the rhine river. half of them are being told to evacuate. the world war ii explosive will be diffused tomorrow. i'll be back tomorrow in the 2:00 eastern hour. we'll show you how you can shop and give to a charity at the same time. right now we're also getting ready to go to candy crowley for a special political hour on the herman cain announcement. meantime "your $$$$$" will return in the 3:00 eastern hour. good afternoon, i'm candy crowley, live at the cnn bureau in washington. we are awaiting from herman cain. he said he needed to speak with his wife. you're now looking at a live picture of what was to be a day when herman cain opened his atlanta headquarters. three or four weeks ago this man was flying high at the polls then came a series of revelations, all of which he announced to be untrue at some level. it has taken its toll in the

polls and fund-raising. herman cain has been home with his wife now for at least 24 hours discussing the situation. i am joined today by my colleagues, senior correspondent joe johns and also with our shannon travis down covering atlanta -- what will be atlanta headquarters for herman cain of the problem is you and i have been talking to sources for the last couple of hours. well, he's leaning towards leaving. we're pretty sure he's going to leave. you get the same thing and you can't trust them. >> no, you can't. one source i talked to a little while ago said this is a man who holds his own council. he may have people around him telling him things. those people may come away with some impression of what he's going to do or something he said. but that was what herman cain thought at that moment. they report whatever they think as a truth to us. it turns around, it changes. it's changed before. it's really good to sort of wait, sit, and see what herman

cain is going to do. clearly the options are stay in the race, get out. there's also a possibility, of course, of what we've seen before -- >> doing neither. >> suspend, if you will, the campaign. that way he can continue to raise money or whatever. there are people who are telling herman cain, both publicly and privately, no matter what he wants to do, the fact of the matter is, he's not really a viable candidate. that's what they are telling him. >> exactly. you know, i think the thing here is there's two separate questions. the first is, issay viable candidate still. the second is, is he going to continue with his campaign. not necessarily the same answers. >> absolutely. we do know there have been some other occasions. herman cain has even made reference to this, where he said he was going to reassess. this is the latest example of him reassessing his campaign and what that means for him. he suggested it didn't mean he might get out of the race.

he said he was reassessing to try to get some feel as to whether or not, oh, maybe i should change the way i do my campaign. maybe stop focusing on everything else but the primary states. but who knows? he's in a position where after talking to his family, after talking to his wife, he could come in and say, okay, this has gotten too close for comfort and i'm calling it quits. >> i want to play you and our viewers something that caught my ear. last month herman cain was talking to an interviewer. this was before the revelation of a woman who said i've been having a 13-year affair. he density. this was before that. during the whole brouhaha about sexual harassment allegations which he also denied, this is what he had to say. >> if i ever reach the point where this campaign became damaging to my family, my wife and my family, i'm not a quitter

but there is a point beyond which you will not go. >> i thought at the time when he said this, this being said sounds like a man greasing the skids for an exit. that was prior to the 13-year affair allegation. let's bring in our colleague shannon travis at cain's headquarters in atlanta. you have been on the ground with herman cain for many, many weeks, followed his campaign out there with the foot soldiers. i'm wondering if you are picking up anything at all you consider credible in terms of understanding what herman cain might be thinking about doing at this point? >> that's actually an incredibly good question, candy, because we are. a few phone calls we've been making all afternoon reading the tea leaves to see what's happening. let me explain a few things born out of those conversations. number one, i had a conversation with alice stewart. she is michele bachmann's

campaign spokeswoman. earlier i reported she told me herman cain and michele bachmann spoke on the phone. they did not themselves speak. alice stewart clarified the campaign spoke. no less significant those campaigns are speaking. alice stewart also explained to me a lot of herman cain's supporters have now reached out to the bachmann campaign and said they are now throwing their support behind her. now, again, we don't have any confirmation of whether or not herman cain will drop out of this race, but that's a significant development, as you know, candy, because both of them share a large base among tea parties and christian and evangelical supporters. one other thing, candy, we're expecting herman cain to take the stage at any moment. >> one of the thing, joe johns with me, we hear all this celebratory music. it was supposed to be opening of campaign headquarters. in case anyone assumes these people know anything, i've heard

lots of celebratory music before a candidate bouse out. that's hopeful music as opposed torp something that tells you anything. >> if you go out onto the campaign trail to any event an they are not playing music, the silence is almost deadly. so they have to have some sort of noise to fill up the air, if you will. i wouldn't read too much into that either way, quite frankly. >> republican strategist is here with us. ron, talk to me about the effect the cain ups and downs have had on the republican field in general. i think it's been -- my guess is it's been damaging. this is what people have been hearing about republicans for the last week. >> i think initially it was really unhelpful for the other candidates. they were trying to get their messages out.

all we could hear about were these allegations. then it transformed into a side show for a couple of weeks where we heard a lot more about newt gingrich, talked about mitt romney. now you have the roller coaster spiraling out of control again. in the last few is a we've heard a lot about this allegation that was made. i believe ginger white was her name. we've heard nothing but that. then herman cain has an evening conversation with his wife yesterday. so here we go again. a lot of focus on the herman cain campaign. it does take away from other republicans attempts to get on the air and to punch through, but i have a feeling we're going to know either way whether or not this will continue or whether or not our candidate -- our republican candidate will have a chance to really get their message out. >> we heard shannon talk, ron, a little earlier about the bachmann campaign claiming they are hearing from campaign supporters they now want to climb on board with michele

bachmann. is there a natural home, do you think, for cain supporters? by the way, i don't know if we're talking about former supporters or not because he's down 8% in iowa. we're not talking about a huge pool here. nonetheless is there a natural place you think cain supporters would go? >> it's really interesting, because a lot of the bachmann porters went to perry when they thought he was -- you know, when he was the person that would take the mantle, then it went to herman cain. we've seen this huge problem that he's had. i think these supporters splinter up amongst newt gingrich. some could go to bachmann. it's really unclear who is talking to who between the bachmann and cain camp. did the bachmann pick up the phone to cain's people in it's really unclear how all that works out. sure, it is a national natural home for cain supporters, so is newt gingrich's camp.

it's really unclear how many supporters will go where. as you said he only has 8% support. but every percent counsels in a primary. >> ron bonjean with us, shannon travis. looking for cain to come out and tell us whatever it is he's going to tell us. i'm here with joe johns. we'll be back in a second. thank you so much, i appreciate it, i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money ? if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense.

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welcome back. we are just minutes away from an expected announcement from the site right there on the television, herman cain's headquarters in georgia to be opened today. that's not why we're there. we're there because we're expecting to hear from herman cain shortly. we're told he arrived on the scene where you see a crowd of his supporters waiting. what we are wondering is whether he's going to continue with his campaign. he had been rising in the polls

and gained support but then there were accusations of infidelity which could put an end or suspend his campaign. these are live pictures. we are waiting to hear from the man himself. he has been meeting with donors. that much we know. we'll bring in wolf blitzer on the phone in hollywood, florida. wolfe, if cain's campaign soldiers on, what is it soldiering on for? do you think there's any sense, and you talked with herman cain right after the allegations of adultery came out, why would he move forth? does he actually expect he has a chance at winning this nomination? >> his numbers, as you know, have really gone down, especially iowa, the new des moines register poll. in october he was well into the 20s, now single digits. there's a lot of doubt whether or not the campaign can, in fact, continue realistically. a lot of people, as you well

know, have always said from the beginning he was never really in it to get the republican presidential nomination but had other objectives in mind including selling books and promoting his own career, if you will, getting name recognition, but he's done remarkably well until all these sexual harassment allegations, four separate women, and now this affair that came out last monday. so who knows. people keep asking me, thinking i have inside information, is he going to stay or go. i have no idea. i've covered a lot of campaigns like you, candy, and this unpredictable what he's going to do. >> it is. i thought one of the unpredictable things about herman cain was his personality. i interviewed him before and after the sexual harassment charges came out. i've spoken with him since this woman's charges of a 13-year affair came out. he is remarkably upbeat and remarkably unflappable in

public. how did you find him right after the news broke accusing him of a longtime affair. >> you're absolutely right. he was very cool, under enormous pressure. we previously scheduled an interview last monday, live interview 4:00 p.m. eastern hour. just as we were doing the interview, we got word this atlanta tv station was about to go on and report that this woman alleged a 13-year affair. he wanted to get out in front of the story. he told me about it. we discussed it. i asked him all the sensitive awkward questions about sex and everything else. he remained rather upbeat and confident not only on the air but as he left i walked him out. he was upbeat flatly denying these allegations. it was very strange, candy. as you remember, even as we were speaking his attorney in atlanta was putting out a statement saying they would have no comment on the -- whether or not there was a consensual sexual

affair when, in fact, the client herman cain flatly denied there was a sexual affair. it was a very strange thing to get something from him while at the same time hearing something different from the lawyer. that written statement to that atlanta tv station. >> yeah, this has been a campaign with multiple signals all along. while you were talking, i don't know if you could see it, the camera was panning headquarters. right on that stage is something that is draped, the kind of thing you unveil as you're opening up something new. looks like a placard or some kind of sign designed for and tada, here we are, here we have this campaign headquarters, which would be a dissident message, this is my campaign headquarters and i'm going to leave the campaign. joe, this isn't the first time cain has found himself in a difficult position and surprised everybody with his reaction to

it. >> certainly true. i think on the air i've actually likened it to a soap opera, if you will, this campaign, in that it's sort of risen and fallen and had different elements. there are other people, you look on social media and people referred to it as sort of a reality tv show, if you will. he did talk about 9-9-9 his economic plan to revamp the tax code. so much more of this campaign has been about the ups and downs of herman cain, his personal life, things that happened 10, 12 years ago that have taken the focus away from what his message was and even taken the focus away from the message that the whole republican field would like to try to get out there right now. so tough for him. real interesting to see where he's going to go with this when we finally get there. >> i love a story we don't know the ending to. joe johns sitting with me here. we have wolf blitzer, ron

bonjean republican strategist, shannon travis on the scene. we'll all be back in just a second. daddy, come in the water!

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welcome back, mince away from an announcement from republican candidate herman cain. rising in the polls, gaining support, allegations of infidelity which could put an end to his campaign. this is a live picture here. we're told herman cain has arrived on that scene you're looking at. supposed to be the opening of headquarters in atlanta, which actually came to be after a rise in the polls. if you're going to go on, you're going to need someone to support you. you have to check in with donors.

talked about allegations of sexual harassment, now allegations of marital in fidelity. there were other things as well. a herman cain interview with washington journal's editorial board when he delivered a halting, confused answer to what seemed like a routine question about libya. he later tried to explain the answer this way. >> the libya comment was a pause to gather my thoughts. i'm not going to back down from that. people want to make a big deal about it. remember, if you're asked seven or eight questions on seven or eight different topics and somebody switches to libya and not clear about the question before i shoot from the lip i gather my thoughts. that's all that was. whatever people want to think of it, i can't change that. >> republican strategist ron bonjean is here with joe johns and i watching all this unfold.

i think that, libya, holes in the 9-9-9 economic plan. this is not simply because someone came out and said i had a 13-year affair with herman cain. it wasn't solely on the basis of that. >> there have been other mistakes. can you see this is the product of a person who is not a politician, didn't know necessarily how to run a professional campaign. he has operatives relatively inexperienced. it shows. his complaint was he needed time to think. in politics you need to have those answers down pat. you need to fire them off quickly and show people you have the breadth and depth to be commander in chief. you know, this is what the primary process is about. we're seeing what the primary

process has to offer. he's made several mistakes. everyone liked him. he was a straight talker, direct. he started driving enthusiasm around it. you know what, when you're on top and you're not prepared you can get knocked off real easily. >> joe johns, it's so true because very often what we like about a candidate brings them down. what a breath of fresh air, not a schooled politician, speaks from the heart, then we go whoa, he doesn't know anything. >> his greatest strength is his greatest weakness. there's so many people out there who like the way herman cain approaches things. they like his disdain for the media. it's been called before playful arrogance he's had out there in public discourse, which people really latched onto. it felt very fresh and new and different from the sort of polished politician you see coming out of washington, d.c. but when you get him into a

situation where you're actually talking about policy and specific sort of fine line distinctions between things that separate a democrat from republican, conservative from liberal, they still have to speak the washington language in order not to get themselves into trouble. herman cain has gotten himself into trouble before. >> ron, one of the things people say this only proves you can't be a nonpolitician and run. we should point out herman cain is a very accomplished guy. >> yes. >> he had virtually a very, if not impoverished, at least a meager upbringing in terms of things on the table but lots of support from family. he went a nontraditional way, became a hugely successful businessman and got tripped up on things that were rookie mistakes. >> that's exactly right. i do think you can be a nonpolitician and run for president and be successful but you have to acknowledge your

weaknesses and work on shoring them up. you have to bring in professional campaign operatives, have a professional strategy that engages in the key primary states, understand the issues. you know what, he was just put in a situation where he didn't have all that and was thrust into the spotlight because everyone thought rick perry was going to be that politician that could take the republican flag and run it up the hill. instead they turned to herman cain who had no idea he would be thrust into the front-runner spot. >> there's also a tremendous learning curve that comes with learn and doing for president of the united states. a lot of people have questioned whether he's actually a very curious person and sort of does a lot of reading in a lot of different places to get underneath policy issues or what have you so he wouldn't get tripped up. we've seen that before with fresh faces to get tripped up,

the tea party. think of sarah palin and her rough start four years ago when she started getting hit with specific policy questions and really didn't know how to handle them very well. we've seen it before. that newness is what attracts people, that sense of not being rehearsed is something that will go a long way if, in fact, you still know the issues. that's the problem, you have to know the issues. >> for the purposes of the audience, what you're seeing from the stage, we tend to see a lot on the campaign trail. you have a candidate not quite ready to take the stage so they have lots of people who have to get up there and wing it. my salute to all of them. the crowd is waiting for one thing and they have to listen to you. we're going to take a quick break and be back. we're awaiting herman cain. the next phase was going to be, you know, because you been, you know, this is what you had been doing. you know, working, working, working, working, working, working. and now you're talking about, well you know, i won't be,

and i get the chance to spend more time with my wife and my kids. like anything in politics, can be deceiving. we're assuming herman cain is on that bus, just pulled up. the crowd has been waiting a couple of hours at least to see herman cain, who i believe now is coming down with mrs. cain. >> hand in hand. >> says a lot. we've talked very much about

these politician's wives and how they react to various reports unproven and certainly disputed by herman cain that he had a longtime affair. so we -- honestly, none of us sitting here can tell you what's going to happen, which makes this a very, very interesting story. >> you see that picture just coming off the bus, the first thing that comes to my mind is what they said last week, which was that this reassessment they were doing was not about getting out of the race. we'll see. it may well be they decided to be consistent and either do something in the middle or not get off the bus just yet. they certainly pulled up in a bus. >> they sure did. with mrs. cain. obviously this is a crowd that's been waiting to hear from him so we're going to turn down our mike and listen to him for what

may be the end of his campaign, the continuation or suspension. >> thank you. ♪ >> thank you, my friends. well, you all are great. >> thank you, thank you, thank you. i love y'all, too. >> gloria, gloria, gloria,

gloria! >> well, let me first say that as usual, the cain supporters are not warm weather supporters. and i can't thank all of you enough for what you've done, how far we have come, and the things that we have done. the things that we have been able to achieve. you know, i chose to run for president because the politicians in washington, d.c. wouldn't do their jobs. that's why i chose to run.

they have failed to provide economic growth. they have failed to get spending under control. they have failed to make us less dependent on foreign oil. these are some of the reasons that inspired me to run for president. and if you look -- if you look at the last 40 years, we've seen that same kind of failure. it's just that the mess has just gotten bigger. you are frustrated, i was

frustrated, millions of other people were frustrated. and it was out of that frustration that i made the decision to run, because the people in washington, d.c. are either playing the blame game or pointing fingers or throwing crumbs to the american people rather than bold solutions to fix the problems. america deserves more than that. since the politicians have continued to fail, i decided to run for president and you all responded as you are responding now, and i thank you and i am honored by the deep support of so many people across this

country, because it expresses the frustration of so many people across this country. now, when i made the decision to run, i didn't fit the usual description of somebody that ought to be running for president. i had never held public office before, i didn't have high-name id. right now my name id is probably 99.9.

and i didn't have a gazillion dollars. because what we learned is that the voice of the people is more powerful than the voice of the media. [ cheers and applause ] and secondly we have learned that men is more powerful than money. you know, we approved something else. see i grew up in a world of segregated water fountains. my father was a chauffeur. my mother was a maid. we showed that you didn't have to have a degree from harvard in order to run for president.

we showed that you didn't have to have a political pedigree to run for president. and one of the biggest things that we have shown is that we, the people, are still in charge of this country. so today we are one month away from the iowa caucuses. with over 300 million americans in our nation, we stand here, i stand here because of you. if you look at the top three republican candidates right now and you consider the president and the white house, we can say, i'm in the final four.

we're in the final four. when you think of where i came from on pelham street and fifth ward right here in atlanta and now to be in the final four for the presidency, this is a great nation. [ cheers and applause ] that's why this nation is so great. i'll tell you what, it's a powerful and humbling position to be in, proving this, that we can do this, was one of the greatest things, one of the

greatest gifts that you and i could give to this country. i've often said one of america's greatest strengths is its ability to change. we have created some significant change on this journey so far. i am proof of that, and you are proof of that. because i am proof that a common man could lead this nation, because i consider myself one of you, not one of the political elites. i'm one of you. our nation is tired of hearing the politicians blame each other. it's time for solutions.

but as false accusations about me continue, they have sidetracked and distracted my ability to present solutions to the american people. now, i have made many mistakes in life. everybody has. i've made mistakes professionally, personally, as a candidate in terms of how i run my campaign, and i take responsibility for the mistakes that i've made. i've been the very first to own up to any mistakes that i have made, even if the political elites don't think i handle it exactly the way the political elites handle it, i handle it my way because that's the type of person that i am.

but because of these false and unproved accusations, it has paid and had a tremendous painful price on my family. these false and unproved allegations continue to be spined in the media and in the court of public opinion so as to create a cloud of doubt over me and this campaign and my family. that spin hurts. it hurts my wife, it hurts my family, it hurts me, and it hurts the american people because you are being denied

solutions to our problems. now, here is why it hurts, because my wife, my family, and i, we know that those false and unproved allegations are not tr true. so one of the first declarations that i want to make to you today is that i am at peace with my

god. i am at peace with my wife. and she is at peace with me. >> gloria! >> gloria! >> gloria! >> gloria! >> gloria! >> and i am at peace with my family and i'm at peace with myself, which is one of the most important things. now, that being said, becoming president was plan a. before you get discouraged,

today i want to describe plan b. so as of today, with a lot of prayer and soul searching, i am suspending my presidential campaign. i am suspending my presidential campaign because of the continued distraction, the continued hurt caused on me and my family, not because we are not fighters, not because i'm not a fighter, it's just when i went through this reassessment

of the impact on my family first, the impact on you, my supporters, your support has been unwavering and undying, as well as the impact on the ability to continue to raise the necessary funds to be competitive, we had to come to this conclusion. but we had to come to this conclusion that it would be best to suspend this campaign. that's the bad news. here is the good news. the pundits would like for me to shut up, drop out, and go away.

as my grandmother who lived to be 104 years old used to say, when somebody was dead wrong, bless their little hearts. i am not going to be silenced, and i'm not going away. [ cheers and applause ] and therefore as of today, plan b. plan b. and i call it the ca cainsolutions.com. let me explain why. you see, there are three audiences out there, folks, that we have dealt with, that i have had to deal with. there's the media class.

there's the political class. and there's we, the people. it is we, the people, that got us to this point this far. it is we the people that wants change in washington, d.c. it is we, the people, that are responsible for this massive movement that's going on across this country. i call it the citizens movement, the tea party movement, the conservative movement. it is a movement by we, the people, that are going to insist on change in the united states of america. and plan b is that i will continue to be a voice for the people. that's why today we are launching the cainsolutions.com where the people will choose,

not the media, not the politicians, and the people will show that the people are still in charge of this country. through this new organization, i will still be promoting the biggest change and transfer of power out of peace through strength and clarity. i will still be promoting actively an energy independence plan for america. we can and we will become energy independent.

now, i know that many of you are disappointed. i understand that. i know that many of you all are disappointed and i certainly understand that. i am disappointed that it came to this point that we had to make this decision. one of the reasons that i ran for president of the united states was such that i could change washington, d.c. from the inside. plan b is that we're going to have to change it from the outside. it will take a little longer. we're going to have to work a little harder, but we will change it from the outside. one other thing. i will be making an endorsement

in the near future. i will be making an endorsement. and i can tell you right now, it will not be the current occupant of the white house. that will not be my endorsement. america has learned something about this process of running for president. it's a dirty game. it's a dirty, dirty game. but i happen to believe that the american people are sick of this mess. and if i'm not the outsider to get there, i happen to believe that the day will come when the american people will reject all of the distractions, all the false accusations and unproved

accusations, and it will make a change because that's what we've got to do to get real change in this country and get it on the right track. and as i think about my parents, who raised my brother and i right here in the atlanta area, and they taught us three very valuable lessons that you share. belief in god, belief in our selves, and belief in the greatest country in the world, the united states of america. and even though i have had to suspend my campaign, i have not given up on america. i have not given up on the united states of america, and here is why. look at our history, when we have been challenged the most.

it's when we, the people, have risen to the occasion the most. i happen to believe we will do it again because we, the people, are still in charge of this country. let me leave you with this. i believe these words came from the pokeman movie, the media pointed that out. i'm not sure who the original author is, so don't go write an article about the poem. but it says a lot about where i am, where i am with my wife and my family, and where we are as a nation. life can be a challenge. life can seem impossible.

pits never easy when there's so much on the line. but you and i can make a difference. there's a mission just for you and me. just look inside and you will find just what you can do. just look inside, and you will find just what you can do. i've had to look inside to find what i can do. and here is what i can do. here is what we can do. we can put united back into the

united states of america and move the shining city on top of the hill back to the top of the hilltop where it belongs. and i will never apologize for the greatness of the united states of america. god bless you. i love you, and thank you. [ applause ] ♪ >> well, that is herman cain. for all purposes he's the former presidential candidate herman cain. he has suspended his campaign. he's with his wife there. gloria cain came out and said, listen, none of these charges against me are true. they are, quote, false, unproven, not true. that he is at peace with his god, his wife and she is at

peace with me. nonetheless, it's all been such a distraction he can't carry on his campaign anymore. he's going to suspend it and go to plan b, which he says is change from the outside. now you see him greeting supporters. we know for sure gloria cain never really liked this sort of public life that much. but boy was she there for a moment, even though it's a moment when he's pulling out. listen, technically speaking before i have lots of folks to chew this over with me, we should say suspending one's campaign, you can still raise money to pay off debts if that's a problem. we shall see. this is over. this man says he will soon be endorsing someone. joe johns, your impressions. >> first thing that comes to mind is he had to do this. he didn't really have any choice. he was distracting from the message of the other republicans who were in the field. he was running out of money of his poll numbers were going down. simply no choice.

if you stand back and take like the 30,000 foot view, what is this? another sign of the perils of running for the president of the united states when you have a colorful background. and we in the media really don't have the power to say conclusively what may or may not have happened in the past. we know there have been a number of accusations. we know that he's denied them. what we do know is many of these are women he knows, and it's caused a problem for him and created a situation where he can't be a viable candidate for president of the united states. >> he is, in fact, right, it got in the waive his message. ron bonjean is with me here. ron, about a minute to a break here. just your initial impressions. >> yeah, i think it's a good idea he suspended his campaign. i think there's a sigh of relief among the republican ranks that those candidates will be able to now get the message out without

this side show distraction. i think it's interesting he mentioned he's going to endorse another candidate to make sure he still remains relevant in this race in some fashion. i think the other candidates will be calling him now and courting him and trying to get that endorsement for those cain supporters that are out there. >> in fact, ron, that's already begun. michele bachmann put out, herman cain brought important voice to the process. his ideas anderson energy generated true enthusiasm for the movement at a time when we needed to restore confidence. i wish herman cain, his wife and family the best. michele bachmann certainly could use an endorsement. there are supports there with him. we'll take a break and be right back. or what if we told you that ferrari borrowed technology from cadillac to develop its suspension system?

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hi, i'm candy crowley, cnn's washington bureau. you are now looking at the vestiges of what was a herman cain event in atlanta where he was opening his presidential headquarters. it is the last event of his presidential campaign. he says he's going to plan b, that he can no