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First Move with Julia Chatterley

South Korean President Lifts Martial Law Order; Global Investors Monitors S. Korea; South Korea Political Turmoil; Trump to Attend Notre Dame Reopening; Trump's Pick for DEA Chad Chronister Withdraws from Consideration; FBI Arrests Suspect Accused of Plotting with Pyongyang. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired December 03, 2024 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Police say they've now found the van, but the pies remain missing. Taking to Instagram, Chef Banks addressed the thieves,

pleading for them to donate the pies, saying, quote, "I know you're a criminal, but maybe just do something nice because it's Christmas."

The news continues on CNN with Wolf Blitzer in The Situation Room. I'll see you tomorrow.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE AND CNN ANCHOR, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: It's 8:00 in the morning in South Korea. I'm Richard Quest in

New York. I'm in for Julia Chatterley today.

Seoul is waking up after a tense and chaotic night. President Yoon Suk Yeol has lifted his martial law order only hours after declaring it. The

president announced in a surprise late-night address he cited actions by the main opposition party, including a motion to impeach top prosecutors.

Shortly after he declared martial law, the country's parliament unanimously voted to reject it. Even the leader of the president's own party demanded

an explanation.

So, daylight now and Mike Valerio is live for us in Seoul. First of all, where are you? What's the scene? And what do you understand the situation?

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, we're right in front of the National Assembly, Richard. This is one of the two tableaux where the drama played

out. The first scene was at the presidential office, which has been moved from its historic setting to the heart of the Defense Department where the

president made this announcement implementing martial law. And, then this building behind me, the National Assembly, this is where members of the

legislature came in the middle of the night, and they unanimously said in so many words, we are rejecting this.

So, now that the sun has come up, you can see behind the line of yellow police officers, protesters are, maybe after getting a little bit of sleep,

beginning to amass. We saw protesters in somewhat harrowing scenes, Richard, before we came on the air with you, from grandmothers to students,

removed to let traffic flow. This is much better than seeing armored Humvees on the street. But now, we're all waiting for when we could

potentially hear from the president next.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALERIO (voice-over): Soldiers clashing with citizens in a shocking scene outside of South Korea's parliament. As crowds chant, dismiss the martial

law. After the country's president declared nationwide military rule the first time since 1980 in an unusual late-night TV address.

YOON SUK YEOL, SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I declare emergency martial law to defend the Republic of Korea from the danger of

North Korean communist forces.

VALERIO (voice-over): All this in response to a number of actions by the opposition, including rejecting a budget bill and attempts to impeach

officials from Yoon's administration.

Yoon Suk Yeol said the moves were intended to, quote, "incite rebellion" and accused opposition lawmakers of trying to destabilize the country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): This decision is a crime. Is this someone who we will let run this country? No. Will we let this slide? No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It doesn't make sense. As far as I know, this is the first martial law declared since the Gwangju

democratization movement. It is really happening in the 21st century.

VALERIO (voice-over): Broken windows and rifle wielding soldiers standing at the National Assembly building as tensions between the presidency and

opposition lawmakers spills into mass protests.

VALERIO: We're here in the crowd and there are two military vehicles that are trying to get out of here. We're just a few blocks away from the

National Assembly. There were some soldiers that were saying their military vehicles are trying to leave the area and get back to their base.

Protesters, of course, voicing their huge outrage and dismay at this moment.

VALERIO (voice-over): The extraordinary measure the president insists was to do away with what he claims are groups sympathetic towards North Korea.

Hours later, Yoon forced into reversing his decision after lawmakers voted to overturn his order, leaving a rattled South Korean public reeling from

the political chaos.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALERIO (on camera): So, members of the liberal opposition at this hour are saying, Richard, in so many words, if you don't resign, President Yoon,

we're going to kick you out. We are going to start impeachment proceedings. So, it remains to be seen what is the president's next move. And

furthermore, it remains to be seen if he will give concrete examples, if you will give concrete information to the populace here as to why he did

this beyond what he described in his speech, saying that from his view, there were elements of North Korean sympathizers and anti-state forces here

in South Korea.

[18:05:00]

We just need to hear more, but we don't really know what he's next move is going to be, Richard.

QUEST: Right. We're now looking at a live picture of the parliament, and I'm guessing that's where any moves to remove him will take place. You

know, as they usually say, this is no way to run a railroad. I mean, did he just lose the plot?

VALERIO: Did he just -- say that one more time? Did he just lose the what, Richard? Say it again.

QUEST: Yes. I mean, you know that old phrase, did he just lose the plot? Did he just lose it? Did he -- I mean, you know, who knows?

VALERIO: I mean, I can't tell you how many people, Richard, have come up to us since midnight and have asked us that same question. They have come

up to us and said, do you know if the president lost his mind? Do you know what's happening? Like, what triggered the president to do this? We don't

know. We can tell you that this is a deeply unpopular president who has been followed by scandal after scandal since he took office, from his wife

accepting a $2,200 deal or handbag, to allegations of mishandling deaths of marines who were trying to save people from floods more than a year, a year

and a half ago.

And ever since there have been allegations of corruption and calls from people across South Korea for him to step down. So, what he was trying to

do in this moment, maybe trying to quash dissent, maybe in his mind trying to solidify power. But to your point, Richard, you have to think, what was

his plan? What was his endgame? Introducing something that hasn't been seen in our modern conception of South Korean society. It's wildly different now

than it was back in 1980.

So, who knows why he did this, but there are calls that are growing for him to step down. And I'll tell you, as a resident of Seoul, on the weekends,

there are protest after protest, echoes emanating throughout the city for him to be impeached. You ain't seen nothing yet. These protests are going

to grow tremendously over the next few days and we are expecting thousands of people in Seoul's central Gwanghwamun Square, the central plaza, them to

congregate and for them to say, it's time for you to go, President Yoon.

QUEST: Mike Valerio who is in Salem and will be there doing duty for the foreseeable future. Thank you, sir. Now, U.S. officials say they received

no warning from South Korea's president that he was going to do what he did and declare martial law. President Biden has now said he was briefed on the

matter on Tuesday afternoon. Biden, of course, is in Angola at the moment.

The White House said it was late in the day that it was relieved that President Yoon had reversed course. As for the Pentagon, this is their

view.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. GEN. PAT RYDER, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: The U.S. Government writ large is in contact with the Republic of Korea. And of course, we'll keep

you updated on that front.

OREN LIEBERMAN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Has there been any changes to U.S. force posture with the number of troops we have in --

RYDER: There have been no changes to my knowledge.

LIEBERMAN: And have you seen any indications North Korea is poised or trying or willing to take advantage of the situation?

RYDER: Of course, we're closely monitoring the situation, but I'm not aware of any forced posture changes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: I'd stake money that was Oren Lieberman's voice that I heard. I think I'm probably on to a straw winner on that one. Oren, is the Pentagon

as perplexed as everybody else?

LIEBERMAN: It certainly seems like it. And that list of people who were perplexed and surprised may very well include North Korea in this case. The

U.S. has about 28,500 troops in South Korea, one of the largest U.S. military presences overseas around the world. So, it is an incredibly

important military to military relationship and a political and diplomatic one as well. It's not just the military that's critical in this case. To

underscore that point, it was President Joe Biden who hosted a democracy summit in South Korea earlier this year.

Now, there were military to military communications as well as the government to government, but crucially, at this point, we haven't seen any

major changes or, for example, rules or curfews put in place about the U.S. presence there, the U.S. military presence there. It remains to be seen how

this plays out. The U.S. is watching this very carefully.

And Richard, this is exactly the kind of scenario in which you would see or expect to see perhaps North Korea sort of taking advantage and firing a

ballistic missile. It was National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan who said just a couple of weeks ago that there was no anticipation of quiet times

from North Korea, although we haven't seen them, and the Pentagon says they haven't seen indications that they're preparing to take advantage of this

situation.

But I think, Richard, it is very fair to call this sensitive. And the U.S. is still very much watching to see how this plays out.

[18:10:00]

QUEST: Well, I mean, I'd hazard a guess that the North Koreans haven't taken advantage of it, because it was so surprising. They're probably

sitting there trying to work out what on earth took place. And I'm guessing also, they also want to ensure that they've got an element of stability

before they would try and make things less stable all over again.

LIEBERMAN: Absolutely. One of the key things we were looking at is the South Korean president specifically blamed North Korean communists for his

actions here. And generally, an insult like that can be more than enough to set off the North Korean regime and prompt them to do something, whether

it's a military exercise or a missile launch or a drone launch.

In this case, at least so far, and again, we're still in the first few hours of this, it doesn't seem like it has, but this is something that the

U.S. watches very closely and they do so in coordination with the South Koreans and the Japanese. And that's part of why -- one tiny part of why

this whole relationship is so important.

QUEST: Oren, I'm grateful. Thank you. Oren Liebermann is at the Pentagon. Danny Russell is with me, Vice president for International Security and

Diplomacy at the Asia Institute -- Society Policy Institute, former U.S. assistant secretary for State at East Asia and Pacific. All right. Sir,

we've got a very long list of people who are perplexed by the events overnight. Are you one of them?

DANIEL RUSSEL, VP, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY AND DIPLOMACY, ASIA SOCIETY POLICY INSTITUTE AND FORMER U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EAST

ASIAN AND PACIFIC AFFAIRS: Oh, I'm high on that list. I was really shocked, but I am also hugely relieved that the crisis ended peacefully

with all the troops moving back into their barracks and no casualties among the protesters. That would have been an even worse disaster.

And I think you could say that, to some extent, this reflects the resilience of the Korean Democratic institutions, that they pushed back

along with civil society against this declaration of martial law.

QUEST: So, what do you think? I mean, I know I'm taking you well and truly into the realms of speculation, but what do you think was behind it? Was

this because of domestic politics? Was this to try and deflect? What do you think?

RUSSEL: Well, as you say, it's guesswork. But look, I think 1 possible explanation is just sheer frustration with the relentless scorched Earth

deadlock that he faced in the National Assembly, the constant blocking by the opposition, which is in the majority. And could he have thought that

somehow this could serve as a catalyst for some sort of reset that people needed to -- or he needed to take action because that gridlock had -- and

polarization had brought the Republic of Korea to the brink of disaster, I don't know. The resistance to his move was so overwhelming that he chose to

back down. And that is a good thing.

QUEST: Would you imagine that the president should be updating his LinkedIn resume now? Because from what we're hearing, he's not going to

last.

RUSSEL: Yes. Well, for one thing, we can expect a lot more political turbulence and demonstrations. We can expect Korea to wrestle with an

impeachment or possibly a resignation. This has a lot of echoes of the fall of Former President Park Geun-hye, the daughter of the first dictator of

Korea.

And look, you know, terms in office don't end well, typically for Korean presidents, and there's every reason to think that his term would be

truncated.

QUEST: Good to see you, sir. I'm very grateful. Thank you for joining us. Putting it all into perspective. Thank you.

It is "First Move." In a moment, we'll bring you what it means for the business and global investors. The strategically important industries of

South Korea, how they will respond to this.

And Donald Trump is going to France. It's his first overseas trip since the election, and he's going to be at the reopening of Notre Dame. It says

great, interesting things about the relationship between the president and the president of France. In a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

QUEST: I need to update you with the Money Moves of the day. Records for the S&P and the NASDAQ have now just pulled back just a tad. It really

wasn't that much. And we certainly don't need to get ourselves distressed about it. U.S. Steel is down 8 percent after President-Elect Trump said

that he remains opposed to its merger with Japan's Nippon Steel. The current administration is also opposed.

South Korea is the focus when Asia gets underway trading anytime now. An ETF that tracks South Korean stocks fell sharply, look at the graph, but

then it did sort of pair the losses as the day went on. And the president - - South Korean president lifted martial order, but there were record volumes on the ETF.

And on the New York Stock Exchange, sharp losses for the South Korean steelmaker POSCO and Coupang, which runs the country's largest e-commerce

site. They were off their lows at the end of the day because, of course, they'd seen how things were developing rather than the headline news.

The Korean currency hitting a two-year low against the U.S. dollar. South Korean authorities are vowing to provide liquidity to the country's

financial markets. The long-term business and investment impact of today's shenanigans are not clear. Some would suggest it's a buying opportunity.

Tami Overby is a senior counselor at the Albright Stonebridge Group specializing in the region.

It's interesting, isn't it, because crucially, strategically important companies. It's one of those things that -- you know, I'm not being

facetious when I say small crush, no one heard. Nothing's changed and yet, everything's changed.

TAMI OVERBY, SENIOR COUNSELOR, ALBRIGHT STONEBRIDGE GROUP: Well, Richard, you're spot on. Nobody was expecting this, so everybody's caught off guard.

But as you say, at the end of the day, nothing's really changed. So, now that people are getting their footing, I think, you know, there will be

peace and calmness in the streets.

QUEST: The ability to have that peace and calmness at the moment takes into account, of course, that President Trump taking office next month. And

that, of course, has an entire raft of new uncertainties.

OVERBY: Well, yes, Richard, business hates uncertainty. And certainly, with President Yoon's completely unexpected declaration of martial law,

that was a big one. You know, Korean companies and American companies alike have all been preparing for Trump 2.0. And, you know, every day we see new

signs that there will be many changes with President-Elect Trump. But I think what President Yoon did really was an on goal, an unnecessary foul

that really, you know, hit his country hard. But I think it will be short lived and the seeds of democracy in Korea are very deep.

[18:20:00]

So, again I do expect calm. And, you know, there will be -- you know, there will be some demonstrations, there will be some frustrations that will be

expressed, but I have no doubt that Korean democracy will survive and thrive.

QUEST: So, he's in a minority within parliament. If he -- to use that wonderful British political phrase, if he decides to spend more time with

his family, who would replace? Would there have to be an election? Would there just be -- for those of us not (INAUDIBLE) with the South Korean

presidential system in the event of resignation, what would happen?

OVERBY: Well, the good news is that they do have a clear constitution. The prime minister would step in and become acting president immediately. And

then, they would have 60 days to hold an election. If, however he decides not to spend more time with his family, I think the chances are increasing

that he likely will be impeached.

If he is impeached, then the constitution, again, calls for the prime minister to step in immediately as acting president. Not to make new

policy, but to ensure stability. And this particular prime minister, Han Duck-soo, I think is outstanding and will do -- will really reassure the

markets. But then they have to -- the constitutional courts would have to determine whether the impeachment was legal. And then, if -- once that's

done and that take -- could take up to 180 days and then if it is deemed legal, again, 60 days to hold an election. So, it could take as long as

eight months or it could be 60 days. But I think, hopefully, we'll have a change.

QUEST: In a sea of uncertainty, the prime minister is a rock of stability, isn't he? I mean, I've met the man and interviewed him in South Korea,

former ambassador of Washington. He knows his way round the halls of power in D.C. extremely well.

OVERBY: Absolutely. I worked hand in glove with him when he was ambassador here to get the chorus free trade agreement ratified by Congress. And

frankly, without his leadership, that would have been a much more difficult venture.

QUEST: What do you think then? Let's -- again, let's move forward. We'll - - we won't worry too much about whether President Yoon survives politically or not. But is -- does South Korea have to give concessions, do you think,

business concessions to appease an incoming Trump administration? And that can be either buy more stuff, pay more for the troops that are there,

because if you listen to President Trump and his vitriol about South Korea stealing the U.S.'s semiconductor industry, whether that's true or not, I

shall leave others to judge, but they're going to have a tough time.

OVERBY: I think you're right, Richard. They are girding up. They know it's going to be an uphill battle. But I think once President Trump understands

that South Korea last year was America's largest foreign investor, most of those investments have gone into largely red Republican states. And these

investments are in critical next generation industries. They are helping revitalize America's advanced manufacturing and helping ensuring our supply

chain resiliency and things like semiconductors.

So, I think they will have a tough negotiation ahead and it will be a negotiation, but I think Korea is pretty well positioned for it.

QUEST: Tami, I fear that you are advancing a nuanced argument on why they should not be the brunt of an attack where a sledgehammer will be coming

from the White House.

OVERBY: Richard, you're a brilliant man, and this is why you are leading this network.

QUEST: Well, you're too kind. You're too kind. Thank you very much for joining us. Oh, is that a bit of flashing before we finish? Excellent.

Thank you very much indeed. Good to see you. Thank you.

Now, coming up, celebrations in South Korea. The nation's president has -- well, he abandoned his martial law. And now the turmoil, what it means. The

reality is, we're going to spend a lot of time scratching our heads.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

QUEST: It is "First Move." And it's the international headlines in your morning this evening. President Biden says the history of slavery will

forever link the United States to Angola. You're speaking outside Angola's National Museum of Slavery. Mr. Biden's been promoting U.S. investment in

Angola during his visit. He's also announced more than $1 billion in drought assistance to Africa across the continent.

U.S. officials now say an E. Coli outbreak that's linked to McDonald's is over. More than a hundred people were infected. One person died. The

contamination most likely came from slivered onions served on the Quarter Pounder. McDonald's stopped serving the recalled onions back in October.

The prince and princess of Wales were amongst the royals who welcomed the Amir of Qatar at the start of their state visit to the United Kingdom. The

Princess of Wales has been slowly returning to her duties following chemotherapy treatment. Queen Camilla, who is still suffering from a chest

infection, did not appear at the ceremony.

It is 8:30 in the morning in Seoul, and a new morning is dawning after the South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol tried to impose martial law. President

Yoon has now walked back his decree, but he only did so after parliament basically chucked it out the window.

Some in Yoon's own party urged him to reconsider. In fact, his own party didn't support him. The late-night declaration caused all sorts of

consternations and backlashes. The protesters remained outside the National Assembly. And it's anyone's guess what will happen to Yoon. Some people are

calling for him to resign.

Will Ripley is with me from Taipei. This is your old stomping ground, sir. You know it well. There's a lot to talk about. You tell me what I need to

know.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm just thinking about all the people in South Korea, Richard, that are waking up,

people that aren't glued to their phones like we are in our line of work, who realize that their country, for a period of 150 minutes, had declared

martial law. There were massive protests, then a vote in parliament, despite soldiers trying to block the MPs from getting in and then the

martial law ending.

[18:30:00]

And now, they're deeply unpopular president, arguably even more unpopular with his entire job status in serious question, perhaps even his freedom in

question.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY (voice-over): South Korea's biggest political crisis in decades, ending almost as quickly as it began. President Yoon Suk Yeol vowing to

overturn his surprise declaration of martial law, hours after parliament voted unanimously against it.

South Korea's first declaration of military rule in more than 40 years, igniting massive protests in Seoul. Despite months of political gridlock,

bitter clashes with opposition leaders, and mounting public frustration, almost nobody saw this coming.

JOHN NILSSON-WRIGHT, CENTRE FOR GEOPOLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE: This is an enormous overreaction by the president to say the very least. But for

him to escalate in this way is really frankly bizarre

RIPLEY (voice-over): Chaos outside the national assembly inside an emergency session, parliament voting unanimously, 190 to 0, to overturn

martial law just 150 minutes after Yoon's shocking order. The vote, a rare moment of unity in South Korea's deeply divided legislature. Opposition

leaders described the president's move as an unprecedented assault on democracy.

LEE JAE-MYUNG, SOUTH KOREAN OPPOSITION LEADER (through translator): Tanks, armored personnel carriers, and soldiers with guns and knives will rule the

country. The judicial system is suspended and an emergency martial law regime where soldiers deliver a summary judgment has begun.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Veterans South Korean journalist Kenneth Choi says the nation is in collective shock.

KENNETH CHOI, SOUTH KOREAN JOURNALIST: Everybody's flabbergasted. The very essence of our democracy is probably come to a halt.

RIPLEY (voice-over): The road ahead, uncertain. President Yoon's popularity was already plummeting. Now, some are calling for him to resign.

Underlying issues, political polarization, economic struggles, and public discontent remain unresolved. South Korea's democracy may have withstood

this test, but serious questions remain.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY (on camera): Perhaps the most pressing question this morning, how long can President Yoon stay in office, even if he doesn't resign? There

are accusations being thrown out against him of treason, Richard. There are these growing calls for his impeachment. And you know, South Korea,

although it's been a democracy for less than 40 years, they've had four of their former presidents go to jail after leaving office. And some people

are wondering if Yoon could be number five after this.

QUEST: Why do you think he did it, Will? Why -- was it naked domestic politics? Was it a real fear? Was it aiming to distract? The unusual nature

of what took place. Give me your thoughts.

RIPLEY: He's a lawyer -- yes, he's a lawyer and a former prosecutor, not a natural politician. He came into power with a platform particularly

regarding North Korea, drastically different from his predecessor, Moon Jae-in, who was all about engaging with the North. Yoon is all about

militarization and, you know, responding to their ballistic missile test with shows of force.

And he has his opposition controlling the parliament. So, they've essentially blocked his agenda at every possible turn. 18 of his cabinet

ministers have been impeached. There's a brewing scandal involving his wife. There have been scandals that have really been plaguing him, dragging

down his approval ratings to under 20 percent in recent weeks by some polls. And he, it seems, had really grown almost convinced that this

instability and this opposition to his agenda was somehow caused by North Korea, which has been putting out propaganda messages to try to kind of add

instability into South Korea. That's nothing new.

They've even been, you know, complimenting Moon's predecessor -- I'm sorry, Yoon's predecessor, President Moon, saying how great President Moon was and

how terrible President Yoon is. So, he basically decided, and when he announced this martial law, he blamed North Korea operatives or pro-North

Korean forces of being the ones behind his political opposition.

So, he essentially turned these internal problems and made it an external problem without any evidence to back that up. So, of course, quickly, from

around the world and inside his own country, people started raising alarms about this justification for martial law, and the law in South Korea is

pretty clear, a parliament can vote to overturn a martial law, to order it to be cancelled by, with a simple majority.

[18:35:00]

And it was clear almost from the start of this, that there was going to be a simple majority. The question was, did he have some support from the

military to try to block the will of the parliament to get in there and vote. But in the end, the democracy upheld, the system works. People had to

push back by soldiers to get in there and vote, but the soldiers didn't open fire.

So, this what could have been a truly catastrophic or horrific moment for South Korea's democracy, in the end, the system worked and democracy

worked. And now, he's going to have to live with the consequences of that.

QUEST: Will Ripley in Taipei. I'm grateful, sir. Thank you very much. The military aspects of what's been happening are dramatic, bearing in mind the

number of us troops, more than 27,000 are in South Korea. General Wesley Clark is a former supreme allied commander is with me. What on earth, sir,

do you make of this?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER AND FOUNDER, RENEW AMERICA TOGETHER: Hello, Richard. Good to be with you. And yes, it's

a real puzzle. He was unpopular. He was having difficulty getting his policies through against the parliament that had a majority against him.

His wife apparently took a handbag and -- that was worth a couple thousand dollars as a gift and she shouldn't have taken it. And there's no doubt

that North Korea has been putting the pressure on politically, dropping flying balloons over, dropping trash and other things on people and doing a

lot of psychological things.

And, Richard, there's always been a -- the possibility that at any given moment, the North could turn out 30,000 or 40,000 people or more in Seoul

for a demonstration against the government. That's been the case for many, many years, and I think this man, President Yoon, is just -- he just wasn't

an experienced politician. He didn't work with others. He did some abrupt changes in policy. He didn't have the support and he thought he could take

a shortcut.

QUEST: So, General, this would all be of great interest in a sort of political sense if it wasn't so serious in a military sense. We have a new

president that will be taking over our office. Donald Trump has already saber-rattled in terms of South Korea paying more for its defense. He's

angry about semiconductors. You've got the whole question of Taipei, which is where our Will Ripley is. How concerned are you that these events -- I

mean, we are looking at East Asia and the Asia Pacific theater, to use the phraseology, is going to become fraught in the next year?

CLARK: Well, I think the new president of the United States has got to look at this China policy as the centerpiece of what he's doing in the

region. And the United States has no business going to war with China. What we're looking for is a combination of measures to deter China and convince

it not to use force against Taiwan. And part of those measures are the stability in Korea and in Japan. The ability of Korea and Japan to work

together, which President Biden furthered considerably by his personal diplomatic efforts. And of course, we've got military forces, U.S. military

forces, and strong Korean military forces in South Korea.

We've got U.S. forces in Japan also, and basing rights now in the Philippines, and doing a lot of training there. We're doing freedom of

navigation through the South China Sea. So, it's all about stability and deterrence. And stability on the Korean Peninsula is a big part of this.

So, I hope we'll get this resolved.

QUEST: The -- what I think the last 24 hours shows is something that I suspect you've lived your entire life on the other end of. It's what Harold

Macmillan, the British -- former British prime minister, famously used to say, what worries him most? Events, dear boy, events. And this is a really

brutal reminder. I mean, none of us went -- got up this morning expecting this.

CLARK: No, it is. It was a surprise. And yet, the Korean people reacted against it. The parliament reacted against it. The soldiers came out in the

streets, just like they were ordered to do. And hopefully. this will get resolved in some successful way for democracy. He may well go to jail on

this. Korea's been tough on its presidents and has high standards. But the point is democracy's apparently been reestablished. And U.S. military

forces are there. They were unaffected by this.

[18:40:00]

QUEST: All right. I'm just going to throw this on a whim. The new defense nominee, he's been doing the rounds on Capitol Hill. It's hard to gauge. I

see that some senators like Lindsey Graham saying it's going to be difficult to get Pete Hegseth. It's going to be difficult seems to be the

word that's now being used. But it's hard to gauge at this point which way the wind is blowing for this nominee.

CLARK: It is hard to gauge. He has been a soldier. That's good. He's never had experience managing a big organization. He's coming in with a lot of

strikes against him. He's going to have a lot of trouble establishing credibility with the members of the armed forces where that kind of

behavior that he's apparently exhibited is intolerable.

Any member of the armed forces would have been kicked out for doing what he's done. And yet, he's nominated for a position that will put him in on

top of them. He's a number two in the chain of command. So, he has a U.S. nuclear authority. He and the president do. And so, there's a lot of teeth

grinding on the hill about this, but he's the president's nominee.

I think what you're going to see is a very strong experienced businessman come in as deputy secretary of defense to really run the department and

we'll see whether Mr. Hegseth gets nominated.

QUEST: As a military man, pardon my military language, does that piss you off when you know that the top person, either is or isn't up to it, but

they are buttressed by an entire cadre of people who have to be put in to sort of support them? It happens in business. It happens in academia. But

as a military man, does that sort of hack you off a bit?

CLARK: Well, you can't take these things personally. I mean, when you're in the uniform, you're -- you know, it's the constitution of the United

States that you swear your loyalty to. And if the people elect a president and he appoints this man over you, then hopefully, he'll do his job well.

And you know, you're responsible for following the lawful orders of the chain of command. So, you try not to look at it.

But there's no question that his conduct over the last few years will -- it will certainly generate some questions, some credibility issues with

members of the armed forces.

QUEST: I'm grateful to you, sir. General, thank you, as always. And if I don't speak to you on air before, I wish you and your family a good holiday

season. Thank you, sir.

CLARK: Thank you, Richard.

QUEST: And as we continue, Donald Trump is returning to the global stage. He's going to Paris for the reopening of Notre Dame. We'll talk about that

in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:45:00]

QUEST: Donald Trump's pick to lead the DEA, the Drug Enforcement Administration, says he's going to withdraw from consideration. It's Chad

Chronister, who's the sheriff of Hillsborough County in Florida. He posted on X, it was an honor to be selected, but he's backing out after reflecting

on the gravity of the job.

President Trump said he's going to Paris for this weekend's reopening of Notre Dame. It's his first overseas trip since the election. It marks his

return to the global stage, if you will. Six weeks before the oath of office.

Kristen Holmes is with me. This is fascinating, fascinating, because if we bear in mind, he appointed his in laws, who he gave a pardon to, as the

ambassador to France, a man Charlie Kushner, who he is very close to and sort of holds in high esteem. And now, he's making this -- he is upgrading

relations with the Elysee Palace and with Macron. He's doing it already.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. And this is really just one of many foreign leaders that we've seen really try

to ingratiate themselves with Donald Trump. It is a known entity that Donald Trump has a fascination with Notre Dame. He talked about it when he

was president. He was watching as the fire burned on Air Force One, and he has brought it up to a number of people.

And really what we see here is yet another foreign leader using this grace, offering, this kind of trips to bring him to be a world leader, also trying

to flatter him with a trip where there will be a number of foreign leaders. This is all coming as these foreign leaders are trying to navigate a new

world stage that has Donald Trump on it. We saw this really leading up to the election with various foreign leaders trying to meet with Donald Trump.

We saw this really leading up to the election with various foreign leaders trying to meet with Donald Trump. We saw it right afterwards,

congratulating him. One of the things that we reported at the time was that Donald Trump was keeping close tabs on who congratulated him.

Interestingly, Macron was one of the first people to issue a congratulations. And now, he is going to France.

One kind of interesting factor, Richard, is that Donald Trump actually doesn't like international travel. It's not something that he enjoys doing,

but we are told that he was very fascinated in this and was excited and really worked with his team to make sure that this could happen.

QUEST: Is there anybody in the transition that sort of saying, listen, we need to be a little bit careful here. He's not the president yet. And you

know, that famous line, America only has one president at a time. It's -- I can see by your wry smile I'm expecting a short sharp shrift of an answer,

no, Richard. But is there anybody that has that sort of feeling of it's not -- we've got to be more careful or not?

HOLMES: Not when it comes to him acting like president, because they believe he won. And now, he won by a larger margin when it comes to the

popular vote, as well as the Electoral College. They were very superstitious up until the election. There were a lot of different events,

a lot of different things that he didn't want to say out loud. He didn't want to talk planning his cabinet, he didn't want to talk as though he

would want. But now, that he has, there's not really anyone taking that into consideration because of the fact that they believe that he is and he

will be the next president of the United States, and they are acting as such.

QUEST: Final question. Saying to Justin Trudeau that Canada could be the 51st state. All said in humor, I'm not entirely certain it goes down very

well, a bit like a lead balloon north of the border.

HOLMES: Yes. Look, the sources who told me about this conversation, they were briefed on it. They said it was a joke. It is unclear whether or not

it actually landed as a joke. You know, one of the things I keep saying is that, oh, to be a fly on the wall when he actually said that and see Justin

Trudeau's face.

But what we know is that Justin Trudeau did come down to Mar-a-Lago on Friday, kind of an impromptu visit after Donald Trump had once again stated

that he was going to enact these 25 percent tariffs on Canada and New Mexico. As he was eating dinner with Donald Trump very early on, he started

talking about the tariffs, Donald Trump reiterated the fact that he wanted to impose these large tariffs and Justin Trudeau essentially said that this

would harm, if not destroy, Canada's economy. That was when we heard this joke, or when sources heard this joke from Donald Trump, saying that if it

was going to be so harmful to the economy, if tariffs were going to be so bad, that maybe Canada should be the 51st state.

I had one source who told me deadpan that's what he said. No actual engagement on it. Another one insisted that he was telling a joke and that

everybody laughed. Unclear. Obviously, I was not in the room, but when you're having a serious conversation about tariffs, it doesn't seem as

though that would land in a great way, but again, I wasn't there.

[18:50:00]

QUEST: Ah, to be a fly on the wall, to that and many other conversations. Kristen, I'm grateful to you. Thank you. In West Palm Beach for us tonight.

Thank you.

HOLMES: Thank you.

QUEST: The FBI has arrested a man in California for allegedly helping North Korea plan a surprise attack on South Korea. By the way, this story's

got nothing to do with the shenanigans overnight. But we'll tell you about it after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: The FBI has arrested a man in California for allegedly helping North Korea prepare an attack on South Korea. The suspect's a Chinese

national who's residing unlawfully in the U.S., and now, the FBI says he was involved in a sophisticated scheme, as they're calling it, obtaining

restricted weapons and military grade technology.

Josh Campbell is with me. Josh, I do need to just preface before you, you wind yourself up that this has got nothing to do with the sort of events

overnight in Seoul. But this is a very peculiar business.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It is, Richard, and this is something out of a spy thriller. You have a young man coming to the United

States to study. The FBI alleges -- actually, he was here to try to obtain that sensitive technology that you mentioned. They said before he actually

came to the U.S., he met with North Korean officials who tasked him with obtaining weapons, with obtaining ammunition, with obtaining sophisticated

military grade technology.

I'll read you part of the criminal complaint. They say that this 41-year- old man, Shenghua Wen, believe the North Korean government wanted the weapons, ammunition, and other military related equipment to prepare for an

attack against South Korea and military uniforms, which would subsequently be used by the North Korean military to disguise their soldiers to conduct

a surprise attack on South Korea.

We'll show you some of the photos and images of what authority sees as well as what they found on his cell phone. Again, this is equipment including

weapons, but also chemical detection equipment. There's a tool for detecting listening devices.

Now, how the scheme works, authorities say, is that this suspect opened up a front company in the State of Texas where he obtained weapons and

ammunition, that was them transported to the port of Long Beach here in the Los Angeles area where I am where they were packed in crates. They were

given phony manifests at times, you know, labeled as a refrigerator, for example, and then they would ship those weapons over to North Korea.

Now, there is a question here about how this all got on the radar of the government. What they say is that it was a tip from the public, a concerned

member who sells this type of equipment who thought, OK, something is wrong here with what this person is trying to purchase. That person contacted

authorities. They held a press conference a short time ago describing the scheme. Have a listen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AKIL DAVIS, FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR IN CHARGE, LOS ANGELES FIELD OFFICE: Not only did the investigative team prevent additional restricted items

from going to the North Korean regime, but they gathered valuable intelligence for the United States and all of our allies.

This case is a success for the United States and no doubt dealt a significant blow to the North Korean government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[18:55:00]

CAMPBELL: And finally, Richard, we have reached out to Wen's attorney trying to get comment on this charge. Authorities say that if convicted of

violating U.S. export control laws, he could face up to 20 years in federal prison.

QUEST: Grateful for that, sir. Well, not for 20 years in prison, but you're reporting on it. Thank you very much.

CAMPBELL: You bet.

QUEST: Finally, tonight or this morning, Jaguar unveiling its brand new all electric concept car at Miami Art Week in Florida. It comes in two

colors, it's in Miami Pink and London Blue. The car that you're seeing will never go into production.

However, its upcoming EVs will have similar designs. Note there's no back window. The car is dividing opinion. It's rather like last week's

controversial rebranding of Jaguar. Jaguar. I'm going to say it properly. Criticized for not showing actually any cars. Jaguar is going all electric.

It's new vehicles are expected to cost more than a hundred thousand dollars, and we'll know more about them late next year.

No cars. I used to own a Jaguar. No, I did, an XJ6. White one. People used to rudely call it a wedding car. And that's about it for tonight. Julia's

back tomorrow. Whatever you're up to, I hope it's profitable.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:00:00]

END