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Barack Obama Re-Elected; The World Reacts
Aired November 07, 2012 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm John Berman and this is a special edition of CNN NEWSROOM.
It was the President re-elected last night winning a victory bigger than many people thought he would win -- 303 electoral votes in his pocket with a possibility of still more to come.
Meanwhile, the House stays in Republican hands, the Senate in Democratic hands. President Obama gave his victory speech in Chicago last night after 1:30 a.m. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Democracy in a nation of 300 million can be noisy and messy and complicated. We have our own opinions. Each of us has deeply held beliefs. And when we go through tough times, when we make big decisions as a country, it necessarily stirs passions, stirs up controversy.
That won't change after tonight and it shouldn't. These arguments we have are a mark of our liberty. We can never forget that as we speak, people in distant nations are risking their lives right now just for a chance to argue about the issues that matter, the chance to cast their ballots.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: The president spoke -- he waited until after Mitt Romney gave his concession speech and Mitt Romney in turn waited until after 1:00 a.m. because he wanted to make sure the numbers in Ohio were accurate, but concede he did gracefully. Let's listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY, (R) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The nation as you know is at a critical point, at a time like this, we can't risk partisan bickering and political posturing. Our leaders have to reach across the aisle to do the people's work and we citizens also have to rise to the occasion.
We look to our teachers and professors. We count on you not just to teach, but to inspire our children with a passion for learning and discovery.
We look to our pastors and priests and rabbis and counselors of all kinds to testify of the enduring principles upon which our society is built, honesty, charity, integrity and family.
We look to our parents from the final analysis everything depends on the success of our homes. We look to job creators of all kinds. We're counting on you to invest, to hire, to step forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: This reaction from all over the world to this election including from Wall Street this morning. Kate Bolduan is watching that.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Thanks so much, John. We are keeping a close eye on how the markets are reacting and what they are doing this day after the election.
Let's get a quick check of that. Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange. Alison, how are things looking now?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Things not looking too great still. The Dow falling 221 points, really this doesn't really have anything to do with the election. It has everything to do with the European Central Bank President Mario Draghi.
He is the equivalent of our Ben Bernanke, our Fed president. He basically said that Germany is feeling the effects of the European debt crisis. That is spooking the markets today.
One thing we are keeping our eye on, as well, Kate, some of the sectors that are moving. Hospital stocks right now are up huge. Shares of HAD, community health systems, others like them, up 5 percent to 6 percent.
One thing is certain that after last night, Obamacare it's not going to be going anywhere. It means more people are going to have health insurance and that means more customers for hospitals.
On the other hand, health insurance, they are trading lower. But there is also the harsh reality of Obamacare to tell you about and the reality is that it puts a big financial burden on big employers who are required to give health care benefits to full-time employees or those employers have to pay a fee.
Now lower wage employers are already feeling the pressure and may look to only hire part-time workers and not full-time workers to try to avoid that. Also you factor in the fiscal cliff, all that can hinder hiring.
Not good timing as the jobs recovery is hopefully starting to take hold. We're also watching housing stocks. They are moving higher. The belief is that the housing market is recovering under the Obama administration.
And financials, we're also watching financials, they are trading lower, anywhere from 3 percent to 4 percent. Shares of Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, trading lower. They are the biggest losers on the Dow. Keep in mind, the banking sector hoped a Romney win would lead to less regulation. Banks are also taking a hit, Kate, from Europe today -- Kate.
BOLDUAN: All right, Alison watching it close for us in New York Stock Exchange. We'll be checking back in with you. Thank you so much, Alison.
Let's talk more about the market's reaction and what this means. Ali Velshi and Christine Romans are here. So it's down some 200 plus points. Christine, you said, before you left the studio, this was a bigger selloff that you were expecting.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Remember the market was up yesterday, had a good day yesterday. So this is taking back yesterday's gains.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It was up overnight after the results.
ROMANS: Yes, this is the U.S. leading in part because of what the European Central Bank's president said about slower growth in Europe. That's a very big deal. And you see the different sectors moving in the U.S. because of the president getting a second term.
Particularly those bank stocks. Look, they would have liked to have had President Romney because they would have hoped there wouldn't be the regulation.
VELSHI: But nothing worse is happening to them. Nothing has changed. So now these stocks are selling off because people don't read polls and what was likely to happen.
You have me on the wrong side of the table because Van is over there and I want to tweak him on the air because I heard him saying how this fiscal cliff isn't nearly as serious.
I'll tell you what the issue is. Thinking people can't imagine Congress would be ridiculous enough to let us go over the cliff. Thinking people also thought that the debt limit would be raised --
I don't think it's logical that it would happen and I'd like for it not to happen. If we didn't warn people, it didn't show up at all in this presidential campaign, the most serious thing that can happen to the economy was mentioned once by President Obama in the third debate.
BOLDUAN: I will agree with that. You both have been talking about the fiscal cliff, but it's not something that really was taking center stage in terms of this presidential race.
HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: The underlying values were and that's important because the underlying values that President Obama talked about was that we have a choice about whether everybody pays their fair share or whether we're going to give more tax cuts to the rich and hope that we succeed in a trickle down economy.
So I think it's important to argue that the progressive viewpoint that says that we are going to have shared sacrifice here won even if they didn't use those phrases a lot. That's what will give the Democrats power in negotiations.
ERICK ERICKSON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I'm not a favor of compromise and I'll tell you why. I think we've compromised our way to $16 trillion. We might as well have this fight now. Ross is right, if the Republicans do nothing or anything, taxes will go up across the board. You know what, the American public voted.
ROSS DOUTHAT, COLUMNIST, "NEW YORK TIMES: So the non-compromisers lose this battle because by doing nothing, taxes go up.
ERICKSON: They shaped this essentially to fail. Congress set this up to have the super committee to find cuts to raise the debt limit knowing they would never find the cuts, to then do sequestration and then say let's not actually do sequestration. They might as well learn when they're that irresponsible, they ask what they --
BOLDUAN: Van Jones, jump in and then Ross.
VAN JONES, FORMER OBAMA SPECIAL ADVISOR: Just want to say two things. The problem with the language of the cliff is that it creates a mindset that there is nothing worse than it set of cuts and there are they thinks that are worse.
I want to make sure that we use the opportunity well. The president won, which means that the idea of taxes going up on the wealthy, that's the only thing he was clear about from beginning, middle and end.
So we cannot be in the situation when we get bullied or stampeded in to putting in a deal that's worse that what the fiscal cliff is about. I think the cliff language is making harder for us to think creatively. That is the problem.
VELSHI: Does that mean Ross can't talk?
BOLDUAN: He'll get the first word after we come back. I lost control. Surprise anyone? No. We'll be back right after this with much more to talk about this election.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT OBAMA: We are an American family and we rise or fall together as one nation and as one people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: That was part of the president's victory speech last night in Chicago. You know, so many Americans were glued to the television last night. There were people watching TV all around the world.
We've seen reactions pouring in from foreign capitals and leader and the like. One of the things we've said about this election from the beginning is that it was not a foreign policy election, nevertheless, foreign policy still so important going forward. I'm joined by Christiane Amanpour. One of the issues everyone did -- talk about was Iran. What's the difference now with Iran policy from before? Now that the president is re-elected, what can he do with this thorny issue?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, again, it really does boil down to whether a second term means you're freer to pursue a policy you want to pursue. You remember, President Obama came into office talking about dialogue with Iran.
Well, that never went anywhere and now there are unprecedented sanctions on Iran, U.S. sanctions and United Nations sanctions. The question is what will have an impact. So there have been talks and rumors of potential bilateral talks between Iran and the United States on this nuclear issue.
And indeed today inside Iran, a leading foreign policy adviser to the supreme leader, the Ayatollah Harmony, once again brought up the prospect of that and he's spoken to me at length about having direct talks with the United States on that this issue can be resolved as they always say in a framework of mutual satisfaction and mutual interest.
You know, if Mitt Romney had been elected, then the issue was slightly different because given his rhetoric on the campaign trail, he had convinced certain people that he was perhaps more willing to sanction a war on Iran, sanction a unilateral Israeli strike on Iran. So those were some of the issues that separated the two.
BERMAN: What about Israel? I don't think I've ever seen a foreign leader inject himself into a domestic U.S. campaign as much as Benjamin Netanyahu did. But at the end, he seemed to move the Israeli deadline for action in Iran or against Iran until well after the U.S. election. So now that the election is all done and settled, what does he do?
AMANPOUR: Well, exactly. Here are the two issues. On the one hand, the Israeli prime minister did inject himself into the election. And many people believe that it was no secret that Prime Minister Netanyahu would have preferred Mitt Romney to be president of the United States.
I must say that Prime Minister Netanyahu immediately congratulated President Obama on his re-election and said that they would work together especially on issues of national security, for Israel. Now what happens next? This is a big question.
These so-called red lines that nobody wanted to ever define except for Israel have now potentially been put off until spring or summer. But this just keeps pushing the ball down the line. Kicking the ball down the court or whatever the correct vernacular is on that.
But the point is what to do about this major national security issue that will confront the U.S. for a long time to come. And as I say, President Obama has made it very clear. He's not looking for another war. He is retrenching from war. He's ending the war in Afghanistan. He does not want another U.S./Middle East war. So how does that get resolve? We'll see. Will sanctions do the job? Many people don't think it would do job when it comes to not hurting Iran, which they are doing, but actually ending the uranium enrichment program.
So will there be talks on how to resolve this? This is what most thinking policy experts believe, direct talks between Iran and the United States to resolve this issue.
BERMAN: You know, sometimes you think that winning the election is the easy part so much to do the morning after. Christiane, thank you so much for joining us.
There is so much to chew over this morning after the election. How did the president win? What does he do going forward? What about the fiscal cliff. We'll have a lot more to talk about coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: Even though President Obama cruised through the Electoral College last night, the popular vote is divided really by only a couple percentage points.
White House correspondent, Dan Lothian is in Chicago, has been there, is at Obama headquarters. Dan, what are you hearing from them today?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHTE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, one top Democrat told me it would be very important for the president to work very hard at being more inclusive of reaching out, not only to Democrats, but obviously Republicans.
And you heard a little bit of that from the president last night where he was talking about this hard-fought campaign that at times was very divisive and the need to essentially unite the country. That will be very challenging, though, for the president has he returns to the White House later today.
He will have to face some immediate issues, one of them being the fiscal cliff. And Republicans are already talking about not wanting to be very flexible on that matter. And so the president will be challenged right away.
But the big issue for the president different this time than perhaps the last four years is the fact that the president no longer has to worry about polling, no longer has to worry about another election.
So that gives the president a chance to focus on the issue at hand and also reflect on his legacy. And that could play into the kinds of negotiations that we could be seeing over the next four years -- Kate.
BOLDUAN: And Dan, the Obama campaign has long talked about how strong their ground game has been. The coalitions they built four years ago and have built on top of that. Do you think it all came down to ground game for them?
LOTHIAN: They really do. I mean, there are sort of two points. First of all, on the ground game, this is something that was in place from the last election, the infrastructure was there, so they were not starting from the beginning. They built on that.
They really targeted certain people, certain groups in certain heavily populated areas. They sort of tailored their message to them, empowered them, and got them out to the polls. And they believe that that was important.
But they also believe that the president's message really resonated with voters. Especially in places like Ohio where the auto bailout really played well for folks who depend on the auto industry for their livelihood.
And so this push to help the middle class and also this ground game that they believe was very effective, both of those are very issues that they think help the president win.
BOLDUAN: Dan Lothian in Chicago for us, thanks so much, Dan -- John.
BERMAN: You don't have to be a political junky to know that the presidential contest was not the only game in town. There's some high profile, big money, big time senate races in the election last night. And Dana Bash is here to give us the low down on the balance of power.
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Let's focus on the Senate at this time. Looks a lot like it looked before the election. For the Democrats, it's exactly the same, 51 Democrats plus these purple seats represent independents. One is Bernie Sandis from Vermont. This is a newly elected senator from Maine, Angus King. He has in order said which way, but they expect him to go with the Democrats, 45 Republicans.
But let's walk over to some of the most interesting races and let's start over in Wisconsin with Tammy Baldwin. She really had maybe people would argue a bit of an upset because it was a neck and neck race. She beat former very popular Republican Governor Tommy Thompson.
Just by way of noting history, she'll be the first openly gay senator elected to Congress. And then look down at Virginia, another Democratic seat. By the way, these are two open seats in Democratic hands that are staying with the Democrats.
Virginia is now going to be represented by the former Democratic Governor Tim Kaine. The other thing interesting about those two races is they're in states where Obama did very well. He won. So there probably is a coat tail effect there.
Now let's go over to Missouri. Claire McCaskill is another kind of surprise.
BERMAN: The most endangered of all incumbents.
BASH: The most endangered of all incumbents and she was able to win because she beat Todd Akin, the Republican challenger, who made national headlines big time by his comments on rape and abortion. And let's just look at Nebraska's because we haven't talked about this very much, but this is actually a Republican pick up. The retiring Democratic Senator Ben Nelson,
He has given this up basically for Republicans. This was also heartbreak for Democrats. Bob Kerry, they recruited him to run and he never really took off in the polls. So we have another woman Republican.
BERMAN: Well, I was going to say Fischer and McCaskill represents the biggest senate class of women we'll ever have.
BASH: And there are a couple outstanding races, but so far we're seeing 19 female senators, that is history. Right now there are 17. So not even 20 percent right now women make up more than 50 percent of the country, but baby steps.
BERMAN: Another chance for another pickup in North Dakota, also. We all know President Obama, Mitt Romney will -- sorry. We all know President Obama and not Mitt Romney will lead this country over the next four years. But we're just starting to scratch the surface of why. We're going to breakdown the exit polls coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: Good morning. We want to welcome our viewers from around the world. Good morning. I am Kate Bolduan. Good afternoon for some of you. We continue with our special election coverage here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
This morning, Americans are waking up to what's been called a status quo election. President Obama remains in the White House for another four years. He wins re-election on a couple percentage points.
But because of where he won, it's a virtual landslide in the Electoral College. And he faces the same divided Congress when he returns to Washington. Republicans retain control of the House, Democrats control the Senate. CNN's Soledad O'Brien explains more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, ANCHOR, "STARTING POINT" (voice-over): The American people are so divided, they delivered the House of Representatives to one party, but the Senate and the presidency to the other.
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It's very clear that we spent $6 billion and we came back to a status quo election. Nothing changed. But "B" it's also clear with this close an election, it's going to be tough to govern when this is over.
O'BRIEN: The division so deep that on the biggest issue, the economy, half the public pushed one way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The economy I think he has to lead us in the right direction.
O'BRIEN: While the rest pushed back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really think we're in trouble.
O'BRIEN: Even a record $710 million in advertising, in twelve battleground states, didn't put people on the same page.
OBAMA: That's why I'm running for a second term as president.
O'BRIEN: But one thing that did budge was the coalition that Obama put together in 2008. It got stronger.
OBAMA: It doesn't matter whether you're black or white or Hispanic or Asian or Native American.
O'BRIEN: This time the president endorsed same-sex marriage, something once rejected by 38 states, it was embraced last night by two new ones.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will be the first openly gay --
O'BRIEN: Tammy Baldwin will represent Wisconsin. And that wasn't the only seismic shift that concerned Republicans.
ARI FLEISCHER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It's not going to make the Republican Party the party that's pro-choice and pro-gay rights. I think you made the Republican Party the popular party. We have a party like that. That's the Democratic Party.
The issues though are going to be the economic issues and the Hispanic and immigration related issues. The Republicans is going to have to figure out a different way forward.
O'BRIEN: Obama supported the Dream Act and Maryland passed a local version as Latinos turned out handsomely in battleground states. And there were other signs. At times they're changing. Colorado voted in favor of medical marijuana. Florida refused to stop public funding of abortion. The Senate will have the most women ever. Governor Romney and President Obama pledge to come together.
ROMNEY: We can't risk partisan bickering and political posturing.
O'BRIEN: A recognition perhaps that Obama's coalition may not have gained much ground, but that it spoke forcefully.
Soledad O'Brien, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN: We've got so much to talk about. Let's talk about with our panel. Everyone is still sticking around and still awake which I'm very impressed with after a very long night.
Ross first to you, you wrote -- talking about kind of what today means and what the next four years mean and what's -- how consequential this election really is, you wrote a very interesting column and you said very clearly the age of Reagan is officially over. What does that mean?
DOUTHAT: It means that Obama proved that his majority is real, right? I mean I think that there were a lot of conservatives who looked at the 2008 election and said, "Ok, Obama won a landslide, but it was because the Iraq war was mismanaged, it was because of the financial crisis. It was because the media got caught up in the narrative of America's first black president and so on. And you know things will revert to something like normal."
And the 2010 midterms obviously encourage that idea. But I think the lesson here is pretty clear, it's not -- this is not a huge majority, it's a narrow majority; but it's the majority that America has. And we've been talking a lot about how this is a status quo election right, because the composition of Congress doesn't change that much and so on. And it is.
But on policy, the status quo right now favors liberalism. This is a big defeat for conservatives in the sense that the Obama health care bill now gets -- you know it stays. The Supreme Court Obama will get to pick one, maybe two more justices bringing it to four for his term. There are tons of regulatory stuff and so on.
Even if there's -- taxes will go up somehow whatever we do with the fiscal cliff -- so even though there will probably be grid will be on the big questions, I'm not expecting a big immigration compromise. I'm certainly not expecting a climate change bill. For all of that, the country has shifted left ward and it's a win for liberalism.
BOLDUAN: Well people -- the immigration question is a big one. But I want to go to you John --
(CROSSTALK)
DOUTHAT: Right, John -- John is ready for the comment --
BOLDUAN: Yes I felt -- I felt something on my back.
(CROSSTALK)
DOUTHAT: -- let's -- let's hear it.
BOLDUAN: At the very moment because we were talking about the statement of status quo. Maybe by number and by majority, but you say that diminishes the impact of what actually we're saying.
JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Absolutely, this was a highly consequential election, which is part of what Ross was getting to.
DOUTHAT: Thank you.
AVLON: And I don't think it's a victory for liberalism. I think that misstates what -- what occurred here. But President Obama -- first of all, the demographic trends beneath these two campaigns was in some ways the future versus the past. And it was a risky gamble, a risky demographic bet on the part of Democrats but because they had superior ground game operation they were able to turn out the youth vote, women under 50, Hispanic, African-American and really overcome an edge that the Romney campaign had with senior citizens and white voters particularly white men.
That aside, look at the policy because this is where it gets really consequential. First of all, Republicans learned that there is such a thing as too extreme when it comes to certain senate candidates. That is hugely consequential creating an environment for bipartisan compromise.
BOLDUAN: Some of the Tea Party wave --
AVLON: Exactly right because you've got a more representative segment of the electorate in this -- not of the Tea Party-driven mid-term but a broad general election.
And here's the real challenge and why it will be consequential in terms of policy. I do expect to see immigration reform because President Obama can pick up the mantle of George W. Bush and John McCain and Ted Kennedy and say this was a bipartisan proposal before, let's pass it. He can pick up the mantle of Bowles-Simpson and say this was a bipartisan plan, let's pass it.
(CROSSTALK)
AVLON: And then the real question becomes is bipartisanship becoming a partisan idea. That is one of the real questions.
BASH: That already exists. I mean that already exists bipartisan already is a partisan idea. But I think --
AVLON: For Democrats only.
BASH: Well no, I mean, I think for both sides. But I think -- I think the key here is you're talking about the fact that Republicans may have to compromise, Democrats may have to compromise. That might be true, but listen to what we're already hearing from Republicans for example.
John Boehner is saying the President thinks this is you know -- this is going to be something that he's going to be able to get all of his priorities on. No way. It's not going to happen, he's -- he's putting a line in the stand right now. So yes Republicans may be talking generally about the fact that John Cornyn for example, the head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, saying the Republicans have to really do some soul searching.
He might be saying that. But how do they get over the reality that Erick maybe you know this, it's all about voters and voting and the system is -- the system the way it is.
ERICKSON: It's -- you're right.
BASH: And -- and primary voters elect their -- their candidates and their nominees and they -- and they're kind of hamstrung by that.
(CROSSTALK) ERICKSON: Here is the problem, the problem we're going to have and -- I know what the Democrats are going to say and to a degree I know what the Republicans are going to say on this. It is still an open question in my mind, though, that the coalition that won Barack Obama twice, is it his or is it the Democrats? The Democrats say it's the Democrats.
But they didn't show up in 2010 despite the Republican -- despite the Democratic President, the unions and others trying to get them out. Is it his or not -- the Republicans I think are going to take a gamble for the 2014 and say this is his coalition.
VAN JONES, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: There was a backlash -- there was a backlash against the backlash. Obama came in 2010 representatives there's backlash and there were elements that were very nasty, they were very ugly and then you hear this talk in 2012 about the enthusiasm gap.
It turned out it was a myth. What everybody missed was a determination of African-Americans who came out in record numbers. Again, Ben Jealous from the NAACP, a hero who put a million black votes into play that nobody count on. The youth vote. Our coalition held.
(CROSSTALK)
JONES: Our coalition held, this is the most important thing I can say. It was not a one-time fluke. And our coalition is stronger now than it was before. So, therefore, it is not a status quo election. It is now proven. You can throw a filibuster -- this is got your shot, you can throw a filibuster after filibuster at this President, you can put a ton of money against us and the coalition held.
So now you've got a different calculation on the other side.
(CROSSTALK)
ERICKSON: Let me add one thing to that.
(CROSSTALK)
ROSEN: It is a fair point to -- it is a fair point to say does this point need to be proven in 2014 for it to really matter. And that's a fair question. But you know the -- the fact is that President Obama set this outright at the front end. He said this is not a referendum on me. This is a choice between two directions in this country.
And I think that and laying it out so clearly is actually what ended up winning this for him because he created two different visions. That's the point Van is making. Those two different visions are not necessarily compatible.
AVLON: But the backlash against a backlash is profound, President Obama won 16 percent of centrist voters last night. That is not close. That is a significant shift of the moderate, majority in part a reaction to what's been perceived -- (CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: Well, but the Republicans that were elected in the Republican wave, they were doing what they say --
(CROSSTALK)
AVLON: Wait but what's Mitch McConnell going to do, say I'm going to make -- make sure Barack Obama a two-term president? I mean, at some point, you have to work with the guy if you care about your own legacy. If you actually care about solving problems.
BOLDUAN: Well, that might probably plague Mitch McConnell for quite some time John.
BERMAN: So I want to see, you guys have been talking about ground game and you've been talking about what you learned and what we now know is real. One of the things I do now know is real is the ground game. In the olden days, when we used to cover a campaign when a campaign staff would say we're going to turn out our voters, we're all going to get it on the ground of the United States. You're done.
But I'll tell you, after Bush in 2004 turned out Ohio, after Obama did it in 2008, I am a believer now. The ground game matters with the technology we have.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: Republicans -- Republicans this time around said that they could match the Obama ground game.
(CROSSTALK)
ERICKSON: Is that it was a lot of hype on the Republican side. Not only do we know that now.
BASH: Well we know that.
ERICKSON: Well you do. But the problem is you had a number of consultants in the Republican Party who decided we're going to keep the data for ourselves, don't you go set it up.
JONES: Don't mention Karl Rove, even.
ERICKSON: What Barack Obama did successfully in 2008, is he told -- Democratic consultants in Washington, you know what we're going to do this in Chicago guys and we've going to take it, and it worked. Republicans are going to have to start doing that. It's the D.C. GOP consultants are swimming around like Scrooge McDuck this morning.
(CROSSTALK)
ROSEN: This is going to be a very different election in 2016. The demographics of this country are changing. That is a permanent state of affairs.
BOLDUAN: Let's talk actually -- let's talk much more about that. Obviously there is a lot to talk about here the day after the election and what the next four years will look like.
We'll be back with more of our special coverage coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: You, the American people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up. We have fought our way back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Well, let's take a look at the Dow right now. It is deepening it losses, right now at 231 point loss. That's one and three quarter percent that's going to hit you right in your 401(k) right now.
It was not this way overnight. There was a chance that Barack Obama was going to be re-elected the President of the United States. And unless everybody in Wall Street had their heads in the sand, I don't understand why they would be that surprised by this. This isn't actually about -- most of this is not about Barack Obama being re- elected. They might have liked Mitt Romney being there little a bit more.
Most of this is about Europe, some problems in Greece again. Mario Draghi, the chairman of the European Central Bank, saying that growth in 2013 is going to be weaker than expected.
So -- so let's -- I'm getting a lot of stuff that's pinning this all on and see how terrible it is for the economy. Remember that Barack Obama who some people have called a socialist, under him the stock market has doubled, more than doubled in the last four years.
ROMANS: Let's talk a little bit more about what faces the President on his I guess first new day -- well, his first new day of the second term.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: PIMCO CEO, Mohamed El-Erian is here right now. He's one of the most respect bond -- fund managers in the world. Welcome. Tell me a little bit this -- I think the stock market reaction tells us that this President has the same old problems even though he has a new day and a new -- a new term.
MOHAMED EL-ERIAN, CEO, PIMCO: Yes. I mean, if you look when -- at when the stock market turned and went south, it happened just past 7:00 a.m. your time when President Draghi of the European Central Bank came out and confirmed what many people suspected which is that Europe was slowing and that the locomotive of Europe, Germany was slowing. That has scared a lot of people. In addition there are riots going on in Greece so everybody suddenly was reminded that there is something else going on and that is called Europe and that that problem is not going away. And that's going to be a headwind for us as an economy and for us as a market.
ROMANS: The other big headwind is the fiscal cliff. I mean, you wrote an open letter to the President saying congratulations in "Fortune" magazine on CNNMoney, "Here's how to fix the economy". And the first order of business on day one is averting the fiscal cliff. What do you suggests the President do?
EL-ERIAN: So it's critical to do no harm. So the President has to reach out to Congress and hopefully after some soul-searching among the Republican Party of how did they lose the election, you'll get a lot more compromise. And the President has to lead a compromise that in the first instance results in a mini bargain, which is reducing the impact of the fiscal cliff.
Then once that headwind is out of the way, we can pivot to the more constructive elements long term which is long term fiscal reform, improving the functioning of the labor market, improving the flow of credit to small and medium term enterprises, and improving housing and housing finance.
So in the short term, remove the headwind from the fiscal cliff beyond that start putting in conditions for high growth and debt sustainability. And it can be done if there's political collaboration.
VELSHI: Mohamed you've written this in Fortune magazine. We've published it on cnnmoney.com. I think it's required reading for anybody who needs to understand the fiscal cliff. It also strengthens a view that we have at CNN that you are a contender for the position of Treasury Secretary of the United States.
EL-ERIAN: I would forget about that view. I am so happy at PIMCO that that's my only focus. So, no, on the contrary, I think there are lots of able people in Washington already. And I think they understand the issue. What they need is the political context to go forward. And I think that after this election, there's a higher chance that we may get that political context.
VELSHI: Ok. So you guys as PIMCO have great expressions for things and you don't get credit for it because everybody uses. But Bill Gross, your partner there, has said that the reason that the U.S. interest rates are so low is that you're the cleanest dirty shirt. Right.
So if you're on a trip for three days and then you find out you have to be there for a fourth day, you didn't bring a fourth shirt, you pick the cleanest shirt that you've got and you wear that. That's the United States right now. At some point when does that shirt become too dirty to keep wearing?
EL-ERIAN: So first, Bill is superb in taking very complex issues and summing them in a very simple but insightful way and the U.S. being the cleanest dirty shirt is a great way of saying why is it that our bond markets are doing so well.
Two things have to happen for us to be just dirty as opposed to the cleanest dirty shirt. One is Europe has to improve and that is a big, big challenge. And the other one is that that dynamics have to get worse a lot quicker.
ROMANS: Right.
EL-ERIAN: I suspect that if you are to look out in the next six to nine months, neither of these things will happen. So for a while, we're going to be the cleanest dirty shirt and what's critical, absolutely critical Ali, is that the politicians have to take advantage of that window to move forward. Otherwise we're going to face some really significant problems for future generations.
ROMANS: All right. Mohamed El-Erian, thank you so much. Cleanest dirty shirt, sometimes you feel that way when you're going to the voting booth.
When we come back, we're going to talk about where the Evangelical and faith vote landed last night. We'll have that right after the break.
VELSHI: You didn't just say that on TV, did you.
ROMANS: I sure did.
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OBAMA: We are not as divided as our politics suggest. We're not as cynical as the pundits believe. We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are and forever will be the United States of America.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Frankly I feel that Obama's basic social policies are actually good for that nation. And the general non-aggressiveness that he shows in his (inaudible) foreign policy I think is good for all of us.
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BERMAN: We've sliced up this election in every imaginable way. Who voted for whom and why? It's one of the great things to do the days after the election. One of the most fascinating things to look at this morning is religion, faith. Which faith groups voted for which candidate?
Christine Romans at the magic wall with the magic numbers.
ROMANS: And it was interesting some of the results, right. You had two states that voted to support same-sex marriage, right? And you had Christian leaders who had been concerned about some of the social issues, social positions the President had taken.
So how did this all play out nationwide? We ask some in our exit polls. 29 percent of people who voted were Protestant and of those 62 percent voted for Mitt Romney, 37 percent for Barack Obama.
The Catholic vote though, 25 percent of those voting were Catholic and half of them went for Barack Obama.
BERMAN: Catholics almost always considered a swing vote. What's interesting here, those numbers almost definitely padded by the Latino vote.
ROMANS: Oh, yes, no question. When you look also at -- let me move over one more and talk about are you a Born Again Christian? 74 percent said they were not Born Again Christian. Of those, 60 percent voted for Mitt Romney, but when you look at the board again, people who consider themselves Born Again Christians -- these are white Born Again Christian -- 26 percent said yes, 78 percent went for Mitt Romney. The Mormon candidate who early on in the race many Born Again Christians were really learning about that religion in the first place.
And then finally let's talk about nationwide, the most important candidate quality -- shares my values. 27 percent of people at the exit polls said they wanted a candidate who shared their values. Of those, 55 percent said Mitt Romney and 42 percent said Barack Obama.
BERMAN: It's interesting though. You ask "Who cares about people there", which is sort of the same way of asking the question in a different way. Cares about people -- the President seemed to do better.
ROMANS: Yes, he did. 21 percent said they cared about people -- 81 percent of people who that was their most important candidate quality, went for Barack Obama.
BERMAN: That is a huge spread.
ROMANS: He connected with the middle class and that's one of the reasons why you look at the economy questions, the conventional wisdom was always that Mitt Romney was better for the economy, but it was Barack Obama who connected with the middle class.
BERMAN: I had not seen that number. I have to say, that blows my mind this morning. Thank you so much Christine Romans.
That's what I'm paid to do.
BERMAN: It is magic. That's why they call it the magic wall.
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BERMAN: Kate. BOLDUAN: And you, that was awesome. Christine Romans blowing the mind of everyone in the studio right now. Let's talk about just more -- the role of faith and values on the vote last night.
Hilary, you were really surprised when you heard that 81 percent.
ROSEN: The 81 percent cares more about people. Because I think that was kind of the bellwether of this election. And Barack Obama went through the campaign, reminding voters that he's been on their side, that he's been steady leadership, that he has focused on middle class, that he is taking care of the poor and the elderly.
And you know, Mitt Romney just I think never got past the Bain Capital ebbs and the notion that he was essentially a money man first and a leader second. And that in and of itself is a mandate for leadership. It's who is going to care more about their people and what can President Obama now do with that mandate for leadership.
BOLDUAN: Go ahead Van.
JONES: I think that's exactly right. I think he won on that point. I was concerned and disturbed for Democrats, though, to see the Christian concern about this party. This country is becoming more secular. I think the Democrats can delude themselves and say we'll just sort of ride the secular wave. We aren't that secular.
And for people of faith like myself or in the Democratic Party, it is becoming less comfortable to be -- you feel like you're out of a closet as a Christian in the Democratic Party. That is not good.
ROSEN: What does that even mean?
JONES: I'll put this way. When you're with Republicans, you can talk about God right up front. You can talk about church right up front. Among Democrat, it's a little bit dicier. You're afraid you might offend somebody.
I think that that makes it tough for us with Latinos. I think it makes it tough -- look, the African-American community is deeply religious. We don't see the church as a source of oppression. We see it as a site for liberation. We've got to figure out some way to have a faith-honoring Democratic Party. That is very disturbing some of those --
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ROSEN: -- code words for things like abortion or support for gay issues.
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DOUTHAT: The challenge for Republicans with Latinos in particular is the reverse, right? You see that "cares about people" versus "shares my values" dynamic, Republicans are not losing the Latino vote because they're too right wing on social issues. They're losing the Latino vote mostly on economic issues. Obviously the party does not need the Todd Akins of the world, you know, talking about how women can't get pregnant from rape and so on, but I think there's going to be a lot of pressure on the Republicans from the party elite to say, ok, look, let's get rid of the yahoos and the fundamentalists and pivot to the center. But there's a center there that's Latino religious, more economically moderate that the Republican party has to be able to win.
BOLDUAN: What role do you think faith and religion played in this election because economics was clearly at the forefront?
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ERICKSON: I'm actually surprised -- I'm somewhat surprised that the number for Romney was actually that small. I figured it would have been bigger than that, which to some degree, you know, there still remains the evangelical core. You can say it's about whether it's because he's a Mormon or because he was the original author of what became Obamacare or whatever, they were still -- a lot of them remain skeptical over them in the end -- on abortion, on Obamacare, on what have you.
And you still see some of these people --
BOLDUAN: Does that have to do with religion or does it have to do with accusations coming from Democrats that he flip-flopped?
ERICKSON: I think it has to do with accusations from Republicans that the Romney (inaudible). They remember Rick Santorum on the campaign trail. A lot of this people -- I was at the meeting where they could not bring themselves these evangelical leaders to go with Mitt Romney because he had been so hostile to them previously, they thought.
Now, it was still a huge number. Let's not delude ourselves here. It was a huge number. And it probably wouldn't have made a difference if it went up to 80 percent or 90 percent. But at the same time, you do have a Republican base that is to the right of a Republican establishment and ironically really in line with a lot of Hispanic voters on those social issues.
BOLDUAN: All right. We're going to hold right now. A lot more to talk about obviously and also more reaction coming in from around the world -- John.
BERMAN: That's right. Our American election was an international phenomenon. Let's get reaction from all over the world. Our reporters across the globe.
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DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm David McKenzie here in (inaudible) Kenya. The scenes there were incredible when they found out president Obama had won the re-election, let's look at some of these amazing pictures.
They spent all night in this village watching the results come in on CNN. This is the hometown of President Obama's father. There are family members all over the place. It's the center of Obama mania around the world. I think they're going to be partying here all day long and well into the night.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Alex (INAUDIBLE) here in Tokyo. The salary men are heading home on Wednesday evening and they are digesting the fact that President Obama has earned four more years. The news did not move the markets here in any major way. Just a slight uptick. But it is the economy on the minds of many people here.
Keep in mind, Japan is the third largest economy in the world and one of the United States' biggest trading partners. People say they're happy a decision has been made and now President Obama can get back to the task at hand.
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REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Reza Sayah in Rajo Pindi Pakistan where the U.S. elections got heavy coverage on Pakistani television. The results aired live on dozens of channels.
Four years ago, many supported Mr. Obama here. This year, not the case. Many wanted Romney. They wanted change because they still don't like U.S. policy here especially those drone strikes. One politician said he hopes Mr. Obama will end the drone strikes and the conflict in Afghanistan. Pakistani army official said it doesn't matter who is in Washington, nothing will change for Pakistan.
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