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NEW DAY

Bargain Hunters Hit The Stores For Holiday Deals; Timing Questioned As Government Releases Climate Report Today; Undocumented Immigrant Student Earns Rhodes Scholarship; Two Hurt, Gunman Killed In Alabama Mall Shooting. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired November 23, 2018 - 07:30   ET

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


[07:30:00] TOM MALINOWSKI (D), NEW JERSEY CONGRESSMAN-ELECT: -- protecting the integrity of the Mueller investigation and of the FBI.

Let the investigators do their job in defense of our constitution and let the Congress do its job that the American people elected us to do.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Congressman-elect Tom Malinowski, thanks so much for being with us.

MALINOWSKI: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: John --

JOHN AVLON, CNN ANCHOR: And, attention shoppers, Black Friday frenzy is here. Will Americans hit the stores or shop online? We'll tell you where the best deals are, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AVLON: Black Friday shoppers waited hours for stores to open this morning, but is it better to get deal online instead of waiting in line?

CAMEROTA: Hmm.

AVLON: Hmm.

Joining us now is Matthew Shay. He is the CEO of the National Retail Federation.

Matthew, so, what do see this year because the numbers really show enormous growth in online shopping?

MATTHEW SHAY, CEO, NATIONAL RETAIL FEDERATION: Yes, John, good morning -- Alisyn -- thanks for having me. It's nice to be with you. Happy Black Friday.

CAMEROTA: You, too.

SHAY: We are forecasting an outstanding holiday season. Our projections are that retail sales will grow between 4.3 and 4.8 percent this year over last year. That's about $725 billion. That's from the season beginning November one, ending December 31st. [07:35:05] And last year, we had a very, very strong year -- the best we've had in a decade since 2006 before the recession. So this year we think it could be that good or better, which means it's going to be really, a very, very strong year.

And consumers are responding to the kinds of things retailers are doing to bring them into stores, bring them online. We see this real convergence happening and we're excited about it.

CAMEROTA: But are we at the point where online is getting more than walking into a mall?

SHAY: Well, that's not what we're seeing. Certainly, we're seeing that online is extremely popular and it has been for many years. Obviously, that's growing off a smaller base. So, 90 percent of the retail sales that occur in this country happen in a bricks and mortar location, so that's the overwhelming majority of sales.

And for a number of years, we saw really massive growth in the online side of things. What we're seeing now is that's growing about 10 percent of the overall piece.

But, you know, as you see some of the legacy bricks and mortar stores adding more and more online -- you see the quarterly reports that are growing 40, 50, 60 percent a quarter online. And then you see these stores that started out as digital only that are adding bricks and mortar locations.

And I think that sort of represents -- to use the football analogy since we're on a big football weekend -- customers are playing more at the 50-yard line. And so you're seeing retailers, both bricks and mortar and digital, moving to the middle of the field. That's where customers are.

AVLON: Right, but you are seeing -- I mean, certain major retailers with bricks and mortar stores, like Toys R Us, going out of business, whereas that graph we showed earlier really exponential growth in online shopping. I mean, it has tripled in the last five years -- just online sales -- since Thanksgiving Day. I mean, that's a trend that dwarfs anything else we're seeing. Isn't that right?

SHAY: Well, there's no question that online is extremely popular and retailers are making it easy to do. And you see the bricks and mortar retailers are doing a buy online-pick up in-store or buy in-store and deliver at home. So they're using digital strategies to serve customers that want to be served.

And then you see -- you know, the big example, of course, was a couple of years ago when Amazon bought Whole Foods.

AVLON: Yes.

SHAY: But there are examples of that happening all over the place where you see Casper, the mattress company, and Warby Parker, and Everlane. These digital-only companies -- Rent the Runway -- they're all opening bricks and mortar locations because they know that customers operate in a world in which they're channel agnostic.

It's very seamless. They want to move comfortably and easily between bricks and mortar and online and digital. They want to be in their jammies, they want to be out socializing in a store.

So I think customers don't make the distinction anymore, but because there was initially a lot less on the digital side on the bricks and mortar piece, using digital less, that's where you're seeing that big growth there. But we're seeing -- we're seeing that trend line start to even out.

CAMEROTA: We want it all. That's how it works. We want all the options.

SHAY: All the time, whenever we want it.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

SHAY: That's right.

CAMEROTA: But I am really interested, Matthew, in what you just said about it's 90 percent -- bricks and mortar are still 90 percent. That's old school.

I like that. I like going in and being able to touch the goods, I need to try things on. That's who I am. But I thought that I was being -- you know, becoming antiquated.

SHAY: No, I don't think so. And, you know -- and listen, we represent everyone, right, so we have digital retailers, we've got bricks and mortar, we've got start-ups, we've got mom and pop Small Business Saturday. Tomorrow will be a huge day. We represent Main Street retailers all the way to the world's largest retail companies and everything in between.

And so I think what you're seeing is these companies are finding new ways to engage with their customers and that means using the store in a different way. That means bringing digital strategies to the marketplace using the technology that exists.

Serving customers more quickly, whether it's delivery options or pick- up options or whether it's putting an A.R. and V.R. in the stores if you're using a store. All of these things are the kinds of things that customers want.

And we're in a really good place this year because the economy is very strong. Customers have a great deal of confidence about the season. The weather patterns are good.

I mean, this is sort of -- I don't know -- what's the positive of a perfect storm? This is it and we haven't seen one for at least a decade. This is going to be a really strong, outstanding holiday season.

AVLON: Well, thank you for mentioning Small Business Saturday, too, because that's great, supporting small business owners. SHAY: Absolutely critical.

CAMEROTA: All right, Matthew Shay, National Retail Federation. Thanks so much for all of the information.

SHAY: Thanks for having me. Nice to be with you.

CAMEROTA: Great to have you.

OK, so the release of a major government report is moved up to today, the Friday after Thanksgiving. So what is this report and why is it so important? Why was the government trying to bury it or were they? All of that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:43:19] CAMEROTA: The deadliest inferno in California's history is now 95 percent contained. The death toll jumped to 84 in the Camp Fire, with hundreds of people still unaccounted for.

Celebrity chefs Jose Andres and Guy Fieri both worked on Thanksgiving to feed the wildfire victims and firefighters who have worked endlessly to try to combat these fires.

AVLON: Now, a government report on climate change will be released today, but the timing of the release is raising some questions. The report was supposed to be out next month but was moved up to today, and some journalists and P.R. experts think it might have critical news about the human impact on climate change, and government officials hope no one will be paying attention because it's Black Friday.

Just two days ago, President Trump tweeted out his doubts about global warming, again.

CAMEROTA: All right, we will see what's in that report.

Meanwhile, on a lighter note, it is the cinematic circle of life. Disney releasing the first teaser for the live-action remake of the animated classic, "The Lion King."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUFASA, VOICE OF JAMES EARL JONES, WALT DISNEY STUDIO, "THE LION KING": One day, the sun will set on my time here and will rise with you as the new king.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: That is very cool looking.

You just heard James Earl Jones, of course. He's reprising his role as Mufasa, Simba's father. The star-studded cast includes Donald Glover as Simba and Beyonce as Nala.

The remake will hit theaters in July 2019 to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the release of the original film.

Now, I just saw the middle school production of this that -- where my son was a hyena.

[07:45:02] AVLON: And how did he do with that?

CAMEROTA: Fantastically. He was a laughing hyena and I think that really suited him.

AVLON: Well, I mean, you know -- and this is the one whose favorite word is moist?

CAMEROTA: Yes.

AVLON: See -- OK. So I just want to place it correctly for folks.

Look -- I mean, it looks fantastic. I mean, I really --

CAMEROTA: It does look fantastic.

AVLON: I can't believe it's been 25 years.

CAMEROTA: Yes, I can't either. But, I mean, I can't wait to take my kids to that. It's so cinematically appealing.

AVLON: Yes. It's amazing they fit James Earl Jones into the lion suit, too. I'm just kidding. That was (INAUDIBLE).

CAMEROTA: Very good.

Meanwhile, a DACA recipient changing the rules and making history. How he broke barriers to become the first undocumented immigrant to become a Rhodes scholar and what will happen to him now. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:50:17] AVLON: It was a full day of feasting and football. The Cowboys serving up a win on Thanksgiving.

Andy Scholes has more with the "Bleacher Report" -- Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, John.

You know, I didn't think I'd be saying this three weeks ago but the Dallas Cowboys are now in first place in the NFC East.

And, Jerry Jones and the team kicking off their red kettle campaign with the Salvation Army yesterday and the players getting in on the fun after scoring the first touchdown of the game.

Ezekiel Elliott, he pulls out $21 dollars, which is his jersey number, and he tosses it into the big red kettle sitting there in the end zone. Remember, he jumped in there two years ago.

And in the fourth quarter, Dak Prescott -- impressive run to score the touchdown here. And then, Elliott runs over and tosses Dak into that red kettle. A nice donation there.

The Cowboys got the big win, 31 to 23.

All right, today is the day -- "The Match." Tiger versus Phil in Las Vegas, winner-take-all. Nine million dollars is on the line. But possibly more important for these two is owning the bragging rights.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHIL MICKELSON, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: I feel like Tiger coming along during my career and playing as well as he did got the best out of me because I saw a level of play that I'd never seen before. And I knew for me to be able to compete with that I had to play my best.

TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: We've always respected one another and what one another could do on a golf course. And, you know, that the wins and obviously, losing to him doesn't feel very good.

PHIL MICKELSON, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: I tend to rub it in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Now, Tiger a two-to-one favorite to win "The Match." You can watch it on Bleacher Report Live (the app) or your desktop. You can also order it on Pay-Per-View. That's today at 3:00 eastern.

And, John, you know, both of them obviously want to win -- $9 million the line -- but, you know, I think Phil wants to win a little bit extra since Tiger has always seemed to have gotten the better of him throughout both of their careers.

AVLON: Well, yes, $9 million, bragging rights. I mean, you know, that is going to be a heck of a match.

So, Andy, thank you. Looking forward to it.

SCHOLES: Looking forward to it, yes.

AVLON: All right -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, John.

A DACA recipient winning an unprecedented award. Harvard student Jin Park is the first undocumented immigrant to receive a Rhodes scholarship in the program's 116-year history.

Jin Park joins us now. Great to have you here in-studio.

JIM KYU PARK, DACA RECIPIENT, RHODES SCHOLAR: Thanks so much for having me.

CAMEROTA: Congratulations.

PARK: Thank you, thank you.

CAMEROTA: I understand that you went through sort of a range of emotions when you heard that you won the Rhodes scholarship. What -- take us back to that day.

PARK: Yes. So, the Rhodes scholarship kind of decision was announced Saturday. So the first thing I felt was nothing, so I felt neither happy nor sad.

CAMEROTA: What's that about?

PARK: I think I was, honestly, just in shock, so I felt -- and then, so after the initial kind of shock, I think I felt an incredible gratefulness and thankfulness to my parents, to the immigrant community, and to my friends and peers.

CAMEROTA: But it's complicated --

PARK: Yes.

CAMEROTA: -- for you. You don't have a passport, do you?

PARK: So, I have Korean passport but I don't have the ability to travel outside of the U.S. and come back, so that's kind of what I'm working on right now in consultation with lawyers.

CAMEROTA: But how will you travel? I mean, in order to fulfill your Rhodes scholarship you have to go to Oxford. How will you go to Oxford, and then how will you return?

PARK: Yes. So that's really the biggest legal question in my head right now, so I'm talking with lawyers. One possibility is for us to bring a lawsuit in front of USCIS to kind of bring back advance parole because, as you know, advance parole currently -- USCIS isn't processing advance parole.

CAMEROTA: Just to -- just to explain to people who don't understand this, so that's for DACA recipients. There's something called advance parole where you could leave, right, or you could -- could you get a passport? You could leave and come back.

PARK: Right. So, advance parole is -- was a provision under deferred action when President Obama first announced it in 2012 for DACA recipients to travel. There were two court cases -- one in California and one in New York. And currently, DACA recipients -- USCIS isn't processing advance parole for DACA recipients, so that's kind of a challenge.

And so we're working on a bunch of different strategies but that's one way that I'm exploring the ability to leave.

CAMEROTA: And so, what's your level of worry right now -- not only that you won't be able to fulfill the Rhodes scholarship and go to Oxford, but that you -- do you worry that you won't be able to stay in the United States after you graduate?

PARK: Yes. So that's always, I think, a perpetual worry for DACA recipients -- feeling that this is -- feeling and knowing the United States is my homes but having a president and having people that never think that that's true. And so that's always a perpetual worry but I am confident that the contributions that I and other immigrants make to America is going to eventually prevail.

CAMEROTA: You spoke out about this. You go to Harvard and you spoke out about this in May. So let me just play a clip of that for everyone.

[07:55:01] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PARK: If you've ever eaten at a Korean restaurant or received a mani- pedi in New York City, congratulations. Like it or not, you may have partially subsidized the education of what "FOX NEWS" would call an illegal alien.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: So what's the message? I mean, what's your message there that you want "FOX NEWS" and/or President Trump to know?

PARK: Yes. So the message really is if you're an immigrant in America, you learn some of these foundational lessons that your talents don't belong to you in the traditional sense. That the fruits of your labor -- you have to spread it around to others.

And so that's really what I wanted to communicate -- that immigrants, and undocumented immigrants in particular, have -- we learn this lesson as we grow up that the immigrant community has to stick together and the fruits of our labor have to be spread around. So that's really what I wanted to impart.

CAMEROTA: And so how do you want to do that? What do you want to do with your life?

PARK: Yes. So, right now, I have proposed two master's degrees -- one in migration studies and the other in global health science.

And so, for me, the idea is to hopefully come back to the States and work as a part of a public health department and to create evidence- based policy to improve the health and the outcomes of undocumented immigrants in America.

CAMEROTA: What about President Trump's argument, which is you can't break the law. You can't jump the line --

PARK: Yes.

CAMEROTA: -- you can't break the law.

PARK: Right. No, of course. So -- and this is what I would say to that.

The first part is there's this social institution called the law, and then there's also this other cultural component called social membership. So, immigrants feel that they're part of America and whether or not citizenship -- whether or not they have citizenship is a completely different question.

So oftentimes, people say we are a country of laws and, of course, we all agree that that's true. But, membership and citizenship sometimes go together, but not always.

And I think the other thing is regardless of the occupant in the White House it's important to note that these broader questions -- who is American, who belongs, and who are we going to treat as members of America -- those questions are what I'm more interested in. And so I think those questions are going to remain, regardless of who is president, and that's where we have to keep the focus.

CAMEROTA: I've read that you are a research assistant at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT.

PARK: Yes.

CAMEROTA: So maybe --

PARK: Yes.

CAMEROTA: -- you could cure cancer.

PARK: That's right.

CAMEROTA: And if you can't do it here, would you go back to Korea?

PARK: Yes. No, I wouldn't -- and when I think about that question I come back to this point that I really want to keep the focus on, which is membership, right?

I'm an American and regardless of what my citizenship is I'm always going to know that. And this is the point I'm trying to make is that undocumented immigrants are a part of this country. We've -- our roots are here, our friends and family are here. We have ties to the institutions and the practices of America.

So we are American. We're just waiting for our country and our laws to catch up to the fact.

CAMEROTA: Jin Park, we wish you the best.

PARK: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: We wish you the best. And so please keep us posted with what happens with your next move.

PARK: Got it.

CAMEROTA: Great to have you.

PARK: Thanks.

CAMEROTA: All right, we're following, this morning, the news overnight there was a deadly shooting at an Alabama mall. We have the latest for you, right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBBY WOODS, MALL SHOOTING WITNESS: I heard one and then bang, bang and people started screaming.

DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR, "EARLY START": One person killed, two others wounded in an Alabama mall on Black Friday.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As soon as everybody started screaming, they was like shut the doors, shut the doors.

GREGG RECTOR, CAPTAIN, HOOVER POLICE DEPARTMENT, HOOVER, ALABAMA: We were fortunate that Hoover officer was there. Maybe he prevented further injuries.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The CIA doesn't say they did it. Maybe he did or maybe he didn't.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump talking to military commanders across the world.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want him to thank those service members and it breaks my heart that he can't do it.

TRUMP: I've made a tremendous difference in the country. This country is so much stronger now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Friday, November 23rd, 8:00 in the east.

John Berman is off. John Avlon joins me. Great to have you here today.

AVLON: Great to be here.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much.

We do have breaking news for you because there's more gun violence in America. Terrified holiday shoppers had to run for cover at a crowded Alabama mall on Thanksgiving night. This was after a gunman opened fire.

Police say two people were shot, including a 12-year-old girl who, we are happy to say, is recovering this morning.

AVLON: That's the important part.

And, authorities say police officers who were patrolling the mall confronted the gunman within seconds, shooting and killing him.

The Galleria, which is Alabama's largest mall, remains closed this morning after the scary incident.

We've got CNN's Dianne Gallagher, live in Hoover, Alabama, with the breaking details -- Dianne. DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, actually, John, this mall has opened up. The parking lot probably not as full as it would normally be on a Black Friday, but there are plenty of cars here and we have seen plenty of people going in there, just about eight hours after a man was killed inside this mall.

Authorities are saying it could have been far worse if security wasn't already so beefed up for the shopping holiday.