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Syrian Civil War Intensifying; Pete Hegseth Meets With Senators; South Korean President Declares Martial Law. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired December 03, 2024 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:01:35]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Breaking news: some dramatic scenes playing out on the streets in South Korea, as the country's president declares martial law amid widespread condemnation, the move sparking clashes between troops and members of Parliament.

We will take you there live.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Plus: back on offense, Donald Trump's pick for defense secretary returning to Capitol Hill to meet with more Senate Republicans. But the question remains, can Pete Hegseth shore up support amid new scathing reports of inappropriate behavior?

And the saga involving a stowaway who made it past multiple security checkpoints on a flight to Paris taking another dramatic turn. We're going to tell you when she might be returned to the U.S. and how this is raising new questions about air travel security.

We're following these developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: We have breaking news into CNN.

A fast-moving, intense situation is unfolding right now in South Korea after that country's president made a stunning move declaring martial law. President Yoon Suk Yeol says he wants to protect the country from -- quote -- "communist forces."

The extraordinary declaration has put South Korea on edge with clashes outside the country's Parliament, as troops try to hold back large crowds of protesters. The president's decree is also being met by a quick resistance among lawmakers.

Not long ago, the National Assembly voted unanimously to block it, this as we have learned that President Joe Biden has been briefed on the situation as he is traveling in Africa, but he has yet to weigh in. Remember, more than 28,000 service members are stationed in South Korea, American service members, along with thousands more civilian workers and their family members.

CNN's Mike Valerio is live for us in Seoul.

Mike, what exactly sparked all of this and what's going on behind you right now?

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, this is the center of gravity for multitudes of protesters coming to the National Assembly, the heart of government here in South Korea, saying that this is not, again, from their point of view, how democracy, a bastion of democracy here in Asia, is supposed to function.

So, to give you a lay of the land just over my left-hand shoulder, that is the National Assembly, the Parliament, where members had voted just a few hours ago to suspend and overturn the South Korean president's declaration of martial law, made, again, in a surprise television address to the nation.

So you see several dozen protesters that are still gathered around here. We had a speech by Cho Kuk, who is a liberal member -- or he's from the liberal side of South Korea's political equation, saying that this declaration of martial law was illegal.

So many people around us, Boris, have said that the South Korean president's days are numbered. So how exactly we got here. Can't blame you if you don't follow South Korean politics every single day. How in the world did this happen? We have a very conservative president here, Yoon Suk Yeol, deeply unpopular, favorability ratings, Boris, about in the high 20 percent range.

Members of the opposition have tried to impeach him for months, if not years. And analysts are saying, our sources here in Yeouido, the neighborhood where the National Assembly is, that perhaps this was a move by South Korea's president to tamp down on dissent, to take back control.

[13:05:08]

But, still, as you mentioned at the top of the show, in that speech he said that he did this to rein back in control, protect the forces, protect the country from -- quote, unquote -- "communists" and North Korean forces.

I will tell you, Boris, people across this country are scratching their heads and saying, what in the world does he mean? So let's show you a little bit over here, again, a couple dozen. In total, in total, several hundred people are crowded into the square.

Before we came on the air, I'd say maybe about a half-hour ago, an encouraging development, we were in the middle of a crowd with two Humvees, armored vehicles, leaving the area around the National Assembly. That is key, because, when lawmakers of this American ally said, hey, this martial law can't stand, they ordered members of the military to step back.

There were soldiers, we saw through reports, who were preventing people from coming here. But as soon as that declaration of martial law was suspended and overturned, thankfully, we can say, members of the military started to push back, and we can report that is still happening at this early morning hour, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Really a fast-moving situation there.

Mike Valerio, thank you for being our eyes on the ground.

I actually want to go to CNN's Paula Hancocks, who's on the phone with us. She spent more than a decade leading CNN's coverage on the Korean Peninsula and the surrounding region.

Paula, this is, to a degree, unprecedented in the modern era. South Korea has been a stable democracy since at least the late '80s, right?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Boris.

But, remember, I mean, it is a fairly young democracy in some sense. And there will be many people in Korea, many of the older generations, who when they heard tonight that there was a martial law being declared would have been transported back just 40 years, when this happened the last time.

There has been a very bloody and very difficult history for decades under dictatorships and martial laws, military coups in South Korea. And there was a belief that that was in the past and the democracy was flourishing.

So this would have come as a very nasty shock to many who would have lived through those previous martial laws. And many people lost their lives in bloody crackdowns when there were protests in the past. So it will be a huge shock. I mean, many that I have spoken to over recent hours were questioning what exactly was the reason that President Yoon Suk Yeol decided this was a necessary move?

I mean, what he said publicly was, it was against communist forces in North Korea, the shameless pro-North anti-state forces. But his reasoning didn't really point to North Korea at all. His reasoning was political. He was speaking about the opposition party and the fact that it had been impeaching some prosecutors, it had been blocking bills which Yoon Suk Yeol wanted to put through, because the opposition has been in control really.

It's had the majority in Parliament since earlier this year and has not, in Yoon's words, been allowing him to govern or to push through the legislation that he wanted to. So I think the overwhelming feeling at this point is that this was a very surprising military reaction, if you like, to a political stalemate.

It's a very polarized country, South Korea, at the moment. The two sides, the two political stances are dead set against each other. But, interestingly, when it came to this martial law declaration, the Parliament, which did have some members of Yoon Suk Yeol's own party, unanimously voted against this martial law, voted to block the martial law; 190 out of 300 members of Parliament voted to block it.

But there were only 190 that were physically there. It was the middle of the night that this happened. So it was a unanimous pushback against the president -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yes, really startling that even the leader of his own party voted to upend this martial law declaration.

Paula Hancocks, thank you so much for that fascinating perspective -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Back here in Washington the Hill, president-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, will soon be meeting with key Republican senators who will decide his fate as he faces a slew of troubling new allegations.

"The New Yorker" is reporting that the former FOX host was forced out of previous leadership positions at two veterans service organizations amid claims of financial mismanagement, sexual misconduct, and personal misconduct, including reports of being intoxicated on the job.

[13:10:11]

Still, a senior adviser to Trump tells CNN that the transition team is confident in Hegseth's confirmation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON MILLER, TRUMP SENIOR ADVISER: When it comes to Pete Hegseth, there aren't any concerns and we feel very good about his positioning for being confirmed by the Senate. The letter to "The New Yorker," whatever they call it, "The New Yorker" with their piece that they ran, that was basically just innuendo and gossip.

It was written by a disgruntled former employee. And so, again, this was not some legal finding or something in the court of law. This was a former employee who was very much -- very much did not like Pete.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: CNN's Manu Raju is live for us now from the Hill.

Manu, what are you hearing from lawmakers ahead of today's meetings about how they are reacting to this news?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are a lot of Republican senators who are certainly not there yet about trying to make a -- take a position about whether to support Pete Hegseth.

There are -- he does have support, some sizable support among Republican senators. But, remember, it takes just three -- four Republican senators to break ranks, assuming all Democrats vote no in the new Congress, to essentially scuttle this nomination.

And there are more than three -- there are several who are not taking a position one way or the other. They want the confirmation hearings to take place. They -- some want an FBI background checks. It's unclear if that will happen. And they want to get a chance to ask him these questions themselves.

Now, in -- behind closed doors over the last day or so, he has been meeting with some conservative Republican senators. In those meetings, some of the centers themselves have not asked Pete Hegseth any questions about the revelations in the "New Yorker" report, including Senator Tommy Tuberville, who told me yesterday that was not part of their discussion yesterday, and as well as meeting with about a dozen or so Republican senators behind closed doors last night.

This topic did not come up. Those Republican senators came out and indicated that they would support his confirmation. But the big question is where do other senators come down, some of the more moderate senators, some of those who are concerned about these allegations, and particularly the allegations of sexual assault, something that Hegseth denies, but some who believe it's a very serious concern given the problem of sexual assault in the military, an issue that has been debated on Capitol Hill about how to rectify that in the Pentagon.

But all this is to be said is that people are bracing for potential more revelations to come out and also how Hegseth can deal with this in a confirmation proceeding, raising questions about whether he can actually get the job, because a lot of senators, Republican senators, are saying at the moment they don't know if they can support him just yet -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, big questions.

Manu Raju live for us on the Hill, thank you.

President-elect Trump's former Defense Secretary Mark Esper is with us now. We should note that Secretary Esper is a strategic adviser for a handful of aerospace and defense-related companies. Sir, thanks for taking the time to talk about this person who has been picked to fill the position you once held.

And I just wonder what you think as we're hearing Jane Mayer reporting that there were these serious allegations of financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety and personal misconduct that pushed Hegseth out of his position at two veteran service organizations, including a whistle-blower report describing him as being repeatedly intoxicated while acting in his official capacity, to the point of needing to be carried out of the organization's events.

When you hear a Republican senator like Cynthia Lummis from Wyoming trying to dismiss this and say that sometimes soldiers are -- quote -- "wild childs," what is your reaction to that?

MARK ESPER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, look, these are tough reports.

And, obviously, he's on the path to having a confirmation hearing sometime in early January. And, first of all, that's bad news for any nominee, right? Whether it's Republican or Democrat, the longer you're out there exposed, the more that opposition will dig at you, the more the media will dig at you.

And so you don't know in the next four or five weeks what else might come out. But, look, this is part of the Senate advice-and-consent process. That's why I think it's an important constitutional tool to give a good scrub of the president's nominees.

I think, look, President Trump has picked him because he has confidence in him, but he's going to have to go through that process like everyone else and we will see what happens on the back end.

KEILAR: What do you think about him hearing these things?

ESPER: Well, I mean, the reports are not good. They're troubling.

But, look, I like his background as a soldier, his service in combat. But he obviously comes to the position, the nomination without as much experience as his predecessors. But these are all the things that will be brought out during the nomination hearing, not just his experience, these allegations, but also what is his view on women in combat? What is his view on modernization of the military? What is his view on DEI and the so-called woke agenda?

I think all these questions are going to be on the table. It's going to be a tough hearing if we get to that point. And so -- and he won't be the only one, but it'll be a challenging hearing for him that he's going to have to be prepared for.

[13:15:08]

KEILAR: Yes, no doubt.

I want to ask you as well about president-elect Trump's FBI director pick, Kash Patel, because you actually tell a story in your memoir of what you saw as a big mess-up by Patel during what we have now learned was a SEAL Team Six mission. I don't you mentioned that it was SEAL Team Six.

But it was, according to reporting, a SEAL Team Six mission to rescue an American hostage in Nigeria, that Patel had told American officials coordinating the mission that Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, had gotten the OK for the team to use the country's airspace, which is obviously critical if you want to avoid an international incident.

You write -- quote -- "A few hours later, though, around 4:45 p.m., I learned some disturbing news. Apparently, we did not have permission to enter the airspace of one of the key countries and the aircraft were only 15 miles away from the international border."

So then, at this point, these choppers carrying the SEALs circle for about an hour waiting. And you go on -- quote -- "By the time Mike Pompeo and I spoke an hour later, he still didn't have the OK from the remaining country. He also didn't know where Patel received his information. Pompeo never spoke with him."

So, ultimately, this mission succeeded. You got that approval in the nick of time. But did you ever figure out what happened, why Patel said that there was this clearance? And do you think that Patel endangered those special operators?

ESPER: Yes, to this day, I still don't know what happened. We tried, we being Mike Pompeo and myself, tried to -- brought this up with Robert O'Brien, the president's national security adviser a, couple weeks later, our concerns about what happened, how this process worked, and asked him to look into it.

But it -- I was out of office not long after that. But we -- to this day, I still don't know exactly what happened. At the time, the allegation from my folks at the Pentagon was that this information was conveyed by Kash Patel and that they believed he just made it up. I don't know. It's an outstanding question.

But, of course, at that point in time, because our special operators had been in the air for such a long time, we had to make that call. If we hadn't got that permission, we could -- the president could have made the call using his Article 2 authority, or we would have had to scrub the mission.

So what it jeopardized was -- the risk of the mission was jeopardized. And, of course, our concern was, the reason why we launched the troops that moment of time is, we were concerned that the American on the ground that was being held might either be killed, might be handed off to a terrorist group. And, of course, we already had Americans captured in West Africa at that point in time had become hostages.

So there was a risk not just to the mission, but also to the American on the ground. But, fortunately, like I said, some great work by the deputy secretary of state at the State Department got the permission, and then our special operators pulled it off flawlessly, and we brought that American out of harm's way.

KEILAR: Yes, a successful mission in the end.

And, finally, I want to ask you about South Korea. There's -- obviously, there's so much going on today to talk to you about. But as you're watching what's happening here, the South Korean president declaring martial law, the National Assembly rebuking him, and knowing that there are tens of thousands of Americans, service members, their families, civilians, contractors, who are there as part of the American military footprint in Korea, what are your concerns?

ESPER: Yes, look, this is very surprising that there's no clear reason why he declared this. There's no apparent immediate, urgent threat from North Korea that I'm seeing.

In fact, I was just in Asia a couple of weeks ago, and we were talking about how good the relationship has been between Tokyo, Japan, and Washington, D.C. And that's -- I'm sorry -- Tokyo, Seoul, and Washington, D.C. And much of that relationship coming out of South Korea was based on President Yoon.

So it's hard to explain what's happening or why, but I, of course, am concerned about American troops, service members, contractors, civilians, and others. We have a very capable commander there, General Paul LaCamera, who I have known for many, many years.

I'm sure he has the situation well under control, but we obviously need to figure this out quickly. It's good to see that the Parliament rejected this overwhelmingly and that his own party leader, his own party president, has rejected this as well.

So, hopefully, this situation will be stabilized fairly quickly, and then we can kind of do the autopsy and figure out what happened here. And then the South Koreans are going to have to figure out what to do in this case.

KEILAR: Yes, really stunning turn of events there.

Secretary Esper, thank you so much for making time for us.

ESPER: Thank you, Brianna.

KEILAR: Still to come this hour: Syrian rebels have reportedly gained more ground, as the fight with the -- with Bashar al-Assad's regime is ramping back up.

Also ahead, why Los Angeles police say the woman that they have been looking for is now considered a voluntary missing person. What we know about this Hawaii woman Hannah Kobayashi's whereabouts.

[13:20:07]

And then later: Is your job pushing you to quit, instead of just letting you go? Everything you need to know about quiet firing.

You're watching CNN NEWS CENTRAL. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: This just into CNN: A Manhattan jury has begun deliberating in the manslaughter trial of Daniel Penny. He's the former Marine charged in the choke hold death of Jordan Neely on a New York City subway last year.

[13:25:02]

Penny faces one count of manslaughter in the second degree and one count of criminally negligent homicide in connection to Neely's death. We will have a live report from outside the courthouse in the next hour, so stay tuned for that.

Turning now to the Middle East and Syria, where rebels claim they have taken more territory, the latest sign that the 13-year civil war there is intensifying in a new way. The rebels are claiming gains in the countryside north of Aleppo just days after the anti-government fighters seized parts of the city, the second largest in Syria.

Some Syrians who had fled because of the war are now actually returning home, hugging and taking pictures together. The surprise rebel success has put the U.S. in an awkward spot. While supporting some of the rebel groups, the U.S. does not back the one leading the charge, known as HTS, a designated terror group with ties to al Qaeda.

Let's turn now to CNN's senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman.

Ben, give us the latest on these rebel movements.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, what we're seeing Boris is that the rebels led, as you said, by Hay'at Tahrir al- Sham, which did have connections with al Qaeda, however, has tried to distance itself from the group, they are moving closer to the city of Hama, which is in the center of Syria, a city that had revolted against the Assad dynasty, the father of Bashar al-Assad, Hafez, back in 1982, when the Syrian army and intelligence killed at least 10,000 people.

This is a city that has long been opposed to the regime of the Assad dynasty. And we understand from the Syrian official news agency that the government has sent reinforcements to that city. But what we saw in Aleppo was that government forces essentially vanished when faced with the rebel attack that began on Wednesday and succeeded by Friday evening to essentially take most of Aleppo itself.

What we have seen is, morale is not very high among the government troops, and, in the absence of real support from Iran, from Hezbollah, and from the Russians that the regime forces really are on the defensive throughout most of Northern and Central Syria.

All we have seen really is the Syrian and Russian air forces striking various rebel strongholds, but, on the ground, they don't seem to be putting up much of a fight -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Ben Wedeman, thanks so much for that update -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Now to a senator's mystery change of heart over the military promotion of this army general, Chris Donahue, who oversaw in part the U.S. exit from Afghanistan. And he has just become the commander of U.S. Army Europe Africa, according to a Senate aide.

That's actually an advancement that had been on hold because of Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin. Last month, Mullin blocked the general's promotion after calling out Donahue for his part in the Afghanistan withdrawal.

We have CNN's Oren Liebermann with us now.

Oren, what are you learning about why Senator Mullin dropped his objection?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Senator Markwayne Mullin hasn't made a statement or comment about why he lifted the hold to Lieutenant General Chris Donahue's promotion to become the commander of U.S. Army forces in Europe and Africa.

So it's unclear why he had a change of heart here. It could be that there was simply pressure from not only other Republicans in the Senate, but from current former officials who have very much lauded Donahue's career, his character, his accomplishments. According to his Army biography, he has deployed more than 20 times in a career that has spanned more than three decades, including deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, North Africa, Eastern Europe and other places. He was also critical in, for example, standing up the Security

Assistance Group-Ukraine, which was the U.S. mechanism to help train and repair Ukrainian equipment on the battlefield in a real-time war. So he has, frankly, a very storied career here, and this is part of that, the picture you see on your screen.

This is him being the last U.S. soldier out of Afghanistan, that becoming an iconic picture as he oversaw the withdrawal or the final withdrawal in the closing days of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan.

Now, some, including Senator Markwayne Mullin, have held that against him because of the Abbey Gate bombing in which 13 U.S. service members were killed at the international airport in Kabul because of a suicide bombing. In fact, on the third anniversary of that bombing, it was Mullin who name-checked Donahue and said nobody here has been held accountable.

So, why he lifted that hold, that remains unclear, but I will point out that Donahue has tremendous support from former and current officials in this building, including a guest you had on just a short time ago, former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, who said he was a great pick for the position and also pointed out that you shouldn't be holding the military officials responsible for what their civilian, essentially, leaders had them and instructed them to do.

And that, it seems, was exactly what was happening here.

KEILAR: All right, still more to know, obviously, but very interesting.