To all the millions of victims of superstorm Sandy, Chris Matthews has a message: “I’m so glad.”

The MSNBC host, on a panel of pro-Obama pundits including Rachel Maddow, ended election coverage overnight by saying he’s “glad” the storm hit, suggesting it served a greater good by boosting President Obama to a second term.

“I’m so glad we had that storm last week,” Matthews said, after interjecting to give some final thoughts. Somebody off-screen could be heard saying “ooo” at that remark, but Matthews confidently put his hand up to explain.

“No, politically I should say — not in terms of hurting people. The storm brought in possibilities for good politics,” he said.

Click to see the video. 

The death toll from that storm, which caused billions of dollars in damage, now exceeds 100. Many in the path of the storm’s wrath — in New Jersey, New York and elsewhere — lost their homes or their cars or were otherwise displaced. The storm wreaked havoc on Election Day, as officials scrambled to facilitate the vote with many precincts facing power outages and fuel shortages.

Some analysts did say the storm boosted Obama’s image by allowing him to show a bipartisan side — reaching out to Republican Gov. Chris Christie, who publicly thanked Obama for the federal government’s support — and effectively sidelining Mitt Romney for a few days one week before the election.

Exit polls also showed about four in 10 voters said Obama’s response to Sandy was important to their vote, and they backed the president by more than a 2-to-1 margin.

Matthews, though, was oddly upbeat in describing the political impact. He made the Sandy comment after ripping Republicans for their “assault” on the president.

“I am so proud of the country. To re-elect this president and overcoming — not because of the partisanship or even the policies — just the fact, here’s an African guy,  African-American guy with an unusual background — part immigrant background, part African-American background — with all this assault on him from day one. From Mitch McConnell, from the clowns out there that aren’t elected, never will be to anything,” he said. “And the way he took it, as someone said, with coolness and charm and dignity and just took it and took it and kept moving forward and doing his job. … A good day for America.”

more at Chris Matthews on Obama win: ‘I’m so glad we had that storm’ | Fox News.

A Pennsylvania judge issued an order Tuesday to reinstate Republican election officials across Philadelphia who allegedly were ejected or refused entry by on-site Democratic voting chief judges.

One Republican official claimed that “just under 70” Republican election officials were blocked from Philadelphia polling sites Tuesday morning by Democrats on site. One of them, the official claimed, “was shoved out of the polling place.”

“For this many inspectors to be ejected from polling places is rare, even for Philadelphia,” the official told FoxNews.com.

It was one of several controversies surfacing in Pennsylvania’s largest city on Election Day.

One polling site in Philadelphia apparently had a mural of President Obama emblazoned on the wall directly behind the voting machines. The mural, at a local school being used as a polling site, contained the words “change!” and “hope,” along with a quote from the president.

Republicans were drawing attention to the image Tuesday morning, with one Mitt Romney spokesman tweeting: “Voters in Philly’s Ward 35 are being forced to cast their ballots next to this.”

“It is an absolute disgrace,” said Shannon Royer, deputy secretary for external affairs and elections in Pennsylvania. “Election materials and electioneering inside the polling place are prohibited by state law. This can be interpreted as trying to influence voters inside the polling place. I am told discussions are going on now about covering the mural.”

Pennsylvania election law states “no person within a polling place may electioneer or solicit votes for any political party, political body, or candidate, nor may any unauthorized written or  printed materials be posted within the polling place.”

Elsewhere in the city, a representative from the New Black Panther Party was also spotted outside a polling site. The New Black Panthers stirred controversy in 2008 when members appeared outside a polling site, one of them holding a billy club. The representative seen Tuesday morning was not armed.

The flap over the election judges, though, was widespread. Republicans claim they are obtaining a series of court orders to seat the so-called election “inspectors,” and sheriff’s deputies will be available to escort them.

Despite the high number of officials who were allegedly booted, the dispute itself is not uncommon for Philadelphia. Fred Voigt, legal counsel for the city commissioners, said these kinds of face-offs happen “with regularity” in the City of Brotherly Love.

“It happens all the time,” Voigt said. He said court-appointed Republican officials typically show up on Election Day and end up squaring off against stand-in officials at the polling sites filling in the open seats. Part of the problem, he said, is that the Republican inspectors are appointed on relatively short notice, leading to a string of confrontations on Election Day.

“There are no cool heads here,” Voigt said.

The on-site election officials are responsible for verifying the identity of voters, and monitoring for signs of fraud or disenfranchisement.

more at  Funny business in Philly: GOP officials booted, Black Panthers return — and Obama at polling site? | Fox News

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Two people were shot dead and eight wounded during a shooting rampage at chicken processing plant in Fresno, Calif., KMPH.com reported.

Details of the shooting and victims are unclear, but dozens of police officers are at the scene. Streets in the area are closed. The incident is considered a workplace shooting, and police believe the gunman sought out one particular person. He reportedly shot the person and turned the gun on others.

He left the facility, which holds about 16 employees, and fatally shot himself, the report said.

more at 2 dead, 8 wounded after shooting rampage at California chicken plant | Fox News.

U.S. intelligence officials knew within 24 hours of the assault on the U.S. Consulate in Libya that it was a terrorist attack and suspected Al Qaeda-tied elements were involved, sources told Fox News — though it took the administration a week to acknowledge it.

The account sharply conflicts with claims on the Sunday after the attack by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice that the administration believed the strike was a “spontaneous” event triggered by protests in Egypt over an anti-Islam film.

Two senior U.S. officials said that the Obama administration internally labeled the attack terrorism from the first day in order to unlock and mobilize certain resources to respond, and that officials were looking for one specific suspect. The officials said the intelligence community knew by Sept. 12 that the militant Ansar al-Shariah and Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb were likely behind the strike.
Further, an official said, “No one … believed that the mortars, indirect and direct fire, and the RPGs were just the work of a mob — no one.

Yet a congressional source told Fox News that CIA Director David Petraeus, during a briefing with members of the House Intelligence Committee three days after the attack, espoused the view that Benghazi was an out-of-control demonstration prompted by the YouTube video. According to the source, this was “shocking” to some members who were present and saw the same intelligence pointing toward a terrorist attack.

In addition, sources confirm that FBI agents have not yet arrived in Benghazi in the aftermath of the attack. Four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, were killed in the assault.

The claims that officials initially classified the attack as terrorism is sure to raise serious questions among lawmakers who from the beginning have challenged the narrative the administration put out in the week following the strike. A few Republican lawmakers have gone so far as to suggest the administration withheld key facts about the assault for political reasons.

I think we should have answers right away. … I think they’re reluctant to tell us what this event really was probably because it’s an election year. But the American people deserve to know answers about what happened at our embassy in Libya,” Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., told Fox News.

One intelligence official clarified to Fox News that there was not a “definitive” lead on who might have been responsible for the Libya attacks in the immediate aftermath, though officials had an idea of the suspects.

It’s inaccurate to suggest that within the first 24 hours there was a definitive calling card and home address for the perpetrators of the Benghazi attack. Potential suspects and data points emerge early on, but it still takes time to be certain who is responsible,” the official said.

Curiously, Obama referred to “acts of terror” in his first public remarks about the attack. But from there, administration officials went on to blame the anti-Islam film.

Rice was the most explicit in that explanation, insisting on a slew of Sunday shows that the attack was not pre-planned and was tied to the film.

more  US officials knew Libya attack was terrorism within 24 hours, sources confirm | Fox News.