money." it has everything you need to know. head to amazon.com to be one of the first to get the back and stay connected to us 24/7 on twitter. have a great weekend. hello, everyone. thanks for joining us. i'm fredricka whitfield. next hour is all about the race to the white house. we're diving in on the issues and hearing the candidates in their own words to help you decide who should be the next president. but, first, some of today's top stories. in washington, a day of tribute to the nation's most famous civil rights leader. president obama joined dignitaries from across the country at the dedication of the martin luther king jr. memorial on the national mall. >> let us not be trapped by what

is, we can't be discouraged by what is, we have got to keep pushing for what ought to be, the america we ought to leave to our children, mindful that the hardships we face are nothing compared to those dr. king and his fellow marchers faced 50 years ago. >> the ceremony was supposed to take place in august, but was postponed because of hurricane irene. the u.s. military withdrawal from iraq will be complete by december 31st, a slight change from the original plan to keep one army brigade there into next year. the pentagon said this weekend it could not get assurance from the iraqis that remaining troops would be immune from prosecution. and security forces in yemen opened fire on protesters today. anti-government demonstrators scattered when shots rang out in yemen's capital. they were gathering to march against the embattled president to urge him again to step down. witnesses tell cnn four people were killed and more than 50

wounded. new developments this afternoon in the frantic search for a missing baby girl in kansas city. the governor of missouri has ordered the deployment of national guard troops to help police look for elisa irwin. 25 soldiers will spend one day helping to look for the 11-month-old. she has been missing for almost two weeks now. all right, this hour we're focusing on the race for the white house. the republican hopefuls as well as incumbent president obama will look at the polls. who is in front right now? which candidates are raising the most cash and which ones are spending more than they are taking in? plus, we'll preview tuesday's republican debate in las vegas, who will be there, who won't, and what is so important about nevada? so first, he is one of the eight republican contenders. former house speaker newt gingrich may be one of most

recognizable candidates, but based on recent polls standings and fund-raising he is an underdog. gingrich tells candy crowley on "state of the union" how he's sizing up the front-runners. take a listen. >> if herman figures out how to do it all right and explain a 9% sales tax, so people decide they want it, he has a good chance to be a nominee. if, however, in new hampshire, where they have no sales tax at all, and no mechanism for collecting it, or in iowa where senior citizens say, wait a second, as my 79-year-old mother-in-law said, on her security, her fixed income, she'll pay 9% more? herman has -- as people look at 999, it gets to be a harder sale. perry was the natural alternative to romney. if perry had had a flawless campaign, he would be the nominee. he stumbled enough in the debates that there was a vacuum created. >> is he done? is perry done? >> nobody is done in this. at this stage, last time, mccain

was in third place. at this stage in 1991, bill clinton was an asterisk. he had like 2%. this is a wide open process. >> today herman cain responds to some of those criticisms about his 999 tax plan. he insists that the middle class won't bear the brunt, but he does admit some people's taxes will go up. >> some people will pay more. but most people will pay less is my argument. >> who will pay more in. >> who will pay more? the people who spend more money on new goods. the sales tax only applies to people who buy new goods, not used goods. that's a big difference that doesn't come out. >> for the 30 million americans who don't pay income tax, including 16 million elderly americans, you can see they would in fact pay more. >> not the elderly. that's two different groups. let's talk about the elderly. you don't pay taxes on your social security income. it replaces the capital gains tax. the elderly make money off of

their investments, they won't pay that. the 9% rate, when combined with state and local levees would mean a tax on goods of 17% or more on many places, the cries for exemptions would be great. >> don't combine it with state taxes. this doesn't address state taxes. if you add them together, yes, you get that number. this is a replacement structure. these are replacement taxes. they're not on top of anything. we replace capital gains tax. we replace the payroll tax. we replace corporate income tax, replace personal income tax and replace the death tax. >> it is not just the republicans trying to get a word in this sunday. president obama's senior strategist david axelrod is accusing mitt romney of flip-flopping. he says the former massachusetts governor has a history of changing his position while running for office. >> herman cain is leading the primary. the last poll rick perry was leading it. earlier michele bachmann was

doing very well. but romney stays the same. why. there is a question of what his core principles are. he was a pro choice, pro gay rights, pro environmental candidate for office. then he decided to run for president, did a 180 on all of that. time and time and time again, he shifts. you get the feeling there is no principle too large for him to throw over in pursuit of political office. >> so on this morning's talk shows, the president's senior strategist there with candidates gingrich and cain having their say. what is behind those messages? i hillary, so gingrich, talking more about the other candidates than himself. what is the strategy here? >> first of all, it is so much more fun if you're newt gingrich to talk about other people because when you talk about yourself, all you do is get in trouble as he has often.

gingrich has got to get in the game and the best way to get in the game is to make news by talking, you know, trash about some other candidates. and i'm not saying i disagree with him, his criticism of those candidates, just unusual for a republican primary candidate to be so voluble about his competitors with such political analysis. i think he's reaching for straws and looking pretty desperate. >> it would seem that would back fire. this is a candidate that could use some support, could use some money, he's down pretty low in the fund-raising efforts. so why turn the attention atway from himself and instead of taking the time on morning talk shows to extrapolate on what he's bringing to the table than criticizing the others? that's not going to get him any more support, is it? >> because he was answering the question he was asked, fredricka. if there is one very appealing thing about newt gingrich, he answers the question he was asked. you can see it in the debate. >> doesn't a candidate try to

take the control there and say i'm not going to talk about that, i'm going to talk about what i want to talk about. >> they run their talking points no matter what is asked. you ask them what color the sky is, and they have something to tell you about their new income tax plan. i'm telling you newt gingrich doesn't do that. he's confident enough, he figures if you ask me a question, i'll answer it directly. it is appealing. in the long run, newt gingrich will not be a nominee, but he's one of the most appealing characteristics he has. he answers the question that he's asked. >> he said one thing that i do agree with, which is, you know, this is kind of wide open still. people are trying to anoint mitt romney. mitt romney is trying to anoint mitt romney as being far and away having the nomination. but the polls and the volatility we're seeing and the destruction now this is still wide open. >> talk about trying to anoint mitt romney, it sounds like david axelrod was doing that. is this kind of an indicator,

the white house wants mitt romney to be the republican candidate by talking about him in this manner and seeing that it is mitt romney making the most money, at least among the republican candidates. >> i don't think it means they want mitt romney to be the candidate. i think that means they figure it will be and they're starting to fight now. what i would say, though, i mean this in all sincerity is guantanamo bay remains open. military renditions have been embraced. military tribunals brought back in. when you charge somebody as a flip-flopper, you out to remember the maxim that those that live in glass houses should not throw rocks. this could come back to bite them. >> okay. will, you talked about newt gingrich being very appealing, his kind of direct tell it like it is approach. the same is being said of herman cain, hillary, people are starting to pay attention to him in a way they hadn't before because of his simplistic message, his tell it like it is. but as a whole, as he's touting

his 9-9-9 plan, is this something that americans in general really understand and if so, is that in large part why he has become so appealing, whether the straw polls or national polls that show he is a -- is one to beat? >> he's clearly the freshest candidate, but i just want to address something quickly that will said, which is, you know, who the president wants to -- the interesting thing about herman cain for the republicans and i know he'll start ranting about his taxes is that he really feels like the only one who is out there even trying to come up with some new idea, trying to, you know, energize some folks who haven't been energized before in the republican party. and i think that's why he's getting support. there is such widespread dissatisfaction with the rest of their kind of retried candidate and herman cain feels new.

>> in less than ten seconds, will, respond to that. >> yeah, i just want to say i agree 100%. i don't know about ranting about my taxes. i would love to do that at any point. we often talk up herman cain's appeal to his charm. one thing about herman cain that is very appealing is he's very bold. regardless of your political affiliation, most people agree the tax code is a mess, it is a monstrosity. he's got a program here that doesn't tinker around the edges. i have substantive problems with 9-9-9. but i cannot say it is not bold. it is a bold plan and people are going to respond that to that. >> we'll talk to you again. will and hillary, thank you so much. two days before the cnn western republican debate in las vegas, one gop candidate is swearing off the entire state of nevada. not stepping a foot inside at all straight ahead. we'll tell you who that is and why he's staying away. and it wouldn't be the campaign season without the late night comics having a little fun at the candidates' expense. here is jimmy fallon channeling

a certain former massachusetts governor. >> hello. i'm mitt romney. no, i'm not. and i'm ready to fight for america. no. i have a job plan to help deal with our nation's soaring unemployment and this plan will bring jobs back to our country. that jobs plan won't work. i'm a patriot. and i love the red, white and blue. i also love the colors orange and purple. of course, magenta is the best. send me to washington so we can finally put regular hard working people above these greedy corporations. corporations are people. ♪ kingdoms and queens ♪ they all bow down to you ♪ ♪ branches and ranch hands ♪ are bowin', too ♪ and i've taken off...

[ man ] we could have gone a more traditional route... but it wouldn't have been nearly as memorable. ♪ here comes the sun again exclusive to the military. and commitment is not limited to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. from free checking to credit cards to loans, our commitment to the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. ♪ visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different. usaa. we know what it means to serve. dangerous plaque that can build up in arteries over time... high cholesterol is a major factor. but these other health factors can also contribute to plaque buildup. so if you have high cholesterol and any of these other health factors... it's even more important to get your cholesterol where your doctor wants. talk to your doctor about crestor.

when diet and exercise alone aren't enough... adding crestor can lower bad cholesterol by up to 52%. and crestor is proven to slow plaque buildup in arteries. crestor is not right for everyone, like people with liver disease... or women who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant. simple blood tests will check for liver problems. tell your doctor about other medicines you're taking... or if you have muscle pain or weakness. that could be a sign of serious side effects. ask your doctor about high cholesterol... plaque buildup... and if crestor is right for you. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help.

back to our hour long focus on the race to the white house. we have a full range of coverage for you, the candidates, the issues, analysis. tuesday is debate night in nevada and cnn hosts an evening of q & a with republican candidates for president. but one of the eight hopefuls says he's not going to be there. jon huntsman is saying no to nevada completely taking the state off his campaign calendar. the former utah governor is not happy with the state's decision to move its gop caucus ahead of ham hmm new hampshire's primary. he said he made other plans in new hampshire. >> so i say if you're going to boycott nevada, you boycott the debate, straight up, fully loaded and so tuesday night we're going to be here as we will be on monday, campaigning and doing town hall meetings and

sharing our vision with the people of new hampshire and answering questions that people in new hampshire have about where this country needs to go. >> let's go straight to new hampshire right now, live with cnn political producer rachel t streitfeld. >> reporter: he's focusing on the state for a couple of reasons. one, it is more socially moderate than some of the oriole nominating contests he could compete in. also, independent voters here in this state can vote in the republican primary. huntsman is hoping to scoop up some independent voters with his more moderate message on social -- some social issues. >> okay. so -- >> it is a small state. i can -- go ahead. >> well, i was going to say -- >> i was going to say a small state -- >> sorry about that, this delay. it is a small state. >> no, no, i'm sorry. he's trying to meet every voter

here. >> tell me how he's doing that. >> he is -- his campaign tells me he hosted over 80 appearances. he's trying to meet every single voter in in the state, i can vouch for you. i've seen him shake hands with a lot of them. that may be of more value to him. he does not have a lot of many unin t money in the bank. i can tell you when he's at these events, he gets a good crowd. there are a lot of people that have yet to make up their mind in this competition and they're open to hearing from him, they want to hear what he has to say. we hear from some moderate voters, many people he's hoping to appeal to. i will say we don't see the impassioned constituency that you might see maybe at a ron paul event. now the voters are curious. they haven't made up their mind and want to hear what everybody has to say. >> you mentioned he doesn't have a whole lot of money, not

getting a whole lot of money. is that in large part too why he's staying in new hampshire, he doesn't have the travel finances that he wants to see how well he does in the first, you know, primary before he ventures out anywhere else? >> well, we -- he's spent some time in florida, south carolina. i think it is that he sees the path to success here in new hampshire. we have seen some quirky candidates, even some underdogs get nominated here in new hampshire in the past. and it is a state you can get your arms around. he sure is trying to do that. >> literally. what are some of the things that people are saying to him. what do they want to hear from him, what are they asking him? >> it is a lot of the same questions. he gets a lot of questions on the economy, some questions on energy, some questions on immigration. it is a lot of the same things. i'll tell you a funny question he got last week, somebody asked him who he would nominate to be in this cabinet. they wanted a list of names. what huntsman said is, i'm not

going to nominate anybody who says yes the first time i ask. he doesn't want a government insider. that may tell you something about his campaign. >> interesting stuff. thanks so much, rachel, for bringing us a slice of life there in new hampshire. the cnn western republican presidential debate is just two days away from now. with us now from las vegas, cnn deputy political director paul stein houser and senior political director mark preston. gentlemen, outside the venetian there, inside the debate will be taking place in to days, is this really dangerous that jon huntsman would say, you know what, i'm boycotting not just this debate, i'm boycotting the entire state of nevada and all in large part, i should say, because of the whole primary calendar, caucus calendar being affected. mark, you first. >> look, sure, you know, fred, i mean, look, jon huntsman is making a political move now. the fact of the matter is he didn't have a ground operation out here in nevada. he's the former utah governor, a

neighboring state. all of his political fortune is being staked on new hampshire. we saw that his campaign -- national headquarters, based in orlando, packed up, shuttered and moved everything up to new hampshire. if jon huntsman has any chance of winning the republican presidential nomination, he has to win new hampshire. >> pretty much. that's so true, so true. fred, it is not just huntsman. there are five republican presidential candidates that will skip the caucuses here in nevada if the day is not moved to accommodate new hampshire. the three that will par take are romney, perry and cain, the three that have the best chance of winning here. >> two days away, some of the candidates might be putting kind of their, i guess finishing touches on what their presentations will be, what their mind set will be as they get ready and get as coached as they possibly can. what might be the focus of this debate. we know the economy was hit very hard there in nevada with real estate, foreclosures, et cetera. what is it that you think the candidates really want to press

on. >> i mean, look, it is the economy. bottom line is, fred, we're in a state now that has a very high unemployment rate. it also has a high foreclosure rate. if you go outside of the las vegas strip where we are right now, look at some of the homes, there are so many homes that are in foreclosurforeclosure. if you go a mile down the road, there is a major casino shut down. you can see major construction projects that have been essentially stopped. the economy is hitting nevada very, very hard as it is across the country. that's going to be the number one issue as it has been through the whole campaign. >> we saw that last week, fred, that debate in new hampshire. one other thing that will come up here that didn't come up in new hampshire is immigration. immigration, such an important issue across the country and in the west. it has been an issue that has been very tough on rick perry, the texas governor. >> paul, mark, thanks so much. we'll see you later on in the hour. we'll talk about campaign funds and the all important need of raising as much as you can if

you're a republican candidate trying to go up against, right now we understand, barack obama is closing in on that $1 billion mark that he's had his sights set on. we'll see you again in a moment. be sure to tune in for the cnn western republican presidential debate coming up tuesday night at 8:00 eastern time from las vegas. cnn's anderson cooper will be the moderator. ahead of the nevada showdown, rick perry says he hopes he's made some progress in his debating skills, but whether he has or not, americans are not looking for the best debater. >> this president does not --

hi. kristin. and, you... (camera flashes) yoleine...yoleine.! what do your friends think of your car? they think it's cool. well, what did they say about it? ah, that it's cool. (laughs) does your focus match your personality? yes, it does match my personality. it's very classic. it's funny. it's quirky. it's sleek. it's shiny. it's practical. and, it's smart. (laughs)

the 2012 election less than a year away. the candidates are on the stump and we're on the trail with them. welcome back to our hour long coverage of the race to the white house. all bets are off when the gop presidential candidates gather in las vegas for cnn's western republican presidential debate. watch the debate live here on cnn tuesday night. in the past debates, rick perry's performance has been criticized, but he told cnn's ali develvelshi he isn't overly concerned about that. >> i hope i made progress every day in my life as well as my debate performances. americans aren't looking for the best debater. we have a slick talker in the president now that lost 2.5 million jobs. at the same time, we created a million jobs in the state of

texas. they're looking for someone with the chief executive governing experience that truly knows how to get america back working. in 100 days we'll lay out a plan that opens up the federal lands for exploration that pulls back these regulations that are killing jobs at this administration has put forward and rebuild the epa where it is not a job killing agency. that's what americans are interested in and i'm the president that is going to implement it. >> rick perry's wife was outspoken this week. she says she sympathizes with the plight of unemployed americans. anita perry says the message hits close to home because her son was forced to resign from his bank job to take a bigger role in his father's campaign. she blames the obama administration for the federal red tape which limits the political activity of investment advisers and also taking issue with fellow republicans who criticized her husband's strong christian views. >> it has been a rough month. we have been brutalized and eaten up and chewed up in the

press to where -- we're being brutalized by our opponents, in our own party, so much that is i think they look at him because of this. >> the economy, jobs, most of the candidates have a plan they say to put americans back to work. we'll hear from some of them next. but first, rick perry's drop in the polls is providing a lot of material for the late night comics. listen to jimmy fallon's take on the front runner. >> as the frontfront-runner, i one great question for the country. how did i screw this up? you all used to love me and now i'm pulling behind mitt and the pizza guy. what happened? 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. (announcer) everything you need to stretch out on long trips. residence inn. ♪ we're centurylink... a new kind of broadband company committed to improving lives with honest, personal service, 5-year price lock guarantees and consistently fast speeds. ♪

all right, back to this hour dedicated to the race to the white house. we're talking next about the republican candidates' economic positions. we'll take a peek at their fund-raising efforts, who has fat coffers and who is struggling. and though sometimes ruthless t television comedians getting plenty of laughs. first, former massachusetts governor mitt romney now leads cnn's poll of polls with 23%

support, supporting getting ready -- getting 23% support among republican voters. >> the right course for america is not to keep spending money on stimulus bills, but instead to make permanent changes to the tax code. when you give -- as the president's bill does, if you give temporary change to the payroll tax and say we'll extend this for a year or two, employers don't hire people for a year or two. >> rick perry is zeroing in on domestic oil and gas development as a way to put americans back to work. the texas governor detailed his plans during his first policy speech this week in pennsylvania. >> we're standing on top of the next american economic boone and it is the energy underneath this country. the quickest way to give our economy a shot in the arm is to

deploy the american ingenuity to tap american energy. but we can only do -- we can only do that if environmental bureaucrats are told to stand down. and my plan will break the grip of the dependence we have today on foreign oil from hostile countries like venezuela, those unstable middle eastern countries. america's the saudi arabia of -- we have 20% of the world's supply. our country contains up to 1. -- excuse me, 134 billion barrels of oil, nearly 1.2 quadrillion cubic feet of natural gas. we have the resources that we need to fuel our cars, our homes. >> herman cain says his 9-9-9

tax plan can repair the economy, replacing the current code with a 9% national sales tax, a 9% personal income tax and a 9% corporate tax. he insists the proposal would create new jobs. >> this economy is on life support. we took five revenue sources that are currently being collected through taxes that cost us $430 billion a year collectively for filing compliance. we looked at corporate income taxes, personal income taxes, capital gains taxes, payroll taxes, and the death tax. then we said we want a structure where we can expand the base. but the only way to sxaexpand t base was to bring in retail sales. what is the lowest rate that would be simple, fair, efficient, transparent and revenue neutral? this is how we came up with the 9% rate on corporate tax, flate flatt ra flat rate, % retail sales tax.

we derived this by using existing revenue numbers. it is not a gimmick. we had it scored and it will boost this economy and create 6 million new jobs. michele bachmann tells erin burnett any tax hike would have a disastrous effect on the economy. >> it seems to many people that that would be reasonable to raise taxes, but it absolutely would be the most foolish thing we could do and barack obama agreed with that several years ago when he said the worst thing that we could do is increase taxes in the midst of a recession. i talked to people all across the united states, erin, they tell me they feel like we're still in a recession no matter what the economists say. i'm a former federal tax litigation attorney. i am a small business woman. i run a business at a profit and i'm proud of it. one thing i understand from my business background is that raising taxes won't create jobs. that's the number one thing we

need right now is a positive business climate. that's why raising taxes would hurt the economy. it would hurt job creation and the government needs to pull its belt in line and, trust me, as a member of congress, five years fighting on the front lines, there is so much waste in this town, there is so much waste of people's tax money, we have got to cut back. >> occupy wall street, it is now jumped the oceans but are the candidates going to tap into that anger? much more on that in a minute. and late night comedian jim jim jim jimmy fallon break out the earrings for michele bachmann. >> i know a lot of scary stuff most americans don't know. i know for a fact that china's using lasers to blind our satellites, not the north pole. we're centurylink... a new kind of broadband company

committed to improving lives with honest, personal service, 5-year price lock guarantees and consistently fast speeds. ♪ over a million people have discovered how easy it is to use legalzoom for important legal documents. so start your business, protect your family, launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. just having some chicken noodle. starting my progresso soup for lunch plan, huh. nope, just having some tender chicken and some tasty noodles. let's see... south western vegetables... 60 calories, oh beef pot roast... ...ya' know those jeans look nice. they do? yup. so you were checking me out? yup. [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less. ♪

more and more folks are trying out snapshot from progressive. a totally different way to save on car insurance. the better you drive, the more you can save. no wonder snapshot's catching on. plug into the savings you deserve, with snapshot from progressive.

you're watching a special hour dedicated entirely to the race for the white house. now we turn to the man who sits

in the oval office. president barack obama was the keynote speaker at the dedication of the martin luther king jr. memorial today. during his speech, he talked about how dr. king would have felt about the political tone of today. >> if he were a live today, he would remind us the unemployed worker can rightly challenge the excesses of wall street without demonizing all who work there. the business man can enter tough negotiations with his company's union without vilifying the right to collectively bargain. he would want us to know we can argue fiercely about the proper size and role of government without questioning each other's love for this country with the knowledge that in this democracy government is no distant object, but is rather an expression of our common commitments to one another. >> the president, of course, was talking about the occupy wall street protest. they're spreading all over the world and there is no way politicians can ignore them or

can they? hillary, herman cain acknowledged it, has not been completely complementary. mitt romney acknowledged it, he understands why middle income americans are feeling the pain and that's what the occupy wall street represents. how doesed my romney or a cain capitalize on what is taking place on what is spreading globally? >> i'm not sure you can capitalize on it. i was at the speech this morning and at the dedication and was moving and the president was fantastic. he got it right, which is there is so much work to do and unless we are on the same side, we are going to fail. and what the republicans have been doing with occupy wall street and, by the way, there are protests in wall street but every major city across this country, there are people hurting what the president is saying is we are going to recognize that 99% of this

country has not done very well and 1% has you know increased their income 400% over the last five years. that's what this is about. the republicans ridicule this in my view at their peril. >> will, eric cantor called what is taking place mobs. he described the crowds as mobs. so i wonder how might it back fire for any of these candidates to say something less than complementary about what is taking place on wall street. >> you know, fredricka, i think the opposite, it can back fire on the candidate, no matter whether he's a republican or democrat by embracing occupy wall street now. here's why. it is ill defined. it is unclear what occupy wall street is about. if it is about fairness, if it is about bankers reaping the rewards of success and failures or tax coat that unfairly benefits some, that -- any candidate can embrace that. republican or democrat. i feel it is about more. i fear it is about more.

call one verse 99. >> so when -- >> i don't think this is about class warfare. what we find with folks who are on the streets now, these are mostly young people aspiring to be successful. not trying to just tear down people who are will is starting to do this. to ridicule them to say and deny that there is a problem here, it ends up hurting the republicans a great deal more. >> hilary rosen, thank you so much. >> thanks. >> will, i know you disagree with that. two days now, and the republican presidential candidates are facing off again in another

debate. this time las vegas. we'll go live to vegas to talk about the latest poll and talk about who is earning cash and who isn't. [ tires screech ] ♪ oh, it was the first time i fell in love ♪ ♪ the first time i felt my heart ♪ [ man ] people say i'm forgetful. [ horn honking ] ♪ ...all through the night [ man ] maybe that's why we go to so many memorable places. ♪ [ male announcer ] the subaru outback. love the road you're on. why does my mouth feel dryer than i remember it to be? there are more people taking more medication, so we see people suffering from dry mouth more so. we may see more cavities, bad breath, oral irritation. a dry mouth sufferer doesn't have to suffer. i would recommend biotene. the enzymes in biotene products help supplement enzymes that are naturally in saliva. biotene helps moisten those areas that have become dry. those that are suffering

can certainly benefit from biotene. a we don't go lower than 130. ts a room tonight for 65 dollars. big deal, persuade him. is it wise to allow a perishable item to spoil? he asked, why leave a room empty? the additional revenue easily covers operating costs. 65 dollars is better than no dollars. okay. $65 for tonight. you can't argue with a big deal.

republican candidate herman cain raised a few eyebrows with comments this weekend about securing the u.s. border with mexico. he was speaking in tennessee when he started talking about putting up a fence and having u.s. troops with live ammunition along the border. >> well, we got three things that we can use in conjunction with one another in order to secure the border. a fence for part of it. technology for another part. and if we have to put troops with real guns and real bullets for part of it, we can do that too. we can build a fence. you all can't be on that fence. i said, well, i'll tell you what, when i'm in charge of the fence, we're going to have a fence, it is going to be 20 feet high, it is going to have barbed wire on the top, it is going to be electrocuted, electrified and

a sign on the other side that says it will kill you. >> this morning, cain back tracked on those comments saying he was only joking. he will meet tomorrow with sheriff joe arpaio in phoenix before they take part in the gop fund-raiser. arpaio takes a hard line on illegal immigration. as cain travels the country, he's surging in the polls. a new poll of polls shows cain three points behind former massachusetts governor mitt romney. the cnn western republican presidential debate just two days away. with that poll of polls out, let's go to vegas now and cnn deputy political director paul stein houser and senior political director paul cresten. let's talk about the polls, the poll of polls, showing it is now neck and neck between herman -- between cain and romney and it seems to, i guess, change by the week. tell me more about it, mark. >> this is -- actually, let me

start with this one, it has been a wild ride in the polling. our poll of polls is an average of the latest national polls we take when we average them out. one constant all year is mitt romney has been at the front or near the top, upper teens to mid to low 20s. that's the concept. we have seen michele bachmann go up and down in the polls. we saw rick perry become the front-runner. now he's faded. and now herman cain has been on the rise. with the rise comes more scrutiny, especially when he says interesting things. >> we led into this conversation here with the herman cane comments regarding building a fence along the border. very controversial. it has been controversial for many years now. he says that he was only kidding when he said that. if you listen to the comments, he sounded like he meant that. interesting if that becomes an issue on tuesday night here. the economy again as we talked earlier in the program is going to be a major issue. but it is also going to be what

herman cain has been talking about, 9-9-9. a real catchy phrase about how he wants to simplify the tax code, not a whole lot of people understanding how that is going to work. when people do understand how it is going to work, he comes under a lot of criticism for that now, fred. >> we know immigration is something that will be tackled. we know the economy is going to be tackled during the campaign. and at least among candidates, something that they're talking to their advisers and their camps about is cash in order to see how long any of those eight candidates can stay in the race, even though one of the candidates is not going to be in las vegas on tuesday, jon huntsman. so let's talk about campaign cash and fund-raising. who is leading the pack right now? >> so important to look at those numbers because before people vote in the primaries and caucuses there is two ways to gauge how strong a candidate is. let's look at the numbers from the third quarter. they're all in right now.

right at the top, the person who raised the most, rick perry, the texas govern we are 17 million raised in the third quarter. mitt romney behind him with $14.2 million and they have the same amount of cash on hand that they can spend. further back, ron paul, michele bachmann, herman cain at $2.8 million. >> we talk about the sudden rise of herman cain, they say they're doing well now, the fact of the matter is he's going to need a lot of money to not only organize, but to pay for commercials in these states. if you look at someone like mitt romney and someone like governor perry, they have got the money right now in the bank. but they also have allies and there are super pacs, large political action committees that are raising hundreds of millions of dollars to boost up perry and romney. we're not seeing that from cain's side and that's hurtful to him because he can't compete against that even though he has grassroots support now. >> this debate will be monitored by anderson cooper. who are among the ticket

holders? who gets to be in that arena to see this debate live? >> well, look, western republican leadership conference is a subset of the republican national committee, all the states out west here. we're going to see coming from all over hawaii, california, oregon, utah here in nevada. they're all going to come in here. over 1,000 people will be sitting in the audience and they'll be able to ask questions as well as we have done in our previous cnn debates. it allows people to get a little bit more of a touch with the candidate as opposed to just having a journalist do it. you're going to see people from all of the states trying to sus out whether they think it is romney, perry, bachmann, santorum any of them now is their candidate. we'll see their pitch making their case why they should be the presidential nominee for the republican party. >> looking forward to that. thanks so much, gentlemen, from vegas, outside the venetian. you may want to be watching

saturday night live lately. they're having a lot of fun with the gop debates, having fun with the candidates, we're going to show you more after the break. [ whistle blows ] oh! [ baby crying ] ben harper: ♪ what started as a whisper every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. ♪ slowly turned into a scream ♪ there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?

you're watching a special

hour dedicated to the race for the white house. we turned to some late night humor, the gop debates are providing a whole lot of fresh material for saturday night live lately. 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 vegas area for the gop debate. but what about the rest of the week?

so if i didn't know better i'd say you're having some sort of big tire sale. yes we are. yeah. how many tires does ford buy every year? over 3 million. you say you can beat any advertised price on tires? correct. anywhere? yes. like this price? yes. riously? yes what about this one? i'll beat it. this one? s we will. alright, i only have one more question for you...this one? (laughing) yeah. get $100 rebate when you buy four tires. 100 bucks! only at your ford dealer.

3 million tires. 11 major brands, fiona's kind-of-nice. i don't know why you're not here. what makes us number one in motorcycle insurance? we love bikes. we love riders. and most of all, we love to ride. perfect hair every time. leading the pack in motorcycle insurance. now, that's progressive. call or click today.

i tell you what i can spend. i do my best to make it work. i'm back on the road safely. and i saved you money on brakes. that's personal pricing. all right, in a moment, we're minutes away from the top of our hour. and more news to tell you about. but first, let's look at our political week ahead. mitt romney will be in las vegas for tuesday night's cnn debate. and on monday, he'll be opening his state campaign headquarters. herman cain said that his comments about an electrified fence were a joke. immigration is surely to be a