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Super El Nino?; Todd Blanche Addresses DOJ Employees; New Info Emerges on Trump Plane Swap; Iran War Straining U.S. Soldiers' Mental Health?. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired August 13, 2026 - 13:00   ET

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

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Sailors push to the limit. Lawmakers demanding answers about the difficult conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, as reports emerge of worsening mental health for crew members and a sailor going overboard during a record long deployment during the Iran war.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Plus, a warning over a new weapon, hackers using A.I. to carry out an attack on Taiwan's government. Could this be the future of cyber warfare? And a monster El Nino may be coming, the likes of which we have never seen before. Why forecasters are alarmed about what this could mean around the globe.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KEILAR: Today, official tells CNN that a sailor went overboard last month off of the USS Abraham Lincoln, and this is amid reports of bleak living conditions and a deepening psychological toll of the crew members on board this aircraft carrier.

The official says the sailor was quickly rescued, and the circumstances under which the sailor went overboard were not immediately clear. This aircraft carrier has been continuously at sea for more than 200 days. That sets a modern-day record for no port calls.

News outlets like "Stars and Stripes" and "The Navy Times" are reporting that there have been multiple attempts by crew members to jump overboard. The ship has only made one port call since last December. It was a short two-day stop at Naval Base Guam.

At a town hall meeting last week, hundreds of family members reportedly pressed senior Navy officials about the mental strain that the ship's crew is under, one spouse tearfully revealing that she got a message that same day from her husband saying -- quote -- "He hopes he doesn't wake up tomorrow." Democratic lawmakers are also demanding answers. In a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the acting secretary of the Navy, Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal wrote -- quote -- "There have been widespread reports of shortages of basic supplies, water contamination, plumbing issues, deteriorating mental health, and deck safety concerns."

Last month, CNN's Pamela Brown reported live from the USS Abraham Lincoln, where she had the unique opportunity to speak with service members on board, and she's with us now.

Let's talk a little bit about your time on the ship here.

First, though, you have some breaking news.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: That's right.

I'm told by a U.S. official, Brianna, that the USS George Washington aircraft carrier is on its way right now to provide relief to the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has set a record on deployment, as you noted.

Now, I'm told by this official that this has been in the works for a while. They had always had a plan for the ship to have relief if it's out at sea this long. So this is the plan and works, but, of course, it comes at a time of heightened scrutiny. You're hearing more from family members of those on the ship and now from Democratic lawmakers, one of which is trying to get a tour, Senator Ruben Gallego of the USS Abraham Lincoln.

Now, this official wouldn't give me a timeline of when the George Washington would arrive. And part of the reason why is operational security, but also I learned just from being on the ship and talking to those on board that there had been several times where they were told they would be home by a certain date and that deadline passed.

And so they also don't want to give false hope at this point. But, at the same time, this uncertainty is really hard for the families. I spoke to one sailor, Randall Stone, and asked him about the morale on the ship, and here's what he told me.

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RANDALL STONE, U.S. NAVY: So, it's hard. You know, it's hard in your mental state, you know, to sea for eight months without being on dry land. It takes a toll on you.

BROWN: Yes. What do you want Americans to know back home about the work you're doing here and that toll you're talking about?

[13:05:04]

STONE: It's only my job to do -- do what people tell me out here.

But for, like, the American people, I would say they have to know, like -- I just want them to know what we're doing out here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So that was an enlisted sailor. I spent some time with him there at that ice cream social.

I also spoke to officers, including Lieutenant Colonel Capstaff, and he told me he hasn't even met his daughter. We heard a lot of those stories of people not meeting their daughters and missing their families back home.

KEILAR: Their new babies, right?

BROWN: Their new babies, yes.

And I think it's really, really hard for them physically and mentally as well. They do have outlets like gyms. They do have Wi-Fi, which is a change from past appointments, I'm told, and that has been a big booster.

But, at the same time, when you're out at sea for so long and haven't stepped foot on land like you just heard there from Randall Stone, you could imagine how hard it is.

KEILAR: Yes, certainly. And the families are the ones who are sounding the alarms, because they're talking to their sailors, and they're incredibly concerned. They're talking about food shortages on the ship, with meals sometimes consisting of, half-a-cup of rice and two tortillas. What did you see?

BROWN: Yes.

And, actually, I -- they did talk about the fact, early on in the war, they did have to ration food. So, while I was there, the rationing was not happening. But the sailors I spoke to, they were very honest with me. They said, yes, early on, we had to ration food, and it was really hard.

I mean, sometimes, we just have a little bit of a corn dog or whatever the case may be, and we had to make sure we weren't eating too much. Since then, they have been able to ramp up the food supply. What happens is, a ship will go alongside the aircraft carrier to give it the supplies it needs.

But there were several months where they didn't have fresh fruit and vegetables. And, in fact, when I was there at when they went to the port in Oman in Duqm, which was cut short because of the escalation, they were able to get more of fruits and veggies on board after so many months not having that.

And the sailors I were talking to were basically like, this feels like Christmas in July. They were so excited to have fresh fruit and vegetables. And so the food rotation also is, every 14 days, they get the same meal. So you can imagine that gets tiring, and it's frozen food, right? So they do the best they can.

They have thousands of meals that they have to provide every single day. I think it's around 17,000 a day of meals. But I think a lot of them are ready, as they told me themselves, to come home to a home- cooked meal, Chipotle, Chinese food. They all have their -- they all have their wish list.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Exactly.

KEILAR: They have the thing they want.

I don't think anyone thinks that war is easy.

BROWN: Yes.

KEILAR: Right? But they have just seen this extension.

So it's -- I think they're prepared for a certain amount of time, certain conditions. And we should be clear, the conditions they're experiencing are worse than expected for longer than expected, and that's really problematic for them.

What kind of training is involved on these carriers to deal with potential incidents, for instance, like the one that we have seen with the going overboard?

BROWN: Yes.

So, as I reported, there was a man overboard incident after I left last month. And when I was there, I was witnessing the drills that they do. First of all, they announce it over the loudspeaker. Everyone goes to their station for accountability, so they keep count.

And then simultaneously -- and, hopefully, we have video of this -- there's an inflatable boat and a team that is assigned to this boat, and it's a special part of the ship. And what they would do is lower that boat into the water. They would have their life jackets on to look for the person who went overboard.

They also have helicopters. I'm told that's actually the primary way that they're able to find a sailor who has gone overboard. And I also want to note, Brianna, I'm told that we don't know the circumstances of what happened last month. Unfortunately, this does happen on deployments. It has happened historically for different reasons.

It has been because of mental health issues. It has also been because someone was blown into the water. We don't know...

KEILAR: If it's an accident or if it's actually someone who's acting on mental health issues.

BROWN: Exactly, actively. And we know, according to "Military Times" talking to family members, there have been attempts, but that those people have been caught before they actually jumped overboard.

But let me just quickly wrap with this statement from the Navy. The Navy is pushing back that there is a mental health crisis aboard the ship, saying: "We have not observed an increase in suicidal ideations or attempts aboard the ship. We take every service member's well-being seriously and have religious, medical, and mental health professionals available to assess and address concerns as they arise.

"Sailors go through normal transitions throughout a deployment cycle. Adapting to life at sea can be difficult, so we have learned how to provide resources and help sailors with these transitions. We are not experiencing an uptick in mental health issues aboard the Abraham Lincoln."

KEILAR: No increase, no uptick. They're not saying it's not happening. It's just that they're saying that there's no increase.

BROWN: And there's also the point of not everyone's going to raise their hand and say, I'm having an issue, I'm having a mental health issue.

They have different ways of trying to detect that, but you have thousands of people on board.

KEILAR: Yes, that's right. And that's certainly well-documented that people may not raise their hands...

BROWN: Yes.

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KEILAR: ... because their -- honestly, their career could depend on that, right? That's going to happen even if they're having mental health struggles. They may not raise their hands.

Pam, great reporting. Thank you so much for that.

BROWN: Thank you. Really appreciate it.

KEILAR: Appreciate it.

And, remember, the help is available . If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health matters in the U.S., you can call or text 988 for help -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: There are also new developments surrounding President Trump's secretive departure from Turkey last month.

CNN has learned that fighter jets escorted both Air Force One and the decoy plane the president was removed from amid Iranian security threats.

CNN's Alayna Treene is live for us at the White House with more.

Alayna, there are new details also about who was and who was not on board the plane with the president.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Boris.

I do want to start with these fighter jets that were escorting both of these planes. I want to underscore just how atypical that is. One, obviously, I think what we have seen from this new reporting is that, U.S. officials were taking the threat from Iran seriously enough to have -- to muster, really, these fighter jets to accompany both the plane that the president was on -- that was a C-32 military plane -- but then also the older Air Force One plane, the plane that was not carrying the president, also having those fighter jets accompany them.

I said that was atypical. It is not typical, I should say, again, to have fighter jets, accompany a plane that the president is not traveling on. So I just think that speaks to the level of the threat, or at least this wariness that officials had about it.

As for who was on each plane, we are learning new details about that as well. We're told that, on the plane that was carrying the president, that separate third military plane, only one Cabinet official was on that plane with the president.

That includes the secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, but also some of the president's close personal aides, Natalie Harp, someone who really travels with the president everywhere, as well as Walt Nauta, kind of considered a body man to the president, and then one of his chiefs of staff, Dan Scavino.

Not on the plane, on the decoy plane as, it's been called, on the older Air Force One that wasn't carrying the president unwittingly to a lot of reporters and other staff, was at least a couple of Cabinet members. We know Secretary of State Marco Rubio was on the decoy plane, the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, as well as Stephen Miller, one of the president's deputy chief of staffs.

I also just want to share some other reporting we have been getting as we have been covering this story the last couple days, Boris. From our understanding, at least from what U.S. officials are sharing with my colleagues and I, is that the threat of this was first brought from the Israelis to U.S. officials and specifically people at the CIA.

I will note that there was some skepticism about whether or not this was a credible threat and also questions of whether or not Iran actually had the capabilities to carry out one of these things, which was a shoulder-fired missile, if they were able to carry that out. There were some questions about whether the Israelis had ulterior motives.

I'd remind you this was a very sensitive time in the negotiations over whether or not the president was going to resume strikes against Iran. But, still, this was happening so quickly. This was all coming together, we're told, on the day that the president was set to depart the NATO summit in Turkey.

And that left a lot -- not a lot of time for them to devise a plan and to determine the seriousness of the threats. Of course, they moved forward with this incredibly elaborate ruse to get the president on a third plane, unbeknownst to many people who were traveling on that initial plane.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

Alayna Treene, live for us at the White House, thank you so much for the update.

Still to come: newly sworn-in Attorney General Todd Blanche addressing DOJ employees, what he told them to expect when it comes to prosecutions.

Plus, one-on-one with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. We will take you live to Kyiv, where the city is running out of ways to defend against Russian strikes.

And, later, the WNBA addressing the growing transgender debate, as star Sophie Cunningham voices support for banning transgender athletes from women's sports.

That and much more coming your way on CNN.

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SANCHEZ: Fresh off his controversial confirmation, Attorney General Todd Blanche is looking to set a new tone, as he addressed the Justice Department employees a short time ago. Here's a clip.

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TODD BLANCHE, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: I promise you that I will lead this department with integrity. I promise you that I will focus on our core mission, which is to uphold the rule of fairly and impartially.

For what we do, it's a promise that we're going to uphold the law without fear or favor.

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KEILAR: Now, his words are already being put to the test, right? We're seeing that.

"The Wall Street Journal" reporting the White House is asking DOJ about taking new action against that former Olympian who just saw his Reflecting Pool vandalism case dropped.

We're joined now by former federal prosecutor Ankush Khardori.

Ankush, I wonder what you thought about his remarks, considering we have already seen him spend time there leading DOJ as acting A.G. What did you think?

ANKUSH KHARDORI, SENIOR WRITER, POLITICO: Look, the speech is not worth much, because we have a track record of his over the last year- and-a-half, and people at the department do not have amnesia.

They remember that this is the same now attorney general who cheered on the January 6 pardons. Hundreds of prosecutors worked on those cases. It was a slap in the face to all of them, to say nothing about how it was just a bad idea on the merits. He also bragged about how they had fired hundreds of people associated

with the Trump prosecutions, right? These are career people who were doing their jobs. And so, when he did those things, they were very, very significant and impactful to people.

At the same time, people also notice that there are these very tenuous, frivolous cases being brought against Trump's political adversaries. So I don't think the speech is going to do much of anything. I'm sure it was well received in the room because they sort of stage-manage these events.

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And, also, people in the room are going to be scared, candidly, if they do disagree with this administration, to express any disapproval like booing him. So the theatrics are one thing. I think the -- we have -- we know what kind of attorney general he is going to be.

He's told us that he thinks he's obligated to take the president's instructions.

SANCHEZ: To that point regarding the anti-weaponization fund, he did say last night that it's dead, but then he added this:

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BLANCHE: The president feels very strongly, as do I, that there were people who were victims of a Department of Justice that was absolutely weaponized, and he feels very strongly that he would want to make them whole, as do I. But it will not be through the anti-weaponization fund.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: So it won't be through the anti-weaponization fund, but if he and the president feel that these alleged victims have to be made whole, what other recourse might there be?

KHARDORI: Well, they have a readily available recourse, actually.

Many of these January 6 defendants have filed a submitted claims, asserting claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act against the government connected to their -- the charges against them, and the government can settle those cases and make payouts on a one-to-one basis, rather than out of a fund, and can do so potentially without -- well, can do so without any judicial oversight and potentially without the public even knowing.

I think that is a very, very unfortunate, but an eminently predictable sentiment. And all I have to say to the Republican senators who fell for the dog-and-pony show around this fund and it being dead and took the signature on the piece of paper from Todd Blanche as if it put this to bed, they're being made absolute fools of already.

KEILAR: The -- as we mentioned, "The Wall Street Journal" reported yesterday that White House officials have asked the Justice Department to consider a new prosecution of the man who was accused of vandalizing the Reflecting Pool.

Do you think that it will be successful? Or does it matter? Is that even the point? How do you see this?

KHARDORI: Absolutely not. It won't be successful. I'd be surprised if they could even get a charge returned from a grand jury. My understanding is that they're looking at potential misdemeanor charges, which don't have to go through a grand jury.

But this man, even if they succeed in charging him in some capacity, whether it's just a grand jury or misdemeanor, he's not going to be convicted in a jury in Washington, D.C., over this. You know, people aren't stupid.

And I think that it's one thing to look at this case and see it as an abuse of power against this particular individual, but, as many people have pointed out correctly, it stands for a much more disturbing proposition, which is that, if you somehow get into the president's field of vision because you have made his -- one of his pet projects look bad, you could be prosecuted by the Justice Department over it based on wholly trumped-up, if not entirely pretextual charges.

I mean, I can't even tell you what it must have taken for Jeanine Pirro, of all people, to have backed off these charges and moved to dismiss them. This is the same person who oversaw the criminal investigation into Jerome Powell and tried to indict six Democratic lawmakers over their video about military -- members of the military refusing illegal orders.

So for her, of all people, to decide that this case is not worth pursuing, it must have been really bad.

KEILAR: Ankush, great to have you. Thank you so much for being with us.

So, next: Forecasters say that a building super El Nino could be the strongest ever on record. We're going to take a look at what that could mean for everything from Hurricane season to expected snowfall.

SANCHEZ: Plus, it's being described as a first-of-its-kind breach. Taiwan says it's been hit by A.I.-assisted hackers. Is this only the beginning?

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KEILAR: So we could soon be in uncharted territory because federal forecasters say the super El Nino in the Pacific is intensifying and will now likely be the strongest ever on record.

CNN's Derek Van Dam is with us now.

This actually could have a major impact on weather across the board, but especially Hurricane season, Derek.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's right, Brianna.

Our society is headed towards uncharted territory because we have never faced an El Nino this intense, let alone amongst the backdrop of climate change. And it's hard to believe that this warming of the Pacific Ocean, known as the El Nino, can alter and shift global weather patterns from floods to droughts to heat waves, and now to the Atlantic hurricane season. Here's how strong.

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VAN DAM: Strong El Ninos, like the one that's building right now, have an outsized influence on the Atlantic hurricane season, reducing both the number and the strength of tropical systems.

Now, El Nino isn't just about the warmer waters here in the Pacific. It's also a change in global circulation patterns. These altered patterns shift sinking air across the tropical Atlantic, stabilizing the atmosphere, reducing thunderstorm development that's needed to create a hurricane.

Additionally, these circulation changes, they help displace the jet stream across the tropical Atlantic. These strong upper-level winds create wind shear, which is a hostile environment for tropical development and can deliver a death blow to an emerging hurricane.

In the early stages of a tropical storm's life, it needs a calm environment at all levels of the atmosphere to grow. When wind shear is introduced, it disrupts this vertical alignment, making it harder for thunderstorms to organize into a tropical system and get stronger.

Now, think of a hurricane as a spinning top. Wind shear would be like pushing this top and altering its spin. This is particularly disruptive when the top is spinning slowly, just like the early formative stages of a tropical system. With more wind shear around, it's harder for budding hurricanes to get over that hump.

Now, while wind shear and sinking air can put a big dent in tropical activity throughout the Atlantic, it doesn't eliminate it altogether.

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