Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Ruling Party To Oppose President Yoon Suk Yeol's Impeachment; Lawmakers Vote To Oust Prime Minister Michael Barnier; Manhunt Underway After CEO's Killing In New York; Bleak Outlook In Southern Lebanon As Tenuous Truce Holds; Police Crackdown Intensifies Against Pro EU Protesters in Georgia; Ukrainian Delegation Meets With Trump Advisers; Russia Warns of Stronger Military Means in Ukraine; Putin Lavishes New Praise on Trump, Says He Doesn't Need Advice; Embattled Defense Secretary Pick Pete Hegseth Vows to Fight on; Trump Considering Other Options to Lead Pentagon. Aired 2-2:45a ET

Aired December 05, 2024 - 02:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:29]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world, and to everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, the political turmoil is growing in South Korea, where the President is facing the threat of impeachment after his short lived attempt to impose martial law plunged the country into chaos.

The French government collapses after the left and right came together to force the country's prime minister to step down.

And a massive manhunt is underway after a CEO is brazenly shot dead on the streets of New York City in what's being called a targeted killing.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Thanks for joining us. It is 4:00 p.m. in Seoul, South Korea, where the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol seemed all but certain a day ago after his abrupt martial law declaration.

Now, members of his ruling party say they will oppose the move, meaning Yoon could hang on to power. A vote is expected by the end of the week.

Meanwhile, AFP reports, Yoon has been asked to leave the People Power Party, the surprise martial law decree plunged the parliament into chaos late Tuesday, before Yoon reversed course.

Now, protests outside the National Assembly appear to have dwindled. The president has accepted the resignation of his defense minister early Thursday, but opposition leaders say Yoon should step down as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIM SEUNG-WON, SOUTH KOREAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT (through translator): The Yoon administration attempted to seize control of the National Assembly by deploying approximately 250 elite martial law troops to the parliamentary building.

This is an unforgivable crime, one that cannot, should not, and will not be pardoned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Let's go live now to Seoul and CNN's Senior International Correspondent Ivan Watson.

So, Ivan, what comes next for the parliament and, of course, for President Yoon?

IVAN WATSON, CNN, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Rosemary, it's less than 48 hours ago that President Yoon declared martial law on Korea, and it's just been a remarkable series of events since then. I'm coming to you live from inside the National Assembly, and this is where you had confrontations here between police and soldiers who were sent to try to disrupt a gathering of lawmakers who ultimately succeeded in voting to overrule the president's emergency rule decree.

I spoke with the leader of the largest opposition bloc in the National Assembly, the head of the Democratic Party, and I asked him what he felt when he first heard on Tuesday night that the president had declared martial law. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEE JAE-MYUNG, DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF KOREA LEADER (through translator): My wife suddenly showed me a YouTube video and said the president is declaring martial law. I replied, that's a deep fake. It has to be a deep fake. There's no way that's real.

But when I watched the video, the president was indeed declaring martial law. Yet I thought to myself, this is fabricated. It's fake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: So, then, what that lawmaker succeeded in doing was he rushed to this location. He was actually streaming on YouTube. His wife was driving the car, and he was blocked from entering the National Assembly headquarters, and he was streaming on his YouTube channel how he jumped over a wall and came in here, and he actually told me that he hit mute by accident on his live broadcast, so there's no audio on it, as he kind of comes into the building.

The lawmakers had assembled in there, and 190 of them voted unanimously to overturn martial law there, and now the focus appears to be on what comes next with the main opposition party, the Democratic Party, calling for impeachment.

And we've also just learned that they're issuing -- that they're filing charges, not only against President Yoon, but also against his defense minister, who has since resigned, the army chief of staff, the head of the police, as well as several other military commanders and a minister of safety, accusing them of carrying out insurrection to disrupt the constitutional order with what they did there.

[02:05:19]

I'll add another fact about, by the way, the police commissioner has since said that he doesn't believe that what took place that night amounted to a crime as he's being accused of that.

This is the entry to the Hall of the National Assembly there, and the opposition lawmakers are refusing to leave that chamber. They're staying there in shifts, even throughout the night, sleeping there because they say that they are worried that President Yoon could try to declare martial law yet again, so they are literally performing a vigil in there to protect what they say are their constitutional rights, which is, if you get enough lawmakers a majority in there, they can vote to overturn a martial law decree.

Back to you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Thanks to Ivan Watson bringing that live report from Seoul. And also joining me from Seoul, John Nilsson-Wright is a Northeast Asia Specialist at Cambridge University and Chatham House. Appreciate you talking with us.

JOHN NILSSON-WRIGHT, NORTHEAST ASIA SPECIALIST, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY AND CHATHAM HOUSE: Pleasure.

CHURCH: So, as South Korea continues to deal with the turmoil created by President Yoon Suk Yeol declaring martial law. Lawmakers are moving to impeach him, but his ruling party plans to oppose that move. How likely is it that the opposition parties will get enough votes to impeach him?

NILSSON-WRIGHT: I think it's very hard to say at this point. This is quite a tightly run thing.

Essentially, they need eight additional votes. They need to peel away eight votes from the conservative governing party. But the statement from Han Dong-hoon, the leader of the governing party, has been pretty unambiguous, saying that he will work to ensure unity on the part of his own party members, to ensure that that impeachment measure does not go through.

And then we are in a very difficult predicament, because this stalemate looks set to continue. And of course, you have to recognize that all of this is happening against the backdrop of acute public anxiety the fact that ordinary South Koreans came out onto the streets of Seoul when the martial law announcement was made in protest against the president's actions. There is a public appetite, I think, to do everything possible, including street demonstrations we may well see on Saturday if that critical impeachment vote fails, that there will be large numbers of Koreans, perhaps in the number -- in the tens if not hundreds of thousands, showing up in the center of Seoul, echoing the so called candlelight demonstrations that we saw in 2016 which led to the impeachment of then President Park Geun-hye.

I don't think you can underestimate the extent to which the martial law declaration reminded ordinary Koreans of the experience of the 1980s. And the 1980s were, of course, a critical decade in which, essentially, the democratic movement got its impetus and led ultimately to the overturning of authoritarian leadership.

Yoon is intensely unpopular. He was intensely unpopular before he made this announcement. This has contributed to his further what I would describe as a crisis of legitimacy, and therefore the conservative politicians, if they decide not to sign up behind the impeachment measure, may run the risk of being seen as effectively legitimizing this martial law declaration, and therefore we have a situation that is right to exacerbate partisan differences and to create a very volatile situation, not to mention all the concerns that you alluded to, that President Yoon might be minded to introduce another Martial Law order.

There are questions about what the opposition can do in the face of failure if that impeachment measure does not go through, and I think that's why foreign governments, not least the United States, are looking at this situation with a great deal of concern and continuing anxiety.

CHURCH: So, what damage do you think has already been done to the country, even though a martial law that was declared by Yoon lasted only six hours?

NILSSON-WRIGHT: I think a huge amount of potential damage, not least because President Yoon has shown that he has no real understanding of the process of political negotiation and political compromise.

One reason this situation has intensified is because he has effectively de legitimized the leader of the opposition party, Lee Jae-myung. Lee Jae-myung himself is a polarizing political figure, disliked by conservative opinion who see him as, if you like, a progressive populist, anti-elitist, not if you like one of them.

[02:10:18]

And therefore, there are great concerns about what might happen if President Yoon were impeached, this would then lead to, ultimately, a new presidential election, and there are serious questions about who might win a future presidential contest. What would that mean for the direction of South Korea's foreign policy. Lee Jae-myung, if he were a candidate, would potentially take the country in a very different direction, perhaps in ways that threaten the U.S.-ROK alliance.

So, for the more sober minded Koreans looking at this situation, they worry about the implications of yet another impeachment crisis, raising concerns about the stability of the political system altogether, and what it might lead to in terms of future leadership of the country.

CHURCH: John Nilsson-Wright in so many thanks for talking with us. Appreciate it.

NILSSON-WRIGHT: Pleasure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The first motion of censure has been adopted. The second motion will not be put to a vote. Due to the adoption of the motion of censure, and in compliance with Article 50 of the Constitution, the Prime Minister has to tender to the president the resignation of the government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Political chaos in France after left and right wing lawmakers united to support a no confidence vote against the French Prime Minister. Michel Barnier is expected to resign this week, and it will leave France without a stable government or a 2025 budget at the end of this year.

President Emmanuel Macron is expected to address the nation on Thursday as he works to name a new prime minister. CNN's Jim Bittermann reports from Paris.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The government of Michel Barnier forced to resign, not only the prime minister himself, but all the rest of his ministers after a vote of no confidence in the National Assembly. 331 people voted against the government. It only takes 288 to oust the government in the rules of the -- of the National Assembly.

So, Michel Barnier and his ministers are out. They will probably take over in a caretaker role until some new prime minister can be named.

The president of France, Emmanuel Macron will be the person who has to find that new prime minister. He arrived back in France just an hour before the voting tonight from Saudi Arabia, where he was on a diplomatic mission.

It's unclear if he's going to be able to find someone who will be able to please all the factions within the divided -- the much divided French parliament is -- before the vote was taken tonight, Michel Barnier stood up and told the members of the National Assembly that he was honored to have served. But in fact, they were going to do something that would have some very, very drastic consequences. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHEL BARNIER, FRENCH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I'm sure, ladies and gentlemen, what I say seriously before you is that this motion of no confidence at the moment when you are probably preparing this coalition of opposites, this no confidence motion will make everything more serious and more difficult. I'm sure of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BITTERMANN: So, the caretaker government will take care of things until there's a new prime minister that has been named. It will be -- a prime minister will almost certainly be challenged once again by this parliament, because the vote today, the night was, in fact, very much against President Macron, as much as it was against Michel Barnier.

So, another prime minister has to be named, and we'll just see if that is someone who could be pleasing to all sides of the various factions in the -- in the National Assembly.

Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.

CHURCH: Back here in the United States, a police manhunt is underway in New York after UnitedHealthcare's CEO was gunned down in the heart of Manhattan. Investigators say Brian Thompson was shot and killed on a sidewalk Wednesday morning in a premeditated attack, the suspected gunman then fled, first on foot, then on an e-bike. ABC News is reporting that police say gun casings found at the scene had words, deny, defend and depose written on them.

And CNN's Shimon Prokupecz went to a location where the suspect stopped shortly before the attack. A warning, though the images you're about to see are graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: At 6:17 AM, the alleged gunman came to this Starbucks, according to law enforcement sources, where he made several purchases just two blocks away from where the shooting happened.

[02:15:02]

PROKUPECZ (voice over): It's 6:30 a.m., a new video obtained by "The New York Times," the shooter walks less than 200 feet away from the soon to be crime scene. He appears to be on the phone.

PROKUPECZ: At 6:44 a.m., Brian Thompson leaves his hotel, which is just across the street. He comes this way to enter the Hilton Hotel, where the conference is and as he's making his way, the gunman is here waiting for him.

JESSICA TISCH, NYPD COMMISSIONER: Many people passed the suspect, but he appeared to wait for his intended target.

PROKUPECZ (voice over): Seconds after Thompson passes him, the gunman begins what police call a targeted attack.

CNN obtained this video, watch as the gunman comes from behind and raises his handgun within feet of Thompson. What happens next is too disturbing to show.

The assassin opens fire, shooting Thompson in the back. Thompson stumbles and looks back at his killer as the gunman walks towards him.

Police say the gun malfunctions, but the shooter clears the jam and continues to fire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE WITNESS: I wasn't paying attention. I was holding my phone. Then I hear the shot. I saw him after he shot him. He ran across the street this way.

PROKUPECZ: Seconds later police say the gunman flees through an alleyway towards 55th Street, makes a right, and then gets on an e- bike and goes north on 6th Avenue.

PROKUPECZ (voice over): At 6:46 a.m., the first 911 call goes out. There's been a shooting outside the Hilton Hotel. Two minutes later, 6:48 a.m., officers arrive on scene to find Thompson, a 50-year-old male, lying on the sidewalk, gunshot wounds to his back and leg.

At the same time, the shooter is seen riding his e-bike into Central Park into Center Drive.

JOSEPH KENNY, CHIEF OF DETECTIVES AT DETECTIVE BUREAU: The last we see with him on that bike is in Central Park.

PROKUPECZ (voice over): Officers recovered three live nine millimeter rounds and three discharged nine millimeter shell casings at the scene.

TISCH: Every indication is that this was a premeditated, pre-planned, targeted attack.

KENNY: This does not appear to be a random act of violence.

PROKUPECZ: Thompson is transported by EMS to Mount Sinai West Hospital and pronounced dead at 7:12 a.m. and a citywide manhunt begins.

TISCH: We will not rest until we identify and apprehend the shooter.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PROKUPECZ (on camera): And now a new clue for investigators. They have found new video of an individual they believe to be the gunman, from early Wednesday morning, around 5:00 a.m. with a e bike battery. And what they're trying to figure out now is whether or not he brought the battery here to this location, to this area where perhaps he had stashed, stored the e-bike in preparation for his getaway.

Shimon Prokupecz, CNN, New York,

CHURCH: Just ahead, heavy damage and anger toward Israel. CNN asked people in southern Lebanon about their hopes for the future amid the fragile ceasefire. Back with that and more in just a moment,

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [02:20:08]

CHURCH: Now to the ongoing fighting in Gaza, Amnesty International says there's enough evidence to accuse Israel of genocide in the Enclave. The riots group's latest report details numerous instances of mass killings and other atrocities. Amnesty International says it can only infer the genocidal intent has been part of Israel's conduct in Gaza since the October 7th attacks.

The Israeli military called the report entirely baseless, saying it ignores Hamas' violations of international law as well as the operational difficulties IDF soldiers face.

Meanwhile, Israeli attacks killed dozens of people in Gaza on Wednesday, the Israeli military says it carried out a precise strike on senior Hamas militants in a humanitarian zone in Khan Yunis, a local hospital says 11 of the 20 people killed there were children. Gaza authorities say women and children were also among the 10 people killed by strikes in Gaza City.

Israel's defense minister is expressing new hope that a hostage agreement can be reached, but he did not get into the specific reasons for his optimism or say whether a deal would also include a ceasefire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISRAEL KATZ, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): I think that thanks to the intense activity, the intensity of the pressure on this monstrous organization called Hamas is increasing, and there is a chance that this time we will really be able to advance a hostage deal, and we are working on this matter, and see this goal before our eyes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Turning now to the situation in Lebanon, the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Israel's cease fire with Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon is holding, and despite some back and forth strikes, both sides want the truce to work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We get reports of violations, we look at them, we engage the parties, and that's exactly what we've done. The mechanism that we established with France to make sure that the ceasefire is effectively monitored and implemented is working.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Antony Blinken also said what's most wanted is, "People being able to return to their homes."

CNN's Clarissa Ward has our report from southern Lebanon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the balcony of his apartment, a man gazes out at his city, Tyre, once renowned for its glittering waters and ancient ruins, now in ruins itself. Moos Assad (ph) has lived through many wars in Lebanon, but none like this.

25 years, we have been here in Tyre, he tells us. An Israeli strike pulverized the next door building where his neighbors once lived. Their clothes still hang ghost-like in the closet.

Imagine a person was sleeping here. The building collapsed on them, everyone died, a woman and her children, all of them dead. Why? For what? He says. America did this to us, not Israel. It's America that goes like this, like she didn't see anything and she didn't want to know anything.

Lebanon is a country where loyalties are divided, but bitterness towards the West for its support of Israel is everywhere.

In villages around Tyre, Hezbollah flags fly proudly. No community has been spared. The Melkite Greek Catholic church had been a refuge for displaced people when it was hit by an Israeli missile on October 9th, eight people were killed.

81-year-old church caretaker Milad Iliya has prayed here as long as he can remember. This is my house, he says. Next to the church a mosque, connected by a shared hall for events. If our homes were hit and the church stayed, it would be better, he tells us. If the church is gone, there is no coexistence between people here.

Tyre is one of the world's oldest inhabited cities, mentioned several times in the Bible. As the light falls, Kamal Istanbuli does what fishermen have been doing here for thousands of years. For 60 days during the war, Israel's military barred boats from going out on the water. Of course, it was tough, he says. We fishermen must work every day to feed our families.

[02:25:09]

WARD: What's your dream for the future?

WARD (voice-over): We don't have a future here, he tells me. With Israel as your neighbor, occupying your land, there's no future for you. There's just war after war, destruction after destruction, and the country collapses and collapses.

A bleak outlook shared by many in this historic city, even as a shaky ceasefire continues to hold.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WARD (on camera): The IDF says it has repeatedly targeted Tyre because it says that it is a Hezbollah stronghold and that there have been many attacks against Israeli forces launched from the Tyre area.

Now, on Wednesday, there was another Israeli strike in the South of Lebanon. Israel's Air Force saying that it targeted a launch pad.

But so far, diplomatic officials saying that cease fire does continue to hold.

Clarissa Ward, CNN, Beirut.

CHURCH: Now to Syria, where fierce fighting has erupted between government troops and rebel forces in the countryside north of Hama.

And you can see the territory under rebel control in green, losing control of the strategic city of Hama would be a massive blow to the Syrian regime.

The Syrian Defense Ministry says it's launching new air strikes against the rebels with the help of the Russian military. Opposition fighters recently retook Aleppo reigniting Syria's civil war. The main rebel commander was seen touring Aleppo's ancient citadel, a symbol of control over northern Syria.

Abu Mohammed al-Golani heads up the HTS rebel group, which is designated a terrorist organization by the United States. HTS fights alongside other factions as part of the military operations command coalition.

The police crackdown on protesters in Georgia is intensifying. We will have details of the arrest of an opposition party leader and what charges he is facing. Back with that and more in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:30:00]

CHURCH: A brutal government crackdown against protesters is intensifying in Georgia. Massive protests began last week after the ruling Georgian Dream Party decided to suspend talks to join the European Union. Critics are accusing the government of moving towards authoritarian and pro-Russian positions.

On Wednesday, one opposition party says a lawmaker was severely beaten by police and detained. Georgia's interior ministry tells CNN, the opposition leader was arrested on charges of what they call "disobedience to the police". The founder of the lawmaker's party told CNN that police stormed their offices and took everything away. Here's more from a party official.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIKA MIKIASHVILI, DROA PARTY FOREIGN SECRETARY: It is their attempt to sow terror in population because they cannot handle people going out every night for a week, essentially, like battling the police in self-defense. The very fact that they begin arresting opposition leaders, that is a new level. That is a new level because they want people to see that if even leaders are not immune, then no one will care about someone who is not famous.

And -- but, I want to underline that this movement, this national liberation struggle, does not really have leaders. All of us are leaders. So people are out there protesting and defending the idea on their own. It is an uprising for the people, by the people. It does not have leaders. Even if they catch and detain all opposition leaders or all sort of organized group leaders, the people are still going to be out because no one is there for Nika Gvaramia or for someone else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Ukraine's president appears to be following through on his pledge to try to work directly with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Chief of Staff, Andriy Yermak, met with two of Trump's point men for Ukraine on Wednesday. According to a source familiar with the meeting, the talks in Washington included Trump's pick for National Security Adviser, Mike Waltz, and his Ukraine Envoy, Keith Kellogg.

President Zelenskyy has said he's open to Trump's ideas on ending the war in Ukraine. Trump has claimed he would do it on day one of his presidency, though he has not explained how. Well meanwhile, Russia is cautioning the West not to let its support for Ukraine drag the war out indefinitely. Moscow recently fired a nuclear-capable missile armed with conventional warheads in an attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure. But in an exclusive interview with CNN, Russia's deputy foreign minister says, the Kremlin will resort to "even stronger military means if needed". He spoke without Fred Pleitgen in Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): As Russia makes some of its most rapid advances since the beginning of the full-on war in Ukraine, Moscow warning the U.S. and its allies, it will hit back hard if the West continues to step up support for Kyiv, Russia's deputy foreign minister tells me in an exclusive interview.

SERGEI RYABKOV, RUSSIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER: 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, 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.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): After the Biden Administration allowed Ukraine to use longer-distance U.S.-supplied missiles to strike deep inside Russia, the Russians responded hitting central Ukraine with an experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads. And Moscow continuing to showcase its nuclear power with navy drills featuring sea- and ground-launched missiles designed to carry nukes.

PLEITGEN: 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: We have no comparison. We have no roadmaps. We have no routines. 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.

[02:35:00]

PLEITGEN (voice-over): The Russians now waiting for the Trump Administration to take office. Trump saying he wants to end the war in Ukraine ASAP. At an event in Moscow, Vladimir Putin, once again, praising the President-elect.

Mr. Trump is a person who does not need advice or recommendations, he says.

PLEITGEN: Do you think that the Trump Administration will follow through on its pledge -- or Donald Trump will follow through on his pledge to try and solve the crisis as fast as possible?

RYABKOV: Please make no mistake, not at the expense of what are the basic elements of our national position.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Donald Trump's embattled pick for U.S. Defense Secretary is vowing to fight on despite growing controversy. Pete Hegseth held meetings with multiple Republicans on Wednesday, but concern over a series of misconduct allegations against the former Fox News anchor is not dying down. Hegseth insists he has the President-elect's support.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, TRUMP'S PICK FOR DEFENSE SECRETARY: I spoke to the President-elect this morning. He said, keep going, keep fighting, behind you all the way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: But sources tell CNN that Trump is already considering other options. Hegseth denies all the allegations against him, including claims he mismanaged a veterans' group, was publicly intoxicated at work events, and sexually assaulted a woman. Well, there are reports that the President-elect is now considering other options to lead the Pentagon. Earlier, I spoke with Ron Brownstein. He is a CNN Senior Political Editor and Senior Editor of "The Atlantic". And I asked him whether the talk of potential replacements means Trump's support for Hegseth is slipping

RONALD BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Now with Donald Trump, loyalty extends to the point where it no longer does, right? I mean, for Trump, loyalty historically is a one-way street, expects loyalty from those around him, doesn't really extend a lot to those around him. And if Hegseth becomes too big a burden, I mean, there's no reason to believe that Trump would not cut him loose. You see what a self-inflicted wound this is though. I mean, first and foremost, the list of alternatives for this job, who would be more appropriate for it and easier for a Republican Senate which after all wants to confirm his nominees is very long. And the fact that he's able to come up with names like Ron DeSantis and Senator Joni Ernst immediately as -- float them as possibilities shows how unnecessary this was and how reflective it was of the risks that Trump's impulsive management style still presents to him in a second term that will begin in a few weeks.

CHURCH: And in Hegseth's meeting Wednesday with Republican Senator Roger Wicker, he vowed not to drink if he's confirmed after accusations of being intoxicated when he ran a veteran services organization and he also denied sexual allegations against him. Will all this, along with his media blitz Wednesday, save him and get the support from Senators that he needs to overcome his many challenges to get confirmed?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, first of all, as we've discussed before, I think Republican Senators would prefer that he withdraw rather than having to publicly vote against him. So, the question is whether enough of them kind of put the writing on the wall in a way that convinces Trump that he doesn't want to go forward with this. I mean, not to be cruel, but a defense secretary is not a place really that you would want to take a chance on someone promising never to drink again. I mean, there is a long history, basically throughout human experience, of people who have trouble with alcohol saying that they will never drink again. And it doesn't always -- I don't want to shock the listeners, but it doesn't always pan out that way.

John Tower was George H.W. Bush's nominee for defense secretary and he was -- and even as a former Senator, with all the courtesy in the chamber extended to a former Senator, he was rejected largely on the grounds of concern about having a defense secretary who has a history of problems with alcohol. Certainly, it's a little different than having an interior secretary or a VA secretary.

The specific allegations against him around the abuse of alcohol are so magnified given the position that he is up for. That's where you can see I think Republicans feeling comfortable saying to Trump, can we have Ron DeSantis please?

CHURCH: And you can see more of my conversation with The Atlantic Senior Editor, Ron Brownstein, next hour. And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:41:40]

CHURCH: A new study suggests there's a link between lead in gasoline and tens of millions of mental health conditions here in the United States. The research estimates about 151 million mental disorder diagnoses in the U.S. are attributable to lead. Cars ran on fuel with lead starting in the 1920s and the U.S. didn't start phasing it out until the 1980s. One researcher says millions of Americans are walking around with an unknown history of lead exposure, and it has likely had a negative influence on how they think, feel, and behave.

I want to thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. "World Sport" is coming up next. Then I'll be back in about 15 minutes with more "CNN Newsroom." Do stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)