along with my friend john berman. pamela brown is with us as well. now that your bellies are full maybe you're thinking of giving your wallet a bit of a workout. today is the biggest shopping day of the year at brick-and-mortar stores, today is known as black friday, stores nationwide are seeing big, big crowds. some of them rushing through the doors as early as 5:00 on thanksgiving afternoon. >> gas prices are so low and there are signs of improvement in the economy. a lot of bargain hunters carving out time on thanksgiving to get in on the big deals. as we see every year, the push for hot items can turn into mayhem. our deborah faeyerick is out in the middle of new jersey where the doors are open. >> the gravitational pull to go into a store and buy something. i'm trying to fight the urge right now.

because everything is 50% off. how it became 50% off, who knows, but that's what the sales are. let's look, this is the mall at newport center. it has gotten a little bit more busy in the last couple of minutes. the doors opened at 6:00, even though some stores did stay open overnight. the big retail chains, macy's and kohl's, staying open 24 hours. here it's been rather calm. we saw a couple of college kids who did do the thing, stayed up all night buying things for themselves. but for the most part, it's been rather civil. across the country, a different story. overnight, the hunt for bargains across the nation -- becoming a contact sport. police prying the shoppers off the floor at this walmart in houston, texas. refusing to let go of a discounted tv. one police officer even grabbing this shopper by the face and

throwing him to the ground. tempers flared at this walmart in michigan city, indiana. with shoppers clamoring for a bargain on sony speakers. and in los angeles, police were called to another walmart after a brawl broke out over a $5 barbie. >> there was obviously a fight between a guy and a girl over a barbie doll. and the girl socked the guy in the face. just to get the barbie. >> the stampede through the front doors -- a welcome sight for retailers. hoping to cash in on the holiday frenzy. >> i wouldn't be doing this if the demand was not there. >> the national retail federation projected this holiday season spending will total nearly $617 billion. growing 4.1% over last year. >> i rushed over here to be one of the first ones to just get everything that i need and go home. >> some shoppers camping outside for days. >> my tv, my generator, my

little tent, chairs, let everybody have a good time. >> strumming the guitar to pass the time. >> got in my car and drove. >> all in an effort to nab great deals like this flat screen tv marked down $400. >> there's one more 55-inch. >> a convenient alternative to all the mayhem. >> the lady in the green jacket is fighting. >> cybermonday when retailers are set to offer steep discounts online to avoid crushing crowds. now, i do have to tell you being a small-town girl from manhattan, i don't go to malls very often. the fact that i'm here and i was here at 5:00 in the morning, is a a surreal experience, that people come and shop at malls that early. a lot of them were looking for the big discounts, and they got it. people buying electronics, people buying sheets. some of the smaller stores, this hat store, okay, they made the decision at last minute to stay

open. it paid off. one of the people inside telling us they made really a full day's worth of extra sales. but then i saw another small store in the mall, they said it wasn't worth it. they stayed open late, they said after midnight, the folks went home. did good business until 12 and then it closed down. you got to think that the workers are being paid time and a half. whether or not the decision will pay off in the long run, we'll get those numbers in a couple of days. john and michaela. >> the owners have to crunch the numbers to see if it makes sense to pay the staff to be there. if they're going to get the kind of sales they're hoping for. >> deb, you're a brave woman to brave the mall on black friday. >> the has beenerdashry, i like saying haberdashery. >> i've got some presents for you guys, so don't get discouraged. we'll turn now to ferguson, missouri they're giving thanks

for another night of calm. but there's new concern about the calls for black friday protests. police and national guard troops on alert at shopping malls around ferguson. amid growing calls on social media for action following the grand jury decision in the michael brown case. we want to bring in ana cabrera for more. >> it is quiet and peaceful here this morning. on this black friday. there were in fact no arrests overnight involving protesters. so that is good news, we're at a target just outside of ferguson. you can see very empty parking lot here this morning. the doors don't open for a couple of more hours, we're not seeing any big crowds. but we are seeing a number of law enforcement here on scene. can you see the police vehicle just over my shoulder here. we've seen a number of missouri state troopers. national guard, as well as st. louis county police, they are here just in case. with more protests expected today. this region remains ready.

>> overnight, this walmart in ferguson shut its doors ahead of black friday. law enforcement and the national guard at the entrance as they turn away potential customers. in response to the grand jury's decision, not to indict officer darren wilson, plans for a nationwide retail boycott on the biggest shopping day of the year, are flooding social media. using hash tags like blackoutblackfriday, and handsupdon'tspend, protesters showing solidarity, vowing not to shop at all during the holiday weekend or shop at black-owned businesses. >> i think economic power is as powerful as political power. >> the aftermath of the ferguson decision, norns saints player benjamin watson said he was s sympathet sympathetic, confuse and embarrassed.

in downtown st. louis, the annual parade canceled. >> i wanted to be a peaceful, i don't want the protesting, i don't want the rioting, i don't want the violence. >> this chaotic scene played out during macy's signature thanksgiving day parade in new york. nypd holds off a group of angry protesters pushing past barricades. the group had organized on social media under the #stoptheparade. seven people were arrested. and on twitter, this painful photo circulated of michael brown's family sharing their first holiday without him. so we will be watching for any protests, any black friday boycott that happens here today. the whole premise of this is, that money equals power and these minority communities, the demonstrators who are part of that, that larger community, are hoping that in their absence, their presence will be felt.

michaela? >> very interesting part of a conversation that we want to have right now. thanks so much ana. we want to bring in liz brown, she is a columnist at the "st. louis american" the leading african-american paper in st. louis. also joining us this morning to sort of grandeur discussion about what is going on. pastor white, a familiar face, with the peace of mind churj of happiness and clergy united. liz great to have you, pastor, thank you so much. both of you getting up early on the day after thanksgiving. please know i appreciate you both for doing this. this is such an important discussion to be having. liz, i'll start with you, obviously we've been seeing sort of a shift in the protests and demonstrations over the past few days. more calm, we see the protests spreading across the united states, however. for ferguson, do you expect that to continue? >> the protests to continue? >> or the calm to continue? >> the calm to continue, liz. >> i think that the -- i think

that people are refocusing, reshifting. getting energy from not only the, the actions of people across the country, but actions across the world. it is thanksgiving, after all. i think it's an opportunity for those that have been in the forefront of the actions and the protests, are regrouping to proceed in another way. >> regrouping and reassessing, as you say. pastor, i'm curious what you're getting a sense of as we wait for these probes, the federal investigations that are going on both into the police department and, their handling of the shooting and into the police officer himself. do you get a sense that the community believes that there will be, there will be justice? do you get the sense that they believe they will see the officer wilson violated michael brown's civil rights? do they believe that? >> well we've had some incidents all over the country where

officers have been able to get off on criminal charges. but have been brought up on civil charges so we're spreading the word out to the community at large to let them know. one of the things we've discussed is will the doj come in to investigate what happened in our city. this target lot is empty, as much as there seems to be calm. imagine the mental stress that goes on to folks in this community where now what is normally a rush-rush situation where folks are out in lines at 3:00 a.m. this parking lot is empty. as much as we talk about the looters have done, what the protesters have done, what about governor nixon has done on monday when they did not protect this community? these are the results of this. where now we can't celebrate our thanksgiving holiday and our shopping season, but we're out, can't come to the parking lots, can't go to the stores to shop the way we want to do. >> it's interesting, that result of something that we're seeing happen from the protests on

monday. but what the effort has turned to today, liz, barack friday, it's been interesting to see the movement on social media the idea of boycotting black friday, there's been all of these various hash tags that have surfaced. interesting, there seems to be a movement of wanting to try to harness, as ana cabrera was telling us, harnessing the buying power of the african-american community and denying that buying power to make a point. >> well, if there's a long history of economic boycotts in this country. we've seen it in the civil rights movement. it is a very effective way to get your point across. and to bring people's attention to a very serious and compelling issue. so it makes sense that the national progression, if you will of this movement would be moving into okay, we're going to get, we've gotten your attention this way, we will continue to do that. but we're going to get your attention in the pocketbooks,

that's why we're talking about it right now, right if because it is such a huge buying season for stores. so why not engage in an action that would get their attention in a very effective way. >> and using the 2014 method of using social media and the hashtags, et cetera. >> so it's a brave new world. >> it is a brave new world. >> i'm struggling to catch up to it. >> pastor, i'm curious, you probably saw the results of the macy's thanksgiving day parade, you were talking about the traditions we have around this time of year, big tradition being held in new york city yesterday. we understand there were a few arrests, some people tried to interrupt the thanksgiving day parade. when you see that, does it make you feel that the message of what you're trying to accomplish in ferguson is, is being spread correctly? or does it feel like a change or a shift in the message? >> well first of all, i mean one of the things that we missed here in ferguson, we were planning a thanksgiving day parade even here to help feed

some of the families and that had to be postponed until this sunday afternoon. and so when we see the national protests, the macy's parade and l.a. and philadelphia, it excites us to know that those of us who are out here protesting against the injusticnjustice, t have brothers in all walks of life this is not just a ferguson issue, this is a national issue and we're excited to see that those throughout this country have taken up arms and taken up a stance against the injustices that are going against all minorities of this country. >> pastor, liz, thanks so much for joining us today. we'll be talking to you in the coming days and weeks. i know we will. thank you so much, today. john? just moments ago, pope francis arrived in turkey for an historic visit this three-day trip could be one of the most challenging of his papacy. a mix of religious and political meetings. with the pope addressing a

number of topics, including the influx of refugees from the conflict in syria. arwa damon live in ankara this morning, good morning, arwa. >> it will be a challenging backdrop for pope francis' visit. his first stop will be to a mausoleum and from there to the presidential palace to meet with president recep tayyip erdogan. this visit comes at a time when many will tell you christianity has not been this threatened in say about the last century or so. in the region. the region of its very birthplace and this threat to christianity really began with the effects of the u.s.-led invasion of iraq of 2003 that saw the rise of al qaeda, targeting the christian population, with horrific acts of storming churches, to laying explosives outside of christian

homes. and then of course, we had the more recent emergence of isis, even deadlier than its predecessor, al qaeda targeting not just christians in iraq, but christians across syria. adding to this massive exodus from both countries, those christian who is do choose to stay in iraq or syria, say that they do so, because they believe in god and their faith is all that they have. or because they have agreed to pay the terrorist organization something of a protection tax. one of the key objectives of pope francis' visit to turkey is to try to build that ever-growing divide between muslims and christians. the other objective of this visit is to build upon the already-growing solidification of the bridge between the two sister churches. john? >> arwa damon, a big trip getting under way, thanks for being there for us. we want to get to pamela brown for some of the day's top stories. >> great to see both of you and

happy friday. let's look at the headlines, breaking in the last hour, a series of shootings at buildings in downtown austin, texas. police say a gunman was targeting several buildings, including their headquarters. the cops apparently managed to shoot the suspect before he got them. taking a live look at pictures, the city's police headquarters remains evacuated and police are being urged to stay away from the downtown area. more on the story as details come in. meantime, ruth bader ginsberg home for the holiday, the 81-year-old supreme court justice released from a washington hospital thursday after undergoing heart surgery. she needed a stent in order to repair a blocked artery. officials say she's planning to return to work on monday when the court begins hearing a new round of arguments. mexico's president pushing police reforms he hopes will kbad combat widespread crime and corruption, he wants to give state control over local police to stop collusion between officials and gangs and is trying to defuse anger over the

disappearance in 43 students in september. 11 partially burned bodies thursday, about an hour's drive from the students' school. it's unclear if they're linked to the missing students case. and bill cosby fallen out of favor with two massachusetts schools. after a string of sexual assault allegations. cosby agreed to resign as honorary chairman of the capital campaign at the university of massachusetts, at amherst. and also berkeley college of music in boston, ending its affiliation with cosby, they had an online scholarship in his name. cosby has ann an honorary degree from berkeley. with thanksgiving now in the rear-view, the white house is already gearing up for christmas. the white house christmas tree is due to arrive this morning. first lady michelle obama will be on hand for a welcoming ceremony. and the first family spent the holiday feasting on the traditional thanksgiving dinner at the white house. president obama took time out to call and thank troops, offering his gratitude for their service

to the country. >> the tree arrives at 11:00 a.m. eastern and we'll cover it here live. that's a promise to you. >> so much anticipation. >> now i have to think about getting my tree. i just sort of managed thanksgiving. >> switch gears. >>. let's talk about weather, meteorologist jennifer gray is in for indra petersons. keeping track of the forecast. interesting we saw a lot of power outages in maine due to the heavy, heavy snow causing some problems there. a little bitter forecast for folks this weekend? >> getting better by the weekend. in fact a warming trend expected for the weekend, if you can believe it. cold air still in place across much of the east. even though most of the snow is pushing out. we're going to see a little bit of lake-effect snow for the next day, but otherwise going to see quiet conditions across portions of the east. south, very quiet, warmer temperatures starting to usher in, that's going to impact the mid-atlantic, the northeast. we do have a cold front on its way by the end of sunday. and that's going to affect areas to the north. so those areas will still remain

cold. the northern plains, but the south, the east, will stay a little bit warmer in the days ahead. so cold air for today in place in the north. sunny in the rockies, we do have rain and some snow in the pacific northwest. and even portions of california getting big-time rains as we go into the weekend. current temperatures very cold in the north. 11 in minneapolis, this morning, guys, but that warming trend is just days away. atlanta will be about 70 degrees monday. >> that's quite a change. jennifer, thanks so much. we'll check back in with you a little later so a thumb's up for the economy. in a new cnn/orc poll. we'll tell you what has americans feeling so good. and how that could have retailers seeing some green just in time for the holiday shopping season. ♪

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big economic news today, a really surprising new poll from cnn and orc showing a renewed degree of optimism among americans. this poll shows that 52% of americans think that things are going well. this is the first time in nearly eight years that a majority has shared that opinion. so what is behind this shift?

will retailers benefit? and will people start feeling a difference in their lives? i want to speak with cnn global economic analyst ranna fruhar assistant managing editor at "time." when we think 52% of americans think things are going well, that may not seem like a great number, but compare it to last year at this time. i think it was just 41%. that's an 11 percent shift in just one year. >> that's a huge shift. think is reflects several months of strong job growth. people are expecting things to get better. consumer spending is up. i think we're going to see a really great black friday today. my hopes are high for that and economic growth overall is up. you're seeing a recovery that feels like a recovery to more people. >> are they feeling it at home? that's the big question here, when you break it down, we asked people, do they think things are improving? stabilized or getting worse. let's look at that number. 32% things starting to recover. that means getting better. 41% say things have stabilized,

26% saying things are getting worse. there's the group of 41% say stagnant. >> the middle has been the reproblem in recovery. we've had the job growth at the top and the lower-wage jobs. and we haven't had the good job growth in the middle. until people feel like they have secure employment and higher wages, you won't see the uptick in expectations. >> wage growth has been very, very slow. >> that's another thing, we're seeing hopeful signs on. in the last couple of months, you've seen a little wage growth which this is six years into a recovery. that's a long time for that to happen. but it is finally happening and i think that that's why you're seeing that big swing in expectations. >> i want to talk about something that happened yesterday while many people were having their turkey and watching football. which is a huge economic

development. opec met deciding they're not going to cut back on production, oil prices are really, really low and they drop even more yesterday. and the united states you know, teetering around $70 or below, which means your gas prices are averaging $2.2 -- $2.79 a gallon, the lowest in four years? that's big. >> that's really big, they're down $30 a barrel since, since the summer. so that's a huge amount of stimulus, really for the economy. people really feel that right away. i talk to people in the street and say it's costing $20, $30 to fill up instead of $50 or $60, that's big. >> it affects consumer spending directly. when gas prices drop, people tend to spend more. >> particularly for lower-income people. gas, heating prices, that's big and that will increase spending on the holiday season. >> i want to talk about macroeconomics here in terms of oil production. one of the reasons that oil prices are so low is the huge

boom in production in the united states. the shale production here. they could start to be hurt a little bit, these big producers, in north dakota, in texas, as the prices drop. it's getting perilously close to the break-even point for them. >> you need about $70, $80 in some cases in order to make that kind of production economically viable. so if prices start to go down lower, then could you see some of the production come offline. that's something we wouldn't want to see. because this energy independence that we've been feeling over the last few years is great economically and politically for the u.s. >> as a consumer it's hard to get worried when gas prices are dropping, it's good, no matter what. but at a certain point it could start to have an impact on the u.s. economy. >> that's true. it's a tricky balance between oil. because you feel it immediately in your wallet. but as you say, we don't want to derail our own energy boom. i think we're okay at the moment. $70 is not a bad thing. >> as we start to see the signs

of economic improvement. signs of people feeling the economic improvement. you start to wonder whether it will have a political impact. president obama and the democrats just faced a really bad mid-term election for them. but you know, as the economy improves, you start to see generally speaking, approval rates continue for presidents. >> yes, absolutely. i think it makes people feel less polarized. i'm hopeful in a way if people are feeling more optimistic about the economy, that there will not be this kind of gridlock this sort of you know, wrangling over details you've seen in washington the last few years. you might see more of a coming together around things like tax reform and immigration, we can hope. >> we can hope. i don't know. rona fruhar, great to have you with us. appreciate it. another quiet night in ferguson, missouri, but anger still simmers over the grand jury decision to clear officer wilson in the michael brown shooting. what cot legal system hold for officer wilson? our legal panel is here. we have so many things to

discuss with them this morning. . but do you really? [ female announcer ] neutrogena® makeup remover erases 99% of your most stubborn makeup with one towelette. can your makeup remover do that? [ female announcer ] neutrogena® makeup remover. and our big idaho potato truck is still missing. so my buddy here is going to help me find it. here we go. woo who, woah, woah, woah. it's out there somewhere spreading the word about americas favorite potatoes: heart healthy idaho potatoes and the american heart association's go red for women campaign. if you see it i hope you'll let us know. always look for the grown in idaho seal.

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and gas prices at a four-year low. where you can find the best deals in our next hour. meantime, anger over the grand jury's failure to indict a ferguson police officer in the michael brown shooting has triggered calls for a nationwide retailing boycott on the busiest shopping day of the year. police and national guard troops in ferguson, missouri, are on alert. but streets remained peaceful overnight. a massive chain-reaction car crash shut down part of the i-90 thruway in upstate new york. more than 50 cars were volinvol. the accident shut down lanes for a couple of hours as emergency crews worked to clear the road. at least seven people were injured. officials say speed and icy road conditions were a factor. get this -- just imagine being at burger king and coming across you know, $100,000 just sitting there in a backpack. well that's exactly what happened to the manager at this

san jose, california location. she found the backpack loaded with cash, abandoned in a booth. she alerted the store's owner, called the police and they're working with the bank to find out who the cash belongs to. >> they also found some pot apparently in the backpack. i mean when you find $100,000 in a backpack, it's not too sketchy. in a burger king, not at all. >> because that happens. >> and leave it in a booth at a burger king. >> she was honest. >> i know i was thinking that. good for her. football, turkey. more football, andy scholes has it all this morning. three football games. good morning, andy. >> good morning, guys, it's tradition every year, you got to stuff yourself with turkey and you pass out on the couch watching football, that's what i do every thanksgiving. as you said, guys, nfl with a tripleheader, the 9ers hosting the seahawks. richard sherman and michael crabtree squared off since

sherman's epic rant last year. sherman backed up the smack talk, he had two interceptions in the game as the seahawks dominated the 9ers, 19-3. the final score. after the game, sherman took a shot at the fans in san francisco. >> their fans threw a few jabs and somebody through a glass bottle at the end when we were jogging in. you never have to resort to name-calling and some of the things they said. and you know, it really just helps you appreciate your own fans, appreciate the 12th man and how classy of an organization we have and how classy our fans are and how they stayed throughout the game, regardless of the outcome. not every fan can be a great 12th man, thank you. >> i love him carrying the turkey off the field like that 49ers ceo jed york was not pleased with his team's performance. he tweeted out this performance wasn't acceptable, i apologize for that.

that seems to be a shot at head coach jim harbaugh who has been on the hot seat for months in san francisco. mark sanchez making his return to thanksgiving day football on the two-year anniversary of the infamous butt fumble. there were no fumbles, led the team for a win over the cowboys. the eagles in sole possession of first place in the nfc east. and finally, megatron ruled on thanksgiving once again. calvin johnson caught two touchdowns for the lions yesterday against the bears, he has eight touchdown receptions on thanksgiving the most ever. detroit beat chicago 34-17, bears miserable season continues, they're now 5-7. and john, i know the game you were looking forward to this weekend, patriots/packers. that should be the game of the day on sunday. as brady versus rodgers for the first time ironically. >> are you going to grow a beard

for that? >> just say the name again. >> tom brady. >> thank you. >> have a good one, guys. 36 minutes after the hour. calls for people in ferguson, missouri to protest with their pocketbooks by boycotting stores on black friday. what are the next legal steps in the case? our panel breaks it down next. ♪

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a night of quiet in ferguson after violent protests rocked the missouri community earlier in the week. will the calm that existed overnight, will it last? and what are the next steps forward? we want to bring in danny cev cevallos and joey jackson, it's so good to have both of you on this post-thanksgiving before you get your shop on with black friday. let me talk about that with you both. we know the protests and the legal realities, we'll talk about that in a bit. there might be some disparities there, but people are all asking for change and asking for answers. one of the avenues they're doing that is by saying hey, we want

to boycott black friday today, joey jackson. we have seen this before. this isn't a new tool in a protester's handbag. talk to me about effective you think this could be and how widespread you think it could be? >> you know what, michaela, i think it could be very effective. you remember 1955? you remember rosa parks, you remember alabama and montgomery and that bus system and her saying you know what? i'm not getting up. what did it lead to? it led to a supreme court decision the following year. it led to it being declared unconstitutional to have buses where you segregate, you have to give up your seat. so economic power has historically been used and it's been used very effectively. there's talk about the $1.5 trillion -- >> tremendous buying power. >> it speaks to the larger issue, that's not only limited, michaela, to ferguson, but is limited to the feeling throughout the country. in communities. about you know, look, police brutality, civil rights issues,

mistreatment, injustice and so certainly i think if michael brown's death is going to mean anything, it has to bring about policy changes everywhere. i think it could be an effective strategy. >> danny, that's what i want to ask you, two legal minds here looking at the video of the protesters, we hear the cries for justice. we hear the cries for reform. they're seeking changes for procedures and policies. can this align with what legal avenues are available to the family, to investigators? >> the department of justice is conducting two investigations. two-pronged inquiry. one could result in criminal charges against darren wilson. but the other one could be a civil rights action against the agency, the police agency and the kind of relief sought could be injunctive relief. maybe there's different training to be had, different procedures to be instituted. that's something the department of justice is investigating now.

because civil rights charges can take two forms. the criminal charges against the individual officers and then a civil action against the agency for what is called a pattern or practice of discrimination. >> you guys have talked about the fact that the threshold for legal action there is higher than what we saw with the grand jury, it would be harder to prove that those rights were violated, no, danny? >> well, so in the criminal, the criminal case against officer wilson. that like any other criminal case would be beyond a reasonable doubt-type standard. the civil action is a mere preponderance against the agency if they've had a pattern or practice of discriminatory practices, the department of justice, two ways of looking at this. they might say there was no indictment. there was no true bill, maybe this is a lost cause or they may take the view that we've investigated this so much. we've invested so much. we think there's something there and they may proceed with those

charges. >> there's revelations coming out of that. for example, wilson's weapon wasn't tested for fingerprints, because according to investigator testimony, he never lost control of the gun, which directly contradicts wilson's own statement that he feared he would be shot and common was trying to commandeer the weapon. and it tells us one of the things we've gleaned as well is wilson was allowed to drive away from the scene and wash his hands. hello? that seems egregious. >> these are very significant things. michaela. let's talk about why. in a grand jury, what happens is, that grand jury has spoken and there's no such thing as a mistrial or an appeal in a grand jury. >> what kind of recourse is

there? >> as a representation, what does that mean? it means you impanel another grand jury and you evaluate it. is it likely? it depends. when you have an instance, forgetting about fingerprints, what about dna evidence on that gun? there are oftentimes where i may touch something, i may not leave prints, but i could leave skin cell dna. when you have an incident which is so significant to the story of darren wilson, he touched my gun to the extent it wasn't tested, that's problematic. to the extent he's loued to leave the scene by himself, problematic. voucher his own gun, meaning he puts it in a plastic bag or paper bag, gives it to the authorities. those things are something that shouldn't happen. as we continue to move forward and as we continue to speak about this, i guarantee you as we pour over it, there will be other revelation which is will be problematic. to the feds, to the issues danny was speaking about, in terms of the civil rights investigation -- >> will play into all of this. >> they're going to be looking

at everything done in that grand jury. i have a lot of other concerns about the grand jury presentation that we're not talking about now. but i think that you could see a representation to a grand jury, because no double jeopardy attaches to that proceeding. it means the grand jury rules, michaela, but that doesn't mean it's over. >> this means that we'll be talking to the two of you again in the very near feature as this continues. we thank you both for joining us on the day after thanksgiving. >> take care, danny. >> enjoy. ahead, president obama facing tough decisions after the holiday weekend, including finding himself a defense secretary, nominating someone is the first step. getting them confirmed through congress is a whole other story. more on that ahead.

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ask your doctor about farxiga and visit our website to learn how you may be able to get every month free. welcome back to "new day." if the president had any kind of break overthanksgiving, it's now over. he's got a lot to do. starting with trying to figure out who is going to take over as secretary of defense. and if he can find anyone who even wants the job. two candidates have withdrawn themselves from consideration and this comes as a prominent republican is turning to block all nominations, anyway. unless the president lifts his executive actions on immigration. so let's talk more about this. with matt lewis and mark lamont

hill. gentlemen, thank you so much for being with us. mark, secretary of defense is a big job. it's a job that presumably a lot of people want because you're very, very powerful. however, people seem to be running away from the chance to take over this job. senator jack reece says i don't want to do it michelle flornoy says i don't want to do it. why is the president having such a hard time finding anyone who wants to take this position and what does it say about the administration? >> there's a few problems. one, whoever secretary of defense is inheriting a boatload of problems. number two, whoever the secretary of defense becomes, has to move into an administration with which they may have extraordinary disagreement. many of the most prominent contenders have strong foreign policy disagreements with the president. and third, nobody wants the kind of undermining and back-stab that the white house is accused

of engaging in against the previous secretaries of defense so i think there's a very interesting and complex range of problems the white house has when trying to decide someone. >> it's a tough environment to say the least, matt. presumably the senate says, even republicans say they wouldn't get in the way or block a secretary of defense nomination for other reasons. namely the executive actions on immigration. however, senator ted cruz from texas has said he will block any judicial nominations. let's listen quickly to what he said. >> the incoming majority leader should announce that if the president implements this lawless amnesty, that the senate will not confirm any executive or judicial nominees, other than vital national security positions for the next two years. >> that includes, matt, presumably the nomination of loretta lynch who has been picked to be the next attorney general. is it a good move for republicans to stand in the way

of that nomination? given how important right now, i mean the justice department is always important, obviously, but right now with everything going on in ferguson, is it a good idea to get in the way of that nomination? >> i don't think so. look, i think there might be some occasions, someone like a jeh johnson who is involved directly in advising president obama over the immigration order. maybe you make an argument that that would be a deal-breaker. but for somebody who wasn't directly involved with that. when it comes to an attorney general, i just don't think how it would be a smart move for republicans to try to block that. unless of course, i mean there are occasions where a nominee has egregious problems, obviously the senate has the responsibility to vet the nominees. to do did for revenge or to get back at the president for what he's doing on immigration, whether you agree with it or not, i think that will be a political mistake.

and i don't think it's going to happen. if you parse what nor cruz said, he has a lot of caveats in there. and so i don't expect that to actually happen. >> no, ted cruz is a good lawyer, he did leave himself plenty of outs. i want to talk about ferguson and about president obama and ferguson. because you know, he he has been criticized some for his reaction over the last week and his responses over the last week. i want to play some sound from cornell west, who on cnn international, has a pretty scathing comments about president obama. let's listen. >> i think ferguson signifies the end of the age of obama. it's a very saddened. we began with tremendous hope and we end with great despair. >> what do you make of those comments, mark? >> well i think what cornel west speaking to is the profound sense of hope that some people had invested in the obama administration. a turn toward racial justice, social justice, economic justice

and many people are profoundly disappointed in the way that president obama has engaged in issues of race and poverty. other things that professor west has criticized for for the last six years, in regard to ferguson there's been a critique about the way president obama has came out and preached calmness and fairness, many people saw it as not attempting to be above the fray. but trying to calm down what many saw as righteous indignation and outrage at the injustice. more recently, people wanted the president to be in ferguson to calm people down, and speak to justice. when that didn't happen. people feel that president obama failed on this issue. the white house position in general is if we can't address something, we don't want to speak out about it. we don't want to talk ebola if we can't fix it we don't want to talk ferguson until the grand jury comes in. it makes the white house seem as if there's an empathy gap and

maybe a racial consciousness gap. >> should the president go to ferguson? >> i think he should. ron fournier wrote a piece for the national jou"national journ said, president obama has failed to be a uniter, between blue america and red america but co-still be a uniter between black america and white america. he has the power of the bully pulpit. he has great at rhetoric, that's not nothing, i'm a believer that words matter and i think he probably should have gone. and inspired and united. >> he can still go over the next week. let's see what happens. great to have you with us this morning, happy thanksgiving to both of you. following a lot of news, let's get right to it. the hunt for bargains across the nation -- >> there is one line only. >> it's really just the anticipation. kind of like an akren lynn rush. >> people on black friday go

crazy. this painful photo, their first holiday without him. plans for a nationwide retail boycott on the biggest shopping day of the year. >> i am not a threat to you. i am not doing anything. >> economic power is as powerful as political power. with isis at turkey's border, pope francis makes one of the most challenging trips of his papacy. good morning, and welcome back to "new day," are you ready over there? i'm michaela pereira and that's john berman. pamela brown joins us. >> great to be here. >> on this day after thanksgiving. we hope had you a sea and wonderful one. of course after the feast comes -- black friday madness. stores nationwide are seeing big crowds, some of them rushing out to stores as early as 5:00 on thanksgiving afternoon trying to get the great deals. >> retailers want to see a boost and with improving economy and gas prices at a four-year low, they could see it. all excitement over the hottest

gadget or toy can turn into mayhem. our deborah feyerick graciously giving us an update from new jersey. >> some of the stores opened at 5:00 p.m. yesterday thanksgiving day. we're trying to get a read over whether people came for the discounts or whether they wanted to get out of the house. we can tell you this mall here in jersey city was opened overnight, it was crowded. really crowded. up until about midnight when the crowds started to go away. there were some intrepid folks who made it through the night. now it is filling up. filling up a lot. and the stores are making a huge push to get people in. you can see here, buy one, get one $5. 50% discounts. buy three get one free. coupons, give-aways, a lot of people are taking advantage. some, getting a little bit hairy

out there. overnight the hunt for bargains across the nation -- becoming a contact sport. police prying the shoppers off the floor at this walmart in houston, texas, refusing to let go of a discounted tv. one police officer even grabbing this shopper by the face and throwing him to the ground. tempers flared as walmart in michigan city, indiana, with shoppers clamoring for a bargain on sony speakers. >> [ bleep ]. >> and in laung, police were called to another walmart after a brawl broke out in los angeles over a $5 barbie. >> there was a fight between a guy and a girl over a barbie doll. and the girl socked the guy in the face. just to get the barbie. >> the stampede through the front doors -- a welcome sight for retailers hoping to cash in

on the holiday frenzy. >> we wouldn't be doing this if the demand was not there. >> the national retail federation projected this holiday season spending will total nearly $617 billion, growing 4.1% over the last year. >> i rushed over here to get everything i need and go home. >> some shoppers camping outside for days. >> i bring my tv, generator, little tent and chairs, everybody have a good time. >> strumming the guitar to pass the time. ♪ got in my car ♪ drove >> all in an effort to nab great deals like this tv, marked down $400. >> there's one more 55-inch. >> a convenient alternative to all the mayhem. >> the lady in the green jacket is fighting. >> cybermonday, when retailers are set to offer steep discounts online. so you can avoid crushing crowds. >> being a small-town girl from manhattan, i don't get to malls

very often. once every three months, to be here at 5:00 a.m. for guides, i'm telling you, it's actually very civilized time to shop. it's quiet, people are reasonable, no lines. some people who did shop yesterday, they said they took 30 minutes to pick out what they wanted. it took them more than an hour to pay. right now people are strategizing, getting here early to get did done. get what they need and get home. spend the rest of the day watching television. john? >> debra feyerick, great to see you. so quiet has returned too ferguson, missouri, but there is concern that things could get loud again as protesters fargt retailers, there are calls on social media for black friday boy kots. as a way of venlting anger at the lack of an indictment in the michael brown shooting. cnn's ana cabrera live in ferguson with more. >>s did cold, it is quiet, it is calm out here. we're at target just outside

ferguson. the doors open here in about an hour, we saw about ten people in line. i think the cold is keeping most people in their cars. we're seeing a large number of law enforcement out hire as well. you can see the missouri state highway patrol just behind me. we've seen national guard. we've also seen st. louis county police. just at this one facility, this one shopping center. they're here to prevent any possible unrest as you mentioned there are ferguson demonstrators calling for a black friday boycott as a protest. against the establishment. overnight, this walmart in ferguson, shut its doors ahead of black friday. law enforcement and the national guard at the entrance as they turn away potential customers. in response to the grand jury's decision not to indict officer darren wilson, plans for a nationwide retail boycott on the biggest shopping day of the year are flooding social media. using #s like black out black

friday and hands up, don't spend. protesters showing solidarity, vowing not to shop at all during the holiday weekend. or shop only at black-own eed businesses. >> i think economic power is as powerful as political power or the power to vote. >> in a facebook post about the ferguson decision, new orleans saints player benjamin watson said he was sympathetic, confused and embarrassed. without taking sides, the post went viral in downtown st. louis, their annual parade canceled. in its place, a fleet of cars demonstrating against violent protests. >> i wanted it to be a peaceful, i don't want the protesting, i don't want the rioting. i don't want the violence. >> and this chaotic scene played out during macy's signature thanksgiving day parade in new york. nypd holds off a group of angry protesters. pushing past barricades. the group had organized on social media under the

#stoptheparade. seven people were raarrested. and on twitter, this photo circulated of michael brown's family sharing their first holiday without him. now there are a lot of this community who want to make sure michael brown's story and the bigger issues that it exposed about race don't just fade away. so they're hoping that this black friday boycott will send a message to the powers that be. that change is a necessity, that stat us quo simply isn't acceptable. michaela? >> ana, thank you so much for that report. want to turn to chris king, familiar face with us here on "new day," the managing editor of the "st. louis american" the largest african-american newspaper. you've been working on the ground, getting some interesting nuggets, following some trails for us. i was hoping could you bring us up to date on a few things, reports of threats against the prosecutor, chris. and we know that this is kind of

par for the course. right? we see this from time to time, prosecutors and police chiefs receive threats on their life. what do you make of it? anything there? >> i think robert mccullough is safe. i do understand that social media allows people to say disturbing things and be heard and be circulate and to be taken seriously. i know the local police intelligence has never been as rattled as the fbi has sounded at times and the fbi has gotten the governor and some of the mayors rattled. but i think mr. mccullough is safe. >> you're on the ground and you're talking to your sources, you're talking to law enforcement. another thing i want to get from you is the firebombing, the arson case that they're looking at. the church of michael brown's family. apparently the target the arson there. what's the latest? are you expecting charges to be filed? >> well, the arson investigation is ongoing.

much of ferguson, the business districts are considered a crime scene still. i'm trying to get a visit to the crime scene with an arson investigator. it's a holiday week an i haven't gone down there as i hoped to do. we heard yesterday the state is going to join the investigation. that's a good sign. and i think the burning of the flood church where michael brown worshipped is an amomly. i am speculating, i wonder if it's a ringer thrown in there to make it look like enemies of the protest movement were responsible to the arsons. when i believe some camp followers of the protest movement were responsible for most of those arsons. >> you've had an opportunity to talk about a mayor of a nearby town i understand. because we know it's not just ferguson itself. it's some of the surrounding communities. we've seen the protests spreading across the nation. a mayor of a nearby town had talked to you. what did you get from that conversation with him about what's going on in his community?

>> i didnyeah mayor reggie jone mayor of dellwood which joins to ferguson. >> it was hard hit, too wasn't it? >> black lives matter. if black lives matter, then black mayors matter. mayor jones has been overlooked. a lot of attention paid to knowles. >> they have an ally in mayor reggie jones and i hope dellwood gets more positive attention. >> give us, you have the pulpit right now, give us an idea of what he's been saying? >> as a black mayor of a north county municipality, he's been suffering the same kind of discrimination that african-americans in ferguson feel within ferguson. so it's kind of a municipal version of discrimination. lack of resources, lack of attention. he sent his police officers to respond to disturbances in ferguson. got no credit for it got blamed for it in some respects.

and now he's saying i've gotten as much or more fire damage from these spectacular arsons on november 24th, why isn't anyone coming to me? why isn't anyone offering me help? i do hope that dellwood, the city of dellwood and mayor reggie jones get some positive attention out of this. >> we've been seeing the physical results. protests. we've been seeing extreme property damage, we've seen violence, we've seen active and peaceful protests as well. i'm curious, what else you're getting a sense of on the ground. are protesters putting extra pressure on the people in positions of power? the decision-makers, the politicians? do you get a sense there are campaigns to talk to them? to increase pressure on those people? >> well, we have some -- yes. but we have some issues, the governor is a term-limited lame duck. so the county executive was just voted out. the new county executive come in. saying it's not his problem yet. he's not going do get involved

yet that man's name is steve stenger. chris coster, the attorney general is expected to be the next democratic nominee for governor, mr. coster things he will be. and they haven't turned their pressure to coster yet. i think they ought to. as for governor nixon. he was in ferguson yesterday and he had thanksgiving dinner with the national guardsman. which i think was a classy act. if i was his adviser i would have had him also try to have some dinner with a protester group. there are plenty of peaceful protesters that would have sat down and broken some turkey and stuffing with the governor. >> one last question to that end. there have been people that have wondered why the president, why president obama hasn't made his way to ferguson. what are your thoughts on that? should he be there? >> yes. i mean he's at the point in his presidency where he's got a legacy issue here. i understand that everyone always advised him that if he's the black president, or god forbid the black male president that that's going to be difficult for him since he has to govern a nation of people who

mostly as you may have noticed, are not black or black men. but hey, you know, it's time. he should show up in ferguson. it would be an amazing moment to see president obama get off the plane in st. louis and go to ferguson and meet with some people here. that have wanted to talk to him for more than 100 days. >> and walk down the streets of ferguson and see that firsthand and feel the impact of it. chris king, always a delight fof to have you with us, thank you for your information, research and hard work. over to you. an historic morning in turkey. pope francis arrived there just a short time ago. it is being billed as an historic visit only the fourth pope in history to visit the country. the visit comes at a time of heightened religious and political sensitivity as turkey grapples with how much to help in the fight against isis. our arwa damon live in ankara with the latest. good morning, arwa. >> good morning and one of the first things pope francis said on the plane over to turkey was

to express his thanks to the country for taking in so many refugees. around 1.5 million just from syria. so far the vast majority are muslim, but there are a growing number of christians among them we are at a juncture in history where many senior christian leaders believe if the situation is allowed to continue as is christianity, could cease to exist in the very region where it was born. we have been seeing for the last decade starting with al qaeda, and now with isis, the masses of christians leaving both iraq and syria. only a small minority remain in both countries and those that choose to stay are placing their faith in god or they are paying something of a protection tax. to organizations like isis. pope francis during this trip is going to attempt to at least begin to perhaps build the

growing divide between islam and christianity. that going to be one of the toughest things that he is going to be trying to begin to accomplish. the other thing is going to be building upon that relationship, that has begun to heal between the two sister churches. >> quite an agenda, our arwa damen in ankara. thank you so much. let's get to pamela brown for some of the day's other top stories. let's take a look, more headlines, breaking this friday morning, a suspect is dead after opening fire in downtown austin, texas. police say the gunman targeted several buildings, including their headquarters. before they took him out. a bomb robot was seen maneuvering in the area. for what examplely, we're not quite sure. more on the story as details come in. and there's no slowing down 81-year-old supreme court justice ruth bader ginsberg. who plans to be back at work on monday, after being released from the hospital on thanksgiving.

she got a stent implanted to clear a blocked artery and is now recovering at home. two massachusetts colleges are dropping bill cosby after a slew of sexual assault allegations. u mass amherst asked cosby to resign as honorary chairman of the fundraising campaign. and he agreed. he received a master's and doctorate there. and berkically college of music in boston ending its collaboration, they have an honorary scholarship in his name. brazilian soccer legend pele says he's doing fine after being hospitalized. he denied his condition deteriorated after the hospital referred to his condition as unstable. he had an operation recently to remove kidney stone, but was readmitted to the hospital on monday. put in intensive care to treat a urinary tract infection. >> i could watch these clips forever. >> 74 years old. pam, thanks so much. we're heading into the weekend,

our bellies are full of turkey. there's football on. what kind of weather would be the perfect accompaniment for all of that? how about warmer temperatures? we have had very cold air in place across much of the country. warmer air will start to move in for the weekend today, though, still chilly across the great lakes and the northeast. but that warmer air already impacting places in the south. we're cool this morning, though, 40 in dallas, 12 degrees in minneapolis. 22 in chicago. very cold start to the day. temperatures below freezing across much of new england. but by this afternoon, we will warm up just a tad. 39 in d.c., your high temperature, 35 in chicago. 24 minneapolis. 49 in atlanta. but changes are coming. look at the temperatures as we stretch out, 69 degrees in atlanta on monday. new york city, you'll be close to 60 degrees by monday. temperatures are going to stay chilly across much of the midwest and the northern plains. minneapolis, your high on monday

unfortunately, 7 degrees. so staying cold up north, we're warming in the south. and that is going to impact the mid-atlantic and the northeast as well. guys, huge changes compared to the past couple of days. >> jennifer, i don't mean to complain but i'm getting confused. it was 30 and now it's going to be 60, a girl doesn't know how to dress. >> i know, keep all your clothes out all year long. because the weather always changes. >> my experience is you guys do that, anyway. so i don't really, you know -- >> you know what, you're right. still ahead, we look back at a situation in ferguson, there is calm there overnight, we're going to talk about the legal challenges ahead for officer wilson and dissect the grand jury testimony a little further. and what to expect if you're running out of your house right now if you're taking advantage of black friday deals? we'll talk to the ceo of macy's who joins us fresh off of the big parade.

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here we go. woo who, woah, woah, woah. it's out there somewhere spreading the word about americas favorite potatoes: heart healthy idaho potatoes and the american heart association's go red for women campaign. if you see it i hope you'll let us know. always look for the grown in idaho seal. residents of ferguson, missouri, haven't had much of lately, a very quiet night. and that energy unravelled into days of violent protests was used productively instead with folks decorating boarded-up storefronts and gathering for religious services.

questions remain about the grand jury proceedings and some of the police work that was now done and some of the inconsistencies that were there. mel robbins, our cnn commentator and legal analyst and tom fuentes, cnn law enforcement licht and former fbi assistant director join us. we're learning more about the evidence as we pore over these documents and a lot of things are jumping out at people right now. officer darren wilson bagged his own evidence. he put the gun in the back. officer darren wilson washed his hands of the blood, apparently before being examined. the interviews, the initial interviews with officer darren wilson were not recorded. the medical examiner who went to the scene didn't take pictures because he didn't have batteries in his camera. you were a cop for six years, tom, is this considered quality police work? >> no, john, it's not. think it's a tragedy that happened that way.

quiet now is that you have to speculate whether it really affected the difference in, in the facts. did they doctor the weapon? that's why we have chain of custody issues for the police. for investigators in the case like this. that no one else could tamper with it. no one could late gere back to the gun and put blood on it or put something on it from a handkerchief at the scene that had michael brown's blood. it couldn't be tampered with. some things you would guess weren't, like the car. but no, officer wilson's clothing, his gun should have been immediately taken at the police station, if you don't want to undress him in the street, obviously. it should have been handled much differently, much more professionally. >> what now, mel? do you think this has any impact? or does it just raise these questions? >> well, it could have some impact. you know joey jackson who was on earlier with you and i just

spent about half an hour on the phone, talking about this like what are the options? you've got a federal investigation going on. one against the police department, another one against the police officer. the truth of the matter is, the bar is so darn high, john, in order to bring any kind of charges against the officer at the federal level. but there will probably be some sort of reforms happening at a police level. now what could happen? grand juries, there could be potentially a representation. how would that happen? well, first things first. it would probably happen under this kind of scenario. if the protests keep up, if we keep having these kinds of facts come out that not only is there police work that is not usual, but police work that could have affected the outcome in terms of what was presented to the grand jury. you could see somebody inside of the justice department being

like, hey, wait a minute. this is really a bunch of bull. when i take a look at the amount of conflicting witness statements, when i look at the shoddy police work, when i look at the indifference of the prosecutor in this process, what i think should happen is i think we need to have a representation. there's no double jeopardy here. because there was no trial, there's no conviction. there's no indictment. so it's not outside the bounds of something like that happening. but it would take someone inside the justice department leaning on governor nixon, leaning on the attorney general, leaning on the prosecutor and saying -- what's going to be best here is a representation. but that's only going to happen, john, if there's a lot more protests and if the family keeps raising these very troubling things that we're learning about how the investigation went down. >> just legally speaking, quickly, mel, do you think any of this changes or would change the outcome? i suppose it doesn't go to trial. i know in trial as an attorney you would go to town on these kinds of inconsistencies.

but to a grand jury, which is a much different proceeding, do you think this type of information would change the outcome? >> well here's what the main problem is. that most folks have with the grand jury proceeding. it's a great body, john, to gather evidence. it's a terrible tool to sanitize and scrutinize the evidence. what tom was saying about chain of custody if i'm a defense attorney, i'm hopping up and down, i'm asking all kinds of questions, i'm going bananas in front of a jury to try to get them to understand just how outrageous it is that this police officer left the scene alone, washed his hands of all the he have and that the medical examiner at the scene said quote, things are self-explanatory, so i don't even need to take measurements, would it change what happens in front of a grand jury? only if there's a different prosecutor who has a point of view that he wants or she wants an indictment in this case, you had prosecutors that were

pretty, pretty indifferent. didn't think that there was enough evidence. and that's clear in the way they presented the case. they presented the case basically with the assumption that wink-wink, nod-nod, this is an open-and-shut case, that the forensics support the officers and we're not going to scrutinize anything else. >> thanks so much for being with us. michaela. thanks so much. president obama certainly has some tough tasks at hand. including replacing his outgoing defense secretary. this is the war on isis heats up and a continued stalemate continues in washington. we'll talk about the uphill battle to replace this man, chuck hagel. and a live look inside macy's, that's a live shot from inside the store, shoppers are there. well guess what, we're going to speak to the ceo of macy's about his parade, about black friday, about opening earlier on thanksgiving.

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welcome back. let's take a look at your headlines, on this friday morning. happening right now -- live pictures here of pope francis on the ground in turkey. he's meeting with the president of turkey at the presidential palace. a welcoming ceremony getting under way at the newly constructed presidential palace, the pope is expected to address a number of issues during his trip, including the concerns about the plight of christian communities throughout the region. we're keeping an eye on a surprising volcanic eruption in

southern japan, mount aso has caused flight cancellations and people are being told to keep their distance from the crater. the ash cloud is 3,000 feet high. it's one of the world's largest volcanoes. two young boys are okay after they spent several hours buried in snow. authorities in newberg, new york, say the 9-year-old and 11-year-old were playing in a snowbank when a snowplow operator piled about five feet of snow on top of them. the boys were finally found and rescued around 2:00 a.m. thanksgiving morning. they were cold, but alert. one remains in the hospital for observation. really an incredible story there. and the course there's plenty of football to digest on thanksgiving, the seattle seahawks trounced the san francisco 49ers 19-3, in a rematch of last year's nfc title game. the philadelphia eagles are alone in the first place in the nfc east after beating the dallas cowboys 33-10.

and the detroit lions doubled their division rival, the chicago bears, 34-17. a good game. >> great games. thanks so much for that. for those of you who were sleeping off the turkey last night, this is the scene that you missed at macy's in new york city. the doors flew open, shoppers poured in. the shop has been open 13 1/2 hours with holiday deals. joining us to talk about holiday season for retailers, chairman and chief executive officer of macy's inc., terry lundgren, a pleasure to talk to you from herald square, thank you for joining us. >> i'm glad i don't look as bad as i was feel. i only had about three hours of sleep in my office upstairs. >> this is the day you prepare for all year. you guys opened yesterday at 6:00 p.m. any early indications of how you've done so far?

>> well at this store i was here of course as i'm always here for our opening and we had over 15,000 people waiting to get into the store when we opened at 6:00 p.m. last night. that's a record as far as we know. and they were anxious to buy. so they were not just here to look, obviously. when they're out here shopping on thanksgiving day, they're obviously here to buy. so it was a great start to the holiday season. >> you do know that there are critics who say gosh, it's a shame, that stores are open on thanksgiving. taking people away from their families, maybe shoppers should be staying at home. maybe workers should be staying home. this year you opened even earlier. last year, 8:00, this year, 6:00 p.m. what do you say to the crit sniks. >> very simply, i put myself at the center of all decisions with our customers, that's what i try to represent. my door doesn't say ceo, it says chief customer officer. i start with what do our customers want to do?

it was crystal clear, they wanted us to be open last night. we had that in the feedback. they showed up in massive numbers. so we could go against their wishes, and go for others, but our decision is always to do what our customer wants. as for employees, it's simple, we hire 85,000 additional employees just for the november/december period with the understandsing if they would like to work for us, they'll be working on these particular days. so our core employees 176,000 of them have the option to work or not work. it was their choice, they got paid time and a half. 85% of the jobs were filled by our core employees, they wanted to work here. they were done with their thanksgiving dinners, ready to come to work and many of them said i want to have black friday off so i can shop. so i mean you have, you really have to not just listen to a few, you have to listen to the core customers and in our case, our core employees, that's the feedback that we received. >> all right, chief customer

officer. i want you to look at the feedback we've received. the results of a new cnn/orc poll, talking to people about their plans for black friday. how many of them were planning to shop today. i was really surprised. to see that 77% planned to stay home. 77% said no, we're not going to go. does that concern you as ceo and chief customer officer, or do you feel that the reality is going to be different when it comes down to it? >> i think the reality is going to be different. it already is different. there's just been a steady flow of customers. you know it's interesting because the customer we had at last night in this particular store at 6:00 p.m. was very different whendy my circle of stores, and came back here at midnight. it was a totally different customer. we went from a very international and diverse crowd opening the doors, to a very young, millennial-aged crowd at midnight and beyond. i think there's different ways and different reasons that people are shopping. a lot of people are shopping online first. and then coming in to pick up

their items or coming in to see and touch the cashmere to make sure it's what they choose. no matter what, i can tell you it's going to be the biggest single shopping day of the year for macy's, and for bloomingdale's, so my belief is it's going to be a very, very strong black friday. >> you got to be a millennial to shop at midnight. young to stay up that late. a political question here, we've been watching what's going on in ferguson. as the week has progressed, there's been an interesting new call in the african-american community and elsewhere to boycott shopping really. to stay home, keep your money in your pocket on this black friday, not go out to the stores to protest what happened in ferguson and the grand jury's decision not to indict. what do you make of those calls. >> you know, i think these are individual decisions that people feel strongly about. and i totally understand that but it's a time of healing. this is thanksgiving. and so i think for me, this is,

i'm going to again go back to my core message always and that is, put the customer at the center of the decision and let the customer do what he or she chooses to do if they want to stay home, they stay home. if they want to shop, they should be allowed to do so. >> we saw some of those protests spill over into your parade yesterday, the macies thanksgiving day parade. we understand there were a few arrests, police had to push some protesters back off. overall do you see the parade as having been a success. it seems as though the weather cooperated. >> well we had 3.5 million people on the streets and it was light snow. i would say that was impressive. more impressive is that over 50 million people watched it on television, making it sort of right next to the academy awards in terms of viewership. it was extraordinary in terms of success. and frankly, this is my favorite day of the year, for my family and we enjoyed it. we had our turkey afterwards and then i was here at the store opening. it's been a very full and complete thanksgiving already. >> terry lundgren, we hope you have some sleep in your future

you've done very well keeping it together this morning. thank you so much for joining us, giving us an idea of how macy's is doing this thanksgiving holiday. thank you. >> thank you, guys. . >> hope he gets a chance to shop today. he probably gets the corporate discount. 38 minutes after the hour. president obama needs a new secretary of defense. the question is, does anyone want the job? and if they do, will republicans in the senate allow his nominee to get through?

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welcome back to "new day." the white house searching for a nominee to take over the department of defense after surprise resignation or perhaps not so surprise, pushing out of chuck hagel. already two top contenders have taken themselves out of contention. whoever gets the nod will have to deal with a widening conflict against isis, that is assuming they can get confirmed by the senate. want to bring in cnn military analyst, retired major-general james "spider" marks. thank you so much for being with us. we've seen two potential nominees already saying they

don't want the job. secretary of defense, it's a big, big job. it's something the public figures, you would think, would want to you know take a stab at. why do you think the reluctance? >> well i think in both cases, those individuals have full-time engagements right now. jack reed certainly a senator from rhode island, a veteran, a west point graduate. he knows the inside of what the issues are. but i think going forward, the commitment to be the sec-def, would be a long term and michelle flornoy has been very upfront. you have to admire her tremendously. she says look, i've got a family and i have to focus in on them and this needs to be first. i think what happened in both cases is they went forward and they said, please, mr. president, don't ask me. because if you ask me, the answer is going to be yes, i would prefer that you not ask me. i think in those particular

incidents, that's what you're looking at. >> you seem to be giving the white house the benefit of the doubt. we've had four secretaries of defense in this administration. the secretary cnn has been reporting they officially say he resigned, but in effect he was pushed out. is this a job right now that many in the security community are a little reluctant to take? >> well john, i don't know that i'm giving them the benefit of the doubt. think what you're seeing is there is no more important position than to be part of the national security team at such a significant level. the secretary of defense. that there would be a clamoring of incredibly qualified individuals to take the job. in this particular instance you have two that said i've got full-time engagements and i'm committed in a whole bunch of ways to national defense and what's best for america. i would prefer not to engage in that position. this is a very tough administration to be a secretary

of defense in. i think you nailed it. this administration is not looking for any contrarian views, they're not looking for outside input. i would imagine the person coming in to be the sec-def has ton confirmable. that may not be the criteria you would like to see. it might be the best confirmable person we could get through the door and it's a two-year horizon unless the president says we want to extend that position. that's so hypothetical. i think what you're looking at is this is a very tough administration if you're trying to have an open discussion about national security in a very tough administration like this. >> some whispers about secretary hagel that he's not a war-time secreta secretary. as someone who has served in the military, what does that mean and what kind of a difference does a secretary of defense mean to people like you? people in uniform? >> you know, secretary hagenl hd all the credentials and

incredible credibility with the force, he was an enlisted man in vietnam. recognized for bravery. this individual gets it the issue of his being able to fit, and that's what we're talking about in this administration clearly was not as polished and decided upon more fulsomely as you prefer. he's doing his job and he says look i have a few questions about what's going on vis-a-vis our fight against isis. i would agree with you he was pushed off to the side. so a war-time secretary of defense could be described in the terms of secretary hagel. but more importantly, that's not what's important. what's important is how can the secretary of defense do the bidding of the soldiers and the service members out there in the edges of this incredibly large organization, who are putting themselves at risk. can that individual make the key decisions inside the beltway, inside this administration, so that their necessary requirements are being met? that's what it's all about. it doesn't have to be somebody

who is out there and has been out there. it's somebody who can do the fighting where he or she needs to do the fighting and that's here in this town. >> you talk about the men and women out there on the edges of the military effort. one of those places continues to be afghanistan where just yesterday there was an attack on british convoy. spider, do you think this shows that the taliban is gaining strength once again? >> it certainly does. when you are in a position where the taliban can exert itself with authority and with precision, clearly they have good intelligence, they know what the movements look like. they know what routine looks like and then they can attack. these are not serendipity, these are not movements to contact. these are established and directed attacks that are taking place. which means that the network still exists and it's important that the afghan government and the afghan security forces clearly are taking the need, but the united states and the coalition partners need to remain a part of that until such time as afghanistan can step up

and say look, we are more confident moving forward. and that clearly is going to take time as we've seen. and this government in afghanistan has said we're looking for your help. the previous one did not. >> general james "spider" marks, always great to have you, happy thanksgiving to you and your family. appreciate it. millions of people headed out for the biggest shopping day of the year what are some of the best bargains to find on this black friday? you don't have to wait any longer, we're about to tell you. . so my buddy here is going to help me find it. here we go. woo who, woah, woah, woah. it's out there somewhere spreading the word about americas favorite potatoes: heart healthy idaho potatoes and the american heart association's go red for women campaign. if you see it i hope you'll let us know. always look for the grown in idaho seal.

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all right, welcome back to "new day." get your shopping shoes on, folks. if you doechbn't have a pair, g pair. it is black friday. before you head out we want to prepare you so you can make the smart buys. host of "tech bytes" and cnn technology analysts, i've been calling him the shoparelic fella. recei rhett larson. help us break this down, what we need to know today if we are heading out there, what can we fund? find? >> we put this list together and a lot of this stuff already sold out, it's 8:00 in the morning. my voice isn't even warmed up all the way and things are sold out. the beatz by dr. dre, the price is $90 off. >> sold out, our director tried to buy a set now.

the. >> the gopro family, this is one of the first years it's been a big gift to give and you've seen the videos you can make of them, also sold out online. you can go to the store and find them. tv deals are crazy, if you want to get an inexpensive television, one at walmart under 300 bucks and i looked at the specs. this is a 1080p, 40" high definition television, not like two years ago's model. >> what is wrong with these people you think, but you can really save a ton of money. >> i saw a 4k tv and i'm not a huge go out and buy the 4k tv but i found one for under $1,000, $500 from samsung, that's good. if you needed a new tv for the home that's a good price because that's a tv that will last you five or six years as the

technology evolves. >> i've been one of the people i like to wait for cyber monday because i'm lazy. >> as long as you have a very good internet connection, thank you, cnn. >> are there things we should wait for before monday when all the sales are on the line? >> electronics prices will continue to go down. the tablet and computer prices are really low which is kind of surprising. it's like i don't think they could go much lower but they always tend to pull something out. the thing i like that amazon is doing, deals at 6:00, this is going to go on sale which makes no sense. it's an online thing. it's appointment shopping but there's some good deals to be had, a lot of them yesterday that were unfortunately expired because they started several hours prior but they're doing it on the hour. >> is there any psychology behind that? >> it gives you that feeling of like i have to be there at 6:00 or i'm not going to get it, i got to be a part of the team. i think it's a good idea. >> in to seconds give me a couple of apps to help shopping.

>> shop adviser is great because it gives you reviews of things you're going to buy, if you're not sure, is this the one i want they have full reviews. i thought i love, it's a new twist on rebates. you're not going to mail them in. this helps you out and retail me not is a good app to have around. >> already feel much better, better prepared? >> feel smarter already. >> rhett larson thanks so much. >> would you get in a fight with strangers over the items we talked about? look at this, some fights breaking out, we'll take you right to the mall coming up next. lize... [ starter ] ready! [ starting gun goes off ] [ male announcer ] it's less of a race... yeah! [ male announcer ] and more of a journey. keep going strong. and as you look for a medicare supplement insurance plan... expect the same kind of commitment you demand of yourself. aarp medicare supplement insurance plans

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-- captions by vitac -- fwww.vitac.com; black friday fever. millions battling it out this morning for that big ticket item at low cost. brawls breaking out over the holiday season's hottest items. will black friday sales show an improving economy? we'll wade through the shopping madness. reprieve in the protest. will the demonstrations return to the streets of ferguson as the city tries to pick up the pieces? this morning protesters are calling for a boycott of black friday, that as questions linger

over the future of officer darren wilson. what happens next. presidential challenges, who will president obama nominate as his new secretary of defense, two of his top candidates withdrawing their names from consideration as the war on isis heats up the uphill battle to replace chuck hagel. your "new day" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "new day" with chris cuomo, kate bolduan and michaela pereira. >> or reasonable fak is csimile those people. it is 8:00 in the east. i'm michaela pereira. john berman is alongside of me. ph pamela brown is here, we hope all of you had a wonderful thanksgiving and a chance to sleep off some of that turkey. maybe you're thinking hey, let's hit the mall. it is black friday, the biggest

shopping day of the year for brick and mortar stores. >> retailers hoping to see a boost and falling gas prices, as we see every year, all this excitement over the hottest gadgets or newest toys it can turn into a wild scene. >> it always surprises me this happens, i don't know why. >> deborah feyerick joins us live from a shopping mall in jersey city, good morning, deb. >> reporter: good morning, john. good morning, michaela. the reason people are here, this is exactly why. 10% off, buy one get one $5. you don't have to come to the ma ul to find deals. go into your newspapers, everybody offering something for, well, not exactly nothing but virtually far less than you would ordinarily pay. the mall opened today, 6:00, the majority of the smaller stores. some did stay open overnight. there was some trepid shoppers but right now things are picking up and this is just the start of what we're expecting.

overnight, the hunt for bargains across the nation becoming a contact sport. police prying these shoppers off the floor of this walmart in houston, texas, refusing to let go of a discounted tv. one police officer even grabbing this shopper by the face and throwing him to the ground. tempers flare at this walmart michigan city, indiana, with shoppers clamoring for a bargain on sony speakers. and in los angeles, police were called to another walmart after a brawl broke out over a $5 barbie. >> there is obviously a fight between a guy and a girl other a barbie doll. and the girl socked the guy in the face just to get the barbie. >> reporter: the stampede through the front doors, a welcome sight for retailers, hoping to cash in on the holiday

frenzy. >> when we do this, the demand was not there. >> reporter: the national retail federation projected this holiday season spending will total nearly $617 billion, growing 4.1% over last year. >> i rushed over here to be one of the first ones to just get everything that i need and then go home. >> reporter: some shoppers camping outside for days. >> i bring my tv, my generator, my little tarng and chairs, let everybody have a good time. >> reporter: strumming the guitar to pass the time. ♪ got in my car, drove >> reporter: all in an effort to have great deals like this flat screen tv marked down $400. >> there's one more 55 inch. >> reporter: a convenient alternative to all the mayhem. >> the lady in the green jacket is fighting. >> reporter: john and michaela you heard him say if the demand went there, they wouldn't have

stayed open. this is one small store that made the decision to open overnight and they actually made up full days worth of profits. another store they decided to stay open past midnight and nobody came so they have four workers who did the overnight shift but didn't make any sales, that's time and a half so it's going to be checks and balances to see who is making money, who is not. one woman we spoke with said the biggest deals were at macy's, for example, she got a $250 coat for $98, she said she's completely surprised in the value in that. that's why people are here, because some people don't want to come anywhere near a mall on black friday. as a matter of fact, the poll that you earlier mentioned only 12% of shoppers are going to come out but others, it's really, really worth it, so they can get what they need, they're getting gifts, strategizing the best way to save money and that for many is what it's about. >> you have to be strategic about what you're going to do. is it worth it for you, the time, the patience.

deb thanks very much. we appreciate it. >> we're talking about black friday, a big news story going on in ferguson and the two sort of colliding. this as a calm returned to the area. some worry some of that mayhem we saw could return amid social media calls for a boycott of shopping today, and they have concerned some of the big box stores of more action. ana cabrera is live in ferguson where there remains a security presence there. good morning, ana. >> reporter: good morning to you, john. it is still calm and peaceful here. there were no arrests overnight. certainly some good news after a tough week in this community. we are just outside a target shop here just outside of ferguson, and you can see the parking lot has filled up. people are still shopping despite the calls for the black friday boycott. the police presence does remain, you can see just over my shoulder that is a state trooper on scene. we've seen several vehicles as well as national guard vehicles,

county police are here, want to make sure their presence is felt because with more protests planned today this region needs to stay alert. overnight, this walmart in ferguson shut its doors ahead of black friday. law enforcement and the national guard at the entrance as they turn away potential customers. in response to the grand jury's decision not to indict officer darren wilson, plans for a nationwide retail boycott on the biggest shopping day of the year are flooding social media, using hashtags like black out black friday and hands up, don't spend. protesters showing solidarity, vowing not to shop at all during the holiday weekend, or shop only at black-owned businesses. >> i think that economic power is just as powerful as political power and the power of the vote. >> reporter: in a heartfelt facebook post about the ferguson decision and the aftermath, new orleans saints player benjamin watson said he was sympathetic, confused and embarrassed.

without taking sides, the post went viral. in downtown st. louis, their annual parade canceled, in its place a fleet of cars demonstrating against violent protests. >> i wanted to be peaceful. i don't want the protesting, i don't want the rioting, i don't want the violence. >> reporter: in this chaotic scene played out during macy's signature thanksgiving day parade in new york. >> hands up. >> don't shoot! >> reporter: and nypd holds off a group of angry protesters pushing past barricades. the group organized und under #stoptheparade. seven people were arrested and on twitter this painful photo circulated of michael brown's family, sharing their first holiday without him. we understand there have been some protestst at some of the big box stores this morning, at least one of the walmarts in the region saw a small group of protesters walk through chanting, still remaining peaceful there.

as far as the black friday boycott idea, it's really based on the premise that money equals power and the idea is these minority communities in large numbers boycott some of these stores today, it sends a strong message that the status quo is simply unacceptable and that change must happen. mikial? >> protest with your wallet if you will or without your wallet i guess. thanks so much for that. let's further our discussion here by bringing in liz brown, a columnist at the "st. louis american" a leading african-american paper there in st. louis. always a pleasure to have you. pastor white is also joining us with the peace of mind church of happiness and clergy united. to you both, thank you, first of all. i was so moved by that picture that we just saw and i think before we get to the protests and the boycott, liz, maybe even the pastor, liz, i'll start with you, that image that we saw from thanksgiving of the brown family, that is a poignant image because at the root of all of this this is a family that's

still without their son. >> and it wasn't just the picture of michael brown's family that was circulated all across a social media. there were pictures of everybody that wasn't at the table for thanksgiving, all of the african-american families that have lost their sons to violence, that was the campaign to remind people of why we're here, why people are taking the extraordinary risk of life and limb to engage in this movement about bringing change within the criminal justice system. so it's poignant, heartfelt and that's exactly the connective piece that people were hoping to obtain by showing these pictures. >> it's interesting, pastor, we've seen sort of a little more calm and tranquility come. we know protests have changed and shifted, ferguson a little more calmer with their protests across the nation. we saw disruption temporarily at the macy's thanksgiving day parade. today we hear of a boycott of

black friday. it's as though the movement is sort of shifting, refocusing theirerts now. >> well, its eight important that we shift our focus, because as much as they're talking about boycotts of what we're doing, let's talk about how we've been under siege in this city and in this region. right now, there's no calm in the homes of the black families who can't shop in their local target or their local walmart, because this city is surrounded by cops, surrounded by national guard, even media have taken over what is normally our tradition, instead of going through coupons and trying to find sales, we've been going through stores bins, finding warmer clothes because we're going to be out on the streets trying to let our voices be heard. no one heard us when we said protect us but maybe they'll hear us now and keep our dollars from those other neighborhoods because we can't spend the dollars in our own neighborhood. >> pastor, how is now that the

grand jury has made its decision the focus of the protests still the same but shifting again. what is your message today as you say you bundle up to stand outside to make your voices heard. >> well the message has always been the same, we must unify with the brown family and with the various other families throughout this region and this country who have lost loved ones to police violence. we talk about violence from the protesters who may have destroyed a few property damages but what about the countless numbers of families who have lost loved ones? we ask for unity not only in this community but the various unity we've seen throughout this country that we must stick together and let all of our voices be heard so that we cannot be separated as individual incidents of violence against citizens but all citizens united against the police state taking place in this country. >> liz, interesting to see this boycott, the first time we've seen the idea of protesting in this fashion. we've seen this in past decades

but it's interesting to see how the hash tag is sort of a 2014 version of this kind of social movement. i'm curious, we're hearing from them, let's not shop on black friday, but if we do, let's only shop at black stores, black-owned stores. >> and we talk about a shift in issues, but i don't really think this is a shift. i think that what we're seeing within this movement is as a result of social media. we're seeing issue upon issue being able to be expanded and talked about. certainly it is a very powerful thing for individuals to be able to move and participate in this movement. think of all the people that have not gone to the streets, that have not participated in that way. now they have a way to participate in another way. families can participate. you can have discussions about this. it's a very, very powerful thing and social media is really the issue and really the thing that

has changed a movement and changed people's opportunity to participate in a movement. >> access to information, evening out the playing field in that respect, access to the movement as you both speak of it. liz brown, we appreciate you joining us as always. pastor thank you for braving the cold with us today and for adding your voice to our discussion. we'll carry it here on cnn. john? pope francis has touched down in turkey. he arrived this morning on the start of a three-day trip, expected to speak with turkey's president in a few minutes following a welcome ceremony in the last hour. the pope's visit comes as thousands of refugees pour into turkey from syria, as the war rages inside that country. arwa damon live in ankara with us this morning. good morning, arwa. >> reporter: good morning. pope francis and president erdogan just went into the presidential palace after the pope visited the mausoleum of

the founder of modern day turkey and he was escorted by turkey's ceremonial cavalry regiment, quite a bit of fanfare and effort for this visit, arguably the most critical time in perhaps the last century or so. in the last ten years since the beginning of the war in iraq, the rise of al qaeda and isis have seen the vast majority of christians forced to flea iraq and syria under direct threat to their lives. those that choose to stay behind in the two respective countries do so by either placing their faith in god or by paying a tax to a terrorist organization, something of a protection fee. pope francis is expected to try to reach out across religious divides at this stage, try to perhaps build something of a mainstream religious coalition to try to create a counterbalance to radical ideology. >> arwa damon for us in ankara, these meetings very important

over the next few days, i appreciate you being there for us. go to pamela brown for some of the days other top stories. >> supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg back home this morning recovering from heart surgery. the 81-year-old ginsburg was released from a washington hospital thursday. she needed a stint implanted to clear a blocked artery. officials say ginsburg plans to be back at work on monday when the court begins hearing a new round of arguments. really incredible. bill cosby no longer affiliated with two massachusetts schools after a string of sexual assault allegations. cosby agreed to resign as honorary chairman of the capital campaign of university of massachusetts at amherst, he received a masters and doctorate there. also berkeley college of music in boston ending its affiliation with cosby. they had an online with his name cosby has an honorary degree from berkeley. mexico's president pushing police reforms he hopes will

combat widespread crime and corruption. he wants to give the state control over local police to stop collusion between officials and gangs. 11 partially burned bodies were found thursday about an hour's drive from the 43 students that are missing. here's a heartwarming story, a secret santa saved the day in north texas after someone stole a family's christmas decorations from their front yard. the incident upset the 6-year-old little girl who lives there and her mom put up a sign on the lawn call out whoever took the decorations. this week all new decorations appeared on their doorstep. christmas trees, reindeer, and a big hello kitty right here, all from an anonymous donor. hey, she's 6 years old. the mom says the generous act teaches her daughter there are

still good people out there. >> important follow-up to a little one to not have to be traumatized by that grinchy move. i love it. happy endings. for the first time in years a poll shows more than half of americans things are going well in our country, so could that optimism translate into cash for retailers during the holiday shopping season? we'll take a look at that ahead.

welcome back, everybody. new cnn/orc poll shows a surprising degree of optimism about the economic direction of the country. for the first time in nearly eight years a majority of americans, 52% think that things are going well. this is a big, big deal and a big, big shift, so what's behind it and what does it mean going forward? joining us to talk about this is cnn global economic analyst, rhonda faruhaar. this is the first time they've said things are going in the right direction. last year at this time it was 41% who thought things were going well so a big jump in a year and really significant moment over the last eight years. >> absolutely. this reflects the fact you've seen several months of strong jobs growth. people are feeling more confident, economic growth is up, consumer sentiment is up. you'll probably see a pretty good black friday and people are

finally feeling secure in this roarry and it's taken a long time, six years in, the chink in the armor is wage growth. we're not seeing that where it should be. it is ticking up the last couple of months. people have not felt more money in their pockets, haven't felt the sense things are back on track. if that starts to change and wages kick up, optimism will be back. >> that's the real key. even as the jobs numbers improve over the last several years, wage growth has remained stagnant. sentiment hasn't improved until just. now. >> that's right. when you think about what the u.s. economy is made up of, it's 70% consumer spending. when people don't have more money in their wallets to spend you can't have that robust recovery that creates more jobs and starts a snowball effect. >> one of the things that is putting more money in people's wallets, gas prices. >> yep. >> yesterday while a lot of people were eating their turkey there was a huge move from opec,

opec voted no the to increase production which would have, you know, well, bottom line here is that opec has kept the price of oil very, very, very low and gas prices are going very low. the average price of a gallon of gas in the united states right now is $2.79 a gallon, the lowest it's been in four years, it continues to drop. >> absolutely. having more money in your wallet at the pump was a huge deal, huge consumer stimulus. the one downside of this of course is that the u.s. has become a big gas and oil producer. we have the shale gas revolution going on right now. it takes a lot of money to get that u.s. gas out of the ground, if prices start to go a lot below say $70 a barrel, you may see some of that drilling stop, so there's an interesting calculus there. >> you are at the balancing point right now. the price for a barrel of oil right now is right around $70, if it were to continue to drop, that could see a cut in production and exploration in

north dakota and texas, $68.20 per barrel. >> that's right. you see the price go down and back up, so it's a balancing act. >> no, undeniabliably good for consumer. what about the political implications of this. i have to imagine they're sitting at the white house looking at the poll, 52% saying the economy is going in the right direction, this happened to us now, what about three weeks ago when there was an election. >> this has been the longest and slowest recovery in the post world war ii period. we just were not used to seeing a recovery that took six years and only now do you see wages tick up. it will be interesting to see how this affects the next presidential election, typically you see very polarized politics at times when the economy is tight, when people were feeling pressed and things are down, when politics becomes interesting. you may see more consensus on tax reform and immigration

reform. >> makes some budget battles easier, tax receipts to tend to be a little bit higher. >> i don't think you'll see a big government shutdown, the way you would have in the past. that game is over. >> rana faroohar, thank you. he will not face charges for now but the legal bottle is not over for officer darren wilson. we'll talk a closer look at what is next for him, coming up. (vo) nourished. rescued. protected. given new hope. during the subaru "share the love" event, subaru owners feel it, too. because when you take home a new subaru, we donate 250 dollars to helping those in need. we'll have given 50 million dollars over seven years. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. creeping up on you... fight back with relief so smooth... ...it's fast. tums smoothies starts dissolving

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welcome back. time for the five things to know for your "new day." shoppers are racing out to malls nationwide as we see here on this black friday. retailers are hoping for a big boost and there's a reason to be hopeful with gas prices at a four-year low. and there are calls on social media to boycott black friday over anger with the decision to exonerate officer darren wilson in the michael brown shooting. the city remained calm overnight. pope francis is in turkey for a three-day visit, the pope will address a number of issues with leaders including the increased violence against christian minorities in the middle east.

and supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg recovering at home today following heart surgery. the 81-year-old was released from the hospital thursday and officials say plans to be back on the bench monday. it's going to start looking a lot like christmas at the white house. the first lady will be on hand for a welcome ceremony as the white house christmas tree arrives later this morning. lot of anticipation for that and of course we are always updating the five things to know, go to newdaycnn.com for the latest. >> a programming note, when that tree arrives we will cover it live on cnn, happening at 11:00 a.m. eastern time. >> we're counting down the days until our annual broadcast one of our events, cnn heroes, an all-star tribute, our annual holiday tradition honoring the year's top ten heroes and we name the hero of the year. right now, anderson cooper checks in on last year's top

honoree who remains dedicated to cleaning america. >> in 17 years, he picked up 8 million pounds of trash from america's rivers. >> yeah! >> reporter: last november, for his inspiring work chad picked up a big honor. the 2013 cnn hero of the year is chad pegracki. one year later we come up with him to get an inside look at what he does and how he does it. at the heart of his work is a massive 800-ton barge that stores the huge piles of trash chad's team collects and looks like a floating junkyard, but -- >> welcome to cnn cruise. >> reporter: it's also chad's part-time home. >> so pretty much everything is reclaimed or recycled either old buildings, old barns. >> reporter: the goal is serious but there is definitely quirk in

this work. >> this is the creepy doll collection. why we have it, i don't have any other idea other than we find a lot of creepy dolls. >> reporter: trash isn't all he needs to look out for on the river. >> one of the safety concerns is the flying camp. they really do fly out of the water. and they get rather big. >> reporter: it's all part of chad's work, work that includes growing trees. chad started this environmental effort in 2007 but he was able to expand it after being named cnn hero of the year. in the end, chad's crusade is much more than cleaning rivers. >> it's about people taking action in their own communities. that's how you change the world. >> you can see more of chad in rescuing the river, a cnn heroes special that will air friday night and of course, i know, john, you'll be tuning in sunday, december 7th at 8:00 p.m. eastern, watch cnn heroes, an all-star tribute for us to name the 2014 cnn hero of the

year. this is a star-studded event. there is music. you will have tears in your eyes, you won't want to miss this inspiring evening. ahead, officer darren wilson not out of the legal woods quite yet. could a wrongful death suit be on the horizon? the challenges for president obama continue to mount. who will he tap to be his next defense secretary and will republicans approve the nominee? we'll discuss, coming up. that it's given me time toabout reflect on some of life'seen biggest questions. like, if you could save hundreds on car insurance by making one simple call, why wouldn't you make that call?

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days of violent protesting and demonstrations in ferguson have subsided mostly for now as that community tries to move forward. plans are circulating on social media for more protests. what impact could they have on black friday? joey jackson is hln legal analyst and criminal defense attorney, with me once again this morning. we'll talk about black friday, a lot of things to get to. i want to begin with some of the revelations coming out, now that we've seen 70 hours of testimony that the grand jury was presented with.

we all are getting a chance to wade through some of that, really interesting revelations coming to light about inconsistencies, the way people were interviewed and questioned, revelations about the investigation. you have some concerns, where did it go, if there are these issues with how the investigation was done. >> it's problematic, michaela. grand jury is a body and panel and given the evidence, but they're given the evidence by the prosecutor and generally the prosecutor presents it in a manner they believe to be appropriate but remember, while they gather the information and give it to the grand jurors, it's not challenged, it's not questioned. and you want it subjected to scrutiny. >> under the microscope. >> 100%. if i had a conversation and i continued to tell you all of the wonderful cases i had and the wonderful things i did. >> you're leading the testimony.

>> then you have somebody else, tell michaela about the cases you've lost. tell about the homework you didn't do, and you know, that gives a brighter sense of what occurs. i don't think the ball game is other. >> you think we're going to see more legal action? >> i do, because listen, michaela, when you have as critical in the investigation the officer says he touched my gun, there's no indication of prints on the gun, why? because there was no looking for prints. that's a problem. what about dna, though, because sometimes you can touch a gun and not leave prints, was there dna done on that gun? when you have an officer involved in the shooting who is allowed to voucher that weapon himself, meaning to turn the weapon in, put it in with the police department, that's a problem. who is allowed to wash his hands. when you have a medical investigator at the scene who says my battery ran out. >> i didn't take pictures. >> the batteries died, i didn't take any pictures, measurements, i didn't need to do that, that's something that needs to be looked at. >> the question, we know the two federal investigations are under

way. there's a chance the family will pursue some sort of civil case. are you talking beyond that, that there could be litigation? >> i'm talking even from step one, i'm speaking about there could potentially be a representation to a separate grand your yu. if we continue to see these types of issues that occurred in the grand jury, there could be calls to present it to another grand jury. >> who makes that call? who is the person who will make that happen? >> the federal government weighs in. now states are autonomous, but i think with a pressure of the governor in appointing a special prosecutor at this late point, and in prevailing upon the local prosecutor, who shouldn't have been involved in the first instance and the reason i say that, michaela, police are not equipped to investigate police. prosecutors are not equipped to prosecute police, only because there's that close relationship, if i admire you, if i trust you, if i work with you, if i rely upon you. >> how am i going to investigate you? >> and particularly for the future so not only could we see a representation of that, we know we'll see a wrongful death

action by the family for the death of michael brown. >> you bring up the prosecution and i want to talk about the prosecutor, there have been reports that the prosecutor and the police chief were targeted in some sort of threat, we understand, two men have been arrested. >> yes. >> is that par for the course? we know the prosecutors and police chiefs receive their share of threats. does this concern you? does it say something else to you? what do you make of it? >> in the event their lives are threatened, that should never happen. if people were attempting to kill the sergeant, to kill the chief, to kill the prosecutor, they should be punished to the full extent of the law. now there's indications of course two people were indicted, they've been indicted federally for various crimes including getting a gun and what they may have done or may not have done. we don't yet know because evidence is still coming out. and you know, we'll see where that leads, but you know that tensions are always flying high. you know that this case in particular, michaela, has really

struck a chord not only in ferguson but throughout the country, but we also know that no one should be plotting, planning to kill anybody. this should stay in the legal system. >> another aspect in ferguson that we've seen in not just ferguson nearby delwood as well, a lot of property damage, we've seen fires, we've seen looting, we've seen a lot of destruction on the ground there and one thing that was of actual concern because of the specificity of the target was the church that the brown family worshipped in, firebombed. do you think we'll see any criminal charges there, people will see arrests an investigation? >> there needs to be an investigation and arrest. violence is not the answer to these issues. what is the answer is a community coming together, looking to see what can constructively been done in the future. there are indications police should wear the microphone, they refer to it as a body cam.

there should be calls for a reexamination of the entire process when a officer is involved, absolutely, should we change the mechanism where the local prosecutor gets to investigate you, absolutely we should. and so if you want to talk about constructive things moving forward, so that we can get to the nit yu gritty of what occurred and engender trust in the community, so that they can rely upon it, let focus on that. any crime, burned down buildings need to be investigated. those who have done that need to be accountable. >> great to have you here. >> my pleasure. here is a question, who is going to replace chuck hagel as the defense secretary? this is a big decision, the president has to make soon. we know a confirmation could be even tougher thanks to that shift of power in washington. we'll discuss that next. [ fishing rod casting line, marching band playing ]

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withelcome back to "new day" new big challenges for president obama as he has new vacancies to fill including defense secretary and attorney general already republicans are threatening to block nominees because the president's executive action on immigration. we'll talk more about this now, marc lamont hill, professor at morehouse college and ben ferguson, a cnn plit commentator and host of "the ben fergsthe b ferguson radio show." marc, let me ask you about the defense secretary gig.

no sooner did the white house announce secretary hagel was on his way out we heard there were three leading candidates to become the next secretary of defense, that was a week ago and there are two of those three leading candidates that we were sort of wirng, wink, nudge, nudged by the white house have withtra jn withdrawn their names from consideration. seems to be a job people would want. why are people running for the hills here? >> well, six years ago this job many people wanted particularly since president obama was committed to putting together a team of rivals. over the last six years the obama administration and the defense department in particular develop a particular plan of action which some disagree with, many people in the foreign policy realm disagree with and as a result many people who are critical of the position don't agree with the obama administration's direction and when you combine a different ideological direction with a very deeply entrenched in various places afghanistan, iraq, and of course the third piece of this is the fact that the obama administration has

been said to interfere and undermine the abilities and the functioning of the defense secretary position and nobody wants to inherit a messy job where you don't have the full support of your boss. that is chuck hagel's story and many people's story. as a result people don't want the job. >> there is certainly that shadow there. ben go ahead. >> i think you're seeing now the innerworkings of this white house and there's not been a good relationship between those in the military and the defense secretary and the president taking their advice. in fact, maybe the only circumstance we have is when osama bin laden was the target but since then this has been an ice cold relationship, and so if you are thinking about doing a job for two years, do you want to have a job where the president of the united states of america probably will not listen to your recommendations, will not listen to your advice and not move on a path you tell them is the best one for the

military? that doesn't sound like a job i would want and most people don't want that job either. now you have this bigger issue and that's this. you're going to get somebody that quite possibly could be on the b team or a minor league player, all of a sudden becoming the secretary of defense, to find someone to take this opportunity, maybe for resume and that doesn't help us when it comes to national security or defense at all. >> i don't think that's the case. >> let's wait and see who gets nominated before we relegate them to the b team. there's a lot of people out there. >> when you got your top three people the white house puts their name out there and all of a sudden you're in the media and you run away from it, you're telling me the next three are going to be just as good? i highly doubt it. >> let's talk about a nominee who -- >> just to be fair, bob work, ash carter, current and former secretaries of defense still on the list, adam smith, the highest ranking democratic member of the house armed service committee. these are significant players

people who could do the job with honor and integrity. >> another member who may have a hard time getting confirmed, laura lynch, picked to be the next attorney general. in the senate the republicans are saying you know what? we may hold up this confirmation because we don't like the president's executive actions on immigration. ben, do you think that's a smart move? >> yes, you got to fight fire with fire with the president of the united states of america pretty much says i don't care about congress. i'll go around you any opportunity and any chance i get. i don't need you. well, now all of a sudden the president of the united states of america needs them to get this nominee he wants that he chose. so when you go around congress and you make law on immigration reform and amnesty for 5 million people and you say i can't wait on you and brand new members of congress are coming in, this is the problem the president has when it comes to relationships on capitol hill. and he doesn't seem to care about them until he needs them and now he needs them and guess what? they're not taking phone calls. >> ben, you say the president needs an attorney general.

don't we as americans marc lamont hill need an attorney general now? go ahead, marc. >> that's exactly the problem. first of all the logic that you fight fire with fire to me is somewhat immature. if you disagree with the president's executive action -- >> i would say tell the president of the united states of america that, marc. >> please, let me finish the thought, ben. if you disagree with the president's executive action which so far has not been proven to be unconstitutional and it is within the realm of his power, contest that on constitutional grounds. you don't stop the united states from having an attorney general and other major cabinet positions. you're not punishing the president. you're punishing america at a moment when we need a justice department to be active and functional. you don't stop doing your job because the president didn't dois. >> gentlemen, i want to say thank you and happy thanks giving to you both and before we say too much more give a chance to digest your food from yesterday and face the day with a smile here. ben ferguson, marc lamont hill thanks for being here

>> thanks for having us. here's an everyday question for you. i know you think about this all the time. how do you get two hamsters, a rat and a rabbit to sit down and eat their thanksgiving dinner? it is harder than it looks. you know why? portion control is a real, real challenge here. we're going to have the story behind this ridiculous tease next. whenyou obsess over find neperfection, elevate form, and reinvent a category. you also attract a lot of attention. chevrolet. the most awarded car company of the year. not ford, honda, or toyota. hurry in, the chevy black friday sale ends monday. get 0% financing plus $1000 dollars and no monthly payments until next year on these models and more. find new roads at your local chevy dealer.

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we certainly hope all of you enjoyed your thanksgiving, family time, the football, all of that food. before we go today on this friday, jeanne moos has a look at a few furry friends who apparently enjoyed their own little feast.

>> reporter: baste the turkey, prepare the pie, when you sit down to thanksgiving dinner, give thanks your portions aren't hamster sized. ♪ tiny hamsters tiny thanksgiving is actually dinner for four, two hamsters, a rat and a rabbit which made it -- >> extremely chaotic. >> reporter: and long. this not quite video of two minutes took 12 hours to shoot. the room is actually an l.a. food critic. hamster thanksgiving was brought to you by the same folks who created tiny hamster eating tiny burritos. and tiny birthday cake. then tiny hamsterer have us kobayashi, former nathan's hotdog eating champ. the hamster won. viral addage dreamed up tiny hamsters eating tiny food to

show off their creative chops. are those dental instruments you're using? >> yes. >> reporter: that's a dental mirror inspecting a burrito and a scalpel carving the turkey. we are assured no hamsters suffered indigestion in the making of these videos. >> with every shoot we hire a food stylist to design and work with the animal trainer s to fid out what each animal's diet is. >> reporter: they turn hamster friendly ingredients into human looking food. the videos were so popular they inspired imitators who paid homage using pet hamsters to suck up spaghetti. and nibble pizza. as is often the case with thanksgiving dinners there was friction between the tiny tyners. one hamster was caught in the act of stealing a drumstick from the other hamster's plate, but at least there were no pies in the face. jeanne moos, cnn, new york.

civilization might be in decline? i want to you put on this video and you will feel better about everything. >> no hamsters at your thanksgiving dinners? how was it, pam? >> no, maybe next year. i never thought about that. it was nice i was here for most of it, but after i met up with some friends. >> you had the berman family. >> we had 16 people at the house, deep fried a turkey in the driveway using a ladder, a pulley system, a tent. it was extraordinary. ours did not end up looking like that by the end. >> i continued to have my four-decade-long aversion to brussel sprouts and feel proud i've been able to keep them at bay because they were there. >> you know who had a great thanksgiving, certain miss carol costello who is anchor of "the newsroom" a huge detroit lions fan and for i think the first time in a dozen years, the lions

they won a football game, which didn't happen last week against the patriots. >> hey, mr. patriot john berman talked with me last weekend when the lions lost to the new england -- >> happy thanksgiving, carol. >> happy thanks thanksgiving. "newsroom" starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com happening now in "the newsroom" -- black friday. a full contact sport. >> my husband has the other cart went on the other side of the store. plus -- >> hands up! >> don't shoot! >> hands up, don't spend. ferguson protesters call for a boycott of black friday. >> i think that economic power is just as powerful as political power and the power of the vote.