. >> now, erin, mr. cain also said this, explaining the relationship with the new accuser -- >> trying to help a friend because not having a job, et cetera, and this sort of thing. that's all there is to the relationship. and here again, i don't know what's going to be claimed in the story. it was someone who was supposed to be a friend, but obviously they didn't see it as a friendship. >> now, he's trying to get ahead of the story by going on earlier before it came out. was that smart or not, erin? >> it depends on what there is. if it comes that there are pictures or hotel receipts or text messages of some kind that prove him wrong, he's in trouble. he should have gotten out in front of the story before, if he knew this was coming. gingrich has affairs in his past but we knew about them. people don't seem to care about gingrich's past as much. but cain -- these accusations are new. if we see some evidence, he's in trouble. >> perry, mr. cain's attorney just released this statement. let me show you to i

my apologies for erin mcpike for losing her shot. we hope she has a great thanksgiving, too. >>> folks, last night we saw another case of romney fudging the truth, and it wasn't in his ad. take a look. >> i'm mitt romney. yes, wolf, that's also my first name. >> what? mitt isn't your first name. it's willard, willard mitt romney. that's been your name your whole life. but willard, i'm a little hurt. if you forgot your real name, you must not be watching "politicsnation" because i remind you. >> willard mitt romney has done it again. >> willard mitt romney says -- >> maybe you can break that down from willard east. >> willard, willard, willard, you never cease to amaze me. >> governor romney, your name is willard. if not, i'd like to see your long form birth certificate, please. >>> ahead, you won't believe what conservatives are saying now about the occupy wall street movement. and we are moments away from crowing the "politicsnation" turkey of the year. it was a tough call this year. the top turkey revealed next. this new at&t 4g lt

he'll be up with some ads in new hampshire tom orrow. >> erin, one of the things that was stunning to me, the thanksgiving forum, rick santorum actually said suffering, i mean like it was just all right to suffer. look at this. >> suffering, if you're a christian, suffering is part of life, and it's not a bad thing. it is an essential thing in life, and that, we -- we suff -- there are all different ways to suffer. one way to suffer is through lack of shelter and food and another way to suffer is lack of dignity and hope and there's all sorts of ways that people suffer, and it's not just tangible. >> i mean, suffering is a part of life, but do we need a presidential candidate to act like that's expected? yeah, i'm a christian, rick. i understand the crucifixion. i also kept reading we got to the resurrection, rick. you don't just stop at the suffering. you talk about how you suffer through until you can resurrect. what are they talking about? get a bath, get a job. suffering's part of life. it's all right. have they lost it? >> as far as rick santorum is concerned, let's just remember

. >> that's erin burnett laying out the case for this long-term austerity vision. and then, you know, there's a case embedded in what erin burnett was saying in how -- i think there was a case that made to the run up of the debt ceiling deal. the long term cbo physical projections in the out years are producing in this moment uncertainty, anxiety, paralysis among the job creators that is at the cause of the stalled recovery. do you think that's a strong argument? >> well, the argument that i find more compelling relates actually to an argument that representative cohen raised earlier on. when he was raised about defense expenditures, he mentioned these guys are evasively spread. and that creates a dynamic in which we tend to spend more and more. that's an upward ratchet. they make themselves a strong political coalition. i would argue if you look at medical providers, you see a more persuasive political -- you see where we will cut x amount of spending, and that's interpreted as you are attacking people that want medical care, rather than let's saying let's raise m

greengate farm, located on the outskirts of austin, texas, is run by erin flynn and skip conner. they raise rare breed hogs in a wide range of organically grown vegetables. >> farming there is heavy up-front costs, a barn, a tractor, fencing, that you know, it takes a long time before you're going to see a profit. >> just finished our taxes and we broke even. we've been farming in the worst drought in history here this past year. >> green gate is a very small, very local business. it provides food for about 100 families a year. and at the same time, provides income to a fair number of other local businesses and suppliers. >> we're growing. they need organic feed that supports the feed mill. we need fencing. that supports the supply stores. then there's a butcher i need to hire who's going to start making sausages who will sell it to a restaurant. >> more and more local business owners are discovering that spending their money within the community brings a boost to the local economy. >> there's a buy local movement is when you buy local the money stays in the community so it's bet

erin, great to have you here. we all know the story that was inspired by what happened and what we saw on the big screen. again, you won that big, large settlement, the largest one in history, and julia got her oscar out of it. but the inspiration for this book, "hot water," where'd it come from? >> it came from the people, about the cases like out in hinkley, california. and hinkley's not an isolated incident. there are thousands upon thousands of them throughout the u.s. i get tens of thousands of e-mails a month. and it's through hearing people's stories, looking at issues we're not looking at, all the daunting tasks that are in front of us, people tuning a deaf ear. i thought, what a better way to create a character that we could aspire to that exists in all of us anyway about some real issues and hope that people read it, enjoy it, know that they can become a.j. palladino, their own hero, and that's why. >> when you see activism that's going on today with occupy wall street, are you inspired by what you see p

they wrote expensively on the measure and erin joins me. you say this is a moment of truth. why do you say that? >> it's gotten heated in mississippi. nobody thought it was going to be this close. we have a moment of truth where we have people confronting the measure and saying what about ivf? what about birth control and in vitro. they would put such stringent regulations on the way embryos would be treat and they would shut the doors and leave the state because the practices would be illegal. >> that has conservatives and even haley barber concerned. let's me play what the governor had to say just an hour ago. let's play it. >> it does concern me. i think it is unnecessarily ambiguousuous and could have said live begins at conception, period. i don't understand why it has cloning in it. it's already illegal and it mentioned the equivalent there of. does that mean in vitro fertilization? >> a lot of people are talking about the national implication here. let me stop the map because other states who may follow mississippi's footsteps, florida, ohio and montana looking at sim

and they think erin brockovich can help me, and they report it to me. >> that's fascinating. >> i saw a movie once and i think i should e-mail that woman. >> yeah, that would be my alias, julia roberts. >> yeah, i wonder if she gets hundreds of e-mails reporting clusters. >> i don't know. well, that's the point here. if we don't look to what the people are saying to us, what is happening to them, and in some way be able to report it effectively, then we're never going to know. if nobody ever knows, then we will never find a solution. when i look at the map, it tells me there is something going on out there that we need to at least look at. >> and there are sites all over the country, and what is remarkable, just how many toxic sites there are around the country. michelle and i work in brooklyn, and there's a canal which i walk over every day, and there are super fun sites and toxic sites all over the place that people don't recognize. i nt to talk about lap! [ male announcer ] your favorite foodsing you? fight back fast with tums. calcium rich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing wor

any way, erin, who do you think had the best week? >> i don't think very many politicians had a very good week, but i would think newt gingrich had the best week. >> he is moving up in the polls, that's for sure. joanne? >> i'm going to give mitt romney the best week in politics because everyone ignored him. any time people are ignoring mitt romney, it's a good week. >> that seems to be his m.o. he flies under the radar and stays slow and steady. okay, let's get to the worst week in politics. joe, who do you think? >> herman cain because of these nagging allegations. it's no fun of course to have your campaign be about whether or not you did something 15 years ago or not. so from that stand point, it was a tough week for him, but he managed to survive. >> i guess my wisecrack earlier, i'm sorry. >> no problem. >> erin, worst week? >> i also have to go with herman cain. to joe's point earlier, you know, as far as polls are concerned, yes, he's still at the top, but sometimes these allegations take a week to cycle through. i don't know

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