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Roy Moore: We Are in the "Spiritual & Political Battle of Our Lives"; Bargain Hunters Hit Stores & Web for Black Friday Deals; Explosion Detected Near Missing Argentine Sub's Last Location. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired November 24, 2017 - 06:30   ET

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

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[06:30:24] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Roy Moore has not waivered. He keeps telling the world he has no intention of putting the Alabama Senate race, he doesn't know who these women are accusing him of serious bad behavior, and he denies all allegations.

To supporters, he writes: As you all know we are in the thick of the toughest spiritual and political battle of our lives, and we cannot thank you enough for our constant outpouring of support and love.

Let's discuss what's going on here in the state of play. We have Matt Murphy and Andrea Lindenberg. Now, they are morning radio hosts on Talk 99.5 in Birmingham.

It's good to have you both. Thankful for you. Thanks for coming on the day after Thanksgiving.

MATT MURPHY, RADIO HOST, TALK 99.5 BIRMINGHAM: Thanks, Chris.

ANDREA LINDENBERG, RADIO HOST, TALK 99.5 BIRMINGHAM: Thanks, Chris.

CUOMO: All right. So, do me a favor, just give us a general state of playwright now, Andrea starting with you in terms of how has everything that's come out to this point in your opinion changed or not changed the state of the race between Moore and his opponent.

LINDENBERG: Before "The Washington Post" article came out, Chris, you know, he had a huge lead, Roy Moore did, over Doug Jones, a commanding lead. It was never even a thought in our mind that Doug Jones could actually capture this race.

When the article came out, people began to question which side do I believe? Which is more credible? The Roy Moore supporters, they are firmly entrenched in his camp. They don't believe he has, there is any truth to what the women are saying, but they will still vote for Roy Moore because they want a Republican in that seat.

CUOMO: That's the tricky part of the analysis, that, you know, people focus a lot on the Christian aspect of this. But I think in all fairness, it makes the idea of what Christians care about a little too narrow. You know, they have a lot of issues that they want to check off also, but it's the idea of even if this happened, I'm still voting for Moore because I don't want the Democrat.

What do you make of that, Matt?

MURPHY: Well, there's certainly a spiritual factor involved in believing in Roy Moore. He is a known quantity to Alabamians for a long, long time and nationally, he's been known for a long, long time. But there is an ideological component too, Chris. Alabamians believe that Roy Moore better represents what they want out of Washington, D.C., than does Doug Jones. I've never believed that this is a Roy Moore or Doug Jones scenario. It's a vote Roy Moore or don't go and vote scenario, and how impassioned Doug Jones supporters can be on Election Day.

CUOMO: So, Doug Jones is speaking to this in his latest ad. Let's play it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AD ANNOUNCER: Leigh Corfman, Beverly Young Nelson, Debbie Wesson Gibson, Gloria Thacker Deason, Gena Richardson, Wendy Miller, Kelly Harrison Thorp. And the list is growing. They were girls when Roy Moore pursued them. Now they are women, witnesses to assault of his disturbing conduct. Will we make their abuser a U.S. senator?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Make their abuser immorally pursued. Well thought out terms for political effect.

Andrea, what's your take on it?

LINDENBERG: I think it was powerful in the fact that Doug Jones didn't have to say a word. They played the music under it with those words.

Again, though, Chris, you have to understand there is a group here that feels that there is no way Roy Moore is guilty, and they the actually go so far as calling the women liars. They believe there is more half truth than truth in that. But it's -- I'm surprised Doug Jones didn't come out with that ad sooner to be honest with you.

MURPHY: Well, and I would say, Chris, that there's a little bit of a danger in overplaying your hand. Doug Jones is in this race obviously it's as tight as can be at this point. And if you overplay that hand to a certain degree, including with Leigh Corfman, along with women who say they dated Roy Moore, while we find that disturbing in modern times, nothing illegal about that. I think there is a danger here for Alabamians who is paying close attention to what some of these accusers are saying.

CUOMO: And what is your belief at this point, Matt? Do you believe the women are telling the truth?

MURPHY: I believe Leigh Corfman. I believe her memory is what it is. I don't what happened. I don't think we will ever know.

CUOMO: What does that mean? You believe she believes what she says.

MURPHY: Yes, I don't believe Leigh Corfman is lying --

CUOMO: OK.

MURPHY: -- for the purposes of harming Roy Moore. I believe she believes her memory is serving her in terms of what happened so many years ago.

I think there's a lot of question about Beverly Nelson. I think a lot of Alabamians are questioning why Beverly Nelson is choosing not to turn over that yearbook if that is the one singular piece of evidence we have that she had a relationship, some form of relationship with Roy Moore.

[06:35:09] CUOMO: Andrea, are you surprised that you are hearing people say, even people who describe themselves as a Christian voter that even if he did this, I'm still voting for him.

LINDENBERG: I am and I'm not, Chris. And I know the country has a hard time understand what we're doing here in the state of Alabama. But when you bring religion into play, you have a candidate who has been very outspoken on his beliefs on abortion, that would be Democrat Doug Jones.

And Roy Moore is a man who says he didn't do it. You have accusers. But he hasn't said I did it. Other than he said, she said, she said.

People still want a Republican in that seat. If it comes to pass that he is guilty of this and somehow that is proven, that he will be dealt with.

CUOMO: It's such an interesting litmus test for what people feel offensive and what the standards are. I kept posing as a hypothetical, imagine if they weren't women, they were men who said when I was a boy, this happened. I wonder if that would have made a different play in terms of cultural perception.

It's great to have you both. Your eyes and ears on the grounds. You understand the dynamic well. Please come back. And best to you for Thanksgiving.

LINDENBERG: Thank you, Chris.

MURPHY: Thanks, Chris.

CUOMO: Erica?

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Black Friday means big deals. When will people be heading to the stores, or is it all online shopping this year? We've got a live report, including some tips to get you through the Black Friday frenzy. That's next.

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[06:40:48] CUOMO: Bargain hunters hitting the stores early on this Black Friday. We all want the best deals. But not everyone wants to brave crowds, especially if you fear people the way I do, so you will shop online.

CNN's Polo Sandoval live at a Target store in New Jersey.

What are you seeing there? How is it going? You seem like you are surrounded by a huge bunch of fans.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chris, I have your 70 inch TV packaged up, ready to go. It won't cost you more than 1,000 bucks.

These are the deals that shoppers year after year try to give an edge of after Turkey Day. It is something that almost has become a tradition. There are so many people are choosing to go online instead of in line. That's one of the reasons why we didn't see the massive crowd that we're so used to seeing year after year. There are many people took advantage of that yesterday when doors opened at this target at 6:00 p.m.

So, it's this evolving that seems to be happening of this Black Friday that we are so used to experiencing year after year.

There are many retailers that are hoping to really ride the wave of this low unemployment rate and economy. It seems to be promising. Consumer confidence is up. They hope it will translate to more sales. People will be heading the produce aisle, picking themselves some produce and maybe even a TV.

So, again, one of several reasons why we did not see the massive crowds. Not only are people simply doing it before Black Friday, but a lot of them, up to 60 percent, choosing to simply go online instead of standing in line -- guys.

CUOMO: Polo, just married, just back from his honeymoon and already getting hit with the honey-do list at Target just after 6:00 in the morning.

HILL: Or maybe you can complete the registry with all the deals on Black Friday. Congratulations, by the way.

CUOMO: Good husband, get to the store! It's already open. Thank you, honey.

HILL: Plenty of competition, of course, for your shopping dollars as we know on Black Friday.

Chief business correspondent Christine Romans joins us with some of the biggest deals and hottest items perhaps for newlyweds.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And it's like, you know, shop until you drop or shop until your fingers break, because a lot of people will be buying online.

You know, 2017 has been brutal for retail, bankruptcies, record number of store closures. But it's good news for you. Retailers want a piece of the estimated trillion you're going to be spending this holiday season. Black Friday, of course, crucial to that.

Adobe has been has been tracking all the steals and deals and reports on average savings of 12 percent on jewelry, 18 percent on appliances, and 24 percent on TVs and tablets. That is a true steal.

In fact, electronics are the most wanted gifts this year. Things like home assistants, game consoles, wireless sound systems, and big discounts we're seeing on iPhones. Walmart has the best deal we've seen, offering $300 gift card when you buy an iPhone 10.

But door buster deals frequently sell out fast to be realistic, and even online deals have stop and start times. So check the timing. Plus, it is worth waiting for some items. Wait, wait, wait for toys, laptops and shoes. They will be cheaper on Cyber Monday.

Make a list, check it twice. Sixteen percent of Americans are still paying off last year, which is just brutally bad financial management. So, if you can't afford it, don't buy it. Make a list. Stick to it.

CUOMO: I forget which one of the books.

ROMANS: Yes, mom.

CUOMO: Romans lives by this.

HILL: I know, she does.

CUOMO: Christine Romans, tightest two coats of paint. But you are conscientious about what you spent and you worry about people being taken advantage of.

ROMANS: I do, I do.

CUOMO: I heard an ad yesterday, getting ready for this in the car. And it was saying, you can come and buy it now and you don't have to pay us back for two years. And I thought of Christine right away, because it makes people think it must be OK if I have two years to start paying.

ROMANS: Don't do it. Don't do it.

HILL: I'm following your advice.

ROMANS: Thank you.

CUOMO: Christine, you don't feed my need to buy, but you're giving me the right advice.

A new clue for the missing Argentine navy submarine. It sounded like good news when they said they had a reading. But what does that reading mean? We'll tell you, next.

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[06:49:05] HILL: The Navy ending its search for three missing sailors after their transport plane crashed off the coast of Japan on Wednesday. The names of those sailors have not been released. The plane was carrying passengers and cargo from Japan to the aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan, when it went down. Eight of the eleven people were rescued from the water.

CUOMO: Meantime, the Argentine Navy said it detected a sound consistent with an explosion at the last known location of a missing submarine that was carrying 44 crew members.

Let's bring in CNN's Barbara Starr at the Pentagon with more.

You know, they have been desperate for sounding and then they got one. And what it might mean is obviously very horrible.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: It is very difficult news for these families, but it may bring them some closure when they are told more about the sound and how everyone learned about it.

It's really a fast moving story. There is an international network of sensors that are there to monitor for nuclear testing in the world run by a group in Vienna, some of the most preeminent scientists.

[06:50:08] They detected a signal on November 15th about five hours after the last known communications from the submarine. They've looked at the acoustic reading. They applied their science analysis to it. You see some of it there.

They found a short, sharp event, an acoustic event in the water that they believe was not natural. It is not an under water volcano. It's not an underwater earthquake. That reading diagram you see right there is what they believe is a short, sharp violent event in this area off Argentina near where the submarine had its last communication.

I just want to tell you very quickly, one of the reasons this is getting such credibility, this is the group they found signals and analysis when MH370 went down. They didn't help find the plane, obviously. They jump in when there's other underwater accidents at sea. They know a lot about this kind of work -- Erica.

HILL: Barbara Starr, live for us there -- Barbara, thank you.

Also with us, Peter Nielsen, hydro acoustic officer with the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization.

And as we are looking at this and the analysis we have here, as Barbara describes it, a short, sharp, violent event, what does that tell you?

PETER NIELSEN, COMPREHENSIVE NUCLEAR TEST-BAN TREATY ORGANIZATION: Well, it is an unusual type of signal used for hydrofoams that is a part of the worldwide network. So, it is very particular. It's not the type of signals that the network is actually designed to automatically detect. So, when a thing like that comes up, we have to look for something like that manually.

In this case here, it turned out to be a very particular signal that stations were receiving. We were able to receive the same signal on Tuesday, and back trace and where the intersection of back trace, we estimate the location.

HILL: So, that's how you basically triangulate where it could be. What could cause? What could cause that type of event? Is it an explosion?

NIELSEN: It's very hard to say whether it is or not. The only thing we can say is that characteristics of the signal contains information that is very similar to what we have seen in the past and the hydro foam (INAUDIBLE) and unknown explosions.

HILL: As I understand it, this submarine itself was retrofitted and cut in half in 2014, a multimillion dollar retrofit. Engines and batteries were replaced.

How significant is that potentially and what are we looking at in terms of cause, in terms of what could have happened?

NIELSEN: I'm not in a position to determine the status of the submarine, 10 or 50 years old. So, I cannot give you a qualifying answer to that question.

HILL: In terms of the information, Argentina only finding out more for about this on Wednesday, obviously getting the information from you. What happens now from here, now that we have this signal. We know it was this short violent event. What is the next step in terms of determining what to find?

NIELSEN: We are working here to refine our findings, some that we fine (INAUDIBLE), some work to come up there. Of course, we will provide that information and we will do anything we can to help people --

HILL: Peter Nielsen, appreciate you joining us this morning. Thank you.

NIELSEN: Thank you.

CUOMO: Big headline this morning, Michael Flynn's lawyers say they are cutting ties with the Trump legal team. Why would they do that? What could it mean? We have the latest, next.

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CUOMO: Lawyers for fired national security adviser, General Michael Flynn are reportedly no longer sharing information with President Trump's legal team.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Attorney said months ago that at the right price, Mike Flynn would tell a story that's pretty significant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Flynn is not in a clear. Right now, I don't know what the White House does to get rid of this. DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNTIED STATES: We're really winning.

They weren't letting you win before. They were letting you play even.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have been winning and to suddenly be told that they're winning now and they weren't winning before is somewhat insulting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president said, look, you elect me, I'm going to let you do your job. We're having great success taking out ISIS.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Black Friday shopping already under way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're expecting more online sales than in the brick and mortar stores for the first time in history.

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to a special holiday edition of NEW DAY. Alisyn is off. Erica Hill here.

It's great to have you.

HILL: Great to be back. Thank you.

CUOMO: Absolutely.

Up first, lawyers for fired national security adviser, General Michael Flynn, say they are cutting ties with the team of Trump lawyers. Why? A source tells CNN, Flynn's lawyers are no longer sharing information with that legal team.

And the suggestion is, has something changed in the relationship between Flynn and special counsel? Are there negotiations? Could there even be a deal in the works?