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The Situation Room

King Charles Visits Arlington National Cemetery; Gas Prices Surging; Pete Hegseth to Appear Before Senate. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired April 30, 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]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: I don't think that was actually pointed at the president. I think that was pointed at Congress, like, do your job.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Important point, indeed.

All right, Max Foster and Tim Naftali, to both of you, thank you very, very much for your excellent coverage.

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

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.

At any moment, we'll be hearing directly from the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth. He's about to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee. And we will carry his comments live. Stand by for that.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: And they will almost certainly be fiery. For the second straight day, he will face blistering questions from lawmakers over the war with Iran and its soaring cost.

Here's what he said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: The biggest challenge, the biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless, feckless and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans two months in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Our team of correspondents and analysts, they are all here to unpack these important developments at a very, very critical stage in the war with Iran.

Let's begin with CNN's senior national security reporter Zachary Cohen.

Zach, set the scene for this upcoming testimony from Hegseth and the Joint Chiefs chairman, General Dan Caine. ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Wolf,

lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee are very aware that this is the first time Hegseth will testify in front of them in public for nearly a year.

The last time he appeared was nearly a year ago. And since that time, the U.S. has obviously conducted military operations in Venezuela to remove former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, but also started this conflict with Iran that is now over the 60-day mark.

And the point of this hearing is for Hegseth to request a $1.5 trillion budget for the Pentagon next year. So that's something that we know especially Democrats on this committee are going to be skeptical of, given Hegseth's relative lack of communication with Capitol Hill, particularly during this Iran war.

And we saw yesterday, Hegseth was very combative, particularly with Democrats who questioned and pushed him to answer two key questions, one, what is the timeline for bringing this war with Iran to an end, and, two, how does the Trump administration and the Pentagon specifically plan to go about doing that?

We know the issue of Iran's nuclear program, their nuclear ambitions, which Hegseth and President Donald Trump previously claimed were obliterated, remains a sticking point. And, as of now, the negotiations also centering around reopening the Strait of Hormuz are largely at an impasse here.

And we haven't seen really an obvious route, off-ramp for bringing this conflict to a close. And then, lastly, the question of price, how much has this conflict cost the U.S. taxpayer in dollar amounts?

And we heard yesterday a top Pentagon official put the number at $25 billion on the total cost of the war so far, but sources telling me and her colleague Natasha Bertrand after yesterday is hearing that the real amount is actually closer to double that, closer to $40 billion to $50 billion.

It's a lowball estimate from the Pentagon yesterday, which was really the first cost figure we have heard from the Department of Defense since this war started over 60 days ago. So, expect Hegseth to get pressed, particularly by Democrats, to outline both the Trump administration's strategy for Iran, but also to justify this request for $1.5 trillion, given what has been a tense relationship with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

BLITZER: Yes, I suspect this will be another very fiery, very lively committee hearing that's about to begin.

All right, Zach Cohen, thank you very, very much -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Wolf, we have a lot to discuss and our panelists here to break it all down.

Let's begin with CNN global affairs analyst Kimberly Dozier. So, Kim, as they were just discussing, Secretary Hegseth spent nearly

six hours testifying yesterday, often sparring with lawmakers. Do you think he will have the same approach today?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: I suspect so, because the administration can't really articulate an endgame, when this will all stop, because each time President Trump makes a declaration about what the Iranians are prepared to do, they say, no, we're not.

And the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. Faced with something like that, you're going to get hard questions from lawmakers. And one of the strategies of this administration has always been fight back. For every accusation, you go on the attack.

BROWN: Right.

And we saw that too, Cedric Leighton, Colonel. When lawmakers would bring up the fact that they opposed the war, you heard the secretary say that they were the biggest adversary facing the U.S.

[11:05:05]

As a career military person, how do you respond to that?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Pamela, that's one of the more interesting aspects of yesterday's hearing, because congressional members have oversight responsibilities.

And it's very clear that what they're trying to do in this particular case is figure out exactly what the administration's plan is. And, as Kim was mentioning, there basically is no plan that has been articulated to the American people.

Now, there are certain things that they have done on a tactical level. There are a lot of things that they have done militarily, but none of that has worked out strategically. And so all of a sudden, we're spending a lot of money, a lot of time, losing lives, 13 service members killed.

And we're basically fighting an internecine battle between the executive branch in the form of Secretary Hegseth and the congressional members in the legislative branch. And that is not the way it's supposed to work. Yes, there are going to be questions.There are going to be things that the Defense Department needs to answer.

And they should answer them, because, after all, it's not only taxpayer money, but it's the American policy that's at stake here, and really the future of our country. And Congress has a constitutional responsibility in that regard.

BROWN: I want to bring in Alex Plitsas, CNN national security analyst.

Because, Alex, the defense secretary is trying to build support for funding, right, for funding for this war. How does he do that when this war already has low public support? ALEX PLITSAS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: So I think there's a

couple of things that he's going to try to request budgetarily, or at least that could be discussed today.

So there's already been this floated idea of a $200 billion need to sort of keep the war going. But without a clear strategy or end state to tell the members of Congress why they should be funding this, that will be a difficult fight. So I imagine they're going to have to lay out some of those details in order to justify the spend.

And then the second piece that was mentioned earlier is the $1.5 trillion potential budget for next year. So, we just want from $800 billion to a trillion, first time we had a trillion-dollar budget, I believe a smaller portion of that discretionary.

But the increase of $500 billion, what that amounts to, $1.5 trillion, is 5 percent of GDP, which is basically what we have been asking the Europeans to spend on defense. And so I think this is the administration recognizing that they have to basically make the same commitment if they're going to ask NATO allies to increase from 3 percent to 5 percent of GDP.

So, that part will probably be a little bit easier to explain. I know the Pentagon's had trouble putting that budget together, because it was such a significant increase. But the particulars around the war, I think, are where they're really going to dig in.

BROWN: Just to follow up with you, how important is it for the Pentagon officials to clearly articulate an endgame to this war in order to get what they need, Alex?

PLITSAS: Well, it's interesting, because we're at the 60-day mark, as Zach was mentioning in the opening segment here. And with the War Powers Act that was passed in '73, the war powers resolution, after that point, you have to seek congressional approval or you have to redeploy forces.

No president has ever really recognized the constitutionality of that, although they have all complied for the most part. There's been a few cases where they sort of haven't. And it sets up a very interesting constitutional question.

And the courts have never really ruled on the full question here. They have said, most of the time, people don't really have standing for this. There have been some rulings where there's been recognition that Congress has a part to play here.

But it's almost been a game of legal chicken, where there hasn't been a real ruling on this. So it sets up a legal question, a challenge for Congress as to whether or not they can, basically through the courts or some mechanism, force this to end.

And, if not, if they want to play hardball on it, that's a potential outcome. Otherwise, if you're asking for another $50 billion to $100 billion and you need the votes, you're going to have to explain where that money is going. And the questions, as Cedric very clearly laid out correctly, are

going to be around, if you're asking us for this money, where is it going and what are you doing with it? And if there's no strategy here, that's the part that they're going to dig on.

BROWN: And, Colonel, to bring you back in yesterday, Hegseth sparred repeatedly with Congressman Adam Smith. He's a Massachusetts Democrat. Smith challenged the administration's shifting narrative on the state of Iran's nuclear capability facilities after last summer strikes.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEGSETH: Well, their nuclear facilities have been obliterated, underground. They're buried, and we're watching them 24/7.

REP. ADAM SMITH (D-WA): Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

HEGSETH: So we know where any nuclear material might be.

SMITH: Reclaiming my time for a quick second here.

HEGSETH: We're watching that.

SMITH: We had to start this war, you just said, 60 days ago because the nuclear weapon was an imminent threat. Now you're saying that it was completely obliterated?

HEGSETH: They had not given up their nuclear ambitions. And they had a conventional shield of thousands of...

(CROSSTALK)

SMITH: So, Operation Midnight Hammer accomplished nothing of substance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: What did you make of that exchange, Colonel?

LEIGHTON: Well, one thing, Pamela, is that you really can't bomb ambitions out of people, right? So there's no way that when you -- as the secretary was talking about, they still had nuclear ambitions.

Of course they have nuclear ambitions. And that's a very critical component and that's why Iran is definitely a threat. The problem is, is that you can't use bombs to obliterate that. You have to understand that we really need to focus on the physical capabilities, the actual technical capabilities that the Iranians would have.

[11:10:12]

And there has been no information that the administration has provided to indicate that a bomb development on the part of the Iranians was imminent. They were certainly clearly using enriched uranium, getting enriched uranium ready for possible use. They had it in storage, and they still have it in storage.

But at no point has that enriched uranium been eliminated. And at no point have we seen any evidence that the Iranians were about to develop a nuclear bomb. So, the secretary's arguments are basically weak in that regard.

And the congressman, Congressman Smith, is basically on the right track, saying that you have an ideological inconsistency here. And that is something that the administration has to work through if they want to get the funding that we've spoken about.

BROWN: Kim, do you think the administration still has a messaging problem in presenting its case for the war?

DOZIER: Yes, and the messaging problem starts at the top, which is a problem for the Pentagon and the would-be peace negotiators.

President Trump keeps, through TRUTH Social posts, moving the goalposts, changing the claims. That makes it near impossible for Iranian negotiators, who are having their own problems internally, to say, yes, we should believe that, if we do this, they will do that.

And that means, both for negotiators and for the Pentagon -- the Pentagon's got to listen to the president's orders and try to make it so, but they have been given a near impossible task, made all the more difficult when the claims of what's going on or what's going to happen next vary from the strait is closed, the strait is not closed, we're going to bomb everything, we're not.

That leaves perhaps not Secretary Hegseth, but the generals who are carrying out some of these orders have real qualms about, are we going to get an illegal order at some point and what do we do then?

BROWN: Alex, sources are telling CNN the Pentagon's latest estimate of $25 billion spent so far on the war with Iran may actually be dramatically low. Three people familiar with this matter, as you heard Zach layout, told CNN that the real cost may be twice that.

What do you make of that?

PLITSAS: I think given, the ordnance that have been expended, the troops that are deployed, all of the equipment, et cetera, it sort of makes sense, especially given the fact that they were originally looking for a $200 billion supplemental potentially to carry this through.

And let's not forget the Ford is on the way home right now, the aircraft carrier, because it was just replaced. It was on station for almost 10 months altogether, the longest deployment of an aircraft carrier since Vietnam.

So there is going to be some long-term wear-and-tear cost on a lot of our naval assets, because this has been going on now for several years. So it's not just this. We had the 12-day war over the summer, and then we also had the Bab-el-Mandeb crisis, and we had the previous round of conflict between the Iranians and the Israelis as well.

So, the Navy has taken quite a hit. At the same time, we're trying to increase capacity for Naval shipbuilding, particularly because we're trying to pivot to the Pacific. So, the costs are just going to sort of continue to add up here. This is not going to be a cheap fight, by any means.

BROWN: All right. Alex, Kim, and Cedric, thank you -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And still ahead: gas and oil prices both jumping up sharply overnight, hitting the highest numbers we have seen in years. And one analyst says prices have nowhere to go but up until the war with Iran comes to an end.

And, right now, a federal judge is deciding if the man accused of charging the White House Correspondents' Dinner armed with guns and knives should stay in custody. The key factors in that decision, we have details just ahead in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:18:40]

BLITZER: Americans are feeling the long reach of the Iran war and its impact on the world's energy markets, gas prices jumping 7 cents overnight, the biggest one-day jump in some six weeks.

According to AAA, the national average is now $4.30 per gallon and oil is touching a four-year high.

Let's go CNN business and politics correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich.

Vanessa, why the big spike in gas overnight?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, gas prices are just following oil prices, as you mentioned, the national average $4.30.

Just look at the last three days. You're talking about a 12 cent jump at the pump. And that is because oil markets have been trading above $100 a barrel for about a week now. You can see Brent crude down on the day, coming off the high of about $125, $126 a barrel, but $114 a barrel, and then WTI, which is U.S. crude, trading closer to $104 a barrel.

But as long as the Strait of Hormuz effectively remains closed, these are the numbers that investors believe oil is -- should be trading at. And they have nowhere to go but up, and gas prices unfortunately follow. And that's why we're seeing higher prices every single day, so oil prices up 58 percent since the beginning of the war, gas prices 44 percent, diesel prices 47 percent, and jet fuel about 50 percent, jet fuel critical for airlines.

[11:20:12]

We're already hearing about shortages, particularly in Asia, which gets about 60 percent of its oil from the Middle East. Cosmetics, makeup, that's derived from petroleum jelly, instant noodles, the plastic packaging, again from petroleum, and medical gloves, plastic, again, which is why you're seeing some of these shortages reaching out across Asia.

Concerns here in the United States, food costs potentially on the rise. You're talking about perishables, meat, produce, dairy, things that have to come in all the time shipped by truck, which uses diesel, upwards of 50 percent in costs there.

And then travel for everyday Americans hitting the road this summer, Wolf, the summer fuel blend is always more expensive, but now you're dealing with the war, which is pushing gas prices up. And, of course, those folks who are traveling by air, we already know airlines are having to cut flights because of prices and having to raise flight -- fare costs for consumers because of all of the higher costs that they are dealing with themselves, Wolf.

BLITZER: Vanessa, there -- amidst all of this, there are also two new key indicators on the U.S. economy that came out this morning. Tell us about that.

YURKEVICH: Wolf, I will start with some of the good news.

GDP came in at 2 percent in the first quarter. So, the U.S. economy grew by 2 percent. That's looking at January through March, essentially heading into the war with Iran. That's much better than the fourth quarter, which was where the U.S. economy grew by 0.5 percent.

This quarter did see strong growth by consumer spending, business investment, and also an increase in exports. But we did get PCE, which is another inflation gauge that the Federal Reserve particularly likes to look at. We did see a big jump, 3.5 percent on an annual basis and 0.7 percent for the one-month change.

That was because of gas prices, people paying more for gas and then energy-related goods. Wolf, I will say this, that that makes it very hard for the Federal Reserve to justify a rate cut, when prices are already so high. We know that the president, President Trump, has been pushing for a rate cut.

But when you have inflation on the rise, it makes it very difficult for the Federal Reserve to justify that, Wolf.

BLITZER: We will see what they decide to do.

Vanessa Yurkevich, as always, thank you very, very much.

I want to show our viewers some live pictures coming in from Arlington National Cemetery in Washington. The visiting king and queen have just arrived. They're going to be engaged in a wreath-laying ceremony there, one of their final stops while here in the United States.

And we will have live coverage of that coming up, so stand by -- Pamela. BROWN: Yes, those are -- this will wrap up the royals' trip here to

Washington and New York. They visited the 9/11 Memorial for the first time yesterday, and now they're here at the Arlington Cemetery for a wreath-laying.

And you can see quite the pomp and circumstance once again, Wolf, for the royals before they depart and head back home.

BLITZER: Yes, these are all very, very moving, very powerful ceremonies, wrapping up an important and very successful visit to the United States by King Charles and Queen Camilla.

We're going to have live coverage of these final ceremonies coming up. So stand by for that.

Max Foster, I take it everyone seems to be on the same page, very successful visit by the king and queen.

FOSTER: Yes, absolutely.

I mean, I was interested to come here. I mean, the king wanted to come to a small American town. So, there's a huge event organized, a block party here in Virginia. And I was interested to see, have Americans connected with this at all?

And I have to say, look at this. This is the queue trying to get into quite a small space in Main Street. It goes round and round the blocks. Must be a couple of miles' long, thousands of people. This is the party moment.

But, actually, Arlington ceremony is the is the next stop, which is remembering, standing shoulder to shoulder with the United States, remembering those who have fallen, so a very somber moment. But this is very much a message from the king, saying, we appreciate the sacrifices that America has made as part of the free world, the leader of the free world.

He's very keen to keep that free world together, which speaks to a lot of what he said in the speech the other day. But let's see what people are feeling about this visit.

Why are you here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Feeling wonderful.

FOSTER: Are you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I'm a big fan.

FOSTER: Are you local?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, Winchester.

FOSTER: And what do you make of the crowds that have come out today?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I knew they'd be here. I watch YouTube a lot.

[11:25:01]

FOSTER: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I watch the royals every night.

FOSTER: Do you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, I know...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

FOSTER: Because...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She loves them.

FOSTER: Really?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

FOSTER: Do you love them?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am OK with them, but she talks to me about them all the time.

FOSTER: Really?

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, when I saw they were coming, I was like we have got to go.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

FOSTER: I mean, a lot of people are just here out of curiosity. I guess you would, wouldn't you, if the royals are coming to town?

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Curiosity. Curiosity, for sure. Still, Princess Di is our favorite, though.

FOSTER: Oh, really?

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, absolutely.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Princess Di.

(CROSSTALK) FOSTER: Really, your generation -- it's normally your generation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I love her. Yes, I love her.

(CROSSTALK)

FOSTER: How do you feel the king and queen have been doing this visit? Did you watch the speech?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did. I thought he did -- did really well.

BLITZER: Max, hold on for a moment.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: I just want to -- our viewers to watch and to listen to this wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.

(DRUMROLL)

(MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Order!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right shoulder!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Arms!

BLITZER: Max Foster, you're our royal correspondent.

These are very, very significant symbolic, but important ways to wrap up a very successful visit to the United States by the king and the queen, right?

FOSTER: Absolutely, standing shoulder to shoulder with the United States, the Tomb of the Unknown shoulder -- Soldier, of course, soldier from the First World War.

But he's actually going to move on to see an exhibition now, and you're going to get a commonwealth moment, because he's also the king of Canada and of Australia and New Zealand. So he's going to meet service members from those countries as well, but also to pay tribute to U.S. citizens who volunteered for the Canadian Expeditionary Force.

And they lost their lives, of course, in the First World War, so how America contributed to the wars and saved Europe, effectively. If they didn't come into that part of the Second World War, as the king has said at his speech at the White House, Brits could be speaking German.

So this is the most formal part of the last day. After this moment, you will see him relaxing more here in Virginia at a street party, and then going up into the -- into a natural park to promote his environmental initiatives, which he always likes to do on all his tours.

BLITZER: He's a big promoter of dealing with the environment. It's a sensitive issue. The president of the United States clearly has some different views, right?