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Trump and Family Spend Holiday at Storied Estate; Unprecedented Security to Keep Trump Safe in New York; Millions of Shoppers Jump at Black Friday Deals; Dylann Roof Found Competent to Stand Trial; NYC Firefighters Pull Off Miracle on 93rd Street. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired November 25, 2016 - 14:30   ET

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


[14:30:06] ART RODERICK, FORMER ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE: And I mean, there's so many unusual things about this. First of all, it's two females that abducted her, apparently, from what the information we have at this particular point in time.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

RODERICK: And then she was held for three weeks. It's just very bizarre circumstances all the way around.

BALDWIN: But, I guess what I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around is why, you know, law enforcement are being so vague. And maybe it's entirely intentional --

RODERICK: Yes.

BALDWIN: -- because they're close to finding who these two women are, but we know that she's been, you know, talking. So why don't we know more about how she was maybe allegedly kidnapped?

RODERICK: I think, at this point in time, law enforcement has the whole story. They're keeping information back. When you listen to the press conference, it's not what was actually came out of the press conference but what was not said at that press conference. And there's a ton of information I'm sure the law enforcement has at this point, and they could very well be close to apprehending these two individuals.

I mean, when you're held captive for three weeks, the information that you can garner is going to lot of information that Ms. Papini had that I'm sure, at this point in time, she's turned over to law enforcement, and they're acting on that particular information that she provided.

BALDWIN: We know that it was her husband who reported her missing, and then he was later cleared because, you know, he had to undergo a lie detector test.

RODERICK: Right.

BALDWIN: He said he never told their two children that their mom was missing. What's your reaction to all of that?

RODERICK: I mean, it's good that they were able to clear him right away, so that they could shift their investigative assets to other avenues of how this possibly could have happened, but it sounds like they didn't really have a whole heck of a lot of information. I mean, she went out for a jog, she went missing and then there's absolutely no contact or no leads that came in as to who grabbed her and where she was being held.

So it's very strange from A to Z on this particular case, so it will be very interesting to hear, that once these people are apprehended, the whole story behind, not only her capture but also where she was being held for three weeks.

BALDWIN: Yes. I think you're right. Police know the whole story.

RODERICK: Right.

BALDWIN: I think it should be a matter of time before the rest of us are let in. Art Roderick, thank you as always.

RODERICK: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: More on our breaking news today. Donald Trump hiring two new people to join him at the White House, including a Fox News analyst. More on who they are and their roles.

Also, we are now getting word that Mitt Romney has some additional competition for that Secretary of State post, including General David Petraeus.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:36:56] BALDWIN: Right now, the President-elect is at Mar-a-Lago. That's his 28-acre waterfront estate down in Palm Beach, Florida. It is secluded from the public. It's nestled in a stunning enclave of multimillion dollar homes. Now, Donald Trump may own it, but he also shares it with as many as 500 club members who are all, you know, ponying up about a hundred grand to join. And incredibly even before Trump, this estate held ties to American presidential history.

So CNN's Ed Lavandera has been digging into the history of this mega estate in Florida. What did you find, Ed?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's got a fascinating history even before Donald Trump owned it. This estate sits there on the Barrier Island in Palm Beach. And if you've ever had the chance to drive past it, it's rather stunning, the number of multimillion dollar homes and the incredible architecture surrounding it.

When you first drive past Mar-a-Lago, the first time I drove past it a few days ago -- I happened to drive right past it and didn't even realize I had done so. I had to double back to kind of get a look at it. So from the road that you can drive by, very understated. For those of you who have the ability to get inside, unlike myself and the vast majority of the rest of us, it is ornate. It's like a throwback to another time from the way it's been described to me. It took several years to build back in the 1920s. It was built by a woman named Marjorie Merriweather Post, Post being

of like the cereal Post, and we're talking about a ton of money at the time. This was the woman who was the richest woman in the United States. And for many, many decades, it was kind of one of the places to be seen in the high society world of Palm Beach. She died in the early 1970s and gifted it, the property, to the U.S. government. She had hoped that it would become kind of an enclave and a place for Presidents and diplomats to escape.

The U.S. government and Presidents didn't really want to go there, didn't do that, and it was too much upkeep. So the U.S. government tried to figure out a way to sell it, and that's when Donald Trump came in in 1985. So, you know, we spoke to several people there in Palm Beach who kind of talked about how, you know, this woman, Ms. Post, dreamed of this place being a presidential retreat. It never really became that. And now, more than 40 years later, it's becoming just that.

BALDWIN: Fascinating, some of the history. And I mean, I'm just shocked that you haven't been able to make your way behind those walls. But that's the thing, when you drive around that part of Palm Beach, it's like you can't even see half the homes because of the mega walls. You're in the car sort of like peering over the hedges and the walls. I can't wait to see more of your reporting on the history of Mar-a-Lago later on, I believe, in "THE SITUATION ROOM." Ed Lavandera, thank you.

And while security is certainly in full force down there, the sort of winter White House, an unprecedented plan is now being put into place at Trump's home in Midtown Manhattan. The U.S. Secret Service, of course, working in tandem with the NYPD has set up 24-hour coverage. The "New York Post" is reporting that the Secret Service is actually in negotiations with the Trump Organization to rent, not just one, two entire floors on this mega building on Fifth Avenue to use as a Secret Service command post.

[14:40:01] Essentially, this means the government would be paying Trump to -- they'll be paying Trump the rent to protect him. Let me bring in an expert who definitely knows what it takes to protect a president, Jonathan Wackrow, former Secret Service agent for President Obama. Nice to see you.

JONATHAN WACKROW, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, RANE: Thank you for having me.

BALDWIN: So before we get into the pennies, nickels, and dollars involved in this renting --

WACKROW: Yes.

BALDWIN: -- how does it work? Who is on these floors? Where in the Trump Tower would they be?

WACKROW: Well, this goes back to the protective methodology of the United States Secret Service. Regardless of where the President or President-elect are going to be, we have to cover them 360 degrees in all directions. So if you look at Trump Tower, we're going to need to occupy space

above where the protectee is and below, so really locking down a certain area of that building. So with that being said, you know, building out a command center is logical. It's a best practice. It allows us to, again, coordinate our comprehensive security program with the NYPD and other law enforcement agencies, you know, to provide the protection for the President-elect.

BALDWIN: Command center. What does that really mean?

WACKROW: Command center. Very similar to the CNN news room here. There's a lot of monitors, there's a lot of people, but it's a centralized location. It's a fusion center of information.

BALDWIN: OK.

WACKROW: It's where we can take in information about traffic. It's where we can coordinate our security protocols, understand and liaise with staff to understand what is the, you know, President-elect's schedule. What is the, you know, the future first lady's schedule? What are the kids doing? It's one centralized location to bring together all of our information and then, you know, develop either whether it's on a per diem basis or long-term, our security strategy.

BALDWIN: And before you all start thinking, well, why should, basically, my tax dollar in the form of paying, you know, Trump to have this, you know, floors rented for the Secret Service, this is not new. It may be new in the sense of a skyscraper on Fifth Avenue but it's happened with presidents past.

WACKROW: Absolutely. You know, it's unique that we're talking about it. We didn't see it with the Obamas because they, you know, essentially stayed within Washington. They took, you know, smaller trips here and there. They didn't have a centralized location that they constantly went back to except for periodic trips to Chicago.

But, you know, in presidents past, you know, President Bush, I mean, we had a --

BALDWIN: Crawford, Texas.

WACKROW: At Crawford, Texas, we had a very large security footprint there. We had a large command center set up on the ranch and the ranch next to it. The military had some, you know, assets that were established. You know, we have this command center up in Chappaqua, New York for the Clintons. Wherever we have one of our permanent protectees, there's always going to be a command center, again, to provide that comprehensive security structure.

BALDWIN: And I know the game changes and becomes even larger --

WACKROW: Correct.

BALDWIN: -- in 56 days when the man puts his hand on that Bible.

WACKROW: Wonderful. BALDWIN: John Wackrow, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

WACKROW: Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

BALDWIN: It is Black Friday. Millions of you are out and about today trying to get an early jump on their holiday shopping. Let me show you some pictures, and you will see.

This was the scene in New York's Herald Square early this morning at the flagship Macy's store. It actually opened last night and people have continued shopping overnight and into this afternoon. It's all about discounts and the sales, right?

But a fight broke out in a mall -- oh, boy. Oh. Modesto, California. Caught here on surveillance video. Was it over a sock, a shoe, some perfume? I don't know. So unnecessary, but so Black Friday.

Alison Kosik has been at a Target store for us today in Jersey City, New Jersey. Alison, tell me the scene is calmer there.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Brooke, Black Friday going strong today but did you know it began Thursday? I'm talking 6:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving. People were going after these TVs. Last night, when Target opened at 6:00, it said it sold 3,200 TVs per minute in that first hour of opening. It's really amazing when you think about how people are willing to get out there, work off their Thanksgiving, and also get some holiday shopping out of the way.

Here's one of my favorites, the old robotic vacuum. Meaning like, you know, you want to vacuum the floor but watch it work for you while you sit on the couch? My personal favorite. Here's another. How about an almost an almost life-sized version of a Storm Trooper? I can't live without one of these.

But did you know that pajamas are thing? Family pajamas, I'm talking about. Target actually yesterday almost doubled in sales the amount of family pajamas they sold compared to last year. This is my favorite, "Mama Bear." Brooke, back to you.

BALDWIN: All right. I like it. Alison, thank you.

Next, more on the breaking news. Donald Trump selecting a Fox News analyst and someone who has worked in three separate Republican White Houses to join him. Are there more stars from the network on his list?

[14:44:38] Also ahead, a judge has just ruled whether the man behind that mass shooting inside that Charleston, South Carolina church is competent to stand trial. The decision and what it means coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A federal judge has just found the shooter from that Charleston church competent to stand trial. What that means is that jury selection will resume Monday in his hate crime trial that had been halted so that he could undergo a competency evaluation. This young man is facing 33 federal charges related to the June 2015

shooting deaths of nine people inside that historic Mother Emanuel AME Church. All of the victims were African-American including the church's politically active pastor, the Reverend Clementa Pinckney. They were murdered in the middle of a Bible study as their eyes were closed in prayer in a case that absolutely just disgusted and shocked the nation. Investigators say this man sat among the pastor and parishioners before pulling out his gun.

CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Danny Cevallos is back with me in this. And what's fascinating is this judge apparently was sealing the document, so he won't revealing the reasons behind his decisions as to whether or not -- why he said he's competent. Why do you think that is?

DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: That's not surprising.

BALDWIN: No.

[14:49:58] CEVALLOS: In a case like this, there may be sensitive information in that finding. Remember, it's going to contain a bunch of medical information. And as a matter of course, typically, I'll seek to seal documents in federal court that contain sensitive medical information about a client or something like that. So that's not that unusual. There is an order that the judge recites the applicable law and what we need to know is this, is that a defendant is only incompetent if one of the two things occur. Either he is unable to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against him, or he's unable to assist his attorney in his defense.

And, as you know, again, I'm sort of a jaded criminal defense attorney, so my perception is that judges tend to just find defendants competent because it is a very relatively low bar. It shouldn't be confused with insanity because insanity is about the state of mind at the time the crime was committed. Competency is about a present ability to undergo trial. And that's what the judge is evaluating.

BALDWIN: OK. Also, the competency evaluation was completed before the jury selection. Is that typical as well?

CEVALLOS: That's very typical. The issue of competency has to be decided before you proceed to trial. Remember, as soon as a jury is sworn in, double jeopardy attaches. So this is the kind of thing that is resolved at pre-trial, deciding whether or not a defendant is presently unable because of a mental disease or defect to either understand the proceedings or help his attorney. That has to be decided in advance of the trial.

If you go through a trial and this defendant was later determined to be have been clearly incompetent --

BALDWIN: Yes.

CEVALLOS: -- that's going to create real problems on appeal.

BALDWIN: Just a reminder this is also obviously pertaining to the federal case. He's also facing charges in state court as well.

CEVALLOS: That's right.

BALDWIN: Danny, thank you very much.

Just ahead, we'll speak live with Barry Williams, the man who played Greg Brady, as we learn and celebrate the life of Florence Henderson as she passed away overnight at the age of 82 years young.

Also ahead, it is being called a miracle on 93rd Street. You will see this daring rescue from a burning building and the dangerous technique these firefighters rarely use.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES LEE, RESCUE 1, FIRE DEPARTMENT CITY OF NEW YORK: The roof was on fire. There was fire coming out of the shaft. There was fire all around us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:56:31] BALDWIN: It's being called the miracle on 93rd Street, New York City firefighters putting their lives on the line to save an elderly man who's trapped in a burning apartment building. And they pulled this off using a rescue technique that's only deployed in the most dire situations.

Brynn Gingras is now with five of New York City's bravest who went beyond the call of duty.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Urgent, urgent, urgent, command to all units. We want everybody out of the fire building.

JOSEPH MOORE, LADDER 13, FIRE DEPARTMENT CITY OF NEW YORK: This is the type of job you see, you know, once in a 20-year career.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As a Manhattan apartment building ignited in flames, more than 200 members of the FNDY raced toward it. These five men among them.

LEE: The roof was on fire. There was fire coming out of the shaft. There was fire all around us.

GINGRAS (voice-over): The firefighters never met before, but that day, an 81-year-old man trapped in his home brought them together.

MOORE: Frank called me and told me that we had a guy at the window.

FRANK RUSH, RESCUE 1, FIRE DEPARTMENT CITY OF NEW YORK: And my thought was possibly an off fire escape to get to try him but as you saw in the photos, there was no rear fire escape in this old law tenement. LEE: I just grabbed the rope, dumped the rope onto the roof, and then

that's when Andy and Steve came up and Joe, and we just went to work.

GINGRAS (voice-over): A rope rescue is a dangerous technique which hasn't been attempted by this department in five years because it's considered a last resort by firemen standards but one they knew they had to do.

Within seconds, Jim Lee was being lowered down, scaling the burning building.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go to your right, Jimmy. Go to your right.

LEE: He was burning, you know. And at one point, you could with hear him yelling, burning. And I just remember sort of seeing him looking up at me with that hood up and I just said to him, "Let's go."

GINGRAS (voice-over): With the rope holding them beginning to burn --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Lower him down nice and easy, guys. Nice and easy. Lower him down.

GINGRAS (voice-over): The team of firefighters successfully lowered the two men to safety.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This guy is burned. We're down. He's down.

GINGRAS (voice-over): Seconds before the rope snapped.

LEE: I'm looking back up and seen the fire now out the windows. The rope was on fire, and the reality set in that, wow, we really just -- we saved a guy's life. I mean, legitimately, a group of guys worked together in seamless fashion and saved this guy's life. And what a feeling.

GINGRAS (voice-over): That feeling came again --

JAMES DUFFY, RESCUED FROM FIRE: You look familiar.

(LAUGHTER)

GINGRAS (voice-over): -- when the firefighters met the man they saved, Jim Duffy.

DUFFY: I said thank god there. It was a miracle. Of course, I called it a miracle on 93rd.

LEE: All right. Well, that's a good catch phrase. I like it, yes.

DUFFY: You like it, guys?

RUSH: We won't take it away from you.

LEE: Yes.

(LAUGHTER) RUSH: We deal with a lot of tragedy in this job. And through the course of the career, more tragedy than you'd like to ever see. And this is definitely a win for everybody.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GINGRAS: Brynn Gingras, CNN New York.

BALDWIN: And we continue on along on this holiday Friday. I'm Brooke Baldwin. You are watching CNN. We do have some breaking news for you.

President-elect Donald Trump has now made two new additions to his future White House staff. And we're now hearing of even more possibilities for Trump's top diplomat job over at State as Secretary of State.

So beyond the names that have already been floated, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney, a Trump transition source tells CNN that these three men here on your screen are also in consideration for the job at State.

As for the new hires, Trump's transition team announced Fox News analyst K.T. McFarland will now be Trump's deputy national security adviser. She also had worked at three separate Republican White Houses.

And long-time Washington insider and election law expert Don McGahn will serve as assistant to the President and White House counsel.

So to Ryan Nobles we go, covering all things Trump. He is down at --