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Protesters Demand South Korea's President's Resignation Following a Short-Lived Martial Law Declaration; Ukraine to Push for NATO Membership Ahead of Incoming Trump Administration; Pete Hegseth's Defense Secretary Nomination Now in Jeopardy; Wikipedia Releases the Most Popular Searches of the Year 2024. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired December 04, 2024 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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, unexpected political turmoil in South Korea as protesters call for the President's resignation following his declaration and then lifting of martial law.

Plus, Syrian rebels are making more territorial gains as they stand on the brink of capturing another key city.

And talks of Ukraine military aid but not enough on membership for the war-torn nation. More on the NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us. It is 5 p.m. in Seoul, South Korea, where opposition parties have submitted a bill calling for the impeachment of President Yoon Suk-Yeol.

Protesters are gathered outside the National Assembly one day after Yoon abruptly declared martial law only to withdraw the order a few hours later. The demonstrators as well as the country's biggest labor union want him to resign. Yoon's decree sparked clashes between security forces and lawmakers trying to get inside parliament to vote down the measure.

The President said he declared martial law to protect against anti- state forces and threats from North Korea. South Korea's opposition party leader who ran against Yoon in the 2022 presidential election live-streamed himself climbing over a fence to get into the parliament building.

CNN's Kristie Lu Stout is following all the latest developments for us. She joins us now live from Hong Kong. Good to see you again Kristie. So, what is the situation in South Korea right now after the President dropped his martial law order?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, our colleagues on the ground in Seoul report that life may appear normal after the country's martial law whiplash but big questions remain over the fate of President Yoon Suk-Yeol, especially as resignations roll in from his senior staff and calls grow for him to either resign or face impeachment.

Now here is what went down late on Tuesday in that surprise address.

President Yoon declared martial law. He accused the main opposition party of anti-state activities and sympathizing with North Korea and the backlash was fast and furious. The move sparked demonstrations and I want to show you this viral video and in this video, let's bring it up for you, you see a woman fighting with and tussling with an armed soldier outside the National Assembly.

This is the parliament in South Korea and she shouts at the soldier, let me go and when the soldier walks away, she yells at him, aren't you embarrassed?

Now this is video that has gone viral. It's been seen and shared about seven million times on the social platform X. Now lawmakers, after these scenes, they voted to block the martial law decree and then early in this day, on Wednesday, President Yoon was forced to lift it.

Now resignations have been submitted by the President's chief-of-staff and more than 10 senior secretaries. Lawmakers are calling for more.

In his statement to reporters on Wednesday, we heard from the leader of the ruling party, the People's Power Party. He apologized to the public and called for the defense minister to be fired.

Let's bring up that statement for you in which he says this quote, "the President must directly and thoroughly explain this tragic situation. The minister of defense who recommended this martial law should be immediately dismissed and all those responsible must be held strictly accountable," unquote.

We also heard, of course, from the main opposition party, they've been calling for Yoon to resign or face impeachment. And in a statement from a senior Democratic Party M.P., we heard this, let's bring it up for you, quote, "Even if martial law is lifted, he cannot avoid treason charges. It was clearly revealed to the entire nation that President Yoon could no longer run the country normally. He should step down.

Now workers from the largest umbrella union in South Korea, they have been protesting this day in downtown Seoul, and they say they will continue to do so until the President steps down. This is South Korea's biggest political crisis in decades.

President Yoon may have lifted martial law, but questions are swirling about him, about his political faith, and also what will happen next in South Korea, one of the world's most important economies. Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right, our thanks to Kristie Lu Stout bringing us that live report from Hong Kong.

[03:05:04]

Duyeon Kim is an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. And she joins me now live from Seoul. Thank you so much for being with us.

DUYEON KIM, ADJUNCT SR. FELLOW, CENTER FOR A NEW AMERICAN SECURITY: Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: So President Yoon Suk-Yeol is coming under this intense pressure to resign. How much longer can he cling to power and what will likely happen to him once he steps down given the opposition parties have submitted a bill calling for his impeachment?

KIM: Well, his fate really now rests in the hands of his own party members. The opposition parties have already submitted a motion that they would like to vote on for impeachment. We're hearing reports that they have about 191 votes so far. Well, when they actually do vote, they'll have 191 votes. And they need at least over 200 to pass an impeachment bill.

And so this really does, it's really now up to his party to decide what they want to do about his fate. We are hearing reports that his own party is divided on how to hold him accountable, but they are not for impeachment, that they actually are thinking of other measures. We'll really have to wait and see how his -- the ruling conservative party decides.

CHURCH: Indeed. And why do you think President Yoon declared martial law and what was he perhaps trying to achieve by taking that extreme action?

KIM: Yeah, and that's the biggest question on everybody's mind is why take such extreme drastic measures to deal with the opposition? You know, he laid out his reasons in his statement or in his declaration.

But you know, conservatives and progressives alike, they are in agreement that martial law was the wrong move, especially in the 21st century. This is no longer the 80's or the 70's of, you know, a military rule of Korea. And ever since South Korea's democratization, South Koreans are expecting democratic processes for all political decision making.

And so that's the biggest question mark, biggest mystery that only Yoon knows. And what's also mysterious is that, you know, we've heard reports that even his closest aides, even his cabinet members, even his closest allies in his own party were unaware of this plan.

And seeing the footage of how martial law was enacted at the National Assembly, there are many political commentators, even legal commentators are scratching their heads wondering, is this actually martial law or not?

Was this really a well-conceived, well planned, well prepared plan? And so there's still so many question marks. CHURCH: And President Yoon's martial law decree lasted only about six hours, but it certainly took the nation by surprise. How much damage was done to the country in those few hours of martial law in terms of stability and democracy?

KIM: Yeah, so I think, you know, democracy is, has been thrown into question. And what's ironic is that, you know, President Yoon came into office, pledging to restore democracy in South Korea, restore democratic practices, criticizing his predecessor, the progressives, for democratic backsliding.

And he takes, you know, a decision like this to enact martial law. And this is something that really is, is, you know, curious for many of his supporters, too.

And, you know, it really has ruined not only his credibility at home, but also his credibility and his reputation as a symbol of democracy overseas as well. And so it really, you know, his forward leaning foreign policies, the fate of those also remain in question. They perhaps are even bleak.

We're, you know, we're hearing reports already of, you know, meetings and signature initiatives, meetings over his signature foreign policy initiatives being postponed indefinitely.

And so, you know, we're, the country here in South Korea, the political leaders, they're trying to scramble to restore some sort of order so that there is no chaos. But again, you know, the National Assembly is highly polarized. And again, we'll really have to see what the, especially the ruling party decides to do.

CHURCH: So what happens to South Korea now? And who will likely lead the nation next?

KIM: Well, you know, again, that is a process that remains to be seen. There are a lot of legalities, there are a lot of political procedures that have to take place first. It could take weeks, days, weeks, even months until we know exactly what will happen next in terms of what happens to President Yoon's future.

[03:09:56]

And so it seems like the relevant political leaders, but also the legal experts and the courts are also looking into how to ensure that democratic processes continue in South Korea.

CHURCH: Alright. Duyeon Kim, in so many thanks for joining us and sharing your analysis. We appreciate it.

KIM: Thank you.

CHURCH: Israel is warning Lebanon of dire consequences if the ceasefire with Hezbollah falls apart. Israel's Defense Minister visited troops near the border on Tuesday, a day after Israel and Hezbollah both carried out attacks despite the ceasefire. Here's what he told them. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The U.S. says it believes the truce quote continues to be largely holding in place despite tit for tat strikes between the two sides. But an Israeli minister says both the American and French governments have privately told Israel that they believe it is violating the agreement.

More now from CNN's Jeremy Diamond reporting from Tel Aviv.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: One week after Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire, we are now witnessing the most tenuous moments of this very fragile truce. That's because over the course of the last week, we have seen near daily accusations of violations of the ceasefire on both sides of the equation.

And the past 48 hours have seen an uptick in violence between Israel and Hezbollah. On Monday night, after Hezbollah fired two rockets towards Israeli occupied territory, Israel responded with a series of airstrikes that resulted in the deadliest day in Lebanon since the beginning of the ceasefire. Nine people were killed in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, but they are not the only airstrikes that we've seen from Israel.

Every single day of the ceasefire, Israel has actually carried out some kind of airstrike. They say that they are doing so in order to enforce the ceasefire, claiming that those strikes were targeting Hezbollah operatives who were violating this ceasefire agreement.

But we do know that not only has the Lebanese government accused Israel of violating the ceasefire, but also U.S. and French officials who are part of this monitoring mechanism have raised serious questions with Israel about these potential violations.

There have also been concerns about the fact that Israel appears to be flying drones very low over Beirut, which could also be a violation of this ceasefire. A source with UNIFIL says that there have been more than 100 Israeli violations of this ceasefire over the course of the last week.

And now there is a new warning from the Israeli defense minister, Israel Katz, who is saying that should this ceasefire break down, should Israel return to a state of war with Hezbollah, then this time will be different.

Israel will not only strike deeper into Lebanese territory, he says, but will also go after the Lebanese government itself, meaning not just going after Hezbollah targets, but also going after the Lebanese government, the Lebanese military, which would be a dramatic escalation of this conflict.

Now, that's not something that we're foreseeing right now at this stage. It seems like the political will is still there to maintain the ceasefire. But the question is for how long as we watch this very fragile moment of this truce.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Meantime, rebel forces are still on the move in Syria, seizing more areas despite strikes by Russia and the Syrian army.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

Opposition fighters are now on the doorstep of Hama in central Syria, the latest location in their lightning offensive that began in the north last week. The areas in green show the territory already taken by the rebels, which includes much of Aleppo and Idlib provinces. And you can see Hama is just a little further south.

CNN's Ben Wedeman explains why this city is strategically significant to both sides.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Forces loyal to the Syrian government remain on the defensive, with attention now focused on the central Syrian city of Hama.

The rebels have taken up positions north of Hama, a city where in 1982 the army and intelligence services of then President Hafez al-Assad, the father of today's Bashar al-Assad, killed more than 10,000 people during an uprising led by the Muslim Brotherhood. Hama was also the scene of huge anti-Assad regime protests at the start of the revolt against Bashar in 2011.

[03:15:11]

Syria's official news agency reported Tuesday evening that government reinforcements had been deployed in the city in anticipation of a rebel assault. Now, the rebel offensive is spearheaded by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra, considered by the U.S. to be a terrorist organization.

Meanwhile, the rebels are consolidating their grip over most of Aleppo, Syria's second biggest city. Regime forces largely abandoned the city without much of a fight. The area under the control of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham has more than doubled in less than a week, while the United Nations reports almost 50,000 people have been displaced as a result of the renewed fighting.

Now, the Syrian Defense Ministry has vowed to launch a counteroffensive, but apart from strikes by the Syrian and Russian air forces, that counteroffensive has yet to materialize.

I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Still to come, the U.S. responds to the unrest in South Korea after the president lifted his surprise martial law decree. We'll take a look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: NATO's foreign ministers are holding the final day of their meeting in Brussels, high on their agenda, dealing with Russia and its war on Ukraine as Russian forces escalate attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, leaving many without power as the winter months approach.

The ministers have been discussing whether to offer membership to Ukraine, something the Ukrainian foreign minister is pushing for, as opposed to security guarantees from individual countries, but it's unlikely Kyiv will be getting that invitation today.

CNN's international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is following developments for us from London. He joins us now. Good morning to you, Nic. So what more are you learning about the final day of meetings in Brussels?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, the focus is really going to be about the expansion of Russia's war, not just in Ukraine, but against NATO members through hybrid warfare.

So there will be a key focus on discussing that, the number of hybrid types of attacks on NATO countries, how many of those come from Russia, how many may be from Iran and others, and how to deal with that effectively.

And part of that picture that it will emerge will be a picture of a much more joined up intelligence network, a sharing of data, for example, about interconnectivity of internet services, of data streams, of all those sorts of areas where it's believed that Russia is targeting in Europe at the moment.

[03:19:56]

And by joining up information abilities and having a joint sort of command center, if you will, NATO will be able to track trends and therefore better see more holistically across all of its areas exactly what's going on and perhaps who's perpetrating these attacks.

But the big issue, of course, for Ukraine, and this was what is in Brussels at the moment trying to press for, is that more immediate support for Ukraine, that guarantee of NATO membership. And as you say, that's not something that's likely to come forward.

Mark Rutte, the NATO Secretary-General, was asked this morning more specifically about the help that Ukraine needs to fend off Russia's increased attack on its energy sector in terms of missile Defense systems. This was his answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK RUTTE, NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL: There was a clear agreement on the table last night that to help Ukraine, particularly with its infrastructure, has to be a priority. And I'm confident that allies will follow up in the coming days and weeks in making sure that whatever they can supply to Ukraine will be supplied.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: And in terms of expansion of what Russia's doing, he spoke about it in terms of Russia's use of North Korean troops in the Ukraine conflict, Russia's use of new experimental missile systems, higher speed missile systems, as we saw hitting central Ukraine just in the past couple of weeks that have multiple warheads. He spoke as well about Russia's increasing reliance on Iran and China for support, financial as well as military.

These are not new themes, but the way that it's being framed at the moment is an expansion of Russia's war efforts. And he was very clear, the NATO Secretary General, saying that Putin at the moment is not looking for peace.

And I think we heard as well from the British Foreign Secretary going into the NATO meeting this morning a hint of what's on their minds as well. That is, of course, President Trump coming into the White House in the fairly near future and the concerns about NATO's future.

So his message, David Lammy, the British Foreign Secretary, his message was this is a time for NATO members across the board to ramp up their financial commitments. He talked about U.K. giving 2.3 of GDP to Defense spending, ramping that up to 2.5 when possible.

This is a message, it appears, clearly intended to send a signal to Donald Trump that NATO is going to pay its way, something he says other members haven't been doing.

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Nic Robertson joining us from London with that live report. I Appreciate it.

Well, demonstrations in Georgia show no sign of slowing down as police and pro-European Union protesters continue to clash in the capital Tbilisi for nearly a week. The former Soviet Republic has been rocked by demonstrations after the ruling Georgian Dream Party announced it would delay E.U. membership talks until 2028.

Most Georgians support joining the E.U. and critics are accusing the government of following authoritarian and pro-Russia policies. More now from CNN's Matthew Chance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another night of mayhem on the streets of Tbilisi. 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 the best not to let us and not to allow us.

GIORGI BAGRATION DAVITASHVILI, PROTESTER: I think the Georgian government thinks that Georgia is Russian and we will act as Russian people do and no one will come out in the street if others are beaten, if others are disrespected. 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.

[03:25:02]

IRAKLI KOBAKHIDZE, GEORGIAN PRIME MINISTER: So the attempt to organize the 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 protesters outside the embattled parliament in what looks like a pivotal standoff.

Matthew Chance, CNN London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: In France, lawmakers are expected to vote on no-confidence motions today, which could oust the government and push the country into chaos. The vote would topple the fragile coalition led by Prime Minister Michel Barnier.

The motions were presented by opposition parties after Barnier tried to pass part of his government's budget for next year. That included tax hikes and spending cuts aimed at bringing down the deficit.

Here's how some Parisians are reacting to the political instability.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNKNOWN (through translator): Yes, it was a loss from the start. So I thought this would happen sooner. So yes, I was expecting it and it will be a real catastrophe for the country.

UNKNOWN (through translator): I find this sad, actually. I've seen other political leaders in the past. They're on a different level than today's political leaders. That's all I have to say. I'm 50 years old and I'm vexed when I see what's happening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: U.S. First Lady Jill Biden is set for a multi-country swing this week, which includes stops in Italy, the UAE and France. While in Paris, she is set to attend the reopening ceremony of the Notre-Dame Cathedral, which was badly damaged by a mysterious fire more than five years ago. She may even cross paths with President-elect Donald Trump, who is also set to attend.

Martial law, angry protests and threats of impeachment. But no word lately from the South Korean president. We will have an update on the political chaos.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: South Korean opposition parties are pushing ahead with efforts to impeach President Yoon Suk-Yeol after his shocking but short lived martial law decree.

According to South Korean media, a vote on the impeachment bill is expected to happen on Friday or Saturday. Under the South Korean constitution, impeachment must be approved by two-thirds of all lawmakers before going to the top courts.

[03:30:00]

The question right now is, will President Yoon fight to stay in power or give in to the widespread demands for his resignation? More protests are expected throughout the day.

CNN's Ivan Watson is at one of the main protest sites where the situation is now much less volatile, and elsewhere in the capital, life appears to have returned to normal. Here's his report from Seoul.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's very calm here right now on the front steps outside South Korea's National Assembly, and that's all the more striking when you consider how dramatic the events were here overnight.

In the immediate hours after President Yoon Suk-Yeol made his late night announcement on Tuesday imposing emergency martial law, lawmakers flocked to this building. And at times, they confronted some of several hundred military troops who tried to block them.

And despite those confrontations, managed to conduct a vote, 190 lawmakers voted to overturn the martial law decree. And among them were at least 18 members of President Yoon's own People Power Party, which has largely condemned the emergency martial law decree in the hour since. And in fact, by 4:30 in the morning on Wednesday, President Yoon had overturned his own decree.

So now you have people that have gathered here. Many of them are holding signs that say resign Yoon, gathering for a rally here. Many of them very angry at what their president tried and now apparently failed to do. His own party has called for the resignation of the defense minister, the president's chief-of-staff has resigned.

And inside, opposition lawmakers have tabled a resolution calling for the impeachment of the president. It has plunged this country into political uncertainty. But amid that, what is also striking is how little this seems to have impacted ordinary life in Korea. The airport was functioning normally this morning.

And in Seoul, businesses were open. People were bustling around in the streets, certainly talking about what has taken place, which was definitely a short-lived challenge to decades of democracy in this country.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: I spoke earlier with Kenneth Choi, the international editor for the "Chosun Daily" Newspaper, and I asked him how much longer President Yoon might hang on to power now that the opposition submitted an impeachment bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENNETH CHOI, INTERNATIONAL EDITOR, "THE CHOSUN ILBO": Looks like the bill probably could be passed by, at the end of this weekend. It's a very unfortunate thing. Hopefully, you know, this sort of thing doesn't happen again in Korea since, you know, 2017, but here we go again.

It's very tragic moment right now. I don't know why the president made such a decision. You know, most I mean, 99 percent of the population, couldn't agree with this martial law decree.

And now he's, you know, facing this backlash. Obviously, this repercussion will go on for a foreseeable time because, you know, if the president is impeached, then, you know, it will go into the constitution court.

But, you know, right now, we don't have enough members in the constitutional court, so the parliament has to appoint judges. So that will take some time, and then the constitutional court will, you know, make a decision whether, you know, the president should be impeached or not. That will take maximum three months.

Then after that, you know, we have to have another election. So the campaign period will take place. And next year, you know, if the president is impeached this month, then we'll have another presidential election next year. So, politically, yes, it is a huge crisis.

Our economy is not doing well, and, you know, the politicians should be gathering together to get the economy, you know, up and running again. But, you know, because of this political turmoil, everything's going down the tube, and a lot of people are worried.

This is the 12th largest economy in the world. You know, Korea enjoyed a full-fledged democracy since 1988. Korea is the producing country of, you know, Rose's "APT" apartment, where the "Squid Game" is coming up at the end of this month.

So Korea has grown into a big soft power country. And now, you know, we have this shame on us. So to tell the truth, we are, you know, going into this deep fog and, cannot figure out, you know, what's going to happen next, you know, next week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:35:01]

CHURCH: The situation in South Korea caught U.S. officials off-guard according to a National Security Council spokesperson who noted there were concerns about the lack of notice. But the Pentagon says the turmoil has not affected American forces stationed in South Korea.

CNN's Oren Liebermann has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The Pentagon has been watching the situation in South Korea very closely, at least partially because of the massive U.S. military presence there at Camp Humphreys, some 28,500 U.S. troops there in addition to all these civilian DOD personnel and the families that are there.

So it is a major U.S. military presence as well as a critical U.S. military alliance. U.S. Forces Korea is led by a 4 star general, General Paul LeCambre. So that is part of the critical nature of the relationship between the U.S. and the South Koreans there.

The U.S., of course, has been in touch with the South Korean government, and that includes military-to-military conversations here according to the Pentagon, though they haven't detailed the extent of those conversations. There were throughout the hours that this took place, there were no changes to U.S. military force posture there and no additional rules or curfews that were imposed on U.S. service members there, according to the Pentagon.

But this is a situation they're obviously watching and continue to watch very closely. And that, of course, includes because of North Korea. This is sort of a situation where you might expect to see Kim Jong-un try to take advantage of this and carry out a ballistic missile launch or a drone launch or a military exercise that would sort of flex his muscle, especially because the South Korean President blamed what he called North Korean communists for the situation that led him to declare martial law.

But at least as of now, the Pentagon says they haven't seen any indication of any major change from North Korea. But, of course, given, frankly, given how sensitive the entire region is and given, Kim's history of sort of taking advantage of a situation and or a perceived insult and carrying out some sort of military test or exercise, this is something the Pentagon is still watching very closely.

Oren Liebermann, CNN in the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: U.S. federal authorities say they have foiled a sophisticated scheme to ship restricted weapons, ammunition, and military grade technology to North Korea. A Chinese national arrested Tuesday reportedly said the items were to be used in a surprise attack against South Korea, according to the Justice Department.

The suspect, who had been living unlawfully in Southern California, had been paid $2 Million by North Korea to obtain the equipment with a special request for U.S. military uniforms that could be used to disguise North Korean troops.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN ESTRADA, U.S. ATTORNEY: The conduct alleged in this complaint is chilling. One of our foreign adversaries, North Korea, was running an operative in our country and using that operative to obtain high grade technology and military equipment, including firearms and ammunition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Back here in the United States, Donald Trump may be considering replacing his pick for secretary of defense. A senior transition team source tells CNN the nomination of Pete Hegseth is in trouble.

The former Fox News host has been navigating multiple controversies and allegations, and senate Republican Lindsey Graham says Hegseth has a difficult road ahead if he wants to keep his nomination.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Some of these articles are very disturbing. He, you know, obviously has a chance to defend himself here, but, you know, some of this stuff is going to be difficult. You know, time will tell. I like Pete. I've known him for a very, very long time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Multiple sources say Trump's allies are making a list of alternative picks in case the situation gets worse. Among the names are Florida governor and former rival Ron DeSantis, Iowa senator Joni Ernst, and Tennessee senator Bill Hagerty.

Larry Sabato is the director of the University of Virginia Center For Politics, and he joins me now from Charlottesville. Great to have you with us again.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA-CENTER FOR POLITICS: Wonderful to be back with you. Thank you so much.

CHURCH: Wonderful. So Donald Trump's team is already considering backup options for his pick for defense secretary Pete Hegseth whose nomination is now in serious jeopardy. That's according to one senior Trump transition source as a result of new allegations coming to light and them not knowing about any of this.

So how likely is it that Hegseth will withdraw his name in the coming hours just as Matt Gaetz did? And what's your response to his possible replacement, Ron DeSantis, is a name that's been bandied out there, Joni Ernst or Bill Hagerty?

SABATO: Well, as far as Hegseth actually withdrawing his name, that's up to him. I think it's pretty obvious at this point that the odds are pretty heavily stacked against his confirmation.

[03:40:07]

So he could stretch this out and, therefore, stretch the embarrassment out, or he could decide to do what Matt Gaetz did and just chalk it up to experience. He's not going to be confirmed. I think that's pretty obvious. But the substitute is going to be very interesting.

Now we already know that some of this transition was incredibly sloppy. They didn't do the kind of background research that you have to do in order to keep yourself from having these sorts of embarrassments.

So this time around, they're likely to pick somebody who's been vetted in other ways. The strongest possible successor would be Joni Ernst, senator from Iowa. She has a military background. She cares deeply about sexual harassment in the military. She's very well versed in most of the military issues. I think she would be a very solid secretary of defense.

I'm not as sure about Ron DeSantis and Senator Hagerty, but I think either one of them would obviously be superior to Pete Hegseth. I can't imagine, after having run for governor of Florida and senator from Tennessee, that they would have the same kinds of vetting problems that Hegseth has.

CHURCH: And serious concerns too for Trump's pick for FBI director, Kash Patel, but there are only so many Trump picks, of course, that can be seen to fail confirmation. So what's Patel's likely future given so many senators doubt that he even has the credentials for the job?

SABATO: Well, he's in trouble too. My guess in the beginning was that if the Republican senate wanted to assert themselves and maintain the separation of powers in the constitution and their advice and consent role, that they would defeat either two or three of a, frankly, a poor class of nominees from the Trump team.

Well, I think we're definitely going to see two turn down. And if there's a third, I think Kash Patel is a likely candidate for that third slot. He's very controversial.

There are senators speaking out privately, not yet publicly, saying that they'll have a hard time voting for him. He's not helping himself by focusing, for example, on his enemies list of people who will be blackballed in various ways, some Republican, some Democrat, by the Trump administration. Many people are calling it Kash Patel's enemies list, referring back to Richard Nixon's enemies list that was so damaging to him in the early 1970's.

So I'd say he's, he's got a tough path to nomination, though I wouldn't rule him out the same way, I would rule out at this point Pete Hegseth.

CHURCH: And meantime, on the other side of politics, a negative reaction continues in response to Hunter Biden's blanket pardon from his father. How will both Joe and Hunter Biden weather this storm, and how well is the Democratic Party dealing with all this?

SABATO: Well, Hunter Biden doesn't have anything to worry about because he's now got this full unconditional blanket pardon, really akin to Richard Nixon's pardon delivered by President Gerald Ford that cost Ford the election in 1976.

So Hunter is well taken care of. President Biden less so. This is a real stain on his legacy and his career. He's going out, in a poor way. It's not the worst possible way, but in a poor way. It's not going to be forgotten, and so I think he did himself no favors. Maybe he would have done it anyway and did do it anyway because he was more concerned about his son.

But the reaction from Democrats has actually gotten more critical, not less critical. People in public office have been listening to their constituents and the general public, and they have seen the highly negative reaction to this. So, not helpful to Biden, and definitely not helpful to the Democratic Party.

CHURCH: Yeah. And Larry, Donald Trump, is heading to Paris to attend the opening of the newly restored Notre Dame Cathedral. What are the optics of this?

SABATO: Well, President Macron wanted to get in the front of the line of foreign leaders appealing to President-elect Trump, and I'm sure he's done it with this glorious invitation. It is unusual in that the outgoing President normally insists on all of his perks and powers until noon on January 20th. That's the way it's supposed to work. We only have one president at a time.

But Biden has faded so badly toward the end of the term, and, of course, is one of the main reasons why Kamala Harris was not elected, that it's almost as though Trump were already President. I'm sure that won't sit well with a lot of Democrats, but it really is true.

[03:45:03]

So, Macron has done himself a good turn, and Trump is obviously going to bask in the limelight, and so nothing's changed from Trump's first term.

CHURCH: Larry Sabato, always a pleasure to have you with us. I Appreciate it.

SABATO: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Next on "CNN Newsroom," world leaders are practically lining up outside Donald Trump's home. Find out who's on the guest list and what they may be hoping to accomplish.

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

Well, weeks before President-elect Donald Trump heads back to the White House, world leaders are already lining up to get on his calendar. CNN's Brian Todd reports they're likely planning how to approach a new Trump administration knowing what the previous one was like.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He was the first world leader to congratulate President-elect Trump on his victory in November. And now, France's 46-year old President, Emmanuel Macron, is preparing to flatter Trump again, inviting Trump to Paris this weekend for the unveiling of the newly-restored Notre Dame Cathedral.

MAX BOOT, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Oh, I think President Macron is basically reprising his 1st term playbook of trying to get chummy with President Trump.

TODD (voice-over): Not many leaders were as deferential to Trump as Macron was during Trump's first term, laying on the charm, treating Trump to the fanfare of a Bastille Day parade in Paris in 2017, which impressed Trump so much that Trump said --

DONALD TRUMP, THEN-U.S. PRESIDENT: We're going to have to try and stop it.

BOOT: Trump came back and demanded that his military states their own parade through Washington, which the armed forces were not eager to do.

TODD (voice-over): In recent days, another world leader, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, went to Mar-a-Lago to meet with Trump to appeal to Trump to back down on his threat to impose tariffs on Canada.

REPORTER: Prime Minister, was it a productive meeting with the President-elect?

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: It was an excellent conversation.

TODD (voice-over): A conversation that according to two sources briefed on it, included Trump joking to Trudeau that if the tariffs were too tough on Canada, maybe Canada should join the U.S. as a 51st state.

Trump then posting on social media an A.I. generated image of him standing next to a Canadian flag in the mountains. But Trump's audiences aren't just with Macron and Trudeau.

Even before his win in November, Trump met this year with Poland's president and Britain's foreign minister, had phone calls with Saudi Arabia's crown prince and the king of Bahrain, and staged a glamour- gilded event at Mar-a-Lago with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, gushing over Orban's autocratic style.

TRUMP: He said this is the way it's going to be, and that's the end of it. Right? He's the boss. And now he's a great leader. Fantastic leader.

TODD (voice-over): Analysts say the scramble of world leaders clamoring to meet with Trump may only intensify.

JOSH ROGIN, "WASHINGTON POST COLUMNIST": The Trump administration is making a list and checking it twice. They want to know who's on board and who's not on board. No matter what country you're from, a dictatorship, a democracy, this is just the beginning of what will be four years of people traveling to Mar-a-Lago in Washington to kiss the ring.

[03:50:06]

TODD (voice-over): And the reelected president may rekindle his kinships with strong men. Former German chancellor Angela Merkel said this to CNN's Christiane Amanpour about her impressions of Trump during his first term.

ANGELA MERKEL, FORMER GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): Well, in the way that he spoke about Putin, the way that he spoke about the North Korean President, obviously, apart from critical remarks he made, there was always a kind of fascination, at the sheer power of what these people could do.

TODD: The analyst we spoke to said, as chummy as these relationships with Trump are right now, these bromances all have the potential to go sour. As Macron's friendship with Trump did during Trump's first term. When the two leaders clashed over the idea of a European army. And Trump then mocked Macron's low approval rating and tweeted support for his political opponents.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CHURCH: President Joe Biden addressed America's horrific history of slavery while speaking at the National Museum of Slavery in Angola on Tuesday. While acknowledging slavery linked the two nations, President Biden's message is hopeful for the future.

He touted U.S. efforts to expand its relationships across Africa, including millions of dollars in investments in Angola. He also talked about the importance of building partnerships on the continent and beyond.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: And today, I'm announcing over $1 billion in new humanitarian support for African displaced from homes by historic droughts and food insecurity. Folks, the partnership between Angola and United States also extends to supporting peace and security in this region and beyond.

President Lorenzo, I want to thank him for his leadership in mediation and regional conflict. Also, I want to thank him Frank Gola, speaking out against Russia's unprovoked war against Ukraine. It matters. It matters when leaders speak out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: President Biden will conclude his visit on Wednesday with a tour of port facilities, a food processing plant, and meetings with regional leaders at a trade summit. This is likely his final foreign trip as president.

New details are emerging about how a Russian woman was able to stow away aboard a flight from New York to Paris. Details of how she avoided security after the break.

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CHURCH: Severe weather has forced 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 Saturday when they flew by helicopter to a camp on Mount Cook.

Rescuers say they found climbing gear believed to belong to the three men before they had to put the search on hold. They hope to resume on Thursday once conditions improve.

A Russian woman who stowed away on a flight from New York to Paris last week will be flown back to the US today. Now the U.S. Transportation Security Administration is revealing how she managed to sneak onboard a Delta flight by going through a lane reserved for airline flight crews.

CNN's Polo Sandoval has details.

[03:55:06]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another failed attempt in France as authorities again tried to send back a woman accused of stowing away on a flight from New York to Paris last week, evading multiple security checkpoints.

A Paris airport official tells CNN she boarded a Delta flight at Charles de Gaulle airport, but that the airline refused to fly her. It was not the first attempt to return the 57 year old Russian national and U.S. green card holder to the United States. A passenger cell phone video captured the woman causing a disturbance before a flight took off from Paris on Saturday.

She was also removed from that New York-bound flight, recalls Gary Treichler who's sitting right across the aisle.

GARY TREICHLER, PASSENGER: What I saw was basically this lady that was progressively getting more and more irate and raising her voice louder and louder and was ultimately restrained with handcuffs and yellow twist ties and held down by three individuals.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Delta Airlines not commenting about its decision to kick her off today's flight or elaborating on the initial security breach. In a previous statement, a spokesperson for the airline wrote in part, Delta's conducting an exhaustive investigation of what may have occurred.

TSA says before stowing away on this flight last week, the woman slipped past TSA officers at JFK checking boarding passes. They had she and her carry-on bags were screened but that she somehow bypassed I.D. verification at the gate.

A source familiar with the incident said she evaded detection in flight because the plane wasn't full, though passengers previously told CNN she hid by moving between lavatories.

SANDOVAL: And investigators have had a chance to actually review surveillance video from JFK from just a little over a week ago. They say they now have a better idea of what actually happened here.

According to one law enforcement official who's briefed on this investigation, he was he says that, authorities have been able to establish that this woman likely blended with two separate groups that were traveling at JFK the day that she stowed away on that flight, and they believe that one of the contributing factors were the massive crowds that were traveling just days before Thanksgiving.

Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: What do the U.S. presidential election, the Menendez brothers, and the Indian Premier League have in common? They were some of the most popular searches on Wikipedia this year.

Deaths in 2024 was the most viewed Wikipedia page of the year according to the Wikimedia Foundation. It racked up more than 44 million views. Pop culture also dominated the annual list of most visited pages with the movie "Deadpool and Wolverine" cracking the top 10 ahead of superstars like Taylor Swift and footballer Cristiano Ronaldo.

Thank you so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church, have yourselves a wonderful day. "CNN Newsroom" continues next with Max Foster and Christina Macfarlane after a short break.

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