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The Situation Room

Soon: Trump Meets with Iraqi Prime Minister; Supreme Court Justices Make Rare Appearance on Capitol Hill; Trump Replaces 20 Percent Strait of Hormuz Fee with Investment Deals. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired July 14, 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]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: -- American people to know about you and the other sailors on board this ship and the work you're doing.

BOATSWAIN'S MATE SEAMAN BRYAN CAMACHO, U.S. NAVY: Don't be scared. You're part of the best Navy and you're going to be safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: You know, these ships, as you know, Pamela, and you were aboard the aircraft carrier, the destroyer, they've been at sea now for months, sometimes almost a year, and that seems to have taken a toll on some of these very young crew members.

BROWN: One thing I learned just from going on that ship for several days and talking to so many different sailors and crew members, it's not a monolith. The experience can really vary depending on the person. And some of the service members, they haven't even met their kids who have been born during their time at sea. Here's what some of the crew members and those young sailors told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. CMDR. JOE CAPSTAFF, U.S. NAVY: It's something hard. I think there are some resources now that help out a lot. I think the Wi-Fi has been huge.

BROWN: Yes.

CAPSTAFF: Obviously, it's tough. We're doing operational stuff. You've got to kind of bring that down. But being able to text my wife every day, get pictures, it's been huge.

BROWN: Keeps your spirits up?

CAPSTAFF: My first deployment was during COVID. So, all we had -- I was on the Nimitz, all we had was a POTS line, a phone, and that was it. So, it's definitely been a huge help being able to actually get pictures of Summer, see her. Sometimes if it's good enough, we can FaceTime. So, that's definitely helped a lot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I miss both my daughters, Everly and Eloise. Daughter turned four while I was out here. And I have an almost two- year-old back home. So, I miss both of them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I miss my family, and I'm ready to go home.

BROWN: You're ready to go home?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like -- I don't know. It's like, you know when you wake up and you're like, this is like another day. It's like, oh, my God, again, you know?

BROWN: Does that feel like Groundhog Day?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, Groundhog Day literally every single day. Same thing every day. Yes.

BROWN: You were saying, Zachary, that you are enjoying deployment. Tell us more about that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. So, you know, just making a difference out here. I mean, you know, like really learning about yourself, especially, you know, being on a ship. No other distractions, but, you know, really focusing on what you love to do. This is what I love to do. I love being on the deck plates.

BROWN: You do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, absolutely.

BROWN: Do you think you're going to be in the Navy for a while?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, 100 percent.

BROWN: Really? How long do you think?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, people say, you know, 20 and retire, but I say, you know, what's another 10 years to help, you know, junior sailors out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wish I could tell you it's a blast, but it's pretty repetitive work. Mostly mopping up water off the hangar bay and scrubbing paddies. But, you know, everyone has to do their part. So, someone has to do that job, you know. The last time I was off the ship on dry land would have been Guam in December. So, 2026, unfortunately, I was lib risk in Dukum. So, that was off the table for me.

So, it's hard, you know, it's hard in your mental state, you know, to see for eight months without being on dry land. It takes a toll on you. You have to mind your P's and Q's even when the days are long and you're not running a lot of sleep. Sometimes the sleep is rough out here. You try to rest as much as you can.

I'm happy to be here as long as I'm needed, you know. I'm happy to be part of something greater than myself, happy to be a part of this team. And I hope one day we can make it back. I just want to serve my country. I want to make a sacrifice.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BROWN: And we want to just thank all of those sailors, all of those crew members for sharing their stories and really opening up to us to help us better understand the sacrifices and the hard work.

BLITZER: I give them so much credit. And it was really special, I'm sure, not only to see these young men, but a lot of young women serving on board as well.

BROWN: Absolutely. And you saw that one young woman. There were so many women and men in their 18, 19, 20s, you know, very young, serving different roles as we saw. And, Wolf, there's more reporting. If you want to see more of my exclusive reporting from the Navy ships in the Arabian Sea, you can scan the QR code on your screen right here. And we'll be right back. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:35:00]

BLITZER: We're keeping a very close eye on the White House right now. Just a few moments ago, President Trump warmly welcomed Iraq's new Prime Minister, Ali al-Zaidi, to the White House. There you see them walking in to the West Wing of the White House. They're going to be going into the Oval Office for a formal meeting, making statements and presumably answering reporters' questions. At the same time, we're standing by for live coverage of that.

BROWN: Also happening now, Wolf, a Miami federal judge, says President Trump's private lawsuit against the IRS was brought in bad faith to, quote, "manipulate the judicial process." The president settled that multibillion-dollar lawsuit back in May over the leak of his tax returns, and the judge is also ordering sanctions against the attorneys involved in the deal, referring them for potential disciplinary action for filing the original lawsuit.

And 12 states are suing to block Paramount's $81 billion acquisition of CNN's parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery. The states argue that combining those two studios would be an illegal monopoly and hurt competition. Paramount argues the deal would promote competition and help consumers. If a judge agrees and imposes a restraining order, Paramount would be blocked from completing the deal for the time being. The company almost would certainly appeal.

A U.S. appeals court has revived hundreds of private lawsuits against Tylenol, that link using the drug during pregnancy and autism and ADHD. The judge says that lower court improperly excluded expert testimony from doctors who tied the use of the drug to those disorders.

[11:40:00]

However, there is still no firm scientific evidence of a link, and most doctors consider Tylenol to be the safest option for treating pain and fever during pregnancy. Wolf.

BLITZER: And we're also following other breaking news up on Capitol Hill. Two U.S. Supreme Court justices are making a very rare appearance before Congress. Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan are testifying about a request for millions, millions more dollars for security amid growing threats to the nine justices and their families.

Back in 2022, a California man was arrested in Justice Brett Kavanaugh's neighborhood with a bag full of weapons. He told police he intended to assassinate Kavanaugh because he was angry that the court was about to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Let's go to CNN's chief Supreme Court analyst, Joan Biskupic, who's here with me in the Situation Room. This was very powerful, very dramatic, what we heard from these justices about the heightened concern that all of the nine justices and their families have about threats and their security.

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN CHIEF SUPREME COURT ANALYST: That's right, Wolf. In fact, this is a wonderful hearing to see up close what the justices' concerns are. You know, they do not come to the Hill much. The last time they were here was in 2019, and having Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan explain some of the procedures at the court and also some of the major security issues. They are asking for more than $14 million more dollars to their $228 million appropriation for security issues, for their personal security at their homes, for cybersecurity, and for a new screening center at the court.

But let's hear first from Justice Amy Coney Barrett because she has been personally affected by some of the threats that have really hit home for her. She talked about having to explain to her children some issues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTICE AMY CONEY BARRETT, SUPREME COURT: When threats to my life were particularly intense a few years ago, around the time of the Dobbs leak, my security detail sent me home with a bulletproof vest, and I carried it into my house, put it into my bedroom, dropped it down on a table, turned around, and my 12-year-old son was standing in the doorway of my bedroom, and he wanted to know what it was and why I had it, and I didn't know how to respond because maybe I lack imagination, but I didn't expect that performing this service was going to put me in the position of explaining to my children what a bulletproof vest was and why I had to wear one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BISKUPIC: That was the first time we had actually heard that from her mouth because they had not -- she also talked about an incident, a swatting incident, just a few weeks ago that, again, the court hadn't confirmed, but she confirmed where another son had gone out and looked out the front door and there were all these police there because somebody had phoned in a false report. So, it was quite compelling testimony.

So, between the security issues, but then also a lot of questions came up about how the justices decide cases on their emergency docket that's gotten a lot of attention. Some people call it the shadow docket because these are important cases that are not subjected to full briefing and oral arguments.

And so, it was -- they were -- as I said, it's still going on, but they were good advocates for the court and for at least bringing some information to the public where there are so many questions about transparency, and I think this is a good step to let members of Congress know some of the answers, at least from these two justices.

BLITZER: It's such a powerful exchange that she had with these lawmakers when she said she brought this bulletproof vest into her bedroom and her little 12-year-old boy was standing there and said, mommy, what is that? What do you say to a 12-year-old boy? This is a bulletproof vest because somebody might try to shoot your mommy? That's why I might have to wear this? I mean, what do you say to a 12- year-old boy in a situation like that?

BISKUPIC: And you know that she happens to be raising a family of seven children. So, she's got other young children there, and many of the questions about security and especially residential security were put to her about whether she thinks it's adequate.

BLITZER: And it underscores the threats that these justices are facing right now, which is pretty pitiful. It's sad that they have to deal with these kinds of threats in our country right now. All right. Joan Biskupic, thank you very, very much. And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:45:00]

BLITZER: Breaking news. President Trump just announced that he's replacing a 20 percent fee for protecting ships in the Strait of Hormuz with investment deals. He posted this on social media. Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20 percent United States reimbursement fee with trade and investment deals that the various Gulf states will be making into the United States. Those investments will be massive, but at the same time extraordinarily good for them and their future.

The U.S. is also preparing to reinstate its blockade of Iranian ports. And that's set to begin at 4:00 p.m. Eastern today. All this comes after another round of U.S. strikes on Iran overnight. And Tehran retaliated, targeting the U.S. allies, the Persian Gulf Arab allies in the region.

Pamela, I know you just had a chance over the past week or so to be aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier. What did the captain say to you about the challenges of imposing a new blockade against Iran?

[11:50:00]

BROWN: It was really illuminating, Wolf, when he talked about the challenges, because they're getting ready to do it today, right? As per our reporting, I asked Captain Dan Keeler aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln what it takes to do a blockade at this scale. It's something the Navy hasn't done since the Cuban Missile Crisis at this scale, and this is what he told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: What kind of role did this ship play with the blockade? Because there hadn't been a blockade like that in decades.

CAPT. DANIEL KEELER, COMMANDING OFFICER, USS ABRAHAM LINCOIN: There's not really a book about how to do a blockade in the modern world. The last time we did it was decades ago. So, as an aircraft carrier, we're just launching aircraft to support, help find all these ships so that destroyers don't have to do it on their own. And then when necessary, some of the fighters would be required to take measures to get the ships to turn around.

BROWN: OK. So, tell me about the blockade and the challenges with that.

KEELER: The challenges with it is it's a lot of space, and to execute a blockade properly, you need a lot of ships. And we had quite a few destroyers. What the air wing can do to help is to find the ships. And so, we did support all of the surface ships with reconnaissance flights. And then when necessary, could execute some procedures to try and get the ships to turn around. Yes, there were times when aircraft had to use orbits to make the plane.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And, Pamela, these two U.S. ships, as you know, an aircraft carrier and a destroyer, are clearly operating in very heightened threat levels right now. Take us inside what that looks like.

BROWN: Yes, I was there when things were really heating up, Wolf. And you have to remember, now they're involved with two high priorities, reimposing this blockade plus warding off threats from Iran. Iran has even claimed to have damaged and sunk the ship. I can confirm that is not true, obviously, from being on it last week. But that doesn't mean it hasn't been a frequent target.

So, here's what the admiral on board the USS Abraham Lincoln told me about the drone threat in particular.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: What have the threats been like since the beginning? I mean, this ship, and the president has said it himself, has had to ward off a variety of threats. Tell us about that.

REAR ADM. ROBERT LOUGHRAN JR., U.S. NAVY: Sure. During major combat operations in the February-March time frame, there were a number of one-way attack drones and missiles that were fired in the vicinity of naval forces deployed here in the Arabian Sea. We did not feel necessarily threatened by those. We were aware that they were fired in the vicinity. We have a very robust layered defense around the carriers and our escorts. And those were not of concern to us. We were able to take those down before they became an issue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And, again, we want to thank all the crew members, Admiral Loughran, everyone else on down on the Abraham Lincoln and Frankie Peterson, Jr., for letting us on board to sort of get a peek behind the curtain.

If you want to see more of my exclusive reporting from the Navy ships and the Arabian Sea, you can scan the QR code on your screen. And, again, just thank you to all of our service members for your hard work and sacrifice.

BLITZER: A question I keep getting asked by viewers and friends and family, was Pamela scared while she was aboard the aircraft carrier and the destroyer?

BROWN: Oh, not at all, particularly in the aircraft carrier. Wolf, as you just heard the admiral say, there are so many layers of protection and there are multiple destroyers. And the destroyer's main job is to protect that high value target, the Abraham Lincoln. So, even though Iran would love to damage it or sink it, as it claimed falsely it had done, there are so many different protections in place.

Now, the destroyer that I visited, that was really the tip of the spear. And you heard the commanding officer tell me there that if Iran wanted to target a Navy ship, that would be its first target. But, again, he also talked about all the different armaments and missiles and protections and capabilities on board to be able to protect the crew. And here's right now, this is a destroyer I was on. His responsibility, can you imagine, Wolf, is to protect 20,000 service members at sea right around there.

So, in addition to that responsibility to protect them from threats, they're also now involved with this reimposing of the blockade, as we just heard, is a huge undertaking. You've got the destroyers helping with this. You have the warfighters, the pilots who, you know, jets aren't necessarily made, these combat jets aren't made for maritime control, but they're being used in that capacity.

And so, we're going to see this all play out again as they reimpose this blockade and as strikes continue against Iran from the U.S.

BLITZER: Those aircraft were taking off all night long while you were trying to sleep, right?

BROWN: Oh, yes, they were right over my head, actually. So, it would go off, and then everything would shake, and that was constant. But you get used to it.

BLITZER: It's not quiet.

BROWN: When you're at mealtime, that happens all the time, and everyone's just used to it. But for me, it was a new experience.

BLITZER: Excellent, excellent reporting.

BROWN: Thank you. BLITZER: And as I keep saying, glad you're back home safe and sound.

BROWN: Thank you.

BLITZER: Thanks very much, Pamela, for that. And to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning. You can always keep up with us on social media, @wolfblitzer and @pamelabrowncnn.

[11:55:00]

BROWN: And we'll see you back here tomorrow morning and every weekday morning at 10:00 Eastern. Inside Politics, with our friend and colleague Dana Bash starts after a quick break.

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