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Trump's Unprecedented Allegations of Illegal Voting in Tweet Storm; Trump to Meet with Potential Cabinet Picks Monday; Former Cuban Leader Fidel Castro Dead at 90; Kellyanne Conway Publicly Dismissing Mitt Romney To Be Secretary of State; Elian Gonzalez Mourns Castro as His Second Father. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired November 27, 2016 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:11] PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Pamela Brown in for Poppy Harlow. Thank you so much for joining us on this Sunday.

New tonight, President-elect Donald Trump taking an unprecedented allegation in the series of tweets just fired off, claiming without any evidence that the only reason Hillary Clinton won the popular vote was because millions of people voted for her illegally.

Here is what he wrote. Quote "in addition to winning Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally. It would have been much easier for me to win the so-called popular vote than the Electoral College and that I would I only campaign in three or four states instead of the 15 states that I have visited. I would have won even more easily and convincingly, but smaller states are forgotten."

Trump's comments follow news as the Clinton campaign is joining with Jill Stein at the Green Party in pushing for a recount in several key states.

And this morning on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION," Trump's senior adviser and former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway blasted the recount effort.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISOR/GOP POLLSTER: He has been incredibly gracious and magnanimous to Secretary Clinton at a time when, for whatever reason, her folks are saying they will join in a recount to try to somehow undo the 70 plus electoral votes he beat her by. I mean, this - you know, I was asked on CNN and elsewhere -- goodness, a thousand times, will Donald Trump accept the election results? And now you have got the Democrats and Jill Stein saying they do not accept the election results?

She congratulated him and conceded to him on election night. I was right there. And the idea that we are going to drag this out now, where the president-elect has been incredibly magnanimous to the Clintons and to the Obamas is pretty incredible.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BROWN: Joining us now, Trump supporter and the former and governor of South Carolina, Andre Bauer.

Andre, why is the president-elect spending his day on Twitter, spreading false claims and arguing that he won the popular votes?

ANDRE BAUER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I don't know that they are false claims but --

BROWN: That millions of people voted illegally. We don't have any evidence to support that claim.

BAUER: We have had evidence for years. There has been evidence for years that people that weren't on the voter roles for voting. There has been evidence that people that were actually passed away were still voting. And so, that's why for so long conservatives have pushed for voter I.D. where if you went into the poll you had to at least show who you were. And for a long time, people said that's voter suppression. But I just -- I don't know the person that exists that doesn't have an I.D. in this day and time.

BROWN: So you think that there is credence to this claim by Donald Trump, that he would have won the popular vote if millions didn't vote illegally? You think that there is credence to this, that this is acceptable?

BAUER: Sure, there is credence to that. And there have been instances time and time again where they have found voter roles, for example, I think in the last election against Romney, in Pennsylvania where there were more people that voted than there were registered in certain precincts.

BROWN: So then, Andre, why not a recount then? Doesn't this justify a recount? If he actually believes millions of people voted illegally, shouldn't there be a recount?

BAUER: Well, the election has already been decided. And for another candidate to already go ahead and concede and congratulate the other candidate doesn't move the country forward. But I think in the end the recount will be healthy. It will show Donald Trump won. And there's no question about it. We'll move forward. I don't think it's the healthiest thing for the country right now because we should be moving forward with president-elect and trying to get ready for the new presidency. Go ahead.

BROWN: And I think it is important because he is our president-elect and what he says matters. What he tweets matters. How can you say that the election has been decided and how can he say that if he believes all these people, millions of people voted illegally, particularly when there is no evidence to support that and there have been very few cases that actual voter fraud that have been prosecuted over the last couple of decades. So how can you say that?

BAUER: Well, if you go back again in the last election, there were several precincts that had more people vote than they had people registered to vote. The mainstream media does never wants to discuss it or talk about it. Nor does the crowd that takes advantage of the situation. But, again, I can't understand why anybody in this country would be against voter I.D. The states gave away - in our state I was in the legislature and we passed voter I.D. and we offered a free I.D. to anyone wanting an I.D. And so, why would you want to know who is showing up to the polls and voting?

And to me, any civilized society should want to say hey, to vote, we want to make sure you are who you are. You can't get on the plane. You can't check out. There's multitude of things you can't do without an I.D. And so, no problem for anyone wanting to do it the right way.

But anyway, moving forward, if Jill Stein wants to go in and Hillary Clinton wants to help her with this process, I think it sends a bad message. If you look back to Richard Nixon, there are multiple questions about whether that election was actually stolen from him or not against John F. Kennedy. But he wanted the country to move forward and so he chose not to contest it because of the greater good. And we know it. Hillary Clinton has already conceded the election to Donald Trump. Already called in and congratulated. So I don't know what - or congratulated him. So I don't know what would be the rationale now to contest it.

[19:05:35] BROWN: OK. Let me bring in Ryan Lizza of the "New Yorker."

Ryan, are you here with us? I just want to get your take on the latest tweets from Donald Trump. Clearly, this has gotten under his skin, this recount effort. And he has gone so far, as we were just discussing, to say that he would have won the popular vote. He won this election. Why is he -- why, in your view, is he going out and saying these kinds of things without evince to back it up, Ryan?

RYAN LIZZA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Couple of things. The rules are the rules. Everyone and both candidates knew that the Electoral College is what governs the election. And Trump is absolutely right that both candidates would have had completely different strategies if the rule was that the popular vote governed.

Hillary Clinton would have spent a lot more time in California, New York, and Texas. And Trump would have also. So he has a point there.

What's - what I'm puzzled by are a couple of things. One is why he cares so much about these audits or recounts in these three states. As Hillary Clinton's lawyer admitted, in Michigan, the narrowest state in the country, the margin by which Trump won exceeds what any recount -- the margin in any successful recount effort where an election was overturned. In other words there's never recount where the margin of whatever Trump has, a few thousand votes, a recount actually overturned it. So he is really not in any danger here. Even the Clinton lawyers don't think there's a chance that the results are going to change.

There has been no evidence of fraud. There has been no evidence of -- that we have seen so far of irregularities, despite Trump's false claim today that millions of people fraudulently voted. So, I am mystified as to why he is so angry about this. If you are smart, he would just ignore this. It's not going to change the outcome. He won. I think he is and has got -- it's got under his skin that the popular vote is a massive differential. It looks like it's going to be a two-point victory in the popular vote for Hillary Clinton and 2.5 million votes. That doesn't change the outcome or who wins the election. But it is an important fact. And it's an important fact for what Trump claims a mandate or he can't - you know, most presidents can say they won more votes than the other person. He can't say that. So it's an important fact in terms of his popular mandate.

But the two things that he has done today. One, allowed these recounts to get under his skin when they are not going to change the outcome. And, two, made this false accusation that millions of people voted illegally. I just find it mystifying, especially when he has so much other stuff to worry about in assembling a government.

BROWN: Andre, do you agree with Ryan's point that he shouldn't allow this to get under his skin?

BAUER: Well, I think what you see is not a guy that's mad, a guy that's passionate. A guy that went out and did what he --

LIZZA: He seemed mad to me, Andre.

BROWN: He didn't seem too happy about this, Andre. I mean, look at all his tweets overnight and today. And I mean, clearly, this is getting under his skin.

BAUER: Well, you saw a guy that almost 2-1 did as many rallies and public appearances as Hillary Clinton. This guy went out and gave his all. I mean, he put everything into it. He went to the states that people were making fun of him, mocking him and he actually won those states. And this guy is a passionate believer.

He is not a politician. He is a businessman that put his heart and soul in this election. And anything he gets in, he gives it 110 percent. And it felt like he gave it 110 percent in this election. And so, to revisit it after the election, I think he feels a little bit slighted.

BROWN: He did defy expectations. And the question lingers, I know we have to wrap this up. But the question lingers, if there's no point in this Ryan, as you say, it's not going to change the outcome, why the recount effort is under way.

And we will continue to discuss this. We want both of you to stick around. Thank you so much for that really interesting discussion there. Do appreciate it, Andre, Ryan.

BAUER: Thank you.

BROWN: Coming up, the Romney rift. The president-elect, closest advisors go public with their protests over Romney possibly being the next secretary of state. So will Donald Trump listen?

And from conflict of interest concern two major foreign policy tests, the closer look at the Trump transition as it enters its third week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:13:00] BROWN: At this hour, president-elect Donald Trump is due back in New York before a day of meetings tomorrow and to filling out his cabinet. One position or more specifically one candidate has Trump's closest allies taking their fight public. Their message? Don't pick Mitt Romney as secretary of state or face backlash from your supporter.

Trump's senior advisor, Kellyanne Conway, laid out that very argument this morning on "STATE OF THE UNION."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISOR/GOP POLLSTER: I'm all for party unity, but I'm not sure that we have to pay for that with secretary of state position. But again, let me repeat, what Donald Trump decides, Kellyanne Conway and everybody else will respect. It's just the backlash from the grassroots. I'm hearing from people who say, hey, my parents died penniless, but I gave $216 to Donald Trump's campaign and I would feel betrayed. You have people saying I thought we got rid of this type. I'm just saying that there were -- we don't even know if Mitt Romney vote for the record Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: All right. I want to bring in our panel. Andre joins us again, Andre Bauer. He is a Trump supporter representing the left. We have Marc Lamont-Hill, CNN political commentator.

Thank you both for coming back. Do appreciate it.

Andre, first to you. Kellyanne Conway right, will, Trump's core base really feel betrayed if he goes with Romney?

BAUER: Well, there's some people that still that voted for - you know, that supported both of them. I mean, I voted for both of them. But there are some people that really would like to see the swamp totally drained. They want to see the whole system changed in Washington. They don't want to see a repeat. They want to see new faces, new ideas and new approach.

Mitt Romney is a skilled individual, a very intelligent and prepared individual. But there's a lot of folks that just want to see a different person in there that they aren't familiar with that brings a different perspective to the whole process of Washington.

BROWN: And Marc, when you look at the other possible secretary of state picks, Rudy Giuliani, General John Kelly, David Petreaus, is there another pick here that would satisfy Democrats or are they hoping Trump goes with Romney?

[19:15:04] MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I'm baffled by the logic here. I mean, certainly, there are people who I would pick over Mitt Romney. I think there are ideological reasons not to choose Mitt Romney. But if you say that he want someone with no experience to become your secretary of state. That seems curious to me. If you say, well, we want to drain the swamp, and how does picking General Petraeus make sense? If you want to drain the swamp, does picking Rudy Giuliani make more sense? We have all the people - Rudy Giuliani makes more sense. He has been - politics just as long and has even less experience. I think again there are ideological reasons not to pick Mitt Romney.

But if you're talking about a mix of experience and someone who can advance your agenda of the people on the table, he seems to be the most reputable. He seems to be the one who is least muddied in terms of traditional politics. He seems to be one that could be an interesting choice for Donald Trump.

BROWN: Andre?

BAUER: I think Marc makes some great points here. Actually, there's not a thing I disagree with.

BROWN: Wow, you all agree?

BAUER: Yes. I respect Marc a lot. I actually am a fan. What I would say is in elaborating on your first question, there are a lot of folks that, you know, don't like the fact that what Romney said about Trump as well. You know, there's a loyalty factor in there. And you know, being magnanimous is one thing. But the most powerful position you get to a point not having a trusted confidante, you know, there are some questions about that. And a lot of Trump loyalists feel like they want somebody in here. And Trump really has been a Trump person all along and supports Trump all along.

BROWN: But let me ask you that because on the other side, the argument has been made that Trump should look beyond loyalty. Because -- just because you have been loyal to him doesn't mean you have the experience to back it up. Do you think that should be the priority, loyalty beyond all else, Andre?

BAUER: Well, loyalty is a big, big factor for me, when you are a leader. Loyalty is probably one of the most important factors, but he has got a lot of loyal people around him that are more than qualified. When you look at Newt Gingrich, the guy is brilliant. Rudy Giuliani, again, has done so many wonderful things in his that shown his leadership ability. Both of those are great guys. But then there are plenty of folks that he has dealt with in his private sector that would have a multitude of skills that could bring a different approach to secretary of state's job.

BROWN: All right. I want to listen to what Senator Ted Cruz had to say. He had this morning today. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: If we are given the White House and both houses of Congress and we don't deliver, I think there will be pitch forks and torches in the streets, and I think quite rightly. I think people are so fed up with Washington, this election was a mandate for change. With the most catastrophic thing Republicans could do is go back to business as usual.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So Marc, I want to get your take on this. When you hear Trump already backing off things like prosecuting Hillary Clinton, repealing all of Obamacare and tearing up the Paris climate accord. What do you think about that? What's your take?

HILL: I can't say that I'm surprised. Donald Trump, in many ways, during his campaign at least, was playing to the cheap seats. He was jitting up a kind of rage and frustration among working class Americans, particularly the white working class because they are frustrated with the American economy. They are looking for answers. And in many ways, looking for excuses.

By saying I'm going to prosecute Hillary Clinton, you will be in jail if I'm president. There's a certain sector of American people who hate Hillary Clinton, right or wrong. And say something that please to them. But no one really thought he was going to do that. So to some extent, Donald Trump is going to govern like an ordinary Republican, which for me is troublesome enough, but he ran like any more of an extremist than people expect - than many people expect him to be.

And I think right now, you are seeing what a real Donald Trump looks like under a real set of political circumstances. Whatever you want to say about Donald Trump being an outsider, right now, he is no longer an outsider. He is an American politician. And he is going to have to function like one in many ways.

BROWN: All right. Andre, Marc, thank you both, gentlemen. Appreciate it.

BAUER: Thank you.

HILL: Pleasure.

BROWN: Coming up on this Sunday, he was a Cuban castaway rescued off the coast of Florida more than a decade ago. And today, Elian Gonzalez shares his thoughts on the passing of Fidel Castro. What he has to say about Cuba's long-time leader, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:22:52] BROWN: A father figure, a role model and a friend. That's how Elian Gonzalez, the Cuban castaway rescued more than a decade ago is remembering former Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Elian was just five years old when he was found floating on an inner tube off Florida. His mother and other Cubans died trying to escape a communist island. And after several months, living with his Miami relatives, then attorney general Janet Reno had Gonzalez forcibly removed and returned to his father in Cuba.

Now, fast forward to today. News of Castro's death has prompting celebrations in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood as we see right here. And many Cuban exiles blasting the former ruler as an unmerciful dictator.

But Elian, like many others in Cuba, is in mourning.

Ed Lavandera joins me now from Havana.

So Ed, Elian Gonzalez is an adult now. What is he saying about the death of Fidel Castro?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, in many ways, ever since Elian Gonzalez returned back to Cuba, he has revered Fidel Castro, publicly describing him in -- quoted one time saying that if he did have - he didn't profess to have any kind of religion. But if he did, his God would be Fidel Castro. So you can imagine what Elian Gonzalez is saying again today and once again describing Fidel Castro in those saintly terms.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIAN GONZALEZ, FORMER CUBAN CASTAWAY (through translator): He is a father like my father. I wanted to show him everything I had achieved, that he would be proud of me. That's how it was with Fidel. If I learned something, I wanted to show him. And there are still many thing I want to show him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: Elian Gonzalez was just six years old when he was rescued in the Florida straits by the U.S. coast guard, setting off that standoff, essentially, between the United States and the Fidel Castro regime over whether or not he should be returned back here to Cuba with his father. And eventually that is what happened. And that was an incredible public relations battle between Cuban exiles in Miami and the Castro regime here in Cuba -- Pamela.

[19:25:03] BROWN: Ed Lavandera, thank you very much for that.

And the death of Fidel Castro, just the first of many foreign policy tests for the president-elect. Coming up, a closer look at Trump's response and the challenges for his transition team so far.

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[19:28:24] BROWN: So it still 19 action-packed days since Donald Trump's stunning victory in the presidential race and his team is scrambling to prepare for inauguration that creeps closer every day. So how is the president-elect doing as he gets ready to take the oath of office?

The "New Yorker's" Ryan Lizza joins us to discuss this.

OK, Ryan. Get out your red pen. We are going to be inaugurating Donald Trump for our transition report card. First up, transition staffing. What grade do you give him on that and why?

LIZZA: Well, there are two big issues. He has been ahead of schedule in a lot of his picks, compared to previous incoming presidents. So you have to give him some points for that. But the thing that I'm surprised at is the lack of experience with most of the picks. So I would give him a C overall. I'm a tough grader, though, Pam.

BROWN: I would say.

LIZZA: I teach at Georgetown. And you know, my kids (INAUDIBLE).

BROWN: OK. You are one of those professors?

LIZZA: And, you know, he just -- I'm a little surprised in some of the key positions that as someone who doesn't have any government experience that he didn't pick a chief of staff with governing experience. His senior adviser doesn't have governing experience, his education secretary. You know, you could go down the list. His national security adviser, which we will discuss in a second. So, you know, the thing that I think is concerning with presidential -- with the president-elect who has no governing experience is, is he bringing in people that can compensate and so far we're not seeing that.

BROWN: But you do give him credit for doing things relatively quickly up to this point?

LIZZA: He's doing it quickly, fast. Yes. He is ahead of, for instance, where Obama was. And you know, that's important. Because you want to get these people confirmed and not having experience, it's important to have the people in place when he sworn in January.

[19:30:09] BROWN: All right. So let's talk foreign policy. The first big event we have seen since Election Day, the death of Fidel Castro. Obviously, he is not in-charge. But how do you grade his response?

LIZZA: Well, his response? You know, I thought it was -- look, two responses that were just diametrically opposed in American politics, right, Obama's and Trump's. And then Obama was left out way too much about Castro's human rights record and his entire history as a dictator and Trump's was not nuanced enough and only dwelled on the worst aspects of Fidel and didn't show much of a grasp of some of the nuances in foreign policy, especially given the change in policy toward Castro's regime.

He had -- the thing that I would -- that leads me to give Trump a D on foreign policy so far is that his national security adviser that he picked is someone that has essentially forced out of the Pentagon, does not have a great deal in terms of managerial experience, which is the crucial thing at the national security council. That's the first thing.

The second thing is the big foreign policy story so far. I mean, look. Let's be honest, Trump hasn't done much foreign policy as a president-elect. But what the one story we have seen repeatedly is this mixing of Trump's business and foreign policy. We have seen several stories the last couple of weeks where there's this gray area where Trump's business partners are trying to curry favor with the president-elect and his staff on important foreign polishes issues. And that, to me, is very concerning. BROWN: So what would your grade then be on ethics?

LIZZA: Well, so this is where I would give him the worst grade. And I would give him an F on ethics right now. Look, as the two last ethics lawyers was Republican and Democratic White Houses, George W. Bush and Barack Obama have said if Donald Trump doesn't come up with a plan to put a firewall between his business empire and his presidency, his White House is going to be the most conflicted in modern history.

And so, until we see that plan I don't think he gets anything but an F. And that the plan that would actually work is an extreme one, one I gather he is not very interested in doing, and that is to liquidate the business empire, take the money, put it in a true blind trust.

Short of that, if he is going to hand - if he would have to hand everything over to his children and put up some very, very stringent ethical wall between him and his kids.

BROWN: Very quickly, grade for Democrats on the response to the bruising defeat on Election Day.

LIZZA: The Democrat, I give them a D. I mean, the Democrats are in mourning, still trying to figure out the way forward. They don't have a leader. And it's going to take a long time before they are organized and have a competent opposition to the Republicans, who control everything right now.

BROWN: Ryan Lizza, I'm very glad that you were never my professor in college. You are certainly a --.

LIZZA: Pam, you always get an A.

BROWN: Of course. Of course, Ryan Lizza. Thank you very much.

And we are going to look at these live pictures just coming in. Live pictures as Donald Trump's motorcade at New York LaGuardia airport. Jam-packed day of meeting tomorrow with potential staff picks among those, he will be meeting with Milwaukee sheriff David Clarke, an outspoken critic of the Black Lives Matter movement. Politico is reporting that he is under consideration to become the next secretary of homeland security. It was certainly be a very busy week for the president-elect.

And coming up on this Sunday, the rise and fall of James Arthur Ray, the motivational speaker who went from prophet to prisoner after three of his followers died in a sweat lodge. Today, he is trying to make a comeback in a self-help industry in his subject as a fascinating new film. We will talk to the director right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:37:35] BROWN: Welcome back.

This week, CNN's films follows the rise and fall of renowned self-help guru James Arthur Ray. Ray shot to popularity and success in the early 2000s, attracting thousands of people to his seminars and retreats which he packed full of physical challenges to push participants past their comfort zones and into enlightenment. Old 2009, one of his challenges went too far and three of his followers died in an Arizona sweat lodge that Ray designed for a retreat. Ray spent two years in prison for negligent homicide. "Enlighten Us" features survivors of that tragedy in Arizona.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You could hear various people talking and some people were in distress and unhappy about being there and trying to talk themselves through it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He keeps bringing in more and more rocks. At one point he pours on like a five-gallon bucket of water and the whole thing filled up with steam and it just kind of waved over you. Like you could just feel it touching your face, burning your face. It went down my nostrils and into my throat. And I was freaking out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was so, so, so intense you couldn't breathe. By the fourth round I said I had enough. And I crawled over and James was at the door. He was like, Beverly, you know, you can do this. You could do this. You're stronger than this. You can get through this. And he will play for long (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As a good mentor as they paid me to be. I would say come on now, you can do this. Can't you? Come on. You can just stick it out, you know. I would encourage them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was like, yes, OK. OK. OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What am I doing here? Why am I putting myself through this? What is the point of me, you know, sitting here with all these other people? And is it worth it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had to leave. But then I was sitting there, blaming myself. Like, Holly, is there something wrong with me that I wasn't able to like, you know, stick it out?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, there were people that were having a hard time. But every year, there were people having a hard time. You know, to me it was no different than running a marathon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: (INAUDIBLE). I want to bring is Jenny Carchman, director of "Enlighten Us."

Jenny, thank you for coming on. You spoke to some of these survivors. Did you make sense of the why, as the one survivor said the why, they were so drawn to do whatever James Arthur Ray told them to do.

[19:40:00] JENNY CARCHMAN, DIRECTOR, ENLIGHTEN US: Yes, Hi. Thanks for having me on.

The sweat lodge was part of a process. It was a course that was part of many courses that many of the participants took. And so, it wasn't just a thing that they just went to on their own. They were really dedicated and devoted to going to James Ray's seminars and doing his teachings. And so, the why was that they were really going to get through to some part of themselves that they wanted to get over. They wanted to seek more happiness. They wanted to get past a point in their lives where they felt that they were stuck. And they felt like this was one challenge that once they got through the sweat lodge, they were hoping that they would emerge and that they would find some inner peace.

BROWN: It's fascinating. The one survivor saying that she felt guilty when she had to leave. Why was the sweat lodge challenge so key to Ray's self-help program?

CARCHMAN: I'm sorry, I didn't hear your question.

BROWN: That's OK. Why was the sweat lodge so key to this self-help program?

CARCHMAN: Well, so this particular event, this was a five-day event. And this was one of the -- this was the hardest event that James offered. It was the most expensive and it was an event that people who were really -- they were primed to get to this event. It wasn't an event that you would take if you had never gone to one of his events before.

The sweat lodge was really the most challenging feat of his event. So in all of James' event, he would have some activity that would force people to break boundaries. It was - he had this idea that he was going to once you got passed, you had to have a break - And we are going to breakthrough and you need to have a breakdown. And he these challenges were design to cause some sort of break down. Do something that you didn't think that you could do. The Sweat lodge was a very, very long. It was two hours long. It was extraordinarily hot. And the goal in James' mind is that when emerged, you are going to have. And so, relieved to be out of this sweat lodge, but also to -- you would have done something that you could never possibly done before.

BROWN: And he, as we know, he spent two years in prison for negligent homicide. But now James Arthur Ray is trying to make a comeback in the self-help industry. Is that right? Wouldn't this be sort of a career obstacle for him, the fact that he went to prison out for this?

CARCHMAN: Right. I mean, that was -- I met James when he was in prison. And that was --actually the idea for the film, was to get to know this person. The feature is really a way to understand this industry in a way to understand that the people who not only participate in this industry, but also the people who lead these seminars.

And so we met with James. And when we met with him, we asked him what did he want to do? And at the time, he wasn't sure. And over the course of filming is when he said he really wanted to get back to teaching. And whether or not prison is an obstacle is to be seen. I mean, I think you -- the film really watches him try to get his career back.

BROWN: As you say, it's get to be seen.

Jenny Carchman, thank you. I'm looking forward to watch this.

Don't miss the CNN film, "Enlighten Us, the rise and fall of James Arthur Ray" this Thursday at 9:00 pm eastern on CNN.

Coming up this Sunday, one of the top female execs at Facebook says she is often the only woman in the room during meetings. Her take on the lack of diversity in tech up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:47:36] BROWN: Well, in this week's American opportunity we look at the gender gap in the world of tech. Women hold just 26 percent of all jobs in that critical sector. Facebook ad chief Carolyn Everson says she's still often the only woman in the meeting that she goes to. So why is this still happening in 2016?

CNN's Poppy Harlow recently sat down with her at Fortune's most powerful woman's summit and got her perspective.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're one of the highest ranking people at have you Facebook. Have you faced a more difficult time? Do you believe, in your career because you're a woman in power? Have you faced sexism in the workplace? If you faced an uneven playing field?

CAROLYN EVERSON, VICE PRESIDENT, GENERAL MARKETING SOLUTIONS, FACEBOOK: I am very fortunate to work at a company that's led by Mark and Sheryl (ph) where I had felt nothing but opportunity. And in many ways, I think it has been advantageous to be a woman in tech because there are few and far between. And I think that women have very important skills to bring to this new age of how companies need to operate.

Women are empathetic. They are more collaborative. And I have found it to be a real advantage. Certainly, if I look back at my 20-plus years of career, there have been times where being a woman has been very difficult. I am still often the only woman in many meetings.

HARLOW: Still?

EVERSON: Many meetings. I get online to get to the airport and I happen to have pretty high status on United because I fly with them all the time. But if I'm with my husband, they automatically assume he is the frequent flyer and they will call him up. And he is like, no, it's my wife. And so, there are stereotypes every single day.

But what I'm really most proud of is watching my two daughters grow up and see it through the lens of their eyes, which is that, you know, they really believe anything is possible and they both have big dreams. At the end of the day, what I need to give to them is a sense that anything is possible. HARLOW: Women in tech, 26 percent of all tech jobs, all tech jobs in

the United States are held by women. Why is that still the case in 2016?

EVERSON: We have made very little progress in women in tech. And it's really a funnel problem, starting at the earliest ages in education. If you look at what jobs are going to be available over the course of the next few years, the jobs that are available today, we have well over a million, almost 1.4 million jobs in computer science that are completely available that we will go unfilled. And part of it is a pipeline issue of getting enough women interested in math and science at an early stage. That is why efforts with girls who code and even effort with girls got to bringing in and trying to motivate young girls to stay with math and science is incredibly important.

[19:50:20] HARLOW: Should computer programming, coding, be mandatory in school

EVERSON: I think computer science should be mandatory. I do. I think it should be a requirement. Even if it is one semester, to expose. Why do I think that? It is going to be part and parcel to almost every industry. Think about where health care is going. Software will be a huge driver.

HARLOW: Car.

EVERSON: Cars. If you talk to any of the CEOs in the automotive industry, they talk of themselves as a software company. Travel. Every industry is being reinvented. And if we want to create a population that is ready not only for the jobs that are open today, but going to be increasingly open, we are going to need people that have some sensitivity and knowledge and not be afraid of what computers can bring.

HARLOW: Do you believe that it is an issue, it comes down to America's competitiveness?

EVERSON: There is no question that we are going to be very uncompetitive as a society in America if we do not invest more significant resources in computer science education, starting from a young age.

HARLOW: Thirty three percent of Facebook's global employees are women, 27 percent of women hold leadership positions. You are getting there, right? I know it is a constant challenge in the industry. You have talked a lot about unconscious bias and how much that plays a role. How do leaders fix that?

EVERSON: There is unconscious bias in everyone. And so, part of the first thing that we have done is acknowledge that everyone has some type of unconscious bias. And by talking about that and sharing what people's unconscious biases are, we have tried to take the - actually, the bias of talking about it out of the system.

And so we are trying to hit it head on. Our belief is that while we are, you know, proud of the fact that we are getting there and, clearly, we have so many efforts to spearhead how we think about diversity and inclusion in our employee base, we won't be there until 50 percent of women are in leadership roles and 50 percent of our entire workforce has the ability to get to a leadership role if they're a female.

HARLOW: Silicon Valley has led the way and trying to lead. Facebook offers four months for new fathers and mothers. Why do you think that it is that Silicon Valley has led, ahead of any other industry, on parental leave?

EVERSON: We care deeply about diversity and inclusion. It is core to our culture. If you think about the community of people we serve, 1.7 billion people. The fabric of our employee base doesn't represent diversity, then, we are not doing our consumer service. And so, we think about diversity inclusion and look at all barriers that could prevent people from staying in the workforce, being attracted to come work at our company.

And so we care deeply. We have, you know, announced that men and women get paid the same in like jobs, we have equal parental leave for females and males. We have a recharge policy where, after five years, people can take four weeks off. And our view is that you need to have a culture that is sustainable, that drives high performance.

HARLOW: You are a mother of twin girls, right?

EVERSON: Yes.

HARLOW: Obviously, having people out of work for four months at a time, new parents, there is significant cost associated with that. Clearly, Facebook has done the calculus that it's worth the cause for retention, right. I mean, walk me through the business case for giving employees that much time.

EVERSON: If you think about the business case, we have about 14,000 people working in Facebook. And we are growing, you know, pretty quickly each year. We want to have a culture that absolutely attracts the very best talent. As I said, people are the most important asset of a company. And so if you deeply believe that people are your most important asset, you do all this work to recruit them in. Then once you get them in, you need to think about creating an environment that they can thrive, that they can have it be sustainable, that they can achieve not only exceptional results at work, but also have an extraordinary life outside of work. There is a high correlation between people's overall happiness and their productivity at work.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: You can see more of Poppy's interview at CNN money.com/Americanopportunity.

And take a look here. Some live pictures of Donald Trump's motorcade arriving back at Trump tower in downtown Manhattan, the epicenter of his transition team as he prepares to take the oath of office in January. Tomorrow, he is (INAUDIBLE) with eight people at Trump tower. But the big of headline is sure to be Trump's tweet, alleging he would have won the popular vote if millions of people hadn't voted illegally. We should say there's no evidence to back up Trump's claim.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:58:29] BROWN: Well tonight, before we go, a look at something wonderful happening in our America. The Baton Rouge war eagle football team has been on a role this year, unstoppable and undefeated. But this is no ordinary team. They are students at the Louisiana school for the deaf and they just been named deaf national champions. And their coach, well, she is Louisiana's only female head high school football coach. Susan (INAUDIBLE) called coach G by her players, had to learn to speak their language, (INAUDIBLE) sign. And she signs every play to their team but there is one thing she is careful to not tell them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do they know how good they are?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. Because I tell them they are not that good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why do you do that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because, I mean, you are only as good as your last time on the field. I don't know how you put it into words. These kids, they mean the world to me. And they know that. They are that important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Amazing. The previous head coach, her husband, asked her to take over last year three weeks after their honeymoon. Don't you just love that story?

Well up next on CNN is a special encore presentation of "PARTS UNKNOWN with Anthony Bourdain in Cuba." We should note, Anthony visited Cuba and filmed this episode last year before Fidel Castro's death.

"PARTS UNKNOWN" starts right now.

Thanks for being with us here with us on this Sunday. Have a great day.