usa" starts right now. good evening, everyone. tonight, at least 13 deaths in eight states and scores of illnesses because of a stubborn listeria outbreak. we'll explore whether the supplier or government should have discovered the problem before infectioned cantaloupes went to market. and a big retreat from gop presidential hopeful rick perry. he now says he's sorry. he said critics of his immigration views don't have a heart. why the apology? here's why. one new poll out tonight shows that 10 point perry drop into second place. and it won't help much with republican primary voters, but the texas governor draws praise for a big city mayer who says most politicians are cowards when it comes to immigration. >> bottom line is romney is wrong on this one. this is the future of america. and perry is right on this one. >> the dicey politics of immigration in our exclusive interview with mayor michael bloomberg in a moment. let's begin with a look at what you need to know right now. an important warning tonight

from the u.s. embassy in saudi arabia. the embassy says it received information about a terror plot to kidnap westerners in the saudi capital of riyadh. the warning urges u.s. citizens to mix up their normal routines and to keep aware of their security at all times. however, the state department says there is no reason for u.s. citizens to leave saudi arabia. this afternoon, secretary of state hillary clinton indicated the united states will soon formally declare pakistan's haqqani network a terrorist organization. the group is considered a major threat to u.s. and nato troops in afghanistan. >> we're going to continue to struggle against terrorism and in particular against those who have taken up safe havens inside pakistan. >> also today, in an interview that will air on cnn, the chairman of the u.s. joint chiefs of staff repeated his accusation that pakistan's intelligence agency, the isi, supports the haqqani network.

>> it's been there for a long time. and unless the pakistani leadership takes action it will continue to be there and that support will continue to be there. i don't -- i don't try to make the case that this is a light switch you can throw on and off. there are elements, i think, of the isi, very active with haqqani. >> and libya tonight, the interim government's priority on the battlefield is moammar gadhafi's birthplace. the military surrounded the city of sirte where some 5,000 pro gadhafi fighters are holed up. phil black is right there outside sirte for us. phil, the big question, do the interim government troops, do they think they'll find gadhafi there? >> reporter: they don't think they're going to find gadhafi just in this location, john, but i think there is a very good chance that his son could be hiding here. they think there is a senior former regime figure in this city because the opposition

they're coming up against is so well organized so well motivated. they have said, the national transitional council here, they believe that gadhafi is near libya's western algerian border. they haven't said why they believe he's there and they have said in the past to have known where he could possibly be without those claims proving to be true. so we still don't have any firm idea, really, no evidence leading us to believe just where gadhafi could be at this time. >> and, phil, gaining control of sirte would be a huge tactical and moral victory for the rebels. how long do they think before they have control? >> reporter: well, after two weeks of fighting and making slow progress, they believe their efforts have finally reached a crucial point. they believe they are surrounding the city on all sides at its outskirts. it is under siege. they believe from here they begin to advance and squeeze the pro gadhafi forces inside and they say they'll launch a major

operation in the next few days to end this. but they have advanced into the city before, they have come up against very strong opposition. they have been beaten back, suffered heavy casualties. there is no reason to believe the next time they have a go it is going to be any easier. >> phil black on the front lin s s for us tonight, thank you. listen here, the president's spokesman. >> i think we don't take these statements seriously and given that they do not reflect at all iran's naval capabilities. >> the accused ring leader of the attack on the "uss cohle" 1 next in line to face a trial at guantanamo bay. today's announcement comes nearly 11 years after the bombing that killed 17 u.s. sailers. our pentagon correspondent barbara starr working her sources on that tonight. what took so long? >> well, john, good evening.

this is now the next step in bringing this man to trial for what the military says is the murder of 17 u.s. sailors in 2000 in yemen. he was captured the next year in 2002, held for a number of years in secret locations. waterboarded, according to the u.s. government, then transferred to guantanamo bay in 2006. in 2009, they tried to bring him before military justice proceedings, but the whole process was such a mess, that they had to basically drop the charges as they started over with a whole new effort to try and establish a military justice system for those being detained at guantanamo bay. today, bringing the charges. the next step in starting all of this, getting this guy to trial. this is a real effort to try and bring some of the high value targets that are at guantanamo bay in front of military judges. john? >> barbara, you mentioned the waterboarding and the complexities. the suspect said he confessed only because he had been tortured by his interrogators.

how does that complicate the proceeding now? >> well, this will be very interesting indeed. his lawyers are going to make the case, we believe, that the waterboarding was torture, that he was tortured as he was held by the united states, and that so many years have passed, that in addition is a torture in its own and that they should take the death penalty off the table. john? >> barbara starr at the pentagon. important case. barbara, thank you. the fbi arrested a 26-year-old massachusetts man accusing him of plotting to fly drones filled with c-4 explosive into the pentagon. and the u.s. capital. a posting on the usa today website shows remote controlled models of u.s. war planes, that were seized at the suspect's home. the justice department today asked the united states supreme court to hurry up its consideration of the obama health care reform law. 26 states were challenging that law. some appeals courts have ruled it unconstitutional. others have said it is just fine. today's ruling, a petition -- today's petition, excuse me, could bring a final supreme court decision by next summer. in politics today, still

lots of buzz about new jersey governor chris christie's speech at the reagan presidential library last night. the governor did not jump into the 2012 presidential race and in fact, gave fresh indications he would not. yet in new hampshire today, mitt romney said it would be just fine if he did. >> chris is a great friend, great guy, colorful character. he is a governor i would love to see in more political settings. and who knows, maybe he'll get in. it would be fun if he got in. the jury heard an insiders version of the day michael jackson died. ted rowlands in los angeles covering the trial. ted, take us inside the courtroom today. >> reporter: well, john, it was a fascinating day of details for the jurors getting inside jackson's house through his personal assistant and the head of security. they talked about when things went wrong, when they were first alerted by dr. conrad murray that there was trouble, both testified that they were never instructed to call 911, and both told a similar story that

dr. murray, after jackson had been pronounced dead, about an hour afterwards, he came up to them at the ucla medical center and wanted a ride home to the jackson mansion. he told them that he wanted to retrieve some cream that he said that jackson wouldn't want the world to know. well, prosecutors want jurors to connect the dots and they want people to -- the jurors to think that it was that propofol that they were really -- that he was really after. >> ted, we also heard today, a witness testified that murray requested a cpr machine and he wanted to hire a second doctor for the singer. tell us why that matters. >> reporter: well, this was from a lawyer who drafted up his working contract, murray's working contract and it matters because prosecutors want jurors to know if he really needed a cpr machine in there and he really needed a doctor because he thought that he couldn't provide the care that was needed to michael jackson, well, then he was rolling the dice in doing just that without that machine

and without that doctor. >> ted rowlands at the trial for us out in los angeles. ted, thanks so much. here is something you don't see every day. take a look. the top of the washington monument, inspectors spent the day hanging out side, literally hanging outside, hundreds of feet in the air checking for cracks and other damage from last month's earthquake. wow. when we come back, the dicey politics of immigration. you see it playing out every day in the republican presidential race. president obama got involved today too. up next, an exclusive conversation with michael bloomberg who says to politicians of all parties, enough posturing on immigration reform. ♪ [ cellphone rings ] cut! [ monica ] i have a small part in a big movie. i thought we'd be on location for 3 days, it's been 3 weeks. so, i used my citi simplicity card to pick up a few things. and i don't have to worry about a late fee. which is good... no! bigger! bigger! [ monica ] ...because i don't think we're going anywhere for a while.

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rick perry today apologized for saying in a recent presidential debate that those who disagree with giving college tuition benefits to the children of illegal immigrants don't have a heart. many conservatives took offense as evidence is hurting the governor in the polls. so governor perry back tracked in an interview with the conservative website newsmax. >> for people who don't want their state to be giving tuition to illegal aliens, illegal immigrants in this country, that's their call.

and i respect that. and i was, you know, i was probably a bit overpassionate by using that word and it was inappropriate. >> president obama also faced heat on immigration today from latinos who say he has failed to keep his promise to push for comprehensive immigration reform back in his first year in office. the president never submitted a formal proposal, but says he's not the one to blame. >> the most important thing for your viewers and listeners and readers to understand is that in order to change our laws we have got to get it through the house of representatives, which is currently controlled by republicans, and we have got to get 60 votes in the senate. >> new york mayor michael bloomberg calls the debate insane and told the chamber of congress today that in his view, the politics of immigration are causing long-term lasting damage to the american economy. >> enough with the posturing. this is a time for a political campaign, but there is also a

time to save america. >> after that speech, we sat down for an exclusive conversation. mr. may, thank you for your time. you talk in there of what you see as a national suicide, the country's failure to deal with this issue. i came to your city, half a dozen years ago, the politicians wouldn't deal with this issue. when you watch what is happening now, we have a republican debate playing out for president, and rick perry is losing steam because he doesn't support a border fence and because he supports in state college tuition breaks for the children of illegal immigrants -- >> he happens to be right on both of those things. i think you got to differentiate between what may be good politics within the beginning of a primary race as opposed to what happens when the biggest states get involved in the primary race or what happens in a general election. and then there is another minor problem here, whether it is good politics or it is bad politics, you're an american. and what questions what's right

for the country, even if it doesn't help or hurt your career. >> you talk that way. but do you see evidence that the national debate is coming your direction, even governor romney, somebody who a few years back i think you might find closer to senator mccain and then president bush or senator kennedy now just about every day a press release saying immigration imitation saying that rick perry is just the same as barack obama, just the same as this democratic governor or this democratic mayor. >> bottom line is, romney is wrong on this one. this is the future of america. and perry is right on this one. i'm going to agree with perry on other things, but on this one, he's right. >> if you go to a tea party vote, there was a tea party group, they're standing up, they still make the case they're coming across the border by the tens of thousands. so how do these guys stand up to them? >> that's the job of your network, to tell the truth. your job is to inform the american public what's really going on. and the truth of the matter is the number of people crossing the border has gone down to the

minh muss number of people and in fact it is going in the other direction and we're getting hurt. and i would argue it is romney and perry and whom ever's job to lead from the front, to tell people what is really going on and to get them to understand what's in their best interests. that's what leadership is all about. and if all you do is follow what the -- what is the general zeitgeist if you only do the things you think are politically correct, i don't think you should be leading this country. i'm not picking sides here between the republicans and democrats or any one of the candidates, i think all of them are afraid to go out and say what they really believe and i think that's the way to get elected president of the united states, the public wants people who are honest and i think if you go back and look, we have had presidents that have gotten elected without being all that popular, but people look them in the eye and thought they had beliefs. bush was that -- bush 43 was

that person. >> you think they're flat out afraid of the tea party. >> you have to ask them why they're doing it but perry obviously isn't. he's saying what he believes. he also -- this is a vaccine that is going to cure -- prevent a bunch of cancers. he's in favor of using it and people against this, this is insanity. >> you call it insanity, but is the driving force in american politics, it was the driving force in the republicans taking back the house and therefore when you talk to a republican, privately, they might tell you something, i don't like these guys or don't like what they're doing to the party, but publicly that's the momentum of the party now. how do they stop that if you think they should? >> i don't know whether that's their job. i think their job first and foremost as americans is to stand up and do what's right and there are plenty of people in this country that have profiles and courage. that do the right thing, say the right thing. some of them win, some of them lose. but at least they can look themselves in the mirror. >> do you see the leadership on the other side, president obama promised he would have comprehensive immigration

reform. >> i'm not picking sides here. i don't think either end of pennsylvania avenue or either side of the aisle has distinguished themselves on immigration or a lot of other things in this country. i think they all should be -- have more of a courage of their convictions, should be consistent. >> jobs, immigration, taxation, deficits. >> they're all tied together. >> they're all the subject -- they're all tied together in terms of their impact on the economy and the society, they're also all tied into this broken washington, d.c. and gridlock. >> yes. >> and they're issues we talked about for year and you sense your growing frustration. you see in the polling data, the growing frustration of the american people where is the circuit breaker? how do you change it? >> well, it is probably not done overnight. it is probably done with an awful lot of work from a lot of people who really try to make the case rationally and explain. it is done by quality journalism that explains rather than sensationalist journalism that promotes things that just aren't true and hurts democracy.

there is a catalyst -- >> what are things that just aren't true and hurts democracy? >> a lot of the sensational press, for example, used to talk about some people believing that over the border tens of thousands of people a minute are streaming, that's not true. you know, maybe it is time that the cameras went down there and the reporters went down there to look and report from there what is actually going on. it might not make for great theater, but it is -- when you see nobody coming across, but that is, i've always thought, the responsibility of the fourth estate, to explain to the public what actually is happening, not what people think is happening or what somebody would like to have happen. >> when you look 15%, we have a new poll out today, 15% of the american people trust their government to do the right thing. that's pretty depressing. >> pretty depressing, pretty damning and you should really worry. if you have kids, they're talking about your children's

future. and if you want to leave them a better world, you better do something about that. now, some of it is incidentally the way the question is asked. and most people would say i don't like congress, but i like my senator or my congress person. it is like i hate the post office, but i love my postman or whatever. so it is a -- you can -- numbers lie and liars use numbers. but nevertheless, the public is clearly frustrated. they don't see either end of pennsylvania avenue or either side of the aisle standing up and getting things done. >> mr. mayor, thank you for your time. >> my pleasure. still to come, one governor's very undemocratic idea to fix our broken government. and contaminated cantaloupe is blamed for more than a dozen deaths in eight states. we explain listeria and what the government can and cannot do to protect your food. just one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day

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welcome back. here is the latest news you need to know now on cnn's "the situation room," herman cain said african-americans vote democratic because they're, quote, brainwashed. >> many african-americans have been brainwashed into not being open minded, not even considering a conservative point of view. i have received some of that same vitriol simply because i am running for the republican nomination as a conservative.

so it is just brainwashing and people not being open minded. >> and amazon.com ceo jeff bezos showed off the company's brand-new tablet, the kindle fire. it doesn't have a camera or phone and doesn't do as much as apple's ipad, but it costs less than half as much, $199. union workers today approved a new four-year contract with general motors. gm he's says it is the smallest increase in labor costs in four decades. bloomberg reports ford may up to 4,000 jobs by moving production of its fusion sedans from mexico to the united states. tainted cantaloupe linked to the deaths of 13 people in what is now the country's deadliest outbreak of foodborne illness since 1998. let's take a closer look at this listeria outbreak. want to walk over and break it down for you here. if you take a peek at it, we now have this report, 18 states have been affected, 72 illnesses, 13 deaths. these are the states where the deaths have occurred, the darker orange states. 18 states in all against 72 illnesses, the latest count

those numbers will go up. why does this happen? here is one of the reasons. this listeria, it can stay in still pools of water. a lot of agricultural settings like that. also, gets into the soil, very persistent, hard to get out. this is significant, if it gets inside an animal and the intestines, it is such a survivable disease it can hang forever and live for a long time in animal intestens. one reason listeria is so tough, it can survive both in extremely hot or extremely cold temperatures. that's why it is tough and dangerous. in the case of the cantaloupes, this is what makes it especially dang ru dangerous. let's dig deeper with our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta. you spoke to the director of the cdc a bit earlier today. he tried to explain how this happened and a bit more about what the government and others can do about it. let's listen. >> they can take a week to three weeks after you eat contaminated

product before you become ill, and can take as much as two months to become ill. furthermore, some people may still have the jensens farm cantaloupe in their refrigerators. if you have a cantaloupe labeled as something other than jensen farm, it is okay to eat. but if the label looks like this, that's what the jensen farm label looks like, then it is not safe to eat, throw it out. >> this is one of those terrible things that raises questions about the food safety system. should the farm, should the supplier or should the government have been able to detect this sooner and keep the cantaloupe off the shelf? >> well, it is interesting, probably not at the governmental level, but there are independent farms or places -- where they grow these kinds of crops that do their independent testing to make sure the bacteria is not in the soil, not contaminating their produce. most of what the doctor went on to say is they do a lot more

aggressive patient surveillance. if they see clusters of illness, they try and hone in on the clusters quickly to try to figure out is there something in common among those people, and they're trying to increase that part of the capacity more so. but, you know, john, to your point, this is the worst or deadliest food outbreak in more than a decade and there have been 12 multistate outbreaks this year alone so far. so while some of that may help in terms of, you know, figuring out the outbreaks sooner, the food safety, whether you say that food is safe, that's probably harder to say. one other question i asked him as well, after it leaves the farm, or leaves the field, this food, is there something else that can be done in terms of radiating it, sterilizing it. he said that's being looked into right now by the fda, but there is no clear plan in place for that right now. >> dr. gupta, who is most at risk? >> well, the people who have weakened immune systems. so the elderly, the young, and pregnant women are most at risk as well. and the united states, on a

given year, you have 1600 cases of what is called listeriosis, the infection from listeria. and about 10% to 20% of those people don't survive it. but in healthy people, people who have not had any of those risk factors, they get the infection, they may have a couple of bad days, but they're, you know, likely to not need to go to the hospital. >> and what are the symptoms? if someone is thinking, could this be me, i'm not feeling well, what should they be looking for? >> i thought about this as well. the best way to think about it, the symptoms can be vague and they can be flu-like symptoms, maybe gastrointestinal symptoms. it can take a while, i should point out as well, for the symptoms to develop, some dr. frieden said. even though we're looking at the number of deaths you mentioned, the number of illnesses, they could go up despite the fact that no more of the cantaloupe is consumed because there is a layton latentsy.

>> scheef medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta, appreciate your happen. keep in touch. whether we come back, could we fix washington's gridlock by skipping an election cycle? l bud i'm stild stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't un-stuff your nose. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your stuffy nose. [ deep breath ] thank you! that's the cold truth!

hardly breaking news for me to say washington is broken. with gridlock far easier to find

than bprogress when it comes to the nation's big challenges. 15, as in only 15% of americans say they can trust the government in washington to do what is right most of the time. much of your frustration is aimed at congress. a north carolina governor, beverly perdue, is pushing a novel idea. she says lawmakers might make tough decisions if they were allowed to skip an election cycle. but keep their jobs. >> i think we ought to suspend perhaps elections for congress for two years and just tell them we won't hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, just let them help this country recover. >> in other words, fix our democracy, or try anyway, by suspending our democracy. good idea or is that a joke? let's start there with our gloria borger and david gergen. gloria, can you fix a democracy by -- >> no. >> -- by stopping democracy? >> no, i think it is a predi ridiculous idea. if you don't like the way

members of congress are performing, vote them out of office. that's what voters in fact have been doing the last three elections, swing elections, and the next one might be a swing election. they're paid to go do a job. if they don't do it, vote them out. >> but, david, gloria makes a very important point, and this is something you wrote about today, the voters have been doing this. the voters, as frustrated as they are with washington, need to spend time looking into the mirror because they are responsible for divided government. maybe we should have redistricting reform, maybe we should have more competitive house districts, but with what we got, the voters are sending what we get. >> i think there is a tendency to blame the politicians for everything. and we treat them like they're -- and a lost times they have screwed up and it is not working. but to a considerable extent, i think the -- the people are going to washington and represent the people back home. and what has happened over the years as you know, is that the middle in american politic has

begun to disappear. a lost people who saw themselves as moderates or in the middle of the road have gone more -- drifted more and more either to become strong conservatives or strong liberals. and there is no sort of working middle at the grassroots. a lot of reasons for that. but what is done is that the -- the politicians who go to washington, you know, we get the politicians we deserve in effect. >> if you look historically this is depressing if you pull up the numbers. now 15% trust their government, always or most of the time to do the right thing. back in 2000, it was 42%. 1990, it dipped, back to 1958, 73%, the good old days. with only 15% trusting the government and you look at the dissatisfaction with both parties, you think it is prosecute climathe perfect climate for someone to emerge as independent. they were starting a new think tank to help support maybe independent minded candidates. but listen to mayor bloomberg. i talked to him today and he

seems now resigned to the fact that we have the ds and rs and that's it. >> well, if somebody ran as an independent, i wouldn't have a problem. if they espoused the views i think are right for this country, i would support them as well. i think from a practical point of view, we have a two-party system, it is going to stay a two-party system for as long in the future as i can see. and both parties just have to make sure they open enough for all different ideas and i think that's one of the problems here, both of them have narrowed the volume of the tent or the expanse of the tent that they have. and that's not good. >> he says that's not good, but if a guy like bloomberg is not ready to bankroll some new independent moment, it is not going to happen. >> no it not , it is not going happen. campaigns have become more partisan because members of congress have become more partisan, because of the way we redistrict in this country is set by state legislatures. and that's become more partisan.

primaries are partisan events. there is really almost no benefit to a politician anymore to going to the middle because it is not going to help them get re-elected yet. when it comes to the general election, who are the people the candidates have to appeal to? independent voters, people who might be more in the middle. it is it kind of has become a dysfunctional system. >> we're going to keep on going. bloom beberg looked at running. i'm told he thought about this seriously. he concluded he could win the popular vote but not the electoral college, the election would be thrown in the house and the ds or rs would control the outcome. i would not discount the possibility of a third party movement starting up in this country and taking traction, taking hold. because there is a disgust level in the country now with politics as is, that somebody could breakthrough here before --

before -- not in this election cycle, but maybe the next few years. >> it takes a lot of money. but we will see. you're right about the climate, though. david, gloria, thanks so much. will he or won't he? new jersey governor chris christie says he's not running for president because he's listening to the entreaties. some believe he might just lean into it. [ male announcer ] what if we told you that cadillac

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coming up at the top of the hour, let's check in with a preview of "anderson cooper 360". >> a u.s. citizen arrested, charmed with planning to bomb the pentagon and the u.s. capital. the plot is bizarre. the plan was to fill oversized model airplanes like these with c-4 explosives, use a remote control to fly them into the target. we'll tell you how the plot was foiled. also tonight, a stunning story, dozens are dead including a u.s. border patrol agent after the atf gave guns to mexican drug traffickers. there are new allegations of a cover-up going high up the food chain in washington. do you think the atf have been accomplices to murder? >> absolutely. >> you're saying what they were doing is criminal? >> absolutely. not just these individual agents, but people up the chain of command who have made the

decision, the u.s. attorney for arizona just resigned. and this is a big deal. now it is one step away from eric holder. this is his department of justice, and there are people who have lost their lives. >> we'll have more ahead. and how this ill conceived operation was more poorly executed and may have caused that border patrol agent his life. also tonight, michael jackson's personal doctor on trial for involuntary manslaughter. we're going to hear from dr. sanjay gupta, inside information on the defense strategy and mark geragos and marcia clark. those stories and tonight's ridiculous at the top of the hour. back to you, john. >> see you in a few minutes. thank you. we woke up today thinking the presidential campaign voting kicked off 130 days from now. the iowa caucuses. but now a bold and controversial manufacture move by florida could shake up the calendar and move up the other states to earlier dates. this could affect shall we say holiday campaigning. here is what it was supposed to look like. if the states had gone according to their party rules and the

deal with the republican national committee, iowa would go here, and early february, then new hampshire, then you have florida, nevada was planning to go here, south carolina here. relatively orderly process. south carolina, florida, a little grumbling there. but would look something like this. florida today decided no, we want to go here. we want to go right over here. florida moves over to january 31st. well, florida can't go first because iowa and new hampshire, they think that's their territory f florida goes here, guess what, all these guys are going to move somewhere in here. which means candidates spending christmas time, christmas time out in those states. as we scramble the calendar, new battleground state polls also offers proof of the tough re-election climate out there for the president. let's check in with conservative red state.comed ter editor eric erickson. will we have the first maybe next month in iowa? >> god only knows. and why do we have to go with an

iowa caucus first, which for both parties in the past has typically been representative of who is probably not going to be the nominees for the parties. let's remember that none of the above beat jimmy cart and someone beat michael dukakis and the list goes on andon. well be president right now.

it catapulted him. >> another reason to discount the iowa caucus. the republican convention is in florida. so they're going to have a hard time disqualifying florida delegates to the convention held in florida if they want to show up and not have the doors barred. >> you never know. they might close the bars early and we couldn't have that. here is something to look at tonight. we showed our poll earlier in the week showing rick perry starting to plateau, if not dip a little bit in the republican primary field. a new fox news poll out tonight, a few days later than our poll that shows a bigger drop. look at this. mitt romney now in the lead in the fox news poll, just a few days ago, governor perry at 29%. now dropped down to 19%. you see herman cain picking up some support there among

conservatives. eric, what -- to what do you attribute this? shaky debate performances in general or specifically conservatives when they hear him on immigration, when they hear him on the hpv vaccine saying, oh, not our guy? >> two things. primarily the debate performance. but also immigration. though if you look at some of the other poll numbers in there for example, they ask you who have most in common with and the majority of the people, i shouldn't say majority, but most of the people say rick perry at 17% followed by herman cain, mitt romney at 12% there. my guess is reading those two together, it is that people want to find someone who can beat mitt romney in the primary. romney is capped out, at 22% last month, 23% this month. and so now people looked at perry and are thinking, hmm, this guy is terrible in debates, let's go with herman cain now and vet him. >> i won't let you play t-bone on the republicans. maybe next time two big battleground state polls out today that show the tough climate for the president. do you believe the president deserves to be re-elected?

here is pennsylvania voters. yes, 44, no, 51. here is ohio voters, yes, 43, no, 51. a long way to go. 13 months or so. but when you see in a state like pennsylvania, a democratic state for a long time, michael dukakis carried pennsylvania, one of the ten, that tells you -- that tells you about the climate. >> it is a horrible climate for any incumbent. and i'm willing to bet you right now, tickets to the boston game if they make the playoffs that there is probably not an incumbent in either one of those states w states who has a re-elect above 50. it is a really tough climate right now. but at the same time, given the tough climate now and both the polls, barack obama is leading the republican candidate in those polls. >> if they make the playoffs. cornell is making a play on me here. while we're on tape, i said this is the only day in my life i'm going to say these words, take the pictures down, i'll say them on camera, go yankees. the only day in my whole life ie life i'll say those words, go yankees. eric and cornell are staying

with us. that was go yankees. new jersey governor chris christie says go to the videotape. he says go to the videotape if you want to know if he'll run for president. no, no, no is the message if you watch the highlight reel. yet there are some who see hints of a late entry. erin burnett joins us with our discussion next.

at the reagan presidential library last night, a polite question for the new jersey governor, chris christie. please reconsider.

>> we need you. your country needs you to run for president. >> i hear exactly what you're saying and i feel the passion with which you say it and it touches me. >> the governor went on to say he was very flattered but suggested he still didn't feel a burning desire to run. still on the trail today, other republicans couldn't avoid the christie question. >> chris is a great friend, great guy, colorful character. he is a -- he is a governor i'd love to see in more political settings. who knows, maybe he'll get in. it would be fun if he got in. >> so do we take governor christie at his word or is there still a chance he'll join the race. we're thrilled to have joined the conversation, erin burnett whose new program premieres monday night. erin, let me start with you. you're in new york tonight. some money people on wall street and new jersey, they say we need this guy and still think he might listen to us.

will he? >> well, you know, it's amazing, they really want him to run. john, it started this summer at some of the conferences i was at. it's continued in recent days with big ceos of big banks and big media companies who said i'm a lifelong democrat but i'm going to vote for chris christie and i'd give him money. first of all, would they really do it or are they just talking? as you've talked about, it's pretty hard when your whole m.o. is being an honest, genuine guy who says what he means and means what he says to be so clear and then go back on your word. it just doesn't seem like chris christie. >> i think you're right in that he is a straight shooter and that's how he wants to be remembered and he says no, no, no. and yet, erick, he gives this speech at the reagan library. it's a very upbeat speech. it steers clear of the most part of the politics for the moments but then the guy who says he's not running has this to say about immigration and the texas

governor, rick perry. >> i want every child who comes to new jersey to be educated, but i do not believe that for those people who came here illegally that we should be subsidizing with taxpayer money through in-state tuition their education. and let me be very clear from my perspective. that is not a heartless position. that is a common sense position. >> that's a left hook. >> yeah. you know, perry used to expect this, most riepublicans disagre with him. i expect chris christie will not be endorsing rick perry for president. i feel like we need to go back to the late 1980s abc after school specialist where the school counselor talks about how no means no. he's done this repeatedly, no

means no and it's like the snowstorms and weather that hits new york city, the media covers them a lot more than those that hit the flood plains and the midwest because he's a governor in the media market in the new york/d.c. area. >> he took the shot at governor perry there. i do want to note chris christie is on the record saying he feels immigration reform should include a path to citizenship. but cornell, what is the appeal of chris christie? >> the appeal of chris christie is the other field. when you look at the rest -- sticking to baseball now, this is deja vu all over again. we heard this with romney, they all wanted bachmann, they look at rick perry and now want chris christie. christie took a shot at perry on immigration because where he's been in the past he's caused a lot of the tea party's crazies around the environmental protection as well as around the

muslim -- the whole muslim thing, so he's got some work to do with the far right of that party. >> maybe he could be on independent candidate, erin? no? yes? no? >> you bring up immigration. he's a very northeastern republican if you want to use that word. second strictest gun laws in the country in new jersey. he's well aware that those issues on social policy would not play in his favor to the republican base and those early primaries. maybe in the northeast but certainly not in the south. >> erick and cornell, thanks for coming in. i want to spend our last minute -- i'm going to cut you off and spend the last minute with our new colleague erin burnett. you're taking over this time slot on monday night. you spent time going around the world because not only is it a global economic challenge but there are a number of other big issues around the world. tell us what you learned in getting ready and hitting the road. >> it's been amazing. john and i were joking during the commercial, john was saying, all right, are you dead yet getting ready? go out and get a drink in your

last few nights. we named the show "out front" and we mean it. we want to go out there in terms of traveling around the world. so we traveled literally around the world from china through the middle east all the way back to new york. it was a circumnavigation. the biggest economic relationship the united states has, perhaps its biggest military threat. we spent time with chinese children this summer so we'll spend time there and also in the middle east where we spent some time with women in pakistan. so we're going to be out there. i guess that's the way to say it. but we're looking forward to it and looking forward to coming right after you here in the rundown on cnn. >> erin burnett "out front united states starts monday night at 7:00 p.m. in the east. that means we start at 6:00. we're proud and excited to have erin join our lineup. that's all for us tonight.