Pope Leo's Africa trip, Iran tensions dominate Face the Nation lineup

Margaret Brennan’s Sunday lineup folded foreign policy, public health and election power into a single stress test of governance. Chris Livesay reported from Pope Leo XIV’s first apostolic journey to Africa, while Amos Hochstein, Jerome Adams and Eric Holder each pointed to a different fault line in American life, from global energy risk to digital addiction to the battle over how states draw political maps. U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz was also listed in the show’s episode lineup.

Pope Leo XIV’s trip ran from April 13 to 23 and took him to Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea, an ambitious tour that underscored the Vatican’s attention to a continent where Catholic growth, political instability and social inequality often overlap. The trip was set to include addresses in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. In Angola, the pope opened the leg by urging Angolans to fight corruption and build a culture of justice, a message that landed in a country where faith leaders and civic leaders often carry the burden of public moral authority.

The same broadcast turned to the Strait of Hormuz, where renewed tension between the United States and Iran carried immediate consequences for fuel prices and the wider economy. Hochstein, described by CBS News as a Biden administration senior energy adviser and Middle East negotiator, said Iranians now have "a card they never had" in any closure scenario at the chokepoint. The remark framed the risk not as a distant diplomatic problem but as one that could ripple through energy markets and household budgets far beyond Washington.

Adams, who served as surgeon general in Donald Trump’s first term, shifted the conversation to public health and the pull of social media. He called the platforms "incredibly addictive" and argued that government should treat the problem more like tobacco, with clear warning-style messaging. His comments came as the segment also focused on the CDC director nominee and vaccine pressure, tying online behavior to the credibility of health institutions at a moment when misinformation still shapes medical choices.

Holder brought the final national fight back to the ballot box. He called Virginia’s redistricting referendum a "national fight" as voters considered a mid-decade redraw that could hand Democrats a 10-1 congressional advantage. The contest was tied to a broader partisan map war already moving through Texas, Missouri and North Carolina, making Virginia less an isolated state fight than another front in the struggle over who gets to set the rules of American power.