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U.S. Elections Inspire Baby Names; Sentencing For Jared Loughner; Two Huge Storms In Just 10 Days; Final Count In Florida. Nor'Easter Hits Storm-Damaged States; Stocks Shaky After Market Plunge; On the Edge of "Fiscal Cliff"; "Sesame Street" Episode on Hurricane Sandy; Mending the Fractured GOP; Gifford Faces Shooter in Court; Investigation into How Sandusky Case Handled

Aired November 08, 2012 - 13:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Suzanne Malveaux. This hour, following three major stories. Nature's one-two punch and that is how one official describes the storm dumping snow, zapping power across the Northeast. A region still reeling from Superstorm Sandy.

Dangling on the edge of the fiscal cliff, the latest on the efforts to reach a compromise and to prevent a financial crisis from massive tax hikes and automatic spending cuts. And, finally, sentencing day for Jared Loughner. He killed six people, wounded 13 others, including former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. He is in court this hour. Just a short time ago, Congressman Gabby Giffords, she returned to that courtroom in Tucson, Arizona to face the man who shot her.

Jared Lee Loughner, he is being sentenced to life in prison for the January 2011 attack. Giffords, she left the courtroom, we are told. We are told this is a packed courtroom. She left with the help of aides. She is back, now we are told, seated on the second row with her husband, Mark Kelly, by her side. At least 10 victims and witnesses of the shooting, they are reading statements today in court. Some still very traumatized by what happened that day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICIA MAISCH, TUCSON SHOOTING SURVIVOR: Every time there's a loud, sudden noise, it's shocking, and it takes me back to that morning and the sound of that gunshot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Loughner pleaded guilty to the shooting rampage that left six people dead and 13 wounded, including Giffords who was shot in the head at point-blank range. She has had one remarkable road to recovery ever since. Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD: (Cheering).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: It was a magical moment. A standing ovation. I was actually there in the audience as she read the "Pledge of Allegiance." This was at the Democratic National Convention in September. Just listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GABRIELLE GIFFORDS: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: She continues to fight, fight every day, for her recovery. As you see her there, she actually got a chance to vote this week in Tucson. We saw her. Giffords is not going to speak in court today, but we are waiting for her husband. He is going to speak for her very soon. I want to bring in our CNN Legal Contributor Paul Cowen who is with us from New York.

And, Paul, first of all, we've heard some extraordinary descriptions from Casey Wian, who is inside of the courthouse, talking about the kind of testimony from these victims and from these witnesses saying this essentially changed their lives forever. Why do they do this in the first place? Is this part of a healing process, if you will, before he has marched off to life in prison.

PAUL COWEN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, there's really two aspects to it. The first is that the judge has a certain amount of discretion in terms of sentencing, although prosecutors and defense attorneys have agreed that they are going -- in fact, the agreement was that there are going to be seven life sentences running consecutively, plus 140 years. The judge, however, looks at the federal sentencing guidelines, and he has to apply a variety of factors. One of those factors, he can weigh victims' statements at the time of sentencing.

So, it really can have an impact on the actual sentence. In a normal case, it would have an enormous impact, but this is sort of -- it's been predetermined, I think, what the sentence is going to be. But, of course, the second thing is the -- probably the more important what -- and what you talked about, the cathartic effect, the psychological effect that this has for the victims. They -- this is really the only time they're going to have to publicly state and talk about the trauma and the horrible tragedy that was inflicted on them by this crime. So, it's important for the victims.

MALVEAUX: And, Paul, I just want to give our viewers a sense of what these victims are saying here. You have victim Mavy Stoddard who was shot multiple times in the leg, and whose husband died shielding her from these -- this onslide of bullets, says, when you shot my precious husband, Dorwin Stoddard, you ruined my life. Somehow when you shot him, I got out from under him, I was screaming, oh, God, oh, God, help me. I said to him, breathe deeply, and he did. Therefore, I believe he heard me say I love you. It was about 10 minutes later that he died in my arms.

Then, I passed out because you shot me three times. You took away my life, my love, my reason for living. And then, we are told she looked directly at Loughner and said I am so lonesome. I hate living without him. No one to hold me, no one to love me, no one to talk to me, to care for me. I forgive you. I am a Christian. I am required to. What kind of impact do you think this makes in a courtroom when people go through that kind of shared experience?

COWEN: Well, you know, I think it's a stark reminder that six people were killed that day. 13 were shot. And there were stories of individual heroism that occurred like this story, which, you know, if she hadn't spoken in court today, I wonder how many people would have know, you know, that her husband was on top of her shielding her while the shots were being fired. In essence, gave his life protecting her. I mean, you know, I think for all the victims to be able to tell their stories to the judge, it's an important thing. And it's certainly something the judge can weigh when he looks at the sentence in the case, and it's something that gets looked at by prison officials later on when Loughner is sent off to a prison facility.

MALVEAUX: And Loughner, he lives, and he lives in prison for the rest of his life. How was it that he was able to get the plea deal out of the death penalty?

COWEN: Well, had they opted to go to trial in this case, federal prosecutors could have sought the death penalty. And they certainly could have made a compelling case here given the number of victims, and the tragedy inflicted on the people who were shot as well that the death penalty was warranted. But it wasn't without risk. You have to show that Loughner knew he was shooting a federal -- or murdering a federal official and Giffords survived.

You also would have to show, at the time of sentencing, that death is appropriate for someone who suffers from severe mental illness. Now, the court-appointed psychologist, even though he found Loughner competent to stand trial, said he remains severely mentally ill, and sentencing someone with severe mental illness to the death penalty is always an uphill battle. So, this is a guaranteed life sentence, and I think it was a good deal for all concerned.

MALVEAUX: Paul, very quickly here. Do you think that Loughner understands what happened and what he did in light of his mental state?

COWEN: Well, I think there are two Loughners. I think there's the unmedicated schizophrenic Loughner who lapses into delusional behavior, and I think when he is not on his meds, I don't know what he understands. He is medicated now. He has been found by court psychiatrists to be competent to stand trial, which means he understands the proceedings. So, I think he knows exactly what's going on. And I think, you know, you raise a point that's an interesting point. This is another form of punishment that's going to be inflicted on him listening to what he did to all of these human beings, and how he destroyed their lives.

MALVEAUX: Paul, we are learning from in -- a reporter inside of the courtroom now that at this very moment, Gabby Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly are walking up to talk about that day, that horrific day and what their life has been since, and as soon as we get the details, we will, of course, bring them to all of our viewers here, and, again, talk about this really poignant moment for a lot of people, the victims, the families who this tragedy has upturned their lives, and what this means for them moving forward. We're going to have more on this story throughout the hour. Here's what we're also working on as well.

(voice-over): Here's what we're working on for this hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got back our power on last Friday, and it's back out again today, so frustrated is a fair word.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: The Northeast gets slammed again, this time with snow and ice. How this second storm is setting back recovery after Sandy.

Plus, the election is over. Now, it's time for the finger-pointing. The backlash against Mitt Romney and mending the fractured GOP.

And Big Bird may be breathing easier with President Obama's win, but the bird's nest on "Sesame Street" is being threatened again. This is CNN, and it's happening now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: This just in, Miami-Dade election officials say they have now finished counting the final 500 absentee ballots. That is right. They say the results have now been submitted to state officials. We still do not know Florida's outcome of the election. The county's canvassing board says it's going to meet today at 3:00 this afternoon. Provisional ballots, they're going to be done tomorrow. We are told. There's still three other counties that are still counting the absentee and provisional votes. That is Palm Beach as well as Duvall and Broward Counties, and, of course, Florida 29 electoral votes. None of this will make a difference. The president still won the election, but those are the details coming out of Florida as they begin to wrap up the vote count.

Two huge storms in just 10 days. Nightmare scenario that is now the brutal reality for thousands of people in the Middle East. There's a nor'easter that has hammered areas that are still recovering from the storm, the Superstorm Sandy. It has buried parts of Connecticut, New Jersey and New York under heavy, heavy snow. Thousands of people who just got the power back on once again now without power, in bone- chilling temperatures. Deborah Feyerick, she is talking to folks in Brooklyn right across the water from Breezy Point, Queens. Deb, how are folks coping?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, frankly, folks aren't coping all that well. They've been doing the best they can. They're running on adrenaline right now, but their patience is really running thin. You have to imagine, these cars all here, they were covered with water when the hurricane hit, and then now, with the snow, it's become even worse because it is just so cold. The homes, water inside all of them. And so, they are now damp, they are developing mold, and people really just don't know which way to turn.

Over here, you see somebody delivered a light. This is the relief center by the volunteer fire department, and if it were not for this, really a lot of these people would have given up hope a long time ago. The relief center has been handing out food, has been gathering clothing. What the people here in Garretson Beach say they don't have enough help from FEMA or from the Red Cross or from insurance companies and other officials that they desperately, desperately need. About 2,000 families here. I'm joined by Cathy Ine, and, tell me, do you feel that you're getting all the help you need?

KATHY ENE, GARRETSON BEACH RESIDENT: No, we need more help here. We need electrical boxes, and we need electricians to come in and to replace all the submerged electrical equipment of the homes. We can't get our electricity turned back on until all that's replaced, and we're waiting for FEMA to come and help us and give us money. So, in the meantime, we need donations.

FEYERICK: When you look at everything that's happening here, do you feel that other parts of the city were handled much better, perhaps, than Garretson Beach?

ENE: I think that Garretson Beach should have been evacuated. We're zone b, but we're right on the water's edge. We're a little tiny peninsula right behind Breezy Point. The entire little peninsula is surrounded by water. And everybody was flooded out. My house had four feet of water in it, and I evacuated.

FEYERICK: Do you feel that it was an oversight on some levels, because, again, we're looking for the electricians. We don't see any here. We're looking for sort of FEMA. We've seen one person in a jacket. But for the most part, it seems like everybody is sort of doing it on their own and getting frustrated.

ENE: I believe that they've forgotten about us. We're a small community and nobody has really come down here and publicized our plight. It's a working class neighborhood. We don't have a lot of people out there advocating for us, so we're trying to do everything ourselves.

The Garretson Beach Fire Department has been great. It's a volunteer organization. They have a relief center for the people here. But the people need shelter. People's homes have no electricity. They have no heat. Many homes are still flooded. People don't want to leave their homes. And even if they wanted to, we don't have transportation because the cars were flooded as well. So we need some kind of shelter down here.

FEYERICK: OK, Kathy Ene, thank you very much.

ENE: You're welcome.

FEYERICK: And that's what they're trying to do. We spoke with the state senator earlier today and that's what he said. He said, look, there's plenty of room. Bring from FEMA shelters, bring some FEMA trailers down here. But folks like Kathy and other folks really, you know, we spoke to one man and he broke down. Another man saying, we're suffering, we're suffering. And that's the message that they're trying to get out. They don't understand why it's taken more than 10 days to get even basic services. They're not even close to getting electricity, Suzanne. And the state senator said, if they don't do it quickly, they're not going to get it until Christmas.

MALVEAUX: That is a tough, tough way to go. We know -- if you want to help folks out in the northeast, it's really not that hard to do. Just log on to cnn.com/impact. You can find all kinds of information on just how to contribute to this relief effort.

We've got some news here. Jared Lee Loughner, as you know, sentenced to life in prison as part of a plea deal at a Tucson courtroom. One of his victims, of course, the former congresswoman, Gabby Giffords. She is there. She is there with her husband, Mark Kelly, by her side, the retired astronaut. The two of them are inside of the courtroom now. They just approached and went to take the stand to essentially talk about what this means for them. How this has impacted their life. And we are told that Mark Kelly said of Loughner, who tried to assassinate his wife in this shooting spree, he says, "Mr. Loughner, you may have put a bullet through her head, but you have not put a dent in her spirit and her ability to do good." That coming from her husband, speaking on behalf of that couple.

There were six people who were killed in that shooting. Thirteen others who were wounded. It was a political rally outside of a supermarket that happened back in January of 2011. We have another quote from another eyewitness here. This is actually more from Mark Kelly. He goes on to say, "then is what you took away from Gabby. Her life has been forever changed. Immeasurably altered every day is a continual struggle to do those things she was once so good at. If she was not born with the name Gabby, someone would have given it to her. Now she struggles with each and every word. Gabby struggles to walk. She is partially blind. You sought to extinguish the beauty of her life. You tried to create for all of the world and (ph) darks and evil on your own. Know this and know this always -- you failed." That from Mark Kelly, her husband, as he explains her recovery, her pain, and her spirit to move on. We're going to have more of this story. And we're going take a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: People in the northeast struggling to recover from Superstorm Sandy, now dealing with even more storm damage. A nor'easter with heavy snow and ferocious winds hit the region saving its most powerful punch for New York and New Jersey. The exact neighborhoods hit the hardest by Sandy. There are 666,000 people in those states still without power, 59,000 more people than before. Well, we went to Red Hook Houses. It's a Brooklyn public housing development hit hard by the storms. And a woman who lives there walked us through the very dark, cold hallways to check on her neighbors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are in Red Hook Houses West. We're walking into the lobby. Last Sunday at 7:00 they turned off the elevators. This is the stairwell. This is what we see living in the towers. This is -- we made it to the third floor. But this is what the third floor looks like.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have no water. We have no heat, no water. And (INAUDIBLE) I lay down for the night, that's it, I'm under my covers. I'm good. I sleep in my two socks, hoodies, pajamas, everything.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello! Excuse me. I hear voices. (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How you doing?

How you doing?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where you guys from?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're from Green City Forest (ph) and we're just helping out everybody we could.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody is sticking together. And everybody trying to do the best that they can. But we need help here in Red Hook, especially in the towers. You have shut-ins. You have people that can't go to the bathroom. They can't wash themselves. And -- it's just so -- it's emotional for me to be right here, but this is all I have. That's where I'll be (INAUDIBLE), that's me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: That is Sarah Hoy (ph) reporting for us. Thank you, Sarah.

If you'd like to help the storm victims in the northeast, can you do that. Just log on to cnm.com/impact. You're going to find all kinds of information on how you can contribute to the relief effort. Stay with CNN for more on the nor'easter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This has been a week from hell. I mean, you know, I'm grateful that I have my family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Stocks still on shaky ground the day after, plunging more than 300 points yesterday, the day after the election. Alison Kosik, she's joining us from New York to talk a little bit about this.

And, Alison, tell us how the stocks are performing now and the outlook, do we think, for the rest of the year?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, one thing is for certain, things are a lot calmer today on Wall Street, even though the Dow is down 87 points. And it looks like the trend really is going to be to the down side. You know, all of a sudden, certainty, Suzanne, over whether, you know, these higher taxes and federal spending cuts, the so-called fiscal cliff, will go into effect all at once. That's really keeping the market on edge. And, you know, although the expectation is that President Obama and Congress are going to wind up hammering out a deal. Until we're there, you're really not going to see a real conviction to buy stocks. And that's really what's weighing on the market. You know there's -- because there's a bigger impact with this. There's also a trickle down. Right to the jobs market. You know, companies right now, they don't want to hire until the tax picture is clear, so that's an issue that can drag on the economy, as well as stocks.

Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Thank you, Alison.

Big Bird became a political star after this comment. You recall.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I'm going to stop other things. I like PBS. I love Big Bird. I actually like you too. But I'm not going to -- I'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Well, now, Big Bird, he is in the news again. See how "Sesame Street" is relating to kids about Superstorm Sandy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Presidential election not much of a cliffhanger, but a possible financial crisis facing the country certainly is. President Obama, congressional leaders have to come up with a compromise to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. We are talking about those massive automatic spending cuts, the tax hikes that are going to affect 90 percent of Americans.

Athena Jones is joining us from Capitol Hill.

Athena, good to see you.

We saw the House speaker, John Boehner. He says he is willing to accept new revenue, but not from higher tax rates on wealthy Americans. So where is the compromise here? What is the offering?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, exactly. I mean, that's what we were standing what we are several months back. Both sides say they want to find common ground but both of them remain dug in over this big issue of taxes. O course, Republicans say that raising any rates on high earners is going to hurt the economy, or raising rates on anyone, really. Democrats argue that higher earners have to share the burden of bringing down the dead.

So let's listen to more of what Speaker Boehner had to say in his speech yesterday and get into that whole idea of what he wants to see happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER, (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: We solve the problem of our fiscal imbalance over night. We certainly won't do in a lame- duck session of Congress. And it won't be solved simply by raising taxes or taking a plunge off the fiscal cliff.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And so you see him showing that he believes that compromise can be reached. But while he said, and you mentioned it, they are open to new revenue, it's very important where that revenue comes from. And it has to come from the right place. To him, the right place is not raising taxes on higher earners. It's tax reform that would lower rates for everyone. It's economic growth that would bring in more taxes and sales taxes and that sort of thing. So both sides seem to remain dug in even though there seems to be a little big more of a conciliatory tone -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: We also heard from the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, who says this is kicking it down the can -- kicking it down the road, if you will. Is there anything that's going to be done immediately, or are we essentially going to be in a holding pattern until next year?

JONES: The hope is that they can get something done immediately. We're going to see how that plays out. This is the opening gambit. One big question will be how much President Obama gets involved. We heard from Speaker Boehner saying we're ready to be led, we're ready for the president to lead. We also heard that from Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, saying that it's time for the president to step up. And the White House's view, of course, they say he presented his plan, a combination of tax cuts -- tax increases and spending cuts. So it will be interesting to see what happens.

He did reach out, President Obama did, to the leaders in Congress on both sides. But the question is, what kind of compromise will we see? Will they change the definition of rich, for instance? Maybe raise it to people making a million or more. There are a lot of questions that remain, but everyone understands the consequences. The hope is that this can be avoided -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: That is the hope.

(LAUGHTER)

Athena, thank you very much.

One of the items Mitt Romney would have cut had he been elected was government money to PBS. You might recall the now-famous debate moment about cutting Big Bird.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, (R), FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR & FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I'm going to stop other things. And I like PBS. I love Big Bird. I actually like you too. But I'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: That was followed by an ad by the president's camp slamming him on it. Now Big Bird, trending again. "Sesame Street" has a special episode airing tomorrow to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy cope. In it, Big Bird is heartbroken after the storm destroys his nest. But his friends and neighbors come to the rescue. They help make repairs. They draw pictures together. They get lots of hugs. Even offer him a temporary place to eat and sleep and play. The episode even sends a city nest inspector out afterwards who says it's not safe because the mud isn't yet dry. In the end, Snuffy tries to blow the nest down, but it stays and it passes inspection.

According to CNN exit polls, Mitt Romney got 59 percent of the white vote on election day, but he did not rank well among African-American or female voters. What does the party need to do to rebuild and reconnect?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: republican Party doing some soul searching after this week's loss in the presidential election. The defeat of Mitt Romney highlighted the party's problems with Latino voters and African- Americans.

Joining us to talk about the GOP and where it goes from here, conservative radio host, Lenny McAlister, senior contributor for politics365.com; Adolpho Franco, a spokesman for Romney-Ryan 2012, and a member of the campaign's Spanish-speaking surrogate team; and Matt Lewis, conservative commentator and senior contributor for "The Daily Caller."

Good to see you guys. You're all in the house today.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: Lenny, I want to start off with you here.

There are surveys that show anywhere, the percentage of black Republicans, from 4 percent to 7 percent for younger African- Americans. Explain to members of your own party, what do they need to do to attract more African-Americans?

LENNY MCALISTER, CONSERVATIVE TALK RADIO HOST & CONTRIBUTOR, POLITICAL365.COM: We have to understand the conservative message a lot better than we do. I think we're very good at giving the talking points. We're not very good with giving the nuances to show how the conservative messages, really the essence of the American dream, and how the American dream applies to a diverse America. We have to learn to articulate that better. We have to learn how to show specific examples to African-Americans, urban-Americans, Latino Americans, young Americans, so we can start building the same exact coalitions that President Obama won with on Tuesday night, except have them vote Republican.

MALVEAUX: So, Lenny, where did the party go wrong?

MCALISTER: I think the party went wrong by looking at numbers, looking at basically what Mitt Romney said -- was, listen, I'm not going to get 47 percent of the electorate, so let me not focus on them. Let me focus on the people that I can get to beat me or can get to help me win. What happened was that 47 percent came out and beat him. We cannot give away 47 percent. We cannot give away whole congressional districts or whole states. We have to start competing throughout America, not just in red America.

MALVEAUX: All right.

I want to mention here. This is what Crystal Wright, of conservativeblackchick.com, wrote this morning on the "Washington Post" here. She says, "Mitt Romney gave lip service to Hispanic outreach." And she says here, "Even more insulting was Romney's refusal to work for the black vote beyond giving an NAACP speech and announcing a black leadership council, which amounted to nothing more than cosmetic wall paper."

Matt, weigh in here. This is -- you know, this is one of your own.

MATT LEWIS, CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR & SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR, THE DAILY CALLER: Yes, I think there's a lot of blame to go around. I think that it's healthy for the Republican Party to make this a learning moment. I think it would be a mistake to dwell on it and become demoralized, but we should be introspective about it. This was a bumping that Republicans got, and my take is I think you need to look at a couple of things. One, you need to be cosmopolitan conservatives. You simply cannot write off young people, college- educated people and urban people, people living many cities like I do, and you also can't write off Hispanics, who are -- I think Romney lost, like, 71 percent of Hispanics.

MALVEAUX: Sure.

LEWIS: The good news is there is a possible fix, and his name is Marco Rubio. If you look to the future, if you look to the bench, it's a very strong Republican bench. I think Mitt Romney was always a transitional figure. And it's possible that Republicans could nominate future candidates that will attract Hispanics and also cosmopolitan conservatives. So I'm actually a little bit depressed today, but I think the future could be brighter.

MALVEAUX: We're going to get to that with Adolpho, but I do want to follow-up with you, Matt, here.

A lot of people have really been dumping on Mitt Romney that he wasn't the right guy. He wasn't the right candidate to attract all of these different kinds of voters. Do you buy that argument?

LEWIS: I do, but I think it's not fair. I mean, look, it was an incredibly weak field that Republicans had. You can't tell me that Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich, as much as I like them, would have done better. OK? Romney was always -- I'm a Redskins fan, a Washington Redskins fan. He is like Donovan McNabb. He is not the quarterback of the future but you hope he can get you a win. RG3 is the quarterback of the future, right? I think it's the same way with the Republicans. Mitt Romney, they were hoping he could get them a win, but he was never the candidate of the future. And I think that if you look at not just Marco Rubio, but Bobby Jindal, and I would have said Chris Christie two weeks ago, but today I probably won't, Mike Pence, Susannah Martinez. There are strong candidates out there, young Republicans, who can appeal to a much wider audience and be inspiring and inspirational.

MALVEAUX: Adolpho, I want to bring you into the conversation here.

ADOLPHO FRANCO, SPOKESMAN, ROMNEY/RYAN CAMPAIGN & SPANISH-SPEAKING SURROGATE: Sure.

MALVEAUX: First of all, let's just lay out what things have looked like for the last eight years. And President Bush in covering him, he really did a lot of outreach with the Hispanic community.

FRANCO: He did.

MALVEAUX: He worked very hard. So in 2004, it paid off. He got 44 percent. 2004, rather. 2008 was McCain. He won 31 percent Latino vote. This year, Mitt Romney, 27 percent. That was compared to President Obama's 71 percent here.

So Matt talked about Marco Rubio and some of the others in the party. Is that the way forward? Is that the grand hope, the direction is, like, lift up the Latinos who are already there? I mean, how do you bring in all the others who are just not buying what the Republicans are selling right now?

FRANCO: Well, first of all, I don't think we surrender our core principles. After all, half of the American people, nearly half, voted for Mitt Romney. Now, in terms of the populations, which I am part of, the Latino community and others, we need to reach out to that community, but reaching out doesn't mean surrendering your core principles.

I love Senator Rubio. I agree with my colleagues on this. I think he would be a great president for candidate of the United States. Of course, there's Jeb Bush, if he runs, or others, or rising stars in the Republican Party.

But I think our problem has been -- and I think Lenny used the word -- or Matt -- cosmopolitan. I think in a sense, when you look at the campaigns a bit, it seemed as though Barack Obama was hip, in tune, 21st century. I love Mitt Romney, but somehow there was a disconnect, particularly with young voters, whether it be young or women voters, across the board, Latinos and, of course, African-Americans in particular.

What I find frustrating is that our message is the message that I think actually resonates with young people, which is entrepreneurship, lower taxes, more opportunity. And I think it's the right message. I don't want to surrender that. After an election, there's a tendency tore people to come back and say, you know, the candidate that lost, everything was wrong, and the candidate won, everything was right. I think both did good things and bad things. But ultimately, you know, we did better in terms of electoral votes and in terms of popular vote than be we did in 2008.

What we are demographically challenged, particularly with the Latino community, which is growing so rapidly, is understanding, particularly on the question of immigration, that Republicans are not anti- immigrant, that Republicans are not nasty, because what happens is our message was never able to be conveyed, because there was a perception that we were somehow racist. And that has to be erased with some unfortunate comments by some extremists in our party. And I think the rising stars that are now on our bench will do a good job of dispelling that that's what Republicans believe.

MALVEAUX: All right. We're going to have to leave it there. I know a lot of soul searching going on.

A great discussion, Adolpho, Matt, as well as Lenny. We'll talk to you soon again, and we'll have 346 your female counterparts as well.

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: Sure.

Former Penn State president, Graham Spanier, arraigned on new charges, now tied to the sex -- child sex abuse allegations against Jerry Sandusky. The incoming Pennsylvania attorney general now plans to investigate.

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MALVEAUX: We're following what is going on inside a Tucson courtroom. This is Loughner sentenced to life for the shooting in Tucson in January 2011, killing six people, wounding 13 others. And one of the victims, well-known victim, former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who arrived at the courthouse with her husband, Mark Kelly, by her side. Both of them going to the podium to make a statement of what this meant for them and their family, essentially eye to eye, looking eye to eye, face to face with the shooter, Jared Lee Loughner.

Mark Kelly saying here, "This horrific act warns us to hold our leaders and ourselves responsible. We have a political class that refuses to even have a debate about our gun laws. As a nation, we have repeatedly passed up the opportunity to address this issue. After Columbine, Virginia Tech, Tucson, Aurora, we have done nothing. We must, must change the way we do politics." He also said, "Gabby and I give thanks for her life, her spirit, her intellect, which are still a force in this world despite what you have done. Mr. Loughner, you may have put a bullet through her head but you have not put a dent in her spirit and her ability to do good. Gabby and I are done thinking about you."

The two of them making that statement together. Mark being the one to actually say those words. Both of them returning to their seats, holding hands, determined to move on and to recover from this horrific, horrific incident that killed -- left six people dead, 13 others wounded. And that was the conclusion of the victims who went forward to face Jared Lee Loughner after he spends the rest of his life in prison.

Investigating the investigation of former Penn State coach, Jerry Sandusky. That is what actually what Pennsylvania's attorney general- elect has now promised to do. Kathleen Kane says she is going to find out if politics played a role in how the state handled the child molestation allegations against Sandusky.

CNN contributor, Sara Ganim, is joining us from Pennsylvania.

Sara, you know everything about this case. You won a Pulitzer Prize for you coverage of all of this. You have now interviewed Kathleen Kane. She focused on the Sandusky case in the campaign. What did she promise? What is intent of her investigation?

SARA GANIM, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, Kathleen Kane has been saying for the last couple of months, really, leading up to her election, she believes that this investigation might have taken a little too long. Remember, it was nearly three years between when the first victim came forward to when Jerry Sandusky was finally charged. And in that time, the governor, the current governor was elected to his post as governor. He had been the attorney general. And she's been talking about going back to the beginning and starting from the first day and seeing what happened, who knew what and when, and were the proper resources allocated to this.

This is really important to Pennsylvanians. And to give you an example, she actually got more votes in the state of Pennsylvania than Barack Obama did in the state of Pennsylvania. In a presidential election year, the attorney general's race had more votes than the presidential race.

Here's what she has to say about hearing from people on the campaign trail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHLEEN KANE, ATTORNEY GENERAL-ELECT, PENNSYLVANIA: I campaigned for over 20 months and I have been to 60-some counties in this commonwealth, and I'll tell you, everywhere I went, people from every profession, almost every county, asked me what happened and why it took so long and how I felt about it. Because they knew that specialized in the prosecution of child sexual assault cases. It was something that bothered them. It was something that was on their minds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GANIM: And now, you know, another issue here is that Penn Staters feel like their university was criticized a little bit more than some of the other organizations that had a role or contact with Jerry Sandusky over the last several decades. And so, I asked Kathleen Kane if she would be looking in to issues like whether or not the foster care program in the state gave him appropriate clearance or whether or not his charity, the Second Mile, knew more and didn't do enough. She said she's going to go back to the beginning, start from the beginning, and take a look at the entire investigation.

MALVEAUX: Real quick here, is she nervous she's taking on the governor? She's never held public office before.

GANIM: I know. And I asked her that and she said she went in to this and defeated, both in the primary and in the general, two people that had run before. This is her first time. She says she's done public corruption cases as a prosecutor and that she knows that she's going to follow the letter of the law. She is going to follow the facts no matter where they lead and no matter who it is.

MALVEAUX: Thank you so much. Excellent reporting, as usual.

We'll have more after this quick break.

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MALVEAUX: NBC comedy "Parks and Recreation" will have a VIP making a cameo next week. It's Vice President Joe Biden. He'll guest star in the November 15th episode, playing himself. The main character of the sitcom, Leslie, has a big crush on the number two. She once noted her ideal man has the brains of George Clooney and the body of Joe Biden. This isn't the first time this season that a Washington politician made an appearance. Senators Barbara Boxer, Olympia Snowe and John McCain popped in on episodes, as well. Great show.

CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Brooke Baldwin.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Suzanne, thank you.

I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Right now, in a courtroom, in Arizona, the man that killed six and injured 13 in Tucson back in January of 2011, including Congresswoman Giffords, Jared Loughner, is being sentenced after pleading guilty to 19 federal charges. We're told he is sitting two rows in front of Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly. Keep in mind this is the very first time any of these victims can confront him in court.

We have a correspondent inside that courtroom. We'll talk to him and take all of that live as soon as the sentencing hearing is over.