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Navy Secretary Ousted in Middle of U.S. Blockade of Iranian Ports; Wildfires in South Georgia Destroy 50-Plus Homes, Force Evacuations; Two Republicans, Four Democrats Square Off to Become Next California Governor. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired April 23, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

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KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The Navy secretary is now out. The new reporting about the tensions with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth now becoming a familiar theme with Hegseth's and leadership at the Pentagon.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. This morning, a state of emergency declared in Georgia triggered by huge wildfires being fueled by extreme drought there. We're live near the fire line.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The frantic effort to avert catastrophe as an SUV crashes right into the pumps at a gas station.

I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner. This is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: The Pentagon shakeup continues in the midst of this war with Iran. U.S. Navy Secretary John Phelan has now been forced from his position after little more than a year. Sources say defense secretary Pete Hegseth said -- told him to resign or be fired. And sources also say this comes after months of tension between the two.

He's one of several senior officials now that the defense secretary has removed since taking command of the Pentagon. And it goes without saying that this comes at a critical moment. The president is asking the U.S. Navy to enforce a massive blockade on Iranian ports and is also facing the continued standoff with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran, on that point, has released this new video purportedly showing Iranian soldiers boarding container ships in the strait, though experts are questioning whether this was staged or at least partially reenacted. Iran says that it has seized at least two ships now this week, but the White House says that's not a violation of the ceasefire because they aren't U.S. ships. They aren't Israeli ships, they say.

As for the president, he now says, there's no timeframe now for the war and these negotiations. You will recall back on March 1st and repeatedly since then, the president said it would last all of four to five weeks. It has now been more than seven. CNN's Alayna Treene live this morning to start us off at the White House. Alayna, what are you hearing from there about this latest move with Hegseth pushing out John Phelan?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Look, I mean, this was incredible to see this, the sequence of events that happened yesterday with Phelan's ouster. I do want to remind people too, of just how important of a time this comes for the Navy with their blockade on Iranian ports really being crucial to this war, and also to the administration's efforts to try and force the Iranians to the table.

So, the timing of this and itself is pretty remarkable. But also to get into how this happened, I mean, there had been tension between Pete Hegseth and Phelan for months. You know, Hegseth had argued repeatedly that he believed Phelan was being too slow, particularly on the shipbuilding process. But there was another key part of this as well, which I think is really crucial to understanding just how things work in this White House, and it comes down to the proximity to power.

Phelan was someone who had a close relationship with Donald Trump. He had previously been a donor, him and his wife, for Donald Trump, giving millions to the president for his political efforts. And this was someone who Hegseth really got frustrated with for feeling like Phelan had gone around his back often to try and speak directly with the president.

But what we were hearing yesterday, and this is great reporting from our colleagues on the Nat Sec team as well as here at the White House, essentially saying that Hegseth brought this up with the president, told the president that he believed someone needed to be ousted and that the president agreed, but then later Phelan didn't actually believe that, and he was calling around asking people at the White House and even later showed up to the White House to figure out whether or not this was a decision that had made it to the president.

So, just an incredible series of events that happened here with this ouster of Phelan. Kate?

BOLDUAN: And also then, I mean, as you said, this comes at a critical moment. What are -- what is happening now with the president now saying there is no timeline for this war?

TREENE: Yes. Look, I think one of the key things that we saw when he announced the ceasefire initially on Tuesday was that he did not put on paper, at least on Truth Social, an end date for this. He kind of extended it indefinitely. And you heard the White House yesterday, the president himself, but also White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, try to insist that there is no time limit here for the Iranians, that he's leaving this open.

[07:05:06]

She essentially said the president has not set a deadline himself. I'm not going to set a timetable for the president. However, I have been hearing in the conversations I've had repeatedly with administration officials that they do not want this to go on indefinitely. They do want to put pressure on the Iranians to force them to negotiate sooner rather than later. Because the goal here, of course, is still they do want a diplomatic solution. They also don't want the Iranians to be given this ample time to drag it out.

So, a lot really that we're watching behind the scenes, but for now, this war does seem at a standstill until they can get the Iranians to a unified position and come to the table to negotiate. Kate?

BOLDUAN: To say the least. It's good to see you, Alayna. Thank you so much. Much more to come very clearly today from the White House on this.

SIDNER: Yes. And there's a battle of a different type happening in Georgia breaking this morning. Wildfires in South Georgia exploding in size with crews racing to contain dozens of fires burning across the state. The largest fires have destroyed more than 50 homes and forced hundreds of people to evacuate. The danger is so high that, for the first time in Georgia's history, state officials have issued a burn ban.

The governor has also signed a state of emergency for 91 counties. State fire officials say a combination of low humidity and extreme drought conditions are fueling the fires.

CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is in Brantley County, Georgia, where one of the bigger fires is burning at this hour. What are you seeing and what are you learning this morning?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Good morning, Sara. We are on the scene of the outer edges of the Highway 82 Fire. This is in Brantley County, Southeastern Georgia. It's 1 of about 20 active wildfires that are burning out of control across the southeast. And conditions here are so dry that even one spark can ignite a very dangerous and rapidly explosive wildfire.

And that is the case with this Highway 82 Fire. The fire actually started earlier this week. It went from 700 acres to over 5,000 acres right now with only 15 percent containment. But as you mentioned, it's burned several dozen structures, including homes. And at this moment, according to the latest update, there's a thousand homes that are threatened from this fire that continues to expand.

I want to show you and set the stage where we can smell the thick haze of smoke in the air. The outer periphery of the fire is behind this police blockade that we have behind us. But there are scorched homes in the area, private property that we can't access at this moment.

But this is a staging ground. We saw earlier firefighters moving in and out of this region, going to the frontlines of the fire. And as you say, this mandatory outdoor burn ban, the first in the Georgia Forest Commission's history, really says it all just about the conditions that they're battling. They're talking about erratic fire behavior, group torching, a term that I've never heard before. It's when clumps of trees spontaneously erupt into fire.

That is the conditions that the firefighters are battling on the ground, and it is because the air here is so dry. We're talking about the relative humidity. It is low. We've got the ongoing drought right now, which is at D3 and D4 levels. That is the highest level of drought conditions within this area. And we are talking about -- when we talk about the percentage of rainfall that we should normally have, only 2 to 5 percent of normal over the past 30 days. And that is significant. And, unfortunately, that's leading to this dry vegetation that can erupt into flames at any moment.

So, with spotting of fires, the forward progression of these wildfires that continue to burn across the southeast, it takes one ember to float and move into a new location to help build a new area of fire concerns. So, firefighters are dealing with a very fluid situation on the ground. We're going to try and get a little bit more access to this area through the course of the morning.

But just look down this road here, you can see this haze. That is the thick smoke from the Highway 82 Fire, which we are on the outer periphery of now. Sara?

SIDNER: Yes. I mean, look, we're so used to seeing these scenes in California but to see them in Georgia this way and have this be so explosive is pretty remarkable this morning. And I know a lot of people concerned about property, homes, and we can see just how many fires are burning just in one area because of those embers that keep hopping over the trees.

I really appreciate it, you're reporting there live for us from Brantley County, Georgia. We'll be checking in with you throughout the morning. Thank you so much. John?

BERMAN: All right. New overnight, the first debate in the race for California governor since Eric Swalwell dropped out.

And then just in time for summer, major airlines hiking ticket prices, blaming the high price of oil. New reporting this morning on how to work around this and also how long it will last.

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And then seven people trapped on the side of a cliff. You have to really look in there. They're trapped, like right there all the way there, all the way there, nowhere to go. We'll tell you about the incredible rescue, and I know you have the same question I have, which is how the heck did they get there?

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BERMAN: All right. New overnight, a highly anticipated debate in the race to be the next governor of California, the first debate since Eric Swalwell dropped out of the race and dropped out of Congress over sexual misconduct allegations, allegations he has denied.

[07:15:03] Ballots to decide the top two candidates will be mailed in a couple of weeks.

Let's get to CNN's Chief National Affairs Correspondent Jeff Zeleny for the latest on this. Look, everyone watches California for signs of political trends here. What happened on this stage overnight, Jeff?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, good morning. There are four Democrats and two Republicans vying to be California governor, as well as a few dozen other candidates, but these are the six top candidates, if you will. And it was a pretty extraordinary evening in terms of some of the candidates just introducing themselves. So, the Democrats of course, going after the Trump administration, the Republicans going after the Gavin Newsom administration.

Of course, Gavin Newsom is hanging over all of this, the incumbent Democratic governor who cannot run again. He has not weighed in on this and that is causing some consternation among some Democrats. They're worrying what could happen in June in the primary, if the top two candidates actually go to the general are Republicans. That is possible in California because it's what we call a jungle primary, if you will. The top two vote getters go on to the general election.

But before all of that, the candidates are vying to a distinguish themselves. The Democrats went after President Trump trying to make a name for themselves.

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TOM SEYTER (D), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: The reason that gasoline is so expensive that our president, Donald Trump, has started an insane war in Iran and driven up the cost of gasoline for everybody in California.

XAVIER BECERRA (D), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Let's make sure Donald Trump is not starting reckless wars to keep the prices of gasoline down by up to $2 a gallon. We could reduce the price if that war in Iraq that Donald Trump started would go away.

KATIE PORTER (D), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I would absolutely fight the Trump administration because the job of the California governor is to protect Californians. And right now, that includes protecting them from Donald Trump.

MATT MAHAN (D), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: When the Trump administration threatens California's people, our funding, our values, I'll fight back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So, look, in California, obviously, one of the central issues, of course, for the country as well are the high prices of goods, obviously housing, childcare, et cetera. But Republicans are taking aim at the Democratic administration. Of course, California is the most populous state in the country, more Democrats than Republicans by a mile. But there are many Republicans in California as well. So, the two candidates are trying to appeal to those voters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHAD BIANCO (R), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: We have a money spending problem by decades of Democrat failures. Every answer you've had so far for the California public, they're raising your taxes. They're taking more and more of your money because they refuse to stop their spending.

STEVE HILTON (R), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: We cannot keep going in this direction with Democrats constantly going for their insatiable appetite for more and more taxes for their bottomless money pit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So, Steve Hilton was talking right there. He has won the endorsement of the president. It's an open question whether that is helpful or harmful in a California gubernatorial primary.

But, John, there is no doubt that this is going to be one of the closest watched races in that June 2nd primary, obviously the biggest state in the country. We always talk about how elections are a referendum. The question here, is it a referendum on the Democratic administration, and do Republicans offer a new choice?

BERMAN: That's a great question there, a referendum on whom in this case. Jeff Zeleny, California, as I said, it's a such a-high profile job. Everyone watches for signs of what's to come. Thank you very much. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, John.

Happening now in Virginia, a legal roadblock to the new Congressional map created by Democrats that would give them a chance to gain four additional seats in the House. A judge in Southern Virginia ordered that the result of Tuesday's vote approving the new map not be certified. Judge Jack Hurley called language on the ballot flagrantly misleading. He also denied certification on the grounds that state lawmakers did not follow their own rules in passing through redistricting referendum. Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones says he plans to appeal the ruling immediately. Kate?

BOLDUAN: We're keeping a close eye on market futures this morning after the S&P 500 and NASDAQ closed at record levels. Coming up, why it seems the stock market is continues to be divorced from the reality of the war.

And today, the answer to a baseball question that you did not know that you had, what happens if you catch a line drive in your jersey?

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SIDNER: There is, as often happens, a disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ both closed at record highs yesterday after President Trump extended the ceasefire with Iran. But those gains don't match the realities of everyday Americans. Americans don't feel good about the economy, their personal ones, with data showing consumer sentiment has plunged to a record low.

Drivers are still paying much more for gas than they did before the war began. The national average ticked up slightly overnight. The jump in gas prices helped push inflation to 3.3 percent last month, the highest level in almost two years. So, why is the stock market kind of brushing off all this turmoil and uncertainty?

CNN's David Goldman joins me now. Answer the question, David.

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yes. Markets often seem like they're living in this alternate universe, but I think that they're living on an alternate timeline. So, what's happening is that the traders who are buying and selling stocks are making a bet that the value of their stock is going to rise or fall in the future.

Now, we often think that the stock market is a mirror, right? It's like exactly what's happening right now, and it's a reflection of that. It's not really that. It's a prediction engine. So, is the value of the stock that I hold going to rise or fall based on lots of different things?

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And so I think that's why we're seeing some of this disconnect.

And I think that you and I might be a little responsible for this, and not to call you out, but we've got --

SIDNER: Rude.

GOLDMAN: I know, but we've got that little score bug, you know, right below where it says CNN with Dow, NASDAQ, S&P. And while we're talking about the news, and I think people say, oh, this must be rising or falling because of what they're talking about. And that is sometimes true, but not always true. Earnings, there's, you know, the AI or interest rates, all of that might influence a stock as well.

And so we've seen over the past, you know, couple months, we've seen stocks kind fall and rise. And they certainly were falling when the Iran war started, right? But if you look at what happened at the end of last month, they started to gain again, actually really sharply. And what happened, we stopped bombing and we started going into this economic kind of turmoil.

And I think what traders are saying is that when you have kinetic war, when stuff is blowing up, that's really permanent. When it's an economic war, maybe we can deal with this, and we have dealt with this before. In 2022, oil was around $120. It never quite reached $110 this time around, never settled there. And in 2022, we had $5 gas prices. We only hit just about $4.17 this go-around. So, we've seen this before. So, I think that's what's going on here. SIDNER: All right. Well my grandmother used to say, it's just legalized gambling, but that's how she felt about the stock market. But a lot of people feel good about it because they're seeing their 401(k)s and their retirement savings go up, up, up. We'll see what happens.

GOLDMAN: Exactly.

SIDNER: Thank you so much David. Thanks for explaining why things don't match. John?

Speaking of predictive markets --

BERMAN: Yes, speaking of that, the prediction site Kalshi suspends three politicians for allegedly betting on their own races. And then the biggest sensation in Washington, big, not because she's already 500 pounds, but because she is very, very cute and an elephant, the first of its kind in a generation.

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