Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

CNN International: UnitedHealthcare CEO Shot And Killed In New York; Opposition Parties Submit Bill To Impeach South Korea's Yoon; Political Upheaval in South Korea After Martial Law Chaos. Aired 11a- 12p ET

Aired December 04, 2024 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

RAHEL SOLOMON, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello, and welcome to our viewers from around the world. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York.

And we begin with breaking news in New York City. That's where police say that the CEO of UnitedHealthcare was shot and killed outside a midtown hotel this morning. Investigators say that it appears to be a targeted attack. They tell CNN that the gunman was lying in wait for the victim, who you see here, CEO Brian Thompson, and fired multiple times, as Thompson made his way to a company conference at the New York Hilton.

We're going to take you to these live pictures now. As you can see, the police presence in midtown Manhattan. We know that Thompson was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later. We're told that the shooter ran from the scene, then got on a bike, and right now, police still searching for that gunman. We do expect a police press conference in about 30 minutes. We will, of course, take you there once it starts.

But, in the meantime, I want to welcome in former Washington, D.C. Police Chief and CNN Senior Law Enforcement Analyst, Charles Ramsey. Commissioner, you were also the Philadelphia Police Commissioner, among other roles. Great to have you today. Having led some of the nation's largest police forces, what can you tell us about what investigators are doing right now? What's the priority?

CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST, & FMR. WASHINGTON, D.C. POLICE CHIEF: The top priority is to find the individual responsible for the shooting, and they're going through video right now. It's downtown Manhattan, so -- or midtown Manhattan. So, you've got a lot of cameras in that area, business cameras, NYPD cameras, cameras on busses. Some cabs even have cameras. They'll be looking to see if they can identify the suspect and their direction of flight.

Now, they do know part of the direction of flight, and he wound up in Central Park. I don't know if they were able to maintain tracking him there or not. But, this looks like he -- not only was it targeted, but he also had his escape route plan, fled on foot, got on a bicycle. He knows the area. And so, this is an individual right now that is being sought after. He is at large. He is very dangerous, obviously, and the police are doing everything they can to try to identify and apprehend them. I know people want to know about a motive. Police will be working on a motive, but priority number one is catching him.

SOLOMON: Fair enough. And let's set the scene. I mean, this happened reportedly at 06:45 in the morning on a Wednesday morning in midtown Manhattan. Even at 06:45, it may have been pretty busy with people going to work. Commissioner, does that complicate things for investors? Because there could have been a lot of people in the area. Even with a lot of cameras, there could have still been a lot of foot traffic at that time.

RAMSEY: Well, but that actually gives you a lot more witnesses. I mean, people who may have seen what took place. I mean, he was lying in wait, apparently, from what we hear now. Did he walk into the hotel to see whether or not the target was in the hotel? If so, you certainly have video there. They were able to get a pretty good description of this individual that they're looking for, white male, dressed in all black, including a black hoodie, great backpack, black gym shoes with a white stripe. So, people got a pretty good look at the individual. Now, he was wearing a mask, which is not unusual for this time of the year, and being cold and all, but they have enough to at least have an idea of a suspect that they're looking for in terms of making a stop.

And so, they're using right now technology. They're interviewing witnesses. They're doing everything they possibly can and find out whether or not, was this directed at this individual for a personal reason? Was this someone who may have had a beef with the insurance company, knowing he is the CEO, and taking it out on that person? We just don't know the answer to any of that. And so, there is a lot of work that needs to be done. But, in half an hour, police will brief you on what they're able to give out publicly at this point.

SOLOMON: Fair enough. And to that point, Commissioner, the fact -- let's talk about his job for a moment, the fact that he was walking into a conference where there could have presumably been thousands of people attending, his schedule was known. I mean, he is from the Midwest, or he was from the Midwest, and obviously he is in New York. What does that signal to you in terms of who the suspect may have been here, and that his schedule would have been widely known, at least to those attending the conference?

RAMSEY: Well, I don't know if that really narrows it down at all, because, like you said, the schedule is widely known. There is a major conference that's taking place. This individual would have a pretty good idea that he would be there, obviously. That's why he was lying in wait. And so -- but the police will be going through all that to see if they can pinpoint who the potential suspect might be.

[11:05:00]

But, right now, in the early stages of the investigation, they're just trying to find this individual. They may have already. We don't know. We'll find out at the press

conference, what they have that they can share with the public. But, I don't expect we'll get a whole lot more than what we already know at this time.

SOLOMON: Are there any unique challenges when you're dealing with a high-profile victim? I have to wonder, I mean, we learn publicly who this victim was pretty soon after the shooting happened. Could a formal identification have been made even in that short of a time? Could next of kin have been notified in that short of a time? What challenges do you have as a police force when you're dealing with the high-profile victim?

RAMSEY: That is a challenge, because you want to make sure that you notify next of kin prior to the name being made public. His name was being made public very quickly. So, I don't know if they were able to do that or not. I've had that happen to me. It's not something that you have a lot of control over, but you do try to keep the identity of the individual quiet for as long as you can.

But, he is well known. I mean, he is the CEO of a major company. He is the one that was shot. One of the witnesses may have seen him and knew who he was right away, reported that to the media. That information gets out. If the family did not know, that's very unfortunate, but sometimes that does happen. But, it is a challenge to try to get the family members notified prior to the release of the name of a victim. It is more challenging we have a high-profile individual than you would have if it's not such a high-profile person.

SOLOMON: Commissioner Ramsey, we appreciate your insights today. Thank you. I'll let you go, and we'll see a little later in the show.

RAMSEY: OK. Thank you.

SOLOMON: I want to now bring in --

RAMSEY: All right.

SOLOMON: -- CNN's Brynn Gingras, who is near the scene in New York, and joins us now with more. Brynn, give us a sense of what you're seeing there.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Rahel. I just got to the scene, and of course, it's -- as you can imagine, it is flooded with investigators. I want to keep you up to date on what information we are learning, every minute, really, of this investigation.

As we're learning, it is preliminary, but still, details are coming out. Our Mark Morales has learned that the police believe a silencer was used in this attack, and that sort of jives with something that we will learn from a garage -- parking garage worker who, one of our colleagues spoke to, who said they were working inside that garage right across the street from the entrance of this hotel, and someone ran in and said someone was shot, but nobody heard any gunshots. So, of course, I'm sure police are trying to speak to the people, the witnesses that are in this area at this moment, in addition to, like you said, a giant manhunt happening in the middle of New York City and beyond.

So, what we've learned from investigators, to update all your viewers, is that Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was coming to this hotel, that's here behind me, the Hilton Hotel, about 06:45 this morning, arriving for a conference that was expected to happen in that ballroom. That conference, we're learning, has been canceled, of course, and we're told through sources that this gunman was possibly waiting outside the entrance for about 10 minutes or so before Thompson arrived, and when he did, authorities believe he fired several shots at Thompson from about 20 feet away, sources telling our John Miller, killing him.

What we've also learned, sources telling John Miller, that that gunman then fled down a back alley, onto a bicycle, and sources telling me that they went in the direction of Central Park. So, now that is the route they have so far, what we've learned. You can imagine, they are pulling video cameras from this heavily trafficked area of midtown Manhattan, trying to piece together like a puzzle, exactly, possibly, where this person is or went, rather, but also who this person is. We've learned from sources that they may have been wearing a mask, which, of course, could be hindering some of this investigation. So, a lot of details are coming in.

I'm going to get out of the way really quick so you can just kind of see the scene here. And you could see the NYPD crime scene unit truck on the scene. You can see a lot of investigators here. One thing I did notice, Rahel, as I was running over here from our headquarters, is that there -- this is a hotel that takes up really, about a half of a city avenue, which is quite a lot of real estate in the middle of New York City. And there are several entrances to this hotel. So, that's probably something investigators also realize. And it kind of points to more how investigators do believe this was some sort of targeted attack against Thompson.

So, a lot of details that they are combing through, and we hope to actually learn a lot more when the NYPD holds a news conference that's scheduled for about 11:30 noon today, and we'll have a lot of questions, and hopefully get some answers to those questions as to what took place here this morning.

SOLOMON: Yeah. We will certainly cover that as well.

Brynn, while I have you, I mean, most of our viewers maybe have been to midtown Manhattan. Obviously, it's a very popular area. But, just give us a sort of sense of the scene. I mean, it's 06:45 on a Wednesday morning. On a normal day, I imagine it probably --

GINGRAS: Yeah.

SOLOMON: -- will be still pretty busy. But, even as we see the holiday display behind you, New York really comes alive around the holidays.

[11:10:00]

We're close to Rockefeller Center there. Just give us a lay of the land and what it might have felt like this morning.

GINGRAS: Yeah. I mean, it is 06:45. That's the height of take away from the holidays. That's the height of rush hour in midtown Manhattan. Obviously, a very busy area for people to work in. So, that is concerning, even if police believe this was a targeted attack. That is still extremely concerning that this was able to take place at that hour. But, I can tell you right now, there are tourists sort of watching from all around this area, because tonight, Rahel, is the Rockefeller tree lighting. This is a huge event that tourists come to and want to be a part of. So, it's a heavily policed area because of that.

So, there is a lot of questions, again, how this could have taken place, and it's concerning because of all the traffic that we are seeing, foot traffic, regular traffic here in the middle of New York City.

SOLOMON: Yeah. And Brynn, before I let you go, talk to me a little bit about, I mean, as you were just sharing, as we learned that allegedly or reportedly a silencer may have been used, the conversations that it appears that police are having with all of those folks around. I was just having a conversation with Commissioner Ramsey, and I asked about, does it complicate things when you have so many people in an area when a crime happens? And he says, actually, it can help, because you have more potential witnesses. Talk to us about the conversations that we believe police may be having with those who would have been in the area.

GINGRAS: Yeah. Look, this is, again, a hotel. So, there are a lot of people staying in that hotel. A lot of workers in this hotel asking if they saw anything. As I said, there is multiple entrances to the hotel. This isn't exactly one of the main ones. The main one would be on Sixth Avenue when we're on 54th Street. So, it's sort of a side entrance. So, unclear who was on the sidewalk? If it was people heading to work, not minding their own business? But, not really exactly the place where you would pick up a cab, so to speak, here in New York. You would probably do that at the main entrance. So, not clear how many tourists might have been sort of hanging out, or other people.

What our colleague did learn from that garage worker, like I said, the garage is right across the street, which is -- there is a theater right across the street as well, is that they didn't hear anything. They just -- someone had run in and said that someone had been shot. Now, whether that person witnessed it or saw it themselves, it's unclear, but these are the conversations, the questions that are being asked right now, I imagine, by investigators, let alone from the fact, Rahel. Remember that he was headed to a conference for UnitedHealthcare. So, you can imagine there was a number of people possibly inside that ballroom who might be able to provide some sort of insight as to why maybe Thompson might have been targeted, or at least, kind of get some more information from those people as well.

So, there is a lot of work to do for police, in addition to trying to find this suspect. SOLOMON: Absolutely, and certainly a lot of questions. Brynn, we know

that you are working your sources within the department and also awaiting that press conference. So, we'll let you go to continue your work. But, Brynn, thank you.

GINGRAS: Thanks.

SOLOMON: All right. Now to the political landscape in South Korea, as more protesters demand that President Yoon Suk Yeol resign. This comes one day after lawmakers forced their way past soldiers and voted to strike down the President's martial law decree.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

SOLOMON: You see this viral video here, the moment that one lawmaker got into a scuffle with an armed soldier, steps away from South Korea's parliament building, and today, questions are swirling around the future of Yoon's presidency, after he declared martial law and then agreed to lift it under pressure. Six opposition parties have submitted a bill calling for his impeachment, and the main opposition Democratic Party says that they have begun formalizing treason charge plans against President Yoon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP

LEE JAE-MYUNG, LEADER, DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF KOREA (Interpreted): They will try it again by addressing their shortcomings after they have failed once. When that time comes, we, the citizens, along with the Democratic Party of Korea and our lawmakers, will step forward and fight to ensure victory. The risk of provoking North Korea and eventually leading to military conflict is significantly high. Dear citizens, we need your vigilance and solidarity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: And as President Yoon faces mounting pressure to step down, life for the people of South Korea appears to be carrying on as usual. That's what we're hearing from CNN's Ivan Watson, who has been talking to lawmakers in Seoul.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In fact, a member of the President's own political party told me he doesn't see how it's possible that President Yoon can continue to govern after the fiasco over really the last 12 hours where he declared martial law. There were soldiers that tried to prevent lawmakers from gathering in the middle of the night in the National Assembly, and yet they did. They voted, 190 of them, to overturn the martial law, and that included 18 lawmakers from the President's own party. And then, before dawn this morning, the President backtracked and lifted martial law.

[11:15:00]

It lasted around six hours. So, now what we have is the opposition calling for his resignation.

And look where I am right now. It's a protest led by a large labor union. Francois (ph) is going to pan the camera over here. This is in one part of Seoul where you have hundreds of people gathered at a candle light vigil here, holding signs, demanding the President's resignation, and we've seen another similar protest in front of the National Assembly today.

I think what's so striking is that amid this political upheaval, the country seems to be functioning as usual. I flew in, landed at the main airport, Incheon Airport. It was functioning normally. No extra kind of security presence on the ground. The streets were busy. The businesses were open. People are certainly talking about this. The stock market here took a dip, about two percent, and then came back up. But, the main opposition parties are drafting up a resolution to try to impeach the President, which could be presented as early as tomorrow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: Out thanks to Ivan Watson there.

My next guest is the director of the Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation, Center for Korean History and Public Policy. Troy Stangarone joins us now live from Washington. Troy, great to have you today. I want to start with the impeachment process. Yoon himself a former career prosecutor. How do you see this playing out, I mean, the likelihood that he resigns, or maybe want to have his day in court?

TROY STANGARONE, DIR. OF HYUNDAI MOTOR-KOREA FDN., CTR. FOR KOREAN HISTORY AND PUBLIC POLICY: So, Yoon's personality is to want to try and push through this. It doesn't preclude the possibility. Eventually, the pressure builds for him to resign. But, I think we will go through the impeachment process. We've seen right now all of the opposition assigned as co-sponsors. So, that's 191 votes. They only need to find nine more to impeach him. As we've seen, you already had 18 in his party voted against the martial law approach. So, I think there is going to be likely the votes within his own political party to take and remove him from office. They need to get there. They're talking about trying to remove him from the party itself. But, I think it's going to be hard for him to say.

The complication is going to be any impeachment has to be approved by the Constitutional Court. And right now, it requires seven justices to hear the case. There are currently only six. And so, I think there is going to be questions about whether it would be legal to remove him based on the number of seats on the Constitution Court right now.

SOLOMON: Interesting. Talk to us a little bit more about Yoon. I mean, on the one hand, he had to have some idea of the risks when he made this move, and some have even speculated that perhaps Yoon timed this to Biden's departure and Trump's arrival with Trump's admiration, if you want to call it, of authoritarian leaders. Do you buy that? I mean, what do you think?

STANGARONE: So, from a practical standpoint, we know that this has been really tied to the budget dispute between Yoon and the National Assembly. The Constitution requires that budget to be finalized by the end of the year. So, I think this is really driven by internal, domestic timing. That being said, we've seen a process go back and forth here with Yoon and the National Assembly to where Yoon has had control of the assembly in terms of his party being in power, the opposition has controlled it, and he hasn't really been able to achieve much. So, I think we finally simply saw this come to a head. And rather than take and engage in the democratic process of compromising trying to find a solution, Yoon went the other direction and tried to solve it through martial law.

SOLOMON: You've described this moment as a delicate time for South Korea. Investors, notoriously, domestically internationally, seek out stability. They seek out certainty. How does this moment affect foreign investment, if at all?

STANGARONE: In the short term, I think there is going to be a lot of uncertainty. Companies are going to know what the political landscape is going to look like after this concludes. I think in the medium to long term, it will have minimal effect. We saw South Korea go through the impeachment of Park Geun-hye. That was a process, but it was very orderly. It's something that I think we'll see in this case as well. And I think once that is done, and once we know who the President is going to be within the next few weeks, if Yoon is somehow able to survive, or if he is not, once there is the presidential election, I think things will go back to a similar situation where they were before.

SOLOMON: OK. We'll leave it here. Troy Stangarone, great to have your insights today. Thanks for joining us.

STANGARONE: Thank you.

SOLOMON: And it is also a critical day in France, which appears to be teetering on the verge of political chaos. Right now, French lawmakers are voting on a no-confidence motion that, if it passes, would oust the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier. In an attempt to address a huge hole in French public finances, Barnier had tried to push through a budget proposal without a vote in Parliament. That budget bill included $63 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts.

Let's go to Paris now and get the latest from CNN Senior International Correspondent Jim Bittermann.

[11:20:00]

Jim, clearly a crucial day for French politics, as we look at these live pictures. What's the latest now?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, absolutely, this is a debate, and you can kind of see it going on there live at the side of me here. In fact, it's a debate that's going to go on for about another hour or so, and then they're going to sit down and vote about this no-confidence measure that has been introduced. There is actually two measures introduced, one by the extreme right, one from the extreme right -- left, rather, and we've just been hearing from the leader of the extreme right, Marine Le Pen, saying and accusing the Prime Minister of ignoring the wishes of the people and taking the French people hostage.

Michel Barnier is going to get a chance to speak in a few minutes here. But, one of the things he said last night was that Marine Le Pen had failed to negotiate with him the way that a responsible political leader should, and that he accused her of political blackmail. Here is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHEL BARNIER, FRENCH PRIME MINISTER (Interpreted): She tried to get into a kind of one-upmanship, telling me it's either the non- indexation of pensions or its medicines. I came to an agreement with the teams to assess medicines, and when I told her that, she said, well, pensions too. I don't want to get into blackmail. That's not my state of mind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BITTERMANN: So, all of this is going to come to a head in a couple of hours from now, when there will be this vote in Parliament. The magic number is 288. That's the number it will take, the number of parliamentarians voting in favor of one of these two censure motions, one of these two votes of confidence that will then bring down Michel Barnier's government. He will have to immediately resign, as well as all of his ministers. They will then probably form what's known as a caretaker government that will kind of get things rolling along, or keep rolling along for the next few weeks, or until there is another Prime Minister named.

Emmanuel Macron, who is right now coming back from Saudi Arabia, an official trip of Saudi Arabia, is expected to name another Prime Minister. It's not clear how long he is going to take to do that. He had a problem with the naming Michel Barnier. It took almost three months to do that. So, we're going to be in for a period here, I think, of some chaos, and it may be something that will be difficult for the, especially the financial markets, to look at.

SOLOMON: Yeah.

BITTERMANN: Rahel.

SOLOMON: That's an interesting point. So, Jim, 288 is the magic number here. What's interesting is that no one party has enough votes to get there, but what we might see is a coalition of parties who combine to reach that number.

BITTERMANN: Right. Exactly. And I think that's what we are going to see. Basically, the center coalition of Emmanuel Macron's parties, it's a very weak coalition. It has about 210 sort of reliable votes, and we'll have to see when the voting starts. And the others have less, but they're going to have to form a kind of a coalition, or a willingness to concede votes to vote for one side or the other. The left, the extreme left parties have said they will not ever vote for the extreme right's censure motion. However, the extreme right said that they will vote if they want. They will -- can't vote for the extreme left. So, it's going to be a question of putting together enough votes, and certainly the centrists of Macron are not going to have enough votes to hit that 288 mark.

SOLOMON: Wow.

BITTERMANN: Rahel.

SOLOMON: Really interesting. Jim Bittermann, great to have you. Thank you.

All right. And still ahead, Donald Trump's pick for Secretary of Defense faces new challenges, this time from his own party. We're going to have a live report on what's next for Pete Hegseth.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLOMON: Welcome back. Donald Trump's pick to run the Defense Department, Pete Hegseth, is facing new pushback, some of it from within his own party. Ever since Trump announced his plan to nominate the former Fox News anchor, allegations of past misconduct against Hegseth have surfaced. And though he continues to deny them, and says that Trump has told him to keep on fighting, it's not just Democrats who may vote against him. Some Republicans say that they are publicly skeptical about his confirmation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: And CNN is also reporting that the Trump transition team now compiling a list of potential alternative names to Hegseth, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Joining us now is CNN's Steve Contorno. Steve, that was definitely not on my bingo card for today. A critical day for Pete Hegseth, nonetheless. What are his plans to try to persuade skeptical lawmakers?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Well, as someone who has covered Ron DeSantis since about 2018 and tracked his very bitter rivalry in primary against Donald Trump, it was not on my bingo card either, but here we are with Donald Trump and his allies creating a list of names and contingencies in the event that Pete Hegseth does not survive this confirmation process. And look, right now, Trump, publicly, his team is saying they are standing by Hegseth. Hegseth is saying he has the President-elect's support. He also posted on social media, quote, I'm doing this for the war fighters, not the war mongers. Our warriors never back down, and neither do I."

But, having gone through this process already with Matt Gaetz for Attorney General, and wanting to make sure that the President-elect is in position to name a replacement if Hegseth does back out, they are now starting to consider some names, and yes, Ron DeSantis is one of them. He is someone who has a military background. He has been the leader of a large state. He also has been a vocal defender of Trump in the past, on Fox and such. So, he is someone who does check a lot of boxes, but he has this pass with the seat with Trump, and as well with many people who work for Trump. And so, it will be interesting to see how those two things are able to gel.

Now, I will point out, Hegseth will be on Fox today, where he will try to continue to make the case for himself. And also, his mother appeared on Fox earlier today, trying to talk back -- or take back a letter that she put out to her son, accusing him of a record of abuse with women. Take a listen to how she described that episode.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PENELOPE HEGSETH, PETE HEGSETH'S MOTHER: I wrote that out of love, and about two hours later, I retracted it with an apology email, but nobody has seen that. He is a changed man, and I just hope people will get to know who Pete is today, especially our dear female senators, that you would listen to him, listen with your heart to the truth of Pete. I wouldn't be sitting here if I didn't believe he is the man for the job. Pete and I are both warriors, and we've -- I've developed a really tough skin over the years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Hegseth will speak with one of those female senators later today, Iowa Senator Joni Ernst. She is a key swing vote on the Military Affairs Committee, who could ultimately help decide whether or not Hegseth's nomination goes forward. Interestingly, she is also someone who has been floated as a potential replacement for Hegseth. She also has a military background and would be in consideration, we are told, if Hegseth falters. Rahel.

SOLOMON: That's an interesting detail there, Steve. Talk to us about what happens now. I mean, how does this process play out from here?

[11:30:00]

What's the timeline for potential confirmation hearing, if Hegseth makes it that far?

CONTORNO: Well, look, the new Senate will come in in the first couple days of the New Year, and they will have a little bit of runway to vet these nominees and go through some of the confirmation hearings even before Donald Trump is sworn in on January 20th. And one of the jobs, I am told, is really key to Trump's new administration is this Defense Secretary post, and among some of his allies, there was hope that that person could potentially be confirmed and in place on day one, if not shortly after. Now, the complicating factors with Hegseth might push that back, and that might be -- and that might even be more complicated if he is replaced.

One area, though, that was a potential hurdle was a question of whether or not the Trump transition team would have access to background checks from the FBI. Well, that was resolved in the last 24 hours where the Trump transition team signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Justice, getting them access to FBI background checks, which, I am told, and we are told at CNN, is one of the concerns about Hegseth from some of the Senate Republicans who want to see those FBI background checks before committing to some of these more controversial nominees.

SOLOMON: Yeah. And it appears that they will now have it. Steve Contorno live for us here in St. Petersburg. Steve, thank you.

And coming up, the future of South Korea's President is in jeopardy, as protesters demand his resignation just one day after the martial law debacle. Plus, UnitedHealthcare CEO was gunned down on a New York City street. We are standing by for a news conference, scheduled to begin any moment now from New York police. We will take you there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLOMON: Welcome back. Any moment now, we are expected to get an update from the NYPD on our breaking news this morning, the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO. A manhunt is underway for the person who shot and killed the victim, Brian Thompson, as he walked to a company conference at the Midtown Hilton hotel. Investigators say that it appears to have been a targeted attack. They say that the masked gunman waited for Thompson for about 10 minutes in sub-freezing temperatures before opening fire. They say it happened this morning, around 06:45. The shooter ran from the scene, then hopped on a bicycle to get away.

Again, you're watching these live pictures as we await this NYPD press conference, which we hope to learn more information about the details, including whatever police may share about the person they are looking for, the suspect, who we believe is still on the run. Of course, once authorities come to the podium, we will take you there live.

[11:35:00]

In the meantime, we now want to return to the political turmoil unfolding in South Korea. The country's defense minister and other top officials have submitted their resignations amid fierce backlash. It all started Tuesday night when President Yoon Suk Yeol announced what would become a short-lived declaration of martial law. President Yoon accused the opposition Democratic Party of sympathizing with North Korea. The move sparked widespread anger, as protesters clashed with troops outside the parliament building, and now, six opposition parties have submitted a bill calling for the President's impeachment.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the U.S. is watching developments in South Korea very closely. Blinken who was in Brussels for a NATO meeting, also said that the U.S. welcomes President Yoon's decision to withdraw the martial law order. U.S. President Joe Biden, who wrapped up his trip to Angola a short time ago, well, he has yet to comment on the events in South Korea, but Mr. Biden and President Yoon have met numerous times, and Biden has called Yoon a great friend in the past.

Let's get to Arlette Saenz, who is traveling with President Yoon -- President Biden, I should say, and joins us now from Luanda, Angola. Arlette, Yoon's move to introduce martial law was a huge surprise to many around the world, but also apparently, to the Biden administration. Well, what are they saying?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Yeah. This really caught President Biden and his top officials by surprise, as the U.S. did not receive any advance notification relating to President Yoon's decision to declare martial law. Now, so far, we haven't heard directly from President Biden. He only spoke about this very briefly when he told reporters traveling with him yesterday that he would be briefed on the matter. That is something that happened while he was here in Angola. But, U.S. officials have been expressing concern as this was playing out, and still, even after Yoon lifted the martial law following that vote from the parliament to block it. So, we will see how exactly President Biden might respond when he arrives back in the U.S.

But, this is something that the U.S. government is incredibly concerned about, given the fact that South Korea is a key ally of the United States. President Biden has gone to great lengths to try to foster that relationship with the country, but also directly with President Yoon, as he has sought to build relationships in the Indo- Pacific to try to serve as a counter to China. But, there are also more than 28,000 American troops who are stationed in South Korea. So, there are these long ties between the two countries.

One thing that we heard from Secretary of State Antony Blinken a bit earlier today is they want to see a peaceful resolution to this situation. But, he also said that they want South Korea to be able to be held up as a symbol of a successful democracy. That is something that he said that they have done for the past 30 or 40 years, and he is hoping that that won't change in this matter. But, we will see what further the White House has to say, as officials, both here in Angola and officials back in the U.S., were scrambling all day yesterday to figure out what had happened, and now they're trying to assess what's going to happen next.

SOLOMON: And Arlette, as President Biden wraps up his Angola trip, what are we expecting today? What's next?

SAENZ: Well, President Biden is actually already on the plane back to Washington, D.C. It caps off a three-day trip to the continent. This was his first and only trip to Sub Saharan Africa, something he had been promising to do for two years.

Now, a big focus of his time here was trying to highlight U.S. investments in the region. Specifically, he touted the Lobito Corridor. That is an 800-mile unfinished railway project which is aiming to take critical minerals from the interior countries in Africa out to the ports for exporting, exports that could go directly to the United States. Today, the President was in Lobito, Angola, touring the port terminal there, and also, he sat down with the leaders of four of the countries that are part of that corridor. That's Angola, Zambia, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

All of these moves from the U.S. come as they're trying to make inroads into Africa at a time when China has had growing influence here. They have poured more than hundreds of billions of dollars into infrastructure projects across the continent through its Belt and Road Initiative. President Biden, at various points of the trip, took some swipes at China, not specifically mentioning them by name, but saying that the U.S. provides a better alternative. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I want to be clear about something. All these projects, investments are designed to have high impact and meet the highest standards for workers, for the environment, and for the communities, because the United States understands how we invest in Africa is just as important as how much we invest in Africa.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, for President Biden, there is a chance that this was his final goodbye on the world stage.

[11:40:00]

So far, the White House, heading into this trip, wouldn't say if this would be his final trip, kind of leaving the door open to the possibility that you could see President Biden travel forward. But, it does come as he is also staring down the fact that President-elect Donald Trump is about to become Commander-in-Chief. Of course, Trump had made some very denigrating comments about African countries during his first term in office. And so, President Biden, at least, was trying to show for now that there is that U.S. commitment, with his team really hoping that the strategy that they have crafted here in Africa is something that administrations to come could also follow.

SOLOMON: Yeah. It will be really interesting to see how countries like Angola and how the continent at large engage with this new incoming presidency.

Arlette Saenz live for us there in Angola. Arlette, thank you.

We're going to take a quick break, and we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLOMON: Welcome back. I want to take you to the NYPD press conference detailing what we know about the UnitedHealthcare CEO who was shot and killed this morning in midtown Manhattan. Let's listen together.

[11:45:00]

JESSICA TISCH, NY POLICE COMMISSIONER: Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was shot and killed in what appears at this early stage (TECHNICAL DIFFICULTY). It appears the suspect was lying in wait for several minutes. And as the victim was walking to the conference hotel, the suspect approached from behind and fired several rounds, striking the victim at least once in the back and at least once in the right calf. Many people passed the suspect, but he appeared to wait for his intended target. The suspect fled, first on foot, then on an e-bike, and was last seen in Central Park on Center Drive early this morning.

The victim was removed to Roosevelt Hospital, where he was pronounced. We have been in touch with his family, his friends and his colleagues, and they are very much in our thoughts and prayers at this hour.

The full investigative efforts of the New York City Police Department are well underway, and we will not rest until we identify and apprehend the shooter in this case. The women and men of the NYPD take enormous pride in the work that they do each day and each night to drive down crime and violence in our city. Right now, we are asking the public for your help. If you have any information about this case, call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS. We have increased the reward in this case to $10,000. I want to be clear, at this time, every indication is that this was a premeditated, pre-planned, targeted attack. Millions of people will be enjoying the tree lighting tonight, among other holiday events, and the NYPD will be out there with them, keeping them safe.

[11:45:00]

For some preliminary details about today's tragic incident, I pass it over to our Chief of Detectives, Chief Joe Kenny.

JOSEPH KENNY, CHIEF OF DETECTIVES, NYPD: Thank you, Commissioner. The information I'm about to give you is preliminary, as our investigation is continuing. This morning, at 06:46 a.m., patrol officers from Midtown North Precinct responded to a 911 call of a person shot in front of the Hilton Hotel located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas. This is between West 53rd Street and West 54th Street. At 06:48 a.m., officers arrive and find the victim, Brian R. Thompson, a 50-year-old male, on the sidewalk, in front of the Hilton, with gunshot wounds to his back and leg.

Mr. Thompson was removed by EMS to Roosevelt Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 07:12 a.m. Mr. Thompson is the CEO of UnitedHealthcare and resides in Minnesota. Detectives from Night Watch, Midtown North Detector Squad, and Manhattan South Homicide responded to the scene and began their investigation. What we know is that the shooter arrived at the location on foot about five minutes prior to the victim's arrival. He stands alongside the building line, as numerous other people and pedestrians pass him by. From video, we see at 06:44 a.m. the victim is walking alone towards the Hilton after exiting his hotel across the street. We believe the victim was headed to the Hilton Hotel to attend the UnitedHealth Group Investors Conference that was scheduled to start at 08:00 a.m.

The shooter appears to be a light skinned male. He is wearing a light brown or cream colored jacket, a black face mask, black and white sneakers, and a very distinctive gray backpack. The shooter steps onto the sidewalk from behind the car. He ignores numerous other pedestrians, approaches the victim from behind, and shoots him in the back. The shooter then walks toward the victim and continues to shoot. It appears that the gun now functions, as he clears the jam and begins to fire again. The shooter then flees on foot northbound into an alleyway between 54th Street and 55th Street.

Once at West 55th Street, the shooter continues to walk westbound on the avenue in Americas, where he gets onto an electric e-city bike and rides northbound on the avenue of Americas towards Central Park, where at 06:48 a.m. we have the shooter riding this bike into Central Park at Center Drive. At the scene, we recover three live nine millimeter rounds and three discharged nine millimeter shell casings.

The motive for this murder currently is unknown, but based on the evidence we have so far, it does appear that the victim was specifically targeted, but at this point we do not know why. This does not appear to be a random act of violence. We are seeking information from the public to help identify the shooter. As the commissioner said, we have upped the reward up to $10,000 for information. You're urged to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS. All information will be kept anonymous. Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Well, we'll open up to a couple of questions. We're going to start off with Shimon, CNN.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOT CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: So, it's about an hour and 20 minutes before the start of the conference. Is there any indication that he was going to meet someone? Because he admits pretty early. Is he on his way to meet someone there at the conference?

KENNY: He leaves the hotel dressed like he is going to be attending the conference. We're working with his co-workers and other people that he planned on attending the conference with to get that information. But, as of right now, he is in charge of the conference. So, we believe he was getting that help set up.

PROKUPECZ: And then just the city bike, we know where that city bike is. Now, does he dock it, or does he keep riding it?

KENNY: We're still tracking video. The last we see with him on that bike is in Central Park.

PROKUPECZ: Is there a way to track that bike?

KENNY: There are GPSs on those bikes. We'll be working with the company.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to move on. (Inaudible).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief, were any words exchanged? If so, what were the words? And I'm told a cell phone was recovered in an alleyway on his escape route. Does that appear to be connected?

KENNY: We're working through that cell phone. Obviously, we'll be processing it forensically. And as far as words being exchanged, we do not have audio of the incident. We only have the regular video.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But, nothing from witnesses.

KENNY: Nothing from -- well, there is one witness standing right next to the victim when he was shot. We're still trying to identify that victim, excuse me, excuse me, that witness.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're moving over to Aaron Katersky.

AARON KATERSKY, ABC NEWS SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Thank you. Chief, was he checked into the hotel across the street alone? Was he in the city alone? Was he accompanied by anybody? Did he have any known enemies or anyone that you've been able to find so far?

KENNY: Like I said, we're reaching out to law enforcement in Minnesota, and we're also interviewing his co-workers and family members to see if there have been any specific threats against him in the past. As far as who was he in the hotel with, we're doing a search warrant in his hotel room right now. That might lead us -- give us some more information.

KATERSKY: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we are going to go over to (inaudible).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Based on the surveillance we've seen of this individual, do you feel like he is professional?

[11:50:00]

You mentioned that he didn't put it spelled. Do you feel like this was a professional individual who took this man's life (inaudible)?

KENNY: I'll answer the part about whether or not he is a professional that we have no way of knowing that. From watching the video, it does seem that he is proficient in the use of firearms, as he was able to clear the malfunctions pretty quickly. But, as far as the tree lighting, I'll leave that to Chief Maddrey.

JEFFREY MADDREY, CHIEF OF DEPARTMENT, NYPD: Yes. Good morning, Dean. Just really quick. We don't -- this incident will not affect the tree lighting. The tree lighting is slated to start at 07:00 p.m. The show, the actual lighting of the tree will be closed to 10 o'clock, actually 09:55 p.m. We will have a massive police presence out there, around Rockefeller Center, from 52nd Street all the way down to 47th Street. We will have plain clothes out there, a plain clothes detail out there. We will have our CRC assets, our strategic response group assets. We will have our intel division out there, a lot of assets out there to make sure people can come out and have a good time.

And we're going to have additional police officers in the subways as well, so people can take mass transit to make it easier to travel into the city and enjoy the tree. This is a terrible event, but we're going to go on and people are going to enjoy the tree lighting tonight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. We're going to move over to Marshall Graber (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wonder if you could tell me, the mayor said that there was evidence recovered at the scene that would indicate that this was not a random event. I wonder if you could tell me what that evidence was. And by looking at the gun, it appears that there is a silencer on the gun. Was there a silencer on the gun, and does this indicate not only that it was premeditated, but this is somebody who knew his way around guns and might have been a professional?

KENNY: Once again, we won't know that until we complete our investigation and identify the shooter or recover that firearm. You see a glimpse of the gun in video. So, we're not able to make a determination on whether or not a silencer was used on that quick glimpse of video. We can't tell it from that little glimpse of video. I'm not going to commit to say to commit to say -- saying that at this time. That will be part of our investigation. There is a cell phone recovered in the alleyway, and once again, we will process that forensically and see if it comes back to this shooting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, you don't think that the cell phone was (inaudible)?

KENNY: Once again, this investigation is less than five-hours-old. That will be part of our investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief, do we know when Thompson arrived in New York City? My understanding is he was staying close by Middleton, but not at Middleton. And has anything in the reverse video campus indicated that these two people crossed paths at all?

KENNY: As of right now, based on the current video that we do have, it doesn't appear that they crossed paths, and he arrived in New York on Monday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. We're going to take two or three more. We're going to go to Rocco, Daily News.

ROCCO PARASCANDOLA, POLICY BUREAU CHIEF, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: Chief, did he typically travel with a security detail? And even though it's early, is there anything to indicate that there had been issues with, let's say, a patient who was denied coverage, either back in Minnesota or, more recently, someone who lives here?

KENNY: From speaking to other employees that traveled with him to New York, it doesn't seem that he had a security detail. He left the hotel by himself, was walking, didn't seem like he had any issues at all. So, I don't think he had -- he did not have a security detail.

PARASCANDOLA: And as far as my coverage, I know that's typically an issue with these major companies. Any reason to believe he had been the subject of a threat?

KENNY: Once again, we're looking at everything. We're looking at his social media. We are interviewing employees. We are interviewing family members. We will be speaking to law enforcement in Minnesota.

UNIDENITIFIED MALE: We will have two more before we wrap up. Shana (ph).

UNIDENITIFIED FEMALE: Sorry. I was just going to ask if any cursory look at any social media, whether it's the company, whether it's his personal social media, his family's, is there anything obvious that sticks out at this early stage in the investigation?

KENNY: We have not uncovered anything at this time. The investigation is still too early.

UNIDENITIFIED MALE: We're going to go -- last question over here with Jake.

UNIDENITIFIED MALE: How is it going? With the suspects still at large in Central Park, are you urging New Yorkers to avoid the park? Is the NYPD deploying its drones? I know they recently started doing that in the park. And then also, I was wondering, is there any indication when he gets this city bike that he is a city bike member? It's like sometimes, if you're not a member, you can pay to use it. I don't know if you're able to tell (inaudible).

MADDREY: The Chief of Detectives answered a part about the city bike. But, in terms of -- we're encouraging New Yorkers to go about their daily lives and their daily business, but to be alert. We put the picture out. You're putting the picture out. We want people to take a look. If they see anything suspicious, if they hear anything suspicious, we ask them to call 911, reach out to our detectives.

With an incident like this, of course, we put a heavy deployment into Manhattan. We put additional resources out. We have the drones up. We have aviation out. We have K-9 out.

[11:55:00]

When an incident like this happens, we don't spare any expense. We put all of our resources out there to support the Chief of Detectives' mission and to keep New Yorkers safe. So, we will have a massive presence out there, around the tree lighting, but throughout Manhattan as well, until more information develops and we're able to support the Chief of Detectives and what he needs to make a quick arrest.

KENNY: As far as where he got the city bike, we're still working that through. Like I said, we're pulling video from numerous locations, numerous sources, and we have him on our timeline walking. And what we're very fortunate is he has that very distinctive, great backpack on. So, we see him on one video clip walking, and then another source of video him riding that bike. So, we don't have video or witness confirmation on how he obtained that bike.

(CROSSTALK)

KENNY: A cell phone was recovered. We will confirm that later on down if we do our forensic examination.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, everyone. This concludes our press conference. Thank you for your time and attention.

SOLOMON: All right. We've just been listening to New York Police Department officials providing additional updates on the death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson this morning. A few notable details. We learned that the suspect arrived five minutes, just five minutes prior to the victim's arrival. The death happened at about 06:45, the shooting, rather, happened at about 06:45. Officials told us that at 06:44, they have video of the victim leaving his hotel, apparently just across the street, going to the hotel where a conference that his company was hosting was taking place.

They have video of the suspect again lying there in wait for about five minutes in sub-freezing temperatures early this morning on Wednesday morning in midtown Manhattan, before ultimately pulling the trigger. A few things we learned. We learned that the victim was shot multiple times, once from behind in his back and once in the leg. They said that it appears that there had been some sort of jam with the firearm, but they can see in this video, the suspect apparently sorts out the jam and then is able to fire again, which led to questions about whether the suspect could be some sort of professional.

Authorities did not go so far as to say that they believe the suspect may have been a professional, but they did say that they believe that this person is clearly proficient with firearms, because he was able to sort out the malfunction so quickly. They said that they are still tracking the bike, because this person left the scene first on foot and then on an e-bike into Central Park. They say that there are GPS on these bikes. And so, they are working with the company to try to track down what they know.

We know that the victim had arrived in Manhattan from the Midwest, which is where he was from, on Monday. There were questions about a motive, whether this could have been personally motivated. Could this have been motivated by his job? Authorities wouldn't say, but they did release this photo that you see on your screen. Hard for me to tell from my vantage point how clear the shot is. But, obviously there is an effort now to try to get this message, try to get this photo to the public, as police try to bring this person into custody. Of course, we're going to continue following the story throughout the day.

Stick with CNN. One world is coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)