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U.S. Blockade on Iranian Ports in Persian Gulf Underway; U.S. Eyes Potential Second Round of Talks With Iran; Donald Trump Feuds With Pope Leo Over Iran War; North Korea Announces New Missile Tests; Election Officials Say Magyar's Tisza Party Set to Secure Two-thirds of Seats in Hungarian Parliament; Guam, Northern Mariana Islands Under Flood Alerts; First Cloud Jaguar Seen in 10 Years Sparks Hope in Honduras. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired April 14, 2026 - 02:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:38]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, everybody, welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York, and here's what's coming your way in the next hour. A U.S. military blockade of Iranian ports underway right now with apparently one tanker allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz just a short time ago. We'll tell you more.

And Pope Leo on a four country tour of Africa, a continent where Catholicism is growing fast.

And later, home sweet, home. Artemis II astronauts returning from their triumphant moon fly by to their families and their neighbors with some wise words for all of us.

ANNOUNCER: Live from New York. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Polo Sandoval.

SANDOVAL: Let's begin in the Middle East, where U.S. military blockade of on Iranian ports is currently entering its second day. President Donald Trump says that the U.S. will sink any Iranian ships that come near the blockade. A source familiar with the talks telling CNN that the Trump administration is currently exploring some options for a potential second round of in person talks with Iran. Vice President J.D. Vance, who led the U.S. delegation in the peace talks this past weekend, says that it's up to Iran whether the two countries will be able to strike a deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We must have their conclusive commitment to not develop a nuclear weapon. And I think that if the Iranians are willing to meet us there, then this can be a very, very good deal for both countries. If they're not willing to meet us there, that's up to them. That's their decision. And really, the ball is very much in their court.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And time may be running out. You see the current cease fire between the U.S. and Iran, it is set to expire in just over a week. Iran's president warning that threatening the Strait of Hormuz will have widespread consequences for the world, and says that Tehran will resume negotiations only under international law.

Israeli and Lebanese officials, they are expected to meet for direct talks in Washington in the coming hours. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio expected to participate in those negotiations.

Let's bring in CNN's Eleni Giokos now live from Dubai. Eleni, it's good to see you. We did see marine traffic at the Strait seem to at least thin out ahead of that U.S. blockade being put into place. What kind of activity are you seeing now?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and you're right to say that when the United States announced the naval blockade, shippers viewed this as a double blockade. Essentially, you know, who do you negotiate with? The Iranians that have de facto control for the past few weeks, and now the United States that says that any vessel that is, you know, transiting from any Iranian ports and Iranian territorial waters would be blocked.

I want to show you this. This is Kepler data, and essentially, it gives you an indication of the kind of traffic that we've seen since the start of the war. We saw an uptick over the weekend, frankly, where around 30 vessels transited, and that was because there was a lot of hope around the in person talks in Islamabad. Then they're plummeting to round four yesterday, ahead of the naval cease fire, the naval blockade coming into effect. We're around 16 hours in, and we've been monitoring the traffic, and it's basically come to a standstill.

Apart from one Chinese owned vessel, this is a Malawi flag vessel. It's called the Rich Starry it attempted to transit the Straits and then did something really interesting. It moved away, and then turned back, and then suddenly going close to Qeshm Island, which is Iran -- Iranian Island, and then transiting the Straits. It's now currently in the Gulf of Oman.

What's interesting about this vessel is that it was sanctioned by the United States since 2023 because of its ties to Iran, and then it went by the name full star. What we do know from Kepler data again, that it's carrying methanol and its next port country is listed as China. Now, the question really becomes, how is the United States enforcing this naval blockade? It is not clear where this vessel actually originated from, where it came from in terms of the port, but you've got to understand that a lot of the AIS transponders on these vessels are turned off specifically while they're in the Gulf -- the Persian Gulf, as well as moving through the Strait of Hormuz.

[02:05:03]

This is the said vessel. We're still trying to get a bit more information, Polo, but what we know right now is that shippers are very hesitant, waiting to understand the state of play, the rules of engagement in terms of transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

In the meantime, other news that we're getting is that the last shipment that was that left the Strait of Hormuz just before the war started, is now being delivered one in Malaysia that's carrying jet fuel and another one to Australia. And that essentially means that the available oil that's currently out at sea from the Strait of Hormuz is now being depleted. Around 12 million barrels of oil is being removed from the market every single day, essentially since this war started.

The UNDP coming up with some staggering numbers that 32 million people could be plunged into poverty because of the closure of the Strait. And we're talking about fertilizer shortages, jet fuel shortages and other key refined products. And a lot of those people, 8.8 million people that will be facing poverty if this continues are based in the Asia Pacific region.

So, this is, of course, very dire. What the United States is, of course, trying to attempt here is to remove the hold that Iran has over the Strait of Hormuz. Another expert that I spoke to says that this is perhaps a negotiation tactic, because of what it also does is remove any revenues that Iran has been gaining from allowing Iranian linked vessels to pass through the Straits. And of course, a lot of vessels, from what we understand, have been paying that toll fee that could be up to $2 million.

So, again, according to Kepler data, around 453 vessels, Polo, have transited the Strait since the start of the war. And just think about this, it's normally 130 vessels per day. While it is something, it is just a trickle. And according to international maritime law, this is an international waterway, and it should be open soon.

There's a lot of pressure, of course, for Iran to budge on that, but we wait to see what happens, and hopefully what would be the next round of talks.

SANDOVAL: Yes, that graphic really says it all. Eleni Giokos, thank you so much for that update.

Let's actually stay on that topic to talk about those dire consequences of that turmoil on the -- on the Strait of Hormuz, and now get a closer look at the war's impact on the global trade and also those trickle down effects on consumers.

So, let's go to CNN's Ivan Watson, he's live from an international shipping conference in Hong Kong. Ivan, it's good to see you. So, where you are speaking to industry experts, what are some of the big concerns for people?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is an industry, Polo, that relies that prioritizes free trade, and that is part of what is so severely impacted right now.

So, to understand more, I'm now joined by John Denholm. He's the chairman designate of the International Chamber of Shipping. So, that's a century old trade association, and you represent about 80 percent of global commercial shipping, right? So, I'd like to ask you, you know, we're less than a day in to a U.S.

naval blockade of all shipping from Iranian ports in the Gulf, what is your response to that American blockade?

JOHN DENHOLM, CHAIRMAN DESIGNATE, INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER OF SHIPPING: I think it's a retrograde step. You know, it's likely to lead to retaliation by the Iranians to stop other ships coming out of non- Iranian ports, we need to reestablish freedom of navigation in the Straits of Hormuz. The whole of world trade is based on freedom of navigation. We don't want tolls. We don't want embargoes. We don't want blockades. Let's get back to ships passing freely through the Straits.

WATSON: And let me ask about tolls, because we have reporting that Iran has been charging around $2 million a vessel to transit the Strait. What is your position on that measure?

DENHOLM: That is equally unacceptable to blockade. It's extortion, and it's a really dangerous precedent. You have other narrow waterways, the entrance, the Mediterranean, the English Channel. People start charging everywhere. We need to reestablish the whole principle of freedom of navigation, that as international waterways, ships can pass freely.

WATSON: I've heard the Singaporean government say they oppose this because the Strait of Malacca is a choke point when they don't they themselves don't want to charge money.

DENHOLM: Absolutely. We don't want people jumping on this bandwagon. It's a very dangerous bandwagon, and could hugely impact on world trade. And world trade is so important to the world economy.

WATSON: And let me ask about that. I think many of our viewers don't typically see the kind of ships that are out on the world's oceans and what they move around and things like that. This is not just abstract. We have warnings that in just the Asia Pacific region alone, that this could cost from $98-300 billion the cost of this disruption. What are you seeing in the shipping industry? How is that ultimately going to hit consumers around the world the last six weeks of disruption, and if it continues?

[02:10:22]

DENHOLM: Well, if it continues, we're going to have a real problem. Fuel prices already high. It's going to get worse. We're going to have shortages of petrol, shortage of diesel, short of Avgas, shortage of fertilizers. There's a huge amount of commodities that flow through the Persian Gulf, and that will drive inflation in the Western world, the free world, and that will probably drive recession. It's a really undesirable outcome.

WATSON: The United Nations Development Program has issued a report. They've warned that this could push 32 million people around the world into poverty. So yes, the stakes appear very, very high. And again, they're not abstract. I want to ask about another issue. There are people, men and women

working on these ships that deliver the commodities that show up in our homes. What is their position right now in the midst of this crisis?

DENHOLM: Well, there are about 20,000 seamen on the ships that are caught in the Persian Gulf, and they're living in a very stressful, difficult environment that the littoral states have made available to make sure they've got water and supplies getting on to their ships.

But we must think very carefully of these people. It's not nice sitting on a ship in a war zone. And they have --

WATSON: With ships that have been targeted as well.

DENHOLM: (INAUDIBLE). For the most part, they haven't been targeted. Yes, there have been, and you know, it's not good. We must think of the people.

WATSON: And I know you're a trade association. Just finally, what is a message that you would send to the governments in Tehran, in Washington, D.C. in the midst of this crisis?

DENHOLM: We need to find an equitable peace, a peace that allows us to reestablish freedom of navigation and get global trade back onto a normality.

WATSON: All right. John Denholm, thank you so much from the International Chamber of Shipping, a pleasure of speaking with you.

So, that's one kind of perspective on what's happening right now. And again, Polo, you know the ripple effects of this, those warnings from the UNDP of tens of millions of people who could be pushed into poverty by this crisis, I think they lay out in stark detail some of the very human and real consequences of this ongoing crisis, Polo.

SANDOVAL: It's just remarkable. The more experts you hear from, the more layers that you learn. Yes, there's certainly the effects for consumers. But I mean, even with what John Denholm just mentioned, even the people on these ships waiting in uncertainty.

Ivan Watson, thank you so much for leading us in that conversation live from Hong Kong.

We still have a lot more to get to. Criticism from President Trump isn't keeping Pope Leo from his papal duties. We'll have the latest on the feud and the Pope's landmark trip to Africa. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.

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[02:17:44]

SANDOVAL: President Trump is doubling down on his criticism of Pope Leo over the war with Iran, and he's offering quite the explanation for social media posts depicting himself as Jesus. CNN's Vatican Correspondent Christopher Lamb traveling with the pontiff.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The U.S. president and the U.S. pope in a very public war of words.

POPE LEO: Welcome aboard.

LAMB (voice-over): Leo XIV responding to an extraordinary broadside against the Chicago-born pontiff by President Donald Trump. Speaking on board the papal plane to journalists covering a major 11-city visit to Africa, the first American pope made it clear he won't be intimidated.

POPE LEO: I have no fear of the Trump administration or speaking out loudly about of the message of the gospel, which is what I believe. I am here to do what the church is here to do.

LAMB (voice-over): The pontiff insisting the mission of the church is to build bridges, not engage in politics.

POPE LEO: We are 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.

LAMB (voice-over): Leo has repeatedly spoken out against Trump's actions in Iran. President Trump fight back on Sunday night, lashing out to the pope of his criticism of the U.S. and Israel's war involving Iran.

TRUMP: We don't like it. We don't like a pope that's going to say that it's OK to have a nuclear weapon. We don't want a pope that says crime is OK in our cities. I don't like it. I'm not a big fan of Pope Leo.

LAMB (voice-over): On Truth Social, Trump went further, calling the pontiff weak on crime and terrible for foreign policy, even saying he prefers the pope's brother, Louis Prevost, who has shown his support for MAGA. Upping the ante, Trump also posted an A.I. image on Truth Social depicting himself as a Christ-like figure healing a sick person with American flags and eagles in the background. The image was later deleted.

TRUMP: I did post it. I thought it was me as a doctor. And it had to do with Red Cross. There is a Red Cross worker there, which we support. And only the fake news could come up with that one. It is supposed to be me as a doctor making people better.

LAMB (voice-over): Trump also claimed the pope was only elected last year because he is American, suggesting the church chose him to better deal with his presidency.

[02:20:03]

Pope Leo has repeatedly condemned the use of religious language to frame the military operation in Iran. PETE HEGSETH, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Rescued on Sunday. Flown out of Iran as the sun was rising on Easter Sunday. A pilot reborn, all home and accounted for, a nation rejoicing. God is good.

POPE LEO (through translator): Jesus is the king of peace who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war. He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.

LAMB (voice-over): A Vatican official, Fr. Antonio Spadaro, saying Trump is attacking what he cannot control, a moral voice on the global stage. Trump does not argue with Leo. He implores him to return to a language he can control. But the pope speaks another language, one that cannot be reduced to the grammar of force, security or national interest.

Christopher Lamb, CNN, Algiers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And Pope Leo is making history as the first pontiff to visit the mostly Muslim country of Algeria. He is currently on a 10-day tour of Africa bringing attention to the needs of the continent, which is home to more than 20 percent of the world's Catholics.

The pontiff has a busy agenda. He is currently planning to give 25 speeches in 11 cities in the coming days. On Monday, he visited the Great Mosque of Algiers in an effort to strengthen dialog between Catholics and Muslims.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE LEO, HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND SOVEREIGN OF VATICAN CITY (through translator): In a world where divisions and wars sow pain and death between nations in communities and even within families, your united and peaceful life is a powerful sign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: The Pope is also scheduled to visit Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Angola.

Father Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator is the dean of the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University, joining us from Santa Clara. Father, thank you so much for taking the time.

FATHER AGBONKHIANMEGHE OROBATOR, DEAN OF THE JESUIT SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY, SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY: Pleasure to be here. Thanks for having me.

SANDOVAL: Of course. So, as you closely follow Pope Leo's trip to Africa, I'm curious if you could just give our viewers a sense of how you see this visit to Africa, essentially an opportunity for the Holy Father.

OROBATOR: Certainly an opportunity, but not a new one, because he knows the continent already from his previous leadership of the Augustinian order, but this gives him an opportunity to actually get to meet people in his new role now as the Pope, and people who are Catholics, people who are looking up to him as the leader of their community, and who are certainly expecting from him some message that speaks directly to their own situation, where they actually are.

SANDOVAL: We're showing viewers of Pope Leo's visit on Monday to Algeria making history becoming the first leader of the Catholic Church to set foot in that country. With that visit, Father Orobator, what's the message that Pope Leo hopes to send?

OROBATOR: Well, with the visit, as you know, to some of your listeners, might know, Algeria is a Muslim majority country, a very small minority community of Christians there, but it's really been a model of how you live together, of coexistence between two great religious traditions.

And I think the pope going there will solidify this message that is possible, it is desirable that adherence of this great faith are able to forge a common path and demonstrate what coexistence looks like in real life.

I think that, for me, becomes a very important message to pass to the rest of the continent and the rest of the world as well.

SANDOVAL: A message of peace. It's something that we have heard from other popes in the past. However, for Pope Leo, he certainly has tapped into that message, especially recently as the war in the Middle East continues, that message of peace, he's been really calling that out. We saw it in his Easter message recently as well.

Just curious, why do you think he's become especially more outspoken on that issue, especially in the last several weeks?

OROBATOR: Well, you have to think of it this way, that in a situation, a current context, where there really isn't a morally credible voice to challenge this culture of war mongering and war what the Pope calls a discourse of death. If there is -- there's an absolute lack of credible moral authority and voice to point out to the world that another path is possible, and right now, the Pope, in his role as the leader of the global Catholic community, possesses that moral authority, not only to name the evil of war, but also to point out that alternatives are possible, and therefore that's something leaders are bound by duty to embrace.

[02:25:33]

SANDOVAL: And because of that, is, as you know, and so many people around the world know he has become essentially a target of Donald Trump with the verbal insults. How do you think Christians around the world, particularly those who perhaps may agree with some of President Trump's conservative policies see some of the those insults that are coming from President Trump?

OROBATOR: You just named it, they are insults, and that is not something that is befitting of any civil discourse. And the Pope, in his moral capacity, is certainly big enough to absorb this, but also to ensure that it doesn't become a distraction from his message of peace, of reconciliation, of justice in the world.

SANDOVAL: I have a few more seconds left with you, Father. I'd be remiss if I didn't ask also what your thoughts are on the photograph this depiction that President Trump posted recently, showing President Trump as an almost Christlike figure. How are Christians around the world likely to respond to that? The president claims that he thought it showed him as a doctor. Do you think they believe that?

OROBATOR: I don't think people believe that, people are more intelligent than that, and they realize that this, again, is another attempt, not only to undermine something that is so significant to people, their faith, their belief, but also to draw attention away from things that are really currently pertinent in our world today. That is, there is a problem with leaders who choose war as the only option for resolving global conflict, and the Pope's position is very clear, that is a weak choice. It undermines our humanity, and we are more than capable of opting for peace, for reconciliation and for a cultural encounter amongst people. That is the message we want to focus on, not in the destruction of A.I. generated images.

SANDOVAL: We'll leave it there. Father Orobator, thank you so much for your time.

OROBATOR: You're welcome. Thank you.

SANDOVAL: A political shake up in Hungary could dramatically reshape that country coming up how world leaders are reacting to newly elected Prime Minister Peter Magyar.

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[02:32:31]

SANDOVAL: The U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports in the Persian Gulf, it is underway at this hour. And President Trump is warning that the U.S. will sink any Iranian ships that come near the blockade. In the meantime, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has vowed to retaliate. And Iran's president is warning that the blockade will have global consequences.

Miad Maleki is a senior U.S. treasury official and also currently a Senior Adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Miad, it's great to have you with us.

MIAD MALEKI, FORMER SENIOR OFFICIAL, U.S. TREASURY: Thanks for having me on.

SANDOVAL: Wondering if we could start by perhaps you give us a sense of the economic blow to Iran that could be caused by this U.S. blockade, perhaps an estimate of the oil exports that it stands to lose.

MALEKI: That's a really good question. So, you know, we're coming out of, you know, weeks of an airstrike campaign that really caused significant damage to Iran's not just armed forces and government facilities and its political leadership, but also it caused some severe damage to Iran's ability to produce steel, petrochemicals. And that has already kind of affected Iran's ability to, let's say, collect taxation. And look at it this way, 43 percent of government revenue comes from taxation.

You know, they collect taxes and they pay salaries of government employees. And when you don't have your steel companies producing, when you don't have your petrochemical companies producing, when everything is closed down, you're not able to collect taxes. What really made that worse, and it's been overlooked really, is the fact that Iran has shut down -- the regime has shut down its internet for now over 47 days.

Now, internet plays a key role in Iran's economy, just like any other country's. But what's different here is that, you know, oil and petrochemicals and natural gas, these are all government-controlled industries and economic sectors. So what's really left for ordinary Iranians and private sector is really the internet. And the government has shut that down for 47 days.

That puts more pressure not just on tax revenue, but also it has created a significant unemployment rate, which was 30 percent before the start of the war. Now it's going to be way more.

[02:35:00]

And according to regime's own numbers, the internet shutdown is causing somewhere around $35 million to $50 million a day in economic damages. So now, fast forward to this blockade. This blockade is going to block the export of Iranian food, oil, petrochemicals, non-oil exports, and gas. And the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf accounts for 90 percent of Iran's export. And that's around $276 million a day.

Now, Iran also imports almost everything from Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. That's around $160 million a day. So putting all of that together, Iran's economy is way more susceptible to a collapse if this blockade continues and if the Strait of Hormuz stays closed.

SANDOVAL: And because of that fragile state of the economy, I mean, just as you -- according to the numbers you lay out, $276 million already lost in the first day of this blockade, tomorrow, another day. Could the disruption to Iran's exports be enough, you think, to actually pressure the regime to head back to the negotiating table, maybe even give up a point or two?

MALEKI: You know, I've been in the government. I've been on the other side of the negotiations in the government, U.S. government. I've seen Iranians don't really come to negotiate in a way that would really make sense economically. And --

SANDOVAL: Yeah.

MALEKI: You know, when they went to Pakistan over the weekend, I was looking at the economic numbers, at inflation rate, the Iran value to dollar, which is at 1.4 million rial to dollar. It is really the state of crisis economically. And I really thought they're going to give up something. They're going to settle for an agreement. And the way that things went, once again, I was surprised that they didn't go for a deal. Now, I think with this blockade, the regime is going to be left with two options here, accept some kind of a compromise on the 10 points, you know, that they put before the U.S. government or the U.S. government has put before them, or just let the economy collapse.

That's really the reality of the state of economy right now.

SANDOVAL: I have about 30 seconds left with you. Just curious. I mean, is it possible that these hardships will trickle down to the Iranian civilians, similar to what we're seeing in Cuba, for example, since the start of January?

MALEKI: Absolutely. I think that's a concern. Now, look at -- I mean, the reality is, even if you have humanitarian trade going to these ports, the regime is going to take it, sell it in the market, generate more revenue. I'm not saying it shouldn't go, but I'm just not really optimistic that this humanitarian flow to these ports is going to really change things on the ground.

The regime has caused more so much suffering for its people that it's not going to be really worried about a more, you know, dire situation economically, internally, but at the same time, they know that domestically they're going to have to deal with a failed economy.

SANDOVAL: Yeah, that's a good point. Miad, thank you so much for your time. Miad Maleki, appreciate your perspective.

MALEKI: Thanks for having me.

SANDOVAL: North Korea says that it has been testing more weapons. According to state media, the North fired strategic cruise missiles and anti-warship missiles from a naval destroyer. Leader Kim Jong-un reportedly expressing great satisfaction with the army's preparedness, he said.

But North Korea went on a separate testing spree just last week, and that included cluster bomb warheads. Hungary's newly-elected Prime Minister, Peter Magyar, is promising to root out corruption following a landmark victory over Viktor Orban on Sunday.

His opposition party now expected to gain two-thirds of the seats in parliament. The majority could unlock the power that's needed to reverse controversial changes that were made under Orban's regime that spanned 16 years.

Many European leaders are breathing a sigh of relief, as Magyar also vows to rebuild Hungary's ties with the E.U. and with NATO. On Monday, the president of the European Commission said that Orban's defeat is a victory for the people of Hungary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: The people of Hungary have spoken and they have reclaimed their European path. It is a victory for fundamental freedoms, and I really want to say to the Hungarian people, you've done it again, against all odds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: CNN's Melissa Bell is in Budapest with an update.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a landslide victory for the people, according to Peter Magyar.

PETER MAGYAR, HUNGARIAN OPPOSITION LEADER (through translator): Together we replaced the Orban regime. Together we've liberated Hungary. We took back our country.

[02:40:00]

BELL (voice-over): A fresh start, he told an ecstatic crowd, after trouncing MAGA darling, Viktor Orban, that had been decided neither in Brussels, nor in Moscow, nor in Washington, despite MAGA's best efforts.

J.D. VANCE, (R) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We have got to get Viktor Orban re-elected as prime minister of Hungary, don't we?

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: And I love that Viktor. I'll tell you, he's a fantastic man. We've had a tremendous relationship, a great leader.

BELL (voice-over): But early on Sunday night, it was clear that none of the endorsements had helped.

VIKTOR ORBAN, OUTGOING HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The election result is painful for us, but it's clear.

BELL (voice-over): So clear that tens of thousands made their way to the streets of Budapest to celebrate something they could hardly believe.

BELL: How do you feel tonight?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Too good. Too good. So, Orban, Putin, go home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can see all around, the people, the streets, everyone wants change.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm really excited because it's going to be a new thing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I never thought this would actually happen. I've been praying for this for 16 years. So, I'm super happy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just want to apologize for our last 16 years.

BELL: At his very first press conference on Monday, Peter Magyar vowing to act quickly. Hungary, he said, had been left indebted, robbed and devastated. He also answered this question, what his defeat of Viktor Orban might mean for movements like MAGA.

MAGYAR (through translator): I believe this is a major loss for them. Viktor Orban was their poster child, insofar as he could be. He represented this fight against Brussels.

BELL (voice-over): Budapest, he said, would also no longer finance the intellectual infrastructure of the global far-right, its think tanks and learning centers like the MCC, where J.D. Vance spoke last week.

MAGYAR (through translator): I think this was a criminal offense. Party financing mixed up with government's expenditure. CPAC can come to Budapest, but not on Hungarian taxpayers' money.

(CROWD CHEERING)

BELL (voice-over): On Sunday, Hungarians celebrated being a part of a democratic revolution. Peter Magyar says that's just the start.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Budapest.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And stay with us, we're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:47:06]

SANDOVAL: A non-profit organization in Nigeria is giving children in one Lagos neighborhood a safe place to learn and to express themselves. As CNN's Zain Asher reports, those young people have channeled their gratitude into a massive artistic tribute to celebrate the 10th anniversary of CNN's My Freedom Day campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAIN ASHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In one of Nigeria's most impoverished neighborhoods, there's beauty hiding in plain sight. For nearly 10 years, volunteers and students at the Slum Art Foundation in the Ijora Badia neighborhood of Lagos have quietly been working on their craft. It's not just about the artwork per se, it's more about learning the art of work says Co-Founder, Adetunwase Adenle.

ADETUNWASE ADENLE, CO-FOUNDER, SLUM ART FOUNDATION: Most children found in this community from an early age are meant to fend for themselves and I discovered that this young children has a lot of energy, but they lack direction, they lack mentorship and guidance.

ASHER (voice-over): The foundation provides that mentorship as well as resources to those who might otherwise have to go without.

TITILAYO OLUOMO GAWAT, GRANDMOTHER (through translator): What Ade has been doing here, we thank God. Since he's been teaching them, we see the impact. ASHER (voice-over): Still in places like Ijora Badia, danger can lurk around any corner. (Inaudible) was just three-years-old when she disappeared. Her grandmother says she was kidnapped from her home and gone for a year.

GAWAT (through translator): When she came back she had marks on her body. It looked like, when they took her, she had been hit on her tail bone. When she first came back, she used to walk like this. The way she used to talk had changed. The things she used to know, she didn't know anymore.

ASHER (voice-over): The Slum Art Foundation tries to provide a safe place for the children of Ijora Badia to grow and learn. In addition to art, the foundation places an emphasis on trade skills like carpentry and hairdressing. There's also a social justice component that Adenle hopes will stay with them long after they graduate the program.

ADENLE: When I started explaining what my freedom means to these young people, they were like, oh, so they could relate it to their own immediate environment. And the power of media in ending modern-day slavery has been a journey for both we here as a school and as an impact agent and the community itself.

ASHER (voice-over): To celebrate My Freedom Day, the students and staff set forth an audacious goal, to create a portrait of every on- air journalists at CNN, and Adenle says it was for a simple reason.

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ADENLE: It's just something that is a kind gesture from us to say thank you, CNN, for putting yourself out there to help stop modern-day and give voice to those who are voiceless.

ASHER (voice-over): It's a project that took over two months and they just finished their work.

ADENLE: Slum Art decided to say, oh, let's work with volunteer artists and children from our school to complete 222 artworks of reporters, anchors, saying thank you to CNN reporters across the world.

ASHER (voice-over): It's proof kindness is contagious, greatness can come from anywhere, and talent can't be confined to within four walls.

Zain Asher, CNN, for My Freedom Day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, they are under flood warnings as a super typhoon sweeps through the Pacific. The storm bringing powerful winds as it passes Guam. This is the first typhoon of the year in the West Pacific and it's also, as you can see here, one of the strongest ones, at least on record. And it is equivalent to a Category 5 storm. It's expected to bring between 10 to 20 inches of rain and waves of up to 30 feet to the Northern Mariana Islands. Once a crew, always a crew, so say the four astronauts whose history- making flight around the moon brought us so much joy to us here on Earth. Now that they're back home with their families, they're reflecting on the journey that took them farther into space than any human has ever gone.

Here's CNN's Tom Foreman.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one, booster ignition and lift off.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From their spectacular launch to their historic lunar loop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To all of you down there on Earth and around her, we love you from the moon.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Right through their triumphant return, the Artemis crew had plenty to say.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Integrity splashdown, sending post-landing command now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Splashdown confirmed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your Artemis II crew.

(APPLAUSE)

FOREMAN (voice-over): But their welcome home at times left them speechless.

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REID WISEMAN, ARTEMIS II COMMANDER: I have absolutely no idea what to say. This is --

(LAUGH)

WISEMAN: 24 hours ago, the Earth was that big out the window and we were doing Mach 39 and here we are back at Ellington at home.

(CROWD CHEERING)

FOREMAN (voice-over): Commander Reid Wiseman's space family joined him in an emotional moment in orbit, naming a crater on the lunar surface after his late wife.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a bright spot on the moon and we would like to call it "Carroll."

FOREMAN (voice-over): Reunited with his daughters on Earth, Wiseman posted a simple message on X. "Mission complete."

Another post on social media found Pilot Victor Glover met with a makeshift parade by his neighbors and he made a point of the gathering.

VICTOR GLOVER, ARTEMIS II PILOT: Some of us have never met before and you know whose fault that is? Ours. So let's choose to do this. Let's be this more. Let's be neighbors. I don't know if you heard me say it, but God told us to love him with all that we are and love our neighbors as ourselves.

(CROWD CHEERING)

FOREMAN (voice-over): Christina Koch's dog, of course, had no idea where she went but she warmly greeted the mission specialist back from cold space, just as Koch says so many others have too.

CHRISTINA KOCH, ARTEMIS II MISSION SPECIALIST: Planet Earth, you are a crew.

(CROWD CHEERING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

KOCH: Thank you.

FOREMAN (voice-over): And Canadian Mission Specialist, Jeremy Hansen's wife suggested the whole world indeed seemed to be watching.

DR. CATHERINE HANSEN, JEREMY HANSEN'S WIFE: I can't keep up with the messages anymore, so I am just so grateful for the outpouring of support.

FOREMAN (voice-over): While her astronaut husband felt it every mile along the way.

JEREMY HANSEN, ARTEMIS II MISSION SPECIALIST: When you look up here, you're not looking at us. We are a mirror reflecting you. And if you like what you see, then just look a little deeper. This is you.

FOREMAN: Time and again, the message from all of them was clear, they had a vision of the moon that no humans have ever had before and yet what changed is how they see this planet we all must share.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Some happy news for all animal lovers. Camera traps photographed a jaguar high up in the Merendon mountain range of Honduras. This is the first time the big cat known as the "cloud jaguar" has been detected there in a decade. A wildcat conservation group spotted the young male in February 6th, up in the high-altitude forest.

This is a positive sign for the Central American nation attempting to -- they're actually attempting an environmental turnaround.

From the entire team, thank you so much for watching. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York. The news continues with my colleague, Rosemary Church, in a moment.

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