>> good luck on your debate today. >> do i look okay today, mom? >> you look lovely. don't be nervous about a thing. >> reporter: starring a a matriarch of a blended family her career would be defined on "the brady bunch." >> i created the kind of mother that i wish i had and everyone longs for. >> reporter: taking on the role is something that henderson embraced. >> i get so much fan mail from all over the world and everybody wants a hug from me and i hug everybody. >> reporter: in the decades following the show, henderson never shied away from limelight returning to her iconic carol brady for multiple spinoffs of "the brady bunch." but even before she became a brady, henderson seemed destined for show business. >> i don't ever remember not singing and i would sing in pass

the hat and for groceries. >> reporter: henderson's career took off at the age of 19 on broadway when she landed a leading role in "oklahoma" in 1951. ♪ oklahoma >> reporter: becoming a bonified star on stage, her tv career progressed as she became nbc's "today" girl in 1959 and broke barriers as the first woman to guest host "the tonight show" for johnny carson. henderson earned her star on the hollywood walk of fame in 1996. and recently danced her way back into the spotlight on "dancing with the stars." henderson is survived by her four children. she'll be remembered most as america's favorite mom. ♪ i want to be loved by you, just you and nobody else but you ♪ >> "variety" is reporting that florence henderson was at

"dancing with the stars" on monday night supporting maureen mccormack. maureen tweeted out a message to florence henderson saying florence was a dear friend for so many years and in my heart forever. tom also sending out a tweet. and tom berger sent out a tweet "heartbroken. i'll miss you, my friend." she played the mother that she wanted to be, wanted to have rather. she had a difficult childhood. she had a single parent who dealt with alcoholism. she not only played the played that she wanted but we all wanted. >> that's sweet. thank you so much. joining us by phone host, our friend in the late '70s and

'80s every day when i got home from school i would watch hours and hours of "the brady bunch" and something so comforting about carol brady, florence henderson. she was joking, everyone always asked me for a hug so i gave everyone a hug. >> it's interesting because i just hugged her a couple months ago was the last time i interviewed her. she does feel like america's mom and we always joked over at "entertainment tonight" because the original brady house is not far from our studio. we can just hop over to the brady house. you guys were talking about maureen mccormack tweeting out her condolences and the picture of the two of them. the last time i spoke with florence henderson was just a couple months ago right after she was with "dancing at the stars" supporting maureen. they had a real moment where maureen danced where they both got emotional and teary with each other and i asked florence about that.

i asked why it affected her so much. maureen still feels like my daughter. i think of her as my daughter. and maureen told me, i feel like she's my mother. she brought joy to everyone that was around. i know "dancing with the stars" cast talked about it a lot. she was a fan favorite and show favorite. she just brought joy to everyone. i know that her manager was saying that she wasn't sick. so, this was very sudden and it was very shocking. a lot of people are going to be extremely shocked when they wake up this morning and hear this news. >> we could sing every word of this, right, theme song of "the brady bunch" but i think in reading about her this morning what i hadn't realized is that she was so, so young when she started all of this. she started acting and going to school here in new york. one line in this play "wish you were here" and then they gave her the lead role in "oklahoma." >> exactly.

absolutely. and we do think of her as carol brady, but just as boris was roughening down her accomplishments. when you listen to her career and you see her resume, you realize how accomplished she really was on the stage and on the screen. she did play carol brady when the show ran and then also came back when we brought the bradys back because we loved them so much, we kept bringing them back on television in '77 and '81 and she kept coming back for that. she also played the grandmother in "the brady movie" in '95 or '96. she did do a lot for the entire run of her career, which was decades long. we should say she was 82, but we should say 82 years young. because if you ever met her and in her presence, she was very

young feeling. so, she will definitely be missed. >> we saw those clips of her performing in "dancing with the stars" you know, recently. she had an incredible amount of talent. you know, let's play the clip, again, of her singing on "the brady bunch." ♪ i want to be loved by you just you ♪ ♪ and nobody else but you ♪ i want to be loved by you alone ♪ >> i just got carried away. >> oh, alice. >> andy davis just died a couple years ago. so talented on stage and screen even if she's best remembered for that one role. >> absolutely. like we said, when everyone wakes up this morning that is what they will remember. they will be singing the theme song in their head and replaying things like that. i remember when i spoke with maureen just a couple months ago about florence and her relationship and she was talking about how they really kind of

started bringing her out of her shell because when they would perform on "the brady bunch" she had no idea she could dance or sing a little bit and it really was one of the most special moments of her life. i think florence was the driving force in a lot of that because she did have this immense talent that she spread throughout that cast. but, just once again, it will be shocking news when people wake up this morning. and we're all just going to mourn her and smile a little bit. i know when you guys were playing those clips, a very sad thing. but just made me smile a little bit and that is what she did. being america's favorite mom. >> we will celebrate her throughout the morning. florence henderson, 82 years young. >> nishelle is right. you can't watch those clips. you're watching those clips and i can't help but smile because it's really sweet. >> it is. bargain hunters getting an early start on black friday

deals. a lot of stores opened their doors on thanksgiving night or overnight. alison kosik is outside a target store in jersey city, new jersey. what does it look like so far? 6:07 a.m. >> good morning, john. i am not outside the target, i am inside showing you what's being offered here. check this out a slew of tvs. only 63 left. no, i'm not a salesperson. but here's the thing, last night after everybody ate their turkey and ate their pumpkin pie they came here to target. hundreds of people waiting in line and, you know what they really, really wanted? they wanted the 50 inch 4k tv. that sold out. but a jinorms teddy bear, as well. black friday not just a shopping thing, but also a holiday thing. this year's black friday frenzy kicking off with hundreds jamming the streets outside macy's flagship store in new york city.

early bird shoppers taking over entire departments in search of steep discounts. it's that time of year when all-out chaos ensues over jumbo-sized tvs. and shoppers battle it out over who gets the biggest deals. this excited crowd caught clamoring over electronics at a walmart in columbus, mississippi. even though walmart is trying to reduce the brawls by handing out wristbands to a limited number of customers for hot items and increasing staffing. still, across the country, retailers are welcoming the long lines. ushering in eager bargain hunters and customers are braving inclement weather. shoppers at this best buy in portland standing in the rain for hours. >> i'm soaking wet and i'm still here. >> reporter: forgoing thanksgiving dinner to flood the aisles in search of big-ticket items. ready with cash in hand. the national retail federation

says holiday sales this year are expected to top $650 billion. a 3.6% increase from 2015. and on cybermonday, at least 36% of consumers plan to nab their deals online. and speaking of online, that is part of the reason why you're seeing it kind of quiet here on this black friday morning. crowds are expected to rush in, but it's because the doors opened so early. this target has been open since 6:00 p.m. last night. that's, once again, after everybody finished eating. i want to show you how far the lines went. right down there. this was crowded with people. everybody waiting in line for those doorbusters. so, you know, there's always hope for online, but there's also some analysts who say, listen, of the shoppers who are expected to get out and shop today. 81% of shoppers overall are expected to come into stores. brooke? >> that is incredible that it was open 6:00 p.m. i heard that right.

6:00 p.m. and it's still open. joining us, thank you, . anchor of cnn's "early start" christine romans. good morning. happy day after thanksgiving, happy black friday. first to you, granted people had been shopping, you know, yesterday. but is black friday as big of a thing as it has been in the year's past? do people rush the stores? >> it is interesting. i was actually out there as of a couple hours ago at that target and kind of seeing that the traffic dissipate as of 12:00 a.m. so, people weren't really out there full force really late in the evening. and part of the reason why is because people are going online. so, paypal came out with a study that said people started shopping for black friday as of september 30th. so, people had been going out there, you know, it's called christmas creep and we're not talking about the creepy relative that comes over, it's

for people who start shopping earlier and earlier. >> everyone complains about hearing the christmas music in september, but there's a reason for it. are there any deals at this point? >> there are deals that will be better later in the season. apparel can be later in the season. jewelry can be later in the season. but good deals today in terms of electronics. samsung 4k tvs. the top selling item in november. kindles. really great deals on kindles and electric scooters and lego sets. that's my own personal to-do list. but the amazon black friday online store started the first week in november. so, black friday used to be the day when the retailers turned black for the year, you turn positive for the year and then everything after that was a profit. >> it's like black fridayish. it's all stretched out. since everybody shops online now and we talked about cybermonday -- >> cybermonday starts saturday, by the way. >> i'm so confused.

>> cybermonday starts tomorrow. >> the retailers are going up against the amazon juggernaut. they're trying to get their sales started earlier and earlier. amazon is open 24/7 and they're able to price out products at various parts of during the year. so, you may be getting a discount on something that is "black friday price" in august or september. that's why you're seeing the deals start earlier and earlier. >> the consumer has more information and more leverage than ever before because you walk into a store today. black friday in my family was always tradition after thanksgiving we would go shopping together. my mom and grandmother and sisters and nieces. >> that was a big car. >> you didn't have all the information and now you can go online and say i can get that for 10% off that. >> the consumer here is really the target. >> you think you're on the hunt for a bargain and you are being hunted. the entire retail industry is designed to get you to spend more money than you wanted to.

don't open store cards. please don't. >> you wanted to make sure that security is the most important, too. you want to make sure that you are, you know, you're buying, especially if you're buying online you want to make sure you're going through reputable site. >> be careful for stocking fees and stuff like that. >> that's a good discount that seems too good to be true, it probably is. stick to websites walmart.com, target.com. you're not going to get a better discount because you're going on something that is doublediscounts.com. >> don't be fooled. >> they might not even send you your merchandise. >> which would be no fun. you ran through some of the discounts. if i decide to buy one thing today -- >> i think the doorbusters are women's shoes and boots. >> speaking my language. >> they have found that the stores seem to think that they're talking to us. if they can get us in there with cheap shoes and boots. now, the question is, they have, they have end caps and all these

other things to get you to spend more money than you wanted to. get your cheap shoes and boots and walk out. >> i saw electronics in walmart and target. if you go out there and buying for mr. buerman over here. >> you like women's shoes. >> right. >> meantime, let's move on. mitt romney is considered donald trump's favorite -- >> speaking of women's shoes and boots -- >> it's early. we ate a lot yesterday. mitt romney donald trump's favorite to become secretary of state. one of trump's top advisors stirring things up insisting loyalty matters. is team trump split between the top two contenders next on "new day." afoot and light-hearted i take to the open road.

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with president-elect donald trump focused on filling out his cabinet, there is an unprecedented battle brewing for the biggest spot, complete with negative campaigning and now top aide kellyanne conway stirring the pot publicly on social media. cnn national correspondent jason carroll is live just outside the trump estate in palm beach, florida. jason, what are you learning? >> well, good morning to you, john. it seems to be team romney versus team giuliani.

both men lobbying for the position of secretary of state behind the scenes. what seems to be happening is there is still a number of people who are still upset with romney over all that harsh criticism that he had towards trump during the primary, during the election. you remember, romney is the one who said a trump presidency might lead to trickle down racism. well, kellyanne conway weighing in on some of these discussions tweeting out the following yesterday. receiving a deluge of social media and private communication romney. some warn romney as secretary of state. conway basically saying what she is doing is she is just talking about something publicly that she was advising privately to both trump and mike pence. meanwhile, trump who was supposed to have a down day yesterday for the holiday said he's having somewhat of a working vacation. he says he's trying to save u.s. jobs, keeping them in the u.s. especially targeting u.s.

company called carrier air conditioning. saying he's encouraging them to keep jobs here in the united states. john? >> jason carroll for us in palm beach, nice to see you, jason. want to discuss this further errol louis and cnn political analyst josh rogan. errol, we saw that one tweet from kellyanne conway and there was more in this public campaign. and we're loyal and we're loyal. we should put the loyal word there in bold. good checklist. i have never seen anything like this. this public campaign now from people loyal really to rudy jewgiuliani against the idea of mitt romney being secretary of state. it's something to see. >> i'm not sure so much if this is pro-rudy giuliani as it is part of a faction fight that has been going on. there are some people and

kellyanne conway surprised some people in the wing of the party that were not just disenchanted with mitt romney, but didn't like anything he stood for. they thought he had the wrong policies and wrong style and they thought he wasn't the right kind of candidate to build the party that they wanted to see that was more tilted towards the working class. to see him after that and that barn burner of a speech he gave in march back in salt lake city where he absolutely tore down donald trump to see that rewarded really just defends everything that's going on. i think what's really important and kind of interesting is that they're continuing something that we saw during the campaign from time to time. which is fighting in public to try and get the attention of the candidate. and now the president-elect. >> because he watches tv. >> not only on twitter. we know what he watches, who he's watching. you have the mike huckabees and newt gingrich and taking to tv and others taking to tv to try to break through two of the president-elects who are sitting at mar-a-lago.

who does he listen to? >> trump is actually watching the news coverage, reading the clips and watching the shows. he wants his picks to be popular. he wants people to look at his cabinet and say, this is great. trump's doing a great job. he really does care. whether they make each of these guys as unacceptable as possible to prevent trump from picking them. errol is right. playing out of d.c. versus the tower in new york. the d.c. people want romney and the tower people want to punish anyone who wasn't trump. all the never trumpers are going to get in and, by the way, they all happen to be foreign policy and they all signed all of those letters. and they don't really want to work for president trump, but they will work for secretary of state romney. we'll open up the flood gates. the question is, does donald trump want revenge and i think he's trying to figure this out. >> number one, it appears to be donald trump himself who at

least has begun the romney boomlet by having mitt romney in and in claiming it was a good meeting. clearly within trump, trump was a little bit open to the idea of mitt romney. number two our friend maggie haberman reporting that rudy giuliani is not happy about this public vetting process that's going on. and then, josh, number three, you know, if not mitt romney. if not rudy giuliani, who? does it mean a guy like david petraeus may sneak in the back door? >> what i hear from transition sources there is a camp in the tower in new york for rudy giuliani and a smaller camp in d.c. for john bolton and if all of those three are deemed to be unacceptable, they can't reach a consensus, then they go to david petrae petraeus. who very publicly threw his hat in the ring with an interview with bbc earlier this weektop didn't david petraeus get convicted for mishandling classified information?

the response i got from the trump transition, yes, but, what he did wasn't as bad as what hillary clinton did. see, donald trump was on david petraeus' side the whole time. he's the dark horse and it could happen. >> let's move on to money, shall we. when you add all these pennies, nickels and dimes and billions with all these potential picks within the trump cabinet, it gets you at over $30 billion. we can throw the pictures up of some of these individuals he's considering choosing adding to his cabinet and, errol, this is trump's network. the question to me is, did they have the policy? they have the money, did they have the policy? >> it depends on who you're talking about. some people like senator sessions, clearly, used to work in the justice department understands how it works, has a wealth of experience. no question about that. somebody like dr. ben carson. not so clear. not just because he hasn't been in the world of housing and housing development. he's being considered for housing and urban development,

but because he hasn't run anything as big as a big federal cabinet. and, apparently, his spokesman even said the other day he's not clear whether or not he can run something this big. that might be a qualification question. look, it's a combination of loyalty to the president. effectiveness in dealing with the various constituents and that sometimes means the governors. that means capitol hill. and then just raw executive ability. those are really your three characteristics you have to look at. >> billionaires and generals is something that fits the mold. we'll talk more about this as the show goes on, guys. tragic news from the middle east. a u.s. service member has been killed in syria. this is the first u.s. casualty in that country. the first u.s. death in that country in the fight against isis. we'll tell you what happened next on "new day." every tv doctor knows scrubbing is serious business.

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welcome back to "new day." the u.s. military suffering its first combat day in syria on thanksgiving in an i.e.d. blast. underscores the dangers that u.s. soldiers face each and every day. joe johns is live at the white house with the very latest. joe, good morning. >> good morning, brooke. not a lot of information on this at this time from central command. we do know, as you say, a u.s. service member in northern iraq near raqqa northern syria was

killed. this apparently was caused by an improvised explosive device. there are at any one time as many as 300 u.s. troops operating in syria. working in an advising role but we don't know precisely what they were doing. the defense secretary ash carter did release a statement yesterday that said in part, i'm deeply saddened by the news on this thanksgiving day that one of our brave service members has been killed in syria while protecting the u.s. from the evil of isil. as you say, brooke, it points up the danger in syria, even though these people are supposed to be working in an advisory capacity. back to you. >> all right, joe johns at the white house. thanks so much. our hearts go out to that family. a california mother has been found alive on the side of the

road three weeks after she went jogging and never came home. she was bound and dumped on the side of interstate 5 and managed to flag down a passing car. this is about nearly 150 miles from her home. police are now looking for two armed women who allegedly abducted her. federal investigators are now leading the manhunt for the gunman who killed two people and injured four during a holiday football game in louisville, kentucky. family members tried to run to their loved ones after gunfire erupted during what they call the juice bowl on thanksgiving in city park. the mayor was safely whisked away after being just 200 yards from those bullets. the motive for the shootings still unclear. arson terrorism. that's how israeli officials are describing what is happening in and around the city. raging wildfires forced tens of thousands of people from their homes. live with more this morning.

>> john, we're getting the latest information that at least 12 suspects now have been arrested and detained in starting these fires. there is a bit of good news, though. many of the neighborhoods here in northern israel, the hardest hilt cities, many of those people are being allowed back home. but police say and authorities say they're still fighting hot spots that are reigniting. we have seen some fires tear apart the center of the city. take a look to my left. this is one of the buildings in the hardest hit area. this in haifa fires breaking out in central and northern, as well. firefighters from all over the country, three-quarters of the firefighters in the country trying to get these fires under control and get them out before they reignite in these very dry, very windy conditions. this has become at this point an international problem. the turks and greeks and americans all sending in help as well as the palestinians who had to deal with their own fires in

the west bank. brooke? >> thank you. we'll stay in contact with you throughout the morning. 56 days to go until president-elect donald trump puts his hand on that bible on inauguration day in washington and with so much controversy swirling around who will he pick for his cabinet. the question we're asking this morning is, will he be ready to lead? we'll tackle that next on "new day."

in just 56 days it will be resident trump he is facing all kinds of questions about readiness to lead this country. so, will trump address it all by day one? let's bring back errol louis to discuss. when you look at some of the numbers as far as whether or not americans approve or disapprove on how he handled all this thus far. it's kind of right down the middle. 45% approve and also when you look at previous presidents, the numbers aren't that high in some cases. do you think people are being too critical and transitions aren't always, you know, perfect. >> well, i think this particular transition has its unique problems that other presidents haven't had to face. he is a flurality president, in

some respects, depending on you look at this. he didn't get the outright majority of the popular vote and that number keeps changing. he won these critical states by less than 1% if you're talking about michigan, wisconsin and pennsylvania. he has a little bit of that that he has to contend with and an interesting new problem that people don't know whether -- people who are uneasy about trump. they don't know to be concerned he's going to do what he said on the campaign trail or not do what he said on the campaign trail. some things he said were reassuring to people but we don't know if he's going to do those things. a lot more things that were deeply troubling about torture and prosecuting hillary clinton that he seems to be backing away from. what it creates is an overall uneasiness that we don't really know. >> it's the unknown. >> sure, we simply don't know. you can almost pay money to people to find out what the urban policy is going to be. what is he going to do about

transportation. we're going to repeal and replace obama care. replace it with something that is going to be so beautiful. what does that mean? an entire sector, what, 14% of the economy rests on the answer to that question and we have no idea where it will wind up. >> you can be vague for about 56 more days and then you can't be vague at all because everything you say and do matters a lot to a lot of people. you make a great point, too. which is he can be accused of flip-flopping and a lot of people think that's a good idea. one area where he hasn't budged is the areas of his own potential conflicts of interest where he doesn't really see any conflicts of interest but some people do. during the transition he met with his indian business partners and ivanka trump sat in with a meeting and jared kushner may be involved in negotiating mideast peace and a lot going on with this family and his business and donald trump is

fairly defiant on this. >> what he has said repeatedly and said at "the new york times" meeting the president can't have a conflict of interest. that is an overstatement of the reality. the reality conflict of interest rules that apply to all federal employees and you can't constrain a president and, frankly, vice president by putting the same restraints on them. that's not the same as saying i can't have conflicts of interest. this is almost, i think, going to be a full employment bill because we can add to the list you already gave. the loans from the bank of china and deutsche bank that d.c. hotel down the street where diplomats are already saying, yes, we're staying here because we want to -- >> would anyone ever cry foul. alisyn was saying with ben ferguson if you replaced ivanka

with chelsea clinton, republican heads would be exploding. >> that's exactly right. raises the question, what are the remedies? if there is a conflict and the remedy is not the same legal process that would apply to any other federal employee. that doesn't mean we're helpless to just sort of live with these conflicts and hope they don't cause a huge problem. what it means is that other institutions, including the media, including congress, which does have investigatory impeachment power if it comes to that. it doesn't go away because donald trump doesn't think he can be held to account in any other way any federal employee can. i think his team understands this because they're giving lip service to trying to resolve this. although we have gotten no clear guidance on what that is going to look like. a cornucopia of football to go along with all that holiday turkey. the steelers, cowboys, lions, they all feasted on their opponents. we'll have details next in the bleacher report.

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turns out the dallas cowboys might be pretty good. they just won their tenth game

in a row. andy sholes has more. >> dak prescott and ezekiel elliott. look at the highlights. dak rolling out right here. find williams for the touchdown. williams getting his tippy toes down. just an incredible catch. that made the score 17-3. fourth quarter, elliott going to get in for a second touchdown of the game. cowboys hang on to win for their tenth straight win. now, throughout this entire game dez bryant were going at it. they had to be separated on the field. the appetizer yesterday, the lions beat the vikings, but it was aretha franklin's rendition of "national anthem" that stole the show. ♪

♪ home of the brave >> now the anthem lasted 4 minutes and 35 seconds. got to be close to a record. twitter had an absolute field day with this. one of my favorite tweets was we were able to eat the turkey, eat the turkey and have dessert and aretha was still singing. >> happy day after thanksgiving. meantime, just a painful first for the u.s. military now fighting isis in syria. we have details of a thanksgiving tragedy next.

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while millions of americans were enjoying their loved ones, breaking bread on thanksgiving, half a world away an american serviceman was killed in syria. u.s. defense officials say he was part of the multi-national force fighting in syria. mark hurtling the former army general. thank you so much for joining us. >> good morning, brooke. >> our condolences go out to, you know, his family, his friends back here at home. we don't have a lot of details surrounding exactly how he was killed other than the fact that it was by an ied and improvised explosive device. will you just underscore the dangers in this part of the world for our military men and women. >> sure. in syria this is our first fatality. this young soldier gave his life for his country and helping whoever he was advising and

assisting. not sure if it was syrian defense forces or kurdish forces. trying to surround raqqa and stop the terrorists from leaving that city. the advise and assist role is really misunderstood by the american people, brooke. it is not leading others in combat, but certainly right there with those who are leading. giving some thoughtful perspectives of the battlefield from an experience standpoint. but, also, providing some assistance with intelligence feeds, perhaps calling which is critical in this time. you have to have overhead aircraft supporting you. these guys are right at the front. and there are about 300 of them in syria. >> i think people are waking up this morning, some people thought we didn't have boots on the ground but, yes, we do. we have these special forces. let me move on and ask you about what is happening in mosul. we are talking about undersecretary of the army yesterday visiting troops in

kuwait. we know iraqi-led forces have totally surrounded mosul. obviously, this means they're able to squeeze in on the city but what other advantages did this provide for allied forces there? >> well, what you have to understand is that mosul is surrounded by a desert. so, getting to the outskirts of the city is relatively simple. but even somewhat challenging because there are small villages all over the place. but once inside the city, brooke, make no mistake about it, this is going to be a bloody example of urban combat. this is a huge city. very different from fallujah or tikrit where the iraqi security forces have fought in the past. and it is challenging because of the number of civilians inside this city. when you go block to block in mosul, it is a tough city to be in. i've been to that city many times. truthfully, it is so combat and complex that you sometimes are in certain neighborhoods and don't even know where you are or what direction you're facing just because of the streets and

the tunnels and the markets. it's just a very difficult city to fight in. and all of this fighting is going to be the most intense in the western side of the city. and the iraqi security forces have not arrived in that part of the city just yet. >> let me ask you also now about someone you had worked for in your time in iraq. someone who could prove to be sort of the dark horse selection for secretary of state. i'm talking about general david petraeus said he would be willing to serve, if he were to be asked. do you think, i mean, obviously, as an extraordinary resume. although we know about his conviction from the past. would that prohibit him from serving? do you think that he should, if offered, take the job? >> well, let me just tell you what i know about general petraeus. he is an extremely intelligent and savvy operational and strategic commander. much like the other day when i

said general mats was a warrior monk, general petraeus is a soldier scholar. he knows a lot about the world. as central command commander where he served for almost two years. he was dealing with all the nations in the middle east in a diplomatic role. he was also the cia director. he had all kinds of contacts with government and understands the policies and the divisiveness of washington. but when he was my commander in iraq, he was also consolidating allies from over 35 different countries in support of the war there and they did the same thing in afghanistan. this is an individual who not only knows strategic operations and strategic actions, but he also knows how to deal in a diplomatic sense with other governments. and he has done so on many occasions. so, certainly, he has the kinds of experience you need to serve in this kind of a role. >> yeah, general mark hertling.

thank you for joining us this morning. >> pleasure, brooke, thank you. we are following a lot of news this black friday. let's get to it. this is cnn breaking news. good morning, welcome to this special holiday edition of "new day." it is me and brooke baldwin. we begin with sad, breaking news. the passing of an icon. florence henderson so many of us remember as carol brady. that wonderful show in the early 1970s. she passed away overnight. the beloved 82-year-old actress died overnight in los angeles. we know celebrities, fans have been reacting quickly to her death. cnn's boris sanchez joins us now with a look at her life and her storeied career. all morning as we have been talking, i have "the brady bunch" theme song in my head. >> we let her into our hearts and our homes and we have to say

good-bye to this lovely, lovely lady. her manager confirming she passed away on thursday night, she was hospitalized on wednesday. she was surrounded by her four children. ♪ here's the story of a lovely lady ♪ >> reporter: florence henderson captured hearts across america as one of the most beloved tv m moms, carol brady. >> good luck on your debate today, jan. >> thank you. do i look okay, mom? >> oh, sweetheart, you look lovely. don't be nervous about a thing. >> reporter: starring as the matriarch of a blended family, her career would forever be defined of her character on the 1970 sitcom "the brady bunch." >> i created the kind of mother that i wished i had. i think everyone longs for. >> reporter: taking on the role was something henderson embraced. >> i get so much fan mail from

all over the world. and everybody wants a hug from me. >> yeah. >> and i hug everybody. >> reporter: and in the decades following the show, henderson never shied away from the limelight. returning to her iconic carol brady for multiple spinoffs of "the brady bunch." ♪ but even before she became a brady, she seemed destined for show business. >> i don't ever remember not singing. and i would sing in pass the hat and i would sing for groceries. >> reporter: henderson's career took off at the age of 19 at broadway on when she landed a leading role in "oklahoma" in 1951. ♪ oklahoma >> reporter: becoming a bona fide star and she became "today" girl in 1959 and broke barriers as the first woman to