The top three stories trending today — 'Searched' 4.13

[0:02] Hey, I'm Gio Benitez. It's Monday, April 13th. You've got questions, we've got answers. [0:07] This is Search, where we're breaking down what you're asking right now in real time. [0:11] So let's get right to it. We've got our Maya Ephraim here. [0:13] She oversees our online search trends. So Maya, what are people searching for right now? [0:18] Hi, Gio. How are you? We're tracking a story that is spiking in search interest today, [0:21] a now-removed photo from President Trump's true social account of an AI-generated photo of himself [0:26] as a religious figure. That photo is getting a lot of backlash from the Christian community, [0:30] and this all happened after President Trump criticized Pope Leo's comments on the Iran war. [0:35] Switching to the Iran war, the Trump administration officially began a U.S. naval blockade of the [0:39] Strait of Hormuz, and this comes after peace talks failed over the weekend in Pakistan. [0:43] People are now immediately turning to search for answers about what a naval blockade is and how [0:48] it could work in the Strait. Searchers also show real anxiety about how this could impact the ceasefire [0:52] and what it means for oil and gas prices and, of course, their wallets. And finally, in Europe, [0:57] a story I've been following for a few days now. Trump ally Viktor Orban was defeated in the [1:01] Hungarian election. Vice President G.D. Vance traveled to Hungary last week to campaign for [1:06] Orban, who was swept away in a landslide to the opposition leader. Searchers now want to know why [1:10] Trump supported Orban and what his loss means for Trump and the administration. [1:14] Okay, Maya, some big headlines there. Thanks so much. We'll check back in with you very soon, [1:18] but let's get a little deeper now, dive a little deeper into the story that you guys can't stop asking [1:22] about. It's an unexpected feud between President Trump and Pope Leo and our Melissa Adan. She was [1:27] on that plane with Pope Leo traveling to North Africa. So, Melissa, tell us about this because [1:33] Trump is doubling down. He's not apologizing. Absolutely, Gio. It is just shocking. Just to [1:40] put it in perspective for you, Gio, we woke up, this was Rome, early this morning in the overnight [1:46] hours in the United States when I was seeing that reaction, that initial post by President Trump. [1:51] It was shocking to see that he had such harsh words for Pope Leo, the Holy Father. So, at that point, [1:59] the journalist this morning, I was preparing, rushing over to the airport where we were boarding [2:04] the papal flight because we are currently on Pope Leo's planned trip to Africa. So, with that, Gio, [2:09] came the access to meet Pope Leo. I myself got to shake Pope Leo's hand this morning. I got to meet [2:15] him. And then with the gaggle of reporters, we were asking him questions and asking him, of course, [2:20] what was on all of our minds. What is your reaction, your feeling to President Trump's comments [2:26] and his reaction? I mean, Gio, he was so open and honest to all of us. [2:31] You know, we asked you to report live here. We just had you put up your iPhone to talk to us [2:35] because you did not expect to be talking about President Trump right now. [2:41] Exactly. Gio, this is something when I was getting ready to go on this flight this morning, [2:46] or at least from last night, I was thinking we're going to be discussing Pope Leo's reason why he's [2:52] doing this trip, this papal trip to Africa. But already during the weekend, even when I was out [2:56] there at the Vatican, Gio, that Saturday night when Pope Leo held his prayer vigil, he specifically [3:02] called out against war. He called for peace and he said it, enough of war. You know, Gio, he was [3:08] citing previous popes who, of course, have always had messages against war and have always historically [3:13] called for that. But never a time that we have seen something this historic, Gio, that essentially [3:19] a pope not only just calls out for peace, calls out for war strongly and confidently, and then a [3:24] sitting U.S. president has insults thrown at the pope. So, Melissa, we're looking at the trends here [3:31] and they're basically saying, this is what people are asking, did Trump threaten Pope Leo? So did he. [3:38] Look, directly, President Trump did not threaten the pope, but what he did, he attacked the pope. [3:44] He insulted the pope. He had harsh words for the Holy Father. That is what he did. And he had a lot [3:51] of them. It is to the point now, of course, Gio, you're familiar with the conservative bishop [3:56] Robert Barron. He called out, he said Trump needs to apologize for this. Then we have the U.S. [4:02] Catholic Bishops Conference. They've also issued a statement saying that they're disheartened by [4:07] President Trump for saying these words. And then, of course, you add on that AI image that then was [4:11] posted taken off. This, it's not a good look. This is not an okay look. You know, if you're, [4:18] Pope Leo's on this trip to promote unity and peace, and this is quite literally the opposite of that. [4:24] And we know that the pope said that he has no fear of the Trump administration on that plane [4:28] with you. Melissa, thank you so much for reporting there. We have much more coming up on this story [4:33] in just a bit here. But first, let's get to counterterrorism and Middle East expert Javed Ali [4:37] for more analysis on the U.S. blockade of Iran's Strait of Hormuz ports. All right, so tell us, [4:43] Javed, because right now the top question that we're looking at is, what is a naval blockade? [4:49] So, Gio, nice to be with you. And so this blockade that President Trump announced yesterday [4:55] and apparently is now unfolding is basically where you have U.S. warships entering into a body [5:00] of water. At this point, the Straits of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf. And at least from what it sounds [5:07] like they are going to try to enforce the passage of shipping that is going through that very narrow [5:14] choke point that is being shown on your map, which is only about 15, 20 miles at its most narrow point. [5:21] And so how many ships, U.S. ships, are now going to be part of that operation? What are their rules [5:27] of engagement in terms of which of these other commercial ships can they pass or will they allow [5:34] to pass? What will the Navy personnel be allowed to do in terms of stopping or interdicting ships [5:43] that apparently have paid some kind of fee to Iran in order to maneuver through the Straits? These are [5:48] all the really tactical or practical steps that have to be thought through. And at the same time, [5:54] if there is now a number of U.S. Navy ships that are into the mouth of the Straits, into the Persian Gulf, [6:01] that also increases the risk to them as well. Now, we haven't seen Iran try to attack them yet, [6:07] but now those ships are more in Iran's immediate backyard. So this is where the risk profile also [6:13] increases on the U.S. military side. We know that these negotiations failed and people are asking [6:18] right now online, why? Why did they fail? I mean, this is another one of the questions that it's not [6:24] clear we have all the answers to. What we do know, it was a marathon negotiating session in Islamabad [6:29] from Friday into Saturday, almost 20 hours or more than 20 hours between Vice President Vance, [6:36] Jared Kushner, and Steve Woodcoff on the U.S. side, a whole host of Iranian officials with [6:41] senior Pakistani government officials also being the mediators. And both sides were in the room, [6:47] which is unlike other rounds of diplomacy we saw previous to February 28th. But all the different [6:52] issues they discussed, most likely the status of Iran's nuclear program and its highly enriched [6:59] uranium, ballistic missiles and drones, support to its partners in the axis of resistance. If those [7:06] were all terms or issues up for some kind of negotiation in Islamabad, it seems like there was [7:13] no resolution and neither side could come to a good outcome. And so that's why now apparently the [7:19] ceasefire has at least broken down, even though both sides are not yet resuming military operations. So [7:26] that's where I think we are in the state of diplomacy. It doesn't mean that the talks have ended [7:31] completely. They just may not happen again in Islamabad. There may be another location for these [7:35] talks going forward. And of course, all of it impacting oil and gas prices. Javad Ali, thank you so [7:40] much for that. All right. You are also searching Viktor Orban's stunning loss in the Hungarian election. [7:45] That might be a name you never heard before. And thousands of hundreds of thousands are really [7:49] looking into why this matters. So Tom Sufi Burge is here from overseas. He's been keeping a close eye [7:55] on this. All right. So who is Viktor Orban? Viktor Orban is a 62 year old, the most dominant figure in [8:04] Hungarian politics pretty much ever, Gio. He's been in power and was in power until last night for 16 years [8:12] straight. He was prime minister before that as well. He's a social conservative. And yeah, he's dominated [8:18] politics in that country throughout most of our lifetimes. And he's been a good friend to Donald [8:26] Trump. He's been a good friend to Vladimir Putin of Russia. And he's been an adversary of the European [8:32] Union. And why did Orban lose? Very good question. The economy definitely played a part, [8:40] right? So Hungary's economy is stagnant. You know, I've heard multiple Hungarians in interviews [8:45] basically saying that they, you know, haven't seen an improvement in their lives throughout the last [8:51] few years. And Peter Modjar, the guy who won basically and swept Viktor Orban, Donald Trump's [8:57] friend, out of power, was campaigning a lot on anti-corruption. And that seemed to hit through to [9:04] voters. But also, he played a pro-European message. Now, Viktor Orban, as I said, has been the nemesis [9:11] of the European Union. So the European Union, that club of 27 nations here in Europe, has been pitted [9:18] against Viktor Orban. Viktor Orban's been breaking the rules, basically, repeatedly over the years, [9:24] you know, in terms of curtailing, you know, what the European Union deems to be democratic principles, [9:31] like concentrating the power, basically, in his own party, making sure that judges are appointed [9:38] are favourable to him, creating in Viktor Orban's own words, what's known as a kind of illiberal [9:45] democracy. And basically, the European Union, Peter Modjar, came out and said, well, I'm going to, [9:52] you know, repair relations with the European Union. We're going to actually get on again. And that is, [9:58] now that he's won, that's exactly what he's promising to do. And people are searching if [10:02] Peter Modjar is liberal or conservative. He's a conservative, right? I think, basically, [10:10] you have to be, I mean, if you look at all of the elections throughout the last 20 to 30 years [10:16] in Hungary, you have to be socially conservative to win elections in Hungary. So on social issues like [10:23] LGBTQ rights, he, you know, he is, I think, fairly similar to Orban. I mean, he doesn't believe in [10:31] progressive rights on issues like that. He was also hardline on immigration. So over the years, [10:36] if you remember back to the European migrant refugee crisis, Victor Orban took a really hard [10:42] stance, closed Hungary's borders, and it did really well for him. So Peter Modjar, you know, [10:45] wasn't differentiating himself on that issue. I mean, basically, he was differentiating himself [10:50] on the issue of Europe saying, actually, I'll repair our relationship with the European Union. [10:55] You know, we're going to actually get on and not be a thorn in the side of the European Union. [11:00] Because what is true, Gio, is that actually Victor Orban over the years, he has not only been a problem [11:08] for the European Union, but he's been that critical ally for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, [11:14] but in the heart of Europe. So he's been causing problems. He's been blocking aid and financial loans [11:19] to Ukraine for their war in their defense against Russia. And that's been a big problem for the [11:24] European Union at large. All right. Tom Sufi Burge, thank you so much for all your reporting on this. [11:28] I know you'll stay on it.