erin burnett makes the leap from cnbc to cnn. what's her take on coverage of the ailing economy and how will her new show compete in an opinionated landscape? >>> and news outlets can't get enough of the trial of michael jackson's doctor and others can't care less. we'll have a diagnosis. i'm howard kurtz, and this is "reliable sources." >>> maybe the governor of new jersey will jump in and completely shake up the presidential race, or maybe the chris christie flirtation will turn out to be just another brief comment across the media galaxy. move over, romney and perry and bachmann and cain and santorum, journalists have a new heartthrob. >> is this the man who can defeat the incumbent president? he could have ended all the talk about running, but he didn't. >> people who are down the middle, just everybody around here is talking about chris christie jumping in the race. >> no means no. or does it? another full-throated denial from governor chris christie, but does anyone believe him? >> i talked to a close englewood visor to the

you don't win with that and honestly if i were erin burnett i would be so humiliated by that report because she completely misses the point and she totally focuses on something that's so irrelevant you know later on in that seriously segment she went on to ask one of the protesters whether or not he knew that the majority of the money that we lent in the bailout was actually paid back in the government made money off of that well the protesters said that he didn't know that but he would like to do more research into it and that was like her a ha moment like oh these protesters don't even know what they're doing let's be a little that let's mock them let's make fun of them why don't you do some real journalism and talk to as many people as you possibly can and ask them why they're there i will guarantee you that the majority of people that are there protesting know what they're protesting for they're protesting corporate greed they're protesting the fact that corporations can donate unlimited amounts of money to politicians and they can buy the corporate media and that's really what's happen

you don't win with that and honestly if i were erin burnett i would be so humiliated by that report because she completely misses the point and she totally focuses on something that's so irrelevant you know later on in that seriously segment she went on to ask one of the protesters whether or not he knew that the majority of the money that we lent in the bailout was actually paid back in the government made money off of that well the protesters said that he didn't know that but he would like to do more research into it and that was like her a ha moment like all these protesters don't even know what they're doing let's be a little that let's knock them let's make fun of them why do you do some real journalism and talk to as many people as you possibly can and ask them why they're there i will guarantee you that the majority of people that are there protesting know what they're protesting for they're protesting corporate greed they're protesting the fact that corporations can donate unlimited amounts of money to politicians and they can buy the corporate media and that's really what's happeni

you don't win with that and honestly if i were erin burnett i would be so humiliated by that report because she completely misses the point and she totally focuses on something that's so irrelevant you know later on in that seriously segment she went on to ask one of the protesters whether or not he knew that the majority of the money that we lent in the bailout was actually paid back in the government made money off of that well the protesters said that he didn't know that but he would like to do more research into it and that was like her aha moment like all these protesters don't even know what they're doing let's be a little that let's mock them let's make fun of them why don't you do some real journalism and talk to as many people as you possibly can and ask them why they're there i will guarantee you that the majority of people that are there protesting know what they're protesting for they're protesting corporate greed they're protesting the fact that corporations can donate unlimited amounts of money to politicians and they can buy the corporate media and that's really what's happen

he told erin burnett tonight his fund-raising's picks up in the past week. cain said his campaign will report having several hundred thousand dollars in cash on hand and no debt at the end of the current third quarter. we'll watch for those numbers. what he does with that money is a critical test because it takes organization to win over the long run and for all of his appeal, mr. cain is lacking here and significantly so. top aides in iowa and new hampshire quit this year, and there's significant turnover in cain's small headquarters operation as well. check out this daunting david versus goliath challenge. according to reports filed in july, cain had 26 paid staffers on hand, total, one or two in the key primary states. romney had twice as many, 57 staffers and i know romney staff has expanded more over the past couple of months. red flag, some aides who work for mr. cain question whether his goal is popularity or the presidency. he gets big fees on the speaking circuit, of late raises i brous putting book signings ahead of campaigning in key early states.

i'm erin burnett. "outfront," taxes, presidential candidate rick perry on the heels of last night's presidential debate, proposing a flat tax. >> scrapping the 3 million words of the current tax code starting over with something simpler. a flat tax. >> a flat tax has one big problem. if you tax everyone at the same rate, people who make less get hit harder and pay more than the current system. the flat tax was popularized by ste forbes during his two presidential runs, but he actually exempted families of four making less than $36,000. bold ideas are something we challenge on this show for a better america. let's see whether the flat tax is bold and smart or bold and bad. jim bianco is president of bianco researchers. you took the time to run the numbers and make sense of it. bottom line, instead of the politics of it, if you exempt people earning under a certain amount, what's the magic rate for everyone else to raise the same amount of revenue under a flat tax as we do right now? >> if you exempt eve

i'm erin burnett. "outfront," taxes, presidential candidate rick perry on the heels of last night's presidential debate, proposing a flat tax. >> scrapping the 3 million words of the current tax code starting over with something simpler. a flat tax. >> a flat tax has one big problem. if you tax everyone at the same rate, people who make less get hit harder and pay more than the current system. the flat tax was popularized by steve forbes during his two presidential runs, but he actually exempted families of four making less than $36,000. bold ideas are something we challenge on this show for a better america. let's see whether the flat tax is bold and smart or bold and bad. jim bianco is president of bianco researchers. you took the time to run the numbers and make sense of it. bottom line, instead of the politics of it, if you exempt people earning under a certain amount, what's the magic rate for everyone else to raise the same amount of revenue under a flat tax as we do right now? >> if you exempt e

burnett clearly has committed made a fraudulent statement so let's look at the real economy or we're talking all about the bubble economy the fake commie the banking economy we know that's rigged we know that's a fake game we know it's not real now let's look at what they're in america they're trying to do to recover the economy florida lawmaker wants to repeal dorf tossing ban to create jobs bill workman a republican state legislator in florida said on a quest to seek and destroy unnecessary burdens on the freedom and liberties of people all that it does is prevent some dwarfs from getting jobs that would be happy to get in this economy or any economy why would we want to prevent people from getting gainful employment. right it's come to this but the way to stimulate the american economy is to legalize dwarf tossing speaking of door smacks let's move on to the next headline have geithner fly commercial to help cut the deficit so this is barney frank and he's looking at ways to cut the deficit and one of the ways he's saying is prohibiting treasury officials from using military air t

burnett clearly has committed made a fraudulent statement so let's look at the real economy or we're talking all about the bubble economy the fake commie the banking economy we know that's rigged we know that's a fake game we know it's not real now let's look at what there in america they're trying to do to recover the economy florida lawmaker wants to repeal dorf tossing ban to create jobs bill workman a republican state legislator in florida said on a quest to seek and destroy unnecessary burdens on the freedom and liberties of people all that it does is prevent some dwarfs from getting jobs they would be happy to get in this economy or any economy why would we want to prevent people from getting gainful employment. and it's come to this but the way to stimulate the american economy is to legalize dwarf tossing speaking of door smacks let's move on to the next headline have geithner fly commercial to help cut the deficit so this is barney frank he's looking at ways to cut the deficit and one of the ways he's saying is prohibiting treasury officials from using military air transport

burnett clearly has committed made a fraudulent statement so let's look at the real economy or we're talking all about the bubble economy the fake commie the banking economy we know that's rage we know that's a fake game we know it's not real now let's look at what they're in america trying to do to recover the economy florida lawmaker wants to repeal dorf tossing ban to create jobs bill workman a republican state legislator in florida said on a quest to seek and destroy unnecessary burdens on the freedom and liberties of people all that it does is prevent some dwarfs from getting jobs that they would be happy to get in this economy or any economy why would we want to prevent people from getting paid in full employment right it's come to this but the way to stimulate the american economy is to legalize the war of cossar speaking of the worst max let's move on to the next headline have by fly commercial to help cut the deficit so this is barney frank if he's looking at ways to cut the deficit one of the ways he's saying is prohibiting treasury officials from using military air transpo

burnett clearly has committed made a fraudulent statement so let's look at the real economy or we're talking all about the bubble economy the fake commie the banking economy we know that's rigged we know that's a fake game we know it's not real now let's look at what they're in america they're trying to do to recover the economy florida lawmaker wants to repeal dorf tossing ban to create jobs bill workman a republican state legislator in florida said on a quest to seek and destroy unnecessary burdens on the freedom and liberties of people all that it does is prevent some dwarfs from getting jobs that would be happy to get in this economy or any economy why would we want to prevent people from getting gainful employment. and it's come to this but the way to stimulate the american economy is to legalize the war of tossers speaking of divorce max let's move on to the next headline have geithner fly commercial to help cut the deficit so this is barney frank he's looking at ways to cut the deficit and one of the ways he's saying is prohibiting treasury officials from using military air tr

burnett clearly has committed made them fraudulent statements so let's look at the real economy you all were talking all about the bubble economy the fake commie the banking economy we know that's rigged we know that's a fake game we know it's it's not real now let's look at what they're in america trying to do to recover the economy florida lawmaker wants to repeal dorf tossing ban to create jobs bill workman a republican state legislator in florida said on a quest to seek and destroy unnecessary burdens on the freedom and liberties of people all that it does is prevent some dwarfs from getting jobs that they would be happy to get in this economy or any economy why would we want to prevent people from getting gainful employment right it's come to this but the way to stimulate the american economy is to legalize the war of carson speaking of the worst match let's move on to the next headline how's geitner fly commercial to help cut the deficit so this is barney frank he's looking at ways to cut the deficit and one of the ways he's saying is prohibiting treasury officials from using

burnett clearly has committed made a fraudulent statement so let's look at the real economy or we're talking all about the bubble economy the fake commie the banking economy we know that's rigged we know that's a fake game we know it's not real now let's look at what there in america they're trying to do to recover the economy florida lawmaker wants to repeal dorf tossing ban to create jobs bill workman a republican state legislator in florida said on a quest to seek and destroy unnecessary burdens on the freedom and liberties of people all that it does is prevent some dwarfs from getting jobs that would be happy to get in this economy or any economy why would we want to prevent people from getting gainful employment. it's come to this but the way to stimulate the american economy is to legalize dwarf tossing speaking of door smacks let's move on to the next headline have geithner fly commercial to help cut the deficit so this is barney frank he's looking at ways to cut the deficit and one of the ways he's saying is prohibiting treasury officials from using military air transport a p

burnett clearly has committed made a fraudulent statement so let's look at the real economy or we're talking all about the bubble economy the fake commie the banking economy we know that's rigged we know that's a fake game we know it's not real now let's look at what they're in america they're trying to do to recover the economy florida lawmaker wants to repeal dorf tossing ban to create jobs bill workman a republican state legislator in florida said on a quest to seek and destroy unnecessary burdens on the freedom and liberties of people all that it does is prevent some dwarfs from getting jobs that would be happy to get in this economy or any economy why would we want to prevent people from getting gainful employment. right it's come to this but the way to stimulate the american economy is to legalize dwarf tossing speaking of door smacks let's move on to the next headline how's geithner fly commercial to help cut the deficit so this is barney frank and he's looking at ways to cut the deficit and one of the ways he's saying is prohibiting treasury officials from using military air

burnett clearly has committed made a fraudulent statement so let's look at the real economy or we're talking all about the bubble economy the fake commie the banking economy we know that's rigged we know that's a fake game we know it's not real now let's look at what they're in america trying to do to recover the economy florida lawmaker wants to repeal dorf tossing ban to create jobs bill workman a republican state legislator in florida said on a quest to seek and destroy unnecessary burdens on the freedom and liberties of people all that it does is prevent some dwarfs from getting jobs that would be happy to get in this economy or any economy why would we want to prevent people from getting gainful employment. it's come to this but the way to stimulate the american economy is to legalize the war of speaking of door smacks let's move on to the next headline have geithner fly commercial to help cut the deficit so this is barney frank he's looking at ways to cut the deficit and one of the ways he's saying is prohibiting treasury officials from using military air transport a practice b

burnett clearly has committed made a fraudulent statement so let's look at the real economy you all were talking all about the bubble economy the fake connelly the banking economy we know that's rigged we know that's a fake game we know it's not real now let's look at what they're in america they're trying to do to recover the economy florida lawmaker wants to repeal dorf tossing ban to create jobs bill worked in a republican state legislator in florida said on a quest to seek and destroy unnecessary burdens on the freedom and liberties of people all that it does is prevent some drawers from getting jobs that they would be happy to get in this economy or any economy why would we want to prevent people from getting gainful employment. it's come to this but the way to a stimulate the american economy is to legalize the war of tossers speaking of the worst max let's move on to the next headline have geitner fly commercial to help cut the deficit so this is barney frank and he's looking at ways to cut the deficit one of the ways he's saying is prohibiting treasury officials from using m

erin burnett out front starts erin burnett out front starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> thanks, john. we're on the frontline with bernie madoff tonight. his family talking to the press in a full-court press. why? his former attorney comes out front. >>> it's just a few days until halloween. we were up to some mischief today and we can't resist sharing it with you. >>> and the bottom line on the tea party. how much sway do they really holdover the gop? answers, let's go outfront. >>> i'm erin burnett. out front on a friday night. the most shaky republican race since 1964. six different candidates have led in the national polls so far this year. it's amazing to think about it. but there is a big reason for it. the tea party. a cnn poll shows that the republican party is literally split down the middle. half of them support the tea party or are active members. well, 49, 51, some call that iman date. i call that a split. the tea party is really the tea parties. christina boterri from the national tea party federation told us there are at least 5,000 tea party groups. the

erin burnett's standing by to join us with the latest. and violence in syria. we're going to tell you what the arab spring protest rs are demanding now. ♪ medicine that can't wait legal briefs there by eight, ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪ ♪ freight for you, box for me box that keeps you healthy, ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪ ♪ saving time, cutting stress, when you use ups ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪ delivering mail, medicine and packages. yet they're closing thousands of offices, slashing service, and want to lay off over 100,000 workers. the postal service is recording financial losses, but not for reasons you might think. the problem ? a burden no other agency or company bears. a 2006 law that drains 5 billion a year from post-office revenue while the postal service is forced to overpay billions more into federal accounts. congress created this problem, and congress can fix it. what's vanishing deductible all about ? guys, it's demonstration time. let's blow carl's mind. okay, let's say i'm your insurance deductible. every year you don't have an accid

here is panetta talking with erin burnett. >> this individual was clearly a terrorist. and, yes, he was a citizen. but if you're a terrorist, you're a terrorist. and that means that we have the ability to go after those who would threaten to attack the united states and kill americans. there's no question. that the authority and the ability to go after a terrorist is there. >> you can see the rest of erin burnett's exclusive interview with tonight with her new show "out front" premieres at 7:00 p.m. eastern. >>> doctors from the er will testify about how they tried to save jack-o-lantern's life. -- michael jackson's life. but before the trial resumes, you'll hear what a paramedic said about jackson's last moments, next. >>> checking stories across cross country, a boy is in stable condition after a car wreck in philadelphia. here is the twist. he was driving. it's not clear he travelled before crashing. >>> a massachusetts church at the center of a controversy is sold, but parishioners want the vatican to block the deal. the congregation refused to go, and has been hold

erin burnett is still with us. erin, you covered this story, this technology story, for a long time over at cnbc. did you ever have a chance to sit down with steve jobs? >> i met him but i really never had a chance to actually interview him. i wish i had. it was always a dream of mine. you know, i was actually out in sun valley, idaho, this summer, a get-together of a lot of tech ceos. his name was on the list. i thought to myself, oh, he's been so sick, is he really going to be there? of course, he didn't end up being there. i remember checking that list and calling apple to see -- steve dowling, over at apple, who has been an apple aficionado, but he wasn't there. it really has been, as i was saying before, my experience around the world -- you know, i was talking about shanghai where iphone seems to be synonymous with the wordchildren, but everywhere where i've been recently, southeast eaasia, eve pakistan, the iphone is one thing that only has good associations with america. people see it and they love it and t

we're excited to welcome erin burnett to cnn next week. her show "out front," debuts monday at 7:00 p.m. eastern. on "reliable sources," howard kurtz asked her about her new gig and from reporting exclusively on business to a new show. >> by doing a new general show here on cnn, are you giving up your business brand? you worked at goldman sachs. it's taken you a lot of years to gain that credibility. is that a difficult transition for you? >> well, i think the first answer to that is it's still important for me, in the sense that the election, the economy is the most important issue in the election. and i believe in general that money and where money is going and who is getting money is central to every story. >> you're not walking away from that? >> no. and i think that's an important angle we can bring to all stories. but a lot of the things that i love in terms of the foreign reporting and some of the issues that i really care about that have a financial aspect, but also a much broader aspect, which i did at cnbc, but wasn't really the

i'm erin burnett. "out front," taxes, presidential candidate rick perry on the heels of last night's approximately debate proposing a flat tax. >> scrapping the three million words of the current tax code starting over with something simpler. a flat tax. >> a flat tax has one big problem. if you tax everyone at the same rate, people who make less get hit harder and pay more than the current system. the flat tax was popularized by steve forbes during his two presidential runs and exempted families of four making less than $36,000. bold ideas are something we challenge on this show for a better america. let's see whether the flat tax is bold and smart or bold and bad. jim, you took the time to run the numbers and make sense of it. bottom line, instead of the politics of it. if you exempt people earning under a certain amount, what's the magic rate for everyone else to raise the same amount of revenue under a flat tax as we do right now? >> you exempt everybody under $36,000, you will exclude 38 or 39% of

that's the question erin burnett asked the cia director leon panetta. >> this individual was clearly a terrorist. and, yes, he was a citizen, but if you're a trift, you're a terrorist. and that means that we have the ability to go after those who would threaten to attack the united states and kill americans. there is no question that the authority and the ability to go after a terrorist is there. >> and be sure to tune in on monday night. 7:00 eastern time for the premier of erin burnett, out front. >>> it's 6 minutes past the hour now. for more information on just who anwar al awla can i was was in recent months he had been called the new bin laden and the bin laden of the internet. the u.s. says he was a master at online recruiting and finding and motivating new radicals to kill americans around the world. he was linked to a number of terrorist attacks. he was a spiritual adviser to three of the 9/11 hijackers and communicated freely with the accused of the deadly killing at ft. hood. >>> we turn now to the amanda knox trial. the american exchange student could be spending her fina

i'm erin burnett. out front a major terror plot on u.s. soil foiled. a senior administration official tells me this was international murder for hire. here's what we've been told. two men charged in an alleged plot to assassinate the saudi arabian ambassador to the united states. one is a naturalized u.s. citizen in custody and identified as 56-year-old mondaysor ar bab si ar. he appeared in a courthouse this afternoon. he did not enter a plea. according to the complaint that we read, he planned for someone to kill the saudi arabian ambassador at one of his favorite restaurants in washington, d.c. he told an informant that mass casualties didn't matter, saying, "if the hundred go with him, expletive, them." the plot itself is a work of intrigue. it began this spring when he met in mexico with a d.e.a. informant posing as a member of a violent drug cartel. over the next few months, he got the informant to agree to assassinate the ambassador for a fee o$1.5 million. he also wanted an attack on the -- with help from mexican government, he was arrested at

erin burnett is still with us. erin, you covered this story, this technology story, for a long time over at cnbc. did you ever have a chance to sit down with steve jobs? >> i met him but i really never had a chance to actually interview him. i wish i had. it was always a dream of mine. you know, i was actually out in sun valley, idaho, this summer, a get-together of a lot of tech ceos. his name was on the list. i thought to myself, oh, he's been so sick, is he really going to be there? of course, he didn't end up being there. i remember checking that list and calling apple to see -- steve dowling, over at apple, who has been an apple aficionado, but he wasn't there. it really has been, as i was saying before, my experience around the world -- you know, i was talking about shanghai where iphone seems to be synonymous with the wordchildren, but everywhere where i've been recently, southeast ease asia, even pakistan, the iphone is one thing that only has good associations with america. people see it and they love it a

let's go. >>> i'm erin burnett. presidential candidate michele bachma bachmann. the congresswoman from minnesota is running for president. i want to start with the latest headlines we have. congresswoman, thank you for the time for being with us. >> erin, it's wonderful to be with you. thank you. >> let me start with vice president biden this morning on abc. he was talking about the terror plot, he said it was an outrageous act and the iranians will have to be held accountable. if you were president, would military action be on the table? >> if i was president, i wouldn't have taken my eye off the number one issue in the middle east, which is iran obtaining nuclear weapons. the problem with the obama administration is they have put significant daylight between israel and the united states from day one of the obama presidency. the president unfortunately sent signals of weakness and focused on israel building apartments on their own land as opposed to iran obtaining a nuclear weapon. that's been the problem. when you have a nation that's a hostile nation, seeing t

erin burnett starts now. hey, erin. >>> tonight, dsk off again. the gop primary is fegetting hairy. we could not resist. and cain, is he for real? we find out during our interview with him tonight. let's go out front. ♪ >>> hello, i'm erin burnett out front tonight. presidential candidate, herman cain, another good day for the former godfather's pizza ceo. in it a poll this afternoon, he now leads in key swing and must win florida. cain beating romney there, 34-28. this comes on the heels of a national poll yesterday which put cain in the lead. now, cnn's polls of polls show that cain is still behind romney. just in that margin of error there, 23-20. whatever the case, it is no question that herman cain's popularity is surging. the national poll has you at number one. now the poll has you leading in south carolina and florida. what's your family thinking, and why do you think this happened, that you've surged to the top? >> well, my family, they are not surprised. because they know me from my business career. because i've always done some challenging things. but i believe this hap

joining him is larry page from google, producer and host ryan seacrest and cnn's own erin burnett. yesterday i talked with lee gallagher the assistant managing editor of f"fortune" magazine ad silicon techies are high on the list. >> always a lot of tech people on this list. that tends to be where a lot of young people go these days. one of my favorite things is the people you might not expect, it really is rounded in a lot of different industries. people from finance as you saw number three from greg jensen from bridgewater, we have people from the pharmaceutical industry, clothing and apparel and retail industries, from the entertainment industry, music, so it really is pretty well rounded. i would say tech is probably the sector that's the best represented. although very high on the list people from other industries. >> it's not the wave of the future because it is the future is now. it used to be that it seemed silicon valley was the wave of the future. it is here and now. talk about the first woman on the list coming in at number 20. marissa mayor. >> meyer. >> she was one of

. >> i have been on your australia show, too, erin burnett, outback. that one was fun. >> what was your goal now. >> to spend whatever time i had to make my family and my wife sacrifice to allow me to do this dream, but the nice thing is with the book and people who have seen the movie so far people have been inspired to chase their

i'm erin burnett. outfront tonight, a flat tax from presidential candidate, rick perry. >> it is time to pass a tax that is flat and fair and frees our employers and people to invested and grow and prosper. >> he calls it flat. bottom line is it isn't really. the right word is sort of lumpy. here's why. a true flat tax means all americans start paying a flat tax of 20%. that's perry's rate on their income with no deductions. that's not how this works. you keep your current rate or pick his new 20% rate. by allowing people to remain in their current tax bracket, americans will continue to pay different rates. there are six federal income tax rates right now. perry's new plan because we don't have a 20 will make it seven. that's lumpy. a poor flat tax doesn't allow for deductions. capital dividends, state and local taxes. we're joking a little. we all want bold ideas and politically you can't wake up and throw out and old system and go to a truly flat tax if you wanted one overnight. to tell you the trut

i just talk to my colleague, erin burnett. >> there is a lot of skepticism about your candidacy and you refer to that yourself. the "washington post," the headline, herman cain. the republican flavor of the month. who will be next? "time" magazine. herman cain, flash in the pan or serious candidate. are you for real? >> i am for real. this is herman cain. they will know that i am in this to win it. i am not in this to try to raise my profile or get a tv show. i wasn't at that point in my life. >> and again, just a quick reminder. erib's show out front is on at 7:00 eastern. stay tuned for the herman cain interview. as promised, i want to go back to deb who is live in connecticut where she has just broken the news here. that this jury has now returned with a verdict in the case of this second defendant in this home invague. joshua komisarjevsky. how far away are we from getting that verdict read? >> reporter: right now, the judge is talking to the jury. usually everything over a couple of rules. and kind of takes a poll of the jurors. he also thanked them for their service, of course. th

i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, a flat tax from presidential candidate, rick perry. >> it is time to pass a tax that is flat and fair and frees our employers and out people to invest and grow and prosper. >> he calls it flat. but the bottom line is it isn't really. the right word is sort of lumpy. here's why. a true flat tax would mean all americans start paying a flat tax of 20%. that's perry's rate on their income with no deductions. that's not how this works though. you keep your current rate or pick his new 20% rate. by allowing people to remain in their current tax bracket, americans will continue to pay different rates. there are six federal income tax rates now. perry's new plan, because we don't have a 20, will make it seven. that's lumpy. a poor flat tax doesn't allow for deductions, capital dividends, state and local taxes. we're joking a little. we all want bold ideas, and politically, you can't wake up and throw out and old system and go to a truly flat tax if you wanted one overnight

>>> erin burnett, "out front." christie turlington tonight. >> i knew you were going to say that. i promise she will be on tonight thanks to you. thanks to john king, we have christie turlington, the supermodel and actress coming on. >>> also the trial of michael jackson's doctor, conrad murray and russian prime minister, vladimir putin is shirtless, seriously. let's go "out front." >>> i'm erin burnett "out front" tonight, americans looking for jobs. ahead of the employment number tomorrow, protests and paralysis in washington. and the president takes a stand on a tax for people who own over a million dollar. a 5.6% surcharge and would bring in enough to pay for his nearly $450 billion jobs plan. house speaker john boehner doesn't like it. >> nothing has disappointed me more than what's happened over the last five weeks. to watch the president of the united states give up on governing, give up on leading and spend full time campaigning. >> the president dares the republicans to say no. >> if congress does something, then i can't run against a do nothing congress. if congress does

this said as part of an exclusive interview with cnn's erin burnett. we have it for you after the break. >>> and chris christie's decision could come down to his wife, mary pat. a close are look at spouses on the campaign trail. >>> it's 35 minutes after the hoyer. [ male announcer ] osteo bi-flex with 5-loxin advanced™. shows improvement in joint comfort within 7 days. osteo bi-flex. the #1 doctor and pharmacist recommended brand. and all we need to do is change the way we're thinking about them. a couple decades ago, we didn't even realize just how much natural gas was trapped in rocks thousands of feet below us. technology has made it possible to safely unlock this cleanly burning natural gas. this deposits can provide us with fuel for a hundred years, providing energy security and economic growth all across this country. it just takes somebody having the idea, and that's where the discovery comes from. >>> were back to "american morning." good morning, everybody. the chris christie watch continues. word is the new jersey governor will announce in

let's go. >>> i'm erin burnett. presidential candidate michele bachmann. the congresswoman from minnesota is running for president. i want to start with the latest headlines we have. congresswoman, thank you for the time for being with us. >> erin, it's wonderful to be with you. thank you. >> let me start with vice president biden this morning on abc. he was talking about the terror plot, he said it was an outrageous act and the iranians will have to be held accountable. that's the quote. if you were president, would military action be on the table? >> if i was president, i wouldn't have taken my eye off the number one issue in the middle east, which is iran obtaining nuclear weapons. the problem with the obama administration is they have put significant daylight between israel and the united states from day one of the obama presidency. the president unfortunately sent signals of weakness and focused on israel building apartments on their own land as opposed to iran obtaining a nuclear weapon. that's been the problem. when you have a nation that's a hostil

let's go "out front." >>> i'm erin burnett "out front" tonight, americans looking for jobs. ahead of the employment number tomorrow, protests and paralysis in washington. and the president takes a stand on a tax for people who own over a million dollar. a 5.6% surcharge and would bring in enough to pay for his nearly $450 billion jobs plan. house speaker john boehner doesn't like it. >> nothing has disappointed me more than what's happened over the last five weeks. to watch the president of the united states give up on governing, give up on leading and spend full time campaigning. >> the president dares the republicans to say no. >> if congress does something, then i can't run against a do nothing congress. if congress does nothing, then it's not a matter of me running against them, i think the american people will run them out of town. >> democratic political strategist jamal simmons is in our washington bureau along with karen ready. do you think the president is right, he has found way to get the jobs bill with a tax increase, too? >> i think he does have it right. lining

i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, a flat tax from presidential candidate, rick perry. >> it is time to pass a tax that is flat and fair and frees our employers and out people to invest and grow and prosper. >> he calls it flat. but the bottom line is it isn't really. the right word is sort of lumpy. here's why. a true flat tax would mean all americans start paying a flat tax of 20%. that's perry's rate on their income with no deductions. that's not how this works though. you keep your current rate or pick his new 20% rate. by allowing people to remain in their current tax bracket, americans will continue to pay different rates. there are six federal income tax rates now. perry's new plan, because we don't have a 20, will make it seven. that's lumpy. a poor flat tax doesn't allow for deductions, capital dividends, state and local taxes. we're joking a little. we all want bold ideas, and politically, you can't wake up and throw out and old system and go to a truly flat tax if you wanted one overnight

. >>> this is really a big week here at cnn, we're excited to welcome erin burnett to the fold. her show debuts monday at 7:00 p.m. eastern. howa howard kurts asked her about the new gig and moving exclusively about reporting on business to anchoring a new show. >> by doing a more general show here at cnn, are you giving up your business brand? you were so closely identified with being a market reporter, you worked at goldman sachs. is that a difficult transition for you? >> well, the first answer to that it's still important for me in the sense that the election is -- the economy is the most important issue in the election and i believe in general that money and where money is going and who is getting money is central to every story. >> you're not walking away from that? >> no i think that's a important angle we can give to a lot of stories. but a lot of the things i love in the foreign reporting and that has a financials a peblg a i did at cnbc, is at the score and i think it's a perfect fit. >> erin burnett "out front" debuts here on cnn. she has an exclusive with leon panett

"erin burnett" starts now.