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The Situation Room

WHO Says, 11 Cases Now Tied to Hantavirus Outbreak on Cruise Ship; Hegseth, Caine Testify Before Congress Amid War in Iran; Trump Prepares to Leave for Critical China Trip. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired May 12, 2026 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in The Situation Room.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: And we are following several breaking news stories all taking place right now. Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse are gathering with Democratic lawmakers in Florida as part of their investigation into the late convicted sex offender.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine are both back on Capitol Hill, and they're facing tough questions again from members of Congress about the war with Iran and the Pentagon's request to boost military spending by more than 40 percent.

BLITZER: Plus, it's been more than two years since a massive cargo ship slammed into Baltimore's Key Bridge, causing its deadly collapse. In moments, we're expecting an update from officials who have been investigating how the collision actually happened.

And attorneys for Tiger Woods are back in a Florida courtroom as they fight to keep the golfer's drug records under wraps following his DUI arrest back in March.

Let's begin with all the breaking news. The World Health Organization now says there are 11 cases of Hantavirus linked to the cruise ship, Hondius. A French woman who became sick after being evacuated, is in intensive care, in stable condition, we're told. Here in the U.S., 16 passengers are quarantined in Nebraska. One is in the biocontainment unit after testing positive. None are displaying symptoms. Two other people, a couple, are in a biocontainment unit in Atlanta. At least one is showing symptoms.

Today, we're hearing from some of the passengers as they begin weeks of quarantine. They describe the terrifying moment on the ship when they were first alerted to the virus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE ROSMARIN, CRUISE PASSENGER IN QUARANTINE: I think it was a really scary moment for me personally. I think, like anyone, when you hear a virus that you may not know about, you Google it, and you know probably when you Google this virus, it's some very scary statistics. However, it is a virus that we do know about, and it took me some time over those coming days to do more research and learn more about it. But it was a scary time, and I had a lot of up and down emotions, but I spent most of my time in my cabin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And joining us now, our Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Sanjay, what do the weeks ahead look like for those who are starting quarantine?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it's 6 weeks, so 42 days. You know, that's sort of the in combination with the time on the ship, the incubation period for this virus, the time period from when someone might have been exposed to the time when they might develop symptoms.

I think these first 72 hours are going to be the most critical. This is sort of an assessment period for them, doing medical exams, things like that, but also getting a sense of did they have contact with somebody who has the virus, did they have contact with someone who was sick, obviously, seeing if they develop symptoms.

I think one of the big questions is going to be do people need to stay in the facilities there, or could they potentially go home and be monitored there? We're still sort of trying to nail down where

I think the recommendation is they stay in the facilities, but they may allow some of these folks to go home as well and then see sort of what happens. It is likely, we're hearing from just about everybody, that there may be more people who subsequently test positive after developing symptoms. So, we'll see what happens.

These are incredible facilities, Wolf. As you know, I'm on the faculty at Emory. Ebola patients were brought back here several years ago. They have a mechanism to try and prevent other people, obviously, in the facility from getting sick, but also provide care should any of these passengers/patients get sick. Wolf?

BLITZER: Officials have continued to say, Sanjay, that the risk overall is low, that the spread of the virus is usually limited to close contacts. Here's what the assistant secretary of Health and Human Services had to say.

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ADM. BRIAN CHRISTINE, M.D., ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF HEALTH, HHS: Let me be clear, let me be crystal clear, the risk of Hantavirus to the general public remains very, very low.

[10:05:05]

The Andes variant of this virus does not spread easily, and it requires prolonged close contact with someone who is already symptomatic.

Even so, we have taken this situation very seriously from the very start.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Sanjay, do you agree?

GUPTA: Well, you know, I think a lot of this, it comes down to a study that was done of a what is known as a super spreader event back in 2018. There's not a lot of data on this, right? So, you know, thousands of cases maybe around the world, hundreds of cases of human- to-human transmission, not a lot of data.

But let me show you this image and, you know, we can put it up on the screen and basically tell you the story of a guy, number one in the middle of the screen there, who was a guy who walked into a birthday party and was there for 90 minutes. He was sick when he walked into the party.

And you see the other red numbers around the tables there. Five people who got sick as well, became infected as a result of this event. Four of those people are in close proximity as was just said, you know, within four feet or so.

But there was another guy who was across the room, and that was not in close proximity. And the only time they had any proximity was when one was leaving the restroom and one was going to the restroom. The restroom's in the bottom left corner.

So, is that considered close contact? Probably not. I think that the question becomes, if you're infectious, if you're sick during that time, you could potentially spread it to people who are even further away for a shorter duration, Wolf.

BLITZER: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks as usual. I appreciate it very much. Pamela?

BROWN: Important information.

And we are also following breaking news on Capitol Hill, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine are back in the hot seat. They faced a new round of questioning from a House Appropriations Subcommittee over a $1.5 trillion budget request and the ongoing war with Iran.

Moments ago, Representative Pete Aguilar asked the secretary about the current ceasefire. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PETE AGUILAR (D-CA): How do we know that the ceasefire is active or not active without any documentation?

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We know. It's evident, and the ceasefire is in effect. AGUILAR: How do we know? You just trust that the president knows that the ceasefire is active or not active?

HEGSETH: As you know, for the most part, a ceasefire means the fire is ceasing, and we know that has occurred while negotiations occur.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: All right. We're going to bring in CNN correspondent Brian Todd here in The Situation Room with the latest.

So, what more is Hegseth saying about the war?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the testiest exchanges, Pamela, in this hearing were between Pete Hegseth and Congressman Pete Aguilar, the Democrat there that you heard. Some news that was made just a short time ago, the comptroller, the acting comptroller of the Pentagon, Jay Hurst, just gave an updated figure of how much the war costs. He said it has cost about $29 billion so far. That is an updated figure from what he gave about a week and a half or so ago when he said it was $25 billion.

CNN has been reporting that, according to our sources, that is a lowball figure, that the cost, according to our sources, when you figure in the repairs to bases that have been damaged, the equipment that has been destroyed, it's closer to $40 or $50 billion.

But another exchange that occurred was when that same congressman, a Democrat, Pete Aguilar, talked to Pete Hegseth about Project Freedom, that short-lived plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, by having U.S. ships escort certain commercial vessels through. That plan had to be shut down pretty quickly after it started. Pete Aguilar asking Pete Hegseth if this was all just kind of a feint for the administration to avoid the War Power -- complying with the War Powers Act, which requires Congress to reauthorize an extension of the war. Take a listen to this exchange.

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AGUILAR: Is the theory to create more ceasefires or more projects just to evade the War Powers Act?

HEGSETH: The theory of the entire case is to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon. And if that has to be done kinetically and militarily, the Department of War is locked and loaded and ready to do that. If it happens through Project Freedom, where you move commerce through, if it has to -- if it happens through a negotiated deal, the president was very clear even yesterday, this is actually quite simple, Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: Pete Hegseth is also pushing back this morning on the reporting that CNN and others have done that the United States has depleted much of its stock of munitions stockpiles during the Iran war. CNN, just to remind you, has reported recently that key munitions, like precision strike missiles, THAAD missiles, Patriot interceptor missiles, have been depleted.

Pete Hegseth saying, Pamela, that on the munitions issue the, that has been, quote, foolhardily overstated, that we have all the munitions that we need. But, again, we'll see how that proceeds if combat operations resume. As you know, we're at a real crossroads there with what President Trump has been saying.

[10:10:00]

BROWN: We certainly are. Brian Todd, thanks so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: Also happening now, there you see the White House, where President Trump is getting ready to leave for his trip to China. He has his work cut out for him in his summit with President Xi Jinping. Tensions with China are high after a rather bruising trade war, and hanging over the visit is the war with Iran. China has deep ties with Iran and is pushing for an end to the conflict.

Alan Carlson, a China expert at Cornell University, told TIME Magazine this week that expectations are low, saying, and I'm quoting him now, the chance of anything of substance emerging from these talks is little more than zero, end quote.

Let's go live right now to our White House Correspondent Alayna Treene. What are some of the key things President Trump is hoping to get out of this trip to China?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's really going to be a fascinating trip, Wolf and Pam, particularly because of what we are seeing, you know, surround this entire visit. It was initially supposed to be really focused on trade and the economy and, of course, strengthening the relationship between the United States and China.

But it comes, of course, and is kind of being bogged down by this ongoing war with Iran, as well as this longstanding dispute over Taiwan. But to get into what we know that the Trump administration is looking to get out of this, particularly when it comes to the trade side of this. They know that they want to keep things relatively calm on the trade front. That comes, of course, after a very chaotic 2025 in the trade war between Washington and Beijing.

Now, we're told that their discussions are likely to include kind of the customary haggling over potential Chinese purchases of American products. That includes things like commercial jetliners and soybeans. But there's also a proposal for a joint board of trade, which would bring more government oversight to the commerce between these two countries.

Now, in addition to that, we know that there are several CEOs, major CEOs of major different companies, like, Apple's Tim Cook, we have Meta's CEO, you have the CEO of Goldman Sachs, all of them expected to also attend this trip in Beijing. We know that the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, has been organizing a lot of different things on the economic front as well. And so that's going to be a big part of this. But, again, a lot of this could get sidelined by what we know is happening in the Middle East right now. BLITZER: Alayna Treene at the White House for us, Alayna, thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf. Still ahead, gunshots ring out along a busy road right near Harvard's campus. The shootout between the suspect and police all caught on camera.

BLITZER: And later, a Southern California mayor resigns and is expected to plead guilty to acting as an agent for the Chinese government. What we're learning.

Stay with us. You're in The Situation Room.

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[10:15:00]

BLITZER: Happening now, U.S. officials are speaking at a news conference more than two years after a massive cargo ship slammed into Baltimore's Key Bridge. They're giving an update on how the deadly collision happened.

Officials with the U.S. Justice Department unsealed an indictment charging three defendants with crimes related to the disaster. They're accusing -- they're accused of knowingly using improper systems and tried to hide its use on the Dali ship.

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KELLY O. HAYES, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR DISTRICT OF MARYLAND: Today, the United States unsealed an indictment charging three defendants, Synergy Marine Private Limited, Synergy Maritime Private Limited, and Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair with crimes related to the disaster, including conspiracy, violations of the Ports and Waterways Safety Act, misconduct or neglect of ship officers resulting in death, and obstruction, among others.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: All right, so let's bring in CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig. What do you make of these charges, Elie?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Pam, it's a complicated indictment, but it really boils down to this, the ship was too dangerous, they knew it, and they lied about it. That's the essence of the charges here.

Now, as you just heard, there are three named defendants in this case. Two of them are corporate entities, Synergy Maritime and Synergy Marina. And then there is one individual charged, an individual named Radhakrishnan Nair. So, only the individual, by the way, can go to prison. Corporate charges cannot result in imprisonment, they can result in fines.

Now, there are 18 different federal counts here, but I think it's helpful to group them into sort of three broad categories. First of all, there's a series of charges relating to gross negligence, willful misconduct, or violation of laws by a ship officer. If you are an officer of the ship, you have certain obligations to make sure your ship is maintained safely and to notify people.

The core allegation here is that the ship was running on less than full power, that some of the pumps that supply energy to the generators were out, and that the ship operators knew that and failed to report it and later lied about it.

So, the first category is that willful negligence, the gross negligence by the people who operated the ship. The second category is failing to inform the United States Coast Guard of those dangerous conditions that they knew about on the ship. And then the third group of charges relates to obstruction and false statements made to the NTSB and other entities during the investigation that followed, and that includes allegedly false testimony and allegedly falsified documents about the dangerous conditions on the ship and about who knew what and when.

[10:15:05]

BLITZER: Elie, while I have you, I want to turn quickly to the nationwide redistricting battle that's ongoing right now. Democratic officials in Virginia are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate a Congressional map that would boost the party's chances of winning the House in the midterm elections by picking up four additional seats in Virginia. Do you believe the U.S. Supreme Court will take this case up?

HONIG: I don't believe they will, Wolf. I think the U.S. Supreme Court is going to want no part of this case fundamentally because this is a decision by the Virginia Supreme Court interpreting the nuances of Virginia state law and the Virginia Constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court has shown us in the last several months that they're going to leave these redistricting disputes by and large to the states, to the state legislatures, and to the state courts.

The Supreme Court declined to get involved with Texas. They let Texas redistrict far to the right. They let California redistrict far to the left. I don't see any reason why the U.S. Supreme Court is going to intervene here. I think the Virginia Supreme Court's decision will likely stand, and that means that that 10-1 map that you just showed will be struck down.

BROWN: And if you would, Eli, elaborate on what the Supreme Court decided on Alabama's Congressional map specifically.

HONIG: Okay. So, the one thing that the Supreme Court said they will continue to be involved in is policing racially drawn Congressional districts. This was the U.S. Supreme Court we covered right here, Pam and Wolf, about two weeks ago when it came down out of Louisiana. What the Supreme Court basically said there is, we are only going to get involved in overseeing redistricting if lines are drawn based on race, whether the intent is to create majority black districts or whether the intent is to disenfranchise black voters, that's the only thing we're going to get involved in. So, that changed Louisiana's map, and as we anticipated, that would kick off and has kicked off a string of other states that are now saying, well, we want to redraw our map. So, now Alabama, which in 2024 had two majority black districts out of seven, is now saying, well, the Supreme Court just issued that ruling a couple weeks ago. We think that one of those districts was actually drawn with race in mind, so we want to undo that one majority black district. And what the Supreme Court said yesterday is, you can go ahead and give that a shot if you'd like, Alabama, because we did issue a new ruling two weeks ago. And so this really clears the way for Alabama to get rid of one of its two majority black districts.

BLITZER: As you know, Elie, after the Supreme Court decision on Louisiana recently, the governor there halted the active election and threw out the ballots that had already been cast. The dissent in the Alabama case made a point that this is all getting too close to the primary elections. Is there any validity to that?

HONIG: Yes, and it's legally relevant, Wolf, because there's a longstanding legal doctrine that basically says the court should not interfere with an election too close to an election because normal people rely on what they're being told. Normal people, some of them have submitted their ballots, others are expecting to vote on certain dates. In fact, if you change the district lines, you could change who the candidates are.

And the dissent yesterday, the three liberal justices, Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson dissented, and they said one of the big problems with allowing Alabama or any state at this point in mid-May to go back and try to redraw its maps is it's going to cause chaos.

And voters aren't going to know what the dates are, who the candidates are. Some voters have already, have already voted. There is longstanding legal doctrine that says you should not, we should not, the courts should not interfere with elections when you get too close.

Now, what is too close? They've never put a set number of days on it, but we are getting really close to too close here in mid-May.

BLITZER: Yes, November elections, that's coming up, the midterm elections.

Elie Honig, thank you very, very much.

HONIG: Thanks, guys.

BROWN: Yes, you heard the governor of Louisiana say, well, they'll just have to vote again, since they threw out the ballots that had already been cast since that decision by the Supreme Court.

Also, we're following what's happening on Capitol Hill right now. Top defense officials Pete Hegseth and Dan Caine are going to be testifying in a Senate hearing room, facing some tough questions about its budget and the war in Iran.

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BLITZER: Breaking news, new data show inflation rose in April more than expected. The new report shows that for the first time in some three years, Americans' wages are no longer outpacing inflation.

Let's go live right now to CNN's Matt Egan, who's looking at all the numbers for us. What more can you tell us, Matt, about this new report?

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Wolf, the war continues to raise the cost of living here in America, and consumer paychecks, they cannot keep up with all of these price increases.

So, the annual inflation rate for April heated up to 3.8 percent. That was slightly worse than expected, and this is the highest annual inflation rate since May of 2023. It's also the highest inflation rate of either of President Trump's two terms in the White House.

And when you look at the trend, you can see that annual inflation was heading in the right direction, and then the war hit, and inflation has started to heat right back up. It's going almost straight up, moving closer and closer to 4 percent. Now, keep in mind, the goal for inflation is two percent, but we're nowhere near that right now.

So, why did this happen? Well, one of the obvious factors here is gasoline, right? Gas prices were below $3 a gallon before the war started. Now, they're at $45.0 a gallon nationally, and there are concerns gas could go to $5 a gallon eventually.

[10:30:04]

It's not just gas, though. Jet fuel has skyrocketed, so airfare has gone up. And we're also starting to see --