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Republican Plan to Create Jobs; Engine Parts Fall off Qantas Plane in Mid-Flight; The Fed's New Stimulus; Hot Off The Political Ticker; What's Hot; First NCAA Transgender Athlete
Aired November 04, 2010 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. It is the top of the hour right here in the CNN NEWSROOM, where anything can happen. So here are some of the top stories right now that we're digging deeper on.
Emergency in the air. Pieces of an airline engine fall off, forcing an emergency landing. Now some similar planes are grounded today. Investigators want to know what went wrong there.
Jobs, the economy, and the GOP agenda. How do Republican leaders plan to get America back to work? Small business owners sound off on what they need.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What is the one thing that they need, small business owners like yourselves, from the government that you're not already getting?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think people feel the government has to get out of the way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The costs of doing business have become almost out of reach.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: You're online right now and we are, too. One of the top stories you're following, the top 10 places not to flirt.
Do you hear that, Ali Velshi?
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey.
LEMON: He's standing by. Not to flirt. Not in the NEWSROOM. That story coming up. That story is on CNN.com.
So let's get started with our lead story right now.
And up first, of course, this hour, we're talking about jobs. Fifteen million Americans are out of work. And today, the Labor Department said first-time claims for unemployment benefits jumped by 20,000 last week. Jobs and the economy were key issues for Republicans in the midterm elections. We've heard that over and over again. House Speaker to be John Boehner said this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), MINORITY LEADER: We are humbled by the trust that the American people have placed in us, and we recognize this is a time for us to roll up our sleeves and go to work on the people's priorities -- creating jobs, cutting spending, and reforming the way Congress does its business.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. We're taking a closer look right now at some of the Republican ideas for creating jobs.
Our chief business correspondent, Mr. Ali Velshi, is here to run us through some of them and whether or not they'll work.
We've been hearing that. It's been talking points -- cut spending, smaller government, create jobs.
VELSHI: Yes, but not a new idea in this. They released a 20- page document, and there isn't a new idea in this.
So this is not the Republicans' fault. It wasn't the Democrats' fault either. Our economy has shifted for two reasons. One is labor is cheaper in other places, and technology has made us all more productive.
What we haven't done, what this government hasn't done, what this administration hasn't done, or the prior administration, or the prior administration, is say as our job -- as our entire labor force shifted, we didn't shift to make up for that. And we are bearing the fruit of that in this recession.
We've been losing manufacturing jobs for 15 years. We lost more in the last few years. So this doesn't solve any problems that weren't already being solved.
LEMON: And the first example of that is what?
VELSHI: Well, one of the things -- here's what I like about what the Republicans have said. And what you just heard in a story that Poppy Harlow did was she talked to small businesses, and she said business needs to get out of the way because -- the government needs to get out of the way of business because the cost of doing business is too high.
So these guys are going to have a small business deduction of up to 20 percent of income. That's what they're suggesting. As Josh pointed out, they may or may not get it.
The problem is this -- there are all sorts of regulations in place, some that were in place and some that this health care Bill brought in that is making it onerous and costly to do business, accounting fees and forms that are being filled out. It's more than income tax. It's making the system smaller and making there fewer barriers to entry if you want to run a business.
LEMON: It's not that --- what the talking points were from the Republicans, from the GOP. It's not that they were without merit.
VELSHI: No. No.
LEMON: But you said there was nothing new and there was no explanation as to how they were going to do it.
VELSHI: Exactly. It's not without merit. It's just that this is -- we are at a point where we've been losing jobs, losing jobs. Now we're starting to see jobs created, and we'll see that.
You know what's going to happen? These guys are going to say, see, our system works. It's going to take them two years to make any of the changes they need to make, and we'll be on a slight upswing in jobs by then anyway. So nothing new in the proposal.
LEMON: OK. All right. By cutting spending by unused stimulus funds, that's the next one.
VELSHI: Right. Now, that's an interesting one, because that is something they want to do.
This is a shift that Great Britain has made. A conservative government was elected on the basis that they would cut stimulus spending, and now they are going to do that.
So this is a disagreement between economists. There are some people who say wrong thing to do because the economy is still recovering. People are not spending, so government needs to. These guys are saying we came in on a platform that says we're not going to do this, we're not going to do it.
That's just a disagreement between ideological opposites.
LEMON: Are we going to see much movement in this, Ali, do you think, between now and January?
VELSHI: No.
LEMON: Because as we know, it's lame duck, and they're going to go in and say we've got to focus on this. You heard the president saying we're going to meet with them, we're going to focus, we're going to have this -- .
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: But John Boehner and the president said exactly the same words. John Boehner said people's priorities. This morning, in a cabinet meeting, the president said that to his cabinet.
So I think the message is people don't think they're being heard. They think a bunch of people in Washington and economists are just yapping around the edges.
They're going to have to talk to people and they're going to say, what do you need to make your life better? What do you need, Mr. Small -- we need to do what Poppy Harlow did.
She went out to a diner and talked to small businesses. What do you need?
But stop with the talking points, that it's hard to do business, too expensive. What do you need? Let's do it.
LEMON: You know, it was amazing, very eye-opening, because we sit here in this bubble, right, being out among some people last week, and Tuesday down in Florida, and hearing what they had -- you know what I have to say? Some people didn't even know there was an election on Tuesday, they were so busy trying to feed their families.
VELSHI: Right. People are busy with their lives.
LEMON: Yes.
VELSHI: And we all do this. And we, as the larger media, are a little guilty of engaging in these conversations that are happening up here when money is being made, jobs are being lost down here. And that's what has to be addressed.
Bottom line, when people go back to work, if we have a six percent unemployment rate, business will be booming in America. The stock market is going up already. Housing prices are going up.
We need to get people to work. Not new ideas. They may work, but they're not new.
LEMON: Yes. (INAUDIBLE), or whatever, what do you care about, jobs, the economy? I want to get a job for my family.
VELSHI: Jobs. That's it. That's it.
LEMON: My uncle was laid off, my husband, whatever.
VELSHI: That's exactly right.
LEMON: That's what they want.
VELSHI: If everybody has a job, your other problems go away.
LEMON: And that's what they want Washington to hear, and especially the president. That big focus on health care, they thought more focus on jobs.
VELSHI: Yes. Right.
LEMON: All right. They heard, we hope.
Thank you, Ali Velshi. We'll see you at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time here in the CNN NEWSROOM. VELSHI: OK. That's right.
LEMON: You know, the Dow surges after the Federal Reserve's announcement it will pump $600 billion into the economy.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
LEMON: You know, just minutes into a Qantas flight, something went terribly wrong. The latest on this near-tragedy over Indonesia, just minutes ahead.
First, though, our "Random Moment" in just 90 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. I always mark the unusual things that I have to say as a news anchor sometimes, and this is definitely one of them, the "Random Moment of the Day." And please, no bathroom humor.
Toilet maker American Standard is touring the country to teach people how to flush the toilet. Seriously.
New water-saving toilets have options that control the amount of water used in a flush, and apparently the choices are confusing some flushers. American Standard has titled it -- the toilet tour -- and it's called "Join the Movement." No joke.
Another "Random Moment of the Day."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "RAIN MAN")
TOM CRUISE, ACTOR: All airlines have crashed at one time or another. That doesn't mean that they are not safe.
DUSTIN HOFFMAN, ACTOR: Qantas.
CRUISE: Qantas?
HOFFMAN: Qantas never crashed.
CRUISE: Qantas?
HOFFMAN: It never crashed. It never crashed.
CRUISE: Well, that's going to do me a lot of good, Ray.
HOFFMAN: Yes.
CRUISE: You see, Qantas doesn't fly to L.A. out of Cincinnati. You have got to get to Melbourne.
HOFFMAN: Australia.
CRUISE: Melbourne, Australia, in order to get the plane to fly to Los Angeles. Do you hear me?
(END VIDEO CLIP, "RAIN MAN")
LEMON: Of course that is a scene from the movie "Rain Man." And Qantas really does have a good reputation. In fact, it's known for its impeccable safety record.
Today, the Australia carrier likely averted a tragedy, though, when part of an engine cover on an Airbus A380 fell off just after the plane had taken off from Singapore. Can you imagine? Then came that emergency landing.
CNN's Zain Verjee covering this dramatic story for us in Singapore.
So, Zain, what did the passengers on that plane tell you? I understand you've been talking to them.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I have. And, I mean, just imagine being on that plane. Every passenger dreads being on a plane and hearing a loud bang. That's exactly what happened today.
I spoke to one passenger who told me that they heard a loud bang, a jolt, and then there was a flash. He described it kind of like being struck by lightning.
He said, though, that people were pretty calm. He did hear a few people crying. He said that when he looked out at the wing, he saw four holes. There was one large one and three small ones.
But can you imagine, Don? I mean, you travel a lot, I travel a lot. And I would have been pretty freaked out in a moment like that.
What's happened now is that all the passengers have come back to Singapore, and they're all staying around hotels in this area and hoping to take off on another flight tomorrow to Australia -- Don.
LEMON: So, Zain, that's the people's word, that's what they say. What about the investigation, though?
VERJEE: Yes. Well, the investigation is kicking into high gear.
They are going to be taking a very close and careful look at the parameters of that engine. They're going to be looking at things like the speed at the time, the temperature at the time. They're also going to be looking at the black box to see what some of the last communications were before that engine failed -- Don.
LEMON: OK. So, listen, how has this impacted other flights, this incident? I know there are a number of them that have been grounded, and especially those A380s. What's going on, Zain?
VERJEE: Right. Well, Qantas has said that they are going to indefinitely ground six of their A380s. And then a little while after that, we heard that Singapore Airlines were going to just take a little extra time and hold some of their flights -- they have 11 of those A380s -- and just check them out.
Then Lufthansa did the same, too. You've got Emirates Airlines and KLM, as well, that fly that particular kind of Airbus.
So there's a lot of concern. When you look (AUDIO GAP) so damaging. And it's a very serious incident.
LEMON: Hey, we had a little hiccup there with Zain Verjee.
We're having trouble with your satellite there, Zain. Thank you very much.
It was the end of her reporting for us, live from Singapore.
Let's bring in Chad Myers now.
Chad, you know, with this near tragedy, A380, is that the biggest in the world?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. It was the big story. And it's obviously Airbus' giant flagship, but it's not the Airbus.
LEMON: How can the engine though just come off like that?
MYERS: It didn't come off. It's not the plane's fault.
LEMON: OK. All right.
MYERS: This is a Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine. I know the story has been told, and I've heard it over and over all day, part of the engine cover fell off. That's not what happened. OK?
Let me -- I'm going to take you to pictures of the engine. The engine came apart, literally. The engine -- see, if a piece would have fallen off, there would have been nice, clean lines, and a little piece would have fallen off and gone to the ground.
LEMON: Right.
MYERS: That didn't happen. Internally, this engine came apart. Pieces of the internal mechanism of the jet flew off the jet.
It shattered like shrapnel, that cover that is the cover of the engine itself. So, yes, pieces fell to the ground. And yes, when you see those pieces from Singapore, the pieces -- it looks like he's holding part of it -- they were blown off that engine.
The engine came apart, and we don't know why. But I'm telling you, there are not that many A380s out there with this engine.
So, if you're on a plane and it says "A380," I don't want you getting freaked out, because all these Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines on the Airbus have been saying, wait a minute, we're not flying those today, we're going to take a look to see what happened. Rolls-Royce has people already in Singapore. They are already tearing this engine apart to see what happened. Bird strikes can do this. Overheating can do this. Anything internally could be doing it. This is a major event. A major, major event for this engine.
LEMON: I've got my hand up, Professor Myers, because I don't want to cut you off. So, listen, it's fair to say that parts of the engine fell off after they --
MYERS: The engine exploded.
LEMON: The engine exploded.
MYERS: And no one got killed. The engine exploded and put pieces of the engine through the wing.
LEMON: Let me see behind you. What is that? So, you've got -- if this does happen, you've got, what, three other engines?
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: Oh, this plane can fly with two. This plane is fine. This plane not having that one engine is fine.
The problem is that the plane engine came apart, pieces flew out of this plane like shrapnel, went through the wing in four spots, and could have gone through the fuselage, but just didn't happen to go that way.
LEMON: Yes, that's the issue.
MYERS: And the rest of the part that it blew off landed in Singapore. And that's what they thought. They went, oh, a plane has crashed, pieces are on the ground. The plane landed safely.
LEMON: And you're here on the ground. It's easy for us to say that. But if you were on that plane --
MYERS: Freaked out.
LEMON: -- you'd be scared you know what.
MYERS: Absolutely.
LEMON: Yes. I won't say it on TV. Thank you for that explanation.
MYERS: All right.
LEMON: The engine did not fall off.
MYERS: No.
LEMON: It disintegrated and pieces fell to the ground.
MYERS: Just about.
LEMON: Chad Myers, we appreciate it.
You know what? This couple, they say they have everything they need, and you'll be floored when you find out what a Canadian couple is doing with their lottery jackpot.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
LEMON: Now back to reality for us. Stocks are surging today, though, after the Fed takes extraordinary steps to prime the economy with cash. A lot of cash.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Pictures, information, insight you won't find anywhere else. CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris -- anything can happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: It can. And Tony is off today. Lucky him. I'm in, Don Lemon.
You know, the Fed is effectively printing $600 billion brand new dollars to flood the system with fresh cash. It's a stimulus package for the economy that doesn't need approval from politicians.
CNN's Christine Romans, part of the CNN Money team, "The Best Money Team on Television," in the business, I should say.
So how does this work? We always hear about, oh, they're printing money, they're printing money. They actually are.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Right. They actually are. And it's fascinating, too, because so many people talk about "stimulus" as a dirty word, Republicans and Democrats would never be able to pass another stimulus because it's -- you know, everyone is so concerned about spending money we don't have.
But the Fed can do it. And the Fed is essentially printing money, $600 billion to buy back other assets, other treasury securities, and securities in the market. That means it's pushing money into the system, pushing new money into the system, $600 billion worth over the next year, year and a half or so.
We've done this before. It's called quantitative easing. And Don, the first time we did it, they called it QE. This time they're calling it QE2, like the big luxury liner.
But what it can do is it can weaken the dollar. And we're already seeing that. Even the anticipation of this, weakening of the dollar. Why? Well, because, look, if you print new dollars, that means the dollars we already have in our pocket are worth a little less, right?
LEMON: Yes.
ROMANS: All of this is meant to lower interest rates. They're already so low, that the Fed can't essentially lower interest rate target anymore. It has to print this money to do it.
But the whole goal here is that it would help banks increase lending by making more money available, and that eventually, you will see companies investing and hiring again. So, this is about jobs.
And Ben Bernanke, the Fed chief, in a "Washington Post" opinion piece today, these are the times we live in, when the Fed chief does opinion pieces for " The Washington Post." But he laid out why he thinks this is a good idea for actually stimulating jobs, and that is their most important issue here.
I talked to a fund manager earlier this week who said all this talk about the election, but the entity that has the most chance of creating a new job, if it doesn't it right, is the Fed right now, by pulling off this QE2 in the right way.
LEMON: You know, it's very interesting listening to you and seeing the printing of $600 billion. This really is all our creation? It's not that we're out of money, it's just where it is, the allocation, how we look at it, what we think is important about it.
So I find that interesting. And there's so much more that we can't control with this economy. And you've written about that in a new book. It's called "Smart is the New Rich."
ROMANS: That's right. And, you know, Don, I'll tell you that one of the reasons I wrote this book is that things like the Fed and quantitative easing and a big election, what Republicans and Democrats actually do, will they actually cooperate, or will it be more gridlock, there are a lot of things happening right now in the economy that we have no control over, like the Fed, like interest rates, like housing prices.
And so there are a few things that you can control. And I wanted to kind of put it all on paper so that the things that you do have the ability to control, you can.
One more thing about this whole quantitative easing, what the Fed is doing right now, and how low interest rates are, it's not a good time to be a saver, because you're not getting any return on your CDs, on your savings accounts --
LEMON: Oh, really?
ROMANS: -- on your mutual funds, on your money market accounts. No. So, especially for older people, right now is not a great time to be a saver, at a time when we're all supposed to be saving more. And that's a real conundrum for people.
Also, another thing --
LEMON: What do you do with the money then? What do you with the money, Christine, if you're not --
ROMANS: I know. I mean, well, some people are putting it in the stock market. That's one of the reasons why the stock market is so high.
LEMON: OK.
ROMANS: Some people are putting it in commodities, because, look, ,commodities prices are going up because, eventually, some worry that all of this new money in the economy is going to be inflationary. It's going to mean there will be inflation down the road. Right now the Fed is fighting very low inflation.
A lot of things we can't control though now, Don. And I will say, we're living in some pretty interesting times to have the Fed pumping $600 billion into the economy. It's telling us that the economy is too weak still here, and they want to get something done.
LEMON: That's interesting that you would say that, because I'm old school. Not old school enough to put it in the mattress, but I always like to have a reserve, even beyond stocks and --
ROMANS: Cash is king. Savings -- not having enough savings is what got us into this mess, but unfortunately now we're being punished for saving because we're not getting enough return on that money.
LEMON: Whiplash. Thank you.
ROMANS: It's not fair.
LEMON: Thank you very much. We appreciate it, Christine Romans.
And I have a quick quiz for you right now. Who is the most powerful person in the world today according to a new ranking by "Forbes" magazine?
Is it President Barack Obama? Is it Microsoft founder Bill Gates? Is it the Chinese president, Hu Jintao? Or the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke? Speaking of the Fed with Christine.
We'll have that answer for you coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Well, you're looking at right there some of the most powerful men on the screen. But who is the most powerful person in the world?
Is it President Barack Obama; Microsoft founder Bill Gates; Chinese President Hu Jintao; or Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke? According to a new ranking by "Forbes" magazine, the answer is, drum roll, Chinese President Hu Jintao. He presides over the world's second largest economy and 1.3 billion people. That is a fifth of the world's population. A whole lot of people.
Let's check your money right now, and specifically, CNNMoney.com.
Here's what's on the front page. Christine Romans and I were talking about that, "Stocks soar on Fed's $600 billion gift," pumping $600 billion, printing $600 billion new dollars into the economy.
Let's check the Dow and the Nasdaq now. The Dow is up 187 points. The Nasdaq up 31.75 right now.
In the meantime, let's go to New York. There you see her right there. Poppy Harlow's going to talk to us about this. During the campaign, Republicans relentlessly attacked the president for failing to kick-start the economy. Popppy, there's a whole lot of anxiety about that, and a whole lot of talk about what small business owners need. Tax cuts, that sort of thing. You've been talking to people. What are they saying?
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: It's true. We focus on the big corporations, how are they doing. But two-thirds of Americans either own or are employed by small businesses in this country.
Now, you heard campaign promises leading up to the midterms from Republicans and Democrats alike, saying their party was the one that would really kick-start small businesses and help them the most. So, what we did, right after the election we headed upstate to Westchester, New York, and went to a diner where we met with a lot of local business owners. And they have very different thoughts about what party is better, but they all have one overarching thought about what the government needs to do to help them. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD K. SANDFORD, OWNS LEGAL PRACTICE: I think it means when you have a balance between Republicans in the House and Democrats in the Senate that they'll have to work together. And they're going to have to listen to what America said. America said we're not happy with taxes going up, up, up.
JOHN MARWELL, OWNS LEGAL PRACTICE: When I speak to small business owners throughout the county, I don't know someone who has high hopes. The most optimistic projections or predictions I hear are, I just want to get through this still in business. So, I think people feel the American dream is slipping away. I think they're very, very concerned about profligate spending.
HARLOW: What do they need? What is the one thing they need, small business owners like yourself, from the government that you're not already getting?
MARWELL: I think people feel the government has to get out of the way. JACK GEOGHGAN, ATTORNEY, GELLERT AND KLEIN: The costs of doing business have become almost out of reach.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In my opinion, Republicans are more pro- business, more pro-small-business than the Democrats are. I think it's positive.
LAURA KATEN, OWNS CONSULTING FIRM: See, I feel that Democrats are pro-small-business more so it's an interesting --
HARLOW: Why do you think that?
KATEN: Well, I mean I feel like every time they speak, they want to infuse money into small business. They feel that so many people are out of work. They're trying to boost the economy through the small business.
HARLOW: But is that the rhetoric or is that the action? Because you disagree.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I think it's the rhetoric more than the action. Taxation and taxation of the businesses and the taxation of the people and stuff. It's really anti-small business.
HARLOW: So, what would your advice be to the new Congress and to the president? What would it be now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to stay -- you know, kind of stay out of our business, if you will. Let us run our companies. But don't tax us so much. Don't try to tell us what we need to do on health care. Sometimes it takes a natural course, and that's what you need to do. And don't incentivize people with too many incentives to stay home by continuing to support them when they could get out to work.
KATEN: And I think lift us up and support us. We are the blood in the veins of this economy, the small business. And I would say give us the incentives to hire people. Make the money that you're making available accessible to us. Make it easy so that we can utilize that money to throw money back into the economy and stimulate it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Poppy Harlow, great stuff. It's always interesting getting out and talking to people one-on-one. It would be amazing if our lawmakers could do this and find out what people really need and what's really on their minds.
HARLOW: It's interesting. With that group of attorneys that own their own law firms that I sat down with first, you know what one of them said to me? It wasn't in the piece, but he said, I think we need term limits because the politicians are -- after they take office, six weeks later, they're running. He said if he had politicians that weren't focused on being reelected, they'd make the hard choices that may not be popular with voters, but the hard choices that we need. And I think that's a very good point. You see politicians stumping about certain issues, and they have all said we'll help small businesses. And the one point that that woman made in the piece - it's very important I think - is the aid to small businesses.
Look, the Obama administration just infused $44 billion to aid small businesses. She said she's having an incredibly hard time, Don, tapping that money. So much bureaucracy, so much red tape. The applications for the money alone. It's so hard, she said, for small businesses to get that. Yet taxpayers are funding that. You know, you really need to get a direct line to these businesses so they can hire Americans and start getting that demand picture better in this economy, Don.
LEMON: And their responses were so good. They just want to be heard. You know? Do you hear me? Can you hear me?
HARLOW: Yes.
LEMON: Thank you, Poppy. Good work.
HARLOW: You got it.
LEMON: All right.
You know, you've seen the mudslinging throughout the campaign season, but have you seen this? Cartwheels and other funny moments from the campaign trail coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The politicians and pundits are already talking about the 2012 elections. 2010 election was just two nights ago. But the dust is still settling from Tuesday's midterms. And two U.S. Senate races are still undecided right now. In Alaska, write-in incumbent Lisa Murkowski appears to lead Tea Party favorite Joe Miller and Democrat Scott McAdams.
And in Washington state, Democratic incumbent Patty Murray leads Republican challenger Dino Rossi. We'll follow up on that for you.
After all the mudslinging was over, the votes counted and the victories declared, the political nastiness turned, well, funny. Check out Congressman Ed Perlmutter of Colorado. Yes. That's a cartwheel. Two of them. He held on to his seat, but he is hardly sitting down. And Jeanne Moos has more memorable election funnies for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you didn't manage to catch every confetti drop, let us help you catch up with a few of our favorite moments.
SARAH PALIN, FORMER GOVERNOR OF ALASKA: It is a big darn deal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are looking for something new, but I'm a little something old.
CARL PALADINO, FORMER GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE FOR NEW YORK: You have not heard the last of Carl Paladino.
(APPLAUSE)
MOOS: And that was his concession speech, wielding a bat he promised to use to knock sense into Albany if elected New York governor. But the oddest post-election comments came from another losing candidate, Alvin Greene.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some people said your campaign was a joke. Was it a joke?
ALVIN GREENE, FORMER SENATE CANDIDATE (D), SOUTH CAROLINA: No, no, no, no, no. It's very serious.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you going to run again?
GREENE: Run for what?
MOOS: Run from the press.
GREENE: Check this out.
MOOS: Our favorite unscripted TV moment came when Chris Matthews was interviewing Tea Party favorite Michele Bachman. Check out the parody cover being held up behind her back. It's a parody of Sarah Palin's book, "Going Rogue" switched to "Going Crazy." It lasted 15 seconds and then this happened -
MICHELE BACHMAN (R), MINNESOTA: People have been saying -
MOOS: Seconds later, a bigger sign appeared saying, "How's the tingle, Chris?" a reference to Chris Matthews once saying he felt a thrill up his leg listening to Barack Obama speak about America. Representative Bachmann wasn't really answering Matthews' questions?
CHRIS MATTEWS, HOST, MSNBC'S "HARDBALL": Are you hypnotized? Has someone put you under a trace tonight that you give me the same answer, no matter what question I put to you?
BACHMANN: I imagine that thrill is probably maybe not quite so tingly on your leg anymore.
MATTHEWS: I know. Your sign holders already raised that issue.
MOOS (on camera): And what would an election be without a few tears shed?
(voice-over): For instance, from likely House speaker to be, John Boehner.
JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), LIKELY NEXT HOUSE SPEAKER: Chasing the American dream.
MOOS: And his team won. Christine O'Donnell lost, but she didn't cry. Her brother did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For all rallying (CRIES).
MOOS: O'Donnell comforted her brother, then mentioned he's a Democrat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we had arguments. You know, particularly about the mice with the human brains and stuff.
CHRISTINE O'DONNELL (R), FORMER SENATE CANDIDATE, DELAWARE: Human brain cells!
MOOS: And talk about arguments.
ALEX CASTELLANOS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: There's a dead body on the ground.
DONNA BRAZILE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You said listen to the people?
CASTELLANOS: Excuse me.
BRAZILE: No, no. I'm not finished. You interrupted a lady.
(LAUGHTER)
MOOS (on camera): And while the human pundits occasionally snapped, how did the puppy pundits do at prognosticating?
JIMMY FALLON, "LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON": Release the puppies. Let's see what they're going to go for.
MOOS (voice-over): On election eve, Jimmy Fallon used two dishes of dog food to make the pups between Paladino and Cuomo for New York governor.
FALLON: The puppies have voted.
MOOS: The pups picked Paladino 3-2 and turned out to be wrong, but pups don't mind eating anything -- even crow.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: They should have gotten that octopus. If would have predicted everything.
You know, this is a first in college basketball. A transgender athlete on the court. We'll let this player on George Washington University women's teams explain it to you, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Let's talk about the weather, shall we? But some serious weather. Let's talk Tomas. Is it going to grow into a hurricane? CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It does look like it's going to be a hurricane, and in fact, it could even be a hurricane by the time it gets to Jamaica and also kind of off to the west of Haiti. Notice, though, what's happened, Don is that over the past couple of runs, computer runs, which did have the model taking it right over Port-au- Prince, which is that red dot right there, it has now shifted back off to the West.
Now, it never did shift outside of the cone. It's still well within the forecast cone, which was the error cone many days ago. That error cone went all the way out almost to Puerto Rico and almost to Havana. So, we're well within that. So the -- the air is still very good. But it's a 70-mile-an-hour storm, but not close enough to Port-au-Prince to make wind damage. Not really worried about that at this point.
I think what we're worried about is six, 10, 12 inches of rainfall in a city that already has problems, and people are trying to stay dry by blue tarp and tents. There is the storm. It has intensified, continues to get stronger. It may not get to be a hurricane until it gets up into the Turks and Caicos.
Here's what the computer models look like. We talk about these models all the time. There it is there on the model. It's passing over that western peninsula there of Haiti. This is a little bit closer to Port-au-Prince than the official track is. But what I want you to see, look under the word Haiti and see how much rainfall could fall right there. For hours and hours and hours, very heavy rainfall.
You get six inches of rain on top of people that basically have an open sewer problem, we're going to have more problems there than you can even think about in a normal U.S. landfalling hurricane. The issue, again, will be whether the wind makes people try to run for cover. Don, there's no cover.
LEMON: Yes. You partially answered my question. We were talking about -- you were talking about people who are already dealing with things -- cholera. Does this help or hurt? Does it run off --
MYERS: It hurts, absolutely. It takes more of that dirty water, that gray and black water, and mixes it around, moves it around, brings it down into places that are at least at this point still sanitary.
LEMON: Yes. All right. Thank you, Chad Myers. Really appreciate it.
President Obama versus Sarah Palin in 2012. We'll tell you what the polls say about the hypothetical match-up. Details in our political update.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: So an interesting hypothetical matchup in the 2012 presidential race, even though it's only two days after the 2010 midterms. Our Brianna Keilar is part of the best political team on television. She joins us now from Capitol Hill in Washington.
Hello, Brianna. Give us an update. What's crossing?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Don.
Well, on the ticker, and this may surprise you considering the Democrats just got creamed in the midterm elections, but one of our latest polls by CNN/Opinion Research Corporation shows that when you hypothetically pair up President Obama in a presidential run for 2012, he does pretty well. And specifically when you're talking about Sarah Palin. The breakdown on all registered voters, 52 percent for Obama, 44 percent for Palin. And if you check out this poll on the CNN ticker, you'll also see that when you look at -- because this is really already the unofficial start of at least the GOP presidential nomination process or seeking that nomination -- there really doesn't appear to be a front-runner at this point.
Also, let's take you to Alaska on the CNN Political Ticker. Joe Miller, he is the Republican candidate for Senate there in this still unsettled race. And he's urging caution and he's urging time as votes are counted.
Lisa Murkowski is the incumbent Republican who he unseated as the Republican nominee in the primary. She is actually leading right now in the polls. If she were to win, Don, she would be the first -- or the second, pardon me, person to win a U.S. Senate election as a write-in candidate. She was a Republican. Obviously running not as a Republican but says that she would caucus with Republicans.
So not a whole lot expected to change if she does come on board or back on board here in the Senate, Don.
LEMON: But certainly an interesting write-in -- as a write-in.
KEILAR: Exactly.
LEMON: Yes. Yes. And that's what everybody's talking about. I was down at Rubio in Florida, and people were saying, I wonder what's going on with Murkowski. What's going on with that race. So it's an interesting matchup.
KEILAR: And she has a tremendous -- obviously, one, she's an incumbent, but she also is part of this political family in Alaska. So you can kind of understand how being a write-in candidate did work for her.
LEMON: Brianna Keilar. And it's very busy around you. I can hear all of the hubbub.
Thank you very much. Your next political update coming up in just one hour here on CNN. And for the best political news, go to cnnpolitics.com.
Since his death, there have been endless tributes to Michael Jackson. Guess who's honoring the king of pop now. Broadway, the New York Ballet, Cirque Du Soleil or the L.A. Lakers? The answer in 100 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Time now for "What's Hot."
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: "What's Hot."
LEMON: We're not talking about me or Josh. We're talking about on the Internet.
LEVS: Hot stuff. This is what happens when he fills in for Tony.
Can I just get to the video? Oh, man.
LEMON: Go ahead, Josh.
LEVS: All right. So let's -- stick around.
LEMON: All right. All right.
LEVS: The GOP's already out with some congratulatory ads after the party's landslide win in the House. We thought former VP candidate Sarah Palin has the best one by far, especially her use of animals as a metaphor. Mama grizzly, as she's calls herself, goes on to say this is the GOP's time. Which gets us to our favorite part of the ad, the part with the grizzly bear. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH PALIN, FORMER VP CANDIDATE: We've got to do this together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: Roar. People loving that online.
LEMON: I saw that this morning and cracked up. Did you see the lumberjack and --
LEVS: Yes, I've seen parts of it.
LEMON: Oh, my God (ph).
LEVS: Yes, there's a lot of interesting imagery in there.
We asked a question before the break --
LEMON: What did I ask?
LEVS: About Michael Jackson.
LEMON: Oh, yes, yes, yes.
LEVS: So who's going to be paying tribute to him next, right? It was Broadway, the New York Ballet, Cirque Du Soleil or the L.A. Lakers. And the answer --
LEMON: Is it the Lakers?
LEVS: No. it's Cirque.
LEMON: Oh, Cirque Du Solei.
LEVS: Cirque Du Solei. The amazing human circus with those amazing acrobats. They're taking on Michael Jackson. In fact, the ads are out already. They're calling this "The Immortal World Tour." And the website says, quote, "the secrets of Michael's inner world are unlocked, his love of music and dance, fairytale and magic, and the fragile beauty of nature." There's a good write-up on this I was reading at salon.com. They explain this as a $57 million production that they're mounting in coordination with the Jackson estate.
LEMON: It's an interesting concept. I mean, you know, you go -- it's like a concert, ballet circus.
LEVS: Yes.
LEMON: Yes.
LEVS: And also the (INAUDIBLE) I was just reading, when he died, he had $400 million in debt. That was in a year that had generated like a billion dollars in revenue. And now it just keeps going and going. People love Michael Jackson. They want to see more and more.
LEMON: Unbelievable.
LEVS: One more thing for you. The police, you know, round up criminals all the time. They rarely round up these guys -- sheep.
LEMON: Oh, gosh. Where's the water-skiing squirrels?
LEVS: This is a slaughterhouse breakout. Something you've never seen before. This turned a street in Lackawanna, New York, into a rodeo. Officers had to round up dozens of these animals and lead them back with their police cars and back to where they escaped from. Can you imagine getting that call as a police officer? Oh, we've got a few dozen sheep running around.
LEMON: Something baaaad is happening out here.
LEVS: Oh, boy.
LEMON: Don't count on the applause (ph) (INAUDIBLE).
Thank you, Josh.
LEVS: You got it.
LEMON: Get out of here.
LEVS: I'm looking forward to that.
LEMON: All right. You know, this is a first. A transgender player in NCAA basketball. The details of self-acceptance coming up. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Sign of the times. How the world is progressing now. A George Washington University junior will play women's basketball, but this season she will be identified as a man. He will be the first openly transgender player in NCAA division one basketball. CNN affiliate WUSA's Delia Goncalves brings us the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DELIA GONCALVES, WUSA REPORTER (voice-over): All eyes are on George Washington University's women's basketball team and number 50, Kye Allums, junior forward, transgender male.
KYE ALLUMS, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL PLAYER: I feel as if I should have been born male with male parts, but I am -- like my biological sex is female.
GONCALVES: But it was a long road before Kye could make that announcement. His ah-hah moment came after a rather heated text message exchange with his mom when she asked, who do you think you are, young lady?
ALLUMS: Wow, mom, like, thank you. You just made me realize something. And I just -- from that moment on, I was just like, I know who I am. And I was like -- first I was excited. Then I was like, oh, now I have to tell everybody.
GONCALVES: But after the fear came relief.
ALLUMS: It's a big thing when your child says they're something different than what they were born. But now she's completely supportive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just immediately felt like I needed to support Kye in any way.
GONCALVES: Kye is the first transgender athlete on an NCAA division one team. He can continue to play on the women's team because he doesn't plan to have surgery or take any hormones until his college career is over.
ALLUMS: It got to tough. It got too tough to not be me.
GONCALVES: Kye, formerly known as KK (ph), began his transformation last year as a sophomore, but this will be his first season playing as a man.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And as long as we're, you know, united, you know, we're a team, we're a family, we'll be OK.
GONCALVES: So while number 50's announcement may have created a media frenzy, his mind is on basketball and his future, now that he finally feels like himself.
(END VIDEOTAPE) LEMON: And George Washington University's vice provost says the university is fully accepting of Allums' decision to live as a male student.
That's it for me. Thanks for watching, everyone. Tony well be back tomorrow. In the meantime, the CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Ali Velshi.
Hello, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Don, good to see you. And we're both back in the same place. You have yourself a great afternoon.
LEMON: Thank you, sir.
VELSHI: Don Lemon.
I'm Ali Velshi. And as Don says, for the next two hours I'll be with you today and every weekday to guide you through this maze of information coming your way. Together we're --
