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CNN International: South Korean President Declared, and Later Rescinded, Martial Law; Opposition Parties Submit Bill to Impeach South Korea's Yoon; French Lawmakers to Vote on No-confidence Motion Against Pm; Syria and Russia Step Up Strikes as Rebels Advance; Israel Threatens Lebanon as Attacks Strain Truce; Ukraine Insisted It Would Settle for Nothing Less Than a NATO Membership to Guarantee Security; Millions Without Electricity as Power Plant Fails in Cuba; Trump Team Looking Into Alternatives to Hegseth; Jailed Nobel Laureate Freed for 21 Days on Medical Grounds; Capital Tbilisi Rocked by Pro-EU Protests; Security Officials Escort Stowaway Onto Flight Back to U.S.; Three Climbers Missing on New Zealand's Mount Cook; Falling Asteroid Lights Up Sky in Eastern Russia; Lawmakers on Hand for Lighting of U.S. Capitol Tree. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired December 04, 2024 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:00]
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS & POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: They contributed about 20 percent in revenue. So people scrolling and saying, oh, I like this influencer. I'm -- oh, I'll buy this item, six times more effective than any other social media advertising. So social media influencers, I guess, they're really pushing people to buy items that they want this holiday season. It is growing every single year. And this year, up nearly 7 percent growth. Social media influencers, big influence.
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Erica Hill. This is "CNN Newsroom." Just ahead, protestors call for South Korea's president to resign after a shock declaration of martial law ignited hours of chaos. We are live in Seoul with the very latest. Plus, Pete Hegseth in the spotlight. Donald Trump's pick for U.S. Defense Secretary facing a critical day on Capitol Hill, we'll explain. Plus, a woman who stowed away on a flight from New York to Paris is set to be returned to the United States. But, will it happen today? More on this extraordinary story this hour.
South Korea is in the grip of political chaos at this hour as its embattled President Yoon Suk Yeol faces a possible impeachment vote amid calls to resign. Just a short time ago, protesters march toward the president's office in Seoul. According to South Korean media, a vote on an impeachment bill is expected to happen Friday or Saturday. Yoon sparked the political crisis when he abruptly declared martial law late Tuesday, only to scrap that order under pressure a few hours later.
Now, his defense minister and a number of other top officials have submitted resignations, protesters meantime clashing with troops outside the parliament building after that emergency order was announced, and we also have video of a lawmaker arguing with a soldier which has gone viral. Take a look, you'll see why.
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HILL: As you saw there, she tried to grab the soldier's rifle before walking away. She was shouting, aren't you embarrassed? Just hours after, meantime South Korea's president plunged the country into political uncertainty, life actually appears to be carrying on as usual. That's what we're hearing from CNN's Ivan Watson, who's been out there speaking with lawmakers in Seoul.
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IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In fact, a member of the president's own political party told me he doesn't see how it's possible that President Yoon can continue to govern after the fiasco of really the last 12 hours where he declared martial law, there were soldiers that tried to prevent lawmakers from gathering in the middle of the night in the national assembly, and yet they did. They voted, 190 of them, to overturn the martial law and that included 18 lawmakers from the president's own party.
And then before dawn this morning, the president backtracked and lifted martial law. It lasted around six hours. So now, what we have is the opposition calling for his resignation. And look where I am right now. It's a protest led by a large labor union. Francois (ph) is going to pan the camera over here. This is in one part of Seoul where you have hundreds of people gathered at a candlelight vigil here, holding signs, demanding the president's resignation.
And we've seen another similar protest in front of the national assembly today. I think what's so striking is that amid this political upheaval, the country seems to be functioning as usual. I flew in, landed at the main airport, Incheon Airport. It was functioning normally, no extra kind of security presence on the ground. The streets were busy, the businesses were open. People are certainly talking about this. The stock market here took a dip about 2 percent and then came back up.
But, the main opposition parties are drafting up resolution to try to impeach the president, which could be presented as early as tomorrow.
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HILL: And our thanks to Ivan Watson there. Also want to take you now to my colleague, Mike Valerio, who is in Seoul. So you were really, Mike, you were in the thick of those crowds during those very chaotic few hours, quieting down at this point, understandably. How did things change as we were learning more as that order was lifted?
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MIKE VALERIO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Erica, I think that it's a sigh of relief that's been palpable as people learn that the president and the military were no longer going to be in charge, both of those entities of the entire country here of South Korea. So you can feel that relief through all corners of society. And we saw the tableau that Ivan Watson set up a couple seconds ago. But a lot of the protesters, it's a night and day situation compared to what we saw yesterday. The images that you're seeing on the screen right now, where we saw chaos at the heart of South Korea's democracy at the national assembly, now peace has been restored with people so grateful from all walks of life that we are not going back to a time when there was military rule as recently as 40 years ago, in 1980.
[08:05:00]
So where we go from here, I think it's important for people around the world to understand that even though we don't have this acute moment anymore, this could last months. The president has one of two options -- one of two options, either resign or face impeachment. He's been told to resign before the weekend and then if he doesn't, impeachment proceedings will go forward. And what that means, Erica, if the president were to stand up and fight this impeachment that he could very well be facing, South Korea would have an interim president who would be Prime Minister Han. He would step into that role, and that would mean we would have somewhat of a lame duck to represent South Korea on the world stage.
President-elect Donald Trump is going to take office in January. One of the things I think is important for people to understand is that the President-elect is certainly intent on renegotiating how much South Korea pays for key American troops who maintain the security situation and security presence, a bastion, a security guarantee against North Korea, and a counterweight to China. So if you have a lame-duck president representing the people of South Korea as the president-elect could be asking for billions of dollars more, that could set up an unstable dynamic here that the government in Seoul has to deal with.
There's also wrapping up here, Erica, the question of what, if anything North Korea could do to take advantage of this political instability? And more and more analysts we talk to, Erica, are saying, you know what? North Korea may do nothing. They may try to use this moment to say that in very relative terms, Erica, they are the stable nation here on the Korean Peninsula. And if they were to make some sort of provocation in the next few days and weeks to take advantage of the situation, they could be playing into the current president of South Korea's hands when he instituted this declaration of martial law saying that, North Korean influence in the government is one of the reasons why he wanted to take the heavy measures that he did yesterday.
So, watch this space as to who is going to be leading the country over the next few weeks and months. And what do our neighbors to the north do in this moment, Erica.
HILL: Yeah. So many questions which will linger, as you've noted. Mike, really appreciate the reporting. Thank you. Well, as for the White House, it says it is relieved President Yoon reversed course on that declaration of martial law. A National Security Council spokesman went on to say the United States will continue to monitor the situation. President Biden, of course, is wrapping up his visit to Angola, has yet to say much publicly about the events. He and President Yoon have met numerous times. Biden has called him a great friend.
CNN's Arlette Saenz is traveling with President Biden, joins us now from Angola. So, this move to introduce martial law came as a huge surprise to many around the world, including apparently the Biden Administration. Not a ton of reaction publicly, but as I understand it, there are some concerns privately about what this could mean.
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, there certainly are. And this came as a huge shock to President Biden and the U.S. officials as a National Security Council spokesperson said that the advanced -- the U.S. received no advanced notification of President Yoon's initial decision to declare martial law. Now, the White House, yesterday, was expressing relief that Yoon decided to lift that martial law order after the parliament had voted to block it.
But officials have been viewing this with serious concern, even as they have very few spoken out publicly about it. For President Biden's part, he was briefed while he was traveling here in Angola, but we have yet to hear from him directly about this situation, which involves one of the United States' closest allies who has been central to the U.S. strategy and bolstering alliances in the Indo-Pacific. But today, Secretary of State, Antony Blinken was traveling in Brussels, saying -- weighing in for the first time, really the first, U.S. official to weigh in, in a public manner, where he said that the U.S. had viewed this with some concern.
But he also really refrained from directly criticizing South Korean President Yoon. Take a listen to what he had to say.
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ANTONY BLINKEN, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: In our judgment, any political disagreements need to be resolved peacefully and in accordance with the rule of law. Korea is one of the most powerful stories in the world, about the emergence of democracy and democratic resilience. And we'll continue to look to Korea to set that example.
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SAENZ: Now for President Biden's part, we have yet to hear from him. It's a rather curious decision given the fact that he has staked so much of his presidency, his political career on the need to protect democracy and protect democratic institutions both at home and abroad.
[08:10:00]
Perhaps they are trying to give South Korean President Yoon some space in this situation, but we will see whether the White House has anything further to say, especially as the president is wrapping up his trip here in Angola.
HILL: Absolutely. And in terms of wrapping up that trip, what is on the agenda today, Arlette?
SAENZ: Yeah. Well, President Biden is about to sit down with several regional leaders, including the Presidents of Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, and then the Vice President of Tanzania. Their focus today is on trying to highlight some major U.S. investments across their countries through the Lobito Corridor. That is an 800-mile railway project which is yet to be finished, that's aiming to facilitate the transfer of critical minerals from interior countries to the ports for exports, exports that could also be heading to the United States.
A senior administration official described this strategy as really serving as a playbook for future administrations. What the Biden Administration has tried to do is identify corridors, specific countries where they can launch these projects instead of just spending and dividing all of their money across the entire continent. They are hoping that surge of support, surge of resources can really help these communities and that they can expand on this and perhaps do other types of projects like this.
Of course, this is all coming at a time when China has already made significant inroads on the African continent. They have invested hundreds of billions of dollars through their Belt and Road Initiative into infrastructure projects that are -- that's really outpacing the U.S. and leaving the U.S., at this moment, to catch up to their work. So President Biden, today, trying to push ahead to that as he is meeting with these leaders on what could be his final foreign trip in office.
HILL: Absolutely. Arlette, appreciate it. Thank you.
Well, it is a day of reckoning in France where lawmakers will soon vote on a no-confidence motion against the prime minister. This comes after Michel Barnier attempted to pass part of his government's budget, which includes billions, in tax hikes and spending cuts by using a clause which allowed him to bypass a parliamentary vote. Should this no-confidence motion pass, it will throw France into political chaos.
CNN's Jim Bittermann following all these developments for us, joins us now live from Paris. So Jim, this is a crucial day for French politics. What are we expecting in terms of this vote?
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely crucial, Erica. In fact, what's going to happen is going to happen starting about two hours from now, when the national assembly takes up that no-confidence vote on the government of Michel Barnier. Michel Barnier has spent the last few weeks in very heavy negotiations with the various political groupings, hoping to avoid exactly what we're going to see take place later on today. In any case, he's been negotiating with various parties and probably the toughest negotiations he faced was with the National Rally Party, which is the old National Front Party, and its leader Marine Le Pen, who he accused of trying political blackmail.
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MICHEL BARNIER, FRENCH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): She tried to get into a kind of one-upmanship, telling me it's either the non- indexation of pensions or it is medicines. I came to an agreement with the teams to assess medicines and when I told her that, she said, well, pensions too. I don't want to get into blackmail. That's not my state of mind.
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BITTERMANN: So there you go, he had tough negotiations with all the political groupings, but so far at least, it looks like none of these negotiations have borne any fruit. Now his problem is that the national assembly is divided into almost even blocks of three. And in fact, he's got a far-right block. He's got the far-left bloc, and he's got some centrists who he can more or less depend on. The magic number is 288 votes. He's got 210, which he can more or less count on. So he's got to come up with -- if he wants to keep his job, he is got to come up with 78 votes from the other parties, not likely to happen --
HILL: Yeah.
BITTERMANN: -- from all that we're hearing in advance, Erica.
HILL: It is certainly a fair amount of votes to get to. So let's say then this motion does go through, what happens next and also what does this mean for President Macron?
BITTERMANN: Well, for Macron, it means not a whole lot because he's in office until 2027. There's been calls for him to resign, but he is not going to do that. I think he believes that he's the only stable force left in what could be a very unstable situation. But for Michel Barnier, if he loses this vote tonight, he has to immediately resign, as do all the members of his cabinet. They can form what is called a caretaker government, that can go on for a while.
There's no real limit on it, there's no date certain on that, waiting for Mr. Macron to name somebody else as prime minister. And that could be a formidable task because in fact, Michel Barnier looked like a pretty good compromise candidate when he was named.
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But in fact, there's not many people around who can attract both the extreme right and the extreme left and the centrists into one government, and can make it last for any length of time. In fact, Michel Barnier, if he goes down tonight as prime minister, is going to be the shortest prime minister in the Fifth Republic -- in the history of the Fifth Republic. Erica?
HILL: Not really a distinction that one wants, if you were to be him. Jim Bittermann, appreciate it. Thank you.
BITTERMANN: Sure. HILL: Still ahead here. Battle lines redrawn in a war reignited, rebels in Syria advancing now toward a key central city, just days after that lightning offensive that caught the government and, frankly, much of the world by surprise. Plus, a warning to Ukraine and the West from Russia's deputy foreign minister. Don't underestimate Moscow, that the conflict could escalate. More of that exclusive interview with CNN, just ahead.
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HILL: Rebels in Syria are on the move, closing in now on the central city of Hama, trying to shift the battle lines even further in a war that had long been dormant.
All of this, of course, coming just days after that shock offensive by opposition fighters when they captured Aleppo and Idlib province, catching the government by surprise. Syrian jets now joined by Russian warplanes though are pushing back, intensifying their attacks. Dozens of civilians have been killed in this escalating violence. And according to the U.N., 50,000 others displaced. CNN's Ben Wedeman is following all of these developments now from Rome.
You have covered this for so many years, covered Syria. Just put into perspective as you could for us, Ben, how significant it is that the rebels are now pushing toward Hama and what that city symbolizes.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Hama is one of the four cities on the main M5 highway that links Aleppo with Damascus. And certainly, if the rebels manage to control two of them, Aleppo and Hama, that's a serious blow for the regime of Bashar al- Assad, who until now has had control of that city.
However, it's important to remember that back in 2011 when the uprising against the regime in Damascus began, Hama was one of the places that saw the largest and most intense anti-regime demonstrations. And going back to 1982, it was in that city where the father of Bashar al-Assad, Hafez al-Assad who was President of Syria at the time, put down an uprising by the city led by the Muslim brotherhood, killing conservatively 10,000 people. So symbolically, this is a city that if the regime loses control of, it certainly sends a message that it's far weaker than anybody thought.
[08:20:00]
But really, given that it was only last Wednesday that this rebel offensive began and that already a week later, they have complete control of the city of Aleppo, the opposition has more than doubled the amount of territory it now controls. It certainly means that the regime is really up against a wall. However, it's important to note that even though the regime of Bashar al-Assad is really very unpopular, at the same time, in the same vein, many people fear the opposition which is led, of course, by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham which used to be known as Jabhat al-Nusrah, which was affiliated with Al-Qaeda.
Many Syrians, particularly those that are part of Christian minorities and other Muslim minorities, are particularly fearful given the history of some of these rebel groups in treating minorities in Syria. Erica?
HILL: Given there are so many questions about where this could go, where things may end up. I'm just curious from your perspective, what are you watching specifically, Ben, where is your focus and especially in terms of folks that you're talking to there?
WEDEMAN: Well, apart from the rapid revenge advances made by the rebels, keep in mind there are other parts of Syria where there is great -- there is unrest. For instance, in the southern town of Suwayda, which has a Druze majority, it's long been restive. There's very much unhappiness with the regime in Damascus. And also in the province of Daraa, which is in southern Syria, bordering Jordan, that is where the uprising began in 2011. Even though the regime has sort of co-opted some of the opposition there, there are rumors that there is the movement afoot in that area as well.
So, you might have a variety of opposition groups that have until now been sort of beaten into submission are starting to become restive again. So, the regime in Damascus, it's -- it would be a mistake to sort of write it off and say they're done with. But certainly, at the moment, I think they're feeling more vulnerable than they have in many, many years. Erica?
HILL: Yeah, absolutely. Ben, really appreciate it. Thank you.
Well, Israel is warning Lebanon of dire consequences if the ceasefire with Hezbollah falls apart. Israel's defense minister visiting troops near the border on Tuesday, just a day after Israel and Hezbollah both carried out attacks despite, of course, that ceasefire, and here's some of what he told them (ph).
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ISRAEL KATZ, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): If we go back to war, we will penetrate deeper. And the most important thing they should know is that there will be no immunity for the state of Lebanon. Until now, we made a distinction between Lebanon and Hezbollah. It will no longer be the case.
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HILL: NATO's chief says, allies must give enough support to Ukraine, in his words, to "change the trajectory of conflict with Russia." He's actually been urging the West to send Ukraine more weapons now to help strengthen Kyiv's hand in possible peace talks. All of this coming as NATO foreign ministers wrap up their meeting in Brussels today, despite strong calls from Kyiv that it would settle for nothing less than a NATO membership to guarantee its security, a formal invitation for Ukraine to join the alliance seems unlikely for now.
Meantime, Moscow was warning it will resort to using what it calls even stronger military means against Ukraine should pressure from the West continue. That's according to Russia's deputy foreign minister who spoke exclusively to CNN, telling our Fred Pleitgen, there is no magic solution, in his words, to end the conflict with Ukraine and zero chance of compromise as of now. Fred also asked about the current threat of escalation. Take a listen.
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SERGEI RYABKOV, RUSSIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER: You know, in NATO, there are a group of people, I would even call them cheerleaders, that stand there and clap and shout, and just want big boys in the field to go into this game further and further. They will be defeated like U.S. was defeated by Soviet Union in basketball in 1973.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What does defeat mean then? I mean, do you think that right now, as far as escalation is concerned, are we in a more precarious place than, for instance, during the Cuban Missile Crisis?
RYABKOV: Today, I think danger of this scenario unfolding should not be underestimated by anyone. We have no comparison. We have no roadmaps. We have no routines.
[08:25:00]
We have no culture of how to manage this type of situation. And absence of common sense in many places, absence of sober analysis in different offices in the West is so alarming. We have not lost our senses. We know what we are talking about. This is something that is clearly a historic moment for everyone. And we will not let us be provoked into anything, irrespective of how many billions of dollars will be burnt in this conflict by the U.S., irrespective of what people at the European Union believe they should do to support Kyiv, to assist U.S., we will prevail there, no doubt.
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HILL: Checking in on another region, now, millions in Cuba without power after the country's national electric grid collapsed just this morning. New pictures to show you from the island. Cuba's government says the country's largest power plant failed around 2:00 a.m. local time. There have, of course, been several power cuts over the past two months amid fuel shortages and natural disasters. The government says it is working to get that system back up and running.
Just ahead here on "CNN Newsroom," I'll talk with an expert on Korean history and economy about what happens next as South Korea's president faces mounting pressure to step down. Also ahead, the man Donald Trump has tapped to run the U.S. Defense Department facing an uphill climb now for confirmation, why today is seen as crucial for Pete Hegseth and his chances.
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HILL: Returning to our top story, the political turmoil unfolding in South Korea, President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived a declaration of martial law on Tuesday night plunged the country into a political crisis, sparking widespread anger as protesters clash with troops outside the parliament building. The country's defense minister and a number of other top officials have now submitted their resignations. In declaring martial law, President Yoon accused the opposition Democratic Party of sympathizing with North Korea. While that party says it has begun formalizing treason charges now against President Yoon, the party leader also had this warning.
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LEE JAE-MYUNG, LEADER, DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF KOREA (through translator): They'll try it again by addressing their shortcomings after they have failed once. When that time comes, we the citizens, along with the Democratic Party of Korea and our lawmakers, will step forward and fight to ensure victory. The risk of provoking North Korea and eventually leading to military conflict is significantly high. Dear citizens, we need your vigilance and solidarity.
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[08:30:00]
HILL: Mike Valerio has a closer look now at how these remarkable events in South Korea unfolded.
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VALERIO (voice-over): Soldiers clashing with citizens in a shocking scene outside of South Korea's parliament. As crowds chant "Dismiss the martial law" after the country's president declared nationwide military rule, the first time since 1980, in an unusual late-night TV address.
Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korean President (through translator): I declare emergency martial law to defend the Republic of Korea from the danger of North Korean communist forces.
VALERIO (voice-over): All this in response to a number of actions by the opposition, including rejecting a budget bill and attempts to impeach officials from Yoon's administration. Yoon Suk Yeol said the moves were intended to "incite rebellion" and accused opposition lawmakers of trying to destabilize the country.
CHO KUK, FORMER JUSTICE MINISTER, REBUILDING KOREA PARTY LEADER (through translator): This decision is a crime. Is this someone who we will let run this country? No. Will we let this slide? No.
PARK GEON-WOO, SOUTH KOREAN CITIZEN (through translator): It doesn't make sense. As far as I know, this is the first martial law declared since the Gwangju Democratization Movement. It is really happening in the 21st century.
VALERIO (voice-over): Broken windows and rifle-wielding soldiers standing at the National Assembly Building as tensions between the presidency and opposition lawmakers spills into mass protests.
VALERIO: We're here in the crowd and there are two military vehicles that are trying to get out of here. We're just a few blocks away from the national assembly. There were some soldiers that were saying their military vehicles are trying to leave the area and get back to their base. Protesters, of course, voicing their huge outrage in (inaudible) this moment.
VALERIO (voice-over): The extraordinary measure the president insists was to do away with what he claims are groups sympathetic towards North Korea. Hours later, Yoon forced into reversing his decision after lawmakers voted to overturn his order, leaving a rattled South Korean public reeling from the political chaos.
VALERIO: The question now, what will be the president's next move amid growing anger across South Korea?
Mike Valerio, CNN, Seoul.
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HILL: For more, we're joined out by Owen Miller. He's the Chair of the Centre of Korean Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. Owen, it's good to have you with us at this hour. As we watch how this unfolds, right, there are the questions of will President Yoon resign? Will we get to this impeachment process? Either way, there is going to be a period here of instability, frankly, ahead. How do you see this playing out?
OWEN MILLER, CHAIR, CENTRE OF KOREAN STUDIES AT SOAS UNIVERSITY OF LONDON: I mean, I think I see it playing out that Yoon really can't survive this. I mean, whether he goes by a resignation or whether he's forced out by impeachment, I don't think you can do something like this and then stay in power. So I think yes, I mean, I guess some instability, but I guess the thing is that the quicker this process happens, the better really for Korea and for Koreans.
HILL: And I think a number of people would agree with you just in the sense of wanting an answer. The very swift backlash to this declaration, what we saw in terms of people coming out, lawmakers urging citizens to come out, can you just put that into context for us? Because those pictures alone are so powerful and the message that they send.
MILLER: Yeah, I mean, it was a really incredible moment. This is a really historical moment. People -- I was watching TV news in Korea last night and the commentators were saying themselves, we are in a moment of history. This is something that hasn't happened for more than 40 years and South Korea has now been a democracy for 35 years or so. And this is really unprecedented for a democratically-elected president to do this, essentially to carry out a coup against his own legislature and try to secure his power by force -- by force of arms.
And to see people actually physically putting their unarmed bodies in the way of Special Forces, soldiers to prevent this from happening was just quite an incredible thing to watch on live TV.
HILL: It's also remarkable to think about how this came to be. I've seen, I think in more than one place, referred to as a gross miscalculation on the part of President Yoon. I mean, it came as such a shock and such a surprise to so many.
MILLER: It did. I mean, I think for the great majority of people in Korea and outside of Korea, it was a huge shock. There were a few people warning that this might happen. There were one or two of the opposition lawmakers had been warning since the summer that they thought he might be planning something like this. People didn't really believe them, but actually they turned out to be absolutely right. You know, Yoon was surrounding himself by -- with loyalists, people who even went to the same high school as him and really, in retrospect, I think people will see that there was some preparation, but everyone was surprised. Yeah.
[08:35:00]
HILL: In terms of the broader, you know, more global view as we look at this, hearing from Secretary Blinken who reaffirmed that the alliance between the U.S. and South Korea, talking about shared principles of democracy and the rule of law, we haven't heard anything from President Biden directly at this point. There does seem to be though some concern about what this means, especially given that the U.S. is in its own transition period.
MILLER: Yeah, I think it will be quite unsettling. But, I suspect that the Biden Administration for the time that it has left will want to see a sort of swift and stable transition of some form in South Korea. I mean, something similar happened not that long ago in 2016, 2017, that happened basically peacefully and in a democratic way where the President Park Geun-hye was impeached and then, there was elections and a new opposition leader was elected.
So, it has happened quite recently. I would've thought that probably, the U.S. State Department and so on are looking to that and hoping that it's going to be something quite similar and quite quick,
HILL: There's also a focus to see how North Korea responds, if at all, relations with North Korea deteriorating a little bit under President Yoon. And in this declaration he said, he wanted to eradicate threats from North Korea, although didn't really offer specifics. Do you see a place where North Korea looks to capitalize on this? How do you see this moment being played?
MILLER: I mean, I think first of all, the President Yoon's references to North Korea or followers of North Korea, I mean, that's -- it's fairly standard stuff in South Korea that the conservative parties use these kind of slurs and kind of anti-communist rhetoric. It doesn't mean much at all. And I think people -- you can see that ordinary Koreans understand that. They know that it's just -- it's a kind of rhetorical turn of phrase.
In terms of what North Korea would do, I think they'll sit back. As far as Kim Jong-un is concerned, if South Korea is occupied with this kind of thing, that's fine for him, I think. They have watched South Korea go through many turmoils and even democratic revolutions and so on, and they -- I think they'd be happy to sit back and it gives them some breathing space, I guess.
HILL: Owen Miller, really appreciate your insight. Thanks for joining us.
MILLER: Thank you. HILL: Still ahead here, Donald Trump's pick for Defense Secretary maybe on the way out, why today is a critical day for Pete Hegseth. And a bit later, the fight for George's future inside the pro-EU protest, which continue to rock Tbilisi.
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HILL: It appears another of Donald Trump's cabinet picks is in serious trouble today. Sources inside the Trump transition team tell CNN today is a critical day for Pete Hegseth. He is, of course, Donald Trump's pick to lead the Department of Defense. Hegseth is set to do an interview on Fox News, where he was until recently a host and also is set to meet with a key Republican Senator as he attempts to defend himself from allegations related to his treatment of -- mistreatment of women, excessive drinking as well.
[08:40:11]
Sources say the Trump team has already begun floating names of possible replacements should Hegseth be forced to step aside. Among those names, the influential Senator Joni Ernst, as well as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. CNN Congressional Correspondent, Lauren Fox is standing by with all these details. So, this is a critical, a crucial day as we know for Pete Hegseth. Is there still room for him to persuade skeptical lawmakers at this point, Lauren?
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Erica, this is going to be a very different set of meetings than what Pete Hegseth has experienced on the Hill in the previous two days. He's largely been meeting with people who are Trump allies on Capitol Hill, but today, he's going to be meeting with some key voices, including Senator Roger Wicker. He's the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He's really going to be able to lay out to Hegseth what this confirmation process is going to be like. What a gauntlet this is.
I mean, we are still weeks away, potentially months away from any confirmation hearing actually beginning for Pete Hegseth and this is just a long and arduous road for these nominees, especially if you continue to have sort of a drip, drip, drip of information and allegations that come out against these folks.
So the other thing to keep in mind today is that he's going to be meeting with Joni Ernst. She is a key Republican voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee. She has been advocating for women to serve in combat. Obviously, Pete Hegseth has made some past comments about how he disagrees with women serving in combat. That could potentially come up in that meeting.
We also expect he's going to meet with John Thune, the Republican leader for the party. He will begin that role in January, but he's also going to be another one who can lay out the reality for Pete Hegseth of what this process looks like. Now, a lot of these folks have held back any public criticism of Pete Hegseth, although Kevin Cramer, whose office I'm outside right now, he actually has publicly said he has questions about some of these allegations. So it's going to be a really important set of meetings. Obviously, this comes as there's a lot of swirl among the Trump transition team about whether or not there might be other candidates who could be up to this job.
HILL: Right. And in terms of that swirl and in terms of the other candidates, is there a sense of how serious it is? The fact that it is getting out, right, does lead some credence to this idea that Pete Hegseth could very swiftly be on his way out.
FOX: Yeah, Erica, I mean, it never is a good thing when someone is on Capitol Hill, interviewing for a job, trying to make inroads with these important lawmakers who could decide their future, and you wake up to headlines about potentially someone else being named to that same position you're vying for on Capitol Hill today. So obviously, that is a serious question for Pete Hegseth's future up here.
But again, this is a very critical set of meetings. It's going to feel very different for Hegseth than the previous few days where he was meeting, once again, with some of those closed Trump allies in Washington. Erica?
HILL: Lauren Fox on the Hill for us. Appreciate it. Thank you.
One of the issues Donald Trump seemed to focus on again and again and again, as well as a number of his supporters on the trail, was his concern that transgender rights were being taken too far. Well, just a short time from now, the U.S. supreme court is set to consider that issue. The justices will hear arguments over a Tennessee law that bans gender affirming care for minors. So in essence, this law would prevent minors from taking drugs that assist in the transition from one sex to another. One of the lawyers arguing against that law today is transgender. This will be the first time in history a transgender lawyer has appeared before the supreme court.
Iran's jailed Nobel Laureate, Narges Mohammadi, is being allowed to leave prison for 21 days. Iranian authorities have suspended her prison term for three weeks to allow her to recover from surgery after having an operation to remove part of a bone in her lower right leg after doctors found what they suspect may be cancer. Mohammadi has spent most of the past two decades as an inmate of Tehran's infamous Evin Prison, notorious of course for housing critics of the Iranian regime. CNN has reached out to Iranian officials for comment.
Demonstrations in Georgia showing no signs of slowing down, police and pro-European Union protesters continuing to clash in the Capital Tbilisi. The former Soviet Republic has been rocked by demonstrations after the ruling Georgian Dream Party announced it would delay EU membership talks until 2028. Most Georgians support joining the EU, critics are accusing the government of following authoritarian and pro-Russia policies. Here's more now from CNN's Matthew Chance.
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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another night of mayhem on the streets of Tbilisi. [08:45:00]
The capital of the former Soviet Republic of Georgia is now torn between Russia and the West. Protesters here furious, their government seen as increasingly close to the Kremlin is delaying further talks to join the European Union.
NIA TKHELIDZE, PROTESTER: We should be the members of European family and unfortunately, our government tries their best not to let us and not to allow us.
GIORGI BAGRATION DAVITASHVILI, PROTESTER: I think the Georgia government thinks that Georgia is Russia and will act as Russian peoples do. And no one will come out in the street if others are beaten and if others are discharged. But they are wrong in this, you know, this is Georgia and Georgian people are not like that.
CHANCE (voice-over): For years now, the conservative ruling party, the Georgian Dream, has denied any formal links with the Kremlin, but by passing repressive laws like limiting civil society and gay rights similar to those in Russia, it's thrown into question the country's future with the West.
Over in Ukraine, a daily sobering reminder for Georgians of the price of defying Moscow. Georgia suffered a brief war of its own with Russia in 2008, but avoiding this devastation of their Ukrainian neighbors, the conflict that began with a popular uprising known as the Maidan, is what the Georgian ruling party says now justifies its crackdown.
IRAKLI KOBAKHIDZE, GEORGIAN PRIME MINISTER: So the attempt to organize a Maidan in Georgia is already over. I would call everybody to keep quiet, let's say, and to keep peace in this country. So we are responsible for that. I can assure everybody that there will be peace in this country.
CHANCE (voice-over): But that's not how it looks on the streets of the Georgian capital with police and pro-Western protestors outside the embattled parliament, what looks like a pivotal standoff.
Matthew Chance, CNN, London.
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HILL: Still to come. After two earlier tries, the woman who snuck onto a flight from New York to Paris finally on a plane bound for the United States. What awaits her when she lands?
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HILL: Right now, the Russian woman who snuck onto a flight from New York to Paris is beginning her journey back to the U.S. We have video showing an earlier attempt to return her to the United States. That was actually called off after she began screaming on the plane. Last week, the 57-year-old woman boarded that Paris bound flight without a ticket, doing it on the Tuesday of the very busy Thanksgiving travel week. A source telling CNN, she was able to blend in with groups of travelers and the flight crew to enter the plane without a boarding pass.
Polo Sandoval has been following this story for us and joins us from New York's JFK Airport where that flight is due to arrive in a number of hours, of course. So, it's taken a few attempts to get to this point where she's now onboard a flight and effectively on route. Do we know why Delta was so reluctant to get her back on these earlier flights?
[08:50:00]
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know Erica, Delta Airlines never really commented, addressed yesterday's decision to remove her from that flight. But if you look at some of the passenger video that I obtained this past weekend, showing that first attempt to try to put her on a Delta flight from Paris to return her back to New York, since she is a U.S. permanent resident, you could see why Delta Airlines would have some, at least hesitation about letting her back onboard where she caused that disturbance on Saturday during that first attempt, even before the plane even pushed back from the gate. So she was escorted off that flight.
Three days later, yesterday, she was escorted back onto another Delta flight and that's where Delta Airlines refused to fly her back to New York. Here we are 24 hours later, the third attempt, and by at least one account, we do understand she's in her seat. She's on that plane, still in Paris, scheduled to take off here shortly. It's about an eight-hour flight time, more or less, where that plane will eventually arrive here at New York, JFK. But as you can imagine, some precautions have been taken here.
We understand that at least two security officials are with her right now. We understand she is very calm on this flight thus far. So, this is thus far an incident-free experience, though certainly one that's going to be worth monitoring in the coming hours. Erica?
HILL: Absolutely. And then, when -- we'll think positively here, the third time is the charm -- when she lands at JFK, what awaits her?
SANDOVAL: Federal authorities, Erica, they will be speaking to her. She'll likely be escorted off the plane once that flight arrives here at New York's JFK, where they will speak to her to try to learn a little bit more about how this happened. The question, will she face criminal charges? That is yet to be decided, so there's that thread. But the bigger -- the bigger implications here are, and you touched on it briefly, the security impact where new information now showing that she bypassed stations that are meant to check a passenger's ID not once, but twice.
The first time before that TSA screening where she essentially went around the TSA official that's supposed to check boarding passes, and then she proceeded to be screened, her actual baggage. Then she made her way into the terminal where surveillance video shows her approaching the gate, and then she managed to blend in with a large group of travelers that was boarding that Paris bound flight last Tuesday. And that's how she was able to make it onto the aircraft. It was then, according to passengers, that she was able to hide in the laboratories until she was discovered by flight attendants short of that Paris arrival. So really, I think this is why this story is really gaining so much attention, not only because of the questions that surround exactly how she was able to do this in a post-9/11 world, but also what needs to change not only from TSA, but also from Delta Airlines.
Now, the airline, I have to mention, initially did release a statement saying that they are reviewing, investigating, and they're working closely with airport officials as security continues to be a priority for them.
HILL: Yeah, but, to your point, Polo, a lot of unanswered questions at this point. Appreciate it. Thank you.
Well, severe weather forcing rescuers to suspend their search for two Americans and a Canadian climber who went missing while trying to summit New Zealand's highest mountain. Kurt Blair, Carlos Romero, and a Canadian man who has not been identified were last seen on Saturday when they flew by helicopter to a camp on Mount Cook. Rescuers say they found climbing gear which they believe belongs to the three men before they had to put that search on hold. They do hope to resume the search on Thursday once conditions improve.
A small asteroid lighting up the night sky over Eastern Russia on Wednesday, the asteroid sped through the early morning sky producing, as you can see here, a spectacular fireball. Astronomers with the European Space Agency spotted the space rock about 12 hours before it hit Earth's atmosphere. They estimate it was a little over two-feet wide. Emergency officials issued an alert. No damage though reported so far.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two, one, here you go. Hey.
(CROWD CHEERING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good job.
HILL (voice-over): And just like that, the Christmas tree at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. is lit and reporting for business there. It will now be illuminated every evening until January 1st. Some 100,000 people are expected to visit. This year's 80-foot tree comes all the way from Alaska, traveling more than 4,700 miles to reach Washington.
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[08:55:00]
HILL: Thanks so much for joining me today on "CNN Newsroom." I'm Erica Hill. Stay tuned. I'll see you back here in just a few minutes with "Connect the World." Here's a short break though first.
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