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Reporting Indicates Pete Hegseth's Nomination for Defense Secretary in Jeopardy; President-Elect Trump Possibly Considering Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Iowa Senator Joni Ernst for Defense Secretary; Supreme Court to Hear Case regarding Tennessee State Ban on Gender Affirming Care for Minors; Stowaway Passenger to be Flown Back to New York from Paris; Political Upheaval in South Korea After Martial Law Chaos. Aired 8-8:30a 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 AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: A big presence in terms of converting people scrolling on the internet to actually buying something. They contributed about 20 percent in revenue. So people scrolling and saying, oh, I like this influencer, 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's growing every single year. And this year up nearly seven percent growth. Social media influencers big influence this year.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: My shopping list, always made by Olivia Rodriguez. All right, Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you very much for that.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Will Pete Hegseth's nomination survive the day? It's a real question. New reporting from inside the Trump transition of how critical his meetings on Capitol Hill today really are. Just as new candidates to head up the Pentagon are starting to be floated, which you can also read as that's not a good sign for Pete Hegseth.

This morning, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in its most high- profile case of this term. The families of transgender kids fighting against a Tennessee ban on gender affirming care for minors. Big implications far beyond Tennessee.

And mysterious drones have been spotted flying over New Jersey. Residents say some appear to be as big as a car. And the FBI is now getting involved.

I'm Kate Bolduan stuck with John Berman, Sara Sidner is out today. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: All right, happening now, Pete's next. "Politico" reports that is the assessment from one Republican senator who believes Pete Hegseth will soon be out as President-elect Trump's Pentagon pick. That would be a huge development. Maybe even bigger, what would happen in its wake? Because this morning Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is being floated as a possible replacement for Hegseth. We've got brand new reporting on sort of the back and forth that's been happening behind the scenes already between Trump and DeSantis and how Trump feels about all this. We are standing by to hear from DeSantis. We are standing by to hear from Hegseth for his first interview since new allegations of sexual misconduct and drinking and more. We're standing by to hear from Hegseth's mother on TV after an e-mail surfaced where she expressed alarm over her sons treatment of women. But again, new reporting on where Ron DeSantis fits in all of this.

Let's get right to Florida man Steve Contorno. The twists and turns here, some new developments, Steve.

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: John, two sources close to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis confirmed to me this morning that he is interested in this Pentagon post if it is formally offered to him. And not only that, the sources also told me that Trump and DeSantis have spoken in recent days about the possibility of him stepping in to replace Hegseth as a potential nominee. Now, we are still trying to figure out the details of that conversation and how serious it is. We also know that Trump is considering potential other names for a Hegseth replacement, if Hegseth either withdraws or Trump decides to move on. And that includes Iowa Senator Joni Ernst as well as Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty.

And Ernst is an interesting name in particular because she is one of the people that Hegseth is expected to meet with today on Capitol Hill. She is also someone who has been considered a sort of swing vote and a key voice in determining whether or not he has enough juice behind him to get the nomination passed 54 votes.

This development, though, between DeSantis and Trump and this cool, this warming of their relationship is quite stunning. Just think about how contentious their primary grew over the past year-and-a-half when DeSantis challenged Trump to be the Republican nominee and lost. He was often critical of Donald Trump's first term as president. And that is certainly something that you will see adversaries of DeSantis, people in Trump's orbit who continue not to like him. They will obviously be using that as a reason for why Trump should not turn to DeSantis at this critical juncture.

However, he also has a lot of credentials that make him a seemingly strong fit for the role. He is a former Navy JAG officer. He is someone who has served overseas. He also served in a role in Guantanamo Bay. So he has experience on the front line -- not in the front lines, but in combat zones.

[08:05:07]

He also is someone who is very aligned with Donald Trump as far as getting the, quote, woke out of the military. He made that a big piece of his campaign for president. So this is an interesting development, John, and we will continue to monitor it to get a sense of whether this sheds light on whether or not Hegseth is going to survive this day and this nomination process. BERMAN: Well, look, I have to say, the fact that Donald Trump and Ron

DeSantis have spoken about it and that DeSantis is into it, that doesn't bode well for Pete Hegseth over the next several hours. Steve Contorno, fascinating reporting. Thank you very much for that.

Kate?

BOLDUAN: And Pete Hegseth's path, be it either in or out, the path goes through Capitol Hill. And his future and fate today largely depends on what happens in the coming hours when he's meeting with Republican senators on Capitol Hill once again. The president-elect has already said his Pentagon pick should have been more forthcoming about his alleged conduct, the transition saying that.

But let's get to Capitol Hill where these meetings are going to be taking place. Lauren Fox is standing by. And it's being described as maybe the critical meeting is with senator, Republican Senator Joni Ernst. Tell us why.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, this is really a set of blockbuster meetings today on Capitol Hill, Kate. And that is because before this moment Pete Hegseth had met with several friendly members, people who were close to Donald Trump. Today is really a huge test. He's going to meet with the incoming Republican leader, John Thune. That is going to be a very important meeting. He is also going to be meeting with Roger Wicker, who is the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He is going to be running those confirmation hearings if Hegseth gets to that day in January.

We also expect that one of the closest meetings to watch is going to be that meeting with Joni Ernst. That is because she has been very careful about whether or not she supports Pete Hegseth. She has not said publicly where she stands on this nomination, instead saying that she was looking forward to this meeting today. But she's also important because she sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee. She is a woman on that committee. She has spoken publicly about experiencing sexual assault. She also is someone who has spoken very vocally about women serving in combat, something she supports. That obviously is an issue for Pete Hegseth given some of his past commentary on women serving in combat roles.

So this is going to be a really critical day. Also, he's going to be meeting with Senator Kevin Cramer, another member of the Armed Services Committee, who has made clear he has questions about some of these issues in Hegseth's background. And so you can expect that these are not going to be meetings where some of these tougher issues don't come up. That is what we saw on Monday evening when he had met with a series of Republicans who said, one after another, that these issues about the alleged sexual assault that Pete Hegseth denies didn't come up. They also said the issues that were raised in "The New Yorker" story about excessive drinking did not come up. So I think that that is something that is just really going to be key today, that these are not the kind of easy-breezy meetings that he might have experienced in the past, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, and that was the key with the earlier meetings when they came out saying, giving their full support of Hegseth, is these allegations, these accusations, they did not come up, we were told, in those meetings. Joni Ernst, for sure, that very serious, very respected Republican senator is going to be asking those questions today for sure. Let's see what happens. I'm so glad you're there, Lauren. Thank you so much.

John?

BERMAN: All right, this morning the Supreme Court hears a major case involving transgender rights. It has to do with a Tennessee law that bans certain gender affirming health care for children and teenagers. With us now is Sarah Kate Ellis, the CEO and president of GLAAD. Thank you so much for being with us. So this Tennessee law bans hormone therapy and puberty blockers for minors. If you could just explain, what are those treatments and why do you feel that it's important they remain available for young people?

SARAH KATE ELLIS, CEO AND PRESIDENT, GLAAD: So just to put this in perspective, this is health care that has been approved by every major medical association in the United States and globally, actually. And so this is how families and trans youth and doctors handle their health care. It's a private issue.

And this health care is lifesaving. I can't imagine ever stopping anyone, especially our youth, from lifesaving health care. But what it entails is mental health access. It entails medicine. And it helps kids be themselves. And who in this world doesn't want kids to be themselves?

BERMAN: So if the Tennessee law is upheld, Tennessee is just one of several states now that has passed or is passing these types of laws, what are the implications nationwide?

[08:10:00]

ELLIS: Bad. I think if this is upheld and this ban is upheld -- so in 2020, just to go back for one second, there were zero bans against trans people. Trans people have been around forever. This has become a political issue. This isn't about health care. This isn't about trans people. This is about politicians politicizing the LGBTQ community for their own gains. And I think what this does is pull us back and actually hurt trans youth because they need this health care. It's medically important.

And now these days, over half the states in the United States have banned health care for trans youth. So from 2020 from zero, to now almost half across the country, you can see trans kids have been around forever, but now they're being politicized. And this is going to have damaging effects for them over the next decades.

BERMAN: So you say this case is about politics, not medicine. I will say that the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch, wrote a decision on transgender rights just a few years ago that basically granted transgender rights, or upheld transgender rights in the workplace. So you have a Supreme Court here that has ruled in favor in a different case on transgender rights here. But do you think that the politics have shifted in a way that would push him and Justice Roberts, the chief justice, who also signed on to that?

ELLIS: Well, I think what we saw was the Dobbs decision, right, where government is now interfering way more in private health care than they should, leaving it -- versus leaving it to families and to doctors. So I am concerned about the Supreme Court, the makeup of the Supreme Court, what they did with Roe v. Wade. So I hope it's not the case, but "I hope" is not a strategy. And I think what we've seen in this past political cycle of hundreds of thousands of -- millions and millions, excuse me, of dollars being spent on ads, anti-trans ads during Donald Trump's candidacy, has a big effect on the culture and the thought and the feeling. When you live in a world where only 30 percent of Americans say they know someone who's transgender, 70 percent are making it -- making decisions about trans people through culture.

BERMAN: Obviously, this is an interesting and important moment in transgender rights. We have Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton on just yesterday who does say he supports transgender rights but has concerns about transgender athletes competing against his daughters in sports, for instance. But his real issue, he says, is he says that he feels as if Democrats in general are not open to having that discussion. What do you feel about the discussion?

ELLIS: Well, I think who else are we discussing? What other group of marginalized people are we discussing their rights? It seems like these are just general human rights that were trying to have discussions about, dignity. Kids -- I'm a parent. I have two 15-year- old kids. And I want them to be have the best access to the best health care, to the best sports, to the best schools like any other parent. And I think as parents, as families, we want the same things for our kids. And to -- I think there's always room for discussion around what's right for the country, what's right for health care, but not when we're talking about the dignity of people.

BERMAN: Sarah Kate Ellis, I've got a couple 17-year-olds. When you said you had a couple 15-year-olds, my first reaction was, God help you.

(LAUGHTER)

ELLIS: Thank you.

BERMAN: All right, thank you so much for being with us.

ELLIS: Thank you.

BERMAN: Kate?

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us right now, rescuers are searching for a missing grandmother who it is feared fell into a massive sinkhole, and her young granddaughter was in the car just nearby when it happened. And that search continues.

And it was a night of political chaos in South Korea, and we're tracking how it all develops now today. The president of South Korea, a key U.S. ally, has a very uncertain future. Calls for his resignation or arrest after he declared martial law and then quickly reversed course.

And we are also waiting to see if that stowaway -- remember the story -- who snuck through security onto a Delta flight to Paris from JFK? Well, if that woman will finally be brought back to the United States.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:18:53]

BERMAN: All right, any moment, a Russian woman who stowed away on a Delta flight from New York to Paris is expected to get on a plane back to the United States. She was set to fly back to New York yesterday then Delta refused until she was given a French escort. And this morning, we are learning new details on how she was able to pull us all off in the first place.

CNN's Polo Sandoval is at JFK Airport, where she may show up, I guess, later. Polo, what are you learning? What's the latest?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this will be the third attempt, John. Will it be successful? I can tell you that just a few moments ago, a French official told CNN that she, in fact, is on that Delta flight that is expected to depart Paris in just a few moments and then eventually make its way here about eight to nine hours later to New York's JFK Airport.

As you can imagine, extraordinary precautions would certainly have to be taken here. We were told yesterday by officials that she would certainly have an escort on board this flight. But I'll remind you, John, this time yesterday she had boarded the very same flight, and it wasn't until a few moments later that Delta Air Lines decided not to fly her.

So ultimately, this is certainly one to watch for the next few minutes to make sure that that plane is, in fact, wheels up headed here. We are certainly learning more from the Transportation Security Administration, from our colleague Pete Muntean, who has learned that they now know a little bit more about the way she was able to go around, not one, but two ID security checks.

[08:20:20]

So first, here at JFK last Tuesday, that she managed to bypass an airport employee that was basically in charge of allowing people into the dedicated lane for crew members, goes around that person. She made her way, according to surveillance video, into that lane and then entered the TSA's standard lane and that's where she was eventually able to go around the TSA officer that was in charge of checking boarding passes and that's where she subsequently was screened herself and her baggage before making her way into the main concourse.

And that is the second big question here, exactly, what happened in terms of what Delta Air Lines did not know that she made her way on this aircraft. One of our colleagues, John Miller reporting that she actually joined a large group that was boarding that flight at the time. That's how she was able to make her way onto the jetway, onto that aircraft, into Paris where she's been waiting for well over seven days now until today.

Again, we can now confirm, according to Paris officials, that she has been escorted onto that New York bound flight that's expected to take off any minute now. We'll certainly keep you posted on when that happens.

BERMAN: Yes, let us know when it is airborne and wheels up, Polo Sandoval at JFK, thank you very much.

This morning, a major US ally fighting to maintain order after a brush with martial law and a new chaotic impeachment effort.

And this morning, two Americans now missing after attempting to climb a mountain. We've got new details on how severe weather is complicating this search.

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[08:26:06]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, Secretary of State Tony Blinken is speaking out now about the political crisis we're seeing unfold in South Korea, after its president's short-lived attempt to impose martial law. Listen to Blinken.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY BLINKEN, US 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Now, the future of South Korea's president is really uncertain as there is growing outrage and calls for him to resign.

Aides to the president have offered their resignations. Protesters now want the president out or arrested. Six opposition parties have announced an impeachment motion.

One of the country's largest trade unions declared an indefinite strike to oppose him. The main opposition Democratic party began formalizing plans for treason charges against him. You can see the growing outrage.

Joining me right now is Sydney Seiler, he's a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Korea Chair. It's great to see you, Sydney, thank you for coming in. You say it's unlikely hell resign, tell me why.

SYDNEY SEILER, SENIOR ADVISER, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES KOREA CHAIR: President Yoon is a principled man and certainly he entered into these actions, likely with some degree of understanding of what his risk entailed and what directions this might head. He probably feels that his cause was just, that in spite of the fact that it has on the surface, the appearance of undermining democracy. This was all done in accordance with what the constitution allows him to do. And so, I think he, as a prosecutor, would love to have his day in court.

BOLDUAN: From the outside looking in, there's a lot about this that is just really surprising. When this started coming through, when we were on the show yesterday. We kept saying, martial law in South Korea? What is happening?

Is it surprising to you -- any of the elements -- is it surprising that Yoon took this dramatic step in declaring martial law or is it surprising how swift, angry, and sustained the backlash has been?

SEILER: Well, you know, there were people who had said this could have been one of Yoon's options for the past few months given the deadlock in the Parliament and the National Assembly.

Unlike parliamentary systems, where you would have an option maybe to dissolve the Parliament and call for a vote, the Korean system, with its five-year presidential term, a single term and this balance of power really doesn't enable the president to do anything when he's in the situation where all legislative actions are being frozen by an opposition that's in the majority.

And, you know, at the very least, now the whole world is talking about South Korea's political difficulties. Yoon has raised this to a level of debate that wasn't taking place beforehand.

So, I think from Yoon's perspective, this may have been what he was either anticipating or hoping for in terms of being able to have again his day in court, where the public can kind of weigh his case.

BOLDUAN: So, that is quite interesting. You think that -- because one question you have is from the outside looking in as an observer is, how did he miscalculate this so badly? But you're saying maybe in his view, he didn't miscalculate at all.

SEILER: Well, he probably expected it to go much easier. He may have thought that he could have dissolved the National Assembly before it had time to vote on the impeachment. But it's worth noting that as soon as the vote on the, I mean, sorry, not impeachment on the martial law, as soon as that vote on the martial law took place, President Yoon rescinded the order.

So, we see here this is not a man who's trying to seize power or you know, create a second term, or prolong his rule, he is using a very unusual tool as it were, in order to try to, from the opposition's perspective undermine democracy and from the ruling party's perspective, trying to get the ball moving.

He probably thought he had much more support within the ruling party for his actions than he actually did. And that is, of course, what enabled the order to be overturned so quickly. [08:30:46]