herman cain is an art project. herman cain is an art project. herman cain is an art project. the whole beltway allegation of the sexual harassment allegations is how the allegations hurt his standings in the poll. it may be more useful to note whether or not the herman cain sexual harassment allegations cause him to hire any staff. to handle these allegations and the other responsibilities of campaigning. as far as we can tell, herman cain still has no real campaign staff to speak of. in any early states or nationally beyond a few americans for prosperity koch brothers guys who have worked with him from the beginning. this lack of a campaign structure, this lack of having a real campaign not only made it really hard to get over the sexual harassment abuse allegations, it's now showing itself in some ugly new ways. one of the things a campaign does is better or worse raises money off a candidate's popularity. the fact herman cain does not have a real campaign to do that has not left him completely unable to raise money but left him unable to capi

herman cain is an art project. herman cain is an art project. herman cain is an art project. the whole beltway allegation of the sexual harassment allegations is how the allegatio allegations hurt his standings in the poll. it may be more useful to note whether or not the herman cain sexual harassment allegations cause him to hire any staff. to handle these allegations and the other responsibilities of campaigning. as far as we can tell, herman cain still has no real campaign staff to speak of. in any early states or nationally beyond a few americans for prosperity koch brothers guys who have worked with him from the beginning. this lack of a campaign structure, this lack of having a real campaign not only made it really hard to get over the sexual harassment abuse allegations, it's now showing itself in some ugly new ways. one of the things a campaign does is better or worse raises money off a candidate's p populari popularity. the fact herman cain does not have a real campaign to do that has not left him completely unable to raise money but le

herman cain style. herman cain has figured out who leaked the cain sexual harassment story. cain laid it out to a friendly reporter at "forbes" magazine. the reporter was the author of this article last week -- "why herman cain has the potential to win." the story of intrigue and betrayal that cain told forbes began when herman cain is running for the united states senate in georgia. in the summer of 2003, cain recalls briefing anderson that sexual harassment claims were brought against him while he was chairman of the national restaurant association from 1996 to 1999. i told my wife about this in 1999 and i've got nothing to hide cain told me wednesday. when i sat down with my general campaign consultant kurt anderson in a private room in our campaign offices in 2003, we discussed opposition research on me. i told him that there was only one case, one set of charges, one woman, while i was at the national restaurant association. i don't recall anyone else being in the room when i told him." only one woman. talk about making a campaign consultant's day. only one woman. when'

she says herman cain invited her to his corporate apartment. she spoke with the "associated press" today on condition of anonymity fearing retaliation. remember, herman cain said he knows of no other accusers, but now this third one surfaced. his campaign is fighting back on the first two accusations and now it's pointing the finger at the perry camp. herman cain says this man, kurt anderson, is responsible for leaking the story to politico. mr. anderson was a consultant to herman cain when he was running for the senate back in 2003 and he knew vital information about herman cain which he could have given to the perry camp. well, herman cain's campaign manager, mark block, said this. >> the actions of the perry campaign are despicable. rick perry and his campaign owe herman cain and his family an apology. in 2003, herman cain ran for the senate. he hired a general consultant, curt anderson. mr. cain divulged the nra claims to -- >> national restaurant association. >> exactly. mr. anderson. so the campaign at that point would be prepared if the

politico delivers the deep dish on herman cain. does the candidate finally have his arms around this story? he's moving a lot. we have a lot to talk about. this is "the ed show." let's go work. >> i have never sexually harassed anyone. >> herman cain's reaction to the politico bombshell keeps evolving. >> we have no idea the source of this witch hunt. >> tonight, ken vogel of politico is here to defend his reporting. >>> meanwhile, the cain campaign can't get their story straight. right wingers are attacking liberals and herman cain is playing the clarence thomas card. steve kornacki, joan walsh on the fallout. >>> 99%ers protest eric cantor. elsewhere the occupy oakland talk of a general strike is getting louder. we'll ask labor strategist steven learner where all of this is headed. >>> in iowa, the aftermath of corporate greed. i'll talk about my trip to newton, iowa, on saturday, after whirlpool announced their latest rounds of layoffs. >>> and the muffin man's rant is debunked. >> i want to taste that muffin. know why? because

that's your cue, herman cain. >> tonight, the herman cain offensive. >> tell us what really happened. this is your chance. >> i wanted to make sure that i didn't miss any points. i have never acted inappropriately with anyone. period. >> woman accuses cain of groping. >> a story that is so inherently improbable on its face. >> if he denies that this happened, then he's calling her a liar. >> they simply didn't happen. i don't even know who this woman is. >> that had better be true. >> calling her a troubled woman. >> the democrat machine in america has brought forth a troubled woman. >> he's accusing the democratic machine. >> the democratic machine. >> he doesn't have any facts to back that up. >> some people don't want to see herman cain get the republican nomination. >> most professionals in the democratic party i know would love for herman cain to be the nominee. >> republican field is still in so much turmoil. >> you saw today that mitt romney came out. >> these are serious allegations. >> herman cain has to answer the charges. >> very troubling. >> we've seen a lot of surprises.

that's what herman cain would like to address. i suspect this current issue is going to keep on coming up. i have no doubt about that. john, what else is going on? what do you have for our north american viewers at the top of the hour? >> it's a fascinating time to be here. five of the candidates for president here are here for a big dinner tonight. we're trying to get the pulse of this state. there's no question cain and romney are atop the pack now. the tradition is you have to be here, do more retail politicking. we'll have live the man making the biggest move in the race, newt gingrich. he'll join us live. plus more of that conversation with senator santorum and governor brandstead. it's a great time to be out in iowa. 60 nights from tonight the first official votes in the 2012 presidential cycle. >> yeah. and newt gingrich, by the way, he's moving up as you point out in these polls. so we'll be watching at the top of the hour, john. thank you. >> we're also getting new information coming into "the situation room" about a seni

right now it's herman cain. to a certain extent, the infrastructure television, all of those kind of things matter as we move closer to voters voting. right now it's all about polls which are picking up a telephone, who do you like? list of names. on youly fourth of voters like herman cain today. >> he's a likable guy, donna, he plays that up and he's a likable guy. a great communicator. he's in the brands business, when he's in the business xhu s community and he's branded himself. when you look at these numbers what is the test for sustain ability. >> you can lead in the polls today but the bottom line is, do you have the organization to win? it's about recruiting delegates. it's about being able to put together an organization. cain has shown that he's likable, he's likable. he's been a doll in the religious right and conservative movement now for more than a decade. can he weather this current storm? can he weather the storms to come and win the republican nomination? >> billy tucker, does this matter to you

but herman cain is no bill clinton. joining me now are "time" magazine columnist joe klein who has a piece on the latest issue in the stands right now and melissa harris-perry a professor at tulane university and msnbc contributor. thank you both for joining me tonight. >> absolutely. >> joe klein, how much deja vu are you feeling here between the clinton and cain situation? >> absolutely none. although i'm feeling a bit nostalgic. as herman cain may say it is apples and freight trains. it is, in the clinton case, it was an act, several many, multiple acts of consensual sex. it was always consensual. in herman cain's case they had to pay two women to shut up. you know, it was a form of sexual harassment. now i think all of these things are overblown. i think this, given all of herman cain's other sins and almost near total ignorance is a drop in the bucket, but i think that in the end -- by the way, the real story of the gennifer flowers thing was that it with wasn't hurting clinton in the polls at all. what happened wi

the the herman cain she knows. >> it probably isn't the herman cain she knows. what wife wants to think that their husband is making inappropriate conduct and advances to women in the work place. obviously his wife gloria is not at his work place and was not there the night that sharon alleges this happens and she's been married to him more than 40 years. i'm sure she wants to think the best of him. but to trot her out and use her as a cover is really rather sad and i'm sure in her heart she wouldn't want to believe it. maybe she doesn't believe it. i don't know. we have the allegations of four women and my client doesn't even know the other three women saying that he sexually harassed them against the word of one man, herman cain, who has every motive to deny this. >> attorney gloria allred and dr. sic tore zuckerman, thank you both for joining me tonight. >>> coming up, sandusky speaks. an nbc news exclusive. the man accused of raping at least eight young boys. jerry sandusky at the center of the penn state sex abuse scandal speaks exclusively to bost bob cost

well so let's get to 2012 and herman cain. i wanted to get -- susan, i want to get initial reaction on the jobs numbers. kind of -- you know, the unemployment rate dropped from 9.1 to 9. 80,000 jobs less than what we thought the 100,000. total number of unemployed still 14 million. what's your first cut? >> well, the rate is going in the right direction. it's going down, not up. but this is disappointing, i think. the number of jobs created, just not enough to really indicate we're into a recovery that americans will think feels like a recovery and still no signs that in the next year that this jobless aggravate going to get enough better to boost -- >> mark zandi said 250 or 300,000 jobs created a month to get the rate to 8.5%. so ramesh. >> this remains a recovery in name only. americans who are looking for relief -- >> rino. just thought of that. another month. to be continued. >> and if the white house is looking for good economic news, it's going have to wait for another month, too. >> jennifer, as someone who is in charg

herman cain. there has been criticism about the fact that was reported on, a lot of defense of herman cain, a lot of insistence it couldn't be true. some of his loudest support has come from that direction, so --. >> thank you, maggie, roger, and thanks to the whole politico team for great reporting this week. >> thank you. >>> still to come tonight, inside this week's most famous lobbying operation, the national restaurant association, they are holding herman cain's secrets. they will decide tomorrow whether to release them. if they continue to hide his secrets, are you going to continue to help pay the salaries of the people who are hiding herman cain's secrets? are you going to continue to spend money at mcdonald's and burger king and disney world? and later, details have emerged about what mitt romney actually said in a closed-door meeting about abortion back when he was the prochoice governor of massachusetts. it is the thing now, the biggest thing now standing in his way of getting the repub

if herman cain -- herman cain is clarence thomas on steroids. they would say that clarence thomas was appointed. condoleezza rice, brill brilliant leaders at their time, were appointed. cain cane is getting sloat votes. this is tapping into the will of the american people. they are afraid of him. >> sean: they're afraid because it destroys the narrative of false lie that has been advanced for years that conservatives are racist. it shakes this to its core. all right. now, let me throw this out there your uncle -- >> yes. >> sean: martin luther king jr. talked about a colorblind society, judging people by the content of their character, not the color of their skin, words that resonate with people of good will around the world. right? these are the examples of the outrageous rhetoric. this is just one network. nbc -- i wonder if brian williams is proud of its network. one network and the things they have said since these allegations came up. >> we are going to see how open the guilt o.p. is to this -- their new black friend when they find out he i

happening now, herman cain. he's getting ready to speak out about new allegations of sexual harassment. we're standing by for a news conference by the embattled republican presidential candidate. also, a chilling new assessment of iran's nuclear capabilities. an atomic web is believed to be b in its reach. plus, the embarrassing conversation between president obama and the french president picked up on open microphone. what they said about benjamin netanyahu when they thought no netanyahu when they thought no one was listening. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> all eyes on herman cain right now. in one hour, the republican presidential candidate will speak out about the latest allegations of sexual harassment dogging his campaign. he's scheduled a news conference that we'll bring you live at the top of the next hour. it comes one day after a fourth woman said he groped her. we're also revealing details about one of the other accusers. jim acosta is following this for us. >> wolf, herman cain's campaign i

will herman cain survive this scandal? martin bashir will join me to sort it out. ♪ ♪ come with me, let's go ♪ ♪ come with me, let's go ♪ ♪ cruise like a norwegian ♪ ♪ oh, beautiful ♪ for spacious skies ♪ ♪ for amber waves of grain ♪ ♪ for purple mountain ♪ majesties ♪ ♪ oh, above the fruited plain ♪ well, now, wait a minute ♪ i'm talkin' about ♪ america ♪ sweet ♪ america ♪ god done shed his grace on thee ♪ [ male announcer ] for the first 100 years and for generations to come, thanks for making us a part of your life. ♪ yes, he did ♪ hey, with brotherhood you know, when i got him on e-trade he was all like "oh no, i cannot do investing." that's actually a perfect enzo. but after a couple educational videos, and a little hand holding from customer support... next thing you know he's got a stunning portfolio. now he's planning to retire in tuscany. we're both pretty emotional about it. shhhh, don't say a word. you're welcome. [ male announcer ] e-trade. investing unleashed.

take a look. >> a businessman by the name of herman cain. >> herman cain. >> 'is herman cain doing so well in the polls? >> herman cain doesn't have a chance. >> that's the person herman cain is. >> it was enough to get martin bashir thinking, where have i seen this before? >> well, jimmy, about tonight, there has been a little misunderstanding. >> jimmy doesn't like misunderstandings. jimmy and misunderstandings kind of clash. >> you know, i have never heard anyone talk the way you do. it's very unusual. >> jimmy is very unusual. >> indeed. what exactly is it that leads someone to speak about themselves in the third person? dr. michelle garland is a clinical psychologist and joins us from burbank. good afternoon. >> hello, martin. >> great to have you on the bright cast. if they were a patient on your couch, how would you treat them? >> stop what you are doing. it's really annoying. that's what i would say. seriously. >> is it indicative of some psychopathology? >> it's indicative of a personality style. it says two things about the person. it's about how they see themselves. it's al

the hurrica the herman cain she knows. >> it probably isn't the herman cain she knows. what wife wants to think that their husband is making inappropriate conduct and advances to women in the work place. obviously his wife gloria is not at his work place and was not there the night that sharon alleges this happens and she's been married to him more than 40 years. i'm sure she wants to think the best of him. but to trot her out and use her as a cover is really rather sad and i'm sure in her heart she wouldn't want to believe it. maybe she doesn't believe it. i don't know. we have the allegations of four women and my client doesn't even know the other three women saying that he sexually harassed them against the word of one man, herman cain, who has every motive to deny this. >> attorney gloria allred and dr. sic tore zuckerman, thank you both for joining me tonight. >>> coming up, sandusky speaks. an nbc news exclusive. the man accused of raping at least eight young boys. jerry sandusky at the center of the penn state sex abuse scandal speaks exclusively to bost bob cost

politico delivers the deep dish on herman cain. does the candidate finally have his arms around this story? he's moving a lot. we have a lot to talk about. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> i have never sexually harassed anyone. >> herman cain's reaction to the politico bombshell keeps evolving. >> we have no idea the source of this witch hunt. >> tonight, ken vogel of politico is here to defend his reporting. >>> meanwhile, the cain campaign can't get their story straight. right wingers are attacking liberals and herman cain is playing the clarence thomas card. steve kornacki, joan walsh on the political fallout. >>> in michigan, 99%ers protest eric cantor. elsewhere the occupy oakland talk of a general strike is getting louder. we'll ask labor strategist steven learner where all of this is headed. >>> in iowa, the aftermath of corporate greed. i'll talk about my trip to newton, iowa, on saturday, after whirlpool announced their latest rounds of layoffs. >>> and the muffin man's rant is debunked. >> i want to taste that

or is it going to be about herman cain? >> no, what's going to make it so easy for us is the fact that the stock market is down so, so badly and people are hurting even today. we've got a lot of people looking for jobs in the country, not making as much money as they used to. and we've got a stock market, your 401(k) being crushed. so we might, sure have to deal with the fact that one of the candidates is in hot water for an issue that has nothing to do with the core of the debate. but the stock market itself and the losses that are generating and the problems in europe are so in our faces that these things have to be addressed by every candidate, even the ones in hot water. >> let's talk about some of the things the candidates have put out there in advance of this. because all but two of the candidates wrote op-eds for the cnbc website today. are you impressed with any of the candidates out there? >> well, i never want to give romney -- i don't want to say he's overintellectualized, but he is front and center in understand

it's this herman cain? evidently there's another herman cain out there that this one keeps talking about. [ laughter ] folks, stephen colbert thinks someone is trying to take herman cain down. they're trying to keep him from promoting his 9-9-9 plan, or building his electric fence that kills mexicans. [ laughter ] and he appears to have a great jobs plan, because sharon bialek said he was gonna give her a job at his company, if she would first give him a job in his front seat. [ laughter ] that's alleged. that's alleged. they also don't want you to know about the number 45, a special number that cain devotes an entire chapter to in his book "this is herman cain." from the chapter entitled "45", quote: "people often attach great significance to a number-- in my case, that number is 45. the number 45 keeps popping up." cain was born in 19-"45." he's running to be our 45th president. he met his wife on april 5th, or 4/5. 4 plus 5 is nine-- as in 9-9-9. [ laughter ] plus, there's that jim carrey movie where he

i don't think that gloria cain will save his bacon. >> you posted an article entitled herman cain has a problem with women and if the polls are to be believed, he does. >> the poll released on friday showed that for the 50 time, 38% of republican women say that they are less likely to pull the lever for herman cain because of the sexual harassment allegations and the fact that if she having trouble with republican women hoore becomes t party's nominee, he has a hard time getting the women's vote because in the last election, 57% or 56% of them gave their vote to president obama. democrats traditionally had an advantage with women's votes or women voters over republicans. herman cain's allegations are hurting him both in his party and among the general electorate. >> i want to play one more piece of sound from the gloria cain interview that is set to air on fox news. take a listen to this. >> i looked at especially this last lady and the things she said and i'm thinking he would have to have a split personality to do the things she said. >> crystal, given that herman cain often refers

. >>> newt gingrich and herman cain are battling for headlines and thanks to another woman herman cain wins. >> i did not have an affair, okay. >> another explosive allegation against herman cain. >> another accusation that i had an affair with someone. but i acknowledged that i knew the women. >> the statement that lynn wood put out is as close to a confirmation of the allegations as you can come to. >> according to her it lasted 13 years. >> did you know her for 13 years. >> yes, but i did not have an affair. >> a fish wouldn't get caught if he kept his mouth shut. >> herman cain wants to solve -- but doesn't want to be president. >> i'm not driving out of this race, no. >> what about newt? >> keep that sort of sweeping gigantic ego. >>ing inning in picked up a key endorsement in new hampshire. >> potential to shake up the race. >> once the union makes you their guy you are their guy. >> newt gingrich can't win. >> gingrich will have a better time in the general election than mitt romney. we don't think he's got it. >> anybody but romney. >> he's the managerial type. mitt romney stil

he claims he saw herman cain harassing women. let's hear what he had to say today. >> i was the pollster at the national restaurant association when herman cain was the head of it. and i'll tell you, i was actually around a couple times where this happened. and it just -- anyone who was involved with the restaurant association at the time knew that this was going to come up. >> i mean, john, is herman cain handling this very badly, or is it all kind of playing to his folksy i'm not a politician reputation? you know, that behavior with the reporters earlier, you would never see a conventional politician talking to them like that, and yet that is part of herman cain's charm, isn't it? >> it is. he's not a politician. and he sticks it to the establishment. and he is not afraid to stick it to the news media, although he has been very media-friendly, as you well know. you had a conversation with him that he is still trying to recover from with the abortion questions. you asked him about. on the one hand being the anti-politician helps

the other shoe may soon drop for herman cain. the attorney for a woman who accused cain of sexual harassment has contacted the national restaurant association. joel bennett says his client wants to speak out and would like the association to release her from the contract she signed. >> naturally, she's been very upset about this since the story broke last sunday because mr. cain has been giving the impression as though she's someone who made false allegations and that's certainly not true. >> bennett says his client got a settlement against cain. he describes his client add married, highly intelligence. asks whether she's politically active -- >> i have no knowledge. she's a current employee of the federal government. >> by most indications, bennett's clients is not the same woman who "the new york times" reports got $35,000, a year's salary and severance pay after an encounter with cain. that could be the person cain described as someone who worked as a writer in the 1990s. of that woman, all cain said was he made an observation

another day, another herman cain bombshell. politico reports $45,000 paid to one woman on top of $35,000 to another woman. >> that is the d.c. culture -- guilty until proven innocent. >> the candidate finding fault in 9-9-9 directions except one -- >> blake yourself. >> the latest details with nia malika henderson and clarence page. >> if it turns out he's right, they better fire a bunch of people in the next 24 hours. >> now newt gingrich is making a move up? it's a hot mess for the republicans. ed ren del and rick lazio on the gop's 2012 meltdown. senate republicans get a third chance to do the right thing on jobs. how did that go? >> senator bernie sanders is live on the republican strikeout on jobs. have they forgotten 14 million people are unemployed? we'll make them remember. "politics nation" starts right now. >>> welcome to "politics nation." i'm al sharpton. we have breaking news tonight, the most detailed account yet of a specific allegations of sexual harassment again herman cain. we'll have all the details for mr. c

and breaking news on herman cain. some key endorsers jumping ship a day after a woman alleged a 13-year affair with cain. let's go "outfront." i'm erin burnett. "outfront," we begin with breaking news. herman cain losing key support in new hampshire one day after a georgia woman claims she had a 13-year affair with the candidate. one new hampshire state representative, william panic, confirming to "outfront" that he was withdrawing his support for cain and switching to newt gingrich. adding the alleged affair was quote, the final straw. and within the last hour, the presidential candidate sending a message to his supporters. and i read it in part, quote, this woman's story is completely false. i am asking for your friendship. i am also asking for your prayers and support. this is a trying time for my family, my campaign, and for me. i'm looking at the letter here which concludes with, the ability to buy herman cain t-shirts and donate money. money is what this is going to come down to. cain's plea for support comes af

super pac called americans for herman cain. they turned up the heat a bit by invoking race and harkening back to the clarence thomas episode, sending out an e-mail which read, "don't let the media lynch another black "they are engaging in a high-tech lynching by attacking his character." by the way, cain was asked himself whether he thought race was playing a role in this story, he said yes but then said he had no evidence of that. >>> republican candidates have been more or less reticent to wade into the controversy with a few notable exceptions. their response has been some version of no comment. >> there are always distractions in politics, and oftentimes you're going to have the drama of politics that will play out in an unpredictable fashion, and it's hard to know where that then goes. >> as a good rule of thumb, until, you know, things go past allegations to fact, i just try to leave it alone. >> there's something to be said for having a candidate in the race who has been in front of the national public eye, who has gotte

>> we have entered the end of the date with herman cain. i think this is when the date is looking at the door ready to leave. >> this shows you what vetting is about. this is one of romney's strengths. the guy has been vetted and ran for president before and has been studied as a candidate by the media and other politics and by opposition candidacies in massachusetts and nationally and he's still standing. there's no big romney scandal out there, and that gives voters the feeling that nothing like that is likely to come up. >> yeah. i definitely think that the vetting process is also important to politics. i do have a problem with these sort of candidates that haven't really -- one of the problemsvy with her main cain is he hasn't held office before, which i don't think it good for politics. that's part of his popularity. mitt romney will more than likely be the nominee for president. everybody has to deal with it as harsh as that sounds. >> you've been on team romney for a while. >> yes. i have a little bit of a bone to pick me. the last t

bennet, is herman cain a signatory? did he sign this agreement or just the restaurant association sign it? >> i haven't seen it in 12 years, but i do not have a recollection of mr. cain signing it. >> so this was something handled by the restaurant association. >> do you believe he is bound by it? is he bound by it? or is he simply a spectator with nothing to do with it? >> he was the ceo at the time and certainly would have been bound by it while he was the ceo of the national restaurant association. i'll have to see the agreement to see what impact it has on employees after they leave the restaurant association. >> can i ask something, anderson? >> go ahead, david. >> mr. bennett, this is david gergen. "the washington post" and "the new york times," they say they that she wants an opportunity to have her side told and you just said she's still mulling and not sure what she is mulling. >> naturally, she's been very upset about this since the story broke last sunday because mr. cain has been giving the impression she ca

according to herman cain. he's an art project. herman cain is an art project. okay. the whole beltway evaluation of the herman cain sexual harassment allegations is how it affects his standing in the polls, right? i have a hint for my comrades inside the beltway. it may be more useful to note whether or not the herman cain sexual harassment accusations cause him to hire any staff to handle these allegations and the other responsibilities of campaigning. as far as we can tell, herman cain still has no campaign staff to speak of in early states or nationally beyond the americans for prosperity koch books. this lack of a campaign strushlgt made it hard to get over the sexual harassment abuse allegations, it's showing itself in some ugly new ways. one of the things that a campaign does for better or worse is raise money off a candidate's popularity. taking the brand or likeness and turning it into campaign dollars. the fact he does not have a real campaign to do that has not left him completely unable to to raise money, but it has left him mostly unable to capitalize on

early on herman cain was here. rick santorum got on here and talked about manufacturing and creating jobs. look, you have to face it. the republican candidates go to fox news. they go to safe haven. they don't want any confrontation whatsoever. >> it's hurting them. >> why is it hurting them? >> it's hurting them, ed, because a lot of republican primary voters, and this is not a knock on fox news, but in general, a lot of republican primary voters are afraid their way of life is at stake. they want someone who will fight for their value system. seeing all these campaigns up close, you know, i would not want to root for people to be unemployed in a bad economy like this. i will tell you this, i take every single one of the consultants for every single one of the republican candidates and i'd fire them tomorrow. they've done a huge disservice to a lot of these candidates. they've taught them it's all about playing defense. they're all playing the prevent offense. the one thing our focus group told us last night they

herman cain, listen, i could endorse him. you're right, president obama would win by a bigger margin than he won last time if herman cain were the republican nominee. rick perry, i think z might take another look at, because of the -- of what's happened with cain. but the problem he's got, he may have left an indelible impression of incompetence in those early debates and unacceptability on social security. and as you just pointed out, he gave that bizarre speech. he'd have to become a candidate, not a comedian, if he's going to get a real serious look. >> this reminded me of a speech somebody might give after too many drinks at a company christmas party or a wedding. i'm not knocking him. i don't have any idea if he had anything to drink or anything like it. but it seems crazy. here it is, just some highlights from that speech, which isn't going to go away because of the nature of the internet now. let's listen. >> we're kind of into those slogans, man. it's like, live free or die! victory or death! bring it! they print anym

we'll talk abo herman cain, what he thinks happens. as you heard earlier, a lot of people thought he was the guy to benefit most of herman cain and talk to him about that. plus, the two men in charge of writing a letter to congress, the two congresswoman, democrat and republican. they say they need to go big on the super committee. you know how we feel about that. anderson cooper starts now. >>> thanks. good evening, everyone. we begin keeping them honest. could be a growing trouble for herman cain. he is speaking out again tonight claiming he is the victim of a smear campaign. the changing allegations and hazy recall put the story on the radar. a late twist. an accuser reportedly wants to talk. she wants out of the confidentiality agreement signed as part of the settlement where herman cain was her boss in the late '90s. "the new york post" spoke to her lawyer joel bennet. he says, quote, it is just frustrating that herman cain is going around bad-mouthing the two complainants and my client is blocked by an agreement. although bennet