Bernie Sanders Says Recount Effort 'Not a Big Deal'

— -- Former Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders said the recount effort in three battleground states, spearheaded by Green Party candidate Jill Stein, is "not a big deal."

"It's a legal right. It's not a big deal. I don't think anybody, Secretary Clinton or anybody else, thinks there's going to be profound changes," Sanders told Martha Raddatz on ABC's "This Week."

The Clinton campaign on Saturday broke its silence on the recount effort with a letter from Clinton general counsel Marc Elias that was posted on Medium acknowledging that the campaign has received "hundreds of messages, emails and calls" in recent days urging it to investigate whether results may have been hacked in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

Sanders also weighed in on Trump's recent comments to The New York Times about climate change in which the president-elect appeared to soften his stance on the topic, saying there is "some connectivity" between human activity and global warming.

"Well, that is something," Sanders said. "But we have got to go further than that. The scientific community is saying that if we do not transform our energy system yesterday, we're going to be looking at more drought, more floods, more extreme weather disturbances."

The progressive senator went on to say that he is working to "revitalize" the Democratic Party after a bruising election.

"What we need to do, and what I am trying to do, is revitalize the Democratic Party, bring in the young people, bring in the working people, become less dependent on big money," he said. "We have got to go to 50 states in this country, not just, you know, the blue states or -- or battleground state. There is no reason why we cannot win in states all over this country."