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The Situation Room

Interview With Ontario, Canada, Premier Doug Ford; Interview With Rep. Sam Liccardo (D-CA); U.S. Navy Secretary Fired; Southeast Wildfires. 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.

[11:00:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: All right, and turning to the baseball diamond, check this out. This was the Seattle Mariners game last night. Pitcher Logan Gilbert made the pitch, but the ball disappears into his shirt. That ball was 107 miles per hour. The Mariners ended up winning 5-4.

And the next hour of THE SITUATION ROOM starts right now.

Happening now, breaking news: boarding a second ship. The U.S. just released this video showing American troops landing on the deck of a sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Raging wildfires. Dozens of homes are destroyed, and much of the Southeast is blanketed in smoke, as wildfires rage in Georgia and in Northern Florida. We're following all the very latest developments.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLITZER: We begin with the breaking news. The U.S. military has swiftly boarded a second vessel linked to Iran, the operation taking place in international waters more than 2,000 miles from the Iranian coast.

The Pentagon released this video from the scene in the Indian Ocean. U.S. officials say the ship was carrying Iranian oil. And this comes as Iranian state media airs this video. It purportedly shows Iranian soldiers seizing container ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

BROWN: And given the glossy production values here, it's not clear if these images were reenacted for the camera after the actual event. Meanwhile, the Pentagon tells lawmakers it could take six months to clear mines from the strait.

Also, a Pentagon shocker. The navy secretary is fired, even with no end in sight to the naval blockade of Iranian ports. John Phelan is the latest senior military leader to leave the Trump administration during the war with Iran.

BLITZER: CNN senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak is here with us in THE SITUATION ROOM.

Kevin, a very busy morning. The president has been weighing in on social media. Tell us what he's saying.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, and it all centers on the Strait of Hormuz, which despite the cease-fire that's in place, I think it's becoming clear that this is now the center of this conflict.

It's a risky area, despite the truce that is in place. And the president is adopting something of a more aggressive tone than we heard from the White House yesterday. The White House saying yesterday they did not think that Iranian seizures of ships in the strait amounted to a breach of the cease-fire.

The president this morning was saying that he is ordering the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be, that are putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz. There is to be no hesitation.

So what is he talking about here? He's talking about what is sometimes known as the mosquito fleet. It's these -- this flotilla of very small, almost recreational boats that Iran has. They're very fast. They can go 100 knots, so 150 miles an hour. They're moored inside of caves along the Iranian coast.

So they have posed an incredibly difficult challenge for the U.S. military. It's all part of this asymmetric threat, the president now saying that the U.S. Navy is going to go after them directly. That's significant. So far, the Navy has been enforcing this blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, not inside the strait itself, but in the Gulf of Oman, outside of the strait itself.

The president seems to be suggesting here that the Navy could be going into the strait, which, of course, raises the risks of confrontation, of escalating, of spiraling, all of these things that I think the president does want to avoid.

And I think it just underscores both sides of this think that they have some leverage in trying to control the Strait of Hormuz. Until a deal is struck, that's not going to be resolved. And the president, again, this morning is pointing out another obstacle towards reaching a deal, this divide the U.S. sees the Iranian leadership.

He says Iran is having a very hard time figuring out who their leader is. They just don't know. He says that infighting between the hard- liners and the moderates is crazy. And I think it just underscores there are so many difficult hurdles to getting to a deal.

We thought there would be in-person talks earlier this week. When you talk to White House officials, they do say that those talks could be revived essentially at a moment's notice if any of these issues sort of have some resolution.

But, as of now, it doesn't seem clear how that's going to happen. BLITZER: And this latest U.S. attack on this very small Iranian boat

in the Indian Ocean, more than 1,000 miles from the Iranian coast, is causing some controversy.

And we know this is all happening as the U.S. Navy secretary, John Phelan, was fired.

LIPTAK: Exactly.

BLITZER: Supposedly because he disagreed with some of these policies? Is that right?

LIPTAK: Well, the firing of Phelan had a number of factors in there. There were some disagreements between him and the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth. There had been longtime tensions between the two men, in part because of Phelan's very close relationship with President Trump himself. He was essentially texting the president whenever he wanted to, which rubbed Hegseth the wrong way.

[11:05:07]

When you talk to experts and former Naval officials, they say that the Navy secretary, as a position, doesn't necessarily have a huge amount to do with the operations that the Navy is conducting. His role, for example, had to do with shipbuilding, things along those lines.

And so the effect that his firing is going to have on this mission in the Strait of Hormuz, I think is negligible. Still, the timing is awkward and very sort of presumptuous, given what's happening with the Navy right now.

The operation in the Indian Ocean, I think, is significant. This took place thousands of miles from the Iranian coast. The U.S. Navy is enforcing this blockade in international waters. It's intercepting vessels that are going to and from Iranian ports.

The president, in his TRUTH Social post, is suggesting something that would have to be occurring much closer to Iran, putting the Navy, I think, at much greater risk for a potential confrontation, which I think suggests that we could be entering a new phase of the conflict.

BLITZER: It certainly does suggest that.

All right, thanks very much, Kevin Liptak, reporting for us -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right, breaking news this morning, Wolf. Fast-moving wildfires are threatening the Southeast. Right now, 91 counties in Georgia are under a state of emergency. That is more than half of all countries in the state.

And, as you can see right here, this new video shows what's left of a wedding chapel destroyed by the blaze, as well as other cars and vehicles burned. And here you can see massive flames and thick smoke hovering over the tree line there, and, here, a hazy orange cloud of smoke and golfing that part of Southern Georgia. At least 50 homes have been destroyed in the state, and hundreds of

residents have been forced to flee as these wildfires are raging across the region.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We tried to save your house. We couldn't do nothing. It was too late, man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: State fire officials say the blazes are not expected to be contained for at least another month.

Derek Van Dam has more from Brantley County, Georgia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS 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 these 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 have seen mobile homes that have been completely decimated by this fire, charred vehicles. There are mandatory evacuations through this area. And so we have 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. 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 fan and fuel the flames.

We talk about group torching. That's 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 mass 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 these charred landscapes.

I'm CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam in Brantley County, Southeast Georgia -- back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And our thanks to Derek for that report.

BLITZER: Very worrisome, indeed.

Still ahead, we're talking with Democratic Congressman Sam Liccardo, one of several lawmakers now calling for an investigation after a string of huge bets on oil prices made right before major announcements on Iran.

BROWN: And slamming Canada. The Trump administration is reviving its attacks on Canada's trade partnership with the U.S., all of this ahead of tense trade talks that could be -- that could rewrite that relationship completely.

You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. And we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:14:33]

BROWN: Well, there are new questions this morning after data showed traders bet hundreds of millions of dollars that oil prices would drop just minutes before President Trump announced an extended cease-fire with Iran on Tuesday.

And it's not the first time this has happened. This is part of a trend that we have been seeing with multiple reported incidents of suspicious trading activity ahead of major decisions by President Trump in the Iran war, these incidents taking place within financial markets and on betting sites, where any trader can place a bet on the likelihood of something occurring.

[11:15:06]

And we reached out to the White House earlier this week about these questions around insider trading. And I want to read the White House response.

It says: "All federal employees are subject to government ethics guidelines that prohibit the use of non-public information for financial benefit. The CFTC will always uphold its duty to monitor fraud, manipulation and illicit activity daily."

So, with us now to further discuss is Congressman Sam Liccardo, a Democrat from California. He is also a member of the Financial Services Committee.

Good morning to you.

So, according to public trading data, a $430 million bet was placed moments before the president's latest announcement. What does that signal to you?

REP. SAM LICCARDO (D-CA): Well, Pamela, if this happened once or maybe even twice, it'd be a remarkable coincidence. This has happened now five times, five separate presidential announcements in the last month where we have seen excessive trading within minutes.

This is not a mere coincidence. This is racketeering.

BROWN: You say this is racketeering. That's a very serious claim. That's a crime. What is the proof of that? Like, what have you been able to learn to show the evidence behind that claim?

LICCARDO: What's important is what we're not able to learn, because, of course, while the CFTC, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, has seemingly announced, at least informally, that it has begun some kind of inquiry, not everyone is engaged in this investigation.

The Securities and Exchange Commission actually has responsibility from investigating the bets that were made on S&P futures. On March 23, $1.5 billion was invested within 14 minutes of a presidential announcement. SEC has said nothing. And, in mid-March, their enforcement director resigned.

So there's literally no cop anywhere on the beat, which I think this administration regards as being a feature, rather than the bug, of the SEC.

BROWN: So what more do you want to see happen, right? I mean, you're in a position of power, being on the committee you're on. What more can you do besides this letter that you sent?

LICCARDO: Well, we're going to continue to press certainly at the committee to see how we can get some of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to show some backbone and stand up on this issue.

This is not a partisan issue. This is criminal. And we should all be standing up together against the use of insider information by people who are obviously closely connected to the White House in a way -- look, we know millions of American families are cash-strapped by this war. Nobody in the White House should be cashing out.

BROWN: Do you think members of Congress should be able to trade stock?

LICCARDO: No.

And I support the stock trading acts that have been proposed. I'm co- sponsor of one of them, and we need to get one of these things over the gold line.

BROWN: Why do you think it hasn't?

LICCARDO: It's a great question. It's a good question, I think, particularly for the majority and those who control the agenda in terms of what bills are actually getting on the floor and what bills are getting out of the committee. I know I'm happy to vote for one today if there was a vote on the

floor.

BROWN: Right, because it raises all kinds of questions, if you're a member of Congress, you're invested in stock, and you're also passing legislation that can greatly enrich you depending on what stock you have.

I want to turn to something else that happened in your state. There was a big debate in your state last night in the race for governor. You've endorsed San Jose Mayor Mahan for the state's top job. What were your takeaways from the debate?

LICCARDO: I have to confess I was busy working out here, so I didn't get a watch.

(LAUGHTER)

BROWN: OK. I will give you a pass.

LICCARDO: But I will continue rooting for Matt, and I'm confident we're going to have a great Democratic governor get elected soon.

BROWN: So, what is your concern, though, that, given the shakeup and the race, there could be two Republicans from that nonpartisan primary coming up?

LICCARDO: I'm not concerned. I think there's still a lot of undecided voters. And I think, as we get closer to Election Day, people tend to line up and pick their -- pick the horse they want to ride. So, I think we will be fine.

BROWN: All right, I want to ask you something else. Secretary of the Navy John Phelan was ousted from his position Wednesday. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said that Phelan would be departing effective immediately.

Of course, this is all as there is a U.S. Naval blockade on Iranian ports. What do you make of this?

LICCARDO: Well, it's not like we don't have a war going on. This is obviously pretty awful timing.

I certainly have no insight as to the merits of Phelan as a Navy secretary or whether he was doing a good or poor job. So I'm certainly not going to weigh in on that issue. But it certainly suggests that this administration has a very difficult time identifying folks competent enough to run different departments in its administration.

[11:20:01]

And it shows that, if you're recruiting folks from the "Star Wars" canteen, you're going to have a hard time running the country.

BROWN: All right, I also want to get your reaction to this. President Trump is ordering the U.S. Navy to fire on Iranian boats that are placing mines in the Strait of Hormuz. What do you think of that?

LICCARDO: Well, it sounds like the cease-fire is over.

We -- look, I understand we're now in...

BROWN: And how are you defining that with the cease-fire being over? How -- is it the seizure of the boats? What is it that makes you say that?

LICCARDO: Well, yes, all of the above.

Certainly, yesterday, we know Iran was seizing boats. That is certainly a wartime act, and the fact that now we're threatening to fire upon Iranian vessels. Look, we're back in war.

We need to find a path out of this war, because this is bankrupting many Americans. We're paying $2 billion a day for this war that was a war of choice. And American consumers are paying thousands of dollars a year in the form of higher gas prices and groceries. We know this is not working for us.

Until this president defines an achievable objective in this war, we need to find a path out.

BROWN: And it's interesting, because the White House was asked about this and said that it was not a break with the cease-fire because it wasn't a U.S. ship.

Congressman Sam Liccardo...

LICCARDO: Well, they think it's not a war yet either, so...

(LAUGHTER)

BROWN: All right, Congressman Sam Liccardo, thank you so much for coming on. We appreciate it.

And, also, we were talking about the prediction market. CNN has a partnership with prediction market Kalshi and uses its data to cover major events. Editorial employees, however, are not allowed to participate in prediction markets -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And up next: "They suck." That's a quote. Those are the words President Trump's commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, chose for our neighbors to the north, as the U.S. and Canada prepare for consequential trade talks this summer.

The premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, will join us live in THE SITUATION ROOM. He's going to respond. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:26:37]

BLITZER: Happening now, the U.S. commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, is testifying before members of Congress. The hearing is focused on the Commerce Department's annual budget, but Lutnick could face serious questions from lawmakers about his ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his recent very controversial comments about our closest ally, namely, Canada.

The commerce secretary, went asked last week about U.S. and Canadian trade, responded with this quote. He said -- and I'm quoting him now -- "They suck," referring to Canada.

In a statement, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation -- from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, a Commerce Department spokesperson said Lutnick's remarks referred to the trade imbalance between the two countries.

Joining us now is the premier of Ontario, Canada, Doug Ford.

Premier, thanks so much for joining us.

DOUG FORD, PREMIER OF ONTARIO, CANADA: Thanks.

BLITZER: What's your view of the secretary's comments? And how do you expect they will impact the upcoming trade negotiations between the U.S. and Canada?

FORD: Well, first of all, Wolf, thanks for having me on.

And Mr. Lutnick can say whatever he wants. And we know one thing. Canadians love Americans. I love Americans. We love the U.S., and I know Americans love Canadians. I have spent 20 years of my life in the U.S. We just have to move forward and make a deal.

And as for the imbalance, I will tell you the actual facts. The facts are, if we didn't ship four million barrels of oil down to keep people moving in their cars and in their trucks and so on and so forth, there would be a $30 billion surplus that the U.S. has on Canada.

And, as for Ontario, just Ontario alone, Wolf, nine million Americans wake up every morning to produce a product, a widget, or a service just for Ontario. And the more tariffs that come, you're just taxing American people. We see the oil prices going through the roof. We see the cost of cars going through the roof.

We see every single good that is being sold in the U.S., everything is increasing because of the tariffs. I want a great USMCA deal that benefits both. You can unscramble an egg that's been around for generations and decades. You have to make the omelet larger. That's our philosophy.

And we're going to continue negotiating in good faith. And we won't be calling each other names, I promise you that.

BLITZER: Premier, I want to play how one U.S. senator questioned the commerce secretary, Lutnick, about his remarks. Listen and watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D-NH): Secretary Lutnick, last week, you said about Canada's economic strategy -- and I quote -- "They suck." We have a lot of businesses in New Hampshire, small businesses who work on both sides of the border. We have all those Canadian visitors who are not coming because of your comments and comments by the administration.

How does that help our economy?

HOWARD LUTNICK, U.S. COMMERCE SECRETARY: It is outrageous that Canada will not put U.S. spirits on the shelf. It is insulting...

SHAHEEN: It is.

LUTNICK: ... and disrespectful to America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: How do you respond to that, Premier?

FORD: Well, I guess what's disrespectful, we never started this tariff war. And I don't believe the American people did.

[11:30:00]

It was Secretary Lutnick, followed by President Trump as well, that attacked our joint economies, because we're so integrated.