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Jill Stein Raises More Than $4 Million in Recount Effort; Macy's CEO on Black Friday Frenzy; "Brady Bunch" Mom Florence Henderson Dies at 82. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired November 25, 2016 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00] JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Dr. Jill Stein joins us this morning to talk about this all. Dr. Stein, thanks so much for being with us. Do you think this election was stolen?

JILL STEIN, FORMER GREEN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We don't know and I think that the forensic computer experts have raised serious questions. What we do know is that this was a hack-riddled election.

We saw hacks into voter databases, into party databases, into individual e-mail accounts. We know that there were attempts made broadly on state voter databases. And we know that we have an election system that relies on computerized electronic equipment which is wide open to hacks, which has very primitive security from, in many cases --

BERMAN: Dr. Stein --

STEIN: -- a decade ago or more and staff that's really not trained in security, so it's extremely vulnerable. Americans deserve to have confidence in our vote.

BERMAN: Dr. Stein, the computer scientists say that they see patterns which may raise some questions but they admit that, in and of itself, is not evidence. I mean, do you have any reason to believe -- have you seen any direct evidence that anyone hacked the voting systems in Michigan, Wisconsin or Pennsylvania?

STEIN: No, and the computer experts are very frank about this. We do not have a smoking gun. On the other hand, we have a system which invites hacking, tampering, and malfeasance. You shouldn't have to wait for the airplane to crash in order to have quality assurance on your airplane, in order to have safeguards to be sure it's not going to crash.

So it's very important that we look at the votes. Unless we look at the votes we wouldn't see evidence of hacking. Hacking is subtle. You have to actually examine the votes -- the paper copies of the vote -- and compare that result with your electronic result. That's the only way that we will know. And, in fact, our voting system should have that kind of assurance built into it so that there's automatic auditing taking place to make sure that we are not being hacked.

BERMAN: I think everyone certainly agrees with you that they want free and fair elections. However, we all know that elections sometimes are very close. You know, elections that are completely free and fair are often very close and the Clinton campaign, itself, doesn't seem to be raising any direct questions here. But there are people wondering if you -- and you're admittedly on the left side of the debate -- if you would be doing this had Hillary Clinton won this election.

STEIN: There's no question I would, and I was asked repeatedly throughout the election that if there are concerns raised about the validity of the vote or its vulnerability or there are questions raised about there having been tampering with the vote, would I challenge. And I was very clear that it didn't matter who the winner was going to be, this was something I would do and it's actually something that the Green Party has done back in 2004 when there was very clear --

BERMAN: But that, too -- in 2004, though, the reason people wonder is because in 2004 there was a Republican victory there as well, so now people wonder are you trying to block Donald Trump from being president?

STEIN: Absolutely not, and it was very clear during the election that I did not favor either candidate. And I was repeatedly asked given a choice between the two, who do you favor, and I refused to favor one candidate over the other. In my view, we have a very problematic political system. We have two parties that are -- you know, the American people don't trust, in fact. And both of the candidates, you know, were the highest level of distrust and dislike in our history. And in my view, we as voters deserve a voting system that we can believe in.

BERMAN: Right.

STEIN: And to my mind, having a verified vote is just a first step.

BERMAN: Dr. Stein --

STEIN: We also need open debates. We need a voting system that allows us to vote our values and not our fears. This is the first of many reforms that the American people deserve.

BERMAN: Dr. Stein, last time I checked, Donald Trump was leading Hillary Clinton by about 10,000 votes in Michigan. You received about 50,000 votes in Michigan. Last time I checked, Donald Trump was leading Hillary Clinton by about 22,000 votes in Wisconsin. You received 30,000 votes in Wisconsin. Do you think you helped elect Donald Trump?

STEIN: So, you may recall the election was called that night based on the votes that had come in. So based on the votes that were available at the time my votes would not have changed the outcome in any state. And remember this, exit polls showed that Green Party voters, largely, would not have voted --

[07:35:00] BERMAN: But the Clinton campaign -- Karen Finney told me she thought the third party candidates may have helped tip this election. I mean, you received 50,000 votes in Michigan, Hillary Clinton is down by 10 there. So you don't think you helped swing Michigan to Donald Trump?

STEIN: Well remember, the election was decided -- remember, the election was decided that night. Based on the numbers that night my votes would not have made the difference in any state. Sixty percent -- more than 60 percent of Green voters would have stayed home. So were I not -- and of the remainder, over one-third would have voted for Donald Trump. So it's actually not true that Green votes would have automatically gone to Hillary Clinton.

If you actually do the math and you look at the numbers it's very clear that had I been absent from that vote on Election Day that the results would have been absolutely no different in any state.

BERMAN: Dr. Jill Stein, hope you enjoy this holiday weekend and the long Thanksgiving. Thanks so much for being with us.

STEIN: Thank you very much.

BERMAN: What is your take on this? Please send us a tweet @NewDay or post your comment on facebook.com/NewDay -- Brooke.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Berman, thank you. Today is Black Friday so if you want to get out and grab the best deals we will tell you exactly what you should go for. Coming up next we talk to the CEO of Macy's to talk about the annual holiday shopping frenzy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:40:08] BALDWIN: Look at these pictures. The annual Black Friday frenzy well underway. This was the scene last night at Macy's flagship store in New York City. Shoppers rushing through the doors last night looking to score some early deals. By the way, the doors have been open ever since and so we get to talk to Macy's CEO, Terry Lundgren this morning. Terry, good morning.

TERRY LUNDGREN, CHAIRMAN & CEO, MACY'S: Good morning, Brooke.

BALDWIN: You know, I remember being 13 and my parents took me to New York City for the very first time. I saw the parade and I made them take me to Macy's because it's just so famous and so well-respected. And so, when you look at all the people cramming through your doors, how many thousands of people have you seen so far?

LUNDGREN: Well, I was here last night when you saw that -- those big rush of people coming in. That was just one door, by the way. We have --

BALDWIN: Wow.

LUNDGREN: -- multiple doors here. There were -- we counted 16,000 people outside of Macy's for an hour prior to our opening waiting to get in, in light rain, by the way. So it was -- it's just unbelievable. It's just -- you know, if we think about it it's a time when you can -- you know, you've gotten off the couch, you've finished a big meal, you want to do something with the family, walk off some of the turkey, and what better way to do it than right here, and we saw a lot of that last night.

BALDWIN: Terry, tell me what are the top, say, three items people are racing for?

LUNDGREN: OK, so fragrances is a big deal. I mean, always, we're one of the largest sellers of prestige fragrance in the world, honestly, so that was a big, big deal. But, interestingly, there's a gift set that's only available at Macy's of six different perfumes that you can get for $15, so that value is a great, great, deal.

Technology, at the other end of the spectrum in terms of price points, was very, very strong. So, Apple watches and Michael Kors has a great technology watch, so that business was quite, quite good. And then apparel. I mean, it's finally getting a little cold and so we're selling, of course, the cold-weather apparel. And finally, it's been like a year since we've sold cold-weather apparel.

BALDWIN: Amazing. It is getting -- it is getting chilly out there. You're feeling it. People are selling the Christmas trees on the street corner here. But one item people can't get -- just a quick question. Of course, last time we talked to you Trump has been elected president. We know that Macy's made the big decision to yank his menswear line because of what he said about Mexicans more than a year ago. Since he's now been elected will you change? Will you restore Trump menswear or not at all?

LUNDGREN: Well, first of all, when you think about that decision you really cannot have the product of a political-oriented person in your store because 48 percent of the people aren't going to like that, right? And so we sell to everybody at Macy's so I wouldn't have a Hillary Clinton line either, as I've said before. So, to me, that decision is clearly made and was the right decision to make.

BALDWIN: Terry, what about that parade yesterday? I mean, we were all sitting here on T.V. watching it. All the kiddos ran to CNN so we could watch it from Columbus Circle. I mean, it was the 90th year. What was it like to see for you?

LUNDGREN: So amazing for me. You know, I was there with a big group of all of my family and my wife, my daughters, my grandson -- now brand new little guy -- and for him just to be there and experience it with me. I've been sitting in that seat for 22 years. I've been the CEO for 14. And just to be able to have this all together -- all of, really, my close friends were with me. It was just really, really special and so I can't say enough about my team that can pull that event off the way that we do. It's just so, so well done.

You know, look, everybody wants it to be cold weather, clear weather, not too windy. I mean, it was a perfect day for a parade so, I mean, I had a fantastic day when you put it all together. That, plus the big rush of traffic in our stores.

BALDWIN: Balloons flying high, it was gorgeous. Hey, congratulations, Terry, on the addition to your family and thank you so much for joining us. Good luck with the mad dash today -- good luck. LUNDGREN: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Thank you so much -- John.

BERMAN: All right, thanks, Brooke. Fifty-six days until the inauguration. Will President-elect Donald Trump be ready to take the keys to the country? We will debate that next.

BALDWIN: And coming up on Sunday night on "PARTS UNKNOWN", Anthony Bourdain travels to Minas Gerais in Brazil to sample some local favorites with a side of history. Here's a taste.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, HOST, CNN "ANTHONY BOURDAIN: PARTS UNKNOWN": (INAUDIBLE), perhaps the most famous dish in Minas. Beans, manioc flour, smoked and cured meats, and if you're lucky, fresh eggs.

Oh, there we go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a tongue, a tongue.

BOURDAIN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a foot. A pig's foot.

BOURDAIN: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: May I?

BOURDAIN: Yes, please.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The food from Minas Gerais has nothing to do with our climate.

BOURDAIN: Yes, you're right. This is cold-weather food.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Minas is nice.

BOURDAIN: Yes, right.

[07:45:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a very comfort food, isn't it? He prepares the tongue.

BOURDAIN: Beautiful.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every (INAUDIBLE).

BOURDAIN: You have a great culinary tradition here of flavors. You have fantastic ingredients but in upper class Belo Horizonte people are insecure about their food until recently. Where did this come from?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a play on Italian and French food. I used to say it's complex.

BOURDAIN: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like a (INAUDIBLE).

BOURDAIN: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have excellent good products in France. They made good food in France. But here, let's make the same technique but with our product. We have started saying this and this is good, put in your restaurant.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: It is being called the "Miracle on 93rd Street". New York City firefighters putting their lives on the line to save an elderly man trapped in a burning apartment building and they did it by using a rescue technique that's only deployed in the most dire situations. Bryn Gingras now with five of New York's bravest who went beyond the call.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

JOSEPH MOORE, FDNY, LADDER 13: This is a type of job you see once in a 20-year career.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As a Manhattan apartment building ignited in flames more than 200 members of the FDNY raced toward it, these five men among them.

[07:50:00] JAMES LEE, FDNY, RESCUE 1: The roof was on fire. There was fire coming out of the shaft. The fire all around us.

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

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

FRANCIS RUSH, FDNY, RESCUE 1: My thought was possibly a rear fire escape to try to get to 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 when Andy and Steve came up, and Joe, and we just -- we just went to work.

GINGRAS: 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 FIREMAN: Go to your right, Jimmy. Go to your right. LEE: He was burning and at one point you could hear him yell "I'm burning". And I just remember seeing him looking up at me with that hood up and I just said to him "let's go".

GINGRAS: With the rope holding them beginning to burn --

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

GINGRAS: -- the team of firefighters successfully lowered the two men to safety --

UNIDENTIFIED FIREMAN: OK, good, we're down. He's down.

GINGRAS: -- seconds before the rope snapped.

LEE: We're looking back up and seeing the fire now out the windows. The rope was on fire and the reality really set in that wow, we really just -- we saved -- 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: That feeling came again --

JAMES DUFFY, RESCUED FROM FIRE: You look familiar. Ha, ha, ha, ha.

GINGRAS: -- when the firefighters met the man they saved, Jim Duffy.

DUFFY: I said thank God, it was a miracle. Of course, I called it a "Miracle on 93rd".

UNIDENTIFIED FIREMAN: All right. Well, that's a good catchphrase. I like it.

DUFFY: Yes, it was.

UNIDENTIFIED FIREMAN: We're not going to be able to take it away.

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

GINGRAS: Brynn Gingras, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: What a great moment for all of them.

BALDWIN: Awesome, awesome.

BERMAN: All right. President-elect Donald Trump's transition team very, very publicly feuding over the top contenders for secretary of state.

BALDWIN: Publicly? BERMAN: Publicly -- very. Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway stirring the pot with some tweets. We want to discuss this with CNN political commentator and former national press secretary for Bernie Sanders, Symone Sanders. And, CNN political commentator and the host of "THE BEN FERGUSON SHOW", Mr. Ben Ferguson.

And Ben, let me just say, right now in terms of the public approval of the transition, 46 percent say they approve, 45 percent disapprove. Those numbers perfectly in line and in some cases actually a little better than past transitions.

BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, HOST, "THE BEN FERGUSON SHOW": Yes.

BERMAN: But there is this thing that has developed the last few days during this transition which is highly unusual, and that's the public campaign over secretary of state. And now people going negative against the idea of Mitt Romney, including Donald Trump's former campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, who's gone to Twitter with some pretty harsh tweets about Romney.

She said, "Receiving deluge of social media and private comms re: Romney. Some Trump loyalists warn against Romney as secretary of state." Isn't this pretty unseemly to have this kind of public battle at this level about a nomination the president-elect will make?

FERGUSON: I think it's actually good that you have somewhat of a transparent and blunt conversation about a position this big. I also think you're talking about something that would be, I think, unprecedented in politics. Mitt Romney's biggest speech of that last two years was when he came out and had a 30-40 minute diatribe against Donald Trump. There are lot of people around him -- Trump -- going why would you pick that guy?

Now, to Donald Trump's credit, what he seems to be doing is saying hey, I'm going to let the past be the past. If people are qualified for a position, whether it's Nikki Haley or Mitt Romney, I'm going to look at them and I may even offer them a position because I don't care about the past. I want the best people in positions where I think they can serve this country and serve my administration well. So, from that standpoint I think it's actually encouraging.

A lot of people were worrying Trump was going to have a political hit list that where if you were against him you'd never work again anywhere close to him. That obviously is not the case, so I'm OK with there being a grand debate over Mitt Romney. I'm not a huge fan of Mitt Romney but I think this -- having this debate is worth -- is worth the time.

BALDWIN: How do you feel about it, Symone?

SYMONE SANDERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER NATIONAL PRESS SECRETARY, BERNIE 2016: I think I'm fine with the debate. I think the public nature of the debate is what concerns me and I think those 45 percent of Americans that necessarily don't approve of the process. We're seeing an "APPRENTICE"-like process, very reality TV-esque. And we know Mr. Trump comes from that world and so it shouldn't be a surprise that that's how he's running his transition team.

I also think it's really odd that Kellyanne Conway has taken to Twitter in such a public fashion, which goes to show the lengths of which folks are willing to go through to get Mr. Trump's attention. So I would definitely prefer if we would just bring a little bit of decorum back to the office and -- you know, I think it's great to have a debate. Perhaps an internal debate would be better so it doesn't spill out into the public and the public's trust is necessarilyeroded with this process.

[07:55:10] BERMAN: I suppose this --

FERGUSON: I see -- I don't think it's a trust issue. I think the transparency here and how blunt this conversation is in public is actually what the American people want. They want to know why decisions are being made and how they're being made. Donald Trump is showing that right now.

When you do things in quiet with no public debate -- I mean, Donald Trump has to be looking at what other people are saying right now about Mitt Romney. I would rather him hear it on the front end before he officially says you're my guy or not than it come after the fact going man, I wish I would have known that this many people were unhappy with me.

BERMAN: Ben, normally then what you do is you tell it to Donald Trump, right? You don't necessarily --

BALDWIN: Instead of going through Twitter and television and smoke signals.

FERGUSON: Look, this -- he -- yes, I mean, let me just say this. He's unorthodox, we all know that, so for me this is not as shocking. Now, if it was another campaign like Mitt Romney's campaign, for example, and if he would have been elected yes, that would be shocking. But for Donald Trump this, to me, seems exactly what I expected after he was elected.

SANDERS: It seems like the bar is low for Mr. Trump and his transition team and I think that's not OK. I think a debate is fine but the public nature of the debate Idefinitely think is dangerous. The decorum to the office is slowly being eroded with the parading of these candidates in and out of Trump Tower, in and out of Bedminster, New Jersey. So Idefinitely think there is a time and place for this and this isn't the place or the time so far.

BALDWIN: You know, I'm with you. I'm with you on the decorum but I also understand the transparence and a lot of Americans appreciate that. I think that's a huge reason why a lot of people elected Donald Trump. But I also, though -- I'm wondering how Mitt Romney's feeling about this? He's hanging back with his family right over their lovely Thanksgiving holiday --

FERGUSON: Yes.

BALDWIN: -- and he's like well, hang on a second, tell me how you really feel, and maybe I don't want the job.

FERGUSON: Yes. Look, Mitt Romney's in an awkward situation because one, Mitt Romney's put his entire political future on being anti-Trump and then all of a sudden you get this phone call and you've got to be scratching your head going what did I do so right to get this phone call and what is happening here? So if I'mDonald -- if anyone right now should be sweating a little bit, it's probably Mitt Romney --

BERMAN: Yes.

FERGUSON: -- because he's going to look to many like a total sellout if he takes this job.

BALDWIN: Well --

SANDERS: I don't think -- I don't think he looks like a sellout.

BERMAN: Maybe Mitt Romney wants to serve the country. I mean, maybe Mitt Romney thinks he could be a good secretary of state and thinks it would be an honor to be asked to do such a thing.

FERGUSON: Of course it is, but still, if you look at the words that he came out and said and how -- and the biggest speech he's given in two years was anti-Trump. And to then take a job with Donald Trump, there's people around Mitt Romney that I know well that sitting there going what are you doing? You put all of it on the line against this guy. He offers you a job and now you're going to take it? Did you not believe what you were saying back then? So it goes back to Romney.

BERMAN: But can't -- doesn't Mitt Romney -- doesn't Mitt Romney get to be as unorthodox as Donald Trump every once in a while? You were just praising Donald Trump for being unorthodox. Maybe Mitt wants to try it out.

FERGUSON: I'm fine with it. I'm saying there's people around him, though, that I'm sure are scratching their head right now going how do we get to this situation where you were this anti-Trump and now you're willing to work with him? I think he would probably make a great secretary of state if he does get the job and he, obviously, has a lot of connections around the world. And the way that he was able to deal with the Olympics is a perfect example of how his demeanor can work well and I think that would serve this country in a positive way.

The big question is going to be when there are disputes, you know, is he going to be able to take the leadership of Donald Trump and say OK, I'm going to implement this because from his words -- there's a lot of people that are worried is he going to be able to be totally loyal to Donald Trump.

SANDERS: Well, I would --

BERMAN: Ben Ferguson, Symone Sanders, we are always honored to have you and both of your decorums here, so thanks so much for being with us. Great to see you. Happy Thanksgiving to both of you.

FERGUSON: Thanks.

SANDERS: Happy Thanksgiving.

BALDWIN: It's not like it's been a full-on Trump Kumbaya when it comes --

BERMAN: No.

BALDWIN: -- to a lot of these folks he's chosen also, by the way.

BERMAN: All right. We're following a lot of news. Let's get right to it.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BERMAN: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to this special holiday edition of NEW DAY. It is Friday, November 25th. It is 8:00 in the East. I'm John Berman alongside Brooke Baldwin.

BALDWIN: Oh, hello. Good morning.

BERMAN: Very nice to see you all. There really is some sad news this morning, as well, waking up on this morning after Thanksgiving. Sad new for those of us who did nothing but watch T.V. in the seventies and 1980's. It really feels like we lost a member of the family. Florence Henderson, who played Carol Brady on "THE BRADY BUNCH", she has died.

BALDWIN: We are now hearing from Hollywood celebrities and fans talking about this loss after learning the news that Florence Henderson passed away overnight at the age of 82. Boris Sanchez is with us now with a look at the defining moments of her incredible career from her small-town roots in Indiana through stage and screen.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: She will certainly be missed. We're learning from her manager that she passed away last night at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles of heart failure. She was surrounded by her four children. And in some way, we're all her children and we'll definitely miss this lovely, lovely lady.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

("THE BRADY BUNCH" theme song playing).

SANCHEZ: Florence Henderson captured hearts across America as one of the most beloved T.V. moms, Carol Brady.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)