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Minnesota Senate Race Still Undecided; Latinos Targeted For Hate Crimes?
Aired November 12, 2008 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Coming at you right now:
(CROSSTALK)
TED TURNER, FOUNDER OF CNN: -- so mean and nasty to the illegal immigrants.
SANCHEZ: Ted Turner back at it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Their motivation was to find the -- find Latinos and to assault them.
SANCHEZ: Another Hispanic attacked randomly, this time killed just for being Hispanic?
This Georgia congressman suggests Obama is a Marxist and a fascist. Huh?
This FOX commentator says reporters picked on Palin because she didn't abort her baby.
Taking note today: Hate. We talk.
Two hundred votes apart in Minnesota, less than 1 percent in Mizzou. The election is not over.
(on camera): Hi. We welcome you black.
(voice-over): And guess who made Jimmy Kimmel's show last night? It is lunchtime in San Francisco, 3:00 in Baltimore. Your newscast begins now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: And hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez here in the world headquarters of CNN.
There is breaking news as we begin this newscast. As a matter of fact, Roger, let's put up that picture that we are getting from Minnesota. It appears that the secretary of state -- that is Mark Ritchie -- he is about to start talking about what is going on with that extremely close election now separated by only 204 votes.
Let's go ahead and listen in. (JOINED IN PROGRESS)
MARK RITCHIE, MINNESOTA SECRETARY OF STATE: Great. Thank you.
I want to start out by thanking everyone in the media here today and others who have done a really amazing job of covering this election, the canvassing period, the post-election audits, and soon the recount.
I think our citizens are getting a big picture about all the different things that it takes to run a successful, free and fair election in Minnesota. So, thank you for your efforts and your work.
I also want to thank my staff and the local election officials. Everybody knows that it has been an unusual year. We had a big primary in September. We had a statewide recount, first one since 1962. Then, we had a big run-up to the election, big Election Day. We had then the canvassing process, the post-election audit process, and soon we will initiate a second statewide recount. So, it has been a big year.
My staff here, the local election officials in the counties and cities, the 30,000 or more election judges, and everyone who helped make this process have been amazing in their efforts. And I just want to express my appreciation to all that they have done, knowing there is also a lot of work ahead.
The purpose of today's press conference is to announce first the makeup of the statewide election canvassing board. I asked Chief Justice Magnuson to name two members of the state Supreme Court. That is what is in the statute. That is my constitutional responsibility. And I asked the chief judge of the district court here in this county, which is one we are a part of, the 2nd Judicial District, Chief Justice Gearin, to name two.
They have both very generously named themselves and in the case of the Supreme Court also G. Barry Anderson. This is a tremendous amount of work. And, so, their willingness to take on this task is very, very appreciated by our office.
SANCHEZ: All right, let me dip back into this thing. We're going to be monitoring this thing throughout the newscast.
Obviously, this is turning into a huge story. Imagine the fact that they are now separated, Franken and Coleman, in Minnesota by only 204 votes. And it has gotten smaller and smaller as we go along. And you know what else is happening? It is getting ugly.
The Republicans are saying that it is somewhat -- quote -- "mysterious" that suddenly the votes are going away, that it's moving in one direction, and that there is a Democrat secretary of state.
So, as we continue to follow this situation, you can almost feel the tension in Mark Ritchie's voice as he was explaining what the process was going to be. And it is going to be canvassing boards, just like we saw in Florida in the past and we have seen in other places. And as we get more information on this in this newscast, we're going to be sharing that with you.
By the way, it is not the only place. It is Minnesota. It is Alaska. It is Georgia and now Missouri, where they still have not been able to confirm a winner between John McCain and Barack Obama.
Now to this, Hank Paulson, treasury secretary, will he apologize to the American people? That is actually what he was asked today by reporters as he came out and talked to them. It is one of his first news conferences that he has given thus far.
First, does he owe the American people an apology, and did he mislead Congress?
Let's take that, Rog.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: Have you abandoned homeowners because you're no longer going to use TARP to help the homeowners?
And on a broader question, you're using TARP now completely differently than you told Congress you were going to use it. Did you mislead Congress? What's happened?
HENRY PAULSON, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: Well, let me get to the -- what we -- what we said to Congress was we needed a financial rescue package because the credit markets were stopped up. And we were focused on the problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: When it comes to your money, and your mortgages, nobody better to talk to than our own Gerri Willis. She is joining me now to do just that. Also, we have got Stephanie Elam. She is standing by on Wall Street to bring us up to date on the effect of these conversations today on the market as well.
Gerri, let me start with you. He didn't apologize. Does he need to?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: No, no, no, he does not need to apologize, not for using TARP the way he did. It made perfect sense to rescue the system.
However, we have rescued the system now. Let's get some help out there for people who need help with the mortgages right now. And there is a proposal out there from Sheila Bair at FDIC. And the treasury secretary said, you know what? I'm not so thrilled with that plan. We don't know about that one.
SANCHEZ: Well, here's the issue. And there are a lot of folks who are sitting out there right now who are in trouble with their mortgages and other problems. How do you convince these folks who are watching us right now that by rescuing the bigs, it will trickle down to somehow rescue or help them?
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIS: I didn't say that.
SANCHEZ: But how does he do that? How does Hank Paulson do that?
WILLIS: I think you have got to do both. You have got to do both at the end of the day. You know what I heard today from the treasury secretary?
SANCHEZ: What?
WILLIS: I heard, I'm done. I have stabilized the banking system. We are starting to get our arms around asset securitization. We have got plans in place to help people with mortgages. We are ready to train the next guard, the next people in charge.
SANCHEZ: But, wait, no, the work is not done. There is all this talk that there's going to be now a rescue of the big three auto companies. In fact, he was asked about that as well. Here is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAULSON: It's a critical industry. It's critical to the country. Manufacturing is critical to the country.
The -- our position all the way along is that any solution has got to be a -- a solution leading to viability.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: When this guy talks, people listen, certainly on Wall Street.
Stephanie Elam has been monitoring this throughout the day. What was the effect there while this news conference was on the air today around noontime or so?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, the markets were down all day, Rick. But we are definitely lower than we were at that time. But I don't think it had a tremendous effect there.
I think a lot of people were not too surprised by what came out of the news conference today. I think a lot of people expected these changes, because you could already see they were starting to happen.
SANCHEZ: I am just wondering, will we see a rescue of the auto industry in the same form that we saw a rescue of the AIGs and some of the banks?
WILLIS: I think there is money going to the auto industry right now and that you will see more of that.
SANCHEZ: You mean out of the $750 billion package? WILLIS: No, I think Congress past January 1 is definitely going to get on board and send more money to Detroit. Now, it is arguable whether that's a good idea or not?
SANCHEZ: Twenty five billion?
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Stephanie, what is the effect of that going to be with investors?
ELAM: Well, I think part of the issue you have got to look at here is that he did say today that he thinks $750 billion is enough for the financial rescue.
He also made it pretty clear that he doesn't want to include Michigan, the GM, the Chrysler. He doesn't want to -- and Ford -- include them into this package at all. He is looking at that as a separate issue.
I do think, though, there will be more pushing for that. If that does happen, it will probably help the stock. But some people speculate, Rick, that it stave would just off what's eventually going to happen to these companies anyway. So --
SANCHEZ: All right. Both of you are sharing your insight and so are our viewers who are connected to this newscast like no other.
Let's go to MySpace now. Robert, if you would.
"Rick, why can't we bail out the auto industry as a stipulation they have to start manufacture high-fuel economy vehicles? I think that everyone would benefit. No one wants to see more people losing their jobs. It has to stop." Well, that is funny you say that, Mandy. Thanks so much for watching our show.
That is exactly the stipulation that Barack Obama says he will have on the auto industry before any money goes to them, whether it is the first $25 billion or the second $25 billion that Nancy Pelosi is talking about. Gerri, my thanks to you for being here.
WILLIS: My pleasure. Loved it.
SANCHEZ: All right. Have a good trip back to New York.
WILLIS: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: And to you as well, Stephanie Elam.
As we follow the news for you, there is something else that we're going to be talking about coming up in a little bit.
A FOX News commentator apologizes for saying the media wanted Sarah Palin to kill her child, kill the child. That is a direct quote. We will have that for you. And, of course, we are following the latest that is coming out of Minnesota. This is going to be going on probably for months. This is day one.
Roger, dip back into that live shot if it is still going on. We will take you out on that. That is Mark Ritchie. He is explaining. And there is a lot of heat on this man because there's a lot of heat on this story. It could turn into a mess. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: We are jampacked today. So, let's get to all these stories. The first thing I want to do, though, is include your comments.
This is on Twitter. Let's go, Robert, to the Twitter board real quick. This is interesting.
BaldGuyShow_AJ saying to us as he is watching this newscast: "Why can't we bail out the average Joe, "and then he goes on to put in there as a caveat, "not the plumber?"
This is A.J. from Minnesota, by the way. We're going to be talking a lot about Minnesota during this newscast. Keep watching, A.J.
OK. Is the Sarah Palin effect on the nation's discourse still being felt in this country even now, even to this day, even with the campaign and the race being over?
Here is why I ask that question. Listen to what Michael Barone when he was speaking recently. Michael Barone, for those of you who may not know, is a commentator on FOX News, often on the air. He also writes for "USA" -- "U.S. News & World Report." Pardon me.
"The liberal media attacked Sarah Palin because she did not abort her Down syndrome baby. They wanted her to kill that child."
It makes you want to shake your head when you listen to it, but that is a direct quote. He said it when he was speaking to university officials at the Palmer Hotel in Chicago. He has apologized for it. We should be clear about this. He sent an e-mail to "Politico" he says he is sorry for that -- quote -- "I was attempting to be humorous and as many in the public do, I went over the line" -- stop quote.
Let's bring in Patricia Murphy with CitizenJane.com. It is a Web site by women for women, as we gladly proclaim. Patricia, was the media critical of Sarah Palin because she didn't abort her baby?
PATRICIA MURPHY, EDITOR, CITIZENJANEPOLITICS.COM: The media was not critical of Sarah Palin because she didn't abort her baby.
There were commenters -- I will say there were commenters on some very liberal Web sites that were spreading rumors about Sarah Palin and specifically about her son Trig, who does have Down syndrome. So, I am not sure if Barone was conflating the liberal bloggers and the mainstream media.
The mainstream media was I think very unfair to Sarah Palin in a lot of instances, but I think for Barone to go there -- I know he said he was just kidding, but to go there and talk about Sarah Palin is not even helping Sarah Palin. She wants now to be taken seriously. She clearly wants to rehabilitate her image. She is going on "LARRY KING" tonight.
But when comments from Michael Barone come out like that, it just makes people think this is a crazy person. This is not helpful to her cause to be taken seriously as a governor and as a potential future president.
SANCHEZ: It does have that cringe factor.
MURPHY: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Look, I felt it when I was reading it now aloud, no less the first time that I read it last night.
Let me tell you about something else that we are going to share with our viewers. Now, this is a report that we prepared. It was prepared by own Jim Acosta, a darn good reporter. And the theme of this is the heated rhetoric that seems to be taking place among some in the Republican Party that seems to be very much anti-Obama.
But the interesting thing about this is that it is beginning even before Barack Obama sets one foot in the White House to actually govern. Watch this. We will talk about it on the back side.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL O'REILLY, HOST, "THE O'REILLY FACTOR": Many are very nervous about Obama.
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS: Will we wait until he makes a mistake?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some conservatives aren't even waiting for Barack Obama to move into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Commenting on Obama's economic agenda, Republican Congressman Paul Broun told a rotary club in his Georgia district, "In my opinion, we've elected a Marxist to be president of the United States."
CNN's calls to three of Broun's congressional offices for a comment were not answered.
Meanwhile, some of the same pundits Hillary Clinton referred to as the vast right-wing conspiracy are at it again, whether it's Rush Limbaugh --
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: This is an Obama recession might turn into a depression. He hasn't done anything yet, but his ideas are killing the economy.
ACOSTA: -- or Ann Coulter on the radio.
ANN COULTER, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Sounds like there's going to be a lot more Waco raids. Elian Gonzalez snatchings. I don't know. I don't know.
ACOSTA: Or FOX News host Sean Hannity who has an election countdown to 2012 already featured on his Web site.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why should I have any confidence that the radical Barack Obama isn't emerging very quickly?
ACOSTA: Liberals are enjoying every minute of it.
HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: I think it's going to be very hard to reinvent the image of President Obama. This country is on his side. And the Republicans I think are making a mistake by trying to undermine him before he gets started.
ACOSTA: According to a new CNN/Opinion Research poll, the public has a much more favorable view of the Democratic Party, 62 percent versus 38 percent for the GOP.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: That may explain why the Republican National Committee has just launched what it describes as a grassroots Web site. It's called Republicanforareason.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REAGAN: Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROSEN: What the Republicans are going to have to do is find a reason to get people to want change. Because the next time we talk about change, it's going to mean change from Democrats to Republicans not the other way around.
ACOSTA (on camera): As for Congressman Brown, he told a Georgia radio station he now regrets his comments. The Obama transition team is brushing off these attacks and points out that the Republicans in the White House are showing plenty of bipartisanship as they prepare to hand over power.
Jim Acosta, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE) SANCHEZ: And once again to be fair, we did report about Paul Broun, the congressman from Georgia. We understand he has now spoken to a radio station Augusta, Georgia, WGAC, where he says he regrets putting it that way. But hold on just a minute -- Michael, do you have something?
Associated Press is now reporting that same congressman who compared Barack Obama to the Marxists and to Hitler is now saying he is standing by his comment that he fears president-elect Obama could be planning to build a domestic security force, so that he can impose a Marxist dictatorship.
And then it goes on -- Michael, you highlighted this in yellow, right? Spokeswoman Jessica Morris said Wednesday the congressman is not taking back anything he said.
So, there seems to be a conflict here whether he is taking it back or apologizing for it or not. But that is very heated rhetoric to be saying, Patricia, about someone who has not even started to govern yet.
MURPHY: Yes. And, honestly, you could hear the collective groan among Republicans in Washington when these comments came out, because there is an emerging split within the Republicans about how to go forward right now, not only kind of how to govern themselves as a party, but how to deal with Barack Obama.
And you have seen the leaders of the Republicans, President Bush, John McCain, even Sarah Palin, very gracious towards president-elect Obama, and I think that is because the numbers speak for themselves. He has a 70 percent approval rating right now. You can't go negative on a guy who is experiencing such positive reviews from the American public.
But, again, there are Republicans who I think are wondering, do we start as the opposition now? Do we start hitting him over the head?
But if you look back during the campaign, John McCain's own positive numbers starred to slide very precipitously when he started calling Barack Obama a socialist and when Sarah Palin was saying he was palling around with terrorists.
SANCHEZ: Interesting.
MURPHY: It hurts their numbers very much when they go after Obama.
I think the leaders in the Republican Party know that. It has not trickled down to the lower ranks yet.
SANCHEZ: That is going to be another big part of our newscast today, the fact that the GOP governors are having a meeting in Miami. You and I are going to be talking about that a little bit in just -- oh, it's probably about 10 minutes from now. And it is interesting, because what happens here for the Republicans is, do we go this way or this way? And who is pulling which way? You and I are going to get into that in just a little bit.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: That is Patricia, I'm just saying, Murphy in just a little bit. Thank you, Patricia.
All right. When we come back, ,did you happen to see Jimmy Kimmel last night? Guess who he had on his show? You're not going to believe it. But my mom was proud.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. This little 3:00 show that could is getting noticed. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": There is a lot of excitement about our new president, so much so that Rick Sanchez of CNN is actually working it into his salutations.
SANCHEZ: All right, we welcome you black. We welcome you back.
(LAUGHTER)
KIMMEL: There we go.
(LAUGHTER)
KIMMEL: Well, you know what they say. Once you go back, you never go black.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: OK. Everybody makes mistakes. Everyday, once the show concludes, I start getting all these Google alerts about what is being written about us. And everyday people are writing after they watch our newscast. We are giving them plenty of material.
The blog moreaboutpolitics.com wrote about my interview with South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, especially about our conversation that the Republican Party may need to decide whether it will be a party of social conservatives or a party of fiscal conservatives, because it may not be able to be both without making one side or the other mad. They write extensively about this. You may want to read it.
Meanwhile, the NewsBusters Web site, which constantly monitors this show, and we are glad that they do, questioned my conversation, criticized it with Neal Boortz, in particular our suggestion that the GOP needs to remain adamantly anti-abortion to try and keep the Southern vote. The question was, do they need to do that? It was discussed during the show, and it is discussed on NewsBusters.com as well. Thank you so much.
When we come back, I want you to take a look at this. This is a report by Joe Johns. It is a man that is killed by people that didn't even know him. Those are the accused. According to police, it happened only because he was Hispanic. It will make you think.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: And we welcome you back here to the world headquarters of CNN in Atlanta. I'm Rick Sanchez.
A lot of you have a lot to say about both the Barack Obama administration, some of the criticism that he is getting, and also the last eight years under the Bush administration.
As most of the polls will show you, he has not pleased a majority of Americans, like this one, Daniel Evans, who is writing to us on our Twitter board right now.
He says: "The rest of us endured the last eight years of the GOP -- quote -- destroying our country. The GOP can't even endure eight days?" -- one of the many comments that we have been getting throughout the day. We will try and share them with you, from both sides by the way, to be fair.
But let's talk about this. Imagine now, for just a moment, that you would want to go out and hurt somebody that you don't even know for no real reason. It is happening in America. It is called hate. Sometimes, it has to do with words. Sometimes, it has to do with nothing, but someone who is just difficult to understand.
Watch this report now by Joe Johns, as he explains one particular case that is now being investigated by police.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was an unusually warm night when police say a group of teenagers set out to go, quote, "beaner jumping."
DET. LT. JACK FITZPATRICK, SUFFOLK COUNTY, NEW YORK, POLICE: Their motivation was to find Latinos and to assault them. And that was what they went out to do that night, and that's exactly what they did do.
JOHNS: So, the police say, the boys searched a suburban New York town until they found a target: Ecuadorian immigrant Marcello Lucero. Police say the boys told them they actually wanted to, quote, "F" up a Mexican. FERNANDO MATEO, HISPANICS ACROSS AMERICA: Those days of noosing, hanging and torturing should be a thing of the past. Yet again, we're living it today.
JOHNS: Police say Jeffrey Conroy, a three-sport athlete, repeatedly stabbed Lucero in the chest, as the gang beat him. Conroy faces charges of first-degree manslaughter as a hate crime.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't really tell you how I feel, you know. It's like I just wanted to do it justice right now.
JOHNS: His brother said Lucero had come to the U.S. on a visa 16 years ago. He's remembered as the friendly face of the local dry- cleaner who played a mean game of volleyball and called his mother several times a week.
REV. ALAN RAMIREZ, BROOKVILLE REFORMED CHURCH: Once again, there is the blood of immigrants, flowing through the streets of Suffolk County.
JOHNS: A neighborhood minister said the attack was fueled by xenophobia. In fact, he says the growing Latino population on Long Island is under attack. Houses have been burned down as people slept inside. Several day workers brutally beaten.
Across the country, a recent Justice Department report shows Latinos are the chief victims of ethnically motivated hate crimes.
RUBEN NAVARRETTE, LATINO COLUMNIST: When people go out on the airwaves or in print or at the stump as a politician, and they beat that drum, they shouldn't be surprised, at the end of the day, many people out there, and particularly young people, who are very impressionable, think: "Hey, you know what? This is one group we can do this to."
JOHNS: As for the victim Marcelo Lucero, his family blames the boy's parents for the brutal attack and plans to sue them in civil court. But the lawyers for the attackers say bias was not the boy's motive, adding that one of the boys is part Latino. All have entered not guilty pleas.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And Jeff was like he's the nicest guy you will ever meet.
JOHNS: But to Latinos in this community, the history of these attacks tells another story.
FERNANDO MATEO, HISPANICS ACROSS AMERICA: We can't harbor terrorists in our homes. These seven kids are terrorists and they must pay as such.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: The question that's already being raised by activist groups in the newspapers is whether anti-immigrant rhetoric has created a climate for this kind of thing. That federal Justice Department report on hate crimes says Latinos were the victims of hate crimes 61 percent of the time.
Joe Johns, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: I've got to tell you something right now. There is nobody in this country that does a better job monitoring and following this type of thing than the Southern Poverty Law Center. There are be -- they are to be commended for their work. I've worked with them many times on stories like this one. And we're -- we're lucky enough to be joined now by Mark Potok. He's one of the directors of the Southern Poverty Law Center. He couldn't be with us in person. He's joining us by phone. I know he's in New York getting ready to take a flight.
Let me just start with, as people watch that, they might be thinking, well, you know, that's probably just an isolated case.
Is it an isolated case?
MARK POTOK, SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: No, Rick. And thanks for the kind words about -- about SPLC. It's not an isolated case. And what some of the other people in your setup piece said is absolutely true. You know, basically, what we've seen over the last seven or eight years is increasingly the demonization and vilification of immigrants, and specifically immigrants with brown skin.
So, you know, for instance we've seen a dramatic growth in hatred since the year 2000 -- a 48 percent jump in these groups. And that has been driven entirely by their exploitation of the anti-immigration issue.
SANCHEZ: Do you believe -- I was about to ask you. The anti- immigration issue, which are some great arguments that are made on both sides of this argument. But when it gets very personal, do some people get the impression it gives them a license to do things that they normally wouldn't do?
POTOK: Sure. And, you know, there may be, as you say, arguments on both sides. But here's the bottom line. You know, what we are seeing happening is really racist conspiracy theories and false propaganda -- ideas like, you know, one third of American prison cells are filled by undocumented immigrants; you know, Mexico is engaged in a secret conspiracy to reconquer the Southwestern United States.
These ideas jump out of these white supremacist groups. They have made their way out into the larger anti-immigration movement -- the Minutemen groups and so on. And before you know it, they are on talk radio, they are on some cable news talk shows. You know --
SANCHEZ: Yes --
POTOK: -- and they get out there into the minds of the population.
And these alleged hate criminals, I have to say, these young guys, you know, they're classic in the sense that, you know, if, indeed, they're guilty of what they're accused of, you know, they undoubtedly felt that they were somehow carrying out the wishes of their community, being good kids.
SANCHEZ: I've got to ask you, Mark, one quick question before you go. We did some research here and we found out that there is a report. It was filed by "Newsweek." They say the Secret Service has now confirmed that threats against Barack Obama spiked when Sarah Palin began impugning his patriotism.
I bring that up because it's similar to what you were just talking about.
What do you take from that?
POTOK: Well, I think it's absolutely true. And I wouldn't completely lay the blame at Sarah Palin's feet. You know, I think the very idea of a black man being elected, you know, to the White House is shocking to some subset of the American, you know, kind of white population.
SANCHEZ: So you're saying if you give them just the right information, you could kind of make them crazy with that?
POTOK: Well, I'm saying that when --
SANCHEZ: If you push them?
POTOK: -- when figures of authority, whether they be sort of pundits or preachers or politicians, say, you know, these people are coming here, as one Congressman said not too long ago, to kill me and to kill you and to kill our families, that, you know, some people, especially young men, take that message to heart. And before you know it they're, you know, going after somebody with a baseball bat and --
SANCHEZ: Mark Potok with the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Mark, let's do it again. Stay on top of it. We thank you. And we'll continue to run these stories and let people know what's going on out there.
POTOK: Rick, thanks.
SANCHEZ: By the way, John Robinson is getting to us right now. He's on MySpace. And he's saying that: "I'm afraid that this is going to be the tip of the iceberg. I fear a whole new resurgence in hate crimes across the country."
So, you know, it's the kind of thing that's on people's minds.
By the way, when we come back, in Miami right now, the GOP governors are having a conference. Who is going to win out in terms of direction that the party needs to go in? Will it be Sarah Palin? Will it be Bobby Jindal? Will it be Charlie Crist?
Or will it be Tim Pawlenty from Minnesota? He joins me next. There he is, as a matter of fact. Governor, I can't wait to have this discussion.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: We welcome you back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
I want to start this block with this. Look at this graphic that we've gotten for you. This is a CNN/Opinion Research Poll. It asked people, what is your opinion of the Republican Party or the Democratic Party? Democratic favorables -- people who think the Democratic Party is favorable at this point, 62 percent. Favorable for the GOP only 38 percent.
You're going to love -- you want to just look at the line on the top, 62 and 38.
Given -- joining us now is a man who is quite capable of trying to fix and remedy the situation, I'm sure.
He is the governor of the great state of Minnesota, my favorite state, because I went to school there.
You know, "Newsweek" magazine says that you, unlike some others in the party are a -- what did they call you, a pragmatist -- and that the party is being divided right now between social conservatives and pragmatists.
Is that -- is that what's going on?
GOV. TIM PAWLENTY (R), MINNESOTA: Well, Rick, there's really two schools of thought that are going through this kind of Dr. Phil moment that the party is going through.
(LAUGHTER)
PAWLENTY: One is that, you know, we lost our way on spending and on corruption and earmarks and all the other things. And that's all true, Web got to get back to kind of traditional Republican values and principles.
But there's another school of thought which is also true, and that is the country is changing a lot. It's changing economically. It's changing culturally. It's changing demographically. It's changing technologically. And the Republican Party hasn't been changing.
And so those two things have to be harmonized. And they can be. But we're going to have to take, you know, our traditional principles and apply them to the issues and circumstances of our time.
SANCHEZ: All right. Well, let's talk about some of these issues.
If the party is perceived to be anti-gay, anti-immigrant and fervently anti-abortion, then can you get the tent to be any bigger?
PAWLENTY: Well, I think the Republican Party, on social issues, many -- most Republicans are still going to be pro-life and conservative on social issues. You can't ask people to just take those core values and throw them out the window, Rick. I don't think that's realistic.
SANCHEZ: No, no. But I mean do you want to --
PAWLENTY: (INAUDIBLE).
SANCHEZ: But do you want to just park your car and stay there all the time?
Do you want to just live there with those issues?
PAWLENTY: No, that's the point. The party has to grow. In fact, it has to re-grow. You can't be a majority governing party when you can't win in the Northeast, you can't win in most of the Great Lake States, you can't win on the West Coast. The Democrats are winning some of the Western states and they're also winning some of the Mid- Atlantic States.
You also can't win when you're behind with women, Hispanics and Latinos, African-Americans, moderate income voters --
SANCHEZ: Yes.
PAWLENTY: That is not a formula for success. We have a lot of work to do --
SANCHEZ: But here's what --
PAWLENTY: But I think -- yes?
SANCHEZ: But here's the issue, though -- I mean because my producer is telling me we've only got about 30 or 40 seconds left.
PAWLENTY: All right.
SANCHEZ: So I wanted to get to -- Sarah Palin, during the -- and she's great for the base. I understand that -- those people that we were just talking about. She wouldn't even go up on stage, according to reports, or introduce people who were pro-choice while she was campaigning.
Is that a disconnect?
Is that a problem?
PAWLENTY: The party is going to be need to be younger. It's going to need to be more diverse. It's going to be -- have to be more open. It's going to have to be more pragmatic. And we need to, though, take those lessons and apply them in our time.
And I would also say this, Rick. We've got to connect with Sam's Club voters, the people who are everyday -- have everyday concerns on bread and butter issues --
SANCHEZ: Yes.
PAWLENTY: -- health care, on jobs, on the economy. And we have good ideas -- education and many more. We have good ideas for that. But we haven't done a good job explaining to how that's going to improve people's lives, particularly those groups that I mentioned earlier.
SANCHEZ: Yes. My wife and I were at Costco just this weekend. They're a lot like Sam's Club, actually. I get it. I get it. I know exactly what you're talking about.
PAWLENTY: Yes, they are.
SANCHEZ: You're a good governor. And I understand from all my friends in Minnesota that you're very well liked up there. Keep up the good work. We'll be monitoring this convention in my old hometown, Miami. So enjoy yourself down there. Thank you, Governor.
PAWLENTY: All right, Rick. Thank you.
SANCHEZ: I appreciate it.
All right, when we come back, the election -- did you know -- is still not over, not only in Minnesota, but also now in Missouri and in Alaska and in Georgia. A recap of all four states when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: We welcome you back.
We are jam packed, talking about a lot of different things and talking about what you're saying about the things that we're talking about.
Robert, Twitter board we go. Brook Boken says: "Bush is talking about his regrets. Bush is talking about writing a book. Will the book be delivered with a forklift?"
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Let's go to this one, TastyMouthful. Wow!: "Hate is such a terrible thing. Beaner jumping" -- referring to that Joe John's report we showed you just a little while ago -- "can people get anymore ignorant? I hope these kids get life."
There's probably a lot of people agreeing with you after they watched that report.
Wolf Blitzer is standing by now.
He's joining us because he had an exclusive interview today with Sarah Palin and he's going to be telling us about it -- Wolf, what did you learn?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Rick, thanks very much.
We had a wide-ranging interview, Governor Palin and me. And you're going to be seeing the whole thing in ""THE SITUATION ROOM"." I want to share with you one exchange we had on a rather sensitive issue. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: During the campaign, you said this. You said: "This is not a man who sees America as you see it and how I see America." And then you went on to say: "He's someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country."
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R-AK), FORMER VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I still am concerned about that association with Bill Ayers. And if anybody still wants to talk about it, I will, because this is an unrepentant domestic terrorist who had campaigned to blow up -- to destroy our Pentagon and our U.S. Capitol. That's an association that still bothers me and I think it's still fair to talk about it. However, the campaign is over. That chapter is closed. Now is the time to move on and to, again, make sure that all of us are doing all that we can to progress this nation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: And I then pressed her on whether or not she regretted some of those really strong statements that she made during the campaign about Barack Obama. She said no, she wasn't going to take them back, she wasn't going to apologize.
But she was very gracious in saying that she wanted to work with the new president -- the president-elect. She wanted to go forward and she would do whatever she could to try to help Barack Obama succeed as president of the United States.
It was a good, long, substantive interview, Rick. And we're going to have the whole thing coming up in "THE SITUATION ROOM".
SANCHEZ: And we'll be seeing how she does. She's going to be down in Miami for the big GOP, as you are. And I'll tell you, it's going to be interesting to watch who's pulling in which direction during this thing, huh Wolf?
BLITZER: It's going to be very interesting. And she certainly left open a run in 2012. When I asked her about whether she has ambitions to run for president, to be the leader of the Republicans, you know, she repeated that statement, basically, that if God opens a gate for her, she's going to plow right through it. And I think that's what her intention is right now.
We went through a lot of stuff, including her son, by the way, who is serving in Iraq right now. And I asked her whether she's concerned about his commander-in-chief after January 20th, when Barack Obama becomes commander-in-chief. And she gave an emotional response that I'm going to leave hanging right now so our viewers will tune in and watch the interview.
SANCHEZ: Nobody like Wolf Blitzer to deliver a tease. Well done, Wolf. We'll look forward to seeing your show today, OK?: "THE SITUATION ROOM". BLITZER: Thanks very much, Rick.
SANCHEZ: All right, man.
By the way, you know, we talk a lot about some of the things that are going on in the news. And sometimes it's important for you, as you're watching us, to put things in perspective for us -- you, the viewer.
And that's clearly what DVCaz -- I guess D.V. Caz -- does here. And this is interesting, because it's important to note -- he says: "Look, Republican for a reason. Yes, I am a Democrat for a reason. We aren't confederate flag waving bigots."
So as we talk about a lot of these stories, about hate and abuse, it doesn't mean that it's a generality. It only means that there are cases out there that are being followed by us in the news media.
We'll be right back. We'll take you back to Houston when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: It's interesting what a lot of people are saying about generalities. And, again, it's not about generalities, but it is about some specific cases from time to time that we all need to pay attention to.
Let me give you an example. This is from Houston, Texas. Let me tell you a story. This is something else that we need to take note of today. It's a name and a story that you need to know about.
The name is David Richeson, 16 years old. He goes to a party. He meets a girl. They kiss. For that, he's suddenly knocked to the ground unconscious. His attackers stand over him. They start screaming, "White Power!" They call him a spic and a wetback. Cigarettes are burned into his chest. He's kicked with steel-toed boots. And finally, they attempt to carve a swastika into his chest. Then they pour bleach on him.
Do you think I'm done? I'm not. As bad as that may sound, you know what else they did?
His two attackers now take a patio umbrella pole and violently sodomize him with it. His attackers are convicted. One gets life in prison. The other 90 years. Richeson undergoes 30 operations -- 30. He finally returns to school months later in a wheelchair and with a colostomy bag. He testifies about hate in America against Hispanics before the House Judiciary Committee. He asks them to strengthen federal hate crime laws. Then, two-and-a-half months later, he kills himself by jumping off a cruise ship into the Gulf of Mexico. He was just a boy.
This story should stay with us. I'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANCHEZ: We promised we'd get back to Patricia Murphy. And there she is live once again. Patricia, that's what I'm talking about -- Murphy. Four news stories to talk about now, from a political standpoint.
In Missouri, it's gotten real close. Apparently, they haven't been able to confirm a winner there between Barack Obama and John McCain. And it's now 5,000 votes separates them. Then we've got a possible runoff going on in Georgia.
We've got the Alaska, with the Ted Stevens decision, that apparently hasn't been decided yet.
But I guess the best story of all of them out there is Minnesota, where I understand now it's down to like 204 votes. We just broke with this newscast -- with this news conference a little while ago from the secretary of state there. This thing's getting ugly, isn't it?
MURPHY: It has been ugly the entire time. And it's only getting worse. You know, when have you Al Franken, SNL alum, you have partisan sniping, you have 200 votes separating them. And coming now hundreds and hundreds of lawyers into the situation is only going to make it worse.
SANCHEZ: You know, it apparently -- you know, it's all swung toward the Democrat, Franken. And we have a Democratic secretary of state, which is leading many Republicans to say, hey, what's going on here?
Just like the Democrats once said about the Republicans in Florida, right?
MURPHY: That's exactly right. It also brings, again, the problem of having secretaries of state being partisan. And this is why it's a problem, is when you have the referee who actually plays for one of the sides, that decision is probably going to be seen as partisan on every step of the way.
So it's tough for those secretaries of state. I know that he is trying to keep it on the up and up, but he is really being hit by a lot of these charges, mostly because he's found votes -- they're finding votes literally in the back seat of somebody's car. And most of them are going for Al Franken. They're not breaking 50-50 the way it typically does.
SANCHEZ: Wait. Hold on. I can do this. Ready?
This is what we're going to be seeing pretty soon as far as looking at chads or something.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Patricia Murphy, you're great. Thanks so much.
MURPHY: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Did you hear what Ted Turner told Lou Dobbs? You will when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: CNN founder Ted Turner and dancers crying -- it's The Fix.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: I heard from friends of our friends that you don't like --
TURNER: I don't like --
DOBBS: -- that you don't like the fact that I give opinions.
TURNER: -- that you're so mean and nasty to the illegal immigrants.
DOBBS: What have I ever said mean and nasty about an illegal alien?
TURNER: It's just the way you look.
DOBBS: It's the way I look?
TURNER: Yes, you look angry (INAUDIBLE).
DOBBS: Well, you look --
(CROSSTALK)
DOBBS: The fact of the matter is, when you said that I am too serious about illegal aliens or whatever --
TURNER: I remember we had a president who we all admired who said, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."
Now we're building a wall against Mexico and the Israelis are building one against the Palestinians. And I've seen it, too. And I don't like them. I think we need a world without walls, where people can go back and forth if they want to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obviously, this is a hell of a stress for both of you guys. And then -- and then now she's coming out of surgery.
How did you feel about her going into surgery?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's an amazing person who just helped me grow as a person. And you know how to bring out the best in people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That is so much more important than any of the dance. But you should never feel alone. That's what I'm here for.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Chris Hall, our producer, loves that show, that "Dancing With The Stars" show.
Stephanie Elam is standing by now with more on what's going on on Wall Street. Another down day? Please say no.
ELAM: Another down day.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
SANCHEZ: We need an up day. We need an up day, Stephanie. We'll be talking to you again tomorrow. Maybe it will come then.
From the magic city, Miami, not far from Biscayne Boulevard and the home of Jackie Gleason, here now, Wolf Blitzer with "THE SITUATION ROOM".
BLITZER: Thanks very much, Rick.
It is lovely here in Miami. Happening right now, Sarah Palin unplugged -- she's here in Miami and she lays blame for her ticket's loss, expressing no regrets for slamming Barack Obama during the campaign.
