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Sources Say, Trump Team Considers Replacing Hegseth With Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL); Transgender Rights Take Center Stage at Supreme Court; Political Upheaval in South Korea After Martial Law Chaos. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired December 04, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Ron DeSantis, call your office major developments overnight. The Florida governor now floated as a possible defense secretary as the nomination of Pete Hegseth appears to teeter on the brink.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And political crisis in South Korea. We're going to take you there live as the country's president could soon face impeachment after a risky political maneuver that very clearly backfired.

And we are following the search also for a missing grandmother who authorities believe fell into a sinkhole while searching for her lost cat. The clue investigators found 30 feet underground.

I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman. Sara's out today. This is CNN News Central.

So, breaking overnight, Defense Secretary Ron DeSantis, it is being floated as a possibility now that Donald Trump's nomination of Fox Host Pete Hegseth seems to be in serious jeopardy. Trump insiders say it is an absolutely critical day for Hegseth, who will sit for his first T.V. interview since new allegations of sexual misconduct, inappropriate workplace behavior and alcohol abuse surfaced.

We're also standing by to hear from a woman who once raised concerns about Hegseth's treatment of women, his own mother.

So, just how much trouble Hegseth could be in is highlighted by the floating of DeSantis as a replacement to CNN and all over the media. There's been bad blood between Trump world and the Florida governor and his nomination would rock the Republican political world and beyond. We are waiting for first word as to what he thinks about all this.

Let's get right to our Florida man Steve Contorno for the very latest on all these twists and turns. Steve?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: John, if you had told me a year ago that Donald Trump would be considering Ron DeSantis to be his national defense secretary, I would have been stunned given just how contentious and much bad blood there was between them during their Republican primary for president.

But that just shows you and it's illustrative of just how much concern there is within Trump world about Pete Hegseth's nomination, the chances he has. And as you said, it is an absolutely critical day for him because not only does he have these key interviews on Fox News for him and his mother, but he also will be holding another round of meetings on Capitol Hill.

And, previously, he had been mostly speaking with staunch Trump allies. Well, now he has some critical swing votes he has to speak with, including Iowa Senator Joni Ernst. And as we saw yesterday, there's already some concern among Republicans about his nomination. Take a listen to what a few of them had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): He, you know, obviously has a chance to defend himself here, but some of this stuff is, it's going to be difficult. You know, time will tell.

SEN. MIKE ROUNDS (R-SD): I have not met with him yet. I'm looking forward to meeting with him. We'll be asking questions. But, look, the president always gets the benefit of the doubt on his nominees.

SEN. KEVIN CRAMER (R-ND): Of course, it's concerning, but I look forward to visiting with Pete about it and seeing -- I'm interested in who Pete Hegseth is today and who he is going forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Now DeSantis is not the only name that Trump is considering as a replacement for Hegseth or is being floated internally. He is also weighing Ernst herself as a potential replacement. She, of course, is a veteran as well and has a background in military affairs. And then Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty, another individual who has been increasingly close to Trump over the years and has been floated for a number of jobs in a potential administration. He's another name that some Trump allies have been putting out there as a potential replacement for Hegseth. We will find out later today.

Now, the Trump campaign, I will say, continues to say publicly they are standing by Hegseth. I will point out they said very similar things about Matt Gaetz until the moment he pulled out of contention for A.G. John?

BERMAN: Yes. And the tone in Senator Lindsey Graham's voice there when he was talking about the seriousness of the allegations against Hegseth there, that spoke volumes.

All right, Steve, separately, the Trump team has sort of changed his tune very slightly on FBI background checks.

[07:05:07]

CONTORNO: Yes, separately, but also kind of relatedly because this change and about-face on I'm paving the way for background checks comes as there are concerns from Republicans on the Hill about the lack of information they would get on these candidates, especially Pete Hegseth, if they don't have background checks coming from the FBI. Well, now the Trump transition team has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Justice that could pave the way for them to ask the FBI to conduct background checks on some of their nominees.

Now, they had previously said that they intended to conduct some of these background checks on their own, but there are concerns and there are people speaking up on the Hill saying they want to see these background checks from the FBI. Senator Collins, for example, has been very vocal in saying she wants to see what the FBI has to say about these allegations about Hegseth before she supports his nomination, John.

BERMAN: Yes. Look, it isn't clear that every nominee will get an FBI background check or what would happen even to that information. So, the signing of the memorandum, it's a step, but it may not be everything senators are looking for.

Steve Contorno, thank you very much for that. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Yes, and an important clarification, John, on that one, for sure.

Also this morning, the Supreme Court is going to be hearing arguments in what is considered the marquee case of the entire term. Justices will hear arguments challenging a Tennessee law that bans gender affirming healthcare for children and teens. The measure, it's a law, prohibits doctors from giving hormone therapy and puberty blockers to transgender minors. Tennessee is one of 26 states that have passed similar laws. Let's get to the high court, though.

CNN's Joan Biskupic will be following all of this important moment from minute to minute and every minute of oral arguments is extremely important today. Joan, help people understand what is at issue here and also what is at stake.

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN CHIEF SUPREME COURT ANALYST: Yes, Kate, good to see you. And you're right, this case could become the most important of this current Supreme Court session. Much is at stake, not just for these youths who are trying to have this sex transition treatment, but for all transgender individuals, young and old, because this case tests fundamentals of just how extensive constitutional protection should be for transgender individuals.

Three youths and their families and a physician brought this case against Tennessee, saying that it violated due process of law and equal protection of the law. The Biden administration intervened on the equality question, saying that this kind of regulation should be treated like sex discrimination and therefore require a pretty strong, important governmental interest to justify it if it's going to stand at all.

Now, let's just pull back for a second, Kate. You mentioned that 26 states have these kinds of laws. Just consider how recently we've had debate over sports policies and bathroom bans on transgender issues. President-elect Donald Trump even ran on an agenda against transgender interests, so very important case.

And I should mention that the lower court judge panel that ruled on the Tennessee law and whose ruling will be before the justices today sided with Tennessee. The court below said this is not a sex discrimination case. This is a case in which Tennessee is just merely trying to regulate medicine for young people and it should not be subject to any kind of heightened constitutional scrutiny.

The Biden administration lawyer and the ACLU lawyer who will also side with these youths are going to say that these are people who cannot meaningfully vindicate their rights through the legislative process, so they should be able to have heightened constitutional protection here. The ACLU lawyer is going to refer to how this has benefited young people and CNN talked to one of the plaintiffs who said it's been very, very helpful, life changing for some people. It has even been lifesaving. Those are the stakes here today, Kate, when the justices take up this case.

BOLDUAN: Yes. And one of the top people with the ACLU will be joining us a little later to talk about just this.

Joan, thank you very much. That's all going to be picking up in just a couple hours this morning. John?

BERMAN: All right, breaking overnight. Political chaos for one of America's most important allies after martial law comes and goes. A new move now to impeach the president.

The FBI arrested a California man who was allegedly trying to ship weapons to North Korea to prepare for a surprise attack.

And a Christmas toy giveaway lands multiple adults and teenagers on the naughty list after they fought off children to take the toys themselves.

[07:10:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pushing little kids out of the way, you know, stealing this little toy, stealing it from them. That's not what this is supposed to be about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right. New this morning, protests and political uncertainty in South Korea in the hours since President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law before then reversing course. This morning, we learned the country's defense minister submitted his resignation. Earlier, six opposition parties submitted a bill calling for Yoon's impeachment.

[07:15:01]

At the same time, the opposition Democratic Party is vowing to press treason charges if Yoon does not leave office.

So, the martial law decree, short lived, has also injected uncertainty into Asia's fourth largest economy. The country's largest union is vowing to strike until the president steps down.

Let's get to CNN's Mike Valerio, who is in Seoul with the latest. Mike, you have been there from the beginning. What you have seen over the last 24 hours is extraordinary. What's happening now?

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, my friend, we're going to start with good news. The center, the heart of democracy here in South Korea, this is it. And peace has been restored to the area around the National Assembly. When we joined you this time yesterday, Special Forces troops from the South Korean military were still leaving this area. Special Forces troops a couple hours before we joined you and Kate were breaking through windows from the orders of South Korea's president to stop lawmakers from voting to prohibit this martial law from going any further.

So, where we are right now, the president of South Korea, John, still has not resigned. He has fewer and fewer allies. I cannot count any on my hand right now. Where this is going, though, he could do either one of two things, John. He could resign or face impeachment.

But I think it's important to tell everybody back home in the United States that impeachment could take months, and that could inject a new layer of stability to this key ally of the United States and western countries, democracies writ large.

So, what's going to happen? The president has a deadline of essentially Saturday to resign or face the impeachment process. So, we're waiting for Saturday. What needs to happen, though, another judge needs to be installed on the constitutional court that would hear this case. That could take a beat. That could take a couple weeks. And then once this trial goes through that court system, John, the judges could take up to six months, I repeat, half a year, to decide whether or not South Korea's president should go or stay. So, it could, again, inject another layer of instability. Who represents South Korea on the international stage? That would be the prime minister, a sort of lame duck situation.

So, a lot of unanswered questions. We're going to move, though, from, again, this National Assembly to where protesters have gathered in front of the president's house. Stay tuned for more. We are expecting demonstrations to continue throughout the evening there, John.

BERMAN: Yes. Look, keep us posted as to what you see, Mike. You have been in the middle of it all. Thank you so much for your reporting. The entire world watching what's going on where you are in Seoul right now.

All right, this morning, the man Donald Trump picked to leave the FBI is being told by the FBI he is the target of Iranian hackers. And rescuers working through the night to find a missing grandmother who may have fallen into a 30-foot deep sinkhole while looking for her cat.

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[07:20:00]

BOLDUAN: This morning, Kash Patel, Donald Trump's pick to be FBI director, has been informed by federal investigators that he is the target of an Iranian hack. Sources tell CNN that the hackers managed to access at least some of his communications.

Patel is the latest member, though, of Donald Trump's kind of inner circle to be targeted by foreign hackers in just recent months. Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., has also said he was notified by the FBI that he was, quote, one of the top targets of Iran.

CNN's Evan Perez is tracking this for us. And there's a lot of detail that needs to be learned. Tell us more. What are you learning?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kate. Now, this is kind of awkward, right? This is Kash Patel, who has been named by the incoming president as his pick for FBI director. Mind you, the FBI director still has two and a half years on his ten-year term, someone who was appointed by Donald Trump in his first term.

But Kash Patel has also been very critical of what he says is a deep state. He says that the FBI needs to be ally, essentially dismantled. And so he now has been notified by the FBI that he was being targeted by Iranian hackers. And in this case, it appears that he was part of a larger group of a number of people associated with Donald Trump who were targeted by these hackers.

Now, this is a campaign that's been going on for a number of months. This was, this happened during the, during the campaign before the election. First they got in through Roger Stone's email and they were able to hopscotch and get two people inside the campaign, even actually getting campaign documents during the campaign.

So, as you pointed out, there's been a number of other attacks against Don Jr., against Todd Blanche, people associated by with Donald Trump. In that case, it was Chinese hackers who were believed to be behind it. We've got you a statement from the Trump transition, in which they say, Kash Patel was a key part of the first Trump administration's efforts against the terrorist Iranian regime and will implement President Trump's policies to protect America from adversaries as the FBI director.

And, clearly, here in this case, the adversaries here were Iranian hackers and the FBI was doing its job trying to protect Kash Patel and other members of the Trump administration.

BOLDUAN: And to be clear, is Iran suspected to be behind the other attacks of the others in Trump's orbit? I mean, how far have those investigations gone? PEREZ: Look, there's a lot more investigation to be done, especially on the Chinese hackers. That one is extremely serious, because they've been able to get into big telecom companies, including Verizon and AT&T.

[07:25:04]

And as of yesterday, the FBI told us that they still are working to evict the Chinese hackers from those systems. That one is targeting not only people associated with the Trump campaign, but also people -- national security officials in the current administration. Kate?

BOLDUAN: It's great to see you, Evan. Thank you for your reporting, as always. I really appreciate it.

Coming up for us, Pete Hegseth's nomination to lead the Defense Department appears on life support today. There are new numbers showing how much tougher his path to confirmation has become just over the last days.

And there's also this, the unorthodox way one city in California decided to break a tie in a city council election.

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[07:30:00]