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Trump Says There Is "No Time Frame" On Iran War; Iran Seizes Two Ships, Escalating Tensions In Hormuz; Senate Approves DHS Funding Bill No Democratic Votes; Pope Leo XIV Celebrates Final Mass Of His Africa Trip. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired April 23, 2026 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:28]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm Erica Hill in New York.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Becky Anderson, live from our Middle East programming hub here in Abu Dhabi in the UAE. It is 1:00 p.m. here.

It is 12:30 in the afternoon in Tehran and 5:00 a.m. in Washington, D.C., where President Donald Trump says there is no time frame for the conflict with Iran and denies that the midterms are driving his decisions.

The White House says it wants to see a unified proposal from Iran and knows who will sign off on a deal, despite divisions in Tehran, they say.

Well, meantime, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps captured two ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, and state media released this video showing soldiers boarding one of the vessels. Now, the White House says President Trump doesn't consider Tehran's capture of non-U.S. ships a ceasefire violation.

The U.S. Navy, meantime keeping up its blockade of Iranian ports, and Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, says that Tehran still wants peace talks. But, quote, "breach of commitments, blockade and threats are the main obstacles to genuine negotiations."

Well, let's do a little bit more on this.

CNN's Paula Hancocks is here with me in Abu Dhabi.

And let's start with those potential talks. It would be a second round, likely in Islamabad. What's the very latest this Thursday morning?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Becky, what were hearing at this point is certainly from the White House is the sense they're in no rush. They want a good deal. That's what we heard from the U.S. president saying that they believe there's a fracture within Iran's leadership. Now, we have seen some evidence of that. When you see the foreign

minister say one thing and then the revolutionary guard say the opposite, but its not clear if that's overplayed at this point, because what were hearing from Iran is a fairly unified response, which is we're not going to talk until you lift this U.S. naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.

Now, we've had a statement from the lead negotiator, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf. He's also the parliament speaker, which I want to read to you, quote, "A complete ceasefire only makes sense if it is not violated by the maritime blockade and the hostage taking of the world's economy." He went on to say that reopening the Strait of Hormuz is impossible with such a flagrant breach of the ceasefire, basically saying what they're not achieving through military aggression, they're now trying to achieve through bullying.

And we heard from Iran's U.N. envoy as well, saying that if Washington lifts this naval blockade, then its likely the talks will start again.

HILL: This is language, of course, that the us is using against Iran bullying, hostage taking in Iran's effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. There's a bit of tit for tat of course going on there.

While I've got you, I do want to get the very latest from Lebanon and expectations going into what would be the second round of talks between Israel and the Lebanese in Washington later today.

HANCOCKS: Yes. So this is a ceasefire that does have a deadline that's coming up very closely. It was a ten day ceasefire. We know that there's ambassador level discussions between Lebanon and Israel, not Hezbollah, but Lebanon and Israel in Washington later today. What were hearing from political sources is that Lebanon is going to try and push for a month long ceasefire, knowing that ten days is simply not going to be enough, and it is running out.

But even though there is a ceasefire, were still seeing attacks happening. In fact, just yesterday, we saw an air strike by Israel, which did kill a Lebanese journalist. The prime minister has said that that could amount to war crimes, claiming that emergency workers weren't able to get to the site to try and help some of the people impacted, which Israel denies. They say it's under review, but it just shows how fragile that particular ceasefire is.

HANCOCKS: Yeah, and that's a really important point because this is a temporary truce. The Lebanese pushing for a more concrete solution to this situation. It is, of course, a ceasefire, fragile as it is between Israel and the Hezbollah. The Iran-backed Hezbollah group, which is based in Lebanon.

It's good to have you, Paula. Thank you very much indeed. Paula Hancocks with the very latest on the sort of diplomacy around what is going on.

Let's get to Hamidreza Azizi, visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, regular guest with us on CNN. Throughout this conflict, your analysis has been, you know, incredibly

important as we have worked through this last, what, eight weeks on a sort of day by day basis.

Yesterday, Hamidreza, around this time, we saw Iran fire on at least three ships in and around the Strait of Hormuz. Those critical waterways there, and sees two of them to draw them in towards the Iranian coast.

Do you expect to see more of this?

HAMIDREZA AZIZI, VISITING FELLOW, GERMAN INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL & SECURITY AFFAIRS: Well, it is a sort of a tit for tat from the Iranian perspective for not just the naval blockade itself, but the way it was implemented lately. And I'm speaking here about the shooting by the U.S. naval forces towards an Iranian container ship and the confiscation of the ship.

So the way that is seen in Tehran, it seems that, they believe this is some sort of a battle of endurance in which the United States wants to kind of reverse the trend. That kind of led to Iran having somehow the upper hand by controlling the Strait of Hormuz and trying to redraw, the equation around the strait, and also in the Persian Gulf.

So, by doing this, they want to send a signal that they are not deterred. And actually they are determined to even double down on their activities at the Strait of Hormuz. So this is my reading of the situation.

ANDERSON: Right. The U.S. president has refused to set a deadline for Iran to submit a substantive plan.

Here's the White House press secretary answering a question about that lack of a timeline. Stand by.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I know there's been some anonymous source reporting that there was maybe a three to five- day deadline. That is not true. The president has not set a deadline himself. Ultimately, he will dictate the timetable. And again, he is satisfied with the naval blockade. And he understands that Iran is in a very weak position and the cards are in President Trump's hands right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Do you believe Donald Trump holds the cards at this point?

AZIZI: Well, there's two things here from an analytical perspective. I think the confusion that defined Donald Trump's, you know, war activities from day one still persists. And the reason I'm saying this is that at the same time that they continue this naval blockade and also extend the ceasefire for an -- and a identified period, we hear from the U.S. treasury secretary that the sanctions exemption for Iranian oil stranded at sea has been extended, somehow. So, I mean, one would question the logic here. So if it is about

squeezing Iranian oil revenues. So, how come that Iran still is selling the oil?

And also, you know, I mean, a few hours before the announcement of this extension of the ceasefire, Donald Trump said that, there was going to be no extension. But this is not necessarily how it is seen by the Iranian leaders. And that is what defines and drives their activities because they see this as a potential part of a bigger plan, that would involve not only just naval blockade, but also some renewed activities, for example, by insurgent groups from western and southeastern borders.

Just yesterday, there were reports of Baluchi insurgent groups, trying to infiltrate into the country. And also Iran is still continuing to pound the positions of Iranian Kurdish insurgents in Iraqi Kurdistan. So, the threat perception is still high on the Iranian side, and this increases the risk for miscalculation on both sides as well, I think.

ANDERSON: This risk of sort of civil war and as you say, the risk of groups from outside, um, getting very sort of restive at this point, clearly something to keep an eye on.

I want to close out with the Lebanon-Israel talks resuming today. How much of a priority is the Iran backed Lebanese, group Hezbollah, how big a priority is its next move to Tehran, do you believe?

[05:10:04]

And is what the IDF is doing in Lebanon? This is a very, very fragile ceasefire at this point, a danger, to the ceasefire holding from Iran's point of view.

AZIZI: Actually, what we've seen during this war has been some sort of an elevated importance of Hezbollah in the context of Iranian regional strategy and not the opposite, unlike what some would expect because, look, this idea of unity of the fronts, was a defining feature of Iran's approach towards working with its allies and proxies in the region. And now the rhetoric from Tehran is that we have extended this to the diplomatic front as well. And here they refer to, you know, their push for Lebanon being included in the Iran-U.S. ceasefire.

So, there's a dual approach here. On the one hand, they do want the attacks to stop against Lebanon overall. And of course, especially against Hezbollah, but they really want this to happen through their own channel, not through bilateral channel of Israel and the Lebanese government, for obvious reasons, because that would deprive them from the room for maneuvering that has been provided to them as a result of this war and the leverage that they have in Lebanon actually.

ANDERSON: Yeah. And I think that was a -- that was a significant sort of tactical approach that the Israelis and the U.S. and perhaps Lebanon itself took in sort of dividing the two, as it were, against the better judgment of Tehran at this point.

Hamidreza, it's good to have you. Always a pleasure. Your insight, very valuable for our viewers. Thank you.

I'll be back later in the hour with more coverage from this region. For now, let's get you back to Erica Hill in New York.

HILL: All right, Becky, thanks.

Well, as the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports continues, the Pentagon making a surprise announcement on Wednesday, U.S. Navy Secretary John Phelan is out, effective immediately. Sources telling CNN there had been tension for months between Phelan and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and that on Wednesday, he was told to resign or be fired. His departure comes amid what one White House official described as President Trump's frustration with the slow progress of shipbuilding.

Phelan was a businessman and a major Trump fundraiser. He has no prior military service, and when he was tapped to be navy secretary.

Britain's Prince Harry making a surprise visit to Ukraine. Arriving in Kyiv by train earlier today, where he praised Ukraine's defense of democracy. The 41-year-old Duke of Sussex is urging the world not to lose sight of what Ukraine is up against, as the focus shifts, of course, to the war with Iran. He is expected to address the Kyiv security forum today. Harry and his wife Meghan just wrapped up a four day visit to Australia.

Ukraine's president, meantime, is praising a loan from the European Union, which he calls a matter of life and survival for his country. The E.U. approved the more than $100 billion loan on Wednesday. It had been blocked by Hungary for months.

In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy explained what this money means for Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: So without financing, without funds, we can't produce as much as possible for today, we are producing about around a little bit less than 1,000 of drones, interceptors. If we have money per day, per day, but we can produce 2,000, but we don't have for this funding.

So it's really the question of our life, of the surviving, of defending. So we need this money very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: President Zelenskyy also said the war in Iran is taking the focus away from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and warned there is a big risk if diplomats wait until the conflict in the Middle East is over to resume peace efforts for his country.

The U.S. Senate, making the first step toward reopening the Department of Homeland Security with no Democratic support. Lawmakers working through the night to pass a bill aimed at funding ICE and U.S. Border Patrol. Their plan, though it's important to note, is not a sure thing. Up

next, the same budget blueprint will have to make it through the House, then go back to the Senate for another marathon vote series.

Democrats have been demanding reforms to immigration enforcement. But if all goes according to the Republican plan, they will not need Democrats' approval.

Pope Leo XIV wrapping up his trip to Africa with a large event underway at this hour. We'll have more on the mass he's celebrating before he returns home.

Plus, wildfires raging through southeast Georgia, destroying dozens of structures, forcing people from their homes. We'll take a closer look at what is fueling the fires.

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HILL: Right now, Pope XIV is celebrating the final mass of his trip to Africa before he heads home. The event underway now at stadium Equatorial Guinea. It is the final stop of the pontiff's 11 day trip, which included visits to three other countries. During his tour, the pope sometimes drew crowds of more than 100,000 people.

On Wednesday, he visited what is considered to be one of the world's most notorious prisons. The pope criticized the treatment of those who were incarcerated there and also called out income inequality.

Wildfires in southeast Georgia are growing amid extreme drought conditions in Clinch County. Fire fighters are working to clear trees and brush to contain the so-called Pine Island Road Fire. That place has now burned more than 29,000 acres.

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The nearby Highway 82 fire has scorched some 5,000 acres and burned more than 50 structures. No injuries have been reported. The blaze, though, has prompted mandatory evacuations. Smoke from fires is creating poor air quality across the area and even hundreds of miles away in Atlanta.

Meteorologist Melissa Nord has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA NORD, CNN METEOROLOGIST: As the fires ignited and spread the last couple of days, you can see those plumes of smoke all the way from space and those smoky plumes actually have been changing which direction they're going in because of the winds. Look at the near surface smoke forecast through Wednesday night and Thursday. You can see that smoke drifting off to the north. So that includes smoky skies and hazy skies over cities like Atlanta and even out towards Charlotte, North Carolina, during the day on Thursday. Each one of those dots on the map represents an active fire ongoing

right now, and there's a lot of smoke in the atmosphere and the fire conditions outside, largely made worse by the ongoing drought. This is a look at the last 30 days. The percent of normal precipitation across the Southeast. That really deep red color in southeastern Georgia, those are precipitation variances from normal that are only about 5 to 10 percent of normal precipitation from the end of march through much of April.

So in desperate need of rain across these areas, battling wildfires, new drought monitor coming out Thursday morning will likely show an expansion of some of these drought conditions and getting worse across the Southeast.

Now, there is a small amount of rain coming over the weekend and early next week, but this is not going to be enough to really dampen the wildfire situation outside. We really need in some of these areas, in excess of a foot of rain over a month to wipe out the drought altogether. So, a small amount of rain, but not enough to help the situation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: European countries really feeling the squeeze from the war with Iran. How they are now fighting back. That's ahead on EARLY START.

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[05:26:29]

ANDERSON: Well, the war with Iran is driving up energy costs across Europe, forcing new emergency measures. The European Union now says it has spent an additional $28 billion on energy imports since the war started.

Consumers are also seeing higher prices for gasoline for groceries and for air travel. The European Commission says even if the war ended this week, disruptions to energy supplies will persist for the foreseeable future.

Well, CNN's Eleni Giokos live this hour in Dubai. And it is highly unlikely that this war will end this week, Eleni.

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah.

ANDERSON: Get us up to speed on the very latest on the Strait of Hormuz, which is, of course, that kind of flash point from which we've seen this sort of energy security and supply issue emanate.

GIOKOS: Yeah, exactly. And I think we've been warning about the supply shock for so many weeks, frankly, since the start of the war. And were heading closer to what we were hoping not to get to. And that sort of worst case scenario, and really emanates from the Strait of Hormuz.

I quickly want to check in on what Brent crude and WTI are doing, Becky, because it really is telling a story here about consistent increases in those two prices. Even though we've seen sort of, you know, whipsaw emerging depending on commentary, specifically from President Trump, Brent crude is up 1.5 percent right now, so is WTI.

And really important when you mention what the European Union is warning about spending an additional $28 billion on energy imports since the war started, it really gives you an idea of what's happening in the physical market when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz, the IRGC releasing video around the seizure of two vessels yesterday, and it's pretty dramatic video.

I mean, there's a lot of questions around whether this is valid footage. It looks more like, you know, some kind of practice round, you know, some naval experts telling us that this might not actually be the seizure, but it gives you an idea of how they're doing it because it's asymmetrical. You've got these speedboats that are going up towards these vessels.

I mean, these guys are armed. These speedboats can carry around a dozen IRGC commanders. And the analysis also shows us that while these speedboats, you know, are very small and they cant really face up to the U.S. Navy, if they come in swarms or even in hundreds, then you're looking at potential significant damage.

And according to CNN's sources, there could be hundreds and even thousands of these speedboats, even though the United States maintains that it has been able to annihilate the entire Iranian navy, but it's still very asymmetrical.

So depending on what happens with the Strait of Hormuz is really dependent on what is going to go on in the rest of the world. And, you know, just an example, Lufthansa canceling 20,000 flights for the summer period because of jet fuel issues. Delta also coming out and saying that jet fuel prices are going to impact costs significantly, and they believe its going to last for a very long time.

So even if the war ends today or even in a couple of weeks, the damage, Becky, has already been done.

ANDERSON: Yeah, absolutely. Eleni, thank you. Eleni is in Dubai for you.

Greece, one of the countries directly feeling the impact of the war, Iran's state media says that a Greek owned ship was targeted by the country's Revolutionary Guard and is now disabled off the Iranian coast.

I spoke with the Greek foreign minister on Wednesday and asked him if those attacks could affect the ongoing ceasefire. Have a listen.