RELATED: Herman Cain Defends Rick Santorum’s ‘Black People’ Comment On The View

Host Neil Cavuto was discussing Romney’s chances– as well as other frontrunners– after a particularly strenuous primary season. “You guys were beating each other up so badly,” Cavuto noted (to which Cain protested, “I wasn’t beating anybody up!”), “are they just damaged goods?”

Cain replied that he did not believe so; on the contrary, he thought once the Republicans had a “kumbaya” moment, they’d be in good shape. That said, if Romney became the nominee, “he still has to do something dramatic to bring everyone together.”

Dramatic? “He could put a very well-liked conservative on the ticket.”

Like Chris Christie! “I don’t think he’s considered a conservative. In fact, I think that could backfire.”

Cain explained that the problem with Christie was that he would “not cause conservatives to rally around” and “could do more harm than good.” Instead, Cain had another proposition– one that he clarified was not at all “self-promotion.” “What if he adopted 999?”

The segment via Fox News below:

RELATED: Newt Gingrich Touts Sarah Palin As Potential Running Mate Or Cabinet Secretary

Wearing a rather eye-catching fleece, pearl, and American flag ensemble, Palin gave her assessment of the 2012 field, insisted that the Republican field was set and she was not interested in a run, and then turned to other potential candidates. Bolling asked the former Vice Presidential candidate whether she believed there was room for Trump later in the race. Palin reacted with outrage towards those that mock the Apprentice host.

“I’m getting pretty sick and tired of people condemning and cutting down Donald Trump,” she told Bolling, “for calling it like he sees it and exercising his right as an American to express his views.” She added that she personally couldn’t consider a third party run because “I believe, personally, that a third party candidacy will allow some greater assurance that Barack Obama would be reelected and that’s the last thing on Earth I want to see happened,” but that she defended Trump’s right to consider it.

Palin also went after Republican candidates who refused to participate in a debate moderated by Trump, saying “a lot of them turned on them unfairly, unnecessarily I think.” She didn’t maintain that the criticism was exclusively for the candidates, but for anyone going off on Trump: “enough is enough shut up about it, don’t vote for him if he’s a third party candidate.”

When Bolling turned to another potential third party candidate, Rep. Ron Paul, Palin agreed that he had “the right to decide to perhaps mount a third party candidacy,” but again saw the scenario was one in which “the power of the incumbency [is] strengthened.”

The segment via Fox News below:

Neil Cavuto then suggested that maybe he should switch from coffee to Prozac. Zing!

It’s a funny little interview with a clearly very embarrassed Walsh and an extremely amused Cavuto who spends the entire time displaying an absolutely classic Cavuto smirk.

Watch the clip from Fox News below:

The celebs had sent Neil Cavuto messages with memories and good wishes– from Trump’s assertion of how great everything at Fox is to Suzanne Somers thanking Cavuto for letting her talk about things he didn’t seem particularly interested in. It’s short and sweet, and ends with a Richard Simmons aerobics class dancing and cheering as Simmons professes to Cavuto: “you know I adore you and I love you more than fried chicken!”

The birthday highlight reel via Fox News, below:

As this is Trump, however, he did add a caveat: “I don’t think that’s going to happen because the first thing you have to do is get rid of Obamacare and I don’t see that in the cards, but I would be so happy if he turned out to be a great president, but it is just not happening.”

When asked by Cavuto about why Republican candidates like Rick Perry and Mitt Romney were being all buddy-buddy with him, Trump said he thought they respected his views. “I think they respect I have a big following of people that are tired of seeing this country being ripped off by other nations like China.”

Cavuto asked Trump what he thought of Herman Cain‘s recent momentum. Trump gave the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO props for his recent successes and looked forward to meeting up. “He should be very proud of himself, he is doing a good job, a good guy, people like him a lot. I like him. I think he is a really good guy and I look forward to meeting him.”

Watch the segment below, via Fox News:

Cavuto introduced the candidate asking about his general platform, which mostly seems to consist of opposition to Planned Parenthood and, by proxy, Speaker Boehner for having voted to fund it. “It is an organization that murders babies,” he told Cavuto dramatically, which led Cavuto to attempt to change the subject to any other platform issues. That resulted in Lewis noting, “I am the Tea Party candidate… John Boehner is a socialist.” Cavuto, flabbergasted, attempted to dispute that, with Lewis clarifying, “I’m not calling names– it’s an economic policy.” He didn’t particularly elaborate how this economic policy was visible in Speaker Boehner’s views other than saying “here’s someone that refuses to phase out Social Security.”

The bizarre comments led Cavuto to question whether Lewis was an actual Tea Party-backed candidate (as the Tea Party has no central leadership, it is entirely possible to claim to be a member of the Tea Party without having the support of any one individual or group). “I think so,” Lewis replied, arguing that “the Tea Party is still trying to figure out whether they believe in socialist policies.” That last bit will probably come as a surprise to anyone else who associates themselves with the Tea Party, as their views on socialism are the only unifying tenet of the movement.

In any case, the interview continued awkwardly in this vein, with Cavuto trying to get answers out of Lewis that made for some coherent views and instead getting comments like “Planned Parenthood is a criminal syndicate.” One can’t help but notice a bit of regret, or at least confusion, on Cavuto’s end at Lewis being given a national platform.

The segment via Fox News below:

Rhodes certainly didn’t receive a hero’s welcome as Cavuto made a point to bring up critics’ accusations that Rhodes had been shouting during the President’s speech and that he had purposefully positioned himself where he knew he could make a “media show” of a pre-planned confrontation. Rhodes was quick to explain that he had sat “politely” through the entire speech.

Mostly though, Cavuto let Rhodes do the talking, objectively asking for his response to each of the President’s statements as well as to the fact that the President had engaged him at all. And Rhodes made sure to describe the interaction as much less hostile than some have made it out to be.

Cavuto summed it up, “Well, you’re a gutsy guy if nothing else.”

Watch the interview from Fox News below:

“This just in,” a dramatic Cavuto introduced his segment– “Lindsay Lohan has had it, and we are so on top of it.” Cavuto praised “our tight-dressed doll” for pointing out that the Federal Reserve printing so much money has caused very high food prices, and let Judge Napolitano take it away. “I love her!” he exclaimed, laughing, fleshing out the theory in her tweet. “A reason food prices have gone up is because we have too much money chasing too few goods… the natural reaction is inflation.”

While the segment was mostly light-hearted, Judge Napolitano explained that there was a very serious point to be made about the appeal of small government when stars like Lohan take to their public pedestals to decry the policies of the Fed. “I think that Ron Paul and a lot of other sound-dollar, small government people have succeeded in generating the conversation in this direction,” he explained. “The fact that Lindsay Lohan is talking about the Fed is anecdotal only, but representative of a vast array of voters who understand what the Fed does, how it’s out of control, that it has no transparency, that it can run its own foreign policy, that it has more money to spend that Congress does.”

In the end, Lohan’s politics seem to have won both Cavuto and Judge Napolitano over, as the latter concludes that her thinking has led her to the same conclusions they have both arrived at. Between her “No H8″ avatar on Twitter and her attacks on the Fed, Lohan may be positioning herself to be one of the most prominent libertarian celebrity voices in America– now if she could just keep herself out of the courthouse.

Update: Lawrence O’Donnell reported on this tweet tonight, and revealed that it had been bought.

The segment via Fox News below:

Cavuto was noticeably excited to have Smith on the show, though it became readily apparent he didn’t just want him there for his insights on the military. “These are the people that make these events possible,” he beamed, referring to the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden, adding that he was “very lucky, very fortunate, very blessed” to have a former SEAL on the program. Then he got to the flirting.

“There are two things I’ve been trying to work on,” he said rather jokingly, but not quite jokingly enough. The two things he wanted out of Smith? “Getting his take on all of this, and seeing if he would be interested in going out with my daughter.” Upon first instance, Smith laughed it off and got to the business of the day– how exhilarating it was to watch the President thank his colleagues and the glory they bring to the nation. Cavuto was only partly interested in that, however, concluding the interview with a reminder that “I’ll give you the details on my daughter and her email and all that.” “I’m blushing past my makeup,” Smith laughed, though he appeared genuinely bashful, to Cavuto’s delight. But no matter how Smith blushed through the moment, we can only imagine what the poor damsel back home must’ve felt like, having every teen daughter’s nightmare play out on national television, during a business news program.

The awkward but adorable exchange via Fox News below:



[h/t TV Newser]

For those of you who have already forgotten (a lot– mostly major global crises– has happened in the time Paul took his short break), Rand Paul is the proudly libertarian son of proud libertarian Congressman/Doctor/Presidential candidate Ron Paul, who successfully got the mainstream media to talk about 40-year-old unanimously-beloved legislation almost non-stop for a week instead of discussing, say, the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Not that the 1964 Civil Rights Act was particularly relevant to his Senate bid, but it still put him on the defensive and immortalized him as one of three people to ever to cancel on Meet the Press (the other two are Nation of Islam head Louis Farrakhan and Saudi Arabia’s Prince Bandar).

After taking some time to regroup off-camera, Paul returned to the national spotlight on Your World yesterday to defend his name and that of the Tea Party from the recent attacks. Cavuto made him reiterate that, no, he is not against the Civil Rights Act, nor did he ever make the Civil Rights Act a campaign issue. That, he said, came from “people who want to make the Tea Party something it’s not, people who want characterize me as someone who I am not,” like the New York Times, he continued, who “blatantly got it wrong when they read the transcript of the show that I was on, and even the show that I was on, which was on a left-wing network, corrected the New York Times” the show he references is Rachel Maddow). The reason for their blatant dishonesty? “Everybody wants a punching bag, and I was it there for a week.”

He also clarified rumors of a campaign shake-up after his civil rights scandal– “no one was hired; no one was fired,” he explained. Only some people, namely, his campaign manager, got promoted. But he couldn’t end the interview without making at least one controversial statement: BP shouldn’t be “villified,” because it wouldn’t be constructive. “If you villify them and put them in jail, no one will be left to clean up the mess.” If it seems Paul is missing something big in this analysis, remember: doesn’t really believe in competent government all that much.

Video of the interview below:

Today, I asked Gibbs to respond to Cavuto’s invitation, and he did correct the record. There were two loony Bush figures on Fox that day.

Gibbs replied that he was thinking of a different Fox News show, Fox & Friends, on which the allegation of sabotage was made:

Transcript:

Tommy Christopher: Yes, one more. The Neil Cavuto thing — notwithstanding, again, the fact that what Michael Brown said was only slightly less crazy than what you said he said –

MR. GIBBS: Yes, I will say this — can I say this to Neil? I was — I apparently had the wrong FOX show. There were two references on “FOX & Friends” to the deliberate nature of the spill being set. Sometimes –

Tommy Christopher: That wasn’t Brown, it was somebody else?

MR. GIBBS: Yes. Sometimes I get it all mixed up.

Here’s the clip from Fox & Friends, in which former Bush Press Secretary Dana Perino launches the sabotage theory, and “Happy Hour” host Eric Bolling puts a cherry on top:


Although Perino doesn’t actually say it was the Obama administration that committed the sabotage, her extension of the theory is that they let the spill worsen, just like Brown.

While Gibbs did make a mistake when he described Brown’s appearance on Your World, this might actually end up benefiting him, as he ends up getting two shots at Fox for the price of one.

Gibbs accused former FEMA director during Hurricane Katrina Michael Brown of suggesting that the White House deliberately set off the oil spill to impact energy policy. As our own Tommy Christopher pointed out yesterday, this wasn’t quite right. “No, no, he didn’t say that, Robert,” Cavuto corrected him. “Michael Brown never said the administration deliberately set off the leak. Not once, not ever.” He then played the clip from his program yesterday where Brown suggested a deliberate delay in the response to the disaster, not direct involvement with creating it.

Cavuto also answered a question that many– including we here at Mediaite– had upon seeing Brown on TV again after half a decade: why? In response to Gibbs’ version of Brown’s argument, Cavuto said:

“That is beyond laughable. Here is what is not: dismissing what Mr. Brown did say about a president who may have botched a lot since that Gulf spill, just as Mr. Brown argued the last president did in the immediate aftermath of that Gulf hurricane. He was criticizing his old boss. Mr. Brown says he has become an expert on botched responses: that is why I had Michael Brown on. Robert Gibbs seems to have done the same for botched White House pressers– that is why I invite him on.”

Those are fighting words, though as amazing as it would be to watch Cavuto and Gibbs go at it in person, this prospect seems to have little viability.We’ll have to wait to see how Gibbs responds, if he does.

Your World segment below:

News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch was on FNC’s Your World today to talk about the news and other stories.

Here’s the Fox News section of the News Corp. earnings report:

Cable Network Programming reported strong third quarter segment operating income of $588 million, an increase of $162 million over the third quarter a year ago. This 38% growth primarily reflects double-digit contribution increases from the FOX News Channel (FNC), the Regional Sports Networks (RSNs), FX, the Fox International Channels and STAR.

FNC achieved its highest ever quarterly profit, increasing its operating income 31% over the third quarter a year ago primarily from affiliate revenue rate increases and higher advertising revenue while maintaining its cost base. Viewership at FNC was at its highest level ever during the quarter with ratings 188% greater than its nearest competitor in prime-time and 157% higher on a 24-hour basis. For the second consecutive quarter, FNC had the top thirteen shows in all cable news.

Murdoch was a guest on Your World, and the interview re-airs at 6pmET on Fox Business Network and Cavuto’s other show. He was first asked about the earnings. “I wish they were always like that,” he said. “But, you know, we’re comparing with a pretty bad year.”

As for Fox News, he briefly touched on White House relations:

Very good. I was down there on Saturday at the White House Correspondents Dinner and I had very friendly word with several of the staff there…I’m sure they don’t like Fox News, of course, or The Wall Street Journal, but we have a very civil, personal relationship.

Here’s video:

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The first half of the piece, though, is pretty interminable. The pair go through a series of awkward jokes like a subpar version of the appearances Simmons used to make with Dave Letterman with only vague references to a green room spat between Simmons and John Stossel to keep things interesting (we can only assume that they had a bushy-off of Simmons’ afro and Stossel’s moustache). But then, at the six and a half minute mark, Cavuto mentions an article he read describing Simmons as one of the country’s “most likable television entities” and the guest is touched, coming close to tears.

“I’ve never lied to the people. I’ve always told them to love themselves, move their body, and to watch their portions. For 38 years, Neil, that’s the only thing I’ve told them. And, after 38 years, I’ve never jumped on any other bandwagons for stupid diets, shots, or pills, or anything. I am very worried about our young people and we need to take care of them or they’re not going to live as long as their parents. And this is really something very important to me. And it’s my life dream to be able to go and continue going to schools and teaching them about stretching and aerobics, cardio, and strength training. Because I want them to have a better life than I did.”

Richard Simmons may be a little overbearing, but you have to give the man some credit. He believes in what he does and he has a noble cause. And Cavuto does get a pretty good joke in at the end of the segment. After all the serious talk, Simmons goes back to asking his host to send him a present to apologize for doubting the Fit Kids Act. Simmons suggests roses. Cavuto deadpans that a White Castle gift certificate probably wouldn’t be the best idea.

And it didn’t take long before each were shouting their points of views.

First, some background: the New York Times, which broke the story earlier this week, writes about the “thousands of e-mails and documents” that came from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia that have come to light, causing more arguments about the truth behind global warming:

Some of the e-mails and files are impolite, revealing deep grudges between scientists and skeptics. Others are mundane announcements of upcoming conferences or research trips.

But by the end of last week, climate skeptics were busy posting and analyzing CRU e-mails and files they say justify their objections to mainstream climate science, including the idea that humans are driving global warming.

“Do you ever think that maybe you’re wrong about global warming?” asked Varney, which Begley very strongly did not. “You can be skeptical but not deniable,” he said.

When Varney started talking about the government ‘coming into our homes’ when it comes to environmental regulations, Begley started to get worked up. “Stop this scare tactic!” he said. Also, this exchange:

Begley: You’re spewing your nonsense here yet again. The air in LA is twice as clean as it was in 1970, why? Because of good technology.
Varney: That’s got nothing to do with global warming.
Begley: It has everything to do with good science.

Earlier in the interview, Begley invoked the name of another Fox News host. “Go to somebody you trust, National Geographic,” he said. “Don’t get it from you or me, Don’t get it from Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck.”

Beck, for his part, spent a portion of his show Monday discussing Climategate, saying, “If your gut said wait a minute this glob warming thing it sounds like a scam, well I think you’re seeing it now.” Today, Pres. Obama announced he will travel to Copenhagen for next month’s climate summit – a decision sure to keep the climate debate strong.

For another completely different look at Climategate, check out this YouTube JibJab-like video on the leaked emails and what they may mean.

Here’s the fiery interview:

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Today Neil Cavuto devoted an entire section of the A-block of his Fox News show Your World to a discussion about how best to remove a door. This is politically analogous to the “closed door” sessions that are occurring right now regarding the health care bill. But, really, it was about doors.

There were many chyrons we could have chosen here, but we went with, “How To Force A ‘Closed Door’ Open.” Teaching him this technique was John Galka, the owner of the “Mr. Handyman” franchise.

So here’s the backstory: For nine days (“Door-Gate Day 9″ is the logo now), Cavuto and some other Fox News hosts have made stories out of the symbolic closed door when it comes to health care, and on Friday, Cavuto drove the point home in a commentary, ominously titled, “The Door Is Shut Like Their Minds.” (Video at the end.)

Now we’re at Day 9 of this, so we get door experts. The segment mainly consisted of door-related jokes that should play well with the construction worker demo. “There’s the pocket door, right? That might be an acceptable solution,” said Cavuto. “Certainly the biggest issue is, though you have doors that are constantly being locked, and there’s no access, really – get rid of that door,” said Galka. Get it?

We can’t wait to see what Cavuto has planned for Door-gate Day 10…

Do you have a pick for Chyron of the Day? Email me at Steve@mediaite.com. Check out all the past Chyrons of the Day here.

And here’s the segment from Friday, “The Door Is Shut Like Their Minds”:

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It started with a news report by James Rosen this afternoon, continued with Neil Cavuto and was followed by Glenn Beck. Here’s a look at the self-coverage:

“The Obama Administration is injecting a new wrinkle into the debate between the executive branch and the so-called fourth estate, by publicly setting its sites primarily on one specific news organization,” said anchor Trace Gallagher before Rosen’s report. “This one.”

It’s expected for FNC to cover the story – considering how much delight it has taken in irking the Obama White House. It’s a strategy that is an extension of their current policy, as they play up the feud just as much as the White House is. From news to opinion, Fox News has their feud story covered.

The Rosen segment (via Johnny Dollar) is below. One note is that Rosen says a White House aide informed Fox News Pres. Obama would not be appearing on the network, and specifically any news programs, at all this year:

Here’s Cavuto:

>>> NEXT PAGE: Glenn Beck’s segment, and Brit Hume weighs in.

We got a look at some excerpts – including shots at Dan Rather, David Letterman and even his new colleague Glenn Beck.

Apparently Imus is not a fan of Rather, and didn’t have anything nice to say about the guy who Cavuto interviewed yesterday:

He’s crazy. He’s a nice guy but he’s insane. Just go to Florida and put on a sweater and play bocce ball. He acted like a lunatic there [at CBS]. At some point when you work for these big corporations, whether it’s News Corp or GE or CBS, when you start to get so nuts that the stock holders start complaining and they start to have board meetings and they say do we need this, the answer is no we don’t need this.

Moving on! Staying in the CBS family, here’s Imus taking some shots at David Letterman in the wake of the extortion and sex with staffers revelations.

I’ve always thought he was a creep anyway..He’s an angry mean spirited jerk…He’s a punk. Fundamentally if you are married or you have a commitment you should honor that. I’m not stupid and I know some people don’t but that what I do and what people should do.

Imus also said that when he worked at CBS, he watched a human resources film that relayed to employees that you’re “not supposed to have sex with the staff whether you’re married or not.”

And finally, when asked by Cavuto what he thinks of his new Fox family, he had this to say about Glenn Beck:

Don’t’ start with me, you’ve got nuts in this building and I’m not one of them…I love Glenn, but I’ll tell you this, it doesn’t end well.

Also discussed, the Rutgers comments, whether he thinks he should have been fired (he does) and how he ended up coming to FBN. Needless to say it should be a very lively interview.

Imus brings a big fan base with him, and if he keeps making comments like this, getting attention, something Imus has consistently been very good at, should be no problem at all. Will it end up paying off for FBN? We’ll see (and we’ll revisit Monday).

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He’ll make his first comments since the dismissal tomorrow – on Fox News.

Mediaite has learned Neil Cavuto will have the exclusive interview with Rather tomorrow on his 4pmET show Your World. It will also be on his Fox Business Network program at 6pmET.

Rather’s next plan of action – his lawyer hinted at an appeal yesterday – will be discussed.

The decision to talk to Cavuto first is not a surprise. Rather has appeared on his show several times in the past. Here is one of those appearances:

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