Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Market Sell-Off; Vote Count Finished In Miami-Dade Co.; Tough Issues Facing The President; Netanyahu Congratulates Obama; What We Learned from Obama's Win; Stock Market Reacts After Election

Aired November 07, 2012 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: The results are in. We know what happened. Today we're focusing on what happens next now that Barack Obama has won a second term as President of the United States. I'm Suzanne Malveaux at CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. And this is a CNN special program. Special coverage of "America's Choice 2012." We're bringing you the story behind the numbers. The demographic breakdown of the president's decisive victory and the implications for the Republican Party moving forward.

MALVEAUX: We're also examining the challenges ahead for the president leading a divided nation and dealing with an immediate fiscal problem facing the country. In his victory speech, the president urged all Americans to come together. He said what unites us is bigger than what divides us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I believe we can seize this future together, because 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. And together, with your help and God's grace, we will continue our journey forward and remind the world just why it is that we live in the greatest nation on earth. Thank you, America. God bless you. God bless these United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: In his concession speech, Mitt Romney also called for both parties to come together. He said the nation is at a critical point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And we look to Democrats and Republicans in government at all levels to put the people before the politics. I believe in America. I believe in the people of America. And I ran for office because I'm concerned about America. This election is over, but our principles endure. I believe that the principles upon which this nation was founded are the only sure guide to a resurgent economy and to renewed greatness.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

MALVEAUX: We've got breaking news. We are watching a major market sell-off at this hour. The Dow falling more than 300 points. Want to bring in Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange.

Alison, tell us what is happening.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Suzanne, the drop on the Dow is certainly eye-popping at 314 points. But keep in mind, the market actually is stabilizing now. But you do see the Dow trading below 13,000 for the first time since early September. In fact, all 30 Dow stocks are in the red.

Now investors are spooked less about what happened with the election and more about what's happening in Europe. It turns out Germany's economy is slowing because of the debt crisis in Europe and that expectation for slow growth, you see that sending oil prices lower. More than a 4 percent drop for oil prices. Oil sitting at $85 a barrel right now.

Now, I'm going to be back later in the hour. I'm also watching some certain sectors that are moving, and that is because of the election. I'm going to have that coming up later in the hour.

Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right, Alison, thank you.

BLITZER: We're getting new information from Florida right now. Let's go right to John Zarrella. He's in Miami watching the vote counting.

John, as our viewers know, we have not yet projected a winner in the state of Florida, although as we all know, the president has been re- elected by our own projection. But what's the latest from Miami?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, Wolf, we've been waiting primarily because the numbers in Miami-Dade County, which is the largest county in the state of Florida, last night they sent the election workers home. They stopped counting. They were going to pick that up today. Well, now, finally, we have all 829 precincts reporting. Now, remember, there are still some absentee ballots that have not been counted and provisional ballots that won't be completely finished or counted before Thursday or Friday. But all 829 precincts are in.

And the numbers are like this. The president, 521,000 and change votes. Mitt Romney, 317,382 votes. So the president doing very, very well. And in fact, Wolf, if you compare these numbers back to 2008, the president outperformed himself so far by over 20,000 votes. And in '08, John McCain had 360,000 votes in Miami-Dade. Mitt Romney only 317,000. So some pretty eye-popping numbers coming out of Miami-Dade as to how the president performed, as opposed to how Mitt Romney performed last night in the largest county in the state of Florida. A lot of votes that they had to count last night which caused these huge delays.

Wolf.

BLITZER: And these absentee ballots, the provisional ballots, if you will, they will all be counted by when? What did you say?

ZARRELLA: By Thursday or Friday. Absentee ballots may all be done by this afternoon. Those provisional ballots, probably Thursday or Friday is what the election supervisor's office is telling us.

BLITZER: And at some point we'll know who won the state of Florida. An important historic footnote. A very, very, close race in Florida, obviously.

John, thanks very much.

ZARRELLA: Sure.

BLITZER: Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: We're going to keep a close eye on Florida. The election is over, but now, of course, the focus is on governing.

BLITZER: President Obama will certainly have some major issues to tackle. Working with Congress to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, possibly appointing another Supreme Court justice or maybe two, and choosing new people to fill key cabinet positions.

MALVEAUX: So joining us to talk about all of this, Democratic strategist Maria Cardona. She's here in Atlanta with me, Republican strategist Alex Castellanos and senior political analyst David Gergen, all with Wolf in Washington.

Good to see all of you.

I want to start off, first of all, reading two statements. This is from the Republican leadership this morning. You have House Speaker John Boehner saying that, "if there is a mandate, it is a mandate for both parties to find common ground and take steps together to help our economy grow and create jobs." Then you've got Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell much less conciliatory here saying, "the voters have not endorsed the failures or excesses of the president's first term."

So, Alex, I'm going to start off with you here. I'm going to put you on the hot seat here because the question being, how do Republicans and this administration put aside the differences and get to the serious business of governing in this country to get something done?

ALEX CASTELLANOS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: How do they put it aside? Pretty easily. We're headed for the edge of the cliff. And I think both sides understand that. Two big problems, as you said, one is growth. And I think John Boehner's right about that. But the other one is debt. And both sides are going to have to give a little bit.

There's going to be a window here where the political pressure on both sides to move to the middle is going to be intense. Because both sides were tasked with this responsibility, the first one to back away from the table is going to pay a huge political price. So we do have a window here to get something done.

The president also has, you know, and this is not about who gives more. This is just looking at the geometry. The president is not up for re-election again. Congressmen are up every two years. They have less flexibility politically. And the president can look more generous. He can move, say, to the 51 yard line and ask Republicans to come to the 49, but he can put incredible pressure on Republicans to come to the middle if he moves first and is generous.

MALVEAUX: Maria, talk about --

CASTELLANOS: That, by the way, is the best political Obama. That's the guy who ran four years ago who said there's no red, no blue America. And, by the way, that's the one we saw last night.

MALVEAUX: All right. Let's -- I want to bring in Maria here. What is that window that the president has to reach out? And who's the one who should make the first play here in that olive branch, extending that olive branch?

MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, it's interesting because I think the president absolutely did that last night. And I think he understands that his win is not a mandate to, you know, ram down the throats of the American people whatever he wants. He understands that. In fact, I think he's always understood that.

It is a mandate for people to come together. So I like what John Boehner said. I hope that that is the mantel that Republicans take on. Because I also think that while last night wasn't a mandate to do whatever the president wanted, it was a mandate for him, I think, to follow the message of his campaign, which was, look, the government does have a positive role to play. And if you look at the coalition that won this presidency again for Obama -- Latinos, African- Americans, women, young people -- these are all people that understood that government has a smart role to play, a good role to play. That government is not the boogie man. It doesn't mean they voted for big government. It means they voted for smart government. And that's something that Republicans need to understand.

MALVEAUX: And, David, we're going to hear from John Boehner later today. What are you going to be listening for?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Me?

MALVEAUX: Yes.

GERGEN: OK. Thanks, Suzanne.

I'm going to be listening for going beyond platitudes about trying to meet somewhere and getting bipartisanship. What kind of structure are we talking about? What kind of agreements should we be driving toward?

The huge drop in the stock market today is not only a reflection on what's going on in Europe, but the widespread nervousness in the business community that if we don't deal with this fiscal cliff in a serious and urgent way, we could well have a recession next year. So there's pressure now coming from the markets, as well as from voters, for these sides to come together.

I do think that -- I, frankly, think we'll not go over the cliff. People in Washington are often dumb but they're not crazy and they understand the stakes if we go over the cliff. But I think the big question is, can they begin putting together the structure of a grand bargain that they would, you know, they would figure out all the details next year? Can they give -- can they postpone the cliff and give time for negotiations to start on that grand bargain. And I would think they'd go back to sort of where Boehner and the president were when their negotiations fell apart. Is that the makings of a deal?

MALVEAUX: And, Wolf, you want to jump in?

BLITZER: You know, I think the big question, Suzanne, is a simple one. Who is going to blink? Will the Democrats blink or will the Republicans blink? Will the president blink? Will John Boehner, the speaker of the House blink? Because there's a fundamental issue, and I'll ask Alex if he wants to weigh in on this. The fundamental issue is this. The president says you have to raise revenues, which means you have to raise taxes on richer people, families making more than $250,000 a year, individuals making more than $200,000 a year. The Republicans say they're not going to raise taxes. They promised Grover Norquist they would not raise taxes. In order to avoid the fiscal cliff, one side is going to have to blink. Who blinks?

CASTELLANOS: Well, I think -- one of the thing we have to understand is, you don't need Republicans to be unanimous to get this done. John Boehner just needs to deliver a few Republicans to complement a fairly solid Democratic bloc. John Boehner's got to kind of back up the pickup truck to the House and haul away the problem. And it won't take that much to do.

Now, the Republicans are going to argue, Wolf, that there's a difference between raising taxes and raising revenue. They're going to ask the Democrats, look, if you raise taxes, you might get less revenue. That has happened before. So any increase in revenue is going to have to be balanced with something that says this is growth. We'll want to plant more seed corn. We don't want to eat the seed corn.

BLITZER: Because you heard, David, during the Republican debates, all the Republican presidential candidates basically said, even if there were $10 in spending cuts for $1 in increased taxes, they would reject that.

GERGEN: They did. And they were very hard about it. And, look, I think there's a danger. The greatest danger is to deal with the question of, are you going to raise taxes on the rich right away or not. And if you isolate it that way, somebody does have to blink. The president said, I won't sign anything that doesn't come forward with that decoupling, as it's called. And Boehner has said in the last two or three days, I won't pass anything that has that decoupling. That is an unhealthy way to get into a negotiation. What you want to do is take that question and put it in the context of bigger questions, like, what do we -- if we agree on tax reform, maybe we can give on this. Or if you can agree on some entitlement reform, maybe we'll give on that. But that's a much more productive way, I think, to get there.

BLITZER: You can see, Suzanne, the fundamental problem here, what's at stake. These -- both sides have sort of dug themselves into entrenched positions and they have until December 31st, for all practical purposes, to get some sort of compromise.

MALVEAUX: We are waiting to see whether or not the new president, with this new Congress, which looks very much like status quo, will be able to get something done.

From our viewers across the globe, of course, we're gauging world reaction to the re-election of President Obama. Overall the response has been positive. In Jerusalem, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, he told CNN he's eager to get back to work with the U.S. president on solving the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, MIDDLE EAST QUARTET ENVOY: I think the re-election of President Obama gives us a great chance, a huge opportunity, actually, to move things forward here. I mean we know we've got huge turmoil and revolution in this region. We've got Syria, you've got Iran, we've got problems all over. But this issue here, and we're standing right here in Jerusalem now, between the Israelis and the Palestinians, it remains of fundamental importance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: For more reaction on the world's leaders, Christiane Amanpour, she's CNN's chief international correspondent. She joins us from New York.

Christiane, good to see you, of course, as always.

You know, we know the president has a really complicated relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It has not always been smooth sailing here. And it is no secret that he was rooting for Mitt Romney this go-around in the election. We've seen a statement from Netanyahu. How has he responded? What kind of influence do you think the president has now in terms of dealing with him?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Mr. Netanyahu, the prime minister, has sent a congratulations to President Obama on his re-election and talking about the secure and strong relationship between both countries and his willingness and desire to keep working with the United States president.

Now, of course, on the issue that Tony Blair was talking about, Palestinian/Israeli peace process, there has been no movement on that for the better part of a year, if not more. And there's no indication that that will be a priority in a second term.

And, of course, even the leaders of the Palestinians and the Israelis there are not, you know, showing they're ready to get back to the bargaining table. And so that's going to be an issue because it still is something that really affects the whole dynamic in that region.

On Iran, which has been a very contentious issue, not just regionally, but, of course, between the prime minister, Netanyahu, and the United States, Obama administration, that also, we're going to see how that plays out. As you know, there's been this whole debate and dilemma over whether there's to be a military solution to Iran's nuclear program or whether negotiations and somehow these sanctions and diplomacy can work out.

There was word from a senior Iranian foreign policy adviser to the highest leadership there, who I've interviewed in the past, today, saying that talks between the U.S. and Iran are not taboo.

And, also, on Syria, of course, which is important for Israel and important for that region, there is a huge amount of work to be done because both President Obama and Mitt Romney had basically said and have carved out the position that President Assad must go

But they are doing nothing, certainly not U.S. administration has done nothing to make sure that that happens and, so, that could leave the U.S. a little bit exposed to charges of weakness.

And today, his closest pal, if you like, British Prime Minister David Cameron, who was the first to congratulate President Obama, said that he really wants to talk to, quote, "Barack," to figure out how to solve the Syrian crisis.

MALVEAUX: All right, lots to come. Thank you, Christiane. Appreciate it.

President Obama might have won re-election last night, but he lost the White House by 20 points. We're going to talk about the changing face of America and what it means for the future of both parties.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: It doesn't matter whether you're black or white or Hispanic or Asian or Native American or young or old or rich or poor, abled, disabled, gay or straight, you can make it here in America if you are willing to try.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We're back with our political panel talking about the challenges ahead for the president's second term.

Democratic strategist Maria Cardona here in Atlanta.

BLITZER: Here with me in Washington, Republican strategist Alex Castellanos and CNN's senior political analyst, David Gergen.

Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: Let's talk about the president. He won a coalition of Americans. So, we're talking about women, blacks, Latinos, gays, young people, middle class and moderates. For example, winning 71 percent of the Latino vote nationally, 60 percent in Florida based on our exit polls.

How did he get these groups? He got these groups together by offering each group something, whether it was Lilly Ledbetter Act for equal pay, same-sex marriage or his executive order that was like a Dream Act-light.

How does he keep this coalition together and eventually govern a broad, wide range of groups with bearing interests. I'll begin with you, Maria.

MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I think it goes to what Republicans need to understand about what happened last night, as well.

You know, we're talking about all these cliffs that we are facing as a nation. I think the Republican Party is standing on the cliff of political oblivion, if they don't really understand what happened last night with Latinos, with African-Americans, with women, with young people.

This is the new face of America. America isn't changing. It's already changed. And I think last night proved that.

And in terms of what the president needs to do to continue to hold this coalition together, if you look at all the things he talked about with the disparate groups, the Lilly Ledbetter, the Dream Act on immigration and, you know, the young people with the student loans, what is that all about?

It's all about economic security done with fairness. It's all about understanding that you need to treat people humanely and you need to treat people fairly and you need to treat people like they are human beings.

MALVEAUX: Alex, what do you think?

CASTELLANOS: Well, it's hard for me to argue against Maria that the new ascendant coalition that's growing the Democratic party of young people and Hispanics and single professional women, especially since I are one.

So, yeah, I think the reality of it is obvious, but I think, you know, the Republican party, the Republican party of Jack Kemp and Ronald Reagan was not a "no"-party. It was not an anti-party.

It was a party of "yes." It was a party of opportunity for everyone. And the difference I think Republicans -- you know, the Democrats have made the argument, government will give you more. Republicans will give you less government.

The Republican argument is, look, we can help you with an economy that's going to give you more because the government is running out of cash and we weren't very optimistic and inclusive about this.

We need to be a party that not only has strong hands and is firm on our principles, but has a big heart and explains that that's open to everybody.

MALVEAUX: Hey, David, do you think one of the first things the president should do is offer comprehensive immigration reform?

GERGEN: I think he needs to deal with the budget first, but I think immigration ought to be right behind it and I'm much more optimistic now we're going to have some sort of comprehensive reform in the next couple of years because he will continue to press it.

Democrats will press it. And now Republicans need it. And Maria is right. The Republicans have to find a way to deal with immigration that's respectful and that listens to the voice of the people.

In that -- in the exit polls last night, one of the most striking things from voters last night was the overwhelming majority of people wanted to find some path to citizenship for those who are here and reject the deportation, the policy that the Republicans were putting forward, Mitt Romney was putting forward, and that's very, very important.

We do -- politicians do need to respect the voice of the voters.

Now, I actually think that President Obama has an opportunity here that he didn't seem to have after the last election and that is everybody thought that he would draw upon the youth and others in his new coalition to help him govern. And that didn't work out very well. They weren't able to develop social media and that sort of thing.

The fact that some many came back out last night, that that coalition stuck together in such great numbers and they seem now to be willing to sign up and let's go to work on behalf of the president. That could help him in governing.

MALVEAUX: Wolf?

BLITZER: He's got some major issues, though, Suzanne, right now, that he has to deal with, including his cabinet because, as you know, he's got a Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, who says she's only going to serve until the end of this first term.

He's got a Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner, who says he's only going to serve until the end of this term.

Maria, who do you think is going to be the next Secretary of State?

CARDONA: I don't think I'm going to go down that road, Wolf.

BLITZER: I'll tell you. I'll give you two names and you tell me what you think -- John Kerry, who helped the president in the debates, the chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, I'm sure he would like to be Secretary of State; and Susan Rice, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, I have no doubt she would like to be Secretary of State.

What do you think?

CARDONA: I think both of those, Wolf, would be absolutely spectacular.

I think John Kerry did a fabulous job this election and in terms of really focusing on what the president's agenda has been and will continue to be from a global standpoint.

And I think Susan Rice is also a very valuable member of the president's cabinet. I would love to see her be Secretary of State, as I think a lot of Americans out there would.

So I think that he's got some terrific people to choose from, but I also would posit this. In terms of, you know, maybe not for Secretary of State, but in terms of as you see all these cabinet positions being reshuffled, you know and I might get some hate mail from my Democratic friends about this, but maybe he should think about appointing another Republican.

And so that way ...

MALVEAUX: Do you have anybody in mind?

CARDONA: I don't ...

BLITZER: He did, you know, that's ...

CARDONA: ... but that would be something that goes to this, you know, bringing people together.

BLITZER: You did have -- and I'll bring Alex and David into this conversation -- he did have -- Ray LaHood is his Secretary of Transportation. He's a Republican from Illinois.

Bob Gates was his Secretary of Defense. He was a Republican.

It's probably a pretty good idea, although I'm not necessarily convinced he's going to name a Republican to either be Secretary of the Treasury or Secretary of State.

CASTELLANOS: But look what the president did last night in his speech. He said he was going to call Mitt Romney in the next few weeks and talk about how to move forward together. That was incredibly generous and also incredibly smart politically.

If he begins to go that way, you know, last time he's elected president, he immediately moves to the left, health care, lots of spending.

If he does what he maybe started doing last night, it will help him politically, it will strengthen him politically. It will also be tremendously ...

BLITZER: Because, as you know, David, who he picks as Secretary of the Treasury to replace Timothy Geithner will have a powerful message to Wall Street, the business community, the international community. He could go bold.

GERGEN: He could go bold. That's not what one has been hearing in Washington, as you well know.

We've been hearing more that it's going to be a game of musical chairs and they're going to bring somebody from inside the administration. Jack Lew is prominently mentioned.

BLITZER: The White House chief of staff.

GERGEN: The White House chief of staff ...

BLITZER: Former budget director.

GERGEN: ... would go over to treasury.

BLITZER: He's a very smart guy.

GERGEN: He's a very smart guy and he's been involved with budget negotiations for years, as you know, and the theory is that the treasury job this next four years ago will be less about international than about domestic progress and Jack Lew is well-suited for that.

But it was interesting, Wolf, last night, as soon as the president talked about Mitt Romney and calling him up, the social media was abuzz with the idea, what about appointing Mitt Romney as Secretary of Commerce? Wouldn't that be interesting?

I think it's probably a nonstarter, but it does emphasize he does need a CEO ...

BLITZER: Or as the president suggested the other day, maybe creating a new Secretary of Business and consolidating all of those departments into one new department.

Lots to dissect. Lots to digest, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Wolf, Maria and I were just here speculating on that very thing. What if Mitt Romney was in that cabinet?

CARDONA: Exactly.

MALVEAUX: I mean, he brought in Hillary Clinton, kept her close to him by his side.

CARDONA: That's right.

MALVEAUX: So, you never know. It could be part of the strategy.

CARDONA: That's right. Lincoln did it.

MALVEAUX: Yeah, absolutely.

If you ask the pundits in Florida, it was the state that smashed Mitt Romney's hopes for the White House, but after seven-hour wait lines, thrown-out ballots, reports of broken voting machines, there are still huge questions about the final tally there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: Americans have weighed in on several important ballot initiatives.

Take a look at this. For the first time, voters in Maine approved a measure giving same-sex couples the right to marry. And Maryland voters also made history by upholding a new law legalizing same-sex marriage in Maryland.

Minnesota voters rejected a ban on same-sex marriage. A similar measure in Washington state is still, at least for now, too close to call.

It's the first time voters have approved same-sex marriage. In the past, only judges and state legislators legalized those unions.

Legalizing marijuana, by the way, another issue on the ballot in several states. Voters in Washington state and Colorado approved the recreational use of marijuana, but a similar measure in Oregon was rejected.

A critical part of President Obama's health care reform law was on the line in several states. Alabama and Wyoming backed measures amending their state constitutions to ban people from being forced to buy health insurance and early results suggest Montana voters may follow suit.

But look at this. Florida has rejected a similar challenge to ObamaCare.

MALVEAUX: On the table, women were winning the Senate seats in record numbers last night, as well. We're going to look at the new balance of power on Capitol Hill.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Votes still being counted in several congressional races. We're going to bring you the results as soon as they come in, but here's what's crystal clear right now, the newly-elected Congress still fiercely divided.

We're going to take a look at where things stand in the Senate. Republicans picked up one seat, giving them 45, not enough to take control from the Democrats who now hold at least 52 seats.

Here's a look at the House. Republicans dominate with 232 seats and Democrats have 192, so the balance of power still split with Republicans holding onto the majority in the House. The Democrats keeping control in the Senate.

Dana Bash is joining us from Washington to talk about some of the big challenges ahead in this divided Congress.

Dana?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, one of the big challenges, really the biggest challenge right now ahead, is -- not necessarily ahead, it's right now -- is the whole question of the fiscal cliff.

And it's already begun. The positioning has already started to happen. In fact, the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid -- who is still going to be the Senate majority leader -- in fact, it looks like they've picked up a seat in the Senate - he has come before reporters and talked about what he thinks should happen and he's being very careful, tactically, not to draw, as he said, "a line in the sand," but to try to embrace Republicans and say, please come to the table. Let's talk about the best way to do this.

Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: It's better to dance than to fight. It's better to work together.

Everything doesn't have to be a fight. Everything doesn't have to be a fight. That's the way it's been the last couple of years.

So, everyone should comprehend, especially my Senate friends, that legislation is the art of compromise. It's consensus-building.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So you can pretty easily see, Suzanne, his tactic there, trying to kind of shame Republicans into coming his way and what we're talking about here on the substance is that Democrats feel that they have pretty much a mandate to do what President Obama vowed he was going to do, which is let the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans expire.

Take that trillion dollars or so, put that towards deficit reduction and Republicans -- we're going to hear from the House Speaker John Boehner in about two-and-a-half hours. You can expect him to say similar remarks to what's he said last night which is they're not going to agree to what they can call a tax increase.

So, the positioning has begun and there's another time before this deadline hits at the end of the year.

MALVEAUX: All right, thanks, Dana.

We also want to mention, too, women having a big impact. We're talking about exit polls showing a majority of them, 55 percent, voting for President Obama. Mitt Romney only get 44 percent of that critical bloc.

Wolf?

BLITZER: That's a major gender divide. There's also some racial divides out there. Also, some more major upsets.

We're getting a closer look at what last night's election results could mean for the future of politics in America.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Whether I earned your vote or not, I have listened to you. I have learned from you, and you've made me a better president.

With your stories and your struggles, I return to the White House more determined and more inspired than ever about the work there is to do and the future that lies ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: President Obama looking ahead to four more years in the White House.

His decisive re-election victory last night points to what this country is becoming, the racial ethnic and generational changes that have altered the electoral landscape.

Joining us now, Mike Allen. He's the chief White House correspondent for Politico. He's joining us.

Mike, you had a great political playbook this morning. You had winners and losers from last night. Let's go through some of the winners. Who won?

MIKE ALLEN, CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, POLITICO: Well, one of the winners, of course, is David Axelrod's mustache. It lasts four more years. They won Pennsylvania decisively as they won just about every swing state decisively.

Ohio was two points, but every other one was four-, five-, six-, seven-, eight-points. The Romney folks weren't even close.

I can tell you Republicans I'm talking to today are shell-shocked by how blue the map was and what a deep blue it was.

Florida isn't called. North Carolina was close. Ohio was close. All the other ones, decisive Obama.

BLITZER: You had another winner, the polls, Nate Silver of "The New York Times."

The polls were pretty accurate, despite all the criticism they were getting, largely from Republicans and the right, some of whom were projecting these polls were distorted, they biased against the Republicans.

They were projecting a landslide, if you will, for the GOP for Mitt Romney. The polls did pretty well last night, didn't they?

ALLEN: They were spot on, Wolf, and this reflects something I learned in 2004 when I was covering President Bush for "The Washington Post." He was in the race with John Kerry and the press kept saying it was tied. The press always said it was in the margin of error. You went back and you looked at the polls after the election and, yes, it was in the margin of error, but every single poll had President Bush ahead slightly.

What I learned from that is that any given poll may be wrong, lots of polls may be wrong, but every poll wasn't wrong and what -- that's what the Romney folks were counting on.

And it's partly understandable. A lot of these polls were baking in a roughly 2008 voter turnout. We sort of thought that was a once-in-a- lifetime sort of thing. It turns out it isn't.

As you said at the top, not only did President Obama keep his coalition together, he expanded it.

Talked to a polling analyst today who had some shocking figures for me about Ohio. Not only was African-American turnout in Ohio higher than it was in 2008, it was higher than the percentage of the population.

And, Wolf, listen to this. If African-American turnout in Ohio yesterday had been what it was in 2008, Romney would have won, so that really crystallizes how much demographics can matter, how much mechanics can matter in a campaign that has the resources, the skills to turn out every last one of their voters.

Here in Virginia, voters were telling me that Democrats in line were being checked in by an Obama volunteer who had a tablet keeping track of their voters. The Republicans I was talking to, nobody was checking them in.

BLITZER: What about losers, because you got some great losers here. I put down some of them, super PACs, millionaires and billionaires, the Bush map, Michael Baron (ph), a Republican, a conservative analyst. Who else were the big losers?

ALLEN: He was very bullish.

BLITZER: Because I saw you had -- you had Donald Trump in there as well.

ALLEN: Yes. Donald Trump got nothing for all his attention on the president's resume, the president's college records. But, Wolf, this super PACs, the millionaires, billionaires, that's going to be a big story. These outside groups that -- on the Republican side, who invested close to a billion dollars, so that's separately from the campaign, separately from the Republican Party, these outside groups, close to a billion dollars and what did they get for it? Very little.

Now what they will tell you is, that if they hadn't been spending at the time that the Obama campaign was, that Mitt Romney would have fallen off a cliff in some -- in the summer. Instead, he fell off a cliff in the fall. Is that really that much better? If you're one of those donors, are you really that happy about it?

I can tell you, there's a lot of flack about it as a result of this. I think there will be some new groups. And there's going to be some new power centers around Washington because the Republican leaders that are in place now clearly made some mistakes. They're talking even today about how they can change it. For instance, on the Senate side, where they wound up with a couple of these un-electable candidates. Candidates who said a couple of stupid things and were not the most skilled candidates to begin with, they're looking at new ways to be sure that they can get -- encourage more electable candidates through money, through events. The party bosses in Washington, as they be called back home, don't want to do it. But they may look to outside groups to do that. Party leaders recognize that they need to have a little more control over who their candidates are or they're going to keep losing these unloseable races.

BLITZER: Right. Like in Indiana and Missouri. This time, two years ago, in Maryland and Colorado. In Nevada, for example, they had a relatively easy wins but they, obviously, didn't materialize.

Hey, Mike, thanks, as usual, for joining us. Mike Allen from Politico. Appreciate it very much.

ALLEN: Wolf, thank you for your great coverage.

BLITZER: Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: He won a tough election battle, but President Obama is already staring down what may be the biggest challenge of his second term. We're talking about keeping the country from going over that so- called fiscal cliff.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: The uncertainty of the election is over, but the fiscal cliff, these are the automatic budget cuts and the expiring tax breaks looming in January. Well, those things creating some uncertainty with the stock market. Alison Kosik joins us from the New York Stock Exchange. Alison, first of all, tell us, how are the world markets responding the day after the election and we'll talk about specifics.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, while these losses that we're seeing on the Dow, with the Dow down 290 points, while these losses are a bit eye-popping, stocks are off their lows and the losses are stabilizing. A little irony here for you. Did you know the Dow dropped 486 points after election day in 2008? But, remember, back then, we were right in the middle of the financial crisis. The markets were certainly in a hairy time. Still, this is the biggest post-election drop since Obama was elected the first time.

Now, while the market hasn't necessarily wanted Obama to win, the sell-off that we're seeing right now is not really about the election. It's more about the comments from the European Central Bank president that Germany's economy is slowing. And that's really, Suzanne, what's weighing heavily on the market today.

Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And we see that the balance of power here, it's pretty much status quo. Republicans reasserting the majority in the House. You have several moderates out, however. The Senate's still in Democrats' hands. We think that there's going to be, some people suspect, further gridlock here. And we're looking at the possibility of these automatic spending cuts and tax increases known as the fiscal cliff. Do we have a sense of how this is going to play out with the economy and the stock market?

KOSIK: Oh, yes. You know many analysts, Suzanne, including the Congressional Budget Office, they've been saying that the U.S. economy will, no doubt, go into a recession if the fiscal -- if we do go of this fiscal cliff. Because this is a combination of huge federal spending cuts and tax increases that all go into effect together, at the beginning of the year, unless Congress does something.

So the problem is that it would happen all at once. And that sucks trillions of dollars right out of the economy. It would really shock the system because it includes $55 billion in defense spending cuts. Another $55 billion in non-defense. I mean I'm talking everything from education to food inspection funding to air traffic safety.

And then there's the tax increases because tax cuts will expire, like the Bush tax cuts, the payroll tax holiday. All of that would go away. And then, of course, there's more. There's that whole slew of tax credits that will go away or take a hit, like the child tax credit. That would get cut in half. Credits for higher education, those will expire altogether. So all this will happen unless, unless Congress and the president can get their act together and stop it all from happening.

Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Yes, Alison, that's why there's so much pressure right now to see what both sides are going to do. The president, as well as the Republican leadership.

KOSIK: Yes.

MALVEAUX: And which side is going to blink first is how a lot of people have been putting it.

Thank you, Alison. Appreciate it.

KOSIK: Sure.

MALVEAUX: Wolf.

BLITZER: Social media blew up last night during the election. And the most tweeted image of the night was a hug between the president and the First Lady.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: President Obama has another reason to celebrate today. He just set a new record. He broke a Twitter record. This photo of the president hugging the First Lady, Michelle Obama, is the most retweeted post ever. It was retweeted, get this, more than 4 million times. Favorited more than a million times. The president tweeted four more years and attached the picture on his official Twitter account after he won last night.

After getting battered by Sandy, many New York and New Jersey residents are being evacuated again. Another big storm is headed right for them. We'll get the latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Of all the pictures and Instagrams circulating out there, Wolf, you've got to pay attention to this now, OK. There's something that we heard was going on with your beard. You want to share or should we just take a look? Let's take a look at this.

BLITZER: You go ahead and share.

MALVEAUX: There it is. You see it? All right. Real time election results, beard only, the kind that Wolf can rock. See, this is the folks over at Onion.com, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes.

MALVEAUX: They Photoshopped the half red, half blue beard and, you know, I don't know, it's not like the Empire State Building but I think it's pretty good, huh, what do you think?

BLITZER: And we're looking -- we're thinking about that. If I start growing it now, maybe for 2016, Suzanne, what do you think?

MALVEAUX: That could work.