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

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

>> well, it's herman the hunter becomes herman the haunted. haunted by allegations not from one, not from two, but reportedly from three different women. and these allegations against a man who said the following -- that we should have a mote with alligators in that will repel illegal immigrants. the blacks have been brainwashed into voting democratic. that the unemployed should blame themselves for the fact that they don't have work. and that u.s. naval assets should be placed in the persian gulf and we should provoke a war with iran. now, i ask you, a man who says those kinds of things, is it possible, is it just possible he may have said something inappropriate to a woman? >> pretty good chance. pretty good chance. >> very good possibility. >> do you think the perry campaign was involved in this? >> it's looking that way because of the connections, but it's hard to follow. there's a guy by the name of curt anderson who worked for cain's 2004 failed senate campaign who apparently was debriefed about these allegations. he now works for a pro

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

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'

mark block is herman cain's campaign manager. just moments ago he was on fox news and he says he is convinced his candidate did nothing wrong. >> i asked mr. cain directly, on numerous occasions, were there anything that any of these allegations -- and he looked me square in the eye and said no. all right? mr. cain has never committed any sexual harassment period, end of story. >> james carville, mr. block makes an emphatic case there. is that part of the public record they need to create to put this behind them? or is it herman cain's campaign manager, so why should we believe him? he is a bias. >> well, mark block gets a spot in his own candidate, and everyone thought it was amazing that a campaign manager would endorse a candidate. i thought that was sort of par for the course. but this doesn't go very far in putting this behind him. they certainly suspect the perry campaign. any detective in the world would suspect the perry campaign. whether they did it or not, i don't know. but there's a lot of friction. but, no, this mark

maybe herman cain is the hulk. herman cain sad. either way jon stewart isn't proud. [ laughter ] tuesday's press conference shows that since we heard aboutg6m cs old employer the national restaurant association settling two claims of sexual harassment against him more than a week ago, we swiftly moved to stage four of a political sex scandal. stage one was last monday. i have no idea what you are talk bsmg stage two was that same night. oh, right, that thing. and stage three was the rest of the week -- i'm not going to talk about this anymore. which brings us back to stage four the press conference to assuage the damage caused by how badly he handled steps 1-3. he kicked things off at a local wholesale flag warehouse with a definitive denial. >> i have never acted inappropriately with anyone period. [ laughter ] >>>> jon: unless you think offering a job in exchange for a roadside hummer is in appropriate question mark. you know how it is semi colon, closed paretheses. the deny is what he should have been saying all along. he has o

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.

in the first instance, herman cain as well as mark block said that curt anderson who worked for herman cain's 2004 gop primary campaign for senate in jihad had this informatihad thi and leaked it. curt anderson came out and said that's not the case at all. we heard herman cain say this is part of the democratic machine. we well, the democratic machine would like nothing more than seeing herman cain to run against president obama. and that also seems unlikely. we had mark block apparently try to identify our former "politico" reporter and say his mom is, in fact, karen krausaar -- the second accuser to come forward. false. it does have a feel of fishing. >> almost sounds like an episode of "all my children." ken, thanks so much. i appreciate it. >>> take a listen to this, a truly emotional appeal from at michigan state senator. >> not only does that not protect kids who are bullied, it further engages them by legitimatizing excuses for tormenting a student. >> how this powerful statement is bringing about change to a controversial bill. >>> time for the "your business" entrepreneur of t

herman cain for seven years. i was one of several consultants on his senate race in 2004 and was proud to help him. i'd never heard any of these allegations until i read them in politco nor does anything i read in the press change my opinion that herman cain is an upstanding man and a gentleman. i have great respect for herman cain and his character and i would never speak ill of him on the record or off the record. that's true today and it's not going to change." how classy is that? herman cain, accuses curt anderson of being a snake in the grass, a back stabber, a leaker, about that one woman and curt anderson responds with such an elegant declaration that herman cain is a liar, that people like herman cain and his followers won't even notice that curt anderson just called cain a liar. cain says he told curt anderson about the accusations and curt anderson says no, he didn't. and then curt anderson throws in my favorite sentence of this presidential campaign. i have great respect for herman and his character an

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

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

herman cain has not mounted a real campaign ofrpgs. i mean-e does have the smoking guy as his campaign manager. the last campaign the smoking guy ran was a judicial election in wisconsin in which smoking guy broke the law so flagrantly that he got banned from politics for three years and had to pay a fine. that was the last campaign he ran. the person who is number two on the herman cain campaign as far as we can tell has never run a campaign at all, ever. but smoking guy, before this gig, did used to run a state chapter of the koch brothers' group americans for prosperity. the non-sexual harassment scandal about herman cain this week is how unknown donors seem to have illegally funded the first few months of the herman cain campaign. we still don't know who exactly those funders are. but the money that we can trace is all hooked up in americans for prosperity, and therefore the koch brothers. americans for prosperity is also what herman cain seems to be using as a substitute for a campaign structure. he is just plugged into this koch

let herman be herman, sure! let's just make sureer

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

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>> herman is coming up roses. riding high in the polls. >>. ♪ my song ever praise >> raking in the dough. but you are not excused yet, godfather. >>> we begin with the cain train shuffling forward. an embattled candidate herman cain just finished speaking at a familiar and friendly venue. the convention of americans for prosperity founded by cain's billionaire benefactors, david and charles koch. >> i am the koch brothers's brother from another mother. yes. i'm that brother from another mother! and proud of it. >> wow! indeed he is. while cain may be seeking solace among friends as he battles a sexual harassment scandal, the same friends are now the subject of scrutiny. take mark block, better known as the disheveleded smoking man in the infamous ad, but it got the campaign off the ground that may pose a bigger problem. in a case filed hours ago, block now faces legal charges over some $40,000 that his koch brothers off shoot, prosperity usa paid to the cain campaign in its early days. gosh, legal charges, a sex

>> i remember the first time i saw that, herman. i was like, oh, my gosh, he asked it back to the reporter? did it come out of nowhere for you? the campaign had it for ten days. >> we made a conscious decision with my sign-off, i'm not going to go out and start chasing two anonymous accusations. so that was a conscious decision. we didn't know what the article was going to include. we didn't know what the accusation was going to be. for me to even answer his question was totally inappropriate. you don't do businesslike that. it's similar to negotiating against yourself. >> well, do you have -- aren't there other accusations against you that you wouldn't know what two allegations he was talking about when he said sexual harassment? >> all we know is they contacted my office and said they had two anonymous sources accusing me of sexual harassment. we said, what details can you give us? they couldn't give us any other than it occurred when i was at the national restaurant association. i immediately recalled one. that was the one we tal

herman, it's not us. it's republicans doing it to you. >> eric: please, it was palin and then -- >> bob: bull. >> eric: there were 23,000 document dumps, they'd find something. >> bob: who did that? who did that? >> eric: then rick perry, sleepy at the debate, drunk at a speech. >> bob: who did that? >> eric: now herman cain. >> bob: are you suggesting that's democrats? >> eric: unequivocally -- >> bob: do you have proof >> eric: i dent have the proof. >> bob: of course you do. >> eric: this is taking the eye off the real issue. the economy stinks, jobs are horrible, and you know what? [ overtalk ] obama. not -- >> bob: let me say this as calmly as i can to you. making allegations like the with no evidence and nothing to back it up. >> eric: i didn't point a finger to any person. >> bob: cain did a good job. we have impressions now, and it's starting to hurt him in the polls. the idea that somehow he would infer and you would suggest that this has something to do with the democrats is outrageous. >> andre

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

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

can herman cain survive? >> well, i certainly can't speak to the credibility of his accusers and what happened 14 years ago, but we can look at the polls and reuters has a poll out after sharon bialek's statement yesterday and he's now behind mitt romney. falling nine points since last week. and 39% in this reuters poll said they believed those allegations yesterday. clearly the cain campaign feels that this is hurting his efforts because they had that press conference today to try to address these claims. whether or not they were able to close the door on them, i'm highly doubtful. i think he opened a new can of worms particularly when he said that he'd be willing to take a lie detector test. you were speaking with gloria allred and she demanded that he go up to capitol hill to testify under oath. i don't think that's going to happen, but herman cain has invited more of these questions and inquiry. >> let me bring back gloria borger then. politically, where is herman cain now? his poll ratings are sudden sli

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

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

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

but, ahead of herman, on herman, allen on herman, the first big g.o.p. to say cain is a goner advising the candidate to move on and get out. we will talk to herman cain about that butting first, the quiet behind-the-scenes to get herman the can empty. what is going on? >>guest: a lot of republicans on capitol hill and elsewhere think it is over. that the herman cain candidacy, he was not expected to go far in the going but the drip, drip, drip, the presidents have not plummeted like some predicted but to this were a fight the referee would say "no mas," it is over. maybe he sticks around until iowa only a month away but the candidacy has suffered fatal employees. >>neil: but as you indicated he has survived by and large and remains second or third in the polls despite all the constant hits. we will tine out from herman cain himself later in the broadcast but there might be a logic to waiting it out and see if this eases. what do you thing of that strategy? >>guest: that is right. he has been in the race for a long time, he has a few more weeks to get to

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

right before the speech, herman cain shows up with a godfather's pizza. >> you're saying herman cain drugged you and now you can't remember anything? >> well, you know, i remember one thing. right after herman gave me the pizza, he leaned in and whispered, i touched all those ladies' boobies. ♪ we're centurylink ... we're committed to improving lives and linking americans to what matters most with honest, personal service... 5-year price-lock guarantees... consistently fast speeds ... and more ways to customize your technology. ♪ >>> do you fund planned parenthood at the national level? >> that's on my list. that's on my list. i should have mentioned that. >> defunding planned parenthood was not on mitt's list when running for office in mths and republ massachusetts and republicans know it. he's been unable to move up in the polls, while his chief rival is struggling through a sexual harassment scandal. joining me now for an exclusive interview on the evolution of mitt romney, melissa, the former executive director of the national abortion rights action league pro choice massachu

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

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

>> herman cain. >> herman cain doesn't have a chance. >> herman cain. that's the person herman cain s is. >> then there's rick perry. we also learned that when the pressure is on, he starts to crack. >> this is such a cool state. i mean, come on. live free or die? i mean, it's like, live free or die, victory or death. bring it. if they pretty any more money there in washington, the gold is going to be good. >> today has been awesome, girl! >> then we have mitt romney. he'll let your home go into foreclosure while claiming he's a man of the people, but when a florida doctor sitting next to him on a plane tried to talk about health care, willard wasn't of the people then. >> he just looked at me blankly and said i understand, and he put his ear buds in, and he's riding around in coach trying to look like one of us, four minutes out of two hours, i don't think i was being out of line just to want to speak a minute. >> well, i'm not one to pick on candidates. i ran for president. we all have flaws, we all make mistakes. god knows i've made mine, but i'll gi

will herman cain take questions? >> what we saw was an early press release with the campaign shooting down the credibility of her, cited the instances of civil suits she has been a party to while living outside of the chicago illinois area. we should hear a similar story line with really an attack on the credibility of this accuser who has come public. . >> we know that cain was on with jimmy kimmel last night. let me play a clip of whap on the show. >> all things considered, i'm still alive. it got off to somewhat of a rough start. we had a little surprise to show up on tv. did you watch that? we watched it because we didn't know this whole thing about woman number four was going to even come out. >> we saw herman cain trying to keep control and trying to appear upbeat. we know he had pretty tense moments with reporters when pressed about this. i am intrigued sbi by the strategy of saying she is in financial peril and had a bankruptcy in her history. this is cain blaming the victim. do we know if he will push the li

. >> herman's better half comes to his defense. >> that's not the person he s. he totally respects women. >> for leaves us wondering, who really is herman cain. >> i'm thinking he would have to have a split important to do the things she said. >> that's the person hem e herman cain is. >>> it is a critical week in the world of politics. president obama turning up the heat on his challengers and for the first time engaging directly with them on the issue of foreign policy. attending the apex summit in hawaii, he was far from south carolina. it was there he departed from the standard policy of staying above the fray. it came after the candidate's bold statements starting with just how they would thwart iran's nuclear ambitions. >> maximum covert operations to block and disrupt the iranian program and including taking out their scientists and breaking up their systems. all of the covertly denial. >> one thing you can know. if we reelect barack obama iran will have a nuclear weapon. if you elect me, they will not have a nuclear weapon. >> another candidate talking a

cain. >> so says herman cain. even for the worst crimes, you know what? it is not a great defense to make the proportion argument, as in, you know, most people i've met, most people i've driven past in the street, i didn't kill them. but even if you believe that there's no chance that herman cain will win the republican combination or come anywhere near being elected president, the scandal around him has now become a national phenomenon in its own right. we are now having a big national fight about not just harassment but about accountability, about how we handle serious allegations about powerful people, about prominent people. very little of the cain campaign and now the conservative movement's response to the allegations surrounding his candidacy have had to do with the substance of the allegations, with answering whether or not herman cain actually did harass anybody. talking points memo has been putting together a list titled "things that don't affect whether herman cain sexually harassed two women in the 199