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One World with Zain Asher

Lebanon's Pm Accuses Israel of Targeting Media & War Crimes; Iran Says It Has Received Its First Revenue from Strait of Hormuz Tolls; War with Iran Driving Up Energy Costs Across Europe; Airlines Announce Fare Hikes and Plans to Slash Flights. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired April 23, 2026 - 11:00   ET

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

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ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: All right. Coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher. Bianna Golodryga is off today. You are watching "One

World". In the coming hours, Washington will host a second round of talks between Israel and Lebanon amid a fragile 10-day ceasefire.

Ahead of the talks, Israel's Foreign Minister called on Lebanon's government to work together against Hezbollah. It comes amid new reports

from Lebanese state media of the Israeli military burning homes in Southern Lebanon today. Israel has vowed to maintain its presence in Southern

Lebanon, and has urged residents not to return to the area.

Meantime, Lebanon's Prime Minister is accusing Israel of war crimes after an air strike killed a journalist and wounded another on Wednesday. CNN's

Jennifer Hansler joins us live now from for more on the second round of talks today in Washington, both sides right now, Jennifer are trying to

sort of explore a potential extension of that 10-day ceasefire.

Walk us through what we can expect. And of course, what the sticking points continue to be.

JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT REPORTER: Well, Zain, I think probably the best outcome out of this second round of talks would be that

extension of this ceasefire that is due to expire, we believe on Sunday, this is something the Lebanese are going to be pushing for in this meeting.

Israel has expressed openness to continuing, but of course, they continue to maintain what they say is their ability for defensive strikes. Zain,

these are still taking place at a very working level. Although Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to participate for at least part of the

meeting today, the bulk of it is going to be among ambassadors.

So, we expect there to be the ambassadors from Israel and Lebanon to the United States representing their delegations. There will also be the U.S.

Ambassador to Lebanon, as well as now the addition of the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee. This is an addition from the talks last week.

He is now going to be in the room as well as the State Department Counselor Mike Needham. Now, of course, this has not been a perfect ceasefire

throughout the past week or so that it has been in place, there have been strikes by Israel on Southern Lebanon. Notably, Yesterday, we saw a

journalist killed another severely injured in an Israeli strike.

This is something that the Lebanese government is calling a war crime. Hezbollah has also launched rockets at Israel during the course of this

ceasefire. And of course, they are a party who is not going to be at the table here, Zain. This is something the administration has stressed that

they do not want to have an agreement with Hezbollah.

They want this to be an agreement between Israel and the Lebanese government. They have called on the Lebanese government to take control of

their territory, to be able to gain power here, to empower their own armed forces. But there are a lot of sticking points, of course, one of which is

the territory in Lebanon that Israeli forces are currently occupying.

We heard from Israeli Defense Forces earlier today saying they are going to continue to stay in place there. There have been indications that they

could pursue a long-term occupation in Southern Lebanon. This is something, of course, that would not be palatable to the Lebanese government, so that

is something they are going to continue to have to work through in these talks.

There has been some discussion about the need for territorial integrity in these talks, but there have not been a lot of details here at this point,

which seems, Zain, they are looking at sort of high-level discussion, still, at this point, a framework to which they could potentially get to

higher level talks.

But of course, all eyes are going to be on this building here at the State Department later this afternoon, when those parties meet yet again.

ASHER: Right, Jennifer Hansler live for us there at the State Department. Thank you so much. Right -- now to the war in Iran, where the fight for

control of the seas continues despite a tenuous truce between Washington and Tehran. A short time ago, U.S. President Donald Trump announced he had

ordered the navy to quote shoot and kill any boats laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

It comes hours after the Pentagon said the U.S. boarded a sanctioned vessel in the Indian Ocean that was transporting oil from Iran. Iran is flexing

its muscles as well. Today, a top official said that Tehran is now enforcing a controversial toll for ships passing through the strait.

We have a surprise announcement as well from the Pentagon. As of Wednesday, Navy Secretary John Phelan has been ousted.

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Multiple sources tell CNN that tensions built for months between him and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. They say Hegseth believe that Phelan moved

too slowly on ship building reforms, and that he disliked Phelan's close relationship with President Trump. This marks the first departure among

military service secretaries nominated under Trump.

Let's go straight now to Alayna Treene, live for us at the White House. I mean, the one thing that you want during a war that you are conducting is,

of course, stability and consistency, especially within the Pentagon. The fact that you have the Navy Secretary now ousted, this just coming weeks

after the Army's Chief of Staff was also let go as well.

What does that tell us? Just walk us through, what is Hegseth's relationship with these officials in terms of what we know, Alayna?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I mean, this is not the first high profile military firing under Hegseth's, you know, tenure at

Department of Defense, Zain. And it also, of course, as you point out, it comes at an incredibly important time for the navy, which is currently

imposing this blockade on Iranian ports.

And really the president and the administration view the navy's role in this and the blockade on the Strait of Hormuz as really one of the most

important forms of leverage that they have in ensuring as the ceasefire was extended earlier this week by the president in ensuring that the Iranians

remain at the table, or at least continue working toward some sort of diplomatic solution and off ramp to this war.

So, the timing of this ouster of the U.S. Navy Secretary John Phelan, was really remarkable. And to give you a little bit of insight into what our

colleagues were hearing behind the scenes was one Hegseth and Phelan had been really at odds for many months now. One was on what you mentioned,

that idea of him, of Hegseth, believing that Phelan was moving too slowly, particularly when it came to ship reform.

But then this other, which I think is even a more crucial point, is the tensions about Phelan's relationship with President Trump. And I remind you

that Phelan, when he was selected for this role, he did not have prior military experience. He actually was someone who had donated millions to

President Donald Trump.

And he's someone who often called up the president directly had a relationship with them before he even went to the Pentagon. And that's

something that ultimately, were told graded on Hegseth, who believed at times, Phelan was going around him to go directly to the president.

And one thing I just need to point this out that was pretty incredible through this reporting of the course of yesterday about Phelan's ouster

was, when Phelan was informed that he was either going to have the option to either resign or he would be pushed out formally.

He didn't believe that maybe perhaps President Trump knew about it, or if that president was behind it, and so he ended up calling a bunch of people

at the White House. And ultimately even showed up to the White House complex trying to get answers about what had happened.

And ultimately, he did meet with the president. I should note that the president did meet earlier in the day with hedge set, and they both agreed

that it was time for Phelan to leave, but just a remarkable series of events that led to this high-profile departure, again at the time that the

U.S. is at war with Iran, and the navy is playing a very crucial role in it.

And I do just want to go back to that post, Zain, that you referenced, because I think these just compounds everything that I'm saying. You know,

the president said today that he has ordered the U.S. Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats, though they may be.

He went on to say that are putting mines in the Strait of Hormuz. He went on to argue that they would continue to try and take out those mines at a

tripled-up level. Not exactly clear on the you know, dynamics of how that's actually going to work. I'd remind our audience that the U.S. had actually

de commissioned four minesweepers last year.

And so, there's been some questions about how they're actually handling this. But again, I think just an incredible departure at a time when

clearly, so much focus on what the navy has to do around the Strait of Hormuz, Zain.

ASHER: All right. Alayna Treene, live for us there. Thank you. The oil markets are on the rise after President Trump said there was no deadline

for ending the war with Iran. Take a closer look at Brent crude. It's global benchmark. You see it there, $102 a barrel. WTI, that's the U.S.

benchmark, slightly lower, at $93 a barrel.

Those rising crude oil prices have forced EU leaders to take emergency measures. The European Union says that it spent an additional $28 billion

on energy imports since the war started. The European Union Energy Commission explained the spending.

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DAN JORGENSEN, EUROPEAN UNION ENERGY COMMISSIONER: The European Union is so closely connected. Our economy so closely connected that if things go bad

in one country, they go bad in all countries. What I really fear is that this will lead to an economic crisis.

And by the way, if that happens, then that's not isolated to Europe. This will be a global economic crisis that none of us wish for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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ASHER: Right, consumers are all seeing higher prices for gasoline, groceries and air travel. The European Commission adds that even if the war

ended this week, disruptions to energy supplies will persist for the foreseeable future. The air travel industry is one of the hardest hits by

higher energy prices, which inevitably get passed on to the consumer united plans to raise fares significantly and as they may not come back down even

after fuel costs fall.

And Lufthansa is cutting tens of thousands of daily flights. CNN Aviation Correspondent Pete Muntean explains.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Not a huge surprise here, airlines run on thin margins, and historically, fares don't really come

back down once they go up. Here is the new warning from United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby from Wednesday's earnings call.

Passengers are paying about 20 percent more per mile than they were a year ago. And Kirby says even if fuel prices fall, those higher fares are likely

to stick around. The data from travel site going shows just how much prices have jumped. Domestic air fare up 18 percent for the summer.

International fares up 8 percent that's about 13 percent overall. Labor is still the single biggest cause for airlines. But remember, jet fuel is

number two, and the price of jet fuel has roughly doubled since the start of the war with Iran, meaning airlines have no choice but to adjust.

German carrier Lufthansa is cutting 20,000 flights through October. That includes about 120 flights a day through May. The goal is to save money as

fuel costs surge. This is classic airline playbook. When costs go up, airlines start slashing capacity. Fewer flight means fewer choices, and the

routes most likely to disappear first are the ones that weren't really all that profitable to begin with.

But here's the kicker, demand for air travel is still very strong, and airlines admit that they think travelers will keep paying these prices, and

so far, they're right. Pete Muntean, CNN, Washington.

ASHER: Right, arriving just moments ago. European leaders are in Cyprus this hour for an informal meeting on the agenda, signing off on a more than

100-billion-dollar loan to Ukraine, which had been blocked by Hungary for months and a few new rounds of sanctions against Russia.

On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the loan, calling it a matter of life and survival for his country. Prince Harry is

also showing his support for Ukraine as well. The Duke of Sussex made a surprise visit to Kyiv. Earlier today, he attended the Kyiv Security Forum,

where he called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRINCE HARRY, DUKE OF SUSSEX: President Putin, no nation benefits from the continued loss of life we are witnessing. There is still a moment now to

stop this war, to further -- to prevent further suffering for Ukrainians and Russians alike, and to choose a different course.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Harry told Ukrainians that the country has earned the respect of the world, praising its leadership and resilience. Meantime, here in the U.S.,

the Senate has voted to advance a controversial plan that would partially reopen the government and fund immigration enforcement agencies for the

next three years.

In a marathon overnight session, Republicans approved the budget resolution without any Democratic support. The Department of Homeland Security has

been shut down for more than two months. Democrats are demanding reforms after two protesters in Minneapolis were killed by federal agents.

Back in January, the measure now heads to the house where its future is far from certain. All right. Still to come, Pope Leo is headed back to Rome

after spending 11 days in Africa. More on his apostolic journey just ahead. Plus, a state of emergency declared in parts of the U.S. state of Georgia,

as wildfire spread.

CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam joins us from one particularly hard-hit area.

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ASHER: Pope Leo has wrapped up his 11-day visit to Africa, now is headed back to Rome. The pontiff boarded a plane in Malabo just hours ago. His

travels brought him to four African nations where he focused on social justice and peace. Before he departed, the pope celebrated the final mass

of his trip to Africa at a stadium in Equatorial Guinea.

Gosh. Look at that welcome there. During his tour, pontiff sometimes drew crowds of more than 100,000 people. For more on the pope's trip, I want to

bring in Stan Chu Ilo, Research Professor at De Paul University in Chicago. Always good to have you with that. I mean, those images are just

incredible, right?

Because Equatorial Guinea, although technically a sort of non-religious country on paper, it does have, I think 75 percent of its population is

Catholic. So, you see, it's almost a sort of, really a hero's welcome. He's getting there, but just in terms of, you know, the pope's character and

personality that we've seen on this trip.

And obviously, a lot of popes have been very expressive in terms of their political opinion in the past, but this time, especially given that he

started this trip with a back and forth with the U.S. President, we've seen a level of assertiveness, a certain level of confidence.

I mean, he's really come into his own, and has not shied away from expressing his opinion, especially as it pertains to authoritarianism and

corruption in some of these countries, including Equatorial Guinea, where he just left.

STAN CHU ILO, RESEARCH PROFESSOR AT THE CENTER FOR WORLD CATHOLICISM & INTERCULTURAL THEOLOGY AT DEPAUL UNIVERSITY IN CHICAGO: Yeah. Thank you

very much. I think this is the epiphany of Pope Leo. And those who do not know what epiphany is, after Christmas, we celebrate another feast of the

manifestation of Jesus Christ.

To say, this is who Jesus is. So, for those who are asking, what kind of pope is he? What does he think about politics? He says, this is who I am. I

care about people. I care about those who suffer. I care about prisoners. I care about manipulation or exploitation. I care about peace.

I care about the common good. And I will speak up against those who make life miserable for people in their nations and in the world. So here is a

demonstration of who he is, that he is someone who is a good shepherd and who really is calling the world today to look towards Africa as a land of

hope and joy and not a land of misery and desolation.

ASHER: When you think about some of the pope's messaging, especially in a place like Equatorial Guinea, I mean, he met President Obiang. President

Obiang is somebody who has been president of that country since 1982 but he's been the de facto ruler, really, since 1979 and so a very, very long

time, in other words, and his son is vice president.

So that's not the epitome of autocracy, I don't know what is. And so how will the pope's messaging in a place like Equatorial Guinea really resonate

with the leader of that country and also with the ordinary citizens who have been under this oppressive regime for many decades now?

ILO: Thank you very much. That's really a very interesting question, and I think that we must condemn the autocrats, the tyrants, as Pope Leo called

them in Cameroon, who are making life miserable for God's people in the continent of Africa. I think that it is not so much on the pope, really, to

tell African church leaders to stand up to these tyrants.

But rather he is modeling how to do that when he said, for instance, I am not afraid of the Trump Administration. He, being an American, stood up

against the policies and programs, both national and global of the Trump Administration.

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African church leaders should follow suit. So, I think that before the pope went, some of us, we are also concerned about the optics of seeing the pope

with Obiang or -- but then his words testify to what he carries in his heart. And again, where he went to draw attention, for instance, in

Equatorial Guinea, to the prison, to the site of explosion, visiting prisoners, visiting the sick, and calling attention to a new kind of

leadership, a new vision for a better world.

I think that it is now the -- is not on the pope, he has given us a clear message that we need to stand up against all kinds of oppressive

governments in Africa and in the world. It is now left for local African church leaders to carry out this second liberation that is so, so needed in

the continent of Africa today.

ASHER: You bring up the Trump Administration, you know, obviously President Trump does not shy away from insulting anybody or attack I mean, nobody's

off limits, right. Nobody is -- nobody that's above being insulted by President Trump. He'll attack anyone.

And when it comes to being on the receiving end of some of those insults. I mean, it can be easy to be intimidated by that, even if you're a world

leader. The fact that this pope was not intimidated and did not cower in the face of such rhetoric, what does that say about his personality,

especially as you point out, as an American and sort of going back and forth with an American President too?

ILO: It shows a man of character, a man of integrity, a man who is true to the mission, because I repeat that what he says transcends himself as a

pope. So, when President Trump in those unacceptable posts, began to personalize the message, the pope walked away because he had given the

word, he has spoken the courageous word, and it stung the consciences of many people, including those at the White House.

So, and he doesn't want to get into back and forth, because I think in the Trump's universe, anyone who does not agree with him is an enemy. But Pope

Leo is building bridges reminding us that it is possible for people to disagree, but through disagreement, we find a better pathway to a global

future.

He is building bridges among religions, telling Christians, for instance, in Algeria and many parts of Africa, that Christians and Muslims are not

enemies, telling ethnic groups that ethnic groups are not enemies to one another. He is revisiting the past but also looking toward the future.

And I think that this is a message of how to use power. Is it the power to serve or the power to dominate? Is also a message about a different vision

of the world. So, I think that Pope Leo in Africa shows us that power is given to each and every one of us -- help to heal broken and wounded world.

ASHER: Yeah, and I love what you said about him visiting a Muslim nation like Algeria, for example, and really having that interfaith dialog. All

right, stand through Ilo, thank you. Your perspective. Appreciate it. Right, wildfires have exploded in Georgia, in the U.S. State of Georgia,

crews are battling blazes across the southern portion of the state.

More than 50 homes have been destroyed, and hundreds of people have been forced to evacuate. For the first time in Georgia's history, state

officials have issued a burn ban. Governor Brian Kemp also signed a state of emergency for more than half of Georgia's County. CNN's Meteorologist

Derek Van Dam is in Brantley County, Georgia, an area that has been devastated.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Just to illustrate the ferocity and extreme temperatures of this wildfire, the highway 82 fire in Brantley

County, Southeast Georgia. Look at this melted metal from this what appears to be a trailer that was completely decimated as the flames tore through

this region within the past couple of days.

Now, what's behind me is just astounding and very sad too, because this once was a wedding chapel where people said their vows to each other, made

memories. Now it's charred and blackened. Some of the chairs still from the inside of the foyer of this wedding chapel turned over and now darkened.

You can see the remains behind here. We've seen mobile homes that have been completely decimated by this fire, charred vehicles. There are mandatory

evacuations through this area, and so we've seen desperate people turning on their sprinklers and spraying them throughout their home just to try and

suppress any potential fire that may move through this area.

Again, remember, Brantley County is exceptionally drought.

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All of the southeastern U.S. is in desperate need of rain, but here where we're standing is some of the worst drought conditions across the State of

Georgia. Just last week, Brantley County had 33 percent in exceptional drought. That's the highest drought level you have.

Now this morning, we have 99.8 percent of the county under exceptional drought conditions. So that is helping -- and fuel the flames. We talk

about group torching, that some of the wording that authorities are using this thick vegetation that you see here behind me, surrounding this area,

those trees can spontaneously erupt into flames as the leading edge of the highway 82 fire continues to move on.

It's the low relative humidities that have continued to keep this dry air masks in place, the smell of thick smoke in the air and the heat from still

burning and smoldering embers can be felt as we walk around this charred landscape. I'm CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam in Brantley County,

Southeast Georgia. Back to you.

ASHER: And I'm Zain Asher, and I'll be back with more "One World" in about 30 minutes from now, but first it's CNN "Creators".

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