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. [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

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

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

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

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? >> 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 will stay herman. . >> in full damage control. a day of denial responding to a report that the trade group settled complaints that cain engaged in inappropriate behavior. cain rebuffed the story hours ago. >> i have never sexually harassed anyone while at the restaurant association. i was accused of sexual harassment. falsely accused, i might add. >> some are finding cain's denials as confusing as the details. at the press club he said he had no idea if there was a settlement at all. >> i am unaware of any settlement. i hope it wasn't for much because i didn't do anything. >> likewise, cain's campaign manager now famous for smoking in the campaign ad struggled to issue an out right denial when pressed by msnbc's truck todd. . >> i am not personally aware of any settlement. >> you understand how that sounds? >> it's very serious. >> the fact that you cannot say it and you are telling us we have to go to the association. >> that's the place to get the answer. >> cain always said his is a different kind of campaign. he concluded his

herman, herman... >> the name of the place was called niggerhead. >> jon: [whispering] right. so i'd go easy on that "brother" [bleeped]. but to perry's point that cain's 9% federal sales tax would impose an additional cost on top of state sales tax, well, cain had a simple response. >> this is an example of mixing apples and oranges. the state tax is an apple. we are replacing the current tax code with oranges. >> herman, are you saying that state sales tax will also go away. >> no, that's an apple. >> oh, okay. we're replacing a bunch of oranges. >> will the people in nevada not have to pay nevada sales tax and in addition pay the 9% tax. >> you're still going to pay that. that's apples and oranges. >> and i'm going to get a bushell basket with apples and oranges. and people in nevada don't want to pay both taxes. >> jon: hey, herman cain, you like apples? dawes you just got wicked schooled by the former governor of massachusetts. how do you like them [bleeped] apples. ahhhh! thank you. that was my one-man show idea good will hunting" the apple scene. but of course romney is

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

herman being herman as he likes to put it. when disgust and distrust with politician ss running so dangerously but understandably high. like everyone else, mr. cain is entitled to his opinion, but not his facts. here is noit's truth, he's at the edge if not over it already of what i'll call the presidential level discipline test. this has nothing to do with today's headlines about sexual harassment allegations although his conflicting accounts might add to that. this has to do with the pattern of slugging off policy blund ders. once or twice is acceptable, es spshl lip for someone new to the national stage. smiling at the thought of those trying to sneak past the border. then he said it was a joke. then not a joke. he told wolf blitzer he was up to swapping terror detainees for a hostage, then would never negotiate with terrorists. he's trying to have it both ways or simply keeps talking in circles on one of the most emotional issues in politician, abortion rights. this is today at the national press club. >> part of an interv

be herman and mr. cain lets block be block. i smoke, it's a fact. now, we never anticipated that this message to our supporters, which is really what it was, that we were excited about the campai campaign, we were excited about the poll numbers. everybody knows that we're running this as a different type of campaign from a bottoms up instead of a top down. never anticipated that it would go viral the way it did. i mean, chuck -- >> so you're not longer -- are you going to make sure you're not filmed smoking a cigarette anymore? >> if i'm standing outside of a hotel having a cup of coffee on my iphone and i have a cigarette and somebody films it, there's nothing i can do about that. >> i understand. but you're not going to be having your campaign filming you. >> absolutely not. >> i want to go back one more time to the politico story. if the facts come out and mr. cain wasn't clear with you, how disturbing is that to you? >> i have complete confidence that what mr. cain told me is absolute factual and t

herman cain stops by november 1. we're working to schedule all the candidates if for center seat with the panel. still ahead, could you or loved one die because there is not enough medicine? we'll explain. >> bret: the u.s. trade deficit dipped in august to $45.61 billion. the lowest amount in four months. the deficit is running at an annual rate of more than $564 billion. up 13% from last year. applications for unemployment benefits fell by 1,000 last week. but are still well above levels considered healthy. stocks were mixed today. dow lost 41. the s& s&p 500 gave back four. nasdaq added 15.5. of course, wall street is getting a lot of unwanted attention lately, because of the protests there. which leads us to the question: are the people on wall street really to blame for the struggling economy? chief washington correspondent james rosen went in search of an answer. >> the member of occupy wall street tend to blame economic morass on service sector. >> i have in mind a system between government, wall street, and m

and what about herman cain? >>> and the search for baby lisa, a major new development in the past 30 minutes. we'll tell you about that on the other side of this break. woman: saving for our child's college fund was getting expensive. man: yes it was. so to save some money, we taught our 5 year old how to dunk. woman: scholarship! woman: honey go get him. anncr: there's an easier way to save. get online. go to geico.com. get a quote. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. >>> i want you to look at this video. just got this here. this is new video from washington, d.c. this is inside the senate hart office building. police there hauling off protesters from the occupy d.c. group. officers moved in as soon as they dropped down some banners that said end war now and the other banner apparently said the people, for the people. protesters from the atrium, that's the atrium of the hart building. being hauled off by police. there was a shot of the banner before they managed to get to them. welcome back.

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

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

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. >> gary, appreciate it. 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 scrutinized. a lot of the people in gary's piece saying i really like him, if he stays at this point in polls, his opponents will start running ads against him. you like it? you'll pay more taxes under him. i had a conversation with him earlier to

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

let herman be herman. this is the attitude that i have when i do debates. this is the at tiewt i have when i do interviews.te let herman be herman. mark block is my chief of staffh and we also say let mark be mark. mark happens to be a smoker. he knows it's a bad habit, butat he smokes, and so we weren't trying to send any subliminal message what is over. many of us found it hilarious because we know mark block, so there was no hidden messagek there other than we were in vegas and we wanted to put something new out on the internet because i was inundated with other requests and i trusted mark block which i still do, and i thought he did a grea job with the ad. a the person who did the ad for us added that little scene at the end, quite frankly, that as you say, has caused all the stir, but that was no hidden message there other than mark block saying america has never seen another candidate like hermanne cain. right. herman, they're attacking you on paying your taxes, on the issuen of abortion and foreign policy. when we come back, we'll continue with herma

but talking points says three cheers for herman cain. he has made the primary season very interesting. and that is the memo. now, for the top story tonight. rick perry's decline in popularity has hit home. speaking in south carolina today, his wife anita said this. >> eaten up and chewed up in the press to where i mean we are being -- our opponents and our party so much that i think they look at him because of this state. >> joining us with reaction radio talk show star and fox news analyst laura ingram. so the christian, you know, it seems that mrs. perry believes that her husband has been singled out for scorn because of his religious beliefs. do you buy that? >> look, i think she is right, it has been a really tough month for him. as his wife, i mean she is probably hurting for him. and the truth i think about this is that when you get into this race as michele bachmann found, as last time around mike huckabee found, as sarah palin found when she was the vice presidential nominee, the media and, yeah, other conservatives aring ifing t

tonight, a new herman cain ad goes viral. inst it. [ laughter ] ets ate backer. i was totally into tsold out. [ laughter ] and my guest susan saladoff hasmentary aboute par-boiled my nut-sac can find.hat's where he should [ laughter ] this is "the colbert report."tral plause ) [chee much welcome to the report, thank you for joining us.lause]if there are audience i'd like to say a big [speaking russian] nati of apple. i'm ae first to have e it's cool. [ laughter ] so of course, line to buy the big new steve just yes but now that i have it, and isrespect to mr. jobs, it is a huge disappointment. [ nothing. nothing.own, it doesn't re-orient. it just stays -- find where i put my headphones in. tell me about steve jobs. where is thething! [ laughter ] version. folks like many americans i've been swept up by a category 5 [ laughter ] he's the washingtofraid to say the things the nation needs to hear and then can't believe it just heard. things like "let's electrocute mexicans" or "i'm leading in the polls." [ laughter ] and the latest cbs/new york times/taco bell poll

>> stephen: tonight, a new herman cain ad goes viral. and rick perry wants to vaccinate twelve year old girls against it. [ laughter ] plus, occupy wall street gets a corporate backer. pff. i was totally into them before they sold out. [ laughter ] and my guest susan saladoff has a new documentary about frivolous lawsuits. if anybody asks, that starbucks coffee par-boiled my nut-sack. [ laughter ] gaddafi will be buried in a secret location that no one can find. maybe that's where he should have hidden. [ laughter ] this is "the colbert report." captioning sponsored by comedy central ( theme song playing ) ( applause ) [cheers and applause] [crowd chanting stephen] thank you so much welcome to the report, thank you for joining us. [cheers and applause] and if there are any russian immigrants in the audience i'd like to say a big [speaking russian] [ laughter ] nation, you know i'm a huge fan of apple. i'm always the first to have the iphone, the ipad, the iv. [ laughter ] it drips the internet right into your arm. it's cool. you'll hear

it's all good news and puppy dogs and dandelions for herman cain. we're talking about him meeting with donald trump, not issues rick perry has had to deal with since he got into the race, from immigration, to hpv, to the latest thing about his ranch. but i think because herman cain has been so low in the polls up until he won that florida straw poll a week ago, he's been on the rise. and as your chiron says, can cain suss tain? that is the key question. >> jonathan, i have to ask you, what do you make of herman cain's objection yesterday on television, obvious objection to the perry ranch, hunting ranch, the name of it, and then his quick retracting of that as soon as the perry camp put out a statement that was actually what was already in the "washington post" articles? the whole dispute about exactly when did they paint this thing over. >> uh-huh. well, look, i think, you know, herman cain was reacting to a story that hit in the "washington post" yesterday. there have been follow-up stories in the "post" and "the new york times." i can't get into

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,

as far as herman cain goes i don't want to say i agree with ann and juan but the republicans herman cain are going against are happy. the demes are dam hn happy it ce out. ultimately they don't want him to succeed. as far as do i still support hermain? i know his character. too many times we are voting on personality. that's what i see a lot is personality. american people need to be done with personalities. we need to go back to character. that's what we need to represent us. >> we have been told the candidate herman cain is watching the program. it is a live program. he's watching right now. mr. cane you have the telephone number. we urge you to give us a call. we knower you know how we feel about you. we dig you. you are an honest man. give us a call we will blowout whatever we hahappen to be talk about and give you plenty of air time. first of all do you think he has a chance do you know his district? >> he is running against marcy kaptur long conservative in the house. >> that is totally great. i wish him all of the luck in the world. i think he's already established his credentials

take a listen to their take on herman cain and mitt romney. >> the newest polls show you trailing herman cain by as many as 15 points. >> yes. >> when are you going to accept that republicans just don't like you? >> look, i don't think they dislike me. i think they want to exhaust their options. i understand that before anyone goes home with mitt romney, they're going to take one last lap around the bar to see if there is anyone better than me. >> herman cain. >> yes. >> with your rise in the polls, many are taking a closer look at your 9-9-9 plan and most economists agree it is an oversimplified, unworkable solution to a complicated financial situation. >> let me explain. the original goal of the 9-9-9 plan was to get me a show on fox news at 9:00. but if america is looking for catchy unworkable solutions to complicate a problem, herman cain will keep them coming. how to fight terrorism, my 5-5-5 plan. america will send five airplanes, five soldier and five dogs they caught on osama bin laden. how do we fix health care, the 3-3-3 plan. >> we know the candidates will be on tuesday in las

cain tried to reassure supporters herman will stay herman. he did acknowledge some people will be turned off by the cloud and said the others won't be. he kept a full schedule of media interviews while they're unanswered questions, it's clear that cain will fight back hard. >> bret: is there, are they talking about the possible political impact here yet? the campaign? >> the campaign is worried about it. they worry it will potentially turn folks off. cain said that. the question is whether you get on the campaign trail and move back to the 9-9-9 plan and issues that brought him to the top of the poll in the first place. his rivals will likely remain silent on this. going with the long-standing adage best to leave your opponent alone when they're in trouble. >> bret: thank you. brit hume has thoughts on the cain story. good evening. >> we don't know the truth and we may never know. the case does illustrate the truth on the law in matters today. years ago, the board room employees were at a disadvantage subjected to unwanted sexual advances by

>> 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

herman cain says it does not. let's look at the facts here. the tax center policy came out with the first most comprehensive analysis on this they said 84% of taxpayers would pay more under the 9-9-9 plan, families making less than $30,000 would be hit had the hardest, the highest income fam wlis get a tax break. not a definitive word but as close as we have come so farm the simple truth, anderson, look at mitt romney's plan raises taxes on the middle class that appears to be true and that makes a lot of the claims that herman cain is making about 9-9-9, unless he has got a much better explanation than what he has got so far false. >> let's bring the panel back. you think the 9-9-9 peaked tonight? >> the rise in the polls brings the scrutiny there tom gave the analysis. a, creating a new tax, conservatives wouldn't like that national sales tax fight that some love to go eventually, people talked about the past in the current system version hard to sell to con seurat it was. number two herman cain has the great rags-to-riches story, grew up poo

herman cain riding a huge wave into tuesday's gop debate. but the boost in popularity is bringing more scrutiny for him and his policy ideas. i want you to hear what he said in tennessee about keeping out illegal immigrants. >> when i'm in charge of the fence, we're going to have a fence. it's going to be 20 feet high and have barbed wire on the top. it's going to be electrified. and there is going to be a sign on the other side that says it will kill you. >> boy, he seems serious there. he walked back on the comments on nbc's "meet the press." >> that's a joke, david. >> it's a joke. >> that's a joke. >> that's not a serious plan? >> no, it's not. >> you got a big laugh. that's not what you'd do. >> it's a joke. i also said america fields to get a sense of humor. >> he has said it before about the exact same issue and in exactly the same way. >> you upped the ante with a 20 foot barbed wire electrified fence. were you serious? >> america's got to learn how to take a joke. >> so what exactly does herman cain find so hilarious about the illeg