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The Situation Room

Met Gala; Supreme Court Restores Mail Access to Abortion Pill; Chaos in Strait of Hormuz?; Possible Hantavirus Outbreak on Cruise Ship; Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired May 04, 2026 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And that is the -- somebody who's receiving treatment in South Africa.

This was supposed to be a beautiful 35-day journey, started off in Ushuaia. That is in the southern tip of Argentina, often called the end of the world. They were supposed to go to some of the most remote islands of the Atlantic Ocean. Instead, it's ending in this nightmare for so many people.

I want you to listen to this one Boston-based travel blogger who issued this tearful message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE ROSMARIN, PASSENGER: We're not just a story. We're not just headlines. We're people, people with families, with lives, with people waiting for us at home. There's a lot of uncertainty. And that's the hardest part.

All we want right now is to feel safe, to have clarity, and to get home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADOWO: That travel content creator has been to more than 100 countries. So you can see how scary this is even for people who are well-traveled.

Hantavirus does not usually transmit from human to human, except the Andes version, which is primarily found in Chile and Argentina, where this ship originated. That World Health Organization saying that there is no cause for fear to the wider public. There's no need for travel restrictions or for any other kind of concerns at this stage.

But these precautions that the authorities in Cape Verde are basically adhering to appears to be similar to what happened at the beginning of the pandemic, when cruise ship passengers suspected to be having COVID were essentially blocked from getting off their ships until they'd been properly quarantined or checked, Pamela.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Wow.

Larry, thank you so much. I feel so bad for all those passengers. Appreciate your report.

And just ahead here in THE SITUATION ROOM: conflicting claims from Washington and Tehran this morning, as the U.S. begins guiding ships through the critical Strait of Hormuz.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:36:13]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: This morning, we have some breaking news on the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's choke hold on the critical oil shipping route may be loosening.

The U.S. military's Central Command is reporting -- and I'm quoting now -- "Two U.S.-flagged merchant vessels have successfully transited through the Strait of Hormuz and are safely headed on their journey" -- end quote.

Tehran calls the claim outright lies. The reported transit of the two ships comes just hours after President Trump announced that the U.S. military would -- quote -- "guide" stranded vessels through the waterway.

Joining us now is Karim Sadjadpour. He's a CNN global affairs analyst, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Also with us is CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger of "The New York Times."

Karim, earlier today, Iran claimed to have struck a U.S. warship with two missiles. The U.S. military Central Command flatly denied that, denied it publicly. How volatile is this confrontation that's still ongoing over the Strait of Hormuz?

KARIM SADJADPOUR, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: It's very volatile, Wolf.

And in addition to the potential threats against U.S. ships, there have been Iranian attempts lobbing drones at UAE ships and UAE oil facilities as well. So that is the big question, how Iran chooses to respond. Does it choose to attack other oil tankers passing through or U.S. ships?

And I think ultimately, Wolf, this is not -- even if some of these vessels are able to be escorted through by the U.S. military, this is not a permanent fix. This is a temporary fix.

BLITZER: Yes, still a lot of tension going on.

David, President Trump's Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, spoke about this mission earlier this morning, and he stressed the importance of reopening this shipping route. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: They're reduced. Their navy is not a navy anymore. It's a band of pirates. They are trying to cut off international freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, and the U.S. is opening that up.

This is a humanitarian effort. It's not only energy that's in there. It's fertilizer. It's food transport. It's LPG for the more than the billion-plus people in India use to cook. So we are saying the Iranians do not have control of the strait. We have absolute control of the strait.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The treasury secretary repeats the administration's claim that reopening the strait is a humanitarian effort.

David, given how vital this shipping route is -- and we all know it's very vital -- do you believe that's a valid argument?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Certainly, it's valid to say it's a humanitarian effort, but it's also a military effort and a political effort.

And let me just lay out those two. First of all, there have been two blockades so far. There's been the U.S. blockade on Iranian shipping going in and out of Iranian ship -- ports, and then there's been this Iranian blockade. And what the U.S. is trying to do here is show the Iranians that they can break the Iranian blockade, even if Iran can't break the American blockade.

So this is for negotiating position. But the U.S. is also being careful. This is not an escort of ships going through, which would leave the U.S. more vulnerable. They say they're guiding them through.

But also remember that we are now just nine days away from President Trump landing in Beijing. And no one's more concerned about the closing of the strait than Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader. And so I think the president really wants to be able to demonstrate that he's getting this open and that that oil, much of which, most of which is headed to China, is actually on the way.

[11:40:11]

BLITZER: Yes, that's an important point.

Karim, we're just learning that the United Arab Emirates, the UAE, the Defense Ministry there is saying that it intercepted three missiles from Iran over the country's territorial waters, while a fourth missile fell into the sea. These are the first missile interceptions since the UAE declared its airspace free of threats back on April 9, coinciding with the start of the U.S.-Iran cease-fire.

What do you make of this latest development?

SADJADPOUR: Well, for the United Arab Emirates, this is deeply concerning.

The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United Arab Emirates have two totally different business models. The UAE wants to be a global hub for transportation, logistics, finance, technology. To achieve those things, it requires stability.

About 90 percent of its residents are non-Emirati. And so its business model, its success is contingent on regional stability. Iran is the opposite. Iran benefits when there's instability, spike in oil prices, the countries that Iran was wielding influence over the years in the Arab world, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Gaza, failing states.

So Iran thrives where there's instability. And so, as we all know, instability is a lot easier to achieve than stability. And so, for the United Arab Emirates, they rely on U.S. security to help stabilize the region. And they definitely do not want to return to conflict.

BLITZER: David, would you expect a meaningful restoration of traffic through the strait? After all, you not only have Iranian mines in the waterway. You have Iran claiming this is a violation of the cease- fire.

SANGER: Yes, so I don't think that you're going to see this come back to anything close to what we considered normal prior to the U.S.- Israeli attack on Iran on February 28.

At that time, you were getting 130, 140 ships going through the strait every day. So, while it's a good sign that two American-flagged ships made it through today, that's no place close to reopening it. And what the U.S. has got to do is create enough confidence in the world markets that ship owners and ship captains are willing to take that risk.

And doing that without the U.S. literally at your side, I think, is going to be a little bit tough. Now, of course, if the Iranians do strike those ships, it's going to violate the cease-fire and could well be the beginning of a reopening of open hostilities.

And that's another reason the UAE attack is looking so concerning.

BLITZER: Yes, very concerning, indeed.

All right, David Sanger, thank you. Karim Sadjadpour, thanks to you as well -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Wolf, coming up, we have more on our breaking news.

The Supreme Court is restoring mail access for a widely used abortion drug. What we know about the justices' temporary order -- after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:47:49]

BROWN: We have breaking news.

The Supreme Court has restored access for now to the abortion pill mifepristone through telehealth or by mail. A lower court ruled last week that -- ruling reinstated a requirement that the drug must be obtained in person. So let's bring in CNN chief Supreme Court analyst Joan Biskupic to

learn a little bit more about this.

So, this was an emergency appeal of a lower court ruling. What happens now, Joan?

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN CHIEF SUPREME COURT ANALYST: OK.

Well, essentially, the Supreme Court, through what's known as an administrative stay, has bought everyone about a week of time. After the Friday night ruling by a Southwest Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that essentially stopped the availability of mifepristone, the abortion pill, by mail without an in-person visit, kind of threw everything into confusion and chaos, that order at least is on hold right now.

And the court has said, let's get some breathing space here. We will get -- the administration in Louisiana can come now and give their side of why that order should take effect.

The manufacturers of the pill had come in right away on Friday night and said, put that ruling on hold, because it's so confusing for women, for physicians, for states that ban abortion to know what to do, because, as you know, Pam, right now, nationwide, most abortions are done through the abortion pill mifepristone, not through surgery anymore.

And a substantial portion of those come by mail and in states that may have banned abortion like Louisiana. And let's just remind people where this all started. In 2022, the Supreme Court reversed nearly 50 years of abortion rights law and overturned Roe v. Wade.

And, as a result, several states, including Louisiana, banned abortion. And pregnant women in those states and elsewhere necessarily sort of increased their interest in getting -- if they needed to have an abortion, to getting access to the abortion pill.

Meanwhile, after that ruling, the Food and Drug Administration had loosened the requirements for availability of the pill and said that you can get it by mail, you can get it online, you don't need an in- person doctor visit. Some of those restrictions had been loosened during COVID, but then they were formally lifted in 2023.

[11:50:19]

And what Louisiana has done here is come in and sued the Food and Drug Administration and sue manufacturers of the pill to say that essentially the state's interests are being harmed because it has a ban. And also it says that, if there are ever problems with mifepristone, it has to pay for them.

But this drug has been widely found to be safe. So this is a dilemma for a very conservative Supreme Court, the Supreme Court that had overturned Roe v. Wade. And we will -- at least we know that there will be a week of filings coming in from both sides and then probably, sometime after Monday, a week from now at this time, we will see an order from the court in terms of, will they hold oral arguments?

Will they have a more permanent temporary hold on this order? Or will it be allowed to go through and major restrictions on the abortion pill take effect?

BROWN: All right, Joan Biskupic, thank you so much -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Coming up: The Met Gala is one of the world's most exclusive parties and fashion shows, but there's more drama in mix this year. Why Jeff and Lauren Bezos are causing such a stir.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:55:55]

BLITZER: Tonight is fashion's biggest night, with the Met Gala just hours away. This year's theme is costume art with a dress code of fashion as art for the A-list guests.

The annual fund-raiser is no stranger to controversy. And tonight's sponsors have already inspired calls for a boycott.

BROWN: All right, joining us now is TV host and entertainment journalist Segun Oduolowu.

Great to have you on, Segun.

So, Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren, are tonight's main benefactors and the honorary co-chairs. Tell us more about how that's being received in the world of fashion and beyond.

SEGUN ODUOLOWU, JOURNALIST AND MEDIA PERSONALITY: Yes, thank you for having me.

It is the Met Gala delivered to you by Amazon. And it is not going over well. There are posters in and around New York and by the museum themselves asking people to boycott the Met Gala by Bezos.

And this is coming on the heels of Lauren and Jeff putting up close to $20 million, some say it's in the range between $10 million to $20 million, to sponsor this event while firing or letting go 14,000 people in 2025, another 16,000 people as of January 2026, to bring the number to 30,000 people that Amazon has made redundant.

Yet the founder of Amazon apparently has the money to sponsor an event where rich people dress up, look super fancy with tickets costing $100,000, up $25,000 from last year. So the level of tone-deafness seems to be surrounding this event with Mayor Mamdani not attending.

BROWN: Yes, $100,000, that is a hefty price there, right?

And this event follows the release of "The Devil Wears Prada 2," which is bringing in big bucks at the box office. Meryl Streep's character, Miranda Priestly, is famously inspired by former "Vogue" editor Anna Wintour.

And, apparently-, there's this character in the sequel that parallels a certain billionaire couple, right, Segun?

ODUOLOWU: Yes, there is. And that certain billionaire couple, we are seeing represented, art imitating life.

And I know I dropped a lot of numbers, but our viewers need to understand, fashion and finance go hand in hand. "The Devil Wears Prada" has posted about $230 million at the box office worldwide, over $75 million stateside alone.

So this world of fashion and beauty and finance, as they say in the movie, kind of governs everything we do, the suits, the blouses, everything we wear. It is living art. I understand the idea of the Met Gala, but the price tag is such a hefty one that I understand why people are giving a little pushback with what's going along in the world right now.

BLITZER: Yes, $100,000 a ticket, that's a lot of money.

Segun, the New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, says he will not be attending. Donald Trump has also been permanently banned. Who else are we not expected to see tonight?

ODUOLOWU: Well, you won't see Jennifer Aniston or the cast of "Friends." You probably won't see any of the members of One Direction. Donald Trump has been permanently banned, as you mentioned.

And the idea of stalking politics at the event is something that Anna Wintour prohibits. But the co-chairs this year, in Nicole Kidman, Beyonce and Serena Williams, kind of opens up for a lot of who will be there.

I think you will see some of the usual suspects gracing the red carpet, the Rihannas, hope -- the Zendayas, the -- the people that have made it such a coming-out party for intense and incredible -- but the snub list or the people that say they're not going, you won't see the Billie Eilishes of the world, who don't find themselves to be comfortable in this room.

[12:00:06]

So, there -- it's a mixed bag, but if you want to be there, it's still the hottest ticket in New York. So it's a kind of -- you will see a lot, but the ones that don't want to go, they have their reasons.

BLITZER: Yes, good point.

BROWN: All right, Segun, thank you so much.

BLITZER: And, to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning.

BROWN: "INSIDE POLITICS" with our friend and colleague Dana Bash starts now.