Return to Transcripts main page
CNN NEWSROOM
Petraeus Resigns; Republican Strategy for 2016
Aired November 10, 2012 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. The stories you are talking about in just a moment here on CNN. But first, we want to get you up to speed on the day's headlines.
New information, coming in tonight about the surprise resignation of CIA director David Petraeus because of an extramarital affair. A U.S. official tells CNN that Petraeus' affair came to light because the FBI looked into a complaint that his biographer, a woman named Paula Broadwell, was sending harassing e-mails to another woman close to Petraeus. And we are told Petraeus was never the target of the investigation and his communications were never compromised.
East coast residents, some of whom have suffered without power for 12 days, waited again today for officials to come through on big promises to end the blackouts. About 280,000 customers, still without power in the region, some places not expected to return until at least Tuesday.
We finally have a winner in Florida. CNN projects President Barack Obama won the sunshine state and its 29 electoral votes. That's based on updated vote totals provided just before today's deadline. That boosts President Obama's electoral vote to a total of 322. Mitt Romney got 206. Two hundred seventy, of course, needed to win the White House.
A huge earthquake has struck Myanmar just nine days before President Obama is due to visit. The 6.6 magnitude quake was centered about 226 miles north of the capital. If he goes ahead with his visit, Mr. Obama would be the first sitting president to visit Myanmar.
We've got a lot more planned for you this Saturday night. Here's what else we're working on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: A shocking admission, shaking the entire intelligence community. It may end a brilliant career. But did it put the country at risk?
Some say the GOP needs some new faces or face extinction.
On the other side, minorities help re-elect President Obama. Has he done right by them? We've got a political intervention for both sides. Plus, is Bond too old?
And it's some of the hottest lingerie in the world. But how is this sexy?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right, everyone. Thanks again for joining us.
Mitt Romney lost the election but he may have made history. Here's why. His loss could go down as the last presidential campaign to bank on the white vote for a win. In a moment, evidence of why that is a losing strategy.
Let's get quickly to Al Cardenas and Patrick Millsap. Al is the president of the American Conservative Union and Patrick is a Republican strategist and former Newt Gingrich campaign chief of staff.
OK. First to you, Al, are whites the new minority here in America, especially when it comes to elections?
AL CARDENAS, CHAIRMAN, AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE UNION: It will be soon. You know, when Ronald Reagan, our gold standard, won in 1980, it was 87 percent of the vote. This year, it was 72 percent of the vote. It will be 68 percent of the vote in 2016. And by the 2020s, it will be the minority vote in America.
LEMON: Yes. I'm going to get more specific about that in just a moment. I'm going to ask Patrick the same question. Patrick, what do you think?
PATRICK MILLSAPS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: At first, we have an outreach problem. We are banking on vote that is we don't necessarily put in the bank and we are counting the votes that clearly aren't necessarily being there. We have to work on that.
LEMON: It is interesting. My question though, do you think whites are the new minority, especially when it comes to politics now?
MILLSAPS: Well, I don't want to agree with your premise of this adjective of voting bloc, this monolithic going on a lot bloc. Yes, there are, if you look at percentage of white, you look at percentage of black. The more interesting numbers if you are going to drill down is income level, taxable incomes. Those are the more interesting numbers, to me. Evangelicals.
LEMON: OK. So, gentlemen, let's talk about the GOP 's future here, all right? I want you to consider this. And Al talked about it just a moment ago. 1980, Reagan beat Carter, 56 percent of the white vote. Mitt Romney lost with 59 percent of the vote.
Here's why. In 1980, whites made up 88 percent of the electorate, 88 percent in 1980. Tuesday, they made up 72 percent of voters. So the math simply doesn't work anymore. Al, you know, I wouldn't be going out on a limb here to say that the GOP has a minority problem. I've heard lots of people say that. Does your party have a future in national elections if it can attract more non-white voters?
CARDENAS: Well, if it can't, it's not just political malpractice. It will be political suicide. We just need to do a better job. As I tell my friends in both the Senate right and the conservative movement, we don't need to change our values. We believe those are winning values. But we need to make a long-term commitment and a real commitment to minority communities.
We can't lose the Hispanic vote four to one. We can't lose the Asian vote four to one. We can't lose the black vote nine to one. You start out with a premise that requires a 60 percent-plus vote of white America. That's just not going to happen as it declines in population.
These are winnable votes. But we just need to pursue them. And frankly, I've been there. I've been chairman of the party in Florida when we used to get 60 percent of the vote from Hispanics and a larger percentage from African-Americans. But you have to have a game plan. You have to have the dedication and resources. And the commitment to show up, show respect and be there at all times. I think it can be done. But frankly we need to change the scope of our energies and the scope of our commitment.
LEMON: So maybe it's a messaging problem, like Patrick just said. I mean, with the conservative is it conservative views or is it the messengers or both? What do you think?
MILLSAPS: Initially, it's the messenger because we - I mean, look. We have this tendency of telling people what we're not going to do. We don't tell them why. We say we're the party of lower taxes. But we don't say because we want people not to be able to be addicted to government but be able to make a living.
I mean, people - I mean, Newt got a big controversy about say, talking about food stamps. Well, you know, one of the things food stamps represents is the lack of freedom because that's the federal government. You know, people, they tell you what you can spend with those food stamps. You can or can't buy. We don't do a positive message of saying, we want you to have more freedom.
LEMON: When you talk about food stamp and those sorts of issues, are those issues or messages that you run on that are losing messages? Do people really want to talk about that? When you focus on issues like food stamps or entitlements, Al, and then Patrick?
CARDENAS: Yes. Well listen, we live in a different era and one that requires us to do a better job, as Patrick said, in messaging. But remember this. I think president won by offering free stuff. Eighty percent of Americans knew that we had fiscal troubles and they knew that we needed to rein in our overspending. But when you asked them about Medicare reform or Medicaid reform, 70 percent said, don't touch it. When you asked about budget cuts, they didn't want to touch it.
So, the majority of Americans in this election cycle in particular understood the problem. They didn't want to take the Medicine. We need to do a better job in conveying the need for that kind of action. And we need to be, frankly, persuasive.
LEMON: When you talk about Medicare and Medicaid, let's be honest. I was in Ohio and I interviewed people from the Romney team and from the Obama team. And people would talk about entitlements and they -- you know, everyone -- no one wants to touch Medicaid and Medicare. That's not just minorities. These were older white women who said, hey, listen, I just got Medicare. I just got Medicaid. So it's not just a minority issue, Al.
CARDENAS: No. I didn't say it was a minority issue.
LEMON: It's not just the Democrat --
CARDENAS: I was asked the question about what caused us to lose this year. We had mainstream Republicans, conservative Republicans, a majority of independents. And we lost by 20 points or more those who made $50,000 or less in America, including everybody and we won the vote of those who made more than that.
And so, if we need to do better jobs of addressing these challenges in a way that more people want to buy in. And I'm not just referring to minorities. I'm referring to America in general. The problem with minority, frankly, is a lack of dedication and resources and time and scheduling to address them. And that's the basic problem.
MILLSAPS: See. This is not an attempt by the Republicans to do something and failed. This is the lack of the attempt of the Republicans to do anything at all. The first state race I ever worked on was the United States Senate in 1996. And I asked very naively, why don't we go to black churches? Well, they will never vote for us. Why don't we retreat to students and young people? Those people never vote. Well, here we are in 2012, that's a completely different story. And we need to make the attempt.
LEMON: Yes. But, I heard Al said President Obama won because he promised free things. I don't want to misquote you there. But, I'm not sure if that's -- promised free things. When I hear people saying that people voted for President Obama because they wanted things, why else do you vote for a candidate if you don't want something from that candidate?
MILLSAPS: Let me tell you something. Obama won this election. Let me back up and calm down. Obama won this election because he has learned how to do micro-politicking.
LEMON: Right.
MILLSAPS: Republican just stock on that pro-politicking. We keep spending hundreds of millions of dollars on TV when most people are getting their news from twitter and this other stuff. We are not running a modern campaign.
LEMON: You're absolutely right. From being on the ground - Hang on, Al. You can respond, but I just want to say this before you responds.
I think what you say is right on because being on the ground, the Obama -- everyone underestimated the Obama ground campaign. The Romney people were calling people, automatic phone calls, pick up and say, hey, we need you to support our candidate. The Obama people had offices in these communities for years and they were going out -- I see you haven't voted yet. If you go and vote, we will take your name up or we'll find a way for you to get to the polls to go vote. They were talking about GO TV and volunteers -- I'm like, what are they talking about? And then it finally came to light, they're actually getting people to the poll and reaching people personally. Al?
CARDENAS: Right. Let me say this. President Obama received 12 million less vote this is year than he did in 2008. Mitt Romney got almost three million votes less than John McCain did. This election, you could come up with a lot of arguments as to why Mitt Romney didn't win. I thought he left it all in the playing field. I thought he did as well as he could, given the circumstances.
But the truth of the matter is, we couldn't come up with enough votes to win. And if you analyze this election, you can come up with 100 reasons why Mitt Romney lost. I'm looking towards 2016 and how can we, the GOP, continue to be competitive and how can conservatives get their message across.
I'm trying to tell you, to echo what Patrick said. The first thing you have to do is show up. We didn't show up in the black community. We didn't show up enough in the Hispanic community. We dedicated resources too little too late. And we need a long-term plan that dedicates enough resources to become competitive, knock on the door and do the things that we need to in the community.
Now, my comments about what won or lost this election are different than the comments about what's required to win the minority vote in the future.
LEMON: Well 2016, let's talk about that. What does the GOP do, then - I mean, do they just go, hey, we've got Marco Rubio? I mean, how do you -- in four years, what do you do, honestly?
CARDENAS: We started in 2010 by recruiting great candidates for statewide office and they won. Marco Rubio, Susana Martinez, Brian Sandoval. We've got two governors, Democrats don't. Marco is a senator. Ted Cruz just got elected senator. So, that's a good thing to do. Continue to recruit surrogates.
The second thing we need to is make sure the RNC and these campaigns are equipped with the right staff that knows the Hispanic community inside and out.
And then, the third thing they need to do is dedicate the resources so that we don't get outspent four to one and five to one by the Democrats in the Hispanic media and in the minority media.
LEMON: I want Patrick to get in here, because Patrick, it's not just about the candidate or putting a candidate that has, you know, a Hispanic-sounding last name or a minority on the ticket. You said you not only have that problem but you have --
MILLSAPS: An angry white man problem. And I don't want to discredit Marco Rubio for just saying that he's an up-and-comer because he's Hispanic. He's an up-and-comer because he can look in the camera and express a conservative viewpoint without sounding angry and quite frankly without saying the word "rape."
LEMON: Right.
MILLSAPS: I mean, he connects with people. And so, the fact that he is Cuban-American is a plus. But it's not the primary reason he's such a good candidate.
LEMON: What do you mean by an angry white man problem?
MILLSAPS: We have -- the GOP has the problem of -- we get candidates in line and we'll put them up and say, oh, it's his turn now. And these tend to be, at this point, older white guys. And quite frankly, we need to be looking at the broad spectrum of candidates.
I mean, right here in Georgia, we have a former county commissioner named Ashley Bell. He's a former Democrat. He is a black Republican. And his -- he's a good candidate not because he's black but because he can articulate the conservative message without sounding angry, without ticking off all women, without ticking off millennial.
LEMON: And its issues as well. Because there were things in this campaign that I heard, leaders on the GOP saying, you know what, people don't care about that. Women don't care about these issues. People don't care about these issues. And it seems they do because those people turned out, women, minorities in droves for President Obama.
MILLSAPS: Well --
CARDENAS: Yes. You know, there are two things I want to mention about that is look, 80 percent of the money spent by both sides was spent on negative ads. I think that was the main reason 15 million more people stayed home. And frankly, I thought 30 million more people were going to vote than voted. And I thought that was because neither side inspired them with a positive vision as to what tomorrow should be all about for our kids and grandkids.
LEMON: I have to run. But just, yes or no, Al, do you think the GOP is tone deaf?
CARDENAS: I don't think it needs to be tone deaf. I think we have every reason in the world to become very representative of the American people. LEMON: At this point, is GOP tone deaf, at this point?
MILLSAPS: We've got to stop whining and get to work, like Monday.
LEMON: Patrick and Al, thanks to both of you. I really appreciate it.
MILLSAPS: OK.
LEMON: In a moment, it's going to be time to take the Democrats to task. But first, some of those who voted for Mitt Romney were obviously disappointed. Some of it seemed, well, they were more than disappointed if you look at the pictures. Why? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Naturally, some people were upset this past week when Mitt Romney lost the election. But some seemed more than upset. A conservative author wrote this. "At the moment, I am convinced America is doomed beyond all hope of redemption and any talk of the future fills me with dread and horror."
A right-leaning radio host said today was Pearl Harbor, tomorrow we begin planning for Normandy.
And comedian and conservative supporter Victoria Jackson simply tweeted, I can't stop crying, America died.
All right, Wendy Walsh is here, again, human behavioral expert, specialist here.
So Wendy, for some, this goes beyond just being angry. I mean, America died? What are we hearing here?
DOCTOR WENDY WALSH, HUMAN BEHAVIOR SPECIALIST: Well, I don't want to discount for one minute how real these symptoms are. I was on talk radio the other night and some of the callers were expressing major, not only emotional distress but even physiological symptoms -- vomiting, sleep disturbances, unable to eat, like real, real emotional distress for me. So, we should not discount that and we can't laugh about it. This is very, very serious. And I call it post-election stress disorder.
And I think, Don, there are probably a couple of reasons. One is, you know, with due respect to my colleagues in the more conservative press, I think they really didn't tell the truth about what was going to happen and the numbers. They wanted to make it seem not even like a close race. They wanted it to seem that Mitt would win in a landslide. And many people were shocked to find out he didn't.
LEMON: I've watched and usually people, I'm not saying that they weren't gracious. Mitt Romney was very gracious. But usually people are very gracious when they lose. And I didn't see that from everyone. But again, I do have to say Mitt Romney himself was very gracious. But not all of his supporters were that gracious. And it, you know, it was surprising to see, I think.
WALSH: Well, the other piece, Don, is actually physiological. Remember, we did a story a while back on brain scans of people who have conservative beliefs versus people who have liberal beliefs.
LEMON: Right.
WALSH: And the (INAUDIBLE), the region of the brain that processes fear was much larger in people with conservative beliefs. So that means they're like more sensitive to fear. And in fact the statistics prove out. When people who tend to vote conservative have a perception that there is a threat to national security or that that's a big part of the campaign speeches of their candidates, they tend to come out to the polls in bigger numbers.
Fear is what motivates them. So to have this kind of shocking loss can really stimulate their fear center. So, before I just say, yes, this is a real problem and yes, it's happening, Don, let's not forget to say there are ways that we can heal and we can help.
I wouldn't say, usually I say venting and talking about it is good, but that, let's people to ruminate in the fear and it doesn't leave their head and increases the stress. Exercise, we know, is very good to reduce stress. Charity, altruism, helping people, close healthy family relationships, get close to your family.
LEMON: What about becoming friends a liberal?
WALSH: Well, that may be down the road. Let's not rush things, Don. I think, you know, forcing people to do something out of the ordinary for them is not the thing to do. I think they need to get stability back in their life, understand that their breakfast didn't change that next day. Their workday was pretty much the same and to understand that this, you know, coming of the end of the world that their fear may have vacillated into is not real today and probably won't be real in the in each future. So, getting back to close relationships and family and love is what's important here.
LEMON: And probably trying to figure out why they were so revved up and possibly who revved them up so much to have this sort of --
WALSH: Oh, yes.
LEMON: -- letdown and feeling. That would be a good place to start the examining of what your feelings are. Dr. Wendy --
WALSH: But it's real, Don.
LEMON: And the world keeps spinning, though. That's the good news, as you said. Thank you.
WALSH: Yes, thank you.
LEMON: And earlier, we got very will - real with some members of the GOP here. It was a great conversation. Next, we are going to take the Democrats and take them to task that president got a lot of minority support. But, is he supporting those communities the best he can? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Just a moment ago here on CNN, we had a candid conversation about the Republican Party, its future and its troubles attracting minority voters. So, let's turn the tables now.
Democrats seem to be in great shape when it comes to minority support. But are things really as great as they appear? Here she is. Democratic strategist Maria Cardona.
Let's talk about your party, the president and the voters who elected him. So, I want you to look at some numbers first. President Obama got more than 90 percent of the black vote, more than 70 percent of both Asian and Latinos. And he got 55 percent of the women vote. He also got a much smaller percentage, 39 percent of the overall white vote. So, you can take off you partisan and just be - I mean, a very honest conversation through.
MARIA CARDONA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Sure.
LEMON: So Maria, what does President Obama owe to, if anything, to these groups or let's put another way, what should they expect from him?
CARDONA: I think he owes a lot to this group. And I think he knows that. Look, he's talked about trying to really push in the second term comprehensive immigration reform, which as you know was very disappointing to the Latino community in the first four years when he wasn't able to get it done. And I was one of those who was disappointed, understanding what he was up against which is why I think in the last couple of months he did the deferred action on the dream act which really helped politically.
He also needs to focus on education, Don, both for the Latino community and the African-American community. The high school dropout rates are unacceptable. And so, I think that's one of the places where he needs to focus. And of course, unemployment and jobs is always the number one issue for our community. So, I think that's somewhere where he needs to focus as well.
LEMON: OK. So, when you look at 90 percent of African- Americans, 78 percent of both Asians and Latinos, 55 percent from women, are these groups at risk of being taken for granted with such high percentages?
CARDONA: Well, I think it all depends on what the president does with these groups and for these groups in the next four years. Now, I think that we need to be careful in spar sing what these groups want versus the broader American electorate because it's not all that different.
Let's remember that for all of these groups, jobs and the economy is still the number one issue. What was so offensive and there was such a dissonance with a lot of these groups and the Republican Party was the way that they talked about all of these groups. So for example, when Mitt Romney talked about, you know, self-deporting for Latinos, when the Republican Party spoke with such disrespect in so many ways towards President Obama, the first African-American president, when you had all of these white men talking about illegitimate rape or legitimate rape and talking about what women should do with their bodies, very dissonant to women voters.
So, I think it's also the way the Republicans need to talk to these groups in a very different manner as well as the policies. I think President Obama understands that he does owe his reelection to this strong coalition.
So I think that it's a great opportunity for all of these Americans, women, minorities, African-Americans, Latinos, to really hold this administration's feet to the fire and I think that's something that he will welcome.
LEMON: I want to say, you mentioned something here. You said how President Obama was treated. Someone here on twitter said that President Obama got minority votes because they saw how the first African-American president was treated. Because they saw how he was treated, we didn't expect a direct return on our vote.
CARDONA: So, you know, I think that is a sentiment that a lot of minorities feel, even Latinos felt, you know, a lot of disrespect, felt a lot of offense with the way that a lot of the conservative movement was talking about this president.
Now, there's a lot of grumbling and we know this in the African- American community as well as the Latino community that this president was not doing what he needed to do in the first term. I think the White House understands that. I think the White House understands that there was a lot of disappointment. But I also think that what the Republican party did in talking down to these groups and talking about how these groups would never turn out again the way that they did in 2008 --
LEMON: It energized them.
CARDONA: Exactly. It absolutely energized them, especially the young people. It's kind of like they took that as a challenge. They said, really? You think we're going to turn out? We're going to show you. They passed all the voter ID laws and it absolutely backfired. But that's not an excuse for this president. He needs to make sure he gets things done for this coalition.
LEMON: I think there's a lot of truth in what you're saying. And having been in a swing state and going to a number of different polling places, when I saw who the people were in line and how many of them, young people, minorities, black people, Hispanics, Asians, women, I said, you know, something is going on with this early voting that people did not take into account this time. And I think that's really what swung the election.
Thank you, Maria.
CARDONA: And the hours that they had to wait in line. And they stayed.
LEMON: Yes. Maria, thank you. Appreciate it. CARDONA: Thank you, Don. Great to be with you.
LEMON: You too.
You know, you have heard by now the CIA director has resigned after admitting he cheated on his wife. As details have trickled out, some are worried if state secrets were at risk. We will talk with a former CIA operative next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Out of nowhere, CIA director David Petraeus resigns after admitting he cheated on his wife. The other woman? The person who wrote his biography, Paula Broadwell. And no one may have found out had the FBI not followed up on a complaint about his mistress sending harassing e-mails to another woman close to Petraeus.
Bob Baer is the former CIA operative.
Bob, welcome. How big of a deal is this for the CIA?
ROBERT BAER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It's big. I've never seen a CIA director walk out the door like this confessing to an affair right before crucial hearings next week. Whether he shows up or not, we don't know. What he's going to say now that he's not CIA director could be explosive. We have not seen the last chapter in this at all.
LEMON: You believe we're missing the real story here. Why?
BAER: Don, we are. First of all, you have to get clear. The FBI does not investigate affairs, adultery, anything like that. It doesn't do it routinely. It's too busy. Something came to their attention. And it wasn't harassing e-mails. You can't go to your local FBI office and say, hey, I'm getting nasty e-mails. Will you please look into it? They'll throw you out the door.
Secondly, in order to get into Petraeus' e-mail, the FBI would have needed a warrant. It's called a title three warrant or a national security letter. They come out to Google. It's a big deal. You need a judge. You need to impanel a grand jury, all sorts of things. So, there must have been an evidence of some sort of a crime. If these e-mails were actually threatening murder or something, yes, I could see the FBI getting into them.
But why the rush in getting Petraeus out the door? And another thing, it takes months to get into these e-mail accounts. You've got to pull up the servers and the rest of it. So this has been going on a long time. Bob Muller, the FBI director, would have known about this right from the beginning. You don't investigate a cabinet member and not Intel the FBI director. And the chances of him going -- go ahead.
LEMON: What are you saying? Are you saying that this would not have come to light if Petraeus would not have admitted it himself, that the e-mails would never have been made public?
BAER: No. I think that the FBI tripped across some sort of serious crime or suspicion of a crime or even -- maybe a reporter has the whole story and was going to go public. The thing is, this is all rushed. And why would Petraeus go out in public and admit this? The way that gentlemanly thing to do is say, I got to attend to my family, I have family problems, I'm leaving. Sorry.
LEMON: But then, people could dig and want to know why he would want to do this and so, he may have just been upfront with it and get it over with. Rip the band aid off, as they say.
The big question, though, really is, and you're saying evidence of a crime. CNN is not reporting. You're saying that. But here's the big question I think that some people may be wondering, you know, without evidence of a crime. As if an outsider had access to sensitive information? As a matter of fact, that posted up a question to former FBI assistant director Tom Fuentes. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS FUENTES, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: That's the concern when it starts. But, when you look into that, in the CIA or FBI headquarters or any of the Intel agencies, often you have dual computer systems so that you can receive outside e-mails because someone might send a complaint over the public internet service providers. And then, of course, you have the classified e-mail systems internally. And they're completely separate.
But the fact that someone's receiving a threat at that level, they have to investigate and look at the nature of the threat and look at the person making the threats and start subpoenaing that person's records to see if they're threatening other officials or if there's more to the story, who they're connected with. During that subsequent part of the investigation, that's where they determine the connection between the other woman and general Petraeus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Bob, do you agree with him?
BAER: He's absolutely right. In the FBI, there's no computer system inside the CIA or the FBI that's connected to the internet. They're completely different systems. Everybody at the CIA knows you cannot put classified information inside public e-mail addresses. It just doesn't happen. The director, the rest of it -- yes, there's a slight chance that someone could get some inside scoop on the director. But blackmail, come on, no. I mean, you know, this guy's disciplined. He's smart, except for this affair. But he knows what he's doing. So the chances of actually getting into his e-mail and getting secrets are very remote.
LEMON: Yes.
BAER: Remote to none.
LEMON: Well, just because he had an affair doesn't mean he's not smart. I mean, he was vulnerable in that particular --
BAER: No, no. I mean, you know, people succumb to it. He did. It's a tragedy. He was a great general. It's a tragedy for everybody concerned. I think frankly these things should just be kept quiet and people deal with it quietly, the president. But, what I'm saying there's something else that we don't know that forced the urgency on this. And I'm very curious to see what it is.
LEMON: Bob Baer, we have to leave it there. Thank you. Appreciate it.
You know, this past week, we had an historic election and some historic moments in the election coverage. The highlights, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: There was the election and then there was the craziness around the election. From Karl Rove's on-air meltdown as the projections rolled in two a twitter tirade from Donald Trump, didn't catch it all? Here's a quick clip from our Jeanne Moos to show you how it all played out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RACHEL MADDOW, MSNBC HOST, THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW: President Obama has been reelected.
BLITZER: President of the United States.
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After painting a bleak picture of President Obama's second term, FOX commentator Dr. Charles Krauthammer joked.
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, FOX NEWS COMMENTATOR: So, as a psychiatrist I will offer to write prescriptions for anybody who needs them now.
MOOS: But Obama's supporters were ecstatic. CNN even cut a way into some in Kenya, speaking of which, what would election night be without a Donald Trump angle.
After Mitt Romney's lost, Trump tweeted this election is a total sham and travesty. We should have a revolution in this country.
The exit for Mitt Romney was Ohio, and after FOX News called Ohio for Obama, the network's own best known commentator objected.
KARL ROVE, AMERICAN CONSULTANT AND POLICY ADVISOR: We've got to be careful about calling things.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: That's awkward.
MOOS: Once Karl Rove questioned the call by FOX's decision desk, Megyn Kelly walked back there.
MEGHAN KELLY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Whoa, careful.
MOOS: Live camera in tow.
KELLY: Keep coming. Here we go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're actually quite comfortable with the call in Ohio.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, earlier in this show, my guests and I talked about how both parties had serious issues they needed to address now. Next, a sort of intervention for both parties.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. Joining me now, Republican strategist, Ana Navarro, and comedian Dean Obeidallah.
Hello guys.
DEAN OBEIDALLAH, POLITICAL COMEDIAN: Hello.
LEMON: And to you, first.
ANA NAVARRO, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Hello, Don.
LEMON: Yes. I'm glad to be able to seat and talk to you in the confide of a warm studio now. At times during that coverage, watching the reaction from Republican pundits on election night, Ana, was like witnessing the five stages of grief -- denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.
NAVARRO: All within a ten-minute period. It was, you know, a lot to see. But look, you know, you've got people like Karl Rove and others who took a lot of money for the super PACs. You know, some of the guys that he took money from are casino owners. They know guys with flat noses and brass knuckles who really are going to be wanting to know, what happened with the money? What did I get back for the return on investment?
LEMON: Yes. I'm just wondering how -- it was just the disconnect that was just amazing. And you saw it in the faces and the expression of the people in that room, in Mitt Romney's headquarters, Dean because after his loss, Mitt Romney gave a very nice concession speech. He was very gracious. But it appears not all of the president's opponents have taken the loss so gracefully.
OBEIDALLAH: No. You saw a lot of angry tweets. Twitter is the way everyone goes. Ted Nugent, Dick Morris, Donald Trump called it a sham and a travesty, coming from a guy who knows a lot about a sham and a travesty. But the king, of course, was Karl Rove. What Ana said was absolutely right. He raised (INAUDIBLE) and now he has nothing to show for - he is the potential to be the Bernie Madoff of politics at this point, Karl Rove if this continues. So, there is a lot pressures. It's not just win or lose. There's a whole career that Karl Rove has to deal. There are a lot op-eds coming out saying, is his career over? I think he go too far. (INAUDIBLE). NAVARRO: Listen, guys. Let me tell you something. Losing is a hard thing to do. And you're right, Don, there was a tremendous disconnect. There were gargantuan, industrial size vats of cool-aid that were drunk at this election. I think a lot of people, even told a very bitter and really thought Mitt Romney was going to win. It's not an accident that his president-elect Web site went on even after he had lost. People were preparing for a Mitt Romney win. And so, when you're preparing for a win, a loss is that much more of a shock and that much more difficult to assimilate.
LEMON: I want to get to this, guys. President Obama won with the coalition of Americans, women, blacks, Latino, gays, young people, middle class and moderates. Earlier this week, Newt Gingrich told us that in order for conservatives like himself to win future elections, the Republican Party needs to start appealing to groups other than, quote, he says it, "white guys." Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWT GINGRICH (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Outreach has been five white guys for the medium call you. Inclusion is when you are in the median which inherently changes the whole tenor of the meeting. This should be a big challenge for the House of Representatives. They're very comfortable majority. They have a Democratic president elected to stay a majority for a long time. The question is, do they want to in a disciplined way create a schedule and a program and include people who are not traditionally Republican in order to grow a party that is competitive?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And Dean, we just happened to have Newt Gingrich as former chief of staff on Patrick Millsaps earlier. He said, Republicans have an angry, and that he saying this, an angry white man problem.
OBEIDALLAH: They do have that. But, I mean, John Kerry in 2004 got only two percent of the white vote than President Obama did this last election. The Democrats have had a problem with white male voters. That's part of the problem. But they built a coalition because the minorities built up.
But the Republicans have to remember f you're running in the primary, there's a thing called Google. If you say ridiculous things about minority, guess what, the general election, it is not gone. We Google it and find it. So, be alert on what you are saying. And stand up to the extremist voice or be defined by them. It's your choice.
LEMON: Ana, you were talking about people who had drunk the cool-aid and just how disappointed they were. Do you think it is -- the GOP and I guess the leaders and people like Karl Rove, do you think that they are just that out of touch, that they don't know what's going on in America?
NAVARRO: No. Look, we just have to take back the asylum from the inmates. And Karl Rove actually really understands the Hispanic vote. He was in large part responsible and one of the architects of President Bush 43 winning 44 percent of the Hispanic vote which is part of the reason why he won the presidency.
But look, I agree. I saw the discussion from your two previous guests. And I agree with what both of them were saying. One of them was saying, we need more resources and more long-term outreach. The other said, we need to change messaging. The truth is, we need to do both things. Don, we can't be the party that makes immigrants think we want to deport them all, that makes gays think we want to neuter them all and to make women think we don't have a fundamental understanding of our reproductive rights.
LEMON: Yes. Just watching the results of the election and being on the ground and listening to people and seeing the people who were in those lines. I said on television the other day and I think it's so. The grand old party needs to become the GNP, the grand new party in order to appeal and start winning national elections come 2016.
Thank you, guys, very much. Dean, stick around. Dean says grown-ups are taking over the movie theaters again. He's going to explain that.
And we have this, too, next --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: It's some of the hottest lingerie in the world. But how is this sexy?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Big story in entertainment this weekend, James Bond returns. "Sky Fall" opened on Friday. Dean here says it show that is grown-ups are retaking the theater. We are going to go to that in just a moment. Dean Obeidallah is back with us. He is a comedian.
OBEIDALLAH: Yes.
LEMON: First, though, is this sexy? These are pictures from this past week's Victoria's secret fashion show. Dean, is this what's sexy now? Tinker toys and handlebars. But I don't people even looking at. They are like, what are you talking about? What is thinker toy?
OBEIDALLAH: Women dressed in bathing suits with tinker I dos. I'm more of a Lego man myself. So, I'm not really in to the whole tinker toy, I think. Why Justin Bieber there, I have no idea.
You know what? There's more than one man out there with a fetish with a woman wearing toys or dressed up like a sexy clown. It is better than a creepy clown. So, you are right. I think men are looking right through it or women looking right past the tinker toys and looking at the body and they looked at the beautiful model. I think that's what they are doing, so.
LEMON: OK, so let's get to - they are not thinking at all at that other stuff, trust me.
OBEIDALLAH: No they are not.
LEMON: OK so., let's go to James Bond. Film number three for Daniel Craig. You were saying this is more evidence that grown-ups are taking over the theaters again. What about that?
OBEIDALLAH: It is. I mean, just a few weeks ago "Argo" was one of the top movies and "Argo," the Ben Affleck movie about the Iran. Hostage crises made over $100 million already. Only goes $45 million to date. This weekend "Sky Fall" is number one, projected to make $80 million this weekend alone. And Lincoln is coming out, the Spielberg movie with Daniel Day Louise.
You know, the Hollywood, they dismiss people over 35 too quickly. We would go out and see a movie if it's smart and it's a quality movie. And I wish Hollywood would not make -- you make the "twilight" movie, I understand. There is not going to the action figures. That is got to be Abe Lincoln action figure or the t-shirt with a Lincoln thing on. I know you're not going to make merchandising money. But make a quality movie, older people will go out to see it. We want to go out and enjoy a movie. But it has to be a good movie. It has to be smart.
LEMON: We'll take your word for it. Thank you, Dean.
OBEIDALLAH: Thanks, Don.
LEMON: All right. Our moment of the week, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: If there there's one word that describes President Obama, it might be stoic or cool. He's no Bill Clinton who often told us how he felt our pain. So, in the same week he won a second term, the most striking image of President Obama wasn't on stage but in a much quieter setting, his campaign office in Chicago, thanking the workers who made his re-election possible.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: But you guys have made sure that the work I'm doing is approved. And I'm really proud of that. I'm really proud of you. And what you have done -
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The president went on to say that no matter what he does in the next four years, he expects their own accomplishments to be even greater.
This is rare glimpse of a president, unable to contain his emotions, that is our moment of the week.
We thank you for joining us. I'm Don Lemon at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. I'll see you back here tomorrow night.
Good night, everyone.
