position.

BROWN: What about the talks? Because, as we know, they fell apart over the weekend.

SANNER: Yes.

BROWN: Do you see them resuming at all? President Trump says he doesn't care at this point.

(LAUGHTER)

SANNER: I mean, I think that a lot of this talk back and forth is partly to calm the markets that there's a chance that we'll have negotiations.

But for negotiations to actually move forward again, the United States and Iran have to come off their two quite maximalist positions. And what seems to have happened in Islamabad is that Vice President Vance was trying to compromise a little bit.

You could hear that in his talk about, well, maybe you can just accept that you have the right, but not enrich. And President Trump, I think, intervened and said, no, zero enrichment and zero amount of enriched uranium will be allowed in Iran. Those are very maximalist positions. And I think that, if he sticks to that, there won't be a deal.

BROWN: But do you think he could be saying that just to -- because often you go with maximalist positions, you know, and then...

SANNER: Yes, he could be.

And I think that there is a potential deal on the nuclear side.

BROWN: Yes.

SANNER: I think it's worth a little bit less than the strait.

And, certainly, Iran doesn't intend to capitulate on being able to control the strait in some way, shape or form. They have realized that that's a more important lever, a more important deterrent to them than a nuclear program that wasn't anywhere near a bomb when we started this war.

BROWN: All right, Beth Sanner, thank you, as always, for your analysis.

We will be right back.

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[11:51:24]

BROWN: Well, right now, NASA is poring through troves of data from its Artemis II mission after the crew's safe arrival back on Earth. Scientists hope to learn a lot from the historic journey about how the human body handles being in deep space.

CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is back to answer your questions about their time in space.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I got to tell you, Pamela, so many questions coming in about Artemis II.

I have spent a lot of time with the NASA doctors over the years. I find this to be a topic of endless fascination, just the granular detail, all the planning they have to do for a mission like this from a health perspective.

And, certainly, sleep is a big part of this. And we got this question from a grandma in Canada who says she's writing on behalf of her 7- year-old grandson, Cammie: "Wondering about sleep bedtimes. Is there a schedule, and do they feel rested?"

I love that a 7-year-old's writing in for -- with questions as well.

So, first of all, yes, sleep is a huge part of the planning that goes into a mission like this. And they really want these astronauts to get eight hours of sleep, something that most people don't get back here on Earth. But that's the goal. So there's all sorts of planning that goes into this. We have these

images of what the capsule looks like. It's a really small space. These sleeping bags, as you see there, they're attached to the wall. Obviously, they're in a microgravity environment.

So, they're floating, but they do keep the sleeping bags attached to the wall. You have noise, light, vibration, circadian rhythms, all these things to interfere with sleep. And the first particular night of the mission, they had to basically break up the sleep into two separate chunks because they had to wake up for some mission-critical activities, including firing the rockets toward the moon.

But, other than that, Cammie, they're basically getting eight hours of sleep. They're told when to go to bed, when to wake up, and they wear these wrist monitors to basically monitor them in terms of their movement and their sleep while they're up there on the capsule.

Pamela, got another question. This one's from Brenda in New Jersey. He writes: "Since water is heavy, I wonder how they get this essential nutrient up there with them. How do they continue to keep up with their daily intake amount to avoid dehydration?"

This is one of the most challenging things, because water is heavy. They're sending up four tanks that are 125 pounds each. And take a look at these images here. You have these lines then from those tanks to basically a dispenser, which sits inside the capsule.

They use this to get drinking water, but also to rehydrate their food. Much of the food goes up freeze-dried in order to save space, and then they rehydrate it when they're back up there on the capsule. So, this is all meticulously planned out in terms of the hydration needs.

They do take some other beverages up, like coffee and green tea and lemonade and I think a couple different flavors of smoothies, but mostly it's these tanks that really provide that crucial hydration.

And I think we got one more question. This is from Nosa in Texas, and is saying, hey, "Can you explain more on the hot sauce?"

This is, again, a really fascinating thing. They send up five different types of hot sauces. And just consider that for a second; 23,000 miles away from Earth, sophisticated mission limited space, they send hot sauce.

And part of the reason why is they know, in a microgravity environment, fluid shifts start to affect all these different parts of your body. They affect your face. You get puffy. They affect your vision, but they also affect your taste buds and your sinuses. So, your taste buds make it harder to taste, but also you feel congested, harder to smell; 80 percent of taste comes from smell.

[11:55:05]

They need to eat, these astronauts. And one of the ways that they actually can help with that is to provide these different hot sauces. So that's where the hot sauces come from. I will point out -- I think we have some video of this, Pamela -- back

in 2023, this particular crew did taste testing at NASA three years ago, picking foods that they like, picking foods that they would like to send up. That's the level of meticulous planning that goes into something like this -- Pamela.

BROWN: Incredible.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you so much, as always.

And thank you all for joining us this morning.

"INSIDE POLITICS" with our friend and colleague Dana Bash starts after a quick break.