of herman cain's life. is one of the things about herman cain that makes it hard to imagine him as a viable mainstream candidate for republican nomination for president of the united states. it is not the only thing, though. mr. cain is out and proud about not wanting to know the names of leaders of other countries. >> when they ask me who's the president of ubeki, ubeki, stan, stan, i'm going to say, i don't know. do you know? >> when asked about foreign policy over the last decade, neoconservatism, herman cain said he was unfamiliar with the movement. of course, there's herman cain on abortion. >> my position is i'm pro life, period. >> if a woman is raped, she should not be allowed to end the pregnancy? >> that's her choice. that is not government's choice. i support life from conception. >> so abortion should be legal? >> no. abortion should not be legal. i believe in the sanctity of life. >> i'm not getting -- i'm not understanding. if it's her choice, that means it's legal. >> no. i believe -- i don't

it was all about herman cain. when the debate is all about you, then it's not a surprise when you wake up the next day and sitting atop the polls. this race is all about herman cain right now. >> howard fineman, i want to talk about this poll we just released. nbc poll. many stunning things in it. one of them being the mitt romney number. the only number in the poll to hold steady, absolutely unchanged at 23%. the front-runner status switches around him. rick perry drops out of that slot. herman cain moves into that slot. what's going on with mitt romney in. >> well, his numbers don't move any more than his hair does, but if you talk to people in new hampshire, when i was up there yesterday and today, was at the debate then i heard herman cain before the new hampshire legislature which i want to tell you about. first on mitt romney. somebody observed to me a very shrewd politician up there observed to me that even though romney's numbers in new hampshire look good, and he's in the low 40s in new hampshire, the roa

herman cain is not doing that. >> to be continued. thanks so much, chris. >> thank you. >>> now to new hampshire, one of the early states. jon huntsman is boycotting tonight's nevada debate to protest them raising dates. we are here in new hampshire, i'm not selling books. i'm not looking for a radio program. i'm just looking to save america, a country i love. >> you're looking to save america, but is there any proof that any nominee has ever won with a one-state strategy? you're not going to iowa, you're not going to any of the other states. even though you're in new hampshire, putting all your money in new hampshire, you're dead last in the polling in new hampshire. how will you make this happen? >> our numbers in new hampshire have moved up from zero. i came in as a margin of error candidate. we have done 80 individual events in this state. we will do 80 more. and i can't call myself the margin of error candidate anymore. in a recent poll, we are at 10%. all the recent polls have had us moving up. that's the kind of movement i like

herman cain. david corn's an msnbc political analyst and "mother jones" magazine's washington bureau chief, and jonathan martin is senior political reporter for politico. gentleman, i want to know how this ends for this fellow, herman cain, who's come out of nowhere. you're chuckling, but let me raise a couple of questions here. i'm going to give you a number of questions, the scenario. this guy keeps going up. he's ahead now in south carolina. he's ahead now in florida. he's ahead of the field against a guy who can't do anything but flatline. mitt romney won't get above 23. he stays right there, like a dead guy, politically. whereas cain keeps going up. my question to you, if cain can even hold second place to romney, who gets ahead of him? who beats him? >> it ends up with herman cain on fox news and a lot of book sales. this guy will not be the nominee, chris. maybe rick perry comes back, you know, it's true that mitt romney's in a weak position, can't get above, but herman cain, once mitt romn

herman cain. >> you think you know a lot about the republican party, here's haley barbour on herman cain's chance of success. in southern states. haley barbour, king of the south. >> i have a theory on this, too. >> let's listen to haley barbour. >> if this election is where ought to be, and that is a referendum on how president obama has done, a republican's going to win. if herman cain is our nominee running against barack obama, i think he'll sweep the south. >> "he'll sweep the south." do you want to counter haley barbour? >> if he's the nominee. >> okay. >> i mean, will he win north carolina, virginia? i don't think so. but i don't think he'll be the nominee. we won't have to worry about haley's prediction. >> i'm going to go back to what you were saying. he's not going to be the number two. he's not going to be number one. my argument is this. mitt romney is more vulnerable than herman cain as a nominee, because he is very vulnerable with 77% of the party who relentlessly won't support him,

herman cain. >> you think you know a lot about the republican party, here's haley barbour on herman cain's chance of success. >> i have a theory on this too. >> let's listen to haley barbour. >> if this election where it ought to be, and that's a referendum on how president obama's doing, a republican's going to win. if herman cain is our nominee running against barack obama, i think he'll sweep the south. >> "he'll sweep the south." do you want to counter haley barbour? >> "if he's the nominee." will he win north carolina? virginia? i don't think so. but i don't think he'll be the nominee. we won't have to worry about haley's prediction. >> my argument is this. mitt romney is more vulnerable than herman cain as a nominee, because he is very vulnerable with 77% of the party who reless lently won't support him, even in polls. he's got a problem. it might be the religion problem, i don't think so opinion i think it's the ideological problem. they don't trust him as a conservative. whereas herman cai

say how dare you herman cain? he says i left the plantation, they wanted to keep me on the plantation where you're a bad african-american. how is this playing out the rise of herman cain, which many african-americans whether a democrat or republican, agnostic, one should say great in both parties now, you have leading politicians, leading figures who are african-american? >> it's fundamentally a good thing that you have herman cain running well in the republican side, it's well past due. the problem with herman cain is he said outrageous things. he's talked about african-americans being brainwashes. you can't say that all african-americans are brainwashes because you can't think the way they thought. there's a lot of people in the south where they grew up who take note that here's someone who talks about personal responsibility and doing it on your own. when the time came for the civil rights movement marching and what have you in atlanta and the south, the heart of this, herman cain didn't take part in that. he d

i found this, the herman cain reaction was fascinaing to me. he reacted to the story as we knew it in the "washington post," on television yesterday saying this is absolutely wrong. by the way, all of the information from the perry family about when they say they painted over that sign was in the "washington post" story. no new information emerged to make herman cain suddenly find the whole thing to be okay. is that because herman cain is calculating that within republican politics, you don't want to complain about anybody racist associations or past in any way? >> there's probably an argument to be made, lawrence, that this story for him to keep complaining about it is an unsettling reminder to his party and it eventually could order against herman cain. i think for perry's part, however, this has been completely bungled by his staff. his media people are clearly very inept and largely incompetent. they tended to in response try to parse how they reacted to this. first we knew about it on this date then he knew about it on this date. then he u

now herman cain says it's a joke. an incredibly insensitive joke to say we have a fence that will electrocute people. they will say, you are not a serious candidate, you can't expand the map. not that many tea party candidates won statewide. they won in little house races. they didn't win state wide because you have a ceiling when you have controversial answers like that. >> rick perry and michele bachmann will really go after him. he's taking their votes. >> i read that michele bachmann was critical about his comments today on that electrified fence. thanks. >>> up next, a second evangelical with close ties to rick perry, taking shots admit romney's faith. are these attacks on the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints, mormonism, becoming a problem or is it part of a campaign strategy? we'll talk about that. >>> the mother of a missouri baby breaking her silence with a string of new admissions. what she's saying about the night her daughter disappeared. they've been committed to putting clients first. helping g

herman cain loses to the president 49-38 herman cain's support is rock solid among conservative republicans they love him. and no nonsense social positions. he's impressive in debates, now has become strong presence within the republican party. but the truth is that president obama would love to run against herman cain because independent voters are far less likely to vote for him than mitt romney. as propertied red if mr. obama doesn't get the majority of the independent votes he loses. conservative principles deserve to be spotlighted because liberal strategies failed. it's obvious to most of us america needs to get back to free marketplace and fair competition, unfettered by federal intrusion. cain supports tax reform. and is business friendly, we need that. the problem is that mr. cain lacks legislative experience and nos -- knows little about global affairs. independent minded americans understand that because of the trouble the inexperienced barack obama has had. the next president must know how to deal with china, putin and the powerful iranian threat there. is no room for on the job

herman cain shows you exactly how to do that. with his ill-conceived 9% corporate tax that does not allow corporations to include reasonable and normal business expenses. i'm not talking about their wild complicated tax loopholes. i'm talking about all normal reasonable business expenses. they're not allowed to be deducted under the 9-9-9 plan. now, if a democrat had proposed this, fox news would be screaming about a crazed anti-business socialist who was going to destroy american businesses and the american economy. now, let's restart that tape and listen to the rest of what herman cain had to say. >> on the first 9, relative to corporate profits, you are allowed to deduct -- this was in the calculation -- you are allowed to deduct purchases and capital investments. 100%. no depreciation schedules. capital expenses and purchases. if those purchases were made here in the united states of america. if you purchased components from a country outside of the united states, you can't deduct them. what does that do, folks? it makes u.s.

herman cain. 33% of republicans say herman cain, above governor romney and governor perry. if you're mitt romney, that's the first big flashing warning sign, isn't it? >> no the flashing warning sign for mitt romney is he ain't gotten above 23% despiting in the race for five years, despite living in new hampshire, despite being the best debater, despite raising all of the money, consolidating the establishment. he can't get above that mark. herman cain and perry, who i do not write off yet, still have 75% of the electorate not going for mitt romney. if he gets it, they'll be wildly enthusiastic about it but the warning sign was way back when for mitt romney. >> but you know, john, there is a survey out that has rick perry versus mitt romney and romney gets 54% in that one to perry's 39. republicans are willing to go there, but i think we're so concerned about, a, the economy, and, b, about losing to obama, that we're looking for a candidate who's equal to our fears and that's superman, and he doesn't really exist. >> we'll learn a lot about herman cain. he's risen to the to

when the debate paps you're going to see herman cain coming under more scrutiny. >> we know herman cain made a few gaffes in the last few days. he has to be careful. can't be quite so plain spoken anymore. >> he has definitely been under the spotlight. >> talk about jon huntsman. he won't be at tonight's debate because he's protesting nevada moving up its caucus. >> that's why he's placing all his chips, a gambling term, on new hampshire. if new hampshire moves its date, he's not taking part here and not even in the debate. more news on the primary caucus calendar. iowa announcing yesterday they're going on january 3rd, as we thought. take a look at calendar. january 3rd, iowa. january 14th nevada. new hampshire, first in the nation, primary's boxed in. saying to nevada, unless you move back we are threatening to move our primary to december. we'll see how that falls. >> and saying i'm all for it, candidates should be here talking to people in nevada, because this is a microcosm of the nation. different nationalities are here. people from all sorts of socioeconomic backgrounds. she says

herman cain. david corn's an msnbc political analyst and "mother jones" magazine's washington bureau chief, and jonathan martin is senior political reporter for politico. gentleman, i want to know how this ends for this fellow, herman cain, who's come out of nowhere. you're chuckling, but let me raise a couple of questions here. i'm going to give you a number of questions, the scenario. this guy keeps going up. he's ahead now in south carolina. he's ahead now in florida. he's ahead of the field against a guy who can't do anything but flatline. mitt romney won't get above 23. he stays right there, like a dead guy, politically. whereas cain keeps going up. my question to you, if cain can even hold second place to romney, who gets ahead of him? who beats him? >> i tell you where it ends up. it ends up with herman cain on fox news and a lot of book sales. this guy will not be the nominee, chris. maybe rick perry comes back, you know, it's true that mitt romney's in a weak position, can't get above, bu

>> i don't think that herman cain is a racist. i don't think that harry belafonte is a racist because he says herman cain is a bad apple. i think race is being used in this instance all around the table to repress differences of opinion. when race issues to repress dissent, it is wrong on all sides of the table. look, herman cain as a republican, heetds conservative. he believes he has a prescription for growing the economy, creating jobs and providing opportunity for all americans, inclusive of black americans. >> when it comes to -- >> i think the name -- john, john, i think name calling has gone too far. >> you are saying name calling has gone too far. we have known each other a long time and your involvement in ohio politics including being the secretary of state. you are among the african-american republicans trying to build support in the african-americanommunity. is the language helpful to that effort to have more blacks join the republican party or hurtful? >> i think mr. cain's prescription for growing the economy is help

threatened by herman cain, and they understand that herman cain is bringing new ideas to the table. i think specifically on the tea party front, people who want to say the tea party are a bunch of race cysts, they say how come the tea party is supporting herman cain? >> well, a rationale was this proves they are racists. >> they, they want to make him into a puppet, a token that's correct he's being manipulated by the white republican establishment. here's the news for them, herman cain is in fact breaking barriers and people should be proud of herm campaign his accomplishments. >> and one year ago you got a big raise and now you should be happy, you are in the top 1% and now you have to pay more taxes 23 obama has his way. >> if i can make as much as you, i'm glad to give. >> good to see you. >> thank you. >> another scandal brewing for the white house in the wake of the solyndra loan. michelle is here to investigate and she's here to explain. we could have gone a more traditional route, but it wouldn't have been nearly as memorable. can make it from australia to a u.s. lab to a pa

let's talk about herman cain. the insults keep coming from the right-wing broadcasters, keep coming from many respects the main stream media. this is herman cain with lawrence walking back his comment on the unemployed. >> some people are unemployed through no fault of their own. i was referring to those people who have chosen to go and demonstrate on wall street for whatever reason and it's not real clear what reasons. >> he has no clue what he's talking about. >> what you have to do is go down this this and listen. in the media we often encourage people to tune in to find out what is true. what is happening there requires people to go and be present. i saw a society being built where there's free health care, there's education, there's housing and caring that people are finding there that they are not finding anywhere else. literally the learning circles are extraordinary. people in one corner talking about sort of french factory worker models, over here talking about the end of growth. it's kind of amazing. if

herman cain. [applause] before he comes forward, i have the opportunity and the privilege to introduce our next speaker, dr. alverta king. thank you. [applause] >> well, hello, america. this is our opportunity. if you did not get cain's vision today, make sure you get it. don't leave here without it. it's excellent, yes, yes, yes. revise, renew, rebuild. 9-9-9 now is our time. hush little baby, don't you cry. now is the time for a lull buy. to all the hungry children in america, have hope. to all the people crying for jobs, have hope. now is our time. can a nation be born in a day? only if we listen and obey. hear the still small voice. america now is truly our time. people are crying. people are dying, yet there is truly hope in america. yes, jesus loves me for the bible tells me so. remember that song? our children will sing their nursery rhymes again. our boys and girls will stay in school and not rot in jail. in 1963, my uncle, dr. martin luther king jr. had a dream, that there be one human ra

herman cain is having to take it back and it says a lot about herman cain. he will be a focal point because he has surged in the polls in the last three weeks and in some polls he's come out of nowhere to be number one. herman cain will be in the middle, don, as is mitt romney. they are going to be the ones facing a lot of fire from the flanks, from me michele bachmanns, rick santorum and rick perry has perry needs a good debate performance on tuesday night here at the venetian. >> and herman cain, his 9-9-9 plan coming under scrutiny. he will have to answer questions about that, as well. >> thank you. we will see you later this evening. who will come out on top in the cnn western presidential debate? join us from las vegas on tuesday night 8 p.m. eastern. anderson cooper will be asking the questions. >>> he stood tall among our nation's leaders, even though he wasn't a president. a mem ral is dedicated in washington to his honor and thoughts of those who knew him and followed in his path. we are building a website by ourselves. [ woman announcing ] there's

he's a 40% cain, 12%. you're at 6%. but herman cain, he's intriguing. he basically spent very little time in new hampshire or iowa for that matter. but he's doing pretty well in both of those states, even better in iowa. and he comes up with these crazy ads, including this one. watch. ♪ we can take this country back america ♪ ♪ i am america one vote ♪ >> that's his chief of staff who had a little puff of a cigarette there. but he's a 13%. you're at 6% in new hampshire. you spent a lot of time there. he has it. why is he doing so well? >> well, oftentimes can you spike for the moment. you're the flavor of the week or the flavor of the month. i remember when governor perry was at 20% in new hampshire. he came in with great fanfare. now he's in the low single digits. we're just trying a steady, gradual substantive rise in new hampshire. based upon real support, based upon 80 events that we have done so far. wolf, we did a telephone town hall meeting yesterday. we had 3,000 people on the line. our town hall meetings are packed these days. i say we'v

i saw one guy as herman cain finish run up to the stage, herman, herman, herman, come back. some guy said to him, what are you running for? and the guy held up a handful of money. i want to give herman cain $200 right now. it seemed to work for him in tennessee. >> tomorrow's debate could be pivotal to the cain campaign. what does he need to do to maybe solidify his base and win over undecided voters? back us with is gloria borger. and let us bring in john king. are you surprised about the rise of herman cain? everyone is surprised. >> absolutely. you have to tip your hat because of his discipline, the 9-9-9 plan. however we're about to learn more about him. at the debate tomorrow you'll treat him as a viable candidate. in the other debate he was in single digits. the stakes are different now. the plan is being krut nized. a lot of the people in gary's piece saying i really like him, if he stays at this point in polls hirksz opponents will start running ads against him. you like it? you'll pay more taxes under him. you can see some people will pay more, and the people most l

we expect to hear more from herman cain at the press club. he said he was falsely accused of sexual harassment when he worked at the national restaurant association. one woman said she did receive a seltsme settlement from the organization after complaining about inappropriate sexual conduct by cain. his campaign denies the allegations. we here host of the daily rundown. this is the week he's in washington reboogt the cting th campaign, if you will. >> making the statement to the media, this morning a good place to do that. >> he is overshadowed by the allegations. you have looked into it, and as well you had his chief of staff on "the daily rundown" today. >> he did. what's been interesting about the denials, andrea, including from herman cain, they've been very specific about what they're denying. >> let me show you what mark locke said to you earlier today from the campaign. because this was parsing words. >> i am not personally aware of any cash settlement relating to sexual harassment charges to mr. cain. >> have you asked mr. cain that

this is herman cain again. herman cain speaking at the national press club in washington, d.c. about 45 minutes ago he addressed the allegations that surfaced in the political article relating to some sexual harassment charges. it is expected that he may address those claims once again here at the national press club. if he does that, we will, of course, bring it to you right here on msnbc. we'll be right back. e announcer] this is coach parker... whose non-stop day starts with back pain... and a choice. take advil now and maybe up to four in a day. or choose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain. way to go, coach. ♪ this season better than the last? how about making it brighter, more colorful... ♪ ...and putting all our helpers to work? so we can build on our favorite traditions by adding a few new ones. ♪ we've all got garlands and budgets to stretch, and this year, we can keep them both evergreen. ♪ more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. ♪ that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm [ male announcer ] for half the calories -- plus veggie nutr