RELATED: Rush Limbaugh Tries To Protect Dana Perino’s Delicate Feminine Sensibilities

“Let’s just say it’s Halloween,” said Lee, “and you’re dressing up as the spokesperson for the DNC. Let’s just say that that’s your–”

“–With better hair,” Perino added.

The DNC’s spokesperson is, of course, the curly-haired Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Check it out, via Fox News:

However, Fox News’ Jenna Lee used the clock as a springboard to pointedly question the very pressure it represents.

“As we know, compromise is such a key part of the system and I’m wondering how helpful you think it is to have the President go out on a national stage, specifically call out these Republicans, and then, in a matter of a few days, also have to compromise with them as well. Is that really presidential?”

Jarrett responded that it wasn’t just presidential but necessary, arguing that President Obama worries, “first and formost, about what’s good for the American people” and, therefore, he needs to make clear “just what’s at stake.”

Watch the clip from Fox News below:

Geraldo makes the following cogent point:

What they fear is that these majestic proceedings will be reduced not to a sound bite, but to a punch line. When you look at what the comedy shows, the various comedy shows, not just on Comedy Central but late night comics do with Republican debates, how they take a pause or a mistake or a, you know, a brain freeze and make it a punch line that goes on for days, that is what they’re afraid of.

Some have argued that the U.S. Supreme Court belongs to the public domain, and as such, an informed an engaged populace has the right to easily view the proceedings in real time. Imagine, however, an embarrassing public moment captured by theoretical Supreme Court cameras. This would most certainly be mined, not just for comedic material, but presented in a more simplified and out of context manner. This practice could arguably expect higher standards by justices, or it could undermine the the authority of the highest court, which is what Geraldo argues in the clip below, courtesy of Fox News.

Following a disastrous appearance by his campaign spokesman Sunday night, and a carefully-parsed appearance by campaign manager Mark Block, Cain needed a virtuoso performance here. Cain made very clear in his denial that he had never sexually harassed anyone, though he admit knowledge of specific charges that he repeatedly called false.

Following is a rough transcript of the opening exchange (via TV Eyes):

Jenna Lee: Let’s start with the truth. that’s always the best place to start. What is the truth about these allegations of sexual harassment or sexual misconduct? Have you ever been accused at any time of either?

Herman Cain: I have never sexually harassed anyone, let’s say that. Secondly, I’ve never sexually harassed anyone, and yes, I was falsely accused while I was at the national restaurant association, and i say falsely, because it turned out, after the investigation, to be baseless. The people mentioned in that article were the ones who would be aware of any misdoings, and they have attested to my integrity and my character. It is totally baseless, and totally false, never have I committed any sort of sexual harassment.

Lee: Have you ever had to settle a claim, falsely accused or not, sometimes a settlement happens when a false accusation is made. have you ever had to settle a claim, giving money, or paid someone because a claim of sexual harassment or sexual misconduct.

Cain: Outside of the restaurant association, absolutely not. If the restaurant association did a settlement, I am not — i wasn’t even aware of it and I hope it wasn’t for much, because nothing happened. so if there was a settlement, it was handled by some of the other officers that worked for me at the association. So the answer is absolutely not.

Lee followed up by asking if there are any other future allegations like this that might come up. Cain initially declared “absolutely not” before leaving open the notion that there may be more to come with the clear caveat that they would be false.

Cain’s run at the top of the GOP polls has been far more durable than those of his predecessors, and it’s unclear if even this episode will decay his orbit significantly. The fervor around Cain is almost religious, and the conservative base is notoriously suspicious of the main pillars in this story: the media, litigation, and what they see as “politically correct” attitudes toward workplace behavior. For them, Cain’s reliance on Politico’s anonymous sourcing (despite rock-solid reporting) and the strength of those non-disclosure agreements, might just do the trick. The only place this is guranteed to hurt is with the GOP establishment, which isn’t with Cain to begin with.

Watch the interview below, courtesy of Fox News:

The Happening Now co-host’s ceremony was held at the Old Glory Ranch and preceded a reception where guests enjoyed hamburgers, sweet potato fries, cupcakes and “Pan de Campo” – Texas’ official bread. Oh, and most importantly: pink frozen margaritas, just like the couple had on their first date. All together now: “Awwww!”

Her new husband was formerly the executive officer of a Navy SEAL team in San Diego and has plans to study law at Fordham University.

Lee — who recently, and refreshingly, opened up about not changing her diet in anticipation of The Big Day — admitted that she didn’t shed a single tear during the ceremony, adding that walking down the aisle with Babin was “a dream come true.” And don’t worry, Lee fans: She’ll be keeping her name.

Lee articulated her feelings for Babin to the New York Times, including one specific fear she had at the beginning of their relationship:

I was worried initially how some might be critical of my relationship with Leif, how they might view it as skewing my ability to report on the war or the military. But being in love with someone who is willing to die for their country actually taught me so much more than I ever thought. It made me a better journalist.

Congrats!

h/t People

“The last couple of weeks, people have been saying ‘Oh, you must be really dieting for your wedding,’ and I’m like, no, I’m actually not — thanks so much for pointing that out.” But we should clarify that it isn’t her fiancé, a Navy SEAL, who’s saying that: “He eats differently than a female anchor on the news. He’s always saying ‘Eat more, eat more!’ and I’m like, Oh my God, we’re gonna have to have a conversation about this. Figuring out how to feed a Navy SEAL is a new project.”

Anyway, if you’ve wondered what a Fox News anchor’s diet might be like then, BOY!, are you ever in luck! Lee graciously shared her dining habits with food blog Grub Street. Here, then, are a few things we learned about Lee based on her eating habits:

- She’s part Italian.

- She’s nice and brings cookies for her co-workers. (HINT, HINT.)

- She believes there is such a thing as eating too many tortilla chips.

- You might catch her ordering an Early Bird Special at Denny’s:

During the week I still have to get into work around six in the morning, and when it gets to the end of the week, I run out of steam. So my friend also has a similar schedule. And we can relate and have an early dinner and not feel like a bunch of losers. We were eating at like 5:45 p.m., so we felt like senior citizens, but that was like the perfect Saturday evening for me.

- She will eat all the frosting off your cake. Not cool, Jenna Lee.

- She’s funny:

I had a glass of red wine, which was super good. But it was so good I didn’t even write down what it was.

Read the full food diary – it’s a quick, cute read that’ll let you get to know Lee a little better – right over here. Also, P.S., I resisted the urge to make a “delicious dish” pun in this story’s headline. You’re welcome Jenna, readers, everyone.

h/t Grub Street NY

In a related development, because we are just days from the Holidays beginning and there is a dearth of non-Sarah Palin or junk touching news to report, day part cable news needs to find items to cover, regardless of they are worthy or not. Like, fore example, the demolition of the Spectrum, which was covered live on Fox News earlier today.

Dayside hosts Jon Scott and Jenna Lee gamely manage to narrate the remarkably disappointing coverage, which you can see in all its unintended hilarity from Fox News below. They did a good job, but privately we are wishing that this live moment occurred during Shepard Smith‘s shift, right?

It was a big moment for Lee – the young Happening Now anchor has been in her current role since July, and today she unloaded some tough questions for a few prominent Republican guests.

Her slate of big name guests included Sens. Mitch McConnell, Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham and Rep. Mike Pence. Here’s how the interview started with McConell. “If Congressman John Boehner is willing, or at least open to the idea of compromise, why aren’t you?”

After getting a non-answer, Lee pressed on. “So Senator McConnell, there is no room to compromise?” She tried a third time, and McConnell kept deflecting. Finally, she hit him with this. “”Are Senate Republicans better at fighting than legislating?” she asked.

McConnell stuck to his stump speech and avoided the question, but not answering only underscored the point further. Later, she hit Rep. Pence with “What are your real concerns about being viewed legitimately as the party of no and slowing down the political process?” Pence was left stumbling. Update: A press secretary from the House Republican Conference emailed to tell us, “He answered the question clearly and without any sort of hesitation besides a slight laugh due to how untrue the implication of the question was.” This is exactly how he began his answer: “Well, look, uh, you know, what we’re seeing here, with, you know, with the playing of politics…” Stumbling? As Fox News says, we report, you decide.

Lee, a rising star at Fox News, proved her interviewing skills today while hammering a segment of the FNC guest list that some might stereotypically say get an easy ride – GOP politicians. Let’s just say today was a far cry from this. Here’s the McConnell interview and the end of the Pence interview:

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He talked to FNC anchor Jenna Lee this afternoon about Pres. Obama’s economic speeches, survey’s the GOP midterm chances and more.

After a nuts and bolts discussion about what Pres. Obama is doing and what the Republicans would do differently. Then, Lee brought in a clip of Steele from earlier this year when he raised doubts over the possibility that the GOP could take back the House, and questioned whether they were ready. Now, he says, “I believe we are.”

Lee pressed if he’d make a guarantee. “I can’t guarantee anything, only the American people can do that with their vote,” he said.

Steele also deflected questions over the critics in his own party and whether he’d run for GOP Chairman again in January.

> Update: Steele did a lengthy interview with CNN August 24, and has done several print and radio interviews recently.

Here’s the interview:

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How about asking a Democratic congressman, “What is a Democrat?” and “How is that different than a Republican?” and letting him talk about whatever he wants.

This puzzling exchange occurred today on Happening Now, between Fox News anchor Jenna Lee and Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen.

“I just wanted to clear something up going into the election season,” said Lee. “What is a Democrat?”

Van Hollen was caught off guard. “What is a Democrat?” he repeated, before going into a stump speech on “opportunities” and “fair chance for everybody.” “And how is that different than a Republican?” asked Lee.

Van Hollen continued – finally coming to a conclusion. “You asked me a very broad question, and I’m answering you,” he said.

So – what was the point of this exercise? “I feel like we throw around these terms, and we understand that there are divisive issues, but sometimes we don’t really understand who’s behind that,” she said. This is not a knock on Lee, still new to FNC after a few years covering the business side of the news for Fox Business Network. But there’s a Daily Show segment in here somewhere…

And coming up in the next hour – how does a bill become a law?

Here’s the interview:

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Lee, currently an anchor of Fox Business Network, begins her new job Monday.

Jon Scott will be Lee’s co-anchor. Lee has been anchoring FBN’s Fox Business News with Connell McShane, and also contributes to Imus In The Morning. No word yet on what happens to those roles. She has filled in on Happening Now in the past.

Lee, 30, was one of the two anchors to kick off the premiere broadcast of Fox Business Network in October 2007.

Here’s the FNC release:

JENNA LEE NAMED CO-ANCHOR OF FOX NEWS CHANNEL’S HAPPENING NOW

FOX Business Network’s (FBN) Jenna Lee has been named co-anchor of FOX News Channel’s (FNC) daytime news program Happening Now (11AM-1PM/ET), announced Michael Clemente, Senior Vice President, News Editorial. Lee will begin her new role on July 12th, taking over for Jane Skinner who announced last month that she was stepping down from the show. Jon Scott will continue in his co-anchor position.

In making the announcement, Clemente said, “When Jane approached us expressing her desire to step down, we were faced with a dilemma considering her contributions to the success of Happening Now. After looking at numerous internal candidates and their individual skill sets, we felt Jenna’s combined passion for journalism, energy and enthusiasm would make her an ideal choice.”

Lee added, “I’m both honored and humbled for this opportunity to be joining a group of highly talented journalists. While I’m sad to leave behind the colleagues whom I’ve worked so closely with in building FOX Business, I’m very excited to embark on a new challenge within the FOX family.”

Hired by FOX News Chairman & CEO Roger Ailes prior to FBN’s 2007 launch, Lee co-hosted both FOX Business Morning from 5-6 AM/ET and FOXBusiness.com Live Morning Edition from 6-9 AM/ET. She was also a part of the Money for Breakfast ensemble during its two year tenure. Recently, she has served in the news anchor role for the FOX Business simulcast of Imus in the Morning while also providing business news updates throughout the day for both FBN and FNC’s hard news programming.

Before FBN, she served as a news anchor and reporter for Forbes.com providing daily market updates and breaking news from Wall Street, in addition to conducting CEO interviews for the site’s video programming. A graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Lee began her career at NY1 as a writer and segment producer for Fortune Business Report covering the stock market, real estate, personal finance and the retail industry. She also contributed to Inside City Hall, the live nightly political show, and served as a writer for NY1’s morning newscast.

But it’s a familiar face – Don Imus‘ radio program will be simulcast from 6-9amET. Imus on a business channel: will it work?

“I believe it’s a perfectly compatible audience,” FBN executive vice president Kevin Magee tells Mediaite. “Don does a smart show. These are people who are curious intelligent and affluent. And that sounds like the same kind of audience we attract to Fox Business. I think it’s going to mesh like a couple of cogs turning.”

FBN has taken steps to ensure the show has a business vibe. There will be business updates every 15 minutes from FBN anchors Jenna Lee and Connell McShane, and the duo will host a web morning show, with Ashley Webster, on FoxBusiness.com during the block. And it’s not like Imus doesn’t talk financial news at all – when the story broke about Ken Lewis leaving Bank of America, he spent a segment on the topic (obviously with his own unique point of view).

It is this unique point of view that has been successful for Imus for so many years, developing a devoted and vast fan base. Of course, it is this unique point of view that can sometimes get him in trouble – which caused his exit at MSNBC and CBS radio in 2007. How will Magee handle the free-wielding host? “We know what we got when we bought it,” he says. “We talk to Don and his production team all the time. It’s an open mic and Don is terrifically unpredictable.”

The addition of Imus could begin to make FBN a true competitor with longtime biz news leader CNBC. FBN’s most recently reported ratings fell around an average of 21,000, with the mornings actually doing worse. Imus could conceivably increase that average during his show by 100% or more. “We had a lot of buzz when we launched, but since that point we’ve added a lot distribution-wise,” said McShane. “The problem is people don’t necessarily know they get the network. This adds awareness because people will come to watch him.”

FBN is now seen in about 50 million homes, while CNBC has nearly double that number. But adding Imus now would allow FBN to hit CNBC while its down. Their ratings are down 37% year-to-year, and their 6amET show, Squawk Box is doing far worse. In fact, the morning show competition is currently soft – besides Fox & Friends no morning show averaged more than 400,000 total viewers. (You can see the September ratings chart for each show here.)

But since Imus’ most recent foray into cable news was on MSNBC, some have speculated about the FBN product being a specific competitor with Morning Joe. “I think that was invention of a writer who probably based it on the fact that don used to be on MSNBC,” says Magee. “We’re trying to carve out our audience and get our own thing.”

NEXT: What will the other morning show at FBN be like?

Allow us to clarify – there isn’t a direct connection between journalists and adult film stars (that we know of). Nor are we saying that Rupert Murdoch got where he is today as a Media Mogul by showing a little skin. But for whatever reason there seems to be a very high incidence of media personalities sharing the same names of porn stars.

Let’s start with Melissa Lee. She’s the CNBC host who anchors Fast Money and occasionally Closing Bell. Coincidentally, she also just hosted their adult film special Porn: Business of Pleasure special that scared off some advertisers. But that belies her connection to another Melissa Lee who comes up in Google Image search: She of the lingerie modeling! Both are displayed to your left in occupation-appropriate attire.

While Melissa Lee’s alter ego might be of the innocuous soft-core style, that certainly does not apply to Wall Street Journal reporter Emily Steel. While the WSJ’s Steel has made guest appearances on NPR and D – All Things Digital, the other Emily has had some hard-hitting pieces of her own (on a rather crudely named oral sex website that we won’t mention here),  not to mention some top-notch investigative work for the venerable Intensities in 10 Cities series.

Some other same-named reporters and porn stars (repornsters?) are:

Tracy Smith: CBS says she is a correspondent for CBS News Sunday Morning and also a reporter for the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. But there is another Tracy Smith who has starred in Web of Seduction and Balls of Thunder.  (We truly recommend against attempting a Google Image Search at work.)

Brooke Anderson: Is not just the name of CNN’s culture and entertainment reporter, as well as co-host of Showbiz Tonight, but also the name of “big (bosom) teen sensation.” Good to know.

Jenna Lee is a Fox Business anchor — not to be confused with the star of Mind of a Horny Woman 4.

Josh Elliott: Proof that this list is not just for women, Josh Elliott is a co-anchor of ESPN’s SportsCenter. But, if you drop one of the t’s, you can easily come across the well-endowed star of Mating Season.

The list could go on and on, and we could even start stretching it to include close calls (this might include one “Anderson Pooper,” although actually that’s a cat. This link is totally safe for work). And the truth is that many of these are probably not the names given at birth, but rather chosen by ambitious “go-getters” eager to appeal to a mainstream audience. Who knows, the next time a local weatherman wants to make a move into a bigger media market, maybe that bluescreen behind him will start showing a different sort of high-pressure zones. If you know what we mean.

Jonah Bliss is an editorial intern at Mediaite.